SPIN METER: Bush puts his record in best light

Sent from Express News
In his final speech to the nation, President George W. Bush took pride in his record at home and abroad, describing hopeful events and accomplishments. But what he left unsaid was significant, too.

--

Afghanistan:

Bush said: "Afghanistan has gone from a nation where the Taliban harbored al-Qaida and stoned women in the streets to a young democracy that is fighting terror and encouraging girls to go to school."

He did not say that the deteriorating situation in Afghanistan has forced the U.S. to rush as many as 30,000 more troops there, seeking to turn the tide in fighting that has seen al-Qaida-linked militants and the Taliban make a comeback after initial defeats in the U.S.-led invasion in 2001.

---

Iraq:

Bush said: "Iraq has gone from a brutal dictatorship and a sworn enemy of America to an Arab democracy at the heart of the Middle East and a friend of the United States."

He did not mention that violence in Iraq still persists despite improved security, that Iraq remains gripped by hostility between Shiite and Sunni Muslims, that most Americans think the war was a mistake, and that weapons of mass destruction - the original rationale for the war - were never found.

---

Economy:

Bush said: "When challenges to our prosperity emerged, we rose to meet them. Facing the prospect of a financial collapse, we took decisive measures to safeguard our economy. These are very tough times for hardworking families, but the toll would be far worse if we had not acted."

He did not say that the largest of those decisive measures - an unpopular $700 billion bailout of the U.S. financial sector - has come under harsh criticism because of a lack of transparency and accountability about how the first $350 billion batch of money was spent.

---

Education:

Bush said: "Across our country, students are rising to meet higher standards in public schools."

He did not say that one of the most common concerns about his No Child Left Behind education law is that some states set the bar too low because they are allowed to determine their own academic standards.

---

Veterans:

Bush said: "Funding for our veterans has nearly doubled."

He did not say that embarrassing disclosures of shoddy conditions at Walter Reed Army Medical Center and other facilities in 2007 forced his administration to retool the system of care for veterans.

--

Katrina:

Bush mentioned Hurricane Katrina only once in this speech, praising Tony Recasner, "a principal who opened a new charter school from the ruins" of the storm.

He did not say that his government's response to the worst natural disaster in U.S. history included key failures, as even a White House report later found.

By The Associated Press

A Song For George

Let's hear for losers!

That's the story of his life:

Required Reading

There's alot of talk about this speech these days. Barry took the wife and kids out the other night to read it.

It is the finest speech ever given by a President.

It is required reading for all Americans.

Abraham Lincoln
Second Inaugural Address

Saturday, March 4, 1865

Fellow-Countrymen:

AT this second appearing to take the oath of the Presidential office there is less occasion for an extended address than there was at the first. Then a statement somewhat in detail of a course to be pursued seemed fitting and proper. Now, at the expiration of four years, during which public declarations have been constantly called forth on every point and phase of the great contest which still absorbs the attention and engrosses the energies of the nation, little that is new could be presented. The progress of our arms, upon which all else chiefly depends, is as well known to the public as to myself, and it is, I trust, reasonably satisfactory and encouraging to all. With high hope for the future, no prediction in regard to it is ventured.

On the occasion corresponding to this four years ago all thoughts were anxiously directed to an impending civil war. All dreaded it, all sought to avert it. While the inaugural address was being delivered from this place, devoted altogether to saving the Union without war, urgent agents were in the city seeking to destroy it without war—seeking to dissolve the Union and divide effects by negotiation. Both parties deprecated war, but one of them would make war rather than let the nation survive, and the other would accept war rather than let it perish, and the war came.

One-eighth of the whole population were colored slaves, not distributed generally over the Union, but localized in the southern part of it. These slaves constituted a peculiar and powerful interest. All knew that this interest was somehow the cause of the war. To strengthen, perpetuate, and extend this interest was the object for which the insurgents would rend the Union even by war, while the Government claimed no right to do more than to restrict the territorial enlargement of it. Neither party expected for the war the magnitude or the duration which it has already attained. Neither anticipated that the cause of the conflict might cease with or even before the conflict itself should cease. Each looked for an easier triumph, and a result less fundamental and astounding. Both read the same Bible and pray to the same God, and each invokes His aid against the other. It may seem strange that any men should dare to ask a just God's assistance in wringing their bread from the sweat of other men's faces, but let us judge not, that we be not judged. The prayers of both could not be answered. That of neither has been answered fully. The Almighty has His own purposes. "Woe unto the world because of offenses; for it must needs be that offenses come, but woe to that man by whom the offense cometh." If we shall suppose that American slavery is one of those offenses which, in the providence of God, must needs come, but which, having continued through His appointed time, He now wills to remove, and that He gives to both North and South this terrible war as the woe due to those by whom the offense came, shall we discern therein any departure from those divine attributes which the believers in a living God always ascribe to Him? Fondly do we hope, fervently do we pray, that this mighty scourge of war may speedily pass away. Yet, if God wills that it continue until all the wealth piled by the bondsman's two hundred and fifty years of unrequited toil shall be sunk, and until every drop of blood drawn with the lash shall be paid by another drawn with the sword, as was said three thousand years ago, so still it must be said "the judgments of the Lord are true and righteous altogether."

With malice toward none, with charity for all, with firmness in the right as God gives us to see the right, let us strive on to finish the work we are in, to bind up the nation's wounds, to care for him who shall have borne the battle and for his widow and his orphan, to do all which may achieve and cherish a just and lasting peace among ourselves and with all nations.

Thanks For The Memories

A Nation Thanks It's President

It's Coming ...

Can You Feel It?

At 9:00 p.m. Friday, the highest-level staffers will turn in their gear; and the West Wing will become a ghost town.

Chief of Staff Josh Bolten, Counselor Ed Gillespie, and Press Secy Dana Perino are the senior staffers who will remain here, on standby.

Monday is a federal holiday so the White House would be closed anyway.

On Tuesday, Special Agent Donald White of the U.S. Secret Service will shadow President Bush, sit in the customary front "shotgun" seat of the limousine, and guard the President until noon. At 12:01, Agent White steps over to a position behind Barack Obama.

Yes It Is!

NY Times:

Holder Tells Senators Waterboarding Is Torture

WASHINGTON — Pledging to run an independent Justice Department free of political taint, Eric H. Holder Jr. said on Thursday that he believes unequivocally that “waterboarding” is torture, and that it must not be practiced by the United States regardless of the circumstances.

Addressing the subject of torture at the military prison in Guantánamo Bay, Cuba, Mr. Holder told Senator Patrick J. Leahy of Vermont, the committee chairman, “Waterboarding is torture.” It was so defined under the Spanish Inquisition and when used by the Japanese in World War II, he said, and it remains so today.

President-elect Barack Obama has vowed to close the prison, which Mr. Holder said he agreed with. “There are possibly many other people who are not going to be able to be tried but who nevertheless are dangerous to this country,” he said. “We’re going to have to try to figure out what to do with them.”

Asked whether a president might have the power to immunize people against criminal charges if they employ waterboarding, which creates a drowning-like sensation, to obtain intelligence to use against terrorists, Mr. Holder answered unambiguously: “Mr. Chairman, no one is above the law”

No Class

Palin is not attending Barry's McCainFest

Class

Did you know that on Monday Barry is hosting a dinner honoring John McCain?

Run-DMC, Metallica lead list of 2009 Rock Hall

Still No KISS?

Sent from Express News
NEW YORK - Run-DMC once hailed themselves as the Kings of Rock, so it's fitting that the pioneering rappers have been inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame.

Run-DMC joins the heavy metal band Metallica, guitarist and former Yardbirds member Jeff Beck; soul singer and guitarist Bobby Womack and doo-wop group Little Anthony and the Imperials as this year's inductee class.

Though Run-DMC wasn't among the first rap acts, they were the first to achieve widespread mainstream success, and the first to notch a platinum album with 1986's "Raising Hell." The rapping duo of Joseph "Run" Simmons and Darryl "DMC" McDaniels - plus their DJ, the late Jam Master Jay - were rap's first rock stars. They had hits with songs like "My Adiddas" and "It's Tricky," but had their greatest success when they remade Aerosmith's "Walk This Way" with the rock act for a groundbreaking collaboration.

In an interview Wednesday, McDaniels called Run-DMC's induction "inconceivable."

"I'm a rap dude, I'm an MC from Hollis (a neighborhood in New York's borough of Queens), just rockin' the mic, and to be in the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame, with the Beatles, and (Bob) Dylan, and the rock 'n' roll gods? It's ridiculous! Ridiculous in a good way," he said.

He also gave a nod to the predecessors who paved the way for the group's success: "I share this nomination and the induction and the whole award with those cats, everyone from the Bronx and Harlem who started this."

Jam Master Jay - whose real name was Jason Mizell - was shot to death in his recording studio in 2002. McDaniels doesn't consider the induction bittersweet - "because Jay isn't here to celebrate doesn't mean he's not partaking in this event" - but said he couldn't see the duo performing during the April 4 induction ceremony in Cleveland without him.

"We can't do it without Jay," he said. "I want people to remember the last time they saw us together, the three of us."

Like Run-DMC, Metallica made its debut 25 years ago with the seminal album "Kill 'Em All," and became pioneers in their genre, with their thrashing metal sound, led by the frenetic guitar play of James Hetfield and the drumming of Lars Ulrich. One of rock's more enduring bands, the group has sold upwards of 60 million records in the United States alone, and are still one of music's most successful acts: They are on a top-selling tour, their latest album, "Death Magnetic," has sold more than a million copies and has also been nominated for Grammy awards.

"Life is good in Metallica right now. A lot of good things are happening. Quite opposite of what they were during the `St. Anger' time," said Hetfield, referring to the 2003 CD that was reviled by many Metallica fans.

The group - which also consists of guitarist Kirk Hammett and bass player Robert Trujillo - also went through periods of infighting (famously chronicled in the 2004 documentary "Metallica: Some Kind of Monster").

"So all the work and effort that we put into our relationship back then has brought a lot of fruits of labor with that, on this album, Rock and Roll Hall of Fame, Grammys. So we're feeling good," Hetfield added.

He also said the honor was for everyone who had played with the group: Late bassist Cliff Burton and bassist Jason Newsted, who will also be inducted.

Cleveland native Womack, who was part of the group the Womack Brothers until breaking out on his own with hits including "If You Think You're Lonely Now," said the induction ceremony would bring him back home for the first time in almost three decades.

"This is just the greatest, I'm extremely happy," he said. "It proves that, if you're blessed to be able to wait on what's important to you, a lot of things will change in life."

Besides the main inductees, rockabilly singer Wanda Jackson got a nod for the early influence category, and the sidemen inductees are session musician Spooner Oldham and two of Elvis Presley's musicians - drummer D.J. Fontana and bassist Bill Black.

The induction ceremony is returning to Cleveland after several years in New York City. It will aired live by the Fuse network.

The hall of fame also announced on Wednesday that Bruce Springsteen will be the focus of a new exhibit called "From Asbury Park to the Promised Land: The Life and Music of Bruce Springsteen." It opens April 1.

---

Associated Press Writer John Carucci in New York contributed to this report.

----

By NEKESA MUMBI MOODY AP Music Writer

Texas carries out nation's first execution of 2009

Who Else?

Sent from Express News
HUNTSVILLE, Texas - A man convicted of murdering three people during a night of robberies more than 13 years ago in Fort Worth was put to death Wednesday evening in the nation's first execution of the year.

In a brief, final statement, Curtis Moore, 40, thanked a woman who administers to the spiritual needs of death row inmates.

By MICHAEL GRACZYK Associated Press Writer

GOP's Graham cites worldwide good will for Obama

Sent from Express News
WASHINGTON - A confidant of the man Barack Obama defeated in November said Wednesday that the president-elect has earned enormous global good will and "a moment in time" to re-engage other nations with the United States.

The assessment by Sen. Lindsey Graham, R-S.C., was noteworthy because he is a conservative Republican and one of Sen. John McCain's closest friends. Graham campaigned vigorously against Obama in last year's presidential race.

By JENNIFER LOVEN AP White House Correspondent

House votes health insurance for 4M more children

Sent from Express News
WASHINGTON - Making a down payment on President-elect Barack Obama's promise of universal health coverage, the House voted overwhelmingly Wednesday to expand government-sponsored insurance to 4 million more children in working families with income too high to qualify for Medicaid.

Between 300,000 and 600,000 of the new enrollees could be non-citizen children of legal immigrants who have been in the country less than five years, a sticking point for some Senate Republicans who also will consider a similar bill.

By KEVIN FREKING Associated Press Writer

The Greatest Horror Story

Craig Crawford:

Bush's Legacy -- A Flawed Election

The tragic course of George W. Bush's presidency began with what might have well been one of the great accidents in American history -- his flawed election. It is difficult to find a more dramatic example of why voting matters.

The Bush team learned how to cut corners in the 2000 election, avoiding a final recount of Florida's challenged ballots by going to the United States Supreme Court to stop it. ...

There were 175,000 Florida ballots that year that could not be counted by machines for various reasons. They had to be hand counted to determine what the voters intended.

...A consortium of news organizations, including national newspapers and television networks, spent months after the 2000 debacle reviewing contested ballots in an effort to find out who actually won. Once the study was completed, the organizations reached different conclusions.

Some reported that Bush would have won anyway. Others were not sure. It all depended on what standard is applied for judging a voter's intention.

One of the most troubling issues was so-called overvotes -- where it appeared that more than one candidate had been chosen. The cause of the confusion was mostly due to poorly designed ballots.

Gore would have been declared the winner under statewide rules that Florida later developed for evaluating questionable ballots. That was the conclusion of The Orlando Sentinel, one of the participants in the consortium study. But those rules were not in effect in 2000 ....

The bottom line is that more Florida voters tried to vote for Gore than voted for Bush. There is a real chance that Bush should never have become president.

Barry, 24/7!

Check your On Demand Listings!

Politico:

Do you need Obama coverage 24 hours a day?

In several markets, Comcast cable is launching an all-Obama, On Demand channel. (In Chicago - Channel 1). Leading up to Inauguration, the channel will offer a number of Obama-related programs, according to a release: "Barack Obama’s most famous speeches to date, from his keynote address at the Democratic National Convention in 2004 through his election night victory speech in Grant Park; Barack Obama biography; Michelle Obama’s 2008 Democratic National Convention speech; a tour of the White House; and the history of Air Force One."

Dish Network launched an all-Obama channel during the campaign.

Last Night I watched the Victory Speech (again). Ah memories....

Now The Video

Watch Tennesse Dems Fuck Tennessee Reps

Why Have We Not Been Hearing This For, Like, Years?

GT12 has been saying for years that W's claim of preventing another attack on the US is ground in the false belief that an attack would acutally have happened sometime after 9/11/01.

Remember, there were 8 years between the WTC bombing and alQaeda's big day;

Ron Susskind and Howard Fineman visited Matthews yesterday:

SUSKIND: I don‘t think [Bush] has a point. Here‘s why.
What the president knows, from his own intelligence briefing, is that al Qaeda has not been in an attack mode in the United States. There were attacks that have been called off. And they have said, we will be patient. The next attack will be bigger than 9/11. Bush knows that from his own briefings. To say the country has been safe, we haven‘t been attacked...

MATTHEWS: Well, wait a minute. Let‘s go back here.

SUSKIND: No, no.

MATTHEWS: Back to August of 2001, he got a memo that said bin Laden to attack inside the United States. He didn‘t act on that. And look what happened.

SUSKIND: Well, I‘m just saying, no one should be patting themselves on the back that al Qaeda has not reattacked the United States. Bush knows that. He knows the al Qaeda playbook.

MATTHEWS: Why haven‘t—why haven‘t they attacked again?

SUSKIND: Because al Qaeda has said and we have picked up on signal intelligence they are going to wait until they can get a bigger WMD attack in the United States. They have called off attacks in the U.S.

This is the—something the president and the vice president knows. My point is that to say we haven‘t been attacked and that‘s a mark of victory, Bush himself knows, is not coherent.

MATTHEWS: Howard?

FINEMAN: Well, I think it‘s politically potent, however. Let‘s be frank here. Let‘s be frank here.

If he goes out of Washington, if he leaves Washington for Dallas, Texas, on the 20th, and he‘s going to say, there‘s been no attack, there was no attack on the homeland, a term that came to burden us...

Enough!

Chris Matthews finally let's the repugnant Ron Christie have it right between his beady crossed eyes:

Visit msnbc.com for Breaking News, World News, and News about the Economy

Did You Notice ...

... that in W's Presser this week the regrets were all of a politicial rather than governance nature?

Jon Stewart has more:

The Daily Show With Jon StewartM - Th 11p / 10c

Six Days Seven Nights

Barack Obama Interview
John McCain Interview

Sarah Palin Video
Funny Election Video

A Brilliant Southern Strategy

It's being called the Political Play Of The Decade ...

After almost 140 years, Tennessee Republicans finally got a chance to hold power in their state's General Assembly. Thanks to some crafty manuevering by their Democratic colleagues, however, the GOP's moment in the sun was all but over in a matter of hours.

One of the first matters the new session had to take up was the election of a new Speaker. The Republicans had their candidate, Rep. Jason Mumpower, and by dint of their one-seat majority, they would have been right to assume -- as is normally the case in these matters -- that Mumpower would win the job. The Democrats had other ideas. They nominated a different Republican, Rep. Kent Williams.

49 Republicans -- including Mumpower -- voted for their chosen candidate. Then 49 Democrats voted for Williams, then he voted for himself, and lo and behold the minority party had elected the Speaker. Williams also helped the Democrats re-elect one of their own to the number two position in the body.

Pentagon official says 9/11 suspect was tortured

Sent from Express News
WASHINGTON - A Pentagon official acknowledged in an interview published Wednesday that the United States tortured Mohammed al-Qahtani, a Saudi man who allegedly had hoped to become the "20th hijacker" in the Sept. 11 attacks.

"We tortured Qahtani," said Susan J. Crawford, a retired judge who was appointed convening authority of military commissions in February 2007. Crawford was interviewed by The Washington Post's Bob Woodward.
The Associated Press

Thank You George

Oh No Ohio

Ohio unemployment fund runs out
Posted by Associated Press January 12, 2009 18:27PM

COLUMBUS, Ohio -- Ohio's unemployment compensation fund has been depleted, forcing the state to begin borrowing federal funds.

Officials say no disruptions in benefits are expected.

The Ohio Department of Job and Family Services said Monday the federal government has already approved $500 million to be borrowed by Ohio to pay benefits in January and February. The state has requested that it be able to use $50 million of that amount to pay benefits this week.

Agency spokesman Dennis Evans said Ohio is committed to preventing the unemployed fund from missing any payments.

Ohio and many other states have seen their unemployment funds decrease drastically as the number of unemployed workers has surged amid the recession.

A New Found Understanding

Suddenly I see the appeal of Soap Operas

As the World Turns took an unexpected turn this week and went where no soap opera—and few primetime shows—has dared: showing two post-coital men.

Not That She'd Win

If she becomes Ms. 2012, Palin will, of course lose in a Goldwaterly fashion because dumb ass redneck nothings with small dicks are shrinking (as it were)....

National Journal:

To grasp how powerfully demographic change is reshaping the political landscape try this thought experiment about the 2008 election.

Start by considering the electorate's six broadest demographic groups -- white voters with at least a four-year college degree; white voters without a college degree; African-Americans; Hispanics; Asians; and other minorities.

Now posit that each of those groups voted for Barack Obama or John McCain in exactly the same proportions as it actually did. Then imagine that each group represented the share of the electorate that it did in 1992. If each of these groups voted as it did in 2008 but constituted the same share of the electorate as in 1992, McCain would have won. Comfortably.

... These trends point toward trouble for the GOP if it cannot attract more minorities, especially Hispanics, and reverse the recent Democratic inroads among well-educated whites.

The best way to illustrate that prospect is to pitch the thought experiment forward 12 years. Imagine that the major demographic groups voted as they did in 2008, but cast a share of the vote equal to their expected share of the population in 2020. (For argument's sake, let's divide whites among college and noncollege voters in the same proportions as today.) In that scenario, Obama beats McCain by nearly 14 points -- almost twice as much as in 2008. Demography will indeed be destiny if Republicans can't broaden their reach.

Can't Do Nuthin' Right

Bush Gives His Final Press Conference.

Underwhelmingly attended, The Dauphin has lost almost all his 'self-restraint' and makes the Clinton's appear stoic. No matter how cynical I try to be, I can't see this performance as helping him vis-a-vis History. He's now clearly the spoiled thoughtless child of privilege that he's always been, no wiser than the day he started prep-school.

Keith's coverage is best:

Visit msnbc.com for Breaking News, World News, and News about the Economy

I Might Be Wrong

It has been my position that, appalling as it may seem, Sarah Palin has a very realistic chance of being the GOP's 2012 Nominee. No one in the party has the media magic she offers. No one in the party speaks for the resentful right with the same unencumbered-by-facts panache like she does. No one else in the party gives the creepy sexually frustrated fat/frat boys of the Republican Media the hard-on that she does....

My LLF Mr Breeze insists she will self immolate. I always tell him that he underestimates the susceptibility of the masses, as well as the key fact that Sarah's Base is a) a really big part of the Repugnican Party and, even more importantly b) it's the only 'united' part of the GOP Coalition.

But, Mr. Breeze may be on target.

Political Animal takes a look at this week's desperate grab for the spot-light:

"I'll tell you, [Palin states, in an Esquire interview]yesterday the Anchorage Daily News, they called again to ask -- double-, triple-, quadruple-check -- who is Trig's real mom," Palin said. "And I said, 'Come on, are you kidding me? We're gonna answer this? Do you not believe me or my doctor?' And they said, No, it's been quite cryptic the way that my son's birth has been discussed. And I thought, Okay, more indication of continued problems in the world of journalism."

At first blush, this might sound reasonable. For the Anchorage Daily News to call, months after the campaign, just to make sure the governor really is her son's mother seems like a clear example of media excess.

Except, that isn't what happened. My friend Alex Koppelman explained that the paper was actually defending Palin and debunking the bogus rumors about her family. The Anchorage Daily News' editor even emailed Palin directly about this, responding to her concerns.

"You may have been too busy with the campaign to notice, but the Daily News has, from the beginning, dismissed the conspiracy theories about Trig's birth as nonsense. I don't believe we have ever published in the newspaper a story, a letter, a column or anything alleging a coverup surrounding your maternity.

"In fact, my integrity and the integrity of the newspaper have been repeatedly attacked in national forums for our complicity in the 'coverup.' I have personally received more than 100 emails accusing me and the paper of conspiring to hide the truth (about Trig's birth.) [...]

"[W]e have been amazed by the widespread and enduring quality of these rumors. I finally decided, after watching this go on unabated for months, to let a reporter try to do a story about the 'conspiracy theory that would not die' and, possibly, report the facts of Trig's birth thoroughly enough to kill the nonsense once and for all."

So, Palin's favorite example of the "continued problems in the world of journalism" is actually a newspaper coming to her defense, setting the record straight, and defending her against nasty and baseless rumors.

Something New For Us

After falling in love with twenty albums we heard about through end-of-the-year lists, GT12 had a talk with itself and decided that maybe it was again worth it to try to 'keep current' with the whole music thing ....

This is K'Naan. He's a Hip-Hopper from Somalia and he seriously rocks:

Soobax


If Rap Gets Jealous (featuring Kirk Hammett)

Justice Rising

Have you noticed that Barry's already running the country?

This is important (via Political Animal):

Investigators say a former top Justice Department official made false statements to Congress and violated federal law in overseeing the agency's civil rights division.

The accusations are included in a new report by the Justice Department's Inspector General on Bradley Schlozman, the former acting head of the civil rights division.

The report says Schlozman politicized and mistreated his staff and tried to punish agency employees he believed were too liberal. The report cited an e-mail in which he noted it had been a while since he'd had to "scream with a bloodcurdling cry at some commie."

If Schlozman's work isn't familiar to you, his "leadership" of the civil rights division was almost comically ridiculous.

Karen Stevens, Tovah Calderon and Teresa Kwong had a lot in common. They had good performance ratings as career lawyers in the Justice Department's civil rights division. And they were minority women transferred out of their jobs [three] years ago -- over the objections of their immediate supervisors -- by Bradley Schlozman, then the acting assistant attorney general for civil rights.

Schlozman ordered supervisors to tell the women that they had performance problems or that the office was overstaffed. But one lawyer, Conor Dugan, told colleagues that the recent Bush appointee had confided that his real motive was to "make room for some good Americans" in that high-impact office, according to four lawyers who said they heard the account from Dugan.

In another politically tinged conversation recounted by former colleagues, Schlozman asked a supervisor if a career lawyer who had voted for Sen. John McCain (R-Ariz.), a onetime political rival of President Bush, could still be trusted.

Here's one of The Schloz's greatest Hits:

TPM Remembers:

"Right-Thinking Americans"
Bradley Schlozman had an acronym for the type of conservative Republicans he wanted to slot into career positions at the Justice Department: "RTAs," or right-thinking Americans.

Late Update: In a similar vein, Schlozman called career attorneys in the Voting Rights Section "mold spores" and in an email wrote, "My tentative plans are to gerrymander all of those crazy libs rights out of the section."

In Which I Lazily Rip-Off Wonkette

I've been at a tax seminar so I'm trying to catch-up on so much ...

Anyway, Wonkette says everything I would say on this front and they're every bit as hateful as I would be too:

Ken Blackwell Could Resist Being Gay If He Had Gay Symptoms, Which He Doesn’t

This is Ken Blackwell, the man who STOLE THE 2004 ELECTION FOR GEORGE W. BUSH IN OHIO & AMERICA and is now running for RNC chairman. He just wants to let you know that he’s not gay but if he did have the gay “compulsion” he could fight it, and not have sex with dudes, because he’s a tuff guy like that. Not that he’s ever felt the gay disease before, but if he had felt it, you know… the point here is that Ken Blackwell’s a gay!

Hill comes in clutch:

“You can choose to restrain that compulsion,” Blackwell told radio host Michelangelo Signorile, a gay and lesbian advocate, this summer during the Republican National Convention. “And so I think in fact you don’t have to give in to the compulsion to be homosexual.”

“I’ve never had to make the choice because I’ve never had the urge to be other than a heterosexual,” Blackwell added, “but if in fact I had the urge to be something else I could have in fact suppressed that urge.”

Guess what Ken Blackwell’s doing right now? Um like 19 dudes.

Blackwell: Gay ‘Compulsion’ Can be ‘Restrained’ [The Hill via TPM Election Central]

Gays Praying For Obama First

Gene Robinson, the first openly-gay Episcopal Bishop will give the invocation at Sunday's Inaugaration Kick-Off Ceremony.

Obama aides say that this 'was always the plan.

Rights group: Israel uses incendiary bombs in Gaza

Sent from Express News
JERUSALEM - Human Rights Watch said Sunday that Israel's military has fired artillery shells with the incendiary agent white phosphorus into Gaza and a doctor there said the chemical was suspected in the case of 10 burn victims who had skin peeling off their faces and bodies.

Researchers in Israel from the rights group witnessed hours of artillery bombardments that sent trails of burning smoke indicating white phosphorus over the Jebaliya refugee camp in northern Gaza. But they could not confirm injuries on the ground because they have been barred from entering the territory.

By JASON KEYSER Associated Press Writer

William Zantzinger, villain in Dylan song, dies

Sent from Express News
CHARLOTTE HALL, Md. - William Zantzinger, a wealthy Maryland landowner whose fatal beating of a black barmaid was recounted in a Bob Dylan protest song of the 1960s, was buried Friday. He was 69.

Zantzinger died Jan. 3. His family did not provide further details of his death, the Brinsfield-Echols Funeral Home said.

The tobacco farmer served six months and was fined $500 for manslaughter in 1963 for striking the 51-year-old barmaid with his cane for taking too long to serve him a drink. Hattie Carroll later died of a stroke. In the "Lonesome Death of Hattie Carroll," Dylan criticized different standards of justice meted out to whites and blacks.

Zantzinger was allowed to delay the start the sentence two weeks so he could harvest his tobacco crop and served the time in the Washington County jail, working in its kitchen.

"There is something wrong with this city when a white man can beat a colored woman to death and no one raises a hand to stop him," the Rev. Thomas C. Jackson said in his sermon at Gillis Memorial Church the Sunday after Carroll's death.

News accounts at the time said Zantzinger had been seen drinking with his wife at a dinner before a ball. While dining, Zantzinger told jurors he began hitting waitresses with the cane.

"I'd been smacking - tapping - waitresses on the tail, and they didn't say anything. I was just playing," Zantzinger told the jury in Hagerstown, where the case was tried.

"I had no other purpose than to have a good time," Zantzinger testified. "The last thing I intended was to harm or injure anyone. I never even thought about it."

Zantzinger, who later became a foreclosure auctioneer, didn't answer questions about Dylan's song for years. In 2001, he spoke with Dylan biographer Howard Sounes about the singer, saying he "should have sued him and put him in jail. (The song is) a total lie."

Larry Jenkins, a publicist for Dylan, said the songwriter was not available for comment.

The Associated Press

LtGov outlines reform plan for Illinois government

Sent from Express News
CHICAGO - Illinois Lt. Gov. Pat Quinn is offering his plan for reforming Illinois government but says restoring public faith in state government won't be easy.

In an op-ed piece published Sunday in the Chicago Tribune, Quinn makes five recommendations for cleaning up state government.

The Associated Press

Blagojevich faces tough trial in Senate

Sent from Express News
SPRINGFIELD, Ill. - Gov. Rod Blagojevich will face long odds, and perhaps some legal twists, in the Illinois Senate trial that will decide whether he'll keep his job or be tossed out of office.

It may be called a trial and involve the trappings of a courtroom, from a judge to exhibits and objections, but experts point out that the event will be political, not legal. The senators are free to base their decisions on old feuds and popular opinion if they want, rather than fine points of the law.

By CHRISTOPHER WILLS Associated Press Writer

No. 2 Senate Democrat hopes deal near on Burris

Sent from Express News
WASHINGTON - Sen. Dick Durbin said Sunday that he is moving away from his initial resistance to accepting former Illinois Attorney General Roland Burris as President-elect Barack Obama's successor and hopes a resolution to the disagreement will be reached soon.

For his part, Burris said he and his lawyers will be in Washington on Monday to begin paving the way for him to join the Senate. But Durbin said lawyers still need to sign off on Burris' paperwork and review his testimony before the Illinois House, which later impeached Gov. Rod Blagojevich on corruption charges.

By LAURIE KELLMAN Associated Press Writer

Bush cautions GOP to stay open-minded

Good Luck With That.

Sent from Express News
WASHINGTON - Down to single digits in his days left in office, President George W. Bush is warning the Republican Party not to become "anti-immigrant" as it regroups from defeat and retools its leadership.

"It's very important for our party not to narrow its focus, not to become so inward looking that we drive people away from a philosophy that is compassionate and decent," the departing president said in an interview broadcast Sunday, nine days before his term ends. "My call for our party is to be open-minded."

By BEN FELLER Associated Press Writer

Senate to consider expanding wilderness protection

Sent from Express News
WASHINGTON - Congress is considering whether to set aside more than 2 million acres in nine states as wilderness in an early showdown that threatens to derail pledges by Senate leaders to work cooperatively as a new administration takes office.

The largest expansion of wilderness protection in 25 years has bipartisan support and would include California's Sierra Nevada mountain range, Oregon's Mount Hood, Rocky Mountain National Park in Colorado and parts of the Jefferson National Forest in Virginia.

The Associated Press

In Obama, many see an end to the baby boomer era

Yes We Can!

Sent from Express News
NEW YORK - When George W. Bush lifts off in his helicopter on Inauguration Day, leaving Washington to make way for Barack Obama, he may not be the only thing disappearing into the horizon.

To a number of social analysts, historians, bloggers and ordinary Americans, Jan. 20 will symbolize the passing of an entire generation: the baby boomer years.

By JOCELYN NOVECK AP National Writer

Bush reportedly rejected Israeli plea to raid Iran

Sent from Express News
WASHINGTON - President George W. Bush rejected a plea from Israel last year to help it raid Iran's main nuclear complex, opting instead to authorize a new U.S. covert action aimed at sabotaging Iran's suspected nuclear weapons program, The New York Times reported.

Israel's request was for specialized bunker-busting bombs that it wanted for an attack that tentatively involved flying over Iraq to reach Iran's major nuclear complex at Natanz, where the country's only known uranium enrichment plant is located, the Times reported Saturday in its online edition. The White House deflected requests for the bombs and flyover but said it would improve intelligence-sharing with Israel on covert U.S. efforts to sabotage Iran's nuclear program.

The Associated Press

Disturbing Observation

Mr Dan and I were watching Grand Hotel (1932) last night and were haunted by the realization that Garbo looked then a whole lot like Peggy Noonan does now.....

Also: Joan Crawford looked like a small-nosed Patty Lupone ... And she could act!

And I Take This As A Promise

The Obama transition team responded on Friday to a handful of the 76,031 questions submitted to Change.gov since the end of December ...

[Robert] Gibbs ... responded to “Thaddeus” in Lansing, Mich. who asked whether the Obama administration still planned to get rid of the “Dont Ask, Don’t Tell” policy on gays in military.

“Thaddeus, you don’t hear a politician give a one word answer much,” he said. “But it’s yes.”

Why Warren Bothers Me Less Than Some Think That He Should

It's probably a personality flaw, but this headline seems more important than Prop 8.

Obama names nation's new spymasters, vows no torture

... under my administration, the United States does not torture, we will abide by the Geneva conventions, that we will uphold our highest values and ideals.

Knowing that Leon Pannetta will be at CIA makes this promise much more, well believable.

It's no big challenge to my view of my country to see it's laws as homophobic and homo-discriminatory.

But to know that we have deliberatively and planfully engaged in routine torture ... well, that's does not jibe with my view of American Exceptionalism.

Torture is a greater crime.

Why Warren Pissed Off So Many

A Fine Christian Mom Celebrates Her Children on her blog:

My kids had the following conversation at the store yesterday, very loudly, and within ear shot of several other customers:

John (4 years old): Barack Obama, and the devil, and the government are worser than anything else in the world.

Isaac (5 years old): Mom, John actually told me that he thinks Barack Obama is worse than the faggots.

Ah, precious moments!

Train up a child in the way he should go: and when he is old, he will not depart from it. - Proverbs 22:6

By the way, don't bother writing me angry comments about teaching my children to hate homosexuals....

In every account that the Bible gives of them, sodomites are violating others. My kids won't grow up with a soft-spot for people who want nothing more than to hurt others and to win them over to their disgusting lifestyle, one that will condemn them eternally to hell. If you think I am strange for being disgusted by the worst sin mentioned in the Bible, and one that even unbelievers have hated throughout centuries up until recent years, then so be it.

This is the goal of their teachings, regardless of what they say ....

Her husband, BTW, is also very concerned about the state of manly affairs:

In Germany, they have signs that prohibit men from peeing standing up! … I was told that no man in Germany pees standing up. That’s where we are headed in this country my friends. We have a bunch of pastors who pee sitting down. We have the president of the United States who probably pees sitting down. We got a bunch of pastors and leaders who don’t stand up and pee against the wall like a man. That’s what’s wrong with America. 400 years ago, pastors used to stand up and preach that A MAN NEEDS TO BE A MAN!!!! The editors of the NIV and the new King James all pee sitting down! I’ll tell you something, I’m not going to pee sitting down! I’m going to Germany in about a month, and you’d better know I’m going to stand up everywhere I go!

Praise Jesus!

Feels Like Old Times ...

Like, say, '98 ...

Illinois House impeaches Gov. Rod Blagojevich

SPRINGFIELD, Ill. – The Illinois House voted overwhelmingly Friday to impeach Gov. Rod Blagojevich, an unprecedented action that sets up a Senate trial on whether he should be thrown out for abuse of power, including allegations that he tried to sell President-elect Barack Obama's vacant Senate seat.

Impeachment required just 60 votes. The final result was 114-1.

Legislators accused the second-term Democratic governor of letting down the people of Illinois by letting ego and ambition drive his decisions.

"It's our duty to clean up the mess and stop the freak show that's become Illinois government," said Rep. Jack D. Franks, a Democrat.

Blagojevich was out jogging in his Chicago neighborhood when the vote came down. His office declined to comment, but said he would issue a statement Friday afternoon.

During the House's 90-minute debate on impeachment, no one spoke up to defend the governor. But Rep. Milton Patterson, a Chicago Democrat, made the sole vote against impeaching Blagojevich.

Patterson said he read the impeachment committee's report and wasn't comfortable voting against the governor. "I have no firsthand knowledge of any of the evidence," he said.

The Last Debate

Missouri senator's exit alters political landscape

Sent from Express News
WASHINGTON - The decision by Republican Sen. Kit Bond of Missouri to end more than a two-decade run in the Senate had an immediate impact on the political outlook for his home state and made the next election cycle tougher for the national GOP.

Republicans lost three of the five Senate seats opened by retirements last year and are facing at least one more retirement in Florida, a swing state.

By SUZANNE GAMBOA Associated Press Writer

Cheney: CIA did nothing illegal in interrogations

Sent from Express News
WASHINGTON - Vice President Dick Cheney said Thursday that he sees no reason for President George W. Bush to pre-emptively pardon anyone at the CIA involved in harsh interrogations of suspected terrorists. "I don't have any reason to believe that anybody in the agency did anything illegal," he said.

In an interview with The Associated Press, Cheney also said that Bush has no need to apologize for not foreseeing the economic crisis.
By DEB RIECHMANN Associated Press Writer

Mukasey sets limit on immigrants' rights to lawyer

Sent from Express News
WASHINGTON - The Bush administration has decided that immigrants facing deportation do not have an automatic right to an effective lawyer.

Attorney General Michael Mukasey says in a 33-page decision that the Constitution does not entitle someone facing deportation to have his case reopened based upon shoddy work by a lawyer.
The Associated Press

Embracing The Stupid

Palin and Bush weren't enough? Humiliating John McCain wasn"t enough?

From my home town via The New York Times

Joe the Plumber to Become War Correspondent

TOLEDO, Ohio (AP) -- Joe The Plumber is putting down his wrenches and picking up a reporter's notebook.

The Ohio man who became a household name during the presidential campaign says he is heading to Israel as a war correspondent for the conservative Web site pjtv.com.

Samuel J. Wurzelbacher (WUR'-zuhl-bah-kur) says he'll spend 10 days covering the fighting.

He tells WNWO-TV in Toledo that he wants to let Israel's '''Average Joes' share their story.''

Wurzelbacher gained attention during the final weeks of the campaign when he asked Barack Obama about his tax plan.

He later joined Republican John McCain on the campaign trail. At one stop, he agreed with a McCain supporter who asked if he believed a vote for Obama was a vote for the death of Israel.

Bushleague Numbers

Really amazing.

Via Chuck Todd and Those Folks over at NBC

UNEMPLOYMENT RATE

Then: 4.2% (Bureau of Labor Statistics, January 2001)

Now: 6.7% (Bureau of Labor Statistics, November 2008)

DOW JONES INDUSTRIAL AVERAGE

Then: 10,587 (close of Friday, Jan. 19, 2001)

Now: 9,015 (close of Tuesday, Jan. 6, 2009)

BUSH FAVORABILITY RATING

Then: 50% (1/01 NBC/WSJ poll)

Now: 31% (12/08 NBC/WSJ poll)

CHENEY FAVORABILITY RATING

Then: 49% (1/01 NBC/WSJ poll)

Now: 21% (12/08 NBC/WSJ poll)

CONGRESS APPROVAL RATING

Then: 48% (1/01 NBC/WSJ poll)

Now: 21% (12/08 NBC/WSJ poll)

SATISFIED WITH THE NATION'S DIRECTION

Then: 45% (1/01 NBC/WSJ poll)

Now: 26% (12/08 NBC/WSJ poll)

CONSUMER CONFIDENCE (1985=100)

Then: 115.7 (Conference Board, January 2001)

Now: 38.0, which is an all-time low (Conference Board, December 2008)

FAMILIES LIVING IN POVERTY

Then: 6.4 million (Census numbers for 2000)

Now: 7.6 million (Census numbers for 2007 -- most recent numbers available)

AMERICANS WITHOUT HEALTH INSURANCE

Then: 39.8 million (Census numbers for 2000)

Now: 45.7 million (Census numbers for 2007 -- most recent available)

U.S. BUDGET

Then: +236.2 billion (2000, Congressional Budget Office)

Now: -$1.2 trillion (projected figure for 2009, Congressional Budget Office)

Oh, That New Car Smell

Barry Gets a New Car as part of his electoral prize.

CNN says this

In keeping with recent tradition, the Secret Service will place a brand-new presidential limousine into service January 20 to drive the new president on the 2-mile jaunt down Pennsylvania Avenue during the inaugural parade.

Already, spy photos of the limo -- with patches of gray primer -- have leaked out.

And already, the reviews:

"Ugly as sin," says one car enthusiast on an auto Web site. "Can't we make a hotter ride for our pres?"

"Sheesh," says another, "why don't they just transport the president around in an Abrams tank."

One news agency, noting its 8-inch-thick doors, says the limo can withstand a "direct hit from an asteroid." But GM spokeswoman Joanne K. Krell laughed off the comments.

But we like Wonkette's description better

Jesus god, Barack Obama’s new fortified palace/romper room/communications center/car looks like it just drove out of the Thunderdome. It is a hideous multi-paneled Wagon of Doom that shoots laser beams out of its headlights and can decapitate a man. It was forged in the fiery furnaces of hell and custom-finished by leather-tongued demons who poured the Elixir of Pan into the gas tank, for greater fuel economy. Early reports say it is a Cadillac. [CNN]

Another Bush Era Success

Let's Hear It For Abstinence Only! (note where the increases are greatest ... and least)

After long decline, U.S. teen birth rates rise again

WASHINGTON — U.S. teen birth rates rose sharply in 2006, according to figures released Wednesday by the federal Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, ending a welcome 14-year decline.

While U.S. teen birth rates remained the highest in the industrialized world, the long decline had amounted to a 45 percent reduction since 1991.

According to the figures for 2006, the latest year for which data are available, birth rates for teens aged 15-19 rose by 3.5 percent. This increase marks the largest growth in teen birth rates since 1989-1990.

Analysts at liberal and conservative teen-pregnancy awareness groups had begun to notice the declines leveling off in recent years. Though dismayed, they weren't surprised by the upward spike.

The 2006 increase for teens 15-19 was from 40.5 per 1,000 to 41.9. The increases were greatest through the South and Southwest, and lowest in the Northeast.

When Dreams Come True

Lawrence O'Donnell (MSNBC political analyst , The McLaughlin Group panelist and producer and writer for the NBC series The West Wing ) unveils an update of his old show.

We are, of course, all teary again:

Can We Seal Over The Sewer Now

The last of the Bush Crime Family declines the opportunity to rape his country just one more time.

Jeb Bush has announced that he is not running for Senator from Florida, dealing a blow to the GOP's chances to hold on to their open seat here.

Jeb told the Associated Press that his brother's poor poll numbers were not a factor: "While I'm proud of my brother and I love my brother ... people know that I'm Jeb Bush and I don't think that would have been a problem."

Just one more thing:

FUCK THESE RATFUCKING RATFUCKS UNTO THE RATFUCKING TWELFTH RATFUCK GENERATION.

Always Too Big For Chicago

Long Secret Obama Video To See Light Of Day!

HuffPo

In August, 2001, President-elect Barack Obama did a turn as amateur restaurant critic for a local Chicago television show called "Check, Please!". The premise of the show was that each week three amateur reviewers were invited to pick their favorite restaurant and review it, then they would review the picks of the other two critics.

After taping an episode with a local firefighter and a retail buyer, Obama's segment was shelved...until now. The vintage clip will be aired on January 16th.

According to the Chicago Tribune:
Why the almost-eight-year delay? Both [executive producer David] Manilow and then-host Amanda Puck remember Obama's debut as a restaurant critic came at a time when the show was still being tweaked. And the president-elect was too good--too thoughtful, too articulate, not enough of an amateur. He ended up dominating the conversation.

"It was unbalanced," Manilow said, "to put it charitably."

Stranger Than Fiction

From Newsmax

The 2009 Sarah Palin wall calendar includes photos from her campaign trail, governorship, and family.

FREE OFFER! - Get this calendar FREE Plus the Reagan's Laughs CD - Value of $36.95 - Click Here Now

Well, I Hope They Learned Their Lesson

40 Palestinians killed in IDF strike on UN school
By News Agencies

Israel Defense Forces tank fire killed up to 40 Palestinians at a United Nations school in the Gaza Strip on Tuesday, medical sources at two hospitals said.

The attack brought the Palestinian death toll to nearly 600 in Israel's 11-day offensive on the Hamas-ruled coastal territory.

Two tank shells exploded outside the Gaza school, spraying shrapnel on people inside and outside the building, where hundreds of Palestinians had sought refuge from fighting between Israeli soldiers and Hamas militants. In addition to the dead, several dozen people were wounded, the officials said.

Medical officials said all the dead were either people sheltering in the school or local residents.

Always The Best Take

The Onion, of course, in a headline that I've been quoting in conversation for years:

November 9, 1948
War-weary Jews establish homeland between Syria, Lebanon, Jordan, Egypt
'In Israel, our people will finally have safety and peace,' says Ben-Gurion. Jordan welcomes new neighbors with celebratory gunfire, rock throwing

Just Asking ...

What if The United Nations decided, and the World agreed, that we needed to give Arizona and New Mexico to Native Americans as recompense for our genocidal actions towards people of their race?

Worth It?

National Journal Offers A Discussion Forum:

Is Israel A Strategic Liability For The United States?
As Israel escalates its efforts to root Hamas and its rocket launchers out of Gaza, the global reaction is increasingly negative -- except in the United States. Washington provides Israel with diplomatic backing, U.N. Security Council vetoes of "anti-Zionist" resolutions, and of course $3 billion a year in military aid. But what does Israel provide in return? Yes, Israel and America cooperate on counterterrorism, but how many of the groups on which Israel provides intelligence would be gunning for the United States if it wasn't supporting Israel? Setting aside for a moment the emotional and religious anchors of the U.S.-Israel alliance, what is its value to the United States in practical, realpolitik terms?

9 Big Shots have responded so far. I ask you to read them.

GT12 has long (like way before it's birth) thought that we should be at least asking these questions.

Strip Maul

Jon Stewart is back and just when we need him:

The Daily Show With Jon StewartM - Th 11p / 10c

Strip Maul

Barack Obama Interview
John McCain Interview

Sarah Palin Video
Funny Election Video

Ill. impeachment panel may end without FBI tapes

Sent from Express News
CHICAGO - Members of Gov. Rod Blagojevich's impeachment panel say they will move forward despite the possibility that they might not get to hear federal wiretaps of the governor's conversations with aides and others.

"These tapes are relevant evidence, we'd like to have them," David Ellis, a lawyer for the impeachment panel, said Monday. But he said the panel could wrap up its work as early as this week and "we have already gathered a large volume of evidence."
By MIKE ROBINSON Associated Press Writer

Burris determined to take his Senate seat Tuesday

Sent from Express News
WASHINGTON - Barack Obama's appointed successor declared Tuesday he's qualified to take a seat in the Senate and said he'll go to Capitol Hill to do just that.

"I'm presenting myself as the legally appointed senator from the state of Illinois. It is my hope and prayer that they recognize that the appointment is legal," Roland Burris said in a nationally broadcast interview just hours before the Senate convenes with the start of the 111th Congress.
By LAURIE KELLMAN Associated Press Writer

Lawsuit last option for Coleman in Minn. recount

Sent from Express News
MINNEAPOLIS - A Minnesota board on Monday certified results showing Democrat Al Franken winning the state's U.S. Senate recount over Republican Norm Coleman, whose lawyer promised a legal challenge that probably will keep the race in limbo for months.

The Canvassing Board's declaration started a seven-day clock for Coleman, the incumbent, to file a lawsuit protesting the result. His attorney Tony Trimble said the challenge will be filed within 24 hours. The challenge will keep Franken from getting the election certificate he needs to take the seat in Washington.

By PATRICK CONDON Associated Press Writer

Panetta Chosen For CIA

It is a good day for America

From Washington Monthly, January 2008

We have preached these values to the world. We have made clear that there are certain lines Americans will not cross because we respect the dignity of every human being. That pledge was written into the oath of office given to every president, "to preserve, protect, and defend the Constitution." It's what is supposed to make our leaders different from every tyrant, dictator, or despot. We are sworn to govern by the rule of law, not by brute force.

We cannot simply suspend these beliefs in the name of national security. Those who support torture may believe that we can abuse captives in certain select circumstances and still be true to our values. But that is a false compromise. We either believe in the dignity of the individual, the rule of law, and the prohibition of cruel and unusual punishment, or we don't. There is no middle ground.

We cannot and we must not use torture under any circumstances. We are better than that.

Are We Smarter Than A Fifth Grader?

I think not ...

Big is back: As pump prices plunge, SUV sales surge
Buyers with short memories when it comes to gas prices find hot deals on big vehicles.

December 30, 2008

NEWPORT NEWS - It looks like the Highlander is in and the Prius is out — for now at least.

Trucks and sport utility vehicles will outsell cars for the first time since February, according to a December report by Edmunds.com, which tracks industry statistics."

Despite all the public discussion of fuel efficiency, SUVs and trucks are the industry's biggest sellers right now as a remarkable number of buyers seem to be compelled by three factors: great deals, low gas prices and winter weather," said Michelle Krebs of AutoObserver.com, a division of Edmunds.com, in a prepared statement."

It was this summer that customers were concerned about the gas mileage. It hasn't been a topic of conversation lately," said Dave Lawson, the general sales manager at Pomoco Chrysler Jeep Dodge in Newport News. The majority of Pomoco's inventory is SUVs, and its best-selling models are minivans.

Watch Out! You Might Get What You're After

Katherine Jean Lopez, editor etc of the National Review On-Line (note the date):

Tuesday, May 25, 2004

If The Radio Gig Doesn't Work Out... [KJL]
...Al Franken can always run for Senate.

05/25 01:52 PM

And When Will This Change?

Imagine This being true for The US and the PLA

Aaron David Miller:

In 25 years of working on this issue for six secretaries of state, I can't recall one meeting where we had a serious discussion with an Israeli prime minister about the damage that settlement activity—including land confiscation, bypass roads and housing demolitions—does to the peacemaking process. There is a need to impose some accountability. And this can only come from the president.

I Say 'Tomato' ... You Say 'Just War'

Daniel Larison:

...comparison with Western reactions to the war in Georgia is useful. Most politicians and pundits deplored Russian “aggression” and disproportionate Russian actions following the initial Georgian escalation. Indeed, I also said that the Russian response was disproportionate, because it seemed to be so, but for most Western observers the importance of proportionality seems to come and go like the tide depending on the military action in question.

Two years ago and again this year, Israeli military action has appeared to be proportionate to most of the same people who were deeply offended by Russian actions, or else they will insist that proportionality is irrelevant or impossible to define. If the consensus-supporting politicians and pundits are creative, they may argue both things at the same time. What never fails is their willingness to make excuses for one side while falsely claiming that their opponents in the debate are doing likewise. If there is one thing that most of the critics of U.S.-allied governments have in common, it is the desire to get Americans to stop making excuses for their allies when the allies are in error.

So Who's Learning What Lesson? Pt 2

Yglesias worries about "catastrophic success in Gaza":

...something you need to look at here is the risk that weakening Hamas will only lead to the rise of more extreme groups. The high level of power that Hamas had achieved as of last week was, after all, precisely the result of a deliberate Israeli campaign to weaken Fatah. The hope was that this would bring some more accommodationist Palestinians to the fore, but instead the reverse happened. And now that Israel is going about trying the same thing with Hamas, one needs to worry that Hamas will be displaced by Salafist groups who think Hamas is too weak-kneed.

So Who's Learning What Lesson?

WaPo:

In 2002, at the height of the second intifada, more than 1,000 Palestinians were killed, compared with about 400 Israelis. In the past eight days of war, more than 460 Palestinians were killed, and four Israelis died by rocket fire.

Blood Thirst

Geez, I hate the Middle East. It is a cesspool of medieval barbarians on all sides. Worse than that, it provides the inner beast in Americans a route to open expression.

Ex-Bush, Ex-McCain man Michael Goldfarb on an Israeli airstrike that killed a Hamas leader, his wives, and his 12 children.:

The fight against Islamic radicals always seems to come around to whether or not they can, in fact, be deterred, because it's not clear that they are rational, at least not like us. But to wipe out a man's entire family, it's hard to imagine that doesn't give his colleagues at least a moment's pause. Perhaps it will make the leadership of Hamas rethink the wisdom of sparking an open confrontation with Israel under the current conditions.

Yglesias translates:

"the ethics of Osama bin Laden [are] being explicitly adopted by the organs of mainstream conservatism,"

"To be clear, [Goldfarb's] not saying that it's sometimes okay to kill a bad guy's innocent children as part of a military operation directed against the guy. He's saying it's better to kill his children than it would be to avoid killing them."

15 days until civilization is reintroduced to the U.S of A.

Just Asking ...

Glen Greenwald:

Is there any other significant issue in American political life, besides Israel, where (a) citizens split almost evenly in their views, yet (b) the leaders of both parties adopt identical lockstep positions which leave half of the citizenry with no real voice? More notably still, is there any other position, besides Israel, where (a) a party's voters overwhelmingly embrace one position (Israel should not have attacked Gaza) but (b) that party's leadership unanimously embraces the exact opposite position (Israel was absolutely right to attack Gaza and the U.S. must support Israel unequivocally)? Does that happen with any other issue?

Ladies And Gentlemen, The New Senator From Minnesota

Analysis: Can Uncle Sam spend cash fast enough?

Sent from Express News
WASHINGTON - Washington bureaucrats have a reputation for being able to spend taxpayer money real fast. But, believe it or not, spending it fast enough is one of the biggest tasks President-elect Barack Obama's economic team faces in putting together an economic recovery measure.

Obama's economic recovery plan depends on swiftly pumping hundreds of billions of federal dollars into the economy to create jobs. The focus is on tax cuts and government spending that can provide an immediate lift to the economy.
By ANDREW TAYLOR Associated Press Writer

Obama adds 'Neighborhood Ball' to festivities

Sent from Express News
WASHINGTON - President-elect Barack Obama is adding a "Neighborhood Ball" to the list of inaugural parties planned just over two weeks from now.

In announcing the plan Monday morning, Obama said in a statement that he doesn't want citizens of the District of Columbia or elsewhere to feel left out of the celebration surrounding his elevation to the presidency on Jan. 20.
The Associated Press

Obama arrives in Washington area

Sent from Express News
ANDREWS AIR FORCE BASE - President-elect Barack Obama has landed in the Washington area, setting up a final march toward his Jan. 20 inauguration.

Obama landed Sunday evening at Andrews Air Force Base before heading for his temporary home at the Hay-Adams Hotel across from the White House. His wife and two young daughters made the same trip from Chicago on Saturday.

By PHILIP ELLIOTT Associated Press Writer

Female bomber at Shiite shrine in Baghdad kills 38

Sent from Express News
BAGHDAD - A woman hiding among Iranian pilgrims with a bomb strapped under her black robe killed more than three dozen people Sunday outside a Baghdad mosque during ceremonies commemorating the death of one of Shiite Islam's most revered saints.

The suicide attack, the most recent in a series that has killed more than 60 people in less that a week, was the latest to mar the transfer of many security responsibilities from the U.S. military to Iraqi forces.

By PATRICK QUINN Associated Press Writer

Va gov Kaine to take over as Democratic chairman

More proof that Barry is not a communist.

Sent from Express News
WASHINGTON - Virginia Gov. Tim Kaine is set to become the next chairman of the Democratic Party. Two Democratic officials said Sunday that President-elect Barack Obama has chosen the governor to take over the Democratic National Committee.

The officials spoke to The Associated Press on a condition of anonymity because the decision had not yet been officially announced.

By NEDRA PICKLER Associated Press Writer

Burris drama plays out as Senate set to begin work

Sent from Express News
WASHINGTON - The Senate's top two Democrats defended their right to deny a seat to Roland Burris, Barack Obama's successor-in-waiting, while refusing to rule out a deal as Congress and its new members begin work this week.

Democrats say Burris' appointment is tainted because it was made by Illinois Gov. Rod Blagojevich, who is accused by federal authorities of offering to sell the vacancy to the highest bidder. Burris, a former state attorney general, says the appointment is legal and the governor had the authority to do it. He has threatened to sue Senate Democrats if they refuse to swear him in as the chamber's only black member.

The Associated Press

Former President Bush touts son Jeb for top job

In-bred Moron.

Sent from Express News
WASHINGTON - Another President Bush?

Perhaps so, says former President George H.W. Bush, who has already seen one son, George W., serve in the Oval Office. The nation's 41st president said Sunday that he would like to see a second son, Jeb, be president one day.
By BEN FELLER Associated Press Writer

Richardson withdraws bid to be commerce secretary

Thank God he was selected for State or Attoeney General.

Sent from Express News
WASHINGTON - New Mexico Gov. Bill Richardson on Sunday announced that he was withdrawing his nomination to be President-elect Barack Obama's commerce secretary amid a grand jury investigation into how some of his political donors won a lucrative state contract.

Richardson's withdrawal was the first disruption of Obama's Cabinet process and the second "pay-to-play" investigation that has touched Obama's transition to the presidency. The president-elect has remained above the fray in both the case of arrested Illinois Gov. Rod Blagojevich and the New Mexico case.
By NEDRA PICKLER Associated Press Writer

One Last (?) Look Back

What Happened To Hillary?

Oh, The Things We Miss!

Thanks to MR JK GT12 has some small sort of life and so we weren't sitting at home alll alone on New Years Eve and we missed this:

Iraq gov't gets control of Green Zone, US troops

Sent from Express News
BAGHDAD - The U.S. formally transferred control of the Green Zone to Iraqi authorities Thursday in a pair of ceremonies that also handed back Saddam Hussein's former palace. Iraq's prime minister said he will propose making Jan. 1 a holiday marking the restoration of sovereignty. Under the new security agreement between Washington and Baghdad to replace a U.N. mandate for foreign troops in Iraq, the Iraqi government also now has control of American troops' actions and of the country's airspace.

The moves came amid a dramatic fall in violence over the past year. However, insurgents still stage daily attacks and could try to expand the fight now that U.S. troops cannot take unilateral action.

By PATRICK QUINN Associated Press Writer