Off For The Weekend

Well, I have to tell you, I have thoroughly been enjoying my blogging for the past few months and it seems I've had less and less time to do it. It gives me an outlet to vent my frustrations and also gets the creative juices flowing.

There's been so much to write about this week! The Walter Reed scandal and the Scooter Libby verdict alone is enough for any "full-time, I get paid to blog" writers to develop Carpal Tunnel Syndrome. And let's not forget the hearings on the fired Federal Prosecutors and the daily FOX News distortions. The possibilities are endless and make my head swim.

But shlubs like me who do this as a hobby don't have the time to be able to put it all down, let alone develop informed opinions while making it entertaining to read. So, as my fiancee would kill me if I brought my laptop on our weekend getaway, I'll be walking away from my desk and leaving the bitter cold of New York for sunny Las Vegas for three fun-filled days. (I'll keep a note pad handy and scour the local papers in search of my next topic.)

In the meantime, those who read my blog (all three of you), continue to search for the truth on any of the sites listed on the right, search for new blogs and support the writers who post fervently by leaving them a comment. Believe me, it makes all the difference in the world when you realize someone might actually be interested in reading what you write. Let them know you're tuned in - leave your own opinion. If a blog is never read, does it still rant?

I'll be back soon enough and ready to pounce on the next insane story. I most likely won't write about my weekend, because what happens in Vegas stays in Vegas.

Have a great weekend!

Bush Is Unclean

How does the world feel about George the Liar? An educated guess would indicate that his approval rating is probably far lower than the 29% he is currently holding in the United States. But hold on!

It seems that Bush's Latin-American tour has been causing quite a ruckus south of the border. It includes a stopover beginning late Sunday in Guatemala. On Monday morning he is scheduled to visit the archaeological site Iximche on the high western plateau in a region of the Central American country populated mostly by Mayans.

Of course after he leaves, they'll have to cleanse the site. Mayan priests will purify the sacred archaeological site to eliminate "bad spirits" after President Bush visits next week, an official with close ties to the group said Thursday.

"That a person like (Bush), with the persecution of our migrant brothers in the United States, with the wars he has provoked, is going to walk in our sacred lands, is an offense for the Mayan people and their culture," Juan Tiney, the director of a Mayan nongovernmental organization with close ties to Mayan religious and political leaders, said Thursday.

How do you like that? They are fearful that even Bush's presence will offend the Gods. Maybe Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez wasn't so far off the mark when he called Bush "the devil". There's been a lot of bad joojoo going on in the West Wing lately. We don't want it spreading like the plague and causing some kind of famine or earthquake in Guatemala.

Boehner Threatens Cutting Off Funds for Iraq

SF Gate: (03-02) 04:00 PST Washington -- The House minority leader threatened Thursday to get his members to vote against a $96.3 billion spending bill for the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan if Democrats persist in plans to attach conditions to the money that would tell President Bush how to conduct the wars.

Murtha's plan would "attach requirements that no units could be sent back to Iraq until they are fully trained, equipped and rested." Sounds like a good idea, doesn't it?

But here is what John Boehner said: "We will not support a bill that inhibits the president's ability to wage this war,'' he told reporters. Boehner added that if the committee bill includes such conditions, he will direct top House Republicans to press their members to vote against it.

So let me get this straight:

The "We-Support-the-Troops" GOP House leader is saying that they will vote against funding $96.3 billion for the war because of the condition that the troops should be fully trained, equipped and rested before being deployed... is that what I'm hearing? These pigs would cut off funding for the troops they say they support if there is oversight on how the money is spent?

The only thing inhibiting the president's ability to wage war is his myopic view of the world through his rose-colored glasses.

The blank check days are over, Johnny! Get that through your thick skull. And you sons of bitches have the audacity to crow about the Democrats not supporting the troops when you'd rather send them into a meat grinder ill-equipped and poorly trained? How are poorly trained troops supposed to win your war on terror if they don't know what the hell to do once they get there, you idiot? Go ahead, vote no. You'll save the Dems a lot of trouble answering questions from the morons who insist Dems don't support our military.

You and everyone like you make me sick. Support the troops my ass! You bastards will do anything to further the corporate cause, making money hand over fist while American blood soaks the sands of Iraq in a pre-emptive, illegal war that is destroying their country when THEY HAD NOTHING TO DO WITH 9/11!

The Libby Verdict Spin Begins

No sooner is Scooter Libby found guilty of 4 counts of perjury, obstruction of justice and lying to the FBI that the conservative spin begins on the verdict.

John Gibson, FOX: "So the vice president and Libby wanted the press to know because they were getting pointed questions about why did you send this guy if you weren't going to pay attention to his report. And they found out that his wife had sent him. They wanted people to know. Problem was, she was a covert spook, at least technically.

So if you are the vice president or his assistant, can you out the spook if the spook is pulling strings behind your back to make you look bad? Evidently not.

Personally, I'm glad they did. There was a cabal inside the CIA working against the president's policy and they wanted to hide behind their secret status while they did what was essentially an anti-war political hitjob.

...So why would Cheney send an anti-war activist to investigate a key fact in the decision to go to war? Answer: He wouldn't. And the person who did was trying to sabotage the president."

Sure, that's it John. They were just trying to protect themselves against a vast left-wing conspiracy. A "cabal inside the CIA"? What are you smoking, Gibson? You're right on one count. Cheney didn't personally send Wilson. He asked the CIA to investigate to try and give credence to the ridiculous 'yellowcake-from-Niger' story. Plame, a non-official cover CIA Agent (NOC) sent Wilson, the most qualified person with the most knowledge of the region to assess, and he found nothing.
When his findings were ignored and he saw that we were being lied into a war, he spoke out. That's when Cheney went psycho and became obsessed with punishing Wilson by outing Plame. As SilentPatriot at Crooks and Liars says, Gibson manages to rewrite history in three minutes.

But that's only the tip of the iceberg. The Washington Post Editorial of March 7th calling the Libby trial a "pointless Washington scandal" was a ridiculous tirade of misinformation and revisionist history, so much so that of the 36 pages of posts I scanned through, I couldn't find one that was in agreement with the editorial. Most posts gave vague little pieces of advice like, "You should retire", "I'll be expecting a retraction" , "You should read the paper you write for" and "This is the worst piece of editorial drivel that the Post has published in a very long time."

Of course, this gave more ammo to the right-wingers.

DNR Online, Harrisonburg, VA: "The verdict of guilty in the case of Lewis "Scooter" Libby, the former chief of staff for Vice President Dick Cheney is one more step in a "pointless Washington scandal."
Those last three words are not those of rightwing extremists, but the headline of an editorial in The Washington Post."
Oooh! That radical left-wing rag, The Washington Post! It must be true, unless we disagree with it, of course. Then it's all lies from that radical left-wing rag!

Here are some other quotes I came across in the OCRegister's Opinion Page:
"Anyone should get a pass when you can’t remember specifically what you said, especially considering numerous daily contacts that Libby made over the span of months."

"This farcical verdict should be summarily overturned and the rogue “special” prosecutor should get a taste of his own medicine. Better yet, he should be disbarred. What a disgrace."

Reading posts on conservative blogs and websites, it is amazing to me how the GOP has convinced the kool-aid drinkers and FOX News have convinced their viewers that:

1) Libby did nothing wrong: "Scooter Libby is going to jail for not remembering who he told what. He didn't lie, evidently. He didn't remember right, and that is a federal crime, of course, if you happen to be speaking to a FBI agent when your memory fails."

2) Valerie Plame was not covert, therefore no crime was committed.

Once again sheeple, the trial was not about the Plame leak. It was about Scooter Libby perjuring himself in front of a Grand Jury, the FBI and hindering an investigation.

Verdict: Guilty.

I don't think Libby could have gotten as far as he did professionally if he had a "forgetful memory". C'mon John, "he didn't lie, evidently"? This kind of classified information isn't what you might tend to forget, especially when your boss is obsessed with the Plame/Wilson affair. It's not as if he couldn't remember where he'd left his keys. It isn't that trivial. Besides the fact that people who know Libby are crediting him with an excellent memory and being incredibly sharp. Oh and by the way, Mr. Gibson, if you're "personally glad they did" leak the name of a CIA covert operative, then you should be investigated for treasonable offenses as well. A man in your position in agreement with treason? Par for the course for FOX News.

Of course no one has been charged with leaking Plame's name - the investigation into that matter was OBSTRUCTED BY LIBBY! And let's not start discrediting Patrick Fitzgerald in all this. Remember, this "rogue 'special' prosecutor" was appointed for this job by the WHITE HOUSE! But he didn't play their game. How soon before he gets fired? Anyone starting a pool?
Everyone is also acting as if this thing is over because it isn't as big as Watergate. It is not over. This can of worms has just opened. There will be plenty more to spill out of this administration before it's all over.

Do a little research yourself today. Google "Libby verdict" and you'll get a pack of editorials all trying to suggest that this was a non-crime, Libby was a scapegoat, Patrick Fitzgerald should be disbarred, Libby didn't leak the name, blah, blah, blah.

It's amazing what people still won't believe when it is staring them right in the face.

McCain Campaign Falling Apart

Due to his early presidential run announcement and "wasted" lives comment on Letterman, falling behind to Rudy Giuliani AND MITT ROMNEY?, not appearing at the Conservative Political Action Conference and his constant support for the war in Iraq and George the Liar, John McCain's fledgling campaign may be over before it even begins.

McCain was supposed to announce much later in the year. Many of his staff were blindsided by his [Letterman] campaign announcement. " ...When you do that, and you're not prepared for it, the staff goes crazy. Some of his coordinators in different states were pulling their hair out!" And several aides were so outraged that they've quit, say Republican insiders.

"One of the top aides to the Republican leadership told me that McCain has lost so much support, he's simply beside himself. He's wringing his hands. Things are sinking fast—in two or three weeks, we'll know if there is any recovery."

Libby Found Guilty

On 4 of 5 Counts

NEW YORK TIMES: WASHINGTON, Feb. 6 — I. Lewis Libby Jr., the former chief of staff to Vice President Dick Cheney, was convicted today of lying to F.B.I. agents and grand jurors investigating the unmasking of a C.I.A. operative amid a burning dispute over the war in Iraq.

The question remains if there will be further investigations including Cheney's involvement and obsession with discrediting Joe Wilson and triggering the Plame leak. Initial reaction from prosecutor Patrick Fitzgerald indicates that as of now, "the investigation is inactive."

In an unrelated(?) note, the Dow is up over 80 points today and climbing since the verdict.

UPDATE: (5:04pm EST)

VP CHENEY: "I am very disappointed with the verdict. I am saddened for Scooter and his family. As I have said before, Scooter has served our nation tirelessly and with great distinction through many years of public service. Since his legal team is seeking a new trial, persuing an appeal, I plan to have no further comment on the merits of this matter until these proceeding are concluded."

How convenient. Oh, and the Dow closed up 157 points.

Ghosts of Abu Ghraib

"There is no such thing as a 'little bit' of torture."

The HBO Documentary "Ghosts of Abu Ghraib" is a must see. There isn't much more I can say about it. If you don't have HBO, find someone who does and have them record it for you.

It's a shameful, horrific situation not only that this could happen, but that it was condoned in the highest levels of the Bush administration.

Abu Ghraib may seem like an old story, but the US Military has still not released how many people died at Abu Ghraib.

New York Times Review

HBO Viewing Schedule

Companies Respond To Coulter

The blogophere strikes back as Verizon, Sallie Mae and Georgia based NetBank pull their advertising from Ann Coulter's website for the comments made last Friday against John Edwards at the Conservative Political Action Conference.

It was initially brought to their attention by VelvetElvis, a diarist on DailyKos, who posted contact information for companies hosting ads on Queen Ann's website, in the hopes that complaints to these companies would cause them to act. Great job, Elvis!

UPDATE:
Arianna Huffington: Has Ann Coulter (Finally) Had Her Macaca Moment?

29%

Yes, George the Liar's approval rating is now at 29%. That is a very sad number indeed. An even sadder number is 65%. Yes, 65% of Republicans still approve of the way our fearless liar is doing his job.

Are they blissfully ignorant? Are they that partisan that they refuse to see what is happening to this nation and the world with their own eyes? I cannot fathom the idea that ANYONE would look at the Chimp's handling of anything - Iraq, Iran, Katrina, Abu Ghraib, the Plame/CIA leaks... the English language - and find it in their "wisdom" to still think they approve of the Commander in Thief. Did the pollsters get a hold of an insane asylum patient list and start calling before they realized who they were polling?

Pollster: "Hello sir, do you currently approve of the job that President George Bush is doing?"

Patient: " Why, yes. Yes I believe the President is doing a wonderful job on all fronts. GET THESE SPIDERS OFF MY SKIN! STOP LOOKING AT ME!!!"

I only have one question for those 29% that still approve of the job that Bush is doing: WHAT THE HELL IS WRONG WITH YOU?!