Monday, October 31, 2005

Addington

Americanlogic wonders why the punditry bothers to question Cheney's or for that matter this administration's decision making process.

What do you do when your aide is indicted, replace him with someone mentioned in the indictment as well as someone with first hand knowledge of US policy on torture.

Americanlogic has come to the realization as should most of the DC punditry: they don't care how incredibly shady it looks. They're going to do it anyway.

Disease

Americanlogic thinks the Democratic party is very ill. However, the cure is not Howard Dean MD.

On "Hardball" this Halloween evening, Dean managed to once again muddle the image of the Democratic party in front of moderate america. On the topic of abortion, Matthews flat out asked Dean if today's Democratic party is pro-choice, Dean's response epitomizes everything wrong with the Dems, he basically couldn't bring himself to say "pro-choice." Instead, he defined pro-choice as a term that could possibly be used against the Democrats to say they are pro-abortion or anti-life. Matthews then declared the democratic party confused on both the war and now abortion.

Dean cannot conduct interviews without making verbal gaffes. His shifty nature prevents him from sounding sincere on any issue. So now the democratic party is anti-war but says "since we're there, we might as well...." and now on abortion they are not pro-choice but pro-anything the GOP isn't.

This administration may combine incompetence with corruption but at least most of America knows where they stand. America knows Bush is a big spender, is unable to declare defeat, unwilling to fire anyone and pro business class. Americans don't know a thing about today's democratic party. Dean has not helped nor will he ever.

Role reversal?

its like a script of a movie isn't it?

SCOTUS take two: Samuel Alito will play the part of Harriet Miers, the american left will take on the role of the american right in denouncing a nominee before he/she ever gets to the hearings.

With the election comes SCOTUS

You might ask yourself? How did Bill Clinton's SCOTUS nominees fare? Here's a hint: the hearings were crucial. Let's take a look at Ruth Bader Ginsberg.

"Republicans did not find Ginsburg to be a controversial nominee and on Thursday July 29, 1993, the judiciary committee voted unanimously in favor of her confirmation, a mere six days after the hearings concluded. The Senate then approved Ginburg's nomination by a vote of 96-3.

"Despite her frank admission (on abortion), few Republicans took the position that her embrace of abortion rulings disqualified her from a seat on the court." (courtesy hnn.com)

Brave senators like Patrick Leahy and Russ Feingold proved their mettle in their support of the talented John Roberts, will other Senators follow suit in their analysis of Alito who clearly is not that easy to figure out. Guess we will have to wait for the hearings.


NO!

courtesy of the now paranoid left:

Alito's Mom: "Of course he's against abortion." (thinkprogress.org)


Alito as the Devil

Are we headed for a judiciary apocalypse? the left thinks so:

www.americanprogressaction.org

Psst, Dems this guy won twice

"You can't say, 'Please don't be mean to me. Please let me win sometimes.' Give me a break here," Clinton said. "If you don't want to fight for the future and you can't figure out how to beat these people then find something else to do." (Bill Clinton, courtesy SFGate.com)

Holy Alito!

Americanlogic thinks this president predictable.

Are we even going to get to the hearings on this one?

Sunday, October 30, 2005

Ike

"We cannot afford to reduce taxes, reduce income," he said. "until we have in sight a program of expenditure that shows that the factors of income and outgo will be balanced." (President Dwight Eisenhower courtesy of Wikipedia)

For the record, that's called "pay as you go." We had that in the 90's under Clinton/Gingrich.

!

Americanlogic thinks this president lives in a fantasy world along with his allies:

"I don't think you want to send a signal that this is a crisis bigger than it is," said Vin Weber, a lobbyist and former Republican House member who is a White House ally. "This was a bad week obviously, but you cleared the board of a couple big problems or question marks hanging over us. It's unfortunate for the individuals involved, but it gives us a chance to start rebuilding, clawing our way back." (courtesy NY Times)

my italics.
Wow. Americanlogic is almost at a loss for words. A "bad week"? A major administration official gets indicted and your political advisor is still under the gun and it's a bad week? The simple fact that Rove is still under investigation refutes the notion that the question marks have been cleared. In any other administration, Rove would be fired or forced to resign. However, we are dealing with a president whose first priority is: himself. A year ago today we were a week away from electing competency over failure. Reason over paranoid action. Truly great presidents change course. Eisenhower changed. Even the conservative hero Reagan brought in new blood in 1987. Instead we get more of the same.

My kingdom for an adult president!


Friday, October 28, 2005

The streak continues

By the way, this president still hasn't fired anyone.

Just to remind you

Americanlogic has to take issue with the Moose and even Fitzgerald himself.

As stated by Tucker Carlson (although i'm sure he's falling in line now), Iraq is the "original sin." It is the reason we are talking about indictments, Plame, Niger and forged documents. If this president made the case to the american public that although Hussein didn't have WMD's he still needed to be either severly contained or indeed removed this country would have no doubts we are doing the right thing in Iraq.

Instead, as he displayed post 9/11 this president choose division rather than unity. Partisanship rather than compromise. There was no debate in the public arena. Just threats of mushroom clouds and certain destruction at the hands of Hussein.

Yes Hussein was brutal thug and now we must finish the job and hand over full control of Iraq to its citizens. This war wasn't sold that way. It wasn't sold as a humanitarian mission because the "cabal" knew we wouldn't have bought it. So what do you do when the original pitch sucks? You try a more direct pitch. Nukes.

To be clear, this war was not about oil or Halliburton profits as some on the left continue to claim. It was Bush's paranoid response to 9/11 and it was Cheney's job to do the dirty work in order to get us in.

So this whole thing is about Iraq. It's also about honesty and candor. This administration has neither and we must accept this for the next three years.

Interesting

We have a real interesting dynamic opening up here in response to the indictments handed down by Fitzgerald.

We have an anti-Starr prosecutor, a guy who is actually interested in getting to the bottom of this leak issue. A president who is reminding people he still has a SCOTUS position to fill (don't worry base, that'll distract them), a vice president who knows he was in on this and values his aide rather then the transparency of the federal government, the conservative side pretty much taking the "it's just perjury" line of defense as well as "she wasn't really covert." Also, a democratic party that is sure to overeach.

We spent the majority of 1998 talking about "is." We are going to be spending the rest of 2005 talking about Cheney and his attempt to leak us into a premptive war.

Steely

Thanks to WashingtonMonthly.com for providing a play by play of sorts for the Fitzgerald press conference. From what I read, this guy is for real. He's the anti-Starr. Its really going to be interesting to see the loony right try to discredit this guy. Then again, you can count on Hannity and Co to try to do just that.

This sad state of affairs does not end with these indictments today. I'm still convinced in the end we are going to get an indictment of this premptive war and the methods employed to start it. Libby to me seems like a small piece of this puzzle. Also, Americanlogic demands to know who was Robert Novak's source. And where the hell is Novak anyway?

The president's response to all this: nominate a Scalia clone named Samuel A Alito Jr (that's the rumour anyway).

Somebody gets it

I'll add one more thing: I don't believe that five counts of obstruction of justice, perjury and lying by a major administration official are a "mouse," or even a large rabbit. Not if you care about the integrity of government officials and the rule of law. (andrewsullivan.com)

Sullivan gets it. Americanlogic gets it. The apologist right doesn't.

trifecta

Lewis "Scooter" Libby, Vice President Cheney's chief of staff, indicted by grand jury on charges of obstruction of justice, making false statements and perjury in CIA leak probe.

-CNN

Americanlogic would assume that the Veep is next.

please stop

Is anyone else getting sick of hearing the name "Libby"?

Thursday, October 27, 2005

Denied

In David Frum's world America is the victor in the Harriet Miers affair.

How so? Miers should have gone through the hearing process, then a decision could have been made on her merits to be a SCOTUS. Instead we get face saving from Bush and the process halted.

Americanlogic thinks the american people wanted to hear Miers voice before judgement was passed.

Rove escapes?

According to the NY Times (who have been wrong before, ahem WMDs?), Rove will not be indicted tomorrow. Apparently his lawyer is extremely talented.

I'm sure americanlogic isn't alone in wanting this entire investigation to come to a close indictments or no indictments. All except the rabid left who wish this for the next three years.

Next!

[McConnell] does believe that the Supreme Court has gone too far in reading the total separation of church and state into the Constitution, and because he ...understands that Roe v. Wade has no firm constitutional foundation. He might be acceptable to the left not only because so many liberal professors support him, but also because he has been public in his criticism of Bush v. Gore and the impeachment of President Clinton

the above is a law professor's description of Micheal W. McConnell, strongly rumored to be Bush's next choice (per The Hotline blog).

the political heart of the matter

This is a profoundly weak President. It is a moment of desperation and the President needs his base energized and not demoralized. He will now throw the base red meat and hope they stick with them in the stormy days ahead (bullmooseblog.com)

Its the Senate's fault!

Second, it's again amazing how unable this president is to take full responsibility for his decisions and choices. Face-saving is not an unusual thing in politics. But equally it is never a sign of real strength. A strong president takes responsibility for his own choices, even if he feels misunderstood or misled. Reagan's Iran-Contra confession was an example of someone strong enough to admit a failure. This president is not internally strong enough to do something similar. His strength is a form of brittleness. Like all brittleness, it is prone to cracking suddenly and without warning. It just did. (courtesy andrewsullivan.com)

Personally, I thought she should have gone through the hearing process, for the sake of those interested in this country in the process of selecting a justice for SCOTUS. But that's just americanlogic's opining.

No Miers

According to MSNBC Harriet Miers has withdrawn her nomination.

Wednesday, October 26, 2005

Kerry

"To undermine the insurgency, we must instead simultaneously pursue both a political settlement and the withdrawl of American combat forces linked to specific, responsible benchmarks," he said. "At the first benchmark, the completion of December elections, we can start the process of reducing our forces by 20,000 troops of the course of the holidays." (courtesy abcnews.com)

This is what is needed right now. Discussion. Debate. Dialog. I would have gone one better and invited the president to an Iraqi roundtable discussion with a combination of Senate Dems and GOPer's.

Tucker Carlson apparently agrees to some extent with Kerry saying on "Hardball" this evening the president at some point will have to say something different other than "stay the course," the public isn't buying it. Carlson also called Iraq the "original sin" that brought us to the CIA leak debacle.


Reason vs Insanity

''I do think we have to take into account -- and that's why I voted against it -- the position of those people who we send into harm's way, in a clandestine way," Stevens said. ''What is the standard that applies to them in terms of saving their own lives? . . . I have not seen the vice president's language. I have no solution to it yet. I don't know how to solve it. But I know there's a problem."
McCain responded: ''I don't know how you protect your life by torturing somebody. I've never understood that scenario." (both quotes courtesy of the Boston Globe)

Tuesday, October 25, 2005

Niger Schmiger

Americanlogic thinks its about time to lay out some history.

Here's the scenario: Let's say Americanlogic comes home from a day of work in the Fall of 2002 and hears President Bush, then somewhat competent, say this:

"Knowing these realities, America must not ignore the threat gathering against us. Facing clear evidence of peril, we cannot wait for the final proof -- the smoking gun -- that could come in the form of mushroom cloud." (Bush courtesy White House website transcript)

The words that stand out in that passage is "peril" and "mushroom cloud." These were uttered by the POTUS. The above words were not uttered by Bill Clinton, Al Gore, Hillary Clinton, the Democratic Party, James Carville, John McCain, John Kerry, Theresa Kerry Heinz, the Kerry daughters, the Gore children, John Podesta, Ronald Reagan, FDR, Harry Truman, Jimmy Carter, Gerald Ford, Alan Greenspan, Al Franken and so on.


Scott, you're a liar

"The president's made his position very clear: we do not condone torture, nor would he ever authorize the use of torture." (courtesy CNN.com)

Have you heard of Ian Fishback Mr. McClellan?

supportfishback@aol.com

that said

I am a realist. We are in Iraq. We face an insurgency bent on driving us out of Iraq. In the words of Colin Powell: "We break it, we fix it." The constitution has passed, all the more time to seriously discuss a timetable for withdrawl, we would not be saying to the insurgents "Well, time to go" we would be establishing a timetable for withdrawl from Iraq and easing american minds. The insurgents will not win if we approach our strategy differently and ask for UN help. Two things this president won't do.

Sad

Whatever your opinions on this war, we are looking at a possible indictment of its origin. If the american public were told with grave certainty that an imminent threat existed and Bush and Co knew this to be false we are dealing with impeachable offenses. We need to stay in Iraq and crush the insurgency, but if we've lost 2000 men and women for a supposed "slam dunk" case we are in trouble as a nation.

Mr. X

According to CBS News (hat tip thinkprogress.org), this is the "code" name of the person responsible for the leaking of Valerie Plame's name to reporters. We could speculate all night (and some will) but Americanlogic has no clue who this person "inside the White House" is.

Earlier today, I discovered washingtonnote.com by Steve Clemons, who according to his "uber source," indicated there would be roughly 4-5 sealed indictments handed down by Hurricane Fitzgerald. At which point, Bush is useless as president.

The loony right has to be sweating bullets at this point, clearly having no solid leaks to go by like they did with Starr. The rabid left are like children on Christmas morning waiting for that XBOX 360.

We will find out tommorow. Americanlogic will try his best to keep what readers I have informed of these events.

We could have an indictment of this war along with its architects. Either way, a sad moment in this nations history.

Bush v Onion

On the drive into work this morning, NPR enlightened me on the Bushies displeasure with the Onion website using the presidential logo in some of their features. Seems to me this is the least of their worries at this point in history. This cronyist, business class White House is on the verge of a tremor or a major earthquake in the form of indictments. With Cheney now the center of the investigation according to the NY Times and Fitzgerald's aides seen hauling large boxes of documents into the grand jury (per "Hardball" last night), any Rovian damage control will be futile. Then again, as the MSM has been saying "we just don't know."

Monday, October 24, 2005

words of wisdom from the Moose

There is a danger that progressives will transform themselves into amoral neo-Kissinger realists in reaction to the Crawford Bush clan. That would be an ill-advised abandonment of Truman, Kennedy, Scoop Jackson, Clinton democratic internationalism that promotes American ideals and interests. (courtesy mooseblog.com)

There is going to be a big debate between the Wilsonian internationalists in both parties and the Buchanan isolationists of the right (and left?) in the coming years. Key word here is debate. Dialog. Discussion. The Bush era has shown us we need to rediscover these words.

"The Plank"

The New Republic has jumped headfirst into the world of blogging.

Americanlogic approved.

www.tnr.com

this is what they wanted right?

Bush's long-term legacy will be a much bigger welfare state and much higher taxes. He will have achieved what Ted Kennedy would never have gotten away with. Congrats, conservatives!

from the irreplaceable Andrew Sullivan.

Sunday, October 23, 2005

Fuzzy

Americanlogic thinks it was a mistake for Howard Dean to be annoited party chair.

On "This Week" this morning, Dean gave fuzzy answers to what his party should stand for while sneaking in the same tired democratic sloganeering: "we won the first election" "Bush is a big jerk" On the subject of John Roberts he could offer no explanation as to why aside from some brave democrats such as Russ Feingold the party couldn't stomach a man of obvious talent. However, in the same breath we should give a cleary unqualified a chance to prove herself in the hearings?

Dean also stated the party will not be satisfied if there are no indictments laid down on the administration stating he wouldn't believe the findings of a clearly non biased special prosecutor.
All in all, the same tired formula of expousing Bush hatred while not giving those who are nonpartisan something to think about when it comes to the Democratic party. The only bright spot is Dean's endorsement of fiscal discipline as a party platform. As governor, Dean was a moderate who balanced the budget and provided Vermont's children with health care all in the same breath. As chair, he is drinking the Bob Schrum Kool Aid.

Saturday, October 22, 2005

Rummy finally gets it

Donald Rumsfield, our nations most inept Defense secretary finally gets it:

"Charges of that type are harmful and they don't represent the overwhelmingly positive behavior of the men and woman in uniform." Reuters

Amerianlogic hates to break it to you Mr Rumsfield but your Army has committed worse atrocities in the name of America. Or don't you recall Abu-Gharib. Have you heard of the McCain amendment and where do you stand on its passage?


Friday, October 21, 2005

I'm going out on a limb here

Now that Patrick Fitzgerald has a website (not a blog, thanks Andrew Sullivan), most of America can assume we have indictments coming down the pike next week.

Now, Americanlogic doesn't want to give the loony right a stroke but if Fitzgerald widens the scope of this matter to include a broad conspiracy charge including a false case for premptive war then we could be talking about, yep that's right: IMPEACHMENT proceedings.

Believe it or not, I wouldn't want to see it happen. This country could not handle another impeachment of a sitting president. I am NOT saying this shouldn't be done, i'm simply saying it could wait till a majority of troops are back from Iraq. This could be the second time in American history that the rabid left will be vindicated (um, Nixon).

Americanlogic doesn't believe in premptive war for ANY reason. This is not the American tradition. Some things are worth preserving. If this man child of a president sent men and woman to war based on what amounts to a lie, there will be a political coup and the GOP will not survive despite an onslaught of spin by the theocratic base. Bush would be impeached and convicted of the gravest of offenses: starting a war for the hell of it.

Where do the Dems fall in this equatio? Let's remember they gave this credit card president a blank check without serious debate. It took a former ambassador to start any kind of debate on a first in American history: premptive war. Principled conservatives/liberals there were few.

A respected blogger once said that this country will survive Bush's presidency. I'm having my doubts.

If anyone can convince me we haven't been at a lower point in American history, let Americanlogic know via email or comment.

the loony right

During the last five minutes of "Hardball" with Chris Matthews Melanie Morgan, a loony right winger who apparently had chugged the White House Kool Aid before she came on the air, proclaimed "We don't even know if Valerie Plame was undercover when she was outed."

Matthews confirmed the obvious: she was undercover you idiot (my italics).

In an earlier segment, Matthews received these talking points from the RNC that basically said that due to Wilson being around in the 60's nobody should believe him, to which David Gergen, former White House chief of staff to five presidents said:

"Pathetic"

Americanlogic couldn't agree more.

transparent government

Andrews confirmed that Brown is still on FEMA's payroll as a consultant. She said he works from home, where he is "pulling all the documentation together" to aid in the investigations into the government's response to Katrina. His original 30-day contract was recently extended for another 30 days, she said.

Great.

not good

http://www.suntimes.com/output/news/cst-nws-leak21.html

I think we might be back to square one. All signs point to Scooter Libby leaking the name of Valerie Plame to reporters. Also, let's not forget that gaggle that took place on AirForce One where the memo was passed around.

Chance that Fitzgerald will not indict: 0%

Wednesday, October 19, 2005

Hurricane Fitzgerald

We at Americanlogic believe that Wilma has got nothing on Hurricane Fitzgerald.

He could strike as early as this week with strong indictments causing devastation across the DC area.

The White House is not prepared for this catastrophic event.

"I broke the dam"

Global Warming strikes South Park.

Trey and Matt do it again. In a matter of a half hour they managed to lambast the media, global warming, the US government, hysteria, the MSM, Fox and "The Day after Tommorow." The last five minutes I was laughing out loud.

the case for isolationism

Democracy is thus no more a cure for terror than its absence is the cause. Osama has no moral objection to dictatorships. He means to establish one, a caliphate where mosque and state are joined, and sharia law is imposed without recourse to referendum. As with Hitler, Stalin, Mao, Ho and Castro, so, too, with bin Laden and Abu Musab al-Zarqawi. Such men seek absolute power and use revolutionary terror as the means to establish their dictatorships. (Pat Buchanan, American Cause)

I'm thinking that after this war is over, much of America will be in the above mindset.

Alright already

The response has been overwhelming to my presidential quote question, um not really.

The answer is Herbert Hoover for anyone interested in presidential history.

11:30 tonight

"Anyone can tell the news to you. I'm going to feel the news at you."

http://www.colbertnation.com/colbertnation/

Baghdad Scott quote of the month

In response to a question about a story in the “New York Daily News” which reported that the president was angry with Karl Rove in 2003 over his role in the leaking of Valerie Plame’s name as a CIA operative, McClellan would only say that he would not comment on an ongoing investigation. McClellan went on to say that he challenges the overall accuracy of the story. When pressed on giving an answer to why he challenges the accuracy of the story, McClellan answered again that he would not comment on an ongoing investigation.

thanks to thinkprogress.org

voice of sanity

http://www.alertnet.org/thenews/newsdesk/N17265977.htm

No wonder he left this White House. How liberating must it be?

Per andrew sullivan's blog, Powell is perhaps the secret cooperating source in regards to the CIA leak investigation. payback is a bitch huh Cheney?

Tuesday, October 18, 2005

Name the President

"True American Liberalism utterly denies the whole creed of socialism."


Name the president who uttered these words. Anyone?

moderates 2008

I finally got a chance to read Noam Scheiber's piece in The New Republic entitled "the case for national greatness liberalism" and Americanlogic fully endorses this idea.

Democrats need to face the music when it comes to terrorism. It is not a background issue that can be ignored and contained. Jihadists exist and have waged war on America. Our invasion and subsequent bungling in Iraq has only given them more of a reason to win. Quote:

"A Democratic presidential nominee could argue that he or she believes in a strong, competent government doing big things abroad (i.e., defeating Islamofascism and other existential threats) and big things at home (i.e., providing working people with economic security in an age of volatility). You can imagine it all fitting together nicely under a catchphrase like "national greatness liberalism."

To me, the phrase "strong, competent government" is key. We can balance fighting terrorism and making America a better place to live if we make the right choices. No to showering tax cuts on the business class who then cut and run and move their labor to other countries. No to premptive war without making sure every "i" is dotted or "t" crossed (no more "slam dunk" theories). No to reckless spending and cutting with no foresight into the cost on future generations.

Once again, the New Republic has given the Democrats a platform to stand on.

timely quote of the day

"The political lesson of Watergate is this: Never again must America allow an arrogant, elite guard of political adolescents to by-pass the regular party organization and dictate the terms of a national election." Gerald Ford

Monday, October 17, 2005

America wont miss Rove

Americanlogic can safely say once Rove is indicted for perjury and obstruction of justice America will not miss him.

They won't miss the careful way he ruined political careers, or the way he sold America into the idea of premptive war.

McCain certainly won't miss the way the dogs of war were unleashed on his campaign in 2000; you see once the Bushies are threatened with a force of honesty like McCain, the only instinct they have is to smear and slander.

John Kerry certainly won't miss Rove, who enlisted the help of a disgruntled group of whiners to actually convince a good portion of the public that Kerry wasn't a hero even though he took a bullet for this country.

Bush will certainly miss his architect though, he wouldn't be the confused and incompetent president he is today without him.

So long Rove. Try not to come back.

Truthiness

Just watched the debut of the "Colbert Report" on Comedy Central.

Absolutely hysterical. Do yourself a service and watch this every Monday at 11:30 EST.

"Gravitas" battle with Stone Phillips. classic.

Memo to POTUS

Mr President, when you are asked whether you will fire anyone in your administration if they are indicted your answer on behalf of the 51% of the country who re-elected you (myself not included) is:

YES, not:

"There's a serious investigation," the president said. "I'm not going to prejudge the outcome of the investigation."

Read the papers W.

Sunday, October 16, 2005

hunkering down

The Right is hunkering down folks. They are ready and armed with their latest spin. According to Bill Kristol, editor of the Weekly Standard, the recent political developments are not a result of corruption or self interest but SUPRISE an attempt to criminalize conservatism:

"Fall of 2005 will be remembed as a time when it became clear that a strategy of criminalization had been implemented to inflict defeat on conservatives." (from weeklystandard.com)

Huh?

Sorry, just can't feel bad for poor ol Rove and Libby, who at the very least played politics when it came to national security.

Apparently Kristol still believes this administration is one you would call conservative.

Miller + Cheney = coverup

Based on what americanlogic knows from his reading this afternoon, it seems Fitzgerald is looking in the general direction of Scooter Libby and the VP.

Judy Miller and her employer the new york times released their explanation of the goings on since this mess began. Summary: Miller doesn't recall her source, but she's pretty sure it wasn't Libby.

Americanlogic smells coverup. It was the Times during the runup to this premptive war that failed in its journalistic duties, pressing the WMD issue and offering no perspective. Wilson's op-ed broke the camels back and here we are.

Despite my previous postings on this subject, at this point I can't really say what is going to happen, I don't know if there will even be indictments anymore. However, that said, if there are indictments it will be an indictment of this adminstration's secrecy and hyping of this conflict.

As I've said before, we need to win in Iraq and todays events regarding the constitution look like a first step. Bush will not offer a new strategy in how we crush the insurgency other than mounting PR campaigns promoting failure. God knows he wouldn't think of getting more troops on the ground or perhaps requesting UN peacekeepers.

Over the next few weeks we will be discovering the extent to which the neos really worked hand in hand with the media in pushing this war with no questions asked. Fitzgerald might as well indict the media.

Baghdad Scott

Finally the MSM does a story on the most confrontational press secretary ever. As we at americanlogic have said before, Mr. Scott McClellan is a bully on his own pulpit, questioning reporters "motives" when they ask simple questions related to topics of the day.

Last week Baghdad Scott, as we like to call him, questioned veteran journalist's support for the global war on terror, insinuating somehow she was a jihadist if she didn't see the thin connection between Hussein the thug and Al-Qaeda.

As you may recall during Operation whatever it was called at the time, Iraq's public relations minister proclaimed victory even as American troops were occupying much of his country. This is the exact same role Mr. McClellan has been playing since the Bush White House has imploded. From Miers to the awful scripted display last week, Mr. McClellan has spewn venom behind that fake Texas smile of his, detached from realty on the ground in Iraq or inside DC inner circles.

Mr President, along with most of your Cabinet, fire Scott McClellan.

the story can be read here: www.msnbc.msn.com

Friday, October 14, 2005

my positions bullet time

Pro getting out of Iraq in one piece while not giving the jihadists a victory

Pro letting a woman choose the fate of her own fetus

Pro pay as you go fiscal policy, thereby not dooming children (including mine) to a life of overwhelming taxation and deplinished services.

Pro declaring war on a hostile country or group when we are attacked by that hostile country or group.

Pro competent government.

Pro indictment for Tom Delay, the scourge of honest government.

Pro indictment for Karl Rove and Scotter Libby, creators of business class conservatism.

Pro bloggers who don't tow the line.

Pro Moose.

Pro presidents who are decent men but fail trying to do the right thing.

Did I mention pro compentency?

Pro unscripted interviews with soldiers who are taking bullets to stablize a foreign country.

Pro unscripted Rose garden press conferences

Anti Scott McClellan, White House press secretary

Pro Americanlogic.

Over do it

Who would have thought that with the election of compassionate conservative George W. Bush we would see this very same president wiping the floor clean with the grandfather of government spending Lydon Baines Johnson. The numbers below highlight this fact:

LBJ: 25.2% increase in discretionary spending
GWB: 35.2% increase in discretionary spending

Now the argument can be made (and I will make it), that America got more for its discretionary spending under Johnson than they have with Bush. However, as the president likes to say we are a nation at war.

Check out reason.com for a excellent piece entitled "Bush's Disaster Socialism" and discover the true meaning of the now retired "compassionate conservative."

Miers fatigue

Enough already!

Let the confirmation process take its course.

principled

The always excellent George Will:

Conservatives are not supposed to be cuddly, or even particularly nice. They are, however, supposed to be competent. And to know that scarcity—of money, virtue, wisdom, competence, everything—forces choices. Furthermore, they are supposed to have an unsentimental commitment to meritocracy and excellence. The fact that none of those responsible for the postwar planning, or lack thereof, in Iraq have been sacked suggests—no, shouts—that in Washington today there is no serious penalty for serious failure. Hence the multiplication of failures (courtesy MSNBC.com)

national greatness liberalism

Noam Schreiber of the New Republic most likely has hit the nail on the head.

Americanlogic will comment further after reading the piece. Stay tuned.


www.tnr.com

if only this were true

http://www.theonion.com/content/node/41444

reality and the onion have joined into one.

Thursday, October 13, 2005

I take it back

Americanlogic is humbled. Apologies are in order to thinkprogress.org for bringing to attention one of the most humiliating television peformances ever by a sitting president.

Speaking to a group of American troops, Bush was a mixture of confusion, indifference and his usual folksy crap. These troops deserved better than to be sitting in front a camera and speaking to one of the most poorly prepared politicians of all time. Whoever thought this was a good idea for the president to appear disoriented while discussing the goals of a premptive war needs to be fired. Pronto. Americanlogic thinks the Bushies think we're dumb.

And then there's Baghdad Scott McClellan, the most sanctimonius press secretary we've ever seen. If you didn't see the tape, he basically had a tantrum. All veteran journalist Helen Thomas could do is shake her head in shame as McClellan walked off all huffy.

We face a focused enemy bent on winning in Iraq and PR trumps a new course of action?

a request

Americanlogic has a request for the american left.

Please, please stop with the continual round the clock "Isn't Bush an idiot" blogging. We here at americanlogic know our current president is not an adult and have made this point on several occasions.

What purpose does this serve?

http://thinkprogress.org/2005/10/13/behind-the-scenes-photo-op/

Are those who did not vote for the credit card president supposed to be shocked by these developments? My god, he's doing PR on Iraq??! Come on.

Fake or not, a letter released this week by the number two in Al-Qaeda clearly defines who our enemy is and everyone who thinks we can and must do better must stop with the 2000 esque approach to blog punditry.

28%

that is the percentage of Americans who feel the country is headed in the right direction according to a new NBC/WSJ poll.

then again this credit card president doesn't pay attention to polls:

"You mean yesterday's poll, as opposed to tomorrow's poll? Go ahead. It's a good way to fill space, Richard." (Laughter.) (from the Rose Garden press conference Oct 4, 2005)

Wednesday, October 12, 2005

My God end this

Our current president is suffering from post conservative backlash syndrome. You could see the frustration in his face on the Today show yesterday when Lauer grilled him on Miers. Bush cannot seem to stand being asked to explain himself on any decision he has ever made, especially one so minimal as SCOTUS.

Today he played the religion card. Harriet Miers is a qualifed candiate for the Supreme Court of the United States of America because........she's an evangelical christian like he is. Does he forget which base he pissed off with this nomination? Oh yeah, it wasn't the Dobson's or the Robertson's, it was the Will's and the Kristol's. The intellectuals vs social conservatives.

Andrew Sullivan (who's blog was thankfully back up this morning after being hacked) remarked in September he was sick of this president. Forget Clinton fatigue, Bush fatigue is already taken over most of America. We have three more years of this?

Once Fitzgerald hands down his indictments (and they are coming, maybe this week?) America will plunge into a Bush coma. He will have made a complete transformation from a president who was reelected with a majority to a Carteresque failure. Can you imagine if this was the state of the country a year ago today?

We might have had some competency in the White House.

Heaven forbid (no pun intended).

american conservative

With the right becoming unglued its important to remember there were some principled conservatives out there who didn't buy into the Bush brand of conservatism:

http://www.amconmag.com/2003/12_1_03/cover.html

WHIG

short for white house iraq group.

Blogosphere is currently on fire with this one.

We credit washingtonmonthly.com, talkingpointsmemo.com, thinkprogress.org and more importantly the Wall Street Journal(?) for bringing to americanlogic's attention the broadening of the investigation by Patrick Fitzgerald to possibly include the biggest scam perpetrated on the american public.

And yes, Rove and Libby are members of this crony cabal.

Tuesday, October 11, 2005

closing in

Despite the expert opinion of John Fund of the Wall Street Journal who thinks Libby is the only one on the chopping block, I still think Rove is in the crosshairs of Fitzgerald. Rove will be indicted along with Scooter Libby on charges of obstruction of justice, which is why we see Judith Miller ready to provide more testimony. Bush's terse response to Lauer's CIA question on the Today show provided a clue that for the first time this president might have to fire someone and he's not liking it one bit.

So, Bush has two major disasters warming up at plate (baseball reference, in keeping with the whole Roberts confirmation theme), the looming defense bill which includes McCain's amendment banning torture and the likely indictment of an administration official.

Both major backbreakers if you ask americanlogic. Bush already has the legacy as the biggest spender in presidential history, creator of the most inept premptive war in modern times and Supreme Court favor giver. Is a proponent of torture next?

As the Moose said not to long ago: "America yearns for adult leadership."

ok we get it

http://thinkprogress.org/2005/10/11/new-orleans-trip/

Thanks for the news flash thinkprogress.

We at americanlogic get it, politics trumps everything in this administration, it is run by a man named Karl Rove.

This is an example of the left's crazed obsession with W. It's almost as scary as the right's continued obsession with Clinton.

the boys of Athens

if you are a rock fan, this has got to make you smile:

http://www.remhq.com/flash/news/news.html?news_id=1867

legacy

You know, when I saw the incident that I saw, after it was over, I approached the non-commissioned officer in charge, and I said, 'You know, anyone that you have in there that is innocent is a terrorist by the time they walk out.' And he said he knew." – Kayla Williams on "Real Time with Bill Maher" Oct 7 (hbo.com)

Kayla Williams is a former army officer who served in Iraq. This is the price we pay for our policies.

Bush Today

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/9654536/

the one question not asked:

"Mr.President, will you veto a bill that prohibits torture and abuse of prisoners?"

Sunday, October 09, 2005

new donkey

a site that I failed to include in the Americanlogic favorites category.

www.NewDonkey.com

Saturday, October 08, 2005

dems and Iraq

Since the president refuses to lay out a vision for Iraq other than a continuation of failure, maybe its up to the Democrats to lay out their own Iraq policy.

If Americanlogic were a prominent democrat he would start by joining with John McCain in asking for more troops on the ground to crush the growing insurgency. He then would call for the resignation of Donald Rumsfield, who's pig headedness has resulted in this insurgency's power.

More importantly, he would warn the president that if he vetoes the defense appropriation bill that includes guidelines for treating detainees, he is pretty much sanctioning continued torture of war prisoners.

As a promient democrat, which Americanlogic is not, he would actually listen to the generals on the ground in Iraq. Once parts of Iraq are in our control and the insurgency is crushed we can then hand the keys of Iraq to the leadership. Which means a slow withdrawl of american and british forces from the region.

As an aside, can you imagine for a second, if the powerful forces on the right were to present this alternative vision to the american public, would this credit card president actually take their advice as he has in desperately trying to sell Harriet Miers?

29% of independents approve of this president. These are unbiased people, not tarnished by either party. When are they going to be given a voice? Is there an independent out there who will emerge as a counter to this two party screwfest we are witnessing?

Only time will tell.

C-SPAN

There is about an hour left in the 25 hour marathon show on this pillar of politics in America.

Please, if you haven't tuned in yet please do and witness the only reliable source for the news that is left on cable.

for more info go to www.cspan.org, tommorow they will have highlights from each hourly topic discussed.

Friday, October 07, 2005

grounds for impeachment

If this president vetoes the defense bill with McCain's detainee clause.

here's the white house's phony, dispicable position:

Bush administration officials say the provision would limit the president’s authority and flexibility, and the White House says advisers would recommend a veto of the entire spending bill if it includes provisions that would hurt efforts in the war on terror.
White House spokesman Scott McClellan said Thursday that some of the wording about detainees was unnecessary and duplicative, and that the administration hoped to press the concerns with congressional negotiators
.

The Divider at work

President Bush's job approval rating has fallen to his lowest rating ever. 37 percent now approve of the job he is doing as president, while 58 percent disapprove. Those in his own party are still overwhelmingly positive about his performance (nearly 80 percent approve), but the president receives little support from either Democrats or Independents. And while views of President Bush have lately not changed much among Republicans or Democrats, his approval rating among Independents has dropped 11 points since just last month, from 40 percent to 29 percent now.

Apparently that 80% still believe they have a competent Republican leader running this country.

a little history

One year ago today this was released:

http://www.cnn.com/2004/WORLD/meast/10/06/iraq.wmd.report/

The 2005 version of Contract with America?

http://www.third-way.com/news/pop.htm

to me, this about more than winning elections, it's about bringing back common sense.

Thursday, October 06, 2005

interesting

Federal prosecutors have accepted an offer from presidential adviser Karl Rove to give 11th-hour testimony in the case of a CIA officer's leaked identity but have warned they cannot guarantee he won't be indicted, according to people directly familiar with the investigation (courtesy Salon.com)

a list you dont want to be on

Anyone interested in viewing a list of the nine senators that basically put their stamp of approval on torture go here:


www.andrewsullivan.com

Bush redux

Now I don't doubt Al Qaeda's determination to kill, but c'mon:

“We are facing a radical ideology with inmeasurable objectives to enslave whole nations and intimidate the world,” Bush said. (courtesy msnbc.com)

If you don't want to be enslaved by terrorists, you'd better stick with this failed president.

clueless

But Sen. Jeff Sessions, R-Ala., said the legislation is unnecessary. “We do not have a system of systematic abuse of prisoners going on by our United States military,” he said. (courtesy msnbc.com)

scary.

Thank you John McCain

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/9601116/

Now on the House, where i'm sure people like Hastert will do their best to derail it.

Senators Sessions and Stevens should hang their head in shame (they are two of the nine senators who basically voted for torture)

Thank you McCain and Ian Fishback. remember supportfishback@aol.com

If Bush vetoes this bill, its grounds for impeachment.

Wednesday, October 05, 2005

Where am I?

After the deaths this country suffered in the wake of Katrina, it's hard to believe right out of the box the court looks at the Oregon right to die with dignity law.

And all reports suggest newbie John Roberts clearly has a problem with a single state being given this kind of leeway. State rights John?

We can look at this in simple terms. I certainly don't want this government or any future goverment telling me how or when I should die. If every day of my life is burdened with suffering, I want to reach over and grab those medically prescribed pills that will end it. This is about as clear cut as it's going to get.

What is Harriet Miers stand as a member of the Valley View Christian Church? here you go:

We believe that God is sovereign. Man does not possess the judgement nor the right to determine when one's life should end. Euthanasia is man assuming God's sovereign role and therefore, must be rejected (tip: The New Republic)

And conservatives are upset why?

Liberty people. Liberty

More Buck passing

CIA Director Porter Goss said today that he would not pursue disciplinary action against any spy agency officials over intelligence lapses involving the September 11, 2001, attacks.
Reuters

The blame game has even seeped into the CIA. Here is the key passage:

But Goss blamed the CIA's shortcomings in the face of the September 11 attacks on a lack of agency resources and personnel in the 90's and said disciplinary action against individuals would undermine risk-taking in future operations.

So let's let more Atta's slip through the country unoticed and unchecked. Is anyone accountable? Oh, I keep forgetting what administration we're dealing with here.


much needed laugh

it seems nothing is off limits to Halliburton:



http://www.theonion.com/content/node/41245

Supreme Court and death

an excellent piece on the Supreme Court's first topic:


http://www.reason.com/rb/rb100505.shtml

Tuesday, October 04, 2005

Bush 102

-Die hard right wingers don't seem to be buying the presidents "just wait, you'll see" approach to Harriet Miers. Pat Buchanan was all over cable today stressing that conservatives have been waiting since the 80's for another Scalia or Thomas and hinted the president will pay at the polls in 2006.

-One thing that hasn't changed about the MSM is their tendency to buy into this presidents "folksy" charm. During one point the entire press corp erupted in gaffaws when Bush poked fun at a reporter who prefaced his question with "according to our latest poll."

-Getting back to Harriet Miers, how should liberals and moderates view her nomination? We need to wait for the hearings. Granted, her inexperience should trouble even the most casual observer, this is SCOTUS. Cheney's insistence yesterday that Miers is a carbon copy of Scalia or Thomas should give centrists great pause.

-Apparently a photo has been circulating the blogosphere that shows Miers handing Bush the August 2001 memo with the now infamous "Bin Laden determined to strike US" header. Let's not read too much into that folks, however i'm sure the folks at DailyKos already have it up.

Bush 101

It seems that we have a gigantic disparity between the statements made by Rumsfield, Abazaid and the like last week in front of the Armed Services Commitee and the statements we just heard from President Bush.

Bush said: "more than 80 Iraqi army battalions are fighting alongside U.S. troops, and 30 Iraqi battalions are capable of taking the lead in combat."

However, Gen Casey last week said there was one.

One.

This has been the story of Iraq. This president, with bold statements today like "we're not leaving Iraq" and "we're at war," simply refuses to change strategy even when his own commanders are presenting uncomfortable facts. Time and time again, facts have gotten in the way of a good tag line. "Mission Accomlished" "The insurgency is in its last throes" will be phrases that define the criminal incompentance of this president for years to come.

Miers of course was the main course. Memo to conservatives: she's his friend, she can't possibly have any flaws. This was essentially Bush's stance. He also seemed to speaking directly to the conservative blogosphere saying she wont change her mind on the issues in twenty years. My god, this is what picking a SCOTUS comes down to?: Don't worry, she's got enough experience as far as i'm concerned.

When you watch a press conference given by this president, you can't help but say to yourself: "My god, he reeks of entitlement."

Most telling however, was the comments he wouldn't make on the CIA leak, which now seems to be headed in his direction. On ABC's This Week George S hinted at Bush being involved with Rove in the discussion of Plame. He knows that Rove and Libby are in deep trouble and his cheap answer to whether he would fire anyone is all too telling. If you won't fire a criminal, who would you fire? Christ.

I don't know how anyone in America after watching this press conference can walk away feeling confident in this presidents ability to manage this country. If there are polls released that show a spike in his approval numbers, I will be astounded, not suprised but astounded.

Also, whoever asked the baseball steriod question should hang their head in shame.

what can we expect?

From the MSM: Harriet Miers questions "What do you say to those on the right who are unhappy with this nomination?" "How are you going to reassure your base?"

From the President: vague reassurances. Possibly a change in Iraq policy? Not likely.

Essential links

Americanlogic has compiled a complete list of blogs/sites you must read:

www.andrewsullivan.com
www.themoderatevoice.com
www.mooseblog.org
www.reason.com
www.onion.com
www.nationalreview.com (yeah, that's right)
www.tnr.com
www.talkingpointsmemo.com
www.thinkprogress.com
www.wonkette.com

Also, Bush has scheduled a news conference for 10:30 EST this morning, interesting that a day after the conservative blogosphere lights up he schedules a press conference, what? to take back the nomination? "Mr. Kristol, I didn't mean it"

Monday, October 03, 2005

the dream is over

With the election of George W.Bush in 2000 (he won, get over it), american conservatives had finally found the standard bearer of a new breed of conservatism: the compassionate kind.

Little did they know (and they should have known), Bush is more a political animal than even Bill Clinton was (and that one really gets them where it hurts). The minute he introduced Karl Rove to even the most casual observer was the moment the utopian conservative dream died.

Rove is a calculating partisan hack who cares not for the size of government, only the size of an electoral college victory. He sold the Iraq war to the public, in fact sold the country on George Bush in 2004. He actually convinced a majority of voters that Bush was competent and decisive leader.

Conservatives are reeling today (and liberals don't get to excited about this) not because of Katrina, the deficit or Bush's fear of the veto, but because they were sold a forgery. Conservatives believe they were promised a southern version of Reagan, but what they got was a combination of LBJ and Woodrow Wilson. A war they thought was just; a failure before troops were on the ground, a government that has swelled to a grotesque form, a lazy approach to the granduer of the office.

Liberals should be wary though. Rove still has a tight grip on DC (possibly not for long) and you can be sure he is cooking up new ways to lead the right slowly back to the promised land. Not to mention, has anyone heard any kind of democrat present a clear picture of his/her party since 1996?

Business first

The New Republic's Ryan Lizza seems to have been reading my blog (probably not) :

This pick reinforces several traits Bush doesn't want reinforced right now. It's a pro-business pick. In Texas Miers specialized in "commercial litigation, including antitrust and trade regulations and intellectual property disputes" according to this bio. It's a pro-crony pick. She was Bush's personal lawyer as far back as the 1980s, and obviously loyalty to Bush trumped intellectual firepower. Finally, the Miers pick cements the idea that Bush is politically weak and scared of a major fight with Democrats. As Bill Kristol just pointed out on Fox, this choice will be depressing to conservatives at exactly the moment when they were looking to be bucked up by the president.

for more excellent opinion www.tnr.com

then again......

At least we didn't get Alberto Gonzales, you know, the guy that wrote this:

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/4999148/site/newsweek/

I knew it

From the Onion:

WASHINGTON, DC—Shortly after President Bush's job-approval rating dipped to 40 percent, the lowest of his presidency, a poll indicated that Bush's approval rating for American citizens is also at an all-time low. "At 30 percent, President Bush's satisfaction with 'likely voters' is the lowest it's ever been," said Rachel Markham of TNS Intersearch. While Bush finds that 40 percent of Americans are "on the right track," he said he believes only 30 percent will do a good job supporting him in the event of another disaster or terrorist attack

classic stuff.

Conservative woes

With the selection of Harriet Miers to replace Sandra Day O'Connor Bush has once again crushed the dreams of the right wing.

Early reports indicate Miers is no ideologue. She is only committed to one thing: admiration of President Bush. The right was expecting a Scalia or a Thomas, legislators from the bench. Pat Buchanan must be on his last nerve.

Once again, Bush puts blind loyalty ahead of a true record. This credit card president has managed to incorporate cronyism even in selection of SCOTUS nominees.

What happened to careful deliberation? Oh yeah, I forgot we're talking about Bush here.

Harriet Miers

Bush has chosen his next supreme court nominee.

She is not a judge and has no legal record to go on.

More to come later.

Sunday, October 02, 2005

Gingrich 08

Could democrats actually vote for Newt Gingrich?

The former speaker of the house and antagonist of Bill Clinton has been on the case of the Bush administrations bungling of Katrina and now with the Delay indictment he says:

"you'll see more people in the next 30 days saying, 'I want to do this, or I want to do that.' Creative leadership is always chaotic. But I don't believe you get orderly, planned marches to great change." (courtesy Grand Rapids free press)

Gingrich also hinted at a possible run in 2008, saying his focus will be on health care (gasp!) and government modernization, which would mirror Clinton's platform in 1992.

Although the GOP is on the ropes, folks like Gingrich and John McCain will ensure the party survives the Bush era of cronyist business class politics.

democrats?, anyone......anyone.......





Endgame

How would you like to be a administration spokesperson these days?

Today's Washington Post makes it pretty clear that with Judy Miller's testimony we are closer to a resolution to another sad chapter in the Bush era.

My thoughts are that special prosecutor Fitzgerald will indict both Rove and Libby on conspiracy charges, meaning the Bush era officially dead and buried. Rove and Libby knew what they were doing, and selling this war was more important to them than national security.

The icing on the cake will be whether or not Bush, if Rove and Libby are charged, will actually fire Rove. My guess is probably not. In fact, Bush will nominate Rove for the Nobel Peace prize in recognition of his success at selling a premptive war.

That's really what it boils down to folks. America declared premptive war against Iraq on grounds that it would ensure the re-election of George W. Bush all the while playing politics with national security.

Now let's see the democrats use that in their weekly radio address.

Get ready America for a long winter.

Saturday, October 01, 2005

words of a true hero

Andrew Sullivan has really been the go to guy on the blogosphere in telling the story of Captain Ian Fishback, of the 82nd Airborne who is being "broken" by the Rumsfield military for telling the truth about our continual abuse of prisoners.

Fishback represents the heart and essence of America and we cannot let his sacrifice for this country fade away. Andrew Sullivan has set up a Aol account for support: supportfishback@aol.com

send an email to show your support for a true american. Reject the hideous policies of this administration.

"Do we sacrifice our ideals in order to improve security? Terrorism inspires fear and suppresses ideals like freedom and individual rights. Overcoming the fear posed by terrorist threats is a tremendous test of our courage. Will we confront danger and adversity in order to preserve our ideals, or will our courage and commitment to individual rights wither at the prospect of sacrifice? My response is simple. If we abandon our ideals in the face of adversity and agression, then those ideals were never really in our possession. I would rather die fighting than give up even the smallest part of the idea that is "America." Captain Ian Fishback

That is America.