McCain: Every Child Will Receive a Free Pony!

Which is about the only thing that McBush didn't promise.

Among McCain's list of things he promises during his proposed presidency: War over. Low inflation. Energy independence. No terrorist attacks. Flat tax. Affordable health care.

But note that he made no promise to reduce deficit spending or to try and reduce the Federal debt.

McBush. McSame. Same old "run up the credit cards and stick our kids with the bill" economics.

Where Is Bill Frist ?

A 9-year-old girl who went to hospital in central Greece suffering from stomach pains was found to be carrying her embryonic twin, doctors said Thursday.

So where is Bill Frist to proclaim that he looked at a videotape and that the embryo is viable? You can bet your ass that if this story happened in the U.S., that the GOP would be tripping over itself to pass special legislation for the poor (white) embryo.

Standing Up For the Rule of Law

A number of military officers have put the rule of law and the Constitution ahead of their own careers. That is why the military commission system in Guantanamo has not been able to function effectively.

More here.

Note, however, that you will see a conspicuous absence of star-wearing officers in this story. But I've beaten that horse before.

Get Serious, Specter

Sen. Specter is continuing with his concerns about alleged spying by the New England Patriots.

For the love of (insert name of your deity here)! The Bush Administration has been engaged in all manners of illegal spying on Americans. Specter has has done nothing to curb that. Oh, he has put on a good show, but when it comes time to actually do anything, Arlen Specter has shown all the strength of a soggy cardboard box.

Gee. After Specter gets done with the Patriots, I presume that he will hold hearing into allegations that Girl Scout troops have been stealing cookie-selling strategies from each other.

Yow!

Keith Olbermann was in fine form lambasting Bush for his lies and spin. He ended with showing that Bush even lied about quitting golf.

He is right, though he didn't put it this way: Bush is just insane. (Maybe that is why the GOP has adopted the same marketing slogan used by an antidepressant.)

(I'll embed the video once it's available. If you can't wait, go see it at Crooks & Liars.)

Ah, here we go (don't be shocked if it plays some damn commercial first):

News for the Clueless; Iraq Edition

The U.S. has cut ties to Ahmad Chalabi because of his Iranian contacts.

No fucking shit, geniuses. Chalabi has been playing his own game for a very long time. The neocons who were gulled by his lies and false assurances were nothing more than a pack of useful idiots to Chalabi's ambitions. He is a con artist and a fraud. Allegations that Chalabi has been either playing a game with Iran or is a full-blown Iranian agent have been around for years.

Chalabi was like one of those quislings that conquering powers have set up in captive nations for thousands of years, but because the Bush Administration lost its nerve and tried to impose a democracy, even the Iraqis were not going to trust that greasy little fuck.

With any luck, Chalabi will soon be wearing a blindfold and die with the Arabic word for "fire" ringing in his ears.

More International Crimes of the Bush Administration.

The involuntary sedation of people being deported, not for medical reasons, not because they pose a risk, but solely because the brownshirts at ICE (formerly INS) feel like it.

As violations of international law go, this pales in comparison to aggression and torture. But this is the sort of shit that the KGB used to routinely do.

The Bush Administration has turned this nation into the world's most powerful pariah state. If Barack Obama is the next president, he will have an Augean task in cleaning up the messes made by the troupe of grinning thugs in this administration. If, on the other hand, John McBush is the next president, it will be fascism as usual.

Freedom. It's Gone. Get Used To That.

UPDATE: Badtux has commented that the source of this story is suspect. I'm not taking it down, though, for that is futile, given that there are places that cache web pages. Anyway, I wrote it, it stays up.

UPDATE II: I have found no corroboration. But what I wrote does express my opinion of the security apparatus in this nation, so I'm leaving it up, albeit marked-out in spots. Rule #2 applies.

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So a college student gives a a talk about the Constitution and the Bill of Rights to a bunch of Boy Scouts. And for saying that those are important documents and that our freedoms are at risk from the Federal government, he gets a visit from the Gestapo, in which they threaten to destroy his career.

No, I am not lining that out. The Department of Homeland Security is the Gestapo nowadays. Talking about the Constitution and the Bill of Rights is now, to the Gestapo, the same as committing acts of espionage and terror.

Let me state that, again:

If you talk about freedom and liberty in terms that are not flattering to Der Monkey Fuhrer, the Department of Homeland Security will accuse you of being a terrorist and a spy.

Other than degree, how are they different from the Gestapo and the KGB?

The Bush Administration has thoroughly betrayed the legacy bequeathed to us by the Founding Fathers. The Bush Administration has betrayed all of those who fought and suffered and endured and died to win our freedoms and liberties and all of those who have fought and died to keep it.

The Bush Administration and their goons in the Department of Homeland Security, the Department of Justice and almost every other department within the Federal government have committed treason against the Constitution.

They swore an oath to "preserve and protect and defend the Constitution of the United States." They did not swear an oath to defend "the Homeland" or "George W. Bush."

Their loyalty should properly be to the Constitution, for that is what they swore. They are, therefore, betraying the Constitution.

They are the traitors, not some college kid in East Texas, who had the gall to speak out against the abuses committed by the Bush Administration.

(H/T to One Pissed-Off Veteran)

The Election Yesterday That Mattered

No, it wasn't the West Virginia Democratic primary, which changed nothing. West Virginia was a "no win" state for Clinton, for if she had a huge win there, it changed nothing and if she hadn't won by a stupendous margin, it would have blown up in her face. It may even have cost her to win, for it could be argued that her support now seems to be largely coming from the Democrats who still think that sheets are for wearing, especially when accessorized with matching dunce caps.

The election that mattered was a special election in Mississippi, to fill a House seat that had been in GOP hands for a 14 years. The Republicans did their level best to tar the Democratic candidate to "the party of Obama (that nigra [wink] [wink]) and Pelosi". They sent Dick Cheney down to spread his special message of fear and horror.

It didn't work. It wasn't even terribly close.

The Republicans, it would seem, have a problem. Their party foundations of fear and of coded racism seem to be misfiring. They can't claim to be fiscal conservatives, their record of increasing the Federal deficit by 50% speaks for itself.

Oh, this could be a fun year, indeed.

(WARNING: I thought Kerry would win in `04 and that the Republicans would keep control of the Congress in `06, so my track record isn't so hot.)

UPDATE: Dana Milbank compares the Clinton Campaign to the Monty Python "Dead Parrot" sketch.

UPDATE II: From the "No Shit, Sherlock" Department, a column in the New York Post argues that Clinton's strategy is to cripple Obama so he cannot win and so that Clinton can run again in `12. Us ignoble bloggers have been making that point for months, now.

Welcome to the party, pal.

Shedding Season

One of my cats likes to worm in under the covers when I am sleeping. When it's shedding season, it is a constant chore to clean the cat hair from the sheets.

So I brush them. Two of my cats regard being brushed and combed as a lower form of affection; they prefer being petted and scratched, but brushing will do.

But ah, George. When I approach him with a brush in my hand, to his eyes, I must look like Dick Cheney carrying a waterboard.