We can only thank Jeebus that George Bush is so arrogant and thick-witted that he believes his own bully boy Iraq slogans and decided to drag his war drums out and beat them in the week running up to the election. Ned Lamont's candidacy may have initially dislodged the Rahm/Chuck ballgag from the mouths of Democratic candidates who were suddenly free to talk about Iraq, but had not the President decided to launch the Mighty Wurlitzer in a phyrric battle against John Kerry just prior to election day the overwhelming Democratic victory might never have reached "wave" proportions. Even members of his own party are now giving voice to the cringing horror they felt when Junior broke into the warhawk boogie before the cameras at the most colossally ill-timed moment imaginable, wondering why he was doing the work of their opponents for them.
And there's no telling what would have happened had he decided to make the Rumsfeld sacrifice play at a time when the GOP could have capitalized on it, but when he made his post-election speech and announced that he didn't want to influence the election by replacing Rummy in advance, I'm sure I wasn't the only one thanking him for perhaps the first and only time of his presidency.
So what does this latest move signify about the realignment of powers amongst the brahmins? According to MoDo:
The president and Karl Rove, underestimating the public’s hunger for change or overestimating the loyalty of a fed-up base, did not ice Rummy in time to save the Senate from teetering Democratic. But once Sonny managed to heedlessly dynamite the Republican majority — as well as the Middle East, the Atlantic alliance and the U.S. Army — then Bush Inc., the family firm that snatched the presidency for W. in 2000, had to step in. Two trusted members of the Bush 41 war council, Mr. Baker and Robert Gates, have been dispatched to discipline the delinquent juvenile and extricate him from the mother of all messes.
Mr. Gates, already on Mr. Baker’s “How Do We Get Sonny Out of Deep Doo Doo in Iraq?” study group, left his job protecting 41’s papers at Texas A&M to return to Washington and pry the fingers of Poppy’s old nemesis, Rummy, off the Pentagon.
“They had to bring in someone from the old gang,” said someone from the old gang. “That has to make Junior uneasy. With Bob, the door is opened again to 41 and Baker and Brent.”
W. had no choice but to make an Oedipal U-turn. He couldn’t let Nancy Pelosi subpoena the cranky Rummy for hearings on Iraq. “He’s not exactly Mr. Charming or Mr. Truthful, and he’d be on TV saying something stupid,” said a Bush 41 official. “Bob can just go up to the Hill and say: ‘I don’t know. I wasn’t there when that happened.’ ”
[]
“Baker’s no fool,” a Bush 41 official said. “He wasn’t going to go out there with a plan for Iraq and have Rummy shoot it down. He wanted a receptive audience. Everyone had to be on the same page before the plan is unveiled.”
Baker's Iraq Study Group has been the hot topic amongst the chattering class for quite some time, probably because they dragged self-important blowhards of the punditocracy such as Tom Friedman before them like he had actually been right about anything, ever, or had anything important to say. But never let it be said that time spent in excruciating boredom in the service of good PR was time wasted.
I heard Tim Russert spinning this same line on Imus this morning — Baker torpedoed Rummy and installed Robert M. Gates (member of the Baker panel) just so he wouldn't have to be battling back Rummy's bs when he unveils his Grand Schema, so this must be congealing as DC wisdom.
Related posts:
- Happy 10th Birthday CEPR, Dean Baker & Mark Weisbrot!
- This Dumb’s for You: What We Will and Won’t Learn from the Obama-Gates “Teachable Moment”
- So-Called “Bipartisan” Daschle-Dole-Baker-Mitchell Health Compromise: Exactly What the Insurance Companies Wanted
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Hi Jane!!
AP – Al-Qaida in Iraq claimed in a new audio tape Friday to be winning the war faster than expected in Iraq…
Shoving Baker and Gates down our throats is not bipartisanship. Where’s Ollie North? And the rest of the retreads.
Gates must be grilled and grilled on Iran-Contra.
Did I get the Fitz!! spot?
How does Lamont get the EXACT SAME TOTAL as the candidate who lost to Leiberman in 2000? That’s a hell of a coincidence.
http://www.teambio.org/2006/11…..-of-votes/
It fits with W’s MO
Screw up and get bailed out by Daddy’s friends.
As Keith O said, now the really BIG guys are in to run the show.
But didn’t they fuck up when they were in office ?
The Bushies, even the old guard, are going to find this a far, far harder task than it might seem. I think that the real tipping point, if you will, was the articles in the Army, Navy, Air Force and Marine Times, all calling for Rumsfeld’s head. All timed to come out the Monday before the elections.
Basically, it’s a bare-knuckle shot from the military services, saying to the Bush administration “We’ve had all we can stand, and we can’t stand no more.” If Bush didn’t get rid of Rummy and start mending fences, the next thing you could expect to see is the military services refusing to give him his friendly and useful backdrops of smiling, laughing troops every time his poll numbers take a hit because of the shitty news coming out of Iraq. So when it came down to “Rummy or you,” Bush (or Rove/Cheney) reacted by tossing Rummy to the wolves.
So with a simmering revolt by the one sacred totem of the wingnuts (the Brave Boys In Uniform), the Bushies, whose power rests solely upon their ability to manipulate such iconic symbols, are going to have to perform the Republican version of the Six Ritual Prostrations before the military starts smiling at them in the hallways again…
Impeach, he lied.
It certainly appears to me that consigliere Baker is again being brought in to get Junya unscrewed. I also think that both Bush Inc. and the Repub establishment has a deep, deep fear that the errant first son will jack things up so badly by ‘08 that the Repubs will never be able to regain the White House, let alone Congress.
He isn’t Sonny, he’s Fredo:
“I can handle things! I’m smart! Not like everybody says… like dumb… I’m smart and I want respect!”
wordyeti @
5
very good point
LOL, You guys are watching too much “You got mail” and going to the matresses…
Could someone help me understand The National Review. Are they partisan, bi-partisan, non-partisan, etc.?
As most of you know, James Carville today called for Howard Dean to be replaced by Harold Ford as DNC chairman. Here’s a link to the Kos article on the subject:
http://www.dailykos.com/storyo…../135814/54
I encourage everyone to send James Carville an email explaining how foolish this idea is. Be sure to cc Howard Dean, and be sure to mention that the DNC will get no more money from you if Dean is replaced.
James Carville can be reached at:
james@carville.info
Howard Dean can be reached at:
info@deanforamerica.com
An immediate and strong response to Carville will help to discourage him from acting against the netroots in the future. And be sure to cc Dean so he knows that we have his back.
We need to get out of Iraq. If Baker and the big dogs are the impetus to get us out, then I’m all for this life preserver being thrown Junya’s way. What I really want from the Dems is that they are unrelenting in pinning the blame for this disaster on Bush, Cheney, Wolfowitz, Rummy, Condi, Powell, Rove and the rest of these bastards. This is their war, they created it, and the consequences are fully owned by them.
Bush claimed that his accountability moment was the 2004 election, and left unspoken was the idea that that would be the only accountability moment.
Now that the 2006 elections have promised a brand new accountability moment, Bush ditches Rumsfeld in an attempt to blunt the inevitable Congressional hearings on Iraq.
It would be funny if not for all the corpses.
Mmmmm, congealed wisdom!
EPU’ed
two beers @ 110
That was then, this is now. We no longer have to settle for the story disappearing down the memory hole unless Fitz rescues us. Especially since anyone who is pardoned can’t avoid testifying. It’s a whole new ballgame.
Does anyone know the history of congressional subpoenas for and investigations of former cabinet officials? Certainly the congress has the right to subpoena private citizens. I’m guessing in Teapot Dome and other scandals congress went after retired cabinet officials but I may be wrong.
*xyz @
12
Carville needs to get knee-capped. metaphorically, that is…….
“Dems pledge to sever ties to lobbyists”
http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/200…..s_overhaul
*xyz @ 12
Thanks for the link. A response has been made and though I lack the discoursive skills of most on this blog, I can summon up a bit of snark when I need to. And I didn’t even have to bring Carville’s wife into it.
Thanks to my favorite contributor XYZ, for giving us the Carville heads up. Thanks for his address too, it was fun to beat him up over his 90’s loser Demthink..you know, let’s replace a winner with a loser!
Is Cheney next? Can Junya heave Darth out of the bus or will Uncle Jim have to assist with this action?
I’ve been fantasizing a bit since Tuesday – Speaker-to-be Pelosi could assume chief executive duties if Cheney is dumped and the Boy Emperor quits when it just isn’t any fun anymore.
I’m ready to bet that Cheney has that 5th (?) heart attack by next spring, and he gets to go into retirement in Eastern Maryland in his new retirement home just up the road from Rummy.
I wouldn’t be surprised one bit if the power brokers from 41’s administration have been looking on in horror at the direction taken by the GOP as a whole for quite some time. Iraq, Katrina, increased fundamentalist power and scandalous greed have probably pushed true conservatives over the edge, (not to mention the electorate) and the time of reckoning has arrived. The nature of the articles appearing in all three military publications simultaneously smacks of a political calculation, which makes me think Baker may have directed that. The timing could have also been carefully orchestrated in an effort to tip the elections and clean out congress, aided and abetted by a very effective campaign on the democratic side of things. In other words, I think 41’s power base is making big moves to wrest control and direction of the GOP from Junior, who has screwed it up so badly. The “realist” senior statesmen called in to patch things up have realized they needed to lay waste to the conservative political landscape to allow fresh ideas and leaders to fill the vacuum – even at the expense of ceding congress to democrats while this retread happens.
Reid (CNN) says first order of business is oversight. Every thing is fair game. Hopes to do it without a lot of subpoenas, but will do them as required. Notes that this is part of the lawful duty of congress.
Hurrah!
Jay @ 21
Shoot. You beat me to relacing winner with a loser. What is he thinking?
Even members of his own party are now giving voice to the cringing horror they felt when Junior broke into the warhawk boogie before the cameras at the most colossally ill-timed moment imaginable, wondering why he was doing the work of their opponents for them.
That, and politically tone deaf Cheney saying “Full speed ahead” was a nice gift too ; )
Organic George @ 4
True. Junior runs on his record: 100% failure, bailed out by Poppy every single time. Not sure it’s going to work this time, though, because it isn’t quite as simple as “misplacing” Junior’s Air National Guard records.
jeffreyw @ 24
Tee those suboenas high and let them fly.
Generally speaking, the Bush family is in possession of two things. Wealth and connections. And not much else.
ReneND @ 25
What’s he thinking? He is thinking about himself and the whole cocktail weenie class being out-classed and out maneuvered by these rag tag kids in pj’s in their momma’s basement. Though it may have been a small revolution for this election cycle, we have only just begun. Carville wants it all to be back the way it was in 1992 and 1996 when the kewl kids were calling the shots and setting themselves up for cushy pundit and consultant jobs.
Problem is that he/they don’t have the power to do what he thinks they want to do. So why is he floating this? Ego. Period.
OK Kid @29, What else do you need in today’s America?
Don’t know if any of you folk wrote about or heard about what went on in MA yesterday. We saved Marriage Rights for all from the sad, angry, frustrated reich wing. At least for the time being. The State House was a fun place to be yesterday even though I was just running on fumes, still really beat from the war in CT.
Another one to chalk up for the good guys and gals!
Considering the fact that the troops have been paying the price for George’s usual procrastination, I never thought that I’d be glad that the Indecider was once again late to the table. It cost him the election. It can’t be possible that the Baker team will stick to more of the same. Hopefully they will grab the steering wheel, send Junior back to the farm to milk the goat and bring everybody home. But I’m not holding my breath.
Another gift from Bush, Cheney and Rove:
A profound pessimism has taken hold of Israel
http://www.guardian.co.uk/comm…..74,00.html
Jay @ 31
In Juniors case, a good lawyer.
Oklahoma kiddo @ 29
Can we hope that Jeb is a non-starter for ‘08?
Jeb: ‘I’m not an incompetent idiot like my brother.’
As many of you have said in the past, it’s a catchy soundbite, but not usable.
I really hope that we are seeing the last machinations from Bush Inc.
I have always thought that the whole point of Dubya’s presidency was not simply seizing Iraqi oil but obscuring the embarassing involvement of Poppy Bush in the Iran Contra fiasco. After all, with an Alzheimer’s addled figurehead, Poppy and Baker were in charge. Remember Gates served under Poppy and that when Eugene Hasenfuss went down on the illegal CIA flight in Nicaragua the only identifiable thing in the pockets of his flight suit was a slip of paper with a phone number on it. When dialed, Poppy picked up the phone. You can be sure that there is much to keep hidden for at least the next hundred years.
Used to be, when Sonny fell in with bad grownups, he only torpedoed an oil company or a baseball team. This time, Daddy’s Lads need to save him from destroying the world. Always seeking a new Daddy to replace Bar, this time W fell in with the Meanest Draft Dodger on the Planet and His Evil Twin.
Pissed away the world’s goodwill after 9/11.
Pissed away our grandchildren’s credit card spending limit.
Pissed away hundreds of thousands of lives in a land war in Asia.
Pissed away his last hope of not being impeached.
Pissed away the Permanent GOP majority.
And here’s James Baker III with a catheter!
Btw, I heard this morning on CNN that Gates resigned from the “Save Junja Commission” and will be replaced by ex-SecState Eagleburger. Condi better watch her step — I bet Jimmy Baker intends to restaff the entire Cabinet by 1/07. He needs lots of folks at Capitol Hill hearings who can say, “I don’t know, Senator, I’m new here.”
Oklahoma kiddo @
30
And a piece of land in Paraguay.
jeffreyw @ 24 – thank you for the news!
I’ve been stewing over Nancy Pelosi’s ‘let bygones be bygones’ hints, but maybe the bloggers are getting through to DeeCee about the vital necessity of accountability (for past wrongs as well as future wrongs) in Washington, at long last. Hurrah! indeed.
Just for the cautionary record with regard to Pelosi:
There’s a glaring disconnect in the words of Nancy Pelosi in her interview with Brian Williams on NBC Wednesday (11/8). Not to pile on at this early stage of ‘perception management’ and all that, but to flag a serious troublespot that I hope Pelosi will shortly remedy before it becomes real trouble (as it sounds like Reid may just have done on CNN). Overall, I thought her answers were excellent. But she said this:
And then a few sentences later, she said this:
How does ‘gaining nothing in looking backward’ square with ‘honoring the vision of our founders,’ pray tell, Madame Keeper of the Public Trust?? This from a self-described “student of American history” who declared the profound Constitution-derived Legislative Branch power to check Executive Branch crimes known as “impeachment” to be “off the table” before she was ever even in a position to do so as Speaker-to-be.
So there are still warning signs emanating from some of the powers-that-be that “accountability” and unearthing and learning from the abuses of the last six years are not high on the agenda of the leadership of the Democratic Party. I trust certain committee chairs feel otherwise, but forewarned is forearmed.
http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/15627215/
Bowers on Carville. ‘Splains a lot.
Jay @ 32
A piece of land in Paraguay.
;-)
RevDeb @ 32
Hey, reverend, is there a fight you don’t show up for, ever? Thanks, BayStaters!
Okidave@37
I think the American public will react to any more Bush candidacies the way I react to Bush’s Baked Beans.
Wisdom from EW, via Kos, on Rummy/Cambone departure:
Repubs want us to be bipartisan and to look forward?
Great, I am looking forward to bipartisan hearings on war profiteering.
Just for starters.
Am just back from a lovely day spa. Pretty much everybody on team egregious has been prying work out of my hands and insisting on some R&R time.
And with that, I’m off to my forest sanity walk.
Great photo of Webb in WaPo print version, holding his son’s combat boots.
MrsK8@40
I responded to you on the prior thread before I realized there was a new one.
kemo @ 45
Can’t they subpeona Rummy and Cambone anyways? What’s the point of Gates testifying to say “I’m new here”? Bring in the criminals!
Damn, Jane. That’s some particularly fine writing. POW! POW!!
Clusterfuck has certainly muddied the waters with his bizarre behavior concerning Iraq, and Rummy and everything else. The obvious explanation is “He fucked up”. That should come as no surprise.
Now his first priority is just to stay as a face in every news cycle so that none will suspect that he’s already quackin- which he is.
We’re headed out of Iraq. Clusterfuck’s gonna cut and run and call it victory. We should have known when he started accusing the dems of cuttin and runnin. For Clusterfuck- projection is the most natural form of breathing.
Longer term, Clusterfuck will be out to save his legacy- he is now safely in the 43rd position of all presidents to date.
Goopers will be fighting to totally disassociate themselves from him- and Dems will try to look wise and statesmanlike and retain their thin advantage in 08.
In other words- although their interests may overlap from time to time- we basically have three totally different interest groups on the stage- and they ALL hate one another.
TeddySanFran @ 43
Teddy,
Don’t know how many fights I have left in me, but as long as I can, I will. And I am far from alone. Everyone here is doing the same thing. That’s why we are who we are.
amilius @ 38
I did not know that little detail. Do you have a good link for me to read a little more on that episode? Maybe I should shuffle off to Wikipedia and type in Hasenfuss (”Rabbit’s Foot” in German, BTW — not so lucky, eh?)….
When I start thinking that money and connections are more important than compassion, selflessness, ethics, decency, and fairness, then I’m in trouble. Big trouble.
RevDeb @ 30
and helplessness -
If Carvile and the DLC types actually had the power to dump Dean, the Gov. would be gone.
This meme checks Craville’s perceived power every time he’s on camera.
(but not pithy enough. “The real insiders don’t go on talk shows to be heard. Carville’s just seeking attention by the only means left for ex-insiders: the media.)
Why do I not feel comforted that 41’s team is coming to the rescue? Is this a case from worst to not-very-damn-good either; in fact, just not quite as bad as 43, but bad, nevertheless?
kemo @ 46
Can’t get to Kos. Why in the hell can’t congress subpoena them anyway?
Maybe the Speaker really doesn’t intend to pursue impeachment. She’s got clusterfuck’s balls in a vice. If junior doesn’t play nice — with the minimum wage, with election and campaign reform, with Iraq, etc. — THEN she gets out the impeachment nutcracker.
Meanwhile, the hearings go forth on intelligence fixing, energy task force secrecy, KBR profiteering, Katrina incompetence, 9-11 bungling, etc., and the GOP is crushed daily in the MSM. 2008 would be like shooting GrOPers in a barrel.
It would make the Dems look chivalrous, if they don’t take vengeance on numbnuts, but simply throw the rest of the bums out.
I’d love to see chimpeachment, and I think most of the country would, too. Impeaching the snotty little brat would be the final nail in the moldering GOPerv coffin, but short-term political expediency might dictate otherwise.
Nice tahnk you message from Ned. What a class act.
Dear Jeff,
We didn’t win, but we made a difference; tomorrow we start again. Don’t stop now, we’re just beginning. It starts with one person standing up and speaking out, and then a lot of people, powered by grassroots and netroots and a passion to do better. That’s what I heard all over the state: we can do better.
The last week of the campaign was so heartening, traveling the state in a big old campaign bus stopping by hot dog stands and rallies and, finally, polling stations. The bus sang out a little Marley or U2 as we wheeled into some of the towns and folks responded with hi fives and big grins. Kids ran up and shouted, “And so do we!” They responded to a fun, positive message of hope and I loved the fact that we won the overwhelming majority of the votes in the mock school elections around the state. And then on election day, there you were, standing in the rain at the polling stations into the evening waiting for the last of the voters to straggle in.
We worked our hearts out; it’s ironic that our message of change did not carry the day in Connecticut but it helped spark a sea change in Congress. Let’s make sure they act boldly: bring our troops home from Iraq to the hero’s welcome they deserve, invest in our kids, invest in clean energy, universal healthcare, a government that respects our constitution, our right to privacy, and shows respect for other nations and cultures. We will be a stronger and better nation for it.
Peace,
Ned
just received this email from the Lamont campaign:
Sally @ 56
Seriously. It’s like sending the Keystone Kops to bail out the Three Stooges. Why not call in Ollie North and Gordon Liddy and we can have Laurel and Hardy, too?
TRex @
50
Yes. It’s notable, but in this particular post, it’s secondary to:
So much fine writing to love here!
rat bastahd @ 48
I know what you mean, but in the transition, I bet this means clearing out documents, in the Bush CYA sense.
two beers @ 58
With multiple Democratically lead investigations going, more fun to have it hanging over his head like the sword od Damocles.
Mrs.K8 – Hasenfuss ain’t in wikipedia, yet.
Dammit.
Oh, and Teddy et al,
I had a nice chat with my state senator last week along with our neighboring state rep. (mine died a month ago) and the new rep. just elected on Tues. about how the leg. needs to get rid of the 1913 law that bars folks from out of state marrying here unless their own state allows it. I think the new Gov. wants to do that too. I pointed out to them the financial boon it would be to the travel industry, lots of folk coming from all over to get married. They seemed to like the idea. I will keep pushing it.
If that goes through, I would be delighted to welcome the FDL community to Massachusetts where I am legally authorized to perform the rite of marriage.
How Joe Wilson created a Democratic majority
For starting war on a false pretense, Joe Wilson wrote an Op-ed
For writing the OP-ed, Karl outed Joe’s wife, Valerie Plame
For outing Valerie Plame, blogger FDL was born
For FDL blogging Ned, a primary was won
For winning the primary, Ned forced an influx of Republican $$$
For Republican money spent in CT, Karl lost Viginia, Montana, and Missouri
For losing 3 Republicans seats, the Democrats won a majority
TRex @ 61
Just give them time.
The apostasy of John Cole, while not exactly a festival of delights, occasionally spits out a nugget of truth:
Aheh. Ouch.
Oklahoma kiddo @ 29
The netroots are all about connections, we just need to assure that some of those on the other end of the line are powerful and in positions to help. Many are, now. We need to help our friends and shout our successes to our enemies so that they will either fear us or see that we are powerful and can help them if they give us good reason. We are not wealthy as individuals, but in aggregate we do control (shout out to Howie) serious money.
We are new on the scene and will grow. The existing power structure will split either for us or against us. Which way they jump depends on whether they are supporting the good of the country or their own selfish interests.
Carville’s shot at Dean demonstrates his choice. These two men are stark reminders of Pach’s essay the other day. It’s the common good vs greedy self interest.
Dean speaks for me.
Jane Hamsher @ 10
wordyeti @ 5 :
Indeed good point:
“The Bushies, even the old guard, are going to find this a far, far harder task than it might seem.”
This from Time : War crimes charges ahead.
http://www.time.com
/time/nation/article/0,8599,1557842,00.html
Every way out of Chimpy’s karmageddon leads to more problems, more unintended consequences. Now instead of ushering Rummy off of the front page, he is likely to be there for a while, and maybe accompanied by Cheney and the neocon shadow puppets. Could it be Fitzmas season again so soon?
I’m pleased that Bush’s admission that he openly lied to the press for campaign purposes has generated some discussion, but I’m a bit surprised that his other lie hasn’t really been mentioned.
“The only way to answer that question, and get it on to another question, was to give you that answer.”
That is a lie. He says he didn’t want to influence the election, but his statement was a huge influence, and he clearly thought it would be a positive one. And there were any number of other ways he could have ducked the question without generating much discussion, but he didn’t. He outright lied, and then afterwards he lied about that being his only option.
Ollie North was in Nicaragua last week, campaigning (unsuccessfully) against his old nemesis Daniel Ortega.
History repeats, and sometimes the same chess pieces simply won’t leave the board (I speak of North, not Ortega!)
any one interested in impeachment:
hustle over to huffpo and follow the link to msnbc’s live vote for impeachment
Gotta say it- If we have one more day of dem leadership playin kissy face with Clusterfuck I’m gonna puke all over my TeeVee.
Go ta yer corners and come out swingin.
Well, in typical myopic fashion both 41’s crack team of fixers and Left Blogistan are only thinking what America, gaze fixed on it’s navel, is concerned with.
Thing is we live on the planet earth and there are others who who share it with us and who aren’t too happy with BubbleBrain nor Rummy the Dummy neither and they might just do something about it.
Should that come to pass what Charlie Rangel might have done to Rummy will be the of little solace to BubbleBrain and Pigboy. Much less Poppy, Bar and the Carlyle Gang.
blue e @
12
They don’t know, either!
TRex @ 60
I say, whatever. The Marx Brothers are on our side. All hail Freedonia!
windje @
48
Thanks for the pointer, I would’ve missed it otherwise. Your information will be a great boon and is much appreciated.
(Ah, Princeton! You lucky thing. Almost lived there — got accepted into their graduate program, but they didn’t offer enough money, and I refused to go into debt over a humanities doctoral program. Mercenery me accepted a Philly school. But SUCH a lovely and historical town. I’m still so very homesick, and not just for the ocean. Hate living in a city where almost all the buildings and homes are younger than me.)
Carville’s bitter half must be having some pillow talk with Jaimes–”Not until you get rid of Dean, Buster!”
In other news in our solar system, there is a hurricane on Saturn – it’s two-thirds the size of Earth with 350-mph winds.
http://articles.news.aol.com/n…..0000000001
Jay @ 21
Wow, that is quite a complement – thanks!
Maybe. And then there’s the LBJ dictum:
“It’s probably better to have him inside the tent pissing out, than outside the tent pissing in.”
TeddySanFran @ 80
I just knew that, somewhere out there, we’d find Rush Limbaugh’s home planet.
*xyz
In case you didn’t see it, Bowers in an update at the bottom of Matt’s post is ready to go to war with Carville if he even tries it. I think the stronger army is behind Bowers this time.
EvilDrPuma @ 84
i thought rush limbaugh lived in a hot inferno deep within the earth.
Sally @
56
You should feel comforted, Sally, if not in terms of conscience. Jim Baker is one of the best Mideast experts, and one of the best negotiators, in the world. Despite the sorry state it’s in, he can bring stability to the region. He starts out from a position of humility and asks, “what do both sides want?” Note I’m not a fan of the man’s morals, only of his abilities.
For example, I’d be willing to bet he’s behind Russia’s winning their WTO bid today (versus three years from now, or never). Whether he did or not, Baker would give that to Putin in order to get his cooperation with Iran and forestall further NATO-Russia escalation. So a major situation with Russia has been defused. As a quid pro quo, he can require Tehran’s active help to help us “win” in Iraq, and the mullahs, too, have their price. I don’t know exactly what that is, but James Baker does; as a negotiator, he is as a snowy dove trooping amidst crows.
The challenge for Baker is Bush. All this has to be put into terms he can swallow, and which burnish his public image and place in history. Baker is up to that job, too. He can make Bush look like a peacemaker in the region. I realize you all probably think that notion ridiculous, but just keep an eye on the outcomes. At minimum, Baker has the ability to buy time and to buy people, and that is what is needed right now. He “does” carrots.
MoDo!
RevDeb @ 85
Thanks. Carville is in his last throes.
beth meacham @ 68
Maybe Ollie is still having one last drink in a bar in Nicaragua, where he FAILED to prevent his old nemesis, Daniel Ortega, from just being re-elected.
He can catch a flight north and move on from failure to failure.
*xyz @ 88
astute observation.
Great catch!
rwcole @ 61, I’m with you. I’m thinking the Democrats didn’t get the voters’ message either. We can send it again at the next election or until someone thinks it best to listen and act, but, lordy, times awastin’.
Want to know what happened in Virginia?
Check out this essay by Garrett Epps.
A New Bellwether for America.
jane, I don’t mean to be crass but you are so nice to look at. Could you post a couple of pictures. It would really brighten my tiny, dark existence.
Sally–Well all this handshakin before the bell is obligatory– but it would gag a maggot.
In the long run- dems need to decide how they want to position Clusterfuck. If they want him to move quietly into lame-duckiness- they can make it happen- just fuckin ignore him. It will have the added benefit of driving him fuckin crazy (or crazier).
I suppose they can also invent several strategies where they make use of his need for a bit higher status in the eyes of history to USE him to brighten their chances for 08- that will take some time- but can almost certainly be done. I prefer the “ignore him” strategy though.
nicemonster @
24
Would have been easy, all are owned by Gannett Company. They own a bunch of other media, too.
OkiDave @ 14
DON’T ever forget William Kristol! Place him at the very top of your list. He is that most interesting of despicable creatures: a trotskyite in neocon clothing.
MarcLord@87
The other challenge for Baker is Cheney. To persuade Bush, he has to neutralize Cheney. He may already have gone a long way down that road to have engineered the departure of Rummy.
MarcLord @ 87
Very good point. That’s why the mood in Israel is very dour. The biggest fear there is “compromise”.
Nice day in my neighborhood. I heard from TRex and should-be-Senator Lamont.
RevDeb @ 66
Wanted to recommend your comment, then I realized I am not dailykos. :-)
David Schuster on Tweety going over the illustrious list of congressional committee chairs to be.
Sweet.
windje @
99
Madsen is saying today that Rove and Scooter will offer Darth up to fitz. If so, checkmate.
Clusterfuck is racin against time to get himself out of historical hell. Step one is to make sure that he doesn’t lose visibility. Step two is to cut and run out of Iraq. Step three is to pass some legislation in collaboration with the dems that will seem historic- like “saving” social security.
Tick, tick, tick,
Karl Rove’s job now becomes to manage the “history” project full time.
I think they’re being cool until January.
TRex @ 69
New thread
two beers @ 104
for rummy to be gone it’s pretty obvious the boy king has had enough of cheney
Prof @ 93
Pretty good, but a few quibbles. Webb certainly isn’t liberal, but he’s not “Webb, a very conservative Democrat in combat boots.” He’s rather conservative on military issues (in the traditional sense, not the neocon sense.) But he’s a strong proponent of economic fairness; the man has walked picket lines at mines in SW Virginia in the past. I could go on. He’s certainly more conservative than I am, but “very conservative?” No way.
“And the parts of the state that respond to moderate, centrist candidates are the parts that are growing.”
That’s true, but the author ignores the fact that the parts that respond to liberals are also growing, maybe faster. We came within less than a percentage point of electing an honest-to-gosh liberal as Lieutenant Governor last year, and it seems like Epps can’t imagine that anyone in a supposedly conservative state could actually be anything more than “moderate” and “centrist.”
But overall, a pretty good article.
rwcole @ 104
Do you mean that he takes over the Ministry of Truth?
When we say that Cheney must go they reply that he was elected and can’t be fired. This overlooks the Constitution. While it’s true that except for impeachment and conviction he can’t be fired, his sole constitutional duty is to preside over the senate, where his only real power is to break ties.
The rest of the power he has now is derived from Bush. Bush, if he wants to, can just revoke all the power he has delegated. His job needs to be reduced to that of a warm bucket of spit. Strip him of more than the Capitol Hill office, take all the jobs away from his aides. Leave him with his Naval Observatory residence and a driver, but limit his gas money.
perris @ 109
Cheney is cornered, not neutralized. You’ll know he’s neutralized when he’s dead. The week’s not over yet.
RevDeb @ 111
Having just combined the Ministry of Love with the Ministry of Peace, and put a serious crimp in the Ministry of Plenty for generations to come…it is the natural progression for the psychopath.
Wow, did Baker and the Military Times actually stage a successful coup?
MarcLord @ 87, no doubt Baker can finish weaning Junior off Cheney but I don’t know that in the long run Baker’s means will justify whatever it takes to get to the end in Iraq. Things keep getting temporarily papered over and then eventually require more permanent solutions which are more costly and more dangerous and more unsatisfactory and more destabilizing. I question whose interests Baker is looking out for–the Bushes or our country’s.
OT..Factoid from NPR..Three Senators, Sanders, Coleman, Schumer; graduated from James Madison HS in Brooklyn, NY. Where did Norm go wrong?
MarcLord @ 113
We need a 410.x, Discharge Destination 20.
_
Jinny @77 – thanks, that actually helps
JohnSwifty @98 – Kristol is on Charlie Rose tonight. Gods know why.
Sally @ 115
All solutions are temporary. And for the moment, Bush’s interests are near-congruent with our (rich people’s) country.
Very gracious email from Ned Lamont. I do hope that he’s got the political bug and will try again.
Jinny @ 120, all the gracious expressions I’ve received in e-mails the past few days almost make me think I have awakened in a democracy where the ordinary person somehow matters.
*xyz @ 13
Thanks for the info. Here’s my email.
Hey Carville,
Soccer Mom here. 54 years old. liberal democrat. middle class.
I stopped giving to the DCCC and DSCC after seeing how congressional dems handled Paul Hackett. I gave most of my money to Act Blue but I did give to Howard Dean and the DNC. I am going to go over there now and pledge a monthly stipend.
You make a move on Howard Dean and the national democratic party ain’t getting any more money from me ever again.
GOT IT?
I didn’t write this to Carville, but did you folks notice that Digby’s pal poputonium has upgraded Rove’s nickname to turdwilt?
Sally @ 121
It does, at the moment. Be ever vigilant.
*xyz @ 89
What is needed is not to dump Howard Dean as DNC chairman, but rather to dump Carville as a Democratic power broker who anyone listens to.
Bush’s “I did not want to influence the elections” rationale for not announcing the Rumsfeld change before Nov. 7 is absurdly laughable. The guilty verdict for Saddam Hussein was carefully choreographed for early Sunday morning, when it could get huge play on the Sunday talk shows and in the print media on Monday. So much for not trying to influence the elections.
The problem for Bush and Rove was that the last thing they should have been doing on Sunday was refocusing the voters on Iraq. How does Saddam’s execution count against over 2,800 US military dead, over 20,000 US wounded, over 100,000 killed or wounded Iraqis, over $350B spent, and the present level of chaos in Iraq? All of those tolls are still mounting after the guilty verdict. Rove has to have become the dumbest political advisor on the planet.
neurophius @ 124
I sent him this and I will appologize in advance to the fine folk here at FDL for being crass:
James,
You dottering old crawdad. How far can you possible crawl up Hillary’s mudhole before you choke and die. Harold Ford is a fine young man, but he is absolutely no replacement for Howard Dean. You and the foolish old farts who managed to lose the last three elections for the Democrats just can’t seem to handle the fact that Dean’s 50 state strategy was sound and well executed. It is time for you to spend the rest of your days spewing general idiocy on Fox News. It is the only place your words can be regarded as something which passes for truth.
Sincerely,
John
Classic dilemma: when the irresponsible parents finally come back to your part of the playground to wrangle their completely-out-of-control kid, do you breathe a sigh of relief or pop them one in the kisser?
blue e @ 118
Charlie will ask, perhaps, ONE penetrating question. Here’s a an FDL challeng: what will it be?
I’m going to go with, “Mr. Kristol (fawning and shuffling of paper) in the past you have expressed your opinion, some would say your zealot like subservience to, that the Republican party was on the right track with its policy toward…Pakistan. Do you still hold to that.” [tv viewing audience gives a collective…hungh?]
You give too much credence to the power of the Base. They’ve always been a small number of the population and they are only powerful (in terms of electing people) if the remainder of the nation either believes the bullshit, doesn’t go out to vote, or both. That didn’t happen this election, and thanks to TEAM LOSER and their non-centrist policies, and INABILITY to ever change, isn’t going to happen in 2008.
I’ll repeat myself, beyond the base, you can only sell shit if people don’t know it’s shit; and now enough people do, with more to follow.
By buying into the idea there is this all powerful base that TEAM LOSER has to whistle for and they come running and save the day, you empower at least 2 myths upon which TEAM LOSER has relied: 1. That the base is bigger and more powerful than it is (i.e., the base isn’t just wingnuts and survivalists, but soccormoms, etc.); and 2. That the extremist conservative issues which motivate “the base” are really mainstream issues.
Either way, you’re making your job needlessly harder.
And, going back to Swopa’s post yesterday, the above is why trying to come up with a “progressive” agenda to counter the “bases” (conservative) agenda, is playing the game the wrong way. Progressive isn’t a counterbalance to the extreme conservatism of the “base,” which extreme conservatism is out of touch with the beliefs (and as we see the political preferences) of a majority (and a to be growing majority) of voters. You are the “middles,” bring the goal posts back into alignment; don’t accept their political theories. Otherwise, you give them hope where they should have none.
XYZ.
THANKS for the Carville/Dean links. Snark attack sent.
Firing Rummy Kills the Spotlight
I can not believe how much has been written about the firing of Rumsfeld without stating the obvious.
George W. and Donald R are tied at the hip for every lie, miscalculation and act of ineptitude/incompetence.
Every question which would have been thrown at Rummy; every accusation and every ounce of scorn would have been metaphorically posed to a physically present GW in front of Biden, Hilary, Murtha, Rangel, Pelosi, Reid et al.
He fired himself when he fired the team and then withdrew to his lair. That is it. Period.
cognitorex blogspot
wordyeti @
6
This is entirely correct, but it’s actually worse than you state. The revolt in the senior brass was reaching the point where in about 1/2 the countries of the world there would be a coup plot! Here in the U.S. you could expect a LOT more leaking stories from senior pentagon sources designed to make Bush & Rumsfeld look bad and a lot more former generals going on TV telling every dirty little inside secret. They had to do something to stop the bleeding.
It doesn’t appear that Bush is making this move because of the election at all. This was planned for weeks if not longer.
It’s interesting that they didn’t announce it before the election. But, Jane, canning Rumsfeld cuts both ways! True, it would have convinced a lot of independents and some Democrats that Bush was serious about “changing course” in Iraq and strengthened the Republicans, but it would also have totally demoralized and depressed their base!
Remember that their entire campaign was to toss more and more red-meat to the base, that even at the 11th hour Bush was storming the country talking about “cut and run”, etc. And the only people who were listening (sympathetically anyway) to him was the Reich-wing Republican base.
They never thought they were going to lose, even at the last minute, they couldn’t really believe that they couldn’t overcome anything with their 72 hour project, etc.
But firing Rumsfeld would be admitting “I screwed up and we have to change course.” That might seem like the most natural thing to us, but the right-wing never admitted anything was wrong in Iraq! Remember that the “librul media” were deliberately not reporting all the “good news” from there in an effort to make Bush look bad? And then Bush announces “we’re changing course?” That would totally deflate them right as they are about to storm the polls for Bush!
They couldn’t risk the effect it would have on the GOP GOTV volunteers and hard-core base.
WADR, “Pyrrhic”
When Bill Clinton ran for President, he said, referring to Hillary, vote for me and get two for the price of one. Boy that sure caused an uproar and outrage. Now, George W. Bush failed to tell the country that a vote for him would get us his father and his entire staff. I’m not hearing a peep about this from those who criticized Clinton. Guess the MSM is totally oblivious to the double Presidency in DC, or maybe they realize, as we all do, that with GW Bush, it really does “take a village”.
General Pace in the article on Huffpo looks so very sad and in the photo at Wash. Post looks like he had been crying. I remember when he stood up to rumsfeld in a press conferance and stated that any soldier witness torture had an obligation to stop it then and there.
Pace now must deal with the equally demented iran contra criminal Gates. It will take the US citizens to stop the continuation of the genocide in iraq. gates was involved in the death squads and the whole iran-contra mass murder and torture.
Please leave a message on Huffpo supporting the end of the war on Iraq.
Gen. Odom Points to Impeachment
Fri Sep 29, 2006
The longer the war goes on, Odom stressed, the more it benefits al Qaeda and Iran.snip=Rep. Hinchey asked Odom “How do we get out?” Odom’s reply came without a pause:
“Well, the Constitution gives the House the right to impeach.”
Gates Has History of Manipulating Intelligence
By Jason Leopold
t r u t h o u t | Reporthttp://www.truthout.org/docs_2006/110806R.shtm
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/…..33703.html
Yes, pay attention, and read up:
http://www.antiwar.com/mcgover…..732…
McGovern recounts how, while in the CIA “Gates had shaped intelligence analysis to suit his masters and his career.”
History doesn’t just repeat itself; it repeats itself with the same exact people.
http://rigorousintuition.ca/bo…..657566c7be
There is an insurgency, at least there is such a potent insurgency, because key members of the US command (mainly operating out of the White House) wanted one. The army was disbanded without pay but pretty much allowed to take their weapons with them. Many if not nearly all of the vast stockpiles of munitions around the country were not secured. Reconstruction jobs and funds went almost entirely to foreigners, not to the unemployed Iraqis. Al Sadr was persecuted but allowed to remain free and mobilize his own militia. The list goes on.