Worth repeating

"Honey, you know the difference between the Taliban and Texas Republicans? One is opposed to science, equal rights for women, religious freedom, peaceful resolution of disagreements, and democracy. The other is the Taliban."

-- Susan "Kiss My Big Blue Butt" Bankston

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I took neoconservatism seriously for a long time, because it offered an interesting critique of what's wrong with the Middle East, and seemed to have the only coherent strategic answer to the savagery of 9/11. I now realize that the answer - the permanent occupation of Iraq - was absurdly utopian and only made feasible by exploiting the psychic trauma of that dreadful day. The closer you examine it, the clearer it is that neoconservatism, in large part, is simply about enabling the most irredentist elements in Israel and sustaining a permanent war against anyone or any country who disagrees with the Israeli right. That's the conclusion I've been forced to these last few years. And to insist that America adopt exactly the same constant-war-as-survival that Israelis have been slowly forced into. Cheney saw America as Netanyahu sees Israel: a country built for permanent war and the "tough, mean, dirty, nasty business" of waging it (with a few war crimes to keep the enemy on their toes).

But America is not Israel. America might support Israel, might have a special relationship with Israel. But America is not Israel. And once that distinction is made, much of the neoconservative ideology collapses.

-- Andrew Sullivan

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Bradley, a US military attorney for 20 years, will reveal that Mohamed, 31, is dying in his Guantánamo cell and that conditions inside the Cuban prison camp have deteriorated badly since Barack Obama took office. Fifty of its 260 detainees are on hunger strike and, say witnesses, are being strapped to chairs and force-fed, with those who resist being beaten. At least 20 are described as being so unhealthy they are on a "critical list", according to Bradley.

Mohamed, who is suffering dramatic weight loss after a month-long hunger strike, has told Bradley, 45, that he is "very scared" of being attacked by guards, after witnessing a savage beating for a detainee who refused to be strapped down and have a feeding tube forced into his mouth. It is the first account Bradley has personally received of a detainee being physically assaulted in Guantánamo.

Bradley recently met Mohamed in Camp Delta's sparse visiting room and was shaken by his account of the state of affairs inside the notorious prison.

She said: "At least 50 people are on hunger strike, with 20 on the critical list, according to Binyam. The JTF [the Joint Task Force running Guantánamo] are not commenting because they do not want the public to know what is going on.

-- The Guardian, advancing the story of British outrage over the development that UK armed service members have participated in the atrocities at Guantanamo

Sunday Funnies (Bi-partisanship Edition)

Polling finds Limbaugh less popular than Ayers or Wright

(Now why would they do a silly thing like 'read'?)

Didn't the Republicans who turned to Rush Limbaugh read the poll which found that he's one of the least popular political figures in the country?

An October 24, 2008, poll conducted by the Democratic research firm Greenberg-Quinlan-Rosner has Rush Limbaugh enjoying a public-approval rating of just 21 percent among likely voters, while 58 percent have "cold" feelings toward the right-wing radio-talk-show host. Limbaugh's cold rating was higher than that of all the political figures the firm polled. It was seven points higher than Rev. Jeremiah "God Damn America" Wright and eight points higher than former Weather Underground domestic terrorist (sic) William Ayers. ...

Limbaugh is so unpopular that only 44 percent of Republican voters reported "warm" feelings toward him, ten points less than those who felt the same way about Limbaugh's top competitor, Fox News' Sean Hannity, and a full 20 points lower than Fox News itself. Yet in spite of rock-bottom favorable numbers, Limbaugh confidently declared one week after Obama's inauguration that his power far exceeded that of the Republican Party's top two leaders in the Senate and House of Representatives. Obama, Limbaugh roared, is "obviously more frightened of me than he is Mitch McConnell. He's more frightened of me, than he is of, say, John Boehner, which doesn't say much about our party."

Obama seems unfazed by El Rushbo. The president recently implored Republican leaders, "You can't listen to Rush Limbaugh and get things done."

Despite Limbaugh's low popularity ratings, congressional Republicans are so intimidated by his perceived influence that even the most resentful members shamelessly grovel at his feet. He might have alienated vast sectors of the Republican base, but Limbaugh still commands an army of self-proclaimed "Dittoheads" who represent the party's most politically fervent, ideologically extreme, and easily shepherded element. This is a faction that flood the party's elected representatives' offices with phone calls, and which they believe they cannot afford to offend.

Friday Postpourri

-- Somebody at the White House is paying attention to those of us who want Obama to start punching back.

-- Kristi Thibaut of HD-133 is a real pistol. As Greg also notes -- all three of us worked together on Borris Miles' successful HD-146 campaign in 2006 -- she leaves nothing on the table when she commits. I'm pleased to know such a fine representative. (The Texas Observer's "Floor Pass" is turning into a must-read, too.)

--Holy New Mexico Governor, Batman!

-- The nascent movement to call on President Obama to ask Howard Dean to direct Health and Human Services picks up steam.

-- The Ninth Circuit ruled yesterday that the Defense of Marriage Act is unconstitutional.

-- Best health wishes to Justice Ginsberg.

-- Leon Panetta, at his confirmation hearing, in response to the terrorist threats of Dick Cheney earlier this week:

"I was disappointed by those comments, because the implication is that somehow this country is more vulnerable to attack because the president of the United States wants to abide by the law and the Constitution. I think we’re a stronger nation when we abide by the law and the Constitution."

Some people can be just soooo much calmer in their reactions to arrogant ignorance than I. I admire that. He also promises the end of extraordinary rendition.

-- Alexandra Pelosi has prepared another documentary, this one of the spectacular fall from grace of Ted Haggard, but I'm pretty sure she makes no mention of this.

-- This photo of the Congressional Republicans announcing their opposition to the American economy reminds me of chickens in the barnyard, all looking in a different direction. What, can't you see their heads bobbing and neck wattles flapping? (And John Boehner needs to stay away from Light Bulb Beach.)

A good joke is all about the timing

"The Obama girls love living in the White House. One complaint, though. Sometimes, at midnight, when the moon is full, they can hear the squeaking hinges on Dick Cheney's coffin."
-- Letterman






"Limbaugh said he's not going to 'bend over and grab his ankles' just because Obama is black. Do you think there's any chance in hell Rush Limbaugh could ever bend over and grab his ankles?"
-- Leno

Funnies that won't wait for Sunday

What Change looks like *with updates*

I just want to underscore a few of the points made here:

When the nation watched horrified while the Department of Homeland Security fumbled painfully in the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina, Michael Chertoff blamed it on phantom headlines, George Bush assured Brownie he was 'doing a heckuva job,' and right-wing pundits eagerly acquitted the White House by trying to lay the whole mess at the feet of the victims and any Democrat within 1000 miles of Louisiana. When George Bush and his merry band of neoclowns stampeded a panicked nation into an ill-conceived war against Iraq and rolled snake-eyes on catching bin Laden it was all because of 'bad intel' and blown all out of proportion by biased, 'liberal reporters' feeding the progressive pathology of 'Bush Derangement Syndrome.'

On and on it went, like a runaway freight train. The economic meltdown was brought on by the unbridled greed of middle class wage earners who bought homes with their 650 FICO scores; politicization of the Justice Department was an artifact of an overzealous congressional witch hunt; Sarah Palin was a superbly qualified candidate unfairly slimed by savage bloggers. If excuses were assholes, the conservative beast would be studded with ugly sphincters oozing an endless stream of foul bullshit from head to toe.

I'd prefer a President who is flawless. But after eight years of conservative 'blame-gaming,' endless Republican evasion and stonewalling, and crazed wingnut finger pointing, I'll settle for one that can construct coherent sentences and tell the truth at the same time. I'll happily support a President with enough basic respect for We the People to look us in the eye and own up.

We'd almost forgotten what honesty looks like. It looks like change.

Update: I'm just not as big a man as Obama. I'd rather kick these morons in the balls until they start to understand the very simple truths more calmly explained in this post:

The Republican playbook is about standing in opposition, knowing full well that the Democratic Congress is going to pass a stimulus package. Their next step is to go home and sell to what's left of their constituencies the notion that if we had listened to them, things would be far rosier. As a minority, a control group is unlikely to emerge that can disprove false numbers based on false rhetoric. They can go back and campaign in two years whether or not Obama's plan creates anywhere close to the number he hopes and tell the world, and claim that their plan would have provided double the number.

A perfectly manipulative strategy which plays to the short-term memory of the American electorate.

The minority role in government should be about balancing the need of their constituencies with real ideas that create a stronger way of finding a solution. In the modern era of politics Rush Limbaugh style, it is all about spewing hate and misinformation in the guise of governing for the good of the people. The very people that the Obama plan will help most, are the very same people that are being preached to by the likes of Limbaugh and his puppets in Congress.

As far as I'm concerned, though ... fuck 'em.

Update II: Go Fuck Yourself, Dick.

Update III:

What have we seen the last few weeks? Democrats caving to GOP demands and inserting useless tax cut provisions to appease them. Then they vote en masse against the stimulus in the House. Meanwhile, Obama hands yet another cabinet post to yet another Republican, this one a right-wing small-government ideologue who voted to eliminate the Commerce Department he will now head just a few short years ago. Then he gives a schizophrenic acceptance speech where he thanks New Hampshire's governor for caving to his demands for a GOP replacement for his seat, while at the same time arguing that it's time to get past "partisanship". Oh, then he punches Obama in the face by denying him a critical cloture vote on the Senate version of the stimulus bill.

So what the heck, HHS has an opening, and the media establishment is piling on with progressively crazier ideas, because what the heck, in this post-partisan environment, the party that won doesn't get the spoils. So Romney to HHS! Or maybe Gingrich!

During the Bush years, the best interests of our country took a back seat to the GOP's failed ideology. Right now, it looks like the best interests of our country are taking a back seat to the failed ideology of "bipartisanship".

I'm sharpening my boot tips, because somebody is going to have to do some asskicking ...

Annise Parker for Houston

AnniseParker.com

Hangover Wrangle

Did your team win? Did you overdo it at the party? Get back to work now (for those of us who still have a job to go to, that is). And if you get a break today, check out the best of last week's posts from the blogs of the Texas Progressive Alliance.

In her first ever YouTube video, TXsharon shows the emissions boiling into the air when a Barnett Shale gas well undergoes hydraulic fracture.

jobsanger examines the modern Republicans who call themselves conservatives, but have betrayed the beliefs and philosophical standards of past conservatives in Where Are The Real Conservatives?

Nat-Wu at Three Wise Men has something to say about the student loan mess that's making it impossible for many young adults to attend college these days.

The Texas Cloverleaf shows that pictures can tell a thousand words. And the pictures of ships at anchor in Singapore is telling the world we are screwed.

Burnt Orange Report discusses the over 22,000 voters being purged from the Hidalgo County voter rolls.

CouldBeTrue of South Texas Chisme explains how the Republican free market principles work in real life using contaminated peanut butter as exhibit A.

Redistricting isn't just a state issue. Houston is under pressure to redraw its city council lines. Off the Kuff takes a look at where this stands.

BossKitty at TruthHugger is amazed at the social progress creeping around the world. America elects a biracial president. Iceland appoints an lesbian prime minister. What's next? Yes We Can - Iceland Courageous.

Easter Lemming Liberal News writes his congressman while considering the Republican death spiral.

WhosPlayin announced 46,000 layoffs this past week -- just in the blogging industry.

WCNews at Eye On Williamson points out John Carter's latest shenanigans in Carter's political ploy, the "Rangel Rule".

Things can get pretty ugly between fans of competing sports franchises and we at McBlogger were not immune as Cap'n Kroc and Harry Balczak tear each other apart.

Over at Texas Kaos, Libby Shaw's keeping an eye on Senator Jackass of Texas as he tries to heighten his national profile at the expense of American families. in his latest hit, the buckskin fringed one votes against children having health care. Again.

The Republicans are having an identity crisis, and the election of Michael Steele as RNC chair is not likely to help them solve it. PDiddie at Brains and Eggs observes that Rush Limbaugh is still calling the shots, and they are all cheap.

Neil at Texas Liberal offers some thoughts on city elections in Houston.

John Coby at Bay Area Houston publishes what Rick Perry really said at his campaign kickoff speech in the Capitol.

A HOF performance

That could also have been said of Arizona's Kurt Warner, who got his team the lead late but with 2:08 too much for Ben Roethlisberger to work his magic.

Each quarterback was in search of his second Super ring; each was masterful, but the championship goes to Big Ben and the Steelers.

A few more Funnies

Yoo Idiot

Oops.

The question Mr. Obama should have asked right after the inaugural parade was: What will happen after we capture the next Khalid Sheikh Mohammed or Abu Zubaydah? Instead, he took action without a meeting of his full national security staff, and without a legal review of all the policy options available to meet the threats facing our country.

What such a review would have made clear is that the civilian law-enforcement system cannot prevent terrorist attacks. What is needed are the tools to gain vital intelligence, which is why, under President George W. Bush, the CIA could hold and interrogate high-value al Qaeda leaders. On the advice of his intelligence advisers, the president could have authorized coercive interrogation methods like those used by Israel and Great Britain in their antiterrorism campaigns. (He could even authorize waterboarding, which he did three times in the years after 9/11.)

After attorney general-designate Eric Holder testified in his confirmation hearing that waterboarding was torture, Dick Cheney made the rounds of teevee talking heads to declare that it was he who had authorized the torturing of detainees at Guantanamo. Maybe that was just Dick being Dick, maybe he was trying to take the heat off Bush, but Yoo -- whose legal memos paved the way for the lovely euphemism "enhanced interrrogation techniques" -- lets the cat out of the bag here, fingering the former President of the United States.

John Cornyn's bullshit starts to make a little more sense in context of his slavish and utter devotion to protecting Bush at all costs, doesn't it?

There's a grander context here that I want to explore, however.

Most reasonable people -- including many practitioners of it -- acknowledge that torture does not work. But "work" is a loaded word.

If your intention is to extract factual information regarding terrorism then, no, torture doesn't work. But if your intention is to coerce confessions out of people who are essentially innocent, THEN IT WORKS. It works as a cover-up for your vacuous "war on terror" and its attendant policies such as wiretapping Americans, as well as a distraction for your own state-sponsored, false-flag terrorism. It works as a means to intimidate people who would speak up against you, too. It has all sorts of viable uses depending upon your intentions. And since the idea was at the time to use 9/11 as a justification to nullify constitutionally protected rights and thus implement the equivalent of an enforceable police state, one could say that having a policy of torture was essential to the plan.

It's probably safe to say that it worked well enough to get Congressional Republican majorities re-elected in 2002, and Bush re-elected in 2004.

So now that sanity has prevailed, and we have an administration and a Congress that is gradually enabling itself to acknowledge the truth, the remaining and reasonable course of action is to follow the dictates of the treaties and accords signed by predecessors of George W Bush and investigate and prosecute all of those in his administration responsible for the violations.

Let justice prevail though the heavens fall, someone once said.