Bush to allow Benchmarks?

The A.P is reporting:
The turnabout in Bush's position came as Republicans expressed anxieties about the war and the House was expected to pass legislation that would cut off funding for U.S. troops as early as July.

What will be his acceptable compromise as to Benchmarks? mmmmmmmm. No benchmarks until after he leaves office?

Lee Iacocca skewers Bush in his new book!!!

I can say no more but click on this link and read on!!!

A minor, yet telling, hypocrisy

You know how many Bush supporters feel that liberals shouldn't be offended when they call us "libtards" and "dumbocrats," amongst other idiotic speech?

Well, a woman in South Dakota had applied for, and gotten, a vanity license plate for her Toyota Prius that read "MPEACHW."

One person complained to the state DMV that the plate was "offensive," and, based on that singular complaint, the DMV recalled her plates. (Fortunately, free speech won out.)

Attorney scandal is off the war hiatus!

With Bush's first veto of any accountability in Iraq a matter of the past, the hearings into the US Attorney firings have resumed. Now, it's the House's turn to listen to these douchebags try to weasel out of their partisan hackery.

It should be obvious to all that Gonzales and the White House have been deeply involved in this scandal, as Gone-zo is getting testy that his underlings are spilling the beans to Congress. His opening statement to the House Judiciary Committee basically blamed everything on Kyle Sampson, and asked the Congress to, in essence, "leave us alone because we didn't do anything wrong." That, sir, is not for you to decide, especially when you are claiming ignorance (which, for a leader, indicates incompetence). Gonzo's "leave us alone" sentiment was echoed by Rep. Lamar Smith (R-TX), the committee's senior GOP hack: "If there are no fish in this lake, we should reel in our lines of questions, dock our empty boat and turn to more pressing issues." The sad truth is, since Fredo seems intent on keeping to his "I don't remember" defense (and his new one, "I think I may be aware of that"), he may evade blame in all of this. We can only wait and see how damning other evidence, including the immunity testimony that Monica Goodling will provide, is before knowing the extent of his future as Attorney General.

In other related news:

- We had a post on Monday regarding Brad Schlozman, who was an early Patriot Act provision hire, replacing Todd Graves in Missouri. Interestingly enough, Graves was embroiled in a nepotism scandal that involved Missouri Gov. Matt Blunt (R) awarding a no-bid contract to Graves' wife to run a fee office. Senator Kit Bond (R-MO) called for Graves' removal based on this scandal, though rumors abound that Graves wasn't - ready? - willing to prosecute voter-fraud cases! Further scandalizing this situation is the fact that the person who prosecuted Graves, et al., in this case was... US Attorney Bud Cummins of Arkansas! Where have we heard his name before...?

- Three former US Attorneys (Iglesias, McKay, and Charlton) are speaking out regarding the firings. McKay even calls attention to two other attorneys who are presently under the political gun, and believes that a criminal case may come out of this; the charge would likely be obstruction of justice. Iglesias points out that, in his opinion, "all roads lead to Rove." Hmm...

FBI busted more "terrorists"

The FBI have apparently stopped a "terrorist cell" from trying to take over Fort Dix in New Jersey.

Of course they caught these guys. One of them was a pizza delivery guy working for his family's business! Six "terrorists" were caught overall. The FBI had inflitrated the group over a year ago when - get this - the "terrorists" brought a "training" video (including lots of gunfire and praise of Allah) to a VIDEO STORE to get it burned onto a DVD.

If this is any indication of the intelligence of these six men, I don't think any American had anything to fear. Come on, if I were to make a video similar in content to that, I would buy the video capture equipment myself if I so desperately needed to make a DVD. That's like getting blueprints of the bank you want to rob while wearing the ski mask!

When I first heard of the DVD thing, I instantly flashed back to the last "terrorist" scare - the Miami "cell" that was more "theoretical" than "functional." It's nice to know that the FBI can capture a bunch of newbish hacks every year or so while convincing us that these same hacks would be capable of successfully attacking and killing many Americans.

Now, why can't they capture those hack terrorists that reside in the White House who are getting many Americans killed?

Also note that, of the three major networks, only the Always Blame Clinton network (owned by Disney) didn't point out that there was no way in hell that these guys were likely to be successful. Keep spreading the fear, media douchebags.

NOW it's "game time"?

With 54% of Americans disapproving of Bush's recent Iraq Accountability Act veto, and 57% saying that Democrats in Congress should make troop withdrawal a feature of any future supplementals, Republicans voicing their displeasure with Bush's Iraq "surge" directly to him, and Iraq's Parliament voting on a resolution which rejects American occupation of their country and calls for a timetable for troop withdrawal, you'd think a change in strategy was "around the corner."

There are some changes in strategy: Send more troops in, lengthen their tours to 18 months, and decrease the time they are home between tours. Apparently, the "sober[ing]" talk the GOP congressmen had with Bush isn't enough to totally shake up our power-drunk would-be king or members of his royal court.

Want proof the surge isn't working?

- From the WaPo article linked above: "Partial data on attacks gathered from five U.S. brigades operating in Baghdad showed that total attacks since the new strategy began in February were either steady or increasing. In some cases, certain kinds of attacks dipped as the U.S. troop increase began, only to begin rising again in recent weeks. Overall, "the number of attacks has stayed relatively constant" in Baghdad, said one U.S. officer, who spoke on condition of anonymity because he was not authorized to be quoted by name."

- Sunnis are threatening Iraqi Christians with death if they do not convert to Islam, prompting the Christians to hightail it out of Baghdad. I wonder where the extra outrage is from the right wing hacks? "OMG they're persecuting Christians! You see, people hate us for loving the Jesus!"

The Democrats in Congress have been working on a new supplemental, one that would fund the war only for the next few months, with no new funding to be provided unless some benchmarks are met. Bush has threatened to veto it before it has even been presented, so the Democrats are putting some acceleration into it. House Speaker Nancy Pelosi will investigate court action if the White House attempts to attach one of its infamous "signing statements" to the bill in lieu of vetoing it.

Dick Cheney paid Iraq his second visit since the war began. The first time around, if you recall, we were "turning the corner" in Iraq... in December, 2005! This time, he claims that "We’ve all got challenges together. We’ve got to pull together. We’ve got to get this work done. It's game time." It's game time??? WTF?! What have the last 4 years been... spring training? You horrid, disgusting, heartless pig. We don't ALL have challenges together. The majority of Americans have no idea of the suffering our troops endure in Iraq. We don't know what it's like to lose custody of our children as a result of fighting your war - and you haven't, Dick. We don't know what it's like to live in a combat zone for the better part of 4 years, and then be expected to return to normal society - and you don't, Dick. So stop acting like you're sitting in the trenches with our young men and women, gun in your hand, armored up and ready to protect your comrades!!! Your sympathy for our troops' plight can best be expressed by bringing an end to our occupation of Iraq NOW. It's not surprising you wanted the press nowhere near this one, you freak.

A few side points:

- It was revealed that we had a propaganda plan in place, using Iraq's own media to spin the war that they'd be living with on a daily basis. As if that would fool them.

- SecDef Gates claims that he doesn't know if the original war authorization is still valid! Well, it says that it served two purposes: 1) to defend the United States against Saddam Hussein and 2) enforce U.N. resolutions against Hussein’s government. Hmm... seems those have been accomplished. So... why are we still there, eh?

- We've been talking about how retired generals are coming out and opposing the Bush surge plan. Now they have made some TV ads to back all that up.

What a difference!

Jamison Foser of MediaMatters highlights the different kinds of questions given to presidential candidates in the recent Democratic and Republican debates.

Brian Williams, moderator of the Democratic debate, asked some very tough - and very leading - questions of various Democrats. At one point, he even subtly (and baselessly) accuses many of the Democratic candidates of corruption! At the Republican debate, however, moderator Chris Matthews threw one softball after another, and did not meaningfully challenge any of the candidates.

Matthews asked the Republicans which tax they'd like to cut IN ADDITION to Bush's tax cuts; Williams asked the Democrats not just for their health care proposal, he insisted on knowing how they would pay for it.

We could say that Williams is a far better (if subversively backhanded) moderator than Matthews. We could also say that these MSM neo-con whores are stacking the deck for 2008 already!

Katrina redux?

The White House is claiming that the Kansas National Guard's inability to respond adequately to the Greensburg disaster is the fault of... Kansas Governor Kathleen Sebelius!!! They're accusing her of not requesting the appropriate equipment to replace the equipment that was shipped to Iraq to support the Kansas NG contingent there.

It's too bad for these scum-sucking, lowlife neo-con bastards that ThinkProgress is on the job! Turns out Gov. Sebelius has been requesting replacement equipment and vehicles since December 2005!

These lying, treasonous right-wing criminals should all be thrown out of the White House!!!

More terrorist appeasement from the right wing

From the treasonous mouth of Dick Morris:

"I think that withdrawal from Iraq — it obviously gives al Qaeda a huge victory. Huge victory. On the other hand, if we stay in Iraq, it gives them the opportunity to kill more Americans, which they really like.

"One of the things, though, that I think the antiwar crowd has not considered is that, if we’re putting the Americans right within their arms’ reach, they don’t have to come to Wall Street to kill Americans. They don’t have to knock down the trade center. They can do it around the corner, and convenience is a big factor when you’re a terrorist."

YOU FILTHY PIG. Why don't you wait around the corner from a terrorist in Baghdad, Dick? Can you do us that one simple favor? Thanks.

Bringing back the Fairness Doctrine!

Rep. Maurice Hinchey (D-NY) is preparing a new bill - the Media Ownership Reform Act (MORA) - in order to return some regulation back to the airwaves. It will restore ownership caps that prevented a handful of media corporations from monopolizing the airwaves, whether on radio or TV, with no grandfathering clauses - all companies in violation must be in compliance within a year of MORA's activation. It will also restore the Fairness Doctrine, which Reagan tried (successfully) to destroy. Reagan's elimination of the Fairness Doctrine enabled the right-wing echo chamber otherwise known as political talk radio.

It should be no surprise that the right wing's first attack on Hinchey comes from Michael "If You Disagree with Me, You're a Nazi" Savage Weiner. What, afraid to actually have to debate with a Democrat, Weiner? My heart bleeds for you - NOT.

Everyone should call Rep. Hinchey to express their support for MORA!!!

Running late again

Had a few PC crashes here. We'll be on at 10:10

New finding in attorney scandal!

Boston Globe writer Charlie Savage uncovers another US Attorney whose hiring was enabled by the secret Patriot Act provision: Bradley Schlozman of Missouri, another in a line of attorneys whose neo-con credentials were far more substantial than his prosecutorial ones. Schlozman is an anti-American, anti-democracy scumbag who will stop at nothing to ensure Republican election victories, no matter how vile, despicable, or unconstitutional he must be.

TPMmuckraker highlights how closely the Bush administration was tied to Schlozman's pre-election (and unethical!) indictments of individuals working for a Democratic organization who forged voter-registration documents - a practice clearly not endorsed by that organization.

On top of this, Bush had a "faux-pas" during a Cinco de Mayo ceremony at the White House, calling disgraced current Attorney General Alberto Gonzales the "Eternal General." Either he started Cinco de Mayo on Quattro de Mayo, or he actually calculated that as his statement on Gone-zo's employment prospects... or both.

Republican presidential candidate hackery

Rudy Giuliani has, once again, professed his Bush worship. Would he do it on a nationally-televised debate? No, of course not (though he was critical of MSNBC's decision to have Keith Olbermann host said debate before it)! That didn't stop him, however, to declare that Bush will be remembered by history as "a great president" for "decid[ing] in a flash to put our country on offense against terrorism" at a campaign stop in Iowa.

Mormon douchebag Mitt Romney says that Pat Robertson is dedicated to "strengthening and then nurturing the pillars of... our country: education, fellowship, and advancement..." while cheerfully neglecting how much of a misanthropic, sub-human nut job Robertson actually is.

Compilations of government politicization

First, ThinkProgress has put together a list of statements made by various neo-con lowlifes that demonstrate their desire to make Bush the de facto dictator of America.

Then, head over to Vanity Fair, which lists the 12 most corrupt corporate-crony hires of the Bush administration.

Americans must realize that our country is being run by people who want to fundamentally alter this country so radically that it should be considered treasonous to anyone who loves the Constitution, the rights it grants and the freedom it provides.

It's all one big issue today.

The right wing desperately wants to minimize, or outright avoid, the Iraq issue.

John Boehner wants you to believe that running a war is like running his business: "I have benchmarks every month, but if I didn’t meet the benchmarks and if I missed the profit margin, I didn’t shut down the business." If you didn't meet your benchmarks, American soldiers weren't being murdered, you retarded asshat. Seriously, this is about as ignorant as comparing the war to a baseball game... oh, right, the GOP again...

Newt Gingrich thinks conservatives should not talk about the war - or any of the neo-con failures (Hurricane Katrina response), incompetence (Walter Reed debacle), cronyism (US Attorney scandal) - or even His Royal Idiocy King George.

Why do they want to run from openly supporting Bush's policies? Could it be his freshly-minted 28% approval rating? Or could it be:

- Our troops are under increasing stress, which is causing them to think - and, likely, act - in wantonly destructive and immoral manners whil serving our country in its occupation of Iraq. The military is desperately trying to spin this ("...I think [leadership]'s one of the strengths that the team really identified... even when people may have a bad thought, they don't act on that thought." - Maj. Gen. Gale Pollock, US Army) into some sort of positive. However, this attempt to play up the leadership of the military is so baseless that even Lou Dobbs called them on it.

- Our thoughts and well-wishes go out to the families of Greensburg, Kansas. However, the National Guard doesn't have the full allotment of people or equipment to help them recover quickly from the tornado disaster. I wonder why our National Guards don't have all their home-defense equipment... hmm... Kansas Governor Kathleen Sebelius reports on the crisis in her state.

- The State Department has refused to allow a whistleblower to testify in front of Congress regarding the purported validity of the Niger-Iraq uranium "sale" documents. They had an edge against the last whistleblower - they outed his wife as an undercover CIA operative in order to discredit him. They must have nothing on this guy, so they'll just silence him.

- The GOP is starting to challenge Bush on the war - even his usage of the phrase "war on terror"! Gen. George Casey is even calling it "persistent combat"!!! The LA Times, once a supporter of Bush's surge and critical of House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, has done an about-face, as well. They are now calling for a phased troop withdrawal based around benchmarks! Even neo-con hack Rep. Boehner will want to know what Plan B looks like if the Bush surge shows no improvements in a few months... not that his own time limits carry any weight, but it's the principle.

President Bush and the Neo-Con Agenda: Wrong on Iraq, Treasonous to America.

If you still support this war...

... then you are with al-Qaeda!!!

Interesting that FOX is eliminating the part where al-Qaeda supports the Bush war "strategy"!!! Those dirty bastards are traitors! Those blood-drinking scumbags want you to believe that everyone else is a traitor so that you never question their loyalty to America!!!