Republicans Bite When Cornered?

I remember my horror-ridden days; back when "Turdblossom" was creating a "Thousand Year Republican Rule" and when unnamed Bush Administration drones would have the ignorance and arrogance to say things like this:

"We're an empire now, and when we act, we create our own reality. And while you're studying that reality -- judiciously, as you will -- we'll act again, creating other new realities, which you can study too, and that's how things will sort out. We're history's actors . . . and you, all of you, will be left to just study what we do."

-On record(which I continue to ridicule in my little comment at the top right on this Blog):

Would I rather Republicans still be in nearly complete control or "cornered and dangerous"? Well the answer is obvious. I'm glad they're(apparently) going into the fetid dustbin of history but I agree with Mark Adams of American Street(especially when they and their enablers will STILL give away National Secrets for political reasons).

GOP: Cornered, Dangerous

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Real Time | Former CIA Official Bob Baer On Waterboarding

Bob Baer's a former CIA officer. He appeared on Bill Maher's Real Time a few days ago and discussed torture, specifically "waterboarding" as torture, and why torture doesn't work.


That the media is still debating this is the most amazing thing and going into convoluted language("enhanced interrogation techniques") to say TORTURE. Our armed forces executed Japanese soldiers in WW2 for waterboarding POW's.
Here's John Amato:

It's very annoying that we still have to bring people out to explain over and over again that waterboarding is torture and "torture is bad.

We have to blame the media on this in reality because torture apologists will do and say anything to cloud the truth, but the media endlessly debates the same things over and over again. It's settled law and has been settled for decades. Torture is illegal and torture is a crime.

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America | The New Torture Poll

58%-40% of Americans say no to torture in a new Washington Post/ABC News poll which was released yesterday
















Glenn Greenwald:
By a wide margin -- 58-40% -- Americans say that torture should never be used, no matter the circumstances. Let's repeat that: "no matter the circumstance." That margin is enormous among Democrats (71-28%) and substantial among independents (56-43%). As usual these days, Republicans hold the minority view, but even among them there is substantial categorical opposition to torture (42-55%).

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Inauguration Watch | From Work

Huge crowds in Washington for Barack Obama's inauguration. Me, I'll have to watch it here at work during lunch. It's a wonderful feeling, but also very scary. I "hope" he can dig us out of the dubya hole.
There's so many horrific problems facing my country and the world. And I the fear that Obama will follow that middle of the road, go along to get along route that he won't be near what we need.
Meanwhile the corporate media's giddy. We'll see how long that lasts. I'm assuming that it'll last till, and if, Barack starts stepping on some corporate toes for the poor, the middle class, the environment, taxes, and all the other political corporate no-no's.
It's going to be interesting to watch, and for Barack, his beautiful family, and the world I wish him the best.
Meanwhile here's Keith Olbermann with 8 years of dubya, in 8 minutes:



On a somewhat related note I watched a bit of "Meet the Tool", with Karl Rove's dance partner David Gregory a few days ago. He was grilling Rahm Emanuel for being obviously not bi-partisan enough for the current political climate(meaning Democrats in charge) with this Cheney-esk sneer on his face. I stayed on the channel for maybe 5 minutes till I couldn't take the snide gotcha of Gregory. I'm not a fan of Emanuel, but I'm also one of those who knew that as soon as Democrats were back in the White House that hard questions would return, and the gloves would come back off of our corporate media. That's certainly not a bad thing per se, but it's pretty much been missing for eight years and David Gregory is one of the poster boys for that.
What. A. Tool.

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Campbell Brown on Bush and Katrina

Campbell Brown's amazing takedown of G-Dub's delusional hurricane Katrina spin.


"..Many people will disagree over many aspects of the Bush legacy," Brown said. "But on the government's handling of Katrina? It is impossible to challenge what so many of us witnessed firsthand, what the entire country witnessed through the images on our television screens day and night.."

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Washington Elite | "Fools and Cowards"

You know I don't approve of foreign citizens throwing shoes at the President of the U.S. of A.; then again I'm not a citizen of an occupied country, invaded, destroyed and kicked around like a child's ragged toy. An invasion based on lies, doctored evidence, and a complete indifference to human suffering. For Bush testosterone and corporate profits.
From the What he said department:

Yglesias:

The harsh reality is that this was not a noble undertaking done for good reasons. It was a criminal enterprise launched by madmen cheered on by a chorus of fools and cowards. And it’s seen as such by virtually everyone all around the world — including but by no means limited to the Arab world. But it’s impolitic to point this out in the United States, and it’s clear that even a president-elect who had the wisdom not to be suckered in by the War Fever of 2002 has no intention of really acting to marginalize the bad actors. Which, I think, makes sense for his political objectives. But if Americans want to play a constructive role in world affairs, it’s vitally important for us to get in touch with the reality of what the past eight years of US foreign policy have been and how they’re seen and understood by people who aren’t stirred by the shibboleths of American patriotism.

Atrios:

I don't expect Cheney's gang to ever care about the hell they unleashed in that country, but they were enabled by almost the entire population of Elite Washington. Even now simple inconvenient facts of that time are brushed aside in favor of the Official Narrative. The complete lack of repentance or honest accounting by our elites is a continuing reminder of just how corrupt and sick elite Washington is.

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A New Meaning To Drill! Drill! Drill!

"Government officials handling billions of dollars in oil royalties partied, had sex with and accepted golf and ski outings from employees of energy companies they were dealing with, federal investigators said Wednesday..."

The reports portray a dysfunctional organization that has been riddled with conflicts of interest, unprofessional behavior and a free-for-all atmosphere for much of the Bush administration’s watch.

In this administration? WOW, who woulda thunk it!?

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Video: Meghan McCain: "No one knows what war is like other than my family. Period."

Meghan McCain: "No one knows what war is like other than my family. Period."



I will admit that unlike the war criminals in the Bush administration, the McCains have family In bloody dubya's Iraqi meatgrinder.

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He's Very Seriously Being Serious

Isn't he cute? He's got his little "classified" folder, he's got his phone to his ear - No one on the other end of course. He's our special-ed Presimedent:




















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Problems With Palin Doesn't affect Me

Anyone who's given this Blog more than a few moments of attention knows that I am not a McCain/Rightwing voter. Obviously it didn't matter to me who the McSame's brain trust picked for their VP candidate they weren't getting my vote. As the news trickles out about Governor Palin's(shall we say) extreme Rightwing views I hope that more and more of the independent voters reach that decision also.
The news of her 17 y.o. daughter's pregnancy affects me not at all, the news of Palin's support of creationism in public schools, her rabid anti-choice for women, her cheerleading of aerial killing of Alaskan wolves and bears. All those bits of information that continue to leak out about Ms. Palin only reinforces what I already knew about dubya's man John McCain, and their Republican Rightwing.
I won't even go into the assorted stories on; "troopergate", Palin's support of Ted Stevens and his "Bridge to nowhere", her membership in the Alaskan Secessionist Party and everything else coming out now. All those can be read on other Blogs and/or news sites with lots more info than I have time for here in workland.
I think that she, or some "unknown" like her was the best pick Bushco/McCain could hope for. It actually appeared to be a brilliant move, and was to begin with. They stopped all talk of the Dem convention and Barack Obama's wonderfully historic speech immediately. They could snap up the evangelical crowd and the low info voters(undecideds?) and disatisfied women all in one fell swoop. Unfortunately(maybe) they apparently thought that vetting was something for Democrats or the Leftwing Hippie Bloggers.
They always knew they were NEVER going to get my vote and they were right. I and(I hope) most Americans have seen these people in action enough in the last(nearly) eight years to know it didn't matter at all who the Johnie gang picked. After seeing his selection, well let's just say that the Jerry Springer Show might have some likely guests in this family. But it doesn't affect my vote, and never did.

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Dubya's Been Found!

Having some fun as always..



Meanwhile in the rest of the world-
In Iraq-Tal Afar:








From the blitz on Georgia by Russian forces-













Linked.

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Pic Of The Day - Apology

I'm pretty sure this is photo-shopped but I likes it still.

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8 Years Of George W. Bush In A Nutshell

That's of course with my country standing in for my flag. You know every time bloody duh-bya enters a room a band should start playing The Talking Heads's "Psycho Killer". Photo from: Group News Blog.

.."The American leader, who has been condemned throughout his presidency for failing to tackle climate change, ended a private meeting with the words: "Goodbye from the world's biggest polluter."

He then punched the air while grinning widely, as the rest of those present including Gordon Brown and Nicolas Sarkozy looked on in shock.

Mr Bush, whose second and final term as President ends at the end of the year, then left the meeting at the Windsor Hotel in Hokkaido where the leaders of the world's richest nations had been discussing new targets to cut carbon emissions.."
uk-Telegraph

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McCain=Bush | Woman Librarian Booted From McCain Event, Threatened With Arrest

61 year old librarian was removed from outside a John McSame event, ticketed, and threatened with arrest if she returned. Her crime; Holding a handmade sign that said "McCain=Bush".



She should be glad they didn't stomp her with their jack-boots.

McCain=Bush

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McCain/Bush | Drawing 'em In Like Pulling Teeth

Funny: "More protesters than fundraisers expected".

McCain/Bush Fundraiser Moved To Smaller Quarters Due To Poor Ticket Sales/Fears Of Protest

"Sources familiar with the situation said the Bush-McCain event was not selling enough tickets to fill the Convention Center space, and that there were concerns about more anti-war protesters showing up outside the venue than attending the fundraiser inside."

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Frank Rich Says: McCain Runs But Can't Hide From Bush

A pleasant read. Frank Rich at the NYT.

McCain Can Run, but Bush Won’t Hide

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Torture Prez. | Demand An Independent Prosecutor

Haven't we finally had enough.

Demand an independent prosecutor to investigate possible violations by the Bush administration of laws including the War Crimes Act, the federal Anti-Torture Act, and federal assault laws.


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Top Ten Conservative Idiots

A lunchtime read, Democratic Underground's Top Ten Conservative Idiots.

Bloody Dubya makes Numbers 1 and 2:



















BUSH HUGS BUNNY AS TROOPS MOURN 4,000TH SOLDIER
"George Bush larked about with a 6ft Easter Bunny yesterday… as his troops mourned their 4,000th death in Iraq."

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Recession? What Recession?

Yep, that about sums it up(click image to enlarge):




















Link: Mock, Paper, Scissors.

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Rampant Corruption | Another Bush Legacy

Here's just another daily example of what happens if you don't play ball with the Bushco crime family. This one is in Philadelphia.
WashPost:

"After Philadelphia's housing director refused a demand by President Bush's housing secretary to transfer a piece of city property to a business friend, two top political appointees at the department exchanged e-mails discussing the pain they could cause the Philadelphia director.

"Would you like me to make his life less happy? If so, how?" Orlando J. Cabrera, then-assistant secretary at the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development, wrote about Philadelphia housing director Carl R. Greene.

"Take away all of his Federal dollars?" responded Kim Kendrick, an assistant secretary who oversaw accessible housing. She typed symbols for a smiley-face, ":-D," at the end of her January 2007 note.

Cabrera wrote back a few minutes later: "Let me look into that possibility."

The e-mails, obtained by The Washington Post, came to light as a result of a lawsuit provoked by HUD's decision last September to strip the Philadelphia Housing Authority of as much as $50 million in federal funds. In December, it declared the agency in violation of rules that underpin its ability to decide precisely how it will spend federal housing funds. Kendrick was the official who formally notified the authority that she had found it in violation."

Thanks to Kos.
It will take generations to figure out exactly how corrupt and thuggish these people are. We're only getting small bits here and there that see the light of day. These are nice people in the same sense that Al Capone was nice people.

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