Author: Trish

Christmas Milestone in Iraq: More Dead than 9/11

Trish

Merry Christmas from George Bush:

The milestone in Iraq came on Christmas, nearly four years after the war began

In a span of a few hours, 2,973 people were killed in the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks. In a span of 45 months, the number of American troops killed in Iraq exceeded that grim toll as the war continues.

The milestone in Iraq came on Christmas, nearly four years after the war began, according to a count by The Associated Press.

The U.S. military on Tuesday announced the deaths of six more American soldiers, pushing the U.S. military death toll since the beginning of the Iraq war in March 2003 to at least 2,977, four more than the number killed in the Sept. 11 attacks in New York, Washington and Pennsylvania.

Jeb Bush: “I Have No Future”

Trish

At last, a reason to thank George W. Bush! The shame and disgrace he has brought upon the fine Bush name might keep Jeb from running for president.

At least that’s what Mr. Crybaby Snitty-Snear is saying.

“No tengo futuro,” Jeb Bush told Spanish-language reporters in Miami

The shadow of President Bush seemed to loom large over his younger brother on Wednesday, as the outgoing Florida governor ruled out any plans to return to elected office.

“No tengo futuro (I have no future),” Jeb Bush told Spanish-language reporters in Miami, when asked about any possible political ambitions after he steps down next month.

…the unpopularity and dismal job-approval ratings of his brother may have scuttled any plans Jeb Bush may have had for a future in politics after running one of America’s most crucial swing states for the past eight years.Bush did not elaborate on his terse “no future” comment.

Has Jeb ever made a comment that wasn’t terse?

Anyway, it’s just so sad when the name that was your free pass to success in life is turned into a liability by your half-wit big brother. So. Very. Sad. Just ask GOP lackey Sam Brownback.

“Jeb would have made an outstanding presidential candidate,” said Kansas Sen. Sam Brownback…

In a backhanded slap at President Bush, Brownback cited “a heritage issue” as one factor currently weighing against a Jeb Bush presidency.

“People may be wanting to see a different name,” he said.

Ya think?

Live Animals Eaten to Show Iraqi Machismo

Trish

As new Secretary of Defense Bob Gates visited Baghdad, a commemoration was held in Najaf province to mark the turnover of control from U.S. troops to Iraqis. To illustrate the potency of the new law enforcers, animals were eaten live. Yes, frogs and bunnies were ripped apart live and munched.

Chewing on live animals is a traditional display of ferocity for elite troops in Iraq and was also observed by special units during Saddam Hussein’s rule.

About 1,500 police officers, soldiers and security personnel staged a parade around an infield of stubby brown grass, in festivities complete with warriors on horseback.

At one point, a small group of soldiers stepped forward with a live rabbit and tore it to pieces. The leader bit out the heart with a yell, then passed around the blood-soaked remains to his comrades, each of whom took a bite. The group also bit the heads off frogs, as some of those in the crowd held their noses from the stench.

Chewing on live animals is a traditional display of ferocity for elite troops in Iraq and was also observed by special units during Saddam Hussein’s rule.

Police then steered shiny new cruisers and motorcycles with ribbons and flowers stuck to their windshields around a track ringing the soccer field, which was still littered with fur and discarded frog legs.

“Our soldiers do a lot of things, but I’ve never seen them do anything like that,” said Maj. Gen. Kurt Cichowski, who attended the ceremony.

Our troops do indeed do a lot of things. Charges will be filed today against eight Marines accused of murdering 24 Iraqi civilians in Haditha in November, 2005.

Good Lord. What are we doing in this place?

Friedman: What History Will Damn Bush For

Trish

Reality is — unfortunately for the Bush Team — ideology-free.The New York Times’ “conservative” David Brooks and “liberal” Thomas Freidman reacted to clips shown by host Tim Russert on Meet the Press Sunday. The spots were of the First Lady and former Defense Secretary again bemoaning that the media doesn’t report on all the good things happening in Iraq.

Tim Russert: “What do you think?”

Brooks: “Get off of it!

“We’ve got a hero in our newspaper, John Burns, another hero, Dexter Filkins, a whole series of heroes over there. They’re not biased about this. They want the best for the Iraqi people, they want democracy. Listen to what they’re reporting. They’re reporting chaos. You have a hundred — I don’t know what it is — 1.6 million people leaving Iraq. You’ve got 9,000 Iraqis every week who are moving to the Shiia homeland or the Sunni homeland. This is a country…It’s not civil war, it’s just disintegration.

“So the idea that this is just some media concoction…I said that a year ago, two years ago, but at some point you have to face reality.”

Freidman: …The problem is, when you hear the First Lady, when you think of the way Bush is running this war, he thinks that in the Middle East, the shortest distance between two points is a straight line. It’s all straight, it’s a matter of just add a little more force here and you know, give another speech there. [Speaking slowly] It’s insane.

“I wanted this to suceed, you how, as much as anybody. Alright? Because I thought it was really important. I thought it was really important and really hard. And to me, what history will damn these people for is they thought it was really important and really easy.”

White House Publicly Pissed Off at Senator’s Defiance

Trish

It wasn’t just that U.S. Sen. Bill Nelson (D-Fla.) went to Syria this week that’s pissing off the White House. It was the fact that he went even after they made it known they really, truly, “wait until your father gets home ’cause you’ll be in big trouble buster” didn’t want him to.

This idea seems lost on Snow and Bush — he doesn’t need the White House’s permission… ”Congress is a separate and co-equal branch of government”

The White House on Thursday escalated its criticism of Sen. Bill Nelson’s defiant diplomacy to Syria as other senators prepared to meet with the president of the country the United States accuses of aiding terrorists.

At a news briefing, White House spokesman Tony Snow repeated his contention that the Florida Democrat’s trip was ”not helpful” and ”not appropriate…”

”The United States has a clear position, and you want to make sure that you’re sending a clear message, and not mixed messages, to the Syrians about the fact that they have obligations,” Snow said…

Snow also suggested that the senators could end up with egg on their faces…

”It may cost some people their credibility,” Snow said.

Nelson’s response?

“Whatever.”

The two-week to Lebanon, Jordan, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, Kuwait, Iraq, and yes, Syria, was — as you might imagine for a trip with these logistics — planned long ago, even before the Iraq Study Group released its recommendation that the United States enlist Syria’s aid to help us get out of Iraq. One might also venture that Nelson’s recent appointment to the Senate Intelligence Committee, along with his current seats the Senate Armed Services and Foreign Relations committees, could have been factors.

Plus — and this idea seems lost on Snow and Bush — he doesn’t need the White House’s permission. As Sen. Christopher Dodd (D-Conn.), who is also slated to visit with Syrian Pres. Bashar Assad, put it:

”Congress is a separate and co-equal branch of government, and as a senior member of the Foreign Relations Committee, where oversight is a critical component, members need to go to hot spots not just garden spots,” Dodd said. “I can’t think of a more critical part of the world than the Middle East, and I can’t think of a more critical player in effecting events in the region for good or for bad than Syria.”

The White House hopes it will have better luck intimidating Arlen Specter (R-Pa.) and perpetual presidential candidate John Kerry from their planned excursions.

Asked whether the administration would wave off the other senators, Snow noted, “Well, I think they know now. It’s out there, guys.”

Or not.

Dodd…said Thursday that Syria is still on his itinerary.

Miami Rep. Pushes Castro Killing in Video

Trish

Did she say it or didn’t she?

U.S. Rep. Ileana Ros-Lehtinen (R-Miami) claims a video of her saying she welcomed the assassination of Fidel Castro is sliced and diced. The makers of the British documentary, 638 Ways to Kill Castro, say it’s not.

…the Havana-born lawmaker, recently tapped to become the top Republican on the House International Relations Committee, says the filmmakers spliced clips together to make the sound bite.

“It’s twisted in a way that gives the viewer a totally wrong impression,” Ros-Lehtinen told the Miami Herald. “I’ve said the community has moved on, that those strategies are not being used today, but apparently the filmmakers think we’re still in a ’60s mentality.”

Still, she said, it was possible she has, at some point, mentioned Castro’s potential assassination.

“If someone were to do it, I wouldn’t be crying,” she said.

Oops, she did it again!

James Baker Probably Regrets What He Did in 2000

Trish

James Baker has to be kicking himself right now. After all, it’s largely his fault this num-nuts is in power. Serving as co-chair of the Iraq Study Group, and having its recommendations likely dismissed by the Cretin in Chief, is just a small pay-back for cursing us with this idiot to begin with.

Climb into the Way Back Machine and go to the fall of 2000. Baker led the Bush team petitioning the U.S. Supreme Court to void the decision by Florida’s high court which allowed a recount of suspicious ballots. Baker held a press conference to condemn the “activist” Florida justices and plea to set things right.

Baker in 2000: “Let the country step back for a minute and pause and think about what’s at stake here. This may be the last chance to do that. There is no reasonable end to this process if it slips away.”

The vote here in Florida was very close, but when it was counted Governor Bush was the winner.

Now, three days later, the vote in Florida has been recounted. Over two-thirds of the state election supervisors overseeing that recount are Democrats. At the end of this recount, Governor Bush is still the winner, subject only to counting the overseas ballots, which traditionally have favored the Republican candidates. No evidence of vote fraud, either in the original vote or in the recount, has been presented…

Let the country step back for a minute and pause and think about what’s at stake here. This may be the last chance to do that. There is no reasonable end to this process if it slips away.

…For the good of the country, and for the sake of our standing in the world, the campaigning should end and the business of an orderly transition should begin.

Where to start? Palm Beach County’s Democratic Elections Supervisor, Theresa LaPore, was later forced to resign in disgrace. Vote fraud, in both the original election and the Katherine Harris-supervised recount, was presented and proven. And as for this country’s standing in the world…

But Baker was also right. There was a lot at stake, and it was our last chance to avoid the horrible consequences. I’m not happy that it looks like Bush is rejecting the ISG’s work because we need to figure out how to make the killing in Iraq stop. But there is, as my cousin Jon likes to say, a certain schadenfreude in all this. How do you like your president now, James Baker?

Florida’s New Governor Flip-Flops Again

Trish

In what is probably a harbinger of his new administration, Florida Republican Governor-Elect Charlie Crist has again caved to public pressure and reversed himself. He is cancelling his inaugural ball, planned as the most extravagant in the state’s history, and bought and paid for by developers, Big Sugar, military contractors, and other greedy bastards who want to own a piece of the new governor.

No wonder columnist Mark O’Brien is asking Santa for a backbone for “Charlie Crist (R-All Things to All People)” this year.

Amid mounting criticism from the public and media, Gov.-elect Charlie Crist on Saturday abruptly canceled plans for a pricey inaugural ball, saying he should not have approved the solicitation of donations of as much as $500,000 to pay for events…

Crist’s sudden reversal came on a day when the Times and several other newspapers in Florida carried columns, editorials and cartoons critical of the party plans.

A Tampa Tribune editorial Saturday said “Crist’s solicitations don’t set the right tone for the new day he has promised in Tallahassee.”

In an editorial headlined “The lobbyists’ governor,” the Palm Beach Post said the $500,000 solicitations mean that Crist’s nickname, “Chain Gang Charlie,” should be changed to “Ka-Ching Charlie.”

In the Florida Times-Union in Jacksonville, cartoonist Ed Gamble’s cartoon Saturday showed a cigar-chomping lobbyist telling two average-looking guests at the ball: “You don’t have to worry about the $2.5-million cost! We covered it!”

Crist’s handlers want his decision/chickening-out to be seen as listening and responding to the will of the people. Throughout his campaign, Crist certainly did that.

He began by introducing himself as Jeb II, promising to continue the previous governor’s policies and initiatives, including using the Florida Comprehensive Achievement Test as the only measure of success in public schools. When his opponent moved up in polls by claiming that the test is eroding, not improving, our educational system, Charlie allowed as how he might make some changes. When his opponent said he would require insurers to offer property coverage if they were permitted to offer more profitable auto coverage in the state, Charlie signed on. Twisting and turning, he waffled his way into the governor’s mansion.

Floridians can probably expect more of the same, with Charlie saying one thing one day and something else the next, depending. They don’t call him “Crist-Crossing Charlie” for nothing.

No wonder columnist Mark O’Brien is asking Santa for a backbone for “Charlie Crist (R-All Things to All People)” this year.

In Which Parallel Universe?

Trish

“[O]ur Nation owes him a great debt of thanks, and to his family as well, to his wife, Joyce, and to his children for the sacrifice that all of them have made so that Secretary Rumsfeld could serve our nation…So I thank Secretary Rumsfeld on behalf of Floridians and, I think, a grateful nation as well. The men and women in uniform that he has led, that I know, have thought so much of his leadership; I know he’s given so much of himself to the transformation of our military to prepare us for the future, and I, just for one, want to rise today with a voice of thanks to a great American for his service.”

— Melquiades “Mel” Martinez, U.S. Senator (R-Fla.), incoming GOP chair, former Bush cabinet member, during remarks on the Senate floor Dec. 6

Spending Explodes as New Florida Repub$ Take Over

Trish

Incoming Florida House Speaker Marco Rubio (R-Miami) is practically throwing taxpayer dollars from the back seat of the Hummer limo.

The new speaker of the Florida House, a self-described fiscal conservative, now employs the highest-paid spokesman in state government, adding to a growing list of staffers drawing six-figure paychecks.

“These fiscal conservative Republicans are spending money like drunken sailors,” said Rep. Susan Bucher, D-West Palm Beach

Rep. Marco Rubio’s press secretary, Jose Fuentes, is getting an annual salary of $119,484.

That’s $23,000 more than Gov. Jeb Bush’s communications director, and just $9,500 less than the governor himself…

The Miami Republican has hired a $10,000-a-month financial consultant, former Bush adviser Donna Arduin, given a $100,000-a-year job to former Republican lawmaker Ken Sorensen and created a parliamentarian position that pays $133,908.

Rubio has given jobs to a number of longtime government workers who might otherwise be unemployed with the departure of Bush. Many are paid more than $100,000 a year…

Expanding the payroll is only the beginning. Rubio thinks it’s time for a little remodeling also.

A $550,000 revamp of the Florida House ordered by House Speaker Marco Rubio includes a members-only dining room, a first for the Capitol building…

The building now has a cafeteria in the basement and a snack bar on the 10th floor, both of which are open to the public. The new dining room…has its own kitchen and a plasma TV on the wall…

The irony of this profligate spending isn’t lost on everyone, however.

“These fiscal conservative Republicans are spending money like drunken sailors,” said Rep. Susan Bucher, D-West Palm Beach.

But it’s all for the good of the citizenry, Rubio asserts.

Rubio did not talk with a reporter Tuesday, issuing a statement instead.

“…we felt we had to provide our members with the most talented and experienced staff possible. Attracting such talent often requires paying salaries competitive with the private sector.”

He’s got us there. Parliamentarians probably make, like, a real lot in the private sector.