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."