Intelligence Squad

Bush finds his inner human

2006-04-30T15:27:00.000-04:00

These guys in the Bush administration are so funny.

A long-running effort by the Bush administration to send home many of the terror suspects held at Guantánamo Bay, Cuba, has been stymied in part because of concern among United States officials that the prisoners may not be treated
humanely by their own governments, officials said.
Administration officials have said they hope eventually to transfer or release many of the roughly 490 suspects now held at Guantánamo. As of February, military officials said, the Pentagon was ready to repatriate more than 150 of the detainees once
arrangements could be made with their home countries.

So now the US is concerned about whether the detainees will be treated humanely?

You can't make this stuff up.

More of That Good News From Iraq

2006-04-29T19:18:00.000-04:00

The Iraqis are not exactly feeling "liberated"...

Baghdad -- A majority of Iraqis say their country is in dismal economic shape and getting worse, with 3 of 4 respondents also describing security in the country as poor, according to a new poll conducted by a conservative American think tank.
The poll reveals a population with little optimism about its economic future. The findings show that Iraqis believe jobs are harder to find, electrical service is poorer, and corruption has increased dramatically since last year. And 62 percent of respondents said Iraq is more politically divided today than in the past.

Fat Hypocritical Piece of DooDoo

2006-04-28T12:37:00.000-04:00

House Speaker Dennis Hastert of Ill., center, gets out of a Hydrogen Alternative Fueled automobile, left, as he prepares to board his SUV, which uses gasoline, after holding a new conference at a local gas station in Washington, Thursday, April 27, 2006 to discuss the recent rise in gas prices. Hastert and other members of Congress drove off in the Hydrogen-Fueled cars only to switch to their official cars to drive back the few block back to the U.S. Capitol. (AP Photo/Pablo Martinez Monsivais)

The Baby With the Bathwater

2006-04-27T09:17:00.000-04:00

WASHINGTON, April 26 —The Federal Emergency Management Agency was so
fundamentally dysfunctional during Hurricane Katrina that Congress should abolish it and create a new disaster response agency from scratch, according to a draft of bipartisan recommendations proposed by a Senate committee.

Not necessary. Just get competent people to run it, let it report to the president, and give it a bigger budget.

The new agency, which would still be part of the Department of Homeland Security, should be more powerful, with additional components that would give it a budget twice as big as FEMA's, the report's draft recommendations say.
It would assume functions spread throughout the department, like preparing for disasters or terrorist attacks, protecting the nation's infrastructure and distributing grants to state and local governments. And during major catastrophes like Hurricane Katrina, the agency's director would report directly to the president.

Uh...right. Like I was saying. But forget the Homeland security connection. Let it be a free agent like it used to be -- when it was effective, like under Bill Clinton.

Another Year of the Black Republicans

2006-04-26T18:22:00.000-04:00

Every couple of years we get a "Will this be the year the GOP makes inroads with blacks?" news cycle.

WASHINGTON - Ken Blackwell is a man on a mission. A hulking former college
football player who currently serves as Ohio’s Republican secretary of state, Blackwell is running this year to become Ohio’s first African-American governor. And he faces his first test in achieving this feat when he squares off next week in a competitive GOP primary, which he’s favored to win.

He isn’t the only one on a mission, though. Two years after Illinois Democrat Barack Obama was elected to the Senate (becoming the third African-American since Reconstruction to serve in that chamber), the Republican Party is featuring four top-tier African-American candidates -- Blackwell, Keith Butler in Michigan, Michael Steele in Maryland and Lynn Swann in Pennsylvania. All of them are running for either a Senate seat or governorship in states with sizable black populations.

Yes, a black Republican or two could get elected, even statewide, if s/he is willing to adopt positions harmful to the vast bulk of black Americans. The number of such candidates is typically small, but no one should ever say never.

The more important thing is this: will they do it by convincing significant numbers of blacks to vote against their own interests, a la working class whites voting for the GOP? That would be tragic. If they do it by convincing Republican voters that it's safe to vote for a black, that's one thing. But if they do it by conning a significant number of superficial blacks into voting for whoever has black skin, that would be a sad development. Blackwell, the asshole, and Steele, the shucker-and-jiver, are trying to be of the first type. Swann, with zero political experience whatsoever, is trying to be the second type. I don't have a strong read on Butler, but my sense is that he's simply on a personal crusade, and he has no idea or concern about who actually votes for him.

The Remaking of New Orleans

2006-04-25T12:02:00.000-04:00

Great to know Bush has a "black" man deciding the fate of to New Orleans' public housing residents:

WASHINGTON — U.S. Housing Secretary Alphonso Jackson shed little light Monday on the future of public housing in hurricane-battered New Orleans, but said that “only the best residents” of the former St. Thomas housing complex should be allowed into the new mixed-income development that replaced it.
SNIP
“Some of the people shouldn’t return,” Jackson said. “The (public housing) developments were gang-ridden by some of the most notorious gangs in this country. People hid and took care of those persons because they took care of them. Only the best residents should return. Those who paid rent on time, those who held a job and those who worked.
SNIP
“I’m a little disturbed that even today they want to bring a racial component into the hurricane. This isn’t about racism, this is about people suffering,” said Jackson, pointing to the large number of Vietnamese fishers along the Gulf Coast whose livelihoods were ruined by the storm. “It’s important (to remember) that everybody suffered in this disaster, not just black people. It bothers me tremendously when I see the so-called leadership in the black community, the liberal community zeroing in (on) how much more difficult it was for African-Americans than it was for white Americans, Hispanic-Americans and Asian-Americans.”
SNIP
Eight months after Hurricane Katrina, the future of the 10 public housing complexes in New Orleans remains an open question. Times have never been tougher for low-income people as a shortage of rental housing after Hurricane Katrina has seen rents to historic levels. While HUD has re-opened some complexes, such as Iberville, most of the others remain closed and surrounded by protective fencing. Eager to return, former residents have marched in protest to force the government to open more, but HUD has so far refused.
SNIP
I think they are getting ready to demolish public housing,” said Laura Tuggle, an attorney with New Orleans Legal Assistance. “One of the hardest parts of redevelopment is having to relocate residents of public housing. That job was done for them.”

So in Jackson's mind, the disabled, the elderly, the unemployed should basically take a hike.

It's clear that Bush crew and the whites of New Orleans have no interest in ever seeing any of the poor blacks return. Given that the odds are thatLandreiu will defeat Nagin in the mayoral runoff next month, it is likely that they will never be allowed to return.

Oh, and while I feel for the Vietnamese fishermen who lost their livelihoods, I'd like to think that the African-Americans who lost everything, including their lives, would register more powerfully in Jackson's mind. But then again, he's a Bush black, so...

Like, I'm Totally Doing God's Will!

2006-04-24T22:33:00.000-04:00

The president of the United States sounds like a combination between a second-rate ValleyGirl impersonator and a sidewalk preacher.

Help.

NEW YORK President Bush today said he had tried to avoid war with Iraq diplomatically to the max." Speaking to a business group in Irvine, Ca., he admitted mistakes were made in planning for the Iraq invasion, but he defended the troop level, saying "it was the troop level necessary to do the job," and he would commit the same number if given a second chance.

SNIP

Bush also explained, in unusually stark terms, how his belief in God influences his foreign policy. "I base a lot of my foreign policy decisions on some things that I think are true," he said. "One, I believe there's an Almighty. And, secondly, I believe one of the great gifts of the Almighty is the desire in everybody's soul, regardless of what you look like or where you live, to be free.

Somebody please impeach this man. And his sinister vice resident, too. Now.

Wrong Target

2006-04-24T12:40:00.000-04:00

(CBS) LOS ANGELES Several black activists plan to join members of the Minutemen Project to protest illegal immigration, which organizer Ted Hayes touted as the "biggest threat to blacks in America since slavery."The protest, organized by Hayes' Crispus Attucks Brigade and the American Black Citizens Opposed to Illegal Immigration Invasion, is scheduled to start at 1 p.m.Hayes, a homeless activist, alleged that most homeless people in Los Angeles are black and illegal immigration compounds the problem since blacks refuse to accept the "slave wages" that many illegal immigrants accept.

I have an idea. How about instead of rallying with racists against desperate people, you rally with desperate people against employers who pay "slave" wages.

Oh, and illegal immigration is the "biggest threat to blacks" since slavery? A little over-the-top, no? Or have we forgotten our friend Jim Crow, who murdered, terrorized, and subjugated millions of blacks for decades?

Another Bin Laden Tape

2006-04-23T17:50:00.000-04:00

Rather than summarily dismiss this, as the Bush administration will undoubtedly do, they would do well to think about what he saying, because no matter what the US thinks about bin Laden positions, he remains a hero and a truthteller in the minds of countless millions of Muslims worldwide.

"It is scornful to people that your warplanes and tanks are destroying houses over the heads of our families and children in Palestine, Iraq, Afghanistan, Chechnya and Pakistan and then you smile at us and say that we are not enemies of Islam but enemies of terrorists," bin Laden said, according to excerpts of an audiotape attributed to him and broadcast by the al-Jazeera network.
SNIP
He also turned to Palestinian politics, arguing that decisions by Western nations to stop Palestinian aid programs because of the recent legislative victory by the militant group Hamas amounted to proof of a "Crusader-Zionist war" on Islam.

Fighting bin Laden is about more than capturing and/or killing the man. It's about undercutting the arguments he puts forth. By its actions in recent years, the US-British alliance has done much to actually enhance the appeal of his arguments to many sectors of Muslim society.

Good Terrorism and Bad Terrorism

2006-04-19T12:10:00.000-04:00

CARACAS, April 18 (Xinhua) -- Venezuelan Foreign Minister Ali Rodriguez issued a statement on Tuesday criticizing the United States for not deporting two Venezuelans linked to 2003 bomb attacks on the Colombian and Spanish embassies
in Caracas.
The decision not to extradite Jose Antonio Colina and German Varela, who were former Venezuelan national guard officers, showed that Washington believed "there is good terrorism and bad terrorism", Rodriguez said in the statement.
On April 12, a U.S. court declined to extradite Colina and Varela, currently held at a U.S. immigration center in Houston, in the U.S. state of Texas, saying that they might be persecuted or tortured. Rodriguez said that the torture allegations were a "pretext", noting that there were no cases of torture under President Hugo Chavez's seven-year rule.

George W. Bush on Nations That Protect Terrorists:
"United States makes no distinction between those who commit acts of terror and those who support and harbor terrorists, because they are equally guilty of murder." -- October 6, 2005

"To promote peace in the broader Middle East, we must confront regimes that continue to harbor terrorists and pursue weapons of mass murder" -- February 2, 2005

"The Arab states must take concrete steps with all parties to create a regional environment conducive to peace, lend financial support to the Palestinian people, and refuse to assist or harbor terrorists." -- January 9, 2005

"I laid out a doctrine, David, that said if you harbor terrorists, you're equally as guilty as the terrorists..." -- November 4, 2004

"Secondly, we are confronting regimes that harbor terrorists and feed the terrorists and support the terrorists. I set a doctrine that these regimes are equally as guilty as the terrorists. When a President speaks, he must speak clearly and he must mean what he says." -- October 29, 2004

"Part of this new war, this different kind of war is to confront regimes that harbor terrorists, that support terrorists, that could supply them with weapons of mass murder. This is an essential part of the war on terror. When America speaks, we better mean what we say. And I said right after September the 11th, if you harbor a terrorist, if you feed a terrorist, you're just as guilty as the terrorists..." -- February 5, 2004

"Any person, organization, or government that supports, protects, or harbors terrorists is complicit in the murder of the innocent, and equally guilty of terrorist crimes. " -- May 1, 2003

"When I spoke to Congress more than a year ago, I said that those who harbor terrorists are as guilty as the terrorists themselves." -- October 7, 2002

"And our enemy is not the people of any nation, even when their leaders harbor terrorists. Our enemy is the terrorists themselves, and the regimes that shelter and sustain them." -- October 6, 2001

"Well, I think most people in the world understand that I was very serious, and they're serious, when we say if you harbor a terrorist, you're just as guilty as the terrorist." -- September 25, 2001

******************************************************************************
Now I get it. Any nation that harbors a terrorist is just as guilty as the terrorist...unless the terrorists come from a country whose leader regularly humiliates George W. Bush. Then those terrorists are cool with the US.

Daddy, What Side Were You On in the Iraq Civil War?

2006-04-18T08:33:00.000-04:00

More of that progress in Iraq:

BAGHDAD (Reuters) - Snipers held rooftop positions as masked Sunni Arab insurgents said they were gearing up for another open street battle with pro-government Shi'ite militiamen in Baghdad's Adhamiya district on Tuesday.
The Arab Sunni stronghold is still feeling ripples from overnight clashes on Monday that appeared to be the closest yet to all-out sectarian fighting.
It's a reality that has Washington scrambling to avert civil war as Iraqi politicians struggle to form a government four months after parliamentary elections.
A U.S. military spokesman said 50 insurgents attacked Iraqi forces in the middle of the night in a seven-hour battle that killed five rebels and wounded an Iraqi soldier.
Fighting was so fierce that U.S. reinforcements were brought in to the northern district, home to some of Iraq's most hardcore Sunni guerrillas and the Abu Hanifa mosque, near where Saddam Hussein was last seen in public before going into hiding.

That last sentence holds the key.

As it becomes clearer that much of the Iraqi "forces" are actually Shiite militias looking to exterminate Sunnis, every time the US comes to the aid of said "forces," it essentially is choosing one side against the other in that country's civil war. Given that most of the Middle Eastern muslims are Sunnis, this could have explosive ramifications for the US's presence there.

Because there are so many other causes

2006-04-17T08:57:00.000-04:00

This New York Times editorial points to the tragedy that despite having burned through $200 million, the US has failed to built most of the Iraqi hospitals that it had planned to:

Two years ago, the United States government promised to build more than 140 badly needed health clinics in Iraq, bringing basic care to underserved areas outside the big cities. That could have done a lot of good, saving innocent Iraqi lives and building good will for the United States in places where it has grown dangerously scarce. A generous cost-plus contract was awarded to Parsons Inc., an American construction firm, to do the work, supervised by the Army Corps of Engineers.
Now, with roughly $200 million already spent and financing from Washington set to run out in less than nine months, it appears extremely unlikely that most of those clinics will ever be built. As The Washington Post reported earlier this month, the Army Corps of Engineers predicts that no more than 20 clinics will actually be completed — out of 142.
SNIP
Let it not be said that thousands more Iraqis died needlessly because America walked away from its promise of health clinics with less than 15 percent of the job done.

The Times' heart is definitely in the right place, but this feels a little melodramatic. Of all the causes of needless death taking place in Iraq as a result of the US's actions, the lack of new health clinics must be pretty near the bottom.

Self-Hatred

2006-04-14T09:18:00.000-04:00

The Washington Post tells us that:

A new, limited-edition shoe from Adidas-Salomon AG, part of the "Yellow Series" and decorated with the face of a character who has buck teeth, a bowl haircut and slanted eyes, has provoked a heated debate about the lines dividing racism, art and commerce.
The character on the shoe is the creation of a San Francisco graffiti artist, Barry McGee, who is half Chinese. McGee, who calls the character Ray Fong after an uncle who died, said the image is based on how the artist looked as an 8-year-old.
[SNIP]
Others point out that McGee's mother is Chinese and that he often uses art to explode stereotypes of Asians. On the blog AdJab, Adam Finley wrote, "My theory . . . is that Adidas is trying to target a younger, hipper demographic that is already familiar with the underground art world and the images can seem controversial when not seen in the proper context."

The proper context. Hmm.

I don't care if McGee's mom is Chinese. The proper context is that in a society that until recently reveled in exactly this kind of racist imagery of Asians, this design is at best ignorant. This is a guy who never directly encountered or understood the vicious racism that swirled around him as a kid.

I mean, they made it part of "Yellow Series" of shoes. Could they be a little more fucking blatant?

Sucker

2006-04-14T08:35:00.000-04:00

This young Iraqi learned two ugly lessons about the great American State Department in one shot.

Najah Ali, an Iraqi flyweight boxer, has every right to feel aggrieved. When he was in the spotlight during the 2004 Olympics, the State Department was only too happy to exploit him for propaganda purposes. But when he applied four times for a student visa to study in this country, that same State Department found reasons to turn him down. It's enough to make any fair-minded observer cry foul.
What made Mr. Ali useful to American diplomacy at the Olympics in Athens was his ability to speak English and his willingness to praise the United States. He didn't do all that well in the ring, where he lost in the second round. But he stood tall as a symbol of his struggling country's efforts to right itself. As chronicled by Geoffrey Gray in yesterday's Times, he offered to give interviews, routinely praised the United States' invasion of Iraq and declared Americans the best people he met in Athens.
None of that cut much ice when he applied for a student visa, at considerable expense and danger. American officials who interviewed him questioned whether Mr. Ali was really a serious student and expressed concern that he might not leave the United States once his studies were completed. Never mind that the University of Houston had already interviewed him and was eager to get him. Never mind that I.B.M. expressed interest in employing him in Egypt should he choose not to return to Iraq. There was just too much risk that Mr. Ali might actually like the country he had been praising and might choose to stay here.

Lesson one: the Bush adminstration will use you and throw you out like toilet paper any chance they get
Lesson two: who gets to come to the US and who doesn't is often based on arbitrary and nonsensible evaluations

Not Scared

2006-04-13T11:05:00.000-04:00

From the New York Times:

Western nuclear analysts said yesterday that Tehran lacked the skills, materials and equipment to make good on its immediate nuclear ambitions, even as a senior Iranian official said Iran would defy international pressure and rapidly expand its ability to enrich uranium for fuel.

Doesn't matter. If Bush feels he needs to bomb Iran to boost the GOP or his dead presidency, he'll do it, nuclear threat or not. Even short of that, the potential to make Iran the new boogeyman that Americans need the heroic GOP to protect us from will ensure that we will not stop hearing about the alleged threat from Iran anytime soon.

New Documentary Shreds Giuliani

2006-04-13T00:04:00.000-04:00

I will be there, ordering the jumbo popcorn combo.

Rudy Giuliani reinvented himself after the September 11th attacks.
But now, as the former mayor toys with the notion of running for president in two years, comes a new and blistering documentary that will serve to remind people about Rudy Guiliani's unpopular appeal, pre-9/11.
[SNIP]
"There is something very deeply pathological about Rudy's humanity. That he was barren, completely emotionally barren on the issue of race," the film remarks.
The movie opens May 12th at a theater on East Houston Street. It'll probably have only a limited run, but it will be released on DVD this fall -- right at the presidential campaign season heats up.

Most Americans have no idea what a vicious, mean-spirited, racist Guiliani is. They know him only as "America's mayor," the one who held it together and struck the right tone on 9/11.

But black New Yorkers experienced 8 years of a very different Guiliani. And the thought of that SOB even contemplating the presidency makes many of us absolutely nauseous. I hope this documentary captures that accurately. It may be crucial for the future of American society.

Immigration: the Bottom Line

2006-04-12T16:11:00.000-04:00

So much for the GOP eating into the Democrats' advantage with Hispanics.

I've written a piece on the immigration issue as a guest blogger at mydd.com. Check it out.

Afraid to be Right

2006-04-11T15:30:00.000-04:00

From the latest Washington Post poll:

...47 percent in the latest poll say they "strongly" disapprove of Bush's handling of the presidency -- more than double the 20 percent who strongly approve. It marked the second straight month that the proportion of Americans intensely critical of the president was larger than his overall job approval rating. In comparison, the percentage who strongly disapproved of President Bill Clinton on that measure never exceeded 33 percent in Post-ABC News polls.

...more than four in 10 Americans -- 45 percent -- favor censuring or formally reprimanding Bush for authorizing wiretaps of telephone calls and e-mails of terrorism suspects without court permission.
A majority of registered voters, 55 percent, say they plan to vote for the Democratic candidate in their House district, while 40 percent support the Republican candidate. That is the largest share of the electorate favoring Democrats in Post-ABC polls since the mid-1980s.

So, the Republicans have no issue going for them and are at historically low levels of popularity, and half the country strongly disapproves of Bush's performance and wants him to be censured for ordering warrantless wiretapping of US citizens... but the Democrats are running from Senator Feingold's censure resolution faster than if he had proposed reparations for African-Americans. Who are they afraid of upsetting? The little 20% who strongly back the president?

If it's not proper to censure -- not even impeach, just censure -- the president at this point in history, when is it ever proper to censure the president? Do the democrats stand for anything other than fear-induced paralysis?

McKinney's Hair

2006-04-07T11:02:00.000-04:00

I hate discussing the politics of hair. I hate that there is such a thing as the politics of hair. But the Cynthia McKinney has unavoidably resurrected the issue, so here we go.

Her hair was looking kinda crazy at that news conference. So what?

As Washington Post reporter Robin Givhan points out:

...talk turned ugly on blogs about her news-conference hair. It became the impetus for all sorts of racially driven insults about her locks and their natural texture. A black woman's hair is an easy, timeworn source of racist mockery. It has become an exhausting cliche of self-loathing whether it is kinky, hot-combed, braided, locked or chemically relaxed. (Indeed, plenty of black folks see all kinds of dire race-traitor undertones in Condoleezza Rice's smooth, controlled cap of hair.) A black woman's hair is a bottomless source of inspiration for essays, books and documentaries.

Some of that "racially driven" commentary was better described as "racist." It included an incredible outburst by nationally syndicated radio host Neil Boortz on both his radio show and his blog which included likening McKinney's appearance to that of a "ghetto slut," "ghetto trash," and "a welfare drag queen." It was an unabridge expression of how many white Americans are uncomfortable with non-conformist black hair styles.

Then again, her hair was out of control. It wasn't just that it was in a natural style, but that it appeared completely ungroomed, which is a separate matter altogether.

Typically I find that when anybody goes out in public with such an appearance, she is trying, usually too hard, to make a statement about how non-conformist she is. I usually ignore such unspoken statements in evaluating a person -- they are too easy, to obviously designed to draw attention to themselves. If you want to show me you're non-conformist as a member of Congress, challenge unapologetically the unacceptable behaviors of the Bush administration and the Republican caucus in Congress. That alone makes you a rbel nowadays.

And on that measure, Ms. McKinney is in fact a genuine non-conformist. And that's alright with me.

Condi, You're Doing a Heckuva Job!

2006-04-06T12:15:00.000-04:00

Maybe one day the US will learn when to mind its own business.

BAGHDAD, Iraq, April 5 — A top adviser to Prime Minister Ibrahim al-Jaafari said Wednesday that the visit this week by Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice and Foreign Secretary Jack Straw of Britain had backfired, prolonging a deadlock over a new government and strengthening Mr. Jaafari's resolve to keep his post.

"Pressure from outside is not helping to speed up any solution," said the adviser, Haider al-Abadi. "All it's doing is hardening the position of people who are supporting Jaafari." He added, "They shouldn't have come to Baghdad."
His comments were echoed by several political leaders on Wednesday, including Kurds and Sunni Arabs.

[SNIP]

The visit by Ms. Rice and Mr. Straw appeared to grate even on politicians who oppose Mr. Jaafari. "They complicated the thing, and now it's more difficult to solve," said Mahmoud Osman, an independent member of the Kurdistan Alliance, speaking Wednesday about Ms. Rice and Mr. Straw. "They shouldn't have come, and they shouldn't have interfered."

Unfortunately for the Iraqis, interfering is the whole point of this exercise. The invasion was the first step in a process of installing a US/Britain-friendly puppet who sell oil rights to Western companies at friendly rates. No matter how bad things get in Iraq, the US will not waver from that goal. So get ready for more sectarian violence, guys.

On Cynthia McKinney

2006-04-05T11:49:00.000-04:00

All right, this whole thing has gotten way out of hand.

She was supposed to be wearing her Congressional pin when she passed through security. She forgot. Fine, it happens.

The cop didn't recognize her. Well, there can't be too many black women entering the Capitol, but that still doesn't mean the cop should be expected to recognize her. Maybe he was new.

She maybe didn't hear the cop calling out to hear. Completely plausible.

She probably reacted instinctively when the cop grabbed her -- or as my sister says, "You don't just sneak up on a black woman like that. We're gonna react."

Did she "hit" the cop with her cellphone? Or did she "poke" him? Or did she "shove" him? I'm hearing multiple descriptions of what happened. Only a videotape, it seems, can sort this out.

Seeking to press charges against her, whatever actually happened, is ridiculous. Cool heads can easily come to the conclusion that this behavior is not about McKinney's race, but about her lack of an apologetic attitude. Additionally, there are more than a few folks in Washington -- even among her Democratic colleagues -- who hate McKinney for her refusal to embrace the herd mentality that has handcuffed the congress -- especially the Democrats -- over the past several years. Whether the Capitol Police are among that group, I don't know.

McKinney is being ridiculous as well with her overreaction to the events. Her race had little to do with the incident itself, though it has a lot to do with the external reaction to the incident. But to see her go on CNN and respond to the question "did you hit the officer?" with "Well, before I bring on my two lawyers..." is embarassing.

Both McKinney and the police are acting like children at this point. This whole thing needs to be dropped immediately.

John Kerry Calls For Iraq Deadline

2006-04-05T10:08:00.000-04:00

Holy cow! Someone in the US Senate taking a stand on something! Catch me -- I'm going to faint!

Iraqi politicians should be told that they have until May 15 to put together an effective unity government or we will immediately withdraw our military. If Iraqis aren't willing to build a unity government in the five months since the election, they're probably not willing to build one at all. The civil war will only get worse, and we will have no choice anyway but to leave.
If Iraq's leaders succeed in putting together a government, then we must agree on another deadline: a schedule for withdrawing American combat forces by year's end.

I still can't believe what I'm reading. A presidential hopeful from the Senate is actually calling for US troop withdrawal by the end of this year.

Study: Bush tax cuts making rich richer

2006-04-05T09:56:00.000-04:00

From CNN:

NEW YORK (CNNMoney.com) - President Bush's tax cuts for investment income have significantly lowered the tax burden on the richest Americans, reducing taxes on incomes of more than $10 million by an average of about $500,000, according to a report Wednesday. An analysis of Internal Revenue Service data by The New York Times found that the benefit of the lower taxes on investments was more concentrated on the very wealthiest Americans than the benefits of President Bush's two previous tax cuts.
The Times analyzed IRS figures for 2003, the latest year available and the first that reflected the tax cuts for income from dividends and from the sale of stock and other assets, known as capital gains.
According to the study, taxpayers with incomes greater than $10 million reduced their investment tax bill by an average of about $500,000 in 2003, and their total tax savings, which included the two Bush tax cuts on compensation, nearly doubled, to slightly more than $1 million.
These taxpayers, whose average income was $26 million, paid about the same share of their income in income taxes as those making $200,000 to $500,000 because of the lowered rates on investment income.

And in other news, the sun is hot, and the Pope, it turns out, is Catholic.

Now There Are Many Saddams

2006-04-04T15:00:00.000-04:00

This is not the reaction the Bush crew had in mind when they proudly displayed their trophy dictator after he had been captured:

ARBIL, Iraq, April 4 (Reuters) - Many Kurds who learned on Tuesday that Saddam Hussein could soon face trial for genocide against their community shrugged their shoulders, saying they had more pressing matters to deal with.
"I am happy that Saddam will go on trial because of everything he did," said 39-year-old Sahar Ibrahim in Baghdad. "But it really won't matter. There is no security in the country now. "It is much worse than before. At least then we knew what the danger was."
[SNIP]
"There was once one Saddam Hussein, now we have many, many," said Shawan Abdul Wahab, a 33-year-old engineer. "Saddam Hussein should not be executed
because he was better than our current politicians."

Sure, We Believe You

2006-04-04T10:22:00.000-04:00

Columbus -Secretary of State Ken Blackwell made an embarrassing announcement Monday: He accidentally bought stock in Diebold Inc., a voting machine maker that benefited from decisions made by his office.
In a required filing with the Ohio Ethics Commission, the GOP gubernatorial hopeful said his hefty portfolio included 178 shares of Diebold stock, which sold for a loss. "While I was unaware of this stock in my portfolio, its mere presence may be viewed as a conflict," Blackwell wrote in a letter that accompanies his annual financial disclosure statement.

Accident, my ass.

Ohio's place as ground zero in the 2004 presidential election has helped shine a light on what may be the most corrupt and immoral chief election official in the U.S. And I'll say it again: for a black man to be involved in such unethical behavior around the right to vote fairly is almost too painful to recognize. Can't say enough how much I hate this man.