Find Your Loved One - AND TONS MORE!
We've been discussing it in the next post's thread, but if you are searching for a loved one in the New Orleans area, you can try www.redcross.org (although I have had no luck getting into the site), but reader Human tipped everyone to this station's website as well. By the way, Mox and most of her awesome readers aren't the only one's who think Bush dropped the ball AGAIN in the face of a disaster, Newsweek also thinks he's a dolt. Holy shit! So does the ultra-mega-super-conservative Union Leader! (UL quote to follow Newsweek) From the moment Katrina set aim for the Gulf Coast, White House officials have had two other storms on their minds: last year’s devastating tsunami, to which Bush was criticized for responding too slowly, and the political turmoil that Bush faces here at home over the war and the economy. Indeed, August has not been a good month for the Bush administration. White House officials had hoped to capitalize on a slow news cycle to tout the president’s second-term agenda and his accomplishments so far. Yet a spike in casualties in Iraq this month has deepened already widespread worries about the war. That bad news was only compounded by the stampede in Baghdad on Wednesday that left more than 800 Shia pilgrims dead after rumors of a suicide bomber sparked panic. That dismal news from Iraq, combined with rising gas prices here at home, has sent Bush’s poll numbers plummeting to new lows. An ABC News/Washington Post survey released Wednesday has Bush’s approval rating at 45 percent—down 7 points since January and the lowest every recorded this president by that particular poll. And here's what the Union Leader has to say... Bush and Katrina:
A time for action, not aloofness
AS THE EXTENT of Hurricane Katrina’s devastation became clearer on Tuesday — millions without power, tens of thousands homeless, a death toll unknowable because rescue crews can’t reach some regions — President Bush carried on with his plans to speak in San Diego, as if nothing important had happened the day before. Katrina already is measured as one of the worst storms in American history. And yet, President Bush decided that his plans to commemorate the 60th anniversary of VJ Day with a speech were more pressing than responding to the carnage. A better leader would have flown straight to the disaster zone and announced the immediate mobilization of every available resource to rescue the stranded, find and bury the dead, and keep the survivors fed, clothed, sheltered and free of disease. The cool, confident, intuitive leadership Bush exhibited in his first term, particularly in the months immediately following Sept. 11, 2001, has vanished. In its place is a diffident detachment unsuitable for the leader of a nation facing war, natural disaster and economic uncertainty. Wherever the old George W. Bush went, we sure wish we had him back. Holy shit, dude, even the hard-line conservatives thinks you're a fuck-up. One last thing, you might want to check out this heartbreaking blogs by CNN correspondents... People are carrying their children, trying to get them to safety. A woman coming down to the police, close to hysterics, saying, "My elderly mother is in a building over there, she needs dialysis. She can't get it. She is dying. Can you help me?" And the police had to say, "There is absolutely nothing we can do. We don't have a precinct house. We don't have communication. There is absolutely nothing we can do for you." That was amazing to me. I lied, here's something else... A group called Repent America, which without even having to read their brochure you can tell they have 2X4s stuck up their asses, believes that New Orleans was flooded because of the city was going to have a gay festival over Labor Day weekend. Repent America, I would like to cordially invite you to go fuck yourself.
Someone's...
I love The Cranberries.  PS: I guess he feels they just got a little rain down there in Nawlins. (click to pop)  Here's some more photos of the Big Easy - all courtesy of AP.   
Whistleblower's Been Demoted
Army Contract Official Critical of Halliburton Pact Is Demoted
A top Army contracting official who criticized a large, noncompetitive contract with the Halliburton Company for work in Iraq was demoted Saturday for what the Army called poor job performance.
The official, Bunnatine H. Greenhouse, has worked in military procurement for 20 years and for the past several years had been the chief overseer of contracts at the Army Corps of Engineers, the agency that has managed much of the reconstruction work in Iraq...
Known as a stickler for the rules on competition, Ms. Greenhouse initially received stellar performance ratings, Mr. Kohn said. But her reviews became negative at roughly the time she began objecting to decisions she saw as improperly favoring Kellogg Brown & Root, he said. Often she hand-wrote her concerns on the contract documents, a practice that corps leaders called unprofessional and confusing.
In October 2004, General Strock, citing two consecutive performance reviews that called Ms. Greenhouse an uncooperative manager, informed her that she would be demoted. I've written about her before. It seems odd that a woman who has made a long career in the government would go from having stellar performance ratings to suddenly doing such poor work that she warranted being demoted, doesn't it? Seems odd to me. Again, maybe it's just me.
Good Luck, New Orleans
It's looking really, really nasty for New Orleans - possibly weeks under water & without power. The National Weather Service is saying some ugly things: AIRBORNE DEBRIS WILL BE WIDESPREAD...AND MAY INCLUDE HEAVY ITEMS SUCH AS HOUSEHOLD APPLIANCES AND EVEN LIGHT VEHICLES. SPORT UTILITY VEHICLES AND LIGHT TRUCKS WILL BE MOVED. THE BLOWN DEBRIS WILL CREATE ADDITIONAL DESTRUCTION. PERSONS...PETS...AND LIVESTOCK EXPOSED TO THE WINDS WILL FACE CERTAIN DEATH IF STRUCK.
POWER OUTAGES WILL LAST FOR WEEKS...AS MOST POWER POLES WILL BE DOWN AND TRANSFORMERS DESTROYED. WATER SHORTAGES WILL MAKE HUMAN SUFFERING INCREDIBLE BY MODERN STANDARDS. Here is live feed to a local TV station, and webcams of local routes. Real time water level in Lake Pontchartrain. Frightening satellite view of Katrina. Wow she is one angry bitch. I'm sure most people who are leaving are long gone or en route, but if anyone knows anyone that is desperate enough to drive to New Jersey, I will make some room. UPDATE: None of the webcams appear to be working anymore, and I wasn't able to connect to the local TV station, but it may just be the computer I'm at. Take a look at the Lake Pontchartrain water level though. Eeep. UPDATE (12:35pm): I've been checking the Lake Pontchartrain water level website and it's stopped at 5.11' as of 5:00am. I suspect that it either could not measure water higher than that, or the measurement instrumentation is no longer working. UPDATE (7:58pm): Here's live coverage with overhead views. Everything's totally flooded.
Nearly 1,000 Abu Ghraib Detainees Released
How long were they held there? And what kind of crimes had they been held for that were minor enough to get them released? Neither of these questions are answered in the article - lame journalism - but I think it's safe to say that they were held for at least many months, if not years. The detainees were released from Wednesday through Saturday, with the assistance of the Iraqi government, the statement said. They represent all Iraqi communities and had been brought to Abu Ghraib from detention facilities throughout Iraq. Those chosen for release were not convicted of violent crimes, the statement said, "and all have admitted their crimes, renounced violence and pledged to be good citizens of a democratic Iraq." Each individual case was reviewed by a combined board of Iraqi and Coalition officials, the statement said, "and decided in the light of Iraq's ongoing efforts to create peace and stability and build a brighter future for its citizens."
They weren't convicted of violent crimes, but they admitted their crimes, renounced violence, and said they'd be good little boys (and girls?). So they were held for months (years?) in a foreign prison for, what, stealing a TV? Vandalizing public property?
Just askin'.
Iraqi Constitution Not Looking So Hot
I mean, I know that Bush called them to try and pep talk them into getting this all taken care of. After all, he's got protestors to avoid and bikes to ride and whatnot, but things are not looking promising... Shiite and Kurdish leaders drafting a new Iraqi constitution abandoned negotiations with a group of Sunni representatives on Friday, deciding to take the disputed charter directly to the Iraqi people.
With the American ambassador, Zalmay Khalilzad, standing by, Shiite and Kurdish representatives said that they had run out of patience with the Sunni negotiators, a group that includes several former member of Saddam Hussein's Baath Party. The Shiites and Kurds said the Sunnis had refused to budge on a pair of crucial issues that were holding up completion of the constitution. The Shiites and Kurds reached their decision in meetings that ran late into Friday night, disregarding the Sunnis' pleas for more time.
Fatalities
Click to enlarge. I don't think I really need to say anything else about it. 
They Have to Hire A PR Firm
...because apparently there aren't enough grassroots Republican activists to actually say Cindy Sheehan doesn't speak for them. According to Crooks and Liars (who also offer a video of Keith Olbermann's report on it), some silly website called "Move America Forward" (sorry, I don't like to offer links to groups like these - C&L has the link, however) wasn't set up by passionate Republicans, but was set up by a PR company called Russo, Marsh & Rogers, who has strong ties to the Republican party. Before trying to wipe out evidence of the connection, screenshots had been taken of who owns MAF, the fact that the same woman answers the phone at both "MAF" and at RMR, and the fax numbers listed are identical. This is what a smear campaign looks like, folks. Don't have actual citizens to spread the hate? PAY someone to do it.
And One More For The Funnybone
Sent to me by my mother-in-law. Yep, I know there's another administration/lightbulb joke floating around (actually it's probably on MoxieGrrrl.com somewhere), but I figured there was room enough in the world for the both of them. How many members of the Bush administration does it take to change a light bulb?
Answer: "Ten."
1. One to deny that a light bulb needs to be changed.
2. One to attack the patriotism of anyone who says the light bulb needs to be changed.
3. One to blame Clinton for burning out the light bulb.
4. One to tell the nations of the world that they are either for changing the light bulb or for eternal darkness.
5. One to give a billion dollar no-bid contract to Halliburton for the new light bulb.
6. One to arrange a photograph of Bush, dressed as a janitor, standing on a step ladder under the banner 'Bulb Accomplished'.
7. One administration insider to resign and in detail reveal how Bush was literally 'in the dark' the whole time.
8. One to viciously smear No. 7.
9. One surrogate to campaign on TV and at rallies on how George Bush has had a strong light-bulb-changing policy all along.
10. And finally, one to confuse Americans about the difference between screwing a light bulb and screwing the country.
A Wise Little Cherub...
Tell it like it is, little brutha! 
Robertson Says He Was Misinterpreted
Except CNN has the video clip of him saying: "If he thinks we're trying to assassinate him, I think we really ought to go ahead and do it," said Robertson on Monday's program. "It's a whole lot cheaper than starting a war." How can that be misinterpreted? He claims: "I didn't say 'assassination.' I said our special forces should 'take him out.' And 'take him out' can be a number of things, including kidnapping; there are a number of ways to take out a dictator from power besides killing him. I was misinterpreted by the AP [Associated Press], but that happens all the time," Robertson said on "The 700 Club" program. LIAR! When will this country produce leaders with ETHICS???UPDATE: Robertson now apologizes!"Is it right to call for assassination? No, and I apologize for that statement," he said in a written statement. How about apologizing for lying? That might help too.
Rush Limbaugh - Big. Talking. Head.
...who can't even stand behind his own words. He's now denying he ever said the following : “Cindy Sheehan is just Bill Burkett. Her story is nothing more than forged documents, there's nothing about it that's real…” ...and has gone to great lengths to remove evidence of it from his website, according to Keith Olbermann. I can't verify it personally, since I couldn't find any reference to his statement on his website without having to shell out cash to that bastard, but I haven't known Olbermann to be this kind of wrong before. So it looks like Rush struck a nerve and pissed off a few people, and now he's trying to hide from his words. Too bad he can't scrub the internet sites that have it on tape in his own goddamn voice.
I Owe This Old Dude A Hug
 Bill Moyer, 73, wears a "Bullshit Protector" flap over his ear while President George W. Bush addresses the Veterans of Foreign Wars. [AP Photo/Douglas C. Pizac]
Nope, No Political Motivation At All
I see no political motivation in this whatsoever. Nope. None at all. Unlike earlier wars, nearly all Arlington National Cemetery gravestones for troops killed in Iraq or Afghanistan are inscribed with the slogan-like operation names the
Pentagon selected to promote public support for the conflicts...
Families are supposed to have final approval over what goes on the tombstones. That hasn't always happened.
Nadia and Robert McCaffrey, whose son Patrick was killed in Iraq in June 2004, said "Operation Iraqi Freedom" ended up on his government-supplied headstone in Oceanside, Calif., without family approval.
"I was a little taken aback," Robert McCaffrey said, describing his reaction when he first saw the operation name on Patrick's tombstone. "They certainly didn't ask my wife; they didn't ask me." He said Patrick's widow told him she had not been asked either.
"In one way, I feel it's taking advantage to a small degree," McCaffrey said. "Patrick did not want to be there, that is a definite fact."
The owner of the company that has been making gravestones for Arlington and other national cemeteries for nearly two decades is uncomfortable, too. "It just seems a little brazen that that's put on stones," said Jeff Martell, owner of Granite Industries of Vermont. "It seems like it might be connected to politics."
The Department of Veterans Affairs says it isn't. "The headstone is not a PR purpose. It is to let the country know and the people that visit the cemetery know who served this country and made the country free for us," VA official Steve Muro said.
Bush Has Huge Slip In Polls
36% job approval rating. Six point drop since last month, and the biggest drop in at least a year (the site only shows the previous 12 months). Nice to see some of that 59M is starting to pay attention.
Second Officer Says 9/11 Leader Was Named Before Attacks
How long will it take before any dirty laundry in this guy's background gets leaked? 3...2... An active-duty Navy captain has become the second military officer to come forward publicly to say that a secret intelligence program tagged the ringleader of the Sept. 11 attacks as a possible terrorist more than a year before the attacks.
The officer, Scott J. Phillpott, said in a statement on Monday that he could not discuss details of the military program, which was called Able Danger, but confirmed that its analysts had identified the Sept. 11 ringleader, Mohamed Atta, by name by early 2000. "My story is consistent," said Captain Phillpott, who managed the program for the Pentagon's Special Operations Command. "Atta was identified by Able Danger by January-February of 2000." His comments came on the same day that the Pentagon's chief spokesman, Lawrence Di Rita, told reporters that the Defense Department had been unable to validate the assertions made by an Army intelligence veteran, Lt. Col. Anthony Shaffer, and now backed up by Captain Phillpott, about the early identification of Mr. Atta...
Updates Aplenty!
Yellow Dog is fucking ANGRY! I love it when he gets good and pissed off... I watch a lot of political television and it's not often I see something that makes me want to kick in my TV screen – but I saw it just moments ago on MSNBC's Hardball. I've learned to indulge the vapid Norah O'Donnell when she fills in for Chris Matthews and to put up with her childish way of asking questions and always favoring conservative guests.
But she showed her true stripes tonight, when she sat in the middle of a "debate" between Coleen Rowley, former FBI agent and Democratic candidate for Congress in Minnesota and a newcomer on the right-wing, scumbag circuit – for me at least – Mark Williams...
Continue reading here...
Next up, Bush continues the Iraq/terrorist "connection".
"Iraq is a central front in the war on terror," Bush said. "It is a vital part of our mission." Again, I suppose that wacky Osama Bin Laden has NOTHING to do with terrorism, or we'd been using our forces to find him and bring him to justice. Naaaah. That would be the logical thing to do, and would actually be something Bush followed through on. SEPTEMBER 11th!!! WMDs!!! MUSHROOM CLOUDS!!! STAY THE COURSE!!! MISSION ACCOMPLISHED!!!
Is This Obscene?
It just seems creepy that a guy who is supposed to be all about God's love and whatnot is encouraging the US to assassinate someone. Maybe it's just me. Aren't people all into God supposed to be against killing and shit? Isn't there some commandment or something that talks about that? I wouldn't know for sure, being the farthest one can probably BE from religious, but I'm pretty sure it's there. But don't quote me or anything.
Chuck Hagel Says Iraq Looks Like Vietnam
... and with his own two Purple Hearts and other various military honors, he's ripe for the Bush Administration Smear Campaign of the Week!
A leading Republican senator and prospective presidential candidate said Sunday that the war in Iraq has destabilized the Middle East and is looking more like the Vietnam conflict from a generation ago.
Nebraska Sen. Chuck Hagel, who received two Purple Hearts and other military honors for his service in Vietnam, reiterated his position that the United States needs to develop a strategy to leave Iraq. Hagel scoffed at the idea that U.S. troops could be in Iraq four years from now at levels above 100,000, a contingency for which the Pentagon is preparing.
"We should start figuring out how we get out of there," Hagel said on "This Week" on ABC. "But with this understanding, we cannot leave a vacuum that further destabilizes the Middle East. I think our involvement there has destabilized the Middle East. And the longer we stay there, I think the further destabilization will occur."
Hagel said "stay the course" is not a policy. "By any standard, when you analyze 2 1/2 years in Iraq ... we're not winning," he said.
I suppose someone decided to let George in on the fact that he's sliding big time in the polls regarding Iraq, because he's trying to rally support for it. Not sure how much good it will do, but you can be sure he will hit the good ol' "SEPTEMBER 11th!" note just to remind us of why we are there on Iraq... wait... why are we there again? WMDs? Freedom? I forget, what's their latest spin?
"We are HUGE in Belgium!"
I got e-interviewed by a fantastic person earlier this week about freeway blogging, and it looks like the story's finally been printed. Click on the photo for the newspaper page.  I don't read Dutch/Finnish, and the website through Babelfish has yet to point directly to the article online. Anyone speak the language? Let me know how much of a dork I sounded like, okay?
A Little Perspective
Do you know what $87 BILLION looks like?  Don't be scared, people, this is just your government hard at work.
UPDATE: LaToyia Figueroa's Remains May Have Been Found
 As much as many of us ( except for some anonymous racist guy) hoped for a better outcome, this beautiful young woman's body may have been found. Inspector William Colarulo said he could not confirm the remains were those of 24-year-old LaToyia Figueroa, whose disappearance has gained national media attention, but investigators "have strong reason to believe that it is her." Colarulo said the person in custody had not been arrested or charged.
All Spin Zone has the rumor that it may have been her boyfriend. If it is, rot in whatever hell may or may not exist. Cowardly bastard.
UPDATE: 11:26am - Yep, boyfriend's been arrested, remains are hers. Very, very sad.
PS: Thank you Bob Costas, for not being a newsshill and agreeing to focus 70% of an hour-long program to Natalee Holloway.
White Guy Who Brings Explosive Device to Airport Out on Bail
...because former Oklahoma City Mayor says "He had a little explosive device, and boys like to see things go bang." Federal agents arrested Charles Alfred Dreyling Jr., 24, on Wednesday at a security checkpoint after a Transportation Security Administration employee noticed something suspicious in his carryon luggage as it went through an X-ray machine about 9:30 a.m., FBI spokesman Gary Johnson said...
Dreyling told authorities that he had made the device and said it was ''basically a pipe bomb,'' according to an affidavit. Dreyling said he built the device for entertainment value, never intending to hurt anyone, and forgot that it was in his carryon bag when he brought it to the airport, the affidavit said. Okay, guy brings what he himself calls a pipe bomb to the airport and he gets out on 10K bail? If he was any other color, he'd be on his way to pound-him-in-the-ass prison. Do I think this guy's a terrorist bent on taking down a plane? From the article, I would say not, but everyone knows he wouldn't be out on bail if he wasn't white with a friend in high places. Keep reading - I had just posted something else when I found this article...
Powell WMD speech 'lowest point in my life'
This guy talks about the attempt to pin WMDs on Hussein... "I wish I had not been involved in it," says Col. Lawrence Wilkerson, a longtime Powell adviser who served as his chief of staff from 2002 through 2005. "I look back on it, and I still say it was the lowest point in my life."...
"(Powell) came through the door ... and he had in his hands a sheaf of papers, and he said, 'This is what I've got to present at the United Nations according to the White House, and you need to look at it,'" Wilkerson says in the program. "It was anything but an intelligence document. It was, as some people characterized it later, sort of a Chinese menu from which you could pick and choose."
Wilkerson and Powell spent four days and nights in a CIA conference room with then-Director George Tenet and other top officials trying to ensure the accuracy of the presentation, Wilkerson says.
"There was no way the Secretary of State was going to read off a script about serious matters of intelligence that could lead to war when the script was basically un-sourced," Wilkerson says. MUCH MORE information is in the article - I would have just copied the whole thing, but apparently people get a little testy when I do that.
The Definition of Irony
Found at AmericaBlog. Pope Benedict So-and-So has asked US officials to give him diplomatic immunity stemming from a lawsuit that accuses him of covering up the abuse of three boys in Texas. He does this while in Europe for World Youth Day. The sad thing is that he already has diplomatic immunity. It must be so comforting to Catholics that this man is actively working to get himself out of any legal trouble that connects him with the sexual molestation scandals that have been plaguing the Catholic church for decades. I'm so glad I have no religious affiliation - too much of a pain in the ass for my taste.
Cindy Sheehan's Grief Continues
She's left her campsite to fly to Los Angeles where her mother has been hospitalized following a stroke. I wonder how quickly Rush Limbaugh or Michelle Malkin will take before blaming her for her mother's decline in health. She says she will return to the campsite as soon as possible, depending on the severity of her mother's illness.
Priceless Quotes
Step right up and get your quotes! "You can support the troops but not the president" ---Rep. Tom Delay (R-TX)
"[The] President . . . is once again releasing American military might on a foreign country with an ill-defined objective and no exit strategy. He has yet to tell the Congress how much this operation will cost. And he has not informed our nation's armed forces about how long they will be away from home. These strikes do not make for a sound foreign policy." ---Sen. Rick Santorum (R-PA)
"American foreign policy is now one huge big mystery. Simply put, the administration is trying to lead the world with a feel-good foreign policy." ---Rep. Tom Delay (R-TX)
"If we are going to commit American troops, we must be certain they have a clear mission, an achievable goal and an exit strategy." ---Karen Hughes, speaking on behalf of George W. Bush
"I had doubts about the bombing campaign from the beginning . . . I didn't think we had done enough in the diplomatic area." ---Senator Trent Lott (R-MS)
"Well, I just think it's a bad idea. What's going to happen is they're going to be over there for 10, 15, maybe 20 years." ---Joe Scarborough (R-FL)
"I cannot support a failed foreign policy. History teaches us that it is often easier to make war than peace. This administration is just learning that lesson right now. The President began this mission with very vague objectives and lots of unanswered questions. A month later, these questions are still unanswered. There are no clarified rules of engagement. There is no timetable. There is no legitimate definition of victory. There is no contingency plan for mission creep. There is no clear funding program. There is no agenda to bolster our over-extended military. There is no explanation defining what vital national interests are at stake. There was no strategic plan for war when the President started this thing, and there still is no plan today"
-Rep. Tom Delay (R-TX)
"Explain to the mothers and fathers of American servicemen that may come home in body bags why their son or daughter have to give up their life?" ---Sean Hannity, Fox News, 4/6/99
"Victory means exit strategy, and it's important for the President to explain to us what the exit strategy is."
-Governor George W. Bush (R-TX)
(Did you enjoy reading these quotes from Clinton's adversaries when Bill Clinton was committing troops to Bosnia?) The man they call S.E.A.L. reminded me of these quotes, which I found all compiled nice and neat at USA Today. He'd like to remind us that the funny thing is, we won that war without a single killed in action. I'd like you to take another moment and read those quotes again very carefully. THIS IS WHY THEY ARE A BUNCH OF GODDAMN HYPOCRITS. And people who support them are CHOOSING to be led by these happy little idiots.
Governor Taft Charged
The Great-Grandson of William Howard Taft, the only president to also serve as chief justice on the Supreme Court got his ass busted today.
Gov. Bob Taft has been charged in Franklin County Municipal Court with four criminal misdemeanors for failing to disclose golf outings and possibly other favors.
The charges were outlined at a press conference this afternoon with Franklin County Prosecutor Ron O'Brien and Columbus City Attorney Richard C. Pfeiffer Jr.
If convicted on the first-degree misdemeanor charges, Taft faces a maximum fine of $1,000 and up to six months in jail on each count.
Doesn't sound like a lot of hot water, but I'd say it's a big deal when he's the first Ohio Governor to be charged with a crime while still in office. Someone pass him the Dumbass Hat.
Thank You, Fred Mattlage!
Now here's a REAL nice guy! One of President Bush's neighbors will allow use of his land by dozens of war protesters who have camped in roadside ditches the past 11 days, giving them more room and halving their distance from Bush's ranch.
Fred Mattlage, an Army veteran, said he sympathizes with the demonstrators whose makeshift camp off the winding, two-lane road leading to Bush's ranch has angered most residents. Mattlage said the group will be safer on his corner 1-acre lot.
"I just think people should have a right to protest without being harassed," Mattlage told The Associated Press on Tuesday night. "And I'm against the war. I don't think it's a war we need to be in." That's a very kind gesture. It's nice to know that people are looking out for other people's safety, because you never know when some weirdo could come along with a big pipe chained to their pickup truck.
Let's Give A Nelson HA HA! - "Nice Guy's" Tire Got Popped By A Cross!
Karma's a bitch, isn't she? Cindy Sheehan said a man earlier in the day drove over 500 crosses and 40 American flags, a memorial for the 1,800 Americans killed in Iraq...
"One of the crosses lodged in his wheel well and popped his tire," she told reporters on a telephone conference call.
The man was arrested as he tried to change a tire a short distance down the road, Sheehan said.
Court papers identified him as Larry Northern, 59, from nearby Waco. Larry Northern, you are a complete idiot. Crooks and Liars has the video of what you did. I'm sure all those Republican, Bush-supportin' vets out there would like to kick your ass for desecrating all those flags and crosses memorializing their fallen bretheren. *chirp chirp* DAMMIT! I keep forgetting how good they are at being hypocritical.
Crosses & Flags Run Over By Nice Guy In Pickup Truck
 About an hour ago, wegot a phone call from our friends up at Camp Casey saying that the line of gravemarkers along the road (Arlington West) had been run over. People there said that as they were talking to a few members of the press, a pick-up truck came down the road and stopped at the fork by the edge of the tents. The driver then jumped out and attached a pipe to the undercarriage with a chain and began to "swerve into the line of crosses," said Tammara Rosenleaf from Montana. "Then we heard the pipe being dragged over the gravemarkers and the pick-up's wheels crushing them."
Out of the 800 crosses, 500 were knocked down and 100 are irreperable. However, the driver was arrested by the local authorities. This is a prime example of how the Crawford sheriff's department has helped to protect us and our freedom of speech over the past week and a half. A big thank you to them! Nice one, dude. Show 'em how you treat grieving mothers! Yeah!
Sorry Everybody
I've been really busy today - lots of stuff to deal with so I didn't get a chance to update. In penance for this, I hope to appease thee with a cartoon. 
All Bets Are Off! I'm Going With WALKEN in 2008!
Frank Rich Article Tells It Like It Is
Frank Rich has a very interesting article over at the NYT. This website will give you a login if you don't already subscribe and don't want to register. Here's some excerpts...
Someone Tell the President the War Is Over
...The president's cable cadre is in disarray as well. At Fox News Bill O'Reilly is trashing Donald Rumsfeld for his incompetence, and Ann Coulter is chiding Mr. O'Reilly for being a defeatist. In an emblematic gesture akin to waving a white flag, Robert Novak walked off a CNN set and possibly out of a job rather than answer questions about his role in smearing the man who helped expose the administration's prewar inflation of Saddam W.M.D.'s. (On this sinking ship, it's hard to know which rat to root for.)...
A struggle is what you have with your landlord. When the war's über-managers start using euphemisms for a conflict this lethal, it's a clear sign that the battle to keep the Iraq war afloat with the American public is lost...
It was on these false premises - that Iraq was both a collaborator on 9/11 and about to inflict mushroom clouds on America - that honorable and brave young Americans were sent off to fight...
Only someone as adrift from reality as Mr. Bush would need to be told that a vacationing president can't win a standoff with a grief-stricken parent commandeering TV cameras and the blogosphere 24/7...
It was easier to take out Saddam - and burnish Mr. Bush's credentials as a slam-dunk "war president," suitable for a "Top Gun" victory jig - than to shut down Al Qaeda and smoke out its leader "dead or alive."...
To this day it's our failure to provide that security that has turned the country into the terrorist haven it hadn't been before 9/11 - "the central front in the war on terror," as Mr. Bush keeps reminding us, as if that might make us forget he's the one who recklessly created it. It appears to me (through polls that indicate Americans' support of the war declining further and further) that on the spectrum of support/dissent, there are more people kind of hanging around in the middle, swaying a little left or right, and that those on the ends are those who blindly follow Bush and his policies like a herd of sheep and those who think he's the antichrist with zero redeeming qualities. I admit to be one of those nearing the "antichrist" side, except that I'm not that religious. The fact is that our troops are in Iraq, and we are there for no reason related to September 11th. That's how this all started, remember? We were going to get Osama Bin Laden, because it was HIS group that brought that horrific day to us. We were going to get him dead or alive. Then, suddenly, he wasn't a concern. How anyone can not be ROYALLY PISSED OFF at that still boggles my mind.
Still Failing After All These Years
Christ, this subject was discussed so long ago, yet we STILL can't get our troops the armor they desperately need? For the second time since the Iraq war began, the Pentagon is struggling to replace body armor that is failing to protect American troops from the most lethal attacks by insurgents.
The ceramic plates in vests worn by most personnel cannot withstand certain munitions the insurgents use. But more than a year after military officials initiated an effort to replace the armor with thicker, more resistant plates, tens of thousands of soldiers are still without the stronger protection because of a string of delays in the Pentagon's procurement system...
Among the problems contributing to the delays in getting the stronger body armor, the Pentagon is relying on a cottage industry of small armor makers with limited production capacity. In addition, each company must independently come up with its own design for the plates, which then undergo military testing. Just four vendors have begun making the enhanced armor, according to military and industry officials. Two more companies are expected to receive contracts by next month, while 20 or more others have plates that are still being tested. Can I ask the most STUPID QUESTION EVER? Why do these companies have to each come up with their own design? Don't you think it would be prudent to design ONE PLATE, make sure it meets military standards (or, perhaps EXCEED military standards?), then award contracts to all the companies that can make them? It seems like an INCREDIBLE waste of time and manpower that could otherwise be spent producing these essential pieces of armor. I suppose it could be said that this is the R&D stage of a completely new piece of equipment, but I would hope that the military would already have armor that they've used effectively, so why not go with that design and throw them into production. If they don't already have an effective piece of equipment, that tells me that the military is woefully behind the insurgents and they're just trying to play catch-up. That is frightening. Aren't we supposed to have one of the most advanced militaries in the world? The article goes on to describe how military officials underestimated the strength of insurgents and how they tried to keep this lack of armor on the DL so insurgents wouldn't know how poorly equipped our troops are. Great. Nearly every day I get a comment about how us liberals don't support the troops, but these commenters fail to see the irony in that. Our own military officials can't support our troops. What the hell is going ON around here?
I Don't Know Him, But He Rocks
This individual came by my site and left a lengthy comment in my Cindy Sheehan Comment Extravaganza. He said a lot of things that I have tried to say through my blog, albeit curse-laden and incomprehensible. I'm no professional writer, I just type what's going on in my head at the moment. I hope he doesn't mind that I reprint his comment. I hope that Bush-backers will take a minute or two to read what this former military man has to say, perhaps leave a comment on what you think about his words. Is he a peacenik hippie with nothing better to do, or could he have made a few very valid points? Here it is...
9/11 Commission is on the Defensive
Damn, people. It's all just mass chaos and insanity. I need a drink. The leaders of the 9/11 commission late Friday disputed a congressman's criticism that the panel did not adequately investigate a claim that four hijackers were identified as al-Qaida members more than a year before the attacks.
In a joint statement, former commission chairman Thomas Kean and vice chairman Lee Hamilton said a military official who made the claim had no documentation to back it up. And they said only 9/11 ringleader Mohamed Atta was identified to them and not three additional hijackers as claimed by Rep. Curt Weldon, vice chairman of the House Armed Services and Homeland Security committees.
"He could not describe what information had led to this supposed Atta identification," the statement said of the military official.
They also said no else could place the other three hijackers with Atta in a purported terror cell code-named "Brooklyn" during the time period cited by Weldon.
The pre-Sept. 11 intelligence on Atta was disclosed recently by Weldon, who said a secret military unit called "Able Danger" had identified the four hijackers as part of terrorist cell. He said the information should have been forwarded by the military to the FBI.
In response to the statement by Kean and Hamilton, Weldon accused the commission of purposely omitting information on Able Danger. He said in a statement that he will continue to push for a "full accounting of the historical record."
If proves correct, the intelligence would change the timeline for when government officials first learned of Atta's links to al-Qaida. The Pentagon and at least two congressional committees are looking into the issue.
Finally, The Rest of What's Going On
Got so wrapped up in the abnormally long Cindy Sheehan bruhaha that I didn't have adequate time to take a look at what else is happening. Jack Abramoff has been indicted for committing fraud and showed up in court today. Abramoff, you'll remember, has close ties to that pillar of ethics, Tom DeLay.
The six-count federal indictment unsealed in Fort Lauderdale alleges that Abramoff, 40, and a partner, Adam Kidan, 36, of New York, faked a $23 million wire transfer to defraud two lenders out of some $60 million to finance the $147 million purchase of SunCruz Casinos from Konstantinos "Gus" Boulis in September 2000.
The deal ultimately collapsed and Boulis, 51, was killed five months later in an apparent hit. The shooting is unsolved...
Abramoff is also under investigation for his lobbying activities on behalf of Indian tribes and for his role in paying for overseas trips for DeLay. The Texas Republican has denied knowing Abramoff paid the expenses.
Pentagon officials are tightening their sphincters over the thought of further release of photographs and videotapes made at Abu Ghraib. Senior Pentagon officials have opposed the release of photographs and videotapes of the abuse of detainees at Abu Ghraib prison in Iraq, arguing that they would incite public opinion in the Muslim world and put the lives of American soldiers and officials at risk, according to documents unsealed in federal court in New York.
Gen. Richard B. Myers, the chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, said in a statement put forth to support the Pentagon's case that he believed that "riots, violence and attacks by insurgents will result" if the images were released. Geez, I wonder what could possibly be in those photos and on those videos that would get insurgents even MORE riled up than they have been. Maybe it's just that all low-ranking officials have gotten raked over the coals and no one higher has taken responsibility. Because I'm sure NO ONE knew what was going on there at all. Oh, and I almost forgot - Tucker Carlson is a terrorist. He supports terrorists, therefore he must also BE one.
Bonesmen Taught Not To Care About Us "Barbarians" - Why Should Bush Care Now?
Answer: He doesn't. It's just another lie. This is part of an article I found... "I grieve for every death," Bush said as Cindy Sheehan remained camped out about five miles away. For six days she has been demanding Bush meet with her about her son, Casey Austin Sheehan, an Army specialist killed in combat in Baghdad in April 2004.
"It breaks my heart to think about a family weeping over the loss of a loved one. I understand the anguish that some feel about the death that takes place," Bush said. I found it very interesting that he would say such things. Yes, I would expect him to say something bullshitty about "feeling their pain" because they have to, but considering what I've learned about the Skull & Bones, it just screams of more dishonesty. The Order encourages members to view the world outside of Skull and Bones in a desensitized fashion and in a dissimulating fashion. Another dissociation is that clocks in the Bones 'tomb' run intentionally five minutes fast from the rest of the world, to give the members an ongoing sense that the Bonesmen's space is a totally separate world--and a world just a bit ahead of the curve of the rest of the "barbarians" outside. Now, I'm sure lots of people might dismiss Skull lore as just a conspiracy, but it makes quite a bit of sense that powerful people would do better to dissociate themselves from the general public. By looking down at the rest of us, it is easier to run enormous corporations - kind of hard to lay off 12,000 workers if you actually care about each and every one of them, right? So why is Bush saying he grieves so much for the losses of these lives? Because it's all PR. A photo op. Like flying in to an aircraft carrier on a jet. Like putting his arm around a WTC recovery worker while using his megaphone. He doesn't care. We're barbarians. We're little people. Peons. Cannon fodder. Disposable. Don't think for one second that it's anything else.
You're Missing The Action!
 Moxie's been posted on AOL's BlogZone, and there's a fight brewing two doors down! Come and check it out!
Wow, They Have Brass Ones
And here I thought they could sink no lower in their attempts to pull out 9/11 sympathy. I should have learned by now: never underestimate the sliminess of this administration.
The Pentagon will hold a massive march and country music concert to mark the fourth anniversary of 9/11, Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld said in an unusual announcement tucked into an Iraq war briefing yesterday.
"This year the Department of Defense will initiate an America Supports You Freedom Walk," Rumsfeld said, adding that the march would remind people of "the sacrifices of this generation and of each previous generation."...
Word of the event startled some observers. "I've never heard of such a thing," said John Pike, who has been a defense analyst in Washington for 25 years and runs GlobalSecurity.org.
The news also reignited debate and anger over linking Sept. 11 with the war in Iraq.
"That piece of it is disturbing since we all know now there was no connection," said Paul Rieckhoff, an Iraq veteran who heads Operation Truth, an anti-administration military booster.
Rieckhoff suggested the event was an ill-conceived publicity stunt. "I think it's clear that their public opinion polls are in the toilet," he said.
Rumsfeld's walk had some relatives of 9/11 victims fuming.
"How about telling Mr. Rumsfeld to leave the memories of Sept. 11 victims to the families?" said Monica Gabrielle, who lost her husband in the attacks.
Administration supporters insisted Rumsfeld was right to link Iraq and 9/11, and hold the rally.
Yes, let's link Iraq and 9/11 (again), because they have so much to do with each other (this is why the majority of FOX viewers believed they were linked, right? Because this kind of bad shit gets tossed out there?).
Cindy Sheehan Gets Smeared Some More
My goodness, it's as though the dead speak to this weird Michelle Malkin chick when she said "I can’t imagine that Casey Sheehan would approve of such behavior." She just CAN |
One of the members of the military says:
"But what you should do is support us, not bash us. For whether you like it or not, I am prepared to give my life for this country and our way of life. (Another great thing about America, freedom to choose...) So that my children and their children can have the opportunity to live in a society where they can speak out and not fear being taken away in the night and never be seen again. The opportunity to dream and accomplish all that their hard work will allow them to accomplish. The freedom to believe what they choose to believe and worship how they choose to worship. That is America, and that is why I proudly serve.
Why do you military types and self-styled conservaties continue to make that stupid statement? We all support our military when they're in combat. It's the people who caused the combat that we don't support. And, we don't bash, we tell the truth, which is something that is ignored on the neocon side.
Being willing to give your life for your country is admirable, but not unique. I was a 20 year SEAL, three Purple hearts, the Navy Cross, etc. Ergo, I'm not impressed. Also, I'm not stupid enough to believe that participating in the criminal act of invading a sovereign nation that posed no threat to my country, killing helpless civilians and children, and causing mass destrution of that nation's infastruture can in any way be construed as serving my "country" or being worth dying for. You and I both know that the evidence this administration presented to Congress to gain permission and to the world as justification for a preemtive attack on Iraq was a lie. Not bad intelligence or misinformation, but a deliberate falsification and misrepresentation of it. That has been established beyond any doubt. The difference between us is that you don't want to believe the reality of it and that scares us.
People who will deceive themselves are very scary people because they will go to any length to justify imposing their will upon others. The end justifies the means. And that is the most dangerous kind of bullshit there is.
That's why the American people's support for this so-called "war" has steadly diminished. It isn't the military that they don't support, it's the war criminals who have shamed us as a nation that they no longer believe nor support. The realization has hit home that Iraq is not a war, it's a war crime that our "elected" leaders have commited in our name!
And, something that is totally overlooked is that this is the second time we have done this. Remember Panama? Who was president when we invaded that country and took out it's leader based upon trumped up BS? Uhuh, Bush the First!
As a military person, your duty is to protect this contry from those who present a clear and present danger by maintaining the necessary retalitory capability to deter any aggression or to destroy those foolish enough to actually attack us. How can you profess such pride when you have yet to perfom that duty. Where is the man identified as responsible for 9/11? He sure as hell isn't in Iraq!
We constantly hear of our technological ability to satelite track, identify, and guide our weapons with pinpoint accuracy. It's so amazing we can hit an ant sitting on a ball of cotton in a basement in Queens, New York but we can't locate a seven foot tall man dragging a dialysis machine behind him in a stone age desert environment? Every time we have asked Bush why he hasn't caught bin Laden, Bush says he's been hiden. He has actually said he isn't concerned with him.
Just what is it you're so proud of? The fact that, according to the most dependable and realistic estimates, we have killed approximately 100,000 Iraqis who had nothing to do with 9/11 or the fact that we've deliberately allowed the peson responsible to run free? You have no idea how ridiculous this is to me, one who is specifically trained and experienced in counter terrorism. Give me two SEAL teams and full authority and I will bring you bin Laden's head (attached or not) within 30-60 days. Then or now.
You're not accomplishing anything you espouse in your prerecorded and practiced Bush administration rhetoric. You're aiding and abeting what history will prove as the fuse that lit the great world war between christians and muslims unless the enough of us come to our senses and stop it. That is what Cindy Sheehan symbolizes!