Tuesday, December 2, 2008

Headlines - Tuesday

Condi: Pakistan must follow the evidence wherever it leads: http://www.talkingpointsmemo.com/news/2008/12/rice_pakistan_must_cooperate_i.php
 
Hopefully the evidence won't be allowed to fly out of the country like it was here after 9/11.
 
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Latest Bush screw-up could cost $8.5 trillion Link
 
Excerpt:
With its decision last week to pump an additional $1 trillion into the financial crisis, the Bush bastards eliminated any doubt that they have screwed this country far worse than anybody imagined. The latest strategy is essentially the win-at-any-cost approach previously adopted only to wage a major war.

Just last week, greedy Republican sons of bitches added $600 billion to lower mortgage rates, $200 billion to stimulate consumer loans and nearly $300 billion to steady Citigroup, the Bank of Saud. That pushed the cost of Bush's tax cuts to $8.5 trillion - half of the entire economic output of the U.S. this year. 

Still, nobody talks about this as a theft. 

Have you heard one single Democrat say, "This is what happens when you
ignore the middle class and coddle billionaires with tax cuts they don't need?" Of course you haven't.

When we lost those soldiers in Somalia in 1993, Bob Dornan said,
"This is what happens when you put a draft-dodger in the White House."

When GOP policies and theft bankrupt America, what do Democrats say?
"We need to work with the Republicans and rebuild our nation," which is true but why don't the Dems list the damn facts - that tax cuts and greed caused this mess?

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Lest we forget
 
Resignations from the Bush Administration, provided by the great Rachael Maddow's reckoning: http://freshbriefs.com/?p=968
 
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Here's an email exchange between a creditor and an unreasonable accounts receivable representative who wouldn't accept his drawing of a spider in lieu of his $233.95 debt.
 
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Well here's a shocker: we're in a recession, and it started in December 2007. Still, that didn't stop these people:
 
"We don't believe we're going to have a recession though." Dick Cheney 1/30/08

"I think the experts will tell you we're not in a recession." Bush 2/10/08

 "The answer is, I don't think we are in a recession right now." Council of Economic Advisers Chairman Edward Lazear 2/11/08

"First of all, we're not in a recession." Bush 4/22/08

"The data are pretty clear that we are not in a recession." Council of Economic Advisers Chairman Edward Lazear 5/7/08

"I don't think we are" in a recession. Director of the National Economic Council Keith Hennesy 6/3/08

"I think we have avoided a recession." White House Budget Director Jim Nussle 7/31/08

"I don't think anybody could tell you right now if we're in a recession or not" Dana Perino 10/7/08 

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Perhaps the most striking aspect of president George W. Bush is his inability to actually take responsibility for anything. I'm not sure quite where this comes from - daddy, drink or denial, or some gruesome combination of the three - but check this out:

I don't know - the biggest regret of all the presidency has to have been the intelligence failure in Iraq. A lot of people put their reputations on the line and said the weapons of mass destruction is a reason to remove Saddam Hussein. It wasn't just people in my administration; a lot of members in Congress, prior to my arrival in Washington D.C., during the debate on Iraq, a lot of leaders of nations around the world were all looking at the same intelligence. And, you know, that's not a do-over, but I wish the intelligence had been different, I guess.

Observe the passive constructions. The description of others. "People in my administration." "Prior to my arrival." Everyone got it wrong but him, the one person ultimately responsible for getting it right. 

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I'm sure it was just an unfortunate pratfall
 

Just a suggestion: if he'd been wearing two wetsuits while hanging his curtains, it would never have happened.

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You all may recall Larry Langford, the mayor of Birmingham, Alabama, who had a great plan to deal with urban crime: he bought 2,000 burlap bags so community leaders could dress in sackcloth and ashes and pray. Unfortunately, the federal authorities stuck to the old fashioned scheme of dressing sensibly and pursuing the evidence, and have now arrested Larry Langford on multiple counts of corruption. Curses! If only the Feds had gone with biblical policing scheme!

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According to ABC News, American intelligence agencies warned India in mid-October of a potential attack "from the sea against hotels and business centers in Mumbai." According to one source, specific locations including the Taj Hotel were named. And, on November 18, Indian intelligence intercepted a satellite call by a leader of the group believed to be responsible for the attack that revealed a possible sea-borne attack. Since the attacks, American intelligence has been tracking the phones and SIM cards recovered from the Mumbai gunmen, which lead back to terrorist organizations in Pakistan and possible connections in the United States.

 
Countries that warned us about 9/11: Britain, Afghanistan, Argentina, Morocco, Egypt, Germany, Jordan, Russia, Israel, Cayman Islands, Italy.
 
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Recession accomplished: JPMorgan Chase & Co. said Monday it will cut a total of 9,200 jobs at Washington Mutual, which it acquired Sept. 25 after Washington Mutual became the nation's largest bank to fail amid the ongoing credit crisis.
 
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Rolling Stone's Matt Taibbi - Requiem for a Maverick
 
John McCain ran one of the most incompetent, schizo campaigns in history — and for that we owe him big-time: http://www.rollingstone.com/politics/story/24375710/requiem_for_a_maverick/print
 
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Yesterday was Obama's fifth news conference since winning the presidency, and for the fifth time, he refused to call on a reporter from FOX.
 
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The guy on the left that's dancing with Karl Rove will be the moderator for Press the Meat: http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2008/12/01/david-gregory-to-moderate_n_147540.html
 
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Don't count on your credit card to see you through:

'The U.S. credit card industry may pull back well over $2 trillion of lines over the next 18 months due to risk aversion and regulatory changes, leading to sharp declines in consumer spending, prominent banking analyst Meredith Whitney said.

The credit card is the second key source of consumer liquidity, the first being jobs, the Oppenheimer & Co analyst noted.

"In other words, we expect available consumer liquidity in the form or credit-card lines to decline by 45 percent."

Bank of America Corp, Citigroup Inc and JPMorgan Chase & Co represent over half of the estimated U.S. card outstandings as of September 30, and each company has discussed reducing card exposure or slowing growth, Whitney said.'

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Yesterday, a Texas judge dismissed indictments brought against Vice President Dick Cheney and former Attorney General Alberto Gonzales. Willacy County District Attorney Juan Angel Guerra had accused the two men of holding responsibility for prisoner abuse at privately-run federal prisons in the county. "I suggest on behalf of the law that you not present any cases to the grand jury involving these defendants," Administrative Judge Manuel Banales said, urging the colorful prosecutor to "exercise caution as his term in office ends." Guerra responded, "I expected it. The system is going to protect itself."
 
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Amid all the hoopla regarding Obama's cabinent choices today, the liberal media failed to announce a new and very important cabinent position and his choice to head it. The object lesson.

Anyone worried about what outgoing President George W. Bush will do after leaving office can relax today, with the announcement that President-elect Barack Obama has nominated Bush to the position of Object Lesson in the Obama Administration.

A new Cabinet-level position, Bush's primary role as Object Lesson is to be on hand to serve as a reminder to members of the new administration of what not to do.

The job is ideally suited to Bush, said outgoing press secretary Dana Perino. She has been tabbed to be Object Lesson Chief of Staff.

"As Object Lesson, President Bush will hang around the White House. When it comes to Cabinet meetings, he'll sit quietly to one side and listen, which is what he does now," Perino explained.

"But when a decisionmaking situation arises, President Obama will turn to President Bush for advice, and do the opposite of that advice. It's a necessary governing function," Perino said.

"President Bush was the only person we considered for this job," President-elect Obama said today.

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Yesterday in Iraq: 58 Iraqis killed, 112 wounded: http://www.antiwar.com/updates/?articleid=13839
 
4,207 soldiers killed in Iraq; 628 in Afghanistan.
 
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Today is election day in Georgia, and voters will go to the polls to either choose newer, progressive representation in the United States Senate, or return a man to the Senate so embarrassing to Republicans that even FOX's own Chris Wallace is forced to skewer him:
 
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