Texas. Its as inane as Florida now, but bigger; another example of the Bush family legacy. Connecticut should hold an annual parade to celebrate the day when that family moved out.

DeLay details role in DPS' hunt for Democrats (requires free registration... and an annoying registration at that)

Under pressure from Democrats to detail his role in the hunt for Texas lawmakers, U.S. House Majority Leader Tom DeLay said Thursday that his staff had asked the FAA to find former House Speaker Pete Laney's plane.

Meanwhile, a state judge ordered the Texas Department of Public Safety not to destroy any more records about the search.

Mr. DeLay, a Republican from Sugar Land, previously had acknowledged only asking the Department of Justice to clarify what role, if any, federal law enforcement might appropriately play in forcing Democratic state legislators back to Austin. He has said the request was made on behalf of Texas House Speaker Tom Craddick, who had ordered state police to find and retrieve the Democratic House members who had fled Austin to block Mr. DeLay's plan to redraw congressional lines.

Folks, DeLay is a republican from Sugar Land! Can his evil be any more obvious! Just ask Hansel and Gretal about their last visit down there.

Mr. DeLay said Thursday that his May 12 request for the whereabouts of Mr. Laney's Piper Cheyenne went through ordinary Federal Aviation Administration channels, and FAA officials later confirmed that anyone armed with a tail number could have obtained the same information.
...

They have also criticized the DPS for destroying all records of its manhunt, questioning whether Mr. DeLay, Mr. Craddick or Gov. Rick Perry had ordered or urged that agency to cover up an inappropriate use of law enforcement resources.

Mr. DeLay dismissed the suggestion, saying he had nothing to do with it.

"Sounds like a bureaucratic screw-up to me," he said.

DeLay, like all politicians freely expresses loathing for bureaucrats. Though every night they prey for the health of every bureaucrat because without them, there would be no one form them to pin the blame on for anything they may do wrong.

- rob 5:16 PM - [PermaLink] -

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You know this whole "the war was about freedom for Iraqis" schtick doesn't withstand even 30 seconds of critical thought. It does withstand 15 seconds though, so the television press still believes that's the reason. But really. If the Bush Administration was interested in promoting democracy why would the Bush Administration be participating in a coup attempt in Venezuela (thanks to ThisModernWorld for the link)? Doesn't democracy mean that sometimes you'll get someone you disagree with? If the Bush Administration was so interested in the freedom of the people why would the Bush Administration be against a law suit that points out that Unocal (allegedly) forced villagers in Myanmar into forced labor?

I think these are reasonable questions.

- rob 2:22 PM - [PermaLink] -

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Okay. Why aren't articles like this one available in American papers? I mean its a US Senator (Republican at that) talking about a US President's policies. Wouldn't that be something to put in the paper? No? oh... sorry.

Bush 'is on brink of catastrophe'

THE most senior Republican authority on foreign relations in Congress has warned President Bush that the United States is on the brink of catastrophe in Iraq.
Richard Lugar, chairman of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, said that Washington was in danger of creating “an incubator for terrorist cells and activity” unless it increased the scope and cost of its reconstruction efforts. He said that more troops, billions more dollars and a longer commitment were needed if the US were not to throw away the peace.

Mr Lugar’s warning came as it emerged that the CIA has launched a review of its pre-war intelligence on Iraq to check if the US exaggerated the threats posed by Saddam Hussein’s weapons of mass destruction. The review is intended to determine if the Pentagon manipulated the assessment of intelligence material for political ends.

- rob 2:11 PM - [PermaLink] -

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Read a good post on TCS?

Hey, believe it or not we get some traffic to our little "above average posts" link over there on the right. But if you go there its a prity slim list. Surely we've had a half a dozen above average posts by now (one would hope). So go visit the archives and leave a comment as to what you think should be added to that list.

thank you... you've made the world a better place... I guess... well hopefully you have... but adding a comment really didn't effect the world you know... maybe you should pull that piece of paper out of the trash and put it in the recycle bin... there... now you've made the world a better place... good job... now hop in you suv and get a burger at the drive-thru... you deserve it.

- rob 2:08 PM - [PermaLink] -

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Ahh Science and Religion

Remember when religious conservatives used to just lock scientists up in jail (okay, its been a few hundred years, think back). Well now religious folk who don't find their religion fulfilling enough just to be lived and followed, but rather feel the need to force it down the throats of others, have now taken to science as a tool. Not that its accurate science.

Texas approved one of the nation's most sweeping abortion counseling laws Wednesday, requiring doctors, among other things, to warn women that abortion might lead to breast cancer.

That link, however, does not exist, according to the American Cancer Society and federal government researchers, and critics say the law is a thinly veiled attempt to intimidate, frighten and shame women who are seeking an abortion. Proponents say they are merely trying to give women as much information as possible, and argue that research into the alleged link between abortion and breast cancer remains inconclusive.

- rob 2:03 PM - [PermaLink] -

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My God! What more terrible secrets is the CIA keeping from America?:

The US Central Intelligence Agency classified as "secret" and withheld from public dissemination for nearly 29 years a prank terrorist threat against Santa Claus, according to documents released.

They say "prank" but how does one really know?

"A new organization of uncertain makeup using the name 'Group of the Martyr Ebenezer Scrooge' plans to sabotage the annual courier flight of the Government of the North Pole," the CIA said in its December 17, 1974 "Weekly Situation Report on International Terrorism."

"Prime Minister and Chief Courier S. Claus has been notified and security precautions are being coordinated worldwide by the CCCT working group," it said, identifying the night of December 24-25, 1974 as the date for the planned "sabotage."

Oh, yeah. Its a prank all right. Phew! Last think we need is an attack against ol' St. Nick, ya know?

Anyway, the point of the article is that the CIA hid this prank for many a year.

Despite the dubious nature of the threat to Father Christmas, the CIA blacked out all references to it when the situation report was declassified in 1999, according to the documents.

The documents, which include the original report as well as the redacted version released to the public in 1999, were released by the National Security Archive as part of its campaign against the "overclassification" of government files.

"The CIAs secret Santa leads the archives lengthy compilation of declassified documents that illustrate the arbitrary and capricious decision making that all too often characterizes the US governments national security secrecy system," it said in a statement.

I agree the CIA hides too much. I agree the govenment makes some arbitrary decisions on what to characterize as secret. Heck the Bush adminstration seems to want anything that might be a discredit to their leadership a national secret (News Flash: it ain't no national secret this administration sucks). But folks. It was a joke, and they were embarassed that they had placed a joke in such a serious report. They were trying to hide a meaningless prank. It happens. Its natural. Its like a guy wanting to hide an affair with an intern. Its wrong. Its stupid. But it ain't a capital offense. (though the latter one can get you impeached).

- rob 4:18 PM - [PermaLink] -

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Oh Mr. Rove! Your genius is required in West Virginia. The natives there are wondering what kind of administration uses a young teen as a propaganda prop. Quick! stage a fire in a orphange near where Bush might be speaking and have him run in and save a blind african american baby. That ought to quiet this down.

Propaganda?
Was Pfc. Lynch used?

SEVERAL voices around the world say the Pentagon falsified reports about West Virginia’s hero, Pfc. Jessica Lynch, to boost patriotic support for President Bush’s war on Iraq.
...

"Sadly, almost nothing fed to reporters about either Lynch’s original capture by Iraqi forces or her ‘rescue’ by U.S. forces turns out to be true,” [Los Angeles Times columnist Robert Scheer] wrote. “Consider the April 3 Washington Post story on her capture headlined ‘She Was Fighting to the Death,’ which reported, based on unnamed military sources, that Lynch ‘continued firing at the Iraqis even after she sustained multiple gunshot wounds,’ adding that she also was stabbed when Iraqi forces closed in.

“It has since emerged that Lynch was neither shot nor stabbed, but rather suffered accident injuries when her vehicle overturned.”
...

Jessica Lynch is a genuine West Virginia hero. It’s too bad that she evidently was exploited by military brass for propaganda purposes.

I have to agree. Jessica is a hero, she help fight for our country (whether or not the fight itself was a good idea doesn't effect her heroism), but I think too bad is a little too gentile for what is being alleged. Criminal might be appropriate if it is true.

- rob 3:31 PM - [PermaLink] -

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A White House Fluent In Language Of Fanatics

I've been racking my brain, trying to reconcile the ever-widening chasm between what the White House claims to be true and what is actually true. After all, we know the president and his men are not stupid. And despite the tidal wave of misinformation pouring out of their mouths, I don't believe they are consciously lying.

The best explanation I can come up with for the growing gap between their rhetoric and reality is that we are being governed by a gang of out and out fanatics.

The defining trait of the fanatic -- be it a Marxist, a fascist, or, gulp, a Wolfowitz -- is the utter refusal to allow anything as piddling as evidence to get in the way of an unshakable belief. Bush and his fellow fanatics are the political equivalent of those yogis who can hold their breath and go without air for hours. Such is their mental control, they can go without truth for, well, years. Because, in their minds, they're always right.

- rob 2:02 PM - [PermaLink] -

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Even William Safire has his limits when it comes to the administration destroying our future's freedom:

The Great Media Gulp

The F.C.C. proposal remains officially secret to avoid public comment but was forced into the open by the two commission Democrats. It would end the ban in most cities of cross-ownership of television stations and newspapers, allowing such companies as The New York Times, Washington Post and Chicago Tribune to gobble up ever more electronic outlets. It would permit Viacom, Disney and AOL Time Warner to control TV stations with nearly half the national audience. In the largest cities, it would allow owners of "only" two TV stations to buy a third.
...

The overwhelming amount of news and entertainment comes via broadcast and print. Putting those outlets in fewer and bigger hands profits the few at the cost of the many.

Does that sound un-conservative? Not to me. The concentration of power — political, corporate, media, cultural — should be anathema to conservatives. The diffusion of power through local control, thereby encouraging individual participation, is the essence of federalism and the greatest expression of democracy.

Does the idea of Murdoch owing every channel scare you: Then do something.

- rob 2:01 PM - [PermaLink] -

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Halliburton got another contract, but only because they speak Bulgarian (is that a language or did I just make it up like Bush would).

- rob 1:57 PM - [PermaLink] -

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Insufficient Evidence

Nine weeks after the U.S.-led war with Iraq, U.S. officials still have no proof that Iraq had weapons of mass destruction but remain convinced that Saddam Hussein had the capability to make them.

So does any farmer in the world with modern equipment... but that's beside the point.

U.S. intelligence officials said two tractor-trailers found in northern Iraq are laboratories for making biological weapons. But after combing through the mobile trailers for more than a month, U.S. officials still could not say they had found a trace of biological agent on the trailers.

You know if you read the article your realize that they have as much evidence that they were bio labs as Iraq had about them being: mobile labs [which] were used for food analysis for disease outbreaks, mobile field hospitals, a military field bakery, food and medicine refrigeration trucks, a mobile military morgue and mobile ice making trucks, Iraqi officials said.

Obviously they were housing biological weapons. We have such labs roaming the streets all over America. Each day they brazenly weave through the parking lots of our coporate parks. The people know them as "roach coaches," but that happy nickname hides their more deadly purpose.

- rob 1:55 PM - [PermaLink] -

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Bob Herbert has something worthwhile to say about Halliburton. A friend of mine wrote, "More interesting and contrary to myths about Americanness is the tendency of Americans to believe in the authority of traditional institutions and in authority figures. . . . Statistical surveys [support] a view that in its cumulative picture seems to portray a population ripe for fascism." (Describing a book, title unknown. More later.) Too bad about the Dixie Chicks. They were heroes for a minute, then not.

- Michael 7:59 AM - [PermaLink] -

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More on Chris Hedges' eventful graduation speech (see below); his speech is now online:

Text of the Rockford College graduation speech by Chris Hedges

We have forfeited the good will, the empathy the world felt for us after 9-11. We have folded in on ourselves, we have severely weakened the delicate international coalitions and alliances that are vital in maintaining and promoting peace and we are part now of a dubious troika in the war against terror with Vladimir Putin and Ariel Sharon, two leaders who do not shrink in Palestine or Chechnya from carrying out acts of gratuitous and senseless acts of violence. We have become the company we keep.

The censure and perhaps the rage of much of the world, certainly one-fifth of the world's population which is Muslim, most of whom I'll remind you are not Arab, is upon us. Look today at the 14 people killed last night in several explosions in Casablanca. And this rage in a world where almost 50 percent of the planet struggles on less than two dollars a day will see us targeted. Terrorism will become a way of life, and when we are attacked we will, like our allies Putin and Sharon, lash out with greater fury. The circle of violence is a death spiral; no one escapes. We are spinning at a speed that we may not be able to hold. As we revel in our military prowess -- the sophistication of our military hardware and technology, for this is what most of the press coverage consisted of in Iraq -- we lose sight of the fact that just because we have the capacity to wage war it does not give us the right to wage war. This capacity has doomed empires in the past.

- rob 5:37 PM - [PermaLink] -

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And another one down and another one down / Another one bites the dust:

Whitman Quits As EPA Chief

She'll comb the beaches of the Jersey shore to see if maybe her dignity might have washed up. She misses it.

- rob 5:12 PM - [PermaLink] -

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Speaker disrupts RC graduation

How'd the speaker disrupt the graduation? Did he riot? Was he drunk? Did he strip? No. It seems he gave a speech. I can see why members of the audience were brought to tears. I think I'll avoid my planned vacation to Rockford, Ill.

New York Times reporter Chris Hedges was booed off the stage Saturday at Rockford College’s graduation because he gave an antiwar speech.

Two days later, graduates and family members, envisioning a “go out and make your mark” send-off, are still reeling.
...

Hedges began his abbreviated 18-minute speech comparing United States’ policy in Iraq to piranhas and a tyranny over the weak. His microphone was unplugged within three minutes.

Voices of protest and the sound of foghorns grew.

Some graduates and audience members turned their backs to the speaker in silent protest. Others rushed up the aisle to vocally protest the remarks, and one student tossed his cap and gown to the stage before leaving.

Mary O’Neill of Capron, who earned a degree in elementary education, sat in her black cap and gown listening. She was stunned.

She turned to [college president] Pribbenow and asked him why he was letting the speech continue. He said it was freedom of speech. Pribbenow later said when people stop listening to ideas, even controversial ones, it is the death of institutions like 157-year-old Rockford College.

In tears, O’Neill left the ceremony.
...

Hedges sympathized with U.S. soldiers. He characterized them as boys from places such as Mississippi and Arkansas who joined the military because there were no job opportunities.

“War in the end is always about betrayal. Betrayal of the young by the old, of soldiers by politicians and idealists by cynics,” Hedges said in lecture fashion as jeers and “God Bless Americas” could be heard in the background.

After his microphone was again unplugged, Pribbenow told Hedges to wrap it up.

- rob 5:09 PM - [PermaLink] -

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Guess what? I'm posting more about the fleeing Texas Dems. The Texas story just gets more interesting. And why? Because quite frankly the present republican party seems willing to abuse its authority at any opportunity. How much did the republicans do it Texas to get the democrats back? We'll probably never know:

Texas agents destroy rebellion records

FORT WORTH, Texas - Texas Department of Public Safety captains were ordered to destroy all records gathered in the search for Democratic legislators who fled the state in a successful effort to prevent a redistricting bill from passing, according to a published report.
...

Also Tuesday, officials were asked to disclose how federal resources were used at state troopers' request to help track the plane of former state House Speaker Pete Laney when he and other Democrats didn't show up for the Texas House session May 12.

Homeland Security Secretary Tom Ridge said he would review the decision to withhold information about his agency's involvement. He said there is an internal investigation into the matter.
...

The order, addressed to "Captains," stated: "Any notes, correspondence, photos, etc. that were obtained pursuant to the absconded House of Representative members shall be destroyed immediately. No copies are to be kept."
...

Texas law generally requires that records be kept for a period of time, but it was unclear how those guidelines would affect DPS' actions. A spokeswoman for GOP Attorney General Greg Abbott said it would be a crime to destroy records that had been requested under the Texas Open Records Act.

Three Democratic state representatives filed a request Monday for all documents about DPS involvement in the search; however, it wasn't clear if any requests were made before the records were destroyed.

"As a general rule, government agencies don't destroy records this quickly ... that is very unusual," said Rob Wiley, past president of the Freedom of Information Foundation of Texas.

I love Texas. Where else do you get statements like "Texas law generally requires...." Not everytime, mind you, but generally, if its not an inconvience.

- rob 5:01 PM - [PermaLink] -

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Well, we now have an official "This Century Sucks" T shirt. It replaces the Grey Orange Alert T which is now available in White.

Here it is:



wow. wow. Words can't accurately descibe its beauty.

- rob 9:57 AM - [PermaLink] -

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When the economy's death-rattle signals a descent into depression - the vision of the lips of the powerful dripping blood summoned from the veins of America - will the utterance "red alert" return us to a dreamy calm?

- Alex 11:35 PM - [PermaLink] -

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The Conservative "Majority"

I have people tell me in all earnestness that the country is moving to the right. The only thing that I see happening is that conservatives are starting to feel they are the majority, while their actual numbers are unchanged or maybe even diminished. Where is this fictional feeling of movement coming from? Directly from the GOP. The Dixie Chicks are an example. There is no grass roots conservative movement. Even letters to the editor are just GOP generated press releases (This Modern World loves to keep track of these).

From the Dixie Chicks article: According to a story from americannewsreel.com sent to RRC by former Reprise president Howie Klein, "Phone calls originating from Republican Party headquarters in Washington went out to country stations, urging them to remove the Chicks from their playlists.The 'alternative concert' [to the Dixie Chicks' tour opener] is actually the work of the South Carolina Republican Party and party officials are helping promote the concert.We received a call from 'Gallagher's Army,' urging us to support the alternative concert. Caller ID backtraced the call to South Carolina GOP headquarters."

The neo-conservative take over of the Republican Party is house of cards that will fall; don't give up.

- rob 5:00 PM - [PermaLink] -

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As you can read below, we are now back to Orange Alert. And in celebration of the news we are now offering more Orange Alert items at our store.

(and don't pass up our I Miss America Military Bear... even though I probably will).

- rob 3:29 PM - [PermaLink] -

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Hey everyone, we're back on high alert! I wonder what took them so long?

Terror threat level going up
CNN has learned that the United States plans to raise the national terror threat level to orange, or "high." Administration officials said the decision to raise the level was made because of intelligence "chatter" indicating the possibility of terror attacks in the U.S. and recent attacks overseas. Officials say the intelligence does not mention specific targets.

- Michael 3:16 PM - [PermaLink] -

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Okay, lunch is over... so I'll leave you with:

This week's Top Ten Conservative Idiots (with many a Texas Tale).

Oh... and while I'm at it, since I forgot this last week: Last Week's Top Ten Conservative Idiots.

- rob 12:53 PM - [PermaLink] -

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Senate Majority Leader Bill Frist's definition of a good man: A man who knows to take care of his donors:

Before hanging up, Chambliss asks for Frist's support in appointing a friend and Republican donor to an ambassadorship to an economic development organization.

"He has lots of dollar figures down there?" Frist asks.

"That's exactly right," Chambliss said. "And he did raise a chunk of money for me."

"All right," Frist said. "You're a good man."

Wow. I can understand why the Democrats Raise Influence Peddling Charge . But don't worry Chambliss has a great excuse:

Chambliss' spokeswoman, Angie Lundberg, said the senator didn't know there was a reporter in the room. Although the comments were accurately quoted, Lundberg said, they shouldn't be perceived as an attempt to trade influence for political donations.

"Someone's political activities may or may not be one of several factors for these positions," Lundberg said.

Um... I agree. How could any one preceive that as an attempt to trade influence for political donations. It was, quite obviously, given the fact that that conversation occured, not an attempt, but rather, a success.

- rob 12:48 PM - [PermaLink] -

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Okay, now I'm scared. If a NY Post pro-war writer is concerned. I'm concerned: DISASTER IN WAITING

Nice use of Capital Letters in the headline there... it is in the NY Post after all.

Bremer is taking over a very troubled agency: ORHA - America's inadequate, notoriously slow-moving substitute for an interim occupation government - is as unpopular with the U.S. soldiers on the street as it is with ordinary Iraqis.

And for good reason - even though ORHA is sometimes blamed for the failures of its counterparts in Army Civil Affairs units.

These soldiers see the reservoir of Iraqi goodwill draining away while bureaucrats take their time holding meetings and making plans as if time were somehow not an issue. They fear that their successors here will face an intifada in the summer if power, water, medicine, gasoline and food don't start reaching Iraqi civilians.

- rob 12:40 PM - [PermaLink] -

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A friend at work wrote this (channeling The Onion):

Declaring, "it's time to say good-bye," White House Press Secretary Ari
Fleischer says he is stepping down after 21 years in government and
politics. Mohammed Saeed al-Sahaf also known as “Comical Ali” is
described as the favorite to step into the top job.

Slogans like “The economy is better now than it was under President
Clinton”, "there is nothing wrong with Cheney's heart" and ‘We captured
Saddam and BinLanden in a Starbucks coffee shop in Kabul’ were what
really got him the job said President Bush.

That's right, Ari's out.
What the article doesn't mention is that Ari finally broke down in tears. "The lies, the lies, I just can't take it any more. My wife doesn't believe a damn thing I say."

If Ari's replacement doesn't work out, there is always Rob from Survivor.

Blair's lie... spokesperson couldn't take it anymore either. (I love that this article calls Ari "Bush messenger" in the headline).

- rob 12:37 PM - [PermaLink] -

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News Flash: GORE WON.

Okay it was from November 11, 2001, but lets face it, you didn't read about this the first time either. (thanks to MHO)

- rob 12:24 PM - [PermaLink] -

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Okay, I'll mention the Texas Democrats, one more time.

Sorry we haven't posted in a few day. Did you miss us?

- rob 12:23 PM - [PermaLink] -

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"To announce that there must be no criticism of the president, or that we are to stand by the president, right or wrong, is not only unpatriotic and servile, but is morally treasonable to the American people."
- Teddy Roosevelt



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"I am not an advocate for frequent changes in laws and Constitutions, but laws must and institutions must go hand in hand with the progress of the human mind. As that becomes more developed, more enlightened, as new discoveries are made, new truths discovered and manners and opinions change, with the change of circumstances, institutions must advance also to keep pace with the times. We might as well require a man to wear still the coat which fitted him when a boy as civilized society to remain ever under the regimen of their barbarous ancestors."
- Thomas Jefferson



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"I believe in human dignity as the source of national purpose, in human liberty as the source of national action, in the human heart as the source of national compassion, and in the human mind as the source of our invention and our ideas. It is, I believe, the faith in our fellow citizens as individuals and as people that lies at the heart of the liberal faith. For liberalism is not so much a party creed or set of fixed platform promises as it is an attitude of mind and heart, a faith in man's ability through the experiences of his reason and judgment to increase for himself and his fellow men the amount of justice and freedom and brotherhood which all human life deserves."
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"Should any political party attempt to abolish social security, unemployment insurance, and eliminate labor laws and farm programs, you would not hear of that party again in our political history. There is a tiny splinter group, of course, that believes you can do these things. Among them are [a] few other Texas oil millionaires, and an occasional politician or business man from other areas. Their number is negligible and they are stupid."
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"There's nothing wrong with America that can't be fixed by what's right with America." - Bill Clinton.