Fitzilla!!!

FITZ!?

No news on any grand jury doings or anything else as yet this morning with regard to the Fitzgerald investigation. Will let you know if and when I hear something.

Bush has never done anything right as far as I can tell. I don’t think he’s going to start now.

Special Prosecutor Patrick Fitzgerald!

Off topic, but some humor this morning in the form of the latest Horsey cartoon.

http://seattlepi.nwsource.com/…..sp?id=1392

Hope clicking the link works…. You might have to paste the whole thing into the window.

I hope Fiona’s feeling better today, Christy.

Paul Begala posted at the huff
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/…..21275.html

Doesn’t look like we are buying it… :)

Hi, Christy, how’s Fiona today? Back to babyschool?

It looks like Bush has actually achieved just what he wanted, complete instability in the ME so Freedom and Liberty can grow! What a twisted mind, what a twisted and destructive man.

The absolutely vital importance of knocking out the Vichies at every opportunity can not be stressed enough imho.
The Lieberman like Charlie Wilson jacked up the allocation for the Afghan resistance from about 10 million to about 100 million and threw in some stingers as well. Emboldened by the victory over one evil empire the Afgan resistance then spawned the blowback of Al Quaida.
‘ It’s the war stupid ‘

Just as it is in the credit card company’s best interest for you to not pay off your debt, it is in this administration’s interest to further the cause of terrorism.

remember when the soviet union tried for about 15 years to get afghanistan under control. remember how any men died? how much money and resources flowed into afghanistan? remember how the fight ended just before the soviet union, bandrupt, combat weary, and reeling from the sting of thousands of lost soildiers dissolved into ecomonic collapse? i do. and things around here are starting to look familiar.

its a little secret that the wingnuttia hate to hear. it wasn’t reagan that brought the soviets to their ultimate end, afghanistan has just as important a roll to play. nice job mr. bush.

Leslie at 7 — she’s much better today and back at preschool. She had a “momma, I want fruit” day all day on Wednesday, which may have just loosened things up a little too much, if you know what I mean (not to get graphic or anything). But she was up and frisky and demanding to go to school to see kids this morning. :) Thanks for asking.

Nedrenaline!

Convention in CT today, isn’t it?
——
TOPIC:
I don’t have a ticker link, but expect street prices for heroin to drop. Oh, and maybe ‘improved quality’ in the bargain.

Nix, interesting – Begala criticizes Dean’s spending, and then complains about the Dems’ lack of a message. What does Dean’s infrastructure spending have to do with message? Wasn’t the arrangement that the Dems in Congress, Reid, Pelosi, et al., would decide policy and craft our message as a party? Bit of a disconnect there. The allegation that consultant fees have “gone through the roof” at the DNC is eyebrow-raising, however; I wonder what’s really going on with that.

But to say that Bush planned this chaos is to say that he had a good idea of what things would be like after we attacked Iraq. I just can’t believe that. I think he is trying to use the unplanned chaos to his advantage, finding that riches can still be made, only in a different way.

Holy crap! Per the note, “The grand jury investigating the CIA leak case is scheduled to meet at 9:30 am ET.”

Let me fire off an e-mail to Tweety so he can get out in front of this today.

T-

ayetolla at 12 — I do remember. And I also remember my history of the British Raj and how it cracked in the mountain passes of Afghanistan so long ago. And at the moment, I know folks who are stationed over there and it worries me, with more friends headed over to both Afghanistan and Iraq this summer. If I thought we had anything like a coherent plan or mission…well, I’d still be both worried and pissed, but maybe a little less so, I suppose. We disregarded the one sure thing about human nature: you cannot force an idea on another person that they will not consider willingly. Democracy has to come from within, it cannot be imposed from without — that’s dictatorship disguised in a tidy little bow.

Christy, so glad she’s better. Better the “fruit flu” than a virus, imo. ;)

Mwahahahaha t- at 16 — good one. *snerk*

He is finishing what he started – just like he finished off the businesses he ran – right into the ground…

Leslie at 18 — she’s been on a bananas and yogurt kick lately. I know kids go through food phases at this age, but I’d sure be happier if we could get her to eat a more balanced diet. Her ped says to just keep trying — just my luck, I’ve got a strong-willed child (although considering her parents, it’s not exactly a shocker…).

I can’t believe we have two more years of this. How many people in this administration would we have to get rid of to get someone competant? We need to do something, but what I don’t know. It’s raining again in PA and I am depressed. Please oh please indict Rove today.

Redd-
I always say my daughter is a carbitarian. Doesn’t love meat of vegies but loves her carbs.

Mullah Omar, OBL, Women in Burkas etc., etc., etc – Long forgotten by MSM but still in Afganistan – Heck of a Job

Jfisk — raining here in WV as well. My flowers are loving it, but I could use a day of sunshine myself. On a cheery note, the baby sparrows have finally fledged out and can feed themselves today instead of mom and dad having to help — it’s been fun watching them go through the same demanding kid stuff that I deal with every day. *g*

Aarghh!!!

can’t someone call Randall Samborn and at least get a “no comment” from him?!?!?!?

I was never a fan of the war in Afghanistan and continue to be surprised at the number of liberals who were against the war in Iraq but will still say “Yes, of course we had to go into Afghanistan….” I just never thought you could catch terrorists by dropping bombs–and this only serves to create more terrorists, anyway.

Not to mention, we gave Bin laden a month’s notice that we were coming!

We are not doing so well in Iraq either. Here is a NYT article on it.
As Death Stalks Iraq, Middle-Class Exodus Begins

BAGHDAD, Iraq, May 18 — Deaths run like water through the life of the Bahjat family.
[]
“The main thing now is to just get out of Iraq,” said Mr. Bahjat, standing in a room heaped with suitcases and bedroom furniture in eastern Baghdad.
[]
Most frightening, many middle-class Iraqis say, was how little the government did to stop the violence. That failure boded ominously for the future, leaving them feeling that the government was incapable of protecting them and more darkly, that perhaps it helped in the killing. Shiite-dominated government forces have been accused of carrying out sectarian killings.

They are planning Chaos 3.0 in Iran to launch before Nov 2006, why, because WE ARE AT WAR you know ….. since Congress really did pass a declaration of war right…. Oh maybe I was mistaken ….. we really have no congress, just a bunch of boviating rubberstampering millionaires who have NO idea how much NORMAL Americans pay in taxes.

Good Morning from Everyone from AZ, it is a bright 78 degrees this morning!

Zeppo at 6 — Mwahahahahaha. Oh man, thanks, I needed that cartoon this morning. Good one!

Cathy at #23. Carbitarian, I love that. That is exactly what my kids are. It is so hard to get kids to eat well.

I don’t feel too Fitz today.

This damn crystal ball of mine hasn’t been worth a damn since it showed Hagler beating Leonard back in ‘87…

ayetolla,

One major difference is that in the current situation, the Russians aren’t feeding stinger missiles (or their missile of choice) to the Afghani resistance. At least I don’t think they are :(

War by proxy.

Capturing Bin Laden would be a disaster for the Bush/Cheney War Machine. They need their boogiemen out there.

The only reason they got Saddam is because they got us so entrenched in Iraq, they didn’t need him anymore.

I suspect Osama will make a guest appearance in a rathole sometime around late October or first thing in November. Although I think they’ll do an Uday and Qusay on him, and just dump his corpse in front the the cameras. They don’t want this guy talking as a trial…

Cliff @ 31 – Hagler did beat Leonard. The judges just saw it otherwise.

“The grand jury investigating the CIA leak case is scheduled to meet at 9:30 am ET.”

champagne is waiting in fridge.

grand jury is schedule to meet every Wed and Friday morning, doesn’t mean anything.

Cliff,

Hagler beating Leonard…now that’s a painful analogy if you’re a fan of justice.

Christy @ #17

The historical lessons from Afghanistan are perhaps even more profound I think, as the place that the CIA “created” OBL. I wonder if we are training and funding the next Osama somewhere in the world today. Quite probably. If anyone is able, I sincerely recommend watching the three part BBC Documentary “The Power of Nightmares” on the rise of both the neocons and islamic fundamentalism. Presents an insightful historical perspective.

Jay at #32

they don’t need them, i’m sure they have plenty of ours left from the late 80’s. that’s what happens when you loose weapons technology to warlords.

If I were a Republican consultant sitting in the White House, I’d suggest winding down the Iraq operation immediately and sending the troops over to Afghanistan.

The mission would be to send the Taliban back to their burka factories and to find Osama Bin Laden.

I’d make a big deal out of it, too. Have Judy Miller over for lunch. Serve cocktail weenies to the editors of the Washington Post. Bring Joe Lieberman over for a big “bipartisan” photo op.

I’d leave the Democrats whimpering on the old national security issues.

The Note said the GJ was meeting on Wednesday too…, seems like they don’t read FDL or else they would know that the GJ is available but not necessarily in use for Fitz…. so I am not going to get excited about that report yet…

We haven’t captured Osama Bin Laden because he is a Bush crony. The Bush family takes good care of its cronies.

A brief note on Leopold, Madsen, and CHB’s “drop dead day” thingy –

This is all good, even if Fitz doesn’t act until June. Leopold is a rumor-monger, but the MSM has picked up the rumors and run with the “is Rove about be indicted?” story.

The only problem is that some websites bought into the story, without sufficiently salting the speculation.

Leopold is doing the Drudge work on TreasonGate, and doing it well . . .

BREAKING STORY — Are Rove, Cheney, and Bush space alien maggots, sent to Earth to pollute our precious bodily fluids, to weaken us before the space alien invasion?

DEVELOPING . . .

After record rainfall here in northern Cali, we’ve had nothing since the end of March, until about 4:00 this morning.

I do like the occasional shower to cool things off and clean the air, but the nonstop rain we were getting was both depressing and dangerous. It has taken this whole time (since end of March) for the flood plains to dry out.

And I’ve found another trigger for moderation – making comments about the DNC will apparently do it. *g*

The boxing analogy is perfect here. We all saw it, but the fix was in. Sound familiar? Karl goes down today!

ayetolla,

I thought that the stinger missiles to the Afghani warlords story was one of the more fascinating bits in Richard Clarke’s “Aganist All Enemies”. I trust Clarke and that fact does lend credence to the argument that the U.S. had a hand in bringing down ther Soviet Union, much as I hate to feed into a rightwing favorite.

Finishing the job will be the responsibility of the successor to the crown

And now my neighbours are dying because Bush couldn’t keep his eye on the ball.

Heckuva job indeed…

`scuse me, I need to go somewhere quiet and scream some more…

To those who know something about the nuts and bolts of GJ investigations:

When a GJ is sitting and hearing several different matters, how is the coordination between various prosecutors presenting to the GJ handled? I presume that there are times when different prosecutors want to present matters to the GJ or seek indictments – how are the conflicts handled?

Christy– thank you for bringing this up today… Our profound neglect and abuse of this poor, war torn nation and people is a national disgrace.

I’m with Cookie @ 27. We demanded that the Taliban (who we had supported) hand over OBL(who we had supported) and they asked for proof that he had done this terrible thing to us, we said no, we don’t negotiate. We bombed and killed and used this murderous campaign as a way into Iraq. The Afghan people were oppressed by the Taliban and had suffered mightily with 25 + years of war. We have only added to that suffering. ;(

Don’t know how the pipeline is progressing, though…

If you think things are bad in Afghanistan and Pakistan now, Just check back later after we have bombed Iran for having imaginary nuclear weapons.

Christy, I have a niece who ate almost nothing but yogurt and cheese for her second year. She’s 24 now, heavy into rap and hip-hop. Their strange little behaviors are frustrating but not long-term.

Is the comment above about the grand jury for real? I promised my son an outing and have to leave now, but will be here later on, after any events, to drink imaginary champagne and eat real ice cream if today is it.

ayetolla at 12
Lest we not forget America’s role in arming and funding the mujahedeen resitance which was instrumental in Osama Bin Laden’s rise to power.

The fact that we used the Afghani people and their land to bleed the USSR to death is not lost on Al Qaeda today. It is commonly understood that the US made a huge strategic error in not sticking around to repair the war- torn Afghanistan. This will happen again with Iraq under Bush.

Pakistanis, no apostrophe.

we need a third party because leading democrats have the same foreign policy that bush’s team has — they all want to tear apart exisiting countries like iraq [as confirmed by joe biden, whose arrogance is only exceeded by his ignorance] so that american businesses can profit from the chaos — they don’t realize that it’s too late, that america’s bankrupt & is headed toward a fate like argentina’s but worse

Christy asks: Just once, just one freaking time, could George Bush finish what he’s started and do the job right?

Um, no.
Unless you believe, as phase 2–Saddam being phase 1–this is all part of a fiendishly clever and diabolical plan to get back at those who voted Daddy out of office. Uh, oh…I guess that would be all of us.
Or not. ;-)

Gotta fly and get flowers and make the “Welcome to Fab Fargo” sign for the boulevard display… marathon’s tomorrow and we’ll be cheerin’ ‘em on. [And after that, time to start planning the virtual breakfast for we FDLers who can’t make it to YearlyKos?]

Will be checkin’ back to see if anybody’s getting Fitzed today.

bush is doing everything his puppetmasters set out to accomplish: empty the u.s. treasury into their coffers; impoverish great swaths of the american middle class, whose children will have no opportunity, but to join the army to fight their endless money-making ventures; eviscerate the constitution and the founding principles of the this country and international agreements that provided a certain moral authority; and compromise the politication ‘opposition’ into cowardly little fucks.

mission accomplished, indeed.

27, cookie: you’re partially right. Back in early 2002 we had plenty of Special Forces soldiers roaming around Afghanistan. They would have been able, given time, to tighten the noose around Bin Laden and do what needs to be done: kill him.
Instead, Bush went off on his Iraq adventure. Hundreds of Special Forces operators were pulled from Afghanistan and redeployed towards the Iraq invasion. Along with the operators went much of the technology….helos for transport/resupply, uavs for intel, indeed lots of photo recon folks were shifted over to analysis of Iraq things.
On top of all this, rebuilding of the infrastructure of Afghanistan went to waste. No money! All the money went towards Iraq…and look where we are. And now, Taliban and Al Queda reinvigorate in Afghanistan. Recruiting is up…they tell their followers that Bin Laden is all powerful…not even America can get him.
The target should always be Bin Laden. Kill him. Period. No trials…just shoot him down. It can still be done…but it would take massive redeployment out of Iraq…something this WH will not do.
Ghostman

Mara at 42

The Note says that every Wed. and Fri.
This has been covered ad nauseum here at the lake.

WTF??
Police shoot and kill suv driver who reportedly picked up “illegal imms”

http://www.docstrangelove.com/
http://www.cnn.com/2006/US/05/…..index.html

John at 54 — thanks. No idea why, but I keep throwing in random apostrophes this week. Doh! I clearly need more coffee…

The picture of the woman veiled in public says that things are reverting back to the way they were. Oddly enough, a few months ago I was rummaging through a hospital cabinet and found a National Geographic from the mid-late 70’s. It contained an article on the modernization of Kabul with pictures of uncovered Afghani women on sidewalks with feathered hair, wide collars on open blouses, polyester pants, and makeup. You’d think they were avid fans of Charlie’s Angels. I’m not sure what the ultimate meaning is, apart from ‘we’re going in circles here’.

The birdies in my yard are madly chirping for their Fitz fix. I told them this was the the day I picked in the pool.

Christy,the oriole nest is finished. Watched papa O chase away a hummer from the nest tree this am. They’re so clever to have chosen a tree with its own water source – banana flowers catch the sprinkler water, instant bird bath.

Popped over to HuffPo to see what Begala had to say. Having no television, I didn’t see the original comments, but his mea culpa is pretty nasty, imo. Dripping with disdain for the netroots, he makes clear that his readers should be deeply grateful for his condescension and response. It’s a Joke Line response and helps no-one, including Begala himself. It’s pretty sad that he doesn’t get it, but he clearly has his pockets full and his mind closed.

freaking impossible…the weasel never followed through on anything…in his pathetic life…except when it was to follow through on cheating…I want this prick in the dock…time to go make some calls to our WONDERFUL senators…”Hello, Senators Roberts…with all due respect you coward shill to Bushco. crimes…you lack of oversight douche-bag, thank you, so much.”

Good News at MyDD –

Unions Backing Off Lieberman?

http://www.mydd.com/story/2006/5/19/0123/46242

As Democratic delegates prepare to endorse a Senate candidate at Friday’s party convention in Hartford, organized labor including unions that have supported Lieberman before has largely decided to sit out the Lieberman-Lamont contest.

I’m afraid that the Bush plan for Afghanistan has succeeded; he doesn’t give a damn about justice or humanity. If he wanted to root out the Taliban, he would have gone after Pakistan, instead of making nice with their #1 supporter.
I think Marc Herold has it partly right; empty space and control of the real estate.
http://www.cursor.org/stories/emptyspace.html

Blank Kludge #14 – Yes, the CT Dem convention starts at 6PM. The vote for Senate candidates will happen tonight. I’ll notify Jane the minute anything crucial happens.

good morning -

heading out to the garden again
will check in although there is no “Media Advisory” up at the DOJ site

Christy – glad Fi is feeling like herself today

suggestion: Fundraising Idea

how about a ‘Fitz Alert’ button like the ones the News Sites offer – frankly I don’t know what it would entail technically, but I suspect lots of folks would pay a site like this for the ’service’ – proceeds to go to ActBlue & other progressive causes

okay so it’s early and I’m only on the second cup – check back with y’all in a little bit

gorgeous photograph btw

goodness gracious but!! may we all live to see Laura, Jenna and not-Jenna in burkhas, Lynne Cheney in greasy fatigues and then a burkha, and Mary Cheney in a tiny, thick, dirty denim bikini embroidered with one, big fat pink triangle … and all of them caged, and their caged visages on postage stamps and dental dams and toilet paper for the next 50 goddam years, the swine…

sorry, firepups, just needed to vent a tad…

ps no jpg image for me this am. Yesterday, no problems at all.

Everybody wants to see Rove frog-marched (including me). However, the closer the actual indictment comes to the November election the better. So, everybody should just take a deep breath and rest assured that Mr. Fitzgerald will indeed indict Rove (and maybe Cheney and Bush). I don’t know why but I’m reminded of a thing I heard as a little kid, that even if you cut the head off a snake it still won’t die until sundown.

Bob Adams, best of luck today, you know we firepups are right there with you and Ned. We sure appreciate your staying in close touch with us with updates and links while managing your own site and working for Ned.

I, too, love the photo. I’m sorry about the veil, but I do love the swathing and the beauty.

Have to go, go, go. See you all later.

OT: Congress bribery probe could deepen

http://tinyurl.com/orzyw

I’m curious if people who use the frog-marching term are using it wishfully or figuratively. I want Rove indicted as much as anyone, but surely everyone realizes that Rove is not going to be marched out of the White House in handcuffs.

Additionally, rest assured that Fitz is not going to indict Cheney or Bush.

Christy,

In answer to your question: The only thing that W has started that he will be able to successfully finish is his presidency.

Quick note to Congress:

Please, quit wasting time and taxpayer dollars pretending to hold confirmation hearings. You’re not fooling anyone, really. Just admit you’ve abdicated your oversight role, sign off on whatever insane thing this president has requested this time, then go back to sleep. Your phony little dog and pony shows have become more than a little tiresome of late.

Don’t you have something better to do? Like preventing gay people from holding hands in public? Or declaring English the national language? Or requiring the national anthem by sung in English? Or declaring Christianity the national religion? Or saving all those people who the doctors have so stupidly declared to by in a persistive vegetative state. Or requiring rape victims to go find another hospital. Or preventing unmarried couples from living together?

With all these far more urgent matters requiring your attention, why would you even consider giving time to something as insignificant as congressional oversight of intelligence gathering?

Love, Ed

Quick note to Congress:

Please, quit wasting time and taxpayer dollars pretending to hold confirmation hearings. You’re not fooling anyone, really. Just admit you’ve abdicated your oversight role, sign off on whatever insane thing this president has requested this time, then go back to sleep. Your phony little dog and pony shows have become more than a little tiresome of late.

Don’t you have something better to do? Like preventing gay people from holding hands in public? Or declaring English the national language? Or requiring the national anthem by sung in English? Or declaring Christianity the national religion? Or saving all those people who the doctors have so stupidly declared to by in a persistive vegetative state. Or requiring rape victims to go find another hospital. Or preventing unmarried couples from living together?

With all these far more urgent matters requiring your attention, why would you even consider giving time to something as insignificant as congressional oversight of intelligence gathering?

Love, Ed

Moderator: Sorry for double post. My bad. Please delete one. Thx!

Moderator: Sorry for double post (78 & 79). Please delete one. Thanks!

Site appears to be back up and running fine.

test

(Have been trying for hours to get here today – “Word Press” is my least favorite thing to see on my screen)

I guess people just don’t understand that there was never anything simple about anything that is happening, or that we have undertaken, in the Middle East. It’s easy to justify or explain the attack on Afghanistan after the 9/11 attacks – sort of – if all you are doing is saying that A equals B. Yes, the hijackers were trained in camps located in Afghanistan and run by the Taliban, and the last thing we wanted was to leave the training camps up and running.

Unfortunately, it wasn’t – and isn’t – that simple.

We had an opportunity in Afghanistan to eliminate the terrorist element, to provide the foundation for building a more democratic form of government, to work to establish an economy that was not opium-based, and to improve both infrastructure and services. These are things that are not easy to accomplish nor are they accomplished quickly, and the chance of success diminishes when the focus is both widened and shifted in order to encompass another military action in the region. We took our eye off the ball that is Afghanistan, and the result is a resurgence of the Taliban, the return of repressive religious elements, a flourishing of the opium trade and steadily increasing violence. I don’t know why anyone should be surprised; I’m certainly not.

What is happening in Afghanistan and Iraq is emblematic of poorly thought out policy, the bad decisions that have flowed from that policy, and an inability to first admit mistakes and then to fix them. I see no sign that his is changing for the better, which is also no surprise as this administration’s idea of change is to more forcefully insist that black is white and up is down and really, folks, things are getting better.

So far, the only people paying any price for this mess are the troops being killed and injured doing the jobs they were sent to do, the innocent citizens of the countries we are occupying, who have suffered death, injury and the destruction of whatever infrastructure they had pre-war, and the American taxpayers who are footing the bill for this experiment at the expense of more pressing domestic issues. Those who planned the war, those who continue to manage the war, and those who have multi-million dollar contracts as a result of the war are doing just fine, poll numbers notwithstanding.

What’s wrong with that picture?

major problems with the server today????

Having trouble with both Safari and Firefox. AND there’s no way that FDLers went for 2 hours between comments 77 and 78 with nothing to say!

Glad Fi is feeling better.

Yup, what’s going on? Maintenance or DOS attack? Some infos, pls!

Re: Fitz
I never bought the Rove should know soon (7-10 days) scuttlebutt. That seemed like it came right from Rove and Luskin. I know Rover would like his fate decided sooner rather than later – but you could grow old waiting for stuff to pop with Fitzgerald. Indicting Gov. Ryan? Took the Chicago office 8 YEARS. Fitz is busy, busy but it is because he has a lot of cases – not because he is speedy with them.

DAMN!! Teknikal diffikooltees AGAIN! It took 15 attempts to load the page, then the comments were inop. Six more attempts before I got here. Was freakin’. I thought for sure ol’ Rover finally got ratfucked and the traffic was killin’ the place.Surfin’ all over the place for news.Now I’m afraid to refresh.Anywho and other than that, Good morning every one.Here goes nuthin’!Hitting submit and prayin’.

Bertrand @50

There is a grand Jury clerk. You book time with the GJ. So lets say you have a little buy and bust drug case and you only need to to put two cops on the stand. Whole thing should take maybe a half hour.
You go to see the GJ clerk, look in the book and see when there is a helaf hour slot open.
Sometimes, sealed indictments of cooperators come to mind or Statute of Limitations problems, you have an urgent need for GJ time and no slots open in th ebook.
The you have to go up and down the halls and beg/horsetrade with your collegues to have them give you time that they have already reserved.
If that doesn’t work, you go to your unit chief or the chief of the criminal division and they decid who gets what time. it rarely comes to that b/c most people are professional and cooperative.

The NYT has an editorial (open) on Hayden. They noticed the, um, omissions and stuff, they don’t think he should get the job, but they’re sure Roberts has the fix in. They actually used the phrase ‘rubber stamp’ in describing the committee, or at least the GOoP members of it! Now, if the committee would just do what its members were actually elected to do….

Maybe this Jason Leopold dude got played, and was too naive to even consider the possibility. Spread some enticing disinfo out there, to make the bloggers look foolish when they breathlessly jump all over it.

Sometimes wishes do come true – the newest addition to Yearlykos – General Wesley Clark! This morning’s press release:

From the Blogosphere: Retired General Wesley K. Clark will join a panel discussion on science at the YearlyKos convention in Las Vegas June 9. The panel, titled “Championing Science,” also features moderator Stephen Darksyde, author Chris Mooney, Dr. P.Z. Myers, and author Wendy Northcutt. The discussion will focus on current topics in science and the importance of maintaining scientific principles.

With the world’s population now exceeding six billion people, our welfare is becoming ever more dependent on science and the applications that flow from it. New scientific discoveries are being made nearly every day that deepen our understanding of our planet and its inhabitants, as well as the effects that people are having on the earth.

Unfortunately, coalitions in America and other countries are actively trying to redefine science based on non-scientific principles. The YearlyKos science panel will discuss how a large coalition of science writers, researchers, and progressive political activists are working to counter these pseudo-scientific groups.

“Ensuring that current and future generations have access to the collective knowledge of science gathered over the millennia is critical in helping to safeguard the future of our country and improve the lives of all people,” says Gina Cooper, YearlyKos executive director. “As a former high school math and science teacher, I appreciate the concern that scientists have about pseudo-scientific groups. We are very pleased that General Clark will be joining this panel discussion at YearlyKos.”

http://www.dailykos.com/

PJ -

Yeah, it’s obvious that the fix is in. The headlong march to a BushWorld panoptic police station continues unabated.

Like little boots even cares if he finishes anything. Either some real Prez will need to clean up or as clusterfcuk likes to say, ‘we’ll all be dead’.

Christy, to echo mommybrain – I was able to load the jpg on Firefox, but it won’t load on IE, fyi.

And I tried to post this next comment earlier, but kept getting “timed out” error messages. You may have already seen this, but if not, one of Josh’s Muckraker reporters, Justin Rood, is from West Virginia, and adds a little local flavor to this post.

Another fubar example of how this adm is keeping us ever so much safer than the dems ever could. I watched this am the abc video from gma..Brian Ross report on federal air marshals contention that they cannot do their job with the ludicrous regulations. Dailykos also has a diary. Even evil Sensenbrenner gets it right on the video. I almost flipped when Brian said a hotel even had a sign welcoming the federal air marshals. Now there would be a great photo to post if someone could find it. I would like my republican family & friends to give me just one example of what the republicans in congress have done to make us safer. If the dems don’t pound this point hard, they are truly gutless.

Haven’t had time to check back in the entries, but is anyone else having a hard time getting onto the FDL site today? Very slow, sometimes impossible, for me. (no, it’s not my server — other cruising around works just fine)
Maybe it’s all the anxiety over who’s gonna file the 1st “FITZ!” if the gj finally comes forth with something on rover(?). If so, would this be good or bad news for FDL? Nice to have the healthy growth in ##, but does that mean FDL’s gonna go blank every time something terrific happens?! I couldn’t stand it!
Terrific site. Great work by Jane & Christie. Wonderful comments.
Thanks everybody, even if you are multiplying like bunnyrabbits.
BTW Christie, I don’t think I was even half-way coherant when my little ones were the age of yours. Don’t know how you do it. Bravo!

No Rove news and FDL was down. At least this place is back. Come on Fitz. If this was a Hollywood script, I’d tell them they were overdoing it on the dramatic tension.

BobbyG, Leopold was on the radio last Saturday claiming that he would “out” all his sources about Rove’s indictment, if their info turned out to be inaccurate. I’m not going to hold my breath waiting for him to do that, but he really painted himself into a corner.

Wow, I was worried! It seems like things are up and running just time on my Firefox browser. Is it the traffic? With all this maybe-maybe not Frogmarch hopes floating around the traffic here must be just off the map!

Hang in there, ladies & gents, all these technological difficulties just remind us how greatful we are that we have the net now … can you imagine how hard it would be to get a handle on any of this if Bush had been dumped on us in pre-internet times?

Can we please capture G Bush and finish off the administration instead? LOL

Susan from MDI–please email me at jobo at acadia dot net. Put FDL in the message line.

FDL is in the process of changing servers — the technical difficulties should disappear — but there are always glitches in these sorts of changeovers. Just FYI for those of you who aren’t aware of why the page loads slowly, if at all, and then half the time the comments are not available, etc.

The Pawn suggests this article.

http://www.kuwaittimes.net/ana…..d=69420421

Maybe this Jason Leopold dude got played, and was too naive to even consider the possibility.

I don’t think so — Leopold knows his story is bullshit, but that is A-Okay for the world we live in. It is those of us who are so gullible as to believe him and try to parse the bullshit that have been played.

We live in a fact-free Through-the-Looking-Glass, Down-the-Rabbit-Hole, Up-Is-Down Black-Is-White Orwellian World — spin is everything; spin is the only thing.

That Leopold has gotten as much traction as he has is an indicator of how much the Spin Zone worm has turned against BushCo.

Fitz, don’t fail me now! Save us from the BushCo Matrix!

The threat of terrorism to America and its citizens has grown in direct proportion to our reliance on oil imported from the Middle East. When this countries oil supplies peaked in the 70’s, our “leadership” (Jimmy Carter excluded perhaps) decided that we’d continue down this most destructive path by building our foreign policy around extracting and securing the resources of other nations by propping up dictatorial regimes, subjugating their people and strong-arming the violent backlash.

In this regard, the hollow claim from the Bushies and the nitwits on the right that it’s all about protecting “our freedoms” is partially true. Our freedom to to be arrogant and ignorant. You reap what you sow. Keep filling up those Hummer’s wingnuts, ANWR will buy us another 6 months.

Massive, publicly-funded project to stop our dependence on fossil fuels. It’s the only way to make tomorrow peaceful for our kids.

end of rant.

Leopold’s editor says he heard himself from ABC News, MSNBC and Knight Ridder journalists that Leopold’s story is true, but their editors are just sitting on it. I can’t believe that the Truthout editor is a fantasist too.

Breaking News – productivity in America up 67% after website Firedoglake.com experienced a brief outage….

In other news, Bush is still an ass ;)

Doesn’t look like anything’s going to happen today though.

Finally back into the site just in time to leave (sigh).

Maybe the real benefit of all the hype during the last week is that the number of breathless, multiply-redundant comments linking the latest-and-greatest from truthout, rawstory and Wayne Madsen will abate for a little while.

Nah, just kidding myself. The credulous we’ll always have with us.

Just found out my nephew is in Afghanistan again. This is very frightening.

Nephew’s short story is he had just gotten out of the Marines before the war started and went to work for General Dynamics. He was recalled by the Marines and spent about a year in theater. Went back to GD and they sent him to Iraq for another year. Came home and told GD he would not go back. They sent him to Germany. Now he is in Afghanistan. He said they gave him a pistol and a machine gun and told him to go fix computers. He has a wife and 2 small kids. SSSShhh****ttt.

Whew, you’re back.

Hmm…Christy’s been quiet for awhile. That either means really good writin’ or really good news in in the offing. I’ll take either.

But COME ON, FITZ!!!!

Leopold’s editor also says he has spoken personally to all of Leopold’s sources. So he is putting himself and truthout on the line as well. I’m not willing to make assumptions either way on this – I’ll wait to hear from Fitz.

Both Bush and Cheney are not in DC today. Rummy had a town hall meeting this a.m. with Peter Pace. The Note was uncharacteristically brief today. I’m thinking that Rover was able to convince Fitz that the indictment shouldn’t be announced until 4:30 this afternoon “for the good of the country.” Fitz, being the reasonable gov’t official that he is, went along with this idea. He’s not a camera hog, after all. The media has been compliant with this, but once the story breaks, they’ll be all over it. Of course, the rest of America will be well into their second drink by 5:00 this afternoon. . .

Considering that the Bush cabal’s only real concern was putting Mr. Unocal – Hamid Karzai -into power, I’d say they’re all pretty satisfied the job is finished. Oh, but wait – girls are going to school in Afganistan now! we should all stop kvetching!

Top Ten Signs the Government is Spying on You (Letterman):

http://www.dailykos.com/story/2006/5/19/9038/96904

Capitol Hill Blue, Raw Story, Wayne Madsen, Truthout?

Track records do not exactly inspire total confidence.

cherry flavored (110):

Thoughts and prayers to you and your nephew and his family.

Sorry for the site hangups this morning, more hiccoughs switching to the new server. Thanks for everyone’s patience.

We now return you to the regularly scheduled sold-out Christy Hardin-Smith show.

Kobe is breathing heavily on my knees, which is Poodle-speak for “it’s pumpkin loaf time, mom…”

Wooo hooo FDL is back up, I’ve been patient. Working good as new now. If we can get some Fitz action…

cherry flavored, sorry to hear about your nephew. I’m sending him good wishes for a safe return.

twolf1 107, lol. Too true.

“Remind me again — we haven’t captured Osama Bin Laden or finshed off the Taliban yet, have we? Just once, just one freaking time, could George Bush finish what he’s started and do the job right?”

Relax, please–all our resources are committed to the hunt for Jimmy Hoffa right now. We’ll turn over every square inch of Michigan if we have to.

Bush Tells Reporter He Has Low Poll Numbers Because “We Are At War, And War Unsettles People”…

unlike PEACE

which absolutely freaks them out.

SIGH! What a pity Janet Jackson’s not here.

Excellent point, Fred. Why are gummint agents all over a farm in Michigan looking for a guy who’s been dead and irrelevant for 30 years — when Osama Bin Laden is still alive and relevant?

Isn’t the ferver misplaced here?

Thanks to Bobby G. for ‘panoptic police state’. I’d forgotten the Panopticon and it’s a perfect metaphor for this nightmare.

Christy — bananas and yogurt are great! My daughter is 14 now and wants to eat only meat and potatoes [ok to be fair, fish too] while all her friends are eating salad. On the one hand, I’m glad she’s not getting all hung up about her body, on the other, some healthier choices would be nice. I’m a pretty-near vegetablarian, my self. Girls and food — always difficult.

I can tell you why the English language thing is happening. My husband is a musician and had a gig at a biker bar last weekend. [always interesting]. Almost all the cars had this bumper sticker– Speak English or Get the Hell Out. These people were all complaining about their crappy low-paying jobs with no benefits — and somehow this is what they focus on.

Our Congress can always be trusted to pander to the lowest common demoninator — and this Congress is a regular Panderama.

This totall slipped under my radar. Although way, way OT this could be the beginning of a major voting fraud White House involvement investigation. I’m hoping I am not so far out of the loop that I am the only one who missed this. The story deserves a lot of exposure IMO.

http://www.truthout.org/docs_2006/051806D.shtml

http://www.theadvocates.org/quiz.html

A fun quiz

Whew — thank goodness, I’m back in again. Whatta morning, eh? Something new coming up shortly, I promise.

M3 #128: What a shocker – I’m a LIBERAL!

From the SnowJob gaggle:

[snip]

Thomas: He finds that as a justification to invade a country where we had choke-hold sanctions, satellite surveillance –

Snow: Helen, I’m not going to get in another argument about the — this is a three-year-old argument and you’re trying to reargue the case. The president made his case back then. The United States Senate voted overwhelmingly.

Thomas: He did not make the case.

Snow: Well, in your opinion he didn’t make the case. He made the case. He laid out his reasons.

Thomas: He made the case, in your opinion?

Snow: Yes.

We’re glad to know that Snow is on board with his boss. We’d be happier to report that he had a firm grasp of history. As a student researcher at the University of Illinois found a couple of years ago, the Bush administration advanced more than 20 different justifications for the war in Iraq between 2001 and 2002. One that Snow didn’t mention, at least explicitly, today: The threat, described by the president in his September 2002 speech before the U.N. General Assembly, that Saddam Hussein was going to give the weapons of mass destruction he didn’t have to al-Qaida terrorists with whom he wasn’t working.
_____

via Tim Grieve at Salon.com

Look it was already gettin’ a little unhealthy relying so much on one last boyscout to ride in like the hero wasn’t it?
We have , what? 10 million page views daily now and we just know that we can swarm like africanized killer bee’s.
The people want to know what the politico’s did with the intell – the people want phase 2.
So are we supposed to sit around all day waiting for frikkin Godot?
Fuck that shit.
We don need no steenkin badges! Let’s ROLL!

WHAT DO WE WANT? PHASE 2! WHEN DO WE WANT IT! NOW!

No comments in 15 minutes? Uh-oh.

Leslie — I’ve got a new post up. :)

Cherry flavored 110 – I’m so sorry. My nephews are mostly over 6′ now, but I still see 4 and 8 and 10 when I look at them.I hope he comes home very soon and tell him there are other jobs!

NEWS Troops have just been deployed from Iraq and Afghanistan to join in the hunt for the 35-year dead body of Jimmy Hoffa rumored to be somewhere in Delaware? The FBI has issued a statement that locating the desicated corpse will be a positive step toward irradicating terrorism. The alert system has been upgraded to orange. It’s damn Osama, full speed ahead.

Cherry flavored at 110 — Sorry, was bumped off the blog for a while and am just now catching up with your post. Please tell your nephew to stay safe and keep his head down. I’ll keep you in our prayers and thoughts. Here’s hoping they all come back safely. So sorry to have been the bearer of bad news for you today.

Of course things are still screwed up in Afghanistan. We act like the war is over but we still haven’t even caught the guy who was running the country, Mullah Omar. Do we think he just up and retired???????????

Afghan government, what government? Karzai’s power extends to the outskirts of Kabul, on a good day

Never underestimate the power of hubris, denial and belief in one’s own propaganda. The fact that the mudjahedin freedom fighters had humiliated and defeated Soviet Union a decade before is of no consequence. There has been absolutely no strategic planning on how can Christian troops occupy and pacify two Muslim countries because if the USA is going to remain in strength in the Middle East beyond 2008, the draft and increased taxes will be required. Since the resistance is far from defeated and is rebounding in Afghanistan, millions of American girls and boys will be needed to keep the Neo-Cons’ dreams alive.

Just once, just one freaking time, could George Bush finish what he’s started and do the job right?

I think he finished what he started on at least one occasion in his life…or do we need to do a blood test on the twins?

“Remind me again — we haven’t captured Osama Bin Laden or finshed off the Taliban yet, have we? Just once, just one freaking time, could George Bush finish what he’s started and do the job right?”
BWAAAAAAAAHAHAHA! Excuse me Christy, what the hell you been smokin? Six years and you can ask this question with a straight face? Barring revolution, assassination, general strike…..it’ll get worse before it gets worse.

Brings to mind a Kipling poem about being left wounded on the plains of afganistan and the women coming out to cut up whats left.