First Draft

Today on Athenae's Obsession with the Freepi: Wankachu, I Choose You!

They were warming up to John McCain, but then he called Katrina a bitch:

EVERY time he opens his mouth I am confirmed in my inability to want to vote for him. Can’t do it. Won’t do it. Won’t vote for the beast or barry, but I’ll be damned if I will vote for this Bozo.

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Why can’t he run against democrats, what the frell* is he doing running against Republicans?

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After watching Obama the last month or so, I had pretty much resigned myself to voting McCain. I may now change my mind.

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Party labels are irrelevant since the GOP has moved far enough to the socialist left that they are essentially one party. McCain is a socialist running against Conservatives.

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McPain is an out of control RINO ... if Republicans think this ass*** is attempting to stick up their butts now, just wait until September, October, and early November. You ain't seen nothing yet ...

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McCain's had a good day, attacking both the Republican Party of North Carolina and Republican President Bush and the feds response to Katrina.

There's still a couple hours left in the day, a three attack Hat Trick is still possible.

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Fox showed McCain mingling with Katrina volunteers and locals working on housing. The press were shown standing in a truck taking photos.

McQueeg gets his photo op showing him as "presidential, caring and i can do better look". What a pandering, elitist whore he is.

A.

*You! Out of my sci-fi!

Saturday Blogwhoring Thread

Post.

A.

Guns and Sharp Swords in the Hands of Young Children: Galactica Thread

Jacob:

Cally helped keep them in place, before the song. But now he doesn't recognize his face in the mirror, so how can he know where or what he is? Tory knows how much Cally means to him, how he is rooted in her. After Boomer died, when he felt the toaster all over him, inside him, sickening, and it grew like a cancer until he nearly died, it was Cally that put him back together, like a mechanic. Whose grace in pain, whose forgiveness was like the memory of something we've all forgotten. Imagine the eyes of something infinite and loving, that could forgive you anything. Not like a hound, not like a pet, but something brilliant, that saw all your angles at once, the dark and bright sides, all the facets, and loved you anyway: that is the gaze of love, and it keeps you in place.

Spoilers below the cut.

Friday Ferretblogging

A.

I Iz Contractr

The shorter version of the story below--"Contractor Stuffed NOLA Area Floodwall with Newspaper"

OH NOES!

I Canz Halp cuz Preznit Give Me Contract

I Iz Contractr

I Haz Werk 2 Do

Werk

Werk

Werk

The End

--------------------------------------------------------------------

"The federal government is committed to building the best levee system known in the world"-- Donald Powell, former Federal Coordinator of Gulf Coast Rebuilding

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Contractor stuffed NOLA area floodwall with newspaper

Unbelievable:

"That should be criminal,"€ Taffaro [St. Bernard parish president] continues.

What he's talking about was witnessed by a St. Bernard Parish resident who didn't want to be identified, but did have sharp criticism of the work done by a contractor hired by the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers.

"€œIt's like putting a Band-Aid on the hole of a gas tank of an airplane,"€ the resident said.

Instead of an airplane, it's a floodwall, and instead of a Band-Aid, the witness says two years ago, he saw the contractor filling the expansion joint or opening between the floodwalls with newspaper.

"The whole length of the wall was stuffed with newspaper."

And when he confronted the contractor, the contractor blamed Washington for the substandard work.

"€œHe basically told me when Congress sent down the money, it would be repaired the proper way.€"

But during a recent trip to the area, two years later, it was apparent that didn't happen.  Much of the newspaper had deteriorated or been eaten by bugs, but some still remained.  In fact WWL cameras even captured the date May 21, 2006, on a page of the Parade magazine from the Times-Picayune.

SNIP

Engineers tell Eyewitness News an expansion joint has three lines of defense. The first is an elastic strip that helps keep water out.  In the middle is the most important part, a waterstop, which is in fact included in the St. Bernard floodwall.  However what is missing is a rubber joint that goes in between and helps keep foreign objects out. 

The witness who talked to Eyewitness News says the contractor used the newspaper in place of the rubber joint. Kulkarni [an engineer] says it's not a short term risk, but over time that missing rubber joint could weaken that waterstop.

€œ"It could be very serious," Kulkarni said.  "€œIt doesn't take a lot of stress to cause the failure of these floodwalls.  We don't know after two or three years how the main joint will perform.  This is the first line of defense.€"

And what did ACE say?

But the Army Corps of Engineers says it is confident the floodwall will sufficiently defend residents of St. Bernard and the Ninth Ward.

"€œIf you look at the repairs we made to the joints, there's not really a safety issue with the joints at all,"€ said Kevin Wagner with the Army Corps of Engineers.

The Corps also says it'€™s satisfied with the quality of work done by its contractor.  When asked by WWL if there was any shoddy work involved, Wagner said, €œ"I don't think so at all.€"

Sweet Jeebus

(For more and video of the...paper levees)

McCain, Bush, Katrina....Then and Now

Now....from NYT:

Asked at a news conference outside St. David’s Catholic Church if he traced the failure of leadership straight to the top, Mr. McCain, who has said he wants to campaign with President Bush, said emphatically, “Yes.”

Later, Mr. McCain told reporters on his campaign bus that if the disaster had happened on his watch, he would have landed his plane “at the nearest Air Force base and come over personally.” Mr. Bush first surveyed the damage when he flew over New Orleans in Air Force One when coming home from his Texas ranch two days after the hurricane, an act widely criticized.

Then....from from a September 10, 2005 Arizona Republic article titled "Did Bush do the right thing?"

Was the president ill-advised to follow through with two days of scheduled appearances, including one in the Phoenix area, then spend a night in Texas as the crisis unfolded?

"I'm Monday-morning quarterbacking on this," said U.S. Rep. Jeff Flake, R-Ariz., "but, yeah, you'd have to say yes."

Sen. John McCain, R-Ariz., responded, "I don't know."

McCain said he found the overall federal response deficient, but he said causes should be left to a bipartisan investigation to determine.

"I don't know what information the president had at the time and what he didn't have," McCain said. "So, I think all of that's going to be reviewed, and I'm sure that will be part of this commission." (my emphasis)

McCain subsequently voted twice against a commission:

McCain Voted Twice Against Establishing A Commission To Study The Response To Hurricane Katrina. McCain voted twice against establishing a Congressional commission to examine Federal, State, and local response to devastation wrought by Hurricane Katrina in the U.S. Gulf Region; and making immediate corrective measures to improve future responses. [2006 Senate Vote #6, 2/2/2006; 2005 Senate Vote #229, 9/14/2005]

Distancing is hard work...well should be

Bye Doug

I'm shocked, shocked I tell you:

Speaking of Iraq, the Georgetown Hoya newspaper last week quoted a student saying she was "displeased that university officials have not asked" former Pentagon undersecretary Douglas Feith"to return to teach next year."

Asked about Feith's status, Robert Gallucci, dean of Georgetown's foreign service school, told us that when Feith was hired -- something that caused an uproar among the faculty -- it was understood he "was on a two-year appointment." Any decision not to renew should not be seen as "a judgment on his performance," Gallucci said, noting that Feith's students' "course evaluations were really good."

Feith, author of a bestseller about his Pentagon days called "War and Decision," said he hadn't decided what to do next. "I'm intensely occupied with book stuff," and there are "several things I'm thinking about," he said.

Word is that keeping Feith on beyond the two-year term again would have infuriated a number of faculty members. Well, there are always those "dead-enders," as former Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld so eloquently noted back in June 2003.

Not that he'll be unemployed, living on the street, like the veterans of the war he helped start. The Wingnut Welfare State is in full-on slurp mode with regard to Feith, as evidenced by this interview with Hugh Hewitt sent to me by Scout. Hewitt, who makes like a circus seal at any neocon he gets his mitts on, is really pulling out all the stops here:

HH: Now you are widely understood to be one of the deep, dark circle of neocons. Do you wear that badge as an honor or as something that’s a misjudgment of who you are?

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HH: And I think the left today uses that term primarily to attach to people who are staunch supporters of Israel, and people who are open to the use of American military power to achieve important objectives. Do you think that’s a fairly safe assertion as to when neocon gets thrown around?

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HH: Right, right, and that’s very important. And the distortions in the public record, which we’re going to go through, are many and important. But I want to start with a more global question, that War And Decision answers in a sort of backwards way. Six and a half years after 9/11, five years after the invasion of Iraq, does the American public, Doug Feith, have a good grasp on the network of jihadists, and the threat they pose?

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HH: It doesn’t take enormously large numbers, but it does underscore for America the nature of the threat, if, in fact, there are enormously large numbers. If it takes twenty jihadists to make a jihadist picnic, how many jihadist picnics are out there?

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HH: To set up the last hour of our conversation, Doug Feith, this is the short segment, why does everybody at the CIA and State hate Chalabi, the head of the exiled Iraqi National Congress, and many people believe to be, if difficult but nevertheless the most effective operator in post-war Iraq? Why did there develop such an animus towards him?

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HH: I’m sure they will. I’m curious, did 60 Minutes ask to talk with you at length as they have those who have been eager to sort of attack the Bush administration strategy in the war? Have anyone in the book returned fire at you yet?

I won't quote Feith's answers, because ... if you want to hear the same five talking points repeated over and over you can just scroll down to the Gaggle posts where it's actually funny. I will advise Herr Hewitt, though, to be careful if he keeps this up. It's a matter of physics. Sooner or later you're gonna just snap it right off.

A.

Today On 'Stuff That Makes Athenae Want To Tear Off Her Own Head And Eat It'

But propaganda during wartime is just such a haaarrrddd story, full of big words and stuff!

The Sunday-morning talk shows ignored the piece. No surprise that, perhaps, as the story suggested that news programs on ABC, CBS and NBC had broadcast the analysts' talking points about the Iraq war and other military matters without asking too many questions about the provenance of their information.

Oddly, though, the Pentagon caper likewise seemed a nonstarter on the blogosphere, which is famed for blowing up minor PR brush fires into massive conflagrations. The left-leaning Huffington Post, for instance, offered a link to the New York Times piece but mostly let slide the opportunity to pound away at another perceived Bush lapse.

By Monday morning, the Pentagon TV story was still mostly missing from network radar screens. NBC's Brian Williams, who's been known to take a rooting interest in media-industry shopkeeping, didn't even mention it on his "Daily Nightly" blog. "The talk of the staff meetings today was the Pope's surprising visit (a huge media tour de force, by most reviews here in New York and elsewhere), and tomorrow's vote in Pennsylvania," Williams wrote.

That pointed up a second problem with the Times story: Bad timing. Whatever the exigencies of newspaper deadlines, it was hard to showcase a major investigation on a weekend dominated by a hotly contested primary and the pope's visit to America. Beset by breaking news, the networks had relatively limited shelf space for an enterprise story they obviously weren't thrilled about to begin with.

But the biggest hurdle for the story's impact may have been one journalists have trouble seeing. Many Americans confronted with stories of media manipulation by government officials aren't, at this point, shocked and awed. Instead they've come to expect it. Increasingly, they consider the media simply a mouthpiece for whoever has the most power. You don't have to tell John Q. Public that the fix is in; he takes it for granted.

[snip]

So, many Americans, confronted with evidence that TV's talking heads are taking orders not just from government officials but also military-contractor clients, can be excused for not being all that surprised. That is the price we pay for having a government that's not afraid to use sophisticated -- and often brazenly misleading -- PR tactics.

WELL THAT'S ALL OKAY THEN WHAT'S THE BIG FUCKING DEAL WHY DON'T WE ALL JUST GO BACK TO BED.

I'm sorry. I'm sorry. I don't mean to scream. I know it's rude. I know it scares the neighbors. I know it upsets the pets; Puck just emitted a little puff of shedded fur and fled the room. But sometimes, man, sometimes, I tell you ... it's either that or leave Mr. A to a long night of cleaning up beer bottles and cigarette butts, and in the end, I think screaming may be healthier. So let me just ask:

WHAT IN THE UNHOLY BLUE FUCK IS GOING ON?

People can be excused for thinking this is okay? No they fucking can't. Scott Collins up there may excuse them but I fucking don't. And not for nothing, but this type of coverage, Collins' blasé dismissal of a propaganda operation run by the US government as something most people wouldn't be surprised by (and since when is "surprise" the arbiter of "okay," anyway?) is part and parcel of the cynicism it purports to decry. You can't treat everything like it's a big ironic joke (the story broke on the wrong weekend?) and the use as fodder for your story that people have come to the independent conclusion that everything is a big ironic joke.

God, I hate this fucking dodge, where reporters write about the media and its influence on and role in society as though they aren't part of it at all, as though they had nothing to do with it. They set the fucking place on fire and then stand back and describe the totally spontaneous flames. Why didn't it "make a splash?" The fucking fuck I know, maybe because the people who are the gatekeepers of this conversation, like those who work at the LA Times among others, just took it as a matter of their own little superior gospel that nobody would give a shit and went back to their breakfasts.

Ever notice they only ever protest the limits of their power when they're trying to get out of covering something they know they should have covered? Ever notice that? When they're whipping up a frenzy over some bullshit Obama or Hillary controversy, then it's FEEL THE SIZE OF MY MANGIFICENT PRESS MANHOOD but when somebody asks them why they can't be arsed to spend more than ten seconds at a crack on any one issue of interest to, say, a whole swath of the country that's been hurricaned into oblivion, then out come the timid protestations of but we just didn't have the time and it hurts, mommy, stop paddling me. Fuck me blind, the level of self-absorption and responsibility-avoidance in action here is enough to stop a moose in its tracks.

A.

Today On Holden's Obsession With The Gaggle

No More Hugs For McCain?

Q Two quick issues. Senate John McCain was touring a Lower Ninth Ward in New Orleans today. He said, "Never again will a disaster be handled in this terrible and disgraceful way." He was asked specifically to talk about President Bush and how he failed in his Katrina conduct, and he said, "I think everybody knows how it was a failure." There were unqualified people in charge. There was a total misreading of the dimensions of the disaster. There was a failure of communications on the part of the way -- the common spectrum to used by many first responders. He said, "It's been well chronicled. I don't think anybody in America, hardly, is unaware of the many failings that took place." What your reaction to that?

MS. PERINO: Well, I didn't see the comments, but from what I know, having been here during the time, President Bush absolutely took responsibility for any failing on the part of the federal government. But at the same time there were problems at the federal, state and -- I'm sorry, at the state and local levels, as well, which they have admitted to.

The Albanians Stole Chimpy's Watch, The Mexicans Stole Chimpy's Blackberry

Q One quick one to finish up. Is there any update on the stolen Blackberries in New Orleans? What is the story with this?

MS. PERINO: There was an incident in New Orleans at the leaders' summit in -- where an individual from the Mexican delegation, or a staff member was involved in these Blackberries -- the disappearance of a couple of Blackberries. I don't know how many it was. The matter is under investigation by law enforcement officials and they haven't decided yet what exactly happened, but they're working on it.

Q Was there sensitive material on the Blackberries?

MS. PERINO: I don't know. I'm going to let the investigation take place before I comment on it.

Q Whose were they?

Q Yes, whose Blackberries? Were they White House staff Blackberries?

DANA*: I don't -- I'm not --

Q U.S.?

DANA: U.S., yes.

Q White House officials?

DANA: I don't know if they were -- I'm not quite sure whose they were, so I don't want to say that, but they were certainly U.S. delegation.

*Note the offical White House transcript identifies the Press Secretary to the President by her first name.

On His Watch

McStain.

NEW ORLEANS - John McCain toured still hurricane-damaged areas of New Orleans and declared that if the disaster had happened on his watch, he would have immediately landed his plane at the nearest Air Force base.

Um, John.  It did happen on you watch as a US Senator.  Here's what McCain did on August 29, 2005 -- the day Katrina wiped out the levies along the Gulf Coast.

Your President Speaks! Again!

Today, in Washington.

Here Is Services

And I don't think it should be viewed as controversial to say to a public school, if children are falling behind, here's supplementary services to help that individual child catch up.

Our Nation's Fabirc In Making Sure

One of the reasons I've come is to highlight this problem and say to our country: We have an interest in the health of these centers of excellence; it's in the country's interest to get beyond the debate of public/private, to recognize this is a critical national asset that provides a critical part of our nation's fabric in making sure we're a hopeful place.

His Whole Theory Of Life

My whole theory of life was we ought to be asking about results, not necessarily process.

There Is Actual Consequences

See, one of the -- what's very important to make sure that an accountability system works is there's actual consequences and outlets.

You're Qualify!

And one of the outlets would be if you're in a public school that won't teach and won't change, and you're -- qualify, here's a scholarship for you to be able to have an additional opportunity.

Losers

And to me this is a good way to help strengthen the schools that I was talking about that are losing.

Brainwreck

Faith-based schools can continue to serve inner-city children requires a -- to see that that happens requires a commitment from the business community.

"Go-by", AKA Model

In other words, good ideas can take hold. The job of this conference is to provide a kind of go-by for people who share a sense of concern about our nation's future.

Down With Government Law

Citizens -- you know, we're a -- we are a compassionate nation. What I see is America at its very best, which is these millions of acts of kindness and generosity that take place, and it doesn't require a government law.

Hindbrain Hullabaloo

Ten years ago private donors gave approximately $15 million to the church in Memphis to help revive Catholic schools in the city's poorest neighborhoods -- assets exist -- they're worried about them going away, so rather than just watch schools close, somebody -- individuals did something about it by putting up $15 million.

Offer Not Valid In Iraq

You've got to be a little worried in our society when somebody says, I don't think I want to measure. That's like saying, I don't want to be held to account.

Forebrain Foul-Up

And I want to thank those who have put forth the money, and call on all citizens to find ways they can contribute with their hearts to help educational entrepreneurs succeed -- is really what we're talking about, isn't it? Kind of innovation, they're willing to challenge the status quo if it's not working.

I Consider Yourself

I call it educational entrepreneurship -- so I'd consider yourself entrepreneurs, social entrepreneurs.

Midbrain Mistake

Here are some ways -- I mean, these are levels of society that ought to all be involved, and hopefully out of this meeting, that there's concrete action.

Um... Mexican Women Do Not Call Themselves "Mexicana", Do They?

She is a -- she was born in Mexico -- Mexicana.

Chicago Ain't All That

And they moved to Chicago, probably to try to realize a better life -- I'm confident, to try to realize a better life.

What You Just Got

You either just got an A -- or an F.

Neuters Poor Yadira

Someday no telling what Yadira's going to be in life, but one thing is for certain: it's going to be a productive citizen, and America will be better for it.

Not Them Go Away

And my hope is, is that we're laying cornerstones for new schools here or revived schools; that we take the spirit of the Holy Father and extend it throughout the country, and work for excellence for every child; to set high standards, and when we find centers of excellence, not them go away, but to think of policy that will enable them to not only exist, not only survive, but to thrive.

Lip-Service to Peace

Sheesh.  Secret, peace-plan-negating agreements with countries that spy on us.  2009 can't come fast enough.

A letter that President Bush personally delivered to then-Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon four years ago has emerged as a significant obstacle to the president's efforts to forge a peace deal between the Israelis and Palestinians during his last year in office.

Ehud Olmert, the current Israeli prime minister, said this week that Bush's letter gave the Jewish state permission to expand the West Bank settlements that it hopes to retain in a final peace deal, even though Bush's peace plan officially calls for a freeze of Israeli settlements across Palestinian territories on the West Bank. In an interview this week, Sharon's chief of staff, Dov Weissglas, said Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice reaffirmed this understanding in a secret agreement reached between Israel and the United States in the spring of 2005, just before Israel withdrew from Gaza.

U.S. officials say no such agreement exists, and in recent months Rice has publicly criticized even settlement expansion on the outskirts of Jerusalem, which Israel does not officially count as settlements. But as peace negotiations have stepped up in recent months, so has the pace of settlement construction, infuriating Palestinian officials, and Washington has taken no punitive action against Israel for its settlement efforts.

Israeli officials say they have clear guidance from Bush administration officials to continue building settlements, as long as it meets carefully negotiated criteria, even though those understandings appear to contradict U.S. policy.

[snip]

Daniel Kurtzer, then the U.S. ambassador to Israel, said he argued at the time against accepting the Weissglas letter. "I thought it was a really bad idea," he said. "It would legitimize the settlements, and it gave them a blank check." In the end, Kurtzer said the White House never followed up with the plan to define construction lines. "Washington lost interest in it when it became clear it would not be easy to do," he said.

"Whatever it is"

McCain today in New Orleans Lower 9th Ward:

He also told reporters he was not sure if he would rebuild the lower 9th ward as president.

"That is why we need to go back is to have a conversation about what to do -rebuild it, tear it down, you know, whatever it is,” he said.

A good portion of what was the hardest hit area of the Lower 9th is already torn down.....just saying

adding...But let's have the conversation and I'll know McCain is serious about that when he discusses it in Indianapolis and Omaha and Miama and Seattle and.....  Until then I think whatever it is...is as dsb says:

Note: let’s hope New Orleanians don’t get so excited that a national politician has deigned to come to New Orleans that they think McCain actually gives a shit about New Orleans.

(h/t Adrastos for last link)

Green Pies and Ham

Video of Friedman getting pied

(h/t HuffPo)

Your President Speaks!

Yesterday, at the White House.

What He Got

He has grown -- got 100 employees now.

Doesn't Like To Say It's A Recession

This is obviously a difficult time for the economy, and I like to say it's a rough patch.

Holy Crap!™

And it's going to take a while for this to have an effect. The experts tell me that -- you've got these economists say, on the one hand, and on the other hand -- if they had three hands, it would be three opinions, but nevertheless -- with all due respect to some of my economist friends here.

Pretty Well Consensus

But pretty well consensus that the stimulus package, when it takes full effect, will affect our growth in the third quarter, which begins in July of this year.

What He Got

A couple other issues now that I got you stuck here.

More Than One Syllable

And finally, I strongly believe that Congress should allow small businesses to pool risk across jurisdictional boundaries -- those are long words -- like if you're a restaurant guy in Texas, you ought be able to put your employees in the same risk pool as a restaurant person in Maryland.

Brainwreck

In other words, the product that they -- selling is more expensive because of the tariffs.

What This Vote Has Got

The other thing is this vote has got enormous national policy implications.

Synaptic Stumble

First of all, it's in our interest to have a neighborhood that's free, when people who believe in rule of law and human rights -- support leaders in our neighborhood that are tough on dealing with narco-traffickers.

Was 26 -- And Drunk -- When Truman Died

I'm convinced -- I've never had a visit with Harry at all, but I'm convinced that he would say, the lessons I learned in trying to be a small business owner are lessons that are important for a decision-maker in the White House.

Jeb!

Speaking to a group of business folk in Texas, Jeb Bush expressed his skepticism of global warming. The Orlando Sentinel reports:

Bush said those who advocate action to limit climate change are acting out of something like religious zeal.

"I don't think our policies should be based on emotion; they should be based on sound science," he said.

Rather than reducing oil consumption, Bush said the United States should focus on "energy security" -- reducing dependence on oil imported from hostile or politically unstable countries by encouraging alternative fuels.

Would you have expected anything else from a member of the Bush oil family? But the best part of the article comes at the end when the Sentinel reports that Jeb! "took a swipe at Florida's alligators."

Bush told the Texas audience how he repeatedly vetoed spending state money to market alligator meat.

"Alligators proliferate in Florida. They eat small dogs," Bush said. "We don't need to market them, we need to kill them."

After a slight pause, he added, "Is this open to the press?"

Yup

Blechtell

A.

Today On Holden's Obsession With The Gaggle

Helen Has The Floor

MS. PERINO: Helen.

Q The President has said publicly several times, in two consecutive news conferences a few months ago, and you have said over and over again, we do not torture. Now he has admitted that he did sign off on torture, he did know about it. So how do you reconcile this credibility gap?

MS. PERINO: Helen, you're taking liberties with the what the President said. The United States has not, is not torturing any detainees in the global war on terror. And General Hayden, amongst others, have spoken on Capitol Hill fully in this regard, and it is -- I'll leave it where it is. The President is accurate in saying what he said.

Q That's not my question. My question is, why did he state publicly, we do not torture --

MS. PERINO: Because we do not.

Q -- when he really did know that we do?

MS. PERINO: No, that's what I mean, Helen. We've talked about the legal authorities --

Q Are you saying that we did not?

MS. PERINO: I am saying we did not, yes.

Q How can you when you have photographs and everything else? I mean, how can you say that when he admits that he knew about it?

MS. PERINO: Helen, I think that you're -- again, I think you're conflating some issues and you're misconstruing what the President said.

Q I'm asking for the credibility of this country, not just this administration.

MS. PERINO: And what I'm telling you is we have -- torture has not occurred. And you can go back through all the public record. Just make sure -- I would just respectfully ask you not to misconstrue what the President said.

Q You're denying, in this room, that we torture and we have tortured?

MS. PERINO: Yes, I am denying that.

Elaine, did you have one?

'A Race to the U-Bend of the Toilet:' Crack Van Recap

I remembered to save some of the chat text from last night, and I think this was my favorite bit of all. What happens when you throw two dozen geeks into a room and get them on about the language during commentary about "the deer hunter vote?" This:

spork_incident> A covey of quail!

Athenae: A brace of woodcock!

John_O> Don't tell Cheney.

Elspeth> ha, A said 'cock'!

Athenae: Elspeth, yeah, we call it Tuesday.

joejoejoe8059> a pride of leons

sent sound: rooster

virgotex> heheheheh

Dee_Loralei> can we invent a tv channel with only KO and Rachel Maddow on MSNBC

Sinfonian> *switches to baseball*

spocko_holdingontovan> the cafe I'm in the people go out side to smoke. Right in front of the door and the wind blows it in. How rude!

Elspeth> LOL!!! :)

Apostate> a shame of pundits

joejoejoe8059> heh...

Athenae: A business of ferrets.

Athenae: Who are now climbing on the table.

ellroon> Spocko, at least they're outside...

The_Kenosha_Kid> i can haz ferrets?

SteveLG> A stole of ferrets.

virgotex> don't they ever sleep

Athenae: Next paycheck, they're getting lots of toys. They need new diversions.

Sinfonian> a PAC of politicians

Athenae: virgo, never.

ellroon> a cabal of bushies

spocko_holdingontovan> True. I should be happy for small favors.

virgotex> Before you got here, we had ferret canapes

SteveLG> A collar of ferrets.

Elspeth> a landfill of bushies.

joejoejoe8059> are ferrets and polecats the same thing?

Athenae: *pouts*

FeralLiberal> Business? How about a frenzy?

Apostate> a thatch of russerts

Athenae: jjj, they're related.

underwhelm> an eternity of primaries

ellroon> polecats = skunks?

virgotex> polecats are skunks

Sinfonian> polecat = skunk

The_Kenosha_Kid> lol underwhelm

virgotex> civet

stormysu> elspeth ding dingding

ellroon> ha!

Sinfonian> too slow

sid6792> skanks

SteveLG> Zogby's a pollcat... a stinky one recently.

Elspeth> A Stepford of Cindy McCains

spocko_holdingontovan> I'm a lonesome polecat was a song from Seven Bride for Seven Brothers.

spork_incident> A coulter of skanks.

Have I mentioned lately that I love you all?

A.

Jimmy or Condi?

Um, I beleive the one who doesn't lie to us at every opportunity.

ATLANTA (Reuters) - Former U.S. President Jimmy Carter denied on Wednesday that the State Department warned him not to meet with leaders of the Islamist group Hamas before he made a recent trip to the Middle East.

[snip]

The State Department has said U.S. Assistant Secretary of State David Welch, the top U.S. diplomat for the Middle East, urged Carter not to meet with Hamas, a position restated by Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice, but Carter denied this.

"No one in the State Department or any other department of the U.S. government ever asked him (Carter) to refrain from his recent visit to the Middle East or even suggested that he not meet with Syrian President (Bashar) Assad or leaders of Hamas," said a statement released by the Atlanta-based Carter Center, which speaks on the former president's behalf.

[snip]

The Carter Center statement said the former president attempted to call Rice before making the trip and a deputy returned his call since Rice was in Europe.

"They had a very pleasant discussion for about 15 minutes, during which he never made any of the negative or cautionary comments described above. He never talked to anyone else," the Carter Center statement said.

"President Carter has the greatest respect for ... Rice and believes her to be a truthful person. However, perhaps inadvertently, she is continuing to make a statement that is not true," the statement said.

Welcome to the Chicago GOP's PANTS

I think I speak for everyone in the room when I say ew.

A.

Build Me Up Buttercup: Last Night's MSNBC Coverage

Tweety on Obama's campaign:

"It's too debonaire; it's too Fred Astaire; it's too Kumbaya."

He was pissed, right, deeply, viscerally angered that Obama wasn't more of a man, more aggressive, angrier maybe? I don't know, it wasn't totally coherent, which shouldn't surprise us, between Tweety twittering and Brokaw slurring it was like watching two bears have a slapfight while falling down a hill. It's like it offended him personally, what he kept describing as Obama's "inability to close the deal." Howard Fineman was kind of trying to hold it off, but he, too, displayed a sort of childlike disappointment, like he'd expected, what? Obama to come out with six-shooters? I do not understand this bullshit.

Fineman particularly was buying into the Republican spin about how Democrats needed to HEAL their retarded party and get back together and how in the general all these Democrats who voted for Democrats would vote Republican, in Pennsylvania. I don't live in Pennsylvania, but are all y'all like that, really? I seem to remember Kerry, that windsurfing wuss, took PA pretty hard like he meant it and handled it like a champ. It's not that I'm not sick of the primary campaign; oh, I so am. But I really do question this thing that's coming up, that's nothing more than Republican spin, that all of this is good for John McCain and the Democrats are doomed and OMG.

I was thinking about this last night; after like nineteen billion hours of MSNBC shitheads spewing nonsense you start to get Stockholmed into thinking maybe they're right, and look. Sure. Maybe the ongoing Dem primary campaign is good for McCain right now. But once there's a nominee, the game changes. In between the shitheadery overtaking the airwaves was the DNC ad on McCain and the economy. It's devastating. He looks old, tired, out of touch, past his prime, and fucking confused. Recall, mind, that that's just the first ad. Recall, also, that most people a) don't watch the cable chatter and b) have the attention span of gnats.

Plus, and this is the biggie, the ongoing Dem primary campaign does not seem to be depressing turnout in these primaries.* PA turnout:

Election officials projected turnout among Pennsylvania's 8.3 million registered voters at 40 percent to 50 percent for the presidential primary, double that of the state's primary four years ago.

Secretary of State Pedro Cortes said Tuesday that for the 2004 primary 21 percent of Democrats, Republicans, independents and other registered voters turned out. In 2000 the primary turnout was just 18 percent.

If people truly were all "fuck this primary, Obama's a Muslim and Hillary's Hitlery and I'm voting for the old dude what can't remember the flavor of his pudding," you'd see that by now. So while we, the junkies, may be tired, and the cable news dickheads may be tired, looks like America's not fucking tired. Balls to the walls, eh?

A.

ps. Tweety's other finest moment? Calling Hillary Clinton, repeatedly, a "local girl." Stay classy, MSNBC.

*To be fair, in 2004 and 2000 the primaries were basically over by the time PA rolled around, so maybe it's not a big surprise turnout's up, but still. You get half of anybody to do anything, it's a pretty good day.

Your President.... Ur, Ah... SPEAKS!

Yesterday, in New Orleans.

Ought To Be Committed

You know, one of the things, I came to New Orleans and spoke about the federal commitment, and I said, it's been a devastating period and the federal government is committed and will remain committed to helping.

What We Got To Make Sure

But there are some significant problems. One is we got to make sure these levees meet the obligations and meet the standards.

Holy Crap!™

Secondly, I am concerned about the health care system that was torn up and needs to be rebuilt in a way that encourages there to be good health care and in a way that recognizes the changing population of New Orleans.

Stories On Crime

Thirdly, I have been concerned about the stories on crime, just like the citizens have been worried about the stories on crime.

Brainwreck

All in all -- and then, finally, public housing restoration.

Your President Speaks!

Today, in New Orleans, during a presser with Mexican President Calderon and Canadian PM Harper.

Cheney Asks Dumb Questions

One of the things -- people ask, well, does it make sense for Mexico, Canada and the United States to meet?

Colombia Goods

It makes no sense to me to say that Colombia goods can come into our country duty-free, yet our goods can't go into Colombia duty-free.

There Is No "Speaker Of The United States Congress"

The Speaker of the United States Congress has killed this bill unless she gives us a date certain for a vote.

Move Product In A Way

We're working to make sure we reduce regulations and to add -- to make sure that our small businesses and farmers and producers are able to move product in a way without a bunch of government regulations in between.

There Is Complications

And there's complications on these long borders; I understand that.

What We Got

For example, we got an issue with Mexico.

Brainwreck

The last time -- the time before last we met, the President made it abundantly clear that he felt the United States ought to do more to prevent guns from going into the -- from the United States into Mexico.

What The Process Do

And we put a process in place that do a variety of things, all aiming to make sure that our neighbors and our neighborhood isn't scourged by these thugs who use guns out of the United States to hold their people hostage, hold the country hostage.

Medulla Ohmygodda

I mean, one way to increase pressure on the border is to -- if you do away with NAFTA, there's going to be a lot of Mexicans -- more Mexicans out of work.

Rebellion In The Cerebellum

And if they -- if the Speaker doesn't bring -- give us a date certain on the bill, she's effectively killed it. It's her responsibility, and she's going to have to explain why the voices of false populism have been strengthened; why anti-Americanism could flourish, when America turns its back on a strong leader like President Uribe and a friend for democracy like President Uribe.

The Benefits Of Why

And so I'll continue to speak out on it, and assure our friends that we will work hard to explain to the people the benefits of why free and fair trade is in our nation's interest.

What We Got

We got people out there campaigning, "well, we're just going to tax the rich."

The So-Called President

You can't raise enough money to meet their spending appetites by taxing the so-called rich. Every one of those so-called "tax the rich" schemes end up taxing the middle class families.

Hoo-Ray!  Fourth Quarter 2007 GDP Grew At A Rate Of 0.6%

First of all, I -- we're not in a recession. We're in a slowdown. We grew in the fourth quarter of last year.

Diminshing Certainty

I think this is going to have a positive effect on the economy. Experts say it's going to have a positive effect on the economy. And so we'll see what happens there.

Dood Looks Like A Lady

You know, the President is plenty capable of handling reform. She's a -- he's a good honest man, who cares deeply about the people of Mexico, and he'll do what he thinks is right for the country of Mexico.

What We Got

And in terms of President Uribe, we got no better friend in South America than President Uribe.

The Trade Agreement We Honest Negotiated

He has the support of the United States of America in many ways, but if we don't agree to a free trade agreement that we honest -- negotiated in good faith with them, it will undermine his efforts, and will destabilize parts of the world.

Pennsylvania Crack Van

Posts in the van belong to their posters. If you didn't bring a pipe, share with someone who did. Try not to step on the ferrets. They get underfoot. NO VIOLENCE. Play nicely.

Van closed. Thanks to all for stopping by!

A.

Awesome

From Streetblogs:

...this video of an automated underground bike garage at a Tokyo commuter train station. For a single-use fee of 100 yen (about $1) or 1,800 yen for a monthly pass, customers roll their bikes onto a platform and use a control panel to have them whisked away to a rack within the 9,400 spot facility. The video shows that it takes the system 23 seconds to retrieve the reporter's bike.

Past It

The Rude Pundit speaks:

At some point, can someone tell the Republicans to get over the Sixties (and early Seventies)? Can we please have politicians who aren't still fighting the Vietnam War and the hippies? That's why 48 year-old Barack Obama's reaction to the dust-up over Ayers is something akin to "What the fuck?" Because, really, and c'mon, "What the fuck?"

'Cause what's a little more important here is perhaps McCain's absolutely bugfuck insane answer to the question about when we'll know if there's success in Iraq: "It’s not a matter of time. It’s a matter of casualties. If we can eliminate American casualties, that’s the key to the success. Because Americans are grieved by the loss of these brave — of our most — sacrifice of our most precious treasure." There it is: if the war can stop making Americans sad, then it'll be dandy. Really, the bottom-line measure is "The Iraqis can go fuck themselves."

The short answer is that we will have politicians that are still fighting the Vietnam War until we no longer have politicians that are still fighting the Civil War, and that's me being glib, but also: Seriously.

The reality is that in many ways Vietnam led to Iraq, in the way that one war bleeds into another and our discourse is poisoned by the former so that speaking honestly about the latter becomes impossible. How many of our national punditry, especially the "sensible liberal" types, the faux-moderates, the neo-weenie poser assholes who used to be hardcore commie poser assholes, were motivated in their pro-war commentary by a false picture of the 1960s and 1970s painted by conservatives who wanted to silence a successful anti-war movement? Honestly, how many were just out not to look like dirty hippies?

And their banging away on the stupid little drums they'd gotten from their conservative bosses drowned out all the yelling from the streets that, you know, this is a stupid fucking idea and we ought to be thinking a little harder about all of this.

A.

100%? Really?

Is John McCain gaming the system?

Sen. John McCain has long said he is in robust health and is strong enough to hike the Grand Canyon, but he also is receiving what his staff Monday termed a "disability pension" from the Navy.

When McCain released his tax return for 2007 on Friday, he separately disclosed that he received a pension of $58,358 that was not listed as income on his return.

On Monday, McCain's staff identified the retirement benefit as a "disability pension" and said that McCain "was retired as disabled because of his limited body movements due to injuries as a POW."

[snip]

Certain types of military and veterans pensions are either partially or completely tax-exempt, depending on the seriousness of the disability. In McCain's case, the exemption is 100%.

100% disabled?  Here's the relevant section of the Code of Federal Regulations, does McCain meet this standard?

TITLE 38--PENSIONS, BONUSES, AND VETERANS' RELIEF

                CHAPTER I--DEPARTMENT OF VETERANS AFFAIRS

PART 4_SCHEDULE FOR RATING DISABILITIES--Table of Contents

                   Subpart A_General Policy in Rating

Sec. 4.15  Total disability ratings.

Total disability will be considered to exist when there is present any
impairment of mind or body which is sufficient to render it impossible
for the average person to follow a substantially gainful occupation;
Provided, That permanent total disability shall be taken to exist when
the impairment is reasonably certain to continue throughout the life of
the disabled person. The following will be considered to be permanent
total disability: the permanent loss of the use of both hands, or of
both feet, or of one hand and one foot, or of the sight of both eyes, or
becoming permanently helpless or permanently bedridden.

A Your President Speaks Trifecta!

Yesterday, in New Orleans:

During a photo-op with Mexican President Felipe Calderon...

Is He Talking To Jenna Here?

I appreciate the fact that you inherited a very difficult situation. One, you inherited the high demand for drugs in the United States.

Brainwreck

We need to do -- continue our initiative that we started with -- during your administration, Mr. President, on dealing with arms trafficking -- arms from the United States into Mexico.

Cerebral Vortex

My hope, of course, is they fully fund the program, and they fund it -- a strategy that will be effective.

A photo-op with Canadian PM Stephen Harper...

If There Is Any Issues

I'm always interested in making sure that, if there's any bilateral tensions or bilateral issues, that I know of them, so that we can work collaboratively to deal with them.

The Borders Were Being Able To Flow

And in the past, one such issue was whether or not our people could travel back and forth between our respective countries in a way that didn't inconvenience them, or the borders were -- being able to flow smoothly so it didn't inconvenience trade.

And at a US Chamber Of Commerce Reception where he made a complete fool of himself.

The Face Of The Teachers

But there's a lot of hope in this city. I mean, you can see it in the face of the teachers.

Über Ponies

Holy Crap!™ Chimpy just set the record for the most hated president evah!

WASHINGTON — President Bush has set a record he'd presumably prefer to avoid: the highest disapproval rating of any president in the 70-year history of the Gallup Poll.

In a USA TODAY/Gallup Poll taken Friday through Sunday, 28% of Americans approve of the job Bush is doing; 69% disapprove. The approval rating matches the low point of his presidency, and the disapproval sets a new high for any president since Franklin Roosevelt.

The previous record of 67% was reached by Harry Truman in January 1952, when the United States was enmeshed in the Korean War.

[snip]

In another record, the percentage of Americans who say the invasion of Iraq was a mistake reached a new high, 63%, in the latest poll.

Assessments of Bush's presidency are harsh. By 69%-27%, those polled say Bush's tenure in general has been a failure, not a success.

For Everybody Volunteering or Working for a Campaign Today

Balls to the walls, eh? Anybody fuckin' tired?!

A.

Happy Democrat Photos: Completely Trivial Eye Candy Edition

Sexy.

Lovely.

A.

Pony Blow Will Always Be With Us

Yays:

Former White House press secretary Tony Snow will join CNN as a conservative commentator beginning today, it was announced by Jon Klein, president of CNN/U.S.

A well-known and respected observer of politics with a longstanding news background, Snow will contribute to CNN as the network continues to broadcast winning political coverage.

Snow most recently served as press secretary to President George W. Bush from April 2006 to September 2007.

I'm so glad we have Fox as the conservative answer to CNN's liberal agenda.

A.

Serve Your Ass Like John McEnroe

Let's not get too depressed, no matter how silly the silly season gets, kay?

The month of March provided an eight-figure take for the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee (DCCC), the political organization of the majority Democrats in the U.S. House: the DCCC collected $10.1 million last month, ahead of the $7.1 million raised by the National Republican Congressional Committee (NRCC), according to reports both organizations filed Friday with the Federal Election Commission (FEC).

A.

Today On Holden's Obsession With The Gaggle

Poor Benighted Dana...

Q Israel, and Hamas's reported willingness to engage in a peace deal. Do you have any reaction on that?

MS. PERINO: Well, I think that -- you're referring to what President Carter said about what he was told? I think that what you have to do is look at -- it's possible that that was whispered in his ear in a private meeting. We did not support the private meeting, a meeting with a terrorist organization.

...Proven Wrong Again

DAMASCUS (Reuters) - Islamist Hamas group Hamas said on Monday it would accept the establishment of a Palestinian state on land occupied by Israel in the 1967 Middle East war, but it was not prepared to recognize the Jewish state.

Hamas leader Khaled Meshaal, in an apparent softening of the group's position, was confirming an account of his remarks given by former U.S. President Jimmy Carter after two meetings in Damascus over the weekend.

"We accept a state on the June 4 line with Jerusalem as capital, real sovereignty and full right of return for refugees but without recognizing Israel," Meshaal told reporters, referring to the borders as they stood before the 1967 war.

Your President Speaks - Breifly

Today, in New Orleans.

No Habla

In 1824, New Orleans, Louisiana became the first site of the Mexican -- for the first -- became the site for the first Mexican consulate in the United States.

Tomorrow and Tomorrow: Crack Van Time!

Be here for the van. Starting 4:30 or thereabouts. Don't make me watch MSNBC alone. You never know, this could be the night Keith finally snaps and tells Matthews to go fuck himself. You wouldn't want to miss that.

A.

What We Say It Is

Something else that fails to shock:

Rep. Bill Delahunt (D-MA) wanted some clarity during his questioning. Was the attorney general really saying that anyone who acted pursuant to a Justice Department legal opinion was "insulated from criminal liability?"

Mukasey wanted to say it more carefully. "I think what I said was that we could not investigate or prosecute somebody for acting in reliance on a Justice Department opinion."

But even if that opinion was "inaccurate," Delahunt wondered, and that behavior really did violate the U.S. criminal code, you're saying that someone who relied on it would effectively have "immunity from any culpability?"

"Justified reliance," Mukasey answered, "could not be the subject of a prosecution." Simple as that. "Immunity connotes culpability,” he added, so it wasn't immunity, exactly, but the effect was the same.

Delahunt (much like Sen. Joe Biden (D-DE) in the last hearing) proclaimed himself baffled. This was a "new legal doctrine" for him. He'd thought "the law is the law."

The quick take, of course, is that they're making me miss John Ashcroft with a fierceness previously reserved only for Cadbury Eggs in December or figgy pudding in July. Who'd have thought that nasty old fucker would prove to be one of the more principled members of the Bush administration? It's a pretty low bar, I'll admit, but even so.

The law is the law. How pathetic. How quaint. How predictable; I keep saying it but it doesn't get less true: They have been at this for YEARS, and only now are we starting to freak out about it. And our primary reaction is bafflement; it's confusing, it's not like they're just doing something that's, well, rude. It's that they've gone so far over the edge as to say the world we live in, structured as we know it, does not exist. The reality-based community; it's been a joke for a while, but do we realize, yet, how funny it isn't? You show them a banana and it's not like they say it's an apple, it's like they pat you on the head and say "Good doggie." I mean, it makes no sense. They have been at this for YEARS and we're still so fucking bumfuzzled by it we're grasping for a response. The official we, anyway, the Democratic Party we, the US Senate/House we.

Me, I would like to see Congress issue its own arrest warrants and drag these people to jail on national television, because the law isn't what you say it is, the law is the law, and if you break it, you get your ass handcuffed, and that's how it works in the NBA.

Schmucks.

A.

Your President Speaks!

Saturday, at Camp David, during a presser with President Lee Myung-Bak of the Republic of Korea.

The Global War On Subjets Continues

We had a wonderful dinner last night, and looking forward to having lunch, too, today.

Screw China And India

How can you possibly have an international agreement that's effective unless countries like China and India are not [sic] full participants.

Brainwreck

And that's why I assured him this major economies meeting that is taking place in Paris, I assured him I meant what I said in my speech in the Rose Garden, and that hopefully by the time we get to G8 there's a serious effort by all major economies to become active participants in a effective strategy to deal with this issue.

There Is Rumors

You know, there's all kinds of rumors about what is happening and what's not happening.

A Society In Which It's Hard To Get Information Out Of

But when you're dealing with a society in which it's hard to get information out of, you just have to wait and see whether they're sincere or not.

There Is All Kinds

Unlike our society, of course, where there's all kinds of people in the administration talking and sharing information with you -- some of it authorized, some of it's not -- it doesn't happen that way in North Korea.

There Has Been Moments

This has been a -- I've been at this for quite a while, and there's been moments where it looks like the process is going to go very smoothly and everybody is going to honor their commitments, and then for one reason or another, there's a -- there was a setback.

China Is A Opportunity

It's going to be very important a 21st century alliance recognizes that China is a opportunity for both nations to engage in a constructive way.

What The Step One Is

And so the step one is to anticipate the issues confronting our peoples in the 21st century, and step two is to develop a practical way to deal with those issues.

I Knew I'd Lose You

A.

"He particularly loved the tale of the prodigal son."

I'm not a religious person but if I were I would read this terribly sad story of the life and passing of Alvin Thomas and think God has now welcomed his prodigal son home and weeps, not for him, but for us, who fail in the caring for our own......

Then, on March 14, Alvin changed clothes for the first time in months, a hopeful sign, said Pete Nunnally, a diocese employee who befriended Thomas. That day, Thomas helped the crew of volunteers shore up the house. As they left, one of the volunteers promised she would return with a can opener.

Sometime that night, despite warnings scrawled on the door and walls, death stopped on France Street for the Thomas family's first-born son. He left behind a small gray radio, airing a passionate sermon to a small pile of clothes, some unopened canned goods and a tattered mattress.

Read it all