Too close to the truth

from AmericaBlog:
CONFIDENTIAL BUSINESS PROPOSAL
(and with both apologies and compliments, reproduced in its entirety below, as this is too funny and too sad…)

Dear Mr. American,

Good day and compliments.

I am HENRI PAULSON, the Ministry of the Treasury of the Republic of America, and the personal financial adviser to GEORGE W. BUSH (the eldest son of the former dictator of America, GENERAL GEORGE HUSSEIN WALKER BUSH).

This letter will definitely come to you as a huge surprise, but I implore you to take the time to go through it carefully as the decision you make will go off a long way to determine the future and continued existence of the entire members of my country.
Continue reading “Too close to the truth”

Chimpy speaks! (SotU 2008)

I’m not sure this counts as “liveblogging,” but I’m going to record a few thoughts as I go.

I’ve missed a couple of these, but wanted to see how badly Bush humiliates himself in waffling about the current state of the economy.

See also other coverage on:
* MyDD
* AMERICAblog
* Also some comments on OpenLeft and DailyKos

Sparing you folks on the front page…
Continue reading “Chimpy speaks! (SotU 2008)”

“It’s the economy, stupid.”

Via AMERICAblog:
Wholesale prices surge; Housing rebounds

WASHINGTON – Inflation at the wholesale level surged by the largest amount in more than three decades in November, reflecting higher prices for gasoline and a host of other items.

The Producer Price Index, which measures inflation pressures before they reach the consumer, was up 2 percent last month, the biggest advance since a similar increase in November 1974, the Labor Department reported Tuesday.

Economists had been expecting a rebound in wholesale prices following two months of big declines. However, the 2 percent jump was four times bigger than the 0.5 percent increase they had forecast. Even excluding volatile energy and food prices, core inflation posted a 1.3 percent advance, the biggest jump in 26 years.

Emphasis above is mine. What a great economy we’ve got, eh? Between this and the quagmire in Iraq war, Bush is looking like he is trying to out-Nixon Nixon.

Bush vs. the Bill of Rights

In an article on MSNBC, Senate committee rejects Bush anti-terror plan

The president’s measure would go further than the Senate package in allowing classified evidence to be withheld from defendants in terror trials, using coerced testimony and protecting U.S. interrogators against prosecution for using methods that violate the Geneva Conventions.

Lovely. Does anyone yet doubt Bush is a fascist at heart?

“Salon sums it up.”

Via Troy, on DBA:

How bad is he?

Bush ran as a moderate, tacked right and governed ineffectually — before 9/11. Since then he’s become the most radical American president in history — and arguably the worst.

Editor’s note: Following is the introduction to Sidney Blumenthal’s new book, “How Bush Rules: Chronicles of a Radical Regime,” recently published by the Princeton University Press.

By Sidney Blumenthal

No one predicted just how radical a president George W. Bush would be. Neither his opponents, nor the reporters covering him, nor his closest campaign aides suggested that he would be the most willfully radical president in American history.

In his 2000 campaign, Bush permitted himself few hints of radicalism. On the contrary he made ready promises of moderation, judiciously offering himself as a “compassionate conservative,” an identity carefully crafted to contrast with the discredited Republican radicals of the House of Representatives. After capturing the Congress in 1994 and proclaiming a “revolution,” they had twice shut down the government over the budget and staged an impeachment trial that resulted in the acquittal of President Clinton. Seeking to distance himself from the congressional Republicans, Bush declared that he was not hostile to government. He would, he said, “change the tone in Washington.” He would be more reasonable than the House Republicans and more moral than Clinton. Governor Bush went out of his way to point to his record of bipartisan cooperation with Democrats in Texas, stressing that he would be “a uniter, not a divider.”

The article non-free but visible behind the ad at Salon’s site and is well worth a read.

Body count of journalists killed in Iraq now higher than World War II

With 2 More Journalists Dead in Iraq, Total Tops World War II

By E&P Staff

Published: May 29, 2006 11:00 PM ET

NEW YORK The deaths of two CBS journalists on Monday means the Iraq conflict is now the deadliest war for reporters in the past century.

Since 2003, 71 journalists have been killed in Iraq, more than the 63 killed in Vietnam, 17 killed in Korea — and now the 69 killed in World War II, according to Freedom Forum.

The Iraq numbers do not include the 26 members of media support staff who have also died, as counted by the Committee to Protect Journalists.

So much for “Mission Accomplished.” When are we finally going to pull the plug on Bush’s “Big Adventure?” And how long is the US going to be paying for it it in the world, even once we’re out?

(Lost track of who that was via, sorry.)

Think the “gay marriage” debate is just about gay people? Think again…

The American Taliban is no happier about straight people with untraditional families or lifestyle choices than it is about gay people:

Mo. Town Denies Unmarried Couple Permit

Wed May 17, 11:34 AM ET

BLACK JACK, Mo. – The city council has rejected a measure allowing unmarried couples with multiple children to live together, and the mayor said those who fall into that category could soon face eviction.

Olivia Shelltrack and Fondrey Loving were denied an occupancy permit after moving into a home in this St. Louis suburb because they have three children and are not married.

Via AmericaBLOG

Dan Savage’s ongoing notes about “Straight Rights are also very much apropos here.