Can't Keep Up

If you've been to any of the blogs in my blogroll, or pretty much any blog anywhere, you know that the Wilson-Plame affair has seemingly gotten traction in the minds of the mainstream news, the politcos and - just maybe - the public. Since this is just a part-time gig for me, I can't hope to keep up with the marvels of blogging that do it for a living or as an avocation.

But if you stop by here, at least for now, don't stay long. My comments are down, and you really should be reading some of the better bloggers on this subject. But don't forget to come back!

And start talking about this stuff. We're talking TREASON!

Go. Be informed!

Comments Down...

Blogspeak - the provider of my commenting service is down due to an unspecified virus. I've taken the code out of my blog to protect my readers and myself. Sorry for the inconvenience. I'll have it back up as soon as they say it's safe.

White House Felony

Lambert over at corrente lays out the "Shorter Valerie Plame Affair." Sure to draw Googlers. I'll just quote Lambert in order to increase the odds...

"White House felony. White House felony. White House felony. White House felony. White House felony. White House felony. White House felony. White House felony. White House felony. White House felony. White House felony. White House felony. White House felony. White House felony. White House felony. White House felony. White House felony. White House felony. White House felony."

This leaking of a CIA operative's/analyst's name to Bob Novak may just be gaining some traction with the mainstream media. It should.

And heads should roll.

Blog Find - Redux

So I got a couple of comments on my post about "Boots and Sabers." One from one of the bloggers - Jed.

Now, despite what I said about their blog - and I'm still not a fan of the uniforms - it seems that Jed and Owen, based strictly on their comment and on their post about my post, are pretty decent guys. No swearing or vowing vengeance or anything like that. Just some thoughtful commentary and a little humor.

Now, I'll never agree with most of their politics, nor with Owen's distaste for vegetables, but I take back what I said about them being "brown shirt fascists."

Can you feel the love?

Blog Find - Not for the Faint of Heart

You just really have to check out this blog; "Boots and Sabers."

Written by a couple of ex-Texas Aggies band-geeks (do I really need to say more?), this site leans to the right. How far right? Well, let me quote one of them, Jed: "I tend to be...somewhere to the right of "bomb them back to the stone age" on foreign policy issues."

If you've never seen the Aggie Corps' uniforms - well, let me say they were just made for us liberal bloggers. I'm sure somewhere you've seen reference to "brown shirt fascists"... well, go check out the site.

Take a barf bag.

Justice at a Glacial Pace

Interesting news from the Washington Post: The SEC has sued former Enron thief executive Kenneth Lay. The suit seeks to force Lay to hand over lots of documents that cover his actions while bilking his customers and investors of billions. Lay's lawyers are claiming the Fifth, but it may not fly.

Now there's a perp walk I know we'd all love to see!

Interest or Just News Junkies?

A CNN Quickpoll shows that 80% those reading the site today think that there should be an independent investigation into the leaking of Valerie Plame's name as a CIA operative. See my last post.

When I checked there were a total of 68,692 votes.

Does that mean that this story will have some traction in the mind of the public or just that there were a lot of political news junkies on CNN today? I'm not sure... There was quite a bit of coverage on the networks, cable and Public Radio. But if recent history is any indicator, the public mind is just too busy with other things right now. I'm not sure what that could be as Madonna has not kissed Brittany again and there's no hurricane headed towards Washington.

More Sh*t Hits the Fan

Wilsongate, the Plame Game, call it what you will. A major shit storm that will make Hurricane Isabel look like a summer zephyr seems to be on the way. The White House is in full bunker mode with everyone misdirecting attention.

I've not followed it closely enough to write up the whole story with links and all; although my outrage grows with every article I get to.

Check out the blogs in my blogroll... those tireless folks have covered it well. Now if only the SCLM would do the same.

"Where is the outrage?"

"I'm a uniter, not a divider."

News Inspired Rant:

The Episcopalian House of Bishops appointed the first openly gay bishop this past summer; the Reverend Gene Robinson.

Anglican and Episcopalian churches around the country - and around the world - have denounced the House of Bishops for the appointment.

The Canadian Government has all but approved same-sex civil unions.

This past weekend, a same-sex couple from Canada were denied entry into the U.S. because they wanted to fill out a joint customs declaration (and, ironies of ironies, they were travelling to attend a Human Rights conference).

Remember Bush's quote - above - during the 2000 election circus? "I'm a uniter, not a divider." And yet, no president or administration in recent history has tried so hard to divide us; by race (Trent Lott, anyone?), by religion (Jerry Fallwell) and by sexual orientation ( Shrub, himself!).

Ah, those wonderful Fundamentalist Christians. Is there a more intolerant group on the face of the earth? Well, actually, yes. But they're a sub-set: Fundamentalists of all stripes.

They are so certain that they are right - on every subject - that it is literally impossible to have an intelligent conversation with one on any subject. Some conversations seem normal until you stray into some subject covered by their "holy book." Their book, whatever it happens to be called, contains all the answers to every problem ever conceived. No matter that these texts were typically written centuries ago when civilization consisted of small groups of herders or farmers in small villages and towns. No matter that it was before any technology more advanced than bronze and iron. No matter that it was before the ability to read DNA made us aware that we are all basically the same - to 99.9999% of our genetic material.

Their scriptures and their invisible friends (god, allah, jehova and thousands of others) assure them that they are the chosen ones and that all others are "infidels" or "sinners" or - well, pick your derogatory religious slur. You know all the words. And these "others" are to be conquered, converted, or if all else fails, killed. Over the centuries "other" has included people of other religions (of course), of other colors, of other countries, of other races, other villages...

But all this has been said, usually better than I have. What to do if you're a progressive and can't bear the thought of sanctioned intolerance? There are plenty of places to go to make yourself known and heard. See some of my links to the right. Write to your local, state and federal representatives. Write to your local paper. Spread the meme that we are all humans. Science, in the form of DNA sequences, has already proved that we are all the same. Now it's up to us to spread the word, to show by our actions.

I just wanted to add my voice.

Now add yours.

They Have Seen the Light?

"There were "too many uncertainties" in the outdated and inadequate information underlying a National Intelligence Estimate that the administration used to justify the war, the senior Republican and the senior Democrat on the panel said in a newly disclosed letter to George J. Tenet, director of central intelligence."

That "panel" is the House Intelligence Committee. And the fact that a Republican would put their name with such a statement could bode poorly for BushCo. and well for Democrats. The question remains whether or not this will pick up any steam in both Congress and the press.

That this story comes in the same NYT article in which they report that George Tenet, head of the CIA, is referring to the Justice Department for investigation the case of the revelation that someone in the White House revealed Joseph Wilson's wife as a CIA operative. This is, of course, a federal felony - and could be charged as treason if it could be traced to a particular person. That is, of course, if John Ashcroft deigns to act on the referral rather than find a way to continue covering his boss' ass...

So as bricks of their invincible facade fall around their ears we can only hope that the general public and the press begin to really force the issues; to talk about them; to write about them. The neocons are finally being revealed for the fascists they are - and the poll numbers are finally beginning to reflect that.

Stay tuned for more!

SHUT UP!

//I forgot it was "talk like Bill O'Reilly day!" But as I rarely watch him, well, I'll just borrow his most famous tag line for today.//

Shut up!

Fair and Balanced Charles2

80's Icon Robert Palmer - Dead at 54

So it's not the biggest story around, but I was still taken aback seeing that yet another relatively young rocker had died. I still consider his big MTV hits "Addicted to Love" and "Simply Irresistible" to be some of the best videos ever made. Okay, so really I loved the "Palmer Girls" and their semi-see-through tight black shirts and short-short skirts, but the videos were satisfyingly ironic and the songs definitely got stuck in your head.

Palmer never got caught up in the self-destructive aspects of rock and roll stardom and was, perhaps, the best dressed man in rock. He died of a heart attack at age 54. Sad.

One Man; No Vote

I continue to be - amazed isn't quite the right word, but will have to do - at how blithely Rethuglicans are willing to allow the disenfranchisement of registered voters.

Now I agree that the California recall has turned into a circus. I also think that some of the arguments, both pro and con for postponing the election were a little tortured. Although on balance, I think those for postponement were most compelling. What strikes me about the conservative blather about the matter is how easily they can ridicule "stopping an election (they refuse to use "postpone") in order to save democracy," while being completely oblivious to the fact that a delay would actually improve the democratic process by ensuring more votes are cast and counted.

Of course the obvious problem is that the votes that would be lost are in the poorer districts of California where they can't afford to upgrade to newer, more reliable voting machines. Those districts are most likely predominately Democratic, so... Well you can see where that line of thinking goes.

But the Repugs dismiss the whole process, the whole idea, as some minor impediment as opposed to true disenfranchisement. As the title of this post suggests, Republicans, it seems, would love to go back to the days when only monied, male "landed" gentry could vote.

The Most Dangerous Man in America?

Patriot Act II. This litany of legislative legerdemain just keeps providing ammunition with which BushCo repeatedly shoots themselves in the foot.

Ashcroft's latest defense of P.A.II revolves around alternately insulting, cajoling and threatening one of the least harmful, most beloved and most defenseless of groups; librarians. You can read about it in lots of places, not least of all here.

They've never used it - says Ashcroft (then why do they need it) - and if they did, they'd never tell us. And should any librarian want to complain about it, P.A.II makes it a crime to tell anyone that library records had been requested.

My suggestion is that everyone go to their public library as soon as possible - if you don't have a card, get one - then check out as many "subversive" titles as you can find there.

I guess the DoJ has never met a group they didn't want to bully. I wonder how many times John Ashcroft was sent to the principals office as a child for stealing milk money from a classmate?

The Next Phase

Not content with - or perhaps not satisfied with the results of - attacks on American soldiers or the occasional Iraqi policeman or bystander, the Iraqi resistance has targeted a member of the Iraqi Governing Council. Although Al-Hashimi is in good condition after being shot in the abdomen, this attack seems to foreshadow a new level of activity for whoever is organizing the continuing attacks.

There seems to be no end to how ugly this can get. You'd think that killing fellow Iraqis would be a great way to alienate those responsible. But like everything else there that doesn't make sense, this only seems to inflame passions further. Of course being a part of that society and that history, these gunmen surely know that.

Can we finally just say that there was no plan for how to deal with the aftermath of our war? Not just that the planning was poor, or that we had no exit plan, but really, there was no plan. And nature hates a vacuum of planning as much as any other.

George W. - Just Mad

Via Eric at Altercation, this New Republic piece (registration required) by Jonathon Chait, hits the perfect tone and asks all the right questions about aWol and why he is so hated by just about everyone barely left of center. I can't recommend it enough.

Then go over to The Nation and read Eric's outstanding article on the same subject.

The questions are starting to be asked about Bush, his henchmen and his apologists. Are we near the point where the media and the general citizenry can be made to pay attention? I can only hope.

If you read this blog, if you read those two pieces above, don't just sit there. Print them out. Talk about them. Put them up on a bulletin board somewhere. Write your local newspaper. That's democracy at its finest.

The Storm After the Storm

While Isabel wreaked destruction along the mid-Atlantic coast, it was pretty much a washout here in Western NY. The center of rotation - no longer an eye - moved just west of here, but nearly the entire eastern side of the storm was dry. We had some pretty stiff breezes, but no rain. Earlier in the week the weather forecasters were predicting 5" - 15" of rain here. Then it went to 1" - 4". Last night they predicted maybe 1/4".

I was really hoping to have my weekend extended, but given the damage and loss of life so far, I'm glad it fizzled out.

However. It's time for my now habitual - although newly public - after-the-storm rant.

1) Hurricanes, tropical storms, nor'easters perennially affect certain areas. Most of these areas are beautiful, coastal locations where people love to have everything from multi-million dollar mansions to weekend cottages and fishing shacks. A big storm comes along, washes away the houses (of all sizes and values), the government declares a disaster area, insurance companies pay out huge amounts of money, people re-build and the cycle starts over again. Ad nauseum. You'd think that either a) people would learn not to rebuild in storm damage prone areas or b) insurance companies would stop insuring properties in these areas or c) the government would close these areas to development to prevent loss of life, property and tax monies. Never happens.

2) Mandatory evacuations. The majority of people are smart enough to get out of the danger area when the local government - probably already being overly conservative about making it mandatory - issues the evacuation order. But there are always those few morons who will stay. And then call for help when the storm starts to get rough. It was a good start that some local authorities this time told people who ignore the evacuation order to make sure police had their next-of-kin information and to write their names and SSN on their arms in indelible ink. That was to make sure they could be identified when their bodies washed up after the storm. Unfortunately, as there always is, there was footage on ABC news this morning about police and fire rescue crews out in the worst of the storm trying to get to a couple who stayed despite the "mandatory evacuation" and needed help. These people should be left to be swept out to sea and have their bodies eaten by sharks.

3) Power outages happen with every storm - rain, snow, ice. And the utility companies keep stringing up powerlines on poles, near trees, tall signs and other things that could be blown or iced down into the lines or where the lines themselves can be damaged. I've lived in areas where all utilities must be buried. Yes, it's initially more expensive to bury lines. Unless it is well planned it can be more difficult and more expensive to maintain buries lines. But in those areas I've lived with buried lines, I've never had a power outage. Not once. The eventual cost in maintenance and restringing wires, year after year ends up being much more than the cost of installing buried cables. It's amazing. You'll see on TV, after Isabel has passed, utility crews from all over the nation coming in to help re-string the eastern seaboard and other areas hard-hit. Imagine the money that costs...

Okay, enough ranting. Back to your regularly scheduled programming.

Move along, there's nothing to see here...

Those Who Do Not Learn From History...

Read this now.

Now That's a Powderkeg!

So, the Middle East is pretty screwed up. No arguments there. And people much smarter than me have tried to come up with a solution.

But never, not in the most fevered mind, did a Saudi nuclear arsenal ever make the list.

Despite what the PR flacks hired by the House of Saud have to say about their country and their leaders, or that the latest issue of National Geographic says they are "lurching towards democracy informed by their nomadic past;" this has got to be one of the scariest, most horrific ideas ever.

Choices, Choices... Follow Up

I said below that I thought Wes Clark was still a bit of a cypher to me. Since he made it official that he's running I've been to several of the web sites that were instrumental in drafting Clark into the race and I've been carefully through his offical site.

I've read the articles, the histories and the biographies. I'm tentatively sold. I knew from his background that he'd have the credibility in military and foreign affairs. What I didn't know were his positions on domestic matters.

Despite my concerns about the political environment of the military and especially the general officer corps, his stated positions are mostly just what a democratic candidate needs to take the nomination - and, I believe - the election.

Now the questions:
1) Can he raise the money he'll need to make a come-from-behind run at the nomination?
2) Can he keep up the fund raising to take him all the way to November?
3) Can he stand the public scrutiny and mud slinging he's sure to attract from both sides?

This is going to get really good.

And really ugly.