Wednesday, May 31, 2006
Life is good
A new Dixie Chicks CD: $16.95
A copy of Billboard Magazine showing the CD debuting at #1: $4.95
A bunch of right-wingers bursting the blood vessels in their necks from sheer rage:
Priceless.
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Dixie Chicks #1
Which should REALLY piss off the hate-mongers who tried to destroy their career for the crime of speaking their minds.
Good.
The Dixie Chicks 
May 31, 2006, 10:55 AM ET
For the third time in their career, the Dixie Chicks roost on the top of The Billboard 200. The Columbia album "Taking the Long Way" tallied 526,000 copies in its first week of U.S. sales, according to Nielsen SoundScan, the trio's best-selling week since 2002's "Home" debuted with 780,000.
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Keep talking, Al
Guardian UK - Al Gore has made his sharpest attack yet on the George Bush presidency, describing the current US administration as "a renegade band of rightwing extremists".
You know, I really, REALLY want to lambaste Gore for not growing any balls until AFTER Bush took power. If he had had some back in 2000, this whole disaster might not have happened,
But I won't. Keep talking, Al.
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Then he should be very happy in THIS White House
NEW YORK, May 30 -- Treasury Secretary nominee Henry M. Paulson Jr. is often described as the kind of guy who thrives in a crisis.
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Roadside Bombs?
You know, some right-wingers are say that we don't actually know that the executions in Haditha were done by American soldiers.
Well, if they didn't do it, why did they lie about it?
Files Contradict Account of Raid in Iraq
WASHINGTON, May 30 — A military investigator uncovered evidence in February and March that contradicted repeated claims by marines that Iraqi civilians killed in Haditha last November were victims of a roadside bomb, according to a senior military official in Iraq.
Among the pieces of evidence that conflicted with the marines' story were death certificates that showed all the Iraqi victims had gunshot wounds, mostly to the head and chest, the official said.
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A band-aid on a hemmorhage
BAGHDAD (Reuters) - Some 1,500 more U.S. troops have arrived in Iraq to help with the war against Sunni Arab rebels, including al Qaeda Islamist militants, in the western desert province of Anbar, the military said on Tuesday.
I don't think that even the delusional morons in this administration can possibly believe that 1,500 more troops is going to do a damned thing.
What's sad is that they probably DO think that it's a good PR move. They can't even do THAT right anymore.
And why the hell aren't 1500 IRAQI troops being brought in instead?
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But why don't the media talk about the GOOD news?
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Tuesday, May 30, 2006
Holy Crap
Iraq's new ambassador to the United States, Samir Sumaidaie, just accused the United States of killing his cousin. On purpose. Unnecessarily. Right after meeting Bush.
The new Iraqi ambassador to the United States has accused US Marines of "intentionally" killing a cousin in the Iraqi town of Haditha last year.
Speaking only hours after presenting his credentials to President George W Bush at the White House, Ambassador Samir al-Sumaidaie said his relative was shot dead five months before the killing of 24 civilians in the town in November that is now the subject of a controversial inquiry.
The ambassador told how Mohammed al-Sumaidaie, a 21-year-old engineering student, was killed after opening the door of the family house to US Marines on June 25.
"I believe he was killed intentionally. I believe he was killed unnecessarily," Mr Sumaidaie said on CNN television.
"The Marines were doing house-to-house searches, and they went into the house of my cousin. He opened the door for them. His mother, his siblings were there. He let them into the bedroom of his father, and there he was shot."
Here's the transcript from CNN.
BLITZER: But even months before the incident in November, you lost a cousin at Haditha in a separate battle involving United States Marines.
SUMAIDAIE: Well, that was not a battle at all. Marines were doing house-to-house searches, and they went into the house of my cousin. He opened the door for them.
His mother, his siblings were there. He led them into the bedroom of his father. And there he was shot.
BLITZER: Who shot him?
SUMAIDAIE: A member of the Marines.
BLITZER: Why did they shoot him?
SUMAIDAIE: Well, they said that they shot him in self-defense. I find that hard to believe because, A, he is not at all a violent -- I mean, I know the boy. He was [in] a second-year engineering course in the university. Nothing to do with violence. All his life has been studies and intellectual work.
Totally unbelievable. And, in fact, they had no weapon in the house. They had one weapon which belonged to the school where his father was a headmaster. And it had no ammunition in it. And he led them into the room to show it to them.
BLITZER: So what you're suggesting, your cousin was killed in cold blood, is that what you're saying, by United States Marines?
SUMAIDAIE: I believe he was killed intentionally. I believe that he was killed unnecessarily. And unfortunately, the investigations that took place after that sort of took a different course and concluded that there was no unlawful killing.
I would like further investigation. I have, in fact, asked for the report of the last investigation, which was a criminal investigation, by the way.
[Gen. George Casey, the top U.S. commander in Iraq] is aware of all the details, because he's kept on top of it. And it was he who rejected the conclusions of the first investigation. I have since asked formally for the report, but it's been nearly two months, and I have not received it.
BLITZER: Did you raise these concerns you had with the president today when you were at the White House presenting your credentials?
SUMAIDAIE: No, I did not, because I did not want to bring a personal note into a much wider brief that I have here.
This is astonishing. It is absolutely unbelievable that an ambassador from a country which we OCCUPY would say something like that, in public, in an accusatory fashion, just hours after meeting the President.
Either this guy is so angry at the U.S. that he just does not give a crap about offending us anymore, or - in the wake of Abu Ghraib and Haditha - he considers it far more important and wise to appeal to anti-American sentiment in his own country than to placate US.
This does NOT say good things about our future there.
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Snow-white lie
Bush is caught in one more lie, via Think Progress:
On May 25th, President Bush said that Treasury Secretary John Snow had not given him any indication that he was leaving soon:
PRESIDENT BUSH: Secretary of Treasury Snow?
Q Has he given you any indication he intends to leave his job any time soon?…
PRESIDENT BUSH: No, he has not talked to me about resignation. I think he’s doing a fine job.
In fact, not only had Snow indicated he was leaving, President Bush had already settled on his replacement. Today, Tony Snow said that Hank Paulson was offered the job on May 20 and accepted a day later:
QUESTION: Do you have any tick tock on the Paulson…
SNOW: Yes. The tick tock is the two of them met on the 20th of May and there was a conversation. And Hank Paulson accepted the job a day later. That was subject to clearance. It does take time, especially for a Senate confirmable position, to complete those. So it did take time to get some of those clearances wrapped up.
The apologists, of course, will deny that THAT'S a lie, too. Being a Bushite requires heaping doses of denial.
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One Snow at a time
Tony Snow is in as Press Secretary, so John Snow is out as Treasury Secretary.
That's my theory: poor George would be confused by having two guys around named "Snow," and they want to minimize his befuddlement.
Not that it will help: "How come Snow is still here? I thought we got rid of Snow!"
"That's a different Snow, Mr. President."
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Iraq Coalition Casualties
Military Fatalities: By Time Period
Period US UK Other* Total Avg Days 5 313 15 8 336 2.02 166 4 715 13 18 746 2.35 318 3 579 25 27 631 2.92 216 2 718 27 58 803 1.89 424 1 140 33 0 173 4.02 43 Total 2465 113 111 2689 2.3 1167
Time Periods Defined
Iraqi Security Forces and Civilian Deaths Period Total May-06 1002 Apr-06 1010 Mar-06 1094 Feb-06 846 Jan-06 780
Iraqi Security Forces and Civilian Deaths Details
Note: This is an estimate based on news reports. This is not a definitive count.
U.S. Deaths Confirmed By The DoD: 2464 Reported U.S. Deaths Pending DoD Confirmation: 1 Total 2465
DoD Confirmation List Latest Coalition Fatality: May 29, 2006
Military Fatalities: By Month Period US UK Other* Total Avg Days 5-2006 61 9 1 71 2.37 30 4-2006 76 1 5 82 2.73 30 3-2006 31 0 2 33 1.06 31 2-2006 55 3 0 58 2.07 28 1-2006 62 2 0 64 2.06 31 12-2005 68 0 0 68 2.19 31 11-2005 84 1 1 86 2.87 30 10-2005 96 2 1 99 3.19 31 9-2005 49 3 0 52 1.73 30 8-2005 85 0 0 85 2.74 31 7-2005 54 3 1 58 1.87 31 6-2005 78 1 4 83 2.77 30 5-2005 80 2 6 88 2.84 31 4-2005 52 0 0 52 1.73 30 3-2005 35 1 3 39 1.26 31 2-2005 58 0 2 60 2.14 28 1-2005 107 10 10 127 4.1 31 12-2004 72 1 3 76 2.45 31 11-2004 137 4 0 141 4.7 30 10-2004 63 2 2 67 2.16 31 9-2004 80 3 4 87 2.9 30 8-2004 66 4 5 75 2.42 31 7-2004 54 1 3 58 1.87 31 6-2004 42 1 7 50 1.67 30 5-2004 80 0 4 84 2.71 31 4-2004 135 0 5 140 4.67 30 3-2004 52 0 0 52 1.68 31 2-2004 20 1 2 23 0.79 29 1-2004 47 5 0 52 1.68 31 12-2003 40 0 8 48 1.55 31 11-2003 82 1 27 110 3.67 30 10-2003 44 1 2 47 1.52 31 9-2003 31 1 1 33 1.1 30 8-2003 35 6 2 43 1.39 31 7-2003 48 1 0 49 1.58 31 6-2003 30 6 0 36 1.2 30 5-2003 37 4 0 41 1.32 31 4-2003 74 6 0 80 2.67 30 3-2003 65 27 0 92 7.67 12 Total 2465 113 111 2689 2.3 1168
Missing or Captured: US Casualties By Calendar Year Year US Deaths US Wounded 2003 486 2409 2004 848 7992 2005 846 5945 2006 285 1523 Total 2465 17869
*Other Coalition Countries: Country Total Australia 2 Bulgaria 13 Denmark 3 El Salvador 2 Estonia 2 Hungary 1 Italy 31 Kazakhstan 1 Latvia 1 Netherlands 2 Poland 17 Romania 2 Slovakia 3 Spain 11 Thailand 2 Ukraine 18
Non Military Deaths: Journalists Killed in Iraq An Incomplete List of Contractors Killed in Iraq Iraqi Body Count (External Link)
US Wounded by Week Period Wnd-RTD Wounded 03-20-2003 thru 04-01-2003 115 426 04-02-2004 thru 01-02-2005 4565 4875 01-03-2005 thru 12-20-2005 3946 2228 12-21-2005 thru 04-Jan-06 121 53 05-Jan-06 thru 11-Jan-06 65 26 12-Jan-06 thru 18-Jan-06 35 17 19-Jan-06 thru 25-Jan-06 42 34 26-Jan-06 thru 01-Feb-06 34 24 02-Feb-06 thru 08-Feb-06 24 23 09-Feb-06 thru 15-Feb-06 60 29 16-Feb-06 thru 23-Feb-06 40 42 24-Feb-06 thru 01-Mar-06 54 28 02-Mar-06 thru 08-Mar-06 44 54 09-Mar-06 thru 15-Mar-06 67 53 16-Mar-06 thru 22-Mar-06 96 49 23-Mar-06 thru 28-Mar-06 86 26 29-Mar-06 thru 07-Apr-06 60 28 08-Apr-06 thru 11-Apr-06 37 43 12-Apr-06 thru 18-Apr-06 58 41 19-Apr-06 thru 25-Apr-06 76 38 26-Apr-06 thru 02-May-06 55 57 03-May-06 thru 10-May-06 64 45 11-May-06 thru 17-May-06 42 63 18-May-06 thru 25-May-06 54 42 Total 9840 8344
Wnd-RTD: Wounded in Action Return to Duty within 72 hours
Wnd: Wounded in Action Not Return to Duty within 72 hours
Totals updated weekly by the DoD
View Complete Weekly Report
Some of The Wounded... Wounded In Action According to The DoD Period Wounded Apr-2006 403 Mar-2006 494 Feb-2006 340 Jan-2006 286 Dec-2005 412 Nov-2005 400 Oct-2005 605 Sep-2005 545 Aug-2005 541 Jul-2005 476 Jun-2005 511 May-2005 575 Apr-2005 596 Mar-2005 371 Feb-2005 415 Jan-2005 498 Dec-2004 544 Nov-2004 1425 Oct-2004 648 Sep-2004 706 Aug-2004 895 Jul-2004 552 Jun-2004 589 May-2004 758 Apr-2004 1212 Mar-2004 324 Feb-2004 150 Jan-2004 189 Dec-2003 261 Nov-2003 336 Oct-2003 413 Sep-2003 247 Aug-2003 181 Jul-2003 226 Jun-2003 147 May-2003 55 Apr-2003 340 Mar-2003 203 Total 17869
Last update from the DoD: 29-Apr-06
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Sunday, May 28, 2006
"Most of all, political scribes have to take off their cynical lenses through which they view every moral challenge as political spin." - Al Gore
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Friday, May 26, 2006
Regrets
Just want to point that Bush talked about stuff he "regrets."
The only "regrets" he mentioned were PR moves that turned out badly.
It's Memorial Day Weekend, and it didn't even occur to him to "regret" the loss of 2462 American soldiers.
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FUBAR
You know what's pathetic? That Bush finally admits to making some mistake and - when faced with disaster on a monumental scale - will only admit to a few poorly chosen words.
Even if he DOES believe that a War in Iraq was a good idea (and sadly, I think he does), it is very obvious that the execution of it has been entirely botched.
They are trying to occupy a hostile area the size of California with a tiny force of 130,000 troops; they left the borders wide open so Al Qaeda could come in; they can't leave the green zone because it's too dangerous; and the terrorists have a new training ground and a new base of operations in the Middle East.
Not only has Bush not HURT the terrorists - he has GIVEN THEM NEW TERRITORY.
And not because of his words. Because of his actions.
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They still don't get it.
As you probably know, Bush and Blair had a press conference where they decided to try and stem the damage to their reputation by actually ADMITTING what everyone else has known for three years.
BUSH: Saying, "Bring it on"; kind of tough talk, you know, that sent the wrong signal to people. I learned some lessons about expressing myself maybe in a little more sophisticated manner, you know. "Wanted, dead or alive"; that kind of talk. I think in certain parts of the world it was misinterpreted. And so I learned from that
"Misinterpreted"? "Bring it on" was misinterpreted? It didn't actually mean "Bring it on"? Then what, exactly, was it supposed to mean? "Waiter, waiter, there's a fly in my soup"?
No, I think they interpreted it dead right - you were just a damned fool to say it.
And by the way, there was nothing wrong with saying "Osama Bin Laden, Dead or Alive." That's one of the few things you did right. The problem is it was JUST words, and you had no intention of following through, even while you said it.
Regarding his trip to Baghdad, Blair said, "I came away thinking the challenge is still immense, but I also came away more certain than ever that we should rise to it."
Blair added, "I think it's easy to go back over mistakes that we may have made, but the biggest reason why Iraq has been difficult is the determination by our opponents to defeat us."
They started a war without figuring that our opponents would be determined to defeat us.
What did they think our opponents would do? Invite us in for tea?
Are these people total ignoramuses? I don't give a crap how right you think you are - If you kick in someone's door and come at them, they are going to try and defeat you. Duh.
Holy crap.
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Wednesday, May 24, 2006
The Chicks
I don't know how many fans they've lost, but they've gained at least one new one.
Check out their performance on Letterman. Courtesy of crooks and liars.
God bless 'em.
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Pat Robertson
Why does this clown still have a following?
Pat Robertson's Age-Defying Shake
Did you know that Pat Robertson can leg-press 2000 pounds! How does he do it?
One of Pat's secrets to keeping his energy high and his vitality soaring is his age-defying protein shake. Pat developed a delicious, refreshing shake, filled with energy-producing nutrients.
70 years old. Leg presses 2000 pounds. From drinking a SHAKE.
Never mind that it's WAY beyond the existing record.
Pathetic.
Via AMERICAblog
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Tuesday, May 23, 2006
I thought I'd use my tiny little megaphone to draw attention to an editorial by radio legend Pete Fornatale on the state of the radio.
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Of course not. God forbid, I might learn something.
President says he's unlikely to watch documentary on global warming
WASHINGTON - Is President Bush likely to see Al Gore’s documentary about global warming?
“Doubt it,” Bush said coolly Monday.
But Bush should watch it, Gore shot back. In fact, the former Democratic vice president offered to come to the White House any time, any day to show Bush either his documentary or a slide show on global warming that he’s shown more than 1,000 times around the world.
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No shit, Sherlock
Panel: Legislators Shouldn't Work Drunk
SALEM, Ore. (AP) -- Oregon legislators and staff members should not be drunk while performing their official duties, a citizen panel says.
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Monday, May 22, 2006
AT&T Sold Your Ass to the Government
Wired Magazine has a full expose on the NSA spying scandal from Whistle-Blower Mark Klein's class-action lawsuit.
In 2003 AT&T built "secret rooms" hidden deep in the bowels of its central offices in various cities, housing computer gear for a government spy operation which taps into the company's popular WorldNet service and the entire internet. These installations enable the government to look at every individual message on the internet and analyze exactly what people are doing. Documents showing the hardwire installation in San Francisco suggest that there are similar locations being installed in numerous other cities.
The physical arrangement, the timing of its construction, the government-imposed secrecy surrounding it and other factors all strongly suggest that its origins are rooted in the Defense Department's Total Information Awareness (TIA) program...
Read the article. ALL of the Documents are in pdf format here.
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Take a look at this remarkable email exchange between Rumsfeld's Spokesman, Larry (a.k.a. Curly Joe) Dirita, and War Correspondent Joe Galloway. This is remarkable, and Galloway deserves a medal.
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Sunday, May 21, 2006
Why does this not surprise me?
Cut taxes for the multi-millionaires.
And INCREASE them for TEEN-AGERS.
The $69 billion tax cut bill that President Bush signed this week tripled tax rates for teenagers with college savings funds, despite Mr. Bush's 1999 pledge to veto any tax increase.
Under the new law, teenagers age 14 to 17 with investment income will now be taxed at the same rate as their parents, not at their own rates. Long-term capital gains and dividends that had been taxed at 5 percent will now be taxed at 15 percent. Interest that had been taxed at 10 percent will now be taxed at as much as 35 percent.
It is really hard to believe how brazen these people are in their greed and elitism. The contempt that they feel for ordinary Americans is palpable. Not only do they screw people - they do it right in your face, and think you won't notice.
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Thursday, May 18, 2006
Illegal is more fun
According to Baltimore Sun, the NSA developed a program for the purpose of analyzing communication data in the late 1990. Unlike what they are doing now, the old program was legal and protected the privacy of Americans - and worked better.
They rejected it in favor of a system that was illegal, unnecessarily intrusive and didn't work so good.
But if you're Bush, you ALWAYS prefer the option that's illegal, intrusive and innefficient. I honestly think it gives the man the sort of rush that a teenager gets when he gets away with something.
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Rover defends his owner
"The American people like this president. His personal approval ratings are in the 60s. Job approval is lower. And what that says to me is that people like him, they respect him, he's somebody they feel a connection with, but they're just sour right now on the war. And that's the way it's going to be." - Karl Rove
Cognitive dissonance is what happens in the human brain when a human being is confronted with a fact which his preconceptions tell him cannot possibly be true.
Is Karl Rove - Bush's favorite Turdblossom and America's beloved pus-sack - becoming delusional?
His "personal approval" isn't anywhere NEAR the 60s and people DON'T like this President. (New York Times pdf poll here) In fact, his JOB approval is one percentage point HIGHER than his "personal approval. " He has more than 50% approval in exactly 3 states - Utah, Idaho and Wyoming. NOBODY approves of him, except a few whackjobs.
Polysigh put it best:
"As for Rove's comment that Bush would be popular but for the Iraq War, that's like saying that if it weren't for the Alps, Switzerland would be flat."
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Tuesday, May 16, 2006
The Constitutional Crisis that Walks like a Man.
The FBI has confirmed that they do, indeed, monitor reporters' phone calls.
Approximately one year ago, we were told that they did not need a warrant because they were only monitoring international calls.
Then, they said that, well, actually were monitoring SOME calls where one of the parties was domestic and one was international.
"If someone is calling Al Qaeda," said Bush, "we want to know why."
Which is interesting, because it implies that they know the terrorists' telephone numbers, which makes you wonder why they don't just round them up instead of collecting their phone bills.
Then they said that they sometimes they inadvertently listen to purely domestic calls.
Then they tell us - just this week - that, well, all that was bullshit. They have actually been collecting info on every single phone call made by every single American with almost no exceptions.
But OF COURSE we have nothing to worry about. We can trust THEM. Never mind the fact that they have lied about this again and again and again. We can trust them. They aren't actually listening in. It's for TERRORISM. So they say.
But you can't name a single terrorist who has been arrested in the last five years as a result of this spying. Not one.
And NOW, we find out that they AREN'T checking on terrorists - they are checking on reporters. They are using phone records to find out who reporters are using as sources. They are REALLY after anyone who makes them look bad by revealing the truth to the American People.
You would figure even the REPUBLICANS would wake up and realize that George W. Bush is a walking Constitutional Crisis who has to be stopped while we still have something that we can call "America" left. And they would, if they valued their nation more than their party.
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Monday, May 15, 2006
Push Back Poll
I said it was a push poll, and I was right.
From a Newsweek poll, released one day after the Washington Post Push Poll:
As you may know, there are reports that the NSA, a government intelligence agency, has been collecting the phone call records of Americans. The agency doesn't actually listen to the calls but logs in nearly every phone number to create a database of calls made within the United States. Which of the following comes CLOSER to your own view of this domestic surveillance program:
It is a necessary tool to combat terrorism -- 41
It goes too far in invading people’s privacy -- 53
Don’t know -- 6
Note that the question doesn't read like a apologia for data mining - as the Washington Post poll did.
But why was the Washington Post so anxious to release a poll that backed up the Bush administration's wishes on the same day that the news broke?
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Your tax dollars at work
You have to watch out for those Terrorist Anchormen:
Federal Source to ABC News: We Know Who You're Calling
Brian Ross and Richard Esposito Report:
A senior federal law enforcement official tells ABC News the government is tracking the phone numbers we (Brian Ross and Richard Esposito) call in an effort to root out confidential sources.
"It's time for you to get some new cell phones, quick," the source told us in an in-person conversation.
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Same script.
Ah. So His Incompetence is probably going to use the National Guard to patrol the border. He says it's "only temporary."
Temporary till when? Just after the 2006 elections?
This is typical. God forbid border patrol get done by actual border patrol. That would make sense. Instead, let's assume that the MILITARY doesn't have enough of a role.
The REAL problem is that Bush is too damned incompetent to deal with anything using civilian means - like SANE Presidents always have. Instead, he turns to the military as his tool of choice for absolutely everything.
And pardon me for wondering if President Codpiece isn't still trying to compensate for the cowardice and inadequacy that he showed during Vietnam. Using OTHER people's blood and sweat, of course.
So he will get to dress up in a uniform, strut around, use jeeps and tanks and helicopters and all sorts of neat stuff, and basically play war in a place where there isn't one, and it will make for a great photo-op. He'll get his picture taken with a helicopter. Look, mommy! Don't I look cool?
God, I wish we had a President who was a frigging grown-up, instead of one who is stuck in adolescence and makes America suffer so he can feel impressive.
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Sunday, May 14, 2006
Ooops.
I posted the info from Jason Leopold (of truthout) that Rove had been indicted. Not WOULD be - HAD been. I think we would have heard something by now. I guess Leopold's source isn't all that reliable, and it's the last time I post something unsubstantiated from truthout.
Here's hoping that Leopold proves to be right a bit too early anyway.
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Saturday, May 13, 2006
Sue the bastards.
If you own stock in any phone companies, it's time to sell short. They could lose billions in class-action lawsuits, and lose MORE money from an exodus of customers.
Two suits have already been filed.
Verizon Sued for Giving NSA Phone Records Attorneys Bruce Afran and Carl Mayer filed the lawsuit Friday afternoon in federal district court in Manhattan, where Verizon is headquartered.
The lawsuit asks the court to stop Verizon from turning over any more records to the NSA without a warrant or consent of the subscriber.
"This is the largest and most vast intrusion of civil liberties we've ever seen in the United States," Afran said of the NSA program.
The lawsuit seeks $1,000 for each violation of the Telecommunications Act, or $5 billion if the case is certified as class-action.
And this is a DIFFERENT one:
Verizon Faces New $20B Suit over NSA Spying Complicity
Upping the ante in what may be a high-stakes legal battle, an Upstate New York lawyer filed a $20 billion class-action lawsuit against Verizon last week, charging that the company violated customer confidentiality in aiding warrantless eavesdropping by a federal spy agency.
Here's the tally of who has and has not violated the privacy of American citizens:
Verizon (land-line), AT&T, and BellSouth have all behaved in a fundamentally Unamerican manner.
On the other hand, Qwest is the only large landline carrier that refused to complied with the Bush's fascist requests. If you have one of the other three, switch to Qwest.
Cellular phones seem largely clean. Verizon Wireless, T-Mobile, Virgin Mobile and Cox all say that they have not provided their records to anyone.
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Fitzmas?
Truthout now says that Rove has BEEN indicted, but I don't see it in the tradition media.
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Shocked
The NSA Whistleblower says that people are going to be shocked.
[Tice] said he plans to tell the committee staffers the NSA conducted illegal and unconstitutional surveillance of U.S. citizens while he was there with the knowledge of Hayden. … “I think the people I talk to next week are going to be shocked when I tell them what I have to tell them. It’s pretty hard to believe,” Tice said.
I won't be shocked, but it's about time the country got shocked.
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Friday, May 12, 2006
According to truthout, Rove has told the White House that he will be indicted.
Within the last week, Karl Rove told President Bush and Chief of Staff Joshua Bolten, as well as a few other high level administration officials, that he will be indicted in the CIA leak case and will immediately resign his White House job when the special counsel publicly announces the charges against him, according to sources.
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Raid kills roaches dead.
The FBI has raided the home of Dusty Foggo (NOT the name of a fictional character). The guy who just resigned as the #3 man in the CIA.
I wonder why Goss REALLY resigned. This CAN'T be a coincidence.
Move along, folks, nothing to see here....
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Push poll
You may have read - and been shocked - by reports that a poll says that 2/3rds of Americans have no problem with the Bush administration mining phone calls.
Here is the actual question:
It's been reported that the National Security Agency has been collecting the phone call records of tens of millions of Americans. It then analyzes calling patterns in an effort to identify possible terrorism suspects, without listening to or recording the conversations. Would you consider this an acceptable or unacceptable way for the federal government to investigate terrorism? Do you feel that way strongly or somewhat?
Note that the question itself ASSUMES that the act is benign, and states things as fact that WE DON'T KNOW (such as that conversations are not listened to or recorded). The question is framed in terms of fighting terrorism, falsifies the known facts, fails to mention the questionable legality, and was obviously thrown together on the fly. For many poll respondents, this was probably the first time they HEARD about it.
This is a push poll.
And I suspect that other polls released in the coming days will show very different results.
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Today?
Tweetybird Matthews thinks Rove might be indicted today.
From Imus this morning"
Transcript:
MATTHEWS: If, however, something happens with Karl Rove, we’re going to go to general quarters around here.
IMUS: What does that mean?
MATTHEWS: Meaning we will be taping probably on Saturday or late night because everything will change. Last time, when he picked up Scooter, when he nailed him 30 years of charges, that happened on 1:00 on a Friday. So we don’t know when it might happen, if it’s going happen.
IMUS: Are we expecting something with Karl Rove today?
MATTHEWS: Well, it could be today. It could be next week. Everybody is buzzing about when or if. It’s a big if, big when. There is a lot of talk because he is still being interviewing by the special prosecutor. He keeps being hauled before the grand jury. So something is going on here with the special prosecutor. We don’t know whether he is going to clear him or nail him.
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GENEVA (Reuters) - The United States has again refused the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) access to terrorism suspects held in secret detention centers, the humanitarian agency said on Friday.
Isn't it interesting that the whole motto of this administration is "If you have done nothing wrong, you have nothing to hide"?
Explains why they hide everything.
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Headline says it all
Bush denies spying infringes on privacy
Roll THAT phrase around in your head a few times.
Lewis Carroll wishes HE had thought of that one, I'm sure
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Thursday, May 11, 2006
Gonzales Lied
As surely as weasels are weasels.
From the Muckraker:
Did Gonzales Mislead Congress about NSA Program?
By Paul Kiel - May 11, 2006, 2:32 PM
Reacting to today's news that the NSA is "amassing information about the calls of ordinary Americans," Reps. Bennie G. Thompson (D-MS) and Rep. Zoe Lofgren (D-CA) have put out a statement questioning the legality of the program.
Their statement contains this: "when the Attorney General was forced to testify before the House Judiciary Committee a few weeks ago, he misled the Committee about the existence of the program."
Here's what they're referring to. On April 6, 2006, Attorney General Alberto Gonzales testified before the House Judiciary Committee, and in one exchange, Rep. Gerald Nadler (D-NY) tried to nail him down:
NADLER: Number two, can you assure us that there is no warrantless surveillance of calls between two Americans within the United States?
GONZALES: That is not what the president has authorized.
NADLER: Can you assure us that it's not being done?
GONZALES: As I indicated in response to an earlier question, no technology is perfect.
NADLER: OK.
GONZALES: We do have minimization procedures in place...
NADLER: But you're not doing that deliberately?
GONZALES: That is correct.
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"There's no doubt in my mind there are safeguards in place to make sure the program focuses on calls coming from outside the United States in, with an al Qaeda -- from a -- with a belief that there's an al Qaeda person making the call to somebody here in the States, or vice versa -- but not domestic calls." - Bush, 01/26/06.
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Bush lies some more
President Deer-In-The-Headlights decided to throw a little gasoline on the fire:
Facing intense criticism from Congress, President Bush did not confirm the work of the National Security Agency but sought to assure Americans that their privacy is being "fiercely protected."
"We are not mining or trolling through the personal lives of innocent Americans," Bush said before leaving for a commencement address at Mississippi Gulf Coast Community College in Biloxi.
Well, gee whiz, codpiece-for-brains, you ALSO said that you were only listening to INTERNATIONAL Communications. You ALSO said it was only a FEW HUNDRED.
Liar.
Every new story that comes out shows that the administration lied about the last story that came out but they say that we should believe them this time.
NOBODY is that gullible.
By the way, giving the White House info on yur phone calls was VOLUNTARY on the part of the phone companies. Qwest was the ONLY major carrier to refuse. So if you are with AT&T or Verizon, switch to Qwest. And call them and let them know why. DEMAND that they respect your privacy.
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It's all true
Everything you thought MIGHT be true IS.
NSA has massive database of Americans' phone calls
The National Security Agency has been secretly collecting the phone call records of tens of millions of Americans, using data provided by AT&T, Verizon and BellSouth, people with direct knowledge of the arrangement told USA TODAY.
The NSA program reaches into homes and businesses across the nation by amassing information about the calls of ordinary Americans — most of whom aren't suspected of any crime. This program does not involve the NSA listening to or recording conversations. But the spy agency is using the data to analyze calling patterns in an effort to detect terrorist activity, sources said in separate interviews.
For the customers of these companies, it means that the government has detailed records of calls they made — across town or across the country — to family members, co-workers, business contacts and others.
The sources would talk only under a guarantee of anonymity because the NSA program is secret.
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Wednesday, May 10, 2006
Colbert - SOMEBODY gets it.
Here's a great article from the TV Critic at the Chicago Sun-Times about Colbert's public evisceration of His Ignorance. This may be the only thing I have read in the mainstream press that actually understood the reaction to Colbert's speech.
How did Bush tickle reporters? He made fun of the fact that he can barely speak English (he is quite simply the worst communicator of all U.S. presidents), that our vice president is a heartless face-shooter, and that Bush is basically an idiot.
Ha ha, our "war president" knows he's a village idiot? To members of the White House press corps, that's some real funny stuff. To non-insiders, this looked like another example of good old boys and gals slapping each other on the back.
Colbert's routine was more remarkable for its unique and creative brazenness. He joked that Bush's presidency is like the Hindenburg; that Bush's wiretappers were monitoring this very event, and that the White House press corps, sitting in front of Colbert, gave Bush a free pass, scandal after scandal, until recently (when his polls numbers dropped).
How's this for a newsworthy lead? It was perhaps the first time in Bush's tenure that the president was forced to sit and listen to any American cite the litany of criminal and corruption allegations that have piled up against his administration. And mouth-tense Bush and first lady Laura Bush fled as soon as possible afterward.
From whom were they fleeing? A star comedian pretending to be a Fox News-like blowhard doing a sort of performance art that America hasn't witnessed nationally since the days of Andy Kaufman. Even if Colbert's bit had been reported as a train wreck, that would have sufficed. Instead, shocking lines like the following were barely covered by any traditional organ except industry magazine Editor & Publisher: "I stand by" Bush, Colbert cracked, "because he stands for things. Not only for things, he stands on things. Things like aircraft carriers and rubble, and recently flooded city squares. And that sends a strong message that no matter what happens to America, she will always rebound with the most powerfully staged photo ops in the world."
For TV reporters in particular to quote that gruesome line would be an agreement with Colbert, that they helped Bush mix politics with corruption from the ashes of 9/11 ("aircraft carriers and rubble"), and failed to see through Bush's politicization of the drowning of an American city after a hurricane ("recently flooded city squares").
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Brownie, you're doing a heckuva job.
The question isn't "Why do only 31% still support these incompetents" - the question is, "why the hell is it still that high?"
WASHINGTON — Hours after Hurricane Katrina hit, former FEMA director Michael Brown dismissed reports that floodwaters had breached New Orleans' levees, and he obsessed over media coverage of his agency, according to newly released e-mails.
At one point early that morning, Brown reported to an aide that he was "sitting in the chair, putting mousse in my hair" while waiting for media interviews to begin.
What total dicks.
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Poll vault
(CBS) President Bush and the Republican Congress show nearly record low ratings while Democrats are viewed much more favorably in their performance on the issues that matter most to Americans, according to the latest CBS News/New York Times poll.
Well, that just great. You think - maybe - the Democrats MIGHT just stop acting like their afraid that challenging thi clown will hurt them?
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A copy of Billboard Magazine showing the CD debuting at #1: $4.95
A bunch of right-wingers bursting the blood vessels in their necks from sheer rage:
Priceless.
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Dixie Chicks #1
Which should REALLY piss off the hate-mongers who tried to destroy their career for the crime of speaking their minds.
Good.
The Dixie Chicks
May 31, 2006, 10:55 AM ET
For the third time in their career, the Dixie Chicks roost on the top of The Billboard 200. The Columbia album "Taking the Long Way" tallied 526,000 copies in its first week of U.S. sales, according to Nielsen SoundScan, the trio's best-selling week since 2002's "Home" debuted with 780,000.
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Keep talking, Al
Guardian UK - Al Gore has made his sharpest attack yet on the George Bush presidency, describing the current US administration as "a renegade band of rightwing extremists".
You know, I really, REALLY want to lambaste Gore for not growing any balls until AFTER Bush took power. If he had had some back in 2000, this whole disaster might not have happened,
But I won't. Keep talking, Al.
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Then he should be very happy in THIS White House
NEW YORK, May 30 -- Treasury Secretary nominee Henry M. Paulson Jr. is often described as the kind of guy who thrives in a crisis.
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Roadside Bombs?
You know, some right-wingers are say that we don't actually know that the executions in Haditha were done by American soldiers.
Well, if they didn't do it, why did they lie about it?
Files Contradict Account of Raid in Iraq
WASHINGTON, May 30 — A military investigator uncovered evidence in February and March that contradicted repeated claims by marines that Iraqi civilians killed in Haditha last November were victims of a roadside bomb, according to a senior military official in Iraq.
Among the pieces of evidence that conflicted with the marines' story were death certificates that showed all the Iraqi victims had gunshot wounds, mostly to the head and chest, the official said.
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A band-aid on a hemmorhage
BAGHDAD (Reuters) - Some 1,500 more U.S. troops have arrived in Iraq to help with the war against Sunni Arab rebels, including al Qaeda Islamist militants, in the western desert province of Anbar, the military said on Tuesday.
I don't think that even the delusional morons in this administration can possibly believe that 1,500 more troops is going to do a damned thing.
What's sad is that they probably DO think that it's a good PR move. They can't even do THAT right anymore.
And why the hell aren't 1500 IRAQI troops being brought in instead?
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But why don't the media talk about the GOOD news?
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Tuesday, May 30, 2006
Holy Crap
Iraq's new ambassador to the United States, Samir Sumaidaie, just accused the United States of killing his cousin. On purpose. Unnecessarily. Right after meeting Bush.
The new Iraqi ambassador to the United States has accused US Marines of "intentionally" killing a cousin in the Iraqi town of Haditha last year.
Speaking only hours after presenting his credentials to President George W Bush at the White House, Ambassador Samir al-Sumaidaie said his relative was shot dead five months before the killing of 24 civilians in the town in November that is now the subject of a controversial inquiry.
The ambassador told how Mohammed al-Sumaidaie, a 21-year-old engineering student, was killed after opening the door of the family house to US Marines on June 25.
"I believe he was killed intentionally. I believe he was killed unnecessarily," Mr Sumaidaie said on CNN television.
"The Marines were doing house-to-house searches, and they went into the house of my cousin. He opened the door for them. His mother, his siblings were there. He let them into the bedroom of his father, and there he was shot."
Here's the transcript from CNN.
BLITZER: But even months before the incident in November, you lost a cousin at Haditha in a separate battle involving United States Marines.
SUMAIDAIE: Well, that was not a battle at all. Marines were doing house-to-house searches, and they went into the house of my cousin. He opened the door for them.
His mother, his siblings were there. He led them into the bedroom of his father. And there he was shot.
BLITZER: Who shot him?
SUMAIDAIE: A member of the Marines.
BLITZER: Why did they shoot him?
SUMAIDAIE: Well, they said that they shot him in self-defense. I find that hard to believe because, A, he is not at all a violent -- I mean, I know the boy. He was [in] a second-year engineering course in the university. Nothing to do with violence. All his life has been studies and intellectual work.
Totally unbelievable. And, in fact, they had no weapon in the house. They had one weapon which belonged to the school where his father was a headmaster. And it had no ammunition in it. And he led them into the room to show it to them.
BLITZER: So what you're suggesting, your cousin was killed in cold blood, is that what you're saying, by United States Marines?
SUMAIDAIE: I believe he was killed intentionally. I believe that he was killed unnecessarily. And unfortunately, the investigations that took place after that sort of took a different course and concluded that there was no unlawful killing.
I would like further investigation. I have, in fact, asked for the report of the last investigation, which was a criminal investigation, by the way.
[Gen. George Casey, the top U.S. commander in Iraq] is aware of all the details, because he's kept on top of it. And it was he who rejected the conclusions of the first investigation. I have since asked formally for the report, but it's been nearly two months, and I have not received it.
BLITZER: Did you raise these concerns you had with the president today when you were at the White House presenting your credentials?
SUMAIDAIE: No, I did not, because I did not want to bring a personal note into a much wider brief that I have here.
This is astonishing. It is absolutely unbelievable that an ambassador from a country which we OCCUPY would say something like that, in public, in an accusatory fashion, just hours after meeting the President.
Either this guy is so angry at the U.S. that he just does not give a crap about offending us anymore, or - in the wake of Abu Ghraib and Haditha - he considers it far more important and wise to appeal to anti-American sentiment in his own country than to placate US.
This does NOT say good things about our future there.
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Snow-white lie
Bush is caught in one more lie, via Think Progress:
On May 25th, President Bush said that Treasury Secretary John Snow had not given him any indication that he was leaving soon:
PRESIDENT BUSH: Secretary of Treasury Snow?
Q Has he given you any indication he intends to leave his job any time soon?…
PRESIDENT BUSH: No, he has not talked to me about resignation. I think he’s doing a fine job.
In fact, not only had Snow indicated he was leaving, President Bush had already settled on his replacement. Today, Tony Snow said that Hank Paulson was offered the job on May 20 and accepted a day later:
QUESTION: Do you have any tick tock on the Paulson…
SNOW: Yes. The tick tock is the two of them met on the 20th of May and there was a conversation. And Hank Paulson accepted the job a day later. That was subject to clearance. It does take time, especially for a Senate confirmable position, to complete those. So it did take time to get some of those clearances wrapped up.
The apologists, of course, will deny that THAT'S a lie, too. Being a Bushite requires heaping doses of denial.
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One Snow at a time
Tony Snow is in as Press Secretary, so John Snow is out as Treasury Secretary.
That's my theory: poor George would be confused by having two guys around named "Snow," and they want to minimize his befuddlement.
Not that it will help: "How come Snow is still here? I thought we got rid of Snow!"
"That's a different Snow, Mr. President."
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Iraq Coalition Casualties
Military Fatalities: By Time Period
Period US UK Other* Total Avg Days 5 313 15 8 336 2.02 166 4 715 13 18 746 2.35 318 3 579 25 27 631 2.92 216 2 718 27 58 803 1.89 424 1 140 33 0 173 4.02 43 Total 2465 113 111 2689 2.3 1167
Time Periods Defined
Iraqi Security Forces and Civilian Deaths Period Total May-06 1002 Apr-06 1010 Mar-06 1094 Feb-06 846 Jan-06 780
Iraqi Security Forces and Civilian Deaths Details
Note: This is an estimate based on news reports. This is not a definitive count.
U.S. Deaths Confirmed By The DoD: 2464 Reported U.S. Deaths Pending DoD Confirmation: 1 Total 2465
DoD Confirmation List Latest Coalition Fatality: May 29, 2006
Military Fatalities: By Month Period US UK Other* Total Avg Days 5-2006 61 9 1 71 2.37 30 4-2006 76 1 5 82 2.73 30 3-2006 31 0 2 33 1.06 31 2-2006 55 3 0 58 2.07 28 1-2006 62 2 0 64 2.06 31 12-2005 68 0 0 68 2.19 31 11-2005 84 1 1 86 2.87 30 10-2005 96 2 1 99 3.19 31 9-2005 49 3 0 52 1.73 30 8-2005 85 0 0 85 2.74 31 7-2005 54 3 1 58 1.87 31 6-2005 78 1 4 83 2.77 30 5-2005 80 2 6 88 2.84 31 4-2005 52 0 0 52 1.73 30 3-2005 35 1 3 39 1.26 31 2-2005 58 0 2 60 2.14 28 1-2005 107 10 10 127 4.1 31 12-2004 72 1 3 76 2.45 31 11-2004 137 4 0 141 4.7 30 10-2004 63 2 2 67 2.16 31 9-2004 80 3 4 87 2.9 30 8-2004 66 4 5 75 2.42 31 7-2004 54 1 3 58 1.87 31 6-2004 42 1 7 50 1.67 30 5-2004 80 0 4 84 2.71 31 4-2004 135 0 5 140 4.67 30 3-2004 52 0 0 52 1.68 31 2-2004 20 1 2 23 0.79 29 1-2004 47 5 0 52 1.68 31 12-2003 40 0 8 48 1.55 31 11-2003 82 1 27 110 3.67 30 10-2003 44 1 2 47 1.52 31 9-2003 31 1 1 33 1.1 30 8-2003 35 6 2 43 1.39 31 7-2003 48 1 0 49 1.58 31 6-2003 30 6 0 36 1.2 30 5-2003 37 4 0 41 1.32 31 4-2003 74 6 0 80 2.67 30 3-2003 65 27 0 92 7.67 12 Total 2465 113 111 2689 2.3 1168
Missing or Captured: US Casualties By Calendar Year Year US Deaths US Wounded 2003 486 2409 2004 848 7992 2005 846 5945 2006 285 1523 Total 2465 17869
*Other Coalition Countries: Country Total Australia 2 Bulgaria 13 Denmark 3 El Salvador 2 Estonia 2 Hungary 1 Italy 31 Kazakhstan 1 Latvia 1 Netherlands 2 Poland 17 Romania 2 Slovakia 3 Spain 11 Thailand 2 Ukraine 18
Non Military Deaths: Journalists Killed in Iraq An Incomplete List of Contractors Killed in Iraq Iraqi Body Count (External Link)
US Wounded by Week Period Wnd-RTD Wounded 03-20-2003 thru 04-01-2003 115 426 04-02-2004 thru 01-02-2005 4565 4875 01-03-2005 thru 12-20-2005 3946 2228 12-21-2005 thru 04-Jan-06 121 53 05-Jan-06 thru 11-Jan-06 65 26 12-Jan-06 thru 18-Jan-06 35 17 19-Jan-06 thru 25-Jan-06 42 34 26-Jan-06 thru 01-Feb-06 34 24 02-Feb-06 thru 08-Feb-06 24 23 09-Feb-06 thru 15-Feb-06 60 29 16-Feb-06 thru 23-Feb-06 40 42 24-Feb-06 thru 01-Mar-06 54 28 02-Mar-06 thru 08-Mar-06 44 54 09-Mar-06 thru 15-Mar-06 67 53 16-Mar-06 thru 22-Mar-06 96 49 23-Mar-06 thru 28-Mar-06 86 26 29-Mar-06 thru 07-Apr-06 60 28 08-Apr-06 thru 11-Apr-06 37 43 12-Apr-06 thru 18-Apr-06 58 41 19-Apr-06 thru 25-Apr-06 76 38 26-Apr-06 thru 02-May-06 55 57 03-May-06 thru 10-May-06 64 45 11-May-06 thru 17-May-06 42 63 18-May-06 thru 25-May-06 54 42 Total 9840 8344
Wnd-RTD: Wounded in Action Return to Duty within 72 hours
Wnd: Wounded in Action Not Return to Duty within 72 hours
Totals updated weekly by the DoD
View Complete Weekly Report
Some of The Wounded... Wounded In Action According to The DoD Period Wounded Apr-2006 403 Mar-2006 494 Feb-2006 340 Jan-2006 286 Dec-2005 412 Nov-2005 400 Oct-2005 605 Sep-2005 545 Aug-2005 541 Jul-2005 476 Jun-2005 511 May-2005 575 Apr-2005 596 Mar-2005 371 Feb-2005 415 Jan-2005 498 Dec-2004 544 Nov-2004 1425 Oct-2004 648 Sep-2004 706 Aug-2004 895 Jul-2004 552 Jun-2004 589 May-2004 758 Apr-2004 1212 Mar-2004 324 Feb-2004 150 Jan-2004 189 Dec-2003 261 Nov-2003 336 Oct-2003 413 Sep-2003 247 Aug-2003 181 Jul-2003 226 Jun-2003 147 May-2003 55 Apr-2003 340 Mar-2003 203 Total 17869
Last update from the DoD: 29-Apr-06
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Sunday, May 28, 2006
"Most of all, political scribes have to take off their cynical lenses through which they view every moral challenge as political spin." - Al Gore
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Friday, May 26, 2006
Regrets
Just want to point that Bush talked about stuff he "regrets."
The only "regrets" he mentioned were PR moves that turned out badly.
It's Memorial Day Weekend, and it didn't even occur to him to "regret" the loss of 2462 American soldiers.
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FUBAR
You know what's pathetic? That Bush finally admits to making some mistake and - when faced with disaster on a monumental scale - will only admit to a few poorly chosen words.
Even if he DOES believe that a War in Iraq was a good idea (and sadly, I think he does), it is very obvious that the execution of it has been entirely botched.
They are trying to occupy a hostile area the size of California with a tiny force of 130,000 troops; they left the borders wide open so Al Qaeda could come in; they can't leave the green zone because it's too dangerous; and the terrorists have a new training ground and a new base of operations in the Middle East.
Not only has Bush not HURT the terrorists - he has GIVEN THEM NEW TERRITORY.
And not because of his words. Because of his actions.
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They still don't get it.
As you probably know, Bush and Blair had a press conference where they decided to try and stem the damage to their reputation by actually ADMITTING what everyone else has known for three years.
BUSH: Saying, "Bring it on"; kind of tough talk, you know, that sent the wrong signal to people. I learned some lessons about expressing myself maybe in a little more sophisticated manner, you know. "Wanted, dead or alive"; that kind of talk. I think in certain parts of the world it was misinterpreted. And so I learned from that
"Misinterpreted"? "Bring it on" was misinterpreted? It didn't actually mean "Bring it on"? Then what, exactly, was it supposed to mean? "Waiter, waiter, there's a fly in my soup"?
No, I think they interpreted it dead right - you were just a damned fool to say it.
And by the way, there was nothing wrong with saying "Osama Bin Laden, Dead or Alive." That's one of the few things you did right. The problem is it was JUST words, and you had no intention of following through, even while you said it.
Regarding his trip to Baghdad, Blair said, "I came away thinking the challenge is still immense, but I also came away more certain than ever that we should rise to it."
Blair added, "I think it's easy to go back over mistakes that we may have made, but the biggest reason why Iraq has been difficult is the determination by our opponents to defeat us."
They started a war without figuring that our opponents would be determined to defeat us.
What did they think our opponents would do? Invite us in for tea?
Are these people total ignoramuses? I don't give a crap how right you think you are - If you kick in someone's door and come at them, they are going to try and defeat you. Duh.
Holy crap.
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Wednesday, May 24, 2006
The Chicks
I don't know how many fans they've lost, but they've gained at least one new one.
Check out their performance on Letterman. Courtesy of crooks and liars.
God bless 'em.
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Pat Robertson
Why does this clown still have a following?
Pat Robertson's Age-Defying Shake
Did you know that Pat Robertson can leg-press 2000 pounds! How does he do it?
One of Pat's secrets to keeping his energy high and his vitality soaring is his age-defying protein shake. Pat developed a delicious, refreshing shake, filled with energy-producing nutrients.
70 years old. Leg presses 2000 pounds. From drinking a SHAKE.
Never mind that it's WAY beyond the existing record.
Pathetic.
Via AMERICAblog
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Tuesday, May 23, 2006
I thought I'd use my tiny little megaphone to draw attention to an editorial by radio legend Pete Fornatale on the state of the radio.
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Of course not. God forbid, I might learn something.
President says he's unlikely to watch documentary on global warming
WASHINGTON - Is President Bush likely to see Al Gore’s documentary about global warming?
“Doubt it,” Bush said coolly Monday.
But Bush should watch it, Gore shot back. In fact, the former Democratic vice president offered to come to the White House any time, any day to show Bush either his documentary or a slide show on global warming that he’s shown more than 1,000 times around the world.
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No shit, Sherlock
Panel: Legislators Shouldn't Work Drunk
SALEM, Ore. (AP) -- Oregon legislators and staff members should not be drunk while performing their official duties, a citizen panel says.
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Monday, May 22, 2006
AT&T Sold Your Ass to the Government
Wired Magazine has a full expose on the NSA spying scandal from Whistle-Blower Mark Klein's class-action lawsuit.
In 2003 AT&T built "secret rooms" hidden deep in the bowels of its central offices in various cities, housing computer gear for a government spy operation which taps into the company's popular WorldNet service and the entire internet. These installations enable the government to look at every individual message on the internet and analyze exactly what people are doing. Documents showing the hardwire installation in San Francisco suggest that there are similar locations being installed in numerous other cities.
The physical arrangement, the timing of its construction, the government-imposed secrecy surrounding it and other factors all strongly suggest that its origins are rooted in the Defense Department's Total Information Awareness (TIA) program...
Read the article. ALL of the Documents are in pdf format here.
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Take a look at this remarkable email exchange between Rumsfeld's Spokesman, Larry (a.k.a. Curly Joe) Dirita, and War Correspondent Joe Galloway. This is remarkable, and Galloway deserves a medal.
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Sunday, May 21, 2006
Why does this not surprise me?
Cut taxes for the multi-millionaires.
And INCREASE them for TEEN-AGERS.
The $69 billion tax cut bill that President Bush signed this week tripled tax rates for teenagers with college savings funds, despite Mr. Bush's 1999 pledge to veto any tax increase.
Under the new law, teenagers age 14 to 17 with investment income will now be taxed at the same rate as their parents, not at their own rates. Long-term capital gains and dividends that had been taxed at 5 percent will now be taxed at 15 percent. Interest that had been taxed at 10 percent will now be taxed at as much as 35 percent.
It is really hard to believe how brazen these people are in their greed and elitism. The contempt that they feel for ordinary Americans is palpable. Not only do they screw people - they do it right in your face, and think you won't notice.
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Thursday, May 18, 2006
Illegal is more fun
According to Baltimore Sun, the NSA developed a program for the purpose of analyzing communication data in the late 1990. Unlike what they are doing now, the old program was legal and protected the privacy of Americans - and worked better.
They rejected it in favor of a system that was illegal, unnecessarily intrusive and didn't work so good.
But if you're Bush, you ALWAYS prefer the option that's illegal, intrusive and innefficient. I honestly think it gives the man the sort of rush that a teenager gets when he gets away with something.
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Rover defends his owner
"The American people like this president. His personal approval ratings are in the 60s. Job approval is lower. And what that says to me is that people like him, they respect him, he's somebody they feel a connection with, but they're just sour right now on the war. And that's the way it's going to be." - Karl Rove
Cognitive dissonance is what happens in the human brain when a human being is confronted with a fact which his preconceptions tell him cannot possibly be true.
Is Karl Rove - Bush's favorite Turdblossom and America's beloved pus-sack - becoming delusional?
His "personal approval" isn't anywhere NEAR the 60s and people DON'T like this President. (New York Times pdf poll here) In fact, his JOB approval is one percentage point HIGHER than his "personal approval. " He has more than 50% approval in exactly 3 states - Utah, Idaho and Wyoming. NOBODY approves of him, except a few whackjobs.
Polysigh put it best:
"As for Rove's comment that Bush would be popular but for the Iraq War, that's like saying that if it weren't for the Alps, Switzerland would be flat."
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Tuesday, May 16, 2006
The Constitutional Crisis that Walks like a Man.
The FBI has confirmed that they do, indeed, monitor reporters' phone calls.
Approximately one year ago, we were told that they did not need a warrant because they were only monitoring international calls.
Then, they said that, well, actually were monitoring SOME calls where one of the parties was domestic and one was international.
"If someone is calling Al Qaeda," said Bush, "we want to know why."
Which is interesting, because it implies that they know the terrorists' telephone numbers, which makes you wonder why they don't just round them up instead of collecting their phone bills.
Then they said that they sometimes they inadvertently listen to purely domestic calls.
Then they tell us - just this week - that, well, all that was bullshit. They have actually been collecting info on every single phone call made by every single American with almost no exceptions.
But OF COURSE we have nothing to worry about. We can trust THEM. Never mind the fact that they have lied about this again and again and again. We can trust them. They aren't actually listening in. It's for TERRORISM. So they say.
But you can't name a single terrorist who has been arrested in the last five years as a result of this spying. Not one.
And NOW, we find out that they AREN'T checking on terrorists - they are checking on reporters. They are using phone records to find out who reporters are using as sources. They are REALLY after anyone who makes them look bad by revealing the truth to the American People.
You would figure even the REPUBLICANS would wake up and realize that George W. Bush is a walking Constitutional Crisis who has to be stopped while we still have something that we can call "America" left. And they would, if they valued their nation more than their party.
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Monday, May 15, 2006
Push Back Poll
I said it was a push poll, and I was right.
From a Newsweek poll, released one day after the Washington Post Push Poll:
As you may know, there are reports that the NSA, a government intelligence agency, has been collecting the phone call records of Americans. The agency doesn't actually listen to the calls but logs in nearly every phone number to create a database of calls made within the United States. Which of the following comes CLOSER to your own view of this domestic surveillance program:
It is a necessary tool to combat terrorism -- 41
It goes too far in invading people’s privacy -- 53
Don’t know -- 6
Note that the question doesn't read like a apologia for data mining - as the Washington Post poll did.
But why was the Washington Post so anxious to release a poll that backed up the Bush administration's wishes on the same day that the news broke?
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Your tax dollars at work
You have to watch out for those Terrorist Anchormen:
Federal Source to ABC News: We Know Who You're Calling
Brian Ross and Richard Esposito Report:
A senior federal law enforcement official tells ABC News the government is tracking the phone numbers we (Brian Ross and Richard Esposito) call in an effort to root out confidential sources.
"It's time for you to get some new cell phones, quick," the source told us in an in-person conversation.
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Same script.
Ah. So His Incompetence is probably going to use the National Guard to patrol the border. He says it's "only temporary."
Temporary till when? Just after the 2006 elections?
This is typical. God forbid border patrol get done by actual border patrol. That would make sense. Instead, let's assume that the MILITARY doesn't have enough of a role.
The REAL problem is that Bush is too damned incompetent to deal with anything using civilian means - like SANE Presidents always have. Instead, he turns to the military as his tool of choice for absolutely everything.
And pardon me for wondering if President Codpiece isn't still trying to compensate for the cowardice and inadequacy that he showed during Vietnam. Using OTHER people's blood and sweat, of course.
So he will get to dress up in a uniform, strut around, use jeeps and tanks and helicopters and all sorts of neat stuff, and basically play war in a place where there isn't one, and it will make for a great photo-op. He'll get his picture taken with a helicopter. Look, mommy! Don't I look cool?
God, I wish we had a President who was a frigging grown-up, instead of one who is stuck in adolescence and makes America suffer so he can feel impressive.
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Sunday, May 14, 2006
Ooops.
I posted the info from Jason Leopold (of truthout) that Rove had been indicted. Not WOULD be - HAD been. I think we would have heard something by now. I guess Leopold's source isn't all that reliable, and it's the last time I post something unsubstantiated from truthout.
Here's hoping that Leopold proves to be right a bit too early anyway.
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Saturday, May 13, 2006
Sue the bastards.
If you own stock in any phone companies, it's time to sell short. They could lose billions in class-action lawsuits, and lose MORE money from an exodus of customers.
Two suits have already been filed.
Verizon Sued for Giving NSA Phone Records Attorneys Bruce Afran and Carl Mayer filed the lawsuit Friday afternoon in federal district court in Manhattan, where Verizon is headquartered.
The lawsuit asks the court to stop Verizon from turning over any more records to the NSA without a warrant or consent of the subscriber.
"This is the largest and most vast intrusion of civil liberties we've ever seen in the United States," Afran said of the NSA program.
The lawsuit seeks $1,000 for each violation of the Telecommunications Act, or $5 billion if the case is certified as class-action.
And this is a DIFFERENT one:
Verizon Faces New $20B Suit over NSA Spying Complicity
Upping the ante in what may be a high-stakes legal battle, an Upstate New York lawyer filed a $20 billion class-action lawsuit against Verizon last week, charging that the company violated customer confidentiality in aiding warrantless eavesdropping by a federal spy agency.
Here's the tally of who has and has not violated the privacy of American citizens:
Verizon (land-line), AT&T, and BellSouth have all behaved in a fundamentally Unamerican manner.
On the other hand, Qwest is the only large landline carrier that refused to complied with the Bush's fascist requests. If you have one of the other three, switch to Qwest.
Cellular phones seem largely clean. Verizon Wireless, T-Mobile, Virgin Mobile and Cox all say that they have not provided their records to anyone.
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Fitzmas?
Truthout now says that Rove has BEEN indicted, but I don't see it in the tradition media.
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Shocked
The NSA Whistleblower says that people are going to be shocked.
[Tice] said he plans to tell the committee staffers the NSA conducted illegal and unconstitutional surveillance of U.S. citizens while he was there with the knowledge of Hayden. … “I think the people I talk to next week are going to be shocked when I tell them what I have to tell them. It’s pretty hard to believe,” Tice said.
I won't be shocked, but it's about time the country got shocked.
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Friday, May 12, 2006
According to truthout, Rove has told the White House that he will be indicted.
Within the last week, Karl Rove told President Bush and Chief of Staff Joshua Bolten, as well as a few other high level administration officials, that he will be indicted in the CIA leak case and will immediately resign his White House job when the special counsel publicly announces the charges against him, according to sources.
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Raid kills roaches dead.
The FBI has raided the home of Dusty Foggo (NOT the name of a fictional character). The guy who just resigned as the #3 man in the CIA.
I wonder why Goss REALLY resigned. This CAN'T be a coincidence.
Move along, folks, nothing to see here....
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Push poll
You may have read - and been shocked - by reports that a poll says that 2/3rds of Americans have no problem with the Bush administration mining phone calls.
Here is the actual question:
It's been reported that the National Security Agency has been collecting the phone call records of tens of millions of Americans. It then analyzes calling patterns in an effort to identify possible terrorism suspects, without listening to or recording the conversations. Would you consider this an acceptable or unacceptable way for the federal government to investigate terrorism? Do you feel that way strongly or somewhat?
Note that the question itself ASSUMES that the act is benign, and states things as fact that WE DON'T KNOW (such as that conversations are not listened to or recorded). The question is framed in terms of fighting terrorism, falsifies the known facts, fails to mention the questionable legality, and was obviously thrown together on the fly. For many poll respondents, this was probably the first time they HEARD about it.
This is a push poll.
And I suspect that other polls released in the coming days will show very different results.
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Today?
Tweetybird Matthews thinks Rove might be indicted today.
From Imus this morning"
Transcript:
MATTHEWS: If, however, something happens with Karl Rove, we’re going to go to general quarters around here.
IMUS: What does that mean?
MATTHEWS: Meaning we will be taping probably on Saturday or late night because everything will change. Last time, when he picked up Scooter, when he nailed him 30 years of charges, that happened on 1:00 on a Friday. So we don’t know when it might happen, if it’s going happen.
IMUS: Are we expecting something with Karl Rove today?
MATTHEWS: Well, it could be today. It could be next week. Everybody is buzzing about when or if. It’s a big if, big when. There is a lot of talk because he is still being interviewing by the special prosecutor. He keeps being hauled before the grand jury. So something is going on here with the special prosecutor. We don’t know whether he is going to clear him or nail him.
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GENEVA (Reuters) - The United States has again refused the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) access to terrorism suspects held in secret detention centers, the humanitarian agency said on Friday.
Isn't it interesting that the whole motto of this administration is "If you have done nothing wrong, you have nothing to hide"?
Explains why they hide everything.
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Headline says it all
Bush denies spying infringes on privacy
Roll THAT phrase around in your head a few times.
Lewis Carroll wishes HE had thought of that one, I'm sure
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Thursday, May 11, 2006
Gonzales Lied
As surely as weasels are weasels.
From the Muckraker:
Did Gonzales Mislead Congress about NSA Program?
By Paul Kiel - May 11, 2006, 2:32 PM
Reacting to today's news that the NSA is "amassing information about the calls of ordinary Americans," Reps. Bennie G. Thompson (D-MS) and Rep. Zoe Lofgren (D-CA) have put out a statement questioning the legality of the program.
Their statement contains this: "when the Attorney General was forced to testify before the House Judiciary Committee a few weeks ago, he misled the Committee about the existence of the program."
Here's what they're referring to. On April 6, 2006, Attorney General Alberto Gonzales testified before the House Judiciary Committee, and in one exchange, Rep. Gerald Nadler (D-NY) tried to nail him down:
NADLER: Number two, can you assure us that there is no warrantless surveillance of calls between two Americans within the United States?
GONZALES: That is not what the president has authorized.
NADLER: Can you assure us that it's not being done?
GONZALES: As I indicated in response to an earlier question, no technology is perfect.
NADLER: OK.
GONZALES: We do have minimization procedures in place...
NADLER: But you're not doing that deliberately?
GONZALES: That is correct.
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"There's no doubt in my mind there are safeguards in place to make sure the program focuses on calls coming from outside the United States in, with an al Qaeda -- from a -- with a belief that there's an al Qaeda person making the call to somebody here in the States, or vice versa -- but not domestic calls." - Bush, 01/26/06.
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Bush lies some more
President Deer-In-The-Headlights decided to throw a little gasoline on the fire:
Facing intense criticism from Congress, President Bush did not confirm the work of the National Security Agency but sought to assure Americans that their privacy is being "fiercely protected."
"We are not mining or trolling through the personal lives of innocent Americans," Bush said before leaving for a commencement address at Mississippi Gulf Coast Community College in Biloxi.
Well, gee whiz, codpiece-for-brains, you ALSO said that you were only listening to INTERNATIONAL Communications. You ALSO said it was only a FEW HUNDRED.
Liar.
Every new story that comes out shows that the administration lied about the last story that came out but they say that we should believe them this time.
NOBODY is that gullible.
By the way, giving the White House info on yur phone calls was VOLUNTARY on the part of the phone companies. Qwest was the ONLY major carrier to refuse. So if you are with AT&T or Verizon, switch to Qwest. And call them and let them know why. DEMAND that they respect your privacy.
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It's all true
Everything you thought MIGHT be true IS.
NSA has massive database of Americans' phone calls
The National Security Agency has been secretly collecting the phone call records of tens of millions of Americans, using data provided by AT&T, Verizon and BellSouth, people with direct knowledge of the arrangement told USA TODAY.
The NSA program reaches into homes and businesses across the nation by amassing information about the calls of ordinary Americans — most of whom aren't suspected of any crime. This program does not involve the NSA listening to or recording conversations. But the spy agency is using the data to analyze calling patterns in an effort to detect terrorist activity, sources said in separate interviews.
For the customers of these companies, it means that the government has detailed records of calls they made — across town or across the country — to family members, co-workers, business contacts and others.
The sources would talk only under a guarantee of anonymity because the NSA program is secret.
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Wednesday, May 10, 2006
Colbert - SOMEBODY gets it.
Here's a great article from the TV Critic at the Chicago Sun-Times about Colbert's public evisceration of His Ignorance. This may be the only thing I have read in the mainstream press that actually understood the reaction to Colbert's speech.
How did Bush tickle reporters? He made fun of the fact that he can barely speak English (he is quite simply the worst communicator of all U.S. presidents), that our vice president is a heartless face-shooter, and that Bush is basically an idiot.
Ha ha, our "war president" knows he's a village idiot? To members of the White House press corps, that's some real funny stuff. To non-insiders, this looked like another example of good old boys and gals slapping each other on the back.
Colbert's routine was more remarkable for its unique and creative brazenness. He joked that Bush's presidency is like the Hindenburg; that Bush's wiretappers were monitoring this very event, and that the White House press corps, sitting in front of Colbert, gave Bush a free pass, scandal after scandal, until recently (when his polls numbers dropped).
How's this for a newsworthy lead? It was perhaps the first time in Bush's tenure that the president was forced to sit and listen to any American cite the litany of criminal and corruption allegations that have piled up against his administration. And mouth-tense Bush and first lady Laura Bush fled as soon as possible afterward.
From whom were they fleeing? A star comedian pretending to be a Fox News-like blowhard doing a sort of performance art that America hasn't witnessed nationally since the days of Andy Kaufman. Even if Colbert's bit had been reported as a train wreck, that would have sufficed. Instead, shocking lines like the following were barely covered by any traditional organ except industry magazine Editor & Publisher: "I stand by" Bush, Colbert cracked, "because he stands for things. Not only for things, he stands on things. Things like aircraft carriers and rubble, and recently flooded city squares. And that sends a strong message that no matter what happens to America, she will always rebound with the most powerfully staged photo ops in the world."
For TV reporters in particular to quote that gruesome line would be an agreement with Colbert, that they helped Bush mix politics with corruption from the ashes of 9/11 ("aircraft carriers and rubble"), and failed to see through Bush's politicization of the drowning of an American city after a hurricane ("recently flooded city squares").
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Brownie, you're doing a heckuva job.
The question isn't "Why do only 31% still support these incompetents" - the question is, "why the hell is it still that high?"
WASHINGTON — Hours after Hurricane Katrina hit, former FEMA director Michael Brown dismissed reports that floodwaters had breached New Orleans' levees, and he obsessed over media coverage of his agency, according to newly released e-mails.
At one point early that morning, Brown reported to an aide that he was "sitting in the chair, putting mousse in my hair" while waiting for media interviews to begin.
What total dicks.
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Poll vault
(CBS) President Bush and the Republican Congress show nearly record low ratings while Democrats are viewed much more favorably in their performance on the issues that matter most to Americans, according to the latest CBS News/New York Times poll.
Well, that just great. You think - maybe - the Democrats MIGHT just stop acting like their afraid that challenging thi clown will hurt them?
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Good.
May 31, 2006, 10:55 AM ETFor the third time in their career, the Dixie Chicks roost on the top of The Billboard 200. The Columbia album "Taking the Long Way" tallied 526,000 copies in its first week of U.S. sales, according to Nielsen SoundScan, the trio's best-selling week since 2002's "Home" debuted with 780,000.
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Keep talking, Al
Guardian UK - Al Gore has made his sharpest attack yet on the George Bush presidency, describing the current US administration as "a renegade band of rightwing extremists".
You know, I really, REALLY want to lambaste Gore for not growing any balls until AFTER Bush took power. If he had had some back in 2000, this whole disaster might not have happened,
But I won't. Keep talking, Al.
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Then he should be very happy in THIS White House
NEW YORK, May 30 -- Treasury Secretary nominee Henry M. Paulson Jr. is often described as the kind of guy who thrives in a crisis.
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Roadside Bombs?
You know, some right-wingers are say that we don't actually know that the executions in Haditha were done by American soldiers.
Well, if they didn't do it, why did they lie about it?
Files Contradict Account of Raid in Iraq
WASHINGTON, May 30 — A military investigator uncovered evidence in February and March that contradicted repeated claims by marines that Iraqi civilians killed in Haditha last November were victims of a roadside bomb, according to a senior military official in Iraq.
Among the pieces of evidence that conflicted with the marines' story were death certificates that showed all the Iraqi victims had gunshot wounds, mostly to the head and chest, the official said.
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A band-aid on a hemmorhage
BAGHDAD (Reuters) - Some 1,500 more U.S. troops have arrived in Iraq to help with the war against Sunni Arab rebels, including al Qaeda Islamist militants, in the western desert province of Anbar, the military said on Tuesday.
I don't think that even the delusional morons in this administration can possibly believe that 1,500 more troops is going to do a damned thing.
What's sad is that they probably DO think that it's a good PR move. They can't even do THAT right anymore.
And why the hell aren't 1500 IRAQI troops being brought in instead?
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But why don't the media talk about the GOOD news?
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Tuesday, May 30, 2006
Holy Crap
Iraq's new ambassador to the United States, Samir Sumaidaie, just accused the United States of killing his cousin. On purpose. Unnecessarily. Right after meeting Bush.
The new Iraqi ambassador to the United States has accused US Marines of "intentionally" killing a cousin in the Iraqi town of Haditha last year.
Speaking only hours after presenting his credentials to President George W Bush at the White House, Ambassador Samir al-Sumaidaie said his relative was shot dead five months before the killing of 24 civilians in the town in November that is now the subject of a controversial inquiry.
The ambassador told how Mohammed al-Sumaidaie, a 21-year-old engineering student, was killed after opening the door of the family house to US Marines on June 25.
"I believe he was killed intentionally. I believe he was killed unnecessarily," Mr Sumaidaie said on CNN television.
"The Marines were doing house-to-house searches, and they went into the house of my cousin. He opened the door for them. His mother, his siblings were there. He let them into the bedroom of his father, and there he was shot."
Here's the transcript from CNN.
BLITZER: But even months before the incident in November, you lost a cousin at Haditha in a separate battle involving United States Marines.
SUMAIDAIE: Well, that was not a battle at all. Marines were doing house-to-house searches, and they went into the house of my cousin. He opened the door for them.
His mother, his siblings were there. He led them into the bedroom of his father. And there he was shot.
BLITZER: Who shot him?
SUMAIDAIE: A member of the Marines.
BLITZER: Why did they shoot him?
SUMAIDAIE: Well, they said that they shot him in self-defense. I find that hard to believe because, A, he is not at all a violent -- I mean, I know the boy. He was [in] a second-year engineering course in the university. Nothing to do with violence. All his life has been studies and intellectual work.
Totally unbelievable. And, in fact, they had no weapon in the house. They had one weapon which belonged to the school where his father was a headmaster. And it had no ammunition in it. And he led them into the room to show it to them.
BLITZER: So what you're suggesting, your cousin was killed in cold blood, is that what you're saying, by United States Marines?
SUMAIDAIE: I believe he was killed intentionally. I believe that he was killed unnecessarily. And unfortunately, the investigations that took place after that sort of took a different course and concluded that there was no unlawful killing.
I would like further investigation. I have, in fact, asked for the report of the last investigation, which was a criminal investigation, by the way.
[Gen. George Casey, the top U.S. commander in Iraq] is aware of all the details, because he's kept on top of it. And it was he who rejected the conclusions of the first investigation. I have since asked formally for the report, but it's been nearly two months, and I have not received it.
BLITZER: Did you raise these concerns you had with the president today when you were at the White House presenting your credentials?
SUMAIDAIE: No, I did not, because I did not want to bring a personal note into a much wider brief that I have here.
This is astonishing. It is absolutely unbelievable that an ambassador from a country which we OCCUPY would say something like that, in public, in an accusatory fashion, just hours after meeting the President.
Either this guy is so angry at the U.S. that he just does not give a crap about offending us anymore, or - in the wake of Abu Ghraib and Haditha - he considers it far more important and wise to appeal to anti-American sentiment in his own country than to placate US.
This does NOT say good things about our future there.
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Snow-white lie
Bush is caught in one more lie, via Think Progress:
On May 25th, President Bush said that Treasury Secretary John Snow had not given him any indication that he was leaving soon:
PRESIDENT BUSH: Secretary of Treasury Snow?
Q Has he given you any indication he intends to leave his job any time soon?…
PRESIDENT BUSH: No, he has not talked to me about resignation. I think he’s doing a fine job.
In fact, not only had Snow indicated he was leaving, President Bush had already settled on his replacement. Today, Tony Snow said that Hank Paulson was offered the job on May 20 and accepted a day later:
QUESTION: Do you have any tick tock on the Paulson…
SNOW: Yes. The tick tock is the two of them met on the 20th of May and there was a conversation. And Hank Paulson accepted the job a day later. That was subject to clearance. It does take time, especially for a Senate confirmable position, to complete those. So it did take time to get some of those clearances wrapped up.
The apologists, of course, will deny that THAT'S a lie, too. Being a Bushite requires heaping doses of denial.
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One Snow at a time
Tony Snow is in as Press Secretary, so John Snow is out as Treasury Secretary.
That's my theory: poor George would be confused by having two guys around named "Snow," and they want to minimize his befuddlement.
Not that it will help: "How come Snow is still here? I thought we got rid of Snow!"
"That's a different Snow, Mr. President."
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Iraq Coalition Casualties
Military Fatalities: By Time Period
Period US UK Other* Total Avg Days 5 313 15 8 336 2.02 166 4 715 13 18 746 2.35 318 3 579 25 27 631 2.92 216 2 718 27 58 803 1.89 424 1 140 33 0 173 4.02 43 Total 2465 113 111 2689 2.3 1167
Time Periods Defined
Iraqi Security Forces and Civilian Deaths Period Total May-06 1002 Apr-06 1010 Mar-06 1094 Feb-06 846 Jan-06 780
Iraqi Security Forces and Civilian Deaths Details
Note: This is an estimate based on news reports. This is not a definitive count.
U.S. Deaths Confirmed By The DoD: 2464 Reported U.S. Deaths Pending DoD Confirmation: 1 Total 2465
DoD Confirmation List Latest Coalition Fatality: May 29, 2006
Military Fatalities: By Month Period US UK Other* Total Avg Days 5-2006 61 9 1 71 2.37 30 4-2006 76 1 5 82 2.73 30 3-2006 31 0 2 33 1.06 31 2-2006 55 3 0 58 2.07 28 1-2006 62 2 0 64 2.06 31 12-2005 68 0 0 68 2.19 31 11-2005 84 1 1 86 2.87 30 10-2005 96 2 1 99 3.19 31 9-2005 49 3 0 52 1.73 30 8-2005 85 0 0 85 2.74 31 7-2005 54 3 1 58 1.87 31 6-2005 78 1 4 83 2.77 30 5-2005 80 2 6 88 2.84 31 4-2005 52 0 0 52 1.73 30 3-2005 35 1 3 39 1.26 31 2-2005 58 0 2 60 2.14 28 1-2005 107 10 10 127 4.1 31 12-2004 72 1 3 76 2.45 31 11-2004 137 4 0 141 4.7 30 10-2004 63 2 2 67 2.16 31 9-2004 80 3 4 87 2.9 30 8-2004 66 4 5 75 2.42 31 7-2004 54 1 3 58 1.87 31 6-2004 42 1 7 50 1.67 30 5-2004 80 0 4 84 2.71 31 4-2004 135 0 5 140 4.67 30 3-2004 52 0 0 52 1.68 31 2-2004 20 1 2 23 0.79 29 1-2004 47 5 0 52 1.68 31 12-2003 40 0 8 48 1.55 31 11-2003 82 1 27 110 3.67 30 10-2003 44 1 2 47 1.52 31 9-2003 31 1 1 33 1.1 30 8-2003 35 6 2 43 1.39 31 7-2003 48 1 0 49 1.58 31 6-2003 30 6 0 36 1.2 30 5-2003 37 4 0 41 1.32 31 4-2003 74 6 0 80 2.67 30 3-2003 65 27 0 92 7.67 12 Total 2465 113 111 2689 2.3 1168
Missing or Captured: US Casualties By Calendar Year Year US Deaths US Wounded 2003 486 2409 2004 848 7992 2005 846 5945 2006 285 1523 Total 2465 17869
*Other Coalition Countries: Country Total Australia 2 Bulgaria 13 Denmark 3 El Salvador 2 Estonia 2 Hungary 1 Italy 31 Kazakhstan 1 Latvia 1 Netherlands 2 Poland 17 Romania 2 Slovakia 3 Spain 11 Thailand 2 Ukraine 18
Non Military Deaths: Journalists Killed in Iraq An Incomplete List of Contractors Killed in Iraq Iraqi Body Count (External Link)
US Wounded by Week Period Wnd-RTD Wounded 03-20-2003 thru 04-01-2003 115 426 04-02-2004 thru 01-02-2005 4565 4875 01-03-2005 thru 12-20-2005 3946 2228 12-21-2005 thru 04-Jan-06 121 53 05-Jan-06 thru 11-Jan-06 65 26 12-Jan-06 thru 18-Jan-06 35 17 19-Jan-06 thru 25-Jan-06 42 34 26-Jan-06 thru 01-Feb-06 34 24 02-Feb-06 thru 08-Feb-06 24 23 09-Feb-06 thru 15-Feb-06 60 29 16-Feb-06 thru 23-Feb-06 40 42 24-Feb-06 thru 01-Mar-06 54 28 02-Mar-06 thru 08-Mar-06 44 54 09-Mar-06 thru 15-Mar-06 67 53 16-Mar-06 thru 22-Mar-06 96 49 23-Mar-06 thru 28-Mar-06 86 26 29-Mar-06 thru 07-Apr-06 60 28 08-Apr-06 thru 11-Apr-06 37 43 12-Apr-06 thru 18-Apr-06 58 41 19-Apr-06 thru 25-Apr-06 76 38 26-Apr-06 thru 02-May-06 55 57 03-May-06 thru 10-May-06 64 45 11-May-06 thru 17-May-06 42 63 18-May-06 thru 25-May-06 54 42 Total 9840 8344
Wnd-RTD: Wounded in Action Return to Duty within 72 hours
Wnd: Wounded in Action Not Return to Duty within 72 hours
Totals updated weekly by the DoD
View Complete Weekly Report
Some of The Wounded... Wounded In Action According to The DoD Period Wounded Apr-2006 403 Mar-2006 494 Feb-2006 340 Jan-2006 286 Dec-2005 412 Nov-2005 400 Oct-2005 605 Sep-2005 545 Aug-2005 541 Jul-2005 476 Jun-2005 511 May-2005 575 Apr-2005 596 Mar-2005 371 Feb-2005 415 Jan-2005 498 Dec-2004 544 Nov-2004 1425 Oct-2004 648 Sep-2004 706 Aug-2004 895 Jul-2004 552 Jun-2004 589 May-2004 758 Apr-2004 1212 Mar-2004 324 Feb-2004 150 Jan-2004 189 Dec-2003 261 Nov-2003 336 Oct-2003 413 Sep-2003 247 Aug-2003 181 Jul-2003 226 Jun-2003 147 May-2003 55 Apr-2003 340 Mar-2003 203 Total 17869
Last update from the DoD: 29-Apr-06
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Sunday, May 28, 2006
"Most of all, political scribes have to take off their cynical lenses through which they view every moral challenge as political spin." - Al Gore
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Friday, May 26, 2006
Regrets
Just want to point that Bush talked about stuff he "regrets."
The only "regrets" he mentioned were PR moves that turned out badly.
It's Memorial Day Weekend, and it didn't even occur to him to "regret" the loss of 2462 American soldiers.
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FUBAR
You know what's pathetic? That Bush finally admits to making some mistake and - when faced with disaster on a monumental scale - will only admit to a few poorly chosen words.
Even if he DOES believe that a War in Iraq was a good idea (and sadly, I think he does), it is very obvious that the execution of it has been entirely botched.
They are trying to occupy a hostile area the size of California with a tiny force of 130,000 troops; they left the borders wide open so Al Qaeda could come in; they can't leave the green zone because it's too dangerous; and the terrorists have a new training ground and a new base of operations in the Middle East.
Not only has Bush not HURT the terrorists - he has GIVEN THEM NEW TERRITORY.
And not because of his words. Because of his actions.
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They still don't get it.
As you probably know, Bush and Blair had a press conference where they decided to try and stem the damage to their reputation by actually ADMITTING what everyone else has known for three years.
BUSH: Saying, "Bring it on"; kind of tough talk, you know, that sent the wrong signal to people. I learned some lessons about expressing myself maybe in a little more sophisticated manner, you know. "Wanted, dead or alive"; that kind of talk. I think in certain parts of the world it was misinterpreted. And so I learned from that
"Misinterpreted"? "Bring it on" was misinterpreted? It didn't actually mean "Bring it on"? Then what, exactly, was it supposed to mean? "Waiter, waiter, there's a fly in my soup"?
No, I think they interpreted it dead right - you were just a damned fool to say it.
And by the way, there was nothing wrong with saying "Osama Bin Laden, Dead or Alive." That's one of the few things you did right. The problem is it was JUST words, and you had no intention of following through, even while you said it.
Regarding his trip to Baghdad, Blair said, "I came away thinking the challenge is still immense, but I also came away more certain than ever that we should rise to it."
Blair added, "I think it's easy to go back over mistakes that we may have made, but the biggest reason why Iraq has been difficult is the determination by our opponents to defeat us."
They started a war without figuring that our opponents would be determined to defeat us.
What did they think our opponents would do? Invite us in for tea?
Are these people total ignoramuses? I don't give a crap how right you think you are - If you kick in someone's door and come at them, they are going to try and defeat you. Duh.
Holy crap.
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Wednesday, May 24, 2006
The Chicks
I don't know how many fans they've lost, but they've gained at least one new one.
Check out their performance on Letterman. Courtesy of crooks and liars.
God bless 'em.
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Pat Robertson
Why does this clown still have a following?
Pat Robertson's Age-Defying Shake
Did you know that Pat Robertson can leg-press 2000 pounds! How does he do it?
One of Pat's secrets to keeping his energy high and his vitality soaring is his age-defying protein shake. Pat developed a delicious, refreshing shake, filled with energy-producing nutrients.
70 years old. Leg presses 2000 pounds. From drinking a SHAKE.
Never mind that it's WAY beyond the existing record.
Pathetic.
Via AMERICAblog
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Tuesday, May 23, 2006
I thought I'd use my tiny little megaphone to draw attention to an editorial by radio legend Pete Fornatale on the state of the radio.
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Of course not. God forbid, I might learn something.
President says he's unlikely to watch documentary on global warming
WASHINGTON - Is President Bush likely to see Al Gore’s documentary about global warming?
“Doubt it,” Bush said coolly Monday.
But Bush should watch it, Gore shot back. In fact, the former Democratic vice president offered to come to the White House any time, any day to show Bush either his documentary or a slide show on global warming that he’s shown more than 1,000 times around the world.
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No shit, Sherlock
Panel: Legislators Shouldn't Work Drunk
SALEM, Ore. (AP) -- Oregon legislators and staff members should not be drunk while performing their official duties, a citizen panel says.
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Monday, May 22, 2006
AT&T Sold Your Ass to the Government
Wired Magazine has a full expose on the NSA spying scandal from Whistle-Blower Mark Klein's class-action lawsuit.
In 2003 AT&T built "secret rooms" hidden deep in the bowels of its central offices in various cities, housing computer gear for a government spy operation which taps into the company's popular WorldNet service and the entire internet. These installations enable the government to look at every individual message on the internet and analyze exactly what people are doing. Documents showing the hardwire installation in San Francisco suggest that there are similar locations being installed in numerous other cities.
The physical arrangement, the timing of its construction, the government-imposed secrecy surrounding it and other factors all strongly suggest that its origins are rooted in the Defense Department's Total Information Awareness (TIA) program...
Read the article. ALL of the Documents are in pdf format here.
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Take a look at this remarkable email exchange between Rumsfeld's Spokesman, Larry (a.k.a. Curly Joe) Dirita, and War Correspondent Joe Galloway. This is remarkable, and Galloway deserves a medal.
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Sunday, May 21, 2006
Why does this not surprise me?
Cut taxes for the multi-millionaires.
And INCREASE them for TEEN-AGERS.
The $69 billion tax cut bill that President Bush signed this week tripled tax rates for teenagers with college savings funds, despite Mr. Bush's 1999 pledge to veto any tax increase.
Under the new law, teenagers age 14 to 17 with investment income will now be taxed at the same rate as their parents, not at their own rates. Long-term capital gains and dividends that had been taxed at 5 percent will now be taxed at 15 percent. Interest that had been taxed at 10 percent will now be taxed at as much as 35 percent.
It is really hard to believe how brazen these people are in their greed and elitism. The contempt that they feel for ordinary Americans is palpable. Not only do they screw people - they do it right in your face, and think you won't notice.
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Thursday, May 18, 2006
Illegal is more fun
According to Baltimore Sun, the NSA developed a program for the purpose of analyzing communication data in the late 1990. Unlike what they are doing now, the old program was legal and protected the privacy of Americans - and worked better.
They rejected it in favor of a system that was illegal, unnecessarily intrusive and didn't work so good.
But if you're Bush, you ALWAYS prefer the option that's illegal, intrusive and innefficient. I honestly think it gives the man the sort of rush that a teenager gets when he gets away with something.
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Rover defends his owner
"The American people like this president. His personal approval ratings are in the 60s. Job approval is lower. And what that says to me is that people like him, they respect him, he's somebody they feel a connection with, but they're just sour right now on the war. And that's the way it's going to be." - Karl Rove
Cognitive dissonance is what happens in the human brain when a human being is confronted with a fact which his preconceptions tell him cannot possibly be true.
Is Karl Rove - Bush's favorite Turdblossom and America's beloved pus-sack - becoming delusional?
His "personal approval" isn't anywhere NEAR the 60s and people DON'T like this President. (New York Times pdf poll here) In fact, his JOB approval is one percentage point HIGHER than his "personal approval. " He has more than 50% approval in exactly 3 states - Utah, Idaho and Wyoming. NOBODY approves of him, except a few whackjobs.
Polysigh put it best:
"As for Rove's comment that Bush would be popular but for the Iraq War, that's like saying that if it weren't for the Alps, Switzerland would be flat."
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Tuesday, May 16, 2006
The Constitutional Crisis that Walks like a Man.
The FBI has confirmed that they do, indeed, monitor reporters' phone calls.
Approximately one year ago, we were told that they did not need a warrant because they were only monitoring international calls.
Then, they said that, well, actually were monitoring SOME calls where one of the parties was domestic and one was international.
"If someone is calling Al Qaeda," said Bush, "we want to know why."
Which is interesting, because it implies that they know the terrorists' telephone numbers, which makes you wonder why they don't just round them up instead of collecting their phone bills.
Then they said that they sometimes they inadvertently listen to purely domestic calls.
Then they tell us - just this week - that, well, all that was bullshit. They have actually been collecting info on every single phone call made by every single American with almost no exceptions.
But OF COURSE we have nothing to worry about. We can trust THEM. Never mind the fact that they have lied about this again and again and again. We can trust them. They aren't actually listening in. It's for TERRORISM. So they say.
But you can't name a single terrorist who has been arrested in the last five years as a result of this spying. Not one.
And NOW, we find out that they AREN'T checking on terrorists - they are checking on reporters. They are using phone records to find out who reporters are using as sources. They are REALLY after anyone who makes them look bad by revealing the truth to the American People.
You would figure even the REPUBLICANS would wake up and realize that George W. Bush is a walking Constitutional Crisis who has to be stopped while we still have something that we can call "America" left. And they would, if they valued their nation more than their party.
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Monday, May 15, 2006
Push Back Poll
I said it was a push poll, and I was right.
From a Newsweek poll, released one day after the Washington Post Push Poll:
As you may know, there are reports that the NSA, a government intelligence agency, has been collecting the phone call records of Americans. The agency doesn't actually listen to the calls but logs in nearly every phone number to create a database of calls made within the United States. Which of the following comes CLOSER to your own view of this domestic surveillance program:
It is a necessary tool to combat terrorism -- 41
It goes too far in invading people’s privacy -- 53
Don’t know -- 6
Note that the question doesn't read like a apologia for data mining - as the Washington Post poll did.
But why was the Washington Post so anxious to release a poll that backed up the Bush administration's wishes on the same day that the news broke?
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Your tax dollars at work
You have to watch out for those Terrorist Anchormen:
Federal Source to ABC News: We Know Who You're Calling
Brian Ross and Richard Esposito Report:
A senior federal law enforcement official tells ABC News the government is tracking the phone numbers we (Brian Ross and Richard Esposito) call in an effort to root out confidential sources.
"It's time for you to get some new cell phones, quick," the source told us in an in-person conversation.
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Same script.
Ah. So His Incompetence is probably going to use the National Guard to patrol the border. He says it's "only temporary."
Temporary till when? Just after the 2006 elections?
This is typical. God forbid border patrol get done by actual border patrol. That would make sense. Instead, let's assume that the MILITARY doesn't have enough of a role.
The REAL problem is that Bush is too damned incompetent to deal with anything using civilian means - like SANE Presidents always have. Instead, he turns to the military as his tool of choice for absolutely everything.
And pardon me for wondering if President Codpiece isn't still trying to compensate for the cowardice and inadequacy that he showed during Vietnam. Using OTHER people's blood and sweat, of course.
So he will get to dress up in a uniform, strut around, use jeeps and tanks and helicopters and all sorts of neat stuff, and basically play war in a place where there isn't one, and it will make for a great photo-op. He'll get his picture taken with a helicopter. Look, mommy! Don't I look cool?
God, I wish we had a President who was a frigging grown-up, instead of one who is stuck in adolescence and makes America suffer so he can feel impressive.
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Sunday, May 14, 2006
Ooops.
I posted the info from Jason Leopold (of truthout) that Rove had been indicted. Not WOULD be - HAD been. I think we would have heard something by now. I guess Leopold's source isn't all that reliable, and it's the last time I post something unsubstantiated from truthout.
Here's hoping that Leopold proves to be right a bit too early anyway.
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Saturday, May 13, 2006
Sue the bastards.
If you own stock in any phone companies, it's time to sell short. They could lose billions in class-action lawsuits, and lose MORE money from an exodus of customers.
Two suits have already been filed.
Verizon Sued for Giving NSA Phone Records Attorneys Bruce Afran and Carl Mayer filed the lawsuit Friday afternoon in federal district court in Manhattan, where Verizon is headquartered.
The lawsuit asks the court to stop Verizon from turning over any more records to the NSA without a warrant or consent of the subscriber.
"This is the largest and most vast intrusion of civil liberties we've ever seen in the United States," Afran said of the NSA program.
The lawsuit seeks $1,000 for each violation of the Telecommunications Act, or $5 billion if the case is certified as class-action.
And this is a DIFFERENT one:
Verizon Faces New $20B Suit over NSA Spying Complicity
Upping the ante in what may be a high-stakes legal battle, an Upstate New York lawyer filed a $20 billion class-action lawsuit against Verizon last week, charging that the company violated customer confidentiality in aiding warrantless eavesdropping by a federal spy agency.
Here's the tally of who has and has not violated the privacy of American citizens:
Verizon (land-line), AT&T, and BellSouth have all behaved in a fundamentally Unamerican manner.
On the other hand, Qwest is the only large landline carrier that refused to complied with the Bush's fascist requests. If you have one of the other three, switch to Qwest.
Cellular phones seem largely clean. Verizon Wireless, T-Mobile, Virgin Mobile and Cox all say that they have not provided their records to anyone.
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Fitzmas?
Truthout now says that Rove has BEEN indicted, but I don't see it in the tradition media.
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Shocked
The NSA Whistleblower says that people are going to be shocked.
[Tice] said he plans to tell the committee staffers the NSA conducted illegal and unconstitutional surveillance of U.S. citizens while he was there with the knowledge of Hayden. … “I think the people I talk to next week are going to be shocked when I tell them what I have to tell them. It’s pretty hard to believe,” Tice said.
I won't be shocked, but it's about time the country got shocked.
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Friday, May 12, 2006
According to truthout, Rove has told the White House that he will be indicted.
Within the last week, Karl Rove told President Bush and Chief of Staff Joshua Bolten, as well as a few other high level administration officials, that he will be indicted in the CIA leak case and will immediately resign his White House job when the special counsel publicly announces the charges against him, according to sources.
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Raid kills roaches dead.
The FBI has raided the home of Dusty Foggo (NOT the name of a fictional character). The guy who just resigned as the #3 man in the CIA.
I wonder why Goss REALLY resigned. This CAN'T be a coincidence.
Move along, folks, nothing to see here....
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Push poll
You may have read - and been shocked - by reports that a poll says that 2/3rds of Americans have no problem with the Bush administration mining phone calls.
Here is the actual question:
It's been reported that the National Security Agency has been collecting the phone call records of tens of millions of Americans. It then analyzes calling patterns in an effort to identify possible terrorism suspects, without listening to or recording the conversations. Would you consider this an acceptable or unacceptable way for the federal government to investigate terrorism? Do you feel that way strongly or somewhat?
Note that the question itself ASSUMES that the act is benign, and states things as fact that WE DON'T KNOW (such as that conversations are not listened to or recorded). The question is framed in terms of fighting terrorism, falsifies the known facts, fails to mention the questionable legality, and was obviously thrown together on the fly. For many poll respondents, this was probably the first time they HEARD about it.
This is a push poll.
And I suspect that other polls released in the coming days will show very different results.
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Today?
Tweetybird Matthews thinks Rove might be indicted today.
From Imus this morning"
Transcript:
MATTHEWS: If, however, something happens with Karl Rove, we’re going to go to general quarters around here.
IMUS: What does that mean?
MATTHEWS: Meaning we will be taping probably on Saturday or late night because everything will change. Last time, when he picked up Scooter, when he nailed him 30 years of charges, that happened on 1:00 on a Friday. So we don’t know when it might happen, if it’s going happen.
IMUS: Are we expecting something with Karl Rove today?
MATTHEWS: Well, it could be today. It could be next week. Everybody is buzzing about when or if. It’s a big if, big when. There is a lot of talk because he is still being interviewing by the special prosecutor. He keeps being hauled before the grand jury. So something is going on here with the special prosecutor. We don’t know whether he is going to clear him or nail him.
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GENEVA (Reuters) - The United States has again refused the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) access to terrorism suspects held in secret detention centers, the humanitarian agency said on Friday.
Isn't it interesting that the whole motto of this administration is "If you have done nothing wrong, you have nothing to hide"?
Explains why they hide everything.
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Headline says it all
Bush denies spying infringes on privacy
Roll THAT phrase around in your head a few times.
Lewis Carroll wishes HE had thought of that one, I'm sure
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Thursday, May 11, 2006
Gonzales Lied
As surely as weasels are weasels.
From the Muckraker:
Did Gonzales Mislead Congress about NSA Program?
By Paul Kiel - May 11, 2006, 2:32 PM
Reacting to today's news that the NSA is "amassing information about the calls of ordinary Americans," Reps. Bennie G. Thompson (D-MS) and Rep. Zoe Lofgren (D-CA) have put out a statement questioning the legality of the program.
Their statement contains this: "when the Attorney General was forced to testify before the House Judiciary Committee a few weeks ago, he misled the Committee about the existence of the program."
Here's what they're referring to. On April 6, 2006, Attorney General Alberto Gonzales testified before the House Judiciary Committee, and in one exchange, Rep. Gerald Nadler (D-NY) tried to nail him down:
NADLER: Number two, can you assure us that there is no warrantless surveillance of calls between two Americans within the United States?
GONZALES: That is not what the president has authorized.
NADLER: Can you assure us that it's not being done?
GONZALES: As I indicated in response to an earlier question, no technology is perfect.
NADLER: OK.
GONZALES: We do have minimization procedures in place...
NADLER: But you're not doing that deliberately?
GONZALES: That is correct.
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"There's no doubt in my mind there are safeguards in place to make sure the program focuses on calls coming from outside the United States in, with an al Qaeda -- from a -- with a belief that there's an al Qaeda person making the call to somebody here in the States, or vice versa -- but not domestic calls." - Bush, 01/26/06.
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Bush lies some more
President Deer-In-The-Headlights decided to throw a little gasoline on the fire:
Facing intense criticism from Congress, President Bush did not confirm the work of the National Security Agency but sought to assure Americans that their privacy is being "fiercely protected."
"We are not mining or trolling through the personal lives of innocent Americans," Bush said before leaving for a commencement address at Mississippi Gulf Coast Community College in Biloxi.
Well, gee whiz, codpiece-for-brains, you ALSO said that you were only listening to INTERNATIONAL Communications. You ALSO said it was only a FEW HUNDRED.
Liar.
Every new story that comes out shows that the administration lied about the last story that came out but they say that we should believe them this time.
NOBODY is that gullible.
By the way, giving the White House info on yur phone calls was VOLUNTARY on the part of the phone companies. Qwest was the ONLY major carrier to refuse. So if you are with AT&T or Verizon, switch to Qwest. And call them and let them know why. DEMAND that they respect your privacy.
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It's all true
Everything you thought MIGHT be true IS.
NSA has massive database of Americans' phone calls
The National Security Agency has been secretly collecting the phone call records of tens of millions of Americans, using data provided by AT&T, Verizon and BellSouth, people with direct knowledge of the arrangement told USA TODAY.
The NSA program reaches into homes and businesses across the nation by amassing information about the calls of ordinary Americans — most of whom aren't suspected of any crime. This program does not involve the NSA listening to or recording conversations. But the spy agency is using the data to analyze calling patterns in an effort to detect terrorist activity, sources said in separate interviews.
For the customers of these companies, it means that the government has detailed records of calls they made — across town or across the country — to family members, co-workers, business contacts and others.
The sources would talk only under a guarantee of anonymity because the NSA program is secret.
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Wednesday, May 10, 2006
Colbert - SOMEBODY gets it.
Here's a great article from the TV Critic at the Chicago Sun-Times about Colbert's public evisceration of His Ignorance. This may be the only thing I have read in the mainstream press that actually understood the reaction to Colbert's speech.
How did Bush tickle reporters? He made fun of the fact that he can barely speak English (he is quite simply the worst communicator of all U.S. presidents), that our vice president is a heartless face-shooter, and that Bush is basically an idiot.
Ha ha, our "war president" knows he's a village idiot? To members of the White House press corps, that's some real funny stuff. To non-insiders, this looked like another example of good old boys and gals slapping each other on the back.
Colbert's routine was more remarkable for its unique and creative brazenness. He joked that Bush's presidency is like the Hindenburg; that Bush's wiretappers were monitoring this very event, and that the White House press corps, sitting in front of Colbert, gave Bush a free pass, scandal after scandal, until recently (when his polls numbers dropped).
How's this for a newsworthy lead? It was perhaps the first time in Bush's tenure that the president was forced to sit and listen to any American cite the litany of criminal and corruption allegations that have piled up against his administration. And mouth-tense Bush and first lady Laura Bush fled as soon as possible afterward.
From whom were they fleeing? A star comedian pretending to be a Fox News-like blowhard doing a sort of performance art that America hasn't witnessed nationally since the days of Andy Kaufman. Even if Colbert's bit had been reported as a train wreck, that would have sufficed. Instead, shocking lines like the following were barely covered by any traditional organ except industry magazine Editor & Publisher: "I stand by" Bush, Colbert cracked, "because he stands for things. Not only for things, he stands on things. Things like aircraft carriers and rubble, and recently flooded city squares. And that sends a strong message that no matter what happens to America, she will always rebound with the most powerfully staged photo ops in the world."
For TV reporters in particular to quote that gruesome line would be an agreement with Colbert, that they helped Bush mix politics with corruption from the ashes of 9/11 ("aircraft carriers and rubble"), and failed to see through Bush's politicization of the drowning of an American city after a hurricane ("recently flooded city squares").
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Brownie, you're doing a heckuva job.
The question isn't "Why do only 31% still support these incompetents" - the question is, "why the hell is it still that high?"
WASHINGTON — Hours after Hurricane Katrina hit, former FEMA director Michael Brown dismissed reports that floodwaters had breached New Orleans' levees, and he obsessed over media coverage of his agency, according to newly released e-mails.
At one point early that morning, Brown reported to an aide that he was "sitting in the chair, putting mousse in my hair" while waiting for media interviews to begin.
What total dicks.
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Poll vault
(CBS) President Bush and the Republican Congress show nearly record low ratings while Democrats are viewed much more favorably in their performance on the issues that matter most to Americans, according to the latest CBS News/New York Times poll.
Well, that just great. You think - maybe - the Democrats MIGHT just stop acting like their afraid that challenging thi clown will hurt them?
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Keep talking, Al
Guardian UK - Al Gore has made his sharpest attack yet on the George Bush presidency, describing the current US administration as "a renegade band of rightwing extremists".
You know, I really, REALLY want to lambaste Gore for not growing any balls until AFTER Bush took power. If he had had some back in 2000, this whole disaster might not have happened,
But I won't. Keep talking, Al.
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Then he should be very happy in THIS White House
NEW YORK, May 30 -- Treasury Secretary nominee Henry M. Paulson Jr. is often described as the kind of guy who thrives in a crisis.
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Roadside Bombs?
You know, some right-wingers are say that we don't actually know that the executions in Haditha were done by American soldiers.
Well, if they didn't do it, why did they lie about it?
Files Contradict Account of Raid in Iraq
WASHINGTON, May 30 — A military investigator uncovered evidence in February and March that contradicted repeated claims by marines that Iraqi civilians killed in Haditha last November were victims of a roadside bomb, according to a senior military official in Iraq.
Among the pieces of evidence that conflicted with the marines' story were death certificates that showed all the Iraqi victims had gunshot wounds, mostly to the head and chest, the official said.
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A band-aid on a hemmorhage
BAGHDAD (Reuters) - Some 1,500 more U.S. troops have arrived in Iraq to help with the war against Sunni Arab rebels, including al Qaeda Islamist militants, in the western desert province of Anbar, the military said on Tuesday.
I don't think that even the delusional morons in this administration can possibly believe that 1,500 more troops is going to do a damned thing.
What's sad is that they probably DO think that it's a good PR move. They can't even do THAT right anymore.
And why the hell aren't 1500 IRAQI troops being brought in instead?
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But why don't the media talk about the GOOD news?
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Tuesday, May 30, 2006
Holy Crap
Iraq's new ambassador to the United States, Samir Sumaidaie, just accused the United States of killing his cousin. On purpose. Unnecessarily. Right after meeting Bush.
The new Iraqi ambassador to the United States has accused US Marines of "intentionally" killing a cousin in the Iraqi town of Haditha last year.
Speaking only hours after presenting his credentials to President George W Bush at the White House, Ambassador Samir al-Sumaidaie said his relative was shot dead five months before the killing of 24 civilians in the town in November that is now the subject of a controversial inquiry.
The ambassador told how Mohammed al-Sumaidaie, a 21-year-old engineering student, was killed after opening the door of the family house to US Marines on June 25.
"I believe he was killed intentionally. I believe he was killed unnecessarily," Mr Sumaidaie said on CNN television.
"The Marines were doing house-to-house searches, and they went into the house of my cousin. He opened the door for them. His mother, his siblings were there. He let them into the bedroom of his father, and there he was shot."
Here's the transcript from CNN.
BLITZER: But even months before the incident in November, you lost a cousin at Haditha in a separate battle involving United States Marines.
SUMAIDAIE: Well, that was not a battle at all. Marines were doing house-to-house searches, and they went into the house of my cousin. He opened the door for them.
His mother, his siblings were there. He led them into the bedroom of his father. And there he was shot.
BLITZER: Who shot him?
SUMAIDAIE: A member of the Marines.
BLITZER: Why did they shoot him?
SUMAIDAIE: Well, they said that they shot him in self-defense. I find that hard to believe because, A, he is not at all a violent -- I mean, I know the boy. He was [in] a second-year engineering course in the university. Nothing to do with violence. All his life has been studies and intellectual work.
Totally unbelievable. And, in fact, they had no weapon in the house. They had one weapon which belonged to the school where his father was a headmaster. And it had no ammunition in it. And he led them into the room to show it to them.
BLITZER: So what you're suggesting, your cousin was killed in cold blood, is that what you're saying, by United States Marines?
SUMAIDAIE: I believe he was killed intentionally. I believe that he was killed unnecessarily. And unfortunately, the investigations that took place after that sort of took a different course and concluded that there was no unlawful killing.
I would like further investigation. I have, in fact, asked for the report of the last investigation, which was a criminal investigation, by the way.
[Gen. George Casey, the top U.S. commander in Iraq] is aware of all the details, because he's kept on top of it. And it was he who rejected the conclusions of the first investigation. I have since asked formally for the report, but it's been nearly two months, and I have not received it.
BLITZER: Did you raise these concerns you had with the president today when you were at the White House presenting your credentials?
SUMAIDAIE: No, I did not, because I did not want to bring a personal note into a much wider brief that I have here.
This is astonishing. It is absolutely unbelievable that an ambassador from a country which we OCCUPY would say something like that, in public, in an accusatory fashion, just hours after meeting the President.
Either this guy is so angry at the U.S. that he just does not give a crap about offending us anymore, or - in the wake of Abu Ghraib and Haditha - he considers it far more important and wise to appeal to anti-American sentiment in his own country than to placate US.
This does NOT say good things about our future there.
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Snow-white lie
Bush is caught in one more lie, via Think Progress:
On May 25th, President Bush said that Treasury Secretary John Snow had not given him any indication that he was leaving soon:
PRESIDENT BUSH: Secretary of Treasury Snow?
Q Has he given you any indication he intends to leave his job any time soon?…
PRESIDENT BUSH: No, he has not talked to me about resignation. I think he’s doing a fine job.
In fact, not only had Snow indicated he was leaving, President Bush had already settled on his replacement. Today, Tony Snow said that Hank Paulson was offered the job on May 20 and accepted a day later:
QUESTION: Do you have any tick tock on the Paulson…
SNOW: Yes. The tick tock is the two of them met on the 20th of May and there was a conversation. And Hank Paulson accepted the job a day later. That was subject to clearance. It does take time, especially for a Senate confirmable position, to complete those. So it did take time to get some of those clearances wrapped up.
The apologists, of course, will deny that THAT'S a lie, too. Being a Bushite requires heaping doses of denial.
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One Snow at a time
Tony Snow is in as Press Secretary, so John Snow is out as Treasury Secretary.
That's my theory: poor George would be confused by having two guys around named "Snow," and they want to minimize his befuddlement.
Not that it will help: "How come Snow is still here? I thought we got rid of Snow!"
"That's a different Snow, Mr. President."
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Iraq Coalition Casualties
Military Fatalities: By Time Period
Period US UK Other* Total Avg Days 5 313 15 8 336 2.02 166 4 715 13 18 746 2.35 318 3 579 25 27 631 2.92 216 2 718 27 58 803 1.89 424 1 140 33 0 173 4.02 43 Total 2465 113 111 2689 2.3 1167
Time Periods Defined
Iraqi Security Forces and Civilian Deaths Period Total May-06 1002 Apr-06 1010 Mar-06 1094 Feb-06 846 Jan-06 780
Iraqi Security Forces and Civilian Deaths Details
Note: This is an estimate based on news reports. This is not a definitive count.
U.S. Deaths Confirmed By The DoD: 2464 Reported U.S. Deaths Pending DoD Confirmation: 1 Total 2465
DoD Confirmation List Latest Coalition Fatality: May 29, 2006
Military Fatalities: By Month Period US UK Other* Total Avg Days 5-2006 61 9 1 71 2.37 30 4-2006 76 1 5 82 2.73 30 3-2006 31 0 2 33 1.06 31 2-2006 55 3 0 58 2.07 28 1-2006 62 2 0 64 2.06 31 12-2005 68 0 0 68 2.19 31 11-2005 84 1 1 86 2.87 30 10-2005 96 2 1 99 3.19 31 9-2005 49 3 0 52 1.73 30 8-2005 85 0 0 85 2.74 31 7-2005 54 3 1 58 1.87 31 6-2005 78 1 4 83 2.77 30 5-2005 80 2 6 88 2.84 31 4-2005 52 0 0 52 1.73 30 3-2005 35 1 3 39 1.26 31 2-2005 58 0 2 60 2.14 28 1-2005 107 10 10 127 4.1 31 12-2004 72 1 3 76 2.45 31 11-2004 137 4 0 141 4.7 30 10-2004 63 2 2 67 2.16 31 9-2004 80 3 4 87 2.9 30 8-2004 66 4 5 75 2.42 31 7-2004 54 1 3 58 1.87 31 6-2004 42 1 7 50 1.67 30 5-2004 80 0 4 84 2.71 31 4-2004 135 0 5 140 4.67 30 3-2004 52 0 0 52 1.68 31 2-2004 20 1 2 23 0.79 29 1-2004 47 5 0 52 1.68 31 12-2003 40 0 8 48 1.55 31 11-2003 82 1 27 110 3.67 30 10-2003 44 1 2 47 1.52 31 9-2003 31 1 1 33 1.1 30 8-2003 35 6 2 43 1.39 31 7-2003 48 1 0 49 1.58 31 6-2003 30 6 0 36 1.2 30 5-2003 37 4 0 41 1.32 31 4-2003 74 6 0 80 2.67 30 3-2003 65 27 0 92 7.67 12 Total 2465 113 111 2689 2.3 1168
Missing or Captured: US Casualties By Calendar Year Year US Deaths US Wounded 2003 486 2409 2004 848 7992 2005 846 5945 2006 285 1523 Total 2465 17869
*Other Coalition Countries: Country Total Australia 2 Bulgaria 13 Denmark 3 El Salvador 2 Estonia 2 Hungary 1 Italy 31 Kazakhstan 1 Latvia 1 Netherlands 2 Poland 17 Romania 2 Slovakia 3 Spain 11 Thailand 2 Ukraine 18
Non Military Deaths: Journalists Killed in Iraq An Incomplete List of Contractors Killed in Iraq Iraqi Body Count (External Link)
US Wounded by Week Period Wnd-RTD Wounded 03-20-2003 thru 04-01-2003 115 426 04-02-2004 thru 01-02-2005 4565 4875 01-03-2005 thru 12-20-2005 3946 2228 12-21-2005 thru 04-Jan-06 121 53 05-Jan-06 thru 11-Jan-06 65 26 12-Jan-06 thru 18-Jan-06 35 17 19-Jan-06 thru 25-Jan-06 42 34 26-Jan-06 thru 01-Feb-06 34 24 02-Feb-06 thru 08-Feb-06 24 23 09-Feb-06 thru 15-Feb-06 60 29 16-Feb-06 thru 23-Feb-06 40 42 24-Feb-06 thru 01-Mar-06 54 28 02-Mar-06 thru 08-Mar-06 44 54 09-Mar-06 thru 15-Mar-06 67 53 16-Mar-06 thru 22-Mar-06 96 49 23-Mar-06 thru 28-Mar-06 86 26 29-Mar-06 thru 07-Apr-06 60 28 08-Apr-06 thru 11-Apr-06 37 43 12-Apr-06 thru 18-Apr-06 58 41 19-Apr-06 thru 25-Apr-06 76 38 26-Apr-06 thru 02-May-06 55 57 03-May-06 thru 10-May-06 64 45 11-May-06 thru 17-May-06 42 63 18-May-06 thru 25-May-06 54 42 Total 9840 8344
Wnd-RTD: Wounded in Action Return to Duty within 72 hours
Wnd: Wounded in Action Not Return to Duty within 72 hours
Totals updated weekly by the DoD
View Complete Weekly Report
Some of The Wounded... Wounded In Action According to The DoD Period Wounded Apr-2006 403 Mar-2006 494 Feb-2006 340 Jan-2006 286 Dec-2005 412 Nov-2005 400 Oct-2005 605 Sep-2005 545 Aug-2005 541 Jul-2005 476 Jun-2005 511 May-2005 575 Apr-2005 596 Mar-2005 371 Feb-2005 415 Jan-2005 498 Dec-2004 544 Nov-2004 1425 Oct-2004 648 Sep-2004 706 Aug-2004 895 Jul-2004 552 Jun-2004 589 May-2004 758 Apr-2004 1212 Mar-2004 324 Feb-2004 150 Jan-2004 189 Dec-2003 261 Nov-2003 336 Oct-2003 413 Sep-2003 247 Aug-2003 181 Jul-2003 226 Jun-2003 147 May-2003 55 Apr-2003 340 Mar-2003 203 Total 17869
Last update from the DoD: 29-Apr-06
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Sunday, May 28, 2006
"Most of all, political scribes have to take off their cynical lenses through which they view every moral challenge as political spin." - Al Gore
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Friday, May 26, 2006
Regrets
Just want to point that Bush talked about stuff he "regrets."
The only "regrets" he mentioned were PR moves that turned out badly.
It's Memorial Day Weekend, and it didn't even occur to him to "regret" the loss of 2462 American soldiers.
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FUBAR
You know what's pathetic? That Bush finally admits to making some mistake and - when faced with disaster on a monumental scale - will only admit to a few poorly chosen words.
Even if he DOES believe that a War in Iraq was a good idea (and sadly, I think he does), it is very obvious that the execution of it has been entirely botched.
They are trying to occupy a hostile area the size of California with a tiny force of 130,000 troops; they left the borders wide open so Al Qaeda could come in; they can't leave the green zone because it's too dangerous; and the terrorists have a new training ground and a new base of operations in the Middle East.
Not only has Bush not HURT the terrorists - he has GIVEN THEM NEW TERRITORY.
And not because of his words. Because of his actions.
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They still don't get it.
As you probably know, Bush and Blair had a press conference where they decided to try and stem the damage to their reputation by actually ADMITTING what everyone else has known for three years.
BUSH: Saying, "Bring it on"; kind of tough talk, you know, that sent the wrong signal to people. I learned some lessons about expressing myself maybe in a little more sophisticated manner, you know. "Wanted, dead or alive"; that kind of talk. I think in certain parts of the world it was misinterpreted. And so I learned from that
"Misinterpreted"? "Bring it on" was misinterpreted? It didn't actually mean "Bring it on"? Then what, exactly, was it supposed to mean? "Waiter, waiter, there's a fly in my soup"?
No, I think they interpreted it dead right - you were just a damned fool to say it.
And by the way, there was nothing wrong with saying "Osama Bin Laden, Dead or Alive." That's one of the few things you did right. The problem is it was JUST words, and you had no intention of following through, even while you said it.
Regarding his trip to Baghdad, Blair said, "I came away thinking the challenge is still immense, but I also came away more certain than ever that we should rise to it."
Blair added, "I think it's easy to go back over mistakes that we may have made, but the biggest reason why Iraq has been difficult is the determination by our opponents to defeat us."
They started a war without figuring that our opponents would be determined to defeat us.
What did they think our opponents would do? Invite us in for tea?
Are these people total ignoramuses? I don't give a crap how right you think you are - If you kick in someone's door and come at them, they are going to try and defeat you. Duh.
Holy crap.
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Wednesday, May 24, 2006
The Chicks
I don't know how many fans they've lost, but they've gained at least one new one.
Check out their performance on Letterman. Courtesy of crooks and liars.
God bless 'em.
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Pat Robertson
Why does this clown still have a following?
Pat Robertson's Age-Defying Shake
Did you know that Pat Robertson can leg-press 2000 pounds! How does he do it?
One of Pat's secrets to keeping his energy high and his vitality soaring is his age-defying protein shake. Pat developed a delicious, refreshing shake, filled with energy-producing nutrients.
70 years old. Leg presses 2000 pounds. From drinking a SHAKE.
Never mind that it's WAY beyond the existing record.
Pathetic.
Via AMERICAblog
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Tuesday, May 23, 2006
I thought I'd use my tiny little megaphone to draw attention to an editorial by radio legend Pete Fornatale on the state of the radio.
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Of course not. God forbid, I might learn something.
President says he's unlikely to watch documentary on global warming
WASHINGTON - Is President Bush likely to see Al Gore’s documentary about global warming?
“Doubt it,” Bush said coolly Monday.
But Bush should watch it, Gore shot back. In fact, the former Democratic vice president offered to come to the White House any time, any day to show Bush either his documentary or a slide show on global warming that he’s shown more than 1,000 times around the world.
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No shit, Sherlock
Panel: Legislators Shouldn't Work Drunk
SALEM, Ore. (AP) -- Oregon legislators and staff members should not be drunk while performing their official duties, a citizen panel says.
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Monday, May 22, 2006
AT&T Sold Your Ass to the Government
Wired Magazine has a full expose on the NSA spying scandal from Whistle-Blower Mark Klein's class-action lawsuit.
In 2003 AT&T built "secret rooms" hidden deep in the bowels of its central offices in various cities, housing computer gear for a government spy operation which taps into the company's popular WorldNet service and the entire internet. These installations enable the government to look at every individual message on the internet and analyze exactly what people are doing. Documents showing the hardwire installation in San Francisco suggest that there are similar locations being installed in numerous other cities.
The physical arrangement, the timing of its construction, the government-imposed secrecy surrounding it and other factors all strongly suggest that its origins are rooted in the Defense Department's Total Information Awareness (TIA) program...
Read the article. ALL of the Documents are in pdf format here.
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Take a look at this remarkable email exchange between Rumsfeld's Spokesman, Larry (a.k.a. Curly Joe) Dirita, and War Correspondent Joe Galloway. This is remarkable, and Galloway deserves a medal.
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Sunday, May 21, 2006
Why does this not surprise me?
Cut taxes for the multi-millionaires.
And INCREASE them for TEEN-AGERS.
The $69 billion tax cut bill that President Bush signed this week tripled tax rates for teenagers with college savings funds, despite Mr. Bush's 1999 pledge to veto any tax increase.
Under the new law, teenagers age 14 to 17 with investment income will now be taxed at the same rate as their parents, not at their own rates. Long-term capital gains and dividends that had been taxed at 5 percent will now be taxed at 15 percent. Interest that had been taxed at 10 percent will now be taxed at as much as 35 percent.
It is really hard to believe how brazen these people are in their greed and elitism. The contempt that they feel for ordinary Americans is palpable. Not only do they screw people - they do it right in your face, and think you won't notice.
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Thursday, May 18, 2006
Illegal is more fun
According to Baltimore Sun, the NSA developed a program for the purpose of analyzing communication data in the late 1990. Unlike what they are doing now, the old program was legal and protected the privacy of Americans - and worked better.
They rejected it in favor of a system that was illegal, unnecessarily intrusive and didn't work so good.
But if you're Bush, you ALWAYS prefer the option that's illegal, intrusive and innefficient. I honestly think it gives the man the sort of rush that a teenager gets when he gets away with something.
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Rover defends his owner
"The American people like this president. His personal approval ratings are in the 60s. Job approval is lower. And what that says to me is that people like him, they respect him, he's somebody they feel a connection with, but they're just sour right now on the war. And that's the way it's going to be." - Karl Rove
Cognitive dissonance is what happens in the human brain when a human being is confronted with a fact which his preconceptions tell him cannot possibly be true.
Is Karl Rove - Bush's favorite Turdblossom and America's beloved pus-sack - becoming delusional?
His "personal approval" isn't anywhere NEAR the 60s and people DON'T like this President. (New York Times pdf poll here) In fact, his JOB approval is one percentage point HIGHER than his "personal approval. " He has more than 50% approval in exactly 3 states - Utah, Idaho and Wyoming. NOBODY approves of him, except a few whackjobs.
Polysigh put it best:
"As for Rove's comment that Bush would be popular but for the Iraq War, that's like saying that if it weren't for the Alps, Switzerland would be flat."
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Tuesday, May 16, 2006
The Constitutional Crisis that Walks like a Man.
The FBI has confirmed that they do, indeed, monitor reporters' phone calls.
Approximately one year ago, we were told that they did not need a warrant because they were only monitoring international calls.
Then, they said that, well, actually were monitoring SOME calls where one of the parties was domestic and one was international.
"If someone is calling Al Qaeda," said Bush, "we want to know why."
Which is interesting, because it implies that they know the terrorists' telephone numbers, which makes you wonder why they don't just round them up instead of collecting their phone bills.
Then they said that they sometimes they inadvertently listen to purely domestic calls.
Then they tell us - just this week - that, well, all that was bullshit. They have actually been collecting info on every single phone call made by every single American with almost no exceptions.
But OF COURSE we have nothing to worry about. We can trust THEM. Never mind the fact that they have lied about this again and again and again. We can trust them. They aren't actually listening in. It's for TERRORISM. So they say.
But you can't name a single terrorist who has been arrested in the last five years as a result of this spying. Not one.
And NOW, we find out that they AREN'T checking on terrorists - they are checking on reporters. They are using phone records to find out who reporters are using as sources. They are REALLY after anyone who makes them look bad by revealing the truth to the American People.
You would figure even the REPUBLICANS would wake up and realize that George W. Bush is a walking Constitutional Crisis who has to be stopped while we still have something that we can call "America" left. And they would, if they valued their nation more than their party.
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Monday, May 15, 2006
Push Back Poll
I said it was a push poll, and I was right.
From a Newsweek poll, released one day after the Washington Post Push Poll:
As you may know, there are reports that the NSA, a government intelligence agency, has been collecting the phone call records of Americans. The agency doesn't actually listen to the calls but logs in nearly every phone number to create a database of calls made within the United States. Which of the following comes CLOSER to your own view of this domestic surveillance program:
It is a necessary tool to combat terrorism -- 41
It goes too far in invading people’s privacy -- 53
Don’t know -- 6
Note that the question doesn't read like a apologia for data mining - as the Washington Post poll did.
But why was the Washington Post so anxious to release a poll that backed up the Bush administration's wishes on the same day that the news broke?
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Your tax dollars at work
You have to watch out for those Terrorist Anchormen:
Federal Source to ABC News: We Know Who You're Calling
Brian Ross and Richard Esposito Report:
A senior federal law enforcement official tells ABC News the government is tracking the phone numbers we (Brian Ross and Richard Esposito) call in an effort to root out confidential sources.
"It's time for you to get some new cell phones, quick," the source told us in an in-person conversation.
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Same script.
Ah. So His Incompetence is probably going to use the National Guard to patrol the border. He says it's "only temporary."
Temporary till when? Just after the 2006 elections?
This is typical. God forbid border patrol get done by actual border patrol. That would make sense. Instead, let's assume that the MILITARY doesn't have enough of a role.
The REAL problem is that Bush is too damned incompetent to deal with anything using civilian means - like SANE Presidents always have. Instead, he turns to the military as his tool of choice for absolutely everything.
And pardon me for wondering if President Codpiece isn't still trying to compensate for the cowardice and inadequacy that he showed during Vietnam. Using OTHER people's blood and sweat, of course.
So he will get to dress up in a uniform, strut around, use jeeps and tanks and helicopters and all sorts of neat stuff, and basically play war in a place where there isn't one, and it will make for a great photo-op. He'll get his picture taken with a helicopter. Look, mommy! Don't I look cool?
God, I wish we had a President who was a frigging grown-up, instead of one who is stuck in adolescence and makes America suffer so he can feel impressive.
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Sunday, May 14, 2006
Ooops.
I posted the info from Jason Leopold (of truthout) that Rove had been indicted. Not WOULD be - HAD been. I think we would have heard something by now. I guess Leopold's source isn't all that reliable, and it's the last time I post something unsubstantiated from truthout.
Here's hoping that Leopold proves to be right a bit too early anyway.
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Saturday, May 13, 2006
Sue the bastards.
If you own stock in any phone companies, it's time to sell short. They could lose billions in class-action lawsuits, and lose MORE money from an exodus of customers.
Two suits have already been filed.
Verizon Sued for Giving NSA Phone Records Attorneys Bruce Afran and Carl Mayer filed the lawsuit Friday afternoon in federal district court in Manhattan, where Verizon is headquartered.
The lawsuit asks the court to stop Verizon from turning over any more records to the NSA without a warrant or consent of the subscriber.
"This is the largest and most vast intrusion of civil liberties we've ever seen in the United States," Afran said of the NSA program.
The lawsuit seeks $1,000 for each violation of the Telecommunications Act, or $5 billion if the case is certified as class-action.
And this is a DIFFERENT one:
Verizon Faces New $20B Suit over NSA Spying Complicity
Upping the ante in what may be a high-stakes legal battle, an Upstate New York lawyer filed a $20 billion class-action lawsuit against Verizon last week, charging that the company violated customer confidentiality in aiding warrantless eavesdropping by a federal spy agency.
Here's the tally of who has and has not violated the privacy of American citizens:
Verizon (land-line), AT&T, and BellSouth have all behaved in a fundamentally Unamerican manner.
On the other hand, Qwest is the only large landline carrier that refused to complied with the Bush's fascist requests. If you have one of the other three, switch to Qwest.
Cellular phones seem largely clean. Verizon Wireless, T-Mobile, Virgin Mobile and Cox all say that they have not provided their records to anyone.
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Fitzmas?
Truthout now says that Rove has BEEN indicted, but I don't see it in the tradition media.
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Shocked
The NSA Whistleblower says that people are going to be shocked.
[Tice] said he plans to tell the committee staffers the NSA conducted illegal and unconstitutional surveillance of U.S. citizens while he was there with the knowledge of Hayden. … “I think the people I talk to next week are going to be shocked when I tell them what I have to tell them. It’s pretty hard to believe,” Tice said.
I won't be shocked, but it's about time the country got shocked.
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Friday, May 12, 2006
According to truthout, Rove has told the White House that he will be indicted.
Within the last week, Karl Rove told President Bush and Chief of Staff Joshua Bolten, as well as a few other high level administration officials, that he will be indicted in the CIA leak case and will immediately resign his White House job when the special counsel publicly announces the charges against him, according to sources.
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Raid kills roaches dead.
The FBI has raided the home of Dusty Foggo (NOT the name of a fictional character). The guy who just resigned as the #3 man in the CIA.
I wonder why Goss REALLY resigned. This CAN'T be a coincidence.
Move along, folks, nothing to see here....
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Push poll
You may have read - and been shocked - by reports that a poll says that 2/3rds of Americans have no problem with the Bush administration mining phone calls.
Here is the actual question:
It's been reported that the National Security Agency has been collecting the phone call records of tens of millions of Americans. It then analyzes calling patterns in an effort to identify possible terrorism suspects, without listening to or recording the conversations. Would you consider this an acceptable or unacceptable way for the federal government to investigate terrorism? Do you feel that way strongly or somewhat?
Note that the question itself ASSUMES that the act is benign, and states things as fact that WE DON'T KNOW (such as that conversations are not listened to or recorded). The question is framed in terms of fighting terrorism, falsifies the known facts, fails to mention the questionable legality, and was obviously thrown together on the fly. For many poll respondents, this was probably the first time they HEARD about it.
This is a push poll.
And I suspect that other polls released in the coming days will show very different results.
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Today?
Tweetybird Matthews thinks Rove might be indicted today.
From Imus this morning"
Transcript:
MATTHEWS: If, however, something happens with Karl Rove, we’re going to go to general quarters around here.
IMUS: What does that mean?
MATTHEWS: Meaning we will be taping probably on Saturday or late night because everything will change. Last time, when he picked up Scooter, when he nailed him 30 years of charges, that happened on 1:00 on a Friday. So we don’t know when it might happen, if it’s going happen.
IMUS: Are we expecting something with Karl Rove today?
MATTHEWS: Well, it could be today. It could be next week. Everybody is buzzing about when or if. It’s a big if, big when. There is a lot of talk because he is still being interviewing by the special prosecutor. He keeps being hauled before the grand jury. So something is going on here with the special prosecutor. We don’t know whether he is going to clear him or nail him.
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GENEVA (Reuters) - The United States has again refused the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) access to terrorism suspects held in secret detention centers, the humanitarian agency said on Friday.
Isn't it interesting that the whole motto of this administration is "If you have done nothing wrong, you have nothing to hide"?
Explains why they hide everything.
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Headline says it all
Bush denies spying infringes on privacy
Roll THAT phrase around in your head a few times.
Lewis Carroll wishes HE had thought of that one, I'm sure
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Thursday, May 11, 2006
Gonzales Lied
As surely as weasels are weasels.
From the Muckraker:
Did Gonzales Mislead Congress about NSA Program?
By Paul Kiel - May 11, 2006, 2:32 PM
Reacting to today's news that the NSA is "amassing information about the calls of ordinary Americans," Reps. Bennie G. Thompson (D-MS) and Rep. Zoe Lofgren (D-CA) have put out a statement questioning the legality of the program.
Their statement contains this: "when the Attorney General was forced to testify before the House Judiciary Committee a few weeks ago, he misled the Committee about the existence of the program."
Here's what they're referring to. On April 6, 2006, Attorney General Alberto Gonzales testified before the House Judiciary Committee, and in one exchange, Rep. Gerald Nadler (D-NY) tried to nail him down:
NADLER: Number two, can you assure us that there is no warrantless surveillance of calls between two Americans within the United States?
GONZALES: That is not what the president has authorized.
NADLER: Can you assure us that it's not being done?
GONZALES: As I indicated in response to an earlier question, no technology is perfect.
NADLER: OK.
GONZALES: We do have minimization procedures in place...
NADLER: But you're not doing that deliberately?
GONZALES: That is correct.
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"There's no doubt in my mind there are safeguards in place to make sure the program focuses on calls coming from outside the United States in, with an al Qaeda -- from a -- with a belief that there's an al Qaeda person making the call to somebody here in the States, or vice versa -- but not domestic calls." - Bush, 01/26/06.
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Bush lies some more
President Deer-In-The-Headlights decided to throw a little gasoline on the fire:
Facing intense criticism from Congress, President Bush did not confirm the work of the National Security Agency but sought to assure Americans that their privacy is being "fiercely protected."
"We are not mining or trolling through the personal lives of innocent Americans," Bush said before leaving for a commencement address at Mississippi Gulf Coast Community College in Biloxi.
Well, gee whiz, codpiece-for-brains, you ALSO said that you were only listening to INTERNATIONAL Communications. You ALSO said it was only a FEW HUNDRED.
Liar.
Every new story that comes out shows that the administration lied about the last story that came out but they say that we should believe them this time.
NOBODY is that gullible.
By the way, giving the White House info on yur phone calls was VOLUNTARY on the part of the phone companies. Qwest was the ONLY major carrier to refuse. So if you are with AT&T or Verizon, switch to Qwest. And call them and let them know why. DEMAND that they respect your privacy.
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It's all true
Everything you thought MIGHT be true IS.
NSA has massive database of Americans' phone calls
The National Security Agency has been secretly collecting the phone call records of tens of millions of Americans, using data provided by AT&T, Verizon and BellSouth, people with direct knowledge of the arrangement told USA TODAY.
The NSA program reaches into homes and businesses across the nation by amassing information about the calls of ordinary Americans — most of whom aren't suspected of any crime. This program does not involve the NSA listening to or recording conversations. But the spy agency is using the data to analyze calling patterns in an effort to detect terrorist activity, sources said in separate interviews.
For the customers of these companies, it means that the government has detailed records of calls they made — across town or across the country — to family members, co-workers, business contacts and others.
The sources would talk only under a guarantee of anonymity because the NSA program is secret.
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Wednesday, May 10, 2006
Colbert - SOMEBODY gets it.
Here's a great article from the TV Critic at the Chicago Sun-Times about Colbert's public evisceration of His Ignorance. This may be the only thing I have read in the mainstream press that actually understood the reaction to Colbert's speech.
How did Bush tickle reporters? He made fun of the fact that he can barely speak English (he is quite simply the worst communicator of all U.S. presidents), that our vice president is a heartless face-shooter, and that Bush is basically an idiot.
Ha ha, our "war president" knows he's a village idiot? To members of the White House press corps, that's some real funny stuff. To non-insiders, this looked like another example of good old boys and gals slapping each other on the back.
Colbert's routine was more remarkable for its unique and creative brazenness. He joked that Bush's presidency is like the Hindenburg; that Bush's wiretappers were monitoring this very event, and that the White House press corps, sitting in front of Colbert, gave Bush a free pass, scandal after scandal, until recently (when his polls numbers dropped).
How's this for a newsworthy lead? It was perhaps the first time in Bush's tenure that the president was forced to sit and listen to any American cite the litany of criminal and corruption allegations that have piled up against his administration. And mouth-tense Bush and first lady Laura Bush fled as soon as possible afterward.
From whom were they fleeing? A star comedian pretending to be a Fox News-like blowhard doing a sort of performance art that America hasn't witnessed nationally since the days of Andy Kaufman. Even if Colbert's bit had been reported as a train wreck, that would have sufficed. Instead, shocking lines like the following were barely covered by any traditional organ except industry magazine Editor & Publisher: "I stand by" Bush, Colbert cracked, "because he stands for things. Not only for things, he stands on things. Things like aircraft carriers and rubble, and recently flooded city squares. And that sends a strong message that no matter what happens to America, she will always rebound with the most powerfully staged photo ops in the world."
For TV reporters in particular to quote that gruesome line would be an agreement with Colbert, that they helped Bush mix politics with corruption from the ashes of 9/11 ("aircraft carriers and rubble"), and failed to see through Bush's politicization of the drowning of an American city after a hurricane ("recently flooded city squares").
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Brownie, you're doing a heckuva job.
The question isn't "Why do only 31% still support these incompetents" - the question is, "why the hell is it still that high?"
WASHINGTON — Hours after Hurricane Katrina hit, former FEMA director Michael Brown dismissed reports that floodwaters had breached New Orleans' levees, and he obsessed over media coverage of his agency, according to newly released e-mails.
At one point early that morning, Brown reported to an aide that he was "sitting in the chair, putting mousse in my hair" while waiting for media interviews to begin.
What total dicks.
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Poll vault
(CBS) President Bush and the Republican Congress show nearly record low ratings while Democrats are viewed much more favorably in their performance on the issues that matter most to Americans, according to the latest CBS News/New York Times poll.
Well, that just great. You think - maybe - the Democrats MIGHT just stop acting like their afraid that challenging thi clown will hurt them?
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You know, I really, REALLY want to lambaste Gore for not growing any balls until AFTER Bush took power. If he had had some back in 2000, this whole disaster might not have happened,
But I won't. Keep talking, Al.
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Then he should be very happy in THIS White House
NEW YORK, May 30 -- Treasury Secretary nominee Henry M. Paulson Jr. is often described as the kind of guy who thrives in a crisis.
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Roadside Bombs?
You know, some right-wingers are say that we don't actually know that the executions in Haditha were done by American soldiers.
Well, if they didn't do it, why did they lie about it?
Files Contradict Account of Raid in Iraq
WASHINGTON, May 30 — A military investigator uncovered evidence in February and March that contradicted repeated claims by marines that Iraqi civilians killed in Haditha last November were victims of a roadside bomb, according to a senior military official in Iraq.
Among the pieces of evidence that conflicted with the marines' story were death certificates that showed all the Iraqi victims had gunshot wounds, mostly to the head and chest, the official said.
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A band-aid on a hemmorhage
BAGHDAD (Reuters) - Some 1,500 more U.S. troops have arrived in Iraq to help with the war against Sunni Arab rebels, including al Qaeda Islamist militants, in the western desert province of Anbar, the military said on Tuesday.
I don't think that even the delusional morons in this administration can possibly believe that 1,500 more troops is going to do a damned thing.
What's sad is that they probably DO think that it's a good PR move. They can't even do THAT right anymore.
And why the hell aren't 1500 IRAQI troops being brought in instead?
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But why don't the media talk about the GOOD news?
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Tuesday, May 30, 2006
Holy Crap
Iraq's new ambassador to the United States, Samir Sumaidaie, just accused the United States of killing his cousin. On purpose. Unnecessarily. Right after meeting Bush.
The new Iraqi ambassador to the United States has accused US Marines of "intentionally" killing a cousin in the Iraqi town of Haditha last year.
Speaking only hours after presenting his credentials to President George W Bush at the White House, Ambassador Samir al-Sumaidaie said his relative was shot dead five months before the killing of 24 civilians in the town in November that is now the subject of a controversial inquiry.
The ambassador told how Mohammed al-Sumaidaie, a 21-year-old engineering student, was killed after opening the door of the family house to US Marines on June 25.
"I believe he was killed intentionally. I believe he was killed unnecessarily," Mr Sumaidaie said on CNN television.
"The Marines were doing house-to-house searches, and they went into the house of my cousin. He opened the door for them. His mother, his siblings were there. He let them into the bedroom of his father, and there he was shot."
Here's the transcript from CNN.
BLITZER: But even months before the incident in November, you lost a cousin at Haditha in a separate battle involving United States Marines.
SUMAIDAIE: Well, that was not a battle at all. Marines were doing house-to-house searches, and they went into the house of my cousin. He opened the door for them.
His mother, his siblings were there. He led them into the bedroom of his father. And there he was shot.
BLITZER: Who shot him?
SUMAIDAIE: A member of the Marines.
BLITZER: Why did they shoot him?
SUMAIDAIE: Well, they said that they shot him in self-defense. I find that hard to believe because, A, he is not at all a violent -- I mean, I know the boy. He was [in] a second-year engineering course in the university. Nothing to do with violence. All his life has been studies and intellectual work.
Totally unbelievable. And, in fact, they had no weapon in the house. They had one weapon which belonged to the school where his father was a headmaster. And it had no ammunition in it. And he led them into the room to show it to them.
BLITZER: So what you're suggesting, your cousin was killed in cold blood, is that what you're saying, by United States Marines?
SUMAIDAIE: I believe he was killed intentionally. I believe that he was killed unnecessarily. And unfortunately, the investigations that took place after that sort of took a different course and concluded that there was no unlawful killing.
I would like further investigation. I have, in fact, asked for the report of the last investigation, which was a criminal investigation, by the way.
[Gen. George Casey, the top U.S. commander in Iraq] is aware of all the details, because he's kept on top of it. And it was he who rejected the conclusions of the first investigation. I have since asked formally for the report, but it's been nearly two months, and I have not received it.
BLITZER: Did you raise these concerns you had with the president today when you were at the White House presenting your credentials?
SUMAIDAIE: No, I did not, because I did not want to bring a personal note into a much wider brief that I have here.
This is astonishing. It is absolutely unbelievable that an ambassador from a country which we OCCUPY would say something like that, in public, in an accusatory fashion, just hours after meeting the President.
Either this guy is so angry at the U.S. that he just does not give a crap about offending us anymore, or - in the wake of Abu Ghraib and Haditha - he considers it far more important and wise to appeal to anti-American sentiment in his own country than to placate US.
This does NOT say good things about our future there.
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Snow-white lie
Bush is caught in one more lie, via Think Progress:
On May 25th, President Bush said that Treasury Secretary John Snow had not given him any indication that he was leaving soon:
PRESIDENT BUSH: Secretary of Treasury Snow?
Q Has he given you any indication he intends to leave his job any time soon?…
PRESIDENT BUSH: No, he has not talked to me about resignation. I think he’s doing a fine job.
In fact, not only had Snow indicated he was leaving, President Bush had already settled on his replacement. Today, Tony Snow said that Hank Paulson was offered the job on May 20 and accepted a day later:
QUESTION: Do you have any tick tock on the Paulson…
SNOW: Yes. The tick tock is the two of them met on the 20th of May and there was a conversation. And Hank Paulson accepted the job a day later. That was subject to clearance. It does take time, especially for a Senate confirmable position, to complete those. So it did take time to get some of those clearances wrapped up.
The apologists, of course, will deny that THAT'S a lie, too. Being a Bushite requires heaping doses of denial.
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One Snow at a time
Tony Snow is in as Press Secretary, so John Snow is out as Treasury Secretary.
That's my theory: poor George would be confused by having two guys around named "Snow," and they want to minimize his befuddlement.
Not that it will help: "How come Snow is still here? I thought we got rid of Snow!"
"That's a different Snow, Mr. President."
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Iraq Coalition Casualties
Military Fatalities: By Time Period
Period US UK Other* Total Avg Days 5 313 15 8 336 2.02 166 4 715 13 18 746 2.35 318 3 579 25 27 631 2.92 216 2 718 27 58 803 1.89 424 1 140 33 0 173 4.02 43 Total 2465 113 111 2689 2.3 1167
Time Periods Defined
Iraqi Security Forces and Civilian Deaths Period Total May-06 1002 Apr-06 1010 Mar-06 1094 Feb-06 846 Jan-06 780
Iraqi Security Forces and Civilian Deaths Details
Note: This is an estimate based on news reports. This is not a definitive count.
U.S. Deaths Confirmed By The DoD: 2464 Reported U.S. Deaths Pending DoD Confirmation: 1 Total 2465
DoD Confirmation List Latest Coalition Fatality: May 29, 2006
Military Fatalities: By Month Period US UK Other* Total Avg Days 5-2006 61 9 1 71 2.37 30 4-2006 76 1 5 82 2.73 30 3-2006 31 0 2 33 1.06 31 2-2006 55 3 0 58 2.07 28 1-2006 62 2 0 64 2.06 31 12-2005 68 0 0 68 2.19 31 11-2005 84 1 1 86 2.87 30 10-2005 96 2 1 99 3.19 31 9-2005 49 3 0 52 1.73 30 8-2005 85 0 0 85 2.74 31 7-2005 54 3 1 58 1.87 31 6-2005 78 1 4 83 2.77 30 5-2005 80 2 6 88 2.84 31 4-2005 52 0 0 52 1.73 30 3-2005 35 1 3 39 1.26 31 2-2005 58 0 2 60 2.14 28 1-2005 107 10 10 127 4.1 31 12-2004 72 1 3 76 2.45 31 11-2004 137 4 0 141 4.7 30 10-2004 63 2 2 67 2.16 31 9-2004 80 3 4 87 2.9 30 8-2004 66 4 5 75 2.42 31 7-2004 54 1 3 58 1.87 31 6-2004 42 1 7 50 1.67 30 5-2004 80 0 4 84 2.71 31 4-2004 135 0 5 140 4.67 30 3-2004 52 0 0 52 1.68 31 2-2004 20 1 2 23 0.79 29 1-2004 47 5 0 52 1.68 31 12-2003 40 0 8 48 1.55 31 11-2003 82 1 27 110 3.67 30 10-2003 44 1 2 47 1.52 31 9-2003 31 1 1 33 1.1 30 8-2003 35 6 2 43 1.39 31 7-2003 48 1 0 49 1.58 31 6-2003 30 6 0 36 1.2 30 5-2003 37 4 0 41 1.32 31 4-2003 74 6 0 80 2.67 30 3-2003 65 27 0 92 7.67 12 Total 2465 113 111 2689 2.3 1168
Missing or Captured: US Casualties By Calendar Year Year US Deaths US Wounded 2003 486 2409 2004 848 7992 2005 846 5945 2006 285 1523 Total 2465 17869
*Other Coalition Countries: Country Total Australia 2 Bulgaria 13 Denmark 3 El Salvador 2 Estonia 2 Hungary 1 Italy 31 Kazakhstan 1 Latvia 1 Netherlands 2 Poland 17 Romania 2 Slovakia 3 Spain 11 Thailand 2 Ukraine 18
Non Military Deaths: Journalists Killed in Iraq An Incomplete List of Contractors Killed in Iraq Iraqi Body Count (External Link)
US Wounded by Week Period Wnd-RTD Wounded 03-20-2003 thru 04-01-2003 115 426 04-02-2004 thru 01-02-2005 4565 4875 01-03-2005 thru 12-20-2005 3946 2228 12-21-2005 thru 04-Jan-06 121 53 05-Jan-06 thru 11-Jan-06 65 26 12-Jan-06 thru 18-Jan-06 35 17 19-Jan-06 thru 25-Jan-06 42 34 26-Jan-06 thru 01-Feb-06 34 24 02-Feb-06 thru 08-Feb-06 24 23 09-Feb-06 thru 15-Feb-06 60 29 16-Feb-06 thru 23-Feb-06 40 42 24-Feb-06 thru 01-Mar-06 54 28 02-Mar-06 thru 08-Mar-06 44 54 09-Mar-06 thru 15-Mar-06 67 53 16-Mar-06 thru 22-Mar-06 96 49 23-Mar-06 thru 28-Mar-06 86 26 29-Mar-06 thru 07-Apr-06 60 28 08-Apr-06 thru 11-Apr-06 37 43 12-Apr-06 thru 18-Apr-06 58 41 19-Apr-06 thru 25-Apr-06 76 38 26-Apr-06 thru 02-May-06 55 57 03-May-06 thru 10-May-06 64 45 11-May-06 thru 17-May-06 42 63 18-May-06 thru 25-May-06 54 42 Total 9840 8344
Wnd-RTD: Wounded in Action Return to Duty within 72 hours
Wnd: Wounded in Action Not Return to Duty within 72 hours
Totals updated weekly by the DoD
View Complete Weekly Report
Some of The Wounded... Wounded In Action According to The DoD Period Wounded Apr-2006 403 Mar-2006 494 Feb-2006 340 Jan-2006 286 Dec-2005 412 Nov-2005 400 Oct-2005 605 Sep-2005 545 Aug-2005 541 Jul-2005 476 Jun-2005 511 May-2005 575 Apr-2005 596 Mar-2005 371 Feb-2005 415 Jan-2005 498 Dec-2004 544 Nov-2004 1425 Oct-2004 648 Sep-2004 706 Aug-2004 895 Jul-2004 552 Jun-2004 589 May-2004 758 Apr-2004 1212 Mar-2004 324 Feb-2004 150 Jan-2004 189 Dec-2003 261 Nov-2003 336 Oct-2003 413 Sep-2003 247 Aug-2003 181 Jul-2003 226 Jun-2003 147 May-2003 55 Apr-2003 340 Mar-2003 203 Total 17869
Last update from the DoD: 29-Apr-06
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Sunday, May 28, 2006
"Most of all, political scribes have to take off their cynical lenses through which they view every moral challenge as political spin." - Al Gore
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Friday, May 26, 2006
Regrets
Just want to point that Bush talked about stuff he "regrets."
The only "regrets" he mentioned were PR moves that turned out badly.
It's Memorial Day Weekend, and it didn't even occur to him to "regret" the loss of 2462 American soldiers.
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FUBAR
You know what's pathetic? That Bush finally admits to making some mistake and - when faced with disaster on a monumental scale - will only admit to a few poorly chosen words.
Even if he DOES believe that a War in Iraq was a good idea (and sadly, I think he does), it is very obvious that the execution of it has been entirely botched.
They are trying to occupy a hostile area the size of California with a tiny force of 130,000 troops; they left the borders wide open so Al Qaeda could come in; they can't leave the green zone because it's too dangerous; and the terrorists have a new training ground and a new base of operations in the Middle East.
Not only has Bush not HURT the terrorists - he has GIVEN THEM NEW TERRITORY.
And not because of his words. Because of his actions.
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They still don't get it.
As you probably know, Bush and Blair had a press conference where they decided to try and stem the damage to their reputation by actually ADMITTING what everyone else has known for three years.
BUSH: Saying, "Bring it on"; kind of tough talk, you know, that sent the wrong signal to people. I learned some lessons about expressing myself maybe in a little more sophisticated manner, you know. "Wanted, dead or alive"; that kind of talk. I think in certain parts of the world it was misinterpreted. And so I learned from that
"Misinterpreted"? "Bring it on" was misinterpreted? It didn't actually mean "Bring it on"? Then what, exactly, was it supposed to mean? "Waiter, waiter, there's a fly in my soup"?
No, I think they interpreted it dead right - you were just a damned fool to say it.
And by the way, there was nothing wrong with saying "Osama Bin Laden, Dead or Alive." That's one of the few things you did right. The problem is it was JUST words, and you had no intention of following through, even while you said it.
Regarding his trip to Baghdad, Blair said, "I came away thinking the challenge is still immense, but I also came away more certain than ever that we should rise to it."
Blair added, "I think it's easy to go back over mistakes that we may have made, but the biggest reason why Iraq has been difficult is the determination by our opponents to defeat us."
They started a war without figuring that our opponents would be determined to defeat us.
What did they think our opponents would do? Invite us in for tea?
Are these people total ignoramuses? I don't give a crap how right you think you are - If you kick in someone's door and come at them, they are going to try and defeat you. Duh.
Holy crap.
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Wednesday, May 24, 2006
The Chicks
I don't know how many fans they've lost, but they've gained at least one new one.
Check out their performance on Letterman. Courtesy of crooks and liars.
God bless 'em.
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Pat Robertson
Why does this clown still have a following?
Pat Robertson's Age-Defying Shake
Did you know that Pat Robertson can leg-press 2000 pounds! How does he do it?
One of Pat's secrets to keeping his energy high and his vitality soaring is his age-defying protein shake. Pat developed a delicious, refreshing shake, filled with energy-producing nutrients.
70 years old. Leg presses 2000 pounds. From drinking a SHAKE.
Never mind that it's WAY beyond the existing record.
Pathetic.
Via AMERICAblog
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Tuesday, May 23, 2006
I thought I'd use my tiny little megaphone to draw attention to an editorial by radio legend Pete Fornatale on the state of the radio.
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Of course not. God forbid, I might learn something.
President says he's unlikely to watch documentary on global warming
WASHINGTON - Is President Bush likely to see Al Gore’s documentary about global warming?
“Doubt it,” Bush said coolly Monday.
But Bush should watch it, Gore shot back. In fact, the former Democratic vice president offered to come to the White House any time, any day to show Bush either his documentary or a slide show on global warming that he’s shown more than 1,000 times around the world.
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No shit, Sherlock
Panel: Legislators Shouldn't Work Drunk
SALEM, Ore. (AP) -- Oregon legislators and staff members should not be drunk while performing their official duties, a citizen panel says.
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Monday, May 22, 2006
AT&T Sold Your Ass to the Government
Wired Magazine has a full expose on the NSA spying scandal from Whistle-Blower Mark Klein's class-action lawsuit.
In 2003 AT&T built "secret rooms" hidden deep in the bowels of its central offices in various cities, housing computer gear for a government spy operation which taps into the company's popular WorldNet service and the entire internet. These installations enable the government to look at every individual message on the internet and analyze exactly what people are doing. Documents showing the hardwire installation in San Francisco suggest that there are similar locations being installed in numerous other cities.
The physical arrangement, the timing of its construction, the government-imposed secrecy surrounding it and other factors all strongly suggest that its origins are rooted in the Defense Department's Total Information Awareness (TIA) program...
Read the article. ALL of the Documents are in pdf format here.
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Take a look at this remarkable email exchange between Rumsfeld's Spokesman, Larry (a.k.a. Curly Joe) Dirita, and War Correspondent Joe Galloway. This is remarkable, and Galloway deserves a medal.
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Sunday, May 21, 2006
Why does this not surprise me?
Cut taxes for the multi-millionaires.
And INCREASE them for TEEN-AGERS.
The $69 billion tax cut bill that President Bush signed this week tripled tax rates for teenagers with college savings funds, despite Mr. Bush's 1999 pledge to veto any tax increase.
Under the new law, teenagers age 14 to 17 with investment income will now be taxed at the same rate as their parents, not at their own rates. Long-term capital gains and dividends that had been taxed at 5 percent will now be taxed at 15 percent. Interest that had been taxed at 10 percent will now be taxed at as much as 35 percent.
It is really hard to believe how brazen these people are in their greed and elitism. The contempt that they feel for ordinary Americans is palpable. Not only do they screw people - they do it right in your face, and think you won't notice.
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Thursday, May 18, 2006
Illegal is more fun
According to Baltimore Sun, the NSA developed a program for the purpose of analyzing communication data in the late 1990. Unlike what they are doing now, the old program was legal and protected the privacy of Americans - and worked better.
They rejected it in favor of a system that was illegal, unnecessarily intrusive and didn't work so good.
But if you're Bush, you ALWAYS prefer the option that's illegal, intrusive and innefficient. I honestly think it gives the man the sort of rush that a teenager gets when he gets away with something.
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Rover defends his owner
"The American people like this president. His personal approval ratings are in the 60s. Job approval is lower. And what that says to me is that people like him, they respect him, he's somebody they feel a connection with, but they're just sour right now on the war. And that's the way it's going to be." - Karl Rove
Cognitive dissonance is what happens in the human brain when a human being is confronted with a fact which his preconceptions tell him cannot possibly be true.
Is Karl Rove - Bush's favorite Turdblossom and America's beloved pus-sack - becoming delusional?
His "personal approval" isn't anywhere NEAR the 60s and people DON'T like this President. (New York Times pdf poll here) In fact, his JOB approval is one percentage point HIGHER than his "personal approval. " He has more than 50% approval in exactly 3 states - Utah, Idaho and Wyoming. NOBODY approves of him, except a few whackjobs.
Polysigh put it best:
"As for Rove's comment that Bush would be popular but for the Iraq War, that's like saying that if it weren't for the Alps, Switzerland would be flat."
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Tuesday, May 16, 2006
The Constitutional Crisis that Walks like a Man.
The FBI has confirmed that they do, indeed, monitor reporters' phone calls.
Approximately one year ago, we were told that they did not need a warrant because they were only monitoring international calls.
Then, they said that, well, actually were monitoring SOME calls where one of the parties was domestic and one was international.
"If someone is calling Al Qaeda," said Bush, "we want to know why."
Which is interesting, because it implies that they know the terrorists' telephone numbers, which makes you wonder why they don't just round them up instead of collecting their phone bills.
Then they said that they sometimes they inadvertently listen to purely domestic calls.
Then they tell us - just this week - that, well, all that was bullshit. They have actually been collecting info on every single phone call made by every single American with almost no exceptions.
But OF COURSE we have nothing to worry about. We can trust THEM. Never mind the fact that they have lied about this again and again and again. We can trust them. They aren't actually listening in. It's for TERRORISM. So they say.
But you can't name a single terrorist who has been arrested in the last five years as a result of this spying. Not one.
And NOW, we find out that they AREN'T checking on terrorists - they are checking on reporters. They are using phone records to find out who reporters are using as sources. They are REALLY after anyone who makes them look bad by revealing the truth to the American People.
You would figure even the REPUBLICANS would wake up and realize that George W. Bush is a walking Constitutional Crisis who has to be stopped while we still have something that we can call "America" left. And they would, if they valued their nation more than their party.
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Monday, May 15, 2006
Push Back Poll
I said it was a push poll, and I was right.
From a Newsweek poll, released one day after the Washington Post Push Poll:
As you may know, there are reports that the NSA, a government intelligence agency, has been collecting the phone call records of Americans. The agency doesn't actually listen to the calls but logs in nearly every phone number to create a database of calls made within the United States. Which of the following comes CLOSER to your own view of this domestic surveillance program:
It is a necessary tool to combat terrorism -- 41
It goes too far in invading people’s privacy -- 53
Don’t know -- 6
Note that the question doesn't read like a apologia for data mining - as the Washington Post poll did.
But why was the Washington Post so anxious to release a poll that backed up the Bush administration's wishes on the same day that the news broke?
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Your tax dollars at work
You have to watch out for those Terrorist Anchormen:
Federal Source to ABC News: We Know Who You're Calling
Brian Ross and Richard Esposito Report:
A senior federal law enforcement official tells ABC News the government is tracking the phone numbers we (Brian Ross and Richard Esposito) call in an effort to root out confidential sources.
"It's time for you to get some new cell phones, quick," the source told us in an in-person conversation.
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Same script.
Ah. So His Incompetence is probably going to use the National Guard to patrol the border. He says it's "only temporary."
Temporary till when? Just after the 2006 elections?
This is typical. God forbid border patrol get done by actual border patrol. That would make sense. Instead, let's assume that the MILITARY doesn't have enough of a role.
The REAL problem is that Bush is too damned incompetent to deal with anything using civilian means - like SANE Presidents always have. Instead, he turns to the military as his tool of choice for absolutely everything.
And pardon me for wondering if President Codpiece isn't still trying to compensate for the cowardice and inadequacy that he showed during Vietnam. Using OTHER people's blood and sweat, of course.
So he will get to dress up in a uniform, strut around, use jeeps and tanks and helicopters and all sorts of neat stuff, and basically play war in a place where there isn't one, and it will make for a great photo-op. He'll get his picture taken with a helicopter. Look, mommy! Don't I look cool?
God, I wish we had a President who was a frigging grown-up, instead of one who is stuck in adolescence and makes America suffer so he can feel impressive.
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Sunday, May 14, 2006
Ooops.
I posted the info from Jason Leopold (of truthout) that Rove had been indicted. Not WOULD be - HAD been. I think we would have heard something by now. I guess Leopold's source isn't all that reliable, and it's the last time I post something unsubstantiated from truthout.
Here's hoping that Leopold proves to be right a bit too early anyway.
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Saturday, May 13, 2006
Sue the bastards.
If you own stock in any phone companies, it's time to sell short. They could lose billions in class-action lawsuits, and lose MORE money from an exodus of customers.
Two suits have already been filed.
Verizon Sued for Giving NSA Phone Records Attorneys Bruce Afran and Carl Mayer filed the lawsuit Friday afternoon in federal district court in Manhattan, where Verizon is headquartered.
The lawsuit asks the court to stop Verizon from turning over any more records to the NSA without a warrant or consent of the subscriber.
"This is the largest and most vast intrusion of civil liberties we've ever seen in the United States," Afran said of the NSA program.
The lawsuit seeks $1,000 for each violation of the Telecommunications Act, or $5 billion if the case is certified as class-action.
And this is a DIFFERENT one:
Verizon Faces New $20B Suit over NSA Spying Complicity
Upping the ante in what may be a high-stakes legal battle, an Upstate New York lawyer filed a $20 billion class-action lawsuit against Verizon last week, charging that the company violated customer confidentiality in aiding warrantless eavesdropping by a federal spy agency.
Here's the tally of who has and has not violated the privacy of American citizens:
Verizon (land-line), AT&T, and BellSouth have all behaved in a fundamentally Unamerican manner.
On the other hand, Qwest is the only large landline carrier that refused to complied with the Bush's fascist requests. If you have one of the other three, switch to Qwest.
Cellular phones seem largely clean. Verizon Wireless, T-Mobile, Virgin Mobile and Cox all say that they have not provided their records to anyone.
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Fitzmas?
Truthout now says that Rove has BEEN indicted, but I don't see it in the tradition media.
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Shocked
The NSA Whistleblower says that people are going to be shocked.
[Tice] said he plans to tell the committee staffers the NSA conducted illegal and unconstitutional surveillance of U.S. citizens while he was there with the knowledge of Hayden. … “I think the people I talk to next week are going to be shocked when I tell them what I have to tell them. It’s pretty hard to believe,” Tice said.
I won't be shocked, but it's about time the country got shocked.
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Friday, May 12, 2006
According to truthout, Rove has told the White House that he will be indicted.
Within the last week, Karl Rove told President Bush and Chief of Staff Joshua Bolten, as well as a few other high level administration officials, that he will be indicted in the CIA leak case and will immediately resign his White House job when the special counsel publicly announces the charges against him, according to sources.
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Raid kills roaches dead.
The FBI has raided the home of Dusty Foggo (NOT the name of a fictional character). The guy who just resigned as the #3 man in the CIA.
I wonder why Goss REALLY resigned. This CAN'T be a coincidence.
Move along, folks, nothing to see here....
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Push poll
You may have read - and been shocked - by reports that a poll says that 2/3rds of Americans have no problem with the Bush administration mining phone calls.
Here is the actual question:
It's been reported that the National Security Agency has been collecting the phone call records of tens of millions of Americans. It then analyzes calling patterns in an effort to identify possible terrorism suspects, without listening to or recording the conversations. Would you consider this an acceptable or unacceptable way for the federal government to investigate terrorism? Do you feel that way strongly or somewhat?
Note that the question itself ASSUMES that the act is benign, and states things as fact that WE DON'T KNOW (such as that conversations are not listened to or recorded). The question is framed in terms of fighting terrorism, falsifies the known facts, fails to mention the questionable legality, and was obviously thrown together on the fly. For many poll respondents, this was probably the first time they HEARD about it.
This is a push poll.
And I suspect that other polls released in the coming days will show very different results.
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Today?
Tweetybird Matthews thinks Rove might be indicted today.
From Imus this morning"
Transcript:
MATTHEWS: If, however, something happens with Karl Rove, we’re going to go to general quarters around here.
IMUS: What does that mean?
MATTHEWS: Meaning we will be taping probably on Saturday or late night because everything will change. Last time, when he picked up Scooter, when he nailed him 30 years of charges, that happened on 1:00 on a Friday. So we don’t know when it might happen, if it’s going happen.
IMUS: Are we expecting something with Karl Rove today?
MATTHEWS: Well, it could be today. It could be next week. Everybody is buzzing about when or if. It’s a big if, big when. There is a lot of talk because he is still being interviewing by the special prosecutor. He keeps being hauled before the grand jury. So something is going on here with the special prosecutor. We don’t know whether he is going to clear him or nail him.
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GENEVA (Reuters) - The United States has again refused the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) access to terrorism suspects held in secret detention centers, the humanitarian agency said on Friday.
Isn't it interesting that the whole motto of this administration is "If you have done nothing wrong, you have nothing to hide"?
Explains why they hide everything.
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Headline says it all
Bush denies spying infringes on privacy
Roll THAT phrase around in your head a few times.
Lewis Carroll wishes HE had thought of that one, I'm sure
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Thursday, May 11, 2006
Gonzales Lied
As surely as weasels are weasels.
From the Muckraker:
Did Gonzales Mislead Congress about NSA Program?
By Paul Kiel - May 11, 2006, 2:32 PM
Reacting to today's news that the NSA is "amassing information about the calls of ordinary Americans," Reps. Bennie G. Thompson (D-MS) and Rep. Zoe Lofgren (D-CA) have put out a statement questioning the legality of the program.
Their statement contains this: "when the Attorney General was forced to testify before the House Judiciary Committee a few weeks ago, he misled the Committee about the existence of the program."
Here's what they're referring to. On April 6, 2006, Attorney General Alberto Gonzales testified before the House Judiciary Committee, and in one exchange, Rep. Gerald Nadler (D-NY) tried to nail him down:
NADLER: Number two, can you assure us that there is no warrantless surveillance of calls between two Americans within the United States?
GONZALES: That is not what the president has authorized.
NADLER: Can you assure us that it's not being done?
GONZALES: As I indicated in response to an earlier question, no technology is perfect.
NADLER: OK.
GONZALES: We do have minimization procedures in place...
NADLER: But you're not doing that deliberately?
GONZALES: That is correct.
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"There's no doubt in my mind there are safeguards in place to make sure the program focuses on calls coming from outside the United States in, with an al Qaeda -- from a -- with a belief that there's an al Qaeda person making the call to somebody here in the States, or vice versa -- but not domestic calls." - Bush, 01/26/06.
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Bush lies some more
President Deer-In-The-Headlights decided to throw a little gasoline on the fire:
Facing intense criticism from Congress, President Bush did not confirm the work of the National Security Agency but sought to assure Americans that their privacy is being "fiercely protected."
"We are not mining or trolling through the personal lives of innocent Americans," Bush said before leaving for a commencement address at Mississippi Gulf Coast Community College in Biloxi.
Well, gee whiz, codpiece-for-brains, you ALSO said that you were only listening to INTERNATIONAL Communications. You ALSO said it was only a FEW HUNDRED.
Liar.
Every new story that comes out shows that the administration lied about the last story that came out but they say that we should believe them this time.
NOBODY is that gullible.
By the way, giving the White House info on yur phone calls was VOLUNTARY on the part of the phone companies. Qwest was the ONLY major carrier to refuse. So if you are with AT&T or Verizon, switch to Qwest. And call them and let them know why. DEMAND that they respect your privacy.
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It's all true
Everything you thought MIGHT be true IS.
NSA has massive database of Americans' phone calls
The National Security Agency has been secretly collecting the phone call records of tens of millions of Americans, using data provided by AT&T, Verizon and BellSouth, people with direct knowledge of the arrangement told USA TODAY.
The NSA program reaches into homes and businesses across the nation by amassing information about the calls of ordinary Americans — most of whom aren't suspected of any crime. This program does not involve the NSA listening to or recording conversations. But the spy agency is using the data to analyze calling patterns in an effort to detect terrorist activity, sources said in separate interviews.
For the customers of these companies, it means that the government has detailed records of calls they made — across town or across the country — to family members, co-workers, business contacts and others.
The sources would talk only under a guarantee of anonymity because the NSA program is secret.
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Wednesday, May 10, 2006
Colbert - SOMEBODY gets it.
Here's a great article from the TV Critic at the Chicago Sun-Times about Colbert's public evisceration of His Ignorance. This may be the only thing I have read in the mainstream press that actually understood the reaction to Colbert's speech.
How did Bush tickle reporters? He made fun of the fact that he can barely speak English (he is quite simply the worst communicator of all U.S. presidents), that our vice president is a heartless face-shooter, and that Bush is basically an idiot.
Ha ha, our "war president" knows he's a village idiot? To members of the White House press corps, that's some real funny stuff. To non-insiders, this looked like another example of good old boys and gals slapping each other on the back.
Colbert's routine was more remarkable for its unique and creative brazenness. He joked that Bush's presidency is like the Hindenburg; that Bush's wiretappers were monitoring this very event, and that the White House press corps, sitting in front of Colbert, gave Bush a free pass, scandal after scandal, until recently (when his polls numbers dropped).
How's this for a newsworthy lead? It was perhaps the first time in Bush's tenure that the president was forced to sit and listen to any American cite the litany of criminal and corruption allegations that have piled up against his administration. And mouth-tense Bush and first lady Laura Bush fled as soon as possible afterward.
From whom were they fleeing? A star comedian pretending to be a Fox News-like blowhard doing a sort of performance art that America hasn't witnessed nationally since the days of Andy Kaufman. Even if Colbert's bit had been reported as a train wreck, that would have sufficed. Instead, shocking lines like the following were barely covered by any traditional organ except industry magazine Editor & Publisher: "I stand by" Bush, Colbert cracked, "because he stands for things. Not only for things, he stands on things. Things like aircraft carriers and rubble, and recently flooded city squares. And that sends a strong message that no matter what happens to America, she will always rebound with the most powerfully staged photo ops in the world."
For TV reporters in particular to quote that gruesome line would be an agreement with Colbert, that they helped Bush mix politics with corruption from the ashes of 9/11 ("aircraft carriers and rubble"), and failed to see through Bush's politicization of the drowning of an American city after a hurricane ("recently flooded city squares").
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Brownie, you're doing a heckuva job.
The question isn't "Why do only 31% still support these incompetents" - the question is, "why the hell is it still that high?"
WASHINGTON — Hours after Hurricane Katrina hit, former FEMA director Michael Brown dismissed reports that floodwaters had breached New Orleans' levees, and he obsessed over media coverage of his agency, according to newly released e-mails.
At one point early that morning, Brown reported to an aide that he was "sitting in the chair, putting mousse in my hair" while waiting for media interviews to begin.
What total dicks.
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Poll vault
(CBS) President Bush and the Republican Congress show nearly record low ratings while Democrats are viewed much more favorably in their performance on the issues that matter most to Americans, according to the latest CBS News/New York Times poll.
Well, that just great. You think - maybe - the Democrats MIGHT just stop acting like their afraid that challenging thi clown will hurt them?
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Roadside Bombs?
You know, some right-wingers are say that we don't actually know that the executions in Haditha were done by American soldiers.
Well, if they didn't do it, why did they lie about it?
Files Contradict Account of Raid in Iraq
WASHINGTON, May 30 — A military investigator uncovered evidence in February and March that contradicted repeated claims by marines that Iraqi civilians killed in Haditha last November were victims of a roadside bomb, according to a senior military official in Iraq.
Among the pieces of evidence that conflicted with the marines' story were death certificates that showed all the Iraqi victims had gunshot wounds, mostly to the head and chest, the official said.
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A band-aid on a hemmorhage
BAGHDAD (Reuters) - Some 1,500 more U.S. troops have arrived in Iraq to help with the war against Sunni Arab rebels, including al Qaeda Islamist militants, in the western desert province of Anbar, the military said on Tuesday.
I don't think that even the delusional morons in this administration can possibly believe that 1,500 more troops is going to do a damned thing.
What's sad is that they probably DO think that it's a good PR move. They can't even do THAT right anymore.
And why the hell aren't 1500 IRAQI troops being brought in instead?
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But why don't the media talk about the GOOD news?
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Tuesday, May 30, 2006
Holy Crap
Iraq's new ambassador to the United States, Samir Sumaidaie, just accused the United States of killing his cousin. On purpose. Unnecessarily. Right after meeting Bush.
The new Iraqi ambassador to the United States has accused US Marines of "intentionally" killing a cousin in the Iraqi town of Haditha last year.
Speaking only hours after presenting his credentials to President George W Bush at the White House, Ambassador Samir al-Sumaidaie said his relative was shot dead five months before the killing of 24 civilians in the town in November that is now the subject of a controversial inquiry.
The ambassador told how Mohammed al-Sumaidaie, a 21-year-old engineering student, was killed after opening the door of the family house to US Marines on June 25.
"I believe he was killed intentionally. I believe he was killed unnecessarily," Mr Sumaidaie said on CNN television.
"The Marines were doing house-to-house searches, and they went into the house of my cousin. He opened the door for them. His mother, his siblings were there. He let them into the bedroom of his father, and there he was shot."
Here's the transcript from CNN.
BLITZER: But even months before the incident in November, you lost a cousin at Haditha in a separate battle involving United States Marines.
SUMAIDAIE: Well, that was not a battle at all. Marines were doing house-to-house searches, and they went into the house of my cousin. He opened the door for them.
His mother, his siblings were there. He led them into the bedroom of his father. And there he was shot.
BLITZER: Who shot him?
SUMAIDAIE: A member of the Marines.
BLITZER: Why did they shoot him?
SUMAIDAIE: Well, they said that they shot him in self-defense. I find that hard to believe because, A, he is not at all a violent -- I mean, I know the boy. He was [in] a second-year engineering course in the university. Nothing to do with violence. All his life has been studies and intellectual work.
Totally unbelievable. And, in fact, they had no weapon in the house. They had one weapon which belonged to the school where his father was a headmaster. And it had no ammunition in it. And he led them into the room to show it to them.
BLITZER: So what you're suggesting, your cousin was killed in cold blood, is that what you're saying, by United States Marines?
SUMAIDAIE: I believe he was killed intentionally. I believe that he was killed unnecessarily. And unfortunately, the investigations that took place after that sort of took a different course and concluded that there was no unlawful killing.
I would like further investigation. I have, in fact, asked for the report of the last investigation, which was a criminal investigation, by the way.
[Gen. George Casey, the top U.S. commander in Iraq] is aware of all the details, because he's kept on top of it. And it was he who rejected the conclusions of the first investigation. I have since asked formally for the report, but it's been nearly two months, and I have not received it.
BLITZER: Did you raise these concerns you had with the president today when you were at the White House presenting your credentials?
SUMAIDAIE: No, I did not, because I did not want to bring a personal note into a much wider brief that I have here.
This is astonishing. It is absolutely unbelievable that an ambassador from a country which we OCCUPY would say something like that, in public, in an accusatory fashion, just hours after meeting the President.
Either this guy is so angry at the U.S. that he just does not give a crap about offending us anymore, or - in the wake of Abu Ghraib and Haditha - he considers it far more important and wise to appeal to anti-American sentiment in his own country than to placate US.
This does NOT say good things about our future there.
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Snow-white lie
Bush is caught in one more lie, via Think Progress:
On May 25th, President Bush said that Treasury Secretary John Snow had not given him any indication that he was leaving soon:
PRESIDENT BUSH: Secretary of Treasury Snow?
Q Has he given you any indication he intends to leave his job any time soon?…
PRESIDENT BUSH: No, he has not talked to me about resignation. I think he’s doing a fine job.
In fact, not only had Snow indicated he was leaving, President Bush had already settled on his replacement. Today, Tony Snow said that Hank Paulson was offered the job on May 20 and accepted a day later:
QUESTION: Do you have any tick tock on the Paulson…
SNOW: Yes. The tick tock is the two of them met on the 20th of May and there was a conversation. And Hank Paulson accepted the job a day later. That was subject to clearance. It does take time, especially for a Senate confirmable position, to complete those. So it did take time to get some of those clearances wrapped up.
The apologists, of course, will deny that THAT'S a lie, too. Being a Bushite requires heaping doses of denial.
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One Snow at a time
Tony Snow is in as Press Secretary, so John Snow is out as Treasury Secretary.
That's my theory: poor George would be confused by having two guys around named "Snow," and they want to minimize his befuddlement.
Not that it will help: "How come Snow is still here? I thought we got rid of Snow!"
"That's a different Snow, Mr. President."
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Iraq Coalition Casualties
Military Fatalities: By Time Period
Period US UK Other* Total Avg Days 5 313 15 8 336 2.02 166 4 715 13 18 746 2.35 318 3 579 25 27 631 2.92 216 2 718 27 58 803 1.89 424 1 140 33 0 173 4.02 43 Total 2465 113 111 2689 2.3 1167
Time Periods Defined
Iraqi Security Forces and Civilian Deaths Period Total May-06 1002 Apr-06 1010 Mar-06 1094 Feb-06 846 Jan-06 780
Iraqi Security Forces and Civilian Deaths Details
Note: This is an estimate based on news reports. This is not a definitive count.
U.S. Deaths Confirmed By The DoD: 2464 Reported U.S. Deaths Pending DoD Confirmation: 1 Total 2465
DoD Confirmation List Latest Coalition Fatality: May 29, 2006
Military Fatalities: By Month Period US UK Other* Total Avg Days 5-2006 61 9 1 71 2.37 30 4-2006 76 1 5 82 2.73 30 3-2006 31 0 2 33 1.06 31 2-2006 55 3 0 58 2.07 28 1-2006 62 2 0 64 2.06 31 12-2005 68 0 0 68 2.19 31 11-2005 84 1 1 86 2.87 30 10-2005 96 2 1 99 3.19 31 9-2005 49 3 0 52 1.73 30 8-2005 85 0 0 85 2.74 31 7-2005 54 3 1 58 1.87 31 6-2005 78 1 4 83 2.77 30 5-2005 80 2 6 88 2.84 31 4-2005 52 0 0 52 1.73 30 3-2005 35 1 3 39 1.26 31 2-2005 58 0 2 60 2.14 28 1-2005 107 10 10 127 4.1 31 12-2004 72 1 3 76 2.45 31 11-2004 137 4 0 141 4.7 30 10-2004 63 2 2 67 2.16 31 9-2004 80 3 4 87 2.9 30 8-2004 66 4 5 75 2.42 31 7-2004 54 1 3 58 1.87 31 6-2004 42 1 7 50 1.67 30 5-2004 80 0 4 84 2.71 31 4-2004 135 0 5 140 4.67 30 3-2004 52 0 0 52 1.68 31 2-2004 20 1 2 23 0.79 29 1-2004 47 5 0 52 1.68 31 12-2003 40 0 8 48 1.55 31 11-2003 82 1 27 110 3.67 30 10-2003 44 1 2 47 1.52 31 9-2003 31 1 1 33 1.1 30 8-2003 35 6 2 43 1.39 31 7-2003 48 1 0 49 1.58 31 6-2003 30 6 0 36 1.2 30 5-2003 37 4 0 41 1.32 31 4-2003 74 6 0 80 2.67 30 3-2003 65 27 0 92 7.67 12 Total 2465 113 111 2689 2.3 1168
Missing or Captured: US Casualties By Calendar Year Year US Deaths US Wounded 2003 486 2409 2004 848 7992 2005 846 5945 2006 285 1523 Total 2465 17869
*Other Coalition Countries: Country Total Australia 2 Bulgaria 13 Denmark 3 El Salvador 2 Estonia 2 Hungary 1 Italy 31 Kazakhstan 1 Latvia 1 Netherlands 2 Poland 17 Romania 2 Slovakia 3 Spain 11 Thailand 2 Ukraine 18
Non Military Deaths: Journalists Killed in Iraq An Incomplete List of Contractors Killed in Iraq Iraqi Body Count (External Link)
US Wounded by Week Period Wnd-RTD Wounded 03-20-2003 thru 04-01-2003 115 426 04-02-2004 thru 01-02-2005 4565 4875 01-03-2005 thru 12-20-2005 3946 2228 12-21-2005 thru 04-Jan-06 121 53 05-Jan-06 thru 11-Jan-06 65 26 12-Jan-06 thru 18-Jan-06 35 17 19-Jan-06 thru 25-Jan-06 42 34 26-Jan-06 thru 01-Feb-06 34 24 02-Feb-06 thru 08-Feb-06 24 23 09-Feb-06 thru 15-Feb-06 60 29 16-Feb-06 thru 23-Feb-06 40 42 24-Feb-06 thru 01-Mar-06 54 28 02-Mar-06 thru 08-Mar-06 44 54 09-Mar-06 thru 15-Mar-06 67 53 16-Mar-06 thru 22-Mar-06 96 49 23-Mar-06 thru 28-Mar-06 86 26 29-Mar-06 thru 07-Apr-06 60 28 08-Apr-06 thru 11-Apr-06 37 43 12-Apr-06 thru 18-Apr-06 58 41 19-Apr-06 thru 25-Apr-06 76 38 26-Apr-06 thru 02-May-06 55 57 03-May-06 thru 10-May-06 64 45 11-May-06 thru 17-May-06 42 63 18-May-06 thru 25-May-06 54 42 Total 9840 8344
Wnd-RTD: Wounded in Action Return to Duty within 72 hours
Wnd: Wounded in Action Not Return to Duty within 72 hours
Totals updated weekly by the DoD
View Complete Weekly Report
Some of The Wounded... Wounded In Action According to The DoD Period Wounded Apr-2006 403 Mar-2006 494 Feb-2006 340 Jan-2006 286 Dec-2005 412 Nov-2005 400 Oct-2005 605 Sep-2005 545 Aug-2005 541 Jul-2005 476 Jun-2005 511 May-2005 575 Apr-2005 596 Mar-2005 371 Feb-2005 415 Jan-2005 498 Dec-2004 544 Nov-2004 1425 Oct-2004 648 Sep-2004 706 Aug-2004 895 Jul-2004 552 Jun-2004 589 May-2004 758 Apr-2004 1212 Mar-2004 324 Feb-2004 150 Jan-2004 189 Dec-2003 261 Nov-2003 336 Oct-2003 413 Sep-2003 247 Aug-2003 181 Jul-2003 226 Jun-2003 147 May-2003 55 Apr-2003 340 Mar-2003 203 Total 17869
Last update from the DoD: 29-Apr-06
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Sunday, May 28, 2006
"Most of all, political scribes have to take off their cynical lenses through which they view every moral challenge as political spin." - Al Gore
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Friday, May 26, 2006
Regrets
Just want to point that Bush talked about stuff he "regrets."
The only "regrets" he mentioned were PR moves that turned out badly.
It's Memorial Day Weekend, and it didn't even occur to him to "regret" the loss of 2462 American soldiers.
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FUBAR
You know what's pathetic? That Bush finally admits to making some mistake and - when faced with disaster on a monumental scale - will only admit to a few poorly chosen words.
Even if he DOES believe that a War in Iraq was a good idea (and sadly, I think he does), it is very obvious that the execution of it has been entirely botched.
They are trying to occupy a hostile area the size of California with a tiny force of 130,000 troops; they left the borders wide open so Al Qaeda could come in; they can't leave the green zone because it's too dangerous; and the terrorists have a new training ground and a new base of operations in the Middle East.
Not only has Bush not HURT the terrorists - he has GIVEN THEM NEW TERRITORY.
And not because of his words. Because of his actions.
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They still don't get it.
As you probably know, Bush and Blair had a press conference where they decided to try and stem the damage to their reputation by actually ADMITTING what everyone else has known for three years.
BUSH: Saying, "Bring it on"; kind of tough talk, you know, that sent the wrong signal to people. I learned some lessons about expressing myself maybe in a little more sophisticated manner, you know. "Wanted, dead or alive"; that kind of talk. I think in certain parts of the world it was misinterpreted. And so I learned from that
"Misinterpreted"? "Bring it on" was misinterpreted? It didn't actually mean "Bring it on"? Then what, exactly, was it supposed to mean? "Waiter, waiter, there's a fly in my soup"?
No, I think they interpreted it dead right - you were just a damned fool to say it.
And by the way, there was nothing wrong with saying "Osama Bin Laden, Dead or Alive." That's one of the few things you did right. The problem is it was JUST words, and you had no intention of following through, even while you said it.
Regarding his trip to Baghdad, Blair said, "I came away thinking the challenge is still immense, but I also came away more certain than ever that we should rise to it."
Blair added, "I think it's easy to go back over mistakes that we may have made, but the biggest reason why Iraq has been difficult is the determination by our opponents to defeat us."
They started a war without figuring that our opponents would be determined to defeat us.
What did they think our opponents would do? Invite us in for tea?
Are these people total ignoramuses? I don't give a crap how right you think you are - If you kick in someone's door and come at them, they are going to try and defeat you. Duh.
Holy crap.
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Wednesday, May 24, 2006
The Chicks
I don't know how many fans they've lost, but they've gained at least one new one.
Check out their performance on Letterman. Courtesy of crooks and liars.
God bless 'em.
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Pat Robertson
Why does this clown still have a following?
Pat Robertson's Age-Defying Shake
Did you know that Pat Robertson can leg-press 2000 pounds! How does he do it?
One of Pat's secrets to keeping his energy high and his vitality soaring is his age-defying protein shake. Pat developed a delicious, refreshing shake, filled with energy-producing nutrients.
70 years old. Leg presses 2000 pounds. From drinking a SHAKE.
Never mind that it's WAY beyond the existing record.
Pathetic.
Via AMERICAblog
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Tuesday, May 23, 2006
I thought I'd use my tiny little megaphone to draw attention to an editorial by radio legend Pete Fornatale on the state of the radio.
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Of course not. God forbid, I might learn something.
President says he's unlikely to watch documentary on global warming
WASHINGTON - Is President Bush likely to see Al Gore’s documentary about global warming?
“Doubt it,” Bush said coolly Monday.
But Bush should watch it, Gore shot back. In fact, the former Democratic vice president offered to come to the White House any time, any day to show Bush either his documentary or a slide show on global warming that he’s shown more than 1,000 times around the world.
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No shit, Sherlock
Panel: Legislators Shouldn't Work Drunk
SALEM, Ore. (AP) -- Oregon legislators and staff members should not be drunk while performing their official duties, a citizen panel says.
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Monday, May 22, 2006
AT&T Sold Your Ass to the Government
Wired Magazine has a full expose on the NSA spying scandal from Whistle-Blower Mark Klein's class-action lawsuit.
In 2003 AT&T built "secret rooms" hidden deep in the bowels of its central offices in various cities, housing computer gear for a government spy operation which taps into the company's popular WorldNet service and the entire internet. These installations enable the government to look at every individual message on the internet and analyze exactly what people are doing. Documents showing the hardwire installation in San Francisco suggest that there are similar locations being installed in numerous other cities.
The physical arrangement, the timing of its construction, the government-imposed secrecy surrounding it and other factors all strongly suggest that its origins are rooted in the Defense Department's Total Information Awareness (TIA) program...
Read the article. ALL of the Documents are in pdf format here.
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Take a look at this remarkable email exchange between Rumsfeld's Spokesman, Larry (a.k.a. Curly Joe) Dirita, and War Correspondent Joe Galloway. This is remarkable, and Galloway deserves a medal.
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Sunday, May 21, 2006
Why does this not surprise me?
Cut taxes for the multi-millionaires.
And INCREASE them for TEEN-AGERS.
The $69 billion tax cut bill that President Bush signed this week tripled tax rates for teenagers with college savings funds, despite Mr. Bush's 1999 pledge to veto any tax increase.
Under the new law, teenagers age 14 to 17 with investment income will now be taxed at the same rate as their parents, not at their own rates. Long-term capital gains and dividends that had been taxed at 5 percent will now be taxed at 15 percent. Interest that had been taxed at 10 percent will now be taxed at as much as 35 percent.
It is really hard to believe how brazen these people are in their greed and elitism. The contempt that they feel for ordinary Americans is palpable. Not only do they screw people - they do it right in your face, and think you won't notice.
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Thursday, May 18, 2006
Illegal is more fun
According to Baltimore Sun, the NSA developed a program for the purpose of analyzing communication data in the late 1990. Unlike what they are doing now, the old program was legal and protected the privacy of Americans - and worked better.
They rejected it in favor of a system that was illegal, unnecessarily intrusive and didn't work so good.
But if you're Bush, you ALWAYS prefer the option that's illegal, intrusive and innefficient. I honestly think it gives the man the sort of rush that a teenager gets when he gets away with something.
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Rover defends his owner
"The American people like this president. His personal approval ratings are in the 60s. Job approval is lower. And what that says to me is that people like him, they respect him, he's somebody they feel a connection with, but they're just sour right now on the war. And that's the way it's going to be." - Karl Rove
Cognitive dissonance is what happens in the human brain when a human being is confronted with a fact which his preconceptions tell him cannot possibly be true.
Is Karl Rove - Bush's favorite Turdblossom and America's beloved pus-sack - becoming delusional?
His "personal approval" isn't anywhere NEAR the 60s and people DON'T like this President. (New York Times pdf poll here) In fact, his JOB approval is one percentage point HIGHER than his "personal approval. " He has more than 50% approval in exactly 3 states - Utah, Idaho and Wyoming. NOBODY approves of him, except a few whackjobs.
Polysigh put it best:
"As for Rove's comment that Bush would be popular but for the Iraq War, that's like saying that if it weren't for the Alps, Switzerland would be flat."
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Tuesday, May 16, 2006
The Constitutional Crisis that Walks like a Man.
The FBI has confirmed that they do, indeed, monitor reporters' phone calls.
Approximately one year ago, we were told that they did not need a warrant because they were only monitoring international calls.
Then, they said that, well, actually were monitoring SOME calls where one of the parties was domestic and one was international.
"If someone is calling Al Qaeda," said Bush, "we want to know why."
Which is interesting, because it implies that they know the terrorists' telephone numbers, which makes you wonder why they don't just round them up instead of collecting their phone bills.
Then they said that they sometimes they inadvertently listen to purely domestic calls.
Then they tell us - just this week - that, well, all that was bullshit. They have actually been collecting info on every single phone call made by every single American with almost no exceptions.
But OF COURSE we have nothing to worry about. We can trust THEM. Never mind the fact that they have lied about this again and again and again. We can trust them. They aren't actually listening in. It's for TERRORISM. So they say.
But you can't name a single terrorist who has been arrested in the last five years as a result of this spying. Not one.
And NOW, we find out that they AREN'T checking on terrorists - they are checking on reporters. They are using phone records to find out who reporters are using as sources. They are REALLY after anyone who makes them look bad by revealing the truth to the American People.
You would figure even the REPUBLICANS would wake up and realize that George W. Bush is a walking Constitutional Crisis who has to be stopped while we still have something that we can call "America" left. And they would, if they valued their nation more than their party.
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Monday, May 15, 2006
Push Back Poll
I said it was a push poll, and I was right.
From a Newsweek poll, released one day after the Washington Post Push Poll:
As you may know, there are reports that the NSA, a government intelligence agency, has been collecting the phone call records of Americans. The agency doesn't actually listen to the calls but logs in nearly every phone number to create a database of calls made within the United States. Which of the following comes CLOSER to your own view of this domestic surveillance program:
It is a necessary tool to combat terrorism -- 41
It goes too far in invading people’s privacy -- 53
Don’t know -- 6
Note that the question doesn't read like a apologia for data mining - as the Washington Post poll did.
But why was the Washington Post so anxious to release a poll that backed up the Bush administration's wishes on the same day that the news broke?
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Your tax dollars at work
You have to watch out for those Terrorist Anchormen:
Federal Source to ABC News: We Know Who You're Calling
Brian Ross and Richard Esposito Report:
A senior federal law enforcement official tells ABC News the government is tracking the phone numbers we (Brian Ross and Richard Esposito) call in an effort to root out confidential sources.
"It's time for you to get some new cell phones, quick," the source told us in an in-person conversation.
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Same script.
Ah. So His Incompetence is probably going to use the National Guard to patrol the border. He says it's "only temporary."
Temporary till when? Just after the 2006 elections?
This is typical. God forbid border patrol get done by actual border patrol. That would make sense. Instead, let's assume that the MILITARY doesn't have enough of a role.
The REAL problem is that Bush is too damned incompetent to deal with anything using civilian means - like SANE Presidents always have. Instead, he turns to the military as his tool of choice for absolutely everything.
And pardon me for wondering if President Codpiece isn't still trying to compensate for the cowardice and inadequacy that he showed during Vietnam. Using OTHER people's blood and sweat, of course.
So he will get to dress up in a uniform, strut around, use jeeps and tanks and helicopters and all sorts of neat stuff, and basically play war in a place where there isn't one, and it will make for a great photo-op. He'll get his picture taken with a helicopter. Look, mommy! Don't I look cool?
God, I wish we had a President who was a frigging grown-up, instead of one who is stuck in adolescence and makes America suffer so he can feel impressive.
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Sunday, May 14, 2006
Ooops.
I posted the info from Jason Leopold (of truthout) that Rove had been indicted. Not WOULD be - HAD been. I think we would have heard something by now. I guess Leopold's source isn't all that reliable, and it's the last time I post something unsubstantiated from truthout.
Here's hoping that Leopold proves to be right a bit too early anyway.
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Saturday, May 13, 2006
Sue the bastards.
If you own stock in any phone companies, it's time to sell short. They could lose billions in class-action lawsuits, and lose MORE money from an exodus of customers.
Two suits have already been filed.
Verizon Sued for Giving NSA Phone Records Attorneys Bruce Afran and Carl Mayer filed the lawsuit Friday afternoon in federal district court in Manhattan, where Verizon is headquartered.
The lawsuit asks the court to stop Verizon from turning over any more records to the NSA without a warrant or consent of the subscriber.
"This is the largest and most vast intrusion of civil liberties we've ever seen in the United States," Afran said of the NSA program.
The lawsuit seeks $1,000 for each violation of the Telecommunications Act, or $5 billion if the case is certified as class-action.
And this is a DIFFERENT one:
Verizon Faces New $20B Suit over NSA Spying Complicity
Upping the ante in what may be a high-stakes legal battle, an Upstate New York lawyer filed a $20 billion class-action lawsuit against Verizon last week, charging that the company violated customer confidentiality in aiding warrantless eavesdropping by a federal spy agency.
Here's the tally of who has and has not violated the privacy of American citizens:
Verizon (land-line), AT&T, and BellSouth have all behaved in a fundamentally Unamerican manner.
On the other hand, Qwest is the only large landline carrier that refused to complied with the Bush's fascist requests. If you have one of the other three, switch to Qwest.
Cellular phones seem largely clean. Verizon Wireless, T-Mobile, Virgin Mobile and Cox all say that they have not provided their records to anyone.
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Fitzmas?
Truthout now says that Rove has BEEN indicted, but I don't see it in the tradition media.
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Shocked
The NSA Whistleblower says that people are going to be shocked.
[Tice] said he plans to tell the committee staffers the NSA conducted illegal and unconstitutional surveillance of U.S. citizens while he was there with the knowledge of Hayden. … “I think the people I talk to next week are going to be shocked when I tell them what I have to tell them. It’s pretty hard to believe,” Tice said.
I won't be shocked, but it's about time the country got shocked.
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Friday, May 12, 2006
According to truthout, Rove has told the White House that he will be indicted.
Within the last week, Karl Rove told President Bush and Chief of Staff Joshua Bolten, as well as a few other high level administration officials, that he will be indicted in the CIA leak case and will immediately resign his White House job when the special counsel publicly announces the charges against him, according to sources.
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Raid kills roaches dead.
The FBI has raided the home of Dusty Foggo (NOT the name of a fictional character). The guy who just resigned as the #3 man in the CIA.
I wonder why Goss REALLY resigned. This CAN'T be a coincidence.
Move along, folks, nothing to see here....
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Push poll
You may have read - and been shocked - by reports that a poll says that 2/3rds of Americans have no problem with the Bush administration mining phone calls.
Here is the actual question:
It's been reported that the National Security Agency has been collecting the phone call records of tens of millions of Americans. It then analyzes calling patterns in an effort to identify possible terrorism suspects, without listening to or recording the conversations. Would you consider this an acceptable or unacceptable way for the federal government to investigate terrorism? Do you feel that way strongly or somewhat?
Note that the question itself ASSUMES that the act is benign, and states things as fact that WE DON'T KNOW (such as that conversations are not listened to or recorded). The question is framed in terms of fighting terrorism, falsifies the known facts, fails to mention the questionable legality, and was obviously thrown together on the fly. For many poll respondents, this was probably the first time they HEARD about it.
This is a push poll.
And I suspect that other polls released in the coming days will show very different results.
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Today?
Tweetybird Matthews thinks Rove might be indicted today.
From Imus this morning"
Transcript:
MATTHEWS: If, however, something happens with Karl Rove, we’re going to go to general quarters around here.
IMUS: What does that mean?
MATTHEWS: Meaning we will be taping probably on Saturday or late night because everything will change. Last time, when he picked up Scooter, when he nailed him 30 years of charges, that happened on 1:00 on a Friday. So we don’t know when it might happen, if it’s going happen.
IMUS: Are we expecting something with Karl Rove today?
MATTHEWS: Well, it could be today. It could be next week. Everybody is buzzing about when or if. It’s a big if, big when. There is a lot of talk because he is still being interviewing by the special prosecutor. He keeps being hauled before the grand jury. So something is going on here with the special prosecutor. We don’t know whether he is going to clear him or nail him.
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GENEVA (Reuters) - The United States has again refused the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) access to terrorism suspects held in secret detention centers, the humanitarian agency said on Friday.
Isn't it interesting that the whole motto of this administration is "If you have done nothing wrong, you have nothing to hide"?
Explains why they hide everything.
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Headline says it all
Bush denies spying infringes on privacy
Roll THAT phrase around in your head a few times.
Lewis Carroll wishes HE had thought of that one, I'm sure
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Thursday, May 11, 2006
Gonzales Lied
As surely as weasels are weasels.
From the Muckraker:
Did Gonzales Mislead Congress about NSA Program?
By Paul Kiel - May 11, 2006, 2:32 PM
Reacting to today's news that the NSA is "amassing information about the calls of ordinary Americans," Reps. Bennie G. Thompson (D-MS) and Rep. Zoe Lofgren (D-CA) have put out a statement questioning the legality of the program.
Their statement contains this: "when the Attorney General was forced to testify before the House Judiciary Committee a few weeks ago, he misled the Committee about the existence of the program."
Here's what they're referring to. On April 6, 2006, Attorney General Alberto Gonzales testified before the House Judiciary Committee, and in one exchange, Rep. Gerald Nadler (D-NY) tried to nail him down:
NADLER: Number two, can you assure us that there is no warrantless surveillance of calls between two Americans within the United States?
GONZALES: That is not what the president has authorized.
NADLER: Can you assure us that it's not being done?
GONZALES: As I indicated in response to an earlier question, no technology is perfect.
NADLER: OK.
GONZALES: We do have minimization procedures in place...
NADLER: But you're not doing that deliberately?
GONZALES: That is correct.
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"There's no doubt in my mind there are safeguards in place to make sure the program focuses on calls coming from outside the United States in, with an al Qaeda -- from a -- with a belief that there's an al Qaeda person making the call to somebody here in the States, or vice versa -- but not domestic calls." - Bush, 01/26/06.
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Bush lies some more
President Deer-In-The-Headlights decided to throw a little gasoline on the fire:
Facing intense criticism from Congress, President Bush did not confirm the work of the National Security Agency but sought to assure Americans that their privacy is being "fiercely protected."
"We are not mining or trolling through the personal lives of innocent Americans," Bush said before leaving for a commencement address at Mississippi Gulf Coast Community College in Biloxi.
Well, gee whiz, codpiece-for-brains, you ALSO said that you were only listening to INTERNATIONAL Communications. You ALSO said it was only a FEW HUNDRED.
Liar.
Every new story that comes out shows that the administration lied about the last story that came out but they say that we should believe them this time.
NOBODY is that gullible.
By the way, giving the White House info on yur phone calls was VOLUNTARY on the part of the phone companies. Qwest was the ONLY major carrier to refuse. So if you are with AT&T or Verizon, switch to Qwest. And call them and let them know why. DEMAND that they respect your privacy.
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It's all true
Everything you thought MIGHT be true IS.
NSA has massive database of Americans' phone calls
The National Security Agency has been secretly collecting the phone call records of tens of millions of Americans, using data provided by AT&T, Verizon and BellSouth, people with direct knowledge of the arrangement told USA TODAY.
The NSA program reaches into homes and businesses across the nation by amassing information about the calls of ordinary Americans — most of whom aren't suspected of any crime. This program does not involve the NSA listening to or recording conversations. But the spy agency is using the data to analyze calling patterns in an effort to detect terrorist activity, sources said in separate interviews.
For the customers of these companies, it means that the government has detailed records of calls they made — across town or across the country — to family members, co-workers, business contacts and others.
The sources would talk only under a guarantee of anonymity because the NSA program is secret.
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Wednesday, May 10, 2006
Colbert - SOMEBODY gets it.
Here's a great article from the TV Critic at the Chicago Sun-Times about Colbert's public evisceration of His Ignorance. This may be the only thing I have read in the mainstream press that actually understood the reaction to Colbert's speech.
How did Bush tickle reporters? He made fun of the fact that he can barely speak English (he is quite simply the worst communicator of all U.S. presidents), that our vice president is a heartless face-shooter, and that Bush is basically an idiot.
Ha ha, our "war president" knows he's a village idiot? To members of the White House press corps, that's some real funny stuff. To non-insiders, this looked like another example of good old boys and gals slapping each other on the back.
Colbert's routine was more remarkable for its unique and creative brazenness. He joked that Bush's presidency is like the Hindenburg; that Bush's wiretappers were monitoring this very event, and that the White House press corps, sitting in front of Colbert, gave Bush a free pass, scandal after scandal, until recently (when his polls numbers dropped).
How's this for a newsworthy lead? It was perhaps the first time in Bush's tenure that the president was forced to sit and listen to any American cite the litany of criminal and corruption allegations that have piled up against his administration. And mouth-tense Bush and first lady Laura Bush fled as soon as possible afterward.
From whom were they fleeing? A star comedian pretending to be a Fox News-like blowhard doing a sort of performance art that America hasn't witnessed nationally since the days of Andy Kaufman. Even if Colbert's bit had been reported as a train wreck, that would have sufficed. Instead, shocking lines like the following were barely covered by any traditional organ except industry magazine Editor & Publisher: "I stand by" Bush, Colbert cracked, "because he stands for things. Not only for things, he stands on things. Things like aircraft carriers and rubble, and recently flooded city squares. And that sends a strong message that no matter what happens to America, she will always rebound with the most powerfully staged photo ops in the world."
For TV reporters in particular to quote that gruesome line would be an agreement with Colbert, that they helped Bush mix politics with corruption from the ashes of 9/11 ("aircraft carriers and rubble"), and failed to see through Bush's politicization of the drowning of an American city after a hurricane ("recently flooded city squares").
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Brownie, you're doing a heckuva job.
The question isn't "Why do only 31% still support these incompetents" - the question is, "why the hell is it still that high?"
WASHINGTON — Hours after Hurricane Katrina hit, former FEMA director Michael Brown dismissed reports that floodwaters had breached New Orleans' levees, and he obsessed over media coverage of his agency, according to newly released e-mails.
At one point early that morning, Brown reported to an aide that he was "sitting in the chair, putting mousse in my hair" while waiting for media interviews to begin.
What total dicks.
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Poll vault
(CBS) President Bush and the Republican Congress show nearly record low ratings while Democrats are viewed much more favorably in their performance on the issues that matter most to Americans, according to the latest CBS News/New York Times poll.
Well, that just great. You think - maybe - the Democrats MIGHT just stop acting like their afraid that challenging thi clown will hurt them?
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Well, if they didn't do it, why did they lie about it?
Files Contradict Account of Raid in Iraq
WASHINGTON, May 30 — A military investigator uncovered evidence in February and March that contradicted repeated claims by marines that Iraqi civilians killed in Haditha last November were victims of a roadside bomb, according to a senior military official in Iraq.
Among the pieces of evidence that conflicted with the marines' story were death certificates that showed all the Iraqi victims had gunshot wounds, mostly to the head and chest, the official said.
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A band-aid on a hemmorhage
BAGHDAD (Reuters) - Some 1,500 more U.S. troops have arrived in Iraq to help with the war against Sunni Arab rebels, including al Qaeda Islamist militants, in the western desert province of Anbar, the military said on Tuesday.
I don't think that even the delusional morons in this administration can possibly believe that 1,500 more troops is going to do a damned thing.
What's sad is that they probably DO think that it's a good PR move. They can't even do THAT right anymore.
And why the hell aren't 1500 IRAQI troops being brought in instead?
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But why don't the media talk about the GOOD news?
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Tuesday, May 30, 2006
Holy Crap
Iraq's new ambassador to the United States, Samir Sumaidaie, just accused the United States of killing his cousin. On purpose. Unnecessarily. Right after meeting Bush.
The new Iraqi ambassador to the United States has accused US Marines of "intentionally" killing a cousin in the Iraqi town of Haditha last year.
Speaking only hours after presenting his credentials to President George W Bush at the White House, Ambassador Samir al-Sumaidaie said his relative was shot dead five months before the killing of 24 civilians in the town in November that is now the subject of a controversial inquiry.
The ambassador told how Mohammed al-Sumaidaie, a 21-year-old engineering student, was killed after opening the door of the family house to US Marines on June 25.
"I believe he was killed intentionally. I believe he was killed unnecessarily," Mr Sumaidaie said on CNN television.
"The Marines were doing house-to-house searches, and they went into the house of my cousin. He opened the door for them. His mother, his siblings were there. He let them into the bedroom of his father, and there he was shot."
Here's the transcript from CNN.
BLITZER: But even months before the incident in November, you lost a cousin at Haditha in a separate battle involving United States Marines.
SUMAIDAIE: Well, that was not a battle at all. Marines were doing house-to-house searches, and they went into the house of my cousin. He opened the door for them.
His mother, his siblings were there. He led them into the bedroom of his father. And there he was shot.
BLITZER: Who shot him?
SUMAIDAIE: A member of the Marines.
BLITZER: Why did they shoot him?
SUMAIDAIE: Well, they said that they shot him in self-defense. I find that hard to believe because, A, he is not at all a violent -- I mean, I know the boy. He was [in] a second-year engineering course in the university. Nothing to do with violence. All his life has been studies and intellectual work.
Totally unbelievable. And, in fact, they had no weapon in the house. They had one weapon which belonged to the school where his father was a headmaster. And it had no ammunition in it. And he led them into the room to show it to them.
BLITZER: So what you're suggesting, your cousin was killed in cold blood, is that what you're saying, by United States Marines?
SUMAIDAIE: I believe he was killed intentionally. I believe that he was killed unnecessarily. And unfortunately, the investigations that took place after that sort of took a different course and concluded that there was no unlawful killing.
I would like further investigation. I have, in fact, asked for the report of the last investigation, which was a criminal investigation, by the way.
[Gen. George Casey, the top U.S. commander in Iraq] is aware of all the details, because he's kept on top of it. And it was he who rejected the conclusions of the first investigation. I have since asked formally for the report, but it's been nearly two months, and I have not received it.
BLITZER: Did you raise these concerns you had with the president today when you were at the White House presenting your credentials?
SUMAIDAIE: No, I did not, because I did not want to bring a personal note into a much wider brief that I have here.
This is astonishing. It is absolutely unbelievable that an ambassador from a country which we OCCUPY would say something like that, in public, in an accusatory fashion, just hours after meeting the President.
Either this guy is so angry at the U.S. that he just does not give a crap about offending us anymore, or - in the wake of Abu Ghraib and Haditha - he considers it far more important and wise to appeal to anti-American sentiment in his own country than to placate US.
This does NOT say good things about our future there.
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Snow-white lie
Bush is caught in one more lie, via Think Progress:
On May 25th, President Bush said that Treasury Secretary John Snow had not given him any indication that he was leaving soon:
PRESIDENT BUSH: Secretary of Treasury Snow?
Q Has he given you any indication he intends to leave his job any time soon?…
PRESIDENT BUSH: No, he has not talked to me about resignation. I think he’s doing a fine job.
In fact, not only had Snow indicated he was leaving, President Bush had already settled on his replacement. Today, Tony Snow said that Hank Paulson was offered the job on May 20 and accepted a day later:
QUESTION: Do you have any tick tock on the Paulson…
SNOW: Yes. The tick tock is the two of them met on the 20th of May and there was a conversation. And Hank Paulson accepted the job a day later. That was subject to clearance. It does take time, especially for a Senate confirmable position, to complete those. So it did take time to get some of those clearances wrapped up.
The apologists, of course, will deny that THAT'S a lie, too. Being a Bushite requires heaping doses of denial.
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One Snow at a time
Tony Snow is in as Press Secretary, so John Snow is out as Treasury Secretary.
That's my theory: poor George would be confused by having two guys around named "Snow," and they want to minimize his befuddlement.
Not that it will help: "How come Snow is still here? I thought we got rid of Snow!"
"That's a different Snow, Mr. President."
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Iraq Coalition Casualties
Military Fatalities: By Time Period
Period US UK Other* Total Avg Days 5 313 15 8 336 2.02 166 4 715 13 18 746 2.35 318 3 579 25 27 631 2.92 216 2 718 27 58 803 1.89 424 1 140 33 0 173 4.02 43 Total 2465 113 111 2689 2.3 1167
Time Periods Defined
Iraqi Security Forces and Civilian Deaths Period Total May-06 1002 Apr-06 1010 Mar-06 1094 Feb-06 846 Jan-06 780
Iraqi Security Forces and Civilian Deaths Details
Note: This is an estimate based on news reports. This is not a definitive count.
U.S. Deaths Confirmed By The DoD: 2464 Reported U.S. Deaths Pending DoD Confirmation: 1 Total 2465
DoD Confirmation List Latest Coalition Fatality: May 29, 2006
Military Fatalities: By Month Period US UK Other* Total Avg Days 5-2006 61 9 1 71 2.37 30 4-2006 76 1 5 82 2.73 30 3-2006 31 0 2 33 1.06 31 2-2006 55 3 0 58 2.07 28 1-2006 62 2 0 64 2.06 31 12-2005 68 0 0 68 2.19 31 11-2005 84 1 1 86 2.87 30 10-2005 96 2 1 99 3.19 31 9-2005 49 3 0 52 1.73 30 8-2005 85 0 0 85 2.74 31 7-2005 54 3 1 58 1.87 31 6-2005 78 1 4 83 2.77 30 5-2005 80 2 6 88 2.84 31 4-2005 52 0 0 52 1.73 30 3-2005 35 1 3 39 1.26 31 2-2005 58 0 2 60 2.14 28 1-2005 107 10 10 127 4.1 31 12-2004 72 1 3 76 2.45 31 11-2004 137 4 0 141 4.7 30 10-2004 63 2 2 67 2.16 31 9-2004 80 3 4 87 2.9 30 8-2004 66 4 5 75 2.42 31 7-2004 54 1 3 58 1.87 31 6-2004 42 1 7 50 1.67 30 5-2004 80 0 4 84 2.71 31 4-2004 135 0 5 140 4.67 30 3-2004 52 0 0 52 1.68 31 2-2004 20 1 2 23 0.79 29 1-2004 47 5 0 52 1.68 31 12-2003 40 0 8 48 1.55 31 11-2003 82 1 27 110 3.67 30 10-2003 44 1 2 47 1.52 31 9-2003 31 1 1 33 1.1 30 8-2003 35 6 2 43 1.39 31 7-2003 48 1 0 49 1.58 31 6-2003 30 6 0 36 1.2 30 5-2003 37 4 0 41 1.32 31 4-2003 74 6 0 80 2.67 30 3-2003 65 27 0 92 7.67 12 Total 2465 113 111 2689 2.3 1168
Missing or Captured: US Casualties By Calendar Year Year US Deaths US Wounded 2003 486 2409 2004 848 7992 2005 846 5945 2006 285 1523 Total 2465 17869
*Other Coalition Countries: Country Total Australia 2 Bulgaria 13 Denmark 3 El Salvador 2 Estonia 2 Hungary 1 Italy 31 Kazakhstan 1 Latvia 1 Netherlands 2 Poland 17 Romania 2 Slovakia 3 Spain 11 Thailand 2 Ukraine 18
Non Military Deaths: Journalists Killed in Iraq An Incomplete List of Contractors Killed in Iraq Iraqi Body Count (External Link)
US Wounded by Week Period Wnd-RTD Wounded 03-20-2003 thru 04-01-2003 115 426 04-02-2004 thru 01-02-2005 4565 4875 01-03-2005 thru 12-20-2005 3946 2228 12-21-2005 thru 04-Jan-06 121 53 05-Jan-06 thru 11-Jan-06 65 26 12-Jan-06 thru 18-Jan-06 35 17 19-Jan-06 thru 25-Jan-06 42 34 26-Jan-06 thru 01-Feb-06 34 24 02-Feb-06 thru 08-Feb-06 24 23 09-Feb-06 thru 15-Feb-06 60 29 16-Feb-06 thru 23-Feb-06 40 42 24-Feb-06 thru 01-Mar-06 54 28 02-Mar-06 thru 08-Mar-06 44 54 09-Mar-06 thru 15-Mar-06 67 53 16-Mar-06 thru 22-Mar-06 96 49 23-Mar-06 thru 28-Mar-06 86 26 29-Mar-06 thru 07-Apr-06 60 28 08-Apr-06 thru 11-Apr-06 37 43 12-Apr-06 thru 18-Apr-06 58 41 19-Apr-06 thru 25-Apr-06 76 38 26-Apr-06 thru 02-May-06 55 57 03-May-06 thru 10-May-06 64 45 11-May-06 thru 17-May-06 42 63 18-May-06 thru 25-May-06 54 42 Total 9840 8344
Wnd-RTD: Wounded in Action Return to Duty within 72 hours
Wnd: Wounded in Action Not Return to Duty within 72 hours
Totals updated weekly by the DoD
View Complete Weekly Report
Some of The Wounded... Wounded In Action According to The DoD Period Wounded Apr-2006 403 Mar-2006 494 Feb-2006 340 Jan-2006 286 Dec-2005 412 Nov-2005 400 Oct-2005 605 Sep-2005 545 Aug-2005 541 Jul-2005 476 Jun-2005 511 May-2005 575 Apr-2005 596 Mar-2005 371 Feb-2005 415 Jan-2005 498 Dec-2004 544 Nov-2004 1425 Oct-2004 648 Sep-2004 706 Aug-2004 895 Jul-2004 552 Jun-2004 589 May-2004 758 Apr-2004 1212 Mar-2004 324 Feb-2004 150 Jan-2004 189 Dec-2003 261 Nov-2003 336 Oct-2003 413 Sep-2003 247 Aug-2003 181 Jul-2003 226 Jun-2003 147 May-2003 55 Apr-2003 340 Mar-2003 203 Total 17869
Last update from the DoD: 29-Apr-06
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Sunday, May 28, 2006
"Most of all, political scribes have to take off their cynical lenses through which they view every moral challenge as political spin." - Al Gore
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Friday, May 26, 2006
Regrets
Just want to point that Bush talked about stuff he "regrets."
The only "regrets" he mentioned were PR moves that turned out badly.
It's Memorial Day Weekend, and it didn't even occur to him to "regret" the loss of 2462 American soldiers.
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FUBAR
You know what's pathetic? That Bush finally admits to making some mistake and - when faced with disaster on a monumental scale - will only admit to a few poorly chosen words.
Even if he DOES believe that a War in Iraq was a good idea (and sadly, I think he does), it is very obvious that the execution of it has been entirely botched.
They are trying to occupy a hostile area the size of California with a tiny force of 130,000 troops; they left the borders wide open so Al Qaeda could come in; they can't leave the green zone because it's too dangerous; and the terrorists have a new training ground and a new base of operations in the Middle East.
Not only has Bush not HURT the terrorists - he has GIVEN THEM NEW TERRITORY.
And not because of his words. Because of his actions.
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They still don't get it.
As you probably know, Bush and Blair had a press conference where they decided to try and stem the damage to their reputation by actually ADMITTING what everyone else has known for three years.
BUSH: Saying, "Bring it on"; kind of tough talk, you know, that sent the wrong signal to people. I learned some lessons about expressing myself maybe in a little more sophisticated manner, you know. "Wanted, dead or alive"; that kind of talk. I think in certain parts of the world it was misinterpreted. And so I learned from that
"Misinterpreted"? "Bring it on" was misinterpreted? It didn't actually mean "Bring it on"? Then what, exactly, was it supposed to mean? "Waiter, waiter, there's a fly in my soup"?
No, I think they interpreted it dead right - you were just a damned fool to say it.
And by the way, there was nothing wrong with saying "Osama Bin Laden, Dead or Alive." That's one of the few things you did right. The problem is it was JUST words, and you had no intention of following through, even while you said it.
Regarding his trip to Baghdad, Blair said, "I came away thinking the challenge is still immense, but I also came away more certain than ever that we should rise to it."
Blair added, "I think it's easy to go back over mistakes that we may have made, but the biggest reason why Iraq has been difficult is the determination by our opponents to defeat us."
They started a war without figuring that our opponents would be determined to defeat us.
What did they think our opponents would do? Invite us in for tea?
Are these people total ignoramuses? I don't give a crap how right you think you are - If you kick in someone's door and come at them, they are going to try and defeat you. Duh.
Holy crap.
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Wednesday, May 24, 2006
The Chicks
I don't know how many fans they've lost, but they've gained at least one new one.
Check out their performance on Letterman. Courtesy of crooks and liars.
God bless 'em.
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Pat Robertson
Why does this clown still have a following?
Pat Robertson's Age-Defying Shake
Did you know that Pat Robertson can leg-press 2000 pounds! How does he do it?
One of Pat's secrets to keeping his energy high and his vitality soaring is his age-defying protein shake. Pat developed a delicious, refreshing shake, filled with energy-producing nutrients.
70 years old. Leg presses 2000 pounds. From drinking a SHAKE.
Never mind that it's WAY beyond the existing record.
Pathetic.
Via AMERICAblog
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Tuesday, May 23, 2006
I thought I'd use my tiny little megaphone to draw attention to an editorial by radio legend Pete Fornatale on the state of the radio.
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Of course not. God forbid, I might learn something.
President says he's unlikely to watch documentary on global warming
WASHINGTON - Is President Bush likely to see Al Gore’s documentary about global warming?
“Doubt it,” Bush said coolly Monday.
But Bush should watch it, Gore shot back. In fact, the former Democratic vice president offered to come to the White House any time, any day to show Bush either his documentary or a slide show on global warming that he’s shown more than 1,000 times around the world.
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No shit, Sherlock
Panel: Legislators Shouldn't Work Drunk
SALEM, Ore. (AP) -- Oregon legislators and staff members should not be drunk while performing their official duties, a citizen panel says.
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Monday, May 22, 2006
AT&T Sold Your Ass to the Government
Wired Magazine has a full expose on the NSA spying scandal from Whistle-Blower Mark Klein's class-action lawsuit.
In 2003 AT&T built "secret rooms" hidden deep in the bowels of its central offices in various cities, housing computer gear for a government spy operation which taps into the company's popular WorldNet service and the entire internet. These installations enable the government to look at every individual message on the internet and analyze exactly what people are doing. Documents showing the hardwire installation in San Francisco suggest that there are similar locations being installed in numerous other cities.
The physical arrangement, the timing of its construction, the government-imposed secrecy surrounding it and other factors all strongly suggest that its origins are rooted in the Defense Department's Total Information Awareness (TIA) program...
Read the article. ALL of the Documents are in pdf format here.
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Take a look at this remarkable email exchange between Rumsfeld's Spokesman, Larry (a.k.a. Curly Joe) Dirita, and War Correspondent Joe Galloway. This is remarkable, and Galloway deserves a medal.
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Sunday, May 21, 2006
Why does this not surprise me?
Cut taxes for the multi-millionaires.
And INCREASE them for TEEN-AGERS.
The $69 billion tax cut bill that President Bush signed this week tripled tax rates for teenagers with college savings funds, despite Mr. Bush's 1999 pledge to veto any tax increase.
Under the new law, teenagers age 14 to 17 with investment income will now be taxed at the same rate as their parents, not at their own rates. Long-term capital gains and dividends that had been taxed at 5 percent will now be taxed at 15 percent. Interest that had been taxed at 10 percent will now be taxed at as much as 35 percent.
It is really hard to believe how brazen these people are in their greed and elitism. The contempt that they feel for ordinary Americans is palpable. Not only do they screw people - they do it right in your face, and think you won't notice.
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Thursday, May 18, 2006
Illegal is more fun
According to Baltimore Sun, the NSA developed a program for the purpose of analyzing communication data in the late 1990. Unlike what they are doing now, the old program was legal and protected the privacy of Americans - and worked better.
They rejected it in favor of a system that was illegal, unnecessarily intrusive and didn't work so good.
But if you're Bush, you ALWAYS prefer the option that's illegal, intrusive and innefficient. I honestly think it gives the man the sort of rush that a teenager gets when he gets away with something.
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Rover defends his owner
"The American people like this president. His personal approval ratings are in the 60s. Job approval is lower. And what that says to me is that people like him, they respect him, he's somebody they feel a connection with, but they're just sour right now on the war. And that's the way it's going to be." - Karl Rove
Cognitive dissonance is what happens in the human brain when a human being is confronted with a fact which his preconceptions tell him cannot possibly be true.
Is Karl Rove - Bush's favorite Turdblossom and America's beloved pus-sack - becoming delusional?
His "personal approval" isn't anywhere NEAR the 60s and people DON'T like this President. (New York Times pdf poll here) In fact, his JOB approval is one percentage point HIGHER than his "personal approval. " He has more than 50% approval in exactly 3 states - Utah, Idaho and Wyoming. NOBODY approves of him, except a few whackjobs.
Polysigh put it best:
"As for Rove's comment that Bush would be popular but for the Iraq War, that's like saying that if it weren't for the Alps, Switzerland would be flat."
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Tuesday, May 16, 2006
The Constitutional Crisis that Walks like a Man.
The FBI has confirmed that they do, indeed, monitor reporters' phone calls.
Approximately one year ago, we were told that they did not need a warrant because they were only monitoring international calls.
Then, they said that, well, actually were monitoring SOME calls where one of the parties was domestic and one was international.
"If someone is calling Al Qaeda," said Bush, "we want to know why."
Which is interesting, because it implies that they know the terrorists' telephone numbers, which makes you wonder why they don't just round them up instead of collecting their phone bills.
Then they said that they sometimes they inadvertently listen to purely domestic calls.
Then they tell us - just this week - that, well, all that was bullshit. They have actually been collecting info on every single phone call made by every single American with almost no exceptions.
But OF COURSE we have nothing to worry about. We can trust THEM. Never mind the fact that they have lied about this again and again and again. We can trust them. They aren't actually listening in. It's for TERRORISM. So they say.
But you can't name a single terrorist who has been arrested in the last five years as a result of this spying. Not one.
And NOW, we find out that they AREN'T checking on terrorists - they are checking on reporters. They are using phone records to find out who reporters are using as sources. They are REALLY after anyone who makes them look bad by revealing the truth to the American People.
You would figure even the REPUBLICANS would wake up and realize that George W. Bush is a walking Constitutional Crisis who has to be stopped while we still have something that we can call "America" left. And they would, if they valued their nation more than their party.
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Monday, May 15, 2006
Push Back Poll
I said it was a push poll, and I was right.
From a Newsweek poll, released one day after the Washington Post Push Poll:
As you may know, there are reports that the NSA, a government intelligence agency, has been collecting the phone call records of Americans. The agency doesn't actually listen to the calls but logs in nearly every phone number to create a database of calls made within the United States. Which of the following comes CLOSER to your own view of this domestic surveillance program:
It is a necessary tool to combat terrorism -- 41
It goes too far in invading people’s privacy -- 53
Don’t know -- 6
Note that the question doesn't read like a apologia for data mining - as the Washington Post poll did.
But why was the Washington Post so anxious to release a poll that backed up the Bush administration's wishes on the same day that the news broke?
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Your tax dollars at work
You have to watch out for those Terrorist Anchormen:
Federal Source to ABC News: We Know Who You're Calling
Brian Ross and Richard Esposito Report:
A senior federal law enforcement official tells ABC News the government is tracking the phone numbers we (Brian Ross and Richard Esposito) call in an effort to root out confidential sources.
"It's time for you to get some new cell phones, quick," the source told us in an in-person conversation.
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Same script.
Ah. So His Incompetence is probably going to use the National Guard to patrol the border. He says it's "only temporary."
Temporary till when? Just after the 2006 elections?
This is typical. God forbid border patrol get done by actual border patrol. That would make sense. Instead, let's assume that the MILITARY doesn't have enough of a role.
The REAL problem is that Bush is too damned incompetent to deal with anything using civilian means - like SANE Presidents always have. Instead, he turns to the military as his tool of choice for absolutely everything.
And pardon me for wondering if President Codpiece isn't still trying to compensate for the cowardice and inadequacy that he showed during Vietnam. Using OTHER people's blood and sweat, of course.
So he will get to dress up in a uniform, strut around, use jeeps and tanks and helicopters and all sorts of neat stuff, and basically play war in a place where there isn't one, and it will make for a great photo-op. He'll get his picture taken with a helicopter. Look, mommy! Don't I look cool?
God, I wish we had a President who was a frigging grown-up, instead of one who is stuck in adolescence and makes America suffer so he can feel impressive.
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Sunday, May 14, 2006
Ooops.
I posted the info from Jason Leopold (of truthout) that Rove had been indicted. Not WOULD be - HAD been. I think we would have heard something by now. I guess Leopold's source isn't all that reliable, and it's the last time I post something unsubstantiated from truthout.
Here's hoping that Leopold proves to be right a bit too early anyway.
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Saturday, May 13, 2006
Sue the bastards.
If you own stock in any phone companies, it's time to sell short. They could lose billions in class-action lawsuits, and lose MORE money from an exodus of customers.
Two suits have already been filed.
Verizon Sued for Giving NSA Phone Records Attorneys Bruce Afran and Carl Mayer filed the lawsuit Friday afternoon in federal district court in Manhattan, where Verizon is headquartered.
The lawsuit asks the court to stop Verizon from turning over any more records to the NSA without a warrant or consent of the subscriber.
"This is the largest and most vast intrusion of civil liberties we've ever seen in the United States," Afran said of the NSA program.
The lawsuit seeks $1,000 for each violation of the Telecommunications Act, or $5 billion if the case is certified as class-action.
And this is a DIFFERENT one:
Verizon Faces New $20B Suit over NSA Spying Complicity
Upping the ante in what may be a high-stakes legal battle, an Upstate New York lawyer filed a $20 billion class-action lawsuit against Verizon last week, charging that the company violated customer confidentiality in aiding warrantless eavesdropping by a federal spy agency.
Here's the tally of who has and has not violated the privacy of American citizens:
Verizon (land-line), AT&T, and BellSouth have all behaved in a fundamentally Unamerican manner.
On the other hand, Qwest is the only large landline carrier that refused to complied with the Bush's fascist requests. If you have one of the other three, switch to Qwest.
Cellular phones seem largely clean. Verizon Wireless, T-Mobile, Virgin Mobile and Cox all say that they have not provided their records to anyone.
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Fitzmas?
Truthout now says that Rove has BEEN indicted, but I don't see it in the tradition media.
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Shocked
The NSA Whistleblower says that people are going to be shocked.
[Tice] said he plans to tell the committee staffers the NSA conducted illegal and unconstitutional surveillance of U.S. citizens while he was there with the knowledge of Hayden. … “I think the people I talk to next week are going to be shocked when I tell them what I have to tell them. It’s pretty hard to believe,” Tice said.
I won't be shocked, but it's about time the country got shocked.
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Friday, May 12, 2006
According to truthout, Rove has told the White House that he will be indicted.
Within the last week, Karl Rove told President Bush and Chief of Staff Joshua Bolten, as well as a few other high level administration officials, that he will be indicted in the CIA leak case and will immediately resign his White House job when the special counsel publicly announces the charges against him, according to sources.
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Raid kills roaches dead.
The FBI has raided the home of Dusty Foggo (NOT the name of a fictional character). The guy who just resigned as the #3 man in the CIA.
I wonder why Goss REALLY resigned. This CAN'T be a coincidence.
Move along, folks, nothing to see here....
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Push poll
You may have read - and been shocked - by reports that a poll says that 2/3rds of Americans have no problem with the Bush administration mining phone calls.
Here is the actual question:
It's been reported that the National Security Agency has been collecting the phone call records of tens of millions of Americans. It then analyzes calling patterns in an effort to identify possible terrorism suspects, without listening to or recording the conversations. Would you consider this an acceptable or unacceptable way for the federal government to investigate terrorism? Do you feel that way strongly or somewhat?
Note that the question itself ASSUMES that the act is benign, and states things as fact that WE DON'T KNOW (such as that conversations are not listened to or recorded). The question is framed in terms of fighting terrorism, falsifies the known facts, fails to mention the questionable legality, and was obviously thrown together on the fly. For many poll respondents, this was probably the first time they HEARD about it.
This is a push poll.
And I suspect that other polls released in the coming days will show very different results.
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Today?
Tweetybird Matthews thinks Rove might be indicted today.
From Imus this morning"
Transcript:
MATTHEWS: If, however, something happens with Karl Rove, we’re going to go to general quarters around here.
IMUS: What does that mean?
MATTHEWS: Meaning we will be taping probably on Saturday or late night because everything will change. Last time, when he picked up Scooter, when he nailed him 30 years of charges, that happened on 1:00 on a Friday. So we don’t know when it might happen, if it’s going happen.
IMUS: Are we expecting something with Karl Rove today?
MATTHEWS: Well, it could be today. It could be next week. Everybody is buzzing about when or if. It’s a big if, big when. There is a lot of talk because he is still being interviewing by the special prosecutor. He keeps being hauled before the grand jury. So something is going on here with the special prosecutor. We don’t know whether he is going to clear him or nail him.
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GENEVA (Reuters) - The United States has again refused the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) access to terrorism suspects held in secret detention centers, the humanitarian agency said on Friday.
Isn't it interesting that the whole motto of this administration is "If you have done nothing wrong, you have nothing to hide"?
Explains why they hide everything.
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Headline says it all
Bush denies spying infringes on privacy
Roll THAT phrase around in your head a few times.
Lewis Carroll wishes HE had thought of that one, I'm sure
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Thursday, May 11, 2006
Gonzales Lied
As surely as weasels are weasels.
From the Muckraker:
Did Gonzales Mislead Congress about NSA Program?
By Paul Kiel - May 11, 2006, 2:32 PM
Reacting to today's news that the NSA is "amassing information about the calls of ordinary Americans," Reps. Bennie G. Thompson (D-MS) and Rep. Zoe Lofgren (D-CA) have put out a statement questioning the legality of the program.
Their statement contains this: "when the Attorney General was forced to testify before the House Judiciary Committee a few weeks ago, he misled the Committee about the existence of the program."
Here's what they're referring to. On April 6, 2006, Attorney General Alberto Gonzales testified before the House Judiciary Committee, and in one exchange, Rep. Gerald Nadler (D-NY) tried to nail him down:
NADLER: Number two, can you assure us that there is no warrantless surveillance of calls between two Americans within the United States?
GONZALES: That is not what the president has authorized.
NADLER: Can you assure us that it's not being done?
GONZALES: As I indicated in response to an earlier question, no technology is perfect.
NADLER: OK.
GONZALES: We do have minimization procedures in place...
NADLER: But you're not doing that deliberately?
GONZALES: That is correct.
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"There's no doubt in my mind there are safeguards in place to make sure the program focuses on calls coming from outside the United States in, with an al Qaeda -- from a -- with a belief that there's an al Qaeda person making the call to somebody here in the States, or vice versa -- but not domestic calls." - Bush, 01/26/06.
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Bush lies some more
President Deer-In-The-Headlights decided to throw a little gasoline on the fire:
Facing intense criticism from Congress, President Bush did not confirm the work of the National Security Agency but sought to assure Americans that their privacy is being "fiercely protected."
"We are not mining or trolling through the personal lives of innocent Americans," Bush said before leaving for a commencement address at Mississippi Gulf Coast Community College in Biloxi.
Well, gee whiz, codpiece-for-brains, you ALSO said that you were only listening to INTERNATIONAL Communications. You ALSO said it was only a FEW HUNDRED.
Liar.
Every new story that comes out shows that the administration lied about the last story that came out but they say that we should believe them this time.
NOBODY is that gullible.
By the way, giving the White House info on yur phone calls was VOLUNTARY on the part of the phone companies. Qwest was the ONLY major carrier to refuse. So if you are with AT&T or Verizon, switch to Qwest. And call them and let them know why. DEMAND that they respect your privacy.
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It's all true
Everything you thought MIGHT be true IS.
NSA has massive database of Americans' phone calls
The National Security Agency has been secretly collecting the phone call records of tens of millions of Americans, using data provided by AT&T, Verizon and BellSouth, people with direct knowledge of the arrangement told USA TODAY.
The NSA program reaches into homes and businesses across the nation by amassing information about the calls of ordinary Americans — most of whom aren't suspected of any crime. This program does not involve the NSA listening to or recording conversations. But the spy agency is using the data to analyze calling patterns in an effort to detect terrorist activity, sources said in separate interviews.
For the customers of these companies, it means that the government has detailed records of calls they made — across town or across the country — to family members, co-workers, business contacts and others.
The sources would talk only under a guarantee of anonymity because the NSA program is secret.
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Wednesday, May 10, 2006
Colbert - SOMEBODY gets it.
Here's a great article from the TV Critic at the Chicago Sun-Times about Colbert's public evisceration of His Ignorance. This may be the only thing I have read in the mainstream press that actually understood the reaction to Colbert's speech.
How did Bush tickle reporters? He made fun of the fact that he can barely speak English (he is quite simply the worst communicator of all U.S. presidents), that our vice president is a heartless face-shooter, and that Bush is basically an idiot.
Ha ha, our "war president" knows he's a village idiot? To members of the White House press corps, that's some real funny stuff. To non-insiders, this looked like another example of good old boys and gals slapping each other on the back.
Colbert's routine was more remarkable for its unique and creative brazenness. He joked that Bush's presidency is like the Hindenburg; that Bush's wiretappers were monitoring this very event, and that the White House press corps, sitting in front of Colbert, gave Bush a free pass, scandal after scandal, until recently (when his polls numbers dropped).
How's this for a newsworthy lead? It was perhaps the first time in Bush's tenure that the president was forced to sit and listen to any American cite the litany of criminal and corruption allegations that have piled up against his administration. And mouth-tense Bush and first lady Laura Bush fled as soon as possible afterward.
From whom were they fleeing? A star comedian pretending to be a Fox News-like blowhard doing a sort of performance art that America hasn't witnessed nationally since the days of Andy Kaufman. Even if Colbert's bit had been reported as a train wreck, that would have sufficed. Instead, shocking lines like the following were barely covered by any traditional organ except industry magazine Editor & Publisher: "I stand by" Bush, Colbert cracked, "because he stands for things. Not only for things, he stands on things. Things like aircraft carriers and rubble, and recently flooded city squares. And that sends a strong message that no matter what happens to America, she will always rebound with the most powerfully staged photo ops in the world."
For TV reporters in particular to quote that gruesome line would be an agreement with Colbert, that they helped Bush mix politics with corruption from the ashes of 9/11 ("aircraft carriers and rubble"), and failed to see through Bush's politicization of the drowning of an American city after a hurricane ("recently flooded city squares").
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Brownie, you're doing a heckuva job.
The question isn't "Why do only 31% still support these incompetents" - the question is, "why the hell is it still that high?"
WASHINGTON — Hours after Hurricane Katrina hit, former FEMA director Michael Brown dismissed reports that floodwaters had breached New Orleans' levees, and he obsessed over media coverage of his agency, according to newly released e-mails.
At one point early that morning, Brown reported to an aide that he was "sitting in the chair, putting mousse in my hair" while waiting for media interviews to begin.
What total dicks.
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Poll vault
(CBS) President Bush and the Republican Congress show nearly record low ratings while Democrats are viewed much more favorably in their performance on the issues that matter most to Americans, according to the latest CBS News/New York Times poll.
Well, that just great. You think - maybe - the Democrats MIGHT just stop acting like their afraid that challenging thi clown will hurt them?
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BAGHDAD (Reuters) - Some 1,500 more U.S. troops have arrived in Iraq to help with the war against Sunni Arab rebels, including al Qaeda Islamist militants, in the western desert province of Anbar, the military said on Tuesday.
I don't think that even the delusional morons in this administration can possibly believe that 1,500 more troops is going to do a damned thing.
What's sad is that they probably DO think that it's a good PR move. They can't even do THAT right anymore.
And why the hell aren't 1500 IRAQI troops being brought in instead?
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But why don't the media talk about the GOOD news?
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Tuesday, May 30, 2006
Holy Crap
Iraq's new ambassador to the United States, Samir Sumaidaie, just accused the United States of killing his cousin. On purpose. Unnecessarily. Right after meeting Bush.
The new Iraqi ambassador to the United States has accused US Marines of "intentionally" killing a cousin in the Iraqi town of Haditha last year.
Speaking only hours after presenting his credentials to President George W Bush at the White House, Ambassador Samir al-Sumaidaie said his relative was shot dead five months before the killing of 24 civilians in the town in November that is now the subject of a controversial inquiry.
The ambassador told how Mohammed al-Sumaidaie, a 21-year-old engineering student, was killed after opening the door of the family house to US Marines on June 25.
"I believe he was killed intentionally. I believe he was killed unnecessarily," Mr Sumaidaie said on CNN television.
"The Marines were doing house-to-house searches, and they went into the house of my cousin. He opened the door for them. His mother, his siblings were there. He let them into the bedroom of his father, and there he was shot."
Here's the transcript from CNN.
BLITZER: But even months before the incident in November, you lost a cousin at Haditha in a separate battle involving United States Marines.
SUMAIDAIE: Well, that was not a battle at all. Marines were doing house-to-house searches, and they went into the house of my cousin. He opened the door for them.
His mother, his siblings were there. He led them into the bedroom of his father. And there he was shot.
BLITZER: Who shot him?
SUMAIDAIE: A member of the Marines.
BLITZER: Why did they shoot him?
SUMAIDAIE: Well, they said that they shot him in self-defense. I find that hard to believe because, A, he is not at all a violent -- I mean, I know the boy. He was [in] a second-year engineering course in the university. Nothing to do with violence. All his life has been studies and intellectual work.
Totally unbelievable. And, in fact, they had no weapon in the house. They had one weapon which belonged to the school where his father was a headmaster. And it had no ammunition in it. And he led them into the room to show it to them.
BLITZER: So what you're suggesting, your cousin was killed in cold blood, is that what you're saying, by United States Marines?
SUMAIDAIE: I believe he was killed intentionally. I believe that he was killed unnecessarily. And unfortunately, the investigations that took place after that sort of took a different course and concluded that there was no unlawful killing.
I would like further investigation. I have, in fact, asked for the report of the last investigation, which was a criminal investigation, by the way.
[Gen. George Casey, the top U.S. commander in Iraq] is aware of all the details, because he's kept on top of it. And it was he who rejected the conclusions of the first investigation. I have since asked formally for the report, but it's been nearly two months, and I have not received it.
BLITZER: Did you raise these concerns you had with the president today when you were at the White House presenting your credentials?
SUMAIDAIE: No, I did not, because I did not want to bring a personal note into a much wider brief that I have here.
This is astonishing. It is absolutely unbelievable that an ambassador from a country which we OCCUPY would say something like that, in public, in an accusatory fashion, just hours after meeting the President.
Either this guy is so angry at the U.S. that he just does not give a crap about offending us anymore, or - in the wake of Abu Ghraib and Haditha - he considers it far more important and wise to appeal to anti-American sentiment in his own country than to placate US.
This does NOT say good things about our future there.
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Snow-white lie
Bush is caught in one more lie, via Think Progress:
On May 25th, President Bush said that Treasury Secretary John Snow had not given him any indication that he was leaving soon:
PRESIDENT BUSH: Secretary of Treasury Snow?
Q Has he given you any indication he intends to leave his job any time soon?…
PRESIDENT BUSH: No, he has not talked to me about resignation. I think he’s doing a fine job.
In fact, not only had Snow indicated he was leaving, President Bush had already settled on his replacement. Today, Tony Snow said that Hank Paulson was offered the job on May 20 and accepted a day later:
QUESTION: Do you have any tick tock on the Paulson…
SNOW: Yes. The tick tock is the two of them met on the 20th of May and there was a conversation. And Hank Paulson accepted the job a day later. That was subject to clearance. It does take time, especially for a Senate confirmable position, to complete those. So it did take time to get some of those clearances wrapped up.
The apologists, of course, will deny that THAT'S a lie, too. Being a Bushite requires heaping doses of denial.
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One Snow at a time
Tony Snow is in as Press Secretary, so John Snow is out as Treasury Secretary.
That's my theory: poor George would be confused by having two guys around named "Snow," and they want to minimize his befuddlement.
Not that it will help: "How come Snow is still here? I thought we got rid of Snow!"
"That's a different Snow, Mr. President."
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Iraq Coalition Casualties
Military Fatalities: By Time Period
Period US UK Other* Total Avg Days 5 313 15 8 336 2.02 166 4 715 13 18 746 2.35 318 3 579 25 27 631 2.92 216 2 718 27 58 803 1.89 424 1 140 33 0 173 4.02 43 Total 2465 113 111 2689 2.3 1167
Time Periods Defined
Iraqi Security Forces and Civilian Deaths Period Total May-06 1002 Apr-06 1010 Mar-06 1094 Feb-06 846 Jan-06 780
Iraqi Security Forces and Civilian Deaths Details
Note: This is an estimate based on news reports. This is not a definitive count.
U.S. Deaths Confirmed By The DoD: 2464 Reported U.S. Deaths Pending DoD Confirmation: 1 Total 2465
DoD Confirmation List Latest Coalition Fatality: May 29, 2006
Military Fatalities: By Month Period US UK Other* Total Avg Days 5-2006 61 9 1 71 2.37 30 4-2006 76 1 5 82 2.73 30 3-2006 31 0 2 33 1.06 31 2-2006 55 3 0 58 2.07 28 1-2006 62 2 0 64 2.06 31 12-2005 68 0 0 68 2.19 31 11-2005 84 1 1 86 2.87 30 10-2005 96 2 1 99 3.19 31 9-2005 49 3 0 52 1.73 30 8-2005 85 0 0 85 2.74 31 7-2005 54 3 1 58 1.87 31 6-2005 78 1 4 83 2.77 30 5-2005 80 2 6 88 2.84 31 4-2005 52 0 0 52 1.73 30 3-2005 35 1 3 39 1.26 31 2-2005 58 0 2 60 2.14 28 1-2005 107 10 10 127 4.1 31 12-2004 72 1 3 76 2.45 31 11-2004 137 4 0 141 4.7 30 10-2004 63 2 2 67 2.16 31 9-2004 80 3 4 87 2.9 30 8-2004 66 4 5 75 2.42 31 7-2004 54 1 3 58 1.87 31 6-2004 42 1 7 50 1.67 30 5-2004 80 0 4 84 2.71 31 4-2004 135 0 5 140 4.67 30 3-2004 52 0 0 52 1.68 31 2-2004 20 1 2 23 0.79 29 1-2004 47 5 0 52 1.68 31 12-2003 40 0 8 48 1.55 31 11-2003 82 1 27 110 3.67 30 10-2003 44 1 2 47 1.52 31 9-2003 31 1 1 33 1.1 30 8-2003 35 6 2 43 1.39 31 7-2003 48 1 0 49 1.58 31 6-2003 30 6 0 36 1.2 30 5-2003 37 4 0 41 1.32 31 4-2003 74 6 0 80 2.67 30 3-2003 65 27 0 92 7.67 12 Total 2465 113 111 2689 2.3 1168
Missing or Captured: US Casualties By Calendar Year Year US Deaths US Wounded 2003 486 2409 2004 848 7992 2005 846 5945 2006 285 1523 Total 2465 17869
*Other Coalition Countries: Country Total Australia 2 Bulgaria 13 Denmark 3 El Salvador 2 Estonia 2 Hungary 1 Italy 31 Kazakhstan 1 Latvia 1 Netherlands 2 Poland 17 Romania 2 Slovakia 3 Spain 11 Thailand 2 Ukraine 18
Non Military Deaths: Journalists Killed in Iraq An Incomplete List of Contractors Killed in Iraq Iraqi Body Count (External Link)
US Wounded by Week Period Wnd-RTD Wounded 03-20-2003 thru 04-01-2003 115 426 04-02-2004 thru 01-02-2005 4565 4875 01-03-2005 thru 12-20-2005 3946 2228 12-21-2005 thru 04-Jan-06 121 53 05-Jan-06 thru 11-Jan-06 65 26 12-Jan-06 thru 18-Jan-06 35 17 19-Jan-06 thru 25-Jan-06 42 34 26-Jan-06 thru 01-Feb-06 34 24 02-Feb-06 thru 08-Feb-06 24 23 09-Feb-06 thru 15-Feb-06 60 29 16-Feb-06 thru 23-Feb-06 40 42 24-Feb-06 thru 01-Mar-06 54 28 02-Mar-06 thru 08-Mar-06 44 54 09-Mar-06 thru 15-Mar-06 67 53 16-Mar-06 thru 22-Mar-06 96 49 23-Mar-06 thru 28-Mar-06 86 26 29-Mar-06 thru 07-Apr-06 60 28 08-Apr-06 thru 11-Apr-06 37 43 12-Apr-06 thru 18-Apr-06 58 41 19-Apr-06 thru 25-Apr-06 76 38 26-Apr-06 thru 02-May-06 55 57 03-May-06 thru 10-May-06 64 45 11-May-06 thru 17-May-06 42 63 18-May-06 thru 25-May-06 54 42 Total 9840 8344
Wnd-RTD: Wounded in Action Return to Duty within 72 hours
Wnd: Wounded in Action Not Return to Duty within 72 hours
Totals updated weekly by the DoD
View Complete Weekly Report
Some of The Wounded... Wounded In Action According to The DoD Period Wounded Apr-2006 403 Mar-2006 494 Feb-2006 340 Jan-2006 286 Dec-2005 412 Nov-2005 400 Oct-2005 605 Sep-2005 545 Aug-2005 541 Jul-2005 476 Jun-2005 511 May-2005 575 Apr-2005 596 Mar-2005 371 Feb-2005 415 Jan-2005 498 Dec-2004 544 Nov-2004 1425 Oct-2004 648 Sep-2004 706 Aug-2004 895 Jul-2004 552 Jun-2004 589 May-2004 758 Apr-2004 1212 Mar-2004 324 Feb-2004 150 Jan-2004 189 Dec-2003 261 Nov-2003 336 Oct-2003 413 Sep-2003 247 Aug-2003 181 Jul-2003 226 Jun-2003 147 May-2003 55 Apr-2003 340 Mar-2003 203 Total 17869
Last update from the DoD: 29-Apr-06
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Sunday, May 28, 2006
"Most of all, political scribes have to take off their cynical lenses through which they view every moral challenge as political spin." - Al Gore
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Friday, May 26, 2006
Regrets
Just want to point that Bush talked about stuff he "regrets."
The only "regrets" he mentioned were PR moves that turned out badly.
It's Memorial Day Weekend, and it didn't even occur to him to "regret" the loss of 2462 American soldiers.
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FUBAR
You know what's pathetic? That Bush finally admits to making some mistake and - when faced with disaster on a monumental scale - will only admit to a few poorly chosen words.
Even if he DOES believe that a War in Iraq was a good idea (and sadly, I think he does), it is very obvious that the execution of it has been entirely botched.
They are trying to occupy a hostile area the size of California with a tiny force of 130,000 troops; they left the borders wide open so Al Qaeda could come in; they can't leave the green zone because it's too dangerous; and the terrorists have a new training ground and a new base of operations in the Middle East.
Not only has Bush not HURT the terrorists - he has GIVEN THEM NEW TERRITORY.
And not because of his words. Because of his actions.
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They still don't get it.
As you probably know, Bush and Blair had a press conference where they decided to try and stem the damage to their reputation by actually ADMITTING what everyone else has known for three years.
BUSH: Saying, "Bring it on"; kind of tough talk, you know, that sent the wrong signal to people. I learned some lessons about expressing myself maybe in a little more sophisticated manner, you know. "Wanted, dead or alive"; that kind of talk. I think in certain parts of the world it was misinterpreted. And so I learned from that
"Misinterpreted"? "Bring it on" was misinterpreted? It didn't actually mean "Bring it on"? Then what, exactly, was it supposed to mean? "Waiter, waiter, there's a fly in my soup"?
No, I think they interpreted it dead right - you were just a damned fool to say it.
And by the way, there was nothing wrong with saying "Osama Bin Laden, Dead or Alive." That's one of the few things you did right. The problem is it was JUST words, and you had no intention of following through, even while you said it.
Regarding his trip to Baghdad, Blair said, "I came away thinking the challenge is still immense, but I also came away more certain than ever that we should rise to it."
Blair added, "I think it's easy to go back over mistakes that we may have made, but the biggest reason why Iraq has been difficult is the determination by our opponents to defeat us."
They started a war without figuring that our opponents would be determined to defeat us.
What did they think our opponents would do? Invite us in for tea?
Are these people total ignoramuses? I don't give a crap how right you think you are - If you kick in someone's door and come at them, they are going to try and defeat you. Duh.
Holy crap.
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Wednesday, May 24, 2006
The Chicks
I don't know how many fans they've lost, but they've gained at least one new one.
Check out their performance on Letterman. Courtesy of crooks and liars.
God bless 'em.
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Pat Robertson
Why does this clown still have a following?
Pat Robertson's Age-Defying Shake
Did you know that Pat Robertson can leg-press 2000 pounds! How does he do it?
One of Pat's secrets to keeping his energy high and his vitality soaring is his age-defying protein shake. Pat developed a delicious, refreshing shake, filled with energy-producing nutrients.
70 years old. Leg presses 2000 pounds. From drinking a SHAKE.
Never mind that it's WAY beyond the existing record.
Pathetic.
Via AMERICAblog
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Tuesday, May 23, 2006
I thought I'd use my tiny little megaphone to draw attention to an editorial by radio legend Pete Fornatale on the state of the radio.
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Of course not. God forbid, I might learn something.
President says he's unlikely to watch documentary on global warming
WASHINGTON - Is President Bush likely to see Al Gore’s documentary about global warming?
“Doubt it,” Bush said coolly Monday.
But Bush should watch it, Gore shot back. In fact, the former Democratic vice president offered to come to the White House any time, any day to show Bush either his documentary or a slide show on global warming that he’s shown more than 1,000 times around the world.
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No shit, Sherlock
Panel: Legislators Shouldn't Work Drunk
SALEM, Ore. (AP) -- Oregon legislators and staff members should not be drunk while performing their official duties, a citizen panel says.
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Monday, May 22, 2006
AT&T Sold Your Ass to the Government
Wired Magazine has a full expose on the NSA spying scandal from Whistle-Blower Mark Klein's class-action lawsuit.
In 2003 AT&T built "secret rooms" hidden deep in the bowels of its central offices in various cities, housing computer gear for a government spy operation which taps into the company's popular WorldNet service and the entire internet. These installations enable the government to look at every individual message on the internet and analyze exactly what people are doing. Documents showing the hardwire installation in San Francisco suggest that there are similar locations being installed in numerous other cities.
The physical arrangement, the timing of its construction, the government-imposed secrecy surrounding it and other factors all strongly suggest that its origins are rooted in the Defense Department's Total Information Awareness (TIA) program...
Read the article. ALL of the Documents are in pdf format here.
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Take a look at this remarkable email exchange between Rumsfeld's Spokesman, Larry (a.k.a. Curly Joe) Dirita, and War Correspondent Joe Galloway. This is remarkable, and Galloway deserves a medal.
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Sunday, May 21, 2006
Why does this not surprise me?
Cut taxes for the multi-millionaires.
And INCREASE them for TEEN-AGERS.
The $69 billion tax cut bill that President Bush signed this week tripled tax rates for teenagers with college savings funds, despite Mr. Bush's 1999 pledge to veto any tax increase.
Under the new law, teenagers age 14 to 17 with investment income will now be taxed at the same rate as their parents, not at their own rates. Long-term capital gains and dividends that had been taxed at 5 percent will now be taxed at 15 percent. Interest that had been taxed at 10 percent will now be taxed at as much as 35 percent.
It is really hard to believe how brazen these people are in their greed and elitism. The contempt that they feel for ordinary Americans is palpable. Not only do they screw people - they do it right in your face, and think you won't notice.
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Thursday, May 18, 2006
Illegal is more fun
According to Baltimore Sun, the NSA developed a program for the purpose of analyzing communication data in the late 1990. Unlike what they are doing now, the old program was legal and protected the privacy of Americans - and worked better.
They rejected it in favor of a system that was illegal, unnecessarily intrusive and didn't work so good.
But if you're Bush, you ALWAYS prefer the option that's illegal, intrusive and innefficient. I honestly think it gives the man the sort of rush that a teenager gets when he gets away with something.
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Rover defends his owner
"The American people like this president. His personal approval ratings are in the 60s. Job approval is lower. And what that says to me is that people like him, they respect him, he's somebody they feel a connection with, but they're just sour right now on the war. And that's the way it's going to be." - Karl Rove
Cognitive dissonance is what happens in the human brain when a human being is confronted with a fact which his preconceptions tell him cannot possibly be true.
Is Karl Rove - Bush's favorite Turdblossom and America's beloved pus-sack - becoming delusional?
His "personal approval" isn't anywhere NEAR the 60s and people DON'T like this President. (New York Times pdf poll here) In fact, his JOB approval is one percentage point HIGHER than his "personal approval. " He has more than 50% approval in exactly 3 states - Utah, Idaho and Wyoming. NOBODY approves of him, except a few whackjobs.
Polysigh put it best:
"As for Rove's comment that Bush would be popular but for the Iraq War, that's like saying that if it weren't for the Alps, Switzerland would be flat."
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Tuesday, May 16, 2006
The Constitutional Crisis that Walks like a Man.
The FBI has confirmed that they do, indeed, monitor reporters' phone calls.
Approximately one year ago, we were told that they did not need a warrant because they were only monitoring international calls.
Then, they said that, well, actually were monitoring SOME calls where one of the parties was domestic and one was international.
"If someone is calling Al Qaeda," said Bush, "we want to know why."
Which is interesting, because it implies that they know the terrorists' telephone numbers, which makes you wonder why they don't just round them up instead of collecting their phone bills.
Then they said that they sometimes they inadvertently listen to purely domestic calls.
Then they tell us - just this week - that, well, all that was bullshit. They have actually been collecting info on every single phone call made by every single American with almost no exceptions.
But OF COURSE we have nothing to worry about. We can trust THEM. Never mind the fact that they have lied about this again and again and again. We can trust them. They aren't actually listening in. It's for TERRORISM. So they say.
But you can't name a single terrorist who has been arrested in the last five years as a result of this spying. Not one.
And NOW, we find out that they AREN'T checking on terrorists - they are checking on reporters. They are using phone records to find out who reporters are using as sources. They are REALLY after anyone who makes them look bad by revealing the truth to the American People.
You would figure even the REPUBLICANS would wake up and realize that George W. Bush is a walking Constitutional Crisis who has to be stopped while we still have something that we can call "America" left. And they would, if they valued their nation more than their party.
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Monday, May 15, 2006
Push Back Poll
I said it was a push poll, and I was right.
From a Newsweek poll, released one day after the Washington Post Push Poll:
As you may know, there are reports that the NSA, a government intelligence agency, has been collecting the phone call records of Americans. The agency doesn't actually listen to the calls but logs in nearly every phone number to create a database of calls made within the United States. Which of the following comes CLOSER to your own view of this domestic surveillance program:
It is a necessary tool to combat terrorism -- 41
It goes too far in invading people’s privacy -- 53
Don’t know -- 6
Note that the question doesn't read like a apologia for data mining - as the Washington Post poll did.
But why was the Washington Post so anxious to release a poll that backed up the Bush administration's wishes on the same day that the news broke?
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Your tax dollars at work
You have to watch out for those Terrorist Anchormen:
Federal Source to ABC News: We Know Who You're Calling
Brian Ross and Richard Esposito Report:
A senior federal law enforcement official tells ABC News the government is tracking the phone numbers we (Brian Ross and Richard Esposito) call in an effort to root out confidential sources.
"It's time for you to get some new cell phones, quick," the source told us in an in-person conversation.
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Same script.
Ah. So His Incompetence is probably going to use the National Guard to patrol the border. He says it's "only temporary."
Temporary till when? Just after the 2006 elections?
This is typical. God forbid border patrol get done by actual border patrol. That would make sense. Instead, let's assume that the MILITARY doesn't have enough of a role.
The REAL problem is that Bush is too damned incompetent to deal with anything using civilian means - like SANE Presidents always have. Instead, he turns to the military as his tool of choice for absolutely everything.
And pardon me for wondering if President Codpiece isn't still trying to compensate for the cowardice and inadequacy that he showed during Vietnam. Using OTHER people's blood and sweat, of course.
So he will get to dress up in a uniform, strut around, use jeeps and tanks and helicopters and all sorts of neat stuff, and basically play war in a place where there isn't one, and it will make for a great photo-op. He'll get his picture taken with a helicopter. Look, mommy! Don't I look cool?
God, I wish we had a President who was a frigging grown-up, instead of one who is stuck in adolescence and makes America suffer so he can feel impressive.
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Sunday, May 14, 2006
Ooops.
I posted the info from Jason Leopold (of truthout) that Rove had been indicted. Not WOULD be - HAD been. I think we would have heard something by now. I guess Leopold's source isn't all that reliable, and it's the last time I post something unsubstantiated from truthout.
Here's hoping that Leopold proves to be right a bit too early anyway.
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Saturday, May 13, 2006
Sue the bastards.
If you own stock in any phone companies, it's time to sell short. They could lose billions in class-action lawsuits, and lose MORE money from an exodus of customers.
Two suits have already been filed.
Verizon Sued for Giving NSA Phone Records Attorneys Bruce Afran and Carl Mayer filed the lawsuit Friday afternoon in federal district court in Manhattan, where Verizon is headquartered.
The lawsuit asks the court to stop Verizon from turning over any more records to the NSA without a warrant or consent of the subscriber.
"This is the largest and most vast intrusion of civil liberties we've ever seen in the United States," Afran said of the NSA program.
The lawsuit seeks $1,000 for each violation of the Telecommunications Act, or $5 billion if the case is certified as class-action.
And this is a DIFFERENT one:
Verizon Faces New $20B Suit over NSA Spying Complicity
Upping the ante in what may be a high-stakes legal battle, an Upstate New York lawyer filed a $20 billion class-action lawsuit against Verizon last week, charging that the company violated customer confidentiality in aiding warrantless eavesdropping by a federal spy agency.
Here's the tally of who has and has not violated the privacy of American citizens:
Verizon (land-line), AT&T, and BellSouth have all behaved in a fundamentally Unamerican manner.
On the other hand, Qwest is the only large landline carrier that refused to complied with the Bush's fascist requests. If you have one of the other three, switch to Qwest.
Cellular phones seem largely clean. Verizon Wireless, T-Mobile, Virgin Mobile and Cox all say that they have not provided their records to anyone.
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Fitzmas?
Truthout now says that Rove has BEEN indicted, but I don't see it in the tradition media.
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Shocked
The NSA Whistleblower says that people are going to be shocked.
[Tice] said he plans to tell the committee staffers the NSA conducted illegal and unconstitutional surveillance of U.S. citizens while he was there with the knowledge of Hayden. … “I think the people I talk to next week are going to be shocked when I tell them what I have to tell them. It’s pretty hard to believe,” Tice said.
I won't be shocked, but it's about time the country got shocked.
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Friday, May 12, 2006
According to truthout, Rove has told the White House that he will be indicted.
Within the last week, Karl Rove told President Bush and Chief of Staff Joshua Bolten, as well as a few other high level administration officials, that he will be indicted in the CIA leak case and will immediately resign his White House job when the special counsel publicly announces the charges against him, according to sources.
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Raid kills roaches dead.
The FBI has raided the home of Dusty Foggo (NOT the name of a fictional character). The guy who just resigned as the #3 man in the CIA.
I wonder why Goss REALLY resigned. This CAN'T be a coincidence.
Move along, folks, nothing to see here....
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Push poll
You may have read - and been shocked - by reports that a poll says that 2/3rds of Americans have no problem with the Bush administration mining phone calls.
Here is the actual question:
It's been reported that the National Security Agency has been collecting the phone call records of tens of millions of Americans. It then analyzes calling patterns in an effort to identify possible terrorism suspects, without listening to or recording the conversations. Would you consider this an acceptable or unacceptable way for the federal government to investigate terrorism? Do you feel that way strongly or somewhat?
Note that the question itself ASSUMES that the act is benign, and states things as fact that WE DON'T KNOW (such as that conversations are not listened to or recorded). The question is framed in terms of fighting terrorism, falsifies the known facts, fails to mention the questionable legality, and was obviously thrown together on the fly. For many poll respondents, this was probably the first time they HEARD about it.
This is a push poll.
And I suspect that other polls released in the coming days will show very different results.
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Today?
Tweetybird Matthews thinks Rove might be indicted today.
From Imus this morning"
Transcript:
MATTHEWS: If, however, something happens with Karl Rove, we’re going to go to general quarters around here.
IMUS: What does that mean?
MATTHEWS: Meaning we will be taping probably on Saturday or late night because everything will change. Last time, when he picked up Scooter, when he nailed him 30 years of charges, that happened on 1:00 on a Friday. So we don’t know when it might happen, if it’s going happen.
IMUS: Are we expecting something with Karl Rove today?
MATTHEWS: Well, it could be today. It could be next week. Everybody is buzzing about when or if. It’s a big if, big when. There is a lot of talk because he is still being interviewing by the special prosecutor. He keeps being hauled before the grand jury. So something is going on here with the special prosecutor. We don’t know whether he is going to clear him or nail him.
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GENEVA (Reuters) - The United States has again refused the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) access to terrorism suspects held in secret detention centers, the humanitarian agency said on Friday.
Isn't it interesting that the whole motto of this administration is "If you have done nothing wrong, you have nothing to hide"?
Explains why they hide everything.
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Headline says it all
Bush denies spying infringes on privacy
Roll THAT phrase around in your head a few times.
Lewis Carroll wishes HE had thought of that one, I'm sure
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Thursday, May 11, 2006
Gonzales Lied
As surely as weasels are weasels.
From the Muckraker:
Did Gonzales Mislead Congress about NSA Program?
By Paul Kiel - May 11, 2006, 2:32 PM
Reacting to today's news that the NSA is "amassing information about the calls of ordinary Americans," Reps. Bennie G. Thompson (D-MS) and Rep. Zoe Lofgren (D-CA) have put out a statement questioning the legality of the program.
Their statement contains this: "when the Attorney General was forced to testify before the House Judiciary Committee a few weeks ago, he misled the Committee about the existence of the program."
Here's what they're referring to. On April 6, 2006, Attorney General Alberto Gonzales testified before the House Judiciary Committee, and in one exchange, Rep. Gerald Nadler (D-NY) tried to nail him down:
NADLER: Number two, can you assure us that there is no warrantless surveillance of calls between two Americans within the United States?
GONZALES: That is not what the president has authorized.
NADLER: Can you assure us that it's not being done?
GONZALES: As I indicated in response to an earlier question, no technology is perfect.
NADLER: OK.
GONZALES: We do have minimization procedures in place...
NADLER: But you're not doing that deliberately?
GONZALES: That is correct.
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"There's no doubt in my mind there are safeguards in place to make sure the program focuses on calls coming from outside the United States in, with an al Qaeda -- from a -- with a belief that there's an al Qaeda person making the call to somebody here in the States, or vice versa -- but not domestic calls." - Bush, 01/26/06.
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Bush lies some more
President Deer-In-The-Headlights decided to throw a little gasoline on the fire:
Facing intense criticism from Congress, President Bush did not confirm the work of the National Security Agency but sought to assure Americans that their privacy is being "fiercely protected."
"We are not mining or trolling through the personal lives of innocent Americans," Bush said before leaving for a commencement address at Mississippi Gulf Coast Community College in Biloxi.
Well, gee whiz, codpiece-for-brains, you ALSO said that you were only listening to INTERNATIONAL Communications. You ALSO said it was only a FEW HUNDRED.
Liar.
Every new story that comes out shows that the administration lied about the last story that came out but they say that we should believe them this time.
NOBODY is that gullible.
By the way, giving the White House info on yur phone calls was VOLUNTARY on the part of the phone companies. Qwest was the ONLY major carrier to refuse. So if you are with AT&T or Verizon, switch to Qwest. And call them and let them know why. DEMAND that they respect your privacy.
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It's all true
Everything you thought MIGHT be true IS.
NSA has massive database of Americans' phone calls
The National Security Agency has been secretly collecting the phone call records of tens of millions of Americans, using data provided by AT&T, Verizon and BellSouth, people with direct knowledge of the arrangement told USA TODAY.
The NSA program reaches into homes and businesses across the nation by amassing information about the calls of ordinary Americans — most of whom aren't suspected of any crime. This program does not involve the NSA listening to or recording conversations. But the spy agency is using the data to analyze calling patterns in an effort to detect terrorist activity, sources said in separate interviews.
For the customers of these companies, it means that the government has detailed records of calls they made — across town or across the country — to family members, co-workers, business contacts and others.
The sources would talk only under a guarantee of anonymity because the NSA program is secret.
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Wednesday, May 10, 2006
Colbert - SOMEBODY gets it.
Here's a great article from the TV Critic at the Chicago Sun-Times about Colbert's public evisceration of His Ignorance. This may be the only thing I have read in the mainstream press that actually understood the reaction to Colbert's speech.
How did Bush tickle reporters? He made fun of the fact that he can barely speak English (he is quite simply the worst communicator of all U.S. presidents), that our vice president is a heartless face-shooter, and that Bush is basically an idiot.
Ha ha, our "war president" knows he's a village idiot? To members of the White House press corps, that's some real funny stuff. To non-insiders, this looked like another example of good old boys and gals slapping each other on the back.
Colbert's routine was more remarkable for its unique and creative brazenness. He joked that Bush's presidency is like the Hindenburg; that Bush's wiretappers were monitoring this very event, and that the White House press corps, sitting in front of Colbert, gave Bush a free pass, scandal after scandal, until recently (when his polls numbers dropped).
How's this for a newsworthy lead? It was perhaps the first time in Bush's tenure that the president was forced to sit and listen to any American cite the litany of criminal and corruption allegations that have piled up against his administration. And mouth-tense Bush and first lady Laura Bush fled as soon as possible afterward.
From whom were they fleeing? A star comedian pretending to be a Fox News-like blowhard doing a sort of performance art that America hasn't witnessed nationally since the days of Andy Kaufman. Even if Colbert's bit had been reported as a train wreck, that would have sufficed. Instead, shocking lines like the following were barely covered by any traditional organ except industry magazine Editor & Publisher: "I stand by" Bush, Colbert cracked, "because he stands for things. Not only for things, he stands on things. Things like aircraft carriers and rubble, and recently flooded city squares. And that sends a strong message that no matter what happens to America, she will always rebound with the most powerfully staged photo ops in the world."
For TV reporters in particular to quote that gruesome line would be an agreement with Colbert, that they helped Bush mix politics with corruption from the ashes of 9/11 ("aircraft carriers and rubble"), and failed to see through Bush's politicization of the drowning of an American city after a hurricane ("recently flooded city squares").
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Brownie, you're doing a heckuva job.
The question isn't "Why do only 31% still support these incompetents" - the question is, "why the hell is it still that high?"
WASHINGTON — Hours after Hurricane Katrina hit, former FEMA director Michael Brown dismissed reports that floodwaters had breached New Orleans' levees, and he obsessed over media coverage of his agency, according to newly released e-mails.
At one point early that morning, Brown reported to an aide that he was "sitting in the chair, putting mousse in my hair" while waiting for media interviews to begin.
What total dicks.
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Poll vault
(CBS) President Bush and the Republican Congress show nearly record low ratings while Democrats are viewed much more favorably in their performance on the issues that matter most to Americans, according to the latest CBS News/New York Times poll.
Well, that just great. You think - maybe - the Democrats MIGHT just stop acting like their afraid that challenging thi clown will hurt them?
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Holy Crap
Iraq's new ambassador to the United States, Samir Sumaidaie, just accused the United States of killing his cousin. On purpose. Unnecessarily. Right after meeting Bush.
The new Iraqi ambassador to the United States has accused US Marines of "intentionally" killing a cousin in the Iraqi town of Haditha last year.
Speaking only hours after presenting his credentials to President George W Bush at the White House, Ambassador Samir al-Sumaidaie said his relative was shot dead five months before the killing of 24 civilians in the town in November that is now the subject of a controversial inquiry.
The ambassador told how Mohammed al-Sumaidaie, a 21-year-old engineering student, was killed after opening the door of the family house to US Marines on June 25.
"I believe he was killed intentionally. I believe he was killed unnecessarily," Mr Sumaidaie said on CNN television.
"The Marines were doing house-to-house searches, and they went into the house of my cousin. He opened the door for them. His mother, his siblings were there. He let them into the bedroom of his father, and there he was shot."
Here's the transcript from CNN.
BLITZER: But even months before the incident in November, you lost a cousin at Haditha in a separate battle involving United States Marines.
SUMAIDAIE: Well, that was not a battle at all. Marines were doing house-to-house searches, and they went into the house of my cousin. He opened the door for them.
His mother, his siblings were there. He led them into the bedroom of his father. And there he was shot.
BLITZER: Who shot him?
SUMAIDAIE: A member of the Marines.
BLITZER: Why did they shoot him?
SUMAIDAIE: Well, they said that they shot him in self-defense. I find that hard to believe because, A, he is not at all a violent -- I mean, I know the boy. He was [in] a second-year engineering course in the university. Nothing to do with violence. All his life has been studies and intellectual work.
Totally unbelievable. And, in fact, they had no weapon in the house. They had one weapon which belonged to the school where his father was a headmaster. And it had no ammunition in it. And he led them into the room to show it to them.
BLITZER: So what you're suggesting, your cousin was killed in cold blood, is that what you're saying, by United States Marines?
SUMAIDAIE: I believe he was killed intentionally. I believe that he was killed unnecessarily. And unfortunately, the investigations that took place after that sort of took a different course and concluded that there was no unlawful killing.
I would like further investigation. I have, in fact, asked for the report of the last investigation, which was a criminal investigation, by the way.
[Gen. George Casey, the top U.S. commander in Iraq] is aware of all the details, because he's kept on top of it. And it was he who rejected the conclusions of the first investigation. I have since asked formally for the report, but it's been nearly two months, and I have not received it.
BLITZER: Did you raise these concerns you had with the president today when you were at the White House presenting your credentials?
SUMAIDAIE: No, I did not, because I did not want to bring a personal note into a much wider brief that I have here.
This is astonishing. It is absolutely unbelievable that an ambassador from a country which we OCCUPY would say something like that, in public, in an accusatory fashion, just hours after meeting the President.
Either this guy is so angry at the U.S. that he just does not give a crap about offending us anymore, or - in the wake of Abu Ghraib and Haditha - he considers it far more important and wise to appeal to anti-American sentiment in his own country than to placate US.
This does NOT say good things about our future there.
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Snow-white lie
Bush is caught in one more lie, via Think Progress:
On May 25th, President Bush said that Treasury Secretary John Snow had not given him any indication that he was leaving soon:
PRESIDENT BUSH: Secretary of Treasury Snow?
Q Has he given you any indication he intends to leave his job any time soon?…
PRESIDENT BUSH: No, he has not talked to me about resignation. I think he’s doing a fine job.
In fact, not only had Snow indicated he was leaving, President Bush had already settled on his replacement. Today, Tony Snow said that Hank Paulson was offered the job on May 20 and accepted a day later:
QUESTION: Do you have any tick tock on the Paulson…
SNOW: Yes. The tick tock is the two of them met on the 20th of May and there was a conversation. And Hank Paulson accepted the job a day later. That was subject to clearance. It does take time, especially for a Senate confirmable position, to complete those. So it did take time to get some of those clearances wrapped up.
The apologists, of course, will deny that THAT'S a lie, too. Being a Bushite requires heaping doses of denial.
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One Snow at a time
Tony Snow is in as Press Secretary, so John Snow is out as Treasury Secretary.
That's my theory: poor George would be confused by having two guys around named "Snow," and they want to minimize his befuddlement.
Not that it will help: "How come Snow is still here? I thought we got rid of Snow!"
"That's a different Snow, Mr. President."
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Iraq Coalition Casualties
Military Fatalities: By Time Period
Period US UK Other* Total Avg Days 5 313 15 8 336 2.02 166 4 715 13 18 746 2.35 318 3 579 25 27 631 2.92 216 2 718 27 58 803 1.89 424 1 140 33 0 173 4.02 43 Total 2465 113 111 2689 2.3 1167
Time Periods Defined
Iraqi Security Forces and Civilian Deaths Period Total May-06 1002 Apr-06 1010 Mar-06 1094 Feb-06 846 Jan-06 780
Iraqi Security Forces and Civilian Deaths Details
Note: This is an estimate based on news reports. This is not a definitive count.
U.S. Deaths Confirmed By The DoD: 2464 Reported U.S. Deaths Pending DoD Confirmation: 1 Total 2465
DoD Confirmation List Latest Coalition Fatality: May 29, 2006
Military Fatalities: By Month Period US UK Other* Total Avg Days 5-2006 61 9 1 71 2.37 30 4-2006 76 1 5 82 2.73 30 3-2006 31 0 2 33 1.06 31 2-2006 55 3 0 58 2.07 28 1-2006 62 2 0 64 2.06 31 12-2005 68 0 0 68 2.19 31 11-2005 84 1 1 86 2.87 30 10-2005 96 2 1 99 3.19 31 9-2005 49 3 0 52 1.73 30 8-2005 85 0 0 85 2.74 31 7-2005 54 3 1 58 1.87 31 6-2005 78 1 4 83 2.77 30 5-2005 80 2 6 88 2.84 31 4-2005 52 0 0 52 1.73 30 3-2005 35 1 3 39 1.26 31 2-2005 58 0 2 60 2.14 28 1-2005 107 10 10 127 4.1 31 12-2004 72 1 3 76 2.45 31 11-2004 137 4 0 141 4.7 30 10-2004 63 2 2 67 2.16 31 9-2004 80 3 4 87 2.9 30 8-2004 66 4 5 75 2.42 31 7-2004 54 1 3 58 1.87 31 6-2004 42 1 7 50 1.67 30 5-2004 80 0 4 84 2.71 31 4-2004 135 0 5 140 4.67 30 3-2004 52 0 0 52 1.68 31 2-2004 20 1 2 23 0.79 29 1-2004 47 5 0 52 1.68 31 12-2003 40 0 8 48 1.55 31 11-2003 82 1 27 110 3.67 30 10-2003 44 1 2 47 1.52 31 9-2003 31 1 1 33 1.1 30 8-2003 35 6 2 43 1.39 31 7-2003 48 1 0 49 1.58 31 6-2003 30 6 0 36 1.2 30 5-2003 37 4 0 41 1.32 31 4-2003 74 6 0 80 2.67 30 3-2003 65 27 0 92 7.67 12 Total 2465 113 111 2689 2.3 1168
Missing or Captured: US Casualties By Calendar Year Year US Deaths US Wounded 2003 486 2409 2004 848 7992 2005 846 5945 2006 285 1523 Total 2465 17869
*Other Coalition Countries: Country Total Australia 2 Bulgaria 13 Denmark 3 El Salvador 2 Estonia 2 Hungary 1 Italy 31 Kazakhstan 1 Latvia 1 Netherlands 2 Poland 17 Romania 2 Slovakia 3 Spain 11 Thailand 2 Ukraine 18
Non Military Deaths: Journalists Killed in Iraq An Incomplete List of Contractors Killed in Iraq Iraqi Body Count (External Link)
US Wounded by Week Period Wnd-RTD Wounded 03-20-2003 thru 04-01-2003 115 426 04-02-2004 thru 01-02-2005 4565 4875 01-03-2005 thru 12-20-2005 3946 2228 12-21-2005 thru 04-Jan-06 121 53 05-Jan-06 thru 11-Jan-06 65 26 12-Jan-06 thru 18-Jan-06 35 17 19-Jan-06 thru 25-Jan-06 42 34 26-Jan-06 thru 01-Feb-06 34 24 02-Feb-06 thru 08-Feb-06 24 23 09-Feb-06 thru 15-Feb-06 60 29 16-Feb-06 thru 23-Feb-06 40 42 24-Feb-06 thru 01-Mar-06 54 28 02-Mar-06 thru 08-Mar-06 44 54 09-Mar-06 thru 15-Mar-06 67 53 16-Mar-06 thru 22-Mar-06 96 49 23-Mar-06 thru 28-Mar-06 86 26 29-Mar-06 thru 07-Apr-06 60 28 08-Apr-06 thru 11-Apr-06 37 43 12-Apr-06 thru 18-Apr-06 58 41 19-Apr-06 thru 25-Apr-06 76 38 26-Apr-06 thru 02-May-06 55 57 03-May-06 thru 10-May-06 64 45 11-May-06 thru 17-May-06 42 63 18-May-06 thru 25-May-06 54 42 Total 9840 8344
Wnd-RTD: Wounded in Action Return to Duty within 72 hours
Wnd: Wounded in Action Not Return to Duty within 72 hours
Totals updated weekly by the DoD
View Complete Weekly Report
Some of The Wounded... Wounded In Action According to The DoD Period Wounded Apr-2006 403 Mar-2006 494 Feb-2006 340 Jan-2006 286 Dec-2005 412 Nov-2005 400 Oct-2005 605 Sep-2005 545 Aug-2005 541 Jul-2005 476 Jun-2005 511 May-2005 575 Apr-2005 596 Mar-2005 371 Feb-2005 415 Jan-2005 498 Dec-2004 544 Nov-2004 1425 Oct-2004 648 Sep-2004 706 Aug-2004 895 Jul-2004 552 Jun-2004 589 May-2004 758 Apr-2004 1212 Mar-2004 324 Feb-2004 150 Jan-2004 189 Dec-2003 261 Nov-2003 336 Oct-2003 413 Sep-2003 247 Aug-2003 181 Jul-2003 226 Jun-2003 147 May-2003 55 Apr-2003 340 Mar-2003 203 Total 17869
Last update from the DoD: 29-Apr-06
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Sunday, May 28, 2006
"Most of all, political scribes have to take off their cynical lenses through which they view every moral challenge as political spin." - Al Gore
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Friday, May 26, 2006
Regrets
Just want to point that Bush talked about stuff he "regrets."
The only "regrets" he mentioned were PR moves that turned out badly.
It's Memorial Day Weekend, and it didn't even occur to him to "regret" the loss of 2462 American soldiers.
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FUBAR
You know what's pathetic? That Bush finally admits to making some mistake and - when faced with disaster on a monumental scale - will only admit to a few poorly chosen words.
Even if he DOES believe that a War in Iraq was a good idea (and sadly, I think he does), it is very obvious that the execution of it has been entirely botched.
They are trying to occupy a hostile area the size of California with a tiny force of 130,000 troops; they left the borders wide open so Al Qaeda could come in; they can't leave the green zone because it's too dangerous; and the terrorists have a new training ground and a new base of operations in the Middle East.
Not only has Bush not HURT the terrorists - he has GIVEN THEM NEW TERRITORY.
And not because of his words. Because of his actions.
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They still don't get it.
As you probably know, Bush and Blair had a press conference where they decided to try and stem the damage to their reputation by actually ADMITTING what everyone else has known for three years.
BUSH: Saying, "Bring it on"; kind of tough talk, you know, that sent the wrong signal to people. I learned some lessons about expressing myself maybe in a little more sophisticated manner, you know. "Wanted, dead or alive"; that kind of talk. I think in certain parts of the world it was misinterpreted. And so I learned from that
"Misinterpreted"? "Bring it on" was misinterpreted? It didn't actually mean "Bring it on"? Then what, exactly, was it supposed to mean? "Waiter, waiter, there's a fly in my soup"?
No, I think they interpreted it dead right - you were just a damned fool to say it.
And by the way, there was nothing wrong with saying "Osama Bin Laden, Dead or Alive." That's one of the few things you did right. The problem is it was JUST words, and you had no intention of following through, even while you said it.
Regarding his trip to Baghdad, Blair said, "I came away thinking the challenge is still immense, but I also came away more certain than ever that we should rise to it."
Blair added, "I think it's easy to go back over mistakes that we may have made, but the biggest reason why Iraq has been difficult is the determination by our opponents to defeat us."
They started a war without figuring that our opponents would be determined to defeat us.
What did they think our opponents would do? Invite us in for tea?
Are these people total ignoramuses? I don't give a crap how right you think you are - If you kick in someone's door and come at them, they are going to try and defeat you. Duh.
Holy crap.
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Wednesday, May 24, 2006
The Chicks
I don't know how many fans they've lost, but they've gained at least one new one.
Check out their performance on Letterman. Courtesy of crooks and liars.
God bless 'em.
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Pat Robertson
Why does this clown still have a following?
Pat Robertson's Age-Defying Shake
Did you know that Pat Robertson can leg-press 2000 pounds! How does he do it?
One of Pat's secrets to keeping his energy high and his vitality soaring is his age-defying protein shake. Pat developed a delicious, refreshing shake, filled with energy-producing nutrients.
70 years old. Leg presses 2000 pounds. From drinking a SHAKE.
Never mind that it's WAY beyond the existing record.
Pathetic.
Via AMERICAblog
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Tuesday, May 23, 2006
I thought I'd use my tiny little megaphone to draw attention to an editorial by radio legend Pete Fornatale on the state of the radio.
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Of course not. God forbid, I might learn something.
President says he's unlikely to watch documentary on global warming
WASHINGTON - Is President Bush likely to see Al Gore’s documentary about global warming?
“Doubt it,” Bush said coolly Monday.
But Bush should watch it, Gore shot back. In fact, the former Democratic vice president offered to come to the White House any time, any day to show Bush either his documentary or a slide show on global warming that he’s shown more than 1,000 times around the world.
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No shit, Sherlock
Panel: Legislators Shouldn't Work Drunk
SALEM, Ore. (AP) -- Oregon legislators and staff members should not be drunk while performing their official duties, a citizen panel says.
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Monday, May 22, 2006
AT&T Sold Your Ass to the Government
Wired Magazine has a full expose on the NSA spying scandal from Whistle-Blower Mark Klein's class-action lawsuit.
In 2003 AT&T built "secret rooms" hidden deep in the bowels of its central offices in various cities, housing computer gear for a government spy operation which taps into the company's popular WorldNet service and the entire internet. These installations enable the government to look at every individual message on the internet and analyze exactly what people are doing. Documents showing the hardwire installation in San Francisco suggest that there are similar locations being installed in numerous other cities.
The physical arrangement, the timing of its construction, the government-imposed secrecy surrounding it and other factors all strongly suggest that its origins are rooted in the Defense Department's Total Information Awareness (TIA) program...
Read the article. ALL of the Documents are in pdf format here.
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Take a look at this remarkable email exchange between Rumsfeld's Spokesman, Larry (a.k.a. Curly Joe) Dirita, and War Correspondent Joe Galloway. This is remarkable, and Galloway deserves a medal.
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Sunday, May 21, 2006
Why does this not surprise me?
Cut taxes for the multi-millionaires.
And INCREASE them for TEEN-AGERS.
The $69 billion tax cut bill that President Bush signed this week tripled tax rates for teenagers with college savings funds, despite Mr. Bush's 1999 pledge to veto any tax increase.
Under the new law, teenagers age 14 to 17 with investment income will now be taxed at the same rate as their parents, not at their own rates. Long-term capital gains and dividends that had been taxed at 5 percent will now be taxed at 15 percent. Interest that had been taxed at 10 percent will now be taxed at as much as 35 percent.
It is really hard to believe how brazen these people are in their greed and elitism. The contempt that they feel for ordinary Americans is palpable. Not only do they screw people - they do it right in your face, and think you won't notice.
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Thursday, May 18, 2006
Illegal is more fun
According to Baltimore Sun, the NSA developed a program for the purpose of analyzing communication data in the late 1990. Unlike what they are doing now, the old program was legal and protected the privacy of Americans - and worked better.
They rejected it in favor of a system that was illegal, unnecessarily intrusive and didn't work so good.
But if you're Bush, you ALWAYS prefer the option that's illegal, intrusive and innefficient. I honestly think it gives the man the sort of rush that a teenager gets when he gets away with something.
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Rover defends his owner
"The American people like this president. His personal approval ratings are in the 60s. Job approval is lower. And what that says to me is that people like him, they respect him, he's somebody they feel a connection with, but they're just sour right now on the war. And that's the way it's going to be." - Karl Rove
Cognitive dissonance is what happens in the human brain when a human being is confronted with a fact which his preconceptions tell him cannot possibly be true.
Is Karl Rove - Bush's favorite Turdblossom and America's beloved pus-sack - becoming delusional?
His "personal approval" isn't anywhere NEAR the 60s and people DON'T like this President. (New York Times pdf poll here) In fact, his JOB approval is one percentage point HIGHER than his "personal approval. " He has more than 50% approval in exactly 3 states - Utah, Idaho and Wyoming. NOBODY approves of him, except a few whackjobs.
Polysigh put it best:
"As for Rove's comment that Bush would be popular but for the Iraq War, that's like saying that if it weren't for the Alps, Switzerland would be flat."
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Tuesday, May 16, 2006
The Constitutional Crisis that Walks like a Man.
The FBI has confirmed that they do, indeed, monitor reporters' phone calls.
Approximately one year ago, we were told that they did not need a warrant because they were only monitoring international calls.
Then, they said that, well, actually were monitoring SOME calls where one of the parties was domestic and one was international.
"If someone is calling Al Qaeda," said Bush, "we want to know why."
Which is interesting, because it implies that they know the terrorists' telephone numbers, which makes you wonder why they don't just round them up instead of collecting their phone bills.
Then they said that they sometimes they inadvertently listen to purely domestic calls.
Then they tell us - just this week - that, well, all that was bullshit. They have actually been collecting info on every single phone call made by every single American with almost no exceptions.
But OF COURSE we have nothing to worry about. We can trust THEM. Never mind the fact that they have lied about this again and again and again. We can trust them. They aren't actually listening in. It's for TERRORISM. So they say.
But you can't name a single terrorist who has been arrested in the last five years as a result of this spying. Not one.
And NOW, we find out that they AREN'T checking on terrorists - they are checking on reporters. They are using phone records to find out who reporters are using as sources. They are REALLY after anyone who makes them look bad by revealing the truth to the American People.
You would figure even the REPUBLICANS would wake up and realize that George W. Bush is a walking Constitutional Crisis who has to be stopped while we still have something that we can call "America" left. And they would, if they valued their nation more than their party.
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Monday, May 15, 2006
Push Back Poll
I said it was a push poll, and I was right.
From a Newsweek poll, released one day after the Washington Post Push Poll:
As you may know, there are reports that the NSA, a government intelligence agency, has been collecting the phone call records of Americans. The agency doesn't actually listen to the calls but logs in nearly every phone number to create a database of calls made within the United States. Which of the following comes CLOSER to your own view of this domestic surveillance program:
It is a necessary tool to combat terrorism -- 41
It goes too far in invading people’s privacy -- 53
Don’t know -- 6
Note that the question doesn't read like a apologia for data mining - as the Washington Post poll did.
But why was the Washington Post so anxious to release a poll that backed up the Bush administration's wishes on the same day that the news broke?
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Your tax dollars at work
You have to watch out for those Terrorist Anchormen:
Federal Source to ABC News: We Know Who You're Calling
Brian Ross and Richard Esposito Report:
A senior federal law enforcement official tells ABC News the government is tracking the phone numbers we (Brian Ross and Richard Esposito) call in an effort to root out confidential sources.
"It's time for you to get some new cell phones, quick," the source told us in an in-person conversation.
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Same script.
Ah. So His Incompetence is probably going to use the National Guard to patrol the border. He says it's "only temporary."
Temporary till when? Just after the 2006 elections?
This is typical. God forbid border patrol get done by actual border patrol. That would make sense. Instead, let's assume that the MILITARY doesn't have enough of a role.
The REAL problem is that Bush is too damned incompetent to deal with anything using civilian means - like SANE Presidents always have. Instead, he turns to the military as his tool of choice for absolutely everything.
And pardon me for wondering if President Codpiece isn't still trying to compensate for the cowardice and inadequacy that he showed during Vietnam. Using OTHER people's blood and sweat, of course.
So he will get to dress up in a uniform, strut around, use jeeps and tanks and helicopters and all sorts of neat stuff, and basically play war in a place where there isn't one, and it will make for a great photo-op. He'll get his picture taken with a helicopter. Look, mommy! Don't I look cool?
God, I wish we had a President who was a frigging grown-up, instead of one who is stuck in adolescence and makes America suffer so he can feel impressive.
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Sunday, May 14, 2006
Ooops.
I posted the info from Jason Leopold (of truthout) that Rove had been indicted. Not WOULD be - HAD been. I think we would have heard something by now. I guess Leopold's source isn't all that reliable, and it's the last time I post something unsubstantiated from truthout.
Here's hoping that Leopold proves to be right a bit too early anyway.
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Saturday, May 13, 2006
Sue the bastards.
If you own stock in any phone companies, it's time to sell short. They could lose billions in class-action lawsuits, and lose MORE money from an exodus of customers.
Two suits have already been filed.
Verizon Sued for Giving NSA Phone Records Attorneys Bruce Afran and Carl Mayer filed the lawsuit Friday afternoon in federal district court in Manhattan, where Verizon is headquartered.
The lawsuit asks the court to stop Verizon from turning over any more records to the NSA without a warrant or consent of the subscriber.
"This is the largest and most vast intrusion of civil liberties we've ever seen in the United States," Afran said of the NSA program.
The lawsuit seeks $1,000 for each violation of the Telecommunications Act, or $5 billion if the case is certified as class-action.
And this is a DIFFERENT one:
Verizon Faces New $20B Suit over NSA Spying Complicity
Upping the ante in what may be a high-stakes legal battle, an Upstate New York lawyer filed a $20 billion class-action lawsuit against Verizon last week, charging that the company violated customer confidentiality in aiding warrantless eavesdropping by a federal spy agency.
Here's the tally of who has and has not violated the privacy of American citizens:
Verizon (land-line), AT&T, and BellSouth have all behaved in a fundamentally Unamerican manner.
On the other hand, Qwest is the only large landline carrier that refused to complied with the Bush's fascist requests. If you have one of the other three, switch to Qwest.
Cellular phones seem largely clean. Verizon Wireless, T-Mobile, Virgin Mobile and Cox all say that they have not provided their records to anyone.
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Fitzmas?
Truthout now says that Rove has BEEN indicted, but I don't see it in the tradition media.
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Shocked
The NSA Whistleblower says that people are going to be shocked.
[Tice] said he plans to tell the committee staffers the NSA conducted illegal and unconstitutional surveillance of U.S. citizens while he was there with the knowledge of Hayden. … “I think the people I talk to next week are going to be shocked when I tell them what I have to tell them. It’s pretty hard to believe,” Tice said.
I won't be shocked, but it's about time the country got shocked.
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Friday, May 12, 2006
According to truthout, Rove has told the White House that he will be indicted.
Within the last week, Karl Rove told President Bush and Chief of Staff Joshua Bolten, as well as a few other high level administration officials, that he will be indicted in the CIA leak case and will immediately resign his White House job when the special counsel publicly announces the charges against him, according to sources.
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Raid kills roaches dead.
The FBI has raided the home of Dusty Foggo (NOT the name of a fictional character). The guy who just resigned as the #3 man in the CIA.
I wonder why Goss REALLY resigned. This CAN'T be a coincidence.
Move along, folks, nothing to see here....
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Push poll
You may have read - and been shocked - by reports that a poll says that 2/3rds of Americans have no problem with the Bush administration mining phone calls.
Here is the actual question:
It's been reported that the National Security Agency has been collecting the phone call records of tens of millions of Americans. It then analyzes calling patterns in an effort to identify possible terrorism suspects, without listening to or recording the conversations. Would you consider this an acceptable or unacceptable way for the federal government to investigate terrorism? Do you feel that way strongly or somewhat?
Note that the question itself ASSUMES that the act is benign, and states things as fact that WE DON'T KNOW (such as that conversations are not listened to or recorded). The question is framed in terms of fighting terrorism, falsifies the known facts, fails to mention the questionable legality, and was obviously thrown together on the fly. For many poll respondents, this was probably the first time they HEARD about it.
This is a push poll.
And I suspect that other polls released in the coming days will show very different results.
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Today?
Tweetybird Matthews thinks Rove might be indicted today.
From Imus this morning"
Transcript:
MATTHEWS: If, however, something happens with Karl Rove, we’re going to go to general quarters around here.
IMUS: What does that mean?
MATTHEWS: Meaning we will be taping probably on Saturday or late night because everything will change. Last time, when he picked up Scooter, when he nailed him 30 years of charges, that happened on 1:00 on a Friday. So we don’t know when it might happen, if it’s going happen.
IMUS: Are we expecting something with Karl Rove today?
MATTHEWS: Well, it could be today. It could be next week. Everybody is buzzing about when or if. It’s a big if, big when. There is a lot of talk because he is still being interviewing by the special prosecutor. He keeps being hauled before the grand jury. So something is going on here with the special prosecutor. We don’t know whether he is going to clear him or nail him.
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GENEVA (Reuters) - The United States has again refused the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) access to terrorism suspects held in secret detention centers, the humanitarian agency said on Friday.
Isn't it interesting that the whole motto of this administration is "If you have done nothing wrong, you have nothing to hide"?
Explains why they hide everything.
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Headline says it all
Bush denies spying infringes on privacy
Roll THAT phrase around in your head a few times.
Lewis Carroll wishes HE had thought of that one, I'm sure
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Thursday, May 11, 2006
Gonzales Lied
As surely as weasels are weasels.
From the Muckraker:
Did Gonzales Mislead Congress about NSA Program?
By Paul Kiel - May 11, 2006, 2:32 PM
Reacting to today's news that the NSA is "amassing information about the calls of ordinary Americans," Reps. Bennie G. Thompson (D-MS) and Rep. Zoe Lofgren (D-CA) have put out a statement questioning the legality of the program.
Their statement contains this: "when the Attorney General was forced to testify before the House Judiciary Committee a few weeks ago, he misled the Committee about the existence of the program."
Here's what they're referring to. On April 6, 2006, Attorney General Alberto Gonzales testified before the House Judiciary Committee, and in one exchange, Rep. Gerald Nadler (D-NY) tried to nail him down:
NADLER: Number two, can you assure us that there is no warrantless surveillance of calls between two Americans within the United States?
GONZALES: That is not what the president has authorized.
NADLER: Can you assure us that it's not being done?
GONZALES: As I indicated in response to an earlier question, no technology is perfect.
NADLER: OK.
GONZALES: We do have minimization procedures in place...
NADLER: But you're not doing that deliberately?
GONZALES: That is correct.
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"There's no doubt in my mind there are safeguards in place to make sure the program focuses on calls coming from outside the United States in, with an al Qaeda -- from a -- with a belief that there's an al Qaeda person making the call to somebody here in the States, or vice versa -- but not domestic calls." - Bush, 01/26/06.
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Bush lies some more
President Deer-In-The-Headlights decided to throw a little gasoline on the fire:
Facing intense criticism from Congress, President Bush did not confirm the work of the National Security Agency but sought to assure Americans that their privacy is being "fiercely protected."
"We are not mining or trolling through the personal lives of innocent Americans," Bush said before leaving for a commencement address at Mississippi Gulf Coast Community College in Biloxi.
Well, gee whiz, codpiece-for-brains, you ALSO said that you were only listening to INTERNATIONAL Communications. You ALSO said it was only a FEW HUNDRED.
Liar.
Every new story that comes out shows that the administration lied about the last story that came out but they say that we should believe them this time.
NOBODY is that gullible.
By the way, giving the White House info on yur phone calls was VOLUNTARY on the part of the phone companies. Qwest was the ONLY major carrier to refuse. So if you are with AT&T or Verizon, switch to Qwest. And call them and let them know why. DEMAND that they respect your privacy.
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It's all true
Everything you thought MIGHT be true IS.
NSA has massive database of Americans' phone calls
The National Security Agency has been secretly collecting the phone call records of tens of millions of Americans, using data provided by AT&T, Verizon and BellSouth, people with direct knowledge of the arrangement told USA TODAY.
The NSA program reaches into homes and businesses across the nation by amassing information about the calls of ordinary Americans — most of whom aren't suspected of any crime. This program does not involve the NSA listening to or recording conversations. But the spy agency is using the data to analyze calling patterns in an effort to detect terrorist activity, sources said in separate interviews.
For the customers of these companies, it means that the government has detailed records of calls they made — across town or across the country — to family members, co-workers, business contacts and others.
The sources would talk only under a guarantee of anonymity because the NSA program is secret.
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Wednesday, May 10, 2006
Colbert - SOMEBODY gets it.
Here's a great article from the TV Critic at the Chicago Sun-Times about Colbert's public evisceration of His Ignorance. This may be the only thing I have read in the mainstream press that actually understood the reaction to Colbert's speech.
How did Bush tickle reporters? He made fun of the fact that he can barely speak English (he is quite simply the worst communicator of all U.S. presidents), that our vice president is a heartless face-shooter, and that Bush is basically an idiot.
Ha ha, our "war president" knows he's a village idiot? To members of the White House press corps, that's some real funny stuff. To non-insiders, this looked like another example of good old boys and gals slapping each other on the back.
Colbert's routine was more remarkable for its unique and creative brazenness. He joked that Bush's presidency is like the Hindenburg; that Bush's wiretappers were monitoring this very event, and that the White House press corps, sitting in front of Colbert, gave Bush a free pass, scandal after scandal, until recently (when his polls numbers dropped).
How's this for a newsworthy lead? It was perhaps the first time in Bush's tenure that the president was forced to sit and listen to any American cite the litany of criminal and corruption allegations that have piled up against his administration. And mouth-tense Bush and first lady Laura Bush fled as soon as possible afterward.
From whom were they fleeing? A star comedian pretending to be a Fox News-like blowhard doing a sort of performance art that America hasn't witnessed nationally since the days of Andy Kaufman. Even if Colbert's bit had been reported as a train wreck, that would have sufficed. Instead, shocking lines like the following were barely covered by any traditional organ except industry magazine Editor & Publisher: "I stand by" Bush, Colbert cracked, "because he stands for things. Not only for things, he stands on things. Things like aircraft carriers and rubble, and recently flooded city squares. And that sends a strong message that no matter what happens to America, she will always rebound with the most powerfully staged photo ops in the world."
For TV reporters in particular to quote that gruesome line would be an agreement with Colbert, that they helped Bush mix politics with corruption from the ashes of 9/11 ("aircraft carriers and rubble"), and failed to see through Bush's politicization of the drowning of an American city after a hurricane ("recently flooded city squares").
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Brownie, you're doing a heckuva job.
The question isn't "Why do only 31% still support these incompetents" - the question is, "why the hell is it still that high?"
WASHINGTON — Hours after Hurricane Katrina hit, former FEMA director Michael Brown dismissed reports that floodwaters had breached New Orleans' levees, and he obsessed over media coverage of his agency, according to newly released e-mails.
At one point early that morning, Brown reported to an aide that he was "sitting in the chair, putting mousse in my hair" while waiting for media interviews to begin.
What total dicks.
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Poll vault
(CBS) President Bush and the Republican Congress show nearly record low ratings while Democrats are viewed much more favorably in their performance on the issues that matter most to Americans, according to the latest CBS News/New York Times poll.
Well, that just great. You think - maybe - the Democrats MIGHT just stop acting like their afraid that challenging thi clown will hurt them?
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The new Iraqi ambassador to the United States has accused US Marines of "intentionally" killing a cousin in the Iraqi town of Haditha last year.
Speaking only hours after presenting his credentials to President George W Bush at the White House, Ambassador Samir al-Sumaidaie said his relative was shot dead five months before the killing of 24 civilians in the town in November that is now the subject of a controversial inquiry.
The ambassador told how Mohammed al-Sumaidaie, a 21-year-old engineering student, was killed after opening the door of the family house to US Marines on June 25.
"I believe he was killed intentionally. I believe he was killed unnecessarily," Mr Sumaidaie said on CNN television.
"The Marines were doing house-to-house searches, and they went into the house of my cousin. He opened the door for them. His mother, his siblings were there. He let them into the bedroom of his father, and there he was shot."
Here's the transcript from CNN.
BLITZER: But even months before the incident in November, you lost a cousin at Haditha in a separate battle involving United States Marines.
SUMAIDAIE: Well, that was not a battle at all. Marines were doing house-to-house searches, and they went into the house of my cousin. He opened the door for them.
His mother, his siblings were there. He led them into the bedroom of his father. And there he was shot.
BLITZER: Who shot him?
SUMAIDAIE: A member of the Marines.
BLITZER: Why did they shoot him?
SUMAIDAIE: Well, they said that they shot him in self-defense. I find that hard to believe because, A, he is not at all a violent -- I mean, I know the boy. He was [in] a second-year engineering course in the university. Nothing to do with violence. All his life has been studies and intellectual work.
Totally unbelievable. And, in fact, they had no weapon in the house. They had one weapon which belonged to the school where his father was a headmaster. And it had no ammunition in it. And he led them into the room to show it to them.
BLITZER: So what you're suggesting, your cousin was killed in cold blood, is that what you're saying, by United States Marines?
SUMAIDAIE: I believe he was killed intentionally. I believe that he was killed unnecessarily. And unfortunately, the investigations that took place after that sort of took a different course and concluded that there was no unlawful killing.
I would like further investigation. I have, in fact, asked for the report of the last investigation, which was a criminal investigation, by the way.
[Gen. George Casey, the top U.S. commander in Iraq] is aware of all the details, because he's kept on top of it. And it was he who rejected the conclusions of the first investigation. I have since asked formally for the report, but it's been nearly two months, and I have not received it.
BLITZER: Did you raise these concerns you had with the president today when you were at the White House presenting your credentials?
SUMAIDAIE: No, I did not, because I did not want to bring a personal note into a much wider brief that I have here.
This is astonishing. It is absolutely unbelievable that an ambassador from a country which we OCCUPY would say something like that, in public, in an accusatory fashion, just hours after meeting the President.
Either this guy is so angry at the U.S. that he just does not give a crap about offending us anymore, or - in the wake of Abu Ghraib and Haditha - he considers it far more important and wise to appeal to anti-American sentiment in his own country than to placate US.
This does NOT say good things about our future there.
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Snow-white lie
Bush is caught in one more lie, via Think Progress:
On May 25th, President Bush said that Treasury Secretary John Snow had not given him any indication that he was leaving soon:
PRESIDENT BUSH: Secretary of Treasury Snow?
Q Has he given you any indication he intends to leave his job any time soon?…
PRESIDENT BUSH: No, he has not talked to me about resignation. I think he’s doing a fine job.
In fact, not only had Snow indicated he was leaving, President Bush had already settled on his replacement. Today, Tony Snow said that Hank Paulson was offered the job on May 20 and accepted a day later:
QUESTION: Do you have any tick tock on the Paulson…
SNOW: Yes. The tick tock is the two of them met on the 20th of May and there was a conversation. And Hank Paulson accepted the job a day later. That was subject to clearance. It does take time, especially for a Senate confirmable position, to complete those. So it did take time to get some of those clearances wrapped up.
The apologists, of course, will deny that THAT'S a lie, too. Being a Bushite requires heaping doses of denial.
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One Snow at a time
Tony Snow is in as Press Secretary, so John Snow is out as Treasury Secretary.
That's my theory: poor George would be confused by having two guys around named "Snow," and they want to minimize his befuddlement.
Not that it will help: "How come Snow is still here? I thought we got rid of Snow!"
"That's a different Snow, Mr. President."
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Iraq Coalition Casualties
Military Fatalities: By Time Period
Period US UK Other* Total Avg Days 5 313 15 8 336 2.02 166 4 715 13 18 746 2.35 318 3 579 25 27 631 2.92 216 2 718 27 58 803 1.89 424 1 140 33 0 173 4.02 43 Total 2465 113 111 2689 2.3 1167
Time Periods Defined
Iraqi Security Forces and Civilian Deaths Period Total May-06 1002 Apr-06 1010 Mar-06 1094 Feb-06 846 Jan-06 780
Iraqi Security Forces and Civilian Deaths Details
Note: This is an estimate based on news reports. This is not a definitive count.
U.S. Deaths Confirmed By The DoD: 2464 Reported U.S. Deaths Pending DoD Confirmation: 1 Total 2465
DoD Confirmation List Latest Coalition Fatality: May 29, 2006
Military Fatalities: By Month Period US UK Other* Total Avg Days 5-2006 61 9 1 71 2.37 30 4-2006 76 1 5 82 2.73 30 3-2006 31 0 2 33 1.06 31 2-2006 55 3 0 58 2.07 28 1-2006 62 2 0 64 2.06 31 12-2005 68 0 0 68 2.19 31 11-2005 84 1 1 86 2.87 30 10-2005 96 2 1 99 3.19 31 9-2005 49 3 0 52 1.73 30 8-2005 85 0 0 85 2.74 31 7-2005 54 3 1 58 1.87 31 6-2005 78 1 4 83 2.77 30 5-2005 80 2 6 88 2.84 31 4-2005 52 0 0 52 1.73 30 3-2005 35 1 3 39 1.26 31 2-2005 58 0 2 60 2.14 28 1-2005 107 10 10 127 4.1 31 12-2004 72 1 3 76 2.45 31 11-2004 137 4 0 141 4.7 30 10-2004 63 2 2 67 2.16 31 9-2004 80 3 4 87 2.9 30 8-2004 66 4 5 75 2.42 31 7-2004 54 1 3 58 1.87 31 6-2004 42 1 7 50 1.67 30 5-2004 80 0 4 84 2.71 31 4-2004 135 0 5 140 4.67 30 3-2004 52 0 0 52 1.68 31 2-2004 20 1 2 23 0.79 29 1-2004 47 5 0 52 1.68 31 12-2003 40 0 8 48 1.55 31 11-2003 82 1 27 110 3.67 30 10-2003 44 1 2 47 1.52 31 9-2003 31 1 1 33 1.1 30 8-2003 35 6 2 43 1.39 31 7-2003 48 1 0 49 1.58 31 6-2003 30 6 0 36 1.2 30 5-2003 37 4 0 41 1.32 31 4-2003 74 6 0 80 2.67 30 3-2003 65 27 0 92 7.67 12 Total 2465 113 111 2689 2.3 1168
Missing or Captured: US Casualties By Calendar Year Year US Deaths US Wounded 2003 486 2409 2004 848 7992 2005 846 5945 2006 285 1523 Total 2465 17869
*Other Coalition Countries: Country Total Australia 2 Bulgaria 13 Denmark 3 El Salvador 2 Estonia 2 Hungary 1 Italy 31 Kazakhstan 1 Latvia 1 Netherlands 2 Poland 17 Romania 2 Slovakia 3 Spain 11 Thailand 2 Ukraine 18
Non Military Deaths: Journalists Killed in Iraq An Incomplete List of Contractors Killed in Iraq Iraqi Body Count (External Link)
US Wounded by Week Period Wnd-RTD Wounded 03-20-2003 thru 04-01-2003 115 426 04-02-2004 thru 01-02-2005 4565 4875 01-03-2005 thru 12-20-2005 3946 2228 12-21-2005 thru 04-Jan-06 121 53 05-Jan-06 thru 11-Jan-06 65 26 12-Jan-06 thru 18-Jan-06 35 17 19-Jan-06 thru 25-Jan-06 42 34 26-Jan-06 thru 01-Feb-06 34 24 02-Feb-06 thru 08-Feb-06 24 23 09-Feb-06 thru 15-Feb-06 60 29 16-Feb-06 thru 23-Feb-06 40 42 24-Feb-06 thru 01-Mar-06 54 28 02-Mar-06 thru 08-Mar-06 44 54 09-Mar-06 thru 15-Mar-06 67 53 16-Mar-06 thru 22-Mar-06 96 49 23-Mar-06 thru 28-Mar-06 86 26 29-Mar-06 thru 07-Apr-06 60 28 08-Apr-06 thru 11-Apr-06 37 43 12-Apr-06 thru 18-Apr-06 58 41 19-Apr-06 thru 25-Apr-06 76 38 26-Apr-06 thru 02-May-06 55 57 03-May-06 thru 10-May-06 64 45 11-May-06 thru 17-May-06 42 63 18-May-06 thru 25-May-06 54 42 Total 9840 8344
Wnd-RTD: Wounded in Action Return to Duty within 72 hours
Wnd: Wounded in Action Not Return to Duty within 72 hours
Totals updated weekly by the DoD
View Complete Weekly Report
Some of The Wounded... Wounded In Action According to The DoD Period Wounded Apr-2006 403 Mar-2006 494 Feb-2006 340 Jan-2006 286 Dec-2005 412 Nov-2005 400 Oct-2005 605 Sep-2005 545 Aug-2005 541 Jul-2005 476 Jun-2005 511 May-2005 575 Apr-2005 596 Mar-2005 371 Feb-2005 415 Jan-2005 498 Dec-2004 544 Nov-2004 1425 Oct-2004 648 Sep-2004 706 Aug-2004 895 Jul-2004 552 Jun-2004 589 May-2004 758 Apr-2004 1212 Mar-2004 324 Feb-2004 150 Jan-2004 189 Dec-2003 261 Nov-2003 336 Oct-2003 413 Sep-2003 247 Aug-2003 181 Jul-2003 226 Jun-2003 147 May-2003 55 Apr-2003 340 Mar-2003 203 Total 17869
Last update from the DoD: 29-Apr-06
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Sunday, May 28, 2006
"Most of all, political scribes have to take off their cynical lenses through which they view every moral challenge as political spin." - Al Gore
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Friday, May 26, 2006
Regrets
Just want to point that Bush talked about stuff he "regrets."
The only "regrets" he mentioned were PR moves that turned out badly.
It's Memorial Day Weekend, and it didn't even occur to him to "regret" the loss of 2462 American soldiers.
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FUBAR
You know what's pathetic? That Bush finally admits to making some mistake and - when faced with disaster on a monumental scale - will only admit to a few poorly chosen words.
Even if he DOES believe that a War in Iraq was a good idea (and sadly, I think he does), it is very obvious that the execution of it has been entirely botched.
They are trying to occupy a hostile area the size of California with a tiny force of 130,000 troops; they left the borders wide open so Al Qaeda could come in; they can't leave the green zone because it's too dangerous; and the terrorists have a new training ground and a new base of operations in the Middle East.
Not only has Bush not HURT the terrorists - he has GIVEN THEM NEW TERRITORY.
And not because of his words. Because of his actions.
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They still don't get it.
As you probably know, Bush and Blair had a press conference where they decided to try and stem the damage to their reputation by actually ADMITTING what everyone else has known for three years.
BUSH: Saying, "Bring it on"; kind of tough talk, you know, that sent the wrong signal to people. I learned some lessons about expressing myself maybe in a little more sophisticated manner, you know. "Wanted, dead or alive"; that kind of talk. I think in certain parts of the world it was misinterpreted. And so I learned from that
"Misinterpreted"? "Bring it on" was misinterpreted? It didn't actually mean "Bring it on"? Then what, exactly, was it supposed to mean? "Waiter, waiter, there's a fly in my soup"?
No, I think they interpreted it dead right - you were just a damned fool to say it.
And by the way, there was nothing wrong with saying "Osama Bin Laden, Dead or Alive." That's one of the few things you did right. The problem is it was JUST words, and you had no intention of following through, even while you said it.
Regarding his trip to Baghdad, Blair said, "I came away thinking the challenge is still immense, but I also came away more certain than ever that we should rise to it."
Blair added, "I think it's easy to go back over mistakes that we may have made, but the biggest reason why Iraq has been difficult is the determination by our opponents to defeat us."
They started a war without figuring that our opponents would be determined to defeat us.
What did they think our opponents would do? Invite us in for tea?
Are these people total ignoramuses? I don't give a crap how right you think you are - If you kick in someone's door and come at them, they are going to try and defeat you. Duh.
Holy crap.
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Wednesday, May 24, 2006
The Chicks
I don't know how many fans they've lost, but they've gained at least one new one.
Check out their performance on Letterman. Courtesy of crooks and liars.
God bless 'em.
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Pat Robertson
Why does this clown still have a following?
Pat Robertson's Age-Defying Shake
Did you know that Pat Robertson can leg-press 2000 pounds! How does he do it?
One of Pat's secrets to keeping his energy high and his vitality soaring is his age-defying protein shake. Pat developed a delicious, refreshing shake, filled with energy-producing nutrients.
70 years old. Leg presses 2000 pounds. From drinking a SHAKE.
Never mind that it's WAY beyond the existing record.
Pathetic.
Via AMERICAblog
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Tuesday, May 23, 2006
I thought I'd use my tiny little megaphone to draw attention to an editorial by radio legend Pete Fornatale on the state of the radio.
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Of course not. God forbid, I might learn something.
President says he's unlikely to watch documentary on global warming
WASHINGTON - Is President Bush likely to see Al Gore’s documentary about global warming?
“Doubt it,” Bush said coolly Monday.
But Bush should watch it, Gore shot back. In fact, the former Democratic vice president offered to come to the White House any time, any day to show Bush either his documentary or a slide show on global warming that he’s shown more than 1,000 times around the world.
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No shit, Sherlock
Panel: Legislators Shouldn't Work Drunk
SALEM, Ore. (AP) -- Oregon legislators and staff members should not be drunk while performing their official duties, a citizen panel says.
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Monday, May 22, 2006
AT&T Sold Your Ass to the Government
Wired Magazine has a full expose on the NSA spying scandal from Whistle-Blower Mark Klein's class-action lawsuit.
In 2003 AT&T built "secret rooms" hidden deep in the bowels of its central offices in various cities, housing computer gear for a government spy operation which taps into the company's popular WorldNet service and the entire internet. These installations enable the government to look at every individual message on the internet and analyze exactly what people are doing. Documents showing the hardwire installation in San Francisco suggest that there are similar locations being installed in numerous other cities.
The physical arrangement, the timing of its construction, the government-imposed secrecy surrounding it and other factors all strongly suggest that its origins are rooted in the Defense Department's Total Information Awareness (TIA) program...
Read the article. ALL of the Documents are in pdf format here.
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Take a look at this remarkable email exchange between Rumsfeld's Spokesman, Larry (a.k.a. Curly Joe) Dirita, and War Correspondent Joe Galloway. This is remarkable, and Galloway deserves a medal.
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Sunday, May 21, 2006
Why does this not surprise me?
Cut taxes for the multi-millionaires.
And INCREASE them for TEEN-AGERS.
The $69 billion tax cut bill that President Bush signed this week tripled tax rates for teenagers with college savings funds, despite Mr. Bush's 1999 pledge to veto any tax increase.
Under the new law, teenagers age 14 to 17 with investment income will now be taxed at the same rate as their parents, not at their own rates. Long-term capital gains and dividends that had been taxed at 5 percent will now be taxed at 15 percent. Interest that had been taxed at 10 percent will now be taxed at as much as 35 percent.
It is really hard to believe how brazen these people are in their greed and elitism. The contempt that they feel for ordinary Americans is palpable. Not only do they screw people - they do it right in your face, and think you won't notice.
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Thursday, May 18, 2006
Illegal is more fun
According to Baltimore Sun, the NSA developed a program for the purpose of analyzing communication data in the late 1990. Unlike what they are doing now, the old program was legal and protected the privacy of Americans - and worked better.
They rejected it in favor of a system that was illegal, unnecessarily intrusive and didn't work so good.
But if you're Bush, you ALWAYS prefer the option that's illegal, intrusive and innefficient. I honestly think it gives the man the sort of rush that a teenager gets when he gets away with something.
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Rover defends his owner
"The American people like this president. His personal approval ratings are in the 60s. Job approval is lower. And what that says to me is that people like him, they respect him, he's somebody they feel a connection with, but they're just sour right now on the war. And that's the way it's going to be." - Karl Rove
Cognitive dissonance is what happens in the human brain when a human being is confronted with a fact which his preconceptions tell him cannot possibly be true.
Is Karl Rove - Bush's favorite Turdblossom and America's beloved pus-sack - becoming delusional?
His "personal approval" isn't anywhere NEAR the 60s and people DON'T like this President. (New York Times pdf poll here) In fact, his JOB approval is one percentage point HIGHER than his "personal approval. " He has more than 50% approval in exactly 3 states - Utah, Idaho and Wyoming. NOBODY approves of him, except a few whackjobs.
Polysigh put it best:
"As for Rove's comment that Bush would be popular but for the Iraq War, that's like saying that if it weren't for the Alps, Switzerland would be flat."
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Tuesday, May 16, 2006
The Constitutional Crisis that Walks like a Man.
The FBI has confirmed that they do, indeed, monitor reporters' phone calls.
Approximately one year ago, we were told that they did not need a warrant because they were only monitoring international calls.
Then, they said that, well, actually were monitoring SOME calls where one of the parties was domestic and one was international.
"If someone is calling Al Qaeda," said Bush, "we want to know why."
Which is interesting, because it implies that they know the terrorists' telephone numbers, which makes you wonder why they don't just round them up instead of collecting their phone bills.
Then they said that they sometimes they inadvertently listen to purely domestic calls.
Then they tell us - just this week - that, well, all that was bullshit. They have actually been collecting info on every single phone call made by every single American with almost no exceptions.
But OF COURSE we have nothing to worry about. We can trust THEM. Never mind the fact that they have lied about this again and again and again. We can trust them. They aren't actually listening in. It's for TERRORISM. So they say.
But you can't name a single terrorist who has been arrested in the last five years as a result of this spying. Not one.
And NOW, we find out that they AREN'T checking on terrorists - they are checking on reporters. They are using phone records to find out who reporters are using as sources. They are REALLY after anyone who makes them look bad by revealing the truth to the American People.
You would figure even the REPUBLICANS would wake up and realize that George W. Bush is a walking Constitutional Crisis who has to be stopped while we still have something that we can call "America" left. And they would, if they valued their nation more than their party.
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Monday, May 15, 2006
Push Back Poll
I said it was a push poll, and I was right.
From a Newsweek poll, released one day after the Washington Post Push Poll:
As you may know, there are reports that the NSA, a government intelligence agency, has been collecting the phone call records of Americans. The agency doesn't actually listen to the calls but logs in nearly every phone number to create a database of calls made within the United States. Which of the following comes CLOSER to your own view of this domestic surveillance program:
It is a necessary tool to combat terrorism -- 41
It goes too far in invading people’s privacy -- 53
Don’t know -- 6
Note that the question doesn't read like a apologia for data mining - as the Washington Post poll did.
But why was the Washington Post so anxious to release a poll that backed up the Bush administration's wishes on the same day that the news broke?
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Your tax dollars at work
You have to watch out for those Terrorist Anchormen:
Federal Source to ABC News: We Know Who You're Calling
Brian Ross and Richard Esposito Report:
A senior federal law enforcement official tells ABC News the government is tracking the phone numbers we (Brian Ross and Richard Esposito) call in an effort to root out confidential sources.
"It's time for you to get some new cell phones, quick," the source told us in an in-person conversation.
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Same script.
Ah. So His Incompetence is probably going to use the National Guard to patrol the border. He says it's "only temporary."
Temporary till when? Just after the 2006 elections?
This is typical. God forbid border patrol get done by actual border patrol. That would make sense. Instead, let's assume that the MILITARY doesn't have enough of a role.
The REAL problem is that Bush is too damned incompetent to deal with anything using civilian means - like SANE Presidents always have. Instead, he turns to the military as his tool of choice for absolutely everything.
And pardon me for wondering if President Codpiece isn't still trying to compensate for the cowardice and inadequacy that he showed during Vietnam. Using OTHER people's blood and sweat, of course.
So he will get to dress up in a uniform, strut around, use jeeps and tanks and helicopters and all sorts of neat stuff, and basically play war in a place where there isn't one, and it will make for a great photo-op. He'll get his picture taken with a helicopter. Look, mommy! Don't I look cool?
God, I wish we had a President who was a frigging grown-up, instead of one who is stuck in adolescence and makes America suffer so he can feel impressive.
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Sunday, May 14, 2006
Ooops.
I posted the info from Jason Leopold (of truthout) that Rove had been indicted. Not WOULD be - HAD been. I think we would have heard something by now. I guess Leopold's source isn't all that reliable, and it's the last time I post something unsubstantiated from truthout.
Here's hoping that Leopold proves to be right a bit too early anyway.
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Saturday, May 13, 2006
Sue the bastards.
If you own stock in any phone companies, it's time to sell short. They could lose billions in class-action lawsuits, and lose MORE money from an exodus of customers.
Two suits have already been filed.
Verizon Sued for Giving NSA Phone Records Attorneys Bruce Afran and Carl Mayer filed the lawsuit Friday afternoon in federal district court in Manhattan, where Verizon is headquartered.
The lawsuit asks the court to stop Verizon from turning over any more records to the NSA without a warrant or consent of the subscriber.
"This is the largest and most vast intrusion of civil liberties we've ever seen in the United States," Afran said of the NSA program.
The lawsuit seeks $1,000 for each violation of the Telecommunications Act, or $5 billion if the case is certified as class-action.
And this is a DIFFERENT one:
Verizon Faces New $20B Suit over NSA Spying Complicity
Upping the ante in what may be a high-stakes legal battle, an Upstate New York lawyer filed a $20 billion class-action lawsuit against Verizon last week, charging that the company violated customer confidentiality in aiding warrantless eavesdropping by a federal spy agency.
Here's the tally of who has and has not violated the privacy of American citizens:
Verizon (land-line), AT&T, and BellSouth have all behaved in a fundamentally Unamerican manner.
On the other hand, Qwest is the only large landline carrier that refused to complied with the Bush's fascist requests. If you have one of the other three, switch to Qwest.
Cellular phones seem largely clean. Verizon Wireless, T-Mobile, Virgin Mobile and Cox all say that they have not provided their records to anyone.
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Fitzmas?
Truthout now says that Rove has BEEN indicted, but I don't see it in the tradition media.
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Shocked
The NSA Whistleblower says that people are going to be shocked.
[Tice] said he plans to tell the committee staffers the NSA conducted illegal and unconstitutional surveillance of U.S. citizens while he was there with the knowledge of Hayden. … “I think the people I talk to next week are going to be shocked when I tell them what I have to tell them. It’s pretty hard to believe,” Tice said.
I won't be shocked, but it's about time the country got shocked.
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Friday, May 12, 2006
According to truthout, Rove has told the White House that he will be indicted.
Within the last week, Karl Rove told President Bush and Chief of Staff Joshua Bolten, as well as a few other high level administration officials, that he will be indicted in the CIA leak case and will immediately resign his White House job when the special counsel publicly announces the charges against him, according to sources.
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Raid kills roaches dead.
The FBI has raided the home of Dusty Foggo (NOT the name of a fictional character). The guy who just resigned as the #3 man in the CIA.
I wonder why Goss REALLY resigned. This CAN'T be a coincidence.
Move along, folks, nothing to see here....
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Push poll
You may have read - and been shocked - by reports that a poll says that 2/3rds of Americans have no problem with the Bush administration mining phone calls.
Here is the actual question:
It's been reported that the National Security Agency has been collecting the phone call records of tens of millions of Americans. It then analyzes calling patterns in an effort to identify possible terrorism suspects, without listening to or recording the conversations. Would you consider this an acceptable or unacceptable way for the federal government to investigate terrorism? Do you feel that way strongly or somewhat?
Note that the question itself ASSUMES that the act is benign, and states things as fact that WE DON'T KNOW (such as that conversations are not listened to or recorded). The question is framed in terms of fighting terrorism, falsifies the known facts, fails to mention the questionable legality, and was obviously thrown together on the fly. For many poll respondents, this was probably the first time they HEARD about it.
This is a push poll.
And I suspect that other polls released in the coming days will show very different results.
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Today?
Tweetybird Matthews thinks Rove might be indicted today.
From Imus this morning"
Transcript:
MATTHEWS: If, however, something happens with Karl Rove, we’re going to go to general quarters around here.
IMUS: What does that mean?
MATTHEWS: Meaning we will be taping probably on Saturday or late night because everything will change. Last time, when he picked up Scooter, when he nailed him 30 years of charges, that happened on 1:00 on a Friday. So we don’t know when it might happen, if it’s going happen.
IMUS: Are we expecting something with Karl Rove today?
MATTHEWS: Well, it could be today. It could be next week. Everybody is buzzing about when or if. It’s a big if, big when. There is a lot of talk because he is still being interviewing by the special prosecutor. He keeps being hauled before the grand jury. So something is going on here with the special prosecutor. We don’t know whether he is going to clear him or nail him.
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GENEVA (Reuters) - The United States has again refused the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) access to terrorism suspects held in secret detention centers, the humanitarian agency said on Friday.
Isn't it interesting that the whole motto of this administration is "If you have done nothing wrong, you have nothing to hide"?
Explains why they hide everything.
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Headline says it all
Bush denies spying infringes on privacy
Roll THAT phrase around in your head a few times.
Lewis Carroll wishes HE had thought of that one, I'm sure
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Thursday, May 11, 2006
Gonzales Lied
As surely as weasels are weasels.
From the Muckraker:
Did Gonzales Mislead Congress about NSA Program?
By Paul Kiel - May 11, 2006, 2:32 PM
Reacting to today's news that the NSA is "amassing information about the calls of ordinary Americans," Reps. Bennie G. Thompson (D-MS) and Rep. Zoe Lofgren (D-CA) have put out a statement questioning the legality of the program.
Their statement contains this: "when the Attorney General was forced to testify before the House Judiciary Committee a few weeks ago, he misled the Committee about the existence of the program."
Here's what they're referring to. On April 6, 2006, Attorney General Alberto Gonzales testified before the House Judiciary Committee, and in one exchange, Rep. Gerald Nadler (D-NY) tried to nail him down:
NADLER: Number two, can you assure us that there is no warrantless surveillance of calls between two Americans within the United States?
GONZALES: That is not what the president has authorized.
NADLER: Can you assure us that it's not being done?
GONZALES: As I indicated in response to an earlier question, no technology is perfect.
NADLER: OK.
GONZALES: We do have minimization procedures in place...
NADLER: But you're not doing that deliberately?
GONZALES: That is correct.
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"There's no doubt in my mind there are safeguards in place to make sure the program focuses on calls coming from outside the United States in, with an al Qaeda -- from a -- with a belief that there's an al Qaeda person making the call to somebody here in the States, or vice versa -- but not domestic calls." - Bush, 01/26/06.
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Bush lies some more
President Deer-In-The-Headlights decided to throw a little gasoline on the fire:
Facing intense criticism from Congress, President Bush did not confirm the work of the National Security Agency but sought to assure Americans that their privacy is being "fiercely protected."
"We are not mining or trolling through the personal lives of innocent Americans," Bush said before leaving for a commencement address at Mississippi Gulf Coast Community College in Biloxi.
Well, gee whiz, codpiece-for-brains, you ALSO said that you were only listening to INTERNATIONAL Communications. You ALSO said it was only a FEW HUNDRED.
Liar.
Every new story that comes out shows that the administration lied about the last story that came out but they say that we should believe them this time.
NOBODY is that gullible.
By the way, giving the White House info on yur phone calls was VOLUNTARY on the part of the phone companies. Qwest was the ONLY major carrier to refuse. So if you are with AT&T or Verizon, switch to Qwest. And call them and let them know why. DEMAND that they respect your privacy.
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It's all true
Everything you thought MIGHT be true IS.
NSA has massive database of Americans' phone calls
The National Security Agency has been secretly collecting the phone call records of tens of millions of Americans, using data provided by AT&T, Verizon and BellSouth, people with direct knowledge of the arrangement told USA TODAY.
The NSA program reaches into homes and businesses across the nation by amassing information about the calls of ordinary Americans — most of whom aren't suspected of any crime. This program does not involve the NSA listening to or recording conversations. But the spy agency is using the data to analyze calling patterns in an effort to detect terrorist activity, sources said in separate interviews.
For the customers of these companies, it means that the government has detailed records of calls they made — across town or across the country — to family members, co-workers, business contacts and others.
The sources would talk only under a guarantee of anonymity because the NSA program is secret.
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Wednesday, May 10, 2006
Colbert - SOMEBODY gets it.
Here's a great article from the TV Critic at the Chicago Sun-Times about Colbert's public evisceration of His Ignorance. This may be the only thing I have read in the mainstream press that actually understood the reaction to Colbert's speech.
How did Bush tickle reporters? He made fun of the fact that he can barely speak English (he is quite simply the worst communicator of all U.S. presidents), that our vice president is a heartless face-shooter, and that Bush is basically an idiot.
Ha ha, our "war president" knows he's a village idiot? To members of the White House press corps, that's some real funny stuff. To non-insiders, this looked like another example of good old boys and gals slapping each other on the back.
Colbert's routine was more remarkable for its unique and creative brazenness. He joked that Bush's presidency is like the Hindenburg; that Bush's wiretappers were monitoring this very event, and that the White House press corps, sitting in front of Colbert, gave Bush a free pass, scandal after scandal, until recently (when his polls numbers dropped).
How's this for a newsworthy lead? It was perhaps the first time in Bush's tenure that the president was forced to sit and listen to any American cite the litany of criminal and corruption allegations that have piled up against his administration. And mouth-tense Bush and first lady Laura Bush fled as soon as possible afterward.
From whom were they fleeing? A star comedian pretending to be a Fox News-like blowhard doing a sort of performance art that America hasn't witnessed nationally since the days of Andy Kaufman. Even if Colbert's bit had been reported as a train wreck, that would have sufficed. Instead, shocking lines like the following were barely covered by any traditional organ except industry magazine Editor & Publisher: "I stand by" Bush, Colbert cracked, "because he stands for things. Not only for things, he stands on things. Things like aircraft carriers and rubble, and recently flooded city squares. And that sends a strong message that no matter what happens to America, she will always rebound with the most powerfully staged photo ops in the world."
For TV reporters in particular to quote that gruesome line would be an agreement with Colbert, that they helped Bush mix politics with corruption from the ashes of 9/11 ("aircraft carriers and rubble"), and failed to see through Bush's politicization of the drowning of an American city after a hurricane ("recently flooded city squares").
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Brownie, you're doing a heckuva job.
The question isn't "Why do only 31% still support these incompetents" - the question is, "why the hell is it still that high?"
WASHINGTON — Hours after Hurricane Katrina hit, former FEMA director Michael Brown dismissed reports that floodwaters had breached New Orleans' levees, and he obsessed over media coverage of his agency, according to newly released e-mails.
At one point early that morning, Brown reported to an aide that he was "sitting in the chair, putting mousse in my hair" while waiting for media interviews to begin.
What total dicks.
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Poll vault
(CBS) President Bush and the Republican Congress show nearly record low ratings while Democrats are viewed much more favorably in their performance on the issues that matter most to Americans, according to the latest CBS News/New York Times poll.
Well, that just great. You think - maybe - the Democrats MIGHT just stop acting like their afraid that challenging thi clown will hurt them?
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On May 25th, President Bush said that Treasury Secretary John Snow had not given him any indication that he was leaving soon:PRESIDENT BUSH: Secretary of Treasury Snow?In fact, not only had Snow indicated he was leaving, President Bush had already settled on his replacement. Today, Tony Snow said that Hank Paulson was offered the job on May 20 and accepted a day later:
Q Has he given you any indication he intends to leave his job any time soon?…
PRESIDENT BUSH: No, he has not talked to me about resignation. I think he’s doing a fine job.QUESTION: Do you have any tick tock on the Paulson…
SNOW: Yes. The tick tock is the two of them met on the 20th of May and there was a conversation. And Hank Paulson accepted the job a day later. That was subject to clearance. It does take time, especially for a Senate confirmable position, to complete those. So it did take time to get some of those clearances wrapped up.
The apologists, of course, will deny that THAT'S a lie, too. Being a Bushite requires heaping doses of denial.
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One Snow at a time
Tony Snow is in as Press Secretary, so John Snow is out as Treasury Secretary.
That's my theory: poor George would be confused by having two guys around named "Snow," and they want to minimize his befuddlement.
Not that it will help: "How come Snow is still here? I thought we got rid of Snow!"
"That's a different Snow, Mr. President."
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Iraq Coalition Casualties
Military Fatalities: By Time Period
Period US UK Other* Total Avg Days 5 313 15 8 336 2.02 166 4 715 13 18 746 2.35 318 3 579 25 27 631 2.92 216 2 718 27 58 803 1.89 424 1 140 33 0 173 4.02 43 Total 2465 113 111 2689 2.3 1167
Time Periods Defined
Iraqi Security Forces and Civilian Deaths Period Total May-06 1002 Apr-06 1010 Mar-06 1094 Feb-06 846 Jan-06 780
Iraqi Security Forces and Civilian Deaths Details
Note: This is an estimate based on news reports. This is not a definitive count.
U.S. Deaths Confirmed By The DoD: 2464 Reported U.S. Deaths Pending DoD Confirmation: 1 Total 2465
DoD Confirmation List Latest Coalition Fatality: May 29, 2006
Military Fatalities: By Month Period US UK Other* Total Avg Days 5-2006 61 9 1 71 2.37 30 4-2006 76 1 5 82 2.73 30 3-2006 31 0 2 33 1.06 31 2-2006 55 3 0 58 2.07 28 1-2006 62 2 0 64 2.06 31 12-2005 68 0 0 68 2.19 31 11-2005 84 1 1 86 2.87 30 10-2005 96 2 1 99 3.19 31 9-2005 49 3 0 52 1.73 30 8-2005 85 0 0 85 2.74 31 7-2005 54 3 1 58 1.87 31 6-2005 78 1 4 83 2.77 30 5-2005 80 2 6 88 2.84 31 4-2005 52 0 0 52 1.73 30 3-2005 35 1 3 39 1.26 31 2-2005 58 0 2 60 2.14 28 1-2005 107 10 10 127 4.1 31 12-2004 72 1 3 76 2.45 31 11-2004 137 4 0 141 4.7 30 10-2004 63 2 2 67 2.16 31 9-2004 80 3 4 87 2.9 30 8-2004 66 4 5 75 2.42 31 7-2004 54 1 3 58 1.87 31 6-2004 42 1 7 50 1.67 30 5-2004 80 0 4 84 2.71 31 4-2004 135 0 5 140 4.67 30 3-2004 52 0 0 52 1.68 31 2-2004 20 1 2 23 0.79 29 1-2004 47 5 0 52 1.68 31 12-2003 40 0 8 48 1.55 31 11-2003 82 1 27 110 3.67 30 10-2003 44 1 2 47 1.52 31 9-2003 31 1 1 33 1.1 30 8-2003 35 6 2 43 1.39 31 7-2003 48 1 0 49 1.58 31 6-2003 30 6 0 36 1.2 30 5-2003 37 4 0 41 1.32 31 4-2003 74 6 0 80 2.67 30 3-2003 65 27 0 92 7.67 12 Total 2465 113 111 2689 2.3 1168
Missing or Captured: US Casualties By Calendar Year Year US Deaths US Wounded 2003 486 2409 2004 848 7992 2005 846 5945 2006 285 1523 Total 2465 17869
*Other Coalition Countries: Country Total Australia 2 Bulgaria 13 Denmark 3 El Salvador 2 Estonia 2 Hungary 1 Italy 31 Kazakhstan 1 Latvia 1 Netherlands 2 Poland 17 Romania 2 Slovakia 3 Spain 11 Thailand 2 Ukraine 18
Non Military Deaths: Journalists Killed in Iraq An Incomplete List of Contractors Killed in Iraq Iraqi Body Count (External Link)
US Wounded by Week Period Wnd-RTD Wounded 03-20-2003 thru 04-01-2003 115 426 04-02-2004 thru 01-02-2005 4565 4875 01-03-2005 thru 12-20-2005 3946 2228 12-21-2005 thru 04-Jan-06 121 53 05-Jan-06 thru 11-Jan-06 65 26 12-Jan-06 thru 18-Jan-06 35 17 19-Jan-06 thru 25-Jan-06 42 34 26-Jan-06 thru 01-Feb-06 34 24 02-Feb-06 thru 08-Feb-06 24 23 09-Feb-06 thru 15-Feb-06 60 29 16-Feb-06 thru 23-Feb-06 40 42 24-Feb-06 thru 01-Mar-06 54 28 02-Mar-06 thru 08-Mar-06 44 54 09-Mar-06 thru 15-Mar-06 67 53 16-Mar-06 thru 22-Mar-06 96 49 23-Mar-06 thru 28-Mar-06 86 26 29-Mar-06 thru 07-Apr-06 60 28 08-Apr-06 thru 11-Apr-06 37 43 12-Apr-06 thru 18-Apr-06 58 41 19-Apr-06 thru 25-Apr-06 76 38 26-Apr-06 thru 02-May-06 55 57 03-May-06 thru 10-May-06 64 45 11-May-06 thru 17-May-06 42 63 18-May-06 thru 25-May-06 54 42 Total 9840 8344
Wnd-RTD: Wounded in Action Return to Duty within 72 hours
Wnd: Wounded in Action Not Return to Duty within 72 hours
Totals updated weekly by the DoD
View Complete Weekly Report
Some of The Wounded... Wounded In Action According to The DoD Period Wounded Apr-2006 403 Mar-2006 494 Feb-2006 340 Jan-2006 286 Dec-2005 412 Nov-2005 400 Oct-2005 605 Sep-2005 545 Aug-2005 541 Jul-2005 476 Jun-2005 511 May-2005 575 Apr-2005 596 Mar-2005 371 Feb-2005 415 Jan-2005 498 Dec-2004 544 Nov-2004 1425 Oct-2004 648 Sep-2004 706 Aug-2004 895 Jul-2004 552 Jun-2004 589 May-2004 758 Apr-2004 1212 Mar-2004 324 Feb-2004 150 Jan-2004 189 Dec-2003 261 Nov-2003 336 Oct-2003 413 Sep-2003 247 Aug-2003 181 Jul-2003 226 Jun-2003 147 May-2003 55 Apr-2003 340 Mar-2003 203 Total 17869
Last update from the DoD: 29-Apr-06
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Sunday, May 28, 2006
"Most of all, political scribes have to take off their cynical lenses through which they view every moral challenge as political spin." - Al Gore
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Friday, May 26, 2006
Regrets
Just want to point that Bush talked about stuff he "regrets."
The only "regrets" he mentioned were PR moves that turned out badly.
It's Memorial Day Weekend, and it didn't even occur to him to "regret" the loss of 2462 American soldiers.
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FUBAR
You know what's pathetic? That Bush finally admits to making some mistake and - when faced with disaster on a monumental scale - will only admit to a few poorly chosen words.
Even if he DOES believe that a War in Iraq was a good idea (and sadly, I think he does), it is very obvious that the execution of it has been entirely botched.
They are trying to occupy a hostile area the size of California with a tiny force of 130,000 troops; they left the borders wide open so Al Qaeda could come in; they can't leave the green zone because it's too dangerous; and the terrorists have a new training ground and a new base of operations in the Middle East.
Not only has Bush not HURT the terrorists - he has GIVEN THEM NEW TERRITORY.
And not because of his words. Because of his actions.
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They still don't get it.
As you probably know, Bush and Blair had a press conference where they decided to try and stem the damage to their reputation by actually ADMITTING what everyone else has known for three years.
BUSH: Saying, "Bring it on"; kind of tough talk, you know, that sent the wrong signal to people. I learned some lessons about expressing myself maybe in a little more sophisticated manner, you know. "Wanted, dead or alive"; that kind of talk. I think in certain parts of the world it was misinterpreted. And so I learned from that
"Misinterpreted"? "Bring it on" was misinterpreted? It didn't actually mean "Bring it on"? Then what, exactly, was it supposed to mean? "Waiter, waiter, there's a fly in my soup"?
No, I think they interpreted it dead right - you were just a damned fool to say it.
And by the way, there was nothing wrong with saying "Osama Bin Laden, Dead or Alive." That's one of the few things you did right. The problem is it was JUST words, and you had no intention of following through, even while you said it.
Regarding his trip to Baghdad, Blair said, "I came away thinking the challenge is still immense, but I also came away more certain than ever that we should rise to it."
Blair added, "I think it's easy to go back over mistakes that we may have made, but the biggest reason why Iraq has been difficult is the determination by our opponents to defeat us."
They started a war without figuring that our opponents would be determined to defeat us.
What did they think our opponents would do? Invite us in for tea?
Are these people total ignoramuses? I don't give a crap how right you think you are - If you kick in someone's door and come at them, they are going to try and defeat you. Duh.
Holy crap.
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Wednesday, May 24, 2006
The Chicks
I don't know how many fans they've lost, but they've gained at least one new one.
Check out their performance on Letterman. Courtesy of crooks and liars.
God bless 'em.
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Pat Robertson
Why does this clown still have a following?
Pat Robertson's Age-Defying Shake
Did you know that Pat Robertson can leg-press 2000 pounds! How does he do it?
One of Pat's secrets to keeping his energy high and his vitality soaring is his age-defying protein shake. Pat developed a delicious, refreshing shake, filled with energy-producing nutrients.
70 years old. Leg presses 2000 pounds. From drinking a SHAKE.
Never mind that it's WAY beyond the existing record.
Pathetic.
Via AMERICAblog
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Tuesday, May 23, 2006
I thought I'd use my tiny little megaphone to draw attention to an editorial by radio legend Pete Fornatale on the state of the radio.
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Of course not. God forbid, I might learn something.
President says he's unlikely to watch documentary on global warming
WASHINGTON - Is President Bush likely to see Al Gore’s documentary about global warming?
“Doubt it,” Bush said coolly Monday.
But Bush should watch it, Gore shot back. In fact, the former Democratic vice president offered to come to the White House any time, any day to show Bush either his documentary or a slide show on global warming that he’s shown more than 1,000 times around the world.
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No shit, Sherlock
Panel: Legislators Shouldn't Work Drunk
SALEM, Ore. (AP) -- Oregon legislators and staff members should not be drunk while performing their official duties, a citizen panel says.
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Monday, May 22, 2006
AT&T Sold Your Ass to the Government
Wired Magazine has a full expose on the NSA spying scandal from Whistle-Blower Mark Klein's class-action lawsuit.
In 2003 AT&T built "secret rooms" hidden deep in the bowels of its central offices in various cities, housing computer gear for a government spy operation which taps into the company's popular WorldNet service and the entire internet. These installations enable the government to look at every individual message on the internet and analyze exactly what people are doing. Documents showing the hardwire installation in San Francisco suggest that there are similar locations being installed in numerous other cities.
The physical arrangement, the timing of its construction, the government-imposed secrecy surrounding it and other factors all strongly suggest that its origins are rooted in the Defense Department's Total Information Awareness (TIA) program...
Read the article. ALL of the Documents are in pdf format here.
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Take a look at this remarkable email exchange between Rumsfeld's Spokesman, Larry (a.k.a. Curly Joe) Dirita, and War Correspondent Joe Galloway. This is remarkable, and Galloway deserves a medal.
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Sunday, May 21, 2006
Why does this not surprise me?
Cut taxes for the multi-millionaires.
And INCREASE them for TEEN-AGERS.
The $69 billion tax cut bill that President Bush signed this week tripled tax rates for teenagers with college savings funds, despite Mr. Bush's 1999 pledge to veto any tax increase.
Under the new law, teenagers age 14 to 17 with investment income will now be taxed at the same rate as their parents, not at their own rates. Long-term capital gains and dividends that had been taxed at 5 percent will now be taxed at 15 percent. Interest that had been taxed at 10 percent will now be taxed at as much as 35 percent.
It is really hard to believe how brazen these people are in their greed and elitism. The contempt that they feel for ordinary Americans is palpable. Not only do they screw people - they do it right in your face, and think you won't notice.
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Thursday, May 18, 2006
Illegal is more fun
According to Baltimore Sun, the NSA developed a program for the purpose of analyzing communication data in the late 1990. Unlike what they are doing now, the old program was legal and protected the privacy of Americans - and worked better.
They rejected it in favor of a system that was illegal, unnecessarily intrusive and didn't work so good.
But if you're Bush, you ALWAYS prefer the option that's illegal, intrusive and innefficient. I honestly think it gives the man the sort of rush that a teenager gets when he gets away with something.
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Rover defends his owner
"The American people like this president. His personal approval ratings are in the 60s. Job approval is lower. And what that says to me is that people like him, they respect him, he's somebody they feel a connection with, but they're just sour right now on the war. And that's the way it's going to be." - Karl Rove
Cognitive dissonance is what happens in the human brain when a human being is confronted with a fact which his preconceptions tell him cannot possibly be true.
Is Karl Rove - Bush's favorite Turdblossom and America's beloved pus-sack - becoming delusional?
His "personal approval" isn't anywhere NEAR the 60s and people DON'T like this President. (New York Times pdf poll here) In fact, his JOB approval is one percentage point HIGHER than his "personal approval. " He has more than 50% approval in exactly 3 states - Utah, Idaho and Wyoming. NOBODY approves of him, except a few whackjobs.
Polysigh put it best:
"As for Rove's comment that Bush would be popular but for the Iraq War, that's like saying that if it weren't for the Alps, Switzerland would be flat."
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Tuesday, May 16, 2006
The Constitutional Crisis that Walks like a Man.
The FBI has confirmed that they do, indeed, monitor reporters' phone calls.
Approximately one year ago, we were told that they did not need a warrant because they were only monitoring international calls.
Then, they said that, well, actually were monitoring SOME calls where one of the parties was domestic and one was international.
"If someone is calling Al Qaeda," said Bush, "we want to know why."
Which is interesting, because it implies that they know the terrorists' telephone numbers, which makes you wonder why they don't just round them up instead of collecting their phone bills.
Then they said that they sometimes they inadvertently listen to purely domestic calls.
Then they tell us - just this week - that, well, all that was bullshit. They have actually been collecting info on every single phone call made by every single American with almost no exceptions.
But OF COURSE we have nothing to worry about. We can trust THEM. Never mind the fact that they have lied about this again and again and again. We can trust them. They aren't actually listening in. It's for TERRORISM. So they say.
But you can't name a single terrorist who has been arrested in the last five years as a result of this spying. Not one.
And NOW, we find out that they AREN'T checking on terrorists - they are checking on reporters. They are using phone records to find out who reporters are using as sources. They are REALLY after anyone who makes them look bad by revealing the truth to the American People.
You would figure even the REPUBLICANS would wake up and realize that George W. Bush is a walking Constitutional Crisis who has to be stopped while we still have something that we can call "America" left. And they would, if they valued their nation more than their party.
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Monday, May 15, 2006
Push Back Poll
I said it was a push poll, and I was right.
From a Newsweek poll, released one day after the Washington Post Push Poll:
As you may know, there are reports that the NSA, a government intelligence agency, has been collecting the phone call records of Americans. The agency doesn't actually listen to the calls but logs in nearly every phone number to create a database of calls made within the United States. Which of the following comes CLOSER to your own view of this domestic surveillance program:
It is a necessary tool to combat terrorism -- 41
It goes too far in invading people’s privacy -- 53
Don’t know -- 6
Note that the question doesn't read like a apologia for data mining - as the Washington Post poll did.
But why was the Washington Post so anxious to release a poll that backed up the Bush administration's wishes on the same day that the news broke?
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Your tax dollars at work
You have to watch out for those Terrorist Anchormen:
Federal Source to ABC News: We Know Who You're Calling
Brian Ross and Richard Esposito Report:
A senior federal law enforcement official tells ABC News the government is tracking the phone numbers we (Brian Ross and Richard Esposito) call in an effort to root out confidential sources.
"It's time for you to get some new cell phones, quick," the source told us in an in-person conversation.
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Same script.
Ah. So His Incompetence is probably going to use the National Guard to patrol the border. He says it's "only temporary."
Temporary till when? Just after the 2006 elections?
This is typical. God forbid border patrol get done by actual border patrol. That would make sense. Instead, let's assume that the MILITARY doesn't have enough of a role.
The REAL problem is that Bush is too damned incompetent to deal with anything using civilian means - like SANE Presidents always have. Instead, he turns to the military as his tool of choice for absolutely everything.
And pardon me for wondering if President Codpiece isn't still trying to compensate for the cowardice and inadequacy that he showed during Vietnam. Using OTHER people's blood and sweat, of course.
So he will get to dress up in a uniform, strut around, use jeeps and tanks and helicopters and all sorts of neat stuff, and basically play war in a place where there isn't one, and it will make for a great photo-op. He'll get his picture taken with a helicopter. Look, mommy! Don't I look cool?
God, I wish we had a President who was a frigging grown-up, instead of one who is stuck in adolescence and makes America suffer so he can feel impressive.
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Sunday, May 14, 2006
Ooops.
I posted the info from Jason Leopold (of truthout) that Rove had been indicted. Not WOULD be - HAD been. I think we would have heard something by now. I guess Leopold's source isn't all that reliable, and it's the last time I post something unsubstantiated from truthout.
Here's hoping that Leopold proves to be right a bit too early anyway.
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Saturday, May 13, 2006
Sue the bastards.
If you own stock in any phone companies, it's time to sell short. They could lose billions in class-action lawsuits, and lose MORE money from an exodus of customers.
Two suits have already been filed.
Verizon Sued for Giving NSA Phone Records Attorneys Bruce Afran and Carl Mayer filed the lawsuit Friday afternoon in federal district court in Manhattan, where Verizon is headquartered.
The lawsuit asks the court to stop Verizon from turning over any more records to the NSA without a warrant or consent of the subscriber.
"This is the largest and most vast intrusion of civil liberties we've ever seen in the United States," Afran said of the NSA program.
The lawsuit seeks $1,000 for each violation of the Telecommunications Act, or $5 billion if the case is certified as class-action.
And this is a DIFFERENT one:
Verizon Faces New $20B Suit over NSA Spying Complicity
Upping the ante in what may be a high-stakes legal battle, an Upstate New York lawyer filed a $20 billion class-action lawsuit against Verizon last week, charging that the company violated customer confidentiality in aiding warrantless eavesdropping by a federal spy agency.
Here's the tally of who has and has not violated the privacy of American citizens:
Verizon (land-line), AT&T, and BellSouth have all behaved in a fundamentally Unamerican manner.
On the other hand, Qwest is the only large landline carrier that refused to complied with the Bush's fascist requests. If you have one of the other three, switch to Qwest.
Cellular phones seem largely clean. Verizon Wireless, T-Mobile, Virgin Mobile and Cox all say that they have not provided their records to anyone.
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Fitzmas?
Truthout now says that Rove has BEEN indicted, but I don't see it in the tradition media.
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Shocked
The NSA Whistleblower says that people are going to be shocked.
[Tice] said he plans to tell the committee staffers the NSA conducted illegal and unconstitutional surveillance of U.S. citizens while he was there with the knowledge of Hayden. … “I think the people I talk to next week are going to be shocked when I tell them what I have to tell them. It’s pretty hard to believe,” Tice said.
I won't be shocked, but it's about time the country got shocked.
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Friday, May 12, 2006
According to truthout, Rove has told the White House that he will be indicted.
Within the last week, Karl Rove told President Bush and Chief of Staff Joshua Bolten, as well as a few other high level administration officials, that he will be indicted in the CIA leak case and will immediately resign his White House job when the special counsel publicly announces the charges against him, according to sources.
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Raid kills roaches dead.
The FBI has raided the home of Dusty Foggo (NOT the name of a fictional character). The guy who just resigned as the #3 man in the CIA.
I wonder why Goss REALLY resigned. This CAN'T be a coincidence.
Move along, folks, nothing to see here....
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Push poll
You may have read - and been shocked - by reports that a poll says that 2/3rds of Americans have no problem with the Bush administration mining phone calls.
Here is the actual question:
It's been reported that the National Security Agency has been collecting the phone call records of tens of millions of Americans. It then analyzes calling patterns in an effort to identify possible terrorism suspects, without listening to or recording the conversations. Would you consider this an acceptable or unacceptable way for the federal government to investigate terrorism? Do you feel that way strongly or somewhat?
Note that the question itself ASSUMES that the act is benign, and states things as fact that WE DON'T KNOW (such as that conversations are not listened to or recorded). The question is framed in terms of fighting terrorism, falsifies the known facts, fails to mention the questionable legality, and was obviously thrown together on the fly. For many poll respondents, this was probably the first time they HEARD about it.
This is a push poll.
And I suspect that other polls released in the coming days will show very different results.
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Today?
Tweetybird Matthews thinks Rove might be indicted today.
From Imus this morning"
Transcript:
MATTHEWS: If, however, something happens with Karl Rove, we’re going to go to general quarters around here.
IMUS: What does that mean?
MATTHEWS: Meaning we will be taping probably on Saturday or late night because everything will change. Last time, when he picked up Scooter, when he nailed him 30 years of charges, that happened on 1:00 on a Friday. So we don’t know when it might happen, if it’s going happen.
IMUS: Are we expecting something with Karl Rove today?
MATTHEWS: Well, it could be today. It could be next week. Everybody is buzzing about when or if. It’s a big if, big when. There is a lot of talk because he is still being interviewing by the special prosecutor. He keeps being hauled before the grand jury. So something is going on here with the special prosecutor. We don’t know whether he is going to clear him or nail him.
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GENEVA (Reuters) - The United States has again refused the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) access to terrorism suspects held in secret detention centers, the humanitarian agency said on Friday.
Isn't it interesting that the whole motto of this administration is "If you have done nothing wrong, you have nothing to hide"?
Explains why they hide everything.
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Headline says it all
Bush denies spying infringes on privacy
Roll THAT phrase around in your head a few times.
Lewis Carroll wishes HE had thought of that one, I'm sure
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Thursday, May 11, 2006
Gonzales Lied
As surely as weasels are weasels.
From the Muckraker:
Did Gonzales Mislead Congress about NSA Program?
By Paul Kiel - May 11, 2006, 2:32 PM
Reacting to today's news that the NSA is "amassing information about the calls of ordinary Americans," Reps. Bennie G. Thompson (D-MS) and Rep. Zoe Lofgren (D-CA) have put out a statement questioning the legality of the program.
Their statement contains this: "when the Attorney General was forced to testify before the House Judiciary Committee a few weeks ago, he misled the Committee about the existence of the program."
Here's what they're referring to. On April 6, 2006, Attorney General Alberto Gonzales testified before the House Judiciary Committee, and in one exchange, Rep. Gerald Nadler (D-NY) tried to nail him down:
NADLER: Number two, can you assure us that there is no warrantless surveillance of calls between two Americans within the United States?
GONZALES: That is not what the president has authorized.
NADLER: Can you assure us that it's not being done?
GONZALES: As I indicated in response to an earlier question, no technology is perfect.
NADLER: OK.
GONZALES: We do have minimization procedures in place...
NADLER: But you're not doing that deliberately?
GONZALES: That is correct.
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"There's no doubt in my mind there are safeguards in place to make sure the program focuses on calls coming from outside the United States in, with an al Qaeda -- from a -- with a belief that there's an al Qaeda person making the call to somebody here in the States, or vice versa -- but not domestic calls." - Bush, 01/26/06.
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Bush lies some more
President Deer-In-The-Headlights decided to throw a little gasoline on the fire:
Facing intense criticism from Congress, President Bush did not confirm the work of the National Security Agency but sought to assure Americans that their privacy is being "fiercely protected."
"We are not mining or trolling through the personal lives of innocent Americans," Bush said before leaving for a commencement address at Mississippi Gulf Coast Community College in Biloxi.
Well, gee whiz, codpiece-for-brains, you ALSO said that you were only listening to INTERNATIONAL Communications. You ALSO said it was only a FEW HUNDRED.
Liar.
Every new story that comes out shows that the administration lied about the last story that came out but they say that we should believe them this time.
NOBODY is that gullible.
By the way, giving the White House info on yur phone calls was VOLUNTARY on the part of the phone companies. Qwest was the ONLY major carrier to refuse. So if you are with AT&T or Verizon, switch to Qwest. And call them and let them know why. DEMAND that they respect your privacy.
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It's all true
Everything you thought MIGHT be true IS.
NSA has massive database of Americans' phone calls
The National Security Agency has been secretly collecting the phone call records of tens of millions of Americans, using data provided by AT&T, Verizon and BellSouth, people with direct knowledge of the arrangement told USA TODAY.
The NSA program reaches into homes and businesses across the nation by amassing information about the calls of ordinary Americans — most of whom aren't suspected of any crime. This program does not involve the NSA listening to or recording conversations. But the spy agency is using the data to analyze calling patterns in an effort to detect terrorist activity, sources said in separate interviews.
For the customers of these companies, it means that the government has detailed records of calls they made — across town or across the country — to family members, co-workers, business contacts and others.
The sources would talk only under a guarantee of anonymity because the NSA program is secret.
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Wednesday, May 10, 2006
Colbert - SOMEBODY gets it.
Here's a great article from the TV Critic at the Chicago Sun-Times about Colbert's public evisceration of His Ignorance. This may be the only thing I have read in the mainstream press that actually understood the reaction to Colbert's speech.
How did Bush tickle reporters? He made fun of the fact that he can barely speak English (he is quite simply the worst communicator of all U.S. presidents), that our vice president is a heartless face-shooter, and that Bush is basically an idiot.
Ha ha, our "war president" knows he's a village idiot? To members of the White House press corps, that's some real funny stuff. To non-insiders, this looked like another example of good old boys and gals slapping each other on the back.
Colbert's routine was more remarkable for its unique and creative brazenness. He joked that Bush's presidency is like the Hindenburg; that Bush's wiretappers were monitoring this very event, and that the White House press corps, sitting in front of Colbert, gave Bush a free pass, scandal after scandal, until recently (when his polls numbers dropped).
How's this for a newsworthy lead? It was perhaps the first time in Bush's tenure that the president was forced to sit and listen to any American cite the litany of criminal and corruption allegations that have piled up against his administration. And mouth-tense Bush and first lady Laura Bush fled as soon as possible afterward.
From whom were they fleeing? A star comedian pretending to be a Fox News-like blowhard doing a sort of performance art that America hasn't witnessed nationally since the days of Andy Kaufman. Even if Colbert's bit had been reported as a train wreck, that would have sufficed. Instead, shocking lines like the following were barely covered by any traditional organ except industry magazine Editor & Publisher: "I stand by" Bush, Colbert cracked, "because he stands for things. Not only for things, he stands on things. Things like aircraft carriers and rubble, and recently flooded city squares. And that sends a strong message that no matter what happens to America, she will always rebound with the most powerfully staged photo ops in the world."
For TV reporters in particular to quote that gruesome line would be an agreement with Colbert, that they helped Bush mix politics with corruption from the ashes of 9/11 ("aircraft carriers and rubble"), and failed to see through Bush's politicization of the drowning of an American city after a hurricane ("recently flooded city squares").
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Brownie, you're doing a heckuva job.
The question isn't "Why do only 31% still support these incompetents" - the question is, "why the hell is it still that high?"
WASHINGTON — Hours after Hurricane Katrina hit, former FEMA director Michael Brown dismissed reports that floodwaters had breached New Orleans' levees, and he obsessed over media coverage of his agency, according to newly released e-mails.
At one point early that morning, Brown reported to an aide that he was "sitting in the chair, putting mousse in my hair" while waiting for media interviews to begin.
What total dicks.
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Poll vault
(CBS) President Bush and the Republican Congress show nearly record low ratings while Democrats are viewed much more favorably in their performance on the issues that matter most to Americans, according to the latest CBS News/New York Times poll.
Well, that just great. You think - maybe - the Democrats MIGHT just stop acting like their afraid that challenging thi clown will hurt them?
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One Snow at a time
Tony Snow is in as Press Secretary, so John Snow is out as Treasury Secretary.
That's my theory: poor George would be confused by having two guys around named "Snow," and they want to minimize his befuddlement.
Not that it will help: "How come Snow is still here? I thought we got rid of Snow!"
"That's a different Snow, Mr. President."
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Iraq Coalition Casualties
Military Fatalities: By Time Period
Period US UK Other* Total Avg Days 5 313 15 8 336 2.02 166 4 715 13 18 746 2.35 318 3 579 25 27 631 2.92 216 2 718 27 58 803 1.89 424 1 140 33 0 173 4.02 43 Total 2465 113 111 2689 2.3 1167
Time Periods Defined
Iraqi Security Forces and Civilian Deaths Period Total May-06 1002 Apr-06 1010 Mar-06 1094 Feb-06 846 Jan-06 780
Iraqi Security Forces and Civilian Deaths Details
Note: This is an estimate based on news reports. This is not a definitive count.
U.S. Deaths Confirmed By The DoD: 2464 Reported U.S. Deaths Pending DoD Confirmation: 1 Total 2465
DoD Confirmation List Latest Coalition Fatality: May 29, 2006
Military Fatalities: By Month Period US UK Other* Total Avg Days 5-2006 61 9 1 71 2.37 30 4-2006 76 1 5 82 2.73 30 3-2006 31 0 2 33 1.06 31 2-2006 55 3 0 58 2.07 28 1-2006 62 2 0 64 2.06 31 12-2005 68 0 0 68 2.19 31 11-2005 84 1 1 86 2.87 30 10-2005 96 2 1 99 3.19 31 9-2005 49 3 0 52 1.73 30 8-2005 85 0 0 85 2.74 31 7-2005 54 3 1 58 1.87 31 6-2005 78 1 4 83 2.77 30 5-2005 80 2 6 88 2.84 31 4-2005 52 0 0 52 1.73 30 3-2005 35 1 3 39 1.26 31 2-2005 58 0 2 60 2.14 28 1-2005 107 10 10 127 4.1 31 12-2004 72 1 3 76 2.45 31 11-2004 137 4 0 141 4.7 30 10-2004 63 2 2 67 2.16 31 9-2004 80 3 4 87 2.9 30 8-2004 66 4 5 75 2.42 31 7-2004 54 1 3 58 1.87 31 6-2004 42 1 7 50 1.67 30 5-2004 80 0 4 84 2.71 31 4-2004 135 0 5 140 4.67 30 3-2004 52 0 0 52 1.68 31 2-2004 20 1 2 23 0.79 29 1-2004 47 5 0 52 1.68 31 12-2003 40 0 8 48 1.55 31 11-2003 82 1 27 110 3.67 30 10-2003 44 1 2 47 1.52 31 9-2003 31 1 1 33 1.1 30 8-2003 35 6 2 43 1.39 31 7-2003 48 1 0 49 1.58 31 6-2003 30 6 0 36 1.2 30 5-2003 37 4 0 41 1.32 31 4-2003 74 6 0 80 2.67 30 3-2003 65 27 0 92 7.67 12 Total 2465 113 111 2689 2.3 1168
Missing or Captured: US Casualties By Calendar Year Year US Deaths US Wounded 2003 486 2409 2004 848 7992 2005 846 5945 2006 285 1523 Total 2465 17869
*Other Coalition Countries: Country Total Australia 2 Bulgaria 13 Denmark 3 El Salvador 2 Estonia 2 Hungary 1 Italy 31 Kazakhstan 1 Latvia 1 Netherlands 2 Poland 17 Romania 2 Slovakia 3 Spain 11 Thailand 2 Ukraine 18
Non Military Deaths: Journalists Killed in Iraq An Incomplete List of Contractors Killed in Iraq Iraqi Body Count (External Link)
US Wounded by Week Period Wnd-RTD Wounded 03-20-2003 thru 04-01-2003 115 426 04-02-2004 thru 01-02-2005 4565 4875 01-03-2005 thru 12-20-2005 3946 2228 12-21-2005 thru 04-Jan-06 121 53 05-Jan-06 thru 11-Jan-06 65 26 12-Jan-06 thru 18-Jan-06 35 17 19-Jan-06 thru 25-Jan-06 42 34 26-Jan-06 thru 01-Feb-06 34 24 02-Feb-06 thru 08-Feb-06 24 23 09-Feb-06 thru 15-Feb-06 60 29 16-Feb-06 thru 23-Feb-06 40 42 24-Feb-06 thru 01-Mar-06 54 28 02-Mar-06 thru 08-Mar-06 44 54 09-Mar-06 thru 15-Mar-06 67 53 16-Mar-06 thru 22-Mar-06 96 49 23-Mar-06 thru 28-Mar-06 86 26 29-Mar-06 thru 07-Apr-06 60 28 08-Apr-06 thru 11-Apr-06 37 43 12-Apr-06 thru 18-Apr-06 58 41 19-Apr-06 thru 25-Apr-06 76 38 26-Apr-06 thru 02-May-06 55 57 03-May-06 thru 10-May-06 64 45 11-May-06 thru 17-May-06 42 63 18-May-06 thru 25-May-06 54 42 Total 9840 8344
Wnd-RTD: Wounded in Action Return to Duty within 72 hours
Wnd: Wounded in Action Not Return to Duty within 72 hours
Totals updated weekly by the DoD
View Complete Weekly Report
Some of The Wounded... Wounded In Action According to The DoD Period Wounded Apr-2006 403 Mar-2006 494 Feb-2006 340 Jan-2006 286 Dec-2005 412 Nov-2005 400 Oct-2005 605 Sep-2005 545 Aug-2005 541 Jul-2005 476 Jun-2005 511 May-2005 575 Apr-2005 596 Mar-2005 371 Feb-2005 415 Jan-2005 498 Dec-2004 544 Nov-2004 1425 Oct-2004 648 Sep-2004 706 Aug-2004 895 Jul-2004 552 Jun-2004 589 May-2004 758 Apr-2004 1212 Mar-2004 324 Feb-2004 150 Jan-2004 189 Dec-2003 261 Nov-2003 336 Oct-2003 413 Sep-2003 247 Aug-2003 181 Jul-2003 226 Jun-2003 147 May-2003 55 Apr-2003 340 Mar-2003 203 Total 17869
Last update from the DoD: 29-Apr-06
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Sunday, May 28, 2006
"Most of all, political scribes have to take off their cynical lenses through which they view every moral challenge as political spin." - Al Gore
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Friday, May 26, 2006
Regrets
Just want to point that Bush talked about stuff he "regrets."
The only "regrets" he mentioned were PR moves that turned out badly.
It's Memorial Day Weekend, and it didn't even occur to him to "regret" the loss of 2462 American soldiers.
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FUBAR
You know what's pathetic? That Bush finally admits to making some mistake and - when faced with disaster on a monumental scale - will only admit to a few poorly chosen words.
Even if he DOES believe that a War in Iraq was a good idea (and sadly, I think he does), it is very obvious that the execution of it has been entirely botched.
They are trying to occupy a hostile area the size of California with a tiny force of 130,000 troops; they left the borders wide open so Al Qaeda could come in; they can't leave the green zone because it's too dangerous; and the terrorists have a new training ground and a new base of operations in the Middle East.
Not only has Bush not HURT the terrorists - he has GIVEN THEM NEW TERRITORY.
And not because of his words. Because of his actions.
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They still don't get it.
As you probably know, Bush and Blair had a press conference where they decided to try and stem the damage to their reputation by actually ADMITTING what everyone else has known for three years.
BUSH: Saying, "Bring it on"; kind of tough talk, you know, that sent the wrong signal to people. I learned some lessons about expressing myself maybe in a little more sophisticated manner, you know. "Wanted, dead or alive"; that kind of talk. I think in certain parts of the world it was misinterpreted. And so I learned from that
"Misinterpreted"? "Bring it on" was misinterpreted? It didn't actually mean "Bring it on"? Then what, exactly, was it supposed to mean? "Waiter, waiter, there's a fly in my soup"?
No, I think they interpreted it dead right - you were just a damned fool to say it.
And by the way, there was nothing wrong with saying "Osama Bin Laden, Dead or Alive." That's one of the few things you did right. The problem is it was JUST words, and you had no intention of following through, even while you said it.
Regarding his trip to Baghdad, Blair said, "I came away thinking the challenge is still immense, but I also came away more certain than ever that we should rise to it."
Blair added, "I think it's easy to go back over mistakes that we may have made, but the biggest reason why Iraq has been difficult is the determination by our opponents to defeat us."
They started a war without figuring that our opponents would be determined to defeat us.
What did they think our opponents would do? Invite us in for tea?
Are these people total ignoramuses? I don't give a crap how right you think you are - If you kick in someone's door and come at them, they are going to try and defeat you. Duh.
Holy crap.
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Wednesday, May 24, 2006
The Chicks
I don't know how many fans they've lost, but they've gained at least one new one.
Check out their performance on Letterman. Courtesy of crooks and liars.
God bless 'em.
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Pat Robertson
Why does this clown still have a following?
Pat Robertson's Age-Defying Shake
Did you know that Pat Robertson can leg-press 2000 pounds! How does he do it?
One of Pat's secrets to keeping his energy high and his vitality soaring is his age-defying protein shake. Pat developed a delicious, refreshing shake, filled with energy-producing nutrients.
70 years old. Leg presses 2000 pounds. From drinking a SHAKE.
Never mind that it's WAY beyond the existing record.
Pathetic.
Via AMERICAblog
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Tuesday, May 23, 2006
I thought I'd use my tiny little megaphone to draw attention to an editorial by radio legend Pete Fornatale on the state of the radio.
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Of course not. God forbid, I might learn something.
President says he's unlikely to watch documentary on global warming
WASHINGTON - Is President Bush likely to see Al Gore’s documentary about global warming?
“Doubt it,” Bush said coolly Monday.
But Bush should watch it, Gore shot back. In fact, the former Democratic vice president offered to come to the White House any time, any day to show Bush either his documentary or a slide show on global warming that he’s shown more than 1,000 times around the world.
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No shit, Sherlock
Panel: Legislators Shouldn't Work Drunk
SALEM, Ore. (AP) -- Oregon legislators and staff members should not be drunk while performing their official duties, a citizen panel says.
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Monday, May 22, 2006
AT&T Sold Your Ass to the Government
Wired Magazine has a full expose on the NSA spying scandal from Whistle-Blower Mark Klein's class-action lawsuit.
In 2003 AT&T built "secret rooms" hidden deep in the bowels of its central offices in various cities, housing computer gear for a government spy operation which taps into the company's popular WorldNet service and the entire internet. These installations enable the government to look at every individual message on the internet and analyze exactly what people are doing. Documents showing the hardwire installation in San Francisco suggest that there are similar locations being installed in numerous other cities.
The physical arrangement, the timing of its construction, the government-imposed secrecy surrounding it and other factors all strongly suggest that its origins are rooted in the Defense Department's Total Information Awareness (TIA) program...
Read the article. ALL of the Documents are in pdf format here.
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Take a look at this remarkable email exchange between Rumsfeld's Spokesman, Larry (a.k.a. Curly Joe) Dirita, and War Correspondent Joe Galloway. This is remarkable, and Galloway deserves a medal.
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Sunday, May 21, 2006
Why does this not surprise me?
Cut taxes for the multi-millionaires.
And INCREASE them for TEEN-AGERS.
The $69 billion tax cut bill that President Bush signed this week tripled tax rates for teenagers with college savings funds, despite Mr. Bush's 1999 pledge to veto any tax increase.
Under the new law, teenagers age 14 to 17 with investment income will now be taxed at the same rate as their parents, not at their own rates. Long-term capital gains and dividends that had been taxed at 5 percent will now be taxed at 15 percent. Interest that had been taxed at 10 percent will now be taxed at as much as 35 percent.
It is really hard to believe how brazen these people are in their greed and elitism. The contempt that they feel for ordinary Americans is palpable. Not only do they screw people - they do it right in your face, and think you won't notice.
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Thursday, May 18, 2006
Illegal is more fun
According to Baltimore Sun, the NSA developed a program for the purpose of analyzing communication data in the late 1990. Unlike what they are doing now, the old program was legal and protected the privacy of Americans - and worked better.
They rejected it in favor of a system that was illegal, unnecessarily intrusive and didn't work so good.
But if you're Bush, you ALWAYS prefer the option that's illegal, intrusive and innefficient. I honestly think it gives the man the sort of rush that a teenager gets when he gets away with something.
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Rover defends his owner
"The American people like this president. His personal approval ratings are in the 60s. Job approval is lower. And what that says to me is that people like him, they respect him, he's somebody they feel a connection with, but they're just sour right now on the war. And that's the way it's going to be." - Karl Rove
Cognitive dissonance is what happens in the human brain when a human being is confronted with a fact which his preconceptions tell him cannot possibly be true.
Is Karl Rove - Bush's favorite Turdblossom and America's beloved pus-sack - becoming delusional?
His "personal approval" isn't anywhere NEAR the 60s and people DON'T like this President. (New York Times pdf poll here) In fact, his JOB approval is one percentage point HIGHER than his "personal approval. " He has more than 50% approval in exactly 3 states - Utah, Idaho and Wyoming. NOBODY approves of him, except a few whackjobs.
Polysigh put it best:
"As for Rove's comment that Bush would be popular but for the Iraq War, that's like saying that if it weren't for the Alps, Switzerland would be flat."
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Tuesday, May 16, 2006
The Constitutional Crisis that Walks like a Man.
The FBI has confirmed that they do, indeed, monitor reporters' phone calls.
Approximately one year ago, we were told that they did not need a warrant because they were only monitoring international calls.
Then, they said that, well, actually were monitoring SOME calls where one of the parties was domestic and one was international.
"If someone is calling Al Qaeda," said Bush, "we want to know why."
Which is interesting, because it implies that they know the terrorists' telephone numbers, which makes you wonder why they don't just round them up instead of collecting their phone bills.
Then they said that they sometimes they inadvertently listen to purely domestic calls.
Then they tell us - just this week - that, well, all that was bullshit. They have actually been collecting info on every single phone call made by every single American with almost no exceptions.
But OF COURSE we have nothing to worry about. We can trust THEM. Never mind the fact that they have lied about this again and again and again. We can trust them. They aren't actually listening in. It's for TERRORISM. So they say.
But you can't name a single terrorist who has been arrested in the last five years as a result of this spying. Not one.
And NOW, we find out that they AREN'T checking on terrorists - they are checking on reporters. They are using phone records to find out who reporters are using as sources. They are REALLY after anyone who makes them look bad by revealing the truth to the American People.
You would figure even the REPUBLICANS would wake up and realize that George W. Bush is a walking Constitutional Crisis who has to be stopped while we still have something that we can call "America" left. And they would, if they valued their nation more than their party.
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Monday, May 15, 2006
Push Back Poll
I said it was a push poll, and I was right.
From a Newsweek poll, released one day after the Washington Post Push Poll:
As you may know, there are reports that the NSA, a government intelligence agency, has been collecting the phone call records of Americans. The agency doesn't actually listen to the calls but logs in nearly every phone number to create a database of calls made within the United States. Which of the following comes CLOSER to your own view of this domestic surveillance program:
It is a necessary tool to combat terrorism -- 41
It goes too far in invading people’s privacy -- 53
Don’t know -- 6
Note that the question doesn't read like a apologia for data mining - as the Washington Post poll did.
But why was the Washington Post so anxious to release a poll that backed up the Bush administration's wishes on the same day that the news broke?
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Your tax dollars at work
You have to watch out for those Terrorist Anchormen:
Federal Source to ABC News: We Know Who You're Calling
Brian Ross and Richard Esposito Report:
A senior federal law enforcement official tells ABC News the government is tracking the phone numbers we (Brian Ross and Richard Esposito) call in an effort to root out confidential sources.
"It's time for you to get some new cell phones, quick," the source told us in an in-person conversation.
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Same script.
Ah. So His Incompetence is probably going to use the National Guard to patrol the border. He says it's "only temporary."
Temporary till when? Just after the 2006 elections?
This is typical. God forbid border patrol get done by actual border patrol. That would make sense. Instead, let's assume that the MILITARY doesn't have enough of a role.
The REAL problem is that Bush is too damned incompetent to deal with anything using civilian means - like SANE Presidents always have. Instead, he turns to the military as his tool of choice for absolutely everything.
And pardon me for wondering if President Codpiece isn't still trying to compensate for the cowardice and inadequacy that he showed during Vietnam. Using OTHER people's blood and sweat, of course.
So he will get to dress up in a uniform, strut around, use jeeps and tanks and helicopters and all sorts of neat stuff, and basically play war in a place where there isn't one, and it will make for a great photo-op. He'll get his picture taken with a helicopter. Look, mommy! Don't I look cool?
God, I wish we had a President who was a frigging grown-up, instead of one who is stuck in adolescence and makes America suffer so he can feel impressive.
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Sunday, May 14, 2006
Ooops.
I posted the info from Jason Leopold (of truthout) that Rove had been indicted. Not WOULD be - HAD been. I think we would have heard something by now. I guess Leopold's source isn't all that reliable, and it's the last time I post something unsubstantiated from truthout.
Here's hoping that Leopold proves to be right a bit too early anyway.
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Saturday, May 13, 2006
Sue the bastards.
If you own stock in any phone companies, it's time to sell short. They could lose billions in class-action lawsuits, and lose MORE money from an exodus of customers.
Two suits have already been filed.
Verizon Sued for Giving NSA Phone Records Attorneys Bruce Afran and Carl Mayer filed the lawsuit Friday afternoon in federal district court in Manhattan, where Verizon is headquartered.
The lawsuit asks the court to stop Verizon from turning over any more records to the NSA without a warrant or consent of the subscriber.
"This is the largest and most vast intrusion of civil liberties we've ever seen in the United States," Afran said of the NSA program.
The lawsuit seeks $1,000 for each violation of the Telecommunications Act, or $5 billion if the case is certified as class-action.
And this is a DIFFERENT one:
Verizon Faces New $20B Suit over NSA Spying Complicity
Upping the ante in what may be a high-stakes legal battle, an Upstate New York lawyer filed a $20 billion class-action lawsuit against Verizon last week, charging that the company violated customer confidentiality in aiding warrantless eavesdropping by a federal spy agency.
Here's the tally of who has and has not violated the privacy of American citizens:
Verizon (land-line), AT&T, and BellSouth have all behaved in a fundamentally Unamerican manner.
On the other hand, Qwest is the only large landline carrier that refused to complied with the Bush's fascist requests. If you have one of the other three, switch to Qwest.
Cellular phones seem largely clean. Verizon Wireless, T-Mobile, Virgin Mobile and Cox all say that they have not provided their records to anyone.
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Fitzmas?
Truthout now says that Rove has BEEN indicted, but I don't see it in the tradition media.
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Shocked
The NSA Whistleblower says that people are going to be shocked.
[Tice] said he plans to tell the committee staffers the NSA conducted illegal and unconstitutional surveillance of U.S. citizens while he was there with the knowledge of Hayden. … “I think the people I talk to next week are going to be shocked when I tell them what I have to tell them. It’s pretty hard to believe,” Tice said.
I won't be shocked, but it's about time the country got shocked.
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Friday, May 12, 2006
According to truthout, Rove has told the White House that he will be indicted.
Within the last week, Karl Rove told President Bush and Chief of Staff Joshua Bolten, as well as a few other high level administration officials, that he will be indicted in the CIA leak case and will immediately resign his White House job when the special counsel publicly announces the charges against him, according to sources.
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Raid kills roaches dead.
The FBI has raided the home of Dusty Foggo (NOT the name of a fictional character). The guy who just resigned as the #3 man in the CIA.
I wonder why Goss REALLY resigned. This CAN'T be a coincidence.
Move along, folks, nothing to see here....
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Push poll
You may have read - and been shocked - by reports that a poll says that 2/3rds of Americans have no problem with the Bush administration mining phone calls.
Here is the actual question:
It's been reported that the National Security Agency has been collecting the phone call records of tens of millions of Americans. It then analyzes calling patterns in an effort to identify possible terrorism suspects, without listening to or recording the conversations. Would you consider this an acceptable or unacceptable way for the federal government to investigate terrorism? Do you feel that way strongly or somewhat?
Note that the question itself ASSUMES that the act is benign, and states things as fact that WE DON'T KNOW (such as that conversations are not listened to or recorded). The question is framed in terms of fighting terrorism, falsifies the known facts, fails to mention the questionable legality, and was obviously thrown together on the fly. For many poll respondents, this was probably the first time they HEARD about it.
This is a push poll.
And I suspect that other polls released in the coming days will show very different results.
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Today?
Tweetybird Matthews thinks Rove might be indicted today.
From Imus this morning"
Transcript:
MATTHEWS: If, however, something happens with Karl Rove, we’re going to go to general quarters around here.
IMUS: What does that mean?
MATTHEWS: Meaning we will be taping probably on Saturday or late night because everything will change. Last time, when he picked up Scooter, when he nailed him 30 years of charges, that happened on 1:00 on a Friday. So we don’t know when it might happen, if it’s going happen.
IMUS: Are we expecting something with Karl Rove today?
MATTHEWS: Well, it could be today. It could be next week. Everybody is buzzing about when or if. It’s a big if, big when. There is a lot of talk because he is still being interviewing by the special prosecutor. He keeps being hauled before the grand jury. So something is going on here with the special prosecutor. We don’t know whether he is going to clear him or nail him.
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GENEVA (Reuters) - The United States has again refused the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) access to terrorism suspects held in secret detention centers, the humanitarian agency said on Friday.
Isn't it interesting that the whole motto of this administration is "If you have done nothing wrong, you have nothing to hide"?
Explains why they hide everything.
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Headline says it all
Bush denies spying infringes on privacy
Roll THAT phrase around in your head a few times.
Lewis Carroll wishes HE had thought of that one, I'm sure
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Thursday, May 11, 2006
Gonzales Lied
As surely as weasels are weasels.
From the Muckraker:
Did Gonzales Mislead Congress about NSA Program?
By Paul Kiel - May 11, 2006, 2:32 PM
Reacting to today's news that the NSA is "amassing information about the calls of ordinary Americans," Reps. Bennie G. Thompson (D-MS) and Rep. Zoe Lofgren (D-CA) have put out a statement questioning the legality of the program.
Their statement contains this: "when the Attorney General was forced to testify before the House Judiciary Committee a few weeks ago, he misled the Committee about the existence of the program."
Here's what they're referring to. On April 6, 2006, Attorney General Alberto Gonzales testified before the House Judiciary Committee, and in one exchange, Rep. Gerald Nadler (D-NY) tried to nail him down:
NADLER: Number two, can you assure us that there is no warrantless surveillance of calls between two Americans within the United States?
GONZALES: That is not what the president has authorized.
NADLER: Can you assure us that it's not being done?
GONZALES: As I indicated in response to an earlier question, no technology is perfect.
NADLER: OK.
GONZALES: We do have minimization procedures in place...
NADLER: But you're not doing that deliberately?
GONZALES: That is correct.
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"There's no doubt in my mind there are safeguards in place to make sure the program focuses on calls coming from outside the United States in, with an al Qaeda -- from a -- with a belief that there's an al Qaeda person making the call to somebody here in the States, or vice versa -- but not domestic calls." - Bush, 01/26/06.
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Bush lies some more
President Deer-In-The-Headlights decided to throw a little gasoline on the fire:
Facing intense criticism from Congress, President Bush did not confirm the work of the National Security Agency but sought to assure Americans that their privacy is being "fiercely protected."
"We are not mining or trolling through the personal lives of innocent Americans," Bush said before leaving for a commencement address at Mississippi Gulf Coast Community College in Biloxi.
Well, gee whiz, codpiece-for-brains, you ALSO said that you were only listening to INTERNATIONAL Communications. You ALSO said it was only a FEW HUNDRED.
Liar.
Every new story that comes out shows that the administration lied about the last story that came out but they say that we should believe them this time.
NOBODY is that gullible.
By the way, giving the White House info on yur phone calls was VOLUNTARY on the part of the phone companies. Qwest was the ONLY major carrier to refuse. So if you are with AT&T or Verizon, switch to Qwest. And call them and let them know why. DEMAND that they respect your privacy.
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It's all true
Everything you thought MIGHT be true IS.
NSA has massive database of Americans' phone calls
The National Security Agency has been secretly collecting the phone call records of tens of millions of Americans, using data provided by AT&T, Verizon and BellSouth, people with direct knowledge of the arrangement told USA TODAY.
The NSA program reaches into homes and businesses across the nation by amassing information about the calls of ordinary Americans — most of whom aren't suspected of any crime. This program does not involve the NSA listening to or recording conversations. But the spy agency is using the data to analyze calling patterns in an effort to detect terrorist activity, sources said in separate interviews.
For the customers of these companies, it means that the government has detailed records of calls they made — across town or across the country — to family members, co-workers, business contacts and others.
The sources would talk only under a guarantee of anonymity because the NSA program is secret.
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Wednesday, May 10, 2006
Colbert - SOMEBODY gets it.
Here's a great article from the TV Critic at the Chicago Sun-Times about Colbert's public evisceration of His Ignorance. This may be the only thing I have read in the mainstream press that actually understood the reaction to Colbert's speech.
How did Bush tickle reporters? He made fun of the fact that he can barely speak English (he is quite simply the worst communicator of all U.S. presidents), that our vice president is a heartless face-shooter, and that Bush is basically an idiot.
Ha ha, our "war president" knows he's a village idiot? To members of the White House press corps, that's some real funny stuff. To non-insiders, this looked like another example of good old boys and gals slapping each other on the back.
Colbert's routine was more remarkable for its unique and creative brazenness. He joked that Bush's presidency is like the Hindenburg; that Bush's wiretappers were monitoring this very event, and that the White House press corps, sitting in front of Colbert, gave Bush a free pass, scandal after scandal, until recently (when his polls numbers dropped).
How's this for a newsworthy lead? It was perhaps the first time in Bush's tenure that the president was forced to sit and listen to any American cite the litany of criminal and corruption allegations that have piled up against his administration. And mouth-tense Bush and first lady Laura Bush fled as soon as possible afterward.
From whom were they fleeing? A star comedian pretending to be a Fox News-like blowhard doing a sort of performance art that America hasn't witnessed nationally since the days of Andy Kaufman. Even if Colbert's bit had been reported as a train wreck, that would have sufficed. Instead, shocking lines like the following were barely covered by any traditional organ except industry magazine Editor & Publisher: "I stand by" Bush, Colbert cracked, "because he stands for things. Not only for things, he stands on things. Things like aircraft carriers and rubble, and recently flooded city squares. And that sends a strong message that no matter what happens to America, she will always rebound with the most powerfully staged photo ops in the world."
For TV reporters in particular to quote that gruesome line would be an agreement with Colbert, that they helped Bush mix politics with corruption from the ashes of 9/11 ("aircraft carriers and rubble"), and failed to see through Bush's politicization of the drowning of an American city after a hurricane ("recently flooded city squares").
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Brownie, you're doing a heckuva job.
The question isn't "Why do only 31% still support these incompetents" - the question is, "why the hell is it still that high?"
WASHINGTON — Hours after Hurricane Katrina hit, former FEMA director Michael Brown dismissed reports that floodwaters had breached New Orleans' levees, and he obsessed over media coverage of his agency, according to newly released e-mails.
At one point early that morning, Brown reported to an aide that he was "sitting in the chair, putting mousse in my hair" while waiting for media interviews to begin.
What total dicks.
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Poll vault
(CBS) President Bush and the Republican Congress show nearly record low ratings while Democrats are viewed much more favorably in their performance on the issues that matter most to Americans, according to the latest CBS News/New York Times poll.
Well, that just great. You think - maybe - the Democrats MIGHT just stop acting like their afraid that challenging thi clown will hurt them?
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That's my theory: poor George would be confused by having two guys around named "Snow," and they want to minimize his befuddlement.
Not that it will help: "How come Snow is still here? I thought we got rid of Snow!"
"That's a different Snow, Mr. President."
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Iraq Coalition Casualties
Military Fatalities: By Time Period
Period US UK Other* Total Avg Days 5 313 15 8 336 2.02 166 4 715 13 18 746 2.35 318 3 579 25 27 631 2.92 216 2 718 27 58 803 1.89 424 1 140 33 0 173 4.02 43 Total 2465 113 111 2689 2.3 1167
Time Periods Defined
Iraqi Security Forces and Civilian Deaths Period Total May-06 1002 Apr-06 1010 Mar-06 1094 Feb-06 846 Jan-06 780
Iraqi Security Forces and Civilian Deaths Details
Note: This is an estimate based on news reports. This is not a definitive count.
U.S. Deaths Confirmed By The DoD: 2464 Reported U.S. Deaths Pending DoD Confirmation: 1 Total 2465
DoD Confirmation List Latest Coalition Fatality: May 29, 2006
Military Fatalities: By Month Period US UK Other* Total Avg Days 5-2006 61 9 1 71 2.37 30 4-2006 76 1 5 82 2.73 30 3-2006 31 0 2 33 1.06 31 2-2006 55 3 0 58 2.07 28 1-2006 62 2 0 64 2.06 31 12-2005 68 0 0 68 2.19 31 11-2005 84 1 1 86 2.87 30 10-2005 96 2 1 99 3.19 31 9-2005 49 3 0 52 1.73 30 8-2005 85 0 0 85 2.74 31 7-2005 54 3 1 58 1.87 31 6-2005 78 1 4 83 2.77 30 5-2005 80 2 6 88 2.84 31 4-2005 52 0 0 52 1.73 30 3-2005 35 1 3 39 1.26 31 2-2005 58 0 2 60 2.14 28 1-2005 107 10 10 127 4.1 31 12-2004 72 1 3 76 2.45 31 11-2004 137 4 0 141 4.7 30 10-2004 63 2 2 67 2.16 31 9-2004 80 3 4 87 2.9 30 8-2004 66 4 5 75 2.42 31 7-2004 54 1 3 58 1.87 31 6-2004 42 1 7 50 1.67 30 5-2004 80 0 4 84 2.71 31 4-2004 135 0 5 140 4.67 30 3-2004 52 0 0 52 1.68 31 2-2004 20 1 2 23 0.79 29 1-2004 47 5 0 52 1.68 31 12-2003 40 0 8 48 1.55 31 11-2003 82 1 27 110 3.67 30 10-2003 44 1 2 47 1.52 31 9-2003 31 1 1 33 1.1 30 8-2003 35 6 2 43 1.39 31 7-2003 48 1 0 49 1.58 31 6-2003 30 6 0 36 1.2 30 5-2003 37 4 0 41 1.32 31 4-2003 74 6 0 80 2.67 30 3-2003 65 27 0 92 7.67 12 Total 2465 113 111 2689 2.3 1168
Missing or Captured: US Casualties By Calendar Year Year US Deaths US Wounded 2003 486 2409 2004 848 7992 2005 846 5945 2006 285 1523 Total 2465 17869
*Other Coalition Countries: Country Total Australia 2 Bulgaria 13 Denmark 3 El Salvador 2 Estonia 2 Hungary 1 Italy 31 Kazakhstan 1 Latvia 1 Netherlands 2 Poland 17 Romania 2 Slovakia 3 Spain 11 Thailand 2 Ukraine 18
Non Military Deaths: Journalists Killed in Iraq An Incomplete List of Contractors Killed in Iraq Iraqi Body Count (External Link)
US Wounded by Week Period Wnd-RTD Wounded 03-20-2003 thru 04-01-2003 115 426 04-02-2004 thru 01-02-2005 4565 4875 01-03-2005 thru 12-20-2005 3946 2228 12-21-2005 thru 04-Jan-06 121 53 05-Jan-06 thru 11-Jan-06 65 26 12-Jan-06 thru 18-Jan-06 35 17 19-Jan-06 thru 25-Jan-06 42 34 26-Jan-06 thru 01-Feb-06 34 24 02-Feb-06 thru 08-Feb-06 24 23 09-Feb-06 thru 15-Feb-06 60 29 16-Feb-06 thru 23-Feb-06 40 42 24-Feb-06 thru 01-Mar-06 54 28 02-Mar-06 thru 08-Mar-06 44 54 09-Mar-06 thru 15-Mar-06 67 53 16-Mar-06 thru 22-Mar-06 96 49 23-Mar-06 thru 28-Mar-06 86 26 29-Mar-06 thru 07-Apr-06 60 28 08-Apr-06 thru 11-Apr-06 37 43 12-Apr-06 thru 18-Apr-06 58 41 19-Apr-06 thru 25-Apr-06 76 38 26-Apr-06 thru 02-May-06 55 57 03-May-06 thru 10-May-06 64 45 11-May-06 thru 17-May-06 42 63 18-May-06 thru 25-May-06 54 42 Total 9840 8344
Wnd-RTD: Wounded in Action Return to Duty within 72 hours
Wnd: Wounded in Action Not Return to Duty within 72 hours
Totals updated weekly by the DoD
View Complete Weekly Report
Some of The Wounded... Wounded In Action According to The DoD Period Wounded Apr-2006 403 Mar-2006 494 Feb-2006 340 Jan-2006 286 Dec-2005 412 Nov-2005 400 Oct-2005 605 Sep-2005 545 Aug-2005 541 Jul-2005 476 Jun-2005 511 May-2005 575 Apr-2005 596 Mar-2005 371 Feb-2005 415 Jan-2005 498 Dec-2004 544 Nov-2004 1425 Oct-2004 648 Sep-2004 706 Aug-2004 895 Jul-2004 552 Jun-2004 589 May-2004 758 Apr-2004 1212 Mar-2004 324 Feb-2004 150 Jan-2004 189 Dec-2003 261 Nov-2003 336 Oct-2003 413 Sep-2003 247 Aug-2003 181 Jul-2003 226 Jun-2003 147 May-2003 55 Apr-2003 340 Mar-2003 203 Total 17869
Last update from the DoD: 29-Apr-06
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Sunday, May 28, 2006
"Most of all, political scribes have to take off their cynical lenses through which they view every moral challenge as political spin." - Al Gore
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Friday, May 26, 2006
Regrets
Just want to point that Bush talked about stuff he "regrets."
The only "regrets" he mentioned were PR moves that turned out badly.
It's Memorial Day Weekend, and it didn't even occur to him to "regret" the loss of 2462 American soldiers.
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FUBAR
You know what's pathetic? That Bush finally admits to making some mistake and - when faced with disaster on a monumental scale - will only admit to a few poorly chosen words.
Even if he DOES believe that a War in Iraq was a good idea (and sadly, I think he does), it is very obvious that the execution of it has been entirely botched.
They are trying to occupy a hostile area the size of California with a tiny force of 130,000 troops; they left the borders wide open so Al Qaeda could come in; they can't leave the green zone because it's too dangerous; and the terrorists have a new training ground and a new base of operations in the Middle East.
Not only has Bush not HURT the terrorists - he has GIVEN THEM NEW TERRITORY.
And not because of his words. Because of his actions.
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They still don't get it.
As you probably know, Bush and Blair had a press conference where they decided to try and stem the damage to their reputation by actually ADMITTING what everyone else has known for three years.
BUSH: Saying, "Bring it on"; kind of tough talk, you know, that sent the wrong signal to people. I learned some lessons about expressing myself maybe in a little more sophisticated manner, you know. "Wanted, dead or alive"; that kind of talk. I think in certain parts of the world it was misinterpreted. And so I learned from that
"Misinterpreted"? "Bring it on" was misinterpreted? It didn't actually mean "Bring it on"? Then what, exactly, was it supposed to mean? "Waiter, waiter, there's a fly in my soup"?
No, I think they interpreted it dead right - you were just a damned fool to say it.
And by the way, there was nothing wrong with saying "Osama Bin Laden, Dead or Alive." That's one of the few things you did right. The problem is it was JUST words, and you had no intention of following through, even while you said it.
Regarding his trip to Baghdad, Blair said, "I came away thinking the challenge is still immense, but I also came away more certain than ever that we should rise to it."
Blair added, "I think it's easy to go back over mistakes that we may have made, but the biggest reason why Iraq has been difficult is the determination by our opponents to defeat us."
They started a war without figuring that our opponents would be determined to defeat us.
What did they think our opponents would do? Invite us in for tea?
Are these people total ignoramuses? I don't give a crap how right you think you are - If you kick in someone's door and come at them, they are going to try and defeat you. Duh.
Holy crap.
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Wednesday, May 24, 2006
The Chicks
I don't know how many fans they've lost, but they've gained at least one new one.
Check out their performance on Letterman. Courtesy of crooks and liars.
God bless 'em.
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Pat Robertson
Why does this clown still have a following?
Pat Robertson's Age-Defying Shake
Did you know that Pat Robertson can leg-press 2000 pounds! How does he do it?
One of Pat's secrets to keeping his energy high and his vitality soaring is his age-defying protein shake. Pat developed a delicious, refreshing shake, filled with energy-producing nutrients.
70 years old. Leg presses 2000 pounds. From drinking a SHAKE.
Never mind that it's WAY beyond the existing record.
Pathetic.
Via AMERICAblog
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Tuesday, May 23, 2006
I thought I'd use my tiny little megaphone to draw attention to an editorial by radio legend Pete Fornatale on the state of the radio.
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Of course not. God forbid, I might learn something.
President says he's unlikely to watch documentary on global warming
WASHINGTON - Is President Bush likely to see Al Gore’s documentary about global warming?
“Doubt it,” Bush said coolly Monday.
But Bush should watch it, Gore shot back. In fact, the former Democratic vice president offered to come to the White House any time, any day to show Bush either his documentary or a slide show on global warming that he’s shown more than 1,000 times around the world.
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No shit, Sherlock
Panel: Legislators Shouldn't Work Drunk
SALEM, Ore. (AP) -- Oregon legislators and staff members should not be drunk while performing their official duties, a citizen panel says.
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Monday, May 22, 2006
AT&T Sold Your Ass to the Government
Wired Magazine has a full expose on the NSA spying scandal from Whistle-Blower Mark Klein's class-action lawsuit.
In 2003 AT&T built "secret rooms" hidden deep in the bowels of its central offices in various cities, housing computer gear for a government spy operation which taps into the company's popular WorldNet service and the entire internet. These installations enable the government to look at every individual message on the internet and analyze exactly what people are doing. Documents showing the hardwire installation in San Francisco suggest that there are similar locations being installed in numerous other cities.
The physical arrangement, the timing of its construction, the government-imposed secrecy surrounding it and other factors all strongly suggest that its origins are rooted in the Defense Department's Total Information Awareness (TIA) program...
Read the article. ALL of the Documents are in pdf format here.
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Take a look at this remarkable email exchange between Rumsfeld's Spokesman, Larry (a.k.a. Curly Joe) Dirita, and War Correspondent Joe Galloway. This is remarkable, and Galloway deserves a medal.
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Sunday, May 21, 2006
Why does this not surprise me?
Cut taxes for the multi-millionaires.
And INCREASE them for TEEN-AGERS.
The $69 billion tax cut bill that President Bush signed this week tripled tax rates for teenagers with college savings funds, despite Mr. Bush's 1999 pledge to veto any tax increase.
Under the new law, teenagers age 14 to 17 with investment income will now be taxed at the same rate as their parents, not at their own rates. Long-term capital gains and dividends that had been taxed at 5 percent will now be taxed at 15 percent. Interest that had been taxed at 10 percent will now be taxed at as much as 35 percent.
It is really hard to believe how brazen these people are in their greed and elitism. The contempt that they feel for ordinary Americans is palpable. Not only do they screw people - they do it right in your face, and think you won't notice.
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Thursday, May 18, 2006
Illegal is more fun
According to Baltimore Sun, the NSA developed a program for the purpose of analyzing communication data in the late 1990. Unlike what they are doing now, the old program was legal and protected the privacy of Americans - and worked better.
They rejected it in favor of a system that was illegal, unnecessarily intrusive and didn't work so good.
But if you're Bush, you ALWAYS prefer the option that's illegal, intrusive and innefficient. I honestly think it gives the man the sort of rush that a teenager gets when he gets away with something.
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Rover defends his owner
"The American people like this president. His personal approval ratings are in the 60s. Job approval is lower. And what that says to me is that people like him, they respect him, he's somebody they feel a connection with, but they're just sour right now on the war. And that's the way it's going to be." - Karl Rove
Cognitive dissonance is what happens in the human brain when a human being is confronted with a fact which his preconceptions tell him cannot possibly be true.
Is Karl Rove - Bush's favorite Turdblossom and America's beloved pus-sack - becoming delusional?
His "personal approval" isn't anywhere NEAR the 60s and people DON'T like this President. (New York Times pdf poll here) In fact, his JOB approval is one percentage point HIGHER than his "personal approval. " He has more than 50% approval in exactly 3 states - Utah, Idaho and Wyoming. NOBODY approves of him, except a few whackjobs.
Polysigh put it best:
"As for Rove's comment that Bush would be popular but for the Iraq War, that's like saying that if it weren't for the Alps, Switzerland would be flat."
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Tuesday, May 16, 2006
The Constitutional Crisis that Walks like a Man.
The FBI has confirmed that they do, indeed, monitor reporters' phone calls.
Approximately one year ago, we were told that they did not need a warrant because they were only monitoring international calls.
Then, they said that, well, actually were monitoring SOME calls where one of the parties was domestic and one was international.
"If someone is calling Al Qaeda," said Bush, "we want to know why."
Which is interesting, because it implies that they know the terrorists' telephone numbers, which makes you wonder why they don't just round them up instead of collecting their phone bills.
Then they said that they sometimes they inadvertently listen to purely domestic calls.
Then they tell us - just this week - that, well, all that was bullshit. They have actually been collecting info on every single phone call made by every single American with almost no exceptions.
But OF COURSE we have nothing to worry about. We can trust THEM. Never mind the fact that they have lied about this again and again and again. We can trust them. They aren't actually listening in. It's for TERRORISM. So they say.
But you can't name a single terrorist who has been arrested in the last five years as a result of this spying. Not one.
And NOW, we find out that they AREN'T checking on terrorists - they are checking on reporters. They are using phone records to find out who reporters are using as sources. They are REALLY after anyone who makes them look bad by revealing the truth to the American People.
You would figure even the REPUBLICANS would wake up and realize that George W. Bush is a walking Constitutional Crisis who has to be stopped while we still have something that we can call "America" left. And they would, if they valued their nation more than their party.
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Monday, May 15, 2006
Push Back Poll
I said it was a push poll, and I was right.
From a Newsweek poll, released one day after the Washington Post Push Poll:
As you may know, there are reports that the NSA, a government intelligence agency, has been collecting the phone call records of Americans. The agency doesn't actually listen to the calls but logs in nearly every phone number to create a database of calls made within the United States. Which of the following comes CLOSER to your own view of this domestic surveillance program:
It is a necessary tool to combat terrorism -- 41
It goes too far in invading people’s privacy -- 53
Don’t know -- 6
Note that the question doesn't read like a apologia for data mining - as the Washington Post poll did.
But why was the Washington Post so anxious to release a poll that backed up the Bush administration's wishes on the same day that the news broke?
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Your tax dollars at work
You have to watch out for those Terrorist Anchormen:
Federal Source to ABC News: We Know Who You're Calling
Brian Ross and Richard Esposito Report:
A senior federal law enforcement official tells ABC News the government is tracking the phone numbers we (Brian Ross and Richard Esposito) call in an effort to root out confidential sources.
"It's time for you to get some new cell phones, quick," the source told us in an in-person conversation.
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Same script.
Ah. So His Incompetence is probably going to use the National Guard to patrol the border. He says it's "only temporary."
Temporary till when? Just after the 2006 elections?
This is typical. God forbid border patrol get done by actual border patrol. That would make sense. Instead, let's assume that the MILITARY doesn't have enough of a role.
The REAL problem is that Bush is too damned incompetent to deal with anything using civilian means - like SANE Presidents always have. Instead, he turns to the military as his tool of choice for absolutely everything.
And pardon me for wondering if President Codpiece isn't still trying to compensate for the cowardice and inadequacy that he showed during Vietnam. Using OTHER people's blood and sweat, of course.
So he will get to dress up in a uniform, strut around, use jeeps and tanks and helicopters and all sorts of neat stuff, and basically play war in a place where there isn't one, and it will make for a great photo-op. He'll get his picture taken with a helicopter. Look, mommy! Don't I look cool?
God, I wish we had a President who was a frigging grown-up, instead of one who is stuck in adolescence and makes America suffer so he can feel impressive.
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Sunday, May 14, 2006
Ooops.
I posted the info from Jason Leopold (of truthout) that Rove had been indicted. Not WOULD be - HAD been. I think we would have heard something by now. I guess Leopold's source isn't all that reliable, and it's the last time I post something unsubstantiated from truthout.
Here's hoping that Leopold proves to be right a bit too early anyway.
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Saturday, May 13, 2006
Sue the bastards.
If you own stock in any phone companies, it's time to sell short. They could lose billions in class-action lawsuits, and lose MORE money from an exodus of customers.
Two suits have already been filed.
Verizon Sued for Giving NSA Phone Records Attorneys Bruce Afran and Carl Mayer filed the lawsuit Friday afternoon in federal district court in Manhattan, where Verizon is headquartered.
The lawsuit asks the court to stop Verizon from turning over any more records to the NSA without a warrant or consent of the subscriber.
"This is the largest and most vast intrusion of civil liberties we've ever seen in the United States," Afran said of the NSA program.
The lawsuit seeks $1,000 for each violation of the Telecommunications Act, or $5 billion if the case is certified as class-action.
And this is a DIFFERENT one:
Verizon Faces New $20B Suit over NSA Spying Complicity
Upping the ante in what may be a high-stakes legal battle, an Upstate New York lawyer filed a $20 billion class-action lawsuit against Verizon last week, charging that the company violated customer confidentiality in aiding warrantless eavesdropping by a federal spy agency.
Here's the tally of who has and has not violated the privacy of American citizens:
Verizon (land-line), AT&T, and BellSouth have all behaved in a fundamentally Unamerican manner.
On the other hand, Qwest is the only large landline carrier that refused to complied with the Bush's fascist requests. If you have one of the other three, switch to Qwest.
Cellular phones seem largely clean. Verizon Wireless, T-Mobile, Virgin Mobile and Cox all say that they have not provided their records to anyone.
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Fitzmas?
Truthout now says that Rove has BEEN indicted, but I don't see it in the tradition media.
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Shocked
The NSA Whistleblower says that people are going to be shocked.
[Tice] said he plans to tell the committee staffers the NSA conducted illegal and unconstitutional surveillance of U.S. citizens while he was there with the knowledge of Hayden. … “I think the people I talk to next week are going to be shocked when I tell them what I have to tell them. It’s pretty hard to believe,” Tice said.
I won't be shocked, but it's about time the country got shocked.
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Friday, May 12, 2006
According to truthout, Rove has told the White House that he will be indicted.
Within the last week, Karl Rove told President Bush and Chief of Staff Joshua Bolten, as well as a few other high level administration officials, that he will be indicted in the CIA leak case and will immediately resign his White House job when the special counsel publicly announces the charges against him, according to sources.
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Raid kills roaches dead.
The FBI has raided the home of Dusty Foggo (NOT the name of a fictional character). The guy who just resigned as the #3 man in the CIA.
I wonder why Goss REALLY resigned. This CAN'T be a coincidence.
Move along, folks, nothing to see here....
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Push poll
You may have read - and been shocked - by reports that a poll says that 2/3rds of Americans have no problem with the Bush administration mining phone calls.
Here is the actual question:
It's been reported that the National Security Agency has been collecting the phone call records of tens of millions of Americans. It then analyzes calling patterns in an effort to identify possible terrorism suspects, without listening to or recording the conversations. Would you consider this an acceptable or unacceptable way for the federal government to investigate terrorism? Do you feel that way strongly or somewhat?
Note that the question itself ASSUMES that the act is benign, and states things as fact that WE DON'T KNOW (such as that conversations are not listened to or recorded). The question is framed in terms of fighting terrorism, falsifies the known facts, fails to mention the questionable legality, and was obviously thrown together on the fly. For many poll respondents, this was probably the first time they HEARD about it.
This is a push poll.
And I suspect that other polls released in the coming days will show very different results.
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Today?
Tweetybird Matthews thinks Rove might be indicted today.
From Imus this morning"
Transcript:
MATTHEWS: If, however, something happens with Karl Rove, we’re going to go to general quarters around here.
IMUS: What does that mean?
MATTHEWS: Meaning we will be taping probably on Saturday or late night because everything will change. Last time, when he picked up Scooter, when he nailed him 30 years of charges, that happened on 1:00 on a Friday. So we don’t know when it might happen, if it’s going happen.
IMUS: Are we expecting something with Karl Rove today?
MATTHEWS: Well, it could be today. It could be next week. Everybody is buzzing about when or if. It’s a big if, big when. There is a lot of talk because he is still being interviewing by the special prosecutor. He keeps being hauled before the grand jury. So something is going on here with the special prosecutor. We don’t know whether he is going to clear him or nail him.
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GENEVA (Reuters) - The United States has again refused the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) access to terrorism suspects held in secret detention centers, the humanitarian agency said on Friday.
Isn't it interesting that the whole motto of this administration is "If you have done nothing wrong, you have nothing to hide"?
Explains why they hide everything.
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Headline says it all
Bush denies spying infringes on privacy
Roll THAT phrase around in your head a few times.
Lewis Carroll wishes HE had thought of that one, I'm sure
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Thursday, May 11, 2006
Gonzales Lied
As surely as weasels are weasels.
From the Muckraker:
Did Gonzales Mislead Congress about NSA Program?
By Paul Kiel - May 11, 2006, 2:32 PM
Reacting to today's news that the NSA is "amassing information about the calls of ordinary Americans," Reps. Bennie G. Thompson (D-MS) and Rep. Zoe Lofgren (D-CA) have put out a statement questioning the legality of the program.
Their statement contains this: "when the Attorney General was forced to testify before the House Judiciary Committee a few weeks ago, he misled the Committee about the existence of the program."
Here's what they're referring to. On April 6, 2006, Attorney General Alberto Gonzales testified before the House Judiciary Committee, and in one exchange, Rep. Gerald Nadler (D-NY) tried to nail him down:
NADLER: Number two, can you assure us that there is no warrantless surveillance of calls between two Americans within the United States?
GONZALES: That is not what the president has authorized.
NADLER: Can you assure us that it's not being done?
GONZALES: As I indicated in response to an earlier question, no technology is perfect.
NADLER: OK.
GONZALES: We do have minimization procedures in place...
NADLER: But you're not doing that deliberately?
GONZALES: That is correct.
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"There's no doubt in my mind there are safeguards in place to make sure the program focuses on calls coming from outside the United States in, with an al Qaeda -- from a -- with a belief that there's an al Qaeda person making the call to somebody here in the States, or vice versa -- but not domestic calls." - Bush, 01/26/06.
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Bush lies some more
President Deer-In-The-Headlights decided to throw a little gasoline on the fire:
Facing intense criticism from Congress, President Bush did not confirm the work of the National Security Agency but sought to assure Americans that their privacy is being "fiercely protected."
"We are not mining or trolling through the personal lives of innocent Americans," Bush said before leaving for a commencement address at Mississippi Gulf Coast Community College in Biloxi.
Well, gee whiz, codpiece-for-brains, you ALSO said that you were only listening to INTERNATIONAL Communications. You ALSO said it was only a FEW HUNDRED.
Liar.
Every new story that comes out shows that the administration lied about the last story that came out but they say that we should believe them this time.
NOBODY is that gullible.
By the way, giving the White House info on yur phone calls was VOLUNTARY on the part of the phone companies. Qwest was the ONLY major carrier to refuse. So if you are with AT&T or Verizon, switch to Qwest. And call them and let them know why. DEMAND that they respect your privacy.
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It's all true
Everything you thought MIGHT be true IS.
NSA has massive database of Americans' phone calls
The National Security Agency has been secretly collecting the phone call records of tens of millions of Americans, using data provided by AT&T, Verizon and BellSouth, people with direct knowledge of the arrangement told USA TODAY.
The NSA program reaches into homes and businesses across the nation by amassing information about the calls of ordinary Americans — most of whom aren't suspected of any crime. This program does not involve the NSA listening to or recording conversations. But the spy agency is using the data to analyze calling patterns in an effort to detect terrorist activity, sources said in separate interviews.
For the customers of these companies, it means that the government has detailed records of calls they made — across town or across the country — to family members, co-workers, business contacts and others.
The sources would talk only under a guarantee of anonymity because the NSA program is secret.
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Wednesday, May 10, 2006
Colbert - SOMEBODY gets it.
Here's a great article from the TV Critic at the Chicago Sun-Times about Colbert's public evisceration of His Ignorance. This may be the only thing I have read in the mainstream press that actually understood the reaction to Colbert's speech.
How did Bush tickle reporters? He made fun of the fact that he can barely speak English (he is quite simply the worst communicator of all U.S. presidents), that our vice president is a heartless face-shooter, and that Bush is basically an idiot.
Ha ha, our "war president" knows he's a village idiot? To members of the White House press corps, that's some real funny stuff. To non-insiders, this looked like another example of good old boys and gals slapping each other on the back.
Colbert's routine was more remarkable for its unique and creative brazenness. He joked that Bush's presidency is like the Hindenburg; that Bush's wiretappers were monitoring this very event, and that the White House press corps, sitting in front of Colbert, gave Bush a free pass, scandal after scandal, until recently (when his polls numbers dropped).
How's this for a newsworthy lead? It was perhaps the first time in Bush's tenure that the president was forced to sit and listen to any American cite the litany of criminal and corruption allegations that have piled up against his administration. And mouth-tense Bush and first lady Laura Bush fled as soon as possible afterward.
From whom were they fleeing? A star comedian pretending to be a Fox News-like blowhard doing a sort of performance art that America hasn't witnessed nationally since the days of Andy Kaufman. Even if Colbert's bit had been reported as a train wreck, that would have sufficed. Instead, shocking lines like the following were barely covered by any traditional organ except industry magazine Editor & Publisher: "I stand by" Bush, Colbert cracked, "because he stands for things. Not only for things, he stands on things. Things like aircraft carriers and rubble, and recently flooded city squares. And that sends a strong message that no matter what happens to America, she will always rebound with the most powerfully staged photo ops in the world."
For TV reporters in particular to quote that gruesome line would be an agreement with Colbert, that they helped Bush mix politics with corruption from the ashes of 9/11 ("aircraft carriers and rubble"), and failed to see through Bush's politicization of the drowning of an American city after a hurricane ("recently flooded city squares").
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Brownie, you're doing a heckuva job.
The question isn't "Why do only 31% still support these incompetents" - the question is, "why the hell is it still that high?"
WASHINGTON — Hours after Hurricane Katrina hit, former FEMA director Michael Brown dismissed reports that floodwaters had breached New Orleans' levees, and he obsessed over media coverage of his agency, according to newly released e-mails.
At one point early that morning, Brown reported to an aide that he was "sitting in the chair, putting mousse in my hair" while waiting for media interviews to begin.
What total dicks.
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Poll vault
(CBS) President Bush and the Republican Congress show nearly record low ratings while Democrats are viewed much more favorably in their performance on the issues that matter most to Americans, according to the latest CBS News/New York Times poll.
Well, that just great. You think - maybe - the Democrats MIGHT just stop acting like their afraid that challenging thi clown will hurt them?
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"Most of all, political scribes have to take off their cynical lenses through which they view every moral challenge as political spin." - Al Gore
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Friday, May 26, 2006
Regrets
Just want to point that Bush talked about stuff he "regrets."
The only "regrets" he mentioned were PR moves that turned out badly.
It's Memorial Day Weekend, and it didn't even occur to him to "regret" the loss of 2462 American soldiers.
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FUBAR
You know what's pathetic? That Bush finally admits to making some mistake and - when faced with disaster on a monumental scale - will only admit to a few poorly chosen words.
Even if he DOES believe that a War in Iraq was a good idea (and sadly, I think he does), it is very obvious that the execution of it has been entirely botched.
They are trying to occupy a hostile area the size of California with a tiny force of 130,000 troops; they left the borders wide open so Al Qaeda could come in; they can't leave the green zone because it's too dangerous; and the terrorists have a new training ground and a new base of operations in the Middle East.
Not only has Bush not HURT the terrorists - he has GIVEN THEM NEW TERRITORY.
And not because of his words. Because of his actions.
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They still don't get it.
As you probably know, Bush and Blair had a press conference where they decided to try and stem the damage to their reputation by actually ADMITTING what everyone else has known for three years.
BUSH: Saying, "Bring it on"; kind of tough talk, you know, that sent the wrong signal to people. I learned some lessons about expressing myself maybe in a little more sophisticated manner, you know. "Wanted, dead or alive"; that kind of talk. I think in certain parts of the world it was misinterpreted. And so I learned from that
"Misinterpreted"? "Bring it on" was misinterpreted? It didn't actually mean "Bring it on"? Then what, exactly, was it supposed to mean? "Waiter, waiter, there's a fly in my soup"?
No, I think they interpreted it dead right - you were just a damned fool to say it.
And by the way, there was nothing wrong with saying "Osama Bin Laden, Dead or Alive." That's one of the few things you did right. The problem is it was JUST words, and you had no intention of following through, even while you said it.
Regarding his trip to Baghdad, Blair said, "I came away thinking the challenge is still immense, but I also came away more certain than ever that we should rise to it."
Blair added, "I think it's easy to go back over mistakes that we may have made, but the biggest reason why Iraq has been difficult is the determination by our opponents to defeat us."
They started a war without figuring that our opponents would be determined to defeat us.
What did they think our opponents would do? Invite us in for tea?
Are these people total ignoramuses? I don't give a crap how right you think you are - If you kick in someone's door and come at them, they are going to try and defeat you. Duh.
Holy crap.
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Wednesday, May 24, 2006
The Chicks
I don't know how many fans they've lost, but they've gained at least one new one.
Check out their performance on Letterman. Courtesy of crooks and liars.
God bless 'em.
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Pat Robertson
Why does this clown still have a following?
Pat Robertson's Age-Defying Shake
Did you know that Pat Robertson can leg-press 2000 pounds! How does he do it?
One of Pat's secrets to keeping his energy high and his vitality soaring is his age-defying protein shake. Pat developed a delicious, refreshing shake, filled with energy-producing nutrients.
70 years old. Leg presses 2000 pounds. From drinking a SHAKE.
Never mind that it's WAY beyond the existing record.
Pathetic.
Via AMERICAblog
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Tuesday, May 23, 2006
I thought I'd use my tiny little megaphone to draw attention to an editorial by radio legend Pete Fornatale on the state of the radio.
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Of course not. God forbid, I might learn something.
President says he's unlikely to watch documentary on global warming
WASHINGTON - Is President Bush likely to see Al Gore’s documentary about global warming?
“Doubt it,” Bush said coolly Monday.
But Bush should watch it, Gore shot back. In fact, the former Democratic vice president offered to come to the White House any time, any day to show Bush either his documentary or a slide show on global warming that he’s shown more than 1,000 times around the world.
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No shit, Sherlock
Panel: Legislators Shouldn't Work Drunk
SALEM, Ore. (AP) -- Oregon legislators and staff members should not be drunk while performing their official duties, a citizen panel says.
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Monday, May 22, 2006
AT&T Sold Your Ass to the Government
Wired Magazine has a full expose on the NSA spying scandal from Whistle-Blower Mark Klein's class-action lawsuit.
In 2003 AT&T built "secret rooms" hidden deep in the bowels of its central offices in various cities, housing computer gear for a government spy operation which taps into the company's popular WorldNet service and the entire internet. These installations enable the government to look at every individual message on the internet and analyze exactly what people are doing. Documents showing the hardwire installation in San Francisco suggest that there are similar locations being installed in numerous other cities.
The physical arrangement, the timing of its construction, the government-imposed secrecy surrounding it and other factors all strongly suggest that its origins are rooted in the Defense Department's Total Information Awareness (TIA) program...
Read the article. ALL of the Documents are in pdf format here.
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Take a look at this remarkable email exchange between Rumsfeld's Spokesman, Larry (a.k.a. Curly Joe) Dirita, and War Correspondent Joe Galloway. This is remarkable, and Galloway deserves a medal.
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Sunday, May 21, 2006
Why does this not surprise me?
Cut taxes for the multi-millionaires.
And INCREASE them for TEEN-AGERS.
The $69 billion tax cut bill that President Bush signed this week tripled tax rates for teenagers with college savings funds, despite Mr. Bush's 1999 pledge to veto any tax increase.
Under the new law, teenagers age 14 to 17 with investment income will now be taxed at the same rate as their parents, not at their own rates. Long-term capital gains and dividends that had been taxed at 5 percent will now be taxed at 15 percent. Interest that had been taxed at 10 percent will now be taxed at as much as 35 percent.
It is really hard to believe how brazen these people are in their greed and elitism. The contempt that they feel for ordinary Americans is palpable. Not only do they screw people - they do it right in your face, and think you won't notice.
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Thursday, May 18, 2006
Illegal is more fun
According to Baltimore Sun, the NSA developed a program for the purpose of analyzing communication data in the late 1990. Unlike what they are doing now, the old program was legal and protected the privacy of Americans - and worked better.
They rejected it in favor of a system that was illegal, unnecessarily intrusive and didn't work so good.
But if you're Bush, you ALWAYS prefer the option that's illegal, intrusive and innefficient. I honestly think it gives the man the sort of rush that a teenager gets when he gets away with something.
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Rover defends his owner
"The American people like this president. His personal approval ratings are in the 60s. Job approval is lower. And what that says to me is that people like him, they respect him, he's somebody they feel a connection with, but they're just sour right now on the war. And that's the way it's going to be." - Karl Rove
Cognitive dissonance is what happens in the human brain when a human being is confronted with a fact which his preconceptions tell him cannot possibly be true.
Is Karl Rove - Bush's favorite Turdblossom and America's beloved pus-sack - becoming delusional?
His "personal approval" isn't anywhere NEAR the 60s and people DON'T like this President. (New York Times pdf poll here) In fact, his JOB approval is one percentage point HIGHER than his "personal approval. " He has more than 50% approval in exactly 3 states - Utah, Idaho and Wyoming. NOBODY approves of him, except a few whackjobs.
Polysigh put it best:
"As for Rove's comment that Bush would be popular but for the Iraq War, that's like saying that if it weren't for the Alps, Switzerland would be flat."
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Tuesday, May 16, 2006
The Constitutional Crisis that Walks like a Man.
The FBI has confirmed that they do, indeed, monitor reporters' phone calls.
Approximately one year ago, we were told that they did not need a warrant because they were only monitoring international calls.
Then, they said that, well, actually were monitoring SOME calls where one of the parties was domestic and one was international.
"If someone is calling Al Qaeda," said Bush, "we want to know why."
Which is interesting, because it implies that they know the terrorists' telephone numbers, which makes you wonder why they don't just round them up instead of collecting their phone bills.
Then they said that they sometimes they inadvertently listen to purely domestic calls.
Then they tell us - just this week - that, well, all that was bullshit. They have actually been collecting info on every single phone call made by every single American with almost no exceptions.
But OF COURSE we have nothing to worry about. We can trust THEM. Never mind the fact that they have lied about this again and again and again. We can trust them. They aren't actually listening in. It's for TERRORISM. So they say.
But you can't name a single terrorist who has been arrested in the last five years as a result of this spying. Not one.
And NOW, we find out that they AREN'T checking on terrorists - they are checking on reporters. They are using phone records to find out who reporters are using as sources. They are REALLY after anyone who makes them look bad by revealing the truth to the American People.
You would figure even the REPUBLICANS would wake up and realize that George W. Bush is a walking Constitutional Crisis who has to be stopped while we still have something that we can call "America" left. And they would, if they valued their nation more than their party.
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Monday, May 15, 2006
Push Back Poll
I said it was a push poll, and I was right.
From a Newsweek poll, released one day after the Washington Post Push Poll:
As you may know, there are reports that the NSA, a government intelligence agency, has been collecting the phone call records of Americans. The agency doesn't actually listen to the calls but logs in nearly every phone number to create a database of calls made within the United States. Which of the following comes CLOSER to your own view of this domestic surveillance program:
It is a necessary tool to combat terrorism -- 41
It goes too far in invading people’s privacy -- 53
Don’t know -- 6
Note that the question doesn't read like a apologia for data mining - as the Washington Post poll did.
But why was the Washington Post so anxious to release a poll that backed up the Bush administration's wishes on the same day that the news broke?
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Your tax dollars at work
You have to watch out for those Terrorist Anchormen:
Federal Source to ABC News: We Know Who You're Calling
Brian Ross and Richard Esposito Report:
A senior federal law enforcement official tells ABC News the government is tracking the phone numbers we (Brian Ross and Richard Esposito) call in an effort to root out confidential sources.
"It's time for you to get some new cell phones, quick," the source told us in an in-person conversation.
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Same script.
Ah. So His Incompetence is probably going to use the National Guard to patrol the border. He says it's "only temporary."
Temporary till when? Just after the 2006 elections?
This is typical. God forbid border patrol get done by actual border patrol. That would make sense. Instead, let's assume that the MILITARY doesn't have enough of a role.
The REAL problem is that Bush is too damned incompetent to deal with anything using civilian means - like SANE Presidents always have. Instead, he turns to the military as his tool of choice for absolutely everything.
And pardon me for wondering if President Codpiece isn't still trying to compensate for the cowardice and inadequacy that he showed during Vietnam. Using OTHER people's blood and sweat, of course.
So he will get to dress up in a uniform, strut around, use jeeps and tanks and helicopters and all sorts of neat stuff, and basically play war in a place where there isn't one, and it will make for a great photo-op. He'll get his picture taken with a helicopter. Look, mommy! Don't I look cool?
God, I wish we had a President who was a frigging grown-up, instead of one who is stuck in adolescence and makes America suffer so he can feel impressive.
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Sunday, May 14, 2006
Ooops.
I posted the info from Jason Leopold (of truthout) that Rove had been indicted. Not WOULD be - HAD been. I think we would have heard something by now. I guess Leopold's source isn't all that reliable, and it's the last time I post something unsubstantiated from truthout.
Here's hoping that Leopold proves to be right a bit too early anyway.
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Saturday, May 13, 2006
Sue the bastards.
If you own stock in any phone companies, it's time to sell short. They could lose billions in class-action lawsuits, and lose MORE money from an exodus of customers.
Two suits have already been filed.
Verizon Sued for Giving NSA Phone Records Attorneys Bruce Afran and Carl Mayer filed the lawsuit Friday afternoon in federal district court in Manhattan, where Verizon is headquartered.
The lawsuit asks the court to stop Verizon from turning over any more records to the NSA without a warrant or consent of the subscriber.
"This is the largest and most vast intrusion of civil liberties we've ever seen in the United States," Afran said of the NSA program.
The lawsuit seeks $1,000 for each violation of the Telecommunications Act, or $5 billion if the case is certified as class-action.
And this is a DIFFERENT one:
Verizon Faces New $20B Suit over NSA Spying Complicity
Upping the ante in what may be a high-stakes legal battle, an Upstate New York lawyer filed a $20 billion class-action lawsuit against Verizon last week, charging that the company violated customer confidentiality in aiding warrantless eavesdropping by a federal spy agency.
Here's the tally of who has and has not violated the privacy of American citizens:
Verizon (land-line), AT&T, and BellSouth have all behaved in a fundamentally Unamerican manner.
On the other hand, Qwest is the only large landline carrier that refused to complied with the Bush's fascist requests. If you have one of the other three, switch to Qwest.
Cellular phones seem largely clean. Verizon Wireless, T-Mobile, Virgin Mobile and Cox all say that they have not provided their records to anyone.
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Fitzmas?
Truthout now says that Rove has BEEN indicted, but I don't see it in the tradition media.
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Shocked
The NSA Whistleblower says that people are going to be shocked.
[Tice] said he plans to tell the committee staffers the NSA conducted illegal and unconstitutional surveillance of U.S. citizens while he was there with the knowledge of Hayden. … “I think the people I talk to next week are going to be shocked when I tell them what I have to tell them. It’s pretty hard to believe,” Tice said.
I won't be shocked, but it's about time the country got shocked.
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Friday, May 12, 2006
According to truthout, Rove has told the White House that he will be indicted.
Within the last week, Karl Rove told President Bush and Chief of Staff Joshua Bolten, as well as a few other high level administration officials, that he will be indicted in the CIA leak case and will immediately resign his White House job when the special counsel publicly announces the charges against him, according to sources.
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Raid kills roaches dead.
The FBI has raided the home of Dusty Foggo (NOT the name of a fictional character). The guy who just resigned as the #3 man in the CIA.
I wonder why Goss REALLY resigned. This CAN'T be a coincidence.
Move along, folks, nothing to see here....
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Push poll
You may have read - and been shocked - by reports that a poll says that 2/3rds of Americans have no problem with the Bush administration mining phone calls.
Here is the actual question:
It's been reported that the National Security Agency has been collecting the phone call records of tens of millions of Americans. It then analyzes calling patterns in an effort to identify possible terrorism suspects, without listening to or recording the conversations. Would you consider this an acceptable or unacceptable way for the federal government to investigate terrorism? Do you feel that way strongly or somewhat?
Note that the question itself ASSUMES that the act is benign, and states things as fact that WE DON'T KNOW (such as that conversations are not listened to or recorded). The question is framed in terms of fighting terrorism, falsifies the known facts, fails to mention the questionable legality, and was obviously thrown together on the fly. For many poll respondents, this was probably the first time they HEARD about it.
This is a push poll.
And I suspect that other polls released in the coming days will show very different results.
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Today?
Tweetybird Matthews thinks Rove might be indicted today.
From Imus this morning"
Transcript:
MATTHEWS: If, however, something happens with Karl Rove, we’re going to go to general quarters around here.
IMUS: What does that mean?
MATTHEWS: Meaning we will be taping probably on Saturday or late night because everything will change. Last time, when he picked up Scooter, when he nailed him 30 years of charges, that happened on 1:00 on a Friday. So we don’t know when it might happen, if it’s going happen.
IMUS: Are we expecting something with Karl Rove today?
MATTHEWS: Well, it could be today. It could be next week. Everybody is buzzing about when or if. It’s a big if, big when. There is a lot of talk because he is still being interviewing by the special prosecutor. He keeps being hauled before the grand jury. So something is going on here with the special prosecutor. We don’t know whether he is going to clear him or nail him.
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GENEVA (Reuters) - The United States has again refused the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) access to terrorism suspects held in secret detention centers, the humanitarian agency said on Friday.
Isn't it interesting that the whole motto of this administration is "If you have done nothing wrong, you have nothing to hide"?
Explains why they hide everything.
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Headline says it all
Bush denies spying infringes on privacy
Roll THAT phrase around in your head a few times.
Lewis Carroll wishes HE had thought of that one, I'm sure
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Thursday, May 11, 2006
Gonzales Lied
As surely as weasels are weasels.
From the Muckraker:
Did Gonzales Mislead Congress about NSA Program?
By Paul Kiel - May 11, 2006, 2:32 PM
Reacting to today's news that the NSA is "amassing information about the calls of ordinary Americans," Reps. Bennie G. Thompson (D-MS) and Rep. Zoe Lofgren (D-CA) have put out a statement questioning the legality of the program.
Their statement contains this: "when the Attorney General was forced to testify before the House Judiciary Committee a few weeks ago, he misled the Committee about the existence of the program."
Here's what they're referring to. On April 6, 2006, Attorney General Alberto Gonzales testified before the House Judiciary Committee, and in one exchange, Rep. Gerald Nadler (D-NY) tried to nail him down:
NADLER: Number two, can you assure us that there is no warrantless surveillance of calls between two Americans within the United States?
GONZALES: That is not what the president has authorized.
NADLER: Can you assure us that it's not being done?
GONZALES: As I indicated in response to an earlier question, no technology is perfect.
NADLER: OK.
GONZALES: We do have minimization procedures in place...
NADLER: But you're not doing that deliberately?
GONZALES: That is correct.
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"There's no doubt in my mind there are safeguards in place to make sure the program focuses on calls coming from outside the United States in, with an al Qaeda -- from a -- with a belief that there's an al Qaeda person making the call to somebody here in the States, or vice versa -- but not domestic calls." - Bush, 01/26/06.
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Bush lies some more
President Deer-In-The-Headlights decided to throw a little gasoline on the fire:
Facing intense criticism from Congress, President Bush did not confirm the work of the National Security Agency but sought to assure Americans that their privacy is being "fiercely protected."
"We are not mining or trolling through the personal lives of innocent Americans," Bush said before leaving for a commencement address at Mississippi Gulf Coast Community College in Biloxi.
Well, gee whiz, codpiece-for-brains, you ALSO said that you were only listening to INTERNATIONAL Communications. You ALSO said it was only a FEW HUNDRED.
Liar.
Every new story that comes out shows that the administration lied about the last story that came out but they say that we should believe them this time.
NOBODY is that gullible.
By the way, giving the White House info on yur phone calls was VOLUNTARY on the part of the phone companies. Qwest was the ONLY major carrier to refuse. So if you are with AT&T or Verizon, switch to Qwest. And call them and let them know why. DEMAND that they respect your privacy.
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It's all true
Everything you thought MIGHT be true IS.
NSA has massive database of Americans' phone calls
The National Security Agency has been secretly collecting the phone call records of tens of millions of Americans, using data provided by AT&T, Verizon and BellSouth, people with direct knowledge of the arrangement told USA TODAY.
The NSA program reaches into homes and businesses across the nation by amassing information about the calls of ordinary Americans — most of whom aren't suspected of any crime. This program does not involve the NSA listening to or recording conversations. But the spy agency is using the data to analyze calling patterns in an effort to detect terrorist activity, sources said in separate interviews.
For the customers of these companies, it means that the government has detailed records of calls they made — across town or across the country — to family members, co-workers, business contacts and others.
The sources would talk only under a guarantee of anonymity because the NSA program is secret.
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Wednesday, May 10, 2006
Colbert - SOMEBODY gets it.
Here's a great article from the TV Critic at the Chicago Sun-Times about Colbert's public evisceration of His Ignorance. This may be the only thing I have read in the mainstream press that actually understood the reaction to Colbert's speech.
How did Bush tickle reporters? He made fun of the fact that he can barely speak English (he is quite simply the worst communicator of all U.S. presidents), that our vice president is a heartless face-shooter, and that Bush is basically an idiot.
Ha ha, our "war president" knows he's a village idiot? To members of the White House press corps, that's some real funny stuff. To non-insiders, this looked like another example of good old boys and gals slapping each other on the back.
Colbert's routine was more remarkable for its unique and creative brazenness. He joked that Bush's presidency is like the Hindenburg; that Bush's wiretappers were monitoring this very event, and that the White House press corps, sitting in front of Colbert, gave Bush a free pass, scandal after scandal, until recently (when his polls numbers dropped).
How's this for a newsworthy lead? It was perhaps the first time in Bush's tenure that the president was forced to sit and listen to any American cite the litany of criminal and corruption allegations that have piled up against his administration. And mouth-tense Bush and first lady Laura Bush fled as soon as possible afterward.
From whom were they fleeing? A star comedian pretending to be a Fox News-like blowhard doing a sort of performance art that America hasn't witnessed nationally since the days of Andy Kaufman. Even if Colbert's bit had been reported as a train wreck, that would have sufficed. Instead, shocking lines like the following were barely covered by any traditional organ except industry magazine Editor & Publisher: "I stand by" Bush, Colbert cracked, "because he stands for things. Not only for things, he stands on things. Things like aircraft carriers and rubble, and recently flooded city squares. And that sends a strong message that no matter what happens to America, she will always rebound with the most powerfully staged photo ops in the world."
For TV reporters in particular to quote that gruesome line would be an agreement with Colbert, that they helped Bush mix politics with corruption from the ashes of 9/11 ("aircraft carriers and rubble"), and failed to see through Bush's politicization of the drowning of an American city after a hurricane ("recently flooded city squares").
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Brownie, you're doing a heckuva job.
The question isn't "Why do only 31% still support these incompetents" - the question is, "why the hell is it still that high?"
WASHINGTON — Hours after Hurricane Katrina hit, former FEMA director Michael Brown dismissed reports that floodwaters had breached New Orleans' levees, and he obsessed over media coverage of his agency, according to newly released e-mails.
At one point early that morning, Brown reported to an aide that he was "sitting in the chair, putting mousse in my hair" while waiting for media interviews to begin.
What total dicks.
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Poll vault
(CBS) President Bush and the Republican Congress show nearly record low ratings while Democrats are viewed much more favorably in their performance on the issues that matter most to Americans, according to the latest CBS News/New York Times poll.
Well, that just great. You think - maybe - the Democrats MIGHT just stop acting like their afraid that challenging thi clown will hurt them?
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Regrets
Just want to point that Bush talked about stuff he "regrets."
The only "regrets" he mentioned were PR moves that turned out badly.
It's Memorial Day Weekend, and it didn't even occur to him to "regret" the loss of 2462 American soldiers.
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FUBAR
You know what's pathetic? That Bush finally admits to making some mistake and - when faced with disaster on a monumental scale - will only admit to a few poorly chosen words.
Even if he DOES believe that a War in Iraq was a good idea (and sadly, I think he does), it is very obvious that the execution of it has been entirely botched.
They are trying to occupy a hostile area the size of California with a tiny force of 130,000 troops; they left the borders wide open so Al Qaeda could come in; they can't leave the green zone because it's too dangerous; and the terrorists have a new training ground and a new base of operations in the Middle East.
Not only has Bush not HURT the terrorists - he has GIVEN THEM NEW TERRITORY.
And not because of his words. Because of his actions.
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They still don't get it.
As you probably know, Bush and Blair had a press conference where they decided to try and stem the damage to their reputation by actually ADMITTING what everyone else has known for three years.
BUSH: Saying, "Bring it on"; kind of tough talk, you know, that sent the wrong signal to people. I learned some lessons about expressing myself maybe in a little more sophisticated manner, you know. "Wanted, dead or alive"; that kind of talk. I think in certain parts of the world it was misinterpreted. And so I learned from that
"Misinterpreted"? "Bring it on" was misinterpreted? It didn't actually mean "Bring it on"? Then what, exactly, was it supposed to mean? "Waiter, waiter, there's a fly in my soup"?
No, I think they interpreted it dead right - you were just a damned fool to say it.
And by the way, there was nothing wrong with saying "Osama Bin Laden, Dead or Alive." That's one of the few things you did right. The problem is it was JUST words, and you had no intention of following through, even while you said it.
Regarding his trip to Baghdad, Blair said, "I came away thinking the challenge is still immense, but I also came away more certain than ever that we should rise to it."
Blair added, "I think it's easy to go back over mistakes that we may have made, but the biggest reason why Iraq has been difficult is the determination by our opponents to defeat us."
They started a war without figuring that our opponents would be determined to defeat us.
What did they think our opponents would do? Invite us in for tea?
Are these people total ignoramuses? I don't give a crap how right you think you are - If you kick in someone's door and come at them, they are going to try and defeat you. Duh.
Holy crap.
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Wednesday, May 24, 2006
The Chicks
I don't know how many fans they've lost, but they've gained at least one new one.
Check out their performance on Letterman. Courtesy of crooks and liars.
God bless 'em.
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Pat Robertson
Why does this clown still have a following?
Pat Robertson's Age-Defying Shake
Did you know that Pat Robertson can leg-press 2000 pounds! How does he do it?
One of Pat's secrets to keeping his energy high and his vitality soaring is his age-defying protein shake. Pat developed a delicious, refreshing shake, filled with energy-producing nutrients.
70 years old. Leg presses 2000 pounds. From drinking a SHAKE.
Never mind that it's WAY beyond the existing record.
Pathetic.
Via AMERICAblog
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Tuesday, May 23, 2006
I thought I'd use my tiny little megaphone to draw attention to an editorial by radio legend Pete Fornatale on the state of the radio.
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Of course not. God forbid, I might learn something.
President says he's unlikely to watch documentary on global warming
WASHINGTON - Is President Bush likely to see Al Gore’s documentary about global warming?
“Doubt it,” Bush said coolly Monday.
But Bush should watch it, Gore shot back. In fact, the former Democratic vice president offered to come to the White House any time, any day to show Bush either his documentary or a slide show on global warming that he’s shown more than 1,000 times around the world.
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No shit, Sherlock
Panel: Legislators Shouldn't Work Drunk
SALEM, Ore. (AP) -- Oregon legislators and staff members should not be drunk while performing their official duties, a citizen panel says.
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Monday, May 22, 2006
AT&T Sold Your Ass to the Government
Wired Magazine has a full expose on the NSA spying scandal from Whistle-Blower Mark Klein's class-action lawsuit.
In 2003 AT&T built "secret rooms" hidden deep in the bowels of its central offices in various cities, housing computer gear for a government spy operation which taps into the company's popular WorldNet service and the entire internet. These installations enable the government to look at every individual message on the internet and analyze exactly what people are doing. Documents showing the hardwire installation in San Francisco suggest that there are similar locations being installed in numerous other cities.
The physical arrangement, the timing of its construction, the government-imposed secrecy surrounding it and other factors all strongly suggest that its origins are rooted in the Defense Department's Total Information Awareness (TIA) program...
Read the article. ALL of the Documents are in pdf format here.
1 comments
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Take a look at this remarkable email exchange between Rumsfeld's Spokesman, Larry (a.k.a. Curly Joe) Dirita, and War Correspondent Joe Galloway. This is remarkable, and Galloway deserves a medal.
2 comments
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Sunday, May 21, 2006
Why does this not surprise me?
Cut taxes for the multi-millionaires.
And INCREASE them for TEEN-AGERS.
The $69 billion tax cut bill that President Bush signed this week tripled tax rates for teenagers with college savings funds, despite Mr. Bush's 1999 pledge to veto any tax increase.
Under the new law, teenagers age 14 to 17 with investment income will now be taxed at the same rate as their parents, not at their own rates. Long-term capital gains and dividends that had been taxed at 5 percent will now be taxed at 15 percent. Interest that had been taxed at 10 percent will now be taxed at as much as 35 percent.
It is really hard to believe how brazen these people are in their greed and elitism. The contempt that they feel for ordinary Americans is palpable. Not only do they screw people - they do it right in your face, and think you won't notice.
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Thursday, May 18, 2006
Illegal is more fun
According to Baltimore Sun, the NSA developed a program for the purpose of analyzing communication data in the late 1990. Unlike what they are doing now, the old program was legal and protected the privacy of Americans - and worked better.
They rejected it in favor of a system that was illegal, unnecessarily intrusive and didn't work so good.
But if you're Bush, you ALWAYS prefer the option that's illegal, intrusive and innefficient. I honestly think it gives the man the sort of rush that a teenager gets when he gets away with something.
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Rover defends his owner
"The American people like this president. His personal approval ratings are in the 60s. Job approval is lower. And what that says to me is that people like him, they respect him, he's somebody they feel a connection with, but they're just sour right now on the war. And that's the way it's going to be." - Karl Rove
Cognitive dissonance is what happens in the human brain when a human being is confronted with a fact which his preconceptions tell him cannot possibly be true.
Is Karl Rove - Bush's favorite Turdblossom and America's beloved pus-sack - becoming delusional?
His "personal approval" isn't anywhere NEAR the 60s and people DON'T like this President. (New York Times pdf poll here) In fact, his JOB approval is one percentage point HIGHER than his "personal approval. " He has more than 50% approval in exactly 3 states - Utah, Idaho and Wyoming. NOBODY approves of him, except a few whackjobs.
Polysigh put it best:
"As for Rove's comment that Bush would be popular but for the Iraq War, that's like saying that if it weren't for the Alps, Switzerland would be flat."
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Tuesday, May 16, 2006
The Constitutional Crisis that Walks like a Man.
The FBI has confirmed that they do, indeed, monitor reporters' phone calls.
Approximately one year ago, we were told that they did not need a warrant because they were only monitoring international calls.
Then, they said that, well, actually were monitoring SOME calls where one of the parties was domestic and one was international.
"If someone is calling Al Qaeda," said Bush, "we want to know why."
Which is interesting, because it implies that they know the terrorists' telephone numbers, which makes you wonder why they don't just round them up instead of collecting their phone bills.
Then they said that they sometimes they inadvertently listen to purely domestic calls.
Then they tell us - just this week - that, well, all that was bullshit. They have actually been collecting info on every single phone call made by every single American with almost no exceptions.
But OF COURSE we have nothing to worry about. We can trust THEM. Never mind the fact that they have lied about this again and again and again. We can trust them. They aren't actually listening in. It's for TERRORISM. So they say.
But you can't name a single terrorist who has been arrested in the last five years as a result of this spying. Not one.
And NOW, we find out that they AREN'T checking on terrorists - they are checking on reporters. They are using phone records to find out who reporters are using as sources. They are REALLY after anyone who makes them look bad by revealing the truth to the American People.
You would figure even the REPUBLICANS would wake up and realize that George W. Bush is a walking Constitutional Crisis who has to be stopped while we still have something that we can call "America" left. And they would, if they valued their nation more than their party.
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Monday, May 15, 2006
Push Back Poll
I said it was a push poll, and I was right.
From a Newsweek poll, released one day after the Washington Post Push Poll:
As you may know, there are reports that the NSA, a government intelligence agency, has been collecting the phone call records of Americans. The agency doesn't actually listen to the calls but logs in nearly every phone number to create a database of calls made within the United States. Which of the following comes CLOSER to your own view of this domestic surveillance program:
It is a necessary tool to combat terrorism -- 41
It goes too far in invading people’s privacy -- 53
Don’t know -- 6
Note that the question doesn't read like a apologia for data mining - as the Washington Post poll did.
But why was the Washington Post so anxious to release a poll that backed up the Bush administration's wishes on the same day that the news broke?
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Your tax dollars at work
You have to watch out for those Terrorist Anchormen:
Federal Source to ABC News: We Know Who You're Calling
Brian Ross and Richard Esposito Report:
A senior federal law enforcement official tells ABC News the government is tracking the phone numbers we (Brian Ross and Richard Esposito) call in an effort to root out confidential sources.
"It's time for you to get some new cell phones, quick," the source told us in an in-person conversation.
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Same script.
Ah. So His Incompetence is probably going to use the National Guard to patrol the border. He says it's "only temporary."
Temporary till when? Just after the 2006 elections?
This is typical. God forbid border patrol get done by actual border patrol. That would make sense. Instead, let's assume that the MILITARY doesn't have enough of a role.
The REAL problem is that Bush is too damned incompetent to deal with anything using civilian means - like SANE Presidents always have. Instead, he turns to the military as his tool of choice for absolutely everything.
And pardon me for wondering if President Codpiece isn't still trying to compensate for the cowardice and inadequacy that he showed during Vietnam. Using OTHER people's blood and sweat, of course.
So he will get to dress up in a uniform, strut around, use jeeps and tanks and helicopters and all sorts of neat stuff, and basically play war in a place where there isn't one, and it will make for a great photo-op. He'll get his picture taken with a helicopter. Look, mommy! Don't I look cool?
God, I wish we had a President who was a frigging grown-up, instead of one who is stuck in adolescence and makes America suffer so he can feel impressive.
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Sunday, May 14, 2006
Ooops.
I posted the info from Jason Leopold (of truthout) that Rove had been indicted. Not WOULD be - HAD been. I think we would have heard something by now. I guess Leopold's source isn't all that reliable, and it's the last time I post something unsubstantiated from truthout.
Here's hoping that Leopold proves to be right a bit too early anyway.
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Saturday, May 13, 2006
Sue the bastards.
If you own stock in any phone companies, it's time to sell short. They could lose billions in class-action lawsuits, and lose MORE money from an exodus of customers.
Two suits have already been filed.
Verizon Sued for Giving NSA Phone Records Attorneys Bruce Afran and Carl Mayer filed the lawsuit Friday afternoon in federal district court in Manhattan, where Verizon is headquartered.
The lawsuit asks the court to stop Verizon from turning over any more records to the NSA without a warrant or consent of the subscriber.
"This is the largest and most vast intrusion of civil liberties we've ever seen in the United States," Afran said of the NSA program.
The lawsuit seeks $1,000 for each violation of the Telecommunications Act, or $5 billion if the case is certified as class-action.
And this is a DIFFERENT one:
Verizon Faces New $20B Suit over NSA Spying Complicity
Upping the ante in what may be a high-stakes legal battle, an Upstate New York lawyer filed a $20 billion class-action lawsuit against Verizon last week, charging that the company violated customer confidentiality in aiding warrantless eavesdropping by a federal spy agency.
Here's the tally of who has and has not violated the privacy of American citizens:
Verizon (land-line), AT&T, and BellSouth have all behaved in a fundamentally Unamerican manner.
On the other hand, Qwest is the only large landline carrier that refused to complied with the Bush's fascist requests. If you have one of the other three, switch to Qwest.
Cellular phones seem largely clean. Verizon Wireless, T-Mobile, Virgin Mobile and Cox all say that they have not provided their records to anyone.
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Fitzmas?
Truthout now says that Rove has BEEN indicted, but I don't see it in the tradition media.
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Shocked
The NSA Whistleblower says that people are going to be shocked.
[Tice] said he plans to tell the committee staffers the NSA conducted illegal and unconstitutional surveillance of U.S. citizens while he was there with the knowledge of Hayden. … “I think the people I talk to next week are going to be shocked when I tell them what I have to tell them. It’s pretty hard to believe,” Tice said.
I won't be shocked, but it's about time the country got shocked.
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Friday, May 12, 2006
According to truthout, Rove has told the White House that he will be indicted.
Within the last week, Karl Rove told President Bush and Chief of Staff Joshua Bolten, as well as a few other high level administration officials, that he will be indicted in the CIA leak case and will immediately resign his White House job when the special counsel publicly announces the charges against him, according to sources.
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Raid kills roaches dead.
The FBI has raided the home of Dusty Foggo (NOT the name of a fictional character). The guy who just resigned as the #3 man in the CIA.
I wonder why Goss REALLY resigned. This CAN'T be a coincidence.
Move along, folks, nothing to see here....
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Push poll
You may have read - and been shocked - by reports that a poll says that 2/3rds of Americans have no problem with the Bush administration mining phone calls.
Here is the actual question:
It's been reported that the National Security Agency has been collecting the phone call records of tens of millions of Americans. It then analyzes calling patterns in an effort to identify possible terrorism suspects, without listening to or recording the conversations. Would you consider this an acceptable or unacceptable way for the federal government to investigate terrorism? Do you feel that way strongly or somewhat?
Note that the question itself ASSUMES that the act is benign, and states things as fact that WE DON'T KNOW (such as that conversations are not listened to or recorded). The question is framed in terms of fighting terrorism, falsifies the known facts, fails to mention the questionable legality, and was obviously thrown together on the fly. For many poll respondents, this was probably the first time they HEARD about it.
This is a push poll.
And I suspect that other polls released in the coming days will show very different results.
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Today?
Tweetybird Matthews thinks Rove might be indicted today.
From Imus this morning"
Transcript:
MATTHEWS: If, however, something happens with Karl Rove, we’re going to go to general quarters around here.
IMUS: What does that mean?
MATTHEWS: Meaning we will be taping probably on Saturday or late night because everything will change. Last time, when he picked up Scooter, when he nailed him 30 years of charges, that happened on 1:00 on a Friday. So we don’t know when it might happen, if it’s going happen.
IMUS: Are we expecting something with Karl Rove today?
MATTHEWS: Well, it could be today. It could be next week. Everybody is buzzing about when or if. It’s a big if, big when. There is a lot of talk because he is still being interviewing by the special prosecutor. He keeps being hauled before the grand jury. So something is going on here with the special prosecutor. We don’t know whether he is going to clear him or nail him.
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GENEVA (Reuters) - The United States has again refused the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) access to terrorism suspects held in secret detention centers, the humanitarian agency said on Friday.
Isn't it interesting that the whole motto of this administration is "If you have done nothing wrong, you have nothing to hide"?
Explains why they hide everything.
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Headline says it all
Bush denies spying infringes on privacy
Roll THAT phrase around in your head a few times.
Lewis Carroll wishes HE had thought of that one, I'm sure
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Thursday, May 11, 2006
Gonzales Lied
As surely as weasels are weasels.
From the Muckraker:
Did Gonzales Mislead Congress about NSA Program?
By Paul Kiel - May 11, 2006, 2:32 PM
Reacting to today's news that the NSA is "amassing information about the calls of ordinary Americans," Reps. Bennie G. Thompson (D-MS) and Rep. Zoe Lofgren (D-CA) have put out a statement questioning the legality of the program.
Their statement contains this: "when the Attorney General was forced to testify before the House Judiciary Committee a few weeks ago, he misled the Committee about the existence of the program."
Here's what they're referring to. On April 6, 2006, Attorney General Alberto Gonzales testified before the House Judiciary Committee, and in one exchange, Rep. Gerald Nadler (D-NY) tried to nail him down:
NADLER: Number two, can you assure us that there is no warrantless surveillance of calls between two Americans within the United States?
GONZALES: That is not what the president has authorized.
NADLER: Can you assure us that it's not being done?
GONZALES: As I indicated in response to an earlier question, no technology is perfect.
NADLER: OK.
GONZALES: We do have minimization procedures in place...
NADLER: But you're not doing that deliberately?
GONZALES: That is correct.
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"There's no doubt in my mind there are safeguards in place to make sure the program focuses on calls coming from outside the United States in, with an al Qaeda -- from a -- with a belief that there's an al Qaeda person making the call to somebody here in the States, or vice versa -- but not domestic calls." - Bush, 01/26/06.
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Bush lies some more
President Deer-In-The-Headlights decided to throw a little gasoline on the fire:
Facing intense criticism from Congress, President Bush did not confirm the work of the National Security Agency but sought to assure Americans that their privacy is being "fiercely protected."
"We are not mining or trolling through the personal lives of innocent Americans," Bush said before leaving for a commencement address at Mississippi Gulf Coast Community College in Biloxi.
Well, gee whiz, codpiece-for-brains, you ALSO said that you were only listening to INTERNATIONAL Communications. You ALSO said it was only a FEW HUNDRED.
Liar.
Every new story that comes out shows that the administration lied about the last story that came out but they say that we should believe them this time.
NOBODY is that gullible.
By the way, giving the White House info on yur phone calls was VOLUNTARY on the part of the phone companies. Qwest was the ONLY major carrier to refuse. So if you are with AT&T or Verizon, switch to Qwest. And call them and let them know why. DEMAND that they respect your privacy.
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It's all true
Everything you thought MIGHT be true IS.
NSA has massive database of Americans' phone calls
The National Security Agency has been secretly collecting the phone call records of tens of millions of Americans, using data provided by AT&T, Verizon and BellSouth, people with direct knowledge of the arrangement told USA TODAY.
The NSA program reaches into homes and businesses across the nation by amassing information about the calls of ordinary Americans — most of whom aren't suspected of any crime. This program does not involve the NSA listening to or recording conversations. But the spy agency is using the data to analyze calling patterns in an effort to detect terrorist activity, sources said in separate interviews.
For the customers of these companies, it means that the government has detailed records of calls they made — across town or across the country — to family members, co-workers, business contacts and others.
The sources would talk only under a guarantee of anonymity because the NSA program is secret.
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Wednesday, May 10, 2006
Colbert - SOMEBODY gets it.
Here's a great article from the TV Critic at the Chicago Sun-Times about Colbert's public evisceration of His Ignorance. This may be the only thing I have read in the mainstream press that actually understood the reaction to Colbert's speech.
How did Bush tickle reporters? He made fun of the fact that he can barely speak English (he is quite simply the worst communicator of all U.S. presidents), that our vice president is a heartless face-shooter, and that Bush is basically an idiot.
Ha ha, our "war president" knows he's a village idiot? To members of the White House press corps, that's some real funny stuff. To non-insiders, this looked like another example of good old boys and gals slapping each other on the back.
Colbert's routine was more remarkable for its unique and creative brazenness. He joked that Bush's presidency is like the Hindenburg; that Bush's wiretappers were monitoring this very event, and that the White House press corps, sitting in front of Colbert, gave Bush a free pass, scandal after scandal, until recently (when his polls numbers dropped).
How's this for a newsworthy lead? It was perhaps the first time in Bush's tenure that the president was forced to sit and listen to any American cite the litany of criminal and corruption allegations that have piled up against his administration. And mouth-tense Bush and first lady Laura Bush fled as soon as possible afterward.
From whom were they fleeing? A star comedian pretending to be a Fox News-like blowhard doing a sort of performance art that America hasn't witnessed nationally since the days of Andy Kaufman. Even if Colbert's bit had been reported as a train wreck, that would have sufficed. Instead, shocking lines like the following were barely covered by any traditional organ except industry magazine Editor & Publisher: "I stand by" Bush, Colbert cracked, "because he stands for things. Not only for things, he stands on things. Things like aircraft carriers and rubble, and recently flooded city squares. And that sends a strong message that no matter what happens to America, she will always rebound with the most powerfully staged photo ops in the world."
For TV reporters in particular to quote that gruesome line would be an agreement with Colbert, that they helped Bush mix politics with corruption from the ashes of 9/11 ("aircraft carriers and rubble"), and failed to see through Bush's politicization of the drowning of an American city after a hurricane ("recently flooded city squares").
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Brownie, you're doing a heckuva job.
The question isn't "Why do only 31% still support these incompetents" - the question is, "why the hell is it still that high?"
WASHINGTON — Hours after Hurricane Katrina hit, former FEMA director Michael Brown dismissed reports that floodwaters had breached New Orleans' levees, and he obsessed over media coverage of his agency, according to newly released e-mails.
At one point early that morning, Brown reported to an aide that he was "sitting in the chair, putting mousse in my hair" while waiting for media interviews to begin.
What total dicks.
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Poll vault
(CBS) President Bush and the Republican Congress show nearly record low ratings while Democrats are viewed much more favorably in their performance on the issues that matter most to Americans, according to the latest CBS News/New York Times poll.
Well, that just great. You think - maybe - the Democrats MIGHT just stop acting like their afraid that challenging thi clown will hurt them?
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The only "regrets" he mentioned were PR moves that turned out badly.
It's Memorial Day Weekend, and it didn't even occur to him to "regret" the loss of 2462 American soldiers.
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FUBAR
You know what's pathetic? That Bush finally admits to making some mistake and - when faced with disaster on a monumental scale - will only admit to a few poorly chosen words.
Even if he DOES believe that a War in Iraq was a good idea (and sadly, I think he does), it is very obvious that the execution of it has been entirely botched.
They are trying to occupy a hostile area the size of California with a tiny force of 130,000 troops; they left the borders wide open so Al Qaeda could come in; they can't leave the green zone because it's too dangerous; and the terrorists have a new training ground and a new base of operations in the Middle East.
Not only has Bush not HURT the terrorists - he has GIVEN THEM NEW TERRITORY.
And not because of his words. Because of his actions.
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They still don't get it.
As you probably know, Bush and Blair had a press conference where they decided to try and stem the damage to their reputation by actually ADMITTING what everyone else has known for three years.
BUSH: Saying, "Bring it on"; kind of tough talk, you know, that sent the wrong signal to people. I learned some lessons about expressing myself maybe in a little more sophisticated manner, you know. "Wanted, dead or alive"; that kind of talk. I think in certain parts of the world it was misinterpreted. And so I learned from that
"Misinterpreted"? "Bring it on" was misinterpreted? It didn't actually mean "Bring it on"? Then what, exactly, was it supposed to mean? "Waiter, waiter, there's a fly in my soup"?
No, I think they interpreted it dead right - you were just a damned fool to say it.
And by the way, there was nothing wrong with saying "Osama Bin Laden, Dead or Alive." That's one of the few things you did right. The problem is it was JUST words, and you had no intention of following through, even while you said it.
Regarding his trip to Baghdad, Blair said, "I came away thinking the challenge is still immense, but I also came away more certain than ever that we should rise to it."
Blair added, "I think it's easy to go back over mistakes that we may have made, but the biggest reason why Iraq has been difficult is the determination by our opponents to defeat us."
They started a war without figuring that our opponents would be determined to defeat us.
What did they think our opponents would do? Invite us in for tea?
Are these people total ignoramuses? I don't give a crap how right you think you are - If you kick in someone's door and come at them, they are going to try and defeat you. Duh.
Holy crap.
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Wednesday, May 24, 2006
The Chicks
I don't know how many fans they've lost, but they've gained at least one new one.
Check out their performance on Letterman. Courtesy of crooks and liars.
God bless 'em.
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Pat Robertson
Why does this clown still have a following?
Pat Robertson's Age-Defying Shake
Did you know that Pat Robertson can leg-press 2000 pounds! How does he do it?
One of Pat's secrets to keeping his energy high and his vitality soaring is his age-defying protein shake. Pat developed a delicious, refreshing shake, filled with energy-producing nutrients.
70 years old. Leg presses 2000 pounds. From drinking a SHAKE.
Never mind that it's WAY beyond the existing record.
Pathetic.
Via AMERICAblog
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Tuesday, May 23, 2006
I thought I'd use my tiny little megaphone to draw attention to an editorial by radio legend Pete Fornatale on the state of the radio.
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Of course not. God forbid, I might learn something.
President says he's unlikely to watch documentary on global warming
WASHINGTON - Is President Bush likely to see Al Gore’s documentary about global warming?
“Doubt it,” Bush said coolly Monday.
But Bush should watch it, Gore shot back. In fact, the former Democratic vice president offered to come to the White House any time, any day to show Bush either his documentary or a slide show on global warming that he’s shown more than 1,000 times around the world.
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No shit, Sherlock
Panel: Legislators Shouldn't Work Drunk
SALEM, Ore. (AP) -- Oregon legislators and staff members should not be drunk while performing their official duties, a citizen panel says.
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Monday, May 22, 2006
AT&T Sold Your Ass to the Government
Wired Magazine has a full expose on the NSA spying scandal from Whistle-Blower Mark Klein's class-action lawsuit.
In 2003 AT&T built "secret rooms" hidden deep in the bowels of its central offices in various cities, housing computer gear for a government spy operation which taps into the company's popular WorldNet service and the entire internet. These installations enable the government to look at every individual message on the internet and analyze exactly what people are doing. Documents showing the hardwire installation in San Francisco suggest that there are similar locations being installed in numerous other cities.
The physical arrangement, the timing of its construction, the government-imposed secrecy surrounding it and other factors all strongly suggest that its origins are rooted in the Defense Department's Total Information Awareness (TIA) program...
Read the article. ALL of the Documents are in pdf format here.
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Take a look at this remarkable email exchange between Rumsfeld's Spokesman, Larry (a.k.a. Curly Joe) Dirita, and War Correspondent Joe Galloway. This is remarkable, and Galloway deserves a medal.
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Sunday, May 21, 2006
Why does this not surprise me?
Cut taxes for the multi-millionaires.
And INCREASE them for TEEN-AGERS.
The $69 billion tax cut bill that President Bush signed this week tripled tax rates for teenagers with college savings funds, despite Mr. Bush's 1999 pledge to veto any tax increase.
Under the new law, teenagers age 14 to 17 with investment income will now be taxed at the same rate as their parents, not at their own rates. Long-term capital gains and dividends that had been taxed at 5 percent will now be taxed at 15 percent. Interest that had been taxed at 10 percent will now be taxed at as much as 35 percent.
It is really hard to believe how brazen these people are in their greed and elitism. The contempt that they feel for ordinary Americans is palpable. Not only do they screw people - they do it right in your face, and think you won't notice.
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Thursday, May 18, 2006
Illegal is more fun
According to Baltimore Sun, the NSA developed a program for the purpose of analyzing communication data in the late 1990. Unlike what they are doing now, the old program was legal and protected the privacy of Americans - and worked better.
They rejected it in favor of a system that was illegal, unnecessarily intrusive and didn't work so good.
But if you're Bush, you ALWAYS prefer the option that's illegal, intrusive and innefficient. I honestly think it gives the man the sort of rush that a teenager gets when he gets away with something.
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Rover defends his owner
"The American people like this president. His personal approval ratings are in the 60s. Job approval is lower. And what that says to me is that people like him, they respect him, he's somebody they feel a connection with, but they're just sour right now on the war. And that's the way it's going to be." - Karl Rove
Cognitive dissonance is what happens in the human brain when a human being is confronted with a fact which his preconceptions tell him cannot possibly be true.
Is Karl Rove - Bush's favorite Turdblossom and America's beloved pus-sack - becoming delusional?
His "personal approval" isn't anywhere NEAR the 60s and people DON'T like this President. (New York Times pdf poll here) In fact, his JOB approval is one percentage point HIGHER than his "personal approval. " He has more than 50% approval in exactly 3 states - Utah, Idaho and Wyoming. NOBODY approves of him, except a few whackjobs.
Polysigh put it best:
"As for Rove's comment that Bush would be popular but for the Iraq War, that's like saying that if it weren't for the Alps, Switzerland would be flat."
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Tuesday, May 16, 2006
The Constitutional Crisis that Walks like a Man.
The FBI has confirmed that they do, indeed, monitor reporters' phone calls.
Approximately one year ago, we were told that they did not need a warrant because they were only monitoring international calls.
Then, they said that, well, actually were monitoring SOME calls where one of the parties was domestic and one was international.
"If someone is calling Al Qaeda," said Bush, "we want to know why."
Which is interesting, because it implies that they know the terrorists' telephone numbers, which makes you wonder why they don't just round them up instead of collecting their phone bills.
Then they said that they sometimes they inadvertently listen to purely domestic calls.
Then they tell us - just this week - that, well, all that was bullshit. They have actually been collecting info on every single phone call made by every single American with almost no exceptions.
But OF COURSE we have nothing to worry about. We can trust THEM. Never mind the fact that they have lied about this again and again and again. We can trust them. They aren't actually listening in. It's for TERRORISM. So they say.
But you can't name a single terrorist who has been arrested in the last five years as a result of this spying. Not one.
And NOW, we find out that they AREN'T checking on terrorists - they are checking on reporters. They are using phone records to find out who reporters are using as sources. They are REALLY after anyone who makes them look bad by revealing the truth to the American People.
You would figure even the REPUBLICANS would wake up and realize that George W. Bush is a walking Constitutional Crisis who has to be stopped while we still have something that we can call "America" left. And they would, if they valued their nation more than their party.
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Monday, May 15, 2006
Push Back Poll
I said it was a push poll, and I was right.
From a Newsweek poll, released one day after the Washington Post Push Poll:
As you may know, there are reports that the NSA, a government intelligence agency, has been collecting the phone call records of Americans. The agency doesn't actually listen to the calls but logs in nearly every phone number to create a database of calls made within the United States. Which of the following comes CLOSER to your own view of this domestic surveillance program:
It is a necessary tool to combat terrorism -- 41
It goes too far in invading people’s privacy -- 53
Don’t know -- 6
Note that the question doesn't read like a apologia for data mining - as the Washington Post poll did.
But why was the Washington Post so anxious to release a poll that backed up the Bush administration's wishes on the same day that the news broke?
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Your tax dollars at work
You have to watch out for those Terrorist Anchormen:
Federal Source to ABC News: We Know Who You're Calling
Brian Ross and Richard Esposito Report:
A senior federal law enforcement official tells ABC News the government is tracking the phone numbers we (Brian Ross and Richard Esposito) call in an effort to root out confidential sources.
"It's time for you to get some new cell phones, quick," the source told us in an in-person conversation.
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Same script.
Ah. So His Incompetence is probably going to use the National Guard to patrol the border. He says it's "only temporary."
Temporary till when? Just after the 2006 elections?
This is typical. God forbid border patrol get done by actual border patrol. That would make sense. Instead, let's assume that the MILITARY doesn't have enough of a role.
The REAL problem is that Bush is too damned incompetent to deal with anything using civilian means - like SANE Presidents always have. Instead, he turns to the military as his tool of choice for absolutely everything.
And pardon me for wondering if President Codpiece isn't still trying to compensate for the cowardice and inadequacy that he showed during Vietnam. Using OTHER people's blood and sweat, of course.
So he will get to dress up in a uniform, strut around, use jeeps and tanks and helicopters and all sorts of neat stuff, and basically play war in a place where there isn't one, and it will make for a great photo-op. He'll get his picture taken with a helicopter. Look, mommy! Don't I look cool?
God, I wish we had a President who was a frigging grown-up, instead of one who is stuck in adolescence and makes America suffer so he can feel impressive.
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Sunday, May 14, 2006
Ooops.
I posted the info from Jason Leopold (of truthout) that Rove had been indicted. Not WOULD be - HAD been. I think we would have heard something by now. I guess Leopold's source isn't all that reliable, and it's the last time I post something unsubstantiated from truthout.
Here's hoping that Leopold proves to be right a bit too early anyway.
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Saturday, May 13, 2006
Sue the bastards.
If you own stock in any phone companies, it's time to sell short. They could lose billions in class-action lawsuits, and lose MORE money from an exodus of customers.
Two suits have already been filed.
Verizon Sued for Giving NSA Phone Records Attorneys Bruce Afran and Carl Mayer filed the lawsuit Friday afternoon in federal district court in Manhattan, where Verizon is headquartered.
The lawsuit asks the court to stop Verizon from turning over any more records to the NSA without a warrant or consent of the subscriber.
"This is the largest and most vast intrusion of civil liberties we've ever seen in the United States," Afran said of the NSA program.
The lawsuit seeks $1,000 for each violation of the Telecommunications Act, or $5 billion if the case is certified as class-action.
And this is a DIFFERENT one:
Verizon Faces New $20B Suit over NSA Spying Complicity
Upping the ante in what may be a high-stakes legal battle, an Upstate New York lawyer filed a $20 billion class-action lawsuit against Verizon last week, charging that the company violated customer confidentiality in aiding warrantless eavesdropping by a federal spy agency.
Here's the tally of who has and has not violated the privacy of American citizens:
Verizon (land-line), AT&T, and BellSouth have all behaved in a fundamentally Unamerican manner.
On the other hand, Qwest is the only large landline carrier that refused to complied with the Bush's fascist requests. If you have one of the other three, switch to Qwest.
Cellular phones seem largely clean. Verizon Wireless, T-Mobile, Virgin Mobile and Cox all say that they have not provided their records to anyone.
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Fitzmas?
Truthout now says that Rove has BEEN indicted, but I don't see it in the tradition media.
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Shocked
The NSA Whistleblower says that people are going to be shocked.
[Tice] said he plans to tell the committee staffers the NSA conducted illegal and unconstitutional surveillance of U.S. citizens while he was there with the knowledge of Hayden. … “I think the people I talk to next week are going to be shocked when I tell them what I have to tell them. It’s pretty hard to believe,” Tice said.
I won't be shocked, but it's about time the country got shocked.
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Friday, May 12, 2006
According to truthout, Rove has told the White House that he will be indicted.
Within the last week, Karl Rove told President Bush and Chief of Staff Joshua Bolten, as well as a few other high level administration officials, that he will be indicted in the CIA leak case and will immediately resign his White House job when the special counsel publicly announces the charges against him, according to sources.
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Raid kills roaches dead.
The FBI has raided the home of Dusty Foggo (NOT the name of a fictional character). The guy who just resigned as the #3 man in the CIA.
I wonder why Goss REALLY resigned. This CAN'T be a coincidence.
Move along, folks, nothing to see here....
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Push poll
You may have read - and been shocked - by reports that a poll says that 2/3rds of Americans have no problem with the Bush administration mining phone calls.
Here is the actual question:
It's been reported that the National Security Agency has been collecting the phone call records of tens of millions of Americans. It then analyzes calling patterns in an effort to identify possible terrorism suspects, without listening to or recording the conversations. Would you consider this an acceptable or unacceptable way for the federal government to investigate terrorism? Do you feel that way strongly or somewhat?
Note that the question itself ASSUMES that the act is benign, and states things as fact that WE DON'T KNOW (such as that conversations are not listened to or recorded). The question is framed in terms of fighting terrorism, falsifies the known facts, fails to mention the questionable legality, and was obviously thrown together on the fly. For many poll respondents, this was probably the first time they HEARD about it.
This is a push poll.
And I suspect that other polls released in the coming days will show very different results.
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Today?
Tweetybird Matthews thinks Rove might be indicted today.
From Imus this morning"
Transcript:
MATTHEWS: If, however, something happens with Karl Rove, we’re going to go to general quarters around here.
IMUS: What does that mean?
MATTHEWS: Meaning we will be taping probably on Saturday or late night because everything will change. Last time, when he picked up Scooter, when he nailed him 30 years of charges, that happened on 1:00 on a Friday. So we don’t know when it might happen, if it’s going happen.
IMUS: Are we expecting something with Karl Rove today?
MATTHEWS: Well, it could be today. It could be next week. Everybody is buzzing about when or if. It’s a big if, big when. There is a lot of talk because he is still being interviewing by the special prosecutor. He keeps being hauled before the grand jury. So something is going on here with the special prosecutor. We don’t know whether he is going to clear him or nail him.
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GENEVA (Reuters) - The United States has again refused the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) access to terrorism suspects held in secret detention centers, the humanitarian agency said on Friday.
Isn't it interesting that the whole motto of this administration is "If you have done nothing wrong, you have nothing to hide"?
Explains why they hide everything.
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Headline says it all
Bush denies spying infringes on privacy
Roll THAT phrase around in your head a few times.
Lewis Carroll wishes HE had thought of that one, I'm sure
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Thursday, May 11, 2006
Gonzales Lied
As surely as weasels are weasels.
From the Muckraker:
Did Gonzales Mislead Congress about NSA Program?
By Paul Kiel - May 11, 2006, 2:32 PM
Reacting to today's news that the NSA is "amassing information about the calls of ordinary Americans," Reps. Bennie G. Thompson (D-MS) and Rep. Zoe Lofgren (D-CA) have put out a statement questioning the legality of the program.
Their statement contains this: "when the Attorney General was forced to testify before the House Judiciary Committee a few weeks ago, he misled the Committee about the existence of the program."
Here's what they're referring to. On April 6, 2006, Attorney General Alberto Gonzales testified before the House Judiciary Committee, and in one exchange, Rep. Gerald Nadler (D-NY) tried to nail him down:
NADLER: Number two, can you assure us that there is no warrantless surveillance of calls between two Americans within the United States?
GONZALES: That is not what the president has authorized.
NADLER: Can you assure us that it's not being done?
GONZALES: As I indicated in response to an earlier question, no technology is perfect.
NADLER: OK.
GONZALES: We do have minimization procedures in place...
NADLER: But you're not doing that deliberately?
GONZALES: That is correct.
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"There's no doubt in my mind there are safeguards in place to make sure the program focuses on calls coming from outside the United States in, with an al Qaeda -- from a -- with a belief that there's an al Qaeda person making the call to somebody here in the States, or vice versa -- but not domestic calls." - Bush, 01/26/06.
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Bush lies some more
President Deer-In-The-Headlights decided to throw a little gasoline on the fire:
Facing intense criticism from Congress, President Bush did not confirm the work of the National Security Agency but sought to assure Americans that their privacy is being "fiercely protected."
"We are not mining or trolling through the personal lives of innocent Americans," Bush said before leaving for a commencement address at Mississippi Gulf Coast Community College in Biloxi.
Well, gee whiz, codpiece-for-brains, you ALSO said that you were only listening to INTERNATIONAL Communications. You ALSO said it was only a FEW HUNDRED.
Liar.
Every new story that comes out shows that the administration lied about the last story that came out but they say that we should believe them this time.
NOBODY is that gullible.
By the way, giving the White House info on yur phone calls was VOLUNTARY on the part of the phone companies. Qwest was the ONLY major carrier to refuse. So if you are with AT&T or Verizon, switch to Qwest. And call them and let them know why. DEMAND that they respect your privacy.
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It's all true
Everything you thought MIGHT be true IS.
NSA has massive database of Americans' phone calls
The National Security Agency has been secretly collecting the phone call records of tens of millions of Americans, using data provided by AT&T, Verizon and BellSouth, people with direct knowledge of the arrangement told USA TODAY.
The NSA program reaches into homes and businesses across the nation by amassing information about the calls of ordinary Americans — most of whom aren't suspected of any crime. This program does not involve the NSA listening to or recording conversations. But the spy agency is using the data to analyze calling patterns in an effort to detect terrorist activity, sources said in separate interviews.
For the customers of these companies, it means that the government has detailed records of calls they made — across town or across the country — to family members, co-workers, business contacts and others.
The sources would talk only under a guarantee of anonymity because the NSA program is secret.
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Wednesday, May 10, 2006
Colbert - SOMEBODY gets it.
Here's a great article from the TV Critic at the Chicago Sun-Times about Colbert's public evisceration of His Ignorance. This may be the only thing I have read in the mainstream press that actually understood the reaction to Colbert's speech.
How did Bush tickle reporters? He made fun of the fact that he can barely speak English (he is quite simply the worst communicator of all U.S. presidents), that our vice president is a heartless face-shooter, and that Bush is basically an idiot.
Ha ha, our "war president" knows he's a village idiot? To members of the White House press corps, that's some real funny stuff. To non-insiders, this looked like another example of good old boys and gals slapping each other on the back.
Colbert's routine was more remarkable for its unique and creative brazenness. He joked that Bush's presidency is like the Hindenburg; that Bush's wiretappers were monitoring this very event, and that the White House press corps, sitting in front of Colbert, gave Bush a free pass, scandal after scandal, until recently (when his polls numbers dropped).
How's this for a newsworthy lead? It was perhaps the first time in Bush's tenure that the president was forced to sit and listen to any American cite the litany of criminal and corruption allegations that have piled up against his administration. And mouth-tense Bush and first lady Laura Bush fled as soon as possible afterward.
From whom were they fleeing? A star comedian pretending to be a Fox News-like blowhard doing a sort of performance art that America hasn't witnessed nationally since the days of Andy Kaufman. Even if Colbert's bit had been reported as a train wreck, that would have sufficed. Instead, shocking lines like the following were barely covered by any traditional organ except industry magazine Editor & Publisher: "I stand by" Bush, Colbert cracked, "because he stands for things. Not only for things, he stands on things. Things like aircraft carriers and rubble, and recently flooded city squares. And that sends a strong message that no matter what happens to America, she will always rebound with the most powerfully staged photo ops in the world."
For TV reporters in particular to quote that gruesome line would be an agreement with Colbert, that they helped Bush mix politics with corruption from the ashes of 9/11 ("aircraft carriers and rubble"), and failed to see through Bush's politicization of the drowning of an American city after a hurricane ("recently flooded city squares").
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Brownie, you're doing a heckuva job.
The question isn't "Why do only 31% still support these incompetents" - the question is, "why the hell is it still that high?"
WASHINGTON — Hours after Hurricane Katrina hit, former FEMA director Michael Brown dismissed reports that floodwaters had breached New Orleans' levees, and he obsessed over media coverage of his agency, according to newly released e-mails.
At one point early that morning, Brown reported to an aide that he was "sitting in the chair, putting mousse in my hair" while waiting for media interviews to begin.
What total dicks.
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Poll vault
(CBS) President Bush and the Republican Congress show nearly record low ratings while Democrats are viewed much more favorably in their performance on the issues that matter most to Americans, according to the latest CBS News/New York Times poll.
Well, that just great. You think - maybe - the Democrats MIGHT just stop acting like their afraid that challenging thi clown will hurt them?
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Even if he DOES believe that a War in Iraq was a good idea (and sadly, I think he does), it is very obvious that the execution of it has been entirely botched.
They are trying to occupy a hostile area the size of California with a tiny force of 130,000 troops; they left the borders wide open so Al Qaeda could come in; they can't leave the green zone because it's too dangerous; and the terrorists have a new training ground and a new base of operations in the Middle East.
Not only has Bush not HURT the terrorists - he has GIVEN THEM NEW TERRITORY.
And not because of his words. Because of his actions.
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They still don't get it.
As you probably know, Bush and Blair had a press conference where they decided to try and stem the damage to their reputation by actually ADMITTING what everyone else has known for three years.
BUSH: Saying, "Bring it on"; kind of tough talk, you know, that sent the wrong signal to people. I learned some lessons about expressing myself maybe in a little more sophisticated manner, you know. "Wanted, dead or alive"; that kind of talk. I think in certain parts of the world it was misinterpreted. And so I learned from that
"Misinterpreted"? "Bring it on" was misinterpreted? It didn't actually mean "Bring it on"? Then what, exactly, was it supposed to mean? "Waiter, waiter, there's a fly in my soup"?
No, I think they interpreted it dead right - you were just a damned fool to say it.
And by the way, there was nothing wrong with saying "Osama Bin Laden, Dead or Alive." That's one of the few things you did right. The problem is it was JUST words, and you had no intention of following through, even while you said it.
Regarding his trip to Baghdad, Blair said, "I came away thinking the challenge is still immense, but I also came away more certain than ever that we should rise to it."
Blair added, "I think it's easy to go back over mistakes that we may have made, but the biggest reason why Iraq has been difficult is the determination by our opponents to defeat us."
They started a war without figuring that our opponents would be determined to defeat us.
What did they think our opponents would do? Invite us in for tea?
Are these people total ignoramuses? I don't give a crap how right you think you are - If you kick in someone's door and come at them, they are going to try and defeat you. Duh.
Holy crap.
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Wednesday, May 24, 2006
The Chicks
I don't know how many fans they've lost, but they've gained at least one new one.
Check out their performance on Letterman. Courtesy of crooks and liars.
God bless 'em.
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Pat Robertson
Why does this clown still have a following?
Pat Robertson's Age-Defying Shake
Did you know that Pat Robertson can leg-press 2000 pounds! How does he do it?
One of Pat's secrets to keeping his energy high and his vitality soaring is his age-defying protein shake. Pat developed a delicious, refreshing shake, filled with energy-producing nutrients.
70 years old. Leg presses 2000 pounds. From drinking a SHAKE.
Never mind that it's WAY beyond the existing record.
Pathetic.
Via AMERICAblog
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Tuesday, May 23, 2006
I thought I'd use my tiny little megaphone to draw attention to an editorial by radio legend Pete Fornatale on the state of the radio.
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Of course not. God forbid, I might learn something.
President says he's unlikely to watch documentary on global warming
WASHINGTON - Is President Bush likely to see Al Gore’s documentary about global warming?
“Doubt it,” Bush said coolly Monday.
But Bush should watch it, Gore shot back. In fact, the former Democratic vice president offered to come to the White House any time, any day to show Bush either his documentary or a slide show on global warming that he’s shown more than 1,000 times around the world.
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No shit, Sherlock
Panel: Legislators Shouldn't Work Drunk
SALEM, Ore. (AP) -- Oregon legislators and staff members should not be drunk while performing their official duties, a citizen panel says.
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Monday, May 22, 2006
AT&T Sold Your Ass to the Government
Wired Magazine has a full expose on the NSA spying scandal from Whistle-Blower Mark Klein's class-action lawsuit.
In 2003 AT&T built "secret rooms" hidden deep in the bowels of its central offices in various cities, housing computer gear for a government spy operation which taps into the company's popular WorldNet service and the entire internet. These installations enable the government to look at every individual message on the internet and analyze exactly what people are doing. Documents showing the hardwire installation in San Francisco suggest that there are similar locations being installed in numerous other cities.
The physical arrangement, the timing of its construction, the government-imposed secrecy surrounding it and other factors all strongly suggest that its origins are rooted in the Defense Department's Total Information Awareness (TIA) program...
Read the article. ALL of the Documents are in pdf format here.
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Take a look at this remarkable email exchange between Rumsfeld's Spokesman, Larry (a.k.a. Curly Joe) Dirita, and War Correspondent Joe Galloway. This is remarkable, and Galloway deserves a medal.
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Sunday, May 21, 2006
Why does this not surprise me?
Cut taxes for the multi-millionaires.
And INCREASE them for TEEN-AGERS.
The $69 billion tax cut bill that President Bush signed this week tripled tax rates for teenagers with college savings funds, despite Mr. Bush's 1999 pledge to veto any tax increase.
Under the new law, teenagers age 14 to 17 with investment income will now be taxed at the same rate as their parents, not at their own rates. Long-term capital gains and dividends that had been taxed at 5 percent will now be taxed at 15 percent. Interest that had been taxed at 10 percent will now be taxed at as much as 35 percent.
It is really hard to believe how brazen these people are in their greed and elitism. The contempt that they feel for ordinary Americans is palpable. Not only do they screw people - they do it right in your face, and think you won't notice.
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Thursday, May 18, 2006
Illegal is more fun
According to Baltimore Sun, the NSA developed a program for the purpose of analyzing communication data in the late 1990. Unlike what they are doing now, the old program was legal and protected the privacy of Americans - and worked better.
They rejected it in favor of a system that was illegal, unnecessarily intrusive and didn't work so good.
But if you're Bush, you ALWAYS prefer the option that's illegal, intrusive and innefficient. I honestly think it gives the man the sort of rush that a teenager gets when he gets away with something.
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Rover defends his owner
"The American people like this president. His personal approval ratings are in the 60s. Job approval is lower. And what that says to me is that people like him, they respect him, he's somebody they feel a connection with, but they're just sour right now on the war. And that's the way it's going to be." - Karl Rove
Cognitive dissonance is what happens in the human brain when a human being is confronted with a fact which his preconceptions tell him cannot possibly be true.
Is Karl Rove - Bush's favorite Turdblossom and America's beloved pus-sack - becoming delusional?
His "personal approval" isn't anywhere NEAR the 60s and people DON'T like this President. (New York Times pdf poll here) In fact, his JOB approval is one percentage point HIGHER than his "personal approval. " He has more than 50% approval in exactly 3 states - Utah, Idaho and Wyoming. NOBODY approves of him, except a few whackjobs.
Polysigh put it best:
"As for Rove's comment that Bush would be popular but for the Iraq War, that's like saying that if it weren't for the Alps, Switzerland would be flat."
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Tuesday, May 16, 2006
The Constitutional Crisis that Walks like a Man.
The FBI has confirmed that they do, indeed, monitor reporters' phone calls.
Approximately one year ago, we were told that they did not need a warrant because they were only monitoring international calls.
Then, they said that, well, actually were monitoring SOME calls where one of the parties was domestic and one was international.
"If someone is calling Al Qaeda," said Bush, "we want to know why."
Which is interesting, because it implies that they know the terrorists' telephone numbers, which makes you wonder why they don't just round them up instead of collecting their phone bills.
Then they said that they sometimes they inadvertently listen to purely domestic calls.
Then they tell us - just this week - that, well, all that was bullshit. They have actually been collecting info on every single phone call made by every single American with almost no exceptions.
But OF COURSE we have nothing to worry about. We can trust THEM. Never mind the fact that they have lied about this again and again and again. We can trust them. They aren't actually listening in. It's for TERRORISM. So they say.
But you can't name a single terrorist who has been arrested in the last five years as a result of this spying. Not one.
And NOW, we find out that they AREN'T checking on terrorists - they are checking on reporters. They are using phone records to find out who reporters are using as sources. They are REALLY after anyone who makes them look bad by revealing the truth to the American People.
You would figure even the REPUBLICANS would wake up and realize that George W. Bush is a walking Constitutional Crisis who has to be stopped while we still have something that we can call "America" left. And they would, if they valued their nation more than their party.
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Monday, May 15, 2006
Push Back Poll
I said it was a push poll, and I was right.
From a Newsweek poll, released one day after the Washington Post Push Poll:
As you may know, there are reports that the NSA, a government intelligence agency, has been collecting the phone call records of Americans. The agency doesn't actually listen to the calls but logs in nearly every phone number to create a database of calls made within the United States. Which of the following comes CLOSER to your own view of this domestic surveillance program:
It is a necessary tool to combat terrorism -- 41
It goes too far in invading people’s privacy -- 53
Don’t know -- 6
Note that the question doesn't read like a apologia for data mining - as the Washington Post poll did.
But why was the Washington Post so anxious to release a poll that backed up the Bush administration's wishes on the same day that the news broke?
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Your tax dollars at work
You have to watch out for those Terrorist Anchormen:
Federal Source to ABC News: We Know Who You're Calling
Brian Ross and Richard Esposito Report:
A senior federal law enforcement official tells ABC News the government is tracking the phone numbers we (Brian Ross and Richard Esposito) call in an effort to root out confidential sources.
"It's time for you to get some new cell phones, quick," the source told us in an in-person conversation.
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Same script.
Ah. So His Incompetence is probably going to use the National Guard to patrol the border. He says it's "only temporary."
Temporary till when? Just after the 2006 elections?
This is typical. God forbid border patrol get done by actual border patrol. That would make sense. Instead, let's assume that the MILITARY doesn't have enough of a role.
The REAL problem is that Bush is too damned incompetent to deal with anything using civilian means - like SANE Presidents always have. Instead, he turns to the military as his tool of choice for absolutely everything.
And pardon me for wondering if President Codpiece isn't still trying to compensate for the cowardice and inadequacy that he showed during Vietnam. Using OTHER people's blood and sweat, of course.
So he will get to dress up in a uniform, strut around, use jeeps and tanks and helicopters and all sorts of neat stuff, and basically play war in a place where there isn't one, and it will make for a great photo-op. He'll get his picture taken with a helicopter. Look, mommy! Don't I look cool?
God, I wish we had a President who was a frigging grown-up, instead of one who is stuck in adolescence and makes America suffer so he can feel impressive.
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Sunday, May 14, 2006
Ooops.
I posted the info from Jason Leopold (of truthout) that Rove had been indicted. Not WOULD be - HAD been. I think we would have heard something by now. I guess Leopold's source isn't all that reliable, and it's the last time I post something unsubstantiated from truthout.
Here's hoping that Leopold proves to be right a bit too early anyway.
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Saturday, May 13, 2006
Sue the bastards.
If you own stock in any phone companies, it's time to sell short. They could lose billions in class-action lawsuits, and lose MORE money from an exodus of customers.
Two suits have already been filed.
Verizon Sued for Giving NSA Phone Records Attorneys Bruce Afran and Carl Mayer filed the lawsuit Friday afternoon in federal district court in Manhattan, where Verizon is headquartered.
The lawsuit asks the court to stop Verizon from turning over any more records to the NSA without a warrant or consent of the subscriber.
"This is the largest and most vast intrusion of civil liberties we've ever seen in the United States," Afran said of the NSA program.
The lawsuit seeks $1,000 for each violation of the Telecommunications Act, or $5 billion if the case is certified as class-action.
And this is a DIFFERENT one:
Verizon Faces New $20B Suit over NSA Spying Complicity
Upping the ante in what may be a high-stakes legal battle, an Upstate New York lawyer filed a $20 billion class-action lawsuit against Verizon last week, charging that the company violated customer confidentiality in aiding warrantless eavesdropping by a federal spy agency.
Here's the tally of who has and has not violated the privacy of American citizens:
Verizon (land-line), AT&T, and BellSouth have all behaved in a fundamentally Unamerican manner.
On the other hand, Qwest is the only large landline carrier that refused to complied with the Bush's fascist requests. If you have one of the other three, switch to Qwest.
Cellular phones seem largely clean. Verizon Wireless, T-Mobile, Virgin Mobile and Cox all say that they have not provided their records to anyone.
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Fitzmas?
Truthout now says that Rove has BEEN indicted, but I don't see it in the tradition media.
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Shocked
The NSA Whistleblower says that people are going to be shocked.
[Tice] said he plans to tell the committee staffers the NSA conducted illegal and unconstitutional surveillance of U.S. citizens while he was there with the knowledge of Hayden. … “I think the people I talk to next week are going to be shocked when I tell them what I have to tell them. It’s pretty hard to believe,” Tice said.
I won't be shocked, but it's about time the country got shocked.
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Friday, May 12, 2006
According to truthout, Rove has told the White House that he will be indicted.
Within the last week, Karl Rove told President Bush and Chief of Staff Joshua Bolten, as well as a few other high level administration officials, that he will be indicted in the CIA leak case and will immediately resign his White House job when the special counsel publicly announces the charges against him, according to sources.
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Raid kills roaches dead.
The FBI has raided the home of Dusty Foggo (NOT the name of a fictional character). The guy who just resigned as the #3 man in the CIA.
I wonder why Goss REALLY resigned. This CAN'T be a coincidence.
Move along, folks, nothing to see here....
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Push poll
You may have read - and been shocked - by reports that a poll says that 2/3rds of Americans have no problem with the Bush administration mining phone calls.
Here is the actual question:
It's been reported that the National Security Agency has been collecting the phone call records of tens of millions of Americans. It then analyzes calling patterns in an effort to identify possible terrorism suspects, without listening to or recording the conversations. Would you consider this an acceptable or unacceptable way for the federal government to investigate terrorism? Do you feel that way strongly or somewhat?
Note that the question itself ASSUMES that the act is benign, and states things as fact that WE DON'T KNOW (such as that conversations are not listened to or recorded). The question is framed in terms of fighting terrorism, falsifies the known facts, fails to mention the questionable legality, and was obviously thrown together on the fly. For many poll respondents, this was probably the first time they HEARD about it.
This is a push poll.
And I suspect that other polls released in the coming days will show very different results.
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Today?
Tweetybird Matthews thinks Rove might be indicted today.
From Imus this morning"
Transcript:
MATTHEWS: If, however, something happens with Karl Rove, we’re going to go to general quarters around here.
IMUS: What does that mean?
MATTHEWS: Meaning we will be taping probably on Saturday or late night because everything will change. Last time, when he picked up Scooter, when he nailed him 30 years of charges, that happened on 1:00 on a Friday. So we don’t know when it might happen, if it’s going happen.
IMUS: Are we expecting something with Karl Rove today?
MATTHEWS: Well, it could be today. It could be next week. Everybody is buzzing about when or if. It’s a big if, big when. There is a lot of talk because he is still being interviewing by the special prosecutor. He keeps being hauled before the grand jury. So something is going on here with the special prosecutor. We don’t know whether he is going to clear him or nail him.
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GENEVA (Reuters) - The United States has again refused the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) access to terrorism suspects held in secret detention centers, the humanitarian agency said on Friday.
Isn't it interesting that the whole motto of this administration is "If you have done nothing wrong, you have nothing to hide"?
Explains why they hide everything.
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Headline says it all
Bush denies spying infringes on privacy
Roll THAT phrase around in your head a few times.
Lewis Carroll wishes HE had thought of that one, I'm sure
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Thursday, May 11, 2006
Gonzales Lied
As surely as weasels are weasels.
From the Muckraker:
Did Gonzales Mislead Congress about NSA Program?
By Paul Kiel - May 11, 2006, 2:32 PM
Reacting to today's news that the NSA is "amassing information about the calls of ordinary Americans," Reps. Bennie G. Thompson (D-MS) and Rep. Zoe Lofgren (D-CA) have put out a statement questioning the legality of the program.
Their statement contains this: "when the Attorney General was forced to testify before the House Judiciary Committee a few weeks ago, he misled the Committee about the existence of the program."
Here's what they're referring to. On April 6, 2006, Attorney General Alberto Gonzales testified before the House Judiciary Committee, and in one exchange, Rep. Gerald Nadler (D-NY) tried to nail him down:
NADLER: Number two, can you assure us that there is no warrantless surveillance of calls between two Americans within the United States?
GONZALES: That is not what the president has authorized.
NADLER: Can you assure us that it's not being done?
GONZALES: As I indicated in response to an earlier question, no technology is perfect.
NADLER: OK.
GONZALES: We do have minimization procedures in place...
NADLER: But you're not doing that deliberately?
GONZALES: That is correct.
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"There's no doubt in my mind there are safeguards in place to make sure the program focuses on calls coming from outside the United States in, with an al Qaeda -- from a -- with a belief that there's an al Qaeda person making the call to somebody here in the States, or vice versa -- but not domestic calls." - Bush, 01/26/06.
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Bush lies some more
President Deer-In-The-Headlights decided to throw a little gasoline on the fire:
Facing intense criticism from Congress, President Bush did not confirm the work of the National Security Agency but sought to assure Americans that their privacy is being "fiercely protected."
"We are not mining or trolling through the personal lives of innocent Americans," Bush said before leaving for a commencement address at Mississippi Gulf Coast Community College in Biloxi.
Well, gee whiz, codpiece-for-brains, you ALSO said that you were only listening to INTERNATIONAL Communications. You ALSO said it was only a FEW HUNDRED.
Liar.
Every new story that comes out shows that the administration lied about the last story that came out but they say that we should believe them this time.
NOBODY is that gullible.
By the way, giving the White House info on yur phone calls was VOLUNTARY on the part of the phone companies. Qwest was the ONLY major carrier to refuse. So if you are with AT&T or Verizon, switch to Qwest. And call them and let them know why. DEMAND that they respect your privacy.
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It's all true
Everything you thought MIGHT be true IS.
NSA has massive database of Americans' phone calls
The National Security Agency has been secretly collecting the phone call records of tens of millions of Americans, using data provided by AT&T, Verizon and BellSouth, people with direct knowledge of the arrangement told USA TODAY.
The NSA program reaches into homes and businesses across the nation by amassing information about the calls of ordinary Americans — most of whom aren't suspected of any crime. This program does not involve the NSA listening to or recording conversations. But the spy agency is using the data to analyze calling patterns in an effort to detect terrorist activity, sources said in separate interviews.
For the customers of these companies, it means that the government has detailed records of calls they made — across town or across the country — to family members, co-workers, business contacts and others.
The sources would talk only under a guarantee of anonymity because the NSA program is secret.
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Wednesday, May 10, 2006
Colbert - SOMEBODY gets it.
Here's a great article from the TV Critic at the Chicago Sun-Times about Colbert's public evisceration of His Ignorance. This may be the only thing I have read in the mainstream press that actually understood the reaction to Colbert's speech.
How did Bush tickle reporters? He made fun of the fact that he can barely speak English (he is quite simply the worst communicator of all U.S. presidents), that our vice president is a heartless face-shooter, and that Bush is basically an idiot.
Ha ha, our "war president" knows he's a village idiot? To members of the White House press corps, that's some real funny stuff. To non-insiders, this looked like another example of good old boys and gals slapping each other on the back.
Colbert's routine was more remarkable for its unique and creative brazenness. He joked that Bush's presidency is like the Hindenburg; that Bush's wiretappers were monitoring this very event, and that the White House press corps, sitting in front of Colbert, gave Bush a free pass, scandal after scandal, until recently (when his polls numbers dropped).
How's this for a newsworthy lead? It was perhaps the first time in Bush's tenure that the president was forced to sit and listen to any American cite the litany of criminal and corruption allegations that have piled up against his administration. And mouth-tense Bush and first lady Laura Bush fled as soon as possible afterward.
From whom were they fleeing? A star comedian pretending to be a Fox News-like blowhard doing a sort of performance art that America hasn't witnessed nationally since the days of Andy Kaufman. Even if Colbert's bit had been reported as a train wreck, that would have sufficed. Instead, shocking lines like the following were barely covered by any traditional organ except industry magazine Editor & Publisher: "I stand by" Bush, Colbert cracked, "because he stands for things. Not only for things, he stands on things. Things like aircraft carriers and rubble, and recently flooded city squares. And that sends a strong message that no matter what happens to America, she will always rebound with the most powerfully staged photo ops in the world."
For TV reporters in particular to quote that gruesome line would be an agreement with Colbert, that they helped Bush mix politics with corruption from the ashes of 9/11 ("aircraft carriers and rubble"), and failed to see through Bush's politicization of the drowning of an American city after a hurricane ("recently flooded city squares").
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Brownie, you're doing a heckuva job.
The question isn't "Why do only 31% still support these incompetents" - the question is, "why the hell is it still that high?"
WASHINGTON — Hours after Hurricane Katrina hit, former FEMA director Michael Brown dismissed reports that floodwaters had breached New Orleans' levees, and he obsessed over media coverage of his agency, according to newly released e-mails.
At one point early that morning, Brown reported to an aide that he was "sitting in the chair, putting mousse in my hair" while waiting for media interviews to begin.
What total dicks.
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Poll vault
(CBS) President Bush and the Republican Congress show nearly record low ratings while Democrats are viewed much more favorably in their performance on the issues that matter most to Americans, according to the latest CBS News/New York Times poll.
Well, that just great. You think - maybe - the Democrats MIGHT just stop acting like their afraid that challenging thi clown will hurt them?
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BUSH: Saying, "Bring it on"; kind of tough talk, you know, that sent the wrong signal to people. I learned some lessons about expressing myself maybe in a little more sophisticated manner, you know. "Wanted, dead or alive"; that kind of talk. I think in certain parts of the world it was misinterpreted. And so I learned from that
"Misinterpreted"? "Bring it on" was misinterpreted? It didn't actually mean "Bring it on"? Then what, exactly, was it supposed to mean? "Waiter, waiter, there's a fly in my soup"?
No, I think they interpreted it dead right - you were just a damned fool to say it.
And by the way, there was nothing wrong with saying "Osama Bin Laden, Dead or Alive." That's one of the few things you did right. The problem is it was JUST words, and you had no intention of following through, even while you said it.
Regarding his trip to Baghdad, Blair said, "I came away thinking the challenge is still immense, but I also came away more certain than ever that we should rise to it."
Blair added, "I think it's easy to go back over mistakes that we may have made, but the biggest reason why Iraq has been difficult is the determination by our opponents to defeat us."
They started a war without figuring that our opponents would be determined to defeat us.
What did they think our opponents would do? Invite us in for tea?
Are these people total ignoramuses? I don't give a crap how right you think you are - If you kick in someone's door and come at them, they are going to try and defeat you. Duh.
Holy crap.
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The Chicks
I don't know how many fans they've lost, but they've gained at least one new one.
Check out their performance on Letterman. Courtesy of crooks and liars.
God bless 'em.
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Pat Robertson
Why does this clown still have a following?
Pat Robertson's Age-Defying Shake
Did you know that Pat Robertson can leg-press 2000 pounds! How does he do it?
One of Pat's secrets to keeping his energy high and his vitality soaring is his age-defying protein shake. Pat developed a delicious, refreshing shake, filled with energy-producing nutrients.
70 years old. Leg presses 2000 pounds. From drinking a SHAKE.
Never mind that it's WAY beyond the existing record.
Pathetic.
Via AMERICAblog
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Tuesday, May 23, 2006
I thought I'd use my tiny little megaphone to draw attention to an editorial by radio legend Pete Fornatale on the state of the radio.
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Of course not. God forbid, I might learn something.
President says he's unlikely to watch documentary on global warming
WASHINGTON - Is President Bush likely to see Al Gore’s documentary about global warming?
“Doubt it,” Bush said coolly Monday.
But Bush should watch it, Gore shot back. In fact, the former Democratic vice president offered to come to the White House any time, any day to show Bush either his documentary or a slide show on global warming that he’s shown more than 1,000 times around the world.
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No shit, Sherlock
Panel: Legislators Shouldn't Work Drunk
SALEM, Ore. (AP) -- Oregon legislators and staff members should not be drunk while performing their official duties, a citizen panel says.
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Monday, May 22, 2006
AT&T Sold Your Ass to the Government
Wired Magazine has a full expose on the NSA spying scandal from Whistle-Blower Mark Klein's class-action lawsuit.
In 2003 AT&T built "secret rooms" hidden deep in the bowels of its central offices in various cities, housing computer gear for a government spy operation which taps into the company's popular WorldNet service and the entire internet. These installations enable the government to look at every individual message on the internet and analyze exactly what people are doing. Documents showing the hardwire installation in San Francisco suggest that there are similar locations being installed in numerous other cities.
The physical arrangement, the timing of its construction, the government-imposed secrecy surrounding it and other factors all strongly suggest that its origins are rooted in the Defense Department's Total Information Awareness (TIA) program...
Read the article. ALL of the Documents are in pdf format here.
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Take a look at this remarkable email exchange between Rumsfeld's Spokesman, Larry (a.k.a. Curly Joe) Dirita, and War Correspondent Joe Galloway. This is remarkable, and Galloway deserves a medal.
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Sunday, May 21, 2006
Why does this not surprise me?
Cut taxes for the multi-millionaires.
And INCREASE them for TEEN-AGERS.
The $69 billion tax cut bill that President Bush signed this week tripled tax rates for teenagers with college savings funds, despite Mr. Bush's 1999 pledge to veto any tax increase.
Under the new law, teenagers age 14 to 17 with investment income will now be taxed at the same rate as their parents, not at their own rates. Long-term capital gains and dividends that had been taxed at 5 percent will now be taxed at 15 percent. Interest that had been taxed at 10 percent will now be taxed at as much as 35 percent.
It is really hard to believe how brazen these people are in their greed and elitism. The contempt that they feel for ordinary Americans is palpable. Not only do they screw people - they do it right in your face, and think you won't notice.
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Thursday, May 18, 2006
Illegal is more fun
According to Baltimore Sun, the NSA developed a program for the purpose of analyzing communication data in the late 1990. Unlike what they are doing now, the old program was legal and protected the privacy of Americans - and worked better.
They rejected it in favor of a system that was illegal, unnecessarily intrusive and didn't work so good.
But if you're Bush, you ALWAYS prefer the option that's illegal, intrusive and innefficient. I honestly think it gives the man the sort of rush that a teenager gets when he gets away with something.
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Rover defends his owner
"The American people like this president. His personal approval ratings are in the 60s. Job approval is lower. And what that says to me is that people like him, they respect him, he's somebody they feel a connection with, but they're just sour right now on the war. And that's the way it's going to be." - Karl Rove
Cognitive dissonance is what happens in the human brain when a human being is confronted with a fact which his preconceptions tell him cannot possibly be true.
Is Karl Rove - Bush's favorite Turdblossom and America's beloved pus-sack - becoming delusional?
His "personal approval" isn't anywhere NEAR the 60s and people DON'T like this President. (New York Times pdf poll here) In fact, his JOB approval is one percentage point HIGHER than his "personal approval. " He has more than 50% approval in exactly 3 states - Utah, Idaho and Wyoming. NOBODY approves of him, except a few whackjobs.
Polysigh put it best:
"As for Rove's comment that Bush would be popular but for the Iraq War, that's like saying that if it weren't for the Alps, Switzerland would be flat."
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Tuesday, May 16, 2006
The Constitutional Crisis that Walks like a Man.
The FBI has confirmed that they do, indeed, monitor reporters' phone calls.
Approximately one year ago, we were told that they did not need a warrant because they were only monitoring international calls.
Then, they said that, well, actually were monitoring SOME calls where one of the parties was domestic and one was international.
"If someone is calling Al Qaeda," said Bush, "we want to know why."
Which is interesting, because it implies that they know the terrorists' telephone numbers, which makes you wonder why they don't just round them up instead of collecting their phone bills.
Then they said that they sometimes they inadvertently listen to purely domestic calls.
Then they tell us - just this week - that, well, all that was bullshit. They have actually been collecting info on every single phone call made by every single American with almost no exceptions.
But OF COURSE we have nothing to worry about. We can trust THEM. Never mind the fact that they have lied about this again and again and again. We can trust them. They aren't actually listening in. It's for TERRORISM. So they say.
But you can't name a single terrorist who has been arrested in the last five years as a result of this spying. Not one.
And NOW, we find out that they AREN'T checking on terrorists - they are checking on reporters. They are using phone records to find out who reporters are using as sources. They are REALLY after anyone who makes them look bad by revealing the truth to the American People.
You would figure even the REPUBLICANS would wake up and realize that George W. Bush is a walking Constitutional Crisis who has to be stopped while we still have something that we can call "America" left. And they would, if they valued their nation more than their party.
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Monday, May 15, 2006
Push Back Poll
I said it was a push poll, and I was right.
From a Newsweek poll, released one day after the Washington Post Push Poll:
As you may know, there are reports that the NSA, a government intelligence agency, has been collecting the phone call records of Americans. The agency doesn't actually listen to the calls but logs in nearly every phone number to create a database of calls made within the United States. Which of the following comes CLOSER to your own view of this domestic surveillance program:
It is a necessary tool to combat terrorism -- 41
It goes too far in invading people’s privacy -- 53
Don’t know -- 6
Note that the question doesn't read like a apologia for data mining - as the Washington Post poll did.
But why was the Washington Post so anxious to release a poll that backed up the Bush administration's wishes on the same day that the news broke?
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Your tax dollars at work
You have to watch out for those Terrorist Anchormen:
Federal Source to ABC News: We Know Who You're Calling
Brian Ross and Richard Esposito Report:
A senior federal law enforcement official tells ABC News the government is tracking the phone numbers we (Brian Ross and Richard Esposito) call in an effort to root out confidential sources.
"It's time for you to get some new cell phones, quick," the source told us in an in-person conversation.
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Same script.
Ah. So His Incompetence is probably going to use the National Guard to patrol the border. He says it's "only temporary."
Temporary till when? Just after the 2006 elections?
This is typical. God forbid border patrol get done by actual border patrol. That would make sense. Instead, let's assume that the MILITARY doesn't have enough of a role.
The REAL problem is that Bush is too damned incompetent to deal with anything using civilian means - like SANE Presidents always have. Instead, he turns to the military as his tool of choice for absolutely everything.
And pardon me for wondering if President Codpiece isn't still trying to compensate for the cowardice and inadequacy that he showed during Vietnam. Using OTHER people's blood and sweat, of course.
So he will get to dress up in a uniform, strut around, use jeeps and tanks and helicopters and all sorts of neat stuff, and basically play war in a place where there isn't one, and it will make for a great photo-op. He'll get his picture taken with a helicopter. Look, mommy! Don't I look cool?
God, I wish we had a President who was a frigging grown-up, instead of one who is stuck in adolescence and makes America suffer so he can feel impressive.
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Sunday, May 14, 2006
Ooops.
I posted the info from Jason Leopold (of truthout) that Rove had been indicted. Not WOULD be - HAD been. I think we would have heard something by now. I guess Leopold's source isn't all that reliable, and it's the last time I post something unsubstantiated from truthout.
Here's hoping that Leopold proves to be right a bit too early anyway.
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Saturday, May 13, 2006
Sue the bastards.
If you own stock in any phone companies, it's time to sell short. They could lose billions in class-action lawsuits, and lose MORE money from an exodus of customers.
Two suits have already been filed.
Verizon Sued for Giving NSA Phone Records Attorneys Bruce Afran and Carl Mayer filed the lawsuit Friday afternoon in federal district court in Manhattan, where Verizon is headquartered.
The lawsuit asks the court to stop Verizon from turning over any more records to the NSA without a warrant or consent of the subscriber.
"This is the largest and most vast intrusion of civil liberties we've ever seen in the United States," Afran said of the NSA program.
The lawsuit seeks $1,000 for each violation of the Telecommunications Act, or $5 billion if the case is certified as class-action.
And this is a DIFFERENT one:
Verizon Faces New $20B Suit over NSA Spying Complicity
Upping the ante in what may be a high-stakes legal battle, an Upstate New York lawyer filed a $20 billion class-action lawsuit against Verizon last week, charging that the company violated customer confidentiality in aiding warrantless eavesdropping by a federal spy agency.
Here's the tally of who has and has not violated the privacy of American citizens:
Verizon (land-line), AT&T, and BellSouth have all behaved in a fundamentally Unamerican manner.
On the other hand, Qwest is the only large landline carrier that refused to complied with the Bush's fascist requests. If you have one of the other three, switch to Qwest.
Cellular phones seem largely clean. Verizon Wireless, T-Mobile, Virgin Mobile and Cox all say that they have not provided their records to anyone.
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Fitzmas?
Truthout now says that Rove has BEEN indicted, but I don't see it in the tradition media.
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Shocked
The NSA Whistleblower says that people are going to be shocked.
[Tice] said he plans to tell the committee staffers the NSA conducted illegal and unconstitutional surveillance of U.S. citizens while he was there with the knowledge of Hayden. … “I think the people I talk to next week are going to be shocked when I tell them what I have to tell them. It’s pretty hard to believe,” Tice said.
I won't be shocked, but it's about time the country got shocked.
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Friday, May 12, 2006
According to truthout, Rove has told the White House that he will be indicted.
Within the last week, Karl Rove told President Bush and Chief of Staff Joshua Bolten, as well as a few other high level administration officials, that he will be indicted in the CIA leak case and will immediately resign his White House job when the special counsel publicly announces the charges against him, according to sources.
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Raid kills roaches dead.
The FBI has raided the home of Dusty Foggo (NOT the name of a fictional character). The guy who just resigned as the #3 man in the CIA.
I wonder why Goss REALLY resigned. This CAN'T be a coincidence.
Move along, folks, nothing to see here....
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Push poll
You may have read - and been shocked - by reports that a poll says that 2/3rds of Americans have no problem with the Bush administration mining phone calls.
Here is the actual question:
It's been reported that the National Security Agency has been collecting the phone call records of tens of millions of Americans. It then analyzes calling patterns in an effort to identify possible terrorism suspects, without listening to or recording the conversations. Would you consider this an acceptable or unacceptable way for the federal government to investigate terrorism? Do you feel that way strongly or somewhat?
Note that the question itself ASSUMES that the act is benign, and states things as fact that WE DON'T KNOW (such as that conversations are not listened to or recorded). The question is framed in terms of fighting terrorism, falsifies the known facts, fails to mention the questionable legality, and was obviously thrown together on the fly. For many poll respondents, this was probably the first time they HEARD about it.
This is a push poll.
And I suspect that other polls released in the coming days will show very different results.
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Today?
Tweetybird Matthews thinks Rove might be indicted today.
From Imus this morning"
Transcript:
MATTHEWS: If, however, something happens with Karl Rove, we’re going to go to general quarters around here.
IMUS: What does that mean?
MATTHEWS: Meaning we will be taping probably on Saturday or late night because everything will change. Last time, when he picked up Scooter, when he nailed him 30 years of charges, that happened on 1:00 on a Friday. So we don’t know when it might happen, if it’s going happen.
IMUS: Are we expecting something with Karl Rove today?
MATTHEWS: Well, it could be today. It could be next week. Everybody is buzzing about when or if. It’s a big if, big when. There is a lot of talk because he is still being interviewing by the special prosecutor. He keeps being hauled before the grand jury. So something is going on here with the special prosecutor. We don’t know whether he is going to clear him or nail him.
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GENEVA (Reuters) - The United States has again refused the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) access to terrorism suspects held in secret detention centers, the humanitarian agency said on Friday.
Isn't it interesting that the whole motto of this administration is "If you have done nothing wrong, you have nothing to hide"?
Explains why they hide everything.
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Headline says it all
Bush denies spying infringes on privacy
Roll THAT phrase around in your head a few times.
Lewis Carroll wishes HE had thought of that one, I'm sure
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Thursday, May 11, 2006
Gonzales Lied
As surely as weasels are weasels.
From the Muckraker:
Did Gonzales Mislead Congress about NSA Program?
By Paul Kiel - May 11, 2006, 2:32 PM
Reacting to today's news that the NSA is "amassing information about the calls of ordinary Americans," Reps. Bennie G. Thompson (D-MS) and Rep. Zoe Lofgren (D-CA) have put out a statement questioning the legality of the program.
Their statement contains this: "when the Attorney General was forced to testify before the House Judiciary Committee a few weeks ago, he misled the Committee about the existence of the program."
Here's what they're referring to. On April 6, 2006, Attorney General Alberto Gonzales testified before the House Judiciary Committee, and in one exchange, Rep. Gerald Nadler (D-NY) tried to nail him down:
NADLER: Number two, can you assure us that there is no warrantless surveillance of calls between two Americans within the United States?
GONZALES: That is not what the president has authorized.
NADLER: Can you assure us that it's not being done?
GONZALES: As I indicated in response to an earlier question, no technology is perfect.
NADLER: OK.
GONZALES: We do have minimization procedures in place...
NADLER: But you're not doing that deliberately?
GONZALES: That is correct.
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"There's no doubt in my mind there are safeguards in place to make sure the program focuses on calls coming from outside the United States in, with an al Qaeda -- from a -- with a belief that there's an al Qaeda person making the call to somebody here in the States, or vice versa -- but not domestic calls." - Bush, 01/26/06.
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Bush lies some more
President Deer-In-The-Headlights decided to throw a little gasoline on the fire:
Facing intense criticism from Congress, President Bush did not confirm the work of the National Security Agency but sought to assure Americans that their privacy is being "fiercely protected."
"We are not mining or trolling through the personal lives of innocent Americans," Bush said before leaving for a commencement address at Mississippi Gulf Coast Community College in Biloxi.
Well, gee whiz, codpiece-for-brains, you ALSO said that you were only listening to INTERNATIONAL Communications. You ALSO said it was only a FEW HUNDRED.
Liar.
Every new story that comes out shows that the administration lied about the last story that came out but they say that we should believe them this time.
NOBODY is that gullible.
By the way, giving the White House info on yur phone calls was VOLUNTARY on the part of the phone companies. Qwest was the ONLY major carrier to refuse. So if you are with AT&T or Verizon, switch to Qwest. And call them and let them know why. DEMAND that they respect your privacy.
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It's all true
Everything you thought MIGHT be true IS.
NSA has massive database of Americans' phone calls
The National Security Agency has been secretly collecting the phone call records of tens of millions of Americans, using data provided by AT&T, Verizon and BellSouth, people with direct knowledge of the arrangement told USA TODAY.
The NSA program reaches into homes and businesses across the nation by amassing information about the calls of ordinary Americans — most of whom aren't suspected of any crime. This program does not involve the NSA listening to or recording conversations. But the spy agency is using the data to analyze calling patterns in an effort to detect terrorist activity, sources said in separate interviews.
For the customers of these companies, it means that the government has detailed records of calls they made — across town or across the country — to family members, co-workers, business contacts and others.
The sources would talk only under a guarantee of anonymity because the NSA program is secret.
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Wednesday, May 10, 2006
Colbert - SOMEBODY gets it.
Here's a great article from the TV Critic at the Chicago Sun-Times about Colbert's public evisceration of His Ignorance. This may be the only thing I have read in the mainstream press that actually understood the reaction to Colbert's speech.
How did Bush tickle reporters? He made fun of the fact that he can barely speak English (he is quite simply the worst communicator of all U.S. presidents), that our vice president is a heartless face-shooter, and that Bush is basically an idiot.
Ha ha, our "war president" knows he's a village idiot? To members of the White House press corps, that's some real funny stuff. To non-insiders, this looked like another example of good old boys and gals slapping each other on the back.
Colbert's routine was more remarkable for its unique and creative brazenness. He joked that Bush's presidency is like the Hindenburg; that Bush's wiretappers were monitoring this very event, and that the White House press corps, sitting in front of Colbert, gave Bush a free pass, scandal after scandal, until recently (when his polls numbers dropped).
How's this for a newsworthy lead? It was perhaps the first time in Bush's tenure that the president was forced to sit and listen to any American cite the litany of criminal and corruption allegations that have piled up against his administration. And mouth-tense Bush and first lady Laura Bush fled as soon as possible afterward.
From whom were they fleeing? A star comedian pretending to be a Fox News-like blowhard doing a sort of performance art that America hasn't witnessed nationally since the days of Andy Kaufman. Even if Colbert's bit had been reported as a train wreck, that would have sufficed. Instead, shocking lines like the following were barely covered by any traditional organ except industry magazine Editor & Publisher: "I stand by" Bush, Colbert cracked, "because he stands for things. Not only for things, he stands on things. Things like aircraft carriers and rubble, and recently flooded city squares. And that sends a strong message that no matter what happens to America, she will always rebound with the most powerfully staged photo ops in the world."
For TV reporters in particular to quote that gruesome line would be an agreement with Colbert, that they helped Bush mix politics with corruption from the ashes of 9/11 ("aircraft carriers and rubble"), and failed to see through Bush's politicization of the drowning of an American city after a hurricane ("recently flooded city squares").
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Brownie, you're doing a heckuva job.
The question isn't "Why do only 31% still support these incompetents" - the question is, "why the hell is it still that high?"
WASHINGTON — Hours after Hurricane Katrina hit, former FEMA director Michael Brown dismissed reports that floodwaters had breached New Orleans' levees, and he obsessed over media coverage of his agency, according to newly released e-mails.
At one point early that morning, Brown reported to an aide that he was "sitting in the chair, putting mousse in my hair" while waiting for media interviews to begin.
What total dicks.
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Poll vault
(CBS) President Bush and the Republican Congress show nearly record low ratings while Democrats are viewed much more favorably in their performance on the issues that matter most to Americans, according to the latest CBS News/New York Times poll.
Well, that just great. You think - maybe - the Democrats MIGHT just stop acting like their afraid that challenging thi clown will hurt them?
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Check out their performance on Letterman. Courtesy of crooks and liars.
God bless 'em.
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Pat Robertson
Why does this clown still have a following?
Pat Robertson's Age-Defying Shake
Did you know that Pat Robertson can leg-press 2000 pounds! How does he do it?
One of Pat's secrets to keeping his energy high and his vitality soaring is his age-defying protein shake. Pat developed a delicious, refreshing shake, filled with energy-producing nutrients.
70 years old. Leg presses 2000 pounds. From drinking a SHAKE.
Never mind that it's WAY beyond the existing record.
Pathetic.
Via AMERICAblog
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Tuesday, May 23, 2006
I thought I'd use my tiny little megaphone to draw attention to an editorial by radio legend Pete Fornatale on the state of the radio.
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Of course not. God forbid, I might learn something.
President says he's unlikely to watch documentary on global warming
WASHINGTON - Is President Bush likely to see Al Gore’s documentary about global warming?
“Doubt it,” Bush said coolly Monday.
But Bush should watch it, Gore shot back. In fact, the former Democratic vice president offered to come to the White House any time, any day to show Bush either his documentary or a slide show on global warming that he’s shown more than 1,000 times around the world.
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No shit, Sherlock
Panel: Legislators Shouldn't Work Drunk
SALEM, Ore. (AP) -- Oregon legislators and staff members should not be drunk while performing their official duties, a citizen panel says.
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Monday, May 22, 2006
AT&T Sold Your Ass to the Government
Wired Magazine has a full expose on the NSA spying scandal from Whistle-Blower Mark Klein's class-action lawsuit.
In 2003 AT&T built "secret rooms" hidden deep in the bowels of its central offices in various cities, housing computer gear for a government spy operation which taps into the company's popular WorldNet service and the entire internet. These installations enable the government to look at every individual message on the internet and analyze exactly what people are doing. Documents showing the hardwire installation in San Francisco suggest that there are similar locations being installed in numerous other cities.
The physical arrangement, the timing of its construction, the government-imposed secrecy surrounding it and other factors all strongly suggest that its origins are rooted in the Defense Department's Total Information Awareness (TIA) program...
Read the article. ALL of the Documents are in pdf format here.
1 comments
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Take a look at this remarkable email exchange between Rumsfeld's Spokesman, Larry (a.k.a. Curly Joe) Dirita, and War Correspondent Joe Galloway. This is remarkable, and Galloway deserves a medal.
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Sunday, May 21, 2006
Why does this not surprise me?
Cut taxes for the multi-millionaires.
And INCREASE them for TEEN-AGERS.
The $69 billion tax cut bill that President Bush signed this week tripled tax rates for teenagers with college savings funds, despite Mr. Bush's 1999 pledge to veto any tax increase.
Under the new law, teenagers age 14 to 17 with investment income will now be taxed at the same rate as their parents, not at their own rates. Long-term capital gains and dividends that had been taxed at 5 percent will now be taxed at 15 percent. Interest that had been taxed at 10 percent will now be taxed at as much as 35 percent.
It is really hard to believe how brazen these people are in their greed and elitism. The contempt that they feel for ordinary Americans is palpable. Not only do they screw people - they do it right in your face, and think you won't notice.
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Thursday, May 18, 2006
Illegal is more fun
According to Baltimore Sun, the NSA developed a program for the purpose of analyzing communication data in the late 1990. Unlike what they are doing now, the old program was legal and protected the privacy of Americans - and worked better.
They rejected it in favor of a system that was illegal, unnecessarily intrusive and didn't work so good.
But if you're Bush, you ALWAYS prefer the option that's illegal, intrusive and innefficient. I honestly think it gives the man the sort of rush that a teenager gets when he gets away with something.
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Rover defends his owner
"The American people like this president. His personal approval ratings are in the 60s. Job approval is lower. And what that says to me is that people like him, they respect him, he's somebody they feel a connection with, but they're just sour right now on the war. And that's the way it's going to be." - Karl Rove
Cognitive dissonance is what happens in the human brain when a human being is confronted with a fact which his preconceptions tell him cannot possibly be true.
Is Karl Rove - Bush's favorite Turdblossom and America's beloved pus-sack - becoming delusional?
His "personal approval" isn't anywhere NEAR the 60s and people DON'T like this President. (New York Times pdf poll here) In fact, his JOB approval is one percentage point HIGHER than his "personal approval. " He has more than 50% approval in exactly 3 states - Utah, Idaho and Wyoming. NOBODY approves of him, except a few whackjobs.
Polysigh put it best:
"As for Rove's comment that Bush would be popular but for the Iraq War, that's like saying that if it weren't for the Alps, Switzerland would be flat."
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Tuesday, May 16, 2006
The Constitutional Crisis that Walks like a Man.
The FBI has confirmed that they do, indeed, monitor reporters' phone calls.
Approximately one year ago, we were told that they did not need a warrant because they were only monitoring international calls.
Then, they said that, well, actually were monitoring SOME calls where one of the parties was domestic and one was international.
"If someone is calling Al Qaeda," said Bush, "we want to know why."
Which is interesting, because it implies that they know the terrorists' telephone numbers, which makes you wonder why they don't just round them up instead of collecting their phone bills.
Then they said that they sometimes they inadvertently listen to purely domestic calls.
Then they tell us - just this week - that, well, all that was bullshit. They have actually been collecting info on every single phone call made by every single American with almost no exceptions.
But OF COURSE we have nothing to worry about. We can trust THEM. Never mind the fact that they have lied about this again and again and again. We can trust them. They aren't actually listening in. It's for TERRORISM. So they say.
But you can't name a single terrorist who has been arrested in the last five years as a result of this spying. Not one.
And NOW, we find out that they AREN'T checking on terrorists - they are checking on reporters. They are using phone records to find out who reporters are using as sources. They are REALLY after anyone who makes them look bad by revealing the truth to the American People.
You would figure even the REPUBLICANS would wake up and realize that George W. Bush is a walking Constitutional Crisis who has to be stopped while we still have something that we can call "America" left. And they would, if they valued their nation more than their party.
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Monday, May 15, 2006
Push Back Poll
I said it was a push poll, and I was right.
From a Newsweek poll, released one day after the Washington Post Push Poll:
As you may know, there are reports that the NSA, a government intelligence agency, has been collecting the phone call records of Americans. The agency doesn't actually listen to the calls but logs in nearly every phone number to create a database of calls made within the United States. Which of the following comes CLOSER to your own view of this domestic surveillance program:
It is a necessary tool to combat terrorism -- 41
It goes too far in invading people’s privacy -- 53
Don’t know -- 6
Note that the question doesn't read like a apologia for data mining - as the Washington Post poll did.
But why was the Washington Post so anxious to release a poll that backed up the Bush administration's wishes on the same day that the news broke?
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Your tax dollars at work
You have to watch out for those Terrorist Anchormen:
Federal Source to ABC News: We Know Who You're Calling
Brian Ross and Richard Esposito Report:
A senior federal law enforcement official tells ABC News the government is tracking the phone numbers we (Brian Ross and Richard Esposito) call in an effort to root out confidential sources.
"It's time for you to get some new cell phones, quick," the source told us in an in-person conversation.
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Same script.
Ah. So His Incompetence is probably going to use the National Guard to patrol the border. He says it's "only temporary."
Temporary till when? Just after the 2006 elections?
This is typical. God forbid border patrol get done by actual border patrol. That would make sense. Instead, let's assume that the MILITARY doesn't have enough of a role.
The REAL problem is that Bush is too damned incompetent to deal with anything using civilian means - like SANE Presidents always have. Instead, he turns to the military as his tool of choice for absolutely everything.
And pardon me for wondering if President Codpiece isn't still trying to compensate for the cowardice and inadequacy that he showed during Vietnam. Using OTHER people's blood and sweat, of course.
So he will get to dress up in a uniform, strut around, use jeeps and tanks and helicopters and all sorts of neat stuff, and basically play war in a place where there isn't one, and it will make for a great photo-op. He'll get his picture taken with a helicopter. Look, mommy! Don't I look cool?
God, I wish we had a President who was a frigging grown-up, instead of one who is stuck in adolescence and makes America suffer so he can feel impressive.
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Sunday, May 14, 2006
Ooops.
I posted the info from Jason Leopold (of truthout) that Rove had been indicted. Not WOULD be - HAD been. I think we would have heard something by now. I guess Leopold's source isn't all that reliable, and it's the last time I post something unsubstantiated from truthout.
Here's hoping that Leopold proves to be right a bit too early anyway.
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Saturday, May 13, 2006
Sue the bastards.
If you own stock in any phone companies, it's time to sell short. They could lose billions in class-action lawsuits, and lose MORE money from an exodus of customers.
Two suits have already been filed.
Verizon Sued for Giving NSA Phone Records Attorneys Bruce Afran and Carl Mayer filed the lawsuit Friday afternoon in federal district court in Manhattan, where Verizon is headquartered.
The lawsuit asks the court to stop Verizon from turning over any more records to the NSA without a warrant or consent of the subscriber.
"This is the largest and most vast intrusion of civil liberties we've ever seen in the United States," Afran said of the NSA program.
The lawsuit seeks $1,000 for each violation of the Telecommunications Act, or $5 billion if the case is certified as class-action.
And this is a DIFFERENT one:
Verizon Faces New $20B Suit over NSA Spying Complicity
Upping the ante in what may be a high-stakes legal battle, an Upstate New York lawyer filed a $20 billion class-action lawsuit against Verizon last week, charging that the company violated customer confidentiality in aiding warrantless eavesdropping by a federal spy agency.
Here's the tally of who has and has not violated the privacy of American citizens:
Verizon (land-line), AT&T, and BellSouth have all behaved in a fundamentally Unamerican manner.
On the other hand, Qwest is the only large landline carrier that refused to complied with the Bush's fascist requests. If you have one of the other three, switch to Qwest.
Cellular phones seem largely clean. Verizon Wireless, T-Mobile, Virgin Mobile and Cox all say that they have not provided their records to anyone.
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Fitzmas?
Truthout now says that Rove has BEEN indicted, but I don't see it in the tradition media.
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Shocked
The NSA Whistleblower says that people are going to be shocked.
[Tice] said he plans to tell the committee staffers the NSA conducted illegal and unconstitutional surveillance of U.S. citizens while he was there with the knowledge of Hayden. … “I think the people I talk to next week are going to be shocked when I tell them what I have to tell them. It’s pretty hard to believe,” Tice said.
I won't be shocked, but it's about time the country got shocked.
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Friday, May 12, 2006
According to truthout, Rove has told the White House that he will be indicted.
Within the last week, Karl Rove told President Bush and Chief of Staff Joshua Bolten, as well as a few other high level administration officials, that he will be indicted in the CIA leak case and will immediately resign his White House job when the special counsel publicly announces the charges against him, according to sources.
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Raid kills roaches dead.
The FBI has raided the home of Dusty Foggo (NOT the name of a fictional character). The guy who just resigned as the #3 man in the CIA.
I wonder why Goss REALLY resigned. This CAN'T be a coincidence.
Move along, folks, nothing to see here....
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Push poll
You may have read - and been shocked - by reports that a poll says that 2/3rds of Americans have no problem with the Bush administration mining phone calls.
Here is the actual question:
It's been reported that the National Security Agency has been collecting the phone call records of tens of millions of Americans. It then analyzes calling patterns in an effort to identify possible terrorism suspects, without listening to or recording the conversations. Would you consider this an acceptable or unacceptable way for the federal government to investigate terrorism? Do you feel that way strongly or somewhat?
Note that the question itself ASSUMES that the act is benign, and states things as fact that WE DON'T KNOW (such as that conversations are not listened to or recorded). The question is framed in terms of fighting terrorism, falsifies the known facts, fails to mention the questionable legality, and was obviously thrown together on the fly. For many poll respondents, this was probably the first time they HEARD about it.
This is a push poll.
And I suspect that other polls released in the coming days will show very different results.
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Today?
Tweetybird Matthews thinks Rove might be indicted today.
From Imus this morning"
Transcript:
MATTHEWS: If, however, something happens with Karl Rove, we’re going to go to general quarters around here.
IMUS: What does that mean?
MATTHEWS: Meaning we will be taping probably on Saturday or late night because everything will change. Last time, when he picked up Scooter, when he nailed him 30 years of charges, that happened on 1:00 on a Friday. So we don’t know when it might happen, if it’s going happen.
IMUS: Are we expecting something with Karl Rove today?
MATTHEWS: Well, it could be today. It could be next week. Everybody is buzzing about when or if. It’s a big if, big when. There is a lot of talk because he is still being interviewing by the special prosecutor. He keeps being hauled before the grand jury. So something is going on here with the special prosecutor. We don’t know whether he is going to clear him or nail him.
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GENEVA (Reuters) - The United States has again refused the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) access to terrorism suspects held in secret detention centers, the humanitarian agency said on Friday.
Isn't it interesting that the whole motto of this administration is "If you have done nothing wrong, you have nothing to hide"?
Explains why they hide everything.
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Headline says it all
Bush denies spying infringes on privacy
Roll THAT phrase around in your head a few times.
Lewis Carroll wishes HE had thought of that one, I'm sure
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Thursday, May 11, 2006
Gonzales Lied
As surely as weasels are weasels.
From the Muckraker:
Did Gonzales Mislead Congress about NSA Program?
By Paul Kiel - May 11, 2006, 2:32 PM
Reacting to today's news that the NSA is "amassing information about the calls of ordinary Americans," Reps. Bennie G. Thompson (D-MS) and Rep. Zoe Lofgren (D-CA) have put out a statement questioning the legality of the program.
Their statement contains this: "when the Attorney General was forced to testify before the House Judiciary Committee a few weeks ago, he misled the Committee about the existence of the program."
Here's what they're referring to. On April 6, 2006, Attorney General Alberto Gonzales testified before the House Judiciary Committee, and in one exchange, Rep. Gerald Nadler (D-NY) tried to nail him down:
NADLER: Number two, can you assure us that there is no warrantless surveillance of calls between two Americans within the United States?
GONZALES: That is not what the president has authorized.
NADLER: Can you assure us that it's not being done?
GONZALES: As I indicated in response to an earlier question, no technology is perfect.
NADLER: OK.
GONZALES: We do have minimization procedures in place...
NADLER: But you're not doing that deliberately?
GONZALES: That is correct.
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"There's no doubt in my mind there are safeguards in place to make sure the program focuses on calls coming from outside the United States in, with an al Qaeda -- from a -- with a belief that there's an al Qaeda person making the call to somebody here in the States, or vice versa -- but not domestic calls." - Bush, 01/26/06.
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Bush lies some more
President Deer-In-The-Headlights decided to throw a little gasoline on the fire:
Facing intense criticism from Congress, President Bush did not confirm the work of the National Security Agency but sought to assure Americans that their privacy is being "fiercely protected."
"We are not mining or trolling through the personal lives of innocent Americans," Bush said before leaving for a commencement address at Mississippi Gulf Coast Community College in Biloxi.
Well, gee whiz, codpiece-for-brains, you ALSO said that you were only listening to INTERNATIONAL Communications. You ALSO said it was only a FEW HUNDRED.
Liar.
Every new story that comes out shows that the administration lied about the last story that came out but they say that we should believe them this time.
NOBODY is that gullible.
By the way, giving the White House info on yur phone calls was VOLUNTARY on the part of the phone companies. Qwest was the ONLY major carrier to refuse. So if you are with AT&T or Verizon, switch to Qwest. And call them and let them know why. DEMAND that they respect your privacy.
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It's all true
Everything you thought MIGHT be true IS.
NSA has massive database of Americans' phone calls
The National Security Agency has been secretly collecting the phone call records of tens of millions of Americans, using data provided by AT&T, Verizon and BellSouth, people with direct knowledge of the arrangement told USA TODAY.
The NSA program reaches into homes and businesses across the nation by amassing information about the calls of ordinary Americans — most of whom aren't suspected of any crime. This program does not involve the NSA listening to or recording conversations. But the spy agency is using the data to analyze calling patterns in an effort to detect terrorist activity, sources said in separate interviews.
For the customers of these companies, it means that the government has detailed records of calls they made — across town or across the country — to family members, co-workers, business contacts and others.
The sources would talk only under a guarantee of anonymity because the NSA program is secret.
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Wednesday, May 10, 2006
Colbert - SOMEBODY gets it.
Here's a great article from the TV Critic at the Chicago Sun-Times about Colbert's public evisceration of His Ignorance. This may be the only thing I have read in the mainstream press that actually understood the reaction to Colbert's speech.
How did Bush tickle reporters? He made fun of the fact that he can barely speak English (he is quite simply the worst communicator of all U.S. presidents), that our vice president is a heartless face-shooter, and that Bush is basically an idiot.
Ha ha, our "war president" knows he's a village idiot? To members of the White House press corps, that's some real funny stuff. To non-insiders, this looked like another example of good old boys and gals slapping each other on the back.
Colbert's routine was more remarkable for its unique and creative brazenness. He joked that Bush's presidency is like the Hindenburg; that Bush's wiretappers were monitoring this very event, and that the White House press corps, sitting in front of Colbert, gave Bush a free pass, scandal after scandal, until recently (when his polls numbers dropped).
How's this for a newsworthy lead? It was perhaps the first time in Bush's tenure that the president was forced to sit and listen to any American cite the litany of criminal and corruption allegations that have piled up against his administration. And mouth-tense Bush and first lady Laura Bush fled as soon as possible afterward.
From whom were they fleeing? A star comedian pretending to be a Fox News-like blowhard doing a sort of performance art that America hasn't witnessed nationally since the days of Andy Kaufman. Even if Colbert's bit had been reported as a train wreck, that would have sufficed. Instead, shocking lines like the following were barely covered by any traditional organ except industry magazine Editor & Publisher: "I stand by" Bush, Colbert cracked, "because he stands for things. Not only for things, he stands on things. Things like aircraft carriers and rubble, and recently flooded city squares. And that sends a strong message that no matter what happens to America, she will always rebound with the most powerfully staged photo ops in the world."
For TV reporters in particular to quote that gruesome line would be an agreement with Colbert, that they helped Bush mix politics with corruption from the ashes of 9/11 ("aircraft carriers and rubble"), and failed to see through Bush's politicization of the drowning of an American city after a hurricane ("recently flooded city squares").
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Brownie, you're doing a heckuva job.
The question isn't "Why do only 31% still support these incompetents" - the question is, "why the hell is it still that high?"
WASHINGTON — Hours after Hurricane Katrina hit, former FEMA director Michael Brown dismissed reports that floodwaters had breached New Orleans' levees, and he obsessed over media coverage of his agency, according to newly released e-mails.
At one point early that morning, Brown reported to an aide that he was "sitting in the chair, putting mousse in my hair" while waiting for media interviews to begin.
What total dicks.
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Poll vault
(CBS) President Bush and the Republican Congress show nearly record low ratings while Democrats are viewed much more favorably in their performance on the issues that matter most to Americans, according to the latest CBS News/New York Times poll.
Well, that just great. You think - maybe - the Democrats MIGHT just stop acting like their afraid that challenging thi clown will hurt them?
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Pat Robertson's Age-Defying Shake
Did you know that Pat Robertson can leg-press 2000 pounds! How does he do it?
One of Pat's secrets to keeping his energy high and his vitality soaring is his age-defying protein shake. Pat developed a delicious, refreshing shake, filled with energy-producing nutrients.
70 years old. Leg presses 2000 pounds. From drinking a SHAKE.
Never mind that it's WAY beyond the existing record.
Pathetic.
Via AMERICAblog
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I thought I'd use my tiny little megaphone to draw attention to an editorial by radio legend Pete Fornatale on the state of the radio.
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Of course not. God forbid, I might learn something.
President says he's unlikely to watch documentary on global warming
WASHINGTON - Is President Bush likely to see Al Gore’s documentary about global warming?
“Doubt it,” Bush said coolly Monday.
But Bush should watch it, Gore shot back. In fact, the former Democratic vice president offered to come to the White House any time, any day to show Bush either his documentary or a slide show on global warming that he’s shown more than 1,000 times around the world.
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No shit, Sherlock
Panel: Legislators Shouldn't Work Drunk
SALEM, Ore. (AP) -- Oregon legislators and staff members should not be drunk while performing their official duties, a citizen panel says.
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Monday, May 22, 2006
AT&T Sold Your Ass to the Government
Wired Magazine has a full expose on the NSA spying scandal from Whistle-Blower Mark Klein's class-action lawsuit.
In 2003 AT&T built "secret rooms" hidden deep in the bowels of its central offices in various cities, housing computer gear for a government spy operation which taps into the company's popular WorldNet service and the entire internet. These installations enable the government to look at every individual message on the internet and analyze exactly what people are doing. Documents showing the hardwire installation in San Francisco suggest that there are similar locations being installed in numerous other cities.
The physical arrangement, the timing of its construction, the government-imposed secrecy surrounding it and other factors all strongly suggest that its origins are rooted in the Defense Department's Total Information Awareness (TIA) program...
Read the article. ALL of the Documents are in pdf format here.
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Take a look at this remarkable email exchange between Rumsfeld's Spokesman, Larry (a.k.a. Curly Joe) Dirita, and War Correspondent Joe Galloway. This is remarkable, and Galloway deserves a medal.
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Sunday, May 21, 2006
Why does this not surprise me?
Cut taxes for the multi-millionaires.
And INCREASE them for TEEN-AGERS.
The $69 billion tax cut bill that President Bush signed this week tripled tax rates for teenagers with college savings funds, despite Mr. Bush's 1999 pledge to veto any tax increase.
Under the new law, teenagers age 14 to 17 with investment income will now be taxed at the same rate as their parents, not at their own rates. Long-term capital gains and dividends that had been taxed at 5 percent will now be taxed at 15 percent. Interest that had been taxed at 10 percent will now be taxed at as much as 35 percent.
It is really hard to believe how brazen these people are in their greed and elitism. The contempt that they feel for ordinary Americans is palpable. Not only do they screw people - they do it right in your face, and think you won't notice.
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Thursday, May 18, 2006
Illegal is more fun
According to Baltimore Sun, the NSA developed a program for the purpose of analyzing communication data in the late 1990. Unlike what they are doing now, the old program was legal and protected the privacy of Americans - and worked better.
They rejected it in favor of a system that was illegal, unnecessarily intrusive and didn't work so good.
But if you're Bush, you ALWAYS prefer the option that's illegal, intrusive and innefficient. I honestly think it gives the man the sort of rush that a teenager gets when he gets away with something.
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Rover defends his owner
"The American people like this president. His personal approval ratings are in the 60s. Job approval is lower. And what that says to me is that people like him, they respect him, he's somebody they feel a connection with, but they're just sour right now on the war. And that's the way it's going to be." - Karl Rove
Cognitive dissonance is what happens in the human brain when a human being is confronted with a fact which his preconceptions tell him cannot possibly be true.
Is Karl Rove - Bush's favorite Turdblossom and America's beloved pus-sack - becoming delusional?
His "personal approval" isn't anywhere NEAR the 60s and people DON'T like this President. (New York Times pdf poll here) In fact, his JOB approval is one percentage point HIGHER than his "personal approval. " He has more than 50% approval in exactly 3 states - Utah, Idaho and Wyoming. NOBODY approves of him, except a few whackjobs.
Polysigh put it best:
"As for Rove's comment that Bush would be popular but for the Iraq War, that's like saying that if it weren't for the Alps, Switzerland would be flat."
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Tuesday, May 16, 2006
The Constitutional Crisis that Walks like a Man.
The FBI has confirmed that they do, indeed, monitor reporters' phone calls.
Approximately one year ago, we were told that they did not need a warrant because they were only monitoring international calls.
Then, they said that, well, actually were monitoring SOME calls where one of the parties was domestic and one was international.
"If someone is calling Al Qaeda," said Bush, "we want to know why."
Which is interesting, because it implies that they know the terrorists' telephone numbers, which makes you wonder why they don't just round them up instead of collecting their phone bills.
Then they said that they sometimes they inadvertently listen to purely domestic calls.
Then they tell us - just this week - that, well, all that was bullshit. They have actually been collecting info on every single phone call made by every single American with almost no exceptions.
But OF COURSE we have nothing to worry about. We can trust THEM. Never mind the fact that they have lied about this again and again and again. We can trust them. They aren't actually listening in. It's for TERRORISM. So they say.
But you can't name a single terrorist who has been arrested in the last five years as a result of this spying. Not one.
And NOW, we find out that they AREN'T checking on terrorists - they are checking on reporters. They are using phone records to find out who reporters are using as sources. They are REALLY after anyone who makes them look bad by revealing the truth to the American People.
You would figure even the REPUBLICANS would wake up and realize that George W. Bush is a walking Constitutional Crisis who has to be stopped while we still have something that we can call "America" left. And they would, if they valued their nation more than their party.
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Monday, May 15, 2006
Push Back Poll
I said it was a push poll, and I was right.
From a Newsweek poll, released one day after the Washington Post Push Poll:
As you may know, there are reports that the NSA, a government intelligence agency, has been collecting the phone call records of Americans. The agency doesn't actually listen to the calls but logs in nearly every phone number to create a database of calls made within the United States. Which of the following comes CLOSER to your own view of this domestic surveillance program:
It is a necessary tool to combat terrorism -- 41
It goes too far in invading people’s privacy -- 53
Don’t know -- 6
Note that the question doesn't read like a apologia for data mining - as the Washington Post poll did.
But why was the Washington Post so anxious to release a poll that backed up the Bush administration's wishes on the same day that the news broke?
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Your tax dollars at work
You have to watch out for those Terrorist Anchormen:
Federal Source to ABC News: We Know Who You're Calling
Brian Ross and Richard Esposito Report:
A senior federal law enforcement official tells ABC News the government is tracking the phone numbers we (Brian Ross and Richard Esposito) call in an effort to root out confidential sources.
"It's time for you to get some new cell phones, quick," the source told us in an in-person conversation.
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Same script.
Ah. So His Incompetence is probably going to use the National Guard to patrol the border. He says it's "only temporary."
Temporary till when? Just after the 2006 elections?
This is typical. God forbid border patrol get done by actual border patrol. That would make sense. Instead, let's assume that the MILITARY doesn't have enough of a role.
The REAL problem is that Bush is too damned incompetent to deal with anything using civilian means - like SANE Presidents always have. Instead, he turns to the military as his tool of choice for absolutely everything.
And pardon me for wondering if President Codpiece isn't still trying to compensate for the cowardice and inadequacy that he showed during Vietnam. Using OTHER people's blood and sweat, of course.
So he will get to dress up in a uniform, strut around, use jeeps and tanks and helicopters and all sorts of neat stuff, and basically play war in a place where there isn't one, and it will make for a great photo-op. He'll get his picture taken with a helicopter. Look, mommy! Don't I look cool?
God, I wish we had a President who was a frigging grown-up, instead of one who is stuck in adolescence and makes America suffer so he can feel impressive.
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Sunday, May 14, 2006
Ooops.
I posted the info from Jason Leopold (of truthout) that Rove had been indicted. Not WOULD be - HAD been. I think we would have heard something by now. I guess Leopold's source isn't all that reliable, and it's the last time I post something unsubstantiated from truthout.
Here's hoping that Leopold proves to be right a bit too early anyway.
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Saturday, May 13, 2006
Sue the bastards.
If you own stock in any phone companies, it's time to sell short. They could lose billions in class-action lawsuits, and lose MORE money from an exodus of customers.
Two suits have already been filed.
Verizon Sued for Giving NSA Phone Records Attorneys Bruce Afran and Carl Mayer filed the lawsuit Friday afternoon in federal district court in Manhattan, where Verizon is headquartered.
The lawsuit asks the court to stop Verizon from turning over any more records to the NSA without a warrant or consent of the subscriber.
"This is the largest and most vast intrusion of civil liberties we've ever seen in the United States," Afran said of the NSA program.
The lawsuit seeks $1,000 for each violation of the Telecommunications Act, or $5 billion if the case is certified as class-action.
And this is a DIFFERENT one:
Verizon Faces New $20B Suit over NSA Spying Complicity
Upping the ante in what may be a high-stakes legal battle, an Upstate New York lawyer filed a $20 billion class-action lawsuit against Verizon last week, charging that the company violated customer confidentiality in aiding warrantless eavesdropping by a federal spy agency.
Here's the tally of who has and has not violated the privacy of American citizens:
Verizon (land-line), AT&T, and BellSouth have all behaved in a fundamentally Unamerican manner.
On the other hand, Qwest is the only large landline carrier that refused to complied with the Bush's fascist requests. If you have one of the other three, switch to Qwest.
Cellular phones seem largely clean. Verizon Wireless, T-Mobile, Virgin Mobile and Cox all say that they have not provided their records to anyone.
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Fitzmas?
Truthout now says that Rove has BEEN indicted, but I don't see it in the tradition media.
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Shocked
The NSA Whistleblower says that people are going to be shocked.
[Tice] said he plans to tell the committee staffers the NSA conducted illegal and unconstitutional surveillance of U.S. citizens while he was there with the knowledge of Hayden. … “I think the people I talk to next week are going to be shocked when I tell them what I have to tell them. It’s pretty hard to believe,” Tice said.
I won't be shocked, but it's about time the country got shocked.
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Friday, May 12, 2006
According to truthout, Rove has told the White House that he will be indicted.
Within the last week, Karl Rove told President Bush and Chief of Staff Joshua Bolten, as well as a few other high level administration officials, that he will be indicted in the CIA leak case and will immediately resign his White House job when the special counsel publicly announces the charges against him, according to sources.
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Raid kills roaches dead.
The FBI has raided the home of Dusty Foggo (NOT the name of a fictional character). The guy who just resigned as the #3 man in the CIA.
I wonder why Goss REALLY resigned. This CAN'T be a coincidence.
Move along, folks, nothing to see here....
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Push poll
You may have read - and been shocked - by reports that a poll says that 2/3rds of Americans have no problem with the Bush administration mining phone calls.
Here is the actual question:
It's been reported that the National Security Agency has been collecting the phone call records of tens of millions of Americans. It then analyzes calling patterns in an effort to identify possible terrorism suspects, without listening to or recording the conversations. Would you consider this an acceptable or unacceptable way for the federal government to investigate terrorism? Do you feel that way strongly or somewhat?
Note that the question itself ASSUMES that the act is benign, and states things as fact that WE DON'T KNOW (such as that conversations are not listened to or recorded). The question is framed in terms of fighting terrorism, falsifies the known facts, fails to mention the questionable legality, and was obviously thrown together on the fly. For many poll respondents, this was probably the first time they HEARD about it.
This is a push poll.
And I suspect that other polls released in the coming days will show very different results.
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Today?
Tweetybird Matthews thinks Rove might be indicted today.
From Imus this morning"
Transcript:
MATTHEWS: If, however, something happens with Karl Rove, we’re going to go to general quarters around here.
IMUS: What does that mean?
MATTHEWS: Meaning we will be taping probably on Saturday or late night because everything will change. Last time, when he picked up Scooter, when he nailed him 30 years of charges, that happened on 1:00 on a Friday. So we don’t know when it might happen, if it’s going happen.
IMUS: Are we expecting something with Karl Rove today?
MATTHEWS: Well, it could be today. It could be next week. Everybody is buzzing about when or if. It’s a big if, big when. There is a lot of talk because he is still being interviewing by the special prosecutor. He keeps being hauled before the grand jury. So something is going on here with the special prosecutor. We don’t know whether he is going to clear him or nail him.
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GENEVA (Reuters) - The United States has again refused the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) access to terrorism suspects held in secret detention centers, the humanitarian agency said on Friday.
Isn't it interesting that the whole motto of this administration is "If you have done nothing wrong, you have nothing to hide"?
Explains why they hide everything.
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Headline says it all
Bush denies spying infringes on privacy
Roll THAT phrase around in your head a few times.
Lewis Carroll wishes HE had thought of that one, I'm sure
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Thursday, May 11, 2006
Gonzales Lied
As surely as weasels are weasels.
From the Muckraker:
Did Gonzales Mislead Congress about NSA Program?
By Paul Kiel - May 11, 2006, 2:32 PM
Reacting to today's news that the NSA is "amassing information about the calls of ordinary Americans," Reps. Bennie G. Thompson (D-MS) and Rep. Zoe Lofgren (D-CA) have put out a statement questioning the legality of the program.
Their statement contains this: "when the Attorney General was forced to testify before the House Judiciary Committee a few weeks ago, he misled the Committee about the existence of the program."
Here's what they're referring to. On April 6, 2006, Attorney General Alberto Gonzales testified before the House Judiciary Committee, and in one exchange, Rep. Gerald Nadler (D-NY) tried to nail him down:
NADLER: Number two, can you assure us that there is no warrantless surveillance of calls between two Americans within the United States?
GONZALES: That is not what the president has authorized.
NADLER: Can you assure us that it's not being done?
GONZALES: As I indicated in response to an earlier question, no technology is perfect.
NADLER: OK.
GONZALES: We do have minimization procedures in place...
NADLER: But you're not doing that deliberately?
GONZALES: That is correct.
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"There's no doubt in my mind there are safeguards in place to make sure the program focuses on calls coming from outside the United States in, with an al Qaeda -- from a -- with a belief that there's an al Qaeda person making the call to somebody here in the States, or vice versa -- but not domestic calls." - Bush, 01/26/06.
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Bush lies some more
President Deer-In-The-Headlights decided to throw a little gasoline on the fire:
Facing intense criticism from Congress, President Bush did not confirm the work of the National Security Agency but sought to assure Americans that their privacy is being "fiercely protected."
"We are not mining or trolling through the personal lives of innocent Americans," Bush said before leaving for a commencement address at Mississippi Gulf Coast Community College in Biloxi.
Well, gee whiz, codpiece-for-brains, you ALSO said that you were only listening to INTERNATIONAL Communications. You ALSO said it was only a FEW HUNDRED.
Liar.
Every new story that comes out shows that the administration lied about the last story that came out but they say that we should believe them this time.
NOBODY is that gullible.
By the way, giving the White House info on yur phone calls was VOLUNTARY on the part of the phone companies. Qwest was the ONLY major carrier to refuse. So if you are with AT&T or Verizon, switch to Qwest. And call them and let them know why. DEMAND that they respect your privacy.
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It's all true
Everything you thought MIGHT be true IS.
NSA has massive database of Americans' phone calls
The National Security Agency has been secretly collecting the phone call records of tens of millions of Americans, using data provided by AT&T, Verizon and BellSouth, people with direct knowledge of the arrangement told USA TODAY.
The NSA program reaches into homes and businesses across the nation by amassing information about the calls of ordinary Americans — most of whom aren't suspected of any crime. This program does not involve the NSA listening to or recording conversations. But the spy agency is using the data to analyze calling patterns in an effort to detect terrorist activity, sources said in separate interviews.
For the customers of these companies, it means that the government has detailed records of calls they made — across town or across the country — to family members, co-workers, business contacts and others.
The sources would talk only under a guarantee of anonymity because the NSA program is secret.
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Wednesday, May 10, 2006
Colbert - SOMEBODY gets it.
Here's a great article from the TV Critic at the Chicago Sun-Times about Colbert's public evisceration of His Ignorance. This may be the only thing I have read in the mainstream press that actually understood the reaction to Colbert's speech.
How did Bush tickle reporters? He made fun of the fact that he can barely speak English (he is quite simply the worst communicator of all U.S. presidents), that our vice president is a heartless face-shooter, and that Bush is basically an idiot.
Ha ha, our "war president" knows he's a village idiot? To members of the White House press corps, that's some real funny stuff. To non-insiders, this looked like another example of good old boys and gals slapping each other on the back.
Colbert's routine was more remarkable for its unique and creative brazenness. He joked that Bush's presidency is like the Hindenburg; that Bush's wiretappers were monitoring this very event, and that the White House press corps, sitting in front of Colbert, gave Bush a free pass, scandal after scandal, until recently (when his polls numbers dropped).
How's this for a newsworthy lead? It was perhaps the first time in Bush's tenure that the president was forced to sit and listen to any American cite the litany of criminal and corruption allegations that have piled up against his administration. And mouth-tense Bush and first lady Laura Bush fled as soon as possible afterward.
From whom were they fleeing? A star comedian pretending to be a Fox News-like blowhard doing a sort of performance art that America hasn't witnessed nationally since the days of Andy Kaufman. Even if Colbert's bit had been reported as a train wreck, that would have sufficed. Instead, shocking lines like the following were barely covered by any traditional organ except industry magazine Editor & Publisher: "I stand by" Bush, Colbert cracked, "because he stands for things. Not only for things, he stands on things. Things like aircraft carriers and rubble, and recently flooded city squares. And that sends a strong message that no matter what happens to America, she will always rebound with the most powerfully staged photo ops in the world."
For TV reporters in particular to quote that gruesome line would be an agreement with Colbert, that they helped Bush mix politics with corruption from the ashes of 9/11 ("aircraft carriers and rubble"), and failed to see through Bush's politicization of the drowning of an American city after a hurricane ("recently flooded city squares").
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Brownie, you're doing a heckuva job.
The question isn't "Why do only 31% still support these incompetents" - the question is, "why the hell is it still that high?"
WASHINGTON — Hours after Hurricane Katrina hit, former FEMA director Michael Brown dismissed reports that floodwaters had breached New Orleans' levees, and he obsessed over media coverage of his agency, according to newly released e-mails.
At one point early that morning, Brown reported to an aide that he was "sitting in the chair, putting mousse in my hair" while waiting for media interviews to begin.
What total dicks.
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Poll vault
(CBS) President Bush and the Republican Congress show nearly record low ratings while Democrats are viewed much more favorably in their performance on the issues that matter most to Americans, according to the latest CBS News/New York Times poll.
Well, that just great. You think - maybe - the Democrats MIGHT just stop acting like their afraid that challenging thi clown will hurt them?
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Of course not. God forbid, I might learn something.
President says he's unlikely to watch documentary on global warming
WASHINGTON - Is President Bush likely to see Al Gore’s documentary about global warming?
“Doubt it,” Bush said coolly Monday.
But Bush should watch it, Gore shot back. In fact, the former Democratic vice president offered to come to the White House any time, any day to show Bush either his documentary or a slide show on global warming that he’s shown more than 1,000 times around the world.
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No shit, Sherlock
Panel: Legislators Shouldn't Work Drunk
SALEM, Ore. (AP) -- Oregon legislators and staff members should not be drunk while performing their official duties, a citizen panel says.
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Monday, May 22, 2006
AT&T Sold Your Ass to the Government
Wired Magazine has a full expose on the NSA spying scandal from Whistle-Blower Mark Klein's class-action lawsuit.
In 2003 AT&T built "secret rooms" hidden deep in the bowels of its central offices in various cities, housing computer gear for a government spy operation which taps into the company's popular WorldNet service and the entire internet. These installations enable the government to look at every individual message on the internet and analyze exactly what people are doing. Documents showing the hardwire installation in San Francisco suggest that there are similar locations being installed in numerous other cities.
The physical arrangement, the timing of its construction, the government-imposed secrecy surrounding it and other factors all strongly suggest that its origins are rooted in the Defense Department's Total Information Awareness (TIA) program...
Read the article. ALL of the Documents are in pdf format here.
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Take a look at this remarkable email exchange between Rumsfeld's Spokesman, Larry (a.k.a. Curly Joe) Dirita, and War Correspondent Joe Galloway. This is remarkable, and Galloway deserves a medal.
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Sunday, May 21, 2006
Why does this not surprise me?
Cut taxes for the multi-millionaires.
And INCREASE them for TEEN-AGERS.
The $69 billion tax cut bill that President Bush signed this week tripled tax rates for teenagers with college savings funds, despite Mr. Bush's 1999 pledge to veto any tax increase.
Under the new law, teenagers age 14 to 17 with investment income will now be taxed at the same rate as their parents, not at their own rates. Long-term capital gains and dividends that had been taxed at 5 percent will now be taxed at 15 percent. Interest that had been taxed at 10 percent will now be taxed at as much as 35 percent.
It is really hard to believe how brazen these people are in their greed and elitism. The contempt that they feel for ordinary Americans is palpable. Not only do they screw people - they do it right in your face, and think you won't notice.
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Thursday, May 18, 2006
Illegal is more fun
According to Baltimore Sun, the NSA developed a program for the purpose of analyzing communication data in the late 1990. Unlike what they are doing now, the old program was legal and protected the privacy of Americans - and worked better.
They rejected it in favor of a system that was illegal, unnecessarily intrusive and didn't work so good.
But if you're Bush, you ALWAYS prefer the option that's illegal, intrusive and innefficient. I honestly think it gives the man the sort of rush that a teenager gets when he gets away with something.
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Rover defends his owner
"The American people like this president. His personal approval ratings are in the 60s. Job approval is lower. And what that says to me is that people like him, they respect him, he's somebody they feel a connection with, but they're just sour right now on the war. And that's the way it's going to be." - Karl Rove
Cognitive dissonance is what happens in the human brain when a human being is confronted with a fact which his preconceptions tell him cannot possibly be true.
Is Karl Rove - Bush's favorite Turdblossom and America's beloved pus-sack - becoming delusional?
His "personal approval" isn't anywhere NEAR the 60s and people DON'T like this President. (New York Times pdf poll here) In fact, his JOB approval is one percentage point HIGHER than his "personal approval. " He has more than 50% approval in exactly 3 states - Utah, Idaho and Wyoming. NOBODY approves of him, except a few whackjobs.
Polysigh put it best:
"As for Rove's comment that Bush would be popular but for the Iraq War, that's like saying that if it weren't for the Alps, Switzerland would be flat."
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Tuesday, May 16, 2006
The Constitutional Crisis that Walks like a Man.
The FBI has confirmed that they do, indeed, monitor reporters' phone calls.
Approximately one year ago, we were told that they did not need a warrant because they were only monitoring international calls.
Then, they said that, well, actually were monitoring SOME calls where one of the parties was domestic and one was international.
"If someone is calling Al Qaeda," said Bush, "we want to know why."
Which is interesting, because it implies that they know the terrorists' telephone numbers, which makes you wonder why they don't just round them up instead of collecting their phone bills.
Then they said that they sometimes they inadvertently listen to purely domestic calls.
Then they tell us - just this week - that, well, all that was bullshit. They have actually been collecting info on every single phone call made by every single American with almost no exceptions.
But OF COURSE we have nothing to worry about. We can trust THEM. Never mind the fact that they have lied about this again and again and again. We can trust them. They aren't actually listening in. It's for TERRORISM. So they say.
But you can't name a single terrorist who has been arrested in the last five years as a result of this spying. Not one.
And NOW, we find out that they AREN'T checking on terrorists - they are checking on reporters. They are using phone records to find out who reporters are using as sources. They are REALLY after anyone who makes them look bad by revealing the truth to the American People.
You would figure even the REPUBLICANS would wake up and realize that George W. Bush is a walking Constitutional Crisis who has to be stopped while we still have something that we can call "America" left. And they would, if they valued their nation more than their party.
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Monday, May 15, 2006
Push Back Poll
I said it was a push poll, and I was right.
From a Newsweek poll, released one day after the Washington Post Push Poll:
As you may know, there are reports that the NSA, a government intelligence agency, has been collecting the phone call records of Americans. The agency doesn't actually listen to the calls but logs in nearly every phone number to create a database of calls made within the United States. Which of the following comes CLOSER to your own view of this domestic surveillance program:
It is a necessary tool to combat terrorism -- 41
It goes too far in invading people’s privacy -- 53
Don’t know -- 6
Note that the question doesn't read like a apologia for data mining - as the Washington Post poll did.
But why was the Washington Post so anxious to release a poll that backed up the Bush administration's wishes on the same day that the news broke?
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Your tax dollars at work
You have to watch out for those Terrorist Anchormen:
Federal Source to ABC News: We Know Who You're Calling
Brian Ross and Richard Esposito Report:
A senior federal law enforcement official tells ABC News the government is tracking the phone numbers we (Brian Ross and Richard Esposito) call in an effort to root out confidential sources.
"It's time for you to get some new cell phones, quick," the source told us in an in-person conversation.
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Same script.
Ah. So His Incompetence is probably going to use the National Guard to patrol the border. He says it's "only temporary."
Temporary till when? Just after the 2006 elections?
This is typical. God forbid border patrol get done by actual border patrol. That would make sense. Instead, let's assume that the MILITARY doesn't have enough of a role.
The REAL problem is that Bush is too damned incompetent to deal with anything using civilian means - like SANE Presidents always have. Instead, he turns to the military as his tool of choice for absolutely everything.
And pardon me for wondering if President Codpiece isn't still trying to compensate for the cowardice and inadequacy that he showed during Vietnam. Using OTHER people's blood and sweat, of course.
So he will get to dress up in a uniform, strut around, use jeeps and tanks and helicopters and all sorts of neat stuff, and basically play war in a place where there isn't one, and it will make for a great photo-op. He'll get his picture taken with a helicopter. Look, mommy! Don't I look cool?
God, I wish we had a President who was a frigging grown-up, instead of one who is stuck in adolescence and makes America suffer so he can feel impressive.
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Sunday, May 14, 2006
Ooops.
I posted the info from Jason Leopold (of truthout) that Rove had been indicted. Not WOULD be - HAD been. I think we would have heard something by now. I guess Leopold's source isn't all that reliable, and it's the last time I post something unsubstantiated from truthout.
Here's hoping that Leopold proves to be right a bit too early anyway.
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Saturday, May 13, 2006
Sue the bastards.
If you own stock in any phone companies, it's time to sell short. They could lose billions in class-action lawsuits, and lose MORE money from an exodus of customers.
Two suits have already been filed.
Verizon Sued for Giving NSA Phone Records Attorneys Bruce Afran and Carl Mayer filed the lawsuit Friday afternoon in federal district court in Manhattan, where Verizon is headquartered.
The lawsuit asks the court to stop Verizon from turning over any more records to the NSA without a warrant or consent of the subscriber.
"This is the largest and most vast intrusion of civil liberties we've ever seen in the United States," Afran said of the NSA program.
The lawsuit seeks $1,000 for each violation of the Telecommunications Act, or $5 billion if the case is certified as class-action.
And this is a DIFFERENT one:
Verizon Faces New $20B Suit over NSA Spying Complicity
Upping the ante in what may be a high-stakes legal battle, an Upstate New York lawyer filed a $20 billion class-action lawsuit against Verizon last week, charging that the company violated customer confidentiality in aiding warrantless eavesdropping by a federal spy agency.
Here's the tally of who has and has not violated the privacy of American citizens:
Verizon (land-line), AT&T, and BellSouth have all behaved in a fundamentally Unamerican manner.
On the other hand, Qwest is the only large landline carrier that refused to complied with the Bush's fascist requests. If you have one of the other three, switch to Qwest.
Cellular phones seem largely clean. Verizon Wireless, T-Mobile, Virgin Mobile and Cox all say that they have not provided their records to anyone.
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Fitzmas?
Truthout now says that Rove has BEEN indicted, but I don't see it in the tradition media.
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Shocked
The NSA Whistleblower says that people are going to be shocked.
[Tice] said he plans to tell the committee staffers the NSA conducted illegal and unconstitutional surveillance of U.S. citizens while he was there with the knowledge of Hayden. … “I think the people I talk to next week are going to be shocked when I tell them what I have to tell them. It’s pretty hard to believe,” Tice said.
I won't be shocked, but it's about time the country got shocked.
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Friday, May 12, 2006
According to truthout, Rove has told the White House that he will be indicted.
Within the last week, Karl Rove told President Bush and Chief of Staff Joshua Bolten, as well as a few other high level administration officials, that he will be indicted in the CIA leak case and will immediately resign his White House job when the special counsel publicly announces the charges against him, according to sources.
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Raid kills roaches dead.
The FBI has raided the home of Dusty Foggo (NOT the name of a fictional character). The guy who just resigned as the #3 man in the CIA.
I wonder why Goss REALLY resigned. This CAN'T be a coincidence.
Move along, folks, nothing to see here....
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Push poll
You may have read - and been shocked - by reports that a poll says that 2/3rds of Americans have no problem with the Bush administration mining phone calls.
Here is the actual question:
It's been reported that the National Security Agency has been collecting the phone call records of tens of millions of Americans. It then analyzes calling patterns in an effort to identify possible terrorism suspects, without listening to or recording the conversations. Would you consider this an acceptable or unacceptable way for the federal government to investigate terrorism? Do you feel that way strongly or somewhat?
Note that the question itself ASSUMES that the act is benign, and states things as fact that WE DON'T KNOW (such as that conversations are not listened to or recorded). The question is framed in terms of fighting terrorism, falsifies the known facts, fails to mention the questionable legality, and was obviously thrown together on the fly. For many poll respondents, this was probably the first time they HEARD about it.
This is a push poll.
And I suspect that other polls released in the coming days will show very different results.
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Today?
Tweetybird Matthews thinks Rove might be indicted today.
From Imus this morning"
Transcript:
MATTHEWS: If, however, something happens with Karl Rove, we’re going to go to general quarters around here.
IMUS: What does that mean?
MATTHEWS: Meaning we will be taping probably on Saturday or late night because everything will change. Last time, when he picked up Scooter, when he nailed him 30 years of charges, that happened on 1:00 on a Friday. So we don’t know when it might happen, if it’s going happen.
IMUS: Are we expecting something with Karl Rove today?
MATTHEWS: Well, it could be today. It could be next week. Everybody is buzzing about when or if. It’s a big if, big when. There is a lot of talk because he is still being interviewing by the special prosecutor. He keeps being hauled before the grand jury. So something is going on here with the special prosecutor. We don’t know whether he is going to clear him or nail him.
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GENEVA (Reuters) - The United States has again refused the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) access to terrorism suspects held in secret detention centers, the humanitarian agency said on Friday.
Isn't it interesting that the whole motto of this administration is "If you have done nothing wrong, you have nothing to hide"?
Explains why they hide everything.
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Headline says it all
Bush denies spying infringes on privacy
Roll THAT phrase around in your head a few times.
Lewis Carroll wishes HE had thought of that one, I'm sure
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Thursday, May 11, 2006
Gonzales Lied
As surely as weasels are weasels.
From the Muckraker:
Did Gonzales Mislead Congress about NSA Program?
By Paul Kiel - May 11, 2006, 2:32 PM
Reacting to today's news that the NSA is "amassing information about the calls of ordinary Americans," Reps. Bennie G. Thompson (D-MS) and Rep. Zoe Lofgren (D-CA) have put out a statement questioning the legality of the program.
Their statement contains this: "when the Attorney General was forced to testify before the House Judiciary Committee a few weeks ago, he misled the Committee about the existence of the program."
Here's what they're referring to. On April 6, 2006, Attorney General Alberto Gonzales testified before the House Judiciary Committee, and in one exchange, Rep. Gerald Nadler (D-NY) tried to nail him down:
NADLER: Number two, can you assure us that there is no warrantless surveillance of calls between two Americans within the United States?
GONZALES: That is not what the president has authorized.
NADLER: Can you assure us that it's not being done?
GONZALES: As I indicated in response to an earlier question, no technology is perfect.
NADLER: OK.
GONZALES: We do have minimization procedures in place...
NADLER: But you're not doing that deliberately?
GONZALES: That is correct.
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"There's no doubt in my mind there are safeguards in place to make sure the program focuses on calls coming from outside the United States in, with an al Qaeda -- from a -- with a belief that there's an al Qaeda person making the call to somebody here in the States, or vice versa -- but not domestic calls." - Bush, 01/26/06.
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Bush lies some more
President Deer-In-The-Headlights decided to throw a little gasoline on the fire:
Facing intense criticism from Congress, President Bush did not confirm the work of the National Security Agency but sought to assure Americans that their privacy is being "fiercely protected."
"We are not mining or trolling through the personal lives of innocent Americans," Bush said before leaving for a commencement address at Mississippi Gulf Coast Community College in Biloxi.
Well, gee whiz, codpiece-for-brains, you ALSO said that you were only listening to INTERNATIONAL Communications. You ALSO said it was only a FEW HUNDRED.
Liar.
Every new story that comes out shows that the administration lied about the last story that came out but they say that we should believe them this time.
NOBODY is that gullible.
By the way, giving the White House info on yur phone calls was VOLUNTARY on the part of the phone companies. Qwest was the ONLY major carrier to refuse. So if you are with AT&T or Verizon, switch to Qwest. And call them and let them know why. DEMAND that they respect your privacy.
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It's all true
Everything you thought MIGHT be true IS.
NSA has massive database of Americans' phone calls
The National Security Agency has been secretly collecting the phone call records of tens of millions of Americans, using data provided by AT&T, Verizon and BellSouth, people with direct knowledge of the arrangement told USA TODAY.
The NSA program reaches into homes and businesses across the nation by amassing information about the calls of ordinary Americans — most of whom aren't suspected of any crime. This program does not involve the NSA listening to or recording conversations. But the spy agency is using the data to analyze calling patterns in an effort to detect terrorist activity, sources said in separate interviews.
For the customers of these companies, it means that the government has detailed records of calls they made — across town or across the country — to family members, co-workers, business contacts and others.
The sources would talk only under a guarantee of anonymity because the NSA program is secret.
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Wednesday, May 10, 2006
Colbert - SOMEBODY gets it.
Here's a great article from the TV Critic at the Chicago Sun-Times about Colbert's public evisceration of His Ignorance. This may be the only thing I have read in the mainstream press that actually understood the reaction to Colbert's speech.
How did Bush tickle reporters? He made fun of the fact that he can barely speak English (he is quite simply the worst communicator of all U.S. presidents), that our vice president is a heartless face-shooter, and that Bush is basically an idiot.
Ha ha, our "war president" knows he's a village idiot? To members of the White House press corps, that's some real funny stuff. To non-insiders, this looked like another example of good old boys and gals slapping each other on the back.
Colbert's routine was more remarkable for its unique and creative brazenness. He joked that Bush's presidency is like the Hindenburg; that Bush's wiretappers were monitoring this very event, and that the White House press corps, sitting in front of Colbert, gave Bush a free pass, scandal after scandal, until recently (when his polls numbers dropped).
How's this for a newsworthy lead? It was perhaps the first time in Bush's tenure that the president was forced to sit and listen to any American cite the litany of criminal and corruption allegations that have piled up against his administration. And mouth-tense Bush and first lady Laura Bush fled as soon as possible afterward.
From whom were they fleeing? A star comedian pretending to be a Fox News-like blowhard doing a sort of performance art that America hasn't witnessed nationally since the days of Andy Kaufman. Even if Colbert's bit had been reported as a train wreck, that would have sufficed. Instead, shocking lines like the following were barely covered by any traditional organ except industry magazine Editor & Publisher: "I stand by" Bush, Colbert cracked, "because he stands for things. Not only for things, he stands on things. Things like aircraft carriers and rubble, and recently flooded city squares. And that sends a strong message that no matter what happens to America, she will always rebound with the most powerfully staged photo ops in the world."
For TV reporters in particular to quote that gruesome line would be an agreement with Colbert, that they helped Bush mix politics with corruption from the ashes of 9/11 ("aircraft carriers and rubble"), and failed to see through Bush's politicization of the drowning of an American city after a hurricane ("recently flooded city squares").
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Brownie, you're doing a heckuva job.
The question isn't "Why do only 31% still support these incompetents" - the question is, "why the hell is it still that high?"
WASHINGTON — Hours after Hurricane Katrina hit, former FEMA director Michael Brown dismissed reports that floodwaters had breached New Orleans' levees, and he obsessed over media coverage of his agency, according to newly released e-mails.
At one point early that morning, Brown reported to an aide that he was "sitting in the chair, putting mousse in my hair" while waiting for media interviews to begin.
What total dicks.
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Poll vault
(CBS) President Bush and the Republican Congress show nearly record low ratings while Democrats are viewed much more favorably in their performance on the issues that matter most to Americans, according to the latest CBS News/New York Times poll.
Well, that just great. You think - maybe - the Democrats MIGHT just stop acting like their afraid that challenging thi clown will hurt them?
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President says he's unlikely to watch documentary on global warming
WASHINGTON - Is President Bush likely to see Al Gore’s documentary about global warming?
“Doubt it,” Bush said coolly Monday.
But Bush should watch it, Gore shot back. In fact, the former Democratic vice president offered to come to the White House any time, any day to show Bush either his documentary or a slide show on global warming that he’s shown more than 1,000 times around the world.
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No shit, Sherlock
Panel: Legislators Shouldn't Work Drunk
SALEM, Ore. (AP) -- Oregon legislators and staff members should not be drunk while performing their official duties, a citizen panel says.
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Monday, May 22, 2006
AT&T Sold Your Ass to the Government
Wired Magazine has a full expose on the NSA spying scandal from Whistle-Blower Mark Klein's class-action lawsuit.
In 2003 AT&T built "secret rooms" hidden deep in the bowels of its central offices in various cities, housing computer gear for a government spy operation which taps into the company's popular WorldNet service and the entire internet. These installations enable the government to look at every individual message on the internet and analyze exactly what people are doing. Documents showing the hardwire installation in San Francisco suggest that there are similar locations being installed in numerous other cities.
The physical arrangement, the timing of its construction, the government-imposed secrecy surrounding it and other factors all strongly suggest that its origins are rooted in the Defense Department's Total Information Awareness (TIA) program...
Read the article. ALL of the Documents are in pdf format here.
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Take a look at this remarkable email exchange between Rumsfeld's Spokesman, Larry (a.k.a. Curly Joe) Dirita, and War Correspondent Joe Galloway. This is remarkable, and Galloway deserves a medal.
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Sunday, May 21, 2006
Why does this not surprise me?
Cut taxes for the multi-millionaires.
And INCREASE them for TEEN-AGERS.
The $69 billion tax cut bill that President Bush signed this week tripled tax rates for teenagers with college savings funds, despite Mr. Bush's 1999 pledge to veto any tax increase.
Under the new law, teenagers age 14 to 17 with investment income will now be taxed at the same rate as their parents, not at their own rates. Long-term capital gains and dividends that had been taxed at 5 percent will now be taxed at 15 percent. Interest that had been taxed at 10 percent will now be taxed at as much as 35 percent.
It is really hard to believe how brazen these people are in their greed and elitism. The contempt that they feel for ordinary Americans is palpable. Not only do they screw people - they do it right in your face, and think you won't notice.
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Thursday, May 18, 2006
Illegal is more fun
According to Baltimore Sun, the NSA developed a program for the purpose of analyzing communication data in the late 1990. Unlike what they are doing now, the old program was legal and protected the privacy of Americans - and worked better.
They rejected it in favor of a system that was illegal, unnecessarily intrusive and didn't work so good.
But if you're Bush, you ALWAYS prefer the option that's illegal, intrusive and innefficient. I honestly think it gives the man the sort of rush that a teenager gets when he gets away with something.
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Rover defends his owner
"The American people like this president. His personal approval ratings are in the 60s. Job approval is lower. And what that says to me is that people like him, they respect him, he's somebody they feel a connection with, but they're just sour right now on the war. And that's the way it's going to be." - Karl Rove
Cognitive dissonance is what happens in the human brain when a human being is confronted with a fact which his preconceptions tell him cannot possibly be true.
Is Karl Rove - Bush's favorite Turdblossom and America's beloved pus-sack - becoming delusional?
His "personal approval" isn't anywhere NEAR the 60s and people DON'T like this President. (New York Times pdf poll here) In fact, his JOB approval is one percentage point HIGHER than his "personal approval. " He has more than 50% approval in exactly 3 states - Utah, Idaho and Wyoming. NOBODY approves of him, except a few whackjobs.
Polysigh put it best:
"As for Rove's comment that Bush would be popular but for the Iraq War, that's like saying that if it weren't for the Alps, Switzerland would be flat."
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Tuesday, May 16, 2006
The Constitutional Crisis that Walks like a Man.
The FBI has confirmed that they do, indeed, monitor reporters' phone calls.
Approximately one year ago, we were told that they did not need a warrant because they were only monitoring international calls.
Then, they said that, well, actually were monitoring SOME calls where one of the parties was domestic and one was international.
"If someone is calling Al Qaeda," said Bush, "we want to know why."
Which is interesting, because it implies that they know the terrorists' telephone numbers, which makes you wonder why they don't just round them up instead of collecting their phone bills.
Then they said that they sometimes they inadvertently listen to purely domestic calls.
Then they tell us - just this week - that, well, all that was bullshit. They have actually been collecting info on every single phone call made by every single American with almost no exceptions.
But OF COURSE we have nothing to worry about. We can trust THEM. Never mind the fact that they have lied about this again and again and again. We can trust them. They aren't actually listening in. It's for TERRORISM. So they say.
But you can't name a single terrorist who has been arrested in the last five years as a result of this spying. Not one.
And NOW, we find out that they AREN'T checking on terrorists - they are checking on reporters. They are using phone records to find out who reporters are using as sources. They are REALLY after anyone who makes them look bad by revealing the truth to the American People.
You would figure even the REPUBLICANS would wake up and realize that George W. Bush is a walking Constitutional Crisis who has to be stopped while we still have something that we can call "America" left. And they would, if they valued their nation more than their party.
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Monday, May 15, 2006
Push Back Poll
I said it was a push poll, and I was right.
From a Newsweek poll, released one day after the Washington Post Push Poll:
As you may know, there are reports that the NSA, a government intelligence agency, has been collecting the phone call records of Americans. The agency doesn't actually listen to the calls but logs in nearly every phone number to create a database of calls made within the United States. Which of the following comes CLOSER to your own view of this domestic surveillance program:
It is a necessary tool to combat terrorism -- 41
It goes too far in invading people’s privacy -- 53
Don’t know -- 6
Note that the question doesn't read like a apologia for data mining - as the Washington Post poll did.
But why was the Washington Post so anxious to release a poll that backed up the Bush administration's wishes on the same day that the news broke?
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Your tax dollars at work
You have to watch out for those Terrorist Anchormen:
Federal Source to ABC News: We Know Who You're Calling
Brian Ross and Richard Esposito Report:
A senior federal law enforcement official tells ABC News the government is tracking the phone numbers we (Brian Ross and Richard Esposito) call in an effort to root out confidential sources.
"It's time for you to get some new cell phones, quick," the source told us in an in-person conversation.
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Same script.
Ah. So His Incompetence is probably going to use the National Guard to patrol the border. He says it's "only temporary."
Temporary till when? Just after the 2006 elections?
This is typical. God forbid border patrol get done by actual border patrol. That would make sense. Instead, let's assume that the MILITARY doesn't have enough of a role.
The REAL problem is that Bush is too damned incompetent to deal with anything using civilian means - like SANE Presidents always have. Instead, he turns to the military as his tool of choice for absolutely everything.
And pardon me for wondering if President Codpiece isn't still trying to compensate for the cowardice and inadequacy that he showed during Vietnam. Using OTHER people's blood and sweat, of course.
So he will get to dress up in a uniform, strut around, use jeeps and tanks and helicopters and all sorts of neat stuff, and basically play war in a place where there isn't one, and it will make for a great photo-op. He'll get his picture taken with a helicopter. Look, mommy! Don't I look cool?
God, I wish we had a President who was a frigging grown-up, instead of one who is stuck in adolescence and makes America suffer so he can feel impressive.
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Sunday, May 14, 2006
Ooops.
I posted the info from Jason Leopold (of truthout) that Rove had been indicted. Not WOULD be - HAD been. I think we would have heard something by now. I guess Leopold's source isn't all that reliable, and it's the last time I post something unsubstantiated from truthout.
Here's hoping that Leopold proves to be right a bit too early anyway.
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Saturday, May 13, 2006
Sue the bastards.
If you own stock in any phone companies, it's time to sell short. They could lose billions in class-action lawsuits, and lose MORE money from an exodus of customers.
Two suits have already been filed.
Verizon Sued for Giving NSA Phone Records Attorneys Bruce Afran and Carl Mayer filed the lawsuit Friday afternoon in federal district court in Manhattan, where Verizon is headquartered.
The lawsuit asks the court to stop Verizon from turning over any more records to the NSA without a warrant or consent of the subscriber.
"This is the largest and most vast intrusion of civil liberties we've ever seen in the United States," Afran said of the NSA program.
The lawsuit seeks $1,000 for each violation of the Telecommunications Act, or $5 billion if the case is certified as class-action.
And this is a DIFFERENT one:
Verizon Faces New $20B Suit over NSA Spying Complicity
Upping the ante in what may be a high-stakes legal battle, an Upstate New York lawyer filed a $20 billion class-action lawsuit against Verizon last week, charging that the company violated customer confidentiality in aiding warrantless eavesdropping by a federal spy agency.
Here's the tally of who has and has not violated the privacy of American citizens:
Verizon (land-line), AT&T, and BellSouth have all behaved in a fundamentally Unamerican manner.
On the other hand, Qwest is the only large landline carrier that refused to complied with the Bush's fascist requests. If you have one of the other three, switch to Qwest.
Cellular phones seem largely clean. Verizon Wireless, T-Mobile, Virgin Mobile and Cox all say that they have not provided their records to anyone.
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Fitzmas?
Truthout now says that Rove has BEEN indicted, but I don't see it in the tradition media.
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Shocked
The NSA Whistleblower says that people are going to be shocked.
[Tice] said he plans to tell the committee staffers the NSA conducted illegal and unconstitutional surveillance of U.S. citizens while he was there with the knowledge of Hayden. … “I think the people I talk to next week are going to be shocked when I tell them what I have to tell them. It’s pretty hard to believe,” Tice said.
I won't be shocked, but it's about time the country got shocked.
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Friday, May 12, 2006
According to truthout, Rove has told the White House that he will be indicted.
Within the last week, Karl Rove told President Bush and Chief of Staff Joshua Bolten, as well as a few other high level administration officials, that he will be indicted in the CIA leak case and will immediately resign his White House job when the special counsel publicly announces the charges against him, according to sources.
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Raid kills roaches dead.
The FBI has raided the home of Dusty Foggo (NOT the name of a fictional character). The guy who just resigned as the #3 man in the CIA.
I wonder why Goss REALLY resigned. This CAN'T be a coincidence.
Move along, folks, nothing to see here....
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Push poll
You may have read - and been shocked - by reports that a poll says that 2/3rds of Americans have no problem with the Bush administration mining phone calls.
Here is the actual question:
It's been reported that the National Security Agency has been collecting the phone call records of tens of millions of Americans. It then analyzes calling patterns in an effort to identify possible terrorism suspects, without listening to or recording the conversations. Would you consider this an acceptable or unacceptable way for the federal government to investigate terrorism? Do you feel that way strongly or somewhat?
Note that the question itself ASSUMES that the act is benign, and states things as fact that WE DON'T KNOW (such as that conversations are not listened to or recorded). The question is framed in terms of fighting terrorism, falsifies the known facts, fails to mention the questionable legality, and was obviously thrown together on the fly. For many poll respondents, this was probably the first time they HEARD about it.
This is a push poll.
And I suspect that other polls released in the coming days will show very different results.
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Today?
Tweetybird Matthews thinks Rove might be indicted today.
From Imus this morning"
Transcript:
MATTHEWS: If, however, something happens with Karl Rove, we’re going to go to general quarters around here.
IMUS: What does that mean?
MATTHEWS: Meaning we will be taping probably on Saturday or late night because everything will change. Last time, when he picked up Scooter, when he nailed him 30 years of charges, that happened on 1:00 on a Friday. So we don’t know when it might happen, if it’s going happen.
IMUS: Are we expecting something with Karl Rove today?
MATTHEWS: Well, it could be today. It could be next week. Everybody is buzzing about when or if. It’s a big if, big when. There is a lot of talk because he is still being interviewing by the special prosecutor. He keeps being hauled before the grand jury. So something is going on here with the special prosecutor. We don’t know whether he is going to clear him or nail him.
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GENEVA (Reuters) - The United States has again refused the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) access to terrorism suspects held in secret detention centers, the humanitarian agency said on Friday.
Isn't it interesting that the whole motto of this administration is "If you have done nothing wrong, you have nothing to hide"?
Explains why they hide everything.
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Headline says it all
Bush denies spying infringes on privacy
Roll THAT phrase around in your head a few times.
Lewis Carroll wishes HE had thought of that one, I'm sure
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Thursday, May 11, 2006
Gonzales Lied
As surely as weasels are weasels.
From the Muckraker:
Did Gonzales Mislead Congress about NSA Program?
By Paul Kiel - May 11, 2006, 2:32 PM
Reacting to today's news that the NSA is "amassing information about the calls of ordinary Americans," Reps. Bennie G. Thompson (D-MS) and Rep. Zoe Lofgren (D-CA) have put out a statement questioning the legality of the program.
Their statement contains this: "when the Attorney General was forced to testify before the House Judiciary Committee a few weeks ago, he misled the Committee about the existence of the program."
Here's what they're referring to. On April 6, 2006, Attorney General Alberto Gonzales testified before the House Judiciary Committee, and in one exchange, Rep. Gerald Nadler (D-NY) tried to nail him down:
NADLER: Number two, can you assure us that there is no warrantless surveillance of calls between two Americans within the United States?
GONZALES: That is not what the president has authorized.
NADLER: Can you assure us that it's not being done?
GONZALES: As I indicated in response to an earlier question, no technology is perfect.
NADLER: OK.
GONZALES: We do have minimization procedures in place...
NADLER: But you're not doing that deliberately?
GONZALES: That is correct.
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"There's no doubt in my mind there are safeguards in place to make sure the program focuses on calls coming from outside the United States in, with an al Qaeda -- from a -- with a belief that there's an al Qaeda person making the call to somebody here in the States, or vice versa -- but not domestic calls." - Bush, 01/26/06.
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Bush lies some more
President Deer-In-The-Headlights decided to throw a little gasoline on the fire:
Facing intense criticism from Congress, President Bush did not confirm the work of the National Security Agency but sought to assure Americans that their privacy is being "fiercely protected."
"We are not mining or trolling through the personal lives of innocent Americans," Bush said before leaving for a commencement address at Mississippi Gulf Coast Community College in Biloxi.
Well, gee whiz, codpiece-for-brains, you ALSO said that you were only listening to INTERNATIONAL Communications. You ALSO said it was only a FEW HUNDRED.
Liar.
Every new story that comes out shows that the administration lied about the last story that came out but they say that we should believe them this time.
NOBODY is that gullible.
By the way, giving the White House info on yur phone calls was VOLUNTARY on the part of the phone companies. Qwest was the ONLY major carrier to refuse. So if you are with AT&T or Verizon, switch to Qwest. And call them and let them know why. DEMAND that they respect your privacy.
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It's all true
Everything you thought MIGHT be true IS.
NSA has massive database of Americans' phone calls
The National Security Agency has been secretly collecting the phone call records of tens of millions of Americans, using data provided by AT&T, Verizon and BellSouth, people with direct knowledge of the arrangement told USA TODAY.
The NSA program reaches into homes and businesses across the nation by amassing information about the calls of ordinary Americans — most of whom aren't suspected of any crime. This program does not involve the NSA listening to or recording conversations. But the spy agency is using the data to analyze calling patterns in an effort to detect terrorist activity, sources said in separate interviews.
For the customers of these companies, it means that the government has detailed records of calls they made — across town or across the country — to family members, co-workers, business contacts and others.
The sources would talk only under a guarantee of anonymity because the NSA program is secret.
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Wednesday, May 10, 2006
Colbert - SOMEBODY gets it.
Here's a great article from the TV Critic at the Chicago Sun-Times about Colbert's public evisceration of His Ignorance. This may be the only thing I have read in the mainstream press that actually understood the reaction to Colbert's speech.
How did Bush tickle reporters? He made fun of the fact that he can barely speak English (he is quite simply the worst communicator of all U.S. presidents), that our vice president is a heartless face-shooter, and that Bush is basically an idiot.
Ha ha, our "war president" knows he's a village idiot? To members of the White House press corps, that's some real funny stuff. To non-insiders, this looked like another example of good old boys and gals slapping each other on the back.
Colbert's routine was more remarkable for its unique and creative brazenness. He joked that Bush's presidency is like the Hindenburg; that Bush's wiretappers were monitoring this very event, and that the White House press corps, sitting in front of Colbert, gave Bush a free pass, scandal after scandal, until recently (when his polls numbers dropped).
How's this for a newsworthy lead? It was perhaps the first time in Bush's tenure that the president was forced to sit and listen to any American cite the litany of criminal and corruption allegations that have piled up against his administration. And mouth-tense Bush and first lady Laura Bush fled as soon as possible afterward.
From whom were they fleeing? A star comedian pretending to be a Fox News-like blowhard doing a sort of performance art that America hasn't witnessed nationally since the days of Andy Kaufman. Even if Colbert's bit had been reported as a train wreck, that would have sufficed. Instead, shocking lines like the following were barely covered by any traditional organ except industry magazine Editor & Publisher: "I stand by" Bush, Colbert cracked, "because he stands for things. Not only for things, he stands on things. Things like aircraft carriers and rubble, and recently flooded city squares. And that sends a strong message that no matter what happens to America, she will always rebound with the most powerfully staged photo ops in the world."
For TV reporters in particular to quote that gruesome line would be an agreement with Colbert, that they helped Bush mix politics with corruption from the ashes of 9/11 ("aircraft carriers and rubble"), and failed to see through Bush's politicization of the drowning of an American city after a hurricane ("recently flooded city squares").
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Brownie, you're doing a heckuva job.
The question isn't "Why do only 31% still support these incompetents" - the question is, "why the hell is it still that high?"
WASHINGTON — Hours after Hurricane Katrina hit, former FEMA director Michael Brown dismissed reports that floodwaters had breached New Orleans' levees, and he obsessed over media coverage of his agency, according to newly released e-mails.
At one point early that morning, Brown reported to an aide that he was "sitting in the chair, putting mousse in my hair" while waiting for media interviews to begin.
What total dicks.
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Poll vault
(CBS) President Bush and the Republican Congress show nearly record low ratings while Democrats are viewed much more favorably in their performance on the issues that matter most to Americans, according to the latest CBS News/New York Times poll.
Well, that just great. You think - maybe - the Democrats MIGHT just stop acting like their afraid that challenging thi clown will hurt them?
0 comments
Panel: Legislators Shouldn't Work Drunk
SALEM, Ore. (AP) -- Oregon legislators and staff members should not be drunk while performing their official duties, a citizen panel says.
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Monday, May 22, 2006
AT&T Sold Your Ass to the Government
Wired Magazine has a full expose on the NSA spying scandal from Whistle-Blower Mark Klein's class-action lawsuit.
In 2003 AT&T built "secret rooms" hidden deep in the bowels of its central offices in various cities, housing computer gear for a government spy operation which taps into the company's popular WorldNet service and the entire internet. These installations enable the government to look at every individual message on the internet and analyze exactly what people are doing. Documents showing the hardwire installation in San Francisco suggest that there are similar locations being installed in numerous other cities.
The physical arrangement, the timing of its construction, the government-imposed secrecy surrounding it and other factors all strongly suggest that its origins are rooted in the Defense Department's Total Information Awareness (TIA) program...
Read the article. ALL of the Documents are in pdf format here.
1 comments
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Take a look at this remarkable email exchange between Rumsfeld's Spokesman, Larry (a.k.a. Curly Joe) Dirita, and War Correspondent Joe Galloway. This is remarkable, and Galloway deserves a medal.
2 comments
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Sunday, May 21, 2006
Why does this not surprise me?
Cut taxes for the multi-millionaires.
And INCREASE them for TEEN-AGERS.
The $69 billion tax cut bill that President Bush signed this week tripled tax rates for teenagers with college savings funds, despite Mr. Bush's 1999 pledge to veto any tax increase.
Under the new law, teenagers age 14 to 17 with investment income will now be taxed at the same rate as their parents, not at their own rates. Long-term capital gains and dividends that had been taxed at 5 percent will now be taxed at 15 percent. Interest that had been taxed at 10 percent will now be taxed at as much as 35 percent.
It is really hard to believe how brazen these people are in their greed and elitism. The contempt that they feel for ordinary Americans is palpable. Not only do they screw people - they do it right in your face, and think you won't notice.
0 comments
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Thursday, May 18, 2006
Illegal is more fun
According to Baltimore Sun, the NSA developed a program for the purpose of analyzing communication data in the late 1990. Unlike what they are doing now, the old program was legal and protected the privacy of Americans - and worked better.
They rejected it in favor of a system that was illegal, unnecessarily intrusive and didn't work so good.
But if you're Bush, you ALWAYS prefer the option that's illegal, intrusive and innefficient. I honestly think it gives the man the sort of rush that a teenager gets when he gets away with something.
1 comments
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Rover defends his owner
"The American people like this president. His personal approval ratings are in the 60s. Job approval is lower. And what that says to me is that people like him, they respect him, he's somebody they feel a connection with, but they're just sour right now on the war. And that's the way it's going to be." - Karl Rove
Cognitive dissonance is what happens in the human brain when a human being is confronted with a fact which his preconceptions tell him cannot possibly be true.
Is Karl Rove - Bush's favorite Turdblossom and America's beloved pus-sack - becoming delusional?
His "personal approval" isn't anywhere NEAR the 60s and people DON'T like this President. (New York Times pdf poll here) In fact, his JOB approval is one percentage point HIGHER than his "personal approval. " He has more than 50% approval in exactly 3 states - Utah, Idaho and Wyoming. NOBODY approves of him, except a few whackjobs.
Polysigh put it best:
"As for Rove's comment that Bush would be popular but for the Iraq War, that's like saying that if it weren't for the Alps, Switzerland would be flat."
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Tuesday, May 16, 2006
The Constitutional Crisis that Walks like a Man.
The FBI has confirmed that they do, indeed, monitor reporters' phone calls.
Approximately one year ago, we were told that they did not need a warrant because they were only monitoring international calls.
Then, they said that, well, actually were monitoring SOME calls where one of the parties was domestic and one was international.
"If someone is calling Al Qaeda," said Bush, "we want to know why."
Which is interesting, because it implies that they know the terrorists' telephone numbers, which makes you wonder why they don't just round them up instead of collecting their phone bills.
Then they said that they sometimes they inadvertently listen to purely domestic calls.
Then they tell us - just this week - that, well, all that was bullshit. They have actually been collecting info on every single phone call made by every single American with almost no exceptions.
But OF COURSE we have nothing to worry about. We can trust THEM. Never mind the fact that they have lied about this again and again and again. We can trust them. They aren't actually listening in. It's for TERRORISM. So they say.
But you can't name a single terrorist who has been arrested in the last five years as a result of this spying. Not one.
And NOW, we find out that they AREN'T checking on terrorists - they are checking on reporters. They are using phone records to find out who reporters are using as sources. They are REALLY after anyone who makes them look bad by revealing the truth to the American People.
You would figure even the REPUBLICANS would wake up and realize that George W. Bush is a walking Constitutional Crisis who has to be stopped while we still have something that we can call "America" left. And they would, if they valued their nation more than their party.
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Monday, May 15, 2006
Push Back Poll
I said it was a push poll, and I was right.
From a Newsweek poll, released one day after the Washington Post Push Poll:
As you may know, there are reports that the NSA, a government intelligence agency, has been collecting the phone call records of Americans. The agency doesn't actually listen to the calls but logs in nearly every phone number to create a database of calls made within the United States. Which of the following comes CLOSER to your own view of this domestic surveillance program:
It is a necessary tool to combat terrorism -- 41
It goes too far in invading people’s privacy -- 53
Don’t know -- 6
Note that the question doesn't read like a apologia for data mining - as the Washington Post poll did.
But why was the Washington Post so anxious to release a poll that backed up the Bush administration's wishes on the same day that the news broke?
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Your tax dollars at work
You have to watch out for those Terrorist Anchormen:
Federal Source to ABC News: We Know Who You're Calling
Brian Ross and Richard Esposito Report:
A senior federal law enforcement official tells ABC News the government is tracking the phone numbers we (Brian Ross and Richard Esposito) call in an effort to root out confidential sources.
"It's time for you to get some new cell phones, quick," the source told us in an in-person conversation.
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Same script.
Ah. So His Incompetence is probably going to use the National Guard to patrol the border. He says it's "only temporary."
Temporary till when? Just after the 2006 elections?
This is typical. God forbid border patrol get done by actual border patrol. That would make sense. Instead, let's assume that the MILITARY doesn't have enough of a role.
The REAL problem is that Bush is too damned incompetent to deal with anything using civilian means - like SANE Presidents always have. Instead, he turns to the military as his tool of choice for absolutely everything.
And pardon me for wondering if President Codpiece isn't still trying to compensate for the cowardice and inadequacy that he showed during Vietnam. Using OTHER people's blood and sweat, of course.
So he will get to dress up in a uniform, strut around, use jeeps and tanks and helicopters and all sorts of neat stuff, and basically play war in a place where there isn't one, and it will make for a great photo-op. He'll get his picture taken with a helicopter. Look, mommy! Don't I look cool?
God, I wish we had a President who was a frigging grown-up, instead of one who is stuck in adolescence and makes America suffer so he can feel impressive.
2 comments
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Sunday, May 14, 2006
Ooops.
I posted the info from Jason Leopold (of truthout) that Rove had been indicted. Not WOULD be - HAD been. I think we would have heard something by now. I guess Leopold's source isn't all that reliable, and it's the last time I post something unsubstantiated from truthout.
Here's hoping that Leopold proves to be right a bit too early anyway.
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Saturday, May 13, 2006
Sue the bastards.
If you own stock in any phone companies, it's time to sell short. They could lose billions in class-action lawsuits, and lose MORE money from an exodus of customers.
Two suits have already been filed.
Verizon Sued for Giving NSA Phone Records Attorneys Bruce Afran and Carl Mayer filed the lawsuit Friday afternoon in federal district court in Manhattan, where Verizon is headquartered.
The lawsuit asks the court to stop Verizon from turning over any more records to the NSA without a warrant or consent of the subscriber.
"This is the largest and most vast intrusion of civil liberties we've ever seen in the United States," Afran said of the NSA program.
The lawsuit seeks $1,000 for each violation of the Telecommunications Act, or $5 billion if the case is certified as class-action.
And this is a DIFFERENT one:
Verizon Faces New $20B Suit over NSA Spying Complicity
Upping the ante in what may be a high-stakes legal battle, an Upstate New York lawyer filed a $20 billion class-action lawsuit against Verizon last week, charging that the company violated customer confidentiality in aiding warrantless eavesdropping by a federal spy agency.
Here's the tally of who has and has not violated the privacy of American citizens:
Verizon (land-line), AT&T, and BellSouth have all behaved in a fundamentally Unamerican manner.
On the other hand, Qwest is the only large landline carrier that refused to complied with the Bush's fascist requests. If you have one of the other three, switch to Qwest.
Cellular phones seem largely clean. Verizon Wireless, T-Mobile, Virgin Mobile and Cox all say that they have not provided their records to anyone.
0 comments
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Fitzmas?
Truthout now says that Rove has BEEN indicted, but I don't see it in the tradition media.
0 comments
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Shocked
The NSA Whistleblower says that people are going to be shocked.
[Tice] said he plans to tell the committee staffers the NSA conducted illegal and unconstitutional surveillance of U.S. citizens while he was there with the knowledge of Hayden. … “I think the people I talk to next week are going to be shocked when I tell them what I have to tell them. It’s pretty hard to believe,” Tice said.
I won't be shocked, but it's about time the country got shocked.
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Friday, May 12, 2006
According to truthout, Rove has told the White House that he will be indicted.
Within the last week, Karl Rove told President Bush and Chief of Staff Joshua Bolten, as well as a few other high level administration officials, that he will be indicted in the CIA leak case and will immediately resign his White House job when the special counsel publicly announces the charges against him, according to sources.
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Raid kills roaches dead.
The FBI has raided the home of Dusty Foggo (NOT the name of a fictional character). The guy who just resigned as the #3 man in the CIA.
I wonder why Goss REALLY resigned. This CAN'T be a coincidence.
Move along, folks, nothing to see here....
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Push poll
You may have read - and been shocked - by reports that a poll says that 2/3rds of Americans have no problem with the Bush administration mining phone calls.
Here is the actual question:
It's been reported that the National Security Agency has been collecting the phone call records of tens of millions of Americans. It then analyzes calling patterns in an effort to identify possible terrorism suspects, without listening to or recording the conversations. Would you consider this an acceptable or unacceptable way for the federal government to investigate terrorism? Do you feel that way strongly or somewhat?
Note that the question itself ASSUMES that the act is benign, and states things as fact that WE DON'T KNOW (such as that conversations are not listened to or recorded). The question is framed in terms of fighting terrorism, falsifies the known facts, fails to mention the questionable legality, and was obviously thrown together on the fly. For many poll respondents, this was probably the first time they HEARD about it.
This is a push poll.
And I suspect that other polls released in the coming days will show very different results.
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Today?
Tweetybird Matthews thinks Rove might be indicted today.
From Imus this morning"
Transcript:
MATTHEWS: If, however, something happens with Karl Rove, we’re going to go to general quarters around here.
IMUS: What does that mean?
MATTHEWS: Meaning we will be taping probably on Saturday or late night because everything will change. Last time, when he picked up Scooter, when he nailed him 30 years of charges, that happened on 1:00 on a Friday. So we don’t know when it might happen, if it’s going happen.
IMUS: Are we expecting something with Karl Rove today?
MATTHEWS: Well, it could be today. It could be next week. Everybody is buzzing about when or if. It’s a big if, big when. There is a lot of talk because he is still being interviewing by the special prosecutor. He keeps being hauled before the grand jury. So something is going on here with the special prosecutor. We don’t know whether he is going to clear him or nail him.
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GENEVA (Reuters) - The United States has again refused the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) access to terrorism suspects held in secret detention centers, the humanitarian agency said on Friday.
Isn't it interesting that the whole motto of this administration is "If you have done nothing wrong, you have nothing to hide"?
Explains why they hide everything.
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Headline says it all
Bush denies spying infringes on privacy
Roll THAT phrase around in your head a few times.
Lewis Carroll wishes HE had thought of that one, I'm sure
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Thursday, May 11, 2006
Gonzales Lied
As surely as weasels are weasels.
From the Muckraker:
Did Gonzales Mislead Congress about NSA Program?
By Paul Kiel - May 11, 2006, 2:32 PM
Reacting to today's news that the NSA is "amassing information about the calls of ordinary Americans," Reps. Bennie G. Thompson (D-MS) and Rep. Zoe Lofgren (D-CA) have put out a statement questioning the legality of the program.
Their statement contains this: "when the Attorney General was forced to testify before the House Judiciary Committee a few weeks ago, he misled the Committee about the existence of the program."
Here's what they're referring to. On April 6, 2006, Attorney General Alberto Gonzales testified before the House Judiciary Committee, and in one exchange, Rep. Gerald Nadler (D-NY) tried to nail him down:
NADLER: Number two, can you assure us that there is no warrantless surveillance of calls between two Americans within the United States?
GONZALES: That is not what the president has authorized.
NADLER: Can you assure us that it's not being done?
GONZALES: As I indicated in response to an earlier question, no technology is perfect.
NADLER: OK.
GONZALES: We do have minimization procedures in place...
NADLER: But you're not doing that deliberately?
GONZALES: That is correct.
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"There's no doubt in my mind there are safeguards in place to make sure the program focuses on calls coming from outside the United States in, with an al Qaeda -- from a -- with a belief that there's an al Qaeda person making the call to somebody here in the States, or vice versa -- but not domestic calls." - Bush, 01/26/06.
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Bush lies some more
President Deer-In-The-Headlights decided to throw a little gasoline on the fire:
Facing intense criticism from Congress, President Bush did not confirm the work of the National Security Agency but sought to assure Americans that their privacy is being "fiercely protected."
"We are not mining or trolling through the personal lives of innocent Americans," Bush said before leaving for a commencement address at Mississippi Gulf Coast Community College in Biloxi.
Well, gee whiz, codpiece-for-brains, you ALSO said that you were only listening to INTERNATIONAL Communications. You ALSO said it was only a FEW HUNDRED.
Liar.
Every new story that comes out shows that the administration lied about the last story that came out but they say that we should believe them this time.
NOBODY is that gullible.
By the way, giving the White House info on yur phone calls was VOLUNTARY on the part of the phone companies. Qwest was the ONLY major carrier to refuse. So if you are with AT&T or Verizon, switch to Qwest. And call them and let them know why. DEMAND that they respect your privacy.
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It's all true
Everything you thought MIGHT be true IS.
NSA has massive database of Americans' phone calls
The National Security Agency has been secretly collecting the phone call records of tens of millions of Americans, using data provided by AT&T, Verizon and BellSouth, people with direct knowledge of the arrangement told USA TODAY.
The NSA program reaches into homes and businesses across the nation by amassing information about the calls of ordinary Americans — most of whom aren't suspected of any crime. This program does not involve the NSA listening to or recording conversations. But the spy agency is using the data to analyze calling patterns in an effort to detect terrorist activity, sources said in separate interviews.
For the customers of these companies, it means that the government has detailed records of calls they made — across town or across the country — to family members, co-workers, business contacts and others.
The sources would talk only under a guarantee of anonymity because the NSA program is secret.
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Wednesday, May 10, 2006
Colbert - SOMEBODY gets it.
Here's a great article from the TV Critic at the Chicago Sun-Times about Colbert's public evisceration of His Ignorance. This may be the only thing I have read in the mainstream press that actually understood the reaction to Colbert's speech.
How did Bush tickle reporters? He made fun of the fact that he can barely speak English (he is quite simply the worst communicator of all U.S. presidents), that our vice president is a heartless face-shooter, and that Bush is basically an idiot.
Ha ha, our "war president" knows he's a village idiot? To members of the White House press corps, that's some real funny stuff. To non-insiders, this looked like another example of good old boys and gals slapping each other on the back.
Colbert's routine was more remarkable for its unique and creative brazenness. He joked that Bush's presidency is like the Hindenburg; that Bush's wiretappers were monitoring this very event, and that the White House press corps, sitting in front of Colbert, gave Bush a free pass, scandal after scandal, until recently (when his polls numbers dropped).
How's this for a newsworthy lead? It was perhaps the first time in Bush's tenure that the president was forced to sit and listen to any American cite the litany of criminal and corruption allegations that have piled up against his administration. And mouth-tense Bush and first lady Laura Bush fled as soon as possible afterward.
From whom were they fleeing? A star comedian pretending to be a Fox News-like blowhard doing a sort of performance art that America hasn't witnessed nationally since the days of Andy Kaufman. Even if Colbert's bit had been reported as a train wreck, that would have sufficed. Instead, shocking lines like the following were barely covered by any traditional organ except industry magazine Editor & Publisher: "I stand by" Bush, Colbert cracked, "because he stands for things. Not only for things, he stands on things. Things like aircraft carriers and rubble, and recently flooded city squares. And that sends a strong message that no matter what happens to America, she will always rebound with the most powerfully staged photo ops in the world."
For TV reporters in particular to quote that gruesome line would be an agreement with Colbert, that they helped Bush mix politics with corruption from the ashes of 9/11 ("aircraft carriers and rubble"), and failed to see through Bush's politicization of the drowning of an American city after a hurricane ("recently flooded city squares").
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Brownie, you're doing a heckuva job.
The question isn't "Why do only 31% still support these incompetents" - the question is, "why the hell is it still that high?"
WASHINGTON — Hours after Hurricane Katrina hit, former FEMA director Michael Brown dismissed reports that floodwaters had breached New Orleans' levees, and he obsessed over media coverage of his agency, according to newly released e-mails.
At one point early that morning, Brown reported to an aide that he was "sitting in the chair, putting mousse in my hair" while waiting for media interviews to begin.
What total dicks.
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Poll vault
(CBS) President Bush and the Republican Congress show nearly record low ratings while Democrats are viewed much more favorably in their performance on the issues that matter most to Americans, according to the latest CBS News/New York Times poll.
Well, that just great. You think - maybe - the Democrats MIGHT just stop acting like their afraid that challenging thi clown will hurt them?
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Monday, May 22, 2006
AT&T Sold Your Ass to the Government
Wired Magazine has a full expose on the NSA spying scandal from Whistle-Blower Mark Klein's class-action lawsuit.
In 2003 AT&T built "secret rooms" hidden deep in the bowels of its central offices in various cities, housing computer gear for a government spy operation which taps into the company's popular WorldNet service and the entire internet. These installations enable the government to look at every individual message on the internet and analyze exactly what people are doing. Documents showing the hardwire installation in San Francisco suggest that there are similar locations being installed in numerous other cities.
The physical arrangement, the timing of its construction, the government-imposed secrecy surrounding it and other factors all strongly suggest that its origins are rooted in the Defense Department's Total Information Awareness (TIA) program...
Read the article. ALL of the Documents are in pdf format here.
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Take a look at this remarkable email exchange between Rumsfeld's Spokesman, Larry (a.k.a. Curly Joe) Dirita, and War Correspondent Joe Galloway. This is remarkable, and Galloway deserves a medal.
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Sunday, May 21, 2006
Why does this not surprise me?
Cut taxes for the multi-millionaires.
And INCREASE them for TEEN-AGERS.
The $69 billion tax cut bill that President Bush signed this week tripled tax rates for teenagers with college savings funds, despite Mr. Bush's 1999 pledge to veto any tax increase.
Under the new law, teenagers age 14 to 17 with investment income will now be taxed at the same rate as their parents, not at their own rates. Long-term capital gains and dividends that had been taxed at 5 percent will now be taxed at 15 percent. Interest that had been taxed at 10 percent will now be taxed at as much as 35 percent.
It is really hard to believe how brazen these people are in their greed and elitism. The contempt that they feel for ordinary Americans is palpable. Not only do they screw people - they do it right in your face, and think you won't notice.
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Thursday, May 18, 2006
Illegal is more fun
According to Baltimore Sun, the NSA developed a program for the purpose of analyzing communication data in the late 1990. Unlike what they are doing now, the old program was legal and protected the privacy of Americans - and worked better.
They rejected it in favor of a system that was illegal, unnecessarily intrusive and didn't work so good.
But if you're Bush, you ALWAYS prefer the option that's illegal, intrusive and innefficient. I honestly think it gives the man the sort of rush that a teenager gets when he gets away with something.
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Rover defends his owner
"The American people like this president. His personal approval ratings are in the 60s. Job approval is lower. And what that says to me is that people like him, they respect him, he's somebody they feel a connection with, but they're just sour right now on the war. And that's the way it's going to be." - Karl Rove
Cognitive dissonance is what happens in the human brain when a human being is confronted with a fact which his preconceptions tell him cannot possibly be true.
Is Karl Rove - Bush's favorite Turdblossom and America's beloved pus-sack - becoming delusional?
His "personal approval" isn't anywhere NEAR the 60s and people DON'T like this President. (New York Times pdf poll here) In fact, his JOB approval is one percentage point HIGHER than his "personal approval. " He has more than 50% approval in exactly 3 states - Utah, Idaho and Wyoming. NOBODY approves of him, except a few whackjobs.
Polysigh put it best:
"As for Rove's comment that Bush would be popular but for the Iraq War, that's like saying that if it weren't for the Alps, Switzerland would be flat."
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Tuesday, May 16, 2006
The Constitutional Crisis that Walks like a Man.
The FBI has confirmed that they do, indeed, monitor reporters' phone calls.
Approximately one year ago, we were told that they did not need a warrant because they were only monitoring international calls.
Then, they said that, well, actually were monitoring SOME calls where one of the parties was domestic and one was international.
"If someone is calling Al Qaeda," said Bush, "we want to know why."
Which is interesting, because it implies that they know the terrorists' telephone numbers, which makes you wonder why they don't just round them up instead of collecting their phone bills.
Then they said that they sometimes they inadvertently listen to purely domestic calls.
Then they tell us - just this week - that, well, all that was bullshit. They have actually been collecting info on every single phone call made by every single American with almost no exceptions.
But OF COURSE we have nothing to worry about. We can trust THEM. Never mind the fact that they have lied about this again and again and again. We can trust them. They aren't actually listening in. It's for TERRORISM. So they say.
But you can't name a single terrorist who has been arrested in the last five years as a result of this spying. Not one.
And NOW, we find out that they AREN'T checking on terrorists - they are checking on reporters. They are using phone records to find out who reporters are using as sources. They are REALLY after anyone who makes them look bad by revealing the truth to the American People.
You would figure even the REPUBLICANS would wake up and realize that George W. Bush is a walking Constitutional Crisis who has to be stopped while we still have something that we can call "America" left. And they would, if they valued their nation more than their party.
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Monday, May 15, 2006
Push Back Poll
I said it was a push poll, and I was right.
From a Newsweek poll, released one day after the Washington Post Push Poll:
As you may know, there are reports that the NSA, a government intelligence agency, has been collecting the phone call records of Americans. The agency doesn't actually listen to the calls but logs in nearly every phone number to create a database of calls made within the United States. Which of the following comes CLOSER to your own view of this domestic surveillance program:
It is a necessary tool to combat terrorism -- 41
It goes too far in invading people’s privacy -- 53
Don’t know -- 6
Note that the question doesn't read like a apologia for data mining - as the Washington Post poll did.
But why was the Washington Post so anxious to release a poll that backed up the Bush administration's wishes on the same day that the news broke?
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Your tax dollars at work
You have to watch out for those Terrorist Anchormen:
Federal Source to ABC News: We Know Who You're Calling
Brian Ross and Richard Esposito Report:
A senior federal law enforcement official tells ABC News the government is tracking the phone numbers we (Brian Ross and Richard Esposito) call in an effort to root out confidential sources.
"It's time for you to get some new cell phones, quick," the source told us in an in-person conversation.
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Same script.
Ah. So His Incompetence is probably going to use the National Guard to patrol the border. He says it's "only temporary."
Temporary till when? Just after the 2006 elections?
This is typical. God forbid border patrol get done by actual border patrol. That would make sense. Instead, let's assume that the MILITARY doesn't have enough of a role.
The REAL problem is that Bush is too damned incompetent to deal with anything using civilian means - like SANE Presidents always have. Instead, he turns to the military as his tool of choice for absolutely everything.
And pardon me for wondering if President Codpiece isn't still trying to compensate for the cowardice and inadequacy that he showed during Vietnam. Using OTHER people's blood and sweat, of course.
So he will get to dress up in a uniform, strut around, use jeeps and tanks and helicopters and all sorts of neat stuff, and basically play war in a place where there isn't one, and it will make for a great photo-op. He'll get his picture taken with a helicopter. Look, mommy! Don't I look cool?
God, I wish we had a President who was a frigging grown-up, instead of one who is stuck in adolescence and makes America suffer so he can feel impressive.
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Sunday, May 14, 2006
Ooops.
I posted the info from Jason Leopold (of truthout) that Rove had been indicted. Not WOULD be - HAD been. I think we would have heard something by now. I guess Leopold's source isn't all that reliable, and it's the last time I post something unsubstantiated from truthout.
Here's hoping that Leopold proves to be right a bit too early anyway.
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Saturday, May 13, 2006
Sue the bastards.
If you own stock in any phone companies, it's time to sell short. They could lose billions in class-action lawsuits, and lose MORE money from an exodus of customers.
Two suits have already been filed.
Verizon Sued for Giving NSA Phone Records Attorneys Bruce Afran and Carl Mayer filed the lawsuit Friday afternoon in federal district court in Manhattan, where Verizon is headquartered.
The lawsuit asks the court to stop Verizon from turning over any more records to the NSA without a warrant or consent of the subscriber.
"This is the largest and most vast intrusion of civil liberties we've ever seen in the United States," Afran said of the NSA program.
The lawsuit seeks $1,000 for each violation of the Telecommunications Act, or $5 billion if the case is certified as class-action.
And this is a DIFFERENT one:
Verizon Faces New $20B Suit over NSA Spying Complicity
Upping the ante in what may be a high-stakes legal battle, an Upstate New York lawyer filed a $20 billion class-action lawsuit against Verizon last week, charging that the company violated customer confidentiality in aiding warrantless eavesdropping by a federal spy agency.
Here's the tally of who has and has not violated the privacy of American citizens:
Verizon (land-line), AT&T, and BellSouth have all behaved in a fundamentally Unamerican manner.
On the other hand, Qwest is the only large landline carrier that refused to complied with the Bush's fascist requests. If you have one of the other three, switch to Qwest.
Cellular phones seem largely clean. Verizon Wireless, T-Mobile, Virgin Mobile and Cox all say that they have not provided their records to anyone.
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Fitzmas?
Truthout now says that Rove has BEEN indicted, but I don't see it in the tradition media.
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Shocked
The NSA Whistleblower says that people are going to be shocked.
[Tice] said he plans to tell the committee staffers the NSA conducted illegal and unconstitutional surveillance of U.S. citizens while he was there with the knowledge of Hayden. … “I think the people I talk to next week are going to be shocked when I tell them what I have to tell them. It’s pretty hard to believe,” Tice said.
I won't be shocked, but it's about time the country got shocked.
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Friday, May 12, 2006
According to truthout, Rove has told the White House that he will be indicted.
Within the last week, Karl Rove told President Bush and Chief of Staff Joshua Bolten, as well as a few other high level administration officials, that he will be indicted in the CIA leak case and will immediately resign his White House job when the special counsel publicly announces the charges against him, according to sources.
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Raid kills roaches dead.
The FBI has raided the home of Dusty Foggo (NOT the name of a fictional character). The guy who just resigned as the #3 man in the CIA.
I wonder why Goss REALLY resigned. This CAN'T be a coincidence.
Move along, folks, nothing to see here....
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Push poll
You may have read - and been shocked - by reports that a poll says that 2/3rds of Americans have no problem with the Bush administration mining phone calls.
Here is the actual question:
It's been reported that the National Security Agency has been collecting the phone call records of tens of millions of Americans. It then analyzes calling patterns in an effort to identify possible terrorism suspects, without listening to or recording the conversations. Would you consider this an acceptable or unacceptable way for the federal government to investigate terrorism? Do you feel that way strongly or somewhat?
Note that the question itself ASSUMES that the act is benign, and states things as fact that WE DON'T KNOW (such as that conversations are not listened to or recorded). The question is framed in terms of fighting terrorism, falsifies the known facts, fails to mention the questionable legality, and was obviously thrown together on the fly. For many poll respondents, this was probably the first time they HEARD about it.
This is a push poll.
And I suspect that other polls released in the coming days will show very different results.
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Today?
Tweetybird Matthews thinks Rove might be indicted today.
From Imus this morning"
Transcript:
MATTHEWS: If, however, something happens with Karl Rove, we’re going to go to general quarters around here.
IMUS: What does that mean?
MATTHEWS: Meaning we will be taping probably on Saturday or late night because everything will change. Last time, when he picked up Scooter, when he nailed him 30 years of charges, that happened on 1:00 on a Friday. So we don’t know when it might happen, if it’s going happen.
IMUS: Are we expecting something with Karl Rove today?
MATTHEWS: Well, it could be today. It could be next week. Everybody is buzzing about when or if. It’s a big if, big when. There is a lot of talk because he is still being interviewing by the special prosecutor. He keeps being hauled before the grand jury. So something is going on here with the special prosecutor. We don’t know whether he is going to clear him or nail him.
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GENEVA (Reuters) - The United States has again refused the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) access to terrorism suspects held in secret detention centers, the humanitarian agency said on Friday.
Isn't it interesting that the whole motto of this administration is "If you have done nothing wrong, you have nothing to hide"?
Explains why they hide everything.
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Headline says it all
Bush denies spying infringes on privacy
Roll THAT phrase around in your head a few times.
Lewis Carroll wishes HE had thought of that one, I'm sure
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Thursday, May 11, 2006
Gonzales Lied
As surely as weasels are weasels.
From the Muckraker:
Did Gonzales Mislead Congress about NSA Program?
By Paul Kiel - May 11, 2006, 2:32 PM
Reacting to today's news that the NSA is "amassing information about the calls of ordinary Americans," Reps. Bennie G. Thompson (D-MS) and Rep. Zoe Lofgren (D-CA) have put out a statement questioning the legality of the program.
Their statement contains this: "when the Attorney General was forced to testify before the House Judiciary Committee a few weeks ago, he misled the Committee about the existence of the program."
Here's what they're referring to. On April 6, 2006, Attorney General Alberto Gonzales testified before the House Judiciary Committee, and in one exchange, Rep. Gerald Nadler (D-NY) tried to nail him down:
NADLER: Number two, can you assure us that there is no warrantless surveillance of calls between two Americans within the United States?
GONZALES: That is not what the president has authorized.
NADLER: Can you assure us that it's not being done?
GONZALES: As I indicated in response to an earlier question, no technology is perfect.
NADLER: OK.
GONZALES: We do have minimization procedures in place...
NADLER: But you're not doing that deliberately?
GONZALES: That is correct.
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"There's no doubt in my mind there are safeguards in place to make sure the program focuses on calls coming from outside the United States in, with an al Qaeda -- from a -- with a belief that there's an al Qaeda person making the call to somebody here in the States, or vice versa -- but not domestic calls." - Bush, 01/26/06.
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Bush lies some more
President Deer-In-The-Headlights decided to throw a little gasoline on the fire:
Facing intense criticism from Congress, President Bush did not confirm the work of the National Security Agency but sought to assure Americans that their privacy is being "fiercely protected."
"We are not mining or trolling through the personal lives of innocent Americans," Bush said before leaving for a commencement address at Mississippi Gulf Coast Community College in Biloxi.
Well, gee whiz, codpiece-for-brains, you ALSO said that you were only listening to INTERNATIONAL Communications. You ALSO said it was only a FEW HUNDRED.
Liar.
Every new story that comes out shows that the administration lied about the last story that came out but they say that we should believe them this time.
NOBODY is that gullible.
By the way, giving the White House info on yur phone calls was VOLUNTARY on the part of the phone companies. Qwest was the ONLY major carrier to refuse. So if you are with AT&T or Verizon, switch to Qwest. And call them and let them know why. DEMAND that they respect your privacy.
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It's all true
Everything you thought MIGHT be true IS.
NSA has massive database of Americans' phone calls
The National Security Agency has been secretly collecting the phone call records of tens of millions of Americans, using data provided by AT&T, Verizon and BellSouth, people with direct knowledge of the arrangement told USA TODAY.
The NSA program reaches into homes and businesses across the nation by amassing information about the calls of ordinary Americans — most of whom aren't suspected of any crime. This program does not involve the NSA listening to or recording conversations. But the spy agency is using the data to analyze calling patterns in an effort to detect terrorist activity, sources said in separate interviews.
For the customers of these companies, it means that the government has detailed records of calls they made — across town or across the country — to family members, co-workers, business contacts and others.
The sources would talk only under a guarantee of anonymity because the NSA program is secret.
0 comments
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Wednesday, May 10, 2006
Colbert - SOMEBODY gets it.
Here's a great article from the TV Critic at the Chicago Sun-Times about Colbert's public evisceration of His Ignorance. This may be the only thing I have read in the mainstream press that actually understood the reaction to Colbert's speech.
How did Bush tickle reporters? He made fun of the fact that he can barely speak English (he is quite simply the worst communicator of all U.S. presidents), that our vice president is a heartless face-shooter, and that Bush is basically an idiot.
Ha ha, our "war president" knows he's a village idiot? To members of the White House press corps, that's some real funny stuff. To non-insiders, this looked like another example of good old boys and gals slapping each other on the back.
Colbert's routine was more remarkable for its unique and creative brazenness. He joked that Bush's presidency is like the Hindenburg; that Bush's wiretappers were monitoring this very event, and that the White House press corps, sitting in front of Colbert, gave Bush a free pass, scandal after scandal, until recently (when his polls numbers dropped).
How's this for a newsworthy lead? It was perhaps the first time in Bush's tenure that the president was forced to sit and listen to any American cite the litany of criminal and corruption allegations that have piled up against his administration. And mouth-tense Bush and first lady Laura Bush fled as soon as possible afterward.
From whom were they fleeing? A star comedian pretending to be a Fox News-like blowhard doing a sort of performance art that America hasn't witnessed nationally since the days of Andy Kaufman. Even if Colbert's bit had been reported as a train wreck, that would have sufficed. Instead, shocking lines like the following were barely covered by any traditional organ except industry magazine Editor & Publisher: "I stand by" Bush, Colbert cracked, "because he stands for things. Not only for things, he stands on things. Things like aircraft carriers and rubble, and recently flooded city squares. And that sends a strong message that no matter what happens to America, she will always rebound with the most powerfully staged photo ops in the world."
For TV reporters in particular to quote that gruesome line would be an agreement with Colbert, that they helped Bush mix politics with corruption from the ashes of 9/11 ("aircraft carriers and rubble"), and failed to see through Bush's politicization of the drowning of an American city after a hurricane ("recently flooded city squares").
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Brownie, you're doing a heckuva job.
The question isn't "Why do only 31% still support these incompetents" - the question is, "why the hell is it still that high?"
WASHINGTON — Hours after Hurricane Katrina hit, former FEMA director Michael Brown dismissed reports that floodwaters had breached New Orleans' levees, and he obsessed over media coverage of his agency, according to newly released e-mails.
At one point early that morning, Brown reported to an aide that he was "sitting in the chair, putting mousse in my hair" while waiting for media interviews to begin.
What total dicks.
0 comments
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Poll vault
(CBS) President Bush and the Republican Congress show nearly record low ratings while Democrats are viewed much more favorably in their performance on the issues that matter most to Americans, according to the latest CBS News/New York Times poll.
Well, that just great. You think - maybe - the Democrats MIGHT just stop acting like their afraid that challenging thi clown will hurt them?
0 comments
AT&T Sold Your Ass to the Government
Wired Magazine has a full expose on the NSA spying scandal from Whistle-Blower Mark Klein's class-action lawsuit.
In 2003 AT&T built "secret rooms" hidden deep in the bowels of its central offices in various cities, housing computer gear for a government spy operation which taps into the company's popular WorldNet service and the entire internet. These installations enable the government to look at every individual message on the internet and analyze exactly what people are doing. Documents showing the hardwire installation in San Francisco suggest that there are similar locations being installed in numerous other cities.
The physical arrangement, the timing of its construction, the government-imposed secrecy surrounding it and other factors all strongly suggest that its origins are rooted in the Defense Department's Total Information Awareness (TIA) program...
Read the article. ALL of the Documents are in pdf format here.
1 comments
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Take a look at this remarkable email exchange between Rumsfeld's Spokesman, Larry (a.k.a. Curly Joe) Dirita, and War Correspondent Joe Galloway. This is remarkable, and Galloway deserves a medal.
2 comments
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Sunday, May 21, 2006
Why does this not surprise me?
Cut taxes for the multi-millionaires.
And INCREASE them for TEEN-AGERS.
The $69 billion tax cut bill that President Bush signed this week tripled tax rates for teenagers with college savings funds, despite Mr. Bush's 1999 pledge to veto any tax increase.
Under the new law, teenagers age 14 to 17 with investment income will now be taxed at the same rate as their parents, not at their own rates. Long-term capital gains and dividends that had been taxed at 5 percent will now be taxed at 15 percent. Interest that had been taxed at 10 percent will now be taxed at as much as 35 percent.
It is really hard to believe how brazen these people are in their greed and elitism. The contempt that they feel for ordinary Americans is palpable. Not only do they screw people - they do it right in your face, and think you won't notice.
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Thursday, May 18, 2006
Illegal is more fun
According to Baltimore Sun, the NSA developed a program for the purpose of analyzing communication data in the late 1990. Unlike what they are doing now, the old program was legal and protected the privacy of Americans - and worked better.
They rejected it in favor of a system that was illegal, unnecessarily intrusive and didn't work so good.
But if you're Bush, you ALWAYS prefer the option that's illegal, intrusive and innefficient. I honestly think it gives the man the sort of rush that a teenager gets when he gets away with something.
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Rover defends his owner
"The American people like this president. His personal approval ratings are in the 60s. Job approval is lower. And what that says to me is that people like him, they respect him, he's somebody they feel a connection with, but they're just sour right now on the war. And that's the way it's going to be." - Karl Rove
Cognitive dissonance is what happens in the human brain when a human being is confronted with a fact which his preconceptions tell him cannot possibly be true.
Is Karl Rove - Bush's favorite Turdblossom and America's beloved pus-sack - becoming delusional?
His "personal approval" isn't anywhere NEAR the 60s and people DON'T like this President. (New York Times pdf poll here) In fact, his JOB approval is one percentage point HIGHER than his "personal approval. " He has more than 50% approval in exactly 3 states - Utah, Idaho and Wyoming. NOBODY approves of him, except a few whackjobs.
Polysigh put it best:
"As for Rove's comment that Bush would be popular but for the Iraq War, that's like saying that if it weren't for the Alps, Switzerland would be flat."
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Tuesday, May 16, 2006
The Constitutional Crisis that Walks like a Man.
The FBI has confirmed that they do, indeed, monitor reporters' phone calls.
Approximately one year ago, we were told that they did not need a warrant because they were only monitoring international calls.
Then, they said that, well, actually were monitoring SOME calls where one of the parties was domestic and one was international.
"If someone is calling Al Qaeda," said Bush, "we want to know why."
Which is interesting, because it implies that they know the terrorists' telephone numbers, which makes you wonder why they don't just round them up instead of collecting their phone bills.
Then they said that they sometimes they inadvertently listen to purely domestic calls.
Then they tell us - just this week - that, well, all that was bullshit. They have actually been collecting info on every single phone call made by every single American with almost no exceptions.
But OF COURSE we have nothing to worry about. We can trust THEM. Never mind the fact that they have lied about this again and again and again. We can trust them. They aren't actually listening in. It's for TERRORISM. So they say.
But you can't name a single terrorist who has been arrested in the last five years as a result of this spying. Not one.
And NOW, we find out that they AREN'T checking on terrorists - they are checking on reporters. They are using phone records to find out who reporters are using as sources. They are REALLY after anyone who makes them look bad by revealing the truth to the American People.
You would figure even the REPUBLICANS would wake up and realize that George W. Bush is a walking Constitutional Crisis who has to be stopped while we still have something that we can call "America" left. And they would, if they valued their nation more than their party.
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Monday, May 15, 2006
Push Back Poll
I said it was a push poll, and I was right.
From a Newsweek poll, released one day after the Washington Post Push Poll:
As you may know, there are reports that the NSA, a government intelligence agency, has been collecting the phone call records of Americans. The agency doesn't actually listen to the calls but logs in nearly every phone number to create a database of calls made within the United States. Which of the following comes CLOSER to your own view of this domestic surveillance program:
It is a necessary tool to combat terrorism -- 41
It goes too far in invading people’s privacy -- 53
Don’t know -- 6
Note that the question doesn't read like a apologia for data mining - as the Washington Post poll did.
But why was the Washington Post so anxious to release a poll that backed up the Bush administration's wishes on the same day that the news broke?
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Your tax dollars at work
You have to watch out for those Terrorist Anchormen:
Federal Source to ABC News: We Know Who You're Calling
Brian Ross and Richard Esposito Report:
A senior federal law enforcement official tells ABC News the government is tracking the phone numbers we (Brian Ross and Richard Esposito) call in an effort to root out confidential sources.
"It's time for you to get some new cell phones, quick," the source told us in an in-person conversation.
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Same script.
Ah. So His Incompetence is probably going to use the National Guard to patrol the border. He says it's "only temporary."
Temporary till when? Just after the 2006 elections?
This is typical. God forbid border patrol get done by actual border patrol. That would make sense. Instead, let's assume that the MILITARY doesn't have enough of a role.
The REAL problem is that Bush is too damned incompetent to deal with anything using civilian means - like SANE Presidents always have. Instead, he turns to the military as his tool of choice for absolutely everything.
And pardon me for wondering if President Codpiece isn't still trying to compensate for the cowardice and inadequacy that he showed during Vietnam. Using OTHER people's blood and sweat, of course.
So he will get to dress up in a uniform, strut around, use jeeps and tanks and helicopters and all sorts of neat stuff, and basically play war in a place where there isn't one, and it will make for a great photo-op. He'll get his picture taken with a helicopter. Look, mommy! Don't I look cool?
God, I wish we had a President who was a frigging grown-up, instead of one who is stuck in adolescence and makes America suffer so he can feel impressive.
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Sunday, May 14, 2006
Ooops.
I posted the info from Jason Leopold (of truthout) that Rove had been indicted. Not WOULD be - HAD been. I think we would have heard something by now. I guess Leopold's source isn't all that reliable, and it's the last time I post something unsubstantiated from truthout.
Here's hoping that Leopold proves to be right a bit too early anyway.
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Saturday, May 13, 2006
Sue the bastards.
If you own stock in any phone companies, it's time to sell short. They could lose billions in class-action lawsuits, and lose MORE money from an exodus of customers.
Two suits have already been filed.
Verizon Sued for Giving NSA Phone Records Attorneys Bruce Afran and Carl Mayer filed the lawsuit Friday afternoon in federal district court in Manhattan, where Verizon is headquartered.
The lawsuit asks the court to stop Verizon from turning over any more records to the NSA without a warrant or consent of the subscriber.
"This is the largest and most vast intrusion of civil liberties we've ever seen in the United States," Afran said of the NSA program.
The lawsuit seeks $1,000 for each violation of the Telecommunications Act, or $5 billion if the case is certified as class-action.
And this is a DIFFERENT one:
Verizon Faces New $20B Suit over NSA Spying Complicity
Upping the ante in what may be a high-stakes legal battle, an Upstate New York lawyer filed a $20 billion class-action lawsuit against Verizon last week, charging that the company violated customer confidentiality in aiding warrantless eavesdropping by a federal spy agency.
Here's the tally of who has and has not violated the privacy of American citizens:
Verizon (land-line), AT&T, and BellSouth have all behaved in a fundamentally Unamerican manner.
On the other hand, Qwest is the only large landline carrier that refused to complied with the Bush's fascist requests. If you have one of the other three, switch to Qwest.
Cellular phones seem largely clean. Verizon Wireless, T-Mobile, Virgin Mobile and Cox all say that they have not provided their records to anyone.
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Fitzmas?
Truthout now says that Rove has BEEN indicted, but I don't see it in the tradition media.
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Shocked
The NSA Whistleblower says that people are going to be shocked.
[Tice] said he plans to tell the committee staffers the NSA conducted illegal and unconstitutional surveillance of U.S. citizens while he was there with the knowledge of Hayden. … “I think the people I talk to next week are going to be shocked when I tell them what I have to tell them. It’s pretty hard to believe,” Tice said.
I won't be shocked, but it's about time the country got shocked.
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Friday, May 12, 2006
According to truthout, Rove has told the White House that he will be indicted.
Within the last week, Karl Rove told President Bush and Chief of Staff Joshua Bolten, as well as a few other high level administration officials, that he will be indicted in the CIA leak case and will immediately resign his White House job when the special counsel publicly announces the charges against him, according to sources.
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Raid kills roaches dead.
The FBI has raided the home of Dusty Foggo (NOT the name of a fictional character). The guy who just resigned as the #3 man in the CIA.
I wonder why Goss REALLY resigned. This CAN'T be a coincidence.
Move along, folks, nothing to see here....
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Push poll
You may have read - and been shocked - by reports that a poll says that 2/3rds of Americans have no problem with the Bush administration mining phone calls.
Here is the actual question:
It's been reported that the National Security Agency has been collecting the phone call records of tens of millions of Americans. It then analyzes calling patterns in an effort to identify possible terrorism suspects, without listening to or recording the conversations. Would you consider this an acceptable or unacceptable way for the federal government to investigate terrorism? Do you feel that way strongly or somewhat?
Note that the question itself ASSUMES that the act is benign, and states things as fact that WE DON'T KNOW (such as that conversations are not listened to or recorded). The question is framed in terms of fighting terrorism, falsifies the known facts, fails to mention the questionable legality, and was obviously thrown together on the fly. For many poll respondents, this was probably the first time they HEARD about it.
This is a push poll.
And I suspect that other polls released in the coming days will show very different results.
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Today?
Tweetybird Matthews thinks Rove might be indicted today.
From Imus this morning"
Transcript:
MATTHEWS: If, however, something happens with Karl Rove, we’re going to go to general quarters around here.
IMUS: What does that mean?
MATTHEWS: Meaning we will be taping probably on Saturday or late night because everything will change. Last time, when he picked up Scooter, when he nailed him 30 years of charges, that happened on 1:00 on a Friday. So we don’t know when it might happen, if it’s going happen.
IMUS: Are we expecting something with Karl Rove today?
MATTHEWS: Well, it could be today. It could be next week. Everybody is buzzing about when or if. It’s a big if, big when. There is a lot of talk because he is still being interviewing by the special prosecutor. He keeps being hauled before the grand jury. So something is going on here with the special prosecutor. We don’t know whether he is going to clear him or nail him.
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GENEVA (Reuters) - The United States has again refused the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) access to terrorism suspects held in secret detention centers, the humanitarian agency said on Friday.
Isn't it interesting that the whole motto of this administration is "If you have done nothing wrong, you have nothing to hide"?
Explains why they hide everything.
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Headline says it all
Bush denies spying infringes on privacy
Roll THAT phrase around in your head a few times.
Lewis Carroll wishes HE had thought of that one, I'm sure
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Thursday, May 11, 2006
Gonzales Lied
As surely as weasels are weasels.
From the Muckraker:
Did Gonzales Mislead Congress about NSA Program?
By Paul Kiel - May 11, 2006, 2:32 PM
Reacting to today's news that the NSA is "amassing information about the calls of ordinary Americans," Reps. Bennie G. Thompson (D-MS) and Rep. Zoe Lofgren (D-CA) have put out a statement questioning the legality of the program.
Their statement contains this: "when the Attorney General was forced to testify before the House Judiciary Committee a few weeks ago, he misled the Committee about the existence of the program."
Here's what they're referring to. On April 6, 2006, Attorney General Alberto Gonzales testified before the House Judiciary Committee, and in one exchange, Rep. Gerald Nadler (D-NY) tried to nail him down:
NADLER: Number two, can you assure us that there is no warrantless surveillance of calls between two Americans within the United States?
GONZALES: That is not what the president has authorized.
NADLER: Can you assure us that it's not being done?
GONZALES: As I indicated in response to an earlier question, no technology is perfect.
NADLER: OK.
GONZALES: We do have minimization procedures in place...
NADLER: But you're not doing that deliberately?
GONZALES: That is correct.
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"There's no doubt in my mind there are safeguards in place to make sure the program focuses on calls coming from outside the United States in, with an al Qaeda -- from a -- with a belief that there's an al Qaeda person making the call to somebody here in the States, or vice versa -- but not domestic calls." - Bush, 01/26/06.
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Bush lies some more
President Deer-In-The-Headlights decided to throw a little gasoline on the fire:
Facing intense criticism from Congress, President Bush did not confirm the work of the National Security Agency but sought to assure Americans that their privacy is being "fiercely protected."
"We are not mining or trolling through the personal lives of innocent Americans," Bush said before leaving for a commencement address at Mississippi Gulf Coast Community College in Biloxi.
Well, gee whiz, codpiece-for-brains, you ALSO said that you were only listening to INTERNATIONAL Communications. You ALSO said it was only a FEW HUNDRED.
Liar.
Every new story that comes out shows that the administration lied about the last story that came out but they say that we should believe them this time.
NOBODY is that gullible.
By the way, giving the White House info on yur phone calls was VOLUNTARY on the part of the phone companies. Qwest was the ONLY major carrier to refuse. So if you are with AT&T or Verizon, switch to Qwest. And call them and let them know why. DEMAND that they respect your privacy.
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It's all true
Everything you thought MIGHT be true IS.
NSA has massive database of Americans' phone calls
The National Security Agency has been secretly collecting the phone call records of tens of millions of Americans, using data provided by AT&T, Verizon and BellSouth, people with direct knowledge of the arrangement told USA TODAY.
The NSA program reaches into homes and businesses across the nation by amassing information about the calls of ordinary Americans — most of whom aren't suspected of any crime. This program does not involve the NSA listening to or recording conversations. But the spy agency is using the data to analyze calling patterns in an effort to detect terrorist activity, sources said in separate interviews.
For the customers of these companies, it means that the government has detailed records of calls they made — across town or across the country — to family members, co-workers, business contacts and others.
The sources would talk only under a guarantee of anonymity because the NSA program is secret.
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Wednesday, May 10, 2006
Colbert - SOMEBODY gets it.
Here's a great article from the TV Critic at the Chicago Sun-Times about Colbert's public evisceration of His Ignorance. This may be the only thing I have read in the mainstream press that actually understood the reaction to Colbert's speech.
How did Bush tickle reporters? He made fun of the fact that he can barely speak English (he is quite simply the worst communicator of all U.S. presidents), that our vice president is a heartless face-shooter, and that Bush is basically an idiot.
Ha ha, our "war president" knows he's a village idiot? To members of the White House press corps, that's some real funny stuff. To non-insiders, this looked like another example of good old boys and gals slapping each other on the back.
Colbert's routine was more remarkable for its unique and creative brazenness. He joked that Bush's presidency is like the Hindenburg; that Bush's wiretappers were monitoring this very event, and that the White House press corps, sitting in front of Colbert, gave Bush a free pass, scandal after scandal, until recently (when his polls numbers dropped).
How's this for a newsworthy lead? It was perhaps the first time in Bush's tenure that the president was forced to sit and listen to any American cite the litany of criminal and corruption allegations that have piled up against his administration. And mouth-tense Bush and first lady Laura Bush fled as soon as possible afterward.
From whom were they fleeing? A star comedian pretending to be a Fox News-like blowhard doing a sort of performance art that America hasn't witnessed nationally since the days of Andy Kaufman. Even if Colbert's bit had been reported as a train wreck, that would have sufficed. Instead, shocking lines like the following were barely covered by any traditional organ except industry magazine Editor & Publisher: "I stand by" Bush, Colbert cracked, "because he stands for things. Not only for things, he stands on things. Things like aircraft carriers and rubble, and recently flooded city squares. And that sends a strong message that no matter what happens to America, she will always rebound with the most powerfully staged photo ops in the world."
For TV reporters in particular to quote that gruesome line would be an agreement with Colbert, that they helped Bush mix politics with corruption from the ashes of 9/11 ("aircraft carriers and rubble"), and failed to see through Bush's politicization of the drowning of an American city after a hurricane ("recently flooded city squares").
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Brownie, you're doing a heckuva job.
The question isn't "Why do only 31% still support these incompetents" - the question is, "why the hell is it still that high?"
WASHINGTON — Hours after Hurricane Katrina hit, former FEMA director Michael Brown dismissed reports that floodwaters had breached New Orleans' levees, and he obsessed over media coverage of his agency, according to newly released e-mails.
At one point early that morning, Brown reported to an aide that he was "sitting in the chair, putting mousse in my hair" while waiting for media interviews to begin.
What total dicks.
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Poll vault
(CBS) President Bush and the Republican Congress show nearly record low ratings while Democrats are viewed much more favorably in their performance on the issues that matter most to Americans, according to the latest CBS News/New York Times poll.
Well, that just great. You think - maybe - the Democrats MIGHT just stop acting like their afraid that challenging thi clown will hurt them?
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In 2003 AT&T built "secret rooms" hidden deep in the bowels of its central offices in various cities, housing computer gear for a government spy operation which taps into the company's popular WorldNet service and the entire internet. These installations enable the government to look at every individual message on the internet and analyze exactly what people are doing. Documents showing the hardwire installation in San Francisco suggest that there are similar locations being installed in numerous other cities.
The physical arrangement, the timing of its construction, the government-imposed secrecy surrounding it and other factors all strongly suggest that its origins are rooted in the Defense Department's Total Information Awareness (TIA) program...
Read the article. ALL of the Documents are in pdf format here.
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Take a look at this remarkable email exchange between Rumsfeld's Spokesman, Larry (a.k.a. Curly Joe) Dirita, and War Correspondent Joe Galloway. This is remarkable, and Galloway deserves a medal.
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Sunday, May 21, 2006
Why does this not surprise me?
Cut taxes for the multi-millionaires.
And INCREASE them for TEEN-AGERS.
The $69 billion tax cut bill that President Bush signed this week tripled tax rates for teenagers with college savings funds, despite Mr. Bush's 1999 pledge to veto any tax increase.
Under the new law, teenagers age 14 to 17 with investment income will now be taxed at the same rate as their parents, not at their own rates. Long-term capital gains and dividends that had been taxed at 5 percent will now be taxed at 15 percent. Interest that had been taxed at 10 percent will now be taxed at as much as 35 percent.
It is really hard to believe how brazen these people are in their greed and elitism. The contempt that they feel for ordinary Americans is palpable. Not only do they screw people - they do it right in your face, and think you won't notice.
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Thursday, May 18, 2006
Illegal is more fun
According to Baltimore Sun, the NSA developed a program for the purpose of analyzing communication data in the late 1990. Unlike what they are doing now, the old program was legal and protected the privacy of Americans - and worked better.
They rejected it in favor of a system that was illegal, unnecessarily intrusive and didn't work so good.
But if you're Bush, you ALWAYS prefer the option that's illegal, intrusive and innefficient. I honestly think it gives the man the sort of rush that a teenager gets when he gets away with something.
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Rover defends his owner
"The American people like this president. His personal approval ratings are in the 60s. Job approval is lower. And what that says to me is that people like him, they respect him, he's somebody they feel a connection with, but they're just sour right now on the war. And that's the way it's going to be." - Karl Rove
Cognitive dissonance is what happens in the human brain when a human being is confronted with a fact which his preconceptions tell him cannot possibly be true.
Is Karl Rove - Bush's favorite Turdblossom and America's beloved pus-sack - becoming delusional?
His "personal approval" isn't anywhere NEAR the 60s and people DON'T like this President. (New York Times pdf poll here) In fact, his JOB approval is one percentage point HIGHER than his "personal approval. " He has more than 50% approval in exactly 3 states - Utah, Idaho and Wyoming. NOBODY approves of him, except a few whackjobs.
Polysigh put it best:
"As for Rove's comment that Bush would be popular but for the Iraq War, that's like saying that if it weren't for the Alps, Switzerland would be flat."
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Tuesday, May 16, 2006
The Constitutional Crisis that Walks like a Man.
The FBI has confirmed that they do, indeed, monitor reporters' phone calls.
Approximately one year ago, we were told that they did not need a warrant because they were only monitoring international calls.
Then, they said that, well, actually were monitoring SOME calls where one of the parties was domestic and one was international.
"If someone is calling Al Qaeda," said Bush, "we want to know why."
Which is interesting, because it implies that they know the terrorists' telephone numbers, which makes you wonder why they don't just round them up instead of collecting their phone bills.
Then they said that they sometimes they inadvertently listen to purely domestic calls.
Then they tell us - just this week - that, well, all that was bullshit. They have actually been collecting info on every single phone call made by every single American with almost no exceptions.
But OF COURSE we have nothing to worry about. We can trust THEM. Never mind the fact that they have lied about this again and again and again. We can trust them. They aren't actually listening in. It's for TERRORISM. So they say.
But you can't name a single terrorist who has been arrested in the last five years as a result of this spying. Not one.
And NOW, we find out that they AREN'T checking on terrorists - they are checking on reporters. They are using phone records to find out who reporters are using as sources. They are REALLY after anyone who makes them look bad by revealing the truth to the American People.
You would figure even the REPUBLICANS would wake up and realize that George W. Bush is a walking Constitutional Crisis who has to be stopped while we still have something that we can call "America" left. And they would, if they valued their nation more than their party.
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Monday, May 15, 2006
Push Back Poll
I said it was a push poll, and I was right.
From a Newsweek poll, released one day after the Washington Post Push Poll:
As you may know, there are reports that the NSA, a government intelligence agency, has been collecting the phone call records of Americans. The agency doesn't actually listen to the calls but logs in nearly every phone number to create a database of calls made within the United States. Which of the following comes CLOSER to your own view of this domestic surveillance program:
It is a necessary tool to combat terrorism -- 41
It goes too far in invading people’s privacy -- 53
Don’t know -- 6
Note that the question doesn't read like a apologia for data mining - as the Washington Post poll did.
But why was the Washington Post so anxious to release a poll that backed up the Bush administration's wishes on the same day that the news broke?
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Your tax dollars at work
You have to watch out for those Terrorist Anchormen:
Federal Source to ABC News: We Know Who You're Calling
Brian Ross and Richard Esposito Report:
A senior federal law enforcement official tells ABC News the government is tracking the phone numbers we (Brian Ross and Richard Esposito) call in an effort to root out confidential sources.
"It's time for you to get some new cell phones, quick," the source told us in an in-person conversation.
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Same script.
Ah. So His Incompetence is probably going to use the National Guard to patrol the border. He says it's "only temporary."
Temporary till when? Just after the 2006 elections?
This is typical. God forbid border patrol get done by actual border patrol. That would make sense. Instead, let's assume that the MILITARY doesn't have enough of a role.
The REAL problem is that Bush is too damned incompetent to deal with anything using civilian means - like SANE Presidents always have. Instead, he turns to the military as his tool of choice for absolutely everything.
And pardon me for wondering if President Codpiece isn't still trying to compensate for the cowardice and inadequacy that he showed during Vietnam. Using OTHER people's blood and sweat, of course.
So he will get to dress up in a uniform, strut around, use jeeps and tanks and helicopters and all sorts of neat stuff, and basically play war in a place where there isn't one, and it will make for a great photo-op. He'll get his picture taken with a helicopter. Look, mommy! Don't I look cool?
God, I wish we had a President who was a frigging grown-up, instead of one who is stuck in adolescence and makes America suffer so he can feel impressive.
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Sunday, May 14, 2006
Ooops.
I posted the info from Jason Leopold (of truthout) that Rove had been indicted. Not WOULD be - HAD been. I think we would have heard something by now. I guess Leopold's source isn't all that reliable, and it's the last time I post something unsubstantiated from truthout.
Here's hoping that Leopold proves to be right a bit too early anyway.
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Saturday, May 13, 2006
Sue the bastards.
If you own stock in any phone companies, it's time to sell short. They could lose billions in class-action lawsuits, and lose MORE money from an exodus of customers.
Two suits have already been filed.
Verizon Sued for Giving NSA Phone Records Attorneys Bruce Afran and Carl Mayer filed the lawsuit Friday afternoon in federal district court in Manhattan, where Verizon is headquartered.
The lawsuit asks the court to stop Verizon from turning over any more records to the NSA without a warrant or consent of the subscriber.
"This is the largest and most vast intrusion of civil liberties we've ever seen in the United States," Afran said of the NSA program.
The lawsuit seeks $1,000 for each violation of the Telecommunications Act, or $5 billion if the case is certified as class-action.
And this is a DIFFERENT one:
Verizon Faces New $20B Suit over NSA Spying Complicity
Upping the ante in what may be a high-stakes legal battle, an Upstate New York lawyer filed a $20 billion class-action lawsuit against Verizon last week, charging that the company violated customer confidentiality in aiding warrantless eavesdropping by a federal spy agency.
Here's the tally of who has and has not violated the privacy of American citizens:
Verizon (land-line), AT&T, and BellSouth have all behaved in a fundamentally Unamerican manner.
On the other hand, Qwest is the only large landline carrier that refused to complied with the Bush's fascist requests. If you have one of the other three, switch to Qwest.
Cellular phones seem largely clean. Verizon Wireless, T-Mobile, Virgin Mobile and Cox all say that they have not provided their records to anyone.
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Fitzmas?
Truthout now says that Rove has BEEN indicted, but I don't see it in the tradition media.
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Shocked
The NSA Whistleblower says that people are going to be shocked.
[Tice] said he plans to tell the committee staffers the NSA conducted illegal and unconstitutional surveillance of U.S. citizens while he was there with the knowledge of Hayden. … “I think the people I talk to next week are going to be shocked when I tell them what I have to tell them. It’s pretty hard to believe,” Tice said.
I won't be shocked, but it's about time the country got shocked.
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Friday, May 12, 2006
According to truthout, Rove has told the White House that he will be indicted.
Within the last week, Karl Rove told President Bush and Chief of Staff Joshua Bolten, as well as a few other high level administration officials, that he will be indicted in the CIA leak case and will immediately resign his White House job when the special counsel publicly announces the charges against him, according to sources.
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Raid kills roaches dead.
The FBI has raided the home of Dusty Foggo (NOT the name of a fictional character). The guy who just resigned as the #3 man in the CIA.
I wonder why Goss REALLY resigned. This CAN'T be a coincidence.
Move along, folks, nothing to see here....
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Push poll
You may have read - and been shocked - by reports that a poll says that 2/3rds of Americans have no problem with the Bush administration mining phone calls.
Here is the actual question:
It's been reported that the National Security Agency has been collecting the phone call records of tens of millions of Americans. It then analyzes calling patterns in an effort to identify possible terrorism suspects, without listening to or recording the conversations. Would you consider this an acceptable or unacceptable way for the federal government to investigate terrorism? Do you feel that way strongly or somewhat?
Note that the question itself ASSUMES that the act is benign, and states things as fact that WE DON'T KNOW (such as that conversations are not listened to or recorded). The question is framed in terms of fighting terrorism, falsifies the known facts, fails to mention the questionable legality, and was obviously thrown together on the fly. For many poll respondents, this was probably the first time they HEARD about it.
This is a push poll.
And I suspect that other polls released in the coming days will show very different results.
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Today?
Tweetybird Matthews thinks Rove might be indicted today.
From Imus this morning"
Transcript:
MATTHEWS: If, however, something happens with Karl Rove, we’re going to go to general quarters around here.
IMUS: What does that mean?
MATTHEWS: Meaning we will be taping probably on Saturday or late night because everything will change. Last time, when he picked up Scooter, when he nailed him 30 years of charges, that happened on 1:00 on a Friday. So we don’t know when it might happen, if it’s going happen.
IMUS: Are we expecting something with Karl Rove today?
MATTHEWS: Well, it could be today. It could be next week. Everybody is buzzing about when or if. It’s a big if, big when. There is a lot of talk because he is still being interviewing by the special prosecutor. He keeps being hauled before the grand jury. So something is going on here with the special prosecutor. We don’t know whether he is going to clear him or nail him.
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GENEVA (Reuters) - The United States has again refused the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) access to terrorism suspects held in secret detention centers, the humanitarian agency said on Friday.
Isn't it interesting that the whole motto of this administration is "If you have done nothing wrong, you have nothing to hide"?
Explains why they hide everything.
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Headline says it all
Bush denies spying infringes on privacy
Roll THAT phrase around in your head a few times.
Lewis Carroll wishes HE had thought of that one, I'm sure
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Thursday, May 11, 2006
Gonzales Lied
As surely as weasels are weasels.
From the Muckraker:
Did Gonzales Mislead Congress about NSA Program?
By Paul Kiel - May 11, 2006, 2:32 PM
Reacting to today's news that the NSA is "amassing information about the calls of ordinary Americans," Reps. Bennie G. Thompson (D-MS) and Rep. Zoe Lofgren (D-CA) have put out a statement questioning the legality of the program.
Their statement contains this: "when the Attorney General was forced to testify before the House Judiciary Committee a few weeks ago, he misled the Committee about the existence of the program."
Here's what they're referring to. On April 6, 2006, Attorney General Alberto Gonzales testified before the House Judiciary Committee, and in one exchange, Rep. Gerald Nadler (D-NY) tried to nail him down:
NADLER: Number two, can you assure us that there is no warrantless surveillance of calls between two Americans within the United States?
GONZALES: That is not what the president has authorized.
NADLER: Can you assure us that it's not being done?
GONZALES: As I indicated in response to an earlier question, no technology is perfect.
NADLER: OK.
GONZALES: We do have minimization procedures in place...
NADLER: But you're not doing that deliberately?
GONZALES: That is correct.
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"There's no doubt in my mind there are safeguards in place to make sure the program focuses on calls coming from outside the United States in, with an al Qaeda -- from a -- with a belief that there's an al Qaeda person making the call to somebody here in the States, or vice versa -- but not domestic calls." - Bush, 01/26/06.
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Bush lies some more
President Deer-In-The-Headlights decided to throw a little gasoline on the fire:
Facing intense criticism from Congress, President Bush did not confirm the work of the National Security Agency but sought to assure Americans that their privacy is being "fiercely protected."
"We are not mining or trolling through the personal lives of innocent Americans," Bush said before leaving for a commencement address at Mississippi Gulf Coast Community College in Biloxi.
Well, gee whiz, codpiece-for-brains, you ALSO said that you were only listening to INTERNATIONAL Communications. You ALSO said it was only a FEW HUNDRED.
Liar.
Every new story that comes out shows that the administration lied about the last story that came out but they say that we should believe them this time.
NOBODY is that gullible.
By the way, giving the White House info on yur phone calls was VOLUNTARY on the part of the phone companies. Qwest was the ONLY major carrier to refuse. So if you are with AT&T or Verizon, switch to Qwest. And call them and let them know why. DEMAND that they respect your privacy.
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It's all true
Everything you thought MIGHT be true IS.
NSA has massive database of Americans' phone calls
The National Security Agency has been secretly collecting the phone call records of tens of millions of Americans, using data provided by AT&T, Verizon and BellSouth, people with direct knowledge of the arrangement told USA TODAY.
The NSA program reaches into homes and businesses across the nation by amassing information about the calls of ordinary Americans — most of whom aren't suspected of any crime. This program does not involve the NSA listening to or recording conversations. But the spy agency is using the data to analyze calling patterns in an effort to detect terrorist activity, sources said in separate interviews.
For the customers of these companies, it means that the government has detailed records of calls they made — across town or across the country — to family members, co-workers, business contacts and others.
The sources would talk only under a guarantee of anonymity because the NSA program is secret.
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Wednesday, May 10, 2006
Colbert - SOMEBODY gets it.
Here's a great article from the TV Critic at the Chicago Sun-Times about Colbert's public evisceration of His Ignorance. This may be the only thing I have read in the mainstream press that actually understood the reaction to Colbert's speech.
How did Bush tickle reporters? He made fun of the fact that he can barely speak English (he is quite simply the worst communicator of all U.S. presidents), that our vice president is a heartless face-shooter, and that Bush is basically an idiot.
Ha ha, our "war president" knows he's a village idiot? To members of the White House press corps, that's some real funny stuff. To non-insiders, this looked like another example of good old boys and gals slapping each other on the back.
Colbert's routine was more remarkable for its unique and creative brazenness. He joked that Bush's presidency is like the Hindenburg; that Bush's wiretappers were monitoring this very event, and that the White House press corps, sitting in front of Colbert, gave Bush a free pass, scandal after scandal, until recently (when his polls numbers dropped).
How's this for a newsworthy lead? It was perhaps the first time in Bush's tenure that the president was forced to sit and listen to any American cite the litany of criminal and corruption allegations that have piled up against his administration. And mouth-tense Bush and first lady Laura Bush fled as soon as possible afterward.
From whom were they fleeing? A star comedian pretending to be a Fox News-like blowhard doing a sort of performance art that America hasn't witnessed nationally since the days of Andy Kaufman. Even if Colbert's bit had been reported as a train wreck, that would have sufficed. Instead, shocking lines like the following were barely covered by any traditional organ except industry magazine Editor & Publisher: "I stand by" Bush, Colbert cracked, "because he stands for things. Not only for things, he stands on things. Things like aircraft carriers and rubble, and recently flooded city squares. And that sends a strong message that no matter what happens to America, she will always rebound with the most powerfully staged photo ops in the world."
For TV reporters in particular to quote that gruesome line would be an agreement with Colbert, that they helped Bush mix politics with corruption from the ashes of 9/11 ("aircraft carriers and rubble"), and failed to see through Bush's politicization of the drowning of an American city after a hurricane ("recently flooded city squares").
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Brownie, you're doing a heckuva job.
The question isn't "Why do only 31% still support these incompetents" - the question is, "why the hell is it still that high?"
WASHINGTON — Hours after Hurricane Katrina hit, former FEMA director Michael Brown dismissed reports that floodwaters had breached New Orleans' levees, and he obsessed over media coverage of his agency, according to newly released e-mails.
At one point early that morning, Brown reported to an aide that he was "sitting in the chair, putting mousse in my hair" while waiting for media interviews to begin.
What total dicks.
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Poll vault
(CBS) President Bush and the Republican Congress show nearly record low ratings while Democrats are viewed much more favorably in their performance on the issues that matter most to Americans, according to the latest CBS News/New York Times poll.
Well, that just great. You think - maybe - the Democrats MIGHT just stop acting like their afraid that challenging thi clown will hurt them?
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Why does this not surprise me?
Cut taxes for the multi-millionaires.
And INCREASE them for TEEN-AGERS.
The $69 billion tax cut bill that President Bush signed this week tripled tax rates for teenagers with college savings funds, despite Mr. Bush's 1999 pledge to veto any tax increase.
Under the new law, teenagers age 14 to 17 with investment income will now be taxed at the same rate as their parents, not at their own rates. Long-term capital gains and dividends that had been taxed at 5 percent will now be taxed at 15 percent. Interest that had been taxed at 10 percent will now be taxed at as much as 35 percent.
It is really hard to believe how brazen these people are in their greed and elitism. The contempt that they feel for ordinary Americans is palpable. Not only do they screw people - they do it right in your face, and think you won't notice.
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Thursday, May 18, 2006
Illegal is more fun
According to Baltimore Sun, the NSA developed a program for the purpose of analyzing communication data in the late 1990. Unlike what they are doing now, the old program was legal and protected the privacy of Americans - and worked better.
They rejected it in favor of a system that was illegal, unnecessarily intrusive and didn't work so good.
But if you're Bush, you ALWAYS prefer the option that's illegal, intrusive and innefficient. I honestly think it gives the man the sort of rush that a teenager gets when he gets away with something.
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Rover defends his owner
"The American people like this president. His personal approval ratings are in the 60s. Job approval is lower. And what that says to me is that people like him, they respect him, he's somebody they feel a connection with, but they're just sour right now on the war. And that's the way it's going to be." - Karl Rove
Cognitive dissonance is what happens in the human brain when a human being is confronted with a fact which his preconceptions tell him cannot possibly be true.
Is Karl Rove - Bush's favorite Turdblossom and America's beloved pus-sack - becoming delusional?
His "personal approval" isn't anywhere NEAR the 60s and people DON'T like this President. (New York Times pdf poll here) In fact, his JOB approval is one percentage point HIGHER than his "personal approval. " He has more than 50% approval in exactly 3 states - Utah, Idaho and Wyoming. NOBODY approves of him, except a few whackjobs.
Polysigh put it best:
"As for Rove's comment that Bush would be popular but for the Iraq War, that's like saying that if it weren't for the Alps, Switzerland would be flat."
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Tuesday, May 16, 2006
The Constitutional Crisis that Walks like a Man.
The FBI has confirmed that they do, indeed, monitor reporters' phone calls.
Approximately one year ago, we were told that they did not need a warrant because they were only monitoring international calls.
Then, they said that, well, actually were monitoring SOME calls where one of the parties was domestic and one was international.
"If someone is calling Al Qaeda," said Bush, "we want to know why."
Which is interesting, because it implies that they know the terrorists' telephone numbers, which makes you wonder why they don't just round them up instead of collecting their phone bills.
Then they said that they sometimes they inadvertently listen to purely domestic calls.
Then they tell us - just this week - that, well, all that was bullshit. They have actually been collecting info on every single phone call made by every single American with almost no exceptions.
But OF COURSE we have nothing to worry about. We can trust THEM. Never mind the fact that they have lied about this again and again and again. We can trust them. They aren't actually listening in. It's for TERRORISM. So they say.
But you can't name a single terrorist who has been arrested in the last five years as a result of this spying. Not one.
And NOW, we find out that they AREN'T checking on terrorists - they are checking on reporters. They are using phone records to find out who reporters are using as sources. They are REALLY after anyone who makes them look bad by revealing the truth to the American People.
You would figure even the REPUBLICANS would wake up and realize that George W. Bush is a walking Constitutional Crisis who has to be stopped while we still have something that we can call "America" left. And they would, if they valued their nation more than their party.
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Monday, May 15, 2006
Push Back Poll
I said it was a push poll, and I was right.
From a Newsweek poll, released one day after the Washington Post Push Poll:
As you may know, there are reports that the NSA, a government intelligence agency, has been collecting the phone call records of Americans. The agency doesn't actually listen to the calls but logs in nearly every phone number to create a database of calls made within the United States. Which of the following comes CLOSER to your own view of this domestic surveillance program:
It is a necessary tool to combat terrorism -- 41
It goes too far in invading people’s privacy -- 53
Don’t know -- 6
Note that the question doesn't read like a apologia for data mining - as the Washington Post poll did.
But why was the Washington Post so anxious to release a poll that backed up the Bush administration's wishes on the same day that the news broke?
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Your tax dollars at work
You have to watch out for those Terrorist Anchormen:
Federal Source to ABC News: We Know Who You're Calling
Brian Ross and Richard Esposito Report:
A senior federal law enforcement official tells ABC News the government is tracking the phone numbers we (Brian Ross and Richard Esposito) call in an effort to root out confidential sources.
"It's time for you to get some new cell phones, quick," the source told us in an in-person conversation.
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Same script.
Ah. So His Incompetence is probably going to use the National Guard to patrol the border. He says it's "only temporary."
Temporary till when? Just after the 2006 elections?
This is typical. God forbid border patrol get done by actual border patrol. That would make sense. Instead, let's assume that the MILITARY doesn't have enough of a role.
The REAL problem is that Bush is too damned incompetent to deal with anything using civilian means - like SANE Presidents always have. Instead, he turns to the military as his tool of choice for absolutely everything.
And pardon me for wondering if President Codpiece isn't still trying to compensate for the cowardice and inadequacy that he showed during Vietnam. Using OTHER people's blood and sweat, of course.
So he will get to dress up in a uniform, strut around, use jeeps and tanks and helicopters and all sorts of neat stuff, and basically play war in a place where there isn't one, and it will make for a great photo-op. He'll get his picture taken with a helicopter. Look, mommy! Don't I look cool?
God, I wish we had a President who was a frigging grown-up, instead of one who is stuck in adolescence and makes America suffer so he can feel impressive.
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Sunday, May 14, 2006
Ooops.
I posted the info from Jason Leopold (of truthout) that Rove had been indicted. Not WOULD be - HAD been. I think we would have heard something by now. I guess Leopold's source isn't all that reliable, and it's the last time I post something unsubstantiated from truthout.
Here's hoping that Leopold proves to be right a bit too early anyway.
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Saturday, May 13, 2006
Sue the bastards.
If you own stock in any phone companies, it's time to sell short. They could lose billions in class-action lawsuits, and lose MORE money from an exodus of customers.
Two suits have already been filed.
Verizon Sued for Giving NSA Phone Records Attorneys Bruce Afran and Carl Mayer filed the lawsuit Friday afternoon in federal district court in Manhattan, where Verizon is headquartered.
The lawsuit asks the court to stop Verizon from turning over any more records to the NSA without a warrant or consent of the subscriber.
"This is the largest and most vast intrusion of civil liberties we've ever seen in the United States," Afran said of the NSA program.
The lawsuit seeks $1,000 for each violation of the Telecommunications Act, or $5 billion if the case is certified as class-action.
And this is a DIFFERENT one:
Verizon Faces New $20B Suit over NSA Spying Complicity
Upping the ante in what may be a high-stakes legal battle, an Upstate New York lawyer filed a $20 billion class-action lawsuit against Verizon last week, charging that the company violated customer confidentiality in aiding warrantless eavesdropping by a federal spy agency.
Here's the tally of who has and has not violated the privacy of American citizens:
Verizon (land-line), AT&T, and BellSouth have all behaved in a fundamentally Unamerican manner.
On the other hand, Qwest is the only large landline carrier that refused to complied with the Bush's fascist requests. If you have one of the other three, switch to Qwest.
Cellular phones seem largely clean. Verizon Wireless, T-Mobile, Virgin Mobile and Cox all say that they have not provided their records to anyone.
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Fitzmas?
Truthout now says that Rove has BEEN indicted, but I don't see it in the tradition media.
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Shocked
The NSA Whistleblower says that people are going to be shocked.
[Tice] said he plans to tell the committee staffers the NSA conducted illegal and unconstitutional surveillance of U.S. citizens while he was there with the knowledge of Hayden. … “I think the people I talk to next week are going to be shocked when I tell them what I have to tell them. It’s pretty hard to believe,” Tice said.
I won't be shocked, but it's about time the country got shocked.
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Friday, May 12, 2006
According to truthout, Rove has told the White House that he will be indicted.
Within the last week, Karl Rove told President Bush and Chief of Staff Joshua Bolten, as well as a few other high level administration officials, that he will be indicted in the CIA leak case and will immediately resign his White House job when the special counsel publicly announces the charges against him, according to sources.
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Raid kills roaches dead.
The FBI has raided the home of Dusty Foggo (NOT the name of a fictional character). The guy who just resigned as the #3 man in the CIA.
I wonder why Goss REALLY resigned. This CAN'T be a coincidence.
Move along, folks, nothing to see here....
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Push poll
You may have read - and been shocked - by reports that a poll says that 2/3rds of Americans have no problem with the Bush administration mining phone calls.
Here is the actual question:
It's been reported that the National Security Agency has been collecting the phone call records of tens of millions of Americans. It then analyzes calling patterns in an effort to identify possible terrorism suspects, without listening to or recording the conversations. Would you consider this an acceptable or unacceptable way for the federal government to investigate terrorism? Do you feel that way strongly or somewhat?
Note that the question itself ASSUMES that the act is benign, and states things as fact that WE DON'T KNOW (such as that conversations are not listened to or recorded). The question is framed in terms of fighting terrorism, falsifies the known facts, fails to mention the questionable legality, and was obviously thrown together on the fly. For many poll respondents, this was probably the first time they HEARD about it.
This is a push poll.
And I suspect that other polls released in the coming days will show very different results.
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Today?
Tweetybird Matthews thinks Rove might be indicted today.
From Imus this morning"
Transcript:
MATTHEWS: If, however, something happens with Karl Rove, we’re going to go to general quarters around here.
IMUS: What does that mean?
MATTHEWS: Meaning we will be taping probably on Saturday or late night because everything will change. Last time, when he picked up Scooter, when he nailed him 30 years of charges, that happened on 1:00 on a Friday. So we don’t know when it might happen, if it’s going happen.
IMUS: Are we expecting something with Karl Rove today?
MATTHEWS: Well, it could be today. It could be next week. Everybody is buzzing about when or if. It’s a big if, big when. There is a lot of talk because he is still being interviewing by the special prosecutor. He keeps being hauled before the grand jury. So something is going on here with the special prosecutor. We don’t know whether he is going to clear him or nail him.
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GENEVA (Reuters) - The United States has again refused the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) access to terrorism suspects held in secret detention centers, the humanitarian agency said on Friday.
Isn't it interesting that the whole motto of this administration is "If you have done nothing wrong, you have nothing to hide"?
Explains why they hide everything.
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Headline says it all
Bush denies spying infringes on privacy
Roll THAT phrase around in your head a few times.
Lewis Carroll wishes HE had thought of that one, I'm sure
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Thursday, May 11, 2006
Gonzales Lied
As surely as weasels are weasels.
From the Muckraker:
Did Gonzales Mislead Congress about NSA Program?
By Paul Kiel - May 11, 2006, 2:32 PM
Reacting to today's news that the NSA is "amassing information about the calls of ordinary Americans," Reps. Bennie G. Thompson (D-MS) and Rep. Zoe Lofgren (D-CA) have put out a statement questioning the legality of the program.
Their statement contains this: "when the Attorney General was forced to testify before the House Judiciary Committee a few weeks ago, he misled the Committee about the existence of the program."
Here's what they're referring to. On April 6, 2006, Attorney General Alberto Gonzales testified before the House Judiciary Committee, and in one exchange, Rep. Gerald Nadler (D-NY) tried to nail him down:
NADLER: Number two, can you assure us that there is no warrantless surveillance of calls between two Americans within the United States?
GONZALES: That is not what the president has authorized.
NADLER: Can you assure us that it's not being done?
GONZALES: As I indicated in response to an earlier question, no technology is perfect.
NADLER: OK.
GONZALES: We do have minimization procedures in place...
NADLER: But you're not doing that deliberately?
GONZALES: That is correct.
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"There's no doubt in my mind there are safeguards in place to make sure the program focuses on calls coming from outside the United States in, with an al Qaeda -- from a -- with a belief that there's an al Qaeda person making the call to somebody here in the States, or vice versa -- but not domestic calls." - Bush, 01/26/06.
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Bush lies some more
President Deer-In-The-Headlights decided to throw a little gasoline on the fire:
Facing intense criticism from Congress, President Bush did not confirm the work of the National Security Agency but sought to assure Americans that their privacy is being "fiercely protected."
"We are not mining or trolling through the personal lives of innocent Americans," Bush said before leaving for a commencement address at Mississippi Gulf Coast Community College in Biloxi.
Well, gee whiz, codpiece-for-brains, you ALSO said that you were only listening to INTERNATIONAL Communications. You ALSO said it was only a FEW HUNDRED.
Liar.
Every new story that comes out shows that the administration lied about the last story that came out but they say that we should believe them this time.
NOBODY is that gullible.
By the way, giving the White House info on yur phone calls was VOLUNTARY on the part of the phone companies. Qwest was the ONLY major carrier to refuse. So if you are with AT&T or Verizon, switch to Qwest. And call them and let them know why. DEMAND that they respect your privacy.
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It's all true
Everything you thought MIGHT be true IS.
NSA has massive database of Americans' phone calls
The National Security Agency has been secretly collecting the phone call records of tens of millions of Americans, using data provided by AT&T, Verizon and BellSouth, people with direct knowledge of the arrangement told USA TODAY.
The NSA program reaches into homes and businesses across the nation by amassing information about the calls of ordinary Americans — most of whom aren't suspected of any crime. This program does not involve the NSA listening to or recording conversations. But the spy agency is using the data to analyze calling patterns in an effort to detect terrorist activity, sources said in separate interviews.
For the customers of these companies, it means that the government has detailed records of calls they made — across town or across the country — to family members, co-workers, business contacts and others.
The sources would talk only under a guarantee of anonymity because the NSA program is secret.
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Wednesday, May 10, 2006
Colbert - SOMEBODY gets it.
Here's a great article from the TV Critic at the Chicago Sun-Times about Colbert's public evisceration of His Ignorance. This may be the only thing I have read in the mainstream press that actually understood the reaction to Colbert's speech.
How did Bush tickle reporters? He made fun of the fact that he can barely speak English (he is quite simply the worst communicator of all U.S. presidents), that our vice president is a heartless face-shooter, and that Bush is basically an idiot.
Ha ha, our "war president" knows he's a village idiot? To members of the White House press corps, that's some real funny stuff. To non-insiders, this looked like another example of good old boys and gals slapping each other on the back.
Colbert's routine was more remarkable for its unique and creative brazenness. He joked that Bush's presidency is like the Hindenburg; that Bush's wiretappers were monitoring this very event, and that the White House press corps, sitting in front of Colbert, gave Bush a free pass, scandal after scandal, until recently (when his polls numbers dropped).
How's this for a newsworthy lead? It was perhaps the first time in Bush's tenure that the president was forced to sit and listen to any American cite the litany of criminal and corruption allegations that have piled up against his administration. And mouth-tense Bush and first lady Laura Bush fled as soon as possible afterward.
From whom were they fleeing? A star comedian pretending to be a Fox News-like blowhard doing a sort of performance art that America hasn't witnessed nationally since the days of Andy Kaufman. Even if Colbert's bit had been reported as a train wreck, that would have sufficed. Instead, shocking lines like the following were barely covered by any traditional organ except industry magazine Editor & Publisher: "I stand by" Bush, Colbert cracked, "because he stands for things. Not only for things, he stands on things. Things like aircraft carriers and rubble, and recently flooded city squares. And that sends a strong message that no matter what happens to America, she will always rebound with the most powerfully staged photo ops in the world."
For TV reporters in particular to quote that gruesome line would be an agreement with Colbert, that they helped Bush mix politics with corruption from the ashes of 9/11 ("aircraft carriers and rubble"), and failed to see through Bush's politicization of the drowning of an American city after a hurricane ("recently flooded city squares").
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Brownie, you're doing a heckuva job.
The question isn't "Why do only 31% still support these incompetents" - the question is, "why the hell is it still that high?"
WASHINGTON — Hours after Hurricane Katrina hit, former FEMA director Michael Brown dismissed reports that floodwaters had breached New Orleans' levees, and he obsessed over media coverage of his agency, according to newly released e-mails.
At one point early that morning, Brown reported to an aide that he was "sitting in the chair, putting mousse in my hair" while waiting for media interviews to begin.
What total dicks.
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Poll vault
(CBS) President Bush and the Republican Congress show nearly record low ratings while Democrats are viewed much more favorably in their performance on the issues that matter most to Americans, according to the latest CBS News/New York Times poll.
Well, that just great. You think - maybe - the Democrats MIGHT just stop acting like their afraid that challenging thi clown will hurt them?
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And INCREASE them for TEEN-AGERS.
The $69 billion tax cut bill that President Bush signed this week tripled tax rates for teenagers with college savings funds, despite Mr. Bush's 1999 pledge to veto any tax increase.
Under the new law, teenagers age 14 to 17 with investment income will now be taxed at the same rate as their parents, not at their own rates. Long-term capital gains and dividends that had been taxed at 5 percent will now be taxed at 15 percent. Interest that had been taxed at 10 percent will now be taxed at as much as 35 percent.
It is really hard to believe how brazen these people are in their greed and elitism. The contempt that they feel for ordinary Americans is palpable. Not only do they screw people - they do it right in your face, and think you won't notice.
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Illegal is more fun
According to Baltimore Sun, the NSA developed a program for the purpose of analyzing communication data in the late 1990. Unlike what they are doing now, the old program was legal and protected the privacy of Americans - and worked better.
They rejected it in favor of a system that was illegal, unnecessarily intrusive and didn't work so good.
But if you're Bush, you ALWAYS prefer the option that's illegal, intrusive and innefficient. I honestly think it gives the man the sort of rush that a teenager gets when he gets away with something.
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Rover defends his owner
"The American people like this president. His personal approval ratings are in the 60s. Job approval is lower. And what that says to me is that people like him, they respect him, he's somebody they feel a connection with, but they're just sour right now on the war. And that's the way it's going to be." - Karl Rove
Cognitive dissonance is what happens in the human brain when a human being is confronted with a fact which his preconceptions tell him cannot possibly be true.
Is Karl Rove - Bush's favorite Turdblossom and America's beloved pus-sack - becoming delusional?
His "personal approval" isn't anywhere NEAR the 60s and people DON'T like this President. (New York Times pdf poll here) In fact, his JOB approval is one percentage point HIGHER than his "personal approval. " He has more than 50% approval in exactly 3 states - Utah, Idaho and Wyoming. NOBODY approves of him, except a few whackjobs.
Polysigh put it best:
"As for Rove's comment that Bush would be popular but for the Iraq War, that's like saying that if it weren't for the Alps, Switzerland would be flat."
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Tuesday, May 16, 2006
The Constitutional Crisis that Walks like a Man.
The FBI has confirmed that they do, indeed, monitor reporters' phone calls.
Approximately one year ago, we were told that they did not need a warrant because they were only monitoring international calls.
Then, they said that, well, actually were monitoring SOME calls where one of the parties was domestic and one was international.
"If someone is calling Al Qaeda," said Bush, "we want to know why."
Which is interesting, because it implies that they know the terrorists' telephone numbers, which makes you wonder why they don't just round them up instead of collecting their phone bills.
Then they said that they sometimes they inadvertently listen to purely domestic calls.
Then they tell us - just this week - that, well, all that was bullshit. They have actually been collecting info on every single phone call made by every single American with almost no exceptions.
But OF COURSE we have nothing to worry about. We can trust THEM. Never mind the fact that they have lied about this again and again and again. We can trust them. They aren't actually listening in. It's for TERRORISM. So they say.
But you can't name a single terrorist who has been arrested in the last five years as a result of this spying. Not one.
And NOW, we find out that they AREN'T checking on terrorists - they are checking on reporters. They are using phone records to find out who reporters are using as sources. They are REALLY after anyone who makes them look bad by revealing the truth to the American People.
You would figure even the REPUBLICANS would wake up and realize that George W. Bush is a walking Constitutional Crisis who has to be stopped while we still have something that we can call "America" left. And they would, if they valued their nation more than their party.
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Monday, May 15, 2006
Push Back Poll
I said it was a push poll, and I was right.
From a Newsweek poll, released one day after the Washington Post Push Poll:
As you may know, there are reports that the NSA, a government intelligence agency, has been collecting the phone call records of Americans. The agency doesn't actually listen to the calls but logs in nearly every phone number to create a database of calls made within the United States. Which of the following comes CLOSER to your own view of this domestic surveillance program:
It is a necessary tool to combat terrorism -- 41
It goes too far in invading people’s privacy -- 53
Don’t know -- 6
Note that the question doesn't read like a apologia for data mining - as the Washington Post poll did.
But why was the Washington Post so anxious to release a poll that backed up the Bush administration's wishes on the same day that the news broke?
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Your tax dollars at work
You have to watch out for those Terrorist Anchormen:
Federal Source to ABC News: We Know Who You're Calling
Brian Ross and Richard Esposito Report:
A senior federal law enforcement official tells ABC News the government is tracking the phone numbers we (Brian Ross and Richard Esposito) call in an effort to root out confidential sources.
"It's time for you to get some new cell phones, quick," the source told us in an in-person conversation.
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Same script.
Ah. So His Incompetence is probably going to use the National Guard to patrol the border. He says it's "only temporary."
Temporary till when? Just after the 2006 elections?
This is typical. God forbid border patrol get done by actual border patrol. That would make sense. Instead, let's assume that the MILITARY doesn't have enough of a role.
The REAL problem is that Bush is too damned incompetent to deal with anything using civilian means - like SANE Presidents always have. Instead, he turns to the military as his tool of choice for absolutely everything.
And pardon me for wondering if President Codpiece isn't still trying to compensate for the cowardice and inadequacy that he showed during Vietnam. Using OTHER people's blood and sweat, of course.
So he will get to dress up in a uniform, strut around, use jeeps and tanks and helicopters and all sorts of neat stuff, and basically play war in a place where there isn't one, and it will make for a great photo-op. He'll get his picture taken with a helicopter. Look, mommy! Don't I look cool?
God, I wish we had a President who was a frigging grown-up, instead of one who is stuck in adolescence and makes America suffer so he can feel impressive.
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Sunday, May 14, 2006
Ooops.
I posted the info from Jason Leopold (of truthout) that Rove had been indicted. Not WOULD be - HAD been. I think we would have heard something by now. I guess Leopold's source isn't all that reliable, and it's the last time I post something unsubstantiated from truthout.
Here's hoping that Leopold proves to be right a bit too early anyway.
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Saturday, May 13, 2006
Sue the bastards.
If you own stock in any phone companies, it's time to sell short. They could lose billions in class-action lawsuits, and lose MORE money from an exodus of customers.
Two suits have already been filed.
Verizon Sued for Giving NSA Phone Records Attorneys Bruce Afran and Carl Mayer filed the lawsuit Friday afternoon in federal district court in Manhattan, where Verizon is headquartered.
The lawsuit asks the court to stop Verizon from turning over any more records to the NSA without a warrant or consent of the subscriber.
"This is the largest and most vast intrusion of civil liberties we've ever seen in the United States," Afran said of the NSA program.
The lawsuit seeks $1,000 for each violation of the Telecommunications Act, or $5 billion if the case is certified as class-action.
And this is a DIFFERENT one:
Verizon Faces New $20B Suit over NSA Spying Complicity
Upping the ante in what may be a high-stakes legal battle, an Upstate New York lawyer filed a $20 billion class-action lawsuit against Verizon last week, charging that the company violated customer confidentiality in aiding warrantless eavesdropping by a federal spy agency.
Here's the tally of who has and has not violated the privacy of American citizens:
Verizon (land-line), AT&T, and BellSouth have all behaved in a fundamentally Unamerican manner.
On the other hand, Qwest is the only large landline carrier that refused to complied with the Bush's fascist requests. If you have one of the other three, switch to Qwest.
Cellular phones seem largely clean. Verizon Wireless, T-Mobile, Virgin Mobile and Cox all say that they have not provided their records to anyone.
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Fitzmas?
Truthout now says that Rove has BEEN indicted, but I don't see it in the tradition media.
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Shocked
The NSA Whistleblower says that people are going to be shocked.
[Tice] said he plans to tell the committee staffers the NSA conducted illegal and unconstitutional surveillance of U.S. citizens while he was there with the knowledge of Hayden. … “I think the people I talk to next week are going to be shocked when I tell them what I have to tell them. It’s pretty hard to believe,” Tice said.
I won't be shocked, but it's about time the country got shocked.
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Friday, May 12, 2006
According to truthout, Rove has told the White House that he will be indicted.
Within the last week, Karl Rove told President Bush and Chief of Staff Joshua Bolten, as well as a few other high level administration officials, that he will be indicted in the CIA leak case and will immediately resign his White House job when the special counsel publicly announces the charges against him, according to sources.
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Raid kills roaches dead.
The FBI has raided the home of Dusty Foggo (NOT the name of a fictional character). The guy who just resigned as the #3 man in the CIA.
I wonder why Goss REALLY resigned. This CAN'T be a coincidence.
Move along, folks, nothing to see here....
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Push poll
You may have read - and been shocked - by reports that a poll says that 2/3rds of Americans have no problem with the Bush administration mining phone calls.
Here is the actual question:
It's been reported that the National Security Agency has been collecting the phone call records of tens of millions of Americans. It then analyzes calling patterns in an effort to identify possible terrorism suspects, without listening to or recording the conversations. Would you consider this an acceptable or unacceptable way for the federal government to investigate terrorism? Do you feel that way strongly or somewhat?
Note that the question itself ASSUMES that the act is benign, and states things as fact that WE DON'T KNOW (such as that conversations are not listened to or recorded). The question is framed in terms of fighting terrorism, falsifies the known facts, fails to mention the questionable legality, and was obviously thrown together on the fly. For many poll respondents, this was probably the first time they HEARD about it.
This is a push poll.
And I suspect that other polls released in the coming days will show very different results.
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Today?
Tweetybird Matthews thinks Rove might be indicted today.
From Imus this morning"
Transcript:
MATTHEWS: If, however, something happens with Karl Rove, we’re going to go to general quarters around here.
IMUS: What does that mean?
MATTHEWS: Meaning we will be taping probably on Saturday or late night because everything will change. Last time, when he picked up Scooter, when he nailed him 30 years of charges, that happened on 1:00 on a Friday. So we don’t know when it might happen, if it’s going happen.
IMUS: Are we expecting something with Karl Rove today?
MATTHEWS: Well, it could be today. It could be next week. Everybody is buzzing about when or if. It’s a big if, big when. There is a lot of talk because he is still being interviewing by the special prosecutor. He keeps being hauled before the grand jury. So something is going on here with the special prosecutor. We don’t know whether he is going to clear him or nail him.
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GENEVA (Reuters) - The United States has again refused the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) access to terrorism suspects held in secret detention centers, the humanitarian agency said on Friday.
Isn't it interesting that the whole motto of this administration is "If you have done nothing wrong, you have nothing to hide"?
Explains why they hide everything.
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Headline says it all
Bush denies spying infringes on privacy
Roll THAT phrase around in your head a few times.
Lewis Carroll wishes HE had thought of that one, I'm sure
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Thursday, May 11, 2006
Gonzales Lied
As surely as weasels are weasels.
From the Muckraker:
Did Gonzales Mislead Congress about NSA Program?
By Paul Kiel - May 11, 2006, 2:32 PM
Reacting to today's news that the NSA is "amassing information about the calls of ordinary Americans," Reps. Bennie G. Thompson (D-MS) and Rep. Zoe Lofgren (D-CA) have put out a statement questioning the legality of the program.
Their statement contains this: "when the Attorney General was forced to testify before the House Judiciary Committee a few weeks ago, he misled the Committee about the existence of the program."
Here's what they're referring to. On April 6, 2006, Attorney General Alberto Gonzales testified before the House Judiciary Committee, and in one exchange, Rep. Gerald Nadler (D-NY) tried to nail him down:
NADLER: Number two, can you assure us that there is no warrantless surveillance of calls between two Americans within the United States?
GONZALES: That is not what the president has authorized.
NADLER: Can you assure us that it's not being done?
GONZALES: As I indicated in response to an earlier question, no technology is perfect.
NADLER: OK.
GONZALES: We do have minimization procedures in place...
NADLER: But you're not doing that deliberately?
GONZALES: That is correct.
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"There's no doubt in my mind there are safeguards in place to make sure the program focuses on calls coming from outside the United States in, with an al Qaeda -- from a -- with a belief that there's an al Qaeda person making the call to somebody here in the States, or vice versa -- but not domestic calls." - Bush, 01/26/06.
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Bush lies some more
President Deer-In-The-Headlights decided to throw a little gasoline on the fire:
Facing intense criticism from Congress, President Bush did not confirm the work of the National Security Agency but sought to assure Americans that their privacy is being "fiercely protected."
"We are not mining or trolling through the personal lives of innocent Americans," Bush said before leaving for a commencement address at Mississippi Gulf Coast Community College in Biloxi.
Well, gee whiz, codpiece-for-brains, you ALSO said that you were only listening to INTERNATIONAL Communications. You ALSO said it was only a FEW HUNDRED.
Liar.
Every new story that comes out shows that the administration lied about the last story that came out but they say that we should believe them this time.
NOBODY is that gullible.
By the way, giving the White House info on yur phone calls was VOLUNTARY on the part of the phone companies. Qwest was the ONLY major carrier to refuse. So if you are with AT&T or Verizon, switch to Qwest. And call them and let them know why. DEMAND that they respect your privacy.
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It's all true
Everything you thought MIGHT be true IS.
NSA has massive database of Americans' phone calls
The National Security Agency has been secretly collecting the phone call records of tens of millions of Americans, using data provided by AT&T, Verizon and BellSouth, people with direct knowledge of the arrangement told USA TODAY.
The NSA program reaches into homes and businesses across the nation by amassing information about the calls of ordinary Americans — most of whom aren't suspected of any crime. This program does not involve the NSA listening to or recording conversations. But the spy agency is using the data to analyze calling patterns in an effort to detect terrorist activity, sources said in separate interviews.
For the customers of these companies, it means that the government has detailed records of calls they made — across town or across the country — to family members, co-workers, business contacts and others.
The sources would talk only under a guarantee of anonymity because the NSA program is secret.
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Wednesday, May 10, 2006
Colbert - SOMEBODY gets it.
Here's a great article from the TV Critic at the Chicago Sun-Times about Colbert's public evisceration of His Ignorance. This may be the only thing I have read in the mainstream press that actually understood the reaction to Colbert's speech.
How did Bush tickle reporters? He made fun of the fact that he can barely speak English (he is quite simply the worst communicator of all U.S. presidents), that our vice president is a heartless face-shooter, and that Bush is basically an idiot.
Ha ha, our "war president" knows he's a village idiot? To members of the White House press corps, that's some real funny stuff. To non-insiders, this looked like another example of good old boys and gals slapping each other on the back.
Colbert's routine was more remarkable for its unique and creative brazenness. He joked that Bush's presidency is like the Hindenburg; that Bush's wiretappers were monitoring this very event, and that the White House press corps, sitting in front of Colbert, gave Bush a free pass, scandal after scandal, until recently (when his polls numbers dropped).
How's this for a newsworthy lead? It was perhaps the first time in Bush's tenure that the president was forced to sit and listen to any American cite the litany of criminal and corruption allegations that have piled up against his administration. And mouth-tense Bush and first lady Laura Bush fled as soon as possible afterward.
From whom were they fleeing? A star comedian pretending to be a Fox News-like blowhard doing a sort of performance art that America hasn't witnessed nationally since the days of Andy Kaufman. Even if Colbert's bit had been reported as a train wreck, that would have sufficed. Instead, shocking lines like the following were barely covered by any traditional organ except industry magazine Editor & Publisher: "I stand by" Bush, Colbert cracked, "because he stands for things. Not only for things, he stands on things. Things like aircraft carriers and rubble, and recently flooded city squares. And that sends a strong message that no matter what happens to America, she will always rebound with the most powerfully staged photo ops in the world."
For TV reporters in particular to quote that gruesome line would be an agreement with Colbert, that they helped Bush mix politics with corruption from the ashes of 9/11 ("aircraft carriers and rubble"), and failed to see through Bush's politicization of the drowning of an American city after a hurricane ("recently flooded city squares").
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Brownie, you're doing a heckuva job.
The question isn't "Why do only 31% still support these incompetents" - the question is, "why the hell is it still that high?"
WASHINGTON — Hours after Hurricane Katrina hit, former FEMA director Michael Brown dismissed reports that floodwaters had breached New Orleans' levees, and he obsessed over media coverage of his agency, according to newly released e-mails.
At one point early that morning, Brown reported to an aide that he was "sitting in the chair, putting mousse in my hair" while waiting for media interviews to begin.
What total dicks.
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Poll vault
(CBS) President Bush and the Republican Congress show nearly record low ratings while Democrats are viewed much more favorably in their performance on the issues that matter most to Americans, according to the latest CBS News/New York Times poll.
Well, that just great. You think - maybe - the Democrats MIGHT just stop acting like their afraid that challenging thi clown will hurt them?
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They rejected it in favor of a system that was illegal, unnecessarily intrusive and didn't work so good.
But if you're Bush, you ALWAYS prefer the option that's illegal, intrusive and innefficient. I honestly think it gives the man the sort of rush that a teenager gets when he gets away with something.
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Rover defends his owner
"The American people like this president. His personal approval ratings are in the 60s. Job approval is lower. And what that says to me is that people like him, they respect him, he's somebody they feel a connection with, but they're just sour right now on the war. And that's the way it's going to be." - Karl Rove
Cognitive dissonance is what happens in the human brain when a human being is confronted with a fact which his preconceptions tell him cannot possibly be true.
Is Karl Rove - Bush's favorite Turdblossom and America's beloved pus-sack - becoming delusional?
His "personal approval" isn't anywhere NEAR the 60s and people DON'T like this President. (New York Times pdf poll here) In fact, his JOB approval is one percentage point HIGHER than his "personal approval. " He has more than 50% approval in exactly 3 states - Utah, Idaho and Wyoming. NOBODY approves of him, except a few whackjobs.
Polysigh put it best:
"As for Rove's comment that Bush would be popular but for the Iraq War, that's like saying that if it weren't for the Alps, Switzerland would be flat."
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Tuesday, May 16, 2006
The Constitutional Crisis that Walks like a Man.
The FBI has confirmed that they do, indeed, monitor reporters' phone calls.
Approximately one year ago, we were told that they did not need a warrant because they were only monitoring international calls.
Then, they said that, well, actually were monitoring SOME calls where one of the parties was domestic and one was international.
"If someone is calling Al Qaeda," said Bush, "we want to know why."
Which is interesting, because it implies that they know the terrorists' telephone numbers, which makes you wonder why they don't just round them up instead of collecting their phone bills.
Then they said that they sometimes they inadvertently listen to purely domestic calls.
Then they tell us - just this week - that, well, all that was bullshit. They have actually been collecting info on every single phone call made by every single American with almost no exceptions.
But OF COURSE we have nothing to worry about. We can trust THEM. Never mind the fact that they have lied about this again and again and again. We can trust them. They aren't actually listening in. It's for TERRORISM. So they say.
But you can't name a single terrorist who has been arrested in the last five years as a result of this spying. Not one.
And NOW, we find out that they AREN'T checking on terrorists - they are checking on reporters. They are using phone records to find out who reporters are using as sources. They are REALLY after anyone who makes them look bad by revealing the truth to the American People.
You would figure even the REPUBLICANS would wake up and realize that George W. Bush is a walking Constitutional Crisis who has to be stopped while we still have something that we can call "America" left. And they would, if they valued their nation more than their party.
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Monday, May 15, 2006
Push Back Poll
I said it was a push poll, and I was right.
From a Newsweek poll, released one day after the Washington Post Push Poll:
As you may know, there are reports that the NSA, a government intelligence agency, has been collecting the phone call records of Americans. The agency doesn't actually listen to the calls but logs in nearly every phone number to create a database of calls made within the United States. Which of the following comes CLOSER to your own view of this domestic surveillance program:
It is a necessary tool to combat terrorism -- 41
It goes too far in invading people’s privacy -- 53
Don’t know -- 6
Note that the question doesn't read like a apologia for data mining - as the Washington Post poll did.
But why was the Washington Post so anxious to release a poll that backed up the Bush administration's wishes on the same day that the news broke?
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Your tax dollars at work
You have to watch out for those Terrorist Anchormen:
Federal Source to ABC News: We Know Who You're Calling
Brian Ross and Richard Esposito Report:
A senior federal law enforcement official tells ABC News the government is tracking the phone numbers we (Brian Ross and Richard Esposito) call in an effort to root out confidential sources.
"It's time for you to get some new cell phones, quick," the source told us in an in-person conversation.
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Same script.
Ah. So His Incompetence is probably going to use the National Guard to patrol the border. He says it's "only temporary."
Temporary till when? Just after the 2006 elections?
This is typical. God forbid border patrol get done by actual border patrol. That would make sense. Instead, let's assume that the MILITARY doesn't have enough of a role.
The REAL problem is that Bush is too damned incompetent to deal with anything using civilian means - like SANE Presidents always have. Instead, he turns to the military as his tool of choice for absolutely everything.
And pardon me for wondering if President Codpiece isn't still trying to compensate for the cowardice and inadequacy that he showed during Vietnam. Using OTHER people's blood and sweat, of course.
So he will get to dress up in a uniform, strut around, use jeeps and tanks and helicopters and all sorts of neat stuff, and basically play war in a place where there isn't one, and it will make for a great photo-op. He'll get his picture taken with a helicopter. Look, mommy! Don't I look cool?
God, I wish we had a President who was a frigging grown-up, instead of one who is stuck in adolescence and makes America suffer so he can feel impressive.
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Sunday, May 14, 2006
Ooops.
I posted the info from Jason Leopold (of truthout) that Rove had been indicted. Not WOULD be - HAD been. I think we would have heard something by now. I guess Leopold's source isn't all that reliable, and it's the last time I post something unsubstantiated from truthout.
Here's hoping that Leopold proves to be right a bit too early anyway.
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Saturday, May 13, 2006
Sue the bastards.
If you own stock in any phone companies, it's time to sell short. They could lose billions in class-action lawsuits, and lose MORE money from an exodus of customers.
Two suits have already been filed.
Verizon Sued for Giving NSA Phone Records Attorneys Bruce Afran and Carl Mayer filed the lawsuit Friday afternoon in federal district court in Manhattan, where Verizon is headquartered.
The lawsuit asks the court to stop Verizon from turning over any more records to the NSA without a warrant or consent of the subscriber.
"This is the largest and most vast intrusion of civil liberties we've ever seen in the United States," Afran said of the NSA program.
The lawsuit seeks $1,000 for each violation of the Telecommunications Act, or $5 billion if the case is certified as class-action.
And this is a DIFFERENT one:
Verizon Faces New $20B Suit over NSA Spying Complicity
Upping the ante in what may be a high-stakes legal battle, an Upstate New York lawyer filed a $20 billion class-action lawsuit against Verizon last week, charging that the company violated customer confidentiality in aiding warrantless eavesdropping by a federal spy agency.
Here's the tally of who has and has not violated the privacy of American citizens:
Verizon (land-line), AT&T, and BellSouth have all behaved in a fundamentally Unamerican manner.
On the other hand, Qwest is the only large landline carrier that refused to complied with the Bush's fascist requests. If you have one of the other three, switch to Qwest.
Cellular phones seem largely clean. Verizon Wireless, T-Mobile, Virgin Mobile and Cox all say that they have not provided their records to anyone.
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Fitzmas?
Truthout now says that Rove has BEEN indicted, but I don't see it in the tradition media.
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Shocked
The NSA Whistleblower says that people are going to be shocked.
[Tice] said he plans to tell the committee staffers the NSA conducted illegal and unconstitutional surveillance of U.S. citizens while he was there with the knowledge of Hayden. … “I think the people I talk to next week are going to be shocked when I tell them what I have to tell them. It’s pretty hard to believe,” Tice said.
I won't be shocked, but it's about time the country got shocked.
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Friday, May 12, 2006
According to truthout, Rove has told the White House that he will be indicted.
Within the last week, Karl Rove told President Bush and Chief of Staff Joshua Bolten, as well as a few other high level administration officials, that he will be indicted in the CIA leak case and will immediately resign his White House job when the special counsel publicly announces the charges against him, according to sources.
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Raid kills roaches dead.
The FBI has raided the home of Dusty Foggo (NOT the name of a fictional character). The guy who just resigned as the #3 man in the CIA.
I wonder why Goss REALLY resigned. This CAN'T be a coincidence.
Move along, folks, nothing to see here....
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Push poll
You may have read - and been shocked - by reports that a poll says that 2/3rds of Americans have no problem with the Bush administration mining phone calls.
Here is the actual question:
It's been reported that the National Security Agency has been collecting the phone call records of tens of millions of Americans. It then analyzes calling patterns in an effort to identify possible terrorism suspects, without listening to or recording the conversations. Would you consider this an acceptable or unacceptable way for the federal government to investigate terrorism? Do you feel that way strongly or somewhat?
Note that the question itself ASSUMES that the act is benign, and states things as fact that WE DON'T KNOW (such as that conversations are not listened to or recorded). The question is framed in terms of fighting terrorism, falsifies the known facts, fails to mention the questionable legality, and was obviously thrown together on the fly. For many poll respondents, this was probably the first time they HEARD about it.
This is a push poll.
And I suspect that other polls released in the coming days will show very different results.
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Today?
Tweetybird Matthews thinks Rove might be indicted today.
From Imus this morning"
Transcript:
MATTHEWS: If, however, something happens with Karl Rove, we’re going to go to general quarters around here.
IMUS: What does that mean?
MATTHEWS: Meaning we will be taping probably on Saturday or late night because everything will change. Last time, when he picked up Scooter, when he nailed him 30 years of charges, that happened on 1:00 on a Friday. So we don’t know when it might happen, if it’s going happen.
IMUS: Are we expecting something with Karl Rove today?
MATTHEWS: Well, it could be today. It could be next week. Everybody is buzzing about when or if. It’s a big if, big when. There is a lot of talk because he is still being interviewing by the special prosecutor. He keeps being hauled before the grand jury. So something is going on here with the special prosecutor. We don’t know whether he is going to clear him or nail him.
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GENEVA (Reuters) - The United States has again refused the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) access to terrorism suspects held in secret detention centers, the humanitarian agency said on Friday.
Isn't it interesting that the whole motto of this administration is "If you have done nothing wrong, you have nothing to hide"?
Explains why they hide everything.
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Headline says it all
Bush denies spying infringes on privacy
Roll THAT phrase around in your head a few times.
Lewis Carroll wishes HE had thought of that one, I'm sure
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Thursday, May 11, 2006
Gonzales Lied
As surely as weasels are weasels.
From the Muckraker:
Did Gonzales Mislead Congress about NSA Program?
By Paul Kiel - May 11, 2006, 2:32 PM
Reacting to today's news that the NSA is "amassing information about the calls of ordinary Americans," Reps. Bennie G. Thompson (D-MS) and Rep. Zoe Lofgren (D-CA) have put out a statement questioning the legality of the program.
Their statement contains this: "when the Attorney General was forced to testify before the House Judiciary Committee a few weeks ago, he misled the Committee about the existence of the program."
Here's what they're referring to. On April 6, 2006, Attorney General Alberto Gonzales testified before the House Judiciary Committee, and in one exchange, Rep. Gerald Nadler (D-NY) tried to nail him down:
NADLER: Number two, can you assure us that there is no warrantless surveillance of calls between two Americans within the United States?
GONZALES: That is not what the president has authorized.
NADLER: Can you assure us that it's not being done?
GONZALES: As I indicated in response to an earlier question, no technology is perfect.
NADLER: OK.
GONZALES: We do have minimization procedures in place...
NADLER: But you're not doing that deliberately?
GONZALES: That is correct.
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"There's no doubt in my mind there are safeguards in place to make sure the program focuses on calls coming from outside the United States in, with an al Qaeda -- from a -- with a belief that there's an al Qaeda person making the call to somebody here in the States, or vice versa -- but not domestic calls." - Bush, 01/26/06.
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Bush lies some more
President Deer-In-The-Headlights decided to throw a little gasoline on the fire:
Facing intense criticism from Congress, President Bush did not confirm the work of the National Security Agency but sought to assure Americans that their privacy is being "fiercely protected."
"We are not mining or trolling through the personal lives of innocent Americans," Bush said before leaving for a commencement address at Mississippi Gulf Coast Community College in Biloxi.
Well, gee whiz, codpiece-for-brains, you ALSO said that you were only listening to INTERNATIONAL Communications. You ALSO said it was only a FEW HUNDRED.
Liar.
Every new story that comes out shows that the administration lied about the last story that came out but they say that we should believe them this time.
NOBODY is that gullible.
By the way, giving the White House info on yur phone calls was VOLUNTARY on the part of the phone companies. Qwest was the ONLY major carrier to refuse. So if you are with AT&T or Verizon, switch to Qwest. And call them and let them know why. DEMAND that they respect your privacy.
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It's all true
Everything you thought MIGHT be true IS.
NSA has massive database of Americans' phone calls
The National Security Agency has been secretly collecting the phone call records of tens of millions of Americans, using data provided by AT&T, Verizon and BellSouth, people with direct knowledge of the arrangement told USA TODAY.
The NSA program reaches into homes and businesses across the nation by amassing information about the calls of ordinary Americans — most of whom aren't suspected of any crime. This program does not involve the NSA listening to or recording conversations. But the spy agency is using the data to analyze calling patterns in an effort to detect terrorist activity, sources said in separate interviews.
For the customers of these companies, it means that the government has detailed records of calls they made — across town or across the country — to family members, co-workers, business contacts and others.
The sources would talk only under a guarantee of anonymity because the NSA program is secret.
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Wednesday, May 10, 2006
Colbert - SOMEBODY gets it.
Here's a great article from the TV Critic at the Chicago Sun-Times about Colbert's public evisceration of His Ignorance. This may be the only thing I have read in the mainstream press that actually understood the reaction to Colbert's speech.
How did Bush tickle reporters? He made fun of the fact that he can barely speak English (he is quite simply the worst communicator of all U.S. presidents), that our vice president is a heartless face-shooter, and that Bush is basically an idiot.
Ha ha, our "war president" knows he's a village idiot? To members of the White House press corps, that's some real funny stuff. To non-insiders, this looked like another example of good old boys and gals slapping each other on the back.
Colbert's routine was more remarkable for its unique and creative brazenness. He joked that Bush's presidency is like the Hindenburg; that Bush's wiretappers were monitoring this very event, and that the White House press corps, sitting in front of Colbert, gave Bush a free pass, scandal after scandal, until recently (when his polls numbers dropped).
How's this for a newsworthy lead? It was perhaps the first time in Bush's tenure that the president was forced to sit and listen to any American cite the litany of criminal and corruption allegations that have piled up against his administration. And mouth-tense Bush and first lady Laura Bush fled as soon as possible afterward.
From whom were they fleeing? A star comedian pretending to be a Fox News-like blowhard doing a sort of performance art that America hasn't witnessed nationally since the days of Andy Kaufman. Even if Colbert's bit had been reported as a train wreck, that would have sufficed. Instead, shocking lines like the following were barely covered by any traditional organ except industry magazine Editor & Publisher: "I stand by" Bush, Colbert cracked, "because he stands for things. Not only for things, he stands on things. Things like aircraft carriers and rubble, and recently flooded city squares. And that sends a strong message that no matter what happens to America, she will always rebound with the most powerfully staged photo ops in the world."
For TV reporters in particular to quote that gruesome line would be an agreement with Colbert, that they helped Bush mix politics with corruption from the ashes of 9/11 ("aircraft carriers and rubble"), and failed to see through Bush's politicization of the drowning of an American city after a hurricane ("recently flooded city squares").
0 comments
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Brownie, you're doing a heckuva job.
The question isn't "Why do only 31% still support these incompetents" - the question is, "why the hell is it still that high?"
WASHINGTON — Hours after Hurricane Katrina hit, former FEMA director Michael Brown dismissed reports that floodwaters had breached New Orleans' levees, and he obsessed over media coverage of his agency, according to newly released e-mails.
At one point early that morning, Brown reported to an aide that he was "sitting in the chair, putting mousse in my hair" while waiting for media interviews to begin.
What total dicks.
0 comments
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Poll vault
(CBS) President Bush and the Republican Congress show nearly record low ratings while Democrats are viewed much more favorably in their performance on the issues that matter most to Americans, according to the latest CBS News/New York Times poll.
Well, that just great. You think - maybe - the Democrats MIGHT just stop acting like their afraid that challenging thi clown will hurt them?
0 comments
"The American people like this president. His personal approval ratings are in the 60s. Job approval is lower. And what that says to me is that people like him, they respect him, he's somebody they feel a connection with, but they're just sour right now on the war. And that's the way it's going to be." - Karl Rove
Cognitive dissonance is what happens in the human brain when a human being is confronted with a fact which his preconceptions tell him cannot possibly be true.
Is Karl Rove - Bush's favorite Turdblossom and America's beloved pus-sack - becoming delusional?
His "personal approval" isn't anywhere NEAR the 60s and people DON'T like this President. (New York Times pdf poll here) In fact, his JOB approval is one percentage point HIGHER than his "personal approval. " He has more than 50% approval in exactly 3 states - Utah, Idaho and Wyoming. NOBODY approves of him, except a few whackjobs.
Polysigh put it best:
"As for Rove's comment that Bush would be popular but for the Iraq War, that's like saying that if it weren't for the Alps, Switzerland would be flat."
0 comments
The Constitutional Crisis that Walks like a Man.
The FBI has confirmed that they do, indeed, monitor reporters' phone calls.
Approximately one year ago, we were told that they did not need a warrant because they were only monitoring international calls.
Then, they said that, well, actually were monitoring SOME calls where one of the parties was domestic and one was international.
"If someone is calling Al Qaeda," said Bush, "we want to know why."
Which is interesting, because it implies that they know the terrorists' telephone numbers, which makes you wonder why they don't just round them up instead of collecting their phone bills.
Then they said that they sometimes they inadvertently listen to purely domestic calls.
Then they tell us - just this week - that, well, all that was bullshit. They have actually been collecting info on every single phone call made by every single American with almost no exceptions.
But OF COURSE we have nothing to worry about. We can trust THEM. Never mind the fact that they have lied about this again and again and again. We can trust them. They aren't actually listening in. It's for TERRORISM. So they say.
But you can't name a single terrorist who has been arrested in the last five years as a result of this spying. Not one.
And NOW, we find out that they AREN'T checking on terrorists - they are checking on reporters. They are using phone records to find out who reporters are using as sources. They are REALLY after anyone who makes them look bad by revealing the truth to the American People.
You would figure even the REPUBLICANS would wake up and realize that George W. Bush is a walking Constitutional Crisis who has to be stopped while we still have something that we can call "America" left. And they would, if they valued their nation more than their party.
0 comments
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Monday, May 15, 2006
Push Back Poll
I said it was a push poll, and I was right.
From a Newsweek poll, released one day after the Washington Post Push Poll:
As you may know, there are reports that the NSA, a government intelligence agency, has been collecting the phone call records of Americans. The agency doesn't actually listen to the calls but logs in nearly every phone number to create a database of calls made within the United States. Which of the following comes CLOSER to your own view of this domestic surveillance program:
It is a necessary tool to combat terrorism -- 41
It goes too far in invading people’s privacy -- 53
Don’t know -- 6
Note that the question doesn't read like a apologia for data mining - as the Washington Post poll did.
But why was the Washington Post so anxious to release a poll that backed up the Bush administration's wishes on the same day that the news broke?
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Your tax dollars at work
You have to watch out for those Terrorist Anchormen:
Federal Source to ABC News: We Know Who You're Calling
Brian Ross and Richard Esposito Report:
A senior federal law enforcement official tells ABC News the government is tracking the phone numbers we (Brian Ross and Richard Esposito) call in an effort to root out confidential sources.
"It's time for you to get some new cell phones, quick," the source told us in an in-person conversation.
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Same script.
Ah. So His Incompetence is probably going to use the National Guard to patrol the border. He says it's "only temporary."
Temporary till when? Just after the 2006 elections?
This is typical. God forbid border patrol get done by actual border patrol. That would make sense. Instead, let's assume that the MILITARY doesn't have enough of a role.
The REAL problem is that Bush is too damned incompetent to deal with anything using civilian means - like SANE Presidents always have. Instead, he turns to the military as his tool of choice for absolutely everything.
And pardon me for wondering if President Codpiece isn't still trying to compensate for the cowardice and inadequacy that he showed during Vietnam. Using OTHER people's blood and sweat, of course.
So he will get to dress up in a uniform, strut around, use jeeps and tanks and helicopters and all sorts of neat stuff, and basically play war in a place where there isn't one, and it will make for a great photo-op. He'll get his picture taken with a helicopter. Look, mommy! Don't I look cool?
God, I wish we had a President who was a frigging grown-up, instead of one who is stuck in adolescence and makes America suffer so he can feel impressive.
2 comments
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Sunday, May 14, 2006
Ooops.
I posted the info from Jason Leopold (of truthout) that Rove had been indicted. Not WOULD be - HAD been. I think we would have heard something by now. I guess Leopold's source isn't all that reliable, and it's the last time I post something unsubstantiated from truthout.
Here's hoping that Leopold proves to be right a bit too early anyway.
0 comments
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Saturday, May 13, 2006
Sue the bastards.
If you own stock in any phone companies, it's time to sell short. They could lose billions in class-action lawsuits, and lose MORE money from an exodus of customers.
Two suits have already been filed.
Verizon Sued for Giving NSA Phone Records Attorneys Bruce Afran and Carl Mayer filed the lawsuit Friday afternoon in federal district court in Manhattan, where Verizon is headquartered.
The lawsuit asks the court to stop Verizon from turning over any more records to the NSA without a warrant or consent of the subscriber.
"This is the largest and most vast intrusion of civil liberties we've ever seen in the United States," Afran said of the NSA program.
The lawsuit seeks $1,000 for each violation of the Telecommunications Act, or $5 billion if the case is certified as class-action.
And this is a DIFFERENT one:
Verizon Faces New $20B Suit over NSA Spying Complicity
Upping the ante in what may be a high-stakes legal battle, an Upstate New York lawyer filed a $20 billion class-action lawsuit against Verizon last week, charging that the company violated customer confidentiality in aiding warrantless eavesdropping by a federal spy agency.
Here's the tally of who has and has not violated the privacy of American citizens:
Verizon (land-line), AT&T, and BellSouth have all behaved in a fundamentally Unamerican manner.
On the other hand, Qwest is the only large landline carrier that refused to complied with the Bush's fascist requests. If you have one of the other three, switch to Qwest.
Cellular phones seem largely clean. Verizon Wireless, T-Mobile, Virgin Mobile and Cox all say that they have not provided their records to anyone.
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Fitzmas?
Truthout now says that Rove has BEEN indicted, but I don't see it in the tradition media.
0 comments
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Shocked
The NSA Whistleblower says that people are going to be shocked.
[Tice] said he plans to tell the committee staffers the NSA conducted illegal and unconstitutional surveillance of U.S. citizens while he was there with the knowledge of Hayden. … “I think the people I talk to next week are going to be shocked when I tell them what I have to tell them. It’s pretty hard to believe,” Tice said.
I won't be shocked, but it's about time the country got shocked.
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Friday, May 12, 2006
According to truthout, Rove has told the White House that he will be indicted.
Within the last week, Karl Rove told President Bush and Chief of Staff Joshua Bolten, as well as a few other high level administration officials, that he will be indicted in the CIA leak case and will immediately resign his White House job when the special counsel publicly announces the charges against him, according to sources.
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Raid kills roaches dead.
The FBI has raided the home of Dusty Foggo (NOT the name of a fictional character). The guy who just resigned as the #3 man in the CIA.
I wonder why Goss REALLY resigned. This CAN'T be a coincidence.
Move along, folks, nothing to see here....
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Push poll
You may have read - and been shocked - by reports that a poll says that 2/3rds of Americans have no problem with the Bush administration mining phone calls.
Here is the actual question:
It's been reported that the National Security Agency has been collecting the phone call records of tens of millions of Americans. It then analyzes calling patterns in an effort to identify possible terrorism suspects, without listening to or recording the conversations. Would you consider this an acceptable or unacceptable way for the federal government to investigate terrorism? Do you feel that way strongly or somewhat?
Note that the question itself ASSUMES that the act is benign, and states things as fact that WE DON'T KNOW (such as that conversations are not listened to or recorded). The question is framed in terms of fighting terrorism, falsifies the known facts, fails to mention the questionable legality, and was obviously thrown together on the fly. For many poll respondents, this was probably the first time they HEARD about it.
This is a push poll.
And I suspect that other polls released in the coming days will show very different results.
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Today?
Tweetybird Matthews thinks Rove might be indicted today.
From Imus this morning"
Transcript:
MATTHEWS: If, however, something happens with Karl Rove, we’re going to go to general quarters around here.
IMUS: What does that mean?
MATTHEWS: Meaning we will be taping probably on Saturday or late night because everything will change. Last time, when he picked up Scooter, when he nailed him 30 years of charges, that happened on 1:00 on a Friday. So we don’t know when it might happen, if it’s going happen.
IMUS: Are we expecting something with Karl Rove today?
MATTHEWS: Well, it could be today. It could be next week. Everybody is buzzing about when or if. It’s a big if, big when. There is a lot of talk because he is still being interviewing by the special prosecutor. He keeps being hauled before the grand jury. So something is going on here with the special prosecutor. We don’t know whether he is going to clear him or nail him.
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GENEVA (Reuters) - The United States has again refused the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) access to terrorism suspects held in secret detention centers, the humanitarian agency said on Friday.
Isn't it interesting that the whole motto of this administration is "If you have done nothing wrong, you have nothing to hide"?
Explains why they hide everything.
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Headline says it all
Bush denies spying infringes on privacy
Roll THAT phrase around in your head a few times.
Lewis Carroll wishes HE had thought of that one, I'm sure
0 comments
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Thursday, May 11, 2006
Gonzales Lied
As surely as weasels are weasels.
From the Muckraker:
Did Gonzales Mislead Congress about NSA Program?
By Paul Kiel - May 11, 2006, 2:32 PM
Reacting to today's news that the NSA is "amassing information about the calls of ordinary Americans," Reps. Bennie G. Thompson (D-MS) and Rep. Zoe Lofgren (D-CA) have put out a statement questioning the legality of the program.
Their statement contains this: "when the Attorney General was forced to testify before the House Judiciary Committee a few weeks ago, he misled the Committee about the existence of the program."
Here's what they're referring to. On April 6, 2006, Attorney General Alberto Gonzales testified before the House Judiciary Committee, and in one exchange, Rep. Gerald Nadler (D-NY) tried to nail him down:
NADLER: Number two, can you assure us that there is no warrantless surveillance of calls between two Americans within the United States?
GONZALES: That is not what the president has authorized.
NADLER: Can you assure us that it's not being done?
GONZALES: As I indicated in response to an earlier question, no technology is perfect.
NADLER: OK.
GONZALES: We do have minimization procedures in place...
NADLER: But you're not doing that deliberately?
GONZALES: That is correct.
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"There's no doubt in my mind there are safeguards in place to make sure the program focuses on calls coming from outside the United States in, with an al Qaeda -- from a -- with a belief that there's an al Qaeda person making the call to somebody here in the States, or vice versa -- but not domestic calls." - Bush, 01/26/06.
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Bush lies some more
President Deer-In-The-Headlights decided to throw a little gasoline on the fire:
Facing intense criticism from Congress, President Bush did not confirm the work of the National Security Agency but sought to assure Americans that their privacy is being "fiercely protected."
"We are not mining or trolling through the personal lives of innocent Americans," Bush said before leaving for a commencement address at Mississippi Gulf Coast Community College in Biloxi.
Well, gee whiz, codpiece-for-brains, you ALSO said that you were only listening to INTERNATIONAL Communications. You ALSO said it was only a FEW HUNDRED.
Liar.
Every new story that comes out shows that the administration lied about the last story that came out but they say that we should believe them this time.
NOBODY is that gullible.
By the way, giving the White House info on yur phone calls was VOLUNTARY on the part of the phone companies. Qwest was the ONLY major carrier to refuse. So if you are with AT&T or Verizon, switch to Qwest. And call them and let them know why. DEMAND that they respect your privacy.
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It's all true
Everything you thought MIGHT be true IS.
NSA has massive database of Americans' phone calls
The National Security Agency has been secretly collecting the phone call records of tens of millions of Americans, using data provided by AT&T, Verizon and BellSouth, people with direct knowledge of the arrangement told USA TODAY.
The NSA program reaches into homes and businesses across the nation by amassing information about the calls of ordinary Americans — most of whom aren't suspected of any crime. This program does not involve the NSA listening to or recording conversations. But the spy agency is using the data to analyze calling patterns in an effort to detect terrorist activity, sources said in separate interviews.
For the customers of these companies, it means that the government has detailed records of calls they made — across town or across the country — to family members, co-workers, business contacts and others.
The sources would talk only under a guarantee of anonymity because the NSA program is secret.
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Wednesday, May 10, 2006
Colbert - SOMEBODY gets it.
Here's a great article from the TV Critic at the Chicago Sun-Times about Colbert's public evisceration of His Ignorance. This may be the only thing I have read in the mainstream press that actually understood the reaction to Colbert's speech.
How did Bush tickle reporters? He made fun of the fact that he can barely speak English (he is quite simply the worst communicator of all U.S. presidents), that our vice president is a heartless face-shooter, and that Bush is basically an idiot.
Ha ha, our "war president" knows he's a village idiot? To members of the White House press corps, that's some real funny stuff. To non-insiders, this looked like another example of good old boys and gals slapping each other on the back.
Colbert's routine was more remarkable for its unique and creative brazenness. He joked that Bush's presidency is like the Hindenburg; that Bush's wiretappers were monitoring this very event, and that the White House press corps, sitting in front of Colbert, gave Bush a free pass, scandal after scandal, until recently (when his polls numbers dropped).
How's this for a newsworthy lead? It was perhaps the first time in Bush's tenure that the president was forced to sit and listen to any American cite the litany of criminal and corruption allegations that have piled up against his administration. And mouth-tense Bush and first lady Laura Bush fled as soon as possible afterward.
From whom were they fleeing? A star comedian pretending to be a Fox News-like blowhard doing a sort of performance art that America hasn't witnessed nationally since the days of Andy Kaufman. Even if Colbert's bit had been reported as a train wreck, that would have sufficed. Instead, shocking lines like the following were barely covered by any traditional organ except industry magazine Editor & Publisher: "I stand by" Bush, Colbert cracked, "because he stands for things. Not only for things, he stands on things. Things like aircraft carriers and rubble, and recently flooded city squares. And that sends a strong message that no matter what happens to America, she will always rebound with the most powerfully staged photo ops in the world."
For TV reporters in particular to quote that gruesome line would be an agreement with Colbert, that they helped Bush mix politics with corruption from the ashes of 9/11 ("aircraft carriers and rubble"), and failed to see through Bush's politicization of the drowning of an American city after a hurricane ("recently flooded city squares").
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Brownie, you're doing a heckuva job.
The question isn't "Why do only 31% still support these incompetents" - the question is, "why the hell is it still that high?"
WASHINGTON — Hours after Hurricane Katrina hit, former FEMA director Michael Brown dismissed reports that floodwaters had breached New Orleans' levees, and he obsessed over media coverage of his agency, according to newly released e-mails.
At one point early that morning, Brown reported to an aide that he was "sitting in the chair, putting mousse in my hair" while waiting for media interviews to begin.
What total dicks.
0 comments
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Poll vault
(CBS) President Bush and the Republican Congress show nearly record low ratings while Democrats are viewed much more favorably in their performance on the issues that matter most to Americans, according to the latest CBS News/New York Times poll.
Well, that just great. You think - maybe - the Democrats MIGHT just stop acting like their afraid that challenging thi clown will hurt them?
0 comments
Approximately one year ago, we were told that they did not need a warrant because they were only monitoring international calls.
Then, they said that, well, actually were monitoring SOME calls where one of the parties was domestic and one was international.
"If someone is calling Al Qaeda," said Bush, "we want to know why."
Which is interesting, because it implies that they know the terrorists' telephone numbers, which makes you wonder why they don't just round them up instead of collecting their phone bills.
Then they said that they sometimes they inadvertently listen to purely domestic calls.
Then they tell us - just this week - that, well, all that was bullshit. They have actually been collecting info on every single phone call made by every single American with almost no exceptions.
But OF COURSE we have nothing to worry about. We can trust THEM. Never mind the fact that they have lied about this again and again and again. We can trust them. They aren't actually listening in. It's for TERRORISM. So they say.
But you can't name a single terrorist who has been arrested in the last five years as a result of this spying. Not one.
And NOW, we find out that they AREN'T checking on terrorists - they are checking on reporters. They are using phone records to find out who reporters are using as sources. They are REALLY after anyone who makes them look bad by revealing the truth to the American People.
You would figure even the REPUBLICANS would wake up and realize that George W. Bush is a walking Constitutional Crisis who has to be stopped while we still have something that we can call "America" left. And they would, if they valued their nation more than their party.
0 comments
Push Back Poll
I said it was a push poll, and I was right.
From a Newsweek poll, released one day after the Washington Post Push Poll:
As you may know, there are reports that the NSA, a government intelligence agency, has been collecting the phone call records of Americans. The agency doesn't actually listen to the calls but logs in nearly every phone number to create a database of calls made within the United States. Which of the following comes CLOSER to your own view of this domestic surveillance program:
It is a necessary tool to combat terrorism -- 41
It goes too far in invading people’s privacy -- 53
Don’t know -- 6
Note that the question doesn't read like a apologia for data mining - as the Washington Post poll did.
But why was the Washington Post so anxious to release a poll that backed up the Bush administration's wishes on the same day that the news broke?
0 comments
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Your tax dollars at work
You have to watch out for those Terrorist Anchormen:
Federal Source to ABC News: We Know Who You're Calling
Brian Ross and Richard Esposito Report:
A senior federal law enforcement official tells ABC News the government is tracking the phone numbers we (Brian Ross and Richard Esposito) call in an effort to root out confidential sources.
"It's time for you to get some new cell phones, quick," the source told us in an in-person conversation.
0 comments
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Same script.
Ah. So His Incompetence is probably going to use the National Guard to patrol the border. He says it's "only temporary."
Temporary till when? Just after the 2006 elections?
This is typical. God forbid border patrol get done by actual border patrol. That would make sense. Instead, let's assume that the MILITARY doesn't have enough of a role.
The REAL problem is that Bush is too damned incompetent to deal with anything using civilian means - like SANE Presidents always have. Instead, he turns to the military as his tool of choice for absolutely everything.
And pardon me for wondering if President Codpiece isn't still trying to compensate for the cowardice and inadequacy that he showed during Vietnam. Using OTHER people's blood and sweat, of course.
So he will get to dress up in a uniform, strut around, use jeeps and tanks and helicopters and all sorts of neat stuff, and basically play war in a place where there isn't one, and it will make for a great photo-op. He'll get his picture taken with a helicopter. Look, mommy! Don't I look cool?
God, I wish we had a President who was a frigging grown-up, instead of one who is stuck in adolescence and makes America suffer so he can feel impressive.
2 comments
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Sunday, May 14, 2006
Ooops.
I posted the info from Jason Leopold (of truthout) that Rove had been indicted. Not WOULD be - HAD been. I think we would have heard something by now. I guess Leopold's source isn't all that reliable, and it's the last time I post something unsubstantiated from truthout.
Here's hoping that Leopold proves to be right a bit too early anyway.
0 comments
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Saturday, May 13, 2006
Sue the bastards.
If you own stock in any phone companies, it's time to sell short. They could lose billions in class-action lawsuits, and lose MORE money from an exodus of customers.
Two suits have already been filed.
Verizon Sued for Giving NSA Phone Records Attorneys Bruce Afran and Carl Mayer filed the lawsuit Friday afternoon in federal district court in Manhattan, where Verizon is headquartered.
The lawsuit asks the court to stop Verizon from turning over any more records to the NSA without a warrant or consent of the subscriber.
"This is the largest and most vast intrusion of civil liberties we've ever seen in the United States," Afran said of the NSA program.
The lawsuit seeks $1,000 for each violation of the Telecommunications Act, or $5 billion if the case is certified as class-action.
And this is a DIFFERENT one:
Verizon Faces New $20B Suit over NSA Spying Complicity
Upping the ante in what may be a high-stakes legal battle, an Upstate New York lawyer filed a $20 billion class-action lawsuit against Verizon last week, charging that the company violated customer confidentiality in aiding warrantless eavesdropping by a federal spy agency.
Here's the tally of who has and has not violated the privacy of American citizens:
Verizon (land-line), AT&T, and BellSouth have all behaved in a fundamentally Unamerican manner.
On the other hand, Qwest is the only large landline carrier that refused to complied with the Bush's fascist requests. If you have one of the other three, switch to Qwest.
Cellular phones seem largely clean. Verizon Wireless, T-Mobile, Virgin Mobile and Cox all say that they have not provided their records to anyone.
0 comments
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Fitzmas?
Truthout now says that Rove has BEEN indicted, but I don't see it in the tradition media.
0 comments
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Shocked
The NSA Whistleblower says that people are going to be shocked.
[Tice] said he plans to tell the committee staffers the NSA conducted illegal and unconstitutional surveillance of U.S. citizens while he was there with the knowledge of Hayden. … “I think the people I talk to next week are going to be shocked when I tell them what I have to tell them. It’s pretty hard to believe,” Tice said.
I won't be shocked, but it's about time the country got shocked.
0 comments
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Friday, May 12, 2006
According to truthout, Rove has told the White House that he will be indicted.
Within the last week, Karl Rove told President Bush and Chief of Staff Joshua Bolten, as well as a few other high level administration officials, that he will be indicted in the CIA leak case and will immediately resign his White House job when the special counsel publicly announces the charges against him, according to sources.
0 comments
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Raid kills roaches dead.
The FBI has raided the home of Dusty Foggo (NOT the name of a fictional character). The guy who just resigned as the #3 man in the CIA.
I wonder why Goss REALLY resigned. This CAN'T be a coincidence.
Move along, folks, nothing to see here....
0 comments
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Push poll
You may have read - and been shocked - by reports that a poll says that 2/3rds of Americans have no problem with the Bush administration mining phone calls.
Here is the actual question:
It's been reported that the National Security Agency has been collecting the phone call records of tens of millions of Americans. It then analyzes calling patterns in an effort to identify possible terrorism suspects, without listening to or recording the conversations. Would you consider this an acceptable or unacceptable way for the federal government to investigate terrorism? Do you feel that way strongly or somewhat?
Note that the question itself ASSUMES that the act is benign, and states things as fact that WE DON'T KNOW (such as that conversations are not listened to or recorded). The question is framed in terms of fighting terrorism, falsifies the known facts, fails to mention the questionable legality, and was obviously thrown together on the fly. For many poll respondents, this was probably the first time they HEARD about it.
This is a push poll.
And I suspect that other polls released in the coming days will show very different results.
0 comments
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Today?
Tweetybird Matthews thinks Rove might be indicted today.
From Imus this morning"
Transcript:
MATTHEWS: If, however, something happens with Karl Rove, we’re going to go to general quarters around here.
IMUS: What does that mean?
MATTHEWS: Meaning we will be taping probably on Saturday or late night because everything will change. Last time, when he picked up Scooter, when he nailed him 30 years of charges, that happened on 1:00 on a Friday. So we don’t know when it might happen, if it’s going happen.
IMUS: Are we expecting something with Karl Rove today?
MATTHEWS: Well, it could be today. It could be next week. Everybody is buzzing about when or if. It’s a big if, big when. There is a lot of talk because he is still being interviewing by the special prosecutor. He keeps being hauled before the grand jury. So something is going on here with the special prosecutor. We don’t know whether he is going to clear him or nail him.
0 comments
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GENEVA (Reuters) - The United States has again refused the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) access to terrorism suspects held in secret detention centers, the humanitarian agency said on Friday.
Isn't it interesting that the whole motto of this administration is "If you have done nothing wrong, you have nothing to hide"?
Explains why they hide everything.
0 comments
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Headline says it all
Bush denies spying infringes on privacy
Roll THAT phrase around in your head a few times.
Lewis Carroll wishes HE had thought of that one, I'm sure
0 comments
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Thursday, May 11, 2006
Gonzales Lied
As surely as weasels are weasels.
From the Muckraker:
Did Gonzales Mislead Congress about NSA Program?
By Paul Kiel - May 11, 2006, 2:32 PM
Reacting to today's news that the NSA is "amassing information about the calls of ordinary Americans," Reps. Bennie G. Thompson (D-MS) and Rep. Zoe Lofgren (D-CA) have put out a statement questioning the legality of the program.
Their statement contains this: "when the Attorney General was forced to testify before the House Judiciary Committee a few weeks ago, he misled the Committee about the existence of the program."
Here's what they're referring to. On April 6, 2006, Attorney General Alberto Gonzales testified before the House Judiciary Committee, and in one exchange, Rep. Gerald Nadler (D-NY) tried to nail him down:
NADLER: Number two, can you assure us that there is no warrantless surveillance of calls between two Americans within the United States?
GONZALES: That is not what the president has authorized.
NADLER: Can you assure us that it's not being done?
GONZALES: As I indicated in response to an earlier question, no technology is perfect.
NADLER: OK.
GONZALES: We do have minimization procedures in place...
NADLER: But you're not doing that deliberately?
GONZALES: That is correct.
0 comments
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"There's no doubt in my mind there are safeguards in place to make sure the program focuses on calls coming from outside the United States in, with an al Qaeda -- from a -- with a belief that there's an al Qaeda person making the call to somebody here in the States, or vice versa -- but not domestic calls." - Bush, 01/26/06.
0 comments
_____________________________________________________________
Bush lies some more
President Deer-In-The-Headlights decided to throw a little gasoline on the fire:
Facing intense criticism from Congress, President Bush did not confirm the work of the National Security Agency but sought to assure Americans that their privacy is being "fiercely protected."
"We are not mining or trolling through the personal lives of innocent Americans," Bush said before leaving for a commencement address at Mississippi Gulf Coast Community College in Biloxi.
Well, gee whiz, codpiece-for-brains, you ALSO said that you were only listening to INTERNATIONAL Communications. You ALSO said it was only a FEW HUNDRED.
Liar.
Every new story that comes out shows that the administration lied about the last story that came out but they say that we should believe them this time.
NOBODY is that gullible.
By the way, giving the White House info on yur phone calls was VOLUNTARY on the part of the phone companies. Qwest was the ONLY major carrier to refuse. So if you are with AT&T or Verizon, switch to Qwest. And call them and let them know why. DEMAND that they respect your privacy.
0 comments
_____________________________________________________________
It's all true
Everything you thought MIGHT be true IS.
NSA has massive database of Americans' phone calls
The National Security Agency has been secretly collecting the phone call records of tens of millions of Americans, using data provided by AT&T, Verizon and BellSouth, people with direct knowledge of the arrangement told USA TODAY.
The NSA program reaches into homes and businesses across the nation by amassing information about the calls of ordinary Americans — most of whom aren't suspected of any crime. This program does not involve the NSA listening to or recording conversations. But the spy agency is using the data to analyze calling patterns in an effort to detect terrorist activity, sources said in separate interviews.
For the customers of these companies, it means that the government has detailed records of calls they made — across town or across the country — to family members, co-workers, business contacts and others.
The sources would talk only under a guarantee of anonymity because the NSA program is secret.
0 comments
_____________________________________________________________
Wednesday, May 10, 2006
Colbert - SOMEBODY gets it.
Here's a great article from the TV Critic at the Chicago Sun-Times about Colbert's public evisceration of His Ignorance. This may be the only thing I have read in the mainstream press that actually understood the reaction to Colbert's speech.
How did Bush tickle reporters? He made fun of the fact that he can barely speak English (he is quite simply the worst communicator of all U.S. presidents), that our vice president is a heartless face-shooter, and that Bush is basically an idiot.
Ha ha, our "war president" knows he's a village idiot? To members of the White House press corps, that's some real funny stuff. To non-insiders, this looked like another example of good old boys and gals slapping each other on the back.
Colbert's routine was more remarkable for its unique and creative brazenness. He joked that Bush's presidency is like the Hindenburg; that Bush's wiretappers were monitoring this very event, and that the White House press corps, sitting in front of Colbert, gave Bush a free pass, scandal after scandal, until recently (when his polls numbers dropped).
How's this for a newsworthy lead? It was perhaps the first time in Bush's tenure that the president was forced to sit and listen to any American cite the litany of criminal and corruption allegations that have piled up against his administration. And mouth-tense Bush and first lady Laura Bush fled as soon as possible afterward.
From whom were they fleeing? A star comedian pretending to be a Fox News-like blowhard doing a sort of performance art that America hasn't witnessed nationally since the days of Andy Kaufman. Even if Colbert's bit had been reported as a train wreck, that would have sufficed. Instead, shocking lines like the following were barely covered by any traditional organ except industry magazine Editor & Publisher: "I stand by" Bush, Colbert cracked, "because he stands for things. Not only for things, he stands on things. Things like aircraft carriers and rubble, and recently flooded city squares. And that sends a strong message that no matter what happens to America, she will always rebound with the most powerfully staged photo ops in the world."
For TV reporters in particular to quote that gruesome line would be an agreement with Colbert, that they helped Bush mix politics with corruption from the ashes of 9/11 ("aircraft carriers and rubble"), and failed to see through Bush's politicization of the drowning of an American city after a hurricane ("recently flooded city squares").
0 comments
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Brownie, you're doing a heckuva job.
The question isn't "Why do only 31% still support these incompetents" - the question is, "why the hell is it still that high?"
WASHINGTON — Hours after Hurricane Katrina hit, former FEMA director Michael Brown dismissed reports that floodwaters had breached New Orleans' levees, and he obsessed over media coverage of his agency, according to newly released e-mails.
At one point early that morning, Brown reported to an aide that he was "sitting in the chair, putting mousse in my hair" while waiting for media interviews to begin.
What total dicks.
0 comments
_____________________________________________________________
Poll vault
(CBS) President Bush and the Republican Congress show nearly record low ratings while Democrats are viewed much more favorably in their performance on the issues that matter most to Americans, according to the latest CBS News/New York Times poll.
Well, that just great. You think - maybe - the Democrats MIGHT just stop acting like their afraid that challenging thi clown will hurt them?
0 comments
From a Newsweek poll, released one day after the Washington Post Push Poll:
As you may know, there are reports that the NSA, a government intelligence agency, has been collecting the phone call records of Americans. The agency doesn't actually listen to the calls but logs in nearly every phone number to create a database of calls made within the United States. Which of the following comes CLOSER to your own view of this domestic surveillance program:
It is a necessary tool to combat terrorism -- 41
It goes too far in invading people’s privacy -- 53
Don’t know -- 6
Note that the question doesn't read like a apologia for data mining - as the Washington Post poll did.
But why was the Washington Post so anxious to release a poll that backed up the Bush administration's wishes on the same day that the news broke?
0 comments
Your tax dollars at work
You have to watch out for those Terrorist Anchormen:
Federal Source to ABC News: We Know Who You're Calling
Brian Ross and Richard Esposito Report:
A senior federal law enforcement official tells ABC News the government is tracking the phone numbers we (Brian Ross and Richard Esposito) call in an effort to root out confidential sources.
"It's time for you to get some new cell phones, quick," the source told us in an in-person conversation.
0 comments
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Same script.
Ah. So His Incompetence is probably going to use the National Guard to patrol the border. He says it's "only temporary."
Temporary till when? Just after the 2006 elections?
This is typical. God forbid border patrol get done by actual border patrol. That would make sense. Instead, let's assume that the MILITARY doesn't have enough of a role.
The REAL problem is that Bush is too damned incompetent to deal with anything using civilian means - like SANE Presidents always have. Instead, he turns to the military as his tool of choice for absolutely everything.
And pardon me for wondering if President Codpiece isn't still trying to compensate for the cowardice and inadequacy that he showed during Vietnam. Using OTHER people's blood and sweat, of course.
So he will get to dress up in a uniform, strut around, use jeeps and tanks and helicopters and all sorts of neat stuff, and basically play war in a place where there isn't one, and it will make for a great photo-op. He'll get his picture taken with a helicopter. Look, mommy! Don't I look cool?
God, I wish we had a President who was a frigging grown-up, instead of one who is stuck in adolescence and makes America suffer so he can feel impressive.
2 comments
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Sunday, May 14, 2006
Ooops.
I posted the info from Jason Leopold (of truthout) that Rove had been indicted. Not WOULD be - HAD been. I think we would have heard something by now. I guess Leopold's source isn't all that reliable, and it's the last time I post something unsubstantiated from truthout.
Here's hoping that Leopold proves to be right a bit too early anyway.
0 comments
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Saturday, May 13, 2006
Sue the bastards.
If you own stock in any phone companies, it's time to sell short. They could lose billions in class-action lawsuits, and lose MORE money from an exodus of customers.
Two suits have already been filed.
Verizon Sued for Giving NSA Phone Records Attorneys Bruce Afran and Carl Mayer filed the lawsuit Friday afternoon in federal district court in Manhattan, where Verizon is headquartered.
The lawsuit asks the court to stop Verizon from turning over any more records to the NSA without a warrant or consent of the subscriber.
"This is the largest and most vast intrusion of civil liberties we've ever seen in the United States," Afran said of the NSA program.
The lawsuit seeks $1,000 for each violation of the Telecommunications Act, or $5 billion if the case is certified as class-action.
And this is a DIFFERENT one:
Verizon Faces New $20B Suit over NSA Spying Complicity
Upping the ante in what may be a high-stakes legal battle, an Upstate New York lawyer filed a $20 billion class-action lawsuit against Verizon last week, charging that the company violated customer confidentiality in aiding warrantless eavesdropping by a federal spy agency.
Here's the tally of who has and has not violated the privacy of American citizens:
Verizon (land-line), AT&T, and BellSouth have all behaved in a fundamentally Unamerican manner.
On the other hand, Qwest is the only large landline carrier that refused to complied with the Bush's fascist requests. If you have one of the other three, switch to Qwest.
Cellular phones seem largely clean. Verizon Wireless, T-Mobile, Virgin Mobile and Cox all say that they have not provided their records to anyone.
0 comments
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Fitzmas?
Truthout now says that Rove has BEEN indicted, but I don't see it in the tradition media.
0 comments
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Shocked
The NSA Whistleblower says that people are going to be shocked.
[Tice] said he plans to tell the committee staffers the NSA conducted illegal and unconstitutional surveillance of U.S. citizens while he was there with the knowledge of Hayden. … “I think the people I talk to next week are going to be shocked when I tell them what I have to tell them. It’s pretty hard to believe,” Tice said.
I won't be shocked, but it's about time the country got shocked.
0 comments
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Friday, May 12, 2006
According to truthout, Rove has told the White House that he will be indicted.
Within the last week, Karl Rove told President Bush and Chief of Staff Joshua Bolten, as well as a few other high level administration officials, that he will be indicted in the CIA leak case and will immediately resign his White House job when the special counsel publicly announces the charges against him, according to sources.
0 comments
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Raid kills roaches dead.
The FBI has raided the home of Dusty Foggo (NOT the name of a fictional character). The guy who just resigned as the #3 man in the CIA.
I wonder why Goss REALLY resigned. This CAN'T be a coincidence.
Move along, folks, nothing to see here....
0 comments
_____________________________________________________________
Push poll
You may have read - and been shocked - by reports that a poll says that 2/3rds of Americans have no problem with the Bush administration mining phone calls.
Here is the actual question:
It's been reported that the National Security Agency has been collecting the phone call records of tens of millions of Americans. It then analyzes calling patterns in an effort to identify possible terrorism suspects, without listening to or recording the conversations. Would you consider this an acceptable or unacceptable way for the federal government to investigate terrorism? Do you feel that way strongly or somewhat?
Note that the question itself ASSUMES that the act is benign, and states things as fact that WE DON'T KNOW (such as that conversations are not listened to or recorded). The question is framed in terms of fighting terrorism, falsifies the known facts, fails to mention the questionable legality, and was obviously thrown together on the fly. For many poll respondents, this was probably the first time they HEARD about it.
This is a push poll.
And I suspect that other polls released in the coming days will show very different results.
0 comments
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Today?
Tweetybird Matthews thinks Rove might be indicted today.
From Imus this morning"
Transcript:
MATTHEWS: If, however, something happens with Karl Rove, we’re going to go to general quarters around here.
IMUS: What does that mean?
MATTHEWS: Meaning we will be taping probably on Saturday or late night because everything will change. Last time, when he picked up Scooter, when he nailed him 30 years of charges, that happened on 1:00 on a Friday. So we don’t know when it might happen, if it’s going happen.
IMUS: Are we expecting something with Karl Rove today?
MATTHEWS: Well, it could be today. It could be next week. Everybody is buzzing about when or if. It’s a big if, big when. There is a lot of talk because he is still being interviewing by the special prosecutor. He keeps being hauled before the grand jury. So something is going on here with the special prosecutor. We don’t know whether he is going to clear him or nail him.
0 comments
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GENEVA (Reuters) - The United States has again refused the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) access to terrorism suspects held in secret detention centers, the humanitarian agency said on Friday.
Isn't it interesting that the whole motto of this administration is "If you have done nothing wrong, you have nothing to hide"?
Explains why they hide everything.
0 comments
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Headline says it all
Bush denies spying infringes on privacy
Roll THAT phrase around in your head a few times.
Lewis Carroll wishes HE had thought of that one, I'm sure
0 comments
_____________________________________________________________
Thursday, May 11, 2006
Gonzales Lied
As surely as weasels are weasels.
From the Muckraker:
Did Gonzales Mislead Congress about NSA Program?
By Paul Kiel - May 11, 2006, 2:32 PM
Reacting to today's news that the NSA is "amassing information about the calls of ordinary Americans," Reps. Bennie G. Thompson (D-MS) and Rep. Zoe Lofgren (D-CA) have put out a statement questioning the legality of the program.
Their statement contains this: "when the Attorney General was forced to testify before the House Judiciary Committee a few weeks ago, he misled the Committee about the existence of the program."
Here's what they're referring to. On April 6, 2006, Attorney General Alberto Gonzales testified before the House Judiciary Committee, and in one exchange, Rep. Gerald Nadler (D-NY) tried to nail him down:
NADLER: Number two, can you assure us that there is no warrantless surveillance of calls between two Americans within the United States?
GONZALES: That is not what the president has authorized.
NADLER: Can you assure us that it's not being done?
GONZALES: As I indicated in response to an earlier question, no technology is perfect.
NADLER: OK.
GONZALES: We do have minimization procedures in place...
NADLER: But you're not doing that deliberately?
GONZALES: That is correct.
0 comments
_____________________________________________________________
"There's no doubt in my mind there are safeguards in place to make sure the program focuses on calls coming from outside the United States in, with an al Qaeda -- from a -- with a belief that there's an al Qaeda person making the call to somebody here in the States, or vice versa -- but not domestic calls." - Bush, 01/26/06.
0 comments
_____________________________________________________________
Bush lies some more
President Deer-In-The-Headlights decided to throw a little gasoline on the fire:
Facing intense criticism from Congress, President Bush did not confirm the work of the National Security Agency but sought to assure Americans that their privacy is being "fiercely protected."
"We are not mining or trolling through the personal lives of innocent Americans," Bush said before leaving for a commencement address at Mississippi Gulf Coast Community College in Biloxi.
Well, gee whiz, codpiece-for-brains, you ALSO said that you were only listening to INTERNATIONAL Communications. You ALSO said it was only a FEW HUNDRED.
Liar.
Every new story that comes out shows that the administration lied about the last story that came out but they say that we should believe them this time.
NOBODY is that gullible.
By the way, giving the White House info on yur phone calls was VOLUNTARY on the part of the phone companies. Qwest was the ONLY major carrier to refuse. So if you are with AT&T or Verizon, switch to Qwest. And call them and let them know why. DEMAND that they respect your privacy.
0 comments
_____________________________________________________________
It's all true
Everything you thought MIGHT be true IS.
NSA has massive database of Americans' phone calls
The National Security Agency has been secretly collecting the phone call records of tens of millions of Americans, using data provided by AT&T, Verizon and BellSouth, people with direct knowledge of the arrangement told USA TODAY.
The NSA program reaches into homes and businesses across the nation by amassing information about the calls of ordinary Americans — most of whom aren't suspected of any crime. This program does not involve the NSA listening to or recording conversations. But the spy agency is using the data to analyze calling patterns in an effort to detect terrorist activity, sources said in separate interviews.
For the customers of these companies, it means that the government has detailed records of calls they made — across town or across the country — to family members, co-workers, business contacts and others.
The sources would talk only under a guarantee of anonymity because the NSA program is secret.
0 comments
_____________________________________________________________
Wednesday, May 10, 2006
Colbert - SOMEBODY gets it.
Here's a great article from the TV Critic at the Chicago Sun-Times about Colbert's public evisceration of His Ignorance. This may be the only thing I have read in the mainstream press that actually understood the reaction to Colbert's speech.
How did Bush tickle reporters? He made fun of the fact that he can barely speak English (he is quite simply the worst communicator of all U.S. presidents), that our vice president is a heartless face-shooter, and that Bush is basically an idiot.
Ha ha, our "war president" knows he's a village idiot? To members of the White House press corps, that's some real funny stuff. To non-insiders, this looked like another example of good old boys and gals slapping each other on the back.
Colbert's routine was more remarkable for its unique and creative brazenness. He joked that Bush's presidency is like the Hindenburg; that Bush's wiretappers were monitoring this very event, and that the White House press corps, sitting in front of Colbert, gave Bush a free pass, scandal after scandal, until recently (when his polls numbers dropped).
How's this for a newsworthy lead? It was perhaps the first time in Bush's tenure that the president was forced to sit and listen to any American cite the litany of criminal and corruption allegations that have piled up against his administration. And mouth-tense Bush and first lady Laura Bush fled as soon as possible afterward.
From whom were they fleeing? A star comedian pretending to be a Fox News-like blowhard doing a sort of performance art that America hasn't witnessed nationally since the days of Andy Kaufman. Even if Colbert's bit had been reported as a train wreck, that would have sufficed. Instead, shocking lines like the following were barely covered by any traditional organ except industry magazine Editor & Publisher: "I stand by" Bush, Colbert cracked, "because he stands for things. Not only for things, he stands on things. Things like aircraft carriers and rubble, and recently flooded city squares. And that sends a strong message that no matter what happens to America, she will always rebound with the most powerfully staged photo ops in the world."
For TV reporters in particular to quote that gruesome line would be an agreement with Colbert, that they helped Bush mix politics with corruption from the ashes of 9/11 ("aircraft carriers and rubble"), and failed to see through Bush's politicization of the drowning of an American city after a hurricane ("recently flooded city squares").
0 comments
_____________________________________________________________
Brownie, you're doing a heckuva job.
The question isn't "Why do only 31% still support these incompetents" - the question is, "why the hell is it still that high?"
WASHINGTON — Hours after Hurricane Katrina hit, former FEMA director Michael Brown dismissed reports that floodwaters had breached New Orleans' levees, and he obsessed over media coverage of his agency, according to newly released e-mails.
At one point early that morning, Brown reported to an aide that he was "sitting in the chair, putting mousse in my hair" while waiting for media interviews to begin.
What total dicks.
0 comments
_____________________________________________________________
Poll vault
(CBS) President Bush and the Republican Congress show nearly record low ratings while Democrats are viewed much more favorably in their performance on the issues that matter most to Americans, according to the latest CBS News/New York Times poll.
Well, that just great. You think - maybe - the Democrats MIGHT just stop acting like their afraid that challenging thi clown will hurt them?
0 comments
Federal Source to ABC News: We Know Who You're Calling
Brian Ross and Richard Esposito Report:
A senior federal law enforcement official tells ABC News the government is tracking the phone numbers we (Brian Ross and Richard Esposito) call in an effort to root out confidential sources.
"It's time for you to get some new cell phones, quick," the source told us in an in-person conversation.
0 comments
Same script.
Ah. So His Incompetence is probably going to use the National Guard to patrol the border. He says it's "only temporary."
Temporary till when? Just after the 2006 elections?
This is typical. God forbid border patrol get done by actual border patrol. That would make sense. Instead, let's assume that the MILITARY doesn't have enough of a role.
The REAL problem is that Bush is too damned incompetent to deal with anything using civilian means - like SANE Presidents always have. Instead, he turns to the military as his tool of choice for absolutely everything.
And pardon me for wondering if President Codpiece isn't still trying to compensate for the cowardice and inadequacy that he showed during Vietnam. Using OTHER people's blood and sweat, of course.
So he will get to dress up in a uniform, strut around, use jeeps and tanks and helicopters and all sorts of neat stuff, and basically play war in a place where there isn't one, and it will make for a great photo-op. He'll get his picture taken with a helicopter. Look, mommy! Don't I look cool?
God, I wish we had a President who was a frigging grown-up, instead of one who is stuck in adolescence and makes America suffer so he can feel impressive.
2 comments
_____________________________________________________________
Sunday, May 14, 2006
Ooops.
I posted the info from Jason Leopold (of truthout) that Rove had been indicted. Not WOULD be - HAD been. I think we would have heard something by now. I guess Leopold's source isn't all that reliable, and it's the last time I post something unsubstantiated from truthout.
Here's hoping that Leopold proves to be right a bit too early anyway.
0 comments
_____________________________________________________________
Saturday, May 13, 2006
Sue the bastards.
If you own stock in any phone companies, it's time to sell short. They could lose billions in class-action lawsuits, and lose MORE money from an exodus of customers.
Two suits have already been filed.
Verizon Sued for Giving NSA Phone Records Attorneys Bruce Afran and Carl Mayer filed the lawsuit Friday afternoon in federal district court in Manhattan, where Verizon is headquartered.
The lawsuit asks the court to stop Verizon from turning over any more records to the NSA without a warrant or consent of the subscriber.
"This is the largest and most vast intrusion of civil liberties we've ever seen in the United States," Afran said of the NSA program.
The lawsuit seeks $1,000 for each violation of the Telecommunications Act, or $5 billion if the case is certified as class-action.
And this is a DIFFERENT one:
Verizon Faces New $20B Suit over NSA Spying Complicity
Upping the ante in what may be a high-stakes legal battle, an Upstate New York lawyer filed a $20 billion class-action lawsuit against Verizon last week, charging that the company violated customer confidentiality in aiding warrantless eavesdropping by a federal spy agency.
Here's the tally of who has and has not violated the privacy of American citizens:
Verizon (land-line), AT&T, and BellSouth have all behaved in a fundamentally Unamerican manner.
On the other hand, Qwest is the only large landline carrier that refused to complied with the Bush's fascist requests. If you have one of the other three, switch to Qwest.
Cellular phones seem largely clean. Verizon Wireless, T-Mobile, Virgin Mobile and Cox all say that they have not provided their records to anyone.
0 comments
_____________________________________________________________
Fitzmas?
Truthout now says that Rove has BEEN indicted, but I don't see it in the tradition media.
0 comments
_____________________________________________________________
Shocked
The NSA Whistleblower says that people are going to be shocked.
[Tice] said he plans to tell the committee staffers the NSA conducted illegal and unconstitutional surveillance of U.S. citizens while he was there with the knowledge of Hayden. … “I think the people I talk to next week are going to be shocked when I tell them what I have to tell them. It’s pretty hard to believe,” Tice said.
I won't be shocked, but it's about time the country got shocked.
0 comments
_____________________________________________________________
Friday, May 12, 2006
According to truthout, Rove has told the White House that he will be indicted.
Within the last week, Karl Rove told President Bush and Chief of Staff Joshua Bolten, as well as a few other high level administration officials, that he will be indicted in the CIA leak case and will immediately resign his White House job when the special counsel publicly announces the charges against him, according to sources.
0 comments
_____________________________________________________________
Raid kills roaches dead.
The FBI has raided the home of Dusty Foggo (NOT the name of a fictional character). The guy who just resigned as the #3 man in the CIA.
I wonder why Goss REALLY resigned. This CAN'T be a coincidence.
Move along, folks, nothing to see here....
0 comments
_____________________________________________________________
Push poll
You may have read - and been shocked - by reports that a poll says that 2/3rds of Americans have no problem with the Bush administration mining phone calls.
Here is the actual question:
It's been reported that the National Security Agency has been collecting the phone call records of tens of millions of Americans. It then analyzes calling patterns in an effort to identify possible terrorism suspects, without listening to or recording the conversations. Would you consider this an acceptable or unacceptable way for the federal government to investigate terrorism? Do you feel that way strongly or somewhat?
Note that the question itself ASSUMES that the act is benign, and states things as fact that WE DON'T KNOW (such as that conversations are not listened to or recorded). The question is framed in terms of fighting terrorism, falsifies the known facts, fails to mention the questionable legality, and was obviously thrown together on the fly. For many poll respondents, this was probably the first time they HEARD about it.
This is a push poll.
And I suspect that other polls released in the coming days will show very different results.
0 comments
_____________________________________________________________
Today?
Tweetybird Matthews thinks Rove might be indicted today.
From Imus this morning"
Transcript:
MATTHEWS: If, however, something happens with Karl Rove, we’re going to go to general quarters around here.
IMUS: What does that mean?
MATTHEWS: Meaning we will be taping probably on Saturday or late night because everything will change. Last time, when he picked up Scooter, when he nailed him 30 years of charges, that happened on 1:00 on a Friday. So we don’t know when it might happen, if it’s going happen.
IMUS: Are we expecting something with Karl Rove today?
MATTHEWS: Well, it could be today. It could be next week. Everybody is buzzing about when or if. It’s a big if, big when. There is a lot of talk because he is still being interviewing by the special prosecutor. He keeps being hauled before the grand jury. So something is going on here with the special prosecutor. We don’t know whether he is going to clear him or nail him.
0 comments
_____________________________________________________________
GENEVA (Reuters) - The United States has again refused the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) access to terrorism suspects held in secret detention centers, the humanitarian agency said on Friday.
Isn't it interesting that the whole motto of this administration is "If you have done nothing wrong, you have nothing to hide"?
Explains why they hide everything.
0 comments
_____________________________________________________________
Headline says it all
Bush denies spying infringes on privacy
Roll THAT phrase around in your head a few times.
Lewis Carroll wishes HE had thought of that one, I'm sure
0 comments
_____________________________________________________________
Thursday, May 11, 2006
Gonzales Lied
As surely as weasels are weasels.
From the Muckraker:
Did Gonzales Mislead Congress about NSA Program?
By Paul Kiel - May 11, 2006, 2:32 PM
Reacting to today's news that the NSA is "amassing information about the calls of ordinary Americans," Reps. Bennie G. Thompson (D-MS) and Rep. Zoe Lofgren (D-CA) have put out a statement questioning the legality of the program.
Their statement contains this: "when the Attorney General was forced to testify before the House Judiciary Committee a few weeks ago, he misled the Committee about the existence of the program."
Here's what they're referring to. On April 6, 2006, Attorney General Alberto Gonzales testified before the House Judiciary Committee, and in one exchange, Rep. Gerald Nadler (D-NY) tried to nail him down:
NADLER: Number two, can you assure us that there is no warrantless surveillance of calls between two Americans within the United States?
GONZALES: That is not what the president has authorized.
NADLER: Can you assure us that it's not being done?
GONZALES: As I indicated in response to an earlier question, no technology is perfect.
NADLER: OK.
GONZALES: We do have minimization procedures in place...
NADLER: But you're not doing that deliberately?
GONZALES: That is correct.
0 comments
_____________________________________________________________
"There's no doubt in my mind there are safeguards in place to make sure the program focuses on calls coming from outside the United States in, with an al Qaeda -- from a -- with a belief that there's an al Qaeda person making the call to somebody here in the States, or vice versa -- but not domestic calls." - Bush, 01/26/06.
0 comments
_____________________________________________________________
Bush lies some more
President Deer-In-The-Headlights decided to throw a little gasoline on the fire:
Facing intense criticism from Congress, President Bush did not confirm the work of the National Security Agency but sought to assure Americans that their privacy is being "fiercely protected."
"We are not mining or trolling through the personal lives of innocent Americans," Bush said before leaving for a commencement address at Mississippi Gulf Coast Community College in Biloxi.
Well, gee whiz, codpiece-for-brains, you ALSO said that you were only listening to INTERNATIONAL Communications. You ALSO said it was only a FEW HUNDRED.
Liar.
Every new story that comes out shows that the administration lied about the last story that came out but they say that we should believe them this time.
NOBODY is that gullible.
By the way, giving the White House info on yur phone calls was VOLUNTARY on the part of the phone companies. Qwest was the ONLY major carrier to refuse. So if you are with AT&T or Verizon, switch to Qwest. And call them and let them know why. DEMAND that they respect your privacy.
0 comments
_____________________________________________________________
It's all true
Everything you thought MIGHT be true IS.
NSA has massive database of Americans' phone calls
The National Security Agency has been secretly collecting the phone call records of tens of millions of Americans, using data provided by AT&T, Verizon and BellSouth, people with direct knowledge of the arrangement told USA TODAY.
The NSA program reaches into homes and businesses across the nation by amassing information about the calls of ordinary Americans — most of whom aren't suspected of any crime. This program does not involve the NSA listening to or recording conversations. But the spy agency is using the data to analyze calling patterns in an effort to detect terrorist activity, sources said in separate interviews.
For the customers of these companies, it means that the government has detailed records of calls they made — across town or across the country — to family members, co-workers, business contacts and others.
The sources would talk only under a guarantee of anonymity because the NSA program is secret.
0 comments
_____________________________________________________________
Wednesday, May 10, 2006
Colbert - SOMEBODY gets it.
Here's a great article from the TV Critic at the Chicago Sun-Times about Colbert's public evisceration of His Ignorance. This may be the only thing I have read in the mainstream press that actually understood the reaction to Colbert's speech.
How did Bush tickle reporters? He made fun of the fact that he can barely speak English (he is quite simply the worst communicator of all U.S. presidents), that our vice president is a heartless face-shooter, and that Bush is basically an idiot.
Ha ha, our "war president" knows he's a village idiot? To members of the White House press corps, that's some real funny stuff. To non-insiders, this looked like another example of good old boys and gals slapping each other on the back.
Colbert's routine was more remarkable for its unique and creative brazenness. He joked that Bush's presidency is like the Hindenburg; that Bush's wiretappers were monitoring this very event, and that the White House press corps, sitting in front of Colbert, gave Bush a free pass, scandal after scandal, until recently (when his polls numbers dropped).
How's this for a newsworthy lead? It was perhaps the first time in Bush's tenure that the president was forced to sit and listen to any American cite the litany of criminal and corruption allegations that have piled up against his administration. And mouth-tense Bush and first lady Laura Bush fled as soon as possible afterward.
From whom were they fleeing? A star comedian pretending to be a Fox News-like blowhard doing a sort of performance art that America hasn't witnessed nationally since the days of Andy Kaufman. Even if Colbert's bit had been reported as a train wreck, that would have sufficed. Instead, shocking lines like the following were barely covered by any traditional organ except industry magazine Editor & Publisher: "I stand by" Bush, Colbert cracked, "because he stands for things. Not only for things, he stands on things. Things like aircraft carriers and rubble, and recently flooded city squares. And that sends a strong message that no matter what happens to America, she will always rebound with the most powerfully staged photo ops in the world."
For TV reporters in particular to quote that gruesome line would be an agreement with Colbert, that they helped Bush mix politics with corruption from the ashes of 9/11 ("aircraft carriers and rubble"), and failed to see through Bush's politicization of the drowning of an American city after a hurricane ("recently flooded city squares").
0 comments
_____________________________________________________________
Brownie, you're doing a heckuva job.
The question isn't "Why do only 31% still support these incompetents" - the question is, "why the hell is it still that high?"
WASHINGTON — Hours after Hurricane Katrina hit, former FEMA director Michael Brown dismissed reports that floodwaters had breached New Orleans' levees, and he obsessed over media coverage of his agency, according to newly released e-mails.
At one point early that morning, Brown reported to an aide that he was "sitting in the chair, putting mousse in my hair" while waiting for media interviews to begin.
What total dicks.
0 comments
_____________________________________________________________
Poll vault
(CBS) President Bush and the Republican Congress show nearly record low ratings while Democrats are viewed much more favorably in their performance on the issues that matter most to Americans, according to the latest CBS News/New York Times poll.
Well, that just great. You think - maybe - the Democrats MIGHT just stop acting like their afraid that challenging thi clown will hurt them?
0 comments
Temporary till when? Just after the 2006 elections?
This is typical. God forbid border patrol get done by actual border patrol. That would make sense. Instead, let's assume that the MILITARY doesn't have enough of a role.
The REAL problem is that Bush is too damned incompetent to deal with anything using civilian means - like SANE Presidents always have. Instead, he turns to the military as his tool of choice for absolutely everything.
And pardon me for wondering if President Codpiece isn't still trying to compensate for the cowardice and inadequacy that he showed during Vietnam. Using OTHER people's blood and sweat, of course.
So he will get to dress up in a uniform, strut around, use jeeps and tanks and helicopters and all sorts of neat stuff, and basically play war in a place where there isn't one, and it will make for a great photo-op. He'll get his picture taken with a helicopter. Look, mommy! Don't I look cool?
God, I wish we had a President who was a frigging grown-up, instead of one who is stuck in adolescence and makes America suffer so he can feel impressive.
2 comments
Ooops.
I posted the info from Jason Leopold (of truthout) that Rove had been indicted. Not WOULD be - HAD been. I think we would have heard something by now. I guess Leopold's source isn't all that reliable, and it's the last time I post something unsubstantiated from truthout.
Here's hoping that Leopold proves to be right a bit too early anyway.
0 comments
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Saturday, May 13, 2006
Sue the bastards.
If you own stock in any phone companies, it's time to sell short. They could lose billions in class-action lawsuits, and lose MORE money from an exodus of customers.
Two suits have already been filed.
Verizon Sued for Giving NSA Phone Records Attorneys Bruce Afran and Carl Mayer filed the lawsuit Friday afternoon in federal district court in Manhattan, where Verizon is headquartered.
The lawsuit asks the court to stop Verizon from turning over any more records to the NSA without a warrant or consent of the subscriber.
"This is the largest and most vast intrusion of civil liberties we've ever seen in the United States," Afran said of the NSA program.
The lawsuit seeks $1,000 for each violation of the Telecommunications Act, or $5 billion if the case is certified as class-action.
And this is a DIFFERENT one:
Verizon Faces New $20B Suit over NSA Spying Complicity
Upping the ante in what may be a high-stakes legal battle, an Upstate New York lawyer filed a $20 billion class-action lawsuit against Verizon last week, charging that the company violated customer confidentiality in aiding warrantless eavesdropping by a federal spy agency.
Here's the tally of who has and has not violated the privacy of American citizens:
Verizon (land-line), AT&T, and BellSouth have all behaved in a fundamentally Unamerican manner.
On the other hand, Qwest is the only large landline carrier that refused to complied with the Bush's fascist requests. If you have one of the other three, switch to Qwest.
Cellular phones seem largely clean. Verizon Wireless, T-Mobile, Virgin Mobile and Cox all say that they have not provided their records to anyone.
0 comments
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Fitzmas?
Truthout now says that Rove has BEEN indicted, but I don't see it in the tradition media.
0 comments
_____________________________________________________________
Shocked
The NSA Whistleblower says that people are going to be shocked.
[Tice] said he plans to tell the committee staffers the NSA conducted illegal and unconstitutional surveillance of U.S. citizens while he was there with the knowledge of Hayden. … “I think the people I talk to next week are going to be shocked when I tell them what I have to tell them. It’s pretty hard to believe,” Tice said.
I won't be shocked, but it's about time the country got shocked.
0 comments
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Friday, May 12, 2006
According to truthout, Rove has told the White House that he will be indicted.
Within the last week, Karl Rove told President Bush and Chief of Staff Joshua Bolten, as well as a few other high level administration officials, that he will be indicted in the CIA leak case and will immediately resign his White House job when the special counsel publicly announces the charges against him, according to sources.
0 comments
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Raid kills roaches dead.
The FBI has raided the home of Dusty Foggo (NOT the name of a fictional character). The guy who just resigned as the #3 man in the CIA.
I wonder why Goss REALLY resigned. This CAN'T be a coincidence.
Move along, folks, nothing to see here....
0 comments
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Push poll
You may have read - and been shocked - by reports that a poll says that 2/3rds of Americans have no problem with the Bush administration mining phone calls.
Here is the actual question:
It's been reported that the National Security Agency has been collecting the phone call records of tens of millions of Americans. It then analyzes calling patterns in an effort to identify possible terrorism suspects, without listening to or recording the conversations. Would you consider this an acceptable or unacceptable way for the federal government to investigate terrorism? Do you feel that way strongly or somewhat?
Note that the question itself ASSUMES that the act is benign, and states things as fact that WE DON'T KNOW (such as that conversations are not listened to or recorded). The question is framed in terms of fighting terrorism, falsifies the known facts, fails to mention the questionable legality, and was obviously thrown together on the fly. For many poll respondents, this was probably the first time they HEARD about it.
This is a push poll.
And I suspect that other polls released in the coming days will show very different results.
0 comments
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Today?
Tweetybird Matthews thinks Rove might be indicted today.
From Imus this morning"
Transcript:
MATTHEWS: If, however, something happens with Karl Rove, we’re going to go to general quarters around here.
IMUS: What does that mean?
MATTHEWS: Meaning we will be taping probably on Saturday or late night because everything will change. Last time, when he picked up Scooter, when he nailed him 30 years of charges, that happened on 1:00 on a Friday. So we don’t know when it might happen, if it’s going happen.
IMUS: Are we expecting something with Karl Rove today?
MATTHEWS: Well, it could be today. It could be next week. Everybody is buzzing about when or if. It’s a big if, big when. There is a lot of talk because he is still being interviewing by the special prosecutor. He keeps being hauled before the grand jury. So something is going on here with the special prosecutor. We don’t know whether he is going to clear him or nail him.
0 comments
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GENEVA (Reuters) - The United States has again refused the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) access to terrorism suspects held in secret detention centers, the humanitarian agency said on Friday.
Isn't it interesting that the whole motto of this administration is "If you have done nothing wrong, you have nothing to hide"?
Explains why they hide everything.
0 comments
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Headline says it all
Bush denies spying infringes on privacy
Roll THAT phrase around in your head a few times.
Lewis Carroll wishes HE had thought of that one, I'm sure
0 comments
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Thursday, May 11, 2006
Gonzales Lied
As surely as weasels are weasels.
From the Muckraker:
Did Gonzales Mislead Congress about NSA Program?
By Paul Kiel - May 11, 2006, 2:32 PM
Reacting to today's news that the NSA is "amassing information about the calls of ordinary Americans," Reps. Bennie G. Thompson (D-MS) and Rep. Zoe Lofgren (D-CA) have put out a statement questioning the legality of the program.
Their statement contains this: "when the Attorney General was forced to testify before the House Judiciary Committee a few weeks ago, he misled the Committee about the existence of the program."
Here's what they're referring to. On April 6, 2006, Attorney General Alberto Gonzales testified before the House Judiciary Committee, and in one exchange, Rep. Gerald Nadler (D-NY) tried to nail him down:
NADLER: Number two, can you assure us that there is no warrantless surveillance of calls between two Americans within the United States?
GONZALES: That is not what the president has authorized.
NADLER: Can you assure us that it's not being done?
GONZALES: As I indicated in response to an earlier question, no technology is perfect.
NADLER: OK.
GONZALES: We do have minimization procedures in place...
NADLER: But you're not doing that deliberately?
GONZALES: That is correct.
0 comments
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"There's no doubt in my mind there are safeguards in place to make sure the program focuses on calls coming from outside the United States in, with an al Qaeda -- from a -- with a belief that there's an al Qaeda person making the call to somebody here in the States, or vice versa -- but not domestic calls." - Bush, 01/26/06.
0 comments
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Bush lies some more
President Deer-In-The-Headlights decided to throw a little gasoline on the fire:
Facing intense criticism from Congress, President Bush did not confirm the work of the National Security Agency but sought to assure Americans that their privacy is being "fiercely protected."
"We are not mining or trolling through the personal lives of innocent Americans," Bush said before leaving for a commencement address at Mississippi Gulf Coast Community College in Biloxi.
Well, gee whiz, codpiece-for-brains, you ALSO said that you were only listening to INTERNATIONAL Communications. You ALSO said it was only a FEW HUNDRED.
Liar.
Every new story that comes out shows that the administration lied about the last story that came out but they say that we should believe them this time.
NOBODY is that gullible.
By the way, giving the White House info on yur phone calls was VOLUNTARY on the part of the phone companies. Qwest was the ONLY major carrier to refuse. So if you are with AT&T or Verizon, switch to Qwest. And call them and let them know why. DEMAND that they respect your privacy.
0 comments
_____________________________________________________________
It's all true
Everything you thought MIGHT be true IS.
NSA has massive database of Americans' phone calls
The National Security Agency has been secretly collecting the phone call records of tens of millions of Americans, using data provided by AT&T, Verizon and BellSouth, people with direct knowledge of the arrangement told USA TODAY.
The NSA program reaches into homes and businesses across the nation by amassing information about the calls of ordinary Americans — most of whom aren't suspected of any crime. This program does not involve the NSA listening to or recording conversations. But the spy agency is using the data to analyze calling patterns in an effort to detect terrorist activity, sources said in separate interviews.
For the customers of these companies, it means that the government has detailed records of calls they made — across town or across the country — to family members, co-workers, business contacts and others.
The sources would talk only under a guarantee of anonymity because the NSA program is secret.
0 comments
_____________________________________________________________
Wednesday, May 10, 2006
Colbert - SOMEBODY gets it.
Here's a great article from the TV Critic at the Chicago Sun-Times about Colbert's public evisceration of His Ignorance. This may be the only thing I have read in the mainstream press that actually understood the reaction to Colbert's speech.
How did Bush tickle reporters? He made fun of the fact that he can barely speak English (he is quite simply the worst communicator of all U.S. presidents), that our vice president is a heartless face-shooter, and that Bush is basically an idiot.
Ha ha, our "war president" knows he's a village idiot? To members of the White House press corps, that's some real funny stuff. To non-insiders, this looked like another example of good old boys and gals slapping each other on the back.
Colbert's routine was more remarkable for its unique and creative brazenness. He joked that Bush's presidency is like the Hindenburg; that Bush's wiretappers were monitoring this very event, and that the White House press corps, sitting in front of Colbert, gave Bush a free pass, scandal after scandal, until recently (when his polls numbers dropped).
How's this for a newsworthy lead? It was perhaps the first time in Bush's tenure that the president was forced to sit and listen to any American cite the litany of criminal and corruption allegations that have piled up against his administration. And mouth-tense Bush and first lady Laura Bush fled as soon as possible afterward.
From whom were they fleeing? A star comedian pretending to be a Fox News-like blowhard doing a sort of performance art that America hasn't witnessed nationally since the days of Andy Kaufman. Even if Colbert's bit had been reported as a train wreck, that would have sufficed. Instead, shocking lines like the following were barely covered by any traditional organ except industry magazine Editor & Publisher: "I stand by" Bush, Colbert cracked, "because he stands for things. Not only for things, he stands on things. Things like aircraft carriers and rubble, and recently flooded city squares. And that sends a strong message that no matter what happens to America, she will always rebound with the most powerfully staged photo ops in the world."
For TV reporters in particular to quote that gruesome line would be an agreement with Colbert, that they helped Bush mix politics with corruption from the ashes of 9/11 ("aircraft carriers and rubble"), and failed to see through Bush's politicization of the drowning of an American city after a hurricane ("recently flooded city squares").
0 comments
_____________________________________________________________
Brownie, you're doing a heckuva job.
The question isn't "Why do only 31% still support these incompetents" - the question is, "why the hell is it still that high?"
WASHINGTON — Hours after Hurricane Katrina hit, former FEMA director Michael Brown dismissed reports that floodwaters had breached New Orleans' levees, and he obsessed over media coverage of his agency, according to newly released e-mails.
At one point early that morning, Brown reported to an aide that he was "sitting in the chair, putting mousse in my hair" while waiting for media interviews to begin.
What total dicks.
0 comments
_____________________________________________________________
Poll vault
(CBS) President Bush and the Republican Congress show nearly record low ratings while Democrats are viewed much more favorably in their performance on the issues that matter most to Americans, according to the latest CBS News/New York Times poll.
Well, that just great. You think - maybe - the Democrats MIGHT just stop acting like their afraid that challenging thi clown will hurt them?
0 comments
Here's hoping that Leopold proves to be right a bit too early anyway.
0 comments
Sue the bastards.
If you own stock in any phone companies, it's time to sell short. They could lose billions in class-action lawsuits, and lose MORE money from an exodus of customers.
Two suits have already been filed.
Verizon Sued for Giving NSA Phone Records Attorneys Bruce Afran and Carl Mayer filed the lawsuit Friday afternoon in federal district court in Manhattan, where Verizon is headquartered.
The lawsuit asks the court to stop Verizon from turning over any more records to the NSA without a warrant or consent of the subscriber.
"This is the largest and most vast intrusion of civil liberties we've ever seen in the United States," Afran said of the NSA program.
The lawsuit seeks $1,000 for each violation of the Telecommunications Act, or $5 billion if the case is certified as class-action.
And this is a DIFFERENT one:
Verizon Faces New $20B Suit over NSA Spying Complicity
Upping the ante in what may be a high-stakes legal battle, an Upstate New York lawyer filed a $20 billion class-action lawsuit against Verizon last week, charging that the company violated customer confidentiality in aiding warrantless eavesdropping by a federal spy agency.
Here's the tally of who has and has not violated the privacy of American citizens:
Verizon (land-line), AT&T, and BellSouth have all behaved in a fundamentally Unamerican manner.
On the other hand, Qwest is the only large landline carrier that refused to complied with the Bush's fascist requests. If you have one of the other three, switch to Qwest.
Cellular phones seem largely clean. Verizon Wireless, T-Mobile, Virgin Mobile and Cox all say that they have not provided their records to anyone.
0 comments
_____________________________________________________________
Fitzmas?
Truthout now says that Rove has BEEN indicted, but I don't see it in the tradition media.
0 comments
_____________________________________________________________
Shocked
The NSA Whistleblower says that people are going to be shocked.
[Tice] said he plans to tell the committee staffers the NSA conducted illegal and unconstitutional surveillance of U.S. citizens while he was there with the knowledge of Hayden. … “I think the people I talk to next week are going to be shocked when I tell them what I have to tell them. It’s pretty hard to believe,” Tice said.
I won't be shocked, but it's about time the country got shocked.
0 comments
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Friday, May 12, 2006
According to truthout, Rove has told the White House that he will be indicted.
Within the last week, Karl Rove told President Bush and Chief of Staff Joshua Bolten, as well as a few other high level administration officials, that he will be indicted in the CIA leak case and will immediately resign his White House job when the special counsel publicly announces the charges against him, according to sources.
0 comments
_____________________________________________________________
Raid kills roaches dead.
The FBI has raided the home of Dusty Foggo (NOT the name of a fictional character). The guy who just resigned as the #3 man in the CIA.
I wonder why Goss REALLY resigned. This CAN'T be a coincidence.
Move along, folks, nothing to see here....
0 comments
_____________________________________________________________
Push poll
You may have read - and been shocked - by reports that a poll says that 2/3rds of Americans have no problem with the Bush administration mining phone calls.
Here is the actual question:
It's been reported that the National Security Agency has been collecting the phone call records of tens of millions of Americans. It then analyzes calling patterns in an effort to identify possible terrorism suspects, without listening to or recording the conversations. Would you consider this an acceptable or unacceptable way for the federal government to investigate terrorism? Do you feel that way strongly or somewhat?
Note that the question itself ASSUMES that the act is benign, and states things as fact that WE DON'T KNOW (such as that conversations are not listened to or recorded). The question is framed in terms of fighting terrorism, falsifies the known facts, fails to mention the questionable legality, and was obviously thrown together on the fly. For many poll respondents, this was probably the first time they HEARD about it.
This is a push poll.
And I suspect that other polls released in the coming days will show very different results.
0 comments
_____________________________________________________________
Today?
Tweetybird Matthews thinks Rove might be indicted today.
From Imus this morning"
Transcript:
MATTHEWS: If, however, something happens with Karl Rove, we’re going to go to general quarters around here.
IMUS: What does that mean?
MATTHEWS: Meaning we will be taping probably on Saturday or late night because everything will change. Last time, when he picked up Scooter, when he nailed him 30 years of charges, that happened on 1:00 on a Friday. So we don’t know when it might happen, if it’s going happen.
IMUS: Are we expecting something with Karl Rove today?
MATTHEWS: Well, it could be today. It could be next week. Everybody is buzzing about when or if. It’s a big if, big when. There is a lot of talk because he is still being interviewing by the special prosecutor. He keeps being hauled before the grand jury. So something is going on here with the special prosecutor. We don’t know whether he is going to clear him or nail him.
0 comments
_____________________________________________________________
GENEVA (Reuters) - The United States has again refused the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) access to terrorism suspects held in secret detention centers, the humanitarian agency said on Friday.
Isn't it interesting that the whole motto of this administration is "If you have done nothing wrong, you have nothing to hide"?
Explains why they hide everything.
0 comments
_____________________________________________________________
Headline says it all
Bush denies spying infringes on privacy
Roll THAT phrase around in your head a few times.
Lewis Carroll wishes HE had thought of that one, I'm sure
0 comments
_____________________________________________________________
Thursday, May 11, 2006
Gonzales Lied
As surely as weasels are weasels.
From the Muckraker:
Did Gonzales Mislead Congress about NSA Program?
By Paul Kiel - May 11, 2006, 2:32 PM
Reacting to today's news that the NSA is "amassing information about the calls of ordinary Americans," Reps. Bennie G. Thompson (D-MS) and Rep. Zoe Lofgren (D-CA) have put out a statement questioning the legality of the program.
Their statement contains this: "when the Attorney General was forced to testify before the House Judiciary Committee a few weeks ago, he misled the Committee about the existence of the program."
Here's what they're referring to. On April 6, 2006, Attorney General Alberto Gonzales testified before the House Judiciary Committee, and in one exchange, Rep. Gerald Nadler (D-NY) tried to nail him down:
NADLER: Number two, can you assure us that there is no warrantless surveillance of calls between two Americans within the United States?
GONZALES: That is not what the president has authorized.
NADLER: Can you assure us that it's not being done?
GONZALES: As I indicated in response to an earlier question, no technology is perfect.
NADLER: OK.
GONZALES: We do have minimization procedures in place...
NADLER: But you're not doing that deliberately?
GONZALES: That is correct.
0 comments
_____________________________________________________________
"There's no doubt in my mind there are safeguards in place to make sure the program focuses on calls coming from outside the United States in, with an al Qaeda -- from a -- with a belief that there's an al Qaeda person making the call to somebody here in the States, or vice versa -- but not domestic calls." - Bush, 01/26/06.
0 comments
_____________________________________________________________
Bush lies some more
President Deer-In-The-Headlights decided to throw a little gasoline on the fire:
Facing intense criticism from Congress, President Bush did not confirm the work of the National Security Agency but sought to assure Americans that their privacy is being "fiercely protected."
"We are not mining or trolling through the personal lives of innocent Americans," Bush said before leaving for a commencement address at Mississippi Gulf Coast Community College in Biloxi.
Well, gee whiz, codpiece-for-brains, you ALSO said that you were only listening to INTERNATIONAL Communications. You ALSO said it was only a FEW HUNDRED.
Liar.
Every new story that comes out shows that the administration lied about the last story that came out but they say that we should believe them this time.
NOBODY is that gullible.
By the way, giving the White House info on yur phone calls was VOLUNTARY on the part of the phone companies. Qwest was the ONLY major carrier to refuse. So if you are with AT&T or Verizon, switch to Qwest. And call them and let them know why. DEMAND that they respect your privacy.
0 comments
_____________________________________________________________
It's all true
Everything you thought MIGHT be true IS.
NSA has massive database of Americans' phone calls
The National Security Agency has been secretly collecting the phone call records of tens of millions of Americans, using data provided by AT&T, Verizon and BellSouth, people with direct knowledge of the arrangement told USA TODAY.
The NSA program reaches into homes and businesses across the nation by amassing information about the calls of ordinary Americans — most of whom aren't suspected of any crime. This program does not involve the NSA listening to or recording conversations. But the spy agency is using the data to analyze calling patterns in an effort to detect terrorist activity, sources said in separate interviews.
For the customers of these companies, it means that the government has detailed records of calls they made — across town or across the country — to family members, co-workers, business contacts and others.
The sources would talk only under a guarantee of anonymity because the NSA program is secret.
0 comments
_____________________________________________________________
Wednesday, May 10, 2006
Colbert - SOMEBODY gets it.
Here's a great article from the TV Critic at the Chicago Sun-Times about Colbert's public evisceration of His Ignorance. This may be the only thing I have read in the mainstream press that actually understood the reaction to Colbert's speech.
How did Bush tickle reporters? He made fun of the fact that he can barely speak English (he is quite simply the worst communicator of all U.S. presidents), that our vice president is a heartless face-shooter, and that Bush is basically an idiot.
Ha ha, our "war president" knows he's a village idiot? To members of the White House press corps, that's some real funny stuff. To non-insiders, this looked like another example of good old boys and gals slapping each other on the back.
Colbert's routine was more remarkable for its unique and creative brazenness. He joked that Bush's presidency is like the Hindenburg; that Bush's wiretappers were monitoring this very event, and that the White House press corps, sitting in front of Colbert, gave Bush a free pass, scandal after scandal, until recently (when his polls numbers dropped).
How's this for a newsworthy lead? It was perhaps the first time in Bush's tenure that the president was forced to sit and listen to any American cite the litany of criminal and corruption allegations that have piled up against his administration. And mouth-tense Bush and first lady Laura Bush fled as soon as possible afterward.
From whom were they fleeing? A star comedian pretending to be a Fox News-like blowhard doing a sort of performance art that America hasn't witnessed nationally since the days of Andy Kaufman. Even if Colbert's bit had been reported as a train wreck, that would have sufficed. Instead, shocking lines like the following were barely covered by any traditional organ except industry magazine Editor & Publisher: "I stand by" Bush, Colbert cracked, "because he stands for things. Not only for things, he stands on things. Things like aircraft carriers and rubble, and recently flooded city squares. And that sends a strong message that no matter what happens to America, she will always rebound with the most powerfully staged photo ops in the world."
For TV reporters in particular to quote that gruesome line would be an agreement with Colbert, that they helped Bush mix politics with corruption from the ashes of 9/11 ("aircraft carriers and rubble"), and failed to see through Bush's politicization of the drowning of an American city after a hurricane ("recently flooded city squares").
0 comments
_____________________________________________________________
Brownie, you're doing a heckuva job.
The question isn't "Why do only 31% still support these incompetents" - the question is, "why the hell is it still that high?"
WASHINGTON — Hours after Hurricane Katrina hit, former FEMA director Michael Brown dismissed reports that floodwaters had breached New Orleans' levees, and he obsessed over media coverage of his agency, according to newly released e-mails.
At one point early that morning, Brown reported to an aide that he was "sitting in the chair, putting mousse in my hair" while waiting for media interviews to begin.
What total dicks.
0 comments
_____________________________________________________________
Poll vault
(CBS) President Bush and the Republican Congress show nearly record low ratings while Democrats are viewed much more favorably in their performance on the issues that matter most to Americans, according to the latest CBS News/New York Times poll.
Well, that just great. You think - maybe - the Democrats MIGHT just stop acting like their afraid that challenging thi clown will hurt them?
0 comments
Two suits have already been filed.
Verizon Sued for Giving NSA Phone Records Attorneys Bruce Afran and Carl Mayer filed the lawsuit Friday afternoon in federal district court in Manhattan, where Verizon is headquartered.
The lawsuit asks the court to stop Verizon from turning over any more records to the NSA without a warrant or consent of the subscriber.
"This is the largest and most vast intrusion of civil liberties we've ever seen in the United States," Afran said of the NSA program.
The lawsuit seeks $1,000 for each violation of the Telecommunications Act, or $5 billion if the case is certified as class-action.
And this is a DIFFERENT one:
Verizon Faces New $20B Suit over NSA Spying Complicity
Upping the ante in what may be a high-stakes legal battle, an Upstate New York lawyer filed a $20 billion class-action lawsuit against Verizon last week, charging that the company violated customer confidentiality in aiding warrantless eavesdropping by a federal spy agency.
Here's the tally of who has and has not violated the privacy of American citizens:
Verizon (land-line), AT&T, and BellSouth have all behaved in a fundamentally Unamerican manner.
On the other hand, Qwest is the only large landline carrier that refused to complied with the Bush's fascist requests. If you have one of the other three, switch to Qwest.
Cellular phones seem largely clean. Verizon Wireless, T-Mobile, Virgin Mobile and Cox all say that they have not provided their records to anyone.
0 comments
Fitzmas?
Truthout now says that Rove has BEEN indicted, but I don't see it in the tradition media.
0 comments
_____________________________________________________________
Shocked
The NSA Whistleblower says that people are going to be shocked.
[Tice] said he plans to tell the committee staffers the NSA conducted illegal and unconstitutional surveillance of U.S. citizens while he was there with the knowledge of Hayden. … “I think the people I talk to next week are going to be shocked when I tell them what I have to tell them. It’s pretty hard to believe,” Tice said.
I won't be shocked, but it's about time the country got shocked.
0 comments
_____________________________________________________________
Friday, May 12, 2006
According to truthout, Rove has told the White House that he will be indicted.
Within the last week, Karl Rove told President Bush and Chief of Staff Joshua Bolten, as well as a few other high level administration officials, that he will be indicted in the CIA leak case and will immediately resign his White House job when the special counsel publicly announces the charges against him, according to sources.
0 comments
_____________________________________________________________
Raid kills roaches dead.
The FBI has raided the home of Dusty Foggo (NOT the name of a fictional character). The guy who just resigned as the #3 man in the CIA.
I wonder why Goss REALLY resigned. This CAN'T be a coincidence.
Move along, folks, nothing to see here....
0 comments
_____________________________________________________________
Push poll
You may have read - and been shocked - by reports that a poll says that 2/3rds of Americans have no problem with the Bush administration mining phone calls.
Here is the actual question:
It's been reported that the National Security Agency has been collecting the phone call records of tens of millions of Americans. It then analyzes calling patterns in an effort to identify possible terrorism suspects, without listening to or recording the conversations. Would you consider this an acceptable or unacceptable way for the federal government to investigate terrorism? Do you feel that way strongly or somewhat?
Note that the question itself ASSUMES that the act is benign, and states things as fact that WE DON'T KNOW (such as that conversations are not listened to or recorded). The question is framed in terms of fighting terrorism, falsifies the known facts, fails to mention the questionable legality, and was obviously thrown together on the fly. For many poll respondents, this was probably the first time they HEARD about it.
This is a push poll.
And I suspect that other polls released in the coming days will show very different results.
0 comments
_____________________________________________________________
Today?
Tweetybird Matthews thinks Rove might be indicted today.
From Imus this morning"
Transcript:
MATTHEWS: If, however, something happens with Karl Rove, we’re going to go to general quarters around here.
IMUS: What does that mean?
MATTHEWS: Meaning we will be taping probably on Saturday or late night because everything will change. Last time, when he picked up Scooter, when he nailed him 30 years of charges, that happened on 1:00 on a Friday. So we don’t know when it might happen, if it’s going happen.
IMUS: Are we expecting something with Karl Rove today?
MATTHEWS: Well, it could be today. It could be next week. Everybody is buzzing about when or if. It’s a big if, big when. There is a lot of talk because he is still being interviewing by the special prosecutor. He keeps being hauled before the grand jury. So something is going on here with the special prosecutor. We don’t know whether he is going to clear him or nail him.
0 comments
_____________________________________________________________
GENEVA (Reuters) - The United States has again refused the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) access to terrorism suspects held in secret detention centers, the humanitarian agency said on Friday.
Isn't it interesting that the whole motto of this administration is "If you have done nothing wrong, you have nothing to hide"?
Explains why they hide everything.
0 comments
_____________________________________________________________
Headline says it all
Bush denies spying infringes on privacy
Roll THAT phrase around in your head a few times.
Lewis Carroll wishes HE had thought of that one, I'm sure
0 comments
_____________________________________________________________
Thursday, May 11, 2006
Gonzales Lied
As surely as weasels are weasels.
From the Muckraker:
Did Gonzales Mislead Congress about NSA Program?
By Paul Kiel - May 11, 2006, 2:32 PM
Reacting to today's news that the NSA is "amassing information about the calls of ordinary Americans," Reps. Bennie G. Thompson (D-MS) and Rep. Zoe Lofgren (D-CA) have put out a statement questioning the legality of the program.
Their statement contains this: "when the Attorney General was forced to testify before the House Judiciary Committee a few weeks ago, he misled the Committee about the existence of the program."
Here's what they're referring to. On April 6, 2006, Attorney General Alberto Gonzales testified before the House Judiciary Committee, and in one exchange, Rep. Gerald Nadler (D-NY) tried to nail him down:
NADLER: Number two, can you assure us that there is no warrantless surveillance of calls between two Americans within the United States?
GONZALES: That is not what the president has authorized.
NADLER: Can you assure us that it's not being done?
GONZALES: As I indicated in response to an earlier question, no technology is perfect.
NADLER: OK.
GONZALES: We do have minimization procedures in place...
NADLER: But you're not doing that deliberately?
GONZALES: That is correct.
0 comments
_____________________________________________________________
"There's no doubt in my mind there are safeguards in place to make sure the program focuses on calls coming from outside the United States in, with an al Qaeda -- from a -- with a belief that there's an al Qaeda person making the call to somebody here in the States, or vice versa -- but not domestic calls." - Bush, 01/26/06.
0 comments
_____________________________________________________________
Bush lies some more
President Deer-In-The-Headlights decided to throw a little gasoline on the fire:
Facing intense criticism from Congress, President Bush did not confirm the work of the National Security Agency but sought to assure Americans that their privacy is being "fiercely protected."
"We are not mining or trolling through the personal lives of innocent Americans," Bush said before leaving for a commencement address at Mississippi Gulf Coast Community College in Biloxi.
Well, gee whiz, codpiece-for-brains, you ALSO said that you were only listening to INTERNATIONAL Communications. You ALSO said it was only a FEW HUNDRED.
Liar.
Every new story that comes out shows that the administration lied about the last story that came out but they say that we should believe them this time.
NOBODY is that gullible.
By the way, giving the White House info on yur phone calls was VOLUNTARY on the part of the phone companies. Qwest was the ONLY major carrier to refuse. So if you are with AT&T or Verizon, switch to Qwest. And call them and let them know why. DEMAND that they respect your privacy.
0 comments
_____________________________________________________________
It's all true
Everything you thought MIGHT be true IS.
NSA has massive database of Americans' phone calls
The National Security Agency has been secretly collecting the phone call records of tens of millions of Americans, using data provided by AT&T, Verizon and BellSouth, people with direct knowledge of the arrangement told USA TODAY.
The NSA program reaches into homes and businesses across the nation by amassing information about the calls of ordinary Americans — most of whom aren't suspected of any crime. This program does not involve the NSA listening to or recording conversations. But the spy agency is using the data to analyze calling patterns in an effort to detect terrorist activity, sources said in separate interviews.
For the customers of these companies, it means that the government has detailed records of calls they made — across town or across the country — to family members, co-workers, business contacts and others.
The sources would talk only under a guarantee of anonymity because the NSA program is secret.
0 comments
_____________________________________________________________
Wednesday, May 10, 2006
Colbert - SOMEBODY gets it.
Here's a great article from the TV Critic at the Chicago Sun-Times about Colbert's public evisceration of His Ignorance. This may be the only thing I have read in the mainstream press that actually understood the reaction to Colbert's speech.
How did Bush tickle reporters? He made fun of the fact that he can barely speak English (he is quite simply the worst communicator of all U.S. presidents), that our vice president is a heartless face-shooter, and that Bush is basically an idiot.
Ha ha, our "war president" knows he's a village idiot? To members of the White House press corps, that's some real funny stuff. To non-insiders, this looked like another example of good old boys and gals slapping each other on the back.
Colbert's routine was more remarkable for its unique and creative brazenness. He joked that Bush's presidency is like the Hindenburg; that Bush's wiretappers were monitoring this very event, and that the White House press corps, sitting in front of Colbert, gave Bush a free pass, scandal after scandal, until recently (when his polls numbers dropped).
How's this for a newsworthy lead? It was perhaps the first time in Bush's tenure that the president was forced to sit and listen to any American cite the litany of criminal and corruption allegations that have piled up against his administration. And mouth-tense Bush and first lady Laura Bush fled as soon as possible afterward.
From whom were they fleeing? A star comedian pretending to be a Fox News-like blowhard doing a sort of performance art that America hasn't witnessed nationally since the days of Andy Kaufman. Even if Colbert's bit had been reported as a train wreck, that would have sufficed. Instead, shocking lines like the following were barely covered by any traditional organ except industry magazine Editor & Publisher: "I stand by" Bush, Colbert cracked, "because he stands for things. Not only for things, he stands on things. Things like aircraft carriers and rubble, and recently flooded city squares. And that sends a strong message that no matter what happens to America, she will always rebound with the most powerfully staged photo ops in the world."
For TV reporters in particular to quote that gruesome line would be an agreement with Colbert, that they helped Bush mix politics with corruption from the ashes of 9/11 ("aircraft carriers and rubble"), and failed to see through Bush's politicization of the drowning of an American city after a hurricane ("recently flooded city squares").
0 comments
_____________________________________________________________
Brownie, you're doing a heckuva job.
The question isn't "Why do only 31% still support these incompetents" - the question is, "why the hell is it still that high?"
WASHINGTON — Hours after Hurricane Katrina hit, former FEMA director Michael Brown dismissed reports that floodwaters had breached New Orleans' levees, and he obsessed over media coverage of his agency, according to newly released e-mails.
At one point early that morning, Brown reported to an aide that he was "sitting in the chair, putting mousse in my hair" while waiting for media interviews to begin.
What total dicks.
0 comments
_____________________________________________________________
Poll vault
(CBS) President Bush and the Republican Congress show nearly record low ratings while Democrats are viewed much more favorably in their performance on the issues that matter most to Americans, according to the latest CBS News/New York Times poll.
Well, that just great. You think - maybe - the Democrats MIGHT just stop acting like their afraid that challenging thi clown will hurt them?
0 comments
0 comments
Shocked
The NSA Whistleblower says that people are going to be shocked.
[Tice] said he plans to tell the committee staffers the NSA conducted illegal and unconstitutional surveillance of U.S. citizens while he was there with the knowledge of Hayden. … “I think the people I talk to next week are going to be shocked when I tell them what I have to tell them. It’s pretty hard to believe,” Tice said.
I won't be shocked, but it's about time the country got shocked.
0 comments
_____________________________________________________________
Friday, May 12, 2006
According to truthout, Rove has told the White House that he will be indicted.
Within the last week, Karl Rove told President Bush and Chief of Staff Joshua Bolten, as well as a few other high level administration officials, that he will be indicted in the CIA leak case and will immediately resign his White House job when the special counsel publicly announces the charges against him, according to sources.
0 comments
_____________________________________________________________
Raid kills roaches dead.
The FBI has raided the home of Dusty Foggo (NOT the name of a fictional character). The guy who just resigned as the #3 man in the CIA.
I wonder why Goss REALLY resigned. This CAN'T be a coincidence.
Move along, folks, nothing to see here....
0 comments
_____________________________________________________________
Push poll
You may have read - and been shocked - by reports that a poll says that 2/3rds of Americans have no problem with the Bush administration mining phone calls.
Here is the actual question:
It's been reported that the National Security Agency has been collecting the phone call records of tens of millions of Americans. It then analyzes calling patterns in an effort to identify possible terrorism suspects, without listening to or recording the conversations. Would you consider this an acceptable or unacceptable way for the federal government to investigate terrorism? Do you feel that way strongly or somewhat?
Note that the question itself ASSUMES that the act is benign, and states things as fact that WE DON'T KNOW (such as that conversations are not listened to or recorded). The question is framed in terms of fighting terrorism, falsifies the known facts, fails to mention the questionable legality, and was obviously thrown together on the fly. For many poll respondents, this was probably the first time they HEARD about it.
This is a push poll.
And I suspect that other polls released in the coming days will show very different results.
0 comments
_____________________________________________________________
Today?
Tweetybird Matthews thinks Rove might be indicted today.
From Imus this morning"
Transcript:
MATTHEWS: If, however, something happens with Karl Rove, we’re going to go to general quarters around here.
IMUS: What does that mean?
MATTHEWS: Meaning we will be taping probably on Saturday or late night because everything will change. Last time, when he picked up Scooter, when he nailed him 30 years of charges, that happened on 1:00 on a Friday. So we don’t know when it might happen, if it’s going happen.
IMUS: Are we expecting something with Karl Rove today?
MATTHEWS: Well, it could be today. It could be next week. Everybody is buzzing about when or if. It’s a big if, big when. There is a lot of talk because he is still being interviewing by the special prosecutor. He keeps being hauled before the grand jury. So something is going on here with the special prosecutor. We don’t know whether he is going to clear him or nail him.
0 comments
_____________________________________________________________
GENEVA (Reuters) - The United States has again refused the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) access to terrorism suspects held in secret detention centers, the humanitarian agency said on Friday.
Isn't it interesting that the whole motto of this administration is "If you have done nothing wrong, you have nothing to hide"?
Explains why they hide everything.
0 comments
_____________________________________________________________
Headline says it all
Bush denies spying infringes on privacy
Roll THAT phrase around in your head a few times.
Lewis Carroll wishes HE had thought of that one, I'm sure
0 comments
_____________________________________________________________
Thursday, May 11, 2006
Gonzales Lied
As surely as weasels are weasels.
From the Muckraker:
Did Gonzales Mislead Congress about NSA Program?
By Paul Kiel - May 11, 2006, 2:32 PM
Reacting to today's news that the NSA is "amassing information about the calls of ordinary Americans," Reps. Bennie G. Thompson (D-MS) and Rep. Zoe Lofgren (D-CA) have put out a statement questioning the legality of the program.
Their statement contains this: "when the Attorney General was forced to testify before the House Judiciary Committee a few weeks ago, he misled the Committee about the existence of the program."
Here's what they're referring to. On April 6, 2006, Attorney General Alberto Gonzales testified before the House Judiciary Committee, and in one exchange, Rep. Gerald Nadler (D-NY) tried to nail him down:
NADLER: Number two, can you assure us that there is no warrantless surveillance of calls between two Americans within the United States?
GONZALES: That is not what the president has authorized.
NADLER: Can you assure us that it's not being done?
GONZALES: As I indicated in response to an earlier question, no technology is perfect.
NADLER: OK.
GONZALES: We do have minimization procedures in place...
NADLER: But you're not doing that deliberately?
GONZALES: That is correct.
0 comments
_____________________________________________________________
"There's no doubt in my mind there are safeguards in place to make sure the program focuses on calls coming from outside the United States in, with an al Qaeda -- from a -- with a belief that there's an al Qaeda person making the call to somebody here in the States, or vice versa -- but not domestic calls." - Bush, 01/26/06.
0 comments
_____________________________________________________________
Bush lies some more
President Deer-In-The-Headlights decided to throw a little gasoline on the fire:
Facing intense criticism from Congress, President Bush did not confirm the work of the National Security Agency but sought to assure Americans that their privacy is being "fiercely protected."
"We are not mining or trolling through the personal lives of innocent Americans," Bush said before leaving for a commencement address at Mississippi Gulf Coast Community College in Biloxi.
Well, gee whiz, codpiece-for-brains, you ALSO said that you were only listening to INTERNATIONAL Communications. You ALSO said it was only a FEW HUNDRED.
Liar.
Every new story that comes out shows that the administration lied about the last story that came out but they say that we should believe them this time.
NOBODY is that gullible.
By the way, giving the White House info on yur phone calls was VOLUNTARY on the part of the phone companies. Qwest was the ONLY major carrier to refuse. So if you are with AT&T or Verizon, switch to Qwest. And call them and let them know why. DEMAND that they respect your privacy.
0 comments
_____________________________________________________________
It's all true
Everything you thought MIGHT be true IS.
NSA has massive database of Americans' phone calls
The National Security Agency has been secretly collecting the phone call records of tens of millions of Americans, using data provided by AT&T, Verizon and BellSouth, people with direct knowledge of the arrangement told USA TODAY.
The NSA program reaches into homes and businesses across the nation by amassing information about the calls of ordinary Americans — most of whom aren't suspected of any crime. This program does not involve the NSA listening to or recording conversations. But the spy agency is using the data to analyze calling patterns in an effort to detect terrorist activity, sources said in separate interviews.
For the customers of these companies, it means that the government has detailed records of calls they made — across town or across the country — to family members, co-workers, business contacts and others.
The sources would talk only under a guarantee of anonymity because the NSA program is secret.
0 comments
_____________________________________________________________
Wednesday, May 10, 2006
Colbert - SOMEBODY gets it.
Here's a great article from the TV Critic at the Chicago Sun-Times about Colbert's public evisceration of His Ignorance. This may be the only thing I have read in the mainstream press that actually understood the reaction to Colbert's speech.
How did Bush tickle reporters? He made fun of the fact that he can barely speak English (he is quite simply the worst communicator of all U.S. presidents), that our vice president is a heartless face-shooter, and that Bush is basically an idiot.
Ha ha, our "war president" knows he's a village idiot? To members of the White House press corps, that's some real funny stuff. To non-insiders, this looked like another example of good old boys and gals slapping each other on the back.
Colbert's routine was more remarkable for its unique and creative brazenness. He joked that Bush's presidency is like the Hindenburg; that Bush's wiretappers were monitoring this very event, and that the White House press corps, sitting in front of Colbert, gave Bush a free pass, scandal after scandal, until recently (when his polls numbers dropped).
How's this for a newsworthy lead? It was perhaps the first time in Bush's tenure that the president was forced to sit and listen to any American cite the litany of criminal and corruption allegations that have piled up against his administration. And mouth-tense Bush and first lady Laura Bush fled as soon as possible afterward.
From whom were they fleeing? A star comedian pretending to be a Fox News-like blowhard doing a sort of performance art that America hasn't witnessed nationally since the days of Andy Kaufman. Even if Colbert's bit had been reported as a train wreck, that would have sufficed. Instead, shocking lines like the following were barely covered by any traditional organ except industry magazine Editor & Publisher: "I stand by" Bush, Colbert cracked, "because he stands for things. Not only for things, he stands on things. Things like aircraft carriers and rubble, and recently flooded city squares. And that sends a strong message that no matter what happens to America, she will always rebound with the most powerfully staged photo ops in the world."
For TV reporters in particular to quote that gruesome line would be an agreement with Colbert, that they helped Bush mix politics with corruption from the ashes of 9/11 ("aircraft carriers and rubble"), and failed to see through Bush's politicization of the drowning of an American city after a hurricane ("recently flooded city squares").
0 comments
_____________________________________________________________
Brownie, you're doing a heckuva job.
The question isn't "Why do only 31% still support these incompetents" - the question is, "why the hell is it still that high?"
WASHINGTON — Hours after Hurricane Katrina hit, former FEMA director Michael Brown dismissed reports that floodwaters had breached New Orleans' levees, and he obsessed over media coverage of his agency, according to newly released e-mails.
At one point early that morning, Brown reported to an aide that he was "sitting in the chair, putting mousse in my hair" while waiting for media interviews to begin.
What total dicks.
0 comments
_____________________________________________________________
Poll vault
(CBS) President Bush and the Republican Congress show nearly record low ratings while Democrats are viewed much more favorably in their performance on the issues that matter most to Americans, according to the latest CBS News/New York Times poll.
Well, that just great. You think - maybe - the Democrats MIGHT just stop acting like their afraid that challenging thi clown will hurt them?
0 comments
[Tice] said he plans to tell the committee staffers the NSA conducted illegal and unconstitutional surveillance of U.S. citizens while he was there with the knowledge of Hayden. … “I think the people I talk to next week are going to be shocked when I tell them what I have to tell them. It’s pretty hard to believe,” Tice said.
I won't be shocked, but it's about time the country got shocked.
0 comments
According to truthout, Rove has told the White House that he will be indicted.
Within the last week, Karl Rove told President Bush and Chief of Staff Joshua Bolten, as well as a few other high level administration officials, that he will be indicted in the CIA leak case and will immediately resign his White House job when the special counsel publicly announces the charges against him, according to sources.
0 comments
_____________________________________________________________
Raid kills roaches dead.
The FBI has raided the home of Dusty Foggo (NOT the name of a fictional character). The guy who just resigned as the #3 man in the CIA.
I wonder why Goss REALLY resigned. This CAN'T be a coincidence.
Move along, folks, nothing to see here....
0 comments
_____________________________________________________________
Push poll
You may have read - and been shocked - by reports that a poll says that 2/3rds of Americans have no problem with the Bush administration mining phone calls.
Here is the actual question:
It's been reported that the National Security Agency has been collecting the phone call records of tens of millions of Americans. It then analyzes calling patterns in an effort to identify possible terrorism suspects, without listening to or recording the conversations. Would you consider this an acceptable or unacceptable way for the federal government to investigate terrorism? Do you feel that way strongly or somewhat?
Note that the question itself ASSUMES that the act is benign, and states things as fact that WE DON'T KNOW (such as that conversations are not listened to or recorded). The question is framed in terms of fighting terrorism, falsifies the known facts, fails to mention the questionable legality, and was obviously thrown together on the fly. For many poll respondents, this was probably the first time they HEARD about it.
This is a push poll.
And I suspect that other polls released in the coming days will show very different results.
0 comments
_____________________________________________________________
Today?
Tweetybird Matthews thinks Rove might be indicted today.
From Imus this morning"
Transcript:
MATTHEWS: If, however, something happens with Karl Rove, we’re going to go to general quarters around here.
IMUS: What does that mean?
MATTHEWS: Meaning we will be taping probably on Saturday or late night because everything will change. Last time, when he picked up Scooter, when he nailed him 30 years of charges, that happened on 1:00 on a Friday. So we don’t know when it might happen, if it’s going happen.
IMUS: Are we expecting something with Karl Rove today?
MATTHEWS: Well, it could be today. It could be next week. Everybody is buzzing about when or if. It’s a big if, big when. There is a lot of talk because he is still being interviewing by the special prosecutor. He keeps being hauled before the grand jury. So something is going on here with the special prosecutor. We don’t know whether he is going to clear him or nail him.
0 comments
_____________________________________________________________
GENEVA (Reuters) - The United States has again refused the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) access to terrorism suspects held in secret detention centers, the humanitarian agency said on Friday.
Isn't it interesting that the whole motto of this administration is "If you have done nothing wrong, you have nothing to hide"?
Explains why they hide everything.
0 comments
_____________________________________________________________
Headline says it all
Bush denies spying infringes on privacy
Roll THAT phrase around in your head a few times.
Lewis Carroll wishes HE had thought of that one, I'm sure
0 comments
_____________________________________________________________
Thursday, May 11, 2006
Gonzales Lied
As surely as weasels are weasels.
From the Muckraker:
Did Gonzales Mislead Congress about NSA Program?
By Paul Kiel - May 11, 2006, 2:32 PM
Reacting to today's news that the NSA is "amassing information about the calls of ordinary Americans," Reps. Bennie G. Thompson (D-MS) and Rep. Zoe Lofgren (D-CA) have put out a statement questioning the legality of the program.
Their statement contains this: "when the Attorney General was forced to testify before the House Judiciary Committee a few weeks ago, he misled the Committee about the existence of the program."
Here's what they're referring to. On April 6, 2006, Attorney General Alberto Gonzales testified before the House Judiciary Committee, and in one exchange, Rep. Gerald Nadler (D-NY) tried to nail him down:
NADLER: Number two, can you assure us that there is no warrantless surveillance of calls between two Americans within the United States?
GONZALES: That is not what the president has authorized.
NADLER: Can you assure us that it's not being done?
GONZALES: As I indicated in response to an earlier question, no technology is perfect.
NADLER: OK.
GONZALES: We do have minimization procedures in place...
NADLER: But you're not doing that deliberately?
GONZALES: That is correct.
0 comments
_____________________________________________________________
"There's no doubt in my mind there are safeguards in place to make sure the program focuses on calls coming from outside the United States in, with an al Qaeda -- from a -- with a belief that there's an al Qaeda person making the call to somebody here in the States, or vice versa -- but not domestic calls." - Bush, 01/26/06.
0 comments
_____________________________________________________________
Bush lies some more
President Deer-In-The-Headlights decided to throw a little gasoline on the fire:
Facing intense criticism from Congress, President Bush did not confirm the work of the National Security Agency but sought to assure Americans that their privacy is being "fiercely protected."
"We are not mining or trolling through the personal lives of innocent Americans," Bush said before leaving for a commencement address at Mississippi Gulf Coast Community College in Biloxi.
Well, gee whiz, codpiece-for-brains, you ALSO said that you were only listening to INTERNATIONAL Communications. You ALSO said it was only a FEW HUNDRED.
Liar.
Every new story that comes out shows that the administration lied about the last story that came out but they say that we should believe them this time.
NOBODY is that gullible.
By the way, giving the White House info on yur phone calls was VOLUNTARY on the part of the phone companies. Qwest was the ONLY major carrier to refuse. So if you are with AT&T or Verizon, switch to Qwest. And call them and let them know why. DEMAND that they respect your privacy.
0 comments
_____________________________________________________________
It's all true
Everything you thought MIGHT be true IS.
NSA has massive database of Americans' phone calls
The National Security Agency has been secretly collecting the phone call records of tens of millions of Americans, using data provided by AT&T, Verizon and BellSouth, people with direct knowledge of the arrangement told USA TODAY.
The NSA program reaches into homes and businesses across the nation by amassing information about the calls of ordinary Americans — most of whom aren't suspected of any crime. This program does not involve the NSA listening to or recording conversations. But the spy agency is using the data to analyze calling patterns in an effort to detect terrorist activity, sources said in separate interviews.
For the customers of these companies, it means that the government has detailed records of calls they made — across town or across the country — to family members, co-workers, business contacts and others.
The sources would talk only under a guarantee of anonymity because the NSA program is secret.
0 comments
_____________________________________________________________
Wednesday, May 10, 2006
Colbert - SOMEBODY gets it.
Here's a great article from the TV Critic at the Chicago Sun-Times about Colbert's public evisceration of His Ignorance. This may be the only thing I have read in the mainstream press that actually understood the reaction to Colbert's speech.
How did Bush tickle reporters? He made fun of the fact that he can barely speak English (he is quite simply the worst communicator of all U.S. presidents), that our vice president is a heartless face-shooter, and that Bush is basically an idiot.
Ha ha, our "war president" knows he's a village idiot? To members of the White House press corps, that's some real funny stuff. To non-insiders, this looked like another example of good old boys and gals slapping each other on the back.
Colbert's routine was more remarkable for its unique and creative brazenness. He joked that Bush's presidency is like the Hindenburg; that Bush's wiretappers were monitoring this very event, and that the White House press corps, sitting in front of Colbert, gave Bush a free pass, scandal after scandal, until recently (when his polls numbers dropped).
How's this for a newsworthy lead? It was perhaps the first time in Bush's tenure that the president was forced to sit and listen to any American cite the litany of criminal and corruption allegations that have piled up against his administration. And mouth-tense Bush and first lady Laura Bush fled as soon as possible afterward.
From whom were they fleeing? A star comedian pretending to be a Fox News-like blowhard doing a sort of performance art that America hasn't witnessed nationally since the days of Andy Kaufman. Even if Colbert's bit had been reported as a train wreck, that would have sufficed. Instead, shocking lines like the following were barely covered by any traditional organ except industry magazine Editor & Publisher: "I stand by" Bush, Colbert cracked, "because he stands for things. Not only for things, he stands on things. Things like aircraft carriers and rubble, and recently flooded city squares. And that sends a strong message that no matter what happens to America, she will always rebound with the most powerfully staged photo ops in the world."
For TV reporters in particular to quote that gruesome line would be an agreement with Colbert, that they helped Bush mix politics with corruption from the ashes of 9/11 ("aircraft carriers and rubble"), and failed to see through Bush's politicization of the drowning of an American city after a hurricane ("recently flooded city squares").
0 comments
_____________________________________________________________
Brownie, you're doing a heckuva job.
The question isn't "Why do only 31% still support these incompetents" - the question is, "why the hell is it still that high?"
WASHINGTON — Hours after Hurricane Katrina hit, former FEMA director Michael Brown dismissed reports that floodwaters had breached New Orleans' levees, and he obsessed over media coverage of his agency, according to newly released e-mails.
At one point early that morning, Brown reported to an aide that he was "sitting in the chair, putting mousse in my hair" while waiting for media interviews to begin.
What total dicks.
0 comments
_____________________________________________________________
Poll vault
(CBS) President Bush and the Republican Congress show nearly record low ratings while Democrats are viewed much more favorably in their performance on the issues that matter most to Americans, according to the latest CBS News/New York Times poll.
Well, that just great. You think - maybe - the Democrats MIGHT just stop acting like their afraid that challenging thi clown will hurt them?
0 comments
Within the last week, Karl Rove told President Bush and Chief of Staff Joshua Bolten, as well as a few other high level administration officials, that he will be indicted in the CIA leak case and will immediately resign his White House job when the special counsel publicly announces the charges against him, according to sources.
0 comments
Raid kills roaches dead.
The FBI has raided the home of Dusty Foggo (NOT the name of a fictional character). The guy who just resigned as the #3 man in the CIA.
I wonder why Goss REALLY resigned. This CAN'T be a coincidence.
Move along, folks, nothing to see here....
0 comments
_____________________________________________________________
Push poll
You may have read - and been shocked - by reports that a poll says that 2/3rds of Americans have no problem with the Bush administration mining phone calls.
Here is the actual question:
It's been reported that the National Security Agency has been collecting the phone call records of tens of millions of Americans. It then analyzes calling patterns in an effort to identify possible terrorism suspects, without listening to or recording the conversations. Would you consider this an acceptable or unacceptable way for the federal government to investigate terrorism? Do you feel that way strongly or somewhat?
Note that the question itself ASSUMES that the act is benign, and states things as fact that WE DON'T KNOW (such as that conversations are not listened to or recorded). The question is framed in terms of fighting terrorism, falsifies the known facts, fails to mention the questionable legality, and was obviously thrown together on the fly. For many poll respondents, this was probably the first time they HEARD about it.
This is a push poll.
And I suspect that other polls released in the coming days will show very different results.
0 comments
_____________________________________________________________
Today?
Tweetybird Matthews thinks Rove might be indicted today.
From Imus this morning"
Transcript:
MATTHEWS: If, however, something happens with Karl Rove, we’re going to go to general quarters around here.
IMUS: What does that mean?
MATTHEWS: Meaning we will be taping probably on Saturday or late night because everything will change. Last time, when he picked up Scooter, when he nailed him 30 years of charges, that happened on 1:00 on a Friday. So we don’t know when it might happen, if it’s going happen.
IMUS: Are we expecting something with Karl Rove today?
MATTHEWS: Well, it could be today. It could be next week. Everybody is buzzing about when or if. It’s a big if, big when. There is a lot of talk because he is still being interviewing by the special prosecutor. He keeps being hauled before the grand jury. So something is going on here with the special prosecutor. We don’t know whether he is going to clear him or nail him.
0 comments
_____________________________________________________________
GENEVA (Reuters) - The United States has again refused the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) access to terrorism suspects held in secret detention centers, the humanitarian agency said on Friday.
Isn't it interesting that the whole motto of this administration is "If you have done nothing wrong, you have nothing to hide"?
Explains why they hide everything.
0 comments
_____________________________________________________________
Headline says it all
Bush denies spying infringes on privacy
Roll THAT phrase around in your head a few times.
Lewis Carroll wishes HE had thought of that one, I'm sure
0 comments
_____________________________________________________________
Thursday, May 11, 2006
Gonzales Lied
As surely as weasels are weasels.
From the Muckraker:
Did Gonzales Mislead Congress about NSA Program?
By Paul Kiel - May 11, 2006, 2:32 PM
Reacting to today's news that the NSA is "amassing information about the calls of ordinary Americans," Reps. Bennie G. Thompson (D-MS) and Rep. Zoe Lofgren (D-CA) have put out a statement questioning the legality of the program.
Their statement contains this: "when the Attorney General was forced to testify before the House Judiciary Committee a few weeks ago, he misled the Committee about the existence of the program."
Here's what they're referring to. On April 6, 2006, Attorney General Alberto Gonzales testified before the House Judiciary Committee, and in one exchange, Rep. Gerald Nadler (D-NY) tried to nail him down:
NADLER: Number two, can you assure us that there is no warrantless surveillance of calls between two Americans within the United States?
GONZALES: That is not what the president has authorized.
NADLER: Can you assure us that it's not being done?
GONZALES: As I indicated in response to an earlier question, no technology is perfect.
NADLER: OK.
GONZALES: We do have minimization procedures in place...
NADLER: But you're not doing that deliberately?
GONZALES: That is correct.
0 comments
_____________________________________________________________
"There's no doubt in my mind there are safeguards in place to make sure the program focuses on calls coming from outside the United States in, with an al Qaeda -- from a -- with a belief that there's an al Qaeda person making the call to somebody here in the States, or vice versa -- but not domestic calls." - Bush, 01/26/06.
0 comments
_____________________________________________________________
Bush lies some more
President Deer-In-The-Headlights decided to throw a little gasoline on the fire:
Facing intense criticism from Congress, President Bush did not confirm the work of the National Security Agency but sought to assure Americans that their privacy is being "fiercely protected."
"We are not mining or trolling through the personal lives of innocent Americans," Bush said before leaving for a commencement address at Mississippi Gulf Coast Community College in Biloxi.
Well, gee whiz, codpiece-for-brains, you ALSO said that you were only listening to INTERNATIONAL Communications. You ALSO said it was only a FEW HUNDRED.
Liar.
Every new story that comes out shows that the administration lied about the last story that came out but they say that we should believe them this time.
NOBODY is that gullible.
By the way, giving the White House info on yur phone calls was VOLUNTARY on the part of the phone companies. Qwest was the ONLY major carrier to refuse. So if you are with AT&T or Verizon, switch to Qwest. And call them and let them know why. DEMAND that they respect your privacy.
0 comments
_____________________________________________________________
It's all true
Everything you thought MIGHT be true IS.
NSA has massive database of Americans' phone calls
The National Security Agency has been secretly collecting the phone call records of tens of millions of Americans, using data provided by AT&T, Verizon and BellSouth, people with direct knowledge of the arrangement told USA TODAY.
The NSA program reaches into homes and businesses across the nation by amassing information about the calls of ordinary Americans — most of whom aren't suspected of any crime. This program does not involve the NSA listening to or recording conversations. But the spy agency is using the data to analyze calling patterns in an effort to detect terrorist activity, sources said in separate interviews.
For the customers of these companies, it means that the government has detailed records of calls they made — across town or across the country — to family members, co-workers, business contacts and others.
The sources would talk only under a guarantee of anonymity because the NSA program is secret.
0 comments
_____________________________________________________________
Wednesday, May 10, 2006
Colbert - SOMEBODY gets it.
Here's a great article from the TV Critic at the Chicago Sun-Times about Colbert's public evisceration of His Ignorance. This may be the only thing I have read in the mainstream press that actually understood the reaction to Colbert's speech.
How did Bush tickle reporters? He made fun of the fact that he can barely speak English (he is quite simply the worst communicator of all U.S. presidents), that our vice president is a heartless face-shooter, and that Bush is basically an idiot.
Ha ha, our "war president" knows he's a village idiot? To members of the White House press corps, that's some real funny stuff. To non-insiders, this looked like another example of good old boys and gals slapping each other on the back.
Colbert's routine was more remarkable for its unique and creative brazenness. He joked that Bush's presidency is like the Hindenburg; that Bush's wiretappers were monitoring this very event, and that the White House press corps, sitting in front of Colbert, gave Bush a free pass, scandal after scandal, until recently (when his polls numbers dropped).
How's this for a newsworthy lead? It was perhaps the first time in Bush's tenure that the president was forced to sit and listen to any American cite the litany of criminal and corruption allegations that have piled up against his administration. And mouth-tense Bush and first lady Laura Bush fled as soon as possible afterward.
From whom were they fleeing? A star comedian pretending to be a Fox News-like blowhard doing a sort of performance art that America hasn't witnessed nationally since the days of Andy Kaufman. Even if Colbert's bit had been reported as a train wreck, that would have sufficed. Instead, shocking lines like the following were barely covered by any traditional organ except industry magazine Editor & Publisher: "I stand by" Bush, Colbert cracked, "because he stands for things. Not only for things, he stands on things. Things like aircraft carriers and rubble, and recently flooded city squares. And that sends a strong message that no matter what happens to America, she will always rebound with the most powerfully staged photo ops in the world."
For TV reporters in particular to quote that gruesome line would be an agreement with Colbert, that they helped Bush mix politics with corruption from the ashes of 9/11 ("aircraft carriers and rubble"), and failed to see through Bush's politicization of the drowning of an American city after a hurricane ("recently flooded city squares").
0 comments
_____________________________________________________________
Brownie, you're doing a heckuva job.
The question isn't "Why do only 31% still support these incompetents" - the question is, "why the hell is it still that high?"
WASHINGTON — Hours after Hurricane Katrina hit, former FEMA director Michael Brown dismissed reports that floodwaters had breached New Orleans' levees, and he obsessed over media coverage of his agency, according to newly released e-mails.
At one point early that morning, Brown reported to an aide that he was "sitting in the chair, putting mousse in my hair" while waiting for media interviews to begin.
What total dicks.
0 comments
_____________________________________________________________
Poll vault
(CBS) President Bush and the Republican Congress show nearly record low ratings while Democrats are viewed much more favorably in their performance on the issues that matter most to Americans, according to the latest CBS News/New York Times poll.
Well, that just great. You think - maybe - the Democrats MIGHT just stop acting like their afraid that challenging thi clown will hurt them?
0 comments
I wonder why Goss REALLY resigned. This CAN'T be a coincidence.
Move along, folks, nothing to see here....
0 comments
Push poll
You may have read - and been shocked - by reports that a poll says that 2/3rds of Americans have no problem with the Bush administration mining phone calls.
Here is the actual question:
It's been reported that the National Security Agency has been collecting the phone call records of tens of millions of Americans. It then analyzes calling patterns in an effort to identify possible terrorism suspects, without listening to or recording the conversations. Would you consider this an acceptable or unacceptable way for the federal government to investigate terrorism? Do you feel that way strongly or somewhat?
Note that the question itself ASSUMES that the act is benign, and states things as fact that WE DON'T KNOW (such as that conversations are not listened to or recorded). The question is framed in terms of fighting terrorism, falsifies the known facts, fails to mention the questionable legality, and was obviously thrown together on the fly. For many poll respondents, this was probably the first time they HEARD about it.
This is a push poll.
And I suspect that other polls released in the coming days will show very different results.
0 comments
_____________________________________________________________
Today?
Tweetybird Matthews thinks Rove might be indicted today.
From Imus this morning"
Transcript:
MATTHEWS: If, however, something happens with Karl Rove, we’re going to go to general quarters around here.
IMUS: What does that mean?
MATTHEWS: Meaning we will be taping probably on Saturday or late night because everything will change. Last time, when he picked up Scooter, when he nailed him 30 years of charges, that happened on 1:00 on a Friday. So we don’t know when it might happen, if it’s going happen.
IMUS: Are we expecting something with Karl Rove today?
MATTHEWS: Well, it could be today. It could be next week. Everybody is buzzing about when or if. It’s a big if, big when. There is a lot of talk because he is still being interviewing by the special prosecutor. He keeps being hauled before the grand jury. So something is going on here with the special prosecutor. We don’t know whether he is going to clear him or nail him.
0 comments
_____________________________________________________________
GENEVA (Reuters) - The United States has again refused the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) access to terrorism suspects held in secret detention centers, the humanitarian agency said on Friday.
Isn't it interesting that the whole motto of this administration is "If you have done nothing wrong, you have nothing to hide"?
Explains why they hide everything.
0 comments
_____________________________________________________________
Headline says it all
Bush denies spying infringes on privacy
Roll THAT phrase around in your head a few times.
Lewis Carroll wishes HE had thought of that one, I'm sure
0 comments
_____________________________________________________________
Thursday, May 11, 2006
Gonzales Lied
As surely as weasels are weasels.
From the Muckraker:
Did Gonzales Mislead Congress about NSA Program?
By Paul Kiel - May 11, 2006, 2:32 PM
Reacting to today's news that the NSA is "amassing information about the calls of ordinary Americans," Reps. Bennie G. Thompson (D-MS) and Rep. Zoe Lofgren (D-CA) have put out a statement questioning the legality of the program.
Their statement contains this: "when the Attorney General was forced to testify before the House Judiciary Committee a few weeks ago, he misled the Committee about the existence of the program."
Here's what they're referring to. On April 6, 2006, Attorney General Alberto Gonzales testified before the House Judiciary Committee, and in one exchange, Rep. Gerald Nadler (D-NY) tried to nail him down:
NADLER: Number two, can you assure us that there is no warrantless surveillance of calls between two Americans within the United States?
GONZALES: That is not what the president has authorized.
NADLER: Can you assure us that it's not being done?
GONZALES: As I indicated in response to an earlier question, no technology is perfect.
NADLER: OK.
GONZALES: We do have minimization procedures in place...
NADLER: But you're not doing that deliberately?
GONZALES: That is correct.
0 comments
_____________________________________________________________
"There's no doubt in my mind there are safeguards in place to make sure the program focuses on calls coming from outside the United States in, with an al Qaeda -- from a -- with a belief that there's an al Qaeda person making the call to somebody here in the States, or vice versa -- but not domestic calls." - Bush, 01/26/06.
0 comments
_____________________________________________________________
Bush lies some more
President Deer-In-The-Headlights decided to throw a little gasoline on the fire:
Facing intense criticism from Congress, President Bush did not confirm the work of the National Security Agency but sought to assure Americans that their privacy is being "fiercely protected."
"We are not mining or trolling through the personal lives of innocent Americans," Bush said before leaving for a commencement address at Mississippi Gulf Coast Community College in Biloxi.
Well, gee whiz, codpiece-for-brains, you ALSO said that you were only listening to INTERNATIONAL Communications. You ALSO said it was only a FEW HUNDRED.
Liar.
Every new story that comes out shows that the administration lied about the last story that came out but they say that we should believe them this time.
NOBODY is that gullible.
By the way, giving the White House info on yur phone calls was VOLUNTARY on the part of the phone companies. Qwest was the ONLY major carrier to refuse. So if you are with AT&T or Verizon, switch to Qwest. And call them and let them know why. DEMAND that they respect your privacy.
0 comments
_____________________________________________________________
It's all true
Everything you thought MIGHT be true IS.
NSA has massive database of Americans' phone calls
The National Security Agency has been secretly collecting the phone call records of tens of millions of Americans, using data provided by AT&T, Verizon and BellSouth, people with direct knowledge of the arrangement told USA TODAY.
The NSA program reaches into homes and businesses across the nation by amassing information about the calls of ordinary Americans — most of whom aren't suspected of any crime. This program does not involve the NSA listening to or recording conversations. But the spy agency is using the data to analyze calling patterns in an effort to detect terrorist activity, sources said in separate interviews.
For the customers of these companies, it means that the government has detailed records of calls they made — across town or across the country — to family members, co-workers, business contacts and others.
The sources would talk only under a guarantee of anonymity because the NSA program is secret.
0 comments
_____________________________________________________________
Wednesday, May 10, 2006
Colbert - SOMEBODY gets it.
Here's a great article from the TV Critic at the Chicago Sun-Times about Colbert's public evisceration of His Ignorance. This may be the only thing I have read in the mainstream press that actually understood the reaction to Colbert's speech.
How did Bush tickle reporters? He made fun of the fact that he can barely speak English (he is quite simply the worst communicator of all U.S. presidents), that our vice president is a heartless face-shooter, and that Bush is basically an idiot.
Ha ha, our "war president" knows he's a village idiot? To members of the White House press corps, that's some real funny stuff. To non-insiders, this looked like another example of good old boys and gals slapping each other on the back.
Colbert's routine was more remarkable for its unique and creative brazenness. He joked that Bush's presidency is like the Hindenburg; that Bush's wiretappers were monitoring this very event, and that the White House press corps, sitting in front of Colbert, gave Bush a free pass, scandal after scandal, until recently (when his polls numbers dropped).
How's this for a newsworthy lead? It was perhaps the first time in Bush's tenure that the president was forced to sit and listen to any American cite the litany of criminal and corruption allegations that have piled up against his administration. And mouth-tense Bush and first lady Laura Bush fled as soon as possible afterward.
From whom were they fleeing? A star comedian pretending to be a Fox News-like blowhard doing a sort of performance art that America hasn't witnessed nationally since the days of Andy Kaufman. Even if Colbert's bit had been reported as a train wreck, that would have sufficed. Instead, shocking lines like the following were barely covered by any traditional organ except industry magazine Editor & Publisher: "I stand by" Bush, Colbert cracked, "because he stands for things. Not only for things, he stands on things. Things like aircraft carriers and rubble, and recently flooded city squares. And that sends a strong message that no matter what happens to America, she will always rebound with the most powerfully staged photo ops in the world."
For TV reporters in particular to quote that gruesome line would be an agreement with Colbert, that they helped Bush mix politics with corruption from the ashes of 9/11 ("aircraft carriers and rubble"), and failed to see through Bush's politicization of the drowning of an American city after a hurricane ("recently flooded city squares").
0 comments
_____________________________________________________________
Brownie, you're doing a heckuva job.
The question isn't "Why do only 31% still support these incompetents" - the question is, "why the hell is it still that high?"
WASHINGTON — Hours after Hurricane Katrina hit, former FEMA director Michael Brown dismissed reports that floodwaters had breached New Orleans' levees, and he obsessed over media coverage of his agency, according to newly released e-mails.
At one point early that morning, Brown reported to an aide that he was "sitting in the chair, putting mousse in my hair" while waiting for media interviews to begin.
What total dicks.
0 comments
_____________________________________________________________
Poll vault
(CBS) President Bush and the Republican Congress show nearly record low ratings while Democrats are viewed much more favorably in their performance on the issues that matter most to Americans, according to the latest CBS News/New York Times poll.
Well, that just great. You think - maybe - the Democrats MIGHT just stop acting like their afraid that challenging thi clown will hurt them?
0 comments
Here is the actual question:
It's been reported that the National Security Agency has been collecting the phone call records of tens of millions of Americans. It then analyzes calling patterns in an effort to identify possible terrorism suspects, without listening to or recording the conversations. Would you consider this an acceptable or unacceptable way for the federal government to investigate terrorism? Do you feel that way strongly or somewhat?
Note that the question itself ASSUMES that the act is benign, and states things as fact that WE DON'T KNOW (such as that conversations are not listened to or recorded). The question is framed in terms of fighting terrorism, falsifies the known facts, fails to mention the questionable legality, and was obviously thrown together on the fly. For many poll respondents, this was probably the first time they HEARD about it.
This is a push poll.
And I suspect that other polls released in the coming days will show very different results.
0 comments
Today?
Tweetybird Matthews thinks Rove might be indicted today.
From Imus this morning"
Transcript:
MATTHEWS: If, however, something happens with Karl Rove, we’re going to go to general quarters around here.
IMUS: What does that mean?
MATTHEWS: Meaning we will be taping probably on Saturday or late night because everything will change. Last time, when he picked up Scooter, when he nailed him 30 years of charges, that happened on 1:00 on a Friday. So we don’t know when it might happen, if it’s going happen.
IMUS: Are we expecting something with Karl Rove today?
MATTHEWS: Well, it could be today. It could be next week. Everybody is buzzing about when or if. It’s a big if, big when. There is a lot of talk because he is still being interviewing by the special prosecutor. He keeps being hauled before the grand jury. So something is going on here with the special prosecutor. We don’t know whether he is going to clear him or nail him.
0 comments
_____________________________________________________________
GENEVA (Reuters) - The United States has again refused the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) access to terrorism suspects held in secret detention centers, the humanitarian agency said on Friday.
Isn't it interesting that the whole motto of this administration is "If you have done nothing wrong, you have nothing to hide"?
Explains why they hide everything.
0 comments
_____________________________________________________________
Headline says it all
Bush denies spying infringes on privacy
Roll THAT phrase around in your head a few times.
Lewis Carroll wishes HE had thought of that one, I'm sure
0 comments
_____________________________________________________________
Thursday, May 11, 2006
Gonzales Lied
As surely as weasels are weasels.
From the Muckraker:
Did Gonzales Mislead Congress about NSA Program?
By Paul Kiel - May 11, 2006, 2:32 PM
Reacting to today's news that the NSA is "amassing information about the calls of ordinary Americans," Reps. Bennie G. Thompson (D-MS) and Rep. Zoe Lofgren (D-CA) have put out a statement questioning the legality of the program.
Their statement contains this: "when the Attorney General was forced to testify before the House Judiciary Committee a few weeks ago, he misled the Committee about the existence of the program."
Here's what they're referring to. On April 6, 2006, Attorney General Alberto Gonzales testified before the House Judiciary Committee, and in one exchange, Rep. Gerald Nadler (D-NY) tried to nail him down:
NADLER: Number two, can you assure us that there is no warrantless surveillance of calls between two Americans within the United States?
GONZALES: That is not what the president has authorized.
NADLER: Can you assure us that it's not being done?
GONZALES: As I indicated in response to an earlier question, no technology is perfect.
NADLER: OK.
GONZALES: We do have minimization procedures in place...
NADLER: But you're not doing that deliberately?
GONZALES: That is correct.
0 comments
_____________________________________________________________
"There's no doubt in my mind there are safeguards in place to make sure the program focuses on calls coming from outside the United States in, with an al Qaeda -- from a -- with a belief that there's an al Qaeda person making the call to somebody here in the States, or vice versa -- but not domestic calls." - Bush, 01/26/06.
0 comments
_____________________________________________________________
Bush lies some more
President Deer-In-The-Headlights decided to throw a little gasoline on the fire:
Facing intense criticism from Congress, President Bush did not confirm the work of the National Security Agency but sought to assure Americans that their privacy is being "fiercely protected."
"We are not mining or trolling through the personal lives of innocent Americans," Bush said before leaving for a commencement address at Mississippi Gulf Coast Community College in Biloxi.
Well, gee whiz, codpiece-for-brains, you ALSO said that you were only listening to INTERNATIONAL Communications. You ALSO said it was only a FEW HUNDRED.
Liar.
Every new story that comes out shows that the administration lied about the last story that came out but they say that we should believe them this time.
NOBODY is that gullible.
By the way, giving the White House info on yur phone calls was VOLUNTARY on the part of the phone companies. Qwest was the ONLY major carrier to refuse. So if you are with AT&T or Verizon, switch to Qwest. And call them and let them know why. DEMAND that they respect your privacy.
0 comments
_____________________________________________________________
It's all true
Everything you thought MIGHT be true IS.
NSA has massive database of Americans' phone calls
The National Security Agency has been secretly collecting the phone call records of tens of millions of Americans, using data provided by AT&T, Verizon and BellSouth, people with direct knowledge of the arrangement told USA TODAY.
The NSA program reaches into homes and businesses across the nation by amassing information about the calls of ordinary Americans — most of whom aren't suspected of any crime. This program does not involve the NSA listening to or recording conversations. But the spy agency is using the data to analyze calling patterns in an effort to detect terrorist activity, sources said in separate interviews.
For the customers of these companies, it means that the government has detailed records of calls they made — across town or across the country — to family members, co-workers, business contacts and others.
The sources would talk only under a guarantee of anonymity because the NSA program is secret.
0 comments
_____________________________________________________________
Wednesday, May 10, 2006
Colbert - SOMEBODY gets it.
Here's a great article from the TV Critic at the Chicago Sun-Times about Colbert's public evisceration of His Ignorance. This may be the only thing I have read in the mainstream press that actually understood the reaction to Colbert's speech.
How did Bush tickle reporters? He made fun of the fact that he can barely speak English (he is quite simply the worst communicator of all U.S. presidents), that our vice president is a heartless face-shooter, and that Bush is basically an idiot.
Ha ha, our "war president" knows he's a village idiot? To members of the White House press corps, that's some real funny stuff. To non-insiders, this looked like another example of good old boys and gals slapping each other on the back.
Colbert's routine was more remarkable for its unique and creative brazenness. He joked that Bush's presidency is like the Hindenburg; that Bush's wiretappers were monitoring this very event, and that the White House press corps, sitting in front of Colbert, gave Bush a free pass, scandal after scandal, until recently (when his polls numbers dropped).
How's this for a newsworthy lead? It was perhaps the first time in Bush's tenure that the president was forced to sit and listen to any American cite the litany of criminal and corruption allegations that have piled up against his administration. And mouth-tense Bush and first lady Laura Bush fled as soon as possible afterward.
From whom were they fleeing? A star comedian pretending to be a Fox News-like blowhard doing a sort of performance art that America hasn't witnessed nationally since the days of Andy Kaufman. Even if Colbert's bit had been reported as a train wreck, that would have sufficed. Instead, shocking lines like the following were barely covered by any traditional organ except industry magazine Editor & Publisher: "I stand by" Bush, Colbert cracked, "because he stands for things. Not only for things, he stands on things. Things like aircraft carriers and rubble, and recently flooded city squares. And that sends a strong message that no matter what happens to America, she will always rebound with the most powerfully staged photo ops in the world."
For TV reporters in particular to quote that gruesome line would be an agreement with Colbert, that they helped Bush mix politics with corruption from the ashes of 9/11 ("aircraft carriers and rubble"), and failed to see through Bush's politicization of the drowning of an American city after a hurricane ("recently flooded city squares").
0 comments
_____________________________________________________________
Brownie, you're doing a heckuva job.
The question isn't "Why do only 31% still support these incompetents" - the question is, "why the hell is it still that high?"
WASHINGTON — Hours after Hurricane Katrina hit, former FEMA director Michael Brown dismissed reports that floodwaters had breached New Orleans' levees, and he obsessed over media coverage of his agency, according to newly released e-mails.
At one point early that morning, Brown reported to an aide that he was "sitting in the chair, putting mousse in my hair" while waiting for media interviews to begin.
What total dicks.
0 comments
_____________________________________________________________
Poll vault
(CBS) President Bush and the Republican Congress show nearly record low ratings while Democrats are viewed much more favorably in their performance on the issues that matter most to Americans, according to the latest CBS News/New York Times poll.
Well, that just great. You think - maybe - the Democrats MIGHT just stop acting like their afraid that challenging thi clown will hurt them?
0 comments
From Imus this morning"
Transcript:
MATTHEWS: If, however, something happens with Karl Rove, we’re going to go to general quarters around here.
IMUS: What does that mean?
MATTHEWS: Meaning we will be taping probably on Saturday or late night because everything will change. Last time, when he picked up Scooter, when he nailed him 30 years of charges, that happened on 1:00 on a Friday. So we don’t know when it might happen, if it’s going happen.
IMUS: Are we expecting something with Karl Rove today?
MATTHEWS: Well, it could be today. It could be next week. Everybody is buzzing about when or if. It’s a big if, big when. There is a lot of talk because he is still being interviewing by the special prosecutor. He keeps being hauled before the grand jury. So something is going on here with the special prosecutor. We don’t know whether he is going to clear him or nail him.
0 comments
GENEVA (Reuters) - The United States has again refused the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) access to terrorism suspects held in secret detention centers, the humanitarian agency said on Friday.
Isn't it interesting that the whole motto of this administration is "If you have done nothing wrong, you have nothing to hide"?
Explains why they hide everything.
0 comments
_____________________________________________________________
Headline says it all
Bush denies spying infringes on privacy
Roll THAT phrase around in your head a few times.
Lewis Carroll wishes HE had thought of that one, I'm sure
0 comments
_____________________________________________________________
Thursday, May 11, 2006
Gonzales Lied
As surely as weasels are weasels.
From the Muckraker:
Did Gonzales Mislead Congress about NSA Program?
By Paul Kiel - May 11, 2006, 2:32 PM
Reacting to today's news that the NSA is "amassing information about the calls of ordinary Americans," Reps. Bennie G. Thompson (D-MS) and Rep. Zoe Lofgren (D-CA) have put out a statement questioning the legality of the program.
Their statement contains this: "when the Attorney General was forced to testify before the House Judiciary Committee a few weeks ago, he misled the Committee about the existence of the program."
Here's what they're referring to. On April 6, 2006, Attorney General Alberto Gonzales testified before the House Judiciary Committee, and in one exchange, Rep. Gerald Nadler (D-NY) tried to nail him down:
NADLER: Number two, can you assure us that there is no warrantless surveillance of calls between two Americans within the United States?
GONZALES: That is not what the president has authorized.
NADLER: Can you assure us that it's not being done?
GONZALES: As I indicated in response to an earlier question, no technology is perfect.
NADLER: OK.
GONZALES: We do have minimization procedures in place...
NADLER: But you're not doing that deliberately?
GONZALES: That is correct.
0 comments
_____________________________________________________________
"There's no doubt in my mind there are safeguards in place to make sure the program focuses on calls coming from outside the United States in, with an al Qaeda -- from a -- with a belief that there's an al Qaeda person making the call to somebody here in the States, or vice versa -- but not domestic calls." - Bush, 01/26/06.
0 comments
_____________________________________________________________
Bush lies some more
President Deer-In-The-Headlights decided to throw a little gasoline on the fire:
Facing intense criticism from Congress, President Bush did not confirm the work of the National Security Agency but sought to assure Americans that their privacy is being "fiercely protected."
"We are not mining or trolling through the personal lives of innocent Americans," Bush said before leaving for a commencement address at Mississippi Gulf Coast Community College in Biloxi.
Well, gee whiz, codpiece-for-brains, you ALSO said that you were only listening to INTERNATIONAL Communications. You ALSO said it was only a FEW HUNDRED.
Liar.
Every new story that comes out shows that the administration lied about the last story that came out but they say that we should believe them this time.
NOBODY is that gullible.
By the way, giving the White House info on yur phone calls was VOLUNTARY on the part of the phone companies. Qwest was the ONLY major carrier to refuse. So if you are with AT&T or Verizon, switch to Qwest. And call them and let them know why. DEMAND that they respect your privacy.
0 comments
_____________________________________________________________
It's all true
Everything you thought MIGHT be true IS.
NSA has massive database of Americans' phone calls
The National Security Agency has been secretly collecting the phone call records of tens of millions of Americans, using data provided by AT&T, Verizon and BellSouth, people with direct knowledge of the arrangement told USA TODAY.
The NSA program reaches into homes and businesses across the nation by amassing information about the calls of ordinary Americans — most of whom aren't suspected of any crime. This program does not involve the NSA listening to or recording conversations. But the spy agency is using the data to analyze calling patterns in an effort to detect terrorist activity, sources said in separate interviews.
For the customers of these companies, it means that the government has detailed records of calls they made — across town or across the country — to family members, co-workers, business contacts and others.
The sources would talk only under a guarantee of anonymity because the NSA program is secret.
0 comments
_____________________________________________________________
Wednesday, May 10, 2006
Colbert - SOMEBODY gets it.
Here's a great article from the TV Critic at the Chicago Sun-Times about Colbert's public evisceration of His Ignorance. This may be the only thing I have read in the mainstream press that actually understood the reaction to Colbert's speech.
How did Bush tickle reporters? He made fun of the fact that he can barely speak English (he is quite simply the worst communicator of all U.S. presidents), that our vice president is a heartless face-shooter, and that Bush is basically an idiot.
Ha ha, our "war president" knows he's a village idiot? To members of the White House press corps, that's some real funny stuff. To non-insiders, this looked like another example of good old boys and gals slapping each other on the back.
Colbert's routine was more remarkable for its unique and creative brazenness. He joked that Bush's presidency is like the Hindenburg; that Bush's wiretappers were monitoring this very event, and that the White House press corps, sitting in front of Colbert, gave Bush a free pass, scandal after scandal, until recently (when his polls numbers dropped).
How's this for a newsworthy lead? It was perhaps the first time in Bush's tenure that the president was forced to sit and listen to any American cite the litany of criminal and corruption allegations that have piled up against his administration. And mouth-tense Bush and first lady Laura Bush fled as soon as possible afterward.
From whom were they fleeing? A star comedian pretending to be a Fox News-like blowhard doing a sort of performance art that America hasn't witnessed nationally since the days of Andy Kaufman. Even if Colbert's bit had been reported as a train wreck, that would have sufficed. Instead, shocking lines like the following were barely covered by any traditional organ except industry magazine Editor & Publisher: "I stand by" Bush, Colbert cracked, "because he stands for things. Not only for things, he stands on things. Things like aircraft carriers and rubble, and recently flooded city squares. And that sends a strong message that no matter what happens to America, she will always rebound with the most powerfully staged photo ops in the world."
For TV reporters in particular to quote that gruesome line would be an agreement with Colbert, that they helped Bush mix politics with corruption from the ashes of 9/11 ("aircraft carriers and rubble"), and failed to see through Bush's politicization of the drowning of an American city after a hurricane ("recently flooded city squares").
0 comments
_____________________________________________________________
Brownie, you're doing a heckuva job.
The question isn't "Why do only 31% still support these incompetents" - the question is, "why the hell is it still that high?"
WASHINGTON — Hours after Hurricane Katrina hit, former FEMA director Michael Brown dismissed reports that floodwaters had breached New Orleans' levees, and he obsessed over media coverage of his agency, according to newly released e-mails.
At one point early that morning, Brown reported to an aide that he was "sitting in the chair, putting mousse in my hair" while waiting for media interviews to begin.
What total dicks.
0 comments
_____________________________________________________________
Poll vault
(CBS) President Bush and the Republican Congress show nearly record low ratings while Democrats are viewed much more favorably in their performance on the issues that matter most to Americans, according to the latest CBS News/New York Times poll.
Well, that just great. You think - maybe - the Democrats MIGHT just stop acting like their afraid that challenging thi clown will hurt them?
0 comments
GENEVA (Reuters) - The United States has again refused the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) access to terrorism suspects held in secret detention centers, the humanitarian agency said on Friday.
Isn't it interesting that the whole motto of this administration is "If you have done nothing wrong, you have nothing to hide"?
Explains why they hide everything.
0 comments
Headline says it all
Bush denies spying infringes on privacy
Roll THAT phrase around in your head a few times.
Lewis Carroll wishes HE had thought of that one, I'm sure
0 comments
_____________________________________________________________
Thursday, May 11, 2006
Gonzales Lied
As surely as weasels are weasels.
From the Muckraker:
Did Gonzales Mislead Congress about NSA Program?
By Paul Kiel - May 11, 2006, 2:32 PM
Reacting to today's news that the NSA is "amassing information about the calls of ordinary Americans," Reps. Bennie G. Thompson (D-MS) and Rep. Zoe Lofgren (D-CA) have put out a statement questioning the legality of the program.
Their statement contains this: "when the Attorney General was forced to testify before the House Judiciary Committee a few weeks ago, he misled the Committee about the existence of the program."
Here's what they're referring to. On April 6, 2006, Attorney General Alberto Gonzales testified before the House Judiciary Committee, and in one exchange, Rep. Gerald Nadler (D-NY) tried to nail him down:
NADLER: Number two, can you assure us that there is no warrantless surveillance of calls between two Americans within the United States?
GONZALES: That is not what the president has authorized.
NADLER: Can you assure us that it's not being done?
GONZALES: As I indicated in response to an earlier question, no technology is perfect.
NADLER: OK.
GONZALES: We do have minimization procedures in place...
NADLER: But you're not doing that deliberately?
GONZALES: That is correct.
0 comments
_____________________________________________________________
"There's no doubt in my mind there are safeguards in place to make sure the program focuses on calls coming from outside the United States in, with an al Qaeda -- from a -- with a belief that there's an al Qaeda person making the call to somebody here in the States, or vice versa -- but not domestic calls." - Bush, 01/26/06.
0 comments
_____________________________________________________________
Bush lies some more
President Deer-In-The-Headlights decided to throw a little gasoline on the fire:
Facing intense criticism from Congress, President Bush did not confirm the work of the National Security Agency but sought to assure Americans that their privacy is being "fiercely protected."
"We are not mining or trolling through the personal lives of innocent Americans," Bush said before leaving for a commencement address at Mississippi Gulf Coast Community College in Biloxi.
Well, gee whiz, codpiece-for-brains, you ALSO said that you were only listening to INTERNATIONAL Communications. You ALSO said it was only a FEW HUNDRED.
Liar.
Every new story that comes out shows that the administration lied about the last story that came out but they say that we should believe them this time.
NOBODY is that gullible.
By the way, giving the White House info on yur phone calls was VOLUNTARY on the part of the phone companies. Qwest was the ONLY major carrier to refuse. So if you are with AT&T or Verizon, switch to Qwest. And call them and let them know why. DEMAND that they respect your privacy.
0 comments
_____________________________________________________________
It's all true
Everything you thought MIGHT be true IS.
NSA has massive database of Americans' phone calls
The National Security Agency has been secretly collecting the phone call records of tens of millions of Americans, using data provided by AT&T, Verizon and BellSouth, people with direct knowledge of the arrangement told USA TODAY.
The NSA program reaches into homes and businesses across the nation by amassing information about the calls of ordinary Americans — most of whom aren't suspected of any crime. This program does not involve the NSA listening to or recording conversations. But the spy agency is using the data to analyze calling patterns in an effort to detect terrorist activity, sources said in separate interviews.
For the customers of these companies, it means that the government has detailed records of calls they made — across town or across the country — to family members, co-workers, business contacts and others.
The sources would talk only under a guarantee of anonymity because the NSA program is secret.
0 comments
_____________________________________________________________
Wednesday, May 10, 2006
Colbert - SOMEBODY gets it.
Here's a great article from the TV Critic at the Chicago Sun-Times about Colbert's public evisceration of His Ignorance. This may be the only thing I have read in the mainstream press that actually understood the reaction to Colbert's speech.
How did Bush tickle reporters? He made fun of the fact that he can barely speak English (he is quite simply the worst communicator of all U.S. presidents), that our vice president is a heartless face-shooter, and that Bush is basically an idiot.
Ha ha, our "war president" knows he's a village idiot? To members of the White House press corps, that's some real funny stuff. To non-insiders, this looked like another example of good old boys and gals slapping each other on the back.
Colbert's routine was more remarkable for its unique and creative brazenness. He joked that Bush's presidency is like the Hindenburg; that Bush's wiretappers were monitoring this very event, and that the White House press corps, sitting in front of Colbert, gave Bush a free pass, scandal after scandal, until recently (when his polls numbers dropped).
How's this for a newsworthy lead? It was perhaps the first time in Bush's tenure that the president was forced to sit and listen to any American cite the litany of criminal and corruption allegations that have piled up against his administration. And mouth-tense Bush and first lady Laura Bush fled as soon as possible afterward.
From whom were they fleeing? A star comedian pretending to be a Fox News-like blowhard doing a sort of performance art that America hasn't witnessed nationally since the days of Andy Kaufman. Even if Colbert's bit had been reported as a train wreck, that would have sufficed. Instead, shocking lines like the following were barely covered by any traditional organ except industry magazine Editor & Publisher: "I stand by" Bush, Colbert cracked, "because he stands for things. Not only for things, he stands on things. Things like aircraft carriers and rubble, and recently flooded city squares. And that sends a strong message that no matter what happens to America, she will always rebound with the most powerfully staged photo ops in the world."
For TV reporters in particular to quote that gruesome line would be an agreement with Colbert, that they helped Bush mix politics with corruption from the ashes of 9/11 ("aircraft carriers and rubble"), and failed to see through Bush's politicization of the drowning of an American city after a hurricane ("recently flooded city squares").
0 comments
_____________________________________________________________
Brownie, you're doing a heckuva job.
The question isn't "Why do only 31% still support these incompetents" - the question is, "why the hell is it still that high?"
WASHINGTON — Hours after Hurricane Katrina hit, former FEMA director Michael Brown dismissed reports that floodwaters had breached New Orleans' levees, and he obsessed over media coverage of his agency, according to newly released e-mails.
At one point early that morning, Brown reported to an aide that he was "sitting in the chair, putting mousse in my hair" while waiting for media interviews to begin.
What total dicks.
0 comments
_____________________________________________________________
Poll vault
(CBS) President Bush and the Republican Congress show nearly record low ratings while Democrats are viewed much more favorably in their performance on the issues that matter most to Americans, according to the latest CBS News/New York Times poll.
Well, that just great. You think - maybe - the Democrats MIGHT just stop acting like their afraid that challenging thi clown will hurt them?
0 comments
Bush denies spying infringes on privacy
Roll THAT phrase around in your head a few times.
Lewis Carroll wishes HE had thought of that one, I'm sure
0 comments
Gonzales Lied
As surely as weasels are weasels.
From the Muckraker:
Did Gonzales Mislead Congress about NSA Program?
By Paul Kiel - May 11, 2006, 2:32 PM
Reacting to today's news that the NSA is "amassing information about the calls of ordinary Americans," Reps. Bennie G. Thompson (D-MS) and Rep. Zoe Lofgren (D-CA) have put out a statement questioning the legality of the program.
Their statement contains this: "when the Attorney General was forced to testify before the House Judiciary Committee a few weeks ago, he misled the Committee about the existence of the program."
Here's what they're referring to. On April 6, 2006, Attorney General Alberto Gonzales testified before the House Judiciary Committee, and in one exchange, Rep. Gerald Nadler (D-NY) tried to nail him down:
NADLER: Number two, can you assure us that there is no warrantless surveillance of calls between two Americans within the United States?
GONZALES: That is not what the president has authorized.
NADLER: Can you assure us that it's not being done?
GONZALES: As I indicated in response to an earlier question, no technology is perfect.
NADLER: OK.
GONZALES: We do have minimization procedures in place...
NADLER: But you're not doing that deliberately?
GONZALES: That is correct.
0 comments
_____________________________________________________________
"There's no doubt in my mind there are safeguards in place to make sure the program focuses on calls coming from outside the United States in, with an al Qaeda -- from a -- with a belief that there's an al Qaeda person making the call to somebody here in the States, or vice versa -- but not domestic calls." - Bush, 01/26/06.
0 comments
_____________________________________________________________
Bush lies some more
President Deer-In-The-Headlights decided to throw a little gasoline on the fire:
Facing intense criticism from Congress, President Bush did not confirm the work of the National Security Agency but sought to assure Americans that their privacy is being "fiercely protected."
"We are not mining or trolling through the personal lives of innocent Americans," Bush said before leaving for a commencement address at Mississippi Gulf Coast Community College in Biloxi.
Well, gee whiz, codpiece-for-brains, you ALSO said that you were only listening to INTERNATIONAL Communications. You ALSO said it was only a FEW HUNDRED.
Liar.
Every new story that comes out shows that the administration lied about the last story that came out but they say that we should believe them this time.
NOBODY is that gullible.
By the way, giving the White House info on yur phone calls was VOLUNTARY on the part of the phone companies. Qwest was the ONLY major carrier to refuse. So if you are with AT&T or Verizon, switch to Qwest. And call them and let them know why. DEMAND that they respect your privacy.
0 comments
_____________________________________________________________
It's all true
Everything you thought MIGHT be true IS.
NSA has massive database of Americans' phone calls
The National Security Agency has been secretly collecting the phone call records of tens of millions of Americans, using data provided by AT&T, Verizon and BellSouth, people with direct knowledge of the arrangement told USA TODAY.
The NSA program reaches into homes and businesses across the nation by amassing information about the calls of ordinary Americans — most of whom aren't suspected of any crime. This program does not involve the NSA listening to or recording conversations. But the spy agency is using the data to analyze calling patterns in an effort to detect terrorist activity, sources said in separate interviews.
For the customers of these companies, it means that the government has detailed records of calls they made — across town or across the country — to family members, co-workers, business contacts and others.
The sources would talk only under a guarantee of anonymity because the NSA program is secret.
0 comments
_____________________________________________________________
Wednesday, May 10, 2006
Colbert - SOMEBODY gets it.
Here's a great article from the TV Critic at the Chicago Sun-Times about Colbert's public evisceration of His Ignorance. This may be the only thing I have read in the mainstream press that actually understood the reaction to Colbert's speech.
How did Bush tickle reporters? He made fun of the fact that he can barely speak English (he is quite simply the worst communicator of all U.S. presidents), that our vice president is a heartless face-shooter, and that Bush is basically an idiot.
Ha ha, our "war president" knows he's a village idiot? To members of the White House press corps, that's some real funny stuff. To non-insiders, this looked like another example of good old boys and gals slapping each other on the back.
Colbert's routine was more remarkable for its unique and creative brazenness. He joked that Bush's presidency is like the Hindenburg; that Bush's wiretappers were monitoring this very event, and that the White House press corps, sitting in front of Colbert, gave Bush a free pass, scandal after scandal, until recently (when his polls numbers dropped).
How's this for a newsworthy lead? It was perhaps the first time in Bush's tenure that the president was forced to sit and listen to any American cite the litany of criminal and corruption allegations that have piled up against his administration. And mouth-tense Bush and first lady Laura Bush fled as soon as possible afterward.
From whom were they fleeing? A star comedian pretending to be a Fox News-like blowhard doing a sort of performance art that America hasn't witnessed nationally since the days of Andy Kaufman. Even if Colbert's bit had been reported as a train wreck, that would have sufficed. Instead, shocking lines like the following were barely covered by any traditional organ except industry magazine Editor & Publisher: "I stand by" Bush, Colbert cracked, "because he stands for things. Not only for things, he stands on things. Things like aircraft carriers and rubble, and recently flooded city squares. And that sends a strong message that no matter what happens to America, she will always rebound with the most powerfully staged photo ops in the world."
For TV reporters in particular to quote that gruesome line would be an agreement with Colbert, that they helped Bush mix politics with corruption from the ashes of 9/11 ("aircraft carriers and rubble"), and failed to see through Bush's politicization of the drowning of an American city after a hurricane ("recently flooded city squares").
0 comments
_____________________________________________________________
Brownie, you're doing a heckuva job.
The question isn't "Why do only 31% still support these incompetents" - the question is, "why the hell is it still that high?"
WASHINGTON — Hours after Hurricane Katrina hit, former FEMA director Michael Brown dismissed reports that floodwaters had breached New Orleans' levees, and he obsessed over media coverage of his agency, according to newly released e-mails.
At one point early that morning, Brown reported to an aide that he was "sitting in the chair, putting mousse in my hair" while waiting for media interviews to begin.
What total dicks.
0 comments
_____________________________________________________________
Poll vault
(CBS) President Bush and the Republican Congress show nearly record low ratings while Democrats are viewed much more favorably in their performance on the issues that matter most to Americans, according to the latest CBS News/New York Times poll.
Well, that just great. You think - maybe - the Democrats MIGHT just stop acting like their afraid that challenging thi clown will hurt them?
0 comments
From the Muckraker:
Did Gonzales Mislead Congress about NSA Program?
By Paul Kiel - May 11, 2006, 2:32 PM
Reacting to today's news that the NSA is "amassing information about the calls of ordinary Americans," Reps. Bennie G. Thompson (D-MS) and Rep. Zoe Lofgren (D-CA) have put out a statement questioning the legality of the program.
Their statement contains this: "when the Attorney General was forced to testify before the House Judiciary Committee a few weeks ago, he misled the Committee about the existence of the program."
Here's what they're referring to. On April 6, 2006, Attorney General Alberto Gonzales testified before the House Judiciary Committee, and in one exchange, Rep. Gerald Nadler (D-NY) tried to nail him down:
NADLER: Number two, can you assure us that there is no warrantless surveillance of calls between two Americans within the United States?
GONZALES: That is not what the president has authorized.
NADLER: Can you assure us that it's not being done?
GONZALES: As I indicated in response to an earlier question, no technology is perfect.
NADLER: OK.
GONZALES: We do have minimization procedures in place...
NADLER: But you're not doing that deliberately?
GONZALES: That is correct.
0 comments
"There's no doubt in my mind there are safeguards in place to make sure the program focuses on calls coming from outside the United States in, with an al Qaeda -- from a -- with a belief that there's an al Qaeda person making the call to somebody here in the States, or vice versa -- but not domestic calls." - Bush, 01/26/06.
0 comments
_____________________________________________________________
Bush lies some more
President Deer-In-The-Headlights decided to throw a little gasoline on the fire:
Facing intense criticism from Congress, President Bush did not confirm the work of the National Security Agency but sought to assure Americans that their privacy is being "fiercely protected."
"We are not mining or trolling through the personal lives of innocent Americans," Bush said before leaving for a commencement address at Mississippi Gulf Coast Community College in Biloxi.
Well, gee whiz, codpiece-for-brains, you ALSO said that you were only listening to INTERNATIONAL Communications. You ALSO said it was only a FEW HUNDRED.
Liar.
Every new story that comes out shows that the administration lied about the last story that came out but they say that we should believe them this time.
NOBODY is that gullible.
By the way, giving the White House info on yur phone calls was VOLUNTARY on the part of the phone companies. Qwest was the ONLY major carrier to refuse. So if you are with AT&T or Verizon, switch to Qwest. And call them and let them know why. DEMAND that they respect your privacy.
0 comments
_____________________________________________________________
It's all true
Everything you thought MIGHT be true IS.
NSA has massive database of Americans' phone calls
The National Security Agency has been secretly collecting the phone call records of tens of millions of Americans, using data provided by AT&T, Verizon and BellSouth, people with direct knowledge of the arrangement told USA TODAY.
The NSA program reaches into homes and businesses across the nation by amassing information about the calls of ordinary Americans — most of whom aren't suspected of any crime. This program does not involve the NSA listening to or recording conversations. But the spy agency is using the data to analyze calling patterns in an effort to detect terrorist activity, sources said in separate interviews.
For the customers of these companies, it means that the government has detailed records of calls they made — across town or across the country — to family members, co-workers, business contacts and others.
The sources would talk only under a guarantee of anonymity because the NSA program is secret.
0 comments
_____________________________________________________________
Wednesday, May 10, 2006
Colbert - SOMEBODY gets it.
Here's a great article from the TV Critic at the Chicago Sun-Times about Colbert's public evisceration of His Ignorance. This may be the only thing I have read in the mainstream press that actually understood the reaction to Colbert's speech.
How did Bush tickle reporters? He made fun of the fact that he can barely speak English (he is quite simply the worst communicator of all U.S. presidents), that our vice president is a heartless face-shooter, and that Bush is basically an idiot.
Ha ha, our "war president" knows he's a village idiot? To members of the White House press corps, that's some real funny stuff. To non-insiders, this looked like another example of good old boys and gals slapping each other on the back.
Colbert's routine was more remarkable for its unique and creative brazenness. He joked that Bush's presidency is like the Hindenburg; that Bush's wiretappers were monitoring this very event, and that the White House press corps, sitting in front of Colbert, gave Bush a free pass, scandal after scandal, until recently (when his polls numbers dropped).
How's this for a newsworthy lead? It was perhaps the first time in Bush's tenure that the president was forced to sit and listen to any American cite the litany of criminal and corruption allegations that have piled up against his administration. And mouth-tense Bush and first lady Laura Bush fled as soon as possible afterward.
From whom were they fleeing? A star comedian pretending to be a Fox News-like blowhard doing a sort of performance art that America hasn't witnessed nationally since the days of Andy Kaufman. Even if Colbert's bit had been reported as a train wreck, that would have sufficed. Instead, shocking lines like the following were barely covered by any traditional organ except industry magazine Editor & Publisher: "I stand by" Bush, Colbert cracked, "because he stands for things. Not only for things, he stands on things. Things like aircraft carriers and rubble, and recently flooded city squares. And that sends a strong message that no matter what happens to America, she will always rebound with the most powerfully staged photo ops in the world."
For TV reporters in particular to quote that gruesome line would be an agreement with Colbert, that they helped Bush mix politics with corruption from the ashes of 9/11 ("aircraft carriers and rubble"), and failed to see through Bush's politicization of the drowning of an American city after a hurricane ("recently flooded city squares").
0 comments
_____________________________________________________________
Brownie, you're doing a heckuva job.
The question isn't "Why do only 31% still support these incompetents" - the question is, "why the hell is it still that high?"
WASHINGTON — Hours after Hurricane Katrina hit, former FEMA director Michael Brown dismissed reports that floodwaters had breached New Orleans' levees, and he obsessed over media coverage of his agency, according to newly released e-mails.
At one point early that morning, Brown reported to an aide that he was "sitting in the chair, putting mousse in my hair" while waiting for media interviews to begin.
What total dicks.
0 comments
_____________________________________________________________
Poll vault
(CBS) President Bush and the Republican Congress show nearly record low ratings while Democrats are viewed much more favorably in their performance on the issues that matter most to Americans, according to the latest CBS News/New York Times poll.
Well, that just great. You think - maybe - the Democrats MIGHT just stop acting like their afraid that challenging thi clown will hurt them?
0 comments
"There's no doubt in my mind there are safeguards in place to make sure the program focuses on calls coming from outside the United States in, with an al Qaeda -- from a -- with a belief that there's an al Qaeda person making the call to somebody here in the States, or vice versa -- but not domestic calls." - Bush, 01/26/06.
0 comments
Bush lies some more
President Deer-In-The-Headlights decided to throw a little gasoline on the fire:
Facing intense criticism from Congress, President Bush did not confirm the work of the National Security Agency but sought to assure Americans that their privacy is being "fiercely protected."
"We are not mining or trolling through the personal lives of innocent Americans," Bush said before leaving for a commencement address at Mississippi Gulf Coast Community College in Biloxi.
Well, gee whiz, codpiece-for-brains, you ALSO said that you were only listening to INTERNATIONAL Communications. You ALSO said it was only a FEW HUNDRED.
Liar.
Every new story that comes out shows that the administration lied about the last story that came out but they say that we should believe them this time.
NOBODY is that gullible.
By the way, giving the White House info on yur phone calls was VOLUNTARY on the part of the phone companies. Qwest was the ONLY major carrier to refuse. So if you are with AT&T or Verizon, switch to Qwest. And call them and let them know why. DEMAND that they respect your privacy.
0 comments
_____________________________________________________________
It's all true
Everything you thought MIGHT be true IS.
NSA has massive database of Americans' phone calls
The National Security Agency has been secretly collecting the phone call records of tens of millions of Americans, using data provided by AT&T, Verizon and BellSouth, people with direct knowledge of the arrangement told USA TODAY.
The NSA program reaches into homes and businesses across the nation by amassing information about the calls of ordinary Americans — most of whom aren't suspected of any crime. This program does not involve the NSA listening to or recording conversations. But the spy agency is using the data to analyze calling patterns in an effort to detect terrorist activity, sources said in separate interviews.
For the customers of these companies, it means that the government has detailed records of calls they made — across town or across the country — to family members, co-workers, business contacts and others.
The sources would talk only under a guarantee of anonymity because the NSA program is secret.
0 comments
_____________________________________________________________
Wednesday, May 10, 2006
Colbert - SOMEBODY gets it.
Here's a great article from the TV Critic at the Chicago Sun-Times about Colbert's public evisceration of His Ignorance. This may be the only thing I have read in the mainstream press that actually understood the reaction to Colbert's speech.
How did Bush tickle reporters? He made fun of the fact that he can barely speak English (he is quite simply the worst communicator of all U.S. presidents), that our vice president is a heartless face-shooter, and that Bush is basically an idiot.
Ha ha, our "war president" knows he's a village idiot? To members of the White House press corps, that's some real funny stuff. To non-insiders, this looked like another example of good old boys and gals slapping each other on the back.
Colbert's routine was more remarkable for its unique and creative brazenness. He joked that Bush's presidency is like the Hindenburg; that Bush's wiretappers were monitoring this very event, and that the White House press corps, sitting in front of Colbert, gave Bush a free pass, scandal after scandal, until recently (when his polls numbers dropped).
How's this for a newsworthy lead? It was perhaps the first time in Bush's tenure that the president was forced to sit and listen to any American cite the litany of criminal and corruption allegations that have piled up against his administration. And mouth-tense Bush and first lady Laura Bush fled as soon as possible afterward.
From whom were they fleeing? A star comedian pretending to be a Fox News-like blowhard doing a sort of performance art that America hasn't witnessed nationally since the days of Andy Kaufman. Even if Colbert's bit had been reported as a train wreck, that would have sufficed. Instead, shocking lines like the following were barely covered by any traditional organ except industry magazine Editor & Publisher: "I stand by" Bush, Colbert cracked, "because he stands for things. Not only for things, he stands on things. Things like aircraft carriers and rubble, and recently flooded city squares. And that sends a strong message that no matter what happens to America, she will always rebound with the most powerfully staged photo ops in the world."
For TV reporters in particular to quote that gruesome line would be an agreement with Colbert, that they helped Bush mix politics with corruption from the ashes of 9/11 ("aircraft carriers and rubble"), and failed to see through Bush's politicization of the drowning of an American city after a hurricane ("recently flooded city squares").
0 comments
_____________________________________________________________
Brownie, you're doing a heckuva job.
The question isn't "Why do only 31% still support these incompetents" - the question is, "why the hell is it still that high?"
WASHINGTON — Hours after Hurricane Katrina hit, former FEMA director Michael Brown dismissed reports that floodwaters had breached New Orleans' levees, and he obsessed over media coverage of his agency, according to newly released e-mails.
At one point early that morning, Brown reported to an aide that he was "sitting in the chair, putting mousse in my hair" while waiting for media interviews to begin.
What total dicks.
0 comments
_____________________________________________________________
Poll vault
(CBS) President Bush and the Republican Congress show nearly record low ratings while Democrats are viewed much more favorably in their performance on the issues that matter most to Americans, according to the latest CBS News/New York Times poll.
Well, that just great. You think - maybe - the Democrats MIGHT just stop acting like their afraid that challenging thi clown will hurt them?
0 comments
Facing intense criticism from Congress, President Bush did not confirm the work of the National Security Agency but sought to assure Americans that their privacy is being "fiercely protected."
"We are not mining or trolling through the personal lives of innocent Americans," Bush said before leaving for a commencement address at Mississippi Gulf Coast Community College in Biloxi.
Well, gee whiz, codpiece-for-brains, you ALSO said that you were only listening to INTERNATIONAL Communications. You ALSO said it was only a FEW HUNDRED.
Liar.
Every new story that comes out shows that the administration lied about the last story that came out but they say that we should believe them this time.
NOBODY is that gullible.
By the way, giving the White House info on yur phone calls was VOLUNTARY on the part of the phone companies. Qwest was the ONLY major carrier to refuse. So if you are with AT&T or Verizon, switch to Qwest. And call them and let them know why. DEMAND that they respect your privacy.
0 comments
It's all true
Everything you thought MIGHT be true IS.
NSA has massive database of Americans' phone calls
The National Security Agency has been secretly collecting the phone call records of tens of millions of Americans, using data provided by AT&T, Verizon and BellSouth, people with direct knowledge of the arrangement told USA TODAY.
The NSA program reaches into homes and businesses across the nation by amassing information about the calls of ordinary Americans — most of whom aren't suspected of any crime. This program does not involve the NSA listening to or recording conversations. But the spy agency is using the data to analyze calling patterns in an effort to detect terrorist activity, sources said in separate interviews.
For the customers of these companies, it means that the government has detailed records of calls they made — across town or across the country — to family members, co-workers, business contacts and others.
The sources would talk only under a guarantee of anonymity because the NSA program is secret.
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Wednesday, May 10, 2006
Colbert - SOMEBODY gets it.
Here's a great article from the TV Critic at the Chicago Sun-Times about Colbert's public evisceration of His Ignorance. This may be the only thing I have read in the mainstream press that actually understood the reaction to Colbert's speech.
How did Bush tickle reporters? He made fun of the fact that he can barely speak English (he is quite simply the worst communicator of all U.S. presidents), that our vice president is a heartless face-shooter, and that Bush is basically an idiot.
Ha ha, our "war president" knows he's a village idiot? To members of the White House press corps, that's some real funny stuff. To non-insiders, this looked like another example of good old boys and gals slapping each other on the back.
Colbert's routine was more remarkable for its unique and creative brazenness. He joked that Bush's presidency is like the Hindenburg; that Bush's wiretappers were monitoring this very event, and that the White House press corps, sitting in front of Colbert, gave Bush a free pass, scandal after scandal, until recently (when his polls numbers dropped).
How's this for a newsworthy lead? It was perhaps the first time in Bush's tenure that the president was forced to sit and listen to any American cite the litany of criminal and corruption allegations that have piled up against his administration. And mouth-tense Bush and first lady Laura Bush fled as soon as possible afterward.
From whom were they fleeing? A star comedian pretending to be a Fox News-like blowhard doing a sort of performance art that America hasn't witnessed nationally since the days of Andy Kaufman. Even if Colbert's bit had been reported as a train wreck, that would have sufficed. Instead, shocking lines like the following were barely covered by any traditional organ except industry magazine Editor & Publisher: "I stand by" Bush, Colbert cracked, "because he stands for things. Not only for things, he stands on things. Things like aircraft carriers and rubble, and recently flooded city squares. And that sends a strong message that no matter what happens to America, she will always rebound with the most powerfully staged photo ops in the world."
For TV reporters in particular to quote that gruesome line would be an agreement with Colbert, that they helped Bush mix politics with corruption from the ashes of 9/11 ("aircraft carriers and rubble"), and failed to see through Bush's politicization of the drowning of an American city after a hurricane ("recently flooded city squares").
0 comments
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Brownie, you're doing a heckuva job.
The question isn't "Why do only 31% still support these incompetents" - the question is, "why the hell is it still that high?"
WASHINGTON — Hours after Hurricane Katrina hit, former FEMA director Michael Brown dismissed reports that floodwaters had breached New Orleans' levees, and he obsessed over media coverage of his agency, according to newly released e-mails.
At one point early that morning, Brown reported to an aide that he was "sitting in the chair, putting mousse in my hair" while waiting for media interviews to begin.
What total dicks.
0 comments
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Poll vault
(CBS) President Bush and the Republican Congress show nearly record low ratings while Democrats are viewed much more favorably in their performance on the issues that matter most to Americans, according to the latest CBS News/New York Times poll.
Well, that just great. You think - maybe - the Democrats MIGHT just stop acting like their afraid that challenging thi clown will hurt them?
0 comments
NSA has massive database of Americans' phone calls
The National Security Agency has been secretly collecting the phone call records of tens of millions of Americans, using data provided by AT&T, Verizon and BellSouth, people with direct knowledge of the arrangement told USA TODAY.
The NSA program reaches into homes and businesses across the nation by amassing information about the calls of ordinary Americans — most of whom aren't suspected of any crime. This program does not involve the NSA listening to or recording conversations. But the spy agency is using the data to analyze calling patterns in an effort to detect terrorist activity, sources said in separate interviews.
For the customers of these companies, it means that the government has detailed records of calls they made — across town or across the country — to family members, co-workers, business contacts and others.
The sources would talk only under a guarantee of anonymity because the NSA program is secret.
0 comments
Colbert - SOMEBODY gets it.
Here's a great article from the TV Critic at the Chicago Sun-Times about Colbert's public evisceration of His Ignorance. This may be the only thing I have read in the mainstream press that actually understood the reaction to Colbert's speech.
How did Bush tickle reporters? He made fun of the fact that he can barely speak English (he is quite simply the worst communicator of all U.S. presidents), that our vice president is a heartless face-shooter, and that Bush is basically an idiot.
Ha ha, our "war president" knows he's a village idiot? To members of the White House press corps, that's some real funny stuff. To non-insiders, this looked like another example of good old boys and gals slapping each other on the back.
Colbert's routine was more remarkable for its unique and creative brazenness. He joked that Bush's presidency is like the Hindenburg; that Bush's wiretappers were monitoring this very event, and that the White House press corps, sitting in front of Colbert, gave Bush a free pass, scandal after scandal, until recently (when his polls numbers dropped).
How's this for a newsworthy lead? It was perhaps the first time in Bush's tenure that the president was forced to sit and listen to any American cite the litany of criminal and corruption allegations that have piled up against his administration. And mouth-tense Bush and first lady Laura Bush fled as soon as possible afterward.
From whom were they fleeing? A star comedian pretending to be a Fox News-like blowhard doing a sort of performance art that America hasn't witnessed nationally since the days of Andy Kaufman. Even if Colbert's bit had been reported as a train wreck, that would have sufficed. Instead, shocking lines like the following were barely covered by any traditional organ except industry magazine Editor & Publisher: "I stand by" Bush, Colbert cracked, "because he stands for things. Not only for things, he stands on things. Things like aircraft carriers and rubble, and recently flooded city squares. And that sends a strong message that no matter what happens to America, she will always rebound with the most powerfully staged photo ops in the world."
For TV reporters in particular to quote that gruesome line would be an agreement with Colbert, that they helped Bush mix politics with corruption from the ashes of 9/11 ("aircraft carriers and rubble"), and failed to see through Bush's politicization of the drowning of an American city after a hurricane ("recently flooded city squares").
0 comments
_____________________________________________________________
Brownie, you're doing a heckuva job.
The question isn't "Why do only 31% still support these incompetents" - the question is, "why the hell is it still that high?"
WASHINGTON — Hours after Hurricane Katrina hit, former FEMA director Michael Brown dismissed reports that floodwaters had breached New Orleans' levees, and he obsessed over media coverage of his agency, according to newly released e-mails.
At one point early that morning, Brown reported to an aide that he was "sitting in the chair, putting mousse in my hair" while waiting for media interviews to begin.
What total dicks.
0 comments
_____________________________________________________________
Poll vault
(CBS) President Bush and the Republican Congress show nearly record low ratings while Democrats are viewed much more favorably in their performance on the issues that matter most to Americans, according to the latest CBS News/New York Times poll.
Well, that just great. You think - maybe - the Democrats MIGHT just stop acting like their afraid that challenging thi clown will hurt them?
0 comments
How did Bush tickle reporters? He made fun of the fact that he can barely speak English (he is quite simply the worst communicator of all U.S. presidents), that our vice president is a heartless face-shooter, and that Bush is basically an idiot.
Ha ha, our "war president" knows he's a village idiot? To members of the White House press corps, that's some real funny stuff. To non-insiders, this looked like another example of good old boys and gals slapping each other on the back.
Colbert's routine was more remarkable for its unique and creative brazenness. He joked that Bush's presidency is like the Hindenburg; that Bush's wiretappers were monitoring this very event, and that the White House press corps, sitting in front of Colbert, gave Bush a free pass, scandal after scandal, until recently (when his polls numbers dropped).
How's this for a newsworthy lead? It was perhaps the first time in Bush's tenure that the president was forced to sit and listen to any American cite the litany of criminal and corruption allegations that have piled up against his administration. And mouth-tense Bush and first lady Laura Bush fled as soon as possible afterward.
From whom were they fleeing? A star comedian pretending to be a Fox News-like blowhard doing a sort of performance art that America hasn't witnessed nationally since the days of Andy Kaufman. Even if Colbert's bit had been reported as a train wreck, that would have sufficed. Instead, shocking lines like the following were barely covered by any traditional organ except industry magazine Editor & Publisher: "I stand by" Bush, Colbert cracked, "because he stands for things. Not only for things, he stands on things. Things like aircraft carriers and rubble, and recently flooded city squares. And that sends a strong message that no matter what happens to America, she will always rebound with the most powerfully staged photo ops in the world."
For TV reporters in particular to quote that gruesome line would be an agreement with Colbert, that they helped Bush mix politics with corruption from the ashes of 9/11 ("aircraft carriers and rubble"), and failed to see through Bush's politicization of the drowning of an American city after a hurricane ("recently flooded city squares").
0 comments
Brownie, you're doing a heckuva job.
The question isn't "Why do only 31% still support these incompetents" - the question is, "why the hell is it still that high?"
WASHINGTON — Hours after Hurricane Katrina hit, former FEMA director Michael Brown dismissed reports that floodwaters had breached New Orleans' levees, and he obsessed over media coverage of his agency, according to newly released e-mails.
At one point early that morning, Brown reported to an aide that he was "sitting in the chair, putting mousse in my hair" while waiting for media interviews to begin.
What total dicks.
0 comments
_____________________________________________________________
Poll vault
(CBS) President Bush and the Republican Congress show nearly record low ratings while Democrats are viewed much more favorably in their performance on the issues that matter most to Americans, according to the latest CBS News/New York Times poll.
Well, that just great. You think - maybe - the Democrats MIGHT just stop acting like their afraid that challenging thi clown will hurt them?
0 comments
WASHINGTON — Hours after Hurricane Katrina hit, former FEMA director Michael Brown dismissed reports that floodwaters had breached New Orleans' levees, and he obsessed over media coverage of his agency, according to newly released e-mails.
At one point early that morning, Brown reported to an aide that he was "sitting in the chair, putting mousse in my hair" while waiting for media interviews to begin.
What total dicks.
0 comments
Poll vault
(CBS) President Bush and the Republican Congress show nearly record low ratings while Democrats are viewed much more favorably in their performance on the issues that matter most to Americans, according to the latest CBS News/New York Times poll.
Well, that just great. You think - maybe - the Democrats MIGHT just stop acting like their afraid that challenging thi clown will hurt them?
0 comments
(CBS) President Bush and the Republican Congress show nearly record low ratings while Democrats are viewed much more favorably in their performance on the issues that matter most to Americans, according to the latest CBS News/New York Times poll.
Well, that just great. You think - maybe - the Democrats MIGHT just stop acting like their afraid that challenging thi clown will hurt them?
0 comments
