Wrong again Dubya...

- Updated Below-

During this whole attorney-canning fiasco both “President” Bush and Karl “President” Rove argued that the administration’s U.S. attorney purge was a “normal” and “ordinary” process that was also carried out not only by President Clinton, but also by President Reagan.

While a plethora of Liberal blogs (like Think Progress) have written that that wasn’t true, it was falling on the deaf ears of conservative pundits who used it as their rallying cry…

Well, they can stop the rallying and start the crying as the fat lady has sung. The Congressional Research Service, CRS, has nailed that possibility shut when they released a report earlier this week that examined the tenure of all U.S. Attorneys that were confirmed by the Senate between the years 1981 and 2006 (from Reagan, Bush #1, Clinton and Bush #2 – how fitting –) in order to determine how many had served and how many of them had been forced to resign for reasons other than an administration change.

The answer is, shall we say, enlightening…

Of the 468 attorney confirmations made by the Senate over that 25-year period, a total of 10 left office involuntarily (prior to the firings that took place in December of course) for reasons other than a change in administration… you read that right; ten. Ten out of 468… why, that’s less than 2%…

‘It was done by every President before me’ Dubya implies… to that I say; “Wronggggggg! That’s wronnngggg!”

Furthermore, in almost every case there were issues of actual personal or professional conduct that seemed to be the issue prompting the axing… (there’s a concept for ya) and was not a retaliation for not playing ball or going against the grain of the party in charge.

This situation perfectly illustrates not only how much this administration lies, but also the fact that the administration pushed out close to as many U.S. Attorneys in December alone that had been let go total over the past 25 years…

Should this action come as a surprise from this administration?
Absolutely not…

Will it actually have any effect on the way this administration operates?

Perhaps…

Will it allow the Democratically-controlled House and Senate to show Bush that he can no longer unilaterally operate anymore?

Most likely…

Will it make Bush actually change his ways?Abso-fuckin-lutely not… nothing will.

But it should give us some interesting and entertaining viewing for the next few weeks… so stay tuned…

UPDATE: The Bush(whacked) Administration is working overtime to make AttorneyGate disappear… but instead they’re making it look more and more like Watergate.

Most of us remember the 18-minute gap in the Watergate tapes? Well, now it seems that Bush has his own gap of 18… but his version is 18 days.

Researchers have discovered an 18-day gap in the 3,000 documents on the U.S. Attorney purge released this week by the Justice Department, with the gap extending from mid-November to early December, which was a “critical period as the White House and Justice Department reviewed, then approved, which U.S. attorneys would be fired…” all while developing a political and communications strategy that would counter any possible fallout from the firings.

One of the last emails before the gap is from AG Alberto Gonzales’ ex-COS Kyle Sampson to then-White House Counsel Harriet Miers, that asked, “Who will determine whether this requires the president’s attention?”

CNN’s Ed Henry noted that to White House spokesman Tony Snow, and Snow once again refused to explain the gap and told reporters, “I’ve been led to believe that there’s a good response for it,” before adding that “President” Bush has “no recollection of this ever being raised with him.”

Spin away boys… spin away… the more you do, the worse it will all be when the other shoe drops…

One more thought...

about the fourth anniversary of the Iraq war, with a tip of the hat to Bill at Daily Kos for these tasty tidbits from various conservative pundits weeks after the war began…

“It's amazing that more than two weeks into the liberation of Iraq---as residents in Basra are cheering British forces and Americans occupy Baghdad's airport and Saddam Hussein's main presidential palace---the antiwar crowd is still spinning a doomsday scenario. But it's getting harder and harder to take seriously the claim that freeing Iraq will make it harder to win the war on terrorism. [...] Who said war never solved anything?” ---Brendan Miniter, Assistant Editor, Wall St. Journal's Opinion Journal.com, 4/8/03

“There's a certain amount of pop psychology in America that the Shia can't get along with the Sunni and the Shia in Iraq just want to establish some kind of Islamic fundamentalist regime. There's almost no evidence of that at all. Iraq's always been very secular.” ---Bill Kristol, 4/1/03

TED KOPPEL: “[Y]ou’re not suggesting that the rebuilding of Iraq is going to be done for $1.7 billion?”
ANDREW NATSIOS [Agency for International Development]: “Well, in terms of the American taxpayer's contribution, I do. This is it for the US.” ---Nightline, 4/23/03

“[Liberals] can't deny that President Bush has won his two wars, and won them resoundingly.” ---Paul Mirengoff, Powerline, 4/26/03

“Each morning, we sat reading our copy of The New York Times, The Washington Post or the Los Angeles Times and ruminated on their prophecies of doom and quagmire. Then we looked up to see, on television, correspondents actually embedded with our troops reporting quick advances, one-sided firefights, melting opposition and, finally, welcoming crowds.” ---Dick Morris, 4/15/03

“The three-week swing through Iraq has utterly shattered skeptics' complaints.” ---Tony Snow, Fox News, 4/27/03

Uh... sure…

I can't stop thinking that all that narrow-mindedness got us real far... didn't it?? I mean, what's next... trying to spin that the war in Iraq is on the right track?

Oh, wait…

Poll Position: Iraq

It should come as absolutely no surprise to anyone with a brain that, for the obvious reasons, they don’t conduct many opinion polls in Iraq…

But seeing as how today is the four year anniversary of the war, ABC News and a handful of other media outlets decided to do one, polling 2,200 Iraqis.

The results, not at all surprisingly, are not good…

Consider:

• In November 2005, the number of Iraqis who say their own life was going well was 71%… that number has dipped dropped plunged to 39%.
• About three-fourths of Iraqis report feelings of anger, depression and difficulty concentrating.
• More than 50% of Iraqis polled have curtailed activities like going out of their homes, going to markets or other crowded places and traveling through police checkpoints.
• Only 18% have confidence in U.S. and coalition troops.
• 86% are concerned that someone in their household will be a victim of violence.
• 51% of those polled say that violence against U.S. forces is acceptable, a significant jump from the 17% who felt that way in 2004.
• In 2005, 63% said they felt very safe in their neighborhoods, that number is now only 26%.

To see the complete polling results in a PDF file, CLICK HERE.

With sobering statistics coming in daily about the number of dead and wounded, these results are a sad reflection on just how bad things are over there.

And yet, despite these numbers, the Bush(whacked) Administration is in full spin mode (and acting very snippy) about the war on its anniversary.

We had Secretary of State Condoleeza Rice hitting the airwaves calling for Americans “to be patient” and saying that the war in Iraq is “worth the sacrifice.”

We have “President” Bush saying that there’s been “good progress” over there and that U.S. security will suffer if we pull out too soon (Is there really anyone left out there who still thinks Iraq has anything to do with national security in this country?)

I’m sure there are things to say about this (read an Iraqi’s view of the war via WaPo HERE), and I could certainly offer my opionion like I always do…

But in this situation, I think the numbers profoundly speak for themselves…

UPDATE: Hindsight is always 20/20, but this conversation with Kadhim al-Jubouri, an Iraqi weightlifting champion who helped U.S. forces tear down the statue of Saddam Hussein, is most revealing, especially when he says: "I really regret bringing down the statue. The Americans are worse than the dictatorship. Every day is worse than the previous day."

I don't know about you, but reading that "Americans are worse than the dictatorship" really, really hurts... and I am not being a smart-ass... it hurts...

Way to go Mr. Bush...

The Weekly Rewind

It’s (finally!) the end to a very busy week. Hopefully next week will slow-down a bit. Anyhow, even though we weren’t able to post much this week, we still have this weeks Weekly Rewind, enjoy:

Applaud: to the American public. An overwhelming number of polled Americans, 67% to be precise, don’t want “President” Bush to pardon Scooter Libby. 67… as opposed to the 21% who are absolute morons believe he should (It’s things like this that give me some hope for the common sense of America coming back… )

Heckle: to CNN’s Glenn Beck. Speaking of Hillary Clinton (D-NY), the conservative schmuck commentator said that she is the; “stereotypical bitch”… (People in glass houses Glenn… people in glass houses)

Applaud: to the American public… again… 85% of Americans think that global warming is an important or critical threat and that something needs to be done sooner rather than later, which falls in line with a new poll that finds widespread agreement in 17 countries across the world that say climate change is a pressing problem… now, if only we could get conservatives to see the damn writing on the wall, maybe something could actually get done…

Heckle: to being involved more than they’re letting on. Emails have been leaked that point towards Karl Rove and Alberto Gonzales being involved in discussions of a radical shake-up of U.S. Attorneys around the country… this comes amid a growing call for Gonzales’ resignation, Gonzales’ COS, Kyle Sampson, resigning earlier this week… and now, one of the purged attorneys, John McKay, believes a a special prosecutor should be appointed to investigate the entire matter… (this whole thing is funny to me, from the gop trying to claim Clinton did it when he clearly did not, members of the gop asking for the AG to resign, the use of “hazy memories” coming from the White House, the Justice Department saying they would have kept the attorneys on staff… it’s pathetic. But like the Libby trial, it’s a perfect example of the way this administration works. January 20, 2009 can NOT come fast enough…)

Applaud: to republican number 1… no, wait… number 2… no, wait… number 3. Three republicans, Sen. John Sununu (R-NH), Sen. Gordon Smith (R-OR) & Rep. Dana Rohrbacher (R-CA), have now joined the chorus of Democrats calling for the resignation of Attorney General Alberto Gonzales… it’s only a matter of time…

Heckle: to the Senate rejection of a Democratic-led resolution aimed at withdrawing most American combat troops from Iraq in 2008 even though a similar measure advanced in the House. An applaud within a heckle to the Senate Democratic leaders who have vowed to keep challenging “President” Bush’s strategy (or lack thereof) in Iraq. (This is insane… this wasn’t going to ‘cut and run’ as the gop so inanely puts it… this was a gradual withdrawal of troops over time… and now even that’s been destroyed. What’s it gonna take for these people to see that Iraq is unwinable??

Applaud: to Senators John Warner (R-VA) and Ben Nelson (D-NE). They’re drafting a joint resolution on Iraq that would consider a “phased redeployment” of U.S. troops. The resolution is contingent on the White House proving that the current escalation strategy has worked… and they’re giving them until September to prove it… (Interesting strategy… this could very well be the only thing that works with the cockiness that this administration has shown throughout its time in office. The only problem though, is I have to believe that this resolution will become as toothless and useless as every other resolution that’s been designed to help the U.S. eventually get out of Iraq… and for that I blame not only republicans, but the Blue Dogs, who seem to have it in their mind that the War in Iraq is a good thing… stay tuned for this one…)

Heckle: to idiotic veto threats with inane reasoning over a bill that is, quite frankly, too damn important to be held up . “President” Bush is threatening to veto a bill that would implement “many of the remaining reforms suggested by the Sept. 11 commission.” Why the veto threat? Because of a provision that would “expand the labor rights of 45,000 airport screeners.” Ignoring the fact that the Senate voted 60-38 to approve legislation that saw ten republicans cross party lines, Bush’s threaten of a veto is not only idiotic, but sophomoric and troubling, certainly more troubling than presidential nominee Sen. John McCain (R-AZ) skipping the vote so he could fundraise in California, but troubling all the same. This bill would make the country safer… isn’t that what republicans are supposed to be better at than Democrats???

Applaud: to allowing the public to see what is going on… with broad bipartisan support, the House passed three bills that are going to “roll back administration efforts to shield its workings” from the American public as the measures will “streamline access to records in presidential libraries, expand safeguards for government whistle-blowers, and strengthen the Freedom of Information Act,” (The going-ons in the federal government are our business and we should be allowed to see what’s going on… about time someone noticed that this administration was doing its hardest to shield itself…)

Heckle: to the government flipping-off the city of New Orleans… again. The Army Corps of Engineers, who were hurrying to meet Bush’s promise to protect New Orleans by the start of the 2006 hurricane season, “installed defective flood-control pumps” last year even though they were warned by one of their own experts who said the “equipment would fail during a storm.” (I don’t even know where to begin…)

Applaud: to someone hopefully clearing things up a little. Outed CIA agent Valerie Plame is on Capitol Hill today giving her side of the leak story… all I’ll say is; let the chips fall where they may, but when she says and does things like accusing the White House and State Department of "carelessly and recklessly" destroying her cover for political purpose… people are gonna listen…

Heckle: to Haliburton moving their base of operations to Dubai. Senate Commerce Committee member Byron Dorgan (D-ND) asked earlier this week; “I want to know, is Halliburton trying to run away from bad publicity on their contracts? Are they trying to run away from the obligation to pay U.S. taxes? Or are they trying to set up a corporate presence in Dubai so that they can avoid the restrictions that currently exist on doing business with prohibited countries like Iran?” (Uh… let’s see…I think I can succinctly answer this question; yes)

Applaud: to doing things by the letter of the law. Special Counsel Patrick Fitzgerald was asked to appear on Capitol Hill to give testimony about the Plame-outing, but he said he did “not believe it would be appropriate for me to offer opinions…about the ultimate responsibility of senior White House officials for the disclosure of Ms. Wilson’s identity.” (very classy Fitz, very classy indeed. Question; could anyone have seen Ken Starr doing that? I didn’t think so…)

Heckle: to Fox “News”. Just on general principles alone…

Applaud: to picking up the slack for a temporarily sidelined colleague. A handful of Democratic senators have been holding fundraisers for Sen. Tim Johnson (D-SD) as he convalesces from a December brain hemorrhage.

Heckle: to the White House for just not getting it… and for being dumb enough to NOT cover their tracks regarding PlameGate. The Director of the Office of Security at the White House, Dr. James Knodell, told a Capitol Hill committee that the White House never ordered a probe, report, or imposed sanctions as a result of the outing of covert CIA operative Valerie Plame. (Talk about ego… Every politician knows to cover their tracks if they do something wrong– unless you’re so goddamned smug and egotistical that you don’t think you’ll ever get caught. All I can think of to say is this warning; karma’s a bitch boys, you better watch out)

And finally… what have the 2008 Presidential nominees been up to this week? Clinton has found a new strategy regarding Iraq, including keeping some troops stationed there… Richardson is pondering legalizing medicinal marijuana… Edwards is calling for the creation of a new cabinet position aimed at fighting poverty… Obama is vowing to not get personal in the campaign… On the gop side, McCain has stuck his foot in his mouth again, but quickly apologized… Romney has publicly condemned the comments about homosexuals made by JCOS Chairman Pace, but remained silent when Ann Coulter called Edwards a “faggot”, interesting isn’t it… Brownback agreed with Pace…Giuliani’s lobbying firm has ties with Hugo Chavez…

Take ‘em as you will...

Been busy...

This week has been crazy at work and home, but things should settle down next week and the posts will be popping up a little more regularly...

Don't fret, this week's Rewind is being worked on and will be seen later this evening...

Thanks for your patience...

Random Political Thoughts for a Wednesday

Short collection of random thoughts today… must be my lack of coffee, which I have given-up for Lent… which leads me to ask; ‘What the hell was I thinking’???

Anyway… enjoy some random political thoughts…

Lies, Damn Lies & Statistics. According to a CNN poll, 9% of Americans believe things are going well in Iraq with 46% thinking that the United States will win. (First of all, who the HELL are these 9% that think things are going well?? I would really like to meet them so I could either ask them what the hell is wrong with them or, at the least, smack them over the head with a 2 X 4 to slap some sense into them…)

Running Mates. Dick Cheney’s favorability rating is 18%… as Ana Marie Cox, the original Wonkette, said: “If he had feelings, I’m sure they’d be hurt by this.” Tom DeFrank of the NY Daily News puts an interesting spin on the story when he wrote that “Cheney may be an overall net political minus, but he’s a huge asset where it counts most for Bush: the Republican base, which adores Cheney. Bush’s approval numbers are at 30%, roughly the same size as his base. If Cheney left, this weakened President couldn’t absorb the backlash. They’re all he has left.” (Hmmmmmm…verrrrryyyy interesting…)

War Crimes. According to a new CBS/NY Times poll, 78% of Americans don’t think that the Bush(whacked) Administration has “done enough to care for [Iraq war] veterans,”, with a majority of polled republicans “agreeing with all Americans overall on this issue.” (And this should come as a surprise….why?)

Posse Comitatus. The Pentagon has (finally!) started on plans on a “fallback strategy for Iraq” that includes a gradual withdrawal of forces with a renewed emphasis on training Iraqi fighters… all this just in case the President’s escalation strategy fails (which I believe is a pretty safe bet) Military experts say the new strategy is in line with the recommendations of the Iraq Study Group and partially based on the “U.S. experience in El Salvador” in the 1980s… cuz that went oh, so well…

The Fall’s Gonna Kill You. Let’s see… AG Alberto Gonzales’ chief of staff Kyle Sampson resigns as he was involved in generating the list of prosecutors that got the axe… Gonzales admits mistakes but insists he will not resign… unless Dubya decides otherwise… all the while ignoring calls for his resignation or dismissal… the White House is trying to spin the story to break their way… (Is it just me, or does this sound like it was written by a group of bad soap opera writers??)

The War At Home. A new federal rule aimed at keeping illegal immigrants from receiving Medicaid has instead prevented thousands of US citizens getting Medicaid because they’ve had difficulty providing birth certificates or other documents that would prove their citizenship… (Too bad there wasn’t a group of people who could have said that that would happen ’if this bill was passed… oh, wait… there was. The key to stopping illegal immigration is not to cut off funding of certain things because, as history has told us many, many, many times… it NEVER works. Mo. Rons.)

Gone Quiet. Salon is reporting that the US military is “deploying troops with serious injuries” and other medical problems (all because of Bush’s escalation plan). Some of the GIs are medically unfit for battle according to their doctors, and some are too injured to even wear their body armor… reading all this, and yet it’s the Democrat’s that are always accused of not caring about or respecting our military… to that I say; give me a fucking break. This is more proof of how little the Bush(whacked) Administration cares about our military… and yet no one is reporting about it… I wonder why??

Internal Displacement. How about that… a glimmer of hope from within the White House. It seems some internal White House staffers are calling on President Bush to uphold his pledge to “have the highest of high standards” when it comes to granting pardons. One former White House staffer told Newsweek, “What you saw was a vice president’s office that was out of control.”

Privateers. We all know that Halliburton is moving their base of operations from the U.S. to Dubai, and while many people have questions, Senate Commerce Committee member Byron Dorgan (D-ND) is actually asking them. “I want to know, is Halliburton trying to run away from bad publicity on their contracts? Are they trying to run away from the obligation to pay U.S. taxes? Or are they trying to set up a corporate presence in Dubai so that they can avoid the restrictions that currently exist on doing business with prohibited countries like Iran?” (I think there is only one possible answer; all of the above Something needs to be done in regards to this latest move by a company that has screwed the country with its pants on many times… but, with Cheney still being in bed with the company – nothing will… and that’s just sad…)

All I have, take ‘em as you will…

The Weekly Rewind

Friday… Weekly Rewind time… enjoy:

Applaud: to finally getting together a united front and coming up with a plan for Iraq… Naturally, “President” Bush is swearing a veto... putz…

Heckle: to there not being a back-up plan in Iraq. According to a group of governors who met last week with Joint Chiefs chairman Peter Pace. Gov. Phil Bredesen (D-TN) recalled Pace telling the group; “Plan B was to make Plan A work,” (Come on now, there’s always a “Plan B”, even in bad movies there’s a Plan B… you wanna tell me that this idiotic administration doesn’t have a Plan B??? Somehow though, I am not surprised…)

Applaud: to the Senate Judiciary Committee for voting to authorize subpoenas for Justice officials that are involved in the ever-growing case of purging U.S. Attorneys. During the last few days, this story has gone round the bend. First, in a USA Today op-ed, Attorney General Gonzales called the scandal “an overblown personnel matter,” but the excuses given by the Justice Dept. for the firings were incredibly strained so people started looking deeper into the firings, then, one after another of the purged prosecutors came forward with information that they were forced out, with one example being Thomas DiBiagio, who said earlier this week that he was “forced out in early 2005 because of political pressure stemming from public corruption investigations involving associates” of Maryland Gov. Bob Ehrlich (R-MD). Oh… and now, under some intense scrutiny from the Senate Judiciary Committee, Gonzalez has changed his mind about the process of how federal attorney’s can be replaced…

Heckle: to the shabby way our disabled veterans are being treated. According to an article in the Honolulu Advertiser, more than a quarter of military veterans with a disability case before the Department of Veterans Affairs are waiting six months or longer for a decision – thus putting a huge financial burden on them and their families. The story continues to report that as of March 3, the Department had close to 401,000 pending cases – and approximately 115,000 have been “languishing for six months or more.” (This is uncalled for in every damn sense of the word. They’ve made the ultimate sacrifice for this country, and they can’t even get what they deserve… something needs to be done, and if you want to help – go to vawatchdog.org and see how you can help…)

Applaud: to going against the grain of your party and stepping up for what is right. Rep. Walter Jones (R-NC) is saying that he will support the plan proposed by Democrats earlier this week that will lay-out a specific timeline to withdraw U.S. troops, praising the benchmarks in the plan and the inclusion of an actual date to begin withdrawing US troops, saying; “Conceptually I like what’s been proposed…I think this is on the right track.” (Excellent, I always like seeing a republican use their own mind and make a decision that is the right thing to do.. and keep an eye on some other republican reps as a new poll indicated that a good portion of Americans in conservative-leaning – and competitive in 2008 – House districts also approve of setting a date to withdraw troops from Iraq… it’s things like this that give me hope…)

Heckle: to Newt Gingrich. Usually, I could just say heckle to Newt Gingrich and be done with it… but this week we actually have something to heckle him about. Turns out that while he was leading the impeachment of President Clinton for getting his cigar smoked, he was having an affair… (Uh… “Hello kettle, this is the pot – you’re black.”). Then, in the interview where he acknowledged this, he had the audacity to say that he shouldn’t be considered a hypocrite… (No problem there Newt, I don’t think anyone considers you a hypocrite, I think they consider you something far, far worse… Mo. Ron.)

Applaud: to even more going against the grain of your party and stepping up for what is right. Sen. Arlen Specter (R-PA) gave some “scathing criticism” of Attorney General Alberto “Torture is my Life” Gonzales, saying; “One day there will be a new attorney general, maybe sooner rather than later…” (I’m gonna say ‘ouch’ for Al there… and a hearty ‘job well done’ for Sen. Specter, thanks Senator…)

Heckle: to speaking out of one’s ass… On the same day that Iraq saw suicide bombers and gunmen kill at least 130 people in one of the deadliest days of the four-year war, Bush had the balls to say; “It’s too early to judge the success of this operation, yet even at this early hour, there are some encouraging signs.” (Is it possible that his handlers aren’t telling him what is actually happening in Iraq? How else can you explain a President being this out of touch? It boggles the mind…)

Applaud: to 30%… which is “President” Bush’s job approval in the latest Zogby poll. Once again, he’s hit the “all-time low-water mark” of his presidency… and it doesn’t look to get any better any time soon… (How exactly does one write a stifled laugh???)

Heckle: to government-sponsored censorship. Internal memos from the Bush(whacked) Administration’s Federal Fish and Wildlife Service suggest that government biologists and other employees traveling in countries around the Arctic not discuss climate change, polar bears or sea ice “if they are not designated to do so.” (Uh guys… I think the cat is out of the bag on this whole global warming thing… give it up…)

Applaud: to a cold front in Latin America. “President” Bush better pack a warm coat as he will be getting a very chilly reception this weekend in South America. He’s starting a weeklong tour of Latin America and yesterday police clashed with protesters in Brazil and across the region. What’s even better is that a group of Mayan priests will purify a sacred archaeological site to “eliminate bad spirits” after his visit… (Ya know, sometimes the snark just writes itself…)

Heckle: to Ann Coulter… do I really need to give a reason?

Applaud: to a jury finding I. Lewis “Scooter” Libby guilty. Do I really need to expound any more on this subject? I didn’t think so…

Heckle: to polling that would seem to back-up what I’ve been saying about how much Bush and his cronies have eroded America’s reputation and clout. 51% of people in the world believe the U.S. has a “mainly negative” influence in the world… we ranked third behind Israel and Iran, and followed, in fifth place, by North Korea… I don’t think anything more needs to be said…

Applaud? Heckle? You decide: Jacob Weisberg and The Four Unspeakable Truths about Iraq…

Heckle: to this disturbing and startling fact and trend. According to the Employee Benefit Research Institute, a nonpartisan organization, middle-class Americans are increasingly unable to afford health insurance with more than 1/3 of the uninsured, 17 million of nearly 47 million, have family incomes of $40,000 or more while more than two-thirds of the uninsured are in households with at least one full-time worker. (But the economy is strong…)

Applaud: to former Presidents who knew how to do the job… one more so than the other… The United Negro College Fund (UNCF) is going to present its highest honor, the Frederick D. Patterson Award, to former Presidents George H. W. Bush and Bill Clinton for their philanthropic efforts in the wake of Hurricane Katrina. Way to go guys… too bad our current President didn’t take lessons from you two… and you have no idea how much it pains me to say that about Bush, Sr… I think I just lost some Liberal-points on that…

Heckle: to Fox News chief Roger Ailes for this comment: “… and it is true that Barack Obama is on the move. I don't know if it's true that President Bush called Musharraf and said, 'Why can't we catch this guy?’” (Fox “News” More of a tool than “President” Bush… and that’s saying a LOT)

Applaud: Hmmmmmmmm, Cheney stepping down next week ?

And finally… a rundown of what happened this past week to some of the 2008 Presidential race imposters candidates… Kucinich must repay the government $135,518 in public matching funds from his ’04 race … Edwards kept a pretty low profile… Richardson did the same... Clinton put a call out for a G.I. Bill of Rights… Obama paid some really old parking tickets… and all the Dem hopefuls opened their wallets to South Carolina’s state Democratic party in order to raise money for their, now earlier, primary in January 2008. And on the right side of the country; Hagel could join the race this Monday…or not… McCain praised potential rival Hagel and current-rival Giuliani… Giuliani’s heroic image could be outed by The International Association of Fire Fighters union, but he still leads his opponents in many polls… Huckabee could be the dark horse of the group… and is Gingrich a hypocrite?

Take ‘em as you will…

Pardon me?

Two days have passed since Scooter Libby was convicted of perjury and obstruction of justice…

Two days… and already we’re starting to hear the peanut gallery that is the U.S. right-wing media calling for Bush to pardon him.

(And my favorite reaction to the Libby verdict is this quote from uber-political strategist David Gergen who said; “

This is an administration that has been mostly free of scandal over the last six years and now they have the taint that they cannot erase,”

… uh, sure… I don’t know what Mr. Gergen is smoking, but whatever it is, I’d like some please… … but I’m getting off-topic)

National Review… The Weekly Standard… Wall Street Journal… and conservative blogs from across the country… all of them are calling for Bush to pardon VP Dick Cheney’s patsy fall-guy former aide.

First, let me explain what exactly a pardon is… well, not me really, but the good folks at Findlaw.com… according to them, a pardon is:

...an act of grace, proceeding from the power entrusted with the execution of the laws, which exempts the individual, on whom it is bestowed, from the punishment the law inflicts for a crime he has committed...A pardon is a deed, to the validity of which delivery is essential, and delivery is not complete without acceptance.

Everyone got that? Goo— wait a minute…

‘…a crime he has committed’… ‘a crime’… ‘he has’… ‘committed’…

Now that sounds like a confession to me…wouldn’t accepting a pardon essentially mean that Libby is admitting that he did lie and that he did obstruct justice???

And while we’re on the semantics of what a pardon is and what it signifies, how about we look into the rules on granting pardons.

The Rules Governing Petitions For Executive Clemency, brought to us by the good folks at the U.S. Departent of Justice, are:

No petition for pardon should be filed until the expiration of a waiting period of at least five years after the date of the release of the petitioner from confinement or, in case no prison sentence was imposed, until the expiration of a period of at least five years after the date of the conviction of the petitioner. Generally, no petition should be submitted by a person who is on probation, parole, or supervised release.

So it seems there are some legal parameters and rules that have to be followed in order for someone to get executive clemancy,and that Libby would have to wait until 2012 to be eligible for a pardon… but… seeing as how this is the White House – the BUSH White House that is – I’m sure they’ll ignore all those parameters and make it work for them anyway they have to…

But they should keep in mind that this thing ain’t over yet… Oversight and Government Reform Committee Chairman Henry Waxman (D-CA) will hold hearings investigating the outing of Valerie Plame… and has already got a veritable who’s who of people coming to testifying, including Special Counsel Patrick Fitzgerald and the woman herself; Ms. Valerie Plame.

As always, stay tuned…

Dis-trust

It’s nothing new… people with strong anti-Bush views have been calling for his impeachment, no matter how misguided it might be, for a very long time.
Before it was Democrats and Liberals calling for it.

Now… a republican is stating the country should/might consider impeachment…

An article in Esquire magazine explains how Senator Chuck Hagel (R-NE) has suggested that Congress may consider impeaching “President” Bush before his term ends. In the article, Hagel is quoted as saying; “The president says, ‘I don’t care.’ He’s not accountable anymore. He’s not accountable anymore, which isn’t totally true. You can impeach him, and before this is over, you might see calls for his impeachment. I don’t know. It depends how this goes.”

These are not words from a Democratic senator from a blue state… this is from a republican in a state that is decidedly red…

It seems as though Sen. Hagel is a tad frustrated… and he’s not the only one…

The desire for this administration to show any sort of accountability is leading to increased chatter about calls for impeachment, including the Washington State legislature, the mayor of Salt Lake City, and 35 towns in Vermont.

No, that wasn’t a misprint… thirty-five towns in the state of Vermont want to see Bush impeached… when was the last time that happened?

This post isn’t so much about impeachment as it is about the ever-shrinking abilities of this president.

No matter what you call it; power, clout, support, trust… this president is losing his grip on how much strength he can now wield.

We know people don’t trust him to see the war in Iraq to an end… we know the public doesn’t trust him to solve the healthcare dilemma or the social security dilemma in this country… his overseas allies are distancing themselves… a member of his White House has been convicted of lying… and his foreign and domestic policies can barely get off the ground.

This president has lost the support and the trust of his country (and to a lesser extent his military)… how in God’s name can he govern???

Guilty

If you've been living under a rock for the last 24 hours or so, you probably don't know that Scooter Libby was found guilty on four of five counts in his trial of outing CIA agent, Valerie Wilson, and faces a maximum sentence of 25 years in prison and a fine of $1 million with a presentencing report hearing scheduled for June 5.

Naturally, Libby's attorneys are vowing to either seek a new trial, or, failing that, appeal ing the jury's verdict.

The breakdown of counts:

Count 1 (Obstruction): GUILTY
Count 2 (Perjury): GUILTY
Count 3 (False Statement): NOT GUILTY
Count 4 (Perjury): GUILTY
Count 5 (Perjury): GUILTY

This is a major strike at the entire Bush(whacked) Administration... a point that was eloquently brought home by House Speaker, NancyPelosi (D-CA);

"Today's guilty verdicts are not solely about the acts of one individual. This trial provided a troubling picture of the inner workings of the Bush Administration. The testimony unmistakably revealed – at the highest levels of the Bush Administration – a callous disregard in handling sensitive national security information and a disposition to smear critics of the war in Iraq."

Well said, Madame Speaker.

Is Special Counsel Patrick Fitzgerald finished with his investigations? Will the investigation go deeper?

These are questions I am sure will be answered in the days and weeks to come, so stay tuned.

And, this being the United States where a juror on a massive trial such as this can become a 15-minute celebrity, we already have heard from one of the jurors.

While all of the jurors in the trial were certain of Libby's guilt, they also had a little sympathy for him as well because most, if not all, saw him as the "fall guy."

After the verdict, juror Denis Collins told reporters, “It was said a number of times, ‘What are we doing with this guy here? Where’s [Karl] Rove … where are these other guys?‘”

Interesting question there Denis... where are the others?

As always... stay tuned.

A new, fresh look

We've made some aesthetic changes here at TBWA to a lighter, crisper (and Liberally Blue) view with easier to read links and an easy-on-the eye format.

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The Weekly Rewind

It’s that time again… The. Weekly. Rewind… but before we begin, some changes are coming here at TBWA… a new look and… well, really that’s it… but isn’t that exciting enough???

Well... it is for Scott and I…

So in the next few days you can expect to see some changes here, but we’ll still be doing our thing, that will never change…

You may all read in awe… or mass indifference… whichever you prefer.

Applaud: to knowing how to make our point. Liberal leftwing blogs are more likely to use profanity than conservative rightwing blogs by a ratio of 18 to one. To that I say, effin’ a!!!

Heckle: to porous reasoning. Vice President Dick “Dick” Cheney said earlier this week that a “too-soon withdrawal” from Iraq could make the war in Afghanistan worse. (Actually, what I think could make that war worse is pulling troops out of there to escalate the war in Iraq, but that’s neither here nor there. The real reason for this heckle is the fear campaign that this administration is waging once again… give it up Dick. It hasn’t worked in the past; I doubt it will work now…)

Applaud: to the jury at the Scooter Libby trial, who are expectd to deliberate into next week, as they’re progressing in the trial and getting the weekend off… they’ve asked the judge for a plethora of office supplies which they’ve received, but were denied a dictionary. So far, save for one, they’ve all done what they had been instructed to do, let’s hope it continues and in the end someone from this administration is sent to jail… at least until Bush pardons them at the end of his term… which can NOT come soon enough.

Heckle: to censorship. According to an article in the Army Times, soldiers at Walter Reed Army Medical Center’s Medical Hold Unit say they have been told that they must not speak to the media. Soldiers said an official told them that “they must follow their chain of command when asking for help with their medical evaluation paperwork, or when they spot mold, mice or other problems in their quarters.”Army Military reporter James Crawley says yesterday’s Army Times revelation “that Walter Reed patients had been barred from speaking with reporters is not the first case of tightened restrictions. In recent months, he says several MRE members have reported similar crackdowns. What’s worse, many of the denials are apparently in reaction to the potential negativity of a planned story.”

Applaud: to (finally!) trying to get something done in Iraq. House Democratic leaders have (finally!) agreed to legislation that would require troops to come home from Iraq within six months if the country’s leaders don’t help reduce violence there. “The plan would retain a Democratic proposal prohibiting the deployment to Iraq of troops with insufficient rest or training or who already have served there for more than a year. Under the plan, such troops could only be sent to Iraq if President Bush waives those standards and reports to Congress each time.”

Heckle: to the fact that close to “90% of National Guard units in the US are rated “not ready” because of escalation issues, budget costs and supply shortfalls and are jeopardizing their ability to respond to crises at home and abroad… but this administration is all about keeping us as a nation safe… yes Virgina, I am being sarcastic…

Applaud: to California Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger (R-CA) for this quote: “You can’t catch a socially transmitted disease by sitting down with people who hold ideas that are different than yours.” (very well said Governor… very well said… I don’t know what’s more surprising; that I’m applauding Gov. Schwarzenegger or saying that he said something well?)

Heckle: to really bad intel. For five years, the Bush(whacked) Administration has pointed fingers at North Korea and accused them of developing enriched uranium for a nuclear bomb, straining tensions with a country that we should not be straining relationships with. We cut off aid to the country and they responded by throwing out international inspectors, building up their plutonium arsenal and producing a nuke. Now comes word that the administration is admitting (albeit very, very VERY quietly) that its intelligence may have been faulty… (Allow me to give my shocked face at this bit of news… One has to think, had the U.S. not so loudly accused them of enriching uranium, would they have become so hell-bent on creating a Nuke? One (with a brain) would have to think the answer would be ‘no.’ Kim Jong Ill is crazy… but he’s not mad)

Applaud: that the number of female politicians around the world is currently at 17%, which is an increase of 6 percentage points in the last decade. (I perceive this as good news, though my brother would say; ‘Someone didn’t show-up for work today…’ Emails can be sent to…)

Heckle: to the media. When Democratic presidential candidate Barack Obama says “We have seen over 3,000 lives of the bravest young Americans wasted,” we get a media firestorm… when republican presidential candidate John McCain says “We've wasted a lot of our most precious treasure, which is American lives,” we get nothing… we get crickets chirping and tumbleweeds tumbling down the street. Here’s some advice. YOU, the media, does not pick the president, the American people do. Why don’t you report on both parties with equality and let US decide… fuckin’ media idiots…

Applaud: to Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-NV) who said earlier this week that he would support legislation by Sen. James Webb (D-VA) that would bar a “U.S. attack on Iran” unless Congress gave “President” Bush a green light. (As has become a common saying on this site; I’ll believe it when I see it…)

Heckle: to more moronic quotes from White House spokesman Tony “Job of” Snow. Speaking at the Conservative Political Action Conference (New motto: We Hate Everyone) Snow said that the Bush Administration “didn't create the war in Iraq.” (and Tony will admit to smoking crack when?)

Applaud: to Ambassador Tim Carney, one of the U.S. coordinators for Iraq’s reconstruction, was interviewed on NPR earlier this week. During the interview, he said that the post-war decision to exclude Iraqis from governing the country was “incompetent, foolish, dubious in all of its aspects.” (Nice… always happy to see people tell the truth about the incompetent handling of the war and its aftermath. It should also be known that the White House shipped out Carney to Baghdad recently so they could avoid his testimony before a congressional committee and not be able to give interviews … oops, guess the administration forgot that in this day and age, interviews don’t have to be done on-site…)

<Heckle: to “President” Bush and his budget cuts. Despite 84% supporting the expansion of the Childrens’ Health Insurance Program so it covers all uninsured children, Bush has proposed cutting funding for the program. Add to that the fact that 56% of Americans think the federal government has a responsibility to provide health care for all… (And yet… nothing is happening. He talked big about it during the SOTU, but since then – nothing. Smoke and mirrors only work if you’re good at it George…and you and your administration are NOT good at it)

Applaud: to the administration being proven wrong… again. Earlier this week, U.S. officials displayed bombmaking parts that were said to have been transported by Iran into Iraq. The problem was the cache of arms included boxes that appeared to contain shipments of tubes that came directly from factories in the Middle East and, well, none of them in Iran… (That has to be like, what, strike 22 for proving Iran is behind the insurgency in Iraq?? Give it up guys… ya ain’t gonna be able to tie them together…)

Heckle: to, once again, “President” Bush. This one is for stating his intention to veto a “broad counterterrorism bill” that would implement many of the remaining recommendations of the 9/11 commission. (The man is a tool. Do you want to know why he wants to veto it? Because the legislation would extend union protection to 45,000 federal airport screeners… and heaven knows we can’t have that…)

Applaud: to the House for passing, with a vote of 241-185, the Employee Free Choice Act, thus making it easier for workers to organize while at the same time establishing stronger penalties for employers who intimidate workers. A similar bill will be intro’d in the Senate by Sen. Edward Kennedy (D-MA) within the next few weeks. (republicans must hate this Act since it will make it easier to create their horror of horrors… unions)

And finally… a recap of this week’s happenings regarding the 2008 Presidential race… African-Americans are starting to swing to Obama, Clinton forgot to include a family-charity on Senate disclosure forms… Edwards is learning that you don’t always speak the truth on the stump… Edwards is unsure about public money should he win the nom…and Vilsack is still bitter about having to drop out. On the republican side Romney smeared Giuliani on “The 700 Club” (Yeah, but HE was on 700 Club)… Giuliani reaffirms his core beliefs (and yes, they are conservative beliefs)… Romney’s campaign tries to cover-up a leaked strategy memo… Huckabee is still trying to showcase himself as a real candidate (Good luck)… ditto for Hunter… and McCain officially announced his candidacy while still pandering to anyone who will listen.

Take ‘em as you will...

Can we talk about facts again?

The Bush(whacked) administration supports the troops, and the Liberals don’t support the troops because they’re the ones trying to get the troops OUT of Iraq…

At least that’s the way the fuzzy-logic works with this administrtion.

Two things in the last few days are perfect examples of how much this administration “supports”the troops…

First, from the Associated Press comes word that two Army combat brigades are skipping the usual desert training session. Essentially the troops are being rushed into service by Bush's decision to escalate, thus not giving them the opportunity to train at the premier Desert-training range in California and instead will make their final preparations at their home bases… what this means is the troops will be forgoing training in a desert setting that was designed specifically to prepare troops for the challenges they’ll face in Iraq and instead will end their training without going through any desert drills.

Nice… nothing like on the job training that could kill…

The other example is the fact that close to 90% of Army National Guard Units are rated “not ready” because of shortfalls in billions of dollars worth of equipment. Thus jeopardizing their ability to respond to crises at home and abroad.

Why don’t they have the equipment? Because Bush has the military so-thinned out, that the supplies and equipment can’t be made, ordered, shipped quick enough… and this has been going on since the war started; witnessed by accounts of soldiers not having the proper equipment (body armor, socks, etc) who then have to result to either buying the gear themselves or relying on people at home to send it to them. Or the widely known item that a lot of the military vehicles being used don’t have the proper armor plating installed.

And yet it’s Liberals who don’t support and care for our troops… how incredibly inane is that sentiment?

This administration has often shown its discourse for the people in the military… they don’t mind using it to erase past mistakes of daddy… but they don’t dare support or help the troops themselves.

And it’s not like I’m being facitous, there’s plenty of evidence to support this; witness the deplorable conditions at Walter Reed… or the Bush(whacked) Administration not allowing a disabled Vet appear at a White House media function because they didn’t want the media to see his legs had been blown off in Iraq.

And yet it’s Liberals who don’t support and care for our troops because we want to get them out of Iraq…

The media needs to stop feeding the beast that Liberals are against the troops and conservatives are for them…

It’s the exact opposite…

The Day Ahead

The Day Ahead in the hoity-toity world of politics...

• WaPo: republicans in the house are going to call for a floor vote on the appointment of William Jefferson (D-LA) to a seat on the Homeland Security Committee. (Mark this down as this will be one of the few times you will ever see this phrase on this blog; “Good for the republicans”… ugh, I feel so dirty… Anyhow, Pelosi’s appointment of Jefferson, who is a subject of a federal bribery investigation, is republican-like cronyism. If Jefferson is somehow exonerated, then he can be put on the committee, but as long as he remains under investigation, he should NOT be allowed to be on any committee)
• Associated Press: House Democrats are crafting a new anti-war proposal that would not cut off money for U.S. troops but would call for “President” Bush to acknowledge problems with an overburdened military… (Bush acknowledge a mistake?? That has about as much chance of happening as me being elected president)
• WaPo: Walter Reed officials knew of the neglect of soldiers and the pathetic disrepair of the facility for over three years and did nothing… (this is not a surprise… and heads should roll. Will they? Highly unlikely, odds are they’ll find a patsy to take the fall…)
• NY Post: Former House Speaker Newt Gingrich (R-GA) called Sen. Hillary Clinton “nasty” and “ruthless.” (Hello pot, this is the kettle… you’re black. Anyone who would leave his cancer-stricken wife has no place, NO PLACE, to call anyone else ‘ruthless.’ Let me tell ya something Newt, you’re a relic in the republican party, no one on either side cares if you run or not, so why don’t you just STFU…)
• Boston Globe: Conservative activists “are shifting their 2008 focus to recapturing the House and Senate” in the hope that gop-control of at least one chamber of Congress would derail any Liberal policies that could arise from a Democratic or moderate republican White House. (So let’s hope that Liberal activists, along with Grass Roots Liberals, don’t lose sight of the other important races in 2008. While winning the presidency should be the primary goal, we also need to maintain control of at least one, if not both, the House and Senate…)
• WaPo, USA Today: Deliberations in the Scooter Libby trial continue, and have now encountered some snags…
• Chicago Tribune: Fed Chief Ben Bernanke said the “economy is sound.” (Sure it is Ben, sure it is…)

Let the pandering begin...

It’s “official”... John McCain (R-AZ) is running for President... everyone hide...