The Wickedness of the GOP

Again the Grand OLD Partisan republicans are setting it up to steal the election. Poll numbers are all over the place. McCain internal polls are saying the race is "essentially tied." Election fraud and voter suppression stories are popping up even on in the corporate media despite the right-wing drivel about "voter fraud " and ACORN. All a set-up for the fourth election in a row to be stolen by the immoral GOP. My only hope lie in the extraordinary registration and turn-out of new (and old) Democrats and if the darkside seems to pull it off, on November the Fifth, the American people will pull a "V for Vendetta" of some kind. Is this really America? Have we all been asleep this long?

Gooper Pooper

Yet another gooper gets caught in, dare I say it, ratfuckery, so to speak. Larry Craig (Idaho-R) tried to get his groove on with an undercover cop in an airport bathroom. WTF is wrong with conservative rethuglicans? Being Gay is fine but being hypocritical and making laws against Gays and basic civil rights is totally uncool. What a dick. And by the way, he has "Gay eyes". Don't ask.

Equally telling in the "GOP bathroom problem" is the inherent homophobia. Certainly expected on the right but sadly from the left as well, just more subtly. Already I'm pretty sick of 'gay jokes'. The Nation blogger Richard Kim pens that side of the story:

"...I wonder if the GOP's burgeoning "bathroom problem" isn't reflective of something larger than just a bunch of conservative dudes who couldn't come out of the closet. There's something palpably sad to me about what happened to Allen and Craig too, something oddly touching about their misplaced faith in the fading world of secret, anonymous gay sex. That world--once found in bathrooms, parks, piers and adult bookstores; the furtive refuges of adventuresome queers, married men, the curious--has been swept away by so many police raids, privatization schemes, quality of life campaigns and internet dating services. But mostly, it's fallen away as gays have become increasingly integrated into the mainstream, and also, paradoxically, more marked than ever."

Another KO Punch

Keith Olbermann is back in his chair, and slays with another Special Comment. Ghouliani: How Dare you? Crooks and Liars gives us the video.

More Blog-Pimping

My friend Mary, who occasionally guest-posts here (I'm so lucky), has a terrific tongue-in-cheek post up at DKos. Read about the delusional Mike Pence(R-IN)and his newest visions.

What'd He Say?

Not a single day goes by that I am not stupefied by the 29% of Americans that still support this president. Truth Out's Jason Leopold, with Marc Ash have parsed through the Libby trial notes to bring us to, "Cheney's Handwritten Notes Implicate Bush in Plame Affair."

"Can you make out what's crossed out, Mr. Addington?" Wells asked, according to a copy of the transcript of Tuesday's court proceedings.
"It says 'the guy' and then it says, 'this Pres.' and then that is scratched through," Addington said.
"OK," Wells said. "Let's start again. 'Not going to protect one staffer and sacrifice the guy ...' and then what's scratched through?" Wells asked Addington again, attempting to establish that Cheney had originally written that President Bush personally asked Libby to beat back Wilson's criticisms.
"T-h-i-s space P-r-e-s," Addington said, spelling out the words. "And then it's got a scratch-through."
"So it looks like 'this Pres.?'" Wells asked again.
"Yes sir," Addington said.

Hallelujah and pass the ammunition. Read the rest of Jason and Marc's story here.

Murdered Women, US Atty Firings--Same Kettle of Fish

Josh Marshall of TPM has attempted to answer the question for conservatives about why the US Attorney firings are such a big deal. As always he does a brilliant job, but one bit of his story stuck out for me:

For all the intensity and hostility awash in our politics, there are some lines we just assume aren't going to be crossed, lines that are so basic that the civil compact itself can't easily survive if they're not respected.

This quote from Josh's article is exactly why BushCo needs to go. They cover-up, lie, obfuscate, deny, spin, virtually everything to further their interests at the cost of our very safety and freedom.

I've been active on the story of LaVena Johnson of late because while her story has garnered a paltry amount of attention, it is precisely indicative of what has become deeply wrong with America under the Bush Regime: America no longer respects the most basic civilities at home or abroad. The civil compact is broken.

One very crucial aspect of that civil compact is upheld by soldiers, marines, airmen and sailors; they trust the president will never put them in harm's way without good reason. They will never be expected to breach the water's edge without cause. As we enter the fifth year of the Iraq war we know this is no longer true. The military knows this as well, so all bets are off. The US military are behaving like barbarians and it just fine with the White House.

This latest scandal with the AG is but a symptom of power-mad dictators gone wild. And when a young, female soldier is murdered in her tent and they call it "suicide" things can only get worse. Read Josh's post and then come back and sign the petition to get answers on LaVena Johnson's murder. I'll wait. I hope the country can too.

Another One Bites the Dust

WASHINGTON (AP) - Former Deputy Interior Secretary J. Steven Griles pleaded guilty Friday to obstruction of justice, becoming the ninth person and the highest-ranking Bush administration official convicted in the Jack Abramoff lobbying scandal.

Hmmm...another BushCo official under the bus. The Guardian has it.

Colbert Calls the Democrats "Pussies"

Colbert Report says what we've all been thinking. Crooks and Liars has the video evidence.

Smoking Gun

WaPo reports the prosecutor for a landmark tobacco case says Bush political appointees interfered with her case weakening the government's position.
The firebrands at Think Progress posts the Post.

Rehab

A little cocktail time ditty by Amy Winehouse for the likes of Coultergeist the rightwing-Spokeshole and Tom Delay who had to open his greasy piehole on Sunday which is supposed to be the day of rest. Some people just don't know when to give it a break.
They tried to Make Me Go to Rehab, I said No, No, No.Can I get anyone anything from the bar?

Cheney on the Lam

Carol Lam that is...Ms. Lam, before she was fired, was looking into Darth Cheney's possible involvement in the Duke Cunningham scandal. Think Progress writes it up.

To recap, the White House awarded a one-month, $140,000 contract to an individual who never held a federal contract. Two weeks after he got paid, that same contractor used a cashier’s check for exactly that amount to buy a boat for a now-imprisoned congressman at a price that the congressman had pre-negotiated.

That should raise questions about the White House’s involvement.

Crooks and Liars gives a bit more on the story.

Crime Blotter:1600 Pennsylvania Avenue

Paul Craig Roberts over at Antiwar, has distilled the criminal goings-on of BushCo with frightening clarity in his article Crime Blotter:1600 Pennsylvania Ave.

We are faced with the almost certain fact that the two highest law enforcement officials of the United States are criminals.

What I don't understand is how Faux News reports the opposite sans facts and gets away with it.

It Can Happen Here

The "it" is fascism, and contrary to popular belief, it's been happening. The slow drift. The Ministry of Love brings us an excerpt from Joe Conason's new book It Can Happen Here. It looks to be an engaging read, check it out and show the Ministry a little love.

For the first time since the resignation of Richard M. Nixon more than three decades ago, Americans have had reason to doubt the future of democracy and the rule of law in our own country. Today we live in a state of tension between the enjoyment of traditional freedoms, including the protections afforded to speech and person by the Bill of Rights, and the disturbing realization that those freedoms have been undermined and may be abrogated at any moment.

well said Joe. It's like we are all "serving at the pleasure of the president."

The Ides of March

The Ides of March has a foreboding nature that history still, 2000 years later, cautions us to "beware." This is the advice I would give to Dubya, for it maybe he has a budding Brutus in his midst. There is a commonly known idea about the Bush administration and it demands of 'loyalty'. There are many reports of the "ideological test" Bush appointees has to take in order to move up the food chain. But apparently, the loyalty is one-sided at BushCo. Donald Rumsfeld, Scooter Libby, Harriett Miers, have all been put out to pasture in less-than-ceremonious ways, and it would appear, Alberto Gonzales will be next to be thrown under the bus to save the president's hide.

WaPo's Andrew Cohen writes the third part of his series on the not-so-illustrious career of Abu Gonzalez, and his dubious history as an attorney. Gonzo has shown he can be a heartless scum bucket with the best of them but so far hasn't really shown a willingness to "take one for the team."

Gonzales has the goods on the president and the vice-fucktard as well. With his professional history of addle-brained legal decisions, morally-compromised positions and politicized partisan choices, he has made his loyalty to Junior apparent. But also displayed in this legal complicity are the acts of a self-interested climber that when push comes to shove, I'm laying my money on Gonzo to start singing like a bird about the goings-on in the White House when it's his skin at stake. I think Gonzo is to end up on the Bush scrapheap, but I don't think he's gonna take it laying down. Eu tu Brute, indeed Mr. President.

Paul Kiel at TPM Muckracker goes into "Why We Need A Special Prosecutor for the USA Firings" Love to see how Abu will react to this.

Also worth digging into today, the Glenn Greenwald post on the "Right-wing al-Qaida Plots" bursting out all over the right blogosphere in reaction to Khalid Sheikh Mohammed's "confession" to everything but the Kennedy assassination.

Dubya's Blind Ambition Tour-DoJ Style

Every single day, some new information comes out about just how corrupt, mendacious and bone-chillingly evil this administration has been and continues to be. The Nixon administration--no group of boy scouts mind you--played fast and loose with the truth and perpetrated any number of "dirty tricks" but their behavior pales in comparison with the current bunch. Latest development happen in the Department of Justice, presided over by Alberto Gonzales who, to paraphrase Patrick Leahy (VT-D), doesn't realize he is no longer the president's personal lawyer and is responsible for defending the Constitution and not the money/power based machinations of the Bush administration.

Gonzales latest stomping of the Constitution becomes apparent during his testimony in front of the senate judiciary committee regarding the U.S. attorney firings. And it would seem the White House knew all about it. Big surprise.

I'll play fly on the wall as we listen to commentary on the matter by two readers here at DeepCon, Mary and Anne, a Dynamic Duo of epic proportions. Let's listen shall we?

Mary:I’m not surprised at all - it seemed the USAtty strategy had to come from the WH, with Abu the implementer. W had less than no respect for law and the lawyers he has dealt with have not been tough enough to smack him and make him show a little respect.

Abu knew they didn’t have 93 candidates Bush would back who could make it through advice and consent. They’ve scraped the bottom of the barrel as it is.


Anne:This comes from Dana Perino, deputy press secretary:

“At no time were names added or subtracted by the White House,” Perino said. “We continue to believe that the decision to remove and replace U.S. attorneys who serve at the pleasure of the president was perfectly appropriate and within administration’s discretion. We stand by the Department of Justice’s assertion that they were removed for performance and managerial reasons.”
[snip]
“At no time did any White House officials, including the president, direct the Department of Justice to take specific action against any individual U.S. attorney,” Perino said.

Now, I am confused. Did the president know what was going on? Did he know who he was appointing and who he was firing? I mean, I realize that he’s not going to micromanage the process, but what Perino is suggesting is that he just rubber-stamped whatever was coming out of DOJ. And what was coming out of DOJ looks like a combination of collusion with a political operative and their own successful effort to insert a provision in Patriot II to ensure that there would be no interference from Congress or the state congressional delegations in the process.

How can Gonzales possibly be allowed to continue as AG? Aside from the fact that Bush apparently only fires people if they are wearing orange jumpsuits.

Wonder if Lieberman would be considered for THAT job?

Mary:That’s part of what I have been saying. I do expect micromanaging on the decision to remove a USAtty. It is a big decision and by statute it falls ONLY to the Decider. Not the AG. So I’d like to have them hammer that a bit. A decision as important as removing USAs, where the statutory scheme contemplates that the President would be directly involved in any such decision - what happened? Did the President abdicate that important area of Decidering to someone else? If so, who, how, when and with what parameters? Did the President actually fulfill his statutory duty and make the decision and if so, why is everyone fibbing, ducking and dodging? If not, did the AG’s office run amok and usurp the President’s power under 541 to itself? If so, who made that decision, when, why etc.?

I think they could structure some nicely difficult questions. I also think McNulty and Moschella and Gonzales, all of whom - in light of Sampson’s new revelations appear to have been ‘less than’ forthcoming - need to be grilled about that. Did they know about Sampson’s info or not. If not, why not? Are they too incompetent to gather information for the hearings? Does Gonzales never get briefed by his Chief of Staff? etc.

I’m so glad that Leahy will be involved. He makes AG sweat.

Ahh, very satisfying to be a fly-on-the-wall with those two in the room. Thank you ladies.

My only commentary is at least after Abu G. (his rap name) gets fired, he won’t have to change any of his monograms on his prison costume.
Alberto Gonzales=Attorney General=Asshole Grande
For more up-to-the-minute info on the DoJ excesses check over at Josh Marshall's Talking Points Memo.

Halliburton Goes Coastal UPDATED

Interesting new post up at Kos, seems Halliburton is moving--moving it's headquarters to Dubai. I guess the administration needs somewhere to go after they're impeached. And it looks like they'll be comfortable.Halliburton to Move Headquarters To Dubai, Keeping Office in Houston

DUBAI -- U.S. oil services giant Halliburton Co. will shift its corporate headquarters from Houston to Dubai, Chief Executive Dave Lesar said Sunday.

New Update from Kos

The Far Right is So Wrong

Max Blumenthal of The Nation visits CPAC and reports about the 'conservatives in crisis."

Military Dishonors

Bush rewards dysfunctional behavior in his administration again. Americablog has it (but got it from the vanguard over at Think Progress).

While Veterans Languish

“More than a quarter of military veterans with disability cases before the Department of Veterans Affairs wait six months or longer for the agency’s decision, creating financial hardships for them and their families. … As of March 3, the VA had almost 401,000 pending cases for disability compensation with almost 115,000 languishing for six months or more.”

VA Watchdog has the goods.

Take These Three--Please

It's about time someone wrote a scathing, taken-to-task, bad job review of Kevin Kiley's performance as surgeon general and commander of medcom. Kiley ceased being a 'real doctor' ages ago and began performing tricks for treats in this administration in order to further his career, forgetting not only common decency but his Hippocratic oath. And lapdog Jim Nicholson,Veterans' Affairs secretary, a veteran who has institutionalized sub-standard care for veterans and then lies about it. Jimmy Boy gets what's coming to him as well. Pat Lang at Sic Semper Tyrannis, gives Kiley and Nicholson the scolding they so richly deserve and recommends a UCMJ cure for Kiley; Nicholson will just have to resign.

What next can we expect from this administration, a Gay porn-star, right-wing Marine? Oh wait, already done.[Caution:link includes pornographic images]These people bring a whole, new level of meaning to the word 'hypocrisy,' and "Dirty Sanchez." Someone may have to invent a new word for this bunch and I need a shower.