Olbermann Special :Comment: Playing with the Troops

Lies, Damn Lies and Working the Surge

The narrative seems to be fairly obvious already - Bush and his supporters seem fully poised to trot out Gen Patreaus on Sept the 11th and bold facedly claim that "The Surge Is Working" just as was claimed Sgt Aguina at Yearlykos.

But then again, it just might be that what BushCo is selling is probably going to be rejected on delivery. Listen as Wolf Blitzer shoots Rep. Boustany (R-LA) down in flames for echoing the false Patreaus claims that "Sectarian Deaths in Iraq are Down".

Rather than let Boustany blather away - Blitzer corrected him using a recent LA Times Report.

Bombings, sectarian slayings and other violence related to the war killed at least 1,773 Iraqi civilians in August, the second month in a row that civilian deaths have risen, according to government figures obtained Friday. In July, the civilian death toll was 1,753, and in June it was 1,227.

In terms of Iraqi dead people, those numbers are high and getting worse despite the increased military troop levels of the United States — the so-called surge — having been in effect over the past couple of months.

Oops.

But then let's pay close attention to the semantic trick being played here - Rep. Boustany didn't say that civilian deaths were down he said that sectarian violence was down - and one wonders, how does he know whether this truck bomb or that truck bomb was sectarian or not? If these were "insurgents" why didn't they attack U.S. or coalition troops?

After denying for so long that Iraq is in the midst of an open Civil War, Bushies now wish to claim that the non-war is now "over" although the bodies continue to pile higher and higher. Is this supposedly all the work of Al Qaeda? All 2000 of them?

Similarly Gen Patreaus seems to be making the same distinction between run-of-the-mill death and sectarian death:

General Petraeus told The Australian during a face-to-face interview at his Baghdad headquarters there had been a 75 per cent reduction in religious and ethnic killings since last year.

But these claims doesn't seem to jibe with like - the facts (via McClatchy).

Violence remains endemic, with truck bombs in two northern Iraqi villages claiming the largest single death toll of the war — more than 300 confirmed dead and counting. North of Baghdad, another truck bomb destroyed a key bridge on the road linking the capital to Mosul, the first successful bridge attack since June.

And while top U.S. officials insist that 50 percent of the capital is now under effective U.S. or government control, compared with 8 percent in February, statistics indicate that the improvement in violence is at best mixed.

U.S. officials say the number of civilian casualties in the Iraqi capital is down 50 percent. But U.S. officials declined to provide specific numbers, and statistics gathered by McClatchy Newspapers don't support the claim.

Or The AP

* Iraq is suffering about double the number of war-related deaths throughout the country compared with last year — an average daily toll of 33 in 2006, and 62 so far this year.

• Nearly 1,000 more people have been killed in violence across Iraq in the first eight months of this year than in all of 2006. So far this year, about 14,800 people have died in war-related attacks and sectarian murders. AP reporting accounted for 13,811 deaths in 2006. The United Nations and other sources placed the 2006 toll far higher.

• Baghdad has gone from representing 76 percent of all civilian and police war-related deaths in Iraq in January to 52 percent in July, bringing it back to the same spot it was roughly a year ago.

Nor are U.S. Troop Casualties down during the Surge.

June-July-August 2003: 113 American troops died

June-July-August 2004: 162 American troops died

June-July-August 2005: 217 American troops died

June-July-August 2006: 169 American troops died

June-July-August 2007: 260 American troops died

This magic smoke-screen of deaths that aren't real deaths is wearing so thin even Katie Dumb as Rocks Couric can see through it.

Well, I was surprised, you know, after I went to eastern Baghdad, I was taken to the Allawi market, which is near Haifa, which was the scene of that very bloody gun battle back in January. And, you know, this market seems to be thriving. And there were a lot of people out and about. A lot of family-owned businesses and vegetable stalls.

And so, you do see signs of life that seem to be normal. Of course, that’s what the U.S. military wants me to see, so you have to keep that in mind as well. But I think there are definitely areas where the situation is improving.

Just as Rep. Tauscher recently pointed out - this is all Death By Powerpoint.

I will tell you that when you get in the Green Zone, there is a physiological phenomenon I think called Green Zone fog," said Tauscher. "It’s death by powerpoint. ... It’s always that their argument is winning."

In all fairness it may be true that in some areas of Baghdad things have improved, just as they've improved in the al-Anbar province where rather than surge, we cut and ran leaving the job of maintaining the peace to the local Sunni Militia.

But then again just as one area gets better, others get a whole lot worse. On August 15th the Deadliest Attack of the Entire War Took Place in a quadruple bombing in Northern Iraq.

BAGHDAD, Aug. 15 — The toll in a horrific quadruple bombing in an area of mud and stone houses in the remote northern desert on Tuesday evening reached at least 250 dead and 350 wounded, several local officials said Wednesday, making it the deadliest coordinated attack since the American-led invasion of Iraq in 2003.

Rescuers and recovery teams were still digging through as many as 200 flattened houses, and the death toll could still rise significantly, the officials said.

"It is impossible for us to give an exact figure for the dead and wounded," said Dr. Kifah Kattu, director general of the hospital in Sinjar, a few miles north of where the explosions occurred. As an example, he cited one village in the area of the explosions, called Al Aziz, where he said 40 of the village’s simple homes had been obliterated and no dead or wounded had yet been recovered.

Open Markets over here vs 200 flattened houses over there?

Sure that's "progress" if you happen to be running in circles.

It's clear that the Bushies have long felt the big problem with this War has simply been that not enough "good news" has been getting out, that they've simply had a massive PR problem and that just like a political campaign all they need to do is stay on message to finally break through. So naturally they've decided to simply invent some good news!

Bush's surprise visit to Anbar today underscores this beautifully.

"President Bush made a surprise visit to Iraq on Monday, using the war zone as a backdrop to argue his case that the buildup of U.S. troops is helping stabilizing the nation." On his way to the APEC summit in Australia, Bush made a detour to Iraq, landing at an air base in a remote part of Anbar province. Accompanied by security aides Condoleezza Rice, Robert Gates, and Stephen Hadley, Bush’s visit came just hours after British forces completed their pullout from Basra. "Residents of Basra cheered the withdrawal."

We've heard the Bush Admin try to kneecap the leaked GAO report that points out that few of the security and political benchmarks which had been required for Iraq have been met.

Bushies have argued that these benchmarks were designed to "lock in on failure".

I know it's been four whole months since the Iraq Supplemental Bill was passed which made these Benchmarks a part of the LAW - but let's just jump in the way back machine (also known as the Google) and point out just who came up with these benchmarks in the first place? The Bush Administration did.

"The benchmarks - the Iraqis agreed to it, the president agreed it," said Rep. John Murtha, D-Pa., who heads a House subcommittee that controls defense spending. "We're saying to them, 'Well, let's put some teeth into the benchmarks.'"

Although those teeth were severely filed down by Bush's Veto - they remain. And now the Bushies want to claim that their own benchmarks are too negative, simply because - they've failed to meet nearly all of them?

It's like giving someone an open-book test and they come back at the end of the class and say their dog snuck into the room and ate all the answers right off the desk.

Just for the record these were the questions the Administration asked itself to answer via the Iraq Supplemental Bill which...

• Establishes 18 benchmarks on which to measure the Iraqi government’s performance;
• Restricts use of foreign aid to the Iraqi government should they fail to make meaningful progress;
• Requires the President to certify that the Iraqi government deserves these funds even if they fail to perform as promised;
• Requires the Administration to testify before Congress and an independent assessment by the General Accounting Office on the performance of the Iraqi government;
• Requires the President to submit a report on the combat proficiency of Iraqi security forces;
• Requires the President to redeploy our troops if the Iraqi government concludes our presence is no longer desired;
• Restricts use of Defense Department funding until Congress receives information about contractors in Iraq; and
• States official U.S. policy precludes no permanent military bases in Iraq, no torture of detainees, and no designs on Iraqi oil.

The Entire Point of The Surge was to establish a buffer which would allow the Iraqi Government to accomplish the above. That was the Test and both the Iraqi Government and the Bush Administration HAVE FAILED.

Now they want more time - a lot more time - according to a new book on BushCo.

In Robert Draper’s book on the Bush presidency, "Dead Certain," Bush says the goal of his Iraq strategy is to play it out until "October-November." That is when he hopes the Iraq troop increase will finally show enough results to help him achieve the central goal of his remaining time in office: "To get us in a position where the presidential candidates will be comfortable about sustaining a presence," and, he said later, "stay longer."

So in order to accomplish his true goal of simply keeping us in Iraq for the foreseeable future - Bush and his cronies plan to outright lie to Congress.

It's not like they haven't done it before.

But this time the odds of their pulling yet another Jedi Mind Trick on Congress seem a little slim if even weak-willed corporate media lapdogs such as Blitzer and Couric can see through the fog of cute semantic tricks like referring only to supposed "sectarian violence" and focusing on pockets of relative calm while a hurricane of death surrounds you.

– Attacks in June "reached their highest daily average since May 2003, showing a surge in violence as President George W. Bush completed a buildup of U.S. troops."

– The "number of unidentified bodies in the capital has risen again to pre-surge levels over the last two months," concluded a report by IraqSlogger.

– Today’s National Intelligence Estimate concludes that "the level of overall violence, including attacks on and casualties among civilians, remains high; Iraq’s sectarian groups remain unreconciled; AQI retains the ability to conduct high-profile attacks; and to date, Iraqi political leaders remain unable to govern effectively."

This time we need to point out that implmenting the al-Anbar solution doesn't mean increasing the Surge, it means by-passing the local government, the Iraqi Army and the police and working directly with the people - and the Sunni & Shia Militias - to help fight al Qeada and bring peace. It means DIPLOMACY - not more soldiers.

There is of course the possibility that this just might destabilize the Shia dominated government that we helped install and have continued to prop up despite their complete and total dysfunction. Some prices are worth paying IMO.

Oh, and then there's the little detail that the surge can't be sustained past April no matter what. It's far better for our troops and for the Iraqis that we plan for that reality, than ignore it.

They fooled (some of us) once before, but now I think signs strongly indicate that Roger Daltry was right all those years ago, this time "We Won't Get Fooled Again!"

It's far past time we got our troops out of this meat-grinder and got the Iraqi people to take control of their own country - with or without the blessings of the Iraqi government.

Vyan

Larry Craig and the GOP's 19th Nervous Breakdown

They've been through a lot these Republicans. Not that I really care, I'm just saying...

It's been really rough for them, from failing to prevent 9-11, starting then losing the Iraq War, to Jack Abramov, Tom Delay, Brownie, Dubai, Jeff Gannon/Guckert, David Kuo, David Safavian, Claude Allen, Mark Foley, Ted Haggart, James Comey, Carol Lam, Monica Goodling, Tim Griffin, David Iglesias, David Vitter, Donald Rumfeld, Karl Rove and Alberto Gonzale's resignation and now... Larry Craig.

Although I myself have been so overjoyed by some of these developments I could have been found doing a drunken table dance in a Britney Spears schmatta (i.e. bottomless - even though I'm male) watching the GOP bus do donuts on the body Craig's flailing political career strikes me somewhat differently.

The problem I have is the odd familiarity of this particular sad and sordid story from Roll Call.

"At 1216 hours, Craig tapped his right foot. I recognized this as a signal used by persons wishing to engage in lewd conduct. Craig tapped his toes several times and moves his foot closer to my foot. I moved my foot up and down slowly. While this was occurring, the male in the stall to my right was still present. I could hear several unknown persons in the restroom that appeared to use the restroom for its intended use. The presence of others did not seem to deter Craig as he moved his right foot so that it touched the side of my left foot which was within my stall area," the report states.

Craig then proceeded to swipe his hand under the stall divider several times, and Karsnia noted in his report that "I could ... see Craig had a gold ring on his ring finger as his hand was on my side of the stall divider."

Karsnia then held his police identification down by the floor so that Craig could see it.

Fortunately I happen to remember where I've heard this story before.

Over a decade ago I read "On the Trail of Assassins" the book written by Judge Jim Garrison, which was eventually adapted by Oliver Stone into "JFK." Putting aside the issues brought up by the shooting of Kennedy himself, or the case which Garrison brought in a New Orleans court room against Clay Shaw as a co-conspirator in that shooting, the Craig scene struck me as oddly similar to an event which nearly entrapped Garrison some years after the case had concluded.

Because the Shaw trial had frankly, pissed off a ton of people, including those in the FBI and CIA where Shaw apparently had some connections, Garrison would normally keep his traveling plans confidential. On one of occasion one of his staff warned him that there was a plot against him and insisted on accompanying him to the airport and ensuring he got onto his flight safely, which he did. In the process that assistant was able to discover his flight number, destination and arrival time.

At his destination Garrison went to the bathroom and while he was sitting in his own stall someone else - in a room full of empty stalls - sat down right next to him. Garrison, who during these days was on high alert and who had previously been an FBI agent, decided this was more than a little fishy and decided to leave immediately. Outside the restroom he found a near army of law enforcement waiting to pounce. The entire thing had been a setup to damage him in his next run for New Orleans District Attorney based on a tip-off from his (soon to be former) assistant.

Narrowly, he had escaped it.

(These events were actually filmed for "JFK" and are included on the extended Director's Cut - but the event has been time-shifted forward so that it takes place during the Shaw Trial. I also want to note that this was the only incident in Garrison's book that even broached the subject of Homosexuality - while the Stone film was practically drowning in it, claiming that it was the key link between most of the suspects and Shaw - on this point the book and film are very, very different!)

Compare these event almost 40 years ago to the George Michael arrest in a Beverly Hills Bathroom ten years ago.

George Michael: "Well, I was followed into the restroom, and then, this cop – well, I didn't know he was a cop at the time, obviously – he started playing this game. I think it's called ‘I'll show you mine, you show me yours, and then when you show me yours, I'm gonna nick you!'"

What has been consistent in Michael's story, is that the "officer" flashed him first, and he responded in kind.

Now, I don't know whether Craig is genuinely guilty of these accusations or not, I don't know if he's gay or not -- but I would say that what he's accused here is certainly fairly minor. Exactly what was his crime here - Footsie? Improper hand signals? Clipping?

Rather than fight the charges, or contact a lawyer he choose to do what a lot of people faced with a nuisance ticket tend to do (particularly when they have something to hide and to risk) - settle. He paid about $500 in fines and all jail time was suspended - but that doesn't mean he's literally guilty and even if he is - so what?

If this had been a heterosexual event, say in the back corner of a bar or a nightclub - would it be a matter for the police?

Why is it that David Vitter's phone number showing up in the black book of the DC madam warranted a thunderous ovation for him, but Craig get this response from the GOP before he finally resigned...

Sen. Norm Coleman (R-MN): "Senator Craig pled guilty to a crime involving conduct unbecoming a senator. He should resign."

Sen. John McCain (R-AZ): "I believe that he — that he pled guilty and he had the opportunity to plead innocent. So I think he should resign."

Rep. Peter Hoekstra (R-MI): "However, he also represents the Republican Party, and I believe that he should step down as his conduct throughout this matter has been inappropriate for a U.S. senator."

Rep. Mark Souder (R-IN): "While additional concerns are being raised, Senator Craig already demonstrated that he is unfit to serve in the U.S. Congress when he pled guilty. I believe that he needs to step down."

Reps. Jeff Miller (R-FL), Ginny Brown-Waite (R-FL), Bobby Jindal (R-LA), and Ron Lewis (R-KY): [A handful of Republicans] urged Craig to step down...including Jeff Miller and Ginny Brown-Waite of Florida, Mark Souder of Indiana, Bobby Jindal of Louisiana and Ron Lewis of Kentucky.

Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-KY) has also stripped Craig of his committee leadership positions and called for a Senate ethics investigation into the affair.

It may be that the vehemence of this reaction by the GOP leaders is simply the result of scandal fatigue. A desire to simply get this one off the table as fast and quickly as possible and not let it linger into next November the way that the Foley scan hung like a black crusty cloud over the Repubs last year.

But then again maybe something else is going on...

Why do we have male cops in bathrooms enticing people like this anyway? Do we have a mad outbreak of Gay PDA's going on?

Would anyone take seriously the idea of a female cop in a female bathroom arresting girls for trying to "hook up"?

Frankly, We all know it's far more likely that surveillance footage of this would wind up on the next edition of "Girls Gone Wild", not the local court house.

And this is why, even as a devout partisan democrat, I can't be proud or happy about the loss of Senator Craig. I'm not suggesting that this was a "set-up" to trap Craig in the way that Garrison alluded to in his book, it's rather that the rank and vile hypocrisy of this process of targeting male gays in this way really should be addressed.

Look at how both Dan Abrams and Joe Scarborough laugh, while Tfucker Carlson describes being "bothered" in a bathroom and then coming back with a friend to "slam the guys head into the stall."

Video

Tucker commits a HATE CRIME and then tries to portray himself as the victim.

Let me be clear about an incident I referred to on MSNBC last night: In the mid-1980s, while I was a high school student, a man physically grabbed me in a men’s room in Washington, DC. I yelled, pulled away from him and ran out of the room. Twenty-five minutes later, a friend of mine and I returned to the men’s room. The man was still there, presumably waiting to do to someone else what he had done to me. My friend and I seized the man and held him until a security guard arrived.

Several bloggers have characterized this is a sort of gay bashing. That’s absurd, and an insult to anybody who has fought back against an unsolicited sexual attack. I wasn’t angry with the man because he was gay. I was angry because he assaulted me.

So at one point the guy was "bothering" Tucker and now that he's been called on it - it's a sexual attack? Yeah, right.

Is that what Larry Craig did, commit a sexual attack by wiping his hand on the bottom of the stall too many times? Did George Michael commit a sexual attack when an undercover cop flashed him? How about Jim Garrison?

This is a big load of BULL AND CRAP.

Yes, there are indeed genuine sexual predators out there who take advantage of the naive and the young. Case in point: MARK FOLEY! But what many, particularly those on the right seem to forget is that what was wrong with Foley wasn't that he was gay, it's that he was/is a predator.

To the right, this distinction is lost. Listen to Gen Peter Pace as he compares homosexuality to adultery.

The right-wing's atavistic terror of the gay, has not been diminished by the passage of time. I've long argued that this is largely because these people are misogynists to the core, and what the truly fear is the idea that another man just might treat them - the same way they treat women.

Shock and Awe!

What this incident shows is that this dread is as strong and virulent now as was during the late 60's, yet at the same time so many of those in the GOP are so extremely GAY. Just look at Gannon/Gucker, Andrew Sullivan, former GOP shill David Brock (now the repentant head of Media Matters) and for that matter the guy who tried to pick Brock up in a West Hollywood nightclub Matt Drudge.

I do not blame Craig for denying being gay, many gay people remain in the closet simply because they can't afford to be out due to the consequences (like Drudge or Melhman), such as those exampled by General Pace, and also the fact that many people have to come to grips with the reality of their own sexuality on their own terms and in their own due time as George Michael eventually did only after his own arrest.

Although another GOPer has bitten the dust and generally that's a good thing for Democrats, in this case it is not. With Idaho Govenor C. L. "Butch" Otter more than likely to appoint a fresh new rubber stamp to Craig's seat - we gain nothing, they lose nothing.

But if we stand up and cheer this, if we revel in taking of this scalp - just what is it that we're really cheering for, the continued hunting, vilification and criminalization of male gays?

Sorry guys, although I'm straight, I'm simply not down with this kind of naked bigotry being something that Democrats should applaud or stand for.

Vyan

Katrina Year 2: Never Forget

It's been two long years since a massive Category 5 Hurricane slammed into the Gulf Coast after sliding over Florida causing devastation in Alabama, Mississisppi and Lousiana that had not been seen in over 40 years.

We are now two years past that event, but we can never afford to get past it's ramifications and lingering impact.

Sometimes words are simply not enough.

From Crooks and Liars - President Bush being Warned that Katrina could "overtop" the Levee's: WMP Video-MOV Video

Sinking Ship Leaves Rat

Somewhere along that winding road between childhood and adultism we're supposed to learn that it's bad form to do a double-gaining jackknifed swandive onto the pigpile of someone elses sad misfortune. We're not supposed to get all gloaty and do the Snoopy Dance around the smouldering ruin of their charred and blackened career. We're not supposed to snicker as they slink off into the sunset.

Yeah, but sometimes when you're dealing with someone who's professional actions and public statments have been so mindnumbingly horrific you just have to say... "Fuck That Ms. Manners Shit"

Sinking Ship Leaves Rat by Michael Tomanski

We don't yet know whether Bush iced Gonzales, politically, or whether the disgraced attorney general realized on his own what the rest of Washington has known for months - that his credibility was completely shot and he couldn't continue in his job.

Indeed Gonzales' legacy is so resoundingly awful that one can't imagine which of his failures and transgressions his eventual obituary writers and future historians will highlight.

Oh, I can imagine, quite vividly...

But first let's let Tomansky have his turn in this episode of "A Lie Runs Through It!".

Lying to Congress, which is the clear implication made in testimony by his former aide Monica Goodling? Potential witness tampering, another charge Goodling made implicitly under oath? Helping Bush cover up his old drunk driving conviction?

Wait, there's more! Helping Bush, then governor of Texas, set a modern record for one governor in ordering 150 executions, reviewing in his capacity as Bush's counsel more than fifty clemency applications and never recommending clemency once? Later, declaring the Geneva Conventions "quaint"?

And of course, there's overseeing the firings of nine US attorneys because they would not participate in overtly political prosecutions.

Let me just add that Gonzales didn't just say that the Geneva Conventions were "Quaint" - he knew far better - like some mafioso Consigliare'. he specifically advised President Bush on how to knowingly commit War Crimes and get away with it. His advice, which was provided long before the dreaded Bybee Memo, set the stage for the standard of treatment that over 14,000 detainees would experience and precipitated the murder via abuse of nearly three dozen of those held in U.S. custody. There are few people, including Rumsfeld, who can be considered a greater accomplice before the fact to these War Crimes than Gonzo.

Of course Gonzo never killed anyone himself not even those on the Texan Death Row, but let me just point on by way of comparison that Charles Manson never killed anyone either - he simply told others when, who and how. Still, Charlie's bodycount pales in comparison to Fredo's. Chuck was a amatuer - Fredo's a Pro.

To me it's a toss-up whether Gonzo will be better remembered and vilified for the above or for overseaing the illegal warrantless spying of tens of millions of Americans and STILL. NOT. GETTING. BIN. LADEN!?

Hmm... decisions, decisions...is that the stench of burning paper, plastic or brimstone?

It seems now that even Gonzo's close Friends on The Fox apparently thought he was a punk-ass too. Whodathunkit?

Brit Hume on Gonzo.

Gonzales was a man almost without fans in Washington at the end, because he was never much appreciated or accepted by the conservative base of the Republican party and the conservative activists in Washington. And he certainly wasn’t popular among the Democrats. He was simply a crony. And I don’t mean that word to sound any worse than it is, but that was the case here.

And just where in this outpouring of simpathy and support for the out-going Attorney General do the 101st Fighting Keyboardists stand? Quite possibly on Gonzo's Neck.

Raw Story does a review of the conservative blogosphere’s reaction to the Gonzales resignation and finds "there is precious little love lost for the departing AG." RedState writes, "I am not sorry to see AGAG go." Andy McCarthy at the National Review writes the "resignation was overdue," and Captain’s Quarters adds that Gonzales’ attorney scandal "has been a royal embarrassment."

An "embarrisment"? No! You don't say?

And here I thought he was just a royal pain in the nation's ass.

That isn't to say that Fredo doesn't still have a fan club (of one).

President Bush: "It's sad that we live in a time that a talented and honorable person like Alberto Gonzales is impeding [sic] from doing important work because his good name was dragged through the mud for political purpose."

Or Two...

Ari Fliescher : Republicans were very hard on Janet Reno. Democrats were brutal to John Ashcroft and now Judge Gonzales. What’s happening is Congress is really politicizing the Justice Department, unfairly so and dangerously so, because there are so many important law important functions that go on there. It’s regrettable, both parties have done it.

Sniff

It's just all so unfair. I'm sorry Ari's right - the application of Justice and the laws of the land should be above politics.

I mean, "it's so sad", as John Cornyn has told us, that poor Fredo had to suffer the mean spirited slings and arrows of those Damn Dirty Democr... uh Republicans?

Sen. John Sununu (R-NH): "The president should fire the attorney general and replace him as soon as possible with someone who can provide strong, aggressive leadership."

Sen. Chuck Hagel (R-NE): "The American people deserve an Attorney General, the chief law enforcement officer of our country, whose honesty and capability are beyond question. Attorney General Gonzales can no longer meet this standard. He has failed this country. He has lost the moral authority to lead."

Sen. John McCain (R-AZ): "I think that out of loyalty to the president that that [resignation] would probably be the best thing that he could do."

Sen. Gordon Smith (R-OR)- "For the Justice Department to be effective before the U.S. Senate, it would be helpful."

Sen. Norm Coleman (R-MN): "I don’t believe that Gonzales has the type of leadership that the department needs."

Sen. Kit Bond (R-MO): "The president might decide that the current leadership remaining at DOJ is doing more harm than good."

Sen. Pat Roberts (R-KS)- ""When you have to spend more time up here on Capitol Hill instead of running the Justice Department, maybe you ought to think about it."

Sen. Jeff Sessions (R-AL)- "There are some problems that he just hasn't handled well, and it might just be best if he came to a conclusion that the department is better served if he's not there.'"

Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-SC)- "Sometimes, it just came down to these were not the right people at the right time. If I applied that standard to you, what would you say?"

Sen. Arlen Specter (R-PA)- "For you to have said this was an ‘overblown personnel matter,’ I think that can't be erased. And the clouds over a lot of the professionals can't be erased and the worry by those who haven’t been subjected to those clouds can't be erased.

Ok, fine - forget what I said about "Unfairness" and "Sadness" and "political purposes" - Fuck the little bastard, because he certainly did all he could to Butt-Fuck America.

Then again, leaving now just might be the best thing for ole' Fredo - since it appears that the Bush Administration Ship of State has been permenently grounded on the rocky shoals of Congress - why not get out while the gettings good and the Congress Critters are all out of town?

At least we didn't have to waste time and energy Impeaching His Ass, now we can focus on preparing to Impeach Cheney!

Vyan

From the Frying Pan to the Fireball : Chertoff the worst possible replacement for Gone-Zo

As had been rumored before the announcement by Alberto Gonzales of his resignation this morning, the front-runner for his slot as Attorney General is none other than Michael Chertoff.

The Tiny Sliver of a Man behind The Brownie!

Hard to believe, but apparently true since the latest news isn't who'll replace Gonzales, it's that Bush Crony Clay Johnson just might be replacing Chertoff at DHS.

As I've said before, everytime you could imagine the stupidest possible thing in the world - George Bush is mostly likely to do that very thing.

Before we get into why Chertoff is an abominably bad choice, let quickly refresh our memories on how many interesting resignations we've had in the Bush Administration since the November 2006 Elections. (Pardon me if I indulge in a little Shadenfreude!)

• Albert Gonzales resigns amidst an intense Congressional Investigation on his multiple lies to Congress over the Politization of the DOJ, the Domestic Spying Program and Torture.
• Karl Rove just ahead of subpoenas for his testimony on the DOJ firing scandal, followed very likely by Contempt of Congress citations two weeks ago.
• DOJ executive Brad Schlozman resigned on Aug 20th while under investigation by the Inspector General for his involvment in politicizing and practicing employment discrimination at the Civil Rights Division of DOJ.
• Press Secretary Tony Snow announced his resignation on August 17.
• White House Counselor Dan Bartlett resigned in June.
• Joint Chiefs Chairman Peter Pace announced his retirement under direction of Rumsfeld replacment Robert Gates in order to avoid a tough re-confirmation fight with Congress in June.
• Former Assistant Secratary of Defense Paul Wolfowitz was forced out of his position at the World Bank after allegations of incompetence and nepotism in May. (Not connected to the New Congress - but still funny!)
• White House Political Director and assistant to Karl Rove, Sara Taylor resigned abruptly in May just before testifying (kinda) to Congress over White House involvement in the DOJ Scandal.
• Deputy NSC head J.D. Crouch retired in May to "Spend more time with his family"
• Deputy Attorney General Paul McNulty resigned in May just as he was scheduled to testify to Congress in May about the prosecutor purge.
• USAID head Randy Tobias resigned after allegations of his use of a call girl service.
• Karl Rove Protege and Patriot Act Replacment U.S. Attorney Tim Griffin resigned in May amid renewed allegations that he had been involved in an illegal voter caging scheme while working with the RNC in 2004.
• DOJ/White House Liason Monica Goodling Resigned just prior to her testimony on the DOJ Scandal in April for which she was granted immunity after initially refusing to talk and where she admitted to violations of the Hatch Act.
• DOJ Chief of Staff Kyle Sampson resigned in March - even though he was still on the payroll - as the DOJ Firing Scandal initially broke.
• White House Counsel Harriet Miers left in January and is now looking at Contempt of Congress charges for her refusal to testify about her involvement in the DOJ firings.
• After two turbulent recess appointments as UN Ambassador John Bolton resigned in late 2006.
• Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld, with numerous possible investigations from War Crimes to tampering with pre-war intelligence looming, resigned (for the third time) just one day before the November Elections.

As can be seen here, there is clearly a pattern among various levels of the Administration that When the Going Gets Tough, the Bushies Get Going!!

And just think, if we didn't have a Democratic Congress all of these people would very likely still be in their positions.

Now it looks like Chertoff will not be an back-door recess appointment since Gonzales will not be leaving until September 17th, right in the middle of Congress getting down and dirty with the Patreaus President's report on Iraq - are you thinking they might be a tad too distracted while making the next decision on contining the surge or implementing a bit of surge protection to really get into the nitty gritty with Chertoff? I am and I'm betting the White House is too.

But then again how could they forget this?

• Harry Reid calling for Chertoff's resignation "after the government dropped Las Vegas from a list of cities considered potential high-risk targets eligible for special anti-terrorism grants.".
• "An 11-member, all-Republican Congressional panel released a scathing report on the leadership failures before, during and after Katrina struck the Gulf Coast. While there is no shortage of incompetent public officials involved in this tragedy, one stands out above the rest. That person is Homeland Security Secretary Michael Chertoff."
• Even Brownie thought Chertoff should go because "FEMA had been "marginalized" by Chertoff and his predecessor, Tom Ridge," and had been a significant factor in the agencies failure to perform during Katrina.
• Michael Chertoff strongly supported the Dubai Ports Deal, despites warnings from the Coast Guard of possible terrorist infiltration.
• And then or course, there's Chertoff's Gut.

Although the final resignation of Gonzo can only be seen as a good thing for America and Democracy in the long term, the apparent nominal replacement of Chertoff seems like the beginning of an even larger nightmare of cronyism and incompetence. The only window of hope for a return to sanity we might have is the possibiity that Chertoff's confirmation will fail leaving Solicitor General Paul Clement in charge as interim AG to continue investigations of the Gonzales regime at the DOJ and seriously consider an Independent Counsel to look at the various misdeeds of the Bush White House while Gonzales headed things at justice.

Update: But even that ray of light seems incredibly slim as there are indications that he too will support the stonewall since he has already signed on to the President's excessive use of Executive Priviledge and may be just as much of a Federalist Society Wack-Job as Gonzo.

If Clement doesn't want to play ball, Congress will have to continue on the path they've already set - Inherent Contempt - but at least we don't have to Impeach the Bastard anymore so we can already consider that a win. If this were a war of atrition, I'd say the Dems have already taken quite a few scalps without having to pull the Impeachment trigger - yet.

Vyan

Tom Tomorrow : Plan 9 from Inside the Beltway

What a difference six years makes - or not!

Vyan

Fox : Ted Nugent Wants to Run for Office

Continuing our Nuge-Watch, it seems that Fox & Friends have noticed Ted's little homocidal rantings in Anaheim, and even they don't really think it was a good idea.

Really? Ya think?
Today it appears that Fox & Friends has noticed that this video exists, but they just can't quite make out what Terrible Ted actually said, which - for the record - was this:

Nugent: I was in Chicago last week I said, "Hey Obama, you might want to suck on one of these, you punk?" Obama, he’s a piece of shit and I told him to suck on one of my machine guns. Let’s hear it for them. I was in New York and I said, "Hey Hillary, you might want to ride one of these into the sunset you worthless bitch." Since I’m in California, I’m gonna find Barbara Boxer she might wanna suck on my machine guns. Hey, Dianne Feinstein, ride one of these you worthless whore.

Even the Fox Friends think that commentary like this just might get you a visit from the Secret Service, but lets also think about the fact that Ted, who is decidedly male and kinda pale just threatened a) A Black Man and b) Three Women - you think he might also receive a visit from the FBI for possible a Hate Crime violations? Hmm...

Accoring to the current FBI Uniform Crime Stats the vast majority of Hate Crimes reported in the country are Anti-Black. (37% of all Victims) while the greatest percentage of these incidents, contrary to popular thought, are not acts of actual violence - but of intimidation (28% of all incidents)

More Data.

In 2005, law enforcement agencies reported that 4,691 hate crime offenses were racially motivated. Of these offenses:

* 68.2 percent were triggered by anti-black bias.
* 19.9 percent were motivated by anti-white bias.

And on the homo-erotic bent of Ted's rant.

Sexual-Orientation Bias

In 2005, law enforcement agencies reported 1,171 hate crime offenses based on sexual- orientation bias.

* 60.9 percent were anti-male homosexual.
* 19.5 percent were anti-homosexual.
* 15.4 percent were anti-female homosexual.

This is not play the "race card" or to suggest that Obama is gay, more that the preferred method for a typical "Alpha Male" is to sexually subvert and dominant his victim ("Suck on That") whether they are male or female, white or black. I would have included more data on Male/Female incidents of Assault and Intimidatation (not to mention rape) but it seems the FBI only breaks down the Murder stats by the gender of the victim, and for that most part their is little difference between blacks and whites in this area. Most of the victims are male (6,466 in 2005) rather than female (712), but then so are most of the offenders.

The ultimately point - which even the Fox & Friends talking hair-pieces picked up on - is how likelyhood that Ted's ravings and the thunderous applause he received might help justify and excuse violence and intimidation tactics against these Democrats (or their supporters) in the future?

Vyan