GOP "leadership"

House majority leader John Boehner:

"Rumsfeld is the best thing that's happened to the Pentagon in 25 years. There was no indication that he was kidding. I think he's done a marvelous job....let's not take the problems in Iraq, the tough fight that we're in there and blame it on anyone. We're in a tough fight. Al Qaeda is doing everything they can to disrupt our efforts in Iraq, to disrupt the new government, creating more violence than anyone can imagine and defeating al Qaeda there is important, because if we were to pull out before we win, we will embolden every terrorist in every corner of the world and then instead of fighting them in Iraq, we'll be fighting them on every street in America."

John, your coat's back from the cleaners:

And now for something completely different...

We need a little break from Deathmatch 2006:

‘You can’t get much more concealed than that’
Police arrest naked man after he allegedly said he had a tool in his rectum

EL CERRITO, Calif. - A man was arrested on suspicion of carrying a concealed weapon after police found him outdoors — naked — and he told them he had a tool in his rectum, authorities said.The man was lying on a tree stump, masturbating beside a nature path, near a Bay Area Rapid Transit station Thursday, police said.

John Sheehan, 33, of Pittsburg, was initially arrested on suspicion of indecent exposure. But when asked whether he was carrying anything police should know about, Sheehan mentioned the tool, said El Cerrito Detective Cpl. Don Horgan.

“You can’t get much more concealed than that,” Horgan said.

Officers drew their weapons and firefighters were called to the scene. Sheehan removed a 6-inch metal awl wrapped in black electrical tape without incident. Sheehan, who was paroled from state prison last week, was then booked into jail on suspicion of parole violations, indecent exposure and one felony count of possessing a concealed weapon.

“When you’re talking about an awl or an ice pick and you’re dealing with somebody who’s fresh out of prison, it’s a weapon. That’s a stabbing instrument,” Horgan said. It was not immediately clear what Sheehan was on parole for. A person answering the phone at the jail Friday night did not know whether Sheehan had a lawyer.

Why, it's a looking-glass book of course!

Alice: "Why, it's a looking-glass book of course! And if I hold it up to a glass, the words will all go the right way again!"

The International Herald Tribune: Iraqis Shiites see diminishing U.S. support for their postwar domination

BAGHDAD, Iraq: Iraq's ruling Shiites have voiced growing concern that the United States is subtly shifting support to Sunni Arabs, the bulwark of Saddam Hussein's dictatorship, in a bid to salvage 43-months of democracy building in Iraq and tamp down violence. The perceived re-energized bid to draw the Sunni insurgency into Iraq's political process marks, in the eyes of anxious Shiites, a worrisome and major alteration of American policy in a period that has seen growing strains in the U.S.-Iraqi relationship.

Shiites in Iraq were not alone in sensing the change. "There is much talk of such a shift, and it is in part driven by the (American) desire to contain Iran," said Vali Nasr, an expert on Shiites who lectures at the U.S. Naval Postgraduate School in Monterey, California.

OK, kids, ponder that one. We overthrew a stable, secular albeit brutal Sunni regime and handed at least nominal power over to the Shi'a majority. We've maintained 140,000 troops in this hellhole to suppress domestic Sunni resistance and support the Shi'a dominated government, and now we're "frustrated with the inability of Shiites to govern??" Gosh, who would have guessed?

When asked for a response, the president's senior policy advisor had the following comment:

Back to the future

MANAGUA, Nicaragua -- Daniel Ortega has retired his combat fatigues and talk of revolution. Instead of calls to arms, the balding comandante preaches love and reconciliation at campaign rallies set to the tune of "Give Peace a Chance."

Nearly two decades since his Sandinista government battled U.S.-financed contra rebels, Ortega is poised to win back the country's presidency Sunday by the narrowest of margins, a victory that would once again bring him to the front lines of Latin America's raging ideological battles over the U.S. vision for the hemisphere. (more)

Ronald Reagan, who sacrificed the dignity of our country and the sanctity of our constitution (not to mention really fouling up the Iran-Iraq situation in the process) to remove Ortega from power once referred to Ortega's enemies, the drug-trafficking, gun-running, Somazo death-squadding contras as the "moral equivalent of our founding fathers."

The former president could not be reached for comment at his new permanent retreat:

How to Sabotage the "War of Turr (tm)"

Just when I think that the McLiar/Vader Junta has fully plumbed the depths of depraved, thoughtless stupidity, I read the NY Times and find that they've now expanded their efforts to include the creation of a fully sustainable sabotaging of their "War on Turr (tm)."

It seems that the Rethuglican-controlled congress teamed up with the Junta to publish on the INTERNET hundreds and hundreds of pages from Saddam Hussein's WMD program circa 1991. They did this in an effort to gain political advantage over the democrats for THIS election cycle. They figured that by publishing the reams of data, they'd expose just how dangerous Saddam was to the region and to the U.S.

Two problems: 1- they didn't bother to VET the information, as most of it was written in ARABIC, and a full translation would take too long - thus losing valuable democrat-bashing time. 2- They were right, as there WAS information in there which could be used to destabilize the region and threaten the U.S.... -- key steps to building a fission weapon (yep, a nu-clu-ler bomb).

Insert ghastly scenarios here....

We knew it was coming...

Baghdad under heavy security ahead of expected Saddam verdict

(Note: my pal Joshua Holland over at Alternet and Gadflyer has been all over this)

BAGHDAD (AP) — Iraqi authorities have ordered a 12-hour curfew in Baghdad and three surrounding provinces coinciding with Sunday's expected announcement of a verdict in the trial of former leader Saddam Hussein, Iraqi officials said Saturday. The curfew, to cover both vehicles and pedestrians, will run from 6:00 a.m. to 6:00 p.m. Sunday, said a close aide to Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki and an Interior Ministry general. Both spoke on condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to release the information.

The curfew will cover Baghdad, Baghdad province, Salahuddin province which includes Saddam's hometown of Tikrit, and the neighboring provinces of Diyala and Anbar that are the hotbed of the Sunni insurgency battling U.S. troops and the Iraqi government. Baghdad was placed under a heavy security clampdown on Saturday, with additional road blocks, stepped up patrols and all leave canceled for Iraqi troops.

Fears of violence greeting the verdict underscore the trial's failure to bring reconciliation to a country that has fractured ever deeper along sectarian lines. Many of Saddam's fellow Sunni Arabs, along with some Shiites and Kurds, are predicting a firestorm if the ex-president is sentenced to death. On the other hand, most of the majority Shiites, who were persecuted under Saddam but now dominate the government, are likely to be enraged if he escapes the gallows.
Setting the tone, Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki, a Shiite, said late last month that he expects "this criminal tyrant will be executed." That, he said, would help break the will of Saddam followers in the largely Sunni Arab-led insurgency.

First of all, I found this very interesting from Maliki--the verdict "would help break the will of Saddam followers in the largely Sunni Arab-led insurgency." It isn't centuries of hostility, hopelesness, a shattered infrastructure, no legitimate authority,or rule by militias--it is Saddam. You can hear W now, "hard work--making progress--evil tyrant." We know that George also lists "executions" as his hobby on his MySpace page (where he has 0 friends!)

But beyond that, it isn't a surprise. We knew dirty tricks were coming to distract ADD America away from this republic-threatening GOP debacle. On a broader scale, though, we hould have seen it coming. America has embraced authoritarianism, gulags, torture, aggressive militarism, the suppression of dissent and violently hostile jingoism.

Why not show trials?

Fundamentalist Family Values

I'm sure you're all familiar with the sordid Rev. Ted Haggard sex scandal. First of all, how stupid does he think we are? I don't care about any polygraph results, let's apply the "walks like a duck" test to the drug dealer/masseuse issue--when my neck tightens up, the ol' male prostitute is the first place I turn.

Beyond that, though, is this remarkable paradigm. He'll ADMIT to "Sure, I bought this"













which can cause this

















but for the love of all that is holy I NEVER did this !




(And need I say, like Mark Foley, this has nothing to do with being gay. It is about miserable hypocritical miscreants.)

The best Countdown to ever play

From the Rothenberg Report

From the Rothenberg Report, widely watched by people inside the Beltway

The Senate:

"While Senate control is in doubt, with Democrats most likely to win from 5 to 7 seats, we do not think the two sides have an equal chance of winning a majority in the Senate. Instead, we believe that state and national dynamics favor Democrats netting six seats and winning control of the United States Senate."

The House:

"Going into the final days before the 2006 midterm elections, we believe the most likely outcome in the House of Representatives is a Democratic gain of 34 to 40 seats, with slightly larger gains not impossible. This would put Democrats at between 237 and 243 seats, if not a handful more, giving them a majority in the next House that is slightly larger than the one the Republicans currently hold. If these numbers are generally correct, we would expect a period of GOP finger-pointing and self-flagellation after the elections, followed by a considerable number of Republican House retirements over the next two years."

Today's Discussion Question

If you had to pick one, would you rather have control of the House or Senate?

Which one's going to get you?

I was watching Prof. John Mueller of Ohio State (oddly enough, for you sports fans, the holder of the Woody Hayes Chair of National Security Studies) on the Daily Show. He authored a great book, Overblown: How Politicians and the Terrorism Industry Inflate National Security Threats, and Why We Believe Them, pointing out how the "security industry"--airport x-ray machine makers, defense contractors, etc. are making huge profits off a relatively minor threat. He commented to Jon that Americans are about as likely to die by

than by

Looking for something to do before the election?

GOTV events from Democracy for America.

Move On

90 Hours until the polls open

Is it Tuesday yet? I'm going to go batty waiting for this election. I don't want to read any more about politics or campaigns at all - I mean, at some point (like, say, 2000), I knew I hated Drinky McCokefiend and his band of Constitution shredders, but it's gotten ridiculous. You can't turn around without meeting another Republican/neocon/Evangelical liar, hypocrite, thief, violent, ignorant, selfish bastard.

I could come up with a list of reasons why the Republicans are sucking the life out of the country and never mention Bush, Cheney, Rummy, Condi, all the good folks who brought us the war in Iraq - Wolfowitz, Bremer, etc., or anyone the country had heard of before, say, 2001.

Hastert - coverup
Foley - pervert
Reynolds - coverup
Gibbons - liar, creep
Haggard - liar, hypocrite
Boehner - coverup, liar
Pryce - "Iraq's not my responsibility."
Santorum - Dan Savage was dead on with this one
Burns - crook
Ney - crook
DeLay - crook
Abramoff - master crook
Harris - psycho
Pombo - crook
Doolittle - crook
Cunningham - crook
Shimkus - coverup
Roskam - coward
Sweeney - drunk, wife beater
Murphy - this is a new one today
Sherwood - adulterer, choked his mistress

And most of that's just off the top of my head. These people are sick, power-mad, and need to go far, far away.

Ed:

Hoekstra - liar
Roberts - liar, power-hungry
Sensenbrenner - psycho

Feel free to add your own.

Today's word from Mr. Dictionary

OVERSIGHT (o·ver·sight) (noun)---Watchful care or management; supervision.

Iraq investigator's job eliminated
New law quietly ends special oversight of reconstruction work
By James Glanz
New York Times News Service

November 3, 2006

Investigations led by a Republican lawyer named Stuart Bowen Jr. in Iraq have sent American occupation officials to jail on bribery and conspiracy charges, exposed disastrously poor construction work by well-connected companies like Halliburton and Parsons, and discovered that the military did not properly track hundreds of thousands of weapons it shipped to Iraqi security forces.

And tucked away in a huge military authorization bill that President Bush signed two weeks ago is what some of Bowen's supporters believe is his reward for repeatedly embarrassing the administration: a pink slip, in the form of an obscure provision terminating the federal oversight agency that he heads, the Office of the Special Inspector General for Iraq Reconstruction. The provision, inserted by the Republican side of the House Armed Services Committee over the objections of their Democratic counterparts during a closed-door conference on the bill, has generated surprise and some outrage among lawmakers who say they had no idea the line was in the final legislation.

Bowen's office, created in January 2004 to examine reconstruction money spent in Iraq, was always envisioned as a temporary organization, permitted to continue its work only as long as Congress saw fit. Some advocates for the office, in fact, have regarded its lack of a permanent bureaucracy as key to its aggressiveness and independence. By some interpretations, the office might have run through its list of projects around the time of the October 2007 deadline set by the new legislation anyway.

But as the implications of the provision in the new bill have become clear, opposition has been building on both sides of the political aisle. That bipartisan reaction may not be unexpected given Bowen's Republican credentials--he served under George W. Bush both in Texas and in the White House--and deep public skepticism on the Bush administration's conduct of the war.

Susan Collins (R-Maine), who followed the bill closely as chairwoman of the Senate Committee on Homeland Security and Government Affairs, says she still does not know how the provision made its way into the conference report, which reconciles differences between House and Senate versions of a bill. Neither the House nor the Senate version contained such a termination clause before the conference, all involved agree. "It's truly a mystery to me," Collins said. "I looked at what I thought was the final version of the conference report, and that provision was not in at that time."

(more)

The Iron Countdown

Sock

Our friend Jimbow left a comment down below about a wingnut who was inciting his fellow mouthbreathers to kill progressive talk show host Stephanie Miller. Pretty amazing stuff (link)

The Stepford Wife on Free Speech

"We must be mindful that people around the world are listening to these discussions [about Iraq]. Responsible candidates understand that the men and women of our military are risking their lives for us overseas, and that we must conduct the debate here at home in a way that does not jeopardize our troops in harm's way." (here)

So according to Mrs. Bush--criticize the president, kill a soldier.

Priorities

From CNN.com, about the last few days of the VA Senate race:

"Webb was scheduled to campaign Thursday at Virginia Union University with Sen. Barack Obama, of Illinois. He was then to be joined at an evening rally in Arlington by actor Michael J. Fox and retired Gen. Wesley Clark.

Allen was to campaign in Roanoke, then head to Richmond to talk to employees of Philip Morris USA."

So Webb is working with a military expert and trying to rally support from those who look forward to the potential of embryonic stem-cell research, and Allen is going after money from a company that has helped kill millions.

Hope and Strength vs. Death. You decide.

Get crackin' there, Mr. Maliki

Yahoo news headline:

Iraqi leader may reshuffle Cabinet

John, great to see you again....

Eric Alterman's column had this story:

Congressman's wife called police
Sweeney campaign says the document concerning a domestic incident is ``false and concocted''

By BRENDAN J. LYONS Senior writer

CLIFTON PARK (NY)-- The wife of U.S. Rep. John Sweeney called police last December to complain her husband was ``knocking her around'' during a late-night argument at the couple's home, according to a document obtained last week by the Times Union. The emergency call to a police dispatcher triggered a visit to the couple's residence by a state trooper from Clifton Park, who filed a domestic incident report after noting that the congressman had scratches on his face, the document states. No criminal charges were filed. Gaia M. Sweeney, 36, told a trooper that her husband had grabbed her by the neck and was pushing her around the house, according to the document.

Sweeney, Sweeney, where have I heard that name before? Then I remembered....

PARTY!!!!