Monday, October 31, 2005

Happy Halloween

Sunday, October 30, 2005

Class vs. ass

Texas hungry for leadership

How about that Rick Perry leadership...
A higher percentage of Texas households were at risk of going hungry over the past three years than in any other state, according to data released Friday by the U.S. Agriculture Department.

Between 2002 and 2004, more than 16 percent of Texas households at some point had trouble providing enough food for all their family members, the USDA report said.

In nearly 5 percent of Texas households, at least one family member actually went hungry at least one time during that period because the household couldn't afford enough food. That's the fourth-highest rate in the country.

Friday, October 28, 2005

Libby indicted



5 counts for Libby:

1 count obstruction of justice
2 counts of perjury
2 counts of making false statements

Lied to FBI agents on Oct 14, Nov 26, 2003.
Committed perjury on March 5 and 24, 2004.
Engaged in obstruction of justice by impeding investigation.


There is a lot of talk as to what will happen with the leak related indictments tomorrow. Some say Rove will maybe walk for now but the investigation will continue. If Rove leaves his post in the White House for whatever reason, just what would poor old George do then.

Thursday, October 27, 2005

Criminalization of (corrupt) conservative politics - Ha!

Desperation in the local Fort Bend Republican Party. You're doin' a hecka of a job Toadie"
Rep. Tom DeLay, under indictment on campaign finance violations, railed against Democrats in a letter Thursday, accusing them of engaging in "the politics of personal destruction.

The letter, sent to constituents and contributors, connected his case with investigations into possible misconduct by White House adviser Karl Rove and Senate Majority Leader Bill Frist.

"What we're fighting is so much larger than a single court case or a single district attorney in Travis County," the Texas Republican wrote. "We are witnessing the criminalization of conservative politics."

High court may take up Texas redistricting

Cheater.

It is widely agreed that Republican Rep. Tom DeLay plays politics the way Ty Cobb ran the base paths -- spikes up. How lawful that style is depends on who is answering the question. The Supreme Court may soon be weighing in on DeLay's conduct if it agrees to hear arguments on his orchestrated reshaping of federal representation for his home state of Texas.

The Supreme Court will consider Travis County, Texas, et al. v. Rick Perry, Governor of Texas, et al., along with several other related Texas redistricting cases, during its private conference on Friday. They are among dozens of cases the Court will review at the conference to determine if they should be added to the Court's docket for argument.

In October 2004 the Supreme Court remanded the Texas redistricting case back to a three-judge federal panel, which then rejected, for a second time, legal challenges to the new Texas congressional map, passed in 2003 and followed in the 2004 election.

Wednesday, October 26, 2005

I still luv ya Astros


...and Backe, one hell of a game.

Condi possessed



This picture from USA Today has caused a particular group of people to scream and cry. I think she looks rather charming.

the 200 billion dollar question

Delay fails to comply with house rules

Somebody really loves to get attention.

Rep. Tom DeLay failed to comply with House requirements that he disclose all contributions to a defense fund that pays his legal bills, the Texas Republican acknowledged to House officials.

He wrote officials that $20,850 contributed in 2000 and 2001 was not reported anywhere. Another $17,300 was included in the defense fund's quarterly report but not in DeLay's 2000 annual financial disclosure report -- a separate requirement.

Other donations were understated as totaling $2,800, when the figure should have been $4,450.

Walmart shops at Tom Delay

Last week, Republican Congressman, and former Majority Leader of the U.S. House of Representatives, Tom DeLay was arrested and booked on state conspiracy and money-laundering charges.

As if corruption at the highest level of our government isn’t bad enough, it turns out Wal-Mart actually gave Tom Delay money 2 days after he was indicted. That’s right. Wal-Mart made a $5,000 contribution to support Tom Delay’s corruption 2 days after his indictment.

For a long time, we have known Wal-Mart’s policies are morally corrupt, but now we know Wal-Mart’s politics are politically corrupt too. But, this time, we are going to do something about it. Wal-Mart should ask Tom Delay for its contribution to be returned immediately.

Don’t let Wal-Mart’s morally corrupt political agenda corrupt our Congress. Tell Wal-Mart to stop supporting corrupt politicians like Tom Delay today.

Do it here.

Fitzmas in October



Here's a little video to the song "Let it Snow" to get you in the early holiday mood.

Tuesday, October 25, 2005

TX-22: 42% say Delay should resign



Via Kos:

42 Percent of the Texas 22nd Congressional District think Tom DeLay should resign (including 27 percent of Republicans). Of course, DeLay isn't going to do that anytime soon, so the voters can forcefully resign him in November 2006. DeLay is at 45/51 approve/disapprove. The partisan breakdown of this SUSA poll is 51 Rep, 20 Dem, and 27 Ind.

In search of MR. X

Any guesses?

From the CBS Evening News, to air at 6:30PM:
CBS’ JOHN ROBERTS: Lawyers familiar with the case think Wednesday is when special prosecutor Patrick Fitzgerald will make known his decision, and that there will be indictments. Supporters say Rove and the vice president’s chief of staff, Scooter Libby, are in legal jeopardy. But they insisted today the two are secondary players, that it was an unidentified Mr. X who actually gave the name of CIA agent V alerie Plame to reporters. Fitzgerald knows who Mr. X is, they say, and if he isn’t indicted, there’s no way Rove or Libby should be. But charges may not focus on the leak at all. Obstruction of justice or perjury are real possibilities. Did Rove or Libby change statements made under oath? Did they deliberately leave critical facts out of their testimony or did they honestly forget? Some Republicans urged Rove to step down if indicted. Not a happy prospect for president Bush.

Plame case now involves Cheney and Tenet



We all knew Tenet would tell the administration whatever they wanted to hear. But Cheney holds the second most powerful post on the land and could have conceivably violated his oath of office.

Delay wins paper shredder

Thanks to Raw Story for posting this great story.

Indicted Rep. Tom DeLay (R-Texas) bid on a wicker basket two weekends ago at the Needville Harvest Festival in Fort Bend County in his home state. And he won not just the basket, but the gadget inside it, too — a paper shredder, Roll Call's Mary Anne Akers reports Tuesday. Excerpts.

#
The shredder purchase would have perhaps remained a secret if DeLay’s potential 2006 Democratic opponent, Nick Lampson, hadn’t gleefully spilled the beans at a fundraiser last week. A national political reporter was also on hand at the festival to witness the basket/shredder bid. (So stay tuned for more details, including how much the Hammer paid for the shredder.)

A former House Member who was victimized by the redistricting engineered by DeLay, Lampson is having a ball telling the story of DeLay’s rather ironic purchase.

“Nobody needs a paper shredder more than Tom DeLay,” Lampson’s campaign manager, Mike Malaise, told HOH. “This was a very practical purchase, and we’re sure the paper shredder will see a lot of use in the DeLay camp.”

He said Houston may just see its second straight white Christmas “when it starts snowing TRMPAC documents this year.”

Monday, October 24, 2005

Miers pullout?



Why are the Far-right Republicans giving Georgy Boy such a hard time? Will he withdrawal Miers and fold to the American Taliban and give us a conservative extremist totally out of touch with regular Republicans, let alone regular Americans. Or does he need her to save his ass once he is indicted in the near future? Hold on people.

DeGuerin contributes $15,300 to Democrats



Via Huffington Post: So why doesn't Delay get a new lawyer?

Politics Dick DeGuerin, Tom DeLay's hired gun, is making lots of noise about Judge Bob Perkins political donations. That lead me to query the OpenSecrets.org database to see where DeGuerin has been putting his money.

It turns out that since 1992 DeGuerin had contributed $2,500 to the Democratic National Committee, $1,000 to the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee, and a total of $11,800 to six Democratic candidates including a $1,000 donation to Nick Lampson in 1996 who just happens to be running against Tom DeLay in 2006. [...]

See judge's donations here.

See lawyer's donations here.

Friday, October 21, 2005

Think Progress: DeLay’s Lawyer Lies About MoveOn

Tom DeLay’s attorney, Dick DeGuerin, claims that the judge presiding over DeLay’s criminal case in Texas, Bob Perkins, should be disqualified. A central part of his claim is that an organization that Perkins has donated to in the past, MoveOn, is selling t-shirts with Tom DeLay’s mug shot:
DEGUERIN: The latest thing on MoveOn.org’s website, they are trying to raise money by selling t-shirts with Tom DeLay’s mug shot on the t-shirts. And I just don’t think that it looks right for the judge sitting on Congressman DeLay’s case to have contributed to an organization such as that.
According to MoveOn’s Washington director Tom Mattzie, this claim is false. Mattzie told ThinkProgress this morning that MoveOn has “never sold any t-shirts with Tom DeLay’s mug shot” on their website or otherwise. You can go to their website and see that he’s right.

Nevertheless, the media is already picking it up DeGuerin’s comments as if they were true. From the Associated Press:

The judge, Bob Perkins, has been a contributor to Democratic causes. DeLay’s attorney pointed out Friday that those causes include MoveOn.org, which is nowselling a T-shirt with DeLay’s picture on it.
Dick Degurin wasn’t immediately available for comment. We’ll update you if he gets back to us.

Cross-posted via Truth Progress.

A very Hughes exaggeration

Exaggeration and lies, so what's new. Karen needs a good dose of truth serum.
U.S. envoy Karen Hughes on Friday defended Washington's decision to go to war against Iraq in front of a skeptical audience, saying Saddam Hussein had gassed to death "hundreds of thousands" of his own people. A State Department official later said she misspoke about the number.

*******

"After all, he had used weapons of mass destruction against his own people," she told a small auditorium with around 100 students. "He had murdered hundreds of thousands of his own people using poison gas."

Although at least 300,000 Iraqis are said to have been killed during Saddam's decades-long rule - only about 5,000 are believed to have been gassed to death in a 1988 attack in the Kurdish north.

All smiles during booking



OK not really, but the official mug shot below is rather silly. Any attempt not to make him look like someone who was just fingerprinted and booked is out the window. It is what it is.


Tom DeLay’s booking photo:

U.S. Rep. Tom DeLay on Thursday turned himself in at the Harris County sheriff’s bonding office, where he was photographed, fingerprinted and released on bond on state conspiracy and money laundering charges.

“He posted $10,000 bond and they have left the bonding office,” Lt. John Martin with the sheriff’s department said.

Thursday, October 20, 2005

Hurricane survival kit: N.O. style



Hurricane Survival Kit:

Toilet Paper........................................check
Bud Light...........................................check
Keystone Ice........................................check
Budweiser.........................................check
Red Dog.............................................check
Misc. other bottles of alcohol......................check
Piece of plywood to float your chick and booze on...check

Next time let's all be more prepared

Wes Clark, Ed Schultz and fairness on radio

Many of you probably already know Ed Schultz, a prominent progressive radio talk show host who is syndicated nationwide. You may not know what happened this week though.

After being told that the first hour of Ed Schultz's daily radio show would air live on Armed Forces Radio every day, the Pentagon suddenly reversed the decision and refused to air Ed's program Monday morning, only hours before the first show would have been broadcast. The explanation for this sudden reversal seems weak.

Last year, Sen. Tom Harkin (D-IA) introduced a resolution that was unanimously passed by the Senate, urging Secretary Rumsfeld and Armed Forces Radio to ensure more political balance in programming. Then, at the end of September, Manny Levy, Chief of the Radio Division of the American Forces Network Broadcast Center, advised Schultz's distributor, Jones Radio, that: "AFN Radio has squared away everything on our end to begin carrying the first hour of 'The Ed Schultz Show' each day, beginning Monday, October 17, 2005."

But suddenly, at 7 am on Monday the 17th, Allison Barber, the Pentagon's deputy assistant secretary for internal communications -- the same person who was responsible for staging last week's ill-fated video conference between President Bush and American troops in Iraq -- called Schultz's producer. Without any further explanation, she simply said that the deal was off.

We must let our voices be heard and exercise leadership to help ensure that the spirit of Senator Harkin's resolution -- and the spirit of fairness -- are at play on taxpayer financed programming.

Send an email to your Members of Congress now -- urge them to enforce fair play on Armed Forces Radio!

It was just 11 years ago when 70 Republican Members of Congress, led by then Congressman Robert Dornan (R-CA), demanded that President Clinton's Secretary of Defense Les Aspin broadcast Rush Limbaugh's radio and television programs to the military.

Well if Armed Services Radio is good enough for Rush Limbaugh, it's certainly good enough for Ed Schultz.

Tell your Members of Congress to urge the Pentagon to honor their promise and air the Ed Schultz Show on Armed Forces Radio!

Sincerely,

Astros finally go to the big dance

The stage had been set. We could feel it in the pits of our stomachs. With one strike to go in game 5, Albert Pujols breaks our hearts and our spirits with a three run bomb to force the National League Championship Series back to St. Louis. Oh, no, we think to ourselves, here it comes. Another post-season collapse, another season sputters and falls just short. Not this year, not this team. Showing same grit and determination that allowed the team to crawl out of a 15-30 hole to win the wild card, the Astros are headed for the Fall Classic.

Over the last 15 years or so, the Bagwell-Biggio years, the Astros have not been known as a clutch team, if anything, they were known as a team to fold when the pressure of the playoffs was turned up. They also had the bad luck to get matched up with the Braves and their pitching during the heyday of Maddox, Smoltz, and Glavine. Tonight, however, they proved again, as they have done all season and through the postseason, that they can come up big when the chips are down.

Craig Biggio 2 for 5, 1 run, 1 RBI
Brad Ausmus 3 for 4, 1 run

On a night when resident power producer Lance Berkman went 0 for 4, the veterans stepped up with key offensive production. Where the Astros of years past worked for the long ball, this team plays with a small ball mentality and tonight was no exception: hit and runs, bunts, a suicide squeeze; all the fine points, the dots on the “i”.

They could not play this way without dominant pitching and they got it from Roy Oswalt, who was dominating and earned the Most Valuable Player honor for the series.

Roy Oswalt 7 innings pitched, 3 hits, 1 earned run, 6 strikeouts

With an exceptional command of his fastball, Oswalt was able to keep the potent Cardinal hitters, particularly the lethal middle of the lineup, from doing any damage.

David Eckstein 0 for 3
Jim Edmonds 0 for 3
Albert Pujols 0 for 4
Larry Walker 1 for 4
Reggie Sanders 0 for 3

An early at-bat between Oswalt and Pujols exemplifies the futility of the St. Louis batters: Oswalt sends Pujolz back to the bench with an inside fastball that cut the slugger out and sent him pinwheeling through the batters box. Pujolz, batting .304 for the series and hero of game 5, was helpless.

The Cardinals were not helped by an abrupt loss of composure on the part of starter Mark Mulder who, in the third inning, let two hits unravel him to the tune of two runs. A solo home-run by Jason Lane in the next inning chased the former A’s ace. It was all they would need, although they added another three runs for good measure.

Now the Astros head to Chicago, underdogs again, and, for the first time this postseason, up against, arguably, a better pitching staff but they’ll get their chance, and that’s all a team can ask for. That’s all Craig Biggio and Jeff Bagwell have labored for, for 33 years between them, for a city and a franchise that has struggled mightily for any success, let alone the highest level of acheivement.

During the postgame press coverage, teammates were asked repeatedly about the original Killer B’s: how does it feel for them? Are you glad for them? There were not two players playing that I wished for more to reach the World Series and they could not have done it in a fashion more in keeping with the way both men have played their entire careers: with grit, with determination, with fire. They ran out every hit, dove for every ground ball, and epitomized that great baseball epithet: playing the game the way it was meant to be played. Now they get to play in the World Series. Finally. Exhale, pump our fists, jump up and down, and get ready for Saturday in Chicago.

Article cross-posted at The Errant Fool, here.

Texas Command to Arrest Tom DeLay


Delay arrest warrant via Swing State Project.

Wednesday, October 19, 2005

Delay has an arrest warrant

Well they said it would happen soon...
A Texas court issued a warrant Wednesday for former House Majority Leader Tom DeLay to appear for booking, where he is likely to face the fingerprinting and photo mug shot he had hoped to avoid.

If Bush really did speak with God

Tuesday, October 18, 2005

Fun on C-SPAN



Watch the parody vid...it's so much fun!

Garden of ethics

Bush approval drops 10 points in Texas to 42%

Wow, home of the Texas White House. 54% disapprove of the job George W. Bush is doing as President and the bottom hasn't even fallen yet.

Vice President Condi

Yikes...the lesser of two evils.

Delay politics carry heavy price

Blatant political partisanship?
Over lunch at the Sunset Grove Country Club in Orange, Texas, businessman Pete Cloeren lamented to Rep. Tom DeLay that he couldn't do more to help his friend Brian Babin get elected to Congress. Cloeren had personally given all he was allowed, and the law wouldn't let him donate money from his plastics company.

DeLay had a solution, Cloeren said. "There are ways we get money moved around the system," Cloeren recalls him saying. "He told us at the lunch table that this was done all the time."

The day after the lunch in 1996, Cloeren says, a DeLay aide called with instructions to donate to several out-of-state political committees and candidates. After Cloeren did so, those committees directed like amounts to Babin's campaign.

Cloeren later pleaded guilty to campaign-finance violations, but the man he says advised him escaped any consequences. The Federal Election Commission dismissed Cloeren's complaint against DeLay for lack of evidence, and DeLay denied wrongdoing.

But the scenario Cloeren describes bears a striking similarity to transactions that have led to DeLay's indictment by two Texas grand juries in the past three weeks and his removal, at least temporarily, as House majority leader. One of the most effective House Republican leaders is sidelined as the chamber approaches crucial and difficult votes on spending cuts. DeLay is scheduled to make his first court appearance Friday in Austin.

Miserable failure

Bush approval hits 39%, lowest of his presidency
By Richard Benedetto, USA TODAY

WASHINGTON — President Bush's job approval rating has slipped to 39%, the lowest measure of his presidency, according to a USA TODAY/CNN/Gallup Poll.
At the same time, job approval for Congress, which has a Republican majority, has fallen to 29%. That is its lowest level since 1994, the year Democrats lost control of the Senate and House of Representatives for the first time in 40 years.

The poll showed that 68% of Americans say they are dissatisfied with the way things are going in the country. That is the most negative assessment in nearly a decade.

read more...

Monday, October 17, 2005

Join Lampson in Washington and help defeat Delay

If you happen to be in Washington stop by and say hello to Nick.

Lampson Victory 2006 Kick-off
Date: October 18, 2005
Time: 5-7pm

Address: Democratic Headquarters
430 South Capitol Street, SE
Washington, DC 20003
For questions about the event please contact:
Meg Jongeward Jongeward@dccc.org
202-485-3504

DeLay will likely be booked this week

AP say Delay will be booked this week. Mug shot soon to be all over internet.

Rep. Tom DeLay will likely be booked in a Texas county jail this week despite attempts by his attorneys to bypass the fingerprinting and mug shot process.

Before Friday, DeLay, a Republican from Sugar Land, Texas, will likely spend about an hour being fingerprinted and photographed, she said. He'll also be required to state his attorneys for the record.

Travis County allows some defendants to do a "walkthrough" booking process, in which the defendant is photographed and fingerprinted. But DeLay's bond amount would be preset so he could immediately pay it and avoid a stay in jail.

I've done nothing wrong

What a rotten bastard

If Tom Delay comes to mind, you are right. John Cobarruvias over at Bay Area Houston Blog tells us why.

Sunday, October 16, 2005

A day in PlameGate



Rove to resign if indicted...

Rice Reveals She Has “Cooperated” with Prosecutor in Leak Probe

Miller's lawyer says Libby's in trouble

Kristol: Rove and Libby Will Be Indicted

Kinky has a new boot

Abramoff investigation has GOP holding its breath

Abramoff investigation has GOP holding its breath
CIA leak probe may be getting more attention, but troubles surrounding former lobbyist worry Republicans more.

By Scott Shepard

WASHINGTON BUREAU

Sunday, October 16, 2005

WASHINGTON — A grand jury investigating the White House leak of a CIA agent's name is expected to wrap up its work in the next couple of weeks, but it is another investigation — of former Republican superstar lobbyist Jack Abramoff — that has the Republican political establishment holding its breath.

Abramoff is at the center of ever more complicated inquiries that touch on subjects as wide-ranging as allegations of influ- ence-peddling in Congress and the White House, a gangland-style slaying in Florida and political shenanigans in Guam.

And while the CIA leak investigation by special prosecutor Patrick Fitzgerald, now in its second year, has yet to yield indictments, the investigations of Abramoff have resulted, so far, in bank fraud charges against him; obstruction charges against David Safavian, the Bush administration's former chief procurement official; and the withdrawal of President Bush's nomination of Timothy Flanigan, a onetime associate of Abramoff, to be the No. 2 official at the Justice Department.

Abramoff has had close connections with leading Republicans, including Bush; U.S. Rep. Tom DeLay of Sugar Land, the former House majority leader; Sen. Rick Santorum of Pennsylvania; party strategist Grover Norquist, head of Americans for Tax Reform; and strategist Ralph Reed, the former Christian Coalition executive director and Bush campaign official who is now running for lieutenant governor of Georgia.

Friday, October 14, 2005

TX District 22 die hards stick with Delay but approval only 46%

In general, do you approve or disapprove of the job Tom DeLay is doing as Congressman?

Approve
46%

Disapprove
48%

Not sure
6%

See letter grade and should Delay go? Looks like he will need more help from his friends.

Source: SurveyUSA / KPRC-TV

Dueling subpoenas

Thursday, October 13, 2005

Delay cronies send attack dogs



Watch the video here.

Think Progress has more on the Free Enterprise Fund and Club For Growth who are funding the advertisement.

Liar lies to troops at staged event

Why does Bush continue to get such poor advise. Is someone out to make him look like a fool every time he speaks or is he really that stupid. We all know the answer don't we?
"So long as I'm the president, we're never going to back down, we're never going to give in, we'll never accept anything less than total victory," Bush said.

The president told them twice that the American people were behind them.

"You've got tremendous support here at home," Bush said.

Less than 40 percent in an AP-Ipsos poll taken in October said they approved of the way Bush was handling Iraq. Just over half of the public now say the Iraq war was a mistake.

See a vid courtesy of CanOFun.

The ratings are in and the surprise No. 1 breakthrough hit of the season is ... "Everybody Hates Bush." -- Zings

Delay phone logs reviewed

Ronnie Earle subpoenas Tom Delay and family phone records. Tom says no big deal. We will just have to wait and see.

Wednesday, October 12, 2005

Bush on meth...or coke...or just acting very strange

I've heard stories of Bush moving his jaws recently like someone would on a drug like cocaine. I found this video though the author compares him to a meth user. Give it a watch.

All the president's men

Delay Auto-calls to plead his innocence

Hey TX D22 people, have you received one of these call? Seems Tom may be getting a little jittery.
Emailer Barbara: I am a constituent of Tom DeLay. I have two recordings of him on my answering machine. One I received on September 30 professing his innocence after his first indictment. The second was a similar call on October 6 after the second set of indictments. I have lived in DeLay's district for over 20 years and don't ever remember getting very many calls from him.
listen here

Tuesday, October 11, 2005

Wheel of scandals



This wheel isn't big enough.

DeLay Launches Media Blitz
Editor & Publisher - 10-11-05... "I know when you stand up for what you believe in, this kind of thing is going to happen," DeLay boasted on a Houston radio show. "It's part of the fight. I know Democrats hate me and they hate what I believe in and they hate the amazing things we've been able to accomplish ever since we've been in the majority."
Geez...

Texas republican congressman drunk behind wheel

Goodness, what else could go wrong for these guys.

U.S. Rep. Kevin Brady was arrested and charged with driving under the influence while in South Dakota, according to a published report.

The Texas Republican was pulled over by a state trooper Friday night for a problem with the tail lights of his vehicle, The Dallas Morning News reported.

Monday, October 10, 2005

Martin Frost: Public deserves truth on DeLay's deeds

Martin Frost explains Delays troubles...

Here’s how it worked: This committee (Texans for a Republican Majority} solicited $155,000 in corporate contributions from companies such as Sears Roebuck and Bacardi, and sent that money, along with another $35,000 (for a total of $190,000), to a subcommittee established by the Republican National Committee to help local and state candidates. Texans for a Republican Majority (TRMPAC) also sent along a list of seven state candidates in Texas who were to receive this $190,000.

The Republican National Committee then sent checks totaling the exact $190,000 amount to these seven candidates out of one of its non-corporate accounts.

The allegation is that DeLay and two of his employees “washed” this $190,000 in corporate money through the Republican National Committee, having the RNC make contributions that would have been illegal had they been made directly by TRMPAC.

The issue that will need to be decided by a judge and jury in Texas is whether or not DeLay and his employees can do something indirectly that they are prohibited from doing directly.

DeLay has made a career out of living on the edge, pushing the envelope between ethical and unethical conduct — and now between legal and illegal conduct. He has been admonished three times by the House Ethics Committee for various actions deemed to be of questionable ethical behavior.

Is that you God?


"God would tell me, 'George, go and fight those terrorists in Afghanistan.' And I did, and then God would tell me, 'George, go and end the tyranny in Iraq ...' And I did. And now, again, I feel God's words coming to me, 'Go get the Palestinians their state and get the Israelis their security, and get peace in the Middle East.' And by God I'm gonna do it."

--President Bush, as quoted by former Palestinian foreign minister Nabil Shaath, during a top-level meeting with Bush in June 2003

Rove lies, his lawyer lies

Like client, like attorney. Think Progress calls Luskin out on this quote he gave to CNN:

"He's told everyone who's asked him, including the federal prosecutor, that he's not part of any scheme," Luskin said.

Truth Serum Alert!

Republican stress level high



Yes I have seen it!

Facts vs. Spin

Why I love Randi Rhodes.

Thursday, October 06, 2005

Lawmakers defy Bush...set standards on detainee abuse



Why does The White House like torture so much? Kind of creepy.

Voted in twice...shame on us

This poor soul needs to find a new job quickly. His speech today was a disaster and everything he touches goes to sh*t. His job approval rating is at a worst ever 37%. I don't even think talking to God can get him out of this mess.
This CBS News Poll finds an American public increasingly pessimistic about the economy, the war in Iraq, the overall direction of the country, and the President. Americans' outlook for the economy is the worst it has been in four years. Most expect the price of gas to rise even further in the next few months.

A growing number of Americans want U.S. troops to leave Iraq as soon as possible, rather than stay the course, and the highest percentage ever thinks the U.S. should have stayed out of Iraq. When given a set of options for paying for rebuilding the hurricane-racked Gulf Coast, only one — taking money from the Iraq War — gets majority support.

President George W. Bush's overall job approval rating has reached the lowest ever measured in this poll, and evaluations of his handling of Iraq, the economy and even his signature issue, terrorism, are also at all-time lows. More Americans than at any time since he took office think he does not share their priorities.

The public's concerns affect their view of the state of the country. 69 percent of Americans say things in the U.S. are pretty seriously off on the wrong track — the highest number since CBS News started asking the question in 1983. Today, just 26 percent say things are going in the right direction.

DeLay Meeting, RNC Actions Coincided

Coincidence maybe? Hmmm...

Another Bush nominee tied to corruption

One by one they fall...Raw Story has the goods.

The Senate Judiciary Committee will hold a hearing Oct. 18 to explore the ties between Timothy Flanigan, President Bush’s pick for the No. 2 spot at the Justice Department, and former GOP lobbyist Jack Abramoff, who was indicted recently on federal mail and wire fraud charges, the (paid-restricted) ROLL CALL reported Thursday afternoon.

Wednesday, October 05, 2005

Fun with Google

Okay, people .. here's how it works ..

1) Go to www.google.com.
2) Type in the word "failure" without the quotes.
3) Press the "I'm feeling lucky" button (instead of "search")
4) Laugh.
5) Pass it on ..

Hurry .. before the good folks at google "fix" this …

Jailhouse Rock



SUGARLAND, TX (IWR News Satire) - Tom DeLay announced today that he will be starring in a remake of the Elvis Presley movie Jailhouse Rock to help pay his mounting legal fees for the recent string of criminal charges brought against him in his home state of Texas.
Mr. DeLay will play Vince Everett, who is serving a twenty-year to life jail sentence for felonious obnoxiousness and money laundering.

While in the big house, his cellmate, a former country singer, played by Orrin Hatch, introduces Vince to the record business.

Everett then becomes an overnight sensation as a rockabilly gospel singer and is eventually paroled by President Bush.

Unfortunately, Vince ends up back in the state pen after he is arrested for extorting lunch money from school children.

Thank you Internet Weekly.

Delay = trouble

More trouble for DeLay.

“Tom DeLay deliberately raised more money than he needed to throw parties at the 2000 presidential convention, then diverted some of the excess to longtime ally Roy Blunt through a series of donations…When the financial carousel stopped, DeLay’s private charity, the consulting firm that employed DeLay’s wife and the Missouri campaign of Blunt’s son all ended up with money,” the AP reports.

DeLay, successor Blunt swapped donations

More Delay shenanigans...