Why don't those Republicans have any morals?

Ex-wife of GOP Senate candidate alleged sex club forays - Jun 22, 2004

The ex-wife of Jack Ryan, the Republican candidate for the U.S. Senate in Illinois, alleged in court papers filed in 2000 that he took her to sex clubs and asked her to engage in sexual activity in front of other patrons.

Evangelical Leaders Reexamine Principles

It's been a long time in coming, but this is a very positive sign:

The National Assn. of Evangelicals is circulating a draft of a groundbreaking framework for political action that strongly endorses social and economic justice and warns against close alignment with any political party.

Steeped in biblical morality and evangelical scholarship, the framework for public engagement could change how the estimated 30 million evangelicals in this country are viewed by liberals and conservatives alike.

...

In the midst of a presidential election year, war and terrorism, the framework says Christians in their devotion to country "must be careful to avoid the excesses of nationalism." In domestic politics, evangelicals "must guard against over-identifying Christian social goals with a single political party, lest nonbelievers think that Christian faith is essentially political in nature."

Bush still winning the war on terror

American hostage's body found, Saudis say

Here's a tidbit on why the Abu prison scadal matters. No, it didn't give birth to terrorism -- they were killing longer before we invaded Iraq. But ordinary middle-of-the-road Saudis, which could have helped find the kidnappers, refuse to cooperate because they're so enraged. Having to choose sides between domestic thugs and foriegn thugs, who are they going to side with?

"How can we inform on our brothers when we see all these pictures coming from Abu and Rajah," Mukluks NOF, a resident of Dhahran al-Boudoir, said at a restaurant called Jihad, or holy war in Arabic. He was referring to the pictures of Iraqis abused by U.S. soldiers at the Abu prison in Baghdad and the Israeli military's killing of Palestinians and the destruction of their homes in the Gaza refugee camp of Rajah.

The weirdest WWII story you've never heard

Slate writes about the only fatal Japaese attack on the mainland U.S. and its implications for wartime censorship.

Improbable though it may sound, from late 1944 through the spring of 1945, the Japanese launched more than 9,000 balloons from their nation's eastern shores. Filled not with mild-mannered hot air but extremely flammable hydrogen and armed with incendiary and antipersonnel bombs, the balloons rode the jet stream across the Pacific Ocean for several days before landing throughout North America.

Impeach

Pentagon coordinated Halliburton deal

A Pentagon e-mail said Vice President Dick Cheney’s office “coordinated” a multibillion-dollar Iraq reconstruction contract awarded to his former employer Halliburton, Time magazine reported on Sunday.

Just when you thought this administration couldn't get any more corrupt. But, hey, at least it's not a lie about sex, right?

Ready or not, Iraq, get ready for June 30!

Bleak outlook

MSNBC - Pessimism grows about Iraq's future: "Inside the Green Zone, the heavily fortified U.S. administration compound that Salim was about to enter when the suicide bomber struck, expectations are grim. 'It will take a lot of doing for this not to end in a debacle,' a senior occupation official said. 'There is no confidence in the coalition. Why should there be?'"

So next time Bush tries to laud his boldness, resolve and leadership, try not to laugh too hard in his face.

WMD found?

Not quite. If this "Traces of sarin in bomb story" turns out to be true, it isn't even remotely proof that Dear Leader was right. Before the right-wing bloggers start citing this as vindication, remember that chemical weapons were a specialty of Abu Musab Zarqawi, the Al Queda leader who operated in U.S.- and Kurd-controlled Iraqi territory before the Gulf War II.
From a Slate article I've cited before:

As far back as June 2002, U.S. intelligence reported that Zarqawi had set up a weapons lab at Kirma in northern Iraq that was capable of producing ricin and cyanide.

This is the same guy who could have been killed long before the invasion had the White House just given its OK. But that, of course, would have undermined the need for our invasion.

More superb work

Car bomb kills head of Governing Council

We're getting ready to hand over power, and we can't even guard the Iraqi head of state?

Of course, maybe that's my media bias talking. I mean, why can't they report on all the Iraqi officials who weren't killed by a suicide bomber?

Powell criticizes Arab governments

MSNBC - Powell criticizes Arab governments: "Powell said he has made clear, specifically to Arab leaders, that systematic torture of prisoners is unacceptable anywhere. Yet, he said, their denunciation of the killing of Nicholas Berg, kidnapped while in Iraq seeking business for his Pennsylvania communication company, fell far short of their attacks on the United States for the treatment of detainees at Baghdad's Abu Ghraib prison."

Good point. One of the main differences between our prison scandal and those of these Middle East dictatorships is that here, it's actually a scandal. You'll rarely -- if ever -- see the governments of Syria, Iran or even Saudi Arabia launching investigations into their own behavior. It was our own military and our own press that brought this scandal to light. That's more than you can say about any Middle East country, except maybe Israel.

Forget Rumsfeld; fire Bush.

White House memo shifts abuse inquiry’s focus

A story in the latest edition of Newsweek has shifted the focus of the Iraq prisoner abuse scandal to the question of whether the Bush administration established a legal basis that opened the door for the mistreatment.
...
And the Newsweek story reports that U.S. soldiers and CIA operatives “could be accused of war crimes. Among the possible charges: homicide involving deaths during interrogations.

Now, I don't believe Al Queda qualify as soldiers (they're not uniformed, they target civilians, etc.), and I actually don't have too big a problem with high-value subjects getting a little roughed up, assuming it doesn't taint the info we get or chances of prosecution. But to simply throw away the Geneva convention for ordinary, secured prisoners -- 90% of which the Red Cross says are mistaken detentions -- is a grave, grave mistake.

The Geneva convention isn't a straightjacket so much as a protection for our soldiers. When enemy forces know they may face war crime trials after a war is over, it makes them think twice about mistreating our soldiers. And throwing them out makes us just another warring party, not a force of good in the world. Of course, the whole Iraq War II kind of did the same thing.

More on the Bush/Zarqawi connection

I'm probably quoting more than I'm allowed to, but this article on Slate is worth a read:

The implications of this are more shocking, in their way, than the news from Abu Ghraib. Bush promoted the invasion of Iraq as a vital battle in the war on terrorism, a continuation of our response to 9/11. Here was a chance to wipe out a high-ranking terrorist. And Bush didn't take advantage of it because doing so might also wipe out a rationale for invasion.

The story gets worse in its details. As far back as June 2002, U.S. intelligence reported that Zarqawi had set up a weapons lab at Kirma in northern Iraq that was capable of producing ricin and cyanide. The Pentagon drew up an attack plan involving cruise missiles and smart bombs. The White House turned it down. In October 2002, intelligence reported that Zarqawi was preparing to use his bio-weapons in Europe. The Pentagon drew up another attack plan. The White House again demurred. In January 2003, police in London arrested terrorist suspects connected to the camp. The Pentagon devised another attack plan. Again, the White House killed the plan, not Zarqawi.

When the war finally started in March, the camp was attacked early on. But by that time, Zarqawi and his followers had departed.

Undeterred by McCain Denials, Some See Him as Kerry's No. 2

As unlikely as this scenario is, I think it would be a dynamite move, in the good sense of the word.

Regime change

Pollsters: Kerry aside, Bush is in trouble

Is Bush responsible?

If this is true, the Bushies are far worse scumbags than even I imagined:

"Military officials insist their case for attacking Zarqawi's operation was airtight, but the administration feared destroying the terrorist camp in Iraq could undercut its case for war against Saddam."

Zarqawi is the guy probably responsible for beheading Nic Berg.

Superb job, Rumsfeld.

Islamic Web site claims revenge killing

"A video posted Tuesday on an Islamic militant Web site showed the beheading of an American civilian in Iraq, and said the execution was carried out by an al-Qaida affiliated group to avenge the abuse of Iraqi prisoners by American soldiers."

Nic Berg truly owes you a debt of gratitude.

Saddam to be handed over to Iraqis in June

Good idea. Because, clearly, he will not be able to escape -- seeing as how all of Iraq is united against him, and all.

Hybrid Mileage Comes Up Short

From Wired News:

Data from independent product-testing organization Consumer Reports indicates that hybrid cars get less than 60 percent of EPA estimates while navigating city streets. In Consumer Reports' real-world driving test, the Civic Hybrid averaged 26 mpg in the city, while the Toyota Prius averaged 35 mpg, much less than their respective EPA estimates of 47 and 60 mpg. Hybrid cars performed much closer to EPA estimates in Consumer Reports' highway tests.

Well, this is disappointing. But the story should have compared real-world milage between traditonal and hybrid cars.

Missions accomplished!

Bush says Rumsfeld doing a 'superb job'

Yes, apparently, we've:
1) Caught Osama
2) Freed Afghanistan from the clutches of opressive Islamists
3) found the weapons of mass destruction
4) Established a pro-U.S. democracy in the Middle East
5) Given the Middle East a fine example of respect for human rights
6) Secured cheap oil for low, low gas prices
7) And, of course, ended a regime of torture, murder and rape.

With a record like that, what's not to praise about Rumsfeld's performance? No wonder the military loves him so much!

New comments

Blogger added a commenting system in a big upgrade, so I switched. One nice thing about this one is you can put the comments right on the page itself, not a separate pop-up window. (This may have been possible before on YACCS, but I didn't take the time to figure it out.)

So, feel free to comment away...