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Friday, June 24, 2005
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Learn, Damn You Learn!.
Let me state this a bit more clearly: This whole Rove thing is a
trap intended to paint Democrats as whiny hippies. If we respond by
getting all pissed off and indignant, this will happen. Or we'll let
them invade...
[Ezra Klein]
9:56:57 PM 
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John Cole Gets It: "Red-Baiting". Conservative blogger John Cole continues to have a complete rundown of the pro-Rove defenses, and isn't much impressed with any of them. See here, here, here, here, and here.
Bottom line: those defending Rove are full of it. While the RNC and
White House are so far solidly endorsing Rove's attacks, the defenses
are intellectually bankrupt, and it doesn't take longer than a few
choice quotes to prove it. It's also become clear that the Rove hatchet
job -- coming in the middle of a highly unusual publicity blitz by Rove
himself, which itself is being cited as the initial preparations for a
full-scale White House attack against their critics -- was fully
intentional.
There's going to be blowback, here. New Yorkers and others aren't going to sit by while the White House itself calls them traitors.
We now know these talking points were White House approved and distributed. That's why this is so important: there's more of this coming, for anyone who doesn't sharply toe the Bush Administration line, and it's happening right now for a reason. The stories coming out in the next month are going to be very, very bad
for Bush and for everyone involved in selling the Iraq War. Bush's
numbers have absolutely tanked, the Downing Street documents are
getting more and more attention, Bush and Cheney are increasingly seen
as so out-of-touch with ground reports from Iraq as to border on
slightly delusional, and Senate Democrats are beginning to increasingly
demand specific documents relating to the ("fixed?") claims made by the
Bush Administration in the runup to the Iraq War.
Therefore,
anyone who doesn't support Bush's failed and increasingly unpopular
policies is a traitor. That's the line they're going with.
[Daily Kos]
9:56:01 PM
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Exit Strategy. One last aside about Rove's imitation of Spiro "nolo contendere" Agnew, and then I'll give the subject (and Turd Blossom himself) a rest.
In retrospect, I think Rove's comments will be seen as both the
GOP's opening shot in the 2006 congressional elections and the swan
song for Bush's ill-fated Social Security "reform" campaign. Depending
on how things go at the polls next year, it could even be remembered as
a kind of howled lament for the death of Bush's entire domestic program
(with the significant exception of his bid to pack the federal courts
with the kind of judges who think Plessy v. Ferguson was a perfectly sound piece of constitutional jurisprudence.)
It's hard to see how Rove and the gang can expect to sit down and
negotiate seriously with the Democrats over Social Security after
launching what looks to be a sustained PR campaign denouncing them as
traitors and/or terrorist dupes. My guess is that the decision to
launch Operation Scapegoat was based, at least in part, on a hardheaded
calculation by Rove (although maybe not the meathead he works for) that
Social Security reform is effectively dead, leaving only the question
of how to position the GOP for the inevitable fallout.
The Rovian strategy, it appears, is to try to label the Democrats as "obstructionists."
It's pretty a weak line, given the complete lack of a popular
groundswell of support for trashing the existing Social Security
system, but it at least keeps the GOP on the offensive, which is where
Rove always wants to be.
The Dems-as-traitors meme is simply an attempt to extend the same
strategy to the disaster in Iraq. Obviously, the Rovians would like to
focus the debate on "liberal" attempts to expose or question the
administration's policies -- such as the use of "practices tantamount
to torture" -- rather than on the abject failure of those policies.
But once it becomes clear Rove has elected the path of total
confrontation, all along the line, there will be no further incentive
for the average hack GOP congress critter to put his or her neck on
that line in order to advance the more controversial items (Social
Security, a flat tax) on Bush's domestic agenda -- especially if the
Democrats can remain relatively (i said relatively!) united.
Once set in motion, in other words, the strategy is largely
self-reinforcing. Rove must be aware of that, which in turn must mean
he's content to remain in campaign mode -- feeding a steady diet of red
meat to the base and vicious lies to the public -- until November 2006.
It appears the next 16 months in American politics are going to be particularly ugly -- even by Rovian standards. [Whiskey Bar]
9:54:59 PM
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Evan Bayh: Bush's Energy Plan: Short on Progress, Long on Political Distraction Sometimes
when I come back to Washington from Indiana, I feel like an ambassador
to a foreign country. The reality of the Bush administration and the
reality of people around the country seem to be two very different
propositions. Take the debate over energy in Washington. It doesn’t
take a degree in economics to know that something is wrong when it
takes $30 or $40 to fill up the gas tank. And we don’t need some
Washington think tank to tell us that it’s a problem when so much of
our economic and national security depends on whether Saudi Arabia and
Russia are in the mood to be nice to us on any given day.
After four and a half years of this Presidency, we can all recognize
the familiar pattern. We get lots of grandiose talk of a bold vision
for America. But when the rubber meets the road, the President’s
approach on energy is a hodge-podge of handouts and giveaways. It’s no
surprise that these special interests would rather cling to yesterday’s
status quo than embrace an exciting new future of energy independence.
But it is utterly dismaying that the White House doesn’t want better
for the American people.
And what is the centerpiece of the President’s energy strategy?
Drilling in the Alaska National Wildlife Refuge – an effort that would
do more to secure China’s energy needs than our own.
And watch out for these four letters: MTBE. I cannot recall a more
glaring example of putting narrow interests over the public good. MTBE
is a fuel additive that has found its way into the ground water in 36
states, polluting the water supply for over 45 million people. Courtesy
of Tom Delay, we have a provision in the energy bill that would allow
the polluters to get off scot-free, while sticking the victims of the
pollution – communities like South Bend, Indiana, -- with the tab for
the clean-up. And Tom Delay has already indicated that if he doesn’t
get his MTBE provision, we won’t get an energy bill at all. That’s not
leadership.
So where are the innovative proposals for new hybrid vehicles? For
new low-weight-high-strength alloys so cars weigh less and use less
fuel? Where is the far-reaching strategy to develop more renewable
fuels like wind and solar, biomass and ethanol? Where are the bold
steps needed to make a difference?
Washington is on the verge of squandering yet another opportunity to
do right by the American people. Where action is needed, the President
forces us to choose between give-aways to the special interests or
legislation which the independent analysts say would do almost nothing
to reduce our dependence on oil.
We have seen this before. We saw it when the American people were
poised to take any action necessary to put our country back on track
after the 9/11, and they collectively asked, “What can we do?”
“Go shopping,” he said. Tellingly, the President’s answer then was
as short-sighted as his energy bill is today – long on political
distraction, short on real progress. We can do better.
- Evan Bayh
[The Huffington Post | Full Blog Feed]
3:22:40 PM
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The Demagoguery Of Mediocrity
Although sometimes you need
to shower immediately afterwards, today's sojourn into the conservative
blogosphere was actually a pleasant surprise when I came across an
honest post from what appears to be an honest conservative.
Today over at RedState.org blogger trevino made this post concerning
Coward Karl's remarks against Democrats regarding their actions after
the 9/11 attacks.The remarkable...
- canuk
[CanadianPerspective]
3:21:17 PM
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Ethics in unethical places.
Last summer, an article in the Lancet charged that doctors at Abu
Ghraib knew about the abuse that was going on, aided the process by not
providing adequate care and by helping to design physically and
psychologically coercive interrogations, and...
[Body and Soul]
10:03:14 AM
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Lott knows how to bury pork.
Sen. Tom Coburn (R-Okla.) may be slightly imbalanced, but when he
campaigned as a fiscal tightwad intent on limiting government spending,
he meant it.
Senators, take heed: Sen. Tom Coburn (R-Okla.) may have a "hold" on your bill.
The freshman is using his power as a Senator to put a hold or secret filibuster threat [...]
[The Carpetbagger Report]
10:01:49 AM
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Cheers and Jeers: Rum and Coke FRIDAY!.
From the GREAT STATE OF MAINE... Late Night Snark...
"Yesterday the House of Representatives voted 286 to 130 in favor of a
constitutional amendment to ban the burning of the American flag...thus
taking care of the Iraqi insurgency. Y'know, I'm under the impression
that the majority of American flag burning takes place overseas. So I
think passing this amendment will have the efficacy of banning American
use of the metric system."
--Jon Stewart
"President Bush welcomed Vietnam's prime minister to the White House
today. He promised the prime minister he would travel to Vietnam next
year---that is, unless his dad can get him out of it."
--Jay Leno Stephen Colbert: What appeals to you about the Republican party?
Porn star Mary Carey:
I just think Republicans are very, very wealthy people. And, um, if I
want to be wealthy and powerful I should hang out with them. If you
play with cripples you start to limp. So I don't want to play with
cripples anymore. I want to be up with the NBA players, y'know, which
is Republicans.
Colbert: Okay. In your analogy Democrats are handicapped and Republicans are tall athletic black men.
Carey: Exactly. That's exactly what it is.
Colbert (narration):
But today's GOP is not just for pornographers. It also embraces
compulsive gamblers [photo of Bill Bennett], drug addicts [photo of
Rush Limbaugh], and convicted killers [photo of Don King].
--The Daily Show (Watch the clip here) Oh, sign me up! Cheers and Jeers starts in There's Moreville... [Swoosh!!] RIGHTNOW! [Gong!!]
[Daily Kos]
9:57:43 AM
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Military invasion of minors' privacy.
I almost forgot about this outrageous abuse of private
information on minors by the military. Apparently they are getting some
of the data from No Child Left Behind records. I heard they are even
calling some of these kids, kids under eighteen, at home trying to
recruit them. Magic 8 Ball Says: all signs point to a draft...
[South Knox Bubba]
9:55:13 AM
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Karl Rove: Decoy for Downing Street.
Keep your eye on the ball, people. Maybe you could tie the two themes
together:
"Why did famously disciplined Karl Rove choose this moment, when the
media is starting to investigate the Downing Street Minutes, to make a
profoundly controversial public statement he must have known would
cause a firestorm? By his deliberately outrageous insult, is he trying
to distract the public attention from the President's awful poll
numbers and the violent quagmire in the President's occupation of Iraq?"
[Paperwight's Fair Shot]
9:54:15 AM
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Brownback sets sights on Roe.
Appearing on Meet the Press last weekend, John McCain, who opposes
abortion rights, said he doesn't believe Roe v. Wade will be
overturned, "at least not any time soon given the tenor of politics in
America and the courts in America."
Apparently, some of McCain's Republican colleagues take a slightly different approach to the issue. In [...]
[The Carpetbagger Report]
9:53:36 AM
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Karl Rove To America: Suck It
Let’s dispose of this quickly, shall we? When Howard Dean speaks, he’s
speaking as the chair of the Democratic Party. The Democrats pay him.
If Democrats around the nation don’t like what Dean says, then they can
cease donating to the party. When Dick Durbin speaks, he’s representing
the people of Illinois, to whom he will be answerable when he’s up for
re-election. When Karl Rove speaks,
he’s talking as an official with the White House. The only person he’s
accountable to is the President, who, as Scott McClellan so dismissingly pointed out, won’t ask Rove to apologize. Rove’s paid by each and every tax-paying American. He represents all of us.
So when that cock gobbler wants to get his rocks off by jackin’ it in front of "hundreds" of slavering lap dogs,
ready to lick his scrotum at a moment’s notice, and he wants to use
that moment of yankin’ his crank to declare that liberals are pussies
who want American soldiers to die, he may as well add, "Oh, and any of
you who disagree with me can suck it. And, hey, thanks for the
paycheck." (Which is, more or less, what he said last night on Scarborough Country.)
Somewhere,
deep in the basement of the White House, Karl Rove’s leather slave is
weeping. Rove keeps his leather slave chained to the radiator, right
next to one of FDR’s soiled wheelchairs and Taft’s slop trough. The
leather slave is weeping and frightened because he knows his tears will
only cause Rove to put on the spiked glove to smack his ass into a
bloody pulp. And the thought of this causes him to weep more – it’s a
vicious cycle. Karl Rove’s leather slave started weeping because
whenever Rove comes back to the White House after giving a hate-filled
screed to an audience that loves him, like a fresh antelope carcass
tossed into the lion’s den, Rove will want to take out his great glee
and orgasmic power on the supple ass cheeks and elastic mouth of his
slave.
Karl Rove’s leather slave hears the door to the basement
open. "Honey, I’m home," he hears Rove announce. And it’s true. And,
oh, sweet Jesus, he’s wearing the chaps, a raging hard-on, and nothing
else. Sadly, Karl Rove’s leather slave puts away the K-Y. He knows he’s
about to get fucked hard and rough, a cock thrust so far up his asshole
that, as Rove likes to say, "I’ll come out of your mouth."
Rove approaches, taking down Teddy Roosevelt’s riding crop, and says, "Oh, you know you love the sting."
- Rude One
[The Rude Pundit]
9:40:57 AM
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Greg Gutfeld: MEDIA OUTRAGE In the last Scott’s Red Hot Media Workout ( “Bruce Dern’s Penis"), I posted this small item:
____________________________
MEDIA OUTRAGE OF THE WEEK
Last night Scott played me a song called “9/11 is a Joke,” by a rap
band called Public Enemy. I don’t know about you, but I don’t find
terrorism of any kind to be “a joke.”
__________________
In the comments section below the post, a gentleman named Tom responded:
“Maybe you were trying to be ironical, but you should probably be
informed that '911 is a joke' was released long before Sept 11, 2001,
and is a protest song about the slow reaction time of emergency
personel in black neighborhoods after 911 is called.”
__________________
Thanks Tom, but the fact that the song was released long before
September 11, 2001, makes it even more chilling, for it suggests
perhaps that there was prior knowledge of the terrorist attack.
For the tip, Tom, you’ll be getting a “Scott’s Red Hot Media
Workout” body hugging acetate spandex dual-tone stripey sleeveless
shirt.
GG and S. - Greg Gutfeld
[The Huffington Post | Full Blog Feed]
9:38:54 AM
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Killen gets 20 years per murder
"By Ellen Barry
Tribune Newspapers: Los Angeles Times
Published June 24, 2005
PHILADELPHIA, Miss. -- Gazing down at Edgar Ray Killen, who was once
his parents' preacher, Neshoba County Judge Marcus Gordon on Thursday
imposed the maximum sentence of 60 years in prison for the 1964 murders
of Andrew Goodman, James Chaney and Michael Schwerner.
'It is my responsibility to make that...
- Professor Kim
[Professor Kim's News Notes]
9:36:47 AM
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Rove's message trap.
It occurs to me that it might be helpful to consider this week's flap over Karl Rove's slander from Rove's perspective.
The
White House's top political strategist was in New York at a time when
his boss' approval ratings are tanking, the war in Iraq is failing, the
president's signature domestic policy initiative has become a [...]
[The Carpetbagger Report]
9:35:43 AM
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Same Sex Marriage Bill Up Next In Canadian Parliament
The Canadian Parliament
passed legislation Thursday evening to extend the sitting of this
session. In return for support of the extension, the Bloc Quebecois
Party demanded and received assurance in writing that the Same Sex
Marriage legislation be included in this extended session of
Parliament.
With the support of the BQ, and NDP parties, the Conservatives will not
have enough votes to stop the..
- canuk
[CanadianPerspective]
9:34:12 AM
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Shadows in the Hoods - Hoods in the Shadows
1969: Richard Nixon is sworn
in as the 37th President of the United States. Nixon's Attorney
General, Richard Kleindienst, "calls for the repression of 'ideological
criminals'", and declares the anti-war movement an "epidemic" of
"national subversive activity".
Kleindienst: "When you see an epidemic like this cropping up all over
the country-the same kind of people saying the same kinds of...
- the farmer
[corrente]
7:01:49 AM
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US Vulnerability to China
This week's bid by a Chinese oil company (CNOOC) to buy an American oil
company (Unocal) has provoked some interesting reactions in Washington.
Despite the fact that 70% of Unocal's oil reserves are in Asia, that it
supplies just 1% of US oil needs, and that oil is highly fungible
(meaning that oil from one source can and will be replaced by oil from
another source at virtually the same price if necessary), it seems
rather silly to worry about the US becoming more economically dependent
on China if the deal goes through. Which means, I suppose, that I find
many on Capitol Hill to be rather silly right now...
The Washington Post:
"House and Senate members demanded an administration review of the bid,
required under the Defense Production Act, to determine potential
economic and security risks."
The New York Times:
"Two Republican congressmen, Richard W. Pombo, chairman of the House
Committee on Resources, and Duncan Hunter, chairman of the House Armed
Services Committee, wrote to President Bush last week, saying that
'such an acquisition raises many concerns about U.S. jobs, energy
production and energy security.'"
A.P.:
"'It's not a business transaction at all,' said C. Richard D'Amato,
chairman of the U.S.-China Economic and Security Review Commission, a
congressional advisory panel. 'This is not a free market deal. This is
the Chinese government acquiring energy resources.'"
I suppose
that most of the reason that this deal is provoking such reactions
among US politicians (compared to what would be the case if it was,
say, a Brazilian company offering to buy a US company) is the idea that
this deal would make the US more economically dependent on a country
that may someday be an 'enemy' of the US in some sense.
Whether
it is indeed likely that China will someday be an 'enemy' of the US is
a subject for another day (personally, I'm skeptical). But even if you
take that assumption as true, the fact is that this deal has virtually
no macroeconomic relevance, and that this revelation about US economic
dependence on China is coming very, very late.
Given that
China's government already controls hundreds of billions of dollars of
US Treasury bonds - easily enough to wreak substantial havoc in US
financial markets whenever they want to - the US economy is already
extremely vulnerable to decisions made by the Chinese government.
China's acquisition of one billion barrels of oil reserves in Asia is
nothing compared to the economic influence over the US that they
already wield.
That's why what really worries me about the
sentiments coming out of Capitol Hill right now is simply the
astonishing economic naivety that they display... and that these
misconceptions have a good chance of leading to bad policy-making.
Kash - Kash [Angry Bear]
7:00:20 AM
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Different priorities. (Bumped. Important redesign threads below -- kos) Republicans and Democrats have different priorities. Democrats Believe capturing the person primarily responsible for the attack should be a top priority. Republicans
It's been four years, and Osama bin Laden is still free, even though Bush's CIA chief says he knows where he is. Democrats
Investigate the intelligence failures that led to 9/11. Republicans
Do everything in their power to block the 9/11 Commission from doing its work. Democrats
Propose creating the Department of Homeland Security. Republicans
Push tax cuts for the wealthiest Americans. Democrats
Believe we should have stayed the course in Afghanistan, not allowing
the Taliban to resurge, the warlords to take power, and the opium trade
to skyrocket. Republicans
Ignore Afghanistan as the situation worsens. Democrats
Believe that we should be honest with our troops about the reasons we
go to war, give them everything they need to be safe, and make sure we
go in with an exit plan. Republicans
Manipulate
intelligence to trump up reasons to go to war, don't give our troops
the support they need, constantly mislead the public about the
direction the war is going, and fail to make an exit plan. And turn
Iraq into the ultimate terrorist training ground. I'd add one more to this national security list: Democrats demand accountability. Republicans avoid it all cost. [Daily Kos]
6:35:39 AM
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Dr. Mengele, Your 3:00 Is Waiting (Specious Nazi Hyperbole Edition)
The issue of medical
personnel assisting at the interogations in Guantanamo is not news, not
even at the Gray Lady. When the Red Cross finally got past the 3-headed
guardian at the gate last year, they had much the same story to tell as
we read this morning in the Times, where the "questioning" of prisoners
as it relates to medical ethics is getting a little more attention:
"Military doctors at... - Riggsveda
[corrente]
6:33:25 AM
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We're trying to have a civilization up here...
Bill C-48 passed in late night sitting.
Ottawa | June 23CBC - The Liberals scored a quick and decisive victory
on Thursday night, catching the Conservatives off guard and passing
their controversial Bill C-48. The bill passed third reading by a vote
of 152 to 147. Losing the vote would have automatically triggered a
federal election. With a number of Conservative members missing, the
Liberals moved a motion to cut off debate and bring the bill to a vote.
C-48 is the NDP amendment to the budget that adds a further $4.6
billion in social spending and the Conservatives were dead set against
it. But the Liberal tactic worked and the Conservatives were outflanked
and defeated.
[The Agonist]
6:30:09 AM
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Bill C-48 passed in late night sitting.
Ottawa | June 23CBC - The Liberals scored a quick and decisive victory
on Thursday night, catching the Conservatives off guard and passing
their controversial Bill C-48. The bill passed third reading by a vote
of 152 to 147. Losing the vote would have automatically triggered a
federal election. With a number of Conservative members missing, the
Liberals moved a motion to cut off debate and bring the bill to a vote.
C-48 is the NDP amendment to the budget that adds a further $4.6
billion in social spending and the Conservatives were dead set against
it. But the Liberal tactic worked and the Conservatives were outflanked
and defeated.
[The Agonist]
6:29:14 AM
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© Copyright
2005
Michael Mussington.
Last update:
7/1/2005; 6:37:38 AM.
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