The George (Bush) Costanza Doctrine

The Financial Times has this great piece by Michael Fullilove (yes, that's his name) on the similarities of the Seinfeld character George Costanza's "opposite" doctrine with Bush's Iraq policy. That is, do the counter-intuitive thing, since you've been wrong so often. Example: after being attacked by a non-State terrorist group (al Qaeda), make war on a state that had nothing to do with the attack (Iraq). (Illustration: Pete Murphey/Murph Productions)

A Good Time Was Had By All - - Sadly

Last night's dinner hosted by the Radio and Television Correspondents featured the annual yuk-up suck-up between the Preznit and his crowd and many of the Washington Press Corpse elites. While advertised as an occasion for socializing between Administration and media elites, it's a perfect example of the corrupt and incestuous relationship that has evolved between those in power and those purporting to be a check on power. Turd Blossom Rove, for example, was featured in a silly rap song while the assembled media bright lights guffawed. Much mutual gonad rubbing ensued. Little wonder that they are reluctant to pursue hard stories against the Bushies, unless and until they are beaten to the punch and shamed by the "alternative" media in the blogosphere. Chris Lehmann's article in the NY Observer is a good summary of this noxious situation.

Sampson and De Liars

We'll be watching today's testimony of former Justice Department official Kyle Sampson on the U.S. attorneys scandal. Preliminary word is that he'll deny that the firings had anything to do with stopping corruption investigations against Rethuglicans, or refusing to pursue phony investigations of Democrats. Yet Monica Goodling, the former DOJ liaison to the White House and a person likely to know the extent of Turd Blossom Rove's involvement, will take the 5th Amendment. Gonzo is changing his story more often that his socks. So they've got nothing to hide, but are fighting like hell to keep from testifying. Makes sense.

OMGSTFU!

At yesterday's Democratic candidate forum in Washington, Sen. Joe "Blah Blah Blah Blah" Biden (D-Egoland) had another overwhelming urge to demonstrate just how little control he has over his tongue and his ego. Biden prattled on for about 30 minutes, sucking all the air out of the room, leaving the next speaker, Sen. Barack Obama, barely enough time to introduce himself. Sen. Biden, who regularly polls at or under 1% in the Democratic preference polls (we didn't know his family was that large), is alone in thinking he has more than a snowball's chance in hell to become the Democratic nominee. He doesn't. He should get out of the spotlight he so clearly craves and let those who do have a chance get the air time.

Denial Isn't Only in the Middle East

Harold Meyerson's column in the WaPo, "The Republican Mystery," asks how the Republicans can be so detached from reality. He offers four possible explanations:

1. "Rudy-ex-machina," meaning they hope that the party will nominate someone not considered to be part of the current Assministration debacles;

2. they think they can "make it impossible for the Dems to pass any legislation, and then run against the do-nothing Democrats;"

3. that the Rethug propaganda apparatus (Limpballs, Faux News, etc.) has actually created, over the years, the mouth-breathing activist base from whence its reality-detached pols have been drawn; and/or

4. that "good government is just not in their DNA."

In Hackwhackers' humble opinion, the answer is "all of the above."

Swiftboater Sunk

Good news that President Codpiece has withdrawn the nomination of Sam Fox, a major Rethug financer of the infamous "Swift Boat" ads that smeared Senator Kerry in 2004, as Ambassador to Belgium. Bush apparently figured out that this clown would be unlikely to make it through the Senate vote scheduled for later today. Glug glug glug glug. (cartoon - Jack Ohman, USNWR)

So Saudi

It looks like whatever support Bush had for his war in the "moderate" Arab world is dissipating. Reuters is reporting that Saudi Arabia's King Abdullah, in an address before Arab leaders in Riyadh, referred to the "illegitimate foreign occupation" of Iraq as contributing to sectarian violence. Meanwhile, an April 17 gala in Washington put on by the Bush Assministration to honor Abdullah was abruptly cancelled by the Saudi monarch, leaving the Bushies with falafel on their face.

Political "Environment" Trumps Science

A study by the Government Accountability Project indicates that the Bush Assministration stifled, delayed or otherwise obstructed data and findings from Federal agencies that conflicted with the Rethugs' political slant on climate change. Hundreds of pages of evidence collected point to a general effort to dismiss any evidence that contradicted the corporate, carbon industry view that global warming is a natural, recurring phenomenon. Then again, watching Senator "Ass" Inhofe's recent performance at Al Gore's testimony before the Senate Environment and Public Works
Committee says all you need to know about the Rethug talking points: deny, lie, and ridicule. Assing off indeed.

Exercises in Hostility

Ominous signs that the U.S. is nearing an open conflict with Iran: naval exercises in the Persian Gulf have begun, only 4 days after 15 British naval personnel were seized by Iranian military. The exercises will involve simulating attacks on aircraft and shipping, and are certain to provoke a response from Iran. Surprised? Ultimate conflict with Iran has been the Bush Assministration's gameplan for some time ("Axis of Evil", cutoff of cooperation with Iran in fighting the Taliban in Afghanistan circa 2002, etc.). It's an article of faith among neocons that another preempetive war needs to be fought, this time against a far stronger opponent. This shows signs of being even more disastrous that the misadventure in Iraq, and yet the neocon nutjobs continue to roll.

Then, there's this.

Heroes and Villains

The Pentagon's review of the cover up surrounding the death of Pat Tillman has been released, and indicates that 9 officers will be receiving "corrective" action for their parts in the cover up. The Tillman family sees this as simply a slap on the hands to military brass, who misled the family about the friendly-fire death of their son in Afghanistan in 2004. "Once again," a spokesman for the family stated, "we are being used as props in a Pentagon public relations exercise." The family is calling for a Congressional investigation.

The Bushie Pentagon was all too willing to use Pat Tillman's death as a rallying cry for their war efforts, while all the time knowing that his death was from friendly fire. They took someone who gave up a lucrative career in the NFL to risk his life in combat, and then lied about his death as part of a PR plan. They have no shame and no honor.

More Republican Values

It's being reported that David Stockman, former Reagan Administration OMB Director, Rethug Congressman, and voodoo/ trickle down economics acolyte, has been indicted with three associates for bank fraud, conspiracy to commit securities fraud, making false statements, making false entries, and lying to auditors. The charges stem from actions Stockman is alleged to have taken while he was on the board of directors, and for a while chairman, of Collins & Aikman Corp. The indictment was announced by U.S. Attorney Michael Garcia (uh, Mr. Garcia, you might want to duck -- 'Berto may be comin' to getcha!!).

Jeb Bush Gets "FU" from UF

There won't be an honorary degree from the University of Florida to former Gov. Jeb "Why Can't I Be Preznit, Daddy?" Bush. The faculty senate disapproved the awarding of an honorary degree to Chimpy's more talented brother. Maybe Chimpy can buy his brother a degree like his degree from Yale was bought by daddy.

The Consequences of Broderism

With the WaPo editorial position being neocon and usually pro-Administration, it's nice to read the occasional op-ed piece by Harold Meyerson, or Eugene Robinson, or E.J. Dionne for relief. Dionne has a good take on the U.S. attorney scandal and the Bushies' attempt to derail it:

"The Washington conventional wisdom machine always defines "fairness" as a carefully calibrated point exactly between the positions of the two parties, no matter how outrageous one of the parties might be. By making ludicrous demands on Congress. . .Bush will encourage supposedly moderate voices to call for 'compromises' that are really administration victories."

Washington Press Corpse Dean David Broder, of course, subscribes to the "meet me in the middle" philosophy, which usually puts him just to the left of a Rethug precinct captain in Wyoming.

The Neocon Paper

The Washington Post has taken a couple of well-deserved direct hits in the past 24 hours. The first was an offhand comment by Hardball's "Tweety" Matthews to Rethuglican guest Mike Pence that the WaPo used to be a liberal paper, but is now a "neocon paper." Then Rep. David Obey (D-WI) in remarks on the House floor slammed the Post editorial page's continuing support of Bush's war in Iraq. He could have added to that they're also supportive of Lewis Libby and hostile to the government's case against him, and that they've expressed serious doubt that the U.S. attorneys scandal will amount to anything. What a change from the great paper they were years ago.

"Let Them Sleep In It. . ."

The response to Hurricane Katrina. The U.S. Attorneys scandal. Muffing the war in Afghanistan against al Qaeda. The arrogance (and incompetence) of Bushie officials is not news. But a lot of Federal employees in D.C. have experienced it up close as part of their work. David Ignatius has an op-ed column on it. Instead of heeding the counsel of experienced and capable Feds, the inexperienced and smug Bushies came into town and have made a mess of things. And they continue to ignore the message the voters sent in November 2006. As Ignatius says,

"Let the GOP be the party of smart alecks and know-it-alls and smirking e-mail writers. The Republicans have made a bed of political arrogance; let them sleep in it for a good long while."

Smell The Smoke?

The item in today's WaPo on the maneuverings of the White House to get "Turd Blossom" Rove's operative in the U.S. Attorney job in Arkansas has some interesting points. It appears from White House e-mails that this was unusually long in preparing - - planning months before the dismissal of the previous attorney, Bud Cummins - - considering the rather small office (Arkansas). Do you wonder why Tim Griffin, Turd Blossom's guy for "opposition research" (digger up of dirt) out of the Rethuglican National Committee, would be assigned to Arkansas of all locations? Could it be because Hillary Clinton's running for President and the Rethugs want to have their guy in place in the months ahead to recycle their crap about Whitewater, Troopergate, etc.?

Sen. Jim Inhofe, Crackpot Hero

Oklahoma Sen. Jim "I Got My Head" Inhofe, who is the most notable face of the oil and gas lobby in the Senate, isn't showing that face so much after his crackpot performance at yesterday's Senate hearing, starring Al Gore (see also Glenn "What I Don't Know" Beck piece below). In fact, as this exclusive Hackwhackers photo demonstrates, Sen. Jim is having a hard time extracting his head -- face and all-- from his ass. In his current situation, it's likely that something else will overcome Sen. Jim before the greenhouse gases do.

By the way, Sen. Jim is a favorite of the Rebunglecan corporate apologist Club for Growth, a group ostensibly supporting "traditional conservative economic values" (judging from the Club's positions, those would be rape and pillage, rather than social responsibility and corporate accountability).

Still In

Former Sen. John Edwards will remain in the Presidential race while his wife Elizabeth receives treatment for recurring cancer, this time in her rib. She's a very courageous, charismatic person and we wish her a speedy recovery and future good health.

What He Doesn't Know, Indeed

Over-exposed wingnut dimbulb Glenn Beck (here seen manfully gripping his... er, "mike") likes to tell us "what I know" and "what I don't know." Remember his role in the Obama madrassas "story?" Or his referring to Hillary Clinton as a "stereotypical bitch?" Or Rosie O'Donnell as a "fat witch?" Merely a few recent examples of his reading from the hard right's talking points.

After seeing his CNN gas fest last night -- predictably bashing Al Gore's global warming testimony on the Hill-- it's clearer than ever that what doughboy doesn't know far, far outweighs what he does. Beck, you know, is of the "global warming is over-hyped and under-studied" school of flat earth wingnuts. He fears dealing with it would result in raising taxes! Waaaaaah! Poor Glenny's taxes might go up to help stave off a global catastrophe! We wouldn't want him to sacrifice, no, no!!

What Hackwhackers knows is that Glenn Beck would be over-compensated if he was doing this as volunteer work. What we don't know is why he continues to be employed by CNN and ABC.

Some Relevant Facts

Presidunce Bush and his enablers like to suggest that testimony by White House aides is rare and an intrusion on executive privilege. Here are some statistics from the Congressional Research Service that put the lie to that claim: during the Clinton Administration, 31 top aides testified under oath to Congressional committees on 47 different occasions (including such top aides as Ickes, Podesta, Berger and Lindsey).

The 18-Minute...er, -Day Gap

Somebody quick dig up Rose Mary Woods! Press Suckertary Tony Snow, in today's spin conference, was confronted with the inconvenient fact that there's an 18-day gap in the U.S. Attorney-firing eMail trail supplied by the White House recently. The gap, which spans a critical mid-November to December timeframe, was brought up by CNN's Ed Henry. Snow's response? "I've been led to believe that there's a good response for it." Heh heh! Yeah, Tony, we've all been led to believe... Yeah, Tony, I'm sure there's a good, er, response for it. Time for Tony to get back to his desk at Spin Central! Practice that Rose Mary Woods s-t-r-e-t-c-h!!

Quote of the Day

Speaking about the Rethuglican candidates and hopes for Fred Thompson's entry into the field, here's Gary Bauer:

"With the current field, there is. . .some difficulty in getting economic, foreign policy, and social conservatives all on the same page . . . I think [Fred Thompson] would have a reasonable chance of getting support from all three legs of the stool President Reagan put together."

Heh heh. Stool. As in poop.

Hasta La Vista, Pills

We noticed California Governor Arnold Schwartznegger's comment yesterday that Rush "Pills" Limpballs was "irrelevant." Pills had called Arnold a "closet liberal" and has been critical of Schwartznegger's governing. But Pills is becoming more of a fringe operator now that his party is out of power, and issues are turning against the right wing among the public. What a shame - - and this was the Year of the Pig, too. Poor Pills!

Chimpy Throws Down the Gauntlet

Presidunce Bust threw down the gauntlet to Democrats tonight, simultaneously attempting to spin the confrontation over allowing his top aides to testify under oath as pure partisanship (the Dems) vs. high minded principle (the Bust protecting executive privilege and Turdblossom). Why shouldn't the Dems trust the word of Bust's Brain, the chief political operative and architect of the politics of division (2000- present)? What possible grounds do the Dems have not to believe the White House, 'Berto, and Rethugs in general? What cynicism! What partisanship! Who's responsible for this?! Round up the usual suspects!

Hackwhackers wonders if Bust and the veracity-challenged minions around him ever wish they had credibility enough to fill a gnat's navel. It would have come in handy now.

Venceremos, Mitt!

In the annals of political gaffes, this has to rank among the worst. In front of an audience of anti-Castro Cuban Americans in Florida, Rethuglican Presidential hopeful Mitt "Flip" Romney used a stock line in Spanish that Fidel Castro closes all of his speeches with. The audience was flabbergasted, as "Flip" must have wondered what he said wrong. So, Romney either didn't realize what he said, or maybe he's flipped to the Commie cause. Hmmmm. (photo: Boston Herald)

Leahy Sends Message

Sen. Pat Leahy, Chairman of the Senate Judiciary Committee, is sending a strong message to the Bushies: I'm going to call you as witnesses, and I'm going to put you under oath. That's because in past appearances before the Committee regarding the firing of the 8 U.S. Attorneys, Attorney General "Gone"-zales gave, er, "incomplete" statements. This time, it looks like the White House - Department of Justice connection will be explored thru testimony of Karl "Turdblossom" Rove and Harriet Miers. Well, the Libby trial didn't result in the prosecution of Rove for perjury/obstruction, but maybe this will do the trick.
Also, check out this interview with fired U.S. Attorney Bud Cummins for background.

Another Sad Milestone

Four years ago, George W. Bush, a man so far in over his head in the Presidency that the hydrostatic pressure must be ginormous, directed the invasion of Iraq to begin. Now, after nearly 3,200 American and countless Iraqi lives lost, tens of thousands maimed, and billions of dollars thrown down the Iraq rat hole (and into Halliburton's bank accounts), the Chickenhawk in Chief wants more patience, saying it "will take months, not days or weeks" for success. No, you blundering, murderous fool. It will not take months, because success will never come. Your incompetence has assured that outcome, no matter what you do now to grow a fig leaf for the withdrawal you know is inevitable. To paraphrase the anti-Vietnam War song, we're knee-deep in the Big Muddy, and the big fool says to push on!

Nothing to See Here. . .

It's a shame that the Washington Post's Dana Milbank snarkily sees the testimony of Valerie Plame in such a frivolous way. But then again, it's received wisdom at the ComPost's editorial page that 1) Scooter Libby is an all around great public servant, 2) Valerie Plame sent her husband, Ambassador Joseph Wilson, to Niger, 3) Wilson's a blowhard, and 4)there's really no underlying crime in the Plame/CIA/Niger uranium story. It's nothing about the Administration presenting lies in justifying the war in Iraq, nothing about outing a covert CIA official, nothing about continued cover up at the White House in an effort to protect Dead Eye Cheney and the Presidunce. Nothing like that at all. So keep moving, folks, nothing to see here. Nothing.

Happy St. Patrick's Day!

Taking time out from whacking the hacks, we want to wish everyone - - Irish and honorary Irish - - a Happy St. Patrick's Day. Erin go bragh!

"People Have Hazy Memories"

Those were the words of Bush Press Suckertary Tony "Blows" Snow in today's White House press briefing when referring to White House participants in the fired U.S. attorneys scandal. Luckily, e-mails aren't so hazy. It appears through e-mails released to Congress, that "Al" Gonzales and "Turdblossom" Rove were discussing the firings as early as January 2005, undercutting Gonzales' claim of not being involved. The Rethugs are trying to spin this as "the President has the right to fire political appointees" hoping that the majority of the public will assume that's the issue. In reality, it's about using the power invested in U.S. attorneys to do political hatchet work on Democrats, to stop investigations of Rethug politicians, and to suppress Democratic voter turnout by "investigating voter fraud." Senator Shumer is on the trail, and it looks like good hunting ahead.

Wonderful World of Color

Forty two years after the Voting Rights Act, and 53 years after the Brown vs. Board of Education decision, Disney has announced that it finally will feature a black princess in an upcoming animated feature. Bravo, such cutting-edge courage, Disney!
What's next, maybe a hispanic prince in the next 20 years?

The Hammer and Fickle

As reported by Prince of Darkness Robert Novak today, don't expect Tom "The Hammer" DeLay to be hosting any fundraisers for potential Rethug presidential candidate Newt "Fickle F**ker" Gingrich. According to Novak, DeLay's new book says Gingrich was an "ineffective Speaker" who "knew nothing about running meetings and nothing about driving an agenda...It was impossible to follow him." Hackwhackers have found it impossible to follow Gingrich for his entire, stream-of-unconsciousness career, even up to his most recent pronouncement blaming the residents of New Orleans for the Katrina aftermath (see March 5 below). But it's somehow heartening to know that even some of those living on the Wingnut planet can admit to the same bafflement concerning our flawed former Speaker.

The Ides of March

Et tu, Sununu? (Endangered Rethug Sen. Sununu of New Hampshire calls for 'Berto to resign.) What's an American Caesar to do when even Senators from his own party stab him in the back? Betcha Sununu is one of those sleeper Islamodemofascists!

Educating the Presidunce, Neocon Style

The neocon grip on the White House has not lessened, despite the manifest failures of the Iraq debacle that should have consigned them to obscurity. Glenn Greenwald reports on a recent luncheon at the White House with Andrew Roberts, neocon luminary and author of "History of English-Speaking Peoples Since 1900." This was the "history" book that Dead Eye was seen lugging around on his recent foreign tour.
The report shows a chilling manipulation of the Presidunce by a group of committed ideologues, whose aim is never-ending war in the Middle East to spread "democracy." To realize that Bushie is still listening to these charlatans is deeply disturbing, but not surprising.

* * * crickets chirping * * *

Remember the tempest a few weeks ago when the right wing, let by the infamous "Catholic League", went after two bloggers that had just signed on the the Edwards for President campaign? They were fiercely attacked by the League for anti-Catholic bigotry. Recently, Faux Noise channel's despicable Sean Hannity spoke to a Catholic priest, Thomas Euteneuer, and stated his support for contraception. When the priest argued back to Herr Hannity, he blasted the Catholic Church for the pedophile sex scandals and the level of corruption in the Church. You'd assume the Catholic League would then attack Herr Hannity for anti-Catholic bigotry, right? You'd be wrong. Over a week has passed, and nothing. Not surprising, though, when you check out the League's advisory board: Alan Keyes, Dinesh D'Souza, Brent Bozell, Linda Chavez, William Simon, Kate O'Beirne, and an assortment of right wing Rethuglicans. League President William Donohue (shown looking smug in photo) is affiliated with the right wing Heritage Foundation and the Washington Legal Foundation.

I'm Shocked, Shocked!

Headline in today's WaPo: "Firings Had Genesis In White House", referring of course to the now infamous firing of 8 U.S. Attorneys for what appear to be political motivations. Noooo, really? The White House? Just because the attorneys in question were pursuing major corruption investigations of Rethuglicans, or not moving quickly enough on investigations of Democrats before the 2006 elections? Not this White House!

The Decider's Diario

Condi and me are just wrappin up our Latin America trip. We're visitin with El Presidente Calderon, who was elected just like me--by a bunch of cronies. Heh heh. Hang in there, Felipe!! Possession is... ten-ninths... 44/100 %... the law... uh... the Supreme Court is a wonderful thing!

Message: "We care." See, we care so much about our little Latin brothers that we want them to do more on their own. Tough love. Tough! We didn't cut their aid over the last 6 years, we redeployed it to surge elsewhere! Besides, I don't think it was very neighborly of them to fumigate after we visited one place (see below - ed.).

Condi and I were also checkin out the state of our extra -- what's the word?-- extradition treaties down there. We know Dead Eye is already measurin the drapes for his suite in Dubai. We just wanted to get goin on our Plan B, too.

Poppy gave us a little scare on Sunday! Truth is, he don't know his own limitations -- hurling on the Jap prime minister, jumpin out of a plane after hip replacement, now playin golf in Palm Springs in 94 degree heat. Heh heh, man's got more testosterone than sense!

It seems nobody misses me in Washington. It's like they don't know I'm away. See, Turd Blossom thought this trip would help change the subject, as he puts it. Now, him and 'Berto are in deep guacamole over them U.S. Attorney firings. At this rate, my legacy will have to rely 100% on my glorious success in Iraq. Well, so be it!

My brain's sore from all this writin, so I'll just say Hasta la vista, baby!!

Chimpy's Travels

News item: Mayan Indians plan to spiritually cleanse the Mayan site of Bush's visit to Guatemala. They're going to need some powerful disinfectant, too.

Announcing...

Sen. Chuck "Wolf" Hagel, at his much-anticipated news conference today, announced...well, that he'll be making another announcement later this year about his political future. Any more of these over-hyped teasers, Chuck, and you'll be making your next announcement to a room full of crickets.

Also, Lt. Gen. Kevin Kiley, former Walter Reed superintendent and current Surgeon General of the Army, was reported to have submitted his retirement request today. Kiley, who infamously "doesn't do barracks inspections," has been the public face of the arrogance and ineptitude underlying the Walter Reed outpatient care fiasco. Good riddance, although several years too late.

A Dubai-ous Move

Dead Eye Dick Cheney's favorite corporate criminal, Halliburton, announced it's moving its corporate headquarters from Houston to Dubai. The firm, which raked in $22.6 billion in profits last year, is hoping to save hundreds of millions of dollars in U.S. taxes. One also suspects it's moving in order to limit its legal liabilities (both corporate and personal) should the Congress ever get around to investigating Halliburton's record of war profiteering in Iraq.

Faux News F**ked

Welcome news that the Nevada Democratic party has cancelled out on Faux News' sponsorship of a Democratic candidate debate in August. Apparently, it was comments by Faux's head, Roger Ailes, that was the final straw. The debate promised to be a target rich environment for the Faux News gang of Rethug megaphones (Brit "the S**t" Hume among them), so why put up with the Faux effers in the first place? To reach out to their audience of the most virulent wingnuts in hopes of peeling off a few votes? Never happen.

Limpballs and Others

Well, it was only a matter of time before Puss Limpballs and wingnut rag New Yuck Sun hitched a ride on (m)Ann Coulter's ultra witty "faggot" comment directed at married with kids Sen. John Edwards. TPM Cafe has the run down, if you can stomach it. Puss, for example, runs a cute ad based on the Breck girl on his website. Don't do it, Puss baby! For a guy who can't lay off the Oxycontin and underage girls in the Dominican Republic, you shouldn't be talking trash!

Bush Receives Brazilian Waxing

Mr. Popularity's South American tour/duck-and-run didn't start so well in Brazil, where thousands of protesters demonstrated against him. After six years of being virtually ignored by the Bush Assministration, South Americans are getting their chance to show what they think of the 6-year snub by the Shrub.

What A Difference Two Days Make

Wingnut ubercommandante Michelle Malkin wrote in her blog on March 6

"Should CPAC organizers be embarrassed if the rumors about (Matt Sanchez's) alleged porn star past are true? Well, yes. Next time, they should do more extensive background research before handing out an honor with Jean Kirkpatrick's name on it."

Then, Malkin on March 8:

"Well the rumors are true. But it is neither CPAC nor Cpl. Sanchez who should feel embarrassed."

OK, so CPAC should have been embarrassed then, but not now? The difference being that wingnuts are trying to spin this debacle as an antidote to the truly embarrassing personal smear of former Sen. John Edwards by (m)Ann Coulter at last week's CPAC cult gathering. Never apologize, never explain, never let facts get in the way of the reich wing message.

Goodnight, Dick

Time Magazine has a featured article in it's new edition, "Cheney in Twilight", that captures Dead Eye's fall from grace in both public opinion and likely inside the White House. Cheney's role in managing the disinformation campaign leading up to the invasion of Iraq, and in the cover up of that campaign that was exposed in the Libby trial, has more and more people writing the evil doer off. Quote from the Time article:

"Everyone now knows that Bush and cheney took the country into a deadly, costly, and open-ended war on flimsy evidence of weapons of mass destruction."

The main instigators of the disinformation were Cheney and the neocon empire he fostered in the White House and the Pentagon. Is there a cloud over Cheney's head, as Libby trial Special Prosecutor Fitzgerald said the other day? Yes, and it's beginning to rain on Dead Eye's parade.

Sneaky Pete's Dilemma, Part II

As noted in our March 6 posting, Sen. Pete "Sneaky Pete" Domenici has acknowledged calling a now fired Federal prosecutor (at home on a Saturday, no less) to "inquire" about the status of investigations of some Democratic politicians prior to the November 2006 elections. This is a violation of Senate ethics rules, and it appears that Sneaky Pete has lawyered up. As TPM notes, ironically he's retained the same defense counsel as jailed former Rethuglican Congressman Duke Cunningham. Good luck, Sneaky!

Is That an Award in Your Pocket, or...

As reported elsewhere, CPAC's recent Jeanne Kirkpatrick Academic Freedom Award winner Matt Sanchez has been outed as "Rod Majors," gay porn star and fudgepacker-for-hire. Sanchez (pictured here at CPAC with a female impersonator) is a former Marine corporal who was honored for allegedly standing up (heh heh) to anti-war students at Columbia last year. He became the pet monkey (heh heh) of the homophobic wingnut propaganda apparatus, gladly appearing with O'Really? and Field Marshal Hannity, among others, to provide his hard (heh heh) right testimony for the "we poor conservatives are under attack" crowd. Welcome, "Rod," to the bursting-at-the-seams (heh heh) pantheon of Rethug culture warrior sexual hypocrites: Foley, Haggard, Gannon, O'Really?, and adulterers Gingrich, Giuliani, Hyde, Livingston, Barr and Sherwood.

I Beg Your Pardon

Now that Scooter's trial is over, and the drawn out process of appeals begins, there will be speculation on the timing of Bush's expected pardon. This would obviously create political damage for the Presidunce, given the managerial role that Dead Eye Dick played in the coverup and obstruction. There's also the growing odor of deceit permeating the justification for war with Iraq connected to this case. A quick pardon - - as suggested by such right wing outfits as the Wall Street Journal and the National Review - - would almost certainly lead to increased pressure on Congress to investigate why Dead Eye, Turd Blossom Rove, and others were so fixated on propping up the Niger uranium story after the 2003 invasion of Iraq.

Scooter Guilty; Shooter Next?

A Federal jury has found former Cheney chief of staff Scooter Libby guilty on 4 of 5 felony counts of obstruction of justice, making false statements and perjury. As Chris Matthews said, stumbling into the truth, this is more than a perjury trial, or the outing of a CIA operative. It is about the bogus justifications for war against Iraq, and that's why the Shooter and the White House were so petrified of Joseph Wilson's report that found no evidence of Iraq seeking uranium in Niger. Discrediting Wilson was key to limiting the damage of his revelation. As the trial moves into the appeal and sentencing phases, the Shooter will be hoping that the prosecutors aren't successful in pressuring Libby to offer up more information on the VP's role in this developing situation.

I-Man on Rudy

On today's "Imus in the Morning" on MSNBC, Imus had a take on whether Rudy Giuliani might actually share common ground with the fundamentalist Christian right because of his "unusual" personal history -- specifically, that Rudy was once married to his second cousin. Imus said he thought Rudy wouldn't be hurt because "with Southern evangelicals, that's brownie points for him." Although, he went on to add that Rudy won't get full points because "she wasn't 13 years old when they got married." We report, you decide.

Sneaky Pete's Dilemma

The evolving scandal over the political firings of several U.S. Attorneys has apparently dirtied up its first Rethuglican politician: Sen. Pete Domenici. Domenici, known as "Sneaky Pete" on Capitol Hill for avoiding consultations with fellow senators, intervened with former U.S. Attorney for New Mexico, David Iglesias, to put pressure on the timing of an ongoing investigation of a Democratic political figure. That's a no-no under Senate ethics rules. Earlier, he denied contacting Iglesias; now he says he did. Let's see what the Senate does with Sneaky Pete.

Blamin' the Victims...

...or what passes for thought, CPAC-style. Newtie Gingrich, wingnut intellectual emeritus and mini-government proponent, demonstrated his non-compassionate conservative thinkin' at the recent CPAC gaffe-fest, pontificatin' about the Katrina catastrophe thusly: "How can you have the mess we have in New Orleans and not have had deep investigations of the federal government, the state government, the city government, and the failure of citizenship in the Ninth Ward, where 22,000 people were so uneducated and so unprepared, they literally couldn't get out of the way of a hurricane."

Newtie-boy. Let's focus on the uneducated and unprepared folks at FEMA and in the Oval Office who to this day, a year-and-a-half after Katrina, still don't have the faintest, foggiest notion how to help - or at least get out of the way - in the rebuilding and revitalizing of New Orleans. That's the real outrage, and where a "deep investigation" should focus.

Ann Coulter, CPAC Heroine

It will be instructive in the coming days to see what the ultimate fallout, if any, will be as a result of Ann "Adam's Apple" Coulter's despicable remarks to CPAC last week. Coulter, a borderline(?) sociopath, used a derogatory word in referring to former Sen. John Edwards (a short while later, demonstrating her pathology for all to witness, she said a questioner was "ugly" for asking her about her multiple broken engagements -- yeah, she knows ugly!).

We all know what the fallout was when progressive Amanda Marcotte was vilified for her writings on religion and the Catholic Church -- the synthetic outrage of the wingnuts, the MSM's familiar water-carrying for said wingnuts, etc. Let's see how long the vicious Coulter is subjected to the same withering attention, how many organizations and media outlets drop her from their stable of "colorful commentators," and how long it takes for her to make an apology (or "enter rehab" in her words). Let not your expectations get too elevated!

Dept. of Unintended Buffoonery

Syndicated columnist (and reliable wingnut) Charles Krauthammer writes today about how we should establish manned colonies on the moon. He derides those "Luddites" of the left for wanting to resolve more Earthly problems first, and waxes poetic about how a moon colony would be akin to "endeavors we find beautiful, exciting and elevating - - opera, alpine skiing, feature films. . ." As Atrios notes, if the Krautmeister and his neocon cohorts hadn't been busy foisting the trillion dollar blunder of Iraq on us, we might actually have a few dollars to throw at his moon colony.

WaPo LoBlo

"Rice Names Critic of Iraq Policy to Counselor's Post" reads the headline in today's Washington Post article about Suckertary Rice naming Eliot Cohen to the post of State Department Counselor. Wow, is the Assministration bringing in a dissenter on the war? Not exactly, and that's what is misleading about the header. Dr. Cohen simply disagreed with not throwing more troops into Iraq sooner, not that it was a blunder to start the conflict in the first place. A neocon, he was "critical" of the speed with which the failed policy was implemented, not the preemptive war policy itself. WaPo: stop giving credit where it's not due.

Now We're Getting Somewhere

A House Judiciary subcommittee has approved subpoenas for four of the fired U.S. attorneys in a Bush Assministration purge, according to the Washington Post. The Senate Judiciary Committee is planning for similar hearings, all for next Tuesday. The U.S. attorneys in question were presiding over corruption probes of Rethuglican politicians (surprise!) when they were fired by the Justice Department. While the Justice Department initially claimed the firings were over "performance," despite good performance evaluations. This is a legacy of 12 years of Rethug control of Congress, which became a high-priced bazaar for selling political favors and for kickbacks during their reign.

The Conquering Hero Returns

Our globetrotting Dead Eye Dick Cheney is back from a less than auspicious trip abroad, during which he flailed opponents of the Iraq war, in particular Speaker Pelosi. He was going about his merry business of slandering, when things turned sour in Afghanistan with the bombing at Bagram Air Base. Sidney Blumenthal has a revealing article which suggests that the Taliban may have had a little help from Pakistan's intelligence services in targeting Cheney. The bombing also revealed how much ground the Taliban and al Qaeda have gained in Afghanistan in recent years, thus also puncturing Cheney's conceit that Iraq is the "front line" in the war on terror. Not any more. (Photo: the Onion)

"The Myth of the Middle"

That's the title of an op-ed piece in today's Washington Post by Alan Abramowitz and Bill Bishop. The bottom line is that it explodes Broderella's and the Gang of 500's theory of the public's yearning for an end to "partisan divisions." As the piece says,

The story of 2006 was that regular Americans were sick of partisan divisions in Washington. The vast and consensus-hungry middle asserted itself in November, the narrative went, finally ordering the parties and their childish politicians to stop fighting and to work together. .But something happened on the way to the evening campfire and s'mores.

What happened, of course, was that the politicians, Dems and Rethugs, were actually listening to their consituents when they demanded change (Dems) or status quo (Rethugs). Note to Dean Broder: clean off your glass navel.