Come for the politics, stay for the snark.

“Jesus paying for the sins of everyone is an insult to those who paid for their own sins.”

Republicans in disarray!

The republican caucus is already covering themselves with something, and it’s not glory.

Let’s finish the job.

Some judge needs to shut this circus down soon.

The worst democrat is better than the best republican.

You cannot shame the shameless.

Authoritarian republicans are opposed to freedom for the rest of us.

No Justins, No Peace

Republicans do not pay their debts.

Do not shrug your shoulders and accept the normalization of untruths.

It’s always darkest before the other shoe drops.

It’s the corruption, stupid.

When your entire life is steeped in white supremacy, equality feels like discrimination.

I know this must be bad for Joe Biden, I just don’t know how.

A consequence of cucumbers

They are lying in pursuit of an agenda.

Accused of treason; bitches about the ratings. I am in awe.

Teach a man to fish, and he’ll sit in a boat all day drinking beer.

But frankly mr. cole, I’ll be happier when you get back to telling us to go fuck ourselves.

Putting aside our relentless self-interest because the moral imperative is crystal clear.

Sitting here in limbo waiting for the dice to roll

“What are Republicans afraid of?” Everything.

T R E 4 5 O N

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67Comments

  3. 3.

    myiq2xu

    From Times Online (UK):

    The FBI has been accused of covering up a key case file detailing evidence against corrupt government officials and their dealings with a network stealing nuclear secrets.

    The assertion follows allegations made in The Sunday Times two weeks ago by Sibel Edmonds, an FBI whistleblower, who worked on the agency’s investigation of the network.[..]

    One of the documents relating to the case was marked 203A-WF-210023. Last week, however, the FBI responded to a freedom of information request for a file of exactly the same number by claiming that it did not exist. But The Sunday Times has obtained a document signed by an FBI official showing the existence of the file.

    Edmonds believes the crucial file is being deliberately covered up by the FBI because its contents are explosive. She accuses the agency of an “outright lie”.[..]

    The anonymous letter names a high-level government official who was allegedly secretly recorded speaking to an official at the Turkish embassy between August and December 2001.

    It claims the government official warned a Turkish member of the network that they should not deal with a company called Brewster Jennings because it was a CIA front company investigating the nuclear black market. The official’s warning came two years before Brewster Jennings was publicly outed when one of its staff, Valerie Plame, was revealed to be a CIA agent in a case that became a cause célèbre in the US.

    They wouldn’t lie, would they?

  5. 5.

    gypsy howell

    myiq2xu quotes:

    “The anonymous letter names a high-level government official who was allegedly secretly recorded speaking to an official at the Turkish embassy between August and December 2001.

    It claims the government official warned a Turkish member of the network that they should not deal with a company called Brewster Jennings because it was a CIA front company investigating the nuclear black market.”

    I’ve believed from the beginning that the outing of Plame was always about shutting down the Brewster Jennings operation rather than punishing Joe Wilson for his op-ed.

    I think Cheney saw (perhaps yet another) opportunity to stop B-J’s investigation into WMDs in Iraq and WMD proliferation in the black markets once Joe Wilson came out with that op-ed in the Times. He probably figured it would seem perfectly plausible to his useful idiots in the media that he would ratfuck Wilson, and they would never question whether he might have a yet even more sinister reason for wanting them to get the Plame story out there.

    He/They (I assume it goes beyond Cheney) needed to shut down the whole B-J operation and fry all their contacts worldwide, so they could get on with their criminal activities.

  6. 6.

    montysano

    Well, John, let’s face it: Bill Geist reporting on porn leaves a bit to be desired. But yeah: as someone with a 25 year Sunday Morning habit, I wondered if I’d accidentally changed the channel.

  9. 9.

    myiq2xu

    He/They (I assume it goes beyond Cheney) needed to shut down the whole B-J operation and fry all their contacts worldwide, so they could get on with their criminal activities.

    It never made sense to me why they would out Plame like that.

    I realize that they are ruthless immoral bastards but what did they gain by outing her? So what if Wilson’s wife worked at the CIA? How did that discredit his story? If anything, it gave it more credibility.

    But as an excuse for exposing the whole operation, it makes more sense. They never expected to get caught, but they were committing treason so you would think they would be less casual in their motives.

  10. 10.

    Krista

    Sigh. We caved again.

    So evidently, your government can torture, but it’s considered horribly rude for us to point it out.

  11. 11.

    gypsy howell

    They never expected to get caught, but they were committing treason so you would think they would be less casual in their motives.

    Maybe they figured the story “we wanted to punish a political opponent (Joe Wilson)” would seem so logical, so natural, so perfectly sensible in BushWorld, that no one would ever question it further.

    And let’s face it, so far they have gotten away with it.

  13. 13.

    Cassidy

    “we wanted to punish a political opponent (Joe Wilson)” would seem so logical, so natural, so perfectly sensible in BushWorld, that no one would ever question it further.

    Honestly, I’ve always believed they were petty enough for that to be a perfectly good reason (to them) to have done it.

  14. 14.

    D-Chance.

    McCain… the most popular hated man in the Republican party?

    Limbaugh’s always hated him and hasn’t been shy about it for well over a decade; now, I see K-Lo’s House is having a total meltdown. So is Protein Wisdom. As are other sites in Conservative Blaghistan.

    The battle lines are now forming just as I predicted waaaaaay back (3 months ago?): Hillary is on the cusp of coronation and Queendom, and McCain will be the sacrifical lamb given the Dole “Thanks and Good-bye” Tour.

    Two more terms and a total of 28-years of the Clinton/Bush Dynasty rule. If George Washington were alive today, he’d throw his hands up and tell us all to go fuck ourselves. He and his fellow patriots didn’t fight and die for dual monarchy.

  15. 15.

    Jake

    But as an excuse for exposing the whole operation, it makes more sense. They never expected to get caught, but they were committing treason so you would think they would be less casual in their motives.

    You’re thinking like a sane, mature person. Imagine a bunch of rich brats playing a prank. Getting caught doesn’t enter into their calculations. Even if they do get caught, so what? Mom and dad will just write a check or send in the lawyers. And as much as I hate to play Dr. Phil, I really do think Lil’ Bush wanted to show his dad’s old employees (who must have miles of files on his ass) that he’s boss now. How else do you explain WH’s continual poking at the CIA?

    Of course, you know and I know that busting an undercover operation is a bit more serious than throwing a beer keg out the window and the repercussions are a bit more severe than a lecture from the Dean, but the frat boys in the White House don’t seem to get it.

  16. 16.

    LiberalTarian

    I haven’t been following the McCain Hate Train. What’s the deal? When he affronted people like Jerry Falwell? Got all bi [partisan] with Joe Leiberman? What else?

  17. 17.

    The Other Steve

    Limbaugh’s always hated him and hasn’t been shy about it for well over a decade; now, I see K-Lo’s House is having a total meltdown. So is Protein Wisdom. As are other sites in Conservative Blaghistan.

    Sweet. McCain is the most fun. you can go on their websites say the most ridiculous thing, and they’ll cheer you on.

    Sort of like the left sites and Clinton. :-(

  18. 18.

    The Other Steve

    I haven’t been following the McCain Hate Train. What’s the deal? When he affronted people like Jerry Falwell? Got all bi [partisan] with Joe Leiberman? What else?

    I think it was his self-inflicted wounds in Vietnam, his treason crashing an airplane so he could finally defect to the Commies.

    http://www.vietnamveteransagainstjohnmccain.com/

  19. 19.

    myiq2xu

    Imagine a bunch of rich brats playing a prank. Getting caught doesn’t enter into their calculations.

    Bush may be a moron but Cheney and his crew aren’t. They’re evil.

    So many things that this administration has done seemed innocuous at first, but turned out to be part of a seamless web of deceit and corruption.

    Alberto “Fredo” Gonzales wasn’t so stupid he couldn’t remember anything, he was just taking the fall for his masters by playing dumb. Fredo may not be the sharpest knife in the drawer but he is not an idiot.

    They are secretive about everything so they don’t look suspicious when they need to be secretive about something specific.

    These guys claim because of national security they can’t even tell us the names of domestic spying operations or the general outlines of what they are doing, but then turn around and casually out a whole clandestine CIA operation to try to make a critic look bad.

  20. 20.

    myiq2xu

    I haven’t been following the McCain Hate Train. What’s the deal?

    The Chickenhawk Caucus doesn’t like real he-man war heros.

    Luckily for them there are so few left in the GOP.

  21. 21.

    Dennis - SGMM

    So, how long before the ongoing collapse of the economy is blamed on the markets’ losing confidence due to the prospect of a Democratic President and Congress? The sequel will be that only the Republicans can restore said confidence so that we can all have a pony and an SUV to carry it around.

  22. 22.

    myiq2xu

    So, how long before the ongoing collapse of the economy is blamed on the markets’ losing confidence due to the prospect of a Democratic President and Congress?

    When it comes to assessing blame, watch the Chimpy administration cease to exist.

    It will go from Clinton to the Democratic Congress to the next occupant of the Oval Office as if nothing else existed.

    Bet your missing life savings on it.

  24. 24.

    RSA

    I haven’t been following the McCain Hate Train. What’s the deal?

    The best I can figure is that McCain holds some moderate–and not even liberal–views that just happen to match up with the concerns of a variety of single-issue voter groups. Campaign finance screws him with the small-government libertarians; having dissed Falwell, even if they kissed and made up later, makes him untrustworthy to evangelicals; his stem-cell views make him anathema to much of the pro-life crowd; his previous statements on “amnesty” for illegal immigrants means no love from former Tancredo supporters. So you’ve got a lot of people with very strong views on a particular topic, and even if McCain has other conservative credentials (his lifetime scores from ACU and other conservative organizations are pretty damn high), their single pet issue prevents them from supporting him now.

  25. 25.

    Caidence (fmr. Chris)

    So evidently, your government can torture, but it’s considered horribly rude for us to point it out.

    Annnnd we just slid another 40 years back towards the dark ages. And people get mad at me for having a little hope in a dude who’s actually said torture is wrong.

    What country do I move to if this shit gets sanctioned by #44?

  26. 26.

    TheFountainHead

    If Obama loses South Carolina, will Hillary still give me a pony?

    I’m pretty sure the only thing her campaign (or presidency) is capable of giving out is a kick in the teeth.

  27. 27.

    LiberalTarian

    On the one hand, it seems hard to believe that a political party’s base could be so shortsighted (GOP v. McCain). On the other hand, oh, um, well, never mind. :(

  28. 28.

    Wilfred

    I liked McCain once. There’s no way I’d vote for him now, although I despise Clinton and feel the same way about this absurd dynastic procession of political saints we’re being subjected to. I actually have more faith in McCain to personally do the right thing, but less faith in the human baggage he will inevitably carry with him – the opposite from Clinton who, whatever her ethical lapses, will be accompanied by people who I so think retain some scruples and compassion for others.

    McCain has said he’d be a one-term President, which leads me to think (hope) that he might be saving a few knives for the Redstate type social/religious conservative, to whom he’ll owe nothing if elected. Now if it’s him against Clinton it’s just fear versus fear. In his case, fear of the Other, in hers, fear of getting sick and going broke because of it. In either case, fear wins out, and a person that votes from fear deserves whatever happens to him and her.

    First I left America, and went back. Then it left me and I never went back. It’s a big world you see once you shake the dust of Rome from your shoes.

  29. 29.

    Dennis - SGMM

    What country do I move to if this shit gets sanctioned by #44?

    I wouldn’t look for torture to be outlawed if Clinton is elected. From The Washington Post:

    Clinton was similarly vague about how she would handle special interrogation methods used by the CIA. She said that while she does not condone torture, so much has been kept secret that she would not know unlesselected what other extreme measures interrogators are using, and therefore could not say whether she would change or continue existing policies.

    “It is not clear yet exactly what this administration is or isn’t doing. We’re getting all kinds of mixed messages,” Clinton said. “I don’t think we’ll know the truth until we have a new president. I think [until] you can get in there and actually bore into what’s been going on, you’re not going to know.”

    Not exactly a resounding denunciation.

  30. 30.

    LiberalTarian

    Extraordinary rendition is not new to GW; he just turned it into a reality beyond what used to be hyperbole. I know it was used by WJC, but I don’t know if it was for GHWB. It probably was, it just didn’t have the same definitions/mechanisms.

    We are in for a bumpy-ass ride. I keep trying to remind myself “it isn’t the avalanche that kills you, it’s the panic.” [Well, of course sometimes the killing blow *is* done by the avalanche, but you get my drift.]

  31. 31.

    myiq2xu

    So you’ve got a lot of people with very strong views on a particular topic, and even if McCain has other conservative credentials (his lifetime scores from ACU and other conservative organizations are pretty damn high), their single pet issue prevents them from supporting him now.

    If you don’t conform to GOP orthodoxy you’re either a heretic or an apostate. Everything is black or white, there are no shades of grey.

    None of their Presidential nominees since 1980 has deviated from the script laid down by Reagan.

    Although McCain now reads direct from the party manual, in the past he did so the rank and file don’t trust him.

    Of course they don’t trust Romney either, but McCain did something worse than heresy, he committed party treason by opposing Chimpy in 2000.

    Once you have demonized an opponent, it’s hard to get the attack dogs to lick his boots.

  32. 32.

    Caidence (fmr. Chris)

    I wouldn’t look for torture to be outlawed if Clinton is elected.

    I know. Which is why I’m all giddy that there’s someone actually pushing her around the court.

    But, let’s not forget, enthusiasm is a terrible thing to have in an election. You know. False hope, and all. I should just get on my pony and trot off. Elections aren’t places for people to try to earn my vote.

    At least Obama has the fucking gonads to take a goddamn stand for American values.

  33. 33.

    KCinDC

    He/They (I assume it goes beyond Cheney) needed to shut down the whole B-J operation and fry all their contacts worldwide, so they could get on with their criminal activities.

    Now wait a minute. I know Balloon Juice is powerful, but I don’t think we were on Cheney’s radar screen back then.

  34. 34.

    LiberalTarian

    At least Obama has the fucking gonads….

    Well, that *is*, after all, what they are for.

  35. 35.

    myiq2xu

    Extraordinary rendition is not new to GW; he just turned it into a reality beyond what used to be hyperbole. I know it was used by WJC, but I don’t know if it was for GHWB. It probably was, it just didn’t have the same definitions/mechanisms.

    Extraordinary rendition is an example of the slippery slope in action.

    As originally conceived it went something like this: A wanted terrorist is living in plain sight beyond the reach of extradition. A covert operation snatches him from his safe harbor and delivers him to a country where he can be put on trial for his crimes.

    Many people would not find that particularly objectionable. But what if that receiving country was guilty of human rights abuses? Is that our problem?

    By the time Chimpy was done with it, ER was being used to snatch people who were only suspected of being associated with terrorism off the streets of friendly countries and take them to secret “black ops” prisons in Thailand and Afganistan for interrogation using torture.

    IOW – Instead of delivering wanted criminals to justice ER has been used to bring people in for questioning.

    Innocent people, kidnapped and tortured.

  37. 37.

    myiq2xu

    Well, my tiny pool of humor is dry for the moment.

    Time for Chinese food.

    Why Chinese? Are you implying that it tastes funny?

  45. 45.

    demimondian

    One of the documents relating to the case was marked 203A-WF-210023. Last week, however, the FBI responded to a freedom of information request for a file of exactly the same number by claiming that it did not exist. But The Sunday Times has obtained a document signed by an FBI official showing the existence of the file.

    I’d be interested in seeing the document the _Times_ has. With the permission of such lights of reason as Bob in Ozonica, I’ll reserve judgment about this claim until I see the document (or a reasonable facsimile) with my own eyes.

  48. 48.

    myiq2xu

    I’d be interested in seeing the document the Times has.

    So would I.

    WOne of the notable things about the CIA torture video scandal is that none of the orginally disclosed reports of the interrogations even mentioned that video tapes existed.

    This bunch planned to cover-up from the get-go.

  51. 51.

    myiq2xu

    Shit. I make a beer run and it’s 7-3 Pats by the time I get back.

    BTW – It’s a frigid 55 degrees outside and the sun is shining brightly of the greenery.

  53. 53.

    RSA

    It’s a frigid 55 degrees outside and the sun is shining brightly of the greenery.

    Bastard. We’ve still got snow on the ground from last night–in North Carolina, of all places. (Okay, it’s not as warm as Georgia, where Michael D. posts from, but it still only snows once every few years here.)

  54. 54.

    demimondian

    Yeah, it’s awful here in the Pathetic Northwest — forty-two F outside, slight breeze, rained last night, so the air is nice and clear.

    And if I really wanted snow, I could drive half an hour east and ski.

    It’s so *terrible* here.

  56. 56.

    myiq2xu

    And if I really wanted snow, I could drive half an hour east and ski.

    Half an hour? I would have to drive at least an hour to the nearest ski resort.

  57. 57.

    demimondian

    Yeah — Snoqualmie Pass is half an hour to the east. Skiing isn’t great, but…well, there’s frozen water, treadmills to pull a person to the top of hills covered with the shit, and groomed trails to waste perfectly good gravitational potential energy upon.

  58. 58.

    Jake

    OAT: Who will save the skin-cell babies?!

    Seriously, someone please explain to this librul fascist the difference between using snowflake babies from an IVF clinic for stem cell research and using embryos made from skin cells for SCR. Is it simply a case of “No sperm, no foul”?

  59. 59.

    demimondian

    Actually, Jake, there is an subtle ontological difference — if I make a demi-clone, and look at its stem cells, then, in some sense, I’ve not created a “new” person, as demi is already walking around looking stupid. From an ethical standpoint, the “archetype of demi-dumb” is already established, and so this “new” clone is nothing more than a very difficult-to-construct tissue culture of a person who’s already around.

  60. 60.

    Chuck Butcher

    And if I really wanted snow, I could drive half an hour east and ski.

    I’d have drive close to 6hrs west to get out of the snow, south is worse. Considering the roads it might take considerably longer. 350 mi E & N to Portland OR, 350 mi E & S to Eugene OR. I’m in the middle of nowhere, E of BF Egypt.

    I have to drive up on one mountain range to get to Portland, or cross three to get to Eugene. Since there’s snow down here at 3500 feet, you can guess what up is like. It’s a little over 1/2 hr to Anthony Lakes Ski Resort, lots of powder.

  61. 61.

    The Other Steve

    Extraordinary rendition … I don’t know if it was for GHWB.

    How soon people forget.

    Dr. Humberto Álvarez Machaín, a Mexican physician, was allegedly involved in the 1985 kidnapping, torture, and murder of DEA agent Enrique Camarena Salazar by “prolonging Agent Camarena’s life so that others could further torture and interrogate him.” (United States v. Alvarez-Machain, 504 U.S. 655, 657 (1992)).[1]

    In 1990, Dr. Álvarez was abducted from Mexico by bounty hunters hired by DEA agents and brought to trial in the United States over the protest of Mexican officials. Legal action reached the United States Supreme Court (as above) focusing upon the effect of illegal extradition upon the trial court’s jurisdiction. Invoking the “Ker-Frisbie Doctrine” the U.S. Supreme Court held that the trial court’s jurisdiction was not affected by the manner in which the accused was brought before it. This created international alarm and concern as other nations feared that the decision would encourage further such abductions.

    Extraordinary rendition is the slippery slope from there. To abandon the Rule of Law, and do as you please because it seems right.

  62. 62.

    LiberalTarian

    Ah, that would explain why Dog the Bounty Hunter got pinched in Mexico–it is ILLEGAL for bounty hunters to go into Mexico in search of people wanted in the US. Of course, they have to catch the bounty hunters, but makes for interesting border relations, eh?

  63. 63.

    Jon H

    “Extraordinary rendition is not new to GW; he just turned it into a reality beyond what used to be hyperbole”

    Bush turned it from ‘extraordinary’ to ‘commonplace’.

    Extraordinary rendition has its place, as when Eichmann was captured in South America by the Israelis.

    But Cheney and Bush lowered the bar to the point where there really isn’t one. It’s just random thuggery.

  64. 64.

    LiberalTarian

    ∋∝∞

    Sorry, I’m geeking out. ♥♥♥ How cσσl is βeing able to do this, eh??? {Obviously, not an αdvanced γeek.} I am supposed to be grading papers.

    Well, that’s as far as it goes easily. I had hoped to use a much greater than symbol, but eh. Oh well.

    Heh. Goodnight!!

  65. 65.

    Pb

    I believe in a relatively equal society, supported by institutions that limit extremes of wealth and poverty. I believe in democracy, civil liberties, and the rule of law. That makes me a liberal, and I’m proud of it.

    — Paul Krugman (has a book to sell)

  66. 66.

    The Other Steve

    Extraordinary rendition has its place, as when Eichmann was captured in South America by the Israelis.

    Agreed. You have to know what is important.

  67. 67.

    myiq2xu

    Pb Says:

    I believe in a relatively equal society, supported by institutions that limit extremes of wealth and poverty. I believe in democracy, civil liberties, and the rule of law. That makes me a liberal, and I’m proud of it.

    —Paul Krugman (has a book to sell)

    And I’m gonna buy me a copy.

    I would buy a copy of Doughy Pantload’s too, but we have plenty of toilet paper right now.

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