Have they no shame?

$51 billion in budget cuts affecting, primarily, the neediest among us? $60 billion in tax cuts affecting, primarily, the wealthiest among us? What is Congress thinking? And who are they working for?...Because it's surely not their constituents.

That tax cuts would even be considered in a time of war, with the Bush administration's support, indicates the true level of concern shared by the Congressional leadership and the White House for the "war on terrorism"...Very little indeed. Should we not be sharing, in some small way, the sacrifices our troops are making as they have been sent into harm's way? Can we not pay, in the form of higher taxes, to support the war effort? Instead Congress and the Administration choose to borrow from foreign governments thus weakening our position abroad as well as putting our economic future at risk.

"I tell you the truth, whatever you did for one of the least of these brothers of mine, you did for me." - Matthew 25:40

Words which our nominally Christian leadership in Congress and the White House would do well to remember.

Yet again, Congressional leadership has failed their constituents, their office and the Constitution. They should be ashamed of themselves. They have much to be ashamed of.

An Update...

Regarding my previous post, it was a straight party line vote, with only one Republican voting for the amendment, that being Senator Chafee of Rhode Island.

The only way this administration is going to be held accountable for its crimes is when there is a democratic majority in both houses of Congress, although, at this point I'm not sure even then.

For the breakdown on the vote, go HERE

Jeeeezus! What a fucking creep-show...!

Just when you though they couldn't sink any lower...At about 12:10 Eastern Time, the senate killed S.AMDT.2476, also known as the "Dorgan Amendment". This amendment, introduced by Senator Byron Dorgan(D-ND), to the 2006 defense authorization bill would have established a commission to investigate contractot fraud, abuse and war profiteering In Iraq.

It would have used, as its template, the Senate Special Committee to Investigate the National Defense Program, the Truman Committee, of WW II. As we all know, this committee saved US taxpayers what would have amounted to billions in current US dollars. But rather than do the right thing this amendment was defeated, Yea: 44, Nay:53. I don't know the breakdown of the vote, But I would be more than willing to bet that it was along party lines. The last vote I heard was that of Senator Bill Frist, who (SURPRISE!) voted against it. A call to Senator Mike DeWine's office, Republican Senator from Ohio and my Senator, voted "NO" also.

What is the Reublican Senate leadership afraid of? Are they worried about their connections to the various contractors being revealed? If they've violated no laws or Senate ehtics rules, What do they have to worry about? What don't they want revealed? WE, THE PEOPLE... have a right to know how our taxpayer dollars were misused, wasted and/or stolen. There has still been no accounting of the $8.8 billion that went missing during Proconsul Bremer's tenure in Iraq.

Call you Senator and demand an accounting...NOW!

Well!...The nerve!...

"This is an affront to me personally," an angry Mr. Frist said.

He said would find it difficult to trust Mr. Reid any longer.

"It's an affront to our leadership," Mr. Frist said. "It's an affront to the United States of America. And it is wrong." - The New York Times

Watching Senator Bill Frist have his little hissy fit yesterday, one almost expected him to go flouncing off in a huff. One could almost hear the rustle of crinoline and the clack of high-heels. I never realized he was such a drama queen.

The true effrontery though lies in the failure of Congress to maintain any level of oversight of President Bush and his administration. Unbid contracts to Haliburton and it subsidiaries in Iraq...Ignored. $8.8 billion gone missing in Iraq under pro-consul J. Paul Bremmer...Also ignored. Violations of US and intenational law as well as the Geneva Conventions draws not a whisper from the Republican controlled Congress. More recently, the failures of FEMA under the Department of Homeland Security in the wake of Hurricane Katrina are ignored. And again, unbid contracts are awarded to Haliburton and its subsidiaries for Gulf Coast reconstruction...One can hear crickets chirping in the halls of Congress.

So, Senator Frist, take your self-righteous indignation...fold it five ways...and place it firmly where the sun never shines. You might have a hard time getting it past your head though.

Another turd in the punchbowl...

"Under our system, a person is presumed innocent and is entitled to due process and a fair trial..." - George W. Bush, 10/28/2005

He failed to add, "Unless I say otherwise...". Just another act of duplicity and hypocrisy by the titular leader of the most corrupt and venal presidency in American history. Under "our system" Jose Padilla has been sitting in a military brig these last three years, held without charge and incommunicado. His right to due process was suspended, not by an act of Congress, but rather by an act of royal fiat by an imperial president...A president who sees himself and his administration as being above the law.

The indictment of "Scooter" Libby did not cow the President, you could see in his face and by his demeanor that he was deeply angry. Angered by the affrontery of a special prosecutor who had the affrontery to actually follow the letter and spirit of the law in applying it to his administration? Perhaps.

America is in the grips of a Constitutional crisis brought on by an administration brought about by an administration which, while paying lip service to the Constution and the rule of law, willing flouts the very same precepts. The outcome of "Scooter" Libby's trial will be key in determining whether or not we remain a Constitutional Republic, or become an oligarchy.

The scum also rises...And it ain't pretty

The wheels are comin' off the cart boys and girls. What started out as an investigation into a game of "Gotcha!" by the White House has gone far beyond just "Scooter" Libby and Karl Rove. It's gone beyond the outing of Valerie Plame and who knew what...when.

What started as an investigation into apparent retaliation against Joe WIlson for questioning, publicly, the Bush administration's intelligence on WMD's in Iraq has swept up the members of the Iraq Working Group. Mr. FItzgerald has hauled many of the members of this group in for questioning. And what's coming out is an ugly picture indeed.

It would appear that the Administration's protests that Congress saw the same intelligence as the White House before ceding their Constitutional authority to wage war to the POTUS, are empty at best. It is becoming apparent that Congress and the American people only saw what the neo-con ideologues in the Administration wanted them to see. It is becoming readily apparent, even to those who refused to see it, that Congress and America were mislead into a war of agression on the basis of cooked, overstated and fabricated intelligence.

With this in mind, it is long past time for Congress to begin a Resolution of Inquiry into the actions of the Bush administration in the run up to the war in Iraq. High crimes and misdemeanors have been perpetrated against the citizens of this nation. It is the duty of every member of Congress to see that these crimes do not go unpunished. But many may fail to act for fear of a "Constitutional Crisis" that such action would precipitate. The Constitutional Crisis, however, is already upon us and failure of Congress to fulfill their oversight responsibilities will not just deepen the crisis, it will be the death of the Republic.

The Bush administration has grasped greedily for power from the moment the events of September 11th, 2001 came to pass, and it has now over-reached that grasp. It is the duty of Congress to correct this imbalance and restore the balance and separation of power between the three branches of government. If they fail to do so, then that duty falls to the American people. Failure on our part would bring an end to the vision laid out by the Founding Fathers over two centuries ago and it would be a tragedy of unimaginable proportion.

Inviting Ourselves to the Banquet

Since the Bush administration came to power, certain business and religious leaders have enjoyed unprecedented access to the halls of power. There they have enjoyed, and continue to enjoy, having the ear of the POTUS and his cronies regarding decisions of national and world import.

Corporate interests have reaped huge benfits in the form of tax-breaks, regulatory reform, environmental legislation, unbid contracts, and the list goes on. Certain religious leaders have sought, and recieved goverment funds in the form of "Faith-Based initiatives". They have sought to restrict a woman's right to abortion, they have sought delays in the release of emergency contraception, they have pushed for the teaching of religious doctrine in our public schools in the for of "intelligent design".

In short, monied business interests and right-wing religious zealots are the driving forces behind our government now. As they feast at the banquet tables set out in the halls of power, they gorge themselves on wealth and power, all paid for by "We, the people...". These few interests guide the hands that hold the reigns of power, and "We, the people..." are left to fend for ourselves.

WE hold these Truths to be self-evident, that all Men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the Pursuit of Happiness -- That to secure these Rights, Governments are instituted among Men, deriving their just Powers from the Consent of the Governed, that whenever any Form of Government becomes destructive of these Ends, it is the Right of the People to alter or to abolish it, and to institute new Government, laying its Foundation on such Principles, and organizing its Powers in such Form, as to them shall seem most likely to effect their Safety and Happiness.

Bearing these words from the Declaration of Independence in mind, dear readers, does it not seem that our elected leaders have long since forgotten that their power is derived from the consent of the governed?

We the People of the United States, in Order to form a more perfect Union, establish Justice, insure domestic Tranquility, provide for the common defence, promote the general Welfare, and secure the Blessings of Liberty to ourselves and our Posterity, do ordain and establish this Constitution for the United States of America.

In serving the interests of a few, it seems that our elected leadership has forgotten the concept of the "general welfare" as outlined in the preamble of the Constitution?

As special interests gorge themselves on the wealth looted from America's treasury, it behooves us to invite ourselves to this banquet returning "We, the people..." to their rightful seat. In doing so, we will remind our elected officials that they rule by our consent, and not by right of birth, wealth, or divinity. Failing to do so will be a complete abdication of our responsibilities as citizens of the Republic, leading to our eventual enslavement to those interests which have no concern beyond their own accumulation of wealth and power.

Contract with America?

An anniversary passed recently, which went largely unremarked. Eleven years ago, Republicans came to the majority in Congress. Led by Newt Gingrich, these Republicans embraced a "Contract with America". The promise of rooting out corruption and restoring integrity and accountability to Congress was heady stuff indeed.

Since then, we have seen not only Congress, but also the White House, turn rotten at the core from the blatant corruption we see exemplified by the likes of Tom DeLay, Bill Frist, Bob Ney, Karl Rove, and the list goes on. Abandoned is any pretext of adhering to the principles outlined in the "Contract":

# FIRST, require all laws that apply to the rest of the country also apply equally to the Congress;
# SECOND, select a major, independent auditing firm to conduct a comprehensive audit of Congress for waste, fraud or abuse;
# THIRD, cut the number of House committees, and cut committee staff by one-third;
# FOURTH, limit the terms of all committee chairs;
# FIFTH, ban the casting of proxy votes in committee;
# SIXTH, require committee meetings to be open to the public;
# SEVENTH, require a three-fifths majority vote to pass a tax increase;
# EIGHTH, guarantee an honest accounting of our Federal Budget by implementing zero base-line budgeting.

There has been no oversight of, or attempts to hold accountable, either members of Congress or the Bush administration for their misdeeds. The "Contract" has been broken...The signatories, nearly 100 of whom still serve in the House, are forsworn. Instead of serving the American People, they choose to serve the monied interests which which fill their campaign war-chests.

With their promises and principles abandoned in the face of the twin temptations of power and money, our Congressional representatives, both Republican and Democrat, have become nothing more than pigs at the trough...A parliament of whores...A disgrace to the hopes and aspirations the Founding Fathers had for this nation. The time has come to sweep them all out with the rest of the trash and start afresh.

A "New Deal" for the Gulf Coast?

Not from the Bush administration. Instead, its the same unbid contracts going to the same contractors who failed so miserably in Iraq. Its the slash-and-burn economics that drives down the standard of living for all, especially for those at the bottom of the economic ladder. This was demonstrated by Bush's suspension of the Davis-Bacon Act and the refusal of James Sensenbrenner to consider legislation to exempt Katrina's victims from the new bankruptcy bill coming into effect in October. It is the refusal of the Bush administration to face fiscal reality and raise taxes to pay for the reconstruction effort, let alone the disasterous war in Iraq which has siphoned off more than $200 billion from the average American tax-payer, and cost us the lives of nearly 2000 American soldiers.

The Gulf Coast region does not need more of this. Instead, it requires the establishment of a Gulf Coast Re-development Authority, much like the Tennessee Valley Authority of Roosevelt's 'New Deal' era. This has been proposed already by Edward Kennedy. John Edwards has already proposed a program along the lines of FDR's WPA and CCC, to provide living wage jobs to the poor and those displaced the hurricane in order to rebuild the Gulf Coast region. Dennis Kucinich, Stephanie Tubbs Jones brought together 88 co-sponsors for a similar proposal in the House.

Why then have we not heard more about these, and other, proposals? Simply this...the amassing of wealth and power in the hands of a few has taken precedence over "...promoting the general welfare..." as established in the Constitution. Hurricane Katrina has put the spotlight on this issue in a way that cannot be ignored. And it has sorely damaged the credibility of the American government, both at home and abroad, with regards to not only its ability, but its very desire, to protect all Americans. Is this what our Founding Father's envisioned for the nation they fought, and died, to bring into being?...I think not.

We the People of the United States, in Order to form a more perfect Union, establish Justice, insure domestic Tranquility, provide for the common defence, promote the general Welfare, and secure the Blessings of Liberty to ourselves and our Posterity, do ordain and establish this Constitution for the United States of America.

It seems that the Bush administration has chosen to ignore the Preamble, and much else, of the Constitution and what it has to say about the duties and responsibilities of government. This administration has, in its arrogance, forgotten that it governs only by the consent of the governed and the time is coming where that consent will be withdrawn.

So instead of pursuing the same course of action with the expectation of a different result, isn't it time we followed a path which shown its efficacy? FDR's New Deal gives us the example we need...A humane path which gives everyone a chance to rebuild their lives, rather than merely lining the pockets of a few.

For more on this, read Will Greider's article:

A 'New' New Deal

FOX News: Mouthpiece of America's Right-Wing Nuts

I was channel surfing this morning when I stumbled across a segment on "Fox & Friends". The segment consisted of a rather bombastic, chunky white guy, in an expensive suit, ranting about the 9th Circuit Courts decision regarding "...One nation under God..." in the Pledge of Allegiance. Among his assertions was the patently false claim that America was founded on Christian ideals. Had that been the case, the Founding Fathers would have explicitly written such ideology into the Constitution, but they did not. The Constitution is far more closely related to the Magna Carta that to Biblical scripture, particularly with regards to the limits placed on governmental intrusion into the lives of individual citizens.

I wonder...did they devote an entire segment of the show to Jose Padilla when the 4th Circuit Court of appeals ruled that the Bush Administration had the authority to indefinitely detain American citizens without charge, without access to counsel, and incommunicado, in complete contravention of the US Constitution? Where was the outrage then? This ruling allows the Administration to hold any US citizen without charge for any amount of time, with no access to anyone outside their place of imprisonment...A complete dismissal of habeas corpus and the foundations for a police state.

The Republic is dead. And its death went unremarked. This is how the Holocaust began...This is how tyranies arise. Weep America, for the dream of our Founding Fathers has been murdered...In the name of the freedoms they fought and died for.

Dubbyuh plays at being presidential...

After claiming he accepted responsibility, well...sort of, like a nine year old apologizing for some minor transgression, for the failures in the wake Hurricane Katrina earlier this week, his wooden delivery and "deer-in-the-headlights" demeanor fell flat tonight.

His speech was disingenuous, at best. With a state of emergency declared in Louisiana on 8/26, Mississippi and Alabama following suite on 8/27 and 8/28 respectively, Dubbyuh continued his round of photo-ops and set pieces. Condi-mima went to a Broadway play and bought $3,000 shoes at Ferragamo's in NYC. Darth Cheney closed on a $3 million mansion in St. Micaels, Maryland.

Despite his claims of seeking to aid the poor and displaced in the area, I noticed that he utterly failed to change his position on his suspension of the Davis-Bacon Act. For those of you unfamiliar with its provisions, all federal government construction contracts and most contracts for federally assisted construction over $2,000 must include provisions for paying workers on-site no less than the locally prevailing wages and fringe benefits paid on similar projects. The key words here are "prevailing wages", not union scale. And in Louisiana, Mississippi and Alabama, the prevailing wages for construction workers and other trade workers are far below those found in more affluent areas of the country. How can people be expected to get back on their feet If they can't make a living wage? But like father, like son...Poppy suspended the Act in 1992 after Hurricane Andrew devastated large swathes of Florida. And, ever consistent, unbid contracts have been awarded to Haliburton, and other campaign contributors for the clean-up and rebuilding efforts. We can clearly see how well that has worked in Iraq.

We have one sacrificial lamb already throw to the angry mobs in the form of Michael Brown, erstwhile head of FEMA. Castigated for his failure to set the wheels of the relief effort rolling, he tendered his resignation on Monday. Dubbyuh stated that he put no pressure on "Brownie" and thought he was doing just splendidly...wink, wink, nudge, nudge. But apparently, It was Michael Chertoff who had the authority to call out the relief effort. When will he resign, I wonder?

Dubbyuh wants to discuss disaster planning with state and local governments...Golly, hasn't he had four years to do that? In December 2003, Homeland Security Presidential Directive 8 was produced. It was meant to address "threatened or actual domestic terrorist attacks, major disasters, and other emergencies"...I thnk we all see what happened there...Nothing...Nada...Zip. Following in December 2004, the National Response Plan surfaced. It was "an all-discipline, all-hazards plan that establishes a single, comprehensive framework for the management of domestic incidents,"...Again, we get bupkis.

If I remember correctly, Dubbyuh promised to keep America safe, and ready to respond to any crisis on our shores, as part of his election campaign in '04. But as we can see, as with so amny other things, Dubbyuh is "...all hat and no cattle...". He campaigned as a man of integrity, yet all he and his cronies have given us is smoke and mirrors. He has aided and abetted the looting of America's treasury while spilling its greatest treasure, the blood of our men and women in uniform, in an illegal and unjust war.

If he had any shame at all, he would resign. But he, like the rest of his merry band, is shameless.

Jesus...What a creep show...

I was watching CNN this morning, an interview with Mike Allen...Washington Post alumnus and now Time Magazine's White House correspondent. He seemed much less like a journalist and more like a hesitant apologist for the Bush administration. He was spouting the usual watered down talking points when he blurted out something about Dubbyuh insisting on accountability for what happened or, more appropriately, didn't happen in the aftermath of hurricane Katrina.

At that point, I felt a terrible anger well up inside me. Since when has George W. Bush, his administration or anyone associated with his administration, been held accountable?...FOR ANYTHING!?! How could Mr. Allen even make that assertion given the track record of Dubbyuh and his gang of thugs?

Accountability is the LAST thing Dubbyuh and his administration want. A full accounting will place responsibilty for the failures after Katrina squarely on the doorstep of the Bush administration and its cronies. But responsibility is something they are very good at dodging.

Hmmmmm...I wonder...

I wonder why whenever anyone criticizes Dubbyuh and his merry band for their belated responses to hurricane Katrina, they're accused of playing "...the blame game..."? But whenever anyone criticizes state and local officials for said belated response, no such complaints arise.

Why is it that the governors of Alabama and Mississippi aren't also being taken to task by the Bush administration for the belated response to the hurricane's aftermath? Could it be because both states have REPUBLICAN governors?

The sad fact of the matter is that the Administration is simply trying to cover its collective political ass by placing the blame elsewhere. Like an alcoholic family, they are trying to place responsibility for the problems and suffering they cause anywhere but where it belongs...at their own doorstep. Never mind that top level management at FEMA is populated by nothing more than a bunch of sniveling, syncophantic political hacks. "We didn't do anything...", they whine. Which is precisely the point...They did nothing, and thousands of Americans died ON AMERICAN SOIL! And they boasted that Dubbyuh and his merry band have made America more secure. Forgive my incredulity.

Here is the timeline for the disaster:

Bush Disaster Timeline

Junior Contemplates His Navel

The idea of Dubbyuh heading an invetigation into "What went right and what went wrong..." in the aftermath of hurricane Katrina is problematic on several levels, not the least of which being that alcoholics are seldom given to introspection.

"Alcoholic...?" you say. "Didn't Dubbyuh swear off booze years ago?" you ask. Yes, DUbbyuh found Jesus and swore off demon rum. However, having done so, he never dealt with the underlying issues that lead him to drink in the first place. Nor has the issue of the permanent cognitive impairments resulting from decades of dedicated substance abuse been addressed. Dubbyuh is an untreated alcoholic...in common parlance, a dry drunk.

We can see the evidence of this in his obsessive physical exercise...his grandiose behavior...his rigid and judgemental worldview...his impatience...his childish and irresponsible behavior...his projection...his irrational rationalizations.

It is also common for alcoholics, both active and 'dry', to seek to place blame anywhere but upon themselves, and this has been a defining characteristic not only of this Bush administration, but also of George W. Bush in general. What passes as introspection and self-examination in this population is nothing more than an ongoing quest to dodge responsibility for the consequences of their actions. It can be safely assumed that any investigation by Dubbyuh and his administration into the failures following hurricane Katrina will yield a similar result. Blame will be laid everywhere but where it belongs...at the doorstep of the White House.

Unintended Consequences

The overturning of "Roe v. Wade" would have many unintended consequences beyond simply making if even more difficult, if not impossible, to obtain a safe, legal abortion in this country. By rejecting the core of "Roe v. Wade", that some issues are too private and personal to be subjected to governmental intrusion, a whole, ghastly can of worms is opened.

...Roe v. Wade is at the core of American jurisprudence, and its multiple strands of reasoning concerning marital privacy, medical privacy, bodily autonomy, psychological liberty and gender equality are all connected to myriad other cases concerning the rights of parents to rear their
children, the right to marry, the right use contraception, the right to have children, and the right torefuse unwanted medical treatment... - United States Senate Committee on the Judiciary: The Consequences of Roe v. Wade and Doe v. Bolton, June 23, 2005

It was in 1965 that state laws against contraception were struck down by the SCOTUS in "Griswold v. Connecticut" as being unconstitutional invasions of the privacy of married couples. This precedent was extended to unmarried persons only in 1971. The right to privacy established in "Griswold v. Connecticut" served as the basis for "Roe v. Wade".

This right to privacy extends to all areas of life, including the right to make medical decision...the right to decide whether or not to have children...the right of a terminally ill patient to refuse medical care...All are rooted in this same concept of privacy. Overturn "Roe v. Wade" and this entire fabric will unravel. A paternalistic and overbearing government steps in and makes these decisions, regardless of the wishes of the individual.

Should "Roe v. Wade" be overturned, women will no longer be the misstresses of their own lives and fates. Unable to make the determination as to whether they wish to get, or be, pregnant, the state will make that decision for them. They will once again be relegated to the status of second class citizens.

Junior's Summer Vacation

At his Texas Versailles, Dubbyuh does little more than spout platitudes to the families of thoise who have lost loved ones in Iraq.

"We will stay the course; we will complete the job in Iraq."

Cold comfort to those whose loved ones died in the service of their country in pursuit of dubious goals. Too little, too late for those whose courage, honor and belief in their country has been made a mockery of by this president.

Cindy Sheehan is one such person. The founder of Gold Star Families for Peace, she stands vigil outside Dubbyuh's Texas hide-away waiting for answers from the president who sent her son to die for a cause now known to be false. WMD's were the casus beli, since shown to be nothing more than the product of cherry-picked, over spun and fabricated intel.

Apparently, Junior has better things to do than to provide an honest answer to Mrs. Sheehan, and the rest of the country. There's alot of brush to be cleared down there on the ranch, they must be flying in C-130's loaded with it, and Junior is simply too busy dealing with that critical issue. Instead, he sends a couple of underlings to speak with Mrs. Sheehan.

The other reason, and a far more likely one in my humble opinion, is that Junior is little more than a spineless worm who is all too willing to sacrifice others (especially if they can't afford the price tag that accompanies his pay to play administration) to achieve his goals. So, neither Mrs. Sheehan nor America can expect any answers from Junior or his playmates any time soon.

'Turd-Blossom' in Deeper Shit

IN the ongoing saga of Karl Rove and the outing of Valerie Plame as a CIA agent more turds keep rising to the surface of this punch-bowl than you can shake a stick at.

Something many defenders of 'Turd-Blossom' seem to forget in their fervor is that on July 30, 2003, the CIA filed a "crime report" regarding this matter. This, essentially, referrs the matter to the DOJ for criminal prosecution.

They also seem to remain willfully ignorant of the fact that Brewster Jennings & Associates, the CIA front company that Ms. Plame listed as her official employer, was severely comromised and other CIA officers who used the company as a front were also compromised. Whether this has led to the loss of life as these operations were rolled up remains to be seen.

According to Larry Johnson, a former CIA official, Ms. Plame was also operating under NOC or, non-official cover. This meant that Ms. Plame when traveling abroad under a non-diplomatic passport, could have been arrested as a foreign agent and been executed by a regime hostile to US interests.

Contrary to the assertions of some that Ms. Plame was nothing but a "file-clerk, Vincent Cannistraro, former CIA counter-terrorism operations chief, has stated differently. He has stated that Ms. Plame ran NBC non-proliferation operations, recruiting agents to seek out information on NBC proliferation. Information which would be particularly useful to the US here...now.

Many of 'Turd-Blossom's' supporters also cite the narrowly worded "Intelligence Identities Protection Act" which makes it a federal crime to intentionally reveal any information identifying an undercover operative. They claim that he didn't reveal her name, and only referred to her as "Joe Wilson's wife". This is simply the poorest sort of sophisty and hair-splitting. And even if 'Turd-Blossom' did not commit a crime under the letter of this law, he certainly violated its spirit. But there are other laws which may have been broken, not the least of which is " The Espionage Act of 1917". And there is also the little matter of Turd-Blossom's violation of the "Classified Information Nondisclosure Agreement" he signed as a condition of employment and which he violated by disclosing Ms. Plame's identity.

But this case goes deeper than just the revelation of a CIA operative's name in pursuit of political payback. It goes to the heart of the Administration's justicfications for the war with Iraq and threatens to send that already teetering house of cards crashing to the ground.

'Turd-blossom'in Deep Shit

In the White House Regular Press Briefing of July 11th, 2005, White House Press Secretary Puffy McMoonface, aka Scott McClellan, aka Chummy McSharkbait, was savaged by a gang of real reporters who were secretly substituted for the White House press corps. The subject of the reporters questioning was Karl Rove and the statements made by Puffy and Dubbyuh regarding an ongoing criminal investigation. This was, of course, before they figured out they'd been caught in a lie and decided not to comment on an ongoing criminal investigation.

It was October 10th, 2003. I another press briefing, Puffy stated that neither Rove nor 'Scooter' Libby were involved. Nor, he added was Elliot Abrams. Sounds like a comment about an ongoing criminal investigation to me.

And wasn't it Dubbyuh who said:

If there's leaks out of my administration, I want to know who it is, and if the person has violated the law, the person will be taken care of.

However, the pattern of Dubbyuh's Administration is to reward failure. After all, Condi ignored the PDB which stated "Osama bin Laden seeks to attack the US", and lookit where she is now...Secretary of State an' all. And then there was George Tenet who got us into a war based on cooked intel. He got a Presidential Medal of Freedom. And so did J. Paul Bremmer, who managed to lose $9 billion in taxpayer money in Iraq.

For a cock-up of this magnitude, Turd-blossom's reward will have to be pretty spectacular. Could a seat on the SCOTUS be in the offing?

For more on this little [packet of distracting weirdness, I offer the following links:

Puffy gets beaten like a gong The full transcript.

The main-stream media - Developing a backbone...At last

Just how serious is Dubbyuh about the 'War on Terror'?

All indictions to date are that he's not at all serious. After 9/11, Dubbyuh went all cowboy sheriff and made alot of noise about wanting Osama bin Laden "...Dead or Alive...". Just a few months later, in March of 2002, Dubbyuh flip-flopped and said. "I don't know where he is. I -- I'll repeat what I said. I truly am not that concerned about him. - White House Press Conference, 5/13/02

During that March press conference, Dubbyuh was already making noises about the "threat " posed by Saddam Hussein. Also, in July of 2002, Dubbyuh, without notifying Congress as the post-9/11 appropriations bill required him to do , diverted some $700 million dollars from the operational fund for Afghanistan to fund operations against Iraq. This was concurrent with the stepped up bombing of targets in Iraq, again without notifying Congress.

On the homefront, Dubbyuh and his merry band contiue seeking to make the tax-cuts beneffiting the wealthiest 1% of Americans permanent...This in a time of war. Shouldn't we be raising taxes to fund ongoiing military oprerations? But no, he'd rather borrow from foreign lenders to support his foreign military adventurism. Cuts in funding to first -responders, fire, police and EMS personnel, continue unabated. Funding for sea-port security remains far below what is needed. Nuclear power plants and petro-chem facilites remain large, soft targets, particularly since the Chemical Facilities Security Act of 2003 died in committee.

So, just how serious is Dubbyuh about the war on terror...? Not very. It just gets trotted out with "Remember 9/11!" when his poll numbers sag.

"...defeat them abroad before they attack us at home..."

Yesterdays bombings in London gave the lie to that premise. Rather than acting as "flypaper", Iraq has become a training ground for terrorists which is second to none. It exceeds the wildest wet dreams that Osama bin Laden had for training operations in Taliban controlled Afghanistan.

In a report from January 2005, the National Intelligence Council stated, "...a training ground, a recruitment ground, the opportunity for enhancing technical skills...". While no firm numbers on Iraqi insurgents killed are available, it seems likly that the casualties are doing little more than culling the less capable members and giving rise to more highly trained, experienced, motivated and capable terrorist operatives than have been seen in recent memory. These operatives, particularly the foreign nationals fighting alongside Iraqi nationals, are then able to exfiltrate from Iraq and carry the skills they have acquired there around the world.

To think that we will "...defeat them abroad before they attack us at home..." is at best, pollyanish wishful thinking. At worst it is a gross understatement of the threat to both this nation and the world at large. Let us hope our leaders outgrow such foolishness before we pay the price on our shores...again.