Vital president information accidentally destroyed -- sound familiar?

If anyone reading this is truly fair-minded and thinks this blog is nothing but knee-jerk rabid Bush bashing, please use your fair mind and read this:

The accidental destruction of microfilm seven years ago has handicapped Pentagon efforts to turn up records documenting President Bush's service in the Texas Air National Guard during part of 1972, a Defense Department public records official said in a letter to The Washington Post and other news organizations.

"I am not able to provide complete copies of President Bush's payroll records for his National Guard service," Talbott said. He said this was because of "the inadvertent destruction of microfilm containing certain National Guard payroll records."

Do I care whether Bush served his National Guard duty during Vietnam? No. Do I care that the mutherfucker lied about it, then had the records destroyed? Yes I do, and so should you, because it speaks to the heart of this president and what he thinks of you and fair-mindedness.

When somebody comes up to you out of the blue and smashes you in the head with a hammer, you go after him, you don't just stand there making up reasons why it happened. Stand, think, and act -- before your brains get bashed in.

- Michael 11:12 AM - [PermaLink] -

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Book Reviews on Amazon for My Pet Goat

Amazon.com: Books: Reading Mastery - Level 2 Storybook 1

Great book!, July 7, 2004
Reviewer: A reader from the WhiTE HouSe, WAShinTon, d.C.
This is one of the best books I have ever read. Once I started reading it, I found it impossible to stop.

I even forgot to do my job and lead the country following the worst tragedy in it's history because I was so enthralled by this book (Laura told me to say enthralled - It will make me sound smart).

This is a very good book. It is not bad like liberulz are.


10 of 10 people found the following review helpful:

Nothing could tear me away from "The Pet Goat", July 7, 2004
Reviewer: A reader from Washington DC
Not even a national emergency! This is probably the greatest book EVER written. It has lots of colorful pictures, and it's just so fun to "read" while I sit there for at least seven minutes wondering why I took a job that I have absolutely no skills for, and that when it comes right down to it, I didn't even want! It's not as good as "The Very Hungry Caterpillar" (the words are bigger), but it comes close!

As of now there are 5 reviews like that. I'm sure they'll be more soon.

- rob 6:06 PM - [PermaLink] -

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Laying the ground work:

Ridge Warns of Election Terror Plot

WASHINGTON (AP) - The United States is tightening security in the face of a steady stream of intelligence indicating al-Qaida may seek to mount an attack aimed at disrupting elections, the White House and Homeland Security officials said Thursday.

The Department of Homeland Security is addressing the threat and has efforts under way to "ramp up security," White House press secretary Scott McClellan said.

What's really scary is that TCS has been saying for months that there will be a terrorist attack in October. What happened? Did Ridge sneak a look at Rove's notes?

- rob 5:44 PM - [PermaLink] -

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I won't be posting often (or at all) until Tuesday at the earliest (lack of access to a computer), but don't worry B and Michael will still be here, and who knows another phunkster might make a cameo.

So I leave you with this:

Army admits invasion plagued by snafus

Fort Leavenworth, Kan. -- American soldiers who defeated the Iraqi regime 15 months ago received virtually none of the critical spare parts they needed to keep their tanks and Bradley fighting vehicles running. They ran chronically short of food, water and ammunition. Their radios often failed them. Their medics had to forage for medical supplies; artillery gunners had to cannibalize parts from captured Iraqi guns, and intelligence units provided little useful information about the enemy.

These revelations come not from embedded reporters or congressional committees but from the Army itself.

Because our "independent media" refuses, absolutely refuses, to report the truth these days. They only will report press releases.

Among other highlights, the report revealed that the toppling of the Saddam Hussein statue in Baghdad before cheering Iraqis was the brainchild of a U.S. Army colonel, with help from psychological operations, or psyops, units.

Wow, over a year later America media reports something that TCS (thanks to Michael) reported back in April, 2003. For god sake being scooped by TCS is just plain sad. Here's a more detailed article from last year that pointed out that the statue toppling was staged.

- rob 2:54 PM - [PermaLink] -

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The Administration of Thugs and Thieves

Inquiry Confirms Medicare Chief Threatened Actuary

WASHINGTON, July 6 - An internal investigation by the Department of Health and Human Services confirms that the top Medicare official threatened to fire the program's chief actuary if he told Congress that drug benefits would probably cost much more than the White House acknowledged.

A report on the investigation, issued Tuesday, says the administrator of Medicare, Thomas A. Scully, issued the threat to Richard S. Foster while lawmakers were considering huge changes in the program last year. As a result, Mr. Foster's cost estimate did not become known until after the legislation was enacted.
...

William A. Pierce, a spokesman for the department, said Tuesday that the threat was not illegal because the actuary was supposed to report to the head of the Medicare program, who, Mr. Pierce said, had a right to dismiss him in case of insubordination. "No laws were broken,'' Mr. Pierce said.

Save for the fact that constitutionally congress has the right to know the estimated costs of programs the executive branch proposes and that the executive branch has the duty to report them. But otherwise no laws were broken, ethics? Hell ya, but no laws.

But don't worry, I'm sure Mr. Scully got what he had coming to him in the end.

In recent weeks, Mr. Scully has registered as a lobbyist for major drug companies, including Abbott Laboratories and Aventis; for Caremark Rx, a pharmacy benefit manager; and for the American Chiropractic Association and the American College of Gastroenterology, among other clients. All are affected by the new Medicare law, which Mr. Scully helped write.

i.e. he got a lot of money coming to him.

- rob 2:16 PM - [PermaLink] -

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Oh, its good to know that officially plundering is not official policy

Pentagon Deputy's Probes in Iraq Weren't Authorized, Officials Say

WASHINGTON — A senior Defense Department official conducted unauthorized investigations of Iraq reconstruction efforts and used their results to push for lucrative contracts for friends and their business clients, according to current and former Pentagon officials and documents.

John A. "Jack" Shaw, deputy undersecretary for international technology security, represented himself as an agent of the Pentagon's inspector general in conducting the investigations, sources said.
...

Shaw's actions are the latest to raise concerns that senior Republican officials working in Washington and Iraq have used the rebuilding effort in Iraq to reward associates and political allies. One of Shaw's close friends, the former top U.S. transportation official in Iraq, is under investigation for his role in promoting an Iraqi national airline with a company linked to the Saddam Hussein regime.

If Michael Moore wanted to update his movie for the DVD version and include the Project for a New American Century, Chalabi, Bechtel, more on Halliburton, more on Enron, Cheney's hidden energy meetings in early 2001 which included maps of Iraq's oil fields, etc., the release would be a 4 DVD set. But man can you image how Faux News and MSGOP would respond to that?

- rob 1:59 PM - [PermaLink] -

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Meet the new boss, not the same as the old boss, certainly, but not nearly as good as the new boss should be

US officials to release more detainees from Iraq's Abu Ghraib jail

Meanwhile, the International Committee of the Red Cross says it had visited 107 detainees aged below 18 held by the coalition between January and May this year.

Officials say the juveniles were being held separately from the adult prisoners.

Here's an article from the end of "major hostilities"

Jailed Iraqi children run free as Marines roll into Baghdad suburbs

More than 100 children held in a prison celebrated their freedom Tuesday as US marines rolled into northeast Baghdad amid chaotic scenes which saw civilians loot weapons from an army compound, a US officer said.
Around 150 children spilled out of the jail after the gates were opened as a US military Humvee vehicle approached, Lieutenant Colonel Fred Padilla told an AFP correspondent travelling with the Marines 5th Regiment.

"Hundreds of kids were swarming us and kissing us," Padilla said.

"There were parents running up, so happy to have their kids back."

Here's how the scary neo-cons of the freerepublic (known as freepers) responded (as well they should):

Jesus.
He put kids in prison.
I am not surprised.

and

this took me off guard, what kind of creep puts little kids in jail?
grrrrr.

and

Dear god......he put children in a prison.

But to some it was a further sign that they (the right) were right:

This is the most disgusting thing I have ever read. The pro-Saddam left should be held accountable for their tacit support of this ruthless dictator.

and

It is Hillary's idea of the ideal village.

and

Probably like a scene right out of "Indiana Jones" where he and the Chinese kid go in and free all those youths subjected to slave labour.
How can the liberal scumbags say Bush was wrong NOW!?

"No War for Oil", huhhhh????

and

The American Left is losing credibility everyday. They supported a dictator who jailed kids for not joining a political party.

I wonder if someone is telling the Iraqis about people like Susan Sarandon, Martin Sheen, Mike Farrell, Ted Kennedy, Tom Daschle, etc.... who didnt want the US to liberate Iraq? If we listened to the wacko left, these kids would still be in prison and their parents heartbroken

and

I am compiling a list of things to bring up the next time some liberal doofus starts spewing that "it's all about oil." The torture, the rapes, the imprisonment of children and more--this is what the anti-war people are supporting, whether they are aware of it or not. I plan to make as many of them aware of it as possible.

Yes, let us talk about the torture, rapes, and imprisonment of children. We are a great nation, how dare the President and the right wing lower our country to the point where comparisons can be made between our occupation and Saddam's rule (yes we are better, but is that that great an achievement - we should be so much better that a comparison is impossible). And don't give me that "a few bad apples" crap. Did a few bad apples write the memos that said we didn't have to obey the geneva convention, was it a few bad apples that put the children in the prison in the first place (the vast majority of whom according to the International Red Cross had done nothing). And yes, rapes have been committed in the prisons under our occupation of Iraq (this though could be considered a few bad apples, but if there had been concern about the conditions and treatment of the prisoners this too may have been prevented).

So Freepers, what do you say?

Bremer's priorities in Iraq were to change the tax code, privatize industries, and set up contracts. He himself said that was his priority versus bringing early elections to the "liberated" land.

So I agree the war wasn't about oil, it was about money (and oil). Unfortunately this doesn't seem to have been a war of liberation. Hopefully in the long run that may be the result (which would be great), but that really isn't why the Bush administration was so gung-ho in getting there.

- rob 1:54 PM - [PermaLink] -

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Via Talking Points Memo

July Surprise?

This spring, the administration significantly increased its pressure on Pakistan to kill or capture Osama bin Laden, his deputy, Ayman Al Zawahiri, or the Taliban's Mullah Mohammed Omar, all of whom are believed to be hiding in the lawless tribal areas of Pakistan. A succession of high-level American officials--from outgoing CIA Director George Tenet to Secretary of State Colin Powell to Assistant Secretary of State Christina Rocca to State Department counterterrorism chief Cofer Black to a top CIA South Asia official--have visited Pakistan in recent months to urge General Pervez Musharraf's government to do more in the war on terrorism. In April, Zalmay Khalilzad, the American ambassador to Afghanistan, publicly chided the Pakistanis for providing a "sanctuary" for Al Qaeda and Taliban forces crossing the Afghan border. "The problem has not been solved and needs to be solved, the sooner the better," he said.

This public pressure would be appropriate, even laudable, had it not been accompanied by an unseemly private insistence that the Pakistanis deliver these high-value targets (HVTs) before Americans go to the polls in November. The Bush administration denies it has geared the war on terrorism to the electoral calendar. "Our attitude and actions have been the same since September 11 in terms of getting high-value targets off the street, and that doesn't change because of an election," says National Security Council spokesman Sean McCormack. But The New Republic has learned that Pakistani security officials have been told they must produce HVTs by the election. According to one source in Pakistan's powerful Inter-Services Intelligence (ISI), "The Pakistani government is really desperate and wants to flush out bin Laden and his associates after the latest pressures from the U.S. administration to deliver before the [upcoming] U.S. elections." Introducing target dates for Al Qaeda captures is a new twist in U.S.-Pakistani counterterrorism relations--according to a recently departed intelligence official, "no timetable[s]" were discussed in 2002 or 2003--but the November election is apparently bringing a new deadline pressure to the hunt. Another official, this one from the Pakistani Interior Ministry, which is responsible for internal security, explains, "The Musharraf government has a history of rescuing the Bush administration. They now want Musharraf to bail them out when they are facing hard times in the coming elections." (These sources insisted on remaining anonymous. Under Pakistan's Official Secrets Act, an official leaking information to the press can be imprisoned for up to ten years.)

A third source, an official who works under ISI's director, Lieutenant General Ehsan ul-Haq, informed tnr that the Pakistanis "have been told at every level that apprehension or killing of HVTs before [the] election is [an] absolute must." What's more, this source claims that Bush administration officials have told their Pakistani counterparts they have a date in mind for announcing this achievement: "The last ten days of July deadline has been given repeatedly by visitors to Islamabad and during [ul-Haq's] meetings in Washington." Says McCormack: "I'm aware of no such comment." But according to this ISI official, a White House aide told ul-Haq last spring that "it would be best if the arrest or killing of [any] HVT were announced on twenty-six, twenty-seven, or twenty-eight July"--the first three days of the Democratic National Convention in Boston.

The war on terrorism is not a war for Bush as much as a campaign tool. The threat is real, our President, unfortunately, is not.

- rob 1:25 PM - [PermaLink] -

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Ken Lay Now:



Ken Lay Then:

Key Figure in California's Power Crisis Has Bush's Ear (Jan, 2001)

One powerful name to keep an eye on during this energy crisis is Kenneth Lay, chairman and CEO of Texas-based Enron Corp., and a close buddy and contributor to President-elect George W. Bush.
...

And Lay was on hand last week when Gov. Gray Davis met with government regulators and energy providers to try to work out a solution to the state's energy crisis. Billions of dollars are at stake -- and consumers could end up holding the bag.

All this comes amid speculation that Lay will serve as the new president's key adviser on energy policy -- even being described as a "shadow" energy secretary. In fact, Lay had been widely mentioned as the possible energy chief until Bush's recent nomination of Spencer Abraham.

Of course now it has been pretty well established there was no California energy crisis at all. It was an ethics crisis. The Texas energy companies had none.

Anyway, the blog Rising Hegemon has a link to an MSNBC clip of a '97 Enron party video where Jeff Skillings jokes about cooking the books and George Bush the elder thanks Enron for helping out George more than anyone else. (Real vido, and it takes a really long time to download) Ah, such good friends the Bush family keeps.

- rob 12:51 PM - [PermaLink] -

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Wow, even TCS doesn't think Bush is that bad

Bush Liked Less Than Saddam, Bin Laden

BUDAPEST (Reuters) - President Bush is disliked by more Hungarian secondary school children than former Iraqi leader Saddam Hussein and Osama bin Laden, according to an opinion poll published on Wednesday.

But its not all bad for Bush in Hungry:

The survey of 34,000 students, aged 16-18, from 655 high schools showed Adolf Hitler was the most disliked foreign personality with 25 percent of the vote, followed by Bush with 23 percent and Bin Laden with 16 percent.

Bush 2004 campaign slogan: "Internationally disliked less then Hitler!"

Bush was even more unpopular than former Soviet dictator Josef Stalin, according to the poll.

Well, not to be a Bush apologist, but kids these days just aren't hip to Stalin.

- rob 4:00 PM - [PermaLink] -

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Anti-Edwards opinions

As I read Safire this morning, I was struck by the following revelation:

It doesn't matter who Kerry had picked, Safire would have run a column trashing the pick. He would have found some reason to object to the person. In Edwards' case, he objects because Kerry is choosing "campaigning" over "governing" (his terms). Whatever that means. But this is a really more than just false criticism. First off, Safire shows his true colors by running through the other options for VP and dismissing them out of hand. Then he actually gives some props to Edwards. Then he caps it off by questioning the ability of Edwards to lead if Kerry were to die in office. Hmmm. Wow, that's an objection if I ever heard one.

Let me sum up: Nobody else is worth a shit. Edwards has some good points. But he's still not worth a shit. And really won't be worth a shit if Kerry dies.

So, Bill, what are the options for a Democrat? Don't they have to pick *somebody?* Edwards is better than picking Tom Vilsack, who you essentially termed a nobody. Do you have a suggestion for who would have satisfied your criteria? And what about all those other questionable VP picks throughout the years? Quayle comes to mind specifically. Speaking of "campaigning" over "governing" that is *exactly* what Bush (the Elder) was doing with that pick: He was shoring up his street cred with the Christian right. What about Cheney? Is he "qualified" to lead the country considering he could have his 18th heart attack at any moment? Did you write a column about having to worry about giving the head of the government over to the Speaker of the House? No, didn't think so.

So sure Bill, go ahead and find some reason to object to the pick because that's what you were going to do anyway. Is it really surprising that you had a problem with Edwards?

- B 3:54 PM - [PermaLink] -

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A good sign?

I was walking in downtown Salem at lunch and ran into not one or two, but 3, count 'em, 3 people canvassing for the DNC. This in addition to the nice, earnest DNC volunteer who hit me at my home two days ago. Now Portland is fairly liberal and you might expect liberal organizations to spend time trying to raise money there. But Salem is not very liberal, mostly considered a moderate voting district that currently sends Rs to the state house, and I think it's an indication of the level of support of the presumptive nominee and the lack of support for Bush that the DNC thinks canvassing for money in downtown Salem will be worth the effort.

- B 3:49 PM - [PermaLink] -

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The GOP reaches out to women

Hatch backs nominee who backs St. Paul

WASHINGTON -- Reading from the Bible on the floor of the Senate on Tuesday, Sen. Orrin Hatch endorsed a federal judicial nominee who wrote that wives should have a subordinate role in marriage, with the Utah Republican emphasizing "millions and millions of people will agree with" that view. And all of those millions are males in unhappy marriages, that doesn't really prove Hatch's point.

With Hatch's support and that of Sen. Bob Bennett, R-Utah, Holmes was confirmed 51-46 in the Senate on Tuesday evening, even though many members of the Senate predicted his nomination would be rejected.

Holmes' writing on abortion, marriage, slavery and other theological issues generated opposition from not only many Democrats but also some Republicans.

Fueling much of the debate is a 1997 article Holmes and his wife, Susan, wrote for Arkansas Catholic magazine titled, "Gender Neutral Language, Destroying an Essential Element of Our Faith." The couple wrote that under Catholic teaching, "the woman is to place herself under the authority of the man" in marriage and "is to subordinate herself to the husband."

But Homes has science behind him! Hatch also discounted criticism over a 1980 letter Holmes wrote to a newspaper arguing that rape victims should not be allowed to have abortions because "conceptions from rape occur with approximately the same frequency as snowfall in Miami." Holmes has since apologized for the comment.

"I find his statement to be insensitive and appalling," said Sen. Patrick Leahy, D-Vermont, a former criminal prosecutor who cited studies showing an estimated 25,000 pregnancies occur each year due to rape.

Disgusting.

- rob 1:52 PM - [PermaLink] -

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While searching Google for the evil Cheney picture I came across this:



My favorite part: "you are manufacturing evidence! Continue?"

- rob 1:00 PM - [PermaLink] -

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Mr. Vice President, I feel it is my duty to inform you, your pants are on fire

Cheney Had No New Data on Saddam, Al Qaeda-Panel

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The Sept. 11 commission, which reported no evidence of collaborative links between Iraq and al Qaeda, said on Tuesday that Vice President Dick Cheney had no more information than commission investigators to support his later assertions to the contrary.

The 10-member bipartisan panel investigating the 2001 attacks on New York and Washington said it reached its conclusion after reviewing available transcripts of Cheney's public remarks on the subject. Emphasis mine.

Hamilton and Kean had better watch out. You don't want to make Cheney angry.



Articles like this will hopefully ruin Cheney's master plan:

- rob 12:55 PM - [PermaLink] -

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Where's the money going? Why are they running out of money?

Iraq gets fraction of US aid billions

The US government spent just 2% of the $18.4bn (£10bn) it had obtained from Congress for the urgent reconstruction of Iraq before formally ending its occupation last week.

The White House budget office report, the first detailed audit of the reconstruction, showed that the US occupation authorities had spent nothing on healthcare or water and sanitation, two of the most urgent needs for Iraqis. In contrast, a total of $9m was spent on administrative expenses.

By June 22 America's reconstruction campaign had spent $366m of the sum allotted to the Iraq Relief and Reconstruction Fund.
...

With the US reluctant to disburse cash, reconstruction money has largely been drawn from Iraq's oil receipts, with some $19bn of a $20bn fund spent during the Coalition Provisional Authority's tenure in Iraq.

According to yesterday's Washington Post more than $6bn of the oil fund has been spent in the past two months alone.
...

Despite the complaints from Iraqis about blackouts and an erratic power supply, just $109m was spent on repairing Iraq's electricity grid, compared with the $5.4bn allocated in the reconstruction fund.

Other urgent needs were also unmet. Although Iraq has an unemployment rate of 30%, the fund created only 15,000 jobs, compared with the 250,000 that had been mandated.

- rob 5:38 PM - [PermaLink] -

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Bush fights terrorism in his own unique way: By letting terrorists go very if they're Saudi?

Saudis freed Britons in a secret swap of prisoners

Six Britons convicted on terrorism charges in Saudi Arabia were released last year as part of a secret three-way deal in which the US set free a number of Saudi prisoners being held at Guantanamo Bay. The deal was brokered to obtain Saudi support for the invasion of Iraq.

Diplomatic and intelligence sources have confirmed to The Independent that the Britons, convicted of a fatal car-bombing, were released last August after the US returned five Saudi prisoners, at least two of whom were believed to have trained in al-Qa'ida camps. Emphasis mine.

- rob 5:12 PM - [PermaLink] -

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Krugman: Bye-Bye, Bush Boom

Bush campaign ads boast that 1.5 million jobs were added in the last 10 months, as if that were a remarkable achievement. It isn't. During the Clinton years, the economy added 236,000 jobs in an average month. Those 1.5 million jobs were barely enough to keep up with a growing working-age population.
...

What about overall growth? After two and a half years of slow growth, real G.D.P. surged in the third quarter of 2003, growing at an annual rate of more than 8 percent. But that surge appears to have been another blip. In the first quarter of 2004, growth was down to 3.9 percent, only slightly above the Clinton-era average. Scattered signs of weakness — rising new claims for unemployment insurance, sales warnings at Target and Wal-Mart, falling numbers for new durable goods orders — have led many analysts to suspect that growth slowed further in the second quarter.

And economic growth is passing working Americans by. The average weekly earnings of nonsupervisory workers rose only 1.7 percent over the past year, lagging behind inflation. The president of Aetna, one of the biggest health insurers, recently told investors, "It's fair to say that a lot of the jobs being created may not be the jobs that come with benefits." Where is the growth going? No mystery: after-tax corporate profits as a share of G.D.P. have reached a level not seen since 1929.

- rob 4:13 PM - [PermaLink] -

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Yesterday was Monday:

The Top Ten Conservative Idiots

2. The Justice Department
Back in 2001 John Ashcroft sent a memo urging federal agencies to resist the Freedom of Information Act. "When you carefully consider FOIA requests and decide to withhold records, in whole or in part, you can be assured that the Department of Justice will defend your decisions unless they lack a sound legal basis or present an unwarranted risk of adverse impact on the ability of other agencies to protect other important records," he wrote. Now, after three years, they seem to be running out of reasons for resisting requests - because they just came up with the dumbest one yet. The Center for Public Integrity requested information on foreign lobbyists back in January, and last week they were told that, "Implementing such a request risks a [computer] crash that cannot be fixed and could result in a major loss of data, which would be devastating." What? What bullshit! Retrieving information from the Justice Department's database will potentially destroy it? Who the hell builds their software? Laurel and Hardy? In light of this recent news, I strongly suspect it won't be long before we start straying into "the dog ate it" territory.

- rob 4:10 PM - [PermaLink] -

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via Atrios a story about how Bush celebrates The Fourth of July, a day where we celebrate being Americans and being free:

Bush Defends Iraq War in Visit to W.Va.

Two Bush opponents, taken out of the crowd in restraints by police, said they were told they couldn't be there because they were wearing shirts that said they opposed the president.

- rob 1:57 PM - [PermaLink] -

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Fahrenheit 9/11 update (the number 2 film in the nation)

Here's some numbers via Box Office Mojo (the place for box office stats).

• Total Gross thus far: $60 million, that's more than the following current hollywood 'blockbusters'
  • White Chicks
  • The Terminal (wow F 9/11 is beating a Tom Hanks / Spielberg picture!)
  • By the end of the week it will have passed Garfield
  • The Stepford Wives
  • The Chronicles of Riddick
  • Around the World in 80 Days
• F 9/11's per theater average this weekend was $12,173, and not including Spider-Man 2, the next highest per theater average of a major hollywood film was $4,265
• It had only a 12.2% drop off from last week, versus the 39% drop off for the number 3 film.

At the 4th of July parade I heard some diehard republicans talking about the movie and saying "it makes you think." Which is all anyone could really ask, and is very good news.

And here's a quote for you from the film:

[President Bush is on vacation and is bird hunting]
George W. Bush: Did I hear somebody say good shot?
Aide: Good shot sir.

- rob 1:41 PM - [PermaLink] -

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Happy July 6th!

Someone in comments noted below in my string of quotes from famous American loving patriots I had been remiss in leaving out a quote from Alexander Hamilton. Well TCS always tries to satisfy:



Power may be justly compared to a great river; while kept within its bounds it is both beautiful and useful, but when it overflows its banks, it is then too impetuous to be stemmed; it bears down all before it, and brings destruction and desolation wherever it goes.
-Alexander Hamilton

- rob 10:18 AM - [PermaLink] -

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Okay, everyone already knows this, but in case you for some reason depend on TCS for you late breaking news:

Kerry chooses Edwards to be VP

Not very exciting, but this is a good thing.

Ha Ha: Meanwhile the New York Post proves its journalistic standards:



Update: Kerry on Edwards:

"I want you to know why I'm excited about running for president with John Edwards by my side. John understands and defends the values of America. He has shown courage and conviction as a champion for middle class Americans and those struggling to reach the middle class. In the Senate, he worked to reform our intelligence, to combat bioterrorism, and keep our military strong. John reaches across party lines and speaks to the heart of America -- hope and optimism. Throughout his own campaign for President, John spoke about the great divide in this country -- the "Two Americas" -- that exist between those who are doing well today and those that are struggling to make it from day to day. And I am so proud that we're going to build one America together."
- John Kerry in Edwards annoucement email

2nd update via Atrios: McCain on Edwards:
"He's got the ambition, the talent and the brains to go very far, to be president of the United States."
-John McCain, Charlotte Observer, 2/26/01

3rd update: Missed out on buying today's NY Post. Its already selling for 3 to 6 dollars on Ebay.

- rob 10:09 AM - [PermaLink] -

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Happy July 4th!



"A government is like fire, a handy servant, but a dangerous master.

Arbitrary power is most easily established on the ruins of Liberty abused to licentiousness.

If freedom of speech is taken away, then dumb and silent we may be led, like sheep to the slaughter."- George Washington

- rob 5:46 PM - [PermaLink] -

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Happy July 4th!


"Peace and friendship with all mankind is our wisest policy, and I wish we may be permitted to use it."

"War is an instrument entirely inefficient toward redressing wrong; and muliplies, instead of indemnifying losses."
- Thomas Jefferson

- rob 5:42 PM - [PermaLink] -

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"All men having power ought to be distrusted to a certain degree."
- James Madison



"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."
- John F. Kennedy



"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."
- Dwight D. Eisenhower

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"There's nothing wrong with America that can't be fixed by what's right with America." - Bill Clinton.