Cheney's Cross-Trained Spokespeople

Um, are Cheney's press people also providing medical assistance? 'cause otherwise it's hard to see why both things can't go on simultaneously:

The White House is defending its delay in disclosing Vice President Dick Cheney's weekend hunting accident, telling reporters Monday the focus was on making sure the man Cheney shot got medical attention.

Make Up Your Own Headline For This:

Big Time Cheney Just Shot a Man

Ken Starr - Protector of the Truth

Ah Yes, the virtuous Ken Starr :

Lawyers for a death row inmate, including former Whitewater independent counsel Kenneth Starr, sent fake letters from jurors asking California's governor to spare the man's life, prosecutors said Friday....

"We showed each person the declaration on their behalf and they all said they didn't say that," Barankin said.

With Success Like This...

Big Time Cheney, December 20, 2005, CNN:

[The warrantless spying program has] saved thousands of lives....It is, I'm convinced, one of the reasons we haven't been attacked in the past four years,"

February 5, 2006, Washington Post

Intelligence officers who eavesdropped on thousands of Americans in overseas calls under authority from President Bush have dismissed nearly all of them as potential suspects after hearing nothing pertinent to a terrorist threat, according to accounts from current and former government officials and private-sector sources with knowledge of the technologies in use...

...Fewer than 10 U.S. citizens or residents a year, according to an authoritative account, have aroused enough suspicion during warrantless eavesdropping to justify interception of their domestic calls, as well. That step still requires a warrant from a federal judge, for which the government must supply evidence of probable cause.

What are you Wearing?

Abu Gonzalez is scheduled to go before the Senate Judiciary Committee on Monday to talk about his boss' penchant for listening in on our phone calls. He's expected to compare Bush's actions to Lincoln's during the Civil War, when telegraph messages were routinely intercepted. This, of course is absurd. Regardless of the legality of Lincoln's actions, comparing the Civil War to the "War on Terror" is a little like comparing the Cold War to the movie Red Dawn; one was a very real threat to the security of our nation, the other, a heavily marketed piece of fiction. Moreover, while Bush can't be expected to remember the history covered while he was doing keg stands in high school, Gonzalez should remember that the people Lincoln was wiretapping were from the southern states that had succeeded, so they didn't consider themselves to be, you know, citizens.

Let's not expect this line of reasoning to provoke any soul searching on Pennsylvania Avenue, though. After all, these are the same people who tell us that, had the President been wiretapping us all before 9/11, he may have caught the hijackers, because the Presidential Daily Briefing, entitled, Bin Laden Determined to Attack Inside US, didn't really get us where we needed to be in terms of putting 2 and 2 together.

I know there are lots of important questions about this, like what's so hard about getting a warrant if these guys are burning their anytime minutes talking about blowing us all up? But I guess the question I have is more basic: How many terrorists have been arrested because of this program? I mean, that's what it's all about, isn't it? Last time I checked, the only people we've prosecuted on terrorism charges in the US are that Padilla guy, the dirty bomber (he loved his porn), and Moussaoui, the so-called 20th Hijacker, and I don't think they would have had a problem getting a warrant against either of those guys. So, I guess my point is, if this program is so necessary and vital, why haven't we caught anyone with it? Could it be that in addition to being "necessary" and "vital", it also
"doesn't work"?

Pre-1776 Mentality

This is great - Senator Feingold points out that King George has a pre-1776 mentality.

Framing

Another headline for this article might be "Bush Finally Gets Unemployment Back to Where it Was When He Started."

Well That Didn't Take Long...

So much for that Energy Independence thingy...from today's New York Times:

The Energy Department will begin laying off researchers at the National Renewable Energy Laboratory in the next week or two because of cuts to its budget.

A veteran researcher said the staff had been told that the cuts would be concentrated among researchers in wind and biomass, which includes ethanol. Those are two of the technologies that Mr. Bush cited on Tuesday night as holding the promise to replace part of the nation's oil imports.

The budget for the laboratory, which is just west of Denver, was cut by nearly 15 percent, to $174 million from $202 million, requiring the layoff of about 40 staff members out of a total of 930, said a spokesman, George Douglas. The cut is for the fiscal year that began on Oct. 1.

6 Down, 2 to Go

I didn't watch King George's address last night - I would rather have had a tooth pulled Jim Frey style. I did read the speech, though, which, I found a little easier to take if you read it imagining someone a bit more pleasant delivering it, say Marge Schott. Anyway, thumbing through it, I was struck anew by the the fact that our president has a very complicated relationship with the truth.

Every year at State of the Union time, a High-Ranking Administration Official leaks to his favorite media stenographers that the President is going to propose a "bold agenda" this year, and they almost always highlight that one "big idea". It's usually the concept that makes us all say, "gee - maybe he's not a complete dick after all!" Typically these proposals are designed to outflank the democrats on some popular issue that they're identified with, and to date, not a one of them has been real.

It all started with his AIDS Initiative, an unprecedented commitment to fighting AIDS in Africa. He was true to his word, if by unprecedented he meant "never before has someone done so little." Then, he bewitched us with hydrogen fuel cell car, which drew applause in the House chamber so thunderous it could only be muffled by the faraway sould of Ed Begley Jr. creaming his jeans. Seen any of those on the interstate? Oh, and who could forget Curious George Goes to Mars. What vision! What leadership! What bullshit.

This morning, our liberal media, seeking to outdo itself as George Bush's fluffer, greeted us with hard hitting commentary like this. While "addicted to oil" is an odd turn of phrase for this coke-addled former oilman, it was tailor made for the front pages of all of the major papers. Could it be, they said? Ken Lay's favorite pen pal is proposing energy independence? Greatest! President! Ever! Oh - wait...never mind...

This administration is so cynical about governing that they don't think it matters whether they follow through on these promises - in fact, they never intend to follow through on them. It's all about image. Compassionate Conservatism has always been more about conservatism than compassion, but "compassionate conservativism" just sounds better than "giving it to you in the shorts", and the media and the American public have given them no reason to believe there will be a price to pay for the duplicity.

So, all of this leads me to wonder what next year's bold initiative will be. I'm open to suggestions; the betting starts...Now.

Democratic Response

I think I would have preferred this to Governor Kaine's response. Nice man, Tim is, but I'm not sure if delivering the democratic response in the manner of a hostage video really paints the party in the most favorable light...

Freedom's on the March

I find this episode, where Cindy Sheehan got booted from the House Chambers during Dear Leader's state of the union speech, to be so rich. After all, the US Capitol is the last place on earth where one would expect political commentary to take place...