Tangled Webs

Wednesday, August 29, 2007

Muscle

The blogosphere has it:

Over the course of a week, liberal blogs were asking for donations to Darcy Burner's campaign for Congress in Washington. Seems Bush is coming out to support her opponent and bloggers wanted to counter any fundraising he supported with a campaign of their own. In short, the blogosphere easily raised $100K.

Atrios:

I was looking over the size of donations to Burner, and amazingly there were only a couple of whale sized donations. That was a stunning amount of money raised given that fact. I think the average donation was about 40 bucks in the list I saw.

It's this kind of muscle that will get politicians attention.

Quote Of The Day

If only it's true:

"The real question for Republicans in Washington is how low can you go, because we are approaching a level of ridiculousness. You can’t make this stuff up. And the impact this is having on the grass-roots around the country is devastating."

-- GOP strategist Scott Reed, quoted in the New York Times, about Republican scandals.

Yet, there's this:

In Alabama’s 2008 Senate race, Sen. Jeff Sessions (R-AL) is in a strong position for reelection, according to a new SurveyUSA poll. He is leading state Sen. Vivian Figures (D) by 22 points, 59% to 37%.

Makes you wonder just how "damaged" they are.

Planning

No matter what anyone is saying, the Pentagon is planning to still be in Iraq December of 2008.

Stand Down While We Skeedaddle

Moqtada al Sadr announced today that he's going to fall back and have his militia stop fighting. Yeah. Right.

First off, I don't believe anything the guy says. He changes his mind seven times a day so who knows what he'll really do. Even if he does reorganize and redeploy as he promises (in two Friedman Units), it's all in preparation for the battle royal that will ensue when the U.S. leaves .... eventually.

Gasoline Inventory

I'm sure you've noticed that we're in the "relief" portion of the adaptive gasoline increase cycle. Prices are "down" now ...

It's typical for prices to continue to ease until spring as driving backs off for winter. But there's a fly in the ointment:

You know, refinery maintenance and all that .....

Despite there being plenty of oil inventory, the stocks of gasoline are at an all-time low. Thus don't count on any great further easing of gasoline prices through winter.

Things That Make You Go Hmmmm

From Romunov's blog:

Several U.S. Army soldiers killed in a helicopter crash in Iraq last week were to be witnesses in the homicide trial of their former superior.

Honolulu’s KITV reported Sunday that some of the soldiers who died in the crash had been scheduled to testify in the trial of Sgt. 1st Class Trey Corrales, who is accused of orchestrating the death of an Iraqi detainee this year.

Economics Quote Of The Day

Via The Big Picture, regarding trade with China:

Free and fair trade: They give us Poisoned food and toys, we give them fraudulent securities . . . Everybody wins!

Responding To The People

Doesn't this about tear it? Talk about ~~not~~ responding to the will of the people:

From Slate:

The Washington Post leads with word that the Bush administration wants more money for the Iraq war and is planning to ask Congress for up to $50 billion next month. The thinking seems to be that lawmakers won't be able to say no after Gen. David Petraeus and Ambassador Ryan Crocker ask for more time to build on the progress they have made.

So easy to attack and start a war, so difficult to admit failure and quit. I know I'm not saying anything new, but the frustration is great when the government does not respond to the will of the people. I suspect that the White House thinking is correct and that Congress will huff and puff and cave like a cheap house. We can only hope that the next election is a large wave of removing those politicians who are unresponsive.

Tuesday, August 28, 2007

NIE Report

Do you remember the recent National Intelligence Estimate Report that detailed how Iraq is a cluster-fuck? Well, it turns out that Petraeus worked overtime to get it toned down.

If you ever doubted that Petraeus drank the kool-aid, this should dispel that.

What Did He Do?

Josh Marshall is discussing Republican Larry Craig's arrest in an airport for some undisclosed sexual violation. But was it appropriate?

Not the sexual advance, but the arrest. The details are very murky but it appears that regardless of your feelings about Craig and his politics, his arrest may have been inappropriate. From a Marshall commenter:

Sure, he's a hypocrite, sure he's probably gay or bi or whatever, and sure, I despise his politics. The problem is, I'm torn between the schadenfreude of watching another one of the Family Values crowd being shown up, and feeling really bad for the guy, because he didn't do anything.

Look at the police report. Did he directly ask a cop for sex? No. Did he expose himself lewdly (as opposed to exposing himself to use the facilities)? No. Did he do anything that was unambiguously sexual? No.

All he did was tap his foot, reach down (possibly to pick up a piece of TP), wiggle his fingers, and put his bag in front of him when he sat down. Oh, and he waited in front of an occupied stall. Even if he did everything the cop said he did, where was the lewd conduct? No actual sex happened. No actual sex was discussed. And if it wasn't for the sheer embarrassment of the situation, you'd be writing about the overzealous cop who arrested a sitting US Senator for no apparent reason.

Overzealous police work? Overzealous prosecution? Getting even with a Senator who tried to use his position to get out of a tight spot? Who knows. But pure political retribution is no reason to get joy out of a miscarriage of justice.

A Threefer

In today's economic headlines, home prices declined by a record 3.2% with unsold housing inventory way up, and credit card defaults are way up. And remember, the worst of it won't be over until March of next year. The Fed is on the hot seat to cut interest rates, but a lot of folks see it as a bailout of greedy wall st. bankers. Meanwhile, inflation remains steady.

Happy days are here again!

Monday, August 27, 2007

He Said He Said

Did you hear about this?:

Sen. Larry Craig (R-ID) "was arrested in June at a Minnesota airport by a plainclothes police officer investigating lewd conduct complaints in a men’s public restroom," according to an arrest report obtained by Roll Call.

"Craig’s arrest occurred just after noon on June 11 at Minneapolis-St. Paul International Airport. On Aug. 8, he pleaded guilty to misdemeanor disorderly conduct in the Hennepin County District Court. He paid more than $500 in fines and fees, and a 10-day jail sentence was stayed. He also was given one year of probation with the court that began on Aug. 8."

"A spokesman for Craig described the incident as a 'he said/he said misunderstanding,' and said the office would release a fuller statement later Monday afternoon."

Those Republicans, squeaky clean and all ......

Dog fighting

People who get a thrill out of this need therapy. There is something seriously wrong with them.

Screwed Again Harry

George Bush has a tendency toward mendacity.

No, he is mendacious.

Anyway, remember the "deal" made between Bush and Harry Reid regarding recess appointments? Reid threatened to keep the Senate defacto in session to prevent any more recess appointments and then Bush made an agreement he would be a good boy? Well, think again now that Abu Gonzales has bitten the dust:

Josh Marshall:

Judged by the standards of our history, a recess appointment to replace Alberto Gonzales sounds like an incredible proposition. But don't be so sure. Just as we saw with the 'pardon scooter' movement, the word seems already to have gone out to the folks on the right to start preparing the ground for just such a move by the president. I've already heard a few just this morning saying it would be the right thing for the president to do. Watch for it.

You've got to wonder just how many times the Democrats have to get punked by Republicans before they get it. Punching bag doesn't even get to how guilible they are.

Who We're Fighting

New York Times via Juan Cole, this would be the breakdown of insurgents who have been captured. Sorta puts the lie to the Pentagon/Bush administrations claims about al Qaeda:

Nearing Their Helicopter Moment

Looks like the British in southern Iraq are getting closer and closer:

Via Juan Cole:

British troops withdrew from a Joint Operations Command Center in Basra on Sunday. Gradually the remaining 5,500 British troops in the south are being concentrated near the airport, having left most security duties to the Iraqi 10th Army Division and local police. When the British left, a crowd of Sadrists gathered, celebrating and claiming victory. A force of Mahdi Army militiamen attempted to invade the site, but they were fought off by security forces, according to Reuters.

Don't Fence Me In

Remember the border fence? The $1.2 billion seven hundred mile fence approved by Congress and Bush to keep "them" out? .....

Well, here it is:

All fifteen miles of it so far.

Ah huh. Looks a lot like your typical Iraqi project to me. The contract must have been a no-bidder that went to Halliburton. Also reminds me of the levies in New Orleans.

As you may know, I'm anti-fence. Even if the thing were state-of-the-art, it wouldn't keep out illegal immigrants. And if it did, the USA economy would come to a standstill. So I guess I'm happy that it's such a shit-pile of a fence, although it's a little too expensive of a shit-pile for my liking.

Sunday, August 26, 2007

The Rumor Mill

Gonzales out, Chertoff in?

Hmmm .....

This could only be true after Bush were to have a blood sharing ritual, Chertoff take the Bush family oath, and Bush to kiss Chertoff on both cheeks (and don't forget the canoli):

The buzz among top Bushies is that beleaguered Attorney General Alberto Gonzales finally plans to depart and will be replaced by Homeland Security Secretary Michael Chertoff. Why Chertoff? Officials say he's got fans on Capitol Hill, is untouched by the Justice prosecutor scandal, and has more experience than Gonzales did, having served as a federal judge and assistant attorney general.

Ohhhhh kaaaay

On why Americans are lousy at geography .....

Headlines You Won't See

Certainly not in the mainstream media:

AP Count: Deaths in Iraq Nearly Double Pre-Surge Level
Contrary to many military and White House statements, deaths among Iraqis are actually up quite a bit from levels one year ago. Nearly 15,000 have died so far this year.

Don't they know how well the escalation is going?

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