Recently in Incompetence Category
Well, boys and girls, we’re still in Iraq, and since declaring the end of major combat operations, a full 97% of the men and women who have died in Iraq have done so following that potentially great day. And, of course, if we choose to elect John McCain as our next Commander in Chief, we will have many more Mission Accomplished Days to celebrate.Do I really need to add to that?
Oh hell, of course I don't. Besides, rhetorical question. Duh.
CBS NewsWhat the hell do you say to this type of cover up?
In the past, Katz has repeatedly insisted while the risk of suicide among veterans is serious, it's not outside the norm.
"There is no epidemic in suicide in VA," Katz told Keteyian in November.
But in this e-mail to his top media adviser, written two months ago, Katz appears to be saying something very different, stating: "Our suicide prevention coordinators are identifying about 1,000 suicide attempts per month among veterans we see in our medical facilities."
Katz's e-mail was written shortly after the VA provided CBS News data showing there were only 790 attempted suicides in all 2007 - a fraction of Katz's estimate.
Suicide is an extremely serious problem. Denial on the part of those responsible for helping the veteran's struggling with depression clearly means our military personnel are not getting the help they need. Katz is suppose to be focusing on the welfare of his patients, not the greater good of the military.
The man acted dishonorably, tarnishing the reputation of our military personnel, many who are now struggling to overcome the psychological damage caused by what was clearly an untenable situation.
The New RepublicYou want my vote for president? Not if you can't create an efficient, smooth running team. This is more reminiscent of BushCo™ than of any successful presidency.
Rife with big egos and competing centers of influence--veterans of Hillary's First Lady days, relative newbies from her Senate office, Bill's '92 people, Bill's '96 people--Team Hillary has never been a comfortably cohesive group. In happier times, discipline was easier to maintain. But, as this race has grown longer and rougher, the staff's nerves and relations have been badly strained by persistent financial troubles and constant turf wars, not to mention one increasingly unmanageable ex-president. Some days, it's hard to remember that, just six months ago, the campaign was regarded as a highly disciplined machine. More and more, it resembles an unruly rock band plagued by dysfunction and public infighting. From Williams's arrival to Solis Doyle's demise to Penn's ascent, fall, and return, the ebb and flow of power in Hillaryland over the past few months has left multiple people acting like they are in charge--and no one really in control.
However, don't mistake this as some kind of endorsement of Obama. Or McCain. I am going to support the Democratic ticket come November 2. Unless Gore steps in as an independent at the last minute.
I just finished reading an article in the SAMHSA newsletter that stated Bush was planning to have the budget balanced by 2012. Now, it seems to me that for him to be able to balance the budget, he would have to be in office. Either that, or he is arrogant enough to believe his policies are going to be followed lock-step by the next president.
What ever. The idiot had 8 years to balance the budget and he couldn't get it done on his watch. Instead, after spending money like a drunk, he is simply passing the consequences on to someone else.
That we are having any type of discourse over the legitimacy of torture is beyond the pale. Our current leadership is at an intellectual capacity as to render the discourse in this country to an elementary school level. But than, we here in Left Blogstonia have been aware of the childishness of our leader since 2002.
Bark Bark Woof Woof
In other words, the Republicans, who can't run on their record or rely on the sharp memory of their candidate (Shia? Sunni? Iran? Al-qaeda?) or his plans for revitalizing the economy (ready for more cake?), will do precisely what they're best at: attack their opponent and try to scare the crap out of the electorate without offering anything more than platitudes, nostrums, and the firm assertion that John McCain is most assuredly not George W. Bush; he just plans to do the exact same things he did but without the fake Texas drawl.
There is no doubt whatsoever that the Republicans will do exactly what Mr. Kristol predicts; that's a given, since it's worked so well the last couple of times. But Mr. Kristol's record for predicting the future is also well-known. He's one of the bunch that said that we would be greeted as liberators in Iraq, that the war would last a couple of weeks or months, that it would pay for itself with the oil revenues that we'd get, and that our influence and model of democracy would turn Iraq, Iran, Syria, and Saudi Arabia into the Iowas of the Middle East with freedom and McDonald's springing up on every street corner from Riyad to Damascus. With that kind of record, it really makes you wonder why anyone gives serious attention to anything he says other than to hold it up for mockery and derision.
The problem with using the old approach was it took for granted the independent and [cough] Reagan Democrats [cough]. Back then, there really was no track record for the rabid right wing Republicans. They had managed a good propaganda campaign that imposed a label of incompetence on the Democrats that stuck because there really was no counter argument at the time.
They do not have that option today. With BushCo™ having established the true meaning of incompetence, corruption, and bad government, playing to the base will not keep the independents and [cough] Reagan Democrats [cough] in the Republican camp.
I suspect the rabid right wing minority are replaying the glory days in their heads. But today's electorate map just does not include for them a solid majority of independents and [cough] Reagan Democrats [cough]. That close to 80% of the nation thinks we are heading in the wrong direction ought wake them up to the fact they've lost the swing votes.
In fact, I would be careful if I was a Republican strategist. There is the distinct possibility we will be talking about either Clinton or Obama Republicans.
Star TribuneThe contractor, ICF International of Fairfax, Va., revealed the extent of the overpayments when it issued a March 11 request for bids from companies willing to handle "approximately 1,000 to 5,000 cases that will necessitate collection effort."
The bid invitation said: "The average amount to be collected is estimated to be approximately $35,000, but in some cases may be as high as $100,000 to $150,000."
The biggest grant amount allowed by the Road Home program is $150,000, so ICF believes it paid some recipients the maximum when they should not have received a penny. If ICF's highest estimate of 5,000 collection cases — overpaid by an average of $35,000 — proves to be true, that means applicants will have to pay back a total of $175 million.
One-third of qualified applicants for Road Home help had yet to receive any rebuilding check as of this past week. The program, which has come to symbolize the lurching Katrina recovery effort, is financed by $11 billion in federal funds.
And the incompetence and corruption just keeps goes on and on........
The Washington PostSo, now we know why McCain exceeded the spending limit; there is no official body to take him to task.
IMAGINE THIS scenario: It's late summer. The Democratic and Republican conventions are about to begin. The parties' nominees have decided that it would be better for the political system -- and, no doubt, easier for them -- to accept full public financing for the general election rather than scramble to raise the money on their own. But there's no way for them to get the checks, about $85 million apiece. That's because before the checks can be issued, the Federal Election Commission must certify each nominee's eligibility to receive federal funding. Four commission members are required for such certification -- and because of a congressional standoff over confirming new members, the FEC is now operating with just two members out of the six it is supposed to have. This means that, in addition to being frozen on public financing, the FEC is unable to write regulations, launch enforcement actions or issue advisory opinions.
Christian Science MonitorBaghdad - The Mahdi Army's seven-month-long cease-fire appears to have come undone.
Rockets fired from the capital's Shiite district of Sadr City slammed into the Green Zone Tuesday, the second time in three days, and firefights erupted around Baghdad pitting government and US forces against the militia allied to the influential Shiite cleric Moqtada al-Sadr.
At the same time, the oil-export city of Basra became a battleground Tuesday as Iraqi forces, backed by US air power, launched a major crackdown on the Mahdi Army elements. British and US forces were guarding the border with Iran to intercept incoming weapons or fighters, according to a senior security official in Basra.
So much for the success of The Surge™. Be prepared for BushCo™'s call to increase the troop levels. You know, to restore the success of the Surge™.
Worse. Fucking. President. EVER. Worse. Fucking. Administration. EVER. And all of this done just to prove he had a bigger dick then daddy.
New York Times<sarcasm>Imagine that. The promised troop reduction pre surge has been abandoned. A raise of hands of all those who are shocked, Shocked! I tell you, at this unforeseen turn of events.</sarcasm>
WASHINGTON — Troop levels in Iraq would remain nearly the same through 2008 as they have been through most of the five years of war there, under plans presented to President Bush on Monday by the senior American commander and the top American diplomat in Iraq, senior administration and military officials said.
New York TimesBAGHDAD (AP) -- The overall U.S. death toll in Iraq rose to 4,000 after four soldiers were killed in a roadside bombing in Baghdad, a grim milestone that is likely to fuel calls for the withdrawal of American forces as the war enters its sixth year.
The American deaths occurred Sunday, the same day rockets and mortars pounded the U.S.-protected Green Zone in Baghdad and a wave of attacks left at least 61 Iraqis dead nationwide.
At this point, rage just won't get anything done. 4000 lives all in the name of Big Oil and Bush's ego. So, do you think he will go to his grave smug in the belief he showed up his father? Yeah, I agree.
The News TribuneStudies: Iraq costs U.S. $12B per monthBy CHARLES J. HANLEY ; AP Special CorrespondentPublished: March 9th, 2008 02:07 PM | Updated: March 9th, 2008 05:02 PMThe flow of blood may be ebbing, but the flood of money into the Iraq war is steadily rising, new analyses show. In 2008, its sixth year, the war will cost approximately $12 billion a month, triple the "burn" rate of its earliest years, Nobel Prize-winning economist Joseph E. Stiglitz and co-author Linda J. Bilmes report in a new book.Beyond 2008, working with "best-case" and "realistic-moderate" scenarios, they project the Iraq and Afghan wars, including long-term U.S. military occupations of those countries, will cost the U.S. budget between $1.7 trillion and $2.7 trillion - or more - by 2017.
Christ, I can't make the monthly mortgage without facing the prospect of getting my heat shut off. How the hell am I suppose to pay for my portion of this God forsaken clusterfuck?
TVNewserYou know, I am trying like hell to work up some sympathy for ol' Tucker. But, try as I might, it is bone dry in that particular department today.
Insiders tell TVNewser Tucker Carlson's 6pmET show Tucker is getting the axe, but Carlson stays on as a political contributor to all MSNBC shows at least through the 2008 election. The official announcement, expected tomorrow, will include details about who will replace Tucker at 6pmET as well as other political programming additions. Sources say the network is going to beef up its schedule with more NBC News talent.
Seriously, that boy got his chops handed to him by John Stewart and he never recovered. He was never a good newsman. The fact he tried to nail John as not asking hard hitting questions on The Daily Show was the clincher. This cancellation is a foot note to a lack luster career.
He really was nothing more than a tag-a-long of the Mighty Wurlitzer. He collected the crumbs from the big boys, attempting to mimic their blow hard bellows to only produce an effeminate lisp.
Oh, and that segment with John Stewart is still great to watch, even if it is close to 4 years old.
International Harold TribuneWASHINGTON: As Senator Barack Obama prepared to give a major speech on Iraq one morning a few weeks ago, a flashing-red siren alert went up on the Drudge Report Web site. It read, "Queen of the Quarter: Hillary Crushes Obama in Surprise Fund-Raising Surge," and, "$27 Million, Sources Tell Drudge Report."
Within minutes, Senator Hillary Rodham Clinton's fund-raising success was injected via Drudge into the day's political news on the Internet and cable television. It did not halt coverage of Obama's speech or his criticism of her vote to authorize the war in 2002, but along the front lines of the campaign - the hourly, intensely fought effort to capture the news cycle or deny ownership of it to the other side - it was a telling assault.
Clinton's aides declined to discuss how the Drudge Report got access to her latest fund-raising figures nearly 20 minutes before the official announcement went to supporters. But it was a prime example of a development that has surprised much of the political world: Clinton is learning to play nice with the Drudge Report and the powerful, elusive and conservative-leaning man behind it.
That man, Matt Drudge, came to national prominence a decade ago as a nemesis of the Clintons who used the Web to peddle, gleefully, the latest news and rumor generated by the Monica Lewinsky scandal.
That people in Clinton's campaign orbit would tip off the Drudge Report to its fund-raising numbers is in part a reflection of her pragmatic approach to dealing with potential enemies like Newt Gingrich or Rupert Murdoch.
Sorry, Hillary. Sleeping with the enemy just lost you my support. The Mighty Wurlitzer has been the major cause of our political woes in this country. Willing to supplant true democracy with corporate fascism, it has manage to destroy in a few short years what Russia failed to due in over a half a century.
You have done nothing this election but desperately sink lower and lower into the very pond scum you had so successfully stayed above during the eight years of your husband's presidency. Indeed, your desperation set in shortly after your early losses to Obama. Maybe, just maybe, in the end it is Obama's willingness to stay out of the once wholly owned Republican Right Wing Noise Machine that has won over the electorate of this country.
People are tired of the same old partisan politics that have been a standard since your husband's presidency. They are looking for a change. And Obama appears to be embracing that change. It is not so much he will coddle up to the remnants of the Republican party and it's wheezing, aged Wurlitzer, as it is he will avoid the political gamesmanship so long a staple of Washington partisanship, something this article suggests you fail to grasp.
That being said, should a small miracle happen, and you still come out the Democratic nominee, you will have my support. I still see you qualified for the presidency above any Republican or Independent currently in the running. Unless, of course, Gore decides to run as an Independent. Then it is "See Ya!"
McClatchyBAGHDAD -- At least 40 Shiite pilgrims were killed and 60 injured in a suicide bombing south of Baghdad Sunday in what was once known as the Sunni triangle of death.
The bombing in Iskandariyah came as hundreds of thousands of Shiites took to the streets to walk the 50 miles to the holy city of Karbala for Arbaeen. The ceremony on Thursday commemorates the anniversary of the 40th day following the martyrdom of Hussein, the grandson of the prophet Mohammed, a venerated figure in Shiite Islam.
As pilgrims stopped for water and food at a tent set up to serve them along their journey, a suicide bomber walked into the crowd and detonated, killing and wounding many of the pilgrims, said Muthanna Ahmed, spokesman for the police in Babil province. He expected the death toll to rise.
Explain to me again how the I&O* of Iraq has improved Iraqi lives? If we meant to give them the same standard of living and the same level of security as we are blessed to have,,,,,,, well, I guess that means we must have the same number of killings by suicide bombers at Christmas mass, or Easter mass, unless mass is canceled due to strain on the electrical grid causing a shutdown.
Seriously, BushCo™, screwed the pooch when it comes to Iraq. Other than to fatten the pockets of Halliburton and company, this has been a monumental failure.
* Invasion & Occupation
Molnau sold farm near road she pushedLooks like the Minnesota GOP is a carbon copy of the National GOP; corrupt to its very core. Though, just to be fair, it looks like sex was left out of this scandal. Damn, just won't sell nationally.
Molnau, as chairwoman of the powerful House Transportation Finance Committee, guided the bill to passage. But she did not disclose Hwy. 212's proximity to the land she owned in Chaska or that she was negotiating to sell the property to a national housing developer, state and local records show.
The transportation bill provided for rapid construction of what Molnau called "mega-projects." One that fit the bill's criteria was Hwy. 212, which would run less than a mile from her farm.
"If you're interested in highways, like Hwy. 14, Hwy. 23, 52, 53, 169, 371, Hwy. 60, Hwy. 212, or Hwy. 94 in Greater Minnesota, this is a good bill for you," she told the Minnesota House on March 21, 2000.
Eight days after the bill was signed by then-Gov. Jesse Ventura, Molnau and her husband, Steve, sold their 40 acres to the developer, Pulte Homes of Minnesota, for $3.3 million -- six times its estimated market value, records show. [highlighted by Rook]
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