150,000 jobs a month are needed to keep even

Only 32,000 Jobs Are Added in July

That missed the mark by over a hundred thousand... that is not a recovery.

WASHINGTON (AP) - The nation's payroll growth slowed dramatically in July with a paltry 32,000 jobs being added- a potentially troubling sign that the rough patch the economy hit in June was no aberration.
...
The 32,000 net jobs added in July represented the smallest gain in hiring since December and followed a revised gain of just 78,000 in June, even less than previously reported. May's payrolls also were revised down to show a gain of 208,000.

The neo-cons are saying that a tight job market is good for the economy. Wow, they are incompetent in foreign policy AND economics.

Wall Street is starting to feak a little too, right now the dow has lost 133 points, and that's after a big loss yesterday (when there was a rumor that today's employment numbers were going to look bad).

- rob 3:14 PM - [PermaLink] -

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Turning the corner into a blind alley

From the Bureau of Labor Statistics

Percentage of Americans employed 16 years are older.



Given that these percentages are out of 209 Million people even a .1% change in employment is hundreds of thousands of people.

Now Bush likes to say that before 9/11 the economy thanks to his leadership was "turning the corner" but these numbers (and other numbers that are a more accurate judge of that because employment figures always lag a little) don't show it.

Yes 9/11 was another hit to the economy, but immediately being followed up by Enron, Worldcom, etc. made its effects last a bit longer. But that was almost three years ago. Why no recovery?

Look at the numbers is 1994... that was a pretty bad point, but look how fast it turned around. Look at the 1996 numbers, this was before the "internet" boom that people use as a way to say that the Clinton economy was based on smoke and mirrors (and lets look at the "internet" boom numbers 64.6%!... that's millions more people working then when compared to now... surely they weren't all bike messengers for Urban Fetch.

Bush says we are turning the corner. Where does this corner lead us to? The same damn road?! We need a new driver.

- rob 3:04 PM - [PermaLink] -

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- rob 2:23 PM - [PermaLink] -

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For some reason this part of the story isn't getting quite the same coverage (nor the fact that none of these soldiers served on the same boat with Kerry).

Veteran retracts criticism of Kerry

WASHINGTON -- A week after Senator John F. Kerry heralded his wartime experience by surrounding himself at the Democratic convention with his Vietnam ''Band of Brothers," a separate group of veterans has launched a television ad campaign and a book that questions the basis for some of Kerry's combat medals.

But yesterday, a key figure in the anti-Kerry campaign, Kerry's former commanding officer, backed off one of the key contentions. Lieutenant Commander George Elliott said in an interview that he had made a ''terrible mistake" in signing an affidavit that suggests Kerry did not deserve the Silver Star -- one of the main allegations in the book.
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Yesterday, reached at his home, Elliott said he regretted signing the affidavit and said he still thinks Kerry deserved the Silver Star.

- rob 2:13 PM - [PermaLink] -

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Thanks to a Phunkster

Can You Hack the Vote?

Mercuri suggests electronic voting machines be hacked during their preelection testing, so officials will abandon them before an actual election.

"People in the election community say this technology is bulletproof," Mercuri says. "It's not." She especially opposes use of electronic voting technology in its current state, which does not allow for a verifiable backup.

"I'm not asking anyone to break any laws, we just want the opportunity to hack e-voting systems to prove that it can or cannot be done," she says.

- rob 2:10 PM - [PermaLink] -

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Look the Republican Nazi for Congress has a website!

Proving yet again that apes can code.

James Hart for Congress Committee - Preserving Intellectual Capacity

What if they had integrated?

• There would never have been an electric light.
  
• There would never have been an automobile.
  
• There would never have been an airplane.

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Stop Welfare and Immigration Replace it with a War on Poverty Genes

Our cities are being destroyed by dysgenic welfare and immigration. Why does Detroit look like it was hit by a nuclear bomb and Hiroshima look like it was on the side that won the war? Everyone knows the answer but is afraid to say. Because genes have a more devastating effect on civilization than nuclear bombs, and the reason for Detroit's decline is that there are less 'favored races' in Detroit with an average IQ of 85 and more 'favored races' in Japan with an average IQ of 104.

Even the GOP is embarrassed by this guy. But why should they be surprised... their "southern strategy" was aiming for guys like Hart all along... they just were trying to be a bit more subtle.

Luckily he has no hope of winning... um.. unless he can hack into an access database (see above).

- rob 2:04 PM - [PermaLink] -

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Failures, Morons, and Crooks: Bush 2004

What Cheney Should Have Known
Being CEO of Halliburton apparently didn't mean being privy to a key accounting decision that boosted pretax income by almost half

Let's get this straight. In the second quarter of 1998, Halliburton (HAL ) made a big change in the way it accounted for cost overruns at its massive global construction projects. As a result, it received a boost to its pretax income for the year of 46.1%, to $278.8 million -- even though its underlying business had not changed at all.

The accounting maneuver was legal, but it's certainly the kind of major news investors have a right to know. Nonetheless, somebody at the company decided not to tell them about it. Not a word was breathed in Halliburton's securities filings, earnings releases, or analyst teleconferences for the next six quarters.

VERY RARE SCENARIO. Who's accountable? According to the Securities & Exchange Commission, the buck stops with Halliburton's former controller and chief financial officer, who are being fined and sued, respectively, for their roles in the debacle. But the one person whom the agency specifically excluded from blame is the man who served as CEO at the time: Vice-President Dick Cheney. In a rare move for federal law enforcers, the SEC issued a press release on Aug. 3 declaring that "the investigative record developed by its staff" did not justify any further charges.

Okay is anyone else freaked by the fact that Halliburton's stock symbol is HAL?

The second-most important political executive in our country claims to be ignorant of one of the key business decisions his company made during his tenure as CEO. It may well be that an underling was willing to make such an important call without telling Cheney, but make no mistake: This type of scenario would be very rare, even in pre-Sarbanes-Oxley Corporate America.

"The thing executives care the most about is how they look in terms of the numbers," says University of Texas School of Law securities expert Henry T.C. Hu. "An accounting decision that is going to affect performance by nearly half is usually the type of thing the CFO would discuss with the head of the company."

So Cheney's reign at Halliburton is much like the reign of the Bush Administration. Either they are corrupt and don't care about their legal and ethical responsiblities or they are incredibly incompetent and out of touch. Your choice. Being a "wishy washy liberal" I'd have to say it is probably both.

- rob 2:01 PM - [PermaLink] -

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speaking of bad media coverage (as I did below), Krugman asks

What About Iraq?

A funny thing happened after the United States transferred sovereignty over Iraq. On the ground, things didn't change, except for the worse.

But as Matthew Yglesias of The American Prospect puts it, the cosmetic change in regime had the effect of "Afghanizing" the media coverage of Iraq.

He's referring to the way news coverage of Afghanistan dropped off sharply after the initial military defeat of the Taliban. A nation we had gone to war to liberate and had promised to secure and rebuild - a promise largely broken - once again became a small, faraway country of which we knew nothing.

Incredibly, the same thing happened to Iraq after June 28. Iraq stories moved to the inside pages of newspapers, and largely off TV screens. Many people got the impression that things had improved. Even journalists were taken in: a number of newspaper stories asserted that the rate of U.S. losses there fell after the handoff. (Actual figures: 42 American soldiers died in June, and 54 in July.)

Yes "journalists" were taken in by... not reading the newspapers? Not doing 2 minutes of research before "reporting" for god's sake? They're just saying stuff at random now and if they report a fact its got to be attached with some bizarre "mood' piece. "Despite the fact that things have gone bad to worse in Iraq the mood on the ground is actually quite better." Honestly have you ever landed in an airport, gotten in a cab and checked into a hotel without talking to any locals and been able to grasp the mood of the area you were in? What does that mean anyway?

"The mood today in New York City was grumpy because the city that never sleeps really needs some shut eye."

- rob 1:55 PM - [PermaLink] -

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"You and Paul Krugman are enabling each other"

is the quote from my pal Nagourney at the Times, in response to something I sent him more than a year ago. Here's Krugman in a recent Buzzflash interview about Bush and those Orange Alerts:

Paul Krugman: ... For four years now, some of us have been saying, whether or not you think they’re bad guys, they’re certainly radical. They don’t play by the rules. You can’t take anything that you’ve regarded as normal from previous U.S. political experience as applying to Bush and the people around him. They will say things and do things that would not previously have made any sense -- you know, would have been previously considered out of bounds. And for all of that period, the critics have been told: "Oh, you know, you’re overreacting, and there’s something wrong with you."

We just saw it with the increased level of terror alerts. Among those of us who had made a judgment about what kind of people we’re dealing with, the reaction was, this timing was awfully convenient. After all, they’ve done this sort of thing before. Of course, this was criticized as completely unreasonable to say -- after all, this time we’ve got "specifics." But here we are with this morning’s headlines: Oh, it’s all three-year-old information.

BuzzFlash: Headlines in mostly The Washington Post and The New York Times revealed the information predated 9/11.

Paul Krugman: Right.

BuzzFlash: There was an article, as you know, in The New Republic, which said the Bush Administration had put pressure on the Pakistani government to come up with a "high-profile al Qaeda target" in the last two weeks of July, and preferably during the Democratic Convention. That article was met with a lot of skepticism, although it was quite detailed and written by three people for a prestigious publication. And indeed, what has happened is it has been announced that a high-target al Qaeda individual was arrested by the Pakistanis. He had actually been arrested the Saturday before the Democratic Convention, but it was only announced, I believe, on Wednesday or Thursday.

Paul Krugman: It was Thursday, a few hours before Kerry’s speech.

BuzzFlash: So exactly what had been foretold, but dismissed by some as a conspiratorial theory, was proven to be true. On top of that,it was three-year-old information, the pre-9/11 information, that was the primary basis, even the Administration admits, for the so-called specific terror alerts. (They said "specific," even though the information was more than three years old.) The information came from the computer of this high-target al Qaeda figure who was captured by the Pakistanis at the request of the Bush Administration, basically, to drown out the message of the Democratic Convention.

Paul Krugman: Well, you know, just about a year ago, in one of the new columns in my book, I said that the stakes are very high for the Bushies, because we all know that there are terrible suppressed scandals. And that was before we even had any hint about Abu Ghraib. They will do anything to win. You have to expect that it’s going to be the dirtiest campaign in American history, and so it’s proving. We probably ain’t seen nothing yet. Over and over again, the people who made a judgment about the motives of the Administration, and assessed the facts on the basis of that judgment, have proved again and again to be getting it right in interpreting the latest story. People who keep on clinging to the belief that these are reasonable people who behave like a conventional government have been snookered.

Enabling is a funny kind of a word coming from the NYTimes' chief political correspondent, even if he was only teasing (he was); still, you can see how anyone who sees through the Bush administration's cynical ploys to arrive at an independent conclusion is immediately branded and marginalized by major media commentators and hence 99.9 percent of the American public.

We're told not to think.

One leg good, no legs better!

- Michael 1:54 PM - [PermaLink] -

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Today's GOP: Leaking National Security Information to get press

Shelby source of intelligence leaks, probe finds

WASHINGTON — Federal investigators have concluded that Sen. Richard Shelby, R-Ala., divulged classified intercepted messages to the media when he was on the Senate Select Committee on Intelligence, according to sources.

Specifically, Fox News chief political correspondent Carl Cameron confirmed to FBI investigators that Shelby verbally divulged the information to him during a June 19, 2002, interview, minutes after Shelby's committee had been given the information in a classified briefing, according to the sources, who declined to be identified.
...
The FBI and the U.S. Attorney's Office pursued the case, and a grand jury was empanelled, but nobody has been charged. It was revealed last month that the Justice Department had decided to forgo a criminal prosecution, at least for now, and turned the matter over to the Senate ethics committee. The Justice Department declined to comment on why it no longer was pursuing the matter criminally. The Senate ethics panel also declined to comment.

I remember, in my yourth, the ethics panel had some teeth (not many, but some, enough to eat corn) and when something was turned over to them it was really bad news... no its ho hum... more deaths in Iraq... ho hum... more jobless... ho hum.... environment and economy collapsing... ho hum... wait a minute did she say "Shove It!" and How's the Kobe Bryant case going????

- rob 1:48 PM - [PermaLink] -

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If you have real media go now and watch: Conspiracy Theory Rock!

It was aired only once, when that episode of Saturday Night Live was rerun... this segment was mysteriously misssing... thus proving its point.

- rob 1:43 PM - [PermaLink] -

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More on that Orange Alert

Lest anyone accuse me of ahem not believing the official reports of why we went to orange in selected northern East Coast cities, here's a good article suggesting that the capture just may have been politically timed.

[Editor's Note: Earlier this month, John B. Judis, Spencer Ackerman, and Massoud Ansari broke the story of how the Bush administration was pressuring Pakistani officials to apprehend high-value targets (HVTs) in time for the November elections--and in particular, to coincide with the Democratic National Convention. Although the capture took place in central Pakistan "a few days back," the announcement came just hours before John Kerry will give his acceptance speech in Boston.]

Choice quote:

One Pakistani general recently in Washington confided in a journalist, "If we don't find these guys by the election, they are going to stick this whole nuclear mess up our asshole."

Here's the kicker:

But there is a reason many Pakistanis and some American officials had previously been reluctant to carry the war on terrorism into the tribal areas. A Pakistani offensive in that region, aided by American high-tech weaponry and perhaps Special Forces, could unite tribal chieftains against the central government and precipitate a border war without actually capturing any of the HVTs. Military action in the tribal areas "has a domestic fallout, both religious and ethnic," Pakistani Foreign Minister Mian Khursheed Mehmood Kasuri complained to the Los Angeles Times last year. Some American intelligence officials agree. "Pakistan just can't risk a civil war in that area of their country. They can't afford a western border that is unstable," says a senior intelligence official, who anonymously authored the recent Imperial Hubris: Why the West is Losing the War on Terror and who says he has not heard that the current pressures on Pakistan are geared to the election. "We may be at the point where [Musharraf] has done almost as much as he can."

That's right, just go ahead a start a civil war on an unstable border between two nuclear powers who hate each other's guts because it's an election year. I hope you're paying attention, because if there's going to be a nuclear war, it'll start right here, on this border.

It'll be really fun to be president in a bunker in an undisclosed location when the rest of us are dead.

- Michael 3:13 PM - [PermaLink] -

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I have a dream:

When McCain speaks at the Republican Convention he starts out by saying: "I've always found my home in the Republican Party, I believe in what the Republican Party stands for. I believe in a Republican Party that wants what is best for America, and that is why I come here tonight and ask you, for the sake of this great nation, to NOT support the re-election of George W. Bush"

I almost think he could.

McCain condemns anti-Kerry ads, calls on White House to follow suit

Republican Sen. John McCain, a former prisoner of war in Vietnam, called an ad criticizing John Kerry's military service "dishonest and dishonorable" and urged the White House on Thursday to condemn it as well.

"It was the same kind of deal that was pulled on me," McCain said in an interview with The Associated Press, referring to his bitter Republican primary fight with President Bush.

(heh... wouldn't a speech like I said above be not only what the nation needs to hear, but also just a nice bit a sweet revenge for McCain for all the crap the Bush people pulled on him)

'I deplore this kind of politics. I think the ad is dishonest and dishonorable. As it is, none of these individuals served on the boat (Kerry) commanded.'

Emphasis mine.

- rob 1:33 PM - [PermaLink] -

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BRRRRRRUUUUUUUCE! - Bruce Springsteen speaks out

Chords for Change

These questions are at the heart of this election: who we are, what we stand for, why we fight. Personally, for the last 25 years I have always stayed one step away from partisan politics. Instead, I have been partisan about a set of ideals: economic justice, civil rights, a humane foreign policy, freedom and a decent life for all of our citizens. This year, however, for many of us the stakes have risen too high to sit this election out.
...
Like many others, in the aftermath of 9/11, I felt the country's unity. I don't remember anything quite like it. I supported the decision to enter Afghanistan and I hoped that the seriousness of the times would bring forth strength, humility and wisdom in our leaders. Instead, we dived headlong into an unnecessary war in Iraq, offering up the lives of our young men and women under circumstances that are now discredited. We ran record deficits, while simultaneously cutting and squeezing services like afterschool programs. We granted tax cuts to the richest 1 percent (corporate bigwigs, well-to-do guitar players), increasing the division of wealth that threatens to destroy our social contract with one another and render mute the promise of "one nation indivisible."

It is through the truthful exercising of the best of human qualities - respect for others, honesty about ourselves, faith in our ideals - that we come to life in God's eyes. It is how our soul, as a nation and as individuals, is revealed. Our American government has strayed too far from American values. It is time to move forward. The country we carry in our hearts is waiting.

and

The Boss vs. Bush
Bruce Springsteen Talks to Ted Koppel About ‘Vote For Change’

And I think it's one of the most critical elections of my adult life, certainly. Very basic questions of American identity are at issue: who we are, what do we stand for, when do we fight ....

I want to say basically I feel that, as a nation over the past four years, we've drifted away from I think very mainstream American values. I think that in the question having large tax cuts for the richest one percent. Hey, that's great, you know [for] corporate bigwigs, wealthy, well-to-do guitar players, but we've also watched services get cut, after-school programs for people that need it the most, we've watched rollback on environmental regulations, and a foreign policy that I think put at risk the lives of the very bravest young men and women under what ended up to be discredited circumstances.

- rob 1:25 PM - [PermaLink] -

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How to Steal an Election:

Step 1: Become the Secretary of State in Florida
(this Glenda isn't the good witch)

Harris, Hood gave state flawed felon voter list

When it came to lost election data in Miami-Dade County ? information that was nearly two years old ? Secretary of State Glenda Hood sent in a team to make sure that local errors didn't make the state look bad. If only she had worried as much about the actions of her own Division of Elections.

Ms. Hood oversaw distribution of a faulty list meant to block felons who had not obtained clemency from voting. She wasted $150,000 trying to keep the list from being made public. Within weeks of its release, newspapers documented errors that made the state look as if it was trying to keep blacks, but not Hispanics, from voting. Ms. Hood dumped the list.
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Mr. Roberts hired Accenture, a Bermuda-based company that used to be called Andersen Consulting, a subsidiary of Arthur Andersen. It changed its name after the accounting firm became caught up in the Enron scandal. Accenture's lobbyists included former Jeb Bush aide Brian Yablonski and the law firm of Van Poole, a former state Republican chairman. Accenture gave $300,000 in campaign contributions, favoring Republicans two-to-one, the Herald-Tribune reported.

Mr. Roberts also decided to use race to match felons on one list with voters on another list, even though the felons list didn't offer Hispanic as a choice. The move guaranteed that Hispanics wouldn't make the list. This week, The Miami Herald reported that a state memo that Ms. Hood had ordered said, "It becomes apparent... that Accenture's Fayetteville office does not understand the relationship between the matching tables." Even though some state workers recognized the problems, Ms. Hood moved blithely forward, distributed the flawed list to county election officials in May and retracted it only after public scrutiny in July.

The state paid Accenture $1.8 million to compile the list. Katherine Harris told legislators that an audit of the list, costing $300,000, would be a waste of money. It turns out she was right. The newspapers did it for free.

Harris and Hood should be behind bars. They are willfully trying to thwart people's right to vote.

Many connected to the Bush Administration and the Bush Administration itself often seem to act as if they dislike democracy. Do they?

- rob 1:21 PM - [PermaLink] -

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"The Truth Lied"

is pretty much what we're getting now 24/7 from the What-Me-Worry House when it comes to terror threats. In this tepid editorial from the New York Times we get, "For three days, officials at news conferences and background briefings said their concerns were based on new information, then old information, then back to new information. Many people were scared out of their wits on Monday, cynical on Tuesday and befuddled by yesterday."

I was cynical and outraged on Monday, cynical and outraged on Tuesday, cynical and outraged on Wednesday. How about you? It continues, "It's shocking that Washington has not followed through on its own information by underwriting the protections cities need to stay safe." Well maybe Washington is making shit up. Ever think of that?

It goes on, "Finally, there is the matter of politics. The Bush administration expressed outrage at the suggestion that there could be any politics behind any of its warnings, but the president has some history to overcome on this issue." History Shmistory. History was bought and paid for four years ago. Can't the Times figure that out yet? The Bush administration expresses outrage if a Democrat clears his throat, never mind raise his hand. A question? You are going down, my friend. Who's next? Outrage my ass.

Then finally, "using [Tom Ridge] as a campaign surrogate would be disastrous for public confidence. The administration should also stop dropping dark hints about Al Qaeda's having election-related motives to attack, as if a vote against the current president were appeasement." As if. Appeasement says it all. Just who's being appeased here? (Hint: not the ones without the mad foam in the corners of their snarling mouths.) As for public confidence, since when did that ever play a role?

Editorials like this one suck extra hard because they give the illusion of asking the real question, when in fact nothing was asked; rather, an unpleasant possibility was politely raised by a gently scolding New York Times. Meanwhile they blast the front page with
this shit and this other shit. So the truth is out there people, it's circling some other galaxy 100 billion light years away. You can believe this "brand-new intelligence" if you want, but for me, I'll take the word of this whistleblower any day of the week over the paper's version of events. As a follow-up to Rob's excellent important post below, consider these particularly distressing facts:

"Your report has omitted these significant incidents, has foregone any accountability what so ever, and your recommendations have refrained from addressing this serious information security breach and highly likely espionage issue. This issue needs to be investigated and criminally prosecuted. The translation of our intelligence is being entrusted to individuals with loyalties to our enemies."

"After the terrorist attacks of September 11 we, the translators at the FBI’s largest and most important translation unit, were told to slow down, even stop, translation of critical information related to terrorist activities so that the FBI could present the United States Congress with a record of ‘extensive backlog of untranslated documents’, and justify its request for budget and staff increases."

"Melek Can Dickerson, a Turkish Translator, was hired by the FBI after September 11, and was placed in charge of translating the most sensitive information related to terrorists and criminals under the Bureau’s investigation. ... Melek Can Dickerson used to work for a semi-legit organizations that were the FBI’s targets of investigation. Melek Can Dickerson had on going relationships with two individuals who were FBI’s targets of investigation. For months Melek Can Dickerson blocked all-important information related to these semi-legit organizations and the individuals she and her husband associated with. She stamped hundreds, if not thousands, of documents related to these targets as ‘ Not Pertinent.’ "

"... the bureaucratic administrators in the FBI’s largest and most important translation unit were covering up their past failures, blocking important leads and information, and jeopardizing on going terrorist investigations. The supervisor involved in this incident, Mike Feghali, was in charge of certain important Middle Eastern languages within the FBI Washington Field Office, and had a record of previous misconducts. After this supervisor’s several severe misconducts were reported to the FBI’s higher-level management, after his conducts were reported to the Inspector General’s Office, to the United States Congress, and to the 9/11 Commission, he was promoted to include the FBI’s Arabic language unit under his supervision. Today this supervisor, Mike Feghali, remains in the FBI Washington Field Office and is in charge of a language unit receiving those chitchats that our color-coded threat system is based upon."

"To this date the public has not been told of intentional blocking of intelligence, and has not been told that certain information, despite its direct links, impacts and ties to terrorist related activities, is not given to or shared with Counterterrorism units, their investigations, and countering terrorism related activities. This was the case prior to 9/11, and remains in effect after 9/11."

What the hell??? Translators who don't speak English? Translators of hot intel being told to stop translating? Turkish spies in charge of rubber-stamping as 'not pertinent' the most sensitive information related to terrorists? Intelligence blockers being promoted? Intentional blocking remaining in effect as policy? None of this being mentioned -- at all -- in the 9/11 Commission's report? And we're being asked by Kean to vote on the basis of this profoundly flawed and doctored report? Why isn't this whistleblower on the front page of the New York Times?

Reality is standing on its head.

- Michael 1:16 PM - [PermaLink] -

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Make no mistake: Bush stands for.... Something!

Not Swept Away by Political Confluence

Kerry went for voters' brains. At an invitation-only economic summit for 300, the Massachusetts senator surrounded himself with local labor and business leaders, as well as corporate executives who have endorsed him. Linda Bloodsworth was there -- the one who owns Quad Cities Metallurgical Laboratory, not the Linda Bloodworth who helped burnish Bill Clinton's telegenicity. So was Peter Chernin, president of News Corp., which owns Fox News, often criticized by Democrats for perceived bias in favor of Bush. And Bank of America chief Charles Gifford. After brief remarks, Kerry led the crew at a long table in a serious, wonkish discussion of policy.

Bush went for voters' hearts. His rally featured all the spectacular stagecraft at which this White House excels. Just as Aaron Tippin's "Where the Stars and Stripes and the Eagle Fly" reached a high point -- "I pledge allegiance to the flag / And if that bothers you, well, that's too bad" -- Bush's motorcade came speeding dramatically into the riverfront park, all fast black cars and flashing blue and red lights. The crowd of several thousand, some of whom had lined up four hours earlier for security sweeps, erupted and waved small flags. Three Secret Service sharpshooters projected presidential power, standing atop a white trailer, their eyes trained through high-powered binoculars. Restless children inside the rally enclosure had a choice between a small carnival ride and a petting zoo featuring a dozen baby goats.

His blue shirt sleeves pushed up, the president stood with the river behind him, a highway bridge arcing gracefully away. He offered no new details on his programs for the next few years, sticking to his standard stump speech about keeping America strong and safe. "We stand for things," Bush told the crowd of several thousand. "We stand for something."

Emphasis Mine.

"Hey you know, Bush really stands for things you know... I mean that gets me, he's a leader you know... he stands for something."

- rob 1:05 PM - [PermaLink] -

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Freudian Slip?

From: President Signs Defense Bill

Our enemies are innovative and resourceful, and so are we. They never stop thinking about new ways to harm our country and our people, and neither do we.

- rob 1:00 PM - [PermaLink] -

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NEWSFLASH: Even Republicans sometimes get embarassed

Eugenics Backer Causes Stir in Tenn. Race

NASHVILLE, Tenn. - Republican congressional candidate James L. Hart acknowledges that he is an "intellectual outlaw."

He is an unapologetic supporter of eugenics, the phony science that resulted in thousands of sterilizations in an attempt to purify the white race. He believes the country will look "like one big Detroit" if it doesn't eliminate welfare and immigration. He believes that if blacks were integrated centuries ago, the automobile never would have been invented.

He shows up at voters' homes wearing a bulletproof vest and carrying a gun, and tells them that "white children deserve the same rights as everyone else."

Despite his radical views, Hart may end up winning the Republican nomination because he is the only GOP candidate on the ballot in Thursday's primary. His presence in the campaign has embarrassed Republican leaders, who were blind-sided by Hart after they didn't bother fielding a candidate.

Maybe they should stop and ask themselves... why would someone like Hart believe he could be welcome in their party? Is Hart's problem that he's a little... shall we say... obvious?

- rob 12:56 PM - [PermaLink] -

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Knight Ridder gets some deserved recognition for doing.... um... reporting (which unfotunately distinguished it from every other newspaper service in America)

Going It Alone

The contrast in coverage was stark at times. On September 8, 2002, the Times proclaimed in a front-page headline, "U.S. Says Hussein Intensified Quest for A-Bomb Parts." Knight Ridder had two days earlier proclaimed, "Lack of hard evidence of Iraqi weapons worries top U.S. officials." Knight Ridder continued with headlines like "Troubling questions over justification for war in Iraq" and "Failure to find weapons in Iraq leads to intelligence scrutiny," even as most other major media outlets sang a tune more in line with the Bush administration.

It wasn't until February that Michael Massing bestowed some of the first accolades on Knight Ridder, writing in The New York Review of Books: "Almost alone among national news organizations, Knight Ridder had decided to take a hard look at the administration's justifications for war."

- rob 5:43 PM - [PermaLink] -

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Neo-Cons just love The Washington Times. Andrew Sullivan actually gets paid to work there.

The Times is the the conservative voice in Washington praised by many members of the Republican party. Rev. Moon was thanked for giving Washinton this paper, Bush the elder has spoken at Rev. Moon events.

And what does Rev. Moon do these days (when not saying all gays should die, and that hitler and stalin have repented and praised him)?

Rev. Moon's submarines, sold to Kim Jong-Il, empower a nuke threat to the West Coast

Robert Parry, the ace reporter who broke the Iran-Contra story, obtained these files through the Freedom of Information Act while writing his 2000 story, "Rev. Moon, North Korea and the Bushes," about Moon's gifts to the Communist regime. Read on, if you dare.
...
So "it is speculated" that the Washington Times will be used by the North Koreans? Huh -- even the U.S. intelligence community doesn't buy editor Wes Pruden's claims that his paper is editorially independent. And a Times article, on May 24, 1994, downplayed the significance of the sale. Without revealing that the newspaper owner's company gave a Secret Santa gift of missile tech to the Kim empire, it reported that the subs were useless....

Please read the entire frightening post. Thanks to Atrios for bringing it to my attention.

What is it with neo-cons arming the North Koreans?

The neo-con darling Rev. Moon gives the North Korean's subs, and Rumsfeld gives them a nuclear power plant?

Why are Neo-Cons soft of the Axis of Evil?

- rob 5:30 PM - [PermaLink] -

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Another corporation that supports Bush receiving governemnt handouts
(this time via the back door)

Calif. taxpayers subsidize Wal-Mart workers, study finds

SAN FRANCISCO - Wal-Mart Stores Inc.'s employee wages and benefits policies cost California taxpayers $86 million annually to provide health care and other public assistance to the retailer's underpaid workers, according to a new study.

Wal-Mart disputed the study by the University of California Berkeley's Institute for Industrial Relations, contending many of its key findings are badly flawed.

UC Berkeley's analysis, released Monday, is based on the premise that Wal-Mart's paltry pay scale forces the retailer's workers to supplement their incomes with Medicaid, food stamps and other taxpayer-backed assistance programs at an unusually high rate.

The study estimated Wal-Mart employs roughly 44,000 California workers who make an average of $9.70 per hour - 31 percent below the $14.01-per-hour average of other large retailers with at least 1,000 employees. The study calculated Wal-Mart's wages using 2001 payroll figures disclosed in a sex discrimination lawsuit against the retailer.

But Bentonville, Ark.-based Wal-Mart said the study's job and wage estimates for California are outdated. The world's largest retailer employs 60,500 California workers who are paid an average of $10.37 per hour, said Wal-Mart spokeswoman Cynthia Lin

And that extra 67 cents an hour makes a huge difference... up to $27 (averaged up) more a week for a 40 hour a week worker! Wow, that might even cover the increase in gas prices (actually I'd love a raise of even that much too... but that is less then 7% increase in 3 years... that doesn't even keep up with cost of living).

As I wrote the above paragraph I heard voice that sounded like Bush in my head saying "that might not seem like much to the liberal elite, but let me tell you for families struggling to get food on the table, that $27 a week will mean not only an extra large bucket of KFC a week, but will pay for the Pepsi and sides as well."

- rob 4:48 PM - [PermaLink] -

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Bush a Case Study in "Projection"

Bush, Kerry Paths Nearly Crossing in Iowa

"The other folks talk a good game. We deliver," the president told thousands of cheering supporters on the banks of the Mississippi River in a state he narrowly lost four years ago.

"This time we're going to carry it," Bush said.

Bush's campaign rally was several blocks away from where Kerry was to hear stories of manufacturing job losses in the state, which have totaled more than 26,000 since Bush took office

Deliver what Bush? Pink Slips. Compasionate Conservativism, Peace President, wanting to get to the bottom of the Plame scandal. All just talk.

- rob 3:36 PM - [PermaLink] -

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Bush not only reminds me of Ahab because of his obsession with Saddam (his white whale), he also seems to just out right hate whales.

U.S. backs proposal to allow managed commercial whaling

- rob 3:33 PM - [PermaLink] -

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Ron Reagan

wrote a blistering criticism of Bush that's well worth reading.

Suddenly, everywhere you went, a surprising number of folks seemed to have had just about enough of what the Bush administration was dishing out. A fresh age appeared on the horizon, accompanied by the sound of scales falling from people's eyes. It felt something like a demonstration of that highest of American prerogatives and the most deeply cherished American freedom: dissent. ...

It's one thing to get trashed by Michael Moore. But when Nobel laureates, a vast majority of the scientific community, and a host of current and former diplomats, intelligence operatives, and military officials line up against you, it becomes increasingly difficult to characterize the opposition as fringe wackos. ...

Fanciful but terrifying scenarios were introduced: Unmanned aircraft, drones, had been built for missions targeting the U. S., Bush told the nation. "We don't want the smoking gun to be a mushroom cloud," National Security Advisor Condoleezza Rice deadpanned to CNN. ... After several months of this mumbo jumbo, 70 percent of Americans had embraced the fantasy that Saddam destroyed the World Trade Center.

The Bush administration no doubt had its real reasons for invading and occupying Iraq. They've simply chosen not to share them with the American public. They sought justification for ignoring the Geneva Convention and other statutes prohibiting torture and inhumane treatment of prisoners but were loath to acknowledge as much. They may have ideas worth discussing, but they don't welcome the rest of us in the conversation. They don't trust us because they don't dare expose their true agendas to the light of day. There is a surreal quality to all this: Occupation is liberation; Iraq is sovereign, but we're in control; Saddam is in Iraqi custody, but we've got him; we'll get out as soon as an elected Iraqi government asks us, but we'll be there for years to come.

Iraqcracy. What is a ruse, by any other name?

More serious by an order of magnitude was the administration's dishonesty concerning pre-9/11 terror warnings. As questions first arose about the country's lack of preparedness in the face of terrorist assault, Condoleezza Rice was dispatched to the pundit arenas to assure the nation that "no one could have imagined terrorists using aircraft as weapons." In fact, terrorism experts had warned repeatedly of just such a calamity. In June 2001, CIA director George Tenet sent Rice an intelligence report warning that "it is highly likely that a significant Al Qaeda attack is in the near future, within several weeks." Two intelligence briefings given to Bush in the summer of 2001 specifically connected Al Qaeda to the imminent danger of hijacked planes being used as weapons. According to The New York Times, after the second of these briefings, titled "Bin Laden Determined to Attack Inside United States," was delivered to the president at his ranch in Crawford, Texas, in August, Bush "broke off from work early and spent most of the day fishing."

He hooked a whopper.

- Michael 9:30 PM - [PermaLink] -

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Our media at its finest:

`Shove It' -- Most Quoted Phrase During Democratic Convention

NEW YORK (Wireless Flash) -- Two simple words -- "Shove it!" -- have shoved Teresa Heinz Kerry to the top of the quote list during last week's Democratic Convention.

According to something called the Factiva Media Visibility Index, Kerry's suggestion to a reporter to "shove it" received 381 media mentions, overwhelmingly beating out any of hubby John Kerry's remarks.

But let me be first today to say that the media sometimes owns up to their mistakes. From today's NY Post:

A BIG thank-you to all the readers who called and e-mailed to point out a mistake we made on Saturday, when we identified the man sitting with Lily Tartikoff at Mr. Chow in Los Angeles as Brandon Tartikoff, her late husband. The brilliant NBC programmer died of cancer in 1997. We regret the error.

- rob 6:01 PM - [PermaLink] -

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Thanks to a post at Atrios

Harris: Hundreds of Lies Told
Harris: Thousands of Votes Eliminated
oh... but she says: Harris: Hundred attacks thwarted
President Bush "has made our country safe" from terrorists, the U.S. representative says

VENICE -- U.S. Rep. Katherine Harris said Monday that the United States has "literally defeated 100 (potential) terrorist attacks on this country" in the past three years, some of which could have been as deadly as the 9/11 destruction of the World Trade Center.

Speaking Monday night in Venice at a rally in support of President Bush, Harris said the United States is winning the war against terrorism.
...
In an interview after the speech, Harris said she learned from classified information about the 100 potential attacks that have been thwarted since 9/11.

"Actually, it's been more than 100," she said. "It's classified ? obviously not classified to me ? but things I can't go into detail about."

Harris continued: "Actually its 121 and I also learned about Bush's secret plan to eliminate terrorism, but it is secret, so I can't tell you, but you know me, I'm trust worthy, and let me tell you it is a really good secret plan; much better then Nixon's secret plan to end the Vietnam War. Also, I read this one classified report... Oh My God! I really wish I could tell you the details... but I can't, but let me just say this: Kerry, Osama bin Laden, Gay Marriage in Massachusetts."

Harris told the audience that while she was in the Midwest recently, the mayor of Carmel, Ind., recounted how a man of Middle Eastern heritage had been arrested. She said hundreds of pounds of explosives were found in his home.

"He had plans to blow up the area's entire power grid," she said.

Pressed after the speech for details about the arrest, Harris said it had not been made public and she asked a reporter not to name the city she mentioned to the audience.

"I probably said too much," Harris said.

Contacted Monday night, Carmel Mayor Jim Brainard said a man was arrested two years ago and was sent to the U.S. military prison in Guantanamo Bay, Cuba.

He said he knew of no explosives or threats to blow up the power grid, however.

Carmel Police Chief Michael Fogarty said he had "no knowledge" of an arrest. "I don't know where that information came from," he said. "I certainly haven't heard anything about it."

Yeah she did tell the reporter "too much," she told him enough that he could verify that she's just making this crap up.

Classified documents are not about protecting national security in the Bush era... they are about protecting Bush's ass.

If you've got an enemy... declassify anything if it embarrasses them (security be damned). If you've got something that could embarrass the administration... classify it, it doesn't matter if it is about national security or not, simply say it is. If you want to just make things up say you're quoting classified information... No one can check up on you.

And now the Bush administration is classifying American Laws?

Ashcroft Tells Libraries to Destroy Citizen-Friendly Publications

The Department of Justice has called for these five these public documents,
two of which are texts of federal statutes, to be removed from depository libraries and destroyed, making their content available only to those with access to a law office or law library.

The topics addressed in the named documents include information on how citizens can retrieve items that may have been confiscated by the government during an investigation. The documents to be removed and destroyed include: Civil and Criminal Forfeiture Procedure; Select Criminal Forfeiture Forms; Select Federal Asset Forfeiture Statutes; Asset forfeiture and money laundering resource directory; and Civil Asset Forfeiture Reform Act of 2000 (CAFRA).

In America ignorance of the law is not considered a legal excuse, however under the Bush Administration promoting ignorance of laws is fine.

- rob 5:13 PM - [PermaLink] -

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Bush accused of pressuring countries to stop producing generic drugs

Says Bush: "Cheaper drugs to treat diseases and prevent death? Where is the money in that?"

The United States has come under fire for pressuring developing countries to give up their right to produce cheap, generic anti-AIDS medicines in return for bilateral trade agreements that strengthen protection of costlier, brand name drugs.

Nobel economics laureate Joseph Stiglitz joined advocacy groups Oxfam and Médecins Sans Frontières this month in criticising Washington for bowing to industry pressure by pursuing a policy the groups say could prevent millions of AIDS patients in poor countries from getting the lifesaving antiretroviral drugs and treatment they need.
....
Writing in the New York Times on 10 July, Professor Stiglitz said President George W Bush's policy was "puzzling and hypocritical" because only last year he had pledged $15bn (£8bn; Euro12bn) to help countries in Africa and the Caribbean affected by AIDS. "While he talks about a global campaign against AIDS and has offered substantial sums to back it up, what he is giving with one hand is being taken away with the other," Professor Stiglitz wrote.

Access to lifesaving medicines has been a sticking point in trade agreements between the United States and countries such as Brazil, which also has a generic drugs industry and is the only developing country with free universal AIDS treatment.

Professor Stiglitz is being a bit naive. It isn't puzzling in the least, he is giving with one hand and taking away from the other... but with one hand he is giving funds from the American Tax Payer, and with the other he is taking funds and giving them to the American Pharma Corporations that donate large amounts to his campaign. It isn't puzzling in the least. It is sad, and shows callousness that could easily be interpreted as evil.

- rob 4:31 PM - [PermaLink] -

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Thanks to the internet we can go to New Zealand and read about how the fight on terrorism is often just a fight for budgets
(but why can't we just read this from an American paper?)

Sibel Edmonds Letter To Thomas Kean
About what is missing from the Commission's Report

After the terrorist attacks of September 11 we, the translators at the FBI’s largest and most important translation unit, were told to slow down, even stop, translation of critical information related to terrorist activities so that the FBI could present the United States Congress with a record of ‘extensive backlog of untranslated documents’, and justify its request for budget and staff increases. While FBI agents from various field offices were desperately seeking leads and suspects, and completely depending on FBI HQ and its language units to provide them with needed translated information, hundreds of translators were being told by their administrative supervisors not to translate and to let the work pile up ( please refer to the CBS-60 Minutes transcript dated October 2002, and provided to your investigators in January-February 2004). This issue has been confirmed by the Senate Judiciary Committee ( Please refer to Senator Grassley and Senator Leahy’s letters during the summer of 2002, provided to your investigators in January-February 2004).
...
Melek Can Dickerson, a Turkish Translator, was hired by the FBI after September 11, and was placed in charge of translating the most sensitive information related to terrorists and criminals under the Bureau’s investigation. Melek Can Dickerson was granted Top Secret Clearance, which can be granted only after conducting a thorough background investigation. Melek Can Dickerson used to work for a semi-legit organizations that were the FBI’s targets of investigation. Melek Can Dickerson had on going relationships with two individuals who were FBI’s targets of investigation. For months Melek Can Dickerson blocked all-important information related to these semi-legit organizations and the individuals she and her husband associated with. She stamped hundreds, if not thousands, of documents related to these targets as ‘ Not Pertinent.’ Melek Can Dickerson attempted to prevent others from translating these documents important to the FBI’s investigations and our fight against terrorism. Melek Can Dickerson, with the assistance of her direct supervisor, Mike Feghali, took hundreds of pages of top-secret sensitive intelligence documents outside the FBI to unknown recipients. Melek Can Dickerson, with the assistance of her direct supervisor, forged signatures on top-secret documents related to certain 9/11 detainees. After all these incidents were confirmed and reported to FBI management, Melek Can Dickerson was allowed to remain in her position, to continue the translation of sensitive intelligence received by the FBI, and to maintain her Top Secret clearance. Apparently bureaucratic mid-level FBI management and administrators decided that it would not look good for the Bureau if this security breach and espionage case was investigated and made public, especially after going through Robert Hanssen’s case (FBI spy scandal). This case (Melek Can Dickerson) was confirmed by the Senate Judiciary Committee ( Please refer to Senator Leahy and Grassley’s letters dated June 19 and August 13, 2002, and Senator Grassley’s statement on CBS-60 Minutes in October 2002, provided to your investigators in January-February 2004).
...
Over three years ago, more than four months prior to the September 11 terrorist attacks, in April 2001, a long-term FBI informant/asset who had been providing the bureau with information since 1990, provided two FBI agents and a translator with specific information regarding a terrorist attack being planned by Osama Bin Laden. This asset/informant was previously a high-level intelligence officer in Iran in charge of intelligence from Afghanistan. Through his contacts in Afghanistan he received information that: 1) Osama Bin Laden was planning a major terrorist attack in the United States targeting 4-5 major cities, 2) the attack was going to involve airplanes, 3) some of the individuals in charge of carrying out this attack were already in place in the United States, 4) the attack was going to be carried out soon, in a few months. The agents who received this information reported it to their superior, Special Agent in Charge of Counterterrorism, Thomas Frields, at the FBI Washington Field Office, by filing “302” forms, and the translator translated and documented this information. No action was taken by the Special Agent in Charge, and after 9/11 the agents and the translators were told to ‘keep quiet’ regarding this issue. The translator who was present during the session with the FBI informant, Mr. Behrooz Sarshar, reported this incident to Director Mueller in writing, and later to the Department of Justice Inspector General. The press reported this incident, and in fact the report in the Chicago Tribune on July 21, 2004 stated that FBI officials had confirmed that this information was received in April 2001, and further, the Chicago Tribune quoted an aide to Director Mueller that he (Mueller) was surprised that the Commission never raised this particular issue with him during the hearing ( Please refer to Chicago Tribune article, dated July 21, 2004).
...
After almost three years since September 11, many officials still refuse to admit to having specific information regarding the terrorists’ plans to attack the United States. The Phoenix Memo, received months prior to the 9/11 attacks, specifically warned FBI HQ of pilot training and their possible link to terrorist activities against the United States. Four months prior to the terrorist attacks the Iranian asset provided the FBI with specific information regarding the ‘ use of airplanes’, ‘major US cities as targets’, and ‘Osama Bin Laden issuing the order.’ Coleen Rowley likewise reported that specific information had been provided to FBI HQ. All this information went to the same place: FBI Headquarters in Washington, DC, and the FBI Washington Field Office, in Washington DC. Yet, your report claims that not having a central place where all intelligence could be gathered as one of the main factors in our intelligence failure. Why did your report choose to exclude the information regarding the Iranian asset and Behrooz Sarshar from its timeline of missed opportunities? Why was this significant incident not mentioned; despite the public confirmation by the FBI, witnesses provided to your investigators, and briefings you received directly? Why did you surprise even Director Mueller by refraining from asking him questions regarding this significant incident and lapse during your hearing ( Please remember that you ran out of questions during your hearings with Director Mueller and AG John Ashcroft, so please do not cite a ‘time limit’ excuse)?

Read it all.

- rob 2:47 PM - [PermaLink] -

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To follow up on Michael's post below, Bush again decides that his political future is more important then America's security.

Bush Cries Wolf About Terrorism: Pre-9/11 Acts Led To Alerts

Most of the al Qaeda surveillance of five financial institutions that led to a new terrorism alert Sunday was conducted before the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks and authorities are not sure whether the casing of the buildings has continued, numerous intelligence and law enforcement officials said yesterday.
...
"There is nothing right now that we're hearing that is new," said one senior law enforcement official who was briefed on the alert. "Why did we go to this level? . . . I still don't know that."

There are thousands of good people who want to protect lives in the military, FBI, police, homeland security... too bad they're being fed shit.

Atrios has three excellent posts in a row on how the SCLM (So Called Liberal Media) is handling this obvious Wag The Dog situation. Start with this morning's post about the Washington Post's attempts at shielding the administration from any acusations about politicizing terror alerts to a post last night about CNN's Judy Woodruff insanely obvious bias.

- rob 2:01 PM - [PermaLink] -

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Terror Intel Is Prehistoric

But timed perfectly to knock Kerry off the stage and destroy our civil liberties. Dudn't matter that the threat came before 9/11. What's important is that we MILITARIZE OUR SOCIETY and become PARANOID. Soldiers pointing automatic weapons at your head with the safeties off at 54th and Park? Isn't that what Giuliani wanted all along? Here's Wall Street:



Welcome to Nazi Germany. One of these patriots pointed his gun at me, and his finger was on the trigger. I was trying to ride my bicycle home, and I was covered with 9/11 ashes. We all died that day.

- Michael 12:36 PM - [PermaLink] -

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For those of you with iTunes.

The iTunes Store has all the featured speeches from the democratic convention available as free downloads. If there was any you missed just download them for free.

Heck if you are really bored you can download parts of the 9/11 commission hearings for free... like the 2 hours of Richard Clarke's testimony.

- rob 12:34 PM - [PermaLink] -

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Bumper Sticker Monday continues at the TCS Store


Bumper Sticker - in your guts you know their nuts > ThisCenturySucks.com Store

- rob 4:53 PM - [PermaLink] -

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Bush and I agree

Bush today: "We are a nation in danger."

Of course besides terrorism another danger that faces this nation is Bush himself... though I'm not sure he had that in mind.

quote from here

- rob 4:36 PM - [PermaLink] -

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Follow up on TCS's recent posts about Voting Machines and voting fiascos in general
(this is something TCS has been reporting since the get go)

How They Could Steal the Election This Time

On November 2 millions of Americans will cast their votes for President in computerized voting systems that can be rigged by corporate or local-election insiders. Some 98 million citizens, five out of every six of the roughly 115 million who will go to the polls, will consign their votes into computers that unidentified computer programmers, working in the main for four private corporations and the officials of 10,500 election jurisdictions, could program to invisibly falsify the outcomes.

Scared yet? No? If you aren't, then perhaps you should read the whole article. Read it again on Halloween night.

- rob 1:18 PM - [PermaLink] -

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I'm Orange today - How about you?
A follow up to Michae's Orange Alert post below.

Terrorism - just another campaign tool

Text: Tom Ridge press conference on terror threat

President Bush has told you, and I have reiterated the promise, that when we have specific credible information that we will share it. This afternoon we do have new and unusually specific information about where al-Qaida would like to attack.
...
But we must understand that the kind of information available to us today is the result of the president's leadership in the war against terror, the reports that have led to this alert are the result of offensive intelligence and military operations overseas, as well as strong partnerships with our allies around the world, such as Pakistan.

- rob 1:14 PM - [PermaLink] -

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A differing opinion about what "by the people" means

Kerry, Edwards warm up crowd of 15,000 in Scranton

A hot, sweaty rock concert that began two hours late.

But 15,000 people braved what local officials described as the hottest day of the year while they waited for a fleet of Kerry/Edwards tour buses to arrive. Nearly 100 people had to be treated for heat exhaustion or dehydration, according to
Scranton Fire Chief Tom Davis.

The size of the crowd surprised both city and campaign officials, who claimed the turnout was a reflection of the vitality of both.

Versus

You Must Swear allegiance to Bush to Attend Rally

There have been various stories over recent months of people being ejected from Bush rallies for wearing anti-Bush t-shirts and stuff of that sort, with the rationale often being a rather improbable concern for security.

But this Dick Cheney speech in New Mexico seems to be the first instance where would-be attendees were compelled to pledge personal fealty to President Bush in order to get in the front door.

According to this Associated Press story, certain members of the public were required to sign a pledge to endorse President Bush in order to get tickets.
Dan Foley, a Bush campaign spokesman interviewed for the article, tried to argue that the tactic was "a security step designed to avoid a disruption" and said that at least some of the people required to sign the pledge had called from a phone which showed up on caller-ID as ACT (Americans Coming Together), a liberal voter mobilization group

If you swear loyalty to Bush you can attend a rally. If you don't hold up a anti-Bush poster you can watch his limo drive by. Both of these are under the guise of "security." Do they think we are idiots? If they don't think that then they are. Do they actually think that holding a pro-Bush poster causes an ideological epiphany that would somehow prevent a terrorist from committing a heinous act? Or maybe they just think that terrorists don't lie. Which if that is the case they hold terrorist in higher esteem then they hold themselves.

It isn't differing opinions that the Bush Administration feels is a threat to their physical well being. It seems they think that people with "dark" sounding last names are a threat to security (again because terrorists are never named Rudolph or McVeigh ).

Bush camp solicits race of Star staffer

President Bush's re-election campaign insisted on knowing the race of an Arizona Daily Star journalist assigned to photograph Vice President Dick Cheney.

...

Diaz repeated that answer when asked if it is the practice of the White House
to ask for racial information or if the photographer, Mamta Popat, was singled
out because of her name. He referred those questions to the U.S. Secret Service,
which did not respond to a call from the Star Friday afternoon.

Hayt declined to speculate on whether Popat was racially profiled, but said
she is deeply concerned.

"One has to wonder what they were going to do with that information," Hayt
said. "Because she has Indian ancestry, were they going to deny her access? I
don't know."

Journalists covering the president or vice president must undergo a
background check and are required to provide their name, date of birth and
Social Security number. The Star provided that information Thursday for Popat
and this reporter.

"That's all anybody has been asked to provide," said Hayt, adding that this
is the first time in her 26-year career that a journalist's race was made an
issue.

Organizer Christine Walton asked for Popat's race in telephone conversations
with two other Star editors before she spoke to Hayt. They also refused to
provide the information. Walton told Hayt that Popat's race was necessary to
allow the Secret Service to distinguish her from someone else who might have the
same name.

"It was a very lame excuse," Hayt said.

So did you catch that? Popat's race needed to be identified so the Secret Service could distinguish her from someone else who might have the same name. WTF? Do they have a lot of people named Popat coming to their campaigns? They never have more then 1 person with the name of Smith or Johnson coming to their campaigns so its never an issue. And of course people with the last name Popat are some common that they could be Japanese or White or African American, or Native American... so it made sense they'd ask.

They have told so many lies for so long, and they have been getting away with it, that they aren't even trying any more.

This administration can't even bothered to come up with reasonable lies anymore.

- rob 12:37 PM - [PermaLink] -

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Let's Kick It Up a Notch -- BAM!

Just in time to cap off the Democratic Convention Kerry lovefest in the promised August fearmongering Blitzkrieg:



Whoa Nellie, hold the phone -- that's just for New York City and Washington, guys. So if yer in a red state yer safe 'n sound. See how the politics of terror gets ratched up to laserlike pinpoint accuracy these days, for maximum scare effect in the places that count? First the White House tells Pakistan to nail a "terrorist" and say he's al-Qaida just in time for the Dems' convention, then discover a new al-Qaida conspiracy after the capture. See how it works? And the New York Times plays right along with them.

The unannounced capture of a figure from Al Qaeda in Pakistan several weeks ago led the Central Intelligence Agency to the rich lode of information that prompted the terror alert on Sunday, according to senior American officials.

The figure, Muhammad Naeem Noor Khan, was described by a Pakistani intelligence official as a 25-year-old computer engineer, arrested July 13, who had used and helped to operate a secret Qaeda communications system where information was transferred via coded messages.

One senior American intelligence official said the information was more detailed and precise than any he had seen during his 24-year career in intelligence work. A second senior American official said it had provided a new window into the methods, content and distribution of Qaeda communications.

My, what excellent intelligence! Darn good intelligence! A treasure trove! And what timing! Thank heavens for the New York Times! They sure do good reporting! Darn good reporting! A Karly Rove of darn good intelligence reporting!

- Michael 10:40 AM - [PermaLink] -

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