Friday’s Mini-Report

January 26, 2007

Today’s edition of quick hits.

* Welcome back, Jane.

* Sen. Russ Feingold (D-Wis.) deserves a lot of credit for being completely fearless. Feingold, as chairman of the Judiciary Committee’s Subcommittee on the Constitution, will host a hearing next Tuesday to consider whether Congress has the authority to cut off funding for the war in Iraq. “This hearing will help inform my colleagues and the public about Congress’s power to end a war and how that power has been used in the past,” Feingold said. Should be interesting.

* On a related note, House Majority Leader Steny Hoyer (D-Md.) suggested today that the House may consider a new bill authorizing the use of force in Iraq — replacing the 2002 bill that allowed the Bush administration to proceed with the war. “Frankly, it is time for the president to accept that we are no longer involved in a nation-building exercise, we are involved in conflict resolution.”

* Remember Charles Stimson’s McCarthyism-like language about lawyers who represent detainees at Guantanamo? The Bar Association of San Francisco took note of the incident and may ask the state attorney discipline investigators to decide whether Stimson, a lawyer in California, violated ethical standards. If so, possible penalties range from reprimand to disbarment.

* Iraq may be imploding, but that didn’t stop publication of the first-ever “Birds of Iraq” field guide, announced yesterday. No, I don’t understand it either.

* Headline of the day: Our loss is their loss: Guyana prez hires Bernie Kerik (thanks to A.W. for the tip)

* I’m pleased to report that Sen. Tim Johnson of South Dakota is making “encouraging and steady progress” as he recovers from a brain hemorrhage and subsequent surgery last month, his office said yesterday.

* The FCC altered reports and blocked studies to prevent anyone from learning that local ownership was beneficial for local news coverage. The Bush administration? Shielding inconvenient news from public light? You don’t say.

* Did Tony Snow actually say that the “Iranian people are more pro-American than any American university faculty”? Apparently so. Sounds like someone owes several thousand professors an apology.

* Senate Republican Leader Mitch McConnell said he is “skeptical” about the Iraqi government but warned the recent U.S troop increase ordered by President Bush is the Iraqis’ “last chance to step up and show they can be effective and can join with us to get this mission accomplished.” He added, “This is it.” Small follow-up question: This is what? Will McConnell support withdrawal in a few months?

* Old plan: Gates assured the public of Jan. 11 that the escalation in U.S. troops would be “phased in” so that there would be “ample opportunity early on” to evaluate the progress of the strategy. New plan: send every soldier into Iraq as fast as humanly possible.

* In related news, you can tell that Bush is “actively implementing his escalation policy” by paying attention to local news.

* And, finally, Sean Hannity should know better than to pick a fight with Wesley Clark over military matters, but he did anyway. Hannity insisted this week that Bush’s new “seize, clear and hold” is a brand new approach. Clark argued that it’s nothing new. Guess who was right?

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

And, finally, Sean Hannity should know better than to pick a fight with Wesley Clark over military matters, but he did anyway. Hannity insisted this week that Bush’s new “seize, clear and hold” is a brand new approach. Clark argued that it’s nothing new. Guess who was right?

LOL! That’s hilarious. You can debunk almost anything the Bushies say simply by quoting the Bushies.

And guess who will never admit he’s wrong!

  • “Birds of Iraq” field guide – that’s military aircraft and launcher propelled devices, right?

  • Wouldn’t it be a hoot if all those professors started encouraging their students to “avoid military service?” If they’re so hard-up for help in Baghdad, then maybe they ought to send Blackwater’s private, 20,000-man militia overseas—instead of keeing them cooped up on that damned “private military base in North Carolina….”

  • Will the ‘Birds of Iraq’ guide have diagrams to distinguish between species of unmanned reconnaissance drone? Dark tail with blue patches under the wings versus all black, or something? Do they have differently shaped beaks?

    Maybe that’s just in the Jane’s Defence version.

  • Publication of the “Birds of Iraq” field guide may seem incomprehensible to many, but it struck me as a touching reminder that, even in the midst of chaos, someone had faith that things may not always be as hopeless as they seem today. Nice.

  • “Frankly, it is time for the president to accept that we are no longer involved in a nation-building exercise, we are involved in conflict resolution.” – Steny Hoyer

    Seems like nation-destroying or colony-building would be more accurate portrayals of our role over there. Bush does not speak of resolving this conflict, since staying equals winning and leaving equals losing. We win if the war never ends? I don’t get it either.

  • Birds of Iraq

    I have to second Jim Strain. Iraq may not get significantly less violent for 10 years or for 100 years, no matter what. This book may add meaning to the life of someone who has it there even if everything else is inescapable.

    You don’t live to fight; you fight to live. Life is about things like studying birds- it’s about everything more worthwhile than living in fear and anger.

  • “And, finally, Sean Hannity should know better than to pick a fight with Wesley Clark over military matters,”

    Too bad Wesley Clark has too much class to answer the way I thought he should:

    “Yes, Sean, I’m just a mere retired four-star general, valedictorian of my West Point class, Rhodes Scholar, decorated Vietnam vet, considered one of the rising stars in the military during the 70s and 80s, helped the Army through its transition to a post-Cold War world, and was SACEUR of NATO during the war against Serbia in Kosovo.”
    What could I possibly offer to this conversation that could better the opinion of a loudmouth, shit-for-brains, fat-ass college dropout who’s friends with Ollie North and Ann Coulter, and who confuses Ronald Reagan with God?”

    At least that’s what I’m sure Gen. Clark was wanting to say…..

  • Holy crap, this is frickin’ sweet.

    I don’t know is this guy is serious, or is running a joke website, but this list is just too good to pass up:
    http://lovegodsway.org/GayBands

    Yes, sportsfans, the music of Metallica, Eminmen, and the Doors WILL TURN YOU GAY.

    I always thought Motorhead’s “Ace of Spades” was a little suspect….

  • Oh, that’s right, liberals are anti-American. Is that what Tony Snow meant to say?

    Thanks for the Clark mention. Hannity and O’Reilly stopped trying to trick Clark into saying something stupid about a year ago, when every attempt made THEM look like the stupid ones. Now they deliver their attempted zingers in a milder voice. It never works on Clark. Unlike some other people. (Terry McAuliffe the other day let the other side put him on the defensive pretty fast, for instance.)

    Clark is ready. Got to think there’ll be an announcement by the DNC winter meeting next weekend.

  • 2Manchu (#13),

    You’d think, with all those bands going for them, that gays would’ve taken over the country by now. If so, why is Bush still president (so-called)?

  • Ed,

    I never realized that when I was seven and sang “Crocodile Rock”, I was really advancing the homosexual agenda..

    I feel so ashamed.

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