Richard Perle Calls Iraq Invasion Illegal

Hat Tip Buzzflash and WTF?

International lawyers and anti-war campaigners reacted with astonishment yesterday after the influential Pentagon hawk Richard Perle conceded that the invasion of Iraq had been illegal.

snip

But Mr Perle, a key member of the defence policy board, which advises the US defence secretary, Donald Rumsfeld, said that "international law ... would have required us to leave Saddam Hussein alone", and this would have been morally unacceptable.

Morally unacceptable to whom? The criminals in the White House and GOP, of course. Fucking neocon wah-babies.

Appearing on BBC’s Hardtalk with Stephen Sackur this weekend, Iraq war architect Richard Perle attempted, on the one hand, to distance himself from the failures of the Iraq war, and on the other hand, to claim it was a fantastic success.

“I’m not happy about the way events have unfolded in Iraq,” Perle began. But when asked whether he felt a “sense of personal responsibility” for what has happened in the aftermath of the invasion, Perle said “I certainly don’t consider myself responsible” for the disastrous post-war occupation of Iraq.

Asked whether he was wrong on Iraq, Perle gave this response:

Well, I don’t believe I was wrong. Let me be very clear about that. What I think happened is that a successful invasion was turned into an unsuccessful occupation. I didn’t favor the occupation strategy. I think the occupation was a mistake.

Perle also defended his pre-war claim that regime change in Iraq would bring about “dancing in the streets.”

The epitome of criminality and taking absolutely no blame for his own advocacy of illegal actions towards Iraq...

Pre-2003 invasion

Like many in the neoconservative movement, Perle had long been an advocate of regime change in Iraq. He was a signatory of the 26 January 1998 PNAC Letter sent to US President Bill Clinton that called for the military overthrow of Saddam Hussein's regime. He also linked Saddam to Osama Bin Laden just a few days after 9/11, proclaiming in an interview on CNN on Sept 16, 2001: "Even if we cannot prove to the standards that we enjoy in our own civil society that they were involved, we do know, for example, that Saddam Hussein has ties to Osama Bin Laden..." [2]

Perle argued that what he referred to as terrorist Abu Nidal's "sanctuary" in Saddam Hussein's Iraq was justification for the U.S. military invasion of Iraq. Perle states this in the recent PBS documentary series "America At A Crossroads", and refers to President Bush's 9/11 speech in which Bush stated: "We will make no distinction between the terrorists who committed these acts and those who harbor them."

Perle came into further prominence due to his role in backing the 2003 invasion, and continues to support the military presence there.

In an interview for "Saddam's Ultimate Solution", the 11 July 2002 episode of the PBS series Wide Angle, he said:

"Saddam is much weaker than we think he is. He's weaker militarily. We know he's got about a third of what he had in 1991. But it's a house of cards. He rules by fear because he knows there is no underlying support. Support for Saddam, including within his military organization, will collapse at the first whiff of gunpowder. Now, it isn't going to be over in 24 hours, but it isn't going to be months either."

The US-led coalition defeated the Iraqi military within less than a month of the invasion [3] and the Coalition Provisional Authority disbanded the military and removed Ba'ath party members from authority positions, essentially dissolving the government, as well. Critical government positions were appointed by the CPA[4].

In the leadup to the war, Perle also complained that Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) officials were so hostile to defectors brought out of Iraq by the Iraqi National Congress that they refused to interview them and even tried to discredit them. The defectors and the head of the INC, Ahmed Chalabi were discredited not only by the CIA, but by the State Department at the time that Perle was supporting them. Later, the US military raided INC offices and stopped funding to the organization. [5]

Perle advocated invading Iraq with only 40,000 troops, and complained about the calls by then Gen. Eric Shinseki to use 660,000 troops. He preferred a strategy similar to that used in the Afghan war, in which the U.S. would insert SOF (Special Operations Forces), along with some two divisions, to assist native Kurdish and Shi'ite rebels, much as the United States had done with the Northern Alliance against the Taliban. [6] Nevertheless, in an interview he gave Vanity Fair that was excerpted in an article appearing in the 4 November 2006 Los Angeles Times, he denied having a role in the planning of the war. He is reported to have told Vanity Fair, "I'm getting damn tired of being described as an architect of the war. This is not congruent with his signing of the PNAC letter in 1998. I was in favor of bringing down Saddam. Nobody said, 'Go design the campaign to do that.' I had no responsibility for that." The same Los Angeles Times article reports that Perle now believes that his advocacy of the Iraq war was wrong.

Perle was the subject of extensive study in the April 2007 PBS miniseries America at a Crossroads, in which he made a retrospective defense of the Bush administration's decisions concerning the invasion of Iraq.

In April 2007, Perle was featured on VPRO's Tegenlicht miniseries The Israel Lobby. Perle denied that the Israel Lobby particularly AIPAC was involved in the case to go to war with Iraq. However, he did suggest that AIPAC is heavily influential in United States elections. Further hinting at if any sponsored legislation is challenged in the US Congress the likelihood of re-election is minimal.

Iraq policy regret and Bush criticism

In a Vanity Fair article that was first published online in November 2006, Perle expressed regret of his support of the invasion and faulted the "dysfunction" in the Bush administration for the troubled occupation. "I think now I probably would have said, 'Let's consider other strategies for dealing with the thing that concerns us most, which is Saddam supplying weapons of mass destruction to terrorists'. The decisions did not get made that should have been. They didn't get made in a timely fashion, and the differences were argued out endlessly. At the end of the day, you have to hold the president responsible."

All of these shitbag neoconservative warmongers are desperately running around trying to salvage some sense of credibility by blaming everyone else for their illegal invasion and occupation of Iraq. They deserve nothing less than life in prison as punishment for the death and destruction they knowingly planned to unleash upon the world.

Even if all Perle ever advocated for was bombing Iraq, it is still a war crime by his own admission.

Right Wing Moonbats Desperately Spin NIE

Inability to get a grip on the realities coming at them in liberal doses has never stopped the meak-minded right wing moonbats from trying to continue to spin bush lies:

After insisting that Iran was “only a small step away from producing nuclear weapons,” and after pushing for military strikes against Iran for months, Podhoretz is apparently determined not to let facts get in the way of his prayers for an Iran war.

Podhoretz isn’t the only conservative desperately spinning the NIE to buttress his hawkish positions. Some other examples from conservative blogs:

Strata-Strata: “This smells like another leak by forces in our intel community trying to — once again — influence our national elections.”

Powerline: “But the report offers no reason to be less concerned about the likelihood that Iran will possess nuclear weapons in the near future, and no reason to doubt that our own willingness to take military action is one of the factors that will influence decision-making in Tehran.”

Michelle Malkin: “What’s not making headlines (the certainty that Iran indeed had a nuke program) is as telling as what is making news (the halting of the program in 2003).”

Seth Liebelson at the Corner: If Iran shut its program down in the fall of 2003 MIGHT, MIGHT, MIGHT it have anything to do with it noticing that the US militarily took out its neighbor (another enemy of the U.S.) earlier that year for, among other things, having a concealed WMD program?

Michael Rubin at the Corner: “If Iran was working on a nuclear weapons program until 2003, what does this say about U.S. policy in the late Clinton period and European engagement?”

News Hoggers and SadlyNo have more.

Turn on the bright light of truth and the right wing moonbats - blinded by their rage, hate, incompetence and lies - start flying into the wall of reality.

[update] And as the liars on the right wing fly into that wall:

Bush had two meetings with Olmert — one on Monday, Nov. 26, and one on Wednesday, Nov. 28. But as Hersh makes clear, Bush discussed the NIE with Olmert at the first meeting before the conference, on Nov. 26 — two days before Hadley alleged that Bush first was briefed on the report. This revelation provides evidence that the Bush administration is misleading about when it first learned that Iran had halted its nuclear weapons program.

Oh, oh... Now they'll have to start spinning about how they can't get their lies straight. Childish juice box republicans. You could feel sorry for these idiot GOP talking point Bloggers given what the criminal bush administration gives them to work with on a daily basis... You could, but you won't. They chose to support their own little GOP brand of lunacy.

[update deux] If Sy Hersh knew about this a year ago... Then so did the lying bushies:

Bali Hai, Bali Beau?

In denial on more than just his sexuality, Larry Craig is off to Bali for a conference on climate change:

Currently the subject of an ongoing ethics investigation, continued allegations of being gay, and stripped of his leadership positions on the Veterans’ Affairs and Appropriations Committees, Sen. Larry Craig (R-ID) is seeking temporary solace in the tropical resort island of Bali.

Craig is traveling to Bali this week for the U.N.-led climate change conference as the “Republican representative from the Senate Environment and Public Works Committee,” which is led by chief global warming denier Sen. James Inhofe (R-OK).

Prior to his travels, Craig attacked EPW Chairwoman Sen. Barbara Boxer (D-CA) for creating “all-pain, no-gain” climate change legislation that would call for caps on greenhouse gas emissions. It “demonstrates nothing more than her intent to revert the United States to a developing country,” he asserted:

I’ve been to three of the last six “COP” conferences, so I’d expect the COP-13 crowd will be singing a familiar tune. Sen. Boxer will be welcomed as the liberator, and Al Gore will probably receive another award, but in the end, the only impact the conference will have will be the pollution and consumption they all create in traveling to Bali in the first place…we can avoid suffering for symbolism, and continue to keep things cool in our own backyard, even if there’s nothing but hot air in Bali.

Notably, Boxer is also the Chairwoman of the Senate Ethics Committee, which is investigating “allegations of sexual misconduct” by Craig and is currently “continu[ing] to conduct its preliminary inquiry into the matter.”

Craig has long history of climate change denial. Some highlights:

— Denied that global warming was at all responsible for the California wildfires. [LINK]

– In 1998, said Kyoto Protocol was “unnecessary response to an exaggerated threat the vice president himself [Al Gore] is caught up in making.” [LINK]

– Claims “scientists are not certain how much man contributes to climate variability compared to nature.” [LINK]

Isolated from his own party and now “a wisp of his former self in the Senate,” Craig will have to rely on the support of fringe, discredited global warming deniers.

I am trying to think of a good reason for someone like Larry Craig, in denial of climate change, to take off to Bali for this conference other than just trying to get away from the scrutiny of the local press during his recent scandals...

A week in sun-drenched Bali can be very seductive for anyone. Despite the bombings in '02 and '05, Bali continues to be a place of calm repose, swaying palms, restful beaches, green forests, friendly faces and master wood carvers. Bali is also home to a small resident lesbigay community that lives calmly among the easy-going populace. Quite distinct from these locals are the international LBGT tourists who land in Bali for a short intense dose of beaches, beer and boys. In recent years some of these tourists have bypassed Bali out of fear--there were bombings in 2002 and 2004--but the resident community. straight and gay, continues to go about life as usual in this beautiful corner of the world.

Should we be wondering about Sen. James Inhofe's real reasons for going to Bali, given that he is a noted and ardent denier of climate change and gay rights, as well?

"Bali Hai they call you, When the sky and the sea, And I don't know how much what they're saying, But come to me. Come to me."

Fox News Won't Televise It...

So, it must be true:


Via emptywheel, over at her new firedoglake home:

CCR is one of the organizations that will go before the Supreme Court on Wednesday in hopes of restoring Habeas Corpus. At the same time, they're trying to raise awareness of Bush's attacks on our rights with ads like this and a cool campaign to send Bush a copy of the Constitution (what do you get the President who has everything??). But when they went to Fox to buy time for this ad, Fox asked for proof that Bush had shredded the Constitution.

Perhaps it's time to launch a campaign to inundate Fox with your favorite proof that Bush trashed the Constitution. Copies of the Risen-Lichtblau scoop on warrantless wiretapping, pictures of the "free speech zones" at Bush appearances, a copy of the report proving NYC spied on citizens and detained many illegally leading up to the Republican convention in 2004. Anyone else have some good ideas?

DeLuca's Mob Inspired Vacancy Official

"Her Excellency" Granny Paranoia sets a Januray 15th Date to replace her GOP mobster, DeLuca:

The resignation of state Sen. Louis C. DeLuca, R-Woodbury, took effect Friday, allowing Gov. M. Jodi Rell to issue a writ setting a special election for Jan. 15 to fill the vacancy in the 32nd Senate District.

DeLuca announced his resignation Nov. 13 as a Senate disciplinary committee was examining his dealings with an indicted trash hauler, James Galante. By delaying the effective date, DeLuca allowed Rell to schedule the election after the holidays.

Nice of DeLuca to ALLOW Rell to schedule this at his criminal convenience...

Help Support the Troops!

Ilona Meagher needs some help before she testifies to Congress on suicide prevention and the dire homelessness situation for Veterans.

This is an important call to everyone in the community.

I need your help -- everyone's.

For those who've been around for the past 2+ years, you've been right there with me as I started advocating for our returning troops and military families coping with reintegration problems and PTSD. We've done an enormous amount of work, and now we're taking it to the next level.

I've been asked to testify on December 12, 2007, before Congress at a hearing on Stopping Suicide and Ending Homelessness: Mental Health Challenges Within the Department of Veterans Affairs by the House Veterans' Affairs Committee. My work on the ePluribus Media PTSD Timeline is partly the reason for the invite, a project that sprung from a September 2005 Daily Kos diary of mine.

Since being asked to write Moving a Nation to Care by my publisher, I've been sidetracked from adding new incidents I've continued to collect; this info is now needed more than ever as I'd like to add it to the Congressional Record with my testimony but don't have time to complete it alone.

There is a long list of things you can do to help her prepare for this testimony. Why not go over and see if you can help?

Arkasas' Own Pauline Basso

Arkansas has a Pauline Basso too, only this guy ain't sending racist jokes:

From the Associated Press this afternoon:

An Arkansas legislator apologized Thursday for an e-mail in which he wrote that “we are being outpopulated by the blacks” and “we are being overrun” by illegal immigrants.

But state Sen. Denny Altes insisted the comments in the e-mail he sent earlier this month to former Fort Smith Mayor Bill Vines were not racist.

. . . Altes, who is white, wrote in the e-mail that he was in favor of returning illegal aliens to their countries, but “we know that is impossible.”

“We are where we were with the black folks after the Revolutionary War,” Altes wrote. “We can’t send them back and the more we (anger them) the worse it will be in the future…. Sure we are being overrun but we are being outpopulated by the blacks also.”

Altes said he was responding to an inflammatory e-mail.

Arkansas GOP chairman Dennis Milligan criticized Altes, a Republican from Fort Smith, for the comments.

“They are disrespectful and denigrating to the practical concerns of how we truly address illegal immigration,” Milligan said in a statement released by the party.

Yes, please, Sen. Altes, that’s not how Republicans “address illegal immigration.” Not when the media is looking, anyway.

The mind of a republican politician is a very dark and seriously disturbed place, indeed.

Commie Pinko Socialist Blog Radio Tonight

Well, that is what juicebox republican children would call it... I'll stick to calling it "Don't hijack my thread!" ePluribus Media's progressive Blog radio show.

If you are around TONIGHT (Thursday, November 29), please join us for another installment of Don't Hijack My Thread! at 8PM Eastern/5PM Pacific.

This week's topics are as follows:

* "Wrong on torture" but still right for Attorney General?
* Huckabee's surge and "Willie Horton" problem
* Rudy's extramarital affairs at taxpayer expense
* Will Democrats actively support clean money elections?
* CNN - the new FoxNews?

The link to tonight's show is: http://www.blogtalkradio.com/epradio/2007/11/30/Dont-Hijack-My-Thread


The link to past shows for podcast or streaming is here: http://www.blogtalkradio.com/epradio and you can check out Blog Talk Radio's progressive radio lineup at Heading Left (www.headingleft.com).

Info about calling in can be found here

The call in number is 718-508-9410

A Whole Lott of Family Shit ...

...hits the fan:

A federal grand jury indicted outgoing GOP Sen. Trent Lott’s brother-in-law, Richard “Dickie” Scruggs, today “on charges that he and four other men tried to bribe a Mississippi state court judge.” Scruggs and his associates allegedly conspired to “bribe Mississippi Third Circuit Court Judge Henry L. Lackey with at least $40,000 in cash” after “Scruggs’ firm was named as a defendant in a dispute involving $26.5 million in attorneys’ fees.” The group of Mississippi attorneys in the indictment also include a former state auditor and Lott’s nephew Zach.

Not quite the kick in the Lott family jewels we expected, but who knows if there is more to come?

And from one racist republican in trouble we cut to another racist republican in trouble:

I've written several posts about the complete incompetence of Immigration Czar (a.k.a inexperienced Bush crony) Julie Myers but this load of stupidity takes the cake.

Faced with criticism of Myer's approval of her employees walking around in black face Halloween costumes, she pulls yet another idiotic act that only sheds more light on her total ignorance.

Supporting the Soldiers

rose is a rose over at the nutmeg grater has a list of things you can do to support the troops as "Her Excellency" Gov. Jodi Rell kicks off E.L.F.:

please think about donating (gift cards, grocery cards, pre-paid phone cards, toys, etc) to our deployed service members and their families. it's a way to give back to them

Regardless of what you think about the failed policies of the criminal bush administration, these men and woman that have bore the brunt of the results of those policies deserve real support from Americans that goes beyond a bumper sticker.

Stop Big Media!

Why is this happening?

• “Women comprise 51 percent of the entire U.S. population, but own a total of only 80 stations, or 5.87 percent of all full power commercial television stations.”
  
  
• “Minorities comprise 34 percent of the entire U.S. population, but own a total of 43 stations, or 3.15 percent of all full-power commercial television stations.” That percentage decreased between Oct. 2006 and Oct. 2007.
  
  
• “Blacks or African Americans comprise 13 percent of the entire U.S. population but only own a total of 8 stations, or 0.6 percent of all stations. … From October 2006 to October 2007 the number of African American-owned full power commercial TV stations decreased by nearly 60 percent.”
  
  
• “Hispanics or Latinos comprise 15 percent of the entire U.S. population, but only own a total of 17 stations, or 1.25 percent of all stations.”

A group of filthy rich white men control the bulk of everything you see, hear and read about in the media. And they want to make it even harder to get more varied voices and opinions out there:

FCC chair Kevin Martin is currently pushing to allowing a media company to own both a television and a radio station in the same city. The plan is endorsed by billionaires such as Rupert Murdoch, but opposed by the majority of the American public. One of the most troubling consequences of lifting the ban is that it would likely crowd out local and minority voices in the media.

Yep... They would like nothing better than to shut down any real competition in the market of ideas by controlling the media message even more...

What can you do about it?

STOP BIG MEDIA!

One Blog post, and millions of petitioners, at a time...

Kevin Martin, Chairman of the Federal Communications Commission, has been keeping a secret from the American people. He wants to push through plans to remove decades-old media ownership protections. And he's trying to do it without public scrutiny.

Petitions from the public — millions of them — stopped media consolidation in 2003. Sign the petition and tell everyone you know:

You can also get involved on
Facebook, MySpace, YouTube, Flickr
and the Free Press Action Network.

We beat them once and I suspect that, much like saving the Internet, we will have to do this over and over again until Congress finally tells them their monopolistic ideals will never get a pass. The media conglomerates already have too much of a monopoly and deserve to be downsized for the good of the nation.

The media landscape is dominated by massive corporations that, through a history of mergers and acquisitions, have concentrated too much control in too few hands. This leads to a lack of diversity of voices, programming that is out of touch with local concerns and increasingly commercial and homogenized news and entertainment. Further consolidation will produce media in which only the powerful few will be heard.

The chart below maps out the control the six most concentrated giants exert over all forms of news, entertainment and information.

Click on these links to view information on conglomerates that control:

• Television
• Radio
• Publishing and Newspapers

Take A Tour of Wasington D.C.

Courtesy of the Hartford Courant:

In Washington, Follow The Perp Walk Of Fame

Those who believe in the innate goodness of humankind have never walked the 100 block of D Street SE.

Let's start at 110 D St., the drab Hill House apartment complex; police were summoned here, to Apartment 215, when a woman complained that her lover, then-Rep. Don Sherwood, R-Pa., a married man, had tried to strangle her.

Walk a few doors down, and you arrive at a townhouse with a birdbath in front: 132 D St., the "Safe House" where, under artwork provided by clients of convicted lobbyist Jack Abramoff, former House majority leader Tom DeLay, R-Texas, and his colleagues made fundraising calls and set up a lobbying business.

Many of the modern day scandals summing up the GOP's legacy pretty well. Tom DeLay, Jack Abrahmoff, Bob Ney, Larry Craig, Karl Rove, Mark Foley, Randy Duke Cunningham, I. Lewis "Scooter" Libby, the DC Madam, David Vitter, Gonzales, John T. Doolittle... This story has almost all of them, and even some that are still in the making.

Credit Where Credit is Due

Field and a few other prominent Bloggers get some WaPo love:

Aboard the crowded D train, rumbling into Brooklyn on the Manhattan Bridge, the inevitable rant explodes. A rant courtesy of Faye Anderson, whom we'll call Ms. CJ, a.k.a. Citizen Journalist. A rant directed at us, Mr. MSM, a.k.a. Mainstream Media, for all our perceived faults.

"It's not you, the journalist, it's the institution," Ms. CJ tells Mr. MSM. "You're not telling the whole story. . . . You've lost your credibility."

We listen, take notes, check if the tape recorder's working. No telling what Anderson might do if she's misquoted.

She's saying anyone can be a journalist, at least anyone with an Internet connection. Start a blog, she says, that's easy. (Hers is called Anderson at Large, nearly three years old and one of the more prominent blogs in the growing Afrosphere, the African American online political sphere, where Field Negro, Jack and Jill Politics and African American Political Pundit also are must-go-to sites.) Learn how to record a podcast, no sweat. (A few weeks ago she attended a podcasting camp in Boston.)

I know I have read 3 of those Blogs... I guess I'll have to check out Anderson at Large.

Hastert is...

History!

After announcing his resignation on Nov. 15, Rep. Dennis Hastert (R-IL) today formally handed in his letter of resignation, which goes into effect at 10:59 PM CST tonight. A special election will be held to fill his position on Feb. 5. See the full letter HERE.

Buh bye Dennis Hastert... We will always have your many scandals to remember you by!

What more can you say about a Congress critter that doesn't even know the words to the national anthem?

Would the right wing ever allow a Democratic politician off the hook for completely not knowing the words to the national anthem, the way House Speaker Dennis Hastert very obviously does not?

Will the real Trent Lott please stand up?

Via Andrew Sullivan:

I have no independent information on this, but the Trent Lott story may have a new twist. Click on the link at your own discretion. It would seem completely impossible, if it weren't for the recent past. A reader posits an alternative theory:

Through my journalism work, I hear Lott is actually resigning in order to try and head off a really bad scandal. Somebody was threatening to air photos of him being polite to a black person.

What's he talking about?

"The boy happens to be real, and his 'stage name' is Benjamin Nicholas. One of the politicos Big Head DC has learned he’s alleged to have been involved with is the married Sen. Trent Lott, 66, who unexpectedly announced his retirement on Monday. Lott is well-known to have been against a plethora of gay rights issues throughout his terms in Congress. He was also good friends with Sen. Larry Craig throughout his time in Congress. Nicholas told Big Head DC today via e-mail that he didn’t want to go on the record to talk about his dealings with Lott, because, said Nicholas, 'Trent is going through his fair share of scrutiny right now and I don’t want to add to it.' However, e-mail and other records confirm that the two have met on at least two occasions. 'All I can say at this point is no comment,' Nicholas told us. 'It’s the professional thing for me to do.' In a subsequent e-mail message, Nicholas confirmed that another publication is working on a story about a 'possible relationship' between Lott and himself, but Nicholas also 'politely declined' an interview for that story. 'As I said before, Lott has quite a bit on his plate right now and I don’t really want to add fuel to the embers,' Nicholas told Big Head DC."

Image via Towelroad

More Via Towelroad:

And as far as that "other" publication, Larry Flynt just told FOX he's "hoping to expose a bombshell" within the next week or two. We'll see, I guess.

Take it for what you will, but given that 2007 is the year of the hypocritical Republican, nothing would surprise me.

Nothing surprises me when it comes to the GOP anymore... And, here, Nicholas denies the claims.

Waiting for the next issue of Hustler to hit the newsstands... lol

Lott retiring from the Senate?

Maybe...

NBC News has learned that Trent Lott's in the midst of informing close allies that he plans to resign his senate seat before the end of the year. It's possible a formal announcement of his plans could take place as early as today.

Like a child that is losing a game, he'll take his ball and stomp off home in the Mississippi mud. If this rumor is true, it will make for another open Senate seat for the broke, and broken, GOP to defend in the next round of "kick the bums out!" (h/t C&L)

Left and right Bloggers will remember Lott fondly when he is gone... For his scalping:

O’Keefe’s judgment later won out. Pack judgment was wrong— in this case, extremely so. Lott became the first majority leader in Senate history to resign under pressure. How it all happened is told in the new case study from Harvard’s Kennedy School, “Big Media” Meets the “Bloggers.” (By Esther Scott, supervised by Alex Jones of the Shorenstein Center at the Kennedy School of Government. Available only in pdf form here.)

My favorite moment in the story is when O’Keefe’s counterpart at another network asks a more senior producer in the Washington bureau to look at what Lott said that evening at Thurmond’s 100th birthday party. “No, I don’t think it’s anything” says the more experienced pro.

This gave O’Keefe some pause, causing him to second-guess his judgment. “I think there is something to the [notion] of pack journalism,” he reflects, “of individuals believing that if something is noteworthy, … everyone will get it… If they didn’t all get it, then it couldn’t possibly be a newsworthy item.”

The conservative writer David Frum would later call Lott’s words, “the most emphatic repudiation of desegregation to be heard from a national political figure since George Wallace’s first presidential campaign.” But when “everyone” didn’t get it, O’Keefe began to doubt himself. That’s how group think works.

The Harvard study has gotten notice in Blogistan, but its stingy formatting (the pdf is encrypted and won’t allow you to cut and paste) has been discussed in greater depth than the story it tells, perhaps because we think the events are well known. According to legend—partially confirmed by the report—webloggers from Left and Right were responsible for pushing the Trent Lott story into the news, after the mainstream media missed it.

“The Internet’s First Scalp” said John Podhoretz in the New York Post. That’s hyperbole, but the report makes clear that webloggers had a crucial role. It also delimits and describes that role. Now we know more precisely why—and when—the bloggers were needed.

Who will Ron Paul support?

That is, if Ron Paul, the closest thing to a real conservative - being a right tilted libertarian - in the GOP, weren't in the running?

Last month, during a Republican debate, Ron Paul was asked whether he promised to support the GOP nominee next year, no matter who emerges from the primary process. “Not right now I don’t,” Paul said, “not unless they’re willing to end the war and bring our troops home.”

Apparently, in the ensuing weeks, “not right now” has become “no.”

Paul called his Republican presidential rivals, including frontrunner Rudy Giuliani, “neo-conservatives” whom he couldn’t support in the general election should his own bid fail.

“They think we’re supposed to spread our goodness through force,” Paul said. For example, none will pledge not to wage war on Iran, he said. “How could I support something like that?”

Apparently, he can’t. But it means that of the top seven candidates in the Republican field, Paul is the only one who isn’t prepared to support the party’s eventual nominee. It’s not the kind of thing that will go over well within the party, but then again, Paul’s interest in the Republican Party appears nominal — it’s a venue for him to advance his ideas and agenda, not necessarily an opportunity for him to lead the party.

We know it isn't any republican candidate that is in the running right now. We can take a guess on whom he would support based on past statements:

The conservative Senator Chuck Hagel would be one choice, if he were running (obviously), and Rep. Dennis Kucinich.

There is a reason that both, Ron Paul and Dennis Kucinich, enjoy a large base of support from activists on the left and right, and are both derided consistently by the corporate owned media. It is because of their commitments to saying what they stand for and believe, their constant fights against the illegal occupation of Iraq, and actually voting by the standards of their public statements.

But Paul and Kucinich are both labeled wackos and fringe candidates by the media standards.

Go figure?

This kind of populist type backlash from grassroots in the left and right sure as hell isn't because people think that the media darlings and self-fulfilling-prophesied "top tier candidates" are competent, honest, have integrity, or are even relatively sane judging by their patchwork of flip-flops, twisting of truths, and circle-jerk logic demonstrated by their votes and statements and resulting in continued failures for Democracy, and for America.

Breasts, Legs or Laughs?

A little family Thanksgiving humor for you:

An elderly man in Phoenix calls his son in New York and says, "I hate to ruin your day, but I have to tell you that your mother and I are divorcing; forty-five years of misery is enough."

"Pop, what are you talking about?" the son screams.

"We can't stand the sight of each other any longer," the old man says. "We're sick of each other, and I'm sick of talking about this, so you call your sister in Chicago and tell her," and he hangs up.

Frantic, the son calls his sister, who explodes on the phone. "Like heck they're getting divorced," she shouts, "I'll take care of this."

She calls Phoenix immediately, and screams at the old man, "You are NOT getting divorced. Don't do a single thing until I get there. I'm calling my brother back, and we'll both be there tomorrow. Until then, don't do a thing, DO YOU HEAR ME?" and hangs up.

The old man hangs up his phone and turns to his wife.

"Okay," he says, "They're coming for Thanksgiving and paying their own fares."

Some end of year fun!

This Holiday Muckorama Contest seems like a really fun way to beat the Muck out of the wingnuts some more:





Maybe some of Connecticut's own video Bloggers would have some extra fun putting together their own video offerings for this?

The one problem with this contest: All these criminals should be getting mugshots, not free mugs. TPM should be sending the free mugs to readers like myself! lol

Time to Label a Traitor...

... exactly what he is. A TRAITOR:

Karl Rove approached Time magazine for a job. Time, however, rejected Rove as “essentially like an unindicted coconspirator in a whole host of felonies”:

Time’s editors apparently felt the cost/benefit analysis wouldn’t be in their favor if they embraced the man who has done more than anyone to keep the spirit of Joe McCarthy alive and well in American politics. … “They think Karl is essentially like an unindicted coconspirator in a whole string of felonies.”

These lying sacks of treason from the unindicted Libby files deserve no better reference than that. Here is the traitor Rove plotting and scheming with one of his other traitorous GOP buddies:


Via Steve Benen at TPM:

If you're just joining us, Novak reported yesterday that Hillary Clinton's "agents" are gossiping in Democratic circles that the Clinton campaign has "scandalous information" about Obama, which they reportedly will not share.

Of course, as a matter of journalism and professional standards, Novak's piece was a textbook case of media irresponsibility. His column shouldn't have even run -- Clinton supporters (who he will not name) are allegedly spreading rumors about rumors (which he cannot identify) addressing an Obama scandal (which may or may not exist). Joe Klein suggested that Novak may have "simply abandoned all pretense of being a journalist."

What's most striking, however, is the full-scale war between the Clinton and Obama camps in the wake of the piece. Mark Halperin has a timeline of events, which is both lengthy and painful.

A few observations. First, Novak's column smeared both Clinton and Obama, and the two campaigns proceeded to make it worse by spending the entire day bickering over what was, as a practical matter, a dumb column devoid of any substance.

Hook. Line. And. Sinker. Candidates, campaigns, Blogs, commenters, and supporters everywhere bit and swallowed the traitors' typically GOP ploy.

Never forget what you are up against.

What is wrong with this picture?

I try and stay out of the direct line of fire of diaries specifically bashing candidates on the left, except when someone asks a direct question of myself concerning it, but there is something seriously wrong with this picture, and it mirrors failures past:

At some point maybe the Democrats and the commentators will remember that the thing that matters is not whether Mrs. Clinton’s eyebrows are straight but that the Republicans she and the others are running against are carbon copies of George W. Bush and Richard Cheney. The Republicans are running on Bush’s policies only — in fact, on the need to expand them and make them worse.

So who are Democrats criticizing? They savage one another. What a dumb game, politics.

No matter what candidate you are talking about on the Democratic side, there is a serious problem with their savaging of each other instead of respectful debates on the actual issues. It is the same problem in many of the Blogging communities. These candidates and their supporters would be well advised to use their time to present their positions clearly on each of the many issues that are so important to this nation, and contrasting their positions with the failures of the Republican side.

The problem for many of them is that they do not present their positions clearly, leaving the primary voters with little to go on except for "cash cow support" and perceived oneupmanship. And, in the case of online debates at Blogging communities, the readers perceptions of the savaging of diaries and comments from various Blogging supporters of different candidates cannot be much better.

I am not pointing a finger at any candidate, Blogger or supporter specifically. It seems like it is coming from every camp. Heck, some of my comments could be perceived in the same manner.

I may not be a member of the Democratic party, but for those of you that are... You might want to reconsider your tactics so that when it comes time to "get inline" with whatever candidate your party puts forward you won't have already exposed and reinforced all of the weakest points of every single one of your own candidates for the few GOP supporters remaining in the "echo chamber" to latch onto.

Of course, efforts like this would have to be started at the top of the campaign level for it to be truly effective.

Strong, clear positions from the Democratic candidates forcefully directed at the real likelihood of the continuation or, as Denis Horgan points out, the further EXPANSION of bush failures by any of the new republican faces on a "Stay the course!" policy of failure.

Without this kind of campaign, the Democratic party only risks its chances of delivering a knock-out-punch message in the '08 elections to the Republican party to wake the fuck up from their lunatic policies if they hope to ever be considered as "serious" politicians with even a vague grasp of reality again.

This is your chance at showing the real differences between the Republican party and the Democratic party. OR, it can be your chance to mirror past failures of both parties.

As it stands, very few of the Democratic party "leaders" have given me any reason to hope for anything better. Nor have they lead their followers down a much better path.

Real News, Noam Chomsky, Iran

Eight minutes long... Get your coffee now so you can pay attention:

The Real News

Minor Update: For an eye opening comparison of bush failures to Chomsky successes follow this link...

Should I bother to finish college?

I found this little readability test over at the latest republican defector's Blog, Balloon Juice, where John Cole proudly declared they "is stoopid"...

Surprisingly, my Blog is not as dumb as I look:



Equally surprising is the number of Blogs that I regularly read which only scored at a high school level or lower. Presidential Politics and NB Politicus both rated as "Genius," but I hope they won't let that go to their heads. 1percentmoreconcious scored at the same level that my Blog did, while Think Progress and Glen Greenwald scored at the "undergrad" level, and Talking Points Memo, My Left Nutmeg and Connecticut Local Politics were among many of the Blogs I regularly read with high school level reading scores. Michelle Malkin and Red State had high school ratings, but Instapundit and Free Republic rated "Junior High"...

In a way, I think that scoring lower on this test is a good thing. If your score is lower it means that it is easier for more your readers to clearly understand exactly what you are trying to explain to them. IOW, 10 cent words only add more confusion to your position.

The two things I walk away from this post with are:

1. Now I know why most Republicans don't like my Blog. They can't understand it.
   
   
2. I definitely will finish college (eventually) because I am not wasting a freakin' penny of the Montgomery GI Bill money that the Army owes me.

A third thing might be that I don't really trust tests like this anymore than a stupid and biased IQ test that labels me a genius...

NOLA Screwed Again

Everything bush touches turns to shit...

The Army Corps of Engineers released flood risk maps on a block-by-block basis on June 20, but didn't include some technical data, preventing independent assessments of the accuracy of the maps.

The maps showed that the improvements made to the city canals' drainage systems would reduce flooding during a major storm by about 5.5 feet in Lakeview and nearby neighborhoods. The maps were based on a storm that has the likelihood of occurring at least once in 100 years.

But in a report released Nov. 7, Corps scientists estimated that the actual benefit the system would provide would be just 6 inches.

The discrepancy was tucked into the voluminous report's appendices, and neither the Corps nor the scientists hired to conduct the study brought the changes to the public's attention when the report was released. It wasn't until New Orleans television station WWL-TV asked an engineer involved in the assessment about the discrepancy that it became known.

And the White House spin on this?

Donald Powell, the head of the recovery for the White House, issued a statement late Friday expressing concerns, but still showing support for the process.

"I was informed this evening of the error in the risk maps detected through the internal IPET review process. Our team immediately contacted Dr. Link to express my strong concerns and my expectations on how the public will be better informed in the future," said the statement. "While the news is disappointing, it is an indication that the ongoing review process of the draft materials is working as intended. This event should not diminish the important work the Corps has done and will continue to do to provide the strongest hurricane protection in the history of the New Orleans area."

Yep! They get caught by the media burying an important statistic... And tell you that the "ongoing review process of the draft materials is working as intended." Where do they get these asshats? Is there even one person associated with the White House that can do anything with some semblance of competence?

New Milford Planning wants to hear from YOU

The New Milford's Planning Commission wants your input on the direction of future town planning:

New Milford's Planning Commission wants to hear from the public about where the focus of the Plan of Conservation and Development should be in the next decade.

The town's boards and commissions met Oct. 30 to tell the Planning Commission where they think the focus should go.

A session for public input is set for Saturday Dec. 8 at 10 a.m. in town hall.

Consultant Glenn Chalder from Planimetrics said the POCD is a guide for the town's growth; an advisory document "to point New Milford toward a better future."

Bring your good, bad and ugly list and vent, cheer, screech, or just twiddle your thumbs while you listen to other people heap piles of praise and punches on the Commission. You might want to bring a bag of popcorn too... :)

And as long as you are here reading:

As the holiday season approaches, New Milford Social Services would like to encourage the community to help our clients in the following ways:

If you are interested in helping children or families this holiday, please contact our head elf, Nancy Camp at 354-3286.

Through the Santa Fund, she will give you a specific child to buy a gift and clothing for.

Social Services is in need of gift cards of any kind (gas, grocery, clothing store, restaurant, etc.) until Dec. 14 to provide to families at the holidays, and teen gifts (jewelry, music, gift cards, art supplies, computer accessories, etc.) by Dec. 3 for our Sibling Shopping Spree.

Financial donations to the Good Samaritan Fund are always welcome.