Scott McClellan Resigns

So long Puffy McMoonFace, we hardly got to know you. It must have been hard to cover for all the lies. You deserve some time off before you have to go forth again, and help mommie with her bid for the Gov's Place in Austin.

Skinner at the Democratic Undergroud has a few more reasons you might be leaving our national TV screens:

Wants to spend more time with his family: James Frey, Jayson Blair, and Stephen Glass.

So many of his pairs of pants have inexplicably burst into flame that it has become virtually impossible to get dressed in the morning.

Chronic motion sickness from excessive spinning.

Suffering from Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder due to tough questioning from Helen Thomas.

There has been so much "good news" coming out of Iraq that the White House decided it is completely unnecessary to have a press staff.

Policy of not commenting on "ongoing investigations" has made it virtually impossible for him to comment on anything anymore.

New job: Washington Post Ombudsman.

Constant barrage of hardball questions from the White House Press Corps. HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA! Just kidding.

Disregarded advice of commanders who said a larger military force was necessary for successful invasion and occupation of Iraq; failed to plan for post-invasion occupation; personally supervised torture of detainee(s) at Guantanamo Bay; arrogant and imperious; recently was the object of unprecedented public criticism from six highly respected former generals. Considering this appalling record of failure, it is surprising it took this long for him to lose the confidence of the Commander in Chief. (Now, wait a second...)

Mastered "lies" and "damned lies" but still struggling with "statistics."

Finally grew a conscience.

It's the only way he could get out of upcoming hunting trip with vice president.

Wants to investigate whether it is possible to do other things "like a rug."

Breaks into cold sweat when he thinks about trying to explain upcoming Iran War.

Hoping for cushy job in Jack Abramoff's lobbying firm Tom DeLay's office Duke Cunningham's office Katherine Harris's senate campaign Scooter Libby's office any place that will hire him.

The job just hasn't been the same since Jeff Gannon left the White House Press Corps.

Considering the fact that the Bush administration has been such a huge success and has done so many awesome things to make this country great, the only possible explanation for the president's low poll numbers is poor performance by White House press secretary.

The rats are abandoning ship.

Read this, Howard Dean: Make it your New Year's Resolution for 2006

Howard,

Andrerw Foster Altschul at Huffington Post has a few suggestions regarding 2006 for you. He begins with a wake-up cage-rattle:

Some Thoughts for Howard Dean, Harry Reid, Bob Schrum, Donna Brazile, John Podesta, Nancy Pelosi, and the Rest of the Shit-for-Brains So-Called Leaders of the Democratic Party, at the Start of 2006, a Year Which Will Either Restore the Party to Political Relevance or Witness Its Ultimate Humiliation and Extinction

Here is a part of his post I especially like:

- It is time to start calling things by their proper names. Here are some words
to add to your vocabulary: Lying: As opposed to "misleading,"
"finessing," "not being straight with," etc. The President has lied to the country, to the Congress, to the media, to the world. Abuse of Power: In addition to drawing useful connections to Watergate in the minds of voters, this term has the virtue of being absolutely appropriate to the President's actions. Money Laundering: c.f. Tom DeLay. Bribery, is the only word that applies to those who took money from Jack Abramoff. Insider Trading and Blind Trust: If the latter is not truly blind, then it's the former, period. Blackmail: As in a Medicare official threatened with loss of job if he tells Congress the true price of the prescription drug plan, and Political Retaliation: As in what happened to General Shinseki and Valerie Plame. Criminal Negligence: As in Mike Brown, Paul Bremer, Donald Rumsfeld, et. so many al. As long as we insist on finding polite euphemisms for these things, the public will assume they are minor infractions, not serious matters.

Read the rest here.

Seattle's Ex-Top Cop Says Legalize Drugs - All of Them

Many people are in favor of the decriminalization of marijuana. Others would extend leniency to other drugs as well. But Seattle's ex-chief of police Norm Stamper, a cop for 34 years, wants to not just ease penalties for drugs, he wants to LEGALIZE drugs. ALL of them. Certainly not the really BAD ones, you say. Stamper responds:

But no, I don't favor decriminalization. I favor legalization, and not just of
pot but of all drugs, including heroin, cocaine, meth, psychotropics, mushrooms and LSD.

He continues:

I've never understood why adults shouldn't enjoy the same right to use verboten drugs as they have to suck on a Marlboro or knock back a scotch and water.

I think that this is topic which is never given an honest airing. Over the years, politicians of all persuasions, have ratcheted up the rhetoric, as well as punishment, to glean favor from would-be constituents. Has all of this attention solved the "drug problem"? I think that we all know the answer.

I have never understood the prohibition this society has placed on marijuana. It's a NO-BRAINER! Legalize it. NOW! Let folks put their whole back yards into pot production if they want. It's a plant. Let them fire up great big bong-loads of the shit if they desire. I don't care. The last puff I had was about 20 years ago. If I never toke again, I won't miss it. But hey, that's me. People have asked me about my stance: "What about the kids...what about YOUR kid?" Yeah, like they can't get it now.

Legalize some of the other drugs? Of that I'm not so sure. I have major qualms about the legalization of meth, which re-wires the brain of users after a just a few binges. Once an addict to heroin or coke, you will never lose that desire. But then again, what about the damage done to property and threats to persons from the clandistine manufacture of meth. Would not a regulated system of processing alleviate some of these environmental concerns?

What if we put just a fraction of the resources into prevention and treatment that we pour into the effort to jail users? I think that just might put a dent into the "demand" side of the equation. Without demand, there is no reason for production, if I remember ECON 101.

Stamper again:

It's not a stretch to conclude that our Draconian approach to drug use is the most injurious domestic policy since slavery. Want to cut back on prison overcrowding and save a bundle on the construction of new facilities? Open the doors, let the nonviolent drug offenders go. The huge increases in federal and state prison populations during the 1980s and '90s (from 139 per 100,000 residents in 1980 to 482 per 100,000 in 2003) were mainly for drug convictions. In 1980, 580,900 Americans were arrested on drug charges. By 2003, that figure had ballooned to 1,678,200. We're making more arrests for drug offenses than for murder, manslaughter, forcible rape and aggravated assault combined. Feel safer?

It ain't working. Time to try something different.

Murtha, A Man With A Plan

When does victory become quagmire? In the case of Iraq, right after the Commander in Chief lands on the aircraft carrier USS Abraham Lincoln, flying in, riding second chair in a jet, making a tailhook landing in a nifty flight suit. ("I used to one of these, lemme fly, okay, what's THIS button do?" "Please don't touch that Mr. President. No, not that EITHER, please!!!")

Bush accomplished what he what his dad did not do. He defeated Sadam and his army. Job well done. He unleashed the greatest armed force the world has ever known upon a second rate country softened up by 12 years of economic sanctions. Guess what! We won!

Good job. Except that he and those he trusted did not think about the aftermath. Once the battle had been won, the Iraqi army was told to: "Go away, and take your arms with you! We'll spend billions to bring in private security guards to replace you, at $100,000 a year a pop. It's your country, but we'll give it back when we're good and ready".

Two and a half years later, the number of attacks against US troops increase monthly. There has slow progress in re-establishing the infrastructure of Iraq, and the people there are increasingly losing their patience with us, their overlords. And the death toll mounts.

The leaders in this country, in both parties, have been silent mostly. Oh, there have been some grumbling from the Dems, and a few brave GOP'ers that have Except for a couple of politians on the far left, no one has had courage to talk seriously about extracting the US from this mess.

Finally, a politician with strong defense credibility has confronted the truth and layed out a plan to end this crusade that becomes more and more pointless daily.

Rep. John Murtha of PA calls the war in Iraq (...a flawed policy wrapped in illusion.) He goes on to say:

Our troops have become the primary target of the insurgency. They are united against U.S. forces and we have become a catalyst for violence. U.S. troops are the common enemy of the Sunnis, Saddamists and foreign jihadists. I believe with a U.S. troop redeployment, the Iraqi security forces will be incentivized to take control. A poll recently conducted shows that over 80% of Iraqis are strongly opposed to the presence of coalition troops, and about 45% of the Iraqi population believe attacks against American troops are justified. I believe we need to turn Iraq over to the Iraqis.

His plan:

To immediately redeploy U.S. troops consistent with the safety of U.S. forces.
To create a quick reaction force in the region.
To create an over- the- horizon presence of Marines.
To diplomatically pursue security and stability in Iraq

Whether this plan is the best or not, I don't know. At least it IS a PLAN. "Stay the course" is meaningless unless there is a destination. It's clear that there is no clear end-criteria to this conflict. It's time to let the Iraqis have their country back - give them a sense of ownership. And nothing sharpens the mind like a deadline.

GOP Doesn't Want to Hear From Veterans

It has been a 50-year tradition that veterans groups have been able to give presentations yearly to a joint session of the House and Senate Veterans Affairs Committees.

But not this year. In a strangely timed announcement just prior to Veterans Day, House Veterans Affairs Committee Chairman Steve Buyer (R-Ind.), announced that this tradition is over.

From a Disabled American Veterans press release:

The tradition of legislative presentations by veterans service
organizations dates back to at least the 1950s. And the timing of this
announcement -- just before Veterans Day -- could not have been worse, said DAV National Commander Paul W. Jackson.

The right to fully participate in the democratic process is a cornerstone
of our nation, said Commander Jackson. Eliminating these joint hearings is an insult to the men and women who have fought, sacrificed and died to protect our Constitutional rights, including the right to petition the government.

Patriotism requires more than slapping a "Support the Troops" bumper sticker on the ass of your car. Americans must stand up to GOP efforts to cut funding to veterans aid and benefits.

Disabled American Veterans

Big Ed Shultz Screwed by Pentagon

Last week, Ed Shultz, the slightly left of center radio host announced that his "Straight Talk From the Heartland" would be broadcast over the Armed Forces Radio Network. It was agreed that the first hour of his nationally syndicated radio show based in Fargo, North Dakota would be aired, along with the standard fare that has long featured the likes of Rush Limbaugh and James Dobson's "Focus on the Family". Big Eddie's voice of reason would at last bring a view other than that of Bush administration sycophants.

On Friday Oct. 14th, the "Big Redhead" played an audio tape of Pentagon communications official Allison Barber helping troops in Iraq rehearse for their broadcast video teleconference with the president last week. Barber walked them through questions and their answers and warned them the president might ask questions not from the script. This incident was widely reported over various media outlets throughout the weekend. Early Monday, Oct. 17, he was called by Barber personally to tell him that his show that was to begin on AFRN was not to be broadcast after all, even though Shultz had received confirmation from AFRN about the Oct. 17 debut. See the UPI story. A copy of the email is on file at People for the American Way, whose story can be found here.

A Pentagon spokesman, Bryan Whitman, denied any connection between the Barber tape and the decision to cancel Schultz's radio show.

Yeah, right!

This could explain a few things

From The National Inquirer:

Who knows, even a broken clock is right twice... they were right about Rush. Don't you hate it when stuff interrupts your "drinkin' time"...

BUSH'S BOOZE CRISIS
By JENNIFER LUCE and DON GENTILE

Faced with the biggest crisis of his political life, President Bush has hit the bottle again, The National Enquirer can reveal.

Bush, who said he quit drinking the morning after his 40th birthday, has started boozing amid the Katrina catastrophe.

Family sources have told how the 59-year-old president was caught by First Lady Laura downing a shot of booze at their family ranch in Crawford, Texas, when he learned of the hurricane disaster.His worried wife yelled at him: "Stop, George."

cont'd...