Polar grass cap

The “greatest hoax” just keeps getting greater.

Arctic sea ice could break apart completely at the North Pole this year, allowing ships to sail over the normally frozen top of the world.

The potential landmark thaw - the first time in human history the pole would be ice-free - is a stark sign of global warming, according to an article Friday on the web site of the The Independent, a London newspaper.

But as you know, the earth has a liberal bias, so you really can’t trust this as a sign that global temperatures are rising.

By the way, James Inhofe is either a fucking idiot, a corrupt scumbag or both. That doesn’t get said enough.

Know me by the company I keep

Meet John McCain’s chief political adviser, Charlie Black.

RIP

George Carlin.

Seven words you can’t say on television



Carlin on Countdown.

How they voted

on granting retroactive immunity (that is, AFTER they broke the law) to telecom companies that helped the government spy on you illegally. Print this list and take it with you next time you’re going to a voting booth. These chickenshit swine — 188 Republicans (all of them but 11: one, Tim Johnson of Illinois, actually voted against the bill and 10 brave souls abstained) and 105 Democrats — have sold us out by voting that there should be no consequences for companies that aided the federal government in its lawbreaking and trampling of our rights.

This is the kind of shit I expect from Republicans, who make no secret of the fact that they don’t give a fuck about the rule of law, our rights or the Constitution. It’s the 105 Democrats who are disappointing. They were sent there to represent the interests of their constituents, but instead represented their own interests by making sure that the donations will be flowing when it’s time to run for re-election. In the House, that’s every two years, so they are basically in campaign mode all the time. Especially today. They — 105 Democrats and all of the Republicans (save Tim Johnson) — are enemies of our Constitution and should be purged from office as soon as possible.

Contact your senators and let them know what you think of retroactive immunity for lawbreakers.

Compare and contrast

The state of healthcare in America.



Remember when this kind of thing used to be a joke? It was a simpler time, when the runaway greed and routine inhumanity to your fellow man in the name of corporate profits that we see today were the stuff of a conservative’s fantasy.

McCain and the Enron loophole

Want to know why gasoline is so expensive and what can be done about it? Watch this.



H/T Crooks and Liars.

UPDATE: Energy industry analysts offer Congress a solution to the serious problem of rising fuel prices, a solution that would bolster every sector of the economy feeling the squeeze of expensive gasoline, not to mention families struggling to afford the gas to get back and forth to work.

The price of retail gasoline could fall by half, to around $2 a gallon, within 30 days of passage of a law to limit speculation in energy-futures markets, four energy analysts told Congress on Monday.

Testifying to the House Energy and Commerce Committee, Michael Masters of Masters Capital Management said that the price of oil would quickly drop closer to its marginal cost of around $65 to $75 a barrel, about half the current $135.

But ask George Bush, John McCain and GOP leaders in Congress, and they’ll tell you the answer is offshore drilling.

Kinda makes you wonder if Republicans have any intention of ever addressing this problem, and whom they’re really working for, huh?

But, then again, maybe those analysts are just being irresponsble.

How they voted

on the Federal Employees Paid Parental Leave Act, which would give federal and congressional employees four weeks of paid parental leave after the birth or adoption of a child, or taking in a foster a child. The bill also would make it easier to use sick leave to care for a new child.

The bill passed despite 145 Republicans and one Democrat voting against it. But of course Bush plans to veto it. According to the Washington Post, the White House called the bill a "costly, unnecessary, new paid leave entitlement." In other words, it’s a reckless use of taxpayer dollars.

In other news, The White House reached an agreement with the House Wednesday for $165 billion in “supplemental” funding for the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan. The White House had to agree to the inclusion of Jim Webb’s 21st Century GI Bill in exchange for permission to continue torturing detainees and to persue a status of forces agreement that will leave American forces stationed in Iraq forever, or at least until the day after it runs out of oil.

With another $165 billion heading out the window, the White House’s “costly” argument rings kind of hollow, eh? Let’s face it: The real reason 145 Republicans voted against this bill and the real reason Bush will veto it is that the bill throws a crumb to people who work for a living.

Remember this the next time you hear a Republican talking about how important it is to help families.

Spineless chickenshits

The rule of law in this country is a fucking myth, because of Republicans who break the law and cowardly Democrats who make sure there are no consequences for doing so. There are two legal systems in this country: One that levies crushing penalites on the poor, and one that makes sure that people with money and political connections never go to prison. The only reason Jack Abramoff is behind bars is because all of his political friends pretended they never heard of his no-longer-useful ass.

U.S. phone companies would be shielded from potentially billions of dollars in lawsuits under an anti-terror spy measure that appears headed toward approval, congressional sources said on Wednesday.

House of Representatives Democratic Leader Steny Hoyer, a lead negotiator on the bill, said, "We're very close to having an agreement," and a House vote could come as early as Friday.

Democratic and Republican aides and a lobbyist familiar with negotiations said the House would likely approve the measure overwhelmingly. Despite opposition from its top two Democrats, the Senate would then likely give it final approval, clearing the way for President George W. Bush to sign it into law.

That’s it, sell out the country to protect your precious seats in Congress, you cocksuckers.

You know what would be really fucking refreshing? A representative in Congress whose main priority is helping constituents and making this country better instead of simple self-preservation.

Cronyism

Here’s a little context for today’s House Oversight and Government Reform Committee hearings, in which J. Robert Flores, administrator of the Justice Department’s office of juvenile justice and delinquency prevention, will accuse members of Congress of bias against golf and the wealthy.

Yes, we all know how much members of Congress dislike golf and wealth.

Setting aside its traditional mission, Flores’ office awarded a $500,000 federal grant last year to the World Golf Association. In explaining why he overrode his career staff in awarding the grant, Flores explained: “We need something… to engage the gangs and the street kids. Golf is the hook.” Flores awarded the grant despite the fact that the group’s grant proposal rated 47th best out of 104 applicants. The honorary chairman the Golf Association’s First Tee program is former [president] George Herbert Walker Bush.

In a draft of his testimony to be given to Congress tomorrow, Flores has decided to come out swinging against those who criticize the grant to the World Golf Association, claiming that they are “biased against the wealthy.” Flores wrote in the draft testimony that he believes that the grant has been “pilloried because it was tied to golf, and I assume for those who are biased against the wealthy, because it has historically been a sport of the well-to-do.”

Flores also overruled his professional staff and awarded a million dollar grant to the Best Friends Foundation, an organization that promotes sexual abstinence. Best Friends ranked 53rd out of 104 grant applicants. Additionally, the organization refused to participate in a congressionally mandated study into the effectiveness of abstinence programs for teens.

Why then did Best Friends obtain its grant? The founder and president of Best Friends is Elayne Bennett. Her husband, Bill Bennett, had been, respectively, the Secretary of Education during the Reagan administration and the drug czar for the first Bush administration. Now at days, of course, Bill Bennett spends most of his time as a cable television personality supporting the policies of the current Bush administration Moreover, funding sexual abstinence for teenagers has been a priority for the White House.

While Best Friends and the World Golf Association received their grants, more than forty other organizations that had received higher ratings from Justice Department reviewers received no federal money at all. Those denied grants included organizations that train youth corrections officers, counsel rape victims, and work to prevent suicide among gay and lesbian youth.

A program to help troubled teens in San Diego, Vista, was ranked number two by the staff out of 202 applicants in its category of prevention and intervention but was turned down for a grant to help deal with inner city teen violence in San Diego. Why was its grant turned down? Justice Department employees said Flores did not like the fact that group distributed condoms.

After defending his actions before Congress, Flores can concentrate on the Justice Department’s investigation of his taxpayer-funded golf and tennis trips.

More here.

Douchebag of the Week

There is just too much douchebaggery for one week, so we already have next week’s “winner”: Make-pretend journalist Wesley Pruden.

In a June 17 Washington Times column in which he downplayed global climate change by comparing it to other perceived "terrors" that "subsided, done in by reality," Times editor emeritus Wesley Pruden wrote of the AIDS virus: "We were all supposed to be dead now, done in by AIDS, the gift of the gays."

Does that make ignorance the gift of the Washington Times?

Douchebags of the Week

The Republican party.

This button was sold at the Texas Republican Convention.

’Nuff said.

Flip flop

McCain was for Bush’s policies before he was against them. See for yourself. The McCain on the left is from “Meet the Press” June 19, 2005. This was soon after Bush’s re-election (Ohio notwithstanding), when the administration was peddling its bullshit about Bush having a “mandate” and “poitical capital.” The McCain on the right is from his underwhelming speech June 3 in Louisiana.



So, by his own admission, he was in agreement with Bush most of the time in 2005 (and last year, when he voted in favor of Bush policies 95 percent of the time), but is radically opposed to Bush policies now, even though he has yet to cast a vote in opposition to Bush policies this year.

Could it be that McCain is just another lying political opportunist who wanted to cozy up to Bush shortly after the 2004 election and now wants to publicly distance himself from the pariah (but doesn’t mind voting for Bush’s policies in the Senate or attending fundraisers with him, as long as it’s done off camera)?

Some maverick.

What’s your (talking) point?

I’m not sure what to make of this latest talking point from the wingnut right — that the Supreme Court’s ruling that Gitmo detainees have the right to challenge their detentions in court (you know, instead of allowing the government to lock up people indefintely and without charges) makes the United States less safe.

Of course the GOP wants to keep people scared, so Antonin “Fucking Douchebag” Scalia writes a dissenting opinion with the baseless claim that this decision “will almost certainly cause more Americans to be killed,” John McCain ramps up the fear factor of his original reaction to the ruling [from “It obviously concerns me . . . but it is a decision the Supreme Court has made. Now we need to move forward. As you know, I always favored closing of Guantanamo Bay and I still think that we ought to do that,” to “Our first obligation is the safety and security of this nation and the men and women who defend it. This decision will harm our ability to do that,” in 24 hours. (Clearly on Thursday he hadn’t been told what to think or say about the ruling yet)], and now out trots Newt Gingrich with his “this decision will cost us a city” shit.

But in addition to putting The Fear out there, aren’t all three of these idiots expressing very little faith in the Bush administration? Because the only way that this decision makes the country less safe is if detainees’ legal challenges lead to terrorists being released from custody. And the only way that would happen is if the administration has insufficient evidence to prove they are terrorists (and if the administration has insufficient evidence against these people, how do we know they are terrorists?)

Could it be that Scalia, McCain and Gingrich all are saying that the administration is incapable of proving that actual terrorists are actual terrorists? Are they saying the administration is incapable of doing its job of protecting the American people from terror attacks?

Could it be that the Justice Department has been so busy purging itself of non-Bushies and concocting questionable and politically motivated prosecutions of Democrats that it has been unable to find enough evidence against people the administration claims TO KNOW to be terrorists that it can’t even produce enough evidence to warrant charges and a trial?

UPDATE: To answer my own question, yes.

An eight-month McClatchy investigation in 11 countries on three continents has found that Akhtiar was one of dozens of men — and, according to several officials, perhaps hundreds — whom the U.S. has wrongfully imprisoned in Afghanistan, Cuba and elsewhere on the basis of flimsy or fabricated evidence, old personal scores or bounty payments.

Happy Father’s Day

Dad, brother, uncle and to fathers everywhere.

What a catch

I was 70 years ago.

117 As a 1930s husband, I am Very Superior Take the test!

H/T Susie.

Foreign policy is his strength

Maybe it’s not only his willingness to continue the failed policies of the Bush administration that earned McCain the moniker “McSame,” but also the general cluelessness he shares with Bush.

Republican values

Meet the first Mrs. John McCain.

By the way, thanks for the coverage American corporate media.

Protecting the windfall

In case you were wondering whose side Republicans are on.

HINT: Not yours.

Senate Republicans blocked a proposal Tuesday to tax the windfall profits of the largest oil companies, despite pleas by Democratic leaders to use the measure to address America's anger over $4 a gallon gasoline.

The Democratic energy package would have imposed a tax on any "unreasonable" profits of the five largest U.S. oil companies and given the federal government more power to address oil market speculation that the bill's supporters argue has added to the crude oil price surge.

The oil companies have people in Congress protecting their interests. Shouldn’t you have someone there protecting yours? To vote for a Republican is to vote against your own interests. And that would be stupid.

Don‘t be stupid.

American pariah

Big deal, lots of people want to be on American Idol. You’ve seen the length of those lines at the auditions.

Nigel, 58, also spilled that during the planning for the second annual Idol Gives Back fundraising special, which aired in April, America’s biggest TV show had a spat with no less a power than the White House!

He said that the show’s producers were so disappointed with President Bush’s efforts to combat the very poverty that the show was trying to relieve that they were embarrassed to have him on their TV show.

But Nigel said that Idol relented under pressure from the Pres's people, and allowed him to speak during the star-studded broadcast.

“The President is always saying ‘I want to be on [Gives Back],” said the Brit.

“We didn't ask the President this year to say anything because we are all a bit embarrassed about him, and the office insisted that, because the [primary] candidates were on it, the President would like to come on and say ‘thank you.’"

Of course Bush begged to appear on Idol Gives Back. Given that Bush has done exactly nothing about poverty in eight years, the television show appearance is basically his entire anti-poverty agenda.

Seriously, Bush just wants to be seen in the context of caring about poverty, and near people who are doing something about it. It’s all part of the stagecraft, the appearance of action and results in place of actual action and results, that has marked his entire term in office. In short, it’s insincere bullshit, backed up by nothing.

UPDATE: I agree with Richard Clarke.

Governing, GOP style

This is what passes for governing in the Republican party.

“The goal is for a theme (e.g. climate bill = higher gas prices) each day, and the focus is much more on making political points than in amending the bill, changing the baseline text for any future debate, or affecting policy.”

Those who have no substantive ideas of their own, no will to address the issues facing the American people or the planet, and are tasked only with protecting at all costs the broken, failed status quo and the people who benefit from it have no other recourse but to obstruct the path of those working toward progress.

Whether or not you support partisan gameplaying such as this, if you vote for a Republican, this is exactly what you’re voting for. You’re enabling this instead of progress.

Next time you’re bitching about how Congress never seems to get anything done, remember this GOP memo. Remember the 109th Congress. Remember who is responsible.

Misstated

Why is that word in the lede of the Reuters story about the Senate Intelligence Committee’s finding that the Bush administration lied us into war in Iraq, as though the many lies they told were a series of innocent errors?

President George W. Bush and his top policymakers misstated Saddam Hussein's links to terrorism and ignored doubts among intelligence agencies about Iraq's arms programs as they made a case for war, the Senate intelligence committee reported on Thursday.

Oops.

Statements that Iraq had a partnership with al Qaeda were wrong and unsupported by intelligence, the report said.

Our mistake. Our bad.

It said that Bush's and Cheney's assertions that Saddam was prepared to arm terrorist groups with weapons of mass destruction for attacks on the United States contradicted available intelligence.

How embarrassing!

“Unsupported by intelligence.” “Contradicted available intelligence.” So much for all that bullshit we were fed about intelligence failures, huh?

But “misstated,” even as evidence mounts that the administration’s many, many statements about the threat Iraq posed to the United States were “unsupported by” or “contradicted” intelligence? Why is the media so afraid to call lies lies and liars liars?