Selling weapons to the Sauds

This is something I'd like to see covered heavily in the news, but it won't happen.

WASHINGTON (AP) John Edwards is speaking out against a Bush administration plan to sell 20 billion dollars' worth of weapons to friendly Arab states, particularly Saudi Arabia.

He's the first Democratic presidential candidate to take that stand.

Edwards says the arms sale amounts to a foreign policy of convenience. And he says he would take a tougher stance with the Saudis if he's elected president.

Edwards says the United States should require the Saudi government to shut down the movement of terrorists across its borders, help stabilize the Iraqi government and participate more seriously in regional security before they are offered weapons.

I would LOVE to see Bush publicly defend selling weapons to the Sauds.

Bush has a message for Specter

"The White House has refused to comply with a Republican senator's request for information about Alberto Gonzales's conflicting testimony on a secret surveillance program by a 12 p.m. Tuesday deadline."

From Raw Story

18 hours

Arlen Specter (R-flips a coin) is giving Bush 18 hours to "resolve the controversy" caused by the "contradictions" in his testimony.

He seems to be implying that a bombshell may come this afternoon.

I don't actually expect it. Although saner than other Republicans, Specter can weasel like nobody's business.

But we'll see.

No, a GAJILLION Iraqis will die!

By Oliver Willis.

Impeachment Inquiry

For Gonzales. Not actual impeachment, mind you. These are Democrats. They just want to INQUIRE.

Well, I guess it's a step in the right direction.

Of course, it would have been nice if they had "inquired" back when Gonzales called the Geneva Conventions "quaint" and declared that the "war on terror" [sic] had rendered them obsolete.

It would have been nice if they had "inquired" when he said that the Constitution didn't guarantee the right of habeus corpus.

It would have been nice if they had "inquired" when they found out that Gonzales tried to pressure a man who was almost unconscious in a hospital bed to agree to warrantless domestic spying.

Well, better late than never, I guess. It's about time the Democrats emerged from their stupor and realized just what sort of person Alberto Gonzales is.

And what sort of creatures infest the entire Bush administration.

Series of search warrants

Ted Stevens (R-moron), the astounding stupid man from Alaska, who thinks the the Internet is a "series of tubes," now has the FBI and the IRS searching his house.

Republicans - if it wasn't for corruption, they'd have no personality at all.

In case you missed it back when Stevens was explaining to America how internet-savvy he is, here's the clip. And remember: this guy has the power to VOTE on net neutrality.



And here's the techno remix:

Gee, why don't they love us?

Humanitarian Crisis in Iraq

About 8 million Iraqis nearly a third of the population need immediate emergency aid because of the humanitarian crisis caused by the war, relief agencies said Monday.

Those Iraqis are in urgent need of water, sanitation, food and shelter, said the report by Oxfam and the NGO Coordination Committee network in Iraq.

The report said 15 percent of Iraqis cannot regularly afford to eat, and 70 percent are without adequate water supplies, up from 50 percent in 2003. It also said 28 percent of children are malnourished, compared with 19 percent before the 2003 invasion.

And the NERVE of those Iraqis! Not being GRATEFUL that we invaded their country and cut off their food and water!

Are you SURE you want to keep lying?

WASHINGTON - The top Republican on the Senate Judiciary Committee is advising — for now — against a perjury investigation of Attorney General Alberto Gonzales over his apparent misstatements about warrantless spying.

Sen. Arlen Specter, R-Pa., said he wanted to wait at least until a briefing Monday by the Bush administration on classified spy programs that could help him decide whether Gonzales lied to Congress.

"Let's give him a chance," Specter said Sunday. "What we want to do is find out what the facts are."

So when a Republican Attorney General lies to Congress, it's "Let's give him a chance to correct that."

If it was a Democrat, it would be "Hang him."

From your mouth to God's ears

New York Sen. Charles E. Schumer, a powerful member of the Democratic leadership, said Friday the Senate should not confirm another U.S. Supreme Court nominee under President Bush “except in extraordinary circumstances.

”

Was Pat Tillman fragged?

It's time to ask, wouldn't you say?

SAN FRANCISCO - Army medical examiners were suspicious about the close proximity of the three bullet holes in Pat Tillman's forehead and tried without success to get authorities to investigate whether the former NFL player's death amounted to a crime, according to documents obtained by The Associated Press.

The doctors — whose names were blacked out — said that the bullet holes were so close together that it appeared the Army Ranger was cut down by an M-16 fired from a mere 10 yards or so away.

And the White House is withholding documents.

FBI Director contradicts Gonzales

How surprising.

WASHINGTON: The director of the FBI, Robert Mueller, said Thursday the government's terrorist surveillance program was the topic of a 2004 hospital room dispute between top Bush administration officials, contradicting Attorney General Alberto Gonzales's sworn Senate testimony....

On Tuesday, Gonzales repeatedly and emphatically denied that the dispute was about the terrorist surveillance program.

Drip, drip, drip

They've subpoenaed Rove (whom I GUARANTEE will refuse to testify) and they're investigating Torture Boy for perjury.

Yeah, I know - what's to investigate? It isn't like there's any read question about it.

When will it be okay to use the word "liar"?

Analyst counters Bush on Al Qaeda

A day after President Bush sought to present evidence showing that Iraq is now the main battlefront against Al Qaeda, the chief US intelligence analyst for international terrorism told Congress that the network's growing ranks in Pakistan and Afghanistan pose a more immediate threat to the United States.

The President of the United States lies about matters of National Security just to prop up his sorry ass.

How disgusting is THAT?

Anyone who has cats isn't surprised

PROVIDENCE, R.I. - Oscar the cat seems to have an uncanny knack for predicting when nursing home patients are going to die, by curling up next to them during their final hours. His accuracy, observed in 25 cases, has led the staff to call family members once he has chosen someone. It usually means they have less than four hours to live.

"He doesn't make too many mistakes. He seems to understand when patients are about to die," said Dr. David Dosa in an interview. He describes the phenomenon in a poignant essay in Thursday's issue of the New England Journal of Medicine.

"Many family members take some solace from it. They appreciate the companionship that the cat provides for their dying loved one," said Dosa, a geriatrician and assistant professor of medicine at Brown University.

John Edwards' response to the hair fuss

There is a jail in the Capitol

Gonzales Digs a Deeper Hole

Just when it seemed that Attorney General Alberto Gonzales' reputation on Capitol Hill couldn't possibly get much worse, he showed up Tuesday for yet another hearing. And as with so many of his recent appearances before Congress, his testimony before the Senate Judiciary Committee raised a lot more troubling questions than it answered — not just about his own conduct of and honesty about the U.S. Attorney firings, but also about the Administration's domestic intelligence gathering programs.

That new wrinkle stemmed from Gonzales' testy exchange with Senator Arlen Specter, the panel's top Republican. Specter opened up with former Deputy Attorney General James Comey's testimony to the panel in May over Gonzales' actions while serving as White House Counsel. Comey had alleged that Gonzales tried to convince an ailing Attorney General John Ashcroft, who was in the hospital recovering from gallbladder surgery, to sign off on Bush's warrantless wiretapping program. "There are no rules saying he couldn't take back authority," Gonzales said, trying to explain that they had hoped Ashcroft might be able to sign off on an intelligence program due to expire the next day, a program that Comey as acting AG had refused to renew.

But what Specter really wanted to know was how that meeting squared with Gonzales' previous testimony that there had been no serious internal disagreements over the program. Gonzales seemed to believe he had a simple explanation. "The disagreement that occurred was about other intelligence activities, and the reason for the visit to the hospital was about other intelligence activities," the Attorney General said. "It was not about the terrorist surveillance program that the president announced to the American people."

Both Specter and later Senator Chuck Schumer latched onto Gonzales' puzzling comment. Schumer in particular brought up several examples where in sworn testimony Gonzales has named the Terrorist Surveillance Program as the one at issue during the hospital visit to Ashcroft's room. Committee Chairman Patrick Leahy then ordered a complete review of Gonzales' statements to the committee. "This is such a significant and major point," Leahy said. "There's a discrepancy here in sworn testimony and we're going to find out who's telling the truth."

Specter later circled back to Gonzales on the matter, warning him: "My suggestion to you is you review your testimony to find out if your credibility has been breached to the point of being actionable," Specter said. The maximum penalty for being caught lying to Congress is five years in prison and a fine of $250,000 per count. Specter wryly noted to reporters during a break that there is a jail in the Capitol complex.

Contempt

The House Judiciary Committee just voted to send contempt citations for Miers and Bolten to the House.

Today's Anniversary

38 years ago: 38 years AND FOUR DAYS ago.



Just thought I'd remind you.

No Exit Strategy

NY Times Editorial

The American people have only one question left about Iraq: What is President Bush’s plan for a timely and responsible exit? That is the essential precondition for salvaging broader American interests in the Middle East and for waging a more effective fight against Al Qaeda in its base areas in Pakistan and Afghanistan. And it is exactly the question that Mr. Bush, his top generals and his diplomats so stubbornly and damagingly refuse to answer.

The Debates

Which I missed entirely. The Great YouTube Debate has passed and I read about it in the papers this morning.

The tone of the press coverage is godawful condescending. "Cute little natives, see how GOOD they are at diving for a quarter?" But that's ok. The questions seem to be considerably better and more challenging than the tripe that Official Punditry offers during a debate.

One thing I noticed. One of the questioners asked, "Would you do the job of President for $5.45 an hour?" Everyone but Dodd said, "yes."

1) We should hold them to it.

2) The right answer, you morons, is "Nope. NOBODY should have to work for $5.45 an hour."

That was a gopher ball just waiting to be hit, and every one of them missed it.

UPDATE: Here's the transcript.

See the comments for RSDaniel telling me that my characterization wasn't completely fair.

How you can tell that the man is not popular.

If you mention Bush, we may lose the case.

Apparently, Bush is so unpopular that attorneys are now making motions to prevent his name from being mentioned.

Any "probative value" of Bush's identity, they argued, "is substantially outweighed by the danger of unfair prejudice to defendant."

Bush's identity, they argued, "in and of itself, presents the danger that the jury will favor plaintiff."

As a result, the defense lawyers said, "it will be sufficient for plaintiff to testify that he displayed a sign in opposition of a 'presidential candidate.'"

Bush takes it up the ass; Cheney fills the void

I thought that headline was funny, but the real one is almost as good:

Bush has five polyps removed, reclaims powers

Ah! That's how Superbush lost his powers! It was the polyps!

We have gone completely insane.

"[Iraqis] are less likely to help when they become "collateral damage" in U.S. attacks, have their doors broken down or are shot at checkpoints because they do not speak English."

The Iraqis don't like us because we didn't advertise our invasion properly.

Heh.

Holden Caulfield gives a fine recap of Bush's speech in Nashville last night.

Generation Chickenhawk

The GOP blocked the pullout

They are in a no-win situation, and they have nobody but themselves to blame.

They successfully held their filibuster, and that means they lost.

Republican senators are now on record as voting against the troops and voting with Bush's failure. And just before they leave for the long August break. Their home offices will be flooded with angry phone calls and angry letters from angry contituents, and that pressure will remain when they return after Labor Day - especially for those up for re-election.

This is an albatross around their necks, and Senator Reid drew attention to the fact that the American People have the Republicans to thank for still being in Iraq.

Expect this to come up again and again.

They want it - make sure they own it.

Heckuva job, Bushie.

Ah. So we have a new report from the NIE that says that we are no safer after six years, and that Al Qaeda is stronger than ever. How nice. Heckuva job, Bushie.

In addition, of course, Al Qaeda and Osama Bin Laden have found safe haven with our ALLIES in Pakistan. We have given the Pakistani Government more than 10 billion dollars. They have created a sanctuary for Al Qaeda in their northwest territory, and "bold, resolute" Bush is afraid to do anything about it.

And although the report talks about "Al Qaeda in Iraq" it does not mention that Al Qaeda in Iraq is a different group than Al Qaeda in Afghanistan. Al Qaeda in Iraq didn't exist before we invaded.

And the moron and his pathetic sycophants still refuse to admit to making any errors and all. Which is a hell of an unproductive way to respond to the fact that you've created a total disaster.

Full text of the report in pdf here.

Who'da thunk it?

Rats are altruistic.

The other day, Mrs. Ignatz and I saw a sermon title posted outside of a church that must have been referring to this ("Selfless Rats and Good Samaritans"), and idiot me thought it was a reference to Ratatouille.

"The president has his head in the sand. The Iraqis have not met a single of the 18 benchmarks we set out, and yet this president has the audacity to ask for more patience while our troops are getting killed every day policing a civil war." - Sen. Barbara Boxer

Beautiful

The Democrats are actually fighting.



If the Republicans want to filibuster, they're going to have to have a REAL filibuster. One that actually hurt.

Good. It's about time.

And thank you, Senator Durbin.

Obama might be the next Presdent

At least, if he keeps saying this:

OELWEIN, Iowa - The U.S. should shift troops from Iraq to pursue al-Qaida along the Pakistan-Afghanistan border, Democratic presidential candidate Barack Obama said Saturday.

He said President Bush's war-fighting policies have left the United States at greater risk from terrorists. The first-term Illinois senator said decisions by the Republican president had allowed Osama bin Laden and his deputies to elude capture.

"We cannot win a war against the terrorists if we're on the wrong battlefield," Obama said. "America must urgently begin deploying from Iraq and take the fight more effectively to the enemy's home by destroying al-Qaida's leadership along the Afghan-Pakistan border, eliminating their command and control networks and disrupting their funding."

So what are we waiting for?

BAGHDAD, Iraq (AP) -- Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki shrugged off U.S. doubts of his government's military and political progress Saturday, saying Iraqi forces are capable and American troops can leave "anytime they want."

Holy Shit

There is just no frigging limit to these people's incompetence.

Our Government has been keeping security sensitive materials on unprotected FTP servers where anybody with an internet connection could look at them.

The link above is to the article itself. This one is a detail of some of the stuff they found online.

Bush has admitted that a member of his staff leaked Plame's name.

Raw Story has it

Contempt

Good.

WASHINGTON - A House panel cleared the way Thursday for contempt proceedings against former White House counsel Harriet Miers after she obeyed President Bush and skipped a hearing on the firings of federal prosecutors.

Addressing the empty chair where Miers had been subpoenaed to testify, Rep. Linda Sanchez ruled out of order Bush's executive privilege claim that his former advisers are immune from being summoned before Congress.

Bush: "We're making progress" in Iraq.

Oliver Willis has the history.

Oh, this will get them to come around

WASHINGTON — House Republican leader John Boehner blasted GOP defectors in the Senate, calling them "Wimps," as lawmakers awaited the Bush administration's assessment Thursday of political, economic and military progress made by Iraqi Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki's government.

"Wimps."

Remember when it was claimed that "the grown-ups are in charge"?

The "growns-ups" apparently never left Junior High School.

Maybe he should call them "wussies," too. See if that works.

Al Qaeda is stronger than ever.

WASHINGTON (CNN) -- Al Qaeda is the strongest it has been since the aftermath of the September 11, 2001, terrorist attacks, a new U.S. government analysis concludes, according to a senior government official who has seen it.

Assuming that this is accurate and not bullshit planted in the media to stoke fears (which is also perfectly possible), what kind of an indictment is this of the clowns in charge? They've bankrupted America, mired us in an endless war, sent troops on four tours of duty, blown up everything but Osama Bin Laden - and the enemy is STRONGER?

Then what have we been doing for 6 1/2 years?

Bush Pardons Entire GOP

hehehe

Unbeleivable

Bush surgeon general blasts interference

"I was blocked at every turn," says the former health leader, testifying with others who say partisan pressure has grown.

WASHINGTON -The Bush administration attempted to politicize the nation's health policy and, when former Surgeon General Richard Carmona refused to follow orders, he was repeatedly muzzled and marginalized, according to Carmona's testimony Tuesday....

He said that senior administration officials and political appointees vetted and censored his speeches, would not let him speak freely with reporters, tried to get him to appear in uniform - Carmona was a vice admiral - at political events, and told him to follow administration policy instead of science.

He said he was ordered to mention President Bush three times on every page of his speeches and was called to mandatory "brown-bags" with administration officials that "were really more political pep rallies." He said he stopped going.

He said that, from the beginning, Bush officials blocked reports or Carmona's input on everything from emergency preparedness to mental health.

ITMFA.

Nobody Marched to Impeach Bill Clinton.

Heh.

"Asked by an interviewer in 2000 whether she could forgive her husband if she learned he’d had an extramarital affair, as Hillary Clinton and Bob Livingston’s wife had done, Wendy Vitter told the Times-Picayune: “I’m a lot more like Lorena Bobbitt than Hillary. If he does something like that, I’m walking away with one thing, and it’s not alimony, trust me.”" - Link

Panic Mode

White House In "Panic Mode" Over Iraq

Administration officials yesterday denied President Bush was considering a "gradual" pullout from Iraq in light of plummeting GOP support for his policies, as the New York Times had reported in Monday's edition. The AP reports the White House said Bush "is not considering a withdrawal of US forces," and the Financial Times calls the White House's message "defiant" in the face of "intensifying bipartisan pressure." The Los Angeles Times also says "the White House brushed off calls from a growing chorus of Republican lawmakers to change course in the conflict," while McClatchy runs a similar report under the headline "Bush Stays Course, Rebuffs Demand For Change."

Yet ABC World News said White House officials "are extremely worried." White House spokesman Tony Snow "will not say that on camera," but one White House official told ABC, "We are in panic mode." The CBS Evening News reported, "Senior Pentagon officials tell CBS News a debate is under way to determine what conditions must exist short of victory to begin pulling troops out of Iraq. The White House publicly denies this, but clearly political support is weakening inside the Administration."

And the muck gets higher

Alberto Gonzales knew of legal abuses by FBI agents when he told the Senate that there were none.

Spanking

Watch Michael Moore spank Wolf Blitzer.

Bush: Former aides won't testify in fired prosecutors case

Simple question: How the hell can Bush decide whether FORMER aides will testify? They don't work for him anymore.

Heh.

From Think Progress

Ohio State Rep. To Bush: If You Want To ‘Coddle Criminals,’ Then Pardon Traficant

As soon as President Bush commuted the prison sentence of his former aide, I. Lewis “Scooter” Libby, attorneys across the country immediately began arguing that their clients deserve “the Libby treatment.”

Yesterday, Ohio State Rep. Bob Hagan (D-Youngstown) sent a letter to President Bush, claiming that his standards for Libby should be applied to another criminally-challenged political figure: former U.S. Congressman James Traficant, who was convicted in 2002 on bribery and racketeering charges. Hagan says that Traficant deserves the same leniency that Libby received:

“If the President is going to coddle criminals in his Administration because he believes they have suffered enough, the least he can do is apply equal justice and release all of those whose crimes had far less impact on the public good than Libby’s,” Rep. Hagan said.[…]

“Libby lied to the FBI and a grand jury about the Valerie Plame cover-up, which undermined the nation’s intelligence operations,” Hagan argued. “Add to that his role as Vice President Cheney’s Chief of Staff in promoting false reasons for going to war in Iraq - and it all outweighs anything Mr. Traficant has done. […]

“Libby is the first sitting White House official to be indicted in 130 years, and yet he walks away without paying his deserved debt to society.”

Hagan, who previously waged a primary challenge against Traficant, doesn’t actually want President Bush to commute Traficant’s sentence. “They both deserve to be in jail,” Hagan told the Cleveland Plain Dealer.

He has a history of making satirical statments to prove his points. In 2006, when conservatives introduced a bill to ban gay couples from adopting children, Hagan “asked fellow senators to co-sponsor a bill to ban households with one or more Republican voters from adopting children.” Similarly, this past year, when new regulations for strip clubs were debated, “Hagan drafted an amendment to ban lobbyists from touching lawmakers.”

President Bush has yet to respond to Hagan’s request for clemency for Traficant.

The "Ultra-Liberal" New York Times is FINALLY recognizes what damned near everyone to the left of Mussolini has recognized for months now - it's time to leave.

Moving the Goalposts.

AGAIN.

Administration Shaving Yardstick for Iraq Gains
Goals Unmet; Smaller Strides to Be Promoted
By Karen DeYoung and Thomas E. Ricks

The Iraqi government is unlikely to meet any of the political and security goals or timelines President Bush set for it in January when he announced a major shift in U.S. policy, according to senior administration officials closely involved in the matter. As they prepare an interim report due next week, officials are marshaling alternative evidence of progress to persuade Congress to continue supporting the war.

"Well, we didn't meet the criteria. So how about THESE criteria instead?"

It's astounding that these people have been wrong as predictably and consistently as they have been. If they had rolled dice, they'd be right occasionally. And they have been wrong every single time.

Gonzo

Thought I'd share a blast from the past, which is current again.

Hunter S. Thompson on Ford's pardon of Nixon:

“Well... this is going to be difficult. That sold-out knucklehead refugee from a 1969 ‘Mister Clean’ TV commercial has just done what only the most cynical and paranoid kind of malcontent ever connected with national politics would have dared to predict...

“If I followed my better instincts right now, I would put this typewriter in the Volvo and drive to the home of the nearest politician -- any politician -- and hurl the goddamn machine through his front window ... flush the bugger out with an act of lunatic violence then soak him down with mace and run him naked down Main Street in Aspen with a bell around his neck and black lumps all over his body from the jolts of a high powered “Ball Buster” cattle prod.

“But old age has either mellowed me or broken my spirit to the point where I will probably not do that -- at least not today, because that blundering dupe in the White House has just plunged me into a deep and vicious hole.”

This is rich.

The right-wing is trying to spread the talking point that it was OK for Bush to commute Libby's sentence on the grounds that Clinton pardoned Marc Rich.

Yes, I KNOW that makes no sense at all, but the right-wingers have a large number of media butt-kissers, and have successfully blown tons of smoke over FAR less.

Aside from pointing out the obvious - Marc Rich wasn't part of Clinton's staff and his pardon wasn't part of a cover-up - THIS little item is just too much fun to resist:

GOP lawyer: Facts 'misconstrued' in Rich case
March 2, 2001

WASHINGTON (CNN) -- Vice President Dick Cheney's chief of staff testified Thursday he believes prosecutors of billionaire financier Marc Rich "misconstrued the facts and the law" when they went after Rich on tax evasion charges.

The testimony from Lewis "Scooter" Libby, who represented Rich dating back to 1985 but stopped working for him in the spring of 2000, came during a contentious, hours-long House committee hearing into former President Bill Clinton's eleventh-hour pardons.

That's sweet.

Mr. Rogers.

Now Fox News is giving airtime to the theory that our problems are all the fault of Mr. Rogers. This has to be seen to be believed.

In the first place, are these morons under the illusion that students asking teachers for a better grade is some NEW thing that didn't happen when WE were in school?

In the second place, if narcissism and a sense of entitlement has increased, well, the blame should be laid squarely at the feet of corporate America, which absolutely bombards children with sales pitches, and which intentionally fosters greed and a sense of entitlement in order to sell them shit.

And just in time for live earth...

It's been raining for 41 days in Texas. They beat Noah.

If THAT doesn't turn the state liberal, I don't know what will.

Live Earth has started

If Al Gore ran now, he would win. Unfortunately, he won't - he's having too much fun not running. And I can't say I blame him.

When will the Democrats figure it out?

Question:
Do you approve or disapprove of President George W. Bush commuting the 30-month prison sentence of I. Lewis "Scooter" Libby while leaving intact Mr. Libby's conviction for perjury and obstruction of justice in the CIA leak case?
7/5/07	Approve	Disapprove	Undecided
All Adults	31%	64%	5%
Voters	26%	69%	5%
Democrats (38%)	13%	76%	11%
Republicans (29%)	50%	47%	3%
Independents (33%)	19%	80%	1%
Based on 1,100 completed telephone interviews among a random sample of adults nationwide July 3-5, 2007. The theoretical margin of error is plus or minus 3 percentage points, 95% of the time. Of the total sample, 933 interviews were completed among registered voters.

Question:
Do you favor or oppose a complete presidential pardon for Mr. Libby?
7/5/07	Favor	Oppose	Undecided
All Adults	11%	84%	5%
Voters	9%	84%	7%
Democrats (38%)	7%	82%	11%
Republicans (29%)	23%	70%	7%
Independents (33%)	2%	97%	1%
Based on 1,100 completed telephone interviews among a random sample of adults nationwide July 3-5, 2007. The theoretical margin of error is plus or minus 3 percentage points, 95% of the time. Of the total sample, 933 interviews were completed among registered voters.

Question:
Do you favor or oppose the US House of Representatives beginning impeachment proceedings against President George W. Bush?
7/5/07	Favor	Oppose	Undecided
All Adults	45%	46%	9%
Voters	46%	44%	10%
Democrats (38%)	69%	22%	9%
Republicans (29%)	13%	86%	1%
Independents (33%)	50%	30%	20%
3/15/06	42%	49%	9%
Based on 1,100 completed telephone interviews among a random sample of adults nationwide July 3-5, 2007. The theoretical margin of error is plus or minus 3 percentage points, 95% of the time. Of the total sample, 933 interviews were completed among registered voters.

Question:
Do you favor or oppose the US House of Representatives beginning impeachment proceedings against Vice President Dick Cheney?
7/5/07	Favor	Oppose	Undecided
All Adults	54%	40%	6%
Voters	50%	44%	6%
Democrats (38%)	76%	24%	-
Republicans (29%)	17%	83%	-
Independents (33%)	51%	29%	20%
Based on 1,100 completed telephone interviews among a random sample of adults nationwide July 3-5, 2007. The theoretical margin of error is plus or minus 3 percentage points, 95% of the time. Of the total sample, 933 interviews were completed among registered voters.

Paul Krugman

Taken from behind the New York Times wall. (I've added a few hyperlinks)

Sacrifice Is for Suckers
By Paul Krugman

On this Fourth of July, President Bush compared the Iraq war to the Revolutionary War, and called for “more patience, more courage and more sacrifice.” Unfortunately, it seems that nobody asked the obvious question: “What sacrifices have you and your friends made, Mr. President?”

On second thought, there would be no point in asking that question. In Mr. Bush’s world, only the little people make sacrifices.

You see, the Iraq war, although Mr. Bush insists that it’s part of a Global War on Terror™, a fight to the death between good and evil, isn’t like America’s other great wars — wars in which the wealthy shared the financial burden through higher taxes and many members of the elite fought for their country.

This time around, Mr. Bush celebrated Mission Accomplished by cutting tax rates on dividends and capital gains, while handing out huge no-bid contracts to politically connected corporations. And in the four years since, as the insurgency Mr. Bush initially taunted with the cry of “Bring them on” has claimed the lives of thousands of Americans and left thousands more grievously wounded, the children of the elite — especially the Republican elite — have been conspicuously absent from the battlefield.

The Bushies, it seems, like starting fights, but they don’t believe in paying any of the cost of those fights or bearing any of the risks. Above all, they don’t believe that they or their friends should face any personal or professional penalties for trivial sins like distorting intelligence to get America into an unnecessary war, or totally botching that war’s execution.

The Web site Think Progress has a summary of what happened to the men behind the war after we didn’t find W.M.D., and weren’t welcomed as liberators: “The architects of war: Where are they now?” To read that summary is to be awed by the comprehensiveness and generosity of the neocon welfare system. Even Paul Wolfowitz, who managed the rare feat of messing up not one but two high-level jobs, has found refuge at the American Enterprise Institute.

Which brings us to the case of I. Lewis “Scooter” Libby Jr.

The hysteria of the neocons over the prospect that Mr. Libby might actually do time for committing perjury was a sight to behold. In an opinion piece in The Wall Street Journal titled “Fallen Soldier,” Fouad Ajami of Johns Hopkins University cited the soldier’s creed: “I will never leave a fallen comrade.” He went on to declare that “Scooter Libby was a soldier in your — our — war in Iraq.”

Ah, yes. Shuffling papers in an air-conditioned Washington office is exactly like putting your life on the line in Anbar or Baghdad. Spending 30 months in a minimum-security prison, with a comfortable think-tank job waiting at the other end, is exactly like having half your face or both your legs blown off by an I.E.D.

What lay behind the hysteria, of course, was the prospect that for the very first time one of the people who tricked America into war, then endangered national security yet again in the effort to cover their tracks, might pay some price. But Mr. Ajami needn’t have worried.

Back when the investigation into the leak of Valerie Plame Wilson’s identity began, Mr. Bush insisted that if anyone in his administration had violated the law, “that person will be taken care of.” Now we know what he meant. Mr. Bush hasn’t challenged the verdict in the Libby case, and other people convicted of similar offenses have spent substantial periods of time in prison. But Mr. Libby goes free.

Oh, and don’t fret about the fact that Mr. Libby still had to pay a fine. Does anyone doubt that his friends will find a way to pick up the tab?

Mr. Bush says that Mr. Libby’s punishment remains “harsh” because his reputation is “forever damaged.” Meanwhile, Mr. Bush employs, as a deputy national security adviser, none other than Elliott Abrams, who pleaded guilty to unlawfully withholding information from Congress in the Iran-contra affair. Mr. Abrams was one of six Iran-contra defendants pardoned by Mr. Bush’s father, who was himself a subject of the special prosecutor’s investigation of the scandal.

In other words, obstruction of justice when it gets too close to home is a family tradition. And being a loyal Bushie means never having to say you’re sorry.

Mission Accomplished do-over

From raw story:

Mag: Presidential aide wants a 'do-over' on 'Mission Accomplished'

One of the president's closest aides [Dan Bartlett], who announced his resignation last month, said in a magazine interview the White House wishes it could "do over" President Bush's "Mission Accomplished" appearance aboard the USS Abraham Lincoln months after the Iraq War's start in 2003.

Although he acknowledged the White House signed off on printing the "Mission Accomplished" banner and hanging it on the aircraft carrier, Bartlett said he and other White House advisers didn't know where it would be placed. He also reiterated the White House line that the banner referred to the specific mission of the USS Abraham Lincoln, and not the Iraq war in general.

The New York Times reported in 2003 that Bush's communications team goes "far beyond the foundations of stagecraft set by the Reagan White House" in using precisely managed television images to promote his presidency.

The Times Elisabeth Bumiller reported that one of Bartlett's subordinates, former television producer Scott Sforza, and aides "choreographed every aspect of the event, even down to ... the 'Mission Accomplished' banner placed to perfectly capture the president and the celebratory two words in a single shot."

If the White House "signed off on printing the "Mission Accomplished" banner and hanging it on the aircraft carrier," how come they tried to blame it on the sailors?

"You know that the "Mission Accomplished" banner was put up by members of the USS Abraham Lincoln." - Tony Snow

Sort of tells everything you need to know about what total scumbags these people are.

Of course, they also cropped the official video of the incident so you can't even see the banner anymore.

What guys, eh?

General Odom says withdraw; and possibly impeach

"General William Eldridge Odom is a former U.S. Army 3-star general, and was Director of the NSA under President Ronald Reagan, which culminated a 31 year career in military intelligence, mainly specializing in matters relating to the Soviet Union. After his retirement from the military he became a think tank policy expert and a university professor and has since became known for his outspoken criticism of the Iraq War and warrantless wiretapping of American citizens."

Here's what that soldier with a stellar career has to say (go read the whole thing):

If the Democrats truly want to succeed in forcing to begin withdrawing from Iraq, the first step is to redefine "supporting the troops" as withdrawing them, citing the mass of accumulating evidence of the psychological as well as the physical damage that the president is forcing them to endure because he did not raise adequate forces. Both Democrats and Republicans in Congress could confirm this evidence and lay the blame for "not supporting the troops" where it really belongs – on the president. And they could rightly claim to the public that they are supporting the troops by cutting off the funds that he uses to keep U.S. forces in Iraq.

The public is ahead of the both branches of government in grasping this reality, but political leaders and opinion makers in the media must give them greater voice.

Congress clearly and indisputably has two powers over the executive: the power of the purse and the power to impeach. Instead of using either, members of congress are wasting their time discussing feckless measures like a bill that "de-authorizes the war in Iraq." That is toothless unless it is matched by a cut-off of funds.

The president is strongly motivated to string out the war until he leaves office, in order to avoid taking responsibility for the defeat he has caused and persisted in making greater each year for more than three years.

To force him to begin a withdrawal before then, the first step should be to rally the public by providing an honest and candid definition of what "supporting the troops" really means and pointing out who is and who is not supporting our troops at war. The next step should be a flat refusal to appropriate money for to be used in Iraq for anything but withdrawal operations with a clear deadline for completion.

The final step should be to put that president on notice that if ignores this legislative action and tries to extort Congress into providing funds by keeping U.S. forces in peril, impeachment proceeding will proceed in the House of Representatives. Such presidential behavior surely would constitute the "high crime" of squandering the lives of soldiers and Marines for his own personal interest.

Secret Document: U.S. Fears Terror 'Spectacular' Planned
Official Cites Resemblance to Warnings and Intelligence Before 9/11

I thought there WERE no warnings and intelligence before 9/11. Isn't that what we've been told?

One more reason that Bush must leave is that he has lied about terrorism so constantly that Americans aren't sure whether we should take such warnings seriously anymore. They are coming from a guy whom we KNOW to be full of shit and whom we KNOW will lie about terrorism for political reasons.

Here's Keith

"If the President be connected in any suspicious manner with any person and there be grounds to believe that he will shelter him, he may be impeached. - James Madison, Virginia Ratification Convention

Here's some response, courtesy of CNN's Political Ticker:

Melanie Sloan, legal counsel to Joe and Valerie Wilson
“First, President Bush said any person who leaked would no longer work in his administration. Nonetheless, Scooter Libby didn’t leave office until he was indicted and Karl Rove works in the White House even today. More recently, the vice president ignored an executive order protecting classified information, claiming he isn’t really part of the executive branch. Clearly, this is anadministration that believes leaking classified information for political ends is justified and that the law is what applies to other people.”

Sen. Barack Obama, D-Illinois, and presidential candidate
“This decision to commute the sentence of a man who compromised our national security cements the legacy of an Administration characterized by a politics of cynicism and division, one that has consistently placed itself and its ideology above the law. This is exactly the kind of politics we must change so we can begin restoring the American people’s faith in a government that puts the country’s progress ahead of the bitter partisanship of recent years.”

Sen. Charles Schumer, D-New York
“As Independence Day nears, we are reminded that one of the principles our forefathers fought for was equal justice under the law. This commutation completely tramples on that principle.”

Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid, D-Nevada
“The President’s decision to commute Mr. Libby’s sentence is disgraceful. Libby’s conviction was the one faint glimmer of accountability for White House efforts to manipulate intelligence and silence critics of the Iraq War. Now, even that small bit of justice has been undone. Judge Walton correctly determined that Libby deserved to be imprisoned for lying about a matter ofnational security. The Constitution gives President Bush the power to commute sentences, but history will judge him harshly for using that power to benefit his own Vice President’s Chief of Staff who was convicted of such a serious violation of law.”

House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, D-California
“The President’s commutation of Scooter Libby’s prison sentence does not serve justice, condones criminal conduct, and is a betrayal of trust of the American people. The President said he would hold accountable anyone involved in the Valerie Plame leak case. By his action today, the President shows his word is not to be believed. He has abandoned all sense of fairness when it comes to justice, he has failed to uphold the rule of law, and he has failed to hold his Administration accountable.”

Sen. Joe Biden, D-Delaware, and presidential candidate
“Last week Vice President Cheney asserted that he was beyond the reach of the law. Today, President Bush demonstrated the lengths he would go to, ensuring that even aides to Dick Cheney are beyond the judgment of the law. It is time for the American people to be heard — I call for all Americans to flood the White House with phone calls tomorrow expressing their outrage over this blatant disregard for the rule of law.”

Former Sen. John Edwards, presidential candidate
“Only a president clinically incapable of understanding that mistakes have consequences could take the action he did today. President Bush has just sent exactly the wrong signal to the country and the world. In George Bush’s America, it is apparently okay to misuse intelligence for political gain, mislead prosecutors and lie to the FBI. George Bush and his cronies think they are above the law and the rest of us live with the consequences. The cause of equal justice in America took a serious blow today.”

New Mexico Gov. Bill Richardson, presidential candidate
“It’s a sad day when the President commutes the sentence of a public official who deliberately and blatantly betrayed the public trust and obstructed an important federal investigation,” said Governor Richardson. “This administration clearly believes its officials are above the law, from ignoring FISA laws when eavesdropping on US citizens, to the abuse of classified material, to ignoring the Geneva Conventions and international law with secret prisons and torturing prisoners.

There is a reason we have laws and why we expect our Presidents to obey them. Institutions have a collective wisdom greater than that of any one individual. The arrogance of this administration’s disdain for the law and its belief it operates with impunity are breathtaking.

Will the President also commute the sentences of others who obstructed justice and lied to grand juries, or only those who act to protect President Bush and Vice President Cheney?”

Bush just commuted Libby's sentence.

The conviction stands, but Libby won't spend a day in jail.

Maybe this will wake the Democrats up, and make them realize that impeachment is the only solution, since the Bush administration is utterly lawless.

It's up to the Democrats to bring this country back to the rule of law.