The Daily Lie

Sen. Jim DeMint (R-SC):

It looks like he’s gonna try to get a lot of that revenue from raising payroll taxes on upper income and that sounds good but basically that affects small businesses and their ability to hire people. So I just think it shows a lack of understanding of the private sector. A lot of people make — who are reporting a quarter million dollars — you know, I’ve done that before in my small business, and I was actually taking home like 50 or 40.

Straight-up fucking liar. If you own a small business and report income of a quarter million dollars, then that means you are taking home a quarter million dollars, and you should be taxed accordingly! If your business has revenues of $250,000 and your business employs other people, and has overhead, expenses, etc and after all that, you pay yourself $50K, then you pay income taxes on $50K. It's that fucking simple.

That kind of stupid and such dishonesty obviously pays off in South Carolina (see: other Senator; Assclown Governor) but the rest of us ain't buyin'.

UPDATE: Even though I've moved to N.C., I live in one of the liberal/Democratic enclaves. Plus, the state as a whole actually turned blue in 2008. But I have to venture outside the Green Zone and go to South Carolina for work all the time, and it is like a foreign land to me—"Jesus Died For My Sins" crosses every quarter-mile, Confederate flags displayed with impunity, and other reminders that I will never really be comfortable in the South. I recall sitting at a light in the fall surrounded by ONLY signs for guys like Lindsay Graham and others in the rogue's gallery of asshat GOoPers, and realizing these political villains that were always from "somewhere else" and were somewhat of an abstraction to me are quite real. This is where they come from. And they aren't going away any time soon.

Rogue

HuffPo:

In an interview with conservative radio host Rush Limbaugh, Sarah Palin explained her reasoning in going on the attack against Barack Obama. Asked why she was more "forceful" than her running mate, she said: "Rush, I've got nothing to lose in this and I think America's got everything to gain by understanding the differences, the contrasts here between Obama and McCain."

"Nothing to lose..." Pretty much. The electoral chances of the McCain/Palin ticket are swirling in the bowl as we speak, but Caribou Barbie has a much softer landing place than McCain. She gets to go back to her day job: handing out oil checks and "Earning" her 80% approval rating. She's the new darling of the FOX Right, and the fundies want to groom her for 2012.

Five weeks ago she was a relative unknown. Now she is a few weeks from either becoming Vice President or a high-profile martyr for next to no effort or investment—it's really win-win for her. She has absolutely no reason to restrain herself, tell the truth or do anything honest or ethical. She owes McCain nothing and in a way probably benefits as much if not more from a loss.

I'm sure McCain wakes up every morning ecstatic about his choice...

The Daily Lie

I should have started this weeks ago...

Every day for the rest of the campaign, I'm going to give you one of the brazen lies of John McCain or Sarah Palin. The hard part will be choosing which one...Let's kick it off with this one:



Prove it, you lying asshole. Video? Audio? Hell, even a still photo or pencil sketch?

Yeah, that's what I thought...

Holy. Fucking. Bullshit.

I had no intention of blogging politics tonight. In fact, last night I became so despondent about the damn election, I didn't think I wanted to waste my time anymore.

That didn't last long.

McCain launched another ad today, and even though his past several ads have been totally dishonest and infuriating, nothing approaches what he does in this one.

[blood. boiling.]

It's an "education" spot. The ad warms up by pulling some out-of-context quotes from newspaper articles to claim Obama is bad for "supporting the public school monopoly" or some bullshit, but that's just the pretext for bringing up the most dishonest and offensive attack I think I've EVER seen in a political ad.

McCain's shop takes an awkward photo of Obama, silhouettes it out of its setting, and uses it as the visual for a claim that basically accuses Obama of being, at best, a leering pervert—or, at worst, a fucking child molester.

[voiceover] Obama's one accomplishment? Legislation to teach "comprehensive sex education" to kindergartners.

Learning about sex...

...before learning to read?

Barack Obama.

Wrong on education. Wrong for your family. "

That's a goddamn outrage.

I know exactly what that claim is misrepresenting, because right wing asshats tried to make hay with this a year or two ago... In Illinois, Obama supported a program that has nothing to do with "sex education" in the sense McCain implies—it was a program to teach children about inappropriate touching to help protect them from predators.

Accusing a man who is the father of two young girls, who supports commmon-sense precautions that are commonly taught in schools and communities nationwide, of being some sort of perv or sex offender.

John McCain "approves this message."

What a fucking desperate, pathetic, piece of shit of a man he is.

UPDATE: Talking Points Memo has the video, Steve Benen Hilzoy has more, including details on the legislation.

FOLLOW-UP: I'm not settling for some weak-ass statement from an Obama campaign spokeperson. This calls for a direct response from Obama himself. Not in response to a reporter, but buy a fucking spot and ram this shit down McCain's throat. When McCain hasn't been trying to paint Obama as an arugula-eating elitist, he's been working the scary, angry black man angle.

Time for Obama to be angry alright. But with a twist McCain will regret. Nothing is more powerful or righteous than an angry parent. McCain just opened the door for Obama to rip his goddamn head off. Will he do it?

UPDATE 2: The Rude Pundit is on the same page...

We know the game here, the racial politics, the fear of sex that's rampant on the right. John McCain has finally released his rage and hatred, and it is a sight to behold. Watching McCain unleashed is like watching a starving tiger in a pen of gazelle. It ain't gonna be pretty. The Rude Pundit imagines McCain seeing the faces of his captors in everyone he looks at, and he's got a bayonet.

Unless the Obama campaign starts throwing shit at McCain, it will be over. Yeah, Obama wants to change politics, but ask anyone who has ever tried to subvert a system: you gotta do it from the inside. And if you cringe at the idea of Obama stepping into the muck and mire of post-Atwater poltics, then ask yourself: will he get more done by keeping his shoes clean and losing?

[...]Stay angry. Again: The McCain campaign just said that Barack Obama wants to teach 6 year-olds how to fuck. That deserves a little more of a response than it's "perverse" or whatever shit the Obama campaign just put out.

[...] In other words, Obama campaign, as so many others have advised, go on offense, and that means you have to offend.

Liars

This is the horse-made-of-bullshit Cowboy John McCain rode out of the stable the other day...



A couple of real mavericks those two...

It is filled with misleading crap, but it includes one clear, undeniable, flat-out lie. It says Palin "stopped the bridge to nowhere." Not even close to true. The U.S. Congress stopped the bridge (in effect) when they removed the earmark that dedicated the money to the bridge. And this occured before Palin was even elected governor! And during that campaign she actually supported the bridge project. Even after the bridge became a national symbol of waste and a late night tv punchline, Palin still supported it, telling residents of the area that "you aren't 'nowhere' to me."

Once she was governor, the project was a political non-starter, but she still took every dime of the federal money for the bridge and allocated it for other projects—including the roads that lead to the non-existent bridge.

Here is Obama's response ad in which attacks back with the same theme...



It's about fucking time. The ad actually uses the word "lying"—which is accurate and patently obvious—yet further than I thought they would go.

Now Obama just needs to get out in front on this shit and play some offense, not just defense.

GOP Training Almost Complete

Detroit Mayor Kilpatrick pleads guilty, resigns
Will pay $1M fine, spend 4 months in jail
Sep 04, 2008 15:17 EST

Mayor Kwame Kilpatrick pleaded guilty to felony charges Thursday in a sex scandal, forcing him out of office after months of defiantly holding onto his job leading the nation's 11th-largest city. "I lied under oath," Kilpatrick said in court.

[...] As part of Thursday's deal, the 38-year-old Democrat is to serve four months in jail and five years of probation. He also would pay the $1 million in restitution over the five-year probationary period, cannot run for any elected office for five years and loses his law license.

But wait! He could be Vice President! Waaay more people live in Detroit than all of Alaska, and Canada is right across the river!

It's too bad. Kwame was a young guy with talent and real potential. He was elected right after we moved to Michigan, and I recall thinking how cool it was that this 31 year old who celebrated his victory by "raising the roof" was elected mayor of an ascendant Detroit. He did some good things and had big plans but ended up squandering a great opportunity and abusing his position. He turned out to be a giant jackass, and deserves every bit of that punishment.

"Live Mic" Murphy and Peggy "Noonan!"

This is awesome. During RNC coverage today, Republican strategist Mike Murphy and conservative WSJ columnist Peggy Noonan are busted during a break revealing their true opinions of the Palin pick...



Keep those comments in mind when these two bullshit artists give the polar opposite as their "analysis" later tonite.

(In case you can't see the video, or had trouble hearing it, here's the transcript.)

Chuck Todd: [...] Tonight voters will get their chance to hear from Sarah Palin and she will get the chance to show voters she's the right woman for the job Up next, one man who's already convinced and he'll us why, Gov. Jon Huntsman.

(cut away)

Peggy Noonan: Yeah.

Mike Murphy: You know, because I come out of the blue swing state governor world: Engler, Whitman, Tommy Thompson, Mitt Romney, Jeb Bush. I mean, these guys -- this is how you win a Texas race, just run it up. And it's not gonna work. And --

PN: It's over.

MM: Still McCain can give a version of the Lieberman speech to do himself some good.

CT: I also think the Palin pick is insulting to Kay Bailey Hutchinson, too.

PN: Saw Kay this morning.

CT: Yeah, she's never looked comfortable about this --

MM: They're all bummed out.

CT: Yeah, I mean is she really the most qualified woman they could have turned to?

PN: The most qualified? No! I think they went for this -- excuse me-- political bullshit about narratives --

CT: Yeah they went to a narrative.

MM: I totally agree.

PN: Every time the Republicans do that, because that's not where they live and it's not what they're good at, they blow it.

MM: You know what's really the worst thing about it? The greatness of McCain is no cynicism, and this is cynical.

CT: This is cynical, and as you called it, gimmicky.

MM: Yeah.

UPDATE: Noonan explains herself. Some convincing, some not as much.

"Did I Say 'Surge?'"

After completely botching and/or lying about the timeframe of "the surge" in Iraq, McCain tires a new tack...



Got that?

"Surge" no longer refers to a "surge" in the number of troops by tens of thousands...McCain is pretty much trying to pretend that "surge" is short for "CounterinSURGEncy."

As an aside, he looks so fucking old in these videoes, it's creepy.

Hillary "Apologizes"

Today's New York Times:

Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton did something Wednesday night that she almost never does. She apologized. And once she started, she didn’t seem able to stop. […]

Her biggest apology came in response to a question about comments by her husband, Bill Clinton, after the South Carolina primary, which Obama won handily. Bill Clinton said Jesse Jackson also won South Carolina when he ran for president in 1984 and 1988, a comment many viewed as belittling Obama’s success.

”I want to put that in context. You know I am sorry if anyone was offended. It was certainly not meant in any way to be offensive,” Hillary Clinton said. ”We can be proud of both Jesse Jackson and Senator Obama.”

”Anyone who has followed my husband’s public life or my public life know very well where we have stood and what we have stood for and who we have stood with,” she said, acknowledging that whoever wins the nomination will have to heal the wounds of a bruising, historic contest.

That's an apology? Are you fucking kidding me?

Sincere apologies don't start with "I want to put that in context..." Excuses do.

She then employs the classic passive/aggressive non-apology apology. Break it down:

"You know..." Puts the responsibility squarely on the recipient. You're expected to know that the Clintons could NEVER be racist, and if you don't, that's not Hillary's problem, it's yours.

"...I am sorry if anyone was offended..." This never apologizes for what was said. It doesn't acknowledge that it was offensive coming out of Bill Clinton's mouth, only that it was offensive to some other people's ears. And that, by the way, is also their problem.

"...It was certainly not meant in any way to be offensive...” This part is true. It was meant to be a dogwhistle and a wink. It was supposed to fly over he heads of anyone who might be offended. But it's no apology.

"...We can be proud of both Jesse Jackson and Senator Obama.” I'm not sure what this means...I guess she'll give them stickers when she's President?

Finally, let me add what great people my husband and I are and how dare you question us. You must not have been paying enough attention to us. Oh, and the bruises and wounds to the party? That's all me. Hopefully the rest of you can get over it and support or forgive me.

The Fake Apologalooza then turned to the more recent offensive statements of Geraldine Ferraro:

”I certainly do repudiate it and I regret deeply that it was said. Obviously she doesn’t speak for the campaign, she doesn’t speak for any of my positions, and she has resigned from being a member of my very large finance committee.”

I don't think she regrets that it was said at all. She was happy to have central PA mull that one over for a couple days...She's sorry the wrong people paid attention she paid a price for it in the media.

And finishing with "...he has resigned from being a member of my very large finance committee.” is the not-my-fault cherry on top. Another excuse. You can either run a campaign or you can't, Senator. If your committee is too big for you to control, that's your fucking fault.

Backlash

[h/t Sullivan]

Dick of the Week: Michelle Malkin

Yes, the age-old question answered...the D.O.W. can be a woman.

Intrepid investigative reporter Michelle Malkin is doing her best to defend America from the fraudulent propaganda forced into our pinned-open eyelids by the omnipotent Democrat Party and their Army of Twelve Year Old Stormtroopers! Leaving no stone unturned no dark alley uninspected Malkin exposes the lies and deception...

Oh, you mean she just uses her highly trafficked right-wing bully pulpit website and tv appearences to make baseless smears and charges against a 12 year old boy and his family because they dared speak up about SCHIP? That's the right-wing merchant of bullshit we all know and loathe.

Apparently while I've been too busy to post about anything but baseball, this has been a real hot topic...Well, there's no more baseball for a few days, and this the big, fat, hanging curveball I need to get my fury swing back in shape.

It seems the Democrats had a twelve year old boy make the response to Bush's radio address a week or two ago, and he told the story of his family's struggles with health insurance and experience with SCHIP. You know, the thing President Compassionate Conservative vetoed..."I don't know why President Bush wants to stop kids who really need help from getting CHIP," young Graeme Frost said, referring to the State Children's Health Insurance Program (SCHIP).

Always eager to please the Dark Lords of the GOP Sith, Malkin and her ilk jumped at the chance to savage these perfectly ordinary American citizens in the public arena, claiming (like Karl Rove) that they are "fair game." That's right, opening your mouth in a free society opens you up to personal destruction. I hope this wench was careless enough to tread across the line into slander and libel territory.

Here's Malkin:

Update 2:50pm Eastern: I just returned from a visit to Frost’s commercial property near Patterson Park in Baltimore. It’s a modest place. Talked to one of the tenants, Mike Reilly, who is a talented welder. He said he had known the Frosts for 10 years. Business is good, he told me, though he characterized Frost as “struggling.”

[...] I also passed by the Frosts’ rowhouse. There was an “01-20-09″ bumper sticker plastered on the door and a newer model GMC Suburban parked directly in front of the house. I’ve seen guesstimates of the house’s worth in the $400,000-plus range.

Bet you didn't know Michelle's a real estate appraiser in her spare time... She "guesstimates" the house is worth over $400,000? Even if the house IS worth that much, my first question was, "When did this family buy it? What did they pay?" Did MM ponder this as well? Of course—she's not stupid, just dishonest. Better to make it sound like these Frost characters are living high on the hog in a half-million dollar "remodeled" brownstone. USA Today checked:

Bloggers said the house was worth more than $400,000. It turns out it was bought for $55,000 in 1991 in a Baltimore neighborhood where "there were drug dealers and prostitutes on our street," Bonnie Frost said. Halsey Frost, a woodworker, did most of the renovations, which are "still not done," Bonnie said.

Oh, and a carpenter who drives a truck? The audacity!

Next up? Go after the kids' school—here's Malkin:

The family is not as destitute as the MSM has made them out to be. FreeRepublic member icwhatudo (oh, so clever!) asks the tough questions the mainstream media won’t ask. Like why a “working family” in need of government-subsidized health care can afford to send two children to a $20,000-a-year-private school.

She then blockquotes "icurfullofshit":

…One has to wonder that if time and money can be found to remodel a home, send kids to exclusive private schools, purchase commercial property and run your own business… maybe money can be found for other things…maybe Dad should drop his woodworking hobby and get a real job that offers health insurance..."

Hoo boy, I'm not done with that motherfucker yet...but here's USAT on the school part:

Bloggers said Graeme and Gemma go to private Park School, where tuition costs about $20,000. Graeme gets a scholarship, while Gemma's brain injuries were so severe that the city pays to educate her at a school for children with disabilities.

Did I forget to mention that the thing that sent this family into a medical bill death spiral and put them on SCHIP was a terrible car accident? No matter, the brownshirts show no mercy.

Back to the Freeper asshat, icwhatudo: "...if time and money can be found to remodel a home"—This family home was a dump they bought sixteen fucking years ago when that part of Baltimore was a slum, and he fixed it up himself—let me state first-hand, this is not always laying around in hammock with a beer while paint dries—working on your house can really be hard and time-consuming, and I do it because I can't pay somebody else to. (I have a screen door in my garage that I primed in May that have yet to paint and re-hang—perhaps it'll be ready by the time screen season rolls around again. What's my problem? I have just two kids and none of them have severe disabilities.)

And this crap about him "running his own business"... As if this guy is some kind of tycoon or George "Arbusto" Bush running an oil business into the ground on the Saudi's dime. "Owning a business" more often equals a constant struggle than unbridaled wealth, morons.

I "own my own business."—guess that makes me "a CEO" in the eyes of a frothing pundit. At a certain point, paying for health insurance for my family became too expensive for me and my "business" to support. So, I got a day job, one I am vastly overqualified, and underpaid for, but it has great benefits. Here's the problem—it took me over a year to get it. And I didn't have a couple of my kids in the Brain Injury Clinic. And that job on its own does NOT pay our normal bills, so I still dabble with my "hobby" at night to make ends meet. This can be tough, and perhaps not a viable option for this family. Something that loudmouths in the world of subsidized opinon-spewing probably can't really relate to.

Malkin goes on to criticize the Maryland SCHIP program as lax for "not impos(ing) an asset test on applicants." But Maryland DOES means test, and the Frosts are well within range:

[USAT] The couple — who have four children in all —earned about $45,000 last year, well below the $55,220 limit for a family of six set under the original SCHIP program...

The original program. Yes, these thieving Frosts aren't even one of the new "too rich for a hand-out" families Bush likes to dishonestly use as pretext for his veto. But Michelle and others on the right think they should have to sell their home to meet an assets test even though it would destroy the family's future?

--

All of that said, I'm not sure I completely support the Dem's strategy here, and I do not think that there should be total insulation from any kind of scrutiny if you offer yourself up for a publicity stunt like this. But it was quickly clear this family met the requirements for the program, and found themselves even in that position only due to tragic events, and they should have been left alone at that point. They are now pawns caught in the middle of two forces much bigger than them, who are really more interested in advancing agendas than them or their particular needs, and that's the sad part.

Can we please just quit this fucking dance and get on with National Healthcare already?

MORE: Digby, Ezra, Firedoglake, John Cole. Cole follow-up

UPDATE: One of the other assholes Malkin quotes in her screed claims the Frosts could get health insurance if they really wanted it:

A check of a quote engine for zip code 21250 (Baltimore) finds a plan for $641 with a $0 deductible and $20 doc copays.

First of all, I find that almost impossible to believe. When we paid for our own insurance four years ago, it was more than that for any decent plan, and the only way we got under that amount was to decline maternity coverage—which (gasp) meant we couldn't have the baby if Mrs. F got pregnant. Probably not a position the right wing wants to support.

Also left out of this guy's "analysis" is the fact that this family has pre-existing conditions no insurer would want to touch. My daughter would put us in the same situation. IF we didn't have good insurance her medical issues over the last two years would likely have bankrupted us. And if I needed to to purchase my own insurance now her conditions would jack the rates through the roof.

Medical conditions are often genetic (bad) luck of the draw, and exactly the kind of thing a civilized society shares the burden of—not tosses to the gutter. There is no way I could have "budgeted" for the tests and procedures my daughter went through, and if they had happened while I was dependant solely on "my business" it would have ruined us. This is exactly what happens to families all over the country—medical bills are the largest cause of personal bankruptcies. And the Republican Congress in it's infinite "compassion" made sure it was even more difficult to declare bankruptcy a few years back.

I am at a berserker rage level of hatred and anger right about now.

You Just Can't Make the Stuff the President Makes Up, Up

At some point in last night's speech, the President thanked "the 36 nations who have troops on the ground in Iraq and the many others who are helping that young democracy." Apparently one of those counties helping us make this an international effort is Iceland. You know, the Iceland that doesn't even have a military—somehow they are helping us with "troops on the ground"...

Did I say "troops?" I meant troop. As in one soldier. And by soldier, I mean spokesman. And he's leaving Iraq in two weeks. For good. [link]

"I grow fatigued..."

The fact that I can hardly get worked up about the War, among other topics, anymore due to Outrage Fatigue won't stop me from letting somebody else point out what crap Bush's "address to the nation" was. Take it away, Hilzoy:

In a move that caught all of Washington by surprise, President Bush announced tonight that he will begin drawing down troops at almost exactly the rate that he must draw them down unless he is prepared to extend troop rotations or institute the draft. In another startling move, he described this drawdown not as forced on him by deployment schedules, but as a "return on success": the tremendous success of the surge. In so doing, once again, our President shows himself to be a true visionary: seeing things invisible to ordinary men and women. Where we see only a country in the process of falling apart, our more discerning President sees success. Where we see millions of people fleeing their homes, he sees 'civil society taking root'. And, somehow, he sees "a young democracy" where we see dead people.

And to top it all off, where we see a President determined to keep our troops in harm's way for as long as possible, hoping that the civil war unleashed by his folly will unfold on someone else's watch, he sees a chance, "for the first time in years, for people who have been on opposite sides of this difficult debate to come together." Although why he thinks this is so novel escapes me: it has always been possible for both sides to come together if all those who disagree with George W. Bush simply abandon their positions, and this is not the first time he has suggested that we embrace this sort of bipartisanship.

The President also said this:

"In the life of all free nations, there come moments that decide the direction of a country and reveal the character of its people. We are now at such a moment."

Here, for once, I agree completely. We have had clear evidence that our policy in Iraq is unworkable for some time. We need to decide what to do about it. And we have, essentially, two choices. On the one hand, we can face up to this fact, as unpleasant as it might be, and figure out the most honorable way of extricating ourselves. On the other, we can continue to defer the moment when we have to realize that we have failed, and go on sacrificing good and decent men and women to our unwillingness to face the truth.

This will, as President Bush says, reveal our character as a people. I would much rather it reveal some capacity for maturity and decency than a willingness to ask people to die so that we can pretend we haven't lost.

Following up on the President's quote above...This is actually the only part I saw (after the fact, online) and I had to stop it right there before I hurt my pretty new monitor. What the fuck to you mean "we", white man? Whatever has been happening in Iraq, and what comes next has no reflection on this country or the character of its people. The rest of us left you and your retard-base and your fucking abomination of a war in the dust quite a while ago.

Your "moment of truth" is nothing but a bullshit soundbite in your vast narrative of lies. you are pretending to bring troops home, when all you are really doing (and not even committing any numbers, btw) is going back to the same unacceptable number of troops we had before this stupid surge. 2008 will end with the same amount of troops that 2006 did.

Last night's speech was the same as any of the other ones—you continue to fool all 28% of the people all of the time, cow Congress into supporting you, and punt the ball down the field and expect the next President to deal with your fucking mess.

Nicely done. You are full of shit, but it's working. That is your only success—your brain-dead supporters clap, the morons in the media trumpet your "compromise," the Republicans point to this fake success, and the Democrats roll over for whatever you want.

Fuck you, Mr President. And fuck the rest of you too. In fact, you can all suck down one of these...



Extra points for whoever identifies the title quote. Full quote, "I grow fatigued, Captain."

UPDATE: Sullivan, good NYT Op-Ed, Carpetbagger, Slate.com's Kaplan

Hope the Door Hits You Hard on the Way Out

CRAWFORD, Texas - Attorney General Alberto Gonzales has resigned, ending a months-long standoff with Republican and Democratic critics who called for his ouster over the Justice Department's botched handling of FBI terror investigations and the firing of U.S. attorneys, officials said Monday.

Finally. This should have happened long ago. This is a positive developement, but it shouldn't do a thing to change the way the Democrats pursue the Administration. Unfortunately I think it will satisfy many enough to let up pressure, which would be a mistake. The issues they are investigating are far bigger than Gonzales himself.

Early reports point to Bush nominating the Swedish Chef as the new A.G.

UPDATE: I just watched Gonzo's "announcement press conference" live on CNN, and it was so brief I almost thought I missed something. No reason for leaving, he simply lied about how much he respected the people at Justice, and walked away without taking a question. Not the he would have honestly answered any...

I think the White House correctly did the calculus that Gonzales being raked over the coals as sitting AG hurt them, and it had become impossible to defend him through their minions in the media—he was that bad. But now, if he is up there stammering before Leahy's Committee, the FOX News, Rush etc. can play the "the guy resigned already, what do the Democrats want?" card and start to swing him over to sympathetic character.

As opposed to just merely pathetic.

For maximum grave-dancing* pleasure head over to WaPo's Andrew Cohen who has a great "Good Riddance" post, and check out his four-part expose on Gonzales, Rough Justice.

* Or, if dancing isn't your thing...a diffent kind of relief

UPDATE 2: My early money on a replacement is Orrin Hatch. Just about the only guy who remained unashamed to defend Gonzales and the Administration through all of this. He's been auditioning for the role all year. Hatch would cruise to confirmation because he's in the club—collegiality will trump Constitution—even though he will be just as obstructionist as Gonzales was. Bush may still nominate somebody offensive (or at least un-confirmable) first to pick a fight and score points first, then offer up Hatch as a compromise.

Vietnow

The other day at VFW, The Boy King made a speech in which he held up his Iraq Clusterfuck to history and past successes and failures in geopolitical adventuring—so we sheeple could understand His Grand Scheme—or at least be reminded of our place, and to get the hell out of His way or be branded a traitor...

Everyone's talking about his comparisons between Iraq now and to the withdrawal from Viet Nam, but Bush wraps himself in layers of WWII and Korea as well. All of it is equal parts treachery, dishonesty and just outright fucking nerve, especially coming from him.

Any resultant "discussion" should have began with his getting booed off-stage by an audience that should know better, followed by a media that derides him out of office for being either that fucking stupid, or that fucking much of an asshole.

Instead, he's treated like a serious thinker, and any Iraq "withdrawal" must be carefully considered against the lessons Bush learned* about the Far East.

Over at Obsidian Wings Hilzoy has a brutal 18-round takedown of this bullshit-laden treachery from Young Churchill.

No quotes, because you really need to. Read. The. Whole. Thing.

*on Monday. From his speechwriter.

Rudy Does His Digging at the Microphone

Last week, Rudy Giuliani earned D.O.W. honors for claiming to have been "one of them" referring to 9/11 rescue workers. It wouldn't be the first time either... In Septemper 2006:

“I spent as much time here as anyone… I was here five, six times a day for four months. I kind of thought of it as living here.”

"[...] On at least three occasions, in responding to accusations that the city failed to adequately protect the health of workers in the wreckage, he has boasted that he faced comparable risks himself. In one appearance he declared that he had been in the ruins “as often, if not more” than the cleanup workers who logged hundreds of hours in the smoldering pile.

Another time he brushed aside safety claims by asserting that his long hours at the site had left him susceptible to “every health consequence that people have suffered.”

The New York Times went back and checked.

A complete record of Mr. Giuliani’s exposure to the site is not available for the chaotic six days after the attack, when he was a frequent visitor. But an exhaustively detailed account from his mayoral archive, revised after the events to account for last-minute changes on scheduled stops, does exist for the period of Sept. 17 to Dec. 16, 2001. It shows he was there for a total of 29 hours in those three months, often for short periods or to visit locations adjacent to the rubble. In that same period, many rescue and recovery workers put in daily 12-hour shifts. […]

When these guys lie like this do they really think they will get away with it? I mean, it is easy to check this stuff.

What? You mean they do get away with it? Oh. Now I see...

Even in the Times piece which just lays waste to Giuliani, they wrap up with this:

Alan I. Abramowitz, a political science professor at Emory University who specializes in voter behavior, said the Giuliani campaign’s focus on his Sept. 11 record has raised the stakes for any mischaracterization of his actions during that period.

“Its sort of like John Kerry making his war heroism a central focus,” Mr. Abramowitz said, “which may have contributed to the attention that was given to the swift boat veterans’ attacks on him.”

"Sort of like John Kerry?" You mean that as a candidate Kerry was a documented war hero, and the lies were told about him? By the Republicans? Yeah, same fucking thing, "Professor."

[h/t Carpetbagger]

In Ten Years Will These Guys Even Remember Being in Office?

Cheney actually gets to trot out both of his favorite unproveable lies in this brief exchange: "I don't recall." and "I haven't seen the story."

I particuarly LOVE the old "I haven't seen the story." Do you think for one second that Dick Cheney is unaware that the NY Times has fingered him as the man who gave the order for Gonzo to harrass Ashcroft in the hospital? Of course he's aware of it. Right down to the puncuation. In this and every other case when he feigns ignorance, he's full of shit. I suppose it's plausible he might have one of his lackeys come in a read it to him so he doesn't have to actually see it, but, come on...

Impeach

There's been plenty of bluster on the left about impeachment. At various points over the last few years, I've advocated impeaching Bush and/or Cheney plenty of times—just last week I nearly engraved it on my car. I'll pull together some links about the pros and cons of going after the big fish later, but one guy Congress should definitely get in their sights NOW is the Attorney General. It's the most politically doable, publicly supported and actually possible to get a conviction and remove him from office. Congressional GOPers would close ranks around Bush or Cheney, but I'm not so sure they are going to go that far out on a limb to support Gonzo.

Make it happen. Once Gonzalez is removed from his role as Chief Obstructor of Justice and Cover-Up Artist for the Administration, other investigations might pick up some steam. They all deserve their day in front of the klieg lights, but Gonzalez is the logical place to start.

MORE:
NY Times: “He’s Impeachable, You Know”
Kleiman: "Impeach Gonzalez?"
Digby: "Depends On What The Definition Of Program Is" (ie: Gonzo? Bring it on!)
Digby: "The 34 Senator Gambit" (ie: Bush? Not So Fast...)

UPDATE: The ball is rolling...

Rep. Jay Inslee (D-WA) is introducing legislation that would require the House Judiciary Committee and the House of Representatives to begin an impeachment investigation into Attorney General Alberto Gonzales, in the wake of his damaging testimony last week. The legislation reads:

Resolved: That the Committee on the Judiciary shall investigate fully whether sufficient grounds exist for the House of Representatives to impeach Alberto Gonzales for high crimes and misdemeanors.

Think Progress has the story and the video here.

Executive Privilege = Anything Embarrassing

Seriously, is there anything the Bush Administration won't try to conceal behind claims of "Executive Privilege?" ANYTHING?

White House, Pentagon cite executive privilege to hold up documents on friendly fire victim Tillman

Rep. Henry Waxman (D-CA) revealed on Friday afternoon that the White House and Pentagon were holding up a House Oversight and Government Reform Committee investigation into the friendly fire death of former professional football player and Army Corporal Patrick Tillman.

"[T]he Committee wrote to White House Counsel Fred Fielding seeking 'all documents received or generated by any official in the Executive Office of the President' relating to Corporal Tillman's death," noted a press release from the Committee.

But the White House has apparently again invoked its executive privilege to hold up the documents sought by Waxman and Ranking Minority member Tom Davis (R-VA).

"The White House Counsel's office responded that it would not provide the Committee with documents that 'implicate Executive Branch confidentiality interests' and produced only two communications with the officials in the Defense Department, one of which was a package of news clippings," the Committe noted. "The response of the Defense Department to the Committee's inquiry was also deficient."

In their letter to Fielding, Waxman and Davis doubted that the two documents were the limits of White House-Pentagon communication over Tillman's death.

I cannot imagine what possible legitimate claim to privilege they have here. Bush, Cheney and Fielding seem to think that "Executive Privilege" is for anything that might prove embarrassing or compromising to them. As far as I understand it, it can't be used to cover up illegal activity or abused to conceal innappropriate activity. There is no other explanation for this claim about Tillman—what possible communication could they be hiding other than a White House-directed campaign to mislead the public and use his death to their political advantage?

This is perhaps the clearest, most textbook case ever of "if you've done nothing wrong, you have nothing to hide" turned on it's head. There was no communication necessary except for doing something wrong and then covering it up.

UPDATE: Steve Benen has a nice recap on the Tillman story if you need refreshing. Mark Mleiman and Emptywheel agree that this is a good place for Dems to put up a fight. This case has the capability of holding the attention of the media and casual observers far better than more intricate or obscure Bush scandals.

Nelson Award: GOP Moralist First One Snared in D.C. Madam Net

The rank hypocrisy of the GOP is on display yet again. We had Newt leading the impeachment movement against Clinton while in the midst of his own extramarital affairs; the Republican leading the charge against online sexual predators sexually harassing his pages online, and now the "staunch, family values" Senator from Louisiana who ran as "the "Defender of Marriage", slammed his House and Senate predecessors, Bill Clinton, Hollywood, and "Massachusetts values" all while cheating on his own wife. With prostitutes.

[link] Sen. David Vitter (R-La.) apologized last night after his telephone number appeared in the phone records of the woman dubbed the “D.C. Madam,” making him the first member of Congress to become ensnared in the high-profile case.

The statement containing Vitter’s apology said his telephone number was included on phone records of Pamela Martin and Associates dating from before he ran for the Senate in 2004.

His defense? That he did this "several years ago" and has been "forgiven by God and his wife." All that means, asshole, is that you are not only a hypocrit now, but that you were lying when you ran for office.

People had been giving Vitter credit for getting out ahead of the story and making a statement on his own once the phone records were ordered turned over by the Court. ABC News had been poring through the lists and made no connections to Vitter.

Well, evidently the only thorough public guardian left is Larry Flynt. In one day, Hustler tied Vitter to the list and contacted him. Only then did he 'fess up and make his statement.

And the icing? It all comes just after Vitter was the first GOP Senator to publicly endorse Guiliani for President and was appointed to chair Rudy's campaign in the South. Let's review Rudy's staff, shall we? Coke dealer, racist bigot, child molester and now a prostitute-using adulturer. You just can't make this stuff up.

UPDATE: Andrew Sullicvan has the ultimate karmic Quote of the Day:

"I'm a lot more like Lorena Bobbitt than Hillary. If he does something like that, I'm walking away with one thing, and it's not alimony, trust me,"
[Vitter's wife] Wendy Vitter, 2000, talking about the Clinton scandal to the New Orleans Times-Picayune. Male genital mutilation may be about to have a comeback.