But everybody knows that Al-Qu’eda is in charge of the Iraq insurgency. Either that or my head is going to explode.

North Korea test fired their giant new schlong . Premature emission?

Come on New York, we’re all rooting for you!

This was meant to go up yesterday but for the server issues.  Hat tip to TMW:

Site's been down for the last day. Apparently someone was running a malicious script off this site and the account was suspended.

Guess someone doesn't care much for what I'm saying? Funny how these kinds of attacks never seem to happen to right-wing blogs. In any case, the problem seems to have been resolved for now and my people are keeping an eye on it to track any future attacks.

Can somebody please explain this to me, right down to Earth, in a language that I can easily understand?

The Central Intelligence Agency has closed a unit that for a decade had the mission of hunting Osama bin Laden and his top lieutenants, intelligence officials confirmed Monday.

The unit, known as Alec Station, was disbanded late last year and its analysts reassigned within the C.I.A. Counterterrorist Center, the officials said.

The decision is a milestone for the agency, which formed the unit before Osama bin Laden became a household name and bolstered its ranks after the Sept. 11 attacks, when President Bush pledged to bring Mr. bin Laden to justice "dead or alive."

So all this time that Bush has been promising to capture or kill the man responsible for the largest mass murder in U.S. history … eh, not so much? And he cut the program a year ago without bothering to tell us.

And you have to really dig the spin they’re putting on this:

"The efforts to find Osama bin Laden are as strong as ever," said Jennifer Millerwise Dyck, a C.I.A. spokeswoman. "This is an agile agency, and the decision was made to ensure greater reach and focus."

The decision to close the unit was first reported Monday by National Public Radio.

No wonder the administration has put more emphasis into shutting down NPR than they have on dealing with bin Laden. So once again for the cheap seats: Clinton started trying to get this guy 10 years ago, and Bush is the one who gave up. Any questions?

Amnesty for all except Mexicans then?

As always, there is what the president said: 

Bush: Congress was briefed…And the disclosure of this program is disgraceful. We’re at war with a bunch of people who want to hurt the United States of America, and for people to leak that program, and for a newspaper to publish it does great harm to the United States of America. What we were doing was the right thing. Congress was aware of it… 

And then there’s the truth: 

Feinstein: Well, I’m on the Intelligence Committee. I can tell you when I was briefed and when the committee was briefed — and that was when it became apparent that the New York Times had the story and was going to run it. And that’s when and why they came to us and briefed us.

Interesting article from Howard Zinn on July 4^th celebrations:

National spirit can be benign in a country that is small and lacking both in military power and a hunger for expansion (Switzerland, Norway, Costa Rica and many more). But in a nation like ours -- huge, possessing thousands of weapons of mass destruction -- what might have been harmless pride becomes an arrogant nationalism dangerous to others and to ourselves.

Having left the U.S., I’ve always been rather stupefied as to the lack of parallel nationalism outside this country. People don’t routinely hang flags outside their houses, banks, car dealers, etc. Even though one can be un-American, there is no such thing as being un-Swedish. The very concept is rather silly.

But the United States has long been subject to a sense of nationalism akin to a civic religion. We’ve created a national narrative based upon our overly mythologized inception and, especially in times of conflict, use these stories to justify oppression and scapegoating among our fellow citizens with whom we disagree. This is neither rational nor healthy.

So Happy Birthday America and all, we really do hold a great deal of potential to be a wonderful country. But let us never forget that we must also cohabitate this planet with our brothers and sisters around the world (and don’t forget all the small, furry animals either).

More news in the American Taliban’s war against contraception.  Never mind that “90 percent of Americans support the use of contraception.”  Forget that even “90 percent of Catholics support contraception.”  This is all about keeping dirty sinners from having sex. 

Speak softly unintelligibly and carry a big stick attack dog.  “President Bush told the special prosecutor in the CIA leak case that he directed Vice President Dick Cheney to personally lead an effort to counter allegations made by former Ambassador Joseph C. Wilson IV that his administration had misrepresented intelligence information to make the case to go to war with Iraq” 

So much for that Bush bounce.  After a national madness spanning several years, looks like the American people are finally growing weary of King George the W. 

Looks like we have another contested election in the America’s.  A dangerous trend showing not only a stark division among the population, but also a diminished credibility in modern electoral systems.  With both sides declaring victory, it reminds me of when Bush, in one of the most despicable acts of hubris, went on the TeeVee before the supreme court decision and told us lowly plebes that it was time to accept the fact that he was in charge whether we liked it or not. 

It’s not only America’s birthday, but also the 40^th birthday of one of the most symbolically important precepts of democratic conventions – the Freedom of Information Act.  Jimmy Carter celebrates FoIA by gracing us with this article. 

The right had better get used to the fact that the festering stench of the 2004 election is not going away.

How 'bout a bit of Bill Bennett pummeling?
 

What is it with Republicans and their plagarism?

So much for the latest spin. Bush caught with his hand in the NSA cookie jar long before September 11th. How long? Seven. Freakin. Months!

While Bush was busy avenging his pops, well... I don't even know what to say about this frakkin mess.