I inadvertently deleted the August 25th post of the same name, so I am re-posting it, below. It, of course, anticipates the Washington, DC kabuki known as “the mid-September Iraq progress report”, by law, to be written by the White House, and in fact, to be written by the White House, but in (foolish) common parlance and conventional wisdom, foolishly (I can’t say that enough) believed to be the work of General David Petraeus and Ambassador Ryan Crocker. Ah, but assuming for the same of argument that Gen. Petraeus did write it… why should we listen to anything he says?...

In an unusual move for a Republican (I last remember first Homeland Security Secretary Tom Ridge using it), citing personal financial reasons, White House chief shillpress secretary Tony Snow announced his resignation. One assumes that Rupert has kept Tony’s chair warm for him… Tony would be smart enough not to leave a job with health insurance in the United States today if another weren’t waiting for him, especially given his personal health issues (including colon cancer that has spread to his liver, though his current condition appears stable, at least by his account). They say things come in threes (deaths,...

That kind of sums up my feeling toward the latest financial sleight of hand associated with funding Dick Cheney’s retirement the Iraq War, to wit, the latest request for a supplemental to the supplemental, or another $50 billion in previously undisclosed spending for the Iraq (and Afghanistan!) wars, running their current costs to over $3 billion per week. This, boys and girls, is the one thing a Democratic Congress could do: it can cut off funding. It doesn’t need Republican permission to do that– because the Dems get a veto in reverse: they can either not bring this to the...

The stock market is usually regarded as a “leading indicator” of economic activity, to wit, the traders and speculators who dominate it are usually placing bets on economic activity in the short and intermediate term futures… which makes it all the more worrisome as the market reacts by tanking (around 280 points in the Dow) to the priorities of the Federal Reserve re: “fighting inflation” in response to the current sub-prime mortgage and housing woes. Apparently, the seeming record decline in U.S. home prices — which overwhelmingly impacts those who are not super-rich– is less of a problem than inflation...

One begins to feel bad for George W. Bush, what with many of his childhood friends abandoning him left and right, particularly two important ones by the end of August– first Karl, and now, Alberto “Fuck You, Congress” Gonzales has announced his resignation as Attorney General. He’ll likely be replaced by Michael “Heckuva Job with Hurricane Katrina” Chertoff, our current Homeland Security Secretary, a tried and true proven Bush loyalist (the only criteria for service in the Administration). It was almost amusing, if not pathetic, watching Gonzales’s (few) defenders insist he was being treated “unfairly” by being asked questions by...

I’ll stop seething long enough to pass along this (hat tip to Mahablog’s Barbara): “this” being from Judge Michael Mukasey, who gives us this Rupert’s Journal op ed. Judge Mukasey outlines his case why, contrary to the actual historical facts and our legal, ethical and Constitutional principles, he contends that our justice system is just not up to trying terrrrrrrorists like Jose Padilla (you will recall that Judge Mukasey first issued the material witness warrant pursuant to which Padilla was first arrested, and originally handled Padilla’s first ill-fated habeas corpus petition in which the Supreme Court eventually found that the...

It should come as no surprise to anyone that there was a method to the unConstitutional madness that has fallen over Presidential events, i.e., the impressive absence of all dissent (the standard being “Hey, would Riefenstahl have filmed it?“). That method is laid out in a White House manual, obtained from the government in a Freedom of Information Act lawsuit by the American Civil Liberties Union on behalf of two irritating dissenters in God- and Bush-fearing West Virginia, as reported here by WaPo. All of those elements we have come to know and love– allowing in only pre-vetted gung ho...

I was quite literally “out in the wilderness” when the Padilla verdict came down (Hassan bar-Sinister phoned me while I was on a practice “run” on the Pikes Peak Marathon course). I think what matters, aside from the travesty of justice angle (Mona of Unqualified Offerings gives us some grounds for reversal) is the fact that the true significance of the Padilla case, which regular readers know that I consider the most important case of our lifetimes, indeed, a case so important that I actually interviewed two of Mr. Padilla’s attorneys (Donna Newman and Andrew Patel), will be deliberately obscured...

Sorry that some cat seems to have the talking dog’s tongue… blogging has been light non-existent of late, as your talking dog was on a personal physical and spiritual quest… to complete the Pikes Peak Marathon, believed to be one of the five hardest marathon races in the world, in an official time (i.e. less than ten hours, when the course is closed.) I am pleased to say… pointless mission accomplished! I trained extra hard, and had to leave the East Coast for the first time in six years… but in the end, when I was handed my finishers jacket...

Or some other fractured version of Shakespeare, that post-title seems to make about as much sense as the USA Patriot Act provision that removes the power to effectively determine the pace of state executions from federal courts, and hands it to… you got it… Attorney General Alberto “Fuck You, Congress” Gonzales. Defense attorneys are outraged. Like we care what they have to say! It is widely believed anathema to execute an innocent person. Except in the United States, where, let’s face it: if they were innocent, they would have been able to afford a decent defense attorney, now, wouldn’t they?...