* * political doodle * *

LUCILLE: Why Americans are (red, white &) Blue

Over and above the obvious - the cost of gas and food, the loss of millions of homes, the first time incomes have not grown for Americans - there are a few other things making us blue:

No bid oil contracts

Yes, once again the FOB (friends of Bush) get a leg up in Iraq. First in 2007 Hunt Oil secured an oil deal with the Kurds with the help of the State Department - which denied it until email messages were uncovered by a Congressional Committee. That pesky Congressional Committees! Just think how much easier it would be for  Cheney's buddies at Halliburton to make a profit without them. And now American companies are getting no-bid contracts that will give them an extreme advantage in future oil drilling awards. Who says we didn't go there for oil? Not the Iraqis.

• Political hiring/firing by the Justice Department

This time it was the Justice Department's own inspector general who uncovered the scandal that the Department had illegally used "political or idealogical" factors in recruiting and hiring, weeding out candidates they considered "leftists" or - heaven forbid - for social justice. Even Attorney General Mukasey said that using politics in hiring career lawyers was "impermissible and unacceptable". For example, in 2002 all 7 honors applicants who were members of a liberal group, the American Constitution Society (sounds like a group we should be really scared of, right?) were rejected white 27 of 29 members of the conservative Federalist Society were hired.

• Ignoring the Bill of Rights

Yes, I realize the Bill of Rights is so unimportant to Americans - the right of free speech and so on. But some of us draw the line at letting the President and his cabal spy on us, unfettered by a court order. George Bush always had the right to spy on us, as long as he got a search warrant from the FISA court - he could even get it after the fact. But that's just not good enough for him. He wants to listen to your phone calls and read your email whenever he damn well pleases. Sort of like the way my father described what Russia did, as in "if you don't like this country (the Viet Nam war, the draft, segregation, etc.), you can move to Russia." Well, now we don't have to!

Pop quiz: what group's charter is to protect the Bill of Rights?

• The un-Progress in Iraq

Yeah, I know that the violence is down, which is great. But it's still a pretty dangerous place to be.  The level of violence is still as bad as it was in 2003.

That said, the non-partisan Government Accountability Office released a report last month claiming that the measures that the Bush Administration is using to demonstrate progress in Iraq are either incorrect or more  mixed than they are admitting.

For example, the President - in his strategy called "The New Way Forward" - set out a plan that would take 12 to 18 months to enact a law to regulate Iraq's oil industry and handing over all of the provinces to Iraqi control.  That was in January 2007. Now, almost 18 months later, only half of the 18 provinces  have been handed over to Iraqi control and the oil law is still not enacted.
"The New Way Forward" only covered the period through July 2008. What is the strategy for next month?

The Pentagon says that 70%  of Iraqi units are in the lead in counterinsurgency operations. But an analysis  based on a study of Iraqi Army battalions done by the GAO finds that only 10% are capable of operating independently.

The Iraqi Parliament enacted a law reforming the Baathist purge; but no members have been named to the commission to carry out this law.

So, though violence is down, it's still higher than it was pre-attack and the political measures are much worse than the Bush Administration will admit

• The White House can deny knowing about greenhouse gases - because it simply refused to open the e-mail from the EPA

Really. Not kidding.  The EPA sent an email in  December 2007  with the conclusion that greenhouse gases are pollutants that must be controlled, and  the White House told agency officials that that document would not be opened, said seniior EPA officials in late June.
Really. Not kidding.

• Talking with the enemy

Won't do it. It's unAmerican. Except Nixon spoke to Brezhnev, met with  Mao,  negotiated in secret with North Vietnam; Reagan met with Gorbachev, as did George HW Bush. Israel is meeting with Syria. Note to George: you don't gain anything by only negotiating with your friends.

• The Manchurian President

This is my favorite. Do you know where we got those "highly effective" interrogation techniques that we use in Guantanamo? You got it - from the Chinese!  They've been using the same interrogation techniques that were used on American P.O.W.s in Korea by Chinese captors. They took a 1957 chart describing death threats, degradation, sleep deprivation and worse and made it a part of their handbook for interrogators at Gitmo.

You can't make this stuff up.

But here''s the best part: the original author, Albert Biderman, wrote that the Communists techniques mainly served to "extort false confessions", that the techniques were the same that "inquisitors had employed for centuries" and that "inflicting physical pain is not a necessary nor particularly effective method" to persuade P.O.W.s. I guess that's why American P.O.W.s made false statements themselves.

So, we're (red, white &) blue this July 4 weekend. But - hopefully - not for long.

Pop quiz answer: The group whose charter is to protect the Bill of Rights is none other than the American Civil Liberties Union - the ACLU. So, if you support the bill of rights, you too must be a Commie left wing pablum puking liberal. Or not.

LUCILLE: Bush Speaks for Himself; No Need for Comment

ON THE ECONOMY:

"I know you believe, and I firmly believe, that those tax cuts were part of that engine for that economic vitality. And the economy is not doing as well as we'd like to do -- like it to do today, but there's no question that the tax cuts provided economic vitality."

- President Bush at the Executive Office Building, 6/2/08

ON IRAQ:

"The battle of Iraq is one victory in a war on terror that began on September the 11, 2001 -- and still goes on."

-President Bush on the USS Abraham Lincoln, 5/1/03

ON HEALTHCARE:

"We've got the best health care system in the world. And we need to keep it that way. We need to keep it that way by keeping the private market strong, by resisting efforts that are happening in Washington, D.C., to say the federal government should be running health care."

- President Bush at the Executive Office Building, 1/28/04

ON THE ENVIRONMENT:

"I think we have a problem on global warming. I think there is a debate about whether it’s caused by mankind or whether it’s caused naturally, but it’s a worthy debate. It’s a debate, actually, that I’m in the process of solving."

- President Bush to People Magazine, 7/6/06

ON WORKERS:

"If you become a more productive citizen, you'll make more money. Better productivity, better skills means higher pay."

-President Bush in Cleveland, Ohio, 3/10/04

AND, FINALLY, ON EDUCATION:

"I know No Child Left Behind has worked. And I believe this country needs to build upon the successes. The philosophy behind No Child Left Behind was in return for money there ought to be results. It's pretty commonsensical it seems like to me."

-President Bush in Chicago, Illinois, 1/7/08

LUCILLE: George W Bush has approved this message of Torture

This is absolutely incredible to me. George Bush's top advisors - Donald Rumsfeld, Dick Cheney,  Condi Rice - not only approved torture but choreographed exactly what could be done to whom, how often. They decided who should be physically hurt, who should be waterboarded, who should be attacked by trained dogs.

But that's not the worst.

George Bush told ABC News that he personally approved of the approval of torture by his top advisers. Our President personally approved torture. Have you heard about it in the news? Only if you're watching  The Daily Show with Jon Stewart or Countdown. No front page stories. No replaying the news clip, over and over on Fox News. Not a peep from most of the media.

Well, it makes me sick. And maybe these pictures will make you sick, too. Now that we know - because he admitted it himself - that torture in Iraq wasn't the work of a "few rogue soldiers" but approved and choreographed by the sickos inhabiting the White House - I want you to look at these pictures - a chronology of one night of torture in Iraq approved by George W Bush - and tell me that this is your America.  

Abu Ghraib prison, Baghdad Iraq
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December 12, 2003 10:47:30 PM




WARNING: THE FOLLOWING PICTURES ARE GRAPHIC AND DISTURBING



 

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LUCILLE: George Bush and WMW*

The only thing more mind-numbing than Bush's absolute disengagement over the current (and growing) financial crisis is the steadfast, continued support of him by a small minority. Now, that's loyalty - or is it ignorance?

• The master of "What, me worry?*" leadership will always be remembered as the guy who:

• Was positively shocked to find out that gas will probably go up to $4 a gallon this year,

• Believes we're facing a financial "rough spot" (Is that what you call taking $30 billion from American taxpayers to bail out Wall St. fat cats?);

• To this day, refuses to admit we're facing a recession -  won't even use the word  - despite the fact that his own boy, Paulson, has admitted as much;

• Has refused to hold a top-level bipartisan economic meeting to address the growing mortgage crisis (Yes, I said growing. You ain't seen nothin' yet.)

• Is tooling around the world, making speeches about NATO, while Fed Chairman Bernanke is delivering the bad news about the economy.

Hey, Mr. President, forget about simply focusing on some possible future terrorist attack; we are being destroyed right now from within and all you want to do is shuck and jive in Eastern Europe.

You want to know about 1000% more than your uninterested President does? Read on.

LUCILLE: Welfare Kings Rule!

Let me see if I understand: Bear Sterns employed lax lending practices and ended up with about $46 billion in risky mortgages and related securities. And it lost billions for its clients last summer when two hedge funds that invested heavily in mortgage securities crumbled. Do I have it right so far? Last Monday Bear put out a press release claiming, "there is absolutely no truth to the rumors of liquidity problems that circulated today in the market." Three days later, the Welfare Kings had their hands out for one of the biggest welfare payouts in history, a $30 billion dollar bailout. . . from your tax dollars.

LUCILLE: George Bush's "Romantic Adventure" and other True Stories

Here's one for the books. George Bush actually called the war in Afghanistan a "romantic adventure" when speaking to troops there last Thursday. He even claimed he was "a little envious" of them.  I have an idea; why doesn't he have his own adventure and finish his military service (cut short to help Daddy get elected) and join the troops over there? It's interesting how the loudest supporters of war - Iraq as well as Viet Nam - feel it unecessary to actually fight them. By contrast, even Prince Harry made it to Afghanistan to fight - by choice. George Bush's choices have all been a little more self centered.

Speaking of choices, who in God's name is choosing his words for him? Or have they just given up and let him speak for himself? He was absolutely giggly over the economy, calling the news on the US's economic meltdown "a interesting moment." (My high school English teacher, Dan Flynn, must be apoplectic over that interesting grammar.)

Any economist will tell you that the price of a currency reflects the country's overall economic health. And our has been diving for so long that pretty soon we'll be lucky if we can afford to even buy stuff made in China. Oil has gone up to over $110 a barrel, the Dow has been hovering under 12,000 and retail sales fell by 6/10ths of a percent last month.

"I'm coming to you as an optimistic fellow" was what Bush had to say to the Economic Club of New York just this past Friday, while acknowledging that we poor folks "are concerned about making their bills." Can he have fallen off the wagon or is he just trying to act like Herbert Hoover after the crash in 1929?

LUCILLE: Emily Litella is McCain's New PR Director

Remember Emily Litella? She was one of Gilda Radner's amusing characters; the old woman who gave angry and misinformed editorial replies on Saturday Night Live's "Weekend Update" on topics such as "violins on television," and "protecting endangered feces." Once she realized her error, Litella would end her segment with a polite "Never mind".

That's what John McCain is saying to the Federal Election Commission. Back when he couldn't rip a dime from a sleeping two year olds hands, he went begging to the FEC for public financing. Then he used that promise of tax payers' money to get a bank loan. Yes, he promised the public financing money that the FEC was giving him was the collateral for a bank loan for his campaign  (he also had to get an insurance policy because they thought his advanced age made him a poor risk - more on that later!). Think about it: when you offer a bank something as collateral, it means it's something you have, right? Not something you might possibly get. . .  maybe. . .  if you really need it.

Not according to John McCain. After desperately clinging to public financing for months, now he's saying he doesn't want it anymore. The FEC just didn't understand - he just wanted to know if they would give him the money if, just maybe he needed it. Now that he can dig into the deep pockets of the GOP base, he doesn't need it and they can have it back. Not that he ever really took it. . .

It's kind of like ordering something in a restaurant, smelling it, pushing it around the plate, then realizing you can eat your friend's french fries instead, and calling the waitress to take it back, because you decided you didn't need it.

John McCain. The Champion of campaign finance reform. What's that? The Champion of campaign finagling reform?

Never mind.

LUCILLE: Mr. Clean Needs to Get Out of the Kitchen

John McCain likes to pose as the anti-lobbyist, outside the Beltway reformer; Mr. Clean with hair. When The New York Times and Washington Post came out with stories about his questionable relationship with Vicki Iseman, the lobbyist for Paxson,  he immediately began defending his honor, claiming to never have had a romantic relationship with "that woman."

Okay; he didn't say "that woman".  But his intent was clear: take the focus away from the question of his relationships with lobbyists - who, by the way, make up virtually his entire campaign team - and throw it against the straw dog of marital infidelity. And it almost worked. Attacking the Times for impugning his honor, McCain was able to rally the right wing-nuts to his defense. But that was bound to happen eventually anyway. Do you really believe Rush and his partners in prattle would stand back and forgo attacking the Democratic candidate for the months leading up to the election?

But, here's the problem facing McClean; not only did he show incredibly bad judgment in hanging out with Ms Iseman (and taking multiple corporate jet rides with her), he apparently wrote a few letters to the FCC on behalf of her employer, Paxson. According to the AP:

In late 1999, McCain twice wrote letters to the Federal Communications Commission on behalf of Florida-based Paxson Communications — which had paid Iseman as its lobbyist — urging quick consideration of a proposal to buy a television station license in Pittsburgh. At the time, Paxson's chief executive, Lowell W. "Bud" Paxson, also was a major contributor to McCain's 2000 presidential campaign.

McCain wrote the letters after he received more than $20,000 in contributions from Paxson executives and lobbyists. Paxson also lent McCain his company's jet at least four times during 1999 for campaign travel.

But that's not all. McCain, in a news conference on Friday, February 22 said he had never done any favors for any lobbyist and his campaign insisted that McCain had never spoken to Ms. Iseman or anyone from  Paxson prior to writing to the FCC.

Except he did. In a deposition in 2002, McCain acknowledged he sent those letters after meeting Mr. Paxson.

LUCILLE: To Serve Man

Remember hall monitors from when you were in school? They were the kids with the yellow sashes who were on the lookout for any transgressions: chewing gum, running in the halls, fighting. You knew better than to break the rules in front of them, because you'd end up with demerits or in the Vice Principal's office and that went on your "permanent record". Well, welcome to the 21st Century and "monitoring" the Bush way: lucrative, no-bid contracts for Administration cronies.

There is a long list of Bush Administration scandals. Just to name a few, in case you forgot: the Jack Abramov lobbying scandal, hiring columnists to write articles favorable to the Administration, the firing of the US Attorneys scandal to bring in Administration  supporters.  I could go on for days, but I'd rather tell you about the "monitor" scandal,  because it's new, it's hip, it's oh so Bush.

This scandal involves John Ashcroft, late of the Justice Department and it has to do with companies that  escape prosecution by promising to change their ways - and agreeing to be monitored by the government so we can be sure they're keeping their promises. They even have to agree to pay for the monitors themselves. And therein lies the wrinkle.

LUCILLE: Baiting the Hook

Sometimes you can read two totally unrelated news stories and find a connection between them. That happened to me today. The first was on the epidemic of rapes in Congo, where women as old as 75 and girls as young as three have been sexually brutalized with everything from wood to bayonets, destroying their reproductive and digestive organs. Some of these marauders- described as young men with guns - go much further, burning babies, chopping people to pieces and using women as sex slaves in their quest for whatever riches they can pull out of Congo. John Holmes, the UN undersecretary general for humanitarian affairs said:

"The sexual violence in Congo is the worst in the world. The sheer numbers, the wholesale brutality, the culture of impunity - it's appalling."

In large areas of Congo civilians are at the mercy of armed groups who have roamed the country since the mid 1990's, when waves of Hutu militiamen escaped from Rwanda into Congo after exterminating over 800,000 Tutsis and moderate Hutus. Joining in this sadistic destruction of women are government troops. But the most vicious attacks are done by the Hutus.

"These are people who were involved with the [Rwanda] genocide and have been psychologically destroyed by it" -John Holmes

Andre Bourque, a Canadian consultant who works with aid groups in Congo has a name for it: "reversed values." And this is where the second story fits in.

Across the country, in an effort to recruit boys and young men, hundreds of Protestant and evangelical churches - including those who have cautioned against violent entertainment - have been using Microsoft's "Halo," an adult-themed, violent video game to lure them in.

    "We want to make it hard for teenagers to go to hell," a youth minister at the Colorado Community Church in Denver wrote to parents. "It's just fun blowing people up," added Tim Foster, 12.

These churches feel that whatever they can use to get boys and young men in the door is okay. Never mind that Halo is adult-themed entertainment, rated M, which these kids couldn't buy on their own. Never mind that it justifies killing, in the name of fun. And never mind that the underlying plot in Halo is about a religious group that supports the destruction of the Earth as a path to heaven. Maybe next they can try pornography, alcohol and plain old sex.

So, what's the correlation between these two seemingly unrelated stories?

LUCILLE: I Cares About You

Let's talk about phoniness

Rush Limbaugh made headlines again (and increased his show's advertising revenues) by calling Jon Soltz, an Iraq war veteran and founder of VoteVet.org, a "phony soldier" because he wants us to get out of Iraq.

Apparently, according to Rush, any soldier, sailor or marine  who doesn't support Bush's failed policy is "phony". So, apparently that includes the 7 members of the 82nd Airborne (authors of a NY Times op-ed piece) quoted in one of my posts. Two of them recently died in Iraq. Too bad. According to Rush, they must be "phony soldiers. "

LUCILLE: The Pope Has to Rearrange His Sock Drawer. . .

He's on vacation.
He has a headache.
He has to rearrange his sock drawer.
How else can the Pope politely tell George Bush (through his emissary Condi Rice) that he just doesn't approve of how Bush is handling Iraq?

LUCILLE: The Economy of Limitless Government Contracts

Does anything surprise you about the Right? Read this excerpt from "The Shock Doctrine" by Naomi Klein:

The news racing around the [New Orleans] shelter that day was that the Republican Congressman Richard Baker had told a group of lobbyists, "We finally cleaned up public housing in New Orleans. We couldn't do it, but God did." Joseph Canizaro, one of New Orleans' wealthiest developers, had just expressed a similar sentiment: "I think we have a clean sheet to start again. And with that clean sheet we have some very big opportunities." All that week Baton Rouge had been crawling with corporate lobbyists helping to lock in those big opportunities: lower taxes, fewer regulations, cheaper workers and a "smaller, safer city" - which in practice meant plans to level the public housing projects. Hearing all the talk of "fresh starts" and "clean sheets", you could almost forget the toxic stew of rubble, chemical outflows and human remains just a few miles do.

Disaster capitalism. It's what all those private companies love - companies like Halliburton and Blackwater USA. And it didn't start in New Orleans. It started, probably, with the late Milton Friedman. And it's going strong in Iraq.

LUCILLE: Safe Sex in the GOP

Guiliani taps his way to the White House

I'm perplexed. Larry Craig, one of Idaho's Repub Senators, was arrested for tapping his foot under a bathroom stall, a gesture widely recognized as a homosexual come-on. When he tapped, the undercover cop in the next stall tapped back. Without that tapping, Larry Craig would have gone on his merry way, no more guilty than a straight man winking at a woman and getting the cold shoulder.

What makes this so amazing - and perplexing - is not that the self-righteous Right jumped on their once fair-haired boy's back, beating him to a pulp for the crime of . . . being gay. I suppose that shouldn't surprise me. Lordy, what's worse than being gay? (Being a Democrat?)

LUCILLE: Tony Snow Proves the Unimaginable

Tony Snow, suffering from colon cancer, has announced his resignation from the position as the chief White House spokesman. It would have been easy for him to claim his decision was based on the recurrence of the disease, or his flagging stamina or even the advice of his doctors. But he didn't. He said he was leaving because, at a salary of $168,000 a year, he wasn't making enough money.

And, with that statement, he proved that there was SOMEBODY in this Administration who can tell the truth.

ABE: “John Edwards – Twice As Lovely (Half As True)”

“If your eyes were half as bright, they still would light my way,
If your heart were twice as true then you'd be mine today.
That's why I often wish that you were half as lovely, twice as true.”
-Sammy Gallop
Half As Lovely (Twice As True)

In October 2004 I clicked on Andrew Sullivan’s blog to get his take on the then-recent debate between Vice President Dick Cheney and Vice Presidential candidate John Edwards. Sullivan thought Edwards had Dick Cheney beat on the articulation of ideas. I disagreed. But that wasn't the assertion that really stunned me.

LUCILLE: LIKE Sony Guts

Remember that old Saturday Night Live routine about an electronics store in NYC? The vaguely foreign sales person is trying to sell the unsuspecting customer some kind of equipment that he strongly suggests, over and over, is "Sony". But when really pressed,  he finally admits it's "LIKE Sony guts". We all laughed - and cringed - because, many of us have been there - duped by an unscrupulous salesperson into thinking we're getting something when we're really not.  Of course,  it's not really funny when it happens to us - in reality it just makes us mad.

There are lots of other examples of the same duplicity shrouded in language that's close enough, but not the real thing. There are actors who've won an Academy Award. . . and those who are Academy Award nominees. There are virgins and virginal girls - subtle, but pretty important to some people. Then there are the gastronomical mistakes we can make if we're not careful: meat vs. mince meat. rabbit vs. rarebit. cheese vs. head cheese (Ugh. Don't make that mistake).

But those "word games" used for political purposes are designed specifically to mislead -  by omission - like the term "taxes". When they're talking about cutting taxes or the % of wages that go to taxes, they specifically mean income taxes and they're subtly omitting payroll taxes. Even the word alien has become a synonym for illegal alien. Subtle, devious, effective.

As I  look at the current word play in this country, I wonder where William Safire is, especially when the Administration officials (and, by extension, the entire media) use the term Al Qaeda to mean those insurgents in Iraq who are such a thorn in the side of the military.

LUCILLE: (Un) Lucky 7: Numbers that Prove George Bush is Destroying America

Let me begin by acknowledging that someone else composed these numbers, putting them on a handy card that my friend, Tim McCorry gave me yesterday. I'm not really a numbers person - but these were so compelling I just had to share them and make it easy for people to understand how much damage this man has done to this country.

#1. $50 BILLION: This is how much the Iraq War was estimated to cost, prior to the invasion.
Remember when they told us this? All the Administration neo cons harumphed when we questioned whether or not this number was accurate. Back in January of 2003, the White House Office of Management and Budget Director Mitch Daniels told The New York Times that the conflict could cost $50 billion to $60 billion --  just about the price tag of the 1991 Persian Gulf War.  You remember the  brouhaha when Bush's economic adviser Larry Lindsey estimated that it could cost $200 billion? He was run out of office - and the estimate of $60 billion was called "the upper end of a hypothetical," by Daniels. I guess the "upper end" ended up on the rear end, or in other words, their estimates were ass backwards.

#2.$1.2 TRILLION: This is how much the Iraq War will REALLY cost

Abe: “Crimeless Victims and the Left’s Perennial Witch Hunt”

Some weeks back I had a drink with a gentleman who became less gentle as we discussed U.S. foreign policy. The trajectory of his argument (and temperament) took a predictable course. Having spent 6 years as a Neocon in New York, I know what I’m up against. I give you the 8 phases of leftwing polemic:

1. Moral Indignation (Don’t tell me you believe in this monstrous war!)

2. Stupefication (You do believe in this war.)

3. Intellectual Indignation (Haven’t you seen Fahrenheit 911?!)

4. Acclimation (I’m digesting this.)

5. Grudging Acceptance (You seem sane.)

6. Grudging Respect (Well, you obviously know more about this than I do, but. . .)

7. Flailing (Look, I mean, Bush is an oil guy right?)

8. Forfeit (Sorry, I have to get up for an early meeting tomorrow, otherwise. . .)

   

Sure, otherwise you’d mop the floor with me. Given the number of early business meetings I’ve heard lamented it’s no wonder this country’s economy is booming.

Lucille: Bush Just Loves Those Troops - NOT

According to medical records, when Tyler Jennings came home from Iraq in 2006, he was suffering from depression and had turned to drugs. He was hazed by the sergeants in his platoon and other Army officials threatened to kick him out of the Army. That's when he almost hanged himself.

When Corey Davis returned to Ft. Carson from Iraq, where, like most soldiers, he was exposed to daily life and death situations, he began "freaking out", with nightmares reminding him of his time there as a machine gunner. When he tried to get help at the base hospital, he was told he couldn't be seen for more than a month.

Jason Harvey slashed his wrists in desperation, then was expelled from the Army by officials at Ft. Carson for "patterns of misconduct" after being diagnosed with post traumatic stress disorder (PTSD).

Abe: "Hillary Wants To Invade"

I once shared a marvelously strange New York moment with former First Daughter Chelsea Clinton. A friend and I were enjoying a post-lunch stroll on West 23rd Street when I sensed an approaching disturbance. It became clear that two men were walking towards us, and that these two men were engaged in a very bizarre, mildly frightening conflict.  The younger man lumbered along in dead-faced silence, while the older berated him in a manner and amplitude so explosive it almost seemed like performance art.

Abe's Response: "Lucille Strikes Out"

Facts aren’t sexy. Which is why liberals tend to ignore them. However, they do have the advantage of being factual. So, here are Lucille’s juicy assertions, followed by the dry facts.

Lucille: Welcome to The Totalitarian Troposphere

So, let's have one of those awkward conversations we need to have.  I mean the one that will make us squirm. You know, like subverting the Constitution. Lots of Administrations have done it. But none better than this current one.

We all know how Nixon subverted it, with his misuse of the FBI and CIA and the illegal and secret carpet bombing of Cambodia (it should come as no surprise that Nixon once said "when the President does it, it means that it's not illegal"); we remember LBJ's infamous lies about the Gulf of Tonkin when he ordered "retaliatory" actions against an attack the North Viet Namese never made. And, of course, the Reagan Administration's Iran Contra scandal, where, at the direction of the Administration, American taxpayer money was given to a group of insurgents trying to overthrow the Nicaraguan government (hmmmm) and Ollie North obstructed a Congressional inquiry and destroyed official documents (although his Congressional immunity meant he never spent a day in jail).

But George and Dick have decided that the Founders and framers of our Constitution - the document that, more than anything else, defines America - can be ignored, debased and spit upon.

What a Surprise! No Jail for Scooter

What a way to celebrate the Fourth of July -  by letting a convicted felon go free . . . because you don't trust the judicial system. Boy oh boy, hypocrisy reigns supreme with "what, me worry, my numbers are already in the basement" George Bush, who today decided that the American system of justice isn't good enough - we  need the President to decide exactly what punishment felons deserve! (well, heck, after all, isn't he the guy who can alone who decide who's an enemy combatant?)

Justice for . . .All? - Lucille's Take

Remember when the Justice Department stood for. . . justice? It's so amusing how the law-and-order Republicans are willing to ignore the law and ethics when it comes to their own (don't get me started on this all-scandal-all-the-time Administration!), like George Bush and his oh-so-forgetful Attorney General, Alberto "I Know Nothing" Gonzales.

Dictator, Anyone? - Lucille's Take

Picture this:  a train filled with people derails, killing hundreds or thousands or the entire government web infrastructure fails because some nerd forgot to defrag his drive. Or picture any incident, anywhere in the country (even Alaska), that results in extraordinary levels of mass casualties, damage, or disruption severely affecting the U.S. population, infrastructure, environment, economy, or government functions.

So, what follows?  A color alert? (haven't had one of those since right before the 2004 election!) A call up of the National Guard? (Oooops. They're all in Iraq.).  Oh, no, you are really thinking small.

What actually  happens is that President Bush assumes dictatorial powers

re: Plame-gate - Lucille Responds

As to my colleague's opinion on the left side of this page, If she has any information that Karl Rove was involved in this scandal in the way that she implies than she should bring proof or stop the implications!

Posted by Jimmy Esposito on June 03, 2007

Oh, Jimmy, you poor, misguided boy. You have to start watching more than just the Bill O'Reilly show. If you had, you'd know that Karl Rove already admitted to being one of the two sources (with Armitage being the other) for Robert Novak's original story. Yes, the Boy Wonder admitted he provided this info to Novak -  and Scooter was none too happy at the outcome: "They're trying to set me up. They want me to be the sacrificial lamb," attorney Theodore Wells said, recalling Libby's end of the conversation. "I will not be sacrificed so Karl Rove can be protected." (MSNBC, January 23, 2007)

In fact, in July 2006 Rove's own lawyer, Robert Luskin, confirmed to NEWSWEEK that Rove indeed spoke to TIME reporter Mathew Cooper on "double super secret background" (Ooooh! It's like watching 24!) and that Rove was Mathew's "secret source".

Is that enough "proof" for you?

Plame-Gate. . . Lucille's Take

Scooter, Scooter, Scooter. . . is that really a grown man's name? . . .how long will it take to get your Presidential pardon? Because, of course, despite the boast that he would fire anyone involved in a leak of classified information and punish anyone who had broken the law, George Bush is going to take care of his little Scooter. Now that he's ready to be sentenced, his supporters say he shouldn't get any jail time; after all, he's a first time offender with years of government service! Just like Jack Abaramov.

I wonder - will the Scooter fan club also insist that William Jefferson not get any jail time, either? After all, he, too, is a "first time offender" with a long career in government service