Digby's Hullabaloo Posts

Lettin’ It Rip

Al Gore, continuing his stinging criticism of the Bush administration, denounced the war in Iraq and deplored the downturn in the U.S. economy.

The former Democratic vice president stopped short of reiterating his demands for the resignations of high-ranking officials in President Bush’s cabinet.

Gore last week blamed Secretary of Defense Donald Rumsfeld, national security adviser Condoleezza Rice and others for bungling the war in Iraq.

“We have a responsibility to set this right,” Gore told a crowd of more than 1,500 supporters, “Our standing in this world has been damaged very badly.”

Gore said U.S. voters still had a chance to help the country regain credibility on the global stage by removing the current administration and electing John Kerry, the leading Democratic for November’s presidential election.

“If this nation in November should affirm this administration, then we would be saying that’s us,” Gore said.

I have always had a huge soft spot for Al Gore. There’s something about the guy that always hit me as very human, earnest and real. I know that goes against all the CW, but that’s how he’s always seemed to me, even back in the 80’s.

And, I think my instincts were actually right. What happened to Al Gore after that absurd election campaign he was forced to wage against a forked tongued wind-up doll(and I’m talking about Kit Seelye) and then the recount fiasco, is that he stepped back and decided to — as he himself said — let it rip. That is a very rare thing. Rather than stay in the game (the nomination was his if he’d wanted it) he decided to use his position as the “real” president, and all the press attention that receives, to just say what he really thinks.

And it’s thrilling for those of us who feel like we are screaming into the ether. He’s a blogger with giant megaphone who points out that the emperor has no clothes, just as we all have been doing in our small way for the last three years. I don’t think it is calculated beyond the fact that he probably doesn’t want to hurt Kerry’s chances. But, he’s not running for anything and he has no reason to do this except that he believes it’s the right thing to do. (Even his media venture does not necessarily benefit from it, although it might. It certainly isn’t the safe route.)

And there is something about the truth that Al Gore is speaking that scares the living hell out of the Right. It’s the same with Soros. You can tell by the patented Fox-style coordinated hysterical reactions. Whenever they start foaming at the mouth in unison (and whenever the little presstarts start their ecstatic dance around the pyre) you know that somebody has hit a nerve. Remember, the Right only exists in two modes — smug and rabid. And rabid is their defense mechanism.

So, here’s to Gore and Soros and others who are outside of the political process but are willing to spend their capital and risk their personal prestige to shape the debate, spread some truth and take some hits in the process. It’s the highest form of citizenship.

On the same subject, check out The Daily Howler’s four part bitch slap to the assholes who said Gore was “crazy” “unhinged” “off his meds” and all the rest when he gave his prescient speech last year requesting that the administration lay out its post war plans for Iraq. It was brilliant, passionate and articulate but if you didn’t see it and only saw the press reaction you would have thought it was well…a George W. Bush press conference — ridiculous, embarrassing and dumb. But that’s how things work in Junior’s America. Black is white and up is down. Guys like Gore and Soros are out there pouring cold water down the rabbit hole and they don’t like it.

Uh Oh

I’ve been worried about this. When Ronald Reagan dies, the Right and its media handmaidens are going to go into a fit of maudlin masturbation the likes of which the world has never seen. It will be non-stop GOP triumphalism from dawn to dusk. JFK’s funeral will look like a trailer park trash $2,000 special compared to the spectacle we are going to endure for days on end. Lay in a supply of pepto-bismol. It’s not in their DNA to handle this with any grace, restraint or class.

And, unfortunately, it will serve to reinforce the delusion that Republicans, even stupid ones, are the right people to lead us on the world stage. Reagan, after all, personally smote communism with one hand tied behind his back. Everybody knows that. And if they didn’t before the impending canonization, they soon will. Unfortunately, he didn’t have time to take out “evil” before he was forced to retire. Thank Gawd Crusader Codpiece is here to fulfill his legacy.

By the time we’re done, The Reagan Cult headed by swami Grover Norquist, will have probably succeeded in renaming the country the Ronald Reagan States of America.

B.W.A.

The Poor Man scours the internet for opinions about John Kerry’s new slogan, and there are many. In the end he concludes:

I still think that my suggestion – ‘”My Name Is Prince (And I Am Funky)” – would be better, but it would require that Kerry change his name to “Prince”. And, also, that he become funky. Perhaps a bit ambitious.

More Dem naysaying. John Kerry be straight up boo-yah, my brothah.

I Told The Iraqi People We’re Good And I Expect ‘Em To Believe It, Goddamit!

THE PRESIDENT: I’d love to go back to Iraq at some point in time, I really would. I’d like to be able to stand up and say, let me tell you something about America. America is a land that’s willing to sacrifice on your behalf. We sent our sons and daughters here so you can be free. And not only that, we are a compassionate country. We want to help you rebuild your schools and your hospitals. I’d like to do that, I really would.

Yessiree. The Iraqi people need to hear what’s going on from me personally so they’ll know it’s true. Then maybe they’ll understand that this war isn’t about them. This war’s about us ‘n our goodness. See, that’s what they don’t understand. We give and we give and we give and we give…

… AND ALL YOU INGRATEFUL TOWEL HEADS DO IS PISS AND MOAN!!!!

Quote Via The Road To Surfdom, which you must read to catch up with Junior’s little sandbox mate, Australian Prime Minister Howard. Hilarious.

Deadlines Schmeadlines

Republicans are very, very strict about following the law to the letter, even when it doesn’t make sense. And they are even more strict about adhering to arbitrary deadlines, regardless of the principle that underlies the issue at hand. In fact, Republicans believe that arbitrary deadlines in election contests are the very lifesblood of democracy. Where would we be if you can just change the rules as you go along?

Or, at least they did during the Florida recount in 2000. The initial issue, if you recall, was the fact that while Gore was following the process laid out by the legislature (and which had been used without controversy in past statewide races) by requesting recounts in certain districts, the deadline for the recount to be submitted to Kathryn Harris’ office was physically impossible to meet. The legal issue was whether or not the statute, under the state’s constitutional requirement to determine the will of the voters, required Harris to extend the certification deadline.

The Republicans argued vociferously that hand counts were unreliable in the first place, but more importantly arbitrary deadlines were the very foundation upon which our legal system rested and for the courts to change them under some constitutional flim flam like “every vote must be counted” was judicial activism at its worst. Deadlines are sacrosanct or the rule of law is nothing but toilet paper.

I guess its toilet paper.

What was once a fundamental threat to our system of government is now a “glitch.”

For want of a small change to the Illinois election law, President Bush’s name is not supposed to be on the state’s November ballot, but officials said one way or another, it will be there.

The glitch arose because the Illinois legislature adjourned earlier this week without extending the Aug. 30 deadline for presidential candidates to be certified by the state elections board and qualify for the Nov. 2 ballot.

The relatively late dates of this year’s Republican Party convention, running Aug. 30 to Sept. 2, mean that Bush will not be the official nominee until after the deadline set in state law. Eight other states had the same problem but fixed the date. As a result Illinois, is the only state where Bush could be left off the ballot.

But Gov. Rod Blagojevich, a Democrat, indicated the problem must be fixed somehow. “President Bush has to be on the ballot,” he said.

Illinois’ Democratic-majority legislature is expected to hold an overtime session soon that will require a three-fifths majority to enact any legislation — including a change in the ballot rule.

“We’re confident he is going to be on the ballot,” said Illinois Republican Party spokesman Jason Gerwig. “There are plenty of options out there to ensure that he is. This isn’t a last-ditch effort.”

Gerwig said that if the legislature fails to act, the party is prepared to appeal to the elections board, the state attorney general and, finally, the federal courts.

If anyone has the kind of free time that allows for it, they should go back and read the Republican oral arguments to the Florida Supreme Court on the necessity of strict deadlines, respect for the legislative process and the need to set standards. It’s a great reminder of just how full of shit they were then and still are today. By their own measure there is no way that Bush should be allowed on that ballot. I would love to see the Democrats make them argue for why he should be. You can bet that if the shoe were on the other foot, Kerry would be forced to take it all the way to the Supreme Court.

Update: No surprise here, but Florida voting is still amazingly screwed up. I hope that the DNC is planning to have many, many precinct watchers present with cell phones and digital cameras (and security guards…)

Thanks Donkey

Meme Vaccine

Before the meme spreads, let’s try to knock it out with a good dose of pre-emptive truth.

George Tenet is not responsible for the fact that the administration’s claims that Saddam’s WMD and terrorist ties were bogus — the president, vice president and secretary of defense are. George Tenet is personally responsible to the extent that he was a good little soldier instead of resigning as he should have when he realized that they were just making shit up. That particular form of integrity seems to be as out of fashion as firing people for incompetence.

People note that according to Bob Woodward, Tenet responded to the “skeptical” president that the WMD was a “slam dunk,” which is taken as some sort of proof that Bush was hoodwinked against his own better instincts. This is nonsense. As Bob Sommerby has pointed out, this conversation took place in December of 2002, three months after Bush had begun riding his white charger all over the country proclaiming that we had to “disarm Saddam Hussein.” He rode that horse to a narrow midterm victory for the GOP, flanked by flags and teary eyed country troubadours to great effect. If he wasn’t sure of the evidence, he certainly didn’t show any sign of it when he was calling the Democrats a bunch of cowards who didn’t care about national security and warning them that they would be punished by the voters if they didn’t vote for war.

If anything, Bush should be heavily criticized for not asking that question before he embarked on his crusade instead of waiting until we were poised to invade. That Tenet erroneously validated Bush’s obvious wish to believe is no testament to his courage. But, if he hadn’t said “it’s a slam dunk” it’s hardly believable that Bush would have pulled the country back from war at that point. The marketing roll out had long since begun and there was no going back.

However, let’s be clear. The CIA never claimed that Saddam had nukes or terrorist ties. What they believed was that Saddam had a cache of chemical and bio weapons. Indeed, Tenet testified before congress that the most likely scenario in which Saddam might use those weapons was an American invasion of Iraq. (That was a very confusing addition to the debate and one which was simply swept under the carpet.)

So, I’m not defending the unbelievably lousy intelligence on Iraq. Clearly, we have some very serious problems. Before Gulf War I we were apparently clueless that Saddam had been quite far along with a nuclear program. So, in response we apparently assumed that he had super human talents and overestimated his abilities from that point forward. There is little doubt that the CIA is less James Bond than Inspector Clouseau. (It’s a shame that Bush and company felt it necessary to be transparent about this aspect of our government at a time when terrorists are trying to kill us. But, that’s our lil’ Crusader Codpiece — pretty much doing the exact opposite of the smart thing every single time.)

Having said that, the neocons have always been even more wrong than the CIA. For a quarter century they have have been screaming that the sky is falling, from the grossly incorrect Team B in the 1970’s to the Office of Special Plans fantasy camp in the pentagon post 9/11. They have consistently overestimated the military strength and super-villainous intentions of our enemies to the point at which one could conclude that we should invade and occupy the entire world, just to be on the safe side. In fact, that is the underlying premise of “Rebuilding America’s Defenses.”

The war was sold on the nuclear and terrorist threat and the grand delusion of a reverse domino theory in the region. All of that was bullshit. George Tenet is guilty of attaching his personal prestige as the director of the CIA to that disinformation program. But, let’s not let the neocons get away with pinning the entire Iraq cock-up on him. This was a neocon program from day one.

For more:

Center For American Progress Talking Points

More Than Meets The Eye

I think Kevin at The American Street has the right idea about this latest navel gazing about blogosphere demographics with his post called 73% of bloggers are human. Check it out. He’s definitely one of the 73%.

Also check out his nice round-up of the latest polls on the battleground states.

Little Big Man

If you take out the Indian reservation, we would have won,” said Rep. Tom Davis (R-Va.), former chairman of the NRCC.

On the other hand, if you take out the assholes, Herseth would have won in a landslide.

The Fall Of Western Civilization

From Geraldine Sealey of Salon’s War Room ’04,

Lou Sheldon’s Traditional Values Coalition is alerting parents to yet another danger lurking in children’s entertainment. This time, the offender is a supposedly ‘transgender’ bartender in Shrek 2. This bartender has stubble yet wears a dress and has ‘female breasts,’ the TVC alert warns. Confusing matters further, the bartender’s voice is that of Larry King.

The Delicate Arts

TBogg links to Peggy Nooners latest presription drug induced column, in which she writes something quite startling:

The rise of England’s acting class the past century seems to coincide perfectly with the fall of its power as a wealthy and powerful nation that made a difference in the world–an exploring nation, a conquering one.

I wondered if the loss of a kind of national manliness, or force, tends to coincide in modern nations with a rise in expertise in the delicate arts. Then I thought: I wonder if in general one can say of Western nations that the loss of one tends to be accompanied by a rise in the other. In the case of England I think that is so.

But, what do you suppose it means when the national manliness, or “force” is embodied by someone who, although he has a lovely foot and makes the dolphins sing with joy, was a practitioner of the delicate art for more than 40 years?

Can it be that it was Ronald Reagan’s terrible acting that actually led to the end of the cold war?

Food for thought, Peg. (Pass me one of those little blue babies while you’re at it.)