InkDog

Victims of War Are Not To Be Seen Or Heard Or Mentioned

2006-02-23T08:55:00.000-08:00

Victims of War Are Not To Be Seen Or Heard Or MentionedThe greatest dignity and respect you can give [victims of war] is to show the horror they suffered, the absolute gruesome horror."-War Photographer David LessonJoseph Bonham was an American soldier. He lost both of his arms and legs and all of his face to an artillery shell. He could not see or hear or speak. Other than that he was healthy

Bush makes Congressional Republicans look like fools

2006-02-23T01:01:00.000-08:00

It is noteworthy that not all, but quite a few Congressional conservatives supported Bush in his assertion that during "war time" that the president has unlimited powers. Then the UAE port deal comes along and Frist threatens to block the deal pending further investigation, apparently Bush's powers are not unlimited. Why is Congress interfering with the President's wartime decisions?According

Why does the right keep insisting that Iraq is the Disneyland of the middle-east

2006-02-22T01:36:00.000-08:00

Shiite protests Roil IraqTuesday was an apocalyptic day in Iraq. I am not normally exactly sanguine about the situation there. But the atmospherics are very, very bad, in a way that most Western observers will miss.The day started out with a protest by ten thousand people in the Shiite holy city of Karbala, against the Danish caricatures of the Prophet Muhammad. These days, Shiites are weeping,

Bush's Weird Counteroffensive on Ports - Bush's Weird Counteroffensive on Ports

2006-02-22T01:33:00.000-08:00

It is so strange that we repeated, Bush's Weird Counteroffensive on PortsYou'd think the administration would just conduct a strategic retreat, admit it didn't handle this too well, and agree to a more extended and less secret review of the security issues involved in the takeover of operations at six major U.S. ports by a company from Dubai. And maybe it will soon execute one of those classic

New Report: The Battle for America's States

2006-02-21T08:45:00.000-08:00

New Report: The Battle for America's StatesHELENA, MT – The Progressive Legislative Action Network (PLAN) today issued a report that exposes many of the conservative movement's methods of operation in state government and how progressives can deliver results. The organization also rolled out its website that will serve as the "virtual" war room in the fight for the states."For the past thirty

Mr. President, Stop Port Sale Now Or Lose Congress

2006-02-21T08:40:00.000-08:00

Mr. President, Stop Port Sale Now Or Lose CongressRepublicans will lose control of Congress if President Bush does not immediately reverse the decision to allow an Arab-owned company (with ties to his adminisration) to operate major U. S. ports. Fearing a deadly depression in November's conservative voter turnout (already in play over Bush's immigration policies), House Republican leaders are

In the Bush bubble: Wouldn't it be great to do away with Congress.

2006-02-20T03:53:00.000-08:00

White House in overdrive trying to prevent hearings on domestic spying White House Working to Avoid Wiretap ProbeBut the actions have angered some lawmakers who think the administration's purported concessions mean little. Some Republicans said that the White House came closer to suffering a big setback than is widely known, and that President Bush must be more forthcoming about the

The sound of Pat Robertson's silence

2006-02-20T03:43:00.000-08:00

Robertson Cancels Speech at ConventionFellow conservative religious leaders have expressed concern over and open criticism of Pat Robertson's habit of shooting from the lip on his daily religious news-and-talk television program, "The 700 Club."The Christian Coalition founder and former GOP presidential candidate has said U.S. agents should assassinate Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez and

enlightenment principles and empiricism from the reality based community

2006-02-19T04:55:00.000-08:00

Looks like someone has taken a moment to make the case for the enlightenment principles and empiricism from the reality based community , as opposed to people who's rhetorical wagon seems to run on tin-foil, inflammatory language, false accusations, pretend Christianity, ethnocentrism...in other words wing-nuts. Bush Cultism is the new alternative fuel.

Earth To Rumsfeld

2006-02-19T04:48:00.000-08:00

Earth To RumsfeldI saw this and am unable to comprehend why this is an issue: Rumsfeld: Al Qaeda has better PR.I talked about illiteracy in the Muslim world. Michael at Musing's Musings, Bulldog at Main & Central, and Anne at Peevish have all posted on this.Folks, you can't present a landfill as a gated community, no matter how much you pay a PR firm. The US government has a history in the area,

Google rejects Justice Dept. bid for search info

2006-02-19T02:40:00.000-08:00

Google rejects Justice Dept. bid for search infoGoogle's lawyers said the company shares the government's concern with materials which are harmful to minors but argued that the request for its data was irrelevant. They offered a series of technical arguments why this data was not useful.The Mountain View, California-based company said that complying with the U.S. government's request for "untold

Don't worry when sea levels rise Limbaugh says we can stay in his multi-million dollar high-rise

2006-02-17T02:22:00.000-08:00

Glacier Melt Could Signal Faster Rise in Ocean LevelsGreenland's glaciers are melting into the sea twice as fast as previously believed, the result of a warming trend that renders obsolete predictions of how quickly Earth's oceans will rise over the next century, scientists said yesterday.The new data come from satellite imagery and give fresh urgency to worries about the role of human activity

The Rude Pundit on FEMA or the Federal Agents of Republican Incompetence

2006-02-16T22:06:00.000-08:00

"Throw Me Something, FEMA":The Bush administration and, indeed, the President himself were defended by Homeland Security lackey Frances Townsend, who is leading the White House's own "investigation" into "what went wrong" in the response to the hurricane. After Michael Chertoff spoke to the National Emergency Managemen Association, Townsend bizarrely described the President, who as Katrina was

Michelle Malkin's stupid question

2006-02-16T22:03:00.000-08:00

Michelle Malkin's stupid questionReaders have been e-mailing all day the question the MSM needs to answer:Why the Abu Ghraib photos, but not the Mohammed Cartoons?We're listening...Someone needs to check and see if Malkin isn't brain dead. If the reason that the press is not publishing the Islamic cartoons en mass is because newspapers are liberal then someone might want to tell liberals who for

In the censorship sucks department and a few words on Hackett and Brown

2006-02-15T01:32:00.000-08:00

School editors say they were suspended for running Islamic cartoons The editor in chief of a student-led newspaper serving the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign has been suspended for printing cartoons depicting the Prophet Muhammad that, when published in Europe, enraged Muslims and led to violent protests in the Middle East and Asia.Editor Acton Gorton and his opinions editor, Chuck

Congressional Probe of NSA Spying Is in Doubt, moderate Republicans get case of limp spine

2006-02-15T01:16:00.000-08:00

Congressional Probe of NSA Spying Is in DoubtCongress appeared ready to launch an investigation into the Bush administration's warrantless domestic surveillance program last week, but an all-out White House lobbying campaign has dramatically slowed the effort and may kill it, key Republican and Democratic sources said yesterday.and all this from the South Park prespective, Congress on NSA: "Move

McClellan Didn't Tell Press Corps About Heart Attack, But Still Joked Anyway

2006-02-15T01:10:00.000-08:00

McClellan Didn't Tell Press Corps About Heart Attack, But Still Joked Anyway from the Left CoasterJane notes that there may be a reason why Cheney let the ranch owner take the lead in spinning the “everything was done correctly; he was only peppered” mantra. A recent ranch shooting in Texas of a Hispanic immigrant led to a $20 million damage award against the ranch owner for the death of the man.

Support the moral highground around the cult of Bush and get fired

2006-02-14T00:11:00.000-08:00

CIA chief sacked for opposing tortureThe CIA’s top counter-terrorism official was fired last week because he opposed detaining Al-Qaeda suspects in secret prisons abroad, sending them to other countries for interrogation and using forms of torture such as “water boarding”, intelligence sources have claimed.Robert Grenier, head of the CIA counter-terrorism centre, was relieved of his post after a

The news from real patriots on Cheney and Plamegate

2006-02-14T00:07:00.000-08:00

For those who still think the outing of Valerie Plame was no big dealAnd if Valerie Plame was working on tracking distribution and acquisition of weapons of mass destruction technology to and from Iran, her findings might mean that Iran's potential violations could be presented to the United Nations and make war with Iran unnecessary, right?And that would make Dick Cheney very upset, right?

It looks like this post from Sadly.No! is untitled. Let's call it, It can happen here

2006-02-11T22:05:00.000-08:00

It can happen here.Look. We have a President here who is making a claim of unlimited power, for the duration of a war that may never end. Oh, he says it's limited by the country's laws, but they've got a crack legal team that reliably interprets the laws to say that the President gets to do whatever he wants. It amounts to the same thing.I am not exaggerating. I am really and truly not.September

Reflections on the Wellstone Memorial and the King Funeral

2006-02-11T22:01:00.000-08:00

Reflections on the Wellstone Memorial and the King Funeral It was the Republicans that tried to cheapen Paul Wellstone's life by dishonoring his death. It was the right-wing media, not the friends and family who spoke at the memorial or the people who came to it, that seized an opportunity to use a tragedy for political gain.Now to the King funeral, which I did not see in its entirety.Coretta

Maryland Lt. Gov. Michael S. Steele the stealth wing-nut

2006-02-10T22:36:00.000-08:00

Michael Steele Equates Stem Cell Research to HolocaustDiscussing his position on embryonic stem cell research with Baltimore Jewish leaders yesterday, Lt. Gov. Michael S. Steele said he is "concerned about the destruction of human life" and made a comparison between the controversial science and experiments done on Jews during the Holocaust. "You of all folks know what happens when people decide

Jack Abrmoff has more credibility then Dubya

2006-02-10T22:26:00.000-08:00

ONLINE POLL: 68% Find Jack Abramoff More Credible Than George Bush

Smearing Harry Reid

2006-02-09T23:59:00.000-08:00

GOP + AP = BSThe real question about the AP story which tries to sully Harry Reid and tar him with Abramoff scandal, is not whether it's true, since the story is completely lacking in any quid pro quo, or even in any action by Reid that was favorable to Abramoff's firm's clients -- no, the real question is which Republican operative(s) fed the story to these two particular stenographers, John

Washinton Times abandons Bush

2006-02-09T23:49:00.000-08:00

via Prairie Weather, some leashes must have broken, The Moonie Times is being mean to BushCo, Wash Times: 1) Bush is spying on American-American phone calls IN THE US; 2) Known Al Qaeda agents are running free inside US; 3) Spy program useless The law enforcement sources said the intelligence community has identified several al Qaeda agents believed to be in the United States. But the sources

Dick said I could

2006-02-09T23:38:00.000-08:00

I was only throwing rocks at those people because everyone else was doing it and Dick said I could anyway and that was Ollie North's defense and he got off so I'm using it too so there...Cheney 'Authorized' Libby to Leak Classified InformationVice President Dick Cheney's former chief of staff, I. Lewis (Scooter) Libby, testified to a federal grand jury that he had been "authorized" by Cheney and

Oh-no another post about cartoons

2006-02-08T22:05:00.000-08:00

A Startling New Lesson in the Power of ImageryBut drawings are drawings, so a question arises. Have any modern works of art provoked as much chaos and violence as the Danish caricatures that first ran in September in the newspaper Jyllands-Posten?On Monday, Afghan security forces killed several protesters who tried to storm the American air base at Bagram. Yesterday the leading Iranian daily

Wing-nuts cling to NSA myth about Presidents Clinton and Carter

2006-02-08T22:01:00.000-08:00

In clicking around various blogs today I noticed at least three blogs or commenters still propagating the myth that Presidents Clinton and Carter both violated FISA laws. This is a specious argument on two counts. One is the clear assertion that since other presidents supposedly broke the law, that entitles Bush to break the law. By that logic since others have robbed banks, everyone is entitled

the wonderful world of right-wing spin

2006-02-08T21:48:00.000-08:00

Thanks to The Slideshow for this report on how effective or ineffective Da War on Terrur has been, White House: Skyrocketing terrorism = “great progress”Question to little Scotty McClellan:According to data currently available at the Department of Homeland Security-funded Terrorism Knowledge Base, the incidence of terrorism increased markedly in 2005. Worldwide, attacks were up 51% from the year

Swiftboating King's Funeral - Here It Comes!

2006-02-07T22:59:00.000-08:00

By way of Seeing The Forest, Swiftboating King's Funeral - Here It Comes!The right is trying to repeat the damage they were able to do by manufacturing outrage over what they described as "politicization" of Paul Wellstone's funeral by those mean Democrats. They seem to have a coordinated effort going on, saying mostly the same things, many referring directly to the Wellstone funeralRight-wing

2006-02-06T02:42:00.000-08:00

As much as I'd like to think that Specter will stand up for principle I can't help but wonder if he'll crumble under pressure from the conservative political machine, Specter Questions Spy Program’s Legality and here"I think that contention is very strained and unrealistic. The authorization for use of force never mentions electronic surveillance," Specter said. He added that he would consider

cartoons, free speech, the war on science and Republican Abramoff scandal widens

2006-02-05T02:34:00.000-08:00

The center-left on The Big Cartoon Controversy the most important event in western history since some radical elitests drew up the Declaration of Independence.Those cartoons: hypocrisy and inconsistency Crooker TimberI’m puzzled by some of the reaction to the Jyllands-Posten affair. In free speech debates over the last few years I’ve often encountered so-called libertarians who argue that speech

2006-02-04T00:17:00.000-08:00

Eavesdropping 101: What Can The NSA Do?Use of these statistical fishing expeditions has been made possible by the access to communications streams granted by key corporations. The NSA may also be engaging in "geographic targeting," in which they listen in on communications between the United States and a particular foreign country or region. More broadly, data mining has been greatly facilitated

2006-02-02T22:13:00.000-08:00

Yep the Abramoff scandal, the Enron scandal, the Tom Delay scandal, the Frist stock dumping, the Halliburton malfeance has really taught those crafty conservatives a lesson. They were going to clean house and get themselves some spring fresh leadership, well maybe not so much, For Boehner, Reform Begins Corruption Continues at HomeThat’s right, the new ethically pure, reformist, anti-corruption

2006-02-02T00:19:00.000-08:00

Seems like ol Grover forgot to drink the kool-aid everyday or his lips would become unglued from Bush's rear...... Grover Norquist: Bush Broke The LawReferring to what some see as a conflict between fighting vicious terrorists and upholding all civil liberties, Norquist said: “It’s not either/or. If the president thinks he needs different tools, pass a law to get them. Don’t break the existing

Assrocket's false outrage and the usual conservative hypocrisy continues

2006-01-31T22:18:00.000-08:00

The conservative blogs are very upset with Coleen Rowley retired FBI agent who is running as a Democrat against Rep. John Kline (R) because on her web site they ran a comical picture of Kline as the bumbling Colonel Klink from the old TV series Hogan's Heros. Assrocket from Powerline has the exploits it for all its worth. Meanwhile, M's Rowley has apologized.Rowley, a retired FBI agent, said she

Right-wing bloggers become rabid over Alito

2006-01-30T21:38:00.000-08:00

Michelle says jump, right-wing bloggers ask how high ?Michelle Malkin and fellow right-wing bloggers have taken great offense at Senator Ted Kennedy's defense of this great country and the Constitution of the United States. Many are at a lose as to why blogers like RightWinged.com, Expose the Left, In the Bullpen, Stop The ACLU, Mark in Mexico, Sister Toldjah, The Strata-Sphere, Sigmund, Carl and

2006-01-30T09:08:00.000-08:00

From Booman Tribune, Alito and Abuse of PowerIn these circumstances we should not even be debating the wisdom of putting Samuel Alito on the Supreme Court. Samuel Alito was selected because he is one of the few judges in the country that might rule in Bush's favor if and when his assertions of executive power come before the court. Voting for Alito is no different than endorsing the erasure of

2006-01-30T02:41:00.000-08:00

"It is just hard to get a country happy and stable when your kids are drinking from puddles." One of the administration's three legs of the Iraq strategy was supposed to be a reconstruction. In recent documents, that leg has been deleted. When that strategy falls, as a two-legged stool must eventually - it will fall on our troopsnever fear the righties will once again shirk any responsibilty for

2006-01-28T21:46:00.000-08:00

from notes on the road Atlantic seaboard and the Okefenokee in particular. Good travel journal with pictures.Is life in the modern workplace banal and meaningless, has your spirit been sapped by corporate crons.... low morale, if nothing else maybe that's grist for the cartoonist's mind.Airline Security a Waste of CashConsider CAPPS and its replacement, Secure Flight. These are programs to check

Republican is just another word for hypocrite, Why are Republicans selling America to China and Republicans know Jack really really well.

2006-01-27T22:16:00.000-08:00

Peevish reminds us that for the roughly 1,289,124,012 time Republicans are of the filibusters are OK when they do it, but its unfair when Democrats do it, school of political doggerel, FilibusterSupporters of George W. Bush are lambasting Sen. John Kerry for a threatened filibuster against U.S. Supreme Court nominee Samuel Alito.In 1991, the Democratic-controlled Senate was planning an

2006-01-26T23:02:00.000-08:00

Wal-Mart on investigation is clearly not good for America. That said they are a reality, many people shop there because the prices are lower and in many areas of the country, even if a consumer were willing to spend a few cents more, Wal-Mart has driven out the competition. In doing so they have also driven out other employers, so the bottom line is that when you need shelter and food, life's

2006-01-26T00:21:00.000-08:00

When you talk about the world of wing-nuttery, you're talking about people that have the mental equivalent of a maze with no exits. The facts become, for the righties a mental obstacle that if all else fails, try mental avoidance.....Framing For TomorrowUsing M.R.I. scanners, neuroscientists have now tracked what happens in the politically partisan brain when it tries to digest damning facts

2006-01-24T22:12:00.000-08:00

Little words become so important. Former NSA Director Gen. Michael Hayden at the National Press Club acting as point man in Bush's defense,QUESTION: Jonathan Landay with Knight Ridder. I'd like to stay on the same issue, and that had to do with the standard by which you use to target your wiretaps. I'm no lawyer, but my understanding is that the Fourth Amendment of the Constitution specifies that

2006-01-24T09:20:00.000-08:00

"Jerry Falwell, Pat Robertson and Usama Bin Ladin have a lot in common." Take the quiz

2006-01-24T00:09:00.000-08:00

While I appreciate the special place that blogging holds as a sometimes raw, sometimes polished attempt at citizen media, there are some things that bloggers just are not up to yet. One of those things is indepth coverage of Iran and issues associated with same. Opinions about such important matters require a detailed knowledge of facts only avaliable to insiders. As some of those details become

2006-01-22T21:39:00.000-08:00

The Clownstein of ScienceFiled under, This is what happens when you lock a child in a closet with a dog eared copy of Leo Strauss BeKos Kerry Says Sofancies himself capable enough a speaker to pull off rhetorical dodges that are not only obviously insincere and unconvincing to the majority of Americans (and I include intellectually honest Democrats—even those who support Kerry’s

2006-01-22T19:50:00.000-08:00

Halliburton Cited in Iraq Contamination"We exposed a base camp population (military and civilian) to a water source that was not treated," said a July 15, 2005, memo written by William Granger, the official for Halliburton's KBR subsidiary who was in charge of water quality in Iraq and Kuwait."The level of contamination was roughly 2x the normal contamination of untreated water from the Euphrates

Right-wing smears and Reagan puffery.

2006-01-21T22:40:00.000-08:00

This blogger thinks he.she has the goods on Senator Hillary Clinton. The breathless headline reads, Hillary Bashes Bush While Banking Iranian Donations! and sites this release from one of those websites that is famous for being having less credibility then the National Enquirer:Senator Clinton has accused President Bush of downplaying the threat from Iran while she has been accepting money from

2006-01-21T04:51:00.000-08:00

Jeff Huber at Pen and Sword has a report up on the criminal negligence at the heart of the whole body armor fiasco...Point Blank War ProfitsThe history of the Point Blank Interceptor OTV body armor vest and the company that manufactures it is a shameful tale of the state of war profiteering in the Rumsfeld age. The Interceptor OTV is the body armor jacket recently revealed by Defense Watch to

Are we at the zenith of Bush powers or Bush panic

2006-01-21T01:35:00.000-08:00

Another take on Bush's unlimited powers and his council of bitches at the DoJ, "Zenith of his powers" warrants for domestic eavesdropping is supereceded by President's right to act "at the zenith of his powers" and that Congress gave the President this right in October 2001, in the heated days after the 9/11 attacks, when it authorized the president to use military force against al Qaeda.

Adminstrations legal wrangling was wrong the first time and this time

2006-01-19T23:10:00.000-08:00

Bush has actually put out a paper rendering of the same failed arguments that they used from the bully pulpit the first time round to justify their weird spin on the NSA scandal. Administration Lays Out Legal Case for Wiretapping ProgramIn a 42-page white paper, the Justice Department expanded on its past arguments in laying out the legal rationale for why the N.S.A. program does not violate

If Bush thinks skirting the law will protect us, then explain 9-11

2006-01-18T22:23:00.000-08:00

Hear no, see no, but speaking of legalityFrom NYT, Report Questions Legality of Briefings on Surveillance WASHINGTON, Jan. 18 - A legal analysis by the nonpartisan Congressional Research Service concludes that the Bush administration's limited briefings for Congress on the National Security Agency's domestic eavesdropping without warrants are "inconsistent with the law."[ ]..The Congressional

2006-01-18T03:46:00.000-08:00

from The RawStory, Gore responds to White House 'hypocrisy' commentsThere are two problems with the Attorney General's effort to focus attention on the past instead of the present Administration's behavior. First, as others have thoroughly documented, his charges are factually wrong. Both before and after the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act was amended in 1995, the Clinton/Gore

2006-01-18T01:57:00.000-08:00

Josh Marshall makes a very relavent connection between Dumya's incompetence and covetousness of power ...The point Gore makes in his speech that I think is most key is the connection between authoritarianism, official secrecy and incompetence. The president's critics are always accusing him of law-breaking or unconstitutional acts and then also berating the incompetence of his governance.

2006-01-16T22:05:00.000-08:00

I read this article/interview a few months ago and kept meaning to post about it. Patrick Cockburn is a British journalist who has been to Iraq over fifty times since 1978. I think, though others are sure to disagree, that Cockburn gives a balanced look at life inside Iraq. the interview was done for the new left Review's Nov-Dec 2005 issue, so some specifics on the ground in Iraq have changed.

2006-01-15T23:26:00.000-08:00

Republican on his way to the Ethics ShopRepublicans have left themsleves with a big opening in their offensive line that is a result of both arrogance and and insincere i.e. image is everything embrace of values when its convenient. Democrats need to hold up the mirror and let the public see how deep it goes. Democratic Alchemy In recent days, as the Jack Abramoff story has detonated in slow

2006-01-14T21:39:00.000-08:00

WhitewashOfficially, Greensboro, North Carolina, has a strong history of racial tolerance and progressive politics -- a past touted in its historical museum and by numerous historical markers. But, JoAnn Wypijewski writes in Mother Jones, there is a much different story that wasn't getting told in Greensboro: the story of November 3, 1979. That's when a caravan of Ku Klux Klan and American Nazi

Airstrike may have killed Bin Laden aide

2006-01-13T19:39:00.000-08:00

My first reaction was its about time, if The Bushwhacker in the Whitehouse hadn't made Iraq a priority over catching Bin Laden and his lieutenants, we might have gotten this murderous criten two years ago. Sources: Airstrike may have killed bin Laden's No. 2(CNN) -- A CIA airstrike on a building in Pakistan may have killed Osama bin Laden's most-trusted aide, sources said.The building where Ayman

Despite The Moonie Washinton Times its Still A Republican Scandal

2006-01-13T04:24:00.000-08:00

via Josh Marshall The Moonie Times reported that Harry Reid was the subject of a Justice Department investigation, but no surprise here, The Moonies got it wrong, ABRAMOFF INVESTIGATION: Sources conflict on Reid status"The department has not and will not discuss individuals who have not been charged," Justice Department spokesman Bryan Sierra said.Speaking in Salt Lake City, Reid angrily denied

Judge theatrics, hate mail, and linkage

2006-01-12T22:36:00.000-08:00

No those mean Democrats did not make Mrs Alito cry and or we having hearings or the theatre of the absurd.I agree with Biden, we might as well scrap the hearings altogether. Maybe without the spectacle there’ll be greater focus on substance and less on the theatrics. Michelle Internment Camp Malkin a plagarists? Not 100%, but she does the kind of things that some college freshmen do in their

Excerpt from Jeff's thesis from Conservative Clown College

2006-01-10T22:51:00.000-08:00

Jeff's graduation picture.This blog is pretty far off the beaten track, so I'm honored today to have a distinquished guest blogger, Jeff Clownstein Any and all polls that are nonreflective of the ultimate dialetical imperative of Bush worship are skewed on a metaphysical onion in the fourth dimension of partisan fitness spas in diametric opposition to the shiny red plastic wrap that the messiah

The New Political Correctness, Iraq is a Country Club, Presidents are Kings, and Corruption is Cool

2006-01-10T22:34:00.000-08:00

Glenn Greenwald is blogging the Alito hearings, The Alito hearings . Glenn and Jukeboxgrad expose the lies and deceptions of AssRocket at Powerline, here, here, and The law is too annoying to obey And as always, it can’t be pointed out enough that in a society which lives under the rule of law, it is absolutely intolerable for the President to secretly violate laws and then try to explain

2006-01-09T21:37:00.000-08:00

Loch Ness monster a protected speciesDocuments obtained by a Scottish newspaper show that in the 1980s British civil servants debated whether the Loch Ness monster was a protected species. The Case Against AlitoSupreme Court nominees get, and usually deserve, much benefit of the doubt. But with Alito, the doubt is all of the nominee's making, and has only grown with revelations of his Reagan-era

Why Not Just Dissolve the Senate?

2006-01-09T03:55:00.000-08:00

I may have changed my mind about the Bush censure issue. He should be striped of his citizenship, strapped to the side of a tanker, taken to die in Exile on the Island of Alba chained to a copy, cast in lead of the US Constitution...... Why Not Just Dissolve the Senate?Much has already been written about President Bush's 17 recess appointments announced on Thursdaysnipthis president, in an

For Jeff Goldstein delusional syllogisms pass for thought

2006-01-08T22:24:00.000-08:00

Quiet please, Mr. Charrington, aka Jeff Goldstein is trying to think. Mr. Goldstein at Protein Wisdom has taken out a copyright on irony, doesn't think others should use it, and really isn't sure what it is.In addressing the recent reports on the lack of body armor, Jeff titles his post, We love the troops; but it's a tough love , and yet Jeff links to this post at Left Coaster, We lost 11

Question for Judge Alito: What About One Person One Vote?

2006-01-07T23:11:00.000-08:00

Question for Judge Alito: What About One Person One Vote?Rejecting the one-person-one-vote principle is a radical position. If Judge Alito still holds this view today, he could lead the court to accept a very different vision of American democracy, one in which it would be far easier for powerful special interests to get a stranglehold on government.Even if Judge Alito has changed his position on

An NSA Whistleblower Speaks Out

2006-01-07T03:24:00.000-08:00

An NSA Whistleblower Speaks OutIn his letter, Tice wrote, quote, "It's with my oath as a U.S. intelligence officer weighing heavy on my mind that I wish to report to Congress acts I believe are unlawful and unconstitutional. The freedom of the American people cannot be protected when our constitutional liberties are ignored and our nation has decayed into a police state." Russell Tice joins us

2006-01-05T22:44:00.000-08:00

Cheney Falsely Suggests Warrantless Domestic Surveillance Could Have Prevented 9/11Cheney’s claim isn’t true. Any surveillence involving known al Qaeda or affiliates could be conducted consistent with the law, the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act, which permits domestic surveillence involving any terrorist group. On Sunday, President Bush confirmed his warrantless domestic surveillance

Putting the Howard Dean can't raise money myth to rest

2006-01-05T22:32:00.000-08:00

from Daily Kos, The Dean misinformation campaignThe Democratic National Committee raised more than $51M in 2005, a record for an off-year and twenty percent higher than the comparable period in 2003.and here, Dean's effortsWhen Dean was running for chair, he took a keen interest in that state's tale of woe. And it was typical of what he saw in states across the country. So Dean promised state

Veterans better tow the ideological line or else Conservatives "will crush you".

2006-01-05T00:08:00.000-08:00

Conservatives seem to have very flexible morals I came across some more disturbing comments abouts veterans today. There tends to be a vicious cycle with Conservative attacka on veterans. This is bizarre because a list of right-wing pundits ranging from Bill O'Reilly to Ann Coulter to Powerline to Rusn Limbaugh have all attacked center to center-left folks for being anti-military. Googling the

The A-Bomb goes off on a plea

2006-01-04T07:18:00.000-08:00

via the Federal Crimes Blog, Public Corruption—Jack Abramoff Guilty PleaAccording to the AP, prosecutors in the DC case “will recommend a sentence of 9 ½ to 11 years, providing he cooperates with federal prosecutors in a wide-ranging corruption investigation believed to be focusing on as many as 20 members of Congress and aides.”[7] According to the Washington Post, “his eventual sentence from

Conyers calls for Bush Censure

2006-01-04T03:52:00.000-08:00

Too bad we can't censure his enablers in Congress who keep the Preznit enveloped in a shield of teflon. A Motion for Censure As further detailed in the report, there is at least a prima facie case that these actions by the President, Vice President and other members of the Bush Administration violate a number of federal laws, including: Committing a fraud against the United States, for example,

Bush can't break the law for the same reason you can't roll a fat one

2006-01-03T23:01:00.000-08:00

Ezra Klein makes a very good point while including just incidently an issue that died a quiet death in the dark ally of political untouchables. He Ain't The Law When Congress passes a law that certain groups think to be unconstitutional, there's a procedure worked out for pursuing resolution. It involves a handful of old dudes and a couple old women who wear long robes and issue complex legal

2006-01-02T22:19:00.000-08:00

Some patriots have asked, What's the difference between AWOL Bush and a tyrant? Bad Attitudes has a handy chart:DICTATOR: Uses government resources to create and distribute propaganda, CHECK.Bush: Uses government resources to create and distribute propaganda, CHECK.BLUE IN THE FACE about the whole data mining business via The SlideshowIt was collected by tapping directly into some of the American

2006-01-02T03:15:00.000-08:00

Why I Am Not a Conservative By Nobel laureate F. A. HayekLet me return, however, to the main point, which is the characteristic complacency of the conservative toward the action of established authority and his prime concern that this authority be not weakened rather than that its power be kept within bounds. This is difficult to reconcile with the preservation of liberty. In general, it can

New, Troubling Questions Over Bush Domestic Spying

2006-01-01T19:28:00.000-08:00

New, Troubling Questions Over Bush Domestic Spying........The Moderate Voice asks a compelling question about this article from Newsweek If this was so justified in doing as warrantless wiretaps, then, why did they bother to go to Comey or Ashcroft in the first place? Technorati Tags : NSA, domestic, spying, Bush

Should Bush be Impeached ? Probably.

2005-12-31T19:35:00.000-08:00

IMPEACH BUSH? WHY BOTHER?President Bush swore to protect and defend the Constitution of the United States, and that Constitution prohibits government eavesdropping. The few exceptions are defined by law, in particular, the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act. In authorizing eavesdropping without a warrant from the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Court, the president violated both the law and

Internment Camp Malkin bends over for Bush

2005-12-30T21:48:00.000-08:00

Michelle links to this article, Justice Dept. Opens Domestic Spying ProbeThe surveillance program, which Bush acknowledged authorizing, bypassed a nearly 30-year-old secret court established to handle highly sensitive investigations involving espionage and terrorism.For anyone that has seen Enemy of the State knows what the NSA does. Every other government in the world eavesdrops on each other;

2005-12-29T22:01:00.000-08:00

Calling All Bloggers: These Documents need publishingThe UK government has been quick to deny that we practice, or tolerate the practice of Torture. So it is perhaps not suprising that they are determined that you should not see the following documents:What are these documents?The first document is a series of Telegrams that Craig sent to the Foreign Office, outlining his growing concern and

Judging the case for war and two years later the neocons arguments still fail

2005-12-29T02:40:00.000-08:00

Many of the right-wing blogs have been linking to this op-ed in The Chicago Tribune, Judging the case for war and in the cause of trying to see all sides I read it, thinking that maybe there was something new or something I had missed from the rationales that had been and still are passed around after two plus years. What do I find but the same old lies dressed up as new matter-of-facts. Only on

2005-12-28T01:12:00.000-08:00

Dancing to the same old tunes.

2005-12-28T00:55:00.000-08:00

Perrspectives has a document library up on the NSA issue. Handy for those water-cooler arguments and you forgot some detail.Secret surveillance up sharply since 9/11 "This is not about monitoring phone calls designed to arrange Little League practice or what to bring to a potluck dinner," he told reporters. "These are designed to monitor calls from very bad people to very bad people who have a

2005-12-27T03:31:00.000-08:00

All-Star: Mark Steyn — Wingnut: Mark Steyn — Team: Wingnutiens leaves the male version of Ann No Morals Coulters on the floor bloodied and beaten. mark likes blood, only it would never dream of putting himself at any kind of physical risk, much like the Fox team of Tony Snow, Brit Hume, Sean Hannity, or Bill O'Reilly who all share a common thirst for blood and a common cowardice.

Authoritarian government and hooters in court

2005-12-27T00:12:00.000-08:00

from Paul Bigioni The real threat of fascismObserving political and economic discourse in North America since the1970s leads to an inescapable conclusion: the vast bulk of legislative activity favors the interests of large commercial enterprises. Big business is very well off, and successive Canadian and US governments, of whatever political stripe, have made this their primary objective for

Naked Ruler

2005-12-26T00:35:00.000-08:00

via the newly redesigned The Heretik THE EMPEROR WEARS NO CLOTHES and herePresident Bush is a bundle of paradoxes. He thinks the scope of the federal government should be limited but the powers of the president should not. He wants judges to interpret the Constitution as the framers did, but doesn’t think he should be constrained by their intentions.He attacked Al Gore for trusting government

Unwarranted Executive Power and the more things change

2005-12-25T00:20:00.000-08:00

Come on Barron's tell us what you really think. THOMAS G. DONLAN pulls few punches in Unwarranted Executive PowerAS THE YEAR WAS DRAWING TO A CLOSE, we picked up our New York Times and learned that the Bush administration has been fighting terrorism by intercepting communications in America without warrants. It was worrisome on its face, but in justifying their actions, officials have made a bad

Vast Data Mining and Vast Presidential Powers

2005-12-23T22:09:00.000-08:00

Spy Agency Mined Vast Data Trove, Officials ReportThe volume of information harvested from telecommunication data and voice networks, without court-approved warrants, is much larger than the White House has acknowledged, the officials said. It was collected by tapping directly into some of the American telecommunication system's main arteries, they said.As part of the program approved by

The Relationship: Wealth stands on debts shoulders

2005-12-22T23:48:00.000-08:00

The Relationship between Debt and Wealth in the US 1983-2001The issue is not whether the rich "caused" the debt, but what the effect on the US economy will be as a result of these changes. The effect will be the same as if they were deliberately responsible. The wealth benefits accrued to between one and five percent of the population and the burden to repay the debt will be shared by all. When

Daschle: Congress Denied Bush War Powers in U.S.

2005-12-22T21:43:00.000-08:00

First, it looks as though Bush's Justice Department has admitted that they did not follow the guirelines outlined by current laws governing surveillance of US citizens. The warrantless surveillance of US citizens is the issue, not the general concept of eavesdropping with a warrant or spying on other countries. I specify these particulars because the pundits across Rightswingville have created

The Score: The left is right and the right is wrong on domestic spying

2005-12-22T00:18:00.000-08:00

This is a summary of the main points raised so far in Bush adminstration's surveillance scandal and the talking points that have failed in Bush's defense.1. The right-wing blogs and pundits first tried to say that eavesdropping on American citizens complied with FISA.They quite obviouly cherry picked the parts of section 1802 to justify their argument. I'm not sure that they should be aplauded

2005-12-20T23:18:00.000-08:00

Matt Drudge ts too lazy to do his homework or didn't want to bother because that would mean he wouldn't have any chum to throw to the Bush apologists who are showing signs of strain. It is hard work trying to defend each and every boneheaded, illegal, and scandalous escapade that emanates from this administration......Fact Check: Clinton/Carter Executive Orders Did Not Authorize Warrantless

Shiites Lead Iraq's Parliamentary Election

2005-12-20T07:32:00.000-08:00

Nothing like replacing Saddam with a theocratic government with ties to Iran, but not to worry because Bush has it under cintrol. Elections were held, victory is at hand. Shiites Lead Iraq's Parliamentary ElectionBAGHDAD, Iraq - Preliminary election returns Monday showed Iraqi voters divided along ethnic and religious lines with a commanding lead held by the religious Shiite coalition that

100 Mistakes for the President to Choose From

2005-12-19T22:22:00.000-08:00

100 Mistakes for the President to Choose From5. Ignoring plans drawn up by the Army War College and other war-planning agencies, which predicted most of the worst security and infrastructure problems America faced in the early days of the Iraq occupation.6. Making a case for war which ignored intelligence that there were no Weapons of Mass Destruction in Iraq.28. Opposing the creation of the

2005-12-19T07:08:00.000-08:00

Reid Calls for Probe of Domestic Spying by Bush administrationTwo things stood out from this story that included comments made by our favorite Bush spinmiester, Condolezza Rice and some important 8th grade civics she conveniently forgot.First Senator Harry Reid,Reid acknowledged that he was briefed by the administration about the surveillance program "a couple of months ago." But he said the

Does W envision himself as some perverse action figure

2005-12-19T03:10:00.000-08:00

The action-hero presidencyI mean, what good is the Constitution if all it does is enable evil terrorists to endanger the lives of us all? Right? We should be able to pick and choose whose rights we protect, because you never know when someone is gonna set off a nuke in your kids' playground.It's too easy to say that George W. Bush and his cult of defenders on the right have watched too many of

2005-12-18T23:01:00.000-08:00

Glenn Greenwald catches the righties noise machine echoing a cherry picked version of FISA (Foreign Intelligence Security Act) to defend Bush. Purposely misquoting FISA to defend the Bush AdministrationAs Glenn says, But FISA, at least in this regard, is not complicated and, as demonstrated here, it is crystal clear that the Administration's warrantless eavesdropping violated its mandates.and

2005-12-18T00:16:00.000-08:00

A sort version of Wingnuttery posts at Captain Ed and Strata-Sphere.There have been no attacks on American soil in four years so the illegal acts committed by the guy in charge that ignored 55 warnings about the 9-11 terror attacks is right to break the law and this is all part of a campaign by the new york times liberal conspiacy squad to get democrats elected. this is no big deal because

Bush admits criminal acts and says he's proud of them

2005-12-17T23:51:00.000-08:00

In Address, Bush Says He Ordered Domestic Spying President Bush acknowledged on Saturday that he had ordered the National Security Agency to conduct an electronic eavesdropping program in the United States without first obtaining warrants, and said he would continue the highly classified program because it was "a vital tool in our war against the terrorists."Then Bush blasted thouse that would

Give'em Hell Harry was right

2005-12-17T00:16:00.000-08:00

Power Line Wombat Blog says that the distinquished Senator Harry Reid of the great state of Nevada is a liar. Democrats Criticize Bush For Saying DeLay's InnocentDemocratic leaders sternly criticized President Bush yesterday for saying former House majority leader Tom DeLay (R-Tex.) is innocent of felonious campaign finance abuses, suggesting his comments virtually amounted to jury tampering