the n.y. times had another great article yesterday about the military tribunals the administration is trying to put together to bring those captured in afghanistan to "justice."
wow! what a clusterfuck!
basically, these guys are making up the rules while they go along, and there are fissures in the administration as to what those rules might be. john ashcroft was actually fighting to give these guys a fair shake! there is some weird stuff going on at 1600 pennsylvania avenue, fo' sure!
however, most want to keep those guys locked up for intelligence gathering, or until they rot, or both. but there is a severe lack of interrigators that can speak arabic.
and who is locked up at guantanamo bay? essentially the slowest, stupidest and most moronic of the taliban operatives in all of afghanistan - including octogenarians and dudes who took a bullet in the butt. they know nothing. they don't know where they are and they don't care.
i can see how those conversations are going.
"sir, i firmly believe mohammed gump over there is a serious threat to our national security. he keeps yammering about how his momma always said life is like a box of falfel, you never know which american is going to die next. or something to that effect. sorry, sir, my arabic is a little rusty, but it is my professional opinion that he should be walked on with golf shoes."
"that's o.k., son, because i like the way you think! go ahead with your punishment, and while you're at it, take this 9-iron abd beat him senseless."
and that is how justice is being meted at camp delta.
wow! what a clusterfuck!
basically, these guys are making up the rules while they go along, and there are fissures in the administration as to what those rules might be. john ashcroft was actually fighting to give these guys a fair shake! there is some weird stuff going on at 1600 pennsylvania avenue, fo' sure!
however, most want to keep those guys locked up for intelligence gathering, or until they rot, or both. but there is a severe lack of interrigators that can speak arabic.
and who is locked up at guantanamo bay? essentially the slowest, stupidest and most moronic of the taliban operatives in all of afghanistan - including octogenarians and dudes who took a bullet in the butt. they know nothing. they don't know where they are and they don't care.
i can see how those conversations are going.
"sir, i firmly believe mohammed gump over there is a serious threat to our national security. he keeps yammering about how his momma always said life is like a box of falfel, you never know which american is going to die next. or something to that effect. sorry, sir, my arabic is a little rusty, but it is my professional opinion that he should be walked on with golf shoes."
"that's o.k., son, because i like the way you think! go ahead with your punishment, and while you're at it, take this 9-iron abd beat him senseless."
and that is how justice is being meted at camp delta.
by at 2:23 PM
Check out today's leading story from the Gray Lady and read up on how Bush has stepped in a big pile of Al Ca-ca: LINK
This line is especially damning:
"...(A) senior official from Iraq's Ministry of Science and Technology wrote that the stockpile disappeared after early April 2003 because of 'the theft and looting of the governmental installations due to lack of security.'"
This story isn't even NEWS--it was reported by the IAEA way back in May 2003--but everybody was so obsessed with finding WMD that these niggling details were softpedaled by the Pentagon, and dutifully ignored by the media. Right down the Memory Hole it went. No wonder Bush looked so flummoxed during the debates...that must have been the first time he heard anything about it! Okay, whose turn was it to tell Dubya? Donnie? Condi? Dick? Not me, it was my turn last time!
This story affirms that the UN weapons inspections program was WORKING--all of Iraq's weapons caches and nuclear sites were secure, and well-monitored. We were warned that these sites would be looted before the war--if we were going to contravene the UN, the least we could have done was heed the IAEA's advice and provide for the security of these sites. Of course, this wasn't in the game plan. We needed to ridicule and undermine the UN's efficacy in order to justify an instant strike. We presumed the worst about the most tenuous evidence, and completely ignored the stuff that was true if it stood in the way of Bush's splendid little war.
By inference, then, the UN inspection teams were telling the truth about Iraq's possession of WMD...which is to say there were none--certainly nothing worth launching an invasion over. That's why Bush felt comfortable telling that sage national security maven Reverend Pat there wouldn't be any casualties. Unfortunately for our troops, it's those Weapons of Not-Quite-Mass Destruction (WNQMD)--like those looted from al Qa-qaa--that are killing them!
For this colossal incompetence and treachery alone, the entire executive branch should be fed to wild dogs. Iraq is now a fire-sale for terrorists and insurrectionists across the middle east and asia...GREEEAT. Whatever stability was wrought by deposing Saddam has been scuttled by the Pentagon's myopic micromanagement. Rumsfelch, Rice, everybody at the State Department (you too, Powell), Goss...EVERYBODY MUST GO!
This line is especially damning:
"...(A) senior official from Iraq's Ministry of Science and Technology wrote that the stockpile disappeared after early April 2003 because of 'the theft and looting of the governmental installations due to lack of security.'"
This story isn't even NEWS--it was reported by the IAEA way back in May 2003--but everybody was so obsessed with finding WMD that these niggling details were softpedaled by the Pentagon, and dutifully ignored by the media. Right down the Memory Hole it went. No wonder Bush looked so flummoxed during the debates...that must have been the first time he heard anything about it! Okay, whose turn was it to tell Dubya? Donnie? Condi? Dick? Not me, it was my turn last time!
This story affirms that the UN weapons inspections program was WORKING--all of Iraq's weapons caches and nuclear sites were secure, and well-monitored. We were warned that these sites would be looted before the war--if we were going to contravene the UN, the least we could have done was heed the IAEA's advice and provide for the security of these sites. Of course, this wasn't in the game plan. We needed to ridicule and undermine the UN's efficacy in order to justify an instant strike. We presumed the worst about the most tenuous evidence, and completely ignored the stuff that was true if it stood in the way of Bush's splendid little war.
By inference, then, the UN inspection teams were telling the truth about Iraq's possession of WMD...which is to say there were none--certainly nothing worth launching an invasion over. That's why Bush felt comfortable telling that sage national security maven Reverend Pat there wouldn't be any casualties. Unfortunately for our troops, it's those Weapons of Not-Quite-Mass Destruction (WNQMD)--like those looted from al Qa-qaa--that are killing them!
For this colossal incompetence and treachery alone, the entire executive branch should be fed to wild dogs. Iraq is now a fire-sale for terrorists and insurrectionists across the middle east and asia...GREEEAT. Whatever stability was wrought by deposing Saddam has been scuttled by the Pentagon's myopic micromanagement. Rumsfelch, Rice, everybody at the State Department (you too, Powell), Goss...EVERYBODY MUST GO!
by at 4:53 PM
i'm glad to see ashlee simpson was brutally exposed as the complete fraud that she is. it couldn't have happened to a more deserving bitch. really.
in case you live under a rock, simpson was the musical guest on saturday night live this weekend, when all of a sudden, she started singing - while the microphone was by her waist! the lip-synch track was not only early, but it was also cued to the wrong song.
simpson blamed the band. the record label blamed a computer glitch. but guess what ashlee? if you could just sing, you would never have that problem. but no. you had to be hopelessly embarassed on national television.
oh! that reminds me. if was a member of that band, i'd be pissed. are you kidding me? that spoiled little brat who isn't old enough to drink booze or suck my dick is going to throw me under the bus like that? bullshit! i'd quit so fast and see if the matrix could use another studio hand.
and ashlee is a fraud. all summer long i heard she was the "punkier" version of jessica. of course anybody with half brain knew that was a load of crap. number one: if somebody tells you that someone else is a punk, chances are they're not. number two: those performaces on "seventh heaven" weren't exactly gritty or edgy.
it's no wonder album sales are dropping if this is the garbage record labels are trying shove down our throats. i'd rather put up with something like james taylor. it might be boring as sobriety, but at least the guy actually sings and plays an instrument.
i really think it should be a prerequisite that you must be a musician if you're going to get a record contract, not just a pretty face. but maybe i'm just old school.
in case you live under a rock, simpson was the musical guest on saturday night live this weekend, when all of a sudden, she started singing - while the microphone was by her waist! the lip-synch track was not only early, but it was also cued to the wrong song.
simpson blamed the band. the record label blamed a computer glitch. but guess what ashlee? if you could just sing, you would never have that problem. but no. you had to be hopelessly embarassed on national television.
oh! that reminds me. if was a member of that band, i'd be pissed. are you kidding me? that spoiled little brat who isn't old enough to drink booze or suck my dick is going to throw me under the bus like that? bullshit! i'd quit so fast and see if the matrix could use another studio hand.
and ashlee is a fraud. all summer long i heard she was the "punkier" version of jessica. of course anybody with half brain knew that was a load of crap. number one: if somebody tells you that someone else is a punk, chances are they're not. number two: those performaces on "seventh heaven" weren't exactly gritty or edgy.
it's no wonder album sales are dropping if this is the garbage record labels are trying shove down our throats. i'd rather put up with something like james taylor. it might be boring as sobriety, but at least the guy actually sings and plays an instrument.
i really think it should be a prerequisite that you must be a musician if you're going to get a record contract, not just a pretty face. but maybe i'm just old school.
by at 4:01 PM
i was sitting in my basement this weekend, putting down a few pops and watching the yankees pound on the red sox when the telephone rang. i thought to myself, "who the hell is calling me while the game is on?"
i fumbled for the receiver, and checked the caller i.d., which read: O'REILLY, WILLIAM
"oh crap!" i screamed. "what does billy-boy want this time?"
bill calls me every once in a while, you know, to complain about our posts or tell me how kerry bumbled this or bumbled that. i keep telling him, just because i think our president is a fraud doesn't make me a democrat! but he never listens.
i answered the call just to lean into him, but all i heard was a vibrator and heavy breathing, and then he was all, "what do you say hot stuff? why don't you and me meet at the steam room where you can whip me like jesus christ and ram the strap-on up my no spin zone?"
apparently i'm on bill's speed dial next to andrea mackris, which makes sense if it's in alphabetical order.
"why don't you just eat my dick instead!" i yelled into the phone. "i'm watching the game on your shitty network. i suggest you do the same."
and that was the highlight of my weekend. pretty hot stuff, huh? i'd leave the house more often, but my cash flow is in serious trouble. maybe next week.
i fumbled for the receiver, and checked the caller i.d., which read: O'REILLY, WILLIAM
"oh crap!" i screamed. "what does billy-boy want this time?"
bill calls me every once in a while, you know, to complain about our posts or tell me how kerry bumbled this or bumbled that. i keep telling him, just because i think our president is a fraud doesn't make me a democrat! but he never listens.
i answered the call just to lean into him, but all i heard was a vibrator and heavy breathing, and then he was all, "what do you say hot stuff? why don't you and me meet at the steam room where you can whip me like jesus christ and ram the strap-on up my no spin zone?"
apparently i'm on bill's speed dial next to andrea mackris, which makes sense if it's in alphabetical order.
"why don't you just eat my dick instead!" i yelled into the phone. "i'm watching the game on your shitty network. i suggest you do the same."
and that was the highlight of my weekend. pretty hot stuff, huh? i'd leave the house more often, but my cash flow is in serious trouble. maybe next week.
by at 3:02 PM
PAT ROBERTSON: "And I warned him about this war. I had deep misgivings about this war, deep misgivings. And I was trying to say, 'Mr. President, you had better prepare the American people for casualties.' "
Robertson said the president then told him, "Oh, no, we're not going to have any casualties."
Mr. Bush, your padded suite at the Lost Days Inn is ready. Lock this guy up, dammit, he's insane!
LINK
And since when did Mr. I-don't-know-politics Robertson EVER have "deep misgivings" about the war? With everything that Bush touches rapidly turning to feces, you have to wonder which God this Elmer Gantry wannabe has been praying to.
Robertson said the president then told him, "Oh, no, we're not going to have any casualties."
Mr. Bush, your padded suite at the Lost Days Inn is ready. Lock this guy up, dammit, he's insane!
LINK
And since when did Mr. I-don't-know-politics Robertson EVER have "deep misgivings" about the war? With everything that Bush touches rapidly turning to feces, you have to wonder which God this Elmer Gantry wannabe has been praying to.
by at 8:12 AM
Uh oh...Rush Limbaugh is gonna be some bad man's bitch! LINK
Mind you, Rush hasn't even been charged with anything yet. The question over whether his med records were seized properly has been settled...but only after an interminable court challenge. How many people like you or me would have had such resources availed to us to challenge the State?
Even after hiring one-a those "LIBRUUUL TRIAL LAW'RS" (and one who worked with the Kennedys! *gasp*) and accepting the legal counsel of those flag-burning, Bible-banning, baby-killing, buttsex-teaching commie sodomites in the ACLU, it looks like time has run out on Rush's dilatory tactics.
It's frivolous lawsuits like Rush's that are tying up our court system!
FISH! FISH! FISH! FISH!
"The oxycontin's wearing off..."
Mind you, Rush hasn't even been charged with anything yet. The question over whether his med records were seized properly has been settled...but only after an interminable court challenge. How many people like you or me would have had such resources availed to us to challenge the State?
Even after hiring one-a those "LIBRUUUL TRIAL LAW'RS" (and one who worked with the Kennedys! *gasp*) and accepting the legal counsel of those flag-burning, Bible-banning, baby-killing, buttsex-teaching commie sodomites in the ACLU, it looks like time has run out on Rush's dilatory tactics.
It's frivolous lawsuits like Rush's that are tying up our court system!
FISH! FISH! FISH! FISH!
"The oxycontin's wearing off..."
by at 1:52 PM
At long last, comedian Rodney Dangerfield gets some respect...final respects. Jacob Cohen (aka Rodney Dangerfield) has passed away this evening.
I'm going to go out and rent "Caddyshack" or "Back to School" tonight--some of his finest performances on film.
RIP.
I'm going to go out and rent "Caddyshack" or "Back to School" tonight--some of his finest performances on film.
RIP.
by at 7:10 PM
Well, for once I was pleasantly surprised...not only did Kerry perform well technically at the debate last night, but he easily won over a hostile Friday morning punditocracy. Still, Kerry's massive debate skills notwithstanding, Bush just plain stank up the joint last night--on national security, supposedly his long suit--and no amount of press spin can cover that up.
I think I'm starting to like Kerry a bit more than I did earlier in the year. He had an impressive command of the facts and made his points fluidly, without the painful circumlocutions I've heard on the campaign trail. Contrary to the RNC's ubiquitous talking points, JFK spoke very plainly and directly--in a way the Pretender only gives lip service to. I think he acquitted himself of the "flipflop" nonsense eloquently.
Bush--as usual--relied on his usual arsenal of shopworn sound bites, one-liners, and appeals to emotion, but he used them all up so quickly he had nothing left but "uhm, ah, uh" to fill up the time. Even though the rules of engagement for the debate were heavily tilted in Bush's favor, he just couldn't get it up. Get Bob Dole on the red phone, pronto!
Of course we're going after Saddam Hussein...I mean bin Laden. That was the comment from last night that should give everybody pause.
He really is President Fredo when he's put on the spot. I'm smaaht! I'm competent! Not dumb, like they say, and I want respect!" "Iraq is haaaard work!" "Houston's a biiiiiig city!" He looked and sounded pissed and whiny--without a fawning crowd to give him a pop at the end of every phrase, there was no motivation for him to perform. He did not want to be there, and it showed.
Hats off to the press, too, for a change. They broke the penny-ante rules for this debate, and showed reaction shots a-plenty. For the first time in the four years of this potempkin presidency, Bush looked and sounded defensive, which must come as a surprise to the hapless 'Murikins who worship Bush as some kind of friggin' Olympian warrior-god. Instead, he looked every bit the buffon Gore was in 2000 with his exaggerated facial expressions.
At the very least, Kerry looked presidential and dignified; to a nation obsessed with the visual and indifferent to the cerebral, this is significant. Still, that won't stop siphilitic press whores like Blitzer, Russert, Woodruff, Crowley & the rest of the political cockgobblers from doing their best to minimize the obvious Kerry victory. Like the Black Knight in the Holy Grail: "OK, we'll call it a draw." Spin away, brazen wenches!
I think I'm starting to like Kerry a bit more than I did earlier in the year. He had an impressive command of the facts and made his points fluidly, without the painful circumlocutions I've heard on the campaign trail. Contrary to the RNC's ubiquitous talking points, JFK spoke very plainly and directly--in a way the Pretender only gives lip service to. I think he acquitted himself of the "flipflop" nonsense eloquently.
Bush--as usual--relied on his usual arsenal of shopworn sound bites, one-liners, and appeals to emotion, but he used them all up so quickly he had nothing left but "uhm, ah, uh" to fill up the time. Even though the rules of engagement for the debate were heavily tilted in Bush's favor, he just couldn't get it up. Get Bob Dole on the red phone, pronto!
Of course we're going after Saddam Hussein...I mean bin Laden. That was the comment from last night that should give everybody pause.
He really is President Fredo when he's put on the spot. I'm smaaht! I'm competent! Not dumb, like they say, and I want respect!" "Iraq is haaaard work!" "Houston's a biiiiiig city!" He looked and sounded pissed and whiny--without a fawning crowd to give him a pop at the end of every phrase, there was no motivation for him to perform. He did not want to be there, and it showed.
Hats off to the press, too, for a change. They broke the penny-ante rules for this debate, and showed reaction shots a-plenty. For the first time in the four years of this potempkin presidency, Bush looked and sounded defensive, which must come as a surprise to the hapless 'Murikins who worship Bush as some kind of friggin' Olympian warrior-god. Instead, he looked every bit the buffon Gore was in 2000 with his exaggerated facial expressions.
At the very least, Kerry looked presidential and dignified; to a nation obsessed with the visual and indifferent to the cerebral, this is significant. Still, that won't stop siphilitic press whores like Blitzer, Russert, Woodruff, Crowley & the rest of the political cockgobblers from doing their best to minimize the obvious Kerry victory. Like the Black Knight in the Holy Grail: "OK, we'll call it a draw." Spin away, brazen wenches!
by at 9:41 AM