Rumsfeld

Democrats are now joining the Attack on Rumsfeld campaign. They've actually been going after this guy for ages, but since Republicans are now doing it to all of a sudden his "leadership" is in question.

Honestly, I like Don Rumsfeld, and believe it or not I have faith in his ability to run the Department of Offe...Defense. Rumsfeld is a straight shooter, which was why he was so uncomfortable taking questions from troops he had no answer for. He wasn't going to lie, or at least not to the extremes the others do, like Cheney and Bush.

To lose Rumsfeld would be bad because the next Secretary will not likely be as straight a shooter, but will be a Bush puppet like the rest of them. Paul O'Neil was fired for being a straight shooter, and we got John Snow at the Treasury, a perfect puppet. Powell steps away from State, and we get Condi Puppet. If Bush can replace someone he'll put in a loyalist. For example, can you imagine Giuliani getting a cabinet post? Have you ever seen a bigger puppet? Bush was putting Kerik Puppet to run Homeland Security.! I'm not sure we want someone like Rumsfeld stepping down so quickly. It's not like Bush is running again, so there will be no real gains for the Democrats, if that's the hope. Plus, I don't believe the troops would have it any better with a replacement. It's not Senator Hagel is getting the gig. Rumsfeld is probably one of the shrewdest men this country has ever had in a leadership role. Would you not rather Rumsfeld be president over Bush? Seriously!

The war plans were made underneath Rumsfeld by people like Wolfowitz, Khalilzad, the Defense Policy Board, Cheney, and others. Rumsfeld is the figure-head trying to guide the ship. Sure, he may have believed this war could be won with far less troops, and would take less time, but those beliefs go directly back to the planners just mentioned. Rumsfeld certainly hired those people, but in reality this whole team of people wasn't necessarily hired. Rather, they were just ready to fill their slots after the Clinton years, and they all had their roles. Powell was a bit trickier than the rest, for sure, since he was never really one of them.

Anyway, to can Rumsfeld now just gives Bush another avenue to pass the blame, and doesn't really help us going forward. If the issue is why doesn't Rumsfeld fire the underlings for bad information, that's a good reason to fire him. That would never happen. But I cannot believe this war in Iraq would be faring better under a different secretary. Plus, Wolfowitz, in their minds, is the golden goose of ideas, even though most of his predictions have been completely off. His ideas and those of others are the basis for this war, not any desire from Rumsfeld to fight this particular war. I'd bet Rumsfeld would be fired if he even considered firing Wolfowitz.

When I do fault Rumsfeld it's easy to do because he doesn't skirt the issues. For a long while the White House kept this guy off the TV because they didn't want him being too straight. This is right about the time things got real bad in Iraq. His appearance that led to this debacle was a poor event choice for him, since it really was his first big appearance for months. Again, I fault him, but usually when I'm doing so it's a shot across Bush's bow, to show how bad Bush has been, not necessarily Rumsfeld. And when I say Bush, I mean Cheney, of course.

It's a bad war, a bad time, that will never work, but I'm not going to sit here and say Rumsfeld is the problem when I at least know at the end of the day he'll provide straight talk, which is a rare thing these days. He certainly has his faults, and has certainly screwed up, but his job is to run a war based on the information he has. The President seems to get a pass from all these Senators based on that same logic: The intel was bad! The intel was bad!

But not Rumsfeld? Give me a break.

That O'Reilly

Such a short term memory:

You don't see prominent conservatives cursing out members of congress...

He was speaking to his deaf and blind viewers.

I'm So Dumb

I just don't get regular folks:

Introduced as a "single mom" from Iowa, Sandra Jaques was cool and confident as she praised President Bush's plan to partly replace Social Security with private savings accounts.

"I have a daughter at home. Her name is Wynter," said Ms. Jaques, sitting a few feet from President Bush at the White House economic conference on Thursday. "I want to make sure that she has Social Security when she retires as well."

Mr. Bush chimed in a moment later. "One of my visions of personal savings accounts is that Sandy will be able to pass her account on to Wynter as part of Wynter's capacity to retire as well."

The exchange was an example of how Mr. Bush promotes his agenda with testimonials from "regular folks," in the words of Joshua B. Bolten, the White House budget director, who introduced Ms. Jaques.

By regular folks, Bolten must mean people who don't have to take 11 shits a day. Because:

But Ms. Jaques is not any random single mother. She is the Iowa state director of a conservative advocacy group, FreedomWorks, whose founders are Jack F. Kemp, the former vice-presidential nominee, and Dick Armey, the former House Republican leader.

Ms. Jaques also spent much of the past two years as a spokeswoman in Iowa for a group called For Our Grandchildren, which is mounting a nationwide campaign for private savings accounts.

That's REGULAR!

I'm just wondering if Bush has any clue, or he just says whatever pops into his head? This concept of passing down money through the account sounds wonderful! I mean, retirees under Bush's plan will be doing so well they will have extra money left over to pass along to their children! That's phenomenal! Bush has turned the tide. Not only will his new plan help to feed the retired, but there will be leftovers!

Knock, knock?

Who's there?

Reality?

Never heard of you, sorry. Go away.

Bush's Soul Mate

Vlad Putin:

If the auction is completed on Sunday, Yukos will essentially die that day - a casualty of efforts by Russian prosecutors that came with the tacit blessing of Mr. Putin. The founder of Yukos is now being held in jail, the company's American executives are in self-imposed exile and its shareholders are out billions of dollars. Russia's actions have set foreign and domestic investors on edge, prompted capital flight and raising questions about the rule of law and how businesses will fare...

"The Kremlin wants to set the strategic economic agenda, and that means not leaving the long-term strategies and decisions about how revenues should be spent to private companies," said Fiona Hill, senior fellow at the Brookings Institution in Washington. "The state wants control of the commanding heights. This is how Russia positions itself as a superpower."

Any thoughts, Condi?

That's Bold

Racist denier Trent Lott joins the fray:

Former Senate majority leader Trent Lott (R-Miss.) joined a growing chorus of Republicans sharply criticizing Defense Secretary Donald H. Rumsfeld because of the Pentagon chief's failure to call for more troops in Iraq and to properly equip troops serving there.

Speaking to a local chamber of commerce Wednesday in Mississippi, Lott said: "I am not a fan of Secretary Rumsfeld. I don't think he listens to his uniformed officers." Lott said Rumsfeld should not be forced to resign immediately but "I would like to see a change in that slot in the next year or so."

What's sad about Trent Lott, and the rest, is Rumsfeld has been doing a poor job for years, yet in the interest in winning elections they didn't make a sound. In other words, it was okay to watch soldiers die as long as they won their elections. Now that it's over they get all righteous.

So the soldiers didn't just die to "defend freedom." They also died to preserve a Republican majority.

How do they sleep?

What a Headline

Inquiry Says New Jersey Orchestra Misled Public on Violin Deal

Scandals abound!!!

Too Funny

The President's Economic Summit.

Just read this article and think about all the absurd things being said.

The country is heading for a fall, but THE MARKET WILL SAVE SOCIAL SECURITY!!!!!!

Can you imagine being a CEO listening to George W. Bush discuss economics? Why should anyone believe in any of the projections since they've been nowhere close to right for 4 years?

Details, Buddy, Details

It's always good to get to the bottom of an article where all the really rich stuff is:

Mr. Bush did not say much new today about his own views on how to fix Social Security. But he left the distinct impression that he would both push and persuade lawmakers to change it according to his vision.

It must be me.

I Had to Stop

Josh Marshall is doing another great job of covering just how corrupt/shady Bernard Kerik really is. I had to stop reading after a while because it's all so absurd!

The other day someone Instant Messaged me about Marc Rich, the financier Clinton pardoned, who the NY Post claims is heavily involved in the UN Oil for Food Scandal. True, or false, I don't know, and it really doesn't matter since the guy isn't a government official and has no affect on my life.

But Bernard Kerik, on the other hand, has an affect on our lives between his work in public service here in New York and Iraq. Then to top it off the White House wanted this scoundrel to head the Homeland Security Department. Of course, he's also an employee of Giuliani Partners, a new business venture Rudy set up. Point being I don't see the NY Post, or the fool who sent me the Clinton/Rich IM, calling out Rudy for his tight relationship with Kerik.

Rudy went so far as to bring up Kerik's name in his speech to the nation at the Republican National Convention. These two are tight!!! VERY TIGHT!!! Tighter than anyone Bill Clinton may have pardoned! Clearly tighter than Monica...had to, and probably Jenna too.

So You Know

Following in the footsteps of the White House awarding George Tenet the Medal of Freedom, the Young Republicans of America have named me "Man of the Year."

Do you think Tenet felt like a huge jackass when George Bush was putting this thing around his neck?

Peace Plan

About a year ago I heard Wolfowitz commenting about an Iraqi oil pipeline that would stretch from Iraq to Israel, and would be the first step in harmonizing relations between Iraq and Israel. The point being that once they relied on each other on an economic level everything else would fall into place. Obviously, these wars about economics...

I'm totally serious. He said these things. Well, not the last part.

It seems we'll find out just how well that plan is going to work since it's being fashioned in Egypt right now.

Just Can't Do It

I want to comment on the news today, but just can't. You see, every morning I got an email from some of the major papers about highlighting the day's news, and after seeing the Washington Post's today I just can't stomach to write about how absurd, and wrong, the people on the other sides of almost all these issues are:

Bush to Fill New Intelligence Entity Ranks
The reform legislation, set to be signed into law on Friday, has created a personnel challenge for the Bush administration which must fill a range of new senior positions as it embarks on the task of making a new superstructure work.

Lawsuit Reform a Priority
The President uses the first day of a White House economic conference to demand congressional action on legislation to rein in class-action, asbestos and medical malpractice lawsuits.

Inaugural Events to Salute Armed Forces
The Jan. 20 inauguration will be the first since the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks and comes while U.S. troops are fighting on two fronts. Law enforcement officials said security will be the tightest ever.
• Inaugural Parties Are a Hot Ticket

SPECIAL INTERESTS
Tauzin to Head Drug Trade Group
Retiring Rep. W.J. "Billy" Tauzin (R-La.), chairman of the powerful House Committee on Energy and Commerce until he stepped down from that post earlier this year after complaints about his job hunting, will be the trade group's new chief.

More Political News

U.S. Missile Defense Test Fails: Latest Setback in Pacific Fuels Doubts About System's Future

GOP Gains Boost Chances of Alaska Drilling: Supporters of Exploration in Wildlife Refuge Appear to Have Majority in New Senate

Justice Reviews Request for Probe Of Satellite Reports

Charter Students Fare No Better, Study Says: Survey Gives Edge to Public School Students

A Push to Restrict Sales of Video Games: Illinois Governor Seeks to Prevent Minors From Purchasing 'Adult Material'

The O.C.

I'll admit, I watch it. Yes, it's Beverly Hills 90210 all over again, but the older women are just so hot that I have to watch.

But here's what's bothering me (aside from missing last week's) about this show, and probably countless others I don't watch: the music they use, and the bands on the show.

Last season a band called Rooney was on the show, and by all means, they really, really, suck. In fact, I think the only reason they have any fame is because the lead singer's brother is Jason Schwartzman whose uncle is Francis F. Coppola and whose mother is Talia Shire. In other words, they know people. Rooney even sings the theme song for show, which is also pretty lame. Whenever I hear it I start reaching for the remote until I see Misha Barton...who's 18.

I can understand why Rooney would sellout since their music would never enable them to sellout an actual venue, but this season a band titled "The Killers" made their O.C. debut, and they were actually going places before the sellout (we can get into why every band has these catchy one word names some other time). It's quite possible "The Killers" will continue to be an "it" band as long as they make good music, but why in the world would they sellout like that? I thought "selling out" was supposed to be a sign that you're weak, at least that's what it used to mean. Even on 90210 the best band they had was David's band at the Peach Pit! You didn't see the Spin Doctors lining up to throw down "Two Princes!" Had they, most people I know wouldn't be caught dead listening to the Doctors from that point on, but not anymore.

It gets worse than this. Putting the sellouts aside, I've heard "Hallelujah" by Jeff Buckley (final song of Season 1), "Hello Sunshine" by the Super Furry Animals (Cohen's virginity breaker), "Into Dust" by Mazzy Star and a song by Uber-Sellouts the Black Eyed Peas (trend setting seller-outters) on the O.C. I don't even know if these bands have a choice in the matter, or if the show can pick and choose by catalogue at this point, but whatever it is, it's pretty weak.

The last thing I want to see is a group of O.C. kids (yes, I watch, I know, but I'm not talking me) at the SFA show!

Going a bit further, I saw the band Modest Mouse (who should be on the O.C.) a few months back, and they sucked so bad I think I noticed people flying into their instruments. I was told at the show they just signed some absurd deal to make 5 albums for like $50 Mil. What? These guys? They're terrible! Ahh, but they had one album that sold real well, and I'm sure the people marketing them figure they can get them onto the O.C., or at least the new show with Brenda Walsh that follows the O.C., and then people will buy their album.

I don't know, maybe it's me, or I just didn't notice it, but selling out used to be the weak thing, but nowadays it seems like the thing to do amongst people who wear really cool t-shirts from an era when people thought selling out was really weak.

(not editing this)

Wondering

Here again is the AP story about Iranian and Syrian meddling.

BAGHDAD, Iraq Dec 15, 2004 — Iraq's defense minister on Wednesday accused neighboring Iran and Syria of supporting terrorists in his country and charged that a senior Iraqi Shiite was leading a "pro-Iranian" coalition into next month's national elections.

Concerns have been raised over rising Iranian influence in the political future of Iraq, where the majority Shiites are expected to dominate elections scheduled for Jan. 30. Campaigning for the vote began Wednesday.

Hazem Shaalann, who has previously accused Tehran of interfering in Iraq's affairs, said that Iranian and Syrian intelligence agents, plus former operatives from Saddam Hussein's security forces, are cooperating with the al-Qaida in Iraq group led by Abu Musab al-Zarqawi "to run criminal operations in Iraq."

Obviously I'm not for a regime that is against US/Western interests, but what if Iraq chose to model itself after Iran? Isn't that their choice? Aren't we trying to establish a democracy where they choose?

As for Zarqawi, I don't buy it for a second. Maybe there are these very weak ties to him through a government agent, or some official, or whatever, but this guy's name gets used just a bit too much. Every time there's an issue, he's the guy. Most people don't even know who he is, but the US Government wishes they did. We need an enemy, a specific target, a guy whose face can be plastered around the world that invokes fear in everyone. A FOXNEWS ALERT GUY!

Somehow I really doubt Iranian and Syrian leaders would be dealing with the one guy the US is targeting because then they become a target. One would think distancing themselves would be the move, and I'd bet they have. But you'll keep hearing his name over, and over, and over, until they find someone new.

Bizearth

It's where I live. It's where Bizarro has super powers. It's where Bush talks about his policies:

Bush pledges strong-dollar policy

Posted: Wednesday, December 15, 2:21pm EST

President Bush pledged Wednesday to work with Congress to reduce the United States' huge deficits to assure markets that his administration supports a strong dollar.
"The policy of my government is a strong-dollar policy," Bush said during an Oval Office meeting with Italian Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi.

"We're going to take this issue on seriously with the Congress," the president said, after Berlusconi raised concerns about the dollar's fall.

Bush's comments came a day after the government reported that America's trade deficit hit a monthly record of $55.5 billion in October.

Some economists believe that the administration, while publicly professing support for a strong dollar, actually prefers the decline in the greenback's value against other currencies as a way of dealing with the country's huge trade deficit.

A weaker dollar would make US goods cheaper on foreign markets while making imports more expensive for Americans, thus boosting the fortunes of domestic manufacturers. The country has lost 2.7 million manufacturing jobs over the past three years.

So basically he supports the strong dollar while the dollar slides. In other words, his policies have failed. Also, the weaker dollar would help with the trade deficit, which Bush promises to help fix, but offers no plan to do it, other than watch his strong dollar policy fail, which he's against. What?!?!? WHAT?!?!?

Can someone point out one thing with regard to the economy that Bush has been correct about in the last 4 years? One! I will not except any entries that are based on a guess, or a hunch, i.e., the recession would have been worse without...

Yes, nothing makes sense for it's Bizearth! It's Bizzzush! It's, it's, it's the land where NOTHING MATTERS!!!!!!!!!

You Go Girl

There's nothing like seeing Weekly Standard Editor, William Kristol, talk badly about Don Rumsfeld.

These soldiers deserve a better defense secretary than the one we have.

Hey Bill, are you sure you don't want to withhold those comments until after the election in '08? Asshole.

What's the Christian Word for Shmuck?

Bill First?

Senate Majority Leader Bill Frist doesn't like to let people forget that, in addition to being a politician, he's a doctor--going so far as to stencil the letters m.d. ostentatiously next to his name on the door of his Capitol office. But, in a recent interview on ABC's "This Week," Frist showed that politics is truly his first calling. Playing off a recent House Government Affairs Committee report that found that eleven of the 13 federally funded abstinence programs are giving out false information-- including such nuggets as "the actual ability of condoms to prevent the transmission of HIV/aids, even if the product is intact, is not definitively known" and "the popular claim that condoms help prevent the spread of STDs is not supported by the data"--George Stephanopoulos wondered what Dr. Frist thought about one particularly dubious piece of misinformation pedaled by one of the programs: that HIV can be spread through sweat and tears. "Do you believe that tears and sweat can transmit HIV?" Stephanopoulos asked. "I don't know, I can tell you," Frist replied before Stephanopoulos cut him off with an incredulous, "You don't know? ... You believe that tears and sweat might be able to transmit aids?" Frist tried again, sputtering, "Yeah, no, I can tell you that HIV is not very transmissible as an element like, compared to smallpox, compared to the flu. It is not ..." The good doctor then went on to explain that abstinence is an important part of any strategy to combat aids and affirmed that the disease is "one of the great moral and public health tragedies of the last one hundred years." But Stephanopoulos refused to let him off the hook: "Let me just clear this up, though: Do you or do you not believe that tears and sweat can transmit HIV?" Frist finally conceded, "It would be very hard. It would be very hard for tears and sweat, I mean, you can get virus in tears and sweat, but in terms of the degree of infecting somebody, it would be very hard." Funny, but you wouldn't think it would be so hard for a doctor to admit that.

Uhhraq

The latest:

BAGHDAD (Reuters) - A bomb near a Shi'ite shrine and an outspoken attack on Shi'ite Iran by an Iraqi minister fueled fears of sectarian strife as campaigning began on Wednesday for Iraq's first free election since the fall of Saddam Hussein.

President Bush called on Syria and Iran not to interfere in Iraq and urged neighboring countries to work with the interim government to enforce border security before the Jan. 30 election.

"We will continue to make it clear to both Syria and Iran that ... meddling in the internal affairs of Iraq is not in their interests," Bush said in Washington without elaborating.

The Pentagon acknowledged guerrillas were getting better at disrupting its forces despite reinforcements being sent to guard the election that should hand power to the long-oppressed Shi'ite majority at the expense of Saddam's fellow Sunnis.

Eight people were killed in the holy city of Kerbala and a senior Shi'ite cleric was among 32 wounded. It was not clear who was behind it but previous attacks in Kerbala have seemed designed to trigger the civil conflict Washington fears.

Right after Saddam was capture Senator Joe Hieberman attacked Howard Dean after Dean claimed capturing Saddam won't "make us any safer."

Talk to me now, Joe.

You Feel the Heat?

Uhh, no, we don't, we just turn up our AC and ignore it.

You Deserve a Medal

Where's Rumsfeld's!

My point is that it is a shame to see a meaningful award turned into the latest political photo-op. I'm glad to hear that George Tenet, Paul Bremer, and Tommy Franks are doing so well in private life. But if the Bush administration wants to review the record of these three, let's have an honest discussion instead of the historical revisionism and political theater that was on center stage today.

Short and accurate.

It's So Easy!

I just checked Atrios and noticed that he will be "co-hosting" the Majority Report tonight on Air America.

The guy has a great site and he's a fantastic blogger, no doubt, but co-hosting a radio show? I forgot how easy it was to do! To be honest, I think Garofalo forgot how easy it was about a 6 months ago. In addition to Atrios, Eric Alterman will be a guest as well. I hate to be a dick about it, but it's not that easy! Getting on a microphone and just talking isn't good radio. Trust me, I know, I have tapes of bad radio and they're my tapes. Some of those tapes feature interviews with Eric Alterman. That guy is so dry he makes a corpse seem wet.

Al Franken has clearly gotten better, almost good, Randi Rhodes is established, and Liz and Chuck D have credentials and at times really do good stuff. But to throw Atrios on the air as if he's a broadcaster is so absurd. Yes, there are a lot of people who read his blog, but to think he's a known commodity, or a talent, is such insular thinking.

I dig what Air America is doing, and believe it's going to succeed in the long run, especially considering how bad New York Metro area radio is, but this is not the way to go about it.

Entertain, entertain, entertain, teach, entertain, entertain, entertain, teach, and then get back to ENTERTAINING.

Regardless of what you think of Rush Limbaugh he's an entertainer first, and second, and thid, and then he hits you with the his "facts."

C'mon...

It's the last night of Hanukah. We're not going out like that.

Instead we have In the Mouth of...

College Try

Kids, if at first you fail...

A longstanding request to grow marijuana at the University of Massachusetts so it can be tested for medical uses has been turned down by the Drug Enforcement Administration.

try and try again...

Hanukah Finale

Day 8 

Something to Cheer About

In Ukraine:

AC MILAN striker Andriy Shevchenko gave his strife-torn country Ukraine some reason for celebration when he was named European footballer of the year for 2004 yesterday.

Shevchenko, 28, is the third Ukrainian to win the award after Oleg Blockhin (1975) and Igor Belanov (1986).

With 175 votes, Shevchenko beat two Barcelona players, Portugal's Brazilian-born midfielder Deco and Ronaldinho of Brazil, with 139 and 133 votes respectively.

"I'm very pleased to have received this award," Shevchenko said. "I want to dedicate this to the Ukrainian people. I offer this Golden Ball to my people.

"It is difficult to speak of the situation in Ukraine, but it is clear that people in Ukraine deserve democracy."

Can you imagine a bigtime US athlete being concerned with world events the way Shevchenko is?

It's Almost Official

Pedro Martinez will not win another World Series.

The Red Sox could sign Stephen Hawking and I don't think the fans would care.

This will prove to be a mistake, as Martinez is clearly losing his stuff. Some teams never learn. Frankly, I hope I'm wrong because I have nothing against the Mets, and I'd prefer to see them win than the Yankees. But this will be a mistake.

Morals!

This is great stuff.

The Pixies

I'll be there tonight:

It's not hard to envy the Pixies. After more than 10 years apart, the members reunite, only to find that fans (and, if anyone cares, pop critics) love them more than ever. There are sold-out shows, glowing profiles, ecstatic fans. By now you've probably read at least one article about how the Pixies helped inspire a generation of bands, about how much Kurt Cobain loved them, about how water tasted different before they came along, about how the sky used to be a slightly different shade of blue.

But despite all that build-up - or maybe because of it - Saturday's Pixies concert at the Hammerstein Ballroom was a rude, often exhilarating shock. It had been all too easy to forget about the Pixies' ugliness: how fast they played, how loud they were, how nasty they sounded. Compared with the old-timers, the appealing postpunk act that opened the show, TV on the Radio, seemed positively quaint, even polite.

Review forthcoming.

The Wounded

Lets not just talk about the dead. 

Happy Hanukah

Missed a day, so here's two.

Frank and Frank.

Riiiiight

So the Kyoto Treaty was enacted today and guess who wasn't a party to it?

With the United States keeping to the sidelines, delegates from more than 190 countries have gathered here both to celebrate the enactment of the Kyoto Protocol, the first treaty requiring cuts in greenhouse gases linked to global warming, and to look beyond 2012, when its terms expire.

Many delegates and experts concede that the pact, negotiated in 1997, is deeply flawed and that years of delays in finishing its rule book mean that many adherents may have trouble meeting their targets for emissions cuts.

Its impact will also be limited because it exempts developing countries, including fast-industrializing giants like China and India, from restrictions on emissions, and lacks the support of the United States, the world's dominant source of the heat-trapping gases.

Few things to note here. First, when Bush came into office he rejected Kyoto because it was "flawed" and promised to offer an alternative. That alternative never came because he has no desire to curb the practices of big business.

Second, the administration passed a Medicare Bill that many Republicans knew at the time, and admit now, was "flawed." That of course didn't stop them. With so many different congress folk pulling one way, or the other, of course a bill is going to have flaws. Now try getting 190 nations to agree on a bill!

Finally, these people do not care about problems in the future. They don't care about science at all. Science is factual and flies in the face of what they want to accomplish. When Administrator Whitman put forward an EPA report they White House pressed for removal of the most pressing issues, including the opening paragraph.

The US pollutes more than any nation. When you hear politicians commenting about what a good job we do on the environment considering the size of our economy you should ask yourself who is saying this? Is is the President? Is it Dick Cheney? People in government may do good work with regard to the environment but it's done in spite of the efforts of Bush/Cheney, not in conjunction with.

The way these Republicans operate is almost the same across the board. A policy is "flawed" when they don't want to do anything to fix something, so that's consistent. But they're also consistent about who should shoulder the burden. Just like with Bush's tax cuts. The richest people get the break based on the surplus supplied by the middle class. The middle class shoulders more of the burden as we move forward. The US pollutes more than others, but yet it's the smaller economies who are going to try to reign in pollution to help the environment. Sure, they have less to lose, just like the middle class has less to give, but they're going to shoulder the environmental burden, so it seems, while we do nothing.

I understand that China benefits from Kyoto because they are considered a developing country. Our biggest fear it seems is China's economy, not world pollution. Sometimes you have to do what's right, not what is economically beneficial in the short term. But why would I ever expect these thieves to do that?

And last but not least, it is NOT A COINCIDENCE that Bush appointed former EPA Administrator Michael O. Leavitt to be secretary of the Health and Human Services Department on the same day Kyoto was enacted. This way when the news hits the television tonight it'll give the President and his minions an opportunity to praise a man for his great job working to fix the environment.

On the one hand you'll have a critique of Bush's environmental policy, but it will be followed by praise of a man, who "has done a great job helping clean our air, and our rivers, and our lakes, and praries, and my ass!!!!!!!!" It's so insane how calculated these people are. It's NOT A COINCIDENCE.

Ridiculous.

Now Isn't it Ironic? Don't Ya Think?

God damn this is irony!

HAGERSTOWN, Md. (AP) — Wal-Mart Stores Inc., which promotes itself as a seller of clean music, deceived customers by stocking compact discs by the rock group Evanescence that contain the f-word, a lawsuit claims.

The hit group's latest CD and DVD, Anywhere But Home, don't carry parental advisory labels alerting potential buyers to the obscenity. If they did, Wal-Mart wouldn't carry them, according to the retailer's policy.

But the lawsuit claims Wal-Mart knew about the explicit lyrics in the song, Thoughtless, because it censored the word in a free sample available on its Web site and in its stores.

Gotta love Wal-Mart, censoring its shelves to clean America. But there's a catch here. Evanascence praises Jesus, so they get a free pass, until you get caught that is.

I Wish for Hearings!

Seriously, why couldn't Kerik go through these hearings! It would have been phenomenal.

Consider, for instance, Kerik's relationship with Judith Regan. A flamboyant, stiletto-heeled—and highly successful—book publisher, Regan published Kerik's sensational memoir, which begins with the scene of Kerik's mother, a prostitute, murdered in her pimp's bed. Occasional workout partners, Kerik and Regan became close friends. But their relationship soured, and Regan told friends Kerik had hounded her, and that she hired a bodyguard. Kerik's lawyer confirmed that Regan and Kerik were friends, but says "there was nothing untoward about their relationship." The lawyer called the allegation that Kerik had hounded her "absurd."

Regan declined to comment. She also told NEWSWEEK she had never been questioned by the White House or FBI when Kerik was being considered for the Homeland Security job over the past month. White House officials are defensive about the vetting process. They say they depended on Kerik to be forthcoming, and he failed to warn them of the nanny problem. (Kerik claims he himself was unaware of the problem until last week.) But some administration officials acknowledge that the president's predilections work against a careful review. Bush hates leaks and enjoys popping surprise announcements on the press. He liked the idea of Kerik—the self-made tough guy—and he dismissed as gossip or press carping newspaper stories about Kerik's bending the rules.

The White House seemed to shrug off stories of Kerik's financial dealings a little too easily, like the $6 million he made—without investing a penny—by cashing in his stock options in a company that made stun guns sold to the government. Then there was the arrest warrant. In 1998, Kerik was sued for failing to pay about $5,000 in maintenance fees on a condo he owned in New Jersey. When Kerik failed to respond to a subpoena, NEWSWEEK learned, a judge issued a warrant for his arrest. A Kerik spokesman later said Kerik paid the fees and the warrant was withdrawn, but the existence of the warrant was news to the White House and Kerik's handlers.

And it looks like Rudy's dream is fading as well:

Former Mayor Rudolph W. Giuliani had a Christmas dinner at the White House on Sunday night, and he attended with an important goal in mind: to apologize to his host for pushing Bernard B. Kerik as homeland security secretary and then watching as Mr. Kerik's nomination collapsed in legal problems and embarrassed the president of the United States.

That embarrassment has put a new strain on a mutually beneficial relationship that has always been more complicated than mere friendship.

"I feel very bad," Mr. Giuliani said in a telephone interview on Sunday afternoon, adding that he felt somewhat responsible for the nomination of Mr. Kerik, who withdrew his name on Friday because he had failed to pay taxes for a nanny who was in the country illegally.

douche bag.

Still Employed?

Yes, he sure is.

Happy Anniversary

We can't protect the Green Zone, let alone the country.

BAGHDAD, Dec. 13 -- A powerful car bomb exploded near an entrance to Baghdad's fortified Green Zone Monday morning, killing 11 Iraqis and wounding at least 13 people, according to officials at nearby Yarmouk Hospital.

The blast, at about 9 a.m. Baghdad time (1 a.m. EST), sent smoke rising over the area that houses the U.S. Embassy and Iraqi government buildings. The Green Zone or International Zone as it is now known, is walled, guarded and controlled by checkpoints. But it has proven far from secure in the past year. In October, bombs exploded within moments of each other at a handicraft market and a popular cafe inside the zone, killing at least five people, including three American civilians.

Monday's attack came on the first anniversary of the capture of former Iraqi leader Saddam Hussein and followed a particularly deadly weekend that saw eight U.S. Marines killed as American soldiers engaged insurgents in two major Iraqi cities and in the violent western region where the rebels continue to fight from their former stronghold of Fallujah and surrounding towns.