Ummm... they can't think this ad is effective can they?

On the Bush/Cheney 2004 campaign site you'll find interesting things.

Such as the fact that there are more pictures of Kerry then of Bush (in fact I'm looking at the site now and there are no pictures of Cheney or Bush on the front page... but three of Kerry - I think they really want to hit home their campaign message: Kerry - he ain't pretty, and George knows pretty*). Do they want people to re-elect Bush, but they really don't want to remind them of who Bush is in case the voter goes "wait a mennit... that goober is prezident Bush?"

Anyway, you also see a link to their new web movie about how democrats are all "like negative, you know, this is bad that is bad, torture isn't good, like oh my god! Can't they just be happy?" Seriously I don't see how this movie could sway anyone to vote for Bush. It made me go: Go Gore Go! (oh, what? I'm not the intended audience?). I do think most people will wonder how a presidency build on fear ("they're going to attack again real soon, and it is going to be big, and there is nothing we can do to stop it, so hey, let's attack Iraq"), could advertise themselves as the happy optimists. If they think this is a good ad they are all waaaaayyyyy out of touch.

Bush/Cheney Campaign's new web movie (small quicktime movie, but it'll take a while to load once you click on it so be patient).


*from Bush prefers our pretty boy to his pretty boy:

The President [Bush] chuckled. "Well, you got a pretty face," he told the surprised Mr. [Scott] Reid. He wasn't done. "You got a pretty face," he said again. "You're a good-looking guy. Better looking than my Scott anyway."

This is true. His Scott has a receding hairline and is on the chubby side, while Mr. Martin's Scott has a full head of hair and is quite fit.

- rob 1:59 PM - [PermaLink] -

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Hey B! You're up in Oregon! Is it true that the Nadarites drive Beemers?

Via The Daily Kos: Confirmed - Nadar support coming from Conservative Groups - to help Bush

"We disagree with Ralph Nader's politics, but we'd love to see him make the ballot," said Russ Walker of Citizens for a Sound Economy, a group best known for its opposition to tax increases.

The Oregon Family Council also has been working the phones to boost attendance at Nader's event -- with the idea that it could help Bush this fall.

"We aren't bashful about doing it," said Mike White, the group's director. "We are a conservative, pro-family organization, and Bush is our guy on virtually every issue."



Nader's campaign isn't about creating a viable alternative, it isn't about promoting a 3rd party, it is about supporting the Republicans, the party the represents everything Nader supposedly wants to fight. Maybe a Nader supporter could have honestly thought they were doing the right thing in 2000. But not this time. In polls Nader seems to be getting 2 to 4%... are these GOP plants too?

- rob 12:06 PM - [PermaLink] -

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"We said we'd bring dignity back to the White House Assholes! Not the fucking Senate!" Said Dick in a red faced fury that made all the cyborg scientist worried that there was a malfunction

Cheney Utters 'F-Word' in Senate

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Vice President Dick Cheney blurted out the "F word" at Democratic Sen. Patrick Leahy of Vermont during a heated exchange on the Senate floor, congressional aides said on Thursday.

The incident occurred on Tuesday in a terse discussion between the two that touched on politics, religion and money, with Cheney finally telling Leahy to "f--- off" or "go f--- yourself," the aides said.

"I think he was just having a bad day," Leahy was quoted as saying on CNN, which first reported the incident. "I was kind of shocked to hear that kind of language on the floor."
...

Cheney, who is president of the Senate, then ripped into Leahy for the Democratic senator's criticism this week of alleged war profiteering in Iraq by Halliburton, the oil services company that Cheney once ran.

Leahy and other Democrats have called for congressional hearings into whether the vice president helped the firm win lucrative contracts in Iraq after the U.S.-led war that toppled Saddam Hussein.

During their exchange, Leahy noted that Republicans had accused Democrats of being anti-Catholic because they are opposed to some of President Bush's anti-abortion judges, the aides said.

That's when Cheney unloaded with the "F-bomb," aides said.

According to Senate rules, profanity is not permitted in the chamber. But when the exchange occurred between Leahy and Cheney, the Senate was not in session so there was technically no foul.

This was the "F word" heard around the world:

Here's the same article in Australia, Scotland, Qatar, Japan, etc.

- rob 10:17 AM - [PermaLink] -

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One voter at a time...

Ex-Bush backer Iacocca endorses Kerry this time

SAN JOSE, Calif. -- Lee Iacocca, the innovative former chairman of Ford Motor Co. and Chrysler Corp., dropped his support for President Bush on Thursday and endorsed Sen. John Kerry's candidacy, touting the Democrat's plans to shore up the nation's manufacturing sector.

"We need a leader who is really dedicated to creating millions of high-paying jobs all across the country," Iacocca said at San Jose State University. "The bottom line is simple. We need a new CEO and president.

"I say this not as a partisan, but as an unabashed patriot."

- rob 9:57 AM - [PermaLink] -

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What you are seeing this weekend (I mean... if you want):

- rob 9:53 AM - [PermaLink] -

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Who Was Really In Charge?
Did Bush know Cheney had given orders to down airliners on September 11? The commission staff wonders—and remains at odds with both men over alleged Saddam-Al Qaeda ties.

June 28 issue - America was under attack, and somebody had to make a decision. Dick Cheney, huddled in the Presidential Emergency Operations Center under the White House, had just urged the traveling George W. Bush not to return to Washington. The president had left Florida aboard Air Force One at 9:55 a.m. on 9/11 "with no destination at take-off," as last week's 9-11 Commission report noted. Nor had Bush given any known instructions on how to respond to the attacks. Emphasis mine.

Despite all that time to mull it over with My Pet Goat.

Cheney didn't flinch, the report said. "In about the time it takes a batter to decide to swing," he gave the order to shoot it down, telling others the president had "signed off on the concept" during a brief phone chat. When the plane was 60 miles out, Cheney was again informed and again he ordered: take it out.

Then Joshua Bolten, after what he described in testimony as "a quiet moment," spoke up. Bolten, the White House deputy chief of staff, asked the veep to get back in touch with the president to "confirm the engage order."

Bolten then was melted by Cheney's laser beam eyes (oops sorry... um.. that didn't happen).

Bolten was clearly subordinate to Cheney, but "he had not heard any prior conversation on the subject with the president," the 9/11 report notes. Nor did the real-time notes taken by two others in the room, Cheney's chief of staff, "Scooter" Libby—who is known for his meticulous record-keeping—or Cheney's wife, Lynne, reflect that such a phone call between Bush and Cheney occurred or that such a major decision as shooting down a U.S. airliner was discussed. Bush and Cheney later testified the president gave the order.

Now you know why the two had to testify together and NOT under oath. It was during these types of questions when Bush squeezed Cheney's hand so hard that Cheney's artificial plastic skin almost sloffed off revealing the metal.... (sorry... um... that didn't happen either, though I'm pretty sure they were holding hands).

But the question of Cheney's behavior that day is one of many new issues raised in the remarkably detailed, chilling account laid out in dramatic presentations by the 9-11 Commission. NEWSWEEK has learned that some on the commission staff were, in fact, highly skeptical of the vice president's account and made their views clearer in an earlier draft of their staff report. According to one knowledgeable source, some staffers "flat out didn't believe the call ever took place." When the early draft conveying that skepticism was circulated to the administration, it provoked an angry reaction. In a letter from White House lawyers last Tuesday and a series of phone calls, the White House vigorously lobbied the commission to change the language in its report.

"error error must analyze error..." was heard echoing off the walls of the "undisclosed location" (several miles north of Thurmont, MD).

- rob 4:51 PM - [PermaLink] -

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Asscroft - the worst attorney general in history

Ashcroft sued over sealing of FBI records

WASHINGTON -- A watchdog group sued Attorney General John Ashcroft yesterday for classifying previously public documents pertaining to a whistleblower's claims of security lapses in the FBI's translator program.

Citing national security, Ashcroft recently classified documents related to the case of Sibel Edmonds, a former linguist at the FBI. The lawsuit charged that reclassifying materials that had previously been in the public domain is illegal and unconstitutional.

Asscroft only believe is the right to arm bears, the rest of the constitution is just a bunch of old paper.

In 2002, Edmonds told her bosses of her concerns about shoddy translations and suggested one interpreter with a relative who works at a foreign embassy may have compromised national security. Edmonds was fired soon after. The bureau cited performance issues as reasons for the dismissal.

Ashcroft told Senate Judiciary Committee members at a hearing earlier this month that he took responsibility for the decision to classify the Edmonds information.

"The national interests of the United States would be seriously impaired if information provided in one briefing to the Congress were to be made generally available," he said.

I guess in a way he's right, it would impaire our security if it was publicly known how much our security was impaired. Of course now that it is secret we can simply relax because we know Asscroft will keep us safe... from bare breasts and such.

- rob 3:42 PM - [PermaLink] -

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1 more day before it opens wide!

Michael Moore's 'Fahrenheit 9/11' turns on box office heat

LOS ANGELES (Reuters) - Director Michael Moore's controversial documentary "Fahrenheit 9/11" turned on the box office heat in its first day in theaters breaking single-day records at the two New York City theaters where it played.

The movie, which aims a critical eye at President Bush and his prosecution of the war in Iraq, sold $49,000 worth of tickets at the Loew's Village 7 theater, beating the venue's single-day record of $43,435 held by 1997's "Men in Black," according to distributors Lions Gate Films and IFC Films.

At the Lincoln Plaza theater, "Fahrenheit 9/11" took in more than $30,000 to top the $24,013 set by "Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon" in 2000.

A spokesman for Lions Gate Films said the company debuted the movie in the two theaters to help build good word-of-mouth -- friend telling friend -- publicity ahead of the wide debut Friday when it plays in 868 theaters in all 50 states.

And the most hilarious review for it yet: Moore’s Magic: 9/11 Electrifies by Rex Reed

Forget about the "official" reports from the White House about the activities of George W. Bush on the fateful morning of Sept. 11, insisting he learned about the Al Qaeda attacks while meeting with Florida pre-schoolers and quickly dashed from the room to save the country. The truth, it is now revealed, is that he was informed of the first attack on the World Trade Center before he even entered the schoolroom, and he decided to continue with his photo-op anyway. There he is on camera when Andrew Card informs him of the second plane and utters the fatal words, "We’re under attack!"—but he continues to read My Pet Goat for another seven minutes, his eyes sliding sideways in his puzzled face, like a moron looking for a bathroom, until his staff insists that he leave. (He stayed for another half hour.) If nothing else, that defining moment says volumes about what we can expect from the President of the U.S. in the center of a supreme, history-altering crisis: He’s just clueless.

By the way, "My Pet Goat" is going to be an answer to the 2015 edition of Trivial Pursuit.

- rob 3:38 PM - [PermaLink] -

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Ron Reagan on CNN last night

KING: Do you think he [Dubya Bush] wears his religion on his sleeve? He certainly refers to it more than your father ever did.

REAGAN: Well, you know, there was that answer he gave to the question about, did you talk to your father about going into Iraq? No, I talked to a higher father, you know, the almighty. When you hear somebody justifying a war by citing the almighty, God, I get a little worried, frankly. The other guys do that a lot. Osama bin Laden's always talking about Allah, what Allah wants, that he's on his side. I think that's uncomfortable.

KING: Do you have thoughts on the war?

REAGAN: Sure, I have thoughts on the war.

KING: And what do you think?

REAGAN: And I think we lied our way into the war.

KING: You think it's a mistake?

REAGAN: Absolutely, a terrible mistake. Terrible foreign policy error. We didn't have to do it. It was optional. And we were lied to. The American public was lied to about WMD, the connection between Osama bin Laden and Saddam, which is virtually nonexistent except for fleeting contacts. But they're still trying to pull that one off now, Cheney and all are out there flogging that.

KING: Can I gather from that, that you will not support this president?

REAGAN: No, I won't.
...

CALLER: Do you think your father's, this is for Ron, do you think your father's Republican Party is the same Republican Party that exists today?

REAGAN: I'm probably not the best qualified to answer that, because I'm not a Republican and don't hang out with Republicans all the time. But looking from the outside, I would say no. It's a much meaner party today. It's been largely coopted by the religious right.

- rob 3:03 PM - [PermaLink] -

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Official's comment on people using food banks prompts call for resignation

Eric Bost, the department's undersecretary for food and nutrition programs, was quoted in a June 6 story in The Columbus (Ohio) Dispatch about the growing use of food banks as saying he was skeptical of claims that food needs among the poor were increasing.

"There's a bump, but how much of that is due to people taking the easy way out? I don't know," he said.

Yeah, so many times I say, "heck with making dinner - let's go to the food bank!" Sure I could go to McDonald's or some pizza place but the food bank is closer - so not only do I take the easy way out by not making dinner, but I don't have to go as far! And the food - yum yum, and soooo nutritious!

- rob 2:07 PM - [PermaLink] -

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Ummm... someone in Rove's office isn't doing his job pre-screening people for Bush to hug

Victims upset at Bush's praise of ex-con
They say embezzler hasn't paid them restitution

Touting his program to rehabilitate ex-offenders in Cincinnati on Monday, President Bush put his arm on Tami Jordan's shoulder and called the convicted embezzler a "good soul" and an "inspirational person."

But the victims of Jordan's crime - a small, family-owned business in Fairfield that lost $308,170 to Jordan's deception - say she isn't rehabilitated and hasn't paid the court-ordered restitution.

"Of all the people in Cincinnati they could pick out as an example, and they picked her," said Susan Morin, the owner of Gorman Supply Inc. "She's on the front page of every paper, sitting with the most powerful man in the country, and I'm sitting here trying to figure out how to pay my bills next week. Is that fair? Where's my federal program?"

I'm all for rehabilitation programs. America's recidivism rate is a disgrace. However if Rami Jordan is free now to earn a living without even a little garnishment happening on her paychecks, there may be a weee problem with this particular program.

Rehabilitation programs are a good thing though, and economically sound. The cost of re-arresting, re-trying, and re-inprisoning someone who breaks the law after being released is dramatically higher than the cost of trying to rehabilitate hundreds of ex-cons. And the economic and social benefits of not having that crime happen, that is just icing on the cake.

- rob 1:55 PM - [PermaLink] -

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Remove our dependence on foreign oil (and thus remove a major source of funding for terrorist organizations)?
Bush couldn't have that

NASA Spaces on Energy Solution

Solar panels on Earth are inherently limited in their ability to collect energy by two things -- the lack of direct sun at night and atmospheric interference from weather. NASA's now-abandoned Space Solar Power program would avoid these terrestrial impediments by launching satellites that would collect solar radiation and beam the energy to Earth. These satellite systems could each provide gigawatts of electricity, enough power for tens of thousands of homes.

Interest in solar space power peaked in 2000, when NASA officials testified before the House Committee on Science that by 2006 test satellites could be wirelessly transmitting energy from space. After three years of studying the challenges and a favorable report from the National Research Council, in 2001 NASA requested and received new funding for the space solar power program. But later that year, NASA canceled the program (the website was last updated in August 2001) and withdrew the funding.

When asked about the decision to pull the plug on the program, former NASA Director Dan Goldin, who resigned his post in November 2001, said in an e-mail that he does not comment on NASA policy issues.

"It was a done deal, the money was there," said Henry Brandhorst, director of space research at Auburn University. Brandhorst said that NASA decided to use the money for the space shuttle and International Space Station programs instead. "It was a policy change." Emphasis Mine.

Old Policy: Find alternatives to fossil fuel, and remove American dependence on unstable foreign undemocratic regimes.
New Policy: "yee haw! Look at all the money you'll be making prince!"

- rob 1:21 PM - [PermaLink] -

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Poetry break:

The Unknown
As we know,
There are known knowns.
There are things we know we know.
We also know
There are known unknowns.
That is to say
We know there are some things
We do not know.
But there are also unknown unknowns,
The ones we don't know
We don't know

—Donald Rumsfeld, Feb. 12, 2002, Department of Defense news briefing

- rob 10:25 AM - [PermaLink] -

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Snatching defeat from the jaws of victory

How neo-con ideology endangered Iraq (and thus the united states)

I've read this before, but this little bit is all you need to know --even if you supported Bush's doctrine of preemption, even if you supported his invasion of Iraq-- that Bush is a complete failure when it comes to implementation. He depends on advice from short sighted tunnel visioned near sighted cross eyed neo con idiots.

Bremer arrived in Baghdad in May after the Pentagon fired General Jay Garner. According to Garner, the Pentagon objected to his plan to hold early elections before Iraq's economy had been privatized. Bremer's mandate was, above all, to privatize. In June, as Bremer returned to Baghdad aboard a U.S. military transport plane after speaking at an international economic conference, he discussed his plans for Iraq with Washington Post reporter Rajiv Chandrasekaran. According to Chandrasekaran, Bremer spoke of privatization "with such fervor that his voice cut through the din of the cargo hold." "We have to move forward quickly with this effort," he said.

Bremer's economic program wasn't confined to selling off state enterprises. Bremer saw privatization as part of the broader conservative economic agenda that Reagan had endorsed in the 1980s. It would include supply-side tax cuts and elimination of import duties. And he proceeded to get his way. In September 2003--against the provisions of the Fourth Geneva Convention that require occupying powers to respect existing laws--Bremer got the Iraqi Governing Council to issue an order privatizing state companies and abrogating Iraqi laws that prohibited private ownership of "national" resources and the "basic means of production." Later, he also got his way on taxes and import duties.

You might think that in the face of the continued insurgency, the absence of electrical power, and of elementary safety on city streets, Bremer would have seen these measures, in the words of the poet Blake, as "sand thrown up against the wind." But this month, as he was about to leave his post, Bremer told Chandrasekaran that "Iraq has been fundamentally changed for the better" by the occupation. He said that "among his biggest accomplishments ... were the lowering of Iraq's tax rate, the liberalization of foreign-investment laws and the reduction of import duties."

"Yes I know you lost your family in the war and that your village is in what seems to be a permanent state of anarchy and you don't have any power... but you do realize that foreign investment laws have never been this conducive to corporate wealth generation?!? I mean you are living in a wondrous time. You should me more grateful, I mean, heck, we've even lowered your taxes."

It wasn't about a free society; it was about freedom to increase the wealth of the wealthy. It isn't about Free Enterprise either, Bush isn't for that. The industries he promotes and safe guards depend on and are protected by the teat of government. Bush is a crony-ist, not a capitalist.

- rob 5:46 PM - [PermaLink] -

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One Bush success story after another.

Toxic pollution rose in 2002, reversing trend

WASHINGTON (AP) -- Toxic chemical releases into the environment rose 5 percent in 2002, marking only the second such increase reported by the Environmental Protection Agency in nearly two decades, and the first since 1997.

- rob 4:32 PM - [PermaLink] -

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California Officials caught off-guard by irreverent 'Daily Show'

Young or old, coating the news in satire makes it easier to discuss important issues, according to the show's producers, who invited state Sen. John Vasconcellos, D-Santa Clara, onto the show with LaVine to discuss his bill to lower the voting age to 14. The legislation would count the ballots of 14-and 15-year-olds as quarter votes and the ballots of 16-and 17-year-olds as half votes.
...

Both Vasconcellos and LaVine thought "The Daily Show" wanted to discuss potential changes in election law, but Cordrry [Daily Show "reporter"] had other plans.

That explains his reference to slavery and the comments about rappers and pop stars.

"Don't you think blacks should be given more than one vote to make up for that whole slavery thing?" Cordrry asked LaVine. "P. Diddy's got to be worth two votes, and Justin Timberlake, he's worth two votes, even though he's not black or anything."

Without cracking a smile, LaVine deadpanned, "That doesn't address the issue here."

It does if the point is a comedic look at the news. In an interview with PBS' Bill Moyers last year, Jon Stewart [Daily Show host] said his program does not fabricate anything in its pursuit of laughs.

"We just distill it to, hopefully, its most humorous nugget," he said. "And in that sense it seems faked and skewed just because we don't have to be subjective or pretend to be objective. We can just put it out there."
...

According to a survey released in January by the Pew Center for the People and the Press, 21 percent of adults ages 18 to 29 said they regularly turn to "The Daily Show" and "Saturday Night Live" for presidential campaign news. Compare that to the 23 percent of young people who listed daily newspapers and news broadcasts of NBC, ABC and CBS as sources.

Laura Grindstaff, a University of California, Davis, sociology professor, said those results are not surprising since young people have been tuning out mainstream news for years.

"They feel like it doesn't speak to their desires or interests, and part of that is just being young, but part of it is feeling like, 'What's the point of being informed because you can't change anything anyway,' " she said. "Because they have become disconnected from traditional channels of news, that leads to 'The Daily Show' becoming an important source of news for young people, like MTV and Rolling Stone."

I think the sociology professor got it wrong (shock! Seriously, is sociology a science or just a "hunch"). It isn't because mainstream news doesn't "speak to their desires," it is because mainstream news is complicit in the slow distruction and coporatization of America. As it has been a slow process of the media changing from citizen's advocate to corporate toady most of us "older folks" haven't noticed. Like when a relative is seeing their nephew for the first time in two years and is shocked at "how he's grown," while the parents of the child have become used to their child's height; long time viewers of mainstream news have slowly adjusted to the hideously awful standards of journalism today. The younger generation comes it and looks at mainstream news for the first time and sees it for what it is: Crap.

Thus they turn to Jon Stewart and the Daily Show for their news. Because quite frankly their 'fake' reporting is more accurate then the real thing. For instance this week they showed the clip from this weekend where Cheney says "No, I never said that" about the fact that Cheney said it was "pretty well confirmed" that Atta went to Praque to meet Iraqi intelligence (since disproven, and probably why Cheney is pretending he never said it). But unlike the mainstream news, The Daily Show follows up with the clip of Cheney saying "It's been pretty well confirmed...." And to sum it up Jon Stewart notes "someone should let the Vice President know his pants are on fire." Such blatant lying would have been otherwise unreported beyond the relatively obscure corners of the mainstream press if it weren't for this comedy show.

Obviously I would rather have accurate reporting from the press, but until that day comes, I'll try to catch The Daily Show when I can, and heck even though the news tends to be sad, its still can get a laugh. I mean how can you not like a show that puts all news about Iraq under the heading "Mess-opotamia."

- rob 2:17 PM - [PermaLink] -

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Ron Reagan tells it like it is

MSNBC - 'Hardball with Chris Matthews' for June 21

REAGAN (taped... giving eulogy):...Dad was also a deeply, unabashedly religious man, but he never made the fatal mistake of so many politicians, wearing his faith on his sleeve to gain political advantage. True, after he was shot and nearly killed early in his presidency, he came to believe that God had spared him in order that he might do good. But he accepted that as a responsibility, not a mandate. And there is a profound difference.

MATTHEWS: That was in many ways, the most remarked upon moment in a very dramatic week.

REAGAN: Well, what I find interesting about it is that everybody assumed I must be talking about George W. Bush, which I find fascinating and somewhat telling. If the shoe fits...

MATTHEWS: Were you?

REAGAN: Well, I said “many politicians.” If he‘s lumped in in that group, then fine. Fine. That‘s all right. I think there‘s a lot of false piety floating around—floating around Washington and...

MATTHEWS: Ron, do you feel deeply that the president has used religion to make his case for the war with Iraq?

REAGAN: I think he‘s used religion to make his case for a lot of things.

MATTHEWS: Including Iraq?

REAGAN: Including Iraq.
...

MATTHEWS: Many of the people in this administration who are most hawkish claim a Reagan mantle here in fighting this war. Should they?

REAGAN: No. With all due respect, I don‘t think they knew my father as well as I did. And another thing I would observe is that my father never felt the need to wrap himself in anybody else‘s mantle. He never felt the need to pretend to be anybody else. This is their administration. This is their war. If they can‘t stand on their own two feet, well, they‘re no Ronald Reagans, that‘s for sure.

I'm no Reagan fan, and on Bush's best day he's no Reagan... and that is saying a lot.

- rob 1:24 PM - [PermaLink] -

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The mainstream press has stories like this: Justice Dept. Repudiates Memo on Torture

WASHINGTON - The Bush administration laid out its legal reasoning for denying terror war suspects the protections of international humanitarian law but immediately repudiated a key memo arguing that torture might be justified in the fight against al-Qaida.
...

The White House released Defense Department memos detailing some of the harsh interrogation methods approved — and then rescinded — by Defense Secretary Donald H. Rumsfeld in 2002 and 2003. The administration continues to refuse to say what interrogation methods are approved for use now.

Blah blah blah. Sadly, for a true picture of what is going on the news is of no use. We have to turn to comedy:

This won't hurt much
by Terry Jones (of Monty Python fame)

I tried starving him, serving him only cold meals and shaving his facial hair off, keeping him in stress positions, not turning his light off, playing loud music outside his cell door - all the usual stuff that any concerned parent will do to find out where their child is going after choir practice. But it was all to no avail.

I hesitated to gravitate to harsher interrogation methods because, after all, he is my son. Then Donald Rumsfeld came to my rescue.

I read in the New York Times last week that a memo had been prepared for the defence secretary on March 6 2003. It laid down the strictest guidelines as to what is and what is not torture. Because, let's face it, none of us want to actually torture our children, in case the police get to hear about it.

The March 6 memo, prepared for Mr Rumsfeld explained that what may look like torture is not really torture at all. It states that: if someone "knows that severe pain will result from his actions, if causing such harm is not his objective, he lacks the requisite specific intent even though the defendant did not act in good faith".

What this means in understandable English is that if a parent, in his anxiety to know where his son goes after choir practice, does something that will cause severe pain to his son, it is only "torture" if the causing of that severe pain is his objective. If his objective is something else - such as finding out where his son goes after choir practice - then it is not torture.
...

In fact, the report went further. It said, if a parent "has a good-faith belief [that] his actions will not result in prolonged mental harm, he lacks the mental state necessary for his actions to constitute torture". So all you've got to do to avoid accusations of child abuse is to say that you didn't think it would cause any lasting harm to the child. Easy peasy!

I currently have a lot of my son's friends locked up in the garage, and I'm applying electrical charges to their genitals and sexually humiliating them in order to get them to tell me where my son goes after choir practice.

- rob 12:52 PM - [PermaLink] -

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America's Press Grows Teeth
(slowly, and with a lot of drool and crying - teething is hard)

AP Sues for Access to Bush Guard Records

Controversy surrounds Bush's time in the Texas Air National Guard because it is unclear from the record what duties he performed for the military when he was working on the political campaign of a U.S. Senate candidate in Alabama.

There are questions as to whether the file provided to the news media earlier this year is complete, says the lawsuit, adding that these questions could possibly be answered by reviewing a copy of the microfilm of Bush's personnel file in the Texas archives.

The Air National Guard of the United States, a federal entity, has control of the microfilm, which should be disclosed in its entirety under the Freedom of Information Act, the lawsuit says.

The White House has yet to respond to a request by the AP in April asking the president to sign a written waiver of his right to keep records of his military service confidential. Bush gave an oral waiver in a TV appearance that preceded the White House's release this year of materials concerning his National Guard service.

The government "did not expedite their response ... they did not produce the file within the time required by law, and they will not now estimate when the file might be produced or even confirm that an effort has been initiated to retrieve a copy from the microfilm at the Texas archives," the lawsuit says.

The missing Alabama time is a red herring though, the real meat of the story that might be revealed by this release of records is why Bush was grounded. Officially he was grounded because he didn't take a medical exam, but is there more there, and does it connect with his 1972 "community service?" Inquiring minds want to know.

- rob 12:43 PM - [PermaLink] -

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The Rev. Moon Senate Building performance from March finally hits: Big Time.

(of course TCS mentioned this back in March)

The Rev. Moon Honored at Hill Reception

More than a dozen lawmakers attended a congressional reception this year honoring the Rev. Sun Myung Moon in which Moon declared himself the Messiah and said his teachings have helped Hitler and Stalin be "reborn as new persons."

At the March 23 ceremony in the Dirksen Senate Office Building, Rep. Danny K. Davis (D-Ill.) wore white gloves and carried a pillow holding an ornate crown that was placed on Moon's head. The Korean-born businessman and religious leader then delivered a long speech saying he was "sent to Earth . . . to save the world's six billion people. . . . Emperors, kings and presidents . . . have declared to all Heaven and Earth that Reverend Sun Myung Moon is none other than humanity's Savior, Messiah, Returning Lord and True Parent."
...

Some Republicans who attended the event, including Rep. Roscoe G. Bartlett (Md.), said they did so mainly to salute the Washington Times, a conservative-leaning newspaper owned by Moon's organization. "I had no idea what would happen" regarding Moon's coronation and speech, Bartlett said yesterday.

This story would have never broken without the work of John Gorenfeld and his blog: Where in Washington, D.C. is Sun Myung Moon? Where you can learn alot more about the Moon coronation and Rev. Moon and his political ties.

For more interesting information about The Washington Times and Rev. Moon, check out this Wikipedia (internet based free encyclopedia) entry: The Washinton Times:

The Washington Times is a daily newspaper published in Washington, D.C.. It was founded in 1982 as a conservative alternative to the Washington Post by members of the controversial Unification Church. It has lost well over $1 billion since its inception. Emphasis Mine.

So to help the right wing GOP cause Moon invests millions after millions in a money losing venture. What does Moon get in return?

Reporter Bill Gertz is famed for producing a number of scoops based on sources in the American intelligence community. Former editor and early "Moonie" Josette Shiner was appointed U.S. Deputy Trade Representative in 2003.
...

The Washington Times Foundation has also sponsored workshops on morality, such as a recent "God and Peace" forum attended by Moon, Sen. Richard Lugar, and White House officials, as well as donating money to the George H. W. Bush presidential library.

As I mentioned in a December, 2003 post, besides funding The Washington Times, Moon also saved Rev. Jerry Falwell's "Libery University" from going under: The GOP's Religious Right - paid for by Rev. Moon.

America's Christian Fundamentalist Right is neither Christian nor American.

- rob 12:36 PM - [PermaLink] -

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The Administration isn't really serious about its "war on terror" but there is a war that it is serious about, and its winning: Class Warfare

When do workers get their share?

Despite recent good news on employment growth, the current economic recovery, now approaching its third year, remains the most unbalanced on record in respect to the distribution of income gains between corporate profits and labor compensation. Essentially, rapid gains in productivity have been translating into higher corporate profits without increasing the wage and salary income of American workers.



Corporate profits have risen 62.2% since the peak, compared to average growth of 13.9% at the same point in the last eight recoveries that have lasted as long as the current one. This is the fastest rate of profit growth in a recovery since World War II.

Total labor compensation has also turned in a historic performance: growing only 2.8%, the slowest growth in any recovery since World War II and well under the historical average of 9.9%.

Bush is doing one job very well, the one that pays back his contributors. Or as he calls them "his base" (as quoted in the Fahrenheit 9/11 movie trailer).

thanks to NathanNewman.org

- rob 12:07 PM - [PermaLink] -

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Fun with Scottie from This Modern World.

The following are cherry-picked excerpts of today's fun with Scottie McClellan, White House spokesliar

Q ... I'm just wondering if you could explain how those two disparate thoughts are completely consistent.

Q But that's in direct contradiction to what the 9/11 Commission has found.

Q Scott, do you really think people buy this?

Q Between what the facts are and what the reality is.

Q The New York Times says the President should apologize to the American people. Also, are you saying that the 9/11 report is wrong? Is that what you're saying that you reject the findings?

Q What are people supposed to conclude, that they're having lunch with each other?

Q You talk about deep, long-standing ties. What is that supposed to mean?

Q Why don't you just say the commission is wrong?

Q Well, because the terms that you did use, "deep, long-standing ties -- sinister nexus," and the President himself saying, "By removing Saddam Hussein we have removed an ally of al Qaeda," that means they are working together. Did Saddam Hussein and al Qaeda work together, where and when?

Q Well, what does "ally" mean?

Q That's an argument. Those are not facts.

Q That's just an argument. The facts as determined do not bear out that argument.

Q As a follow-up on my colleagues over here, do you think that if this was March 1, 2003, and the 9/11 report had come out, and we knew that there were no weapons of mass destruction, do you think the American people would have supported us going to war?

Q Scott, you said there is a misperception of what the commission said on ties to terrorism and weapons of mass destruction, let me ask you this, did this administration commit any mistakes? Are you -- in other words, are you considered a perfect government?

Q A perfect government. I mean you are not accepting any --

Q No, this government -- the government of President George W. Bush.

Q You're perfect.

No need for the answers... the answer is the same to each one: "9/11" (see Doonesbury strip below).

- rob 5:52 PM - [PermaLink] -

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Go For it Al!

Taken from the Drudge Report:

AL GORE TO ACCUSE BUSH ADMINISTRATION OF INTENTIONAL DISTORTION ON IRAQ/AL QAEDA TIES IN DC SPEECH THURSDAY
Tue Jun 22 2004 17:28:24 ET

Washington, DC-- In a major Washington policy address this Thursday, former Vice President Al Gore will accuse the Bush Administration of intentionally misleading the American people by continuing to falsely claim a connection between Saddam Hussein and Al Qaeda.

He will charge that Bush and Cheney have "institutionalized dishonesty as an essential element of their policy process."

Gore will also urge the broadcast media to further resist Administration efforts to manipulate and intimidate them, to fearlessly report the fact that there is no Al Qaeda/Saddam collaborative relationship, as the 9/11 Commission staff report has concluded.

Gore will also discuss the implications of the Administration's claim to be above the law in ordering the torture of suspects - and their claim that the Commander in Chief's power trumps all other laws. He will call for the Administration to reveal all orders given the military on the treatment of prisoners.

- rob 5:47 PM - [PermaLink] -

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From Center for American Progress via Kos: Bush lies on Patients' Bill of Rights

THEN:
"I signed into law some of the toughest patient-protection laws in the nation [and] I support a patient bill of rights for all patients, similar to those already enacted in Texas."
- George W. Bush, USA Today op-ed entitled "I Will Build On My Record," 8/17/00 (FYI - Bush didn't sign the law - he let it pass without his signature after the legislature forced him to accept it)

NOW:
"Before the Supreme Court, the Bush administration opposed the Texas law, instead joining two managed-care companies, Aetna Health Inc. and Cigna HealthCare of Texas Inc." Those two companies alone have given President Bush and the Republican Party more than $1.7 million since 2000.
- NY Times, 6/21/04; Center for Responsive Politics

How can anyone support this guy?

- rob 2:39 PM - [PermaLink] -

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Dang! Krugman lets Asscroft have it:

Noonday in the Shade

In April 2003, John Ashcroft's Justice Department disrupted what appears to have been a horrifying terrorist plot. In the small town of Noonday, Tex., F.B.I. agents discovered a weapons cache containing fully automatic machine guns, remote-controlled explosive devices disguised as briefcases, 60 pipe bombs and a chemical weapon — a cyanide bomb — big enough to kill everyone in a 30,000-square-foot building.

Strangely, though, the attorney general didn't call a press conference to announce the discovery of the weapons cache, or the arrest of William Krar, its owner. He didn't even issue a press release. This was, to say the least, out of character. Jose Padilla, the accused "dirty bomber," didn't have any bomb-making material or even a plausible way to acquire such material, yet Mr. Ashcroft put him on front pages around the world. Mr. Krar was caught with an actual chemical bomb, yet Mr. Ashcroft acted as if nothing had happened.

Incidentally, if Mr. Ashcroft's intention was to keep the case low-profile, the media have been highly cooperative. To this day, the Noonday conspiracy has received little national coverage.

At this point, I have the usual problem. Writing about John Ashcroft poses the same difficulties as writing about the Bush administration in general, only more so: the truth about his malfeasance is so extreme that it's hard to avoid sounding shrill.

In this case, it sounds over the top to accuse Mr. Ashcroft of trying to bury news about terrorists who don't fit his preferred story line. Yet it's hard to believe that William Krar wouldn't have become a household name if he had been a Muslim, or even a leftist. Was Mr. Ashcroft, who once gave an interview with Southern Partisan magazine in which he praised "Southern patriots" like Jefferson Davis, reluctant to publicize the case of a terrorist who happened to be a white supremacist?

More important, is Mr. Ashcroft neglecting real threats to the public because of his ideological biases?

The editorial continues... do read it all.

- rob 2:31 PM - [PermaLink] -

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Via Atrios: Republican Talking Points

Republican pollster and strategist Frank Luntz, who for some reason also makes regular appearances on NBC and hosts his own show on MSNBC, something no Democratic pollster and strategist does, regularly issues talking points. Here's what he issued for talking about Iraq and 9/11.

Here's a pdf of the memo: Luntz.pdf

And for those who don't have Acrobat or want to easily cut and paste portions of the memo, I've made a quickie html version of the memo:Frank Luntz's talking points

Here are some of my favorite parts:

WHAT MATTERS MOST
1) “9/11 changed everything” is the context by which everything follows. No speech about homeland security or Iraq should begin without a reference to 9/11.
2) The principles of “prevention and protection” still have universal support and should be addressed prior to talking about Iraq.
3) “Prevention at home can require aggressive action abroad” is the best way to link a principle the public supports with the policies of the Administration. “It is better to fight the War on Terror on the streets of Baghdad than on the streets of New York or Washington.”
4) “Terrorism has no boundaries, and neither should efforts to prevent it.” Talk about how terrorism has taken the lives of the British, the Spanish, Italians, Germans, Israelis, innocents from all across the globe. Remind listeners that this is truly an international challenge. “Americans are not the only target.”
5) “The world is a better place without Saddam Hussein.” Enough said.
The Language of Prevention and Protection 1
MAKING THE CASE: THE LANGUAGE OF THE WAR ON TERROR
1) Set the Context: 9/11 changed everything. On this issue more than any, context is everything. The American people have notoriously short attention spans – and they do not always see the big picture unless it is unveiled to them. Start with what we all hold in common – the shared experience of the tragedy on September 11th, but then explain what it has done to the present and what it means for the future. Before Americans will accept where you want to go, you need to emphasize where we all have been.
THE CONTEXTOF 9/11: WORDS THAT WORK
“9/11 changed everything. [It changed our economy. It changed our spending priorities.] It changed the way we think about threats to the United States. It changed our recognition of our vulnerabilities. It changed the kind of national security strategy we need to pursue in guaranteeing the safety and security of the American people.”
-- Vice President Dick Cheney
2) Before you can talk Iraq, you must talk about Homeland Security.

It all reminds me of this Doonsebury cartoon:

- rob 1:19 PM - [PermaLink] -

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What will we tell the children?

Ex-wife of GOP Senate candidate alleged sex club forays

CHICAGO, Illinois (CNN) -- The ex-wife of Jack Ryan, the Republican candidate for the U.S. Senate in Illinois, alleged in court papers filed in 2000 that he took her to sex clubs and asked her to engage in sexual activity in front of other patrons.

Portions of the documents, which related to a visitation dispute over the couple's son, were released Monday, after a judge in Los Angeles ordered them unsealed.

Actually any divorce is a sad story, expecially if there is a dispute over visitation rights. Anyway, could for Jeri (the ex-wife) for divorcing the jerk.

This story should be yet another nail in the coffin that is the "GOP solely represents family values" lie that some of middle america seems to have swallowed. The only family values the GOP truely represents is nepotism.

Though I do find it strange that Jack Ryan would so willfully piss off the borg:

- rob 12:05 PM - [PermaLink] -

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Iraq Letter

Letter sent to the United States Congress regarding recent human rights issues in Iraq

To: Members of the U.S. House of Representatives and the U.S. Senate.


As members of university faculties in law, international relations, diplomacy, and public policy, we write to register our objection to the systematic violation of human rights practiced or permitted by authorities of the United States within occupied Iraq during recent months: we request Congressional action to ensure accountability for such violations and to safeguard against such egregious abuses in the future. Current circumstances require that all transcend partisan politics or considerations. Action by Congress is necessary to promote a rule of law produced and enforced through a democratic process and to protect the physical and psychological integrity of all people consistent with the traditions of our nation.

493 Signers

- rob 5:11 PM - [PermaLink] -

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It's Monday, don't let the day go by without visiting: The Top Ten Conservative Idiots, No. 160

- rob 4:48 PM - [PermaLink] -

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Some Quick Links:

- The hunt is on
The anti-Clinton slime machine is back -- and this time its mud pies are aimed at John Kerry.


- Lie

“Even the very best newspapers have never learned how to handle public figures who lie with a straight face.”
--Ben Bradlee

Dick Cheney in action.


- New Abuse Charges
Allegations of mistreatment of female detainees
Please Please don't let Rush say, "heck reminds me of those fraternity parties I was never invited to."


- NEWSWEEK: Some 9/11 Commission Staffers 'Flat Out Didn't Believe' Cheney Called Bush to Get His Sign Off On Shoot-Down Order of U.S. Airliners
White House Lobbied Commission to Change Language in Report; One Staffer Says The Report Was 'Watered Down'
Hamilton Says Bin Laden's Ties 'To Iran and Pakistan Were Certainly Stronger Than Any Tie He Had To Iraq'


- Grad Has Bigger Job Than He Bargained For

BAGHDAD, Iraq -- At Yale University, Jay Hallen majored in political science, rarely watched financial news stations and didn't follow the stock market.

All of which made the 24-year-old an unlikely pick for the difficult task of rebuilding Iraq's shuttered stock exchange. But Mr. Hallen, a private-sector development officer for the U.S.-led Coalition Provisional Authority, was given the job immediately after arriving in Baghdad in September.

- rob 3:29 PM - [PermaLink] -

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In honor of B's post below:

GYWO's Uzbekikitty

- rob 3:18 PM - [PermaLink] -

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Found this from a post at The Daily Kos.



Bush told he is playing into Bin Laden's hands
Al-Qaida may 'reward' American president with strike aimed at keeping him in office, senior intelligence man says

A senior US intelligence official is about to publish a bitter condemnation of America's counter-terrorism policy, arguing that the west is losing the war against al-Qaida and that an "avaricious, premeditated, unprovoked" war in Iraq has played into Osama bin Laden's hands.

Imperial Hubris: Why the West is Losing the War on Terror, due out next month, dismisses two of the most frequent boasts of the Bush administration: that Bin Laden and al-Qaida are "on the run" and that the Iraq invasion has made America safer.

In an interview with the Guardian the official, who writes as "Anonymous", described al-Qaida as a much more proficient and focused organisation than it was in 2001, and predicted that it would "inevitably" acquire weapons of mass destruction and try to use them.
...

Imperial Hubris is the latest in a relentless stream of books attacking the administration in election year. Most of the earlier ones, however, were written by embittered former officials. This one is unprecedented in being the work of a serving official with nearly 20 years experience in counter-terrorism who is still part of the intelligence establishment.

The fact that he has been allowed to publish, albeit anonymously and without naming which agency he works for, may reflect the increasing frustration of senior intelligence officials at the course the administration has taken. Emphasis Mine.
...

Anonymous does not try to veil his contempt for the Bush White House and its policies.

Talking Points Memo has two posts interviewing Anonymous (the writer of Imperial Hubris):

One: A: "There is nothing bin Laden could have hoped for more than the American invasion and occupation of Iraq."

Two: Does the book exhibit contempt for the administration's policies? Certainly. It also takes a dim view of the White House's conception of what motivates al-Qaeda and how to fight it. But in the book and in an interview, Anonymous doesn't traffic in Bush-bashing. He has much harsher words to say about the leadership of the intelligence community, whom he faults for bending too far to the predispositions of the policymakers they serve.

- rob 2:57 PM - [PermaLink] -

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Friends in low places

After seeing a posting on TPM today, I thought that it would be interesting to see where some of our allies in the "war on terror" come out on how they treat their citizenry. After all, now that the WMD issue has fallen away and now that the al-qeada connection has been shown to be fictitious, all that is really left for the Bush administration to use as a rationale for war is that Saddam was a bad man who tortured his own people. So let's see what the US Department of State has to say about some of our allies:

Look at that! Uzbekistan is an authoritarian state with limited civil rights. Check out the torture section! "Police and the NSS allegedly used suffocation, electric shock, rape, and other sexual abuse; however, beating was the most commonly reported method of torture. Torture was common in prisons, pretrial facilities, and local police and security service precincts."

While Albania sure has made some strides lately, the "police forces nationwide used torture and inhumane or excessive treatment." Oooops!

I'm sure that the government of Azerbaijan must be promising great things to the Chimp, but they certainly aren't doing their populace any favors. "The Government's human rights record remained poor, and it continued to commit numerous serious abuses." What were some of these abuses? "There were credible reports that security forces continued to torture inmates and used excessive force to extract confessions. Police beat prisoners during arrest, interrogation, and pretrial detention," including members of the opposition parties. Gosh, torture and political repression! What will they think of next?

Or maybe a different continent? How about Rwanda, Uganda or Eritrea? You'll find that all three have questionable civil rights records, weak judiciaries, militaries or internal security services who are responsible for disappearances of individuals and moderate to severe human rights abuses including torture.

Or the Philippines, Columbia or Georgia? Not such great guys there either. Extrajudicial killings. Torture. Inhuman treatment. Etc. Etc.

But don't believe me. Look at the list of the coalition yourself, I gave you a link. You'll find that the comments I've provided I didn't make up. They're from the U.S. Department of State. It's one thing to insist that torture of your own people is really bad. (e.g., I'd insist that!) It's another to start a war on the premise that, among other things that have turned out to be false, the country's leader tortured and killed his own people. However, it takes real cajones to then have a so-called "Coalition of the willing" to depose a leader for torture when those countries in the coalition are themselves responsible for torture, killing and political repression.

- B 2:07 PM - [PermaLink] -

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