We Do WHAT?!?!?

Absolutely unbelievable. 

Bush Outsources the Task of Catching bin Laden

NBC’s Jim Miklaszewski reports on how the Bush administration pays the Pakistani government $1 billion a year to hunt down Osama bin Laden, and demands zero accountability as to how that money is spent…So if I understand this correctly, we are paying Musharraf $1 billion a year to strike [...]

Tags: Osama bin Laden, Pakistan, Musharraf

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One More Time

I’m going to let Think Progress debunk Tony Snow’s comments today. Again.  For the 101st time…

Snow Slams Gore’s Book, Suggests It Should Be ‘Reprinted’ Because It Calls Out Bush’s ‘Deception’

In his new book The Assault on Reason, Al Gore wrote that Bush’s efforts to connect Iraq to 9/11 were an example of the administration’s willful “deception” of the public: When the administration is told specifically and repeatedly by the most authoritative sources that there is no linkage, but then in spite of the best evidence [...]

And the response is? via Dave Johnson at Seeing the  Forest…

Gore Responds to White House

I am on a call with Al Gore. Gore just responded to White House press secretary Tony Snow, who said, “I don’t know if they’re going to do a reprinting of the book to try to get the facts straight [....]

Tags: Al Gore, Assault On Reason, Tony Snow

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From Another Neighbor

We took a jab at neighboring Missouri earlier.  Now, let’s turn our attention to our friends to the south.  In Louisiana, where the story is about race.  And relations. And criminal charges. All of that, but so much more.

Under the White Shade Tree

Jena High School: The school’s colors are black and gold, but the preferred color is white.Photo: LaSalle Parish Schools It’s 2007, isn’t it? I’m a little scatterbrained sometimes, and not always aware of the date, but I just checked the little clock in the corner of my computer screen, here, and, yes! [...]

Tags: Louisiana, Race Relations

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It’s A Matter of Perspective

It’s always entertaining to compare how one story is handled by blogs on both the left and right.  Case in point, a report about how much John Edwards has been paid for a speech.  First, from the right:

The Left’s Hero, John Edwards

The headline: Edwards charges $55,000 to speak to UC Davis students about poverty I don’t even [...]

Same story, from the left:

Edwards Hammered for Speaking Fees

John Edwards is getting hammered now for–gasp–accepting money to speak at universities about poverty. But if you compare the relatively modest $55,000 fee paid by UC Davis for a presentation about poverty in America in January 2006 to Rudy Giuliani’s $100,000 per-engagement fee to pawn his "principles of leadership", I think you can get a [...]

Tags: John Edwards, Speaking Fees, Poverty

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Priorities. Priorities.

That must be the excuse.  But, what it heaven’s name could have been more important?

Marine Corps waited almost 18 months to act on priority request for bomb-proof vehicles to protect against IEDs in Iraq

It’s not just that they didn’t fill the order in 18 months, they didn’t even ACT on the request to fill the order for 18 months. Our troops were dying every day from these IEDs, Bush was threatening to go to war with Iran over these IEDs, and these people didn’t even think it was important to even start the process of getting them the protection they needed for a good year and a half. And now we’re going to [...]

Tags: IED, Marine Corps, Iraq

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From Right Up The Road

Another installment of "At Least It Didn’t Happen in Arkansas"…

Who’s Your Daddy?

A very weird tale from the Show Me State (via Dan Collins at Protein Wisdom):Twin brothers Raymon and Richard Miller are the father and uncle to a 3-year-old little girl. The problem is, they don’t know which is which. Or [...]

Tags: Paternity

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Oh, Great

Let’s hope the forecasts are wrong again this year.  Of course, it only takes one big one….

U.S. Govt Forecasts Active Atlantic Hurricane Season

WASHINGTON, May 22 (Reuters) – The 2007 Atlantic hurricane season will be active with 13 to 17 named storms, seven or 10 of which are expected to become hurricanes, the U.S. government’s top climate agency predicted on Tuesday. Of the seven to 10 hurricanes forecast, three [...]

Tags: Hurricane Season, Hurricanes

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One Last Chance

I’m not betting on an affirmative reponse.  Are  you?

Dems Give Rove One Last Opportunity To Testify Before Subpoena

Via TPMuckraker: The House Judiciary Committee is prepared to use subpoenas to compel the testimony of Karl Rove and other White House officials, Chairman John Conyers (D-MI) and subcomittee Chairwoman Linda Sanchez (D-CA) warned White House counsel Fred Fielding today. "We are today writing to express our extreme disappointment in the White House’s rebuff of efforts [...]

Tags: Karl Rove, Conyers, Sanchez, Fielding, Subpoenas

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Incompetence

Plain and simple. $63 million a year worth of incompetence.

‘Is there no adult supervision?’

Great, now the Bush administration is broadcasting terrorist messages in the Middle East as part of our diplomatic outreach. On the incompetence-o-meter, this one might bury the needle. Al Hurra television, the U.S. government’s $63 million-a-year effort at public diplomacy broadcasting in the Middle East, is run by executives and officials who cannot speak Arabic, according [...]

Tags: Al Hurra, Middle East

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Journalistic Integrity, Indeed

I’m sure it was an innocent mistake (wink, wink). But it sure makes Fox News look bad.  Amateur Hour, at best…

Fox News Falsely Declares Bush Winner Of Iraq Funding Standoff — Contradicting Its Own Reporting

…As you can see, the line on the screen reads: "PRESIDENT WINS SHOWDOWN OVER IRAQ FUNDING"  The funny thing about this is that Wendell Goler, the Fox reporter pictured above, was simultaneously saying that negotiations between the White House and the Dem Congressional leadership are continuing. More to the point [...]

Tags: War Funding, Appropriations, Fox News

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Another Day, Another Hit

This continues to be a big story, it really does.  Plus, for me, it offers the added fascination of a key Arkansas connection that just keeps getting bigger.

New Documents Confirm Gonzales Lied To Senator About Plan To Install Rove Protege As U.S. Attorney

On Dec. 15, Attorney General Alberto Gonzales and Sen. Mark Pryor (D-AR) had their second phone conversation regarding the appointment of Karl Rove-protege Tim Griffin as the new U.S. attorney in Arkansas. In April 19 testimony to the Senate Judiciary Committee, Gonzales said that when Pryor objected to Griffin’s appointment, Gonzales promised to find [...]

Tags: U.S. Attorneys, Gonzales, Griffin, Cummins

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In The Basement

New numbers on Presidential Support.  PoliPundit has the numbers and a question. I have the answer.  First, the facts:

Fifteen percent (15%) Strongly Approve

Who on earth is in the "15%?" For the third straight day, just 34% of American adults Approve of the way that George W. Bush is performing his duties as President. That’s the lowest level ever recorded by Rasmussen Reports (see comments on comparing Approval Ratings from different polling firms). Fifteen [ ...]

Who is in the 15%?  People like a member of my family.  I got into a short debate on the phone this past weekend, talking about the Bush Administration and Democrats vs. Republicans. One comment stopped me in my tracks.  He said (paraphrasing, but you’ll get the gist) "Ya’ know, if the Democrats didn’t spend all their time running around looking for ways to make George Bush look bad, they might get something done.  All they’ve done is promise, promise, promise and now they’re doing nothing, except cook up ways to slam Bush."  I guess my debating skills are lacking.  I couldn’t come up with a comeback.

Oh, before you run off, here’s another poll:  31 percent.

Tags: Rasmussen, Bush Approval

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War Spending

Looks like they’re still haggling over the War Appropriations bill in Congress. Positive sign? Perhaps. There’s good reading just head; a great summary of what some talented writers are saying:

Stalled?

Yesterday an Associated Press story said, in effect, the Dems were capitulating to Bush’s demands for a condition-free Iraq appropriation bill. I didn’t comment on it because I noticed there was no corroboration from other news sources, which made me think the story was inaccurate. Sure enough; the AP jumped the gun a tad. Today Carl [...]

UPDATE:  Just a bit later, we find this:

Dodd and Feingold Fighting The Good Fight On Iraq

UPDATE 2: The liberal bloggers ain’t happy:

CNN: Dems to give Bush blank check on Iraq

Sorry, but that’s exactly what it is. More from CNN. In my view, they blustered and they blinked. Yeah, it’s nice that the Dems attached the minimum wage, and I’m happy about that, but that’s not really the point is it? We’re in a war that is [...]

Tags: Iraq War, War Appropriations, Troop Withdrawal

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The Impeachment Issue

I don’t think Congress should take up valuable time dealing with any proposal to impeach President Bush.  There are simply too many other things that need to be addressed.  That being said, the numbers in a new (unscientific) survey are quite astounding. And, it does appear that the system won’t let you submit multiple votes from the same computer/ip address.

Should Bush Be Impeached?

Go over to MSNBC and vote.  429,860 votes so far with 88% saying yes. Of course this is unscientific, but the numbers are astounding nonetheless. For a little context, check out what the polls said for Clinton and what they’re now saying for Bush. Wow. To get an idea of how it work, check out [...]

Tags: Impeachment

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More Troops On The Way

I’ll bet they tried really hard to keep the lid on this one.  Didn’t work, though.

Bush implementing secret second "surge" in Iraq

The actual surge could be 46,000 combat troops, rather than the 21,000 that Bush claimed to Congress and to the nation. He’s asking for another $100 million from Congress this [...]

Tags: Iraq War, Troop Surge

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In Hot Water

REALLY hot water. Having read through all the filings, it’s going to be tough to talk himself out of these allegations.

Fmr GOP State Senator Arrested for Child Rape, Molestation of Pages

John prefers that we not swear in our posts, so I’m going to let the links speak for themselves, since if I do any more than that, I’m liable to unleash a tirade of profanities that would make a sailor blush. DailyKos: (A)t least Mark Foley never physically acted on his nefarious impulses.  Former South Dakota [...]

Tags: Klaudt, Rape, Molestation

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Pay Raise For The Troops

I’m thinking there’s got to be a loophole in play here.  If not, Arlen Parsa has a huge story over at BradBlog…

EXCLUSIVE: Proposed Bush Pay Raise for Troops Serving in Iraq, Afghanistan Violates Federal Law

Recently the Bush Administration and Democratically-controlled Congress were at odds over how much to pay US soldiers serving in the most dangerous places in the world: Iraq and Afghanistan. Congress said that the troops should get a raise of 3.5%, while the Administration said any raise higher than 3% was not [...]

Tags: Military Pay Raise, Iraq, Afghanistan

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Conspiracy Theory?

Or a frightening, hidden, reality? It’s all about a really big highway, designed with ulterior motives.

Urban legend of "North American Union" feeds on fears

We’re talking about the secret plan to build a superhighway, a giant 10- to 12-lane production, from the Yucatán to the Yukon. This "SuperCorridor" would allow the really big part of the plan to take place: the merging of the governments of Canada, the United States and [...]

Tags: SuperCorridor, Superhighway, North American Union

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Gearing Up

Getting his followers in gear for the campaign debate, Kos is looking to YouTube for help. And, ya know, it’s not a plan without merit.

Videotape everything they do

Every appearance by a top Republican official or candidate should be recorded. Every one of them. All it takes is one "Macaca" incident to transform a race or create one where one didn’t exist. As the Montana incident blogged earlier today showed, a video can knock out prospective candidates before they even enter. And this is no longer about finding one big blunder to put on a campaign commercial. It’s about [...]

Tags: 2008 Election

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McCain’s Outburst of the Day

Seems like the hits just keep on comin’, for a hot-tempered John McCain. Warning, censored nasty words on the link.  Be warned, if you’re overly sensitive to such things.

Unhinged McCain apologizes for one outburst, starts another

On Friday, during a back-room discussion on the new immigration-reform package, Sen. John McCain (R-Ariz) started shouting at Sen. John Cornyn (R-Texas), who dared to disagree with him on the legislation. Apparently, McCain accused Cornyn of raising petty objections, and Cornyn accused McCain of having dropped in without taking part in [...]

Tags: McCain, Cornyn, Immigration Reform

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