TGIF! Drinks are on me!
posted by TheDon

It's been that kind of a week. The internets truck at work had a flat tire, and my sinful, sinful home electronics were stricken by lightning. I seem to have missed a lot of news. Did you know that Dick Cheney is evil and powerful? Me either! And guess how long it will take Georgia to resegregate schools. Go on, guess. You're waaaaaay too optimistic. Robert Gates is concerned that scores of our soldiers will die every month that... wait for it... (it's not what you would hope for)... we have to wait for more heavily armored Humvees. The patriots in Iraq are making more deadly bombs than our current vehicles can handle, so let's armour up! They'll NEVER figure out how to kill our soldiers in the new vehicles! Really! I guess bringing them home isn't a possibility.

So let's have a frosty one. You know that feeling you get after the party when you look around and think, "What the hell am I going to do with all this Corona?"? I have a solution, and as you probably suspect, it involves adding liquor to it. I'm like a chocoholic, only with alcohol.

All of these drinks involve pouring a shot of something into a beer. Experiment all you want - it's educational and fun! A beer with a shot of whiskey in it is called a boilermaker, and has long been the defining characteristic of hard-core sorrow and pain. I'll see your boilermaker and raise you.

Troublemaker - make that a shot of tequila

Beerbon - use bourbon - a southern classic
Twizzler - just add sambuca
Nutcracker - frangelico
Beerberry - chambord
Pirate's Gold - rum
Big Red - Cinnamon schnapps

the only limit is the size of your liquor cabinet. Go nuts!

Resegregation Nation: Next up, the Supreme Court Rules That Integrated Water Fountains Violate the Constitution
Posted by Mikhaela Reid

All you closet Klansmen out there, you would-be Bull O'Connors and George Wallaces, listen up: it is officially time to party! Get out your balloons and confetti, and iron your best white robes, because the Bush Supreme Court has officially declared that racial integration and diversity DON'T MATTER AT ALL. The Bush court says that not only is segregation totally cool (as long as it's the "natural" result of segregated housing areas), it's actively RACIST to oppose segregation. Why? Because racial diversity is AGAINST the spirit of Brown vs. Board of Education.

Yes, that's right--it's against the spirit of the decision that made it possible for children of all colors to go to school together to encourage children of all colors to go to school together. The only way to avoid racism is to DENY it and ignore it and NOT DO ANYTHING TO STOP IT. That's what being "colorblind" is all about!

As the NAACP's Theodore Shaw put it on The Newshour With Jim Lehrer tonight, it doesn't get much more Orwellian than this. This is Civil Rights Lite to the extreme. Hence the vigorous dissent:

[Souter] said the chief justice’s invocation of Brown vs. Board of Education was “a cruel irony” when the opinion in fact “rewrites the history of one of this court’s most important decisions” by ignoring the context in which it was issued and the Supreme Court’s subsequent understanding of it to permit voluntary programs of the sort that were now invalidated.

I was particularly horrified by the anti-integration argument that many parents "don't want this" ("this", presumably, being the horror of their children going to school with black kids). For example, here's Roger Clegg, president of the deceptively named "Center for Equal Opportunity" (his group filed an amicus brief in the case) celebrating the anti-integration decision on the NewsHour:

I think that school boards are also going to be sensitive to the fact that most parents don't like it when they are told that where they can send their children to school depends on what color they are.

And...

I think the question is whether anyone believes that a politically correct racial and ethnic mix, that kind of diversity, is worth the price of racial discrimination. And I think that most Americans would say that, no, it is not.

Sure, lots of Americans--bigoted and ignorant ones--protested school integration back in the day because they didn't want it, either. That didn't make them RIGHT. That was the whole POINT of Brown vs. Board! As the NAACP's Shaw put it:

This [integration] is not about school districts telling people that they can't go to school on the basis of their skin color. This is about school districts trying to continue to fulfill the promise of Brown and to avoid segregation. In no way is this comparable to the kind of regime of segregation and discrimination that existed under Jim Crow.

Exactly.

Finally, while we're on the topic of Brown vs. Board of Education, this is particularly bad timing, because I just did a dystopian cartoon for Lambda Legal wondering "What would life be like without integrated schools?":

Prepare to find out. And God Bless Our Colorblind America, where the playing field is level, everyone has an equal chance, and white kids can just learn about colored folks on their Tee-Vees!

Next up: The Supreme Court rules that allowing black people and white people to drink from the same water fountains is racist.

P.S. I would have called this cartoon "Separate But Equal: The Sequel", but I already drew a cartoon with that title. Oh well.

P.P.S. Just so it's clear--in the cartoon, the kids of color are locked up in a "Jim Crow Max Security Educational Facility" not because they're troublemakers or deserve to be there, but because they live under racist segregation.

Cross-posted at Boiling Point Blog.

Why Wall Street Journal Reporters didn't show up for work today
Posted by Mikhaela Reid

Were I still an employee of the Wall Street Journal, I might not have shown up for work this morning, thanks to Rupert Murdoch's insane quest to dominate the world with right-wing wingnut faux news crap.

Even long-time readers might be surprised to hear that I worked full-time for three years (through the end of 2006) as an information graphics journalist at the Wall Street Journal, initially for the Money & Investing section and more recently for the Economy page. I made 2-5 daily charts and graphics, mostly tracking economic indicators and analyzing trends in the stock and bond markets. I also did the occasional medical or technical illustration, including a graphic about abdominal aortic aneurysms that accompanied a Pulitzer-Prize-winning front page series. (Read old blog post here...)

I was also part of the union, and participated in several union actions regarding benefit cuts, pay cuts and large-scale layoffs (I'll spare you the slogans, but it was pretty damn cool to see financial reporters carrying signs and chanting old-school labor song-type lyrics).

The Wall Street Journal is a top-notch paper with reporters and editors of the highest caliber and in-depth investigative reporting and features you can't find anywhere else. Aside from the New York Times, it's the only paper I read almost cover-to-cover every day (with the notable exception of the editorial page, which I take in very small doses on a strong stomach).

So as you can imagine, I've been following the news about Rupert Murdoch's attempts to add Dow Jones to his stable of faux news outlets with growing horror and disbelief. Does anyone REALLY think he would allow the WSJ to preserve its editorial integrity? For example, via CNN I read that even the "editorial integrity protection" deal would give Murdoch sole discretion to pick top editors. I can picture Bill O'Reilly leading the Politics & Economy team now!

Via Romanesko, I just heard that many of my former colleagues chose to stay home today in protest. From the union's release:

Wall Street Journal reporters across the country chose not to show up to work this morning.

We did so for two reasons.

First, The Wall Street Journal's long tradition of independence, which has been the hallmark of our news coverage for decades, is threatened today. We, along with hundreds of other Dow Jones employees represented by the Independent Association of Publishers' Employees, want to demonstrate our conviction that the Journal’s editorial integrity depends on an owner committed to journalistic independence.

Second, by our absence from newsrooms around the country, we are reminding Dow Jones management that the quality of its publications depends on a top-quality professional staff. Dow Jones currently is in contract negotiations with its primary union, seeking severe cutbacks in our health benefits and limits on our pay. It is beyond debate that the professionals who create The Wall Street Journal and other Dow Jones publications every day deserve a fair contract that rewards their achievements. At a time when Dow Jones is finding the resources to award golden parachutes to 135 top executives, it should not be seeking to eviscerate employees’ health benefits and impose salary adjustments that amount to a pay cut.

We put the reputation of The Wall Street Journal and the needs of its readers first. That's why we will be back at our desks this afternoon, producing the day's news reports. But we hope this demonstration will remind those entrusted with the future of Dow Jones that our publications' integrity must be protected, and sustained, from top to bottom.

I hope it makes a difference. But my guess is, Dow Jones current owners just see dollar signs and will salve their consciences with lies about "preserving editorial independence" until its too late.

MOCCA festival pix: Cartoonists With Attitude, Alison Bechdel and more!
Posted by Mikhaela Reid

No good comics convention is complete without Ted Rall; still, we muddled through while Ted continued his Stan-Trek:

Ayo + Cartoonists With Attitude Masheka Wood, Brian McFadden and Mikhaela Reid



Legendary Fun Home author and Dyke to Watch Out For Alison Bechdel and Mikhaela Reid; Mikhaela Reid and Barry "Ampersand" Deutsch drawing each other faces



Muckraking filmmaker Morgan Spurlock with his copy of Attack of the 50-Foot Mikhaela!; Masheka Wood and Frank Reynoso; cover of on-the-spot commissioned birthday card for a George-Bush-averse one-year-old



Masheka Wood and Ayo; Brian McFadden and Keith Knight with free booze and food at the Top Shelf 10th Anniversary Party

Last year, the Museum of Comics and Cartoon Art's Art Festival was a low point for many of us alternative political cartoonists--we felt so alienated, disconnected and unloved and sold so few books that we decided to form the group Cartoonists With Attitude to help get more attention at conventions.

Apparently it worked. I'm happy to report that MOCCA this year was a whole other comics convention beast. All kinds of great comics readers, cool sales, and awe-inspiring cartoonists to hang out with, plus some cool comics discoveries. The tough part was keeping any of the money we earned and not immediately spending it on other comics.

The convention was also packed with alums from the Attitudeseries of books Ted edited for NBM: myself, Brian, Alison Bechdel, Barry Deutsch, Neil Swaab, R Stevens, Scott Bateman and others. Clearly, it's all about the Attitude.

If you scroll through my whole MOCCA photoset, you'll see I also got to chat with Hilary Price of "Rhymes With Orange" fame, who was attending her first comics convention to promote her book Reigning Cats and Dogs. Hilary is syndicated and popular for good reason.

More later on some of the cool comics I picked up at the event!

Shortwave Report for Central Asia, Part 4
Posted by Susan Stark (Parts 1, 2, and 3 are in the Archives)

CLANDESTINE AND PIRATE RADIO

Radio itself was invented by Guglielmo Marconi, or at least he gets the credit for it (in my opinion, Nicola Tesla, the Yugoslav inventor, is the one who invents the radio).

In the very early days of radio, radio functioned very much as the internet does today in communication. There wasn't much regulation for this newfangled hobby. Anybody who had a functioning transmitter/receiver could and did use it. Two or more people could use the same frequency (let's say, at 1290AM, for example), and hold a long distance conversation. Two violinists on two sides of the Atlantic could have a duet over the radio, and others tuning into the same frequency could listen in. The very first DJs appeared, playing recorded music, with no one dictating what music to play.

In the United States, all that changed with the formation of the FCC, or Federal Communications Commission. Similar "regulatory" bodies appeared in other countries. The excuse for these regulations were complaints that broadcasters were interfering with one another, but the best explanation is control. It is harder to propagandize against another country, for example, if people in both countries are in regular communication with each other. Also, during World War 1, the government brought up the excuse of "security" (you know, spies communicate).

Nevertheless, despite all the current regulation, unregulated, or "pirate radio", still operates. It's very difficult for AM and FM pirate stations to stay on the air, even when they eventually try to play by the rules and ask for a license. Sometimes pirate radio operates out of a house or apartment, or even out of an automobile (although that can be difficult without a power source). In a lot of cases pirate radio broadcasts from a boat or ship. This type of broadcasting is more common than people think: There are several pirate broadcasters operating in New York City, at any given time. The success of these transmissions vary according to the quality of the transmitter and the ability to keep the transmitter outside vs. inside. But a pirate can reach a good number of people here due to the population density of NYC neighborhoods. Shortwave is a better way to reach a good audience through unregulated radio, across huge distances.


Clandestine Broadcasting:

Clandestine radio is similar, yet different than pirate radio. A clandestine transmission usually transmits from one country to another, for the purpose of circumventing the ideology and political control of the target country. It can either be transmitted by another government (usually), or by dissidents from the target country living abroad (sometimes). Examples of this are Radio Marti, broadcast by the US government to Cuba, as well as a few private stations run out of Miami by Cuban exiles. North Korea is also a frequent target for clandestine broadcasts. When a country is experiencing civil war or internal conflict, there can be clandestine transmissions targeted *within* the country. Iraq, Afghanistan, and Kashmir are examples regions where internal clandestine radio operations are used.

In my opinion, virtually all shortwave transmissions are clandestine in nature, because they are able to bypass the imaginary lines that humans have created to separate one country and region from another. And if a country is repressive enough, then virtually *any* shortwave broadcast passing through that country is clandestine. During Taliban rule in Afghanistan (1996-2001), it is safe to say that all shortwave into the country was clandestine because it presented music and female voices on the air, both banned by the Taliban. The broadcaster "All India Radio" certainly doesn't consider itself clandestine when it belts out Bollywood film tunes, but it was to a Taliban-era listener in Kabul at night, wearing headphones. And while the United States is not nearly as repressive as the Taliban, I and many others where fortunate to have a different point of view in early 2003 when most of the media in the US were pimping the Iraq Invasion. "Deutsche Welle" of Germany and "Radio Havana Cuba" of Cuba were among those presenting a refreshingly different viewpoint, but they aren't listed or considered clandestine in nature.

Of course, Central Asia has been a recipient of clandestine broadcasts, most notably Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty (as mentioned in Shortwave Report Part 3) from the United States. But what is weird about this is that Radio Liberty also appears to have *AM* and *FM* broadcasts in these countries as well. Are they broadcasting from satellite or within the country? I guess when you grease enough local palms, you get your access.

But other countries broadcast clandestinely in Central Asia. In 2002, the Voice of Tibet, a transmission from dissident Tibetans, was broadcast from Kazakhstan into Chinese-occupied Tibet.


JAMMING

Of course, as you can well imagine, the intended recipient countries of clandestine radio, or at least their governments, don't appreciate these broadcasts. That's where jamming comes in.

The recipient country of a clandestine broadcast, in order to keep their subjects in the dark, will jam the transmission. This mainly involves transmitting another broadcast on the exact same frequency, using different noises such as beeps or car engines. Of course you can't hear the original through this mess.

The original broadcasters, however, can circumvent jamming by changing their frequency on a regular basis. Unfortunately, this forces those attempting to receive the broadcast into moving their radio tuner up and down the dial to find whatever heresy their government disapproves of.


That's it for now.

Kissing gay teens getting kicked off busses, out of yearbooks
Posted by Mikhaela Reid

What is up with this bigoted nonsense and this bigoted nonsense? Leave the gay and bisexual teens to kiss in peace like their straight peers, people!

If I were a parent in Portland, I'd be horrified that two 14-year-olds girls were kicked off a bus and stranded in the street by a bigoted bus driver. Even more crazy, the girls were on their way to the LGBT youth center. MESSED UP.

War Crimes
posted by TheDon
Atlanta right-wing hate yakker Neal Boortz seems to be confused. I'm here to unconfuse him. In a piece about Jane Fonda, he says this:

Bush and Cheney are not war criminals. First of all, Cheney is not the commander and chief. Only the president has that role – get it right. And "war crimes" implies that that America violated some international law. Go ahead, Jane. Give me a cite!

O......kay... only the commander-in-chief can commit a war crime. And only international law is used to prosecute war crimes. That's too stupid to even respond to, but here's your cite: The Geneva Conventions. A bonus cite would be this.

He then gets all Howie Mandel over Saddam Hussein's cousin getting a death sentence, despite the fact that he is/was NOT the commander-in-chief.

Now here is a criminal for you. Saddam Hussein's cousin was sentenced to death by an Iraqi court yesterday. He is going to hang. And that is exactly how it should be. He helped with the killing of hundreds of thousands of Kurds and Shite Muslims. Using chemicals weapons to wipe out people based on their religion ... THAT'S a war crime. Let's see if Hamas Jane has anything to say about this guy!

It's ok, Jane, I'll handle this one. Read slowly, Neal, it involves accusing some of your heroes of crimes. Chemical Ali was a war criminal who commited despicable acts. If I ever believed in the death penalty, he would be near the head of the line. Having said that, he didn't perform his deeds in a vacuum. His arsenal was only possible because of the assistance of the USA, and the blind eye they turned towards his barbaric crimes. If he is guilty of a war crime, then so are his co-conspirators, including Donald Rumsfeld, George H. W. Bush, and the late Ronald Reagan, along with a cast of thousands.

You're welcome.

Why I blog about the dogs
posted by TheDon

On Saturday we put 6 more dogs in their forever homes, including Eddy, who was in the program for over 2 years. Sometimes it takes a while to find just the right home, even for the best of dogs.

People sometimes question the time and money I put into dog rescue, and tell me there are more important things I could do with both. That is probably true, but irrelevant. Most activities can be criticized as being less important than something else. Why worry about homeless dogs when there are homeless people? Why worry about gay rights when there are innocent people on death row? Why worry about abortion rights when our soldiers are dying in Iraq? Why worry about contractor corrpution when there are terrorist trying to kill us? Why watch TV when you could be writing to Congress? Why clean the house when you could be marching with a sign?

There are a lot of things wrong in our great country, and I think they all need advocates. Some causes are well represented, well funded, well advertised. Some are not. Some causes have strong advocacy and legal standing, some do not.

Dog adoption is much more mainstream than it used to be in most of the country. Even in Georgia, everyone at least knows what it is. But we still have a never-ending supply of unwanted dogs. In metro Atlanta, we kill over 90,000 dogs and cats every year. I can't stop homelessness. I can't stop the war in Iraq, or the coming one in Iran. I can't stop bigotry. But I can do something about the slaughter of dogs in my little corner of the world - Atlanta.

We have an agriculture department far more concerned with dog breeders than dog ownership. We fight attempts which nakedly try to shut down dog rescue and to characterize dog rescuers as nuts. We are fighting a long, hard battle, against long odds, but one day we will win.

So why the dogs? Why not the children? Why not the war? Why not the civil rights? I actually help with all of them where I can, but I do spend most of my money and time on the dogs. There are laws protecting children, the homeless, the hungry, even though they are sometimes inadequate. There are countless government agencies, non-profit organizations and church groups advocating and helping. But not for the dogs. They can't speak for themselves, and they are not well represented where it counts - in the legislature or in the courts.

I have a special place in my heart for the truly helpless - I am a liberal, after all - and these dogs count as some of the most helpless and voiceless. My heart is with them, and I unapologetically advocate for them. If you think there are more important ways for me to spend my time, I encourage you to go ahead and do those things. Make a difference - that's all I'm trying to do.

Sunday Follies
posted by TheDon

Meat the Press
This looks like one big fast-forward.

Pat Buchanan on Immigration. I don't think so.
Luis Gutierrez in opposition. I guess they don't understand that nothing is passing this time around, and it shouldn't. Let's wait for a much better president and a better Congress.

The panel on the '08 elections. Call me back in the Fall - just not into the daily odds yet. Especially not Dean Border, WSJ guy and Roger Simon. Gwen Ifill is always good, but 20% worth watching isn't enough for me. (I count Little Russ in the stats.)

In fairness, the Guiliani coke bust and Iraq Study Group stories were funny, but I don't care enough to watch. Told you that would be fast - I just saved you 59 minutes!

Fawkes News Sunday
Our puppets in Iraq sentenced one of Saddam's cousins to death. Shocking!

Trent Lott and Dianne Feinstien argue over the Right's talking points. I don't have the stomache for this. First talk radio. Yawn. NOTHING will be done to or about talk radio. Immigration. See previous comment. Now the election talking points. Apparently the talking point is going to be that Congress has lower approval ratings than the preznit. This is supposed to be the big encouraging word for the GOP to take back Congress in 08. That's right, ignore the fact that this is anger over the refusal to stop the war. Let me know how that works out for you. I can't watch.

This is funny. Lott is defending Cheney's right to claim he's not in the executive branch, while admitting the Cheney really is. heh.

Surge Smurge. Wallace ask Feinstein if she's ready to ignore Petraeus in the Fall. Nice job, Chris!

Panel
Bloomberg. How would he change the election? Boooooring.

Cheney and his ascension past entity status. I'm with John Dean on this one. Cut off all money to his office until he complies with laws and executive orders.
Wallace very kindly characterizes Trent Lott as confused on the issue.
Juan zeroes in on the problem and hammers the hell out of Cheney. Yeah!

Brit comes in with a spirited defense of Cheney's view of the executive. Mara points out that the Supreme Court is shooting down everything that the Cheney administration claims. Kristol claims the executive was broken by Clinton, fixed by Cheney because of 9/11. Juan reframes it as a lack of transparency. Calls them bully tactics. Kristol is ok with bully tactics. These righties do love authoritarians.

Power Player Cal Ripken. Why not? Certainly nothing important happened last week. Let's pick a retired baseball player. Dicks.

This Weak
Ted Kennedy and Jeff Sessions on immigration.
Yawn. Thank god for fast-forward.

Panel
Bloomberg. more fast-forward.
JEEBUZ!!! Can't we talk about the people actually IN THE RACE and what their... ummm... what's that word? POSITIONS are?!?!? Or get them on? Noooooooooooo let's talk about what a possible entry might do.
ok, I'm better. A little.
ahem.
Giuliani's bad week. Fred Thompson.
Fareed calls out Giluliani for being a one-note candidate, and that one note is "scare the hell out of everyone". Nice.
Romney's getting hit for not being a christian and is complaining about it. Whaaaaaaa.
Jack Tapper calls out Romney for claiming Mormonism but fuzzing over what Mormons believe. Seems fair. The Messiah's going to reign from Jackson County Mississippi? WTF?
The Clinton-Sopranos ad. I don't get the ad, but also don't get the controversy. I'm chalking it up to general dumb-fuckery in the pundit class. I'm far more concerned about Hil picking a Celine Dion song. Yikes.
Survey says Hillary can beat any of the GOOPs. No shit. Which of the GOOPs is electable? Not a single damn one.

In Memoriam
Bob Evans - down on the farm.
Judge Willian Hungate - former Congressman
Rep Buy Vander Jagt - ditto
9 firefighters in Charleston. devastating loss. (or political opportunity for assholes)
26 more soldiers and marines. dammit.

Niles Crane on Alzheimer's

Sunday Funnies
curtain

I have GOT to stop spending my Sundays watching these shows.

Poems from Gitmo

posted by TheDon
Last winter, I was in Cuba visting Fidel in the hospital in Jamaica catching some rays, and I was in my hotel negotiating with a hooker chatting up a local when a drinking companion slipped me a sheaf of papers. It was all in Arabic and the man told me it was very important to sneak it back into the US.

I snuck it back home, pulled it out of my ass and studied it. It appeared to be poems written by some of our guests in Guantanamo Bay. My Arabic is a little rusty, and there were some unfortunate stains on the documents, but I did the best translation I could. I would have kept my adventure secret, but now the US is going to publish a collection of the poems from Gitmo. I have decided to publish the poems I received, so I can't be accused of making this up later, when the same poems appear in the book.

This one must have been from one of the children we snagged

Roses are red
Violets are blue
please stop torturing me
and I will tell you anything you want to hear
no, really, please stop
please please please

This one was from an older child

A Gitmo detainee named Ali
wanted a lawyer right now, by golly
he thought he had rights
but they beat him all night
he was hoping for justice - what a folly!

At least one of the prisoners must have been Japanese

Guantanamo Bay
devoid of law and justice
screams shatter the night

I am kept awake
and have been for seven days
please let me sleep now

One was apparently a fan of my favorite poet

I know why the caged Muslim screams

The free Muslim leaps on the back of the wind
and floats downtown till the busline ends
and works all day in the orange sun rays
and dares to claim his faith.

But a Muslim that stalks down his narrow cage
can seldom see through his bars of rage
his head is immersed and his feet are tied
so he opens his throat to scream.

The caged Muslim screams with a fearfull trill
of things made up but believed true still
and his tale is heard on the distant hill
for the caged Muslim screams of terror.

The free Muslim thinks of another day
of feeding his family and getting his pay
and the wife and children waiting to play
and he names his faith his own.

But a caged Muslim stands on the grave of dreams
his shadow shouts in a nightmare scene
his head is immersed and his feet are tied
so he opens his throat to scream.

The caged Muslim screams with a fearfull trill
of things made up but believed true still
and his tale is heard on the distant hill
for the caged Muslim screams of terror.

TGIF! Summer drinks on me!
posted by TheDon
Summer's here, ushered in by a heat wave, so here's a light and refreshing drink.

Peach Water
pour Peach Vodka over some ice cubes in a double old-fashioned glass
pour peach flavored water in and stir lightly
vary proportions to taste and liver function
enjoy!

Alberto Gonzales's Civil Rights Division Lite: Taking the "Justice" Out of Justice Department
Posted by Mikhaela Reid

Taste the new "Justice" Department's Civil Rights Division Lite! Now with 99% less: hate crimes prosecution, voting rights enforcement and police brutality investigations! Super-Action-Packed with Loyal Bushies, Wiretapping and Religious Extremists! It's a Yum-Tastic Justice Department makeover!

The Bush administration has laid waste to the Justice Department on a large scale, as the scandals over the replacement of high-performing federal prosecutors with "loyal Bushies" and that whole warrantless wiretapping nastiness have shown.

The Bush makeover of the Civil Rights Division is similarly extreme. The pre-Bush Justice Department Civil Rights Division was founded in 1957. The Division protected voting rights and enforced anti-discrimination laws, with a particular focus on discrimination based on race and national origin. From the Division website:

The Division enforces the Civil Rights Acts of 1957, 1960, 1964, and 1968; the Voting Rights Act of 1965, as amended through 1992; the Equal Credit Opportunity Act; the Americans with Disabilities Act; the National Voter Registration Act; the Uniformed and Overseas Citizens Absentee Voting Act; the Voting Accessibility for the Elderly and Handicapped Act; and additional civil rights provisions contained in other laws and regulations. These laws prohibit discrimination in education, employment, credit, housing, public accommodations and facilities, voting, and certain federally funded and conducted programs.

Or do they? Under Bush and Gonzales, Justice has shifting funding, focus and resources to more Dubyafied priorities. As the New York Times reported this week ("Justice Dept. Reshapes Its Civil Rights Mission"):

In recent years, the Bush administration has recast the federal government’s role in civil rights by aggressively pursuing religion-oriented cases while significantly diminishing its involvement in the traditional area of race.

Read the whole article, but here are some particular horrors:

DISCRIMINATION

The old Civil Rights Division (Civil Rights Clasic, if you will) fought discrimination in hiring. The Civil Rights Lite Division defends the right of religious groups like the Salvation Army to discriminate (see "Charity Cites Bush Help in Fight Against Hiring Gays" and "Court OKs Religious Hiring Bias by Federally Backed Charities").

HATE CRIMES

Civil Rights Classic lent federal enforcement weight to the prosecution of hate crimes cases: KKK attacks, lynchings, and more. Civil Rights Lite has diverted that funding to a pet cause of the Christian Right. Again from the NYT, the Civil Rites Lite Division is...

Taking on far fewer hate crimes and cases in which local law enforcement officers may have violated someone’s civil rights. The resources for these traditional cases have instead been used to investigate trafficking cases, typically involving foreign women used in the sex trade, a favored issue of the religious right.

Certainly trafficking cases deserve funding--but not at the expense of victims of racism, hate crimes and police brutality. Trafficking cases used to and should be handled elsewhere.

VOTING RIGHTS

Civil Rights Classic defended the voting rights of people of color. Civil Rites Lite suppresses the voting rights people of color through new voter ID requirements and baseless "voter fraud" case--and has even pursued its first claim of voter intimidation against white people. As John Nichols writes in The Nation ("Curing the Rot at Justice"):

The Brennan Center for Justice and the Lawyers' Committee for Civil Rights Under Law have uncovered evidence of what they describe as "a much broader strategy on the part of the Administration to use federal agencies charged with protecting voting rights to promote voter suppression and influence election rules so as to gain partisan advantage in battleground states." There is now a compelling case that the White House used the Justice Department's Civil Rights and Criminal divisions and the Election Assistance Commission to create a false perception of widespread voter fraud to justify initiatives--stringent voter identification laws, crackdowns on voter registration drives and pre-election purges of eligible voters from the rolls--designed to disenfranchise the poor, minorities, students and seniors.

The New York Times reports on this as well. Civil Rights Lite is:

Sharply reducing the complex lawsuits that challenge voting plans that might dilute the strength of black voters. The department initiated only one such case through the early part of this year, compared with eight in a comparable period in the Clinton administration.

Trouble is, only the federal government has the resources to deal with these voting dilution cases. Oh well--it's not like black voters get disenfranchised anymore, right? Too bad, but they've got a new kind of case to focus on:

The civil rights division also brought the first case ever on behalf of white voters, alleging in 2005 that a black political leader in Noxubee County, Miss., was intimidating whites at the polls.

RELIGIOUS FREEDOM TRUMPS ALL OTHER FREEDOMS

But back to the Salvation Army. If you visit the Justice Department website, you'll read very little about racist discrimination and the ongoing disenfranchisement of voters of color. Instead, you read about this exciting "special initiative" from Alberto "Geneva Conventions Are Quaint" Gonzales, "The First Freedom Project":

Religious liberty is often referred to as the "First Freedom" because the Framers placed it first in the Bill of Rights. Yet it is not merely first in order: it is a fundamental freedom on which so many of our other freedoms rest.

Forget freedom of speech, forget freedom of the press and freedom of assembly, and most especially freedom from unreasonable search and seizure: the first and most important freedom is the freedom of religious organizations to receive government funding for firing gay people.

Some of the other evidence of Civil Rights Lite cited by the New York Times:

Supporting groups that want to send home religious literature with schoolchildren; in one case, the government helped win the right of a group in Massachusetts to distribute candy canes as part of a religious message that the red stripes represented the blood of Christ.

Conservative religious groups who love the taste of Civil Rights Lite say that the weight of the federal government is no longer needed to combat racism and discrimination--silly stuff like that can be left up to local authorities. Of course, local authorities often lack the resources, will or perspective to fight racism. Historically, local authorities in the South often deliberately turned their backs on racist attacks and civil rights violations, and I'm not so sure those days are totally behind us. And that whole federal ignoring of civil rights and the issues of black people worked out great during Katrina, didn't it?

HIRING LOYAL BUSHIES

Oh, and then there's the hiring thing. We all remember sweet little Monica "I crossed the line" Goodling, trying so hard to make everything harmonious at Justice by hiring only "loyal Bushies". The NYT analyzed department statistics and found that Civil Rights Classic hired lawyers with impressive backgrounds and qualifications. Civil Rights Lite hires lawyers from religious law schools (like Pat Robertson's academically questionable Regent Law) who play up their conservative and religious credentials as much as possible.

Finally, while we're on the topic of Civil Rights, I figured I'd close with Bush channeling his role model Martin Luther King, Jr.:

Cross-posted at Boiling Point Blog.

P.S. Have you bought Attack of the 50-Foot Mikhaela! Cartoons by Mikhaela B. Reid (with foreword by Ted Rall) yet? Why not?

Another war crime
posted by TheDon
Corrected - note at bottom
First (as usual in the ongoing effort to win hearts and minds), the US military denies killing civilians in a bombing in Afghanistan, then admits to the slaughter of civilians, which has been an ongoing feature of the war on Afghanistan. First the ongoing feature:

An official close to the Uruzgan governor, who asked not to be identified because he was talking about preliminary estimates, said 70 to 75 civilians had been killed or wounded, while more than 100 Taliban and more than 35 police had been killed.

.

.

.

Coalition troops had "surveillance on the compound all day and saw no indications there were children inside the building," said Maj. Chris Belcher, a coalition spokesman. He accused the militants of not letting the children leave the compound that was targeted. "If we knew that there were children inside the building, there was no way that that air strike would have occurred," said Sgt. 1st Class Dean Welch, another coalition spokesman.

According to Keith Olbermann last night, they now admit that they knew there were children there (and other civilians for a total of at least 30), but the terrorist they were after was such a high value target that it was worth killing them.

The reason they always deny killing civilians is that it is illegal to intentionally target them. The calculation has to be that the target is worth killing your own soldiers to capture/kill, not that he is worth killing children over. This is a war crime. Another war crime

The battle for hearts and minds has been well documented. Bombing weddings and soccer games doesn't even warrant a headline anymore. "Shake and Bake" chemical warfare attacks never got any attention. At least not here. Torture. Kidnapping. Murder. Rape. The war crimes tribunal for the GWOT, in a just society at least, would last about 10 years at this point.

Just remember every time you read a headline bragging about how many "insurgents" or "Taliban" we kill - every time - they are leaving out civilian deaths that we just don't give a shit about. And the first report is a lie. But you knew that.

Correction - the original post used a notation that I commonly use in email to indicate a "snipped" portion of the news story. Unfortunately, Blogger's engine thought it was a meaningless html tag and eliminated it, giving the impression that the second part of the story was a continuation of the first. I was trying to give two types of information and failed. The first part of the story is about the ongoing slaughter of civilians, the second about the criminal murder of schoolchildren.

I regret the mistake, and have put in a vertical elipse, along with some clarifying verbiage.

Correction II - A kind reader pointed out the mistake above (I believe the word fool was used), and I *now* know that editing a post to correct it removes the comments. That was not my intent at all - lesson learned, apology extended. (hey! The comments are back. Must be a timing thing.)

The point of the reader was that the cowardly terrorists hid in a school, forcing us to kill the children. My point remains that when you want to kill someone who is hiding in a civilian population, you are required by law and by morals to risk as much of your own soldiers' life as it takes to protect innocent human life. You can NOT drop bombs on civilian populations and then whine about the nasty tactics used by the guys in the black hats. If you aren't willing to lose some of your soldiers to get a "high value" target, but you are willing to kill some of the brown children, you are a criminal and a coward.

ITMFA
posted by TheDon
I have not been pro-impeachment for the very practical reason that impeachment would be a long political process, and it appeared that no matter what happened, it would be impossible to get the 2/3 guilty vote necessary for conviction. There are a lot of problems to solve, and I wouldn't want the efforts derailed by an impeachment process. Additionally, the Goops debased the notion of impeachment so thoroughly that it would be hard to get the public backing necessary.

I did support the approach of investigating, building a case, following the evidence, and prosecuting anyone worthy of prosecution. I trust the people doing the investigations, too. Jerry Nadler. Carl Levin. Patrick Leahy. John Conyers. Brilliant minds, pursuing truth, justice and the American way. Except Joe Lieberman. ugh.

Now, just 5 months into the new Congress, the evidence of lawlessness in this administration is overwhelming. Setting aside anything to do with Iraq (which is more worthy of war crimes tribunals than impeachment), I think the vows to preserve, defend and protect the Constitution require action.

Although I have been saying for the last several months that the USA scandal is the one which will bring down this administration, we can now add the RNC mail accounts and signing statements to provable law breaking. The use of the RNC accounts was bad. Deleting the emails was illegal. Not stopping the use of the system and demanding the preservation of the emails is impeachable.

Attaching signing statements, we were told, was not illegal, we had to wait until they were used to break the law. Well now they have been. A cursory study found intentional violation of the law based on the signing statements. Even beyond impeachment, I think this administration is eligible for prosecution under the RICO Act. Mike Malloy nailed it, calling this administration the Bush Crime Family. The current crop at the DOJ makes John Ashcroft look honorable. JOHN ASHCROFT!!!

The evidence keeps rolling in, faster than I imagined it would. There is no doubt that systematic lawbreaking was encouraged and covered up by this administration, on so many fronts. It is provable, undeniable, and more people are willing to testify every day. The dominoes are falling faster and faster, the rats are leaving the ship. You have all the evidence you need, Congress. What are you going to do?

Listen to your inner Dan Savage. ITMFA.

DC Rall-tastic Event #2: 7/7/07 Cartoonists With Attitude Slideshow w/ Rall, Reid, Knight, Bolling, Bors, McMillan and more!
Posted by Mikhaela Reid

The Cartoonists With Attitude gang storms the capital on July 7 with an edgy satirical cartoon slideshow and book signing!

• When: Saturday, July 7, 2 p.m.
  
• Where: Borders 18th & L Streets NW Washington, DC 20006 ( 202.466.4999)
  
• Price: Free!
  

Celebrate Independence Day weekend with a slideshow and signing with edgy, groundbreaking and controversial alternative cartoonists from around the country! Be there or the torturers, bombers, ex-gays and wire-tappers win! Meet:

• Ruben Bolling ("Tom the Dancing Bug")
  
• Matt Bors ("Idiot Box")
  
• Keith Knight ("The K Chronicles")
  
• Brian McFadden ("Big Fat Whale")
  
• Stephanie McMillan ("Minimum Security")
  
• August Pollak ("Some Guy With a Website")
  
• Ted Rall(Silk Road to Ruin)
  
• Mikhaela Reid ("The Boiling Point")
  
• Ben Smith ("Fighting Words")
  
• Jen Sorensen ("Slowpoke")
  
• Masheka Wood ("Not Just Knee Deep")
  

And in case you weren't aware, you should really read our group blog (also available as an RSS feed if you want to get all our blogs and most of our cartoons in one convenient place. We also have a not-so-frequently updated Cartoonists With Attitude MySpace page if you want to be our friend.

DC Rall-tastic event #1 is, of course, Cartoonapalooza.

DC Rall-tastic Event #1: 7/3 Cartoonapalooza Cocktails w/ Rall, Toles, Knight, Bolling, Fiore and more!
Posted by Mikhaela Reid

Cartoons & Cocktails and the Association of American Editorial Cartoonists Present:

Cartoonapalooza: Fireworks in Pen and Ink!

• Date: Tuesday, July 3rd, 2007
  
• Time: 6:30 PM
  
• Location: Renaissance Mayflower Hotel
  1127 Connecticut Avenue NW
  Washington DC 20036
  
• Phone: 202-232-5300
  
• Ticket Price: $25 in advance/$35 at door
  
• Website: http://editorialcartoonists.com/cartoonapalooza.cfm
  

Meet prize-winning political cartoonists from across the country as they discuss their most controversial cartoons.

Why did Tom Toles of The Washington Post get dressed down by the Joint Chief of Staff? How did Ted Rall invoke the wrath of a legion of 9/11 widows? Why did a Mercedes-Benz dealership in Atlanta take out a half-page ad to apologize for a Mike Luckovich cartoon? Meet ten of the nation's best political cartoonists as they discuss their most controversial cartoons. Cartoonapalooza, the kick-off event for the 50th anniversary convention of the Association of American Editorial Cartoonists (AAEC), is a rare opportunity for the public to meet prize-winning political cartoonists from across the country as they discuss their most controversial cartoons. Join Tom Toles, Ted Rall, Mike Peters, Mike Luckovich, Rob Rogers and five other brilliant, ground-breaking editorial artists as they talk politics, the election, Bush and beyond. The public is invited to a cocktail reception before the panel discussion to meet the artists.

The proceeds from this event will go to support Newspapers In Education's "Cartoons for the Classroom" program, a non-profit program that provides editorial cartoon-related lesson plans for teachers. Cartoonapalooza is the must-attend event of the year for all political buffs and cartoon afficionados!

Door prizes at the reception will include signed original cartoons and books.

Featured Cartoonists:

• Ted Rall, Universal Press Syndicate
  
• Tom Toles, Washington Post
  
• Mike Luckovich, Atlanta Journal Constitution
  
• Mike Peters, Dayton Daily News
  
• Rob Rogers, Pittsburgh Post-Gazette
  
• Jack Ohman, The Oregonian
  
• Ruben Bolling, Tom the Dancing Bug
  
• Ann Telnaes, Cartoonists and Writers Syndicate
  
• Keith Knight, The K-Chronicles
  
• Mark Fiore, Animated Political Cartoonist
  

DC Rall-tastic event #2 is, of course, the free Cartoonists With Attitude Slideshow at Borders at 2 p.m. on 7/7/2007. More on that in another post.

Search & Destroy/Rallblog RSS Feed
Posted by Mikhaela Reid

I just noticed Ted doesn't have a link here to his RSS feed. If you want to read Search and Destroy via syndicated RSS/Atom feed, it's: http://www.tedrall.com/atom.xml.

We're so sorry... that you don't understand why we had to kill your kids!
Posted by Mikhaela Reid

A few weeks ago, I did a cartoon about the U.S. trying to spin civilian casualties in Afghanistan.

Once again, the U.S. is upset about civilian casualties in Afghanistan. And once again, they're not upset that the U.S. military killed seven children in a "targeted" airstrike, but that those unreasonable Afghan civilians just don't understand it's not REALLY the U.S.'s fault--there was nothing they could do! From the NY Times this morning ("7 Children Killed in Airstrike in Afghanistan"):

Seven children were killed during an airstrike by the United States-led coalition against a religious compound thought to be a Qaeda sanctuary in remote eastern Afghanistan, the coalition said Monday.

The death of the children on Sunday may well add to the crescendoing anger many Afghans feel about civilian casualties from American and NATO military operations. More than 130 civilians have been killed in airstrikes and shootings in the past six months, according to Afghan authorities.

The article goes on to say that the toll may rise to about 180 once the death toll from another airstrike are confirmed. But as for these murdered children, the U.S. had stock apologies and little sympathy:

The air raid against the religious compound was a targeted strike rather than a pitched battle. “We are truly sorry for the innocent lives lost in this attack,” said Maj. Chris Belcher of the United States Army about Sunday’s raid against several structures, including a school and mosque, in Paktika Province, near the border with Pakistan.

And

The American ambassador, William B. Wood, said the coalition went to extraordinary lengths to avoid civilian casualties. “Unfortunately, when the Taliban are using civilians in this tactical way, instances of civilian casualties, just like instances of casualties from friendly fire, cannot be completely avoided,” he said.

Consider those hearts and minds WON.

More Dawgs!

posted by TheDon

Over the last two weeks, my rescue group has placed 15 more dogs in their forever homes, and had a tent at a local festival to raise awareness. This is Nellie, who was hit by a car and badly injured. Her two pups were delivered by C-Section and we have been giving her the medical care she needs. So far it's approaching $2000, but we are doing very well raising money for her. She is a very, very sweet girl, and almost fully recovered.

Twice as Good
posted by TheDon
So there's a new bio of Condi. I assume the title refers to how effective she would have to be before she would be considered acceptably competent. She's gone from the NSA who didn't give a damn about terrorism until after 9/11 to a SecOfState who has won't talk to anyone but our allies. Heckuva a job, Condi!

So you don't have to - 6/18
posted by TheDon

Meat the Press

Surprise! The Iraq "surge" is failing to slow down the violence, much less stop it.

Bigger Suprise! The politicians in Iraq are making no progress.

Biggest Suprise! Our ambassador, Bug-eye McLiar is willing to lie about it.

Responding to a Pentagon report which points out the facts on the ground, including the fact that violence has merely shifted to different parts of Iraq, Ambassador Bug-eye decides to accentuate the positive - violence in 40% of Baghdad is down, and Anbar province is less violent. While he decries the news that violence elswhere is "bad news", he still goes with "the surge is working" and "violence is down in the two areas where we have the surge". Sigh. Apparently, if we send in 10 million more troops we'll be halfway home.

Timmeh calls it "whack-a-mole", Bug-eye says Baghdad is central to solving Iraq. I truly believe that the only thing these bastards (ours, not theirs) care about is getting the oil rights law signed.

Bug-eye refers to the "surge" allowing us to whack a whole lot of moles at once. Yeah. I guess he never went to the arcade and doesn't realize that the moles pop up one at a time, then pop up again somewhere else. And there's always a fresh supply of moles.

After a small dust-up over Petraeus's level of denial, a Colin Powell clip is shown. He has shown great courage and honesty in talking about this war, and deserves a medal for it. Well, he would have if he had done this THREE YEARS AGO!!! Asshole.

Timmeh asks Bug-eye about Maliki's attitude about the US arming the Sunni insurgents. "The Iraqis are right to focus on it". Jeebuz. Apparently they are forming a committee to decide how smart the strategy is. If they call me, I think I know...

Bug-eye Crocker is still pretending that there will be an assessment of the "surge" in September. I'm not holding my breath. He also gives some of the talking points supporting an attack on Iran. Also claims the Iraqis are closely following the political debate in the US. Says they are working hard to meet the benchmarks. What a load.

Let's play roundtable!

Eugene Robinson calls out the Whitehouse for a bait-and-switch on September benchmarks.
The execrable Kate O'Beirne seems to agree that meeting deadlines is important. Wow. They've lost Kate. Getting lonelier in the loonie bin!

Mitch McConnell must be worried about his re-election. That reliable administration bitch is talking big about changing Eye-rack policies by year's end by congressional action. Boehner too. I guess he was shedding tears for more reasons than one.

Even administration mouthpiece Byron York is skeptical, but doesn't embrace a change in strategy, just notes that it seems inevitable.

Harry Reid is jumped for insulting Peter Pace, and E.J. Dionne sticks up for the 1st Ammendment, and points out the well-noted fact that Straight-out-the-ass-Talk McCain pounded Peter Pace recently.

Kate, of course, thinks it was dumb to "malign" Petraeus. She can't really believe that, unless she's more stupid than I think. She's a shameless shill.

Robinson questions the willingness of congress-critters to defund the war, pointing out that it's the only way to change Bush.

York points out that the really hard-core righties want a larger presence in Iraq. (more torture, too, Byron)

Immigration rears its multiple heads. This is not going to happen for a lot of reasons. It's such a compromise that nobody really likes it. And no Democrat wants to give W the victory. I want them to kill it until we have a Democratic president and Congress, then get the bill we really want, and lock up the Hispanic vote 4evah!

Bob Novak has suggested releasing Gonzo and pardoning Libby, saying it would "hearten his base". Neither one will happen. The "base" is way more worried about amnesty than Libby, and wants Gonzo around, you moron. Kate thinks that's a grand idea, says there is something liberating about being below freezing in the polls. She thinks his base is the chattering class inside the beltway.

EJ points out that pardoning Libby makes the administration more lawless, and the public knows it.

Timmeh points out that the Democratic Congress is unpopular, but neglects to point out that it's because they won't stop the war. Oops, he just pointed it out.

Clinton is way ahead of Obama in the national polls, but trailing in South Carolina. My gut (having lived there) is that it is a reflection of the large African-American population. Ok, just agreed to by the panel.

Giuliani is way up, but Thompson is catching up fast, beating him in SC. This is a reflection of a lack of good candidates, and lead in the water system. Kate says his coverage and name-recognition means he can enter the race at this late date. I don't know what her calendar says, but mine says mid-June, 2007. Late?

Seems to be a consensus that Thompson is seen as relief from a weak field. Once again I will admit that I don't understand the appeal of a life-long lobbyist and wife-leaving party boy in the family-values set. Or Giuliani. Or Romney. Or McCain.

And I've reached my limit on primary wanking today. I'm sure every week will afford another opportunity to talk about them. I still think the only flip-flop Romney can make to get the base votes is to convert to christianity.

Oh Jeebuz! They're talking about Bloomie and Arnie running. That should be good for some laughs. The Jesse Ventura candidate. Yipes.

===================================

Fawkes News

Kewl! General David Petraeus picks the perfect outlet for shredding the vestiges of his reputation as a truth-teller. Good call!

General Odierno says the US only controls 40% of Baghdad. 40% my ass. I guess it depends on what the meaning of the word "control" is.

Former General Antonio Taguba says the senior leadership was involved in the Abu Gharib torture and that he was forced to retire for persuing the investigation. Duh and duh. Another good man forced out for having honor. They have truly broken our Army.

On a side rant, the dismissal of Peter Pace does seem like prima facie evidence that he was a good, honorable man. In this "backwards day" administration, which uses Presidential Medals to reward the worst of the worst, being forced out is a mark of honor. I'm not ready to embrace Peter Pace, but he at least deserves a fair hearing based on his forced retirement.

Chris Wallace lobs softballs to Petraeus, as expected. Petraeus happily swings for the fences. Petraeus claims we are ahead of where he expected, but behind in some places. Claims success in Anbar - guess he hasn't heard that the coalition with the tribal leaders is falling apart.

Claims concern in 30% of the neighborhoods in Baghdad. He's really stressing the fight against Al Queda. I guess I don't blame him.

And it's a high hard fastball - Weekly attacks are up, and violence is unchanged during surge. Petraeus acknowledges the figures, says initially sectarian violence was down, then up, and is "trending back down". ummmmm.... as opposed to the cycles before the surge? Whatevs.

Lobs the Harry Reid softball - Petraeus claims plenty of signs of normalcy. Soccer in the streets! Well that's different! Pop the corks and send our kids home!

Wallace re-lobs the softball - Petraeus didn't swing nearly hard enough at it the first time.

Chimpy blames violence on AQ, Wallace shows the Pentagon report blaming sectarian violence. OH! Petraeus goes for broke - Sunni violence IS AQ violence! That would be a GREAT argument if we weren't funding Sunni insurgents! Really great argument...

Wallace actually questions that strategy, but in a softball way. Petraeus has a great plan for tracking people and building trust in them It might work in a video game, but sounds pretty dicey IRL. Is dumb-assy a word? Lotsa straw-grasping going on.

Wallace starts into the failure of Iraqi politicians to do any real work. Petraeus of course talks about the oil revenues. It's the only thing the "base" cares about anyway. Then they both talk about how hard it is to build a country. Really? Just figuring that out now?

DP backs off of September report while claiming that he's not backing off of the September report. Here's a guess. In September they will claim the "surge" is starting to work. Just a guess.

About the third time Wallace lobs "you certainly don't think the work of the 'surge' will be complete by September, do you" Petraeus picks up on it and agrees.

NEWS! General Petraeus still thinks we can "win" in Iraq, and "leave behind" a "democracy". Whoda thunkit?

Panel time.

Chimpy promises a signed amnesty immigration reform bill this year. Won't happen. Won't even get close. Yawn - next topic.

Hamas takes over Gaza. What does it mean? If I thought any of these people had a clue I would listen. But Charles Krauthammer? Please. Besides, didn't we force the election that put Hamas in charge? Oops.

Power player of the week - Thomas Friedman?!?!? yikes. Can't even listen to this version of the blind leading the blind.

=============================
This Weak

OH GOD! Joe Biden and Huckleberry Graham. My thumb is about to go nuts on the fast-forward button.

first up - Biden

click

"surge"

click

break Iraq into three countries

click

civil war

click

can't stop the funding

click

we're depending on republicans to change

click

some thing worth losing elections over

click

did Senator Reid slander the generals

click

the truth is the truth - this policy is a failure

click

credible report in September? Yes

click

one last chance

click

gaza

click

iran arming our enemies (GS)

click

iran is the new USSR

click

tighten the diplomatic noose

click

EEEEEEEEEEEK! It's Lieberman wanting to strike Iran

clickclickclickclick

Hillary disagrees GWOT is a bumper-sticker

click

this administration doesn't distinguish between threats

click

created more terrorists than existed before

click

(GS) who's better qualified to be commander-in-chief, you or Senator Clinton

(JB) me, by a longshot.

click

(GS) are you going to raise enough money to stay in the race?(JB) yes

click

Now Graham. I don't have the words to describe how little I care about his dishonest views.clickclickclickclickclickclickclickclick....hey! Subway has pizzas! clickclickclickclick...

Roundtable

W - "Peace requires a new and different Palestinian leadership, so that a Palestinian state can be born. I call on the Palestinian people to elect new leaders, leaders not compromised by terror. I call upon them to build a practicing democracy, based on tolerance and liberty"

Um....... didn't we dance this same dance right before they elected Hamas? And who the hell is chimpy to complain about leaders compromised by terror? Or does torture and unprovoked war not count?

Oh shit! That was 2002. My bad. He might not have publicly authorized torture at that point.
Amusingly, George Will comes out against Democracy, and declares Condi's statement "Nobody saw it coming" the eptiaph of this administration.

General agreement that visible progress in Iraq by September is unlikely at best. George Will says that Republicans are "scheduled to panic in September". I think that may be the first Iraq deadline which will be met.

The subpeonas are coming, the subpeonas are coming! Scooter's going to jail! This could be a fun summer.

Daaaaaaaaaamn! George Will thinks it would be unethical to pardon Libby. There must be a story behind that.

In Memoriam

Ruth Bell Graham.

Mr Wizard.

Kurt Waldheim.

And 17 service members.
18 big losses, a nazi and a who cares.

Martin Sheen supports drug courts - drug therapy instead of prison. Sounds right to me. I wish he was still president.

Republicans demand conviction
posted by TheDon

As the impeachment trial of President Clinton approaches, Republicans have filled the National Mall with a tent city so large that it reminds local residents of the 1963 rally of Martin Luther King, but with catering. Her trial is the final act of a series of trials and legislation which were promised in the 2006 election campaign by Republicans who ran on the slogan "Not In Our Name".

Promising to restore the rule of law over an out-of-control executive and Justice Department, the Republicans vowed to end extraordinary renditions, secret detentions, illegal wiretapping, torture of prisoners, extra-judicial detention and the blatant politicization of the DOJ. Having been swept into office by an electorate weary of a botched war in Iraq and angry over the lack of oversight by the Democratic majority, Republicans immediately passed a series of laws banning all of the secret programs which President Clinton had first denied, then called "essential" when they were exposed by the New York Times. All reporters who were imprisoned by the Clinton DOJ are out of jail now. Clinton had no choice in signing the "Restoring the Rule of Law Act" after a veto-proof majority rejected the idea of breaking the Geneva conventions and imprisoning U.S. citizens with no habeus corpus.

While many of Clinton's appointees resigned in shame, her Attorney General, Alberta Gonebraindead Gonelawless, required an impeachment trial and an escort by Capitol Hill police to leave her duties, chief of which seemed to be protecting Mrs Clinton. The case against the AG was best summed up by House Speaker Tom Delay, when he noted that "Anyone who has spent a day in law school knows that the United States does not torture, does not spy on its citizens without a warrant, and that the Geneva Conventions are the law of the land. An Attorney General who advises the President otherwise, and who participates in the coverup of these outrages has violated her sworn oath to preserve, protect and defend the Constitution."

The President's impeachment on charges of lying to the public and manipulating intelligence to start an unnecessary and disatrous war with Iraq was a stunning rebuke of her administration as a whole, and of her individually. Her claims that the intelligence was wrong has long been discredited, and won her no friends among the remaining Democrats.

President Clinton seems to be clinging to the hope that the required 2/3 majority will not vote to convict her, having reportedly told her staff that "impeachment is not conviction". This strategy of hanging on seemed to have a slim possibility of succeeding until Senator Joseph Lieberman of CT switched parties and became a vocal advocate of removal of President Clinton during his regular appearances on Sunday political shows.

Jokingly referred to as the third host of Fox's Hannity and Colmes show, he has attacked the current administration as being lawless, and as having lost their way. "Fighting terrorists is important, but our Constitution is vital. We cannot defeat evil by giving up our morals and standards. I have sorrowfully come to the conclusion that President Clinton must be removed to restore our freedoms and to restore our standing in the world. Forcing the end of the Iraqi occupation was an important step, but removing the Commander in Chief who attacked their sovereign country is equally important."

President Clinton's trial starts Tuesday and is expected to last six to eight weeks. Vice President Kay Bailey Hutchinson, the compromise candidate who replaced disgraced former VP Rahm Emanuel after his impeachment and resignation, has repeatedly said she will not comment on the trial which likely will conclude with her as the new president. Her acceptance by President Clinton and the Senate ended what many observers called an unseemly and embarassing attempt by Speaker Delay to prevent any vice president from being confirmed, opening the door to his presidency.

VP Hutchinson's replacement, Senator George W Bush is widely expected to vote for conviction, after a fair trial, of course. Senator Bush showed his hand on Meet The Press when he told guest host Robert Novak, "It's puzzlin', confusin' and disappointin' when our officials don't follow the law. During my failed campaign for the presidency I promised that we would not just do what was legal, but what was right. That we would restore honor and dignity to the White House. By removing President Clinton, we can start dignityfying and honorating the presidency once again."

TGIF! Drinks are on me!
posted by TheDon
This week's drink is a simple one; it is a light version of a Pina Colada. It has all the flavor, and is less filling - very nice on a hot summer night.

Pina Colada Light
mix unsweetened pineapple juice and coconut-flavored rum with some ice cubes. More rum means more coconut flavor. I suggest trying this over and over again until you get it just right.

Take That, Bigots!: Massachusetts Defeats Anti-Gay Constitutional Amendment
Posted by Mikhaela Reid

My home state kicks ass! From Bay Windows:

In the June 14 constitutional convention, state lawmakers defeated the proposed amendment to the constitution that would have taken away the civil right to marry from same-sex couples. The final tally on the measure was 45 in favor and 151 against. The amendment needed just 50 votes to pass. The vote came just five months after the first vote by lawmakers on the amendment in which 62 lawmakers backed it.

The Democratic presidential candidates may be too wimpy to stand for marriage equality, but Massachusetts Governor Deval Patrick and House Speaker DiMasi aren't! From the Boston Globe:

The vote came without debate after House Speaker Salvatore F. DiMasi, Senate President Therese Murray, and Governor Deval Patrick conferred this morning and concluded that they have the votes to kill the proposal.

"Today's vote was not just a victory for marriage equality, it was a victory for equality itself," Patrick told reporters as cheers echoed in the State House. "Whenever we affirm the equality of anyone, we affirm the equality of everyone."

The three leaders - along with gay rights activists - spent the last several days intensely lobbying a dozen or more state representatives and state senators who had previously supported the amendment but signaled that they were open to changing their positions.

Sadly for the rest of the country, Mitt Romney--the Massachusetts governor that Deval Patrick replaced--is trying to out-gay-bash his fellow Republicans in his bid for the White House.

Legacies, or Some Day, They're Really Going to Feel Like Fools
Posted by Mikhaela Reid

Marriage equality: yet another arena in which the Democrats are missing a spine.

40 years ago yesterday, the Supreme Court ruled in Loving vs. Virginia that anti-miscegenation laws were unconstitutional. The Loving decision invalidated the "Racial Integrity Act" that allowed Virginia cops to bust into the bedroom of Richard and Mildred Loving, arrest them for "illegal cohabitation" and sentence them to a year in jail.

Can you imagine the leading Democratic candidates getting up at a campaign stop today and hemming and hawing out the following nonsense?

I believe in full equality of benefits, nothing left out...From my perspective there is a greater likelihood of us getting to that point in interracial civil unions or domestic partnerships and that is my very considered assessment.

or

It's a jump for me to get to interracial marriage. I haven't yet got across that bridge.

or how about

I would not support the Defense of Racial Integrity Act today, if there were a vote today. But the part I agree with is the states should not be required to recognize interracial marriages from other states.

Those are all paraphrases of actual statements on gay marriage from Hillary Clinton and John Edwards. Obama has similar views. (found via Pam's House Blend, an excellent LGBT issues blog that regularly checks in on all the candidate's positions on marriage equality).

Some folks say the Democrats have no choice but to tone down their support of gay rights to appeal to religious voters or values voters. But is that the kind of visionary progressive leadership we want to promote?

Decades from now, the people who were too afraid to support full equality for gay Americans are going to look like spineless sheep, and rightly so. I can see the history books now "The Democrats bravely passed non-binding resolutions, courageously voted to fund an illicit war they claimed to oppose, did nothing of any note to remove an Attorney General with a serious torture fetish and tentatively supported domestic partnership benefits while opposing real marriage equality." Now that's a legacy we can all be proud of! As Susan Ryan-Vollmar wrote in her Bay Windows editorial last week (regarding a possible constitutional ban on gay marriage in Massachusetts):

Twenty years from now, when their time in office has long since ended, those lawmakers who back the anti-gay amendment June 14 will still be asked about their vote by their grandchildren, their neighbors and even reporters writing anniversary pieces. Trying to explain that they supported marriage equality but believed the civil marriage rights of same-sex couples should be decided by popular vote will sound even more disingenuous several decades from now than it does today.

Note: I think Ted's turned commenting off while he's away--if you want to comment, I've cross-posted this at The Boiling Point Blog.

Rush Limbaugh for Idiots
posted by TheDon
Sorry, I think I left an "is" out of the post title...

Today, while I was drinking my lunch driving to lunch, I was channel-surfing in my Pruis when I landed on Limbaugh's daily assault on the senses. I stayed there because he was talking about my car and saying some incredible things. They were so bizzare and stupid that I assumed it was a parody, but it appears to be something he believes. He bases a lot of his story on "research" done by something called CNW Marketing Research.

The most bizzare claim is the cost per mile of driving a Prius vs driving a Hummer. Even if you accept the retarded unusual premise of their analysis (the Prius has a lifespan of 100,000 miles while the Hummer has 300,000 in it - just go with it for now), this seems too stupid for even the most credible mouth-breather:

The Prius costs an average of $3.25 per mile driven over a lifetime of 100,000 miles -- the expected lifespan of the Hybrid. The Hummer, on the other hand, costs a more fiscal $1.95 per mile to put on the road over an expected lifetime of 300,000 miles.

Ummmm.... really? You count on people not being able to do that math? $325,000 to operate the Prius over its lifespan? $585,000 for the Hummer? I guess so, since Limbaugh joyously says this:

The upshot of the story is that a Toyota Prius, a hybrid, whatever, it costs three times as much for one-third the driving time than a Hummer.

Let me see... 325 = 3*585... carry the one... I really don't get the appeal of this show, but then I did pass math class. And maybe I'm missing the entire point. He also went to a lot of trouble to tell the story of how environmentally destructive the production of the batteries is, read the refutation of that claim on the air, and then completely ignored the refutation. It's not a science show, is it?

UPDATE

After some more research on the claims made by CNW, they are supposedly calculating the total energy cost of the vehicle from conception to the end of its street life. This number includes tires and dent repair, but does NOT include gasoline costs, meaning the numbers are even more absurd than they appear initially. Somehow, a vehicle which used over $300,000 worth of energy during the manufacturing process was sold to me for $24,000, and I save a bunch of money on gas! Twofer! Thank you Toyota!

The bomb that dare not speak its name
posted by TheDon
The internets are abuzz with the Pentagon's attempt in 1994 to get $7.5million to develop a "gay bomb". The bomb would turn enemy soldiers gay, and they would be so attracted to each other that they would stop fighting and start, well, you know...

I'm not saying that this is not an amusingly stupid idea, and it is based on several faulty assumptions (that you can catch "the gay", that gays won't fight, that you could contain the effects of the bomb, etc), but lets just ponder that a while.

Stupid ideas based on faulty assumptions. It doesn't even sound remotely new or newsworthy.

Shock and Awe.
Star Wars.
Missle Shields.
When they stand up, we'll stand down.
Slam dunk.
Don't ask, don't tell.
If we leave early they will follow us home.
They hate us for our liberties (so let's give up our liberties!).
Data mining.
Total Information Awareness.
Gitmo.
Torture.
Surge.
Rumsfeld. (ok, that was gratuitous)

Face it - Gay Bomb Technology may be the smartest thing these guys have tried in a while, and one of the safest. And imagine the testing. "Am I starting to look cute to you? A little? You want this, don't you? Don't you?"

Central Asia Update

Assuming the power doesn't go down again, this comes to you from Khorog, capital of the Gordo-Badakshan Autonomous Oblast in eastern Tajikistan. My thanks to the guest bloggers who have been and are keeping this blog a living, breathing entity during my time of hunger and sunburn (oh, yeah, and wheezing at high altitudes).

I'm up here on one Very Big Assignment that I can't post about it, as well as three smaller ones that are nevertheless very significant. One is a feature story about Central Asia's "Sword of Damocles," Lake Sarez. Read more about it in "Silk Road to Ruin," but now that I've been there I'm even more passionate about the need for the West to pull together the $2 billion that can save 5 million people from a horrible death.

I'll also be checking in on the current status of the Uyghur insurgency against the Chinese government, as well as popping into Islamabad as General Pervez Musharraf's military government teeters on the brink of oblivion. Oh, and anything else that I find that's worth writing about as well.

Funny, when you leave the US you feel like you're missing out all sorts of interesting news. Then you check the news online and find that, as usual, the Demcrats are pussying out. The Gonzales no-confidence vote was a lame idea, and one that became evem worse after they failed to pull it off. For God's sake, impeach the torturing motherfucker already.