I like Joe's take:
George W. Bush, the man who executed 131 inmates while governor of Texas, has commuted the 30-month prison sentence of Lewis “Scooter” Libby because the punishment was too harsh for helping a Vice President commit treason against the United States of America.
Althought it's no surprise at all:
President Bush has spared Scooter Libby from a 2½-year prison term, issuing an order that commutes his sentence, the AP reports. Libby will never have to go to jail, but his felony conviction will stand, and he will still serve two years probation and owe $250,000 in fines.There'll be lots of headlines, lots of screaming an yelling on both sides. Bush will go lower in the polls. Pundits will clutch pearls, requiring severe cleaning at local jewelry stores. But nothing else will happen. Bush had nothing to lose in political terms, but a lot to lose if Libby gave him an ultimatum like, commute my sentence or I'll talk.
Well, George did it. Made sure that Scooter wouldn't flip rather than do jail time. He commuted Libby's sentence, guaranteeing not only that Libby wouldn't talk, but retaining Libby's right to invoke the Fifth.That's right. Because Libby is still appealing he can't be compelled to testify to Congress. A pardon would have expunged the entire trial and he couldn't claim the fifth. But since he's still in litigation, fogettaboutit.
Keep in mind, this is a guy who in all his time in Texas never commuted a single death sentence. But now he intervenes because a 30 month sentence for committing multiple serious felonies--a sentence that is well-within the sentencing guidelines--is "excessive."Update III: From Bush in 1999:
"I don’t believe my role [as governor] is to replace the verdict of a jury with my own, unless there are new facts or evidence of which a jury was unaware, or evidence that the trial was somehow unfair."It's wrong. Just plain wrong.
Throwing more mud on the wall, or a beginning of a real offensive?
Let's face it. I don't think there's any doubt that Iran is in Iraq. Just like there's no doubt that the U.S. is in Iraq. I also don't think there's any doubt that aid is coming to Shiites in Iraq. Frankly, I'd be shocked if it weren't. And I suspect that some Iranian special ops have killed Americans as I am equally positive that Americans have killed Iranians.BAGHDAD - The U.S. military accused Iran on Monday of a direct role in a sophisticated militant attack that killed five American troops in Iraq, portraying Tehran as waging a proxy war through Shiite extremists.
The claims over the January attack marked a sharp escalation in U.S. accusations that Iran has been arming and financing Iraqi militants, and for the first time linked the Iranian effort to its ally, Lebanon's Shiite Hezbollah militia. The allegations could endanger Iraqi efforts to hold a new round of talks between the U.S. and Iran.
U.S. military spokesman Brig. Gen. Kevin J. Bergner said the Quds Force, part of Iran's elite Republican Guards, was seeking to build an Iraqi version of Hezbollah to fight U.S. and Iraqi forces — and had brought in Hezbollah operatives to help train and organize militants.
"Bush is fixated on Iraq, according to friends and advisers. One former aide went to see him recently to discuss various matters, only to find Bush turning the conversation back to Iraq again and again. He recognizes that his presidency hinges on whether Iraq can be turned around in 18 months. 'Nothing matters except the war,' said one person close to Bush. 'That's all that matters. The whole thing rides on that.'So we have 1) "emerging evidence" of Iranians killing American boys and 2) being fixated on Iraq, the only place the guy has any power left. That equals 3) a dangerous President who feels a need to "do something" to save his sterling image. Then Froomkin notes this, classic Bush:
Bush is a page right out of the Diagnostic Manual for Psychologists. Don't believe me? Check out this quote from Bush:And consider the best example aides can come up with of someone telling Bush what he didn't want to hear: "Aides said they do challenge Bush. White House Chief of Staff Joshua B. Bolten had what one colleague called 'a lot of hard discussions' with the president after the November midterm elections to shock him into recognizing that his approach to Iraq had failed. Bolten set up meetings so Bush could hear from critics of his policy and sent him written material to emphasize the need for change, the colleague said. That led to the decision to send more troops."
So a concerted effort to convince him of something that should have been obvious leads to a contrarian and potentially irrational response. That's not exactly something to brag about.
"The problem with the Oval Office, it is the kind of place where people stand outside and say, I'm going to walk in and tell him what for; they walk in, and they're overwhelmed by the environment, and they say, man, you're looking beautiful today, Mr. President."Sheesh. I rest my freakin' case.
"One thing we all struggle to protect is a positive self-image. 'The more important the aspect of your self-image that's challenged by the truth, the more likely you are to go into denial,' says [psychologist Peter Ditto of the University of California, Irvine.] If you have a strong sense of self-worth and competence, your self-image can take hits but remain largely intact; if you're beset by self-doubt, however, any acknowledgment of failure can be devastating and any admission of error painful to the point of being unthinkable."If it were a comedy bit, when this is said a drummer would hit the cymbals with a bada boom, bada bing. Unfortunately for a lot of victims worldwide, it's no joke.
It turns out there's another reason that Chris Matthews keeps licking Ann Coulters boots, and it's not ratings. But it is about money.
Appeals court refuses to delay Libby’s prison term.
A U.S. appeals court ruled today that Scooter Libby “cannot delay serving his 2 1/2-year prison sentence while he appeals his perjury conviction,” ruling that he has not shown that his appeal “raises a substantial question.” A federal judge ruled last month that Libby must report to prison in six to eight weeks.
Rick Perlstein:
Karl Rove has a saying
It is: if you're explaining, you're losing.
Romney said, "sometimes when the stories come out in the media they don't quite get it accurate. The kennel that my family pet used to ride in is enclosed. It's not an open aired kennel. It's enclosed and there are air vents of course at the back. My family pet used to climb up there and lie down on his own. And we love our family pets. Have always loved our family pets. And have nothing but honor and pride in taking care of great dogs. We've had quite a few."
Mitt Romney is losing.
4 years since George Bush said "bring'em on," approximately 3370 US troops have been killed in Iraq.
This is really no surprise:
A new Financial Times poll finds “that 32 percent of respondents in five European countries regard the US as a bigger threat than any other state,” followed up by China, Iran, Iraq, and North Korea:
“At the nadir of his presidency, George W. Bush is looking for answers.” Unbeknownst “even to many on his staff,” Bush has summoned “leading authors, historians, philosophers and theologians to the White House” to discuss questions like, “Why does the rest of the world seem to hate America? Or is it just me they hate?”Absolutely classic narcissism. Totally clueless to his impact on people around him (in this case, the entire world).
Irwin, buddy, I can give you the answer to that one. The answer is "both", and that's a very dangerous combination in an average person much less in a world leader.What's unclear is exactly what the president hopes to get out of these conversations. Indeed, through the course of Baker's piece, it's clear that Bush isn't looking for advice, because he's already convinced that he's right. He isn't looking for constructive criticism, because he doesn't want to change course. He isn't looking for historical predictions, because he's already certain that history will look kindly on his tenure.
One gets the distinct impression that Bush is arranging meetings with these scholarly observers in the hopes that one of them will confirm everything he already believes.
The Hudson Institute's Irwin Stelzer, who participated in one of these White House chats, said the president either has "extraordinary self-confidence" or he's "out of touch with reality." Stelzer added, "I can't tell you which."
Now I know exactly why when I gain weight, the spare tire gets bigger and when I lose weight, my shoe size goes down:
When researchers put mice and monkeys in stressful situations and fed them a high-fat, high-sugar diet, they discovered that a hormone was released that promoted the growth of abdominal fat. In what was the true breakthrough, researchers showed they could then use this information to either decrease or increase the accumulation of fat in specific areas of the body.
There really is such a thing as a free credit report. I just did it. Read about it in Consumer Reports.
Go to www.annualcreditreport.com.
The last election was more than a referendum on the Iraq invasion (I refuse to call it a war). It was also a call for more transparency in government. Now the elections are over and the promises are yesterday's news. CNN has requested from each representative a report of the earmarks that each senator has inserted into various bills. How many have been forthcoming?
Not many.
On Thursday, Democratic presidential candidate Sen. Barack Obama, a member of the Illinois delegation, posted his more than 100 earmark requests on his Web site, the first presidential candidate to do so.
And 11 more House members released their earmark requests.
Six members of the House said they had no earmark requests.
Of the remainder, 68 declined to provide CNN with a list, and 315 either didn't respond to requests or said they would get back to us, and didn't. (Find out how your representative responded)
"As long as we are not required to release them, we're not going to," said Dan Turner, an aide to Rep. Jim McCrery, R-Louisiana.
All we want to know is where does our money go. Why is that too much to ask? There is more on the Senate side here. There is also a link to a pdf of how each senator responded. I found the pdf a bit confusing after watching the report on CNN. Russ Feingold is listed as "No Request" as is Jim DeMint but Feingold was one of the 6 who requested no earmarks at all while DeMint told CNN it was illegal for his office to divulge the information.
Sound like it is time for a Freedom of Information Act request.
Shamelessly copied in full from Rick Perlstein's blog:
Multi-National Corps - Iraq Public Affairs Office, Camp Victory APO AE 09342 FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE Release No. 20070622-12 June 22, 2007
Coalition Forces kill 17 al-Qaeda gunmen near Khalis Multi-National Division – North PAO
BAQOUBA, Iraq – Coalition Forces attack helicopters engaged and killed 17 al-Qaeda gunmen southwest of Khalis, Friday.
Iraqi police were conducting security operations in and around the village when Coalition attack helicopters from the 25th Combat Aviation Brigade and ground forces from 3rd Brigade Combat Team, 1st Cavalry Division, observed more than 15 armed men attempting to circumvent the IPs and infiltrate the village.
The attack helicopters, armed with missiles, engaged and killed 17 al-Qaeda gunmen and destroyed the vehicle they were using.
-30- What the eyewitnesses say:
"It was like a battlefront, but with the fire going only in one direction," said a local witness. "There was no return fire."
When frightened villagers ventured out at first light, they found 11 of the village guards dead, some of their bodies cut into small pieces by the munitions used against them.
************
What the press release said:
CHU LAI, VIETNAM (American IO) - For the third time in recent weeks, the Americal Division's 11th Brigade infantrymen from Task Force Barker raided a Viet COng stronghold known as 'Pinkville' six miles northeast of Quang Ngai, killing 128 enemy in a running battle...
What actually happened? I think you know.
Wouldn't it be nice if he would just, like, go away? I feel a need to wash every time I see him.
I'm skeptical, but hopeful:
If Congress passes a contempt-of-Congress measure, lawmakers would effectively be formally accusing the White House of a crime, which would then be referred to the U.S. Attorney for the District of Columbia for consideration. Russert asked Leahy this morning, "Are you sure the U.S. Attorney would prosecute?" The chairman responded, "Well, I think it'd be very difficult for him not to."Because Leahy is threatening doesn't mean he'll do it. We'll see if a "compromise" isn't agreed to (in others words, Congress bends over). And if Congress does hold Bush in contempt .... ah ... I mean officially ... be prepared for all the pundits to scream about CRISIS!, they're be official CNN logos and Wolf will have to furrow his brow more.
I thought immigration was our nation's biggest problem?
A CBS News poll shows Americans are increasingly dissatisfied with the Iraq war, President Bush and the Congress, as well as the overall direction of the country.Can you say new all-time lows on the horizon? Nixon's in
More Americans than ever before, 77 percent, say the war is going badly, up from 66 percent just two months ago. Nearly half, 47 percent, say it's going very badly.
While the springtime surge in U.S. troops to Iraq is now complete, more Americans than ever are calling for U.S. forces to withdraw. Sixty-six percent say the number of U.S. troops in Iraq should be decreased, including 40 percent who want all U.S. troops removed. That's a 7-point increase since April.
....
Fewer than one in five thinks that the troop increase is helping to improve the situation in Iraq, while about half think the war is actually creating more terrorists.
The poll has bad news for President Bush, too. His job approval rating slipped to 27 percent, his lowest number ever in a CBS News poll — 3 points less than last month and 1 point below his previous low of 28 percent in January. His disapproval rating is also at an all-time high of 65 percent.
Larry Johnson on the stupid criminal terror attacks in England:
As events unfold I'm simply asking that folks take a big deep breath and try to keep things in perspective. Are there jihadist extremists in the world who are willing to kill innocents? Absolutely. Are they amenable to negotiation? No. I am not in the, "have you hugged a terrorist today" camp. However, we need to stop equating their hatred with actual capability.
If today's events at Glasgow prove to be linked to the two non-events yesterday in London, then we should heave a sigh of relief. We may be witnessing the implosion of takfiri jihadists--religious fanatics who are incredibly inept. While I am not an explosives expert I am good friends with one of the world's foremost explosives experts. Propane tanks and petrol (gas for us Americans) can produce a dandy flame and a mighty boom but these are not the tools for making a car bomb long the lines of what we see detonating on a daily basis in Iraq.
My main beef remains that much of the cable news media reacts to this nonsense like a fifty year old guy on Viagra or Cialis--they pop major wood. And the same warnings are appropriate--an erection lasting more than four hours may be harmful.
Just so you know the truth, despite the crapola you will be hearing from the insurance industry:
CNN investigated the health care statistics Michael Moore cites in his new movie and finds them to be “mostly right.” “As we dug deep to uncover the numbers, we found surprisingly few inaccuracies in the film. In fact, most pundits or health-care experts we spoke to spent more time on errors of omission rather than disputing the actual claims in the film.” Click here to find a showing near you.
