Well, Fitz!

What a nice reward after reading 500+ comments on the delurking thread. I’m exhausted.

Fitzzzz, Feingold and FDL!

Good for Harry Reid. We are going to have beat the blogwaves to even get Reid’s comments into the public arena. All they have left is ranting against us. And Mary Maitlin has gotten her talking points — ‘don’t vote for those dems, it will be a disaster.’ That is their theme for 2006. And beyond.

And yet the conundrum remains unanswered. Do libs want multilateral diplomacy as called for, pre-Iraq or not? You guys are going to have to make up your mind. You can’t have it both ways.

I can just hear the right–Talking is for sissies.

Now we know where Harry stands on Iran.

… hows about the rest of the dems?

Steve Gilliard’s blog has a post (courtesy a dkos diary) about what could possibly happen with our naval fleet in the gulf if such an attack is attempted.

It ain’t pretty.

Myself, I wonder when and where was something that this Admin botched first declared ‘incompetence’? IOW, I’d bet it was coined from the RIGHT. As a cover meme for pure malevolence. There’s too many, too frequent, too major, for it to continue being ‘coincidental’.

“Fool me once…won’t get fooled agin.”

“Stay the course! (on the Road To Perdition)

JMHO

Cathy,

Ha ha — I read your post as “Right-talking is for sissies” to mean the Right and their message is always predicated on bedwetting fear of some imaginary danger or imaginary sense of tough-ass honor.

Which we know is always the stuff of bullies and their cousins, sissies.

WASHINGTON – Success, it is said, has a thousand fathers while failure is oft an orphan. It is perhaps overly simple to attribute to Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld alone paternity for policies that have left Iraq in the throes of communal violence and without a functioning government. But the current flap over Mr. Rumsfeld generated by several retired generals underlines what can happen when ideologues manage a war.
http://www.csmonitor.com/2006/.....-cods.html

Actually regime change is a viable foreign policy - as long the change is in this country.

When do we enter a stage where several factions feel nearly three years of an incompetent, ineffectual president present an unacceptable risk to the prosperity and security of the nation? Or to the prosperity and prospects of their party? With no reasonable expectation of Congressional cooperation on impeachment proceedings what methods may they resort to to remove Bush from office? What are the most desperate and troubled amongst them capable of? Are there more than the usual number of Secret Service agents in Bush’s entourage lately?

Yeah, but where is the second half of the report, the part about the manipulation of intel in the run-up to the war?

Harry comes out swinging sometimes, but drops the ball often. Think Feingold’s censure resolution. Crickets.

fear mongering, and the rise in oil prices plays right into the pockets of the oil companies . . . . the real republican objective?

Morning, everyone.

The Unspoken Bush: “All options, besides direct efforts at dimplomacy, are on the table.”

-GSD

After reading the post by Kevin Drum yesterday regarding the opportunities for diplomacy that the Bush administration purposely pissed on (http://www.washingtonmonthly.com/archives/individual/2006_04/008657.php), any hysterics on Malkin’s part proves to me that she doesn’t have an objective bone in her body. It’s all Bush spin, all the time. No wonder she’s a hack for FOX.

on second thought…I know this will not go over big…but I gotta say it….

IMO… Reids remarks perversely re-inforce much of the GOP/BS thats floating around right now….in that they begin with the false premise that Iran is a bonafide threat

Someone, maybe John Casper help me with a better take on this?

The only thing I can trust Harry to do is nothing. Harry at best is far to little and far to late.

“shooter242 says”

Let me guess, and absent father and an overbearing mother?

-GSD

P.S. The “libs” moniker is so late 90’s.

There, you have had some breakfast, now go ask some more “concerned” questions to Michael Savage, Michelle Malkin and Rush Limbaugh.

Back to the basement, shooter. Your shortwave is calling.

France? We’re leaving it up to France? Isn’t that where they make Freedon fries?

OS…but for some reason I cannot get this thread to update unless I post a comment.

Anybody know why?

By the way, Iran shelled some Kurdish outpost in Northern Iran today.

So now the Iranians have unrest in the south and Kurdish unrest in the north. Who is threatening the existence of whom?

Shades of the 1950’s and the CIA’s anit-Mossadegh agitation, no doubt.

-GSD

A while back, when John Murtha made his call for redeployment, the House Republicans thought they’d score some points by putting forward a twisted version of his proposal for immediate debate, to force the democrats into voting on it. In most House debates, each side has a floor leader who controls the debate time, doling out 2 minutes to this member and three minutes to that one. In this case, they made a great tactical decision to give Murtha the whole time - and he made the most of it. He took on each republican speaker, and made hash of their comments.

I’d love to see Nancy Pelosi bring up a priviledged resolution on diplomacy vs military options in Iraq, and give Murtha another hour in the well of the House. Let him add the comments of the military who “lurk” in these political discussions!

The Three Successes of GWB (examples of Non-Incompetence):

1) Tax cuts for the Rich (first 100 days)

2) FEAR! (nine months. see 9/11)

3) Cronyism (throughout)

Larry 19 may have a point (see #2 GWB success)

I hope Harry has something up his sleeve and soon - I fear an October surprise is going to kick us where it counts…

I agree Blank Kludge and Larry #2. Harry’s not helping.

We should be screaming bloody murder that the administration is beating the war drums again. Iran is no less than five years away from having nukes. The wingnuts have advanced the meme that chimpy is the only president “brave” enough to drop the bomb.

Can’t those losers find another way to achieve a hard-on?

Looks like some of those Iranian shells hit inside of Iraq.

http://www.alertnet.org/thenew.....121431.htm

Maybe the US can provoke another nice decade long Iran/Iraq War!

-GSD

“After reading the post by Kevin Drum yesterday regarding the opportunities for diplomacy that the Bush administration purposely pissed on (http://www.washingtonmonthly.com/archives/individual/2006_04/008657.p hp),…”

Kevin’s post was an important one and it should be read by all.

OldCoastie - No matter what develops between now and October, there will be some sort of October surprise. Any theories on what it might look like? Massive troop withdrawal from Iraq, for instance?

Malkin is fighting a losing battle. She’s trying to save and Bush can’t even save himself. He’s tried all the exact same tatics that Malkin uses and still failed.

One would think if Malkin actually thought of herself as smart and educated, she’d notice the same tatical failures in herself that Bush and his team have executed for the last 5 years.

Maybe Malkin’s life goal is to be described like Bush an incompetent, failure and liar. If so, she is a success at reaching up to substandard.

The upside is Malkin will have nothing and be nothing when Bush is out office. She has tied herself too tightly to Bush that when he is gone so is she. More power to her when she sinks into oblivion.

Silver Owl

Malkin is silly. She and her friends the Cornerites are trying to reassure themselves with visions of Rove as Army Group Steiner, finally freed from whatever they think he was doing in the West Wing to go work on politics, as if he really wasn’t doing that during every waking moment of the last damn three decades, in the White House or out.

But the reality is that Rove’s going to be a bit too busy hunkered down with his lawyers to devote much more time to ratfucking.

Paraphrasing Taylor from an earlier post. Shrub lied about Iraq as a threat. Why would anyone on this planet believe anything he says about Iran? I think THAT should be the message.

Iran might be a severe long term threat. Iran is NOT an immediate threat. Yes, the situation should be analyzed, but I trust this administration’s ability to do that about as far as I could throw the Sears Tower.

Taylor # 32,

It’s gonna be war. No inherent CinC authority without war. The tide of public opinion has turned against the Iraq debacle. Clusterfuck will attack Iran, and therefore continue illegal domestic/international eavesdropping, brand the Dems traitors, and have the option to declare matial law or delay elections.

October surprise, indeed. It will get worse before it gets better.

Hey Kids,

am having linky trouble - someone please go to NY Post, click on full story under Chinese visit and look at that pic !! can’t believe it isn’t blogospheric already !!

Taylor (#32):
The “October Surprise” will be the capture of Bin Laden, if they can pull it off. Failing that, they will either unilaterally attack Iran, or they will conveniently let their guard down so there can be another terrorist attack on the US.

Smiley - Thanks for the reminder re: Drum’s post yesterday. I added it as an “update” to my post.

Sonate - I agree. Why should we trust Bush on Iran after Iraq?

Yeah, TommyYum, that’s a distinct possibility.

Shrubby hears a Hu, while the Shooter takes a snooze.

Go to Thinkprogress.org there is a great picture of Cheney sleeping in the middle of a big meeting.

-GSD

Let me guess, and absent father and an overbearing mother?
-GSD

Tommy Yum says:
Back to the basement, shooter. Your shortwave is calling.

Now that the insults have been posted, the question STILL remains. Before the Iraq war, multilateral negotiation was the Holy Grail of conflict resolution. Is this just another flip-flop?

GSD:

Watertiger’s take -

http://derenegade.blogspot.com.....tions.html

I just saw that, GSD. Wow, what a shot.

If capturing bin Laden was something Bush could do at will, he would have done it in Nov. 2004. We might see another (”authentic”, *cough*) OBL video turning up right at election day, though.

I think if if happens again, people are going to be very suspicious.

sonate #38:
Failing that, they will either unilaterally attack Iran, or they will conveniently let their guard down so there can be another terrorist attack on the US.

The second option isn’t necessary. If they attack Iran, that would pretty much guarantee new attacks on our shores.

Hopefully, the Democrats will stick with what Reid is saying. If they start waffling about Iran, because they want to look tough on defense, then they will give the Republicans the opening they need. Attacking Iran will make the Iraq debacle look like a little skirmish. The aftermath of a nuclear attack will be foul and the U.S. will never be respected again. I already have some nuclear-nightmare visual images in my head and I weep for the people of Iran who get incinerated. I weep for the America that used to exist and for whom the bell tolls.

Thanks as always GSD, was just heading off to Watertiger to see if she had it !

Anybody catch this..another great read from Greenwald

http://glenngreenwald.blogspot.com/

Of course, the real issue is that there’s an election coming up so the Republicans have to start it up again, especially since they’re in such deep trouble.

this is only an problem for the re pukelicans if we can address the election issues, if there is no electronic voting, if there is a paper trail and there are enough polling areas, and exit polls, otherwise it doesn’t matter, they will steal the elections again

Peterr says:
I’d love to see Nancy Pelosi bring up a priviledged resolution on diplomacy vs military options in Iraq, and give Murtha another hour in the well of the House. Let him add the comments of the military who “lurk†in these political discussions!

This is getting to be twilight zone time. Here is a fellow demanding a resolution from the house demanding diplomacy, and here is a quote about Reid upset thtat diplomacy is actually being used.

The Bush administration is relying too heavily on other countries in the international effort to stop Iran from developing nuclear weapons, according to Sen. Harry Reid.

Reid, D-Nev., said the administration should be taking the lead, but instead is relying on Germany, France and Great Britain to convince Iran to end its uranium enrichment program.

“It is hard to comprehend,” Reid said Tuesday in Reno. “We should be involved at trying to arrive at a diplomatic solution. … Not just these three countries.”

Priceless.

Maybe this is a bit naive, but why can’t the Dems simply say ” we are against any military action on Iraq until a thorough, objective analysis of the situation can be conducted — and we trust no one in this administration to conduct an unbiased analysis.”

The argument that Rove is doing anything different, other than being “distanced” from the Whitehouse in only the phoniest sense, is foolish.

As though Karl has been doing anything the past 2 decades besides political hijinx of the lowest order. He is Lee Atwater on meth..unapologetic until the end. That end is coming for him.

He is doing everything as before–but he has been given the mediated cover of having been demoted…So that when the indictements come down—Bush can say, well we have been moving him out the door–as you can see in this report from the bumswipes at the Washington Post.

I smell some Turdblossom coming to a frying pan near you.

The buzz has all the same feeling of the pre-indictment Libby buzz.

-GSD

Thank you, Jane, and all the fdl regulars (and irregulars like me) for the great late night-early morning thread. I crashed early last night but read it over coffee this morning. It’s a terric primer on fdl blogging vernacular.

On to the topic at hand… TPM has a link this morning to a must-read post by Kevin Drum on Iran’s efforts to establish negotiations with the US back in 2003, only to be rebuffed by an administration bent on regime change. This is a story that never hit my radar screen. Anyone here familiar with it?

I tried to link to the post but clearly don’t know how to do it. (Instructions, please.) So here’s the address for Kevin’s column:

http://www.washingtonmonthly.c.....008657.php

Back during the MAD days we used to use the phrase “thinking the unthinkable” to describe nuclear strategy planning. Now were actually talking about DOING the unthinkable. How the hell did we get to this point?

Space cowboy (#45)
Agreed. I was thinking in absence of an attack on Iran they might find another way to make JQ Public “rally ’round the preznit.”

Former Marine officer and weapons inspector Scott Ritter (see FDL post yesterday or link below) has a few things to say re Iran. Essentially that we are not trying diplomacy because disarmament is not our goal. It is a smokescreen to hide our true goal of regime change. When you look at it that way the Bush approach makes sense, though I still disagree with it.

This Ritter article ain’t pretty, but it will make you think. Have we been approaching this thing the wrong way?

http://www.sdcitybeat.com/article.php?id=4281

Whose Holy Grail, shooter (#41)? The Bushies? They failed to get their second UN resolution, twisted the meaning of “serious consequences,” kicked the inspectors out, lied about mushroom clouds and invaded.

International diplomacy had worked in Iraq, to the extent that Hussein was bottled up, toothless and old. Don’t give the spin about how the country is better off. This war was about WMD, and it was bullshit all along.

Hussein and his sons were despicable murderers, and sanctions are a flawed method of punishment, but invading a sovereign nation who posed no threat to us is fundamentally un-American. We have destabilized a region, introduced terrorism to a country where none existed, bankrupted our country, destroyed international goodwill, and sent tens of thousands to their deaths.

Where’s the flip-flop? I believe in the UN. As with any relationship, you get out of it what you put into it. The Iraq disaster is a paradigm of the folly of unilateralism. I don’t support a unilateral attack of Iran or any other country.

You spend a lot of time trying to point out imagined inconsistencies on this blog. Why are you so concerned with the mote in your neighbor’s eye and oblivious of the beam in your own?

Again, let me say: basement. Shortwave. It’s not an insult, just a statement of inevitability.

Sonate - You’re not naive at all. But remember, being so emphatic on a national security matter like Iran would actually take a spine.

Most of today’s Democratic Party is so afraid of being accused of being “soft on national security” that they remain paralyzed.

I know Harry Reid isn’t the be all and end all for us, but these political pinheads obviously need to be coaxed out and given a bone when they say something good or they won’t speak out at all.

Shooter 242.

If you were efficient in English, you would see that Reid is complaining that the US is not actively engaged in diplomacy–instead of leaving it in the hands of England, France and Germany.

Please tell me that you are the best the Republican right has to offer for logical arguments.

Take your phony arguments down to Redstate.

‘Nuff said.

-GSD

shooter,

What you still fail to realize is that Hussesin did not have WMD. So whether Hussesin was/is an obnoxious paranoid power addicted mouth breather the invasion was not neccessary.

The next question becomes how did America get to be so stupid and fail so miserably? Too much testerone? Too many weak egos that needed and still need fictious super hero images to make them appear better than they really are? Too many fairy tales?

The passive/aggressive manipulation technique of using “flip-flop” is also a failed tatic. Only those like you can be manipulated so easily.

Tommy

I know its hard to resist

But we shouldnt feed the troll…it just encourages them to repeatedly shit themselves
again and again and…

I know, Larry #61. But your explanation sounds more like added incentive!

Larry,

That is the troll strategery too.

I am putting the Scooby-snacks back on the shelf.

Thanks.

-GSD

Memo to President Bush and the Republicans: regime change is not a viable foreign policy strategy.

Along with the little detail that it is actually a war crime to attack for the purpose of regime change.

Here’s Jack Straw:

“Of course, the legality of any attack would be hard to justify. The British Foreign Secretary Jack Straw told reporters this week: ‘I don’t happen to believe that military action has a role to play in any event. We could not justify it under Article 51 of the UN charter which permits self defence.’”

From: www.zmag.org/content/showartic.....emID=10125

Taylor (#58):
“But remember, being so emphatic on a national security matter like Iran would actually take a spine.”

LOL. I forgot that the Dems (with few exceptions like Murtha and Feingold) collectively misplaced that part of their anatomy!

Paul Dirks 54

Yep. Anyone who thinks the genie (djinni?) will magically retreat back into the bottle is ‘misinformed’.

Including anyone who talks about the ‘unthinkable’.

See the last couple minutes of ‘Dr. Strangelove’.

What we need is a reverse ‘Strangelove’ — somebody who either rigs football codes ‘out of order’ so to speak, or someone who ‘belays’ that order. To wit: “Under NO circumstances is this to be obeyed.”

MAD stll exists. It’s just got more cards in the deck.

Shooter242 #50

You have totally misread/mischaracterized what is being said here (standard practice for you guys). Note there is no suggestion from Reid that no diplomacy should be used - he is stating that the US of A should join in the efforts at diplomacy. So, which part of “We should be involved” did you not understand?

“We should be involved at trying to arrive at a diplomatic solution. … Not just these three countries.â€

It’s no wonder Malkin doesn’t allow comments. There’s not enough room on the ‘internets ‘for the shit storm that would come flying her way. Bitch.

Taylor #58:
Sonate - You’re not naive at all. But remember, being so emphatic on a national security matter like Iran would actually take a spine.

Even if we take the best case scenario where every Dem congressperson stood up in unison with this declaration, does it amount to anything more than eye candy for us? The reason I think this (aside from the majority/minority issue) is because the administration has shown rather clearly that not only does it not need to answer to Congress anymore on anything, but that Congress doesn’t currently have the ability to keep the administration in check.

Sorry about the cynicism, but hey.. a pessimist is an optimist with experience, right? :)

Hey Taylor , thanks for this post and your military links from yesterday.

If anyone is in need of a little more sunshine this morning, check out TBogg’s ‘doom’ post . . .

I see now that smiley #31 mentions the same Kevin Drum article I did in #53. Still can’t figure out how to link to it.

I’m off to golf, so I’ll make this general.

A. The left prefers diplomacy in conflict resolution. Especially by the UN.
B. Bush is using diplomacy regarding Iran via members of the UN security council.
C. Harry Reid, a member of the left, is unhappy that the US is using negotiation via the UN security council members.

Whatever anyone thinks of Iraq, this is what’s happening today about Iran. There’s a saying on the right that Bush could cure cancer and the left would still be upset about some aspecct of it. This thread proves the point.
Fore!

AP delivers the goods with a fabulous hit piece on Venezuela and Chavez.

Note in the stats, the two countries with higher crime rates are the rightward leaning El Salvador and Columbia.

http://hosted.ap.org/dynamic/s.....1-07-54-38

-GSD

Funny that Jack Straw is all up in Article 51 now. Where was he in 2003?

Now THERE is some twisted logic.

Apparently France is now an arm of the State Dept. now.

Who would have known.

-GSD

My letter to Krauthammer and the Post re: his “Dangerous Whispers” column today…

Charles, repeat after me: “I am a neocon and will defend The Cabal at all costs.”

Let me guess, you think Iraq is going swimmingly. After this little snippet, can there be any doubt?

“Well, the Bush administration threw out years and years and layer upon layer of war planning on Afghanistan, improvised one of the leanest possible attack plans and achieved one of the more remarkable military victories in recent history.”

Now for the facts: Kabul is a heavily-guarded fortress and the other 90% of the country is increasingly under control and/or fear of the reemerging Taliban. Meanwhile Osama got away because of that wonderfully “lean” force and the idiotic idea to depend on locals to capture him. I remember hearing (Mission Accomplished) how great that victory in Iraq was too.

Another quote of yours: “Some of the complainers were on active duty when these decisions were made. If they felt so strongly about Rumsfeld’s disregard of their advice, why didn’t they resign at the time? Why did they wait to do so from the safety of retirement, with their pensions secured?”

Ahem. Gen. Batiste served in Iraq (unlike so many of the neocon powermongers and pro-war flag wavers) and retired as a 2-star General when he was facing promotion to a 3-star General. How much pension did he lose to make that decision only to get smeared by the likes of you?

I also believe there is a code of conduct in the military that makes it improper to speak out against the civilian leadership, and if you feel the need to do so you are supposed to resign/retire first. That is what these Generals have done, period.

Lastly, I do not fear a military coup in this country. These Generals are in no way a threat to do such a thing. The reality is that it is your arrogant friends in the White House who have caused such a devastating division within the military by starting an illegal war, decimating our armed services, and leaving us vulnerable to real threats like Iran because the world doesn’t trust us and we’re bogged down in an unwinnable situation.

Keep squawking, Chickenhawk…

I’d really like to know why Shrub felt he had to apologize to Hu for the heckler. Has he forgotten that free speech is legal in this country, or was he embarrassed that his handlers didn’t find all of the Shrub/Hu-non-supporters beforehand?

Pity the pathetic trol-lips

Larry:

Sitting in for punaise today?

I know, Tommy #62

Like I said ….its hard to resist

A dear friend sent me this the other day and I just want to share it with you guys.

“Never Again.â€

Since the end of WWII many of our world have properly focused on the crimes committed during that great war and said “never again.†Only recently has a museum opened on our national mall to remember those slaughtered by the Germans of WW II simply for being of the wrong skin color or religion. Books, film and media have frozen those events forever. Indeed our foreign policy in the Middle East is based on attempting to “balance†the evils of those crimes and provide a homeland to those who survived of the Jewish faith.

Yet, strangely, we are on the cusp of witnessing the second holocaust within the lifetime of many. Only this time we are responsible; not them.

Yesterday, those who we have come to know as criminals of Germany’s power elite swept cities, towns and villages in search of those who are different only to move them out of sight and in a place where they could be conveniently killed and forgotten.

Today we take a war to a foreign place so that we can “attract those who hate us.†We beat innocents in the prisons of Gitmo to lure criminals. We lie to ourselves as to why we are there, we plot and scheme for any reason so that we can herd as many as possible into a killing field. Our president boasts that we will take the war to “themâ€. That killing field has always been Iran. Pat Robertson foretold the future during our March invasion and “shock and awe†as he repeatedly called “Iraq†– “Iranâ€. It was just the beginning

Our leaders now say it is irresponsible to ignore the nuclear option. It is not about oil. It is not about greed. It is about us finding a way to kill as many of those who are different as we can while the country turns a blind eye. We will use bombs to finish our victims – that way we don’t have to move the bodies into stacks.

God bless our soldiers and generals for their service. I pray that we can look into each others eyes when the numbers of dead are finally counted. Will it take 1 million, 6 million, 10 million or more for us to say “never againâ€, again?

In an interview Wednesday, Rove’s attorney, Robert Luskin, confirmed that Rove remains a “subject” of Fitzgerald’s two-year-old probe.

“Mr. Rove is still a subject of the investigation,” Luskin said. In a previous interview, Luskin asserted that Rove would not be indicted by Fitzgerald, but he was unwilling to make that prediction again Wednesday.

“Mr. Fitzgerald hasn’t made any decision on the charges and I can’t speculate what the outcome will be,” Luskin said. “Mr. Rove has cooperated completely with the investigation.

http://www.truthout.org/docs_2006/042006Z.shtml

Dr. Bong #75

I’m not sure what that means.. but would that be good or bad?

I prefer to meet the troll head on, and correct him/her until he leaves, hair singed, bitter lesson learned.
I’ve seen several trolls come to FDL once, and decide not to return after being embarrassed.

I am amused by Shooter’s “one size fits all” theory of diplomacy.
Does this mean we should threaten Mexico with nukes because of the illegal immigration name?

By the way, “shooter” sounds like a porn name.
I have to say, that’s a pretty pathetic wad, metaphorically speaking.

Larry,

Punaise is a regular poster with a very quick hand at turning phrases into punchy puns.

Hence a compliment.

-GSD

Larry #83

Rest assured… it’s a good thing. punaise is very deft at one-line word-play thingies. Take it as a compliment.

:-)

Dr. Bong #79… I meant, sorry

Oops, sorry for the extra word “immigration *name*”.

Dr. Bong

Compliment received but I am not deaf…

in spite of what my wife told you

Just read a very interesting analysis by John Dean on what Bush is likely to do come October.

http://writ.news.findlaw.com/dean/20060421.html

Thanks for letting me clear that up

AAARG, I can’t get to the comments from the de-lurker thread. Is the link broken? I’ve tried a few different methods. no luck.

In the corporate world, if you send someone out to a negotiation who does not have the authority to make a deal stick, it shows you are not serious about making a deal.

Similarly, only the United States can make a deal stick that involves any security guarantees vis-a-vis American policy. We can’t send France and Germany to do that. It’s not that France and Germany shouldn’t be there–they should, along with others, be part of a multilateral solution.

Harry Reid is just pointing out when the United States deliberately excludes itself from the search for a multilateral solution, it demonstrates a lack of seriousness in making a deal.

G’day, good FDL’ers…

Woke up to a call at 5:15 a.m. my time telling me that me Ma was enroute to the ER down in Florida, so I’m scrambling to get outa here. Will get to Florida at midnight. Doesn’t appear to be life threatening, but she IS 84, and has her own chapter in the CPT and ICD-9 codebooks.

Carry on the good fight. May a Fitzian indictment of Turdblossom come down soon.

I gotta run to the office and fetch my wireless laptop, so maybe I’ll get to check in later.

Bustednuckles #92

Maybe cbl has put a hex on that thread in an effort to remain the “last” poster.

No - seriously… I got in fine. Loadsx really slow, due to the size of the thread. Keep trying.

:-)

The Shuster Synopsis from MSNBC:

Three key points made by Shuster:

1. The latest court documents, for the first time, name Rove as a subject of the investigation.

2. The court documents go out of their way to say that Rove will not be called as a witness in Scooter Libby’s trial, even though Rove is a key part of the narrative. Shuster notes that this is done when prosecutors want to “leave open the possibility of later charging that particular subject in a separate case.â€

3. Rove is referred in court documents as “Official A.†Shuster says “in every single case we have found, Keith, that prosecutor Patrick Fitzgerald when he designates somebody as Official A in an indictment, that person eventually does get indicted themselves.â€

*For a great laugh, read the first few dozen posts.

http://thinkprogress.org/2006/.....kes-a-nap/

-GSD

good luck to you and yours, BobbyG! Safe travels.

Busted knucks #92

Im having the same problem

I think in preparation for the Oct. surprise we will see a massive naval build up in the gulf and Iran will get taunted into sinking a U.S. Navy ship… then Shrub has all the excuse he needs.

Harry Reid got out ahead of the caucus on this, and good for him. That’s leadership.

Quibbles over imaginary future policy parsings ignore the importance of propelling and adversarial dynamic that leads to the restoration of constitutional balance and the thwarting of the un-American Bush/Cheney regime.

Harry deserves our support. We perpetually implore Dem leaders to show some fight and some spine. When they do it, they deserve enouragement and backup, or they will not do it again.

That’s my perspective.

Godspeed, BobbyG.

GSD - the alertnet article you linked also shows how easily Turkey can be pulled into the fray.

PS I can’t believe you guys know so little about Voodoo Diplomacy, text #2 in the Republican Series: Please Do That Voodoo That Yoo Do So Well. First you have Dr. Rice bite off a quail’s head while VP Cheney shoots a 73 yo man in the face. Simultaneously, you buy some prisoners from Afghani druglords and have someone play a recording of the Bybee memo backwards while they are waterboarded. Elsewhere, someone spins a Globe while the Voodoo priest intones: Pakistan and India are two different countries and the spell is passed back to its originator, the Voodoo priestess, who responds back: Iraq is not Iran and VOILA!!!

The French diplomatic corps is possessed by the spirit of — well, whoever, is left in the Administration with a soul remnant left — and we have Voodoo Diplomacy. A little more involved than picking up a phone, but the ritual plays well to the GOP base. Esp the quail part.

have a safe journey BobbyG . . .

and GSD, I enjoyed the Official A point as well although I think someone here had previously made that connection, but that whole sits in your heart with wings thing

Thank you, Paul Dirks at 54 …

PAUL WROTE:
“Back during the MAD [note: Mutually Assured Destruction] days we used to use the phrase “thinking the unthinkable” to describe nuclear strategy planning. Now were actually talking about DOING the unthinkable. How the hell did we get to this point?”

PD you reminded me of great LA Times columnist (since pushed out but, for the best, now running www.truthdig.com) Robert Scheer! Scheer has lotsa mileage on him. He wrote about the Nixon, Reagan, Bush 1, Kissinger et. al Looney Tunes talking about “survivable nuclear wars” and “acceptable death rates” from their war mongering. All heinous, unthinkable shit.

Scheer’s collection of LA Times articles on this was compiled into a wonderful late 1980s book titled: “Thinking Tuna Fish, Talking Death.”

That title came from the defense contractors attending little bidding picnics where they ate tuna sandwiches … and talked about “nuclear
tonnage” “survivable nuclear wars” and “only 20 to 30 million deaths being ‘acceptable collateral damage’”

Look up “Thinking Tuna Fish, Talking Death” cuz the cover graphic alone is worth the effort — caricatures of Lyndon Johnson, Bush 1, Reagan,
Kissinger with giant cruise missiles and noook-lee-ahr warheads as replacements for their teenie tiny little dicks.

Oh, and check out Robert Scheer’s TruthDig website.

Our thoughts go with you BobbyG.

I do think we have some hope of avoiding a war with Iran if Rove gets indicted, Rummy gets canned and Cheney is out of the picture somehow…

that picture of him sleeping in public tells me something is wrong with him…

Travel swiftly but safely, BobbyG; give our best to your mother.

Reminder to FDL’rs who are responding to urge to post a missive to that miserable excuse for our gender, Malkin (too stupid and personally self-hating to embrace her own real name, I’ll point out): BE SURE TO USE SAFE COMPUTING PRACTICES. The she-spawn of Satan has outed others who’ve written to her, exposing their personal information to the foaming hordes of the right, garnering abuse and death threats.

– Do NOT give any personal information that would locate you physically;
– Use an anonymizer to mask your IP address on line (the favorite of a certain scroll troll here at FDL was TOR; you can find it at http://tor.eff.org).

You might also ask the she-spawn exactly whom she speaks for when she spouts off, since she’s got dual U.S.-Philippine citizenship — and we all know the White House found at least one Philippine spy in their midst.

Shooter: You are either being disingenuous or you are just obtuse.

Reid is complaining that we are not DIRECTLY involved with diplomacy with Iran. He is NOT complaining that the diplomacy is multi-lateral. He is complaining that WE PERSONALLY are not one of the sides in the diplomacy. You argue that we used to love multi-lateral diplomacy and now abhor it: this is a simple misreading, and i don’t know if you are doing it intentionally or accidentally. Either way it is aggravating.

- safe travels, Bobbie G.

- I missed all the fun here last night: 500+ comments! Epic….

- Bush is in CA today. ugggh. touring the delta with Ahnold. Here’s one for ya, W:

“Bye bye Miss American Pie
Drove my Chevy to the levee but the levee was dry
Them good ole boys were drinking whisky and rye
And singing “this’ll be the day that I …” (ooops, better stop there)

(Don MacLean, from the way-back machine)

Sonoma comment: RBG says:April 21st, 2006 at 12:29 am “OK Sonoma, I’d love to hear a definition of ERA in 50 words or fewerâ€: The runs scored by an opposing team (divided by 9) against the pitcher responsible for those particular runners having reached base. Minus unearned runs, i.e., those runners who reached base and scored as a result of errors made by the defensive team†[43 words].

Ok, I can top that. “Equality of rights under the law shall not be denied or abridged by the United States or by any state on account of sex.” [24 words].

Why didn’t we work to pass this? We were concerned about losing protection for pregnant women and about drafting women for the Vietnam War. (fair, but more cannon fodder)

Will be using this when we Wa. fdlers meet w/ Cantwell’s rep this afternoon. Can you believe she co-sponsored a testosterone laden initiative w/ Santorum trying to show the Iranians who’s tougher? Gaaa…what a maroon.

Best wishes to you, Bobbie G.

I bet Bush and Ahnold aren’t driving a chevy as they chat “Let them eat cake” on their excellent tour.

Punaise, did you get enough chocolate bunnaise on Easter?