X-Tra Rant

Well this story is hitting all over the place. Even though I’m still insanely busy, this is too good to pass up.

Remember the Niger yellowcake lie that Bush told during his SOTU address? Remember how Ambassador Joseph Wilson, the guy sent to Niger to investigate the claim back in the day, is the one who really outed the President’s lie? And do you remember columnist/GOP toady Robert Novak printing a story about how Wilson’s wife was an undercover agent for the CIA investigating and tracking WMD sales?

That is a violation of federal law. (Ironically, one that was passed by Bush’s daddy, I believe.) Plain and simple. And it isn’t Novak that could be in trouble. It’s whoever made the leaks. And “whoever” looks to be two senior White House officials…

All I gotta say is that it’s about fuckin’ time the Bush administration became the “focus of an inquiry”. You know, like that $74 million inquiry into the Clintons that turned up nothing except a blowjob. Only maybe this time about important stuff that truly threatens the security of our nation.

Nothing happens in this White House without the approval of Karl Rove. Rove has been Bush’s primary handler since he was governor of Texas. My guess as to who the “two senior administration officials” are is that it was Rove and Ari Fleischer. A lot of people are pointing to Condi Rice, but I don’t see her as being that slimy. But we shall see.

The worst part of all of this is that it’s up to the Justice Department to decide whether their should be an official criminal investigation. Anyone wondering if Herr John Ashcroft is reallllly going to put his boss on the line like that? Somehow I have a feeling in a couple of months, under the cover of some other big news item that’s taking up the front pages (much like the stories about no smallpox or other biological weapons or even the production capacity to produce them has been found in Iraq was released during the build up to Hurricaine Isabel), the story will get released that the Justice Department has found “no credible reason to linkt he White House to the matter” and they’ll find some operative in the CIA to take the fall. They’ll be hoping for a distracted American public and a complacent Democratic party.

Let’s hope it doesn’t go down that way. There NEEDS to be an investigation and “two senior administration officials” NEED to end up in the pokey. Kelly and I have both said if Karl Rove goes to jail we’re throwing a party.

For more on the story check out these articles: White House Probed Over Leak, Bush Aides Say They’ll Cooperate With Probe Into Intelligence Leak, A White House Smear, and of course the indespensible Atrios and Josh Marshall.

And speaking of the Niger yellowcake lie making it into the White House even after three months before CIA Directory George Tenet had asked that it be striken from a speech to be given by Bush in Cincinnati, how did that happen? How did this discredited piece of info make it into the most important Presidential speech of the year, the one used to lay out a case for war (a case that has been proven a lie)? Well, Condi clears it alllll up for us when talking to Tim Russert.

So they forgot!! Well I feel so much better now. I mean, they just forgot. No big deal.

Oh yeah, about that part that the CIA cleared the SOTU address…. I seem to remember an article (lost the link) about Dick Cheney visiting CIA headquarters alot leading up to the speech, clearly putting pressure on people to clear it. But hey, I’m sure he just forgot that was unethical. Kinda like he must have forgot that it was unethical to still be taking loads of money from Halliburton, even while he’s VP and Halliburton is getting gajillions of dollars in no bid, open ended contracts.

If the memories of the people in the White House are so feeble, shouldn’t they, oh I dunno, not be there?

I know it’s been WAY too long, but I told you about my new job and it’s just keeping me swamped. Been working 10-13 hour days for the past 4 or 5 workdays. Anyway, it should settle down in a week or so, then I can get back to blogging (although still probably not as much). I love the new position, but it’s very time consuming.

Okay… back to work. Just wanted to let you know I’m doing okay, just going crazy. That’s all.

Don’t you hate it when you are in a debate with someone and you’re doing well, holding your own. Even get one good punch in. But it’s the next morning you think of what might have been a knock out blow (if not a solid hook to the jaw that staggers the opponent for a few rounds)?

Enough with the boxing analogies.

Anyway, I took my dad to dinner last night, went to Claddagh (a chain-ish but VERY good Irish restaurant/pub with amazing fish & chips and really good Guinness) and then to Starbucks where we got into our usual Conservative vs. Liberal debates - all friendly, sometimes heated. Got in a good one about how the tax cuts are actually causing state and local tax increases across the country (effectively negating the cut). We got into the invasion of Iraq some, and he even admitted that they lied about the reasons (although to him, the war was still justified because Saddam was a bad man).

But this is where I dropped the ball. It was 4th and goal on the 1 foot line and instead of punching it in with my power back I kicked a field goal. (What’s with my sports alalogies today?)

I should have brought up this: Basically, everyone is admitting that Bush and everyone in his administration not only lied to the American people, but lied to Congress and the United Nations about the justification for a war that has killed hundreds of US and British servicemen and women, injured thousands (many very greusome), killed over 6000 Iraqi civilians and actually increased the hatred towards our country. They lied to start a war. Simple as that. How, someone tell me, is this lie not INFINITELY worse than Bill Clinton lieing about a damn blowjob?!

Let’s see the GOP thinking here. You lie about a blowjob, you get impeached. All other accusations thrown at him in 8 years - rape, drugs, murder, abuse of power, etc. were shown to be wholly false and without merit. Even the Starr Report says there was nothing to Whitewater and the other accusations against him. The only thing they got him on was the lie under oath about the blowjobs from Monica. Pretty much the whole Whitewater invistgation, all $45 million of it, found only a lie that 99% of men in the world would tell if caught getting some action from someone other than their wife.

But if you lie about war and death and destruction and the destruction of our alliances and world respect and cost us over a hundred billion dollars a year for this war and get us into a situation that just breeds MORE terrorism, well, I guess that’s okay to them.

Jeebus on a cracker, give me a break. If this isn’t the highlight of GOP hypocricy, I don’t know what is. And I didn’t even think to use that argument.

Damn.

Oh well, as usual it was an enlightening and spirited debate. Happy (belated now) Birthday dad. Even though we disagree alot, it’s always fun (in that heated debate way :).

(Note: I added some PNAC info to the end of this entry. If you already read this entry but didn’t see the PNAC quotes, scroll down and check ‘em out)

Hey all. Yeah, I’m alive. I’ve just been crazy busy at work, not even having time to do an occaisional update from work. Why, you might ask (but probably didn’t)? Well, I got a sorta-promotion (a lateral move to more responsibility and an office but without a pay raise) and it’s going to be keeping me super crazy busy. I’m now NSI Software’s Performance Tester, right at a time where we are focusing on performance. Good times. It’s one of those moves that, if it goes well, could be VERY good for me.

Of course, if it goes badly, well…..

Anyway, it’s been a bit crazy in the political world huh? While Even-Tricker Dick Cheney still hedges around the issue and leaves open the possibility of a link between Iraq and al-Qaeda (which 70% of Americans, actually beleive.. morons), the intelligence community says it is “stunned” by Cheney’s lies and the lack of a link is pretty damning. Also, now Rummy himself is saying he sees no link between 9/11 and Iraq. But of course, if Rummy now says he sees and never really saw a link, why was he asking for plans to invade Iraq 5 hours after the attacks on 9/11? It wouldn’t have anything to do with the PNAC*, would it? Nahhhhhh that’s obviously unpatriotic crazy talk and Mr. “I’m Scared of Naked Statues” Ashcroft will take away my citizenship and lock me up in Cuba for even thinking such a thing.

Good God they can’t even keep their lies straight anymore.

Speaking of Rummy Rumsfeld, doesn’t he remind you of someone?

Just wonderin’

*Re: PNAC

Funny how 5 hours after the “new Pearl Harbor” on 9/11, Rummy asked for plans to invade Iraq, a need that “transcends the issue of the regime of Saddam Hussein.” Go figure.

Know who some of the people involced with the PNAC are? Paul Wolfowitz (deputy Secretary of Defense), Donald Rumsfeld (Secretary of Defense), VP Dick Cheney, William Kristol (conservative pundit/author and Bush toady).. the list goes on and on of those in power now or those who bow directly to that power in the media or in think tanks. The invasion of Iraq has been on the boards for years, it just took 9/11 to give the radical conservatives a way to justify it with easily swallowed lies about terrorist ties and WMDs.

See PNAC.info for more .. well.. info!

The recap of the trip that Kelly and I took to the Harkin Steak Fry is up (with some pictures). Check it out (and I promise, I’ll get the Montreal and Burlington pics up soon). We had a great time.

On the topic of the “L word”, I’m quite annoyed at how Rush, et al. on the right have turned the world “liberal” into some kind of dirty word that you should feel ashamed of if it is applied to you. It’s the unfortunate reason that many liberals now call themselves “porgressives.” I must admit, though, it’s a good word to use. How can you demonize anyone who is for progress?

Let’s look at the definitions (I’ve seen another blogger long ago do the same thing. I’d give credit if I could remember who it was).

I, personally, am much more comfortable with being compared to someone defined by progress, tolerant behavior and freedom from bigotry than to something that opposes change. It’s amazing how the simple dictionary definitions of the words really do describe the two parties quite well. Of course maybe it’s just that Liberal Dictionary Printing Media (a subdivision of the Scary And Opressive Liberal Media that I can’t seem to locate anywhere on my radio/television dial or on my newsstand.). :\

I am a liberal, I am a progressive, and damnit I’m not ashamed of it. If anyone should be ashamed, it’s anyone who thinks what Bush is doing is in any way conservative (instead of seeing it for the extremism that it really is). I go back to a quote from the Paul Krugman interview I linked to yesterday…

Do you want to be associated with a movement that has the goal of removing over 100 years of hard fought gains for the less fortunate, removing safety nets and protections for those that fall on hard times. Is that what you, my conservative readers (haha I can think of only one conservative that regularly stops by this site), want to be associated with?

Just curious.

First up, a great column by Molly Ivins. Must read. “How dumb do they think we are?”

Nice to see American regard for universal civil rights going the way of the dodo…

Editor & Publisher wonders if the press will roll over and play dead for the upcoming WMD report story. I gotta say, I wonder too. So far teh press has done very well at not asking many tough questions.

Bush wants three new laws that will even further erode our civil rights. Welcome to the new America! Land of the paranoid, home of the police state. The Monster Limo Weblog says it better, with a better touch of humor, than I can. I defer to Consider Arms

I really really wish the American major press has the guts that the Brits do. Oh, to long for our formerly free press…

It’s nice to see the White House getting tough on security holes in our country. Well, except when they don’t want to pay for it (and instead want tax cuts). Or like this example of many in a great article, they get alot of campaign contributions from the affected industry.

It’s been two years, why are ther eso many unanswered questions about 9/11? The Philadelphia Daily News asks 20 tought questions that the Bush Administration has yet to answer…

An excellent, excellent, excellent interview on Buzzflash with Paul Krugman.

If Bush actually gave this speech penned “for” him by Greg Palast, it would be the only way I could ever respect him. At all. Even one tiny bit.

In non-crazy Republican news, the RIAA sued a 12-year old girl and got her family to pony up $2,000 isntead of facing a $150,000 per song lawsuit due to the girl downloading music. Jeebus, why don’t they try fixing their industry to meet the demands of the 21st centruy instead of thrashing around like a dieing whale on a beach, thinking they “deserve” profits for all eternity.

And Dean talked to retired Gen. Wesley Clark…. they may have even discussed a Dean-Clark ticket. Clark being a candidate does worry me a bit. He certainly has soem good credentials. But so far I haven’t heard a word from him on domestic issues. I tend to think he’d be a perfect VP candidate, no matter who gets the presidential nod.

Well, it’s two years later. I can still remember 9/11/2001 like it was yesterday. It was my first day at my new job at Borders Bookstore. I didn’t have to be in until 2 so I was sleeping in when my mother called me and told me to turn on the TV. By this time both towers had already been struck, but neither had come down yet. The only words I could think were “Oh my God” over and over. Then I remembered that my dad was on a flight to Europe the night before but it had been delayed to the morning of the 11th due to a mechanical problem (or something like that). While my mom had talked to the airline and they said that he was off the ground before any of the hijacked planes had left, there was still alot of uncertainty until I got an email from my dad… he was in Amsterdam and safe.

Not long after events took place, the world gave us its support. People everywhere, of all races, nationalities and creeds were proclaiming “we are all Americans.” It really was a beautiful thing and gave me alot of hope for how we, as a world, would handle this problem.

But then the ominous clouds of fear started to roll in. Bush hopped around the country to “stay out of harm’s way” and the White House proclaimed that Air Force One had been threatened.. a claim that was later shown to be quite dubious. Words like “Homeland” and “evildoers” and “dead or alive” started being thrown around. The “Patriot Act” came down the turnpike and gave a big slap in the face to the Bill of Rights and the very freedoms that this country was being attacked for having.. yet it passed congress without question or debate. Now you can have your phone wire tapped, your library records examined and you can be named an ‘enemy combatant’ and arrested with no rights for just thinking of something and having the bad fortune to have a big mouth (see Joseph Padilla).

Then more things started to come down the wire… more tax cuts for the wealthy, renewed research in tactical (small, battlefield) nuclear weapons, increased push for missile defense (what, terrorists have ICBMs now?), cuts in social programs for health care & education, talk of war in the Middle East.. the list goes on and on. What did these have to do with terrorism? Aren’t these just the same conservative wishes that have been around for years? Yet our elected officials in Congress did nothing to stop them.

Now we are involved in a war in Iraq… many people questioned its need. We were shown evidence that has largely been shown to be false, exaggerated or plain misstated. We went anyway and now at least 6118 Iraqi civilians are dead. For what? For false claims of WMDs? For false claims of ties to al-Qaeda and Osama? How did that help the war on terror? (Actually, a recent poll shows more Americans now think the invasion of Iraq increased our risk of attacks by terrorists.)

Bush created our Department of Homeland Security and promised we’d make our airports, ports and cities more safe. Yet policemen and firemen are being laid off… barely any money has been spent on port security and Homeland Security’s budget is HALF that requested by Bush as additional spending for Iraq and Homeland Security’s budget will fall short by $98 billion what it needs to do its job.

Are we safer now than we were two years ago? No. Are we more at risk due to unilateral wars and disregard for world opinion? Yes. Have we squandered the positive world opinion not only generated by 9/11, but by decades of multilateralism and cooperation? The very thing we need to fight against a non-centralized foe such as “terror”? Yes.

After the events of the past 2 years, after how we’ve squandered our money, our good will, our resources and our brave soldiers who are dieing in Iraq… can you really say that George W. Bush has been a good leader through these trying times?

I only hope that we as a nation can stay strong and elect someone in 2004 that will not only repair the damage done to us by the terrorists, but the damage done to our nation by the right-wing extremists that have used the shock of 9/11 to push their radical agenda instead of truly doing what is needed to make us safer.

My thoughts today go out to anyone who lost a loved one or friend on 9/11, on the battlefields of Afghanistan and in the deserts of Iraq. May those of you with friends and family still in danger see their safe return home soon.

An entry later with more links and commentary. I wanted to write this first, though.

For a much better commentary on this than I could write, check out Luis’ (of Blog from Another Dimension) commentary on his new political site, The Expat (which will promptly be joining the Blogroll).

I had to write a letter to the editor of the Indianapolis Star for this latest piece of trash on their opinion page:

Here is my response. We’ll see if I get any sort of response from the paper.

Have a few juicy links for you, but first RIP Warren Zevon. Yesterday was definitely a sad day. In addition to that sad news, Indiana Gov. Frank O’Bannon suffered a stroke in Chicago and is in serious condition in a coma. Right now prognosis is uncertain but things don’t look very good. Gov. O’Bannon is definitely one of the Good Guys, a very dedicated public servant who always put Hoosiers first. My throughts are with him and his family and hope for a speedy recovery.

Now on to the political linkage. First up, you MUST go over to Take Back The Media and check out this wonderful article and analysis of Bush’s behavior on the morning of 9/11. The main question: Bush knew when he left for his elementary school appearance that planes were hijacked and one had crashed into the WTC< yet he chose to read a story about a goat for 29 minutes instead. Then watch the flash movie by American Stranger about this.

NYT Op-Ed is starting to grow a lot more balls and really taking on the Preznit. They savage his little dog and pony show Sunday night, then the biggest surprise… FINALLY…they question Bush’s character!

But hey, at least he didn’t get a blowjob. :\

Any semi-regular reader on here will have figured out that I love Paul Krugman’s opinion pieces in the NYT. He’s an economist that can make economics interesting, and on top of that he’s not afraid to take on W head on and attack him with clear, concise and logical arguments based in fact. Well, it seems that Krugman now as a new book out, and Salon wrote a review that isn’t heaped in praise (and I agree, it would have been nice to have a new original work rather than a collection of columns), but is definitely good reading:

Who didn’t see this straw man coming. Rummy’s out parroting the new GOP line: if you criticize Bush and our miserable quagmire in Iraq, you are only helping the terrorists. “Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld said on Monday opposition to the U.S. President was encouraging Washington’s enemies and hindering his ‘war against terrorism’.” Jeebus Christ on a cracker that’s the most ridiculous statement I’ve heard from the White House. This week.

And Blog from Another Dimension does a good examination of another GOP straw man - the one that says that all these Democrats questioning Bush’s handling of Iraq want us to “cut and run”. You’d be surprised at the spin. Well, surprised if you’re just turning your brain on for the first time.

I wanted to do more linking but I gotta get back to work. And I know, I still haven’t put up all my pictures from my trip. But the good news is Kelly and I are taking the weekend to go to Iowa and get our politics on. I’ll try to bring the laptop and do an update out there. We’ll see.