Blogging from the Left
Clever Gaffes
Glenn is on to a story about the Attorney General apparently making stuff up out of whole cloth and nearly crying about it. Mukasey said in a speech that FISA prevented the US from listening in on a specific phone call before 9/11... As I'm sure you all know, if this is true, it's big news since there's never been any discussion of this before.... We'd better hope the explanation is that he's lying, because if it isn't, it means that the 9/11 commission either hid relevant information about this or weren't told.
4/4/2008
Just sick
Take Iraq for instance. How many times did the White House tell us that it was only a matter of months before the Iraqi security forces would be able to stand up for themselves, so we could stand down? Yeah, I lost count too but judging from their performance during the Basra offensive, it appears the real answer is never. At least 1,000 to 1,500 deserted during the battle, including dozens of officers, and at least two senior field commanders in the battle.
4/4/2008
Lieberman Mixes Up "Al Qaeda in Iran"
Looks like John McCain's surrogates are taking it to a new level. Joe Lieberman today decides it's fun to blast Barack Obama. Except in the process he says this: "If we did what Sen. Obama wanted us to do last year, Al-Qaeda in Iran would be in control of Iraq today." Oops! There's no such thing as Al Qaeda in Iran!
4/3/2008
Iraqi Government Casualties in Basra
The reports of heavy fighting in Basra had fragmented reports of heavy Iraqi government casualties and mentions of Badr aligned militia casualties, but few hard figures. The New York Times' article on the planning or lack thereof for the offensive has an interesting nugget buried deep that could shed some light on the casualties taken by the 14th Division: More than 500 Iraqi replacement soldiers were moved by air while an additional brigade was sent by ground.
4/3/2008
Mukasey Tells A Nasty Whopper
Attorney General Michael Mukasey made an astonishing statement in San Francisco last Wednesday during a question and answer session following a routine propaganda speech: Officials “shouldn’t need a warrant when somebody with a phone in Iraq picks up a phone and calls somebody in the United States because that’s the call that we may really want to know about. And before 9/11, that’s the call that we didn’t know about. We knew that there has been a call from someplace that was known to be a safe house in Afghanistan and we knew that it came to the United States. We didn’t know precisely where it went.”
4/2/2008
Experience
Barack Obama: Zero years on Senate Armed Services committee, fairly sound foreign policy views. Hillary Clinton: Five years on Senate Armed Services committee, questionable foreign policy views. John McCain: Twenty-one years on Senate Armed Services committee, absolutely fu**ing bonkers. Moral: a stint on a military affairs committee and a personal easiness with (or eagerness for) war do not in any way create foreign policy knowledge or constitute real experience in the field.
4/2/2008
The Torture Memo to Top All Torture Memos
This is the version of the 2002 Torture memo, which was addressed only to the CIA and the torture statute, as applied to the numerous statutes restricting the conduct of the armed forces. None of those statues, you see, limits the conduct of war if the President says so. It is, in effect, the blueprint that led to Abu Ghraib and the other abuses within the armed forces in 2003 and early 2004. Here, finally, is Part One of that memo, and here is Part Two.
4/2/2008
Ideological Diversity in the Media
It's worth noting that for all the conservative complaints about a "lack of diversity" on college campuses with regards to ideology, there is none at a conservative institution like Fox News. Meanwhile, if Sowell's critique about academia can be extended to other so-called liberal bastions, the supposed "liberal" media, with its "taliban" like tendency towards political censorship, has managed to find political commentators of both varying shades and political persuasions.
4/2/2008
Party Crashers
Apparently Jay Rosen was intrigued (and concerned) by Will Bunch's characterization of the liberal bloggers at Eschacon "declaring war" on the press. I find that interesting since, as far as I'm concerned, liberal bloggers declared war on the press many years ago. I'm not sure that this is even controversial. Pushing back on biased, anti-Democrat and pro-Republican lies and editorial judgment is supposed to be one of our primary raison d'etres.
4/1/2008
Media '08: Drinking From a Fire Hose?
The marathon Democratic race--coupled with the retail approach to PA media that both Clinton and Obama are deploying--has left a "news" vacuum that has essentially forced the national media into a sort of 1950s, pre-technological childhood, playing Sputnik with an old refrigerator carton. It is a shame that, while the horse-race is on pause, there has not been a discernable turn toward issue-oriented reporting, at least on TV.
4/1/2008
Elizabeth Edwards on McCain's healthcare plan
Elizabeth Edwards said this weekend that she and Sen. John McCain (R-AZ), who have both been treated for cancer, have one thing in common: “Neither one of us would be covered by his health policy.” Under McCain’s plan, insurance companies “wouldn’t have to cover preexisting conditions like melanoma and breast cancer,” she said, since cancer survivors are routinely denied insurance when they try to purchase it as individuals.
3/31/2008
It’s the economy stupid
No, I am not an economist. Nor a lawyers nor an accountant. Just a modern American worker trying to survive and feed the family on an assortment of part time jobs and tutoring gigs. Not getting any easier out there for regular folk. Some examples from today’s NYTimes: Driven by a painful mix of layoffs and rising food and fuel prices, the number of Americans receiving food stamps is projected to reach 28 million in the coming year, the highest level since the aid program began in the 1960s.
3/31/2008
Iraq Civil War - #4
If the U.S. general public was tuning in at all to the current goings-on in Iraq, this image alone could blow a major hole in the Administration's rationale for being there. After $22 billion spent training the Iraqi army, how does Team Petraeus justify the sight of Iraqi Security forces -- within days of launching an all-out attack on the Mahdi -- turning over their weapons to officials of Muqtada al-Sadr in exchange for Korans and olive branches?
3/31/2008
Iraq Civil War: Iranian Brokering Peace Deal
I see three takeaways from this news. First, it was the government that blinked and not Sadr. Secondly, the Iraqi government turned to Iran and not the US when it needed diplomatic help. Lastly, there is no guarantee that the battle between the government and the Sadr forces is not over. So tell me again – why do we leave US forces in the middle of this mess?
3/31/2008
Pop Quiz: Why Are We In Iraq Again?
Thanks to Kevin Drum, we now have a handy cheat sheet so we know who’s shooting whom in the latest version of Teh Awesumest War Evar™. (Thanx Digby) And you didn’t think there was going to be a test. Of course, if you read our fearless host’s post below, even knowing the teams doesn’t matter much when folks take off their uniforms and change teams as soon as the game starts.
3/28/2008
Blogging from the Right
Democracy Takes it on the Chin
The past month or so has been a really rough one for democracy.The month started out with an "election" in Russia in which there were no debates and no opposition candidates.... And it ends with an "election" in Zimbabwe where the regime, though more civilized than Russia's in that it allowed an actual opposition candidate on the ballot, refused to release results of the presidential poll and launched a crackdown that included rounding up foreign journalists and seizing the records of the opposition party.
4/4/2008
Grey Lady Thrilled With Wrong Track Poll
The question asked was “Do you think things in this country are generally going in the right direction or do you feel that things have pretty seriously gotten off on the wrong track?” I bet the folks at the Times and cBS are partying it up today over this poll, which makes them happen [sic], but, of course, being liberals/progressives, being happy will make them sad.
4/4/2008
Drink Absolut -- Bring Back Mythical Aztlan
Here's an Absolut-ly Outrageous Ad in Mexico City... Absolut Vodka reaches out to La Raza... Mi Blog Es Tu Blog saw the ad in the current issue of Quien magazine. "In an Absolut World anything can happen including getting the US-Mexico border straight once and for all." ...You may become so drunk you might even imagine you're in Aztlan.
4/3/2008
McCain has torrid affair with Brazilian model
Granted, it happened in 1957, but it is another example of how John McCain’s experience towers over that of his Democratic rivals, demonstrating an ability to develop close bilateral relationships abroad. We never hear about Barack Obama or Hillary Clinton having this type of experience south of the border, though the American electorate hungers for such stories. Where is the crack investigative staff of the New York Times when we need it?
4/3/2008
Is Pizza Worth Dying For?
This story I found through Hot Air angered me unlike any in a while. A pizza delivery man defended himself from armed robbery with a gun, and Pizza Hut has suspended their employee for this act of defense. Now this is almost standard stupidity you kinda just get used to, but then there was this quote in the article: Vonnie Walbert, vice president of human resources, said last week that employees are not allowed to carry guns “because we believe that that is the safest for everybody.”
4/2/2008
Airline Passenger Detained Had Bomb-Making Materials in Bag
Did passenger profiling by behavioral specialists result in the apprehension of a man atttempting to carry bomb-making materials in his luggage onto a flight in Orlando? That's the impression one might draw from this report of the incident.... However, apparently it didn't take as much training as it might initally appear to spot this guy. The report continues: "He looked rather crazy," a passenger said. "He was rocking left and right and up and down. He looked a little wacko."
4/2/2008
Where Attractive Women Turn Into Old Maids
Because I work in politics for a living, I know a lot of women who live in D.C. and I've always been surprised at how hard they say it is to get a date in that town. I mean, we're talking about personable, successful, attractive women here -- exactly the sort you'd think would be in heavy demand. The first couple of times I heard that, I wrote it off to their being single and having a skewed perspective because of that. But, after I heard it enough times, I figured that there must be something to it.
4/2/2008
Sid Speaks Some Truth About McCain
Drudge predictably goes for the big headline from a Sid Blumenthal talk at Barnes and Nobel (Sid was promoting his new book) - Blumenthal Claims Inside Knowledge that McCain Flirted with Leaving GOP. My reaction to that is... zzz... so what if McCain flirted with leaving the GOP? Even if he did, we will never know how serious he was.
4/2/2008
Sadr’s Triumphant Surrender
It’s hard to believe how reality-averse the analysis on this confrontation has been: Said Vali Nasr, an expert on Shiite politics at the Fletcher School of Law and Diplomacy at Tufts University, “He stood his ground, made his point and showed he has the real power in the south, not his rivals.” He didn’t stand his ground, he ordered his men to hide indoors like whipped dogs. He showed he has the real power to ... what, exactly? Lose hundreds of fighters in a few days, then surrender?
4/1/2008
Not a joke: Afghan lawmakers outlaw dancing on TV
The story of Afghanistan: One step forward, one hundred steps back. The re-Talibanization of the country continues apace. If you are saying to yourselves, “What the h-e-double-hockey-sticks,” well, this is what happens when you allow the embedding of sharia law into a “democratic” constitution: Afghanistan’s lower house of Parliament passed a resolution Monday seeking to bar television programs from showing dancing and other practices deemed un-Islamic.
4/1/2008
You Be the Jug
So according to Roggio, a beaten Sadr is desperately seeking a face-saving way out of a war he is losing badly. But according to the Times (reporting by Erica Goode), a triumphant Sadr has trapped American forces and feeble, helpless Iraqi lickspittles and lapdogs in a quagmire; and now we are begging Sadr to give us (following our acquiescence to a series of "demands") a face-saving opportunity to run away with our tails between our legs.
3/31/2008
Lieberman backs McCain
Joe Lieberman calls it as it is. Who really thinks that Barack Obama can bridge the gap between the two parties? No one, not even Democratic Senators in their own party. Joe Lieberman backs John McCain and says … this is the the same Democratic part [sic] from 2000. When todays [sic] Democratic [sic] attack Joe Lieberman, ask yourself why they had no issue with him in 2000?
3/31/2008
Will They Admit Progress?
Great job as usual by Michael Goldfarb in describing the fighting in Basra. Basically saying that those who moan and cry about Iraq always like to point out that the militia’s are still running rampant. Well now Maliki is doing something about it and what do we get? More whining.... Does anyone really expect tensions to ease in a few short months, or years? Hell, there are tensions in this country that have existed for centuries, from political to racial. It’s called life.
3/31/2008
Defeated Maliki Accepts Cease-Fire
Six days of Shiite-on-Shiite warfare in Basra appear over after Mahdi militia chief Moktada al-Sadr sued for peace and the government agreed in a deal brokered by Iran. Whether this gets scored a “win” for Sadr or Prime Minister Maliki will likely vary depending on the predisposition of the evaluator. Based on what we know now, though, Maliki’s gambit in taking on the Mahdi Army failed.
3/31/2008
Try To Baffle Them With Bullflop
If you'll notice, global warming alarmists like Al Gore always seem to accuse their opponents of being on the fringes or anti-science. However, if you'll notice, when there's an actual debate about global warming, it's the people who say that they don't think it's caused by man who actually seem to primarily base their case on scientific arguments. Meanwhile, at best, Al Gore and company tend to make wildly exaggerated claims about global warming and at worst, they simply claim that the debate is over.
3/28/2008