|
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
|
Tuesday, September 30, 2003
Karl? You better get in here. He's doing it again.
I'm gonna hold my breath until someone comes clean...
I dunno. You think CNN used that picture for a reason?
...and what does this mean?
President Bush said he welcomes a Justice Department investigation into any involvement his administration might have had in revealing the classified identity of a CIA operative. "If there's a leak out of my administration, I want to know who it is. If the person has violated law, that person will be taken care of," Bush said.
"taken care of"? What? Shipped off to Camp X Ray? Cement shoes? Sentenced to two years of following Jenna around and keeping her hair out of her face when she pukes in the parking lot? Compulsory multiple viewings of Gigli? It sounds so ominous
posted by tbogg at 10:39 PM
|
Meanwhile, back in the real world....
Opinions You Should Have has the Story You Should Read
World O'Crap bitchslaps the bitch known as Rush. She's talking about dumbass uninformed Rush, not dumbass racist Rush. For dumbass racist Rush you have to go to Skippy or Steve Gilliard.
Busybusybusy saves you the time you mind have spent reading dreary wannabe-Dominick Dunne-with-an-agenda, David Brooks. Here's Joe Conason, if you want a more detailed and just as precise overview.
Jon at San Diego Soliloquies points out that a chart that says you're winning is trumped by a spreadsheet that says you're not.
and Jim is back at Rittenhouse and there is lots to read. So go. Read.
Go on. Shoo. I'm done. Why are you still here? There are no outtakes in blogging...
posted by tbogg at 10:34 PM
|
Bush twins, Cuervo and Olde English 800, tend to agree
Steve at No More Mr. Nice Blog brings us the story of a child named Timberland:
At age 3, Timberland is too young to be embarrassed about being named after a bestselling brand of footwear, but his mother cringes.
"His daddy insisted on it because Timberlands were the pride of his wardrobe. The alternative was Reebok," said the 32-year-old nurse, who is now divorced.
"I wanted Kevin."
I felt bad for the kid until I read this:
Yesterday, one parent, a father of three teenage children, hit back. And he is not just any parent. Bob Geldof, the rock star and charity hero, compared the publications to grown men who get sexual thrills from underage girls.
On a BBC2 programme, Grumpy Old Men, to be shown next week, Sir Bob asks: "Are they any less offensive than a 22-year-old man going to an 11- or 12-year-old girl and saying, 'I am going to talk to you about sex and how girls can give blow jobs to men?' If such a conversation happened, you would view it as odd, probably illegal and certainly predatory."
Sir Bob, father of Pixie, 13, Peaches, 15, and Fifi Trixibelle, 19, adds: "There is something predatory because they are made by adult men and women. Is it because of my age that makes me feel they are wrong? I don't think so. I would have objected to them when I was 20."
Dude. You should have objected to those names about 19 years ago....
posted by tbogg at 10:09 PM
|
Let's not call him a racist...even though the Magic 8 Ball says "All signs point to yes"
Looks like the Republicans have kept a cross burning in the window for their favorite Son of the Confederacy, Charles Pickering. The NY Times says: Just say no.
Charles Pickering of Mississippi, whose nomination for an important federal judgeship was wisely rejected once, is scheduled to be voted on again tomorrow in the Senate Judiciary Committee. The Senate should again refuse to confirm him.
The Bush administration is pushing hard to put Judge Pickering, a federal district court judge, on the United States Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit, which covers Mississippi, Louisiana and Texas. The first battle over Judge Pickering too often descended into a fight over whether he is a "racist." The real question is whether he would be the kind of judge the Fifth Circuit — one of the most heavily minority circuits in the country — needs. His record strongly suggests he would not.
Judge Pickering's actions in a cross-burning case alone should disqualify him. He took up the cause of a man convicted of burning a cross on the lawn of an interracial couple. He badgered prosecutors into dropping a key charge even after the man was convicted and called a prosecutor to lobby him, an unusual and improper move. That Judge Pickering, who has a record of being tough on criminals, was so passionate in this case shows, at the least, racial insensitivity. How he undertook the battle showed a lack of judicial ethics.
Other aspects of Judge Pickering's record are also disturbing. He has been dismissive of voting rights doctrines, including "one person one vote." He regularly sides with employers against workers who claim race and sex discrimination. And he has a troubling record of opposing abortion rights.
President Bush continues to present the Senate with bitterly divisive judicial nominees. Judge Pickering's renomination is a particularly bellicose move, because the Senate has already denied him confirmation once. The Senate should insist on being sent more appropriate nominees.
Time to send him back to Tara....
posted by tbogg at 9:54 PM
|
Fun with numbers and stuff
The Bush Administration is all about creating jobs. Of course they've failed miserably at actually accomplishing anything close to that. But take heart Bushies, you can always misrepresent the some of the latest numbers. Just be clever (okay, ask someone to be clever for you):
Even as unemployment continued to mount last year, the number of jobs being eliminated fell below the level in the late 1990's, according to a new government report. But the number of jobs that businesses created in 2002 dropped to its lowest level since 1995. Compared with the size of the economy, the rate of hiring was even slower than during the weak recovery of the early 1990's.
The results come from a survey that the Bureau of Labor Statistics published for the first time yesterday, offering a fuller picture of the nation's long jobs slump. The government previously reported only the net change in employment, which does not explain whether a weak job market like the current one stems mainly from layoffs or from companies' unwillingness to hire.
The new numbers portray an economy stuck in neutral, with workers no longer losing their jobs at the rapid pace of 2001 but with relatively few new job opportunities popping up. In the last three months of 2002, 7.8 million jobs were eliminated, while 7.7 million were created, according to company records studied by the bureau.
See! Emphasize the 7.7 million created! With a bright cheery smile even the average unemployed Fox News viewer will believe it. The 7.8 million lost is just details, details, details...
Who will be the first Townhall contributor to run with this one?
...and remember: A "jobless recovery" is a lot like a meat-less hamburger. Not very satisfying, is it?
posted by tbogg at 9:41 PM
|
Greetings women!
...or should I say poor dears who are unable to make decisions about your own body and so the pasty-white men in gray suits are going to do it for you.
House and Senate negotiators reached quick agreement Tuesday on what would be the first federal act in three decades to ban an abortion procedure.
Supporters of a ban on what they call "partial birth abortion" said it would end an inhumane practice and give momentum to their drive to overturn the 1973 Roe v. Wade decision that declared women have the right to an abortion.
Opponents said the ban is unconstitutional and promised to challenge it in court as soon as President Bush signs it into law. Both the House and the Senate are expected to move swiftly to pass the compromise bill and send it to the president.
"We are just days away from prohibiting the gruesome and inhumane procedure known as partial-birth abortion," House Judiciary Committee Chairman James Sensenbrenner, R-Wis., said at the House-Senate meeting. The measure, sponsored by Rep. Steve Chabot, R-Ohio and Sen. Rick Santorum, R-Pa., was approved on a straight party-line vote.
Any woman who votes for a Republican deserves what can happen to her. I know that sounds harsh, but tell me where I'm wrong.
posted by tbogg at 9:32 PM
|
"That flightsuit pattern was a big hit. I can't get Bushie out of his...."
Laura Bush attends worlds inaugural First Ladies Butterick Conference and Fashion Show.
This years theme was Jackets That Help You Blend Into the Couch.
Later, margaritas were served.....
posted by tbogg at 4:12 PM
|
Crap smear
You know, I wasn't going to write anything about the whole Wilson/Plame thing, but, jesus, does crap like this piss me off. Let's start with the sloppy logic of Glenn Reynolds whose credibility is rapidly approaching Ari Fleischer's:
THE REAL WILSON SCANDAL: Forget Valerie Plame, the big scandal is why anyone in the Bush Administration would ever have tasked a guy with Wilson's views with an important mission.
Regardless of the rest of the story, heads should roll for that.
Reynolds references Bill Hobbs' transcription of a speech that Wilson gave on June 14 of this year. Now let's keep in mind that Wilson went on his mission to Niger last year. So, in the timespace disruption that is Instapundit, why would the Bush people hire someone who has the views he expressed in 2003 for a job he did in 2002? Well, maybe here is a reason:
Ambassador Wilson is CEO of JCWilson International Ventures, Corp., a firm specializing in Strategic Management and International Business Development.
Ambassador Wilson served as Special Assistant to the President and Senior Director for African Affairs at the National Security Council from June 1997 until July 1998. In that capacity he was responsible for the coordination of U.S. policy to the 48 countries of sub-Saharan Africa. He was one of the principal architects of President Clinton’s historic trip to Africa in March 1998.
Ambassador Wilson was the Political Advisor to the Commander-in-Chief of United States Armed Forces, Europe, 1995-1997. He served as the U.S. Ambassador to the Gabonese Republic and to the Democratic Republic of Sao Tome and Principe from 1992 to 1995. From 1988 to 1991, Ambassador Wilson served in Baghdad, Iraq as Deputy Chief of Mission at the U.S. Embassy. During “Desert Shield” he was the acting Ambassador and was responsible for the negotiations that resulted in the release of several hundred American hostages. He was the last official American to meet with Saddam Hussein before the launching of “Desert Storm.”
Ambassador Wilson was a member of the U.S. Diplomatic Service from 1976 until 1998. His early assignments included Niamey, Niger, 1976-1978; Lome, Togo, 1978-79; the State Department Bureau of African Affairs, 1979-1981; and Pretoria, South Africa, 1981-1982.
In other words, because he was qualified. What Wilson did in his speech was criticize the conduct of the war and attempt to predict what repercussions it might have on the Middle East, and somehow that makes him "political". You see, you can only be "apolitical" if you parrot the administration line and pretend to be impartial like Glenn Reynolds or Bill Hobbs.
But let's not listen to the advice of career Middle East diplomat who has served under both Republican and Democratic administrations. He's not "apolitical" enough for the diplomats of Franklin County.
posted by tbogg at 1:52 PM
|
Pledging my allegiance to that bistro waiter with the nice ass across the street....God, I need to get laid...
You know, if Hillary Clinton had done this the freepers would be crapping fireballs:
For White House planners, the image had to be picture perfect: the first lady, the American flag and the Eiffel Tower all in the same photo frame.
So when Laura Bush raised the American flag today to signal the return of the United States to Unesco after a 19-year boycott, there was nothing subtle about the symbols.
[snip]
After her speech, in the courtyard, Mrs. Bush stood ramrod straight, her hand on her heart, as the mezzo-soprano Susan Graham sang "The Star-Spangled Banner" and the American flag was raised to join the flags of the 189 other members.
But Mrs. Bush did not face the flag as the anthem was sung; instead, she stood perpendicular to it, enabling photographers to capture her in profile, with the flag and the Eiffel Tower behind. The scene was carefully planned for days by a White House advance team, much to the amusement of longtime Unesco employees.
And, of course, there is the daily atrocity (no, not Laura's suit):
Mrs. Bush's 17-member delegation included Louise V. Oliver, the Republican fund-raiser nominated by the administration to be ambassador to Unesco, and some of Mrs. Bush's best friends from Texas, including Adair Margo, an El Paso art dealer who heads the White House committee on the arts and humanities. Ms. Graham, the singer, is from Mrs. Bush's hometown of Midland, Tex.
The choice of Ms. Oliver, a staunch conservative, as ambassador may indicate the direction the Bush administration wants Unesco to take. She is the former president of Gopac, the Republican political advocacy organization, worked in the White House personnel office in the Reagan administration, and was the first President Bush's commissioner of the National Council on Children.
Despite concerns among some Democratic lawmakers that she may be too politically extreme for the post, she is expected to win easy Senate confirmation. Asked about the wisdom of her appointment, Mr. Lantos declined public comment.
posted by tbogg at 10:06 AM
|
Fellas drool like fools, but then again they're only human
The chick was a hit because her body was boomin'
Believing that there is a pony under a pile of horse poop, Rich Lowry tries point out that President Needs Translation Into English Too made some good points at the UN when he brought up something near and dear to Lowry's heart: sex trafficking.
In this little-noticed portion of his speech, Bush displayed a characteristic aspect of his foreign policy, which combines tough-minded American assertion with a high-minded humanitarianism. The assertion has been in evidence in the invasions of Afghanistan and Iraq, the humanitarianism in the administration's work against religious persecution, AIDS and now sex trafficking. These two tendencies are related in Bush's view of American power as a moral force, equally engaged in killing "evildoers" and in helping those to whom evil is done.
The relevant portions of Bush's "sex" talk (three sequential words you'll never want to see in print ever ever ever again. Just ask Laura.) can be found here:
Now I know what you're thinking ?– "what does an uptight Methodist right-winger know about SEX SLAVES?" Well let me tell you ?– I know plenty
Woo hoo! Bonus link to Lynne Cheney lesbian porn!
posted by tbogg at 9:43 AM
|
Today, many news organizations are emerging from their summertime journalistic comas
Karl Rove speaks...
(Okay, it's not really Rove. But it could have been...)
posted by tbogg at 9:30 AM
|
Don't bother me now...I'm in love
Pretend journalist Andrew Sullivan makes a half-hearted attempt to wrap his mind around the Plame affair that indicates that all of his research has come from a casual watching of Fox news. Perhaps he was distracted by his latest Reagasm.
It's a good thing that Ronald Reagan has two legs. One for Andy to hump and the one that has Peggy Noonan permanently attached...
posted by tbogg at 9:23 AM
|
Crony capitalism one-two punch
The New York Times is getting all over the selling of Iraq. First there is Paul Krugman (who, unlike Donald Ruskin actually is an economist):
Iraq's reconstruction, by contrast, remains firmly under White House control. And this is an administration of, by and for crony capitalists; to match this White House's blithe lack of concern about conflicts of interest, you have to go back to the Harding administration. That giant, no-bid contract given to Halliburton, the company that made Dick Cheney rich, was just what you'd expect.
And even as the situation in Iraq slides downhill, and the Iraqi Governing Council demands more autonomy and control, American officials continue to block local initiatives, and are still trying to keep the big contracts in the hands of you-know-who.
For example, in July two enterprising Middle Eastern firms started offering cellphone service in Baghdad, setting up jury-rigged systems compatible with those of neighboring countries. Since the collapse of Baghdad's phone system has been a major source of postwar problems, coalition authorities should have been pleased.
But no: the authorities promptly shut down the services. Cell service, they said, could be offered only by the winners in a bidding process — one whose rules, revealed on July 31, seemed carefully designed to shut out any non-American companies. (In the face of strenuous protests the rules were revised, but still seem to favor the usual suspects.) Oddly, the announcement of the winners, originally scheduled for Sept. 5, keeps being delayed. Meanwhile, only Paul Bremer and his people have cellphones — and, thanks to the baffling decision to give that contract to MCI, even those phones don't work very well. (Aside from the fact that its management perpetrated history's biggest accounting fraud, MCI has no experience in building cell networks.)
Then there's electricity. One reason Iraq still faces blackouts is that local experts and institutions were excluded from the repair business. Instead, the exclusive contract was given to Bechtel, whose Republican ties are almost as strong as Halliburton's. And if a recent story in The Washington Post is accurate, Bechtel continues to ignore pleas by Iraqi engineers for essential spare parts.
Then there is this from Douglas Jehl:
A group of businessmen linked by their close ties to President Bush, his family and his administration have set up a consulting firm to advise companies that want to do business in Iraq, including those seeking pieces of taxpayer-financed reconstruction projects.
The firm, New Bridge Strategies, is headed by Joe M. Allbaugh, Mr. Bush's campaign manager in 2000 and the director of the Federal Emergency Management Agency until March. Other directors include Edward M. Rogers Jr., vice chairman, and Lanny Griffith, lobbyists who were assistants to the first President George Bush and now have close ties to the White House.
At a time when the administration seeks Congressional approval for $20.3 billion to rebuild Iraq, part of an $87 billion package for military and other spending in Iraq and Afghanistan, the company's Web site, www.newbridgestrategies.com, says, "The opportunities evolving in Iraq today are of such an unprecedented nature and scope that no other existing firm has the necessary skills and experience to be effective both in Washington, D.C., and on the ground in Iraq."
The sleaze and rank opportunism is so thick that you can cut it with a knife.
posted by tbogg at 8:44 AM
|
Enough Plame to go around
Everybody is blogging about Valerie Plame, so I think I'll just stay away from it, at least until Scooter Libby or Karl Rove do the perp walk. Kevin at CalPundit has the best roundup on it. In the meantime I think I will confine myself to observations on observations on the affair, as well commenting on the usual daily Administration atrocities.
posted by tbogg at 8:29 AM
|
Monday, September 29, 2003
"I'm sorry Mr. President. Jenna is on line five screaming something about "Oh, the humanity...""
...and with midterms just around the corner.....
Tequila, the distilled spirit that fueled a decades-old margarita craze in the United States, has landed squarely in the middle of a trade fight between Mexico City and Washington.
Mexico is threatening to cut off all bulk exports of Tequila, claiming it needs to tighten quality controls on the gold-plated namebrand that is owned by the Mexican government and supposedly assures every bottle's high quality. If enacted, all Tequila would be bottled in Mexico.
Mexico is the only nation that produces the alcohol made from fermented sap from the blue agave plant.
posted by tbogg at 1:42 PM
|
Lacking the depth and complexity of "I'm a uniter, not a divider"
Ronald Bailey over at Reason one-ups the braintrust at the Corner with this profoundly weak attempt at an analogy:
In Jerzy Kosinski's novel, Being There, vacuous statements made by a retarded gardener called Chauncey Gardiner get taken as profound insights by the rich and powerful around him. Is Democratic presidential hopeful Wesley Clark the Chauncey Gardiner of 2004?
Consider this Chauncey Gardiner-like vacuity uttered by Clark at last week's debate among Democratic Presidential candidates: "I am pro-choice, I am pro-affirmative action, I am pro-environment, pro-health. I believe the United States should engage with allies. We should be a good player in the international community. And we should use force only as a last resort."
Ambiguous blather! As if anyone is pro-disease or anti-environment. What about the hard voter losing questions? What about parental notification of parents of minors seeking abortions? What about minority quotas in college admissions or company hiring? Does he favor oil exploration in Alaska? Does he want to socialize medical care in America? What does engaging with allies mean? Who's against engaging with allies anyway and who wants to use force as a first resort?
I assume that Bailey is just the guy who sweeps up over there and happened to find a computer that was left logged on.....
posted by tbogg at 10:27 AM
|
Turning the children against our steely-eyed flight-suited leader
Reader g.s. writes:
Don't know if you read the Lemony Snicket books - how old are your kids - but my daughter and I came across this in the new volume, THE SLIPPERY SLOPE. In case you don't know, the character of Sunny is a baby whose babbling requires constant translation by the narrator:
pg. 107:
"Busheney," Sunny said, which meant something along the lines of, "You're an evil man with no concern whatsoever for other people."
We were happy to see this Bush-Cheney slam in what, as of next week, will probably be the #1 book in America (that's how it's been with the other volumes)
Heh. Indeed.
posted by tbogg at 10:03 AM
|
What's good for Halliburton is good for the USA
Go to Open Source Politics and see what else our country needs to do for those impoverished folks over at Halliburton.
posted by tbogg at 9:58 AM
|
The line for the salad bar is over there...this is the line to pick up your brown shirt.
According to a link found over at World O'Crap, it looks like the Ollie & Ann Show rolled into Gwinnett County over the weekend to support the Boy Scouts, and they both had plenty to say. One tried to be inspirational:
Col. Oliver North knows a thing or two about the Boy Scouts.
He was a scoutmaster and his son, Stuart, was a Boy Scout.
“It’s a great program,” North said in an interview before the Boy Scouts of America’s American Freedom Rally at Berkmar High School Saturday. “I encourage people to support it. It’s great for Gwinnett County and it’s great for America.”
North was among five speakers who spoke at the rally, which was a fund-raiser for the Northeast Georgia Council of Boy Scouts of America’s Scoutreach and Learning for Life programs.
[snip]
North spoke of the leadership shown by Todd Beamer, a passenger on United Airlines Flight 93 who helped three other men storm the cockpit in a successful effort to keep their plane from hitting the White House. Beamer, North said, had been a Boy Scout.
“Todd Beamer is one of these people who wants to be prepared,” North said. “Did Todd Beamer’s leadership skills make a difference? Well, that airplane didn’t hit its intended target, the White House.”
One of those three other men was Mark Bingham who was prepared too, but since he was a fag and they can't be in the Boy Scouts, it's probably not a good idea to mention him before impressionable little minds. And speaking of little minds, keep Ann Coulter in mind, next time you need a motivational speaker for teenage boys:
Conservative author and attorney Ann Coulter blasted liberals during her speech, specifically with regards to their positions regarding the war in Iraq.
“Let’s just say that this was a war just for oil,” Coulter told the crowd of about 300. “Why not go to war for oil? We need oil. What do Hollywood celebrities think fuels their jets? How do they think their cocaine is delivered? Now that we have liberated Iraq and uncovered the torture chambers, the mass graves, the rape rooms ... the world has seen this was never a war for oil.”
War...invading countries for their natural resources....cocaine...rape...just being in the same room with Ann should get the attending scouts their Fascism merit badges.
By the way, make sure you read World O'Crap's coverage of our gal Ann.
posted by tbogg at 9:42 AM
|
All the news that's fit to ignore
White House being investigated
Mission not accomplished in Iraq
Ethnic conflict in our new colony
Gnat has an imaginary friend
Good to know that if Target puts Snapple on sale, Lileks will be on it.....
posted by tbogg at 9:06 AM
|
Case closed....next!
Opinions You Should Have informs us that L'Affaire Plame is already over. Justice was swift, decisive, and very hush hush.
The Patriot Act is a wonderful thing," said Ashcroft. "I was able to go after these boys with the same vehemence I normally reserve for users of medical marijuana, sodomists, and would-be terrorists like Juan Padilla. And this time, we may or may not have gotten our man."
posted by tbogg at 8:56 AM
|
Fair & balanced Iraq
Bad news from Iraq:
Backed by tanks firing cannons and jets dropping bombs, U.S. troops in Iraq on Monday engaged insurgents in a fierce battle that started with a bombing that killed a soldier. Other units, meanwhile, staged raids, including one that marked the largest joint operation with U.S.-trained Iraqi police.
SPORADIC, HEAVY gunfire rattled farming communities north of Khaldiyah, where resistance to the American presence is strong.
A military spokesman said the fight started about 9:10 a.m. when a homemade bomb exploded along the road as a U.S. convoy passed, killing one soldier and wounding another.
By late afternoon, the fighting was still raging about three miles north of Khaldiyah. It appeared to be the biggest engagement in the area in months.
M1A2 tanks fired 120-mm cannons as helicopters strafed farm houses with 50-mm machine gun fire. Two A-10 Thunderbolt attack aircraft bombed guerrilla positions while F-15 jets streaked across the sky.
Six U.S. armored personnel carriers — two of them ambulances — had earlier arrived as reinforcements. As the fight continued, eight Humvees carrying U.S. troops also could be seen heading toward the battle.
A U.S. armored personnel carrier left the area carrying six blindfolded Iraqi prisoners. In the distance, civilians, including women and children, could be seen fleeing on foot. An American recovery vehicle towed away two Humvees, one of which had a bullet hole in the windshield.
An Iraqi man, fleeing on foot with his wife, three other women, a nephew and five children, said at least 10 houses had been destroyed. He refused to give his name.
“Is this the freedom that we were promised?” he asked. “I had to get my family out. ... The helicopters were firing almost nonstop. My 7-year-old is too young to hate but how can he not hate them (the Americans) after this?”
You're a 7-year-old who has just been driven from your home due to an all out assault by tanks and 50-mm machine gun-wielding helicopters. Where are you going next? " I'm going to the soccer field!":
Some members of Congress are sounding the same theme. Georgia Democrat Jim Marshall says negative media coverage is getting our troops in Iraq killed and is encouraging Baathist holdouts to think they can drive the U.S. from Iraq. Marshall, a Vietnam vet, said there is "a disconnect between the reporting and the reality," partly because the 27 reporters left in Iraq are "all huddled in a hotel."
Marshall and a bipartisan group of six other representatives just returned from Iraq. The lawmakers charged that reporters have developed an overall negative tone and a "police blotter" mind-set, stressing attacks and little else. Ranking member Ike Skelton, D.-Mo., said he was impressed with the flexibility and innovation of the American military, including 3,100 projects in northern Iraq, from soccer fields to schools to refineries, "all good stuff, and that isn't being reported."
Of course, Glenn Reynolds will call all of this "lazy Vietnam-templating", because, you know, this is nothing like Vietnam. Except for the specious reasoning for fighting there, the daily deaths, blaming the American deaths on those who oppose the war, lack of an exit strategy, the failure to understand a foreign culture, the press bashing by the administration and its syncophants, the populace that hates us......
Nope. Nothing like Vietnam.
posted by tbogg at 8:44 AM
|
Sunday, September 28, 2003
Why I Am A Republican
Thanks to the many readers who sent in their Why I Am A Republican submissions. I didn't do a Top Ten because, well, there were a bunch of good ones. The added bonus is that they have done my work so I could watch Alias. Thanks.
Enjoy:
I don't read the papers because they have "opinions" and stuff, and my objective handlers told me to be a Republican.- victor
Well, after the head injury, i just don't understand them democrats...- chris
Because my illegal Mexican pool boy doesn’t pay enough taxes- Michael
I am a Republican for many reasons - I believe in self-reliance, (like our fine president who is a self-made man), I believe in the infallibility of the free market (because we can trust big companies to police themselves), and I believe that God Hisself has blessed this fine nation (through his son Jesus Christ, whom all good people love and accept as their Savior). But mostly because I hate gays and darkies. – Maureen
I'm a Republican because.... I'm sorry, do I know you? I mean, I don't recognize you, are you even in The Club? Because if you're not in The Club, you know, I'm really not even supposed to be talking to you.- paul
Because my heart is a small, dark hole from which nothing, not even light or human emotion, can escape.- gunther
Because in America, hard work, individual initiative, and self-reliance allows someone like George W. Bush to rise from the gutter and achieve greatness- gunther
Because I’m convinced I’m as well off as all those folks I see on them TV shows.- gunther
Because I think that Blacks, Indians and other minorities have been getting a free ride in this country for the last 400 years.- gunther
I'm a Republican because I believe that freedom of speech is great, but you know, only within reason- matt
Allowed to "jump the line" to get on Limbaugh radio show to tell Rush that he's absolutely right about Hillary Clinton's complicity in the Triangle Shirtwaist Fire.- rich
Mandatory 7 a.m. Bible prayer meetings great place to meet former "Miss Teen USA" contestants.-rich
..government should be of, by, and for the RIGHT people- Alan
Because the only person I dislike more than myself is everybody else.-sac666
Because someone needs to stop that Hillary Clinton from flying around the country in her black helicopter dolling out crack and performing free abortions.- john
I'm a Republican because you can't make a Coulter and Ingraham sandwich with no wimpy liberal meat.- chris
I had sex once, but it wasn't all that great--why should anybody else enjoy themselves.- chujoe
I came for the tax cuts, but stayed for the intolerance-davis
I am a Republican because the Republicans stand for integrity and honesty and moral clarity and the absence of commas in lists.- damon
I am a Republican because the Democrats are the party of pie-in-the-sky dreamers and also because it really is possible that one day I may be rich enough to benefit from Bush's tax cut.- damon
I am a Republican because, like, my Dad read me 'Hop on Pop' when I was a baby but now he's like, 'I'll cut off your tequila and crack allowance if you ever vote Democrat,' and I'm all, 'Dude, you totally changed!' and then he's all ... Oh. My. God. That chick just totally puked all over her pledge dress! That is sooooo funny!- damon
I am a Republican because Democrats are pussies who won't fight in wars for their country and Republicans are heroes who unselfishly hold themselves out of dangerous combat as young men because the country will need them later on to run those wars from cool secret bunkers which probably have trapdoors that drop "No 2" into a shark tank if he screws up.- damon
I am a Republican because I am an elderly Jew who votes in West Palm Beach ... which technically makes me a Reform Party supporter, but why quibble, bubalah?- damon
I am a Republican because you're not the boss of me! So neener-neener Mr Poopy-Bossy Pants.- damon
Because being a Republican means never having to say that you miscalculated the post-war resistance, and that you are now responsible for an ever worsening occupation.- Arthur
There's nothing like putting people in jail on a "law and order" platform for doing the same drugs you did. Consistency being a hobgoblin and all.-dan
There's nothing like cutting services and funds to services men and women while exhorting people who don't want to send those same service men and women into war to "support the troops." Hobgoblins! Everywhere!- dan
I'm a Republican because it's better to be sure about something even if you're wrong.- noel
I'm a Republican because smart, well educated, well spoken, thoughtful people make me feel insecure and uncomfortable when they try to force me to use my own higher brain functions to sort through the problems and challenges facing our society on a global level- sterling
because thinking causes wrinkles.-julia
Because Tom Daschle wouldn't return my phone calls.--Governor Bill Owens (R-CO)(actually john)
I am a Republican because "I appreciate people's opinions, but I'm more
interested in news . . . and the best way to get the news is from objective sources, and the most objective sources I have are people on my staff," who currently are my two underpaid cats, Propecia and Kozmo.- obnoman
Because they're the only ones who'll stop Hillary Clinton from prying this homemade grenade launcher out of my cold dead fingers.- rich
Becuz librul teechers are filing our childrens branes with goddless evolushun and terning them into morans- tresy
Because the Nazi Party turned me down- moulinoon
I saw a badge that said "Do as you're told, vote Republican".-nabakov
~~~
If I mis-attributed anyone's quote, you have my apologies.
posted by tbogg at 10:16 PM
|
Truning on the lights and watching the roaches scatter
For the five or six of you who come here and don't read CalPundit, he has a link to a Newsweek article that is going to be hugely damaging to the Bush Administration.
Kevin also has a list of possible suspects if you're thinking of setting up an office pool.
I'm taking Scooter Libby, in the White House, with a telephone.
posted by tbogg at 8:23 PM
|
It's like reading Flowers for Algernon...
Go here to watch Glenn Reynolds discuss his ever-evolving view of the Valerie Plame affair.
To borrow the Rummy approach:
Obtuse? Maybe
Willifully ignorant? Doubtful
Blatant apologist for an administration that he supports right or wrong? You betcha.
posted by tbogg at 8:07 PM
|
Friday, September 26, 2003
I like to think of myself as a Motivational Facilitator
and Corporate/Consumer Liaison.....
Resume padding.
You know. I "supervised" this, I "facilitated" that. Phony titles and euphemisms. You read them and you just know that you're not getting a complete or accurate story. Something that seems so innocuous can be...hiding something. Why do I bring this up? I'm glad you asked....
So, I'm like, killing time, looking for something or someone to make fun of, and I think "Hey, Tom. Why don't you cruise on over to the official Miss America site and check out this years Wind Beneath My Wings Belting-out Barbie dolls?" (I actually think like that. Really. Ask my wife.) So I'm checking out the various Misses representing all the great and wondrous states of our union, as well as Indiana, when I come across Miss Colorado. Hmmm. Let's see... Katee Doland:
Katee Doland
Arvada, Colorado
Age: 23
Education:
Arvada High School
Regis University Graduate
Platform Issue: Literacy: The Million Words Challenge
Scholastic Ambition: To obtain a master's degree in education and creative arts
Talent: Lyrical Dance
Scholastic Honors: Dean's List; Regis Board of Trustees Academic Scholarship recipient; Nominated for USA Today's All-Academic Team
Other Accomplishments: Motivational speaker for children and teens at 65 schools for the D.A.R.E. Program and the National Red Ribbon Campaign; founder of Reach Out and Read literacy program; 2002 and 2003 Denver Broncos Community Service Award recipient
Employment: Employed by Denver Broncos organization and a student teacher
Family: Father is the owner of a baseball academy. Mother is a kinderga------
Whoa there, little filly..
Employed by Denver Broncos organization?
Coach? Player? Trainer? Accounting department? Legal? Merchandising? or......maybe this.
Back row. Second from the left.
Yeah. That's what I figured.
I think the tip-off was Talent: Lyrical Dance
But this is pretty good too:
Occupation and how does Broncos cheerleading affect your work?
I have also been the head coach for a high school cheerleading team. I take from the experiences that I have received as a member of this team, and in turn, try to instill in my own cheerleaders the values of teamwork, integrity and dedication.
Who do you admire the most in the sports industry?
I admire anyone in the sports industry who takes on the responsibility and the opportunity to be a positive role model for our young people.
Favorite book?
The Bible
posted by tbogg at 3:25 PM
|
Faced with fourth and long, Powell punts...
All the way at the end of today's NY Times lead editorial is a little nugget that shouldn't be missed. I'll start with the basic premise of the editorial before jumping to the fun stuff:
This page did not support the war in Iraq, but it never quarreled with one of its basic premises. Like President Bush, we believed that Saddam Hussein was hiding potentially large quantities of chemical and biological weapons and aggressively pursuing nuclear arms. Like the president, we thought those weapons posed a grave danger to the United States and the rest of the world. Now it appears that premise was wrong. We cannot in hindsight blame the administration for its original conclusions. They were based on the best intelligence available, which had led the Clinton administration before it and the governments of allied nations to reach the same conclusion. But even the best intelligence can turn out to be mistaken, and the likelihood that this was the case in Iraq shows why pre-emptive war, the Bush administration's strategy since 9/11, is so ill conceived as a foundation for security policy. If intelligence and risk assessment are sketchy — and when are they not? — using them as the basis for pre-emptive war poses enormous dangers.
A draft of an interim report by David Kay, the American leading the hunt for banned arms in Iraq, says the team has not found any such weapons after nearly four months of intensively searching and interviewing top Iraqi scientists. There is some evidence of chemicals and equipment that could have been put to illicit use. But, to the chagrin of Mr. Bush's top lieutenants, there is nothing more.
[snip] Here is somes:
This is clearly an uncomfortable question for the Bush administration. Yesterday, Secretary of State Colin Powell met with Times editors. Asked whether Americans would have supported this war if weapons of mass destruction had not been at issue, Mr. Powell said the question was too hypothetical to answer. Asked if he, personally, would have supported it, he smiled, thrust his hand out and said, "It was good to meet you."
Oh oh. Somebody's not being a team play-yur......
posted by tbogg at 2:46 PM
|
Blowing all that money he saved on acting lessons
Bruce Willis is offering $1 million for the capture of Saddam Hussein and said ""If you catch him, just give me four seconds with Saddam Hussein", indicating that that little "quick on the trigger" problem he developed isn't limited to women.
Actor Bruce Willis has performed before US soldiers in Telafar, northern Iraq, and offered $1m (£603,000) to the man who captures Saddam Hussein.
"We're here to support you," the star told troops as he sang a set of blues songs with his band, the Accelerator.
"If you catch him, just give me four seconds with Saddam Hussein," he said.
Willis will next fly south to visit US soldiers in Tikrit - Saddam's home town - before performing two concerts for troops in neighbouring Kuwait.
...like those guys haven't suffered enough.
Too bad that Willis doesn't have the $50 million he blew on Hudson Hawk to put up....
posted by tbogg at 1:57 PM
|
"Presidential elections, Rover! How many dang presidential elections have I lost?"
Karl takes a deep breath. "Well, sir, in my opinion, none."
KARL Rove walks into the Oval Office.......
(Thanks...again...to Chris for the link)
posted by tbogg at 12:37 PM
|
I think this is pretty fcuking fcunny...
Nothing make me happier than seeing somone like Donald Wildmon get his skid-marked longjohns in a bunch. Thank the imaginary deity of your choice that he's protecting our dyslexic teens:
Would you believe Target has approved its Marshall Field's stores to sell a product called FCUK? Target must consider parents really naive to not know exactly what type of message they are "targeting" to our kids.
Here's how one mother put it:
I didn't see this on television but it was an advertisement insert in last Sunday's newspaper for Marshall Field's dept. store for a cologne and a clothing line aimed at teenagers called "Fcuk" and their advertising slogan to go with it is "scent to bed". I was really appalled at this and then a friend of mine saw huge posters promoting this IN the Marshall Field's store in my area. When she complained to a clerk about it she was referred to a manager who told her the corporate office makes all the decisions about what they advertise.
Another mother put it this way:
Not only does the name make an obvious grab at the mind to be misspelled as one of the vilest slang words ever used, it also goes further to make its point. A young, attractive, half dressed couple are snuggling on a bed with the words "scent to bed" superimposed over their picture. On the inside where you can pull the flyer apart to see what the product smells like you read "open here to try fcuk her" and "open here to try fcuk him". On the back page is an offer to "get your scent to bed t-shirt".
For a major retailer to promote and sell this type of product is reprehensible to me. I hope it is to you too! I think we need to pull out all the stops to let Target know they have crossed the line with our families.
Man, that is fcuked up......
This should do for FCUK what Fox's lawsuit did for Al Franken.
More on French Connection UK here
posted by tbogg at 11:56 AM
|
The Offut Express is now leaving on Track 61
During President Bush’s two-day stay at the ritzy Waldorf-Astoria in New York this week — seeking international support for the U.S. resolution on Iraq — a special escape train was idling beneath the hotel, ready to whisk him to safety at a moment’s notice in the event of a terrorist attack, it was reported Friday.
THE SECRET SERVICE arranged for the Metro-North train to be parked at an abandoned platform, always running and ready for instant departure throughout the president’s stay at the hotel on Tuesday and Wednesday, the New York Post reported, quoting unidentified law enforcement sources.
The platform — identified as Track 61 on Grand Central Terminal blueprints — is accessible by an underground passage from inside the landmark hotel and by a freight elevator that descends from a brass-sheathed door next to the hotel’s parking garage, giving the president and his entourage a second egress route in case of emergency, the Post said. Had that occurred, the train would have sped off to an undisclosed secure location, it said.
How's about a chorus of that old Ozark Mountain Daredevils hit, Chicken Train:
chicken train
runnin' all day
chicken train
runnin' all day
chicken train
runnin' all day
I can't get on
I can't get off
chicken train take your chickens away
(HARP & JAWBONE BREAK)
Yee Haw
posted by tbogg at 11:26 AM
|
Segways recalled. Sedentary, manatee-sized losers who are too lazy to actually walk fifty feet are saddened....
I'll leave the obvious Bush jokes to others. But, c'mon, the last thing this country needed was something that made walking two blocks to the 7/11 to buy a 2 liter of Pepsi Blue and a colostomy-sized bag of Fritos easier....
Oh, yeah. And another thing...get caught looking like this riding one of these and you will never ever have sex with someone who looks like this.
posted by tbogg at 10:54 AM
|
Hey! I'm more Republican-er than you....
Joe Lieberman, the Manchurian Democratic Candidate, is upset with Wesley Clark for encroaching on his territory:
Igniting a spate of post-debate recrimination, Joe Lieberman (news - web sites) accused new presidential rival Wesley Clark on Friday of taking "a journey of political convenience, not conviction" from the Republican ranks to the Democratic Party. Clark's camp called Lieberman desperate.
On the day after a 10-way Democratic presidential debate, Lieberman took issue with Clark expressing support for the Bush administration's policies in a May 2001 address to the Arkansas GOP. Bush was pushing his tax-cut package at the time.
"I was fighting that reckless economic strategy while Wes Clark was working to forward the Republican agenda by raising money for the Republican Party," the Connecticut senator said.
Clark spokesman Mark Fabiani fired back: "I think Senator Lieberman is an increasingly desperate candidate and it's unfortunate that instead of articulating a vision for the future as General Clark has with his 'New American Patriotism,' Senator Lieberman is attacking other Democrats."
Wah wah wah....hold me, Hadassah. I'm going down in flames.....
posted by tbogg at 10:04 AM
|
Can we call it a loan?....No.
You tax dollars at work going to Halliburton:
Those details include $100 million to build seven planned communities with a total of 3,258 houses, plus roads, an elementary school, two high schools, a clinic, a place of worship and a market for each; $10 million to finance 100 prison-building experts for six months, at $100,000 an expert; 40 garbage trucks at $50,000 each; $900 million to import petroleum products such as kerosene and diesel to a country with the world's second-largest oil reserves; and $20 million for a four-week business course, at $10,000 per student.
"If those are what the costs are, I'm glad Congress is asking questions," said Brian Reidl, a budget analyst at the conservative Heritage Foundation. "If the White House wants to be portrayed as spending tax dollars in Iraq as cost-effectively as they spend [money] anywhere else, they're going to have to explain this."
Already, the administration's request for $400 million to build two 4,000-bed prisons at $50,000 a bed has raised enough questions in Congress to force Provisional Authority Administrator L. Paul Bremer to explain that cement must be imported to make concrete.
[snip]
In several closed meetings this week, Republicans questioned why the administration is piling more spending atop an ever-expanding federal deficit. Rep. Zach Wamp (R-Tenn.), a member of the House Appropriations Committee, plans to offer an amendment making the package a loan, which the White House adamantly opposes.
"The people of eastern Tennessee want to know why the $20.3 billion couldn't be repaid by the Iraqi people from the oil revenues," Wamp said.
...and here's smooth talker Paul 'Never Served" Wolfowitz coming up with a recruiting pitch for the New Iraqi Army:
Meanwhile, at a House hearing yesterday, Democrats pressed Deputy Defense Secretary Paul D. Wolfowitz about whether the administration plans to withdraw troops right before the 2004 presidential election. He said no decisions are being made on political grounds.
"These are national security decisions; they have to be made on that basis," he said. Wolfowitz said that does not mean that "we're not trying to, in fact, get more Iraqis on the front lines, get them dying for their country so fewer Americans have to."
That ought to have them lined up at the recruitment offices....
posted by tbogg at 9:49 AM
|
RIP George Plimpton
Tom Clancy, on the other hand, still walks among the living.....
posted by tbogg at 8:36 AM
|
RIP Robert Palmer
Scott Stapp, on the other hand, still walks among the living.....
posted by tbogg at 8:09 AM
|
I didn't get the memo
Apparently it's Talk Like Bill O'Reilly Day. On the one hand, I wasn't aware of it. On the other hand, I've never watched Bill O'Reilly so I don't have the vaguest idea of how he talks, so....I'm going to have to pass.
Atrios is all over it though....
It's kind of creepy.
posted by tbogg at 8:08 AM
|
Thursday, September 25, 2003
A swift knee to the groin of the rightwing yahoos
Go here at Atrios and go read what Natalie Maines of the Dixie Chicks has to say.
If I were married to her, I would never want to get on her bad side. Nuh uh. Not me. No way.
posted by tbogg at 1:01 PM
|
What he said....
Kevin over at CalPundit hits the nail on the head regarding school vouchers.
Full disclosure: We have sent our daughter to private school (Montessori & Catholic schools) for eight of the nine years she has been going to school.
posted by tbogg at 12:35 PM
|
That was no celebrity, that was Peggy Noonan
Lt. Smash was visiting New York and got to have dinner with Peggy Noonan. No mention is made about any discussions about the Holy Dolphins of Elian or How to Read People's Minds in Candy Stores, but, then again, if Smash was wearing a uniform, I'm sure that Peggy had to run on home because she had "things to do".
Congratulations to Lt. Smash for filling a lonely divorcee's night... in ways he can hardly imagine.
posted by tbogg at 11:04 AM
|
Only one more shopping day
Make sure to get your Why I Am Republican entry in today.
Our operators are standing by....
posted by tbogg at 10:30 AM
|
Revising history
Ted Rall
posted by tbogg at 10:15 AM
|
Hey Joe, where you goin' with that book in your hand?
Tuesday night I had the opportunity to go and hear Joe Conason speak at Current Affairs Bookstore (an outstanding independent bookstore in San Diego) in support of his latest book Big Lies. Speaking before a packed house (actually a packed backyard) Conason briefly spoke about his book and then proceeded to take questions.
A great majority of the questions dealt with the upcoming 2004 election and centered upon Dean, Clark, and Hillary Clinton. I think the overall mood of the crowd was one of anxious optimism, particularly since George Bush's plummeting poll numbers had just been released before Conason's appearance. After his talk, Joe autographed copies of his book (Current Affairs sold every copy they had) and spoke individually with many of the people who had turned out. I had a chance to briefly talk with him thank him for linking to my blog back when I first started it up, and he was very complimentary, and mentioned that he had had dinner with Kos just a few nights before. Joe Conason is a genuinely nice guy and if he's making an appearance in your town, make time to go hear him speak. You won't be disappointed.
If you haven't already purchased a copy of Big Lies, you need to do yourself a favor and buy it and read it. Since receiving my copy about four weeks ago, I use it almost daily as a reference for names and events. Buy it through your local independent bookstore or through Amazon or Powells or whomever, but you really need to read it.
posted by tbogg at 10:04 AM
|
Wearing only my thigh-high jackboots and an eyepatch, I awaited the arrival of Adolph. I was wet...so very wet......
Pre-order Ann Coulter's latest book. Hurry before the freepers snatch them all up....
posted by tbogg at 9:28 AM
|
Wednesday, September 24, 2003
Hope they die before they get old
Kicking Ass points out that the Bush Administration is about to piss off AARP, which should push those unfavorables even lower:
In a less than surprising move, the Bush administration is set to shut out 6 million seniors from the Medicare prescription drug benefit now being negotiated between the House and Senate. The bill, originally passed in June, included a flaw that would for the first time introduce unequal benefits based on income. The Bush-supported proposal would make low-income seniors ineligible for prescription drug benefits under Medicare and force them to rely on the patchwork system of Medicaid benefits.
So, to recap, who do we have opposing this damaging and unfair policy? Forty-six Senate Democrats and their Independent ally Jim Jeffords; AARP, the powerhouse advocacy group representing 35 million older Americans, who has said it "will not hesitate to oppose" any bill that treats poorer seniors differently than all Medicare recipients; and all 50 of the nation's governors. Who supports it? Oh yeah, George W. Bush.
posted by tbogg at 10:55 PM
|
Some times big ears just means big ears....
Oh great. Now Satchmo the Wonderdog has ear envy.
posted by tbogg at 10:36 PM
|
As a cause for war, it is a farce.
Richard Cohen sums up Spurious George and the Not-So-Successful UN Speech:
He appeared empty, leeched of his former passion and conviction. Events have conspired against him. His once infallible aides have turned out to be awfully fallible. They botched the aftermath of the war and they were wrong about weapons of mass destruction and Iraqi links to al Qaeda. They ought to be fired, but Bush would have to admit he was misled -- and he will not do that.
The oddest document in the archives today is the congressional resolution that the White House sought authorizing war in Iraq. It is less than a year old, but already it seems from another era. It is alarmist, written in the most purple of prose, saying of Iraq that it "poses a continuing threat to the national security of the United States." It says Iraq is "supporting and harboring terrorist organizations," specifically naming al Qaeda. As a historical document it is rich in irony. As a cause for war, it is a farce.
Bush's problem is that he has been repeatedly reprimanded by events. Most -- not all, mind you -- of his reasons for the war have proved untrue. Paul Wolfowitz, who ventured to New York earlier in the week, gave three reasons for the war at a forum sponsored by the New Yorker magazine: WMD, links to terrorism and wholesale human rights abuse.
Only the last is true -- and true enough to give war supporters such as myself reason for succor. All the rest is either a mistake or an exaggeration -- the former by intelligence agencies, the latter by imagineers such as Wolfowitz and Dick Cheney.
posted by tbogg at 10:29 PM
|
Bizarro-world curriculum vitae
Hey I like Salon as much as the next guy, in fact Table Talk was where I got my start, but what the hell?
Economist Donald Luskin clearly doesn't believe that macroeconomic trends always explain fiscal performance. A recent post on Luskin's site, "The Conspiracy to Keep You Poor and Stupid," questions the conventional rationale behind the New York Times' lowered earnings forecast released last week
Economist Donald Luskin? According to Luskin's own website:
Education
Attended Yale in 1973-1974; dropped out to rejoin the real world as soon as possible
Now maybe Yale offers a one year Economics degree, but I doubt it. What next? Geo-Political Strategist Steven den Beste? Ladies Man Ben Shapiro? Sane Ann Coulter?
posted by tbogg at 1:28 PM
|
Didn't stick around for the drum solo
The Dick Cheney De-Fibbing Across America tour isn't exactly selling out:
New Hampshire Republican activists showed once again why the first-in-the-nation primary state can be the toughest place for even the White House to raise money.
Vice President Dick Cheney’s appearance at the Center of New Hampshire drew fewer than 90 supporters inside and roughly twice as many protesters across Elm Street outside Tuesday night.
Republican State Committee Communications Director Julie Teer said the total take from the fund-raiser for the Bush-Cheney 2004 campaign was at least $200,000.
If all of them paid $2,000 apiece to have their picture taken with Cheney – and not all of them did – that still means a lot of no-show money came in.
Cheney’s 17-minute speech focused heavily on a spirited defense of America’s pre-emptive strike policy against terrorist threats.
How good was that seventeen minute speech?
Gov. Craig Benson introduced Cheney and left with his wife, Denise, halfway through the vice president’s speech.
Why does it seem like Republican officeholders are avoiding Dick Cheney like three-day old potato salad that's been left out in the sun?
posted by tbogg at 12:11 PM
|
I remember reading Straight Up or On the Rocks to little Jenna when she was just a baby. Her first words were "Harvey Wallbanger"...
Laura Bush, who worked as a librarian for four years and has droned on about it for twenty six, thinks that doctors should prescribe books for babies:
First lady Laura Bush, campaigning to boost literacy in America, urged doctors on Wednesday to prescribe books for babies during check-ups.
Mrs. Bush, a librarian and teacher, said when babies went for regular check-ups, doctors should write out prescriptions for books or, if possible, send them home with one.
"That really adds the whole authority of the medical community (on the importance of reading)," Mrs. Bush told ABC's "Good Morning America" show, which launched a campaign to get more books into school libraries.
"There are all sorts of studies that show if a child has been read to from six months old ... they start school at a huge advantage," said the first lady.
Those who had not been read to did not even know how to turn pages. "Your babies might want to chew on them, but that's all right," Mrs. Bush said
[snip]
She said the one of President Bush's favorites was the Dr. Seuss' book "Hop on Pop."
"George loved to read to our girls and they would actually act it out. He would lie on the floor and read 'Hop on Pop' and they would jump up and down on him."
Along with Hop on Pop, other George Bush favorites include Dad on Crack, Have You Seen My Discharge Papers?, Horton Hires A Ho, and Daddy Drinks Because You Twins Make Too Much Noise.
posted by tbogg at 12:02 PM
|
Usually you can fit the Wit & Wisdom of Sean Hannity into a 20-second spot buy...but only if he talks.... real... slow
I thought this was a joke...but apparently it's not.
Volunteers are needed to be in the "Republican Values" TV show featuring President Bush and the wit & wisdom of Sean Hannity. The 30-minute national TV program is to be broadcast on Fox and CNBC and highlights the core values of the Republican Party by showcasing the major accomplishments of President Bush's first term in office.
The "Republican Values TV" show featuring President Bush is produced by RepublicanTV.org, a nonprofit, independent, educational organization created to educate the American public about Republican values and how important those values are to America.
I guess this calls for a contest.
E-mail me your best "Why I am a Republican" submission by Friday 9/26 and I'll pick a Top Ten and post it on Sunday night along with your name (or suitable-for-family-viewing nickname). Try and keep it to one line if possible. No bad words please, we're a Republican Family Values crowd around here. Please put Why I Am A Republican in the subject line so that I can sort it out from the regular Make It Larger emails as well as my correspondence with my Nigerian business partners.
(Thanks to Art for the link)
posted by tbogg at 11:04 AM
|
Making a case for child abuse
The Pretentious Partizan smacks little Kyle Williams (aka Chubby McPokemon) around.
Written by a wet-behind-the-ears lad of 14, Kyle Williams, the books description drops the following bomb on us: "home schooled in rural Oklahoma, Williams brings a fresh perspective to the debate, shattering stereotypes about the apathy of young people."
Well, you can already guess the trite appeal to patriotic values behind his "rural OKlahoma" home, but it's the delicious title, a clever play on words stemming from that old [ultraconservative] standby, "children should be seen, and not heard," that really holds the key to the book's ostensible appeal: this is a child, nay, person, whose fresh insights you must observe, because dismissing them would constitute nothing less than an appeal to ageism and - clearly - cosmopolitanism. Sporting a haircut about as fresh as last year's cowpie and a few of the ripest freckles this side of Missoura, Kyle begs to be taken seriously.
But do tell, are William's dicta really so fresh?
If you've never read Kyle, well, you probably made a good choice. But here's a sampling of his "fresh perspective":
Rich Americans should pay for Iraq war, Democrat says: Sen. Joseph Biden from Delaware says that wealthy Americans should pay for the costs associated with the war in Iraq by giving up their tax break for a year, according to CNS News. "The choices are stark," said the senator, "but the answer to me is absolutely clear how to pay for this."
Well, the answer to me is absolutely clear: More class-warfare garbage from Senate liberals.
Arafat: I'll dismantle Hamas when Israel agrees to dismantle IDF: Yasser Arafat is now saying that Israel should be required to dismantle the infrastructure of the Israel Defense Forces. "I know what military infrastructure is," said Arafat, according to a report by Israel Insider. "Don't forget, you are talking to an army general!"
It seems that the point that we have reached with the Israel and Palestinian issue is apathetic – at least for me. I, along with everyone else, get passionate and upset when you look at the current state of Israel. But I know this for certain: Nothing is going to happen with peaceful negotiations.
I think that the point we have reached with his boilerplate musings is 'apathetic' - but that's just my opinion.
(Thanks to Kim for the link)
posted by tbogg at 10:39 AM
|
Did I mention he's a.....
Michele Malkin went off the deep end this week. Okay, more so than last week or the week before or...well, you get the idea. Tired of bashing people who aren't as white as she is, she's stamping her little size 4 feet over Victor Salva. Who is Victor Salva?
Why he's "convicted child molester Salva", and we know this because Malkin uses that phrase 7 times in 666 words. I think her point is that he's a "convicted child molester", but I could be wrong. Anyway she writes:
After he was released on parole, convicted child molester Salva went on to write and direct the "critically acclaimed" 1995 movie "Powder," in which he worked with many young actors. Winters and his mother bravely went public to protest Salva's involvement. But his employers at Disney -- Disney! -- stood by him, as did liberal stars of the film, Mary Steenburgen and Jeff Goldblum. Also a staunch defender and patron of convicted child molester Salva's: director Francis Ford Coppola, whose company produced "Clownhouse" and the two Jeepers Creepers movies.
Convicted child molester Salva's saviors say their "talented" friend has paid his debt to society and should be left alone to express himself creatively and contribute positively to the movie industry. Separate the art from the artist, they preach. Just move on. That is patently impossible and irresponsible, however, when the director's "art" involves the continued sexual exploitation of -- and twisted obsession with -- young boys.
Then Malkin gets a little moist in the cleavage describing Salva's movie:
Consider the wretched plot of "Jeepers Creepers 2": An ancient demon dubbed "the Creeper" preys on teenage basketball players trapped in a broken-down bus on a rural highway. Convicted child molester Salva's camera lingers on the shirtless torsos of the boys, alive and dead. The boys, all buff and beautiful in that pedophilic Calvin Klein/Abercrombie and Fitch kind of way, sunbathe on the bus roof. The lascivious Creeper stalks and harvests his victims, devouring "certain parts of their anatomy while laminating the rest," in the words of one movie critic. This orgy of bare skin and blood splatter, the sophisticated artistes lecture us, is convicted child molester Salva's redeeming contribution to society. (my emphasis)
Actually I couldn't find any reference to anyone describing that the "orgy of bare skin and blood splatter" is a "redeeming contribution to society", but that doesn't stop Malkin form saying it just so that she can bash "Hollyweird". I can certainly understand Malkin getting her granny panties in a twist over Salva, but one would have to search far and wide to find her referring to Matt Glavin as "National Park Masturbator" Galvin, or Beverly Russell as "Stepdaughter raping" Bev Russell, or George Roche III.. as "Daughter in Law humping" George Roche
posted by tbogg at 9:19 AM
|
Pastries of Evil
World O'Crap points out that the evil traitorous spying evil Muslim evil US Airforce evil translator was trafficking in forbidden pastries.
I've been searching the Uniform Code of Military Justice, but I can't find anything under Pastry Pimping. Maybe it's under Mass Breadstuffs of Destruction....
posted by tbogg at 8:22 AM
|
Karma comes knocking with a pink slip
As a rule I hate to see anyone lose their job. The devastation to their family, the anxiety, the fear of what the future might hold. But (and you knew there would be a "but") I couldn't help but smile when I read this this morning:
The Wall Street Journal, which is published by Dow Jones & Co. Inc., said it is cutting 12 editor jobs in three key cities to streamline its news desk operation and reduce costs.
In a company announcement made available to the press on Tuesday, managing editor Paul Steiger said the positions would be eliminated from Wall Street Journal offices in New York, Brussels and Hong Kong.
...yet John Fund and Peggy Noonan still draw a paycheck. That's got to be salt in the wound.
posted by tbogg at 8:08 AM
|
Tuesday, September 23, 2003
Suffragette City
World O'Crap takes a look at what Dennis Prager thinks about how those irrational wimminfolk vote...now git back in the kitchen and make me a sammich....
You really need to go read this. Funny and biting.
posted by tbogg at 1:41 PM
|
Human Test Pattern lands job
According to Atrios CNN has announced that they have hired former Pentagon Spokeswoman and living Carpet Swatch Book Victoria Clarke to do something on Paula Zahn's show.
CNN still is putting the final touches on its new prime-time lineup, but the first two weeks' worth of ratings are down compared with last year.
The network said Monday it has hired contributors -- including former Defense Department spokeswoman Victoria Clarke and Time magazine columnist Joe Klein -- for the 8 p.m. show, "Paula Zahn Now."
At least we know she wasn't hired for her good looks...or fashion sense...or ability to tell the truth.
Either way...do not adjust your set.....
posted by tbogg at 1:12 PM
|
Clark has them really really really really worried
Josh Marshall has several items on the lengths that the Bushies will go to to destroy Wesley Clark.
Their fear of Clark makes him look more appealing every day.
posted by tbogg at 12:16 PM
|
tbogg links aren't working
Links to my individual posts below aren't working due to some problem at Blogger. I'd complain, but, hey, it's free. The links to other articles are as right as rain.
waddyagonnado?
posted by tbogg at 10:27 AM
|
Things don't look good for the patient. Actually, the patient is dead, so it really doesn't look very good. But we're hopeful.
The Daily Kos points out a stunning quote that reminds us of why we are happy that President Speaks Without A Net didn't become our family doctor:
"Obviously, I think they're going badly for the soldiers who lost their lives, and I weep for that person and their family. But no, I think we're making good progress," he said.
...and the rightwing complains when we call him "stupid".
posted by tbogg at 10:21 AM
|
Rummy World
Looks like this is going to be a fun week for Doonesbury.
Yesterday
Today
Does Rummy thinks this is funny? Probably not.
Is it accurate? Yes.
posted by tbogg at 10:05 AM
|
On the other hand, you can get Fox News 24/7
Part of the freedom that we have brought to Iraq is the freedom to censor:
Iraq’s U.S.-appointed Governing Council has issued a decree temporarily barring two of the Middle East’s most popular Arab satellite news channels access to government buildings and press conferences, saying it had suspicions that Al-Jazeera and Al-Arabiya were aware of attacks on American troops before they occurred. L. Paul Bremer, the top U.S. administrator in Iraq, holds a veto over all Council actions and he has yet to comment on whether he approves of the move.
THE DECISION “is a positive step to protect the Iraqi people from the poisons being broadcast by the channels,” said Entifadh Qanbar, spokesman for Ahmed Chalabi, the current president of the Governing Council.
Qanbar said the council wanted to close the stations for a “relatively short” time. It would then issue regulations for them to follow, and punishments to be applied if they did not.
Meanwhile back in our nation's capitol John Ashcroft was heard to exclaim, "Dude! I wanna get me some of that action.".
posted by tbogg at 10:02 AM
|
Thank the imaginary diety of your choice that they're not breeding, and the fact that the odds are against it happening in the future too.
Jay at Needles on the Beach takes up the evolutionary disruption known as Bush Youth.
It’s not simply because they’re smug, witless writers. It’s not just because they exude all of the smarm of Alex Keaton, without having a hot sister to distract me. It’s not merely because the writhing vipers of the pundit world (a world most unlike yours and mine) think it’s soooo cute for grim young men to hack out trite, boilerplate National Review Jr. essays. It’s because their presence on this planet represents a lifeforce draining reality – kids today SUCK.
Heh. Indeed.
posted by tbogg at 9:43 AM
|
I just got my Merit Badge in Perjury and now I'm working on one in Skankitude....
The Boy Scouts of America build our leaders of tomorrow. And what better way to teach good solid American values to these strapping young men than to have a benefit featuring a convicted perjuror and a woman who thinks that you spread democracy by invading countries, killing their leaders and forcing the people into Christianity, just like Jesus would. That's right. It's the Ann and Ollie show coming to Gwinnett County.
A patriot night promoting American values and speeches from some of America's top media personalities in television, radio and print. Join this special group promoting the good things about our great country.
Y'all c'mon down now for a night of food, fun, fascism and faggot-bashing, y'hear?
(Thanks to Tim)
posted by tbogg at 9:35 AM
|
When the words don't match the music
Our living National Nightmare today before the UN:
“The Security Council was right to vow serious consequences if Iraq refused to comply,” Bush said. “And because there were consequences — because a coalition of nations acted to defend the peace, and the credibility of the United Nations — Iraq is free.”
Paul Bremer yesterday:
The Associated Press, quoting a senior U.S. official it did not identify, said Bremer would use his veto to prevent an early transfer of power and would pre-empt plans by some Security Council members who want to set up a militia to replace U.S. troops as Iraq’s primary security force.
Freedom's just another word for "we're calling the shots here, Sparky".
posted by tbogg at 8:53 AM
|
All the young girls love Moonie....
Roger Ailes gives us all the evidence we need to know that the Reverend Moon is nuttier than a Payday bar.
I always keep women away, at least one meter. Now some women go crazy to get close to Father. I have to be careful. Why do women want to be close to me? Because I'm the king of the family, of man and woman and all humanity. I have to be careful because some women would even like to cut off my finger, so that they could keep it for a treasure in their purse!
Never mind the finger, it looks like Moon has been nutted by reality.
posted by tbogg at 8:26 AM
|
Monday, September 22, 2003
Luxuriating in my own splendiferous postulations
There was much rejoicing in the Conservative camp when the New York Times took on David Brooks (possibly in atonement for the sin of hiring Jayson Blair because he was black a liar). There must have been a party complete with cigars, WASPY beverages, and (to amuse the President) balloon animals. And presents! A MontBlanc pen from Bob Bartley. Some Cuban cigars from Jeb and Columba Bush. A bottle of Courvoisier and a Directors Cut DVD edition of Big Butt Sluts Vol. 14 from Clarence Thomas. And then there was the gift certificate for the Adjective Store that David got from George Will.
Looks like Brooks went on a shopping spree:
During the first half of the 90's, I spent some time on the "Whither NATO?" circuit. I'd sit in stately European palaces with diplomats, parliamentarians and multilateral men who used the word "modality" a lot, and we'd discuss the post-cold-war international order.
There were disquisitions on multipolarity, subsidiarity and post-nation-state sovereignty. I recall a long debate on whether the post-cold-war United States would face east or west, as if we were phototropic.
The people at these conferences tended to be paranoiaphiliacs. They believed there was a secret conspiracy running the world, but they were in favor of it because they thought they were it.
But even as we were ratiocinating in those palaces, the Russians were tossing out Gorbachev, the Ukrainians were breaking away from Russia and the Serbs were massacring their neighbors
As our illustrious President Golf Cart Cowboy might say:
Gee Mr Brooks, you use your tongue purtier than a twenty dollar whore.
And he would know...
posted by tbogg at 10:30 PM
|
Basra Hills, 90219
Water, sanitation, power, zip codes....
The administration wants $100 million for an Iraqi witness protection program, $290 million to hire, train and house thousands of firefighters, $9 million to modernize the postal service, including establishment of ZIP codes.
A Bush administration document, distributed to members of Congress and obtained by The Associated Press, goes far beyond the details officials have publicly provided for how they would spend the $20.3 billion they have requested for Iraqi reconstruction.
The 53 pages of justifications flesh out the size of the task of rebuilding the country, almost literally brick by brick. It also paints a painstaking picture of the damage Iraq (news - web sites) has suffered.
"The war and subsequent looting destroyed over 165 firehouses throughout the country. There are no tools or equipment in any firehouse," according to the report, written by the Coalition Provisional Authority, the U.S.-led organization now running Iraq.
Just a few of things that American taxpayers are being asked to go further into debt for. Why? Well, Bush's oil buddies take the oil, so there is no money to pay for infrastructure repairs, unless it comes out of the pockets of the American middle class and poor. It's like a reverse Robin Hood...but with a Middle Eastern flavor.
posted by tbogg at 9:55 PM
|
Wealthy Republican dips
To understand the letter to the editor below, you have to understand that the owner of the San Diego Chargers (0-3) is a multi-millionaire contributor to the Republican party as well as a Bush Pioneer. He's a real free market kind of guy, except when it comes to taxpayers subsidizing his joke of a football team.
Spanos’ company develops and manages apartments and other real estate. He also owns the NFL’s San Diego Chargers. Three years ago, taxpayers agreed to spend $78 million to renovate the Chargers’ Qualcomm Stadium in return for a pledge that the Chargers would stay in San Diego until 2020. The city also has agreed to buy any leftover tickets that the Chargers do not sell at games. While this all seems like a sweetheart deal, Spanos now says the Chargers need a new stadium. If there is something wrong with the current one, this comes as news to the NFL, which is holding the Super Bowl there in 2003. “Given the current climate,” the team recently announced, “the Chargers do not expect the public to pay” for any new stadium.
What is unmentioned in the link is that Spanos wants the city to lease him prime real estate in the center of town for pennies, as well as declare it a redevelopment district for further tax breaks. Which leads us to this letter in this mornings San Diego Union:
The cost of war and of stadiums
To put the cost of the Iraq war in perspective, if the City of San Diego were given the amount the military spends in one week on Iraq we could pay for 2112 stadiums.
Given that both the war and the stadium lack objective reasons to exist other than to enable wealthy Republicans the opportunity to dip from to public trough, I will leave arguing the comparative waste of either endeavor to others.
JOSEPH S. MITCHELL
Mission Hills
Someone buy that man a drink.
posted by tbogg at 9:40 PM
|
The Vast Right Wing Network at Work
You have to wonder sometimes where the money comes from to keep the army of right wing hacks and flacks busy churning out the swill, lies, and other effluvia that eventually ends up on Fox News as gospel. We all know about Richard Mellon Scaife, that man who was more interested in Bill Clinton's penis than Bill himself. With the announcement today of the Bradley Awards, it's probably a good time to take a look at just who these Bradleys are:
With over $700 million in assets1, the Lynde and Harry Bradley Foundation of Milwaukee,Wisconsin is the country's largest and most influential right-wing foundation. As of the end of 1998, it was giving away more than $30 million a year [The Bradley Foundation 1998 Annual Report].
Its financial resources, its clear political agenda, and its extensive national network of contacts and collaborators in political, academic and media circles has allowed it to exert an important influence on key issues of public policy. While its targets range from affirmative action to social security, it has seen its greatest successes in the areas of welfare "reform" and attempts to privatize public education through the promotion of school vouchers.
What Bradley Money Buys:
Within Milwaukee, Bradley money goes to a host of local organizations and institutions, most of which are not political in character. Virtually all the cultural institutions and most of the local colleges receive grants. The money buys good will and helps secure the hometown base.The overall objective of the Bradley Foundation, however, is to return the U.S. - and the world- to the days before governments began to regulate Big Business, before corporations were forced to make concessions to an organized labor force. In other words, laissez-faire capitalism: capitalism with the gloves off.
To further this objective, Bradley supports the organizations and individuals that promote the deregulation of business, the rollback of virtually all social welfare programs, and the privitization of government services. As a result, the list of Bradley grant recipients reads like a Who's Who of the U.S. Right. Bradley money supports such major right-wing groups as the Heritage Foundation, source of policy papers on budget cuts, supply-side economics and the Star Wars military plan for the Reagan administration; the Madison Center for Educational Affairs, which provides funding for right-wing research and a network of conservative student newspapers; and the American Enterprise Institute for Public Policy Research, literary home for such racist authors as Charles Murray (The Bell Curve) and Dinesh D'Souza (The End of Racism), former conservative officeholders Jeane Kirkpatrick, Jack Kemp and William Bennett, and arch-conservative jurists Robert Bork and Antonin Scalia.
So, who won the inaugural Bradley $250,000 awards?:
Mary Ann Glendon, Leon R. Kass, Charles Krauthammer and Thomas Sowell.
Considering the Bradley's history when it comes to racism, sexism, and their daliance with the John Birch Society, I guess that we should be impressed that they selected a woman, a Jew, a handicapped Jew, and an African-American.
I guess the price for washing away the sins of the past clocks in at a cool million these days....
(Make sure you read all of Media Transparency's info on the Bradleys and their involvement with Charles Murray, the war against the poor, and their above-ground racism)
posted by tbogg at 2:39 PM
|
Stop dragging my sorry-assed, over-the-hill career around....
Stevie Nicks the swirly-twirly Fleetwood Mac headcase who pioneered the singing like a baby goat approach to pop music, is miffed or irked or incredibly envious of the Madonna/Britney/Christina spit swapathon, and thinks those gals ought to just cool their jets and cultivate the I-believe-in-witches-dragons-and-unicorns mystique that has served Nicks so well these many years, although it's vaguely creepy in a 55 year-old woman who still goes by the name "Stevie":
STEVIE Nicks rates the notorious Madonna-Britney kiss as the most obnoxious television moment ever.
"First of all, Madonna is too old to be kissing someone who is 22," the Fleetwood Mac singer told the Herald Sun.
"And Britney should be smarter than that. Hopefully, she will figure a way out of this hole she has dug for herself."
Original rock chick Nicks, 55, said Spears and Christina Aguilera should wear more clothes and try writing decent songs.
Leaving aside the fact that Stevie, for some reason, thinks Britney is smart, perhaps Ms. Nicks can play Master Kan to Spear's Grasshopper and teach her the ways of songwriting. After all, when you write something like this:
Just like the white winged dove...
Sings a song...
Sounds like she's singing...
Whoo... whoo... whoo...
Just like the white winged dove...
Sings a song...
Sounds like she's singing...
Ooo baby... ooo... said ooo
And the days go by...
Like a strand in the wind...
In the web that is my own...
I begin again
Said to my friend, baby...
Nothin' else mattered
..you must have something to offer....
|
|
