Rant of the Day

Sometimes I think the entire Republican party either is or has been on long term Prozac therapy, and those who are now starting to finally wake up have either stopped taking the drug or have developed a tolerance. They "had trouble pinning their current discontent on any one thing?!" Come on! Fraudulent elections didn't bother them? The Constitution stripped of its original intent, and they don't find that disturbing? Hey, Bushies! Ever hear of separation of church and state? The blurring of that boundary doesn't bother you? How about this illegal, preemptive war? Any problems with that one? And you didn't think disaster preparedness should presuppose having qualified managers in important posts in the event of an emergency? It doesn't concern you that this administration has allowed wealthy industrialists to determine the course of environmental policy? It's okay that the government commits treason, during wartime no less, by exposing the identity of one of its own covert operatives? You don't note a certain inconsistency in our engaging in a "war on terror" while condoning torture ourselves? And last but certainly not least, the administration that pledged to bring respectability back into the White House is so scandal-ridden that it makes Bill and Monica look like just another episode of "All My Children," and this seems normal to you?
--source

this was in a thread about the nytimes article where some bushies were showing signs of discontent for their fuhrer.

everybody's denying it

In Germany, prosecutors are investigating both the alleged kidnapping by the CIA of one of its citizens and a number of suspicious flights into German air bases. Sweden and Norway launched investigations after similar incidents. The Dutch accused Washington of hiding its alleged use of secret prisons in Europe, and the 46-member Council of Europe told Romania to investigate reports that it was the site of such illegal detentions.

Investigations into alleged CIA landings or flyovers are underway in Austria, Denmark, Iceland, Norway and Sweden.

source

Cartoon Of The Day

http://www.guardian.co.uk/cartoons/stevebell/0,7371,1650498,00.html

incompetence defined (again)

The SBA has only processed half the number of loans it did in a similar period after last year's Florida hurricanes, despite having hired more staff. USAT has previously suggested the culprit was a glitchly computer "upgrade." Another potential factor not explored by USAT: The head of the SBA is a former GOP fund-raiser who appears to have little relevant experience and previously headed up the SBA's bumbling response to 9/11.

the numbers

and they're just beautiful! from the online journal

A majority of U.S. adults believe the Bush administration generally misleads the public on current issues, while fewer than a third of Americans believe the information provided by the administration is generally accurate, the latest Harris Interactive poll finds.

While the telephone survey of 1,011 U.S. adults indicates about 64% of Americans believe the Bush administration "generally misleads the American public on current issues to achieve its own ends," opinion on the topic is clearly divided along party lines. A large majority (68% to 28%) of Republicans say the Bush administration generally provides accurate information. However, even larger majorities of Democrats (91% to 7%) and Independents (73% to 25%) think the information is generally misleading.

When asked about former Vice Presidential Chief of Staff Lewis "Scooter" Libby, who has been indicted on charges of perjury, obstruction of justice and making false statements, more than half of U.S. adults say the situation indicates "a larger problem in the Bush administration," while 35% say it was an "isolated incident." About 82% of Democrats say it indicates a larger problem, while 70% of Republicans feel the Libby case is an isolated incident.

The latest poll also finds U.S. adults are divided on the direction they feel Mr. Bush is trying to move the Supreme Court. About 42% of those surveyed think Mr. Bush is trying to make the high court too conservative, while 44% think he is trying to make it neither too conservative nor too liberal. Only 9% believe Mr. Bush is trying to make the Supreme Court too liberal, according to the poll.

the true reason we invaded iraq

Up to $US194 billion ($263 billion) in Iraqi oil revenues are going to multinational oil companies under long-term contracts, and not to the Iraqi people, a social and environmental group said.

--source

this thanksgiving day

i give thanks that there are young people out there able to win Letter Of The Day.

Congressmen are debating whether they can really give tax breaks to the wealthy while cutting money from programs for the poor.

One legislator actually said Congress had to cut funds for the poor because that's where all the money is.

The other reasoning offered to justify cuts was that the programs were not as effective as they should be. I was just wondering how giving a struggling program even less money solves the very real problem that this person brings to society's attention?

It is not as if the money taken away is assisting the poor in another, more effective way. It's used to balance the tax breaks in the budget.

— Erin O'Hern, Johnston

attribution

i'd call it CHECKMATE

for bush to continue to say that congress saw everything he saw, is astounding in the fact that amongst the other lies he has made, this one screams for impeachment.

Ten days after the September 11, 2001, terrorist attacks on the World Trade Center and the Pentagon, President Bush was told in a highly classified briefing that the U.S. intelligence community had no evidence linking the Iraqi regime of Saddam Hussein to the attacks and that there was scant credible evidence that Iraq had any significant collaborative ties with Al Qaeda, according to government records and current and former officials with firsthand knowledge of the matter.

The information was provided to Bush on September 21, 2001 during the "President's Daily Brief," a 30- to 45-minute early-morning national security briefing. Information for PDBs has routinely been derived from electronic intercepts, human agents, and reports from foreign intelligence services, as well as more mundane sources such as news reports and public statements by foreign leaders.

and there's more

if that's the mark of an accomplishment....

God help us for one that is a failure.

DHS Today will highlight FY05 Accomplishments in this column over the next several weeks. This week's focus is on the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA). The top FY05 FEMA accomplishments included:

Hurricane Katrina: The response to Hurricane Katrina was FEMA's largest response in its history

--source

today's MUST READ

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2005/11/22/AR2005112201692.html

the cheney "X"

seems there's something that happened on cnn's larry king live, where there was an "X" that appeared over cheney's face for 1/15th of a second. c'mon, that's 2 frames.

they got the 2 frames, and it was a glitch. but the right-wingnuts are out for blood. and as someone on DU (thread HERE) posted:

This is the game the wingnuts play. Make a controversy where none exists or find a red herring in one that does and create such distortion and confusion that the main issue is long lost in the noise created by the uproar.

NO SHIT!
cheney deserves to be "X"d out of the video my pretty eyes see.

my first response was

is he NUTS? but then, i knew the answer, and it was affirmative.

US President George W. Bush planned to bomb pan-Arab television broadcaster al-Jazeera, British newspaper the Daily Mirror said today, citing a Downing Street memo marked "Top Secret".
--source

the news is travelling around rather quickly

SCOTSMAN: Blair 'convinced Bush' not to launch strike at Al-Jazeera

MIRROR: Bush Plot to Bomb his Arab Ally

goat, the new red meat

everytime i hear "goat" i am reminded of 7 long minutes while our country was under attack, where george bush jr. sat reading MY PET GOAT in some elementary school in florida.

Letter Of The Day

Thanks for printing Rick Johnson's Nov. 12 letter, "Take Out Your Dictionary." Of all the letters to the editor I've read in recent years, this sure did say a lot — especially to all those Americans that are so obsessed with attaching the words liberal or conservative to every political issue that comes up, as if there is no room for negotiation or compromise. All that does is create animosity and foil democratic discourse.

-Don Hill, Windsor Heights.
attribution

talk about rewriting history

i knew it wouldn't be long before rummy got into the action:

WASHINGTON (AFP) - Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld has asserted that he did not press for the US-led invasion of Iraq, as public disaffection for the US military operation there reaches new highs.

--source

i'll jus leave it up to the rest of the world to prove otherwise. even kindergarteners will find the task immensely easy.

and now the brits have to get into the act

British-trained police operating in Basra have tortured at least two civilians to death with electric drills, The Independent on Sunday can reveal.

John Reid, the Secretary of State for Defence, admits that he knows of "alleged deaths in custody" and other "serious prisoner abuse" at al-Jamiyat police station, which was reopened by Britain after the war.

Militia-dominated police, who were recruited by Britain, are believed to have tortured at least two men to death in the station. Their bodies were later found with drill holes to their arms, legs and skulls.

The victims were suspected of collaborating with coalition forces, according to intelligence reports. Despite being pressed "very hard" by Britain, however, the Iraqi authorities in Basra are failing to even investigate incidents of torture and murder by police, ministers admit.

The disclosure drags Britain firmly into the growing scandal of officially condoned killings, torture and disappearances in Iraq. More than 170 starving and tortured prisoners were discovered last week in an Interior Ministry bunker in Baghdad.

American troops who uncovered the secret torture chamber are also said to have discovered mutilated corpses, several bearing drill marks

--source

jeee, i guess all that's missing are poland's contributions.