I GET THE LOGIC BUT....

AG Mukasey said the DOJ would not investigate waterboarding or warrant-less wiretapping because the DOJ's Office of Legal Counsel already judged that those practices were legal, according to the WaPo:

Waterboarding, he told the House committee, "cannot possibly be the subject of . . . a Justice Department investigation" because its use was approved by the Justice Department's Office of Legal Counsel. Mukasey made a parallel argument about the National Security Agency's warrantless wiretapping program, saying the Justice Department could not investigate that program because it was approved at the outset by the department's lawyers.

"That would mean that the same department that authorized the program would now consider prosecuting somebody who followed that advice," he said.

The problems here are that OLC has been compromised by political hacks and, more broadly, the Vice President has subverted the normal review process. You can find more discussion about Mukasey's testimony here.

MORAL HAZARDS STILL A PROBLEM

Over 4 years ago, Gretchen Morgenson of the NY Times reported that professional money managers were very skeptical that the Wall Street reforms would be effective:

Professional money managers remain deeply skeptical, according to a survey conducted and released last week. Managers also voiced strong support for state regulators' moves against securities law violators and said the regulators' authority should not be curbed.

More than two-thirds of the 112 respondents in the survey, conducted by Broadgate Consultants, a public relations firm in New York, said the recent governance changes would not be enough to prevent future accounting scandals. Just 23 percent of those responding said recent antifraud measures from regulators had been effective, and 60 percent said they doubted that the recent Wall Street settlement would improve the quality of brokerage-firm research.

The corruption is almost everywhere. Simon Targett wrote in the Financial Times in 2003 that most pension fund managers thought market timing abuses were a normal part of the industry:

A majority of executives running pension schemes in the US think that the market timing abuses uncovered by regulators are "systemic", according to a report by Greenwich Associates. In a survey of 131 funds, some 60 per cent said that improper trading - which is the subject of a major investigation by Eliot Spitzer, New York state attorney general - was systemic to the US mutual fund industry. But for those funds with money managed by firms under investigation - 76 were surveyed - some 71 per cent considered the problem to be widespread across the industry.

Even the head of enforcement of Fredo's SEC pointed out that Wall Street needs to clean up or face greater regulation (Gary Silverman, Financial Times, 2003):

Stephen Cutler, head of enforcement at the Securities and Exchange Commission, yesterday called on financial companies to review their operations for conflicts of interest, or risk having the government do it for them.

Speaking to a securities industry conference in Charleston, South Carolina, Mr Cutler said a "conflicts crisis" existed on Wall Street that threatened the interests of small investors.

Mr Cutler said companies should take the lead in resolving conflicts, if only to preserve their customer relationships.

A new conflict today is between the ratings agencies and the buyers of the Big ShitPile.

FOR DEMS, THERE'S ALWAYS A DARK LINING

(h/t Atrios)

MediaMatters catches Tweety raining on the parade. Despite the enormous Democratic turnout, Tweey thinks there's a problem because too many of them have a college degree so the turnout doesn't repesent the average guy. Pumpkin Head joined in:

Matthews said to NBC Washington bureau chief Tim Russert, "I am stunned at the educational level of the typical voter on the Democratic side. You and I grew up in a party -- looking at the Democratic Party as largely a working-class base, but almost in every one of the Eastern states now, three out of five voters who voted in the primaries today are full college graduates. Is that good news for [Sen.] Barack Obama [D-IL]? How do we read that development?" Russert responded: "[I]n a national election, in a general election, the Democrats have to do better than that. They have to get some of those Reagan Democrats back into the fold."

The real division is in the GOP: Dobsonites and the talk radio Republicans won't support McCain. In fact, Dobson has officially come out for The Huckster:

Dobson said given the situation at that point, he was reluctant to choose between "two pro-family candidates whom I could support" - Huckabee and former Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney.

But Dobson wrote that Romney's announcement Thursday that he was suspending his campaign "changed the political landscape."

"The remaining candidate for whom I could vote is Governor Huckabee," Dobson said. "His unwavering positions on the social issues, notably the institution of marriage, the importance of faith and the sanctity of human life, resonate deeply with me and with many others ... Obviously, the governor faces an uphill struggle, given the delegates already committed to Senator McCain. Nevertheless, I believe he is our best remaining choice for president of the United States."

This pits the social cons against the "tax cuts for the rich" cons and that is a gap that can't be bridged.

15:9

That's the ratio of the number of people who voted for Democrats compared to the number of people who voted for Republicans on Super Tuesday. Data analysis by Jackson Dykman, links courtesy of Karen Tumulty, both of TIME.

Democrats:

Clinton: 7,378,275 (corrected from previous version)
Obama: 7,319,607 (corrected from previous version)
Edwards: 409,723
Uncommited: 26,268
Biden: 2,863
Richardson: 1,164
Total of All Dem Primary Votes: 15,137,900

Republicans:

McCain: 3,613,133
Romney: 2,964,010
Huckabee: 1,796,474
Paul: 397,229
Giuliani: 199,490
Uncommitted: 10,528
Thompson: 16,044
Total of all Republican Primary Votes: 8,996,908

UPDATE: commenter anon (here & here) at Tumulty's blog did some more digging and found some more evidence that the Dems are more enthusiastic than the Reps this year.

To recap
R's, 2000: 9,526,080
R's, 2008: 9,531,712

D's, 2000: 7,731,127
D's, 2008: 15,321,181

GANGING UP ON McCAIN & SOME REACTION

I just heard Michael Savage essentially call McCain a traitor and Fats Limbaugh and Hannity are still bashing him, absurdly claiming that McCain is a liberal. Mullah Dobson came out with a statement of his opposition to McCain and War Whore Ingraham read it on her radio show (h/t Stephanie Miller). In it, the Mullah makes his point very clear:

"I am deeply disappointed the Republican Party seems poised to select a nominee who did not support a Constitutional amendment to protect the institution of marriage, voted for embryonic stem-cell research to kill nascent human beings, opposed tax cuts that ended the marriage penalty, has little regard for freedom of speech, organized the Gang of 14 to preserve filibusters in judicial hearings, and has a legendary temper and often uses foul and obscene language.

"I am convinced Sen. McCain is not a conservative, and in fact, has gone out of his way to stick his thumb in the eyes of those who are. He has sounded at times more like a member of the other party. McCain actually considered leaving the GOP caucus in 2001, and approached John Kerry about being Kerry’s running mate in 2004. McCain also said publicly that Hillary Clinton would make a good president. Given these and many other concerns, a spoonful of sugar does NOT make the medicine go down. I cannot, and will not, vote for Sen. John McCain, as a matter of conscience.

"But what a sad and melancholy decision this is for me and many other conservatives. Should Sen. McCain capture the nomination as many assume, I believe this general election will offer the worst choices for president in my lifetime. I certainly can't vote for Hillary Clinton or Barack Obama based on their virulently anti-family policy positions. If these are the nominees in November, I simply will not cast a ballot for president for the first time in my life. These decisions are my personal views and do not represent the organization with which I am affiliated. They do reflect my deeply held convictions about the institution of the family, about moral and spiritual beliefs, and about the welfare of our country."

Dobson also appeared on Pious Prager's radio show and said he could support Mittens despite the theological differences. The Huckster comes to McCain's defense and calls out Fats & Mullah:

Asked in general about those like Dobson or Rush Limbaugh who say they would not vote or pick someone else before they would support McCain, Huckabee said he disagreed.

"Well, you know what? They're not a conservative," the pro-life former Arkansas governor told CNN.

"If they say that, then that just proves something: They're more about themselves than they are the cause. Because there's no way that a true conservative would vote for Hillary Clinton," he added.

David Kuo, an evangelical and former Bush regime official, also pushes back against Mullah Dobson:

And there, in a nutshell, is the Christian worldview as James Dobson pronounces it:

- cutting taxes
- a Constitutional amendment "protecting" marriage
- elimination of embryonic stem-cell research
- a US Senate stripped of the very powers that the Founders gave it
- not cursing.

Damn. Is there a more succinct and stunning summation of the reason why evangelical voters are throwing off self-appointed evangelical mullahs like James Dobson? And why, according to a new Barna study, 40% of evangelicals would vote for the Democratic candidate if the election were held today (versus 28% for the Republican candidate).

Evangelical voters are saying that they think a Christian worldview should include tackling issues like poverty and health care. They are saying that perhaps Jesus would oppose the wanton torture of other human beings. They are saying that perhaps obeying God's first command - to care for His creation - matters. And they are saying that the idea of deporting 12 million illegal immigrants sounds cruel and frightening.

By putting himself out there so forcefully, Dr. Dobson risks playing the role of Dr. Kevorkian in ushering in the end of the old-line religious right.

TALK RADIO REPUBLICANS ARE ROMNEY'S BASE

In other words, Romney isn't a national candidate. You are in the minority if you are satisfied with the economy and the Iraq War.

Exit Poll Results Nationwide
Feb 6, 3:12 AM (ET)
By ALAN FRAM

WASHINGTON (AP) -Romney's strongest advantages were with the GOP's most conservative voters, people seeking a strong stance against illegal immigrants, those satisfied with the status of the economy and strong proponents of the war in Iraq.

Romney compensated by getting almost half the votes of people calling themselves very conservative, well ahead of Huckabee and McCain. Romney's advantage came with the one-fourth who said illegal immigration was their No. 1 concern.

A CHENEYITE ON AOL

dlpearce7377 07:08:34 AM Feb 06 2008

Article One- they ONLY have checks and balances by way of purse strings. Article One-gives ONLY the president the authority to wage war and protect the boarders of the US as he so deemes necessary. That overrides, in a time of war, All other powers of Congress or the Courts. Not likeing it, doesn't change the fact or the constitution.

WHO DOES THE SPENDING

This is the first I've seen about the distribution of consumer spending by income bracket.

Economy Fitful, Americans Start to Pay as They Go
By PETER S. GOODMAN
Published: February 5, 2008

Some Americans have so much wealth that they can spend enough to fuel much of the economy. The top fifth of American earners generates half of all consumer spending, noted Dean Maki, chief United States economist at Barclays Capital.

If you read the entire article, this implies that ALL of the stimulus package should go to the bottom 80%.

LOOKS LIKE POWELL LIED TWICE

First at the U.N. on Feb. 5, 2003 and later when he told us that his presentation was vetted by the intelligence agencies. I recall that Powell threw out a bunch of crap sent to him by the Office of Special Plans. Jonathan Schwarz at Tiny Revolution shows that he ignored the warnings of the State Departments own intelligence section, the Bureau of Intelligence and Research (INR), so the question is, Why didn't he question more of the findings?

Let's recall that Powell was ABSOLUTE in his presentation to the Security Council:

POWELL: My colleagues, every statement I make today is backed up by sources, solid sources. These are not assertions. What we're giving you are facts and conclusions based on solid intelligence.

You can find more discussion here.

UPDATE: Day of Shame has lost of links to other liberal posts.

DOH!

Where has John O'Sullivan been? If you've been paying attention, it's OBVIOUS that many Fundies won't vote for a Mormon.

Positive Rejection of Romney? [John O'Sullivan]
Tonight is not yet over, but I fear that one element in the voting may be a positive rejection of Romney. That seems to be a factor quite as much as an embrace of McCain. Hence the revival of Huckabee in the South. My southern belle wife always warned that many evangelicals would vote for anyone but a Mormon. I was skeptical — and we don't yet have the exit poll breakdowns on that kind of question — but it looks as if something like that may be at work.
02/05 10:30 PM

Mark Steyn seems to understand:

Well, the heartland spoke last night and about the only message it sent was that, no matter what the talk radio guys say, they're not voting for a Mormon no way no how. The rationale for Romney continuing his campaign is that he's the conservative alternative to McCain. The message from Alabama, Georgia and Tennessee is that he will never be accepted as such by the conservatives' electoral base.

Steyn also seems to have taken a Reality Pill:

The real story of the night, when you look at their rallies and their turn-out numbers, is that the Dems have two strong candidates either of whom could lead a united party to victory. Forget the gaseous platitudes: in Dem terms, their choice on Super Duper Tuesday was deciding which candidate was Super Duper and which was merely Super. Over on the GOP side, it was a choice between Weak & Divisive or Weaker & Unacceptable. Doesn't bode well for November.

HAH! THE GASBAGS LOSE! THE GASBAGS LOSE!

Despite the best efforts of Fats Limbaugh, Sean Hannity, Laura Ingraham, Hugh Hewitt, Mark Levin and other bloviators, McCain beat Mittens on Tuesday. The only thing Mittens is leading in is cost per delegate. According to one account, he spent $1.16 million per convention delegate!
Here's an AP total of the GOP delegates so far:

The Arizona senator had 522 delegates, to 223 for Romney and 142 for Huckabee. It takes 1,191 to clinch the presidential nomination at next summer's convention in St. Paul, Minn.

The non-Mittens total is 664. Recall that Fats Limbaugh & Sean Hannity have spoken against both McCain and The Huckster.

THIS COULD REALLY SUCK

(All Via Atrios)

A broad measure of the economy tumbles:

Service sector surprisingly weak in January
ISM index plunges to 41.9%, second lowest result on record
By Greg Robb, MarketWatch
Last update: 11:35 a.m. EST Feb. 5, 2008

WASHINGTON (MarketWatch) -- The non-manufacturing side of the U.S. economy, which had been the firmest pillar of the economic expansion, buckled in January, according to data reported Tuesday by the Institute for Supply Management.

The ISM non-manufacturing index fell to a reading of 41.9% last month, down from 54.4% in December. It was the lowest level since October 2001.

It was also the largest one-month drop in the index's history, coming in well below the 53.0% reading that had been expected by economists.

Moreover, it marked the first reading below the 50% mark since March 2003, and the second-lowest reading ever to boot.

Paul Krugman did a little homework and found that this index is a good predictor of employment. The vertical axis is the employment figure for the month AFTER the ISM index number is released, the horizontal axis is the ISM number.



Krugman also found that the index did a good job of tracking the last recession and it looks like were headed there again:

OOH! ANOTHER DIG AT THE GASBAGS

(h/t Jennifer Rubin at Commentary)

Richelieu at the CampaignStandard, the Weekly Standard's blog on the campaign:

Lots of talk in the media about McCain vs. The Mighty Wombats of Talk Radio. Ask President Tancredo about that one. The talkers can raise an issue to prominence, they can entertain, but they do not really deliver actual votes. Sorry Rush.

First it was "mafia" (Barnes) and now it goes below the primates. BTW, this is what a wombat looks like:

FATS STRIKES BACK!

Fred Barnes in the Weekly Standard took a jab at Fats Limbaugh and Fats responded to him Monday, along with a paranoid interpretation of McCain.

Limbaugh: McCain Out to Destroy GOP for 2000 S.C. Defeat
February 04, 2008 4:13 PM
Jennifer Parker

ABC News' Jennifer Parker Reports: Continuing his attack on Republican frontrunner Sen. John McCain, conservative radio show host Rush Limbaugh devoted a significant portion of his radio show Monday to urging conservatives not to vote for the senator in tomorrow's Super Tuesday contests.

"He's going to reach out to Democrats in Congress," Limbaugh said, citing "McCain -Kennedy" and "McCain -Feingold" as examples of McCain-sponsored bipartisan legislation. "This is how he's going to get even with Republicans for defeating him in South Carolina in 2000," Limbaugh said. "The Republican Congress will effectively be neutered."

The conservative radio host also lambasted Fred Barnes, editor of the conservative magazine The Weekly Standard for an editorial titled "Let's Grow Up Conservatives" that urges conservatives to give McCain a chance if he continues to reach out to them.

"Fred, you used to be one of us!" Limbaugh said. "Now you seem to be all for Republicans having its liberal wing too."

JONAH'S MASTURPIECE

Amazon has 3 classifications for his LIBERAL FASCISM and I think the last one is the most accurate:

Popular in these categories: (What's this?)
#1 in
Books > Nonfiction > Social Sciences > Political Science > Political Doctrines > Fascism
#1 in
Books > Nonfiction > Social Sciences > Political Science > Political Doctrines > Conservatism
#1 in
Books > Entertainment > Humor > Parodies

LOCAL RECONCILIATION?

We've been told by the Administration that at the local levels, reconciliation is working. That is another lie as we can see from this Baghdad report.


Market bombings: Baghdad locals want security, not Iraqi police

The Monitor accompanied a high-level militia member on a walk through an area near Friday's bombing.
By Sam Dagher Correspondent of The Christian Science Monitor
from the February 4, 2008 edition

Baghdad - "We are an independent state; no police or army is allowed to come in," proclaims Khalid Jamal al-Qaisi, deputy leader of the US military-backed and predominantly Sunni Arab militia in charge of security in the old Baghdad neighborhood of Al-Fadhil.

The Monitor accompanied Mr. Qaisi, a mid-level member of the former Baath Party, on a walk down the area's main thoroughfare, Kifah Street, on Saturday, one day after a female suicide bomber struck the Ghazil pet market about a mile away on Jumhouriya Street, killing 62 people, according to Iraqi security officials.

Qaisi says his men could have prevented Friday's bombings. He says the attacks only bolster his conviction that Iraq's security forces, both Army and police, are infiltrated by militias and insurgents and riddled with sectarian biases. He says his men do not recognize the authority of Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki and won't join the security forces under such conditions.

Qaisi proudly recounts how his men repelled government and US forces over the years. He blames the brutality toward Shiites in Al-Fadhil as well as their forced displacement on three Al Qaeda linked militants who, he said, have since been killed or arrested.

"The Americans asked to be our friends because we were the winners," he says, adding that the agreement he has with US forces precludes Iraqi forces from entering. No government forces can be seen. Qaisi's guards check every vehicle and person entering Kifah Street.

At the end of Kifah Street, a wall has been built to separate Al-Fadhil from the Shiite neighborhoods of Sadriya, Qanbar Ali, and Abu Saifyen. "We can't go beyond that," says Qaisi. "I can't guarantee your security there."

FATS WILL SAY ANYTHING TO STOP McCAIN

He'll even defend Hillary and Barack! The New York Sun reports that Fats tried to downplay McCain's stance on the Iraq War by claiming that neither Hillary nor Obama would be much different:

"They are not going to surrender the country to Islamic radicalism or the war in Iraq," Mr. Limbaugh said after mentioning the two Democratic senators by name. "They are not going to do that to themselves, despite what their base says."

"The idea that we've only got one person in this whole roster of candidates, either party, who is willing to take on the war on terror is frankly, absurd," Mr. Limbaugh said.

Michael Goldfarb in the neo-con Weekly Standard completey disagrees with Fats on Hillary and Barack:

Has Rush been paying attention to what the Democratic Congress tried to do to the war effort this year--and the role McCain played in stopping it? Is he unaware that right now Clinton and Obama are one-upping each other in a game of who could surrender first? That both would withdraw American troops regardless of the recommendations of General Petraeus, regardless of whether we are winning or losing, regardless--in short--of reality?

Goldfarb goes farther and accuses Fats and the other gasbags opposed to McCain of putting party before country!

Indeed, McCain has repeatedly said that he would rather lose this election than lose the war. Apparently for Rush and some other conservative opponents of McCain, it's the other way around. They say a victory by Clinton or Obama will, in the long run, serve the party and the conservative movement. Apparently they'd rather lose the war than see John McCain win this election.

I'M NOT SURE ABOUT KEVIN

Kevin Drum of the Washington Monthly is usually very solid on policy issues (here's a great example) so I'm a bit surprised that he's jumped the shark about Paul Krugman. Kevin thinks Krugman has gone "over a cliff" and has engaged in a "months-long anti-Obama jihad" on universal health care. To my understanding, Krugman's criticisms of Obama's plan are justifed so I can't understand why Kevin is so upset. I don't have a problem with Kevin deciding to vote for Obama because I can understand why one would do so, thus my surprise isn't partisan.

CREDIBILITY & COMPETENCE

Glenn notes that the Dems are more trusted by the American people on almost all the important issues than the GOP. Fats Limbaugh has been caught tampering with audio clips and misleadingly editing his own transcripts. The lies about WMD are well-known and the incompetence of Condi Rice is approaching legendary status. Hannity lies almost every day and the neo-cons are wrong about most serious issues. Teh Surge has failed and Afghan is in danger of becoming a failed state.

Given this context, it's a wonder that the GOP is even trying to win the Presidency.

COMMUNITY NOTE

Atrios, one of the major liberal bloggers, is holding a fundraiser for his blog and as you can tell, I think his blog is worth reading. Help him out if you can.

FATS VS. BS EXPRESS

Fats Limbaugh is still attacking McCain and he brings up St. Ronnie to help. The key point seems to be not compromising conservative "principles."

UPDATE: (Via Memeo) Former GOP senator and presidential candidate Bob Dole comes to the defense of McCain and writes a letter to Fats. Mark Levin's response to this was something like "So what - Dole lost in 1996."

PROGRESSIVES AND THE CANDIDATES

There has been and there will quite a bit of discussion about the relative merits of Hillary versus Barack. I agree with Krugman's analysis of their health care plans and because health care is the biggest domestic issue, that means I will cast my primary vote for Hillary. I think it's time to step back and give Ian Welsh of The Agonist the final word:

There is no progressive candidate left in the race. Obama is not a progressive. If you're smart you'll take Krugman's word on that. Clinton is also not a progressive.

FRED BARNES VS. FATS & CO.

In the Weekly Standard, Barnes calls the radio gasbags the "talk-radio mafia." That's sure to piss off the dittoheads and the Freepers. Barnes also names names: "Rush Limbaugh, Laura Ingraham, Mark Levin, and others."

POLITICAL PSYCHO-PATHOLOGY FROM COULTER

The Newshounds tipped me off to Coulter's rant against McCain when she appeared on Cavuto's show and I got a link to a YouTube clip from Jennifer Rubin at Commentary. I think you'll be amazed at the anger and vitriol.

MITTENS EMBRACES THE GASBAGS

I wasn't going to vote for Ken-doll Romney but this is another reason to oppose him. We simply can't afford another talk radio President.

Romney predicts conservatives will stop McCain
Posted: 06:15 PM ET
February 3, 2008
(CNN) — Mitt Romney predicted Sunday his party's conservative base will rally behind him on Super Tuesday in order to prevent John McCain from winning the Republican nomination.

"What I have to do is continue to see what's been happening the last few days, specifically that is conservatives across the country are saying, 'whoa, we have to get behind Mitt Romney,'" he said on CNN's Late Edition.

"You've got people like Rush Limbaugh and Laura Ingraham and the list goes on and on and on — Hugh Hewitt, Lars Larson — conservative voices, both from radio and from publications, are saying, 'you know what, we've got to get behind Mitt Romney,'" he continued. "We really can't afford John McCain as the nominee of our party."

UH OH, DOUBTS ABOUT THE WARM FUZZIES

(Via Memeo)

I wrote below that I emotionally prefer Barack to Hillary but I keep finding these factual reasons to have doubts about Barack. Paul Krugman shares a new analysis of health care proposals:

So the Obama plan would leave more people uninsured than the Clinton plan. How big is the difference?

To answer this question you need to make a detailed analysis of health care decisions. That’s what Jonathan Gruber of M.I.T., one of America’s leading health care economists, does in a new paper.

Mr. Gruber finds that a plan without mandates, broadly resembling the Obama plan, would cover 23 million of those currently uninsured, at a taxpayer cost of $102 billion per year. An otherwise identical plan with mandates would cover 45 million of the uninsured — essentially everyone — at a taxpayer cost of $124 billion. Over all, the Obama-type plan would cost $4,400 per newly insured person, the Clinton-type plan only $2,700.

Barack can of course change his position (and so can Hillary) and there's often a big difference between what a candidate promises and what's doable, but this raises a doubt about Barack.

SHILLER: HOUSING AS BAD AS THE GREAT DEPRESSION

Calculated Risk provided this video clip of Prof. Robert Shiller, co-developer of the Case-Shiller Index of housing prices, discussing the Housing Crisis. He notes (about 2:39 in) that home owners had about $20 trillion invested and have lost about 8% of that amount. I noted below that foreclosures are very close the average rate for the Great Depression and perhaps will exceed that rate this quarter.

MORE NEO-CON "PROGRESS"

This question has been asked by others but I don't think it can be asked often enough: Why are neo-cons like Bill Kristol even given the time of day? Also, why is the GOP the "party of national security"?

Insurgencies spread in Afghanistan and Pakistan
By Jonathan S. Landay McClatchy Newspapers
Posted on Sunday, February 3, 2008

WASHINGTON — Islamic insurgents are expanding their numbers and reach in Afghanistan and Pakistan, spreading violence and disarray over a vast cross-border zone where al Qaida has rebuilt the sanctuary it lost when the United States invaded Afghanistan after the 9/11 attacks.

In Afghanistan, U.S. and NATO forces are facing "a classic growing insurgency," Adm. Michael Mullen, the chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, said Friday.

Baghdad drowning in sewage: Iraqi official
7 hours ago

BAGHDAD (AFP) — Baghdad is drowning in sewage, thirsty for water and largely powerless, an Iraqi official said on Sunday in a grim assessment of services in the capital five years after the US-led invasion.

One of three sewage treatment plants is out of commission, one is working at stuttering capacity while a pipe blockage in the third means sewage is forming a foul lake so large it can be seen "as a big black spot on Google Earth," said Tahseen Sheikhly, civilian spokesman for the Baghdad security plan.

THE WINGNUTS AND THE 60s

Matt Stoller pointed out that Rick Perlstein had a great op-ed in the WaPo on how we aren't going to get past the Dirty Fuckin' Hippies (©Atrios). I've listened to Slots Bennett and other gasbags make jokes about the 60s so I now that the neo-cons and the movement conservatives are still scared of the DFH.

I appreciate Perlstein's mention of the divisions back then that I barely remember. Although I was born in 1952 and I did inhale, some of the worst parts of the 60s I relegated to footnotes. I remember Barry Goldwater but until I read Richard Hofstadter's The Paranoid Style in American Politics, I didn't realize how many right-wing extremists there were in America. I had the good fortune to listen to a speaker from the John Birch Society when I was a senior in highschool but I didn't grasp how large that movement was because I thought the speaker was so foolish I couldn't beleive that many people would swallow the Bircher line. I was wrong again.

I do remember Kent State but I didn't recall this:

Plenty of pictures of the riots at Kent State that ended with four students shot dead by National Guardsmen. None I could find, however, of the counter-demonstrations by Kent, Ohio, townies -- and even Kent State parents. Flashing four fingers and chanting "The score is four/And next time more," they argued that the kids had it coming.

This kind of hatred & fear is still with us and it won't go away, even with the passing of the Boomers because the issues won't go away. As Isaiah Berlin wisely wrote:

The need to choose, to sacrifice some ultimate values to others, turns out to be a permanent characteristic of the human predicament.

THEY DON'T CARE FOR WOMEN MUCH

First we had The Harridan say:

If we took away women's right to vote, we'd never have to worry about another Democrat president. It's kind of a pipe dream, it's a personal fantasy of mine, but I don't think it's going to happen. And it is a good way of making the point that women are voting so stupidly, at least single women.

Then we get it more "refined" description of the problem from a Neo-Con High Priest:

BILL KRISTOL: Look, the only people for Hillary Clinton are the Democratic establishment and white women. The Democratic establishment -- it would be crazy for the Democratic Party to follow an establishment that's led it to defeat year after year. White women are a problem, that's, you know -- we all live with that. (h/t Atrios)

UPDATE: I almost forgot that these 2 extremists have a fellow-traveler in the MSM, Chris Matthews.

A CASUAL SMEAR

War Whore Laura Ingraham doesn't like war hero John McCain and gets pretty mean-spirited about him:

Romney also landed Ingraham's endorsement today. That's not particularly a surprise either, as earlier this week, she told listeners that she was “concerned about the mental stability of the McCain campaign” and had cuckoo-clock sound effects accompany his words.

A SIMPLE MORAL ARGUMENT

Last week I was listening to Mark "Foamer" Levin's radio show and a male caller spoke against torture in simple but effective terms: "We weren't brought up like that." You can of course make plenty of legal and historical arguments against torture but I found this very effective because it directly attacks Levin for being neither moral nor conservative. Levin tried to spin this as an attack on our troops but ended up hanging up on the caller.

THE SPREAD OF "COMMUNISM"

Some of the wingnuts think almost any government intervention is Communism so if they are consistent, they'll have to claim that large parts of Wall Street have gone commie. :-)

Wall Street Embraces Government to Avoid Recession (Update1)
By Kathleen M. Howley

Feb. 1 (Bloomberg) -- With U.S. mortgage foreclosures set to top 1 million this year and home prices falling at the fastest pace since the Great Depression, Lehman Brothers Holdings Inc. Vice Chairman Thomas Russo says the government must take action to prevent a recession.

``The direction we are heading in isn't a good one,'' Russo said in an interview. ``We need significant fiscal and monetary intervention.''

The worst drop in new home sales on record has turned financial leaders into champions of big government with everyone from Russo to executives at Citigroup Inc. and JPMorgan Chase & Co. supporting public measures to keep the housing market from sinking the economy.

In the 1930s, lenders were seizing homes at an average rate of 3,000 a day, adjusted for today's housing stock size. In the fourth quarter of 2007, new foreclosures averaged 2,939 a day,

THIS IS A DISGRACE

At a time when oil companies are enjoying record profits and paying less in taxes, this is what Pres. Fredo wants to cut in fiscal 2009 (10/08-9/09):

Mr. Bush proposes a 22 percent cut in the Low-Income Home Energy Assistance Program, which provides $2.6 billion to help people pay heating bills.

SECDEF GATES IS FULL OF IT

Gates makes this misleading observation:

FORT CAMPBELL, Ky., Feb. 2, 2008 – The double-suicide bombings in Baghdad on Feb. 1, carried out by two women, may indicate desperation on the part of a beleaguered insurgency, Defense Secretary Robert M. Gates told reporters here.

The insurgents’ use of women to launch suicide attacks may be “a manifestation of the success of our military operations,” Gates told reporters at Fort Campbell, Ky. Feb. 1, after meeting with 101st Airborne Division (Air Assault) soldiers and military spouses.

According to the DOD, probably NOT:

Suicide Bombers Kill 75 Iraqis, Officials Condemn Barbarism
American Forces Press Service
WASHINGTON, April 8, 2006 Three male suicide bombers reportedly exploded inside the Shiite mosque, while one female suicide bomber reportedly exploded outside the mosque at approximately 4 p.m.

Officials said use of a female suicide bomber is a proven al Qaeda terrorist tactic. A female suicide bomber in Tal Afar, for instance, killed eight people in September 2005. Another female suicide bomber attacked an American patrol in Mosul last October, officials said.

Concerned Citizens Help to Stem Violence in Iraq
By Fred W. Baker III
American Forces Press Service
WASHINGTON, Dec. 10, 2007

On Dec. 7, a female suicide bomber targeted members of the Awakening Council in Muqadiyah, killing 12 concerned local citizens.

The AP provides this list on female suicide bomber attacks in Iraq:

_ Feb. 1: Two mentally retarded woman strapped with remote-control explosives strike pet markets in Baghdad. At least 73 people killed; Iraqi authorities believe the women may have been used as unwitting suicide bombers.

_ Jan. 29: A suicide bomber blows herself up at a checkpoint in Baghdad, killing two people, according to Iraqi police. The U.S. military denies it was a suicide attack and says there were no fatalities.

_ Jan. 16: A woman suicide bomber strikes worshippers preparing for a Shiite religious holiday in the Diyala province town of Khan Bani Saad, killing nine people and wounding six.

_ Dec. 31 : A suicide bomber blows herself up near a police patrol, wounding five policemen and four civilians in the Diyala capital Baqouba, northeast of Baghdad.

_ Dec. 7: A female suicide bomber attacks offices of a Sunni group battling al-Qaida in Iraq, killing at least 15 people and wounding 35 in Muqdadiyah in Diyala province, about 60 miles north of Baghdad. The attacker's two sons joined al-Qaida and were killed by Iraqi forces.

_ Nov. 4: A woman detonates explosives next to an American patrol near Baqouba, wounding seven U.S. soldiers and five Iraqis.

_ July 23: A female suicide bomber kills two policemen and wounds 10 at a checkpoint on the outskirts of Ramadi, 70 miles west of Baghdad.

_ April 11: A woman wearing an explosives vest underneath her robe blows herself up among 200 Iraqi police recruits, killing 16 and wounding 33 in Muqdadiyah.

_ Feb. 25, 2007: A female suicide bomber triggers a ball bearing-packed charge, killing at least 41 people and wounding at least 46 at a mostly Shiite college in Baghdad.

_ Dec. 6, 2005: Two women detonate explosives in a classroom filled with students at Baghdad's police academy, killing 27 people.

_ Nov. 9, 2005: A Belgian convert to Islam, Muriel Degauque, detonates explosives near a U.S. patrol. Degauque was the only one killed in the blast.

_ Oct. 11, 2005: A female suicide bomber strikes near a U.S. military patrol in Mosul in northern Iraq. No soldiers were injured, but it was not known whether the blast caused any casualties.

_ Sept. 28, 2005: A female suicide bomber attacks an Iraqi army recruitment center in Tal Afar in northern Iraq, killing six people and wounding 30. Witnesses said the attacker wore men's clothing as a disguise while standing in line with job applicants.

_ April 15, 2003: Two female suicide bombers carry out an attack that killed U.S. soldiers at a checkpoint northwest of Baghdad. The military said one women was pregnant

ROVE IN DENIAL

Unka Karl sings the praises of St. Raygun in his Newsweek column of 2/11/08:

President Reagan's gifts to the Republican Party were ideas: growing the economy through tax cuts, limiting government's size, forcefully confronting totalitarian threats, making human rights a centerpiece of America's foreign policy, respecting unborn human life, empowering the individual with more freedom.

As I noted below, Raygun's supply-side tax cuts were a miserable failure. I also fail to see how Rove can reconcile concern for human rights and freedom with the suspension of Habeas Corpus and waterboarding.

SLOTS' NEW MOTTO: "DON'T TELL"

(h/t Atrios)

I've been wondering why Slots Bennett hasn't joined his gasbag radio colleagues in denouncing McCain and HuffPo has discovered the reason:

...on December 31, 2007, Bennett contributed the maximum amount, $4600, to McCain's campaign. [See Bennett's fundraising details on Huffington Post's FundRace.]

Considering that he is a CNN "election analyst," Slots should've been open about this contribution.

UM, HARD TO GAUGE???

In this AP article,"Analysis: Pentagon Brass Split on Troops," about differing military opinions about a troop drawdown in Iraq, I found this curious line:

At his news conference, Mullen said that in private discussions this week at the Pentagon, the Army chief of staff, Gen. George Casey, and Conway, stressed their concern about the growing — and hard to gauge — strain on troops and their families.

It's not hard to gauge. Col. Elspeth Ritchie knows what's going on and so do many others.

CHENEY & THE RULE OF LAW

In his book Broken Government, John W. Dean tells us that Cheney has been an advocate of an imperial presidency (AKA, unitary executive) for decades. Cheney was the ranking minority member of the committees investigating Iran-Contra and the Minority Report is a lame attempt to clear Raygun & his Administration of violating the laws of the land. This is from page 437:

The bottom line, however, is that the mistakes of the Iran-Contra Affair were just that - mistakes in judgment, and nothing more. There was no constitutional crisis, no systematic respect for "the rule of law," no grand conspiracy, and no Administration-wide dishonesty or coverup.

In an op-ed in the NY Times on 7/9/2007, Sean Wilentz provides a little background information that shows another part of the great GOP Subversion Machine:

At the conclusion of the hearings, a dissenting minority report codified these views. The report’s chief author was a former resident fellow at the American Enterprise Institute, Michael J. Malbin, who was chosen by Mr. Cheney as a member of the committee’s minority staff. Another member of the minority’s legal staff, David S. Addington, is now the vice president’s chief of staff.

PBS has a nice selection of Cheney's statements about (unbridled) Executive War-making Powers and here's Cheney on Gulf I:

SEC. CHENEY: Senator, I do not believe the President requires any additional authorization from the Congress before committing US forces to achieve our objectives in the Gulf.

According to Cheney's view of the rule of law, the President can put almost 500,000 American forces in harm's way without any authorization!

TEH SURGE WAS NOT SO GREAT

This is from an insider who was a former adviser to Petraeus.

Analysis: Pentagon Brass Split on Troops
By LOLITA C. BALDOR – 57 minutes ago

Stephen Biddle, an analyst at the Council on Foreign Relations who has served as an adviser to Petraeus, said in a telephone interview Thursday that he hopes Bush decides to slow down the withdrawal.

"In general, slower is better, subject to the constraint that you not break the military," Biddle said. "The problem here is that a lot of the violence reduction (in 2007) is attributable to voluntary cease-fires, and if they stopped shooting voluntarily they could start shooting again just as voluntarily."

GREAT FRIGGING LINE!!!

(h/t Bruce Moomaw at Balloon Juice)

How will Obama counter Coulter's endorsement of Hillary? Indecision 2008 has the answer:

Meanwhile, to counter this endorsement, Barack Obama is seeking the support of a herpes sore on Satan's anus.

THE GOP DOESN'T CARE ABOUT THE TROOPS

The GOP is content to send and re-send troops to Iraq and doesn't care about the consequences. All that matters is WAR.

Army Suicides, Attempts Rise Again
By PAULINE JELINEK – 1 day ago

WASHINGTON (AP) — Multiple new efforts aimed at stemming suicides in the Army are falling short of their goal: The service anticipates another jump in the annual number of soldiers who killed themselves or tried to, including in the Iraq and Afghanistan war zones.

As many as 121 soldiers committed suicide in 2007, an increase of some 20 percent over 2006, according to preliminary figures released Thursday.

The number who tried to commit suicide or injured themselves for some other reason jumped six-fold in the last several years — from 350 in 2002 to about 2,100 incidents last year.

The 2006 toll of 102 translated to a rate of 17.5 per 100,000, the highest since the Army started counting in 1980, officials said. Officials said the rate of suicides per 100,000 active duty soldiers has not yet been calculated for 2007.

"We have been perturbed by the rise despite all of our efforts," said Col. Elspeth Ritchie, psychiatry consultant to the Army surgeon general. ... Ritchie said Thursday, as she did last year, that officials are finding that failed personal relationships are the main motive for the suicides, followed by legal and financial problems as well as job-related difficulties.

Long and repeated tours of duty away from home contribute significantly in that they weigh heavily on family relations and compound the other problems, officials said.

"People don't tend to suicide as a direct result of combat," Ritchie said. "But the frequent deployments strain relationships. And strained relations and divorce are definitely related to increased suicide."

BARACK AND THE WARM FUZZIES

Over the last week, I've been leaning toward Barack Obama but it's not for substantive reasons but emotional ones. I personally find his speeches inspiring and I've been thinking that maybe that's what we need right now. I don't think that Hillary is too divisive because I think the blame for that belongs with the GOP Noise Machine, not Hillary. I do think that Obama might be our version of St. Raygun, not in any policy matters but in the emotional response he elicits in people.

Jerome Karabel at HuffPo writes that Obama seems to attract more independents than Hillary and perhaps that is an indication of his emotional appeal. Prof. Westen has found compelling evidence that emotions outweigh reason when it come to political choices, so the responses of independents to Obama may be a good predictor of success in November.

UPDATE: (h/t Spencer Ackerman) Christopher Hayes at The Nation makes a similar argument for Obama:

The short answer is that Obama is simply one of the most talented and appealing politicians in recent memory. Perhaps the most.

REMEMBER RECONCILIATION?

And how the war whores were so pleased with the new de-Baathification law despite warnings that it wasn't what it seemed to be? Well, it turns out to be just another neo-con fantasy.

Iraqi VP refuses to ratify Baathist reconciliation law
14 hours ago

BAGHDAD (AFP) — Iraq's Sunni vice president refused Friday to ratify a law supposed to reintegrate former members of Saddam Hussein's Baath Party into public life, saying it would instead worsen their exclusion.

Last month Shiite and Sunni MPs unanimously passed a bill to partly reverse a decree issued by Iraq's former US occupation authority which sacked hundreds of thousands of Baathists from government and the armed forces.

On Friday, however, Vice President Tareq Hashemi's office confirmed that he had asked for amendments to the law prior to approving its ratification by Iraq's three-man presidential council.

"We have worked for months to fundamentally amend the de-Baathification law, in order to make it part of the national reconciliation project," Hashemi said, in a television interview reproduced on his official website.

"This bill has a feel of retaliation. How will that help to stabilise the situation?" he asked.

THE GOP IS NO LONGER THE PARTY OF NATIONAL SECURITY

The events in Afghanistan, Iraq and the staggering incompetence in responding to Katrina, along with Libby and the Al Qaeda mole and a host of other failures, PROVES that the GOP CANNOT BE TRUSTED WITH OUR NATIONAL SECURITY!

'Appalling Gap' Found in Homeland Defense Readiness
National Guard, Reserve Forces Lack Sufficient Personnel,
Training to Respond to Crisis in U.S., Report Says

By Ann Scott TysonWashington Post Staff Writer Friday, February 1, 2008; Page A04

The U.S. military is not prepared to meet catastrophic threats at home, and it is suffering from an "appalling gap" in forces able to respond to chemical, biological and nuclear strikes on U.S. soil, according to a congressional commission report released yesterday.

Guard readiness has continued to slide since last March, when the panel found that 88 percent of Army National Guard units were rated "not ready," said retired Marine Maj. Gen. Arnold L. Punaro, the commission chairman.

"GET ME RE-WRITE!"

ORIGINAL:

Muslims around the world, you have a choice to make, you can either support Al-Quida or you can do every thing in your power to destroy this sickness that has taken over your religion.

IMPROVED:

Southern Baptists around the world, you have a choice to make, you can either support the Neo-Cons or you can do every thing in your power to destroy this sickness that has taken over your religion.

ANOTHER NEO-CON "SUCCESS"

HARRIDAN REVERSE ENDORSES McCAIN

Ann Coulter stated on Hannity & Colmes that if McCain were the nominee, she would not only vote for but also campaign for Hillary. I know this is a nice PR ploy for her but it also highlights just how radical the GOP conservatives really are. Ann has twice been an invited speaker at CPAC and is very popular among the movement conservatives.

CREDIT FOR THE CAPTAIN

That's Ed Morrissey, who I usually refer to as "The Drunk Captain" here because of his juicy wingnuttiness. Although he supports Romney, Morissey has stood up for common decency by defending McCain against a nasty e-mail smear campaign.

CONTRA MARK "THE IDIOT" STEYN

Come on, Markster, tell us again how this is irrelevant:


FBI Director: Mortgage Fraud Substantial

Friday February 1, 3:09 AM EST

HONOLULU (AP) — FBI Director Robert Mueller said Thursday that the agency is committed to investigating and prosecuting companies involved in mortgage fraud and other violations in connection with home loans made to risky borrowers.

Mueller said probes were being conducted across the country, including in Hawaii, where he stopped on his way back from a trip through Asia.

"There is not a state that does not have some investigation," he told reporters at the FBI office in Honolulu. "It is a substantial problem but we've been through problems like this in the past."

FREDO HATES THE CONSTITUTION

Before I get to his recent signing statements, we need a little background on the legality of line-item vetos because that's what these statements amount to.

Supreme Court Deletes Line-Item Veto
Clinton disappointed; Opponents of veto call it a victory for the Constitution
WASHINGTON (AllPolitics, June 25) -- The line-item veto is unconstitutional, the Supreme Court decided Thursday, ruling that Congress did not have the authority to hand that power to the president.

Note carefully that evne when Congress and the President approved line-item vetos, it's STILL unconstitutional. Pres. Fredo thinks he has the authority ALL BY HIMSELF!

Bush asserts authority to bypass defense act
Calls restrictions unconstitutional
By Charlie Savage
Globe Staff / January 30, 2008

WASHINGTON - President Bush this week declared that he has the power to bypass four laws, including a prohibition against using federal funds to establish permanent US military bases in Iraq, that Congress passed as part of a new defense bill.

Bush made the assertion in a signing statement that he issued late Monday after signing the National Defense Authorization Act for 2008. In the signing statement, Bush asserted that four sections of the bill unconstitutionally infringe on his powers, and so the executive branch is not bound to obey them.

If Nancy really means this:

"I reject the notion in his signing statement that he can pick and choose which provisions of this law to execute," said Speaker Nancy Pelosi, Democrat of California. "His job, under the Constitution, is to faithfully execute the law - every part of it - and I expect him to do just that."

Then let's start the impeachment hearings.

FOAMER ATTACKS!!!

Mark R. Levin, a ridiculously angry fat lying little war whore, attacks McCain in the NRO. Here's his BS about Fredo's tax cuts:

And another defining moment was his very public opposition to the Bush tax cuts in 2001 and 2003. He was the media’s favorite Republican in opposition to Bush. At the time his primary reason for opposing the cuts was because they favored the rich (and, by the way, they did not).

Wrong again, Foamer, the cuts DID favor the rich and anyone with a shred of honesty would admit that. You can expect to read and here a lot of incredible lies about the Free Market Fairy and/or the glories of Ronald Reagan as the wingnuts try to stop McCain. (Internment Malkin combines both attacks in this post.) Bryan at Hot Air agrees with Foamer and concludes his post with this:

We need to stay in the house that Reagan built.
I think it’s do or die time for conservatives. Either we rally to Romney or we reconcile ourselves to McCain and all that that means.

Again, America wants a vision of the future and all the wingnuts can do is look to the past.