“My opponent doesn’t know what it is to lose. I do. And I’ll welcome the support of voters who do, too. I’ll take the losers. I’ll take the debtors. I’ll take those who’ve lost in love, or baseball, or in business. I’ll take the Milwaukee Braves.” R.I.P. Sen. William Proxmire 1915-2005.
Category: Politics (2005-2006)
Tehran Twaddle.
“The West has given more significance to the myth of the genocide of the Jews, even more significant than God, religion, and the prophets.” In the world-gets-even-scarier-department, Iran’s hardliner president publicly indulges in Holocaust denial. Clearly, Iran is living up to its axis-of-evil appellation these days, but remember: Ahmadinejad’s election was in part blowback from Dubya’s amateurish and tone-deaf Middle-East policy in the first place. At any rate, it’s clear that our Iran situation is worsening, and that Iranian possession of nukes could be a very frightening scenario.
Dwindling Crescent.
“We are about to lose New Orleans. Whether it is a conscious plan to let the city rot until no one is willing to move back or honest paralysis over difficult questions, the moment is upon us when a major American city will die, leaving nothing but a few shells for tourists to visit like a museum. We said this wouldn’t happen. President Bush said it wouldn’t happen.” By way of Looka, who’s been doing an exemplary job covering the Katrina aftermath, remember New Orleans.
As Chuck notes, “Why are [Dubya and the GOP] balking at spending $32 billion to protect a major American city from further destruction while they seem to have had no trouble passing four tax cuts in the last week that totalled $95 billion?” Update: The White House announces it will spend $3.1 billion on levees. Well, it’s a start, I suppose.
Top of the Food Chain.
“I’m confident the president knows who the source is. I’d be amazed if he doesn’t. So I say, ‘Don’t bug me. Don’t bug Bob Woodward. Bug the president as to whether he should reveal who the source is.’” What did the President know about Plamegate, and when did he know it? Saving his own skin first, as per the norm, Douchebag of Liberty Robert Novak says ask Dubya. Update: Safe once more among his kind, DoL Novak joins FOX News.
The Eye of the Needle.
“They are trading the lives of poor people for their agenda. They’re being, and this is the worst insult, unbiblical.” As liberal Christian groups protest GOP cuts in poverty programs, the Post looks into why the usual right-wing suspects are AWOL on the issue of poverty.
Mea Culpa, Sort-of.
“It is true that much of the intelligence turned out to be wrong. As president I am responsible for the decision to go into Iraq.” In his final speech on Iraq before tomorrow’s elections, (text) Dubya admits the case for war was FUBAR, while insisting it was a good idea anyway. (“The United States did not choose war — the choice was Saddam Hussein’s.“) Of course, Bush neglected to mention that it was he, Cheney, Rumsfeld, et al who cherry-picked through the available intelligence and continued to recite claims they knew to be false. Still, for someone who’s seems pathologically incapable of accepting reality at times, this has to be considered a step forward.
Breaking all the Rules (of Law).
An ugly day for American values around the world: In Iraq, an investigation inaugurated after the recent discovery of secret prisons in Baghdad uncovers at least 120 victims of torture and/or abuse in prisons run by the new Iraq Interior Ministry. “Prisoners had their bones broken and their fingernails pulled out, were subjected to electric shocks and had burning cigarettes crushed into their necks and backs, said the Iraqi official.” And, elsewhere, a European investigation suggests that the CIA were in fact holding prisoners illegally in Europe, until they were surreptitiously moved to North Africa after the story broke. Charming. So is this what Dubya meant when he said “we are determined to show the meaning and promise of liberty” to the world? If so, I’d remind him of the Lincoln quote he used in the same inaugural address: “Those who deny freedom to others deserve it not for themselves; and, under the rule of a just God, cannot long retain it.“
(Chief) Justice De-Layed?
Ten days after the Post unearthed a Justice Department memo deeming the recent Texas redistricting a violation of civil liberties, the Supreme Court says it will review the DeLay plan. “The panel stressed that it was deciding ‘only the legality’ of the redistricting plan, ‘not its wisdom.'”
The Money Pit.
The Washington Post offers some handy graphs on the comings-and-goings of Casino Jack Abramoff’s donation operation. Looks like, while the GOP has a 2-1 advantage in obtaining Abramoff and the tribes’ money, some prominent Dems — particularly Patrick Kennedy — have seen their share of the loot as well. Update: Another Dem — Byron Dorgan — returns his Abramoff-tainted money.
The other Novak speaks.
“One final note: Luskin is unhappy that I decided to write about our conversation, but I feel that he violated any understanding to keep our talk confidential by unilaterally going to Fitzgerald and telling him what was said.” TIME reporter Viveca Novak explains her testimony before the Fitzgerald grand jury. Novak, who may well have tipped Luskin to a hole in Rove’s story, is now on a leave of absence with TIME “by mutual agreement.”