CNN is reporting that Paul Wolfowitz is resigning as head of the World Bank, effective June 30. Wolfowitz demanded and got a statement from the bank’s board of director’s absolving him of all wrongdoing, and admitting that the bank was also at fault.
Just saw on MSNBC that the Associated Press is reporting that Senate Democrats will seek a no confidence vote on Attorney Gen. Alberto Gonzales.
It’s gratifying that they’re doing something, however it’s hard to fathom why they don’t just impeach him instead.
Speaking of military appreciation: The Department of Defense has banned soldiers from accessing social-networking Web sites like YouTube, MySpace and MTV.com. Why? Ostensibly because they take up too much bandwidth downloading videos of their child’s first steps or a piano recital, you know, life stuff. Like any big corporation, the DoD doesn’t allow soldiers to use DoD computers for personal stuff, though they can access AOL or Yahoo! to send e-mails to loved ones.
Hardest hit by the ban are military families:
One woman, who could not be reached separately for comment, wrote: “My son is deployed in Iraq, I don’t get much news from him, letter writing is not his thing I guess. MySpace is a way for me to see that he is ok. I can just log on, go to his page and see that he has logged on for the day. That alone takes some of the worries away.”
Another woman wrote similarly, describing how difficult it was not to know what was happening to her son, who served with the Army’s Special Forces in Baghdad.
“We could not always connect via phone. Leaving ‘comments’ on myspace was his way of letting us know he was okay. He could send a note to everyone on his friends list in one posting. I lived to see he had logged on. His … unit already had myspace and youtube blocked. He had to search to find a DoD or private computer that would allow him to log on. The DoD has NO idea how much I lived for those log on’s. It told me MY kid was okay.”
Sen. John Warner (R-Va.) is on the case, but it looks unlikely that Defense will lift the ban.
Military Times has put together a wonderful resource so we can all share in National Military Appreciation Month. There’s a great multimedia gallery, where you can view amazing, and often very moving, pictures and film clips. You can also submit a salute to a specific service member, everyone in the military, the families waiting for them to come back, or all of the above.
Take a few minutes to post your own salute. If you need inspiration:
“I salute my brother, my hero, Rick for all the courage and maturity he has displayed in the army these last four years. He is currently stationed at ft. bragg, NC and he already did one tour in Iraq in 2005.. For all of other deployed military men and women, i pray for your safe arrival home. God bless our troops. Without our military, our country couldn’t survive. Ricky, I love you. i can’t wait until you come home. You’re my older brother, my protector, and my HERO.”
— Lisa
Branchburg, NJ“Thank you for all that you do to keep our nation safe!”
— Rob
Virginia“I would like to say a special thank you to my son, Kyle DeMitry, who is in the Navy and my daughter-in-law, Suzi DeMitry, who is in the Army. I am so proud of you both! I would also like to say thank you to all those serving in the states and abroad, thank you for keeping us safe and free. We owe you everything!!!!”
— Anita
Salisbury, NC
Also, do what I did a couple of weeks ago. If you see someone in uniform dining out or getting a cuppa joe, pick up the tab. It’s a tiny way to say thank you to people who are willing to do something most of us aren’t, but that we trust someone else will.
ABC News, which always seems to get these little scoops right, is reporting that Paul Wolfowitz is toast.
World Bank officials say the bank’s board is completing an “exit strategy” that will allow World Bank President Paul Wolfowitz to resign this afternoon and “still save some face” over the issue of his efforts to seek a promotion and pay raise for his girlfriend at the bank.
The officials say the bank’s board will accept Wolfowitz’s resignation but will also acknowledge that the World Bank’s Ethics Committee bears “some responsibility” for giving him bad advice on the issue of his girlfriend.
The decision is likely today, officials say, because Wolfowitz had been scheduled to leave tonight for a European trip.
My colleague Buck has been leading a prayer vigil for the past year or so urging the Lord to “call home” prominent televangelists. Now that Jerry Falwell has been the first of the big-time grifters to get the call, here’s a list of some of the things he said here on earth that might mean he is finding the afterlife a wee bit warmer than he expected. (H/t to Trish for spotting the fond farewell from Tinky Winky above.)
1. 9/11 was caused by gays, feminists, pagans, the ACLU and PFAW
September 2001:
“I really believe that the pagans, and the abortionists, and the feminists, and the gays and the lesbians who are actively trying to make that an alternative lifestyle, the ACLU, People For the American Way, all of them who have tried to secularize America. I point the finger in their face and say ‘you helped this happen.'”
2. Tinky Winky is gay
February 1999:
“He is purple – the gay-pride colour; and his antenna is shaped like a triangle – the gay-pride symbol.”
3. Mohammed was a terrorist
June 2006:
“I think Mohammed was a terrorist. He – I read enough of the history of his life written by both Muslims and — and — non-Muslims, that he was a – a violent man, a man of war.”
4. Secularists hate Christ
December 2004:
“Well, the fact is that lawyers today, over 3,000 of them in America — Christian lawyers, constitution, conservative lawyers — have offered their services at no charge, pro bono, to certain groups of constitution firms to do war with the ACLU, with the secularists, with Americans United, and all who hate Christ and want to drive God from the public square.”
5. Archbishop Desmond Tutu is a phony
September 1985:
“I think he’s a phony, period, as far as representing the black people of South Africa.”
6. The Antichrist is a Jewish man alive today
1999:
“If he’s going to be the counterfeit of Christ, he has to be Jewish. The only thing we know is he must be male and Jewish.”
7. Gay sex equals bestiality
November 2004:
“So here we have now same-sex marriage. What’s next, polygamy? … Why not? And why not bestiality?”
8. Flag burners should be whipped
September 2006:
“You know when I see somebody burning the flag, I’m a Baptist preacher I’m not a Mennonite, I feel it’s my obligation to whip him. In the name of the Lord of course. I feel it’s my obligation to whip him, and if I can’t do it then I look up some of my athletes to help me.”
9. Bush critics should be beaten
September 2006:
“But, as long as at 72 I can handle most of the jobs I do it myself, and I don’t think it’s un-spiritual. When I, when I, when I hear somebody talking about our military and ridiculing and saying terrible things about our President, I’m thinking you know just a little bit of that and I believe the Lord would forgive me if I popped him.”
10. Christians must be the most intolerant people in the world
March 2006:
“I want my people to be the most intolerant people in the world.”
Heckuva job: Wolfowitz is angering our European allies and making himself and the president look stubborn, rude and clueless:
Sounding more like a cast member of the Sopranos than an international leader, in testimony by one key witness Mr Wolfowitz declares: “If they fuck with me or Shaha, I have enough on them to fuck them too.”
The remarks were published in a report detailing the controversy that erupted last month after the size of Ms Riza’s pay rises was revealed. The report slates Mr Wolfowitz for his “questionable judgment and a preoccupation with self-interest”, saying: “Mr Wolfowitz saw himself as the outsider to whom the established rules and standards did not apply.”
The report brushed off Mr Wolfowitz’s defence that he thought he had been asked to arrange Ms Riza’s pay package, observing that “the interpretation given by Mr Wolfowitz … simply turns logic on its head”.
A normal president would have put Wolfie out of his — and our — misery by now.
George W. Romney: There are definite signs now that the Bush family, their retainers and supporters are supporting Mitt Romney in the upcoming GOP primaries. While it might seem strange that the uber-establishment Bushies would go for the Mormon candidate, on closer consideration Romney is not only a logical choice but, in a sense, their only option.
They’re leery of John McCain who switched from Bush hater to Bush BFF practically overnight after the 2000 election, and could easily switch back after 2008. Giuliani is not a WASP and is squishy on social issues and, well, crazy. Besides, except for religion, they have much in common with Romney: He is from the Northeast, WASP-ish (WASM?), worth $250 million or so, and the son of a famous Republican politician, the late governor of Michigan, George Romney.
In any case, it is clear that Jeb, the president’s more successful younger brother, is supporting Romney behind the scenes:
While Jeb Bush has refrained from endorsing anyone publicly, he has personally introduced Romney to many of his political allies. Jeb Bush’s chief operatives — political strategist Sally Bradshaw and fund-raiser Ann Herberger — have gone to work for Romney. And his former lieutenant governor, Toni Jennings, is also backing Romney
Jeb’s cronies and the president’s other siblings are in the Romney camp, too:
[Jeb] has steered his allies to Mitt Romney … who is seen by some Republicans as the best combination of electability and conservatism. Another of the president’s brothers, Neil, and his sister Dorothy have directly helped Romney raise money…
And then there is “L” word:
Those close to Bush are deeply concerned with protecting the president’s legacy, and they want the next president to be someone who will pursue Bush’s agenda, especially in prosecuting the Iraq war.
They need to face facts about W’s legacy: That ship has sailed. Absent a miracle over the next 12 months or so, history will remember his presidency as one of failure and malfeasance.
Which brings us back to Romney. Is it smart for him — or any candidate — to be the standard-bearer for a failed presidency in campaign? Even if it were to help among Bush deadenders in the GOP primaries, Bush’s political taint would obliterate Romney’s chances among normal voters in the general.
The Rev. Jerry Falwell died today. He was a major disseminator of bigotry, hatred and ignorance, much of which was directed toward gays. He will be remembered for perverting the New Testament’s message of brotherly love and peace into one of intolerance — and for successfully turning the once-great American Protestant religion into little more than a special interest group in the Republican Party.
Trump and the Iranians seem to be in different realities,
Though they share a callousness toward the war’s casualties.
Is Trump insane
Or just insanely vain?
And how can we extract ourselves from his “Quagmire of the Vanities?”
