Category — Uncategorized

Steve Benen notes the White House complaints about the number of investigations that Congress is engaged in at the moment.

First off, this isn’t a Hastert/Frist Congress of two-day work weeks and only one item at a time. Congress can “walk and chew gum.” It takes concentration, but they can do it. They were slowed down by having to clean up the mess of unpassed funding bills left by the last Congress, but they are coming up to speed.

As for investigations, Zachary Roth wrote an article, Investi-Gate, in the June, 2006 issue of Washington Monthly about the Congressional investigations during the Clinton administration which provides context to the issue, and I found a statement by Rep. Henry Waxman on one of those Republican investigations, White House Christmas Caper.

I’ll make a personal commitment to create a series of really sarcastic posts if Congress starts investigating Barney for damaging the White House lawn. That has to be the “moral equivalent” of investigating Christmas card lists.

Sara Robinson covers Salon’s Biden piece in Biden Bites Bloggers Back, and includes this quote:

But I think — and this is naive maybe — I have confidence that the American people will put this in perspective. Like when one of the bloggers said, “We’re going to take back the Democratic Party.”

Ah, Eli Pariser of Moveon said that, not a blogger, and the “We” is the same one found in “We the people of the United States.” You do remember the Constitution, don’t you, Joe? The credit card corporations you shill for didn’t make you forget it, did they? He was talking about getting the party to listen to the people, and stop listening to the consultants who couldn’t figure out how to win elections.

Joe shouldn’t take other peoples quotes out of context and then complain about his quotes being taken out of context. Not everything written on the ‘Net is written by bloggers, and Moveon does most of its work via e-mail.

Mr. Biden’s problem isn’t bloggers or Moveon, his problem is a long record of votes on issues that affect people’s lives.

July 7^th, 2005, London

BBC In Depth and the Wikipedia articles on the bombing.

Update: Jams O’Donnell has more on the observances and a nice bit of the London mayor’s speech after the tragedy.

EDB at Anecdotes from a Banana Republic reports on the US taking sides in the Lebanese government crisis by imposing a Travel ban for Lebanese opposed to Saniora government.

Just as the US has unilaterally decided that Fatah must rule the Palestinian territories, the US has decided that Saniora’s collection of warlords must be the government of Lebanon, and no vote should be held.

You have to wonder how the US government would respond if China started dictating the leadership of Mexico or Canada. The truth is, Syria is involved with Lebanon because they are neighbors with a long common border, and Iran is concerned with Iraq because they are neighbors with a long common border.

It may come as a shock to some in the Hedgemony, but the US isn’t the only country in the world that has a foreign policy, and vital interests in other countries.

The Maine visit doesn’t seem to have impressed Volodya [Владимир Владимирович Путин]: Russia issues new missile threat

Russia has raised the idea of moving new missile forces to Kaliningrad, close to Poland and Lithuania.

First Deputy Prime Minister Sergei Ivanov linked the possible move to US plans for a missile defence system in Poland and the Czech Republic.

Russia has already threatened to hit back by targeting missiles at Europe.

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McClatchy has a nice background piece: How U.S. policy missteps led to a nasty downfall in Gaza

WASHINGTON — Officials in the Bush administration awoke on the morning of January 26, 2006 to catastrophic news.

Hamas, a violent Islamist movement whose charter calls for the destruction of Israel, had won Palestinian parliamentary elections — elections that were deemed free and fair and a cornerstone to President Bush’s initiative to bring more democracy to the Muslim world.

For the next 17 months, White House and State Department officials would undertake an all-out campaign to reverse those results and oust Hamas from power.

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It is being reported that BBC’s Gaza correspondent released.

BBC correspondent Alan Johnston has been freed by his captors in Gaza after his abduction nearly four months ago.

Television pictures showed Mr Johnston, 45, leaving a building and entering a white car, accompanied by armed men. He said he was tired but in good health.

Hamas said they would free Mr. Johnston, and they kept their promise after they took control of the Gaza, but, of course, you can’t negotiate with “terrorists.”

In anticipation of opponents claiming that single payer will result in huge tax bills. Randy Neal at Facing South looks at the taxes in other countries that have single payer systems.

I have to say it’s a bit annoying when they have lower taxes and health care. That is not what we were told. You don’t think that the opponents of single payer systems and their minions were lying? Why, I do believe they were.

Before the darkness of several things descended last night I found a great Non Sequitur strip by Wiley via Oldwhitelady at It’s morning somewhere .

Go and view the REAL creation story by the Church of Danae.

Oh, for the troll who uses the name G. Bush, I really think the e-mail I could send to abuse at Verizon.net would be more effective than anything you might send to the Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers. If you feel obligated, go for it, Vint Cerf appreciates humor. Oh, I’m not going to complain because I believe in free speech, even if it is impolite, but I don’t scare worth a damn.

Let’s admit it – on his last day in office the Shrubbery is going to sign pardons for everyone in White House, to prevent any action being taken against anyone for their criminal activities, but no before them.

The executive clemency rather than a pardon for Libby is to build a wall against investigations. If Libby had been pardoned he could have been hauled before Congress and required to testify about what really happened in the Plame case. Doing it this way, Libby can still refuse based on the Fifth Amendment, an option only available if you are Republican.

Libby can’t be pressured by Patrick Fitzgerald or Congress, because the “stick” of prison time is gone, he will lose some of his civil rights, and his law license, but those will be restored by the pardon he will get on Bush’s last day.

This whole thing has always been about protecting Karl and Dick. A pardon at this time would have weakened that protection, but clemency braces it. Libby just has to play the good soldier and he’s set for life. That’s the way things are done in crime families.

The crew at Danger Room have a picture of Britain’s crack anti-terrorism response force in action at the Glasgow airport…well, okay, so they have a picture of the balding red-headed taxi driver in a jean jacket with a garden hose dousing the terrorist who dumped the fuel on the ground and lit himself up.

But, hey, if the cab driver and baggage handlers hadn’t jumped into action, I’m sure the UK’s crack anti-terrorism squad would have gone into action.

If you would like to read a real review of the movie, ‘Noz gives his take on Sicko.

CNN deals with it as a political statement: Analysis: ‘Sicko’ numbers mostly accurate; more context needed

(CNN) — Michael Moore’s “Sicko,” which opened nationwide Friday, is filled with horror stories of people who are deprived of medical service because they can’t afford it or haven’t been able to navigate the murky waters of managed care in the United States.

It compares American health care with the universal coverage systems in Canada, France, the United Kingdom and Cuba.

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La fête du
Canada
Day

Thank you for not yet building a fence along your southern or western border, and for brewing great beer.

Schedule of Ottawa events and some background.

The BBC reports: Iran fuel rations spark violence

At least 12 petrol stations have been torched in the Iranian capital, Tehran, after the government announced fuel rationing for private vehicles.

Windows were smashed and stones thrown at the stations, and there was traffic chaos as motorists queued to buy fuel.

Iranians were given only two hours’ notice of the move that limits private drivers to 100 litres of fuel a month.

Despite its huge energy reserves, Iran lacks refining capacity and it imports about 40% of its petrol.

The country has a large budget deficit largely caused by fuel subsidies and the inflation rate is estimated at 20-30%.

The BBC’s Tehran correspondent, Frances Harrison, says Iran is trying to rein in fuel consumption over fears of possible UN sanctions over its nuclear programme.

Iran fears the West could impose sanctions on its petrol imports and cripple its economy.

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