DeLay just can't keep himself away from the filthy lucre.

I thought I was just reading about "Duke" Cunningham today when I began this article in the San Jose Mercury News but no! It so happens that the investigation of the Duke is going on apace but there may be a number of other targets, and guess who's name is mentioned...

The plea agreement did not name the alleged conspirators, but details such as business addresses and occupations made some of their identities apparent. One was Mitchell Wade, former president of MZM Inc., a Washington, D.C., firm that does classified intelligence work for the military.


The documents also suggest that another conspirator was Brent Wilkes, an associate of Wade's who headed a defense contracting company called ADCS Inc., which also provided campaign cash and favors to Cunningham while reaping valuable contracts. ADCS, based in the San Diego suburb of Poway, specializes in turning paper records into digital files.


Wilkes also owned a small private air carrier, Group W Transport, that flew Cunningham and other lawmakers - including former House Majority Leader Tom DeLay, R-Texas - to fund-raisers and other events in a Lear jet, The San Diego Union-Tribune has reported.

Emphasis mine.

Hoo Boy! Get out the popcorn. It's going to get really fun to watch.

I Knew he was up to no good!

According to CNN.com Ronald MacDonald was arrested for stealing cash out of the tills and safe of a Wendy's restaurant.

Life. To good to fictionalize.

Tellin' it like it is...

God I love David Horsey!

RollingStone.com:The Man Who Sold the War: Politics

The below mentioned article, RollingStone.com:
The Man Who Sold the War
is possibly the most facinating thing I have ever read. It is also the scariest. I am beginning to belive that there is a new paradigm out there. The newest battle for information supremacy is starting. I think I need to become involved in this...

I need inforamtion. I want to craft information. Can I get a job there?

RollingStone.com:The Man Who Sold the War: Politics

Everyone in the world should read thisRollingStone.com
article. It is a real eye opener into how and through what means the war in Iraq waas sold to the American people. It talks about how the propaganda effort was outsourced to the Rendon Group, a politically connected PR frim that specializes in "psyops" style PR to effect our national opinion.

The Rendon Group is a shadowy "perception management" firm that has, among other things, created such entities as the Iraq National Congress. A relevant quote:

...[T]he Rendon Group, has made millions off government contracts since 1991, when it was hired by the CIA to help "create the conditions for the removal of Hussein from power." Working under this extraordinary transfer of secret authority, Rendon assembled a group of anti-Saddam militants, personally gave them their name -- the Iraqi National Congress -- and served as their media guru and "senior adviser" as they set out to engineer an uprising against Saddam. It was as if President John F. Kennedy had outsourced the Bay of Pigs operation to the advertising and public-relations firm of J. Walter Thompson.


"They're very closemouthed about what they do," says Kevin McCauley, an editor of the industry trade publication O'Dwyer's PR Daily. "It's all cloak-and-dagger stuff."

It is a very twisted tale that is laid out in this article. I commend the author, James Bamford, for getting what seems like unprescedented access to the workings of a very secret system of government controll over media branches large and small. Perhaps this will lead to some fundamental questions being asked.

KR Washington Bureau | 11/16/2005 | In challenging war's critics, administration tinkers with truth

Knight Ridder once again shows why it is the one media source that got it right about Iraq and the war spin in a great article by James Kuhnhenn and Jonathan S. Landay. There's gold in them thar quotes!

But Bush, Cheney, and other senior officials have added several other arguments in recent days that distort the factual record. Below, Knight Ridder addresses the administration's main assertions:

...

ASSERTION: In his speech, Bush noted that "more than a hundred Democrats in the House and the Senate - who had access to the same intelligence - voted to support removing Saddam Hussein from power."

CONTEXT: This isn't true.

The Congress didn't have access to the President's Daily Brief, a top-secret compendium of intelligence on the most pressing national security issues that was sent to the president every morning by former CIA Director George Tenet.

As for prewar intelligence on Iraq, senior administration officials had access to other information and sources that weren't available to lawmakers.

Cheney and his aides visited the CIA and other intelligence agencies to view raw intelligence reports, received briefings and engaged in highly unusual give-and-take sessions with analysts.

Moreover, officials in the White House and the Pentagon received information directly from the Iraqi National Congress (INC), an exile group, circumventing U.S. intelligence agencies, which greatly distrusted the organization.

The INC's information came from Iraqi defectors who claimed that Iraq was hiding chemical, biological and nuclear weapons programs, had mobile biological-warfare facilities and was training Islamic radicals in assassinations, bombings and hijackings.

The White House emphasized these claims in making its case for war, even though the defectors had shown fabrication or deception in lie-detector tests or had been rejected as unreliable by U.S. intelligence professionals.

All of the exiles' claims turned out to be bogus or remain unproven.

(emphasis mine)

There's more at the link. Very well worth while to read.

GOP: F#$K the Vote!

The Seattle Times today has a great story about the increasing political shenanigans of the GOP. They have been challenging voters in predominantly democratic King county. It's all a part of the grand scheme of vote tampering by the GOP in Washington state. They claim they are "cleaning up the voter rolls" when in fact they are jsut challenging people whos politics they don't like.

It also just so happens that the senior vice chair of the republican party for King county has perjured herself at least 116 times. The money quote:

In each letter, Logan also included a copy of the challenge itself, in which [Lori] Sotelo[the Vice Chair] attested "under penalty of perjury" that she had "personal knowledge" that the voter didn't reside at the address at which he or she is registered.


In numerous instances, she was wrong.

That's called perjury and it carries a 5 year sentence for each offence. Now, I'm not saying that Soltelo should get the max here but even a six month sentence and a felony on her record would go a long way to making this right. Oh! and then she wouldn't be allowed to vote.... Too bad!

Objects in mirror may be larger than they appear...

In this article:

Woodward Apologizes to Post for Withholding Knowledge of Plame

We start to get a very big sense of just how far down the rabbit hole this scandal has gone. Here is Bob Woodward the paragon of investigative Journalism giving us all lessons in evasion and obfuscation with regard to a massive coverup in both government and the media.

It is now becoming clear to me that the Govt. is not alone in it's guilt in this matter. The media in all of it's many facets seems to be just as involved in the coverup as the administration players have been. First we had Judith Miller and now we have Bob Woodward. It seems that this is going much further than just protecting sources. It is becoming about protecting your access to corruption at any cost. Let's make no mistake here. A corrupt source is not worth shielding unless the reporter is complicit in the lie. That can of worms is just starting to be opened. Get ready for some real fireworks.

The show must go on...

CNN.com is reporting that Bob Woodward has testified that "Scooter" Libby was NOT the source of his information about the identity of CIA Covert Operative Valerie Wilson/Plame. Woodward said that he was told the name of the agent about a month before it appeared in a column by Robert Novak. Woodward and WAPO have only said that it was not Libby who leaked the info to Woodward. They have offered no further identifying information other than to say that the leaker was a "Senior Bush Administration Official".

Woodward testified Monday for two hours in thhe ongoing investigation into the leak of the Operatives name to the press.

Sometimes there is beauty in the midst of misery

Sometimes people in war can do beautiful things in spite of their place in the world.

The father of a Palestinian boy shot dead by Israeli soldiers said Monday he believes his son's spirit is alive in "every Israeli" after donating the boy's organs to Israelis waiting for transplants.

Ismail Khatib said he was extremely proud of his decision, even if some corners of Palestinian society might be upset with him.

"No one can tell me what to do," he said. "I feel very good that my son's organs are helping six Israelis. ... I feel that my son has entered the heart of every Israeli."

I am humbled. Truly humbled.

Hullabaloo

Hullabaloo Has a great article talking about the torture mess and how it has come full circle. Take a look. It's worth the time...

Friday dog on cat blogging

Honestly this isn't what it looks like... She means nothing to me...

Bobo's world: Christian edition

WASHINGTON (Reuters) -- Conservative Christian broadcaster Pat Robertson told citizens of a Pennsylvania town that they had rejected God by voting their school board out of office for supporting "intelligent design" and warned them Thursday not to be surprised if disaster struck.

...

"I'd like to say to the good citizens of Dover: if there is a disaster in your area, don't turn to God, you just rejected Him from your city," Robertson said on his daily television show broadcast from Virginia, "The 700 Club."

When the "Christians" are telling you not to turn to God, you have a right to ask just how christian they are. Wasn't there something in the new testament about forgiveness, humility, treating your neighbor as yourself? Well I guess I'll treat him as he is treating me.

I mean Mr Robertson wanted to foist his views on the rest of the world, right? He wanted to have his bullshit taught in public classes, right? Well maybe he should stop being a whiny bitch and suck it up. How pathetic can you get? He is using the old line "My dad will beat you up if you don't do as I say!"

What a wanker.

Frist: I don't care what we are doing with our secret prisons

CNN is reporting that senate majority leader Bill Frist is unconcerned with weather we have secret prisons and what may happen there. He is more concerned that there was a leak of classified information.

The mind boggles.

You said something you werent supposed to? That's bad. We'll send you to jail.

You may be torturing people in the name of the United States in secret prisons? Oh, that's ok. we do it all the time.

That, ladies and gentlemen, is what is known as republican values.

Fin-A-Fuckin'_LY!

CNN is reporting that Mike Brown of Katrina fame is FINALLY off the fucking payroll at FEMA. How that incompetent bastard managed to keep recieving paychecks is beyond me.

Finally. shit it took long enough...

Now THERE'S a good bunch of ideas!

Creating Passionate Users: How to spend your marketing and ad budget is a blog entry that I found during a random walk through the internets. This ais a wonderful place that has a fantastic new twist on advertising and marketing. I have been in this field for years and would love to work for a company that did any of these things. Heres a big graphic that sums up the best of it. Take a look at the rest.

Tragedy breeds really bad art part 2

Tragedy breeds really bad art...

Biff! Bam! Pow! Socko! Oof!

CBS News says that tha Preznit's Job approval rating is tanking to an all new low. 35%.

If that weren't bad enough VP Cheny is polling south of 20.

Man That's going to leave a mark!

Dirty Harry gets the job done...

TPMCafe has a great thread about how the power is shifting in the congress and elsewhere as Dirty Harry's fantastic procedural footwork is testament. Harry not only forced a resolution in favor of investigating the "Phase II" of the Intelligence Comittee report, but he may also have signaled a sea change in power in the government of the United States.

Go Get 'em Harry!

How to get your war on....

Kevin Drum at The Washington Monthlybrings us the talking points that Dirty Harry sent out from his office just before he shut down the senate:

Most important decision a President makes is to put American lives at risk and go to war.



Many of us supported the decision to invade Iraq based on the national intelligence presented at the time.



Over the past few months, and vividly last Friday, we’ve learned that we were given bad information. Americans were intentionally deceived.



White House indictments confirm Republicans tried to silence critics and cover up the real intelligence.



America deserves answers. National security is at stake.



If mistakes were made, we need to know. Otherwise, we are doomed to repeat them.



Republicans committed to investigate how national intelligence was used to set the stage for war.



Now, they are refusing to keep that commitment. What are they afraid of America learning?



Republicans must come clean. It is our shared responsibility to be straight with the American people.



Stakes could not be higher. That is why we are demanding answers through an unprecedented closed Senate session.



We will not let up until America gets answers.



Together, America Can Do Better

CNN calls it a "Full scale revolt" by Dems. It certainly took me by surprise.

The battle is joined.

TPMCafe has the goods on the beginning of the battle now taking place on the floor of the senate. It looks like Harry Reid has thrown down a serious gauntlet. Witness:

...

"There is also another disturbing pattern here, namely about how the Administration responded to those who challenged its assertions.  Time and again this Administration has actively sought to attack and undercut those who dared to raise questions about its preferred course.

"For example, when General Shinseki indicated several hundred thousand troops would be needed in Iraq, his military career came to an end.  When then OMB Director Larry Lindsay suggested the cost of this war would approach $200 billion, his career in the Administration came to an end.  When U.N. Chief Weapons Inspector Hans Blix challenged conclusions about Saddam's WMD capabilities, the Administration pulled out his inspectors.  When Nobel Prize winner and IAEA head Mohammed el-Baridei raised questions about the Administration's claims of Saddam's nuclear capabilities, the Administration attempted to remove him from his post.  When Joe Wilson stated that there was no attempt by Saddam to acquire uranium from Niger, the Administration launched a vicious and coordinated campaign to demean and discredit him, going so far as to expose the fact that his wife worked as a CIA agent.

"Given this Administration's pattern of squashing those who challenge its misstatements, what has been the response of this Republican-controlled Congress?  Again, absolutely nothing.  And with their inactions, they provide political cover for this Administration at the same time they keep the truth from our troops who continue to make large sacrifices in Iraq.  

"This behavior is unacceptable.  The toll in Iraq is as staggering as it is solemn.  More than 2,000 Americans have lost their lives.  Over 90 Americans have paid the ultimate sacrifice this month alone - the fourth deadliest month since the war began.  More than 15,000 have been wounded.  More than 150,000 remain in harm's way.  Enormous sacrifices have been and continue to be made.  

...

At the end there's this:

...

"We demand that the Intelligence Committee and other committees in this body with jurisdiction over these matters carry out a full and complete investigation immediately as called for by Democrats in the committee's annual intelligence authorization report.  Our troops and the American people have sacrificed too much.  It is time this Republican-controlled Congress put the interests of the American people ahead of their own political interests."

Mr Reid just got a new nickname: "Dirty Harry"

Le's get it on!

WTF?!

Senate Meets in Closed Session to Discuss Intelligence, Libby

That link says a lot. Harry Reid called a closed session of the Senate today to discuss the CIA leak and intelligence thhat lead up to the Iraq War. That might just keep the right off balance for long enough to get the Alito nom. off the front pages. It looks like Harry has had enough of going along with the status quo.

Stay tuned.