Month: February 2006

Saudis Not Feelin’ the Love Over Hydrocarbon Hatin’

Trish

Middle Eastern oil suppliers aren’t so happy with Pres. Bush’s State of the Union admission that America is addicted to their main export. Saudi Arabian Oil Minister Ali Naimi is decrying Pres. Bush’s newfound “prejudice against hydrocarbons.” They might not even expand production if that’s the way we feel about it.

When I hear Bush talk about limiting imports, I figure that’s Rovespeak for “Goodbye ANWR. Goodbye Florida Gulf coast.”

“What concerns us is all the talk about not wanting our oil,” Naimi told an audience at the Cambridge Energy Research Associates conference. “It’s something to take into consideration.”

We’re not worried. We have a plan.

Bush’s strategy calls for substituting 30 percent of the nation’s fuel supply by 2025 with ethanol made from farm waste such as cornstalks and switch grass.

Actually, when I hear Bush talk about limiting imports, I figure that’s Rovespeak for “Goodbye ANWR. Goodbye Florida Gulf coast.”

But our friends in the field, not surprisingly, hear it differently.

His singling out of Middle Eastern oil was striking, rankling Saudi sensibilities.

After all, Saudi Arabia and other Persian Gulf producers accounted for only 17 percent of the nation’s oil imports during the first 11 months of 2005, according to the U.S. Energy Information Administration.

And the Gulf states could hardly be deemed more volatile than producers like Venezuela, Nigeria or even Russia.

The Saudis don’t really see the problem anyway.

Asked whether he thinks America is addicted to oil, [Saudi Arabia’s ambassador to Washington Prince Turki Al-Faisal] wondered: “Why do you want to live without it?”

Because when the same percentage of Chinese people as Americans decide to drive Hummers we, as a planet, are toast?

After the Wiretaps, Now Comes the Blacklist

Jon Ponder

Erlichman, Haldeman, Rove: The major difference between our criminal 37th and 41st presidents is that the current lawbreaker-in-chief, Mr. Bush, has admitted to his illegal actions, whereas President Nixon never did cop to his crimes.

It is ironic that Rove, who gave up a secret agent purely for political reasons, is kneecapping Gops for opposing illegal spying

Still, it’s like the Bushists are using an old Nixon playbook. Now, true to form, the president’s chief enforcer, Karl Rove, is calling Republican senators and threatening them with being blacklisted by the White House. This report comes from the ultra-rightwing Washington Times, a newspaper owned by the Rev. Sun Yung Moon, head of the Unification Church cult. You can find it on the Washington Times website — go here to Google it:

The White House has been twisting arms to ensure that no Republican member votes against President Bush in the Senate Judiciary Committee.s investigation of the administration’s unauthorized wiretapping.

Congressional sources said Deputy Chief of Staff Karl Rove has threatened to blacklist any Republican who votes against the president. The sources said the blacklist would mean a halt in any White House political or financial support of senators running for re-election in November…

The sources said the administration has been alarmed over the damage that could result from the Senate hearings, which began on Monday, Feb. 6. They said the defection of even a handful of Republican committee members could result in a determination that the president violated the 1978 Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act. Such a determination could lead to impeachment proceedings.

Others have pointed out the irony of having Rove — who blithely revealed the identity of a secret agent who was monitoring the black market for weapons of mass destruction for purely political reasons — threatening to kneecap members of his party who believe the president does not have the authority to spy on U.S. citizens.

McCain Rebukes Pentagon ‘Emergency’ Spending

Buck Banks

Footing the bill: At a Senate Armed Services Committee hearing yesterday, Sen. John McCain (R-Ariz.) gave Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld an earful of criticism over the Bush administration’s policy of using supplemental appropriations to pay for operations in Iraq and Afghanistan. McCain said that reliance on emergency spending provided an “end run” around Congress.

Democrats were howling too, arguing that wartime costs should be predictable more than four years after the onset of the Iraq war.

“I don’t know how you can call it an emergency anymore,” McCain told Rumsfeld.

Supplemental spending requests are not held to the same authorization standards as traditional budget submissions.

McCain also argued that supplemental spending was contrary to congressional efforts to improve the appropriations process. Supplemental spending requests are handled solely by the Appropriations committees, and are not held to the same authorization standards as traditional budget submissions.

“To continue to come up here with a, quote, emergency spending request is something that’s become unacceptable and it’s got to stop,” said McCain, long a watchdog of wasteful government spending.

In response, Rummie seemingly contradicted himself:

Rumsfeld responded by saying he could submit the wartime costs in the regular budget, but had been advised by Congress several years ago not to do so because wartime costs were unpredictable. His remarks diverged from his testimony last year that supplemental appropriations were prepared much closer to the time funds are needed, allowing more accurate cost estimates and quicker access to funds.

In two weeks the Pentagon will request $70 billion more for Iraq and Afghanistan for the remainder of fiscal 2006, bringing the year’s total wartime emergency appropriations to $120 billion. Appropriators attached a $50 billion bridge fund to the 2006 Defense spending bill, even though it was not requested by the administration.

King Bush to Continue Horse Slaughter Despite Congressional Ban

Jon Ponder

Bastards: This says everything you need to know about George W. Bush:

Horse slaughter for meat will continue in the United States, despite votes in Congress to halt the practice, the Agriculture Department announced Tuesday.

American horse meat is sold mostly for human consumption in Europe and Asia, although some goes to U.S. zoos.

Congress didn’t ban horse slaughter outright. Instead, lawmakers used a tactic that is common in spending legislation. Horses must pass inspection by department veterinarians before they are slaughtered, so lawmakers voted to yank the salaries and expenses of those inspectors.

Department officials maintain the law requires inspections regardless. They announced Tuesday they will pay for live horse inspections by charging fees to slaughter plants…

“To end this practice, Congress, with widespread public support, passed this amendment by a landslide vote in both the House and the Senate,” said [Rep. John] Sweeney, who serves on the House Appropriations Committee. “This action is a direct defiance of congressional intent.”

…Compared to the huge beef, pork and poultry industries, horse meat is a tiny business: Plants slaughtered about 88,000 horses, mules and other equines in 2005, according to the department.

Food Safety and Inspection Service: http://www.fsis.usda.gov/

Pew Poll: Bush Got No Bounce from SOTU

Buck Banks

With a thud: George Bush’s State of the Union speech should have been his opportunity to improve his poll standings and push his agenda. But nobody watched; nobody cared.

The latest national survey by the Pew Research Center for the People & the Press, conducted Feb. 1-5 among 1,502 Americans, finds that President Bush received no bounce from his Jan. 31 State of the Union address. Bush’s approval rating stands at 40 percent ­ largely unchanged over the past month. Interest in Bush’s speech was fairly modest ­ about as many paid very close attention to the recent layoffs at the Ford Motor Co. (25 percent) as to the State of the Union (24 percent). The public continues to take a mixed view of Bush’s performance on issues ­ generally positive on terrorism (55 percent% approval) but negative on virtually every domestic issue. In two key areas, health care and the deficit, Bush’s ratings have declined markedly over the past year, to below 30 percent on each issue.

The public believes it is generally right for the government to monitor communications of Americans suspected of having terrorist ties without first obtaining permission from the courts.

But the president appears to be making headway with his defense of the government’s authority to conduct warrantless wiretaps of suspected terrorists. By 54 percent-43 percent, the public believes it is generally right for the government to monitor communications of Americans suspected of having terrorist ties without first obtaining permission from the courts. In early January, the public was evenly divided over this issue (48 percent generally right/47 percent generally wrong). Moderate and liberal Republicans, in particular, are now more supportive of the program. In January, moderate and liberal Republicans favored warrantless monitoring of suspected terrorists by 56 percent-41 percent; now by about three-to-one (71 percent-24 percent) they feel the program is generally right.

That’s disturbing. Having listened to Attorney General Alberto Gonzalez smirk, obfuscate, evade and probably lie his way through yesterday’s Senate Intelligence Committee hearings, I’m as alarmed as committee members of both parties are. But the public isn’t getting it. They are buying the GOP’s message that if the prez sez it’s necessary to “fat terrists,” it’s okay to flaunt the law. Oh yeah, and no warrant means no paper trail — see you in Romania, son.

Like Dianne Feinstein (D-Calif.) said, this program is a lot bigger and a lot scarier than Gonzalez and Bush want us to know.

Obama Posts the Letters; See What an Ass John McCain is For Yourself

Trish

First of all, the snarky, snarly, nastiness of Sen. John “Please W., Screw Me a Little Harder Just So Long As You Let Me Be President Next” McCain (R.-Ariz.) is way understated in the news reports about his attack on Sen. Barack Obama (D-Ill).

Everyone that frames this as “an exchange” in which one side is just as bad as the other, ala the Refrickinpublican Abramoff scandal, is just flat wrong.

Second, everyone including NPR’s Day to Day, that frames this as “an exchange” in which one side is just as bad as the other, a la the Refrickinpublican Abramoff scandal, is flat wrong.

Don’t take my word for it. Sen. Obama has posted the actual letters for the world to see. If you don’t walk away from reading John McCain’s sarcastic, insulting, and belittling missive feeling like he’s a complete — forgive my French — shithead then check your voter registration card. It must say “Republican.”

Here’s what Obama said that Johnny evidently took such exception to:

I know you have expressed an interest in creating a task force to further study and discuss these matters, but I and others in the Democratic Caucus believe the more effective and timely course is to allow the committees of jurisdiction to roll up their sleeves and get to work on writing ethics and lobbying reform legislation that a majority of the Senate can support.

And here’s just a sample of “Hothead” McCain’s vitriol in return:

I understand how important the opportunity to lead your party’s effort to exploit this issue must seem to a freshman Senator, and I hold no hard feelings over your earlier disingenuousness. Again, I have been around long enough to appreciate that in politics the public interest isn’t always a priority for every one of us.

Are you feeling it yet? Barack “Real Deal” Obama took all that and still turned the other cheek, in a new letter dated today.

I confess that I have no idea what has prompted your response. But let me assure you that I am not interested in typical partisan rhetoric or posturing. The fact that you have now questioned my sincerity and my desire to put aside politics for the public interest is regrettable but does not in any way diminish my deep respect for you nor my willingness to find a bipartisan solution to this problem.

Visit the site for updates, if McCain still has the heart for showing his ass to the world.

Greene: ‘Let’s Really Piss Off Them Towelheads!’

Buck Banks

Compassionate conservativism at work: A rightwing nutjob has come out saying that Americans should demand that the mainstream media reprint the cartoons depicting the Muslim prophet Mohammed that have riled up the Muslim world as a demonstration of our freedom.

The cartoons were first published by a Danish newspaper in September — five months ago. They were reprinted in other European newspapers and have prompted rioting in the Middle East, burning of embassies and consulates, at least one death and numerous injuries, and even demonstrations in the United States.

And now this hothead wants to turn up the heat. I’m sure to some people this kind of rabid rhetoric has a twisted kind of logic:

Many Christians and Jews have had to endure the satirizing of their own religious figures.

“Americans need to see for themselves what has outraged Islamofascists in certain parts of the world,” said William Greene, president of the on-line organization, RightMarch.com. “Many Christians and Jews have had to endure the satirizing of their own religious figures. It’s called the free expression of ideas. We shouldn’t apologize for freedom — we’re trying to spread it, and an honest public debate is at the very center of that freedom.

“After 9-11, Americans didn’t take to the streets to burn down embassies, attack civilians and spark riots. We showed great restraint and courtesy to the foreign dignitaries living as guests in our nation. It’s not weakness; it’s strength, and the ultimate test of freedom, which is God’s gift to man,” Green said.

Sounds real Christian-like, don’t it?

Next Election Fraud Explanation Already in the Works

Trish

A.P. is reporting on what will no doubt be the excuse used to conceal fraud in the next election.

Fewer voters will cast their ballots by punching a card or pulling a lever in this November’s elections as the country continues to turn to newer, electronic machines, according to a study released Monday…experts also note that means many Americans will be voting on unfamiliar equipment this fall.

…The widespread push to modernize means that, in the six years between November 2000 and this fall’s elections, nearly 82 million people in a nation of 170 million registered voters will have cast ballots on new equipment…

See, it’s not that we rigged things, it’s that the voters cast their ballots the wrong way because they didn’t know what they were doing. Yeah, that’s it!

Jeb Criticizes Those Who Do the Same Thing as Him Only Better

Trish

Gimme a H! Gimme a Y! Gimme a P! Gimme an O! Gimme a… Aw never mind — just yell, “Jeb!”

Tallahassee Democrat:

”Democracy is imperiled a little bit when big donors that can’t get their way through the traditional way of creating policy through the Florida Legislature, (and) secret donors who do not disclose who they are, come into our state from out of state to advance in many cases a left-wing political agenda,” Bush told the crowd, ”to put things on the ballot that sound good but create long-term challenges for us.”

The executive director of Common Cause Florida…noted Bush had no problem with raising Florida cash for another state’s redistricting drive last year when California Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger came calling.

The governor’s remarks were directed in part at Common Cause, a government watchdog group that has gathered enough signatures to put a redistricting ballot question before voters this year.

Common Cause raised $2.6 million from its national membership to cover the $2.8 million spent to gather the 611,000 signatures needed. Bush has been critical of the group over the last week for not volunteering the names of its donors.

Ben Wilcox, executive director of Common Cause Florida, said it is a nonpartisan effort and noted Bush had no problem with raising Florida cash for another state’s redistricting drive last year when California Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger came calling.

Jeb also didn’t mind the Republican Party of Florida contributing $150,000 of the $193,000 raised to put an anti-gay marriage amendment on the ballot, despite the fact that the aforementioned Florida Legislature already passed a law years ago outlawing such unions. He also didn’t have a problem with the fact that the amendment’s sponsors passed the move off as a grassroots effort until the St. Petersburg Times exposed the funding last month.