Your tax dollars at work - making America more secure

San Jose Miniature Golf Course Made Homeland Security Watch List

Some time back, officials added the humble South San Jose theme park -- ``three acres, two mini golf courses, very challenging,'' says Golfland's VP Bob Kenney -- to their National Asset Database. Local officials, figuring plenty of other Silicon Valley sites were richer targets, burst out laughing when they saw it.

``The moment we realized it was on the list, it was taken off,'' said San Jose police officer Rubens Dalaison, who handles ``critical infrastructure assessment'' for the department. ``I myself took it off.''

Then again, the list remains top secret. So who really knows?
...
``The last list I saw was from May 2005, and Golfland is listed, but with an incorrect address,'' Lofgren said this week. ``We had a subcommittee hearing with department officials before Thanksgiving and I asked, `What's going on with the list?' and they couldn't answer. I do not know if Golfland is on the list today or not. It's so embarrassing.''

Emphasis Mine.

- rob 5:09 PM - [PermaLink] -

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At 87, Wallace still tells it like it is

Mike Wallace and his hard-hitting brand of journalism have been synonymous with ''60 Minutes" since CBS introduced the program in 1968.
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Q. President George W. Bush has declined to be interviewed by you. What would you ask him if you had the chance?

A. What in the world prepared you to be the commander in chief of the largest superpower in the world? In your background, Mr. President, you apparently were incurious. You didn't want to travel. You knew very little about the military. . . . The governor of Texas doesn't have the kind of power that some governors have. . . . Why do you think they nominated you? . . . Do you think that has anything to do with the fact that the country is so [expletive] up?

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Even King George didn't like torture

Law lords ban evidence gained under torture

Lord Bingham of Cornhill, the former Lord Chief Justice, who headed the panel of law lords, said the English law had regarded "torture and its fruits" with abhorrence for more than 500 years.

He said he was "startled, even a little dismayed" that "this deeply rooted tradition and an international obligation solemnly and explicitly undertaken" could be overriden by the Special Immigration Appeals Commission (SIAC), which oversees the detention of terror suspects.

As we know our George loves torture. Despite the fact that it is cruel, ammoral, puts our troops at risk, and at the end of the day it doesn't even work:

Qaeda-Iraq Link U.S. Cited Is Tied to Coercion Claim

WASHINGTON, Dec. 8 - The Bush administration based a crucial prewar assertion about ties between Iraq and Al Qaeda on detailed statements made by a prisoner while in Egyptian custody who later said he had fabricated them to escape harsh treatment, according to current and former government officials.

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Below I say Republicans require laws to prevent them from doing bad things. Bah, they just break laws anyway.

Some updates on the continuing scandals:

The Stakeholder:: Marianas Mafia?

Businessman may get plea deal in SunCruz case and testify against powerful lobbyist

Plea Deal Near With 2nd Abramoff Associate

Groups question Cunningham access to classified information

Time Reporter Testifies in Leak Case

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It seems the GOP is the party that has no self control.

We have discussed this before at TCS: It seems that conservatives want to make things they don't like illegal because that is the only thing that prevents them from doing things they don't like.

Everyone agrees that deficit spending is bad. About a decade and a half ago the Republicans tried to Bush and amendment that would require a balanced budget. Many were confused why they would want to restrict the government's ability to deal with emergency situations. A recession, a war, natural disasters, occasionally it is okay to spend more then you have as long as you get back on track as soon as you can.

Now that Congress and the White House are all under Republican control it is very obvious why they were pushing that amendment - they can't stop themselves from spending. They are the spend and spend and spend party. But hey to make up for it they are also the cut tax party. If this sounds like good financial judgement feel free to joing the GOP.

The Republican party has been demonstrating that it requires parental supervision.

$56 Billion in Tax Cuts Passed by House, 234-197

The House approved yesterday $56 billion in tax cuts that would keep alive the deep reductions in the tax rates on dividends and capital gains passed in 2003, but the measure is certain to be challenged by senators who have so far balked at the tax cuts for investors.

The bill passed largely along party lines, 234 to 197, after a rancorous partisan debate over whether the tax cuts would chiefly benefit the rich or sustain economic growth.

At this point I really think the Republicans in Congress realize that it is all collapsing and they're trying to gut the treasury as much as they can before they leave. That way when the Democrats will have to deal with such a messed up financial situtation they'll be very hard pressed to move forward on needed initiatives (universal health care).

- rob 4:52 PM - [PermaLink] -

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War! huh good God
What is it good for?

Umm... if your Halliburton - War's good for your stock.


HAL: Basic Chart for HALLIBURTON CO - Yahoo! Finance


From the low 20's at the start of the war to over 66 now.

Anyone else spooked that their ticker symbol is HAL?

(thanks to a phunkster for the link).

- rob 4:39 PM - [PermaLink] -

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The Carlyle Group has gotten fat off of making war.

Now its thinking maybe it can get fat off making people fat.

Carlyle Bidding On Food Chains

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How to write a TCS Post:

Step 1 – start off by being snarky, say something like “Bill O’Reilly, Happy Chrismahanukwanzakah to you!” and link to a pretty outrageous and easy to be offended by marketing piece by Virgin Mobile:

Happy Chrismahanukwanzakah

Step 2 – Suddenly reverse course and become deadly serious:

Note that the ridiculous attempt to destroy the Christmas spirit and turn it into a lynching of anyone not devotedly “Christmas!!” enough by Bill O’Reilly is actually dangerous. Bill has said one of the supposed leaders of the war against Christmas (not to be confused with their war against love, peace, and community) is being led by George Soros – a jew.as O’Reilly pointed out.

O'Reilly promised to "bring horror" to alleged "anti-Christian forces" who oppose Christmas

On the December 2 broadcast of Fox News' The Radio Factor with Bill O'Reilly, host Bill O'Reilly stated that he would "use all the power that I have on radio and television to bring horror into the world of people" who "diminish and denigrate the [Christmas] holiday." O'Reilly singled out "oppressive, totalitarian, anti-Christian forces in this country" as those who seek to undermine Christmas, asserting that these "forces" are "on the run, because I will put their face and their name on television and I will talk about them on the radio if they do it." He later added: "There is no reason on this earth that all of us can not celebrate a public holiday devoted to generosity, peace, and love together," cautioning that "anyone who tries to stop us from doing it is gonna face me."

O’Reilly is feeling very generous, peaceful, and loving isn’t he?

Step 3 – Clip from a more thoughtful and researched blog.

Americablog has been (and rightfully so) running a week long campaign against Ford due to its caving in to the demands of the scary folk over at Wildmon’s AFA. And he has daily been quoting from Mr. Henry Ford’s terrifying anti-jewish tomes.

I've been working my way through Henry Ford's hideously anti-Semitic tome, "The International Jew: The World's Foremost Problem." As you may know, Ford not only wrote this book, he had thousands and thousands (I'd read 700,000, per one account) printed and sent to all of his dealerships around the country, so they could distribute them to the American public for free.

In addition to being incredibly offensive, the book is actually quite frightening. I remember learning in school about the "great" Henry Ford creating the world's first assembly line. I grew up thinking this man was a hero. No one ever told me what a dangerous lunatic the man was.

Reading this book is absolutely horrifying. It's clear from the passages why Hitler was such a fan, of the book and Ford, and vice versa. Chapters and chapters are devoted to, as Ford calls it, "The Jewish Question" (we've heard that term used before). Then there's the chapters and chapters and chapters devoted to the Protocols of the Elders of Zion, a fake document thought to have been created by the Russian secret police to demonize the Jews, the "Protocols" spell out the Jews' secret plan for world domination.

Now we have those who are out to destroy Christmas (people meeting in back rooms laughing at shooting reindeer?). Now we have the secret gay agenda. We have people in power finding enemies where there are none because without that distraction people will notice that those who are in power are doing nothing good with it.

Step 4: Then to try pretend that you run a thoughtful and researched blog yourself and reference some previous post that kind of works into this discussion (but in truth you’re just being lazy and self-referential):

Remember the only time Christ got really pissed off at anyone was when people were using the temple as an excuse and location for making money. You know like most TV evangelists or those "Christian investment" spam emails I get.

A huge chunk of Christianity in America isn't about the love and the teachings of Christ. Sure they have all the bumper stickers that say Christ Loves Me (but not you... okay they don't say that), but what their religion seems to be about is persecution. They are persecuted. They live to be persecuted. It makes them "special."

Like Scarborough says above even discussing the fact that there is a vein of reactionary fundamentalist Christianity in America is yet more persecution. What is this persecution?
...
This feeling of persecution is at the core of all fundamentalism. This reactionary version of faith on its own in unsustainable, it has rid itself of the reaffirming aspects of the religion and will fall apart… unless it has enemies. It needs to be persecuted, even if there is no real persecution. All extremist fundamentalism shares this. Bin Laden’s vision of Islam needs America… it is what binds their faith, not spirituality.

This is the 21st century’s great battle, lets hope it can stay on websites, newspapers, and ballot boxes here.

Step 5: Reverse the mood of the piece so drastically the narrative flow is destroyed and the message is almost lost by linking to a funny video segment from Jon Stewart’s show where Jon responds to O’Reilly claiming he is anti-Christmas (it should be noted that O’Reilly specifically mentions Jon Stewart when talking about an alleged ‘anti-Christmas’ skit. Stewart is Jewish as O'Reilly knows.

Step 6: For no reason whatsoever point out that O’reilly watchers make less money and have had less schooling then Jon Stewarts viewers (and they do worse on quizzes about contemporary issues):

'Daily Show' viewers ace political quiz

While viewers of NBC's "The Tonight Show" and CBS's "The Late Show" scored better than the general public, Stewart's fans came out on top.

Leno and Letterman viewers scored 49 percent on the quiz. But "Daily Show" viewers scored 60 percent on average.

Scores were even lower for those who read a newspaper or watch network news four days a week.
...
"Daily Show" viewers are 78 percent more likely than the average adult to have four or more years of college education, while O'Reilly's audience is only 24 percent more likely to have that much schooling.

Plus, the network noted, "Daily Show" viewers are 26 percent more likely to have a household income more than $100,000, while O'Reilly's audience is only 11 percent more likely to make that much money.

So the guy watching Stewart may not only be smart, but may also be rich.

Thus the unofficial Fox News slogan: The more you watch the less you know.

Step 7: Wrap it all up by pointing out something that isn't interesting and really isn't part of the discussion.

O'Reilly should realize that much of what America fondly thinks of as Christmas is in large part because of the Jews.

Jesus was Jewish
Mary was too (and the Joseph guy)
"The Christmas Song" (you know "Chestnuts roasting on an open fire") was written by Mel Torme who was Jewish.
The composer of the music to O'Holy Night was Jewish
Ivring Berlin was Jewish and he wrote White Christmas

Yes Mr. O'Reilly the only Grinch around here is you (and yes the songwriter of "He's a mean one, Mr. Grinch" was Jewish).

Other Christmas songs by Jewish composers:

• "Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer"
• "Rockin' Around the Christmas Tree"
• "A Holly Jolly Christmas"
• "Let It Snow, Let It Snow, Let It Snow"
• "Silver Bells"

And more.

- rob 3:42 PM - [PermaLink] -

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Kerry may have forgot Poland, but the CIA sure didn't

Poland was main CIA European detention base

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Yes it does seem like the Fitzmas season never ends - Great huh?

New Grand Jury in CIA Leak Case Hears From Prosecutor

Yes - I know this is old news, but I didn't post yesterday so cut me some slack. Hopefully more posts are coming this afternoon.

- rob 11:36 AM - [PermaLink] -

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Rumsfeld must go
and Bush
and Cheney
and Delay
and Lieberman
and Frist
and and and and (so many ands)

Washington Post Op-Ed: Let Rumsfeld Go

- rob 6:10 PM - [PermaLink] -

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GOP Official believes the arguement for Repulicans is a weak one. Decides to cheat.

When we vote we are supposed to vote on the ideas we believe in, in the individual we believe holds ideas that we think will help the nation and has the ability to implement those ideas.

When a party tries to stop people from voting they believe that their ideas aren't good enough to compete. Cowards.

Ex-GOP Official Faces Conspiracy Charge

CONCORD, N.H. - A former national Republican Party official played a key role in an Election Day 2002 phone jamming plot against New Hampshire Democrats, the prosecution said Tuesday during opening statements.

James Tobin, President Bush's onetime New England campaign chairman, is being tried on one federal count of conspiring against voters' rights and several counts involving telephone harassment.

- rob 6:08 PM - [PermaLink] -

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Because sometimes actual religious celebration interferes with the profit margin?

Some megachurches closing on Christmas

(AP) -- This Christmas, no prayers will be said in several megachurches around the country.

Even though the holiday falls this year on a Sunday, when churches normally host thousands for worship, pastors are canceling services, anticipating low attendance on what they call a family day.

It's like a Broadway show going dark.

Is a Megachurch offering services or shows? If it is a service, then why close?

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We can't even get everyone to agree that maybe a suburban errand car should get more then 21MPH and now we've got this?

It's called Apophis. It's 390m wide. And it could hit Earth in 31 years time

Seriously it took this year's hurricane season to make people think "hmmm... so global warming may not only be real but could be bad? This may require some study." And you want to make people spend money on a big rock (just because it is going to kill us)?

. Scientists are monitoring the progress of a 390-metre wide asteroid discovered last year that is potentially on a collision course with the planet, and are imploring governments to decide on a strategy for dealing with it. Nasa has estimated that an impact from Apophis, which has an outside chance of hitting the Earth in 2036, would release more than 100,000 times the energy released in the nuclear blast over Hiroshima.
...
And, scientists insist, there is actually very little time left to decide. At a recent meeting of experts in near-Earth objects (NEOs) in London, scientists said it could take decades to design, test and build the required technology to deflect the asteroid.

Didn't they ever go to the movies? Jeeze it takes NASA only 2 months to make super shuttles that carry nukes. Don't scientists do research anymore? And I was all worried for a sec.

- rob 5:59 PM - [PermaLink] -

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Ahhh... thoughtful political discourse.

An open and sincere discussion of ideas is a cornerstone of democracy.

Michael Reagan: Dean 'Should Be Hung'

Michael Reagan, son of the late President Ronald Reagan, is blasting Democratic National Committee Chairman Howard Dean for declaring that the U.S. won't be able to win the war in Iraq, saying Dean ought to be "hung for treason."

"Howard Dean should be arrested and hung for treason or put in a hole until the end of the Iraq war!"

- rob 2:20 PM - [PermaLink] -

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Okay this is stupider then your average religious conservative "outrage".

President Bush is President of the United States (unfortunately), and this time I think someone in his office did what was... (wait for it)... correct.

Bush's holiday card list is part of his role as the President of the United States, a governmental position. And perhaps it is time to state once again: America is not a Christian Nation. So say the founders:

As the government of the United States of America is not in any sense founded on the Christian Religion,-as it has in itself no character of enmity against the laws, religion or tranquility of Musselmen,-and as the said States never have entered into any war or act of hostility against any Mehomitan nation, it is declared by the parties that no pretext arising from religious opinions shall ever produce an interruption of the harmony existing between the two countries.
- Treaty of Peace and Friendship 11/4/1796

That isn't some liberal opinion. That is a quote, a direct quote, from a treaty ratified by the Senate and signed by President John Adams.

So the President sends out a holiday card, big deal. The only thing entertaining about it (besides a graph showing percentage of wealthy citizens vs. Average citizens that got the card) is that people are getting upset.

'Holiday' Cards Ring Hollow for Some on Bushes' List

Many people are thrilled to get a White House Christmas card, no matter what the greeting inside. But some conservative Christians are reacting as if Bush stuck coal in their stockings.

"This clearly demonstrates that the Bush administration has suffered a loss of will and that they have capitulated to the worst elements in our culture," said William A. Donohue, president of the Catholic League for Religious and Civil Rights.

Bush "claims to be a born-again, evangelical Christian. But he sure doesn't act like one," said Joseph Farah, editor of the conservative Web site WorldNetDaily.com. "I threw out my White House card as soon as I got it."

- rob 1:23 PM - [PermaLink] -

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Remember when the brothers of the President just sold beer?*



Where in Washington, D.C. is Sun Myung Moon?: Neil Bush travels with Moon as "peace leader"

As regular readers of this blog know, attending to these groups is a Bush family tradition. Barbara and George H.W. Bush have long attended Moon's lucrative and stately peace festivities, which stress the Reverend's mastery of family values as God's path to world peace. It's unclear whether wayward son Neil, who romped with prostitutes in Asia, has any special expertise in this area.

* yes I know Billy got into a lot more trouble then just beer, but I really wanted to use this picture.

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As you probably know phone sex maniac Bill O'Reilly is defending Christians from the heathen secularists who are trying to destroy Christmas.

This is stupid, so I decided to be stupid by pointing out that on the eve of the first Christmas Mary rode on the back of a donkey and not an elephant.

• Media Matters - Continuing his fight against the "war on Christmas," O'Reilly falsely claimed year-old Daily Show clip aired previous night
• Fox News Watch panelist Gabler: Fox News "pumping" Christmas "war"

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TCS wouldn't be TCS without mentioning Diebold now and then, so here you go:

Diebold insider alleges company plagued by technical woes, Diebold defends 'sterling' record

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The GOP is facing the perfect scandal storm. It will capsize.

Duke Cunningham Scandal and the CIA

But this piece in yesterday's San Diego Union-Tribune -- not exactly a liberal paper, though they contributed as much as any media outlet to Duke's undoing -- notes that Wilkes, who seems to be an inveterate schemer is the long-time, close personal friend of a guy named Kyle Dustin "Dusty" Foggo. And he turns out to be the number three man today at the CIA, specifically, the Agency's Executive Director.

When former Rep. Porter Goss (R-FL) became CIA Director last year he promoted a bunch of new people. And Foggo was one of them.

- rob 3:19 PM - [PermaLink] -

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Hawks often say that America didn't win in Vietnam because we didn't have the will to win, we wouldn't do what was necessary.

Bush Does not have the will to win in Iraq.
He will not do what is necessary because he is putting profit margins ahead of victory.

Halliburton (KBR) workers in Iraq paid 50 cents an hour

WASHINGTON, Dec. 1 (UPI) -- While the United States spends billions on troop support in Iraq, the people serving the meals, scooping the ice cream, and washing the dishes make as little as 50 cents an hour.
The U.S. military has paid Halliburton subsidiary KBR about $12 billion so far for so-called logistics support to U.S. military personnel in Iraq, the largest contract of its kind ever.
...
KBR in turn hires that work out entirely to subcontractors whose job it is to recruit, transport, house, feed and pay "third-country" nationals to stock, prepare, serve and clean up at the dining facilities at 43 bases across Iraq.

Those workers are recruited from countries with already low wages, where jobs are scarce.
...
That is what brought around 770 workers from Sierra Leone, Africa, to Iraq....

We are fighting an insurgency. Many of the people fighting us are disaffected young men in a country with a struggling economy and high unemployment. They are easy recruits for the terrorists and militias.

One way to help the economy is get money injected into the local economies. Imagine Iraqi citizens reasonably paid working an honest day's job and spending money at local businesses. It would have a ripple effect. A boost in the economy and a boost in good will. But for some reason Cheney and Rumsfeld thinks are tax dollars are better spend on dividend checks for Halliburton's stock holders. Imagine if our tax dollars paid to Iraqi citizens would have a double benefit of staffing our mess halls and fighting the war on terror? Instead we are just staffing our mess halls and building resentment.

This has been a problem from the very beginning. Early on contracts for the rebuilding effort were not given to Iraqi companies who hire Iraqi workers, no billions of dollars went to British and American firms who slapped some paid on the side of a few school buildings and laughed all the way to the bank.

Col. Ted Westhusing committed suicide when faced of the dishonor of working for a pentagon that decided profit margins matter more then winning a war.

Westhusing, 44, was no ordinary officer. He was one of the Army's leading scholars of military ethics, a full professor at West Point who volunteered to serve in Iraq to be able to better teach his students. He had a doctorate in philosophy; his dissertation was an extended meditation on the meaning of honor.
...
Westhusing struggled with the idea that monetary values could outweigh moral ones in war. This, she said, was a flaw.

"Despite his intelligence, his ability to grasp the idea that profit is an important goal for people working in the private sector was surprisingly limited," wrote Lt. Col. Lisa Breitenbach. "He could not shift his mind-set from the military notion of completing a mission irrespective of cost, nor could he change his belief that doing the right thing because it was the right thing to do should be the sole motivator for businesses."

Our army no longer works for us. It works for its vendors.

Back to the issue of local investment. The administration doesn't get it. Not at all. Bush and I Cheney are so used to dealing with corporate giants and trade issues they have forgotten what drives the economy. In America the home of many a corporate giant it is small businesses that drive more then half of our nation's economy. The local small businesses create two-thirds of new private sector jobs in America. The corporate giants just feed off the money the small local companies generate. They are leeches. Corporate Giants, the super rich, they do not add to the economy, they do not create wealth, they just feed. Giving them tax breaks does nothing more then give a glutton another slice of cheese.

Unfortunately the rebuilding of New Orleans is being done the same way as the rebuilding of Iraq. Money is being spent but it isn't going to the local economy. It isn't doing any good. Buildings will be repaired but no one will occupy them because there are no local jobs.

Profiteers and Pink Slips Ravage the Gulf Coast

Soon after funding was approved, contractors gathered in Washington for a "Katrina Reconstruction Summit." Hosted by Republican Senator Mel Martinez and sponsored by Halliburton, the conference brought together some 200 corporate representatives, lobbyists and government bureaucrats to network and receive advice on "opportunities for private sector involvement" in the reconstruction efforts.

Several well-connected multinationals have already cashed in, securing lucrative reconstruction contracts. Two such corporations are the Shaw Group and Halliburton. Both firms currently employ the services of lobbyist Joe Allbaugh, George W. Bush's former campaign manager, past head of the Federal Emergency Management Agency, and, according to a headline in the online magazine Slate, America's foremost "disaster pimp."
...
With the massive amount of reconstruction work to be done, and billions in federal funds at play, the potential for economic growth and job creation is tremendous. Rather than ensuring that federal funds support local businesses and create decent jobs, the Bush administration has focused on paying political dividends to their powerful corporate backers by helping them maximize profits during the reconstruction phase.

Bush unilaterally repealed the Davis-Bacon Act, legislation requiring federal contractors to pay workers "prevailing" wages for the region. Although the prevailing wage in New Orleans is a mere $9 an hour for construction work, contractors may now pay as little as the federal minimum wage, currently five dollars and fifteen cents.

Other government departments have played along, dropping sanctions for companies who hire illegal workers, suspending requirements concerning the employment of women and minorities and exempting industries in the region from environmental regulations. Bush also plans $2 billion in tax breaks for corporations operating in the "Gulf Opportunity Zone."

- rob 2:38 PM - [PermaLink] -

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Okay looks like sex is involved ...
are people now finally going to pat attention to the fact that the grand era of GOP control is a rotted stinking disgrace?

Contractor 'knew how to grease the wheels'But what landed Wilkes in trouble with federal prosecutors was his gifts to Cunningham. According to Cunningham's plea agreement, "Co-conspirator No. 1," gave $525,000 to Cunningham on May 13, 2004, to pay off the second mortgage on Cunningham's home in Rancho Santa Fe.
...
Wilkes befriended other legislators, too. He ran a hospitality suite, with several bedrooms, in Washington – first in the Watergate Hotel and then in the Westin Grand near Capitol Hill.

The perfect gift for your family (if you don't like them)

2006 Official RNC Calendar

Keep track of important dates with the Official 2006 RNC Calendar filled with full-color photographs of President Bush and the First Lady. Each month features quotes from some of our greatest Republican presidents.

Ahhh... Some great quotes from Republican Presidents:



My fellow Americans, I've signed legislation that will outlaw Russia forever. We begin bombing in five minutes.
-Ronald Reagan

**



"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."
- George W. Bush

**



"We're enjoying sluggish times, and not enjoying them very much."
- George H.W. Bush

"For seven and a half years I've worked alongside President Reagan. We've had triumphs. Made some mistakes. We've had some sex...uh...setbacks."
- George H.W. Bush (the dad gets two quotes because we always pick on his son)

And yet I'm pretty sure they don't have this quote.



In the councils of government, we must guard against the acquisition of unwarranted influence, whether sought or unsought, by the militaryindustrial complex. The potential for the disastrous rise of misplaced power exists and will persist.

We must never let the weight of this combination endanger our liberties or democratic processes. We should take nothing for granted. Only an alert and knowledgeable citizenry can compel the proper meshing of the huge industrial and military machinery of defense with our peaceful methods and goals, so that security and liberty may prosper together.
- Dwight D. Eisenhower

And definitely not this one:

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

- rob 10:26 AM - [PermaLink] -

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Karl Rove is a poet?

BBC: Pakistan deletes 'pro-Bush' poem

Pakistan's government is to remove a poem from a school textbook after it emerged the first letters of each line spelt out "President George W Bush".

The anonymous poem, called The Leader, appeared in a recent English-language course book for 16 year-olds.
...
Officials cannot explain how the poem entered the curriculum. Pupils are to ignore it ahead of a reprint next year.

You have to read it. It is amazing.

Here's just the George part:

Going forward and knowing he's right,
Even when doubted for why he would fight,
Over and over he makes his case clear,
Reaching to touch the ones who won't hear.
Growing in strength he won't be unnerved,
Ever assuring he'll stand by his word.

It will be appearing in your child's text books soon.

Real soon.

- rob 5:15 PM - [PermaLink] -

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Just for the record: Bush was asleep at the wheel

Blanco Releases Katrina Records

"We need everything you've got," Blanco is quoted in a memo as telling President Bush on Aug. 29, the day Katrina made landfall. But despite assurances from the Federal Emergency Management Agency that 500 buses were "standing by," Blanco's aides were compelled to take action when the FEMA buses failed to materialize, documents show. "We need buses," Andy Kopplin, chief of staff to Blanco, said in an e-mail to Blanco staffers late on Aug. 30, the day after the storm hit. "Find buses that can go to NO [New Orleans] ASAP."

Two days later, on Sept. 2, Blanco complained to the White House that FEMA had still failed to fulfill its promises of aid. While cloaked in customary political courtesies, Blanco noted that she had already requested 40,000 more troops; ice, water and food; buses, base camps, staging areas, amphibious vehicles, mobile morgues, rescue teams, housing, airlift and communications systems, according to a press office e-mail of the text of her letter to Bush.
...
Tensions between state leaders and the White House seemed at times near the boiling point. At 3:49 p.m. on Sept. 2, after spending three hours to appear with Bush at a Mississippi news conference, Rep. Charlie Melancon (D-La.) wrote Blanco's staff, "I am returning home to baron[sic] rouge in hoping I can accomplish something for the people I represent other than being occupied with PR."

He added that Bush's "entire effort on behalf of the federal government has been reflected in his and his people's nonchalant attitude to the people of LA. You may give him this to read."

The purpose of the federal government at its most raw is that the sum is greater then the parts. The states can not be prepared to overcome the worst that can happen. The states combined (which is what the union is) can (often). So Louisiana was overwhelmed that is why the federal government should be there to respond to her concerns and meet them as best it can. It failed.

In the 1906 San Francisco earthquake the army stationed in the Presidio responded immediately. A hundred years later the citizens of a city are dying and the federal officials in charge are sending out emails about their wardrobe.

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Ah, but he's a VP you can't trust them as far as you can spit.

Or is that just our VP?

Iraq VP Disputes Bush on Training of Forces

DUBAI The training of Iraqi security forces has suffered a big "setback" in the last six months, with the army and other forces being increasingly used to settle scores and make other political gains, Iraqi Vice President Ghazi al-Yawer said Monday.

Al-Yawer disputed contentions by U.S. officials, including President Bush, that the training of security forces was gathering speed, resulting in more professional troops.

Bush has said the United States will not pull out of Iraq until Iraq's own forces can maintain security. In a speech last week, he said Iraqi forces are becoming increasingly capable of securing the country.

- rob 3:52 PM - [PermaLink] -

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But George is Mr. "Be Prepared." Katrina showed us that he is on the ball.

U.S. Unprepared for Attack, 9/11 Panel Says

"People are not paying attention," chairman Thomas Kean, a former Republican governor of New Jersey, said Sunday. "God help us if we have another attack."

Since the commission's final report in July 2004, the government has enacted the centerpiece proposal to create a national intelligence director. But it has stalled on other ideas, including improving communication among emergency responders and shifting federal terrorism-fighting money so it goes to states based on risk level.

- rob 3:51 PM - [PermaLink] -

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Rice says U.S. tactics disrupted attacks

WASHINGTON (AP) -- Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice turned the tables on European critics of tough U.S. tactics in the war on terror Monday, maintaining that intelligence gathered by the CIA has saved European as well as American lives.

Responding for the first time in detail to the outcry over reports of secret CIA-run prisons in European democracies, Rice said the United States "will use every lawful weapon to defeat these terrorists."

But in remarks delivered as she got ready to leave on a trip to Europe, she steadfastly refused to answer the underlying question of whether the United States had CIA-operated secret prisons there.

Said prisons being illegal.

So she won't deny the illegal prisons but says we only do things that are legal.

And I hate this "it worked really well but we can't tell you anything more then that because it will jeopardize future intelligence which will continue to do amazing things and stop all sorts of dirty attacks which we can't tell you about except to say we stopped them be doing whatever we wanted so let us continue to do whatever we want, it is for your own good." These people are bald face liars and they actually argue by saying "trust us?"

When I told everyone in elementary school that I had saved the world from an alien invasion but part of the peace treaty was that I couldn't give any details and they would hide all evidence of what transpired; they didn't believe me. I'm not good enough for the Bush administration.

- rob 2:50 PM - [PermaLink] -

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