he must even embarass himself these days

Bush mentions al Qaida 27 times in latest Iraq speech
(Crooks and Liars)

this is an interesting take!

Another attack piece on Michael Moore by the LA Times
(Crooks and Liars)
---
Get this - the problem is that Michael expects to make money on his movie!
Really! That's the "argument" against him!
Non-sequitor city!

a dumb idea and dumber execution

U.S. border fence protrudes into Mexico

COLUMBUS, N.M. - The 1.5-mile barrier along the U.S.-Mexico border was designed to keep cars from illegally crossing into the United States. There's just one problem: It was accidentally built on Mexican soil. Now embarrassed border officials say the mistake could cost the federal government more than $3 million to fix.

---
Freakin' idiots...

another bloody milestone for bush and his "progress"

Iraq ambush caps bloodiest months for US

the Dems need to continue to press this issue!

Dems call White House out on subpoenas

WASHINGTON - Democrats took the first steps Friday in what could be a long march to court in a tug-of-war between the White House and Congress over subpoenas and executive and legislative branch powers.

In a letter to White House counsel Fred Fielding, the heads of the Senate and House Judiciary committees demanded an explanation in 10 days of why the White House claimed executive privilege on subpoenaed documents and vowed to invoke "the full force of law."

---
The American people are on the same side as the Dems in thinking that the administration should obey the law, so they need to press this issue and show the people that bush & co. could care less about doing the right thing.
They just have too much to hide...

wow - what must he think of bush?!

Brownback writes of 'hatred' of Clintons

WASHINGTON - Sam Brownback says he harbored a "hatred" of Bill and Hillary Rodham Clinton until he experienced a religious awakening in the mid-1990s.
---
"I thought, I hate them for what they are doing to the country and I feel justified in hating them for it," he writes.

---
If he hated the Clintons for what they did to our country (8 years of peace and prosperity), there must be no words for what he feels for bush!
What a sick puppy!

responding to hate with class

John Edwards responds….
(Think Progress)
And could Chris Matthews be any more of an ass?

claiming bigots fired him for his (different) bigotry!

Ex-'Grey's' star cites racism for firing

LOS ANGELES - "Grey's Anatomy" star Isaiah Washington said racism was a factor in his firing from the hit ABC series after he twice used an anti-gay slur.

---
WTF?! This anti-gay bigot is fired for being an anti-gay bigot, yet he's trying to say that he was fired because of other bigots?!?!

Be a freakin' man and own up to your own actions, asshole! Take your persecution complex somewhere else - you were a star on a huge TV series - you weren't exactly being discriminated against!

some free speech still allowed

Court allows student's anti-Bush T-shirt

WASHINGTON - Putting its recent ruling on student speech into practice, the Supreme Court on Friday rejected a school district's appeal of a ruling that it violated a student's rights by censoring his anti-Bush T-shirt.

A seventh-grader from Vermont was suspended for wearing a shirt that bore images of cocaine and a martini glass — but also had messages calling President Bush a lying drunk driver who abused cocaine and marijuana, and the "chicken-hawk-in-chief" who was engaged in a "world domination tour."

After his suspension, Zachary Guiles returned to school with duct tape covering the
offending images.

Williamstown Middle School Principal Kathleen Morris-Kortz said the images violated the school dress code, which prohibits clothing that promotes the use of drugs or alcohol.

An appeals court said the school had no right to censor any part of the shirt.

On Monday, the court said schools could regulate student expression if it advocated illegal drug use. Justice Samuel Alito cautioned that schools could not censor political speech.

The case is Marineau v. Guiles, 06-757.

---
This is a pretty damn hip seventh-grader! At least some kids are paying attention!

comparisons to keep in mind

Civilian Death Statistics in Iraq & Afghanistan Compared
(From Prose Before Hos)

bush continues to screw over New Orleans

New Post-Katrina Investigations Reveal More Federal Waste And Incompetence
(Think Progress)
---
I am constantly amazed at how much evil this president gets away with, without any accountability at all.Where is the media outrage? This is a beloved American city we're talking about!

just pathetic

CNN covers CNN covering Paris Hilton.

“Talk about milking the story,” HuffPost’s Rachel Sklar writes. “CNN covered Paris Hilton arriving at CNN studios for her interview with Larry King.”

Wolf Blitzer cut his interview with Bill Cosby about inner city poverty tothrow over to Carol Costello who was ‘watching another story’ — the story being the live shot of Paris Hilton getting out of her car.

(Think Progress)
---
Gawd how I long for an actual liberal media!

isn't it amazing that this is still an issue in the 21st century?

BREAKING: Supreme Court Strikes Down Public School Desegregation Law
(Think Progress)
---
And it is very sad that bush's ultra-conservative Supreme Court is regressing America by decades, if not centuries.
How has "progress" become a bad word to anyone in America?

more repug obstructionism

Key cloture vote on Senate immigration bill has failed. Only 46 senators voted to continue with debate on the legislation, short of the 60 needed.
UPDATE: Sen. Ted Kennedy (D-MA): “It is now clear that we are not going to complete our work on immigration reform. That is enormously disappointing for Congress and for the country.”

(Think Progress)

and so much has been accomplished in the last three years!

FLASHBACK: Bush Awards Iraqis Their Sovereignty — ‘Let Freedom Reign!’

Three years ago today, the U.S. officially transfered sovereignty to Iraq in a “secretive ceremony” that was moved up two days “to thwart insurgents’ attempts at undermining the transfer.” The AP wrote at the time, “U.S. occupiers…wished them prosperity and handed them a staggering slate of problems — including a lethal insurgency the Americans admit they underestimated.”

(Think Progress)

unimaginable

Bomb kills 22 at Baghdad bus station

BAGHDAD - A car bomb killed 22 people Thursday in a bus station in western Baghdad, and police said 20 beheaded bodies had been discovered on the banks of the Tigris River southeast the capital. Government security officials raised doubts about the decapitation report.

The car bomb ripped through a crowded transport hub in southwest Baghdad's Baiyaa neighborhood at morning rush hour, killing at least 22 people and wounding more than 50, police said on condition of anonymity because they were not authorized the release the information.

Many of the victims had been lining up for bus rides to work. Some 40 minibuses were incinerated, police said.

---
I can't imagine how the Iraqis continue to go about their lives with this complete chaos going on around them.
Absolutely surreal...

bush shows his contempt for the law once again

Bush won't supply subpoenaed documents

WASHINGTON - President Bush, moving toward a constitutional showdown with Congress, asserted executive privilege Thursday and rejected lawmakers' demands for documents that could shed light on the firings of federal prosecutors.

Bush's attorney told Congress the White House would not turn over subpoenaed documents for former presidential counsel Harriet Miers and former political director Sara Taylor. Congressional panels want the documents for their investigations of Attorney General Alberto Gonzales' stewardship of the Justice Department, including complaints of undue political influence.

The Democratic chairmen of the two committees seeking the documents accused Bush of stonewalling and disdain for the law, and said they would press forward with enforcing the subpoenas.
---
Thursday was the deadline for surrendering the documents. The White House also made clear that Miers and Taylor would not testify next month, as directed by the subpoenas, which were issued June 13. The stalemate could end up with House and Senate contempt citations and a battle in federal court over separation of powers.

"Increasingly, the president and vice president feel they are above the law," said Senate Judiciary Chairman Patrick Leahy, D-Vt. He portrayed the president's actions as "Nixonian stonewalling."

His House counterpart, Judiciary Chairman John Conyers, D-Mich., said Bush's assertion of executive privilege was "unprecedented in its breadth and scope" and displayed "an appalling disregard for the right of the people to know what is going on in their government."

---
Isn't it amazing that we're at a point where we expect the president to break the law instead of uphold the law?
I think if the Founding Fathers saw where we are now they would instigate an armed uprising to bring us back to the goals that they once fought for.

clever

Senate subpoenas Cheney's office, forcing him to claim executive privelege

But of course, Cheney just said he and his office are not part of the executive branch. But he'll have to change his tune immediately in order to squash the subpoena by claiming executive privelege. And that is why the subpoena was issued right now, to force Cheney to recant his recent claim that he's a new and independent 4th branch of government. Two points for the Dems. .

(Americablog)

Washington Post cheney expose

Chapter One

Chapter Two

Chapter Three

Chapter Four

bizarro-world analysis of cheney

Cheney Fan Club Member Jonah Goldberg: ‘It’s A Sign Of Integrity That Cheney Doesn’t Care’
(Think Progress)

more on this administration rewarding big business and screwing the public

Report: ‘Shadow Goverment’ Of Private Contractors Explodes Under Bush

-

--
In the report’s review of 500 contracts, 118 contracts worth $745.5 billion “experienced significant overcharges, wasteful spending, or mismanagement over the last five years.” A recent report by American Progress Senior Fellow Scott Lilly has more details about the Bush administration’s procurement process problem and what Congress can do to clean up the mess.

(Think Progress)
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Has any administration ever damaged this country as much as this maniac?

will there finally be some accountability in this administration?

Senate committee issues subpoenas for NSA spying documents.

AP reports:

The Senate Judiciary Committee subpoenaed the White House and Vice President Dick Cheney’s office Wednesday for documents relating to President Bush’s warrant-free eavesdropping program.

Also named in subpoenas signed by committee Chairman Patrick Leahy, D-Vt., were the Justice Department and the National Security Council.

The committee wants documents that might shed light on internal squabbles within the administration over the legality of the program, said a congressional official speaking on condition of anonymity because the subpoenas had not been made public.

(Think Progress)

some good coming out of coulter's hate speech

Coulter attacks help Edwards raise cash
---
Somewhat ironic and I'm glad that the Edwards are using this forum to denounce this type of disgusting rhetoric, no matter who it is aimed at.
Not that there was ever any doubt as to who had the higher moral ground between repugs and Dems.

absurd

Judge: No appeal bail in teen sex case

ATLANTA - A man who had consensual sex with a 15-year-old girl when he was 17 is not eligible for release on bail while appealing his 10-year prison sentence, a judge ruled Wednesday.

The ruling is likely to mean that 21-year-old Genarlow Wilson will remain behind bars for several more months at least.

The Georgia Supreme Court is not set to hear his appeal of his term for aggravated child molestation until October. The justices, without explanation, denied a motion by state Attorney General Thurbert Baker to expedite the appeal.

In Wednesday's ruling, Douglas County Superior Court Judge David Emerson said Wilson's conviction for one of the so-called seven deadly sins, under Georgia law, makes him ineligible for bail. He canceled a hearing that had been scheduled for July 5.

Wilson is serving a 10-year mandatory sentence for receiving oral sex at 2003 New Year's Eve Party. The law has since been changed by Georgia lawmakers.

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I sure hope there is more to this story than what was reported here, because this is completely absurd! Jailing teens for having consensual sex should be a crime! What teen ISN"T having sex?! And a 10 year mandatory sentence?! That's insane!

And the reference to "sin" is particularly disturbing.

There had better be something more to this than repressed, southern idiocy!

new British PM

Brown becomes new British prime minister
LONDON - Former Treasury chief Gordon Brown became British prime minister Wednesday, promising "a new government with new priorities," after Tony Blair left office with a legacy of economic prosperity overshadowed by the deeply divisive Iraq war.

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Personally, I don't know anything about Brown, so I can't say whether this is good or bad - time will tell...

even the repugs are turning on bush

Republican support for Iraq war slips

WASHINGTON - Republican support for the Iraq war is slipping by the day. After four years of combat and more than 3,560 U.S. deaths, two Republican senators previously reluctant to challenge President Bush on the war announced they could no longer support the deployment of 157,000 troops and asked the president to begin bringing them home.

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Of course, this is only happening because even they are seeing how hated bush's failed policies are in this country and they want to get re-elected, but, despite the hypocrisy, it is good that even they are starting to speak realistically.

good for Elizabeth!

Elizabeth Edwards Confronts Coulter During Live Television Appearance
(Think Progress)
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I'm glad that someone is standing up to this vile excuse for a woman but I also am truly disgusted that anyone continues to give this revolting hate-monger air-time.
I think she should be sent off to a deserted island along with bush & cheney and her wet dreams can come true...

Ms. Edwards proved to be articulate, classy and intelligent - and showed who had the higher moral ground.

Again, I know that coulter's schtick is supposed to be vomit-inducing-right-wing-comedy, but it lost any absurdist appeal it might have had a long time ago.

how can people STILL be this ignorant?!

41.

Percentage of Americans who believe “Saddam Hussein’s regime in Iraq was directly involved in planning, financing, or carrying out the terrorist attacks of September 11th, 2001,” according to a new Newsweek poll. The number is up 5 points from Sept. 2004. Twenty percent of Americans say they believe today that the U.S. has found chemical and biological weapons in Iraq.
(Think Progress)
---
I know that this administration continues to try to lie to the American public about this nonsense, but since it has been conclusively proven over & over that this is a complete fabrication, it is astounding that anyone in the world would still be stupid enough to believe this.

"liberal media" priorities

CNN Dumps Michael Moore For Paris Hilton
(Think Progress)

what a frightening loon

“Guantanamo is a symbol of our resolve.”

– former governor Mitt Romney, who added that the Guantanamo “plays an important role in protecting our nation from violent, heinous terrorists.”
(Think Progress)

because repugs don't give a shit about our safety

Senate conservatives blocking legislation that would enact the 9/11 Commission recommendations and ethics and lobbying reform.

(Think Progress)

another Abramoff casualty

Breaking: Abramoff-linked Bush official sent to prison.

CNN reports that J. Steven Griles, the former No. 2 official in the Interior Department, was sentenced to 10 months in prison today for “lying to the Senate about his relationship with convicted lobbyist Jack Abramoff,” who got Griles to intervene at the agency for his Indian tribal clients. Griles had proposed “community service” (with a lobbyist group) in lieu of a prison sentence.

(Think Progress)

bush and his appointees regressing America

Supreme Court Sides With Administration, Corporations In New Decisions

The Supreme Court ruled in favor of the Bush administration, corporations, and an anti-abortion group in a series of decisions announced today, reaffirming the conservative, business-friendly bent the Court has taken under Chief Justice John Roberts

EPA’s responsibility to protect endangered species weakened:

In a 5-4 decision, the Court ruled that the federal government can avoid its responsibility to protect species under the Endangered Species Act by handing off authority to the states. The EPA routinely delegates administration of the Clean Water Act to states. The Court’s decision means the EPA does not have to ensure that states abide by the federal Endangered Species Act when they issue Clean Water Act permits. [National Association of Home Builders v. Defenders of Wildlife and a companion case]

Ordinary taxpayers cannot challenge Faith-Based Initiative:

In a 5-4 decision, the Court “barred ordinary taxpayers from challenging a White House initiative helping religious charities get a share of federal money.” A taypayers’ group called the Freedom From Religion Foundation sued eight Bush administration officials, including the head of the White House Office of Faith-Based and Community Initiatives, objecting to “government conferences in which administration officials encourage religious charities to apply for federal grants.” [Hein v. Freedom From Religion Foundation]

Campaign finance restrictions weakened for corporate- and union-funded ads:

In a 5-4 decision, the Court loosened restrictions on corporate- and union-funded television ads that air close to elections, “weakening a key provision of a landmark campaign finance law.” The court “upheld an appeals court ruling that an anti-abortion group should have been allowed to air ads during the final two months before the 2004 elections.” [Federal Election Commission v. Wisconsin Right-to-Life]

(Think Progress)
---
Why isn't "conservative" regularly equated with "regressive" by every progressive politician in America? Almost no one in America wants to be regressive or agrees with most conservative policies, but "conservative" hasn't become the "dirty word" that "liberal" has. Most people agree with "liberal", progressive policies and yet somehow these have been denigrated in the media.

cheney counting on bush's ignorance

Cheney Bypassed Environmentally ‘Clueless’ Bush To Craft Administration’s Climate Change Agenda
(Think Progress)

so, the executive branch is not part of the executive branch any more?

Bush claims he’s not part of the executive branch.

Vice President Cheney has exempted his office from a presidential executive order designed to safeguard classified national security information by claiming that the Office of the Vice President is not an “entity within the executive branch.” Today the LA Times reveals that the President has also exempted himself:

The White House said Friday that, like Vice President Dick Cheney’s office, President Bush’s office is not allowing an independent federal watchdog to oversee its handling of classified national security information.

An executive order that Bush issued in March 2003 — amending an existing order — requires all government agencies that are part of the executive branch to submit to oversight. Although it doesn’t specifically say so, Bush’s order was not meant to apply to the vice president’s office or the president’s office, a White House spokesman said.

(Think Progress)

bush continues to devastate New Orleans

New Orleans deaths up 47% post-Katrina

Let's not forget that the Republican "limited government" ideology lost an entire American city. George Bush went on vacation when he knew Katrina was coming, and he stayed on vacation for three days after Katrina hit. Cheney was off shopping
for a mansion. While Condi was busy buying thousand dollar shoes in NYC. Bush then put Karl Rove, his chief political adviser, in charge of post-Katrina reconstruction. The GOP congress refused to get involved, or to provide oversight after the fact - remember, they even opposed an independent commission to find out what went wrong. We trusted in the Republicans and their vision of limited government, and it lost us an entire American city. Never forget that fact.

Let's revisit Katrina and just what Bush and the Republicans did.

Bush administration loses nearly $1 billion in Katrina aid

AP documents the failures of Bush to keep his promises after Katrina

You can check out our coverage from the first few days of Katrina here. It's horrifying.

(Americablog)

once again, saying something much better than i ever could

The Smirking Chimp on If Reid Were Rove

If only some Dems would listen...

Dems doing good for the environment

Breaking: Senate votes to raise fuel standards.

“The Senate voted Thursday to increase fuel economy standards to 35 miles per gallon for cars and SUVs, the first significant boost demanded of automakers in nearly 20 years.”

(Think Progress)

how is a psychotic like this loose on the streets much less on the air?

Beck guest used violent rhetoric about Hillary.

Earlier today, ThinkProgress noted this exchange between CNN Headline News host Glenn Beck and guest Michael Graham:

Graham asked Beck if he wanted to see the Clintons murdered in the [spoof Sopranos] video. “[S]eriously, Glenn, didn’t you at one point want to see, like, Paulie Walnuts or someone come in and just whack them both right there. Wouldn’t that have been great?” Beck responded with a smile, “No, I did not want to see that.” Graham said, “C’mon. … I wanted that.”

MediaMatters points out that on the May 7, 2003, edition of MSNBC’s Hardball, Graham said: “Anyone listening to Hillary Rodham in her speech last week about patriotism, that screaming, screeching fingernail, I wanted to bludgeon her with a tire iron.” Also, Beck himself fantasized killing filmmaker Michael Moore in 2005: “I’m thinking about killing Michael Moore, and I’m wondering if I could kill him myself, or if I would need to hire somebody to do it. No, I think I could.”

(Think Progress)
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Wow, the repugs are sick and twisted f'ks, aren't they?

well, I would freakin' hope so!

“House Judiciary Committee Democrats warned yesterday they would pursue a contempt of Congress motion if the White House fails to respond to subpoenas for testimony and documents” related to the U.S. attorney scandal by June 28. “If the White House does not comply, it opens the possibility of a constitutional showdown between the two branches.”

(Think Progress)
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Jeez, could we please have a little accountability in this administration?! They break laws daily without any consequences. It would sure be nice if someone held them accountable for something!

lower every day

27 percent.

President Bush’s approval rating in a new American Research Group poll.

(Think Progress)

it is not discrimination when you're asked to follow the same rules as everyone else

"Purity ring" schoolgirl goes to High Court

LONDON (Reuters) - A teenage schoolgirl will appeal to the High Court on Friday to overturn a ban on her wearing a "purity ring" at school to symbolize her decision to abstain from sex before marriage.

Lydia Playfoot, 16, from West Sussex, says the silver ring is an expression of her faith and should be exempt from the school's rules on wearing jewellery.

"It is really important to me because in the Bible it says we should do this," she told BBC radio. "Muslims are allowed to wear headscarves and other faiths can wear bangles and other types of jewellery. It feels like Christians are being discriminated against."
---
Lydia's father, Phil Playfoot, said his daughter's case was part of a wider cultural trend towards Christians being "silenced."

"What I would describe as a secular fundamentalism is coming to the fore, which really wants to silence certain beliefs, and Christian views in particular," he said.

Leon Nettley, head teacher of Millais School in Horsham, denies discrimination, saying the ring contravenes the school's rules on wearing jewellery.

"The school is not convinced pupils' rights have been interfered with by the application of the uniform policy," he told the Brighton-based Argus newspaper. "The school has a clearly published uniform policy and sets high standards."

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Damn, I wish that Christians were being silenced! I'd love for some of these pompous, privileged, white Christians to learn what discrimination really means!

cheney decides that he is above the law

Cheney exempts himself from legal privacy rules

We know that when it comes to protecting national security secrets, Dick Cheney and his office are hardly diligent. What’s less clear is how, exactly, the Office of the Vice President has gotten away with so much of this, given that executive orders are in place that govern White House conduct and which prohibit the very things Cheney has done.

Three years ago, a fairly obscure federal office responsible for enforcing these orders sought answers about the OVP’s policies. What happened? Well, as House Oversight and Government Reform Committee Chairman Henry Waxman explained, it’s a funny story.

The Oversight Committee has learned that over the objections of the National Archives, Vice President Cheney exempted his office from the presidential order that establishes government-wide procedures for safeguarding classified national security information. The Vice President asserts that his office is not an “entity within the executive branch.”

As described in a letter from Chairman Waxman to the Vice President, the National Archives protested the Vice President’s position in letters written in June 2006 and August 2006. When these letters were ignored, the National Archives wrote to Attorney General Alberto Gonzales in January 2007 to seek a resolution of the impasse. The Vice President’s staff responded by seeking to abolish the agency within the Archives that is responsible for implementing the President’s executive order.

Got that? First, Cheney’s office blocked a legal investigation, declaring itself some kind of fourth branch of the government. (It’s legislative, it’s executive, it’s accountable to no one … it’s the super branch!) Second, when the government agency responsible for enforcing executive-branch rules on classified information went to the Justice Department, Cheney sought to resolve the problem by eliminating the agency’s existence.

It’s almost as if the Vice President is the head of some kind of organized crime family. (”It’s a nice office at the National Archives you have there; it’d be a shame if something happened to it.”)

(The Carpetbagger Report)
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It boggles the mind that these maniacs continual to get away with this shit. Doesn't anyone in the US care about their freakin' leaders breaking every law imaginable and declaring themselves immune to prosecution?
Freakin' disgusting...

another repug hypocrite? what a surprise!

Tort Reform Bork sues for 1 million dollars
(Crooks and Liars)
And Colbert takes a swipe at him too (also via Crooks and Liars)

more on bush's stem cell position(s)

Snow’s stem-cell spin

Following up on John’s item from yesterday on Bush’s stem-cell veto, I found Tony
Snow’s defense of the White House policy rather alarming.

“The President also has never declared it against the law to engage in embryonic stem cell research — he simply thinks it involves, as do many other people, the taking of a human life.”

See? Bush hasn’t banned murder, he’s just blocked some funding for taxpayer-subsidized murder. Privately-funded murder is still fine, and entirely consistent with the president’s values and commitment to a culture of life. Snow added:

“To the extent that there is embryonic stem cell research, it’s being done not because Bill Clinton made it possible, but because George W. Bush made it possible.”

Yes, moments after describing the research as “taking of a human life,” Snow bragged about Bush’s support for the research.

Is a little coherence too much to ask?

(Crooks and Liars)

a personal voice from Iraq

Crooks and Liars links to a blog by an Iraqi and real-life horror that they are living through every day.
It's one thing to hear vague statistics on the number of civilians killed, but quite another to hear someone's personal experiences with death.
Heartwrenching barely expresses it...

the way that bush "supports the troops" and their families

Missing Soldier's Wife Faces Deportation

As Military Searches For Kidnapped Soldier In Iraq, U.S. Threatens To Send Wife Back To Dominican Republic

(CBS/AP) While the U.S. military searches for a soldier missing in Iraq, kidnapped by insurgents possibly allied with al Qaeda, his wife back home in Massachusetts may be deported by the U.S. government.

Army Spec. Alex Jimenez, who has been missing since his unit was attacked by insurgents in Iraq on May 12, had petitioned for a green card for his wife, Yaderlin Hiraldo, whom he married in 2004.

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I seriously cannot understand how any military personnel or their families could possibly support this evil bastard of a president.

Seen at Crooks and Liars

bush losing 2 wars at once

Taliban implementing Iraq-style tactics

As Afghanistan unravels, I am reminded of how dismissive the GOP crowd was back in 2004 when Kerry talked about letting that war slip away. Where are all of those
critics now? From a Taliban spokesman today:

He added that the "independence and freedom of our country" was the goal of the Taleban and that they were repeating the same tactics used by insurgents in Iraq."

A lot of people are coming to our suicide bombing centre to volunteer," he said.

(Americablog)

i certainly hope this isn't empty rhetoric

More measures on stem cells expected

WASHINGTON - President Bush hasn't seen the last of legislation to allow federal funding for new embryonic stem cell research.

Supporters are answering his veto with an effort Thursday to add to an appropriations bill permission to use taxpayer dollars for new lines of embryonic stem cells.

Democratic congressional leaders are expected to bring back the bill and try to override Bush's veto — or just give the issue more air time. Neither chamber has the two-thirds majority to succeed.

In the longer term, the stem cell issue will dog any candidate who sides with Bush, supporters of the legislation say.

"This will be an election issue in 2008 not just in the House, not just in the Senate, but in the presidential election," said one of the House's chief sponsors of the bill Bush vetoed, Rep. Diana DeGette, D-Colo. "We ... intend to continue bringing this up until we have a pro-stem cell president and a pro-stem cell Congress."

---
I sure hope that the Dems don't wimp out on this issue as they have on so many others that have had the backing of the majority of the American public. The Dems need to keep pushing the fact that the repugs are obstructing the will of the people on a daily basis.

more on bush's "progress"

US military: 14 troops killed in 2 days

BAGHDAD - The U.S. military said 14 American troops have died in several attacks in the past 48 hours, including five slain Thursday in a single roadside bombing that also killed four Iraqis in Baghdad.

Elsewhere, a suicide truck bomber struck the Sulaiman Bek city hall in a predominantly Sunni area of northern Iraq, killing at least 16 people and wounding 67, an Iraqi commander said.

The latest U.S. deaths raised to at least 3,545 the number of American troops who have died since the war began in 2003, according to an Associated Press count.

---

corruption ties to Guiliani

Guiliani’s SC Campaign Chairman Indicted
(Crooks and Liars)

some people have too much time and imagination

Althouse’s Clinton obsession.

Conservative law professor and blogger Ann Althouse last year raised a storm with a post titled, “Let’s take a look at those breasts,” attacking Feministing’s Jessica Valenti for “wear[ing] a tight knit top that draws attention to her breasts” in a photograph with President Clinton.

Now, Althouse has turned her analytical powers to a video featuring Bill and Hillary Clinton doing a spoof of the final episode of the Sopranos:

Bill says “No onion rings?” and Hillary responds “I’m looking out for ya.” Now, the script says onion rings, because that’s what the Sopranos were eating in that final scene, but I doubt if any blogger will disagree with my assertion that, coming from Bill Clinton, the “O” of an onion ring is a vagina symbol.

Althouse’s students at the University of Wisconsin must feel so proud.

(Think Progress)
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Y'know, unkind people might remark that this woman might be a bit jealous of young, good-looking and/or successful women...

how could anyone think that this could be a good thing?!

‘Bomb Iran’ Podhoretz: War Would ‘Unleash A Wave’ Of Global Anti-Americanism
(Think Progress)
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These people are completely insane! They want us to be hated! I truly think that they want to bring about the end of the world!

and more twisted maniacs!

Guard opens fire outside Walter Reed

WASHINGTON - An armed security guard at Walter Reed Army Medical Center opened fire at another guard Wednesday outside a busy entrance to the hospital, police said. No one was injured.

The guards had been arguing at about 8:30 a.m. when one of them fired as many as 10 shots, Lt. Jimmie Riley said.

The other guard, who was not hit, ran to a nearby house to call police, Riley said. The guard who fired the shots was taken into custody.

"We're very fortunate," Riley said. "It could've been tragic."

The guards are employed by a private security firm, which is under contract to Walter Reed.

Police did not immediately release the identities of the guards.

The hospital in Washington is the Army's premier center for treating injured soldiers returning from Iraq and Afghanistan.

---
WTF?! Aren't people screened before becoming security guards?!
I'm sure this commotion was very helpful to the veterans trying to recover from wounds received in the line of fire!

WTF is wrong with people?

Texas crowd kills man after car hits kid

AUSTIN, Texas - A crowd attacked and killed a passenger in a vehicle that had struck and injured a child, police said Wednesday.

Police believe 2,000 to 3,000 people were in the area for a Juneteenth celebration when the attack occurred Tuesday night. The man who was killed had been trying to stop the group from attacking the vehicle's driver when the crowd turned on him, authorities said.

The Austin Police Department identified the victim as David Rivas Morales, 40. The child was taken to a hospital with non-life threatening injuries.

Police spokeswoman Toni Chovonetz said she had no further information, including how many people were involved.

The driver was able to get away is cooperating with investigators, police said.

Juneteenth marks the day Gen. Gordon Granger arrived in Galveston in 1865 to share news of the Emancipation Proclamation, which freed slaves two years earlier on Jan. 1, 1863.

---
So this crowd kills a passenger in a car that accidentally hit a kid, who is fine?!
What the hell were they thinking?
What is wrong with people these days? This is just sick. I hope that the people involved are prosecuted to the fullest extent of the law!
And this was in Austin, probably the most liberal town in Texas!

but you can't call it a civil war!

87 killed in Baghdad mosque bombing

BAGHDAD - Gunmen blew up two Sunni mosques Wednesday south of Baghdad, causing heavy damage but no casualties, police said, in an apparent retaliatory attack a day after a suicide truck bombing devastated a revered Shiite mosque in the heart of the capital, killing at least 87 people.

---

because bush doesn't give a f'k about helping people

Bush to veto stem cell bill today
---
I just can't understand why the Dems can't get enough votes to over-ride this madman's veto! No one in the entire world agrees with him (except for a handful of extremist nutcases) so why can't the Dems get anything done?! This is so frustrating! They keep trying to help this country, but the obstructionist repugs keep them from getting anything done.

And, as I said before, this will come back and bite the Dems because the same repugs who are blocking all progress will be ones who will claim that the Dems didn't accomplish anything while they were "in power".

This is why it is so maddening that we (the country) won by such a small margin last year - we don't have enough of a majority and the repugs continue to kiss bush's ass, so no progress can be made.

We can only hope that the sheeple in this country are not fooled by the repug's massive PR machine - and the fact that they own almost all of the media - and actually vote in their best interests in 2008, before it's too late for us all.

Put more elquently at Americablog by John Aravosis but I think that he has too much faith in the American public. People have voted against their (our) best interest for too long - I'll be surprised when they stop.

they really need to come up with a new lie

Snow Responds To Potentially Illegal Use Of RNC Accounts: Clinton Did It Too
(Think Progress)
---
The continued use of this lie is getting so boring. It is so easily refutable that it's just silly.
But, of course, they are counting on their drones believing them and not examining the facts.

any repug will say any insane shit and get media coverage

Thompson Links Reid To 9/11 Conspiracy Theorists, Claims He Is ‘Encouraging Our Enemies’
(Think Progress)
---
I swear, if a repug claimed that a Dem danced naked covered in peanut butter in a city square, the "liberal media" would cover it as if it was gospel. This nonsense is so damn insulting...

sounds like a reasonable fear

Blair feared U.S. would ‘nuke the sh*t’ out of Afghans. “Britain joined the United States’ invasion to oust the Taliban in 2001 because it feared America would ‘nuke the shit’ out of Afghanistan, the former British ambassador to Washington reportedly told a television documentary to be screened Saturday.”

(Think Progress)

huh?

Yoo: Court Rejection Of Bush Detainee Policy Is An Effort ‘To Deny What Happened On 9/11′
(Think Progress)
---
These people will just say any bizarre non-sequitor that comes into their minds, won't they?
They just don't care how ridiculous they sound!

unimaginable

800 percent.

Increase in the number of internally displaced people in Iraq from one year ago, a “human tragedy unprecedented in Iraq’s history,” according to the Iraqi Red Crescent.

(Think Progress)

But bush thinks this is progress:

Tony Snow:President Bush “impressed and reassured by the progress [Iraq is] making on political, security and economic reforms.”

(Think Progress again)

cuz bush doesn't give a damn about legalities

Following Bush Signing Statements, Federal Agencies Ignore 30 Percent Of Laws Passed Last Year
(Think Progress)
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Wouldn't it be nice to have a president that actually believed in obeying the law? Or even believed in the Constitution? What a concept!

not that we have the resources to do anything about any real threat these days

South Korea: North Korea fires missile

SEOUL, South Korea - North Korea fired a short-range missile toward waters between the Korean Peninsula and Japan, a South Korean intelligence official said Tuesday, amid signs of progress in ending North Korea's nuclear weapons program.

---
If bush hadn't dragged us into his personal war in Iraq, we might be able to respond to this in some fashion.
Now, we are impotent jokes without even diplomatic recourses...

I suppose that bush thinks that this is a success, also!

Taliban fighters seize south Afghan area

KANDAHAR, Afghanistan - Days of fierce fighting with NATO and Afghan forces left Taliban militants in control of one southern Afghan district and battling to take over another Tuesday, officials said.

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incredible horror in Iraq

78 killed by bombing at Baghdad mosque

BAGHDAD - A truck bomb struck a Shiite mosque Tuesday in central Baghdad, killing 78 people and wounding more than 200, even as about 10,000 U.S. soldiers northeast of the capital used heavily armored Stryker and Bradley fighting vehicles to battle their way into an al-Qaida sanctuary.

---

yet another cool find to drive ID-ers crazy!

Skull of giant panda's ancestor found

WASHINGTON - The first skull of the earliest known ancestor of the giant panda was been discovered in China, researchers report. Discovery of the skull, estimated to be at least 2 million years old, is reported by Russell L. Ciochon in Tuesday's edition of Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences.

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the Dems need to learn to sink to the level of the repugs in the PR world

Newly empowered Democrats draw wrath of voters

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The new Democratic-led Congress is drawing the ire of voters upset with its failure to quickly deliver on a promise to end the Iraq war.

This is reflected in polls that show Congress -- plagued by partisan bickering mostly about the war -- at one of its lowest approval ratings in a decade. Surveys find only about one in four Americans approves of it.

---

Amazingly, the repugs are still managing to sabotage the Dems even though they are the minority. By being extreme obstructionists - and by the Dems not harping upon this fact in the media - the repugs are tainting the public's image of Congress. Despite the fact that the Dems have been trying to accomplish what the American people want, the public isn't going to remember that the repugs are the ones who stopped these accomplishments - they will only remember that the Democratic-led Congress didn't accomplish them. It won't matter that the repug-led Congress did even less.

Since the repugs own the media and have such a massive and vicious PR machine, they will certainly make the public believe that this is all the fault of the Dems, despite the facts.

Sick and sad....

terrible

Sacred Ganges river left in peril by global warming.
(Think Progress)

once again proving that he cares more about politics than our security

Bush promises to veto homeland security bill. Yesterday, the House passed a bill to fund the Department of Homeland Security, despite President Bush’s veto threat. The White House objects to a provision that would require DHS contractors to “pay their employees at least the local prevailing wage.” It also “funds the hiring of 3,000 new border patrol agents, rejects the cuts President Bush sought in the training and equipping of first responders, and improves aviation and port security.”

(Think Progress)
---
The way that he continually spits on the American public, I can't understand how he popularity is as high at it is!

unfortunately, this is not a joke

Hunt for WMD in Iraq almost over.

More than four years after the fall of Baghdad, the United Nations continues to spend “millions of dollars in Iraqi oil money to continue the hunt for Saddam Hussein’s weapons of mass destruction.” But a new report in the New York Times indicates that the search “appears close to an official conclusion, several years after their absence became a foregone one”:

The United States and Britain have circulated a new proposal to the members of the United Nations Security Council to “terminate immediately the mandates” of the weapons inspectors. Staff meetings on the latest proposal have already taken place, and officials say that the permanent Council members, each of whom has veto power, seem ready to let the inspection group — the United Nations Monitoring, Verification and Inspection Commission — meet its end.

(Think Progress)

sickening

What’s an Iraqi life worth? “For the U.S. military in Iraq, it may be roughly the same” as an Iraqi car. A recent Government Accountability Report finds that the Pentagon “has set $2,500 as the highest individual sum that can be paid” to Iraqi civilians killed “as a result of U.S. and coalition forces’ actions during combat.” “Most death payments remain at that level, with a rough sliding scale of $1,000 for serious injury and $500 for property damage.”

(Think Progress)

no reason to think that they have something to hide, is there?

Investigation Uncovers ‘Extensive Destruction’ Of RNC Emails, Violations Of Records Act
(Think Progress)

man, that's ballsy

Abramoff Crony Proposes ‘Community Service’ With Lobbyist Group In Lieu Of Prison Sentence
(Think Progress)
---
It takes real balls to propose community service that is the same thing that caused you to be arrested!

absolute mandatory reading on Iraq

from the Smirking Chimp
A timeline of the lies that led to the disaster that we are engulfed in.
Those os us who doubted bush have been proved right at every turn and yet this monster still has power and still has supporters.
unreal...

and continued horror in Afghanistan

Airstrike kills 7 Afghan children

KABUL, Afghanistan - U.S.-led coalition jets bombed a compound suspected of housing al-Qaida militants in eastern Afghanistan, killing seven boys and several insurgents, officials said Monday.

---
more from Think Progress:

Afghanistan hit by largest bombing since 2001. “Thirty-five people were killed and 52 injured this morning in a devastating suicide bomb attack on a bus in Kabul. The attack bore immediate comparison to mass casualty suicide bombings in Iraq and appeared to mark a leap in the capability of the Taliban and its Al-Qa’eda mentors in Afghanistan to mount such attacks. The death toll is the largest in a single attack in the country since 2001.”

something positive being accomplished

Police smash global pedophile ring

LONDON - British police, with aid from U.S. investigators, have shattered a global Internet pedophile ring, rescuing 31 children and rounding up more than 700 suspects worldwide, authorities said Monday.

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unending horror

36 killed in southern Iraq

BAGHDAD - U.S. and Iraqi forces began major military operations Monday to the north and south of Baghdad, while Iraqi officials said 36 people were killed in clashes in southern Iraq.

---

another dangerous repug wanting America to regress

Thompson: Late-Term Abortion Is ‘Infanticide,’ Roe v. Wade Most Harmful Court Case In 40 Years
(Think Progress)
---
What is it with the repugs that they want to revert progress? Seriously, why are all of their core issues ones that will hurt the average American instead of help us? I literally can't understand why anyone would vote for these assholes who only want America to regress and every other country surpass us in terms of technology, civil rights, scientific advancement, etc. I mean, i don't even like people, but i think that everyone should have basic rights and have their needs met - unlike these selfish bastards who only want to help big corporations and screw the rest of us. What makes people vote against their own self-interest?
(end rant)

because obeying the law means nothing to this man

Bush Finally Signs U.S. Attorney Bill After Installing One Last ‘Loyal Bushie’

Sen. Patrick Leahy (D-VT) revealed today that Attorney General Alberto Gonzales had once again bypassed the Senate and used an obscure Patriot Act provision to appoint an interim U.S. attorney in California.

The authority Gonzales used was at the heart of the U.S. attorney scandal, and was banned in a bill that passed both chambers of Congress with strong bipartisan support earlier this year. The legislation was sent to the President for his signature on June 4. During a hearing today, Leahy blasted Bush for stalling:

That bill, the Preserving United States Attorney Independence Act of 2007, has been on the president’s desk since June 4th. Do you know it seems he just can’t bring himself to sign it? Instead, we were informed yesterday through the Justice Department that the attorney general has used the power that we voted to repeal again.

It’s almost like they live in an alternate world, as though they’re not realizing the reaction of Democrats and Republicans about this misuse of this power. That’s wrong.

But now President Bush has what he wanted. Thanks to his delay, Alberto Gonzales was able to install George Cardona as an interim U.S. Attorney in the Central District of California. Tonight, the White House released a two-line statement:

On June 14, 2007, the President signed into law:

S. 214, the “Preserving United States Attorney Independence Act of 2007.”

(Think Progress)

thank goodness!

Sen. Lynne Cheney not meant to be. “The Wyoming Republican Party Thursday evening released a final list of 31 individuals who had submitted applications to replace the late Sen. Craig Thomas (R) by the 5 p.m. Mountain Time deadline — and Lynne Cheney, wife of Vice President Cheney, was not among them.”

(Think Progress)
---
Can you imagine this family continuing to have an influence on American politics? As if they haven't done enough damage already...

utterly bizarre

Matthews probes Thompson’s smell, “sex appeal.”

Glenn Greenwald highlighted this series of questions from MSNBC’s Chris Matthews last night:

Does [Fred Thompson] have sex appeal? … Gene, do you think there’s a sex appeal for this guy, this sort of mature, older man, you know? … Can you smell the English leather on this guy, the Aqua Velva, the sort of mature man’s shaving cream, or whatever, you know, after he shaved? Do you smell that sort of — a little bit of cigar smoke? You know, whatever.

(Think Progress)

---

It sounds like someone has a father fixation...

i guess it's normal for Iraq to be a disaster these days

Petraeus: Life In Iraq Showing ‘Astonishing Signs Of Normalcy’
(Think Progress)
---
I don't know if this is a "wish-and-it-will-come-true" fantasy or a "say-it-enough-times-and-it-is-true" fantasy, but either way I'm getting tired of them thinking that we're stupid enough to believe this bs.

but don't the repugs say that global warming is just a hoax?

2007: Hottest year ever thus far.

“The National Climatic Data Center (NCDC) reported today that ‘the global surface temperature for the combined January-May period tied with 1998″ as the warmest January-May ever recorded.

(Think Progress)

this is just insulting

Snow: President Bush Is ‘On The Frontlines’ Of The Iraq War ‘Every Day’
(Think Progress)

a little piece of justice

Scooter Libby is going to jail
(Americablog)

go Massachusetts!

BREAKING: Gay Marriage wins in Massachusetts
(Americablog)

has their ever been a more Orwellian time?

Snow: Intense New Levels Of Violence In Iraq Are ‘Signs Of Success’

The Pentagon yesterday released its first quarterly report assessing President Bush’s escalation strategy, confirming that overall levels of violence in the country actually “increased throughout much of Iraq in recent months,” as attacks “shifted away from Baghdad and Anbar” and into “cities and provinces that had been relatively peaceful before the Bush administration’s troop buildup.”

Political reconciliation has almost entirely stalled, suicide bombings “more than doubled” from January to April, sectarian deaths have increased beyond pre-escalation levels, and U.S. troop deaths are spiking.

During his press briefing yesterday, White House spokesman Tony Snow said the increasing chaos was a positive sign. The new levels of attacks “fit a pattern that we see throughout the region,” he said, “which is that when you see things moving towards success, or when you see signs of success, that there are acts of violence.”

(Think Progress)

who cares about security? The repugs want their money!

Earmark-Loving Conservatives Threaten To Shut Down Congress
(Think Progress)

and yet another low

19: Percentage of Americans who think the country is on the right track in a new NBC/WSJ poll out tonight, the lowest figure in 15 years. President Bush’s approval rating is at an all-time low of 29 percent.

(Think Progress)
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And why didn't all these people vote Democratic in 2004?

more on bush's version of Iraqi "progress"

‘Iraqi security forces lose equivalent of NYPD in 18 months.’ Lt. Gen. Martin Dempsey yesterday told a congressional committee that approximately 18,000 members of the U.S.-trained Iraqi police “had been lost from the newly trained force of 188,000 in the 18 months before January. … Between eight to 10,000 are believed killed in action and six to 8,000 more have been wounded severely enough so they cannot serve. Dempsey also says possibly 13,000 more have deserted or are unaccounted for.”

(Think Progress)
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Got to give it to bush - no one could conceive that it was humanly possible to screw anything up this badly!

repugs re-writing recent history again - and hoping we don't remember reality

Guiliani Claims Clinton’s Response To U.S.S. Cole Terror Attack Was ‘Let It Go'
(Think Progress)
---
The repugs continue to insult our intelligence as if that will win them points. I just don't understand...
But it just makes this funnier (in a sick sorta way):

Giuliani defended Clinton terror record last year.

Earlier today, we highlighted Rudy Giuliani’s claim last night that President Clinton’s mentality towards terrorism in the 1990’s was “don’t react, let things go.” In fact, the record shows just the opposite. And as Greg Sargent notes, Giuliani admitted as much nine months ago:

Former New York Mayor Rudy Giuliani defended Bill Clinton on Wednesday over the former president’s counterterrorism efforts, saying recent criticism on preventing the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks is wrong. […]

“The idea of trying to cast blame on President Clinton is just wrong for many, many reasons, not the least of which is I don’t think he deserves it,” Giuliani said.

(Think Progress)

the repugs seem to think that Gore being consistently correct is bad somehow

Gore’s ‘92 speech on Iraq — and why the right has it wrong

Yesterday, Hot Air, a leading far-right site, posted a YouTube clip from 1992 in which Al Gore blasted the Bush/Quayle team for its Iraq policy. The right was instantly giddy over the video because, as Hot Air perceived it, the clip proves that Gore is a “craven opportunist.” (via Too Sense)

The thesis of the Gore speech: Reagan-Bush had looked the other way and let Saddam Hussein become a terroristic [sic] menace and a WMD developer. They had ignored Saddam’s many operational ties to terrorists over the years so they could maintain relations with him and offset the threat from the mullahs in Iran.

That’s a relatively accurate description. Gore’s speech highlighted a wide variety of Saddam Hussein’s terrorist tendencies, and H.W. Bush’s response to each — which was always tolerance. No matter what Iraq did, and how much it promoted terrorism, and how often it would use chemical weapons, Bush 41 preferred to look the other way.

Gore’s point, in the context of the 1992 presidential campaign was clear — if H.W. Bush wants credit for the 1991 Gulf War, he ought to also accept responsibility for helping enable Saddam Hussein for the better part of a decade.

The right seems to think this should be a stunning embarrassment for Gore. One far-right blogger cited the video as proof that Gore “flip-flopped” and was a “warmonger.” Hot Air argued, “Just so we’re clear on this, the 1992 version of Gore accused Bush 41 of lying by minimizing the threat that Saddam posed to the US and the world. The current version of Gore accuses Bush 43 of lying by overstating the threat that Saddam posed to the US and the world.” Rush Limbaugh has the Gore clip in heavy rotation. I haven’t seen the reports, but several conservative sites noted that Fox News has picked up the Gore clip and have been having fun with it.

I’m curious if any of these conservatives who are so enthralled by the Gore video have actually thought this one through.

None of the conservatives who’ve promoted the video have made any effort to criticize the substance of Gore’s remarks in 1992, which suggests that they believe he was right — Saddam was sponsoring terrorism, using chemical weapons, and faced no adverse consequences at all from the Reagan/Bush/Quayle team(s).

So if Gore was right in ‘92, what are his critics complaining about? That he must be some kind of hypocritical opportunist for accusing Bush 41 of enabling Saddam while criticizing Bush 43 for attacking Saddam.

But the argument doesn’t withstand any real scrutiny. Gore was right in both instances — Bush 41 was wrong to repeatedly cooperate with and reach out to a brutal dictator, and Bush 43 was wrong to launch an unnecessary war under false pretenses and then bungle the conflict every step of the way. The right sees a contradiction here. There isn’t.

This far-right blog’s take was my personal favorite:

“[I]f President George H.W. Bush deserves blame for not taking action against Saddam Hussein, how much blame shall we unload on the Clinton-Gore administration that had 8 years after this speech to do it… yet failed to.”

Well, here’s the thing: Clinton/Gore didn’t fail to take action. On the contrary — Clinton/Gore effectively disarmed Saddam.

Iraq’s weapons and facilities, [David Kay said], had been destroyed in three phases: by allied bombardment in the 1991 Gulf War; by U.N. inspectors in the half-decade after that war; and by President Clinton’s 1998 bombing campaign. (Clinton’s airstrikes, by now widely forgotten, were even at the time widely dismissed as a political diversion; they took place during the weekend when the House of Representatives voted for impeachment. But according to Kay, they destroyed Iraq’s remaining infrastructure for building chemical weapons.) Kay adds that Saddam tried to resuscitate some of these programs, but — due to sanctions, fear of inspections, and lack of resources — he was not able to do so.

Gore said Saddam Hussein was dangerous in 1992. That’s true. Gore said Bush 41 looked the other way while Saddam got more dangerous. That’s true. Gore said the U.S. needed to do more to address the Iraqi threat, and then was part of the administration that disarmed Saddam’s regime. That’s true. Years later, Gore said a war against Iraq was unnecessary and would be a tragic mistake. That’s true.

In other words, the right is trumpeting a video clip that makes Gore look better — he’s not only right about Iraq policy now, he’s been right about Iraq policy for 15 years.

Why conservatives are anxious to make this point remains a mystery.

(The Carpetbagger Report)

---

Well, i guess it's bad for the repugs! Certainly isn't bad for Gore.

our "liberal media"

MSNBC goes all conservative for seven hours. “During the seven hours of the June 11 edition of MSNBC Live (9 a.m.-4 p.m. ET), 15 segments aired about immigration or the Senate immigration bill, none of which featured a Democratic or progressive commentator. Indeed, in nine of the 15 segments, the anchor interviewed a conservative anti-immigration activist who had opposed the bill — including six separate solo interviews with MSNBC political analyst Pat Buchanan.”

(Think Progress)

even bigots think "don't ask don't tell" is a bad idea

Gay Marriage Foe Bob Barr Calls For Repeal Of ‘Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell’
(Think Progress)

no progress in Iraq

“Iraq’s political leaders have failed to reach agreements

on nearly every law that the Americans have demanded as benchmarks, despite heavy pressure from Congress, the White House and top military commanders,” the New York Times reports. “With only three months until progress reports are due in Washington, the deadlock has reached a point where many Iraqi and American officials now question whether any substantive laws will pass before the end of the year.”

(Think Progress)

just another repug apologist

Mitt Romney on pardons

while he was governor of Massachusetts:

Decorated Iraq war veteran Anthony Circosta seemed like an ideal candidate for a pardon from then-Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney for his boyhood conviction for a BB gun shooting.

Romney said no — twice — despite the recommendation of the state’s Board of Pardons.

At age 13, Circosta was convicted of assault for shooting another boy in the arm with a BB gun, a shot that didn’t break the skin. Circosta worked his way through college, joined the Army National Guard and led a platoon of 20 soldiers in Iraq’s deadly Sunni triangle.

In 2005, as he was serving in Iraq, he sought a pardon to fulfill his dream of becoming a police officer.

Romney on pardons now:

Romney said it’s “worth looking at a pardon [for Scooter Libby],” because special prosecutor Patrick Fitzgerald “clearly abused prosecutorial discretion” by going on a “political vendetta” against Libby despite knowing he was not the original source of the leak.

(Think Progress)

Reid determined to accomplish something despite the obstructionist repugs

Reid Pledges Amendments On Iraq Timeline, Readiness Standards, Feingold Bill
(Think Progress)
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Let's hope that the Dems can accomplish some of these important issues in spite of the repugs and that this isn't just rhetoric from Reid.

o'reilly "supporting the troops"

O’Reilly Defends His Lack Of Iraq Coverage: Explosions In Iraq ‘Don’t Mean Anything’
(Think Progress)
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What a sicko! And what a way to defend the horror that our troops have to go through every day!

yet aotner really cool find that reinforces evolution

China finds new species of big, bird-like dinosaur

HONG KONG/BEIJING (Reuters) - China has uncovered the skeletal remains of a gigantic, surprisingly bird-like dinosaur, which has been classed as a new species.

Eight meters (26 ft) long and standing at twice the height of a man at the shoulder, the fossil of the feathered but flightless Gigantoraptor erlianensis was found in the Erlian basin in Inner Mongolia, researchers wrote in the latest issue of Nature.

The researchers said the dinosaur, discovered in April 2005, weighed about 1.4 tonnes and lived some 85 million years ago.

According to lines of arrested growth detected on its bones, it died as a young adult in its 11th year of life.

What was particularly surprising was its sheer size and weight because most theories point to carnivorous dinosaurs getting smaller as they got more bird-like.

"It had no teeth and had a beak. Its forelimbs were very long and we believe it had feathers," Xu Xing at the Chinese Academy of Sciences' Institute of Vertebrate Paleontology & Paleonanthropology said in a telephone interview.

Through analyzing its skeleton, the researchers believe the Gigantoraptor shared the same ancestor and belonged to the same family as the Oviraptor.

With a beak and feathers, the Oviraptor is also bird-like and flightless, but weighed a mere 1 to 2 kg, Xu said.

Other similar feathered dinosaurs rarely weighed over 40 kg, which means the Gigantoraptor was about 35 times heavier.

The largest known feathered animal before the Chinese discovery was the half-tonne Stirton's Thunder Bird, which lived in Australia more than six million years ago.

"It's a giant dinosaur that looked very much like a bird ... whereas from what we have known before, bird-like dinosaurs were very, very small. Large dinosaurs are usually not bird-like. So this Gigantoraptor was an exception," Xu said.

If the Gigantoraptor had lived to a full-sized adult, it would have been a lot larger, but Xu could not estimate what that would have been.

However, the researchers believe it had an accelerated growth rate that was faster than the large North American tyrannosaurs.

SURPRISING DISCOVERY

The scientists had originally thought they had found tyrannosaur bones, as they were so large.

"It was a very surprising discovery, not at all what we expected," Xu said later at a news conference in Beijing. "So we spent a lot of time investigating the fossils which is why it took us so long to announce the results."

The scientists showed off two huge fossilized bones from the animal, and a model of its beaked head.

Its feathers were likely for show and for keeping its eggs warm, Xu added. "We think it's the largest feathered animal ever to have been discovered," he said. It had both herbivorous features -- a small head and long neck -- but also carnivorous ones -- sharp claws for tearing meat -- and could likely run fast on its long, powerful legs, the professor said. "Of course, there's no way of knowing for sure," he added.

Its site of discovery, near Erenhot on the Chinese-Mongolian border, is known for fossils and calls itself "dinosaur town."

The city of just 100,000 is hoping to leverage this fame to attract tourists, said its Communist Party chief Zhang Guohua, and will spend more than 100 million yuan ($13.11 million) on a new dinosaur fossil museum this year.

---

pretty funny

Cajun town bans saggy pants

DELCAMBRE, La. - Sag your britches somewhere else, this Cajun-country town has decided.

Mayor Carol Broussard said he would sign an ordinance the town council approved this week setting penalties of up to six months in jail and a $500 fine for being caught in pants that show undergarments or certain parts of the body.

Broussard said he has nothing against saggy pants but thinks people who wear them should use discretion. "It's gotten way out of hand out here," he said.

Albert Roy, the councilman who introduced the ordinance, said he thought the fine was a little steep and should be more in the $25 range, but he still favored the measure.

"I don't know if it will do any good, but it won't hurt," Roy said. "It's obvious, and anybody with common sense can see your parts when you wear sagging pants."

Broussard's advice for people who like their pants to hang low: "Just wear it properly. Cover your vital parts. I mean, if you expose your private parts, you'll get a fine. If you walk up and your pants drop, you get a fine. They're better off taking the pants off and just wearing a dress."

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I don't agree that anyone should be restricted from wearing anything that they want to wear but i do think that this is pretty funny.

The over-sized baggy pants are the worst fashion craze ever in the history of mankind! I thought that the "long shorts" from the grunge period was the ugliest thing that anyone could ever think of until this came along!