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.

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.

Dixie Chicks' 'Long Way' Nests In At No. 1

The Dixie Chicks

May 31, 2006, 10:55 AM ET

Katie Hasty, N.Y.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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?

But why don't the media talk about the GOOD news?

Insurgent attacks in Iraq at highest level in 2 years

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.

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.

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."

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: Two marines are missing after a helicopter crash in Al Anbar province on May 27th, 2006 Pfc. Keith M. Maupin 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

"Most of all, political scribes have to take off their cynical lenses through which they view every moral challenge as political spin." - Al Gore

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.

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.

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.

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.

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

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.