What Sunlight Looks Like

Go Babs!

Bush Is No Conservative
By Paul Craig Roberts
Neoconservatism is actually a more extreme form of revolutionary utopianism than that of the Bolsheviks and the Jacobins.
http://www.informationclearinghouse.info/article15812.htm

The U.S. Has a History of Using Torture
By Alfred W. McCoy
This (new) legislation has effectively legalized the CIA’s right to use methods that the international community, embodied in the Red Cross and the UN Human Rights Committee, considers psychological torture.
http://www.informationclearinghouse.info/article15806.htm

Democrat's Defacto Pardon Bush et al
By Karl Sanchez
The greatest miscarriage of justice in modern times far beyond Ford's pardoning Nixon--the Democrats will provide the members of the Bush administration--who've committed known, documented, most heinous crime.
http://www.informationclearinghouse.info/article15813.htm

http://www.americanprogress.org/cartoons
Today's Cartoon: When George Writes His Memoirs...

http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20061205/ap_en_mo/people_hepburn_s_dress
Hepburn gown sold at auction in London
LONDON - The black Givenchy gown worn by Audrey Hepburn in the film "Breakfast at Tiffany's" sold at auction Tuesday for $807,000.
~~~~~
Proceeds from the sale will go to the charity City of Joy Aid, which helps India's poor.

{{{More on link. So, okay. At times I can stoop to pop-culture infotainment news, if it's interesting enough. I liked Audrey Hepburn as an actress, liked what she did in later life for others. And, let's face it: the actress, the movie and the theme song from the movie are pretty well legendary, as well as the wardrobe.}}}

House leaders abruptly pull offshore drilling bill from floor

WASHINGTON (AP) -- House Republicans abruptly pulled from floor action Tuesday a bill to open a large area of the eastern Gulf of Mexico to oil and gas drilling after it became clear the legislation lacked the two-thirds vote needed for passage.

The bill, which has already passed the Senate, was to have been one of the last major legislative achievements of this session of Congress.

It would open 8.3 million acres of the Gulf that is now off limits to drilling and also steer hundreds of millions of dollars of federal royalty payments to four Gulf coast states -- a windfall for Louisiana, which would get about half the money.

Republicans leaders gave no reason for the decision,

more...
http://www.cnn.com/2006/POLITICS/12/05/congress.roundup.ap/index.html

NonnyO & others

Good Napolean/Bush comparison

http://thepremise.com/archives/12/04/2006/761

monkey:

The House has reasons which reason does not know.

Treason rhymes with reason and 'tis the season, lemon squeezin'.

When life hands you lemons, then do that good ol' repo-man trickle-down thing and squeeze that lemon 'til the juice runs down your leg.

Posted by: DiAnne at December 5, 2006 03:13 PM

Gee. Sounds like men I've known - and eliminated from my life because eventually my contempt for their wormy little personalities knew no bounds.

I suppose that's an additional reason I spotted W's weak, sniveling, contemptable personality immediately many years ago....

... and familiarity breeds contempt....

Arnold ran as a Democrat lets see until 3 weeks after his re-election. Why people in California would not believe that Arnold would quickly retreat to his Republican roots once the election was over is beyond me, but three weeks before pushing for Republican Re-Districting in Ca., like we experienced here in Texas, is a bit much. I have urged for some time that Democratic State Legislatures consider doing the same.

"Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger on Tuesday endorsed a specific proposal to change the way political district lines are drawn, backing a plan to take the once-a-decade job away from the Legislature and give it to a bipartisan commission.

"We must bring competition back into the political process to guarantee that our elected leaders represent the full diversity of California and the will of the people," the Republican governor said at a morning press conference with "Voices of Reform," a coalition made up Republicans, Democrats and a variety of interest groups.

"Schwarzenegger has made a redistricting overhaul a priority in the coming year, despite the voters' rejection in 2005 of a ballot measure, Proposition 77, that he backed but was opposed by lawmakers and California members of Congress. Lawmakers also shelved a redistricting overhaul earlier this year."

It is also disturbing tha the Supreme Court is effectively reviewing Brown v Board of Education and is close to re-establishing that separate but equal in the 21st century is now OK. Seattle's school district apparently have seen minority enrollment in predominently white schools drop from 20% to 10% and Alito and Roberts are about to say that is just fine. Maybe DiAnne can give us more insight into this really disturbing Supreme Court review of the Seattle school district's policies."

Sacramento Bee

If there are almost as many contractors as military in Iraq, then that explains why we are there - those liberating the oil need protection

Bubba

Yes I do not understand all the legal remifications but I do understand some will try to rationalize allowing lower minority enrollments.

From what I've read:

From 1999, race could be used as a tiebreaker for admissions when there were more students applying for a school than there were positions.
This policy was suspended in 2002 after parents sued. Used to be you would name your preferred school and end up with one of your two top choices. Then they started using the tiebreaker system where "integration" was last factor, which messed up the goal of racial makeup of schools mirroring that of the district as a whole (which would be about 40 percent white).
We ended up with some predominantly white and predominantly nonwhite schools. Federal courts upheld this and Supreme Court's decision will be by summer, I think. I believe in integration but think there is potential racism everywhere.

might as well be segregation again and go back 50 years, for what this looks like -

"Rainier Beach and Cleveland high schools, both of which have falling enrollment and are attended mostly by students of color, both saw the percentage of white students fall in the past five years — from 9 percent to 7 percent at Cleveland and from 7 percent to 6 percent at Rainier Beach."

(from Seattle Times)

That is outrageous. Might as well be South Africa.

My son went to school under conditions where alot of minority kids were bussed to areas with less minorities living there. The schools were more integrated than now, but it was always those little minority kids that had to ride busses for hours in the dark. There were some "target" (attractive) programs placed in more minority schools, to attract people not of color but it was never enough.

College enrollment of minorities has dropped off too and in fact, who can hardly afford to go any more?!

More women in the workforce. Of course we need more women in the workforce.

Otherwise we'll just have to let that many more illegal immigrants in to take up their slack instead.

My kids school is about 5% white.

It is that way in most schools here. That is the way it always has been as long as I can remember.

Like South Africa...? Really?

I don't get it, Seattle does not normally have traditionally black and white schools?

Seriously I am not sure I understand your outrage/surprise...?

You know, I am acutely aware that perhaps I am the one with a perception problem.

Schools here, almost without exception, are always either 'the white school' or the 'black school' and one race generally makes up 70% or so of the student body.

Even now, when you ask about a school in the area, the first response you will get is wether it is a 'white' or 'black' school. It is an unspoken understanding that the 'white' school will be of better quality than the 'black' school.

And yes, I am speaking of our public schools.

It is one of those obvious 'quirks' that we have to learn to just live with about this place.

No, it is not right and never has been, but that is just the way it is. It works badly, but it still works.

Sometimes, living with it, we forget HOW very odd and strange it is.

When I was a small kid in Oklahoma, I know the schools I went to seemed very different, socially, than those here. But I went to these here for so long, sometimes I have to remind myself that yall do not have the same.... issues, rules. Standards.

Sometimes, I do not understand how we can even be talking about the same nation.

When I think about it, it makes me so angry and sad. I am so hurt knowing such a beautiful place could be totally forgotten. Abandoned by a nation that we are the center of.

I love the Deep South. But it just breaks my damn heart. I am glad I came back though, because my children, when they come up, will rise as certified members of The NEW South.

I know I can not change it now. Once again we have failed and even lost New Orleans. But they still have that chance to save this place, to change it, and God willing, it shall be done.

http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20061205/ap_on_go_ca_st_pe/gates_pentagon
Gates OK'd for defense by Senate panel
WASHINGTON - Robert Gates, seemingly clinching confirmation as the new secretary of defense, said Tuesday the United States is not winning in Iraq and he's confident President Bush will listen to his ideas about forging a new war strategy.
Excerpt:

"In my view, all options are on the table, in terms of how we address this problem in Iraq," he told the committee. But he also acknowledged the complexity of the challenge.

"There are no new ideas on Iraq," he said during a discussion of the bipartisan Iraq Study Group, which previewed its findings and recommendations to President Bush Tuesday and will release them Wednesday. Gates was a member of the group until Bush announced his nomination for the Pentagon job last month.

The senators voted 24-0 to support the nomination to replace Rumsfeld, who has become a symbol of the Bush administration's steadfast course in a war that has long since soured with the public and much of the world.

"I voted yes because in both the substance of his answers and the tone of his answers, he seemed open to course correction," said Carl Levin, D-Mich., who will be the committee's chairman when Democrats take control of the Senate next month.

During his appearance, Gates would not commit to any specific new course of action in the conflict. He said he would consult first with commanders and others.

{{{More on link. In life or death situations, instant decisions need to be made. The troops and civilians are dying in Iraq and Afghanistan for the sake of lies, oil, and oil pipelines. The only logical decision is to get the troops home ASAP, no discussion, just make the right decision, get them home by the fastest means possible (if I had my way, fiction would be real and we could beam them home like Scotty did on the Enterprise). As far as Gates' nomination, this was not a life-and-death matter. If the employees know what they're doing, DoD runs itself, it doesn't need a figurehead at the helm. There was no need to make the decision today about Gates, his nomination can be debated for any length of time, and besides which, Gates can't start until after the New Year anyway. Why the bum's rush, per Herr Boosh's dictates? Both Cons and Dems have allowed the little dictator to rush them into bad decisions since 2000. When are the Congress Critters going to figure out that when he forces instant decisions about issues that need to be debated fully, investigated fully, they will always make bad decisions?!? This is what makes it difficult for us ordinary peons to trust even Dems if they allow Herr Boosh to give them the bum's rush into instant decisions that have proved fatal to so many.... We see the absolute necessity of impeachment, but Congress Critters diddle each other and us instead of doing what's right and getting the turds out of office or charging them with the crimes we know for sure they're guilty of, with or without a trial. Politically, nothing has made sense since the SCOTUS decision of 2000. Nothing.}}}

Posted by: Christy at December 5, 2006 09:51 PM

I grew up in southern California and schools were just schools. I honestly didn't even realize people's skin color meant something until the Rodney King riots. (In 3rd grade I performed with my best friend in a Black History Month presentation and didn't think until years later that it was odd I was a non-black kid acting that I was in a segregated "colored only" school during a skit.)

Then in Oregon for high school we had kids bussed in to our school to meet the target minority percentage and I thought that was ridiculously strange. Everyone knew which kids were bussed just to meet the percentage and which ones were there to help our sports teams and jazz band win state competitions.

Stationed in Virginia I was definitely even more exposed to, and disturbed by, the racial stratification. I went to a series of churches and discovered there were "white churches" and "black churches". Schools were definitely one or the other.

And now in Alabama? It's two whole different worlds, white and black, and the most fascinating part about it is the whole post-Katrina Hispanic influx.

I do wish for those days when I was a kid and I thought skin color meant no more than eye color, race no different from heritage.

Christy
Seattle schools aimed to be 40%white and it has gotten messed up. The schools I mentioned are predominantly black and some across the water in suburbia would be mostly white and Asian (but those with money, not immigrants or poor). When my son was in elementary and middle school in the 80s and 90s the schools seemed pretty balanced but it was more the minority kids being bussed to the whiter areas, much as V described for Oregon. The racial exclusion is more subtle. So yes I might be kind of surprised and outraged as it got worse and worse.

My workplace is mostly women because that's the way health care is. I am underemployed and don't use my research degree at all. Why? Typically female reason - didn't want to move and disrupt my son's schooling with my career ambition, wrote off a research career and went the more typical clinical route. My workplace is about 20% Asian & the rest Anglo.

The only solution I see is Affirmative Action, tutoring, mentoring and scholarships. What we do not need is COW, which is Curriculum on Wheels & the product of Marvin Bush. His mom donated money for Hurrican Katrina survivors on the condition that it must buy COWs, which are purple teaching machines which teach neither math nor reading, thereby leaving children behind, like Uncle George.

I was always acutely aware skin color was at issue.

Even though I remember better social integration in Oklahoma schools, race still was the dividing line for me.

I was not acceptable to the indian kids because I was white. I was not acceptable to the white kids cause I was obviously indian.

People see what they want to see.

The thing I find most striking is that here I am simply accepted as white, because I am not black.

But yet black people are the first to recognize that I am NOT white.

The whole damn thing is bizarre to me... It always has been.

I grew up in South Dakota, home of Draconian laws and the American Taleban, racist toward native Americans and otherwise lily white. A Hispanic had his day in Supreme Court today and won.

Christy
We experienced same dynamic in SD but not here. My brother would claim to be more Sioux than he was, to not get beat up by either side.

Farting woman forces plane to land

http://www.wbir.com/news/local/story.aspx?storyid=40210

I received this from a Texan.

My brother had to be dug out of a principles office once by the local PD.

He had basically wielded a chair and took the principle hostage and then barricaded the office so he could whip up on him uniterrupted.

Why did that all happen?

Because my brother had been sent there for some kid bullsh*t and the principle started dressing him down and called him a 'dirty wetback'.

My brother LOST IT. He simply snapped.

Sonetimes I wonder if that man ever used the word 'wetback' again.

You know not even the cops could get my brother out of that office without killing him so they had to call my mom in to talk him down.

HAHAHA!!!!

That was such a classic family moment! We would still tease him about it but we don't dare.

http://mediamatters.org/items/200612060002?src=clip200612060002
Olbermann: Savage "Worst Person" runner-up for attack on Ellison

Two More Years
By Paul Krugman
How do you ask a man to be the last to die for a bully's ego?
http://www.informationclearinghouse.info/article15817.htm

Op-Ed Contributor
The Election Is in the Mail
By RUTH GOLDWAY

Washington

LAST Election Day, voters encountered myriad difficulties, from the unexplained glitch that temporarily halted Montana’s vote count to the 18,300 undervotes in Florida’s 13th Congressional District, to long lines, bad weather, inadequately trained workers, delayed or missing absentee ballots and complicated new identity forms. There was, however, one state where all went well: Oregon, where everyone votes by mail.

Since Oregon adopted Vote by Mail as its sole voting option in 1998, the state’s turnout has increased, concerns about fraud have decreased, a complete paper trail exists for every election, recounts are non-controvertible and both major political parties have gained voters. Moreover, in doing away with voting machines, polling booths, precinct captains and election workers, the state estimates that it saves up to 40 percent over the cost of a traditional election.

Vote by Mail could offer real advantages if it were adopted nationwide. Voters would not need to take time off from work, find transportation, find the right polling station, get babysitters or rush through reading complicated ballot initiatives. The country’s 35,000 post offices could provide information, distribute and collect voting materials and issue inexpensive residency and address identifications for voting purposes.

Perhaps most important, given the concerns about voting machine security, mail ballots cannot be hacked. Tampering or interfering with mail is a federal crime, and the United States Postal Service has its own law enforcement arm, which works closely with a variety of enforcement authorities including the F.B.I. Trained election clerks can take the time to check signatures without delaying or discouraging voters. And the advantages of a paper trail outshine the glitter of black box electronic gadgetry.

- more -

http://www.nytimes.com/2006/12/06/opinion/06goldway.html

First headline I see .. Mary Cheney is pregnant. How could her own father support a party whose platform is to oppress her?!

http://smartusa.com/
This car is "just my size." {Additionally, it looks like it wouldn't kill my back getting in and out of the thing as would happen with one of those big SUV-type cars that make me feel like a toddler climbing up into a it.}

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/uk_politics/6213366.stm
Blair agrees war 'not being won'

Jesse Jackson | Congress Must Insist Bush Isn't Above Law
http://www.truthout.org/docs_2006/120606J.shtml
Jesse Jackson begins: "Should President Bush be impeached? The very idea seems extreme, if not loony. Incoming House Speaker Nancy Pelosi has explicitly ruled impeachment off the Democratic majority's agenda. But activists and legal scholars are organizing to pressure Democrats to begin impeachment hearings. And the incoming chair of the House Judiciary Committee, Rep. John Conyers, has issued two remarkable studies on abuses of presidential authority, raising the question of impeachable offenses."
{{{Two articles on the same link.}}}

Outgoing Republicans are leaving a fiscal mess, while Democrats look to be the fiscal conservatives.

"What a sad mess," says Senator Robert Byrd.

http://online.wsj.com/public/article/SB116537033474441872-E98_ty2LKTJimA6Xl79YKGamKmg_20070105.html?mod=tff_main_tff_top

So Mary Cheney is pregnant...?

Oh wow, my handy dandy JimmyJeff gagometer just broke in half.

Ick.

President Bush's policy in Iraq "is not working," the Iraq Study Group said in releasing its long-awaited report.

WASHINGTON (CNN) -- The Iraq Study Group's report given to President Bush on Wednesday says the United States needs to change its strategy to tackle the "grave and deteriorating" situation in Iraq.

Failure to halt the crisis could bring severe consequences to Iraq, the broader region and the United States, the bipartisan panel warned in a report handed to Bush at the White House.

Although panel co-chairs James Baker and Lee Hamilton said in an introductory letter to the report there is no "magic formula to solve the problems of Iraq," the report calls for a "diplomatic offensive" and changing the role of U.S. troops from a combat to an advisory role.

"By the first quarter of 2008, subject to unexpected developments in the security situation on the ground, all combat brigades not necessary for force protection could be out of Iraq," the report says.

"At that time, U.S. combat forces in Iraq could be deployed only in units embedded with Iraqi forces, in rapid-reaction and special operations teams and in training, equipping, advising, force protection and search and rescue."

While not recommending a timetable for withdrawal, the report says "the United States must not make an open-ended commitment to keep large numbers of American troops deployed in Iraq."

The report warns of dire consequences, both at home and abroad, if the U.S. fails to take action.

"If the situation continues to deteriorate, the consequences could be severe. A slide toward chaos could trigger the collapse of Iraq's government and a humanitarian catastrophe. Neighboring countries could intervene. Sunni-Shia clashes could spread. Al Qaeda could win a propaganda victory and expand its base of operations. The global standing of the United States could be diminished. Americans could become more polarized," the report says.

"We will take every proposal seriously, and we will act in a timely fashion," Bush said after receiving the report.

Bush urged Congress to take the group's proposals seriously and work with the administration to find "common ground" on Iraq policy.

"The country is tired of pure political bickering," Bush said.

White House spokesman Tony Snow said the report contained 79 recommendations, but generally supported the administration's goals to leave Iraq capable of defending and governing itself.

more...
http://www.cnn.com/2006/POLITICS/12/06/iraq.study.group/index.html

Posted by: Christy at December 6, 2006 09:42 AM

Mine, too. That poor child will carry some of its grandfather's DNA. I feel sorry for the child....

So... Let me get this straight...

"leading Democrat Silvestre Reyes is calling for the deployment of more U.S. troops....."

You know what...? I am sick and freaking tired of DEMOCRATS that somehow further the goals of the BUSHEVIKS.

This is complete, utter, and TOTAL bullshit, and I am just about sick to death of these games.

What in the hell IS this...???

" In a surprise twist in the debate over Iraq, Rep. Silvestre Reyes, the soon-to-be chairman of the House Intelligence Committee, said he wants to see an increase of 20,000 to 30,000 U.S. troops as part of a stepped up effort to “dismantle the militias.”

DISMANTLE THE MILITIAS

DISMANTLE THE MILITIAS

DISMANTLE THE MILITIAS....

Yeah, unnhhhmmm, SURE.

Only 30,000 more. Why not 50..?

Hell if we drafted all CONTRACTORS already there we could double our size IMMEDIATELY.

HOW IN GODS NAME DO THESE DEMS KEEP WINDING UP FURTHERING THE FAILED GOALS OF REPUBLICANS...?

OF THE BUSHEVIKS THEMSELVES.........?

HELL NO!!!!

This is rediculous.

NBC: 10 U.S. service members killed in Iraq
Meanwhile, mortar attack kills 8 Iraqis, wounds 40 in Sadr City district

Updated: 1 hour, 14 minutes ago

BAGHDAD, Iraq (AP) - Ten American service members were killed in two improvised explosive device attacks in Iraq on Wednesday, NBC News reported. The news came hours after a mortar attack killed at least eight people and wounded dozens in the Sadr City Shiite district of the capital, police said.

In the 10 American deaths, five troops were killed in the north, and five were killed in Anbar province, a U.S. military official told NBC’s Jim Miklaszewski. No further details were immediately available.

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/16075920/

Senator Russ Feingold will be on "Countdown" with Keith Olbermann on MSNBC tonight at 7:00 pm Central Time (8:00 pm Eastern Time). He will be discussing Iraq and his reaction to the Baker-Hamilton Commission Report. Be sure to tune in!

John Kerry on The Iraq Study Group Report

“Not one more American soldier should die because politicians in Iraq or in the United States are unwilling to face reality and change direction. We need to change course now. Today, the bipartisan Iraq Study Group issued an urgent call for a new direction in Iraq. Their report acknowledges the futility of the current policy. If the Administration will accept its recommendations, this report can provide core elements of the way forward.

“The report underscores what many of us have long been arguing: there is no military solution to our deep problems in Iraq. Most importantly the report calls on policy makers to acknowledge that for Iraqis to take responsibility for their own future, the large commitment of American forces in Iraq can not be indefinite. Meeting the report’s goal of getting our combat troops out of Iraq by early in 2008 is essential to forcing the diplomatic and political steps needed to achieve stability. I wish the report went further by making this a hard deadline for redeploying our combat troops. Iraqi political leaders have proven time and again that they only respond to hard deadlines, and I believe that a deadline is the most effective way to expedite the process and save lives.

“The report calls for a step for which I have been a strong advocate for over two years: a major diplomatic initiative bringing together others in the region – including Iran and Syria – to forge a political solution to end the violence. Prime Minister Maliki has now embraced the idea of a regional conference, and this requires real diplomacy from the Administration to make it successful. I strongly support the report’s calls for sending additional military and economic support to Afghanistan as we disengage from Iraq because it is clear that we must redeploy from Iraq to succeed in Afghanistan.”

Specter, Leahy Introduce Bill to "Restore" Habeas Corpus

In another sign of shifting ground in the post-election Congress, Senators
Arlen Specter and Patrick Leahy yesterday introduced the "Habeas Corpus
Restoration Act of 2006," which would reinstate federal court jurisdiction
over Guantanamo detainees and other suspected enemy combatants.

The bill would repeal two provisions of the Military Commissions Act of 2006
enacted in September that limit habeas corpus.
"Habeas corpus" refers to the ability of a detainee to seek judicial review
of his case.

"The Constitution of the United States is explicit that habeas corpus may
be suspended only in time of rebellion or invasion," observed Sen. Specter.
"We are suffering neither of those alternatives at the present time. We have
not been invaded, and there has not been a rebellion."

"This bill would restore the great writ of habeas corpus, a cornerstone of
American liberty for hundreds of years that Congress and the President
rolled back in an unprecedented and unnecessary way with September's
Military Commissions Act," said Senator Leahy.

See the introduction of the Habeas Corpus Restoration Act here:

http://www.fas.org/irp/congress/2006_cr/s4081.html

10 more dead in one day in Iraq

http://www.nasdaq.com/aspxcontent/NewsStory.aspx?cpath=20061206%5cACQDJON2006120
61246DOWJONESDJONLINE000947.htm&

Curious if others heard Bush 41 cry in his speech for Jeb Bush. Don't think that I misunderstood what I heard him mumble but it sounded to me like Bush 41 was slandering the beloved deceased Florida Governor Lauton Childs. That is disgraceful to slam anyone deceased but especially someone like the Florida Giant Governor Lauton Childs. I am sure Linda Enterkin was not thrilled to hear that speech.

Yes, 41 alluded to "dirty tricks" by Lawton Chiles in his defeat of little Jebby. "Walkin" Lawton was beloved in the Sunshine State.

Pretty arrogant crap from the father of a man who re-wrote the book on how to steal elections and run a country (or two) into the ground.

Keith Olberman ran that story last night about Bush 41's speech and it was just infuriating to hear pappa's reference to Child's dirty tricks in Florida. The idea that we will ever forget, even 6 years later, what Jr.Bush did to steal the Whitehouse in 2000 in Florida is beyond belief. All the more reason to bring Al Gore back in '08.

Oh, balls on a goose. Gore doesn't want anybody to bring him back in '08, and he's made that clear any number of times (most recently this very morning during an extended interview on NBC.)

missed that Otter about Gore on NBC this morning. I sense there would be an enormous groundswell of support for Gore. "Right in 2000, Right in 2008"

Gore To Bush On Iraq: It's Not About You; Iraq is "worst strategic mistake in the history of the United States."
http://thinkprogress.org/2006/12/06/gore-iraq-bush/

I've never felt threatened by terror - yeah, sure there are some nuts around and we don't know how, when, where or why they'll kill. What this means to me is that I'd better do what I want to do before this *possibility* takes place.

Howard's biggest claim to fame here is his tough stance on terrorists. He's arrested plenty, and had to release our most dangerous terrorist (suspect) Jack Thomas, who was so disbelieving of the whole situation that he referred to himself as "Jihad Jack". This unfortunate moment of intelligent wit was almost his undoing. The *confession* was seized upon and people everywhere were convinced of Jack's guilt. They still are even though he's been released. No evidence. Not - insufficient evidence - NO evidence. Our fear-filled - fear-mongering government officials continue to harrass him day and night. No wonder they don't want David Hicks returned. It will cost a fortune to supervise these two individuals.

The Age exposure below has the majority collectively shaking its head about how someone so dumb can be so full of his own importance to the world, that he'll make up this rubbish.

HOWARD'S BIO-TERROR DISTORTION
Firemen clad in protective gear read the Indonesian embassy's mail.
Matthew Moore
December 7, 2006

JOHN Howard and Alexander Downer sparked Australia's biggest biological terror scare last year when they exaggerated test results to claim white powder sent to the Indonesian embassy in Canberra - later shown to be flour - was a "biological agent".

Documents from ACT Pathology and the Australian Federal Police, obtained under freedom of information laws, show the microbiologist who examined the powder on June 1 last year and the AFP never called it a "biological agent" and described it as a commonly occurring bacteria.

On June 1 last year, Mr Howard told The Age: "It's not an innocent white powder, it's some kind of biological agent."

The documents reveal that some days after testing began, the powder was shown to be flour.

Among the documents is an email sent by the AFP's national manager of intelligence, Grant Wardlaw, to Justice Minister Chris Ellison at 6.35pm on the day of the attack, advising the Government the powder had tested positive to "gram baccili", but this did not mean it posed a threat.

"Gram baccili is a commonly occurring bacteria," Mr Wardlaw said in the email. "If spores of this bacteria are found to be growing in the substance, this raises the level of potential risk. Information to date indicates that no spores have been identified by pathology."

Despite this advice, the Government did not tell the media that no threat had been identified and the next day newspapers and other media gave huge prominence to the Government's claims, running headlines saying the country had had a bio-terror attack.

Mr Downer first announced in question time on June 1 that a suspicious package had been sent to the embassy. He returned shortly after to reveal "the initial analysis of the powder has tested positive as a biological agent, though further testing will need to be carried out to determine what the substance actually is".

Mr Howard then told reporters that sending the powder to the embassy was an act of "murderous criminality" and rejected a suggestion from a reporter the substance could turn out to be "rather benign".

The description of the powder as a biological agent torpedoed a wave of public anger directed at the Indonesian Government and its justice system that had been building for five days after a Bali court convicted Schapelle Corby of drug smuggling on May 27.

Before announcing the powder had tested positive as a biological agent, Mr Downer warned Parliament the public attacks on Indonesia would cause "a good deal of anti-Australian sentiment in Indonesia and make it very difficult to conclude agreements with the Indonesian Government".

Complete article here:
http://www.theage.com.au/news/national/howards-bioterror-distortion/2006/12/06/1165081019778.html

Hey Bubba,

Has Gore put together a platform yet? I know his interest is Global Warming, which has done an excellent job or getting the word out there via An Inconvenient Truth.

Iraq Report 'Recipe for Defeat,' Says Right Wing

by David Greene - All Things Considered
Now that the Iraq Study Group report is out, conservatives are no happier than they were with the leaked information about it. Many say it amounts to a call for surrender.

This page has link to hear audio:
http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=6588670

Snow battles press over Iraq Study Group report: 'I'm not trying to be snide'

Wednesday December 6, 2006

White House spokesman Tony Snow battled the press during this afternoon's briefing over the significance of the bipartisan independent Iraq Study Group.

The group released a report this morning that called the situation in Iraq "grave and deteriorating" and recommended many changes to U.S. policy.

Snow took particular exception to a question asked by NBC's chief White House correspondent, David Gregory, characterizing it as too "partisan."

"On the evaluation of the report... the co-chairs say the following: 'stay the course is no longer viable'; 'the current approach is not working,' and; 'the situation is grave and deteriorating,'" Gregory said. "Chairman Hamilton says he is not sure whether the situation can be turned around."

"Can this report," asked Gregory, "be seen as anything other than a rejection of this President's handling of the war?"

Snow responded, "Absolutely."

The former Fox News Channel anchor said that while the quotes were from the report, he needed "to try to place them in context."

"Number one - they are not trying to score partisan points or to look back," said Snow. "The second thing is that they understand the difficulties."

Snow claimed that the Iraq Study Group "adopted the goals that the administration has laid out," and that Gregory and other White House reporters "understand that trying to frame it in a partisan way is actually at odds with what the group itself says it wanted to do."

"Let me be clear - are you suggesting that I'm trying to frame this in a partisan way?" Gregory asked.

"Let me put it this way," Snow responded. "Where in the report does [it say] what you have said is 'can you read this as anything other than a repudiation of policy' and the answer is I can."

"You're suggesting," a defiant Gregory then replied, "that the representations of this report are in sync with the way the President has described the reality in Iraq and his policy towards Iraq."

Snow said he wasn't trying to be "snide."

"Go through - rather than - because you'll accuse me of nitpicking - read it," Snow insisted. "I'm serious - I'm not trying to be snide."

"If you go through and you take a look at the metrics in the beginning, we've acknowledged that you've got a deteriorating situation in Baghdad," Snow maintained.

http://www.rawstory.com/news/2006/Snow_battles_press_over_Iraq_Study_1206.html

Of the people killed in Iraq in the last couple of days, two were with the MN Natl. Guard. One was from a town not far from where I went to high school (I recognize the last name, but not sure if he's related to anyone I knew 40-45 years ago). The other one was from a different part of MN. Then today there was news of a fellow from this state who was killed in a US military vehicle accident (non-combat casualty) in Iraq. What a waste of perfectly good human potential....

The Iraq Study Group is a cruel joke and keeps us in Iraq for a minimum of two years longer. None of the recommendations are binding. DimWit will still do whatever the hell he wants, and - most disappointing of all - Democrats will (as Christy pointed out) still give DimWit and his PNAC and oil and Halliburton, et al., buddies billions from our tax revenues, and not do one thing to stop them. I have to wonder how many Democrats are on the take, financially, from Bu$hista Buddies. There is no other explanation for them voting in favor of so much crappy legislation, voting in favor of Gates, et cetera, other than some Dems getting the same monies as neoCons. It doesn't otherwise register in my brain that Dems can be that stupid, not unless they benefit financially from giving the Cons whatever they want.

Posted by: monkey at December 6, 2006 07:21 PM

What kind of koolaid do they serve around that place, anyway o_O

The best taxpayer money can buy... FoolAid.

The Juice is on the Noose

Thanks to the ISG report, I am running out of new ways to tell my friends and neighbors, "There, see? Kerry was right all along! Toldja!"

But that's okay, I'm perfectly content to keep on recycling the old ones.

:0)

My Senators weigh in:

U.S. Sen. Patty Murray issued the following statement:

This unanimous, bi-partisan report shows that we need to change course in Iraq. I want to commend the bipartisan members of the Iraq Study Group for sharing their expertise, giving an honest assessment, and laying out a path forward in Iraq.

I've been to Iraq, I've sat down with our troops, and I've seen how hard they're working under very difficult circumstances. We all support them, and we all want them to be able to complete their mission successfully and come home safely.

What the Administration is doing today is not working. The Iraq Study Group has given its recommendations to the President, and now it's up to the Commander-in-Chief to present his plan for a new direction in Iraq.

U.S. Sen. Maria Cantwell issued the following statement:
The Iraq Study Group recommendations represent an important step forward. I support many of the Iraq Study Group's key recommendations and have previously called for some of these options such as more robust diplomatic and political efforts in Iraq and the region. These recommendations taken as a whole clearly indicate that a change of course is needed.

I agree with the Iraq Study Group recommendation that the United States cannot have open ended commitment in Iraq. U.S. forces should move out of a combat role into a support role for the Iraqi Army.

We need to act urgently to press for a political solution and build international consensus to stabilize Iraq and the region.

Additionally, I believe that the United States should engage in direct talks with Iran and Syria on a range of issues to address serious threats to global stability.

Former Senator Gary Hart:

But, for all the foreign policy folderol we will hear in coming hours and days concerning the ISG report, it will be but sound and fury if President Bush does not experience a second born-again conversion. He has raised stubbornness to a high art, believing it to be evidence of strength. For him, ignorance is a form of conviction. Given his belief in divine guidance, it would help a bit if James Baker appeared before him as the Archangel Gabriel. But even for Baker, whom many in Washington seem to believe can walk on water, that is a stretch.

The ISG report, and others to follow, will do little to change the mind of a man who still thinks he was placed on earth for the evil hour of 9/11, who believes America is an Avenging Angel whose 21st century mission is to eradicate evil from the earth, and who, as Captain Ahab, willingly suspends the verities of the U.S. Constitution in the pursuit of his own White Whale.

(hat tip to Mark Barrett at http://www.thepremise.com

from the Editors of The Independent UK, 6 December 2006

Iraq: One by One, They Tell the Truth
The Independent UK

Wednesday 06 December 2006

As Tony Blair flies out to meet George Bush, the latest admission of failure in Iraq has made the two leaders appear even more isolated.
Colin Powell

After telling the UN assembly in 2003 that Saddam Hussein had weapons of mass destruction, the former Secretary of State admitted in May 2004 the claims were "inaccurate and wrong and, in some cases, deliberately misleading".

Colonel Tim Collins

The Army colonel made a famous rousing speech to troops on the eve of battle. But in September 2005, he declared:

"History might notice the invasion has arguably acted as the best recruiting sergeant for al-Qa'ida ever."

Paul Bremer

The former head of the Coalition Provisional Authority in Iraq admitted in January 2006:

"It [the invasion] was a much tougher job than I think I expected it to be ... we really didn't see the insurgency coming."

Zalmay Khalilzad

Contradicting the usually upbeat rhetoric, the US ambassador in Iraq said in March: "We have opened a Pandora's box". And unless the violence abated, Iraq would "make Taliban Afghanistan look like child's play".

Jack Straw

The former foreign secretary, one of the cheerleaders for the war, said in September: "The current situation is dire. I think many mistakes were made after the military action - there is no question about it - by the United States administration."

Gen Sir Richard Dannatt

The British General admitted in an interview in October: "I don't say that the difficulties we are experiencing round the world are caused by our presence in Iraq but undoubtedly our presence in Iraq exacerbates [them]."

Richard Perle

Regarded as one of the intellectual godfathers of the war, Perle changed his tack in November, admitting that "huge mistakes were made" in the invasion of Iraq. "The levels of brutality we've seen are truly horrifying," he added.

Ken Adelman

Last month, the noted neoconservative said: "The national security team... turned out to be among the most incompetent in the post-war era. Not only did each of them have enormous flaws, but together they were deadly."

Donald Rumsfeld

A memo from the hardline former defence secretary revealed this week that he had been looking for a change of tactics. "In my view, it is time for a major adjustment ... what US forces are doing in Iraq is not working well enough..."

Robert Gates

Yesterday, Mr Rumsfeld's proposed successor was asked at a Senate hearing whether the US was winning the war in Iraq. "No, sir," he replied. And he warned that the situation could lead to a "regional conflagration".

Tony Blair ...

George Bush ...

-------

Blair agrees Iraq war going nowhere

http://www.abc.net.au/am/content/2006/s1806163.htm

The consensus is that the war in Iraq is going badly, and things are also going to hell in a handbasket in Afghanistan. [Yeah, like that's something we haven't known since Saddam's statue came down. Whatever.]

The only two opinions I've heard in my channel flipping during news is: We can still prevail if we only stay the course as dear little dictator Herr Boosh wants to do. The second option is to follow ISG's non-binding recommendations and stay in Iraq for two more years and then start to withdraw our troops - conveniently, just in time for the '08 election....

Overlooked: the lies that got us into the illegal, unconstitutional, unjust, immoral, unethical, and dishonorable war in the first place, and who was telling the lies to begin with, and what to do about the lying criminals who are leading this country and keeping our troops in Iraq....

What's wrong with that picture?

It shouldn't take any longer to get the troops transported out of Iraq or Afghanistan than it did to transport them in to those countries.

OIL FOR SALE: IRAQ STUDY GROUP RECOMMENDS PRIVATIZATION
By Antonia Juhasz, AlterNet
The Iraq Study Group may not have a solution for how to end the war, but they do have a way for their corporate friends to make money.
http://www.alternet.org/waroniraq/45190/

{{{Ah. I was wondering when oil would be mentioned in connection with ISG recommendations....}}}

Poverty follows families to the suburbs
Suburban poor outnumber their inner-city counterparts for the first time

WASHINGTON - As Americans flee the cities for the suburbs, many are failing to leave poverty behind.

The suburban poor outnumbered their inner-city counterparts for the first time last year, with more than 12 million suburban residents living in poverty, according to a study of the nation’s 100 largest metropolitan areas released Thursday.

“Economies are regional now,” said Alan Berube, who co-wrote the report for the Brookings Institution, a Washington think tank. “Where you see increases in city poverty, in almost every metropolitan area, you also see increases in suburban poverty.”

Nationally, the poverty rate leveled off last year at 12.6 percent after increasing every year since the decade began. It was a period when the country went through a recession and an uneven recovery that is still sputtering in parts of the Northeast and Midwest.

“Looking back at the 1970s, you would have seen cities suffering and suburbs staying the same,” said Berube, research director at the Brookings Institution’s Metropolitan Policy Program. “But the story is different today.”

more...
http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/16077694/

Gee, since the decade began, eh? Who's been right about THIS all along as well?

Say Hello to the Goodbye Weapon

By David Hambling
Dec, 05, 2006

The crowd is getting ugly. Soldiers roll up in a Hummer. Suddenly, the whole right half of your body is screaming in agony. You feel like you've been dipped in molten lava. You almost faint from shock and pain, but instead you stumble backwards -- and then start running. To your surprise, everyone else is running too. In a few seconds, the street is completely empty.

You've just been hit with a new nonlethal weapon that has been certified for use in Iraq -- even though critics argue there may be unforeseen effects.

According to documents obtained for Wired News under federal sunshine laws, the Air Force's Active Denial System, or ADS, has been certified safe after lengthy tests by military scientists in the lab and in war games.

The ADS shoots a beam of millimeters waves, which are longer in wavelength than x-rays but shorter than microwaves -- 94 GHz (= 3 mm wavelength) compared to 2.45 GHz (= 12 cm wavelength) in a standard microwave oven.

The longer waves are thought to limit the effects of the radiation. If used properly, ADS will produce no lasting adverse affects, the military argues.

Documents acquired for Wired News using the Freedom of Information Act claim that most of the radiation (83 percent) is instantly absorbed by the top layer of the skin, heating it rapidly.

The beam produces what experimenters call the "Goodbye effect," or "prompt and highly motivated escape behavior." In human tests, most subjects reached their pain threshold within 3 seconds, and none of the subjects could endure more than 5 seconds.

"It will repel you," one test subject said. "If hit by the beam, you will move out of it -- reflexively and quickly. You for sure will not be eager to experience it again."

more...
http://tinyurl.com/yetyqh

Proudest Monkey
by Dave Matthews Band

Swing in this tree
Oh, I am bounce around so well
Branch to branch,
limb to limb you see
All in a day's dream
I'm stuck
Like the other monkeys here
I am a humble monkey
Sitting up in here again

But then came the day
I climbed out of these safe limbs
Ventured away
Walking tall, head high up and singing
I went to the city
Car horns, corners and the gritty
Now I am the proudest monkey you've ever seen
Monkey see, monkey do, yeah

Then comes the day
Staring at myself I turn to question me
I wonder do I want the simple, simple life
that I once lived in well
All things were quiet then
In a way they were the better days
But now I am the proudest monkey you've ever seen
Monkey see, monkey do, yeah
Monkey see, monkey do

http://www.rawstory.com/showoutarticle.php?src=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.wired.com%2Fnews%2Ftechnology%2F0%2C72134-0.html%3Ftw%3Dwn_index_1

“The crowd is getting ugly. Soldiers roll up in a Hummer. Suddenly, the whole right half of your body is screaming in agony. You feel like you've been dipped in molten lava. You almost faint from shock and pain, but instead you stumble backwards -- and then start running… You've just been hit with a new non-lethal weapon that has been certified for use in Iraq -- even though critics argue there may be unforeseen effects.”

C-SPAN3 has the Senate Armed Services Committee hearing of the ISG- with Baker & Hamilton. They are saying it should last until 11 am EST. Seems rushed to me... Anyway, it's available via streaming video through links on
http://www.c-span.org/homepage.asp

re. December 7, 2006 09:48 AM

C-SPAN probably will have replay link for the video posted later in the day...

In the Senate Armed Services Committee hearing of the ISG, Lieberman just said that, "contrary to" the media analyses, he doesn't think the report differs much with the current admin policy...

Et tu, Liebershnitzel?

MSNBC: At press conference with Blair, Bush says 'we will prevail in Iraq.'

Monkey
I think that's just propaganda on the part of Bush and Blair, not wanting to appear to lose face. The real test will be whether they will engage in dialogue with Syria and Iran, which Blair has pressed for much moreso than Bush. I got that impression from the BBC this morning.

I also sent a congratulatory message to VP Cheney on his imminent grandfatherhood and signed it with my name, city and political affiliation. It's to send the message that his dear Republican affiliates will not stand by loyally as they are not sincere when it comes to family values. They are always talking only about fundamentalist white heterosexuals only.

Bush and Blair seem to pretend it's a football game where you can outlast the defense if you're on offense enough.

They haven't understood that it's a war. People are dying. They're ineffective, incompetent, and corrupt gameplan has never been winable in this contest of wills.

Anyone game for irc today or tonight? Pick a time (early eastern time) and I'll try to get there.

How many ways can you say CORRUPTION?

Federal Gov't Fails to Collect Oil, Gas Royalties

The agency that collects royalties from oil and gas producers lacks the data, coordination and manpower to keep track of companies operating on federal land and in federal waters, a report by the Interior Department's inspector general said.

The report criticized the Minerals Management Service for relying on "compliance reviews," which depend on information provided by the companies, rather than detailed audits, independent information or site visits...
~~~~~~~~
Oil-Lease Agency Found Inadequate
Interior Report Cites Sloppy Oversight
WaPo link: http://tinyurl.com/u2oam

"It's bad in Iraq," said the Decider.

Thank you for e-mailing Vice President Cheney. Your comments, suggestions and concerns are important to him. Unfortunately, because of the large volume of e-mail received, the Vice
President cannot personally respond to each message. However, members of the Vice President's staff consider and report citizen ideas and concerns. Please visit the White House web site for the most up-to-date information on Presidential initiatives, current events, and topics of interest to you.

Thank you again for taking the time to write.

from Center for American Progress:

Reality Check

On a day when ten more U.S. soldiers were killed in Iraq, the Iraq Study Group (ISG) released a report that is "nothing less than a repudiation of the Bush administration's diplomatic and military approach to Iraq and to the whole region," and a "blueprint for a fundamentally different approach" to the war in Iraq. The report details the "grave" situation there, as well as the many policy failures that have led to this point. Although the report is a "stunning indictment" of Bush's failures, the recommendations are "still couched in language vague enough to allow the president to pretend it is the 'new way forward' his aides are now talking up, rather than a timetable for withdrawal, which is on Mr. Bush's no-go list." The president yesterday called the report a "very tough assessment" with some "very interesting proposals," but emphasized he "probably won't agree with every proposal." Indeed, even if Bush were to follow all 79 recommendations, there is no guarantee the plan would work. As the report concedes, there is "no magic formula" for fixing Iraq. Yet the best way forward is to strategically redeploy our troops out of Iraq. Center for American Progress Senior Fellow Lawrence Korb explains, "Not setting a date for a complete withdrawal of all of our military forces from the country will leave the Iraqi government and military believing they can continue to count on U.S. military power to support them come what may. ... We simply cannot leave our brave soldiers in harm's way if progress is not made pacifying the country over the next 18 months."

GETTING A GRIP ON REALITY: White House Press Secretary Tony Snow described the report as "an acknowledgment of reality" -- a reality the administration has ignored for years. (In October, Bush claimed "we're winning" in Iraq.) "The situation in Iraq is grave and deteriorating," the report says. Bush's Iraq policy "is not working, as the level of violence in Iraq is rising and the government is not advancing national reconciliation." "The ability of the United States to influence events within Iraq is diminishing." The language echoes the sentiments of incoming Defense Secretary Robert Gates' admission that we are not currently winning in Iraq. The report also chastises the administration for its "significant underreporting of the violence in Iraq." "Good policy is difficult to make," the report says, "when information is systematically collected in a way that minimizes its discrepancy with policy goals."

NO TIMELINE FOR WITHDRAWAL: The Iraq Study Group was "careful to modulate its wording to avoid phrases and rigid timelines that might alienate the White House." The report calls for U.S. troops to shift into supporting roles for the Iraqi army, and by the "first quarter of 2008, subject to unexpected developments in the security situation on the ground, all combat brigades not necessary for force protection could be out of Iraq." The panel does not make clear what kind of "unexpected developments" it has in mind, and the careful use of "could" rather than "will" leaves the administration with ample wiggle room to continue to support "conditions-based" troop levels. Snow emphasized this point to reporters, saying there is "nothing in here about pulling back militarily." "This is no different than the current policy," Rep. John Murtha (D-PA) points out. "We must do what is best for America and insist on a responsible plan for redeployment."

A CALL FOR TOUGH DIPLOMACY: The report argues that "Bush, Vice President Cheney and Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice have bungled diplomacy in the region with unrealistic objectives and narrow strategies." It calls for a New Diplomatic Offensive and an international Support Group structure under which the "United States should engage directly with Iran and Syria." "You talk to your enemies, not just your friends," James Baker said yesterday. He added: "We're talking not about talking to be talking. We're talking about tough diplomacy." (Strategic Redeployment calls for "strong diplomacy" in the region, and suggests peace talks involving Iraq's internal actors and Iraq's neighbors, including Iran, "who have an interest in making sure Iraq does not degenerate into further chaos.") The White House ruled out one-on-one talks with Iran, but refused to say if it supported a broader diplomatic initiative.

SAYING NO TO MORE U.S. TROOPS: Sen. John McCain (R-AZ) has called for 20,000 more U.S. troops to be sent to Iraq. "Without additional combat forces" in Iraq, he argued again yesterday, "we will not win this war." The bipartisan study group opposed such a move in no uncertain terms. "Sustained increases in U.S. troop levels would not solve the fundamental cause of violence in Iraq, which is the absence of national reconciliation," the report says. "Meanwhile, America's military capacity is stretched thin: we do not have the troops or equipment to make a substantial, sustained increase in our troop presence. Increased deployments to Iraq would also necessarily hamper our ability to provide adequate resources for our efforts in Afghanistan or respond to crises around the world."

WINNING HEARTS AND MINDS: The ISG report emphasizes the need to engage more effectively in the battle of ideas in the Arab world. First, the report says, Bush "should state that the United States does not seek permanent military bases in Iraq." (Last June, the New York Times reported the administration was making plans for "maintaining a force of roughly 50,000 troops there for years to come.") Second, the U.S. must show a "renewed and sustained commitment" to a "comprehensive Arab-Israeli peace on all fronts." The Center for American Progress put forward these ideas months ago, urging the administration to "make key policy shifts -- including declaring it does not seek permanent bases in Iraq and intensifying its efforts to resolve the Israeli-Palestinian conflict."

http://www.americanprogress.org

As for Say It Ain't So Joe... this is an approximately on-topic Q + A exchange taken verbatim from a blog belonging to a Certain Senator from Massachusetts (hereafter to be referred to simply as 'CSM', ahem):

---------------

Does anyone know Lieberman's response?

> Posted by Tia | December 7, 2006 1:19 AM

-----

Oddly enough, Tia, nobody seems to have heard much from Mr. Lieberman lately. He's not having much of a talking-head presence on the cable-news circuit, or being asked to publicly comment on the several big Iraq-centered news stories making the rounds in recent days. Considering how much of his maverick re-election campaign centered on those very issues, you'd think he would be opining away on them every time you turn on your television. But that doesn't seem to be the case. Perhaps he burned more bridges this year than he realized.

>Posted by Otter | December 7, 2006 5:32 AM

-----

More for Tia:

Lieberman did appear on CBS' 'Face the Nation' last Sunday to comment on the leaked Rumsfeld memo, as noted here [at http://tinyurl.com/ymqdj7 ]:

"'The Rumsfeld memo itself is in many ways surprising,' Lieberman said. 'He raises possibilities of doing things such as redeploying our troops, which he has always said that he was against.'

"Lieberman suggested that perhaps Rumsfeld was making a last-ditch effort to save his job.

"'Seeing as how the President said –- when he announced the nomination of Bob Gates to replace Don Rumsfeld –- that he and Rumsfeld had conversations about the possibility of this change in the two weeks preceding, you wonder whether Rumsfeld didn't get the message or he did get the message and this was his attempt to try to hold on to his job,' he said."

During the same appearance on CBS Lieberman also displayed more of reasoning that has made him such a darling of the inveterate stay-the-course crowd when he said, "Asking Iran and Syria to help us succeed in Iraq is like your local fire department asking a couple of arsonists to help put out the fire. These people are flaming the fire."

And as David Swanson pointed out during his live-blogging coverage of the Gates confirmation hearings for Atlantic Free Press [at http://tinyurl.com/ym4hdv ], Lieberman had high praise for Gates because the latter wants "to succeed, not withdraw" in Iraq.

One can only wonder why the media isn't putting Lieberman on camera every five minutes to explain his increasingly-suspect points of view on all things Iraqi. You should think they'd love setting him up as either a fatuous fall guy or a powerful counter-puncher, depending on how you feel about the MSM's so-called fair and balanced reporting.

Newsblogger Paul Hogarth certainly has his own views on the matter, as noted in his BeyondChron piece [at http://tinyurl.com/ycs564 ] in which he quotes further from that same CBS interview:

"Meanwhile, Lieberman insisted that the War is still 'winnable,' explained that Iraq is an instrumental element of our War on Terror, supported sending more U.S. troops into the quagmire, and asserted that withdrawal would be a 'statement of weakness' and send a 'signal to the Iranians that we are negotiating out of fear.' If there was any doubt why Karl Rove called Lieberman on the day after he lost the Democratic primary, this was it. At a time when even most Republicans have stopped drinking the neoconservative Kool-Aid and are asking the Bush Administration tough questions, Joe Lieberman can always be counted on to be their biggest cheerleader. "

So if what he had to say in that December 3 'Face The Nation' interview is any indication, it appears that Lieberman's response is pretty much what you'd expect it to be. One thing you can say about the maverick senator from Connecticut, he's staying the course on this one.

> Posted by Otter | December 7, 2006 6:19 AM

---------------

stay the course chide a cowboy,
Otter

Its deja vu all over again. Don't we ever learn anything?

"WASHINGTON (CNN) -- Dubai Ports World, the Arab-owned company which set off a furor with its purchase of six U.S. port operations earlier this year, has been cleared to join a federal pilot program to test the methods used to screen U.S.-bound cargo for radiation."

Who's dumb idea was this? Dubai to screen our cargo-that is totally nuts.

Hrm. They're not screening our cargo (at least not yet), they're helping us test our cargo-screening technology. And besides the fact that we're more likely to have problem cargo coming in from places where the Dubai firms operate (which is, essentially, everywhere), it's also important to remember that Dubai is an extremely capitalistic country with a vested interest in protecting the American economy, not crashing it.

Courtesy John in the Morning at http://www.kexp.org, Seattle, whose music column didn't used to have to include obituaries of people who should still be enjoying the music. It's a damn shame and we have a President who doesn't even attend funerals.

Russell Culbertson Jr
LONE PINE It’s small town rural America where they rally around the flag and support our troops in Iraq.But the painful reality of thewar has hit Lone Pine, Washington County with a devastating blow. Army Specialist Russell Culbertson Jr., 22, was one of four soldiers killed by a roadside bomb near Abu Ghraib prison.
His friends and family tell KDKA’s Paul Martino they can’t believe he didn’t make it out alive.
“I don’t know what we’ll do without him,” said Charlene Adams. Culbertson was a 2003 graduate of Trinity High School. He loved cars and was saving the money he made in Iraq to buy a new Camero.

Ryan E. Haupt, Norman R. Taylor & Nathan J. Frigo
Colorado Springs Gazette -- The Army on Friday identified three Fort Carson soldiers who died in Iraq on Tuesday when a roadside bomb exploded near their Humvee. Killed were Staff Sgt. Ryan E. Haupt, 24, of Phoenix; Sgt. Norman R. Taylor III, 21, of Blythe, Calif.; and Pfc. Nathan J. Frigo, 23, of Kokomo, Ind. The three, all assigned as snipers in the 3rd Heavy Brigade Combat Team, were riding together to protect a convoy traveling between Baqouba and Balad when the bomb went off. The deaths came days before the brigade was scheduled to begin coming home from Iraq. The first soldiers to return to Fort Carson after the brigade’s yearlong tour are due back Sunday. Frigo and Taylor were honored at Friday night football games in their hometowns.
Frigo lettered in cross country and track at his high school in Indiana. His father, Fred Frigo, said the determination shown by the 6-foot-3-inch runner as he raced down the track at Northwestern High School was an early indication of what led him to the Army.

Daniel A. Brozovich
Pittsburgh Post Gazette
Daniel Brozovich, who began military service as a gung-ho Marine and never lost that edge in 20 years with the Army National Guard, died Wednesday in a roadside bombing in Ashraf, Iraq.
Sgt. 1st Class Brozovich, 42, of Greenville in Mercer County, was on his second tour in the war. He never wavered about the worthiness of the cause, nor did he complain about the disruptions it caused in his civilian life, said his wife, Mary. "He believed in his country. He wanted to keep it safe," she said in an interview yesterday. Ryan Brozovich, the fallen soldier's 11-year-old son, said he took comfort in knowing that death came swiftly. "I'm glad he didn't suffer," Ryan said.

David M. Unger
Kansas City Channel -- LEAVENWORTH, Kan. -- A soldier from Leavenworth who reveled in making others laugh has died in Iraq, his mother said.
The Department of Defense has not released the official details of Army Cpl. David Unger's death. His mother, Diana Pitts, told KMBC her son was killed Tuesday when an improvised explosive device struck his armored Humvee. At least two other soldiers also were killed, she said."The only way I can remember my son is he made everybody laugh," Pitts said. "For almost 22 years, he was the rock of our family." Unger, who graduated from Leavenworth High School in 2003, would have celebrated his birthday on Halloween. He leaves behind a wife, Laura Unger, and a son and daughter. Laura Unger said she met David in high school.

Christopher E. Loudon
Williamsport Sun Gazette -- An Army soldier with ties to Sullivan County was killed Tuesday in Iraq, and his family is mourning his loss. U.S. Army 2nd Lt. Christopher E. Loudon, 23, of Brockport, near DuBois, will be sorely missed for his dedication as a husband and father and as a soldier fighting terrorism, his wife and mother-in-law said from their Muncy Valley-area residence Wednesday night. Loudon’s widow, the former Jacey Laidacker, 24, who lives with her mother and father, Suzanne and Larry Laidacker, described her husband as a "soul mate" and "best friend." "Chris was the most caring, kind, strong person that I know," she said. "I’m going to miss him every day." Loudon, who was attached to the 4th Infantry Division based in Fort Hood, Texas, was killed by a roadside bomb that exploded as he was riding by in a Humvee on patrol in Baghdad, Suzanne Laidacker said.

Timothy J. Lauer
Pittsburgh Tribune Review -- Army Spc. Timothy J. Lauer was a family man in Crawford County who enjoyed music, sports and playing cards. Lauer, 25, of State Street, Meadville, was one of three soldiers killed in Iraq when a roadside bomb went off near their vehicle in Baghdad, the Defense Department announced Tuesday. Also killed in Saturday's explosion were Staff Sgt. Joseph M. Kane, of Darby, Delaware County, and 1st Sgt. Charles M. King, of Mobile, Ala. The three were assigned to the 1st Battalion, 67th Armor Regiment, 2nd Brigade, 4th Infantry Division at Fort Hood, Texas. Lauer was a 2000 graduate of Cochranton High School, where he played football and baseball, and Crawford County Vocational-Technical School. He was a member of the Black Water Band and enjoyed bowling, hunting, fishing and playing cards.

Garth Sizemore
Mt. Sterling, KY (AP) -- A soldier from Montgomery County has died from combat-related injuries in Iraq, military officials said Thursday. Staff Sgt. Garth Sizemore, 31, of Mount Sterling, died Tuesday after he was shot by enemy forces during patrol in Baghdad, the Department of Defense said. Sizemore was assigned to 1st Battalion, 26th Infantry Regiment, 2nd Brigade Combat Team, 1st Infantry Division out of Schweinfurt, Germany.
Sizemore attended Montgomery County High School and Morehead State University before enlisting seven years ago, his father, Glenn Sizemore, of Mount Sterling said in an interview Thursday.

Stephen Bicknell
Montgomery Advertiser -- PRATTVILLE -- The reality still hasn't set in for the friends and former teammates of Stephen Bicknell. Two days after the 19-year-old Army private was killed in Iraq, those close to the 2005 Prattville High School graduate still struggled to comprehend the loss. "I found out (Monday) night, and it really shook me up," said Caleb Glass, a former teammate and member of the Class of 2005. "I couldn't go to bed. I was up until 5 a.m., trying to find out more. "My brothers have been in the military for years, and I have other family members (serving). But this is the first close person I've lost. The seniors on (the 2004) team were close. We were a family. He was a brother to me."
Bicknell was a receiver and backup quarterback for Prattville's 2004 state runner-up team. Head coach Bill Clark informed his team of his death Tuesday morning. Many of the seniors already knew."A lot of the seniors played with him," Clark said. "There's a sense of disbelief when something like this happens to someone so young. It was hard for the players to accept, just like it was for the coaches when we found out (Monday night)."

Lester D. Baroncini Jr
The Mercury News -- BAKERSFIELD, Calif. - Lester Domenico Baroncini was moved to join the Army after the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks, but his interest in the military started long before that. As a boy, one of Baroncini's favorite Halloween costumes was fatigues so he could pretend to be a soldier, said his family pastor, the Rev. Craig Harrison of St. Francis of Assisi Church. Sgt. Baroncini, 33, was killed on Sunday when two land mines detonated near his humvee in Samarra, Iraq, the Department of Defense announced Thursday. Also killed in the explosion was Pfc. Stephen D. Bicknell, 19, of Prattville, Ala. Both were assigned to the 2nd Battalion, 505th Parachute Infantry Regiment, 3rd Brigade Combat Team, 82nd Airborne Division, Fort Bragg, N.C. Baroncini helped with relief efforts after Hurricane Katrina in October 2005, then was deployed to Iraq in July.

Otter
I think that's half our problem - being bedfellows with any country capitalistic to sell out by protecting us while people die, buying our weapons, etc. We've been propping up dictators, aligning more or less secretly with leaders or groups & so on for years. It may be less of a secret to alot of other people in the world, rather than the average American & that's just the way the government likes it. Watch out for blowback though! The discrepancy between the world's richest and poorest is growing all the time, and in this country, has increased with supply-side economics and tax breaks for the rich. When I checked out Cheney's website, he's sitting there with King Abdullah. Sure this may help our economy but it pisses off the poorest of the Saudis and radicalizes them. Not a wise policy in the end. There may be Americans rich enough to invest in Dubai, stay at the artificial islands in Dubai, check out the city skyline which will soon dwarf alot of ours, or buy Rolexes at the Dubai mall but that's not most of us. I noticed that the airline consultant for Boeing that I hear on local radio has taken to referring to United Arab Emirates simply as "Emirate." How rich is an Emir? Obscenely rich. Who staffs most of the hotels and builds alot of the buildings and complexes there? Slave labor, such as from Philipines. I saw a documentary on it while in France.

I mean, how embarrassing and dangerous it is to have a President quoted in the New York Times as saying something like this (referring to diplomatic talks with Syria and Iran, only they have to agree to his terms first):

“if Syria and Iran is not committed to that concept, then they shouldn’t bother to show up.”

Does he think Syria and Iran is one place?

ISG report is sobering, and this article is even more so:

ISG: Fatal Flaw

http://www.thenation.com/doc/20061218/fatal_flaw

What are we doing over there? What can we do? It's appalling, unbelievable, unfathomable madness.

Posted by: not my president at December 7, 2006 06:23 PM

Oh come on, it's not like he started the sentence with "Yo Blair" or anything moronic like that.

What it is.

If the weather holds, we down here in FLA should get a rare view of a night launch of the Space Shuttle. Launch Time: 9:35 p.m. EST

Night launches are awesome, you can actually see the boosters fall away (even from 200 miles south of the Cape) and follow the orbiter through the night sky for several minutes until it fades away to a little tiny blip of light.

http://www.nasa.gov/mission_pages/shuttle/launch/index.html

Some people call me the Space Cowboy.

Yes; but then again, some people call you Maurice.

(BTW, monkeyman, I got to jam with a really good drummer the other night -- tasty, fluid, versatile, rock-steady, polyrhythymically competent, hipped into volume dynamics and subtleties of flow, and even able to drool out of both sides of his mouth at the same time. Unfortunately the guitarist who brought us together is very much a one-trick pony, which kinda limited the riddim section's options there. But we did exchange phone numbers so we can set up some outside play-dates later on. And while on the one paw I was annoyed & frustrated by what my post-surgery chops still won't let me do again just yet, on the other paw at least I'm back in the pocket enough to not embarrass myself in polite musical company. So overall, it was definitely a Good Thing.)

Ray McGovern | Taps for the Constitution
http://www.truthout.org/docs_2006/120706J.shtml
Ray McGovern writes, "Gates may have 'fresh eyes,' but if past is precedent he will add but marginally to the flavor of the self-licking ice cream cone that passes for Bush's coterie of advisers. What Bush has done is substitute Sugary Gates for Rumsfeldian Tart. Otherwise, the Cheney/Bush recipe is likely to remain the same as the US draws nearer and nearer to the abyss in Iraq."

David Swanson | Honesty in Iraq
http://www.truthout.org/docs_2006/120706N.shtml
David Swanson writes, "We should recognize that Nuremberg's condemnation of aggressive war was not a legal theory but a description of facts. Following the Holocaust, the International Military Tribunal at Nuremberg called the waging of aggressive war 'essentially an evil thing ... to initiate a war of aggression ... is not only an international crime; it is the supreme international crime differing only from other war crimes in that it contains within itself the accumulated evil of the whole.'"

http://www.americanprogress.org/cartoons
Today's American Progress cartoon

Posted by: Otter at December 7, 2006 07:35 PM

Just say yo to drums.

(Nice to have ya back in the pocket again).

2, 3, 4

The countdown to liftoff of Discovery on mission STS-116 continues to tick down to a launch at 9:35 p.m. EST. Launch managers are reporting the ship is in excellent condition and ready for flight.

Commander Polansky and his crew are now seated inside the space shuttle, making final checks and powering up the vehicle's systems.

Earlier in the evening, the Ice Inspection Team reported seeing a small build up of ice attached to the white "beanie cap" that tops the shuttle's fuel tank. After some discussion, the engineering team determined that the small piece of ice or frost is not a danger to Discovery or its crew.

A cold front continues to move across the Kennedy Space Center area, bringing clouds and winds along with it. NASA's weather team is watching cloud altitudes and wind speeds closely, and remains hopeful conditions will permit Discovery to launch.

The STS-116 mission is the 33rd for Discovery and the 117th space shuttle flight. During the 12-day mission, the crew will continue construction on the International Space Station, rewiring the orbiting laboratory and adding a segment to its integrated truss structure.

http://www.nasa.gov/mission_pages/shuttle/main/index.html

Space Cowboy?
Maurice?
Gangster of Love!