(UPDATE: Marcy Wheeler will be on CSPAN-2 at 12 noon ET today talking about her book, Anatomy of Deceit. You can live stream it here — JH)
What's that sound I'm hearing? Could it be — the pitter-patter of little rat feet?
Why, yes, yes it could: (h/t Cliff Schecter)
The Bush administration is facing growing difficulties in filling a rising number of high-level vacancies following a recent spate of senior departures.
In the last 10 days alone Mr Bush has lost four senior officials and more resignations are expected to follow. “I wouldn’t describe this as disintegration,” said one senior official. “But there are worrying large gaps opening up and it is very hard to recruit high-quality people from outside.”
Gosh, I imagine it must be, considering the Bushies have such high standards. Among other things, they gave us the Coalition Provisional Authority of Iraq, where knowledge of Arabic and Iraqi culture took a back seat to being anti-choice and pro-Bush.
And what's that sniveling, whining sound in the corner? Could it be — Republican Congresscritters searching for their lost spines?
In a sign of the growing fissure between the White House and its congressional allies over the war, NBC News reports tonight that 11 Republican members of Congress pleaded yesterday with President Bush and his senior aides to change course in Iraq.
The group of Republicans was led by Reps. Mark Kirk (R-IL) and Charlie Dent (R-PA), and the meeting included Defense Secretary Robert Gates, Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice, Karl Rove, and Tony Snow. One member of Congress called the discussion the “most unvarnished conversation they’ve ever had with the president,” and NBC’s Tim Russert said it “may have been a defining pivotal moment” in the Iraq debate.
Russert described the conversation:
[O]ne said “My district is prepared for defeat. We need candor, we need honesty, Mr. President.” The president responded, “I don’t want to pass this off to another president. I don’t want to pass this off, particularly, to a Democratic president,” underscoring he understood how serious the situation was.
Brian, the Republican congressman then went on to say, “The word about the war and its progress cannot come from the White House or even you, Mr. President. There is no longer any credibility. It has to come from Gen. Petraeus.” The meeting lasted an hour and 15 minutes and was, in the words of one, “remarkable for the bluntness and no-holds-barred honesty in the message delivered by all these Republican congressmen.”
Wow! The congressional rats may not yet be as bold as the outgoing Bush Junta rodents, but they're making their first cautious steps onto the gangplank, it seems. Then again, this is probably just a nice head-fake show they're putting on for their end-the-war-NOW constituents, and they could fall back meekly into line when Uncle Karl shows up. It's not as if they haven't pretended to have spines before, y'know.
But for now, it's fun to watch them squirm and squeak.
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Aaaaaw! Such a cute little rat pile! X-D
PW!
RATS!
Hey, is that Monica Goodling there? You know, the one with the ears and pointy nose?
Sirkowski @ 1
Yupper. It’s a pic from one of those Southeast Asian rat temples. It either warms the cockles of your heart or makes you say “EEEEEWWWWW! Filthy dirty RATS!“
ifthethunderdontgetya @ 4
Yeah, the blond one with the glasses and the profound sense of entitlement.
President Bush says: “to a Democratic president”
Someone should have told the Chimp in Chief, right then and there, that a Democratic President in 2008 is just about a certainty. The only question is whether the GOP survives.
I guess these guys don’t have the guts to stare death in the face.
Phoenix Woman:
In re: the rats growing spines. If they are, the spines strongly resemble cooked spaghetti given that all of the 11 (or 14) critters voted against the revised funding bill.
The 11 Republicans who pleaded with President Bush about the Iraq war in a private meeting this week all voted against two critical bills yesterday that would have forced Bush to change his war policy.
I think recruiting problems probably have less to do with the fact that BushCo. is scandal plagued than they do with more limited opportunities for theft and outright looting.
Damnn oversight.
It’s lovely to see the rodents abandon ship, waving back at the captain who is slowly sinking into the sea of infamy.
Bwahahaha, like we won’t remember who his collaborators were!
Jane Hamsher @ 10
Makes it kinda difficult to steal when it becomes obvious to even the most obtuse thief that John Law’s gonna catch ‘im.
Rats…foiled again!
hwmnbn @ 11
Ya mean like every Redubyacan that’s been in the House and Senate since Y2K (and probably a third of the Dems as well)?
Well there’s rats and then there’s poor rats…
Gee, does the IRS know about that seven figure advance? Does Daddy?
Jane – dunno if this got epu’d - was wondering if you’d heard of the cookbook One Bite at a Time – recipes specifically for cancer survivors. More at the linky.
If you have, great. My sister and her husband use it all the time, and they gave it to the rest of the family ‘cuz the stuff is so good.
Phoenix Woman @ 5
what’s a rat temple?
Anyone remember “Willard”?
ifthethunderdontgetya @ 4
Funny, even the NYT today is still using what seems to be the only photo available. Curious.
Phoenix Woman @ 5
Oh, goody – get to use the movie Willard as a metaphor for the Bush Administration!
neokneme @ 15
you couldn’t pay me to read the thing.
oddmommy @ 17
great minds, oddmommy.
Was Russert present at this meeting?
Who are the four senior officials who have left? It was so much easier to keep track when they left one at a time like Claude Allen the only guy to screw up a $150K job for shop lifting.
My first post.
Hugs to Jane, Tommy and son.
Phoenix Woman @ 6
Ship of Fools.
P.S. John Cale acoustic version.
spurious @ 21
He’s on the bottom of the pile.
Blank Kludge @ 18
Last night, Moyer’s used the one where she’s sitting on the dock. As well as the video clips from the BBC oppo research story on Tim Griffein.
Hi Sandman,
Lovely entrance! Has anyone heard RGJoe threaten to switch parties recently? Odd, that. Used to be able to set your watch by it.
We need to keep on the Dems about restoring the rule of law. The Republicans need to be told over and over that leaving the government will not end the statute of limitations for their crimes. The opportunity was missed with Watergate and Iran-Contra. Each time time the fascists make their assault on the Constitution it is worse. If we survive this time and don’t send them to prison, then they will win the next battle and the war.
Jane Hamsher @ 10
A-yup. The rats are fleeing for safer pickings elsewhere, no new rats are coming to replace them (unless they’re very stupid rats on the order of Baruch Korff in the waning days of the Nixon Junta), and the principled and knowledgable people are staying away as they don’t want to be scapegoated by the Bushies.
Lou Costello @ 25
But what would he have been doing there, if it was confidential? (Besides recording all the squeaks.)
was “Willard” the film that Michael Jackson did the theme song for? it was one of those rat movies. i don’t remember the lyrics but maybe there’s somethng there that would be useful.
i was kinda hopin’ somebody would use that picture of Boehner again (the one that Teddy used yesterday). he really looks like one a’ them undead people whose head is getting ready to spin at 1000 rpm ……
Phoenix Woman @ 5
thankfully, my browser is protecting me from the image of creepin’ crawlin’ vermin, I’m only getting a slice off the top.
dakine01 @ 26
I hear ya. But, STILL…
Just sign me ‘Curses! TIN-foiled again!’
fahrender @ 31
Don’t know how to do a linky thing. The song was “Ben.”
How come I can’t see the rats? I refreshed and all I can see is a sliver of a pic no rats. I did a hard refresh?????????wannaseetherats!
Blank Kludge @ 18
the church picnic pic
HotFlash @ 27
the pool already has too much cess. lieberwurst wouldn’t stand out enough to satisfy his vanity and sense of entitlement.
fahrender @ 31
Ben was the name of the song
here’s some of the lyrics
songfacts
Marcy’s up on CSPAN2
Too cute: TaDaaaaa!
Yay! emptywheel on C-SPAN!!!! I am so psyched to see her on the tube. Congrats, Marcy!
Mutant Poodle @ 38
Watch online
LaFourmiRouge @ 41
Doesn’t she look great?
I think that all the noise about the Senators giving Bush till September is indeed a head fake. It’s a way to make those who aren’t ardently against this war believe that the end is coming in a few months. It will convince them that their reps are trying to be reasonable. Then, come September, it will be ‘give it a few more months’ and on and on.
I’m not falling for this bull about the WH meeting, either. It’s just another distraction while the war continues.
AND….who’s benefiting from all that oil flowing from Iraq into Kuwait? If it’s Bush/Cheney cronies then this war will never end.
Excellent post, PW, as always. Watching CSPAN2 as EW’s Book TV turn begins right now…
ifthethunderdontgetya @ 4
And wearing a name tag that says, “Hi, I’m Moronica.”
Re: Ship of Fools by World Party…this was released in 1987. The video is very good!
We’re setting sail
To the place on the map from which no one has ever returned
Torn by the promise of the joker and the fool
By the light of the crosses that bur-urn
Torn by the promise of the women and the lace
And the gold and the cotton and pearls
It’s the place where they keep all the darkness you meet
You sail away from the light of the world
Listen baby – you will pay tomorrow
You’re gonna pay tomorrow-ow-ow
You will pay tomorrow-ow-ow-ow-wow-ow-ow-ow-ow-ow
Save me, save me from tomor-orrow
I don’t want to sail with this ship of foo-ools, no no
Oh-oh-oh, save me, save me from tomor-orrow
I don’t want to sail with this ship of foo-ools, no no
I want to run and hide
Right now – ri-ight now-ow yeah-eah-eah
Avarice and greed are gonna drive you over the endless sea
They will leave you-ou drifting in the shallows
Drowning in the oceans of history-y-y-y
Travellin’ the world, you’re in search of no good
But I’m sure you’re philosophic like I knew you would
Using all the good people for your gallant slaves
As your little boat struggles through the the warning waves
But you will pay, you will pay tomorrow
You’re gonna pay tomorrow-ow-ow
You gonna pay tomorrow-ow-ow-ow-wow-ow-ow-ow-ow-ow
Save me-ee, save me from tomor-orrow
I don’t want to sail with this ship of foo-ools, no no no no
Oh-oh-oh, save me-ee, save me from tomor-orrow
I don’t want to sail with this ship of foo-ools, no no no no
Where’s it comin’ fro-om or where’s it goin’ to?
It’s just a – it’s just a ship of foo-oo-oo-ah-ah-ah-ah-ah-ah-ah-ah-ools
Yeah, oh Lord
lolo @ 35
Some MSIE-based browsers have a tough time with FDL. Open it in FireFox and the rats are there. :-)
“Friends – Have you ever been in this situation?…A little white lie, or perhaps (as above) a sliver of relative truth smothered in two big fat fibs, leading to sudden self-immolation…?
No more need you suffer from ‘Teh Hots’ with Fabulist brand personal undergarments!”
“Take a tip from cool Condi – Our unique blend of asbestos sandwiched between creamy layers of kevlar keeps you from feeling the heat when the answers aren’t complete”
Dissembled in Paraguay
;>)
fahrender @ 37
I think when it’s all over and the tickets are drawn up for ‘08, McCain and LIEberman will be the Unity08 ticket, prelude to finishing behind most every party on the ballot.
Howard Fineman has a column with his perception of Hillary and Rudy’s strategies which to him appears to be concentrate on big states to avoid the roots people in Iowa and New Hampshsire.
Damn – the C-SPAN feed is locking up – there’s a thread on this at DU, so perhaps demand is too high. Sigh…
emptywheel — woohoo!
good timing for rolling out of bed – Marcy! Woot!
Good to see that morale here in Left Blogistan is running high.
Three years ago the ReThuglican Reich was predicted to last a thousand years.
Two years ago oversight was a ‘mirage’….
A year ago Impeachment dare not speak it’s name.
Now the true destination for the Bush Administration of war criminals is being spoken of in thread after thread.
The Hague.
I myself will only be satisfied when they lock Bush, Cheney, Rice, Rumsfeld and a raft of American generals away in a cell for the rest of their lives. They are war criminals on a par with any who’ve commited such crimes before them.
The world must see…
…that justice is still valued by the American republic.
Be vigilant and keep pushing and my vision will become reality.
dont you wish you were a cat…weird….
check out my blog
http://www.agloco.com/r/BBDT8707
http://www.agloco.com/r/BBDT8707
http://www.agloco.com/r/BBDT8707
I am confident the WH will have no problem hiring high quality like head cases, such as Moncia and Kyle, who are never in short supply
some of her fan club is there!
Phoenix Woman @ 29
WOW! It is possible that the Bush administration could become even MORE incompetent than it already is…..
But of course, how would we know?
It sort of like watching Bush’s mangled words and disordered reasoning–how would we know if he was drunk? How would we know if he was sober?
Listening simultaneously to Anne Garrel’s report on his morning’s loss of 5 soldiers in Anbar Province, and some general’s scathing review of the Iraqi “government”…
thanks, Elliott.
now, anybody want to have a contest?
it’s called
“Who Would Be Singing This And Who Would They Be Singing It To?”
Ben, the two of us need look no more
We’ve both found what we were looking for
With a friend to call my own
I’ll never be alone
And you, my friend will see
You’ve got a friend in me.
Ben, you’re always running here and there
You feel you’re not wanted anywhere
If you ever look behind
And don’t like what you find
There’s something you should know
You’ve got a place to go
I used to say “I and me” now it’s “us” now it’s “we”.
(change the name Ben to any you’d like)…..
i’ll start: O’Reilly to Coulter ….
Watching Marcy. Isn’t it wonderful that we feel an emotional attachment to people we’ve never actually met? Brilliant, accomplished people. And now we can enjoy their success and relate to it on a personal level. I love the toobz.
You may not like this George and Laura. But here it is:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v…..0&NR=1
solai @ 60
It’s in large part because of people like Marcy that the rats are squeaking in pain.
solai @ 60
yeah, sigh.
The Bush
regimeadministration can always hire managers from Ford, GM and Chrysler to … oh wait … never mind … /sA.Citizen @53
You have spoken the truth.
It has just occured to me that there is another way to read this – that he doesn’t want to hand it over to another president because he plans to remain in power.
Please tell me I’m wrong.
“
Since when did they hire high-quality people. Didn’t they just graduate a class at Regent U?
Just go pick a grad and let the 22yr old run a govt. dept. Any grad/any dept…..doesn’t matter.
fahrender @ 59
I thought you were going to start off with Michael Jackson and some secret friend
solai @67
don’t you think secretarial dept is best?
no bleep!
Hey Marcy, CSpan didn’t bleep you on Scooter/Comstock’s BJ from the Times…
is mr. wheel there?
Average price of regular gasoline nationally:
$3.053 today May 12, 2007
$3.036 August 8-10, 2006
$3.057 September 5, 2005 (highest average recorded)
It is likely that in the next day or so we will break the record for the highest national average price for gasoline. It is important to remember that in 2005 it took Hurricane Katrina to push up prices. Last year it was Israel’s war in Lebanon. And this year? It’s some maintenance problems at some refineries.
Now maintenance problems have occurred before but never with such a massive effect. What you see here is a series of increasingly smaller triggers having really big effects. Katrina was big and actually did have an impact on the flow of oil and gasoline. The war in Lebanon threatened disruption but, in fact, there was none.
This year the trigger is real, manmade, and deliberate. The media and Washington are as usual asleep. No one is asking questions. No one is investigating why there has been a rash of refinery problems. Why now? What specifically were the problems, at which refineries? What were the maintenance schedules? Could these problems have been avoided? Why are they taking so long to fix? Why were they not avoided in the first place?
Beyond this, what does this say about our energy infrastructure that a little “bad luck” can have such a major impact on both the country and its economy?
Now see, this quote makes me suspect the entire report:
I am sure Bush did not say “Democratic” president.
I don’t mean to complain but, since Marcy is representing the blogosphere shouldn’t she be wearing pajamas?
“One member of Congress called the discussion the “most unvarnished conversation they’ve ever had with the president,” and NBC’s Tim Russert said it “may have been a defining pivotal moment” in the Iraq debate.”
Ever the filthy, spinning whore, that Tim Russert. Stepping up to the plate to allow Republicans to distance themselves from Bush while still allowing the spin that the Bush Whitehouse is tough.
Sickening pile of slag old Pumpkin Head.
-GSD
Elliott (@ 68):
actually i prefer to not think about michael and anybody. beyond bizarre. what could lisa marie presley have been thinking?
just wondering: has anyone ever seen Markos and Utah Jazz point guard Deron Williams in the same room at the same time?
LindaR @ 74
Just delete the “not” and it parses perfectly.
I just think she should be wearing a deerslayer hat
Yaay, you can watch Marcy online - Marcy The Invincible
dakeine01 (@49):
and we know what an astute political analyst Fineman is ………..
Marcy frames her views so methodically … she should be consulted for Conyers’ hearings to maximise effect.
Can you imagine? The next First Lady. Mrs. Rudy the G.
Hugh @ 73
Refinery fires were blamed here in Canada when gas prices hit a dollar a litre in December then again in Feb. “Temporary”, “fixed by the weekend” and they did go down to high 80’s but have crept back up. Currently 1.08 per litre for regular. No reasons given. What will the market bear? To boil a frog.
I was asking Mr. HotFlash last night how we know there have been any refinery fires. We heard it on the news — yeah, must be true.
fahrender @ 77
I’m not sure she was thinking
Or the next First Man. Bill Clinton.
allan_in_upstate, I mean that Bush probably said “Democrat” president, if he said anything.
The meeting was for show, and Russert was as ever the willing maitre d’.
Petrocelli @ 83
Get out of the weeds, Marcy.
Where’s my taser?
Oklahoma kiddo @ 84
Rudy can be his own first lady.
Elliott @ 80
[sherlockian geek]
Ah, you mean the “fore-and-aft”, popularly called the “deerstalker”.
[/sherlockian geek]
Another republican idiot:
The stupid ass voted twice.
LindaR @ 88
You’re calling a blue collar guy from Buffalo a maitre d’ ?
I do not like the DLC, etc., trying to force me to vote for Hillary Clinton.
solai @ 60
LindaR @ 74
actually, seeing how opposed fuckwad is to actual democracy i think it is probably one of the more honest things he has said in the past, oh, six or seven years …..
fahrender @ 82
Well, I think he may be correct in the strategy but I think he’s discounting the roots people in the large states who will most likely make sure all the bad about both of these people gets out.
Anybody want a copy of Mary Cheney’s book? REAL CHEAP!
Phoenix Woman @ 91
oh thank you, oops!
.*blushing*chuckling*.
and I didn’t know it was the fore-and-aft, either.
If not Gore, then Edwards.
punaise @ 78
the platform shoes make a perfect disguise ……
Edwards is getting ahead of all Dem candidates on the defining issue of ‘08 – Edwards leading anti war stance
Oklahoma kiddo @ 84
If it were the second Mrs. Rudy, yeah I could iamgine it. The curent one? Not so much…
I want my party, the Democratic Party to personally get my message. ‘Don’t try and screw with me. I am not up for it’.
Phoenix Woman @ 91
then you can appreciate that I have a three volume set of Sherlock Holmes published before they sanitized his habits.
My mother gave them to me when I was super sick once, she got them at a thrift shop. She had no idea that she was the one who introduced me to cocaine use!
LindaR @ 88
I’m trying to get a handle on this meeting. If Rove is throwing Bush under the bus to save the party, then it was probably effective. And since I haven’t seen any of the 11 slimed, I’m leaning that way. But it did make Bush look like a tool, so did someone overplay their cards and say too much to the press or was that part of the plan? I don’t know, but all of Rove’s outrage doesn’t ring true w/ me. If he were really outraged then these Senators would be reading their names on the front page of the Times.
is “fore and aft” anything like a “reach around”?
solai @ 92
you can’t make this up!
darkblack @ 48
Shorter Cheney Administration:
In fact, I want your money
I’ve been such a Gore fan for so long, and I still think he could save the cheerleader.
But John Edwards is the best of the candidates. I don’t understand what people like about Barak Obama, except that he’s pretty and slick.
Edwards is pretty, but he’s not slick. And the corporations will do anything to make sure he does not get in.
The CBS News Investigative Unit has learned a man who was a field coordinator in Congressman Patrick McHenry’s (R-NC) 2004 campaign has been indicted for voter fraud in North Carolina.
Patrick McHery, gooper liar, was too creepy even for young republicans -his first political job was running a anti hillary web site during the Lasio campaign.
fahrender @ 106
it sounds mutual
I would not put too much faith in Petraeus. He was picked precisely because he backed Bush’s decision for escalation. A lot of the media and Republicans praise him for being serious, thoughtful, and honest, but if you have ever heard him speak, he is very weasely on “progress” and the reasons for it in Iraq. By and large, he completely misses the political conditions in Iraq that determine events there. He doesn’t believe it’s a civil war. He thinks that the escalation has diminished “sectarian” violence when it has just changed its nature and displaced it to other areas. He thinks that Iraqi leaders have the same goals that he has when it is clear that they don’t. And when it comes to required troop numbers to secure Baghdad (per his own counterinsurgency manual), he just makes things up.
Petraeus is not part of the solution. He is part of the problem.
Oklahoma kiddo @ 103
OKK, does Edwards strike you as sincere? From up here, he looks to be the most sincere candidate and most capable of fixing the laws broken by the Bush regime.
all those who could listen to Marcy speak for hours on end, raise your hand.
*hand*
solai @ 105
I can’t believe that Rove isn’t way more devoted to his George than he is to his party.
Plus those two are brothers in crimes, like crimes against the nation, so they’ve got to stick together.
HotFlash @ 90
President Badabing Doubtfire
;>)
beer-thirty
punaise @ 114
*hand*
I believe that Rove is way more devoted to his George than he is to his party.
Oklahoma kiddo @ 99
what’s not to like?
EPU’d on last thread: Gore has given no indication that he might get in the race. Edwards is paying his dues (among others see Petrocelli @101). i’m not ready to start dating but John Edwards is looking better to me day by day.
as far as i’m concerned the window of opportunity is closing on Gore. this is especially true due to the fact that a number of states have moved their primary dates and more may still yet.
punaise @ 114
*main*(fr)
*Hand!* (up and waving)
Elliott @ 104
You found cocaine, I found a boyfriend. The awesome power of Mr. Holmes!
ifthethunderdontgetya @ 108
‘I’ll even take your mama’s dentures if they got gold in ‘em’
;>)
punaise @ 114
Plus, it would have been fun at that DL. A beer or two…Elliott @ 118
Plus
Elliott @ 117
Hugh @ 112
I was surprised when Petraeus took the job, because he had a reputation for integrity (like Colon Powell). However, I get the distinct impression that his own replacement is barking at his heels: if he wavers from the admin line, he’ll be on the retired general’s circuit in a trice.
fahrender said:
Yes, and I agree that Edwards has paid his dues. More to the point, Edwards has a brain in his head and a fully functioning heart. And he seems to be, yanno, an American. They like to paint him as out of touch because he has money, but he is no aristocrat — which was Bill Clinton’s real crime, by the way.
Jane Hamsher @ 10
Different “recruitment” but same problem: http://news.yahoo.com/s/nm/200…..parents_dc
What I couldn’t help thinking as I read this piece was that the GOP not only has self-declared itself the Pro-Troops Party, but that the military is comprised largely of Repubs, especially in the officer corps, and votes overwhelmingly Repub (though I have a feeling that is changing quickly).
The Repukes have also successfully spun that they are the Pro-Family Party. So I think one of you brilliant writers could put together a fantastic post on the hypocrisy so apparent in this article. The recruiters are so desperate for troops (to use and abuse in their world exploits) that they have gotten to calling parents “Influencers” whom they are now exploring ways to do an end-around. Hmmm, wonder how all those GOP families feel about being portrayed as a Negative Influence because they don’t want to send their kids off to war under an Incompetent Criminal Asshole???
To the victor…goes the spOILs! ~ ‘How the West will profit from Iraq’s most precious commodity’
Fern @ 66
I can’t.
Maybe. But IIRC Rove got fired from a Bush campaign years ago. I hope I’ve got this right. Rove wanted one of his companies to get some contract (printing brochures or something). When the contract went elsewhere he slimed the guy who made that decision via Novak. It also hurt Bush. When discovered, he was fired. So, I don’t know about loyalty with any of them. But the self-preservation part may be true.
punaise @ 114
I never get tired of Marcy unless you count the numerous times I have fallen asleep with my laptop in bed reading her posts and comments at 3:00 a.m. LOVE HER!
Let me be clear. I like Edwards.
What relationship to the oil and armament industries do the current democratic candidates have? What about Gore?
Elliott @ 118
The sound of one *hand* clapping.
Marcy puts 99 & 44/100% of the MSM to shame.
I can’t believe that Rove isn’t way more devoted to his George than he is to his party.
Plus those two are brothers in crimes, like crimes against the nation, so they’ve got to stick together.
Rove is devoted to Rove. Fuckwad is his meal ticket and Fuckwad is history and will have an “et tu, Karl?” moment. i have no facts to back me up, i just feel it in my bones. there are other possible scenarios but as ugly as it is out there right now for them both, in the end Karl will not be noble.
Arlen is not happy:
http://www.citizensvoice.com/s…..&rfi=6
-snip-
Aside from the artfully phrased semi-denial from Boyd, I love Arlen’s protecting his right to vote as he sees fit. It just happens that it will agree w/WH et al.
Sincere thank you for this post.
I’m kicking myself for forgetting/missing Bill Moyers last night… was instead watching Orwell Rolls in His Grave- OMG. I could hardly sleep afterward.
In my researching, Heinlein (called a Libertarian but more to the neocon philosophy) in 1956 wrote in Starship Trooper as to why there was no revolution in their global society: “Because revolution- armed uprising- requires not only dissatisfaction but aggressiveness… If you separate out the aggressive ones and make them the sheep dogs, the sheep will never give you trouble.”
I imagine this is framed in Rove’s and RNC bathrooms.
Yu get the idea.
What a lot of heels we have to scrutinize and disarm.
Just finished watching Marcy. I’m in love! I know there is a Mr. Wheel, but if things don’t work out, I’m getting in line now.
She is so smart and witty, with a devilish sense of humor.
BTW, has any news organization contacted her about contributing (paying her for) her expertise? She would be an awesome guest on any political talk show. She has established her street cred with many MSM journalists, so why not tap her goldmine of knowledge?
I was only half kidding about being in love with Marcy. ;)
Hugh @ 73
And the national oil reserves are being manipulated; Bush even admitted to it, by remarking last January (? can’t find link…ok, here’s one) that he was going to increase them.
BTW I haven’t checked this morning, but yesterday and the day before gas went down a few pennies here (SF Bay Area)–from $3.55 to $3.49 for regular–probably because Sen. Schumer mentioned a possible congressional investigation. Sure hope he does! These people are so brazen.
LaFourmiRouge @ 126
The Republicans have built Petraeus up as THE general and their last and best chance. So dumping him is not an option. Even so, as events this last week showed, they are getting nervous and their mindless support is at the breaking point. It is likely that they will begin to defect later this year on Bush’s war policy, not I might add because they are all verklempt in their support for the troops but because they wish to save their political *sses.
solai @ 131
The problem is that when Bush people get ‘fired’, they don’t always go away, but just morph into something else. Anyway Bush and Rove (and Cheney and probably Rumsfeld) are too merged to be separated except surgically.
fahrender @ 136
Someone in a thread today(?) (it was BC, before coffee, was it Selise?) referred to KR as a pimp and GWB as his “bestes’ ‘ho”. That made a lot of sense to me. KR can maybe find another ‘ho, but nobody as good as Geo. Money, looks, money, connected family, money, presidential family, a talent for corruption and easy to manipulate. Where’s he gonna find another in that class!
Get ‘em while they’re hot.
Mary Cheney’s book selling for under 10 cents.
Don’t they know how to market to the Mary Cheney demographic?
-GSD
suzinmpls @ 138
Ditto squared! And Marcy is amazing.
BTW is there any place to catch Moyers online?
I hear there’s an opening at CBS.
Yet another purged U.S. Attorney?
darkblack @ 124
Awesome pic, darkblack. (Creepy, but awesome!).
Re: The Flying Lizards and their money video, I loved those folks back in the 80s. With videos like that I always have to make the tough choice…save to favorites (politics) or save to favorites (punk).
P.S. I went with politics.
Blank Kludge @ 137
Arlen was the Chairman of the Senate Judiciary Committee in 2005-2006. Where was the oversight then, Arlen?
Hugh @ 141
If you read the article I just linked at comment #128 you’ll see an amazing little stat: in 2001, 70% of parents would recommend the military to their children and that number had dropped to 20% by last year. Who knows how far it has dropped since, but I believe that number is probably about equal to the base still supporting the Bush Regime.
I must question how long an Admin supported by so few can hang on til 1-20-09. They have backed themselves into a deep corner with their own rhetoric and actions and I don’t see how they hang on let alone recover. I think we’re all beyond curious about what happens next.
*hand!* *hand!*
clapping sound
LindaR @ 127
John Edwards made his own money, his daddy didn’t give it to him. So for that and the other reasons you listed he is the opposite of Bush and so many other Republicans.
I’m not familiar with Clinton’s family history.
Hugh @ 149
Exactly! He’s like that police captain in Casablanca who was “shocked, shocked I tell you” that all this bullshit was going on.
It was Arlen’s job to know all this. So now all his protestations look like an exercise in CYA.
HotFlash says:Where’s he gonna find another in that class!
We shall see …….
i actually think it depends on just how much uglier it gets with Fuckwad’s administration and the Iraq Civil War. If there starts to be a real rift between Fuckwad and the GOP Karl will need to make a choice.
Maxine Waters is on CSpan pummeling Abu. Replay of the hearing if any of you missed it.
Lou Costello @ 147
In the comments at thinkprogress, there are indications that Karl Warner might have been too over the top even for Republicans. I think that some US attorneys who should have been fired are now going to hitch their wagons to the I was purged too meme. We are going to have to go through them one by one to see where the truth lies (no pun intended).
ifthethunderdontgetya @ 148
Logical choice…One always follows the money in politics
;>)
Ta, Thunder.
fahrender @ 152
Yupper. And Bill Clinton himself came from a less-than-advantaged background; his mother’s parents were small-town general-store merchants, and his mother became a nurse, but his father died before he was born and his stepfather — the guy who gave him his name — was an abusive drunk who nearly killed his mom on at least one occasion until the young Bill stood up to him.
With all that, he still managed to excel in school and be a Rhodes scholar, and go from strength to strength politically.
That was the great irony: Clinton, for all his flaws, is the living embodiment of the American Dream the Cons claim to espouse, yet they hate him as they hate no one and nothing else.
Blank Kludge @ 18
Bill Moyer’s Journal last night showed a number of other pix from videos. I think one was at the end of a congressional hearing where she is standing, holding a pile of notebooks. That one ought to be the standard photo.
Bob in HI
Phoenix Woman @ 123
well, I actually didn’t use it back then, was just a kiddie. I found a boyfriend once through A. A. Milne, that’s not nearly so exciting, I would say, as finding one through Holmes, which is sublime
“That was the great irony: Clinton, for all his flaws, is the living embodiment of the American Dream the Cons claim to espouse, yet they hate him as they hate no one and nothing else.”
That is one of the main reasons they hate him. It’s High Broderism in action. It wasn’t Bill Clinton’s place, it belongs to the American aristocracy.
-GSD
Phoenix Woman @ 158
That’s humans for you. The corrupt Vizier hates the honest peasant boy, the evil queen hates Snow White,who is ‘as good as she was beautiful’, Ann Althouse hates Jessica. Envy plays a big part.
allan_in_upstate @ 135
Elliott @ 118
punaise @ 114
*hand*
The sound of one *hand* clapping.
Marcy puts 99 & 44/100% of the MSM to shame.
she’s pure as ivory snow
Phoenix Woman said:
So true. And John Edwards, though he had a less 12-step-worthy childhood, is in the same vein of the self-made success.
I wish he would turn the $400 haircut story into a virtue! My gawds, why doesn’t anyone notice that he paid the stylist a good wage for probably having to cancel a whole day’s appointments and come to Edwards and wait around and blah blah blah. This isn’t — shouldn’t be — about why he paid so much for that service but why Republicans think he shouldn’t have?
But then, Republicans don’t believe working people should be paid well at all now, do they?
now up is Darrell “Grand Theft Auto” Issa
abu just recalled something
Hugh @ 149
Dems give Arlen a small piece of spine AND cover to be a big meanie, things he can’t do on his own.
Bob Schacht @ 159
If this is her, I recommend that it become the standard photo…From this source.
*Pakistan is on wobbly ground as anti-dictatorship protests begin to heat up. 27 deaths reported in the latest unrest.
*More mortar shells fall in the green zone.
*3 US troops reported missing in Iraq.
*Gulf region Sunni’s don’t know what to do about Iraq.
*Anyone wanna guess if Putin has increased his anti-US covert ops as of late?
The Bush/Cheney campaign to destabilize the Middle East continues apace.
-GSD
Elliott @ 165
He is a bastard. I want to hurl every time Abu say frankly. blech
solai @ 75
I’ve heard in her spare time she is developing a fashion line… of pajamas
Elliott @ 166
No…No…It’s gone again
;>)
suzinmpls @ 138
You can still watch it online. It was a good show.
Bob in HI
GSD @ 169
does not sound a good thing, sounds more like an ogod thing.
wish he would turn the $400 haircut story into a virtue! My gawds, why doesn’t anyone notice that he paid the stylist a good wage for probably having to cancel a whole day’s appointments and come to Edwards and wait around and blah blah blah. This isn’t — shouldn’t be — about why he paid so much for that service but why Republicans think he shouldn’t have?
That’s how I saw it. A rich,generous guy who paid for services rendered. We seem to be happier with the rich bastards who hire Mexican workers so they can pay them peanuts. And that idiot Brian Williams lied that he got a cheap ($5?) haircut. Aside from the fact that I don’t believe him, why is shafting the working man anything to brag about.
It’s hard to tell whether it’s best to use traps or poison.
lolo @ 170
hurl or spit:
Hccchh.. *spit*
as LS puts it
Why is Haloscan down on Americablog and Crooks and Liars? Can’t comment on either blog. Somthing isn’t right. I guess it must be Clinton’s fault!
njr @ 171
is it true the men’s divison will offer a kilt jammie?
spurious @ 145
Yes.
Bob in HI
solai @ 175
This whole thing stinks. I have been paid that much to do a house call. It is not unusual.
Ain’t them ratz really gerbils? Only Richard Gere can tell for sure… /snark
———-
OBTW I just had the pleasure of watching Marcy on C-SPAN2. She is so brilliant. I learned stuff that she didn’t have in her book, too. I sure hope C-SPAN2 repeats it. When they do, and if anyone finds out when, please post it? This is the kind of thing that all us dirty freakin hippies really need to collectively “kvell” over.
Elliott @ 104
I avidly read the Sherlock Holmes stories as a teen. Unfortunately, Holmes is a terrible role model for a geeky boy with social skills deficits. Take another look at those stories with his relationships with women as a focus.
Bob in HI
darkblack @ 168
I don’t think so. Monica is a genuine blond.
Bob in HI
Were there any highly qualified people at high levels in the administration I mean in terms of understanding the law for instance and following it, and that sort of thing. Let’s have some names. .
solai @ 175
Other than Williams regularily getting his hair cut at no personal charge by an NBC staff stylist, this was probably just “honest confusion” (or deliberate obfuscation, if one prefers) between ‘actual cost’ and ‘penurious tip’ – He just has to look good, he doesn’t have to be clear, after all.
;>)
lolo @ 181
Well then, how come you put so much joy into getting a “zed’? Let “the little people” have chance once in a while, won’t you?
Marcy was wonderful on CSpan2! Her insight into the MSM is terrific.
Howie has a new thread upstairs. But don’t rush, the zed is dead.
solai @ 92
Guess he was just *so* busy that day he *forgot* he’d already done it.
Linky?
Good morning, pinch-hitters PW & LHP, and thanks for stepping into Christy’s shoes today. Excellent post, PW — has anyone started to wonder what the GOP convention will look like next year? The base and the delegates will clamor and swoon for Junja and BigTime, but the strategists know better than to put them front-and-center for the rest of the American people. Bush/Cheney will be toxic for all except those loyal diehards inoculated by FauxSnooze to reality.
For anyone who remembers Senator Kennedy avoiding President Carter onstage at the 1980 convention’s closing evening, next year’s GOP meetup may provide a fascinating sequel. Who will want their photo taken with the BoyKing and his Chancellor?
This kabuki — GOPers dancing with and away from their party’s leaders at the same time — will be fun to watch. Unfortunately, the dithering means more Iraqis and Americans will die.
TROOPS
HOME
NOW
lolo, I enjoy the enthusiasm and creativity you bring to the quest for teh zed ;)
Hugh @ 156
Warner is almost certainly the second of the two USAs Jim Comey described firing. And there’s one more that left just after Comey did who is probably a problem as well.
And thanks to those upthread for the kind comments. I didn’t look at the CSPAN stuff yet.
Fly-by musings from the land where the deer and the…well, bald eagles, play….
Young Goebbels in his ratty best last night on Real Time [yay, Arianna!] trying to portray a warmer, fuzzier new Dr. Frank Luntz…
In all the conversation about wordsmithing and propagandizing words, Maher missed one obvious question: Yes, Frank, but is it right?
Is it honorable to lie and distort and confuse and obfuscate with turns of phrase?
Tell it to the eight families waiting right now for that awful knock on the front door.
And is it symmetry or irony that forty years after Vietnam the news of the war in Iraq is being reported to the American audiences on CNN by a Vietnamesewoman?
Back to the hammock now for more philosophizing.
Waccamaw, couldn’t get link to work. It’s at thinkprogress.org
Bob Schacht @ 180
Thanks, Bob.
emptywheel @ 193
Marcy, it was REALLY, REALLY good! Are you coming to the SF Bay Area any time soon?
Note to Marcy: You’re the best. Keep up your excellent work. And thanks for speaking out so well.
Ahh. I will never forget when I first read those words. I was about ten and — honest to God — it really was a dark and stormy night when I was alone in the house. Gave me a delicious frisson of horror like nothing before.
First, Little Tim reported exactly what he was told to report, no questions, no comments.
Next, when has a repub ever told the truth ? For all the people who attended this meeting it had to be arranged. So as each person walked in they were given a script of what to say. No repub would leak to timmy unless Rove gave him permission so Rove’s outburst was in the script. They all will continue to vote with Bush. Also, if you think the big deal is with Gonzo (the grinning clown) the DOJ is still bringing in Bushies, Worry about the 08 elections. It could be worse than 2000.
I posted the whole Bill Maher Real Time from last night.
Bill’s opening monologue touches on the L.A.P.D. beatings in MacArthur Park, the fires in Griffith Park, Dick Cheney’s involvement with the D.C. prostitution scandal (Hint:Dusty Foggo/Duke Cunningham), and Tony “The Peoples Poodle” Blair.
Then:
Richard Engel live via satellite from Beirut Lebanon tells Bill that Iraqis are not on the American political time line vis-a-vis “SEPTEMBER”
The next segment has Bill immediately asking Frank Luntz what the sudden use of the prefix “DR.” is all about. Dr. Luntz then tells Arianna Huffington that she is very angry, Bill tells comedian Paula Poundstone that he is still trying to get over the clown suit that she is wearing and Luntz convinces everyone that he is a stark raving lunatic.
n which “War in Iraq” cheerleader Chris Hitchens speaks about religion and mysteriously seems to refer to Karl Rove as “DR. ROVE” …twice.
The one/two combination platter of Hitchens and Luntz give you an idea of the sort of wind-bag that passes for right-wing/conservative/ Neo-con/Straussian blah blah blah….these days.
Then NEW RULES Bill Maher would like Youtube uploaders not to edit out the nice things he has to say about the L.A.P.D.
NEW RULES:
http://tinyurl.com/2m8wl7
Part 1:
http://tinyurl.com/25lwze
THE MADNESS OF FRANK LUNTZ (Part 2)
http://tinyurl.com/2cdfhy
Chris Hitchens Mumbles “Dr. Rove”) TWICE:
http://tinyurl.com/ysno5b
punaise @ 114
And for those of us who have had the privilege of listening to Marcy speak for hours on end, and were still eager for more:
*hand*
Left this message on another thread, but it bears repeating: I currently live in PA, and Arlen Specter pretty well sets the tone for our national pols: Lie, lie again, and lie with plausible deniability. He’s made his career on it: I’m old enough to remember his first national race; he was scum then and he is still a slimebucket. How people in PA can vote for him without barfing all over the voting booth has never ceased to amaze me.