OVER AND OUT

Okay, hold on tight. This is Rudy’s DEFENSE: Yes I was cruising up to the Hamptons to be with my lover Judith Nathan, even though I was still married. Yes, I had my publicly funded security detail with me, because they went with me everywhere, even on my adulterous trysts. Yes, we billed the extra security costs to public programs for the poor and the disabled, which had nothing to do with the NYPD or security. Yes, when these funds were audited, my people refused to explain what the money was used for (on "security" grounds). But you’re only hearing about this because it’s a Democratic hit job. So pay it no mind.

And, yes, so far that seems to be working. . . .

http://www.cnn.com/2007/POLITICS/11/29/giuliani.records/index.html
"I thought the way the story was presented was like a hit job," Giuliani told CNN . . .

"Coming two hours before this debate, I kind of got the idea that it was not a legitimate story."

"I would not accuse any of my opponents of doing it," he said. "But who knows, it could be on the Democratic side."

More: http://talkingpointsmemo.com/archives/059853.php

http://talkingpointsmemo.com/archives/059908.php

http://www.politico.com/blogs/bensmith/1107/Giulianis_response.html

http://www.tpmmuckraker.com/archives/004804.php

http://www.dailykos.com/storyonly/2007/11/29/82323/877
[Ellefarr] Rudy got laid, New York paid.

A new explanation emerges: the money was taken out of the wrong programs, but was eventually reimbursed. . . maybe. But it’s just a trivial little billing issue (uh-huh)

http://talkingpointsmemo.com/archives/059907.php

http://talkingpointsmemo.com/archives/059906.php

http://talkingpointsmemo.com/archives/059931.php

http://www.dailykos.com/storyonly/2007/11/30/62655/343
[ABC] [NYC Comptroller Bill Thompson] "That's not the way that we operate these days, and it would not be the preferred way of doing business. In the end, it's a very convoluted way of getting things done. If anyone hoped that no one would notice, they were being foolish.

http://talkingpointsmemo.com/archives/059929.php
[Ed Koch's Budget Director Alaire Townsend] "Money might get moved around within the mayor's office, but I don't know why an expense of the NYPD would get recorded that way unless you just didn't want people to find it."

But it gets worse. . . . or better, depending on your point of view

http://talkingpointsmemo.com/archives/059876.php
[Josh Marshall] [E]arlier this year it emerged that Rudy actually spent a lot of time in his personal quarters in the command center pre-9/11 because that's where he took Judi for their snogfests while their relationship was still a secret.

In fact, it gets better. While it's difficult to prove, there was a decent amount of circumstantial evidence -- and some city officials believed -- that Rudy's reason for wanting the center in building 7 was so that he could walk there easily from city hall for his trysts with Judy. . . .

http://talkingpointsmemo.com/archives/059926.php
[Josh Marshall] I fear, though, that we are only rubbing the surface of the true Shag Fund in this incipient probe. Clearly there's the travel money -- billed to whatever NYC office -- used for trips and security for Rudy out at the Hamptons shags. But we also know now that while Rudy was conducting an extramarital affair with Judi he gave her her own NYPD car and driver to be squired around the city with. Where'd the money for that come from? He later assigned her her own security detail, though this did apparently come after he fired Donna Hanover as First Lady of NYC so he apparently yanked some of them from her and gave them to Judi. Where'd the money for that come from?

According to City Comptroller Bill Thompson, auditors from the Comptroller's office first started raising questions about the Rudy's travel costs during his predecessor's tenure. Rudy folks basically told them to go jump in lake. . . .

http://talkingpointsmemo.com/archives/059928.php
[Josh Marshall] I think it's clear that Rudy's best defense at this point is that he didn't just use these accounting shenanigans to conceal the Shag Fund but also to conceal trips by his wife and purely political trips to Upstate New York. . . .

http://blogs.abcnews.com/theblotter/2007/11/giulianis-mistr.html
Well before it was publicly known he was seeing her, then-married New York Mayor Rudy Giuliani provided a police driver and city car for his mistress Judith Nathan, former senior city officials tell the Blotter on ABCNews.com.

"She used the PD as her personal taxi service," said one former city official who worked for Giuliani.

New York papers reported in 2000 that the city had provided a security detail for Nathan, who became Giuliani's third wife after his divorce from Donna Hanover, who also had her own police security detail at the same time. . . .

http://www.thecarpetbaggerreport.com/archives/13755.html
[Former NYC Mayor Ed Koch] “That was bizarre. She’s not the city’s responsibility. Rudy is the city’s responsibility. Your wife and his children get protection, and that’s understood. But certainly not your lady friend.” . . . . [read on]

http://www.talkleft.com/story/2007/11/29/161935/45
[Big Tent Democrat] There oughta be a law! Oh wait, there is one. . . Sounds like Rudy committed a felony to me. . . [read on]

More: http://talkingpointsmemo.com/archives/059903.php

Don’t ask, don’t tell

http://talkingpointsmemo.com/archives/059901.php
[Josh Marshall] Earlier today we heard that Rudy was going to appear on Jim Cramer's show to address the Shag Fund questions. . .

Interview has just ended. Not a single question about the Shag Fund.

Get outta here Bernie – I don’t NEED your help!

http://talkingpointsmemo.com/archives/059919.php
[NYT] “There would be no need for anyone to conceal his detail’s travel expenses,” said Mr. Kerik, who was indicted earlier this month on unrelated federal tax fraud and corruption charges. “And I think It’s ridiculous for anyone to suggest that the mayor or his staff attempted to do so.”

Bush doesn’t like the war funding bill Congress is sending him. Hmmm . . . I wonder how he will react?

http://www.nytimes.com/2007/11/29/world/middleeast/29cnd-prexy.html
President Bush began a new offensive against Congressional Democrats today over money for the Iraq war, calling on the lawmakers to give American troops “what they need to succeed in their missions” and pass a bill without strings attached.

“The American people expect us to work together to support our troops,” Mr. Bush said . . . [NB: “And by ‘work together,’ I mean, you should do what I want.”]

Booyah! http://www.americablog.com/2007/11/dems-denounce-bush-and-gop-for-stalling.html
[Nancy Pelosi] “Earlier this month, Congress approved nearly a half trillion dollars for the Department of Defense. Just two weeks ago, House Democrats passed $50 billion in additional funding for our troops in Iraq and Afghanistan. We have provided every penny that is currently necessary to fund Defense Department operations in Iraq, Afghanistan, and around the world. It is President Bush and his Republican allies in the Senate who are preventing extra funds from reaching our troops.

What journalists in Iraq tell each other, as opposed to what they seem to be telling us

http://www.alertnet.org/thenews/newsdesk/N27496676.htm
Nearly 90 percent of U.S. journalists in Iraq say much of Baghdad is still too dangerous to visit, despite a recent drop in violence attributed to the build-up of U.S. forces, a poll released on Wednesday said.

The survey by the Washington-based Pew Research Center showed that many U.S. journalists believe coverage has painted too rosy a picture of the conflict. . . .

[M]ost journalists said they believe violence and the threat of violence have increased during their tenures. . . .

Alice tells us Bush does not “seek” to establish permanent bases in Iraq. (Which is not the same as saying he won’t)

http://www.tpmmuckraker.com/archives/004801.php
[Spencer Ackerman] General Lute said on Monday we'll negotiate them. [Iraq govt spokesman] Ali al-Dabbagh wouldn't rule them out. But at the White House press gaggle today, Dana Perino denied the Bush administration's interest in long-term U.S. military bases in Iraq. . . .

The secret agenda at Annapolis?

http://www.washingtonmonthly.com/archives/individual/2007_11/012599.php

I love it! Government expert on integrity and transparency tells FBI investigators they can’t get copies of files he deleted from his computer

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/11/29/AR2007112902401.html
The decision by Special Counsel Scott J. Bloch escalates the confrontation between the Bush appointee and the White House, each of which is investigating the other.

Bloch's office is tasked with upholding laws against whistle-blower retaliation and partisan politicking in federal agencies. Earlier this year, Bloch directed lawyers in his office to look into charges that former Bush adviser Karl Rove inappropriately deployed government employees in Republican political campaigns.

Bloch had previously been targeted by the White House, which in 2005 asked the Office of Personnel Management (OPM) to investigate allegations that Bloch had retaliated against whistle-blowers among his own staff members and improperly dismissed whistle-blower cases brought to the agency by others. . . .

Bloch's office confirmed a Wall Street Journal report that he had hired Geeks On Call, a commercial computer service, to "scrub" the hard drive of his computer, and that the technicians scrubbed the hard drives of laptop computers used by two aides. Bloch said he took that action after malfunctions led him to believe a virus was destroying his files.

But the process used by the technicians to wipe the hard drives, Bloch's office confirmed, was more thorough than necessary to kill a virus. The effort raised questions, two officials close to the case said, about whether Bloch was attempting to obstruct the OPM investigation -- an allegation that he denies.

Through a spokesman, Bloch said he does not recall ordering the erasure of data in the hard drives of laptops used by chief of staff J.R. Sanchez and another top aide who had left the agency. Bloch had asked that the files in his computer be encrypted and moved to a portable "thumb drive," which he carries on his keychain, his spokesman said. . . .

More showdowns coming

http://www.nytimes.com/aponline/us/AP-Senate-Prosecutors.html
A Senate chairman acknowledged explicitly on Thursday that President Bush was not involved in the firings of U.S. attorneys last winter and therefore ruled illegal the president's executive privilege claims protecting his chief of staff, John Bolten, and former adviser Karl Rove.

Senate Judiciary Committee Chairman Patrick Leahy directed Bolten, Rove, former White House political director Sara Taylor and her deputy, J. Scott Jennings, to comply "immediately" with their subpoenas for documents and information about the White House's role in the firings of U.S. attorneys. . . .

Contempt? http://www.thecarpetbaggerreport.com/archives/13756.html

More: http://www.tpmmuckraker.com/archives/004800.php

http://www.news.com/8301-13578_3-9825170-38.html
A federal judge has ordered the Bush administration to divulge documents related to immunizing telecommunications companies from lawsuits, saying they illegally opened their networks to the National Security Agency.

U.S. District Judge Susan Illston in San Francisco gave the Office of the Director of National Intelligence until November 30 (Friday) to turn over documents relating to conversations it had with Congress and telecommunications carriers about how to rewrite wiretapping laws. . . .

More: http://www.salon.com/opinion/greenwald/2007/11/29/telecom_lobbying/index.html

Trust us

http://www.tpmmuckraker.com/archives/004802.php
[Spencer Ackerman] Over the summer, we reported on an under-the-radar executive order issued by President Bush allowing him to freeze or seize the U.S-based assets of anyone, potentially including U.S. citizens, he deems to threaten "the peace or stability of Iraq or the Government of Iraq" or who "undermin(e) efforts to promote economic reconstruction and political reform in Iraq."

The executive order was written so broadly as to alarm civil libertarians, who feared it was a back-door attempt at criminalizing the antiwar movement -- which Bush could conceivably argue posed a threat to Iraq by seeking to end the U.S. military presence -- or even unwitting donors to insurgent-linked charities. A spokeswoman for the Treasury Department, Molly Millerwise, told us not to worry: "Be assured that the individuals and entities we add to this list are in full faith acting in an aggressive, violent and reckless way in financing the insurgency," she said. . . .

The Washington Post’s disgusting slander against Barack Obama

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/11/28/AR2007112802757_pf.html
Despite his denials, rumors and e-mails circulating on the Internet continue to allege that Obama (D-Ill.) is a Muslim, a "Muslim plant" in a conspiracy against America, and that, if elected president, he would take the oath of office using a Koran. . . [read on]

[NB: See the problem? Obama IS NOT A MUSLIM. Therefore the point of the story should not be “despite his denials,” as if somehow this were his failing, but “Who is promoting these stories WHICH ARE NOT TRUE?”]

http://digbysblog.blogspot.com/2007/11/pssst.html
[Digby] According to the Washington Post "Republicans say Barack Obama is a Muslim and Obama says he isn't" is a legitimate story. Modern campaign journalism in all it glory.

http://talkingpointsmemo.com/archives/059839.php
[Josh Marshall] The piece actually breaks new ground in the use of the word 'rumor'. In public writing, 'rumor' generally refers to a wholly or partly unsubstantiated report. To the best of my knowledge, there is no evidence that Obama is a Muslim any more than I am. . . .

http://www.talkingpointsmemo.com/horsesmouth/2007/11/cbs_obama_is_do.php
[Greg Sargent] Obama is not "dogged by Muslim rumors." He is the victim of a smear campaign based on lies. These two things are not the same. And incidentally, to whatever extent Obama is "dogged" by these rumors, surely this will only be facilitated when news orgs like WaPo fail to make a serious effort to knock them down before printing them.

More: http://www.talkingpointsmemo.com/horsesmouth/2007/11/washington_post_9.php

http://www.dailykos.com/storyonly/2007/11/29/4528/1115

http://www.americablog.com/2007/11/worst-article-of-campaign-cycle.html

http://mediamatters.org/items/200711290007

http://mediamatters.org/items/200711290005

The REAL story (thanks to Digby for the link)

http://www.thenation.com/docprint.mhtml?i=20071112
[Christopher Hayes] The most notorious smear forward of this cycle is the Obama/madrassa canard, which represents the cutting edge of electronic rumor. At least two weeks before the Obama/madrassa smear appeared in the online magazine Insight, on January 17, it had been circulating widely in an e-mail forward that laid out the basics of Obama's bio in a flat, reportorial tone . . . It's a coldly effective bit of slander. . . Who wrote it? The unsatisfying answer is, we'll probably never know. . . [read on]

The Washington Post reporter responds – perversely missing the key problem with the original story

http://www.talkingpointsmemo.com/horsesmouth/2007/11/wapo_reporter_r.php

Well, we now know Joe Klein’s source for his bogus FISA story. You might think he would have known enough to be skeptical

http://thinkprogress.org/2007/11/29/hoekstra-joe-klein/
Today, House Intelligence Committee member and “Bush loyalist” Pete Hoekstra (R-MI) revealed that he was a “source” for Klein’s error-filled column, and proudly defends Klein in a column titled “Klein Kerfluffle” in the National Review. . . .

In his National Review piece, Hoekstra attacks progressive bloggers as “civil liberties extremists” . . .

Oh, THAT Hoekstra: http://thenexthurrah.typepad.com/the_next_hurrah/2007/11/joe-klein-do-yo.html
[Emptywheel] He's one of the guys who still believes that Iraq had WMDs. He's the guy who thought it'd be a good idea to put a bunch of Iraqi documents (and Al Qaeda documents dumped in just for fun) online, regardless of the fact that the documents included plans from Iraq's pre-1991 nuke program. He's the guy who hired Fred Fleitz to write propaganda on Iran for the HPSCI.

In short, he's nuts, and very much in the business of creating propaganda. . . .

http://www.talkingpointsmemo.com/archives/009011.php
[July 2006] House Intel Chief Hoekstra on press leaks: I have no evidence, but probably al Qaeda or foreign spies are responsible for the leaks.

http://www.salon.com/opinion/greenwald/2007/11/29/tribune/index.html

http://www.firedoglake.com/2007/11/29/fisa-kleins-source-was-hoekstra-and-other-unforced-errors/

http://www.samefacts.com/archives/the_wayward_press_/2007/11/more_justified_piling_on_joe_klein.php

The Chicago Tribune versus Time Magazine – two standards of journalistic integrity

http://www.salon.com/opinion/greenwald/2007/11/29/tribune/index.html
[The Trib] A Time magazine essay by Joe Klein that was excerpted on the editorial page Wednesday incorrectly stated that the House Democratic version of the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act would require a court approval of individual foreign surveillance targets. It does not.

[Time] In the original version of this story, Joe Klein wrote that the House Democratic version of the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act (FISA) would require a court approval of individual foreign surveillance targets. The bill does not explicitly say that. Republicans believe it can be interpreted that way, but Democrats don't.

CNN: we are not the story

http://www.salon.com/politics/war_room/2007/11/29/cnn/index.html
[Tim Grieve] On CNN a few minutes ago, reporter Dana Bash said that voters in a CNN focus group were unhappy that Republican candidates didn't spend more time last night talking about education and healthcare. What she didn't say: CNN, which controlled the questions that were put to the candidates at last night's debate, didn't choose any about education and healthcare.

More: http://mediamatters.org/items/200711290011
In rebroadcasts of the November 28 CNN/YouTube debate for Republican presidential candidates, CNN expunged, without disclosure, a segment in which retired Brig. Gen. Keith Kerr asked the candidates to address "why you think that American men and women in uniform are not professional enough to serve with gays and lesbians." . . [read on]

CNN: bloggers and MoveOn.org are like the Iraqi insurgents

http://www.americablog.com/2007/11/republican-operatives-wife-attacks.html

Alice in Wonderland, political theorist

http://www.first-draft.com/2007/11/today-on-hol-15.html
Q Dana, does the President believe that the Pakistan elections can really be free and fair, when the opposition will now only have three weeks to campaign between the time of which the emergency rule is lifted and the vote is held?

MS. PERINO: Well, I think we have -- look, our system of government is different. . . [read on]

Watch: http://talkingpointsmemo.com/archives/059883.php

Bonus item: The kind of people they are (with statistical proof!)

http://www.washingtonmonthly.com/archives/individual/2007_11/012603.php

***If you enjoy PBD and support what we are doing, you can help by forwarding a copy of this issue to your friends (using the envelope link below) or by sending them a copy of its URL (http://pbd.blogspot.com).

I don't get anything personally out of this project, except the satisfaction of doing it (I don't run ads, etc). The credit really all goes to the people whose material I copy and redistribute. But if I do have a "mission," it is to get this information into the hands of as many people as I can.***
- posted by Nick Burbules @ 6:51 AM

 
GOP WATCH

Sorry, but there’s just no delicate way to put this. The new symbol of the Republican party should be an elephant dumping a huge pile of crap. What a miserable, shameless bunch of liars this group is!

Giuliani, on the ropes?

http://www.politico.com/news/stories/1107/7073.html
As New York mayor, Rudy Giuliani billed obscure city agencies for tens of thousands of dollars in security expenses amassed during the time when he was beginning an extramarital relationship with future wife Judith Nathan in the Hamptons, according to previously undisclosed government records.

The documents, obtained by Politico under New York’s Freedom of Information Law, show that the mayoral costs had nothing to do with the functions of the little-known city offices that defrayed his tabs, including agencies responsible for regulating loft apartments, aiding the disabled and providing lawyers for indigent defendants.

At the time, the mayor’s office refused to explain the accounting to city auditors, citing “security.” . . .

http://www.americablog.com/2007/11/for-rudy-security-was-excuse-to-have.html
[Joe Sudbay] Rudy keeps promoting himself as the "security" candidate. Funny thing that "security" was the code word to cover up Rudy's taxpayer financed affair when he was Mayor. What a slimeball.

http://www.tpmmuckraker.com/archives/004795.php
[Paul Kiel] It's not much of a mystery why Bernie Kerik and Rudy Giuliani got along so well. They both showed a certain ingenuity when it came to leveraging New York City resources for trysts.

Kerik, of course, had his 9/11 love nest. And Giuliani, well . . .

http://www.dailykos.com/storyonly/2007/11/28/173216/15
[Trapper John] Beginning tonight, Rudy is more likely than not done as a serious candidate.

Barring a remarkable explanation from the Giuliani campaign or a superlatively craven trad med press meltdown, Rudy's campaign is likely to be destroyed by this story. Two things capture the American attention like no other: sex and money. . . .

More: http://www.salon.com/politics/war_room/2007/11/28/giuliani/index.html

Don’t underestimate the “craven media” scenario, however

http://www.thecarpetbaggerreport.com/archives/13745.html
[Steve Benen] So far, Rudy Giuliani’s scandalous personal life has been largely ignored by major media outlets. One of these days, that’s going to change, and today may be the day.

Giuliani is the first thrice-married serial adulterer to ever even run for president, a fact that most reporters have ignored entirely. When the Village Voice reported a few months ago that Giuliani kept his emergency command center in 7 World Trade Center, in part so he could maintain a convenient love nest for his extra-marital affairs, the media, once again, yawned. . . . [read on]

More: http://atrios.blogspot.com/2007_11_25_archive.html#6977791042018705852

http://www.mydd.com/story/2007/11/28/194450/53
[Todd Beeton] From the start, we knew that Giuliani would be a hard sell for the nomination if the media simply did its job and reported his extreme unfitness for office. Looks like, with a push from online outlets such as TPM, which currently features an extensive catalog of Rudy's ethical issues, and The Politico, we may be seeing the beginnings of the unraveling of Giuliani's entire "America's Mayor" persona and with it, any remnants of a rationale for his candidacy.

It gets worse

http://talkingpointsmemo.com/archives/059814.php
[Josh Marshall] Not only did Rudy pick obscure public agencies to bill for his trips out to hang in the Hamptons with Judy Nathan, he seemed to pick them to guarantee the maximum impression of tastelessness and chutzpah should he ever be found out.

Admittedly he only charged $10,000 to the people with disabilities fund. Chump change for the shag fund. But the office charged with getting counsel for indigent defendants got stuck with $400,000.

Rudy and Judy aren't like us little people. But even that high in the stratosphere, half a million dollars covers a lot of shagging.

More: http://www.talkleft.com/story/2007/11/28/195247/05

Rudy “explains”

http://talkingpointsmemo.com/archives/059819.php
[AP] Rudy Giuliani dismissed a report Wednesday that he expensed the cost of his security detail to obscure city offices for trips to a Long Island resort as the then-mayor began an extramarital affair with current wife Judith Nathan. . . [read on]

More: http://www.dailykos.com/storyonly/2007/11/28/234619/84

http://www.firedoglake.com/2007/11/29/please-dont-squeeze-the-charming/

Another teensy weensy problem for Rudy – if anyone pays attention

http://tpmelectioncentral.com/2007/11/rudys_company_profited_off_country_that_shielded_terror_mastermind.php
[Eric Kleefeld] Wow, this really should put a dent in Rudy Giuliani's Mr. 9/11 image. Wayne Barrett, a biographer and vocal critic of Rudy, has a new article outlining Rudy's business relationship with Sheikh Hamad bin Khalifah al-Thani, a Qataran emir whose finances helped found Al-Jazeera — and who has been accused of sheltering none other than Khalid Sheikh Mohammed in the 1990's . . . [read on]

More: http://digbysblog.blogspot.com/2007/11/rudys-got-secrets-by-digby-most-of-you.html

Romney, liar

http://politicalticker.blogs.cnn.com/2007/11/28/questions-about-romneys-south-carolina-abortion-mailer/
Mitt Romney's presidential campaign recently sent out a slick mail piece in South Carolina emphatically stating that Romney is "the only major presidential candidate who supports the Republican party's pro-life platform: A constitutional amendment banning abortion nationwide."

That blanket declaration is aimed directly at many of the state's conservative primary voters, who believe abortion should be outlawed in full.

But the claim doesn't completely square with Romney's previous statements that the abortion issue should first be decided by state legislatures before a constitutional amendment can be passed, leading one conservative leader in the state to call parts of the Romney brochure "oversimplified" and "offensive." . . .

http://talkingpointsmemo.com/archives/059750.php
[Josh Marshall] Having trouble keeping up with Romney's latest story on whether he'd appoint a Muslim to serve in his administration? We try to unravel the fast-breaking bamboozlement in today's episode of TPMtv . . . [watch it]

More: http://tpmelectioncentral.com/2007/11/another_witness_confirms_romneys_nomuslims_comment.php

http://talkingpointsmemo.com/archives/059749.php

http://talkingpointsmemo.com/archives/059821.php
[From a Republican reader] I made myself watch Mitt Romney, just to try to figure out what he is thinking as he goes through this process. I don't really know, but here's a guess: to Romney, getting elected President is a lot like putting together a business deal. The details of getting the deal done matter, because the deal doesn't happen without them, but the main thing is getting the deal done. I think Romney has personal beliefs, but not political principles; he wouldn't do anything in this campaign that would hurt his family or someone he cared about, but he'll change positions the way most people change socks. Whatever it takes to get the deal done.

For Romney, a turning point of sorts. Orrin Hatch (LDS-UT), comes out to tell Mitt he needs to address the Mormon issue to establish his independence. (Interesting that Hatch himself never felt that need, even when he was being considered for the Supreme Court.)

http://politicalwire.com/archives/2007/11/28/hatch_says_romney_must_address_mormon_issue.html

McCain, liar

http://www.thecarpetbaggerreport.com/archives/13746.html
[Steve Benen] To hear some of John McCain’s media admirers tell it, “McCain, whether you agree with him or not, has been entirely consistent about the war.” To hear his campaign tell it, “John McCain has mainted [sic] a consistent record on Iraq since the very beginning.”

But pesky little details like reality keep getting in the way. . . . [read on]

More: http://www.salon.com/politics/war_room/2007/11/28/mccain/index.html

Thompson, liar

http://mediamatters.org/items/200711280001
MSNBC's O'Donnell aired Thompson ad without challenging its claim that Thompson helped "expose the truth during Watergate" . . .

[NB: Excuse me, but I was paying attention during Watergate. Anyone who watched the hearings remembers that Thompson, then the counsel for the Republicans (yes, they let lawyers do some of the questioning) bent over backwards at every point to reframe the testimony in a way friendly to Nixon. Even worse, he leaked secret testimony to the Nixon White House so they knew what the committee was doing.]

Huckabee on the rise: but this means one and only one thing. The Christian Right has found a candidate they can rally around, after being disappointed by McCain, Giuliani, Romney, and Thompson

http://www.dailykos.com/storyonly/2007/11/28/93237/108
[Devilstower] The traditional media loves to swim in schools, following a comfortable narrative. Once they've decided who is a "maverick," which former mayor has "foreign policy experience" and who is a "popular president," little things like facts aren't allowed to spoil the story. Every now and then, the school of media fish catch a flash of color and seemingly as one, they flip around and wiggle off in a new direction.

This week, there seem to be two new narratives on the campaign trail. One is the sudden discovery of Mike Huckabee . . .

http://tpmelectioncentral.com/2007/11/huckabees_gods_vote_is_the_only_one_that_matters_to_me.php
[Eric Kleefeld] The American Prospect reports that Huckabee appeared this week on the televangelism show Believers' Voice of Victory, and he declared proudly, "I had to come to the conclusion that I only had one client ... when I laid my head on the pillow, I'd say, 'Lord, are you pleased?' ... even if I get voted out of office, I'll never get voted out of heaven."

If this seems familiar, that's because it is — President Bush himself once told Bob Woodward the following about whether he consulted his father for advice: "You know he is the wrong father to appeal to in terms of strength. There is a higher father that I appeal to." . . .

More: http://www.thecarpetbaggerreport.com/archives/13744.html

Could it be: Huckabee for President?

http://www.samefacts.com/archives/campaign_2008_/2007/11/why_its_going_to_be_huckabee.php
[Mark Kleiman] It can’t be anyone else. . . [read on]

Republican democracy in action

http://www.thecarpetbaggerreport.com/archives/13742.html
[WDBJ] If you’re planning to vote in Virginia’s February Republican presidential primary, be prepared to sign an oath swearing your Republican loyalty.

The State Board of Elections on Monday approved a state Republican Party request to require all who apply for a GOP primary ballot first vow in writing that they’ll vote for the party’s presidential nominee next fall. . . .

Then there are the people working in Bush’s administration. How bad is it when the people whose job it is to protect the law are among the worst violators?

http://talkingpointsmemo.com/archives/059747.php
[David Kurtz] You can't make this stuff up. Scott Bloch, the guy investigating politicization in the Bush Administration, is himself under investigation, and called Geeks on Call to come and erase his computer hard drive. Now he's under investigation for that, too.

http://www.tpmmuckraker.com/archives/004790.php
Scott Bloch heads the Office of Special Counsel (OSC), an odd little agency that was set up to police federal employees of infractions that do not rise to the criminal level. The OSC's main brief is enforcing the Hatch Act, which prohibits federal employees from using government resources for political ends (so Bloch should be a busy man). He's also supposed to make sure whistleblowers do not suffer retaliation. The OSC reports to the White House.

Bloch himself has been under investigation since 2005 for a variety of infractions, including retaliating against employees who took issue with internal policies and discriminating against those who were gay or members of religious minorities. At the direction of the White House, the Office of Personnel Management's inspector general has been pressing on with an investigation of Bloch.

Which makes this all the more curious. From The Wall Street Journal:

Recently, investigators learned that Mr. Bloch erased all the files on his office personal computer late last year. They are now trying to determine whether the deletions were improper or part of a cover-up, lawyers close to the case said. . . . [read on]

More on Bloch: http://www.thecarpetbaggerreport.com/archives/13738.html

More missing emails: http://thenexthurrah.typepad.com/the_next_hurrah/2007/11/and-speaking-of.html
So far the RNC has spent $231,615 looking for [Rove’s] missing emails. . . . [read on]

http://thenexthurrah.typepad.com/the_next_hurrah/2007/11/what-is-it-abou.html

More muck

http://www.tpmmuckraker.com/archives/004779.php
[Paul Kiel] When John Tanner, chief of the Civil Rights Division's voting section, appeared before a Congressional panel last month, he was upbraided by Democrats for his "ineffectiveness." Little did they know that as the section, probably the most politicized in the Justice Department under the Bush Administration, has done less and less to protect African-American voters from discrimination, Tanner has been seeing the country on the taxpayers' dime.

He even managed to make taxpayer-funded trips to Hawaii in three consecutive years, two of them a week long. One Department lawyer who accompanied Tanner on his first trip took the earliest available flight back after having completed all necessary work in just two business days. But Tanner insisted on staying a full week, despite the lack of apparent Department business. It's a crime for government officials to use public funds for personal travel.

A review of Justice Department documents obtained by TPMmuckraker shows just how extensive Tanner's travel has been. . . .

http://talkingpointsmemo.com/archives/059792.php
[Josh Marshall] You probably know DOJ voting section chief John Tanner for doing his level best to crack down on minority voting and telling an audience that voter ID laws aren't a problem since blacks and hispanics don't live that long anyway.

And more muck

http://thenexthurrah.typepad.com/the_next_hurrah/2007/11/who-has-been-lo.html
[Emptywheel] Who Has Been Lobbying Director of National Intelligence Mike McConnell? McConnell doesn't want you to know, no doubt fearing there will be the same kind of firestorm when we learn who has been schmoozing him . . . [read on]

The Bush plan for a permanent troop presence in Iraq needs to be approved by the Iraqi parliament, but not by the US Congress. Anybody bothered by that?

http://www.tpmmuckraker.com/archives/004794.php

http://www.tpmmuckraker.com/archives/004792.php

More: http://www.tpmmuckraker.com/archives/004793.php

http://www.firedoglake.com/2007/11/28/so-bush-wants-us-to-stay-in-iraq-forever-because/

The Israel/Palestine gambit: are these really the people to negotiate an historic peace agreement?

http://www.nytimes.com/2007/11/28/opinion/28dowd.html
As [Condi Rice] described it to Bumiller, she went upstairs at 5 a.m. the morning after the Palestinian elections in 2006 to the gym in her Watergate apartment to exercise on her elliptical machine. She saw the news crawl reporting the Hamas victory.

“I thought, ‘Well, that’s not right,’ ” she said. She kept exercising for awhile but finally got off the elliptical trainer and called the State Department. “I said, ‘What happened in the Palestinian elections?’ and they said, ‘Oh, Hamas won.’ And I thought, ‘Oh, my goodness! Hamas won?’ ”

When she couldn’t reach the State Department official on the ground in the Palestinian territories, she did what any loyal Bushie would do: She got back on the elliptical.

“I thought, might as well finish exercising,” Rice told Bumiller.

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/blog/2007/11/28/BL2007112801309.html
[Dan Froomkin] There were clear signs of ambivalence yesterday. Bush mangled the names of his two guests of honor, calling them "Ehud Elmo" and "Mahoomed Abbas." And, after his speech, Bush didn't even stick around for the afternoon's events. . . [read on]

http://www.dailykos.com/storyonly/2007/11/28/1427/9057
[Bush] So the vision is the beginning -- today was the beginning of the outline of a vision, so that people have something to be for. And it's an important step. Today was an important step, and it's going to be hard work to be done...In other words, there has to be something more positive than that which is being -- that which is on the horizon today. . . .

Generally, if a leader is able to promote peace, genuine peace, it will help their standing with the people. I'm not a great analysis of polls, but I do believe that leadership is rewarded, and particularly leadership that leads to the prospect for peace.

http://www.whitehouse.gov/news/releases/2007/11/20071128-8.html
Q Yesterday there was this launch of the peace negotiations, the handshakes. What happens today?

MS. PERINO: One of the things that was wonderful about yesterday was that we had a moment when the Israelis and the Palestinians were able to come together, agree on a statement to launch these negotiations. But one of the things the President said was really important is yesterday was important, but what happened the next day was even more important, which is the start of the negotiations. . . .

One of the things that he told President Abbas, which I believe he'll tell Prime Minister Olmert, as well, is that when you're in one of these negotiations, it's really important to keep your eye on the big picture, that there are many issues that are going to have to be discussed -- and both leaders touched on some of them yesterday in their statements. These are difficult, emotional issues. It's going to be time-consuming as they work through them and there could be sticking points.

And what the President encouraged them to do was to work with their negotiators; that there would be days when it looks like things were really tough, but that if you keep your eye on the big picture, that you can help make sure that you'll have a successful negotiation. . . .

[NB: Deep thoughts]

Watch Alice: http://talkingpointsmemo.com/archives/059790.php

If they were serious: http://www.slate.com/id/2178713/fr/rss/

Demanding answers on FISA

http://www.firedoglake.com/2007/11/28/fisa-and-questions-that-need-answers/

http://balkin.blogspot.com/2007/11/all-you-need-to-not-know-about-proposed.html

“The Terror Presidency”

http://www.nybooks.com/articles/20858

The good news: it looks as if people are finally fed up with having these people in charge

http://www.firedoglake.com/2007/11/28/have-we-reached-the-tipping-point/

http://politicalinsider.com/2007/11/senate_blues.html

Our fair and balanced news media

http://www.talkingpointsmemo.com/horsesmouth/2007/11/wapo_edit_page.php
WaPo Edit Page Says White House Outreach To Syria Might Work -- After Blasting Pelosi For Same Thing . . . [read on]

Yep. Pretty much covers it

http://www.dailykos.com/storyonly/2007/11/28/143225/21
Why America Hates Its Congress: GOP Obstructionism, Senate Dems Who Won't Fight, & Awful Reporting . . . [read on]

Our intrepid reporters

http://www.editorandpublisher.com/eandp/news/article_display.jsp?vnu_content_id=1003678206
Journalists covering the war in Iraq contend stories about ordinary Iraqis are not getting the play that the U.S. military and insurgents are, according to a study released Wednesday.

It reveals: "Overall, journalists working in Iraq give their own coverage a mixed but generally positive assessment. A majority (58%) regard press coverage in Iraq as 'good,' the second-highest mark. Another 16% rate the coverage as excellent. But nearly a quarter (23%) rate the coverage as only fair. Another 2% grade the coverage as poor."

Most also say reporting has not been overly negative, adding that the situation there is actually worse than most Americans believe. . . .

http://www.americablog.com/2007/11/breaking-state-department-official-iraq.html
[John Aravosis] Kind of pathetic when the official report from the US State Department on what's "really" happening in Iraq is actually just a bunch of plagiarized paragraphs from the major media in the US. To wit, the following analysis an anonymous friend just sent me. I just checked it out and he's right. State outright plagiarized much of the major media in making its "report." . . . [read on]

One more round on Joe Klein

http://www.dailykos.com/storyonly/2007/11/28/32047/799
[Kos] Democrats and "liberal" pundits like Joe Klein live in perpetual fear of Republican criticism. They have been so beaten down after a generation of right-wing noise machine attacks, that their entire existence is predicated on avoiding being whipped by Rush and his right-wing colleagues.

Have you ever seen or read a Republican say, "Republicans shouldn't do X because Daily Kos will attack us!" And in case that sounds too self-aggrandizing, replace "Daily Kos" with "Alan Colmes" or "Joe Klein" or "Air America" or whatever. Have you ever seen that happen? Once?

Of course not. Republicans don't live in fear of what the other side will say. They focus on what they think is right or in their self-interest. The reaction of the opposition never enters their calculations. . . .

Reporting rumors – sure, why not?

http://www.thecarpetbaggerreport.com/archives/13741.html

http://www.dailykos.com/storyonly/2007/11/29/4528/1115

Liveblogging the GOP YouTube debate – the chance for ordinary Americans to engage the candidates . . . uh

http://www.americablog.com/2007/11/gop-debate-open-thread.html
[Joe Sudbay] 8:43 P.M. Wait. The tax question is from Grover Norquist, a prominent D.C.-based GOP operative. That totally undermines the whole concept of the YouTube debate. As if Grover doesn't have enough access to the candidates. That's pathetic, CNN and YouTube. Pathetic. . . [read on]

Kos: http://www.dailykos.com/storyonly/2007/11/28/202425/41
http://www.dailykos.com/storyonly/2007/11/28/204816/72
http://www.dailykos.com/storyonly/2007/11/28/21941/281
http://www.dailykos.com/storyonly/2007/11/28/213230/19
http://www.dailykos.com/storyonly/2007/11/28/21533/376

TPM: http://talkingpointsmemo.com/archives/059808.php
http://talkingpointsmemo.com/archives/059809.php
http://talkingpointsmemo.com/archives/059810.php

FDL: http://www.firedoglake.com/2007/11/28/republican-youtube-andedebate/
http://www.firedoglake.com/2007/11/28/13197/

Atrios: http://atrios.blogspot.com/2007_11_25_archive.html#8543804616065200970
Watching this debate, I hereby predict that the winner of the GOP nomination will be a total asshole.

The low point of the debate?

http://talkingpointsmemo.com/archives/059813.php
[Josh Marshall] In explaining why he doesn't support gays in the military [Duncan Hunter] basically said that if the military were a cross-section of America, gays in the military might work. But the military is really a Christian conservative institution, and they won't put up with gays. . .

Polls say Huckabee the big winner of the debate

http://www.mydd.com/story/2007/11/29/6113/0764

More: http://talkingpointsmemo.com/archives/059817.php

***If you enjoy PBD and support what we are doing, you can help by forwarding a copy of this issue to your friends (using the envelope link below) or by sending them a copy of its URL (http://pbd.blogspot.com).

I don't get anything personally out of this project, except the satisfaction of doing it (I don't run ads, etc). The credit really all goes to the people whose material I copy and redistribute. But if I do have a "mission," it is to get this information into the hands of as many people as I can.***
- posted by Nick Burbules @ 7:17 AM

 
THE TALKING CURE

The Annapolis photo op. What has it really accomplished, aside from distracting media attention from the far bigger story of the Bush plan to create permanent US bases in Iraq?

The bottom line: the Israelis and Palestinians agree to begin talking about a possible framework for future negotiations that may result in a proposed plan whose details can be worked out later – a victory for George Bush!

In fact, it was all about, and only about, an opportunity to get this photo on the front pages

http://www.slate.com/id/2178702
[Daniel Politi] All the papers lead with yesterday's Middle East peace conference in Annapolis, where Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert and Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas agreed to begin formal talks next month and pledged to "make every effort" to reach a deal by the end of 2008. . . The New York Times notes that both sides agreed the success of this new peace process "will depend in part on how vigorously President Bush pushes Palestinians and Israelis."

USA Today goes high with a description of the Bush, Abbas, and Olmert handshakes and notes the "gesture … was reminiscent of President Clinton's maneuver on the South Lawn in 1993." The Wall Street Journal points out that "beyond relaunching peace talks, Mr. Bush offered little new, and the depth of American involvement remains unclear." The Washington Post hints that if yesterday's events are any indication, participants shouldn't hold their breath waiting for a lot of participation from Bush. The president "spent only three hours in Annapolis and left Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice in charge of most of the one-day gathering."

Everyone notes that Palestinian and Israeli negotiators worked practically around the clock to come up with a joint statement that could be presented in Annapolis. And it wasn't clear until President Bush began speaking yesterday morning whether the two sides had been successful. . . The LAT says the statement wasn't finalized until 10:52 a.m., which was a mere eight minutes before Bush was scheduled to speak. The Post cites the French foreign minister saying that the two sides came together only after Bush got involved and pressed them to agree on something. In the end, the joint understanding was reached by merely "the watering down or elimination" (WP) of any controversial phrases, which is why it ended up being so vague and ultimately unimpressive. . . .

More: http://www.firedoglake.com/2007/11/27/profiles-in-blurrage/

http://www.thecarpetbaggerreport.com/archives/13724.html

http://www.washingtonmonthly.com/archives/individual/2007_11/012579.php

http://nohamas.notlong.com

http://talkingpointsmemo.com/archives/059674.php
[Josh Marshall] So it seems the Iraqi constitution says the Iraqi parliamentary would need to approve the new 'US troops in Iraq forever' deal by a two-thirds margin. And since the idea of a permanent US occupation is really unpopular in Iraq, that seems really unlikely.

On the other hand, apparently we're going to try to do it extra-constitutionally over here too. So do we really think we'll be more punctilious over there than we are here?

All the major Democratic candidates, plus Harry Reid, come out against permanent bases in Iraq -- now what are they going to DO about it?

http://talkingpointsmemo.com/archives/059709.php

http://www.tpmmuckraker.com/archives/004788.php

Colin Powell’s revenge?

http://thecaucus.blogs.nytimes.com/2007/11/27/clinton-to-colin-powell-be-my-diplomat/index.html

http://tpmelectioncentral.com/2007/11/hillary_ill_send_colin_powell_abroad_as_my_emissary.php

http://digbysblog.blogspot.com/2007/11/dont-call-colin-by-digby-no-no-no.html

‘Roid rage

http://blackwaterlawsuit.notlong.com
[AP] A federal grand jury investigating Blackwater Worldwide heard witnesses Tuesday as a private lawsuit accused the government contractor's bodyguards of ignoring orders and abandoning their posts shortly before taking part in a Baghdad shooting that left 17 Iraqi civilians dead.

Filed this week in U.S. District Court in Washington, the civil complaint also accuses North Carolina-based Blackwater of failing to give drug tests to its guards in Baghdad — even though an estimated one in four of them was using steroids or other "judgment altering substances." . . .

Another disgraced Bush hack you’ve never heard of

http://www.tpmmuckraker.com/archives/004787.php
Julie MacDonald, the former Deputy Assistant Secretary for Fish and Wildlife and Parks at the Interior Department . . . [read on!]

Bye-bye, Trent. It’s been a Lott of fun

http://talkingpointsmemo.com/archives/059663.php

Ooooh, more fun. Dan Rather’s lawsuit against CBS for firing him over the Bush National Guard story, if it ever goes to trial, could end up putting some very interesting people on the stand, under oath. VERY interesting

http://www.firedoglake.com/2007/11/27/running-scared-2/

The deeply dishonest Joe Klein column on FISA metastasizes into a wider indictment of Time Magazine and “Village” journalism generally

Klein’s mistake: http://www.dailykos.com/storyonly/2007/11/27/142726/16

http://openleft.com/showDiary.do?diaryId=2516
[Matt Stoller] Klein's meltdown has been epic. He first denied the problem, then conceded it, then argued it wasn't a big deal, and then concluded he couldn't figure out if he got it wrong or right and it wasn't a big deal anyway.

Klein’s editor: http://www.firedoglake.com/2007/11/27/time-magazine-circles-the-wagons-around-joe-klein/
[Jane Hamsher] I’ve spent all morning on the phone trying to figure out who the editor at Time Magazine was on Joe Klein’s FISA column (the one Klein has now written about five times, fully admitting he never read the original bill). I finally confirmed that the editor was Priscilla Painton, and called her and identified myself. I asked her what the editing process was, and how a piece with so many errors made it into print.

“That assumes that there are errors,” she said. And hung up on me.

Who is she? http://digbysblog.blogspot.com/2007/11/time-after-time-by-digby-blogosphere-is.html

Time prints a “correction”

http://www.openleft.com/showDiary.do?diaryId=2525
[Time] “In the original version of this story, Joe Klein wrote that the House Democratic version of the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act (FISA) would allow a court review of individual foreign surveillance targets. Republicans believe the bill can be interpreted that way, but Democrats don't.”

Modern journalism at Time is just as Paul Krugman writes: "Shape of Earth - Views Differ."

More: http://www.talkleft.com/story/2007/11/27/122646/05

http://www.dailykos.com/storyonly/2007/11/27/184622/62

http://www.firedoglake.com/2007/11/27/shorter-time-magazine-equal-time-for-gop-propaganda/

http://thenexthurrah.typepad.com/the_next_hurrah/2007/11/time-gives-up-o.html

http://www.salon.com/opinion/greenwald/2007/11/27/time/index.html

http://www.salon.com/opinion/greenwald/2007/11/27/the_correction/index.html
[Glenn Greenwald] Time Magazine has done a superb service for the country by illustrating everything that is rancid and corrupt with our political media. . . [read on]

And here’s the punch line: Klein himself shows that the Time “correction” is a sham

http://www.dailykos.com/storyonly/2007/11/27/195037/04
[Klein] “Democrats say that I was wrong to report that the bill includes a FISA court review of individual foreign terrorist targets who might communicate with U.S. persons, although it does include an annual "basket" review of procedures used by U.S. intelligence agencies to target foreign suspects. The Republican Committee staff disagrees and says my reporting is correct.

I have to side with the Democrats.”

The Village

http://digbysblog.blogspot.com/2007/11/hide-bunnies-by-digby-radar-online.html

With a quagmire in Iraq and a tumbling economy, things look very, very, bad for the Republicans. So why has the DC intelligentsia decided that Social Security is the defining issue of the next election?

http://www.washingtonmonthly.com/archives/individual/2007_11/012584.php

Fox News: we never said the WHOLE truth

http://atrios.blogspot.com/2007_11_25_archive.html#3278617359768277525
[Atrios] Fox dispatched a reporter to an ESPN Zone in Washington, DC, where they were lucky to find "online shopper" Peter Perweiler, who did indeed have big online shopping plans. "I'm looking at some big-ticket items this year," he said, "so I really want to know what other people - problems they're having with items, things of that nature."

Good to know. What would also have been good to know: Peter is also the marketing manager at the National Retail Federation.

Giuliani: Hey, yo – so I like bad guys, what’s your beef?

http://www.thecarpetbaggerreport.com/archives/13733.html
[Steve Benen] Way back in June, Time’s David Von Drehle asked an interesting question: “How many alleged criminals can a law-and-order candidate be associated with before it starts to hurt?” . . . [read on]

More: http://blogs.abcnews.com/theblotter/2007/11/out-of-spotligh.html

Romney: Gee, it sounded so good the first time I said it

http://www.firedoglake.com/2007/11/27/romney-no-muslims-need-apply-for-my-cabinet/
“…based on the numbers of American Muslims [as a percentage] in our population, I cannot see that a cabinet position would be justified. But of course, I would imagine that Muslims could serve at lower levels of my administration.”

The criticisms: http://thinkprogress.org/2007/11/27/romn/

http://www.americablog.com/2007/11/romney-muslims-need-not-apply-in-his.html

http://www.thecarpetbaggerreport.com/archives/13723.html
[Steve Benen] Of all the presidential candidates, Mitt Romney should be the very last one to publicly endorse discrimination on the basis of religion. He’s a member of a religious minority, he’s been the target of discrimination, and he’s spent the better part of 2007 imploring Americans to judge public officials on their ideas and character. To show prejudice on the basis of faith, Romney has said many times, is “un-American.”

The roll-back: http://tpmelectioncentral.com/2007/11/romney_denies_he_said_putting_muslim_in_cabinet_isnt_justified.php
[Greg Sargent] At a press availability today, Mitt Romney personally denied the report in the Christian Science Monitor saying that he'd privately told an Islamic businessman that he didn't see how putting a Muslim in his cabinet could be "justified" given demographic realities. . . .

http://www.thecarpetbaggerreport.com/archives/13732.html

The problem: http://tpmelectioncentral.com/2007/11/a_second_witness_claims_romney_opposes_having_muslim_in_cabinet_calls_him_racist.php
[Greg Sargent] Presidential candidate Mitt Romney has discounted appointing Muslims to his cabinet on more than just the one occasion reported in a CSM op-ed yesterday. . .

http://matthewyglesias.theatlantic.com/archives/2007/11/new_sources_for_no_muslims_mit.php

http://talkingpointsmemo.com/archives/059720.php

The proof: http://tpmelectioncentral.com/2007/11/new_confirmation_emerges_that_mitt_said_no_muslims_in_cabinet.php
Okay, some unexpected new evidence has emerged that corroborates our account from earlier today that Mitt Romney said on an earlier occasion that he is opposed to having Muslims in his cabinet. . . .

Just don’t call me prejudiced!

http://sideshow.me.uk/snov07.htm#11281034
[CBS] Of course, there are whites who will never vote for Obama because he is black.

"I don't want to sound prejudiced or anything, but for one, I am not going to vote for a colored man to be our president," said one South Carolina voter.

Bonus item: What a guy

http://www.americablog.com/2007/11/bush-forgives-gore.html
[NYT] Mr. Bush made no comment when [Gore's] Nobel was announced, and today, the two stood silently, and a bit awkwardly, during the photo opportunity.

But the president did personally telephone Mr. Gore to extend the invitation. . . Mr. Bush’s press secretary, Dana Perino, told reporters the president is willing to let bygones be bygones.

“This president does not harbor any resentments,” she said.

[NB: Yeah, he’s let go of all that anger over the stolen 2000 election and everything. . . .]

***If you enjoy PBD and support what we are doing, you can help by forwarding a copy of this issue to your friends (using the envelope link below) or by sending them a copy of its URL (http://pbd.blogspot.com).

I don't get anything personally out of this project, except the satisfaction of doing it (I don't run ads, etc). The credit really all goes to the people whose material I copy and redistribute. But if I do have a "mission," it is to get this information into the hands of as many people as I can.***
- posted by Nick Burbules @ 7:04 AM

 
FOREVER

Not content with ruining his own Presidency, Bush seems determined to screw up future presidencies by tying them to his own failed Iraq policies

http://www.tpmmuckraker.com/archives/004772.php
[Spencer Ackerman] So it begins. After years of obfuscation and denial on the length of the U.S.'s stay in Iraq, the White House and the Maliki government have released a joint declaration of "principles" for "friendship and cooperation." . . .

The U.S. and Iraq will negotiate another year-long United Nations mandate for foreign troops in Iraq, which will expire (I think) in late December 2008. According to today's declaration, following the forthcoming renewal at the U.N., "we will begin negotiation of a framework that will govern the future of our bilateral relationship." That means that during Bush's last year in office, the administration will work out the terms of the U.S.'s stay in Iraq in order to, at the very least, seriously constrain the next administration's options for ending the U.S. presence. Even if Bush doesn't take the audacious step of signing a so-called Status of Forces Agreement -- the basic document for garrisoning U.S. forces on foreign soil -- while he's a lame duck, the simple fact of negotiations will create a diplomatic expectation that his successor will find difficult to reverse. . . [read it all]

http://www.salon.com/politics/war_room/2007/11/26/longterm/index.html
[Tim Grieve] The Iraqi government expects the United States to keep about 50,000 troops in the country over the long term.

http://www.tpmmuckraker.com/archives/004778.php
[Spencer Ackerman] Here's the full text of the joint Bush-Maliki agreement on principles for a long-term U.S. security commitment to Iraq. There's some hilarious obfuscatorese on the question of bases and troop levels. ("Support will be provided consistent with mechanisms and arrangements to be established in the bilateral cooperation agreements mentioned herein" -- in context, I promise, that translates to "let's worry about defining the U.S. troop presence in the final agreement.") But take a look at this key economics "principle":

Facilitating and encouraging the flow of foreign investments to Iraq, especially American investments, to contribute to the reconstruction and rebuilding of Iraq. . .

Already $6 billion worth of Iraq contracts are under criminal review. How much more Iraqi business could flow to Americans? . . .

It would have been nice to get some elaboration on this at today's White House press briefing. But according to TPM's Ben Craw -- our intrepid and dashing video editor, who watched the briefing while I goofed off -- the press corps didn't bother asking Dana Perino about any aspect of the Bush-Maliki deal. . . .

Huh?

http://www.tpmmuckraker.com/archives/004777.php
[Spencer Ackerman] Whatever rationale the Bush administration cooks up for our soon-to-be-permanent presence in Iraq, chances are it won't compare to Nouri al-Maliki's. Maliki went on Iraqi TV today to say that the joint agreement reached today with President Bush actually means that the U.S. presence in Iraq is... wait for it... coming to an end! . . . [read on]

Does Congress have a role?

http://www.tpmmuckraker.com/archives/004776.php
Could Congress stop a Bush administration-brokered deal to garrison U.S. troops in Iraq indefinitely? Not according to General Douglas Lute, the so-called "war czar." . . .

Chris Dodd (D-CT) says, you just try: http://tpmelectioncentral.com/2007/11/dodd_responds_no_permanent_bases_in_iraq.php

Of course, this isn’t what they were telling us before

http://www.tpmmuckraker.com/archives/004774.php
[Spencer Ackerman] Oh, for the halcyon days when the Bush administration saw fit to deny that it sought a permanent U.S. military presence in Iraq. Let's take a look at what senior administration officials said way back when, shall we? . . .

http://www.tpmmuckraker.com/archives/004771.php
[Spencer Ackerman] What? Permanent U.S. bases in Iraq? I've never heard of anything so absurd! Why, you -- you -- you conspiracy theorist! How can you be so shrill, so irresponsible, so, so, so...

Oh, wait

http://atrios.blogspot.com/2007_11_25_archive.html#2783531101478082355
[Atrios] There have frequently been moments in the discourse surrounding our unfolding Iraq disaster when "only crazy people think that" magically transforms into "of course everyone always knew that" in an instant.

And we're there again.

More: http://www.tpmmuckraker.com/archives/004780.php

Looks to me as if the quickly cobbled-together Middle East conference is mainly a cover to distract attention from this huge story. You know how much they massage these timing issues. And it looks like it’s working: only USA Today prominently features the impending agreement, and even they get it wrong – everyone else leads with the Annapolis conference

http://www.slate.com/id/2178628/fr/rss/
[Daniel Politi] The New York Times and Washington Post lead with, while the Los Angeles Times devotes its top nonlocal story to, today's Middle East peace conference in Annapolis. The papers struggle to say something new about an event that has been extensively dissected and analyzed during the past few weeks. . . .

USA Today leads with the deal reached by President Bush and Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki yesterday that marks the beginnings of negotiations on the future long-term relationship between Iraq and the United States. The deal calls for a one-year extension of the current U.N. mandate but there was no mention of future troop levels. . . .

Two versions of the conference

http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,312783,00.html
[Fox News] Bush to Act as Key Negotiator at Mideast Peace Talks in Annapolis

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/blog/2007/11/26/BL2007112601031.html
[Dan Froomkin] President Bush's indolent approach to tomorrow's Middle East peace conference in Annapolis suggests that he's just going through the motions to make his beloved secretary of state happy. . .

There are no more goalposts

http://www.tpmmuckraker.com/archives/004770.php
[Spencer Ackerman] When last we left the Bush administration's so-called benchmarks for strategic progress in Iraq -- that is, the political progress that military success allows -- they weren't being met, and the White House didn't care. Now that the year's almost over and the administration is beginning to bring the "surge" troops home, it's worth asking: what happened to the benchmarks? The New York Times reports that the administration has quietly given up on them, preferring nebulous goals for which it's easier to claim success. . . [read on]

What a surprise

http://blackwaterprobe.notlong.com
The State Department's acerbic top auditor wasn't happy when Justice Department officials told one of his aides to leave the room so they could discuss a criminal investigation of Blackwater . . .

The episode reveals the badly strained relationship between Bush administration officials over the probe into whether Blackwater smuggled weapons into Iraq that could have gotten into insurgents' hands.

As a result of the bureaucratic crosscurrents between State's top auditor and Justice, the investigation has been bogged down for months. . . .

Wheeee!

http://www.nytimes.com/2007/11/26/opinion/26krugman.html
“Americans’ Economic Pessimism Reaches Record High.” . . . [read on]

Trent Lott resigns – and while the reasons seem murky, the impact of a former (and possible future) Republican leader saying “this just isn’t fun any more” shows how demoralized and pessimistic the GOP is right now

http://www.nytimes.com/aponline/us/AP-Lott-Senate.html
Mississippi Sen. Trent Lott announced Monday he will leave a 35-year career in Congress . . .

http://www.mydd.com/story/2007/11/26/145125/22
[Jonathan Singer] This is about as bad of news as the GOP could stomach at this point. Already four other Republican Senators (Wayne Allard in Colorado; Pete Domenici in New Mexico; Chuck Hagel in Nebraska; and John Warner in Virginia) have announced their intention to retire, and one more (Larry Craig in Idaho) is not expected to run for reelection, either. As such, the Republicans now have to defend more seats than any caucus in more than a decade. What's more, the last time that one caucus had to defend at least five more open seats than its opposition -- the Republicans in 1958 -- the other side picked up 13 seats . . .

http://talkingpointsmemo.com/archives/059556.php
[Josh Marshall] [N]o one seems to know why Trent Lott is resigning abruptly in the second year of his current term in office, when he actually seemed possibly on his way back to being Minority Leader in the senate. Roll Call says the decision was "precipitated by a desire to spend more time with his family and a general fatigue of Congress." If so, that's a pretty rapid onset desire to spend time with the fam. . .

MSNBC says this ...

While the exactly reason Lott is stepping down before he finishes his term is unknown, the general speculation is that a quick departure immunizes Lott against tougher restrictions in a new lobbying law that takes effect at the end of the year. That law would require Senators to wait two-years before entering the lucrative world of lobbying Congress.

More: http://www.openleft.com/showDiary.do?diaryId=2501

http://www.dailykos.com/storyonly/2007/11/26/95854/839

The political impact

http://thenexthurrah.typepad.com/the_next_hurrah/2007/11/trent-and-mitch.html
[Emptywheel] I'm most intrigued by what Trent's departure will do to Senate leadership. After all, the Republicans have actually done better in the minority than they were doing in the majority. That's partly because Republicans just better at obnoxiously obstructing legislation than actually governing. But it's also because Mitch McConnell and Trent Lott are masters of parliamentary procedures. So switching Bill Frist, in the majority, for McConnell and Lott, in the minority, was a significant step up for the Republicans.

Well, the Republicans may lose Lott imminently, and McConnell is facing a surprisingly tough re-election campaign in KY. . .

http://www.dailykos.com/storyonly/2007/11/26/134456/42
[Lott] “I’ve switched back and forth six times, and the majority is better,” he said. “I like to get things done.”

[Kos] "Deal-making" in GOP parlance, and that of the beltway, isn't the same as "deal-making" in normal English usage. It means, "we get our way, the Democrats be damned". So "too partisan" in Republican and beltway pundit parlance means "Democrats are demanding a say".

It was SOOO much easier when DC was a one-party town and the GOP could do whatever it wanted. . . .

How the governor of Mississippi (a former RNC chairman) is violating state law to help ensure that Lott's seat stays in Republican hands

http://www.dailykos.com/storyonly/2007/11/26/163227/14
[Kos] Lott wants out by the end of this year so new ethics guidelines that prohibit former members of Congress from lobbying for two years, rather than one. And we all know that Lott is ditching the people of Mississippi so he can cash in on K Street. He admitted it.

So Lott needs to be out by Dec. 31. However, if he does that, Mississippi law requires a special election within 90 days, and a low-turnout special might hurt the GOP. They want the presidential race to boost Republican turnout in a state that leans heavily Republican in presidential elections.

So what will win, Lott's desire to cash out ASAP, or the GOP's desire to maximize their possibilities of holding that seat? Well, if you're a Republican, there's always option 3: lie and obfuscate the law and try to pull a fast one . . .

http://tpmelectioncentral.com/2007/11/after_lott_special_election_should_actually_be_held_in_90_days_dems_say.php
[Greg Sargent] And guess what -- it looks as if the Mississippi Secretary of State has confirmed that the special election is in fact supposed to happen 90 days after Lott's resignation date -- and not in 2008, as Barbour is claiming. . .

More: http://www.mydd.com/story/2007/11/26/8540/7709

http://tpmelectioncentral.com/2007/11/whats_the_state_of_play_for_lotts_vacant_seat.php

The political landscape for 2008, looking better and better

http://www.thecarpetbaggerreport.com/archives/13721.html

The immigration issue will really hurt the Republicans, if the Democrats handle it right – and hurt the Democrats if they don’t

http://digbysblog.blogspot.com/2007/11/misdirection-by-digby-ive-been.html
[Digby] This time, of course, the stupid irrelevant issue they are forcing into the ether is illegal immigration. And, like "the deficit" it is virtually designed to twist the Democratic candidates into pretzels as they help the Republicans once again misdirect the public to blame something other than the corrupt plutocrats who just pillaged the treasury for their woes. . . [read on]

More: http://www.dailykos.com/storyonly/2007/11/26/13024/130

Heh, heh. The sharks are eating each other

http://tpmelectioncentral.com/2007/11/_rudy_slipping_in_polls_launches_aggressive_attack_on_romney.php
[Greg Sargent] [L]ooks like Rudy Giuliani is suddenly aware that the GOP nomination isn't his for the taking. In the wake of polls showing him sinking in New Hampshire, he's just launched an aggressive attack on someone other than Hillary, taking his toughest shots yet at the New Hampshire and Iowa frontrunner, Mitt Romney. . .

More sharks: http://tpmelectioncentral.com/2007/11/romney_blasts_huckabee_says_hes_no_reagan.php

http://www.needlenose.com/node/view/4455

Giuliani’s moral compass (worth a laugh)

http://matthewyglesias.theatlantic.com/archives/2007/11/i_guess_its_not_gotcha_journal.php

Giuliani on earmarks

http://www.thecarpetbaggerreport.com/archives/13720.html

http://www.tpmmuckraker.com/archives/004775.php

Giuliani’s pal

http://www.tpmmuckraker.com/archives/004773.php
[Paul Kiel] Bernie Kerik had a talent for making wealthy friends -- and then hitting them up for money. It was a talent that prosecutors say crossed the line into bribery on at least one occasion. . . .

An overview of the surveillance programs (that we know about)

http://www.firedoglake.com/2007/11/26/what-was-the-program-confirmed-by-the-president/

http://thenexthurrah.typepad.com/the_next_hurrah/2007/11/calea.html

The ins and outs of the upcoming fight over different versions of the FISA bill

http://www.dailykos.com/storyonly/2007/11/26/111356/58

A question that still needs answering

http://www.salon.com/opinion/conason/2007/11/21/mcclellan/index.html
Did Bush ask Scott McClellan to lie -- or didn't he?

Criminalizing drugs: it ain’t working

http://www.talkleft.com/story/2007/11/25/21252/702

Bonus item: Joe Klein’s (or as they call him, Joke Line) “journalistic malpractice”

http://www.salon.com/opinion/greenwald/2007/11/26/klein/index.html
[Glenn Greenwald] Joe Klein has just posted yet again about his FISA confusion, and it has now moved well beyond farce into an almost pity-inducing realm. If Time has any dignity at all, someone there will intervene and put a stop to this. It's actually difficult to watch.

In the last five days alone, Klein has now written five separate times about his FISA debacle, and is further away than ever from having any idea what he's even talking about . . .

The result of all this "nosing around": "I've reached no conclusions." And he then unleashes this:

I have neither the time nor legal background to figure out who's right.

More: http://www.dailykos.com/storyonly/2007/11/26/161522/53

http://www.dailykos.com/storyonly/2007/11/26/215456/81

***If you enjoy PBD and support what we are doing, you can help by forwarding a copy of this issue to your friends (using the envelope link below) or by sending them a copy of its URL (http://pbd.blogspot.com).

I don't get anything personally out of this project, except the satisfaction of doing it (I don't run ads, etc). The credit really all goes to the people whose material I copy and redistribute. But if I do have a "mission," it is to get this information into the hands of as many people as I can.***
- posted by Nick Burbules @ 7:38 AM

 
SMALL BALL

Where Bush’s Iraq “policy” stands today

http://www.thecarpetbaggerreport.com/archives/13706.html
[Steve Benen] The Bush gang has decided to play small-ball. . . The administration will push Iraq to take some modest steps, which they were going to take anyway. When these events occur, White House officials will say, “See? Look at all the political progress!” and hope people are too dumb to know the difference.

Two months ago, Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-S.C.) said we would see “a major breakthrough” within “weeks” on political reconciliation in Iraq, which he believes is unfolding at “breakneck speed.”

Now that goal is so unattainable, we’re not even trying to reach it anymore. . . [read on]

More: http://www.needlenose.com/node/view/4453

http://www.dailykos.com/storyonly/2007/11/25/183416/34

http://www.firedoglake.com/2007/11/25/wishful-thinking-and-iraq/

Another benchmark of “progress” in Iraq, with fudged numbers

http://www.nytimes.com/2007/11/26/world/middleeast/26iraq.html
By all accounts, Iraqi families who fled their homes in the past two years are returning to Baghdad.

The description of the scope of the return, however, appears to have been massaged by politics. . .

Our man in Islamabad

http://rawstory.com/news/2007/US_knew_Musharraf_planned_to_institute_1123.html
The Bush Administration knew that Pakistani strongman Pervez Musharraf planned to institute emergency rule but did not act or speak out about the plan, according to officials with knowledge of the discussion who spoke anonymously in Friday's Wall Street Journal. . .

Because the US response was "muted," Pakistan interpreted American silence as a green light to instituting martial law, quickly deposing an intransigent Supreme Court, which had ruled against the general in the past. . .

Who’s to blame? http://thenexthurrah.typepad.com/the_next_hurrah/2007/06/dick_blows_paki.html

An overview, from Juan Cole

http://www.juancole.com/2007/11/bushs-middle-east-unravels-further.html
Bush's achievements in the Middle East were supposed to have been the 'Cedar Revolution' in Lebanon and the removal of Syria troops; holding fair elections in Palestine in January of 2006; and a deal to have Gen. Pervez Musharraf cohabit politically with Benazir Bhutto, leader of the Pakistan People's Party.

As of this weekend, Lebanon does not have a president and the country's stability is in doubt. The Palestinian Authority is divided and is a mess, with the elected government having been overthrown by a US-backed coup. And opposition leader Nawaz Sharif has returned to Pakistan, possibly derailing the Benazir option but also provoking a crisis in the political elite about what they should do.

I don't think this is going well.

Just in case facts matter any more (thanks to Matthew D. for the link)

http://www.mcclatchydc.com/227/story/21067.html
Despite President Bush's claims that Iran is pursuing nuclear weapons that could trigger "World War III," experts in and out of government say there's no conclusive evidence that Tehran has an active nuclear-weapons program. . .

More: http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/21965160/

The kind of media we have

http://atrios.blogspot.com/2007_11_25_archive.html#5376119666580406859
[AP, on Condi Rice’s last-gasp Middle East summit] The rock star diplomat has become the workaday American secretary of state, with all the advantages and all the baggage that the title and Rice's long association with President Bush and the Iraq war entail. . . [read on]

http://www.nytimes.com/2007/11/26/world/middleeast/26cnd-rice.html
[Elizabeth “Pucker up and kiss their” Bumiller] For Ms. Rice, Annapolis reflects her evolution from passive participant to activist diplomat who has been willing to break with Mr. Cheney and other conservatives skeptical of an American diplomatic role in the Middle East. . .

[NB: Wake me if this meeting accomplishes one damn thing. I’ll be happy to be wrong . . .]

Don’t hold your breath . . .

http://www.latimes.com/news/printedition/front/la-fg-bushmideast26nov26,1,1536472.story
President Bush's national security advisor said Sunday that the president would not adopt a more activist role in Mideast peace negotiations that start today, even though many observers believe the United States must step up its direct involvement if the effort is to succeed. . . .

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/11/25/AR2007112501333.html
The opening of Tuesday's Middle East conference in Annapolis, seven years into the Bush administration, is a reminder of how little the traditional concept of brokering an Arab-Israeli settlement through an ongoing "peace process" has figured into President Bush's foreign policy.

Another is Bush's near-absence from the Middle East during his presidency. . . .

All about the Benjamins . . .

http://www.firedoglake.com/2007/11/25/fdl-book-salon-follow-the-money/
[Christy Hardin Smith] When the George Bush Presidential Library opens its doors, I do not think that Follow The Money will be among the celebrated volumes gracing its bookshelves. Their loss. For Follow The Money is an absorbing read, a connect-the-odious-dots primer on political corruption in the Republican gilded donor age, and a lesson on the value of sunshine and oversight inside a Beltway where power and money flourish sordidly in every nook and cranny of the shadows. . . . Reading all of this, laid out in one continuous, intertwined narrative, showcases the malignant kudzu of modern American political smarm in all its kickback and corruption glory. . . . [read on]

Joe Klein, useful idiot

http://www.salon.com/opinion/greenwald/2007/11/25/klein_fisa/index.html
[Glenn Greenwald] On Wednesday, I documented that Joe Klein's column in this week's Time Magazine contained multiple false statements about the new FISA bill -- The RESTORE Act -- passed by House Democrats last week. The most obvious and harmful inaccuracy was his claim that that bill "would require the surveillance of every foreign-terrorist target's calls to be approved by the FISA court" and that it therefore "would give terrorists the same legal protections as Americans." Based on those outright falsehoods, Klein called the House Democrats' bill "well beyond stupid." . . .

What I want to do is examine Klein's conduct here to illustrate how so many Beltway reporters (though not all) function. This is not a matter of some obscure error involving details. Because of what Klein did, Time Magazine told its 4 million readers that the bill passed by the House Democrats "would give terrorists the same legal protections as Americans" and thus shows how Democrats still can't be trusted on national security. The whole column was built on complete, transparent falsehoods about the key provisions of that bill. . . .

Klein, of course, never bothered to read the bill and still hasn't (even though he is published by Time to "report on" and opine about this bill). Instead, even now, he says that he has spoken with both Republicans and Democrats, and while Democrats insist that what he wrote was false, "the Republican Committee staff disagrees and says [his] reporting is correct."

In other words, Klein's GOP source(s) blatantly lied to him about what the bill does and doesn't do in order to manipulate him into uncritically feeding Time's readers the Rush Limbaugh Line -- namely, that Democrats are giving equal rights to Terrorists and preventing the Leader from eavesdropping on foreign Terrorists. And Klein dutifully wrote down what he was told in Time without bothering to find out if it was true and without ever bothering to talk to any of the bill's Democratic proponents. . . .

That is the real story here. That's how our political system works. Scheming GOP operatives feed whispered lies to their favorite, most gullible, most slothful and/or dishonest Beltway journalists. Gleeful and grateful that they have been chosen for this dirty task, these journalists then scamper and write down what they were told and think that, by doing so, they are engaged in what they call "original reporting" -- which means uncritically passing on what they're told by government sources. As a result, they continue to obfuscate every key political issue and mislead Americans by doing the opposite of what journalists are supposed to do. . . . [read on]

More: http://www.firedoglake.com/2007/11/25/things-i-know-today-that-i-didnt-know-yesterday/

http://www.boomantribune.com/story/2007/11/25/173116/25

A handy overview of the state of the Presidential race

http://digbysblog.blogspot.com/2007/11/deep-thoughts-by-digby-couple-of-months.html

Another Republican candidate bashes Fox for its pro-Giuliani tilt

http://thinkprogress.org/2007/11/25/thompson-attacks-fox/

Bonus item: The New York Post condemns 9-11 conspiracy theories – all except its own, of course

http://thinkprogress.org/2007/11/25/ny-post-911-conspiracy

http://atrios.blogspot.com/2007_11_25_archive.html#6985733172909046055

***If you enjoy PBD and support what we are doing, you can help by forwarding a copy of this issue to your friends (using the envelope link below) or by sending them a copy of its URL (http://pbd.blogspot.com).

I don't get anything personally out of this project, except the satisfaction of doing it (I don't run ads, etc). The credit really all goes to the people whose material I copy and redistribute. But if I do have a "mission," it is to get this information into the hands of as many people as I can.***
- posted by Nick Burbules @ 6:14 AM

 
MOVING THE GOALPOSTS (AGAIN)

As the Bush gang redefines the terms of “success” (not “victory”) in Iraq, and as the Democrats start to hedge their bets, a convergence emerges that maybe things aren’t so bad there after all

http://www.nytimes.com/2007/11/25/washington/25policy.html
With American military successes outpacing political gains in Iraq, the Bush administration has lowered its expectation of quickly achieving major steps toward unifying the country, including passage of a long-stymied plan to share oil revenues and holding regional elections.

Instead, administration officials say they are focusing their immediate efforts on several more limited but achievable goals . . .

http://www.nytimes.com/2007/11/25/us/politics/25dems.html
[Patrick Healy] As violence declines in Baghdad, the leading Democratic presidential candidates are undertaking a new and challenging balancing act on Iraq: acknowledging that success, trying to shift the focus to the lack of political progress there, and highlighting more domestic concerns like health care and the economy. . . .

http://www.washingtonmonthly.com/archives/individual/2007_11/012565.php
[Kevin Drum] This pisses me off . . . Look, if Patrick Healy has some actual evidence that Democrats weren't talking about political progress earlier this year but they are now, then fine. It's a legitimate story. But if he doesn't have any such evidence — and I suspect he doesn't since there's not even a hint of it in the story itself — then he should knock off the tonal analysis and stick to journalism.

Political progress has always been the justification for the surge. When he announced it last January, President Bush explicitly said that the point of reducing violence in Baghdad was to give the Iraqi government "breathing space" to move ahead with political reconciliation. Political progress wasn't just a fringe benefit, it was the whole purpose of the surge: "If the Iraqi government does not follow through on its promises," he said, "it will lose the support of the American people — and it will lose the support of the Iraqi people."

More rewriting of history

http://thinkprogress.org/2007/11/23/perle-iraq-wrong/
Appearing on BBC’s Hardtalk with Stephen Sackur this weekend, Iraq war architect Richard Perle attempted, on the one hand, to distance himself from the failures of the Iraq war, and on the other hand, to claim it was a fantastic success. . .

With the new govt in Australia, another troop pullout begins. Soon we really WILL be all alone in Iraq

http://www.juancole.com/2007/11/new-australian-pm-rudd-will-withdraw.html

Meanwhile, in Afghanistan

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/11/24/AR2007112401333.html
A White House assessment of the war in Afghanistan has concluded that wide-ranging strategic goals that the Bush administration set for 2007 have not been met . . .

Meanwhile, in Pakistan

http://www.nytimes.com/2007/11/25/world/asia/25class.html
As he fights to hold on to power, General Musharraf finds himself opposed by the expanded middle class that is among his greatest achievements, and using his emergency powers to rein in another major advance he set in motion, a vibrant, independent news media. . .

We’ve probably overdone this, since it’s going nowhere, but the Scott McLellan book blurb (that Bush lied to him about the Plame leak), and then his pull-back FROM HIS OWN QUOTE has refocused attention on the substantial evidence that Bush did in fact lie, not only to his press spokesman, but to federal investigators too

http://www.dailykos.com/storyonly/2007/11/24/171152/10

http://www.consortiumnews.com/2007/112407.html

The Democrats, who knows why, have decided to make the Social Security “crisis” one of the key issues in 2008. Not only is this a fabricated “crisis,” it is Republican territory. Doesn’t anybody know how to play this game?

http://digbysblog.blogspot.com/2007/11/great-news-for-republicans-by-digby.html

http://atrios.blogspot.com/2007_11_18_archive.html#1953065494986762922

How things work. When the Saudis need a lawyer, who do they go to?

http://thenexthurrah.typepad.com/the_next_hurrah/2007/11/speaking-of-the.html

Oh-oh. Tasers a form of “torture”? The UN says so

http://www.firedoglake.com/2007/11/24/un-says-tasers-a-form-of-torture/

Sunday talk show line-ups

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/11/24/AR2007112401166.html
FOX NEWS SUNDAY: Former senator Fred D. Thompson (R-Tenn.) and Sens. Carl M. Levin (D-Mich.) and Lindsey O. Graham (R-S.C.).

THIS WEEK (ABC): Sen. John McCain (R-Ariz.) and New Mexico Gov. Bill Richardson (D).

FACE THE NATION (CBS): Retired Marine Gen. Anthony C. Zinni.

MEET THE PRESS (NBC): Republican political strategists Mary Matalin and Mike Murphy and Democratic strategists James Carville and Bob Shrum.

LATE EDITION (CNN): Former Arkansas governor Mike Huckabee (R), Ayad Allawi, former interim prime minister of Iraq, chief Palestinian negotiator Saeb Erekat and Miri Eisin, Israeli government spokeswoman.

Bonus item: Very funny – you can now produce David Broder columns on your own. It isn’t hard

http://www.thecarpetbaggerreport.com/archives/13704.html
[Steve Benen] Now, if I were writing a parody of a Broder piece, I’d probably come up with something similar to this — Republicans have gone to the right, Dems have gone to the left, and Americans are craving for moderation. DC is too political, too ideological, blah blah blah. . .

The Democratic Party’s “center of gravity has moved equally far to the left”? Seriously? One could make a reasonable case that the country has moved slightly to the left in recent years, but most Democratic activists seem to agree that the party clings to the center the way a baby clings to a bottle — afraid of what might happen if they let go. The notion that the Dems’ shift is equal to the GOP’s far-right trend is just silly.

More importantly, I’d love to know how, exactly, the Broder-Bot 9000 concluded that Dems are so dead-set opposed to anything the president wants that they reflexively reject every proposal, regardless of “consequences.” . . .

***If you enjoy PBD and support what we are doing, you can help by forwarding a copy of this issue to your friends (using the envelope link below) or by sending them a copy of its URL (http://pbd.blogspot.com).

I don't get anything personally out of this project, except the satisfaction of doing it (I don't run ads, etc). The credit really all goes to the people whose material I copy and redistribute. But if I do have a "mission," it is to get this information into the hands of as many people as I can.***
- posted by Nick Burbules @ 7:25 AM

 
THE BEST HE CAN DO?

“Underwhelmed”

http://www.washingtonmonthly.com/archives/individual/2007_11/012559.php
[Bob Corker, R-TN] “Let me say this. George Bush is a very compassionate person. He's a very good person. And a lot of people don't see that in him, and there's many people in this room who might disagree with that....I just felt a little bit underwhelmed by our discussions [about Iraq], the complexity of them, the depth of them.”

Bush’s half-assed Middle East summit: don’t get your hopes up

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/11/23/AR2007112301686.html
Arab officials are skeptical that the conference will amount to much, in part because Bush has remained relatively silent on the matter since he announced the peace talks this summer, said Daniel C. Kurtzer, who served as Bush's ambassador to Israel from 2001 to 2005. "You don't get a sense that he's invested in it," Kurtzer said. . . .

A broken promise to Iraqi refugees

http://iraqrefugees.notlong.com
A decade ago, the United States airlifted to safety and resettlement more than 2,000 Iraqi Kurds who had worked for U.S. organizations and were fleeing reprisals from Saddam Hussein. U.S. officials said they felt a moral obligation to them because of their work for the United States.

The same logic ought to apply to refugees from the current war in Iraq. Yet for well more than two years, Washington has paid lip service to the need to help thousands of Iraqis who have risked their lives working for the United States since the 2003 invasion and remain in danger despite recent security improvements. . . .

And on the domestic front. . .

http://www.nytimes.com/2007/11/24/washington/24bush.html
As President Bush looks toward his final year in office, with Democrats controlling Congress and his major domestic initiatives dead on Capitol Hill, he is shifting his agenda to what aides call “kitchen table issues” — small ideas that affect ordinary people’s lives and do not take an act of Congress to put in place.

Over the past few months, Mr. Bush has sounded more like the national Mr. Fix-It than the man who began his second term with a sweeping domestic policy agenda of overhauling Social Security, remaking the tax code and revamping immigration law. Now, with little political capital left . . .

We say once again, it’s not really important, like lying about a blow job, but shouldn’t someone consider this seriously?

http://www.pensitoreview.com/2007/11/21/did-bush-lie-to-fitzgerald-too1/
On Tuesday, an excerpt from former Bush Press Sec. Scott McClellan’s upcoming book was released in which he accused George Bush, Dick Cheney and their three top advisors of conspiring to cover up their roles in the leaking of the covert identity of CIA agent Valerie Plame Wilson. . . .

The criminality of lying to investigators could come into play now if McClellan’s version of what Bush’s role in the apparent conspiracy differs from how Bush described his role to U.S. Attorney Patrick Fitzgerald during an Oval Office “interview” — not under oath — on the morning of June 24, 2004. . .

More: http://cannonfire.blogspot.com/2007/11/evidence-against-bush.html

Lawless

http://www.firedoglake.com/2007/11/23/crossing-bushs-line/
[Scarecrow] What will it take for the major US media to acknowledge that the Bush/Cheney regime’s actions and views on the limits of executive power represent an unprecedented threat to America’s Constitutional democracy, its national security, and its moral standing in the world? . . [read on]

More: http://www.firedoglake.com/2007/11/23/our-lady-of-the-law/

What we don’t know

http://www.tpmmuckraker.com/archives/004766.php
[Paul Kiel] Last year, we launched the insanely ambitious project of recording every significant instance of this administration stifling government information. As we said then, "they've discontinued annual reports, classified normally public data, de-funded studies, quieted underlings, and generally done whatever was necessary to keep bad information under wraps." . . . [read on]

The mortgage crisis

http://digbysblog.blogspot.com/2007/11/compassion-for-those-most-deserving-by.html
[Digby] It's just not right. Low income buyers have all kinds of avenues to help them out when they are kicked out their houses and become homeless. (Why I just saw a story about movie stars serving up delicious looking turkey for Thanksgiving at the mission and everyone looked so happy and content...) But pity the poor highly educated affluent speculators who have to admit they made a bad bet.

This must be what they mean when they say that income inequality is a problem. . . [read on]

More: http://atrios.blogspot.com/2007_11_18_archive.html#6816283038071402822

http://www.nytimes.com/2007/11/23/opinion/23krugman.html

Another Bush war ally bites the dust

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/21945113/
[John Howard, Australia]

Rudy: not just a liar, but a laughable liar

http://tpmelectioncentral.com/2007/11/rudy_yes_i_voted_for_mcgovern_but_i_actually_preferred_nixon.php
[Greg Sargent] As he seeks to court GOP primary voters, one potential sticking point has been his opposition to the Vietnam War in the early 1970s and his vote for Dem George McGovern in 1972. But Rudy has now concocted a new explanation for that vote: He didn't mean it. . . . [read on]

More: http://www.thecarpetbaggerreport.com/archives/13694.html
[Steve Benen] He told the Weekly Standard that he voted for McGovern but he really thought Nixon was the better candidate. He knew Nixon would keep the nation “safer,” but he voted for McGovern anyway. Giuliani was in “reflex mode,” whatever the hell that means.

This is both amusing and pathetic at the same time. . . [read on]

Rudy’s money buddy

http://www.tpmmuckraker.com/archives/004768.php
[Paul Kiel] Who is Paul Singer? He and Rudy Giuliani would prefer you not think too much about it. . . .

How the immigration issue turns otherwise reasonable conservatives into frothing madmen

http://www.nytimes.com/2007/11/23/opinion/23brooks.html

http://www.thecarpetbaggerreport.com/archives/13696.html

http://matthewyglesias.theatlantic.com/archives/2007/11/orthodoxy.php

http://www.firedoglake.com/2007/11/23/david-brooks-surprised-that-rudy-is-acting-like-a-republican/

Democrats too? http://www.openleft.com/showDiary.do?diaryId=2486

Let’s see, the Bush people SAY that they have no problem with people entering the country and applying for citizenship. Sure, just as long as they don’t want to vote

http://www.americablog.com/2007/11/bush-administration-finds-another-way.html

How they do it: you’ve got disaffected conservatives and Christians who may not be enthusiastic about voting next fall? Give them another reason to go to the ballot box

http://www.latimes.com/news/politics/la-na-egg23nov23,0,4812836.story
Antiabortion activists in several states are promoting constitutional amendments that would define life as beginning at conception, which could effectively outlaw all abortions and some birth control methods.

The campaigns to grant "personhood" to fertilized eggs, giving them the same legal protections as human beings, come as the nation in January marks the 35th anniversary of Roe vs. Wade . . .

Some activists say they are fed up with incremental steps -- and are not interested in waiting years, or possibly decades, for a more conservative court to revisit Roe. Instead, they are out to change the legal status of embryos in hopes of forcing the Supreme Court to ban abortion. . . .

The obvious problem with this law: http://digbysblog.blogspot.com/2007/11/ask-question-by-digby-la-times-reports.html
MATTHEWS: I have always wondered something about the pro-life movement. If—if you believe that killing—well, killing a fetus or killing an unborn child is—is murder, why don‘t you bring murder charge or seek a murder penalty against a woman who has an abortion? Why do you let her off, if you really believe it‘s murder? . . . [read on]

The Republicans try a new Rovian tactic: the Democrats are the “party of the rich”

http://www.talkingpointsmemo.com/horsesmouth/2007/11/silly_new_wingn.php

Quote of the day

http://talkingpointsmemo.com/archives/059476.php
“We can't solve problems by using the same kind of thinking we used when we created them.”

And bonus corollary quote of the day

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/11/22/AR2007112201449_pf.html
"We have a saying in America: If you're in a hole, stop digging. . . . I'm not sure I should have said that."

Bonus item: inadvertently funny headlines

http://www.needlenose.com/node/view/4452

***If you enjoy PBD and support what we are doing, you can help by forwarding a copy of this issue to your friends (using the envelope link below) or by sending them a copy of its URL (http://pbd.blogspot.com).

I don't get anything personally out of this project, except the satisfaction of doing it (I don't run ads, etc). The credit really all goes to the people whose material I copy and redistribute. But if I do have a "mission," it is to get this information into the hands of as many people as I can.***
- posted by Nick Burbules @ 7:46 AM

 
THE LEAST I CAN DO

Losing in Afghanistan

http://commentisfree.guardian.co.uk/robert_fox/2007/11/an_unwinnable_war.html
[Robert Fox] Six years on and there is a real danger that the Taliban could retake Kabul, and large parts of Afghanistan caught in all-out civil war, with reach well beyond the country's fragile borders to the Asian republics to the north, Pakistan to the south, and Iran to the west. . . .

More: http://www.guardian.co.uk/afghanistan/story/0,,2214994,00.html

Losing in Iraq

http://www.nytimes.com/aponline/us/AP-US-Iraq-Sanchez.html
Retired Army Lt. Gen. Ricardo Sanchez, the top commander in Iraq shortly after the fall of Baghdad, said this week he supports Democratic legislation that calls for most troops to come home within a year. . . .

''The improvements in security produced by the courage and blood of our troops have not been matched by a willingness on the part of Iraqi leaders to make the hard choices necessary to bring peace to their country,'' Sanchez said in remarks to be aired Saturday for the weekly Democratic radio address.

Thanks

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/11/22/AR2007112201256.html
President Bush, who visited troops in Iraq on Thanksgiving after the U.S. invasion in 2003, called several servicemen and servicewomen Thursday to extend best wishes and say it was "the least I can do." . .

http://www.usatoday.com/printedition/news/20071123/1a_lede23.art.htm
At least 20,000 U.S. troops who were not classified as wounded during combat in Iraq and Afghanistan have been found with signs of brain injuries, according to military and veterans records compiled by USA TODAY.

The data, provided by the Army, Navy and Department of Veterans Affairs, show that about five times as many troops sustained brain trauma as the 4,471 officially listed by the Pentagon through Sept. 30. These cases also are not reflected in the Pentagon's official tally of wounded, which stands at 30,327. . . .

More than 150,000 troops may have suffered head injuries in combat, says Rep. Bill Pascrell, D-N.J., founder of the Congressional Brain Injury Task Force. . . .

Coalition of the Willing, minus one more

http://www.dailykos.com/storyonly/2007/11/23/62947/240
Poland . . .

And the point is. . . . ?

http://www.nytimes.com/aponline/us/AP-US-Iraq-Sanchez.html
The Pentagon on Tuesday said that as many as 200,000 civilian employees and contractors will begin receiving layoff warnings by Christmas unless Congress approves a war spending bill that President Bush will sign.

The state of Republicanism today

http://www.newyorker.com/talk/comment/2007/11/26/071126taco_talk_packer
[George Packer] As the tide goes out on President Bush’s foreign policy, the mass of flotsam left behind includes a Republican Party that no longer knows how to be reasonable. Whenever its leading Presidential candidates appear before partisan audiences, they try to outdo one another in pledging loyalty oaths to the use of force, pandering to the war lobby as if they were Democrats addressing the teachers’ union. Giuliani has surrounded himself with a group of advisers—from Norman Podhoretz to the former Pentagon official Michael Rubin—who, having got Iraq spectacularly wrong, seem determined to make up for it by doing the same thing in Iran. Giuliani approaches foreign policy in the same mood of barely restrained eagerness for confrontation with which, as mayor of New York, he went after criminals. He has essentially promised to go to war with Iran in order to prevent it from acquiring nuclear weapons, and he recently suggested that waterboarding is only torture when the wrong people are doing it, and blamed the “liberal media” for giving it a bad name. He has said that he would improve America’s miserable image around the world by threatening State Department diplomats with unnamed consequences unless they defend United States foreign policy more aggressively. “The era of cost-free anti-Americanism must end,” Giuliani snarled in the polite pages of Foreign Affairs, which had invited candidates to lay out their views.

Mitt Romney, perhaps sensing that his military bona fides might be in question, has declared his readiness to out-Cheney Dick Cheney and “double Guantánamo.” In an ad, he strolls across the lawn of a large suburban home, like a financial adviser in a Charles Schwab commercial, and intones, “It’s this century’s nightmare—jihadism. Violent, radical Islamic fundamentalism. Their goal is to unite the world under a single jihadist caliphate. To do that, they must collapse freedom-loving nations, like us.” John McCain, who does not believe that the definition of torture depends on who’s doing it, has staked his campaign on a long-term victory in Iraq through the strategy of the surge, which is destined to end around the time the parties gather to nominate their candidates, next summer. For Fred Thompson foreign policy is mostly immigration policy—he just wants the borders patrolled with heavy force. . . [read on]

http://www.dailykos.com/storyonly/2007/11/22/134243/64
[DHinMI] [T]he current GOP, especially as represented by the administration of George W. Bush, is not conservative, but is radical. While it wouldn't express it in the same terms, since 2005 the American public has largely come to the same conclusion. The electorate hasn’t really shifted much ideologically. The change is that Americans now see through the Republican sham of hiding their true intentions behind clever catch phrases like "compassionate conservatism," and appear ready to--possibly reluctantly--give the Democrats a chance to run the White House while maintaining control of Congress. . . . [read on]

Karl Rove says, The war in Iraq was Congress’s fault – we wanted to give inspections more time and they forced us into it. (Yes, he actually said that.) This is beyond lying, this is the man who said, “we create our own reality.” And he knows the mainstream press will report it seriously, instead of just snorting in derision – and that’s how he stays in business

http://www.thecarpetbaggerreport.com/archives/13688.html
ROVE: [O]ne of the untold stories about the war is why did the United States Congress, the United States Senate, vote on the war resolution in the fall of 2002?

ROSE: Why?

ROVE: This administration was opposed to it. I’m going to talk about that in my book… [T]he administration was opposed to voting on it in the fall of 2002. . . .

ROSE: Because your argument – your argument is you would have had maybe more inspections. You would have been able to build a broader coalition. You could have done a whole lot other things if you didn’t have to have a vote, right?

ROVE: Right, right, exactly. . . [read on]

http://www.cs.umass.edu/~immerman/play/opinion05/WithoutADoubt.html
[Ron Suskind, 2004] The aide [Rove] said that guys like me were ''in what we call the reality-based community,'' which he defined as people who ''believe that solutions emerge from your judicious study of discernible reality.'' . . . ''That's not the way the world really works anymore,'' he continued. ''We're an empire now, and when we act, we create our own reality. And while you're studying that reality -- judiciously, as you will -- we'll act again, creating other new realities . . .”

More reality-creation. He also says that it’s the Internets that have made contemporary politics so ugly – not advisors like Rove himself

http://www.dailykos.com/storyonly/2007/11/22/185043/09

22 retiring Republicans, and counting . . .

http://www.dailykos.com/storyonly/2007/11/22/161112/57

The erosion of privacy, Chapter 79

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/11/22/AR2007112201444.html
Federal officials are routinely asking courts to order cellphone companies to furnish real-time tracking data so they can pinpoint the whereabouts of drug traffickers, fugitives and other criminal suspects, according to judges and industry lawyers.

In some cases, judges have granted the requests without requiring the government to demonstrate that there is probable cause to believe that a crime is taking place or that the inquiry will yield evidence of a crime. Privacy advocates fear such a practice may expose average Americans to a new level of government scrutiny of their daily lives. . . .

Bonus item: I’m with Avedon here

http://sideshow.me.uk/snov07.htm#11230202
[Avedon Carol] It happens like this: The Republicans do repulsive things, the Democrats don't stop them - or act in concert with them - and a lot of people who are left of center start advocating their clever plan to teach the Democrats a lesson. The clever plan is to either support third-party candidates who haven't got a prayer (throw your vote away) or don't vote. And just enough people throw up their hands in disgust, walk away, and allow even farther-right Republicans to win the next election - after which the remaining pundits and conservative Democrats all get together with the Republicans to assure us that we are a conservative country, conservatism is on the ascendency, and once again America has repudiated those disgusting lefties - and god damn those lefties anyway for alienating the country from the Democratic Party. I've watched this cycle through a couple of times, now, and as much as I can understand the appeal of just walking away from it all, I know it doesn't work. It's not a constructive suggestion. It wasn't forty years ago and today it is a suicidal one. Assuming there is going to be an election in 2008, making primary challenges where possible, electing real progressives at every level (doesn't matter what party - if they are progressives and they can win, then help them win; let a hundred Bernie Sanderses bloom), has to be a priority.

***If you enjoy PBD and support what we are doing, you can help by forwarding a copy of this issue to your friends (using the envelope link below) or by sending them a copy of its URL (http://pbd.blogspot.com).

I don't get anything personally out of this project, except the satisfaction of doing it (I don't run ads, etc). The credit really all goes to the people whose material I copy and redistribute. But if I do have a "mission," it is to get this information into the hands of as many people as I can.***
- posted by Nick Burbules @ 7:41 AM

 
GIVE THANKS

Military tries to explain why they’re withholding pay from wounded vets

http://www.tpmmuckraker.com/archives/004758.php

Our friends

http://www.slate.com/id/2178542/fr/rss/
[Daniel Politi] The New York Times leads with word that the majority of foreign fighters who entered Iraq in the last year were from two countries the United States considers allies, Saudi Arabia and Libya. . . .

[NB: “Therefore, we must bomb Iran. . . .”]

Bush 101: get your people to resign BEFORE the big scandal story hits the press

http://www.tpmmuckraker.com/archives/004760.php

As we should have expected, Scotty backpedals from his own book quote – well, you see, Bush didn’t exactly LIE to him

http://thelede.blogs.nytimes.com/2007/11/21/ex-aides-book-may-clear-bush-in-cia-leak/index.html
“He told him something that wasn’t true, but the president didn’t know it wasn’t true,'’ Osnos said in a telephone interview. “The president told him what he thought to be the case.'’

More: http://www.thecarpetbaggerreport.com/archives/13675.html

http://www.talkingpointsmemo.com/horsesmouth/2007/11/publisher_of_mc.php

http://www.slate.com/id/2178467/fr/rss/

Yes, Bush did lie: http://thenexthurrah.typepad.com/the_next_hurrah/2007/11/stop-making-sco.html

Alice tries to walk back the story

http://www.firedoglake.com/2007/11/21/ill-take-unasked-obvious-follow-ups-for-2000-alex/

Thanks for telling us

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/11/21/AR2007112102217.html
Not All Those Vetoed Earmarks Came From Democrats
With all the cheering from Republican leaders as President Bush vetoes Democratic spending measures, it would seem the GOP doesn't have much at stake as the appropriations bills go down in flames. . . .

Pundits who don’t understand the issues around FISA should shut up about it

http://www.time-blog.com/swampland/2007/11/latest_column_22.html
[Joe Klein] The current House legislation requires that every foreign terrorist target be passed through the FISA court because that target may potentially communicate with U.S. Citizens or resident aliens. It thereby, as I reported, obliquely gives foreign terrorists the same procedures as American citizens, if not the same rights...This will be very easily twisted by Republicans. Furthermore, and weirdly, I"m told that the Democratic bill actually limits the protections for U.S. resident aliens and illegal immigrants. . . .

The House bill has no chance of being enacted into law. The partisan nature of it means--in practical political terms--that the expected bipartisan Senate measure will prevail in committee. . .

This is all a partisan waste of time, fodder for lawyers and civil liberties extremists. There is broad bipartisan agreement on the following principles:. . .

http://www.firedoglake.com/2007/11/21/joke-line-still-the-king/
[Jane Hamsher] I’m trying to figure out the process here. Somebody calls up Joe Klein and tells him the storyline that the administration is floating about the FISA bill — completely and utterly wrong, but somehow in those whispered tones of hush-hush top-secret information confidentially imparted, Klein thinks it’s all true. Remember the Klein comment that not long ago won the FDL contest for the stupidest thing he ever said (a heated competition if ever there was one):

“People like me who favor this [NSA wiretapping] program don’t yet know enough about it yet. Those opposed to it know even less — and certainly less than I do.”

http://www.salon.com/opinion/greenwald/2007/11/21/klein/index.html
[Glenn Greenwald] For the sake of its own credibility, Time Magazine needs immediately to prohibit Joe Klein from uttering another word about the eavesdropping and FISA controversy. He simply doesn't know what he's talking about and he publishes demonstrably false statements. . . .[read on]

More: http://www.crooksandliars.com/2006/02/04/joe-klein-constitution-loathing-quotliberalquot/

http://www.dailykos.com/storyonly/2007/11/21/13055/121

http://www.firedoglake.com/2007/11/21/fisa-and-the-myth-of-the-ticking-time-bomb/

Pundits who don’t understand the issues around Social Security should shut up about it

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/11/20/AR2007112001651_pf.html
[Ruth Marcus] In liberal Democratic circles, the debate over Social Security has taken a dangerous "don't worry, be happy" turn. . .

http://economistsview.typepad.com/economistsview/2007/11/ruth-marcus-tri.html
[Mark Thoma] Ruth Marcus shows two things in her commentary today, "Krugman vs. Krugman". First, she hasn't a clue about Social Security financing. Second, she has no problem at all presenting a distorted picture to rationalize her clueless position. . .

More: http://www.talkleft.com/story/2007/11/21/11115/445

Krugman responds: http://krugman.blogs.nytimes.com/2007/11/21/they-hate-me-they-really-hate-me/
Early in my tenure at the NYT, I was advised that it’s a bad idea to devote a column to attacking another columnist — not just at the Times, but anywhere. Why? Because it makes you look small — as if you have nothing better to do than snipe at other commentators, rather than trying to deal with real problems.

But I’ve obviously touched a nerve with my recent writing on Social Security. The Beltway crowd loves their Social Security crisis, and they won’t give it up without a fight.

I won’t waste scarce column inches on this, but I guess this needs a reply somewhere. . . . [ouch!]

Another dishonest journalist

http://www.talkingpointsmemo.com/horsesmouth/2007/11/robert_novak_li.php
[Greg Sargent] As you all know, Novak published over the weekend a laughably thin column alleging that "agents" of Hillary Clinton possess explosive information about Barack Obama -- but that Camp Hillary had decide not to release that info. The column sparked a furious exchange between the two campaigns, and critics far and wide denounced Novak for running such a thinly sourced item.

Well, today Novak has published another column on the controversy. And in it, he manages to fib twice in one sentence about his earlier column. . .

Heh: http://sideshow.me.uk/snov07.htm#11220259
[Avedon Carol] Who better to vouch for the credibility of Robert Novak than Dick Morris?

The kind of press coverage Democrats should come to expect

http://www.talkingpointsmemo.com/horsesmouth/2007/11/ny_times_finall.php

Romney: hoist on his own petard

http://tpmelectioncentral.com/2007/11/two_voters_who_reported_geting_antiromney_calls_didnt_disclose_that_theyre_on_romneys_payroll.php
[Greg Sargent] Deepening the mystery surrounding the anti-Mormon polling calls, the Romney campaign is confirming that it referred reporters to two recipients of the calls without disclosing that the two were also on the Romney campaign payroll . . .

http://digbysblog.blogspot.com/2007/11/rolling-yourself-in-mud-by-digby-this.html
[Digby] [I]t really appears that the people who did these calls have very close ties to Romney so it's entirely reasonable to suspect that he's manufactured this controversy to make his rivals look bad.

That's a very risky thing to do because in order to make it work you also have to publicize the "smear" itself. Public relations 101 says that you never repeat your rivals' attacks. Maybe Romney thinks he's inoculating himself on the Mormon thing and maybe it will work. By casting his rivals as hitting below the belt perhaps he thinks those voters who are concerned about his Mormanism will recoil in horror. (But do people who really care about such things actually recoil in horror at the idea of a smear campaign? It seems like they relish them.)

More: http://www.thecarpetbaggerreport.com/archives/13676.html

http://tpmelectioncentral.com/2007/11/romney_theories_about_me_polling_myself_are_like_911_conspiracy_theories.php
[Greg Sargent] A CNN reporter just asked Mitt Romney about all the theories that his campaign is behind the anti-Mormon calls. His response? Push the 9/11 button...

Giuliani: hoist on his own petard

http://www.dailykos.com/storyonly/2007/11/21/0243/0740
[Miss Laura] Rudy Giuliani's having a tough week when it comes to his supposed strength: 9/11. A group of firefighters and family members of 9/11 victims is looking into forming a 527 to oppose his candidacy . .

Giuliani: nothing to hide?

http://www.tpmmuckraker.com/archives/004759.php
[Paul Kiel] Rudy Giuliani has nothing to hide about his business dealings. Or, rather, he wants everyone to know that if the press finds what he's hiding, everyone will agree that everything's been "totally legal, totally ethical." . . . [read on]

http://www.chicagotribune.com/services/newspaper/printedition/wednesday/chi-rudy_singaporenov21,0,6222784.story
Nine days after registering his presidential exploratory committee last November, Rudolph Giuliani appeared in Singapore to help a Las Vegas developer make a pitch for a $3.5 billion casino resort.

Though the bid ultimately failed, and there was nothing illegal about the involvement, it drew Giuliani into a complex partnership with the family of a controversial Hong Kong billionaire who has ties to the regime of North Korea's Kim Jong Il and has been linked to international organized crime by the U.S. government. . . .

http://www.tpmmuckraker.com/archives/004756.php
Giuliani went from politics into business, and the success of that business relied in large part on Giuliani's continued prestige and the promise that he would eventually return to politics. . . . [read on]

The closer Rudy tries to embrace Bush policies, the more McCain is distancing himself (not long ago, it was the other way around)

http://www.dailykos.com/storyonly/2007/11/21/12853/866

***If you enjoy PBD and support what we are doing, you can help by forwarding a copy of this issue to your friends (using the envelope link below) or by sending them a copy of its URL (http://pbd.blogspot.com).

I don't get anything personally out of this project, except the satisfaction of doing it (I don't run ads, etc). The credit really all goes to the people whose material I copy and redistribute. But if I do have a "mission," it is to get this information into the hands of as many people as I can.***
- posted by Nick Burbules @ 7:08 AM

 
HAND OVER FIST

UN-believable

http://www.tpmmuckraker.com/archives/004754.php
[Spencer Ackerman] Just in time for the holidays, there's a special place in Hell just waiting to be filled by some as-yet-unknown Pentagon bureaucrat. Apparently, thousands of wounded soldiers who served in Iraq are being asked to return part of their enlistment bonuses -- because their injuries prevented them from completing their tours. . .

More: http://www.thecarpetbaggerreport.com/archives/13660.html

The land of milk and honey

http://www.tpmmuckraker.com/archives/004752.php
[Spencer Ackerman] Ah, Iraq. The land of milk and honey for a defense contractor. Not that all those contractors have such high profiles. In fact, due to a clever bit of disclosure chicanery, some of them are completely unknown, even to budget watchdogs.

The Center for Public Integrity's brand-new report on Iraq contracting, Windfalls of War II, identifies at least $20 billion in contract money that has gone to non-U.S. companies that it cannot identify . . .

http://www.nytimes.com/aponline/world/AP-Afghanistan.html
U.S. spending on aid work in Afghanistan is only a fraction of what the American military spends, and too much of the aid money pays the high salaries of expatriate employees, an international aid agency said Tuesday. . . .

Corruption in DHS

http://thenexthurrah.typepad.com/the_next_hurrah/2007/11/radioactive-dhs.html

House Dems say to Bush, we’re not backing down this time: accept war funding with conditions, or not at all

http://tpmelectioncentral.com/2007/11/hose_dems_dig_in_on_war_funding.php

How the WH spins it: http://www.salon.com/politics/war_room/2007/11/20/iraq/index.html

http://www.thecarpetbaggerreport.com/archives/13662.html

How the press helps: http://mediamatters.org/items/200711200007

A story that gets dusted off and pulled down from the shelf every year or so

http://www.dailykos.com/storyonly/2007/11/20/74726/029
[2003] Officials said privately that they hoped to foster a sense of normalcy and encourage limited travel to Iraq, particularly by business people and aid workers. They mentioned that Baghdad International Airport is preparing to reopen in a few days. . .

[2004] Ammar Hussein finally felt it was safe enough to keep his pizza shop open until midnight. Life was returning to normal in Iraq's capital. Most nights, families crowded around plastic tables outside his shop to eat pizza and ice cream. . . . [read on]

More: http://www.thecarpetbaggerreport.com/archives/13657.html

NYT withheld story about Pakistani nukes for three years

http://www.politico.com/news/stories/1107/6989.html

Screwing up in Pakistan

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/11/20/AR2007112002304_pf.html
President Bush yesterday offered his strongest support of embattled Pakistani President Pervez Musharraf, saying the general "hasn't crossed the line" and "truly is somebody who believes in democracy."

Bush spoke nearly three weeks after Musharraf declared emergency rule, sacked members of the Supreme Court and began a roundup of journalists, lawyers and human rights activists. . . .

The comments, delivered in an interview with ABC News anchor Charles Gibson, contrasted with previous administration statements -- including by Bush himself -- expressing grave concern over Musharraf's actions. In his first public comments on the crisis two weeks ago, Bush said his aides bluntly warned Musharraf that his emergency measures "would undermine democracy."

[NB: This feels more and more like the Shah of Iran every day]

More: http://www.americablog.com/2007/11/pakistan-enemy-of-my-enemy-is-future.html

The publishers might be playing with us by putting out a teaser quote – but is it possible that Scotty is going to blow the lid off WH lies over the Plame leak?

http://thelede.blogs.nytimes.com/2007/11/20/ex-bush-spokesmans-tantalizing-snippet-on-cia-leak/index.html

http://www.thecarpetbaggerreport.com/archives/13664.html

http://www.firedoglake.com/2007/11/20/shorter-mcclellan-i-was-a-paid-liar-for-bush/

Plame responds: http://www.americablog.com/2007/11/plame-is-outraged.html

Chris Dodd responds: http://www.mydd.com/story/2007/11/20/212829/20

A man of the people. . . .

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/blog/2007/11/20/BL2007112000871.html
[Dan Froomkin] You might think that a presidential speech on Thanksgiving would be open to all comers. But no, even when President Bush is talking about something as uncontroversial and inclusive as the essential goodness of our country, he wants his audience prescreened for obsequiousness. . .

More: http://www.thecarpetbaggerreport.com/archives/13663.html

“Cookie” Krongard seeks a defense for the indefensible

http://www.tpmmuckraker.com/archives/004750.php
[Spencer Ackerman] Now that Buzzy Krongard has quit Blackwater's advisory board, will State Department Inspector General Howard "Cookie" Krongard rescind his recusal from Blackwater investigations?

I'd like to be able to answer that question, but unfortunately it'll take a little while. During the pre-Thanksgiving rush to leave town, the Office of the Inspector General's press operation is in the hands of Terry Heide, who normally handles congressional affairs for the OIG. When I called Heide and posed the question, she replied, "The OIG has no further comments on anything related to Mr. Krongard's situation." Attempts at a follow-up were repelled by an instruction that there was "no need to call us back, because we have no comment." Click. . .

Oh-oh: the Supreme Court takes up a case about individual gun ownership rights. I smell a bad outcome

http://www.nytimes.com/2007/11/20/washington/20cnd-scotus.html

http://www.thecarpetbaggerreport.com/archives/13665.html

http://www.dailykos.com/storyonly/2007/11/20/133016/44

Delicious: once US Attn’y Rachel Paulose accused the staffers who resisted her incompetent and autocratic rule with bigotry, someone had to go. It turned out to be her . . .

http://www.tpmmuckraker.com/archives/004748.php
[S]he decried the "McCarthyite hysteria that permits the anonymous smearing of any public servant who is now, or ever may have been, a member of the Federalist Society; a person of faith; and/or a conservative (especially a young, conservative woman of color)." . . . [read on!]

More: http://www.thecarpetbaggerreport.com/archives/13656.html

How they do it: vote suppression in Florida (it works!)

http://www.tpmmuckraker.com/archives/004751.php

The state of the Republican race for President

http://www.openleft.com/showDiary.do?diaryId=2456

http://talkingpointsmemo.com/archives/059360.php

Romney: how nervous is he about the Mormon issue?

Very: http://matthewyglesias.theatlantic.com/archives/2007/11/romney_on_christianity.php
[National Review] “You know, the term ‘Christian’ means different things to different people,” Romney told me . . . [read on]

More: http://talkingpointsmemo.com/archives/059323.php
[Josh Marshall] There's been some weird circumstantial evidence suggesting that the candidate with the most connections to the firm behind those anti-Mitt, anti-Mormon push-polls was none other than Mitt himself. . . .

http://news.bostonherald.com/news/national/politics/2008/view.bg?articleid=1045910

http://talkingpointsmemo.com/archives/059335.php

http://talkingpointsmemo.com/archives/059350.php

Giuliani, McCain, and Thompson all would fail to qualify for health care under their own proposed plans

http://www.washingtonmonthly.com/archives/individual/2007_11/012544.php

More: http://thenexthurrah.typepad.com/the_next_hurrah/2007/11/gop-offer-healt.html

Yes, approval ratings for Congress are even lower than Bush’s. But is that a judgment against Democratic inaction, or Republican obstructionism? Here’s a clue

http://www.mydd.com/story/2007/11/20/172413/40
Tough times for Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell . . .

Ha, ha: apparently, Rove took his column to Newsweek only after Time rejected him

http://www.firedoglake.com/2007/11/20/time-magazine-rejected-karl-rove-as-columnist/

http://thenexthurrah.typepad.com/the_next_hurrah/2007/11/rove-is-rejecte.html

The kind of man he is

http://thinkprogress.org/2007/11/19/roger-ailes-west-point/&upsid=456471410563
DeLay described what he would like to do to New York Times columnist Paul Krugman: “I’d like to bitch-slap him.”

Alice gets a little snipey with the press, and they return the favor

http://www.first-draft.com/2007/11/today-on-hol-11.html

Who said it?

http://politicalwire.com/archives/2007/11/20/quote_of_the_day.html
"No question, there is no question that Senator Clinton understands pressure better than any of the candidates, you know, in the race."

Bonus item: The most visited pages in Conservapedia (the right’s answer to liberal, reality-based encyclopedias) – thanks to Atrios for the link

http://www.conservapedia.com/Special:Statistics

***If you enjoy PBD and support what we are doing, you can help by forwarding a copy of this issue to your friends (using the envelope link below) or by sending them a copy of its URL (http://pbd.blogspot.com).

I don't get anything personally out of this project, except the satisfaction of doing it (I don't run ads, etc). The credit really all goes to the people whose material I copy and redistribute. But if I do have a "mission," it is to get this information into the hands of as many people as I can.***
- posted by Nick Burbules @ 7:09 AM

 
RESIGNATIONS

I just love how these people, who oppose every kind of civil rights legislation and who decry the “politics of victimization” are the FIRST to whine about discrimination when it suits them

http://talkingpointsmemo.com/archives/059201.php
[Josh Marshall] Crony US Attorney Paulose says members of the Federalist Society are victims of a new McCarthyism and black-list.

She further alleges she's being hounded out of her office for her religion, ideology, gender and skin color.

The other shoe drops: http://thenexthurrah.typepad.com/the_next_hurrah/2007/11/paulose-resigns.html
Rachel Paulose has resigned . . .

Was it her choice to step down? http://www.nytimes.com/2007/11/20/washington/20cnd-justice.html
U.S. Attorney in Minnesota Is Reassigned . . .

http://www.tpmmuckraker.com/archives/004745.php
[Paul Kiel] It's not a promotion -- it's a way out. . . [read on]

Another loyal Bushie resigns suddenly and unexpectedly – is there a story here?

http://www.thecarpetbaggerreport.com/archives/13651.html
[AP] Fran Townsend, the leading White House-based terrorism adviser . . .

http://thenexthurrah.typepad.com/the_next_hurrah/2007/11/fran-townsend-r.html
[Emptywheel] Recall that before she was appointed, Libby (back in his halcyon pre-felon days) and Addington launched a smear campaign to get Bush to appoint someone else. They were worried that Townsend might oppose some of their more, um, creative methods, particularly extraordinary rendition. . . .

http://www.thewashingtonnote.com/archives/002532.php
[Steve Clemons] Fran Townsend, in my view, actually did a very good job and was one of the more reasoned advisers that Bush kept close to him. In my estimation, she was an important balance to Vice President Cheney's national security advisor John Hannah.

I recently saw Townsend in the Mayflower Hotel's bar sitting and drinking with Hillary Clinton's Senate spokesman Phillippe Reines. I hope that my disclosure of that meeting -- which I removed from my blog as a courtesy to a journalist who got caught in the crossfire of my revelations -- then did not have any impact on this decision of Bush and Townsend to separate. . . .

http://www.salon.com/politics/war_room/2007/11/19/townsend/index.html
[Tim Grieve] Cox News has obtained a copy of the handwritten farewell note Townsend sent to George W. Bush.

In it, Townsend notes that the playwright Maxwell Anderson wrote of George Washington, "There are some men who lift the age they inhabit, until all men walk on higher ground in their lifetime."

"Mr. President," Townsend says, "you are such a man."

Note to W.: Before you get all tingly, you might want to know that she said the same thing last month about Saudi Arabia's King Abdullah.

Another loyal Bushie who hasn’t resigned. . . YET

http://www.tpmmuckraker.com/archives/004736.php
[Spencer Ackerman] State Department Inspector General Howard "Cookie" Krongard's new strategy to get out of a possible perjury investigation? Begging. . . .

http://www.tpmmuckraker.com/archives/004739.php
When you talk to your brother on the phone, you take notes, right? Well, Howard "Cookie" Krongard does. . .

Hearing set for week of Dec 3: http://www.tpmmuckraker.com/archives/004744.php

Another Republican Congressman resigns

http://tpmelectioncentral.com/2007/11/gop_congressman_ferguson_retiring.php
Four-term Congressman Mike Ferguson (R-NJ) . . .

http://www.dailykos.com/storyonly/2007/11/19/133136/69
[DHinMI] Today, the number of House Republican retirements rose to 17 . . .

Brilliant! Fighting Al Qaeda is such an urgent national security imperative that we’re going to let tribal militias do it for us

http://www.nytimes.com/2007/11/19/washington/19policy.html

Trouble for Blackwater: grand jury impanelled

http://www.tpmmuckraker.com/archives/004744.php

http://www.slate.com/id/2178365
[Daniel Politi] The Post gets word that the investigation "ranges well beyond Blackwater" and several other private security firms have also been subpoenaed for documents. . . .

Bush and Rice sponsor a new Middle East Conference. Why? Nobody seems to know

http://www.thecarpetbaggerreport.com/archives/13645.html
[Steve Benen] For years, the White House has chosen to put the Israeli-Palestinian conflict on the backburner. Actually, that’s probably overly generous — the Bush gang has preferred to ignore the problem altogether.

The good news is, the administration is now poised to hold a major Middle East peace conference. The bad news is, no one seems to have any idea who’s coming, when they’ll meet, or what they’ll do. . .

More: http://www.thewashingtonnote.com/archives/002533.php

The Democrats still haven’t found their footing on Iraq

http://www.dailykos.com/storyonly/2007/11/19/111227/62

A legacy to be proud of (think it’s a coincidence?)

http://www.nytimes.com/2007/11/19/opinion/19krugman.html
[Paul Krugman] The centrality of race — and, in particular, of the switch of Southern whites from overwhelming support of Democrats to overwhelming support of Republicans — is obvious from voting data. . .

The G.O.P.’s own leaders admit that the great Southern white shift was the result of a deliberate political strategy. “Some Republicans gave up on winning the African-American vote, looking the other way or trying to benefit politically from racial polarization.” So declared Ken Mehlman, the former chairman of the Republican National Committee, speaking in 2005. .

http://www.cnn.com/2007/US/law/11/19/hate.crimes.ap/index.html
Hate crime incidents in the United States rose last year by nearly 8 percent, the FBI reported Monday, as racial prejudice continued to account for more than half the reported instances. . .

More: http://www.thecarpetbaggerreport.com/archives/13653.html

Bush making a comeback, the media says. This is one of their favorite memes. Based on WHAT, exactly?

http://www.firedoglake.com/2007/11/19/its-always-good-for-the-republicans/
[Scarecrow] According to the WaPo’s Peter Baker, the White House thinks things are looking up for the President and the Republicans, now that they’ve got their new Attorney General, Bush is vetoing spending bills and the reported killings in Iraq are back to levels not seen since early 2006. . . .

[NB: Wheeeee!]

http://www.thecarpetbaggerreport.com/archives/13646.html
[Steve Benen] After years of one calamity after another, Bush and his team believe they’ve reestablished their footing. The public, meanwhile, isn’t impressed. . . .

1. Bush is trying to put out his own fires . . .

2. He’s still screwing up . . .

3. Bush doesn’t have anything new to offer. . .

4. It’s too late. . . [read on!]

More: http://www.usnews.com/usnews/politics/bulletin/bulletin_071119.htm

http://www.americablog.com/2007/11/gopers-think-bush-has-his-swagger-back.html

How journalism works today: Bob Novak throws a stinkbomb into the middle of the Democratic field – a poorly sourced story that no serious journalist would ever run. But it does two things (as it was designed to do): it gets the Democrats bickering with each other, and it generates a second-wave of speculation by other “pundits” who take the very existence of the claims as proof that “there must be something there”

http://mediamatters.org/items/200711200001
Novak claimed that his source was "a well-known Democrat" who "was told by an agent of the Clinton campaign ... about the alleged scandal, but acknowledged that he personally has no idea whether the alleged "scandalous information" even exists, saying: "[W]hether there is any such scandalous information, I don't know." . . . [read on]

http://digbysblog.blogspot.com/2007/11/mission-accomplished-by-digby-man-novak.html
[Digby] It just doesn't get any better for the Village Ladies press Club and Circle Jerk Society than this afternoon's Hardball. David Shuster ran down the story straight, pointing out that Novak has subsequently said that he allegedly heard his little nugget of defamation about both Clinton and Obama from some Democrat who isn't part of the Clinton campaign, but who knows someone or has heard from somebody who says it's true. That's apparently good enough for Chris Matthews anyway, and he's running with it as fast as his little legs can carry him.

This is what ensued . . . [read on]

More: http://www.thecarpetbaggerreport.com/archives/13649.html

Rudy is determined to drape himself in the Bush mantle

http://www.mediatransparency.com/story.php?storyID=219
On October 30, Joseph Allbaugh was named Senior Advisor to Rudy Giuliani's presidential campaign. According to a Giuliani campaign press release, Allbaugh "will advise the campaign on general strategy and homeland security." . . .

The Politico reported that "The endorsement is valuable ... because it gives the former New York mayor additional entrée to the Bush-Cheney organization. Allbaugh was one-third of the 'Iron Triangle' of Allbaugh, Karl Rove and Karen Hughes, the powers-that-be in the president's original Austin-based presidential campaign."

Bernie and Rudy: we have only begun to hear about their shady financial dealings

http://talkingpointsmemo.com/archives/059234.php

McCain decides to portray himself as Mr Nice Guy. THIS John McCain?

http://www.thecarpetbaggerreport.com/archives/13648.html

Are we seeing a major realignment among the Republican candidates?

http://talkingpointsmemo.com/archives/059276.php

http://politicalinsider.com/2007/11/ins_and_outs_in_iowa.html

Hilarious: people are just now realizing that Fred Thompson may not turn out to be the savior they imagined. Their disappointment knows no bounds

http://www.cqpolitics.com/wmspage.cfm?docID=cqmidday-000002631203
Several House Republicans who endorsed Fred Thompson for president now say that they are frustrated with what they view as an apathetic campaign, and at least one regrets having committed to the former Tennessee senator.

“I think he’s kind of done a belly flop,” said an estranged Thompson backer . . .

Watch: http://talkingpointsmemo.com/archives/059233.php

More: http://www.thecarpetbaggerreport.com/archives/13652.html

http://www.dailykos.com/storyonly/2007/11/20/11156/922

Bonus item: Nothing Karl Rove says or does in public is without political purpose and intent. That makes this note interesting

http://www.americablog.com/2007/11/rove-refuses-to-even-use-bushs-name-in.html
Rove refuses to even use Bush's name in Newsweek piece . . .

Extra bonus item: Does former WH spokesman Scott McClellan have a story to tell? Maybe

http://thenexthurrah.typepad.com/the_next_hurrah/2007/11/scottie.html
“I had unknowingly passed along false information. And five of the highest ranking officials in the administration were involved in my doing so: Rove, Libby, the vice President, the President's chief of staff, and the president himself . . .”

***If you enjoy PBD and support what we are doing, you can help by forwarding a copy of this issue to your friends (using the envelope link below) or by sending them a copy of its URL (http://pbd.blogspot.com).

I don't get anything personally out of this project, except the satisfaction of doing it (I don't run ads, etc). The credit really all goes to the people whose material I copy and redistribute. But if I do have a "mission," it is to get this information into the hands of as many people as I can.***
- posted by Nick Burbules @ 7:53 AM

 
BEST CASE SCENARIO

The press is losing interest in Iraq (it’s SO yesterday) – which is good news for Bush

http://matthewyglesias.theatlantic.com/archives/2007/11/iraq_fading.php

Settle in for a LONG haul

http://www.washingtonmonthly.com/archives/individual/2007_11/012531.php
[Stephen Biddle, surge supporter] Without getting in to his arguments or my reservations, I just wanted to lay out Biddle's best case scenario as he presented it: if everything goes right and if the US continues to "hit the lottery" with the spread of local ceasefires and none of a dozen different spoilers happens, then a patchwork of local ceasefires between heavily armed, mistrustful communities could possibly hold if and only if the US keeps 80,000-100,000 troops in Iraq for the next twenty to thirty years. And that's the best case scenario . . .

Our press has stopped knowing how to say “This is not true.” Why that helps Rudy Giuliani

http://www.talkingpointsmemo.com/horsesmouth/2007/11/tough_tim_russe.php
[Greg Sargent] Russert flashed the following quote from Rudy on the screen justifying his relationship with Kerik. . . . Neither Russert nor his guests spent a second asking whether Rudy's claims were true. Russert selected this quote beforehand, so he had plenty of time to entertain this question. But he didn't -- and neither did his guests. Instead, they only discussed whether it will work politically. . .

Let’s see, John Edwards gets an expensive haircut, and that bounces around the airwaves for days – so, how much attention do you think THIS is worth?

http://www.nydailynews.com/news/politics/2007/11/18/2007-11-18_rudy_giuliani_jets_to_campaign_stops_usi-4.html
Rudy Giuliani is jetting around the country wooing Bible-thumping conservatives, but his plane is often provided by a king of Sin City.

The Republican presidential hopeful anted up more than $122,000 last summer alone for jets traceable to casino kingpin Sheldon Adelson . . .

http://www.openleft.com/showDiary.do?diaryId=2430
[Matt Stoller] Adelson is a prime funder of the group 'Freedom's Watch', which advocates for the bombing of Iran. It's just remarkable how the tribalism and worship of phony machismo of Giuliani, and his sadistic corrupt tendencies are reinforced at every turn, from his love of the mechanics of organized crime to his defense of Bernie Kerik. . .

So what we have is a megalomaniacal charismatic individual who models his political stylings around the the norms of a fictional murderous and ruthless criminal syndicate traveling around the country to pander to white evangelical Christians on a plane paid for by gambling money that is also used to lobby for another catastrophic war against a Middle Eastern oil state.

That's your modern Republican Party. Phony, macho, sadistic, authoritarian.

More Giuliani pals

http://www.thecarpetbaggerreport.com/archives/13640.html

http://www.talkleft.com/story/2007/11/18/131658/41

This Judith Regan story – it ain’t going away

http://www.nytimes.com/2007/11/18/opinion/18rich.html
[Frank Rich] New Yorkers who remember Rudy Giuliani as the bullying New York mayor, not as the terminally cheerful “America’s Mayor” cooing to babies in New Hampshire, have always banked on one certainty: his presidential candidacy was so preposterous it would implode before he got anywhere near the White House.

Surely, we reassured ourselves, the all-powerful Republican values enforcers were so highly principled that they would excommunicate him because of his liberal social views, three wives and estranged children. Or a firewall would be erected by the firefighters who are enraged by his self-aggrandizing rewrite of 9/11 history. Or Judith Giuliani, with her long-hidden first marriage and Louis Vuitton ’tude, would send red-state voters screaming into the night.

Wrong, wrong and wrong. But how quickly and stupidly we forgot about the other Judith in the Rudy orbit. That would be Judith Regan, who disappeared last December after she was unceremoniously fired from Rupert Murdoch’s publishing house, HarperCollins. Last week Ms. Regan came roaring back into the fray, a silver bullet aimed squarely at the heart of the Giuliani campaign. . . .

Whether Ms. Regan’s charge about that unnamed Murdoch “senior executive” is true or not — her lawyers have yet to reveal the evidence — her overall message is plain. She knows a lot about Mr. Kerik, Mr. Giuliani and the Murdoch empire. And she could talk.

Boy, could she! As New Yorkers who have crossed her path or followed her in the tabloids know, Ms. Regan has an epic temper. My first encounter with her came more than a decade ago when she left me a record-breaking (in vitriol and decibel level) voice mail message about a column I’d written on one of her authors. It was a relief to encounter a more mellow Regan at a Midtown restaurant some years later. She cordially introduced me to her dinner companion, Mr. Kerik, whose post-9/11 autobiography, “The Lost Son: A Life in Pursuit of Justice,” was under contract at her HarperCollins imprint, ReganBooks.

What I didn’t know then was that this married author and single editor were in pursuit of not just justice, but sex, too. Their love nest, we’d later learn, was an apartment adjacent to ground zero that had been initially set aside for rescue workers. . . . [read on]

More: http://www.thecarpetbaggerreport.com/archives/13639.html

McCain reconstructs history

http://www.thecarpetbaggerreport.com/archives/13641.html
[AP] McCain also notes, especially for anti-war voters, that he was an early critic of the war strategy waged by former Defense Secretary Donald H. Rumsfeld. . .

I told you

http://andrewsullivan.theatlantic.com/the_daily_dish/2007/11/obama-clinton-m.html
[Andrew Sullivan] [A]t some point in this campaign, if you believe the Washington rumor mill, there may well be some Clinton bimbo eruption stories, i.e. Bill's post-presidential extracurricular activities will come under discussion again. . . . The story would be relevant again not so much because of Bill but because of Hillary. She is now the candidate and would be forced to respond to such allegations if they became in any way legit. Would any self-respecting wife simply dismiss stories of her husband's possible adultery as self-evident VRCW sleaze - for a second time? How credible, after Lewinsky, would such a dismissal be? . . .

I may not care about the personal details of a president's marriage, but, given the Clintons' history, purple state Americans may not be so sure. The story could remind them of the psychodramas of the 1990s, dramas that impeded a president's ability to govern. It could remind them of how hollowed out Hillary Clinton's psyche has had to become - as a consequence of enabling her husband's foibles as the price for her own political advancement. Either way, the GOP would love it. If Rudy's the nominee, the "scandal" would insulate him from Christianist moralizing about his private life. If Romney's the nominee, it will merely entrench his rep as the squeaky clean family man against that crazy Clinton couple. That's why the Republicans are more than happy to keep these stories under wraps until after the primaries. . . .

Don’t think for a second that Karl Rove is sitting out the 2008 elections: his first Newsweek column

http://www.newsweek.com/id/71000
[T]he Democratic nominee is likely to be Hillary. Not without a fight, not without losing early contests (probably Iowa, for starters) and not without bruises and bumps.

And so the question to John McCain from a woman at a town hall in South Carolina last Monday was tasteless, but key: "How do we beat the [rhymes with witch]?" . . .

http://www.salon.com/opinion/walsh/election_2008/2007/11/18/kos_rove/index.html
[Joan Walsh] Rove's debut column explains how to beat Hillary Clinton. He opens with a supposedly telling anecdote, about how he inherited her West Wing office, and gave speeches joking about how he appreciated inheriting its "full-length vanity mirror," because it helped him work on his "rumpled appearance." But instead of enjoying that legendary Turdblossom wit, Clinton supposedly bristled and told him she didn't put the mirror in the office. Can you believe that the just-elected female senator from New York was bothered by the implication she'd installed a "full-length vanity mirror" in her West Wing office? What a bitch!

In fact that's exactly the conclusion Rove drew . . .

http://www.dailykos.com/story/2007/11/18/1628/0470
[Kos] Here's Rove's effort, which is about Hillary's mirror, how she's never been nice to him (why would she be nice to him?) . . .

More: http://www.dailykos.com/storyonly/2007/11/18/1522/4320

http://displib.blogspot.com/2007/11/rove-rhymes-with-spoofiness.html

Rove’s also working hard behind the scenes

http://www.thecarpetbaggerreport.com/archives/13637.html
[Steve Benen] If you’re just joining us, Novak reported yesterday that Hillary Clinton’s “agents” are gossiping in Democratic circles that the Clinton campaign has “scandalous information” about Obama, which they reportedly will not share.

Of course, as a matter of journalism and professional standards, Novak’s piece was a textbook case of media irresponsibility. His column shouldn’t have even run — Clinton supporters (who he will not name) are allegedly spreading rumors about rumors (which he cannot identify) addressing an Obama scandal (which may or may not exist). Joe Klein suggested that Novak may have “simply abandoned all pretense of being a journalist.” . . . [read on]

http://www.firedoglake.com/2007/11/18/gop-meddling-in-democratic-presidential-primary/
[Jane Hamsher] I smell a much bigger rat. . . .

http://digbysblog.blogspot.com/2007/11/born-yesterday-by-digby-robert-novak.html
[Digby] Robert Novak was once a real journalist but after the events of the past few years, it's safe to say that he no longer can be considered anything but a Republican operative, specifically a Rove acolyte who basically works for him. He has more than proven his loyalty. This rumor, especially coming from him, should never have seen the light of day. . . . Democratic campaigns should know better that to ever use Robert Novak to try to score points either way. His item, (just like Rove's from earlier in the week) was a twofer, virtually designed to make both candidates look bad --- and, frankly, both of their responses only reaffirmed that impression.

http://digbysblog.blogspot.com/2007/11/twofer-by-digby-karl-rove-is-smiling_18.html
[Digby] [Rove] not only makes the Clintons look they're hiding something, he does it by claiming that Obama is weak. It's a twofer. . . [read on]

Tom DeLay’s new campaign project

http://talkingpointsmemo.com/archives/059137.php
[Washington Times] "Right now, liberals are better organized, funded and active than I have ever witnessed," Mr. DeLay said. "Our goal is to work with the talented leaders of the conservative movement to complement their efforts, using an army of activists to push for the policies and leadership conservatives are begging for."

David Broder admits that he may have been taken in by GOP dirty tricks and misrepresented the facts in such a way that helped undermine Ed Muskie’s presidential campaign in 1972. How much do you think that bothers him? And what, if anything, did he learn from that experience?

http://digbysblog.blogspot.com/2007/11/born-yesterday-by-digby-robert-novak.html
[Broder] Unwittingly, I did my part in the work of the Nixon operatives in helping destroy the credibility of the Muskie candidacy. . . [read on]

http://matthewyglesias.theatlantic.com/archives/2007/11/useful_idiots.php
[Matt Yglesias] It's typical of the common code within the press corps which isn't indifferent to the fact that it does its job in a way that wreaks horrible damage on the country, but actually wears indifference to the consequences of their actions as a badge of honor.

Bonus item: How to waterboard someone (simple step-by-step directions for those who want to follow along at home)

http://www.dailykos.com/storyonly/2007/11/18/11525/713
[Hunter] The first step is to firmly bind the prisoner to the table. . .

More: http://www.dailykos.com/storyonly/2007/11/18/11458/636

***If you enjoy PBD and support what we are doing, you can help by forwarding a copy of this issue to your friends (using the envelope link below) or by sending them a copy of its URL (http://pbd.blogspot.com).

I don't get anything personally out of this project, except the satisfaction of doing it (I don't run ads, etc). The credit really all goes to the people whose material I copy and redistribute. But if I do have a "mission," it is to get this information into the hands of as many people as I can.***
- posted by Nick Burbules @ 6:15 AM

 
A BAD JUDGE OF CHARACTER

He looked into his soul

http://www.nytimes.com/2007/11/18/washington/18prexy.html
Mr. Bush has repeatedly called Gen. Musharraf “a friend.” In 2003, the president invited the general to Camp David, a presidential perk reserved for the closest of allies. Last year, at the general’s insistence, Mr. Bush risked a trip to Pakistan, jangling the nerves of the Secret Service by spending the night in the country presumed to be home to Osama bin Laden.

But now that the general has defied the White House, suspending Pakistan’s Constitution and imposing emergency rule, old tensions are flaring anew. Mr. Bush is backing away from the leader he once called a man of “courage and vision,” and critics are asking whether the president misread his Pakistani counterpart.

They said Mr. Bush — an ardent believer in personal diplomacy, who once remarked that he had looked into the eyes of President Vladimir V. Putin of Russia and had gotten “a sense of his soul” — was taken in by the general, with his fluent English and his promises to hold elections and relinquish military power. They said Mr. Bush looked at General Musharraf and saw a democratic reformer when he should have seen a dictator instead.

“He didn’t ask the hard questions, and frankly, neither did the people working for him,” said Husain Haqqani, an expert on Pakistan at Boston University . . .

More: http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/11/17/AR2007111700839.html

All alone in Iraq

http://www.juancole.com/2007/11/us-increasingly-alone-in-iraq-dozens.html

Global warming: past the tipping point?

http://thenexthurrah.typepad.com/the_next_hurrah/2007/11/ten-years-and-c.html
The Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) has released its fourth report . . .

http://www.thecarpetbaggerreport.com/archives/13630.html
No one can say we haven’t been warned . . . [read on]

The Bush gang’s response: http://dotearth.blogs.nytimes.com/2007/11/17/dangerous-warming-still-undefinable-to-white-house/index.html
Throughout the Bush presidency, there has been an aversion to addressing one question about global warming: How much is too much?

Nothing has changed, it appears. . . Despite the report’s added emphasis on a list of “reasons for concern” about the continuing growth of long-lived emissions that trap heat, senior White House officials said Friday and Saturday that it remained impossible to define a “dangerous” threshold in the concentration of greenhouse gases or resulting warming. . . .

http://commentisfree.guardian.co.uk/tim_watkin/2007/11/learn_to_swim.html
Learn to swim . . . . [read on]

LMAO

http://www.reuters.com/article/topNews/idUSN1743685220071118
The lawyer for State Department Inspector General Howard Krongard asked on Saturday that he not be called to testify before Congress on discrepancies between his statements and those of his brother over the brother's ties to the Blackwater security firm.

"There is no legitimate purpose to be gained by publicly pitting two brothers against each other," Barbara Van Gelder wrote in a letter to Rep. Henry Waxman, chairman of the government oversight panel. . . .

Have people really thought this through? Kos is going to bash the Democrats from the left in Newsweek while Rove is going to bash them from the right?

http://www.newsweek.com/id/70653
[Markos Moulitsas] For a party that won historic gains in 2006, the Democrats have proven surprisingly reluctant to deliver on their chief campaign promise: forcing George Bush and his Republican Party to change course on their disastrous war in Iraq. . . .

How did the Democrats get themselves in a defensive position over IMMIGRATION?

http://digbysblog.blogspot.com/2007/11/savvy-dems-by-digby-as-i-wrote-in-post.html

Oh, christ, is this what we’re in for? An election of “Bitch” politics?

http://www.talkleft.com/story/2007/11/17/11283/846

Giuliani. In all seriousness, how the hell has he emerged as a serious Presidential candidate?

http://www.salon.com/opinion/greenwald/2007/11/17/giuliani/index.html
[Glenn Greenwald] After proclaiming that "America has a special, even a divinely inspired role in the world," Giuliani vowed:

It was this nation that saved the world from the two great tyrannies of the 20th century, Nazism and Communism. It's this country that's going to save civilization from Islamic terrorism.

So Islamic Terrorism is no longer merely "a threat to our freedoms." It isn't even just an existential threat to our country any more. It's been upgraded rather severely in Giuliani's mind: it's now a threat to civilization itself. And Rudy Giuliani is running for President because he is "going to save civilization" -- his words -- from the Terrorists. . . .

http://www.firedoglake.com/2007/11/17/pull-up-a-chair-73/
“If you don’t elect me, we could end up to the left of France.”

http://www.thecarpetbaggerreport.com/archives/13634.html
[NYT] On the campaign trail, Rudolph W. Giuliani has made the case that while he believes that abortions are wrong, he thinks the ultimate decision of whether to have them should be up to women, and not the government. But he has also pledged to appoint the kind of conservative judges who might be expected to rule against abortion.

It is a position that has confused some people on both sides of the abortion debate. . . .

The kind of people they are

http://www.firedoglake.com/2007/11/16/john-kerry-to-swift-boat-funder-t-boone-pickens-wheres-my-million-dollars/
Rich Texas bastard T. Boone Pickens boasted that he would give $1 million to anyone who can disprove “even a single charge” leveled by the Swift Boat Veterans for Truth, who he funded to the tune of $3 million. Kerry offered to meet with Pickens and do so, with the million dollars going to veterans’ charities.

But now Pickens is reneging . . .

Sunday talk show lineups

http://politicaltvalerts.blogspot.com/2007/11/tv-alerts-1116-1122.html
* Meet the Press (NBC): National Journal's Ron Brownstein; WaPo's E.J. Dionne; PBS's Gwen Ifill; NBC's Chuck Todd; National Review's Byron York; a look at 60 years of MTP

* Face the Nation (CBS): John Edwards (D-NC); Politico's Jeanne Cummings

* This Week (ABC): Fred Thompson (R-TN); roundtable of NYT's David Brooks, Donna Brazile, Jake Tapper and George Will; Kayce Freed Jennings on the new biography, "Peter Jennings: A Reporter's Life."

* Fox News Sunday: Mike Huckabee (R-AR); atty Billy Martin (represents Sen. Larry Craig (R-ID), Michael Vick and other bold-faced names)

* Late Edition (CNN): Japan PM Yasuo Fukuda; John Edwards (D-NC); ex Pakistan PM Benazir Bhutto

Bonus item: Some jokes just write themselves

http://talkingpointsmemo.com/archives/059131.php
[Josh Marshall] Remember Manuel Miranda? He was the judicial nominations 'counsel' to then-Majority Leader Bill Frist (R-TN) who got busted and subsequently canned for hacking into senate Democrats' computers up on Capitol Hill. Seems we've sent him to Baghdad to be in charge of teaching Iraqi legislators democracy.

[NB: Republican-style democracy, that is]

***If you enjoy PBD and support what we are doing, you can help by forwarding a copy of this issue to your friends (using the envelope link below) or by sending them a copy of its URL (http://pbd.blogspot.com).

I don't get anything personally out of this project, except the satisfaction of doing it (I don't run ads, etc). The credit really all goes to the people whose material I copy and redistribute. But if I do have a "mission," it is to get this information into the hands of as many people as I can.***
- posted by Nick Burbules @ 7:05 AM

 
CAR CRASH AHEAD?

This blog is not into endorsements, but here is why I am becoming very nervous about Hillary Clinton as the Democratic nominee. What happens when Bill gets asked, “Have you had any affairs since leaving the Presidency?” There is a lot of speculation about this, I hear – and fairly or not it will kill Hillary’s chances if this becomes a constant issue during the campaign. Or if Bill has to have a “I did not have sexual relations with that woman” moment. You can easily see the press breathlessly seizing this and not letting it go. Even worse, what will people do if he HAS been dallying, and what will it say about Hillary?

More concerns:

http://www.needlenose.com/node/view/4441
“Hunting for the hammer to haul Hillary down . . .”

http://www.samefacts.com/archives/hrc_/2007/11/am_i_deranged.php
[Mark Kleiman] For just over fifteen years now — since sometime in the spring or summer of 1992 — large chunks of the American right, including not only Rush Limbaugh’s mouth-breathers but also the folks with clean fingernails and expensive neckties who read the editorial page of the Wall Street Journal, have been consumed by insane Clinton-hatred: for example, believing that the Clintons were responsible for the death of Vince Foster . . .

That makes it natural for liberals and Democrats to dismiss all criticism of anyone named Clinton as evidence of “Clinton Derangement Syndrome.” Natural, but not logical. The capacity to inspire in hatred in one’s opponents is no proof of wickedness, but it’s hardly a guarantee of virtue. That Bill and Hillary Clinton are not over-scrupulous about where they acquire money either for personal consumption or for campaigning and that they and their political operatives have a tendency to be economical with the truth are no less accurate observations because Paul Gigot has also made them. Consider the stopped clock and the blind chipmunk.

Whether the Clinton’s cynical attitude toward the press is the product or the cause of the bad press they often get is too hard for me to decide. No doubt both are partly true. Up until now, HRC has benefited from her handlers’ capacity to “work the refs” and their willingness to do so. Contrast the level of media attention focused on John Edwards's haircut to the failure of Mark Penn's complicity in union-busting and lobbying for Blackwater or to the Norman Hsu affair.

Now reporters and editors may be looking for chances to even the score . . .

http://atrios.blogspot.com/2007_11_11_archive.html#4680828981214236033
Bitch. . . .

http://talkingpointsmemo.com/archives/059048.php
[David Kurtz] The NYT has picked up on the McCain "How do we beat the bitch" incident that TPM Election Central first noted earlier in the week, but get a load of the double-triple-reverse psychology that Katharine Seelye's piece employs.

Her angle (albeit not a new one) is how the McCain people are trying to use CNN's report on the bitch comment as a fundraising tool. It's a hackneyed GOP ploy: attack the messenger and your opponent at the same time. But Seelye sees it as just another example of the sort of thing all the campaigns do . . .

But we also learn from Seelye that this whole incident could really hurt Clinton because, you know, it's a reminder of how much voters don't like her. . .

Sort of a polite way of saying Hillary really is a bitch. . .

The piece concludes with the sort of confounding logic that makes national political coverage oftentimes seem like palm reading in a circus tent. . .

So it's really all Hillary's fault that some crotchety old conservative grand dame in South Carolina called her a bitch. If Hillary wasn't so divisive (such a bitch) then conservatives wouldn't get so riled up about her (that bitch) and that would in turn make fair-minded people (like those of us who read the Times) happier because then they wouldn't have to hear angry GOPers fouling the air with words like bitch.

See? This really isn't about John McCain at all.

http://tpmelectioncentral.com/2007/11/_hillary_comes_out_against_giving_drivers_licenses_to_illegal_immegrants.php
[Greg Sargent] After weeks of taking a pounding from Dem rivals for not taking a clear enough position on whether she supported New York Governor Eliot Spitzer's plan to give driver's licenses to illegals, Hillary has now come out against the plan in the wake of news that Spitzer withdrew it this afternoon . . .

http://matthewyglesias.theatlantic.com/archives/2007/11/judis_kyllieberman.php
[Matt Yglesias] I read a very good precis of exactly what's so troubling about Clinton's support of the [Kyl-Lieberman] resolution, notwithstanding her backpedalling since she started taking heat for it. . . .

http://www.salon.com/politics/war_room/2007/11/15/will/index.html
George Will argues in today's Washington Post that conservatives have "two reasons" to "hope" that Hillary Clinton wins the Democratic presidential nomination. . . .

Why the telecom immunity fight matters so much

http://www.tpmmuckraker.com/archives/004726.php
[Spencer Ackerman] It's more than clear by now that the White House wants the immunity provision badly. AT&T whistleblower Mark Klein says that the reason isn't to spare the telecoms financial indemnity, or a matter of "fairness," as administration officials claim. Rather, it's to stop some 40 class-action suits against the companies from revealing how massive, how domestic and how illegal warrantless surveillance was between 2001 and 2007. Revelations from those suits could even, hypothetically at least, lead to criminal charges against administration officials and telecom companies. So needless to say, the White House is none too pleased with the Senate Judiciary Committee right now. And it won't be pleased with Reid if he brings the judiciary committee's bill to the floor.

The bill still has other problems: http://www.tpmmuckraker.com/archives/004733.php

What next? http://www.thecarpetbaggerreport.com/archives/13615.html

http://www.firedoglake.com/2007/11/16/the-next-stage-of-the-fisa-battle/

http://www.firedoglake.com/2007/11/16/answering-the-fisa-legislation-muddle/

A moot issue? http://thenexthurrah.typepad.com/the_next_hurrah/2007/11/immunity-may-be.html

Cookie’s in trouble

http://www.tpmmuckraker.com/archives/004734.php
[Waxman] Buzzy Krongard stated that Howard Krongard called him specifically to ask about any relationship he had with Blackwater “in preparation for his testimony” to the Committee. Buzzy Krongard stated: “He asked me whether I had any financial interest or any ties to Blackwater, and so I told him ‘I’m going on their Board.’” According to Buzzy Krongard, “He responded by saying, ‘Why would you do that?’ and ‘Are you sure that’s a good idea?’” Buzzy Krongard then said, “I told him that was my decision, not his, and that we just differed on that.”

Buzzy Krongard stated that during the Committee hearing, he was at home watching it live. He listened to Howard Krongard’s prepared opening statement. Then, he heard Howard Krongard offer spontaneously the comment that his brother had no connection to Blackwater. Buzzy Krongard said: “You could have blown me over.” During the hearing, he attempted to reach Howard Krongard by telephone. Before he could reach him, Buzzy Krongard received a call from Howard Krongard and explained again that he was a member of the Board. . . . [read on]

http://www.speaker.gov/blog/?p=949
[Waxman] On Wednesday, November 14, 2007, the full Committee held a hearing entitled, “Assessing the State Department Inspector General.” At this hearing, Inspector General Howard J. Krongard testified that his brother, Alvin “Buzzy” Krongard, told him that he was not on the board of Blackwater USA and had no connections to Blackwater. Yesterday, in response to a letter from the Committee, Buzzy Krongard called the Committee staff and said that contrary to Howard Krongard’s testimony, he did tell his brother about his relationship with Blackwater.

The information from Buzzy Krongard raises serious questions about the veracity of Howard Krongard’s testimony before the Committee. . . .

More: http://www.tpmmuckraker.com/archives/004729.php

http://talkingpointsmemo.com/archives/059111.php
Buzzy Krongard resigned today from Blackwater's advisory board.

http://www.tpmmuckraker.com/archives/004735.php
[Spencer Ackerman] It's late Friday afternoon, and yet, Howard "Cookie" Krongard still appears to be in office as the State Department inspector general. (His voice is still on his office voicemail, at least.) His spokeswoman says he has no intention of resigning, even as the likelihood of a congressional perjury investigation increases. . .

More trouble for Cookie

http://talkingpointsmemo.com/archives/059057.php
One of the more curious aspects of Cookie Krongard's exploits as State Department inspector general is him going off to Iraq all by himself to investigate the alleged use of forced labor in the building of the new U.S. embassy in Baghdad: no investigative team and as it turned out not much of an investigation.

In response to a House subpoena, Krongard turned over an investigative file of a whopping 20 pages, six of which were Krongard's own work product -- sketchy handwritten notes from his interviews with the contractor's handpicked witnesses. . . .

More: http://www.bradblog.com/?p=5312

http://www.tpmmuckraker.com/archives/004730.php

http://www.tpmmuckraker.com/archives/004728.php

Looks like Alberto might need that legal defense fund

http://www.kitsapsun.com/news/2007/nov/15/mckay-former-us-attorney-general-could-face/

There – is – no – Social – Security – “crisis”

http://atrios.blogspot.com/2007_11_11_archive.html#3988714151673267798

http://atrios.blogspot.com/2007_11_11_archive.html#2245676620675091616

The headlines we wish they’d write

http://www.thecarpetbaggerreport.com/archives/13618.html
Senate Republicans block funding for U.S. troops

What next? http://www.openleft.com/showDiary.do?diaryId=2410
"We'll either do it the easy way or the hard way. It's up to the Republicans" Reid said . . .

The Republicans’ duplicity over “earmarks”

http://www.americanprogressaction.org/progressreport/2007/11/pr20071116
Congressional conservatives announced earlier this month that they had mapped out a plan to engage in a "war over earmarks" with the majority in Congress by targeting "certain earmarks" deemed "egregious" and "wasteful" to attack spending priorities. This "war over earmarks" coincides with President Bush's strategy to veto nearly all appropriations bills passed by Congress. But as Center for American Progress Senior Fellow Scott Lilly notes, "No one with any recollection of the performance of Congress over the past decade can have any doubt that earmarking exploded during that period" and "that the practice became most egregious after George W. Bush moved into the Oval office." . . . An analysis by Citizens Against Government Waste estimates that earmarks in FY08 appropriations bills are "down about 33 percent from the $29 billion in earmarks in FY06 spending bills." . . .

Earlier this week, Bush used his sixth-ever veto to squash "a measure to fund education, job training and health programs" because, according to White House spokeswoman Dana Perino, the bill contained "extra spending." Bush said, "The majority was elected on a pledge of fiscal responsibility, but so far it's acting like a teenager with a new credit card." While Bush was trying to cast the majority in Congress as "acting like drunken sailors with federal tax dollars," he failed to take notice of who placed the largest earmarks in the bill he vetoed: Sens. Richard Shelby (R-AL) and Mitch McConnell (R-KY). . . .

While Bush is busy assailing Congress for earmarks, The Examiner noted an inconvenient fact for the White House. "Presidents, including Bush, play the earmark game, too. Bush stuffs his budget with billions for pet projects very much like the ones he attacks when they originate on Capitol Hill." Bush placed 580 earmarks worth $15.6 billion in a recent military and veterans appropriations request, along with "billions" in the energy and water spending bill. . . .

More Bush earmarks: http://thinkprogress.org/2007/11/15/bush-retaliates-earmarks/

No recess appointments for Bush

http://www.americablog.com/2007/11/breaking-reid-shut-downs-bush-recess.html

http://www.thecarpetbaggerreport.com/archives/13620.html

An inconvenient truth

http://www.dailykos.com/storyonly/2007/11/17/0838/6834
[Meteor Blades] The news has been floating around for some time now that the synthesis report from the United Nations Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change is not going to make for easy reading. The report has been five years in the making. The synthesis is dedicated to combining what we've already seen in the three previous IPCC reports released earlier this year: on the science of global warming, on adaptation, and on mitigation . . .

Here it is: http://www.latimes.com/news/science/la-sci-warming17nov17,0,4238138.story

http://www.nytimes.com/2007/11/17/science/earth/17climate.html

“Oh, come on . . .”

http://www.first-draft.com/2007/11/today-on-hold-9.html
MR. FRATTO: I talked a little bit about this at the gaggle this morning, but I'm going to -- as we saw now, the votes in the Senate this morning, Congress has now left for a two-week vacation without appropriating the necessary funding for our troops in Iraq and Afghanistan. Once again, they tried to pass a bill that provides incremental funding, tries to micromanage the war from the halls of Congress. . . . In terms of the bigger picture of what our dispute is, what we see is a core constituency of the Democratic Party that is driving them towards sending the President legislation to appease the views of groups like MoveOn.org and CodePink, the ones who want us --

Q Oh, come on, the American people also.

Watch: http://talkingpointsmemo.com/archives/059106.php

Wheeee. . . . 2008’s gonna be fun

http://matthewyglesias.theatlantic.com/archives/2007/11/people_hate_republicans.php

Dirty tricks – they just don’t know how to do it any other way

http://www.chicagotribune.com/news/nationworld/chi-pushpoll-nov17,1,953518.story
The GOP presidential campaigns of Mitt Romney and John McCain—rocked in different ways by a highly negative "push poll" targeting Romney's Mormon faith—demanded Friday that the New Hampshire attorney general investigate who is behind the tactic. . . .

More: http://www.thecarpetbaggerreport.com/archives/13623.html

Ted Stevens (R-AK), one of the crustiest bastards of the old guard in Congress, threatens to get even with everyone who has accused him of corruption

http://talkingpointsmemo.com/archives/059065.php

CNN, your most trusted name in news

http://talkingpointsmemo.com/archives/059060.php
[Josh Marshall] Probably like a lot of people I was stunned at the amazingly lame and I'd say fairly offensive diamonds or pearls question that closed out last night's debate. I'd assumed they'd just given the last question to a complete dingbat. Seems CNN got the girl to ask that one rather than a question about Yucca Mountain. . . .

http://marcambinder.theatlantic.com/archives/2007/11/diamond_v_pearl_student_blasts_1.php
Maria Luisa, the UNLV student who asked Hillary Clinton whether she preferred "diamonds or pearls" at last night's debate wrote on her MySpace page this morning that CNN forced her to ask the frilly question . . .

http://www.tpmelectioncentral.com/2007/11/cnn_denies_diamonds_and_pearl_girl_was_forced_to_ask_question.php
[A] CNN spokesperson confirmed to me that the network chose that question and asked her to ask it.

But in the network's defense the spokesperson also says that the girl wasn't "forced" to ask it. She submitted the question in advance -- it was her question -- and voluntarily agreed to ask it. CNN selected the question and asked her towards the close of the debate if she wanted to ask it. She said yes. . .

Bonus item: “Fair and balanced,” as always

http://talkingpointsmemo.com/archives/059100.php

***If you enjoy PBD and support what we are doing, you can help by forwarding a copy of this issue to your friends (using the envelope link below) or by sending them a copy of its URL (http://pbd.blogspot.com).

I don't get anything personally out of this project, except the satisfaction of doing it (I don't run ads, etc). The credit really all goes to the people whose material I copy and redistribute. But if I do have a "mission," it is to get this information into the hands of as many people as I can.***
- posted by Nick Burbules @ 7:49 AM

 
FULL OF IT

(The original title had two more letters.)

Full of it: Rudy Giuliani – The Savior of New York, and soon, All of Mankind

http://talkingpointsmemo.com/archives/058951.php
A number of you who watched our Rudy Giuliani 9/11 commercial spoof in yesterday's episode of TPMtv have written in to ask, "Did you re-use any of those Giuliani 9/11 moments for effect? Were there any repeats? Or was every single clip a unique Rudy milking 9/11 moment?" . . . [watch it!]

More: http://talkingpointsmemo.com/archives/058982.php

Full of it: Lindsey Graham

http://www.thecarpetbaggerreport.com/archives/13607.html
[Steve Benen] * On Sept. 2, Graham said we need not worry about Iraq failing the vast majority of the agreed upon benchmarks for progress, because a major step forward was near. “In a matter of weeks, we’re going to have a major breakthrough in Baghdad on items of political reconciliation — the benchmarks — because the Iraqi people are putting pressure on their politicians,” Graham said. That was nine weeks ago.

* On Sept. 16, Graham set a 90-day deadline for Iraq: “[I]f we don’t see progress on two of the three big issues — oil revenues, de-Baathification, provincial elections — in the next 90 days, it may not happen. And Iraq could be a failed state.” (David Broder hailed Graham’s “realistic” assessment.)

* On Sept. 26, Graham told Time magazine’s editors that unless there was political reconciliation in Iraq within 90 days, Americans should give up hope. “If they don’t deliver in 90 days, I will openly say the chances for political reconciliation are remote,” Graham said, adding, “If they can’t do it by the end of the year, how do you justify a continued presence?” The 90 days are almost up, and I doubt Graham will keep his word. . . .

Graham . . . yesterday. . . .

“If his government has not delivered meaningful political reconciliation by the end of the year, given the success of the surge and better security, I will consider [Maliki’s] government a failure,” Graham told The Hill. “And then we look for other horses to support. . . .”

Full of it: George Bush, who claims that the Democrats shouldn’t be calling for troop withdrawals, because he’s ALREADY withdrawing troops (“withdrawing” means, returning to pre-surge levels, which we always knew was a temporary and unsustainable increase)

http://talkingpointsmemo.com/archives/058926.php

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/blog/2007/11/15/BL2007111501197.html
Fox Business News anchor David Asman asked Bush on Tuesday: "The surge, is it working?"

Bush: "Yeah. And it's measurable. . .”

No, it isn’t working: http://www.thecarpetbaggerreport.com/archives/13603.html

Full of it: Mike McConnell, DNI

http://www.washingtonmonthly.com/archives/individual/2007_11/012515.php
[IPS] A National Intelligence Estimate (NIE) on Iran has been held up for more than a year in an effort to force the intelligence community to remove dissenting judgments on the Iranian nuclear programme, and thus make the document more supportive of U.S. Vice President Dick Cheney's militarily aggressive policy toward Iran . . .

[CNN] The director of national intelligence said Tuesday he does not plan to make public any of the key findings of a soon-to-be-completed assessment on Iran's nuclear program.

Mike McConnell said to do so could expose U.S. intelligence capabilities and enable Iran to change its practices. . .

Full of it: “Cookie” Krongard

http://www.tpmmuckraker.com/archives/004715.php
[Spencer Ackerman] Howard "Cookie" Krongard, the State Department inspector general, has some explaining to do. Yesterday he told Congress that his brother, A.B. "Buzzy" Krongard, never told him that Buzzy joined the advisory board of State Department contractor Blackwater. Only Buzzy told me that he told Cookie precisely that in a phone conversation about two or three weeks ago. It's going to be a fun Thanksgiving for the Krongards.

Cookie Krongard pledged at yesterday's House oversight committee hearing to recuse himself from any Blackwater investigations. But here's the question: if Buzzy is telling the truth -- and he has much less motive to lie than his brother does -- why didn't Cookie recuse himself as soon as he learned of Buzzy's ties to Blackwater? . . .

http://www.tpmmuckraker.com/archives/004723.php
[Spencer Ackerman] Here's what Rep. Henry Waxman (D-CA) meant yesterday when he said Howard "Cookie" Krongard's deputy was in the dark about the State Department's inspector general's familial ties to Blackwater. . . .

More: http://www.tpmmuckraker.com/archives/004720.php

http://talkingpointsmemo.com/archives/058965.php

http://www.tpmmuckraker.com/archives/004717.php
[Spencer Ackerman] Diane Quest, spokeswoman for State Department Inspector General Howard "Cookie" Krongard, says Krongard is "not commenting any further than what was said at the hearing." Asked if Krongard stands by his testimony in light of its direct contradiction by his brother, Quest repeated the no-comment.

Will Krongard stay on the job? Quest says she's heard of "no announcements" by the State Department on Krongard's future. . . .

No confidence: http://www.tpmmuckraker.com/archives/004725.php

Full of it: Rachel Paulose, the completely unqualified US Attorney from Minnesota

http://talkingpointsmemo.com/archives/059006.php
[Josh Marshall] You may remember the story Rachel Paulose, the inexperienced right-wing comer and friend of Monica Goodling who got installed in what was first intended to be a Patriot Act appointment to be US Attorney in Minnesota. Her managerial incompetence quickly spawned an office rebellion in which all four members of the office managerial team resigned their positions to go back to being line attorneys in the office, then there's the investigation into her mishandling of classified material and mistreatment of employees. And then there's the unfortunate matter of her using racial slurs ("fat", "black", "lazy", "ass", etc.) to describe staff. . . .

Minnesota blogger Eric Black has been in the lead on the Paulose story since the spring. And now he brings news that Paulose's supporters are now pushing the story that she's being run out of office by a secret pro-prostitution cabal at the Justice Department. . .

More: http://minnesotamonitor.com/showDiary.do?diaryId=2754

Full of it: Alphonso Jackson, Sect’y of HUD

http://www.tpmmuckraker.com/archives/004724.php
[Paul Kiel] After Jackson boasted to an audience that he didn't give contracts to critics of the President, the department's inspector general and Congress pounced. Jackson, eager to clear his name, proclaimed, "I don't touch contracts."

Unfortunately, that appears not to be true . . .

More: http://www.washingtonmonthly.com/archives/individual/2007_11/012519.php

Full of it: Juan Williams, when Kos is hired by Newsweek

http://www.thecarpetbaggerreport.com/archives/13605.html
“[T]he fact is that he’s not a journalist in terms of someone who knows how to do reporting, someone who reflects balance in what he portrays . . .” [read on]

Juan Williams, when Karl Rove is hired by Newsweek

http://www.thecarpetbaggerreport.com/archives/13610.html
. . . . . . . [crickets] . . . . . . .

[NB: Furthermore, this from a man who thinks Fox News is a credible journalistic outfit, and gives it credibility by appearing regularly]

Full of it: David Broder, Dean of the DC punditry

http://www.talkingpointsmemo.com/horsesmouth/2007/11/david_broder_wr.php
[Last Friday] New York: Will you and the media ever apply as much scrutiny to the Giuliani marriages as you have done to the single Clinton marriage?

David S. Broder: I plan to leave both subjects alone. . . .

[Broder, yesterday] No one who has read or studied the large literature of memoirs and biographies of the Clintons and their circle can doubt the intimacy and the mutual dependence of their political and personal partnership.

No one can reasonably expect that partnership to end should Hillary Clinton be elected president. But the country must decide whether it is comfortable with such a sharing of the power and authority of the highest office in the land. . . .

http://matthewyglesias.theatlantic.com/archives/2007/11/the_american_people.php
[Matt Yglesias] David Broder is a prominent newspaper columnist. He also obviously doesn't care for Bill Clinton. And that's what's going to happen now and again -- prominent columnist dislikes prominent politician. But for some reason instead of Broder saying that he, Broder, has some kind of problem with Clinton followed by an explanation of the nature of his beef -- an argument about Bill Clinton -- warns us darkly that "The former president's intervention" on the campaign trail in South Carolina raises "the prospect of a dual presidency" which "will test the tolerance of the American people far more severely than the possibility of the first female president -- or, for that matter, the first black president."

Broder doesn't go on to try to present any research or data to back up that claim. And why should he? After all, in this context "the American people" doesn't refer to the people who live in America, rather it means David Broder or, possibly, Broder plus some of his friends who, acting in their capacity as The Great and the Good, eschew the first person (plural or singular!) and write instead in the voice of "the American people." But the real American people like Bill Clinton, liked him throughout the impeachment farce, liked him throughout the alleged "Clinton fatigue" era, like him today, would have elected him to a third term, etc., etc. etc.

http://digbysblog.blogspot.com/2007/11/power-sharing-by-digby-broder-no-one.html
[Digby] Now call me crazy, but wasn't there just recently a president who shared the power and authority of the highest office in the land? Give me a minute, I'm sure it will come to me . . .

More: http://mediamatters.org/items/200711150006

http://www.thecarpetbaggerreport.com/archives/13608.html

Full of it: Alice (as usual)

http://www.first-draft.com/2007/11/today-on-hold-8.html

[Watch] http://talkingpointsmemo.com/archives/058985.php

So far, so good: the latest FISA bill does NOT contain telecom immunity

http://www.firedoglake.com/2007/11/15/fisa-bill-reported-out-of-sjc/

http://tpmelectioncentral.com/2007/11/sources_latest_senate_fisa_bill_does_not_contain_telecom_immunity.php

http://www.salon.com/opinion/greenwald/2007/11/15/amnesty_fisa/index.html
[Glenn Greenwald] Matters are a bit clearer. . . As this AP article states, "the Senate Judiciary Committee punted on Thursday over whether to shield telecommunications companies." . . .

Now, the next step will be focused on Sen. Reid. He has virtually unlimited discretion to decide what version of the bill to introduce to the full Senate. He could introduce the Intelligence Committee version (with amnesty), the Judiciary Committee version (without amnesty), the House version, or he could just introduce something entirely new altogether, something that gets negotiated between Rockefeller, Leahy and Reid.

Even under the best-case scenario -- namely, Reid introduces a bill which does not contain amnesty -- anyone can (and certainly will) offer an amendment to include amnesty in the bill, and no matter what happens, it will be necessary to find 41 Senators willing to support Dodd's filibuster to keep amnesty out of the bill. . .

http://atrios.blogspot.com/2007_11_11_archive.html#719622138065608530
[Atrios] Just need for it to survive amendments, then get a decent bill out of conference, then Bush's inevitable veto, and then Democrats not caving in to Mr 24%.

Bad news

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/11/15/AR2007111502624.html
House Democrats were unable to override President Bush's veto of a key domestic spending bill yesterday, forcing the party back to the drawing board on some of its most important domestic initiatives, including early-childhood education and heating-bill payments for the elderly. . .

Roger Ailes, head of Fox News, may be in a bit of trouble

http://www.pensitoreview.com/2007/11/15/source-roger-ailes-asked-judith-regan-to-lie-to-protect-giuliani/
[Jon Ponder] [U]ntil last night on MSNBC’s “Countdown,” no one had gone public with the identity of the NewsCorp executive who tried to convince Regan to keep quiet. The name was revealed in an interview Keith Olbermann did with Wayne Barrett, the author of a biography of Giuliani titled “Grand Illusion.”

According to Barrett, it wasn’t just any NewsCorp exec. It was the head honcho at Fox News, Roger Ailes . . .

And here’s the clincher, since Ailes was asking Regan to lie about her relationship with Kerik to federal investigators vetting Kerik for the post of secretary of Homeland Defense, the request was quite probably illegal.

Awesome: the Dems have already blown off any debate hosted by Fox News; now, with the revelation that Fox is Rudy’s alternate campaign headquarters, the other Republicans are boycotting Fox’s debates too

http://talkingpointsmemo.com/archives/058985.php

Bonus item: Progressives vs Conservatives (thanks to Colleen V. for the link)

http://commonsense.ourfuture.org/why_you_are_progressive?tx=3

Extra special bonus item: Yes, he said it

http://www.americablog.com/2007/11/larry-craig-on-posteriors.html
"My concern is not with myself but with the posteriors of those in the audience" -- Sen. Larry Craig (R-ID), on being given an extra 2 min. to speak at today's EPW hearing . . .

***If you enjoy PBD and support what we are doing, you can help by forwarding a copy of this issue to your friends (using the envelope link below) or by sending them a copy of its URL (http://pbd.blogspot.com).

I don't get anything personally out of this project, except the satisfaction of doing it (I don't run ads, etc). The credit really all goes to the people whose material I copy and redistribute. But if I do have a "mission," it is to get this information into the hands of as many people as I can.***
- posted by Nick Burbules @ 6:35 AM

 
THE COOKIE CRUMBLES

http://www.thecarpetbaggerreport.com/archives/13594.html
[Steve Benen] Howard [“Cookie”] Krongard, the State Department’s Inspector General, has developed quite a reputation. Ostensibly, Krongard is responsible for being an internal watchdog, using his office as a check against fraud, abuse, and mismanagement.

As it turns out, Krongard has been an Inspector General in need of a general inspection. Instead of a watchdog that prevents and roots out wrongdoing, we have an IG who helps cover the scandals up. It led Rep. Henry Waxman (D-Calif.), chairman of the Committee on Oversight and Government Reform, to invite Krongard to the House today for a chat with his committee.

It really hasn’t gone well.

Right off the bat, Waxman dropped a bombshell: Krongard’s brother, former CIA Executive Director A.B. ‘Buzzy’ Krongard, sits on the board for Blackwater USA. Considering that Blackwater is a controversial State Department contractor, it starts to look like a conflict of interest.

This morning, in response to questions from Rep. Elijah Cummings (D-Md.), Krongard not only denied that his brother serves as a Blackwater board member, but also said he recently asked his brother about his involvement with the company. “I called him and I asked him directly, he has told me he does have any involvement,” Krongard said. He dismissed the very idea as an “ugly rumor.”

Shortly thereafter, Krongard conceded that the “ugly rumor” is true. . . . [read on]

http://www.tpmmuckraker.com/archives/004706.php
"I am not my brother's keeper," Cookie Krongard said.

The Cookie and Buzzy show

http://www.tpmmuckraker.com/archives/004708.php
[Spencer Ackerman] According to Howard "Cookie" Krongard, his brother Buzzy didn't tell him in a phone conversation in early October that he had joined Blackwater's advisory board, though Buzzy "may have" mentioned he was approached by the company for the position . . .

http://www.dailykos.com/storyonly/2007/11/14/142847/78
[Kos] Now, why would the state department inspector general run interference on efforts to investigate the Blackwater mercenaries for gun running? Why, oh why? . . .

More: http://thinkprogress.org/2007/11/14/krongard-blacwater-brother/

http://www.tpmmuckraker.com/archives/004702.php

http://www.tpmmuckraker.com/archives/004700.php
Henry Waxman: "reckless incompetence”

http://www.tpmmuckraker.com/archives/004707.php
GOP member Chris Shays: "Pretty Outrageous"

Perjury?

http://talkingpointsmemo.com/archives/058892.php
Spencer Ackerman just interviewed Krongard's brother, "Buzzy" Krongard, who told Spencer that he definitely did tell his brother all about it. Only a few weeks ago apparently. . .

Worse and worse

http://www.tpmmuckraker.com/archives/004709.php
[Spencer Ackerman] Leave aside the drama from today's House oversight committee hearing about State Department Inspector General Howard Krongard's brother joining the advisory board of a huge State Department contractor. Another issue that came up: Krongard is accused of improperly tipping off ex-Broadcasting Board of Governors chief Ken Tomlinson -- a close Karl Rove ally and muckly fellow -- in 1995 that Tomlinson was under investigation for double-billing the State Department for hours worked. The charge was included in Rep. Henry Waxman's bill of particulars (pdf) against Krongard issued in September.

Krongard initially told Rep. Chris Shays (R-CT) that he didn't have any contact with Tomlinson. But in follow-up questioning with Rep. John Yarmuth (D-KY), he said his temporary assistant accidentally faxed specific complaints about Tomlinson from a whistleblower over to the BBG's executive director. It was all a mistake, Krongard said, because he had just meant to send the BBG a letter from Congress alerting BBG to the investigation.

Only sending the letter from Congress is exactly what Waxman initially faulted. His bill of complaints against Krongard stated that sending the BBG the Congressional letter "was inconsistent with standard investigative procedures, and, according to multiple sources, jeopardized the investigation." What's more, Waxman didn't buy Krongard's distinction between sending the fax to the executive director and communicating with Tomlinson . . .

Pakistan govt in trouble

http://www.nytimes.com/2007/11/15/washington/15policy.html
Almost two weeks into Pakistan’s political crisis, Bush administration officials are losing faith that the Pakistani president, Gen. Pervez Musharraf, can survive in office and have begun discussing what might come next . . .

Iraq govt in trouble

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/11/14/AR2007111402524.html
Senior military commanders here now portray the intransigence of Iraq's Shiite-dominated government as the key threat facing the U.S. effort in Iraq, rather than al-Qaeda terrorists, Sunni insurgents or Iranian-backed militias. . .

Oh, very smart. Blackwater might soon be bringing its oh-so subtle and effective methods to the drug war

http://www.alternet.org/waroniraq/67727/

The operating procedures manual for Gitmo – now online

http://www.americablog.com/2007/11/secret-gitmo-document-leaked.html

Was the nanny story just a WH cover-up for pulling Bernie Kerik’s nomination as the head of Homeland Security – when the real reason was concern over his mob ties?

http://www.tpmmuckraker.com/archives/004704.php
[Paul Kiel] It took only a week for President Bush's nomination of Kerik to replace Tom Ridge as secretary of the Department of Homeland Security to fall apart. And it's abruptness -- and the reason given -- has always been cause for suspicion. . . [read on]

Rudy ducks questions about Judith Regan, Kerik

http://talkingpointsmemo.com/archives/058857.php

Falling in and out of love: http://nypdconfidential.com/

Chris Matthews, who would usually eat up a story like this with a spoon, seems suddenly flustered and dismissive. Why?

http://digbysblog.blogspot.com/2007/11/tweety-all-aflutter-by-digby-wow.html

It ain’t going away, folks

http://www.firedoglake.com/2007/11/14/but-soft-what-light-in-yonder-window-breaks/
[Christy Hardin Smith] Grandma, stock up on the popcorn and prepare for depositions galore. It’s the Clash of the Titan Egos. . . [read on]

More: http://www.talkleft.com/story/2007/11/15/0341/0703

http://thenexthurrah.typepad.com/the_next_hurrah/2007/11/should-executiv.html

How bad is it when a former Attorney General needs a Defense Fund?

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/11/14/AR2007111402318.html

Guess who WASN’T at Mukasey’s swearing-in ceremony as Attorney General?

http://thenexthurrah.typepad.com/the_next_hurrah/2007/11/further-evidenc.html

Will he be good? http://thenexthurrah.typepad.com/the_next_hurrah/2007/11/theyre-not-tell.html

Trying to strip telecom immunity from the FISA bill

http://www.tpmmuckraker.com/archives/004710.php

http://www.firedoglake.com/2007/11/14/contact/

House Dems pass a war funding bill with withdrawal dates; Senate Dems might force Republicans to ACTUALLY filibuster this time

http://talkingpointsmemo.com/archives/058902.php

http://www.dailykos.com/storyonly/2007/11/14/83834/368

http://www.thecarpetbaggerreport.com/archives/13588.html

http://www.washingtonmonthly.com/archives/individual/2007_11/012506.php

Alice in Wonderland

http://www.salon.com/politics/war_room/2007/11/14/radicals/index.html
So what does White House press secretary Dana Perino have to say about a Democratic plan that would call for the withdrawal of most U.S. troops from Iraq by the end of 2008?

"This is for political posturing and to appease radical groups." . . .

More: http://www.first-draft.com/2007/11/today-on-hold-7.html

Watch: http://talkingpointsmemo.com/archives/058881.php

House Dems dodge a showdown, put off a contempt vote against Bolten and Miers until at least next month

http://www.tpmmuckraker.com/archives/004701.php

http://www.dailykos.com/storyonly/2007/11/14/10920/121

Bush tries to reinvent himself as a fiscal conservative

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/blog/2007/11/14/BL2007111401238.html

Why do people hate Bush so?

http://www.salon.com/opinion/greenwald/2007/11/14/wall_st_journal/index.html

“The Fox News President”

http://www.thecarpetbaggerreport.com/archives/13596.html

National Review defends Joe McCarthy

http://delong.typepad.com/sdj/2007/11/its_joe_mccarth.html

More: http://matthewyglesias.theatlantic.com/archives/2007/11/national_review_and_joseph_mcc.php

McCain’s people, far from apologizing over the “Beat the bitch” incident, see in it an opportunity

http://tpmelectioncentral.com/2007/11/_mccain_supporters_bitch_line_sparks_war_between_mccain_campaign_and_cnn.php

http://talkingpointsmemo.com/archives/058862.php

http://www.salon.com/politics/war_room/2007/11/14/mccain2/index.html
[Tim Grieve] The campaign of Sen. John McCain is now using media reaction to what we'll call the "B-word incident" as a reason for people to . . . send money to John McCain. . .

They’re lying: http://tpmelectioncentral.com/2007/11/mccain_campaigns_bitch_email_fibs_about_what_actually_happened.php
[Greg Sargent] what happened was that first the supporter asked the "bitch" question. Then he laughed and said, "that's an excellent question." Then he went on to talk about the poll. Than, finally, as an afterthought, he added that he "respected" her. He did not "first respond" by professing his respect, as the email claims. . . .

http://www.thecarpetbaggerreport.com/archives/13597.html

What do these ladies think about it? http://www.americablog.com/2007/11/what-do-susan-collins-and-olympia-snowe.html

More from the oil-soaked scandal pit in Alaska

http://atrios.blogspot.com/2007_11_11_archive.html#4687260340112122217

http://www.tpmmuckraker.com/archives/004712.php

David Vittter’s (R-LA) prostitute problems may not be over yet

http://talkingpointsmemo.com/archives/058908.php

Follow-up from yesterday: how right-wing media watchdogs react when their own lies and distortions get exposed. They apologize and say they appreciate the correction, of course (not!)

http://www.talkingpointsmemo.com/horsesmouth/2007/11/adventures_in_w.php
[Greg Sargent] [H]is reply, quite literally, is that it was okay for the duo to lie audaciously about Carlson's original quote . . . It turns out that Bozell and Graham have a whole new book out that documents the entire years-long pro-Hillary liberal media conspiracy in all its dastardly glory. And as ConWebBlog notes, the two are basically using this phony quote as one of the centerpieces of the book's entire promotional effort. . . . [read on]

[NB: Well no wonder why they don’t want to have to take it back.]

Bonus item: The global warming denial lobby shifts from saying there isn’t any evidence that it’s real, to saying that it’s inevitable now, so why worry about it

http://www.balloon-juice.com/?p=9096

***If you enjoy PBD and support what we are doing, you can help by forwarding a copy of this issue to your friends (using the envelope link below) or by sending them a copy of its URL (http://pbd.blogspot.com).

I don't get anything personally out of this project, except the satisfaction of doing it (I don't run ads, etc). The credit really all goes to the people whose material I copy and redistribute. But if I do have a "mission," it is to get this information into the hands of as many people as I can.***
- posted by Nick Burbules @ 7:03 AM

 
HELL HATH NO FURY

Yesterday I said that sooner or later Rudy’s connection to Bernie Kerik was going to cause him serious damage. Looks like “sooner”

http://www.nytimes.com/2007/11/13/nyregion/13cnd-regan.html
Judith Regan, the former book publisher, says in a lawsuit filed today protesting her dismissal by the News Corporation, the media conglomerate, that a senior executive there encouraged her to lie to federal investigators about her past affair with Bernard B. Kerik after he had been nominated to become homeland security secretary in late 2004.

The lawsuit asserts that the News Corporation executive wanted to protect the presidential aspirations of Rudolph W. Giuliani, Mr. Kerik’s mentor, who had appointed him New York City police commissioner and had recommended him for the federal post.

http://atrios.blogspot.com/2007_11_11_archive.html#8006718609880916870
[Drudge] SOURCES: REGAN CLAIMS TO HAVE 'EXTENSIVE AND DAMNING' AUDIO TAPES...

More: http://talkingpointsmemo.com/archives/058748.php

http://www.talkleft.com/story/2007/11/13/213557/97

Read the Petition: http://www.thesmokinggun.com/archive/years/2007/1113072regan1.html

Let’s remember who Judith Regan was – man, do these people deserve each other

http://atrios.blogspot.com/2004_12_12_atrios_archive.html#110295630952036421

http://nymag.com/nymetro/news/media/columns/medialife/152/
[Michael Wolff] Judith Regan doesn't feel your pain -- or anyone else's, for that matter. She feels her own pain! And therein lies the secret to her blazing success. . . .

And Fox News Corp too!

http://www.samefacts.com/archives/corruption_in_washington_/2007/11/obstruction_of_justice_news_corp_regan_and_kerik.php
[Mark Kleiman] The pretense that News Corporation is a journalistic enterprise rather than a power brokerage gets harder to maintain by the day. . .

Dissing Condi Rice

http://www.nytimes.com/2007/11/14/world/asia/14pakistan.htm
The president of Pakistan, Gen. Pervez Musharraf, rejected an appeal by Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice to lift the state of emergency, insisting in an interview on Tuesday that it was the best way to fight rising militancy and to ensure free and fair elections. . .

“I totally disagree with her,” General Musharraf said in an interview with The New York Times . . .

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/11/12/AR2007111202043.html
While Musharraf has justified emergency rule by arguing that he needs a free hand to battle groups including the Taliban and al-Qaeda, local officials, residents and analysts say that so far, at least, the government's troops remain on the defensive against extremist forces, which have been gaining territory for more than a year. . . .

Benazir Bhutto calls on Musharraf to step down

http://www.nytimes.com/2007/11/14/world/asia/14pakistan.html
Early Tuesday, 900 police officers surrounded the house where Ms. Bhutto was staying in the eastern city of Lahore, preventing her from leading a march to Islamabad to protest what opposition groups say is martial law. After waiting for more than a week, on Tuesday she joined other opposition leaders and called for General Musharraf to resign.

“You come here on supposedly on a reconciliatory mode, and right before you land, you’re on a confrontationist mode,” he said in the interview, conducted in English. “I am afraid this is producing negative vibes, negative optics.”

As for her demand that he resign, he said “she has no right” to ask. . .

More: http://www.juancole.com/2007/11/like-bad-vibes-man-in-pakistan.html

FBI: Blackwater killings NOT in “self-defense”

http://www.nytimes.com/2007/11/14/world/middleeast/14blackwater.html
The F.B.I. investigation into the shootings in Baghdad is still under way, but the findings, which indicate that the company’s employees recklessly used lethal force, are already under review by the Justice Department.

Prosecutors have yet to decide whether to seek indictments, and some officials have expressed pessimism that adequate criminal laws exist to enable them to charge any Blackwater employee with criminal wrongdoing. Spokesmen for the Justice Department and the F.B.I. declined to discuss the matter.

The case could be one of the first thorny issues to be decided by Michael B. Mukasey, who was sworn in as attorney general last week. He may be faced with a decision to turn down a prosecution on legal grounds at a time when a furor has erupted in Congress about the administration’s failure to hold security contractors accountable for their misdeeds. . . .

More: http://www.samefacts.com/archives/the_occupation_of_iraq_/2007/11/blackwater_down.php

Looks as if we have video of some of those “aggressive” interrogations

http://www.dailykos.com/storyonly/2007/11/14/11235/303

Why is the Bush gang hiding their plans for Iraq from Congress?

http://www.tpmmuckraker.com/archives/004692.php

He’s b-a-a-a-a-c-k

http://www.latimes.com/news/nationworld/world/la-fg-chalabi13nov13,0,2576954.story

Are Reid and Pelosi serious this time?

http://www.dailykos.com/storyonly/2007/11/13/142858/04
[USAT] Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid said Tuesday that Democrats won't approve more money for the Iraq war this year unless President Bush agrees to begin bringing troops home. . . [read on]

Really? http://www.needlenose.com/node/view/4440

http://www.openleft.com/showDiary.do?diaryId=2358

The war’s hidden costs

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/11/13/AR2007111301948.html

Bush’s sudden concern about earmarks (when it’s the Democrats using them)

http://www.dailykos.com/storyonly/2007/11/13/112022/14

http://www.thecarpetbaggerreport.com/archives/13580.html

http://www.washingtonmonthly.com/archives/individual/2007_11/012501.php
[Kevin Drum] I don't think anyone seriously believes that Bush really cares about the earmarks in this bill. Basically, he seems to have decided that the only way to stay relevant is to veto stuff. Within the borders of the United States, it's pretty much the only influence he has left. Democrats don't care about him, Republicans wish he'd go away, and the American public is bored with his snooze-inducing speeches. What else can he do to attract attention?

OK, credit where it’s due (so far)

http://www.tpmmuckraker.com/archives/004696.php
[Paul Kiel] In February 2006, the Justice Department's Office of Professional Responsibility launched an internal investigation to see if the Department had properly reviewed the Bush Administration's warrantless wiretapping program. But President Bush made the unprecedented decision to deny investigators the necessary security clearances, and Attorney General Alberto Gonzales meekly assented.

But in a letter to Rep. Maurice Hinchey (D-NY) today, OPR chief Marshall Jarrett said that "we recently received the necessary security clearances and are now able to proceed with our investigation." You can see the letter here.

Attorney General Michael Mukasey, of course, was only sworn in Friday. It's not immediately clear if he's behind the reversal, but one assumes the two events must be related. Somehow the administration changed its position. . . .

More: http://thenexthurrah.typepad.com/the_next_hurrah/2007/11/4-days-on-the-j.html

More on the end of privacy

http://thenexthurrah.typepad.com/the_next_hurrah/2007/11/the-fisa-amendm.html
[Emptywheel] I've been puzzling over something since the temporary FISA amendment passed in August. The Administration has claimed they needed on easy fix: to allow NSA to wiretap electronic communication that starts and finishes on foreign soil, whether or not that communication passes through the US between sender and recipient. Yet both times when Congress sets about providing that easy fix to FISA, the Administration demands much more. I believe those demands reveal what this FISA amendment is really about, and I believe this bill will legalize the Total Information Awareness program (or something like it) that the Administration had to scrap because Americans hated the idea. In other words, the battle happening in Thursday's Senate Judiciary Committee mark-up of the bill is about massive data mining--it's not primarily about discrete taps of individuals' phones. . . . [read on]

Voter ID: another form of vote suppression

http://talkingpointsmemo.com/archives/058739.php

With friends like these . . .

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/11/13/AR2007111302121.html
A report produced by the Republican staff of the House Oversight and Government Reform Committee concludes that while State Department Inspector General Howard J. Krongard has "an extraordinarily abusive management style," charges that Krongard thwarted investigations into Iraq and was motivated by political bias cannot be supported by the evidence . . .

Those damn emails

http://www.thecarpetbaggerreport.com/archives/13583.html

More: http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/blog/2007/11/13/BL2007111300956.html

Bush’s legacy

http://thinkprogress.org/2007/11/13/holsinger-recess-bush/&upsid=456471410563
President Bush sat down for an approximately 30-minute interview with Fox Business Channel. Toward the end of the interview, host David Asman asked Bush, “What do you think, looking back, your greatest hit was? Where you really hit one out of the park. And what do you think your greatest error was?”

Bush replied, “Success, there’s been a lot.” But he refused to reveal his greatest error, instead saying that he was disappointed Congress blocked his Social Security plan . . . [read on]

64% (!) say Bush has abused the powers of his office – and more than half think it’s impeachable

http://americanresearchgroup.com/

http://atrios.blogspot.com/2007_11_11_archive.html#936894079902098414
[Atrios] And while that majority doesn't actually want to impeach, I think it says a lot about the Merkin People that they actually have managed to figure this out despite the fact that there are no prominent mainstream voices even trying to make the case.

It's certainly the case that the general public don't always come to the right conclusions, but it's important to recognize that they usually come to them a bit faster than Washington insiders do.
. .

“An excellent question”

http://tpmelectioncentral.com/2007/11/full_video_mccain_says_supporters_bitch_query_about_hillary_is_an_excellent_question.php
"How do we beat the bitch?" McCain's supporter asked him. And as you can see, it appears that after McCain joked about offering a "translation" of his supporter's query, he said: "That's an excellent question." . . . [read on]

More: http://www.thecarpetbaggerreport.com/archives/13582.html

http://www.firedoglake.com/2007/11/13/the-honor-of-mccain/

Hillary plays tough with the press -- will they respect her for it?

http://www.thecarpetbaggerreport.com/archives/13579.html

Who watches the right-wing media watchdogs?

http://www.talkingpointsmemo.com/horsesmouth/2007/11/some_amusing_me.php
[Greg Sargent] Bozell and Graham have now co-authored an article for National Review calling on the media to stop lauding Hillary. One thing they hold up as proof of the media's liberal conspiracy to promote Hillary is this . . .

Bonus item: Reflections on “consent”

http://digbysblog.blogspot.com/2007/11/freedom-and-consent-by-digby-from.html

***If you enjoy PBD and support what we are doing, you can help by forwarding a copy of this issue to your friends (using the envelope link below) or by sending them a copy of its URL (http://pbd.blogspot.com).

I don't get anything personally out of this project, except the satisfaction of doing it (I don't run ads, etc). The credit really all goes to the people whose material I copy and redistribute. But if I do have a "mission," it is to get this information into the hands of as many people as I can.***
- posted by Nick Burbules @ 7:25 AM

 
NO SURPRISE

190,000 missing U.S. weapons in Iraq? Ho-hum

http://www.tpmmuckraker.com/archives/004684.php
[Spencer Ackerman] Your typical wartime logistics operation: from supplier to vendor to transport to customer... oh, and corrupt warehouser who'll sell your weaponry to the insurgency while U.S. military officers look the other way. . . . [read on]

How’s that reconciliation going?

http://www.washingtonmonthly.com/archives/individual/2007_11/012492.php

http://www.salon.com/politics/war_room/2007/11/12/iraq/index.html

http://www.needlenose.com/node/view/4437

More: http://www.juancole.com/2007/11/us-drawdown-begins.html

Duh

http://www.mcclatchydc.com/homepage/story/21341.html
Now it is Iran that is said to may be bent on acquiring nuclear arms, and President Bush who has declared that "unacceptable." Some U.S. officials and outside commentators are again pushing for a pre-emptive attack.

But the White House and its partisans may be inflating the dangers of a nuclear-armed Iran, say experts on the Persian Gulf and nuclear deterrence. . . .

Cheney is blocking an NIE that doesn’t help the case for war against Iran (thanks to Buzzflash for the link)

http://www.skeeterbitesreport.com/2007/11/new-us-spy-report-on-iran-held-up-by.html

More on the Bush gang’s assault on privacy rights

http://www.tpmmuckraker.com/archives/004686.php

Judge orders the WH to preserve e-mails (the ones they haven’t already destroyed)

http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20071112/ap_on_go_pr_wh/white_house_e_mail_7

http://thenexthurrah.typepad.com/the_next_hurrah/2007/11/what-is-it-with.html

Dick Armitage apologizes (again) for leaking Plame’s identity. “We’ve found The Leaker, and it wasn’t Rove or Libby!” trumpets the Right. But, of course, more than one person was leaking it . . .

http://www.editorandpublisher.com/eandp/news/article_display.jsp?vnu_content_id=1003671091
Former Deputy Secretary of State Richard Armitage said Sunday he was foolish to have revealed Valerie Plame's CIA identity. . . .

http://thelede.blogs.nytimes.com/2007/11/12/armitages-apology-not-accepted/index.html
I don’t see any mention by Mr. Armitage of the multiple notations of TOP SECRET being stamped on the memo, do you? . . .

More: http://www.firedoglake.com/2007/11/12/reason-no-384-why-i-love-our-commenters/

http://thenexthurrah.typepad.com/the_next_hurrah/2007/11/armitage-a-revi.html

Get ready for the ugliest national election in our lifetimes: you can see the pieces being laid in place for an unprecedented slew of third-party and anonymous attack ads, which the main candidates will decry (but benefit from)

http://digbysblog.blogspot.com/2007/11/having-your-cake-by-digby.html

Giuliani promises to cut the federal work force 30% (uh-huh, tell us another)

http://talkingpointsmemo.com/archives/058641.php

Dead man walking: why the Kerik story should finish Giuliani – but it will only happen slowly

http://talkingpointsmemo.com/archives/058595.php

http://talkingpointsmemo.com/archives/058597.php

http://talkingpointsmemo.com/archives/058615.php

Kerik, the WH connection: http://www.tpmmuckraker.com/archives/004689.php

Giuliani’s spinners spin defeat as good news

http://www.thecarpetbaggerreport.com/archives/13567.html
[TNR] “Giuliani could come out of the first 3-4 states without a single win and still have a relatively clear path to the nomination. . . .” [read on]

More: http://slate.com/blogs/blogs/trailhead/archive/2007/11/12/pleading-the-fifth.aspx

Tom Tancredo may be the worst of the Republican candidates for President (and that’s saying something)

http://tpmelectioncentral.com/2007/11/new_tancredo_ad_depicts_fictional_terrorist_attack.php
[Eric Kleefeld] Tom Tancredo's new ad . . . depicts the dire consequences of our open borders through a dramatization of a fictitious terrorist attack in the middle of a shopping mall. Furthermore, it even ends with the sound of an explosion!

One has to wonder if the plot is taken from the hypothetical terror scenario described by Brit Hume at the first Fox News debate earlier this year, which involved terrorist attacks taking place at malls.

Stupid, stupid, stupid: Rule #1, which the Dems just don’t get – articulate your differences, but don’t reinforce the Republican narratives against your party

http://www.thecarpetbaggerreport.com/archives/13564.html

NARAL – the politics of cynicism

http://digbysblog.blogspot.com/2007/11/wtf-by-digby-naral-has-endorsed-al-wynn.html

http://www.firedoglake.com/2007/11/12/naral-endorses-al-wynn-over-donna-edwards/

The sorry state of our news media

http://www.thecarpetbaggerreport.com/archives/13560.html
[Steve Benen] [W]hat is the point of a show like Meet the Press? Ostensibly, it’s to provide useful information to the public, so they can in turn make informed decisions.

But that’s an idealistic fantasy. Americans don’t actually learn anything from these interviews. . . [read on]

http://www.firedoglake.com/2007/11/12/late-nite-fdl-an-open-plea-to-big-media/
“Hillary Clinton,” opines one kid, “is a thief.”

“She stole stuff from the White House,” adds another, “Like towels and plates and other stuff.”

“Hillary Clinton’s not a woman,” says one particularly adorable little girl, adding emphatically, “She’s a man.” . . [read on]

http://www.firedoglake.com/2007/11/11/sunday-late-nite-slurping-her-own-bathwater/
[TeddySanFran] Madame Deborah Howell, Ombudsman to The Washington Post, is undertaking A Study of the paper’s presidential campaign coverage. Her study appears to have been prompted by the recent revelations in a Project for Excellence in Journalism content-analysis study released October 29th that shows the media “have offered Americans relatively little information about [the candidates’] records or what they would do if elected.” . . . [read on]

David Broder, goddamn hypocrite

http://www.thecarpetbaggerreport.com/archives/13569.html
New York: Will you and the media ever apply as much scrutiny to the Giuliani marriages as you have done to the single Clinton marriage?

David S. Broder: I plan to leave both subjects alone. . . . [read on]

A new poll that might not surprise you

http://politicalwire.com/archives/2007/11/12/liberals_and_conservatives_like_different_entertainment.html
Liberals were much more likely than conservatives to listen to commentary and entertainment with which they disagreed philosophically. . . [read on]

Bonus item: haw, haw. Phony anti-global warming study dupes Rush and his true believers

http://www.salon.com/politics/war_room/2007/11/12/hoax/index.html

***If you enjoy PBD and support what we are doing, you can help by forwarding a copy of this issue to your friends (using the envelope link below) or by sending them a copy of its URL (http://pbd.blogspot.com).

I don't get anything personally out of this project, except the satisfaction of doing it (I don't run ads, etc). The credit really all goes to the people whose material I copy and redistribute. But if I do have a "mission," it is to get this information into the hands of as many people as I can.***
- posted by Nick Burbules @ 6:48 AM

 
VETERANS DAY

http://www.dailykos.com/storyonly/2007/11/11/151936/14

Bye-bye privacy

http://www.americablog.com/2007/11/intel-official-say-goodbye-to-privacy.html
[AP] Privacy no longer can mean anonymity, says Donald Kerr, the principal deputy director of national intelligence. Instead, it should mean that government and businesses properly safeguards people's private communications and financial information. . . .

More: http://digbysblog.blogspot.com/2007/11/telling-it-straight-by-digby-intel.html

[NB: “We’re from the government and we’re here to help you” http://cannablog.wordpress.com/2007/11/10/were-from-the-government-and-were-here-to-help-you/]

Christ

http://digbysblog.blogspot.com/2007/11/its-just-like-hell-week-by-digby.html
[David Rivkin, Military law expert] “[I]t is not a debate about whether torture is permissible, at least in my mind, it's what things amount to torture. And with all due respect to my friend Charlie, there are several forms of waterboarding. Waterboarding is a very capricious term, it connotes a bunch of things. There are clearly some forms of waterboarding [that are] torture and off the table. They may well be some waterboarding regimens that while tough and useful in extracting information are not torture. . .”

Here’s how bad it’s gotten – we have to depend on generals to temper the Bush gang’s war mongering on Iran

http://talkingpointsmemo.com/archives/058538.php

As you know, people can’t just claim anonymity any more in quotes to the press without a reason given. The reasons have stretched credulity, but this one takes the cake:

http://thenexthurrah.typepad.com/the_next_hurrah/2007/11/this-problem-wi.html
[On Pakistan] “It’s a very professional military,” said a senior American official who is trying to manage the crisis and insisted on anonymity because the White House has said this problem will not be discussed in public. . .” [read on]

“Loyal” Rudy’s problems

http://www.firedoglake.com/2007/11/11/more-problems-for-rudys-bffs/

http://cannonfire.blogspot.com/2007/11/coke-jet-mystery-links-to-russian-mob.html

http://www.talkleft.com/story/2007/11/11/22129/488

On loyalty: http://www.thecarpetbaggerreport.com/archives/13551.html

Charles Krauthammer, deemed a “serious thinker,” wouldn’t know intellectual honesty if it bit him in the rear

http://talkingpointsmemo.com/archives/058536.php

Romney’s Mormon problem: He can’t give a “JFK” speech, because fairly or not the MORE people know about Mormonism the bigger a problem it becomes for him

http://www.thecarpetbaggerreport.com/archives/13554.html

http://politicalwire.com/archives/2007/11/11/romney_advisors_against_special_speech_on_mormonism.html

Dianne Feinstein, Chuck Schumer – you can’t depend on them

http://www.salon.com/opinion/greenwald/2007/11/10/feinstein/index.html

http://www.americablog.com/2007/11/schumer-gets-pummeled-by-nyt-over.html

We have some boys in the punditry who are carrying some serious baggage in taking a female candidate for President seriously

http://digbysblog.blogspot.com/2007/11/gender-bender-by-digby-you-all-remember.html

More dishonest quote-cropping. What’s going on here?

http://mediamatters.org/items/200711110004

Bonus item: Big bad Rush beats up on an elementary school

http://allspinzone.com/wp/2007/11/10/rush-limbaugh-bullies-an-elementary-school/

***If you enjoy PBD and support what we are doing, you can help by forwarding a copy of this issue to your friends (using the envelope link below) or by sending them a copy of its URL (http://pbd.blogspot.com).

I don't get anything personally out of this project, except the satisfaction of doing it (I don't run ads, etc). The credit really all goes to the people whose material I copy and redistribute. But if I do have a "mission," it is to get this information into the hands of as many people as I can.***
- posted by Nick Burbules @ 7:39 AM

 
SYSTEM FAILURE

No one should be the least bit surprised to learn this

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/11/09/AR2007110902450.html
Rice is under fire from inside and outside the State Department for a range of crises that are largely managerial in nature -- the failure to monitor private security guards in Iraq, the delays in opening the huge U.S. Embassy under construction in Baghdad and the resistance of some Foreign Service officers to being forced to serve there. Over the summer, the department also fell woefully short in processing passport applications, resulting in ruined vacation plans for many Americans.

Within the department, Rice is viewed by many rank-and-file employees as an aloof manager . . .

More: http://www.thecarpetbaggerreport.com/archives/13552.html

So much for the Democracy and Freedom Agenda

http://www.dailykos.com/storyonly/2007/11/10/174036/16

Gee, is it possible that the Bush gang is falsifying intelligence again?

http://thenexthurrah.typepad.com/the_next_hurrah/2007/11/the-axis-of-fal.html

The sharks are eating each other

http://matthewyglesias.theatlantic.com/archives/2007/11/when_republicans_attack.php
[Matt Yglesias] Good times as John McCain and Mitt Romney attack Rudy Giuliani for his Bernard Kerik associations, only to prompt Randy Mastro to strike back for Team Rudy by calling Saint McCain's sainthood into question . . . [read on]

More: http://digbysblog.blogspot.com/2007/11/doing-what-comes-naturally-by-digby.html

http://www.dailykos.com/storyonly/2007/11/10/19119/311
This is fun. . . [read on]

What New Yorkers already know about Rudy Giuliani, the rest of the country needs to hear

http://www.nytimes.com/2007/11/10/opinion/10sat1.html
Yesterday’s indictment and Mr. Kerik’s whole troubled record raise questions about Mr. Giuliani’s judgment. The men have an extraordinarily close bond. Mr. Giuliani plucked Mr. Kerik from obscurity to make him correction commissioner. He made him police commissioner even though he may have been briefed about Mr. Kerik’s ties to the company suspected of links to organized crime. Mr. Giuliani also made him a partner in his security business and promoted him for the Homeland Security Department post.

As recently as this week, Mr. Giuliani made the remarkable statement that any mistakes Mr. Kerik made were outweighed by his success in fighting crime — presumably not including the crimes Mr. Kerik himself was committing. Mr. Giuliani has since spoken more critically of him, but the public is entitled to know more.

Two important questions are precisely what are the mistakes the former mayor thinks he made in trusting Mr. Kerik, and how can voters be sure that he would not make them again as president, when the stakes for a disastrous appointment would be so much higher.

More: http://www.talkleft.com/story/2007/11/10/15025/389

http://www.talkleft.com/story/2007/11/10/22437/833

WTF, Dianne?

http://www.salon.com/opinion/greenwald/2007/11/10/feinstein/index.html
[Glenn Greenwald] Two months ago, Dianne Feinstein used her position on the Senate Intelligence Committee to enable passage of Bush's FISA amendments, granting the President vast new warrantless surveillance powers.

Last month, Feinstein used her position on the Senate Judiciary Committee to ensure confirmation of Bush's highly controversial judicial nominee Leslie Southwick, by being the only Committee Democrat to vote for the nomination (The Politico: "Sen. Dianne Feinstein had emerged as a linchpin in the controversial nomination").

This week, Feinstein used her position on the Senate Judiciary Committee to enable confirmation of Bush's Attorney General nominee by ensuring that the frightened Chuck Schumer didn't have to stand alone (Fox News: "Schumer's and Feinstein's support for Mukasey virtually guarantees that a majority of the committee will recommend his confirmation").

And now, Feinstein is using her position on the Senate Judiciary Committee and Senate Intelligence Committee -- simultaneously -- to single-handedly ensure fulfillment of Bush's telecom amnesty demands . . . .

More: http://www.talkleft.com/story/2007/11/10/32215/604

Fred Thompson continues his headlong dash into obscurity

http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20071110/ap_on_el_pr/thompson_social_security;_ylt=AnwsKw9w_7tyWbvu2ufju5as0NUE
Republican presidential hopeful Fred Thompson on Friday proposed reducing benefits promised to future retirees and establishing a system of voluntary personal retirement accounts under Social Security to help shore up the program's finances. . . .

Barack Obama, enabler: http://atrios.blogspot.com/2007_11_04_archive.html#2665554790034480159

When’s the last time someone ran for VP as a candidate in BOTH parties?

http://www.thecarpetbaggerreport.com/archives/13549.html
[Steve Benen] Just eight years after Joe Lieberman was on the Democratic Party’s presidential ticket, a growing number of conservatives have a better idea: put in him on the Republican Party’s presidential ticket. . . .

Bonus item: How you deal with Rush Limbaugh

http://www.thecarpetbaggerreport.com/archives/13545.html

***If you enjoy PBD and support what we are doing, you can help by forwarding a copy of this issue to your friends (using the envelope link below) or by sending them a copy of its URL (http://pbd.blogspot.com).

I don't get anything personally out of this project, except the satisfaction of doing it (I don't run ads, etc). The credit really all goes to the people whose material I copy and redistribute. But if I do have a "mission," it is to get this information into the hands of as many people as I can.***
- posted by Nick Burbules @ 11:58 PM

 
THE BAD GUYS

[NB: I’m traveling, so my posting schedule will be off until Sunday – but I will still try to post at least once a day.]

Bush’s aggrandized sense of self continues to grow: he’s still saving us from World War III

http://www.thecarpetbaggerreport.com/archives/13533.html

Our manchild President

http://digbysblog.blogspot.com/2007/11/peter-w.html
[AFP] US President George W. Bush had a shoot-out with the "bad guys" in Iraq on Thursday, playing a computer game with war veterans that simulates a firefight in Baghdad, the White House said.

Bush tried his hand at the game with two soldiers during a visit to a rehabilitation center in Texas that treats veterans wounded in Iraq.

White House spokeswoman Dana Perino said Bush helped "shoot the bad guys" in a Baghdad neighborhood, albeit virtually. . .

More: http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/blog/2007/11/09/BL2007110901363.html

In Iraq, we have brought the different factions together at last

http://www.dailykos.com/storyonly/2007/11/10/03919/161
The government of Iraq has notified private security firms their immunity from Iraqi law is about to end. . . .

Pakistan: worse and worse

http://www.juancole.com/2007/11/musharraf-places-benazir-under-house.html

http://www.nytimes.com/2007/11/10/world/asia/10policy.html
In pushing for the deal that took Benazir Bhutto back to Pakistan, the Bush administration hoped to build a broader base of support that might help Gen. Pervez Musharraf stay in power.

But General Musharraf’s sweeping crackdown over the last week has raised questions about that strategy . . .

Rudy’s pal Bernie – how big a crook?

http://www.tpmmuckraker.com/archives/004683.php

Can Rudy dodge his connections? http://www.talkingpointsmemo.com/horsesmouth/2007/11/cnns_jack_caffe_1.php
[Greg Sargent] The Kerik indictment isn't merely news because it calls into question Rudy's judgment or vetting skills on one appointment or even on his recommending him for DHS. Rather, its real importance lies in the fact that it undercuts the core rationale of his entire candidacy. It perfectly captures the fraudulent nature of Rudy's entire Presidential quest. . .

http://www.thecarpetbaggerreport.com/archives/13530.html

http://www.washingtonmonthly.com/archives/individual/2007_11/012474.php
[Kevin Drum] Ah, excellent. . . . I see that Rudy Giuliani is refusing to say whether he'd pardon his pal Bernie Kerik if he becomes president. . . .

More on the Robertson endorsement

http://www.firedoglake.com/2007/11/09/giuliani-gets-americas-stupidest-endorsement/
[Scarecrow] Robertson’s endorsement isn’t surprising — he’s an astonishingly stupid man, and so making an astonishingly stupid choice in picking Giuliani is just another in a long list of astonishingly stupid statements. What interested me was Giuliani’s enthusiastic public embrace of Robertson’s endorsement and the media’s reaction. . . [read on]

More: http://mediamatters.org/items/200711090017

Guess who has the whitest campaign team?

http://matthewyglesias.theatlantic.com/archives/2007/11/blinded_by_the_white.php

The Mukasey vote – did the Dems get played again?

http://tpmelectioncentral.com/2007/11/reid_allowed_vote_on_mukasey_in_exchange_for_military_funding_bill.php

http://www.salon.com/opinion/greenwald/2007/11/09/filibuster/index.html

Another Iraq withdrawal bill

http://tpmelectioncentral.com/2007/11/report_dem_leadership_to_back_strong_withdrawal_bill.php

Are the Dems blowing the immigration issue, which should work to their advantage?

http://www.openleft.com/showDiary.do?diaryId=2298

Two more Republicans quit

http://politicalwire.com/archives/2007/11/09/cubin_to_step_down_in_wyoming.html

http://politicalwire.com/archives/2007/11/09/saxton_to_retire_in_nj3.html

FEMA, the Potemkin village

http://talkingpointsmemo.com/archives/058487.php

http://talkingpointsmemo.com/archives/058501.php

CNN’s dishonest editing

http://www.talkingpointsmemo.com/horsesmouth/2007/11/presto_cnn_edit.php

Bonus item: Karl Rove, a man who clearly hasn’t learned when to shut up, thinks we still care what he thinks about anything (because, you know, the man’s a GENIUS)

http://thinkprogress.org/2007/11/09/rove-bloggers/
Yesterday, ThinkProgress attended a Yahoo-sponsored Citizen 2.0 event in Washington, DC, at which Karl Rove discussed the intersection of politics and the Internet. Rove lamented the loss of civility in politics on the web, but then proceeded to use his speech as a partisan bashing of the netroots. According to Rove, bloggers are “nutty,” “vitriolic,” and “kooks.” . . .

Reactions from the kooks: http://digbysblog.blogspot.com/2007/11/heeees-back-by-digby.html

http://www.thecarpetbaggerreport.com/archives/13540.html

http://www.talkleft.com/story/2007/11/9/946/65588

http://thenexthurrah.typepad.com/the_next_hurrah/2007/11/if-ever-you-nee.html

***If you enjoy PBD and support what we are doing, you can help by forwarding a copy of this issue to your friends (using the envelope link below) or by sending them a copy of its URL (http://pbd.blogspot.com).

I don't get anything personally out of this project, except the satisfaction of doing it (I don't run ads, etc). The credit really all goes to the people whose material I copy and redistribute. But if I do have a "mission," it is to get this information into the hands of as many people as I can.***
- posted by Nick Burbules @ 12:31 AM

 
ON THE ROAD

[NB: I’m traveling, so my posting schedule will be off until Sunday – but I will still try to post at least once a day.]

We’re STILL having a debate over torture

http://wilsonhellie.typepad.com/for_the_record/2007/11/celebrating-tor.html
[Jim John] An article in defense of torture as US policy by someone named Deroy Murdock appeared in the National Review Online this Monday. It features the astonishing remark that "[w]aterboarding is something of which every American should be proud." . . .

http://www.warandpiece.com/blogdirs/006762.html
[WSJ] The Bush administration blocked a Marine Corps lawyer from testifying before Congress today that severe techniques employed by U.S. interrogators derailed his prosecution of a suspected al Qaeda terrorist. . . .

http://www.tpmmuckraker.com/archives/004670.php
[Spencer Ackerman] Rep.Trent Franks (R-AZ) won't let it go. During today's House Judiciary Committee hearing on torture, he asked Colonel Steve Kleinman whether it would be irresponsible -- as Alan Dershowitz recently argued in an op-ed -- not to torture someone if all else fails in an interrogation. Kleinman replied that Dershowitz "clouds the issue" and his op-ed "reflects a lack of understanding of the intelligence process." But then he offered a brief explanation of that process that sheds light on why torture is counterproductive for a professional interrogator, leaving aside questions of morality and law. . . [read on]

More: http://www.thecarpetbaggerreport.com/archives/13525.html

http://www.dailykos.com/storyonly/2007/11/8/6542/17820

http://www.tpmmuckraker.com/archives/004666.php
[Paul Kiel] Senate Judiciary Chairman Patrick Leahy . . . again, he wrote White House counsel Fred Fielding to request documents relating to the administration's torture and interrogation policies (see below). He hasn't received a reply to the one he wrote two weeks ago, but he's since learned that the administration is hiding a third Justice Department memo outlining interrogation policies, and now he wants that, in addition to the other two he doesn't have. And Fielding, don't try that old trick of handing over already public documents as if they were actually something new. Fool me once....

Congratulations are in order: Leahy and the White House will soon celebrate the one year anniversary of Leahy's November 15, 2006, request for “any and all Department of Justice directives, memoranda, and/or guidance . . . regarding CIA detention and/or interrogation methods.” So a Happy Torture Policy Stonewalling Day to Pat and everyone in the Bush Administration!

It’s about time

http://www.tpmmuckraker.com/archives/004671.php
[Spencer Ackerman] On the heels of today's torture hearings in a House Judiciary subcommittee, Rep. Jerrold Nadler (D-NY), the subcommittee chairman, and Rep. William Delahunt (D-MA) have introduced a bill to force all American interrogators to conform to the Geneva Conventions-compliant standards of the Army Field Manual on Interrogation (pdf). That would mean no waterboarding, no "cold cells," no stress positions . . .

Telcom immunity: as argued here and elsewhere, there is NO REASON to do this unless there are further illegalities that haven’t been disclosed yet (and that’s the point)

http://www.tpmmuckraker.com/archives/004662.php
[Spencer Ackerman] "The president has not presented this truthfully," said Klein, a 62-year old retiree. "He said it was about a few people making calls to the Mideast. But I know this physical equipment. It copies everything. There's no selection of anything, at all -- the splitter copies entire data streams from the internet, phone conversations, e-mail, web-browsing. Everything."

What Klein unearthed -- you can read it here -- points to a nearly unbounded surveillance program. Its very location in San Francisco suggests that the program was "massively domestic" in its focus, he said. . . .

More: http://www.firedoglake.com/2007/11/07/color-of-law-fisa-review-part-i

http://www.firedoglake.com/2007/11/07/color-of-law-fisa-review-part-ii

Can it be blocked? http://www.talkleft.com/story/2007/11/8/10926/7814

http://www.samefacts.com/archives/_/2007/11/telecom_immunity_just_asking.php
[Jonathan Zasloff] Just a question for all those conservative Republicans who are attempting to give retroactive immunity for FISA violations by telecoms:

Why was it that amnesty would mean the end of the Republic when it was impoverished immigrant laborers but it is now perfectly acceptable when it is large telecom corporations? . . . [read on]

In Pakistan

http://talkingpointsmemo.com/archives/058367.php
Bhutto placed under house arrest. According to the AP, police have surrounded her home in Islamabad. . .

What next? http://www.firedoglake.com/2007/11/08/from-the-department-of-leveraged-buyouts/

Bush’s “strong dollar” policy

http://www.thecarpetbaggerreport.com/archives/13526.html

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/blog/2007/11/08/BL2007110801247.html

Just asking

http://talkingpointsmemo.com/archives/058265.php
[Josh Marshall] How much of the recent spike in oil prices is being driven by the uncertainty/risk factor introduced by the White House's Iran saber-rattling?

Cheney’s role in blocking environmental policies

http://thinkprogress.org/2007/11/08/cheney-regulatory/

The CDC cover-up: http://www.thecarpetbaggerreport.com/archives/13518.html

Another House war funding bill with deadlines attached, another veto – then what?

http://www.talkleft.com/story/2007/11/8/181541/364

http://www.salon.com/politics/war_room/2007/11/08/iraq_pelosi/index.html

Blackwater: the scandal continues

http://www.thecarpetbaggerreport.com/archives/13519.html

http://www.tpmmuckraker.com/archives/004663.php

It’s been quite clear for a long time that Pat Robertson is a political hack who happens to have a religious network behind him. Matters of spiritual conscience and principle mean nothing to him at all, whenever right wing priorities get in the way. Here’s another example

http://talkingpointsmemo.com/archives/058151.php
[Josh Marshall] Giuliani-backer Pat Robertson agreeing with Jerry Falwell that America "deserved" 9/11 for embracing secularism, gay rights and sundry other evils ... [video]

As I noted earlier, Robertson's reasoning is that God has withdrawn his protection from us because of America's collective embrace of a godless, secular, gay-loving culture. When you put that together with his claim today that Rudy, a paragon of the secular culture, is the one to protect us from the terrorist hordes, the upshot seems to be that Robertson has more confidence in Rudy's leadership and national security skills than he does in God's. And that's one hell of an endorsement.

http://tpmelectioncentral.com/2007/11/top_conservative_group_wants_to_know_does_rudy_agree_with_robertson_on_911.php
[Greg Sargent] Rudy's willingness to accept Pat Robertson's endorsement -- despite his agreement that America "deserved" to be attacked on 9/11 -- is discomfiting at least one major social conservative group that disagreed with Robertson over his interpretation of the disaster.

In an interview with Election Central, a top official at the Family Research Council, one of the most prominent religious-conservative groups in the country, suggested that Rudy's acceptance of Robertson's endorsement should make one wonder whether Rudy agrees with Robertson's interpretation of the event that killed nearly 3,000 of Rudy's constitutents and now forms the basis of his campaign.

"9/11 is what Rudy's campaign is fundamentally based on," Charmaine Yoest, a vice president at Family Research Council Action, told us. "This does beg the question -- does Rudy agree with Robertson's comments about 9/11?" . . .

More: http://talkingpointsmemo.com/archives/058243.php

http://www.dailykos.com/storyonly/2007/11/8/185916/512

http://www.thecarpetbaggerreport.com/archives/13520.html

http://www.thecarpetbaggerreport.com/archives/13524.html

http://www.salon.com/politics/war_room/2007/11/08/giuliani2/index.html

http://talkingpointsmemo.com/archives/058296.php
Rudy Fibs Off Robertson's 9/11 Remarks . . .

Rudy’s lies – the list grows

http://digbysblog.blogspot.com/2007/11/he-played-first-base-for-yankees-too-by.html

http://www.talkleft.com/story/2007/11/8/13737/2912

Now, Rudy’s BFF gets indicted

http://www.abcnews.go.com/Blotter/story?id=3840228&page=1

http://talkingpointsmemo.com/archives/058362.php
[Josh Marshall] So Bernie Kerik is finally getting indicted. And now the Giuliani campaign really gets interesting. . . . [read on]

http://www.mydd.com/story/2007/11/8/212816/884

How will the media play this? http://www.talkingpointsmemo.com/horsesmouth/2007/11/how_will_media.php

In the “Everything that Happens is Good for the Republicans” department

http://www.dailykos.com/storyonly/2007/11/7/191533/254

http://www.salon.com/opinion/greenwald/2007/11/08/iraq/index.html

http://mediamatters.org/items/200711080007

Bonus item: “The Pornification of Fox News”

http://www.prospect.org/csnc/blogs/tapped_archive?month=11&year=2007&base_name=so_thats_how_they_get_those_ra

***If you enjoy PBD and support what we are doing, you can help by forwarding a copy of this issue to your friends (using the envelope link below) or by sending them a copy of its URL (http://pbd.blogspot.com).

I don't get anything personally out of this project, except the satisfaction of doing it (I don't run ads, etc). The credit really all goes to the people whose material I copy and redistribute. But if I do have a "mission," it is to get this information into the hands of as many people as I can.***
- posted by Nick Burbules @ 12:17 AM

 
THE FREEDOM AGENDA

Whoa

http://blogs.abcnews.com/theblotter/2007/11/cia-rendition-t.html
[ABC] In one such six-foot-by-10-foot cell in February 2004, equipped with a low mattress and a bucket as a toilet, sat a man in shackles named Ibn al Sheikh al Libi, the former al Qaeda camp commander described by former CIA director George Tenet in his autobiography last year as "the highest ranking al-Qa'ida member in U.S. custody" just after 9/11.

In this secret facility known to prisoners as "The Hangar" and believed to be at Bagram Air Base north of Kabul, al Libi told fellow "ghost prisoners," one recalled to me for a PBS "Frontline" to be broadcast tonight, an incredible story of his treatment over the previous two years: of how questioned at first by Americans, by the FBI and then CIA, of how he was threatened with torture. And then how he was rendered to a jail cell in Egypt where the threats became a reality. . . .

The Bush administration has said that terrorists are trained to invent tales of torture.

Yet, on this occasion, the CIA believed al Libi's tales of torture -- an account that has proved to be one of the most serious indictments of the agency's practice of extraordinary rendition: sending suspected Islamic terrorists into the hands of foreign jailers without legal process.

In a CIA sub-station close to al Libi's jail cell, the CIA's "debriefers," who had been talking to al Libi for days after his return from Cairo, were typing out a series of operational cables to be sent Feb. 4 and Feb. 5 to the CIA Headquarters in Langley, Va. In the view of some insiders, these cables provide the "smoking gun" on the whole rendition program -- a convincing account of how the rendition program was, they say, illegally sending prisoners into the hands of torturers.

Under torture after his rendition to Egypt, al Libi had provided a confession of how Saddam Hussein had been training al Qaeda in chemical weapons. This evidence was used by Colin Powell at the United Nations a year earlier (February 2003) to justify the war in Iraq. ("I can trace the story of a senior terrorist operative telling how Iraq provided training in these [chemical and biological] weapons to al Qaeda," Powell said. "Fortunately, this operative is now detained, and he has told his story.")

But now, hearing how the information was obtained, the CIA was soon to retract all this intelligence. A Feb. 5 cable records that al Libi was told by a "foreign government service" (Egypt) that: "the next topic was al-Qa'ida's connections with Iraq...This was a subject about which he said he knew nothing and had difficulty even coming up with a story." . . .

Here was a cable then that informed Washington that one of the key pieces of evidence for the Iraq war -- the al Qaeda/Iraq link -- was not only false but extracted by effectively burying a prisoner alive. . . .

Last September, these red-hot CIA cables were declassified and published by the Senate Intelligence Committee, but in, a welter of other news, one of the most important documents in the history of rendition had passed almost without notice by the media. As far as I can tell, not a single newspaper reported details of the cable. . . .

A spokesman of the intelligence committee told me last month: "We were not able to establish definitively who was told about the cable or its contents or who read it." Other members of Congress may soon be taking up this story to find out just who at the White House was told about the cable.

UN: Blackwater and others are "mercenary" organizations

http://thinkprogress.org/2007/11/06/un-blackwater-contractors-are-mercenaries/

http://www.tpmmuckraker.com/archives/004650.php

More: http://www.discourse.net/archives/2007/11/blackwater_to_face_the_jury_in_torture_claim.html
In a key victory in the war against torture, today a federal court ruled that the lawsuit against a private military contractor in Iraq should be heard by a jury of Americans. The action was filed in 2004 against CACI and Titan, both of which were named in the military investigation of the Abu Ghraib scandal. The Center for Constitutional rights, Burke O’Neil LLC, and Akeel Valentine, PLC brought the suit as a class action on behalf of the hundreds of Iraqi torture victims. The same firms filed an action on October 11 against Blackwater USA for the killing of innocent bystanders at Noori Square in September. . .

The end of Bush’s “Freedom Agenda”

http://www.thecarpetbaggerreport.com/archives/13491.html
[Steve Benen] To say that the White House’s policy towards Pakistan has left the United States in an awkward position right now would be a dramatic understatement. With Gen. Pervez Musharraf having suspended the constitution and stifling any semblance of freedom, Bush, once again, is left with bad and worse options. . . .

http://www.firedoglake.com/2007/11/06/a-day-in-the-life/
[Dana Milbank] Yesterday, the Bush administration unveiled a pragmatic new foreign policy: The Stand by Your Man Agenda. . .

More: http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/blog/2007/11/06/BL2007110601043.html

Watch: http://talkingpointsmemo.com/archives/058057.php
Dana Perino stumbles through the minefield that is the U.S.-Pakistan relationship, in today's White House press briefing . . .

Alice: a style review

http://skepticalbrotha.wordpress.com/2007/10/08/a-word-on-dana-perino/
There is something too perfect about Dana Perino. It’s not just her immaculately styled hair and makeup (she has really mastered the smoky eye), or her beautiful clothes and plastic smile; it’s the combination of those elements and the unsettling, unflappable manner in which she pleasantly answers questions, in a way that reveals nothing, which gives me the creeps. . . .

Why hurry?

http://www.slate.com/id/2177635
[Daniel Politi] USA Today leads with a look at how the Homeland Security Department hasn't been able to keep up with all the requests to have names removed from the terrorist watch list that contains more than 750,000 names. Since February, more than 15,000 people have made the request and lawmakers are calling on the department to speed up the appeal process.

Bush sets a new record

http://www.dailykos.com/storyonly/2007/11/6/1459/78795
[USAT] Meanwhile, Bush reached an unwelcome record. By 64%-31%, Americans disapprove of the job he is doing. For the first time in the history of the Gallup Poll, 50% say they "strongly disapprove" of the president. Richard Nixon had reached the previous high, 48%, just before an impeachment inquiry was launched in 1974.

The veto wars

http://www.nytimes.com/2007/11/07/washington/07cnd-spend.html
A majority of House Republicans joined Democrats this evening in escalating a confrontation with President Bush over federal spending as the House overrode Mr. Bush’s veto of a popular water projects measure.

House Democrats also readied a $215 billion bill to pay for health, education, labor and veterans programs despite a veto threat. . .

http://www.nytimes.com/2007/11/07/washington/07spend.html
Congressional Democrats escalated a confrontation with President Bush over federal spending on Tuesday as the House overrode Mr. Bush’s veto of a popular water projects measure . . . After a long night of skirmishing on the House floor, 222 Democrats were joined by 47 Republicans in finally approving the $215 billion spending bill. . .

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/11/05/AR2007110501581.html
The Bush administration, setting the stage for another confrontation with Congress over a major spending measure, issued a veto threat yesterday against the Senate version of the $288 billion farm bill.

The announcement came as a disappointment to bipartisan Senate supporters, who had hoped the farm legislation avoided some of the pitfalls that prompted a similar veto threat this summer against a House-passed version. . . .

SCHIP: sooner or later, this is going to pass – it’s killing Republicans

http://www.dailykos.com/storyonly/2007/11/6/115245/998

Mukasey AG nomination moves forward

http://www.firedoglake.com/2007/11/06/mukasey-passed-out-of-sjc-11-to-8/
[11-8, with Schumer and Feinstein voting for him]

http://thenexthurrah.typepad.com/the_next_hurrah/2007/11/mukasey-gets-th.html

http://talkingpointsmemo.com/archives/058080.php
[Josh Marshall] If Mukasey is confirmed as AG, does he recuse himself from the decision over whether or not to indict Bernie Kerik?

Here’s the bigger issue, now

http://www.talkingpointsmemo.com/horsesmouth/2007/11/after_confirmin.php
[Greg Sargent] As you know Michael Mukasey is on his way to almost certain confirmation as Attorney General, despite his unwillingness to say whether he thinks waterboarding is torture. Congressional Dem leaders who support him -- such as Chuck Schumer and Dianne Feinstein -- have been careful to declare that in spite of this they really, really do oppose waterboarding and think it's torture.

Well, Dems are now going to have another chance to prove this. . .

Killing the Civil Rights Commission

http://www.tpmmuckraker.com/archives/004651.php

http://www.thecarpetbaggerreport.com/archives/13497.html

Unrelated?

http://www.salon.com/politics/war_room/2007/11/06/race/index.html
[Tim Grieve] From the Boston Globe: The Bush administration managed to get around the statutory requirement that no more than four members of the U.S. Commission on Civil Rights be members of any one political party when two sitting Republican members changed their party affiliations to "independent" just before the president appointed two more Republicans to the panel in 2004.

From the Associated Press: Julie Myers, the not-exactly-over-qualified chief of Immigration and Customs Enforcement for the Department of Homeland Security, has apologized for giving a "most original costume" award to an employee whose Halloween costume featured prison stripes, dreadlocks and dark makeup. A spokeswoman for ICE helpfully clarifies that the employee wasn't wearing blackface but rather makeup that was darker than his actual skin color.

GOP watch: Rudy’s lies – let’s just stack them up, shall we?

http://talkingpointsmemo.com/archives/058020.php

http://talkingpointsmemo.com/archives/058061.php

http://tpmelectioncentral.com/2007/11/did_rudy_really_tell_three_whoppers_in_one_sentence.php

http://www.talkingpointsmemo.com/horsesmouth/2007/11/media_largely_i.php

http://www.thecarpetbaggerreport.com/archives/13492.html

http://tpmelectioncentral.com/2007/11/former_aide_hits_giuliani_over_torture.php
[Former New York City director of emergency management and frequent Giuliani critic Jerry Hauer] "If Rudy is suggesting in any way that they used torture or aggressive interrogation in New York City then he is absolutely unfit to be president" . . .

A summary list: http://www.thecarpetbaggerreport.com/archives/13499.html

http://talkingpointsmemo.com/archives/058059.php

Ernie Fletcher, Republican governor of Kentucky, crook, and one of the real jerks in a party full of jerks, loses in humiliating fashion. Good news. But what I want to focus on is this: as noted here, his campaign started floating helpful hints about his opponent’s “homosexual agenda” – then, on the day before voting, a phony robocall from a supposedly homosexual lobby goes out asking people to support Steve Beshear, his Democratic opponent. But the Fletcher campaign claims NO involvement with that. No way, huh-uh.

Look, political shenanigans aren’t the property of any one party – but look at the pattern of Republican campaigns run on hateful lies, illegal voter suppression and dirty tricks like this. There’s simply no comparison

http://tpmelectioncentral.com/2007/11/kentuckians_receiving_fake_robocall_from_homosexual_lobby_for_steve_beshear.php
Someone in Kentucky has resorted to an almost certainly illegal campaign tactic in today's election for governor. A new robocall has gone out purporting to be from Fairness.org — the Web site of the Fairness Campaign, an actual gay rights organization in Kentucky — speaking with pride about the strong support of "the homosexual lobby" for Democratic gubernatorial nominee Steve Beshear. . . .

http://tpmelectioncentral.com/2007/11/fletcher_camp_denies_involvement_in_robocall.php
Governor Ernie Fletcher's (R-KY) campaign has denied any involvement with the fraudulent robocall going out against Democratic nominee Steve Beshear.

"Absolutely not," communications director Jason Keller told Election Central. . . . "We have no idea who might have done that call."

More: http://talkingpointsmemo.com/archives/058021.php

http://tpmelectioncentral.com/2007/11/source_fletcher_telemarketing_company_not_involved_with_bogus_robocall.php

You know, Joe Lieberman gets a lot of heat for his GOP-friendly voting record. But guess which Democrat has voted with him on most of the big issues?

http://www.talkleft.com/story/2007/11/7/1139/00172

Big wins in Kentucky and Virginia

http://www.dailykos.com/storyonly/2007/11/6/192057/074

http://www.americablog.com/2007/11/kentucky-has-new-democratic-governor.html

http://www.americablog.com/2007/11/democrats-take-back-senate-in-virginia.html

The GOP campaign theme in 2008: immigrant-bashing

http://www.talkleft.com/story/2007/11/6/13204/2240

The Dems keep playing tic-tac-toe while the Repubs play chess

http://www.samefacts.com/archives/the_permanent_campaign_/2007/11/the_wisdom_of_the_impeachment_strategy.php
[Jonathan Zasloff] More follies in the House today, where Dennis Kucinich offered a privileged motion to impeach Cheney. The Dem leadership tried to sit on the motion, but then the Republicans decided to back it, forcing the Dems to either anger the base or (supposedly) waste time in a futile effort at impeachment. . . .

More: http://www.wtopnews.com/index.php?nid=116&sid=1287326

“Why is Clarence Thomas So Angry?”

http://www.newyorker.com/arts/critics/books/2007/11/12/071112crbo_books_toobin?printable=true

Theocracy watch: sticky fingers edition

http://thinkprogress.org/2007/11/06/senate-committee-investigating-six-televangelists/
Sen. Chuck Grassley, the ranking Republican on the Senate Finance Committee, is investigating whether “six prominent televangelist ministries” are “improperly using their tax-exempt status as churches to shield lavish lifestyles.” According to CBS News, “letters were sent Monday to the ministries demanding that financial statements and records” by Dec. 6.

Education watch: sticky fingers edition

http://www.nytimes.com/2007/11/07/washington/07neil.htmlf
The inspector general of the Department of Education has said he will examine whether federal money was inappropriately used by three states to buy educational products from a company owned by Neil Bush, the president’s brother. . .

Bonus item: “The Falafel Squad”

http://www.firedoglake.com/2007/11/06/the-falafel-squad/

***If you enjoy PBD and support what we are doing, you can help by forwarding a copy of this issue to your friends (using the envelope link below) or by sending them a copy of its URL (http://pbd.blogspot.com).

I don't get anything personally out of this project, except the satisfaction of doing it (I don't run ads, etc). The credit really all goes to the people whose material I copy and redistribute. But if I do have a "mission," it is to get this information into the hands of as many people as I can.***
- posted by Nick Burbules @ 7:01 AM

 
FEEL SAFER?

http://www.tpmmuckraker.com/archives/004639.php
[Spencer Ackerman] Despite years of denials, a secret planning document issued by the U.S. military's nuclear-weapons command in 2003 ordered preparations for nuclear strikes on countries seeking to acquire weapons of mass destruction, including Iran, Saddam Hussein-era Iraq, Libya and Syria. . .

More: http://www.dailykos.com/storyonly/2007/11/5/13499/3194

http://www.motherjones.com/mojoblog/archives/2007/11/6058_bush_white_hous_1.html


Surge!

http://www.salon.com/politics/war_room/2007/11/06/iraq/index.html
[Tim Grieve] With the deaths of five more soldiers today, 2007 has become the deadliest year yet for U.S. troops in Iraq. . . .

Yesterday we noted that after Condi Rice said aid to Pakistan was in serious jeopardy because of Pervez Musharraf’s seizure of power – within hours other officials said no, that aid would continue for now. Sound familiar? Wanna guess who was undercutting Rice’s position?

http://matthewyglesias.theatlantic.com/archives/2007/11/why_am_i_not_surprised.php

The lesson these people never seem to learn – you buddy up to bastards because you think they’re YOUR bastards, only to find out that, no, they’re just bastards after all

http://www.salon.com/opinion/feature/2007/11/06/musharraf/
[Juan Cole] In the fall of 1999, as he campaigned for the presidency, George W. Bush was asked by a reporter to name the leader of Pakistan. Bush could not. He famously replied: "The new Pakistani general, he's just been elected -- not elected, this guy took over office. It appears this guy is going to bring stability to the country, and I think that's good news for the subcontinent." Although Bush didn't know Gen. Pervez Musharraf's name and was confused as to how he got into office, the soon-to-be American president was sanguine about the anti-democratic developments in Pakistan. . .

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/blog/2007/11/05/BL2007110500704.html
[Dan Froomkin] President Bush's coddling of Pakistani leader Pervez Musharraf suddenly risks being exposed as another case of White House anti-terror policies going spectacularly bad.

The ultimate anti-terror backfire, of course, is the war in Iraq, which U.S. intelligence shows has helped al Qaeda much more than it's hurt it.

But now, with Musharraf declaring emergency rule over the weekend, the country that Bush considers a bulwark against terror may gain infamy as a crucible for terror instead. . . .

http://www.slate.com/id/2177249
[Fred Kaplan] The state of emergency in Pakistan signals yet another low point in President George W. Bush's foreign policy—a stark demonstration of his paltry influence and his bankrupt principles. More than that, the crackdown locks us in a crisis—a potentially dangerous dynamic—from which there appears to be no escape route. . . .

http://www.tpmcafe.com/blog/coffeehouse/2007/nov/04/pakistan_nightmare_could_metastasize_through_region
[Steve Clemons] Don't blame Pakistan President Pervez Musharraf for all of the problems in Pakistan.

The fact is that governance in a region that is ambivalent about America, Europe and the West in general is becoming more complicated everywhere in the Middle East and South Asia. And it is America's failure in Iraq, its unwillingness to deliver on Palestine, and its bellicosity and hubris that are motivating the Muslim street against those perceived to be aligned with American interests. . .

Pakistan's problems are connected to all of the other problems in the region -- and Pervez Musharraf is not only a self-confident dictator, he is responding to the forces that are tearing his nation apart. And those tensions are bigger than his country -- and can be shaped by smarter moves on America's part in collaboration with allies.

But it is good to watch what is happening in Pakistan. Because unless there is a "strategic shift" in the region, as Senator Chuck Hagel recently called for, Musharraf's moves could metastasize in Jordan, Egypt, Morocco, and other states in the region. . .

http://www.cnn.com/2007/WORLD/asiapcf/11/05/btsc.labott.pakistan/index.html
Even before Saturday's crackdown, U.S. State Department officials said they had struggled with what to do if Musharraf went through with his threat. They didn't know then, and they don't know now.

"Frankly, it ain't easy," one official said. "We are looking at our options, and none of them are good." . . .

http://www.firedoglake.com/2007/11/05/late-nite-fdl-spreading-freedom-aint-it-grand/
[TRex] What’s fascinating to me about the current mess in Pakistan is the position it puts the Bush Administration in. . . .

http://www.salon.com/politics/war_room/2007/11/05/bush_pakistan/index.html
[Tim Grieve] At the White House press briefing this afternoon, Dana Perino said that the United States would "continue to urge" Pakistani President Pervez Musharraf to "declare that the elections that were scheduled for January are actually going to take place in January, on time."

Perino promised reporters that they'd be hearing more from the president in short order, and they did. Bush . . . seemed to back away from the goal that Perino had set for Musharraf just hours earlier.

The president said he'd asked Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice to call Musharraf to tell him "that we expect there to be elections as soon as possible." . . .

If the president's words sound like something less than a show of strength at a time of crisis, that's because they are. Musharraf ignored the Bush administration when Rice asked him late last month not to take the steps he's now taking, and the White House plainly feels compelled to continue providing aid to Pakistan anyway. . . .

Ask Alice: http://www.first-draft.com/2007/11/today-on-hold-2.html
Q The President said last week at Heritage that we are standing with those who yearn for liberty. Isn't -- aren't we in the position now in Pakistan where we are supporting a government that is cracking down on liberty?

MS. PERINO: The government of the United States is deeply disturbed by the proclamation of emergency in Pakistan . . .

http://www.dailykos.com/storyonly/2007/11/6/01427/3355
“Last week President Bush directed Secretary Rice to call President Musharraf...

The President has directed his Secretary of State, Condoleezza Rice, to have that direct contact...

I'll just repeat what I just said, which is he has directed Secretary Rice to deliver the message on his behalf...

Obviously the President got briefings over the weekend...

And she is the person that the President entrusts to carry his messages for him....”

Our other good friend, Nuri al-Maliki, tells us that political reconciliation has already happened in Iraq – and he declares it a success!

http://www.washingtonmonthly.com/archives/individual/2007_11/012439.php
[Kevin Drum] Apparently Maliki announced that there was no civil war in Iraq — or even any real sectarian conflict — and therefore no need for the Shiite majority to waste time making any further concessions to the Sunni minority. The process of political reconciliation is dead because, as far as Maliki is concerned, it's already happened . . .

Another boiling-the-frog moment. The Bush gang and their apologists clearly have a plan to gradually, subtly, change our views about waterboarding. Because (“done right”) it doesn’t cause any permanent damage or injury, it isn’t torture. Will we fall for it?

http://www.talkingpointsmemo.com/horsesmouth/2007/11/top_onduty_gene.php
[General Russel Honore] "I know enough about [waterboarding] that the intent is not to kill anybody. . . But if we have to use sources and methods that get information that not only save American lives, but save other people's lives or could prevent a major catastrophe from happening, I think the American people can decide [whether to allow waterboarding]."

http://www.thecarpetbaggerreport.com/archives/13449.html
[Rachel Marsden] “it doesn’t create lasting damage. You can wake up the next morning feeling just fine…”

More: http://www.thecarpetbaggerreport.com/archives/13483.html

http://www.discourse.net/archives/2007/11/us_government_contintues_to_fail_the_waterboarding_test.html
[Michael Froomkin] What’s next, retroactive immunity bills?

Olbermann on Bush’s torture regime

http://www.thoughttheater.com/2007/11/keith_olbermann_special_comment_110507.php

Rudy Giuliani – a truly terrifying sense of self-aggrandizement

http://talkingpointsmemo.com/archives/057942.php
"One of the key differences between me and all my opponents is I've had the safety and security of 8 million people on my shoulders. Being continually tested in crisis situations gives me the credibility and experience to control our borders." . . .

More: http://tpmelectioncentral.com/2007/11/rudys_new_hampshire_mailer_i_will_end_illegal_immigration.php

Rudy’s new campaign tack: I am even more pro-torture than the others! John McCain (who knows something about torture) slaps him down. This is the kind of fight I LOVE to see Republicans having!

http://talkingpointsmemo.com/archives/057921.php

http://tpmelectioncentral.com/2007/11/mccain_rudys_torture_views_show_hes_not_qualified_to_lead_military.php

http://tpmelectioncentral.com/2007/11/rudy_on_mccains_torture_john_and_i_had_different_experience.php

http://www.thecarpetbaggerreport.com/archives/13479.html

http://www.samefacts.com/archives/torture_/2007/11/precisely.php

http://talkingpointsmemo.com/archives/057981.php

http://digbysblog.blogspot.com/2007/11/st-john-mccain-by-digby-when-someone.html

Looks as if Rudy really is fitting himself for the Bush mantle – he says, breaking the law is a little thing compared with keeping us safe

http://talkingpointsmemo.com/news/2007/11/giuliani_praises_keriks_crime.php
[AP] Rudy Giuliani said Monday that if his achievements as president are as good as the crime-reduction results of his New York police commissioner, a man now under criminal investigation himself, "this country will be in great shape."

Giuliani, in an interview with The Associated Press, acknowledged mistakes by Bernie Kerik, who was police commissioner when Giuliani was mayor. But he said crime reduction for the city was more important. . . .

http://digbysblog.blogspot.com/2007/11/im-not-saying-we-wont-get-our-hair.html
[Digby] [I]t really appears to me that the Republicans may just nominate someone dumber than Bush and crazier than Cheney. And without the morals of either of them. How is that even possible? . . . [read on]

More parallels with the Bush gang

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2007/11/04/giuliani-poised-to-launch_n_71053.html
The themes the campaign are lining up for renewed emphasis are those reflecting Giuliani's confrontational stance towards black New Yorkers and their white liberal allies, as well as his record of siding decisively with the police against minorities who launched protests alleging police brutality during the years he was mayor from 1994-2001. . .

More: http://www.guardian.co.uk/commentisfree/story/0,,2205320,00.html

Fred Thompson hasn’t decided yet what to do about the drug criminal on his campaign staff

http://www.latimes.com/news/nationworld/politics/la-na-thompson5nov05,1,6454015.story

Republicans aren’t just retiring in droves – they also can’t get anybody good to run

http://www.mydd.com/story/2007/11/5/23348/0102

Dems (again) threaten a contempt vote – you know, it would be good if they actually went through with one of these

http://www.tpmmuckraker.com/archives/004640.php

http://www.thecarpetbaggerreport.com/archives/13488.html

What a concept! Dems promote a bill to make voter suppression illegal. Let’s hope they can get it passed now

http://www.tpmmuckraker.com/archives/004643.php
A new bill introduced by Democrats in the Senate today would make Republican attempts to challenge voters' eligibility based on the time-tested technique of using returned mail illegal.

The voter suppression technique, which has come to be known as "caging," has been practiced by Republicans for decades, but received additional attention for its role in the U.S. attorney firings scandal. . .

Duke Cunningham buddy guilty Brent Wilkes on all counts

http://www.tpmmuckraker.com/archives/004642.php
Wilkes was shocked!

Bonus item: What former President Gerald Ford really thought of Cheney and Bush

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/11/04/AR2007110401451.html

Extra bonus: Here it is – the bottom five worst wingnut blog posts ever!

http://www.washingtonmonthly.com/archives/individual/2007_11/012448.php
John Hinderaker: "It must be very strange to be President Bush. A man of extraordinary vision and brilliance approaching to genius...."

Glenn Reynolds: "Maybe we should rise above the temptation to point out that claims of a 'quagmire' were wrong....Nah."

Michelle Malkin: "The Defeatocrats Cheer"

Ann Althouse: "Let's take a closer look at those breasts."

Kim du Toit: "The Pussification of the Western Male"

***If you enjoy PBD and support what we are doing, you can help by forwarding a copy of this issue to your friends (using the envelope link below) or by sending them a copy of its URL (http://pbd.blogspot.com).

I don't get anything personally out of this project, except the satisfaction of doing it (I don't run ads, etc). The credit really all goes to the people whose material I copy and redistribute. But if I do have a "mission," it is to get this information into the hands of as many people as I can.***
- posted by Nick Burbules @ 7:47 AM

 
SHRILL MONDAY

Sorry. . .

http://andrewsullivan.theatlantic.com/the_daily_dish/2007/11/schumer-and-fei.html
[Andrew Sullivan] Schumer and Feinstein Surrender . . . They both intend to vote for Mukasey, despite his refusal to state that torture, as practised by this administration, is illegal. Every time the Democrats fold on these matters, Cheney tucks a precedent under his belt. Every time they cave into their cowardice and fear, another critical part of our liberty disappears. These precedents are designed to destroy the rule of law and replace it with the rule of a Decider. And they will last for ever, as will the right to torture, because this war is for ever. This is how democracies perish. The rule of law no longer has any party to defend it. The Republicans want no check on the powers of our de facto protectorate. And the Democrats have no spine. We live under the lawless protectorate we deserve. And such lawlessness is always the result when cowards refuse to confront bullies.

http://mediamatters.org/altercation/200711020006#7
[Charles Pierce] I don't understand why any Democrat wants to be president this time around. It's not just the wreckage that the Avignon Presidency is going to be leaving behind, although that is considerable. (Did you see Himself yesterday? All the cheesy smirking while the Heritage Foundation unemployables cheered his nudge-nudge, wink-winking on torture? It's like being ruled by Torquemada's mall cop.) Monica Goodling's testimony back a few months as regarding the hiring practice at DOJ leads me to wonder how many home-schooled, Christianist, Patrick Henry College yahoos have been salted away within the federal bureaucracy over the past seven years, and how effective a functioning underground resistance they might be. There was a little of this during the transition from Poppy Bush to Bill Clinton. Cleaning up the debris is going to be hard enough without a bunch of authoritarian toddlers running off at the mouth to the Washington Times, or to whatever Republican legislators may be left after the upcoming bloodbath. The first two years -- which, given the idiotic way we run elections, often are the only chance any president has to get anything done before it's time to run for president again -- are hard enough without being undermined in the government by Bible-banging Mole People. None of these people can conceive of public service as an end to itself. If they're not in it to promote the party -- or, alternatively, "Conservatism," as though that term has any meaning any more -- they're in it to "give witness" to their Personal Lord And Savior, who should be told by any Democratic politician worthy of the name to shut the hell up for a couple of years while we try to repair the damage His fans have done to our country. The first order of business for any Democratic president elected next year should be to appoint unreconstructed hardbars to head the personnel offices throughout the Executive branch whose only job will be to root these people out before they can hurt the country further. The Monica Goodlings should be sent back where they belong -- into a commercial for one of those execrable "Songs For Worship" CDs that seem to be dedicated to ruining gospel music as thoroughly as these people have ruined the Justice department

http://digbysblog.blogspot.com/2007/11/too-much-fun-by-digby-i-just-saw-jeanne.html
[Digby] I just saw Jeanne Moos do one of her cute little feature stories on ... waterboarding. Lots of adorable stories of people trying it and timing themselves and laughing about it afterwards. Funny, funny stuff. I only wish they'd put her in a stress position for 48 hours naked so we could see how hilarious that is too.

At the end she did warn people that they could actually kill themselves if they do this wrong, so when you kids are having your kicks trying to waterboard each other keep that in mind.

I think the debate is over, folks. Every time they normalize state sanctioned sadism, from tasering to waterboarding, we are one step closer to fully accepting a police state. That's how they do it. It never happens over night. It happens one taboo at a time.

We are a torture culture, immoral, vulgar and profane. We actually think it's fun. If college boys and reporters can laugh about it, how bad can it be? Thanks Dick and George. . . . [read on]

Was there ever any doubt?

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/11/04/AR2007110400463.html
[Nov 4] Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice said Sunday that the United States would review its $150 million-a-month assistance program to Pakistan in response to the declaration of emergency rule by the president, Gen. Pervez Musharraf. . . .

http://www.nytimes.com/2007/11/05/washington/05diplo.html
[Nov 5] The Bush administration signaled Sunday that it would probably continue to keep billions of dollars flowing to Pakistan’s military, despite the detention of human rights advocates and leaders of the political opposition by Gen. Pervez Musharraf, the country’s president. . .

“RETURN to democracy”?

http://www.usatoday.com/news/washington/2007-11-03-us-pakistan_N.htm
Rice: Return to democracy in Pakistan

http://www.samefacts.com/archives/terrorism_and_its_control_/2007/11/carefully_calibrated.php
[Mark Kleiman] Apparently Musharraf acted to head off what would have been a unanimous decision by the Pakistani Supreme Court that his re-election as President was illegal. . .

The fabricated threat of an Iranian nuclear bomb

http://www.mcclatchydc.com/227/story/21067.html
Despite President Bush's claims that Iran is pursuing nuclear weapons that could trigger "World War III," experts in and out of government say there's no conclusive evidence that Tehran has an active nuclear-weapons program.

Even his own administration appears divided about the immediacy of the threat. While Bush and Vice President Dick Cheney speak of an Iranian weapons program as a fact, Bush's point man on Iran, Undersecretary of State Nicholas Burns, has attempted to ratchet down the rhetoric.

"Iran is seeking a nuclear capability . . . that some people fear might lead to a nuclear-weapons capability," Burns said in an interview Oct. 25 on PBS.

"I don't think that anyone right today thinks they're working on a bomb," said another U.S. official . . .

The tragedy of George Bush the Elder

http://digbysblog.blogspot.com/2007/11/poppys-pain-by-digby-i-always-find-it.html

The return of the California electoral vote theft initiative

http://www.mydd.com/story/2007/11/4/192346/591

The way they play: the Republican Governor of Kentucky, twenty points behind in the polls, resorts to gay-baiting

http://talkingpointsmemo.com/archives/057850.php
"Now do you want a governor who'd like Kentucky to be another San Francisco?"

Yet another example of a phony attempt at news balance: the SCHIP bill IS a bipartisan compromise; its failure isn’t because the Democrats wouldn’t work with Republicans – they did. This is simply another case of Bush accepting nothing other than his way

http://www.nytimes.com/2007/11/05/washington/05health.html
Missteps on Both Sides Led to Health Bill Veto

Three bills the Dems think they can get past a Bush veto

http://politicalwire.com/archives/2007/11/04/democrats_plan_veto_overrides.html

NCLB reauthorization: not very likely

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/11/04/AR2007110401450.html

A particularly dishonest bit of questioning of Hillary Clinton by Tim Russert during the last debate

http://digbysblog.blogspot.com/2007/11/new-rules-by-digby-eriposte-at-left.html

Bonus item: A few more “worst ever” blog posts

http://matthewyglesias.theatlantic.com/archives/2007/11/worst_post_ever.php

***If you enjoy PBD and support what we are doing, you can help by forwarding a copy of this issue to your friends (using the envelope link below) or by sending them a copy of its URL (http://pbd.blogspot.com).

I don't get anything personally out of this project, except the satisfaction of doing it (I don't run ads, etc). The credit really all goes to the people whose material I copy and redistribute. But if I do have a "mission," it is to get this information into the hands of as many people as I can.***
- posted by Nick Burbules @ 5:43 AM

 
FALL BACK

The Bush/Cheney legacy

http://www.guardian.co.uk/usa/story/0,,2203337,00.html
US troops could be in the Middle East for another 50 years, according to the longest serving commander of the Qatar-based US Central Command. . . .

http://www.cnn.com/2007/WORLD/africa/11/03/alqaeda.libya.ap/index.html
Al Qaeda's No. 2 figure harshly criticized Libyan leader Moammar Gadhafi in a new audio tape Saturday, accusing him of being an enemy of Islam and threatening a wave of attacks against the North African country because it improved relations with the U.S. . . .

http://www.cnn.com/2007/WORLD/meast/11/02/btsc.labott.turkey/index.html
Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice's visit to Turkey has a dual purpose: convince the Turkish leadership to hold off on a military intervention into northern Iraq and bolster Turkey's confidence in the United States. Both are a tall order. . . .

http://www.cnn.com/2007/WORLD/meast/11/03/turkey.kurds/index.html
Iraqi Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki promised Saturday to smoke out Kurdish separatist rebels using Iraq as a base to launch attacks into neighboring Turkey. . . .

http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20071103/ap_on_re_mi_ea/rice_36
Iraq warned that no one can stop Kurdish rebels in Iraq's remote northern border region from attacking Turkey, as tensions over the assaults overshadowed a major international meeting on Iraq's future.

"It's not in our capacity" to capture the rebels, Iraqi government spokesman Ali al-Dabbagh said. "It's not even in the capacity of Turkey." . . .

http://www.cnn.com/2007/WORLD/asiapcf/11/03/pakistan.emergency/index.html
Faced with increasing violence and unrest, Pakistani President Pervez Musharraf declared a state of emergency Saturday . . .

http://www.cnn.com/2007/WORLD/asiapcf/11/04/pakistan/index.html
Pakistan police on Sunday began a roundup of 1,500 lawyers, judges and political activists on a list of people to be arrested one day after Pakistani President Pervez Musharraf declared a state of emergency . . .

Condi Rice: “ineffectual” is too kind a word

http://www.cnn.com/2007/WORLD/asiapcf/11/03/pakistan.emergency/index.html
U.S. Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice -- who is in Turkey for a conference with Iraq and neighboring nations -- said The United States doesn't support any extra-constitutional measures taken by Musharraf.

"The situation is just unfolding," Rice said. "But anything that takes Pakistan off the democratic path, off the path of civilian rule is a step backward, and it's highly regrettable." . . .

http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/Pakistan/Musharraf_defies_Bush_snubs_Rice/articleshow/2515380.cms
Pakistani military ruler Pervez Musharraf's has defied the advice of his American benefactors in imposing martial law and Emergency, but Washington appears set to finesse the situation yet again because of what it sees as the overall US interest in the so-called war on terror.

The first sign that Washington is ready to wink at Musharraf's crackdown came when Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice stopped short of condemning the development and instead described it as "highly regrettable."

She told CNN that the United States does not support extra-constitutional measures and urged restraint on all sides and a "swift return to democracy." . . .

http://www.nytimes.com/2007/11/04/world/asia/04assess.html
For more than five months the United States has been trying to orchestrate a political transition in Pakistan that would manage to somehow keep Gen. Pervez Musharraf in power without making a mockery of President Bush’s promotion of democracy in the Muslim world.

On Saturday, those carefully laid plans fell apart spectacularly. Now the White House is stuck in wait-and-see mode, with limited options and a lack of clarity about the way forward. . .

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/11/03/AR2007110301282.html
The United States now finds itself with few good options and dwindling power to influence events in the nuclear-armed state . . .

More: http://www.juancole.com/2007/11/state-of-emergency-in-pakistan.html

There are no critics of waterboarding in the Dept of Justice (well, not any more – thanks to Michael Froomkin for the links)

http://abcnews.go.com/WN/DOJ/story?id=3814076&page=1
A senior Justice Department official, charged with reworking the administration's legal position on torture in 2004 became so concerned about the controversial interrogation technique of waterboarding that he decided to experience it firsthand, sources told ABC News.

Daniel Levin, then acting assistant attorney general, went to a military base near Washington and underwent the procedure to inform his analysis of different interrogation techniques.

After the experience, Levin told White House officials that even though he knew he wouldn't die, he found the experience terrifying and thought that it clearly simulated drowning.

Levin, who refused to comment for this story, concluded waterboarding could be illegal torture unless performed in a highly limited way and with close supervision. And, sources told ABC News, he believed the Bush Administration had failed to offer clear guidelines for its use. . . .

Sources said he was forced out of the Justice Department when Gonzales became attorney general.

“Only three” http://blogs.abcnews.com/theblotter/2007/11/exclusive-only-.html
For all the debate over waterboarding, it has been used on only three al Qaeda figures, according to current and former U.S. intelligence officials.

As ABC News first reported in September, waterboarding has not been used since 2003 and has been specifically prohibited since Gen. Michael Hayden took over as CIA director. . . . [read on]

They also serve (thanks to Buzzflash for the link)

http://canadianpress.google.com/article/ALeqM5jHH4Q33UrJMY6RKchgBygnBFSegw
Hundreds of troops have come home from war, left the military and committed suicide. . . .

Life in the bubble

http://www.salon.com/politics/war_room/2007/11/03/cheney/index.html
[Tim Grieve] In an interview with right-wing radio talk show host Mike Gallagher Friday, Vice President Dick Cheney acknowledged that, "When you're at the center of the bubble, a lot of times you aren't aware of what's going on outside the bubble."

Maybe that explains this: Asked how he manages to stay the course in the face of so many "pot shots" from critics, Cheney said that "the bottom line is to remember who is vital to this process, and that's the vast majority of the American people out there, and what they believe . . . ."

The "vast majority of the American people"? Would that be the roughly 60 percent who disapprove of the job George W. Bush is doing? The 65 percent who say they oppose the war in Iraq? Or the the 72 percent who say that the job performance of Cheney himself is either "only fair" or "poor."

GOP watch: the crook in the Thompson camp

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/11/03/AR2007110301153.html
Republican presidential candidate Fred D. Thompson has been crisscrossing the country since early this summer on a private jet lent to him by a businessman and close adviser who has a criminal record for drug dealing. . .

More: http://www.talkleft.com/story/2007/11/4/11620/3672

Sunday talk show line-ups

http://www.americablog.com/2007/11/sunday-talk-shows-open-thread.html
ABC's "This Week" — Former Sen. John Edwards, D-N.C.

CBS' "Face the Nation" — Sen. Joe Biden, D-Del., Mark Penn, chief strategist for Sen. Hillary Clinton campaign.

NBC's "Meet the Press" — Former Sen. Fred Thompson, R-Tenn.

CNN's "Late Edition" — Mideast peace envoy and former British Prime Minister Tony Blair; Sens. John McCain, R-Ariz., Chris Dodd, D-Conn., Arlen Specter, R-Pa., and Dianne Feinstein, D-Calif.

"Fox News Sunday" _ Former President George H.W. Bush.

Bonus item: More “worst blog posts ever”

http://www.thecarpetbaggerreport.com/archives/13465.html

http://www.balloon-juice.com/?p=8997

http://www.washingtonmonthly.com/archives/individual/2007_11/012430.php

***If you enjoy PBD and support what we are doing, you can help by forwarding a copy of this issue to your friends (using the envelope link below) or by sending them a copy of its URL (http://pbd.blogspot.com).

I don't get anything personally out of this project, except the satisfaction of doing it (I don't run ads, etc). The credit really all goes to the people whose material I copy and redistribute. But if I do have a "mission," it is to get this information into the hands of as many people as I can.***
- posted by Nick Burbules @ 6:31 AM

 
BAD AND WORSE

Look, I understand that there are much worse nominees than Mukasey, and Bush would probably just circumvent the congressional will some other way. Still, it’s pathetic to see the Democrats endorsing a guy who won’t acknowledge that waterboarding IS torture

http://www.tpmmuckraker.com/archives/004635.php

http://www.talkleft.com/story/2007/11/2/17719/1252

http://www.americablog.com/2007/11/democratic-senators-schumer-and.html

http://www.firedoglake.com/2007/11/02/hayden-the-pillars-of-rendition-and-torture/

http://www.dailykos.com/storyonly/2007/11/2/161624/307

http://www.thewashingtonnote.com/archives/002478.php
[Steve Clemons] David Addington Smiles . . .

Losers

http://atrios.blogspot.com/2007_10_28_archive.html#1794858261924622976
[Atrios] I never had a strong opinion that the guy should be opposed, but I really don't understand what the point of this elaborate "maybe we'll oppose him" ritual that the senators do. It's like they think they're playing tic tac toe instead of chess.

This might be okay, maybe, IF THEY ACTUALLY PASS SUCH A LAW

http://www.slate.com/id/2177463
[Joshua Kucera] The LAT goes into the most detail about what apparently decided it for Schumer: that in a private meeting Friday, Mukasey said that if Congress banned "coercive methods"—which congressional Democrats are trying to do—the president would have to obey. "And he flatly told me that the president would have absolutely no legal authority to ignore such a law, not even under some theory of inherent authority under Article II of the Constitution," Schumer said. "He also pledged to enforce such a law and repeated his willingness to leave office rather than participate in a violation of law." . . .

Bring it on, Republicans say. "Democrats are demonstrating their weaknesses on security matters, which will work to their disadvantage," said Sen. John Cornyn of Texas.

Bush all but admits it

http://matthewyglesias.theatlantic.com/archives/2007/11/getting_cute.php
When Mr. Bush was asked whether he considered waterboarding illegal, he said he would not discuss specific methods used in the interrogation of suspected terrorists. “It doesn’t make any sense to tell the enemy whether we use those techniques or not,” he said.

“And the techniques we use by highly trained professionals are within the law,” the president said. “That’s what’s important for America to know.” . . . [read on]

The government we have

http://www.firedoglake.com/2007/11/02/president-temper-tantrum/

The problem with the “waterboarding test” for Mukasey was that it overlooked the deeper and more fundamental reason for opposing him – the boundless view of executive power and selective respect for the law that have been the hallmarks of this administration from the start. Not only have the Democrats been totally unable to make that an issue; we now have a Presidential candidate, Rudy Giuliani, advocating even more totalitarian theories – and he is considered the frontrunner!

http://www.salon.com/opinion/greenwald/2007/11/02/mukasey/index.html

Surging!

http://www.tpmmuckraker.com/archives/004632.php
[Spencer Ackerman] The U.S. military official in charge of supporting reconciliation efforts in Iraq says that unless the Shiite-led Iraqi government takes concrete steps to embrace the Sunnis, the new, mostly-Sunni ex-insurgent militias supported by the U.S. could return to insurgency. . .

No one wants to serve in the Army. Wonder why?

http://www.washingtonmonthly.com/archives/individual/2007_11/012425.php

State Dept cracks down on staffers who don’t want forced assignments to Iraq. Wonder why?

http://www.guardian.co.uk/Iraq/Story/0,,2204599,00.html

Still creating their own reality

http://www.thecarpetbaggerreport.com/archives/13458.html
[Steve Benen] Did the White House think no one would notice? “On ABC World News with Charles Gibson last night, ABC National Security Correspondent Jonathan Karl filed a report about the recent decline in American troop casualties in Iraq. In the report, Karl noted that ‘violence in Iraq is down,’ but added that ‘there has been almost no political progress on the national level.’ … After the report aired, the White House sent the piece out in an official White House publication called ‘White House Iraq Update.’ But, as Karl writes today, the White House edited his report before sending it out, making it look ‘like an unqualified declaration of success in Iraq.’”

Here we go . . .

http://news.nationaljournal.com/articles/071102nj1.htm
Beginning in February 2001, almost seven months before the 9/11 terrorist attacks, the government's top electronic eavesdropping organization, the National Security Agency, asked a major U.S. telecommunications carrier for information about its customers and the flow of electronic traffic across its network, according to sources familiar with the request. The carrier, Qwest Communications, refused, believing that the request was illegal unless accompanied by a court order. . .

Condi Rice to testify in espionage investigation – well, at least this will give her something to do

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/11/02/AR2007110201554.html
A federal judge today ordered Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice and more than 10 other prominent current and former government officials to testify at the criminal trial of two pro-Israel lobbyists accused of violating the Espionage Act.

Greymail: http://www.firedoglake.com/2007/11/02/the-greymail-defense-rides-again/

Here’s what the Bush gang thinks about consumer protection vs corporate interests (can you guess?)

http://www.americablog.com/2007/11/there-is-no-consumer-product-safety-in.html

More: http://www.thecarpetbaggerreport.com/archives/13448.html

http://www.latimes.com/business/la-fi-lazarus4nov04,1,4889959.column
[David Lazarus] Nancy Nord, the country's top cop when it comes to consumer product safety, is troubled. I know that because she repeatedly said so when we spoke the other day.

"I'm terribly troubled by all this," she said. . .

House nears contempt vote for Bolten and Miers

http://www.dailykos.com/storyonly/2007/11/2/8567/24979

Paul Krugman lectures his own paper on calling a lie a lie

http://www.talkingpointsmemo.com/horsesmouth/2007/11/krugman_critici.php

More from Krugman: http://www.talkingpointsmemo.com/horsesmouth/2007/11/krugman_asks_ou.php

GOP watch: Rudy dismisses “quibbling” over the facts

http://tpmelectioncentral.com/2007/11/rudy_expecting_me_to_tell_truth_is_quibbling.php

GOP watch: Rudy’s Bernie problem

http://www.nytimes.com/2007/11/03/us/politics/03kerik.html
A cascade of questions followed about his judgment as a public official, not least that he had inappropriately lobbied city officials on behalf of Interstate Industrial, a construction firm suspected of links to organized crime. Mr. Giuliani defended Mr. Kerik, a friend and business partner, whom he had recommended to the Bush administration. But he also tried to shield himself from accusations that he had ignored Mr. Kerik’s failings.

“I was not informed of it,” Mr. Giuliani said then, when asked if he had been warned about Mr. Kerik’s relationship with Interstate before appointing him to the police post in 2000.

Mr. Giuliani amended that statement last year in testimony to a state grand jury. He acknowledged that the city investigations commissioner, Edward J. Kuriansky, had told him that he had been briefed at least once. The former mayor said, though, that neither he nor any of his aides could recall being briefed about Mr. Kerik’s involvement with the company.

But a review of Mr. Kuriansky’s diaries, and investigators’ notes from a 2004 interview with him, now indicate that such a session indeed took place. What is more, Mr. Kuriansky also recalled briefing one of Mr. Giuliani’s closest aides, Dennison Young Jr., about Mr. Kerik’s entanglements with the company just days before the police appointment, according to the diaries he compiled at the time and his later recollection to the investigators.

The additional evidence raises questions not only about the precision of Mr. Giuliani’s recollection, but also about how a man who proclaims his ability to pick leaders came to overlook a jumble of disturbing information about Mr. Kerik, even as he pushed him for two crucial government positions. . . . [read on]

More: http://www.talkleft.com/story/2007/11/3/24546/7380

GOP watch: Mitt knows whose side Fox News is on, declares war

http://tpmelectioncentral.com/2007/11/_romney_defies_fox_news_ban_on_use_of_its_debate_footage.php

http://tpmelectioncentral.com/2007/11/fox_legal_department_fires_back_at_romney_camp.php

Theocracy watch: seeing Michael Gerson for the first time – what a truly creepy guy

http://www.thecarpetbaggerreport.com/archives/13452.html
[Steve Benen] When the Washington Post added Michael Gerson, Bush’s former chief speechwriter, to its stable of columnists, I tried to give Gerson the benefit of the doubt. He’s a former journalist, he can turn a phrase, and when it comes to former speechwriters joining major papers, William Safire sets a pretty low bar.

With that in mind, I keep waiting in vain for something interesting from Gerson. Most of his columns are just dull. Today, he’s just wrong. . . .

Bonus item: The WORST blog posts of all time

http://www.washingtonmonthly.com/archives/individual/2007_11/012411.php

Extra bonus item: No more red states!

http://www.dailykos.com/storyonly/2007/11/2/85347/0010

***If you enjoy PBD and support what we are doing, you can help by forwarding a copy of this issue to your friends (using the envelope link below) or by sending them a copy of its URL (http://pbd.blogspot.com).

I don't get anything personally out of this project, except the satisfaction of doing it (I don't run ads, etc). The credit really all goes to the people whose material I copy and redistribute. But if I do have a "mission," it is to get this information into the hands of as many people as I can.***
- posted by Nick Burbules @ 8:06 AM

 
TORTURED REASONING

Stop me if you’ve heard this one before. Bush bashes the Dems, says that their piddling concerns about torture etc, show that they just don’t understand the kind of fight we’re in

http://www.nytimes.com/2007/11/01/washington/01cnd-bush.html
“I know that when I discuss the war on terror, some here in Washington, D.C., dismiss it as political rhetoric, an attempt to scare people into votes,” he said at the Heritage Foundation, a conservative think tank. “Given the nature of the enemy and the words of its leaders, politicians who deny that we are at war are either being disingenuous or naive.” . . .

More: http://www.dailykos.com/storyonly/2007/11/1/202755/520

http://www.americablog.com/2007/11/its-sad-how-many-lies-bush-can-weave.html

Watch it: http://bushtantrum.notlong.com

More video: http://talkingpointsmemo.com/archives/057674.php

Bush’s biggest applause line of the night – and it tells us so much about what’s going on here

http://www.thecarpetbaggerreport.com/archives/13442.html
“When it comes to funding our troops, some in Washington should spend more time responding to the warnings of terrorists like Osama bin Laden and the requests of our commanders on the ground, and less time responding to the demands of MoveOn.org bloggers and Code Pink protesters.” . . [read on]

Bush pouts, blusters, and stamps his feet over the Mukasey nomination. Will he get what he wants?

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/11/01/AR2007110101117.html
"As a price for his confirmation, some on that committee want Judge Mukasey to take a legal position on specific techniques allegedly used to interrogate captured terrorists" . . . "First, he does not know whether certain methods of questioning are, in fact, used, because the program is classified," Bush said. "And therefore, he is in no position to provide an informed opinion. He has not been read into the program and . . . won't be until he's confirmed and sworn in as the attorney general." . . .

http://www.thecarpetbaggerreport.com/archives/13439.html

http://www.dailykos.com/storyonly/2007/11/1/131937/784

http://thenexthurrah.typepad.com/the_next_hurrah/2007/11/bush-and-schume.html

http://www.tpmmuckraker.com/archives/004625.php

http://talkingpointsmemo.com/archives/057682.php

http://www.slate.com/id/2177367
[Daniel Politi] The NYT says the president's new campaign "demonstrates just how much the White House has been caught off guard" by the controversy surrounding Mukasey's nomination. As usual, the administration hopes it can turn the situation around by warning that the country's ability to fight terrorism will be affected if Mukasey isn't confirmed. . . .

Senate Judiciary will vote on Mukasey Tuesday, wiretapping bill Thursday – will they disappoint us twice?

http://www.tpmmuckraker.com/archives/004626.php

Why Mukasey CANT answer the waterboarding question

http://www.tpmmuckraker.com/archives/004620.php
[Paul Kiel] Jack Goldsmith, the former chief of the OLC, has said that the Bush Administration lives in constant fear of being prosecuted for their actions. It's for that reason the OLC's ability to issue “free get-out-of jail cards” made Goldsmith's tenure such a disaster for the administration. Having worked so hard to get those cards, the administration sure wouldn't have nominated someone who might take them back. . . .

http://digbysblog.blogspot.com/2007/11/when-in-trouble-use-football-metaphor.html

http://www.firedoglake.com/2007/11/01/motivations/

Alice explains

http://www.salon.com/politics/war_room/2007/11/01/mukasey2/index.html
[Tim Grieve] Here's White House press secretary Dana Perino with some helpful advice for senators who'd like Michael Mukasey to say whether he thinks waterboarding is torture: Confirm him first, then ask him whatever questions you want to ask later. . .

More: http://www.firedoglake.com/2007/11/01/motivations/

Emptywheel gives us three (more) reasons to reject Mukasey’s nomination

http://thenexthurrah.typepad.com/the_next_hurrah/2007/11/mukasey-and-con.html

http://thenexthurrah.typepad.com/the_next_hurrah/2007/11/mukasey-will-no.html

http://thenexthurrah.typepad.com/the_next_hurrah/2007/11/diplomatic-rend.html

More: http://www.talkleft.com/story/2007/11/1/19425/5737

Who vetted Mukasey?

http://thenexthurrah.typepad.com/the_next_hurrah/2007/11/who-vetted-muka.html

Bush hints that he’ll just appoint Mukasey anyway

http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20071101/ap_on_go_pr_wh/senate_mukasey_30

Putting Bush on the couch: what he really thinks about torture

http://digbysblog.blogspot.com/2007/11/long-history-of-george-bush-and-torture.html

Will this be one of the first investigations the new Attorney General will need to undertake?

http://thenexthurrah.typepad.com/the_next_hurrah/2007/11/whitehouse-snif.html
Sheldon Whitehouse [D-R.I.] asked Mukasey very few written questions. But I am intrigued by this one.

2. Do you believe that the President may act contrary to a valid executive order? In the event he does, need he amend the executive order or provide any notice that he is acting contrary to the executive order?

ANSWER: Executive orders reflect the directives of the President. Should an executive order apply to the President and he determines that the order should be modified, the appropriate course would be for him to issue a new order or to amend the prior order.

Whitehouse, that sneaky guy, is not letting on which Executive Order he believes Bush may have violated . . .

I was wondering about this, but here’s the full legal explanation: the State Dept CAN’T give “immunity” – at least, not just by saying so

http://www.firedoglake.com/2007/11/01/immunity-aint-as-easy-as-they-want-you-to-think/

Why does Blackwater need silencers to carry out their mission in Iraq (unless their mission is something different from what we’ve been told)?

http://talkingpointsmemo.com/archives/057660.php

http://www.tpmmuckraker.com/archives/004624.php

More trouble ahead: http://www.firedoglake.com/2007/11/01/showdown-at-the-blackwater-corral/

Revamping Blackwater’s image

http://wilsonhellie.typepad.com/for_the_record/2007/11/whitewashing-bl.html

Senators remind Bush that he has NO authorization for attacking Iran

http://tpmelectioncentral.com/2007/11/thirty_senators_write_to_bush_you_dont_have_authority_to_invade_iran.php

http://www.motherjones.com/mojoblog/archives/2007/11/6035_senators_warn_w.html

The revolt at Foggy Bottom

http://www.firedoglake.com/2007/11/01/the-foggy-bottom-blues/

Rumsfeld’s “snowflakes” – what they tell us

http://www.thecarpetbaggerreport.com/archives/13444.html

The return of the Abramoff scandal

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/blog/2007/11/01/BL2007110101344.html

The Politico – just can’t keep their thumb off the scales

http://matthewyglesias.theatlantic.com/archives/2007/11/the_annals_of_web_design.php

GOP watch: Rudy keeps lying about health care

http://tpmelectioncentral.com/2007/11/rudy_breast_cancer.php

GOP watch: Bernie Kerik helped ruin Bush’s presidency, and may still ruin Giuliani’s candidacy

http://talkingpointsmemo.com/archives/057623.php

Bonus item: The victories of Karen Hughes

http://matthewyglesias.theatlantic.com/archives/2007/11/the_karen_hughes_era.php
Q So in your mind, she has succeeded in her goal of outreach to the Arab world, based on those numbers that I just cited?

MS. PERINO: Look, I'm not going to comment or respond to a poll that you just read out. I don't know about those numbers, I don't know the questions that were asked; I think it's inappropriate. What I can tell you is that she has done amazing work. Let me give another example. She started a women's outreach effort with the Middle Eastern countries and started a breast cancer initiative. And just last week Mrs. Bush went and highlighted that initiative and went to four different countries in the Middle East, had a very successful trip in explaining that women have tools at their disposal when they find out that they have breast cancer, early detection and treatment. That is precisely what the President was hoping Karen Hughes would achieve, and she has.

Q So in your view, the U.S. image in the Arab world has improved under Karen Hughes?

MS. PERINO: We are making progress. I know that we have a long way to go.

***If you enjoy PBD and support what we are doing, you can help by forwarding a copy of this issue to your friends (using the envelope link below) or by sending them a copy of its URL (http://pbd.blogspot.com).

I don't get anything personally out of this project, except the satisfaction of doing it (I don't run ads, etc). The credit really all goes to the people whose material I copy and redistribute. But if I do have a "mission," it is to get this information into the hands of as many people as I can.***
- posted by Nick Burbules @ 7:28 AM

 
ONLY THE BEST SHALL SERVE

Oh, OK then. So the State Dept didn’t make an exception by giving the Blackwater killers immunity. They’ve been ROUTINELY doing so

http://www.tpmmuckraker.com/archives/004611.php

Blackwater hires a stable of lawyers, lobbyists, and PR people – gee, wonder why?

http://www.nytimes.com/2007/11/01/washington/01blackwater-sub.html

The other outrage in the State Dept

http://www.juancole.com/2007/11/time-to-close-us-embassy.html
[Juan Cole] Bush is trying to Shanghai several hundred foreign service officers and force them to go to Iraq. They are protesting.

Now is that time for all Americans to stand up for the diplomats who serve this country ably and courageously throughout the world, for decades on end. Foreign service officers risk disease and death, and many of them see their marriages destroyed when spouses decline to follow them to a series of remote places. They are the ones who represent America abroad, who know languages and cultures and do their best to convince the world that we're basically a good people. . . .

More: http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/10/31/AR2007103101626.html

http://www.thecarpetbaggerreport.com/archives/13434.html

Karen Hughes, the ultimate Bush True Believer, leaves the team. Tell me again, what was her job? And what, if anything, did she accomplish?

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/10/31/AR2007103100788.html
Karen Hughes, the longtime aide to President Bush, announced her resignation as undersecretary of state yesterday, after two bumpy years in which she overhauled the U.S. approach to public diplomacy but did not make major progress in improving America's image abroad. . .

Public opinion polls show that the image of the United States has declined dramatically in the Muslim world, and elsewhere overseas, during Bush's presidency. The numbers have not improved during Hughes's two-year stint -- and in some cases have gotten worse. . .

[T]he Arab News said Hughes was "painfully clueless." . . .

Don’t miss it: http://digbysblog.blogspot.com/2007/10/buh-bye-by-digby-karen-hughes-is.html
“We're going to be visiting, as you know, three unique and very important countries, three countries we have a very strong partnership with one of them. We also face very significant public diplomacy challenges in one of them. One of my missions is to go to listen. I hope to listen, to seek to understand, to show respect. Listening is a two way street, and so I hope that those people I meet will also return that open spirit and be willing to listen. I'm going to take a lot of questions, I'm going to participate in a lot of give and take and I hope they'll be willing to listen to my discussion . . .

I just wanted to talk a little bit to answer your questions about, kind of, my approach. As I said I view this trip as the beginning of a new dialogue that is very much people driven -- public diplomacy is people-driven and it's policy driven, because our policies affect people's lives. . . . When I first decided to leave reporting and go to the political process it was because I realized that the decisions made in the political process made a very real difference peoples lives. So when I talk about people I'm talking about policies, I'm talking about our policies and the impact they have on people. I think that's what we've got to focus on here. I also -- I go as an official of the United States government, but I'm also a mom, a working mom. . .” [read on!]

More: http://www.thecarpetbaggerreport.com/archives/13427.html

http://www.firedoglake.com/2007/10/31/elephants-on-charade/

http://www.salon.com/politics/war_room/2007/10/31/hughes/index.html

http://www.salon.com/politics/war_room/2007/10/31/accountability/index.html

Watch: http://talkingpointsmemo.com/archives/057550.php

In what sick twisted world does this scam artist keep resurfacing as a serious “statesman”?

http://thinkprogress.org/2007/10/31/petraeus-chalabi/

Iraq: what’s the point?

http://matthewyglesias.theatlantic.com/archives/2007/10/strategery_1.php
[Matt Yglesias] [I]t remains unclear to me what purpose the current deployment in Iraq is supposed to serve. One purpose it seems to be serving is the general sense that if our soldiers just stay in Iraq, risking their lives carrying out arduous day-to-day tactical missions unrelated to any broader strategic objectives that conditions in Iraq might improve anyway, thus allowing the continued presence of a large American deployment to provide a patina of "victory" to the results. . . .

More: http://matthewyglesias.theatlantic.com/archives/2007/10/goal_posts.php

Iran: what’s the point?

http://www.americablog.com/2007/11/thursday-morning-open-thread.html
[Joe Sudbay] That get-tough-with-Iran strategy is working -- working to increase the price of oil. . . .

Col. Steven Boylan, Gen. Petraeus’s spokesman (or someone else using his email account), is sending threatening letters to journalists and bloggers who dare question US policy. Now the denials come out, but they only make the scandal worse. What’s going on here?

http://www.salon.com/opinion/greenwald/2007/10/31/boylan/index.html

http://www.salon.com/news/feature/2007/10/31/boylan/

Why Michael Mukasey can’t give a straight answer on whether waterboarding is torture

http://www.nytimes.com/2007/11/01/washington/01mukasey.html
In adamantly refusing to declare waterboarding illegal, Michael B. Mukasey, the nominee for attorney general, is steering clear of a potential legal quagmire for the Bush administration: criminal prosecution or lawsuits against Central Intelligence Agency officers who used the harsh interrogation practice and those who authorized it . . .

http://www.brianbeutler.com/2007/10/waterboarding/
[Brian Beutler] Mukasey knows that, as Attorney General, he'll have to sign off on at least one interrogation technique--call it waterboarding--that he can't describe, for the record, under oath, as torture. It would constitute an ex ante admission of his own guilt. At this point, being an Attorney General in the Bush administration simply requires breaking the law, and Mukasey, simply by appearing before the Senate, is saying he's OK with that.

http://www.salon.com/opinion/blumenthal/2007/11/01/mukasey/print.html
[Sidney Blumenthal] When President Bush nominated Michael Mukasey as attorney general his distinguished career was offered as guarantee of his integrity and independence. A former federal district judge, senior partner at a major law firm and former assistant U.S. attorney, well known and widely respected by the New York bar, he appeared to have the experience and balance needed to restore trust to the battered Justice Department. . . .

Then Mukasey was questioned about whether waterboarding . . . [read on]

More: http://www.thecarpetbaggerreport.com/archives/13422.html

http://www.slate.com/id/2177173

It looks as if the Judiciary committee might not recommend his confirmation – but what will happen if it goes to the full Senate anyway? (we’ve been here before)

http://talkingpointsmemo.com/archives/057561.php

http://www.salon.com/politics/war_room/2007/11/01/mukasey/index.html

http://www.firedoglake.com/2007/11/01/mukasey-waterboards-lindsey-graham/
[Scarecrow] AG nominee Michael Mukasey may have found the minimum statement he must make to hold Republican Senators on his upcoming confirmation vote, just as today’s New York Times lead article found a headline to obscure why Mukasey’s statement should automatically disqualify him. . . .

House Dems consider a contempt vote against Miers and Bolten for refusing to testify: House Republicans respond in their typical way

http://www.tpmmuckraker.com/archives/004612.php
[The Politico] Top GOP leadership and Judiciary Committee staff held a strategy session Tuesday to discuss targeting conservative Democrats — especially those who represent Republican-friendly districts — with floor speeches, private lobbying and other efforts . . .

All Alberto’s Men: where are they now?

http://www.tpmmuckraker.com/archives/004616.php

The Abramoff scandal – what we still don’t know

http://www.thecarpetbaggerreport.com/archives/13431.html
[Steve Benen] Nearly two years ago, then-White House Press Secretary Scott McClellan promised the press corps that a “thorough report” would be released “very soon” documenting contacts betwen the White House and disgraced GOP lobbyist Jack Abramoff. Not surprisingly, that never actually happened. The Bush gang thought they could just stall, reporters would eventually stop asking, and the scandal would eventually go away. Sure enough, that wasn’t a bad strategy, at least as far as cover-ups go. . . .

Waxman’s on it: http://www.tpmmuckraker.com/archives/004615.php

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/10/31/AR2007103102841.html

Our petulant President

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/blog/2007/10/31/BL2007103101623.html

http://www.dailykos.com/storyonly/2007/11/1/83646/5745

ANOTHER senior Republican contemplates retirement

http://tpmelectioncentral.com/2007/10/report_gop_sen_cochran_mulling_retirement.php

Fascinating: where the candidates are focusing their money

http://talkingpointsmemo.com/archives/057580.php

GOP roundup: Giuliani promises to lie

http://www.thecarpetbaggerreport.com/archives/13432.html

GOP roundup: Thompson’s half-assed candidacy

http://www.thecarpetbaggerreport.com/archives/13429.html

GOP roundup: McCain will do and say whatever is necessary

http://www.thecarpetbaggerreport.com/archives/13424.html

Theocracy watch: Wow. Watch Ann Coulter go bug-eyed crazy when she’s accused of anti-semitism

http://mediamatters.org/items/200710310011

Bonus item: What the hell is this?

http://www.talkleft.com/story/2007/11/1/02719/5158
[Jeralyn Merritt] On the same day last week that the House passed the Ammonium Nitrate bill, it also passed HR 1955, titled the Violent Radicalization and Homegrown Terrorism Prevention Act of 2007. The vote on this bill was 404 to 6. Meaning even progressive Democrats voted for it.

This is a thought-crimes bill, aimed at preventing domestic terrorism by judging the thoughts, including those expressed on the Internet, of American citizens. . . .

***If you enjoy PBD and support what we are doing, you can help by forwarding a copy of this issue to your friends (using the envelope link below) or by sending them a copy of its URL (http://pbd.blogspot.com).

I don't get anything personally out of this project, except the satisfaction of doing it (I don't run ads, etc). The credit really all goes to the people whose material I copy and redistribute. But if I do have a "mission," it is to get this information into the hands of as many people as I can.***
- posted by Nick Burbules @ 8:15 AM