If it were really socialism..

Red State's Trike Force would be calling it communism. They never were the brightest bulbs in the bunch when it came to defining the opposition.

Just a liberal here - pretty darned moderate too - and damned proud of the fact that it has (almost) always put me on the moral high ground and the correct side of the political arguments.

Anyways and again for the slow learners on the wingnutty side of GOP/wrong:

Welcome to liberal America.

Whiny-assed right wing trike riders are welcome to take their brain farts to the all you can eat Cheetos buffet in the basement. But, for a change, please clean up your own damned messes when you leave?

Dead Tree Media Dethroned

And the internet media reigns supreme:

According to a report by the Pew Research Center for the People and the Press, “the Internet overtook print newspapers as a news source this year.” The popularity of newspapers did not decline, but rather, the number of people naming the internet as their primary news source nearly doubled.

The inerrant ability to fact check instantaneously on comment threads as well as the real clash of ideas that happens there surely added to the internet numbers but there is more to it than that:

Michael Dimock, the Pew Center’s associate director, credited the presidential election, which he said lent itself to online coverage. “People often don’t want the general overview of an election,” he said. “They may want to follow their candidate, picking and choosing what they’re looking at in a way that mainstream media doesn’t allow.”

Print media better learn that we don't want their nonsensical opinions anymore. Just the facts and some hard investigative reporting and local coverage. We can form our own opinions from that.

Up until a couple of years ago I would have thought that the print media was salvageable. I no longer think that is true. I just don't care about newspapers anymore. Not American papers, at least. None of them have any credibility to say they are really a "paper of record" anymore. When they stopped doing real, hard investigative news and substantive local reporting that was fact checked they ceased to have a legitimate purpose.

If I want fluff and fiction I'll buy a tabloid at the supermarket.

As long as we have to suffer through the fact free garbage put out there by the fanatical likes of the Kristols, Coulters, Novaks and Millers of the world they are not producing a product that is even worthy of lining a bird cage with.

We have all heard that Greg Sargent (TPM Media) was just picked up for a new Blog by the WaPo. Now that he has to deal with editors that may refuse to print the truth does anyone here think his work may suffer? I hope not BUT the reality is that the entire newspaper industry structure is, now, a failed one. Adding a few decent and savvy voices and tagging stories on the net with WWW3 compliant tags does not change their structure enough.

Panamanian Born McCain Sends Out Insane Clown Posse

Panamanian born GOP candidate, Senator John McCain, sends out his surrogates to attack American born Obama's credentials...

In unrelated news...

Facts: Flying in the face of lying Un-American fucktard Republicans daily.

Mariana Islands Republican Values

What more can you say about those highly moral Republicans that hasn't already been said?

Earlier today we noted that the Republican Senate candidate from Colorado, Bob Schaffer, told the Denver Post that America should adopt an immigration and guest labor policy modeled on that of the Mariana Islands (aka the Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands) -- whose guest worker program is notorious around the world for forced abortion, slavery, child prostitution, sex trafficking, beatings, female workers kept in shacks with no plumbing surrounded by barbed wire and other fun stuff.

Well? You could say Jack Abramoff...

TPM Reader AK points out that the folks at ProgressNowAction have done a little digging. And it seems that that back in 1999, when Schaffer was serving in Congress, he went on one of those junkets to the Islands put together by none other than disgraced lobbyist and now-federal inmate Jack Abramoff.

But Jack Abramoff is nothing new when it comes to republicans. There is more on this over at TPM.

Fascinating? No.

Delusional? Yes.

Fascinating

From TPM Reader DS ...

Many Clinton supporters find the current attempts to muscle her out of the race despicable. Maybe now is the time for Obama to take one for the team and accept her offer of the VP slot. It is the position he is better qualified for, would end a situation that is supposedly hurting the party, and would put him in a better position to run next time. Clinton has no “next time,” so it makes more sense for Obama to be the one to step aside.

If the convention is held too late in the election cycle for the presidential nominee to campaign effectively, perhaps the date of the convention needs to be changed. The solution cannot be for viable candidates to set aside their ambitions long before a nominee has been clearly chosen.

--Josh Marshall

Nobody "muscled her out" of anything. She simply lost to someone Dem voters think will be a better candidate and shamelessly refuses to acknowledge that fact. Clinton has no "next time," but only because of the fact that she has run her campaign into the ground effectively eliminating any chance of a "this time." I think reader DS needs to take a step back from the keyboard and take a good hard look around at was has already happened.

The Democratic primary is over - it has been for a while now - and Obama won.

And, IMHO, Clinton has shown clearly through her campaign actions and statements why she should not even be offered the slot as Obama's VP. The Democratic party already had one Lieberman as a VP candidate and that was one too many.

Get Paid To Blog on Politics?

Come on... I keep posting these positions for you Bloggers and a good part of Connecticut is well within the commuting distance to NYC:

Looking For That Special Someone

We're hiring a new reporter.

--Josh Marshall

Need more details?

Job Opening at TPM

Starting today, we're announcing a job opening for a reporter-blogger at TPMmuckraker. The new hire will be one of two full-time reporter-bloggers for the site. There is no deadline for applications. We'll be hiring as soon as we find the right person. If you're interested please send a resume, two clips and a letter describing your interest and qualifications for the job to talk (at) talkingpointsmemo.com with the subject line "TPMmuckraker Job".

This is a full-time position, with health care. The reporter-blogger will report from either New York or Washington, DC., depending on the applicant.

If you've already expressed interest in the position informally, please submit an application as described above.

To learn more about what we do at TPM and what we've accomplished in the last year, see these news reports on TPM from 2007. And thanks to our readers who make all of this possible.

For many of you that are more than qualified to do this job... What are you waiting for?

Also, TPM media is (almost) always looking for interns. Get some great experience and learn from what is a truly top-notch news organization:

TPM interns are vital to our operation and have a hand in everything we do. They work alongside our reporters to write and break stories, help our editors keep a finger on the pulse of the news day, and produce all kinds of digital media from youtube clips to mash-up photographs. Some of our interns have gone on to jobs here at TPM, others have moved on to jobs in new and old media alike, working for Think Progress, The Wall Street Journal, Huffington Post, The New York Sun, and more. To learn more about what we do at TPM and what we've accomplished in the last year, see these news reports on TPM from 2007.

Because each intern is encouraged to work in multiple parts of our operation, it's important that applicants have a basic understanding of new media technologies (blogging, youtube, etc.) and a desire and ability to learn quickly. All internships are unpaid and based in TPM's New York City office.

To apply for any of our internships, send an email to talk at talkingpointsmemo.com with a cover letter, resume and two references. Include in the email subject "TPM Internship."

Spring 2008 Internship

Our Spring 2008 Internship runs from mid-March to early June. We will be accepting three or four full time interns. Part-time interns may be considered.

Applications are due on February 8th.

Summer 2008 Internship

Our Spring 2008 Internship runs from early June to late August. We will be accepting four or five full time interns. Part-time interns will not be considered.

Applications are due on March 21st.

Rolling Internships (Intern now!)

At any given time, it is always possible that we could use a smart person in the office to replace a lost intern or help us manage the ever-growing mountain of muck and news. If you're available to come in sooner than the beginning of the next internship cycle begins, let us know.

Think about it... A crash course in political reporting during what will be one heck of an exciting election cycle! And from one of the best political news organizations out there.

About the only disadvantage to the reporting job or the internships I can think of is that you would no longer be able to Blog naked. I am not the only one that does that, am I? :)

Visit Republican Roger Stone's Swingers Club

Josh Marshall from TPM brings up some interesting questions concerning where Roger Stone was when he got his info on Elliot Spitzer... And he would like you to go visit the place to see what you can find at the swingers club called Miami Velvet:

Sure you know about Eliot Spitzer's hooker-gate implosion. But did long-time Spitzer nemesis and GOP dirty trickster Roger Stone grease the skids for Spitzer's downfall with information he learned while chillin' at a Miami swingers club? In today's episode of TPMtv we bring you all the lurid details:

If you are thinking of visiting (just to help Josh out with research, of course!), remember that it is an "On Premise" club... Meaning people will likely be having sex there in public view and in more private rooms, as well. Just don't expect to find Stone there. I am guessing that Roger Stone will no longer be welcomed at Miami Velvet since he has broken one of their "Swingers Rules To Live By For a Guaranteed Great Time" as listed on their website:

Demand absolute discretion! And be worthy of the same. Discretion is paramount in this lifestyle! Privacy is imperative!!! Never, ever discuss details inappropriately. Everything you do, everything you see, MUST remain private. Miami Velvet has a saying, "Everything you see here, Everything you hear here, must remain here when you leave here".

In fact, Roger Stone may find that he will no longer be welcome at any swingers clubs having broken this rule. Obviously, swingers cannot count on his absolute discretion. Is there a certain amount of irony in the possibility of a Republican being left with the one option of having sex with only their spouse? Just Curious?

Given the fact that he is just another typical Republican, they should have known that he could not EVER be trusted. lol

The Clinton Myth - The Dem Primary is Over

It has been for a while now...

The Politico hits the reality nail on the head with this:

Story behind the story: The Clinton myth

One big fact has largely been lost in the recent coverage of the Democratic presidential race: Hillary Rodham Clinton has virtually no chance of winning.

Her own campaign acknowledges there is no way that she will finish ahead in pledged delegates. That means the only way she wins is if Democratic superdelegates are ready to risk a backlash of historic proportions from the party’s most reliable constituency.

Unless Clinton is able to at least win the primary popular vote — which also would take nothing less than an electoral miracle — and use that achievement to pressure superdelegates, she has only one scenario for victory. An African-American opponent and his backers would be told that, even though he won the contest with voters, the prize is going to someone else.

People who think that scenario is even remotely likely are living on another planet.

Clinton's likely reaction to being told this truth... Well? A picture is worth a thousand words:


Even the more ardent Hillary Clinton supporters are being forced to face this reality:

Pretty Much

As Jim Vandehei and Mike Allen argue in this piece in The Politico, the press has been largely complicit in maintaining the fiction that the Democratic nomination race is not for all intents and purposes over. The obstacles in the way of Hillary Clinton are virtually insurmountable. And her now-sizable deficit among pledged voters is only one of them. Everyone in the press, probably including us, should be much more candid about that.

--Josh Marshall

No doubt about it. I will give Marshall props for showing a more reasonable amount of reality than the media ever did over the last month as he has slowly moved closer to this truth, but never quite outright stated it. So when you hear one of the most incompetent Dem political campaign gurus ever say stuff like this concerning Bill Richardson's endorsement of Obama:

“The time that he could have been effective has long since passed,” he continued, “I don’t think it is a significant endorsement in this environment.”

-Democratic campaign dingleberry Mark Penn

Mark Penn may have inadvertently got something half-right for a change! Remember that there truly is no longer any significant endorsement in this environment because...

The Democratic primary is already over.

And that is pretty much a fact...

Internet Media Internships At TPM

It is the last week to get your applications in for Talking Point Memo's spring internship program:

From January 14th:

Job Opening at TPM

Starting today, we're announcing a job opening for a reporter-blogger at TPMmuckraker. The new hire will be one of two full-time reporter-bloggers for the site. There is no deadline for applications. We'll be hiring as soon as we find the right person. If you're interested please send a resume, two clips and a letter describing your interest and qualifications for the job to talk (at) talkingpointsmemo.com with the subject line "TPMmuckraker Job".

This is a full-time position, with health care. The reporter-blogger will report from either New York or Washington, DC., depending on the applicant.

If you've already expressed interest in the position informally, please submit an application as described above.

To learn more about what we do at TPM and what we've accomplished in the last year, see these news reports on TPM from 2007. And thanks to our readers who make all of this possible.

Internships

TPM interns are vital to our operation and have a hand in everything we do. They work alongside our reporters to write and break stories, help our editors keep a finger on the pulse of the news day, and produce all kinds of digital media from youtube clips to mash-up photographs. Some of our interns have gone on to jobs here at TPM, others have moved on to jobs in new and old media alike, working for Think Progress, The Wall Street Journal, Huffington Post, The New York Sun, and more. To learn more about what we do at TPM and what we've accomplished in the last year, see these news reports on TPM from 2007.

Because each intern is encouraged to work in multiple parts of our operation, it's important that applicants have a basic understanding of new media technologies (blogging, youtube, etc.) and a desire and ability to learn quickly. All internships are unpaid and based in TPM's New York City office.

To apply for any of our internships, send an email to talk at talkingpointsmemo.com with a cover letter, resume and two references. Include in the email subject "TPM Internship."

Spring 2008 Internship

Our Spring 2008 Internship runs from mid-March to early June. We will be accepting three or four full time interns. Part-time interns may be considered.

Applications are due on February 8th.

Summer 2008 Internship

Our Spring 2008 Internship runs from early June to late August. We will be accepting four or five full time interns. Part-time interns will not be considered.

Applications are due on March 21st.

Rolling Internships (Intern now!)

At any given time, it is always possible that we could use a smart person in the office to replace a lost intern or help us manage the ever-growing mountain of muck and news. If you're available to come in sooner than the beginning of the next internship cycle begins, let us know.

There are plenty of you Connecticut Bloggers that could bring a lot to their pages in filling these positions. And the trade off? Learning from one of the best media outfits on the intertubes...

Even The Left Blogosphere Falls Into Media Traps

I very rarely have anything to disagree with over at TPM since they do such great work on many issues but in this case Josh Marshall critiques the Dem debate like a wolf with one leg caught in the right wing media trap:

John Edwards also had, I thought, a very strong debate, particularly in the latter half of the debate. He talks a lot about feeling this fight in his blood and being a fighter. And it's important when you say things like that that it really resonates in what you say, how you act, who you seem to be. And I think it did on every count. Unfortunately for Hillary, most of the eloquence and fire was directed at her tonight.

The exchange I noted earlier from around 9:30 PM was the emotional, dramatic crux of the evening. After that a lot of the energy seemed to be released from the discussion. Not in a bad way necessarily. I thought each of them had very good moments in the second half. But that was the crux of the debate, where the key points were enunciated, and each candidate defined.

In general, I think Obama's the winner tonight. I think Hillary made her case well. I think Edwards had the best debate. But the debate can only be understood in the context of the moment. Right now, Obama's on fire. The first post-Iowa polls show him picking up a big post-caucus bump. He needed to come off well. Not make any mistakes. And not let Hillary open up any strong line of attack against him.

Forgive me for noticing the fact that Edwards took the second spot in Iowa, and even you said he had the best debate showing, so I don't buy the media spin about the Obama/Hillary fight and neither should TPM. It seems to me that Obama had to worry more about not opening up any line of attacks from Edwards. But that line doesn't follow the media's pre-written script about pre-ordained candidates, which is nothing more than a trap that I will not fall into.

We expect more, and certainly better, from you than this at TPM.

A Little More Hastert and Foley Muck

For the road, from Josh Marshall:

Ex-Speaker Denny Hastert (R-IL) initially failed to tell the FEC about the $147,000 he spent on lawyers in the Foley scandal. Hastert had to close down his campaign to avoid big time fines.

I wonder if Hastert got anything in return for blowing that big wad of cash on Foley legal love?

Spy VS Spy

OR spy agency vs spy agency... Via Talking Points Memo:

The Washington Post gets a retired FBI agent on the record who contradicts much of what former CIA agent John Kiriakou had to say last week about the capture and torture of Abu Zubaydah. Who to believe?

Via TPM Muckraker:

Abu Zubaydah was:

A) A high-ranking Al Qaeda operative who largely confounded U.S. interrogators with his literary and tactical genius until they submitted him to waterboarding and other forms of torture. After that, he provided key information that likely preempted future attacks.

B) A low-ranking and mentally ill Al Qaeda operative who provided valuable information under gentle questioning, but whose confessions made under torture were useless. Much of the threat information he provided was "crap."

A is the CIA's version (and the President's). B is the FBI's. And in today's Washington Post, Dan Eggen and Walter Pincus walk through the competing profiles. Zubaydah, remember, was one of the two detainees whose interrogations appeared on the destroyed CIA tapes.

It's clear off the bat that the version of events provided by John Kiriakou, the former CIA agent who launched something like a PR blitz last week, is not quite right. In his telling, Zubaydah held out until waterboarded; after only 35 seconds of that, he gave in and "from that day on, he answered every question."

By contrast, both CIA and FBI agents tell the Post that he provided valuable information before he was waterboarded. And there wasn't just one session: "Instead, [other former and current officials] said, harsh tactics used on him at a secret detention facility in Thailand went on for weeks or, depending on the account, even months."

And then you get to the real discrepancies.

Meanwhile, the destruction of the CIA torture tapes that sparked this inter-agency battle likely violated a court order concerning evidence of torture:

A federal judge has ordered a hearing on whether the Bush administration violated a court order by destroying CIA interrogation videos of suspected terrorists.

U.S. District Judge Henry H. Kennedy rejected calls from the Justice Department to stay out of the matter. He ordered lawyers to appear before him Friday morning.

In June 2005, Kennedy ordered the administration to safeguard “all evidence and information regarding the torture, mistreatment, and abuse of detainees now at the United States Naval Base at Guantanamo Bay.”

Why Some Democrats Refuse to Investigate for Impeachment - Part Deux

Just a rehash on the torture enabling situation. The other day I posted one of the main reasons why Dems continue to refuse to investigate and act on Impeachment:

Because some of the investigations would inevitably lead right back to some of their own members having been complicit in criminal actions:

It seems as if the "four" congressional leaders Harman refers to as knowing about the tapes were the chairs and ranking members of the intelligence committees: Sen. Pat Roberts (R-KS), Sen. Jay Rockefeller (D-WV), Rep. Porter Goss (R-FL), and Rep. Jane Harman (D-CA). Rep. Pete Hoekstra (R-MI) took Goss' spot as chairman of the House intelligence committee that year when Goss became CIA director. Hoekstra told the AP that he didn't know a thing about either the tapes or their destruction. I'm calling Harman to ask her for her letter to the CIA about the tapes, and will bring it to you if and when I have it.

But the bottom line here is that at least some Congressional leaders knew something about the tapes and something about their destruction, and didn't say anything about either. Harman's silence is especially stunning: she co-chaired a joint Congressional inquiry into the 9/11 attacks in 2002 that didn't receive that very pertinent information. Why did she remain quiet about potentially criminal behavior? Marty Lederman has some thoughts here:

Jay Rockefeller is constantly learning of legally dubious (at best) CIA intelligence activities, and then saying nothing about them publicly until they are leaked to the press, at which point he expresses outrage and incredulity -- but reveals nothing. Really, isn't it about time the Democrats select an effective Chair of the Senate Intelligence Committee, one who will treat this scandal with the seriousness it deserves, and who will shed much-needed light on the CIA program of torture, cruel treatment and obstruction of evidence? ...

Jane Harman also knew of the intention to destroy the tapes, and she at least "urged" the CIA in writing not to do it. (Where were her colleagues?) But when she found out the CIA had destroyed the tapes, where was Harman's press conference? Where were the congressional hearings?

You are either with bush OR you are against him. If you enable the bush administration to cover up their crimes, you become part of the criminal conspiracy.

Glen Greenwald offers some further observations into this reality:

I continue to be amazed and disturbed by the number of people willing to defend the actions of Rockefeller and his comrades by claiming that these poor, victimized Congressional members just have no ability to do anything when they learn about outright lawbreaking by the administration. As I asked yesterday, why would they even bother to attend briefings if they believed that they were "powerless" to act even upon learning of serious illegalities? Here is the central purpose of the Select Committee on Intelligence -- the primary reason it exists, as stated by the resolution which created the Committee:

It is further the purpose of this resolution to provide vigilant legislative oversight over the intelligence activities of the United States to assure that such activities are in conformity with the Constitution and laws of the United States.

The Intelligence Committees were created as a response to the discovery in the 1970s of illegal conduct by the CIA and other intelligence agencies. The core function is to monitor what the intelligence community does and to "assure that such activities" are legal. It is a complete travesty for the senior Democrats on those Committees (and their apologists) to claim that they are powerless to act when learning of lawbreaking. Anyone who thinks that way should not be on the Committee. The idea that they can't do anything once learning of lawbreaking is the very opposite of the Committee's core purpose. But, of course, they were not and are not powerless to act. They simply chose not to act.

In addition to the other mechanisms for action identified here and elsewhere thus far that are available to Senators who learn of patently illegal behavior in a classified setting, key members of the Intelligence Committee could also refuse to cooperate in the enactment of legislation, block nominees, and otherwise thwart the administration's needs until there is some resolution. Such Senators could hold closed door hearings or announce publicly that they have learned of serious lawbreaking by the CIA (without specifying what the lawbreaking is) and demand that the administration agree to a classified setting to resolve those concerns (such as appointing a special counsel with security clearances or empowering a court able to investigate and adjudicate highly classified matters).

But they did none of that. They did the opposite: they continued to cooperate meekly with the administration, pass all of their demanded legislation, and keep quiet. Even for those who say that it's terribly unfair to expect our political leaders to subject themselves to any risk whatsoever in order to put a stop to such gross abuses, they could have acted in ways far short of some sort of melodramatic civil disobedience which would have risked imprisonment (i.e, they would not have had to go as far as actual leaders and patriots who did take risks in order to expose serious governmental wrongdoing).

If someone wants to defend these Democrats' complicit behavior (on the craven ground that what they did was understandable because it was politically wise), then they should make that argument. But nobody should pretend that these Senators and Representatives were "helpless" and had no options for putting a stop to Bush's torture programs and other lawbreaking if they were actually interested in doing so.

Needless to say, if anyone tries to argue that it is politically wise to ignore these crimes... They are no better than the neoconservatives and their GOPeeons that committed the actual crimes.

If there are Democratic party members that feel they are unable to do their jobs according to the responsibilities defined by their positions of power and the oaths they took to uphold The Constitution, up to and including putting impeachment back on the table, then I suggest they find a new line of work. Or, perhaps, prepare for a long visit to a prison with the other criminals they have enabled.

Why Some Democrats Refuse to Investigate for Impeachment

Because some of the investigations would inevitably lead right back to some of their own members having been complicit in criminal actions:

It seems as if the "four" congressional leaders Harman refers to as knowing about the tapes were the chairs and ranking members of the intelligence committees: Sen. Pat Roberts (R-KS), Sen. Jay Rockefeller (D-WV), Rep. Porter Goss (R-FL), and Rep. Jane Harman (D-CA). Rep. Pete Hoekstra (R-MI) took Goss' spot as chairman of the House intelligence committee that year when Goss became CIA director. Hoekstra told the AP that he didn't know a thing about either the tapes or their destruction. I'm calling Harman to ask her for her letter to the CIA about the tapes, and will bring it to you if and when I have it.

But the bottom line here is that at least some Congressional leaders knew something about the tapes and something about their destruction, and didn't say anything about either. Harman's silence is especially stunning: she co-chaired a joint Congressional inquiry into the 9/11 attacks in 2002 that didn't receive that very pertinent information. Why did she remain quiet about potentially criminal behavior? Marty Lederman has some thoughts here:

Jay Rockefeller is constantly learning of legally dubious (at best) CIA intelligence activities, and then saying nothing about them publicly until they are leaked to the press, at which point he expresses outrage and incredulity -- but reveals nothing. Really, isn't it about time the Democrats select an effective Chair of the Senate Intelligence Committee, one who will treat this scandal with the seriousness it deserves, and who will shed much-needed light on the CIA program of torture, cruel treatment and obstruction of evidence? ...

Jane Harman also knew of the intention to destroy the tapes, and she at least "urged" the CIA in writing not to do it. (Where were her colleagues?) But when she found out the CIA had destroyed the tapes, where was Harman's press conference? Where were the congressional hearings?

You are either with bush OR you are against him. If you enable the bush administration to cover up their crimes, you become part of the criminal conspiracy.

Heckuva Job Condi!

The accolades flood into the State Department for their oversight of Blackwater:

According to internal State Department cables obtained by TPMmuckraker, the State Department has slated two Diplomatic Security officials who oversee private-security contractors guarding U.S. diplomats in Iraq and Afghanistan for salary bonuses. The optional bonuses, called Senior Foreign Service Performance Pay Awards, come months after administrative investigations have raised questions about the propriety of State's relationship with security contractors like Blackwater.

You can be sure their very own bush league medals are on the way...

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

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?

Wilkes Ship Has Come In

And much like the "Duke Stir" it is a sinking ship:

A U.S. District Court jury has found Brent Wilkes, who was charged with bribing disgraced former Rep. Randy “Duke” Cunningham, guilty on all 13 counts in his corruption trial. TPM’s Paul Kiel notes that today’s verdict is from just the first of the two corruption trials Wilkes faces. The second involves former CIA executive director Dusty Foggo.

This guy is a real piece of work and deserves scrutiny for more than just bribing Randy "Duke" Cunningham:

Republican Cronies Were Scanning OR Reading?

Josh Marshall over at TPM digs this up:

If you're a Cunningham case afficionado, you know that in early 2002 Mitchell Wade was still acting as a cut out for his corruption mentor Brent Wilkes -- who's now awaiting trial in the Cunningham case. And around the same time Wilkes was greasing palms in DC trying to get into the Anthrax mail screening racket himself.

He got some help from Rep. John Doolittle (R-CA) who got money from Wilkes. We pick up that part of the story from the San Diego Union-Tribune from March 19th, 2006 ...

Julie Doolittle was working at Buckham's offices in 2002 when Buckham introduced Brent Wilkes to her husband. Federal contracts for his flagship company, ADCS Inc., were drying up, partly because the Pentagon had been telling Congress it had little need for the company's document-scanning technology. So Wilkes was trying to get funding for two new businesses.

One was tied to the 2002 anthrax scare, when tainted letters were sent to Capitol Hill. Wilkes' idea was to have all Capitol Hill mail rerouted to a site in the Midwest, where ADCS employees wearing protective suits would scan it into computers and then e-mail it back to Washington.

He called his proposed solution MailSafe – similar to the names of several anti-anthrax companies launched at that time – and began vying for federal contracts, even though the company had little to its name other than a rudimentary Web site.

The House Administration Committee, on which Doolittle sat, oversees the congressional mail system. Doolittle told his colleagues about MailSafe and introduced them to Wilkes, but the project never got off the ground.

Note the reference to the House Administration Committee. That was the committee then chaired by another Abramoff buddy -- the now-imprisoned Rep. Bob Ney (R-OH). And Ney, as he'd earlier done for Abramoff associate Adam Kidan, actually read into the House record an encomium to Wilkes.

So it all comes back to the same question. Why did a company like Wade's, which had no track record whatsoever and had only been approved to receive federal government contracts two months earlier, get a contract from the White House to screen the mail of the President of the United States?

Are you sure it was only the Presidents mail they were screening?

Note the Tribune story:

Wilkes' idea was to have all Capitol Hill mail rerouted to a site in the Midwest, where ADCS employees wearing protective suits would scan it into computers and then e-mail it back to Washington.

All Capitol Hill mail? Wouldn't that mean that these Republican cronies were also "scanning" sensitive mail from the Democratic party side of the aisle (and to and from God knows who else inside the Hill?) as well?

To me, this seems to give these Republican cronies the ability to spy on people's mail if they were unethical enough to abuse this contract for their corrupted GOP's advantage... Does anyone think these guys weren't reading what they were scanning? "Oooh, here's a hot one! Send it to Karl..." It's not like the GOP has ever been known to be ethical when given the opportunity.

I still want to know what these corrupt and immoral republicans were doing with all of that access to Capitol Hill mail.

Richard Curtis Looking for Pages?

Via Big Head DC:

Radar reports:

State Rep. Richard Curtis is looking for legislative pages between the ages of 14 and 16 to help around the office. In addition to permission from your parents and school, you are strongly encouraged to not read this spectacular new police report (ed. note - PDF via Slog lotsa info there - CM1) involving Rep. Curtis, a boy band-looking gay dude known as “Stallion” (”Pony Boy” was taken), and an extortion scheme centering on some cringe-inducing, graphically described man-love between the old dude and his young pet.

Pay no attention to rumors about Curtis wearing red stockings and black sequined lingerie top while getting a hairy-lipped hummer from some guy in the movie stall of a Seattle-area sex shop. Just take comfort in Curtis’s claims that “I have not had sex with a guy.”

Radar Online even managed to grab a screenshot of the job posting while (I presume?) simultaneously being shocked and laughing their asses off. You just can't make shit like this up.

Doesn't matter much anymore, except for the completely tattered reputation of the GOP, because he is resigning:

Rep. Richard Curtis, 48, said he was resigning immediately to spare his wife and children more public embarrassment. In a written statement, Curtis said, "Events that have recently come to light have hurt a lot of people. I sincerely apologize for any pain my actions may have caused."

I guess the GOP figured if he liked Stallion so much they better put him out to pasture... Either that or his wife pulled a bitter-Vitter-Bobbitt maneuver and gelded Dick on the spot:

In 2000, Vitter was included in a Newhouse News Service story about the strain of congressional careers on families.

His wife, Wendy, was asked by the Newhouse reporter: If her husband were as unfaithful as Livingston or former President Bill Clinton, would she be as forgiving as Hillary Rodham Clinton?

“I’m a lot more like Lorena Bobbitt than Hillary,” Wendy Vitter told Newhouse News. “If he does something like that, I’m walking away with one thing, and it’s not alimony, trust me.”

“I think fear is a very good motivating factor in a marriage,” she added. “Don’t put fear down.

TPM Muckraker

We will be watching to see if Curtis has a peculiar gate when he runs from the press in the future.