Tale Of The Tapes

The destruction of video tapes of interrogations of al Qaeda operatives in 2005 by the CIA has resulted in calls for Congressional hearings. Some of the videos were taken of the 2002 interrogation of Abu Zubaydah. Assministration officials claim that the destruction of the tapes was meant to protect agency officials from legal claims, due to the harsh interrogation methods (i.e., torture) used. Some familiar with the Abu Zubaydah tapes, including writer Gerald Posner, are saying that a major reason for the tapes' destruction is that Zubaydah fingered 3 Saudi princes, including the King's nephew, and the Pakistani Air Force chief, as having prior knowledge of the 9/11 attacks. He had the personal cell phone numbers of these alleged conspirators.

This should be very interesting, even if the Assministration stonewalls, as is expected.

Quote of the Day

"...talk about a direct IV into the vein of your support. . .they regurgitate exactly and put up on their blogs what you said to them. It is something that we've cultivated. . ." former White House counselor Dan Bartlett, interviewed in the Texas Monthly about right wing blogs' role in pushing Dumbya's agenda.

Call 867-5309, Ask For 'Chimpy'

Dumbya, unsurprisingly, gives out the wrong number for the "Hope Now" hotline for people having problems with their sub-prime loans. Treasury Secretary Paulson looks on, mortified, as Chimpy channels Tommy Tutone from the '80s.

"For a good time, call Chimpy at . . ."

Bonus: The number that Dumbya gave is that of some outfit called the Freedom Christian Academy. Bwahahahahahahaha.

(Associated Press photo)

Pro and Con

Bravo to the Center for American Progress, which is airing tv spots comparing progressive and conservative world views. This one is a take-off on those PC vs. Mac ads; another one aired during the Larry King show last night on CNN (Fox Lite). There are more (check the YouTube site). Small, generalizing, 30-second steps, but always worthwhile to try to draw the distinctions between the two philosophies for anyone who thinks "they're all alike." Please keep it up!

Gas Attacks In Devon, England!

News from BBC of gas attacks in a public facility. Methane gas is suspected.

Alert Dumbya! Them terrists is on the loose agin'!

Neo-Con-spiracy

The neocons continue to frantically spin the devastating National Intelligence Estimate that blew their plans to bomb Iran out of the water (see yesterday's "Neocon Job"). In particular, as Larry Johnson at TPM notes, the sinister Stormin' Norman Podhoretz, the father of neoconservatism, is imagining a dark conspiracy among Dumbya's detractors in the intelligence community to leak damaging information and to undermine the Preznit's flawless strategery to eventually attack every Muslim country in the Middle East. This slur should not go unchallenged by the Defense and State Departments and the CIA. Their intelligence professionals were burned in the lead up to the Iraq war by the cherry picking of intelligence by neocons, who were truly the ones trying to politize intellegence.

Hope You Get Lucky, Larry!

Several Senators, including public bathroom sex icon Senator Larry "The Tapper" Craig, will be traveling to Bali, Indonesia for a conference on global warming. Some helpful tips for Larry's after hours "social mixing" are provided by the estimable Princess Sparkle Pony. Oh, and Larry? Remember that Indonesia is a Muslim country (you know, flog flog, chop chop). Enjoy.

Neocon Job

Well, it didn't take long for the neocon contingent of the 101st Fighting Keyboarders to try to spin the National Intelligence Estimate (NIE) on the shut down of Iranian nuclear weapons program. The same neocons that were pushing false information about Iraq and then Iran are now either "skeptical" about the intelligence, or spinning that Dumbya's deceit about Iran's program was a smart move to keep the Iranians off balance. The New York Times' "The Lede" draws on a few of the more tortured statements.

The NIE story is certainly about the content of the document, which said that Iran's weapons program was shut down in 2003. But it's also about the fact that the report was completed some 6 months ago and held from the public by the neocons in the West Wing that didn't like the conclusions reached. The speculation is that the report's release was forced by an "alliance" within the Assministration, including the CIA/Joint Chiefs of Staff/State Department, that was leery of more dishonest intelligence cherry picking of data by Cheney & Co., similar to the lead up to the Iraq invasion.

The "Likability Factor"

From our friends at The Onion, this report on the candidate most Americans could see sucker-punching in a bar. You will be right if you think the content of this report mirrors recent discussions on the Tweety Show about the importance of a candidate's likability. Tweety just loves him some amiable dunces!

(h/t to our Tokyo correspondent, Brian!)

Kraphammer "Fundamentally Flawed"

Last week, neocon crackpot Charles Krauthammer posited in the WaPo that Dumbya's policies on embryonic stem cell research led to the recent breakthrough by University of Wisconsin professor James Thomson and a Japanese team (see Nov. 20 posting) because it forced scientists into "innovative alternatives." Well, Herr Doktor Kraphammer got his comeuppance in today's WaPo from none other than Professor Thomson (and Alan Leshner, CEO of the American Association for the Advancement of Science).

Writing under the heading "Standing in the Way of Stem Cell Research," Thomson and Leshner take Kraphammer to task for, first, inaccurately describing the landmark breakthrough as a "Holy Grail," and then for giving Dumbya credit, calling this argument "fundamentally flawed." Thomson and Leshner provide the authoritative, ultimate judgment, saying "Far from vindicating the current U.S. policy of withholding federal funds from many of those working to develop potentially lifesaving embryonic stem cells, recent papers in the journals Science and Cell described a breakthrough achieved despite political restrictions."

Next time, stick to topics you know something about, Kraphammer, like... uh, such as... oh, just STFU...

Photo (of chickenhawk Kraphammer "fowling up" a beer bong) courtesy of Princess Sparkle Pony's Photo Blog.

NOTE TO ERSTWHILE COMMENTERS: We're here in the future in 2010, and we saw several crackpot comments on this item that were posted about 3 years ago -- late 2007-ish. They gone. Don't know how you're finding this old posting, but if you want to leave a bullshit crackpot comment, fuggedaboudit!

Intelligence: No Weapons Program In Iran

The New York Times reports that a new National Intelligence Estimate (NIE) says that Iran halted its nuclear weapons program in 2003, and would not be able to fabricate a nuclear weapon before 2013 even if it restarted that program today. The NIE is in stark contrast to the claims of the Assministration over the past two years that Iran is moving toward a nuclear weapon. The NIE represents the consensus opinion of 16 intelligence agencies.

Back to the war drawing board for Dead Eye's West Wing neocons.

(photo: Someone who has nothing to do with intelligence)

Wolfie's Return

It appears as though neocon Paul Wolfowitz, a key architect of the Iraq war, is in line for the chairmanship of the State Department's International Security Advisory Board. Marvelous! Let it be said that the Bushit Assministration never met an incompetent or a blind loyalist that it didn't reward. No word on whether Wolfie's girlfriend, suspected "terrist" (by virtue of her religion, of course) Shaha Riza, will be given an equivalent position, but we can always hope.

The Rules Can Be Changed

In the waning months of the Bushit Assministration, the Bushies will be trying to put Federal rules into place that favor their corporate contributors and supporters, or eliminate ones that they oppose. Washington Monthly reports that the National Association of Manufacturers is working with the Bushies to get their least favorite regulations abolished before Chimpy exits in January 2009. The Bushies, of course, will be doing everything they can to make the road easier for their corporate benefactors before the clock runs out on them, as they are assuming a Democratic President and Congress in 2009.

Rudy and Judy: The Gift That Keeps on Giving

One of the strategies of some of his Rethug opponents was to get Giuliani angry about some issue. It would reveal to the public what New Yorkers already know: Rudy Toot Tooty has a very nasty temper and vindictive streak. Well, it seems as though the recent revelations of his "shag fund" have sent Rudy over the top. He's instructed his bodyguards and press flacks to physically prevent any questions from the press during his public appearances. His "we've already explained it" dodge is not working, so he's got his posse pushing reporters out of the way, hoping that questions over this scandal will just go away.

What Dumbya Really Thinks About Homeland Security

The Assministration is preparing the FY 2009 Homeland Security budget to go to Congress in February, and it's a mess. Since Dumbya checks out in the first quarter of FY 09, it will be a budget that the next Administration would have to live with.

According to ABC News, the budget that Dumbya's proposing for state and local homeland security grants is only $1.4 billion, down from $3.2 billion in 2008. What's more alarming is that funding for port security, transit security and local emergency management operations has been zeroed out. Congress is certain to reject these cuts, and this final piece of the Decider's handiwork will be dead on arrival.