Staying the Course (again)

MANIFESTO

The more the Bushies keep falling back on the "We've got to wait for General Petraeus's report before we can do anything about Iraq" argument, the more obvious it becomes that this is just like their "We've got to wait for the Iraq Study Group's report before we can do anything about Iraq" dodge.

Just as they did absolutely nothing when the latter came out (Wait a minute: They did do something. They ignored it.), it seems that waiting for the Petraeus report (as if he had anything new to add to the description of the morass) is just another way they can wait this fiasco out so that others can clean up their mess.

It goes without saying that the hope is that the next administration—and the 111th Congress, for that matter—won't have the mindset of a bunch of four-year-olds.

Yumpin' Yiminy!

MANIFESTO

Tim Grieve at Salon's War Room currently has the best update on the Larry Craig story.

Ho hum. Just another self-loathing All-American upright Bush-apologizing evangelical Red State hypocritical mendacious Republican. The GOP has demonstrated that it certainly has plenty of them.

Gonzales has resigned

MANIFESTO

NPR is reporting that Fredo resigned on Friday. This is sure to be the story of the day.

Just another denouement to another Bush screwup.

Mercenaries

MANIFESTO

Demonstrating once again that everyone has his price:

More than 90 percent of the Army's new recruits since late July have accepted a $20,000 "quick ship" bonus to leave for basic combat training by the end of September, putting thousands of Americans into uniform almost immediately.

Many recruits who take the bonus -- scoring in many cases the equivalent of more than a year's pay -- leave their homes within days, recruiters said. The initiative is part of an effort by Army officials to meet year-end recruiting goals after a two-month slump earlier this year. With the fiscal year ending Sept. 30, the Army hopes the extra cash motivates those interested in joining or entices those just considering enlisting.

This shows just how desperate the military is to get additional IED fodder—that is, in addition to the "ticking time bombs" that are already serving in Iraq and Afghanistan (and being redeployed over and over again).

And, lest we forget, this is how GI George handled his own possible overseas deployment.

Scabs

UNIVERSAL REMOTE

While in upstate New York for the weekend, this story caught my eye:

Several hundred union members protested outside the Orange County Choppers retail store yesterday morning before they were dispersed by several police agencies.

Several unions have accused the Choppers of using nonunion workers to build its new world headquarters in Newburgh, a charge the construction company denies.

Apparently the Teutuls are too busy to comment themselves now that they can call their own shots regarding network placement, marry flight attendants, and raise their precious miniature goats.

Where does the radical Mikey stand on all of this?

Cravens all

MANIFESTO

What does it say about the state of today's US military when it turns out that the Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff is absolutely gutless?

Holy Joe Strikes Again!

MANIFESTO

As the man said,

Okay, it's admittedly not hard to have fun at Joe Lieberman's expense, but this one's too good to pass up.

I always felt a certain smugness when I saw the idiotic statements of legislators from North Carolina, or Florida, or Nebraska. Of course, they were fools; their constituents were no brighter.

Nowadays, though, I can't feel so self-satisfied. What a disgrace our junior senator has turned out to be to the people of Connecticut.

Finding Friends Elsewhere

MANIFESTO

All of the major papers are headlining just how inefficient the "government" in Iraq is. Of course, this doesn't deter Feckless Leader from recanting various statements he's made about Iraq's Prime Minister by saying that Nuri Al-Maliki is a "good guy."

And Maliki's response to all of this?

Iraqi Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki on Wednesday strongly rebuked American politicians for threatening to withdraw support from his government, suggesting while on a trip to Syria that he could "find friends elsewhere" if he was abandoned by the United States.

Given the fact that no more "coalitions of the willing" will ever be found, this is obviously a thinly veiled threat to throw in with entities that GI George and Deadeye Dick would have conniptions over: Syria, Iran, and their ilk.

The domino theory regarding democracy in the Middle East doesn't seem to be working out for the military masterminds in the White House.

A slutter?

SPORTING GOODS

Call it what you will, the Sox are now up by six.

Laughing 'til I cry

MANIFESTO

Josh Marshall pretty much captures the current zeitgeist when he writes, "With President Bush these days, often there's nothing left to do but laugh."

And President Unelected's actions and statements would be funny, too, if they weren't so catastrophic.

Toward a healthier, more educated, and more prosperous America

MANIFESTO

This is pretty much my manifesto. May it come to pass.

Gagne

SPORTING GOODS

I couldn't agree more.

Meanwhile, Kason Gabbard isn't having too bad a season.

Guarding the henhouse

MANIFESTO

I know others have said this better and more forcefully, but the whole Utah mine disaster has turned into yet another example of just how the Bushies deny their role in promoting the general welfare. Kos has a good rundown on Richard Stickler, chairman of the Mine Safety and Health Administration. The money paragraph:

"Mine safety czar" Richard Stickler is an industry insider. His biography notes six years as director of the Pennsylvania Bureau of Deep Mine Safety, and 37 years in the industry. What this vague commentary fails to explain is that most of this time was spent as an Executive -- a situation which led the wife and daughter of a miner killed at Sago to write lawmakers urging them to reject Stickler's nomination: "Mr. Stickler is a longtime coal executive and because of his connections with the coal industry, we are concerned that his primary objectives may be solely on compliance and production, not on miners' health and safety." Statistics reveal that the mines Stickler managed from 1989 to 1996 had injury rates double the national average.

At this point, one doesn't know whether to laugh or cry. I suppose that after having a Secretary of Education who hated teachers, a Secretary of the Interior who hated the environment, etc., etc., etc., it shouldn't be surprising that President Unelected should appoint (under the cover of darkness) a chairman of the Mine Safety and Health Administration who doesn't care about miners' safety.

Among the 3700

MANIFESTO

Another legacy of the Bushies:

Ninety-nine U.S. soldiers killed themselves last year, the highest rate of suicide in the Army in 26 years, a new report says.

More than one out of four soldiers who committed suicide did so while serving in Iraq or Afghanistan, according to a report scheduled to be released Thursday. Iraq was the most common deployment location for U.S. soldiers who either attempted suicide or committed suicide.

Meanwhile, we will no doubt soon be assured that things are going just swimmingly in the US's occupation of Iraq and Afghanistan.

Drop the Corkscrew...

FOOD FIGHT

...and step away from the bottle. I dare say this would be an episode of Cops I could get into, or perhaps the genesis for a Sergeant Mahoney meets Inspector Clouseau screen play.

Why America is doomed

MANIFESTO

It turns out that the country's demise won't be caused by the anti-Constitution stances of the Bushies, but by the Hindu and Muslim presence in Congress.

Give me strength.

To Know Him is to love him

UNIVERSAL REMOTE

The Phil Spector trial continues apace, with the jury visiting the Pyrenees Castle today. Exactly what was determined during the visit seems problematic as a number of requests jurors made regarding the visit were denied by the judge. In some instances, the denials seemed to favor Spector; in others, the denials seemed to favor the prosecution.

At any rate, "testimony might conclude by the end of next week," so, while the US is slowly but surely disintegrating, Fox News can devote a lot of its air time to speculations about the jury's deliberations.

Don't Gimme No Lip

MANIFESTO

My hope is that this is an aberration, but we may have seen a preview of the Internet of the future over the weekend as

AT&T ... censored a Pearl Jam performance that didn’t meet their standard of "Internet freedom."

During the live Lollapalooza Webcast of a concert by the Seattle-based super-group, the telco giant muted lead singer Eddie Vedder just as he launched into a lyric against President George Bush. The lines — “George Bush, leave this world alone” and “George Bush find yourself another home” were somehow lost in the mix.

Since it's clear that the Internet is just about the only media entity giving anyone the truth of what's going on in the world and the US, we'd pretty much be done if something like the AT&T episode became commonplace.

Center, my foot

MANIFESTO

Here's the link to the moderately damning front page article the Courant printed regarding Senator Sanctimony this morning.

Here's the letter I wrote in response:

To the Editor:

To describe Senator Joseph I. Lieberman as "at the center" (August 9, 2007 article) is to give the man too much credit.

He has consistently sided with right-wing Republicans in their pursuit of "victory" in the Middle East, going so far as to warn Democrats in 2005 that they "undermine presidential credibility [regarding the Iraq invasion] at our nation’s peril."

More recently, in an interview with The Hill, Connecticut's junior senator criticized Democrats for being "naïve in thinking we can somehow defeat this enemy with talk, or they’re simply hesitant to use American power, including military power.” He added, “There is a very strong group within the party that I think doesn’t take the threat of Islamist terrorism [a Bush mantra if ever there was one] seriously enough.”

During his career, Senator Lieberman has willingly received more than a quarter million dollars from the American Israel Public Affairs Committee--hardly a centrist group.

The senator's contention that he finds his independence "liberating" is somewhat unnerving since it apparently lets him feel that he can consort with whomever he wishes. For example, he recently gave a speech at the national conference of Christians United for Israel--a group whose National Board includes Jerry Falwell and Gary Bauer, both strident Republicans. The group's leader, John Hagee, is a long-time supporter of Tom DeLay, the former Republican strongman from Texas.

Senator Lieberman has preached the gospel of "bipartisanship" for years, but it's clear that his brand of bipartisanship simply allows him to act in whatever way he wishes.

There is, after all, a difference between bipartisanship and selling out.

I don't think it'll get printed because of its length, but writing it was a nice exercise for a beautiful morning in August.

UPDATE — Two letters were published on Friday by the Courant regarding the article; mine wasn't one of them.

We're queer ...!

MANIFESTO

Item:

A federal judge yesterday rejected New York City’s efforts to prevent the release of nearly 2,000 pages of raw intelligence reports and other documents detailing the Police Department’s covert surveillance of protest groups and individual activists before the Republican National Convention in 2004.

I'll be very interested to see how this ends up. More to follow.

Long and Wrong

SHOW ME THE MONEY

Holy smokes! Talk about a meltdown.

You think Cramer might have lost a little money this week?

What Benen Said

MANIFESTO

I'd sure like to think that Senate Democrats had any spines at all.

Just for laughs...

WHATEVER

Because it's Friday and we could all use a chuckle, here's a link to one of The Onion's all-time classics.

What a way to make a living

SPORTING GOODS

Chill points out this article wherein we find that Penn State head football coach

Joe Paterno apparently likes the view from the press box better than the sideline. So much so, that the coaching legend said Tuesday that he's considering coaching away from the field again this season.

"I'm not so sure that's not the better way to do it, and I've debated that," the 80-year-old coach told reporters, according to the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette.

A broken right leg and torn knee ligaments suffered when he was run over by a player during a game at Wisconsin near the end of last season caused Paterno to miss a game and coach the Outback Bowl from a coach's box.

Paterno said his knee is fine now. He said he hopes to be on the sideline for the Nittany Lions' Sept. 1 opener at home against Florida International, but the press box is a viable alternative.

"You can see so much more, you can do things," he told reporters, according to the Post-Gazette. "I tried not to interfere with the guys upstairs because they know what they're doing. But, every once in awhile, I'd drop a little note to them and say, 'Hope to get this,' or 'That corner's playing awfully tight.'

"You're really a cheerleader most of the time down on the sideline ... I enjoyed being upstairs, I really did. I sat down, had a nice time, had a cup of coffee. I felt like a newspaper guy. I was even able to watch television."

I can't add anything to this other than to say that I'll give the Old Man of the Nittany Mountains credit: He's certainly captured himself pretty well. Just a cheerleader on the sidelines? Minimal input during the course of a game? Golly, ya think?

And now that he can sit back and drink coffee and watch television while the game is in progress, he's really shown how little difference there is between himself and the average schmo watching the action in his living room.

Not a bad deal for a clueless octogenarian whose salary is so high that his employer is embarrassed to disclose it.

I'm not sure the good taxpayers of Pennsylvania are getting their money's worth.

Feds to Minnesota: ...

MANIFESTO

As Digby points out about the bridge collapse in the Twin Cities:

[Y]ou cannot look at something like this and not wonder if the years and years of infrastructure neglect at the hands of GOP propagandists who have been starving government for decades now is finally coming back to haunt us ... "No New Taxes" has been the rallying cry for decades now, but nobody ever said how we were supposed to pay for the things we all take for granted. And, of course,when things like this happen, the wingers blame the government and everyone decries taxes even more.

The Bushies, of course, don't care even though it's an interstate—and thus federal—highway system. As Tony Snow so typically put it: It's Minnesota's problem.

Don't Stop Believin'

MANIFESTO

What the Executive Branch has become:

Omertà (or a code of silence) has become the final bond holding the Bush administration together. Honesty is dishonorable; silence is manly; penitence is weakness. Loyalty trumps law. Protecting higher-ups is patriotism. Stonewalling is idealism. Telling the truth is informing. Cooperation with investigators is cowardice; breaking the code is betrayal. Once the code is shattered, however, no one can be trusted and the entire edifice crumbles.

And Fredo Gonzales is all that stands between all of the toothpaste coming out of the tube.

And we all know what happened to Fredo Corleone.

Abomination

MANIFESTO

This forced me to write an e-mail to my junior senator, literally telling him what a disgrace he is to the state.

I try not to have thoughts of mortality toward anyone, but Holy Joe is sure weakening my resolve.

UPDATE — I actually got an e-mail response from Holy Joe, even though I indicated I didn't want one. At any rate, the junior senator assures me he's always had Connecticut's needs at heart and has demonstrated this by voting with the Democratic party 90% of the time. He also assured me he understands my dissatisfaction with some positions he's taken.

Who cares!?!

SPORTING GOODS

Is it just me, or is there anything more pointless then these stupid drawn-out milestone watches that are plaguing sports reporting these days? Every night the top story on Sportscenter, every morning the discussion and 20/20 reports on the sports radio, lead off with Bonds not homering, A-Rod not homering, Glavine not winning. Here's some math:

Bonds hits a home run once every ~10 plate appearances (at least since age 35)
A-Rod hits at a slightly lower rate than that
Glavine for his career wins ~40% of his starts

When Bonds and A-Rod don't homer in a game (which occurs about 3/4 of games), it's not news. When Glavine doesn't win (which occurs in 60% of games), it's not news.

I can't wait til they pass these milestones so we can get back to hearing about important trades and actual pennant races.