FITZ, MARCIE AND JANE!

Theropod!

non-zed to the plame house and TRex!

AND PACH AND SWOPA :)

TRex, a book of essays would be my suggestion too. Another book would grow from that.

What are you munching on tonight?

Smoke a Marlboro for me. I remember when they were 30 cents a pack.

Trex,

You know that dinos went extinct because they smoked. I know that to be true because I saw it in a Far Side cartoon.

Enjoy yourself!

I vote for Essays, please. Snarky little Essays.

Ah, you old sea dog, you! Have fun storming the castle!

T-Rex, I didn’t know you were going to be there this week. That’s great!

Sure, smoking a pack of Marlboros a day is probably going to take years off my life…

Look on the bright side: if global warming goes as projected, you’ll probably be saving a lot on lighters in twenty years or so.

Someday I hope to revisit my book as well. It is getting exceptionally seasoned. Say hi to the folks out there for me and tell Jane I got her some flowers but they were not able to deliver them to ICU and then she was discharged. I need the address to the Plame house to get them to her.

The first thing I’m going to do when I get back to Athens is sit inside on my warm, comfy sofa and SMOKE.

You’re headed for extinction if you smoke inside, dinodog. I smoke, and haven’t smoked inside since my wife started fining me $50 for every violation after our first kid was born 20 years ago. Now I couldn’t imagine smoking in a confined space, even by myself. I try to imagine wanting to stop, though.

I vote for fiction. Short stories will do nicely for starters.

Dana @
5

TRex, a book of essays would be my suggestion too. Another book would grow from that.

What are you munching on tonight?

For dinner, I had an excellent steak at a gay steakhouse with my high school English teacher who lives up here now. At Tryst, I had a delicious eclair and a big cup of coffee.

Goddamn, our waiter was a cute boy.

Now I’m back at my dad’s and getting ready to hit the hay before too long.

EvilDrPuma @
11

Look on the bright side: if global warming goes as projected, you’ll probably be saving a lot on lighters in twenty years or so.

Under water Lighters ?

http://i125.photobucket.com/al…..an_3-1.gif

Phoenix Woman @ 9

Ah, you old sea dog, you! Have fun storming the castle!

Nice diary tonite, PW.

I have actually stayed in Athens before.

Life, by the way, is merely a series of eclairs.

You need to stay longer. Can’t believe you arrived just after the end of last weeks action and will have to leave just when the fun starts.

Colts!

I’m in Houston tonight.

I love this city. Everyone who lives here tells me that if I moved here I would hate it

Ignore them. I lived in and around that city for 20 years. Its a great town. Culture, food, scenery, recreation. Easy connections to other great cities.

It even used to have a good newspaper. Sadly, it no longer does.

The idiots in and around the federal city portion of the town do *not* define it.

TRex- are you reading, or was that a real “good night”?

I too would go with a book of essays, based on the work that you have done at FDL. A lot of really short essays. If you make the essays too long, you will dilute your particular voice.

TRex, Life would be a series of eclairs if some had open safety pins inside.

I haven’t had an eclair in years!

A book? Hmmm.

I’ve written the first two chapters to the sequel to the New Testament, but the rest of the book hasn’t happened yet. But then, unlike The Celestine Prophecy, my book is Non-Fiction, so I guess I’ll have to be patient.

Pach is so full of good advice…

Trex, as a smoker visiting in the cold winter nights of New Mexico, I told my folks even with the smoke, I get more fresh air than they do.

Once I called in sick (which I never do) to my job on Haight Street, from Manhattan. But the bosses had no idea I was going to Manhattan to begin with.

SF Teddy and Punaise – I left you a late & EPU’ed comment last thread.

Re-Elect President Gore in 2008!
Accept NO Substitute

TRex @ 18

Life, by the way, is merely a series of eclairs.

Isn’t life a series of madeleines? Or is my remembrance faulty?

Dana @ 25

TRex, Life would be a series of eclairs if some had open safety pins inside.

I haven’t had an eclair in years!

Hmmm… good idea for a faculty meeting…

Must be chocolate eclairs.

Short essays? I would challenge Mr. TRex to deliver a blistering manifesto on the hypocrisy of our times couched in the semi-fictionalized version of an ideological youth’s clash with entrenched establishment bigotry and greed.

The 21st century version of Bright Lights Big City.

Jane, by the way, looks great. She claims she doesn’t feel quite 100% yet, but you’d never know it to look at her. Swopa is tall and handsome and awfully charming. And Pachacutec is his usual inscrutable self, sitting next to me with the scalps of his enemies hanging off his belt and his giant Aztec head-dress towering over all of us.

Suffice to say that this paragraph begins with unquestionably accurate facts, and evolves into laughably over-the-top fiction. I’ll leave it to readers’ imagination to figure out where in the middle the line gets crossed.

newspaperbrat @
28

SF Teddy and Punaise – I left you a late & EPU’ed comment last thread.

Re-Elect President Gore in 2008!
Accept NO Substitute

Gore/Dean ‘08!

Swopa @ 32

Jane, by the way, looks great. She claims she doesn’t feel quite 100% yet, but you’d never know it to look at her. Swopa is tall and handsome and awfully charming. And Pachacutec is his usual inscrutable self, sitting next to me with the scalps of his enemies hanging off his belt and his giant Aztec head-dress towering over all of us.

Suffice to say that this paragraph begins with unquestionably accurate facts, and evolves into laughably over-the-top fiction. I’ll leave it to readers’ imagination to figure out where in the middle the line gets crossed.

duh-o. Obviously you haven’t been reading TRex’s posts. That you think we should need the head’s up and all…

I have learned to trust TRex when he sez someone’s tall and handsome and awfully charming.

Of course, chocolate eclairs. Is there any other kind?!

“There are multiple TV’s in the room blasting the Superbowl”

LMAO.

TRex @ 36

Of course, chocolate eclairs. Is there any other kind?!

I thought about asking the same question. I honestly don’t remember ever hearing of another kind.

Swopa @ 31

Jane, by the way, looks great. She claims she doesn’t feel quite 100% yet, but you’d never know it to look at her. Swopa is tall and handsome and awfully charming. And Pachacutec is his usual inscrutable self, sitting next to me with the scalps of his enemies hanging off his belt and his giant Aztec head-dress towering over all of us.

Suffice to say that this paragraph begins with unquestionably accurate facts, and evolves into laughably over-the-top fiction. I’ll leave it to readers’ imagination to figure out where in the middle the line gets crossed.

Accurate ’til last few words.

In reality, Swopa looms over giant Aztec head-dress.

Swopa @ 33

Jane, by the way, looks great. She claims she doesn’t feel quite 100% yet, but you’d never know it to look at her. Swopa is tall and handsome and awfully charming. And Pachacutec is his usual inscrutable self, sitting next to me with the scalps of his enemies hanging off his belt and his giant Aztec head-dress towering over all of us.

Suffice to say that this paragraph begins with unquestionably accurate facts, and evolves into laughably over-the-top fiction. I’ll leave it to readers’ imagination to figure out where in the middle the line gets crossed.

Wait til he meets a short, fat, bald truckdrivin’ oilfield ruffneck with a face like a fist and a temper shorter than a rattlesnakes inseam.

Now, I hate to say this, but you know what they said….some of it was true……

Because.

Based on the evidence I’d have to say that the Plamehouse Gang is doing a bang-up job that even that curmugeon who used to run the National Affairs Desk back in the old days couldn’t possibly hold a candle to.

Or, put another way, this is better than Gonzo.

And with eRiposte ripping things up from out on fire escape you’ve gotta figure that ol’ Tim Crouse can do nothing but shake and/or hang his head.

OK?

.

VG–

Thanks for the tip on serving eclairs! And it’s only February. By March, you won’t even want to hide the pins.

I’m about to stand outside in Phoenix at 65 degrees to smoke.

I think your are your best when you are writing about the people and the critters that you love. Those stories are not smarmy sweet; you bring across the characters with depth and feeling.

Interspersed with out-of-your-mind snark and wit.

Please thank everyone there for their great work!!!

Deep inhale. Exxxhallle! Ah.

And Pachacutec is his usual inscrutable self, sitting next to me with the scalps of his enemies hanging off his belt and his giant Aztec head-dress towering over all of us.

How much room left on the belt? Does he have to leave it at the Plame safe house before he goes to work tomorrow?

TRex, I’m so jealous, Election Night was so much fun at Tryst and I’m going to be going through some serious withdrawal not being at the trial with you all this week. But I’ll be reading you all and I’m glad Jane made it safe, sound and ready to rock.

I hope the day crew gets to see this, this is incredible coming from a corporate source…newsweek does it right, emboldens are mine;

The CIA Leak: Boring In on the Veep
EDITOR’S CHOICE newssweek
Feb. 12, 2007 issue – The Scooter Libby trial has put a new focus on Vice President Dick Cheney’s own role in the leak of CIA officer Valerie Plame Wilson’s identity. When the CIA on July 11, 2003, sent over a draft statement taking responsibility for President George W. Bush’s inaccurate assertion that Iraq had sought uranium from Africa, Cheney wrote on the cover sheet “Unsatisfactory” and underlined the word, according to a trial document. The veep thought the agency wasn’t going far enough in distancing Cheney’s office from the trip by Joseph Wilson (in which the ex-ambassador claimed he’d debunked the uranium shopping reports). “The vice president was frustrated and upset,” Libby told the FBI, according to Deborah Bond, an FBI agent who later questioned Libby on the leak.

The next day, aboard Air Force Two, Libby and Cheney talked media strategy, Bond said. “There was some discussion … about whether they should report to the press that Ambassador Wilson’s wife worked at the CIA,” Bond testified that Libby told her. Bond added that Libby said “they may have talked about it.” This is the first suggestion that Cheney himself talked about disclosing Wilson’s wife’s identity to the press as a way of undercutting Wilson’s credibility.

After the talk on the plane, Libby at Cheney’s direction began making phone calls to reporters. One of them, Matt Cooper, testified that Libby confirmed to him (he’d heard it from Karl Rove) that Wilson’s wife worked at the CIA. Former New York Times reporter Judy Miller testified that Libby mentioned Wilson’s wife to her that day (as in two previous talks). The new testimony could make things more awkward for Cheney, due to be called as a defense witness soon. Prosecutor Patrick Fitzgerald plans to wrap up his case with Tim Russert (likely to deny Libby’s grand-jury testimony that Russert told him about Plame’s CIA job). The defense may call reporters—including columnist Robert Novak—to say Libby never told them about Plame.

corporate media has been let loose on cheney…this looks to me like the work of rove

Twisted Martini @ 21

Colts!

At least your professional team won!

TeddySanFran @ 35

I have learned to trust TRex when he sez someone’s tall and handsome and awfully charming.

Don’t take this the wrong way, but… ummm… do you happen to own a large number of bridges?

TalkLeft, great job, as per usual, on Reliable Sources today. We’re not used to Howie Kurtz getting so far away from Fred Hiatt and the WH talking points.

Dana @ 42

VG–

Thanks for the tip on serving eclairs! And it’s only February. By March, you won’t even want to hide the pins.

Dana- I am truly almost laughing out loud at that one- closest I’ve come to having a real grin on my face for quite some time!

TalkLeft @ 45

TRex, I’m so jealous, Election Night was so much fun at Tryst and I’m going to be going through some serious withdrawal not being at the trial with you all this week. But I’ll be reading you all and I’m glad Jane made it safe, sound and ready to rock.

I wish you were here, too, hon!

We’ll meet again sometime soon, I suspect.

Hope you’re well and happy.

Swopa @ 48

TeddySanFran @ 35

I have learned to trust TRex when he sez someone’s tall and handsome and awfully charming.

Don’t take this the wrong way, but… ummm… do you happen to own a large number of bridges?

Swopa, I guess all of us will get to weigh in after we see you on PoliticsTV! Sure set yourself up for that one, babe!

I guess all of us will get to weigh in after we see you on PoliticsTV! Sure set yourself up for that one, babe!

He’s just being bashful, gang.

You’ll see.

Perris – Wow. That article is something else. I hope it is a sign that things are really getting downright … internecine.

On another note, I’m looking forward to hearing Jane’s first-hand observations on Barbara Comstack.

Speaking of bridges…

Trex, You might suggest to tryst that they name a sandwich SWOPA…) (served with one piece of popcorn leaving a desire for more)

I’ve been waiting to post this here since I read it this morning. It was published in the Anchorage Daily News this morning as an op-ed. The writer is an airborne infantry US Army captain about to leave for Iraq on his 3rd deployment. He’s from the same battalion as the guys who were kidnapped and killed two weeks ago.

I wouldn’t print it in entirety here, but it shows clearly how far off-base this new strategy is. It is also openly directed to Sen. Lisa Murkowski, and is highly critical of our country’s failed policies. I’ve never seen such an op-ed during this or any other war by an airborne infantry captain about to deploy:

By CAPT. BRIAN SULLIVAN

Published: February 4, 2007
Last Modified: February 4, 2007 at 03:28 AM

Click to enlarge
CAPT. BRIAN SULLIVAN

What a time for a soldier to leave for Iraq. The national debate over the Iraq war rages in Congress. I’m planning goodbyes to my wife and three young daughters. I’ve had more than a few sleepless nights thinking about it.
Fourteen years ago, I enlisted in the Army National Guard. Now, as an active-duty captain, I prepare to leave for Iraq’s raging civil war.
I joined a military in 1993 that believed it had cast aside the specter of Vietnam. The Gulf War’s “Powell Doctrine” was great news to us in uniform. Future wars were to be conducted with “overwhelming force,” superior forces to the enemy by a 3-to-1 ratio. But according to Bob Woodward’s book, “Plan of Attack,” Gen. Tommy Franks and the White House planned and sought the smallest number of troops to get the mission done in Iraq.
Overwhelming force was never to be the policy of this Iraq war. When Gen. Eric Shinseki, the former Army chief of staff, told Congress it would take hundreds of thousands of troops to subdue Iraq, he was retired. Since then, we have surged troops in Iraq four times.
It is clear to anyone who watches national news and polls and listens to what senators and congressmen are saying: Our national will in this effort is lessening daily.
Congress has funded the war with debt, $1,000 per citizen.
And our politicians continue to waffle. Last month, Alaska Sen. Lisa Murkowski made an impassioned speech in the Senate Foreign Relations Committee against the ongoing surge of troops, but when it came to the vote, apparently she lost some of her passion.
The White House press secretary attacked the anti-surge resolution on Iraq as Democrats not supporting the troops. I believe he is incorrect. A vote in favor of this resolution shows the true American public mood.
The toll has been great on those who volunteered to serve. My unit has lost 22 paratroopers since October. We buried and remembered five fine young men last month.
All were kids, paratroopers who wanted to serve their country, exceptional people you wished could have been your neighbors. We grieve and struggle to understand why they lost their lives.
The dangers of 9/11 seem to have faded in our minds; Iraq had no role in the attack. We don’t know why Sunni and Shiite Muslims hate and want to kill each other. Most Americans don’t care.
Nebraska Sen. Chuck Hagel called the planned buildup of forces in Iraq the biggest foreign policy blunder since Vietnam. He said the new strategy was “playing ping-pong with American lives.”
Ping-pong or not, it’s time to clarify our goals and be realistic about Iraq.
Gen. Colin Powell in 2002 reportedly told the president that when going into Iraq, the Pottery Barn rule applies: “If you break it, you bought it.”
Policy leaders need to rethink the Pottery Barn rule. Iraq has been “broken” since biblical times. We don’t “own it” as Gen. Powell warned. We need to tell the Iraqis that they do. Our leaders need to send a clear signal that it’s time they settled their own religious disputes and rebuild their own country.
Unfortunately, the new American strategy is not a return to the Powell Doctrine as I would have wished.
But as I leave for Iraq, I will feel better about my service to my government if my elected representatives do their duty and represent the public will — and it might just get the Iraqis’ attention.

http://www.adn.com/opinion/com…..7476c.html

Click my name for some Al Gore Macarena fun.

Okay, gang. I need to head up and get some sleep. Otherwise it’s going to be the Deeply Unpretty Man Courthouse tomorrow.

Aztec?

Meh.

Inca.

Pachacutec @ 60

Aztec?

Meh.

Inca.

Oops.

I’ll fix it.

Pachacutec, not a Pontiak.

Thanks ET, I wish the Dems would start talking about the “Powell Doctrine.” Also this is from
Joe Wilson December 4th, 2006 at 11:22 am at FDL: …

It is tough but I think that we should reshape the debate domestically from the terms currently in use (stay the course, cut and run; strategic redeployment, timetables, and withdrawal) to one in which we consider what it is we are asking our troops to do at this stage of the occupation and whether what they are doing is in our strategic of operational interest. If not they shouldn’t be doing it. The military talks of deployments in terms of troop to task ratios and force protection requirements. We should too.

IMO, that’s the kind of LANGUAGE that Dems need to use when talking about Iraq.

TRex:
I would love for you to write a political thriller with characters such as smarmy Dick Cheney, scheming Karl Rove, bombastic Tim Russert, swimming Ann Coulter etc. It could be a good (Dems) vs. evil (Reps.) and how the good guys thwarted a plan by the nefarious Reps to nuke Iran (provided that they really don’t nuke it)

perris @ 46

I hope the day crew gets to see this, this is incredible coming from a corporate source…newsweek does it right, emboldens are mine;

The CIA Leak: Boring In on the Veep
EDITOR’S CHOICE newssweek
Feb. 12, 2007 issue – The Scooter Libby trial has put a new focus on Vice President Dick Cheney’s own role in the leak of CIA officer Valerie Plame Wilson’s identity. When the CIA on July 11, 2003, sent over a draft statement taking responsibility for President George W. Bush’s inaccurate assertion that Iraq had sought uranium from Africa, Cheney wrote on the cover sheet “Unsatisfactory” and underlined the word, according to a trial document. The veep thought the agency wasn’t going far enough in distancing Cheney’s office from the trip by Joseph Wilson (in which the ex-ambassador claimed he’d debunked the uranium shopping reports). “The vice president was frustrated and upset,” Libby told the FBI, according to Deborah Bond, an FBI agent who later questioned Libby on the leak.

The next day, aboard Air Force Two, Libby and Cheney talked media strategy, Bond said. “There was some discussion … about whether they should report to the press that Ambassador Wilson’s wife worked at the CIA,” Bond testified that Libby told her. Bond added that Libby said “they may have talked about it.” This is the first suggestion that Cheney himself talked about disclosing Wilson’s wife’s identity to the press as a way of undercutting Wilson’s credibility.

corporate media has been let loose on cheney…this looks to me like the work of rove

Do you have a link to this? I couldn’t find it online.

Swopa @ 66

perris @ 46

I hope the day crew gets to see this, this is incredible coming from a corporate source…newsweek does it right, emboldens are mine;

The CIA Leak: Boring In on the Veep
EDITOR’S CHOICE newssweek
Feb. 12, 2007 issue – The Scooter Libby trial has put a new focus on Vice President Dick Cheney’s own role in the leak of CIA officer Valerie Plame Wilson’s identity. When the CIA on July 11, 2003, sent over a draft statement taking responsibility for President George W. Bush’s inaccurate assertion that Iraq had sought uranium from Africa, Cheney wrote on the cover sheet “Unsatisfactory” and underlined the word, according to a trial document. The veep thought the agency wasn’t going far enough in distancing Cheney’s office from the trip by Joseph Wilson (in which the ex-ambassador claimed he’d debunked the uranium shopping reports). “The vice president was frustrated and upset,” Libby told the FBI, according to Deborah Bond, an FBI agent who later questioned Libby on the leak.

The next day, aboard Air Force Two, Libby and Cheney talked media strategy, Bond said. “There was some discussion … about whether they should report to the press that Ambassador Wilson’s wife worked at the CIA,” Bond testified that Libby told her. Bond added that Libby said “they may have talked about it.” This is the first suggestion that Cheney himself talked about disclosing Wilson’s wife’s identity to the press as a way of undercutting Wilson’s credibility.

corporate media has been let loose on cheney…this looks to me like the work of rove

Do you have a link to this? I couldn’t find it online.

raw story had it up but I can’t fint it right now

Pachacutec @ 60

Aztec?

Meh.

Inca.

Haha, glad I’m not the only one who’s screwed that up.

You Incas need a better PR agent.

Pam’s got a funny one up tonite.

TeddySanFran @
56

Speaking of bridges…

just makes my head swim, it’s so close…

Here’s the Newsweek link, for tall handsome and charming

Oh, oops. Swopa, the link is to the thingy Perris cited #46 etc.

Eureka Springs, AR @ 56

Trex, You might suggest to tryst that they name a sandwich SWOPA…) (served with one piece of popcorn leaving a desire for more)

Nice.

Soup’s good for what ails one. How about Soup With Oligarchy-Piercing Attitude?

newspaperbrat – I am snowed (?) in with what looks like one possible day this week for enough of a thaw to get out. I will send that movie as soon as mother nature allows.

So enjoy your anticipation.

Valley Girl @ 71

Here’s the Newsweek link, for tall handsome and charming

Oh, oops. Swopa, the link is to the thingy Perris cited #46 etc.

you saw my thingy?

montag @ 71

Soup’s good for what ails one. How about Soup With Oligarchy-Piercing Attitude?

If soup appeals ya.

perris @ 47

I hope the day crew gets to see this, this is incredible coming from a corporate source…newsweek does it right, emboldens are mine;

The CIA Leak: Boring In on the Veep
EDITOR’S CHOICE newssweek
Feb. 12, 2007 issue – The Scooter Libby trial has put a new focus on Vice President Dick Cheney’s own role in the leak of CIA officer Valerie Plame Wilson’s identity. When the CIA on July 11, 2003, sent over a draft statement taking responsibility for President George W. Bush’s inaccurate assertion that Iraq had sought uranium from Africa, Cheney wrote on the cover sheet “Unsatisfactory” and underlined the word, according to a trial document. The veep thought the agency wasn’t going far enough in distancing Cheney’s office from the trip by Joseph Wilson (in which the ex-ambassador claimed he’d debunked the uranium shopping reports). “The vice president was frustrated and upset,” Libby told the FBI, according to Deborah Bond, an FBI agent who later questioned Libby on the leak.

The next day, aboard Air Force Two, Libby and Cheney talked media strategy, Bond said. “There was some discussion … about whether they should report to the press that Ambassador Wilson’s wife worked at the CIA,” Bond testified that Libby told her. Bond added that Libby said “they may have talked about it.” This is the first suggestion that Cheney himself talked about disclosing Wilson’s wife’s identity to the press as a way of undercutting Wilson’s credibility.

After the talk on the plane, Libby at Cheney’s direction began making phone calls to reporters. One of them, Matt Cooper, testified that Libby confirmed to him (he’d heard it from Karl Rove) that Wilson’s wife worked at the CIA. Former New York Times reporter Judy Miller testified that Libby mentioned Wilson’s wife to her that day (as in two previous talks). The new testimony could make things more awkward for Cheney, due to be called as a defense witness soon. Prosecutor Patrick Fitzgerald plans to wrap up his case with Tim Russert (likely to deny Libby’s grand-jury testimony that Russert told him about Plame’s CIA job). The defense may call reporters—including columnist Robert Novak—to say Libby never told them about Plame.

corporate media has been let loose on cheney…this looks to me like the work of rove

From last week’s live blogging (have I thanked you all?) the timeline, who talked to whom and when, got pretty complicated. But I’m starting to see that perhaps this is all heading in one direction and it is what Fitz has known all along: Cheney’s the “leaker.” Or put it another way, Cheney ordered Plame’s name out there to shut Joe Wilson up, then left it up to Libby to do it and control the fallout. Cheney didn’t count on a principled and disciplined federal prosecutor, a former ambassador who’s tangled with characters tougher than he, and, of course, a couple of uppity women at Firedoglake who just “wouldn’t let it go.”

Fitz also knows the way to get to Cheney is through Libby, and that’s why he hasn’t gone after Rove. Rove gave Fitz Lbby. But Libby won’t give Fitz Cheney.

I guess the question becomes will Fitz still go after the Veep. What evidence does he have that we don’t know about?

Oooh, this is going to be an exciting week. Jane, you got here just in time!

Okay, now I’m starting to ramble-off to bed with me.

perris @ 75

Valley Girl @ 71

Here’s the Newsweek link, for tall handsome and charming

Oh, oops. Swopa, the link is to the thingy Perris cited #46 etc.

you saw my thingy?

Everyone who read through all the comments saw your thingy!

I just pulled this off an emptywheel thread over at tnh, for anyone who has the resources and the interest.

Thanks for your investigative and analytical energies, all!

EW – received the five copies of your book I ordered and will be leaving two in a few local cafes for patrons to read and donating two to area schools. The local bookstore has stocked a few extras and I’ll encourage friends to buy it. It looks great on the scan – I look forward to reading it tomorrow night. Thanks for cranking the book out!

Posted by: Nan | February 04, 2007 at 20:56

FWIW, Anatomy of Deceit is wonderfully accessible, it doesn’t require any prior knowledge of Traitorgate.

Everyone who read through all the comments saw your thingy!

I hope that produced your second smile of the evening…)

OldCoastie @ 70

TeddySanFran @
56

Speaking of bridges…

just makes my head swim, it’s so close…

.. and only 60 feet of channel on either side of the little boat!

Renee in Ohio,
That was good fun! Go Gore.

newspaperbrat @
28

SF Teddy and Punaise – I left you a late & EPU’ed comment last thread.

Re-Elect President Gore in 2008!
Accept NO Substitute

merci, saw it – sans thingy

TeddySanFran @ 81

OldCoastie @ 70

TeddySanFran @
56

Speaking of bridges…

just makes my head swim, it’s so close…

.. and only 60 feet of channel on either side of the little boat!

I took some boats in places that were awful (AWFUL!) close while in the CG, but it sure wasn’t in anything that might KNOCK a BRIDGE DOWN!!!!

that musta been an amazing sight! really… just looking at that picture makes my heart leap in my chest!

TRex – a collection of essays could be really good. Your writing and humor reminds me of a cross between Bill Bryson and David Sedaris but that doesn’t even adequately describe it.

perris @
47

I hope the day crew gets to see this, this is incredible coming from a corporate source…newsweek does it right, emboldens are mine;

The CIA Leak: Boring In on the Veep
EDITOR’S CHOICE newssweek
Feb. 12, 2007 issue – The Scooter Libby trial has put a new focus on Vice President Dick Cheney’s own role in the leak of CIA officer Valerie Plame Wilson’s identity. When the CIA on July 11, 2003, sent over a draft statement taking responsibility for President George W. Bush’s inaccurate assertion that Iraq had sought uranium from Africa, Cheney wrote on the cover sheet “Unsatisfactory” and underlined the word, according to a trial document. The veep thought the agency wasn’t going far enough in distancing Cheney’s office from the trip by Joseph Wilson (in which the ex-ambassador claimed he’d debunked the uranium shopping reports). “The vice president was frustrated and upset,” Libby told the FBI, according to Deborah Bond, an FBI agent who later questioned Libby on the leak.

corporate media has been let loose on cheney…this looks to me like the work of rove

I will tack on this bit of evidence from the trial.

http://wid.ap.org/documents/li…..X10401.PDF

Note that the memo nowhere mentions anything about a Pincus article…only Kristof. Libby asserts that the memo was to provide him with Talking Points for the Pincus article, but he would not have been aware of that on June 8th!

Not only does that memo contain the statement “his wife works in CP Division” [Counter-Proliferation] but that when you can get through Libby’s horrific penmanship and codes the note clearly says:

“6/12/03″ [BTW I read the date (before it being altered) as 6/8/03…the day that Condy went in front of “Press The Meat” to counter the charges that Kristof was making about the Niger Uranium forgeries.…an “8″ seems to sit below that “12″]

“J-Y re “Uranium Q”- Kristof NYT Article” [Y=Cheney; Q= Iraq]

“Took place at our behest – functional office – CP/ his wife works in that div(isio)n”

AT OUR BEHEST!!! They admit in this memo that they initiated the request to the CIA to follow up on the Iraq Uranium reports. Then the request went to the “functional office” where it was passed to the CPD.

“Debriefing took place here bar [?] mtg in region”

This shows that Cheney already knew details about Wilson’s trip…including that he may have had a “debriefing” in Niger. “Bar” possibly stands for “Barbro Owens-Kirkpatrick” the US Ambassador to Niger.

“OVP – Defense and State expressed strong interest in issue”. “Y [= VP] – Hold * get agency to answer this”

STRONG INTEREST! As Larry Johnson pointed out…is it at all likely that the OVP didn’t get follow up?

Apparently Cheney told Libby that, YES! OVP was interested, but so was State and Defense. Perhaps he was hoping that the CIA would be able to cover up his role and say that Wilson was sent at the request of the other Departments. This was the whole goal of the Tenet statement…trying to imply that the OVP and WH were entirely unaware of the Niger mission and in the dark about its conclusions. IF THAT WAS TRUE they would not be responsible for erroneously accepting the Brit Intel….but if they knew they were clearly stovepiping the case for WMD’s.

Then there are series of ‘talking points’ with difficult handwriting

“1) didn’t here [?] @ mission” or is it “Wilson”! That sure looks like a “L” to me!

“2) didn’t get report back”

and “3) no indication of forgery per [?] (an IAEA”

Now this lays out precisely what the Vice President requested of the CIA about the Iraq Uranium claims. He tells Libby that it WAS done “at our behest” but also lays out some ways of obscuring that fact…by getting the CIA to say that the mission may have occurred at the request of the State Dept. or Defense. That they didn’t know about the “mission” (or “Wilson”), that they never got “the report” back, and that they had no idea about a forgery.

Given that Libby admits that by this time Cheney had already learned that the Ambassador’s “wife works in that division” (Counter Proliferation…from the CIA (Tenet?)…it’s had to believe that he would not have known the Ambassadors name.

That’s why I think that “mission” actually is “Wilson”. But it’s ambiguous. But the memo pretty much says that the OVP told the CIA to investigate the Niger Uranium reports.

OldCoastie @ 84

Speaking of bridges…

just makes my head swim, it’s so close…

.. and only 60 feet of channel on either side of the little boat!

I took some boats in places that were awful (AWFUL!) close while in the CG, but it sure wasn’t in anything that might KNOCK a BRIDGE DOWN!!!!

that musta been an amazing sight! really… just looking at that picture makes my heart leap in my chest!

my father-in-law is a retired bar pilot from a French port – used to threading the needle with oil tankers – but I’ve sent him these photos for grins.

big boats thru bridges… my hands are sweating right now and I haven’t done that for 20 years…

OldCoastie @ 88

big boats thru bridges… my hands are sweating right now and I haven’t done that for 20 years…

There was a series of about fifteen photos being passed around the net about five years ago of a boat approximately the size of an ocean-going tug misjudging the clearance under a bridge, being thrown to starboard by the impact, rolling underwater going under the bridge and righting itself after the bridge.

Sort of a shit-yer-pants-and-get-`em-pressure-washed-too routine….

Cat:

Longer boats are coming to win us
Theyre coming to win us, theyre coming to win us
Longer boats are coming to win us
Hold on to the shore, theyll be taking the key from the door.

if you’re gunna smoke in the ice cold northeast,invest in a fleece pullover and a winter jacket – shin length down will do. throw a goretex shell on top and cover your ears.

better yet. give up the tobbaco. believe it or not, life is better without it. 3 years and counting.

that’s a hellava tug, montag… I thought only the CG had self-righting vessels! (and I never learned to drive those as I wasn’t sure I could hold my breath that long)

CG motor life boats

I recall that Agent Bond did mention that Libby claims he revealed to Cheney his conversation with Russert [wouldn’t that mean the jury will be anxious to hear the testimony of both Rove and Cheney…the individuals that would be expected to exonerate Libby?]

Now…if this were the FIRST TIME Cheney and Libby discussed Plame one would surmise that Libby would be describing Cheney’s reaction as one of surprise, or perhaps anxiety that National Security laws had been compromised. “What! Russert says that Wilson’s wife works in the CPD at the CIA…and the whole Press Corps has learned this!??”

But Libby testifies that they merely discuss on whether they can now go public themselves with this information? But if the WHOLE DC Press Community knew…then why would they have to even discuss whether THEY NEEDED to reveal her name!

It’s such an obvious lie that Libby is telling Agents Bond and Eckenrode. The story just doesn’t fit wth his “I forgot/Russert told me”. For one thing Cheney would also have to forget that he knew that he learned about “Wilson’s wife works at CPD” from the CIA. If he did recall he would have pointed this out to Libby…that they already knew this.

And if the really did discuss decalssifying Plame’s identity and employment they had to realize that her status WAS CLASSIFIED!!! ALREADY!!!

OldCoastie @
92

that’s a hellava tug, montag… I thought only the CG had self-righting vessels! (and I never learned to drive those as I wasn’t sure I could hold my breath that long)

Mary Matalin is a self-righteous vessel

punaise @ 94

Mary Matalin is a self-righteous vessel

Being filled with gumbo by a vassal, um, weekly, or so.

montag @ 95

punaise @ 94

Mary Matalin is a self-righteous vessel

Being filled with gumbo by a vassal, um, weekly, or so.

he’s a roux‘d boy

punaise @
90

Cat:

Longer boats are coming to win us
Theyre coming to win us, theyre coming to win us
Longer boats are coming to win us
Hold on to the shore, theyll be taking the key from the door.

Everybody, sing along!

Video of the little boat arriving today under the Bridge.

thanks Jacqrat – was that an extra verse at the end there?

(I always preferred that song to “Michael Row Your Boat Ashore”…)

TeddySanFran @
98

Video of the little boat arriving today under the Bridge.

she didn’t look like she was losing any time now, did she?

oh geez!

punaise @
99

thanks Jacqrat – was that an extra verse at the end there?

(I always preferred that song to “Michael Row Your Boat Ashore”…)

I got busy watching the QM II arrive and forgot to listen. I love his music. For sure it beats that old song.

Teddy, are the tides really super strong up there? (I’m guessing they are – it sure explain no one dallying while clearing the bridge)

I just wanted to offer a remedy for very dry, flaky skin that I get every winter (here in Ohio) from central heating and not enough moisture in the air.
Burt’s Bees Apricot Baby Oil, couple dabs on a warm washcloth. That’s it. Best thing I’ve ever gotten for $6.99.
Looking forward to tomorrow!

I used to sail with friends on 48 and 65 footers through the gate. (sure wish I had those photos in digital format)

OC – The current is phenomenal! It’s very disorienting most of the time, fog or no fog.

I’m gonna love Jane and friends on Politics TV, but I will sorely miss EW’s haircut and memories of her chewing gum.

Eureka Springs, AR @ 104

I used to sail with friends on 48 and 65 footers through the gate. (sure wish I had those photos in digital format)

OC – The current is phenomenal! It’s very disorienting most of the time, fog or no fog.

those are tough waters up there… phew!

OldCoastie @ 102

Teddy, are the tides really super strong up there? (I’m guessing they are – it sure explain no one dallying while clearing the bridge)

Tides for San Francisco (Golden Gate) starting with February 3, 2007.

Day High Tide Height Sunrise Moon Time % Moon
/Low Time Feet Sunset Visible

Sa 3 High 12:54 AM 5.2 7:12 AM Set 8:09 AM 99
3 Low 5:49 AM 2.5 5:35 PM Rise 7:18 PM
3 High 11:44 AM 6.0
3 Low 6:19 PM -0.2

Su 4 High 1:22 AM 5.2 7:11 AM Set 8:31 AM 97
4 Low 6:30 AM 2.3 5:37 PM Rise 8:17 PM
4 High 12:23 PM 5.6
4 Low 6:49 PM 0.2

Tides are small. “Strong,” I assume means currents. Less than 2.5 knots when the QE whatever transited the Gate.

OldCoastie @ 102

Teddy, are the tides really super strong up there? (I’m guessing they are – it sure explain no one dallying while clearing the bridge)

According to the news reports, the QM2 had to tarry once under the bridge, cruising around the Bay, waiting for the tide to let up, before docking about an hour ago.

Gavin Newsom had a plan to attach turbines to the bridge to harness the power of the currents. he’s in a different vortex these days.

ET – you get the prize for tides up there in Alaska… I used to think they had pretty big swings up in Maine… that’s a LOT of moving water! Some places in Alaska get a 100′ of change? something like that…

TPM snippet:

Still, I can’t help but be fascinated by the more pedestrian issue of how Cheney continues to assert himself so vigorously without running up against the ego of a cocksure President. How is it that Bush, who is so caught up in macho public demonstrations of his own personal strength and courage, can tolerate a shadow presidency within his own White House? What kind of spell has Cheney cast that allows Bush to continue to believe he is the decider? You can imagine all sorts of dysfunctional psychological dramas playing out behind the scenes.

punaise @ 109

Gavin Newsom had a plan to attach turbines to the bridge to harness the power of the currents. he’s in a different vortex these days.

it’s not a bad idea, actually – too bad about that mistress thing…

OC – Everything looks normal or smooth and BAM! Just as you pass under the bridge heading west the bottom drops out, the horizon is 35 yards out and way over your head, in just a few seconds. Especially on nice days that look like the QEII photos. One just doesn’t see it coming.

Not a mistress; his best friend’s wife, both employees in the Mayor’s Office (but I repeat myself….)

Eureka Springs – it looks pretty spooky to me – just the way the pilot brought the boat in at speed, then kinda “slammed the brakes on”, then brought her back up to speed, tells me there is a lot going on under that bridge…

I know I would have, at the moment the stacks were to clear the bridge, closed my eyes and listened for a scraping sound…

typically, you’d probably want to keep your eyes open…

Jacqrat, I thought Marcy with gum was an instant classic. Do you suppose the camera crew even noticed and just let it roll?

OldCoastie @ 110

ET – you get the prize for tides up there in Alaska… I used to think they had pretty big swings up in Maine… that’s a LOT of moving water! Some places in Alaska get a 100′ of change? something like that…

Cook Inlet, the hairiest I go into myself, is like plus 35 feet to minus 5. The water is shallow, so currents are the factor creating big variables if the wind is up. I don’t know of any bigger tides than that in Alaska.

OldCoastie @ 110

ET – you get the prize for tides up there in Alaska… I used to think they had pretty big swings up in Maine… that’s a LOT of moving water! Some places in Alaska get a 100′ of change? something like that…

the Bay of Fundy in Canada has major tide swings, no? I always thought it got a bad rap, what with the unwarranted association with the Christian extremists.

Eureka Springs, AR @ 116

Jacqrat, I thought Marcy with gum was an instant classic. Do you suppose the camera crew even noticed and just let it roll?

I thought it was amazing how quickly Marcy went from looking a bit awkward (gum-chewing included) to looking completely at ease with the camera. Like watching a flower blossom.

maybe it is the Bay of Fundy I’m thinking of… but I coulda sworn somewhere in Alaska got really wicked tides… unbelievable amounts… a full moon in Maine might get you 20 some odd feet in places… if you didn’t keep a close eye on your mooring lines, you’d hang the ship from the pier…

not the smoothest move…

They showed the pilot on the local news, OC, as he got off the QM2 tonight. He said he’d been working on this for three years — that was one relieved red-bearded Irishman! Smiling from ear to ear….

Eureka Springs, AR @
116

Jacqrat, I thought Marcy with gum was an instant classic. Do you suppose the camera crew even noticed and just let it roll?

I don’t know – but I’ll always remember it! Like your first time… laughed my ass off, but in a tender, loving way. Do you know the feeling?

It was so damned endearing.

TeddySanFran @ 121

They showed the pilot on the local news, OC, as he got off the QM2 tonight. He said he’d been working on this for three years — that was one relieved red-bearded Irishman! Smiling from ear to ear….

I bet! Buy that man a whiskey!

for punaise,

from the Bay of Fundies
to the shores of Armageddon Gulf,
the seas went wild as the winds of change
howled out of the fdl Plame House.

Persiflage @
119

Eureka Springs, AR @ 116

Jacqrat, I thought Marcy with gum was an instant classic. Do you suppose the camera crew even noticed and just let it roll?

I thought it was amazing how quickly Marcy went from looking a bit awkward (gum-chewing included) to looking completely at ease with the camera. Like watching a flower blossom.

Absolutely! She really did.

better yet. give up the tobbaco. believe it or not, life is better without it. 3 years and counting.

Amen, Amen. To TRex and the rest of you who haven’t quit yet: the nicorette gum or patches really will help. Life really is better without the cigs; couldn’t imagine that could be the case. But after some forty years, I finally kicked the habit some nine years ago. Often rejoice that I am so much healthier and more able to do some of the things I longed to do but couldn’t before.

But thanks for the posts and the laughs and have fun at the trial and back in Athens.

all right – work-y tomorrow…. see ya’ in the morning… now I’m going to try to sleep without the sweaty palms and being out in seas too big for the boat or bridges with no clearance…

on the other hand, I’d sail anywhere with that pilot! what a job! he knows his bidness…

Jacqrat – We had exactly the same response. Another funny side, MSM really missed out and would have never allowed that to happen.

Power to the DFHs! Politics TV might have some promise. I guess it’s time to call directway and ask for cspan3 and politics TV in trade for about 40 channels I pay for but don’t want.

OT but here is a fresh link for sending an Email to Pelosi to encourage impeachment of Cheney. So……Please forward often ;-)

http://www.petitiononline.com/WD13007/

Thanks for all the great scoop ;-)

Mornin’ all!

TRex

Not that you’re weird or anything, but I thought of you when I saw this:

http://www.mon-pagerank.com/videos/out.php?id=4847

I understood everything perfectly, except the part about the scissors.

Greeting from horrible, boring, juvenile Athens!

Good morning, folks. Today the NYT has Bob Herbert on “justice” in Louisiana, and Paul Krugman points out how Bush and the boys are destroying the civil service system. And it’s gray again today. Not the best way to start a week!

http://mgpaquin.blogspot.com/

Maybe another cup of tea will make me feel better… {shuffles off to the kitchen}

Marion, I am tired of cold weather – waaahhh! Those daffodils in my yard have been teasing me for weeks.

Well, the second cup of tea did allow my eyes to open wide enough to go and check out “Dog Days” by Ana Marie Cox. If anyone needs to line their bird cage they have copies on sale through Amazon starting at $0.01, which makes it cheaper than the newspaper…

Mandrake, in an absolute triumph of hope over probability I stuck some lettuce seeds in one of my raised beds a while ago. I have little cotyledons poking up now. They’ve already been subjected to sub-freezing temps but they seem to be hanging on… I’m hoping they’re not dormant or too frozen to grow. I want spring to come NOW!!! {stamps foot}

Marion in Savannah @ 135

Well, the second cup of tea did allow my eyes to open wide enough to go and check out “Dog Days” by Ana Marie Cox. If anyone needs to line their bird cage they have copies on sale through Amazon starting at $0.01, which makes it cheaper than the newspaper…

Mandrake, in an absolute triumph of hope over probability I stuck some lettuce seeds in one of my raised beds a while ago. I have little cotyledons poking up now. They’ve already been subjected to sub-freezing temps but they seem to be hanging on… I’m hoping they’re not dormant or too frozen to grow. I want spring to come NOW!!! {stamps foot}

B-E-A-C-H!!

Sun, surf, sand, salty air! *sigh*

I read somewhere that the “mystery witness” was a lady named Abramson, managing Editor of Time, Cooper’s boss. I do not remember where I saw it, Libbyitis has set in!

I don’t have anything to share this morning except, did anyone see any of the hearing on the White House suppressing and intimidating scientists about global warming? That was pretty interesting. Very predictable behavior from the WH when faced with anything they don’t want to hear. Really surprised we haven’t had book burnings by now.

I was watching/listening to Imus just now, and Evan Thomas was on. Imus asked him his opinion on the Libby trial, and he said he couldn’t comment because he may have to testify briefly this week. No one knew this. Could he be the mystery witness? Someone, I think it was Marcy, eluded to it possibly being anti-climactic. Maybe he’s the one.

NewsClues @ 139

I was watching/listening to Imus just now, and Evan Thomas was on. Imus asked him his opinion on the Libby trial, and he said he couldn’t comment because he may have to testify briefly this week. No one knew this. Could he be the mystery witness? Someone, I think it was Marcy, eluded to it possibly being anti-climactic. Maybe he’s the one.

Geez, maybe he’ll show up drunk. That would make for some interesting theatre. Think maybe he was kidding?

mandrake @
138

I don’t have anything to share this morning except, did anyone see any of the hearing on the White House suppressing and intimidating scientists about global warming? That was pretty interesting. Very predictable behavior from the WH when faced with anything they don’t want to hear. Really surprised we haven’t had book burnings by now.

To say nothing of having some Reich wing “think” tank (Heritage Institute? I misremember) offering to pay people $10,000 for articles saying global warming isn’t real. Cripes…

Mornin’, firepups!

Evan Thomas was one of the journalists Libby called on July 12th.

Marion in Savannah @ 141

mandrake @
138

I don’t have anything to share this morning except, did anyone see any of the hearing on the White House suppressing and intimidating scientists about global warming? That was pretty interesting. Very predictable behavior from the WH when faced with anything they don’t want to hear. Really surprised we haven’t had book burnings by now.

To say nothing of having some Reich wing “think” tank (Heritage Institute? I misremember) offering to pay people $10,000 for articles saying global warming isn’t real. Cripes…

Yes, someone brought that up yesterday. I don’t know when that became public. Was it covered in the hearing? I don’t recall it but then I didn’t catch the whole thing.

When I heard that, well I shouldn’t have been surprised, but I was taken aback somewhat by the utter shamelessness of it.

Oh, and that’s the Heritage Foundation. They get lots of air time on CSPAN to spew their corporate-sponsored, neocon agenda. Just like the AEI. When I see either of those logos in the background, I go for the remote since it’s the same garbage I’ve heard a thousand times when I used to waste my time listening to them. Privatize everything and any form of corporate regulation will destroy the economy.

a letter (PDF) from AEI

-via thinkprogress

Coffee? Check.

Lavender shirt? Check.

Shined shoes? Check (shit there’s some mud on the soles from the last rain).

Blue sport coat? Check. All clothes fresh from the cleaners.

Bad Attitude? Check.

Okay, I’m ready to head to the courthouse.

Ew, ew and ew.

Pachacutec @ 146

Coffee? Check.

Lavender shirt? Check.

Shined shoes? Check (shit there’s some mud on the soles from the last rain).

Blue sport coat? Check. All clothes fresh from the cleaners.

Bad Attitude? Check.

Okay, I’m ready to head to the courthouse.

But do you have a pink carnation?

mandrake @
144

Oh, and that’s the Heritage Foundation.

I thought so. Of course, down here the word “heritage” tends to be a code word. I see visions of sheets and hoods and stars and bars…

Pachacutec @
146

Coffee? Check.

Lavender shirt? Check.

Shined shoes? Check (shit there’s some mud on the soles from the last rain).

Blue sport coat? Check. All clothes fresh from the cleaners.

Bad Attitude? Check.

Okay, I’m ready to head to the courthouse.

I’m ready to go, too.

Her Poodleness, however….

Swopa @
68

Pachacutec @ 60

Aztec?

Meh.

Inca.

Haha, glad I’m not the only one who’s screwed that up.

You Incas need a better PR agent.

PR? Why, yes, I’m also part Puerto Rican. How did you guess?

But do you have a pink carnation?

In my pickup truck.

Her Poodleness, however….

Cuz she’s a guurrrllll.

I can wake up, dump water on my head and scratch my balls, and I’m practically good to go.

twolf1 @ 145

a letter (PDF) from AEI

-via thinkprogress

Thanks for sharing. Again, utterly shameless. I heard one of their minions on NPR and he was practically foaming at the mouth in defense of this transparent tactic. Corporate whores are getting pretty desperate here. Guess they’re worried about being out of a job. Awww.

Pachacutec @ 153

Her Poodleness, however….

Cuz she’s a guurrrllll.

I can wake up, dump water on my head and scratch my balls, and I’m practically good to go.

What I meant was that she hadn’t even gotten up yet. :-)

Swopa @ 155

Pachacutec @ 153

Her Poodleness, however….

Cuz she’s a guurrrllll.

I can wake up, dump water on my head and scratch my balls, and I’m practically good to go.

What I meant was that she hadn’t even gotten up yet. :-)

Eh. . . see you at lunch.

And with that, it’s time to head to the Metro. I’m a bit further out than you two are.

Cripes, I guess I should act like I have a job here and get spruced up, although not as spiffed as Pachutec seein’ as how I’m just a peon and all.

;)

Happy trials, Pachutec.

Thanks Mandrake.

Oh, and Swopa: don’t forget the passess!!!

Pachacutec @ 153

Her Poodleness, however….

Cuz she’s a guurrrllll.

I can wake up, dump water on my head and scratch my balls, and I’m practically good to go.

Pach, Thank you for that image. NOT.

Good morning all. New week, all RSS links cleared out, caught up on the reading. That should end as soon as I take a shower and come back to the laptop at which time, the world will have changed again.

Pach, Jane, TRex, Swopa:

Have a great day and show those faux journalists how it is done! Maybe one of these days they will learn how to do their jobs. . . . we live in hope.

mandrake @ 157

Cripes, I guess I should act like I have a job here and get spruced up, although not as spiffed as Pachutec seein’ as how I’m just a peon and all.

Ehhh… Pach will be no match for Swopa’s dashing double-breasted blue suit and dark red shirt.

Story currently on CNN – Troops going to Iraq weren’t shown an existing, detailed safety video about depleted uranium. Instead, they were shown something that said that the amount of radiation that the depleted uranium ordinance emits is well within safety standards.

No one could have foreseen the sickness and birth defects that are now emerging.

From the NYTimes Iraqis Fault Pace of U.S. Plan in Attack

BAGHDAD, Feb. 4 — A growing number of Iraqis blamed the United States on Sunday for creating conditions that led to the worst single suicide bombing in the war, which devastated a Shiite market in Baghdad the day before. They argued that the Americans had been slow in completing the vaunted new American security plan, making Shiite neighborhoods much more vulnerable to such horrific attacks. […]

Swopa as you and others have raised, if the Shrub wants to continue pissing off the Shia, they could close of our supply/escape route to Basra.

Glad Jane is back and feeling almost “normal”.

Hey – a legal question. If an attorney makes a claim of evidence in his/her opening and doesn’t deliver – does the judge have any recourse against the defendant (assuming it’s a criminal case) for failing to produce that evidence? Since they claimed “Rove under the bus” and Cheney might not testify….any sanctions there?

deleted

TRex @ 19

Life, by the way, is merely a series of eclairs.

Or e-clares if you are a certain Texas gal.

Marion in Savannah @
135

I want spring to come NOW!!! {stamps foot}

Good morning! Now really… Here in Maine it’s 8 degrees F. We are hoping fervently for MORE SNOW. It’s only February! I recommend cold frames or (at the very least) row covers. Thank the elements that you don’t have blackflies (yes, I know about eagle-sized mosquitoes; I lived in Sarasota FL. Blackflies are worse.)

Sha @
163

Glad Jane is back and feeling almost “normal”.

Hey – a legal question. If an attorney makes a claim of evidence in his/her opening and doesn’t deliver – does the judge have any recourse against the defendant (assuming it’s a criminal case) for failing to produce that evidence? Since they claimed “Rove under the bus” and Cheney might not testify….any sanctions there?

I don’t do criminal law, but I expect the rule is the same as in civil – the judge won’t do anything, but opposing counsel will highlight every unkept promise during closing argument. Done right it can be devastating as lawyers try very hard to build trust with juries, and failures to keep evidentiary promises hurts that.

ixnay @ 166

Thank the elements that you don’t have blackflies (yes, I know about eagle-sized mosquitoes; I lived in Sarasota FL. Blackflies are worse.)

Oh, my, yes, they are worse than mosquitoes. I lived in Vermont for a few years and vividly remember blackfly season which came, if I recall correctly, at the end of mud season. Of course, we have our sand gnats and no-see-ums to torment us down here… But we don’t have deer flies, at least not that I’ve ever seen.

A girl I have known since she was 7 is deploying to Iraq with the Marines this month.

Prayers and tears.

twolf1 @ 161

Story currently on CNN – Troops going to Iraq weren’t shown an existing, detailed safety video about depleted uranium. Instead, they were shown something that said that the amount of radiation that the depleted uranium ordinance emits is well within safety standards.

No one could have foreseen the sickness and birth defects that are now emerging.

I dream of an administration that works to prevent birth defects.

Marion in Savannah @ 168

ixnay @ 166

Thank the elements that you don’t have blackflies (yes, I know about eagle-sized mosquitoes; I lived in Sarasota FL. Blackflies are worse.)

Oh, my, yes, they are worse than mosquitoes. I lived in Vermont for a few years and vividly remember blackfly season which came, if I recall correctly, at the end of mud season. Of course, we have our sand gnats and no-see-ums to torment us down here… But we don’t have deer flies, at least not that I’ve ever seen.

Don’t forget the fire ants!

new thread up top

Good Morning Firedogs,

well, well, well, early morning thread graced by TRex, Pachacutec, and his Swopaness -

Jane, like everyone else, have a sense of how hard you have worked to make this day happen – am so excited for you to at last be there ! the day hasn’t even started and I am so looking forward to your take on events

I place implicit trust in “the boys” to keep Jane from overdoing anything and just now I actually chuckled out loud at the mere thought of this group’s first look at Babs – eyeshadow junkie, costume jewelry, oh yeah

Fly little poodle gurl, fly !

xoxoxo

Weighing in this morning on last night’s discussion on potential forthcoming books:

T-Rex, why settle for an overused form like fiction or essays? My proposition is that you write a book of fables, complete with moral lessons. Fables along the lines of “The Vice President Who Cried Wolf” and “The Senate Intelligence Committee Investigation and The Hare.”

Wasn’t that Aesop guy from Athens, too?

Moderator request please?

The link to the Libby document at 86 has a space so doesn’t work.

I think this is an important one for us to examine.

Thanks for your help.

[Mod Note; Fixed. Thank you.]

Thanks, Petedownunder.

Thanks mod. Hope you are feeling strong as we go into a trial day with Jane at the helm.

mandrake @
148

Pachacutec @ 146

Coffee? Check.

Lavender shirt? Check.

Shined shoes? Check (shit there’s some mud on the soles from the last rain).

Blue sport coat? Check. All clothes fresh from the cleaners.

Bad Attitude? Check.

Okay, I’m ready to head to the courthouse.

But do you have a pink carnation?

Pants?

Hi TRex,

How about writing about an imagined encounter between Margaret Cho and Andrew Sullivan? They’re stuck in a banquet hall in Luxembourg because their cheap flight on Icelandic Air landed them there for 24 unexpected hours. Everyone else is from the Baltics so the 2 Americans are stuck with each other.