Look at this "liberal" rag...supporting free trade

From the NY TIMES

July 29, 2005
Applauding the Cafta 15

In the wee hours yesterday, the House of Representatives passed the Central American Free Trade Agreement by a sliver of two votes. Fifteen Democrats joined 202 Republicans in voting to open up trade between the United States and El Salvador, Costa Rica, Nicaragua, Honduras, Guatemala and the Dominican Republic. Anyone who believes, as this page does, that the benefits of free trade outweigh those of protectionism should give a pat on the back to the Democrats who chose principle over politics and defied their party's leaders to vote for the trade pact.

Trade votes are always cliffhangers, and Cafta was no exception. The vote, which started just after 11 p.m., took almost an hour as some Republicans, many from textile states, jockeyed over who would be allowed to vote against the bill and save face back home. But the Republicans who voted for Cafta at least did so knowing that they were ensuring for themselves the approval of their party leaders, including President Bush. Many of the Democrats who voted for the pact knew that they were practically guaranteeing themselves a primary fight come next election. Indeed, organized labor was already talking yesterday morning about extracting revenge. "Punish the Cafta 15" was a headline in Working Life, a pro-labor blog.

Labor unions should obviously give their support to anyone they deem fit. But the Cafta 15 deserve respect for their independence and good judgment. Cafta is a modest trade pact, hardly likely to lift the six countries' economies into the 21st century. But it may be enough to lift them into the 20th century by lowering tariffs and helping job growth in a needy region. It should help export growth in America as well. The American Farm Bureau Federation estimated that Cafta could increase United States agricultural exports by nearly $1.5 billion a year; the National Association of Manufacturers said it would add about $1 billion a year to the value of United States exports of manufactured goods.

Finally, Cafta will benefit the most underrepresented constituency in America: consumers, particularly the lower-income consumers who find that a 50-cent difference in the price of a T-shirt actually means something.

More Fakery from the Pentagon

If you’re going to make up the news… you can’t be lazy about it. We deserve better lies than that.

http://www.cnn.com/2005/WORLD/meast/07/24/military.release/index.html

Following are the two quotes as provided by the U.S. military in news releases:

Sunday's news release said: "'The terrorists are attacking the infrastructure, the ISF and all of Iraq. They are enemies of humanity without religion or any sort of ethics. They have attacked my community today and I will now take the fight to the terrorists,' said one Iraqi man who preferred not to be identified."

The July 13 news release said: "'The terrorists are attacking the infrastructure, the children and all of Iraq,' said one Iraqi man who preferred not to be identified. 'They are enemies of humanity without religion or any sort of ethics. They have attacked my community today and I will now take the fight to the terrorists.'"

Musical Rant for Monday

You may have heard this before, but I HATE cover songs that are done exactly like the original (or at least the most famous version). Worst example of this is Natalie Merchant’s “Because the Night”, for so many reasons. (First of which is that Natalie Merchant is the anti-Patti Smith). I heard 311 cover “Love Song” by the Cure this AM on the way to work…LAME.

Do you think Toby Keith sits down to write a song and thinks about how many “patriotic” TV specials he can sell the song to? I can almost see him “This song will be great for a Fox News special about how great America is”. Anyway, somehow my clock radio was set to a lame “country” station this morning and I awoke to Keith’s “American Soldier”. It’s a fine sentiment, but the subtlety of his work is that of a jack hammer.

I love Interpol.

Yet Dwight’s new album is still not doing it for me….(Shut your mouth)

Other recommends: LCD Soundsystem and M.I.A.

Now, get back to work

Freedom on the march

Conservatives always bragging about how Bush saved Afghanistan and brought peace and prosperity to the whole place, while I’ve continued to point out that the US didn’t finish the job before turning to Iraq and left the place in ruins and in a state of Anarchy. Recent bombings in Egypt and the UK prove we didn’t finish the job, not to mention what a disaster the “Flypaper Strategy” is for the Iraqis.

How desperate do you have to be to attack a US military base with rocks?


http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/8702657/

Don't mean to be hatin'

I know I'm getting very near sacrilege here, but here goes. I, like everyone else, is impressed by Lance Armstrong's domination of the Tour de France, but probably less so than most. What he's done is amazing no doubt, but as far as I know he trains year round for one event. Just one. Again, my knowledge of road racing is limited to when the media pays attention to the sport for 3 weeks in July, but other racers, I believe, race in other events.

So, what if Tiger Woods played one event a year. Let's say he trained exclusively for the Masters. Would it be safe to say that he might win it every year, if he trained exclusively for that and competed only in that event?

I'm just askin.

Traitor Karl

Greetings from the Santa Nella, CA.


My favorite part is how Rove’s own lawyer and other Bushie-traitor lovers claim that “Rove didn’t mention her name”. He just said that it was Wilson’s wife. Unfortunately, the law states that it is a crime to provide information that reveals the identity of a covert agent. Which Rove clearly did…hence he’s a traitor.

To use the Rove lawyer logic. Rove could stand across the street from a Covert agent and tell anyone who will listen that “that person over there is a CIA agent”, but he wouldn’t be committing a crime because he didn’t mention her name. Obviously that is not the case, and not the law.

That type of logic would be funny if his actions weren’t treasonous.

Fox News's new Motto?

“We buy Futures, you mourn the dead:”

From Sheppard Smith and Britt Hume…

From Fox News' July 7 breaking news coverage between 1 and 2 p.m. ET:

SMITH: Some of the things you might expect to happen, for instance, a drop
in the stock market and some degree of uncertainty across this country -- none
of that really seen today, and I wonder if the timing of it -- that it happened
in the middle of the night and we were able to get a sense of the grander scheme
of things -- wasn't helpful in all this.

HUME: Well, maybe. The other thing is, of course, people have -- you
know, the market was down. It was down yesterday, and you know, you may have had
some bargain-hunting going on. I mean, my first thought when I heard --
just on a personal basis, when I heard there had been this attack and I saw the
futures this morning, which were really in the tank, I thought, "Hmmm, time to
buy." Others may have thought that as well. But you never know about
the markets. But obviously, if the markets had behaved badly, that would
obviously add to people's sense of alarm about it. But there has been a lot of
reassurance coming, particularly in the way that -- partly in the way the Brits
handled all this, but also in the way that officials here handled it. There
seems to be no great fear that something like that is going to happen here,
although there's no indication that we here had any advance warning.

His First Thought…Buy Futures…WOW

Traitor Bob walks while someone else goes to Jail...astounding

Novak commits Treason, thanks to a felony from Karl Rove’s office and Judith Miller goes to jail.

Astounding:

http://www.cnn.com/2005/LAW/07/06/reporters.contempt/index.html


Is it really the "liberal media" that hates America? Or is it Karl Rove and Bushie hacks like Bob Novak. Both of whom should be in jail for treason.

The Bushies LIE ABOUT EVERYTHING

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2005/06/30/AR2005063002158.html


GABORONE, Botswana -- As global leaders gathered in Davos, Switzerland, for the World Economic Forum in January, officials from President Bush's $15 billion anti-AIDS program issued a news release citing their accomplishments. Nowhere were the numbers more impressive than in Botswana, where 32,839 AIDS patients were receiving life-extending treatment with the help of the U.S. government, they said.

But thousands of miles away in Botswana, the Bush administration's claim provoked frustration and anger among public and private partners that had built Africa's most far-reaching AIDS treatment program, recalled those involved. Although the Bush program had promised millions of dollars of support, no money had yet arrived, they said.
…


They agreed on the number of patients in Botswana who had been put on treatment because of the Bush program: zero.

I've said this before, but Abrams says it better

After I read Abrams piece on MSNBC.com, I've seen other raise the same questions about Traitor Bob.


Travesty of justice: Valerie Plame case (Dan Abrams)

A serious travesty of justice continues. Someone leaked a covert CIA
operative's name to a reporter. That reporter published the name in his
column, violating a federal law. Then, as the criminal investigation
into the source of the leak proceeded, that reporter miraculously appears to be
in the clear. But another reporter who never even published the name is
going to prison for failing to disclose her source? Huh?

That's the situation
New York Times reporter Judith Miller faces today. The U.S. Supreme Court
declined to hear her case which sought First Amendment protection for her
refusal to divulge the confidential source in the case of Valerie Plame — a
former CIA agent. Robert Novak first unmasked Plame in a 2003 column. Even
though Miller never published the agent’s name, she now faces jail time.
Time magazine's Matt Cooper did actually publish Plame's name on the Time’s website, but only after Novak's column ran.In addition to the fact the Supreme Court refused to consider the case — a real shame — Robert Novak seems to be in the
clear legally. I've said this before, but with both Miller and Cooper out
of legal options and facing up to 18 months in federal prison today, it's more
of a plea...

Robert Novak needs to step forward and take
responsibility. If he doesn't want to disclose his source, that's
fine. But we don't even know if he was called before the grand jury or
what he did or didn't tell prosecutors.

Novak's silence puts Miller and Cooper at a distinct legal disadvantage, the prosecutor has indicated the case is all but finished and no one has been charged. But if Novak did testify, Miller and Cooper might be able to argue that their testimony isn’t even needed in the investigation or that they shouldn't be forced to testify before Novak does.

In the spirit of full disclosure, my father Floyd Abrams, is defending
Miller in this case. But this is an easy one. Two reporters may be
going to jail because they won't reveal who told them a secret. Meanwhile,
the guy who heard the secret first and made the initial decision to publish it
will be enjoying his summer vacation out of the reach of federal
prosecutors...

If that's not warped justice, I don't know what is.

Secrecy is bad for Democracy...check your history books

http://seattletimes.nwsource.com/html/politics/2002356455_files03.html

But there is concern the hoarding of information could backfire. Thomas
Kean, chairman of the Sept. 11 commission and a former Republican governor of
New Jersey, said the failure to prevent the 2001 attacks was rooted not in leaks
of sensitive information but in the barriers to sharing information among
agencies and with the public.

"You'd just be amazed at the kind of information that's classified;
everyday information, things we all know from the newspaper," Kean said. "The
best ally we have in protecting ourselves against terrorism is an informed
public."

How did I live with 2000 songs in my pocket

For Father's day I got a Creative Zen Micro. I had been looking at the Creative products and was ready to pull the trigger on a 30G model, but the wife beat me to it.

Let me say this. How did people live with out having 2000 songs in their pocket? Fortunately, I'd been ripping songs to my PC for a couple of years, so most of the good stuff from my CD collection was on my PC and ready to go. HOnestly it only took a couple of hours to get 1300 songs on my Zen. But these songs were MP3s at 128kps. So, I did so more research and figured I could convert songs to WMA at a lower bitrate and have more songs. So, I used Creative's software to convert over 1850 songs to WMA at 80kps. HOnestly I can't hear the difference and all the audio snobs who tell you your MP3 player should have songs at 160kps or higher and in MP3 are nuts.

You might be able to tell the difference with $300 headphones in a sound proof room, but that's not the reality of listening to your MP3 player.

I can tell you though that with the Creative stock ear buds (which I hate and just bought some mediocre Sennheiser phones from amazon the other day) at 80kps WMA I'm hearing instruments I've never heard before.

Anyway, along with TiVo and Netflix, the multigig MP3 player are the three greatest products of the 21st century.

I can't wait until all our computers are Zen (or iPod) sized devices with Internet access, phone, full MS office sweet all for about $400. Probably about 5 years

Tom Cruise...losing his shit

So, Tom's losing his mind.

The Katie Holmes thing. I really don't care too much about this, but I think Tom's a little careless here. Katie looks at him like a dream. She had a poster of him on her wall growing up for God sake. It would be like if Selma Hayek asked to marry me, it wouldn't matter what she was like in real life. Katie is in love with the image of Tom...this marriage (if it happens) won't last 2 years.

I don't care about what happened on Oprah, he's just a guy in love.

As for the "fight" with Matt Lauer. This is were Tom jumped the shark. Tom "knows the history of psychiatry", but no one else does. Puh-leeze. Tom gets his info from some a Science Fiction writer who started a cult. Hardly seems like robust education. Tom apparently knows that there is no chemical reason for mental issues, wow, I didn't know he had a medical degree.

Do you think Rummy "thinks about Iraq every single day" too?

Rummy apparently not getting the memo on how to lie about Iraq. This truth telling is going to get him in trouble. I mean everyone else who tells the truth gets their patriotism questioned, so how will they destroy his character after he says the insurgency could go on for 12 more years?




He “DOESN”T REMEMBER”? (See below) He’s the freakin Sec of Defense and he can’t remember what he warned the President about as we prepared for war. He’s either a liar or incompetent.

Before the war, Vice President Dick Cheney predicted that Iraqis freed from
Saddam Hussein's rule would greet Americans as liberators. Rumsfeld said Sunday
he gave Bush a list of about 15 things ``that could go terribly, terribly wrong
before the war started.'' He said they included Iraq's oil wells being set
on fire; mass refugees and relocations; blown-up bridges; and a moat of oil
around Baghdad, the capital. Asked if his list included the possibility of
such a strong insurgency, he said: ``I don't remember whether that was on there,
but certainly it was discussed.''

http://www.guardian.co.uk/worldlatest/story/0,1280,-5101278,00.html

Novak the Traitor

Isn’t it ironic that the one man who engaged in aiding and abetting the enemy by disclosing the names of US spies is not facing jail time?

I guess it helps when your on the payroll of the White House, no?
Although, Judith Miller has been quite the Bushie Cheerleader too.

Regardless, it is Novak that released the information and the guy who should be facing serious jail time for his treasonous acts. Why does this obvious WH lapdog and a man who put US foreign agents in jeopardy still have a job in the “liberal media”? Why, I ask, Why?



http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2005/06/27/AR2005062700489.html

I've been away from the bloggin'

Have to do some make up posts to catch up...here goes

More Conservative Media Bias

http://www.thenation.com/doc.mhtml?i=20050704&s=gitlin

It was left to an opinion columnist, the New York Times's Thomas Friedman, not a news reporter, to declare on May 27 that "the abuse at Guantánamo and within the whole U.S. military prison system dealing with terrorism is out of control. Tell me, how is it that over 100 detainees have died in U.S. custody so far? Heart attacks?"


I used the LexisNexis database to see what major US news organs have reported about deaths of prisoners in US hands since the beginning of 2005. Here are the results. On television: nothing on CBS, one brief mention on NBC, another on ABC. Nothing on CNN, nothing on Fox, nothing on MSNBC. On public television and radio, now under fire from the head of the Corporation for Public Broadcasting for "liberal bias": After Friedman's column appeared, Jim Lehrer cited 100 deaths, considering twenty to be "homicide," and NPR's Talk of the Nation interviewed Amnesty International's William Schulz, who said, "Twenty-seven of those detained by the United States have been ruled to be the victims of homicide by medical examiners." That's it from the broadcasting subversives. Nothing from Time--or Newsweek.

"Entourage" reaches a new level

Do you have the HBO? If not you should get it if only for Entourage. A show that last year was very funny. So far this year, 2 eps in, it's even better.

You're familiar with the concept of "Jumping the Shark", well Sunday's episode of Entourage was the opposite of that. An episode that took the show from good to great. Kevin Dillon and Jeremy Piven are fantastic.

Anyway, if you like the comic gold, tune into HBO tomorrow as they re-run the first two episodes of the season.

Can you guess if this 1950's Russia or 2005 America?

Holding prisoners in perpetuity, without charges, without trial, without access to attorneys, and without basic human rights oversight. No, that’s not Stalin…that’s your President…GO AMERICA…Freedom is on the March…

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Republican senators called on Wednesday for the rights of foreign terrorism suspects at Guantanamo Bay prison to be legally defined even
as the Bush administration said the inmates could be jailed there "in
perpetuity."
.

Go Howard Dean

YOu want to know why the Democrats have absolutely no power in Washington these days. JUst listen to the whining about Howard Dean being tough on the GOP. That is is his job and apparently the only person in the Democratic party with the balls to do it.

The GOP can lie about Kerry's war record, lie about reasons to go to war, lie about EVERY single thing the Bushies do and by hypocritical about every single issue they discuss, but as soon as Dean calls them on it, the rest of the party abandons him. It's this wimpy behavior that allows the GOP to controll the WH, Senate, House and Supreme Court. It's about damn time the Dems showed some muscle.

Dean called the GOP "a mostly white Christian" party. YEAH? It's not? that's what the GOP tells us every single day and when Dean says it that's a bad thing?

It's almost as if the Dems want to remain powerless for the next 8 years.

Grow up people, this is how the GOP got to where it is. It wasn't about playing nice.

Debt Relief

From what I have heard from people this debt relief is supposed to be a good thing. So, here are my questions.

What happened to the money that was borrowed? Apparently it didn’t go into infrastructure or helping eliminate poverty, AIDS, and a host of other ills that fall upon the poor of these countries. We all know it most likely went to corrupt officials who may or may not still be in power. If they’re not in power, someone just like them most likely is.

So, now they’ve got debt relief, they don’t have to pay back the money they wasted, so how does this help the farmer who lives on $1 a day? Does this trickle down to him? I would guess not. What I envision is the same despots who borrowed the money before, nationalized industry, stole private property, waged tribal and regional wars will continue to squander this goodwill the G8 gives them.

Until these economies have a rule of law, are rid of dictators and have a capitalist incentive (supported by a rule of law) this money does nothing but make the rulers richer.

Am I wrong?

Remember when countries were either "with us or against us" in the fight for freedom?

If you do, how do you reconcile these two items. It should be very troubling for the Bushies that Bush’s two favorite leaders are this guy and the Russian Dictator?

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/8085619/


Photo of Bush nuzzling with the Prince
http://www.american-buddha.com/fah911.vignettej1.htm

Shameful

Remember when Bush stood on top of the rubble pile and promised more money for First Responders. Well, he lied then. Then, the WH forced the EPA to lie about the safety of the air around the site to rescue workers and New Yorkers…now he won’t even own up to the responsibility to help the people he lied to for the health problems their bravery and the WH lies resulted from.

Appalling.

http://www.nytimes.com/2005/06/03/nyregion/03air.html?

Shameful.

My take on the new Sleater-Kinney album

As Carrie Brownstein alluded to in her recent SPIN interview, you aren't going to hear this CD in the GAP. You won't hear it on the radio either and having lived in their hometown of Portland since they moved from Olympia, I can assure that S-K doesn't even get any love locally. But that's ok, S-K isn't for everyone. Just go to their website these days and the opening chords from the CD hit you as soon as the page loads, be forewarned...turn down your PC Speakers.

After the first listen all I could think of was how hard, no, HEAVY it was. I initially described it to a friend as if the band had only been listening to Sonic Youth, Velvet Underground and Jimi Hendrix whle recording it. But upon further listens you realize that it's not all heavy. There are moments were it becomes quiet, but not for long.

I saw SK in Portland last night and it was then that it occurred to me that THIS is Carrie's record. She sings a lot of songs and it just seems to exude her whole attitude. I don't know of the true dynamics of the group, but it would seem that with Corin now being a mom and Janet doing a lot of work with her other band, Quasi, Carrie had more influence in the direction of this ablum. Just my take really. For what it's worth.

Others have called this their best album yet. Well, you'll have a tough time convincing me that "Dig Me Out" will ever be surpassed. Nonetheless, after about 5 complete listens and seeing the songs performed live, this album is in their top 3. That may not seem like much, but when you're the "Best band in America" that's saying something.

it's been a while

I guess nothing to unusually hypocritical going on with the Bushies in the past weeks, and I've been out of town so little time for "the bloggin".

Some random thoughts. purchased Sleater-Kinney's new CD (actually pre-ordered it and it was at my home when I returned from my trip). I've only listened through a couple of times, but I like it. It's different, more "Sonic". Almost like all those listens to Velvet Underground and Sonic Youth finally took over. There is some serious noise on this record, it's not your sister's Coldplay.

You see the S-K Interview in SPIN? Carrie B said (paraphrase) All these new bands sound like Gang of Four if Gang of Four sucked. THAT"S FUNNY.

in the same trip to Amazon.com I purchased LCD Soundsystem and let me tell you, if "Daft PUnk is playing at my house" doesn't get into your head, there is something wrong with that part of your brain that controls "that song in your head". This CD gets better with each listen and it's a recommend for every fan of funk-disco-punk-house.

Newsweek just retelling an old story...

Uh, people, I hate to tell you this, but the story about Americans abusing the Koran in order to enrage prisoners has been out there for quite some time. The first mention I found of it is March 17, 2004, when the Independent of London interviewed the first British citizen released from Guantanamo Bay. The prisoner said he had been physically beaten but did not consider that as bad as the psychological torture, which he described extensively. Jamal al-Harith, a computer programmer from Manchester, said 70 percent of the inmates had gone on a hunger strike after a guard kicked a copy of the Koran. The strike was ended by force-feeding.
-----
The reports kept coming: Dec. 30, 2004, "Released Moroccan Guantanamo Detainee Tells Islamist Paper of His Ordeal," reported the Financial Times. "They watched you each time you went to the toilet; the American soldiers used to tear up copies of Koran and throw them in the toilet. ..." said the released prisoner.

----

On Jan. 9, 2005, Andrew Sullivan, writing in The Sunday Times of London, said: "We now know a great deal about what has gone on in U.S. detention facilities under the Bush administration. Several government and Red Cross reports detail the way many detainees have been treated. We know for certain that the United States has tortured five inmates to death. We know that 23 others have died in U.S. custody under suspicious circumstances. We know that torture has been practiced by almost every branch of the U.S. military in sites all over the world -- from Abu Ghraib to Tikrit, Mosul, Basra, Afghanistan and Guantanamo Bay.
"This is America? While White House lawyers were arguing about what separates torture from legitimate 'coercive interrogation techniques,' the following was taking place: Prisoners were hanged for hours or days from bars or doors in semi-crucifixions; they were repeatedly beaten unconscious, woken and then beaten again for days on end; they were sodomized; they were urinated on, kicked in the head, had their ribs broken, and were subjected to electric shocks.
"Some Muslims had pork or alcohol forced down their throats; they had tape placed over their mouths for reciting the Koran; many Muslims were forced to be naked in front of each other, members of the opposite sex and sometimes their own families. It was routine for the abuses to be photographed in order to threaten the showing of the humiliating footage to family members."
---
The New York Times reported on May 1 on the same investigation Newsweek was writing about and interviewed a released Kuwaiti, who spoke of three major hunger strikes, one of them touched off by "guards' handling copies of the Koran, which had been tossed into a pile and stomped on. A senior officer delivered an apology over the camp's loudspeaker system, pledging that such abuses would stop. Interpreters, standing outside each prison block, translated the officer's apology. A former interrogator at Guantanamo, in an interview with the Times, confirmed the accounts of the hunger strikes, including the public expression of regret over the treatment of the Korans."

---
Here’s Olberman’s take on the issue: http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/6210240/\

But, "wacked out liberal" Eric Alterman comes down hard on Newsweek for bad journalism: http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/3449870/

Sullivan Says: Call McClellan’s bluff: http://www.andrewsullivan.com/index.php?dish_inc=archives/2005_05_15_dish_archive.html#111637021330032892

Kill em all

This defies logic: By remaining perfectly still you are being hostile. Orwell is pounding on his casket right now.

"

Accordingly, it was reasonable to believe that the corporal fired on the AIF
after reasonably believing that the individual was committing a hostile act" by
feigning death and subsequently moving his concealed arm.

http://www.cnn.com/2005/US/05/05/falluja.marine/index.html

I thought that if the enemy was wounded you were to provide medical treatment to him, not shoot him because he’s not dead yet. Can you IMAGINE THE OUTRAGE if an Iraqi did this to an American solider?

To repeat:

the individual was committing a hostile act" by feigning death

If this is progress...what does failure look like?

Context:

The number of serious international terrorist incidents more than tripled last
year, according to U.S. government figures, a sharp upswing in deadly attacks
that the State Department has decided not to make public in its annual report on
terrorism due to Congress this week.

Overall, the number of what the U.S. government considers "significant" attacks grew to about 655 last year, up from the record of around 175 in 2003, according to congressional aides who were briefed on statistics covering incidents including the bloody school seizure in Russia and violence related to the disputed Indian territory of Kashmir.

So, the State Department doesn’t release the report for the first time in 19 years.

THEN, the President is asked at his press conference:

QUESTION: Mr. President, your State Department has reported that terrorist attacks around the world are at an all-time high. If we're winning the war on terrorism, as you say, how do you explain that more people are dying in terrorist attacks on your watch than ever before?

BUSH: Well, we've made the decision to defeat the terrorists abroad so we don't have to face them here at home. And when you engage the terrorists abroad, it causes activity and action.
And we're relentless -- we, America and our coalition partners. We understand the stakes.

BUSH: And they're very high, because there are people still out there that would like to do harm to the American people.
But our strategy is stay on the offense, is to keep the pressure on these people, is to cut off their money and to share intelligence and to find them where they hide.
And we are making good progress. The Al Qaida network that attacked the United States has been severely diminished. We are slowly but surely dismantling that organization.
In the long run, like I said earlier, the way to defeat terror, though, is to spread freedom and democracy. It's really the only way in the long term.
In the short term we'll use our troops and assets and agents to find these people and to protect American. But in the long term, we must defeat the hopelessness that allows them to recruit by spreading freedom and democracy.
But we're making progress.

Rock and Roll Hall of Fame...injustice

OK, it's been said before, by people smarter than me, but COME ON...Black Sabbath needs to be in the RR HofF. If you're going to put Fleetwood Mac in there and these assorted 60's teeny bopper bands in there, Sabbath needs the nod.

Zeppelin gets credit for "inventing" metal all the time, and I am a huge Zep fan. When I was a kid there were 4 bands and everything else was crap. Zeppelin, Beatles, Stones and the Who and Zeppelin was my favorite. THAT said, Sabbath was more "metal".

Try to imagine, if possible, it's 1970 and you listen to Black Sabbath's first album...oh my God you were scared. There was nothing like that before them. Without Sabbath there is no Metallica, no Megadeth, no Anthrax, Slayer, etc, etc, etc.

For inventing what we've come to know as Metal...the class of 2006 should include Black Sabbath.

Tom DeLay...Criminal?...hypocrite and supporter of brutal regimes for SURE...here is the PHOTO evidence

http://www.time.com/time/nation/article/0,8599,1054968,00.html?cnn=yes

CAN the GOP types go ONE freakin day without proving your hypocrisy?

More Hypocrisy

I was reading in BusinessWeek (and I can't access link w/o subscription...sorry) about how the Dems are going to try to apply the Schiavo Law to everyone. Their reasoning, if Schiavo has the Constitutional Right to State funded health care....EVERYONE else does too.

Most believe the law would be ruled Unconstitutional, but it's an interesting move by the Dems.

The sad part is that why Jeb Bush tried to move heaven and earth to involve himself in the Schiavo case, Bush has proposed a Hard Cap on what the state pays to keep someone alive. So, I guess you only get Jebs attention, if you can help him and his brother politically.

From the Right...why Private Accounts are bad

Read this in BusinessWeek (that liberal rag).

ANother critique of the split in the GOP

Garrett Epps, a Professor at University of Oregon Law School writes

American conservatism has not one but two hearts: one is libertarian, the
other authoritarian. One heart proclaims "government must not make me live like
others;" the other insists "government should make others live like me." The
first heart beats in old-style conservatives such as Danforth and John McCain;
the second burns within figures such as John Ashcroft and Antonin Scalia.
Conservatives have all the power

I gave the SCLM a week on this one...Freedom on the March...just seen leaving Pakistan

Apparently, our good friends (and nuclear secret selling) friends in Pakistan didn’t get the memo about Freedom being on the march.

http://edition.cnn.com/2005/WORLD/asiapcf/04/16/pakistan.zardari.update/

ON the other hand, this might give Tom DeLay some ideas on how to impose his theocracy on the whole of America.

Tom DeLay...stuck in the 1950s

“Absolutely. We’ve got Justice Kennedy writing decisions based upon
international law, not the Constitution of the United States? That’s just
outrageous,” DeLay told Fox News Radio. “And not only that, but he said in
session that he does his own research on the Internet? That is just incredibly
outrageous

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/7550959/

1- I’m not sure how a former bug exterminator would know what the Supreme Court uses to make it’s decisions. And his recent and proven lack of basic understanding of the Constitution makes this assertion all the more laughable.

2- The second comment about the Internet…are you freaking kidding me? It’s not like he’s read Ann Coulter’s blog to make his decisions. Just because DeLay is still scared of the computer in his office doesn’t me the rest of the world should live in the 19th century.

How does this guy get a job bagging groceries, let alone US COngressman (I used to bag groceries, so I can say that)

Isn't that Convenient?

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/7579782/

Say something stupid (actually I had not heard it and probably believe Arnie on this) and then just blame it on poor English skills.

It’s what the Bushies have been doing for years, saying they misspoke, but they don’t really have the excuse of being born in non-English speaking countries.

I could see this: Bush: “I never really meant to say “Weapons of Mass Destruction”, I misspoke. I’m from Texas and Connecticut and Washington and Maine, and sometimes I get confused with words. “

I’m sure Rove has made note.

Good thing we Federalized this...

http://www.cnn.com/2005/POLITICS/04/19/tsa.waste/index.html


remember all that money we were going to save by the Union Busting and Centralizing the bureaucracy?



But then again, this is how Bushie run businesses (Enron, et al) so maybe we should have expected this…Oh yeah, I did.

Catching up on old news

You can't make this stuff up.

U.S. eliminates annual terrorism report

By Jonathan S. Landay

Knight Ridder Newspapers

WASHINGTON — The State Department decided to stop publishing an annual report on international terrorism after the government's top terrorism center concluded that there were more terrorist attacks in 2004 than in any year since 1985, the first year the publication covered.

Can the GOP tell the truth about anything? Can they be unhypocritical?

http://www.startribune.com/stories/1519/5364574.html

And some tidbits the Conservative Media Cabal doesn’t report. (Conservative Media Cabal = everything but Air America)


To end debate in the Senate and force a vote requires a successful motion for "cloture," which takes 60 yeas to pass. From the first days of the Senate, the principle of unlimited debate was the hallmark that set it apart from the House. Until 1917, Senate rules allowed no cloture of any kind on any issue.

And some more FACTS

In 1996, the Senate confirmed three of President Bill Clinton's nominees in January, but then Senate Majority Leader Trent Lott refused to schedule further votes. By June, 41 of Clinton's nominees were awaiting Senate floor action.

Money quote

Here's the question: Why was it appropriate for a single, powerful majority party senator (whether Lott or Hatch) to deny senators the right to vote yes or no on a nominee, but it is inappropriate for 41 senators in the minority to prevail in an actual up-or-down vote to reject a nominee?

Freedom on March...just seen leaving Pakistan.

Apparently, our good friends (and nuclear secret selling) friends in Pakistan didn’t get the memo about Freedom being on the march.

http://edition.cnn.com/2005/WORLD/asiapcf/04/16/pakistan.zardari.update/

ON the other hand, this might give Tom DeLay some ideas on how to impose his theocracy on the whole of America.

NYT on DeLay

Maybe they read my post from last night...see the last line.

Repulbicans need to take the GOP back from the Theocrats

Atrios has some excellent posts from religous and political leaders on the GOP's "if you're not with us you hate God" strategy of late.

Seriously, I know lots of Republicans and some that are just traditional Conservatives (make sure you don't confuse the two because these two groups have little in common with each other these days and ALMOST NOTHING in coming with the Bushies), and they don't buy this religious crap. They may like Bush, but it's more because they dislike Democrats out of habit. They no more what a Theocracy from Santorum/Frist/DeLay than they want their taxes to go up.

it's time the REAL CHristians in the GOP stand up and say "ENOUGH". These clowns sell their zealotry as Christianity when they are the most UNChristain people in their acts. They've forgotten most of what Jesus taught, they forget or ignore the paradigm shift that occurs in the New Testament from the Old.

Christians in the GOP need to stop this. Not liberals, not secularists, not anyone but real live Republican Christians...take your party back. And oh Yeah, remind these hypocrites mentioned above of the oath they took to uphold the Constitution (you know the document with the checks and balances?)

DeLay apologizes, but not too much

http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,153401,00.html



And the Prez sees blood in the water: (Remember how Bush forget even the name of Ken Lay when he got in trouble?)

MONEY QUOTE:

DeLay backtracked as White House spokesman Scott McClellan said President Bush
considers the Texas Republican, who is battling ethics allegations, a friend,
but suggested that the majority leader is more of a business associate than a social pal.

The Poor Christian Right

Imagine if Atheists went around on Christmas handing out flyers that God is dead? This event represents exactly what the Right wants, SILENCE, yet they can’t do the Christian thing. (turn the other cheek…)

Oh, the poor poor “Christian” Right.

Bolton

OK, I hadn’t really thought of this too much until today as we all know the disdain that this WH feels for the UN. But, isn’t Bolton part of the disastrous Intelligence operation that oversaw the wrong assertions about WMD in Iraq? He was the Under Secretary, Arms Control and International Security at State, so all these reports that keep blaming the intelligence community and absolving the President would lead a real Leader to fire his sorry ass, not Promote him. AM I wrong? How about a little accountability?

Just askin’


Further:

Condi chimes in (and support yesterday’s testimony that Bolton “kisses up, and kicks down” )

Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice has taken issue with testimony by a former
State Department intelligence chief, Carl Ford Jr., that Bolton was a "serial
abuser" of lower-level officials who challenged his analyses of other countries'
weapons programs. "That is certainly not the John Bolton I know," she said at a
State Department news conference.

When papers in Nebraska are talking, it’s over.

Thanks to DS for this

---------------------------
Some are questioning whether DeLay has lost his political touch. DeLay helped pull Congress into the battle over Terri Schiavo, and then criticized "a judiciary run amok" and vowed that judges will "answer for their behavior."From his comments one might conclude that the judges were liberal activists taking law into their own hands. In reality, however, some of them were conservatives like Florida Appellate Judge Stanley F. Birch Jr., appointed to the bench by President George H.W. Bush, who were simply upholding the law as it is now. And polls showed that 80 percent of respondents opposed the attempt by Congress to intervene in the case.The most imperative reason the Republicans in Congress should renounce DeLay's leadership is not that he is guilty of political miscues, however. It's that his lack of respect for principles and ethics is showing. The Republicans can do much better.

A Hero to the Right?

For all the talk about how liberals hate America, how come it’s always the right wingers that do violence to Americans? I’ll bet Ann Coulter’s already got her Free Eric bumper sticker.

Remember when Hilary did this?

Remember when Hilary mentioned a vast right wing conspiracy to bring down Clinton. The GOP laughed and made fun of her, even though it turned out to be true. (Don’t believe me? Why did the US spend $40 to investigate Bill Clinton, but only $15 million on the 9/11 commission? And Read David Brock’s book).

Now, Tom is the victim…poor Tom.

Also, his continued mentioning of George Soros? Come on…”Soros” is theocrat code for Jewish.

That Delay would cry about partisan attacks is the HEIGHT of comedy. The man has been the most effective partisan attacker in Washington for the past decade. He who lives by the sword…and all that.

The other funny thing is that Democrats could be organized enough to do what Delay accuses them of. This is a party in such disarray that it lost a presidential election to a draft dodger who oversaw the worst terrorist attack in the history of the world, engaged in a war sold on lies and whose ties to big business have led us to the no-bid corruption of Halliburton and huge gifts to drug companies in the Medicare bill, cuts Veterans medical benefits and soldiers pay in a time of (unnecessary) war, and created the LARGEST Deficits in the history of the world, and so much else.

So, this same group that couldn’t defeat such an incompetent Executive, is now, 6 months later, waging a coordinated campaign to “Bring down DeLay”. That’s COM O DEE

Another man of Integrity in the Bush Administration

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/7468275/

Is there anyone in a leadership position in the GOP that isn’t a criminal, liar, unethical, immoral or a hyocrite?

Boehlert in Salon

Isn’t it quite telling that someone so devoid of ethics and respect for the law is lecturing America on morality on behalf of the Theocratic wing of the GOP?

WWJD?



The roof collapses on Tom DeLay

If Tom DeLay can survive this, they'll have to change his nickname from "the Hammer" to "Houdini." This morning, the already besieged House majority leader, facing scores of allegations about unethical behavior and abuse of power, and grumbling among his nervous GOP troops, gets hit with a one-two punch, courtesy of the Washington Post and the New York Times. Their exposés only add more detail to a portrait of a politician who rarely let the rules get in the way of his own personal enrichment.
First, the Post: "A six-day trip to Moscow in 1997 by then-House Majority Whip Tom DeLay (R-Tex.) was underwritten by business interests lobbying in support of the Russian government, according to four people with firsthand knowledge of the trip arrangements." It is against the law for a member of Congress to accept travel reimbursements from registered lobbyists and foreign agents.
At the time, DeLay reported that the $57,000 Moscow trip was paid for by a Beltway nonprofit outfit. "But interviews with those involved in planning DeLay's trip say the expenses were covered by a mysterious company registered in the Bahamas that also paid for an intensive $440,000 lobbying campaign," the Post reports.
This is now the third overseas trip taken by DeLay that appears to have been paid for by foreign agents. Making matters worse, the lobbyist at the center of DeLay's Moscow trip was the notorious Jack Abramoff, who is now at the center of a federal influence-peddling and corruption probe investigation.
Then there's the Times: "The wife and daughter of Tom DeLay, the House majority leader, have been paid more than $500,000 since 2001 by Mr. DeLay's political action and campaign committees." The paper notes the women's duties "were described in the disclosure forms as 'fund-raising fees,' 'campaign management' or 'payroll,' with no additional details about how they earned the money."
Over the last three years DeLay's wife and daughter have received, on average, monthly paychecks worth $4,000.
DeLay's political action and campaign committee, Americans for a Republican Majority, is already the target of a criminal investigation, with its executive director "indicted in Texas last year on charges of illegal fund-raising, and prosecutors there have refused to rule out the possibility of charges against Mr. DeLay in the continuing inquiry," notes the Times.
-- Eric Boehlert

More Throwing to the wolves

Are DeLay's days numbered?


Shays: DeLay Should Quit As House Leader

By LOU KESTEN Associated Press Writer

WASHINGTON - Private GOP tensions over Tom DeLay's ethics controversy spilled
into public Sunday, as a Senate leader called on DeLay to explain his actions
and one House Republican demanded the majority leader's resignation.
"Tom's
conduct is hurting the Republican Party, is hurting this Republican majority and
it is hurting any Republican who is up for re-election," Rep. Chris Shays,
R-Conn., told The Associated Press in an interview, calling for DeLay to step
down as majority leader.
DeLay, R-Texas, who was admonished by the House
ethics committee last year, has been dogged in recent months by new reports
about his overseas travel funded by special interests, campaign payments to
family members and connections to a lobbyist who is under criminal
investigation.
A moderate Republican from Connecticut who has battled with
his party's leadership on a number of issues, Shays said efforts by the House
GOP members to change ethics rules to protect DeLay only make the party look
bad.
"My party is going to have to decide whether we are going to continue
to make excuses for Tom to the detriment of Republicans seeking election," Shays
said.
Rick Santorum, the No. 3 Republican in the Senate, said Sunday that
DeLay needs to explain his conduct to the public.
"I think he has to come
forward and lay out what he did and why he did it and let the people then judge
for themselves," Santorum told ABC's "This Week." "But from everything I've
heard, again, from the comments and responding to those, is everything he's done
was according to the law.
"Now you may not like some of the things he's
done," said Santorum, who is up for re-election next year in Pennsylvania.
"That's for the people of his district to decide, whether they want to approve
that kind of behavior or not."
DeLay's spokesman, Dan Allen, told AP that
the congressman "looks forward to the opportunity of sitting down with the
ethics committee chairman and ranking member to get the facts out and to dispel
the fiction and innuendo that's being launched at him by House Democrats and
their liberal allies."
Responding specifically to Shays' remarks later,
Allen added that DeLay's "effective leadership has helped to build and maintain
the Republican majority in the House and that's exactly why liberal groups
funded by George Soros have set their sights on him."
The majority leader
was admonished three times last year by that committee. The committee has been
in limbo since March, when its five Democrats balked at adopting
Republican-developed rules.
House Democratic leader Nancy Pelosi, D-Calif.,
said last week that the controversy was distracting DeLay from dealing with more
pressing problems before Congress.
Santorum, however, said DeLay is "very
effective in leading the House" and "to date, has not been compromised."
A
senior Democratic senator, Christopher Dodd of Connecticut, had this advice for
the Republicans who control both the House and Senate: "Be careful about how
closely you embrace Mr. DeLay."
Dodd cited the new rules for the ethics
committee that House Republicans rammed through in the wake of DeLay's
difficulties. Those rules require a bipartisan vote before an investigation can
be launched. DeLay's office also helped mount a counterattack last fall against
Rep. Joel Hefley, R-Colo., who was the ethics committee chairman when it came
down against DeLay.
"Unfortunately, in his particular case, there's a
process that he's tried to change so they could actually reach a determination
as to whether or not he's innocent or guilty of the things he's been charged
with," Dodd said. "But this is not going to go away."
DeLay "becomes the
poster child for a lot of the things the Democrats think are wrong about
Republican leadership. As long as he's there, he's going to become a pretty good
target," Dodd said on ABC.
DeLay, who took center stage in passing
legislation designed to keep alive Terri Schiavo, also has found that President
Bush and congressional colleagues are distancing themselves from his comments,
after her death, about the judges involved in her case.
"The time will come
for the men responsible for this to answer for their behavior," DeLay said,
raising the prospect of impeaching members of a separate and independent branch
of government. Later, he complained of "an arrogant and out of control judiciary
that thumbs its nose at Congress and the president."
Bush, declining to
endorse DeLay's comments, said Friday that he supports "an independent
judiciary." He added, "I believe in proper checks and balances."
Senate
Majority Leader Bill Frist of Tennessee said last week that the judges "handled
it in a fair and independent way," although he had hoped for a different result.
Democrats have said DeLay's remarks were tantamount to inciting violence
against judges.

GOP throwing DeLay to the wolves?

Santorum: DeLay Needs to Answer Questions

By LOU KESTEN Associated Press Writer

WASHINGTON - The No. 3 Republican in the Senate said Sunday that
embattled House Majority Leader Tom DeLay needs to answer questions about his
ethics and "let the people then judge for themselves."
Sen. Rick Santorum's
comments seem to reflect the nervousness among congressional Republicans about
the fallout from the increased scrutiny into DeLay's way of doing business. One
of DeLay's GOP colleagues in the House called him an "absolute embarrassment"
and doubled DeLay would last as majority leader.
DeLay, R-Texas, has been
dogged in recent months by reports of possible ethics violations. There have
been questions about his overseas travel, campaign payments to family members
and his connections to lobbyists who are under investigation.
"I think he
has to come forward and lay out what he did and why he did it and let the people
then judge for themselves," said Santorum, chairman of the Senate Republican
Conference.
"But from everything I've heard, again, from the comments and
responding to those, is everything he's done was according to the law," Santorum
told ABC's "This Week."
"Now you may not like some of the things he's done,"
Santorum said. "That's for the people of his district to decide, whether they
want to approve that kind of behavior or not."
DeLay's spokesman, Dan Allen,
told The Associated Press on Sunday that the congressman "looks forward to the
opportunity of sitting down with the ethics committee chairman and ranking
member to get the facts out and to dispel the fiction and innuendo that's being
launched at him by House Democrats and their liberal allies."
The majority
leader was admonished three times last year by that committee. The committee has
been in limbo since March, when its five Democrats balked at adopting
Republican-developed rules.
At a town hall meeting Saturday in Greenwich,
Conn., GOP Rep. Christopher Shays told constituents that he did not think DeLay
"is going to survive."
Shays, a moderate who has irked Republicans by
bucking party leaders on some prominent issues, described DeLay "as an absolute
embarrassment to me and to the Republican Party," according to the account
Sunday in The Advocate of Stamford.
In November, Shays protested a party
rule change that would allow DeLay to retain his leadership position even if he
was indicted in an ongoing Texas campaign finance investigation.
House
Democratic leader Nancy Pelosi, D-Calif., said last week that the controversy
was distracting DeLay from dealing with more pressing problems before Congress.
Santorum, however, said DeLay is "very effective in leading the House" and
that "to date, has not been compromised."
A senior Democratic senator,
Christopher Dodd of Connecticut, had this advice for the Republicans who control
both the House and Senate: "Be careful about how closely you embrace Mr. DeLay."
Dodd cited the new rules for the ethics committee that House Republicans
rammed through in the wake of DeLay's difficulties. Those rules require a
bipartisan vote before an investigation can be launched. DeLay's office also
helped mount a counterattack last fall against Rep. Joel Hefley, R-Colo., who
was the ethics committee chairman when it came down against DeLay.
"Unfortunately, in his particular case, there's a process that he's tried to
change so they could actually reach a determination as to whether or not he's
innocent or guilty of the things he's been charged with," Dodd said. "But this
is not going to go away."
DeLay "becomes the poster child for a lot of the
things the Democrats think are wrong about Republican leadership. As long as
he's there, he's going to become a pretty good target," Dodd said on ABC.
DeLay, who took center stage in passing legislation designed to keep alive
Terri Schiavo, also has found that President Bush and congressional colleagues
are distancing themselves from his comments, after her death, about the judges
involved in her case.
"The time will come for the men responsible for this
to answer for their behavior," DeLay said, raising the prospect of impeaching
members of a separate and independent branch of government. Later, he complained
of "an arrogant and out of control judiciary that thumbs its nose at Congress
and the president."
Bush, declining to endorse DeLay's comments, said Friday
that he supports "an independent judiciary." He added, "I believe in proper
checks and balances."
Senate Majority Leader Bill Frist of Tennessee said
last week that the judges "handled it in a fair and independent way," although
he had hoped for a different result.
Democrats have said DeLay's remarks
were tantamount to inciting violence against judges.
___
Associated
Press writer Suzanne Gamboa contributed to this report.

Houston Chronicle denounces Cronyn's justification of violence against Judges

If officials made similar statements professing understanding for the
motives of terrorists, they would be rightly denounced as unpatriotic. Yet
individuals who threaten or seek to harm members of this country's independent
judiciary are, like terrorists, striking at a fundamental principle of our
democratic system.

Cornyn attempts to excuse his remarks by saying he was only wondering
aloud. Even the junior senator from Texas should know that more is expected on
the floor of the world's greatest debating society. He said he was surprised at
the reaction, but that is less an apology than regret that he has been
criticized.

The Greatest Tournament in American Sport

The NCAA Basketball tournament does it again. A great tournament with underdogs and upsets and the top two teams in the country still end up playing for the title. What an event.

I know something about the pain of upsets, being a Syracuse fan, who watched my OrangeMEN (I deny the name change) get bounced by Vermont...VERMONT.

Anyway. Year after Year March Madness delivers. It's never anti-climatic like the SuperBowl where you have a boring game every other year. The Final Four and the Championship game is always close. The last blow out was in 1990 when UNLV (with it's roster of the finest professional college players) beat Duke by 30.

Even with the drain on college hoops by High Schoolers turning pro and even mediocre players leaving school early, the tournament is still the best month in American sports.

Why the NCAA doesn't see the GOLDMINE that a Football tournament would be...this country would stop for those games. Imagine a 16 team tournament where say Utah goes up against #1 USC. Not a person outside of Los Angeles wouldn't be a Utes fan on that day. I get excited just thinking about it.

The presidents can continue their lies about Student-Athletes, but a 16 team tournament could be set up to end on Jan 1. You limit the regular season games to 11 and start the playoffs after 2 weeks. The other teams could still go to their ridiculous unattended bowl games during that time, but would it really hurt if a 6-5 Wake Forest Team didn't play a 6-5 Iowa St team? Would America suffer? But, they could play if they wanted to keep the meaningless bowls.

Despite what people say, College Football does have a tournament, unfortunately the field is comprised of two often controversially selected teams. if you go to 16, no team with a legitimate claim to the title will be ignored. Sure, Bowling Green might be 12-0, but they are NOT going to beat Miami and USC on consecutive weekends. And if they do...how freaking great would that be????

Anyway, I hope you all enjoyed the tournament, even as 98% of you lost your pools and even more of you didn't see YOUR TEAM win.

Shins

As you know I love The Shins. They are my "America's greatest band" right now and have been in heavy rotation on my CD players for over a year (so NO, I didn't discover them). Anyway, going to see them at the Crystal in Portland on Thursday.

Can NOT wait.

"Underneath the power lines seeking shade"

"Liberal" media disproven again.

A Bushie friend of mine is always railing about the "liberal media" and how the hate Christians. This stuck me as pure bullshit after about the 10th hour of network coverage of the death of John Paul II today. The cable networks have been covering it non-stop for 3 days and most of the networks were wall to wall today.

It just shows how little evidence there is about this "liberal" media crap. BTW- I've asked him on numerous occasions to define this "liberal media" and I'll point out that Conservatives completely dominate radio, are extremely well-represented on the best seller list, have their own entire newspapers (WSJ, Washington Times, etc), a whole industry of Conservative magazines and their own cable channels. Even on the liberal outlets they always cry about there are tons of Conservatives there. Traitor Bob Novak has been on CNN forever, Pat Buchanan had a show there years. PBS has a show with the WSJ editorial board. The Washington Post employees George Will, etc, etc.

On the other side of the aisle, Fox News has the liberal lightweight Alan Colmes who gets bullied by Hannity for one hour per day.

So, as you're watching some more of the "liberal-Christian hating" networks cover the death of the head of the Catholic church and the election of his replacement over the next 10 days or so, just remember how much all the "liberal media" "hates" Christians.

My final thoughts...maybe

Here's hoping for peace for the Schiavo and Schindler families. And let's hope that Terri's name doesn't become a tool in the GOP Theocrat donation letters...

But I wish for too much.

What kind of God?

So, Tom Delay and assorted other Religous Zealots on the the Right Wing have said OUTRIGHT that Terri Schiavo is "a gift".

"One thing that God has brought to us is Terri Schiavo to elevate the
visibility of what's going on in America," the Texan congressman told a meeting
of the Family Research Council.

Ok, so let's grant that GOD really grants the Christian Right gifts despite the fact that the majority of their agenda is very UnChristlike. (The whole helping the poor, throwing the money changers out, turn the other cheek, etc; is not part of the GOP platform statement nor practice).

So, God is granting Delay's wishes. My question, what kind of God liquifies a woman's brain and for 15 years allows her to lie in that state until the time is just right for Tom Delay et al to use her as his political pawn? Does this God Delay speaks of plan such things? Did God plan her bulimia, heart attack, vegetative state, so that one day in 2005 Terri would become a Martyr for the Theocratic Bushie cause?

REALLY? GOD DID THIS TO HER TO GIVE THE BUSHIES POLITICAL LEVERAGE?

Now, if that were true what kind of God would that be?

Let's look at a more likely scenario. God doesn't control every event on earth, or any for that matter as such God didn't put Terri into this state and he sure as "Heck" didn't give a big fat Easter Present to Tom Delay in the body of Terri Schiavo. Oh Yeah, and Tom Delay is an idiot. A right wing political hypocrite (who by the way suspended medical care from his father as he lay in a coma...didn't hear about that did you?)

Shameful

Delay's a hypocrite...AGAIN

So, when Delay’s father was on life support, they withheld medical treatment that would have prolonged his fathers life. Congress didn’t have to intervene in that case.

THEN, when they were all done letting his father die, they sued the company responsible for causing the injury to his father…something that Delay and the Bushie’s don’t want us regular citizens to be able to do.

So, with Tom Delay…double the hypocrisy.

http://www.latimes.com/news/nationworld/nation/la-na-delay27mar27,0,5710023.story?coll=la-home-headlines



Just once, I’d like the new Theocratic wing of the GOP to not be hypocritical…JUST ONCE.

Schiavo

I haven't really said much about this, most of what I'm feeling has been said. Both by real conservatives and liberals. Although I haven't heard much from the Dems on this.

The irony of that 6 month old having his breathing tube removed last week and dying under court order despite the parents objections AND that this was authorized by Pres. "err on the side of life" Bush when he was governor is a sick joke. Shit, he could have stayed in Crawford and made an attempt to save that child if he was going to "err on the side of life".

Delay continues to make a fool of himself. Talking about how Terri's suffering and horrible condition is "good for the movement". The man should be in jail, not in COngress.

I don't know why, but I feel that Jeb Bush is doing what he's doing out of a real belief, not something political. I could be very wrong, but for some reason he seems like his efforts are not politically motivated, which would make him about the only person involved without that motivation.

The staunch defenders of the disabled who so lovingly execute the mentall handicapped also make me ill.

And any sick bastard who compares this with the Holocaust needs to reevaluate themselves.

No one is killing her, she is being allowed to die in accordance with her wishes that she expressed to her husband. 15 judges have ruled that is the case. No one will ever know, but if nothing it's is a marriage issue. If your spouse gets sick, do you want to make the decisions about your life or do you want Tom Delay?

This is NOT a government issue. This is a family issue and a really horrible thing to deal with. Michael doesn't want terri dead. He wishes she was still alive, but she's been gone for 15 years, yet for those first 4 years he was in denial himself. He didn't believe the doctors, but you imagine sitting at someone's bedside for 4 years with NOTHING coming back to you. YOu finally realize she's not coming back and you should honor her wishes.

He's turned down at least $11 million from political hacks who want to use Terri to further there own ends, but he hasn't...why? Because he wants to honor her wishes an make the most horrible decision that a spouse EVER has to make.

Lubbock

My brother was married in Lubbock this past weekend. Talk about your "Red" State/County/City. First, my bro lives in NYC with his now wife. They have many NYC actor friends that were in attendance. Included a gay couple or two, which goes over REAL big with the West Texas Church of Christ crowd let me tell ya. Anyway, that led to some interesting dynamics.

So, having partied down with a few gay men, it's my belief that ONLY gay people should get married. I don't want to stereotype (read: here I go stereotyping), but damn those gays are a good time. Dancing to Britney Spears, scaring the homophobes, it's just GOOD TIMES.

OK, we can let straight people marry, but they have to invite gay people.

ENough about that. I also saw the Buddy Holly museum...well worth the $5 just to see the glasses he was wearing when he died. Also the Buddy Holly statue and Lubbock wall of fame, with Waylon Jennings, Mac Davis, Tanya Tucker and other West Texas artists.

Also, in case you're worried. The Pancake House on Avenue Q is also serving "Freedom Fries" and "Freedom Toast" still in case you were worried West Texans had gotten over hating the French.

Let me chime in...a little late

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/7254897/


I’m sure you’ve followed the GOP’s way-overreaching efforts this weekend to dissolve the rights of a husband to honor the wishes of his wife, so I’m sure that all of you are appalled that this gross abuse of Federal power to destroy the sanctity of marriage, right? Slate has some good stuff on this.

Oh, by the way. I saw Tom Delay talking about this subject on Sunday where he lied at least three times.

The Bushies have so lost their way. The Republicans need to go back and read their Barry Goldwater.

How's this for keeping Government out of our lives. HYPOCRITES

Disgusting.

But, I'm sure it's comforting that Congress knows what is best for my wife (and yours) moreso than I do . Oh yeah, this applies to all of us.

Shameful.

Castro would be proud

Bush likes illegal propaganda.

Un Freakin Believable

Castro would be proud

Bush love ILLEGAL propaganda.

Un FREAKIN believable

Rediscovering the "Shoegazers"

Right now, as I type I'm listening to Ride's masterpiece "Nowhere". Just got done with Lush's "Gala". [A band I saw at the Second Lollapolooza at Saratoga...boy were they out of place with Soundgarden, Ministry, Ice Cube and the Red Hot Chili Peppers (BEFORE THAT "UNDER THE BRIDGE CRAP")]. The other day was grooving to "Loveless" by MBV.

Anyway, recapturing my youth and recommending you do too.

Halliburton trading with the enemy...AGAIN

While my Bushie friend keep telling me to wait to find out how Russia and France wanted Saddam to stay in power to keep their business ties, we can read about how the Vice President’s company did/does the same thing with Iran …a country with real WMD capability.

The hypocrisy is delicious, maybe treasonous. (Shout out to Ann Coulter, who accuses people who speak out loud traitors, but those who actually supply the enemy are her heroes)


http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/7119752/

The media is LAZY

http://www.cnn.com/2005/HEALTH/diet.fitness/03/07/milk.bones.reut/index.html

So, I read a couple of these stories and in only a couple did the article mention that this group that published these “results” is actually a Vegetarianism Advocacy group. Isn’t that somewhat important? Especially since most people don’t read beyond the headlines.

Goes along with the Big Scare about that carcinogenic Sudan-1 dye that has been found in food. I’ve YET to find an article that tells me it’s carcinogenic at WHAT LEVEL? How many PPM does it take? How long the exposure? That’s just lazy journalism.

The media is LAZY

http://www.cnn.com/2005/HEALTH/diet.fitness/03/07/milk.bones.reut/index.html

So, I read a couple of these stories and in only a couple did the article mention that this group that published these “results” is actually a Vegetarianism Advocacy group. Isn’t that somewhat important? Especially since most people don’t read beyond the headlines.

Goes along with the Big Scare about that carcinogenic Sudan-1 dye that has been found in food. I’ve YET to find an article that tells me it’s carcinogenic at WHAT LEVEL? How many PPM does it take? How long the exposure? That’s just lazy journalism.

Bono as head of World Bank...are you kidding me?

First, what exactly makes a multi-millionaire Rock Star qualified to run anything, let alone the World Bank.

Granted, I like U2, but I think Bono is an idiot. He's the MOST pretentious rock star ever, which makes his attempts to pretend he is ironically not pretentious, even MORE IRONICALLY PRETENTIOUS. It's like double irony.

My letter to the editor

In response to this pathetic Bushie propaganda,
http://www.oregonlive.com/news/oregonian/david_reinhard/index.ssf?/base/editorial/1109249871123290.xml

I wrote this to the Oregonian:

Dear Editor,
I was wondering if David Reinhard has any duties other than his column in order to earn his big salary. I hope so, because he hasn’t had an independent thought in a couple of years. The Oregonian would be just as well served by printing transcripts of Scott McClellan’s press briefings or WH position papers as it is running Reinhard’s column. Recently, Reinhard told us that he is not paid by the Bush WH to promote their ideas. I should hope not, because the Oregonian is paying him to do that. Accepting Administration money would be getting paid twice for the same work. Today’s column regarding Assisted Suicide was a truly pathetic attempt by someone who claims to be a Conservative abandoning principle in order to support the Bushie cause. Reinhard is a Bushie cheerleader, he’s not a Conservative. A Conservative would not have attempted such a feeble abandonment of State’s Right’s, but would have asked why are there “Federally” controlled substances in the first place. As he abandons Conservativism to be a good soldier in Karl Rove’s army, he gives NO attention to the fact the this is the will of the people of Oregon, and his effort to blame part of “Ashcroft vs. the People of Oregon” on Bill Clinton was another classic Bush tactic.
For the sake of business effeciency, you should replace Reinhard’s column with the daily talking points from the White House…no one will be able to tell the difference.

Washegon

http://www.kndo.com/article.src?ID=32261

I heard on the radio on the way home there is a bill in the Legislature to split WA into two states along the Cascades. Obviously this isn’t going to happen, but I think Eastern Oregon should get on board too and create one big new state along the Cascades to the Idaho Border from Canada to California/Nevada.

Washegon. Those Red Counties are always complaining about the major cities forcing their agenda, I say “have at it”. See what it’s like footing your own bill for once.

Where do I sign?

Why does Bush hate the will of the people AND States Rights?

High Court to Review Assisted Suicide Law

More Judicial activism

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/7012932/

Remember when Conservatives “wanted to get the government out of our lives”? Now, the politician and judges know better than a husband.

I thought we didn't negotiate with Terrorists

Oh yeah, that's right, that's a proud GOP legacy of negotiating with terrorists...see Ronald Reagan for examples.

It's like their position on torture. Torture is bad unless we do it.

Phrases that drive me nuts

Mike Cleverly, a neighbor and longtime friend, spent Friday night watching a basketball game on TV with Thompson. He said Thompson was clearly hobbled by the broken leg. "Medically speaking, he's had a rotten year," he said.

But he added that "he's the last person in the world I would have expected to kill himself. I would have been less surprised if he had shot me."


Adding to the list of stupid things to say. Forgetting the fact that Hunter Thompson killing himself didn’t surprise me at all, it seems right in line, but really was he the “LAST PERSON” who would do that? What about some guy who heads up a Suicide Prevention group? Or a Priest who would believe it to be a mortal sin to kill oneself.

Also adding: “No one could have imagined” to this list. I heard that over the weekend. Really, “NO ONE”? meaning no person now or in the past. “Could” meaning not that they did, but “Could” have. And finally “imagined”….are humans so uncreative?

Someday, pigs might grow wings and fly. And someone will say on that day “No one could have imagined that pigs could fly”…well I just did.

This is added to list that already contains:

"Nothing could be further from the truth"...REALLY? NOTHING?

and of course people who say Samwich, when the mean SAND-WICH.

And the worst of all, and I heard John Feinstein say it this week on the radio, is people who say "LITERALLY" when the mean exactly the oppposite. For example, Mr. Feinstein, the Lakers did NOT LITERALLY implode. Neither individually or Collectively...NO IMPLOSION. So, what you meant to say, the "Virtually" imploded, but not LITERALLY.

OMG that kills me.

George Bush OPPOSES AMerican Heroes and sides with Saddam's torture...sickening

http://www.latimes.com/news/nationworld/iraq/la-na-pow15feb15,0,3155150.story?coll=la-home-headlines

Can you imagine the “outrage” the Limbaugh’s of the world vent if Clinton sided against AMERICAN POW’s TORTURED by Saddam. Oh my GOD.

Truly, Truly shameful.

Why Any Veteran would have voted for President AWOL is beyond me.

W...he was on the Bus

W loved the ganja.

So, I await the Bushie hacks to condemn this horrible horrible crime just as they did to Clinton.

I won't hold my breath. Because the one thing you can't count on from the Bushies and the rest of the GOP hacks, is HYPOCRISY and LYING.

Classless ...as usual

http://www.cnn.com/2005/ALLPOLITICS/02/18/specter/index.html

Dear Arlen,

Sorry about your cancer, but we have a radical right wing agenda to force upon America. You’d better confirm our judges or will hold back your chemo.

Love,
Your typical Conservative.



Classless as usual.

I love this "gannon" stuff

Here is a link to Olbermann's site. Can you imagine if these continuous lies and propaganda efforts happened during CLinton's WH? OMG, the world would have ended.

So, it's the hypocrisy that astounds. Also the fact that the lies happen day after day after day.



With quotes from Ari Fliescher :

I don't think that party organizations should have people in that room acting as reporters,” Fleischer continued. “They are advocates, not reporters and a line should be drawn." Fleischer nonetheless resumed taking Guckert's questions, he says, after the GOPUSA site owner, Bobby Eberle, phoned him and convinced him that it was not an 'official' Republican website.

Fleischer also said that as Press Secretary, he did not know "Jeff Gannon" was an alias — that he'd found out with the rest of us.

There are the two most alarming truths contained in the E&P interviewed with Fleischer. He "found out" that Guckert was from this GOP-USA website, and just recently he "found out" that Guckert was his real name, not Jeff Gannon. That means somebody other than the Press Secretary to the President got Guckert in there, vetted him, and cleared him through the Secret Service.

Rockin to the Old School

Now, if you knew me you'd know I've got a varied taste in music. Recent CD purchases include your current "alternative" chart toppers (Hives, Interpol, etc), but also the real country music (George Jones, Hank, Willie, Waylon, Cash, of course Dwight), so I 've got the new Loretta Lynn (mad props to Loretta and Jack White on the Grammy for country album). My most recent BMG order included Earth, Wind and Fire and The Staples Singers, along with Black Star.

But the music I grew up on, what is now know as the 70/80's classic rock has been ignored. Oh sure, still listen to the Stones from that era, Dylan, but the more AOR stuff I couldn't take, until recently. I just can't get enough of ELO, Boston, I even had Journey turned up to 11 the other day in my truck (it was on the radio, I don't own any Journey).

But, anyway, I go through the phases and right now that's what it is. Although, I can't get all the way back to Styx. I was a big fan, "Pieces of Eight" and all that. But still can't do that. Sorry Mr. DeYoung.

Reading

Finished up my second Tom Friedman book the other day. Had read "Lexus and the Olive Tree" a month or so ago and I just finished “Longitudes and Attitudes”. While I find Friedman’s rationalizations for invading Iraq, pretty lame, especially in hindsight, it was OK. “Lexus” was probably better. One thing I learned is that I HATE buying books that are simply reprints of columns. I know being a columnist is difficult, but charging me full price for a book for work you’ve already done seems like a rip off to me. A friend recommended “Beirut to Jerusalem” , give that a shot eventually.

Currently reading "The Professor and and the Madman". Which is a pretty quick pager turner. Needed to take a little break from the seriousness of my recent readings.

More screwing the little guy

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/6947569/

YEAH, TEAM BUSH.

And some of you who used to be Conservatives should be outraged at 2 parts of this. That is limits market remedies for corporate wrongs and that it FEDERALIZES cases that have no Constitutional basis for being a Federal Case.

YEAH, TEAM BUSH.

Finish what you started

http://www.cnn.com/2005/WORLD/europe/02/09/rice/index.html


As I read the first few lines of this a few thoughts come to mind.
1- Finish what you started in Afghanistan, a country where tribal
leaders who love bin Laden and the Taliban run 90% of the country (if Bush was really worried about terrorism, he's pay a lot more attention to this breeding ground)
2- Finish what you started in Iraq
3- What "next steps"? Does America have a secret army that it's
going to invade Iran with?
4- Why should we believe anything this administration says about
Middle Eastern countries possessing WMD?
5- I believe that the US is a little jealous of the success the
Europeans have had with diplomacy in Iran.
6- An invasion of Iran would be disastrous. Iranians like the
freedom and the West, more so than other Middle Eastern countries, they have a recent history of rising up against oppression and they don't like the religious leaders. An American invasion turns all that Iranian goodwill to a hatred of America in order to protect their country.
7- Does anyone in this administration have a freakin clue about
anything that happens outside of Crawford Texas?
8- The balls of America to suggest that other countries should live
up to Agreements re: nuclear weapons when it unilaterally withdrew from the ABM treaty.

Why Sportswriters are idiots reasons 126,127, 128

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/6930823/

Sure, Brady will likely get there some day if only for these past four years, but PUH-LEEZE can we hold off on the Hall of Fame talk until he’s played 8-9 years?

And WHO CARES if the Patriots should be called a Dynasty or not, it’s not like they get a trophy. “Are they or aren’t they a Dynasty?” that’s all we’ve heard for 12 months…SHUT UP.

Also shut up about “FutureHallofFamerBrett Farve”. We know, but you don’t have to start every single sentence relating to football with his name (now FuturehalloffamerBrett). They did the same thing with the Lakers last year…everything was the Los Angeles Lakerswith4futurehalloffamers (and if Gary Payton belongs in the Hall of Fame, I’ll eat my hat…if I had a hat).

And I don’t care how cute he gets, I still don’t like Terry Bradshaw.

Thanks for letting me get that off my chest.

BTW- The Ducks have USC, UW, Cal and Oregon State at home this year. A great year to be a season ticket holder. Although, I think the Ducks would have a better chance against the 49ers than they do against USC.

Why does W. love criminals?

Man, the country needs another Democrat like Clinton who will increase funding for police and still balance the budget. Hey, but we got our $300 tax cut….YEAH!

I guess all that 9/11 talk during the election was sloganeering. Because, “Hey, the Rich People gotta stop paying taxes”

http://kevxml2adsl.verizon.net/_1_KG5TO102IFNKHF__vzn.dsl/apnws/story.htm?kcfg=apart&sin=D882ONNO0&qcat=usnews&ran=7018&passqi=&feed=ap&top=1

WASHINGTON - President Bush's budget will propose slashing grants to local law enforcement agencies and cutting spending for environmental protection, American Indian schools and home-heating aid for the poor, The Associated Press learned Saturday.

…


According to figures obtained by the AP, Bush would slice a $600 million grant program for local police agencies to $60 million next year. Grants to local firefighters, for which Congress provided $715 million this year, would fall to $500 million.
He would eliminate the $300 million the government gives to states for incarcerating illegal aliens who commit crimes. It's a proposal he has made in the past and one that Congress has ignored. Also gone would be assistance for police departments to improve technology and their ability to communicate with other agencies.

Making us safer every day

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/middle_east/4204913.stm


Nope, this won’t create any terrorists. So, instead of hating Saddam, they’ll hate America who brought these clowns to power. And let’s not pretend this isn’t really happening. Remember some months ago, when US Soldiers tried to intervene when they saw Iraqi’s being tortured and abused by Iraqi police, they were told to stand down? So, America is aware of this and allows it.

Freedom is on the march (Not applicable in Iraq, Egypt, Saudi Arabia, Pakistan and another other country with a dictator on the US Payroll)

Old Bush Friend, Chalabi to be charged

Why no outrage for the man loved by Neo-Cons, is a crook and very likely an Iranian spy? Here he is sitting amongs Congressmen, Senators, Supreme Court Justices, and most of the Executive Branch.

http://www.cnn.com/2005/WORLD/meast/01/21/iraq.chalabi/index.html

And in case you forgot:

http://www.whitehouse.gov/news/releases/2004/01/20040120-5.html

And here's the picture:

http://www.whitehouse.gov/news/releases/2004/01/images/20040120-7_d012004-2-515h.html

Magic Elections

It's been a while. Busy with Holidays and playing too much Halo2 online.




Immediately following an essay by a member of the faculty of Hoover Institution about how drug regulation/approval should be more of a market approach than a more cautious FDA…this on that bastion of Liberal media, NPR. Imagine my surprise that NPR would give 5 minutes of uninterrupted comment without rebuttal to such a Conservative voice, can you see the Conservative Media Cabal providing some lefty the same opportunity? Methinks not. But I digress,

So, after this essay, I heard General Abazaid say that the elections on Jan 30 will be the death of the insurgency. Can I ask, does anyone REALLY think that on Feb. 1, these guys will lay down their arms and go home and live peaceably? It’s not even realistic. After the election, the violence will go on, especially that directed at police and the newly elected officials. To claim this magic power of elections seems quite naive. Especially, when you see that the PM is saying it’s not safe enough to have elections in the first place.

Bush III in 2008 campaign starts now

**“Powell and the president's brother, Florida Gov. Jeb Bush (search), who has experience with extensive hurricane damage in Florida, leave Sunday to visit coastal areas in the Indian Ocean ravaged by last Sunday's tsunami.”


Isn’t it nice to see the Rovians turn the death of 125,000 people into a political opportunity for little bro? Shameful.

Just like when Bush II, wasn’t going to campaign on 9/11, turns out that’s all he did. Just wait until Jebbie’s campaign videos in 2008, you’ll see Jeb unloading rice from army trucks and walking through flood ravaged streets.

**This is from Foxnews, so it’s plain to see why the qualification of Jeb Bush as the most qualified man to help in Asia because he’s walked among blown over houses in Florida.

The President's good friend

Russia gets Yukos unit
Acquisition called 'a blow for rule of law' in Russia
http://www.marketwatch.com/news/yhoo/story.asp?guid=%7BDFA5E6E0-EB25-4BD1-BB64-C918CE64CA0E%7D&siteid=myyahoo&dist=myyahoo

In related news...the President wants to reward the Russian Dictator with WTO membership. A true judge of character that President of ours. All while ignoring the very likely possibility that Putin knew of the assisination attempt on Yushchenko, haven't heard that in the Liberal media, but it seems like a very likely possibility considering his recent moves to re-establish Stalinesque control over Russia.
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A14889-2004Dec20.html

"Vladimir Putin and I have got a good personal relationship, starting with our meeting in Slovenia," Bush said during his year-end news conference. "I intend to keep it that way."

Another Neo-Con Piles on Rummy

With assorted Senators, former Generals held in high esteem and yesterday Bill Kristol and today someone from AEI jumping on Rummy, can he be long for his job?





Rumsfeld's War
Thu Dec 16, 9:21 AM ET
Tom Donnelly
Washington (The Daily Standard) - DEFENSE SECRETARY DONALD RUMSFELD'S meeting engagement with Army Specialist Thomas Wilson in Kuwait last week was not just a reality check for an arrogant and isolated Beltway bigwig. It was also, and perhaps more profoundly, an overdue reality check for what has proved in practice to be a terrible idea: military "transformation."



For the past 15 years, big thinkers and strategists have observed that the application of information technologies had made businesses more efficient and effective. Why couldn't similar efficiencies and increases in battlefield effectiveness be wrung from military forces which, after all, were troglodytic expressions of the Industrial Age? Heavily armored ground forces, in particular, were too ponderous and therefore vulnerable in the emerging age of "netwar" with al Qaeda and spectacularly "enabled" leaders like Osama bin Laden (news - web sites). And, as Rumsfeld told the troops in Kuwait, armored vehicles still get blown up anyway.Whatever genuine wisdom was resident in these observations was long ago smothered by two more traditional impulses: air-power theory and number-crunching systems analysis. In fact, these two schools of thought actively conspired to capture the flag of transformation. And so it turned out that transformation perfectly fit the programs that the Air Force already had on the books, most importantly and expensively the tactical fighter programs like the F-22 and the Joint Strike Fighter. And to pay for it, the green-eyeshade analysts at the Pentagon (news - web sites) looked to cut Army force structure. Like all good captains of industry, they looked to substitute capital for labor.Thus we have a Defense secretary more concerned about the Army and the force he'd like to have--the high-speed-low-drag transformed force of the future--than the force with which he actually has to fight today's wars. And, in fact, Rumsfeld and his lieutenants would also simply like to fight the wars they'd like to have rather than the war as it is. How else to explain the Pentagon's conduct of operations in Iraq (news - web sites)? The administration is still patting itself on the back for the initial invasion; this week's ceremony honoring retired General Tommy Franks, President Bush (news - web sites) acted as though the problems of the post-invasion period didn't exist: the invasion was "the fastest, longest armored advance in the history of American warfare" with "a force half the size of the force that won the Gulf War (news - web sites)" and "defeated Saddam Hussein (news - web sites)'s regime and reached Baghdad in less than a month."But the reality in Iraq today is Tommy Wilson's war, not Tommy Franks's war.Nor is it Donald Rumsfeld's war, or at least not the war he wants. Even longtime supporters and transformation advocates have begun to recognize that Rumsfeld is now a large part of the problem. Loren Thompson, head of the Lexington Institute, a defense think-tank long supportive of the secretary, told the Washington Post on Monday that Rumsfeld won't face reality: "He knows what the situation is, but he has been unready to change his plans." Rumsfeld has been most reluctant to change his plans about the size of U.S. land forces, and the Army in particular. It was, perhaps, a good idea to "go early and go ugly," as senior generals put it, to war in Iraq; waiting longer to build up forces in the spring of 2003 was not a risk-free proposition, and most of those now bemoaning the size of the invasion force are at heart still bemoaning the invasion itself. But the experience of the past 18 months must count for something in reconsidering the overall size of the Army.In agreeing to stay on as Defense secretary in the second Bush term, Rumsfeld has made it known that he wants to "complete the job of transformation" he has started. It would be far better if he would dedicate himself to winning the war he helped to start.Tom Donnelly is a resident fellow at the American Enterprise Institute and a contributing writer to The Daily Standard.