Remember the 9/11 Commssion

The 9/11 Commission's summarized the pre-9/11 actions of the Bush administration by writing,

"[Bush] did not recall discussing the August 6 report with the Attorney General or whether Rice had done so. We have found no indication of any further discussion before September 11 among the President and his top advisers of the possibility of a threat of an al Qaeda attack in the United States. ...Tenet does not recall any discussions with the President of the domestic threat during this period. Domestic agencies did not know what to do, and no one gave them direction. The borders were not hardened. Transportation systems were not fortified. Electronic surveillance was not targeted against a domestic threat. State and local law enforcement were not marshaled to augment the FBI?s efforts. The public was not warned."

I'm soooo confused.

Bush declassified the NIE terrorism report.

WHY?

It flat contradicts everything that he has been saying.

When Bush announced that he would declassify excerpts, I assumed that it would show that the initial reports probably were selective. Why else would he declassify it?

But those reports weren't selective. They were completely representational of the whole report. And it is damning. It flat says that Bush's Stupid Decision has increased terrorism and made America less safe.

So why did he release it? Is the poor bastard crying for help or something? "Look, I'm all screwed up, now please help me"?

Why did he declassify this thing?

How the Democrats should advertise

Brought to you by Jim Webb.(No, not the guy who wrote "MacArthur Park," the guy who's running for Senator of Virginia.)

Man. Throw that frigging cake out into the frigging rain, Jim. Good ad.

Fuck.

Thanks to Rising Hegemon for noticing this:

If you want to know why Americans are so totally uninformed and ignorant, here's why.

Newsweek runs different covers, depending on which part of the world it's published in. Here are their latest covers:



Newsweek in all the rest of the world say "LOSING AFGHANISTAN."

In America, it says "MY LIFE IN PICTURES."

I'm flabbergasted.

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Bemoaning an election-year leak, President George W. Bush on Tuesday said he would declassify a secret terrorism document that included a judgment the Iraq war had spread Islamic extremism.

At a news conference with Afghan President Hamid Karzai, Bush said political opponents had disclosed only select parts of the National Intelligence Estimate, a U.S. global report on terrorism, and he decided to make the document public so "you read it for yourself."

"Somebody has taken it upon themselves to leak classified information for political purposes," Bush said.

So Bush decides to declassify it for political purposes.

Which I guess proves that it really wasn't classified for National Security reasons in the first place.

Rice boils over

In attempt at damage control, Fox News invited Condi Rice on the air and - as opposed to Chris Wallace's attempt to sandbag Clinton - tossed her softballs.

Rice Challenges Clinton on Terror Record By Associated Press

NEW YORK - Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice challenged former President Clinton's claim that he did more than many of his conservative critics to pursue Osama bin Laden, and she accused President Bush's predecessor of leaving no comprehensive plan to fight al-Qaida.

"What we did in the eight months was at least as aggressive as what the Clinton administration did in the preceding years."

WHAT did you do, Condi? Be specific. Was there even a SINGLE meeting? On what date? How come you don't provide any specifics, like CLINTON did?

"We were not left a comprehensive strategy to fight al-Qaida," she told the newspaper, which is owned by News Corp., which also owns Fox News Channel.

So you WERE left a strategy, and decide to quibble over the word "comprehensive." What did you DO with the strategy that CLINTON left you, Condi?

You don't volunteer the information. And Fox doesn't ask. Of course.

The Big Dog Bites Back

by Sara Robinson

Oh, THIS is fun.

When you go to youtube and search for the video the FOX interview with Clinton, there are plenty of them. But when you click on any of the links to play them, you see this:



Draw your own conclusions.

Heh.

Clinton Got a Blowjob.

Brought to my attention by Kelly.

Clinton Got a Blowjob. (Mp3 download)

Remember "Clinton Fatigue"?

Remember, during Clinton's second term, the media coined the phrase "Clinton Fatigue" as a description of thier idea that the country was tired of Clinton? And they coined this phrase even though the man's approval was consistently in the high '60s?

But you never, never, never hear the Liberal Media use the term "Bush Fatigue." Even though the man's approval rating in his second term is consistently down in Nixon territory, and even though America obviously really IS sick of Bush.

Why is that?

I noticed this quote from the Bill Clinton Chris Wallace Barbecue:

WALLACE: When we announced that you were going to be on Fox News Sunday, I got a lot of email from viewers, and I got to say I was surprised most of them wanted me to ask you this question.

So is Wallace saying that he's such a moron that he decides what questions to ask - of an ex-President of the United States, no less - on the basis of an obviously orchestrated right-wing email campaign?

Does he actually think that admitting this makes him look like LESS of a total right-wing tool?

"Ooooh - I'm getting a lot of e-mail from a bunch of Clinton-hating jackals who probably don't know how many days there are in a week. I'd better do what they say."

What an imbecile.

The Taliban is back

It was about the only thing I thought the Bushies handled well, and they fouled that up, too. They fouled up Afghanistan by taking the focus off of Al Qaeda and diverting resources to Iraq.

The Rise of Jihadistan

Culture of Corruption

EVERYTHING the Bushies touch is mired in corruption, kickbacks, bribes and cronyism. Everything.

Even a kid's reading program.

Bush reading program blasted in internal audit

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - A $1 billion reading program that is a key part of the Bush administration's No Child Left Behind education law was mismanaged and rife with conflicts of interest, according to an internal audit released on Friday.

Bubba smacks down FOX

Looks like Clinton finally had enough of the bullshit, and decided to set the record straight by kicking Chris Wallace's slimy little ass. This will air Sunday Morning:

Rough transcript from Think Progress

WALLACE: When we announced that you were going to be on Fox News Sunday, I got a lot of email from viewers, and I got to say I was surprised most of them wanted me to ask you this question. Why didn’t you do more to put Bin Laden and al Qaeda out of business when you were President? There’s a new book out which I suspect you’ve read called the Looming Tower. And it talks about how the fact that when you pulled troops out of Somalia in 1993, Bin Laden said “I have seen the frailty and the weakness and the cowardice of US troops.” Then there was the bombing of the embassies in Africa and the attack on the USS Cole.

CLINTON: OK..

WALLACE: …may I just finish the question sir. And after the attack, the book says, Bin Laden separated his leaders because he expected an attack and there was no response. I understand that hindsight is 20/20.

CLINTON: No let’s talk about…

WALLACE: …but the question is why didn’t you do more, connect the dots and put them out of business?

CLINTON: OK, let’s talk about it. I will answer all of those things on the merits but I want to talk about the context of which this arises. I’m being asked this on the FOX network…ABC just had a right wing conservative on the Path to 9/11 falsely claim that it was based on the 9/11 Commission report with three things asserted against me that are directly contradicted by the 9/11 Commission report. I think it’s very interesting that all the conservative Republicans who now say that I didn’t do enough, claimed that I was obsessed with Bin Laden. All of President Bush’s neocons claimed that I was too obsessed with finding Bin Laden when they didn’t have a single meeting about Bin Laden for the nine months after I left office. All the right wingers who now say that I didn’t do enough said that I did too much. Same people.

Clinton takes on Fox News bias:

WALLACE: Do you think you did enough sir?

CLINTON: No, because I didn’t get him.

WALLACE: Right…

CLINTON: But at least I tried. That’s the difference in me and some, including all the right wingers who are attacking me now. They ridiculed me for trying. They had eight months to try and they didn’t…I tried. So I tried and failed. When I failed I left a comprehensive anti-terror strategy and the best guy in the country, Dick Clarke… So you did FOX’s bidding on this show. You did you nice little conservative hit job on me. But what I want to know..

WALLACE: Now wait a minute sir…

CLINTON:…

WALLACE: I asked a question. You don’t think that’s a legitimate question?

CLINTON: It was a perfectly legitimate question but I want to know how many people in the Bush administration you asked this question of. I want to know how many people in the Bush administration you asked: Why didn’t you do anything about the Cole? I want to know how many of you asked: Why did you fire Dick Clarke? I want to know…

WALLACE: We asked…

CLINTON:…

WALLACE: Do you ever watch Fox News Sunday sir?

CLINTON: I don’t believe you ask them that.

WALLACE: We ask plenty of questions of…

CLINTON: You didn’t ask that did you? Tell the truth.

WALLACE: About the USS Cole?

CLINTON: Tell the truth.

WALLACE: I…with Iraq and Afghanistan there’s plenty of stuff to ask.

CLINTON: Did you ever ask that? You set this meeting up because you were going to get a lot of criticism from your viewers because Rupert Murdoch is going to get a lot of criticism from your viewers for supporting my work on climate change. And you came here under false pretenses and said that you’d spend half the time talking about…

WALLACE: [laughs]

CLINTON: You said you’d spend half the time talking about what we did out there to raise $7 billion dollars plus over three days from 215 different commitments. And you don’t care.

Clinton on his priorities and the Bush administration priorities:

CLINTON: What did I do? I worked hard to try and kill him. I authorized a finding for the CIA to kill him. We contracted with people to kill him. I got closer to killing him than anybody has gotten since. And if I were still president we’d have more than 20,000 troops there trying to kill him. Now I never criticized President Bush and I don’t think this is useful. But you know we do have a government that thinks Afghanistan is 1/7 as important as Iraq. And you ask me about terror and Al Qaeda with that sort of dismissive theme when all you have to do is read Richard Clarke’s book to look at what we did in a comprehensive systematic way to try to protect the country against terror. And you’ve got that little smirk on your face. It looks like you’re so clever…

WALLACE: [Laughs]

CLINTON: I had responsibility for trying to protect this country. I tried and I failed to get Bin Laden. I regret it but I did try. And I did everything I thought I responsibly could. The entire military was against sending special forces into Afghanistan and refueling by helicopter and no one thought we could do it otherwise…We could not get the CIA and the FBI to certify that Al Qaeda was responsible while I was President. Until I left office. And yet I get asked about this all the time and they had three times as much time to get him as I did and no one ever asks them about this. I think that’s strange.

Hud secretary broke the law

Think Progress has the summary of the Inspector General's report which shows corruption and political favoritism in the handing out of contracts and jobs:

In April, Housing Secretary Alphonso Jackson told a group of real estate officials that he once canceled a government contract because the contractor was critical of President Bush. Awarding contracts based on political leanings “violates federal law.” Jackson is a “longtime Bush friend” and former neighbor in Dallas, Texas.

The Inspector General for the Department of Housing and Urban Development has conducted a detailed investigation and produced a 340-page report detailing his findings. The agency has given a copy to Jackson, but refused to release the report to the public.

ThinkProgress has obtained the executive summary. Here are some key excerpts:

– “During the investigation, Secretary JACKSON’s Chief of Staff, as well as the HUD Deputy Secretary testified that, in a senior staff meeting, JACKSON had advised senior staff, to the effect, that when considering discretionary contracts, they should be considering supporters of the President, language consistent with the remarks made by JACKSON in Dallas, Texas, on April 28, 2006.”

– “Investigation did disclose some problematic instances involving HUD contacts and cooperative agreement grants, in particular, the cooperative agreement award issued to Abt Associates…was blocked for a significant period of time due to Secretary JACKSON’s involvement and opposition to Abt. Secretary JACKSON’s Chief of Staff testified that one factor in JACKSON’s opposition to Abt was Abt’s political affiliation.”

– “Secretary JACKSON’s Chief of Staff also identified other instances of Secretary JACKSON intervening with contractors whom he did not like. Reviews of political contributions indicated these contractors had Democratic political affiliations.“

Rep. Henry Waxman (D-CA) and Sen. Frank Lautenberg (D-NJ) have already called on Jackson to resign immediately. The White House yesterday gave him “a tepid vote of confidence.”

We’ve posted the full text of the report’s executive summary HERE.

Will anything actually HAPPEN to this crook? Like jail or something? Don't make me laugh. Crookedness and corruption are acceptable to the Bush adminstration. In fact, they are the normal way of doing business.

1,100 Laptops Missing From Commerce Dept.

More than 1,100 laptop computers have vanished from the Department of Commerce since 2001, including nearly 250 from the Census Bureau containing such personal information as names, incomes and Social Security numbers, federal officials said yesterday. - Washington Post

Pardon me for asking, but how the hell do you lose 1,100 computers? What are they, in a closet somewhere?

Obviously, they are being routinely stolen, and nobody wants to say that.

And doesn't it seem like this is happening all the time? Every time you turn around, some OTHER federal agency says, "Oops - we seem to have lost a bunch of computers with personal data on them. Just didn't think to secure them and shit. Our bad."

I swear, the clowns in Bush's Federal Government are not only venal, greedy, vicious, and conniving, they are the most incompetent sons of bitches walking the earth, to boot. Maybe it's my personal stereotype, but when I think of someone as an evil scumbag, I sort of assume that they may be scum, but they are probably smart and capable. Not these clowns. They possess neither principles NOR ability.

And it's insane that people that worthless are actually running things.

Gonzales: Oooops.

The Bush administration has a severe and new problem, which they have never experienced before:

When they lie, someone points it out.

Asked at a news conference on Tuesday about a Canadian commission’s finding that the man, Maher Arar, was wrongly sent to Syria and tortured there, Mr. Gonzales replied, “Well, we were not responsible for his removal to Syria.” He added, “I’m not aware that he was tortured.”

The attorney general’s comments caused puzzlement because they followed front-page news articles of the findings of the Canadian commission. It reported that based on inaccurate information from Canada about Mr. Arar’s supposed terrorist ties, American officials ordered him taken to Syria, an action documented in public records.

On Wednesday, a Justice Department spokesman said Mr. Gonzales had intended to make only a narrow point: that deportations are now handled by the Department of Homeland Security, not the Department of Justice.

The spokesman, Charles Miller, said the attorney general forgot that at the time of Mr. Arar’s deportation, such matters were still handled by the Immigration and Naturalization Service, which was part of the Department of Justice.

“He had his timeline mixed up,” Mr. Miller said.

"When I said 'we', I meant the three people in this room, not the administration in general."

They sad thing is that some people will SWEAR that they believe that.

About Bush's polls.

How much longer?

(CBS/AP) A software engineer falsely accused of being a terrorist by Canadian police was shipped to Syria by the United States, where he was imprisoned and tortured, according to a Canadian commission.

Not only does torture not work, but without trials, laws, norms, we don't even know if those being held have DONE anything. We don't even know who they are.

We have nothing but George W. Bush's word that these are really bad guys, and his word is obviously not worth shit.

"The prisoner is a bad man, this I know,
Because a compulsive liar tells me so."

ITMFA

Good article. Read the whole thing.

President Bush is urging Congress to let the CIA keep using "alternative" interrogation procedures -- which include, according to published accounts, forcing prisoners to stand for 40 hours, depriving them of sleep and use of the "cold cell," in which the prisoner is left naked in a cell kept near 50 degrees and doused with cold water. - Washington Post

Bush's strategy seems to be to behave in such an extremely unacceptable manner that people go into a sort of denial about it, and let him get away with it because dealing with it is just too damned hard. It's not possible that the President of the United States is just an evil, sadistic psychopath, is it? It can't be. So people retreat into dissonance, and pretend the President asking Congress to be allowed to do what Joseph Stalin did is just an acceptable alternative opinion, instead of flat UnAmerican lunacy.

Well, I'll say it: George W. Bush is an evil, sadistic psychopath who should be dragged before the Hague and tried for war crimes.

And the fact that 30% of Americans still support an obviously criminal maniac is a sad, sad commentary on the state of the country.

Stay the Course

Just remember, everyone: gutting the Constitution, torturing prisoners, eavesdropping on Americans, and holding people indefinitely without charges or trial has helped stop terrorism.

Since the year 2000, according to the National Memorial Institute for the Prevention of Terrorism, terrorist incidents are up 470 percent, the number of fatalities is up 1,380 percent and the number of injured is up 670 percent.

Stay that course,

Blast from the past.

"As South Vietnamese forces become stronger, the rate of American withdrawal can become greater." - Richard Nixon

Hi, Atus.

And may all your atusses be high.



Be back Monday.

Iggy Junior Speak...

...you listen.

"What I’m saying it this; If this is a battle for civilization, make your case and gear it up. Let’s World War II this thing. Alright? And if it’s not, stop scaring the shit out of everybody every two years." - Jon Stewart

Keith Olbermann.

Thank goodness for Keith Olberman.

Watch it. Really.

The monkey reads a script.

With some difficulty, as usual.

And he used 9/11 to make a speech defending a war that has nothing to do with 9/11.

I have met firefighters and police officers who choke up at the memory of fallen comrades.

They also choke up because their lungs are filled with cement dust, and Bush hasn't done a damned thing to help.

America did not ask for this war, and every American wishes it were over. So do I.

No, you clown, America did not ask for a war against Al Qaeda. We sure as hell DID ask for the war in Iraq. In fact, we STARTED it. In fact, "At a time and place of our choosing" were your own words WHEN you started it.

And nobody believes this crap about how Bush's wishes it was over. People who want war to be over don't choose it as their first option.

On September the 11th, we resolved that we would go on the offense against our enemies and we would not distinguish between the terrorists and those who harbor or support them.

Unless those who harbor and support them are Saudi Arabian.

Osama bin Laden and other terrorists are still in hiding. Our message to them is clear: No matter how long it takes, America will find you, and we will bring you to justice.

Or, to put it another way, "I am truly not that concerned about him."

I am often asked why we're in Iraq when Saddam Hussein was not responsible for the 9/11 attacks. The answer is that the regime of Saddam Hussein was a clear threat.

HOW was it a "clear threat"? Gee, he doesn't say. I wonder why.

And it must have been SUCH a clear threat that it was worth allowing Al Qaeda to regroup ; worth giving the terrorists a training ground; worth giving them a beachhead in the Middle East ; worth destabilizing the whole world.

And it was such a clear threat that there IMMEDIATE NEIGHBORS didn't see it as a threat.

Whatever mistakes have been made in Iraq, the worst mistake would be to think that if we pulled out, the terrorists would leave us alone.

And why do these clowns think that "pulling out" means sitting on your hands and waiting to be attacked? As opposed to pulling out so you can use the troops to actually GO AFTER TERRORISTS instead Iraqi insurgents?

If we yield Iraq to men like bin Laden, our enemies will be emboldened.

Remember that statement, because approximately one week from now, Bush will claim that he NEVER equated Bin Laden and Iraq. And his bootlickers will swear to it and sauy, "He said MEN LIKE Bin Laden." They play that dumbass game all the time, and then wonder why so many Americans are just sick of it.

It's absolutely sickening that this clown used 9/11 in a desperate attempt to prop up his disaster in Iraq.

Plans? Who needs plans?

In case you have wondered why they were so bloody stupid as to not have a postwar plan for Iraq - it's because they were ordered not to make one.

General: Rumsfeld told us not to plan for "post-war" Iraq

When Dick Cheney says he'd do "exactly the same thing" all over again in Iraq, we wonder if this is what he has in mind: In an interview last week with Virginia's Daily Press, the retiring commander of the Army Transportation Corps says that Donald Rumsfeld specifically directed war planners to stop short of planning for what would happen after Saddam Hussein's government fell.

"The secretary of defense continued to push on us ... that everything we write in our plan has to be the idea that we are going to go in, we're going to take out the regime, and then we're going to leave," said Brig. Gen. Mark Scheid.

Scheid, one of a small group of officers involved in drafting an Iraq plan, said that he and his colleagues tried to write "what was called Phase 4" -- a plan for post-invasion operations -- so that "at least [we'd have] a plan for it" if U.S. soldiers didn't leave Iraq immediately after deposing Saddam.

"I remember the secretary of defense saying that he would fire the next person that said that," Scheid said. "We would not do planning for Phase 4 operations, which would require all those additional troops that people talk about today. He said we will not do that because the American public will not back us if they think we are going over there for a long war."

Remember: On this day, 5 years ago, Bush sat staring into space after being told that the United States was under attack. Then he flew all over the place, worried about his own sorry ass.

And days later, he stood on a pile of rubble covering almost 3000 smoldering corpses, grandstanding with a bullhorn, and said "Osama Bin Laden, dead or alive!"

And he was FULL OF IT.

He used the horrible events that happened this day as an excuse to invade Iraq - which had nothing to do with what happened five years ago.

And America will be paying for that HORRIBLE decision for DECADES, if we actually recover at all.

Worst.

President.

EVER.

George and Laura got a laugh out of 9/11

Were you laughing on 9/11? Because Bush was.

Really.

Noonan: You were separated on September 11th. What was it like when you saw each other again?

Mrs. Bush: Well, we just hugged. I think there was a certain amount of security in being with each other than being apart.

President Bush: But the day ended on a relatively humorous note. The agents said, "You'll be sleeping downstairs. Washington's still a dangerous place." And I said no, I can't sleep down there, the bed didn't look comfortable. I was really tired, Laura was tired, we like our own bed. We like our own routine. You know, kind of a nester. Like the way things are. I knew I had to deal with the issue the next day and provide strength and comfort to the country, and so I needed rest in order to be mentally prepared. So I told the agent we're going upstairs, and he reluctantly said okay. Laura wears contacts, and she was sound asleep. Barney was there. And the agent comes running up and says, "We're under attack. We need you downstairs," and so there we go. I'm in my running shorts and my T-shirt, and I'm barefooted. Got the dog in one hand, Laura had a cat, I'm holding Laura --

Mrs. Bush: I don't have my contacts in, and I'm in my fuzzy house slippers --

President Bush: And this guy's out of breath, and we're heading straight down to the basement because there's an incoming unidentified airplane, which is coming toward the White House. Then the guy says it's a friendly airplane. And we hustle all the way back upstairs and go to bed.

Mrs. Bush: [laughs] And we just lay there thinking about the way we must have looked.

Noonan: So the day starts in tragedy and ends in Marx Brothers.

President Bush: That's right -- we got a laugh out of it.

The country is in the hands of a total sociopath.

September 11, 2006

Remember those who died.

Remember those who showed great heroism.

It's five years, and Osama Bin Laden is still free.

Helluva job

Cheney says did "helluva job" since September 11

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The government has done "a helluva job" guarding America, Vice President Dick Cheney said on Sunday, as President George W. Bush prepared to visit Ground Zero amid an election-year debate on whether the country is safer five years after the September 11 attacks.

And Brownie did a heckuva job helping New Orleans.

These idiots actually satire THEMSELVES.

Bush let Bin Laden Go

In the midst of all the sturm und drang about ABC defamatory fiction accusing Clinton of letting Bin Laden go, it turns out that Bush actually DID let Bin Laden go.

From today's Washington Post:

Bin Laden trail "Stone Cold"

Intelligence officials think that bin Laden is hiding in the northern reaches of the autonomous tribal region along the Afghanistan-Pakistan border. This calculation is based largely on a lack of activity elsewhere and on other intelligence, including a videotape, obtained exclusively by the CIA and not previously reported, that shows bin Laden walking on a trail toward Pakistan at the end of the battle of Tora Bora in December 2001, when U.S. forces came close but failed to capture him....

After playing down bin Laden's importance and barely mentioning him for several years, Bush last week repeatedly invoked his name and quoted from his writings and speeches to underscore what Bush said is the continuing threat of terrorism...

On the videotape obtained by the CIA, bin Laden is seen confidently instructing his party how to dig holes in the ground to lie in undetected at night. A bomb dropped by a U.S. aircraft can be seen exploding in the distance. "We were there last night," bin Laden says without much concern in his voice. He was in or headed toward Pakistan, counterterrorism officials think.

That was December 2001. Only two months later, Bush decided to pull out most of the special operations troops and their CIA counterparts in the paramilitary division that were leading the hunt for bin Laden in Afghanistan to prepare for war in Iraq, said Flynt L. Leverett, then an expert on the Middle East at the National Security Council.

Incidentally, the DNC has a good ad showing Bush flip-flopping on bin Laden. Watch it.

Share some Bill Maher on a quiet Sunday morning.

By Bill Maher

Sep. 08, 2006 | New rule: Bad presidents happen to good people. Amid all the 9/11 anniversary talk about what will keep us safe, let me suggest that in a world turned hostile to America, the smartest message we can send to those beyond our shores is, "We're not with stupid." Therefore, I contend -- with all seriousness -- that ridiculing this president is now the most patriotic thing you can do. Let our allies and our enemies alike know that there's a whole swath of Americans desperate to distance themselves from Bush's foreign policies. And that's just Republicans running for reelection.

Now, of course, you're gonna say, "But Bill, ridiculing Bush is like shooting fish in a barrel," or, as Dick Cheney calls it, "hunting." Maybe, but right now it's important, because America is an easily misunderstood country these days -- a lot of the time it's hard to make out what we're saying over the bombs we're dropping.
But we are not all people who think putting a boot in your ass is the way to solve problems, because even allowing that my foot lodged in your ass would feel good, which I don't -- what then? OK, my boot is in your ass, but I can't get it out, so I'm not happy, and it's in you, so you're not happy -- there's no exit strategy.

Anyone who opposes the indefinite occupation of Iraq shouldn't be labeled an al-Qaida supporter. That's like saying that if I tell my exterminator that there are more efficient ways to rid the house of vermin than hitting them with a hammer, I'm "for the rats."

Questioning whether it still makes sense to keep troops under fire is supporting the troops. Asking for a plan supports the troops; asking when they'll be leaving supports the troops. Sitting around parsing the definition of "civil war" doesn't support the troops, it supports the president, and he's not a soldier, he just plays one on TV.

So yes, for the sake of homeland security, I ridicule the president -- but it gives me no pleasure to paint him as a dolt, a rube, a yokel on the world stage, a submental, three bricks shy of a load, a Gilligan unable to find his own ass with two hands. Or, as Sean Hannity calls it, "Reaganesque."

No, it pains me to say these things, because I know deep down George Bush has something extra -- a chromosome. Cruel? Perhaps, but it may just have saved lives. By doing the extra chromosome joke, I sent a message to a young Muslim man somewhere in the world who's on a slow burn about this country, and perhaps got him to think, "Maybe the people of America aren't so bad. Maybe it's just the rodeo clown who leads them. Maybe the people 'get it.'" We do, Achmed, we do!

And that's why making fun of the president keeps this country safe. The proof? I've been doing it nonstop for years, and there hasn't been another attack. Maybe the reason they haven't attacked us again is they figured we're already suffering enough.

If I could explain one thing about George W. Bush to the rest of the world it's this: We don't know what the hell he's saying either! Trust me, foreigners, there's nothing lost in translation, it's just as incoherent in the original English. Yes, we voted for him -- twice -- but that's because we're stupid, not because we're bad. Bush is just one of those things that are really popular for a few years and then almost overnight become completely embarrassing. You know, like leg warmers, or Hootie and the Blowfish, or white people going, "Oh no you di-int."

So while honoring the anniversary of September 2001, we must also never forget September 2000. That's the month when Gov. George W. Bush said, "I know that human beings and fish can coexist peacefully." If you don't believe me, you can look it up on both internets. The world changed on 9/11. He didn't. That's why we owe it to ourselves, and our children, to never stop pointing out that George W. Bush is a gruesome boob.

Surprise, surprise

Bush plan vague on torture, evidence

WASHINGTON -- Despite assurances that evidence obtained through torture will be off-limits, the Bush administration's proposed rules for terrorism tribunals do not contain clear guidelines for determining whether torture was employed and would leave such decisions to military judges, according to documents and statements from a senior administration legal adviser.

Is it okay to say that George W. Bush obviously likes the ideea of torturing people? Or does the press still think it's off limits to state the obvious?

If it's vague, it's vague intentionally. It's vague because torture-boy just doesn't like the idea of rules.

By way of Americablog:

The Democrats have sent Disney a letter implying the possibility of legal action.

Read it at the link.

Bush's PR guy

Thats's the source for much of the fiction in "Path to 9/11."

From Media Matters:

Marc Platt, the executive producer of ABC's upcoming two-part miniseries set to air on September 10 and 11, titled The Path to 9/11, has said that "every scene" of the film "is based on information from either the 9/11 [Commission] Report ... or the books The Cell (co-written by the former ABC News correspondent John Miller) and Relentless Pursuit, written by Samuel Katz." However, in addition to co-writing The Cell: Inside the 9/11 Plot, and Why the FBI and CIA Failed to Stop It, Miller is also a member of the Bush administration, serving as the assistant director of public affairs for the FBI, as blogger Digby has noted.

Shocked. I'm simply shocked to find out the Bush is involved in fake partisan propaganda.

Making their own rules

But the president also adamantly defended the CIA, making it clear that, when it comes to terrorism, the agency will continue to operate under its own code of conduct. Bush said the agency's ``tough but necessary" interrogation methods don't amount to torture and have yielded information that thwarted terrorist attacks and led to the capture of top Al Qaeda leaders.

``I can say that questioning the detainees in this program has given us information that has saved innocent lives by helping us stop new attacks here in the United States and across the world," Bush said.

"Operate under it's own code of conduct." In other words, they can make their own rules, and laws don't apply to them.

And does anybody actually BELEIVE that they've "thwarted" any attacks? You know damned well that if they had thwarted an attack, they'd be trumpeting it to every newspaper in the country.

Tony, we hardly knew ye.

LONDON, England (CNN) -- Trying to quell politically damaging turmoil snowballing within the ranks of his own Labour Party, British Prime Minister Tony Blair is expected to announce Thursday that he will leave office within a year.

United in Patriphobia?

A reader brought this to my attention (thanks RSD), which was floating under the radar:

A new book out called The Architect: Karl Rove and The Master Plan for Absolute Power by James Moore and Wayne Slater reveals the rather startling fact that Rove's stepfather - whom he regarded as a father - divorced his mom and lived as an openly gay man in California. There's an interview with the author here.

Rove is also an agnostic, and it's tough not to attack a guy for stoking the flames of religious homophobia when he's an agnostic with a gay stepfather. The hypocrisy is breathtaking.

But maybe that's what Bush and Rove have in common: Father problems. Bush thinks his Dad is a Northeastern effete spineless wussie (one of the few things we may agree on), and the debacle in Iraq is at least partially the fallout of the Little Boy Trying to Kill his Daddy Demons. Maybe Rove attacks gay folks for the same reason,

But, Lord, if they need therapy, please get them the hell out of the White House and into some therapy.

Remember: Disney/ABC claims that "Path to 9/11" is BASED on the 9/11 Commission's findings.

“As we were watching, we were trying to think how they could have misinterpreted the 9/11 commission’s finding the way that they had. They gave the impression that Clinton had not given the green light to an operation that had been cleared by the C.I.A. to kill bin Laden,” when, in fact, the Sept. 11 commission concluded that Mr. Clinton had." - Richard Ben Veniste

Don't forget:

9/11 Commission, April 13, 2004

RICHARD BEN-VENISTE, COMMISSION MEMBER: Good afternoon, gentlemen. Mr. Pickard, on January 21st of this year you met with our staff. Is that correct?

THOMAS PICKARD, FORMER ACTING DIRECTOR, FBI: That's correct.

BEN-VENISTE: And according to our staff report, you told them that in June 2001, you met with Attorney General Ashcroft and he told you that you would be the acting FBI director.

PICKARD: That's correct.

BEN-VENISTE: You had some seven or eight meetings with the attorney general?

PICKARD: Somewhere in that number. I have the exact number, but I don't know the total.

BEN-VENISTE: And according to the statement that our staff took from you, you said that you would start each meeting discussing either counterterrorism or counterintelligence. At the same time the threat level was going up and was very high. Mr. Watson had come to you and said that the CIA was very concerned that there would be an attack. You said that you told the attorney general this fact repeatedly in these meetings. Is that correct?

PICKARD: I told him at least on two occasions.

BEN-VENISTE: And you told the staff according to this statement that Mr. Ashcroft told you that he did not want to hear about this anymore. Is that correct?

PICKARD: That is correct.

They are overreaching again.

I think that with "Path to 9/11" the right-wing propagandist may have made a big mistake.

Yes, they are spreading lies. But they are OBVIOUSLY spreading lies, and there is no way for any normal news organization to mention this without ALSO mentioning the questionable accuracy of what ABC is spreading.

So you know what the silver lining is? That crap about "Bill Clinton was offered Osama Bin Laden on a silver platter and didn't want him" has been floating around cyberspace and right-wing talk radio for 5 years. It's false, but many people don't KNOW that. It has largely gone unchallenged by major media outlets BECAUSE it's only been floating around cyberspace and right-wing talk radio, and hasn't been PART of the major media. But the lie still got out there, and lot of people have heard the lie, but have never heard that it WAS a lie.

But by breaching that wall, ABC is FORCING the major media to mention it, and therefore they are ALSO forcing to point out that the charge is FALSE.

So now, for the first time in five years, many, many people who have ONLY heard the crap about how "Bill Clinton was offered Osama Bin Laden on a silver platter and didn't want him" will now hear for the first time that that was a lie, and that that was an attempt by the right-wing to play partisan politics with an attack on the United States of America.

This is getting weird

In a truly BIZARRE action, ABC has apparently refused to provide Bill Clinton and Madeleine Albright with copies of Path to 9/11. They have provided copies to Rush Limbaugh and right-wing bloggers, but NOT the President of the United States who actions are depicted in the movie.

From Albright's letter:

While I have requested a copy of the broadcast, I have yet to receive one. I have been informed by some who had been given the right to view the broadcast that the drama depicts scenes that never happened, events that never took place, decisions that were never made and conversations that never occurred; it asserts as fact things that are not fact.

For example, one scene apparently portrays me as refusing to support a missile strike against bin Laden without first alerting the Pakistanis; it further asserts that I notified the Pakistanis of the strike over the objections of our military. Neither of these assertions is true. In fact, the 9/11 commission reports states (page 117), “Since the missiles headed for Afghanistan had had to cross Pakistan, the Vice Chairman of the Joint Chiefs was sent to meet with Pakistan’s army chief of staff to assure him the missiles were not coming from India. Officials in Washington speculated that one or another Pakistani official might have sent a warning to the Taliban or Bin Ladin.”

Anti-Terrorism offical blasts ABC special

Via Think Progress, from last night's Scarborough Country

SCARBOROUGH: Roger, let me begin with you. There are points of this docudrama that are more drama than fact. But talk about Bill Clinton and the central premise by ABC that he should have done more to get Bin Laden.

ROGER CRESSY (a top counterterrorism official to Bush II and Clinton): Joe, it’s amazing, based on what I’ve seen so far is how much they’ve gotten wrong.They got the small stuff wrong such as Khalid Sheikh Mohammed instructing Ahmed Rassam to carry out the millenium attacks. Then they got the big stuff wrong, this fantasy about how we had a CIA officer and the Northern Alliance leader Ahmed Massoud looking at Bin Laden and they breathlessly call the White House to say we need to take him out and the White House said no. I mean it’s sheer fantasy. So, if they want to critique the Clinton administration and the Bush administration, based on fact, I think that’s fine. But what ABC has done here is something straight out of Disney and fantasyland. It’s factually wrong. And that’s shameful.

I guess that's what they mean by "the liberal media": lying for the sake of spreading right-wing propanganda.

Anti-Terrorism offical blasts ABC special

Via Think Progress, from last night's Scarborough Country

SCARBOROUGH: Roger, let me begin with you. There are points of this docudrama that are more drama than fact. But talk about Bill Clinton and the central premise by ABC that he should have done more to get Bin Laden.

ROGER CRESSY (a top counterterrorism official to Bush II and Clinton): Joe, it’s amazing, based on what I’ve seen so far is how much they’ve gotten wrong.They got the small stuff wrong such as Khalid Sheikh Mohammed instructing Ahmed Rassam to carry out the millenium attacks. Then they got the big stuff wrong, this fantasy about how we had a CIA officer and the Northern Alliance leader Ahmed Massoud looking at Bin Laden and they breathlessly call the White House to say we need to take him out and the White House said no. I mean it’s sheer fantasy. So, if they want to critique the Clinton administration and the Bush administration, based on fact, I think that’s fine. But what ABC has done here is something straight out of Disney and fantasyland. It’s factually wrong. And that’s shameful.

I guess that's what they mean by "the liberal media": lying for the sake of spreading right-wing propanganda.

When lies are all you have, you tell lies.

Iggy Junior has a post up where he points out - accurately - that the pundits will use the anniversary of 9/11 as a call for "unity" - by which they mean "Shut up and stop criticizing Bush." While the Republicans use the same anniversary to use Bill Clinton as a whipping boy, and that's just fine.

You have probably heard that ABC intends to run a phony "documentary" called "Path to 9/11" ON 9/11 - a phony documentary whose purpose seems to be to repeat right-wing lies and blame Bill Clinton for 9/11.

AMERICAblog (good posts here and here, but browse the whole blog) and firedoglake own the story, including phone numbers to call and who to email, in a fine activist attempt to blogflood the sons of bitches and make them curse the day of their birth. A worthy and noble cause, and I made some phone calls to today, and encourage you to do the same.

But you will hear, repeated ad nauseam, the phony idea that Bill Clinton is somehow responsible for 9/11. And you will hear it a LOT in the coming weeks. In response, first, may I refer you to the very first post I ever made on this blog?

And second, the following is a handy pocket guide when any right wingers tries to blame Bill Clinton and says "First-WTC-Attack-Cole-Kyber-Towers-Embassy-Bombings" to you (some of this is my writing, and some is cyberspace boilerplate):

Here is only part of the Clinton anti-terrorism record:

- Developed the nation's first anti-terrorism policy, and appointed first national coordinator of anti-terrorist efforts.

- Stopped cold the Al Qaeda millennium bombing plot.

- Tried to kill Osama bin Laden and disrupt Al Qaeda through preemptive strikes, which efforts were denounced by the G.O.P.

- Brought perpetrators of first World Trade Center bombing and CIA killings to justice.

- Did not blame Bush I administration for first World Trade Center bombing. Instead, worked hard, even obsessively -- and successfully -- to stop future terrorist attacks.

-Named the Hart-Rudman commission to report on nature of terrorist threats and major steps to be taken to combat terrorism.

Here, in stark contrast, is part of the Bush-Cheney anti-terrorism record before September 11, 2001:

- Backed off Clinton administration's anti-terrorism efforts.

- Shelved Hart-Rudman report.

- Appointed new anti-terrorism task force under Dick Cheney. Group did not even meet before 9/11.

- Called for cuts in anti-terrorism efforts by the Department of Defense.

- Gave no priority to anti-terrorism efforts by Justice Department.

- Ignored warnings from Sandy Berger and Louis Freeh about the urgency of terrorist threats.

- Halted Predator drone tracking of Osama bin Laden.

- Did nothing in wake of August 6 C.I.A. report to president saying Al Qaeda attack almost certain.

- By failing to order any coordination of intelligence data, missed opportunity to stop the 9/11 plot as Clinton had stopped the millennium plot.

-Blamed Clinton for 9/11.

In a nutshell: 1) Clinton created the first anti-terrorism task force in American history. Bush defunded it. 2) Clinton named the Hart-Rudman commission to report on nature of terrorist threats and major steps to be taken to combat terrorism. That report seemed prophetic. It was delivered to Bush and he shelved it. 2) Clinton instituted Predator Drone Tracking of Osama Bin Laden. Bush ended it.

Before 9/11, George W. Bush ended Clinton's executive order stopping all aid and trade to the Taliban for harboring bin Laden. Whereas Clinton ended ALL aid, on May 22, 2001, the press reported that the Bush adminstration had given the Taliban 43 million dollars.

The first attack on the WTC occurred when Clinton was in office only 36 days. Unlike now, the perpetrators of the first attack on the WTC were found, captured and are all in custody. And unlike now, Clinton didn't try and blame his predecessor. He just took care of it.

The bombers of the Cole were identified on December 20, 2000. Bill Clinton had less than 30 days left in office. He delivered a full report on terroism to Bush's transition team, and Bush ignored everything Clinton said.

In 1996, a truck exploded outside the Khobar Towers Apartment Complex, which was housing American military personnel in Saudi Arabia. It killed 19 American and wounded about 300 other people. The Saudi Officials - you know, George W. Bush's best friends - refused to allow the FBI to question any suspects. And those who have been indicted are EVEN NOW being kept in Saudi custody, outside of the reach of the American Criminal Justice System.

The last communication about terrorism from the Bush adminstration before September 11th was dated September 10th, 2001. It was from John Ashcroft, and it denied additional funds to fight terrorism.

Run away! Run away!

"But on a day considered the launching point of the fall election season, Maryland's top two Republicans -- Gov. Robert L. Ehrlich and Lt. Gov. Michael S. Steele -- did not appear with the president in the St. Mary's County town. Their absence quickly became political fodder for Democrats, who accused the Republican officeholders of dodging the unpopular president even as they allow him to raise money for Ehrlich's bid for reelection and Steele's campaign for the U.S. Senate." - Washington Post

Gee, I wonder what the new right-wing buzzword is?

"From homeland security to national security to border security, House Republicans will focus first and foremost on addressing the safety and security needs of the American people throughout the month of September." - House Majority Leader John A. Boehner

When the Republicans use the word "security" over and over again, the Democrats should ask why the hell the borders aren't guarded, and why the hell incoming cargo isn't searched.

The usual problem with Republicans: "Security" is just a word to be repeated, and they have no intention of actually DOING anything else.

Those damned liberal professors

I think Bush should nominate the President of Iran as his next pick for the Supreme Court.

Iran's Ahmadinejad Calls for Purge of Liberal Teachers

TEHRAN, Iran — Iran's hard-line president Mahmoud Ahmadinejad called Tuesday for a purge of liberal and secular teachers from the country's universities, the official Islamic Republic News Agency reported in another step back to 1980s-style radicalism.

"Today, students should shout at the president and ask why liberal and secular university lecturers are present in the universities," the agency quoted Ahmadinejad as saying during a meeting with a group of students.

I understand that he also has been offered a job as a commentator on FOX news.

Vets slam Bush

From a group called "Vote Vets":

Iraq Vets Slam Administration for "Fascist" Language

NEW YORK - Iraq veterans today blasted the Administration for its recent rhetoric on the war in Iraq. Republican Senior Advisor to VoteVets.org, Sam Schultz, who served in Iraq and Afghanistan, released the following statement:

"I am a proud Republican, who ran for my party's nomination for Congress in Indiana, because I believe in traditional values.

I also believe we need to be vigilant in defending America. That is why I feel I must speak out about the Administration's recent contention that the war in Iraq is part of the fight against "Islamic fascism."

First, we are not fighting an enemy that fits the definition of fascist, nor does Iraq resemble anything close to Hitler's Germany or Mussolini's Italy. Second,I do not believe the war in Iraq has furthered our war against radical Islamism. I can attest to the fact that after my time in Iraq, when I served in Afghanistan, we did not have enough people on the ground there to secure the border with Pakistan, and as a result, many terrorists slipped through our grasp, most likely including Osama bin Laden.

Because we have so many troops committed in Iraq, not only have we failed to bring those who did us harm on 9/11 to justice, but Iran has continued to pursue a nuclear program. Our preoccupation with Iraq, and this administration's unwillingness to devise a victory plan for that war, has reduced us to a paper tiger in the eyes of the Iranians. They do not fear military action against them, because they know we are too overextended to wage an effective battle with them.

The only way to combat the threat of Islamic radicalism around the world, and protect America, is to draw up a plan for victory in Iraq, which will allow for our troops to redeploy from the region as quickly and safely as possible. This will show Muslims there that we are dedicated to providing them the very things they want - a flourishing, free, and independent nation. Then, and only then, can we recommit our forces to an all-out manhunt for the head of Osama bin Laden, and offer a real deterrent towards the further development of a nuclear Iran.

Until the administration realizes this, the lives of every American are at grave risk."

VoteVets.org is the only political action committee headed by veterans of the war in Iraq, to benefit the campaigns of other Iraq and Afghanistan veterans running for public office. VoteVets.org also holds accountable those public officials whose words and actions adversely affect our troops and veterans.

It's Friday

And W.C. Fields juggles.

A plea for allowing sanity into the debate:

Criticize Israel? You're an Anti-Semite.