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Monday, April 25, 2005
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1,573. Nothing.
Zip.
Zero.
Nada.
In other words, what the life of our soldiers and the safety of our nation is worth to George W. Bush.
CIA's final report: No WMD found in Iraq
In his final report, the CIA’s top weapons inspector
in Iraq said Monday that the hunt for weapons of mass destruction has
gone "as far as feasible" and has found nothing, closing an 18-month
investigation into the purported programs of Saddam Hussein that were
used to justify the 2003 invasion.
"As matters now stand, the WMD investigation has gone as far as
feasible," wrote Charles Duelfer, who led the Iraq Survey Group. "After
more than 18 months, the WMD investigation and debriefing of the
WMD-related detainees has been exhausted."
If you're curious what the number in the title means, click here. [Oliver Willis - Like Kryptonite To Stupid]
9:40:45 PM 
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Boo-Hoo.....
Speaking of crybabies, one just joined in the last thread commenting
The coinage of the phrase 'nuclear option' and the adoption of it by extreme leftist groups is appalling and the real crybaby tactic. The GOP should do everything in their constitutional power to exert their will and instill judges they see fit.
The 'nuclear option' is nothing more than a constitutional option and groups like NOW, etc using the egregious term 'nuclear option' shows that they are indeed the true crybabies these days. Now I was going to respond to this in the comments, but I want to make sure this is on the front page where everyone can see it. Here's a link to a Free Republic thread (which quotes a Washington Times article) from two years ago that pretty much destroys the lie that the phrase "nuclear option" was coined by Democrats :
Republicans could immediately break the current filibusters against two of President Bush's judicial nominees with a rarely used parliamentary procedure that would confirm them through a simple majority vote, according to a plan under consideration by Senate Republicans.
The tactic would be so drastic in the usually congenial Senate that Republicans refer to it as their "nuclear option."
Sen. Arlen Specter, Pennsylvania Republican, alluded to the maneuver in a Judiciary Committee hearing yesterday, but added ominously, "I'm not going to discuss that." To the commenter quoted above, you're just a pawn the the GOP's Orwellian chess game. You're being lied to by the people you support because they know they can count on people like you to spread their lies without ever second-guessing them. You may prefer the term "constitutional option" but the talking points you're blindly regurgitating won't change the fact that the derogatory label for this planned rule change was the result of Republican machismo that backfired.
You're right that the "nuclear option" is constitutional, but you know what else is?? Filibustering judicial nominations. Specifically, it's covered under the "advice and consent" clause in Article II, Section 2 of the Constitution. The United States Senate, in carrying out their duty, can do so under any rules that they wish. For the past 200 years, the filibuster has been one of the parliamentary procedures used during this process. In their infinite wisdom, the Founding Fathers gave the Senate the ability to change the rules because they knew that someday, the party in control of every branch of the government would only get 95% of what they want. So, while you're correct when you say that this option is "constitutional", it's still a chickenshit idea and we're well within our rights to remind people of that.
The Bush administration has nominated a handful of judges that are totally unacceptable. If this weren't so, convincing a few Democratic "centrists" like Joementum wouldn't be a problem. Unable to change minds, however, the Republicans want to change rules instead. This may be legal, it's a childish move by people who don't like to admit that they've been beaten at their own game. You might think they deserve credit for trying to move the goalposts, but where I grew up, we had a rule for the kids who tried to cheat and threw temper tantrums whenever they couldn't win fair and square : crybabies. [The Talent Show]
8:16:10 PM
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Hard Landings II....
When I look at the galleys of the new edition of my Macroeconomics textbook, I am struck by a sense of disappointment. Don't get me wrong--I do think that it is better than every other macro textbook out there, being clearer (though less comprehensive) than Abel-Bernanke, more comprehensive (at the cost of only a little bit of additional difficulty) than Mankiw, and much more approachable (though not as theoretically sophisticated) than Blanchard. But I wish that people who read through or take a course based on the book could then have the tools needed to analyze things like, say, the current debate over the dangers to the U.S. economy from a "hard landing" of the international monetary system. And the textbook doesn't quite get you there. The amount of material needed to bring students truly up-to-speed on the major issues of the day seems to be a little bit more than I can dare demand. If I were teaching intermediate macro right now, I would be very tempted to push the envelope and try to get the students to that spot right now. So here are my thoughts on the possibility of a "hard landing," crafted so that they can...
[Brad DeLong's Semi-Daily Journal]
8:15:10 PM
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The Democratic Response.
I mentioned in my earlier post today about Senator Reid and the Nuclear Option that the Democratic response to the end of judicial filibusters would be to end deference to the majority party's agenda. This menas that instead of going through committee, Democrats would...
[MyDD]
6:01:14 PM
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US guards at Guantanamo tortured me, says UK man.
Severin Carrell | April 24
The Independent - A British resident has claimed he was tortured by US guards at Guantanamo Bay, suffering violent sexual assaults, near drowning and an attack in which he was blinded. The Independent on Sunday has been given a detailed account from Omar Deghayes of repeated abuse by American and Pakistani interrogators over the past three years including electric shocks and sodomy by US guards. In some of the most disturbing allegations to emerge from Guantanamo, Mr Deghayes also accuses US and Pakistani interrogators of beating him repeatedly since his arrest three years ago, smearing his face with human excrement, starving him of food, and withdrawing light and clothing. AP reported the story first and it was picked up by about only 30 outlets. The few others that reported anything picked up the Independent article, which is more detailed. Only the foreign press used Carrel's reporting. Is torture and Guantanamo Bay now just yesterday's news, relegated to the trash heap of 'who cares anymore' ?
-ww
This article is posted under fair use rules in accordance with Title 17 U.S.C. Section 107, and is strictly for the educational and informative purposes of our readers.
[The Agonist]
4:22:48 PM
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Health Care WrapUp.
Having spent the last week of my life drowning in health care statistics and system comparisons (the products of which you can read here), I want to make a few wrap-up points on the whole thing. First, I see...
[Ezra Klein]
4:20:29 PM
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Chipless Bargaining.
CRAWFORD, Texas (Reuters) - President Bush said on Monday he was concerned about near-record oil and gasoline prices and pressed Crown Prince Abdullah on how much Saudi Arabia could increase production. "I look forward to talking to him about that,"...
[Fanatical Apathy]
4:19:34 PM
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Anyone else notice that the pro-Bolton pushback has been curiously tepid on the issues raised by numerous press reports? That Bolton was pulled off the Libya team at the request of the highest officials in the UK. That he retaliated...
[War and Piece]
9:59:47 AM
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Frames And Winning Social Security. 
Why have Democrats done so well on the struggle over Social Security when we did so poorly on so many other titanic struggles? Framing might be the answer.
As frustrating as it may be whenever one encounters an... [MyDD]
9:57:23 AM
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Frist continues to miss the point.
Bill Frist, as scheduled, shared his thoughts on the federal judiciary during yesterday's controversial "Justice Sunday" rally. But Frist seemed to take inordinate joy in reminding anyone who would listen that his remarks were less-than radical. Without mentioning DeLay, Frist, a Tennessee Republican, said, "Our judiciary must be independent, impartial and fair. When we think judicial [...]
[The Carpetbagger Report]
9:55:53 AM
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Crowd-control efforts reach bizarre depths.
In case you missed it over the weekend, the Bush administration's Nixonian passion for penalizing their enemies has reached almost-comedic levels. The Inter-American Telecommunication Commission meets three times a year in various cities across the Americas to discuss such dry but important issues as telecommunications standards and spectrum regulations. But for this week's meeting in Guatemala [...]
[The Carpetbagger Report]
9:54:22 AM
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For everything else, there’s Jack Abramoff’s credit card.
There are any number of amusing angles to the latest Tom DeLay revelations, but the scandal-ridden Majority Leader's response to the whole mess was my personal favorite. It's a keeper. The airfare to London and Scotland in 2000 for then-House Majority Whip Tom DeLay (R-Tex.) was charged to an American Express card issued to Jack Abramoff, [...]
[The Carpetbagger Report]
9:02:27 AM
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Hybrid sales increase 81% in 2004.
Hybrid Car Sales Soar in U.S. in 2004The lure of the Toyota Prius and other hybrid cars helped drive healthy sales of electric and alternative-powered vehicles last year, according to new data that shows the hybrid market has grown by 960 percent since 2000. (...)
[South Knox Bubba]
8:57:46 AM
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How'd they do that? 
Ooops, another pipeline blown to shit
Bolder insurgent tactics unleashed in Iraq
By JOSEPH L. GALLOWAY
Knight Ridder Newspapers
..................
In the case of the remote and isolated Marine base at Husaybah, the insurgents massed a force estimated to number more than 100 men and distracted the defenders with mortar and rocket-propelled grenade attacks as a dump truck loaded with explosives blew apart a roadblock at the entrance to the base.
Marine defenders, their ears ringing from that blast, then saw a bright red fire truck, loaded with propane tanks filled with explosives, come thundering through the thick smoke aiming at the gap opened by the dump truck suicide bomber. A Marine sentry poured fire into the fire truck and it exploded 40 yards short.
The insurgents then attacked in force, attempting to overrun the American base. They were thrown back after losing an estimated 19 killed and 15 wounded as fighter-bombers and helicopter gunships summoned by the Marines raked their positions. Only three Marines were lightly wounded.
....................
American commanders long ago recognized the ability of the terrorist leaders to adapt quickly to changing conditions and exploit any perceived weakness. Some U.S. commanders privately hoped that this day would come when the poorly trained terrorists would go head-to-head with American regulars. If terrorists come out in the open in large numbers, it makes it easier to find them and kill them.
The insurgent and terrorist leaders score points for being able to pull a company-size attack force together quickly in so open and barren a terrain, and to plan and coordinate a complicated, precisely timed assault. But it’s good their fighters are all volunteers for martyrdom. When a hundred of them charge a hard-core battalion of 700-plus Marines, that’s what awaits.
Some Pentagon officials say that the bigger scale attacks reflect the frustration of terrorist commander and al Qaeda ally Abu Musab Zarqawi at the lack of attention the roadside bombs receive at this stage of the war
.....................
That analyst added, “The argument about ‘bigger targets equals easier to find and hit’ to a degree fails to explain if we are looking as hard as we should be, how did the ‘bigger targets’ get formed up without detection?”
Mr. Galloway is the senior military correspondent for Knight Ridder Newspapers.
I see it differently.
First of all Zarqawi don't know dick about military tactics, this is nothing he's a part of. The people who are executing this have been training, hard, for weeks if not months, and have a command structure. This has the hand of the ex-Iraqi Army all over it, not some Jordanian fat man who likes bombs.
Second, the Iraqis know exactly how many people they're facing when they attack, they can tell you what they had for breakfast and what PS2 games they play. They aren't trying to overrun a base with 100 men, they are demonstrating to the US that they are not safe in their bases. They want the US to know that they can be attacked in force anytime, anywhere.
What would worry me is when those hundred guys show up, not outside the base, but in a town, and ambush a patrol. The Iraqis have now demonstrated the ability to keep the Americans pinned in their bases and to form up without being seen. Now, what day do they do this and ambush a convoy or hit a small post in town with the same level of skill. The failed attacks are no big deal. The skill behind them is worrisome to say the least. And Zarqaqi ain't nowhere in the picture. He can do some car bombings, but company-sized attacks? Nope.
Eassier to find and kill? Sure, if you think there's a small pool. But in a country so deeply militarized as Iraq, that's a pretty big pool to drain. And easy? Not if they trap them on a highway or overrun them on patrol, which surely is rhe next step. The E-ring says "wheee, another failed attack. Our boys rock" and all I can think is that's some pretty slick work for rag-tag guerrillas. They're already slick, when do they get successful?
[Steve Gilliard's News Blog]
8:39:56 AM
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The Latest Crusade?
According to some, it started yesterday when a church was used to televize political propaganda. I may be a little slow on the uptake here, but isn't the tax-free status of the churches based on them not adopting a political role of this kind? I'm probably wrong. It must be something that used to be true but no longer is.
We heard several speakers in the "Justice Sunday", including
R. Albert Mohler Jr., president of the Southern Baptist Theological Seminary in Louisville, who said that putting more evangelicals on the court will mean rulings more in tune with the religious convictions of churchgoers.
"We are not asking for persons merely to be moral," Mohler said. "We want them to be believers in the Lord Jesus Christ."
And then there was Tony Perkins whose organization orchestrated the roadshow:
"Just because we believe the in the Bible as a guidepost for life does not disqualify us from participating in our government," said Tony Perkins, president of the Family Research Council. "As American citizens, we should not have to choose between believing what is in this book and serving the public."
And Charles W. Pickering (of the sour grapes fame as he was turned down for a nomination to the Circuit Court of Appeals because of racism):
"If Christians don't stand up and don't participate, I cringe about the future."
The final touches were put on by James C. Dobson, the founder of Focus on Family (a wingnut think tank) who has decided that threatening Republicans is the way to get to Gilead post-haste:
"Republicans are really good at trembling," Dobson told members of the audience. "Get a hold of them and tell them that you care and you will remember how you vote."
It's all very whiny and victimish. I thought that was our role in politics? The wingnuts are supposed to be the ones in power right now. So what are they complaining about? Nothing seems to be enough for them. The majority of Supreme Court Judges are Republicans but they are not wingnutty enough, it seems. Well, until Scalia can be cloned it's hard to do much better than the current bench. Sorry, Dobson.
Frist decided to step into this mess with only one foot. He sent a video of his statements which carefully avoided mentioning religion, yet equally carefully argued the same points as the extreme radical clerics mentioned above. This is the sort of problem you get when you habitually ride tigers and think that you can control them.
[ECHIDNE OF THE SNAKES]
8:07:44 AM
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Why Oh Why Are We Ruled by These Fools (Martin Wolf Now Heads the Order of the Shrill Department).
The mild-mannered and very sensible Martin Wolf out-shrills Paul Krugman--and matches me, at least according to my own internal shrill-o-meter. And all he has to do to reach this pitch is to look around him: FT.com / Home UK - America's deficits are more than just China's problem: John Snow, the US treasury secretary, insisted that China should embrace a looser exchange rate immediately. Mr Snow is not the organ-grinder of US economic policy but the monkey.... As Nouriel Roubini of New York University promptly responded, the US attack on one of its principal creditors is playing with fire. In the past two years, he argues, three quarters of the US fiscal deficit has been financed by foreign central banks, 100 per cent of the fiscal deficit has been financed from abroad and about 80 per cent of the current account deficit has been financed by foreign central banks. Biting the hand that feeds one is folly.... [T]he US general government fiscal deficit this year will be 4.4 per cent of gross domestic product, while the current account deficit is forecast to be 5.8 per cent of GDP. At present... the American people are able to consume and invest as...
[Brad DeLong's Semi-Daily Journal]
6:18:29 AM
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Nixonian Paranoia Watch.
The Bush administration is blackballing the attendance of technical experts at a telecom standards meeting this week if they contributed money to John Kerry's campaign. A telecom standards meeting! Just to give you a flavor of what we're...
[Political Animal]
5:54:11 AM
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Where Paris Hilton's Tax Cuts Are Going.
Another chapter from the annals of "America has the best medical care in the world":In Tennessee, Gov. Phil Bredesen plans to end coverage for more than 320,000 adults, many of them elderly. In California,...
[Political Animal]
5:12:36 AM
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An estimated 1.2 million people, which would be "the largest march for democracy in Mexican history," rallied on Sunday in support of Mexico City's mayor. Other reports put the crowd size at "hundreds of thousands." Earlier: 'As democracy goes south of the border, the Bush administration is notably silent.'
[Cursor.org]
4:58:44 AM
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A lawyer for the three people removed from a President Bush town hall meeting in Denver said he's seeking to identify who escorted them out "because we're going to sue." The Secret Service has reportedly opened a criminal investigation into the incident, as "The White House stonewalling continues."
[Cursor.org]
4:58:00 AM
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The Los Angeles Times reports that "leading business lobbying associations ... have told senior Republicans that they would not back the Frist initiative to force votes on President Bush's judicial nominees," and refers to internal GOP polling data that prompts the question, 'Filibusted?'
[Cursor.org]
4:57:15 AM
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Today's Action Alert
Today's Action comes via pflag:
Dear friends and colleagues,
A judge is being followed 24/7 by bodyguards to protect him against death threats and hate mail that he has been receiving. You might think this story comes from Iraq, but it's happening in San Francisco right now. It's happening to Judge Richard Kramer, who recently issued a historic decision that determined it is against California's state constitution to deny civil marriage licenses to gay and lesbian couples.
According to a good friend of mine who speaks with Judge Kramer regularly, Judge Kramer is depressed that mail against his decision outnumbers mail in favor by a ratio of 10 to 1. He is depressed because he is bathing daily in a bath of vituperation and hatred. He is depressed because the people who oppose his decision are not interested in the rule of law but the rule of ideologies and emotions.
So i am asking you a favor: please take out your pen - yes, your pen, i ask for your hand in this - and write Judge Kramer a brief note of support.
If you are straight, please mention this.
If you live out of state, explain how it might touch and affect you to know that a California judge has had the courage to interpret the law scrupulously and in accordance with the evidence and our fundamental principles of equal justice for all, as our system requires.
Please note that Judge Kramer is known to be a conservative and prudent jurist. He is a married Catholic and a Republican, and was appointed to the bench by a Republican. So it is difficult to write off his opinion as one biased by a liberal or personal agenda.
And please, forward this email on to your own list, and ask your friends and colleagues to write as well. If we do not support and defend people who act with integrity and stand up for what is right, who will?
Your letter should be sent to:
Judge Richard Kramer
Civic Center Courthouse
400 McAllister Street
San Francisco, CA 94102-4514
Thanks for taking today's action.
[ECHIDNE OF THE SNAKES]
4:07:25 AM
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Justice Sunday
Welcome all brethren in Christ! This is a blog run on the literal interpretation of the Bible! Halleluyah! Now let us pray.
And now let us read this sentence from the Bible and let us harbor it in our minds and hearts:
Deuteronomy 22:11: Thou shalt not wear a garment of divers sorts, as of woolen and linen together.
And what do we see when we look at the Nine Wicked Judges in the Supreme Court? Woolen gowns over linen shirts! Woolen suspenders over linen trousers! And who knows how much more wickedness there might be in the hidden underlayers! Fie!
Now, my brethren, be not disheartened. We are right and we shall win. The evil Democrat filibustering will end and the words of the Holy Book will be the Law of this land. The true believers will be victorious! Stores will be built separately for linen and for wool and all the faithful will be clad in justice!
Amen.
[ECHIDNE OF THE SNAKES]
4:03:18 AM
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Guess the Answers
What do the following two things have in common:
1. Getting a job on the K Street, the place where Washington lobbyists work.
and
2. Being sent as a US delegate to the Inter-American Telecommunication Commission meeting (where telecommunication standards are discussed).
The answer: You have to be a Republican to qualify these positions. No, it's not enough to do your job well, and, no it doesn't matter that K Street jobs are private market jobs; you must also prove that you support Georgie Porgie.
3. What do you do if you work for the government and its own statistics show that you are doing poorly?
The answer: Order the statistics not to be published anymore. This is what Condoleezza Rice has just done. It's also what the old Soviet apparatus used to do quite routinely.
4. How many scandals can the Bush administration brag about so far?
The answer: At least thirty-four.
5. How many of these scandals have damaged the administration's credibility?
The answer: None
[ECHIDNE OF THE SNAKES]
4:02:33 AM
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Open Thread.
As Steve mentioned, the Democrats are starting to get wobbly in the face of the intransigence of the right wing fundamentalists. Liberal Oasis asks the right question: We are standing with Democrats to save the filibuster so it can be...
[The Left Coaster]
3:56:02 AM
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Getting Stuck.
Send this cartoon to a friend! Maybe I'm missing something. Looking at the situation, I see an Iraqi government that still hasn't been ratified and could likely fall in the next few weeks given the ongoing political stalemate. I...
[BAGnewsNotes]
3:54:32 AM
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Point, Counterpoint.
Krauthammer writes: Have that independence and supremacy been abused? Grossly. What other advanced democracy would radically legalize abortion by judicial decree rather than by democratic will expressed through legislatures or referendums? What sane democracy allows four unelected robed eminences...
[Ezra Klein]
3:53:38 AM
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© Copyright
2005
Michael Mussington.
Last update:
5/1/2005; 4:29:11 AM.
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