To Bush, People are Just Props

HEY BIG SPENDER

Early estimates are that the cost of rebuilding the
Gulf Coast next year alone could more than the entire
cost of the Iraq war thus far.


Doesn’t make you feel good?
*****************************************************************


ALL PEOPLE ARE JUST PROPS TO HIM


“I am going to defend the people who are on the front
line of saving lives. Those Coast Guard kids pulling
people out of the -- out of the floods are -- did
heroic work. The first responders on the ground,
whether they be state folks or local folks, did
everything they could. There's a lot of people that
are -- have done a lot of hard work to save lives.”

-- George W. Bush

No one was attacking the Coast Guard. Bush is such a
coward, that just as when war supporters chant “you
have to support the troops,” Bush is going dodge his
terrible record from the Huricane by hiding behind the
heroism of other people.
*****************************************************************


THE WHEELS ARE COMING OFF THE BUS


"Katrina's winds have unspun the spin of the Bush
machine, particularly the crucial idea that he is a
commanding commander in chief. In the Newsweek Poll,
only 17 percent of Americans say that he deserves the
most blame for the botched early response to Katrina.
But, for the first time, less than a majority -- 49
percent -- say he has 'strong leadership qualities,'
down from 63 percent last year. That weakness, in
turn, dragged down his job-approval rating -- now at
38 percent, his lowest ever -- as well as voters'
sense of where the country is headed. By a 66-28
margin, they say they are 'dissatisfied,' by far the
gloomiest view in the Bush years, and among the worst
in recent decades."

–– Howard Fineman, Newsweek

*****************************************************************


THIS IS THE GUY THEY DIDN’T FIRE

"It was on Tuesday that the levee — may have
been overnight Monday to Tuesday — that the
levee started to break,"

-- DHS Secretary Michael Chertoff to Tim
Russert.


“The New Orleans office of the National Weather
Service issued a flash flood warning at
8:14 a.m. Monday, saying "a levee breach
occurred along the industrial canal at Tennessee
Street. 3 to 8 feet of water is expected due to
the breach."

*****************************************************************

THE WEEK IN REVIEW

FUN FACT OF THE WEEK


In the first day of his confirmation hearings, John
Roberts pledged that he understood that “It's my job
to call balls and strikes, and not to pitch."

The next day Supreme Court Justice John Paul Stevens
threw out the first pitch at the Chicago Cubs game at
Wrigley field.

*****************************************************************

SUPREME COURT QUOTE OF THE WEEK


Sen. Joe Biden:

“Judge Roberts' answers are "misleading."

Sen. Arlen Specter:

"The answers may be misleading but they are his
answers."

*****************************************************************


REMEMBER, YOU’RE UNDER OATH

This week, at the confirmation hearing, Senator Chuck
Schumer asked John Roberts this question:


“Let me ask you, then -- this hypothetical: And
that is that it came to our attention, Congress',
through a relatively and inexpensive, simple
process, individuals were now able to clone
certain species of animals, maybe an arroyo toad.
Didn't pass over state lines; you could somehow
do it without doing any of that. Under the
commerce clause, can Congress pass a law
banning even noncommercial cloning?”



Aren’t you glad you didn’t go to law school?

*****************************************************************


SUPREME COURT HEARING
QUESTION OF THE WEEK


Which of the following occurred during John Robert’s
confirmation hearing?


(A) Roberts answered whether he thought Marbury v.
Madison was correctly decided.

(B) Joe Biden said he was jealous of Roberts’ hair.

(C) Ted Kennedy sang, “Oh, Danny Boy”.

(D) Arlen Specter reminded everyone that he invented
the Lone Gunman theory.

(E) Senator Brownback asked whether Roberts had ever
been a fetus.

(F) John Roberts’ wife fell asleep.


ANSWER: F


The others did not happen. As far as I know.
*****************************************************************


YOU CAN’T ARGUE WITH THAT

Bill O’Reilly:

“The truth of the matter is our correspondents at Fox
News can’t go out for a cup of coffee in Baghdad.”

Condi Rice:

“Bill, that’s tough. It’s tough. But what — would they
have wanted to have gone out for a cup of coffee when
Saddam Hussein was in power?”

I imagine this later exchange:

"Mr. President, you're about to leave office with the
lowest approval ratings of any President in modern
history. Iraq is in the middle of vicious civil war,
we have record defcits, gas is $5 per gallon, and our
network correspondents can't even walk the streets of
New Orleans because the city, under the temporary rule
of Halliburton, has become a disease-infested swamp of
failed casinos. What is your response?"

President Bush:

"That’s tough. It’s tough. But what — would they have
wanted to have gone out in the streets when the city
was under 20 feet of water?"

-–– January, 2009

*****************************************************************

YES, WE’RE STILL IN IRAQ


In case your mind was on other things, hundreds of
people were killed in Iraq this week. Literally.

The number of people killed by massive waves of
bombers on Wednesday ALONE has risen to 150, and
hundreds more were injured.

It was the worst one day toll since the fall of Saddam
in 2003.

*****************************************************************

BUSH TO DELIVER MESSAGE BY BULLHORN

September 14, 2005 (Dateline: Washington)

(NEWS) President Bush will deliver his entire message to the nation Thursday night while shouting into a bullhorn, sources close the White House say. According to anonymous sources, the President is trying to recapture the support of the nation he received immediately following September 11. The President "feels he is more imposing and leader-like with the bullhorn," a source said. In fact, said one senior aide, the President often conducts meetings with the bullhorn. "He started an informal meeting the other day yelling 'I can hear you!'" the aide said. "It was crazy. But that's Bush."

Presidential historians say this would be the first time a President has addressed the nation in this fashion. The President's address is Thursday evening.

Senator Brownback, Moron

I was just listening to Senator Brownback of Kansas in the Roberts hearing going on and on about much he really, really cared about the plaintiffs in Roe v. Wade, and the other cases. How no one else cared for them but him, and the other anti-choicers. And the then he called her "Sandra McCorvey" three times. "Sandra McCorvey, "Sandra McCorvey," "Sandra McCorvey ..."


It's NORMA McCorvey, moron....

Does the Truth Even Matter Any More?

From Larry Johnson posting on Josh Marshall's TPM Cafe:

SORTING OUT OPINION FROM FACT ON KATRINA

By Larry Johnson

"While watching the MSNBC program, CONNECTED, COAST TO COAST with Ron Reagan, a man from the Evergreen Foundation was on air spinning the myth that the President had to "beg" the Governor of Louisiana to take action.  Having been on this show several times I called one of the bookers, Susan Durrwatcher, to alert her to the fact that this man was misrepresenting what happened.  I offered Susan the following objective, documented facts (see timeline below).  Susan thanked me for my "opinion" and said "we just have a different perspective".  Stunned, I asked her by what standard of journalism that an objective fact was mere opinion?  I asked her to simply look at the documents and correct the record.  She declined.  I asked her to remove me from the MSNBC list of contacts.  I'm sure MSNBC won't miss me and I am certain I will have a happy life without having to subject myself to their unprofessional approach to journalism."


So MSNBC has given up on the truth.

Oh well. It was an outdated concept anyway.

Looters in the News

.

QUESTION OF THE DAY

This headline appears in today's "New York Times"


"HANDS FULL, OFFICIALS ARE HELPLESS AGAINST LOOTERS"


What is it about?


(A) Halliburton's fraud and theft of millions of your tax dollars

(B) Jack Abramoff, Tom Delay and the corruption in culture of corruption they created in Washington

(C) The billions in cash missing in Iraq

(D) The hundreds of tons of weapons Bush let fall into the hands of terrorists

(E) Poverty stricken Americans on the brink of mass death, abanonded by their government


Answer: E

QUOTE OF THE WEEK

“Rumsfeld said he did not know how to
explain an increase in U.S. casualties in
Iraq from roadside bombs, "other than the
fact that they [insurgents] obviously are
becoming more sophisticated in developing,
in large measure, explosive devices which
have greater lethality."

But he said that while some roadside bombs
have been deadlier, the "overwhelming majority"
of them — about 75 percent — "are not effective
at all" and cause no casualties."

What a relief.
****************************************************************

CREEPING FASCISM, PART XV

This is what fascism looks like.

“Meeting briefly with reporters Monday aboard Air
Force One, Trent Duffy, a White House spokesman
subbing for Scott McClellan, said that President Bush
believes that those who want the U.S. to begin to
change course in Iraq DO NOT WANT AMERICA TO WIN the
overall "war on terror."

Not that they disagree as to how to win. No. If you
want to change course in Iraq, it’s because you don’t
want to win.

This is, I’m afraid to say, fascism.

Duffy said that Bush "can understand that people don't
share his view that we must win the war on terror, and
we cannot retreat and cut and run from terrorists, but
he just has a different view. He believes it would be
a fundamental mistake right now for us to cut and run
in the face of terrorism, because if we've learned
anything, especially from the 9/11 Commission Report,
it is that to continue to retreat after the Cole,
after Beirut and Somalia is to only empower terrorists
and to give them more recruiting tools as they try to
identify ways to harm Americans.”

It was Ronald Reagan who scampered out of Beirut.

And Bush based his entire "foreign policy" of his 2000 campaign for President on NOT getting U.S. forces involved in, or in places or situatuations like Somalia. "I don't believe in nation building."

What the hell....
****************************************************************

OK, THIS LOOKS BAD

Yes, in Iraq right now it looks like every ideal we
may have had is rapidly disappearing in a sandstorm of
political and religious power struggles. In other
words, exactly what I predicted would happen. I’ve
warned over and over that democracy in Iraq would very
likely produce a fundamentalist Muslim government, if
not one actively hostile to the U.S.

And what then?

I also predicted back in 1991 -- yes, really -- that
an occupation would produce a violent armed power
struggle among various political factions jockeying
for power. I based this staggering insight on my
guess that that’s what would happen here if another
country invaded the U.S.

Anyway, both things are happening right now. And it
was only this January, with all the purple fingers,
that things looked so good.

At the State of the Union address, Bush managed a
totally staged “improvised” moment with an Iraqi woman
named Safia Taleb al-Souhail and an American woman
whose son, ironically, was killed in Iraq. All of
America wept as they embraced.

The Washington Post captured it the next day:

“When Norwood started to pull back, the
chain from her son's dog tags, which she
had been holding, became entangled in
al-Souhail's accoutrements. The women had
to disentangle themselves on live television,
the awkwardness lending the moment an
unrehearsed charm. It was, by any measure, magic.”

-- The Washington Post, “The Moment That
America Embraced”, February 4, 2005

Out of the tens of millions of people in Iraq, Bush
had Safia Taleb al-Souhail sit next to Laura Bush to
show how happy Iraqis were that we invaded.
(Admittedly a great improvement over the 2004 guest
Laura had, that crook, Ahmed Chalabi).

And how does Safia Taleb al-Souhail feel now?

"When we came back from exile, we thought
we were going to improve rights and the position
of women. But look what has happened -- we
have LOST all the gains we made over the last
30 years. It's a BIG DISAPPOINTMENT."

--- Safia Taleb al-Souhail, Iraq's ambassador
to Egypt, Reuters interview, August 24, 2005


Oh well. Win some, lose some…

****************************************************************

WHAT WOULD THE QUEER EYE GUYS SAY?

The new visitor's locker room at Iowa's Kinnick
Stadium is entirely pink, even all the urinals. The
tradition was started by in the 1980s by the football
coach Hayden Fry, a former psychology major who hoped
that the unmanly color would weaken visiting teams.

The color scheme has been continued and brightened in
the stadium -- with a color called dubbed "Innocence."

Pretty silly, right?

The Iowa Hawkeyes have won a record 18 straight home
games.
****************************************************************

AND WHILE WE’RE ON THE SUBJECT OF SCREWUPS

Pat Robertson has already apologized for calling for
the assassination of Hugo Chavez, president of
Venezuela.

"If he thinks we're trying to assassinate him,
I think that we really ought to go ahead and do it"

He then compared himself the Protestant theologian,
Dietrich Bonhoffer, who participated in an
unsuccessful plan to assassinate Adolf Hitler:

But the right wing has finally written this cuckoo
off, so maybe I should just drop it.

Then again, there is the Robertson Hit Parade:

This month he prayed to God that "additional vacancies
occur within the Supreme Court."

But aren’t those lifetime appointments? Oh, I get it.

Then there’s my favorite, after September 11th:

Falwell: "What we saw on Tuesday, as terrible as it
is, could be miniscule if, in fact, God continues to
lift the curtain and allow the enemies of America to
give us probably what we DESERVE."

Robertson: "Well, Jerry, that's my feeling. I think
we've just seen the antechamber to terror, we haven't
begun to see what they can do to the major
population."

Falwell:

"The ACLU has got to take a lot of blame for this. And
I know I'll hear from them for this, but throwing
God...successfully with the help of the federal court
system...throwing God out of the public square, out of
the schools, the abortionists have got to bear some
burden for this because God will not be mocked and
when we destroy 40 million little innocent babies, WE
MAKE GOD MAD."

"I really believe that the pagans and the abortionists
and the feminists and the gays and the lesbians who
are actively trying to make that an alternative
lifestyle, the ACLU, People for the American Way, all
of them who try to secularize America...I point the
thing in their face and say you HELPED THIS HAPPEN."

Robertson: "I totally concur.”

Then there’s Pat on Scotland:

“Scotland is a Dark Land. In Scotland, you can't
believe how strong the homosexuals are. It's just
unbelievable,"

–- Pat Robertson, June 2, 1999.

The funny thing about that was he said at the very
moment his US bank was trying to do a $48 million deal
with the Bank of Scotland.

Said his embarrassed spokesman: "This deal is not
about Pat Robertson, the religious leader. This is
about Pat Robertson, the businessman."

The deal did not go through.

Then there’s his book, “The New World Order” from
1991, where he outlined a plot to impose "a new order
for
the human race" dating back to 1776, when Bavarian
scholar Adam Weisphaut founded the Order of the
Illuminati a secret society of "atheists and
Satanists" that, Robertson asserts, was dedicated to
"the elevation to world leadership of a group of
hand-picked 'adepts' or `Illuminati'. The still
control the world today.

And he has a new theory on who killed Abraham Lincoln.
Really?

"It is my belief that John Wilkes Booth was in the
employ of the European bankers."

That’s Pat.

Finally, there’s Pat views on the Equal Rights
Amendment.

I’ve always loved this quote:

"The work of a secret feminist agenda
that is not about equal rights for women.
It is about a socialist, anti-family political
movement that encourages women to leave
their husbands, kill their children, practice
witchcraft, destroy capitalism and become
lesbians."

–– Pat Robertson.
****************************************************************

ONE LITTLE MISTAKE

Speaking of embarrassing screw ups, Fox News (who
else?) now admits it wrongly labeled some innocent
Americans and terrorists.

On August 7, John Loftus, a former U.S. prosecutor,
(all around nut?) said that a man living in the U.S.
named Iyad K. Hilal, was the leader of a terrorist
group with ties to those responsible for the July 7
bombings in London.

He then gave out the man’s home address, on
television.

Fox News also put satellite photos of the house and
DIRECTIONS TO THE HOUSE online.

Trouble is, the guy had moved out three years ago.

Randy and Ronnell Vorick live there now. Oops.

Of course, they’ve been harassed, yelled at, and
threatened every day since then.

Last weekend, someone spray-painted "Terrist" on their
home.

Loftus, the Fox News guy, said he gave out the address
to help local police.

As one blogger put it: “Tip for former prosecutor
Loftus: if you want to help the police, call the
police.”

And as another blogger wrote:

"Terrist." That pretty much sums
up what you need to know about the
Fox News audience, doesn't it?

***************************************************************

BUSH IS LOSING IT

Having seen his body language this week, especially in
Idaho, I think Bush might finally be losing it.

Here’s Bush on why war is hopeful:

“And the reason why that's important is, is that we've
had a -- we had a policy that just said, let the
dictator stay there, don't worry about it. And as a
result of dictatorship, and as a result of tyranny,
resentment, hopelessness began to develop in that part
of the world, which became the -- gave the terrorists
capacity to recruit. We just cannot tolerate the
status quo. We're at war. And so this is a hopeful
moment.”

Got that?

Here’s Bush on women’s rights:

Question: “If it's rooted in Islam, as it seems it
will be, is that still -- is there still the
possibility of honoring the rights of women?”

THE PRESIDENT:

“I talked to Condi, and there is not -- as I
understand it, the way the constitution is written is
that women have got rights, inherent rights recognized
in the constitution, and that the constitution talks
about not "the religion," but "a religion."
Twenty-five percent of the assembly is going to be
women, which is a -- is embedded in the constitution.”

Oh, ok. “A religion.” Could be anything. Wicca,
Anglican, Scientology….

Here he is telling everyone the Sunnis will accept the
Constitution:

Bush: “I will tell you I spoke with Secretary Rice
twice this morning, who has been in touch with our
ambassador on the ground. And she is hopeful that
more and more Sunnis will accept the constitution.
Again, I repeat to you that we're watching an amazing
event unfold, and that is the writing of a
constitution which guarantees minority rights, women's
rights, freedom to worship, in a part of the world
that had only -- in a country that had only known
dictatorship.”

Ok, nothing he said there is true.

The Constitution DOES NOT guarantee women’s rights or
other minority rights.

The Iraqis set a deadline of midnight Friday to agree
to a Constitution.

It was rejected by the Sunnis.
*****************************************************************

CREEPING FASCISM, PART XIV

***************************************************

Cindy Sheehan has really gotten to Bush. Even though
she wasn’t even still there, he fled Texas for Idaho –
on vacation from his vacation? – to find another
Mother who could talk about how proud she is to have
her sons in Iraq. Of course, they’re all still alive.

Here’s Bush on the anti-Cindy:

“There are few things more difficult in life than
seeing a loved one go off to war, and here in Idaho, a
mom named Tammy Pruitt knows that feeling six times
over."

"Tammy has four sons serving in Iraq right now with
the Idaho National Guard, Eric, Evan, Greg, and Jeff.
Last year, her husband Leon and another son Aaron
returned from Iraq where they helped train Iraqi
firefighters in Mosul."

"Tammy says this, -- and I want you to hear this -- I
know that if something happens to one of the boys,
they would leave this world doing what they believe,
what they think is right for our country. And I guess
you couldn’t ask for a better way of life than giving
it for something you believe in?"

"America lives in freedom because of families like the
Pruitts.”
###

I have a few reactions to this fascist nuttiness.

First, this is what I’ve been saying for more than a
year now. American is slowly making a transition from
an upstart former British colony bound by certain
Democratic ideals like "Free Speech" and "Government
of the People" to a more traditional, Asian or
European-style country, bound by national codes like
Church, Nationalism, Patriotism, Language, the Flag,
and of course, Militarism.

This, ironically, at a time when Europe has itself
matured and moved on to a Post-Nationalism existence,
whle the Middle East is just beginning it’s
Post-Colonial Phase.

Also, I really can’t think of anything so ridiculous
as to announce that you would be happy to have a child
die for your country, except, perhaps, that you don’t
know why, just that they were “doing what they
believe” and “what is right for our country.”

Finally, you have to see the live footage of this
speech to get the full effect. Bush is not emotive,
or weepy, like he sometimes is. He is very
aggressive. He is shouting. This is meant as a
direct slap at Cindy Sheeehan.

The chilling part is where he pauses, for no reason,
and says: “I WANT YOU TO HEAR THIS”

What the hell does that even mean?

When he says the last line, he is practically yelling
and pounding the podium.

It was truly bizarre.


*****************************************************************

Public Opinion Turns Against Bush

The month of August is definitely seeing a distinct change in public attitudes and coverage of Bush and the war...

This from CNN coverage of Bush's rall-round-the-flag speech at the VFW:

"Between 400 and 500 people gathered at an anti-war rally in Pioneer Park, about three blocks from the Salt Palace where Bush spoke. "It's like Vietnam all over again, and I opposed that, too," said George Muller of Salt Lake City, a retired Air Force lieutenant colonel dressed in desert fatigues.

Muller, who said he served from 1961-2002, said that he was pleased to see so many people at the rally, and that he believed there has been a shift in the country's attitude toward the war.

"That's what it's going to take -- veterans groups, veterans and mothers who have lost kids speaking out," Muller said."

The Lie About Senator Clinton

Either you believe in a Culture of Truth, or you don't.

Some radical right wing sites have dredged up a story that first started going around right after Hillary Clinton was sworn in. That she had refused to meet with a group of visiting Gold Star Mothers, and was the only politician to do so. of coure, this is just the sort of story her enemies love, but if you know anything about Hillary Clinton, you know how silly it is.

The headline of the hoax stories reads:

Hillary Snubs Gold Star Mothers

"New York chapter president Shirley Jones and member Mary Wheeler, both of upstate New York, told Behan they had been in Washington visiting Senate offices. The only office that refused to meet with the Gold Star Mothers was none other than New York Senator Hillary Clinton. She and her staff simply refused to meet with them."

The real organizationhas put out a statement reading:

"The American Gold Star Mothers, Inc., deeply regret the misunderstanding about Senator Hillary Clinton. The two mothers who visited Washington did not have an appointment with the Senator and she was not in her office on that day. We would appreciate it if the e-mails and negative comments about Senator Clinton would cease."

What else is there left to say?

Of course, this old, debunked hoax has new relevance with the Cindy Sheehan Vigil continuing, although it seems odd to repeat a false story about Hillary refusing to meet with mothers of veterans and in the same breath defend the President for (really) doing the very same thing.

WHY YOUR CAT HATES YOU

Scientists discovered last week that all cats have a
genetic defect.

Cats lack the ability to taste sweet carbohydrates.
The genetic defect is common to both domestic cats and
their wild cousins, like tigers and cheetahs.

"That's why the cat is SO CRANKY. The big cats have
to hunt down all this food, and they don't even have
any sweet dessert. No wonder they're always roaring."

Well, I’m glad there’s a reason.

I like this part:

"We spent about THREE YEARS trying
to track down why cats cannot taste sweet."

–– Joseph G. Brand, associate
director at the Monell Chemical
Senses Center in Philadelphia.


Time well spent, I’m sure.
*****************************************************************

A LESSON IN WHAT NOT TO DO

The term “rocky start” was made for Jeanine Pirro’s
announcement that she’s running against Hillary.

First, she had a horrifically long 32 second pause
while she frantically hunted for a piece of paper. It
made her look foolish and was the lead story here the
next day. Then in her press conference, she could not
answer:

* Whether she would take money from her husband

* Why her husband’s picture was not one of 103 photos
on her web site

* How much money eliminating the estate tax and
continuing the tax cuts would add to the federal budget
deficit.

* Whether she would withdraw troops from Iraq

* Whether Lebanon is a democracy

* Her own position on abortion

Her excuse:

“It's my first day on the campaign.”

Also her last?
*****************************************************************

SPORTS QUESTION OF THE WEEK

The Australian National Rugby Team filled out
questionnaires as part of a team bonding session this
week, which were leaked to the media. What question
were they asked?

(A) “Why do you like rugby?”

(B) “What is your favourite non-sporting activity?”

(C) “What historical figure would you like to meet?”

(D) “How do you think the team could improve?”

(E) “Which teammate would you eat if we were forced to
resort to cannibalism?”

Answer: E

Actually, I'm paraphrasing - I don't the exact question asked.
Whatever it was, the quiz was inspired by the Uruguayan
rugby team which crashed in the Andes in 1972,
and inspired the movie “Alive,' with Ethan Hawke.

One player said that he would chose a particular
teammate for dessert because, he reasoned, "The amount
of sweets he puts in, it's got to rub off in his meat
somewhere."

Definitely something you need to know AHEAD of time.
****************************************************************

GO, JAKE GO!

Jake Pokonosky finished 72nd among more than 500
swimmers on during the 10th annual Alcatraz
Invitational, a 1.2-mile swim from the island to San
Francisco.

What is unusual about Jake Pokonosky?

(A) He once tried to escape from Alcatraz by swimming.

(B) He’s 93 years old.

(C) He was bitten by a shark halfway through the race.

(D) He’s the United States Secretary of State for
Far Eastern Affairs.

(E) He’s a Golden Retriever.

Answer: E

“Jake was the only non-human in Sunday's 1.2-mile swim
from the infamous prison island to the San Francisco
shore. The 65-pound Golden Retriever swam across the
cold, choppy water in a time of 41 minutes and 45
seconds.

Organizers from the South End Rowing Club which puts
on the annual event say it was the first known
crossing of the water by a dog. The crowd cheered as
Jake made his way onto solid ground, shook off water
and dodged a woman who tried to put a medal around his
neck.”

WHEN DEMOCRATS FIGHT BACK

Why did Rush Limbaugh say Paul Hackett went to Iraq?

(A) To “fight for freedom”

(B) To “liberate people”

(C) To “save America”

(D) To “stop terrorism”

(E) To “pad his resume”


Answer: E

Why? Because Hackett is a Democrat, of course.

Hackett’s response:

“That's typical for that fat ass drug addict to come
up with something like that.”

"I went to Iraq because I wanted to serve my country
and be with my Marines. Ask him why his phone lines
were clogged up. That's because he was getting
thousands of calls from veterans from this war and
other wars who were clogging up his phone lines,
giving him an earful."

“I was on drill this weekend, I've got to tell you, he
lost a lot of Republican supporters with his
comments.”
*****************************************************************

Baghdad Mayor Deposed in Coup

"BAGHDAD, Iraq, Aug. 9 - Armed men entered Baghdad's
municipal building during a blinding dust storm on
Monday, deposed the city's mayor and installed a
member of Iraq's most powerful Shiite militia."

You read that right. Armed men deposed the Mayor
of Baghdad in a violent coup this week. What’s
interesting is that they claim they have to right to
do it, because they won elections in January.

I don’t know what’s going on. But it does seem like
Iraq is sliding into civil war.
****************************************************************

Too Much Time on His Hands?

According to a story dated August 12, 2005, in
Canberra, Shane Willmott is working with mice.
Training them, to be specific.

To surf.

“He has trained three mice, named Harry, Chopsticks
and Bunsen, to surf small waves on tiny mouse-size
surf boards at beaches on the country's Gold Coast.
The mice are put through rigorous bathtub training and
then some have their fur dyed when it is time to hit
the beach.”

"Usually if he is surfing big waves, I usually colour
his hair up. Because he's white, when he gets in the
whitewash it's hard to find him," Willmott said.

Harry, Chopsticks and Bunsen live in miniature
custom-made villas and own specially made jet skis.”

Is there no end to the benefits of a sound graduate
education??
*****************************************************************

WHERE THE OLD WORLD MEETS THE NEW

Of course it’s well known that Hindus respect, if not
actually worship, cows. And that cows wander the
streets. And that they’re pretty big. It’s also
well-known that India is a center of high-tech.

Thankfully, these two phenomena have met each other
and presented a solution.

Authorities in New Delhi have started inserting
microchips into cows to tackle the problem of cattle
roaming freely in the streets, officials said on
Thursday, August 11.

The move came after the Delhi High Court slammed civic
authorities this month for failing to round up cows --
considered holy by Hindus.

There are an estimated 35,000 cows and buffalo in the
capital and its surrounding areas.

"Now with a microchip in them, cows can be caught more
quickly," said one official.

Now if we could only do same thing with politicians….
******************************************************

Bush Cousins Endorsed Kerry

With all this talk about Cindy Sheehan's alleged cousins and who knows who else allegedly signing some letter with the usual crap - support our troops, when what they mean is, worship George Bush - it's worth noting all the Bush cousins who endorsed John Kerry.

They even created a web site, www.bushrelativesforkerry.com.

Their slogan was: 'Because blood is thicker than oil!"

They wrote:

''As the election approaches, we feel it is our responsibility to speak out about why we are voting for John Kerry, and to do our small part to help America heal from the sickness it has suffered since George Bush was appointed President in 2000. We invite you to read our stories, and please, don't vote for our cousin!"

They were all apparently related to Prescott Bush, George W's grandfather.

The Texas and New England sides of the families are not all that close.

''I can't describe us as particularly close to the Bush family," said one cousin.

''I've never met George W. Bush and don't particularly care to."

Who Are Orville and Wilbur Pirro?

QUESTION OF THE DAY

Who are Orville and Wilbur Pirro?

(A) Jeanine Pirro's other husbands - the ones not convicted of tax evasion

(B) Al Pirro's brothers - also convicted and sentenced to prison

(C) Al and Jeanine's adorable children

(D) A standup comedy team in Westchester, devoted to mocking the Pirros

(E) Pigs

Answer: E

They are the couple's pot bellied pigs, for which the Pirro's built a very expensive wrought iron pen, and which they then illegally deducted from the taxes.

Administration to Celebrate September 11

It's official: The Administration is planning to throw a party on September 11th.

I've long said here and elsewhere that the Administration still cannot figure out whether they think Sept. 11th was one of the worst says in U.S. history or one of the greatest. From the way they constantly want to remind you that Bush was President on that day, and with constant references to the day, you would think that that the day the U.S. won the lottery or something.

Clearly, all evidence, speeches, policies, suggest that they do believe that Sept. 11 was a great day.

And to show how they feel, how grateful they are for 9/11, they are going to have a big party.

According to news reports:

"The Pentagon would hold a massive march and country music concert to mark the fourth anniversary of the September 11 terrorist attacks, US Defence Secretary Donald Rumsfeld said in an announcement tucked into an Iraq war briefing today."

"This year the Department of Defense will initiate an America Supports Your Freedom Walk," Rumsfeld said, adding that the march would remind people of "the sacrifices of this generation and of each previous generation".

"The march will start at the Pentagon, where nearly 200 people died on September 11, 2001, and end at the National Mall with a show by country star Clint Black."

"I've never heard of such a thing," said John Pike, who has been a defence analyst in Washington for 25 years and runs GlobalSecurity.org.

People were also confused by the link beween Iraq and 9/11.

"That piece of it is disturbing since we all know now there was no connection," said Paul Rieckhoff, an Iraq veteran who heads Operation Truth, an anti-administration military booster. "I think it's clear that their public opinion polls are in the toilet," he said.

Well, the important thing is march around, show your support, and watch other people sacrifice.

SPITTING ON VETERANS

The Right wing just can’t seem stop bashing combat
veterans. First it was Max Cleland, then Wes Clark,
then John Kerry and the infamous purple band aids.

What did Rush Limbaugh call all U.S. soldiers serving
in civilian areas – that is, the most dangerous areas?

A “Staff Puke”.

Really. In fact, he said it several times.

Have all the drugs gone to his head? Has the evil in
him just started to ooze out?

This is a guy, who -- I am not kidding -- got out of
Vietnam because he had a large pimple on his rear end.

He said it in reference to Paul Hackett the Major
running for Congress in Ohio, but he said in reference
to position he held, not to him personally.

Limbaugh was talking to an Navy officer
who called into his radio show. Rush asked what "civilian" affairs
officers do. The guy said they liaison with the local authorities.

"So he wasn't in combat," said Limbaugh

The guy said right, then Limbaugh said “so he was
just a STAFF PUKE.”

So Limbaugh's slur applies to everyone with that job, which happens
to be extremely important and hazardous.

These people make me sick.

***************************************************************

This Time, We're Stuck With Bush

IT'S THE OTHER WAY AROUND THIS TIME

“It’s tempting to play the Retreat From
GWOT for laughs, but I can't help
remembering an exchange between
President Kennedy and Gen. Curtis
LeMay during the Cuban missile crisis,
as the United States and the Soviet Union
came as close as they ever came to nuclear war.

The general said, "You're in a pretty bad
fix, Mr. President." The president shot back,
"You're in there with me."

–– Ruth Walker, The Christian Science
Monitor, August 4, 2005

Question of the Week

Tucked into the egregious pork-laden energy bill
enacted last week was a provision to ease U.S. export
restrictions on:

(A) Sugar

(B) Solar Panels

(C) Electric cells

(D) Soy-based fuel

(E) Hybrid vehicles

(F) Weapons Grade Uranium


Answer: F

From the Washington Post:

“A provision tucked into the 1,724-page energy bill
that Congress is poised to enact today would ease
export restrictions on bomb-grade uranium, a lucrative
victory for a Canadian medical manufacturer and its
well-wired Washington lobbyists.”

“The Burr Amendment -- named for its sponsor, Sen.
Richard Burr (R-N.C.) -- would reverse a 13-year-old
U.S. policy banning exports of weapons-grade uranium
unless the recipients agree to start converting their
reactors to use less-dangerous uranium.”

Just so we’re clear:

The Republican will sell out American security for
money, and the company that benefits isn’t even
American.

‘ROIDS – THEY’RE ALL THE RAGE

File the whole Rafael Palmiero thing under “You Can’t
Make This Stuff Up.”

Jose Canseco, who was a big star in the early 1990s,
writes this explosive book about how all these guys in
baseball are using steroids, and names names,
including Mark McGuire. Then they all get hauled
before Congress, and testify under oath.
Surprisingly, although he looks like the Missing Link,
Canseco comes across well, while McGuire refuses to
talk and Sammy Sosa suddenly can’t speak English.

Then there’s Rafael Palmiero, who was named by Canseco
has having used steroids in 1992. He came across very
well, looking every bit the future Republican
politician he is (or was). He (again, under oath)
wagged his finger and said "I have never used
steroids. Period."

This was in March. This week it was announced that in
May, Palmiero had tested positive for a very powerful
steroid called stanozolol. That’s what they caught
Ben Johnson using in 1988. It’s supposed to leave
your system in a month.

Everybody, even Palmiero, possibly, was stunned.

I mean, what are the chances that Jose Canseco would
name the ONE guy, who more than a decade later, would
test positive? This seems to be Raffy’s defense, too.
I mean, he also just got his 3,000 hit a few days
ago. What are the odds?

Said one Congressman: "You've got to remember -- of
all the people who testified, he was probably the most
convincing. So if you asked me who would they catch,
and I were listing a thousand ballplayers, he would be
No. 1,000."

Well, now Congress is looking to charge Palmiero with
perjury. Cause they have noooooothing better to do.

They’ve subpoenaed his test results, everything.

"It's hard for me to reconcile that someone doesn't
know that they have steroids in their body. I'm
extraordinarily skeptical," said committee member Rep.
Christopher Shays, R-Conn.

Funny, but one his defenders is Jose Canseco, who
thinks it must be leftover from a while ago. No way
is Raffy that stupid, he said.

By the way, Jose is currently featured in the reality
show, “The Surreal Life.” He’s the brightest one
there.

***************************************************************

A WINDOW INTO BUSH’S WORLD

Yes, the President really issued this statement AFTER
Palmiero tested positive:

“Well, Rafael Palmeiro is a friend.
He’s the kind of person that’s going to
stand up in front of the klieg lights and
say he didn’t use steroids, and I believe
him. And I still do.”

-- George W. Bush


As "The Daily Show" says, Bush’s lives in world of his
own making. And it’s a nice world.

***************************************************************

PRINCE OF DARKNESS PROVES IT: THERE IS A GOD

Oh, how we have longed for this day!

It was an orgiastic blogosphere yesterday, as the most
hated man in America, the Prince of Darkness himself,
Bob Novak, had a meltdown on live TV.

CNN host Ed Henry had on Novak and James Carville to
banter about the day’s events.

But he very cleverly placed a huge copy of “Who’s Who
in America” right in front of Novak. With a Post-It
Note strategically placed.

Novak cited the book in a column published this
Monday, meant to exonerate himself, (and Rove)
suggesting he got Valerie Plame’s name from the book.
But did he check the book? He started sweating as
soon as saw it sitting there.

It’s just like when Tom Cruise brings the airmen into
the courtroom to rattle Jack Nicholson in “A Few Good
Men.” It worked then, too -- he blows a gasket.

Within seconds, with Carville needling Novak over
something trivial, Novak yanked off his microphone and
stormed off the set.

Carville:

"He's gotta show these right-wingers that he's got
backbone, you know. The Wall Street Journal editorial
page is watching you. Show 'em you're tough."

Novak: "Well, I think that's b******t! I hate that."

Novak to Ed Henry: "Just let it go."

Novak rips off microphone and storms off.

Later, Ed Henry apologized to viewers for Novak's
leaving the set "a little early," and then added this
gem:

"I had told him in advance that we were going to ask
him about the CIA leak case. He was not here for me to
be able to ask him about that. Hopefully, we'll be
able to ask him about that in the future."

Guess again.

This is it, people. This is the Right Wing Crack-Up
I’ve been talking about. This revolution will be
televised.


***************************************************************
THIS ISN’T ROCKET SCIENCE

Booster Rockets? Check!
Gizmo control? Check!
Hypertechnical stuff? Check!
Outer Space Gadgets? Check!
Duct Tape? Check!

I watched with fascination the liftoff of the
Discovery on the computer, and later watched on live
tv the attempt to manually fix the shuttle by going
outside and “tugging on it.”

They actually had a hacksaw rigged up with duct tape.

Duct tape -- really?

Isn't this a trillion dollar program?

Hey, whatever works. Don’t leave home without it.

***************************************************************

Is Robert Novak Really George Costanza?

ROBERT NOVAK

“I have previously said that I never would have written those sentences if Harlow, then-CIA Director George Tenet or ANYBODY else from the agency HAD TOLD ME that Valerie Plame Wilson's disclosure would endanger herself or anybody.”

- Robert Novak, “The Washington Post”


GEORGE COSTANZA

The Boss:

“It has come to my attention that you and the cleaning woman have engaged in sexual intercourse on the desk in your office. Is that correct?”

George Costanza:

“Was that wrong? Should I have not done that? I tell you, I’ve got to plead ignorance on this thing, because if ANYONE HAD SAID ANYTHING TO ME AT ALL when I first started here, that that sort of thing was frowned upon… you know….cause I've worked in a lot of offices, and I tell you people do that all the time.”


It didn't work for George, either. He was fired.

WAR ON TERROR OVER! WAR ON SOMETHING ELSE JUST BEGINNING

.

The big news this week on the creation and development
of an American Empire was the official announcement
that the War on Terror is over.

It’s always been called the Global War on Terror. (The
G -WOT) Even the medals say "for service in the Global
War on Terror."

But Administration officials now say that phrase may
have outlived its usefulness, because it focused
attention solely, and incorrectly, on the military
campaign.

Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld and the nation's
senior military officers this week switched to have
spoken of "Global Struggle Against Violent Extremism"
(The “G-SAVE!”)

Gen. Richard B. Myers, chairman of the Joint Chiefs of
Staff, told the National Press Club on Monday that he
had "objected to the use of the term 'war on
terrorism' before, because if you call it a war, then
you think of people in uniform as being the solution."


He said the threat instead should be defined as
violent extremists, with the recognition that "terror
is the method they use."

Although the military is heavily engaged in the
mission now, he said, future efforts require "all
instruments of our national power, all instruments of
the international communities' national power."

Believe it or not, he said the solution is "more
DIPLOMATIC, more ECONOMIC, more POLITICAL than it is
military,"

Excuse me, wasn’t this the Kerry campaign platform?

I can’t object, because I’ve been saying for years
that we are not at war with terror – indeed, we are
not at war with anything, except maybe the Taliban,
and if we were, it would not be with terror.

Rather, we are engaged in a focused campaign against
those would violate both domestic American and
international law in committing acts of murder; and
more generally we must formulate a policy to deal with
the problem of people, around the world, who see
wanton violence as a solution to their problems.

And in that vein, it is vitally important that we not
be seen as contributing to the problem, but being part
of the overall solution.

This is why I felt it so important to support the
weapons inspections process, regardless of what they
found.

This is why I felt so strongly that abandoning the
inspections, the UN, the Security Council, and both
the domestic and international legal process was such
a mistake, and that launching a preemptive invasion of
Iraq – an action both Violent and Extreme, I might add
– was so very, very wrong.

We instantly lost not just the moral high ground, but
control of the process, the ability to shape events to
our values.

When I object to the invasion of Iraq, when I point
out the problems at Abu Ghraib, and Guantanamo, and
the Patriot Act, it’s not because I’m a pacifist, or
want to blame America first.

It’s not even because I worked at the UN, or have
legal training.

It’s not, in the final analysis because I’m a civil
rights buff, or find the abuses sickening, or am
concerned too many people have been killed in Iraq for
no reason, or that our leaders have lied, or even that
my definition of patriotism is supporting the
Constitution, not the President; the nation when it’s
right, and when it’s wrong, pointing that out; and
hoping we live to up to our professed American ideals,
although I acknowledge that’s part of it.

No, the real reason I argue as I do is that our
tactics, as they currently exist, are entirely
self-defeating.

A fireman does not win his struggle by setting more
fires. A policeman does teach criminals a lesson by
committing crimes. You can’t fix your computer by
hitting it with a hammer or throwing it out the
window. It may feel good, but your problems will be
worse than when you started.

And you don’t win a struggle against murderous,
violent extremists by breaking the law, bombing
civilians and abandoning civil rights.

It just doesn't work.
***************************************************************

YOU'RE NOT MAKING IT EASY, JOHN BOY

.

John Roberts is not making it easy for me. I want to
like him. I want to let this one go, and just get it
over with, and move on to indicting Karl Rove.

But then he has to get all slippery and do the one
thing that could derail is chances. Come across as
dishonest.

Then there’s “Newsweek,” which is getting worse by the
week, so to speak. First “Newsweek” reported as fact
that Roberts was never a member of the “Federalist
Society” a well-know conservative legal group.

Well, even though John Boy said couldn’t remember ever
joining, he was listed as an Executive Officer in
their 1998 Directory. Newsweek printed a retraction.

Then “Newsweek” mocked "Liberal bloggers who floated
conspiracy theories," (hey!) about Roberts'
involvement with the legal effort in 2000 to stop the
Florida recount, stating flat out the allegations
"aren't true."

The magazine reported, "Roberts's role in the case of
Bush v. Gore was minimal, according to colleagues who
worked with him. Roberts did briefly go to Florida to
be on hand as a legal consultant, but he was
preoccupied with working on the adoption of a baby
son."

Oh, well, if the COLLEAGUES WHO WORKED WITH HIM said
so, it must be true.

The Miami Herald reports: "U.S. Supreme Court nominee
John Roberts played a broader behind-the-scenes role
for the Republican camp in the aftermath of the 2000
election than previously reported -- as legal
consultant, lawsuit editor and prep coach for
arguments before the nation's highest court, according
to the man who drafted him for the job."

Roberts did not go "briefly" to Florida to be on hand
as a legal GOP consultant. He camped out in
Tallahassee out for nearly ten days.

It gets worse.

“According to people who attended a Senate meeting,
Roberts was asked by Sen. Richard Durbin (D-Ill.) what
he would do if the law required a ruling that his
church considers immoral. Roberts is a devout
Catholic.

Renowned for his unflappable style in oral argument,
Roberts appeared nonplused and, according to sources
in the meeting, answered after a long pause that he
would probably have to recuse himself.”

If that’s true, he is immediately disqualified from
sitting on the Supreme Court.

I want to give him every benefit of the doubt, but if
he keeps this up, his “golden boy” image will be
tarnished.

***************************************************************

Sunday Talk Shows

.

I caught the ever-beloved-by-the media John McCain on
ABC’s “This Week,” on Sunday.

Should Karl Rove lose his job? “I don’t know the
answer to that.”

Isn’t the law clear? "I don't know what the definition
of negligent."

But most of all he said, he “just doesn’t know,” and
“Just doesn’t understand” why Judith Miller is in
jail. He said it in that altar-boy way of his, as if
good, decent, wonderful Judith Miller had been pulled
off the street by an evil man, and poor, helpless John
McCain was powerless to stop the bad independent
prosecutor.

How about this:

Judith Miller is very likely complicit in the smearing
of Joe Wilson, and the person she is protecting is
herself.

A friend of Miller’s has said that Judy Miller spoke
about Joe Wilson, it was with “a passionate and heated
disgust that went beyond the political and included an
irrelevant bit of deeply personal innuendo about him,
her mouth twisting in hatred.”

###

Meanwhile, on NBC, Tim Russert redefined “awkward” by
letting his guests speculate for several minutes about
what Scooter Libby may have told the grad jury – about
what Tim Russert told HIM, and what Tim testified to.
Russert finally just said, regarding his own testimony
before the grand jury,

“But I was asked what I said. I did not know.”

That’s all he said. I still have no idea what he
meant.

***************************************************************

CRAZY EXCHANGE OF WEEK

.

Speaking of “Meet the Press”, get this:

MR. RUSSERT: “So you would view it as inappropriate
to ask for his [Judge Roberts[ work product while he
worked in the White House counsel's office?”

MR. THOMPSON: “Well, as I say, it's--in large part,
it appears to be ATTORNEY-CLIENT information and
things, that--conversations that he has with his
priest, conversations he has with his doctor or his
wife or his client are matters that are off-limits,
basically.”

This is crazy on two different levels.

1. Conversations with his doctor and priest are
confidential because of what HE told THEM, not the
other way around. Way to confuse the issue.

2. When Roberts worked in the White House Counsel’s
office, his client was the American people, not the
President.

If Bush wants his own criminal lawyer, he can pay for
it himself. Actually, with regard to Valerie Plame,
he already has.

Smart move, by the way. On "Law & Order," they call
it "lawyering up." Fred Thompson ought to know - when
he's not on "Meet The Press," shilling for the
President, he's an actor on the show.

See how I tie it all together in the end?

***************************************************************

FUN FACT OF THE WEEK

.

What is “Apophis”?

(A) A new anti-anxiety drug

(B) The latest sensational racehorse

(C) The search engine which will blow away Google

(D) The name of James Cameron’s next film.

Answer:

The asteroid that will hit the Earth in 2036.
Maybe.

“Based on available data, astronomers give Apophis - a
1,000-foot wide chunk of space debris - a 1-in-15,000
chance of a 2036 strike. Yet if the asteroid hits,
they add, damage to infrastructure alone could exceed
$400 billion.”


But this solves Social Security, right?

*************************************************************

VALERIE PLAME UPDATE

.

Could the news get worse for those caught up in this
scandal?

Oh, yes.

The big claim now is that they didn’t know that she
was undercover, or maybe she wasn’t really undercover.
(She even drove to work! Every day!)

Now that excuse is gone.

The CIA spokesman Bill Harlow testified last year
before a grand jury about conversations he had with
Novak at least three days before the column was
published.

He said he WARNED Novak, in the STRONGEST terms he was
permitted to use without revealing classified
information, that Wilson's wife had NOT AUTHORIZED the
mission and that if he did write about it, her NAME
SHOULD NOT BE REVEALED.

Harlow said that after Novak's call, he checked
Plame's status and CONFIRMED that she was an
UNDERCOVER operative.

He said he called Novak back to REPEAT that the story
Novak had related to him was WRONG and that Plame's
name should NOT be used.

He did not tell Novak directly that she was undercover
because that was classified.

So, Novak was warned several times not reveal this
information, that the story was wrong in any case, and
he prints it anyway?

What a jerk.

*************************************************************

CAN’T IMAGINE WHY

**************************************************************

The Pentagon is facing its worst enlistment crisis
since the all-volunteer army began in 1973. The
shortfall in manpower is so bad that the army is
taking people with criminal records and pending
criminal charges, and offering them enlistment bonuses
ranging from $14,400 to $20,000 in addition to as much
as $70,000 towards college loan repayments.

To retain soldiers already enlisted, the Army was
forced to offer as much as $150,000 to some soldiers
in key areas as a means of retaining them. The
Pentagon also asked Congress to lift the age of
military recruits to 42, a full six years older than
it had been three years earlier.

Despite all of these inducements, admitted Lt. Gen.
Franklin L. Hagenbeck at a Congressional hearing, "We
will likely miss recruiting missions for all three
components."

********************************************************

STAT OF THE WEEK

.

How many killed or captured suspects have described so
far by U.S. media to be Al Qaeda's "Number 3 Man"?

A) 1

B) 2

C) 3

D) 4


Answer: D

**************************************************************

How Many Iraqis Work for the Republican National Committee Anyway?

Department of Defense Press Release:
Date: July 13

"'The terrorists are attacking the infrastructure, the children and all of Iraq,' said one Iraqi man who preferred not to be identified. 'They are enemies of humanity without religion or any sort of ethics. They have attacked my community today and I will now take the fight to the terrorists.'"

Department of Defense Press Release:
Date: July 24

"'The terrorists are attacking the infrastructure, the ISF and all of Iraq. They are enemies of humanity without religion or any sort of ethics. They have attacked my community today and I will now take the fight to the terrorists,' said one Iraqi man who preferred not to be identified."

Bush and the Culture of Truth

Looks like the American People do not believe that Bush is in touch with the Culture of Truth....


July 26, 2005

CNN/USATODAY/GALLOP POLL

"Did Bush deliberately mislead country on Iraqi WMD?"

YES:   51%

NO:   47%

Fun With Sentence Completion

Complete this sentence from a story on today's CNN website:


" ______________________ was still panting, drooling and not obeying commands,

despite ______________________________."


(A) "Scott McClellan" .... despite "urging from Jeff Gannon"


(B) "Ahmed Chalabi"... despite "begging from Donald Rumsfeld"


(C) "Karl Rove" ..... despite "repeated visits to Judith Miller"


(D) "George Bush" .... despite "promises he could use the Slip N Slide after the meeting with Prime Minister"


Answer:

"At a 4-H dog show in northern Ohio, Madalyn Lynch's boxer was" .... despite "the giant fan and ice packs."

It was about the heat wave.

Question of the Day

The Dallas County Sherriff is usual. In what way?

The Sherriff is:

(A) A Democrat

(B) A Woman

(C) Hispanic

(D) A Lesbian


Answer: All of the above.

No, really.

Her name is Lupe Valdez, and she elected Dallas County Sheriff last November. You can read more about her at the Daily Kos. (Thanks)

Question of the Day

Students, of course, blog. But should college professors blog?

Maybe not.

Michael Gee, a journalist for 17 years at the Boston Herald currently teaches journalism at Boston University. What did he say about one of his students on a Boston web site?

That she was:

(A) “Very bright”

(B) “Had a lot of potential”

(C) “Asked good questions”

(D) “A talented writer”

(E) “One of his best students”

(F) “Incredibly hot."



Answer: F


That’s the grade he got, too. He was fired.

Sunday Talk Shows

Recap of the Sunday Morning Talk Shows:

Meet The Press:

Ken Mehlman, short version:

"America's desperate attempts to prevent a nuclear weapon from being detonated on an American city had to be ruined because Joe Wilson later appeared in Vanity Fair."

I'm paraphrasing, but that's basically it....

Question of the Week

QUESTION OF THE WEEK

Fox News had an expert named Walid Shoebat on this week
to talk about the London bombings.

How did they identify him?

(A) "Terrorism Expert"

(B) "Muslim Scholar"

(C) "Explosives Engineer"

(D) "Professor of Trauma and Psychology"

(E) "Former Terrorist"


Answer: E

***********************************************

THIS IS GETTING FUN

I am having fun watching uncharacteristic display of
ham handed political spin coming from the Right. I
think it’s a result of that old adage “a lawyer who
defends himself has a fool for a client.” Rove is
defending himself on this one. If it were anyone but
Karl Rove, Rove would’ve thrown him or her to the
wolves to spare the President. Clearly he’s got a
conflict of interest.

Here’s Bush in 2003:

Q: “Given recent developments in the CIA leak case,
particularly Vice President Cheney's discussions with
the investigators, do you still stand by what you said
several months ago, do you stand by your pledge to
FIRE anyone found to have done so?”

BUSH: “YES.”

Karl Rove, Swirling Vortex of Scandal

WHY THEY CAN’T WIN

A few thoughts on why they can’t win.

First of all, they did something really bad, and they
didn’t think they’d get caught, and they did.

As a result, their stories are all over the map,
contradicting each other and sometimes themselves.
Soon, they’ll have to start attacking each other to
avoid being tagged with prison time.

Their basic story, though, is that at heart, this is a
partisan smear of Karl Rove. Wilson, his wife
Valerie, the CIA, John Kerry and Hillary Clinton are
all conspiring to frame Karl Rove.

But here’s the problem. There’s a reason that the
Dems lost the last election. No one thinks they’re
smart enough to pull this off.

As one person put it:

“Calling Democrats wimps for 20 years has its effects.
It means that when they actually do say something
people automatically assume that they aren't acting
out of political courage. They assume that there is no
risk involved. If John Kerry is calling for Rove to
resign, he must have done something wrong.”

Right. Ken Mehlman was just on TV saying “Everyone
knows that Karl Rove has the highest ethical
standards.”

Ha! Ha!

Another blogger put it:

“Sorry, you can't go around telling everyone who'll
listen that Karl Rove is a cross between Sun Tzu and
Machiavelli for years on end and then suddenly portray
him as a simple, straight shooting public servant.
Only the most ardent Neanderthals are going to buy
this.”

Also, they’ve already admitted this is really bad:

Look at this exchange:

CHRIS MATTHEWS:

“Don't you think it's more serious than Watergate,
when you think about it?”

RNC CHAIRMAN ED GILLESPIE:

“I think if the allegation is true, to reveal the
identity of an undercover CIA operative -- it's
abhorrent, and it should be a crime, and it is a
crime.”

CHRIS MATTHEWS:

“It'd be worse than Watergate, wouldn't it?”

GILLESPIE:

“It's -- Yeah, I suppose in terms of the real world
implications of it. It's not just politics.”

************************************************************

FUN FACT OF THE WEEK

When Former President George Bush found out that one
his campaign aides was leaking sensitive information
to the press, he ordered his fired immediately and
never let work for him again.

The journalist was Bob Novak.

The aide was Karl Rove.

***************************************************************

The Karl Rove Scandal: A Summary for Beginners

A BRIEF HISTORY OF SLIME

In February of 2002, a few months after 9/11 and more
than a year before we went to war, the Bush
administration was searching for ways to justify going
to war (sorry, it’s true).

One avenue they were pursuing was the idea that Saddam
Hussein was trying to buy uranium from the country of
Niger, where they have a lot of it.

So someone from the White House asked the CIA about
it, and they decided to send someone to Niger. A
covert CIA operative named Valerie Plame, who works in
the department of the CIA devoted to preventing the
spread of weapons of mass destruction, mentioned that
her husband, Joe Wilson, was an expert in such issues
and was available.

Who is Joe Wilson?

Joe Wilson was career foreign service officer who
served from 1976 to 1998. In 1990, he was the U.S.
Ambassador to Iraq. After Hussein invaded Kuwait, and
war was in the offing, he was trapped in Iraq. While
sheltering more than a hundred Americans at the U.S.
Embassy and diplomatic residences, Saddam Hussein
threatened to execute by hanging anyone who didn't
turn all foreigners over to him.

Joe Wilson defied Hussein by showing up to the
confrontation, with reporters watching, with a noose
tied around his neck.

He boldly stated, "If you want to execute me, I'll
bring my own damm rope."

Saddam was intimated and backed down. All the
Americans were let go.

This toughness impressed President George H.W. Bush,
who called Wilson a "truly inspiring" diplomat who
exhibited "courageous leadership" by facing down
Hussein and helping to gain freedom for the Americans
before the 1991 war began.

He wrote in a personal note:

"Dear Joe — Both Barbara and I appreciated your note
of Jan. 25. Even more, we appreciate your service to
your country and your courageous leadership when you
were in Baghdad. Good Luck. Many Thanks. George Bush"

The Secretary of State wrote:

"To Joe Wilson, with deep appreciation for your
outstanding service to the nation — and with warmest
personal regards. Jim Baker"

After that, he was President George H. W. Bush's
ambassador to Gabon and São Tomé & Príncipe; then,
under President Bill Clinton, he helped direct Africa
policy for the National Security Council.

So he had vast experience in Africa AND with Hussein’s
Iraq. So Joe Wilson is a genuine American hero and
was obviously qualified to go to Niger and discover if
Saddam was seeking uranium.

*******************************************************

A BRIEF HISTORY, PART 2

So the CIA asked Joe Wilson to go on this mission to
Niger, with the full backing of the United States
government. All his expenses would be paid for the
U.S., but he would making the trip free of charge. He
would be paid nothing. He would do it out of sheer
patriotism. This is a concept that is difficult for
some people to grasp to this day.

Of course, he got a free vacation to Niger out of it,
but, bear in mind, the Niger Uranium Mine District,
is not exactly the Non-Stop All Night Party Town you may have heard it
is.

First he met with the American Ambassador to Niger,
who had already debunked the idea that Saddam was
trying to buy uranium. Long story short, that’s what
he found too.

Hussein had not attempted, and certainly not
succeeded, in buying uranium from Africa. (There’s on
allegation of a sort-of attempt, but that’s it.)

He didn’t file a written report, but his findings, he
said, were almost certainly given to people higher up,
including the Vice President’s office.

There the matter ended until September of 2002, when
the British began insisting Hussein could launch an
attack with his uranium missiles in 45 minutes, and
Bush cited the British in his State of the Union
Speech of January of 2003.

Bush said “The British government has learned that
Saddam Hussein recently sought significant quantities
of uranium from Africa.”

This statement was based on documents that later
turned out to be forged.

Then we went to war.

Then, on July 6, 2003, Joe Wilson wrote a now famous
editorial in the New York Times titled “What I Didn’t
Find in Africa.”

In a very low-key way, he described what he found, and
the fact that the Vice President and President may
have based the decision to go to war on mistaken
pretenses.

He wrote: “More than 200 American soldiers have lost
their lives in Iraq already. We have a duty to ensure
that their sacrifice came for the right reasons.”

Since then, of course, more than 1,500 American
soldiers have been killed.

He was also no peacenik. He wrote in the op-ed:

“I was convinced before the war that the threat of
weapons of mass destruction in the hands of Saddam
Hussein required a vigorous and sustained
international response to disarm him. Iraq possessed
and had used chemical weapons; it had an active
biological weapons program and quite possibly a
nuclear research program — all of which were in
violation of United Nations resolutions. Having
encountered Mr. Hussein and his thugs in the run-up to
the Persian Gulf war of 1991, I was only too aware of
the dangers he posed.”

*************************************************************

YOUR MISSION, SHOULD YOU
CHOOSE TO ACCEPT IT, IS TO
DESTROY JOE WILSON

Then all hell broke loose. The White House read the
op-ed and freaked out. He practically suggested that
the White House exaggerated the threat from Iraq to
justify the case for war!

This was in July, and we were supposed to have found
massive amounts of weapons of mass destruction in
Iraq. None were found.

First, the White House admitted it was wrong:

Ari Fleischer said: "The president's statement was
based on the predicate of the yellow cake [uranium]
from Niger. So given the fact that the report on the
yellow cake did not turn out to be accurate, that is
reflective of the president's broader statement."

On July 11, George Tenet admitted that Bush’s
statement had no factual basis, and boasted that he
had kept similar statements out of two speeches Bush
gave earlier.

Meanwhile, the Slime and Defend Machine began to kick
in.

Wilson had to personally destroyed, just like Al Gore,
John McCain, Paul O’Neill, Richard Clarke, all
honorable men who had the misfortune to tell the truth
in a way that might stand in the way George Bush
acquiring more power.

That same day, Tenet made his admission, July 11, Karl
Rove spoke with Time Magazine reporter Matt Cooper on,
I swear this is true, “Double Super Secret
Background,” telling him that Joe Wilson couldn’t be
trusted, that “Joe Wilson’s wife” was an operative in
WMD at the CIA, and that she had suggested he go on
the mission to Niger.

That same week, someone high up in the administration,
possible Rove, maybe not, told 5 other reporters the
same thing, possibly including Robert Novak, who
rushed a story out stating that Wilson couldn’t be
believed because, quote:

“Wilson never worked for the CIA, but his wife,
Valerie Plame, is an Agency operative on weapons of
mass destruction. Two senior administration officials
told me Wilson's wife suggested sending him to Niger
to investigate the Italian report. The CIA says its
counter-proliferation officials selected Wilson and
asked his wife to contact him. 'I will not answer any
question about my wife,' Wilson told me.”

-- Robert Novak, Washington Post.

In a later column Novak said he included this
paragraph "because it looked like the missing
explanation of an otherwise incredible choice by the
CIA for its mission." After all, he wrote: “I was
curious why a high-ranking official in President Bill
Clinton's National Security Council (NSC)” would be
chosen for the mission.

He claimed that: “Wilson had become a vocal opponent
of President Bush's policies in Iraq after
contributing to Al Gore in the last election cycle and
John Kerry in this one.”

And he wrote that: “During a long conversation with a
senior administration official, I asked why Wilson was
assigned the mission to Niger. He said Wilson had been
sent by the CIA's counterproliferation section at the
suggestion of one of its employees, his wife.”


*************************************************************

THE CRIME, THE INVESTIGATION, THE COVER UP

So now you know what happened. Bob Novak revealed the
identity of an operative in the CIA, which is a crime,
which led directly to the current investigation.

None of this would be that big a deal except that this
week Matt Cooper of Time Magazine testified before a
Grand Jury that Karl Rove personally told him Valerie
Plame’s identity.

We all thought it would never come out, and if it DID
come out, it would turn to be someone like Scooter
Libby, Cheney’s Chief of Staff. But Karl Rove!
Bush’s buddy since the 1970s! Isn’t he too smart for
that?

So Republicans and Right Wing nutjobs have been
pushing the most outrageous lies and ridiculous
arguments for the past week, to justify Karl Rove’s
quite possibly treasonous behavior.

I’ll start with Valerie Plame Wilson, since it goes to
the heart of why Karl Rove is so evil.

“Valerie Plame Wilson was not a covert agent, so no
law was broken.”

Even this were true, I take it for granted revealing
the status of non-covert agents is still pretty evil.
But this is false. In fact, the CIA says she was
covert. The prosecutor believes she was covert, or he
wouldn’t be bothering.

And she was in fact, MORE covert than the average
operative. Some agents travel with a diplomatic
passport – they can’t be arrested where they travel.
But she didn’t. She she went out in public and
traveled with an ordinary passport. Like James Bond
or that girl from “Alias,” the MOST covert agents
travel as ordinary people, traveling from city to
city, in her case, investigating the spread of nuclear
materials. If Valerie Plame had ever been caught
spying in another country, the U.S. would have
disavowed all knowledge of her, and she could have
been executed.

Valerie Plame pretended to work for an American
corporation, called Brewster-Jennings & Associates. It
was a actually a CIA front company, and she had a
network of informants all around the world helping he
spy on people and governments allowing for the illicit
sale of materials of weapons of mass destruction.

She was trying to stop bad people from exploding a
nuclear bomb on an American city.

Now we see what a scurrilous weasel, what a loathsome,
anti-American, power-mad freak Rove is.

When he outed Valerie Plame, he not only ruined her
ability to ever fight terrorism, he destroyed anyone
who ever worked at Brewster-Jennings, AND all of her
contacts around the world AND ALL the contacts of
ANYONE who ever worked at Brewster-Jennings, AND ALL
of THEIR contacts.

All a terrorist, or corrupt government has to do is
say, “Hey, Valerie Plame was in Ukraine last year.
And who did she meet with? Let’s see – Boris in the
Ministry of Defense? He met with a CIA officer?
Maybe we should have a chat with Boris!”

Bye, bye, Boris.

*************************************************************
THIS IS GETTING RIDICULOUS

The other lies are so stupid, I’m enjoying watching
the spin, because they are so idiotic and so easily
refuted.

Some claims you may hear:

“Joe Wilson is a liar.”

Sometimes this is based on the idea that Wilson
claimed that Dick Cheney personally sent him to Niger,
and Rove was trying to “correct” that by saying, “no,
it was it was his undercover wife.”

First of all, it wouldn’t justify outing a CIA agent,
but Wilson never made that claim, and if he had,
Cheney could have issued a simple statement, saying “I
didn’t send Wilson to Niger,” and I might add, it
doesn’t matter who sent him, anyway.

Another version of this is that Wilson “lied” because
he didn’t state in his original op-ed that his wife
sent him to Niger.

Seriously, this is making the rounds on Fox News. He
wife DIDN’T send him to Niger, but even if she did, it
doesn’t affect finding regarding the uranium claim,
and it STILL wouldn’t justify revealing his wife’s
covert status.

(Which they know, which is why it was on “Double Super
Secret Background”!)

“Plame was singlehandedly responsible for getting
Wilson the unpaid job in Niger.”

This utterly ridiculous on its face, and even if it
were true, so what? What is this meant to prove? Or
is it an attempt to smear Joe Wilson without
substance? Yeah, I think so.

“Wilson is inept.”

Whatever, see above.

“Plame, Wilson, and the entire CIA are driven by
irrational hatred of the Bush administration.”

Seriously, this is newest argument. I think they may
finally lose the American people with this one. A
vast conspiracy involving all the hippie weirdos at
the CIA. One that, apparently, involves George Tenet,
Ari Fleischer, Saddam Hussein, and hiding tons of
weapons of mass destruction.

“Iraq was, in fact, seeking to acquire uranium from
Niger.”

Like hell it was. And irrelevant.

“Rove didn't know Valerie Plame's name.”

Not that it matters, (he called her “Joe Wilson’s
wife”) but we learned just THIS MORNING that he did.

“Rove didn’t use her name.”

This is funniest one. He said, “Joe Wilson’s wife,”
which is good enough for me. But he revealed her
identity. That’s all.

“Rove didn't realize Plame was covert.”

This is possible, but only in the sense that he didn’t
“Know, Know” if you know what I mean. He “knew” she
worked for the CIA, he “thought” she had enough power
to send Joe to Iraq by herself, he “knew” she worked
on weapons of mass destruction, but he gave her name
to the whole world because the ghost of Lee Atwater
told him to.
You think the American people will buy that?

“Plame's covert status wasn't protected well by the
CIA.”

Yeah, it’s their fault!

“Wilson identified his wife on his web site.”

It was her identity as a CIA operative, not his wife,
that was once a secret.

“She appeared in public, even on tv!”

He existence was not secret, her status was.

“Novak never identified her as a covert CIA agent,
just a CIA agent. Liberals outed her as covert
first!”

They’re kidding, with this one, I assume.

“It was just a short phone call.”

Well, why not a little treason to end a conversation?

“Rove really wanted to speak about welfare reform.”

What’s that cologne called, Mr. Rove? “Desperation.”

“Wilson went on too many TV shows, and wrote a book.”

Laugh all you want, Wolf Blizter called this a
“serious allegation.”

“Rove is the real whistleblower – he’s a hero who
leaked Plame's identity in the interests of good
journalism.”

This is the “Wall Street Journal” stance. Sure, poor
victimized Karl Rove – he outs one undercover CIA
officer to protect Dick Cheney from real allegations
that he used forged documents to take America to war
by not mentioning her name in one short phone call
about welfare reform and he’s tagged for life.

************************************************************

GOP: Valerie Plame Suggested Invasion of Iraq

According to sources who have briefed on the matter, it was CIA operative Valerie Plame, also known in Washington by her code name, “Wilson’s Wife,” who suggested invading Iraq in 2003.

“It’s all her fault,” said the person who asked to remain anonymous because “rational people might read this.” “We would never have invaded Iraq and gotten into that damm mess if it weren’t for her and her meddling husband,” he said.

Apparently Ms. Plame wrote a memo in 2002 urging an invasion of Iraq. Neither Mr. Bush nor President Cheney authorized the memo, and never knew her name, but somehow a declaration of war found its way into Bush’s Saturday radio address.

“By then we were committed,” said the source, who spoke on double secret sauce background, “the U.S. would look bad if we’d backed out then.”

Republicans believe that the memo was a partisan liberal trick designed to make the President look foolish. “She’s a liberal, so she gets the President to launch a war in the Middle East, even though he’s against nation building, and it turns into a total disaster, and she and her liberal friends and liberal husband laugh it up,” said the anonymous source.

“It’s not fair,” said another source. “They took advantage of Bush when he was at his most vulnerable, and now we’re in a quagmire. She’s a liberal peacenik at their most despicable, whatever her name is.”

For the Love of America, Fire Karl Rove

"Even though I'm a tranquil guy now at this stage of my life, I have nothing but contempt and anger for those who betray the trust by exposing the name of our sources. They are, in my view, the most insidious, of traitors."

- George H.W. Bush, April 26, 1999.


Former President Bush -- you know, W's father -- once caught someone one his staff leaking to media. When he found out, he had the guy fired, and he never worked for him again.

That man was Karl Rove.

Karl Rove Parsing

What Karl Rove is really saying:

"It depends how you identify 'identity'."

Karl Rove Must Go

Juan Cole on Karl Rove

"Rove can only have thought it would discredit Wilson to associate his missiion with the CIA if he viewed the CIA as the enemy. This is the Richard Perle line. If Wilson was sent to Niger on the recommendation of a CIA operative, then he was not an objective ex-ambassador but a CIA plant of some sort, attempting to undermine the Bush administration and the military occupation of Iraq."

"This theory is that of a crackpot. The actions are those of a traitor. What is the difference between Robert Hansen revealing key secret information for money to the Soviets and Karl Rove revealing it to the proliferators for political gain for the Republican Party and the Bush White House? Both are traitors who traded secrets for gain."

"A man who would do what Rove did should not be in the White House in any capacity. And no person who tolerates a man like Rove in the White House should be commander in chief of American security."

-- Juan Cole

Eyewitness Accounts in London

THIS IS LONDON

Where is Edward R. Murrow when you need him?

At least 50 people were killed and 700 injured yesterday in London.

Some eyewitness accounts:

"All of sudden there was this massive huge bang. It was absolutely deafening and all the windows shattered. The glass did not actually fall out of the windows, it just cracked.

The train came to a grinding halt, everyone fell off their seats. There were just loads of people screaming and the carriages filled with smoke. You couldn't really breathe and you couldn't see what was happening. There were some people in real trouble. "

###

“I was being twisted and thrown to the ground. I thought I wasn't going to get out of this - whatever it was - I just didn't know. I thought that was it when it went all so dark. Then I touched my hand to my face and felt the blood and knew it wasn't all over yet.”

###

“Everybody was absolutely terrified. You could hear the screaming from the carriages in front, because that was where the explosion had happened, and there was lots of injured people there. Nobody knew what was going on.

People were trying to open the doors and the windows to let the smoke out and were rocking the train, which
already felt like it had come off its rails. So we were panicking that the train was going to get knocked over.

It was just general chaos. I thought I was going to die when I saw the flames. I thought we were going to get engulfed by the flames or get overwhelmed by the smoke.

I really didn't think we were going to get out. It hasn't quite sunk in, I think. It's the kind of thing
where you see it on the news, but don't expect to be in it - and I was in it and it was horrible.”

###

“There was a huge "boom" outside. I knew it was a bomb straight away. There was that smell of an explosion
that accompanied it. I saw lots of debris fly past the window, including one huge chunk. It must have been the roof of the
bus.”
###
“I was walking along. There was a crowd of people around the bus. The next thing I knew I was on the floor. There was shed loads of glass raining down. Someone fell on me and someone fell on him. For a moment I thought I was going to be trampled. I picked myself up and everyone was running. There was glass everywhere. I saw the bus ripped out at the back
... it couldn't have been anything else but a terrorist attack."

###
“I was on the bus in front and heard an incredible bang, I turned round and half the double-decker bus was in the air.
It was a massive explosion and there were papers and half a bus flying through the air. There must be a lot of people dead as all the buses were packed, they had been turning people away from the tube stops."

###
“There was a big bang. After the smoke went away I realised there was a double decker bus exploded. People were running towards me screaming and crying. I saw at least five people jump from the top deck of the bus. Half of it was blown away. They were jumping onto the street to escape. It was such a big explosion and the bus was packed
because the tube was closed. People were covered with
dust and debris. I didn't see any blood.”
###
"The train didn't get very far out of the station when there was an explosion. Loads of glass showered down over everyone, the glass in the doors in between all the carriages shattered. There was a lot of smoke and a lot of dust, there were some areas of panic, I could hear screams. People were trying to work out what happened. A lot of people were covered in blood."
###
"The lights went out, and with the smoke, we couldn't breathe, and we sort of cushioned each other during the impact because the compartment was so full. It felt like a dream, it was surreal.

It was just horrendous, it was like a disaster movie, you can't imagine being somewhere like that, you just want to get out. I kept closing my eyes and thinking of outside."
###
"There was a loud bang and the train ground to a halt. People started panicking, screaming and crying as smoke came into the carriage. Everyone was terrified when it happened. One guy was being tended outside on the track. His clothes were torn off and he seemed pretty badly burned."
###
"People were screaming and shouting and saying things like I'm dying, I'm dying, please help me. I think I saw somebody who was dead it was just indescribable."
###
"I was on the train and there was a fire outside the carriage window and then there was a sudden jolt which shook us forward.

The explosion was behind me. There was really hard banging from the carriage next door to us. That was where it happened. A carriage was split in two, all jagged, and without a roof, just open. I saw bodies, I think."

####
"I saw three bodies on the track. I couldn't look, it was so horrific. I think one was moving but I'm not too sure. I couldn't look, it was so horrific . There was a massive explosion, smoke and flames. My carriage must have been two away from where it was. The middle of the train was blown out and there were people on the track."

**********************************************************************

ARE YOU SURE YOU'RE NOT A MUSLIM?

Miles O'Brien, CNN:
“Let's get started with Jeevan Deol, who is a witness
to the bombings yesterday and also a Muslim scholar in
London and happened to be right near where the double
decker bus blew up. I want to ask you about what you
saw, but first, I am curious what the reaction within
the Muslim community is this day after those attacks.”

Jeevan Deol:
“Well, I'm afraid Miles I'm going to have to correct
you. I am not a Muslim, so I think I'm going to have
to pass on that question.”

O'Brien:
“I'm sorry, I thought it was said you're a Muslim --
you're NOT a Muslim scholar?”

Deol:
“No, I work on terrorism and security issues in the
University of London.”

–– CNN, July 8, 2005


Could you pretend to be? Just for a little while?


************************************************************

HEADLINE OF THE DAY

As seen on CNN, July 7:

" COULD IT HAPPEN HERE? "


Um, yes.
**********************************************************

GREAT MOMENTS AT FOX NEWS

BRIT HUME:

“The other thing is, of course, people have -- you
know, the market was down. It was down yesterday, and
you know, you may have had some bargain-hunting going
on.”

“I mean, my FIRST THOUGHT when I heard -- just on a
personal basis, when I heard there had been this
ATTACK and I saw the futures this morning, which were
really in the tank, I thought, "HMMMM, TIME TO BUY."

"Others may have thought that as well. But you never
know about the markets."

–– Brit Hume on Fox News, July 7, 2005.

His first thought, really?

Remember when Brit was correspondent for ABC?

Thank god he’s found a home in psychoville.

******************************************************


GREAT MOMENTS AT FOX NEWS, PART TWO


BRIAN KILMEADE:

“This is his [British Prime Minister Tony Blair]
second address in the last hour. First to the people
of London, and now at the G8 summit, where their topic
Number 1 --believe it or not-- was global warming, the
second was African aid. And that was the first time
since 9-11 when they should know, and they do know
now, that terrorism should be Number 1. But it's
important for them all to be together."

"I think that works to OUR ADVANTAGE, in the Western
world's ADVANTAGE, for people to experience something
like this together, just 500 miles from where the
attacks have happened.”

–– Brian Kilmeade, Fox News, July 7, 2005.

They’re always thinking at Fox, I’ll give ‘em that.
*********************************************************


FOX NEWS
SUPPORTERS OF TERRORISM


“All day long people have been saying to me, "Wasn't it great they didn't pick Paris?" And I've been saying, "No, no, no." Paris was exactly the right place to pick and the Olympic committee screwed up.”

“Why? Simple. It would have been a three-week period where we wouldn't have had to worry about terrorism. First, the French think they are so good at dealing with the Arab world that they would have gone out and paid every terrorist off. And things would have been calm.”

“Or another way to look at it is the French are already up to their eyeballs in terrorists. The French hide them in miserable slums, out of sight of the rich people in Paris."

"So it would have been a TREAT, actually, to watch the French dealing with the problem of their own homegrown Islamist TERRORISTS living in France already.”

“But, alas, they picked London. I like the Brits. I like London. I hate to see them going through all this garbage when it would have BEEN JUST FINE in Paris.”

–– Anchorman John Gibson, Fox News Web site, July 6,
2005. (Before the London bombings took place).

Let me repeat that:

Terrorism, bombings, bloodshed, murder, are “JUST
FINE.”

“JUST FINE”

*************************************************************

HISTORY IN THE MAKING

Michelle Wie, finished runner up to Annika Sorenstam at the LPGA Classic last week, a major akin to the Masters or the
U.S. Open for the men. Not bad for an amateur.

Oh, and she's 15 years old.

No woman has made the cut in a men's golfing event in 60 years.

No boy that young has ever done it, or could hope to, in my experience.

But Michelle Wie almost made the cut, playing against professional men at the John Deere Classic today.

"It's pretty phenomenal,'' said J.L. Lewis, the early second-round leader at 13-under 129 who could wind up being a trivia question.

"She's 15 years old. Let's face it. Has there ever been anybody that age, man or woman, that could play in a tour event at age 15? I don't know. Maybe there is, but I don't think they've ever done it. Obviously she can go out and break par. More power to her. It's pretty impressive.''

Annika Sorenstam tried to make the cut at the Colonial in 2003, an event she picked specifically because it played to her strengths. She didn't make it.

Checking the leaderboard, I see she tied with Nick Price, winner of four majors and 1994 Player of the Year; and she finished ahead of Larry Mize, the 1987 Masters Champion; Kirk Triplett, one of the top players on tour; Aaron Baddeley, star of those tv commercials and the Next Big Thing; Billy Andrade, winner of $900,000 this year so far; Lucas Glover, winner of over $1 million dollars in 2005 so far; and believe it or not, David Duval, the man who dethroned Tiger Woods in 1999 to become the #1 golfer in the world, the man who shot the lowest score in golf history recently, and who won the 2001 British
Open.

Oh, well, there's always next year. And next year, and next year.....

********************************************************

Somebody's Lying

In the midst of all this Valerie Plame business, and the jailing of journalists, it's worth remembering one key point:

One of George Bush's top aides is lying to him.


Who is it?