The sad state of the Bush Campaign

It looks like the GOP is admitting that it can't beat Kerry on it's own merits. It's really said that Bush has to team up with Nader to try to defeat Kerry. Pathetic and sad.

Prediction

Kerry as effective as Bush on terrorism, says Americans



I know that Bush doesn’t run the country by poll numbers, unless it’s responding to bad poll numbers (like his continuous flip flopping on the 9/11 commission), but I predict that given these poll numbers there will be a terrorist threat warning in the coming days. Maybe action by the DOJ that will be spun as taking a hard approach to a threat. Watch and see.

The Wheels are coming off

Senate does the right thing despite Bush's objections.


And how do you argue with this logic:

"The reason I keep insisting that there was a relationship between Iraq and Saddam and al-Qaida because there was a relationship between Iraq and al-Qaida," Bush said.

This is the same type of thinking that brought you a Justice Dept memo that concluded: “It’s not torture if you don’t call it “torture””

Shameful.

The funniest thing said by a Republican in years

"I don't like the politics of personal destruction," DeLay said at a news briefing.

Random Thoughts

The Lakers lost again...so sweet. I find this hard to believe that I'm about to say this, but Shaq was the one guy on the court for the Lakers that appeared to "want" it. Sure, he got away with his offensive fouls, over the back fouls and travels like always, but he was the only Laker who appeared determined.

Being from Portland, I'm sort rooting for Rasheed. Sure, he was a punk in Portland, but I always said he had the skills to be one of the games best. He has shown that in Detroit so far this year and especially tonight. So, giving a shout out to 'Sheed tonight.

HW Bush jumped out a plane again today. Kudos to him. I think his son is incompetent, a liar and probably has committed a few crimes in his tenure, but his dad gets it done. I didn't like him much as a President either, but as an ex-President, he's al right with me.

Conason's "Big Lies"

I read Joe Conason's "Big Lies" on the way home from NY yesterday. I'd give it an A-. It was a good read. In parts it reminded me of Alterman's "What liberal Media", but less hysterical.

Conason makes excellent points about the hypocrisy of the Right, which is always so delicious. Like Bill Bennett being a compulsive gambler and Rush being a junkie. Those are the obvious ones, Joe points out some some of the less obvious and reminds us of much of the hypocrisy we've forgotten. If the Left had a Fox News Channel we could be reminded of the adultery of many of the GOPs most prominent members, their drunken sailor spending and Chicken Hawk military records. But we don't so we have to rely on Blogs and authors like Conason.

It's not about principles it's about quantity

With Rush Limbaugh and the Governor of California both publicly admitting to obtaining Cuban cigars in America it appears that it’s not really Cuban cigars that are an issue. It’s having too many of them.


Otherwise the GOPs obsession with a failed Cuban embargo would seem hypocritical.

(Sidenote: want to cause the downfall of Castro? Open up trade. Once Cubans get a taste of new American cars instead of the 40 year old ones they now drive, they'll be embracing capitalism and democracy...it'll happen)

Tenet

Bush on Tenet:

Bush said Tenet had done "a superb job for the American people."


"He has been a strong and able leader at the agency," Bush said.

"He has been a strong leader in the war on terror and I will miss him."


OK, now I know W is delusional. To say that he did a “superb job” is pretty much crap. His biggest failing is that he could not get this administration to listen to him. The Bushies ignored his concerns about Iranian Spy Chalabi, ignored his advice about the Niger Nuke claim, and couldn’t convince Bush to leave his vacation in Texas as the largest terrorist attack ever was imminent.

I don’t think he was a failure at his job per se, he was a failure in getting the WH to listen to him. But just watch the Rove machine now. Tenet will be blamed for EVERYTHING.

"Vote for me or you'll die"

Who’s playing politics with national security now? Well, we know Bush is because he keeps calling the war in Iraq, the “war on terror”. Everyone with a brain, knows that’s a bunch of crap.

What? Who me? Never heard of the man...

That may sound like what Bush said about Ken Lay, his biggest funder and to date, the biggest beneficiary of that donation (he's not in prison). But no, this is the President's recent comments about Ahmed Chalabi. The President said today that he only met CHalabi once...at the rope line. Well ATRIOS begs to differ. And there's photos.

I know the President likes to get his information in small digestable AND AGREEABLE packages, but methinks the President should review things he's actually participated in before he lies to the world.

Chalabi and Iran play Bush WH like a drum

This is the man who sat, as a guest of the first family, at the State of the Union. Makes you wonder about the theories being discussed that the Iranians may have staged the greatest intellegence coup in decades by getting the US (thru Chalabi) to get rid of Saddam for them.



Reports: Chalabi Told Iran U.S. Had Codes

WASHINGTON - Ahmad Chalabi, the former Iraqi exile once regarded as a friend of the Bush administration, revealed to Iran that the United States had broken the code of its intelligence service, according to broadcast and published reports.
CBS News reported Tuesday that Chalabi had told an Iranian intelligence official that the United States had cracked its codes, allowing U.S. agents to read Iran's secret communications. By revealing such information, Chalabi would have exposed one of the United States' most important sources of information about Iran.

The New York Times, quoting anonymous U.S. intelligence officials, reported on its Web site Tuesday that Chalabi told the Baghdad chief of the Iranian spy service that the United States was reading its communications. The Iranian spy described the conversation in a message to Tehran, which was intercepted by U.S. intelligence.

A CIA official declined to comment on the reports Tuesday night.

The American officials quoted by the Times said the Iranian spy, in the message to Tehran, reported that Chalabi had said he had gotten the information from an American who had been drunk.

CBS reported that FBI agents are questioning Defense Department officials in an effort to find out who gave such information to Chalabi. The Times reported that the FBI expects to interview civilians at the Pentagon who were strong supporters of Chalabi.

Chalabi, a member of the Shiite Islamic sect to which the majority of Iranians and Iraqis belong, once was a favorite of Pentagon officials. He recently came under suspicion that he might have handed over sensitive information to Iran about the U.S. occupation.

He had provided intelligence to the Bush administration about weapons of mass destruction, which was used to justify the U.S. war against Iraq, but his information came under major criticism after no weapons were found.

The CIA has long been suspicious of Chalabi's Iraqi National Congress, but he had maintained strong supporters in other government agencies. Until last month, his organization was on the U.S. government payroll, receiving roughly $340,000 a month from the Defense Department for intelligence.