Month: March 2006

Now This Is Going Way Too Far

by tristero

Josh Marshall informs of us of some truly cruel and unusual punishment. Tom DeLay’s license to carry a concealed handgun has been revoked.

You laugh. But let me put this into perspective for you. To a rootin’-tootin’ Texan, that’s like confiscating a ten-year old Volvo from a liberal. Or forcing us, when we order our tall lattes, to have them made from whole milk, not skim. There’d be riots, riots! if the guvmint dared to infringe our rights like that.

Goddamm activist judges. Besides, it’s not as if DeLay shot anyone in the face, you know. If I were Tom DeLay, I’d immediately contact these folks for assistance in having justice done.

More Good News

by digby

From Marquer in the comments:

…more violence was reported across Iraq, including a terrifying incident earlier in the week in the western city of Ramadi. On Wednesday, armed insurgents burst into the classroom of Khidhir al-Mihallawi, an English teacher at Sajariyah High School, accused him of being an agent for the CIA and Israeli intelligence and beheaded him in front of his students, according to students, fellow instructors and a physician at a local hospital.

But the school in question had of course been freshly repainted. Let’s not lose sight of what’s really important here.

And why aren’t we hearing stories of all the teachers who have not been beheaded in front of their students? Liberal media bias, of course.

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Who Else Can They Steal From?

by digby

Via Wolcott (who promotes this as “L’il Debbie Snackcake versus Monica the Harmonica!”) I see that plagiarism is actually epidemic on the right and that it’s, unsurprisingly, embittering some of those who are being ripped off by their ideological brethren. This explains why PJ O’Rourke didn’t sound any happier about Lil’ Benji stealing his words than NRO sounded when they had to admit that they’d published stolen movie reviews.

I’m sure the rightwing plagiarists would prefer to steal from liberals if they could, but for obvious reasons that won’t work. It’s an interesting conundrum for wingnut hacks, isn’t it?

(And who would have ever dreamed that Jerome Corsi was dishonest? Why you could bowl me over with a feather…)

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School Days

by digby

Via Attaturk, I see there may be a good reason why there aren’t a lot of nice stories about schools in Iraq.

I know Lil’ Benji is for homeschooling and all, but maybe he’d like to take tristero’s advice and sit in on one of those classes for a few days so he can show the American people all the good news. If he lives through it.

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Rant Of The Year (In A Good Way)

by tristero

Oh, this is delicious writing by Jane Smiley. Read the whole thing. Here are just a few highlights:

Bruce Bartlett, The Cato Institute, Andrew Sullivan, George Packer, William F. Buckley, Sandra Day O’Connor, Republican voters in Indiana and all the rest of you newly-minted dissenters from Bush’s faith-based reality…those of us who have been anti-Bush from day 1 (defined as the day after the stolen 2000 election) have a few pointers for you that should make your transition more realistic.

1. Bush doesn’t know you disagree with him. Nothing about you makes you of interest to George W. Bush once you no longer agree with and support him…

2. Bush doesn’t care whether you disagree with him….You know that Katrina tape in which Bush never asked a question? It doesn’t matter how much you know or how passionately you feel or, most importantly, what degree of disintegration you see around you, he’s not going to ask you a question. You and your ideas are dead to him…

3. Bush does what he feels like doing and he deeply resents being told, even politely, that he ought to do anything else. This is called a “sense of entitlement”. Bush is a man who has never been anywhere and never done anything, and yet he has been flattered and cajoled into being president of the United States through his connections, all of whom thought they could use him for their own purposes…

4. President Bush is your creation…Bush does what he wants because you have let him…

5. Tyranny is your creation. What we have today is the natural and inevitable outcome of ideas and policies you have promoted for the last generation…

The US could have become a moderating force in what seems now to be an inevitable battle among the three monotheistic Abrahamic religions, but you have made that impossible by flattering and empowering our own violent and intolerant Christian right.

You have created an imperium, heedless of the most basic wisdom of the Founding Fathers–that at the very least, no man is competent enough or far-seeing enough to rule imperially…

Now you are fleeing him, but it’s only because he’s got the earmarks of a loser. Your problem is that you don’t know why he’s losing. You think he’s made mistakes. But no. He’s losing because the ideas that you taught him and demonstrated for him are bad ideas, self-destructive ideas, and even suicidal ideas… [emphasis added.]

6. As Bad as Bush is, Cheney is Worse.

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Looking Backwards

by digby

“This is an important program,” said Lieberman, who is seeking a fourth term this year. “I don’t find anybody in Congress who thinks we ought not to be listening to the phone conversations and reading the e-mails of people that we think are involved in and we have reason to believe are involved in terrorist groups. But it has to be done in America in my opinion pursuant to the Fourth Amendment protection against unreasonable searches and seizures. It has to be done with a court order.”

Lieberman, who has been criticized by liberals for supporting Bush’s war policy, faulted a censure move against the president that was proposed last week by Sen. Russ Feingold, D-Wis.

“My own opinion, and it seems to be shared by most Democratic senators, is that it would be an unproductive use of our time,” Lieberman said. “Again, it’s looking backward. It would be divisive. The best thing we could do about this program is to bring it under the law and I’d prefer to spend my time and the Senate’s time figuring out how we can adopt a law that allows the administration to continue this program but force them to go to court to get a warrant before they do.”

I love these guys who claim to be our moral arbiters, don’t you? Yes, the president broke the law and defiled the constitution, but we shouldn’t hold him accountable because it would be divisive and “looking backward.”

It’s funny how he wasn’t concerened about wasting time or looking backward when he railed for half an hour on the Senate floor about President Clinton dragging down the moral values of the country for lying about his sex life, thus bringing the shrieking media harpies to full hysteria for weeks with the idea that the Democrats “were deserting Clinton.” Indeed, even after president Clinton was acquitted, Holy Joe thought censure was needed heal the divisions in our nation at the time.

I do believe the Constitution allows for one recourse that would provide a means for us as the people’s representatives to register our and their disapproval, and would, I believe, help us to bring appropriate closure to this terrible chapter in our nation’s history. It is well within the Senate’s constitutional prerogatives to adopt a resolution of censure expressing our contempt for the President’s misconduct, both that which is charged in the articles and that which is not. Such a censure would not amount to a punishment, nor would it be intended to do so. What it would do, particularly if it united Senators across party lines and positions on removal, is fulfill our responsibility to our children and our posterity to speak to the common values the President has violated, and make clear what our expectations are for future holders of that highest office.

And what it could do, I believe, is to help us to begin healing the wounds the President’s misconduct and the impeachment process’s partisanship have done to the American body politic, and to the soul of the nation. I have observed that roughly two-thirds of the public consistently expresses its opposition to the President’s removal. But I do not think we can leave this proceeding, especially those of us who have voted against the Articles, without also noting that roughly one-third of the American people have consistently expressed their belief that this President is unfit to lead this nation. That is a startlingly large percentage of our people who have totally lost confidence in our nation’s leader.

Hey Joe, you putz. Have you looked at the polls lately? And do you think it might be worth your notice that most of your fellow Democrats believe that George W. Bush has been unfit to lead this country since he stole the election, with you on the damned ticket for gods sake, in 2000? Maybe you don’t mind being punked by Karl Rove, but the rest of us kind of resent it. How about healing those wounds?

Lying and breaking the law and spying on Americans without a warrant, well, it’s wrong, but we needn’t punish anyone for it. It’s not like there’s anything important (like extra-marital sex) involved or anything. We should just make it legal and carry on. Oh hell, let’s just crown the half-wit and get it over with.

Joe Liebermann’s little eight year old grandkid asked him at the dinner table the other night if he thought the president broke the law, like the kids at school said he did.

“Is he gonna get in trouble?” he asked.

“No, son,” Liebermann replied, “we’re just going to change the law so what he did isn’t illegal anymore. We don’t want his friends to get upset.”

“Neat,” the kid replied, “I took four candy bars from 7-11 after school and the man said he was gonna call the police. Can you change the law for me so I won’t get into trouble either?”

Lieberman looked indulgently at the naive little pup and said, “I’m sorry son. You’re the grandson of a Democrat. You shall have to pay the price for your misdeeds. Breaking the law and having a private personal life is only OKIYAR. It’s time you learned that.”

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How Domenech Can Redeem His Sorry Ass.

by tristero

Many bloggers have suggested that the recently unemployed Ben Domenech should seriously consider signing up for service in the military (but not, presumably, as a blogger for the Army Times). Far be it for me to disagree, but I would like to suggest an equally worthy alternative.

Ben can grab himself one of those groovy new digital videocams, catch the next plane to Iraq, and hitch-hike around, carefully filming all the good news in the country. You know what I’m talking about, Ben: All the schools opening, the pipelines flowing, the new businesses being generated (terrorism insurance not included; that’s been covered), the overstaffed hospitals, the fearless Iraqi policemen, and the many public squares all over Iraq’s villages and towns renamed in honor of George W. Bush.

Most importantly, Ben can document on video the thousands of truly poignant stories of Sunni and Shiites putting aside their ancient differences to embrace each other as fellow Muslims. now working together to forge the future destiny of their beloved homeland.

This is the perfect chance for Ben, the legendary gentleman that Jeff and his pals at RedState perceive, to redeem himself. Since no one’s been able to find these sorts of stories and live to tell them, he’ll be reporting completely unique news.

No one could possibly accuse him of plagiarizing. Faking the videos, maybe. But not plagiarzing.

She Said It

by digby

I just want to second tristero’s endorsement below of Lara Logan’s rapier-like take down of Howie Kurtz’s lame reiteration of GOP talking points. Crooks and Liars has the video, here.

As I wrote earlier in the week:

Memo to the news media: The mere fact that reporters must risk their lives every time they attempt to report the “good news” means that the news, by definition, cannot be all that good. It means that all those new schools and soccer games and litters of adorable puppies exist in the shadow of horrible violence.

And speaking of lameass reiteration of GOP talking points, could someone wise up our sleepy, naive New York Times Babydoll, Elizabeth Bumiller, about how the Republicans work please? Perhaps someone from the “conservative beat” could take her out for coffee. Or maybe she could open her little eyes and look around her:

MR. HARWOOD: … When, when you have, as Charlie said, journalists over there who cannot move around the country to report because they know that, that they’re in danger of being killed at any moment, that tells you about the state of security in the country. It’s not good.

MR. RUSSERT: The White House?

MS. BUMILLER: The other thing that’s interesting, what you didn’t show was the president’s response to her. I was there that day, and he was very, very careful not to jump on her bandwagon. In fact – I mean, obviously, he didn’t have to, she did it for him. But the point is he said, “Look, wait a minute. You know, I understand your frustration, but we have a free press in this country, we can’t tell them what to do.” He pulled back somewhat from her comment.

And I think you’re right, Charlie, that they aren’t – they know they can’t sell this, and when they’ve tried in the past, it has backfired on them.

MR. RUSSERT: But the president also said don’t be afraid to go to blogs and find out some more information.

MS. BUMILLER: Yes. I mean, I mean, I’m, I’m—these are gradations here, I mean, in White House response.

MR. RUSSERT: But is the White House convinced that in order to secure the base of the Republican Party for the president, it doesn’t hurt to go after the media a little bit?

MS. BUMILLER: Not – of course not. They do it all the time. And, and they complain all the time about, about, about what we do. But, but I, I have noticed this past week Scott McClellan saying, the White House press secretary, you know, “We’re not blaming the media for the war in Iraq.” He said that a couple times this week, and so, so it, it’s – they’re – again, they’re being a little more careful here than usual.

That military wife, who just happens to be married to a public affairs officer, made her comments all on her own. Why, the president didn’t publicly endorse them or anything! And Scott McClellan never says one thing while Rove’s RNC minions say another. They are much too straighforward and honest to do something like that.

Good girl Elizabeth. Have a dove bar.

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And Just How Does A Death Squad Act When It’s IN Control?

by tristero

Horrific:

The bodies of 30 beheaded men were found on a main highway near Baquba this evening, providing more evidence that the death squads in Iraq are becoming out of control.

“Becoming out of control?” WTF?

[Update:] From km4 in comments comes this link to Lara Logan’s on the Good Time Boys, the Last Throes Brigade:

You don’t think that I haven’t been to the U.S. military and the State Department and the embassy and asked them over and over again, let’s see the good stories, show us some of the good things that are going on? Oh, sorry, we can’t take to you that school project, because if you put that on TV, they’re going to be attacked about, the teachers are going to be killed, the children might be victims of attack.

Cool Hand

by digby

MR. BRODER: Well, if they’re going to be responsible, they need some policy. And the great void on the Democratic side is nobody can tell you today what their policy is about Iraq, about entitlements, or about any of the other challenges facing the country. Whether they need that politically, somebody else is smart enough to decide, but if they’re going to be a responsible party, they need to talk about policy.

MR. RUSSERT: Do they need to do it?

MR. COOK: See, I would argue that minority parties don’t have to be responsible. That’s the one good thing going for them, and when they try to be responsible, they’re just going to dig themselves into a hole. I mean, you’re on – your job is to throw rocks. Once you start offering alternatives, then suddenly you’re playing defense as well. I think Democrats would be crazy, from a political standpoint, to offer up proposals.

MR. RUSSERT: That movie, “Cool Hand Luke,” sometimes nothing’s a real cool hand.

MR. COOK: Exactly.

The Democrats’ problem is not policy, it’s politics.

The Republicans spent many millions and many years building up their second rate think tank-based policy infrastructure which we now know functioned mainly as a front for their political machine. Their policy apparatus, to the extent it exists, has been proven to be intellectually bankrupt, not that they will ever admit it. The Democrats, on the other hand, have a surfeit of first rate analysts, thinkers and academics who will provide numerous choices and pragmatic solutions for problems Americans face, not that they will ever get credit. Broder can relax.

I hope the Democrats will listen to Cook, not Broder. If we’ve learned nothing else these last few years, it’s that the modern Republican party has no interest in practical, bipartisan solutions to the problems Americans face. Their gift, and the reason they are in the majority is because they dominate modern election campaigning with superior messaging, analysis and coalition building. In this era, responsible policies are meaningless unless Democrats can gain and keep a majority — and they aren’t going to get there trying to impress David Broder with their 10 point plans. They need to learn to do politics as well as they do policy.

As Kevin Phillips wrote over on TPM cafe earlier this week:

I believe that Democrats and liberals in 2006 stand to have their greatest opportunity since 1992 (which was lost). You will have the substantial support of many lapsed Republicans and doubters of Bush conservatism like myself. But I also have the sense that many Democrats and liberals have an instinct for the capillaries, not for the jugular. If that leads to failure in 2006, there will be a major price to pay, not just for the United States but in terms of the credibility of your party and movement.

It is our duty as the grassroots of the Democratic party to continue to pressure our leaders to go for the jugular, not for the capillaries, and show them that we will support them when they do it.

Reminder: If you are in a town or city where your senator has an office, consider dropping by and telling him or her that you support the Feingold resolution.

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