Isn’t That Convenient?
I was only going to do one post today, but this is too damn funny. What do you do if you don’t want to be bothered by endangered birds? Well… If you’re deputy assistent secretary for Fish and Wildlife and Parks Julie McDonald, just arbitrarily change their nesting range… you know, cuz you can.
Too Little, Too Late
In more following the meme that the Bushies are against our troops, six weeks after the horrendous conditions at the Walter Reed military hospital were splashed across headlines, El Presidente FINALLY decided to give the place a little visit.
Unfortunately, some people see it for exactly what it is, a photo op to make it look like he cares. Here are my favorite comments of this entire story, ever:
Retired Maj. Gen. Paul Eaton, among retired military officers who took part
in a conference call about Bush’s visit, praised the president for seeing
wounded soldiers. But, he added: “I’m convinced he would honor them more if he
would refrain from using soldiers as props in political theater.”
“I would be
very happy to see him do the Walter Reed visit more like the commander and
secondarily as an inspector general, rather than as a politician,” he
said.
Republicans Against The Troops
Remember when Democratic votes against past funding bills were hailed by Republicans (and echoed loudly by the media) as being a position against the troops. Remember how they hung Kerry as “voting against the troops” with his vote in 2003 against a funding bill wholly lacking in accountability.
Well today 46 Republicans and 1 Lie-berman voted against the latest funding bill for the troops.
Will these folks be skewered as “against the troops”? Will Bush be so skewered when he vetoes this bill?
Don’t hold your breath.
Conservatives Eating Their Young
Entertainment courtesy of Markos.
McCain Supports Gay Marriage Particulary "Between Passionate Females"
The following statement appeared on John McCain’s MySpace website:
Today I announce that I reverse my position and come out in full support of gay marriage … particularly marriage between passionate females.
Here’s the screenshot.
O.K. … some guy pranked McCain. But apparently it was all done legally. Here’s the full story.
More Sandlot Name Calling
This story will most likely get buried beneath the rubble of the US Attorney firing scandal, the ongoing war between the White House and congress over timetable language tied to war financing, and whatever other malarchy this administration is up to.
I’m speaking about the withdrawal of the abassadorial nomination of Sam Fox to, of all places, the globally vital nation of… Belgium. Okay, so it’s not like it’s that high up of a post. We’re not talking about a judicial nomination, or Secretary of State or something, it’s the ambassador to Belgium, but it’s still an important story.
When it became clear that Fox wasn’t going to be able to garner the requisite votes necessary to be confirmed as ambassador, his nomination was pulled, and the following statement made:
“Some members of the Senate would have voted against his nomination, which would have prevented him for serving in this important position,” Perino said. “So we are disappointed that they made their decision based on partisan politics instead of his leadership abilities.”
Partisan politics? Say it isn’t so! But much like this post I wrote the other day, again the onus of injecting partisan rancor in the debate falls not on the Democrats, but on the Republican party and its constituents.
In this instance, Senate Democrats cited the fact that Fox was a donor for, of all people, the SWIFT BOAT VETERANS FOR TRUTH?! We’re not talking about the Heritage Foundation, or even Focus on the Family, but instead a deceitful, lying organization whose sole purpose during the 2004 election was to attack and sink Kerry by spreading as many untruths as is humanly possible.
On a presonal level, who could really blame Senator Kerry for being bitter?
But seriously. Partisan politics? Again, YOU GUYS STARTED IT! If you would like the Democratic caucus to play nice, QUIT TRYING TO TAKE A BASEBALL BAT TO THEIR KNEES EVERYTIME THEY TURN AROUND! It’s just a thought.
Of course there will be some righty reading this thinking, ‘So he donated to the Swifties, how’s that affect his ability to be an ambassador?’ Nevermind the righties who actually still believe the Swifties were right in the first place.
There are a few major implications here that are directly related to the ability of Fox to act as ambassador. For one, we have to keep in mind that Fox donated fifty thousand dollars to an inherently dishonest and dare I say evil organization in order to affect the political landscape. In other words, Fox is FOR the obfuscation of facts in order to ensure that power resides where he wants it to reside, not a very good model for someone to follow when they are acting as our liason to other nations. (As I continue to write this piece, I’m beginning to wonder if I’m talking about the man or the news network…)
Then you have his unwillingness to apologize, condemn the actions of the Swifties, or in any way recuse himself from their actions which speaks poorly on the man’s integrity and ability to accept responsbility (sound like anyone else we know? ahem…*Bush*… no wonder El Presidente likes this guy). This is a man who is going to be, on many occasions acting on the behalf of the United States, and if he cannot carry himself with a modicum of responsibility, how are we to expect him to be able to do so in his representation of our nation?
Finally, in his own defense, Fox has said that, “When I’m asked, I just generally give,” apparently meaning he really didn’t know what the hell he was donating fifty thousand dollars to in the first place. If this is a lie (which I’m really apt to think it is because for one, the man had made it to “Ranger” status for Bush during the 2004 elections, no small deal in and of itself, and for another, HELLO! 50 grand! Who gives away fifty grand without at least having a small inkling as to where it is going) then that just goes to further prove the man cannot be trusted. If on the outside chance, however, he is actually telling the truth, we find ourselves with another problem in that the man just doesn’t pay enough attention to detail to serve the government in any capacity, let alone ambassador.
But there’s a reason why I’m paying so much attention to something that rates only a little above a several paragraph wire report, and that’s because this is showing a pattern on how the White House is coping with a hostile congress. “Partisan Politics.” “Partisan Politics.” “Partisan Politics.”
It is looking more and more like every time congress goes against the White House, every time they get in the way of whatever nefarious schemes Bush is planning on putting in place, the knee jerk reaction is to scream “Partisan Politics” like it’s a flag down on the play.
I say GOOD!
Going against my own political beliefs, I don’t think the Dems are being partisan enough. I won’t be so bold as to call the midterms a mandate, but I will say that it was a loud wake up call from the voters that they are tired of the unchecked power held by this administration. They are tired of the agenda of the people being put aside in favor of the bullheadedness designs of the president and the GOP. They want a government that serves them, and not the other way around.
So push! Be partisan! Put the GOP on their heels and I guarantee every veto, every failed nominee, every time Dana Perino has to get up in front of the cameras and blame the Democrats for employing partisan politics, it is just driving the message home even further that this administration, and the party for which it stands, is not in the service of the public, but in the service of themselves and their benefactors.
Keep pushing, and let’s show the bullies that they no long rule the sandlot.
American Public Favors Troop Deadline
How long can the administration ignore the will of the people? Hopefully not much longer.
Pew Research Center:
Solid Majority Favors Congressional Troop Deadline26 Mar 07 40% now say the situation in Iraq is going fairly or very well but nearly six in ten want their representative to vote for a withdrawal deadline and only 36% think the U.S. troop buildup will work.
The Beginning
That’s exactly what I’m hoping this is.
I remember way back when the Dem’s took over congress saying something to the effect of the single thing they needed to do was run the president’s pen dry from all the vetoing they were making him do, and here we go.
Ultimately, this doesn’t mean much. We’re still giving Bush the money, and the timetable language in the bill isn’t binding, but it’s a start. Bush will in all likelihood follow through with his threat to veto, and there the games officially begin.
In a way, this is kind of sad. We’re about to start playing political football with the troops in danger playing the part of the ball itself, but this is ultimately the result of an administration allowed to run rampant for six years under a rubber stamp congress. I, along with House and Senate majority leaders, hope that the Commander in Chief will actually put this foolish hardheadedness away, and actually work with congress to put an end to this war.
But I’m not holding my breath.
It should be said that I’m not making this statement solely because I want the war to end, but because the rest of the country wants it to as well. The point is that yet again too many people seem to have forgotten that all these folks in Washington work for us. A pretty big majority of US wants nothing further to do with Iraq, and WE would please like THEM to put an end to it, and ANY actions otherwise is basically insubordination. Through opinion polls, demonstrations, op eds, and countless other media, we have given the order, and our elected officials are disobeying those orders.
They should be fired.
But as that’s not likely to happen, let’s look at what is. Following the veto, only one of two things can happen. Either the Senate will pass a bill that ditches the timetable language, or, they make the language more aggressive. I know that it’s pretty much guaranteed that the former is predestined to happen, but you know, I’d kinda like to see the latter.
What I would really like to see is every time Bush vetoes that bill, we send it back, getting harsher each time. Right now it’s you can have the money, but we’d like you to use a timetable, but you don’t have to. Then, let’s make it, okay you didn’t like that, now you HAVE to use the timetable. Oh? What’s that you say El Presidente? Veto again? Alright, you asked for it; now you not only HAVE to use the timetable, but we are going to establish an END DATE, and we are going to cut it short by a few months.
Oh my, he vetoed again… Well damn, I guess you don’t like timetables… How about you just go ahead and bring those troops back now, and we’ll give you just enough cash to do it.
I think you know what I’m going after here. And in all honesty, I think it’s feasible. Now is not the time for Democrats to try and show how nice they can play. Now is the time to show they mean business, that the change of majority in both the House and the Senate was a large statement made by the nation that we do not approve. And while I know this may sound a little more idealistic than I’m prone to sounding, think about the whole board.
If executed properly, what this will look like is a President flailing about trying to pump more vitality into a largely unpopular war, each veto putting him further and further out of touch with what the people want. In the end, I can foresee RNC operatives taping El Presidente’s hands to his sides in a last ditch effort to save their party’s chance at winning any election ever again.
Ah… wouldn’t it be nice.
Back to reality now.
Irony
A Tourniquet General
“The Boy In The Bubble”!
It was a slow day
and the sun was beating
on the soldiers by the side of the road
There was a bright light
a shattering of shop windows
The Bomb in the baby carriage
was wired to the radio…Staccato signals of constant information
A loose affiliation of millionaires and billionaires…I need a photo-opportunity
I want a shot at redemption
Don’t want to end up a cartoon
In a cartoon graveyard
Bonedigger Bonedigger…If You be my bodyguard
I can be your long lost pal
I can call you Condi
And Condi when you call me
You can call me Al!
Diamonds on the soles of Ken Lay’s Shoes,baby…
I saw a Werewolf drinking KoolAid at Trader Dick’s…his hair was PERFECT!
Once upon a time, Watergate was a conspiracy theory…
Alberto Gonzales, Alberto Gonzales
political, political cartoons, cartoons, Bush, Paul Simon, Graceland, comic books, Comics,, Chakra
The Politics of Pleading
I’m no constitutional scholar, but the fifth ammendment has to be the single funniest ammendment of the Bill of Rights. I mean, seriously. We’re talking some hilarious, pee in your pants, funny.
Of course, it wasn’t written to be funny. I sometimes wonder if the founding fathers had that great of a sense of humor, but still, it’s nuggets like the right not to incriminate yourself that make me think that they knew how to have a good chuckle or two (This is ignoring the second ammendment completely, for which I think they’re looking down upon us now and just laughing their asses off).
The reason why the fifth is so funny is because of the absurdity of its usage. We have these courts in place, and processes and such to root out who is innocent and who is guilty of any given crime, and it’s all very serious and very dour, but when it comes down to the question “Did you commit a crime?” You don’t even have to come up with a clever lie. All you gotsta do is say, “I plead the fifth,” to which we are all supposed to pretend like you never spoke, while at the same time everyone in the room knows you had to have done SOMETHING wrong.
To be fair, and so that I don’t get jumped for pointing this out, it is perfectly feasible to plead the fifth if your testimony just sucks. You could be perfectly innocent, but if you can’t manage to take the stand without saying things like, “I like to drink the fresh blood of the slain,” then, yeah, you could take the fifth there too.
But in general, the fifth ammendment is a lovely little ammendment that says, “I don’t have to admit that I did something wrong even though I did do something wrong, otherwise I would have no reason to use my right to not admitting I did something wrong.”
It gets even funnier in the midst of a political scandal.
Now I think the bit that really seals the deal for me is this quote from the White House:
The White House said Goodling’s decision shows how political the investigation has become
“It is unfortunate that a public servant no longer feels comfortable that they
will be treated fairly in testimony in front of Congress,” White House
spokeswoman Dana Perino said.
Of course we know the White House definition of “fair” is letting the White House get on with doing what it wants without repercussion. But even funnier still is the idea that the White House is blaming this all on politics, because, ironically enough, it’s true. Had there been no politically motivated firings of attorneys, then maybe there wouldn’t be an investigation, and Monica Goodling wouldn’t be forced into saying, “I did something wrong, so I’m going to use my right not to admit I did something wrong.”
That’s not what the White House meant. The White House meant that congress is being mean, and that it wants congress to go away and play on the other side of the sandlot or else the White House is going to go tell its mommy.
Of course it’s political, guys. You started it. Ah well. I guess there’s really nothing much uglier, though still gratifying, than watching bullies get their comeuppance.
Tom Delay Uses Hitler Hate Speech Against Liberals
Tom Delay, former Congressman, Cable TV darling and friend of Washington elites, says:
“By charging this big lie, liberals have finally joined the ranks of scoundrels like Hitler.” (via Johnny America).
Atrios remarks:
Move On is a left wing extremist organization because it once held an open contest in which someone submitted an ad which compared Bush to Hitler which they promptly removed after it came to their attention.
Adolf Hitler, of course, is the singularly, most evil person in modern history. You can’t help but think of the Holocaust whenever you think of Hitler. Thus, drawing comparisons to him for what, even if true, would amount to a much lesser wrong, minimizes Hitler’s evil and is insulting to his victims. Though I’m not against trash talking in general, I believe there is an art to it (try to make it humorous) and there is a line where name calling crosses into hate speech. Racial epithets is one example. Hitler comparisons - such as BushHitler, Hitlery Clinton - is another.
On the other hand, I don’t have a “hate speech” problem with calling people Nazis. The Nazi insult has a long history in this country that is not strictly associated with the Holocaust but with generally oppressive behavior. In school, we heard of particularly harsh teachers or principals called Nazis. Seinfeld had the Soup Nazi. Even with the right’s long use of the term feminazi, I wasn’t offended and understood the point they were trying to make. I would debate the substance of the charge but would not argue the righty trash talkers should never use the phrase because it equals hate speech.
Hagel on Bush, "You Can Impeach Him"
Nebraska Senator, Republican 2008 Republican Presidential hopeful, and Vietnam Veteran Chuck Hagel expressed his frustration with President Bush’s mulish position in regard to Iraq with the following comments in the April edition of Esquire,
“The president says, ‘I don’t care.’ He’s not accountable anymore,” Hagel says, measuring his words by the syllable and his syllables almost by the letter. “He’s not accountable anymore, which isn’t totally true. You can impeach him, and before this is over, you might see calls for his impeachment. I don’t know. It depends how this goes.”
Well, while I am sure this will go over in many quarters like a case of raw porterhouse at the home of Siegfried and Roy. Sadly, it’s about two years to late. I am no constitutional scholar but I imagine it would take more than the 20 remaining months of Bush’s Presidency to impeach him. A better solution would be to find a way to prevent him from doing any further damage. Maybe if Mr. Hagel spent less time grandstanding and more time consensus building he may be able to achieve that goal.
For some interesting insight on the impeachment process check out “How to Impeach a President.”
Abdicated?
THE PRESIDENT: Today I’m joined here at the White House by veterans, family members of people serving in combat, family members of those who have sacrificed. I am honored that they have joined me here today.Here in Washington, members of both parties recognize that our most solemn responsibility is to support our troops in the war on terror. Yet, today, a narrow majority in the House of Representatives abdicated its responsibility by passing a war spending bill that has no chance of becoming law, and brings us no closer to getting our troops the resources they need to do their job.
Huh? King George speaks…and obviously not for the people.
The Strayed Talk Express
A Double Shot of The Undeniable Liberal
The Heretik on Tony Snow Job
Revenge Of The UGLY PEOPLE! (256 days until Zappadan)
The White House Get Smart
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Soledad O’Brien Takes on Tony Snow
One could only assume the White House figured she was a light-weight when they decided to send Tony Snow to CNN’s American Morning today to spin the facts about Bush’s refusal to allow Karl Rove and Harriet Meyers to testify before the congress under oath regarding their roles in the U.S. Attorney firings. Apparently they were mistaken. The interview went more like a Tim Russert interrogation than something normally found on a sterile morning show. Kudos to Soledad and CNN for good work.
Note to CNN (or anyone with TiVo and a YouTube account for that matter), get that video up quick so I can link to it here.
UPDATE: Finally the video…
Lieberman Won’t Rule Out a 180 on His Campaign Promise
If you recall, (if you are from Connecticut and voted for Lieberman you damn well should) after losing in the Democratic primary to Ned Lamont, Joe Lieberman decided to run as an independent in the general and won. He won in no small part because he promised the voters of the CT that he would continue to be a Democrat.
Well, the new message Lieberman has for the people of CT is simple…screw you.
In an interview with MSNBC’s Nora O’Donnell, Sen. Joe Lieberman (ID-CT) admits that joining the Republican Party is not out of the realm of possibility for him.“I wouldn’t rule [a switch to the GOP] out,” Leiberman says to O’Donnell, adding that “my real hope here is to stay and fight for the kind of Democratic Party I joined when John F. Kennedy was president.” He also says that he could support a Republican pro-war presidential candidate.
Go on over to RawStory and view the interview with Senator Palpatine… er… Lieberman then, if you are Dem from CT who was foolish enough to vote for this fraud, march you sorry nutmeg munchin’ butt down to his office and ask for your damned vote back.
