"Supreme Court nominee John Roberts declined Monday to say why he was listed in a leadership directory of the Federalist Society and the White House said he has no recollection of belonging to the conservative group." -Associated Press, July 25, 2005
"A source close to Rove told Newsweek last week that Rove 'doesn't remember' where he heard the crucial information that Joe Wilson's wife, Valerie Plame, was a CIA agent working in weapons of mass destruction issues. But, the source said, Rove is 'pretty sure he heard it directly or indirectly from a media source.' The source close to Rove later acknowledged that Rove had been questioned by investigators about conversations he may have had with Lewis I. 'Scooter' Libby, Vice President Dick Cheney's chief of staff. Rove couldn't recall any specific exchange with Libby about Wilson's wife, the source said." -Newsweek, July 17, 2005
"John Bolton, President Bush's nominee for U.N. ambassador, mistakenly told Congress he had not been interviewed or testified in any investigation over the past five years, the State Department said Thursday. Bolton was interviewed by the State Department inspector general in 2003 as part of a joint investigation with the Central Intelligence Agency into prewar Iraqi attempts to buy nuclear materials from Niger, State Department spokesman Noel Clay said. The admission came hours after another State Department official said Bolton had correctly answered a Senate questionnaire when he wrote that he has not testified to a grand jury or been interviewed by investigators in any inquiry over the past five years. The reversal followed persistent Democratic attempts to question Bolton's veracity just days before Bush may use his authority to make him United Nations ambassador after Congress adjourns for its summer recess. For months, Democrats have prevented the Senate from confirming the fiery conservative to the post. 'It seems unusual that Mr. Bolton would not remember his involvement in such a serious matter,' said Sen. Joseph Biden, D-Del., the senior Democrat on the Senate Foreign Relations Committee." -Associated Press, July 28, 2005
"You know, this administration seems to have more short term memory problems than a VW minibus full of Grateful Dead fanatics. I'm slowly becoming convinced that the real reason they hate Barbara Steisand just because she sang 'Memories', and they thought she was making fun of them (and they probably thought that Carly Simon was singing about them too). I have to stop now before I start the 'your momma' jokes.. These people really make making fun of them way too easy." -Skippy
Quotes of the Morning: A Dedication to Turdblossum
"I'd just like to dedicate this set to a very special man. A man who has taught me what it takes to get ahead in this rough world we live in. A man who looks danger in the face and then cowers behind his desk until danger leaves and he can get his cronies to sabotage danger's wife's career in the press. A man who is a complete ass. To Dubya’s favorite little ‘T*rdblossum’. Karl Rove, these Quotes are for you.." -Skippy
"He warns the heads of parties against believing their own lies." -Dr. John Arbuthnot (1667-1735)
"An ill deed cannot bring honor." -George Herbert (1593-1633)
"A lie has speed, but truth has endurance." -Edgar J. Mohn
"The law: It has honored us; may we honor it." -Daniel Webster (1782-1852)
"The essence of lying is in deception, not in words." -John Ruskin (1819-1900)
"Rather fail with honor than succeed by fraud." -Sophocles (496-406 BC)
"Half a truth is often a great lie." -Benjamin Franklin (1706-1790)
"Here lies one whose name was writ in water." -John Keats (1795-1821)
"And now for something completely different." -Monty Python
"I wanted to be with you alone And talk about the weather" -Tears for Fears, "Head Over Heals"
“Time for a cool change I know that it's time for a cool change Now that my life is so prearranged I know that it's time for a cool change” -Little River Band, "Cool Change"
"Summer breeze makes me feel fine Blowin' through the jasmine in my mind" -Seals and Crofts, "Summer Breeze"
"Summer's here I'm for that Got my rubber sandals Got my straw hat Got my cold beer I'm just glad that I'm here
Summer's here That suits me fine It may rain today But I don't mind It's my favorite time of the year And I'm glad that I'm here" -James Taylor, "Summer's Here"
"And all over the world Strangers talk only about the weather. All over the world It's the same It's the same It's the same." -Tom Waits, "Strange Weather"
"Everywhere you go always take the weather with you" -Crowded House, "Weather with You"
“Interrogators at the U.S. detention facility at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, forced a stubborn detainee to wear women's underwear on his head, confronted him with snarling military working dogs and attached a leash to his chains, according to a newly released military investigation that shows the tactics were employed there months before military police used them on detainees at the Abu Ghraib prison in Iraq. The techniques, approved by Defense Secretary Donald H. Rumsfeld for use in interrogating Mohamed Qahtani -- the alleged "20th hijacker" in the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks -- were used at Guantanamo Bay in late 2002 as part of a special interrogation plan aimed at breaking down the silent detainee.” -Washington Post, July 14, 2005
“An Army general who has been criticized for his role in the treatment of prisoners at the Guantanamo Bay detention center and Abu Ghraib prison in Iraq has contradicted his sworn congressional testimony about contacts with senior Pentagon officials. Gen. Geoffrey Miller told the Senate Armed Services Committee in May 2004 that he had only filed a report on a recent visit to Abu Ghraib, and did not talk to Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld or his top aides about the fact-finding trip. But in a recorded statement to attorneys three months later, Miller said he gave two of Rumfeld's most senior aides-- then-Deputy Defense Secretary Paul Wolfowitz and Undersecretary for Intelligence Steve Cambone--a briefing on his visit and his subsequent recommendations.” -Chicago Tribune, July 15, 2005 “Just a few bad apples. I’m sure we’ll get that checked out and everything will be ok again..” -Skippy
“The White House on Thursday threatened to veto a massive Senate bill for $442 billion in next year’s defense programs if it moves to regulate the Pentagon’s treatment of detainees or sets up a commission to investigate operations at Guantanamo Bay prison and elsewhere.” -Reuters, July 21, 2005 “The White House will veto money for our troops if we investigate abuses and torture? Why do they hate our troops so much? They’re probably doing it because, though they say they aren’t torturing anyone now, they may need to if the Green Menace rears its ugly head.” -Skippy
“US investigators, including CIA agents, will be allowed interrogate Irish citizens on Irish soil in total secrecy, under an agreement signed between Ireland and the US last week. Suspects will also have to give testimony and allow property to be searched and seized even if what the suspect is accused of is not a crime in Ireland.” -Irish Examiner, July 21, 2005 “See, I told you you have to look out for the Irish! Shifty.. This will just help us keep the Green Menace under control.” -Skippy
“All right, we'll give some land to the niggers and the chinks, but we DON'T WANT THE IRISH!” -Olson Johnson, Blazing Saddles
“Goemaere called on Iraqis to help in preventing future attacks. ‘The complete disregard for civilian life in this attack is absolutely abhorrent,’ he said. ‘It is the responsibility of all Iraqi people to turn against the terrorists and protect their families from this type of crime." An Iraqi man who asked not to be identified echoed Goemaere's remarks. ‘The terrorists are attacking the infrastructure, the ISF and all of Iraq,’ he said. ‘They are enemies of humanity, without religion or any sort of ethics. They have attacked my community today, and I will now take the fight to the terrorists.’" -US Department of Defense, July 24, 2005
"The U.S. military on Sunday said it was looking into how virtually identical quotations ended up in two of its news releases about different insurgent attacks. Following a car bombing in Baghdad on Sunday, the U.S. military issued a statement with a quotation attributed to an unidentified Iraqi that was virtually identical to a quote reacting to an attack on July 13. After questioning by news media, the military released the statement without the quotation." -CNN, July 24, 2005 "Sweet Heaven above.. Can't these people do anything without lying to us? How could this happen?" -Skippy
"The Defense Department is considering issuing a secret directive to the American military to conduct covert operations aimed at influencing public opinion and policy makers in friendly and neutral countries, senior Pentagon and administration officials say. Defense Secretary Donald H. Rumsfeld has not yet decided on the proposal, which has ignited a fierce battle throughout the Bush administration over whether the military should carry out secret propaganda missions in friendly nations like Germany, where many of the Sept. 11 hijackers congregated, or Pakistan, still considered a haven for Al Qaeda's militants. Such a program, for example, could include efforts to discredit and undermine the influence of mosques and religious schools that have become breeding grounds for Islamic militancy and anti-Americanism across the Middle East, Asia and Europe. It might even include setting up schools with secret American financing to teach a moderate Islamic position laced with sympathetic depictions of how the religion is practiced in America, officials said." -New York Times, December 16, 2002
“See, in my line of work you got to keep repeating things over and over and over again for the truth to sink in, to kind of catapult the propaganda.” -George ‘Dubya’ Bush, May 25, 2005
"Schadenfreude \SHAHD-n-froy-duh\, noun: A malicious satisfaction in the misfortunes of others." -Dictionary.com
“At the same time in July 2003 that a C.I.A. operative's identity was exposed, two key White House officials who talked to journalists about the officer were also working closely together on a related underlying issue: whether President Bush was correct in suggesting earlier that year that Iraq had been trying to acquire nuclear materials from Africa.... People who have been briefed on the case said that the White House officials, Karl Rove and I. Lewis Libby Jr., were helping to prepare what became the administration's primary response to criticism that a flawed phrase about the nuclear materials in Africa had been included in Mr. Bush's State of the Union address six months earlier.... At the same time, they were grappling with the fallout from an Op-Ed article on July 6, 2003, in The New York Times by Mr. Wilson, a former diplomat, in which he criticized the way the administration had used intelligence to support the claim in Mr. Bush's speech. The work done by Mr. Rove and Mr. Libby on the Tenet statement, during this intense period, had not been previously disclosed....” -New York Times, July 22, 2005
"Two top White House aides have given accounts to a special prosecutor about how reporters first told them the identity of a CIA agent that are at odds with what the reporters have said, according to people familiar with the case. Lewis “Scooter” Libby, Vice President Dick Cheney’s chief of staff, told special prosecutor Patrick Fitzgerald that he first learned from NBC News reporter Tim Russert of the identity of Central Intelligence Agency operative Valerie Plame, the wife of former ambassador and Bush administration critic Joseph Wilson, one person said. Russert has testified before a federal grand jury that he didn’t tell Libby of Plame’s identity, the person said. White House Deputy Chief of Staff Karl Rove told Fitzgerald that he first learned the identity of the CIA agent from syndicated columnist Robert Novak, according a person familiar with the matter. Novak, who was first to report Plame’s name and connection to Wilson, has given a somewhat different version to the special prosecutor, the person said." -Bloomberg News Service, July 22 2005
"Lawyers with clients in the case said Mr. Fitzgerald and his investigators have shown interest in a classified State Department memo that was provided to Colin L. Powell, then the secretary of state, as he left for Africa on Air Force One with Mr. Bush and his top aides on July 7, 2003, a day after Mr. Wilson made his accusations public. The memorandum identified Ms. Wilson by name and described her as having a role in her husband's selection for the mission to Niger. A government official said the paragraph in the memorandum identifying Ms. Wilson was preceded by the letter S in brackets, a designation meaning that contents of the paragraph were classified secret. The designation was first reported on Thursday by The Washington Post. The investigators have been trying to determine who else within the administration might have seen the memo or learned of its contents. Among those asked if he had seen the memo was Ari Fleischer, then the White House press secretary, who was on Air Force One with Mr. Bush and Mr. Powell during the Africa trip. Mr. Fleischer told the grand jury that he never saw the document, a person familiar with the testimony said, speaking on the condition of anonymity because of the prosecutor's admonitions about not disclosing what is said to the grand jury." -New York Times, July 22, 2005
"On the same day the memo was prepared, White House phone logs show Novak placed a call to White House Press Secretary Ari Fleischer, according to lawyers familiar with the case and a witness who has testified before the grand jury. Those people say it isn't clear whether Fleischer returned the call, and Fleischer has refused to comment. The Novak call may loom large in the investigation because Fleischer was among a group of administration officials who left Washington later that day on a presidential trip to Africa. On the flight to Africa, Fleischer was seen perusing the State Department memo on Wilson and his wife, according to a former administration official who was also on the trip." -Bloomberg News Service, July 18, 2005
"Yeah. Uh, did you get that memo?" -Dom Portwood, Office Space
"And we would all go down together We said we'd all go down together Yes we would all go down together" -Billy Joel, Goodnight Saigon
"[W]e must remember the high standards that come with high office. This begins with careful adherence to the rules. I expect every member of this administration to stay well within the boundaries that define legal and ethical conduct. This means avoiding even the appearance of problems. This means checking and, if need be, doublechecking that the rules have been obeyed. This means never compromising those rules." -George ‘Dubya’ Bush, January 22, 2001
"In June 2004, Bush was asked if he would 'fire anyone found to' have leaked the agent's name. 'Yes,' he replied." -Washington Post, July 19, 2005
"Good. Sounds like he's keeping up with those high standards that he claimed to want to bring to Washington in 2001." -Skippy
"If someone committed a crime, they will no longer work in my administration." -George ‘Dubya’ Bush, July 18, 2005 "Except that this statement is basically saying that the only way he’d fire a member of his administration is if they miss too much work because they're in prison. He doesn't seem to be too consistent with his 'no convicts' rule either." -Skippy
“Assistant to the President for National Security Affairs Stephen Hadley announced today the appointment of Elliott Abrams as Deputy Assistant to the President and Deputy National Security Advisor for Global Democracy Strategy. . ." -Executive Office of the President, February 2, 2005
“The Board concluded . . . that Abrams had engaged in ‘dishonesty, deceit or misrepresentation" by giving false (but unsworn) testimony to three congressional committees regarding the role of the United States government in what has become known as the Iran-Contra Affair. Following Abrams' conviction, upon a plea of guilty, of criminal charges arising out of his congressional testimony, President Bush [senior] granted him a full and unconditional pardon.’" -District of Columbia Court of Appeals, February 5, 1997 "Dang. Sounds bad for Bush. That terrible press seems to insist on noticing the stuff that Rove was doing and is actually asking questions. There's only one thing to do.. Change targets." -Skippy
“President George W. Bush's nomination of a new Supreme Court justice may give White House adviser Karl Rove a temporary reprieve from public scrutiny of his role in the disclosure of an intelligence operative's identity... Bush accelerated his search for a Supreme Court nominee in part because of special prosecutor Patrick Fitzgerald's investigation into the leak of a CIA agent's name, according to Republicans familiar with administration strategy.” -Bloomberg News Service, July 20, 2005
"Sure it’s a Supreme Court nominee, who will hold power in the highest court in the land for 25 years or so, but hey, its all just politics." -Skippy
"Justice to the left of you. Justice to the right. Speak when you are spoken to. Don't pretend you're right. This life's not for living. It's for fighting and for wars. No matter what the truth is. Hold on to what is yours." -Yes
"Justice and truth are the common ties of society" -John Locke (1632-1704)
"The virtue of justice consists in moderation, as regulated by wisdom." -Aristotle (384-322 BC)
"If we do not maintain Justice, Justice will not maintain us." -Francis Bacon (1561-1626)
"There is a point at which even justice does injury." -Sophocles (496-406 BC)
"Peace is more important than all justice; and was not made for the sake of justice, but justice for the sake of peace." -Martin Luther (1483-1546)
"Injustice anywhere is a threat to justice everywhere." -Martin Luther King Jr (1929-1968)
"Liberty, Humanity, Justice, Equality" -Susan B. Anthony (1820-1906)
"'You people came looking for a mystery. But there is none. There's just us.' 'Did he say justice?' 'No. Just us.'" -Planetary, Issue 3
"Priests, like all of us, are affected by culture. When the culture is sick, every element in it becomes infected. While it is no excuse for this scandal, it is no surprise that Boston, a seat of academic, political and cultural liberalism in America, lies at the center of the storm." -Catholic Online, July 12, 2002
“Ok.. This was a quote from three years ago, before the full extent of the child abuse scandal in the Catholic Church became evident. Surely he realizes that Boston wasn’t the center of the problem. Surely he’d retract his foolish words.. right?” -Skippy
"I was just saying that there's an attitude that is very open to sexual freedom that is more predominant" -Rick Santorum, July 12, 2005
"In a brief interview with the Globe on Tuesday, Santorum reiterated his view that the 'basic liberal attitude' in Boston fostered an environment where sexual abuse of children could occur." -Boston Globe, July 14, 2005 “Yep. Boston, being liberal, apparently caused priests to molest children. Liberalism is also what caused Karl Rove to lie, exonerated Michael Jackson and causes tooth decay. Liberalism can get into your precious bodily fluids. Sigh.. I think that ‘Plan 9 from Outer Space’ had a more coherent plot than the far right does these days.” -Skippy
" In this case, what we're talking about, basically, is priests who were having sexual relations with post-pubescent men. We're not talking about priests with 3-year-olds, or 5-year-olds. We're talking about a basic homosexual relationship. Which, again, according to the world view sense is a perfectly fine relationship as long as it's consensual between people. If you view the world that way, and you say that's fine, you would assume that you would see more of it." -Rick Santorum, on the child molesting scandal in the Catholic church, April 7, 2003 “Um.. Rick? Those ‘post-pubescent men’ were usually in their younger teens. That means that it is still, no matter the sexual orientation of it, statutory rape. I don’t think that anyone outside of NAMBLA would call that a ‘basic homosexual relationship’. As a matter of fact, I’m willing to go out on a limb here and say that pretty much everyone (gay or straight) thinks that these priests were pretty sick puppies. Defending the rights of homosexuals is not even in the same ballpark as defending the rights of child molesters. Ok Senator.. Give me a classic to go out on..” -Skippy
"Rick Santorum: Every society in the history of man has upheld the institution of marriage as a bond between a man and a woman. Why? Because society is based on one thing: that society is based on the future of the society. And that's what? Children. Monogamous relationships. In every society, the definition of marriage has not ever to my knowledge included homosexuality. That's not to pick on homosexuality. It's not, you know, man on child, man on dog, or whatever the case may be. It is one thing. And when you destroy that you have a dramatic impact on the quality — AP: I'm sorry, I didn't think I was going to talk about ‘man on dog’ with a United States senator, it's sort of freaking me out." -Associated Press, April 7, 2003
“Vice President Dick Cheney's top aide was among the sources for a Time magazine reporter's story about the identity of a CIA officer, the reporter said Sunday. Until last week, the White House had insisted for nearly two years that vice presidential chief of staff Lewis Libby and presidential adviser Karl Rove were not involved in the leaks of CIA officer Valerie Plame's identity.” -Associated Press, July 18, 2005 “Oops. I guess that they were mistaken on BOTH of them, not just Rove. Huh. I wonder what the odds were of that happening?” -Skippy
"'The information exonerates and vindicates, it does not implicate' Rove, Republican Party chairman Ken Mehlman said on NBC's 'Meet the Press.' 'Folks involved in this, frankly, owe Karl Rove an apology.'' -Associated Press, July 18, 2005
"Really?" -Skippy
"Part of the Republican defense, as expressed by Mehlman on NBC, is that Rove didn't know Plame's name or that she was a covert operative. Mehlman cited a New York Times report that, in his words, "says Karl Rove was not Bob Novak's source, that Novak told Rove, not the other way around . . . This information at least came to Mr. Rove from journalists, not from a classified source." But the article said that when syndicated columnist Robert Novak, who was the first to report Plame's name and CIA job in July 2003, mentioned her, Rove replied he had 'heard that too,' indicating Rove had already obtained the information elsewhere." -Washington Post, July 18, 2005 "Now as you may (or may not) remember, this scandal first showed its head when ambassador Wilson called bullsh*t on the administration’s claim that Iraq was setting up deals to buy yellowcake uranium in Niger. In other words, the entire scandal (disclosing an undercover CIA agent) was due to ANOTHER lie about the yellowcake. They lied about the yellowcake, then illegally exposed a CIA agent, then lied about that. So, how is that war that this all led to going? You know, the one that was to prevent the spread of WMDs and where we would be met by people throwing flowers?" -Skippy
"Even in Iraq, where shocking killings have become part of daily life, some acts are so profoundly violent that the country seems to pause, trying to fathom what happened. That was the case on Sunday, after a suicide bomber appeared in Musayyib, a poor town just south of Baghdad, and blew himself up under a fuel tanker on Saturday night, igniting a fireball that engulfed cars, shops and homes. At least 71 people died; 156 were wounded." -New York Times, July 17, 2005
"I'll start off by apologizing for the length of this, but it is an interesting story." -Skippy
"Officials tell ABC News the London bombers have been connected to an al Qaeda plot planned two years ago in the Pakistani city of Lahore. The laptop computer of Naeem Noor Khan, a captured al Qaeda leader, contained plans for a coordinated series of attacks on the London subway system, as well as on financial buildings in both New York and Washington. ‘'There's absolutely no doubt he was part of an al Qaeda operation aimed at not only the United States but Great Britain,' explained Alexis Debat, a former official in the French Defense Ministry who is now a senior terrorism consultant for ABC News. At the time, authorities thought they had foiled the London subway plot by arresting more than a dozen young Britons of Pakistani descent last August in Luton, a city known for its ties to terrorism. 'For some time, the locus of terrorism in Britain has been around the Luton area and in some of the northern cities,' said Michael Clark, professor of defense at King's College in London. Security officials tell ABC News they have discovered links between the eldest of the London bombers, Mohammed Sadique Khan, 30, and the original group in Luton. Officials also believe it was not a coincidence the subway bombers all met at the Luton train station last week." -ABC News, July 14, 2005
“So here is a report linking the London attacks to a previous plot in England last year. I guess that England’s intelligence groups didn’t get them all when they busted the group previously.” -Skippy
"The disclosure to reporters of the arrest of an al-Qaida computer expert jeopardized Pakistani efforts to capture more members of Osama bin Laden's terrorist network, government and security officials said Tuesday. Two senior Pakistani officials said initial reports in 'Western media' last week of the capture of Muhammad Naeem Noor Khan had enabled other al-Qaida suspects to get away, but declined to say whether U.S. officials were to blame for the leak. 'Let me say that this intelligence leak jeopardized our plan and some al-Qaida suspects ran away,' one of the officials said on condition of anonymity.... But the Pakistani officials said that after Khan's arrest, other al-Qaida suspects had abruptly changed their hide-outs and moved to unknown places. The first official described the initial publication of the news of Khan's arrest as 'very disturbing.' 'We have checked. No Pakistani official made this intelligence leak,' he said." -Associated Press, August 10, 2004
"The effort by U.S. officials to justify raising the terror alert level last week may have shut down an important source of information that has already led to a series of al Qaeda arrests, Pakistani intelligence sources have said. Until U.S. officials leaked the arrest of Muhammad Naeem Noor Khan to reporters, Pakistan had been using him in a sting operation to track down al Qaeda operatives around the world, the sources said. In background briefings with journalists last week, unnamed U.S. government officials said it was the capture of Khan that provided the information that led Homeland Security Secretary Tom Ridge to announce a higher terror alert level...." -CNN, August 9, 2004
"'By exposing the only deep mole we've ever had within al-Qaeda, it ruined the chance to capture dozens if not hundreds more,' a former Justice Department prosecutor, John Loftus, told Fox News on Saturday." -IPS-Inter Press Service, August 9, 2004
"A captured Al Qaeda computer whiz was E-mailing his comrades as part of a sting operation to nab other top terrorists when U.S. officials blew his cover, sources said yesterday. Within hours of Muhammad Naeem Noor Khan's name being publicized Monday, British police launched lightning raids that netted a dozen suspected Al Qaeda terrorists, including one who was nabbed after a high-speed car chase.... Now British and Pakistani intelligence officials are furious with the Americans for unmasking their super spy - apparently to justify the orange alert - and for naming the other captured terrorist suspects." -NY Daily News, August 7, 2004 “Oops. I guess it was the United States leaking of information about a ‘turned’ spy in al-Qaeda that caused the British raids to miss some people. Our bad. I’m sure that it was accidental though. Some over-anxious reporter must have done it.” -Skippy
"BLITZER: Let's talk about some of the people who have been picked up, mostly in Pakistan, over the last few weeks. In mid-July, Muhammad Naeem Noor Khan. There is some suggestion that by releasing his identity here in the United States, you compromised a Pakistani intelligence sting operation, because he was effectively being used by the Pakistanis to try to find other al Qaeda operatives. Is that true? RICE: Well, I don't know what might have been going on in Pakistan. I will say this, that we did not, of course, publicly disclose his name. One of them... BLITZER: He was disclosed in Washington on background. RICE: On background. And the problem is that when you're trying to strike a balance between giving enough information to the public so that they know that you're dealing with a specific, credible, different kind of threat than you've dealt with in the past, you're always weighing that against kind of operational considerations. We've tried to strike a balance. We think for the most part, we've struck a balance, but it's indeed a very difficult balance to strike. BLITZER: Had he been flipped, in the vernacular, was he cooperating with Pakistani intelligence after he was arrested? RICE: I don't know the answer to that question, as to whether or not he was cooperating with them." -CNN Late Edition, August 8, 2004
“Hmm.. information about a spy disclosed on background to reporters. Why does this sound familiar? I’m sure that the fact that that this terror alert happened during the Democratic National Convention was merely coincidence. I mean, if it was deliberately done for mere political gain it would be way, way, way too much like the Valerie Plame case that Karl Rove currently finds himself stuck in. You know.. National security coming secondary to politics. That kind of stuff. They wouldn’t do that with terror alerts though. Those are way too serious.” -Skippy
"The Bush administration periodically put the USA on high alert for terrorist attacks even though then-Homeland Security chief Tom Ridge argued there was only flimsy evidence to justify raising the threat level, Ridge now says. Ridge, who resigned Feb. 1, said Tuesday that he often disagreed with administration officials who wanted to elevate the threat level to orange, or ‘high’ risk of terrorist attack, but was overruled." -USA Today, May 10, 2005
“By the way, thanks to Americablog for finding the quotes.” -Skippy
“U.S. SENATOR JACK REED (D-RI): General Sanchez, today's USA Today, sir, reported that you ordered or approved the use of sleep deprivation, intimidation by guard dogs, excessive noise and inducing fear as an interrogation method for a prisoner in Abu Ghraib prison. Is that correct? SANCHEZ: Sir, that may be correct that it's in a news article, but I never approved any of those measures to be used within CJTF-7 at any time in the last year.” -General Sanchez testimony before Congress, May 19, 2004
“A memo signed by Lieutenant General Ricardo A. Sanchez authorizing 29 interrogation techniques, including 12 which far exceeded limits established by the Army’s own Field Manual, was made public for the first time by the American Civil Liberties Union today. ‘General Sanchez authorized interrogation techniques that were in clear violation of the Geneva Conventions and the Army’s own standards,’ said ACLU attorney Amrit Singh. ‘He and other high-ranking officials who bear responsibility for the widespread abuse of detainees must be held accountable.’ The Sanchez memo dated September 14, 2003, specifically allows for interrogation techniques involving the use of military dogs specifically to ‘Exploit(s) Arab fear of dogs…,’ isolation, and stress positions.” -ACLU, March 29, 2005
"Defense Secretary Donald H. Rumsfeld is considering new top command assignments that would possibly include promoting Lt. Gen. Ricardo S. Sanchez, the former American commander in Iraq during the Abu Ghraib prison abuse scandal, Pentagon and military officials say." -New York Times, June 20, 2005 "Get involved in a scandal that makes America look bad and weakens our position on the 'War on Terror'? Hmm.. Its looking like either you'll be awarded (ala George 'WMD' Tenet) or promoted (ala Condi 'Memo? What memo?' Rice or Ricardo 'Dirty' Sanchez). I agree with Jon Stewart. I think we're looking at Chief Justice Karl Rove." -Skippy
“If anybody has got any information inside our administration or outside our administration, it would be helpful if they came forward with the information so we can find out whether or not these allegations are true and get on about the business.” -George ‘Dubya’ Bush, September 30, 2003
“If anybody has got any information inside our government or outside our government who leaked, you ought to take it to the Justice Department so we can find out the leaker.” -George ‘Dubya’ Bush, October 6, 2003
“Q Scott, earlier this week you told us that neither Karl Rove, Elliot Abrams nor Lewis Libby disclosed any classified information with regard to the leak. I wondered if you could tell us more specifically whether any of them told any reporter that Valerie Plame worked for the CIA? MR. McCLELLAN: Those individuals -- I talked -- I spoke with those individuals, as I pointed out, and those individuals assured me they were not involved in this. And that's where it stands. Q So none of them told any reporter that Valerie Plame worked for the CIA? MR. McCLELLAN: They assured me that they were not involved in this.” -Press Gaggle with Scott McClellan, October 10, 2003
"QUESTION: Wilson now believes that the person who did this was Karl Rove . . . Did Karl Rove tell that . . . McCLELLAN: I haven't heard that. That's just totally ridiculous. But we've already addressed this issue. If I could find out who anonymous people were, I would. I just said, it's totally ridiculous. QUESTION: But did Karl Rove do it? McCLELLAN: I said, it's totally ridiculous." -Press Gaggle with Scott McClellan, September 16, 2003
“No one wants to get to the bottom of this matter more than the President of the United States. If someone leaked classified information, the President wants to know. If someone in this administration leaked classified information, they will no longer be a part of this administration, because that's not the way this White House operates.” -White House Press Secretary Scott McClellan, October 7, 2003 "Now you know that this is all a big set up for the next one, right?" -Skippy
"Republicans mounted an aggressive and coordinated defense of Karl Rove yesterday, contending that the White House's top political adviser did nothing improper or illegal when he discussed a covert CIA official with a reporter. With a growing number of Democrats calling for Rove's resignation, the Republican National Committee and congressional Republicans sought to discredit Democratic critics and knock down allegations of possible criminal activity." -Washington Post, July 13, 2005 "We shouldn't forget that one of the reasons that they are calling for Rove's resignation is because the President stated that anyone responsible for leaking classified information would be fired.. There is really no avoiding the fact that, knowingly or otherwise, Rove did exactly that." -Skippy
“One of my political heroes, the eighteenth-century British statesman William Wilberforce, argued that hypocrisy can often be a social good.” -Rick Santorum, It Takes a Family “See? If you can’t avoid sounding like a hypocrite, make hypocrisy a good thing.” -Skippy
“Prime Minister Ibrahim al-Jaafari criticized U.S. and multinational forces for shooting at Iraqi civilians who act suspiciously near patrols or military areas, but a spokesman for the U.S. command blamed the problem on the growing use of suicide car bombs as an insurgent weapon. ‘Terrorists, through use of suicide (vehicles), have caused this predicament,’ said Lt. Col. Steven Boylan. ‘They have affected the normal level of trust that people have for one another and have made it difficult to distinguish between normal traffic and a grave potential threat.’" -Associated Press, July 10, 2005
“Iraq’s former interim prime minister Iyad Allawi has warned that his country is facing civil war and has predicted dire consequences for Europe and America as well as the Middle East if the crisis is not resolved. ‘The problem is that the Americans have no vision and no clear policy on how to go about in Iraq,’ said Allawi, a long-time ally of Washington. In an interview with The Sunday Times last week as he visited Amman, the Jordanian capital, he said: ‘The policy should be of building national unity in Iraq. Without this we will most certainly slip into a civil war. We are practically in stage one of a civil war as we speak.’” -The Sunday Times, July 10, 2005
“Wow.. civil war. Its like we’re turning the country into a bigger war zone deliberately by not putting enough troops in place or initially securing all of those weapons (or by starting this war in the first place).” -Skippy
“We will stay on the offense, fighting the terrorists abroad so we do not have to face them at home.” -George ‘Dubya’ Bush, July 9, 2005
“Except, of course, our allies in London. They really aren’t Amurican anyway though, so I guess it doesn’t matter. That’s the reason for the war, eh? To give the terrorists a new target other than us? To fight them overseas instead of here? I’m sure that our troops, those people who have apparently been sent into that meat grinder as terrorist bait, will appreciate what you’ve done.” -Skippy
“According to documents released at recent meetings of the House and Senate Veterans Affairs committees, the VA hospital in White River Junction, Vt., was forced to shut its operating rooms temporarily because of a lack of maintenance funds to repair a broken heating, ventilation and air conditioning system. Hospitals in Arkansas, Oklahoma, Mississippi, Louisiana and eastern Texas stopped scheduling appointments for many veterans. The VA medical center in San Diego, with a waiting list of 750 veterans, diverted $3.5 million in maintenance funds to partially cover operating expenses and delayed filling 131 vacancies for three months to cover operating expenses. The Portland, Ore., hospital delayed non-emergency surgery for at least six months, and 7,000 veterans who use the VA facility in Bay Pines, Fla., are waiting longer than 30 days for a primary care appointment.” -Washington Post, July 11, 2005
“Dang. Shooting civilians. Civil war in Iraq. Our injured soldiers returning to underfunded medical care. What I wouldn’t give for some old folksie radio announcer to come on and give me some optimistic Americana. I could use a little chicken soup for the soul (assuming of course that liberals such as myself actually have a soul… I think some of the conservatives out there doubt it. Ann Coulter, I’m talking to you.).” -Skippy
"We didn't come this far because we're made of sugar candy. Once upon a time, we elbowed our way onto and across this continent by giving smallpox-infected blankets to Native Americans. That was biological warfare. And we used every other weapon we could get our hands on to grab this land from whomever. And we grew prosperous. And yes, we greased the skids with the sweat of slaves. So it goes with most great nation-states, which - feeling guilty about their savage pasts - eventually civilize themselves out of business and wind up invaded and ultimately dominated by the lean, hungry up-and-coming who are not made of sugar candy." -Paul Harvey, June 23, 2005
“And now you know… the rest of the story.” -Skippy
"All day long people have been saying to me, 'Wasn't it great they didn't pick Paris?' And I've been saying, 'No, no, no.' Paris was exactly the right place to pick and the Olympic committee screwed up. Why? Simple. It would have been a three-week period where we wouldn't have had to worry about terrorism. First, the French think they are so good at dealing with the Arab world that they would have gone out and paid every terrorist off. And things would have been calm. Or another way to look at it is the French are already up to their eyeballs in terrorists. The French hide them in miserable slums, out of sight of the rich people in Paris. So it would have been a treat, actually, to watch the French dealing with the problem of their own homegrown Islamist terrorists living in France already.” -John Gibson, Fox News, July 6, 2005 “Hey, that was before the London attacks.. What does Fox news have to say in the aftermath?” -Skippy
"The bombings in London: This is why I thought the Brits should let the French have the Olympics -- let somebody else be worried about guys with backpack bombs for a while." -John Gibson, Fox News, July 7, 2005 "Hmm.. Not much better." -Skippy
"That these people are, If necessary, prepared to spill Arab blood in addition to the blood of regular -- of nonarab people living in London." -Fox News, July 7, 2005 "Because Arabs aren't 'regular' people. Only white people apparently qualify (and I'm not so sure about the Irish. They seem suspicious to me)." -Skippy
"And that was the first time since 9-11 when they should know, and they do know now, that terrorism should be Number 1. But it's important for them all to be together. I think that works to our advantage, in the Western world's advantage, for people to experience something like this together, just 500 miles from where the attacks have happened." -Brian Kilmeade, Fox News, July 7, 2005 "Yep. Thank God that they bombed the subway. They're working right into our hands. Bwah ha ha ha! And now for an old classic." -Skippy
"I mean, my first thought when I heard -- just on a personal basis, when I heard there had been this attack and I saw the futures this morning, which were really in the tank, I thought, 'Hmmm, time to buy.'" -Brit Hume, Fox News, July 7, 2005 "Fox News. They distort, you decide." -Skippy
“I mean, my first thought when I heard -- just on a personal basis, when I heard there had been this attack and I saw the futures this morning, which were really in the tank, I thought, ‘Hmmm, time to buy.’ Others may have thought that as well. But you never know about the markets.” -Brit Hume, Fox News, July 7, 2005
“Pardon me, but can we get some reporters who’s first thought upon hearing about a major disaster isn’t about the stock market?” -Skippy
“The U.S. military has hired Halliburton Co. for nearly $5 billion in new work in Iraq under a logistics contract that has so far earned the Texas firm $9.1 billion, the Army said Wednesday. Linda Theis, a spokeswoman for the U.S. Army Field Support Command in Rock Island, Ill., said the military signed the work order with Halliburton unit KBR in May. The new deal, worth $4.97 billion over the next year, was not made public when it was signed because the Army did not consider it necessary, she said. ’We did not announce this task order as this is really not something we ever really thought about doing,’ Theis said. Halliburton, run by Vice President Dick Cheney from 1995 to 2000, has been under scrutiny for its contracts in Iraq, and several U.S. government agencies are looking into whether it overcharged for some work.” -LA Times, July 7, 2005 “On the other hand, could you please report this kind of stuff when it happens instead of months later? The rules are simple: Loss of life? Worry about loss of life, not money. Taxpayers shelling out billions to a company that has been robbing us blind and which has really, really strong connections to the current administration? Follow the money. Remember, lives come before cash. I guess that that's what make this next one so disturbing.” -Skippy
"The Coast Guard's ships, planes and helicopters are breaking down at record rates, which may threaten the service's ability to carry out its post-9/11 mission of protecting ports and waterways against terrorism." -USA Today, July 5, 2005 "Seems like a simple problem. Many of the ships are older than the parents of the crewmen in them. They break down. We need them to protect our coastlines from terrorism, so we can expect Bush to spend his money wisely to update the boats in order to effectively fight terrorism, right? I mean, we're talking about protecting the US mainland here, not his personal game of Risk in the Middle East." -Skippy
"The Bush administration wants to increase the amount of time it will take to replace a fleet that's among the oldest on the globe — older even than fleets owned by nations such as Algeria and Pakistan. The 'deepwater' replacement program, conceived in 1998 as a $20 billion, 20-year plan to replace the fleet, could be increased to 25 years under a White House plan. The strategy would save the government money in the short term. The White House budget office declined to comment." -USA Today, July 5, 2005
"So, he’s actually pushing to make the Coast Guard keep their dilapidated boats for an extra five years. How can the ‘tough on terrorism’ President do that?." -Skippy
“MR. McCLELLAN: These are dangerous individuals that are operating in Iraq, and we’re on the offensive, going after them, working with Iraqi security forces to defeat them in Iraq, so that — we’re fighting them there, so that we don’t have to fight them here. This is all part of the war on terrorism, and that’s why we’re going after them and seeking to bring them to justice. Q Just following up on that question, you said at the outset of that, the terrorists have made it a central front in the war on terrorism. I thought it was a central front in the war on terrorism before we invaded. MR. McCLELLAN: It is. It’s part of the war on terrorism, yes. Q It was. MR. McCLELLAN: No, it is. Q It is now — MR. McCLELLAN: Both. Q Was it prior to — MR. McCLELLAN: Both. It’s part of the war on terrorism, David.” -Press Gaggle with White House Spokesman Scott McClellan, June 22, 2005 “Well, I guess we don’t have to worry about the Coast Guard because all of the terrorists are stuck in Iraq now, not the United States, or say, London. I’ll sleep easier.” -Skippy
Quotes of the Morning: It Isn't Nice to Fool With Mother Nature
"Nature provides a free lunch, but only if we control our appetites." -William D. Ruckelshaus
"Asked if he had changed his view on global warming Mr Bush said a speech he gave in 2001 recognised that green house gases were an issue. He went on 'I also strongly believe that technologies and the proper use of technologies will allow us to grow our economies and protect the environment.' 'The US goal is to neutralise and reduce green house gases over time. What I didn’t agree was a way forward that damaged our economy.'” -Financial Times, July 7, 2005
"Yep, because looking for alternative energy sources and reducing pollution and our energy dependency could hurt the economy. A little climate change probably won't hurt anyone." -Skippy
"This year's hurricane season is off to an exceptionally fast start, with four tropical storms already named since June 1, the most since 1851, Mr. Lepore said. Last year, three hurricanes - Frances, Ivan and Jeanne - caused billions of dollars in damage to oil sites. Global oil markets cannot afford to lose any output as most producers are pumping at their maximum to meet record demand. Rising consumption has pushed oil prices up by more than 40 percent this year and has been responsible for doubling oil prices in the last two years. The Gulf of Mexico accounts for a third of America's domestic oil production and has nearly 4,000 oil-producing sites, including 1,700 staffed platforms and hundreds of smaller single-well rigs. The concentration of so many production sites, as well as many refineries along the coasts of Alabama, Louisiana, Mississippi and Texas, makes the American oil industry particularly vulnerable to storms and hurricanes." -New York Times, July 7, 2005
"Oooo... Hurting the oil market. Prices rose yesterday to a new record $62 a barrel for oil, much of it due to fears of disruption of production in the Caribbean. And that of course doesn't include the costs to cities in Florida and Louisiana that get devastated by hurricanes. Kind of hurts the economy. You know, sometimes doing nothing can hurt more.." -Skippy
"Nature to be commanded must be obeyed." -Francis Bacon
"Nature encourages no looseness; pardons no errors." -Ralph Waldo Emerson
"Practice non-action. Work without doing." -Lao Tzu
"I never did a day's work in my life—it was all fun." -Thomas Edison
"It's no credit to anyone to work too hard." -Ed Howe
"Be true to your work, your word, and your friend." -Henry David Thoreau
"My father taught me to work; he did not teach me to love it." -Abraham Lincoln
"Live your life, do your work, then take your hat." -Henry David Thoreau
“The holidays are over. ComFest has come and gone, and now DooDah has passed. Thanks to everyone who made them special. (And, as a side note, the float for the Wilber Hills Country Club, of which I am a founding member, won ‘Best in Show’ at the DooDah parade. You didn’t need to know that.. I just wanted to brag.)” -Skippy
“Iran's spy chief used just two words to respond to White House ridicule of last week's presidential election: ‘Thank you.’ His sarcasm was barely hidden. The backfire on Washington was more evident. The sharp barbs from President Bush were widely seen in Iran as damaging to pro-reform groups because the comments appeared to have boosted turnout among hard-liners in Friday's election with the result being that an ultraconservative now is in a two-way showdown for the presidency. ‘I say to Bush: ‘Thank you,’’ quipped Intelligence Minister Ali Yunesi. ‘He motivated people to vote in retaliation.’ […] At a news conference Sunday, Iran's foreign minister, Kamel Kharrazi, said Bush ‘should apologize to the people of Iran for his comments.’ He also extended another wry ‘thank you.’ ‘Bush's statements brought out voters who didn't want to participate in the elections,’ Kharrazi said. ‘We have to thank him for this.’.... The Bush comments are an example of ‘the kind of American intervention" that often boomerangs in the region, said Egyptian political analyst Salama Ahmed Salama. ‘Bush meant to discourage the hard-liners,’ he said, ‘but instead he mobilized their supporters.’" -Associated Press, June 19, 2005
“The White House said Thursday it was investigating whether Iran’s new president played a role in seizing the American Embassy and holding 52 U.S. captives a quarter of a century ago. President Bush said the allegation by former hostages ‘raises many questions.’ The administration was reviewing its files on Iranian president-elect Mahmoud Ahmadinejad after the hostage comments were brought to light by The Associated Press.” -Associated Press, June 30, 2005 “Yep. Freedom is on the March on the Middle East. The people seem to be speaking here too..” -Skippy
“President Bush’s televised address to the nation produced no noticeable bounce in his approval numbers, with his job approval rating slipping a point from a week ago, to 43%, in the latest Zogby International poll. And, in a sign of continuing polarization, more than two-in-five voters (42%) say they would favor impeachment proceedings if it is found the President misled the nation about his reasons for going to war with Iraq..” -Zogby International, June 30, 2005
