Novak's Other Bizarre Outburst

The Carpetbagger Report bring us this:

Clearly, Bob Novak's temper-tantrum was one of the more bizarre spectacles we've seen on CNN in a while, but as my friend Phil noted this morning, it wasn't the only odd thing Novak said yesterday.

Host Ed Henry: [Rep. Katherine] Harris is blaming unnamed newspapers for tarnishing her image by doctoring her makeup with Photoshop. — that computer program. Bob Novak, have you been investigating this make-up story?

Novak: No, but I've had the same experience that she did. A lot of my trouble in the world is that they've doctored my make-up and colorized me in a lot of newspapers on my picture. So, I sympathize with her.

Henry: This is breaking news. I've haven't heard this.

James Carville: Breaking news. Who did it? What paper?

Novak: Well, I don't. I can't tell you.

There was no indication he was kidding. Novak wasn't smiling.

So, here we have a veteran political journalist, who's been in DC for decades, telling a national television audience that other journalists have conspired against him to manipulate photographs to make him look unattractive. Indeed, as far as Novak is concerned, this alleged history of photo manipulation accounts for "a lot of [his] trouble in the world."

While the Rest of the World Mourned the 60th Anniversary of the Drop of the Bombs... Bush Partied and the US Ignored

Yesterday's 60th anniversary of the American bombings in Japan was met with prayer, solemnity, and sorrow in much of the rest of the world. Here? Little mention of it.

I don't think this country has ever been able to properly understand its own role in committing one of the worst atrocities ever seen on this planet. Ironic how we whine and cry about other countries even thinking about possessing nuclear weapons even as we ignore that we used them to incinerate and poison and damage tens of thousands of innocent Japanese.

I've written of my dad, a quiet WWII War hero of sorts. He spoke little of the war although I remember him talking a bit about going into either Nagasaki or Hiroshima within 48 hours of the bombs dropping. My father before his death at age 39 - and one can't help but wonder if entering the city so soon after the bombs dropped was a factor in his early death - probably never could have imagined how his war experiences would result in a daughter, born fairly long after the end of WWII, who learned from what he said and has become so outspoken against war and its human consequences.

I only myself saw my dad cry once, and it was for memory of a child's image - a child climbing a ladder - that was burned onto the side of a building as the bomb flashed.

"The sons of bitches," he said as he cried. He told me the child looked to be about four or five, and I was not quite four when he told me this story.

Although it did no good, I spent a good deal of yesterday crying, praying, thinking... about that four year old who was born and died well before I was born, and of the politicians who sent my father, then a man in his early 20s, to a war that would do something like drop those bombs.

Bush's Blind Loyalty: Anything Any of His Friends Does is Just Fine by Him

Knight Ridder has an interesting piece comparing the Palmeiro steroid issue with baseball and Bush's defense of the player with many of the other seemingly untenable positions Bush has taken:

But the president's quick and unequivocal defense of Palmeiro - who's now the subject of a congressional investigation - has raised questions about whether Bush's loyalty undercuts his political judgment.

"It seems that President Bush is falling into the Nixon trap - his administration can do no wrong. His allies and people who support him can do no wrong," said Robert Dallek, a presidential historian. "Palmeiro is above suspicion, Rove is not to be questioned, John Bolton is a stand-up guy.

"The danger is he divorces himself from public reality, political reality, and it erodes his ability to lead the country," Dallek said.

Several analysts said the Palmeiro situation illustrates that point. Bush took a strong stand against steroids in his 2004 State of the Union address, demanding that major league sports take tougher action to eliminate steroid use by athletes.

"The use of performance-enhancing drugs like steroids in baseball, football and other sports is dangerous and it sends the wrong message - that there are shortcuts to accomplishment and that performance is more important than character," Bush said.

But when news of Palmeiro's positive drug test and 10-day suspension by Major League Baseball became public, Bush almost instantly backed the ballplayer, saying Palmeiro spoke truthfully on March 17 when he wagged his finger at the House Government Reform Committee and emphatically denied ever using steroids.

Likewise, Bush's daughters have rather publicly smoked, consumed illegal drugs, and regularly get wasted drunk. Yet Bush, while calling for his daughters to be protected, is happy to see anyone else who displays this behavior imprisoned.

Different rules for the Bushies, you know.

Go read the entire thing.

Russian Sub

Although I'm very busy, I find myself checking the news every hour or so for word of the stuck Russian sub, worried that this crew will meet the same fate as another Russian crew a few years ago.

My hope goes out to them and their families. Can you imagine anything worse?

Well, unfortunately, in George Bush's world, tragedy and death for unclear purpose seem never in short supply.

Good Night and Thank You, Robin Cook

I was saddened to learn today of the death of Robin Cook - the Brit politician, not the American schlock medical drama writer - at the age of just 59.

Cook opposed the Iraq War and Britain's support of it, and he did so most passionately and eloquently. In my humble opinion, especially after the tragic bombings there one month ago, Great Britain needs more and not less Robin Cooks, able to see through the bullshit and propaganda.

Shades of Novak and Rove in Israel

Interesting:

Two former officials of a pro-Israel lobbying group were charged in an indictment filed Thursday with illegally conspiring to gather and disclose classified national security information to journalists and an unnamed foreign power that government officials identified as Israel.

The indictment accused Steven J. Rosen and Keith Weissman, formerly senior staff members at the American Israel Public Affairs Committee, with improperly disclosing national security information beginning in April 1999. The group dismissed the two men last April.

As the committee's director of foreign policy issues, Mr. Rosen was a highly visible figure in Washington who helped the organization define its lobbying agenda on the Middle East and forged important relationships with powerful conservatives in the Bush administration. Mr. Weissman was a senior Middle East analyst.

The charges in the long-running inquiry were expected, but nevertheless unusual. Neither Mr. Rosen nor Mr. Weissman, who have denied any wrongdoing, held security clearances.

They were not government employees and they operated in a foreign policy world in which private lobbyists, public officials and journalists often trade delicate information about executive branch decision-making that is related to other countries.

The indictment did not accuse any journalist of wrongdoing, but cited several conversations that Mr. Rosen and Mr. Weissman had with unidentified journalists as "overt acts" that furthered the conspiracy. Government officials have said investigators want to interview reporters who talked with either of the two men. It is not clear who the journalists are or whether any them have been interviewed.

The indictment said the two men had disclosed classified information about a number of subjects, including American policy in Iran, terrorism in central Asia, Al Qaeda and the 1996 bombing of the Khobar Towers apartment in Saudi Arabia, which killed 23 Americans, mainly military personnel.

Bush Administration Has Record of "Outing Secret Operatives"

From the Village Voice.

Bush: "The Situation in Iraq is Improving... I Will Stay the Course..."

from my Crawford ranch, of course.

Oh yeah, and while Mr. Bush naps, nearly 30 US soldiers alone have died in Iraq. Well, apparently the young and the poor in the Army and Marines - as well as the Iraqi civilians - will stay Mr. Bush's course.

Note to Dear Traitorous Douchebag Bob Novak

Please, keep your lies straight from one second to the next. It becomes very confusing to the rest of us.

And please, sir, stop whining about being treated badly and unfairly when you're always saying terrible things to others and even outing CIA operatives as a favor to Karl Rove. The only one mistreated here is the American public when someone like you is considered a "fair voice of the press".

When the Cure is Worse than the Underlying Disease

I'm in nearly full agreement with this Brit editorial, which basically says that the global War on Terrorism on general is far worse than what it purports to "root out and kill".

In the wake of the bombings that caused death and disruption in London last month, there was a danger that the government would rush out ill-considered measures in response. At first sight - and the details remain obscure - that appears to be exactly what has happened. Tony Blair announced 12 proposals that he promised would "set a comprehensive framework for action in dealing with the terrorist threat in Britain". Yet Mr Blair's willingness to tamper with the Human Rights Act in order to send deportees to countries known to practice torture is alarming and could even jeopardise Britain's adoption of the European Convention on Human Rights.

Blair is now recasting London in the same image as Bush did America afer 9/11. One would think that the Brits, having watched us suffer pointless "chicken-minus-head syndrome" would put a cork in Blair.

Blair Joins Bush's Hateful Rhetoric and "Rare" Idea of Freedom

I'm aghast at Blair. I truly am. If he thinks this will do anything except further polarize the world even more than our King George has already done, he's been eating too many mad cows recently.

From the UK Guardian:

Muslim organisations across the political and theological spectrum were almost united yesterday in condemning the prime minister's proposed measures, calling them "draconian" and warning that they would further radicalise and alienate the community.

Muslim leaders also reacted cautiously to Mr Blair's invocation of the issue of multiculturalism, saying that the language of yesterday morning did not necessarily help.

The main themes of condemnation were Mr Blair's refusal to acknowledge a connection between the Iraq war and militancy among British Muslims; and criticism of what groups feared to be the potential illegality of supporting "oppressed people" overseas, notably Iraqis and Palestinians.

Mr Bush Should be Glad

that a) he doesn't read and b) refuses to listen to "focus groups".

If he did, he might see that his polls are getting worse with each passing week, when the big "bounce" the boy king "should rightfully receive" after the London bombs and subsequent scares, failed to appear.

Every poll shows more and more Americans believing he has no adequate plan for Iraq - or our economy. Worse, more see him as liar.

Now the facts from the last paragraph are hardly a surprise. Yet for years, Bush could declare war on sweet puppies and everyone stood in line to call him a "brilliant stategerist" (the latter, his word).

Mr. Bush's Neighborhood is Nothing Like Mr. Rogers'

Fourteen Marines (the really tough guys) dead yesterday, at least one more soldier killed on Thursday), a freelance journalist who broke the story of Iraq police going out in death squads after hours to kill those targeted by so-called extremists is himself kidnapped by men in police uniform and car and later executed, plus many more civilians dead and what is Mr. Bush's reaction (from Crawford at the start of his five-plus week vacation?

Essentially, another version of "Bring 'em on." They hate us for the freedom (we no longer have and no matter how bad it gets, Mr. Bush is not going to pull out the troops or do anything else. And then he went out to find a bike or scooter to fall off.

Are the Lies Even Getting to the Soulless, Bloodless, Truthless Novak?

Oliver Willis points us to this at Media Matters, with video:

CNN contributor and syndicated columnist Robert D. Novak stormed off CNN's set after using vulgar language during a live discussion with CNN contributor James Carville on the "Strategy Session" segment of the August 4 edition of CNN's Inside Politics.

While discussing Rep. Katherine Harris's (R-FL) plan to run for a Senate seat against Sen. Bill Nelson (D-FL), Novak told Carville, "Just let me finish what I'm going to say, James, please. I know you hate to hear me." Carville said to host Ed Henry, describing Novak: "He's gotta show these right-wingers that he's got backbone, you know. The Wall Street Journal editorial page is watching you. Show 'em you're tough."

Novak responded: "Well, I think that's bullshit, and I hate that." He then said to Henry, "Just let it go." As Henry asked Carville a question, Novak walked off the set.

After the segment ended, Henry apologized to viewers for Novak's leaving the set "a little early," adding: "I had told him in advance that we were going to ask him about the CIA leak case. He was not here for me to be able to ask him about that. Hopefully, we'll be able to ask him about that in the future."

Bush's Upcoming Vacation Only Rivals Nixon's Last Vacation in Length

Five weeks. Even longer than he was on vacation the summer of all the warnings before 9/11 occurred a few days after Bush finally came back.

In presidential history, the only single prez vacation almost that long was Nixon's last vacation before he ran from office before he was impeached. I'd love to see that precedent in effect here, of course.

Some statistic I read awhile back - and by a fairly Bush friendly publication - said that if you add up all of Bush's 4 day weekends and vacation times and don't count all the rest of the time he's unavailable, Bush works an average 2.2 workday week. He also keeps fewer hours per workday of any president.

Gee, how much vacation time do you get? My last one was in 1995.

White House: Great News, John Bolton Hasn't Started WWIII Yet

The White House actually put out a press release - according to a guest on Democray Now today - saying that "Mr. Bolton started his second day as UN ambassador displaying the utmost of decorum."

His second day? Ever hear of anything so lame?

What will Friday's press release say? "The White House is pleased to report that Mr. Bolton has only bitten two people - but that was understandable considering they were a) non-white and b) below his social status - and has not yet once soiled his suit pants during his entire first week on the job."

As Darth Vader once said, "Impressive. Moooossst (huff huff huff) impressive."

To Mr. Borden

... my faithful reader and old friend.

A word of warning: your daughter Lizzie may suggest you nap today but you could wind up with a splitting headache afterwards and btw, your wife, Abby, is hatched to death up in the guest room. What a mess!

(For those of you who don't recall the lore, on this day in 1892, someone bludgeoned the elderly Andrew J and Abby Durfee Gray Borden to death in their 92 Second Street in Fall River, Mass home. You know the rhyme... "Lizzie Borden took an axe, gave her father forty whacks; when she saw what she had done, she gave her mother forty-one." Lizzie was a Sunday School teacher and Andrew's 32-year-old daughter.)

Gotta love repressed New Englanders.

I Love Vermont and the DMV

Since when do you hear anyone pronounce their love for the DMV.

At 10 this morning, I gritted my teeth as I headed down State Street in Montpelier. State Street is a traffic nightmare, because it's where all the state and federal offices are located and yes, the State House is actually literally directly across the street from the DMV. Mind you, I'd already nearly given myself a heart attack because when I went to check my bank balance this morning, I was told my account had been closed. So I'd been sweating in the bank for twenty minutes until it was determined to be a computer error.

So I was in no shape for the DMV. But, heading down State, the traffic wasn't bad. Then, there's a parking space directly across from the DMV. As I get out, I realize that I'm standing right at the steps of the State House. There's no one around. Then, a fellow comes out of a building as I'm going to the parking meter, stops to pick up something, and walks over to me and before I can put in my quarter, he sinks a quarter in - what he'd just picked up from the ground - into the meter for me.

Then I go upstairs to the DMV, prepared for a long line at the Info counter. Nope, I was the first on line. Got my papers, went to fill them out, only to discover I'd left the house without my existing license for renewal. Walk back over to the woman, prepared to beg, and she just says, "No problem!" She looks up my last license, checks me against the picture, she tells me I've lost weight, and hands me a number to be called for help. I walk into the sitting area and just as I'm lowering my ass in a chair, my number flashes on the monitor. Say what?

I walk down to the clerk, and three minutes and $35 later, I walk away with a license good for four years. The entire time at the DMV - and mind you, I updated the registration on a car, too - was 9 minutes, three of that spent looking for the old license.

Newsweek: Rumsfeld Plans Drastic Troop Cuts

That makes sense considering we're threatening Iran, N Korea, and China (ack!) and Iraq necomes more dangerous each and every day.

This, from Newsweek:

Aug. 8, 2005 issue - Donald Rumsfeld doesn't like long-term occupations. He's always made that clear. After U.S. forces took Baghdad, the Defense secretary had plans to reduce the U.S. presence in Iraq to 40,000 troops by the fall of 2003. Then the insurgency struck.

Now Rumsfeld is quietly moving toward his original goal—three years late. The Pentagon has developed a detailed plan in recent months to scale down the U.S. troop presence in Iraq to about 80,000 by mid-2006 and down to 40,000 to 60,000 troops by the end of that year, according to two Pentagon officials involved in the planning who asked not to be identified because of the sensitive nature of their work. Their account squares with a British memo leaked in mid-July. "Emerging U.S. plans assume that 14 out of 18 provinces could be handed over to Iraqi control by early 2006, allowing a reduction in overall [U.S. and Coalition forces] from 176,000 down to 66,000," says the Ministry of Defense memo.

Gen. George Casey, the commander of U.S. forces in Iraq, hinted at those numbers last week. Casey told reporters that the United States will be "still able to take some fairly substantial reductions" if Iraq can keep to the timeline set out in the U.S.-sponsored interim constitution, which calls for elections for a permanent Iraqi government by Dec. 15, 2005. After that, U.S. officials believe, the main task of the U.S. occupation will have been completed.

U.S. officials denied that Casey's remarks represented any change in policy. But earlier this year the Pentagon had been mum on a withdrawal timetable, in part so as not to encourage the insurgents. Now the conditions for U.S. withdrawal no longer include a defeated insurgency, Pentagon sources say. The new administration mantra is that the insurgency can be beaten only politically, by the success of Iraq's new government.

Indeed, Washington is now less concerned about the insurgents than the unwillingness of Iraq's politicians to make compromises for the sake of national unity. Pentagon planners want to send a spine-stiffening message: the Americans won't be there forever. U.S. domestic factors are also forcing President Bush's hand. The Bush administration wants to pre-empt growing public pressure for withdrawal, which could give the insurgents a Vietnam-like strategic goal. Military planners, meanwhile, are deeply concerned about driving away Army careerists and recruits if current deployments are forced into 2007. If the U.S. Army has to do another rotation into Iraq in the fall of 2006 to keep force levels up to their current 138,000, it "goes off a cliff," says retired Gen. Barry McCaffrey.

Supreme Court Nominee John Roberts: Crusader Against Civil Rights and Reproductive Freedom

From Newsweek:

Aug. 8, 2005 issue - The memos were not exactly smoking guns, but they were sure to add fire to Judge John Roberts's confirmation hearings. When Roberts was nominated for the U.S. Supreme Court by President George W. Bush two weeks ago, he was initially described as a model of calm restraint. But then came the release of several thousand pages of memos and documents from Roberts's time as a lawyer in the Reagan White House and Justice Department in the 1980s. As portrayed in press accounts, Roberts seemed cocksure and to the right of even his conservative bosses. "With every passing day, it is becoming clearer that John Roberts is one of the key lieutenants in the right-wing assault on civil-rights laws and precedents," said Ralph Neas, president of the liberal advocacy group People for the American Way.

Stink-o.