Wednesday’s Mini-Report

January 24, 2007

Today’s edition of quick hits.

* During the unexpectedly fascinating opening statements yesterday, were Scooter Libby’s attorneys signaling the White House for a pardon? Hmm.

* Bush managed to go through the entire SOTU without mentioning Katrina, New Orleans, and/or rebuilding. I thought the president gave it too little attention last year, but literally nothing this year? Pathetic.

* The House voted unanimously yesterday to prohibit lawmakers convicted of certain crimes from receiving pensions. Unfortunately, the measure can’t be applied retroactively — so Duke Cunningham and Bob Ney still get their money.

* Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice’s trip last week to the Middle East produced at least one amusing moment. Rice, for example, bragged that the “the removal of Saddam Hussein set in motion a number of other circumstances, other changes in the Middle East: the removal of an eastern-front threat for Israel, for instance.” On the “eastern front” of Israel we find Syria and Jordan on the borders, not Iraq.

* Those of you who might be wondering how Tom DeLay’s criminal trial is going will be disappointed to learn that the trial has been postponed, possibly for months, while prosecutors argue over whether DeLay should also face a charge of campaign finance conspiracy.

* Mark the date on your calendar: House Minority Leader John Boehner (R-Ohio) told CNN yesterday that he’s giving Bush’s escalation policy just 60 to 90 days to work. What comes after that? Boehner didn’t say, exactly, but the implication was that he’d give up on the policy.

* There’s nothing inconsistent about supporting increased involvement in Darfur, and decreased involvement in Iraq.

* Iraq’s parliament may be capable of doing more work, but it’s difficult when lawmakers refuse to show up for work: “Parliament in recent months has been at a standstill. Nearly every session since November has been adjourned because as few as 65 members made it to work, even as they and the absentees earned salaries and benefits worth about $120,000. Part of the problem is security, but Iraqi officials also said they feared that members were losing confidence in the institution and in the country’s fragile democracy. As chaos has deepened, Parliament’s relevance has gradually receded.”

* I’m as pro-family as the next guy, but I don’t have any problem with AirTran’s decision to remove a family with an unruly child from one of their flights.

* My friends at Americans United for Separation of Church and State have a new blog. It looks good.

* My friend Tom Schaller was on the Colbert Report this week and did really well.

* It’s certainly possible that I’m mistaken, but I don’t think John McCain was sleeping during the State of the Union. My guess: he was reading a Blackberry. You can take a look and let me know if you disagree.

* And finally today, we wrap up with the creepiest part of the State of the Union: freshman Rep. Michele Bachmann (R-Minn.), a very conservative Republican, put her hand on the president’s shoulder last night as he was exiting the chamber — but wouldn’t let go. The video is a little disconcerting, but worth watching, just to get a sense for how odd Bachmann really is.

If none of these particular items are of interest, consider this an end-of-the-day open thread.

As I mentioned at Muckracker, I think it’s a little late to get a pardon once you’ve already had your lawyer saying these things in court. Especially as it’s not a good idea for them to change their argument in mid-trial.

Instead, I think they’re trying to cover for Cheney, because Fitz’s case is all about how Cheney told Libby to do these things. So they’re basically giving up on Libby and tossing Rove under the bus to save Cheney, by having him insist that he’s covering for Rove. That’s my guess, anyway. I’m not sure if Rove or Bush would agree with that plan, but Cheney’s really not one to consult with people about this kind of thing and Libby’s always been Cheney’s guy.

  • Um, shouldn’t it be obstruction of justice if someone goes into a trial winking at the White House that they’ll be getting a pardon?

  • I also had noticed that Bush had made no mention of New Orleans or Katrina. To his credit, Senator Webb did mention in his excellent response “addressing such domestic priorities as restoring the vitality of New Orleans”.

    Here’s wishing an area Congressman, Jason Altmire, D-PA-04, well in his appearance on The Colbert Report’s “Better Know A District” tonight. He defeated Santorum protégé, Melissa Hart, in November.

  • And finally today, we wrap up with the creepiest part of the State of the Union: freshman Rep. Michele Bachmann (R-Minn.), a very conservative Republican, put her hand on the president’s shoulder last night as he was exiting the chamber — but wouldn’t let go.
    Now Bush has some inkling of how Angela Merkel felt.

  • Hey, drooling troll, get a clue, you’re not in the right place. You’re totally wasting your time. Why don’t you go to Stormfront or some other white power site where you belong?

  • OT: Remember the Virgin Lizard?

    http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20070124/ap_on_sc/britain_virgin_birth

    Iraq’s parliament may be capable of doing more work, but it’s difficult when lawmakers refuse to show up for work…

    Hey, they’re really catching on to Government a la Do Nothing 109.

    Dr. Rice-for-Brains needs a map and a slap. Isn’t there a story in the Bible about how God wanted someone to find one good man in his city or God would squash everyone? If God ever asks Bush to produce one good or competent person in his administration DC will be sk-rewed.

  • Dear #6,

    I believe you wanted either http://www.fownews.com, or http://www.loudobbshatesborwnpeople.org.

    You are truely a disturbing person. Maybe you are Michelle Bachman need to run off together and populate Mars

    Speaking of Bachman, this woman is Mean Jean Schmidt in a nicer pantsuit. This is not the last you will hear from her. I’m frankly surprised she didn’t just unzip his fly and “serve at the pleasure of the President” right there in the chambers.

    Wait until Condi sees this tape. This is going to be a serious cat fight!

  • I for one think John McCain was fast asleep, not reading. I also wish A Republic would do his posting elsewhere because I won’t even bother to rean anything he says in the future, and I doubt that anyone else will either..

  • My friend Tom Schaller was on the Colbert Report this week and did really well.

    Agreed. Great performance especially given that Colbert never let the mask slip (like he often does if you watch closely). I think I’ll have to buy that book finally.

  • * I’m as pro-family as the next guy, but I don’t have any problem with AirTran’s decision to remove a family with an unruly child from one of their flights.

    Agreed. And I have 2 small children. Frankly, I’m pro booze but if someone is being unruly ’cause their drunk they should be removed from a flight. Bottom line: if you are unruly, you get removed. Sorry Ma and Pa, this isn’t about you. Its about everyone else.

    The fact that they got reimbursed *and* more free round trip tickets is astonishing. I’m tempted to load my 5 year old up on a bunch of sugar and then get on a flight to hawaii. With luck we’ll be kicked off and I’ll have free tickets!

  • OK, this little petty bullshit between Charles Johnson’s LGF goons and me was mildly amusing, at first, but he’s seriously beginning to piss me off.

    It’s not my fault that Forbes used the wrong picture while I used the right one and at least did my job correctly. But him and his roach hordes are really pushing me at this point…

  • Not in response to anything in particular, but if you look back at history, just about every culture on the planet was doing just fine without any help from anybody for quite a long time, thank you very much.

    Then European cultures led primarily by the Spanish, Dutch, French and English figured out how to sail across the oceans and pretty much screwed up everything they touched in their relentless desire to take up all the wealth and power and indeed the very souls of the planet unto their own selfs.

    The Italians were around, too, if you count Marco Polo, but he basically did his business and went home which was really the polite thing to do, in my opinion.

    So then all these other cultures found their economies wrecked, their traditions and governing structures in ruins and life pretty much untenable in their own homelands. In desperation those that could left their homes and came to the only places left that had the ability to support life.

    Like here.

    Not to mention those who never wanted to come here in the first place but were stolen and brought here against their will just so somebody could make a buck off of them.

    The moral of the story: If you want to conquer the world, be prepared for a lot of houseguests and don’t whine when they start doing a better job at what they do than you do.

    Thus endeth the lesson.

    Amen.

  • *calmly steps to the rostrum….

    The nihilistic neofascist dunce who chooses to label himself as being “a republic” cites for this audience a quotation that I am certain we are all familiar with:

    “That to secure these Rights, Governments are instituted among Men, deriving their just Powers from the Consent of the Governed, that whenever any Form of Government becomes destructive of these Ends, it is the Right of the People to alter or to abolish it, and to institute new Government, laying its Foundation on such Principles, and organizing its Powers in such Form, as to them shall seem most likely to effect their Safety and Happiness.”

    Let us, for a moment or three, dissect this comment.

    Governments are, indeed, instituted among Men. Each and every individual who participated in the adoption of the above excerpt—and the indestructible document from which it was gleaned—were all Men; yet, they were all well-verrsed in their familial genealogy which existed “upon this explicit real estate” for no more than a few meager generations. This nation, and its basic form of government as established by the Founding Fathers, has been built upon and improved by “men” from every conceivable corner of the planet.

    “Reputrid,” having the cognitive potential which demonstrates itself among three specific species, being (1) stagnant pools of sea-water commonly found about 5 miles south of Salvo, North Carolina, (2) three-day-old roadkill on a hot July afternoon, and (3) the typical neofascist skinhead, lacks the politcal courage to mention this rather significant piece of the American historical record.

    Yes—the Government does, indeed, derive its powers from the Governed. Those “governed” also come from all corners of the world—and likewise, they have the right to “alter or abolish” that Government. The recent events of the preceding November demonstrate the factuality of this in a somewhat precise fashion.

    One also finds that, in order to effect the Safety and Happiness of the American People, certain “undesirable elements” may need to be removed. However, it is clearly important to remind “Reputrid” and his fellow thuggish brutes that they represent but a miniscule minority within this massive nation—a “nation of many uniquenesses”—and they might find a healthier environment somewhere to the South of this land. I understand that Paraguay is nice—and being that far south might prevent certain goose-stepping elements from finding themselves planted beneath one of our many un-named American cornfields.

    And I will gladly do the planting, should various elements continue to besmirch the sanctity of Mr. Jefferson for the sake of a cross—whether that cross be straight, or bent….

  • * Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice’s trip last week to the Middle East produced at least one amusing moment. Rice, for example, bragged that the “the removal of Saddam Hussein set in motion a number of other circumstances, other changes in the Middle East: the removal of an eastern-front threat for Israel, for instance.” On the “eastern front” of Israel we find Syria and Jordan on the borders, not Iraq.

    I think Rice probably had it right in this case, actually. During the first Gulf war Saddam fired his Scuds at Israel after all. So in terms of the threat of a neutered yet still hostile regime, sure. Sanctions just prevented him from actually threatening Israel with missiles that could reach its borders, I think, much in the same way they prevented him from developing WMDs.

  • I am by no means a defender of Condi Rice, but your tidbit about her Middle East geography knowledge is a bit off. I believe she may have been referring the the 1st Gulf War when Mr. Iraqi Dictator lobbed many a SCUD missle upon Israel’s soil. That is the eastern front I believe Condi was referencing at the moment she made her comment. I still think she is a bit silly as the head of our world-wide efforts of diplomacy. I mean, come on, a mushroom cloud over a major U.S. city? Has she been watching too much 24hrs. in her effort to get briefed for her job? Oh, I’m out of historical sequence here. Maybe she has been helping the producers of 24hrs. to get such an image out to as many Americans she can scare. -Kevo

  • Oh, and in regard the the mangled rhetoric of “A Republic,” what in the world is ZOG? -Kevo

  • From Wikipedia: ZOG

    ZOG is a word and three-letter abbreviation with multiple meanings, as described below:

    *ZOG (hypertext link)
    *Zog of Albania
    *Zionist Occupation Government, an antisemitic conspiracy theory
    *Planet Zog, where Spaceman Spiff, an alter ego of Calvin makes a (very rare) perfect three-point landing.
    *Planet Zog, home planet of the Evil Gollarks in the Murderous Maths series of books, Zig and Zag and also a general name for any sci-fi planet.
    *Zog is a character from the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles Universe.
    *A trio called ZOG, with which American saxophonist and composer John Zorn performed and recorded.
    *zog, a DJ / Techno music producer and occasional open source programmer from Melbourne, Australia.
    *Fredrick Herzog III a.k.a. Mr Zog, who produced the famous Sex Wax used on surfboards.

  • * The House voted unanimously yesterday to prohibit lawmakers convicted of certain crimes from receiving pensions. Unfortunately…

    …It was reportedly done without committee hearings or allowing minority amendments. I thought that kind of bullying was supposed to be limited to the 100-hour agenda. How the worm has turned.

  • Thank you Michael W. I just suppost for “A Republic” ZOG refers to the third Wikipedia entry you list. Well, “A Republic” seems to be just more fodder of hatred. We don’t need the solutions his kind would no doubt advocate. -Kevo

  • #17 & 18 –

    And it wasn’t just the Gulf War – Iraq sent troops to fight Israel in 1948, 1967 and (I think) 1973.

    Israel’s strategic planners have always had this nightmare scenario in which the Hashemite dog-and-pony show would collapse, Iraq would intervene and they’d face Iraqi troops, permanently, a few dozen kilometers from Jerusalem. The early ’70s “Allon Plan” envisaged Israel’s eventually withdrawing from most of the West Bank, but keeping the Jordan Valley to defend against this possibility. That’s why Israel’s Labor governments put settlements in the Jordan Valley (where few Palestinians live) soon after ’67, way before the fanatics had the bright idea of planting settlements right in the heart of the populated parts of the West Bank.

    Now Saddam’s gone, but the Hashemites are in a more tenuous position than ever, and we’re about to concede Anbar province to radical Jihadists. And Iran is an even bigger threat to Israel than before. So, yes, Condi is full of sh–.

  • Not only do Cunningham & Ney get pensions, but so do Dan Rostenkowski & James Trafficant … and I’m sure there are more. Maybe it would be good to post the full list if anyone has it. I don’t know what legal principle prevents the law from being retroactive. I say stop the pensions now & sue to collect the pension money we have paid all these crooks over the years.

  • My friend Tom Schaller was on the Colbert Report this week and did really well.

    Overall, I agree, but I was still appalled to hear him parroting the old canard about Gore trying to be someone he is not (in the context of cowboy boots and blackberry). Bob Somerby should by rightfully annoyed.

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