News tidbits from yesterday and today:
– The Senate Democrats managed to shoot down the latest Republican poison-pill amendment to the Democratic energy bill, Pete Domenici’s (R-Jammies) “Let’s Lie About Coal And Nuclear” amendment. Alas, while most of the Democrats are backing a clean, strong bill, we can’t depend on all of them to behave: Michigan’s Carl Levin and Debbie Stabenow, at the behest of their state’s floundering auto industry (which wouldn’t be floundering quite so badly if its CEOs and COOs weren’t skimming so much cream off the top, but that’s another story), are among those legislators being lobbied by the vast army of auto-industry flacks to water down or vote against the bill.
– Speaking of legislation, Bush is going to cater to the remnants of his base and veto the Democrats’ stem-cell bill, even though the vast majority of Americans favor this research.
– Rudy Who? As I predicted a while back, GOP backing for America’s MayorTM wasn’t able to withstand Fred Thompson’s entry into the Republican presidential candidate field. Now all those Fundies who hate Catholics and Italians and East Coasties can cuddle up to someone who looks and sounds like them even though he’s spent most of the past quarter-century as a highly-paid slick-as-oil lobbyist on Capitol Hill.
Related posts:
- House Voting Now On The Rule For Health Care Debate
- Democrats and Republicans Targeted by Clunkers
- 64 Democrats Voted To Put A Bureaucrat Between You, Your Insurance Provider, And Your Doctor On The Issue Of Abortion
- Baucus, Menendez, and Carper Vote to Defend PhRMA Deal
- NY-23: The Failure Of Blue Dogging
Spotlight
Support this site!
Subscribe to the newsletter
Advertise on Firedoglake
Send
us your tips
Make us your homepage
About Firedoglake
Advanced search
PW!
Phoenix Woman!
Science is a major victim of this administration.
Reminds me – time to get the septic tank pumped…
OT but it’s rich. Lights Out Cohen on his live blog rationalizing his column implies that Libby has suffered enough because he has spent all his money on legal fees and he hasn’t slept in 8 months.
Ed*ard Teller @ 4
Indeed!
Cohen needs to quit mainlining the Kool aid.
He has sprinted away from reality and everything that he spouts sounds like someone from Mork.
EPU’d
TheOtherWA @ 151
Bluetoe @ 5
Oh, yeah. Christy ripped into Cohen big-time yesterday. As did Bob Somerby, Glenn Greenwald, and every other thinking person in the blogosphere.
Living in the DC metro area, we’re constantly bombarded with position ads from various industry groups. The latest round of radio ads come from the oil industry, making all kinds of scary claims about “returning to the 70’s and long gas lines”. There’s even one echoing the same line from – get this – the “SUV Owners Of America”
looks like Rudy is floating a trial balloon for the No. 2 slot on the ticket.
Oh, boo hoo, Scooter hasn’t slept in 8 months. I haven’t had a good night’s sleep in 6 years.
America’s energy needs are best served by clandestine policy making by the Vice President, oil services industries, and oil companies.
Anyone who believes otherwise, doesn’t know Dick.
America’s Mayor has certain things to worry about:
Giuliani is a walking time bomb. His pre-9/11 and post-9/11 record with NYC firefighters, his enstrangement from his kids (who, BTW, have both dropped his last name), his dalliance with Kerik, and so on, will blow up in his face as time goes on and may well combust his candidacy. You heard it here first.
‘Scuse me, but cynic as I am, I think Cohen is lapping up all this attention he is getting, negative as it may be. He strikes me as the sort of person who needs to be noticed, however assholish he looks trying to get that attention. Nothing we say is going to change his mind. That Newmanish “What, me worry?” grin tells it all.
Lights Out Cohen is maintaining that the trial is about “nothing.” He also states that V. Plame was not covert! This is truly stunning.
If the US car mfrs would spend 1/10th the time on fuel efficiency that they spend thinking up ways to circumvent it, they wouldn’t be getting their butts handed to them by the Asians. Again.
And with Bloomberg entering the ring, the two New York mayors have to point out to world how they know, up close and personal, what a sucky job of mayoring the other did. Mutual Assured Destruction. Neither will be able to win their own home state.
Ed*ard Teller @ 4
Don’t delay! (Ask me how I know.)
Hmmm, I wonder if Mr. Cohen will choose my question?
I’m betting not…
It won’t much matter Redshift. He’s totally incoherent despite many very good questions. A highlight:
RedShift at 20 — How dare you bait him with your evil logic, you meanie. (I’m guessing not as well. SIGH) And I do think that dreamcatcher is correct that the attention is something that he is enjoying, sad to say.
This South Carolina coke-indicted Tom Ravenel, Rudy’s state chairman until yesterday, looks like he comes from the not-Rove cookie cutter, the other one, the Mehlman mold.
Appparently, this indictment means Lindsey Graham is safe from a challenge from the right, until the reichers come up with someone else.
Interesting that Ravenel was talked of as the challenge to Graham — we were all chatting on Pach’s Saturday nite post about “what does Lindsey get outta this relationship?” I guess we know now — a quick takedown after a year-long investigation.
dreamcatcher @ 15
Good that he decided to clarify his position with the online chat. I’m now a true believer in his assholiness. Lieberman would be proud.
Tom Steele @ 10
Ya know, if Big Oil executives spent the money on R&D that they spend on lobbyists and feathering their own nests, Japan wouldn’t be kicking their asses so hard.
My question to Cohen will never see the light of day, either:
“Exactly which (type, class, genotype, etc.) people are not afraid of jail time?”
Prairie Sunshine @ 17
Great minds think alike, PS!
punaise @ 11
“Eeewwww! A floater!“
Christy Hardin Smith @ 22
The chatz-manager simply turned off the “ask a question” token at the bottom of the page at approximately 9:50 PT. Cohen seems finished (ah, how I wish!)
Prairie Sunshine @ 17
Amen. I’ve heard that the technology exists to build non-hybrid cars that get much higher gas mileage, but they can make more money from the hybrids.
spurious @ 3
Yup, because science is about finding the truth, and if BushCo hates anything, it’s truth.
I’ve just read emptywheel’s dissection of Susan Ralston’s deposition mentioned in the “Processed” post; it’s the kind of skilled investigative journalism – putting the pieces together – you might have seen in the MSM thirty years ago.
Nowdays I have FDL as my home page and a bookmark folder at the top of my browser with half-a-dozen other blogs that I trust and use regularly, including emptywheel.
Thank God for the Internets…
Energy bill? Oh yeah. Did you folks see that Sen. Kohl (D-WI) got an amendment passed that allows USA to sue OPEC for price fixing?
I’d like to see Bush sign that bill without having a chat with Uncle Bandar Bush.
Ed*ard Teller –
Josh Marshall at TPM put out an APB for dirt on Senator “dealin” Stevens — if you have any, pass it along.
Phoenix Woman @ 27
Must be the rarefied air of Minnesota….
Drive By Posting:
Tweety Attempt To Get Rival Haddad Fired After Open Mike Puts Expletive On Air!
Rule Number 1: Blame somebody else.
There was a comment that really struck me in a diary at Kos this morning in response to the outrage that is eating everybody up about everything, and it pointed out the degrees of “grief”.
We have to be careful not to end up in the “acceptance” category ultimately….we have to fight on from a position of unity and keep countering the lies people like Cohen are given a platform to spread.
spurious @ 30
Maybe someday they’ll realize there’s more money to be made being enviro-friendly for the long term.
TeddySanFran @ 23
And of course, this is the sort of thing that if it’d happened to a Democrat would be all over the evening news. (Remember the MSM’s vastly different handlings of the forced outings of Jim McGreevey and David Dreier, both of whom were accused of putting their boyfriends on the payroll?)
Indeed.
OfT: Local news last nite had a story that a rider got slipped into the farm bill late — it will void the local laws that prevent GM foods from being planted. Four counties in California (Marin, Mendocino, two others) have local laws preventing GM foods. The new farm bill makes these laws illegal and prevents other localities from passing new ones.
Paging Dr Murphy…
Hiya Phoenix Woman!
I think the repubs have a bunch of crappy candidates on their list.
Prairie Sunshine @ 38
You mean like that wacko who claims to have invented the internets ?
I heard that Ford sells cars with great mileage in Europe but they don’t sell the same ones here. Is that true? Anyone know?
Alfred Kelgarries @ 36
What. A. Fucking. Tool. (And I take full responsibility for that cussing.)
How much of a worthless coward crapstain do you have to be to blame somebody else for your own lack of control?
tpres2000 @ 32
The MSM is dead……….Long Live the Internets
Hey, I know this is OT…I fell asleep before the Digby video was posted.
Is there anyone who knows/would be willing to give us a rundown of all the people who were standing on stage with Digby? There are only a few that I can recognize, but would like to know who the rest are.
Phoenix Woman @ 45
I think that’s part of the form you sign when you register republican.
ironranger @ 12
I wonder if this a**wipe read the article in his very own paper the other day about the 20 year old Iraq veteran who can’t sleep because he is watching a never ending loop of his sergeant being blown to bits.
Phoenix Woman @ 45
Lower than Imus.
Meanwhile, MoDo is back on the tails of the Clintons:
(NYTimes link behind TimesSelect firewall.)
The usual suspectsFox News All-Stars’ Bash Progressive Bloggers As ‘Pungent,’ ‘Profane,’ ‘A Pox’: LINKThanks PW!
SnarKassandra @ 44
Of course they do, or they couldn’t compete in Europe. We got an entirely different and less fuel-efficient Ford Focus, for example. Another sad story: Saturn (built from the ground up over the last 15 years by GM to build small American cars) now imports its primary sedan and crossover (SUV-type) from GM’s Euro subsidiary, Opel
TeddySanFran @ 41
And someone from WVa (harumph) has tried / is trying to slip one into the energy(?) bill that shuts down windpower (save the poor birds; promote liquified coal). I wrote my rep about both of these when I heard of them, but it is damn near impossible to find out what amendments are alive, when they’re to be voted on… Frustrating.
Lou Costello @ 52
oooh, goodie, free publicity
you know what is really scary pheonix?
the auto industry would be enjoying the RICHEST years of their HISTORY if they would have invested in alternative technology
there are friggin wating lines for hybrid cars, there is a HUGE demand for electric cars AND THESE IDIOTS SOLD THE BATTERY TECHNOLGY TO THE FRIGGIN OIL MAGNAGES
we should be on the CUTTING EDGE of autmotive alaternative technology yet because of reagan and both bush’s we STILL rely on oil
we could EASILY be energy independant and OUR auto industry should be THRIVING
with a proper alternative fuel auto industry EVERYONE with petro cars would be ITCHING to get the new technology
that’s the scary part, the FACT that higher efficiency standards HELP the industry it does NOT hurt the auto industry
Now that really tells you sumpin about what kind of elephant-sized dung heap the GOP is in right now.
As a former contract worker for GM and former employee of an auto supplier in the Detroit area, I’ve never understood the backward looking of the “Big Three” and Levin and Stabenow. One would think innovation and getting a jump on the need for alternatives would re-fuel (pun intended) the industry. But no, they know better than me. So I’m out of it, on to a new career.
Bluetoe @ 16
There is a Chinese Wall at the Post between the op-ed board and the reporters.
That is, people like Cohen can’t be bothered to read what peole like Carol Leonnig or Dana Priest write.
TeddySanFran @ 54
So who’s really to blame here? Obviously the Big Three can make greener cars.
It’s not about the mileage or emissions.
How’s healthcare in Europe?
I posted this at the end of the previous entry and it needs to be reposted
you know there’s a huge issue we are being faced with…I predicted this a short while ago too;
the more we expose the depravity of these people the more brazen they become
they feel like they have less and less time to accomplish their goal and they have less and less to loose
look at torture…the American public has somehow begun to accept torture as some kind of tool that works (it doesn’t work but Americans are convinced it does)
look at Abu Gonzales…clearly a liar, clearly using his position to steal whatever the administration can steal, and in the face of more and more depravity he enjoys stronger and stronger support
look at Libby…this man is clearly a traitor, he clearly exposed vital national secrets at our nations peril, he clearly is covering up the tracks of other traitors and it’s becoming acceptable to actually consider a friggin pardon!
look at war…this president clearly lied us into war and is somehow able to lie more to begin a new war on a new front in Iran
look at the world trade center…we know as a fact the president was given precise intel informing him of the attack certain to come…intel this precise is almost impossible to acquire…he actually stood down even though there was a successfull template to follow he did none of it…yet even though the public knows these facts he can still act as if he defends this country
look at the economy…we know as a fact the president has given middle class investments acquired over generations to people so wealthy they will never ever spend it…yet the president continues his tax giveaway programs and continues to claim they are working
look at our military…general after general has informed the public the president has destroyed the armed forces of this nation, has squandered the assets and reduced it’s ability to dangerous levels…we know as a fact the president did exactly the opposite of the military advice given…yet the president is able to claim he is strengthening our security
we are told he has increased the amount of terrorists exponentially yet he continues to claim he is fighting terrorism
the list goes on and on…the more he is exposed the more brazen he becomes.
what is left for us?
who would have possibly guessed how much damage we would uncover when we won the majority, if even one of the things this president did were exposed of a democrat the press would have had that persons head…yet we are helpless
the more they are exposed the more brazen they become
we have to do something, we have to start talking to the republicans and deal, we have to stop what is happening to this country, America can’t wait, the world can’t wait
spurious @ 30
The partner and I drive a standard 1992 Honda Accord Wagon. Yeah, we take care of it and it is a low mileage car (only 80,000 miles after 15 years). But on a recent road trip, we got 33 mpg heading uphill from Nebraska into Colorado. And by the way, this car was built in a factory in this country, so let’s not call this Honda a foreign immigrant.
The technology is and has been available. For years.
Seems to me that some of us have been singing to Detroit with our purchases (or lack thereof) for years. Have they listened?
Maybe they would if more of us joined the chorus?
Lou Costello @ 52
I’ll take that as a grudging, offhand compliment.
All that means is that we are effective and they don’t have the first friggin’ clue as to what to do about it.
Rayne @ 61
why aren’t we demanding greener cars? then they’d make’em.
GordonM at 55 — If I had to guess on that one (and it would only be a guess, because I don’t know who is doing it), I’d say it’s likely Shelly Capito. She represents the Elkins area where environmental groups have been working for years to prevent a wind power farm from going in at the pristine wilderness area. There is a recent state supreme court decision in that case as well. FYI.
From NYT:
Still, Mr. Giuliani is likely to view even this level of flirtation as a serious betrayal: His support for Mr. Bloomberg in 2001, after the attacks of Sept. 11, was critical to Mr. Bloomberg’s success and accounts for why he is where he is today.
I dunno what happened there. I even edited my post but it ain’t there.
Alfred Kelgarries @ 36
Tweety is a crybaby AND a bully. What a combination.
Biodun @ 51
I have to agree with her on that one. Not a huge Celine Dion fan. Course, not a huge Hill fan either. But it is totally trivial stuff which we all know she loves to write about from time to time.
Still, I saw the clip on CSPAN this morning, thought it was kinda silly and pandering, but what do I know? I never watched the Sopranos.
When it comes to environmental issues, Gore is king. And on other issues too, he is the best by far.
Oklahoma kiddo @ 67
is this gonna devolve to Godzilla v Gargantua?
I have been driving for a whole two days so far. (I might get to drive today if the rain stops, but still only in parking lots.) I am learning on my brother’s girlfriend’s car, which is really small and gets good mileage, but my brother wants me to drive his truck or something else big when I have my license because he thinks that little cars get crushed too much in accidents with SUV’s. (He also wants her to drive a bigger car or a truck but she said no.) Anyway, as long as there are huge SUV’s all over, a lot of people won’t want to switch to smaller cars with better mileage.
Wordpress seriously buggy today.
The last three posts (65-67) are one huge link.
Busted — It’s there — try refreshing your whole screen.
Allan at 74 — I’m not seeing any problems. What are you seeing? Can you be more specific? What browser are you using, for starters?
In response to LS at 37: We do have to be careful not to end up in the “acceptance” stage of grief; we must grieve that our country has in some ways died but look for ways to begin again, where we are.
In teaching, we learn the hard lesson everyday that we can only teach children at the edge of where they are able to learn. No way around it.
Our country is in a crisis – thus, the world – and we must find ways to meet those who are deluded where they are able to learn. That will require becoming mainstream (they won’t come looking for information here). So, if what I wrote has merit, how do we become mainstream?
Re: Chris Matthews and the word sh*t on air:
Gore has enemies. Big oil, Auto makers and the DLC.
Some thing is definitely buggy.
After refreshing the whole page I see my post but I tried to post again and had no submit comment button,twice.
PS @ 38
“Maybe someday they’ll realize there’s more money to be made being enviro-friendly for the long term.”
Belaboring the obvious, they clearly have no vision that includes the long term. Management’s choices and decisions are based on what will get them the best pay increases, bonuses and stock options at year’s end.
Unfortunately, labor’s vision is similarly short-term.
But I am surprised that there haven’t been stock-holder lawsuits for mismanagement.
Smile when you say “buggy,” mister. The “Q” in my handle is just for style.
Hows this?
*G*
Bustednuckles @ 83
Had your eyes closed in that picture. Try again. :)
See y’all at late night! Check out my Bloomberg post!
Bye!
SnarKassandra @ 42
That, my dear, is an understatement. But, I must admit, just watching them in action provides much-needed comic relief and some good, old-fashioned belly laughs.
This just in:
Mitt “Double Gitmo” Romney just announced he will re-name the new and improved Guantanamo facility he has promised if elected president.
The name, wait for it . . .
“MittMo!”
(Thank you, thank you. I’ll be here all week. Try the veal.)
Complain to the FCC here about Chris Matthews’ swear on the air yesterday, if you like. I did.
TeddySanFran @ 86
He also admitted they are all actors. Not very good ones, IMO
Sigh,
Back to work, dangit.
I don’t understand , it’s bad enough they expect me to be here on time, but then they actually want me to do stuff!
Lou Costello @ 52
Maybe Jane, Christy, Pach, etc. should challenge The Pox also-rans to a debate, and then let the public decide who is more pungent and profane?
C’mon Pox, what are you afraid of?
Tweety = serial swearer
Mandrake @ 85
I’m a little worried bloomberg is gonna run…I think he takes more democrats then republicans however the reverse could be true
for instance, there are republicans that WANT anything BUT a republican but they can’t bring themselves to voting democratic
that leaves bloomers
however if there is nobody exciting then the democrats will look to bloomers like he is the best thing they can get and he will take some of our needed votes
personally I don’t like him in the race, I think it helps the re puke licans
-ck- @ 34
Back before TPM was very big – just Josh posting a few times a day – he’d write back if I e-mailed him. But he’s gotten a lot busier and perhaps perceives me as too pro-Palestinian for his tastes. I’ve sent stuff along to him or to Paul Kiel or to Laura McGann on Ted Stevens and on Don Young. Several times.
The guy the TPM crew needs to interview is Ray Metcalfe, the source of much of the information the FBI used to get their investigations rolling. Metcalfe has been a thorn in the side of GOP corruption here for years, and his knowledge is encyclopedic on the subject. He outdoes the MSM media and the cops every fucking step of the way. Josh, Paul and Laura know how to get hold of Ray, have known how to for months. I found Josh’s plea to be quite disingenuous.
spurious @ 3
Yes – this can’t be underestimated. Bright flight from governmental agencies, leads to gutted research and development agendas, which leads to the weakening of R&D industry – goes to other countries, which further depletes supply of scientists and academicians in the US, which leads to erosion of healthcare, consumer protections (OSHA,CDC,FDA,NIOSH, USDA, CMS, Dept of Ed, Geological services, Dept of interior, etc, etc.) So our supply of qualified educators decreases, we lose physicians and nurses due to lack of faculty and lack of salary support, educational loan, support. It’s a cancer which has metastacized, and is in danger of eliminating global competitiveness of the US in science, R&D, healthcare and education. Very much a third world policy agenda.
Christy Hardin Smith @ 76
I refreshed and it’s gone. Thanks.
Incidentally, the FCC does treat these complaints seriously. Although recently smacked down by the Supremes, they did send me a thoughtful response to my complaint about the “HANNITY SUCKS ASS” sign aired at a Connecticut event on Hannity & Colmes on Fox.
Bustednuckles @ 80
No submit button: I’ve been having that problem intermittently this week. I just copy, refresh, and paste. (The submit button comes back when you refresh.) Yes, Wordpress is definitely buggy. FYI: I use IE and my cache is more or less empty. (I empty it several times a day since I work exclusively online.)
We have a local company here that leases portable outhouses.
Their name . . . “KitMo”
Anyone see an appropriateness here?
TeddySanFran @ 54
The Subarus are different too, or at least were when I bought mine in 1998. The Forester models sold in Australia and Europe had smaller motors and got better gas mileage. Japan has been very sensitive to mainstream American preferences. (Also, the US has more safety requirements, which add weight and reduce horsepower.)
oldmommy: Oh yeah, the list is long of people who can’t sleep.
Families of soldiers.
People w/o jobs, health insurance, etc.
People worried about losing their jobs, health insurance, etc.
People worried about our country going to hell in a handbasket.
Scooter has a big safety net even if he does spend some time in the pokey. He will be provided with a well paying job & who knows what else by his pals.
I’ve heard 5 year olds come up with better excuses than Cohen & co for not being punished when caught breaking the rules.
Bluetoe @ 46
“no, no, no, they’re outside
looking in”
Well, this is scary. So much for all that “blue island in a sea of red” talk about Austin TX.
Don’t mean to call out a whole town (or state!) based on this event, but jeez — vigilantism in any form is hella scary!
perris @ 91
I think it’s gonna take a little while to see how this thing shakes out. I have a feeling he may drop out at some point. I kinda think he will hurt the Repubes more than Dems. Some big money Repubes might want to back him but I’m not so sure about the average Joe (Reagan is God) Blow voter.
Plus, Repubes will jump all over his “elitist and monied” background. However hypocritical that may seem, that’s exactly what they’re gonna do.
I can’t see most independents going for him either. I get the feeling they lean more populist. Of course, that is purely conjecture on my part.
It isn’t just the senators from Michigan, either. Sessions was complaining about funding alternate sources of energy: you’d think his state (Alabama, is it?) is permanently on the dark side of the moon, to hear him talking about wind and solar power.
(They could probably run the state on his hot air production, though. /snark)
perris @ 57
perris, you really need to bone up on the background. GM alone spent 2 BILLION on development of a fuel cell powered car by 2000. They’ve already tried an electric powered car and it f*cking bombed a bunch of ways to Sunday, including the fact the American public rejected it.
But when the oil industry doesn’t want you to succeed at fuel cells or hydrogen, what happens? You get a president that gives lip service on helping with further development funding, and can’t even be bothered to talk with the auto industry whether industry executives or union reps and workers.
And you get low gas prices just long enough to keep that same jackass in office, along with hooking the base on big-assed Hummer H1’s with a tax credit that nearly paid for half the car.
All the while the workforce continues to need more and more healthcare that costs more than 25% of the cost of a car, while the same workforce continues to be older, heavier and smokes.
And the new potential workforce comes from an area where literacy rates are as low as 40% (yeah, that’s right, parts of Detroit are below third world countries). The auto industry is somehow supposed to look past that, though, and continue to be a healthcare provider and trainer for people who can’t read.
But it’s very, very easy to blame the two solid Democratic Senators who are trying to help the f*cking moronic buyers in the marketplace, the equally moronic auto industry and government find a middle ground that will help this state limp along and prevent the complete loss of its manufacturing base. It’s not about these two Senators trying to make a silk purse out of sow’s ear.
You want Joe Lieberman or someone of his mindset to be chair of the Senate Armed Services instead of Levin? Jeepers; of course Levin is going to do what he can to make his constituents happy; he’s not going to be stupid during an election year. Take a look at the big picture.
Better yet, come here this fall and knock on some doors with me. You talk to these union workers and auto industry executives and the car buyers who all live in this same dying town. Go ahead, tell them it’s all their fault while you’re trying to convince them not to vote Republican.
Elliott @ 65
They did. They made electric cars.
Nobody bought them.
WASHINGTON – Democratic presidential contender Sen. Hillary Clinton got a decidedly mixed reaction Wednesday morning at the Take Back America conference in Washington when she blamed the Iraqi government for the chaos in that country.
“The American military has done its job. Look at what they accomplished: they got rid of Saddam Hussein, they gave the Iraqis a chance for free and fair elections…. The American military has succeeded. It is the Iraqi government which has failed to make the tough decisions,” she declared.
This sparked a raucous reaction in the crowd of mostly self-proclaimed progressives, with much booing and heckling, and Clinton’s sign-toting supporters cheering.
TeddySanFran @ 101
Reminds me of a 60’s horror flick set in the South called “2,000 Maniacs”, life imitating art.
Rayne has a good point.
Remember the Ford Probe?
Ford spent ten years and 1 billion dollars in development of that car. Then Mazda built it.
Can you say OOPS!?
From today’s WaPo chat with Richard Cohen on “Why Scooter Libby Shouldn’t Do Time”:
But the reason Cohen cites for why we won’t be able to figure out why Bush wanted to go to war…….is because of our terrible, irreponsible insistence that everything be public.
I’m not kidding.
http://www.washingtonpost.com/…..iscussions
Oklahoma kiddo @ 106
Tough decisions, right. Like the tough decision not to give all their oil to multinational corporations, stealing the petro rights from their own people. That is a tough decision, I gotta say.
“Blame the Iraqis” is the DLC’s new cry.
They are, of course, idiots — they should be blaming Bush. But, instead, HRC and others say “we” when they mean “Bush.” This may be HRC’s Sister Souljah moment: maumauing the nutroots.
Rayne @ 105
We should be demanding them and then buying them.
Rayne, if you mean the EV-1s: they weren’t really selling them as cars; they were yard ornaments. You couldn’t even get to test-drive one without a six-figure income.
If GM had been serious about electric, they could have done what Toyota has done with their hybrids: sell them at a loss to build the market. No discounts, no rebates, no pricing down: people (and I’m one of them) pay MSRP for those cars, and most of them don’t regret it.
BTW, the last of the old GM Van Nuys plant is being reconstructed. Half of the last building got torn down, but the rest is being reused. I don’t know what it’s becoming, though.
Civics question: Can Bush contract Blair (who is not a US citizen) as Middle East peace envoy for his (Bush’s) administration? Wouldn’t that be contracting a foreign agent?
I tried to recap and condense Richard Cohen’s performance today at the WaPo online chat. Like many here, I got the impression he was just making stuff up. For the rest, he contradicted himself constantly and proffered one lame justification after another. However you cut it: if this is a journalist than journalism as a profession no longer exists in this country.
Liberals appointed Patrick Fitzgerald and pushed for an investigation.
(The CIA asked for the investigation and the conservative Acting Attorney General appointed Fitzgerald)
There was no underlying crime.
(Cohen obviously doesn’t understand what obstruction means.)
Libby lied but it wasn’t a crime. Or if it was, Fitzgerald should have realized that it wasn’t worth pursuing.
(Libby lied to the FBI and a Grand Jury. Both of these are crimes but since there was no underlying crime, why bother?)
Keeping the lights turned off.
(Cohen doesn’t understand the difference between whistleblowing and political backstabbing and between investigative and access journalism.)
There was no coverup.
(This is a logical extension of Cohen’s assertion that there was no crime.)
It’s all about nothing, a leak, and even if there were consequences, it was inadvertent.
(A covert agent is exposed, her contacts are blown, her cover company is also blown and along with it all the agents who used it for their cover and, of course, their contacts, but there are no consequences Cohen asserts because well, he just says so and even if there were, well it was “inadvertent”.)
Libby was an unknown aide.
(After Bush, Cheney, and Rove, Libby was the most powerful person in the White House, which is to say the government. Cohen makes it sound like he was the guy who was sent to bring in the coffee.)
“Dick Cheney didn’t [sic] event this,” i.e. everyone does it.
(Another extension of the idea that there was no crime. So it’s just politics. Business as usual.)
Plame wasn’t covert. And besides lots of reporters knew. And besides it was Joe Wilson’s fault for writing that op-ed. What did he expect?
(This is the idea that Victoria Toensing knows more than the CIA and the Department of Justice. It ignores that Joe Wilson had been a well known ambassador for years and that journalists knew because the OVP was busily trying to out Plame.)
Libby has spent every dime he has on his defense and isn’t sleeping.
(Cohen ignores the millions that Scooter’s legal defense fund has raised. As for how Scoots is sleeping, do the Libbys know that Cohen has their bedroom under surveillance?)
Twain @ 87
That’s what I thought he said at first yesterday but in listening to the re-play, I realized that he was saying we’re all reacting here rather than we’re all actors here (which was my first thought).
TeddySanFran @ 110
I supose she also blames the Iraqis for the 500,000 Iraqi civilians who died prematurely between 1992 and 2000 due to her husband’s continuing bombing of their puiblic health infrastructure.
dakine01 @ 115
Must have old ears checked. Thanks for clearing that up. I was a bit horrified -but amused, doncha know.
Bustednuckles @ 108
Ford had a relationship with Mazda, though, not unlike Chevy had with Toyota. There’s a reason why Ford designed it and Mazda built it — it’s called healthcare, for starters. Even then, the industry was “taxed” to the tune of 20% of the cost of every car for healthcare.
25% is optimistic for current healthcare costs per car; I wouldn’t be surprised if it was worse, but I suspect that one of the ways they keep the costs down is to make more components overseas. Then the balancing act is cost to ship versus cost of healthcare.
Hugh @ 114:
Nice going. Thanks for the shorthand.
Rayne @ 105
Well, technically, nobody bought GM’s electric car because you could only lease one. But the demand was there, they had a long waiting list when they decided to call them all back in and shred them.
GM claimed that because the car could ‘only’ go 100 miles on a charge that it wasn’t practical; but something like 90% of drivers travel less than that distance on average. See “Who Killed the Electric Car” video.
Hmmmm. Interesting timing. Why now? (see the comments) Who funded this WTC simulation? If this tower collapsed because of jet fuel cascading through the core of the building and catching on fire, thereby melting the infrastructure, why are all of the survivors who walked out of the building during the hour before the collapse, still alive? People were killed below the impact by the collapse, not by fire.
http://www.therawstory.com/
Ed*ard Teller @ 116
Heh. You just reminded me that Americans who fought in the Spanish Civil War were labelled as prematurely anti-Fascist by the State Dept when they returned home.
Is there a transcript of Digby’s speech anywhere? I can’t download the video.
Thanks
Biodun @ 113
They’ll just give him a work visa, saying he is the only qualified person.
Rayne @ 105
Rent Who Killed The Electric Car. I gleened a different opinion. The EV1 was actually very popular in spite of myriad political schemes to kill it. In fact, GM did not offer these cars for sale. They had to be leased. When the lease term expired GM refused to renew the customers leases. GM repossessed all the cars and crushed them – thousands of cars in barely used condition. Mel Gibson and Ed Begley were among celebrity lessees.
DBP:
Chimpy Vetoes Stem Cell Bill, Flings Poo At Congress. Film At Eleven.
P J Evans @ 112
Hence my terminology,f*cking bombed a bunch of ways to Sunday, including the fact the American public rejected it. Toyota still sold Prius at a premium over market and people still bought them.
The problem at the time the EV-1 came out was that the cost of gas was so low that no one wanted to pay a premium. It wasn’t worth GM’s effort to monkey any more with it when they were already dumping money into fuel cell technologies.
Damnitall, I f*cking HATE being in a position to defend these *ssholes. They purely sucked all through the 70’s, were dopes all through the 80’s, but by the time they started to get their crap together, the oil industry and its sycophants had pretty much stacked the deck against them.
And the Republicans helped because it is in their best interest not to have any single state with manufacturing and therefore union jobs hold a double-digit number of electoral votes. This state has undergone a slow-motion Katrina, with its manufacturing base devastated by NAFTA and other corporatist vampirism. The rich Republicans can afford to stay here, the blue collar Dems have little choice but to leave. And the answers are not as simple as “buy green”.
Lemme guess.. the networks are going to oblige by running back-to-back Law & Order marathons featuring Fred, in the run-up to election day.
Great job, Hugh!
And Cohen really did run out of there fast, didn’t he? I thought there must be something wrong with my refresh button, since there weren’t any new questions showing up on my screen, and then there wasn’t the usual, “Goodbye, thanks for the chat” or some such comment that one usually sees at the end of these chats to signal that it’s over. So on top of all the other things he’s been called here, he’s rude, too!
TeddySanFran @ 86
LOL! Thanks for the linky. Such vile language must be dealt with immediately.
tpres2000 @ 121
And in spite of only leasing them, people still sued GM right and left for problems they had with the cars, making the cost to keep the fleet on the road more costly than simply paying off the suits and scrapping the cars.
How do you convince a board of directors to pursue another electric car after that?
I’ll reiterate: f*cking bombed a bunch of ways to Sunday, including the fact the American public rejected it.
You can count shareholders and the board of directors among the American public.
SnarKassandra @ 44
Most new cars sold in Europe now are diesel powered, and run on low sulphur diesel. They wouldn’t work here. As a sidenote, the winner of the 24 Hours at LeMans was a diesel Audi.
LS @ 125:
Thanks. Sorta like outsourcing in reverse. And I’m sure our Mexican “guest-workers” would appreciate that move. *g*
Rayne @ 105
They weren’t for sale, only leased and GM took them all back and buried them in the Nevada desert. Google Whatever Happened to the Electric car.
OT: your tax dollars at work (from CNN): Walter Reed contracted Security guard shoots at partner
newspaperbrat @ 135
Good movie! But it will make you sick.
newspaperbrat @ 135
LS @ 122
BTW ~ That’s not a simulation…just an animation. Big difference. Direct LINK
newspaperbrat @ 135
Bought, as in appreciated them enough or drove up demand.
One more time: f*cking bombed a bunch of ways to Sunday, including the fact the American public rejected it.
You’ll note that neither Ford nor Chrysler tried an electric car after that. Shareholders are incredibly risk averse.
Blub @ 129
Bank on it. I love Fred’s corn pone logic always skewed in favor of the State.
dakine01 @ 136
Yeah.. sort of like the incident last week when Nat’l Guard troops assigned to the border got caught engaging in human trafficking, for profit… by the border patrol they’re suppose to replace.
Oooooo….bad, bad, bad Obama campaign people:
http://www.buckeyestateblog.co…..a_you_blog
Prius now selling with “market enhancements” — rebates and low interest rates.
Toyota built too many as gas prices rose last time; they may have saturated the market. They are, now, sitting on lots. Also, Honda’s in the hybrid game seriously — competition makes it tough for Toyota.
Funny story: At the Toyota dealer here a year ago, there were a bunch of Prii, already sold, at the body shop with their interiors torn out waiting for leather to be installed.
A hybrid car stuffed with animal skins — there’s no accounting for Bay Area sensibilities!!
Rayne, You sound very knowlegeable on this subject
You should put together a post and say, maybe, um, talk to someone who has a widely read website.
(wanders away, whistling softly.)
Oklahoma kiddo @ 106
Ole Hill, still playing the Hawk. Well, we’ll just see how that plays out.
Whether Bloomberg takes more votes from the GOP or the Dems is strictly a function of who ends up heading the two major tickets. So all the crystal balling right now is of no use until the race settles down to the final two (or four if you count the running mates).
The thing to understand about Bloomberg is that he is an authentic centrist, unlike that phony centrist, Lieberman. So it is going to be alignment politics if Bloomberg runs, and he will attract centrist voters.
With Bloomberg in, if he is in, there will therefore be an intense gravitational pull on the two parties to appear more centrist, to counter the Bloomberg threat.
Another thing to understand is that Bloomberg is not a spoiler in the sense of Nader. He is an authentic candidate, even though his chance of winning is minimal. But his gaining anything like 10-15% of the votes would make him a very powerful voice.
The final thing to understand is that voters are puke-ready sick of both major parties, as I am.
Put that in your crystal ball.
Lou Costello @ 139
“The simulation found jet engine shafts from airlines flown into the World Trade Center “flew through the building like bullets,” according to an Associated Press vide report.”
They called it simulation, what is the difference you are referring to? Just wondering :)
LS at 143 — It seems that may have been a closed-door event that was not open for press coverage from what I’m hearing. But no firm word on that as yet — so the facts on that one are still open-ended, so to speak. Don’t make up your mind just yet…there is likely more to come.
Pfifferling @ 130
I think Lights Out Cohen’s abrupt departure today is a sign of the changing media landscape. In the past the public was at the mercy of the “journalists”, pundits, and other arbiters of what the public would and could be told. With the Internet the public has multiple sources of information to draw upon. Hence, when a traditional “journalist” tries to push a bogus story, theory, opinion there are now thousands of people to challange him or her on their veracity and/or bias. Cohen, was skewered yesterday and was in the process of being skewered today on the live blog. He couldn’t stand the heat so got out of the kitchen. I think it’s critical to keep up the heat on these pampered and priviledged elitists.
Bustednuckles @ 108
yaaaaaAAAA! Ford Probe! aaaaaaaaaagggh!
bought one a them dang things in 1993. It was my first new car….kind of a turquoise shade…..looked SO cool.
And I wanted to be patriotic. That is why I chose a cool AMERICAN car.
OH, the agony and misery I endured over that junk heap in car clothing…..stalling, broken parts, parts falling off……thousands and thousands of $$ in repairs…new transmission….new f****g ENGINE….
AND the more $$ I sank into it, the harder it got to just sell the thing and cut my losses.
NEVER again will I buy an American car. As a comedian on XM said the other day, there’s a reason the Japanese don’t have a word for “tow truck.”
Blub @ 129
They can’t do that. FCC and FEC regulations say equal time on air for all candidates. Broadcast and cable networks of course won’t (and can’t afford to) do that so they’ll pull all “Law & Order” episodes with Fred in them off the sir.
Second Bustednuckles’ proposal, Rayne. There’s entirely too little understanding of what ails our automotive industry on the progressive side. Your perspective would be great.
TeddySanFran @ 144
Yeah, that. Funny how fickle the market is between $2.00 ad $3.00 a gallon for gas…
But it’s all Senators Levin’s and Stabenow’s fault.
What we really need is a Marshall Plan for energy that actually looks at the total cost of development and commercialization of vehicles. Let’s say that the development is perfected — but the public simply doesn’t want it.
Who’s supposed to bear that cost, especially if we as a country view energy independence as a matter of national security?
Christy Hardin Smith @ 149
Okee dokee. I like Obama personally, so I don’t want dumb things to hurt his campaign. I understand that campaigns often need to control the message, etc.
Biodun @ 152
I’d like to think so, but when the nets ran Schwarzenegger films back-to-back before Arnie’s reelection bid, nobody did anything about it.
Poncho & Lefty @ 33
No, I didn’t! Got linkage? That’s great news.
Oh, you mean Uncle “The Reason Why We’re Backing The Iraqi Sunnis Over The Iraqi Shiites Even Though The Sunnis Are The Ones Killing Our Troops” Bandar Bush?
The difference in reliability between the Ford Probe and its Mazda cousin was striking and shameful. The auto press went to town on Ford on that.
oddmommy @ 151
Funny, my friend had one she still regrets parting with, never had a problem with it.
And was your car really American-made? Or merely American-branded? I have a Honda that’s nearly 10 years old, made in Ohio.
LS @ 148
Animation = pretty pictures to show what might have happened.
Simulation = based on science/physics to prove what happened.
allan_in_upstate @ 74
As we say here at work….it’s not a bug, its a feature.
Lou Costello @ 160
Thanks! That is the kind of answer I wanted to hear :), because that is how the whole thing struck me.
I am seriously awaiting the spats between Bloomberg & Ghouliani. Its going to be so much fun.
Note to self: restock popcorn.
TeddySanFran @ 110
Those damned ungrateful Iraqis. How dare they not step up to the plate and clean up our mess after we completely destroyed their infrastructure, all sense of order, tortured and murdered them.
I am so looking forward to Hillary becoming president so she can really give them a piece of her mind.
Biodun @ 51
Bleep bleep bleep bleeping bleep Dowd with a rusty chainsaw bleep bleep bleep. And bleep!
Hillary’s not my favorite human in the world and definitely not my favorite presidential candidate, but dammit if anyone could make me vote for HRC in the primary it’d be Maureen the Harpy. I’d do it just to spite her.
TSF @ 144
They’re selling down here. Or at least there’s a lot of them on the road. Of course, with gas at $3 and up a gallon, filling one of those big tanks on an SUV or a full-size whatever requires a second mortgage.
It was amusing, a couple of years back, when one of the big Detroit auto-company executives claimed that hybrids wouldn’t sell until gas prices hit – I think he said $2/gallon – because they’d already hit that mark in LA, some months earlier.
I knew Toyota had gotten production up when I stopped getting letters from the dealer offering to buy the car back with a deal on a pickup truck or something else (nonselling) thrown in as a sweetener. (But it’s paid for, really! I’m just waiting for the credit union to officially notice.)
TeddySanFran @ 158
I will say that I am driving a ‘92 Ford Escort (built in Mexico) that was designed by Mazda and have had virtually no problems with it. I keep up for the most part with oil changes. I just had to replace a timing belt and water pump and I can’t fill the tank beyond about 3/4 now but those are all the problems for a car that has been titled and tagged in 9 states since purchase. 120k miles.
By the way, figures for gasoline inventories came out today and showed a healthy increase (1.8 million barrels for the week) after being flat last week. This suggests that gas prices (average $2.998 today) will continue to decline through the week. One negative note is that refinery utilization continues to decline. This could indicate staging that will set inventories (and prices) up to bottom out in the next couple of weeks.
We have a ‘97 Honda Civic, 330,000 plus miles. 30 plus MPG. I don’t know where it was manufactured. Great car.
well, in fairness, I do recall a mechanic telling me once that they got better after 1993.
I think it might have been assembled in the US from foreign parts, but I would have to ask mr oddmommy. To be honest my brain usually zones out when automotive matters are discussed. Just give me something I can drive that won’t fall apart, that is all I ask.
ccmask @ 163
Gargantua v Godzilla, do you want butter?
Rayne @ 159
My 15 year old Honda, made in Ohio, has never needed serious repair. Have lived in three states since 2002 where gas tank and tail pipe emissions had to be tested annually. Always passed easily. Drives great, has good mileage, good on emissions, made in America.
Why would I buy another brand?
Hypocrite Bush: “all human life is sacred”.
ccmask @ 163
Yupper. Not even a billion dollars will get the GOP’s Fundies peeled away from Fred Thompson (as if the same people who’ve now dropped the Italian Catholic Rudy for WASP Fred would turn around and dump WASP Fred for a Jewish guy), and he’d have to do some very fancy footwork to get any Democrats.
TeddySanFran @ 144
Actually, Honda is dropping the hybrid Accord because it came a cropper. Problem is that it does not get better mileage than a regular Accord. Why? Because they put on their GM hat, and designed the Honda hybrid for performance, not economy, and got burned badly by the Prius.
Now they are switching their horizons and are looking to introduce a small economy hybrid, and a hydrogen car as early as 2009.
My guess is that within 20 years, China will lead the world in hydgren/fuel cell design. For them it is an imperative, just like the Great Wall was.
Honda Drops Accord Hybrid
LS @ 173
‘pends on how he defines “human” “life” and “sacred”…
Jane is upstairs.
http://www.firedoglake.com/200…../#comments
Some of the posts over there at the “Post” are Firedog quality (as well as a few firedogs actually there). It is a Flamefest. The comments are up to 102 pages. For example,
——————————
Marine_Vet wrote:
Everyone should ask “Who is paying you? The Libby Defense Fund? RNC? Who?
There is a coordinated Libby Apologia Campaign going on and someone is paying for it.
Isn’t it odd that 4 columnists (Hitchens, Joe Klein, Broder and Cohen) in the last couple weeks have used identical republican talking points:
–No charges on the underlying crimes
–Libby wasn’t first to leak
–Sideshow, mole hill etc
–Out of control Prosecutor
And identical factual misrepresentations:
–Ignoring the conviction on the obstruction of justice
–Plame’s cover status in doubt
The articles these otherwise “intelligent” men are writing are truly awe inspiring in their disregard of the facts. Why would they do it?
The more you look at this the more it looks like a coordinated campaign. The only thing that makes sense is that these men are being compensated in some way. Who is paying for it?
This smells like a Armstrong Williams type scandal.
Rayne @ 159
Yeah. If all that’s American about the car is the CEO, that really doesn’t count.
Lou Costello @ 52
In my fantasy dreams, I envision Bill Moyers as Chair of the FCC. Think of the media we could have?
Rudy Tootie fresh and Fruity!
Oklahoma kiddo @ 79
By a man’s enemies you may know his politics. :-)
My guess is if those are his enemies then his friends must be the People. That’s good enough for me.