The Weekly Rewind

No glitz… no spin… no flashy intro… just a simple ‘Here ya go, help yourself to this week’s Weekly Rewind.’

Applaud: to all the delicious tidbits being strewn about in the Scooter Libby trial. VP Dick Cheney’s former communications director showed notes that detail how Cheney “could respond to allegations that the Bush administration had played fast and loose with evidence of Iraq’s nuclear ambitions,” OR how former Associate CIA Deputy Director Robert Grenier testified that he told Libby that Valerie Plame worked at the CIA in June 2003 (a month before Libby claimed to have learned that information), OR any of the other nifty little items that have, or will be, come out. (Good stuff… good times…)

Heckle: to the State of the Union address… no particular part mind you, really the whole damn thing… it was just one big heaping load of crap…

Applaud: to Sen. Russ Feingold (D-WI). The shiny-new chairman of the Judiciary Committee’s Subcommittee on the Constitution, has scheduled a hearing to explore whether or not Congress has the authority to cut off funding for the war in Iraq. (It’s nice and refreshing to see someone actually do something about the “surge” and not just throw rhetoric to the wind about it. Way to go Senator Feingold!)

Applaud: to the Congressional Budget Office for popping Dubya’s bubble. The CBO says that y that “President” Bush can “balance the budget within five years, or he can get Congress to extend his tax cuts beyond their scheduled expiration — but he can’t do both.” (Almost a political equivalent to a good ol’ fashioned knee in the groin, isn’t it? Could Dubya be any more of a lame duck?)

Heckle: to an inactive Parliament. As insurgency attacks have grown, the Iraqi Parliament “has been at a standstill” with almost every session being adjourned because so few members make it into work,. Officials fear that the members were and are “losing confidence in the institution.” (Excellent, I’m sure the troop escalation will be just what the doctor ordered and will help immensely. As I’ve always said; sarcasm is so hard to express in the written word)

Applaud: to over-analysis of this past week’s SOTU. According to this interactive graph from the New York Times, Bush used the word Iraq 37 times in his State of the Union and the word “freedom” just three times. (And yet absolutely no mention of Hurricane Katrina… hmmm, interesting. HT to Thinkprogress.org for the link)

Heckle: to “President” Bush for stating in an interview with USA Today, that he “can’t guarantee that all U.S. troops will be out of Iraq by the end of his presidency because ‘we don’t set timetables.” (I’m sorry… you don’t do what? Set timetables?? Are you fuc**** kidding me?? That’s all your administration does is set timetables. So instead of fessing up that you screwed-up big time, you’re gonna leave a nice mess for the next president to clean up?? Mark my words, doing that will tarnish his already-hazy legacy even more. What. A. Tool.)

Applaud: to the Washington Post (did I just write that??). In the SOTU, Bush said he wasn’t the U.S. to reduce “U.S. gasoline usage by 20% in the next 10 years.” All fine and good, right. Wrong. The Washington Post looks at the fine print in really small letters and finds that the administration says that the goal is 20% below projected annual gasoline usage and not based off today’s levels.” What does that mean? It means that carbon dioxide emissions from transportation fuels will “drop only slightly from today’s levels” (Rhetoric is as rhetoric does…)

Heckle: to the news that the Taliban (Yes, that Taliban) plans to open its own schools in areas of southern Afghanistan that are under its control. (Words coming from the White Hosue: ‘Taliban? What Taliban? Afghanistan? What Afghanistan?” I swear, this administration has to be the most inept group of idiots to ever be in charge of anything, ever!)

Applaud: to former VP Al Gore and his Oscar nomination in the Best Documentary category for “An Inconvenient Truth”

Heckle: to conservatives in the Senate that blocked legislation to raise the federal minimum wage from $5.15 to $7.25. They insisted that it “include new tax breaks” for restaurants and other businesses.

Applaud: to polling data. New approval numbrs are out, new approval numbers are out! AWashington Post-ABC poll puts him at 33%, CNN/Opinion Research has him at 34% and a CBS poll shows yet another record low with a 28% approval. (Nothing I say could improve on the beauty of the numbers themselves…)

Heckle: to even more putting of foot into mouth by “President” Bush. Despite getting ridiculed after he labeled himself ‘The Decider’, Dubya is up to naming himself again… Currently on a collision course with Congress over the troop escalation, Bush said today; “I'm the decision-maker” about sending more troops to the war. (It would be funny if he didn’t actually say it… but he did. This man just does not get it. And it’s also good to know he’s able to ignore all those checks and balances things that our forefathers thought of. Idiot.)

Applaud: for dis-proving any true evidence of Iran’s links to the insurgency in Iraq. According to the LA Times, “evidence of Iranian involvement in Iraq’s troubles is limited.” While U.S. troops have found mortars and antitank mines with Iranian markings dated 2006… there’s been “little sign of more advanced weaponry crossing the border, and no Iranian agents have been found.” (Good news to see there isn’t any real evidence of Iran’s involvement, bad news that real evidence doesn’t mean a damn thing to the man in the oval office. Everybody panic…)

Heckle: to Fox “News” host Sean Hannity. In an interview with former Presidential candidate and retired 4-Star General Wesley Clark, the idiotic host had the audacity to essentially claim that Clark doesn’t know much about military strategy. What an asshat…

Heckle: to news stories that really shouldn’t catch anyone by surprise. It seems that Diebold voting machines have a key (a key that can open every single Diebold machine by the way) that can be copied from a photo on the company's website. (Lovely… and this is a surprise… how?)

Heckle: to Illinois Governor Rod Blagojevich, who apparently is a cheap date. Come on Blago, hows about making job buying a little more pricey of a proposition…

That's all I have, take 'em as you will...