Please Stop Beating The Drums Now (Updated!)

In case you haven't heard, it turns out that Iran halted its nuclear (nucular if you're Republican) program back in 2003. Seems that the GOPs intense rhetoric and insistence that Iran was not only developing a nuclear weapon but according to Bush, had "threatened countries with a nuclear weapon". From a few months ago:



I expect we will hear a lot from the Republican candidates in the coming weeks defending previous statements. John "Bom-bomb Iran" McCain will probabaly feel most compelled to make a statement in defending his position and will probably say something like, "Well, it looks like the pressure we put ion them recently worked.", even though it turns out we were making threats based on faulty intelligence once again.

The big question that pops into my head after all this is, "How do we keep getting it wrong when it comes to these very important intelligence issues?" My guess is that the best people in the intelligence world are being directed by Bush cronies, appointed to positions they are not qualified to hold. The rest of the administration is a mess. My guess is that that the CIA, NSA, and FBI are probably in just as bad shape. Where are all the lessons we were supposed to have learned from 9/11, GW? Fuck.

UPDATE!

Why in the hell would Mike McConnell tell W that he had new information and then not tell him what it was? How the fuck would anyone on his staff let him make speeches about WW III knowing that there was evidence like this out there? And finally, does anyone really believe a word that comes out of his mouth?

A Meeting to Discuss When We Can Arrange a Meeting

Dana, just say, "It was a photo op so that maybe if something actually comes out of this he can get his picture in a history book that does not have a caption with phrase 'total dick' in it."

Her comments basically affirm what many have been saying about this meeting all along. Condi was not be able to get these folks together for any substantive talks. The fact that Iraq (a pretty big piece in the Mid-East puzzle) couldn't show up because they are "pretty busy" kind of proves my point that the whole meeting was a waste of time.

Tell Us What You Really Think

Olbermann is often way too over the top for me. In this case I found myself nodding in agreement. Torture is the most despicable thing we can do to a person and stands in direct conflict to everything the USA is supposed to be about. It makes me embarassed for my country. For a veteran like myself, that is a form of torture in itself.

Please Sprint Faster

The Heritage Foundation. Sounds nice doesn't it? Heritage Foundation. It's about our heritage. It's about the foundation. That's what you build your house on. It's all good. We all need a nice foundation to build our house on so that we can pass on our heritage.

Listen close here, folks. This fucking dipshit is selling torture as freedom. When he says that congress shouldn't interfere with the ability to gather information from known terrorists, he is referring to congress trying to stop the use of torture. What kind of freedom does he want? The freedom to torture people? The freedom to maintain military force in the middle east to intimidate those who control our oil based economy? I am so sick of this fucking neocon bullshit that it makes me want to scream. Aren't neocons supposed to be moralists? How the fuck do they justify this shit? Every time something like this comes out, I want to go out and slap people on the street for no reason. Gah.

Bush Shit

Why is it that each time I watch this guy try and struggle through a press conference I am still somehow surprised how inept he is. You'd think that he might read the paper the morning before he holds a news conference and I'mm not just talking about Garfield.

Let's break this shit down. Bragging about his veto seems like a pretty good place to start. Doesn't he realize that vetoing the SCHIP bill was an extremely unpopular thing to do? What a friggin' numb nuts. How can he claim that the white house "wasn't dialed in"? Gah.

His comments on Putin's visit to Iran seem very uninformed at best. I was aware of Putin's comments yesterday. Shouldn't the fucking president of the United States have a little more knowledge of world events than me?

Of all the losers you could choose to back right now, I think Blackwater is pretty close to being a completely indefensible choice. In his comments you'd think that he was talking about service men and women instead of out of control mercenaries.

Earlier in the conference he mentioned that the resolution to recognize the Armenian genocide was an unnecessary and ill advised move that would hurt our relations with Turkey. Today the president met with the Dalai Lama and totally pissed off the Chinese. What a friggin' joke.

Finally, if he has never before felt more engaged, he must have been a cmoplete absentee landlord for the 6 and a half years.

A Deer In The Headlights

Dana Perino may be the worst press secretary ever. Here she is yesterday in a press briefing discussing the Armenian genocide issue and FISA:



She takes a quote from the president's message on April 24th but later when she she is asked whether or not Bush characterizes the slaughter as genocide she claims that she hasn't read all the presidential messages. Hello? You just read an excerpt from the message. It's not that long:

Today marks the anniversary of a horrible tragedy, the mass killings and forced exile of countless Armenians in the final days of the Ottoman Empire. Many Armenians refer to these appalling events as the "great calamity," reflecting a deep sorrow that continues to haunt them and their neighbors, the Turkish people. The suffering that befell the Armenian people in 1915 is a tragedy for all humanity, which the world should not forget. I join the Armenian-American community and Armenians around the world in mourning the horrendous loss of life.

I also salute our wise and bold friends from Armenia and Turkey who are coming together in a spirit of reconciliation to consider these events and their significance. I applaud them for rising above bitterness, and taking action to create a better future. I wish them success, building on their recent and significant achievements, as they work together in a spirit of hope and understanding.

As we remember those who perished and suffered, we salute the nation of Armenia, and Armenians everywhere. The United States is grateful for the contributions of Armenian Americans to our national life. Generations of Armenians have employed wisdom, courage, and centuries-old traditions to overcome great suffering and enrich their adopted American homeland.

The United States is proud to be a friend of Armenia, a young state with an ancient heritage. We are deepening our partnership to help achieve a secure, prosperous, and dignified future for the citizens of Armenia. The United States is committed to achieving a just and lasting settlement to the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict. We will also continue to help Armenia as it strives to strengthen its democracy and market economy.

On behalf of the American people, I send solemn wishes to the Armenian people on this day of remembrance. Our nations stand together, determined to create a future of peace, prosperity, and freedom for the citizens of our countries, for our regions, and for the world.

GEORGE W. BUSH

Not exactly holding Turkey's feet to the fire.

Later when discussing FISA I could not believe that the president wants retroactive and continuing protection for "companies that are believed to have helped the nation after September 11." This is obviously in regards to ATT allowing the feds to monitor all calls both domestic and international as well as others who complied with NSLs that have recently been found to be over stretching their bounds. What a crock of shit.

Osama Bin Leakin'

According to an article in the Washington Post today, the most recent Osama Bin Laden tape was leaked to the press prematurely by someone within the White House. The SITE intelligence group had acquired a copy of the video and released it to the Bush administration on the condition that they not release it prior to Al Qaeda's release expected weeks later. The founder of the company says the disclosure tipped Al Qaeda to a security breach and destroyed a surveillance operation the company has used to collect messages, videos and warnings of bombings from the terrorist group's communications network.

The fact that the leak occurred so rapidly after the acquisition by White House officials leads me to wonder who and why the decision was made. I have a theory that the rapidly approaching 9/11 anniversary, General Petraeus' speech before congress and images of Osama were all used to try and drum up support for the war effort. Last time I checked, the war is just as unpopular as it was a few weeks ago. I hope that the administration feels it was worth ruining a valuable resource for the real war on terror in order to take the heat off themselves for a few minutes.

Childrens Do Learn

Sometimes he just makes it too easy.

This Is Why I Am For Obama

This man's ability to bring clarity to a given issue that is sensible, non-polarizing and uncomplicated. When he states that the removal of troops will reduce the anymosity towards the US throughout the middle east, he pushes a button in me that noone else does. I have been listening to Bush and the "they hate freedom" argument for years and I just can't take it anymore.

Idiots like Bush and Lieberman who want to keep us in the mid-east to "protect our interests" are setting us up for a war with Iran. Why? Oil and Israel. I know it's unpopular to say but the creation Israel was the single most disastrous and short sighted project the world ever took on. The fact that we backed the creation of a religious state and continue to show unwavering support for it is absolutely un-American.

I guess that second part was a bit of an off topic rant but sometimes a thought gets in there and I have to get it out there.

More On Infrastructure And Shit

Ahem. Rant coming.

G-Bushy and the Republicants (I sometimes spell this with a U) have decided that it is more important to fund the war and not raise taxes than it is to repair the nation's roads and bridges as well as other infrastructure projects. This is a Libertarian like argument and it really pisses me off. They expect that federal projects can build roads and then leave them to the states to maintain. It's such ridiculous bullshit since the division of wealth from state to state is vastly varying. Taxes provide funding for infrastructure projects that create jobs. Estimates say that for every billion that goes into an infrastructure project, 40,000 jobs are created. Why would anyone argue against it? Because we are a nation of children who want everything but want someone else to pay for it. I am not a rich man and I would rather pay more in taxes than have another person die because a levy breaks or another bridge falls.

Mind Nam-ing

In a speech in front of a VFW convention yesterday G-Dubs made direct comparisons with Vietnam to the war in Iraq. If I had a jug with "XXX" printed on it, I would have done a double take and tossed over my shoulder. You see, a few years back when Kennedy was using such comparisons to criticize Bush's handling of the war he said that statements like that were preposterous and that the suggestion "emboldened our enemies." Well, I guess he can consider them good and emboldened. now.

The War On Tehran-ism?*

The White House recently decided to designate Iran's Revolutionary Guard Corps (basically a branch of the Iranian army) as a terrorist organization. Am I the only person who is a little worried about this shit?

*In the event we go to war with Iran, CNN is going to have to pay through the nose to use this title.

Privileged Executives

Fielding announced in letters sent to Leahy and Conyers today that he (on behalf of the president) has instructed the lawyers of former aides Harriet Myers and Sara Taylor not to testify before the Senate Judiciary Committee. In the letter he reiterated the president's lame argument, “assertion of executive privilege here is intended to protect a fundamental interest of the presidency: the necessity that a president receive candid advice from his advisers and that those advisers be able to communicate freely and openly with the president, and each other and with others inside and outside the executive branch.” How can their testimony possibly inhibit their ability to "communicate freely and openly" when they are no longer his aides? The "inside and outside of the executive branch" part is a joke too since the administration has never allowed anyone to communicate freely outside the doors of the White House.

Conyers later commented on the refusal of the White House to present a decent explanation by stating, “Contrary to what the White House may believe, it is the Congress and the courts that will decide whether an invocation of executive privilege is valid, not the White House unilaterally.” That's good stuff, John.

The Cheney Of Command

*

The VP and his lawyers have recently decided (I thought that was G-Bushy's job) that he is not part of the Executive Branch of governement and therefor does not have to abide by the same executive secrecy rules that the President does. This is a pretty huge flip-flop as he has been protected in the past claiming executive privelege. The Energy Task Force is one great example. Many folks believe he basically let his oil industry cronies write policy.

Rahm Emanuel has made the argument that if the office of the VP is part of the legislative branch then its funding should be controlled by the purstrings of congress. If his argument holds true he intends to defund the VP's office. I think it is very clever however unlikely.

A more realistic advantage of the the Veep's office being part of the Legislative branch would mean that he could thoretically be brought up on Senatorial ethics charges. It's basically a fucked/fucked situation for Cheney but I believe it is the intention of his office to keep this whole mess in the courts until the curtain closes on this administration.

*Taken from a children's website on the basic structure of our system of government.

Czar Wars

I am actually pretty impressed with this Lute guy. He is finally telling it like it is. He even agreed that we should start pulling troops out since the current situation is creating a cycle of dependence on US support. Sadly, he doesn't really have any clout on his own. He cannot direct the actions of the military directly but rather is there to coordinate the activities of the executive branch.

There is the possibility that with Pace leaving after September(effectively ending the Rumsfeld era) that significant changes in the chain of command could be brought to pass. If not staffing changes, certainly we can expect operational changes. The guy they are going to tap to replace Pace is Admiral Michael Mullen, Chief of US Naval Operations. As someone who served in the USN, I can say that more so than any other branch of the military the Navy is focused on coordinating efforts and excel at it. Anytime we had joint operations during my service, the Navy was directing operational and tactical for all branches involved. This is due heavily to the Navy being more of a technology driven operation than personnel driven. They are always looking to reduce dependence on people to handle military actions.

I am looking forward to changes and am actually slightly optimistic that although there will never be an ideal solution, an acceptable compromise might be on the horizon. Then again the whole fucking place might just end up in the cross hairs of a bunch of the Navy's nuclear subs. ICBM, Iraq Can Be Mastered.

The Other Stamp

Watching Bush try to justify his veto and blame it all on partisan politics is such bullshit. He says, "It makes no sense to tell your enemy when you plan on withdrawing." We want to tell the Iraqis when we plan on withdrawing so they can get their shit together, asshole.

He says, "Setting a date for withdrawal is setting a date for failure and that would be irresponsible." He set a date for failure the day his administration chose to completely destroy the Iraqi infrastructure and through de-Baathification prevented the people who actually knew how to run shit from running shit. Talk about irresponsible. We didn't even try that shit with Nazi Germany. We understood that people belonged to the party because not to do so would be stupid.

He accused the Dems of putting in a lot of pork in the bill. This fucker has vetoed 2 bills his entire time as president and NOW he decides that he is against pork. Total bullshit!

Then he lied blatantly about the violence (sectarian) dying down and that it is all Al Qaeda doing the killing but not Iraqis who want us to get the fuck out. So even though violence is way up he is making claims that it is way down. I have never heard such utter crap. Bush, we do not believe that Al Qaeda and Iraq had anything to do with each other until you fought to take us to a war under false pretenses and then destroyed the country's ability to manage itself.

I am so fucking sick of this shit. Politically this is gold for my team but politicizing a war is always bad news. The Rs are going down if they stick to their guns on this and they're gonna figure that out real soon. I wish they would come to their senses and start bringing our boys home.

If it was his intention to piss off just about everybody... Mission Accomplished.

In Honor of Al Gore's Recent Visit to Congress

Aide-ing and Abetting

Yesterday, Bush made an "offer" to allow congress to interview top White House aides (Rove and Miers primarily) in regards to the firing of 8 U.S. attorneys. Problem is, he doesn't want them to be under oath. He wants it to be behind closed doors and he doesn't want to allow any transcripts of the proceedings. So basically he is saying, "I'll allow you to interview these folks but only if it is completely meaningless and a waste of everybody's time." This may be the biggest crock of shit yet.

This is a white house that is fighting for it's life because if congress can prove that the administration used a loophole in the Patriot Act to install politically favored appointees without congressional approval in order to taint criminal investigations of republicans (especially in the case of Lam) it is akin to Watergate. The fact that they initially lied about the motivation for the firings and language in emails that suggests that the so called "temporary appointees" installed under the Patriot Act were not really going to be temporary indicates a lot of sneaky activity but nothing that can yet be deemed illegal. Trying to keep Rove and Miers out of the hot seat I think is a last ditch effort to keep evidence that there was indeed illegal activity under wraps.

Here's the problem, Conyers, is gonna issue subpoenas real soon and the pres is going to exercise executive privilege to protect the administration's (not the country's) interests. If congress does decide to push the issue (and I think they will) the case goes to the Justice Department where (wait for it) Alberto Gonzales gets to decide whether or not to prosecute the case! Are you fucking kidding me? So don't expect the AG to resign any time soon. With this little arrangement in place the White House can continue to do what it wants so long as Justice is in their corner. Fuck!

Do you think Rove and the boys knew this from the get go? Hells yeah they did! Double fuck!

In related news, at least the senate voted overwhelmingly to close the loophole that allowed all this shit to happen in the first place.

Up in Plames!

Valerie Plame is pissed! And hot. OK, I admit I got a thing for sexy spies. Who doesn't? I'll tell you who... Karl Rove. That guy is trying to run this lady outta town? What an asshole. Seriously though, she was soooo ready for her testimony and so ready for those that might defame her testimony that I was floored. Having charisma and no substance is something I can ususally see through but this lady totally kicked ass. She's got the substance. If people were just political nerds like me, Karl would be in jail tomorrow.

The Dems are being really aggressive with oversight now that they are in charge of congress but I am hoping that they stick with big issues and don't get too bogged down in petty shit that makes them look vindictive and small. I want this and other cases to serve as an exposure of a pattern of deception by the administration and set up a lot of folks who were complicit for a big fall.

Between this and the Gonzales cover up, I am not sure how the White House is going to get past it. Someone has to go down and that person is going to have to be either Rove or Cheney. My guess is Rove since he can still work for the party and make a nice salary and feed his advice up the chain of command.