Woodward on 60 Minutes

So we go to war and the Colin Powell was the last to know. How disjointed is it when Saudi Arabia knows we're going to war before the U.S. Secretary of State. from the show:

But, it turns out, two days before the president told Powell, Cheney and Rumsfeld had already briefed Prince Bandar, the Saudi ambassador.

"Saturday, Jan. 11, with the president's permission, Cheney and Rumsfeld call Bandar to Cheney's West Wing office, and the chairman of the Joint Chiefs, Gen. Myers, is there with a top-secret map of the war plan. And it says, 'Top secret. No foreign.' No foreign means no foreigners are supposed to see this," says Woodward.

"They describe in detail the war plan for Bandar. And so Bandar, who's skeptical because he knows in the first Gulf War we didn't get Saddam out, so he says to Cheney and Rumsfeld, 'So Saddam this time is gonna be out, period?'" And Cheney who has said nothing says the following: "Prince Bandar, once we start, Saddam is toast."

After Bandar left, according to Woodward, Cheney said, "I wanted him to know that this is for real. We're really doing it."

But this wasn't enough for Prince Bandar, who Woodward says wanted confirmation from the president. "Then, two days later, Bandar is called to meet with the president and the president says, 'Their message is my message'" says Woodward.

Prince Bandar enjoys easy access to the Oval Office. His family and the Bush family are close. And Woodward told 60 Minutes that Bandar has promised the president that Saudi Arabia will lower oil prices in the months before the election -- to ensure the U.S. economy is strong on election day.

Now lets review. the President shares TOP SECRET information with the leaders of Saudi Arabia (you know, where the bulk of the 9/11 terrorists were born), and he does this BEFORE our Secretary of State knows? ok, now lets think back. Clinton was impeached for WHAT?

Another little tidbit that Condi had trouble explaining today: Diverted Funds seems that some of the Money directed by congress to go to Afganistan was diverted to Iraq early on. know what's bad about this? Of course, i mean other than removing funds from the real war on terror for the make believe war on terror...well, you see...IT'S ILLEGAL! you can't take funds allocated for a military action in one theatre and direct them elsewhere because Congress hasn't given you the funding you wanted. my questions to any GOP'er out there...when do you say "enough"? seriously. i'm not saying you can't LIKE the guy, but when has he done too much? does he just get a free pass?

frustrated

Kerry Hits Back at White House, Defends Patriotism
Finally, it seems Kerry is on the move and saying what a lot of us have been thinking. for too long these guys have gotten away with attacking others concerning matters where they've had far more guilt. i sometimes think its done as a pre-emptive distraction when they know they're weak in a certain area. sadly, the press has been content to let them do this sort of thing unchecked. I believe lying in Iraq has been the last straw for the press. while not perfect, they've been much more zealous with this president and the white house is having a hard time coping. they're used to the press taking their stories and running with them. its not working quite like that now and the white house is struggling to deal with it (see the 'mission accomplished' item below).

"I'm tired of Karl Rove and Dick Cheney and a bunch of people who went out of their way to avoid their chance to serve when they had the chance," the Massachusetts senator said. "I'm not going to listen to them talk to me about patriotism."

"I've seen how these people in the White House today, in their twisted sense of ethics and morality, don't think twice about challenging John McCain and what happened to him as a prisoner of war," he said in reference to attacks by President Bush in 2000 on his Republican primary rival McCain, an Arizona senator.

Karl Rove regrets "Mission Accomplished" banner

i guess this is as close as we'll get to Bush EVER admitting something was done wrong.

DNC Video: Mistakes Were Made

WOW! a great ad about the president's performance this week in the press conference. you know...as great as the ad is...its not so great. its not so great that we have a leader that lacks so much.

KEEP ON SPENDING!!!

Bush has raised an amazing amount of money for his campaign, but he's also blowing right through it. Seems he's spending about $9 Million a week since March. (24 weeks left = $216 Million). he'll spend more as time goes on, and he's not getting much for his money so far. His ratings keep falling and he seems to take one hit after another in the press. so what does his ads do? they're almost entirely Negative against Kerry. He's not saying one positive thing about himself or his own vision when current events seem to show him having no direction on important world events.

83 Americans have died in Iraq in the last 12 days.

A Mississippi man is now a hostage or dead.

Bush cannot even say to whom he'll turn over Iraq on June 30th, but he's dead set on that date.

I just don't know how anyone makes the case for that sort of leadership.

Keep it up bush...we've got an election to win over here on my side...

You See, I work in Politics...

well, that's the title i've had here lately. In that job, my main responsibility is to make sure tort reform doesn't pass. Today we beat 'tort reform'. its not for good (nothing is), and you know what?

we didn't really beat it. luck and hubris beat it...and this day, like almost everything else in my life made me stare down the dark feeling of defeat until victory came in the last few moments...literally in the last 9 minutes it could possibly come, 'tort reform' lost out. it was deathly close and the bill was bad all around for Mississippians.

it seems like i have no victories in my life without falling to a hair's width of utter defeat. as much as i'm used to this. as much as its a pattern of my life that re-affirms my faith...its still very hard.

i am utterly exhausted.

oh...and i haven't done my taxes.

cheers!

Rebs batter Dogs 10-4 - The Clarion-Ledger

We always lose this game.

Bush TELLS THE TRUTH

From yesterday's press conference:
“A country that hides something is a country that is afraid of getting caught”

i like that one.

Another was his response to just who the Hell are we turning Iraq over to on June 30? his answer:
"We'll find that out soon." ....um...you better know NOW.

the whole thing was pretty rich. he was asked 4 times if he's mad ANY policy mistakes so far. 3 guesses on what he thinks of the job he's doing. after being asked the 4th time, he got creative:

The fourth time, the president took a deep breath, blew it out, looked at the ground, looked at the ceiling, stalled for time, then said: "You know, I just -- I'm sure something will pop into my head here in the midst of this press conference, with all the pressure of trying to come up with an answer, but it hadn't yet."

Do you realize he's given 12 press conferences during his ENTIRE presidency? He won't go to the 9/11 hearing unless it is not public AND he can bring his VP along. know why? he can't HACK it alone.

Oh, before i forget, he called Donald Rumsfeld his Secretary of State. (he's not)

yeah. that's my president...i'm gonna sleep better tonite.

This was on prime time TV on all the networks. it couldn't have helped him.

(yay!)

on a sad note...and possibly related to the posts below, Salon reports:

Eighty-three U.S. troops have died in Iraq in the first 12 days of April, more than were killed in the same number of days at the start of the war. Iraqi insurgents are holding more than 40 hostages, and the mutilated remains of four bodies -- likely those of missing American contractors -- were discovered in Iraq Tuesday.

THE PRESIDENT SHOULD SUPPORT OUR TROOPS.
...But he doesn't!

from yesterday's Press Conference:

(about our troops) “some performed well, and i’m proud of them. others didn’t perform so well and i want to know why.”

you ingrate! they're fighting your war for you.

ahem.

Weekly Review (Harpers.org)

Rice acknowledged that President Bush had received a classified CIA briefing on August 6, 2001, entitled "Bin Laden Determined to Attack Inside the United States," though she characterized the report as "historical information based on old reporting." She also acknowledged that the report mentioned the existence of Al Qaeda sleeper cells in the United States but "there was no recommendation that we do something about this." Rice also admitted that Richard Clarke, whose book on the Bush Administration's antiterrorism failures prompted her public testimony, sent her a memo in January 2001 in which he mentioned sleeper cells. Again, Rice said, "there was no mention or recommendation of anything that needs to be done about them."

OK, let me get this straight. You WOULD have done something if they'd given you a plan of action...i guess because that's not your job...you know, coming up with plans...? gotcha.

OK, next please. i think we're done here.

Mr. Mooch Wants to Know...

Mr. Mooch was asking me why so many times when you see Monkeys they have a Fez on their head. He points out that not all Monkeys are from Casablanca.

Scalia apologizes for recording erasure...But I don't Accept!

OK, get this...US Supreme Court Justice Scalia speaks at a Hattiesburg, MS High School--about the constitution and free speech of all things.

Well, the press is there and he gets a U.S. Marshall to grab 2 reporter's equipment and ERASE their recordings of his PUBLIC SPEECH!! all because he wanted no recorded version of his speech.

This is EXACTLY what the 1st amendment was designed to protect against. this is the FUNDAMENTAL RIGHT of the free press under the 1st amendment. The only more basic right we have is voting!

think bout it. a judge gives a public speech here anyone could hear--not a private conversation--and finds out a recording is made. He then gets a Fed. law enforcement officer to seize the reporter's recording/work product and destrotys/erases it. He was BREAKING the most fundamental right we have next to voting.

This is the FIRST amendment...the FIRST rule protecting us...and our Own Supreme Court Justice does not hesistate to violate it himself in the VERY basic method it was to fight. For me, this shocks the conscience.

Know what pisses me off most of all. the local paper, the Hattiesburg American had NO COMPLAINTS about them taking the tapes and erasing them. It was OTHER media outside of Mississippi carrying this story. The Jackson Paper, the Clarion Ledger, wasn't even there to cover the event, let alone the controversy. they didn't even report that he was here. when they finally did cover it, they did so as an AP WIRE STORY!!!

Not their own reporter. Right here, a major 1st Amendment issue and they pull it from the AP like they were 1000 miles away. i mean JESUS. this is BIG. its in your back yard and you're pulling it off the WIRE?

That's pathetic.

Um...ok...:


"Former acting FBI Director Thomas Pickard said Ashcroft dismissed warnings of terrorist threats that summer and rejected appeals for additional counterterrorism funds.

Pickard said that 'in late June and through July, he met with Attorney General Ashcroft once a week,' the report says. 'He told us that though he initially briefed the attorney general regarding these threats, after two such briefings the attorney general told him he did not want to hear this information anymore.'"

Deadline Passes for Kidnapped American Contractor in Iraq

More on Mr. Hamill. Seems the deadline has passed.

This Speaks for Itself.

April 13, 2004 | WASHINGTON (AP) -- For American forces in Iraq, these are the deadliest days of the war. At least 83 U.S. troops were killed in action in the first 12 days of April, with the most recent death on Tuesday. Also this month, more than 560 were wounded and two soldiers were declared missing. At least four American civilians were killed, one contractor was captured by gunmen and six others are missing and feared abducted.

The number wounded so far in April exceeds the total for any other full month of the war by more than 220.

Among the captured civilians is Tommy Hamill of Macon, MS. he was a farmer in East Mississippi who lost everything in the current economy. in order to avoid bankrupcy, he decided to drive a Truck in Iraq for a much larger wage than he could get in the states. His family has been told he'll be dismembered and killed if the US does not leave. Let's hope that whatever happens on June 30th is enough for them.

Report from Iraq

This site links to the Talking Points Memo, which i highly recommend to anyone it seems the guy who runs the site has a friend in iraq working a security detail. he used to be in military intelligence. see this report:

The fighting two nights ago was loud and widespread throughout the northern and northwestern parts of Baghdad ... areas such as Yarmouk, Sadr City had almost continuous gunfights and rocket attacks. When we heard US forces using the main gun on M-1 tanks at 1 AM we knew it was serious insurgency at hand. The night is no longer the refuge and domain of the Americans. I have to tell you although the wide open areas of Iraq give a false sense of security. Even though much of this is unseen to most people the situation has gone from bad to really bad to unbelievably bad! Westerners are getting hit everywhere. Security companies escorting CPA, themselves and other Westerners are now on the menu for all the armed resistance groups. There was a report of a massive ambush by one security firm that tried to drive in from Amman. Reports have 25-40 gunmen opening up on them. They lost all of their vehicles and had to be given a mercy lift by a passing Iraqi minivan. Several other firms lost western security personnel killed this week in drive-by ambushes and even a seige by the Sadr Militia. Several NGOs, security firms and military bases were literally under siege for days in Kut, Nasiriyah and Baghdad. The boldness and sophistication of the attacks is staggering and it is clear that every one of the resistance fighters and Islamic militiamen have taken heart at the ease of inflicting damage on the Westerners. The abductions of the Japanese hostages is a sign that we have entered a new phase of bad as abduction requires a permissive environment for the hostage taker.
I refer to this entire mess as the second Intifada of Iraq. The first Intifida was last August in Fallujah when US soldiers killed 15-17 Iraqis and Fallujah fell into revolt. Vehicles are being hit where they are easiest to find and the security firms who are here to protect the Westerners are taking casualties because the US Army and Marines are literally stretched thin throughout the country and quite over their own capacity to stop the violence. The resistance's combat operational center of mass is and will continue moving from known mass resistance organizations (such as uniformed Badr Brigade) to small leaderless or autonomous teams or supporters who are now deciding to do what they please to the first target available. Those targets are easy ... Westerners. Any and all. This burst of energy won't last long though ...

I suspect we will have a cool down period in the next few days or within a week but it will be simply to "re-arm and re-fuel for re-strike and re-venge." A true sustained explosion of violence has yet to be coordinated by the myriad of resistance teams but as the independent or semi-centralized resistance groups form, choose leadership and communicate at the internet cafes, you can be pretty sure the second wave of violence is going to come and it will be equally, if not more, dramatic. This time it won't be men in black uniforms, they have learned that lesson in Najaf ... They will shift to urban terrorism and un-uniformed attacks. God forbid if Sadr is killed or captured ... then we have an entire second front that won't give up until we leave.

General Kimmet is wrong if he thinks that he will destroy the Badr brigade or Sadr Army as a military organization because there isn't really one ... he will disperse them into small, highly armed teams of friends and ... voila! Al Qaeda-Iraq or Hezbollah-Iraq will be borne in numbers we will not be able to control. Since the ICDC [the Iraqi Civil Defense Corps] seem to have run off and joined the opposition in Nasiriyah it may reflect the true loyalties of the new Iraqi army and Police. No one is going to cross their family, tribe or religious community for the Americans.

The correct answer is to back off, leave Sadr alone and start to throw lots of money into jobs projects and utilities for the south before this summer's electricity and gas shortages ... will that work? Probably not. But we have just antagonized the core of the Shiite resistance and putting them to work is better than letting them fight us 24/7. General Sanchez is right about one thing ... this is not Vietnam ... Oh no, its not that easy. I refer you to Israel humiliating defeat in Southern Lebanon by Hezbollah's armed resistance for a reference to our potential future.

Can't sleep, and i'm about to hop on a plane

so i steal this from the Post:

This is Bush's 33rd visit to his ranch since becoming president. He has spent all or part of 233 days on his Texas ranch since taking office, according to a tally by CBS News. Adding his 78 visits to Camp David and his five visits to Kennebunkport, Maine, Bush has spent all or part of 500 days in office at one of his three retreats, or more than 40 percent of his presidency.

Bush Job Ratings Slip

of course, this may just be utterly meaningless, but none-the-less, here it is:

January 56%
February 48%
March 47%
April 43%

BUSH AD

just saw a bush ad on the History Channel. it was all attack on Kerry. cool with me. i like him having nothing to say about himself, his own policies, and why HE should be president. i guess its clear to the Prez what is an easier sell. this is a theme in all the ads i've seen. i have to wonder if Bush has now gone to an all negative ad policy.

heh.

MIA?

Well, i've been missing for the longest stretch in a while. My wife left me at home with Mr. Mooch while she went to chilly California. luckily, the weather here has been amazing. This weekend i went to a Film Festival, and felt good about supporting local film buffs and film makers. My job is approaching a "drop dead" day and i was pretty excited.

note i used the word 'was'. it WAS going to be a good day. the day would pass and all good things would come. WOULD being the operative word. well, it seems the wheels have shot off the car. all the smooth sailing may just be over. I'm going to end this here, because i'm not at liberty to be frank about my work, what's going wrong (or right), or what i think about it....thus...i'm annoying myself reading this. i can only imagine i'm annoying you. i hope to fill in the blanks soon.

Mr. Mooch says i'll feel better in about 3 years and 7 months. the first tuesday in November to be exact.

He's right.