“Dean was wrong on the war and what he was talking about was bad for the country. We’ll see what he does as chairman. If he devotes his energies to building a party at the base, as he talked about doing, good for him. If he continues to be a prominent spokesman on defense policy, I would regret it.” — Sen. Joseph Lieberman, on Howard Dean.
Joe is just about the only Democrat who makes sense these days.
Over at Dean’s World, Michael Demmons writes in to mention that over the past two days, he’s had thousands of new visitors come to his blog. What’s his secret? He blogged about Mario Vasquez, the dweeb who recently quit American Idol. EVERYONE seems to be googling his name. Talk about creepy.
I’ve got a similar story. Back in January, I wrote an article about Ashlee Simpson. Since then, I’ve had thousands of 12-year-old girls visit PunditGuy.
Not exactly the kind of traffic increase I was looking for.
In the Pacific Northwest, we don’t get on the Internet and look at pornography, we look at pictures of coffee.
Mmmmmm.
Lost Frog. (hint – keep clicking the pictures)
Today’s one-two punch delivered by Ann Coulter.
Via AP: Bush Says Coalition in Iraq Not Crumbling
President Bush acknowledged Wednesday that U.S. allies are anxious to get out of Iraq but firmly denied the coalition was crumbling. He also said patience was needed to find a diplomatic solution to Iran’s nuclear program.
A day after Italy announced it would begin withdrawing soldiers from Iraq by September, Bush refused to discuss the timing of any U.S. pullout. “Our troops will come home when Iraq is capable of defending herself,” he said.
We can remove a vicious dictator and free people, we can rebuild their nation, we can help them set up a government, we can help them hold an election, we can stand by as leaders are freely elected, and we can rejoice in the celebration of a first meeting of a democratic parliament, but the minute an aly signals that they are considering the withdrawal of troops from the region, THE WHOLE THING IS A FAILURE! IT’S CRUMBLING! THERE IS MASS RETREAT!
Give me a break.
I was listening to NPR on my way to work this morning (yes, I know, it’s kind of like self mutilation) and I heard a report from White House Correspondent Don Gonyea who was asked to relay the report of the Italian announcement of pending withdrawal, and you could almost hear the excitement in his voice. He was practically giddy!
“Bush is going down I tell you, he’s going down! His coalition of the willing is dropping off like flies…who’s left anyway? Bulgaria? HAHAHAHAHAHA”
OK, so he didn’t actually say that, but it’s what I heard.
Phhhffffttt!
UPDATE: Berlusconi backtracks.
Via AP: Iraq National Assembly Swears in Lawmakers
Two years after the fall of Saddam Hussein, Iraqi legislators were sworn in Wednesday as members of the 275-seat National Assembly, vowing to uphold freedom and democracy.
“This day marks a new birth for all Iraqis. It marks the birth of the parliament,” said Ibrahim al-Jaafari, the Shiite politician expected to be Iraq’s next prime minister.
Via ABC News: Government Blurring the Line on News
President Bush today defended his administration’s use of video news releases packaged as news stories, which have been sent to local television stations across the country and sometimes broadcast with no indication they were made by the government.
A report, for example, about the president’s controversial education bill — which was presented as news on many local stations including those in Houston and Washington — ended with the words: “This is a program that gets an ‘A-plus.’ In Washington, Karen Ryan reporting.”
But Karen Ryan is not a reporter. She works in public relations and was hired by the Bush administration to voice the government-produced news stories.
The U.S. Government Accountability Office — the investigative arm of Congress — ruled last month at least two of the broadcast reports — ones about Medicare and illegal narcotics — were “covert propaganda” and illegal.
Wait just a second here…are we talking about Washington, D.C. or Moscow? Aren’t the media outlets responsible for the airing of these prepackaged video news stories anyway? I mean, they’re not being delivered by gun point right? There isn’t an Uzi pointed at some interns head with instructions to load the Beta Cam tape and hit the play button after the Budweiser commercial.
Bush said in a press conference today there is nothing wrong with releasing the videos, basing his argument on two administration memos uncovered this week, written by Steven G. Bradbury, principal deputy assistant attorney general, and Joshua B. Bolten, director of the Office of Management and Budget.
“There is a Justice Department opinion that says these pieces are OK so long as they’re based upon facts, not advocacy,” said Bush. “And I expect our agencies to adhere to that ruling.”
Dear Mr. President,
That’s cool, you know, holding agencies accountable. But, I don’t think I’d trot out the lawyer or other bureaucrats on this one. Play one of the video reports and let the public (bloggers) decide. At the same time, be sure you criticize the New York Times, just for good measure.
“It was not clear from the prepackaged news stories who the source of the information was,” David Walker, comptroller general of the GAO, told ABC News. “It was pretty clear that these were intended to go directly to the viewing audience without any editing.”
According to Walker, this creates both legal and ethical issues, “not only on behalf of the people who are putting these together, but frankly on behalf of the news organizations who are using them.”
There…someone finally said it. The news organizations are to blame. And here they’re slamming bloggers saying we’re the ones who need editors – responsible types to “vet” the content of stories before they’re released to the public. Heh!
Practice what you preach.
Homeland Security Secretary Michael Chertoff said Wednesday it was a mistake for Hawaii to post a confidential report on its Web site, but the department will continue to communicate openly with state and local authorities about potential terror threats.
Hawaii officials published a draft copy of a confidential Homeland Security report that catalogues ways terrorists might strike in the United States. The report, requested by a presidential directive in December 2003, marks Homeland Security efforts to spur state and local authorities into thinking about preventing attacks.
Welcome to Washington Mr. Secretary.