Court to Bushies: Save E-Mails

A U.S. District Court judge has ordered the White House to preserve its e-mails, a position that the Bushies had strenuously argued against. An estimated 5 million e-mails are missing from the White House, but back up tapes exist that would preserve a record. The Bushies, of course, want to destroy evidence of their criminality during the Valerie Plame leak, the U.S. attorney subversion scandal, the Abramoff corruption case, and other activities. Starting to smell like Watergate?

(image: ABC News)

Brass Vs. Chickenhawks

U.S. military leaders are under no illusions about the disaster that would befall our military if the neocon chickenhawks in the Administration were to launch an attack against Iran. Admiral William Fallon, commander of all U.S. forces in the Middle East (and Gen. Petraeus' boss), told the London Financial Times that the Pentagon is not preparing a pre-emptive strike against Iran. In a not-so-thinly-veiled shot at the neocon chickenhawks calling for an immediate attack, Fallon indicated that the loose talk pushing for another war "was just not where we want to go." Fallon also once famously referred to Petraeus as "an ass-kissing little chickenshit" so he doesn't mince words. He also knows that Preznit Chimpy and his boss Dead Eye have wrecked the U.S. armed forces with the Iraq screw-up, and doesn't want to have further damage done before Chimpy leaves town.

The fault line within the Administration is breaking roughly between DOD (Fallon/Secretary Gates) on one side and Dead Eye and his gang on the other. Preznit Chimpy will be told what to do at some later point when the grownups have fought it out. If the consequences weren't so deadly, it would be fun to watch.

Quote of the Week

"The Hollywood writers are on strike, and Fred's kind of hurting for some lines. And that's the best he could come up with." Rethug presidential candidate Mike Huckabee on Fred "LawnOrdure" Thompson's crack that Huckabee was a "pro-life liberal."

"Corrupt Bastards Club"

A front page article in today's WaPo, "I'll Sell My Soul to the Devil," is a fine recap of the nexus of money and Rethug politics in Alaska. Two corrupt Rethug state representatives, Pete "I'll Sell My Soul to the Devil" Kott and Vic "Whoring" Kohring, have already been convicted of various bribery and conspiracy charges, as has a key influence peddler, Bill Allen. Three Rethug pols, Sen. Ted "Internet Tubes" Stevens, Rep. Don Young (pictured here), and Stevens' son, former Alaska state senator Ben "Didn't Fall Far from the Tree" Stevens, are under investigation, with Allen cooperating with Federal officials about the pols' sticky fingers.

The presumption of corruption has become such a given that several Alaska lawmakers have taken to wearing ballcaps with the initials "CBC" (for "Corrupt Bastards Club").

Give O'Really? His Dhue

Poor widdle Bill O'Really? of Fux News is upset because those mean "libruls" are writing into his show and spoiling his fun. Call the waaaaaaambulance for Bill-O! He has Laurie Dhue as his show's "ombusdman" for viewers who want to write in and tell him what a great job he's doing. She then pitches the softball comments to him. But apparently, the comments have been overwhelmingly naughty of late. So Bill-O wants Laurie to censor them, so he just gets the pats on the back. Actually, he needs to grow a thicker skin (to match his skull), and some balls wouldn't hurt either.

Here We Go Again

Recent reports indicate that Dead Eye Dick has been surpressing a National Intelligence Estimate on Iran because it doesn't conform to his road map for war. The report, which has been held up for over a year, won't be released by the Cheney clique simply because it contains dissenting views on Iran's nuclear capabilities and intentions. Think Progress' article has a nice comparison of how this approach is identical to the manipulation of intelligence prior to the Iraq invasion.

Known By The Company You Keep

The day after receiving the "blessing" of crackpot talibangelist Diamond Pat Robertson, Rudy Toot Tooty Giuliani's former protege, Bernard Kerik, is expected to be indicted by a Federal grand jury on tax evasion and other charges. Kerik, whom Giuliani recommended to Dumbya as Homeland Security Secretary, is a former NYC police commissioner and Giuliani gofer who shares Rudy Toot Tooty's penchant for extra-marital affairs.

Rudy is currently polling a statistical dead heat with Hillary Clinton (45 to 46 percent, respectively). When a larger number of Americans remove their heads from their asses and start paying attention, one would think (hope?) the associations Rudy has had, and continues to cultivate, would cast some doubt over the man's judgment and ethical underpinnings.

UPDATE: Kerik has been indicted on tax evasion and corruption charges. Maybe Rudy Toot Tooty can get his new American Taliban friend Pat Robertson to say a little prayer for him.

Dems Enter Silly Season

Exhibit A: Desperate to get traction, Sens. Obama and Dodd took a remark of former President Clinton's and tried to parlay it into a campaign kerfuffle. Clinton, who was clearly referring to Rethugs' and the MSM nimrods' impact on the 2000 and 2004 elections said he "had the feeling that at the end of that last debate we were about to get into cutesy-land again... We saw what happened the last seven years when we made decisions in elections based on trivial matters. When we listened to people make snide comments about whether Vice President Gore was too stiff [eg., MoDo, Tweety]. And when they made dishonest claims about the things that he said about all he'd done in his life [ditto]. When that scandalous Swift-boat ad was run against Senator Kerry." Obama's campaign tried to turn this into Clinton purportedly attacking his wife's rivals, while Dodd echoed the same theme. Good God, if these pissant tactics come back as Rethug tv ads in 2008, we will know which short-sighted pols we can blame.

Exhibit B: Rep. Dennis "Teeny Weeny" Kucinich introduced an 18-page, rambling resolution on the House floor yesterday calling for the impeachment of Dead Eye Dick. While that's the least punishment we can think of for Dead Eye (something involving waterboarding and electric wires comes to mind), Kucinich knows his own party's leadership has said impeachment was off the table and wouldn't be considered. Thus, Teeny Weeny knew full well his move was only for the purpose of garnering a few minutes of desperately-needed air time for his nearly imperceptible campaign. Who would benefit from such a fruitless waste of the House's time? Hmm.. let's see who supported Teeny Weeny in his effort... why it's the Rethugs, who would have liked nothing better than to have a silly debate in front of the cameras and then get their talking points out saying, "See how the Democrats have been captured by the moonbats? They're wasting time on this when they could be doing the people's business."

Exhibits A and B show what happens when ambition and poor judgment rule over the good of the party, and the country.

Talibangelists Under Scrutiny

Iowa Rethug Sen. Charles Grassley, after evidence of rampant greed and lavish spending among prominent talibangelists became impossible to ignore, has now begun an investigation to determine whether such entities should continue to receive tax-exempt status. The specific holy-rollers being asked to turn over financial records by December are: "faith healer" Benny Hinn, Christian book author Joyce Meyer, Randy and Paula White (Without Walls International Church), Kenneth and Gloria Copeland (Kenneth Copeland Ministries), Eddie Long (New Birth Missionary Baptist Church), and Creflo (!) and Taffi (!) Dollar (!) of World Changers Church International (perhaps that's supposed to be Money Changers Church International?).

Allegations include the groups' leaders dipping into contributions to fund lavish lifestyles, with amenities such as private jets, Rolls Royces, cosmetic surgery, and multi-million dollar homes. The preachers mostly claim these as "blessings from God." Meanwhile, let us recall the Biblical injunction that it would be easier for a camel to pass through the eye of a needle than for a rich man to enter the gates of Heaven.

Ooo, Somebody's Cranky This Morning

It looks like right wing blogger Ann "I'm a Moderate" Althouse is upset that her local Starbucks ran out of ceramic cups, and had to suffer the indignity of being offered a paper cup for her venti! The noive! She insisted on downsizing so that she could get a ceramic cup for the aesthetic experience, holding up the line and certainly pissing off other patrons who just want the damn coffee!! Our guess is what prompted this tantrum is that she's upset at losing Kevin Drum/Washington Monthly's Golden Wingnut award to a fellow Bush sycophant John "Assrocket" Hindraker. Don't lose heart, Annie! The Ol' Perfesser is still going to link to your blog.

Photo: Althouse before her a.m. coffee (top), and after her a.m. coffee (bottom). h/t dane101.com

Election Returns: Rethugs Rejected

In yesterday's off-year elections in several states, Rethug candidates didn't fare well for the most part. In Kentucky, incumbent Gov. Ernie "And Bert" Fletcher was soundly defeated by former Lt. Gov. Steve Beshear, despite pop singer has-been Pat Boone's ads calling on voters to re-elect Fletcher so that Kentucky didn't become "another San Francisco." In Virginia, the State Senate reverted to Democratic control after years of Rethug dominance, and the Virginia State House of Representative picked up some Democratic seats also. Unfortunately, Mississippi re-elected Rethug insider and pantload Haley Barbour, demonstrating why Mississippi remains the most backward state in the nation.

Colbert Bows Out

It's over. The campaign everyone in the MSM wanted to cover ("all fun, no deep thinking") has come to an end. The South Carolina Democratic Executive Council voted 13-3 last week to deny Colbert a place on the primary ballot.

"Although I lost by the slimmest margin in presidential election history -- only 10 votes-- I have chosen not to put the country through another agonizing Supreme Court battle," Colbert said in his statement withdrawing from the race. Colbert was attempting a run only in the Democratic primary because the cost to enter the Rethug primary ($35,000) was a bit too rich for the blood, except for the likes of millionaire Rethugs like Flip Flop Mitt.

A Laugh Riot At Immigration

At a Halloween costume party at the Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE), some staff members dressed up in what was later termed "inappropriate" costumes. One clever guy, likely a Rethug political appointee, dressed up in a prison uniform with dreadlocks and heavy dark makeup. ICE head (heh heh) Julie Myers, who initially praised the "originality" of the costume, later backed off and apologized. Myers, the niece of former Joint Chiefs Bush Butt Kisser Gen. Richard Myers, was criticized by Senators in 2006, including Rethug Senator Voinovich, for her lack of experience, and is still awaiting comfirmation. She had previously worked as a "special assistant" to Dumbya for personnel matters ("Hey, I can do that, Mr. Preznit!!"), and for Presidential semen sleuth Kenneth Starr.

More Progress, cont'd.

CNN reports that 2007 has been the deadliest year as far as U.S. casualties are concerned. Thus far in 2007, the U.S. has lost 854 men and women, compared to 849 in 2004.

Unfortunately for those still serving in Iraq, there are 440 days left in the Commander Guy's sorry term.

Hiatus

We'll be on hiatus for a few days, until Tuesday November 6.

Behave yourselves.