Yesterday, when the news of letters and subpoenas was flying fast and furious, Tommy Yum made a point that I want to amplify:
My lawyer friends know this better than I: any investigation or litigation is really a contest between competing narratives. It’s important to be wearing the white hat, and perhaps more important to be perceived to be doing so.
By forcing the administration to be overt in its contempt for our institutions of government, Congress is making them commit to an easily-understood black hat narrative. (emphasis mine)
This is key. As Jane said in her wonderful “On Image” series way back in our blogspot days (On Image Part I and Part II):
The GOP really seized its current high ground after 9/11 when they were able to take advantage of national outrage and capitalize on the fact that most Americans felt that their country was under attack. Painting themselves as the Party of Men, George Bush preened in his flight suit and cod piece, called himself a “war president,” and used simple, aggressive language to convince the country he was the man to preserve our security. His popularity soared.
When the village is under attack you send in the men; tales of Boadicea and Ripley notwithstanding, this is a fundamental construct of our dramatic culture that appeals to the reptilian brain and causes people to put aside rational thought that might lead them to other conclusions….
Basically, the Republicans got caught in a PR trap when there turned out to be no weapons of mass destruction. They had to shift into talk about Sadaam’s torture chambers, but that was quite dangerous because the American public doesn’t really give a shit about stuff like that when it happens in countries like Rwanda or Sierra Leone. What they were being offered at that point was an excuse for having supported the war, because nobody in the public wants to admit that they were wrong, either. But excuses last only so long, and that’s why Dick Cheney will continue to talk about ties between Al Quaeda and Sadaam every time he opens his mouth. No, he’s not stupid. True or not, it offers a powerful morality play to people who want to buy into it. And he knows the other side has nothing better. Even though Katrina and other recent events offered the Democrats the perfect opportunity to say “the village is on fire,” it’s still hard to put that across in a way that will not be countered by the message machine of the right as sounding negative and down on America. But the fact is the village is on fire, and people are awakening to that fact. It’s time to seize the “Republicans are crooks and bullies” meme, invest in some long term strategies and become a meaningful opposition party. (emphasis mine)
The last couple of weeks, it looks like the Democratic leadership has begun to do just that. They are at least trying to throw off the shackles of ineffective Beltway insiderism and consultant timidity and finally stand up and say, “I call your bluff. And I raise you.”
Never has a group of political cronies deserved the label of “dangerous failure” more than the Bushies — and by beginning to pull together a strategy which puts them squarely on the defensive, time and time again, and doing so by using the Bush Administration’s own bad acts as the foundation for this, the Democrats in the last couple of weeks have at last thrown them off message — instead of doing it to themselves. And I like that a lot.
By publicly taking the honesty and integrity issues to the Bush Administration — on multiple fronts at once — and by undercutting the non-fact-based arguments they have used time and time again with their snake oils sales of the failed occupation in Iraq and so many other illegal and illicit activities, the Democratic party has put the GOP on the defensive on solid, factual ground. By taking these arguments directly to the public unfiltered through live hearings and interviews — rather than relying on a media machine which won’t carry their message without inserting caveats and provisos on behalf of the GOP Wurlitzer at every paragraph break — the Democrats are breaking through the information logjam. And the fact that the GOP has been bluffing all of us with no real hand at all has finally begun to sink in for the public.
Honestly, I wasn’t certain that Presidential polling numbers would ever get much below 29 percent-ish he’s been for a while…but they are: President Bush is two percentage points away from being the most unpopular president in all of American history. Earlier this year, Chris Bowers did a post on the need for Democrats to stop apologizing for all of the ills in this country — and instead start demanding that the Republican party take responsibility for its own failures and mendacity. It is as true today as it was then.
Go on the offensive, never ever play defense…attack, attack, atttttttaaaaack.
It is well past time that we all started saying it out loud: the Bush Administration and their lackeys in the Republican Party have been conning the American public for far too long. They are liars and cheats. And we have damn well had enough. Hey GOP: if the black hat fits…
(Great b&w shot of a hat rack via Ironic Tonic.)
Related posts:
- Late Night: Sarah Palin Consults Her Little Black Book
- Rikyrah: Opt-Out States Are “Where the Majority of the Black Population in This Country Lives”
- Human Events: Obama’s a Very, Very Angry (Black) Man
- A Public Option in the Democratic Platform?
- FDL Book Salon Welcomes Senator Byron Dorgan, Reckless!: How Debt, Deregulation and Black Money Nearly Bankrupted America
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Yay! Friday!
‘morning, Christy!
Gore/Dean 08
Not a speck of cereal.
PEANUT!!!
Bush lies about a lot, but pretty much everything he says about Iraq is a lie.
Good Morning.
I’m kind of pissed about the Repug spin on the Gonzo contempt charges. They’re trying to make it look like a, there’s no crime just the cover-up, and b, that the Democrats are playing politics because, for some reason the crime somehow started with the investigation and not with the crime itself.
It’s all just infuriating because it is so disingenuous and also delivered in that condesceding tone that makes up so much of the RightWing bullshit.
My new button says
Bush- because the truth just isn’t good enough.
Bush’s rod piece was comical.
There is plenty of responsibility to go around for the war in Iraq.
http://www.senate.gov/legislat…..vote=00237
I would have to agree that opening as many fronts as possible, is my party’s most effective weapon against the GOP. As long as Bush doesn’t panic and do something rash.
Perhaps impeachment hearings against Bush and Cheney along with contempt citations served on Gonzales and Miers would serve the purpose.
Morning all.
George at 7 — I say we all think about ways to make their black hat look even more clear. If for no other reason than the continued need to duck responsibility for bad acts, they deserve it.
The Democrats need to keep making the Republicans defend the indefensible. Investigate, impeach, indict.
I’ll go for the “Rocky” analogy. After getting the crap beat out of them for 12 rounds, it’s time to go southpaw.
It’s good to see The People out in front on this. The Constitutional Confrontation is on.
Let’s rumble.
Attack attack attttaaaaaaaack!
Thanks, Christy.
If it wasn’t for you and Jane, I might have lost my marbles long ago.
great post christy, great
we need to attack with every confrontation, reframe every discussion FROM their perspective and into PROPER perspective
not
“warrantless searches”
but
“stealing my information”
not
“the Iraq war”
but
“bush’s detatched diversion from the fight against terrorism”
debate with the facts, turn their attack into our attack
back to work for me
OT and EPU’d
Edwards leads latest poll in Iowa!
I know that this will not get any attention in the MSM.
How much does anyone think that part of the Republican enabling of Gonzales might be because of his willingness to sit on Abramoff-related investigations?
Christy Hardin Smith @ 11
How about a quick No-Confidence Sense of the Senate on Gonzo, to be followed by an all-nighter where the Repub’s try to figure out ways to defend him?
Or resort to reading a phone book.
i would like to see a Gore/Helen Thomas run(walk) for the White House.
Wonder if Helen would visit Firedoglake?
I want to make Rove sweat. He’s a mighty big fish to fry.
TRex @ 4
And Christy!
And Tommy Yum!
And Esten!
Attack!
Oklahoma kiddo @ 21
Psychopaths do not sweat!
What BushCo is a snake oil sales team with a very tired dog and pony show BUT have no product.
They have been running that show non-stop for years and finally Joe Sixpack finally realized they can’t produce anything BUT that non-stop dog and pony show. And we haven’t gotten the free lunch for sitting through the show.
I read somewhere that the Scooter Libby pardon really PO’d the American public-one law for them, another for the well connected. I don’t remember any polling on that at the time, so don’t know if that was a wish expressed as a fact or not. Still, it’s in the White Hat/Black Hat meme. They put white hats on themselves, but the public is increasingly seeing them for the black hats they are. W’s blowing off subpoenas will reinforce it.
Kathleen @ 23
Well, then, he isn’t one. If Sheryl Crow can manage to shake him up, it proves it.
He’s just a typical schoolyard bully…a coward at heart.
Or how about the great white lie that President Bush had nothing to do with anything, but it’s still under EP?
IrishJim @ 17
But he will get MSM attention if he wins. I think he’s playing a smart strategy. Keeping his nose to the grindstone in the early states, while doing just enough nationally to stay in the top tier. But I’m open to disagreement.
Kathleen @ 9
But as “Give ‘em Hell Harry” Truman asserted, The Buck Stops Here. “Here” being with the president. The Commander-in-Chief. He and his puppeteers and minions and tools bear the bulk of both blame and shame in my book!
FunnyDiva
eCAHN – Scooter’s pardon came right on the heels of Paris Hilton’s jail problems… I think the timing of it was pretty good for folks to notice that privelege has its perks…
OldCoastie @ 30
Good point.
Gore/Webb 08!!!!
Kathleen @23:
Sociopaths are the ones that don’t sweat. Fish don’t either, for that matter.
Go ahead, Christy: “Go on the offensive, never ever play defense…attack, attack, atttttttaaaaack.”
This unraveling has the potential, but no guarantee, of laying the the whole criminal enterprise bare. Think of how few representatives the administration can now place before the public who aren’t recognized to be liars. They have squandered the benefit of the doubt, and every talking point rings hollow.
People congregating here may find this perspective less than revelatory, but imagine how it’s undermining the foundations of those who want to support their government because it ought to be the right thing to do. If the administration defines itself as the government and proceeds to declare war on Congress, what’s your average voter to do once it becomes clear that the administration is wrong–and lying about it? Congress has to stay active in showing that it is in the right in this dispute, and it can’t continue to make that point once it’s in recess. Who doubts that the administration isn’t counting the days until Congress disperses?
What’s beautiful and perilous about Congress’s position in this constitutional crisis is that it is in the right, and its interests are congruent with those of the people. There is no need to alter the truth or hide it, but it must be exposed aggressively and defended vigilantly against an administration that is its sworn enemy.
If it wants to survive–let alone save the rest of us from further abuse and destruction–Congress can’t afford to go home right now.
Steve-O @ 32
Winners for sure
Steve-O @ 32
DEM/DEM 08. Although I’m not a Hillary fan because I think she reaches across the aisle to much, it doesn’t matter. I will support our candidates.
DEMS RULE!!!YEA
Subpoening Michael Moore..
Is that political theater?
If the public has any input into future Republican depate questions, they should submit really pointed questions on the Bush ciminality.
We know it is President Bush’s choice, but do you believe Alberto Gonzales is acceptable as Attorney General of the United States?
Do you believe that, in view of the “war on terrorism”, the executive branch has the constitutional authority to ignore laws passed by Congress?
Do you beleive the President, by executive order, has the right to seize the property of anyone who he deems is interfering with the successful establishment of the Iraqi government?
Good morning all. Just a quick check in to catch up on what is relevant in the news and your comments. Back to my backbreaking move for the rest of the day.
I like the idea of a No Confidence Gonzales vote on the Senate floor. That can be done in the short term and it forces the Repubs to either stand and defend Gonzales or crossover. These hearings have forced Gonzales to self-reveal and the public has noticed. Not many defend him.
Kathleen @ 23
They do when you wrap them in Saran wrap and waterboard them.
Excellent post. I just hope every Democrat in Congress and around the country reads this. Republicans are bullies, liars and crooks. It’s time the American public realizes that the Republican Party is as dangerous to their health and well being as any foreign threat. Republicans are the rotten apple in the barrel.
“There are no rules.”
- Attorney General Alberto Gonzales
This seems about the right place to insert the warning about cornered animals.
katymine @ 24
… I prefer to think of them as snakes in a pit… extremely poisoness snakes
Would someone explain to me shrubco’s motivations for getting involved in the Tillman affair? OK, taking over the Dept of Justice, subverting the constitution, lying their way into war, torturing, spying, rigging elections, etc, I get.. that’s all the sort of things that evil people do, in order to cement their hold on power and then to increase that power. But I don’t get why they’d waste their effort in covering up the death of a civilian.. the risk to their primary objective — power (including the license to do whatever they want in Iraq) — is immense if they get caught and exposed, and the upside is slight (after all, we all knew well before Tillman’s tragic death, that our troops were being misled, that they were being needless killed and that tragic, often murderous, mistakes were going on daily in Iraq).. So what gives? Getting involved in covering this up seems petty and, well, lame to me, politically speaking.
ADEL, Iowa –Presidential hopeful Mitt Romney said Friday that the country is angry over the lack of progress in the Iraq war, a stinging assessment of the Bush administration’s handling of the conflict from a Republican candidate.
urh… that should’ve been poisonous, in 45
and I meant to say, “infantryman” not “civilan”
Few recent images were more potent than Meir’s empty seat before the Judiciary committee. I guarantee you that Leahy wants to get another shot of an empty seat with Karl Rove’s nameplate in front of it. No one seriously believes he’ll show up, or say anything meaningful if he does, or be held accountable in any way. No; the Dems are methodically building a narrative that bad guys break the law. If somebody doesn’t show up, it’s because they have something to hide.
The reticence to pursue impeachment, IMO, is that the Republicans poisoned that well long ago. The Dems feel the need to prove the case before even making the allegation, otherwise they’ll be undermined by the infuriating talking points of “partisanship” and “everybody does it.”
At the end of the day, everybody knows that bad guys wear the black hats, and bad guys break the law.
Blub @ 45
Arroagance coupled with incompetence. A deadly combination. Criminals never think they’re gonna get caught.
Blub @ 47
Thanks. I thought you were referring to a new perfume I hadn’t heard of yet. *g*
Marcy’s latest on the purge
http://thenexthurrah.typepad.c…..l#comments
Oklahoma kiddo @ 46
Only because it is not good to ride Bush’s shirttail. He wants to distance himself to be more electable. He’s not Mr. Nice Guy.
Let’s get rid of this “Homeland” crap too!
We’re the United States of America, not some fiefdom or Nazi myth..
Speaker Pelosi just might be the most powerful person in the world right now. I wonder if the Speaker knows that?
QuakerGirl @ 52
And, as Mr Delay would advise, y’know had we not aborted more than 40 million “babies,” we’d have plenty of troops at our disposal to fight in Eye-Rack.
The WH is hiding behind “national security”
with Gonzo’s latest flaming lies.
Their press staff has no shame. How can they live with themselves?
QuakerGirl @ 52
You could say; kiddo can hardly stand Mr. Romney. ;0)
Bay State Librul @ 56
Secure in the comfort that “there are no rules.”
Psychopaths do sweat – when they are feeling the pain they inflict on others.
So long for the day. My computer will be disconnected until Sunday. Ohmagod! Talk about torture. Someone aught to report loss of ones computer to Amnesty international.
Arca @ 53
you know, this is a great point too
this adminstration has been following the fascist play book from day one
we can even look at “the patriot act” and it seems as if it is paguerized from hitler’s very own “the enabbling act” paragraph by paragraph…which gave him authority to write law he thought up in his own head with no need for anyone else to approve…even the situation that enabled the “enabling act”
Arca @ 53
We can begin by getting rid of the Dept of Homeland Security, and putting their constituent agencies back under the jurisdictions they were in prior to the our 6 year long leadership catastrophe. Putting all the internal security and public safety agencies under one roof has been a disaster, drastically decreasing their effectiveness, and really accomplishing nothing at all other than to confirm the suspicions of the black helicopter crowd. Heck, actually on second thought, perhaps we need to just declare a mulligan and undo EVERYTHING shrub has done.
My $0.02 is that “what are they hiding?” needs to be said at every opportunity.
It’s sunk home that they are dangerously incompetent crooks. We need to reinforce it at every opportunity but consistantly asking this simple question thats on everybody’s lips anyway.
mental_equinox @ 55
Wasn’t that the Old Testament reason for not wasting sperm. They needed the male child to become war mongers invading other peoples? Of which most were female goddess agrarian cultures.
Urban Pirate @ 62
“what are they hiding” is good…I’m gonna add;
“what are they ashemed of”
“why don’t they want anyone checking to see if they’re stealing”
things like that…good stuff
What they are hiding could fill a Bush library.
Blub @ 61
Absolutely! Whichever candidate adopts that position gets my vote!
The tiniest, most hidden remnants of the Tweedledick-Tweedledumb administration are going to stink something awful if they’re not removed.
Bush Library is an oxymoron.
Blub @ 45
I think the involvement in the Pat Tillman coverup can be explained by looking at a bit of history. In the 30’s & 40’s in Germany there was a term called “working toward the Fuhrer.” What it meant is that everyone was expected without being ordered to promote the interests and policies of the Fuhrer in anyway they could. This occured in the bureacracy, military and civlian poplulation at large. It was very effective in pushing the ideology and policies of the 3rd Reich. When Captain Tillman was killed, everyone in the military establishment knew this would be a PR disaster for the Bush administration. On their own initiative they then saw it necessary, if not to work towards the Fuhrer, to work towards Bush and try and minimize the PR damage.
Romney/ Giulianni Screw You Tube
http://rawstory.com/news/2007/….._0727.html
Romney will be on C-Span at 5:30. I believe you can call in questions
And what is with the Right Wing no longer calling America the United States, instead calling it “Homeland”? It is soooo very Nazi and they know it.
from Walter Brasch at http://counterpunch.org/brasch07272007.html
the black hats versus the ever-so-slightly-lighter-than-black hats.
smapdi @ 67
well..the SMU proposal they submitted hinted that the library would be a great, forward looking think tank, for building the vision behind Shrub’s 1000 year kakistokleptocracy, not a musty old storehouse for historical records. Didn’t you know that real men invent history, not record it?
sporkovat @ 71
Do you mean off-black? :)
I tell ya, if the “Pat Tillman was fragged” meme gets any traction, those motherfuckers are out of there.
Rhetorically, we should conclude that, since the administration has invoked executive privilege in withholding information relating to Tillman’s death, that the president was somehow involved.
Someone speculated that Rove (like bullies everywhere) might be the one to crack. I agree. He’s doing everything he can, right now, to lay the foundation to steal the next election. But, if he realizes that there is no hope, he will start singing like a bird to save his own skin. I don’t think the man is a ‘believer’. And if he sees he can’t win, he will turn on Bush/Cheney.
That’s my theory, anyway.
Let’s not forget the domestic spying(TSP is Frank Luntz framery)was heralded in by those saying “If you have nothing to hide” why be afraid of domestic spying.
If Bush has nothing to hide why be afraid of domestic oversight. I mean oversight is conducted at the pleasure of congress.
-GSD
Two other items. Bob Barr is now calling for impeachment.
Also, Ray LaHood(R-Il) is retiring.
sporkovat @ 71
You got it!
IrishJim @ 17
I saw it on TV last night, probably Count Down. But it was contextualized with the fact that in 2004 Kerry entered Iowa late and took the state via some very intense (and expensive) campaigning, the implication being that Edwards may be shooting his wad early. (I didn’t particularly appreciate that coverage.)
tommy yum @ 74
I can’t believe this hasn’t exploded!
QuakerGirl @ 52
Tis hardly a stinging assessment when it is the assessment of the majority of the American public and has been thus for the past several years.
And Romney is even more concerned about Peggy Noonan’s sea of vulgar stuff that our children are swimming in. Metaphorically, not polluted oceans, of course.
This was the primary topic of Romney’s infomercial on CSPAN. More censorship and sanctimonious hypocrisy from the family values party.
The Rethugs (and the MSM) have the gaul to push the family values agenda again as their names trickle out of the DC madam’s little black book.
mental_equinox @ 55
Since the Bush daughters won’t serve, perhaps they should get busy giving birth to snowflake babies who would then enlist.
tommy yum @ 74
Evidence is exposed that he was murdered, and nary a peep from MSM. It’s surreal.
The rubber-stamp Republicans have now become the road block Republicans.–JOHN KERRY, July 26th, 2007 on the floor of the Senate on the accomplishments of the new Democratic Majority in the 110th Congress and the effects of Republican obstructionism on moving America forward.
A friend of my was telling me of a conversation she had with a young man at the car wash who just left the military returning from South America. This kid said he left the military because he could not stand what it was doing in South America… that for every military personal there was 5 contractors.
So just what ARE we doing in South America?
Blub @ 45
Uhm, /Civilian/?! At the time of his death, Pat Tillman was in the US Army as an /enlisted/ man. A sports celeb not only joining up, but going the same, “plebian” route as any other average American–no string-pulling, no privileged, cushy assignment.
It probably seems lame and nonsensical because viewed through non-Bushian, reality-based logic. Viewed through the prism of we-can-do-whatever-we-want, we’ll-never-get-caught megalomania, it makes more sense. If still confused, I highly recommend two of TRex’s threads from yesterday (the whole threads): “Go Cyclones” and “Breaking: a whole new level of horror.”
FunnyDiva
I just had a thought that I haven’t seen surface before. Thought I’d run it past the Pups.
If Gonzales were to leave, the August recess would be the perfect time. Bush pulls a recess appointment…wait for it: Fred Fielding.
Thoughts?
Bluetoe @ 68
I agree with you, but in this case, the PR damage control would’ve been better accomplished had they just not gotten involved at all.. and then, when it broke, blamed it on a bunch of enlisted men or, at worst, on Rummy’s Pentagon. Rove should’ve been savvy enough to do the math here..
the only two explanations that make sense to me, is (1) what you said, except that the men who got the admin involved were junior officials, behaving instinctively according to the fuhrer principle, and now the seniors are dragged into it by the exposure or (2) some sort of much deeper, darker conspiracy the likes of what innocent people like me wouldn’t want to speculate about :P
Oklahoma kiddo @ 54
That’s very funny, in a darkish way!
Back on my little soapbox this morning. Just read somewhere (HuffPost, I think) about the no-show Iraqi parliament (photo of rows upon rows of empty seats). Story about their lack of a sense of urgency.
Don’t want to see empty Congressional seats during month of August. Way too much at stake. I am a huge fan of my adopted Congressman, Tim Walz (MN CD1) — I don’t have a rep, I have John Kline. I really hate thinking about Tim being separated from his young children in August, but they’re not going to have much of a future if he’s not parked in his House seat, attending to bidness.
*steps off soapbox*
Solai @ 75
I would be very surprised.
Funnydiva2002 @ 85
Note that I immediately corrected myself in #47… it was a typo.. I meant to say infantrymen
yellowsnapdragon @ 82
we should be takin’ it to the streets
poet2007 @ 86
heard on the radio this a.m. that Orrin Hatch was the man. ugh…..
John Kerry, thru dailykos beachmom:
I think we need to run radio ads in the states of the Roadblock Republicans, making it crystal clear that they don’t deserve to be reelected because of their continued support for the Bush Doctrine of escalation without end. We need to turn up the heat even higher.
That’s why we’re running a contest. We want you to send in a script for a 30 second radio spot (that’s about 65 words long), we’ll whittle it down some to the top 20, and then we’ll open up the voting to everyone. The winner that’s chosen by the people will be what we air in the states. And we’ll fundraise for the airing of that spot, with each of you able to choose with your contribution where you think we should run the ad. No political professionals making the spot, or choosing where to run it. It’s all done by you.
You can make the spot sad, or satirical, or hard-hitting. Whatever you want to do. You can make it a personal story from your life (maybe you know someone in Iraq or have a family member there or maybe you are one of the many veterans in this community), or you can make a factual case on why voters should consider someone else because of this issue, or anything else you’d like. You get it — it’s up to you. And what you do can be the ad that goes on the air targeting the Roadblock Republicans.
yellowsnapdragon @ 82
Not if we accept the premise that the traditional media used his death as pro-war propaganda. To give this new story exposure is to admit their complicity.
Or, maybe some things are too awful to contemplate.
Elliott @ 79
The explosion is coming!
Urban Pirate @ 62
What they are hiding is key. If it comes out exactly who Bush/Cheney have been spying on, it will turn out that they are spying not only on “enemies ” but a lot of people you would think are their “friends.”
Not mentioning any names, but put it this way, once you have the ability to do something, the temptation not to put that to good political use is pretty irresistible.
Like, if my old Toyota can go 75 mph, you can bet at some point in time, I am going to try it. And yes, I have tried it, and found out the old crate can do 85.
Ambition overruns technology.
QuakerGirl @ 52
Besides which, he’s STILL clueless! It’s not the “lack of progress” in Iraq. It’s the LIES, Stupid!!!
FunnyDiva
“If the public has any input into future Republican depate questions, they should submit really pointed questions on the Bush ciminality.” PMA
I don’t know where I saw it, but only two Republicans are signed on to the GOP CNN/Utube debates. Direct contact with voters on TV is too scary for them apparently.
oddmommy @ 92
ugh ugh ugh-ugh
When a Democratic politician [?] was asked what was the big difference the 2006 election made, he answered
“Subpoena power.”
Well, now they are using it and using it.
Go for it!
I haven’t seen the sociopaths I know sweat but I have seen them throw some doozy tantrums.
Bay State Librul @ 56
Poetry, BayState, sheer poetry!
FunnyDiva
Oklahoma kiddo @ 21
I just can’t get my head around the idea of a sweaty fish.
Elliott @ 91
This is where things get bogged down way too often. Say more about taking it to the streets. Specifics. Some of us are not very creative about how best to storm the Bastille.
wigwam @ 78
Expensive campaign indeed. It seems Kerry bought his wife a very pricey asterisk…
State Dept. Criticizes Proposed Gas Pipeline to Iran
A senior State Department official on Wednesday criticized a proposed natural gas pipeline between Iran, Pakistan and India. Testifying before the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, Under Secretary for Political Affairs Nicholas Burns said the U.S. has “made it abundantly clear to both the Pakistani and Indian governments that a proposed pipeline project with Iran is a bad idea, given Iran’s refusal to comply with its international nonproliferation obligations.” Since 1996, U.S. law has authorized sanctions on foreign entities investing more than $20 million in Iran’s energy sector, including pipelines.
A*P*C legislation update
http://www.aipac.org/Legislati…..efault.asp
I just had the vision of rove being handcuffed & snarling, “Don’t touch me!”.
tommy yum @ 74
Given the intensity of the coverup, it should be assumed that this was an officially ordered hit until proven otherwise. There should be no benefit of the doubt for assholes who first lie and then, when caught, invoke executive privilege. IMHO, they now have to prove their innocense. What are you hiding, Mr. President? It’s time to come clean on everything, so let’s start with the Tillman case.
Badwater @ 81
democrats should answer this type of rhetoric with;
and if we could get some of the chicken hawk republicans to get their kids or relatives to enlist we’d be better off too
these idiots who are so happy with Bush’s rediculous war they want everyone loosing their kids and relatives lives but themselves”
peony @ 98
man, I don’t even know where to START…….
ironranger @ 106
http://www.needlenose.com/i/swopa/RoveMarch.jpg
Print and display.
Black hats? How about underlining how much Cheney and Bush have profited personally from the war in Iraq. Cheney’s Halliburton stock is worth at least ten times more than it was in 2001 because of a war he lied us into. Bush’s oil holdings have skyrocketed as well, though that connection is harder to prove. CHENEY IS A WAR PROFITEER and we should be shouting it from the rooftops!
I would like to thank Christy, Jane, and everyone at FDL for being such level headed moderators. You seem to be truly pissed off and deeply worried about the future of our nation. But what is great about this site is that you show your emotions, but you keep an even keel. Many of us are willing to throw verbal Molotov cocktails out of frustration and despair, but you guys keep it real, you keep it politically pragmatic, and you honor the democratic principles that were laid out by the Founding Fathers (& Mothers).
This is a great post. Thank you.
tommy yum @ 94
I don’t think MSM used Tillman as propaganda, Bush did. MSM just transcribes. But Tillman’s murder is an example of some striking NEWS that is just not being reported. Is it complicity? I’m not convinced, but I can’t come up with another reason why they are not reporting it. *wrings hands*
From John Yoo’s piece in the WSJ the other day came this fine quote that seemed perfect as a new GOP campaign slogan: “Without secrecy, the government can’t function.”
sofistic @ 103
Carp, when pulled from the water, are often coated with a kind of white slime.
barbara @ 104
Well let’s start right here
September 15 — Turn Up the Heat in Washington DC!
oddmommy @ 110
That’s from the guy who said a real person who questioned him about holding up a sign comparing Obama and Chelsea’s Mom to OBL should “lighten up.” Metaphors are too subtle for Romney.
If Mitt Romney and Rudy Giuliani can’t face a question from a snowman on Youtube, how can they be expected to deal with Osama Bin Laden.
-GSD
dalloway @ 111
oh yeah, we need Restitution in addition to prosecution
The Jessica Lynch fabrication went south on them. The truth about Pat Tillman’s death had to be hidden. Bushco overreached when they attempted to spin it into something favorable and positive for them. Every element of the story would have to be fabricated. Tillman’s family would not lay down, take the purple heart medal and be quiet. The Tillman family are patriots.
barbara@111: Thanks. From your link to the gods of justice ears.
smapdi @ 67
I think it is appropriate that it will be built on the campus of a religious university. I wonder at what point the University will realize how much this shrine to Bush is going to cost them. Once he is impeached? Nixon could find anyone to take his, so he went to his birthplace. Yorba Linda is a third tier town in Orange County, CA — and was only selected after a number of univerisities said no way.
Go SMU!!!
GSD @ 119
They are Republics and have no intention of dealing with bin Laden. As a crony of the Bush family, bin Laden is safe so long a Republics hold power.
After reading Marcy’s piece this morning I thought about this in terms of attacking. Remember how often we heard, “US Attorneys serve at the pleasure of the President?” But the President doesn’t seem to have anything to do with the firings? That’s something I think everyone can relate to. You don’t get to fire people you don’t know anything about. That doesn’t sit well with folks. I’d love to see a YouTube “Serves at the Pleasure.”
Blub @ 90
Yah, missed dat, sorry!
FunnyDiva
Still recommend those threads, though!
jhaygood @ 115
Ouch!!! (*g*)
barbara @ 104
Millions of Americans did get out on the streets before the invasion (the MSM was not there reporting accurately) Millions marched and protested around the world! People are still protesting against this insane and immoral war, for all of the American soldiers and Iraqi people who have died ,been injured and displaced in this war of choice.
Come out on the street in Sept
http://www.impeachbush.org/sit…..mp;id=5197
Join President Bush’s vacation in Kennebunkport Maine with the rest of the protestors.
http://www.kportprotest.org/ Aug 25, 2007
Maybe they could get the Tillman family to this protest.
perris @ 60
Please read this Wikipedia article: Enabling Act of 1933
yellowsnapdragon @ 113
Oh, no. They have blood on their hands. Remember the enormous, worldwide protests before the invasion that were ignored or dismissed in lieu of more “shock and awe” war porn? What about the decision made on Hardball last night, to interview Tony Snow (for fuck’s sake) about the Gonzalez special prosecutor before spending lavish time on a “Hillary vs. Obama” jerk off?
Whoops. Pardon my language. The traditional media cannot excuse themselves by claiming to have been “just following orders.” We shouldn’t either.
The Bush Library belongs on the Bush Brush Ranch as part of a cowboy theme amusement park.
Oooooh! Can we get TRex to do the voice-overs? Pleasepleaseplease?
Funny Diva.
ccmask @ 93
Yesterday was all gloom and doom about the falling stock market. But hey guess what? Today is different.
AP – The economy snapped out of a lethargic spell and grew at a 3.4 percent pace in the second quarter, the strongest showing in more than a year. A revival in business spending was a main force behind the energized performance.
dead last @ 122
No doubt there will be an exhibit, a monstrously large lucite cube filled with shredded bits representing the monstrously large number of documents shredded by the Bush Administration during the pursuit of justice.
GSD @ 118
Excellent framing! Send that one to the candidate of your choice!
Elliott @ 99
Nope, the GOP is holding out Hatch for a Supreme Court nomination on the theory that the Senate club won’t reject one of their own.
IrishJim @ 17
I heard that last night on the Charlie Rose Show (he was interviewing Bob Shrum) and I almost jumped out of bed to do a happy snoopy dance!
Blub @ 72
That’s sort of like creating reality, no? ;)
Kathleen @ 128
Great links. Thanks! I wasn’t very clear about my “taking it to the streets” question, I think. Given that the Tillman story is getting way less coverage than it richly deserves, how do we move it Beyond the Blogs?
Total aside: Apart from the essential global warming issue, where is Al Gore???
List of Marches/Protest against the Iraq war. Both before and after the invasion
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/P…..3_Iraq_war
Another Protest coming up in October
http://www.unitedforpeace.org/
Military families against the war
http://www.mfaw.org.uk/
jhaygood @ 115
That fucking clown. How he ever got a law degree is beyond me.
I will repeat: It is beyond scholarly dispute that the explicit consensus intent of the Framers was that those entrusted with the powers of government were to operate in public absent independently confirmable objective showing of exigent need for secrecy, whereas the activities of private citizens were to be regarded as presumptively private absent compelling independently confirmable objective evidence of exigent need for its breach.
The principal aim and accomplishment of the Bu’ush administration is the utter inversion of these bedrock founding constitutional axioms.
It is amazing that you people can be talking about this kind of stuff when you can watch intense coverage of Nicole Richie’s DUI hearing on MSNBC. They will tell you how she was dressed, what the judge said and all kinds of shit that is way more important that what you are discussing!
On this day, the 9th of Thermidor 1794, Robspierre was denounced in the French Assembly — the following day he and his cohorts were dispatched, and the Reign of Terror ended.
May this week mark the beginning of the end of the Bush/Cheney reign of terror.
barbara @ 138
RE Tillman, I think we have to get some members of congress to begin speaking out in outrage about it whenever they get in front of a camera…so perhaps we need to organize a email-phone call campaign on this.
Apart from Global Warming–it is worth noting that Gore (unlike Hillary who should’ve known better) identified and called Bush on his lies before the invasion of Iraq. He really spoke out against the war forcefully, at a time when most Dems were afraid of being called un-patriotic. THAT says a lot about what kind of a strong and courageous leader he could/would be.
I would LOVE to see a Gore/Edwards ticket.
I do not want the DLC determining who will be the next president.
The troll Greg at TPMuckracker is obviously afraid that the new information about Tillman is going to explode. Blame the victim, yada, yada, yada. Although you’re not suppose to feed the trolls, I had to add my thoughts. Tillman’s story is on ABCNews.com
I think it is appropriate that it will be built on the campus of a religious university. I wonder at what point how much this shrine to Bush is going to cost them. Once he is impeached?
Won’t cost much. After the impeachment, they remove all the books from the Shrub Library, and – voila – space for another broom closet.
A caveat…
Never go on the defense, but always keep solid, factual defenses near to hand – and don’t do/stop doing whatever you aren’t prepared to publically step up for.
That’s the best way for the Dems to avoid becoming the greedy thugs they’re fighting.
BobbyG @ 139
and keep repeating this and repeating this
Oklahoma kiddo @ 144
I don’t either, but I will support their candidate if they manage to get her nominated. ;-)
Perhaps I am wrong on this. But the sense is that Gore is the preference here. Should he decide to run.
Kathleen:
It’s a funny thing, but the State Dept. as of 2002 had the following surprising question on its sample exam: What is the shortest pipeline route from the Caspian Sea to the nearest saltwater port? I bet they’ve gotten rid of that question by now.
Tony Snow just admitted that the TSP didn’t have a formal designation as a program, or a name, before 2006. “When the name stuck..”
Generals called to testify in Tillman case
http://www.mfaw.org.uk/
Is it Monday that the Tillmans will testify again? Will the Sunday talking heads address this?
Oklahoma kiddo @ 133
This reminds me of an episode of the Simpsons where the kids were playing in an IKEA-like room full of balls. Once the kids were able to get almost to the top of the balls, someone would notice and yell “more balls please” at which time the kids were once again buried in balls.
It seems to me that the corporate players were concerned after the Cold War that the US public might get back on its feet. So we needed a ton of debt dumped on us (from all sources federal, home and credit card). Now, when things are about to crack, they send the Carlyle Group or some other secret off-balance sheet organization out to prop the market up — I mean what is a private equity group (funded by NY banks) anyway?
MORE BALLS PLEASE!!!!
Oklahoma kiddo @ 151
Gore did more than any other Democratic candidate to try to stop the war.
Oklahoma kiddo @ 150
He’s my main man!
QuakerGirl @ 52
He also embraced Bush’s Gitmo policy with his I’d double the size of Gitmo nonsense. On a good note for the Dems, in the latest Iowa poll, no Republican garnered more than 37% in the polls against any of the top Dem candidates!
Senator Clinton. I am not a “modern progressive”.
Is there such a thing as a Less-than-No-Confidence vote?
Oklahoma kiddo @ 151
He’s the last Democrat to successfully win the Presidency.
Elliott @ 134
That would be a good art installation!
Kathleen @ 154
Only if Rove gives them the okay.
“There are lots of programs!” says Tony Snowjob on Cspan2, talking about Spying on Americans programs.
raven @ 141
ok…..just because it is IMPOSSIBLE to totally ignore the barrage of bullshit about celebrity DUIs, I do have this one question: why the F**K don’t these people ride their limos?
Nola Sue @ 138
Paraphrasing Orwell: he who controls the present controls the past; he who controls the past controls the future ;)… apparently Rovey reads 20th century English literature
JPL @ 162
Is this a “move it Beyond the Blogs” opportunity? Leaning on particular individuals in the MSM to dig into this? Sunday morning heads, columnists, journalists (wherever they may be)?
oddmommy @ 165
Wow, they changed to some guy named Snow from the Whitehouse!
Just read that the Bush Administration has subpoenad Michael Moore about his trip to Cuba.
They’re really getting desperate!
Kathleen @ 153
That is a great website! It is good to remember that the Brits were way ahead of the Americans in their opposition to the war. I was in Britain the day weekend the war began, and the millions of people in the street were a sight to behold. And there was none of the flag-waving jingoism in the coverage, as news of the 1st British casualties were reported. It was all very sober and serious–like you would expect when a nation has been dragged into way, particularly an illegal and immoral one. GW Bush and Tony Blair will have a lot to answer for when they meet their so-called maker.
barbara @ 156
Run Al, run!
Arca @ 168
ohmygod, this means someone in BushCo saw “Sicko”!
Arca @ 169
hehe… when on the ropes, blow smoke by knocking out freedom of the press. Go team shrub.
raven @ 142
Just a reminder that the MSM is not “giving the public what they want”. Who wouldn’t rather hear about a star football player fragged by his men, or hookers and Congressmen in the Watergate Hotel, or the story of beautiful spy betrayed by the White House? The media are largely trying to “run out the clock”, too.
Has anyone seen this?
The SJC has officially added Rove and Jennings to their witness list for a hearing next Thursday.
Empty chair time.
Arca @ 169
Just read that the Bush Administration has subpoenad Michael Moore about his trip to Cuba.
They’re really getting desperate!
You beat me to it. Just who, in the administration, has subpoena power? It surely didn’t come out of a congressional committee. Justice can’t do it unless there’s already a criminal proceeding going – so just *who* could be behind this?
Prank?
Tony Snow, tap dancing as fast as he can and looking like crap.
Wrote msnbc to ask why I didn’t see one peep about Tillman.
MSM’s responsibility is totally different from Bushies. Yeah, MSM didn’t report the protests at the start of the Iraq invasion (who knew there were so many dirty f’ing hippies on the planet?), but the Bushies caused the problems we are facing. MSM is negligent in not reporting. Are they resonsible? Yes, partly. But I think we should reserve our most intense derision for the malignants in the White House.
I will support the nominiee of my party for the next Democratic president. But I don’t necessarily have to like it.
Helen Thomas to Tony Snowjob, “You are not speaking English.”
Read between the oil pipelines
http://www.pipelinedubai.com/
Iraq to Haifa oil pipeline could spur economic growth
http://www.jewishsf.com/conten…../411/forma
http://www.whatreallyhappened.com/oil.html
U.s. blocks Syria pipeline
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/middle_east/2951327.stm
Have folks changed any of their driving habits since this war started?
Fresh thread, up and running for everyone.
Helen @ 175
Has anyone seen this?
The SJC has officially added Rove and Jennings to their witness list for a hearing next Thursday.
Empty chair time.
I love the SJC.
shrubco on the Gonzales/FBI lying flap:
“Confusion is inevitable when complicated classified activities are discussed in a public forum,” wrote Brian Roehrkasse, acting Justice Department public affairs director, in a statement Thursday night.
Tony Snowjob just said twice “there are lots of programs” to Spy on Americans. I am beginning to think that there may be more than one TSP, or NSA or Blackwater or Halliburton or Choicepoint or MZM program. Maybe Jeff Gannon has his own Spying on America program.
clem @ 34
Kind of like the Long Parliament.
Badwater @ 81
Since the Bush daughters won’t serve, perhaps they should get busy giving birth to snowflake babies who would then enlist.
Awesome.
jayt @ 176
You beat me to it. Just who, in the administration, has subpoena power? It surely didn’t come out of a congressional committee. Justice can’t do it unless there’s already a criminal proceeding going – so just *who* could be behind this?
Prank?
No this is real. It’s either coming from Treasury or (in)Justice.
Frank33 @ 180
I love Helen. Both she and Leahy look like god to me. Helen rocks
Woodhall Hollow @ 144
Double Ding!
Knut Wicksell @ 186
…and that ended well…
http://www.undiscoveredscotlan…..eading.jpg
yellowsnapdragon @ 178
IMHO you are too generous to the MSM. They have been proven by their actions to be complicit, compliant and corrupt. They are deserving of as much scorn and derision as the Republican Party. Anyone that was paying the least bit of attention knew what the Republicans were about. The MSM tried to mask their duplicity in the cloak of neutrality. In that they are even more guilty.
That TREX post is one of my all-time favorites. I love it so much, I think I’m going to link to it from my own blog! Or at least remember to save it.
Happy Friday everyone!
realworld @ 188
They probably want to know about the money he spent there and how he arranges iis trip, since we’re not supposed to do business with them.
(My opinion is that if a boycott doesn’t have the effect you wanted at the end of six months or a year, you’re boycotting the wrong people and should rethink the whole thing.)
raven @ 142
snort!
Patti Smith: People Have the Power!
Another version of People Have the Power with Patti and Eddie Vedder.
There’s a real easy response to the “no underlying crime” claim
1) if the person making this claim is one of the Fundies, simply respond, “If lying is no big deal, why is lying a sin in the Bible? Aren’t you a good Christian?” – watch head explode
2) otherwise respond, “Why is lying under oath a crime? Are you saying you support breaking the laws of our country? Are you un-American?”
Arca @ 53
I said that the other day. The Democrats have allowed themselves to be played like violins, using the rhetoric of the nutjobs running the country.
Every Democrat who uses the term Homeland instead of United States or Country should be called out publicly and confronted with caving to the Republican agenda of fear-mongering and creeping fascism.
Stephen Parrish @129
Yes these are the parallels I have been seeing for some time. Remember no-one (except perhaps insiders)will have foreseen the real horrors of Nazi Germany in March 1993.
P J Evans @ 194
When does Cheney get subpoeaned for his trading with the enemy as Halliburton’s CEO when the company was ignoring sanctions in order to make mucho dollars?
If ever there was a case of double standards…theDemocrats should make a big deal about this selective investigation during the next hearings when GOP windbags try to hijack the hearing with totally irrelevant rants.
dead last @ 155
I’ve always believed that the Carlyle Group was initially funded by the billions of missing dollars from the various CIA-connected banks and schemes that failed over the years…Castle Bank, Nugan Hand, BCCI, S&Ls. The number of intel community villains who have “graced” its board is another telling sign.
That’s our money they’re playing with boys and girls, taxpayer dollars either outrightly stolen or, in the case of the S&L bailout engineered by Poppy Bush, handed over to the thieves.
check this out from think progress;
my bold
my answer to these chicken hawks would be;
I am trying to be offensive…and the object of the my offence are the military morons that proposed the very fiasco that broke our armed forces”
btw
think progress goes on to quote a host of generals that also say the army is broke