Monday’s Mini-Report

January 22, 2007

Today’s edition of quick hits.

* Here’s an unexpected twist from House Minority Leader John Boehner: “[Boehner] and other key House Republican leaders who support the president’s proposal for a surge, will demand that the president report every 30 days to Congress the progress that the Iraqi government and the administration is making in the war. A senior GOP aide said that House Republican leaders will lay out a series of strategic benchmarks ‘so Congress can determine and articulate to the American people whether or not sufficient progress is being made.'” Hmm.

* I enjoyed seeing O’Reilly on Colbert, Colbert on O’Reilly, and Olbermann’s take on both.

* Meals for Marines in Afghanistan are “insufficient”? Michael Froomkin asks, “Are We Starving Our Soldiers?” It sounds like a question Congress might want to answer.

* As you may have noticed elsewhere, today is Blog for Choice Day. I don’t have much to add to the subject, but I did enjoy reading Jessica Valenti’s take on the Huffington Post today.

* Sen. Elizabeth Dole (R-N.C.) seems to be slowly moving away from Bush. That’s when you know the president is in real trouble.

* I was absolutely delighted to see WaPo ombudsman Deborah Howell subtly trashing John Solomon’s silly John Edwards piece from last week. Remember, this was Solomon’s first major piece for the Post — and no one at the paper even wants to try to defend it. How he got this sought-after job remains a mystery.

* E. J. Dionne has a good column today on the Clinton-Obama match-up.

* Apparently, Bush’s speechwriters have struggled a bit in advance of tomorrow’s State of the Union. Maybe it has something to do with the fact that even the best speechwriter on earth can’t manufacture credibility where none exists. Just a thought.

* In a disconcerting sign of things to come, Dick Morris is seeking donations to run Swiftboat-style attack ads against Hillary Clinton. Literally. In his pitch to contributors, Morris wrote, “If you liked how the Swift Boat Veterans turned the tide against John Kerry, you understand how a top Clinton aide can turn the tables and stop a Clinton-style liberal from becoming the next president of the United States.”

* John McCain is making a scapegoat of Gen. George Casey. Kevin Drum kinda sorta sticks up for McCain’s position.

* Will “secret holds” in the Senate be a thing of the past?

* It was encouraging to see Lance Armstrong trash the president for the White House’s proposed cuts to the National Cancer Institute for the second year in a row. Armstrong is also thinking ahead: “The people who want to be president in 2008 should talk about something that kills 600,000 Americans a year.”

* At the height of the Mark Foley scandal, there was some question as to whether the FBI or CREW was lying. Now we know — it was the FBI.

* And, finally, via TP, we have a sense of Rich Little’s upcoming act at the White House Correspondents Association dinner. In the President’s voice: “George W. Bush here. I tell you, I’m between I-raq and a hard place.” “That’s funny,” Little claimed. “But, believe me, you won’t hear the word ‘Iraq’ out of my mouth the whole evening. They know I’m a safe bet over there at the White House.”

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

Is there a transcript for Olberman yet?

  • On Blog for Choice Day it occurs to me that the Republicans would more likely support mandatory abortions than they would voluntary ones. It’s a fascist thing.

    Rich Little is a sleeper agent from the Fifties. He was educated in a Madras shirt.

    .

  • I doubt I’m going to be rushing to Youtube to get a copy of Rich Little’s WHCD routine. Why do I expect jokes about women drivers and kids who go poopy?

    As for Libbie Dole, she’s doing what she does best, saving her own ass. If North Carolina, home to a large chunk of the military don’t like the war then her prospects for reelection are about as good as her hubby raising the flag (so to speak) without help from them little blue pills.

  • After reading the Carpetbagger post about the phony Edwards story in the WaPo, I wrote and left a voicemail for the ombudsman. It looks like it actually had an effect — so, I urge all other like-minded Carpetbagger readers to take action the next time the corporate media tries to pull something like that.

  • God I look forward to the headline: “Dick Morris found face down, bleeding out from large-caliber exit wound in dark NYC alley – found too late to be saved.”

    That piece of shit is truly a soulless piece of shit who will do anything to make a place for Dick Morris.

  • The report concludes that “the information provided by the FBI and the Department inaccurately portrayed the information that CREW provided to the FBI, and inaccurately suggested that CREW’s actions were the cause of the FBI’s decision not to investigate the emails.”

    Whaddaya know, Fools & Buffoons, Inc., acting just like they did in the bad old J. Edgar Fruitloop days. I wonder if they’re still giving priority to hiring morons, er, I mean Mormons into the circus, like old J.E. used to do? It would explain a lot of stupidity if so.

  • Here’s a hoot…

    Ted Haggard Says Evangelicals Have the ‘Best Sex Life’
    Former Evangelical President Talks Frankly About Sex in a New Documentary by Alexandra Pelosi

    The HBO documentary shows the Rev. Ted Haggard, the former president of the National Association of Evangelicals, talking frankly about how evangelical Christians have sex more than any other religious group.

    Haggard resigned from the church in 2006, after a scandal linked him to drugs and a male prostitute…

    In the documentary, Haggard asks an evangelical next to him how often he has sex with his wife. The man replies, “Every day.” Haggard then explains that evangelicals have a lot of love and says to Pelosi, “You don’t think these babies come out of nowhere?”

    http://abcnews.go.com/GMA/print?id=2813078

  • Here’s an unexpected twist from House Minority Leader John Boehner: “[Boehner] and other key House Republican leaders who support the president’s proposal for a surge, will demand that the president report every 30 days to Congress the progress that the Iraqi government and the administration is making in the war. A senior GOP aide said that House Republican leaders will lay out a series of strategic benchmarks ’so Congress can determine and articulate to the American people whether or not sufficient progress is being made.’” Hmm.

    It’s too bad the Dems didn’t think of it first. Now they look like a bunch of whining idiots fighting over the semantics of their “non-binding” whatever it is they’re proposing to not really do, while suddenly the GOP leadership looks like they have a plan to keep the White House in check.

    Of course we all know had the Democrats tried “demanding” status reports, they would have been berated for it. But at least they would have seemed like they were doing something worthwhile in the eyes of the American people. Better to have the pundits rail on you for making the WH answer hard and frequent questions than rail on you for some sort of symbolic resolution that means NOTHING to voters.

  • Yep, Dick Morris is for sure the sleaziest animal in the forest. He describes himself as “a top Clinton aide,” but a more apt description would be Fox News Bottom. And, BTW, none of Bill Clinton’s conduct with Monica could possibly have been as lewd as the hiring of Dick Morris.

  • Actually, if the Democrats were to put forward the idea on Iraq that Boehner & Co. are proposing, all the punditocracy would be berating them for “not supporting the troops,” “playing politics with the war,” etc. If Boehner & Co. actually do this, it’s like Nixon going to China. Who are Bush and Rove going to condemn as traitors??

    Right now, I am willing to let anybody climb aboard the No More War In Iraq train. If it saves them a seat or two in 2008, it’s a small price to pay. It sure as hell won’t save the Presidency or the Senate for them.

  • It’s interesting to see Boehner in a position that might be seen as against the President’s policies, even if, I expect, it isn’t.

    I can just imagine the semantic content of these “30-Day Reports” from the White House. “We’re fine. We’re all fine here. No need to be concerned. We’re all just fine. Thanks for asking.”

    That’s assuming the reports ever show up. We’re still waiting for the National Intelligence Estimate that was due last summer, and the NSC just sent a guy to tell Congress they still don’t have it, because the agencies were very busy preparing plans for the surge.

  • In anticipation of tomorrow night’s presidential flight of fantasy, here are 10 things to look for in the 2007 Bush State of the Union:

    1. An Unhealthy Vision
    2. Surge Protector
    3. Faux Iraq-9/11 Link Redux
    4. Sacrificial Sham
    5. Culture of Life Redux
    6. Energy Shortage
    7. Warming to Global Warming
    8. The Spend and Not Tax Conservative
    9. The New Bipartisanship: The Democratic Deficit
    10. Laura Bush: Gang Banger

    For the details, see:
    “SOTU Preview: 10 Things to Watch.”

  • That bit about Bones and Co. has me worried a bit. It looks like they’re trying to establish their own “shadow” House of Representatives that would operate independently from the established committees under Dem majority control. This has Cheney written all over it….

  • Concerning the “Are We Starving Our Troops?”, I would hope it’s not because of inadequate logistics that’s keeping soldiers and Marines from getting fed.

    What I’m thinking is that they’re having to sustain on the clunky, heavy MRE pouches, which weigh almost two pounds each, and only provide enough food for one meal.
    Out in the boonies, when you have to choose between food, ammo, and water, you’re going to put more emphasis on the latter two. You can always hope to get food with a resupply, but be short of ammo in a firefight, or water in the middle of nowhere, and you’re dead. The problem, of course, is that you’re burning more calories than you’re eating, so that means less energy and alertness.

    If they gave them the better Long Range Patrol and Cold Weather rations (designed for extended operations in lousy terrain by Special Operations units), this wouldn’t be a problem. But the Special Operations community doesn’t like sharing with the “legs” (otherwise their neato gear wouldn’t be “special”).

    And I’m sure there’s just not enough money in the budget.
    That is, after you deduct the Navy and Air Force Cold War toys, and the Army’s nifty Future Combat System super-duper hot rod.

  • Re that upcoming SOTU:

    Those of you who think they can stomach litening to the chimp, might consider putting your fancy cell-phone to use as a video camera and participate in the TPM challenge:
    http://www.talkingpointsmemo.com/archives/012049.php

    Me, I may just try to remember and cue in in time to listen to Webb’s rebuttal instead of waiting for the blog-mortem the next day

  • In other words, Rep. Boner wants to turn Congress into a parole board? For an inveterate war criminal who holds Congress in complete contempt? Yeah, that cooperation between the executive and legislative worked real wll last time, Boner…

    Nicholas Kristof tells us why George W. Bush may indeed be the Education Preznit in Et Tu, George?

  • A senior GOP aide said that House Republican leaders will lay out a series of strategic benchmarks ’so Congress can determine and articulate to the American people whether or not sufficient progress is being made.’

    Benchmarks? You mean those things the president has said he won’t discuss? Right.

    So Congress can articulate to us? Congress will tell us what’s going on based on what the President sees fit to tell you? Riiiight.

    Don’t bother, we’ll stick to the news.

    And considering Boner’s handling of the Foley Follies I don’t think his idea of review and my idea of review mesh that well.

  • Hold it right there. Boner’s plan is no “unexpected twist”. As Salon.com’s war room rightly described it, it’s nothing but an “escalation with oversight” plan, to give political cover for Repugs who want to go with Bush’s plan but show some muscle.

    And therein lies the Bush/Kristol logical dilemma – you can’t criticize him before, because “we haven’t given him a chance to implement the plan” and you can’t criticize him after, because we should be looking “forward, not into the past”.

  • So the troops are sacrificing their nutruition. We all have to sacrifice. I sacrifice my peace of mind every time I turn on the telly. These damn democrats just take and take and take, I’ve given my all. It’s true, my preznit said so.

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