John Moltz

Blinders

The problem...

Months before the U.S.-led war in Iraq, independent and congressional analysts made remarkably accurate predictions of the costs of a post-war occupation, even as the Pentagon refused to do so, or gave very low estimates. (From Analysts Made Accurate Iraq War Estimates)

Exacerbated by...

Bush continued: "I appreciate people's opinions, but I'm more interested in news. And the best way to get the news is from objective sources. And the most objective sources I have are people on my staff who tell me what's happening in the world." (From No Wonder Bush Doesn't Connect With the Rest of the Country.)

Leads to...

Bush administration officials repeatedly insisted before the war that they could not estimate how much the war or the postwar occupation might cost.

But the Congressional Budget Office, for example, estimated in September 2002 that occupying Iraq would cost between $1 billion and $4 billion a month.

The current figure? About $4 billion a month. (Ibid the first link above.)

Generally speaking, blinders are usually just good for horses.

Methinks she doth protest too much

Rice Faults Past Administrations on Terror

Is it any wonder she's desperate to pin 9/11 on the Clinton administration as she tries to stall the investigation around intelligence failures leading up to the war? "I may be stupid, but, really, they were just as stupid."

President Bush's national security adviser said on Thursday that the Clinton and other past administrations had ignored evidence of growing terrorist threats and that despite repeated attacks on American interests, "until Sept. 11, the terrorists faced no sustained, systematic and global response" from the United States.

Hmm, well, perhaps we have one now. It's not working worth a damn, of course, but, hey, as long as we have a process!

You know, I forget, who was president during the nine months leading up to 9/11? Who was more concerned with a missile defense system than with tracking down terrorists? Who was more interested in buddying up to the Saudis and the Taliban because they had oil?

Oh, I remember...

Frankly, from someone who often seems to border on the downright inept ("Did you or did you not read the report indicating the Niger evidence was forged, Ms. Rice?" "Uhhh... no! Wait, wait! Yes! Um... I sort of skimmed it then jumped to the end to see how it turned out! I... I read the Cliff's Notes! I saw the movie! I think there was a pamphlet!"), to try to place blame on previous administrations is... well, it's perfectly in line with everything this administration does! "It's not our fault, it's their fault!"

Pretend you "inherited" a bad economy although the recession started after you enter the White House. Blame previous administrations for terrorism, although by all accounts you were doing less about it than they did in the days leading up to 9/11. Blame the Navy for putting up the "Mission Accomplished" sign even though you made it and brought it. The list goes on.

Meanwhile, stall any investigation into your own ineptness if not downright malfeasance.

Senate Panel Sends New Letter to Rice Demanding Papers on Iraq Arms Friday

The committee's demand reflects a new impatience on the part of the panel and its staff, who have said some of their previous requests have gone unanswered since July.

Tuesday

Luskin is a stalker day.

Pass it on.

What was this war about again?

Well, it was about WMD... uh... er... fighting terrorism! I know there are more terrorists now than before the war, but... well, how about the Iraqi people! Yes, freeing them from Saddam Hussein! I know that's not what we discussed prior to the war...

Well, it's certainly not about lining the pockets of Bush's contributors.

Companies awarded $8 billion in contracts to rebuild Iraq and Afghanistan have been major campaign donors to President Bush, and their executives have had important political and military connections, according to a study released Thursday.

Certainly not.

I scoff at the very notion.

Uh... scoff.

In praise of older games

I recently got a copy of Myth III: The Wolf Age, which has been out for a while but I had never played. While not as satisfying as the previous two chapters of the Myth dynasty, it rekindled my interest in the series, perhaps the crowning jewel of the late, lamented Bungie. I'm not a huge gamer, but I consider Myth II to be my favorite game of all time.

Poking around on the web, I discovered that some enterprising souls at Myth Developers had created Carbon updates of both Myth: The Fallen Lords and Myth II: Soulblighter, so you can now run these games in OS X.

This might seem like a good thing, but after a hiatus from gameplay since completing Return To Castle Wolfenstein, I found myself hooked again on these ancient treasures. I've just finished The Fallen Lords, a game I first played in 1997. The Carbon version doesn't take advantage of OS X 3D drivers, but it was always the gameplay and the storyline that made Myth so compelling.

This is exactly why The Wolf Age was not as much of a success. The gameplay was strangely more difficult (although subsequent updates have improved it some) and the story lacked the understated sincerity, for lack of a better word, of The Fallen Lords and Soulblighter. The Wolf Age's more dramatic narration and acting reflect the failing of Mumbo Jumbo to "get" the appeal of the subdued tone of the original Myth titles.

I can go on for hours and hours like these things are great works of literature. They're not, of course, but they are great works of their own genre.

Albert also alerted me to an OS X port of another Bungie classic: Marathon. This was the game where Bungie really hit its stride. Pathways to Darkness was a good first foray into first-person shooter games for the Macintosh, but Marathon amassed a cult following. I haven't had much time to play with the OS X port, but it runs "actual size" in a small portion of today's much larger screens which can be a little annoying. It's still enjoyable, though.

Ah, the hours of potential productivity I wasted on that game...

Networkable game play and the ability to make your own maps gave these games a life of their own that continues even now.

Marathon was first released in 1994 and it's still got legs.

Good blog

I've been enjoying U.S.S. Mariner for my post-season Mariners news and some humorous analysis, like the following:

...giving the M's more draft picks is like giving a twenty to a drunk bum you meet in the malt liquor section. The team's only going to blow any picks they pick up this off-season on tall left-handed high school pitchers.

The team is up to their ass in pitching. What they need is some guys on the receiving end of the ball who know how to make it go places. Like somewhere in that big Safeco outfield where there isn't an outfielder already standing right there.

While I would have thought it sacrilege to not persue Hasegawa, who had a stellar year, they're right. It makes no sense to dump a bunch of money on him when what you really need is hitting, even if they'll blow their draft picks on more pitching.

Time for a good ol' fashioned barn raising

Atrios has received a cease and desist from Donald Luskin's lawyer, asking him to remove posts referring to Luskin "stalking" Paul Krugman.

Despite the fact that Luskin prides himself on stalking Krugman.

If Atrios' was shocked at how fast he got the funds to get a new computer, he'll be flabbergasted if he starts asking for funds to defend himself against a Luskin nuisance suit.

Personally, I think a counter-suit is in order from Krugman.

Boy, these guys have one play book and they're sticking with it, whether it works or not. Remember Dick Cheney's threatening letter to WhiteHouse.org? And O'Reilly's suit against Franken?

The mills grind slow, but grind exceedingly dumb.

(CORRECTION: I changed "Dick Cheney's suit against" to "Dick Cheney's threatening letter to". He never filed suit, to the best of my knowledge. I also changed "Luskin's nuisance suit" to "a Luskin nuisance suit" because I felt the former made it sound like he had already filed one, which is not the case.)

Supportin' the troops

Oh, no, wait, it's not the troops!

Congress Nixes Extra Pay for Some Troops

House-Senate negotiators considering an $87 billion package for Iraq (news - web sites) and Afghanistan have rejected a Democratic proposal to compensate federal employees on active duty with the National Guard and reserves.

The proposal by Sen. Dick Durbin, D-Ill., would have made up the differences between the workers' regular salaries and their service incomes, as many states and private employers are already doing.

Well, surely, the joy of uh... finding WMD... no, no... uh... stamping out terrorism... wait, that can't be it... catching Saddam Hussein... whoops, no, not that... Well, whatever it is we went over there to do, the joy of having done... it... is surely reward enough!

While the troops are actually taking home less pay than they would have if Bush hadn't gotten us into this debacle, it's good to know Dick Cheney's palls are doing just fine (link via Skimble).

The former employer of U.S. Vice President Dick Cheney reported revenues rose 39 percent to $4.1 billion, boosted mainly by work its KBR engineering and construction group is doing for the government in the Middle East and elsewhere.

Whew. Man. I was really worried about them for a while there. What a relief. Boy, it's like they have a guardian angel or something! You know, someone looking out for them, taking care of them.

I just can not tell you how good it is to know they're doin' OK.

No, really, I can't.

Sign-Gate

The Horse is all over Sign-Gate, or Mission Accomplished-Gate, whichever you prefer.

I'm kind of partial to Overly Orchestrated Political Sham-Gate, myself. OOPS-Gate for short.

At the very least, I think we can be assured after this week that the Bush campaign will not be trotting out the pictures of their guy prancing around in a flight suit (to paraphrase a fabulous line from Wesley Clark) on the Lincoln, unless it's just to pass them around among the faithful, like locker room porn.

Not that I'd know anything about locker room porn... Frankly, I prefer to enjoy my porn in the comfort of my own home, not surrounded by lots of sweaty guys, but that's just me.

Anyway, it seems the whole event has truly backfired, causing a host of ass-covering. "He didn't say 'combat' was over he said 'major combat' was over." "We didn't want to put that sign up, the sailors made us."

Riiiiiiiiight...

Like the war itself, this highly staged event would have been better questioned at the time, rather than months later when the magic pixie spell the media seemed to be under the thrall of finally wore off. As Jon Stewart said on the Daily Show the other night, "I just want to make sure we're all marching slack-jawed in the same direction."

Any time I use the word "thrall" I can't help thinking of these guys. Because... well... they're called thrall.

Moby/MoveOn.org Contest

Oh, I've GOT to get into this (link via Atrios).

Did I mention I went to high school with Moby?

Because I did you know.

It's pretty much the only name I can drop so I'm going to get a lot of mileage out of it.

Wee bit touchy, are we?

From Eat Your Vegetables, a new add to the list on the left, I see this tale of a Microsoft contractor who posted a picture of some Macs headed to the Microsoft campus and then heard those magic words: you're fired!

"..you have the right to say anything you want. Unfortunately, Microsoft has the right to decide that because of what you said, you're no longer welcome on the Microsoft campus."

Now, Microsoft is certainly within their rights to fire a contractor if they feel they're not "Microsoft material" ([cough] mindless corporate drones [cough]), but c'mon. Bit of an over-reaction. Someone's a little cranky. Someone needs a nap.

Wonder if the reaction would have been the same if he had taken a picture of a bunch of Dells.

Tip o' the day

OK, I don't have a "Tip o' the day" so this is, uh, just... "Tip."

Pressing the F9 key in Panther activates Exposé. Tapping it three times gets Exposé to stick, so you can more easily pick a window.

Ah-haaaaah...

We now return you to our regularly scheduled programming.

ADDENDUM: D'OH! Jeff Carlson (he of TidBITS fame), in comments, corrects me on my "Tip". Just tapping the F9 key ONCE makes Exposé stick! Well, sure, but it ALSO works if you tap it three times. And there's a dance you should do as well.

See, this is why I don't have a "Tip o' the day" feature. I'm an idiot. And THEN, to top it off, I get corrected by someone from TidBITS, which is just shy of having Steve Jobs drive over to your house and explain how it works. Ugh.

The pattern continues!

Remember, kids, if you ever do anything horribly wrong in this world, it's not a problem with something you've done, it's a perception problem. What you need is an aggressive marketing campaign! Yes, we've seen it before from Microsoft, the Bush administration, Diebold, and Halliburton. Now, please welcome... the Saudis!

Saudi Arabia has spent $17.6 million on public relations, advertising and lobbying since the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks, hoping to convince Americans it is committed to fighting terrorism although 15 of the 19 hijackers were Saudi citizens, Justice Department records show.

It's not that we run a system that breeds terrorists, it's that we haven't spent enough on marketing!

Intimidation

Another fine example of the administration's contempt for science.

NIH Questions Researchers on AIDS Grants

Apparently, asking questions and doing research is against the beliefs of the Traditional Values Coalition, whose charter must read "La-la-la-la-la-la-la, I am not list-en-ing!"

"We know for a fact that millions and millions of dollars have been flushed down the toilet over years on this HIV, AIDS scam and sham," Lafferty said. "We know what it takes to prevent getting the disease. It takes not engaging in risky sexual behaviors."

Or, to provide a "shorter" Andrea Lafferty, "There is no length I will not go to to use AIDS as a club to enforce my brand of religious indoctrination."

Of course, she neglects to mention the fact that AIDS is almost unknown in the lesbian population. Maybe what it really takes, Andrea, is us all turning lesbian. Think about it, won't you?

As the saying goes, there's someone who desperately needs to get laid.

The carrot

A comment from Ross Olson in my Panther post below reminded me of another anecdote about how Apple's wooing people.

I use my PowerBook to take notes in my class that meets Tuesdays and Thursdays and a guy who sits in front of me uses a Dell to do the same. On Thursday the 16th, he and I were talking about Macs and I commented that iTunes had just been released for the PC and said he should try it. He said "Oh, yeah, I'll have to check that out."

The following Tuesday he told me he had downloaded iTunes and used it to burn a CD and really liked it.

On Thursday, a week after the first discussion, I saw him coming in wearing a pair of tell-tale white earplugs. He had gone out and bought a 30 GB iPod.

It's an anecdote, but I think it's telling.

Out of touch

While Bush's father suffered for not knowing the price of milk, Bush will suffer for not knowing (or just playing dumb about) the reality he's created in Iraq.

Bush: Iraq Attacks Sign of Desperation

President Bush said Monday that U.S. progress in Iraq is making insurgents more "desperate" and spurring attacks such as the bombings at the international Red Cross headquarters and four police stations across Baghdad that killed dozens of people.

"The more progress we make on the ground, the more free the Iraqis become, the more electricity that's available, the more jobs are available, the more kids that are going to school, the more desperate these killers become," Bush told reporters at the White House.

That's right - the more bombings there are, the better we're doing!

Panther maniac

Albert and I picked up our copies of Panther last night and I am suitably impressed.

I installed it first on my old 400 MHz PowerBook and I was astounded at how much snappier it seemed. Software vendors will always say their new operating system is "faster!", but I think the average experience has consistently been that they get slower and slower, requiring faster and faster processors to run on.

In both Jaguar and Panther, Apple has managed to deliver OSes that are faster than their predecessors (in my experience, anyway, and Albert and another friend related the same experience). My 400 MHz PowerBook is downright zippy again.

I don't know the technical details, but I suspect that they're still wringing speed improvements from porting OS X from the Intel-based NeXT to the Power PC.

Exposé is a thing of beauty - I am going to be using that a lot - and I've been switching uselessly back and forth between users just to watch the cube effect.

I didn't realize they were going to have 10% off all Macs last night and I was sorely tempted to get my wife a new iBook. I wish I had. The G3 Combo Drive model was down to $899. I won't see that price again for a while.

Karen's been toiling away at a 300 MHz blueberry iBook for the past few years. She really only uses it for email, Internet and some light word processing, but OS 9 is so '90s and it pains me to watch her screen refresh rates. Pains me. After saying "It's fine. Don't touch it." for quite some time, I think she's finally on board with the upgrade idea.

My debacle with FedEx is over - the stuff was delivered this afternoon. If you have an iPod, I heartily encourage you to get the Belkin Voice Recorder. It's also a little speaker so you can actually listen to music (although I don't think you'd really want to for long). The neat thing (obviously in addition to the voice recording) is the ability to use the iPod as an alarm clock, one that wakes you up to your music.

So, again, kudos to Apple. You rock.

Bad management at Halliburton

Halliburton Chief Launches PR Campaign

The president of military contractor Halliburton has asked employees to join a "Defending Our Company" campaign by writing to newspapers and lawmakers to counter criticism of the firm's no-bid contract in Iraq.

There's a link to the memo on Misleader.org.

I do not have a problem with Halliburton employees writing to newspapers or representatives in support of the company, provided they identify themselves as employees. I think it's deceptive to do otherwise. Lesar does not explicitely tell them to do so, although he does tell them to relate "personal stories."

What I do have a problem with is a manager attempting to get his employees to personally pledge themselves to a political marketing campaign. There's no indication of any negative consequences should an employee not participate, but asking them to effectively make a political statement is entirely inappropriate.

Maybe they don't like the war. Maybe they don't like the fact that Halliburton didn't have to bid for several contracts. Maybe they think the company is doing a crappy job. Asking them to take a public stand on those issues one way or the other is poor management.

So pissed

My parents were kind enough to buy me some shiny new Apple products for my upcoming birthday. On Wednesday, FedEx attempted delivery and I wasn't home. I thought, well, tomorrow I'll be around most of the day.

4:30 rolls around and a van pulls up and stops in the street, blocking a lane. That's entirely unecessary, as we have a driveway right there, but whatever. The van is unmarked, but a woman gets out and goes to the back and starts digging through a bunch of boxes.

I see her throw one further back into the van. Regardless, I'm excited because I'm about to enjoy some sweet, delicious technology.

After a lot of rustling around, she finds the box, closes the van doors and starts first one way around the shrubs in front of our house and then the other way. Suddenly she stops and goes back to the van. She puts the box into the passenger's side, gets back into the driver's seat, buckles up and drives off.

Never to be seen again.

My jaw slack with sudden disappointment I say aloud to myself "What... what the fuck? What the fuck was that?!"

I called FedEx later. They have apparently sub-contracted home delivery in my area and - pardon my French but I'm pissed off if you remember the title of this post - the fucking bitch logged that as "Attempted delivery."

"Attempted delivery"? She didn't make it onto the porch! She didn't even make it onto the lawn!

"Considered delivery" is more like it. "Couldn't be bothered to haul fat ass around a couple of shrubs." "Suddenly smelled pork rinds." "Was going to deliver but remembered my shows were starting." But not "Attempted delivery"! No, sir!

Tonight Albert and I are headed up to Seattle to attend the Panther release festivities at the University Village Apple Store. That may assuage my anger somewhat, but probably not much.

That liberal media

I know! I know! I just did a sarcastic "That liberal media" post! Cripes, I could write a book about it... but, uh... I think there are already a couple of them out there.

Anyway, take a look at this story:

Senate Approves Pay Increase for Iself

Notice anything about the picture? Yes, all the Senators pictured are Democrats. Those dastardly Democrats! Voting for pay increases for themselves!

Although, if you check the roll call, half the supporters were Democrats, half were Republican.

But, of course, we wouldn't want to show any Republicans next to our story about Senate pay increases. Plus, it's so much easier to use our stock footage from the prescription drug bill.

Get Your Smoking Gun On

New Get Your War On tackles the "smoking gun" topic with the usual laugh out loud results.

"Have you seen my smoking gun? It is in the form of a mushroom cloud."

"No, I haven't seen your smoking gun. Could it be in any form other than in the form of a mushroom cloud? Could it be in the form of the lack of a mushroom cloud?"

Civil disobedience and e-voting

Some youngsters at Swarthmore, communists mostly, are conducting an act of civil disobendience (link via Dan Gillmor) by not complying with Diebold's demands that the company's emails and other documents be removed from the Internet. The files they are now posting on Why War?'s web site, reveal Diebold's shoddy software design, shoddy development practices, shoddy testing, shoddy customer relations and, most importantly, shoddy stewardship of the democratic process.

You can argue with the kids from Swarthmore's politics, but you cannot, cannot, cannot argue that these machines are not bad news for democracy and should not be scrapped.

Not without me driving over to your house and giving you the wedgie of a lifetime, anyway.

That liberal media

Poll: Bush Gains on International Crises

The AP uses a poll showing Bush rebounding on "ability to handle an international crisis" as an opportunity to yet again push the CNN-USA Today-Gallup poll showing a rebound in his approval rating.

Now, why is that one poll worth mentioning again, when other polls (link via Atrios) showing Bush continuing to trend the other way are not worth mentioning at all?

Shockingly, I agree with the White House

White House Threatens a Veto of Its Own Spending Bill for Iraq

"If this provision is not removed, the president's senior advisers would recommend that he veto the bill," Joshua B. Bolten, the White House budget director, wrote in a letter to Congressional leaders. "Including a loan mechanism slows efforts to stabilize the region and to relieve pressure on our troops, raises questions about our commitment to building a democratic and self-governing Iraq and impairs our ability to encourage other nations to provide badly needed assistance without saddling Iraq with additional debt."

While I don't agree with David Brooks that everyone who opposes the bill or seeks to change the payment structure is "pro-Saddam" and "anti-Democratic Iraq", I didn't agree with the war and I believe not one god damn red cent should go to no-bid contracts to Dick Cheney's pals, I do believe our willingness to pay for this ourselves demonstrates something to the Iraqi people.

This war was a mistake - if only because of the vacuum in which it was pursued and the failure to plan for its aftermath. But making the Iraqi people pay for our mistakes is only going to make matters worse.

Even Republicans agree

You can't trust Bush to do the right thing.

Senator Says Bush Given Too Much Leeway

Republican Sen. Chuck Hagel is strongly criticizing Congress, saying it gave President Bush too much latitude in conducting foreign policy following the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks.

But, wait, what is Hagel... French?

"The great reservoir of pro-American good will that has existed in the world since World War II . . . that reservoir is now down very low."

Who gives a crap! Bang-bang! Shoot-em-up! Yee-haw! Lookit, me! I'm a cowboy!

You'll, uh, have to forgive Hagel for not being so gung-ho for the war. Serving in Vietnam will probably do that to you.

You know... make you a big sissy.

Ladies and gentlemen...

George Bush IS Madam Butterfly!

Jesus, this guy dresses up more than William Shatner in the Barbary Coast.

Very good point

Hesiod turns the Dean as McGovern thing on its head.

Because, to take the analogy to its logical conclusion, if Howard Dean is George McGovern...who does that make George W. Bush?

Remember, it's a publicity problem

Well, they certainly sound like they're Bush's friends.

E-Vote Firms Seek Voter Approval

In the wake of concerns raised about security flaws in electronic voting systems, a lobbying group is strategizing a public relations and lobbying campaign to help voting companies "repair short-term damage done by negative reports and media coverage."

Because, clearly, the problem isn't that they're making crappy-assed software that has no security. It's because of the media.

Sound familiar?

Brooks loses it

I have to admit, I missed David Brooks' column on Saturday. Largely because Saturday's the day I do my charity work with beaver kits down at the animal hospital (teaching them how to strip and re-assemble a variety of rifles so they can take care of themselves when they return to the wild), but also because, well, it's David Brooks. It's not like I'm going to rush home to read his column.

But the Horse linked to it and I was astounded by some of the quotes they pulled.

I had considered Brooks to be a resonable sort of conservative. I thought his response to the administration returning to the U.N. on bended knee was disingenous but "clever." Basically, he implied that while these guys say they don't read polls or listen to the prevailing winds, they actually do and that they were responding to the will of the American people. "Wink-wink, they're listening!"

Bullshit, but at least a spin I hadn't heard.

Saturday's piece, however, was a bitter invective, lashing out at anyone who disagreed with Bush's plan for spending $87 billion on Iraq, regardless of the polls indicating most Americans don't approve of it. In Brooks' world, to disagree with the plan Bush proposed is to be pro-Saddam Hussein. Want more accountability from the administration? You're pro-Saddam. Want a portion of the funding to be repaid later? You're pro-Saddam.

I, personally, do not think the Iraqis should have to pay for being invaded. Brooks' comment about the Versailles Treaty is somewhat justified. But to state that anyone who did not vote for Bush's plan as is was voting for "the ruination of our efforts to rebuild Iraq" is vehemence beyond whatever he accuses Democrats of having against Bush.

I had thought Brooks a more serious writer who accepted that there can be differences of opinion on specifics while everyone agreed on the general goal. Apparently I was wrong.

The Times can do better.

Organization

Daily Kos has a post up about the Republican money-making machine.

The GOP has always vastly outspent Democrats, and it needs every penny as it sits on the wrong side of most major issues. But that money buys a lot of obfuscation, misdirection, and outright lies. We've got our work cut out for us.

The thing that keeps coming back to me - and this post I linked to the other day on Untelevised gets at the same thing - there are a host of people out there who are doing a mess of good work for free, but we're (well, maybe I should say "they're" - I don't know how much good work I'm doing) unorganized. None of the Democrats in Washington have figured out how to tap into this group of talented and committed individuals.

Dean gets this. I don't want to make this a pro-Dean rant because it's not his policies it's his methods I'm talking about. Just look at how Clark, arguably "Washington's candidate", so badly screwed the online community that was seeking to draft him. Instead of harnessing that force, they dismantled it.

They just don't get it.

And you'd think they would. One of the Senators from my state, Maria Cantwell, was an executive at Real Networks.

Of course, I suspect (and Matthew Langer at Untelevised, I think, found this out) that many of the "heavy hitters" don't want to be organized. But I bet there are a number of people willing to work on "projects" if we had some direction and I think we could accomplish a lot.

Quiz time

Here's a quiz for all those out there who claim the war on Iraq was a war for the Iraqi people and imply that our job is to topple despots wherever they stand (unless a Democrat's in the White House).

Why was it so necessary for us to invade Iraq and get that despot when the administration is now interested in appeasing this despot?

Bush Taking New Approach With North Korea

But administration officials say the new approach would involve the other five powers — spearheaded by China — extending some kind of written joint security assurance to North Korea.

"We are willing to enter into some sort of agreement with them, that will give them the assurances they're looking for," Secretary of State Colin Powell said on "Fox News Sunday."

Where John goes all Bill O'Reilly

If you're a fan of baseball or if you just tune into the fall classic so you'll know what's going on, then you know the annual tradition when it's on Fox is to have their show of the year crammed relentlessly down your throat during every commercial break.

Fox's obnoxious sales push often has the effect on me of making me be sure not to watch it, even if it looks good. Case in point was 24, which I've never seen, mostly because by the time it finally aired I wanted nothing to do with it. I was already sick of it before the clock started ticking.

This year the show they're hawking is Skin which, as far as I can tell, is fricking Romeo and Juliet remade yet again. But this time her father's a porn mogul! And his is the D.A.! WOW! I'll bet Shakespeare would never have thought to put the Capulets in the porn business! Those people in Hollywood are geniuses!

So here's the part where I go all Bill O'Reilly.

Fox?

SHUT UP! SHUT THE HELL UP! I WILL NEVER WATCH YOUR STUPID REHASH OF A STORY THAT'S HUNDREDS (OR POSSIBLY THOUSANDS) OF YEARS OLD!

SHUT...

UP!

We now return you to your regularly scheduled programming.

What could have been.

Caple: A damn shame.

But it could have been so much better. It could have been the greatest series in history. It could have been something to remember all our lives.

It could have been the Red Sox and the Cubs.

The politics of tax cuts

For once, finally, I think I disagree with Paul Krugman.

These middle-class tax cuts were designed to create a "sweet spot" that would allow the administration to point to "typical" families that received big tax cuts. If a middle-income family had two or more children 17 or younger, and an income just high enough to take full advantage of the provisions, it did get a significant tax cut. And such families played a big role in selling the overall package.

So if a Democratic candidate proposes a total rollback of the Bush tax cuts, he'll be offering an easy target: administration spokespeople will be able to provide reporters with carefully chosen examples of middle-income families who would lose $1,500 or $2,000 a year from tax-cut repeal. By leaving the child tax credits and the cutout in place while proposing to repeal the rest, contenders will recapture most of the revenue lost because of the tax cuts, while making the job of the administration propagandists that much harder.

While it's true that Bush's tax cut was engineered to create a "sweet spot" and equally true there will be no limit to the amount of pilloring Democrats who propose rolling back the tax cuts en masse will get, there are ways to sell it.

I like Dean's line, which is "I want to return the tax struture to the way it was under Bill Clinton." People not obsessed with Clinton's sexual escapades remember good economic times under him. The way to come back is to address how much better off the same person the Republicans talk about was under Clinton. Remember: he had a job then.

A better strategy would be to propose rolling back Bush's package and then re-implementing the middle class tax cut as part of your own. "Bush's tax cut was a failure - mine's focused on the middle class."

Further, I've said this before and I'll say it again, you cannot win by trying to make moves that try to "take the air" out of the administration's arguments. Why? Because they don't care if their arguments are true or not. They will simply make something up. Bush lied (or, if you prefer, simply didn't know the truth) in his debate with Gore about the effect of his tax cut plan. The press reported the "fuzzy math" quote but neglected to mention that Gore was right.

It is more effective to be able to say the package was wrong, period. When you start saying "Well, this part was wrong but this part was right" it makes you sound mealy-mouthed. Gore could accurately describe the details of a package and Bush came out on top for saying "fuzzy math." It's sad, but it's true.

Some Apple stuff

And how 'bout an Apple-related post? Haven't had one of those for a while and, actually, I think I'm going to rectify that. I'm not planning on cutting down on the political posts, but I might mix them up a bit.

So, does anyone know what's up with drag and drop of text in OS X, particularly browsers? Doesn't seem to work in Safari and doesn't seem to work in Camino. This is annoying as with today's weblogs and such, the browser is actually quite often used for text input and editing. Also, I wish someone could make an "Undo" for text editing done in a browser. I've lost a couple of posts by accidentaly deleting all the text when I meant to copy it all and the only way to get it back is to re-type it.

Also, if you are living on the moon, you might not have noticed that Apple announced new iPod features - voice recording and storing pictures from flash media - as well as iTunes and the iTunes Music Store for Windows. If you're using Windows, you want iTunes. It's the bomb.

Are the kids still saying "It's the bomb."? Probably not.

Onward and upward

OK, no use crying over spilled milk.

Added two blogs to the Politics list: Roger Ailes who I have been remiss in not adding sooner, and Untelevised, which is newer but a good read. Matthew Langer has a great suggestion for the big boys of blogging.

Devastated

It couldn't have happened to two less deserving teams.

It could have been the Cubs and the Red Sox.

Instead it's the Marlins, who despite being thirteen years old will be going to their second World Series, and the Yankees who go practically every year.

And who wins the game for the Yankees? The third baseman they didn't even need.

Must be nice.

I don't have anything against the Marlins. I like Pudge, I like Cabrera (although I didn't like him tracking down all those Cub fly balls last night), and I like the 72-year-old manager. I'll probably watch to root for them to beat the tar out of the Yankees.

But the Mariners' late season collapse and these heart-breaking losses by two of the most loved teams in baseball have just been too much, as well as George Steinbrenner's continued willingness to spare no expense to make sure no one else has any fun. This is not good for the game. It makes me sick. I'll be glad to see baseball end for the year.

Duh?

What is wrong with the AP today? Is there a "B" squad they put in sometimes?

Ashcroft Sees Progress in CIA Leak Probe

Nowhere does it say what would cause the Attorney General to consider that progress has been made. And then there's this boneheaded statement:

President Bush and Ashcroft have repeatedly expressed confidence that a team of career Justice Department prosecutors and FBI agents will uncover who leaked the name of Valerie Plame, a CIA undercover officer married to former Ambassador Joseph C. Wilson.

Well, if you don't count this:

"I have no idea whether we'll find out who the leaker is," Bush told reporters after he met with his Cabinet.

And when he said there were lots of "senior officials" in the administration. Other than statements like that, he's real confident they'll find the person.

That liberal media

9 times out of 10 it's the headline that is so assinine.

Pentagon Defends Gen. Who Chided Muslims.

"Chided"? Let's go to the dictionary: "To scold mildly so as to correct or improve; reprimand."

Boykin said of a 1993 battle with a Muslim militia leader in Somalia: "I knew that my God was bigger than his. I knew that my God was a real God, and his was an idol."

"Now, you Muslims, stop worshipping idols!" the general chided. I'm sure such mild scolding will cause them to correct or improve by not worshipping an idol so much.

White House To Save Cub Fan.

In an effort to protect the life of the unnamed Cub fan who prevented Moises Alou from catching a fly ball in the eighth inning of the Cubs' loss last night, the White House has offered Major League Baseball a solution. Should the Cubs lose to the Marlins tonight, the President will go on national television immediately following the game and announce that he will not rest until the fan "is hunted out."

The President, who previously has threatened to "hunt out" Osama bin Laden and Saddam Hussein, and has expressed his hope that the person responsible for leaking the name of a CIA operative will also be caught, is seen by many as the fan's last hope.

"So far the President's track record is perfect," said Bud Selig, Commissioner of Major League Baseball. "He's zero for three. We feel that the best way to ensure this fan's protection is to have the President promise to find him."

National Security Advisor Condoleeza Rice said, "By promising to track this offender down, the President will make Cub fans feel that they don't have to do it themselves. Then the President will do what he does best.

"Which... uh... well... he, um... he..."

Security experts were at a loss to explain exactly what it was the President might do, but many believed it would involve an extended vacation at his Crawford ranch, several rounds of golf with various celebrities, and possibly an attack on Syria.

Vice President Dick Cheney believed that a large, no-bid contract to a "major player" in the defense industry might also be in order.

Stock in Halliburton was up on the news.

(Thanks to James for the seed of this idea.)

Swell

Iraq War Swells Al Qaeda's Ranks, Report Says

War in Iraq has swollen the ranks of al Qaeda and galvanized the Islamic militant group's will, the International Institute for Strategic Studies said on Wednesday in its annual report.

But on the bright side, some neighborhoods in Baghdad have power for 20 hours a day. So... you know... it was worth it.

Cubs/Marlins

I know one fan that better high-tail it out of Wrigley if he knows what's good for him.

If you sit on the edge of the field, you have to watch the fielder to see if he can make the play before jumping for a ball. If it's your team, of course.

If Alou makes a great catch there, which it looked like he would have, it changes the tenor of the inning. Instead, the tenor of the inning changed the other way.

The Marlins now lead, 4-3.

Shit, shit, shit.

ADDENDUM: Oh, fuck.

ADDENDUM II: OK. I'm able to have a little perspective now that the game is over. I can understand why someone would just instinctively try to jump for the ball, I'm just saying you shouldn't if you're interested in your team winning.

That being said, the Cubs are also a professional ball team and should be able to put that behind them and not give up eight runs!

So, I don't think it's that guy's fault. I just think it's an impulse you should fight.

ADDENDUM 10/15: Rob Neyer, one of my favorite baseball columnists, says it best:

Yeah, that fan shouldn't have interfered with Moises Alou. But it's worth pointing out that 1) at least one other fan was trying to do exactly the same thing, 2) a lot of the people in Wrigley Field on Tuesday night would have done exactly the same thing, and 3) he didn't open the door; he only unlocked it.

Mark Prior couldn't put Luis Castillo away, or finish off Ivan Rodriguez. Alex Gonzalez booted a Sunday-hop grounder. Dusty Baker ordered a couple of intentional walks. Sammy Sosa made a terrible throw that allowed a couple of runners to advance.

Yes, the goat's already been given his horns and he's stuck with them. But a fan didn't lose this game. The Chicago Cubs did.

Good point

Atrios:

The media didn't even have the guts to give any coverage to a couple hundred thousand CORRECT peaceniks marching in New York, even though 35 lunatics huddling around a slab of granite is like shit to the media flies.

What's the possible justification for the difference in coverage? There isn't a good one.

I doubt it

Bush Embraces Schwarzenegger, Seeing Votes

After taking a hands-off approach to Arnold Schwarzenegger's campaign, President Bush is embracing California's next governor, hoping an alliance will win him the state's pile of electoral votes next year.

Despite Schwartzenegger's victory, I don't think things are so topsy-turvy in California to allow that to happen. Despite the best attempts of the administration's propaganda machine, Bush still isn't a movie star. He's also not a somewhat socially liberal one.

Also, correct me if I'm wrong, but isn't he more of our national Gray Davis than our national Arnold Schwartzenegger?

Still, there's little doubt he will try to shovel funds Schwartzenegger's way at some level to help him climb out of the hole the state's in. But you play those games at your peril. Think the rest of the nation's going to like having to bail out Schwartzenegger?

More contest fun!

The fine folks at Demagogue are running a contest that - gasp! - pokes fun at Dear Leader. Specifically, they're asking for humorous names the Bush administration could use for its new attack on, er, I mean proposal for, endangered species.

Communists!

Any-hoo, while I certainly wouldn't approve of such shenanigans (I also don't approve of the restaurant chain Shenanigans), I thought some of this blog's commie pinko readers might be interested.

So take a look! You could win some cool Richard Nixon Paper Dolls!

And that's the only reason I'm entering. My deep and abiding admiration for Dick Nixon.

6,000 degrees of separation

So, Atrios asks for funds for a new laptop and not only does he get more than enough cash, someone just outright buys the laptop for him.

I run a give-away of a great book and I get nine people to submit their names.

That, then, would be the difference between his site and mine. Ah, well. Site stats would indicate I have more visitors than nine. Maybe the other 125 have just already read the Al Franken book.

Actually, truth be told, I get a LOT of hits because I mentioned Kerry Wood's wife. Remember, if you want to increase site traffic, all you need is three magic words: hot lesbian action.

More electronic voting fun!

Yay! I can never get enough scary stories of electronic voting follies, particularly with Holloween just around the corner!

Did E-Vote Firm Patch Elections?

Now a former worker in Diebold's Georgia warehouse says the company installed patches on its machines before the state's 2002 gubernatorial election that were never certified by independent testing authorities or cleared with Georgia election officials.

If the charges are true, Diebold could be in violation of federal and state election-certification rules. The charges also raise questions about the integrity of the Georgia election results and any other election that uses patched Diebold systems that have not been re-certified.

Congratulations, Georgia!

According to Rob Behler, an engineer hired as a contractor to work in Diebold's Georgia warehouse last year, the Diebold systems had major functioning problems.

Ooh, that can't be good.

Officials in Georgia's secretary of state's office did not respond to repeated calls for comment.

Ooh, that can't be good, either.

Behler said that as far as he knows, election officials in the Georgia secretary of state's office were never told about the patches.

"That's the last thing Diebold wanted," said Behler. "They made that very clear.... I sat around tables where (Diebold people) discussed whether they were going to tell them the truth, the half-truth or a complete lie.

"I understand if a company has information that they need to keep under tight lip. But when you sit around discussing lying to a client in order to make sure you're getting paid ... it's an ethics issue."

That really can't be good.

The voting machines run on version 3.0 of Windows CE, he said, and they patched it to correct problems they were having with the system.

Windows CE and Access.

God help us all.

We have a winnah!

Congratulations to Ryan Bayne! He's the winner of the first ever Quarterly Karma prize: a copy of Al Franken's Lies and the Lying Liars Who Tell Them!

Ryan will also get to have sex with the Different Strokes cast member of his choice!

OK, I made that part up.

Indeed.

Senators Denounce Bush's War Performance

The senior Democrat on the Senate Intelligence Committee, Sen. Jay Rockefeller of West Virginia, also accused Bush of misleading the country about the war.

"We did not go to war to bring democracy and prosperity and peace to Iraq," Rockefeller told "Fox News Sunday."

"It was all about weapons of mass destruction and the imminent threat of America getting attacked. And what's ironic is that, in spite of the incredible job that our soldiers and Guard and the Reserve have done, we really are in more peril today than we were at the end of the formal part of the war."

"What we have not done is prosecuted the postwar era with any skill at all."

Agh!

The incomparable Bob Somerby's (I think I've spelled his name wrong frequently for which I apologize most profusely) Daily Howler is planning "a significant break, from which we may not even return!"

Say it ain't so!

I sent him an email a couple of days ago saying I didn't know how he could bear to wade through all the crap he does and thanked him for doing it. He replied that he was about to throw the towel in, that the idiots had won. I thought he was joking.

I understand how the grind of doing this stuff can get to you. I have my own little daily grind in addition to this one and I had to take a little break from that over the summer and when I came back... well, I wasn't as refreshed and rejuvenated as I'd hoped.

But Somerby does damn fine work and if he goes he will be sorely missed.

Quarterly Karma

Hey, kids, remember you've got until midnight tonight to email me your name using the link to the left to get in on the drawing for a copy of Al Franken's Lies and the Lying Liars Who Tell Them. I conduct the Java-y drawing over the weekend and announce the happy winner on Monday (it's a really slow application).

So what are you waiting for?

Spin it, Dick!

Cheney Defends Decision for War in Iraq.

"We could not accept the grave danger of Saddam Hussein and his allies turning weapons of mass destruction against us or our friends and allies," Cheney told the conservative Heritage Foundation on Friday.

"Which, uh, apparently weren't really there... but you fine folks at the Heritage Foundation know what I'm talking about..." (Cheney mouths the words "Tax cuts!" and receives thunderous applause.)

Yet Cheney offered no new evidence that Saddam posed an imminent threat as the administration claimed before the war. The vice president's 25-minute speech also largely dismissed the continuing violence in Iraq, the lack of broad international collaboration, and the failure so far to find any weapons of mass destruction, mentioning only in passing the "difficulties we knew would occur."

"We just... didn't mention it because... we didn't want you to worry. No, no... don't thank me now... Oh, OK, go ahead, thank me now."

"It would be reckless in the extreme to rule out action and save our worries until the day they strike," he said. "If the threat from terrorists and terrorist states are permitted to fully emerge, all actions, all words and all recriminations would come too late."

Well, I guess that's one way of looking at it. The other way is to look at the fact that the real terrorist - remember Bin Laden? - is still on the loose, we've sunk hundreds of lives and billions of dollars into an action that has turned up bupkus, our military is spread so painfully thin that it's obvious we can't take on another action at this time, and the administration is still talking tough, like a reeling drunk.

Thursday, six months after the statue of Iraqi leader Saddam Hussein fell in Baghdad, Bush said he was concerned that "perceptions" didn't reflect the reality of progress in Iraq. He spoke on a day when more than a dozen people, including a Spanish attache and two American soldiers, died in a fresh burst of violence in Baghdad.

Ah... whoops.

"Oh, you shut up! I can quit drinking any time I want to!"

Must... restrain... condescension!

The Daily Show's Moment of Zen on Wednesday night (just got around to watching it) was a California woman holding up a sign saying:

I'd Rather be fondled by ARNIE Then Bent Over by Davis!!!

I'm pretty sure she meant "than" not "then" but, well, Schwartzenegger was once into group sex...

Reminds me of another Californian they showed interviewed a few weeks ago who was being asked who she was going to vote for. She said:

I'm not sure. I'm still listenening to them all. But most likely a Republican. Probably Bustamante.

I'm just... I... I don't... why... what the... 'cause...

Now, THAT'S Activism!

MoveOn.org has an affidavit you can sign attesting to the fact that you were not involved in outing Valerie Plame. It will then be sent to the president to help him rule some people out in his search for who dunnit.

I urge all Americans to sign this important affidavit to help the president who is so serious about finding the guilty party or parties.

Disturbing.

Time To Recall E-Vote Machines?

So, this is the company responsible for making machines that are supposed to ensure our right to vote and they left their source code, which they claim is a trade secret, where?

The version of the software seen by Johns Hopkins/Rice researchers has been a point of contention with Diebold since researchers first obtained source code from an unprotected FTP server belonging to the company.

Now, remember, leaving your source code on an unprotected server is not what we in the industry refer to as "open source."

Then the intruder can intercept votes en route to the courthouse, change them with a prewritten program, and send them on their way. All the information needed to do this, Stubblefield says, is in the source code that was exposed on Diebold's FTP site.

"This is all the more embarrassing because modern cryptography technology completely eliminates the need to worry about this threat," Wallach said. "Yet Diebold is not using it at all."

Yep. Diebold doesn't encrypt votes that it transmits.

So long, democracy! It was nice knowin' ya! Hello, fearsome rule of gigantic corporate interests!

Although, I'm not completely sure how that would be that much different from what we have now. They'd just be cutting out the middle man.

No silver lining

In his post-mortem of the California recall election, Kos says:

After over a decade of ranting about Clinton's sexual picadillos, how can the GOP stand behind Arnold? I could've respected a McClintock victory. But Arnold? The Clenis is officially dead.

Kos is flat-out wrong if he thinks this will hamstring Republicans. Good god, it's not like there weren't already numerous Republicans in Congress who had their own dalliances before Clinton took a shine to Monica. That didn't stop them from mustering up some faux righteous indignation then and Schwartzenegger won't now. And don't expect any help from the media. They did such a bang-up job this time. Even fucking Oprah threw Schwartzenegger a life preserver.

Remember, kids, the Republican political machine is shameless. Saxby Chambliss anyone? I mean, look at the recall itself. "We're sooo outraged at this guy who's racked up a huge deficit!" Right.

Don't expect any silver linings. Neither the Clinton impeachment nor the recall worked exactly as they expected them to, but they did work. They saddled Gore with enough bogus emotional baggage to get the Supreme Court to step in and call it for their guy and they got a Republican in the Governor's mansion, even if he is a pro-choice and somewhat socially moderate one.

They will use anything. It's easy when you don't have a sense of irony.

Congratulations, Arnold-voters!

You've just made it so the U.S. can no longer make fun of politics in Italy.

You're being punked

Can you feel that? That's you being punked by the adminstration.

First the Justice Department says the White House doesn't have to tell anyone to preserve documents for 24 hours, then the White House counsel vets everything that's being sent to the investigators.

You're being punked. You're being given the illusion of an investigation.

When Bush says we may never find the person or people responsible, he might be right. Presto-change-oh-alla-kazam. Watch the lady, watch the lady...

Yep, that feeling is you being punked.

Liar

Bush Presses Congress to Act on Agenda

Bush also said, as he often does, that his administration "inherited" an economic recession from former President Clinton — even though the downturn began in March 2001, two months after Bush took office.

So, in other words, he lied. He lied to cover his ass. Again. And continued to push the exact same policies that got us into this mess in the first place.

There's only so many times you can quote that definition of insanity that says it's doing the same thing over and over expecting a different result. I'm getting sick of this crap.

Finish the sentence

Bush Says He Is Ready to Work With Arnold

President Bush says he is ready to work with Arnold Schwarzenegger if Californians elect him as their next governor, but he stopped short Tuesday of the praise he had previously offered the actor-turned-candidate.

Ready to work with him on what? I'm guessing it's a little game we like to call "purging voter rolls"!

Bush hopes for a still-birth

Bush Says Leader May Not Be Found in CIA-Iraq Probe

Bush said he did not know whether a federal criminal investigation, begun after a request by the CIA, would find who leaked the name of Valerie Plame to a number of different media outlets in Washington.

Oh? And then what, el Presidente? We're just supposed to drop it? Sounds like someone's trying to sew the seeds of public expectation for a failed investigation.

"Oh, well. They didn't find out who did it. What are you gonna do?!"

Hmm, that sounds familiar. Ah, yes, it's the great incuriousness and lack of follow-through that is the hallmark of the Bush administration!

Anyone remember that bin Laden guy? And whatever happened to that Saddam dude?

Ooh, look, shiny object!

There goes the neighborhood

Hey, the George Bush campaign has a weblog (link via Blog for America)! Now you can get your spin in... uh... weblog format!

Unlike all the weblogs of his Democratic opponents (at least the ones I could find easily - couldn't find ones for Sharpton, Kucinich, Gephardt or Moseley Braun), the posts to Bush's weblog are from the shadowy "GeorgeWBush.com" entity, rather than a named person.

Which leads me to believe that the entire weblog is one big leak.

Also, check out the font they use for "blog" in the upper right hand corner. Hey, it's blob-like because "blog" sounds like... "blob"... Ha-ha! Ha! Haaaa...

Clicking on the "Compassion" tab I see... ooh, black people. Apparently black people need compassion.

Now... let me see... where the tab for "Out-Of-Control Deficit Spending"? Where's the one for "Tax Cuts For Fellow Dekes"? Where's the one for "Foreign Policy Devised By Rabid Hyenas"? Hmm...

Boston/Oakland Game 5

You see, I want to like Boston, I really do. I was born and raised in Connecticut and I am rooting for them over Oakland, but you'd think Manny's pathetic slump would inspire him to run toward first when he hit a long fly ball rather than walking slowly. It went out, but c'mon. It's not like this isn't an important game.

The thing that bothers me about this series is that both teams are playing rather sloppy ball. Think the Yankees will be playing sloppy ball?

Oh, jeez, Jackson and Damon just collided in center field - their heads collided. Jackson looks like he'll be OK, but it looks like they called for a stretcher for Damon. Shit - hope he's OK.

ADDENDUM: Oh, jesus, one of the Oakland fans is taunting Jackson. What an ass-clown. Looks like he'll get tossed. But Damon got a standing ovation when he waved as they put him into the fucking ambulance.

You know, most baseball fans are good-natured folks, even when they're taunting. I, myself, once taunted Detroit's Bobby Higginson for seven or eight innings until he turned just a bit and shook his head. I didn't say anything more than "You suck." I didn't tell him I knew where he lived, like some fans did to Mark McLemore in Arlington.

So I think it's OK to taunt. But, shit, not when someone's taken off in a god damn ambulance.

Ugh. Pedro's coming out. It's a one-run game.

ADDENDUM II: During the 1998 post-season, I was sick and lying on the couch seeing the large number of goatees (technically, Van Dykes - a goatee is just hair on your chin with no moustache) on the players, I finally decided to grow one, a little late to that trend.

This year there seem to be a large number of... what the heck are those? Fu Manchus? Handlebar moustaches? Well, whatever the hell they are, I ain't gonna be sporting one of those this winter.

ADDENDUM III: SOX WIN! SOX WIN!

A Bush Administration Production

Where's Larry Kramer When We Need Him?

This review of two 9/11-inspired plays, even though it's written by Frank Rich, is a typical NY Times theater review, full of large words and references to playwrights you've never read. But its ultimate point that the Bush administration has done a better job than artists at creating 9/11-inspired fiction is worth plodding through it.

The paradox is that the Bush administration has all the creative fire that the creative world lacks. In two years it has changed the meaning of "the day that changed everything" beyond recognition. In place of the old 9/11 it erected a new one, a work of art in its way, ingeniously created by the brilliant Bush team of makeover artists. Their attention to wicked detail puts them firmly in the school of Hieronymus Bosch. They allowed the country to believe in a plot line in which the villain is Saddam Hussein, not bin Laden, and the 9/11 hijackers were predominantly Iraqi rather than Saudi. The White House even manipulated press releases to launder the foul post-9/11 air in lower Manhattan into ersatz cleanliness. This is fiction on so epic a scale that were it published as a novel it would be a candidate for a Laura Bush literary salon.

...

Government officials are supposed to deal in facts, not fiction. Artists are supposed to invent fictions that illuminate the truth. Where are those with the courage and imagination to challenge a government of brilliant fabulists at what should be the artists' own game?

Well, they've probably been shouted down and shut out. It's only been fairly recently in this country that you could express opinions that didn't coincide with Dear Leader's without some wingnut threatening your life. Actually, you still can't, but the volume of death threats has certainly been cut substantially by, oh, well, evidence. The truth. That kind of thing. And, more importantly, people are willing to stand up for you.

America gave Bush something it probably shouldn't have: a chance. It gave him a chance to do the right thing without anyone looking over his shoulder, and he failed miserably at it.

We won't be doin' that again.

Quarterly Karma

When I started this blog back in July I promised special deals for you, the reader, and now I'm prepared to deliver.

I used to read a blog by a guy who turned the usual "buy me something off my wishlist" thing upside down by offering to buy a reader something off their wish list. I thought that was a good idea. Then, a couple of months ago my wife and I were in an airport bar and we had a nice chat with a guy from Alaska who bought us a couple of beers as he got up to make his flight. He said he was just spreading good karma.

I consider myself a fortunate person, a happy person. I think it's a good idea to spread whatever happiness you can.

So, here's what I'm offering. I'm offering to buy a random reader a gift of my choosing every quarter. I've got a little Java app that I wrote that will randomize up a name from a list and I will then purchase said chosen quarterly prize and ship it off to the randomized winner.

If you win, you are not eligible to enter again for a year. Prizes will be awarded in the first month of the quarter. I will solicit names and provide a date by which your name must be in to be entered. All prizes will be of my determining and will be announced beforehand so you can decide if you want it or not before you enter.

None of the prizes will be expensive. I'm talking DVD, CD, book, etc. But I'm also talking free to you, the reader!

If... you know... you win.

So, let's get to it!

This quarter's Quarterly Karma prize is... a copy of Al Franken's Lies and the Lying Liars Who Tell Them!

So send me your name (or pseudonym) by Friday, 10/10 and I'll enter you!

Uh... OK, that came out wrong.

I will have to get an address from the winner, so don't enter if you want it delivered by courier to a locker in a bus station.

You know who I'm talking about.

Eugene.

The heart of the problem

Wanna know what the problem underlying every decision made by the Bush administration is? The L.A. Times knows.

George W. Bush's Medieval Presidency (Link via Daily Kos.)

A presidency without doubt and resistant to disconcerting facts is a presidency not on the road to Damascus but on the road to disaster.

You know, I don't believe in running a country based on polls. But I do believe in running one based on facts. This administration doesn't. They believe in running one based on ideology and they try to squash the facts that prove inconvenient.

Wilson on Meet The Press

Russert: Do you consider yourself a Democrat?

Wilson: I do now.

So far an excellent job. Novak's up next - they're not head to head from what I can see. Wonder what things were like in the green room...

Can't wait to see if Novak tries to say it was a fake company again.

ADDENDUM: Novak's saying he used the word "operative" because he uses it all the time about all kinds of people. He also just said someone told him she was "under cover" which to him doesn't mean "operative." Duh?

And why does he always sound like he just had mouth surgery?

He's desperately trying to absolve himself - trying to restate things he previously said. "That wasn't artfully put..." "There's no inconsistency between those two comments..."

Russert: Do you regret publishing her name?

Novak: Oh, I think being a columnist for as many years as I have means never having to say you're sorry. I regret calling her an operative. (Roughly quoted - writing this as he says it.)

Now the spin point for Novak is that he didn't know she was an operative and he used the word "operative" accidentally and that he didn't know her job would be affected at all by publishing her name. He even said that when someone told him she would have trouble travelling abroad after this he thought it was for other reasons. In other words, I'm too stupid to know what people are talking about.

Dana Priest mentioned the CIA set up a front company for Plame so I doubt Novak's going to try that particular smear. So far, actually, he hasn't smeared at all - just desperately tried to defend himself.

Broder just said Al Sharpton said the president was "moonwalking" this issue and that sounded about right. Sharpton has a great line for everything.

OK, that segment is over. Novak was not asked why he previously brought up Republican smear points that were irrelevant and/or false but he didn't mention any of them this time. He looked rather sad, like the kid that's answering to his parents after doing something stupid.

Those insidious Muslims

Now they're hell-bent on breaking up the marriages of our fine Republican congressmen. By... uh... existing... I guess...

Congressman Blames Muslims for Breakup.

U.S. Rep. Cass Ballenger blames the breakup of his 50-year marriage partly on the stress of living near a leading American Muslim advocacy group that he and his wife worried was so close to the U.S. Capitol that "they could blow the place up."

Well, to be fair to CAIR, the group in question, it might have been a rules change in congress that banned gifts from lobbyist that broke up their marriage.

In addition to CAIR, he told the newspaper that another stress on the marriage was the 1995 decision by "holier-than-thou Republicans" in the House to ban gifts from lobbyists. The meals and theater tickets from lobbyists once meant "a social life for (congressional) wives," Ballenger said.

Ballenger's wife also said the move by "do-goody Republicans" to restrict the money spent on members of Congress and their spouses had helped turn Washington into a less desirable place to live. "Just a dinner now and then" would do no harm, she said.

Sure. Sure. I can see how stressful it would be to not have other people paying for parties and meals and theater tickets for you.

You know... the same kind of stress everyone else in the country has.

Anyway, I'm glad we have such fine members of the "responsibility party" in congress.

Unbelievable

Ha! And Kevin Drum points out that the Wall Street Journal needs a lesson in the law. According to the Journal:

This is hardly blowing a state secret but is something the public had a right to know. When an intelligence operative essentially claims that a U.S. President sent American soldiers off to die for a lie, certainly that operative's own motives and history ought to be on the table.

Well, A - she didn't say that, Wilson did, and B - it's against the law to out an intelligence operative. It is not against the law for the husband of an intelligence operative to publicly question the administration.

Kevin provides the shorter version: "Betrayal of national security is OK as long as Republicans are doing it."

Hack

Novak just won't quit repeating his made-up crap to try to smear Wilson. Despite having the facts thrown in his face by the Post, he's still saying Brewster-Jennings was a fake firm (link via Atrios via The Light of Reason).

The problem here isn't fake firms. The problem here is fake journalists.

Novak screws the pooch

I became embroiled in an Atrios comment thread on this post about little Bobbie Novak trying to slime Plame further by suggesting that she did something illegal in contributing to Gore's campaign in 1999.

Novak was just on Judy Woodruff and used the opportunity to further smear Wilson and wife. He said Wilson gave over the limit to Gore, had to give [take] $1,000 back, and the same day wife gave $1,000 to Gore listing a fictitious employer. Novak says he's been told (by whom?!) that this is illegal for CIA deep cover agents (listing fictitious employers).

OK, let's start from the top. I did some searching here and found that Wilson did give $2,000 and then was refunded $1,000. From what I can see, there's nothing unusual about that. There are a lot of those including someone I know dearly who gave to someone I don't think he'd give to again (let's just leave it at that!). If you search on "Wilson, Joseph" you can see the $2,000 in and the $1,000 back.

Then search on "Wilson, Valerie." You see the $1,000 and the employer listed as "Brewster-Jennings & Assoc."

So what? The thread at Atrios ended up focusing on whether or not that was illegal. My contention was that it was very likely that it was a CIA front company that was actually paying Plame's payroll and was not, as Novak contended, a "fake" company but a real one that was sponsored by the CIA. This is exactly the reason these things are set up - to obscure the connection between employees and the Agency. They use the name when they open a bank account, when they get a Safeway club card and... when they donate to political campaigns. This is not illegal - this is the way it's supposed to work.

Enter Billmon who reads tomorrow's Post early.

Leak of Agent's Name Causes Exposure of CIA Front Firm

The name of the CIA front company was broadcast yesterday by Novak, the syndicated journalist who originally identified Plame. Novak, highlighting Wilson's ties to Democrats, said on CNN that Wilson's "wife, the CIA employee, gave $1,000 to Gore and she listed herself as an employee of Brewster-Jennings & Associates."

"There is no such firm, I'm convinced," he continued. "CIA people are not supposed to list themselves with fictitious firms if they're under a deep cover -- they're supposed to be real firms, or so I'm told. Sort of adds to the little mystery."

In fact, it appears the firm did exist, at least on paper. The Dun & Bradstreet database of company names lists a firm that is called both Brewster Jennings & Associates and Jennings Brewster & Associates.

Nice job, Bob! Now not only have you divulged the name of a covert operative in the name of partisan politics, but you've outed a CIA front company in an attempt to futher slime the victim and protect your own ass!

As for Plame doing anything illegal...

After the name of the company was broadcast yesterday, administration officials confirmed that it was a CIA front. They said the obscure and possibly defunct firm was listed as Plame's employer on her W-2 tax forms in 1999 when she was working undercover for the CIA. ...

FEC rules require donors to list their employment. Plame used her married name, Valerie E. Wilson, and listed her employment as an "analyst" with Brewster-Jennings & Associates.

Game, set and match! Boy, talk about digging yourself a deeper hole, Novak has made it into an art.

One final note: not one bit of this has anything to do with the fact that someone in the administration committed a felony by outing an Agency operative. Even if she had broken the law, it's still a felony to out her.

And she fucking didn't, Novak.

ADDENDUM: Congrats to the Post for getting the story straight.

No way out

Slain CIA Agent's Dad Calls Leak Treason

This highlights the problem for the adminstration in their botched, bullying attempt to intimidate. Whether they were for investigating Clinton or against it, people remember he was investigated for years at great expense to find out he lied about consensual sex. Now we have an administration that outed a covert operative responsible for weapons of mass destruction. What's more important to investigate?

"If someone in the Bush administration leaked this, they need to be punished, and they need to be made an example of, because that's not just a leak, that's treason," Spann, of Winfield, Ala., told The Associated Press. "They should appoint an independent counsel so the American people can be sure, and let the chips fall where they may."

How many more calls like this can the administration stand? They either appoint an independent counsel or they continue to be perceived as covering up. Either way, they lose.

Only the crazies are continuing to try to sell this as a non-issue and continuing to try to divert the topic to Joe Wilson's politics. No reasonable person can sanction this action. The Democrats know it, the press knows it, the American people know it and those Republicans that are forthright know it.

ADDENDUM: Matthew Yglesias at TAPPED notes the difference between a "special" counsel and an "independent" counsel. Turns out it's really a "special" counsel that would/should be appointed.

Kay fizzles

Bush: Hussein 'A Danger to the World'

President Bush, defending his decision to go to war in Iraq, said Friday that a search for weapons of mass destruction made clear that Saddam Hussein was "a danger to the world" even though investigators have failed so far to find any illegal arsenal.

A leading congressional critic, House Democratic Leader Nancy Pelosi, said the results of the search to date demonstrated no imminent threat existed "and there was time for more diplomatic effort before we went to war."

Which, of course, was exactly what all reasonable people were saying before the war. But, then, no one listens to us.

The president brushed aside a poll that said public confidence in his ability to deal wisely with an international crisis had dropped sharply. "Sometimes the American people like the decisions I make, sometimes they don't," he said. "But they need to know I'll make tough decisions based upon what I think is right."

Ah, yes, Mr. President, John Moltz from Crazy Apple Rumors Site. A follow-up question. What if, as is becoming increasingly obvious, the American people are just realizing they don't agree with what you think is right?

Pelosi seems to be saying the right things.

But Pelosi, D-Calif., who met with Kay in a secure room in the Capitol, emerged to tell reporters that "it was clear to me that there was no imminence of a threat for weapons of mass destruction," as the White House had claimed.

She said the discoveries made so far are evidence of Iraq's aspiration for a weapons program, but added there was a difference between that and achieving the ability to deploy such weapons.

And what's this?! Actual analysis in a news report, summing up the facts that are too volumnous for the reader to digest, instead of just slapping together a he-said/she-said?

Taken together, Kay's findings do not validate most of Bush's prewar assertions that Saddam had widespread chemical and biological weapons and programs to make more, and was developing a nuclear weapon. Kay did not address U.S. assertions about Saddam's ties to terrorist groups, particularly al-Qaida.

Where was anlysis like that eight months ago?

What we're up against

Atrios notes that the repugnant Grover Norquist compared taxes to the Holocaust on Fresh Air.

Grover calmly segued into a moral argument: that is was immoral to discriminate against one group of people just because they were different, ie, rich. He said something like, "It's like the Holocaust, people saying, 'Oh, it's okay, they're just going after those people there... not me.' Something is immoral no matter who they're doing it too."

Terry, who is very kind of all sorts of guests, interrupted: "Excuse me... did you just compare taxes to the Holocaust?"

Yep, these are the people we're up against. Does this represent the values of most Americans? Certainly not. This represents a freakish contingent of the far right that has the ear of the president. They'll scream "class warfare" if you support the ideas of people like Warren Buffet who believe because he got more from this country he should give more back to it. Or Bill Gates Sr. who believes in one of the primary values of this country - that people should have the same opportunities - so much so that he supports preserving the estate tax.

Say it again: George Bush is too conservative to get elected.

Man...

As much as I wanted the Sox to win, I didn't agree with a lot of things they did in that game. I don't think they should have taken Kim out and if they were going to walk Long intentionally, why the heck did they have a conference about whether they wanted to pitch to Hatteberg or him in the first place? Also, in the prior half of the inning, Ortiz and Millar were so concerned with hitting the ball that they were swinging at bad pitches up in the strike zone. A little patience and they would have been on base because Harden was throwing a lot of balls.

In general, Oakland just seemed to be more into the game and that was a hell of a way to end it on a squeeze bunt. Gotta give 'em credit.

ESPN Bullshit

Oh, fucking hell. "Coming up on Sports Center.... the McNabb/Limbaugh controversy claims a victim."

"Victim"? "Victim" my fucking ass.

And I think it was a mistake to take Kim out for a guy with a higher ERA who had faced the batter once and given up a hit to him. I know Kim had some troubles high in the strike zone, but I think he was coming around. In a rare occurance, I agreed with the announcers. Kim's pitches low in the strike zone were perfect. Three more of those and they would have won the game.

Of course, we'll never know now.

Angel is back

I don't know if you watch Angel, but in the season opener they're reviewing... well, they're reviewing evil files and Lorn says "This is interesting. Apparently Joe Kennedy tried to reneg on a deal with dark forces. George Sr., on the other hand, read the fine print."

Ha! That's about right.

ADDENDUM: Oh! And Fred puts a Dixie Chicks poster up on her wall!

Dammit, it's hard switching back and forth between this and the Sox/As game!

ADDENDUM II: ESPN is billing it as the "McNabb/Limbaugh Controversy." Not sure why McNabb gets top billing there, as if he's the instigator. Whatever, Limbaugh's gone and good riddance.

Six degrees of journalistic separation

W. House Asks Anyone with Leak Info to Come Forward

O.J. Finds Nicole's Real Killer

Taxation without representation

I mentioned the other day that you could make a strong case against the Bush administration for taxation without representation. Here's more proof from TOMPAINE.com (link via Skimble):

The most controversial change allows religiously affiliated federal contractors to discriminate against job applicants of other faiths. Secretary of Labor Elaine Chao disingenuously insisted that the new rule simply "removes the barrier" preventing religious organizations from hiring members of their own faith.

Err, right, Elaine.

So, my tax dollars can now go to a religious organization (in my particular case that can be any religious organization) that I can't get a job at, not because I'm not qualified, but because I don't share their religious views.

And to those quota-hating conservatives out there: isn't a quota of 100% still a quota?

Some suggestions

As the air has been let out of the wingers' attempt to claim Plame was "just an analyst" (like it's just OK to out analysts because no one cares if they get killed) and they've resorted to simply questioning Wilson's political leanings (like it's just OK to get the wives of Democrats killed), I thought I'd try to help them in their defense of the administration because they really seem to be floundering. So, here are my suggestions for those of you who are struggling with trying to get people to ignore this scandal.

• Valerie Plame was seen repeatedly with 11 or more items in the 10-item-or-less line at the Arlington Giant so, really, she deserves to have her career ruined if not to be killed.
• Joe Wilson's hair is unnaturally sleek and full of body. He reportedly uses hair care products that some gay men use.
• The president said he'd "take care of" the person responsible, just like he said he'd take care of Bin Laden and Hussein, so we don't need to worry about it.
• He'll get around to it, dammit!
• Even though they're acting to enforce the law, we should ignore Democratic calls for an independent investigation because they're purely motivated by political motives in going after Republicans who violated the law.
• Robert Novak? (Make circular motion around ear with index finger and roll eyes.) Koo-koo! Koo-koo!
• Can you imagine Joe Wilson striding across the deck of an aircraft carrier in a flight suit?
• Bush cut my taxes by $85 so leave him alone!
• Wilson donated $25 to the Humane Society last year. Does this mean he likes to have sex with animals?
• The press is hounding Bush because they want to see a white man fail as president (known as the "modified Limbaugh" defense).
• STACY'S MOM HAS GOT IT GOIN' ON! LA-LA-LA-LA! STACY CAN'T YOU SEE, THAT YOU'RE NOT THE GIRL FOR ME... WHAT?! I CAN'T HEAR YOU, THE MUSIC'S TOO LOUD!

Just tryin' to help out.

(Edited out "working in foreign countries" after "analysts" in first parenthetical as Uggabugga indicates Plame was not posted overseas, not that it really matters. It wasn't that long ago that a bunch of CIA employees got gunned down on the GW Parkway off-ramp.)

"Mission Accomplished" Fails Bush Again

Noticed this in the Post's interview with Joe Wilson (link via the Liquid List):

Some who know Wilson well say he isn't pushing an agenda and note that he held off disclosing his role in the Niger matter until after the war in Iraq was over.

So, if Bush hadn't pulled his little aircraft carrier stunt...

You'd think a history major would know better.

For over a thousand years, Roman conquerors returning from the wars enjoyed the honor of a triumph, a tumultuous parade. In the procession came trumpeters and musicians and strange animals from the conquered territories, together with carts laden with treasure and captured armaments. The conqueror rode in a triumphal chariot, the dazed prisoners walking in chains before him. Sometimes his children, robed in white, stood with him in the chariot or rode the trace horses. A slave stood behind the conqueror holding a golden crown and whispering in his ear a warning that all glory is fleeting. - from Patton (1.3 mb MP3)

Probably one that went to class would.

Fair warning

If anyone wants me on December 17...

Does the White House get HBO?

'Cause Bush sounds like he's trying to be Tony Soprano.

Bush in early May:

"Al-Qaida is on the run. Right now, about half of all the top al-Qaida operatives