faboo mama

And apparently, that’s a-okay for a lot of people. I mean, clearly it’s a non-issue what with (yet another) religious sect in Texas and Clinton’s campaign drama taking up the news. It seems very few almost no news outlets are interested in getting into the hard work of investigating war crimes by the executive branch.

In dozens of top-secret talks and meetings in the White House, the most senior Bush administration officials discussed and approved specific details of how high-value al Qaeda suspects would be interrogated by the Central Intelligence Agency, sources tell ABC News.

The so-called Principals who participated in the meetings also approved the use of “combined” interrogation techniques — using different techniques during interrogations, instead of using one method at a time — on terrorist suspects who proved difficult to break, sources said.

Highly placed sources said a handful of top advisers signed off on how the CIA would interrogate top al Qaeda suspects — whether they would be slapped, pushed, deprived of sleep or subjected to simulated drowning, called waterboarding. (ABCNews)

This is after the protestations of these same US officials that “the United States does not torture”. Granted those of us with brains and not living like ostriches were well aware that these people were lying and committing crimes and for our troubles we were called unpatriotic or treasonous by the flat-earth types who refused to allow logic to dwell in their heads.

Dan Froomkin at the Washington Post seems to be another reporter who is paying attention:

If you consider what the government did to be torture, which is a crime according to U.S. and international law, Bush’s statement shifts his role from being an accessory after the fact to being part of a conspiracy to commit.

He even points out the media’s lack of interest in this “old news”:

The mainstream media by and large seem to agree with Bush that the ABC News Report wasn’t so startling, and they have given Bush’s remarks almost no coverage. There was no mention of Bush’s admission in the New York Times, the Wall Street Journal or the Los Angeles Times. There was nothing on the major wire services. And nothing on CNN, CBS or NBC.

What kind of world do we live in when the President can get on TV, admit to high crimes and no one in the media bats an eye and Americans, by and large, are more consumed over their reality shows and campaign silliness? Still don’t care? Let’s look at it another way: I have two children who have never lived in a United States where torture was not allowed.

Sucks, don’t it?

The ACLU has called on Congress to investigate, though I’m still unclear as to why Congress feels they can’t. I understand that Nancy Pelosi must have made some strange backroom deal with Bush to remove impeachment “off the table“, but surely there are other Congressmen and women who have backbones, who believe in the ideals and moral authority of America to move this forward.

“Long after the Bush administration is history, our nation will continue to be tarnished by its record of disregard for the rule of law and human rights.

“If there is a redeeming factor, it is the exposure of these illegalities and the determined effort to prevent a recurrence.

“To that end, the American Civil Liberties Union has called on Congress to investigate.

“Given the record of the Bush administration, including the political manipulation of the Justice Department under disgraced Attorney General Alberto Gonzales, the request is entirely reasonable. We urge our elected officials to embrace it - and to restore our country’s dedication to moral leadership.” (Tuscaloosa News)

I heartily agree and urge you to write your Representative and ask them to push for investigation into these heinous crimes. Do it so that I can tell me kids that the US doesn’t condone torture.  For reals.

So, I was telling him about Klepto Cindy McCain trying to pass off Food Network recipes as her own (click that link for screencaps and h/t to TPM) and I said, “You know that woman has cooked a meal in like 35 years.  Who’s she foolin’?”  Which lead me to explain to him how rich she is.  I said, “I think she’s an heiress.”

My husband replied, “Why can’t I be an heiress?”

“Um…because you’re a boy and your parents aren’t rich.”

He sighed and said, “Okay, an heirloom.”

Well, it made me laugh.

From NBC’s Kelly O’Donnell
Campaigning in Connecticut today, McCain pledged to have a news conference once every two weeks if elected president.

“You’ve gotta have a conversation with the American people,” he said.

Oh my goodness.  The suicide rate in this country would skyrocket if McCain forced himself on the American people every two weeks.  People don’t even want to listen to him now.  My YouTube videos would get more coverage than McCain [s]newsers.  He’s not even half as interesting as Abe Simpson either, so it would be more painful than anything.

I won’t even touch the dunderheadedness of “you’ve gotta have”.  Ugh.

h/t to The Field Negro on this one…

Seems, some asshat over at Fox has compared Sen. Obama to Hitler. Crooks and Liars gives me audio. Media Matters gives transcripts. Sullivan spends a few moments to blame the caller for the comparison. Another caller calls in to…um, call Sullivan out on his BS and part of the conversation:

CALLER: — you would compare Barack Obama to Hitler, because we need leaders that can inspire us, to hope for the future. We need people like him.

SULLIVAN: I love the — I love his speech. I told you I sat there and I went — I’m going — I’m listening to his speech –

CALLER: Why would you bring Hitler in on it?

SULLIVAN: I didn’t. The caller brought Hitler in on it. The caller said he sounds like Hitler.

CALLER: Well, why would you even pick it up? It’s denigrating his character.

SULLIVAN: No, it’s not.

That’s all we need to know. Sullivan thinks that comparing Hitler and Obama is funny. He changes his reasonings throughout the phone but ends with:

SULLIVAN: I think — don’t you think I’ve made a very good point of the difference between his leadership speaking style and Ms. Clinton’s speaking style?

CALLER: Yeah, I think you do. If you had left Hitler out of it, you’d have had a perfect show.

SULLIVAN: All right, we won’t play Hitler any more, then.

CALLER: Oh, I –

SULLIVAN: One time — oh, come on, one more time? Can I, please, one more time? Just one more time? Then I won’t do it again.

Isn’t that precious?

Remember way back when Sen. Dick Durbin compared Gitmo to a gulag? The Republicans in Congress and all those dolts on Fox were besides themselves. They were pissing their pants and crying in their beers because the big meanie from Illinois upset them. Needless to say, Durbin caved and apologized. Remember all the other stupid bits of head exploding drama you’ve heard from the Republicans these past 14 years because they have no ideas and no willingness to actually make the government work for the people?

Good.

Now, I want you to remember the silence.

No shocker here. First Read is telling us that the GOP members of the house have had their heads temporarily removed from their asses to get new orders:Line up behind McCain.

Standing with GOP House leaders John Boehner, Roy Blunt, and Adam Putnam, McCain said that he met with the group this morning and agreed that there was a lot of work to be done towards uniting the party.

This after Mr. 28% has, once again, lied to the American public and said that McCain is a “true conservative”. Of course, anyone who is unfortunate enough to be represented by those 3 already know that having their own thoughts goes against everything being an elected GOP politician is all about.

Because this is what the Washington post reported this morning:

At the request of his campaign, McCain (Ariz.) will visit the House Republican Conference, whose members include some who have said they felt physically ill at the prospect of the senator heading the ticket.

Isn’t that an endorsement? I wonder if they changed their tunes because Cheney offered to take them on a hunting trip. Or maybe the Washington Post was incredibly wrong:

House Minority Leader John A. Boehner (R-Ohio) will endorse him, citing his role as chairman of the Republican National Convention in Minneapolis. House Minority Whip Roy Blunt (R-Mo.), whose rural district went heavily for former Arkansas governor Mike Huckabee on Feb. 5, will also decline to endorse, as will House Republican Conference Chairman Adam H. Putnam (R-Fla.), who has stayed neutral since his first choice, former senator Fred D. Thompson (Tenn.), dropped out. Only the chief deputy whip, Rep. Eric Cantor (Va.), is on the McCain team.

Notice some similar names there? Talk about a 180 in less than a few hours.

From First Read:

Asked at a house party whether his cabinet would be made up an “old boys network” Giuliani said it was presumptuous to discuss who would be in his administration, and referenced a book on how Abraham Lincoln selected his political rivals for his cabinet.

“The cabinet would look like last night’s debate,” he said, before adding, “with one exception.”

Wouldn’t it have just been easier for him to say ‘yes’ instead of playing coy?

To read the post at First Read, they seem to think that the “with one exception” line is more important than the fact that Giuliani just said that women and minorities have no place in his cabinet.

Not a shock. I know, but I’ve been reading comment sections these past few weeks, paying particular care to the Clinton and Obama commenters. It’s interesting in that with Clinton you can tell who is a Democrat who hates her vs. who’s a Republican who hate her. Democrats (at least the ones who most likely didn’t vote for Nader) don’t like her because of her record in the Senate. Fair enough. The deranged Republicans don’t like her because of her husband. None of them can actually talk about what she’s done in the Senate. They mention all kinds of actions or policies from the Clinton administration, and somehow Sen. Clinton is at fault. Following that logic, Laura Bush is responsible for trading Sammy Sosa, ignoring the PDB titled “Bin Laden Determined to Strike US”, and waging two illegal wars.

Doesn’t make much sense does it?

Now with Obama, the yawn-inducing “He’s a Muslim” line is used, but so many people are aware that that’s a lie, that people who use that tend to get mocked. Following that “smear”, is the “Why doesn’t the media use his middle name? [insert creepy music] It’s HUSSEIN!!!!111!!” [thunder/lightning/cymbals crashing] Replying to these people I ask the following questions and never get an answer:

1. When is the middle name of any candidate ever used?
2. I seriously doubt those nincompoops could tell me Mike Huckabee’s or John McCain’s middle names (without Googling it, but how can I verify that?).
3. I have a friend named Hussein who’s a Christian minister. I know a Jewish guy who’s last name is Hussein. I know a guy from Kenya who’s first name is Hussein. I even know a half-Phillipino/half-Indian guy named Hussien. He’s Catholic. Is the name Hussein supposed to mean something?

Since Thursday night though, glimpse at the comment sections on MSNBC, ABCNEWS, or CNNs sites, especially on those articles and post about Obama. It’s pathological among those people. I understand that the GOP and the Bush administration has proven to them the canard that if you tell a lie enough people begin to believe it, but this has gotten ridiculous.

Wyoming is having it’s “unsanctioned” GOP caucus tonight.

The Wyoming Republican Central Committee voted unanimously Saturday to have the party’s presidential delegate selection next year on “the same date as the new Hampshire Republican Primary, whenever that may be.”

New Hampshire’s presidential primary is scheduled for January 2008.
(Casper Star-Tribune, Feb. 2007)

See, the Republican party in Wyoming defied RNC rules about having it’s caucus before New Hampshire. They’ll lose half their delegates for the convention, but party chairwoman is okay with that.

Wyoming has paid a price for being early. The Republican National Committee is withholding half of its 28 delegates from the national convention.

Wyoming, however, can decide which delegates are withheld. As a result, all the delegates chosen at the county conventions will get to attend.
(AP via MSNBC)

A little more info on the RNC rules for the elections:

RNC rules require the punishment for states that hold their nominating contests earlier than February 5. Iowa, which held caucuses on Thursday, will not be penalized because, technically, the caucuses are not binding on convention delegates. Nevada, which plans to hold its caucuses on January 19, will not be penalized for the same reason.
(AP via CNN)

For the GOP debate there only 3 candidates showed up, one being Tancrazy who dropped out of the race last week. Hunter, Paul, Romney and Thompson all swung through the state and have been doing the direct mail bit. However, it seems that while the state GOP officials voted this option so they have a voice, now they’re saying that Wyoming probably won’t matter in the grand scheme of things.

I don’t know how much CSPAN I’ll be able to watch today, but you can get updated caucus results here.

This whole stupid flap over his dad marching with King could have been put to sleep if Romney would just not talk. For those of you lucky enough not to see this, media entities have been writing on this as if it’s news and/or interesting. Romney said:

During his recent speech on faith, the former Massachusetts governor told his audience how he had witnessed his father, George Romney, marching with the Rev. Martin Luther King Jr.

Romney repeated the claim that his father, who was the governor of Michigan from 1963 to 1969, had marched with King on NBC’s Meet the Press last weekend, growing emotional as he discussed his own reaction when he learned that Mormon leadership had decided to allow black people to participate fully in church rites. (CNN).

Awwwwww…sounds like somebody like Black people. I’m still not voting for your pandering ass Romney. But this is Romney, so you knew there was a lie in there somewhere. The media–that almost useless entity that couldn’t be bothered with fact-checking shrubya’s campaign claims, flat-out fairy tales on WMD, made only a passing reference to the Plame scandal and who seems to be okay with letting telecoms have retroactive immunity to illegally spying on Americas–they diligently researched (gasp!) Romney’s claims and (yawn) found them to be a lie.

But historical evidence, including news accounts at the time, shows that George Romney never marched with King, though he supported King’s agenda.

Susan Englander, assistant editor of the Martin Luther King Jr. Papers Project at Stanford University, who is editing the King papers from that era, told the Globe yesterday: “I researched this question, and indeed it is untrue that George Romney marched with Martin Luther King.”(BG)

So Romney lied. Again. He’s a Republican politician. It’s what they do.

Ah, but Romney is an attention seeking ego-maniac. Quick to show the world how utterly brilliant he is, he always manages to make more of a mess than before. For example, his explanation for the above lie:

“If you look at the literature, if you look at the dictionary, the term ’saw’ includes being aware of in the sense I’ve described,” Romney told reporters in Iowa. “It’s a figure of speech and very familiar, and it’s very common. And I saw my dad march with Martin Luther King. I did not see it with my own eyes, but I saw him in the sense of being aware of his participation in that great effort.

|:-/

A figure of speech.

I don’t know who that’s supposed to impress, but I’m thinking maybe Romney should take some remedial English courses.

“I’m an English literature major. When we say, ‘I saw the Patriots win the World Series,’ it doesn’t necessarily mean you were there,” he said.

Oh he was an English major. Okay

Did you catch that sample sentence though?

Sports fans will know why that’s such a stupid and funny statement. Let me tell you, that says all I need to know about Romney, the non-marching English major.

I almost feel for the US automotive industry. I equate their leadership and marginalization to Black people in America today. Yay you! You did something great 40 years ago, but what about today? Are you going to keep moving forward or will you rest on your laurels for another 40 years?

You have your lobbyist in Washington and you get to write legislation. You own Congresspeople. Everything you do is to benefit you. You do nothing to help the American public. Naturally, it’s hard for me to care when Michigan Republicans get pissy because the new energy bill was delivered in a Prius.

The 2008 Chevy Tahoe hybrid was named Green Car of the Year. And you’re telling me that not one Congress critter, aide or Chevy representative thought of using the car? When I read yesterday that a hybrid was going to deliver the bill, I assumed it would be the Chevy. How did all you people who make the big bucks fall down on the job? Sorry, you can get pissy at Toyota, you can be mad at Pelosi, you can whine about it being a slap in the face, but this was on you Michigan.