tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-63401062011-04-22T01:08:13.325-04:00Blog Related Program ActivitiesRickyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16339171835489156232noreply@blogger.comBlogger1221100tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6340106.post-1076207239143884562004-02-07T21:26:00.000-05:002004-02-07T21:29:44.123-05:00

Am Now at http://bottleofblog.typepad.com/bottleofblog/ Please come say hello.

Rickyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16339171835489156232noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6340106.post-1076198307539786372004-02-07T18:48:00.000-05:002004-02-07T19:00:52.653-05:00

I could be wrong, but why does anyone even think Clarett is an NFL quality tailback? As a freshman, he put up some huge numbers against teams like Northwestern--what was it, thirty something carries for 150 yards? And that started the buzz about this freshman. Didn't anyone notice that Northwestern sucked that year? I think Larry Johnson, currently crapping out in the pros, put up about 250

Rickyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16339171835489156232noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6340106.post-1076193474138913032004-02-07T17:31:00.000-05:002004-02-07T17:40:18.793-05:00

From Atrios : Two days later, Pincus, together with Dana Milbank, the Post's White House correspondent, was back with an even more critical story. "As the Bush administration prepares to attack Iraq this week," it began, "it is doing so on the basis of a number of allegations against Iraqi President Saddam Hussein that have been challenged?and in some cases disproved ?by the United Nations,

Rickyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16339171835489156232noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6340106.post-1076178674132593452004-02-07T13:21:00.000-05:002004-02-07T13:33:38.623-05:00

Mrs. Bush also contradicted her husband on his statement that he does not read newspapers and leaves it to his staff to provide him with what he calls unbiased news. "He does read the papers, of course," Mrs. Bush said, adding that she and her husband make their way through five national newspapers over coffee in bed and then at the breakfast table each day. "I mean we've read the newspapers for

Rickyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16339171835489156232noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6340106.post-1076158401899442292004-02-07T07:45:00.000-05:002004-02-07T13:13:07.966-05:00

Roy and Silo, two chinstrap penguins at the Central Park Zoo in Manhattan, are completely devoted to each other. For nearly six years now, they have been inseparable. They exhibit what in penguin parlance is called "ecstatic behavior": that is, they entwine their necks, they vocalize to each other, they have sex. Silo and Roy are, to anthropomorphize a bit, gay penguins. When offered female

Rickyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16339171835489156232noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6340106.post-1076112500670192372004-02-06T19:00:00.000-05:002004-02-06T19:12:01.513-05:00

So much for the "bi-partisan" commission to investigate the intelligence failures of this administration. This description beggars the reality about Silberman. He's not merely a conservative. He's a jurist who has a proven track record of making decisions, and enforcing policy, based not on the law, reason or basic principles of fair play, but purely on how they will benefit or harm the

Rickyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16339171835489156232noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6340106.post-1076096133503023832004-02-06T14:35:00.000-05:002004-02-06T14:37:56.500-05:00

WASHINGTON - President Bush asked Congress to eliminate an $8.2 million research program on how to decontaminate buildings attacked by toxins — the same day a poison-laced letter shuttered Senate offices. Well, at least he's not trying to quietly pull the Air Marshalls off of flights again to save on hotel room costs.

Rickyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16339171835489156232noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6340106.post-1076095448636111432004-02-06T14:24:00.000-05:002004-02-06T14:26:31.780-05:00

1. Given the controversy about your attendance record during your National Guard service, Mr. President, perhaps the best way to resolve matters would be to authorize the release of all of your military records, including pay stubs, Social Security records and so-called retirement-points records. Will you do that? If not, why not, and how can the American people believe that you actually

Rickyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16339171835489156232noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6340106.post-1076094417828688092004-02-06T14:06:00.000-05:002004-02-06T14:43:08.856-05:00

But experts say that citation does not wipe away the questions. "An honorable discharge does not indicate a flawless record," says Grant Lattin, a military law attorney in Washington and a retired Marine Corps lieutenant colonel who served as a judge advocate, or JAG officer. "Somebody could have missed a year's worth of Guard drills and still end up with an honorable discharge." That's because

Rickyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16339171835489156232noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6340106.post-1076092325511186322004-02-06T13:32:00.000-05:002004-02-06T16:50:00.966-05:00

"Once we got into the terrorism thing, it was acutely recognized that if a guy can't put out a fire without the proper radios or protection equipment, we needed to enhance (resources) for these local departments," said one federal fire official in Washington who declined to be quoted by name. "The grant program was designed to do that." In his first two budget proposals, Bush put no money into

Rickyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16339171835489156232noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6340106.post-1076091512773463312004-02-06T13:18:00.000-05:002004-02-06T13:24:36.576-05:00

Here: Democratic presidential candidate John Edwards used a couple of Bush-Cheney sign-waving college students to his advantage Friday. "Guys, hold those signs up in the back if you don't mind," Edwards said after snaking his way through the packed ballroom at Virginia Tech University. The crowd booed as the students obliged, but then broke out in cheers when Edwards claimed: "That's who's

Rickyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16339171835489156232noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6340106.post-1076078322067078172004-02-06T09:38:00.000-05:002004-02-06T13:41:43.043-05:00

Right now America is going through an Orwellian moment. On both the foreign policy and the fiscal fronts, the Bush administration is trying to rewrite history, to explain away its current embarrassments. Let's start with the case of the missing W.M.D. Do you remember when the C.I.A. was reviled by hawks because its analysts were reluctant to present a sufficiently alarming picture of the Iraqi

Rickyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16339171835489156232noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6340106.post-1076077040839898272004-02-06T09:17:00.000-05:002004-02-06T09:19:43.780-05:00

MUNICH, Germany - Defense Secretary Donald H. Rumsfeld said Friday he does not regret having referred to France and Germany as “old Europe,” a comment in 2002 that many Europeans took as an insult. “I’m too old to have regrets,” Rumsfeld said in an interview with several European journalists shortly before the start of a NATO defense ministers meeting. “No, I don’t regret it.” Anybody else find

Rickyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16339171835489156232noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6340106.post-1076034850450271082004-02-05T21:30:00.000-05:002004-02-05T21:36:32.496-05:00

What do you think? Wheeling the library cart or fetching for the trustees?

Rickyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16339171835489156232noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6340106.post-1075942245501675152004-02-05T09:33:00.000-05:002004-02-05T09:33:18.576-05:00

Penn Hills High School’s 6-4, 210 pound star Anthony Morelli, originally a Pittsburgh verbal commitment, reversed field Wednesday morning and will sign with the Nittany Lions football program. A Penn Hills athletic spokesperson confirmed Morelli’s decision to The Patriot-News. Morelli, considered among the top 10 quarterbacks in the country by every recruiting service, is one of the headliners

Rickyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16339171835489156232noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6340106.post-1075989830342326722004-02-05T09:03:00.000-05:002004-02-05T21:18:53.296-05:00

Condi interprets intestinal rumblings: WASHINGTON – Condoleezza Rice, President Bush's national security adviser, described her job the other day as translating the president's instincts into policy. She added that he influences her as much as she influences him. ... Still, it is worth asking what has happened to the role of the vice president and the secretaries of State and Defense. It is

Rickyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16339171835489156232noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6340106.post-1075922003306160532004-02-04T14:13:00.000-05:002004-02-05T21:24:19.060-05:00

Though Mr. Bush has proposed big increases in spending on education for the No Child Left Behind initiative, the administration's list calls for eliminating or cutting back more than a dozen other education programs. Among other actions, it would eliminate $34 million spent to help pay for secondary school counselors; $30 million for a program in schools to combat alcohol abuse; $38 million for

Rickyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16339171835489156232noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6340106.post-1075920967157266822004-02-04T13:56:00.000-05:002004-02-06T08:51:02.356-05:00

WASHINGTON, Feb. 3 — President Bush pressed Kofi Annan, the United Nations secretary general, on Tuesday to have his aides mediate among quarreling factions in Iraq and forge a consensus behind a plan that would allow the transfer of sovereignty to a government in Baghdad by June 30, administration officials said. Are these "grownups" in the White House starting to get the value of the United

Rickyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16339171835489156232noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6340106.post-1075919099591868042004-02-04T13:24:00.000-05:002004-02-05T21:20:17.983-05:00

From Nick Kristof, who lectured "angry" liberals about lowering the level of national discourse by stooping to the level of calling a lie a "lie": Mr. Clinton lied about sex, and he was sleazy in other respects as well, but he was willing to tell America the unpleasant truth about trade and about budgets. I wish Mr. Bush and his Democratic challengers would be half as honest with the American

Rickyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16339171835489156232noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6340106.post-1075914544548548832004-02-04T12:09:00.000-05:002004-02-04T12:11:25.046-05:00

WASHINGTON - Nearly two months have passed since Saddam Hussein’s capture, yet American soldiers still are dying at a rate of more than one a day. Forty-five soldiers died in January and three more in the first three days of February. The January toll was five more than in December, despite hopes that Saddam’s Dec. 13 capture would weaken the Iraqi insurgency and slow the killings from roadside

Rickyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16339171835489156232noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6340106.post-1075907313230723862004-02-04T10:08:00.000-05:002004-02-05T21:20:45.140-05:00

Zook said his attorneys are trying to have him executed as part of a conspiracy concocted by former District Attorney Joseph Madenspacher, now a county judge, and retired Lancaster Bureau of Police Chief Michael Landis, now a county detective. Zook claims the two men plotted with the "radio community" and had transmitters implanted in his head and abdomen. The transmitters, Zook said, have been

Rickyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16339171835489156232noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6340106.post-1075837281940566892004-02-03T14:41:00.000-05:002004-02-05T22:06:58.750-05:00

WASHINGTON, Feb. 2 — The first official Army history of the Iraq war reveals that American forces were plagued by a "morass" of supply shortages, radios that could not reach far-flung troops, disappointing psychological operations and virtually no reliable intelligence on how Saddam Hussein would defend Baghdad... ...Tank engines sat on warehouse shelves in Kuwait with no truck drivers to take

Rickyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16339171835489156232noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6340106.post-1075823482663014662004-02-03T10:51:00.000-05:002004-02-05T22:09:08.606-05:00

Welcome back, Washington Post. Nice to see you doing some reporting again: In August 1972, Bush was suspended from flying because he failed to complete an annual medical exam. A month later, Bush requested to be assigned to a different unit in Alabama and was approved. Although he was required to attend periodic drills in Alabama, there is no official record in his file that he did.

Rickyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16339171835489156232noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6340106.post-1075817296044891172004-02-03T09:08:00.000-05:002004-02-03T09:10:34.983-05:00

He wouldn't need an independent commission handpicked by him to find out just what the heck happened with the Iraq intelligence. Because, frankly, I don't think Cheney or Condi are going to tell him about this: But when Powell's staff and intelligence analysts gathered at CIA headquarters review the material, controversy immediately erupted over some of the charges, officials said. Because the

Rickyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16339171835489156232noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6340106.post-1075816453192364622004-02-03T08:54:00.000-05:002004-02-05T22:10:29.653-05:00

Diana West points out that George Bush was just as wrong about Saddam's Weapons of Mass Destruction as Bill Clinton was, but, as opposed to Clinton, Bush had the courage and conviction to compound his error by going to war over something he was wrong about. And that is why we should re-elect George Bush: America needs a leader willing to take his mistakes to their logical extremes. Also, she

Rickyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16339171835489156232noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6340106.post-1075768195294567382004-02-02T19:21:00.000-05:002004-02-06T12:23:02.700-05:00

"Like millions of Americans, my family and I gathered around the television for a celebration," FCC Chairman Michael Powell said in a statement. "Instead, that celebration was tainted by a classless, crass and deplorable stunt. Our nation's children, parents and citizens deserve better. "I have instructed the commission to open an immediate investigation into last night's broadcast. Our

Rickyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16339171835489156232noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6340106.post-1075758308053690902004-02-02T16:45:00.000-05:002004-02-02T17:07:29.560-05:00

Elanor Clift writes: Boston Globe reporter Walter Robinson did an exhaustive study of Bush's military service, which was published in May 2000. Robinson concluded that during Bush's final 18 months in the Texas Air National Guard in 1972 and 1973, he did not fly at all and was "all but unaccounted for," with no records to indicate that he attended any of the required drills. Bush was working for

Rickyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16339171835489156232noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6340106.post-1075747845127955682004-02-02T13:50:00.000-05:002004-02-02T19:40:28.263-05:00

The White House, already embroiled in a public fight over the deadline for an independent commission's investigation of the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks, is refusing to give the panel notes on presidential briefing papers taken by some of its own members, officials said this week. I don't think the White House is refusing to co-operate with the 9/11 commission for any ulterior motive. You know, like

Rickyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16339171835489156232noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6340106.post-1075743387384578312004-02-02T12:36:00.000-05:002004-02-02T17:15:15.903-05:00

The president’s plan for the 2005 budget year, which begins next Oct. 1, proposes spending $2.4 trillion for all government activities, up 3.5 percent from the current year. Revenues will total $2.04 trillion, a sizable 13.2 percent increase that the administration forecasts will occur from growing tax receipts powered by a stronger economy. The president projects the 2005 deficit will be $364

Rickyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16339171835489156232noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6340106.post-1075740580280398312004-02-02T11:49:00.000-05:002004-02-02T11:52:16.373-05:00

WASHINGTON (CNN) -- President Bush said Monday he would appoint an "independent bipartisan commission" to review U.S. intelligence on the proliferation of weapons of mass destruction. Let me guess, representing the Democrats will be Zell Miller and Joe Lieberman.

Rickyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16339171835489156232noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6340106.post-1075734392680812362004-02-02T10:06:00.000-05:002004-02-02T10:08:50.326-05:00

Bush fatigue has overwhelmed Americans, who have deteriorated into a wretched state of apathy, wherein nobody gives a damn about anything anymore. Not even six more weeks of winter: “We couldn’t care less if he sees his shadow,” said Bill Cooper, president of the Punxsutawney Groundhog Club.

Rickyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16339171835489156232noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6340106.post-1075692681297597332004-02-01T22:29:00.000-05:002004-02-02T19:44:32.966-05:00

After the Patriots failure to win the Super Bowl by ten, Bottle of Blog is ordering a non-partisan commission of both Patriot fans and people who were smart enough to take Carolina and the points to investigate this stunning failure of intelligence. Up front, and to save time, I would like to clarify that it was not a result of all those empty bottles of Rolling Rock.

Rickyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16339171835489156232noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6340106.post-1075691984296496432004-02-01T22:17:00.000-05:002004-02-02T19:21:33.356-05:00

Watching the best kicker in the NFL being unable to make a couple of thirty yarders is like being a Democrat. You know what should be happening, but, for some reason, it just doesn't. No wisdom here, just astonishment.

Rickyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16339171835489156232noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6340106.post-1075690678836867322004-02-01T21:54:00.000-05:002004-02-02T19:22:04.996-05:00

You ever notice how guys are so much more likely to get injured when they've just made a game losing mistake? We've seen it time and time again. It's pretty much an axiom of the game--blowing your coverage will get you hurt. But just for one play.

Rickyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16339171835489156232noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6340106.post-1075689057732274762004-02-01T21:08:00.000-05:002004-02-01T21:49:59.280-05:00

On CBS In fact, the U.S. claim that Iraq is developing missiles that could hit its neighbors – or U.S. troops in the region, or even Israel – is just one of the claims coming from Washington that inspectors here are finding increasingly unbelievable. The inspectors have become so frustrated trying to chase down unspecific or ambiguous U.S. leads that they've begun to express that anger privately

Rickyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16339171835489156232noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6340106.post-1075685652036354112004-02-01T20:31:00.000-05:002004-02-01T20:41:40.903-05:00

That they made a performance pocho out of it. Rock on, Kid Rock, you kid rocking dick, you! Oh, and also, on your way out of the stadium, pick up a rifle. The spring fighting is just about to begin in Afghanistan.

Rickyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16339171835489156232noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6340106.post-1075684298290308092004-02-01T20:10:00.000-05:002004-02-01T20:14:13.793-05:00

That, after a big play, coaches often shout "fuck". If only we could get audio.

Rickyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16339171835489156232noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6340106.post-1075675579848369002004-02-01T17:45:00.000-05:002004-02-01T17:48:36.200-05:00

I have very good intelligence that they will win by 10.

Rickyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16339171835489156232noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6340106.post-1075675368808576292004-02-01T17:16:00.000-05:002004-02-01T17:46:39.296-05:00

Atrios, here and here, and Josh Marshall, here, do a nice job of illustrating that not only did the administration ignore intelligence that conflicted with their pre-conceived conclusions, cherry pick intelligence statements that agreed with their pre-conceived conclusions while discarding qualifying statements within that intelligence, and formed their own seperate intelligence analysis

Rickyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16339171835489156232noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6340106.post-1075653040871252902004-02-01T11:25:00.000-05:002004-02-01T11:33:53.686-05:00

President Bush has agreed to support an independent inquiry into the prewar intelligence that he used to assert that Saddam Hussein was stockpiling weapons of mass destruction, Republican and congressional sources said yesterday. Considering how candid, co-operative and forthcoming the administration has been with the 9/11 investigation, I'm sure we'll get right to the heart of the intelligence

Rickyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16339171835489156232noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6340106.post-1075645320683377862004-02-01T08:32:00.000-05:002004-02-01T09:24:16.793-05:00

"Let me give you some statistics. I worked for Bill Clinton in 1992 and …in anticipation of this very question, I looked this up on Nexis. There were 13,641 stories about Bill Clinton 'dodging the draft' …and there were 49 stories about Bush and the National Guard," Paul Begala said. And Paul doesn't even mention that 46 of those stories just dismissed the AWOL allegations out of hand.

Rickyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16339171835489156232noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6340106.post-1075592919607724002004-01-31T18:30:00.000-05:002004-01-31T18:56:20.216-05:00

CNN has been showing this little Greenfield piece all day which inexplicably compares the Super Bowl to an exit poll. Don't ask me. I've seen it like four times today, and I still don't understand what it means. But, the best part, as Greenfield narrates the importance of sports in determining our Presidents, is when he gets to George Bush and incredibly describes him as "the owner of the

Rickyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16339171835489156232noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6340106.post-1075587848584619112004-01-31T17:20:00.000-05:002004-01-31T17:27:51.593-05:00

I'm watching a very sad CNN special that follows the story of a long suffering matriarch, a son who drifts after a stint in the military, and grand children who seem to have little or no hope of any kind of meaningful life's work. Right now, they're on Princess Di.

Rickyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16339171835489156232noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6340106.post-1075569186273520252004-01-31T12:09:00.000-05:002004-01-31T12:15:50.920-05:00

Why not? He'll leave being daunted to the middle class, who'll wind up having to pay them. Oh, and did he mention he is also undaunted by continuing fighting in Iraq...

Rickyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16339171835489156232noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6340106.post-1075568598277018452004-01-31T11:58:00.000-05:002004-02-05T22:25:53.873-05:00

Bush, in his weekly radio address: To assure that Congress observes spending discipline, now and in the future, I propose making spending limits the law. This simple step would mean that every additional dollar the Congress wants to spend in excess of spending limits must be matched by a dollar in spending cuts elsewhere. Budget limits must mean something, and not just serve as vague guidelines

Rickyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16339171835489156232noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6340106.post-1075567824126426272004-01-31T10:32:00.002-05:002004-02-01T09:57:51.326-05:00

Brooks: So Kerry fired his campaign manager and moved to Iowa, where fewer people had formed a conclusion about his electability. And lo and behold, Dean started saying some weird things. Dean, saying weird things: "The capture of Saddam is a good thing which I hope will help keep our soldiers safer, but the capture of Saddam has not made America safer." Bush, seconding that: "Twenty-eight

Rickyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16339171835489156232noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6340106.post-1075518692680396292004-01-30T22:03:00.000-05:002004-01-30T22:13:46.826-05:00

Has anyone else ever seen this idiot woman Rudi something on CNN Headline News? She is so incredibly vapid and stupid it's remarkable that anyone could let her on the air--even in this circus media atmosphere. I remember seeing her once, in the rush to War, attacking Wes from MoveOn.Org. He had been invited on to talk about something else, but Rudi, with a very severe look on her utterly

Rickyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16339171835489156232noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6340106.post-1075509896610022852004-01-30T19:44:00.000-05:002004-01-30T20:02:11.250-05:00

"I too want to know the facts," Bush said, repeating that Iraqi dictator Saddam Hussein was "a growing danger" and the world is better off without him. "I want to be able to compare what the Iraq Survey Group has found with what we thought was there prior to going into Iraq," he said, referring to the CIA/Pentagon team assigned to hunt for banned weapons. Now he wants the facts? Now he's

Rickyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16339171835489156232noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6340106.post-1075495406221034552004-01-30T15:43:00.000-05:002004-01-30T18:31:37.966-05:00

For about the thousandth time, someone tries to explain to sleepy headed journalists the simple facts that create the issue of whether Bush was AWOL: 1. Bush lived in Alabama from May 1972 through November 1972. His two superior officers in Alabama say that he never showed up for duty. 2. While in Alabama, Bush failed to take his required annual physical. As a result, he was formally

Rickyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16339171835489156232noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6340106.post-1075489773588023302004-01-30T14:09:00.000-05:002004-01-30T17:46:29.576-05:00

In any case, the point is that a grave mistake was made, and America's credibility has been badly damaged — and nobody is being held accountable. But that's standard operating procedure. As far as I can tell, nobody in the Bush administration has ever paid a price for being wrong. Instead, people are severely punished for telling inconvenient truths. And administration officials have consistently

Rickyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16339171835489156232noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6340106.post-1075489373801293422004-01-30T14:02:00.000-05:002004-01-30T17:37:59.543-05:00

WASHINGTON, Jan. 29 — The Bush administration said on Thursday that the new Medicare law offering prescription drug benefits and private health plans to the elderly would cost at least $530 billion over 10 years, or one-third more than the price tag used when Congress passed the legislation two months ago. Among items that turned out to cost us more than the Bush administration originally "

Rickyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16339171835489156232noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6340106.post-1075488389558945122004-01-30T13:46:00.000-05:002004-01-30T17:39:52.640-05:00

Atrios directs us to an astounding piece in the New York Times: Juxtaposing these maps provides a new perspective on the political landscape. (Interactive moment: Color in the blue and red states — then you'll get the full picture.) Republicans seem to have become the new welfare party — their constituents live off tax dollars paid by people who vote Democratic. Of course, not all federal

Rickyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16339171835489156232noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6340106.post-1075485369909090992004-01-30T12:56:00.000-05:002004-01-30T12:58:22.920-05:00

The confederate endorsement, though, still belongs to Bush.

Rickyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16339171835489156232noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6340106.post-1075485188610712662004-01-30T12:53:00.000-05:002004-01-30T17:49:37.200-05:00

Speaking at a meeting of activists opposing free trade, Castro said Cuba isn't interested in a conflict with the United States but would be ready if the Bush administration brought one across the Straits of Florida. "I don't care how I die, but for sure, if they invade us, I will die fighting," he said. Um, Fidel? That's pretty much why "they" would like to invade.

Rickyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16339171835489156232noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6340106.post-1075484637511591312004-01-30T12:43:00.000-05:002004-01-30T12:46:10.670-05:00

After watching Bush boast in the SOTU address about teen drug use declining during his administration, I was, frankly, amazed that he failed to tout this success: MIAMI, Florida (Reuters) -- Shark attacks around the world declined in 2003 for a third straight year... Is there anything Bush can't handle? And he's modest, too.

Rickyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16339171835489156232noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6340106.post-1075479428525410322004-01-30T11:17:00.000-05:002004-01-30T18:02:09.890-05:00

Over at Pandagon, Ezra writes: Edwards just Sister Souljah'd lawyers in one of the finest moemns of this campaign. He got a medical malpractice questions, knocked it out of the park expressing sympathy for doctors, demansing accountability from lawyers, and proposing a "new idea" (which he contrasted with the old idea of caps) which requires all lawsuits to be investigated and verified before

Rickyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16339171835489156232noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6340106.post-1075472686149645222004-01-30T09:24:00.000-05:002004-01-30T09:26:59.390-05:00

From the Financial Times: US combat deaths in Iraq have risen sharply during January despite a drop in the number of attacks and the capture of former dictator Saddam Hussein over a month ago. As of Thursday, 33 American soldiers and one civilian had been killed by hostile fire during the month. That compares with 24 US combat deaths in December, and a total of 32 coalition combat deaths.

Rickyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16339171835489156232noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6340106.post-1075423510422966682004-01-29T19:33:00.001-05:002004-01-30T17:50:29.746-05:00

Is anyone watching the debate? If so, please email me and let me know if I'm drunk off my ass or if Joe Lieberman actually just told a story in which he bumped into a security guard in a hotel in New Hampshire and the guard endorsed Joe while laying out a four point, nuanced foreign policy statement that he believed he, the security guard, and Joe were in agreement with? What no tax plan?

Rickyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16339171835489156232noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6340106.post-1075409525726939742004-01-29T15:52:00.000-05:002004-01-30T17:51:08.890-05:00

WASHINGTON (AP) -- The Bush administration issued a veto threat Thursday against legislation introduced in Congress that would scale back key parts of the anti-terrorism Patriot Act. If the bill reaches President Bush's desk in its current form, Ashcroft said, "the president's senior advisers will recommend that it be vetoed." When asked how he knew what the president's senior advisers would

Rickyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16339171835489156232noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6340106.post-1075405145476474232004-01-29T14:39:00.000-05:002004-01-30T18:24:09.186-05:00

Posted on Orcinus: Siegenthaler: I just want to talk about Wesley Clark for a second . . . because he had a tough time in some cases in New Hampshire. Some people said his endorsement from Michael Moore where he called President Bush a deserter --- and then Wesley Clark refused to distance himself from Michael Moore was really a difficult time for him. And that he stumbled a couple of times up

Rickyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16339171835489156232noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6340106.post-1075403636974437492004-01-29T14:13:00.000-05:002004-01-30T18:02:53.530-05:00

See, I believe Dean makes a significant minority of Democrats feel the spirit (in fact, as long as we're borrowing from Strother Martin, let's write that "sperrit"). And if a man comes to a people, to a people who have been in the wilderness for too long, and that man can make people see what they've been wanting to see, then it doesn't matter what kind of man that man used to be, or even is.

Rickyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16339171835489156232noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6340106.post-1075400056535093452004-01-29T13:14:00.000-05:002004-01-30T18:04:32.543-05:00

MSNBC tells voters what to look for at this year's Republican National Convention.

Rickyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16339171835489156232noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6340106.post-1075392061327859002004-01-29T11:01:00.000-05:002004-01-30T18:03:27.466-05:00

What is it about this Wonkette that just makes me want to slap her...on her sassy...little...bottom...

Rickyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16339171835489156232noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6340106.post-1075391648066705322004-01-29T10:54:00.000-05:002004-01-30T18:03:53.576-05:00

He ain't just whistling in the wind.

Rickyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16339171835489156232noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6340106.post-1075390829961802972004-01-29T10:40:00.000-05:002004-01-30T18:04:58.513-05:00

Very little being said about the crucial March 8th American Somoa caucus...

Rickyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16339171835489156232noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6340106.post-1075390099485308502004-01-29T10:28:00.000-05:002004-01-29T15:14:35.310-05:00

Jonah Goldberg, on why independents are "stoopid" writes: But in a presidential contest between even a moderate Democrat and a moderate Republican, the idea that it's a very hard decision to choose between the parties strikes me as batty. One of the reasons the media glorifies independents is that the press tends to share their view of politics: that there's no meaningful difference between the

Rickyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16339171835489156232noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6340106.post-1075386142608192332004-01-29T09:22:00.000-05:002004-01-30T18:05:31.326-05:00

I'm not even sure I can write sensibly about this. We've got the African uranium claim, the aluminum tubes, the reconstituted nukular weapons, the tons of sarin gas, smallpox, blister agents, nerve gas, intercontinental death dealing drones, and a shadowy network of terrorist ties, all of which either never existed or has not existed for over a decade. A war was fought over what turned out to

Rickyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16339171835489156232noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6340106.post-1075323901788713092004-01-28T16:05:00.000-05:002004-01-29T15:09:50.856-05:00

From Salon: Gen. Mirza Aslam Beg, Pakistan's army chief of staff from 1988-91, told AP in an interview Wednesday that Pakistan's program to develop a nuclear bomb had relied on black market suppliers, and Pakistani scientists may have shared their contacts with Iran and Libya. Of course, in the 1980's Pakistan was our "friend" and "ally"--they wuz heppin' us fight the Rooskies! So Reagan and

Rickyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16339171835489156232noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6340106.post-1075321332929805912004-01-28T15:22:00.000-05:002004-01-28T15:44:19.810-05:00

"President Bush: Well, I think the Iraq Survey Group must do its work. Again, I appreciate David Kay's contribution. I said in the run-up to the war against Iraq that -- first of all, I hoped the international community would take care of him. I was hoping the United Nations would enforce its resolutions, one of many. And then we went to the United Nations, of course, and got an overwhelming

Rickyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16339171835489156232noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6340106.post-1075309805972950872004-01-28T12:10:00.000-05:002004-01-28T16:11:56.450-05:00

for them: INTELLECTUAL? OOPS! The vast right-wing conspiracy is looking to attack Democratic presidential candidate John Kerry for things he did. Yesterday, Republican pundit Brian S. Wise, who writes for the Web site intellectualconservative.com, widened the battle by slamming Vietnam vet Kerry for opposing the war in Southeast Asia even though he helped kill "21 innocent Vietnamese" civilians

Rickyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16339171835489156232noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6340106.post-1075301675531948722004-01-28T09:54:00.000-05:002004-01-29T15:07:15.000-05:00

When Hillary couldn't find a 16 year old bill from her Arkansas law firm, the Washington press corps went absolutely berserk over the implications of the Clintons' "stonewalling". Was this the smoking gun to bring down the Presidency! Or would it be the cover-up of the smoking gun that brings down this Presidency! Just what the heck is going to bring down this Presidency, dammit! When the

Rickyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16339171835489156232noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6340106.post-1075299046940323432004-01-28T09:10:00.000-05:002004-01-28T18:45:36.653-05:00

From the Beeb: Obesity is so revered among Mauritania's white Moor Arab population that the young girls are sometimes force-fed to obtain a weight the government has described as "life-threatening".

Rickyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16339171835489156232noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6340106.post-1075297824682568192004-01-28T08:50:00.000-05:002004-01-28T08:55:25.810-05:00

Hugo Chavez not welcome at Petroleum World, a land where there is no poverty. Like Texas.

Rickyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16339171835489156232noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6340106.post-1075263728075126272004-01-27T23:21:00.000-05:002004-01-28T18:46:29.450-05:00

I don't know if anyone else mentioned this, but a RECORD number of democrats showed up to vote. A record number. The Washington press corps and David Brooks, and the rest of the Republican echo chamber can smear Democrats and mock our anger all the like, but, we are angry. And angry people vote. And considering, Democrats won the last election, when we weren't angry, but rather fat and happy

Rickyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16339171835489156232noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6340106.post-1075255226225593942004-01-27T20:50:00.000-05:002004-01-31T09:49:22.390-05:00

Remember when Weepin' Joe Lieberman said this: "I've got some news for Howard Dean ... The primary campaign is a warm-up compared to what George Bush and Karl Rove have waiting for him. . . . He's going to melt in a minute once the Republicans start going after him." Didn't it just remind you of this: LIEBERMAN.... I think if you asked most people in America today that famous question that

Rickyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16339171835489156232noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6340106.post-1075223256464384722004-01-27T12:07:00.000-05:002004-01-27T12:27:25.293-05:00

According to the latest Newsweek poll, 37% of the people least likely to actually vote say they would definitely vote for Bush. This could translate into literally dozens of Bush votes! There's really no point in even having an election now. More proof of Bush's undeniable popularity: a very, tepid reaction from the nation's young.

Rickyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16339171835489156232noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6340106.post-1075174014994509872004-01-26T22:22:00.000-05:002004-01-26T22:29:03.466-05:00

Whatever. A fair and accurate article. But you have read all the way to the last paragraph before you realize that the headline should have a Now in it.

Rickyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16339171835489156232noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6340106.post-1075173425379612342004-01-26T22:12:00.000-05:002004-01-28T18:48:49.860-05:00

In other family newspaper finances, George R. Hearst, chairman of the board of The Hearst Corp. of New York gave $1,000 to the National Republican Senatorial Committee, while his cousin, William R Hearst III -- grandson of William Randolph Hearst and former publisher of the San Francisco Examiner -- donated $2,000 to the Joe Lieberman for President campaign and another $2,000 to VenturePac, a

Rickyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16339171835489156232noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6340106.post-1075172196276402852004-01-26T21:51:00.000-05:002004-01-29T15:06:29.013-05:00

Cheney, on why he never ran for President, himself: "I didn't want to do those things I'd have to do to get elected," he says. Hey, Dick, who said anything about electing Presidents?

Rickyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16339171835489156232noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6340106.post-1075171808056836352004-01-26T21:45:00.000-05:002004-01-29T18:15:25.110-05:00

I notice how deeply disturbed Tim Russert was this week that Wes Clark didn't distance himself from Michael Moore's statement that Bush was a deserter. Russert seemed particularly disturbed that desertion carried a punishment of death. I also notice that in all the times Russert has interviewed Bush or Cheney he has never once asked them if they felt they should distance themselves from one of

Rickyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16339171835489156232noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6340106.post-1075078156720960092004-01-25T19:47:00.000-05:002004-01-25T19:51:23.356-05:00

With a strong showing in New Hampshire, Bush may even choose him to replace Big Time Dick Cheney in the massa's house.

Rickyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16339171835489156232noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6340106.post-1075077834232421982004-01-25T19:38:00.000-05:002004-01-25T19:46:00.936-05:00

We've been hearing a lot of this. And, if it's true, which the CIA seems to say is a bunch of crap, then let's put it to the test. Over five hundred Americans are dead, several thousand Iraqis, and we, the taxpayers, are out a cool 180 billion dollars and growing. Someone should answer. Fire Tenet. And his whole upper management. Remember, when Clinton got 18 Americans killed for

Rickyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16339171835489156232noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6340106.post-1075067614885493982004-01-25T16:50:00.000-05:002004-01-25T16:55:41.296-05:00

Ooops. But Bush has made up for it by decisively invading the only country in the mideast which didn't have al-Qaeda ties or weapons of mass destruction. What's a respectfull way of calling someone a bumbling dumb ass?

Rickyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16339171835489156232noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6340106.post-1075028595460739752004-01-25T05:30:00.000-05:002004-01-30T18:26:57.623-05:00

James Carville is probably right. Democrats should stop saying, when Republicans talk, "Well, you have a point..." But we're just humoring them. It's polite. Like, when you agree with your offensive drunken brother in law at a wedding. You're trying to spare him the embarrassment of drawing attention to his behavior. And you know, like Republicans, he'll never remember what he said the next

Rickyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16339171835489156232noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6340106.post-1075025637436495132004-01-25T04:41:00.000-05:002004-01-25T05:19:03.340-05:00

Let me get this straight; the Bush administrations bullies, spies on, and ridicules the United Nations, questions it's relevance; dismisses "old europe", while Republicans stupidly rename French fries, disgustingly propose desecrating the graves of servicemen abroad, and plans to "punish" France and Germany, and, even though "old Europe" was right and the Bush administration was wrong, now

Rickyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16339171835489156232noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6340106.post-1075022861503260612004-01-25T04:03:00.000-05:002004-01-25T04:29:47.560-05:00

Nine months, no plan. Remember when opponents of this war were ridiculed for suggesting that re-ordering a tribal society with deep ethnic and religious divides might be so difficult that it was near impossible? Remember when Rummy, exasperated with questions, said, "Why do you people have to make everything so complicated?" I didn't think so.

Rickyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16339171835489156232noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6340106.post-1074999510202811422004-01-24T21:49:00.000-05:002004-01-24T22:00:35.450-05:00

The corruption of this administration is so widespread and so prevalent, it is beyond belief that our national media will not address it. September 11th, the WMDs, the War, Plame, Congressional hacking, no bid contracts, kickbacks, the repeated laughable lies, and, always, the media is there to give a "balanced" report, meaning the administration gets the last word, and the word is always

Rickyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16339171835489156232noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6340106.post-1074996212419604212004-01-24T20:59:00.000-05:002004-01-24T21:06:16.890-05:00

After repudiating his own doctrine, after lying to the U.N., after being rewarded with backstabbing from Newt and Rummy, he's still unsure if it's okay to say this lie is a lie. What a sad, sorry figure he's become.

Rickyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16339171835489156232noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6340106.post-1074984716439379602004-01-24T17:41:00.000-05:002004-01-24T17:54:01.543-05:00

Atrios wonders when the press will stop referring to Bush as "popular" even though recent polls show that more than half of Americans would not like to see him re-elected. I think the more interesting question is: why do 78% of Americans think it's "very likely" Bush will get re-elected even though 52% of them would not like to see him win a second term? Actually, now that I think about it,

Rickyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16339171835489156232noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6340106.post-1074961828927143672004-01-24T11:29:00.000-05:002004-01-24T11:32:33.966-05:00

R.I.P., Captain.

Rickyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16339171835489156232noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6340106.post-1074939535582448772004-01-24T04:54:00.000-05:002004-01-24T05:21:00.420-05:00

An exasperated Madeline Albright once said something to the effect of "Well, what's the point of having this great military if we can never use it"? She had said this in response to the repeated objections of the Joint Chiefs of Staffs to using the military as a diplomatic tool. Republicans and the military establishment went nuts, saying that just completely summed up the Clinton

Rickyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16339171835489156232noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6340106.post-1074911940269799312004-01-23T21:30:00.000-05:002004-01-24T04:42:29.170-05:00

Jesus Christ, what will it take for the American press to finally just say: THERE WERE NO WMDs in Iraq? The liberal media, Dick Cheney, and one guy with 6 different online names at FreeReplubic are about the only people on the planet who haven't. Even David Kay is now saying: "I don't think they existed," Kay told Reuters on Friday. "What everyone was talking about is stockpiles produced

Rickyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16339171835489156232noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6340106.post-1074911363815233452004-01-23T21:23:00.000-05:002004-01-23T21:31:28.060-05:00

There's warts and then there's warts.

Rickyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16339171835489156232noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6340106.post-1074910912839682052004-01-23T21:19:00.000-05:002004-01-23T21:23:57.186-05:00

Apparently Rove only has enough hands for Lieberman and Bush at one time.

Rickyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16339171835489156232noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6340106.post-1074905646956855192004-01-23T19:50:00.000-05:002004-01-23T19:56:10.780-05:00

While innocently checking for security breaches in Democratic servers, Republicans get hit with stray careless Democratic memos! I'm sure they did everything they could to return the memos before, finally, in frustration, turning them over to Bob Novaks for publication.

Rickyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16339171835489156232noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6340106.post-1074905172432422062004-01-23T19:39:00.000-05:002004-01-23T19:48:16.360-05:00

Josh Marshall writes today: Various campaigns send out rapid-response emails to journalists during and after debates. I got six tonight from the Lieberman campaign. Two were pushing Lieberman's strengths; four were hitting other candidates. And all four of those hits were hits at Clark. It was very clear that Rove was afraid of Dean. Dean was raising money, touching on Democratic anger, and

Rickyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16339171835489156232noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6340106.post-1074904714885321222004-01-23T19:36:00.000-05:002004-01-23T19:49:55.030-05:00

A transplendant piece on how Peter Jennings establishes the facts, without ever, like a journalist, investigating them.

Rickyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16339171835489156232noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6340106.post-1074904548536865342004-01-23T19:32:00.000-05:002004-01-23T19:37:52.590-05:00

It fails to mention, though, how the "grown-ups", the Wall Street suits from Pepsi Cola turned the greatest, most innovative company in the world into a 3% market share. Power to the people, though, the kids are back in charge of the candy store.

Rickyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16339171835489156232noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6340106.post-1074826426002724982004-01-22T21:52:00.000-05:002004-01-22T21:55:48.560-05:00

Fox format: We'll hear from the Democrats and then we'll have a one minute rebuttal from Republican Joe Lieberman. What an ass. Clark was strong. Kerry and Edwards were strong. These guys can crush blinky, bunnypants without breaking a sweat. First, though, they must kill Lieberman. I suggest Kerry. He knows how to use the blade, up close, and quietly. Clark may use artillery, and that

Rickyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16339171835489156232noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6340106.post-1074824487033596262004-01-22T21:18:00.000-05:002004-01-22T21:23:30.013-05:00

No one expresses the Bush administration policy more eloquently than Joe Lieberman! If Bush should suddenly realise that 500 billion dollars of our money is missing, and flee the country to his home away from home, Saudi Arabia, I am confident that Joe Liebermen can step right into his shoes without the fiscally destructive, foreign policy ruining, corporate coddling Bush policies missing a

Rickyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16339171835489156232noreply@blogger.com