news aggregator

March 16, 2006

11:53

Yeah, yeah, another stupid open thread.

Source: Atrios Blog
Categories: Blogs
11:45
The difference between Republicans who still support Bush and the ones who no longer do is that the ones who still support Bush still imagine that they are in on the con.

idiots.
Source: Atrios Blog
Categories: Blogs
11:39
Lawyers for I. Lewis “Scooter” Libby subpoenaed The New York Times, former Times reporter Judith Miller and NBC correspondent Tim Russert for documents related to the disclosure of an undercover CIA agent’s identity.
Categories: News
11:24
The Editors write that the case of an architect who lost lucrative contracts because of his interest in the Palestinian cause underscores how Americans are becoming inured to enforced patriotism and ideological litmus tests.

Categories: News
11:22
In August the anti-Joe Lieberman forces in the Democratic Party may get their chance for vengeance, as Ned Lamont, a Greenwich, Conn. cable television entrepreneur, tries to knock Lieberman off in the Senate primary.
Categories: News
11:15
The fiscal irresponsibility of the GOP strikes again:

March 16 (Bloomberg) -- The U.S. Congress approved a $781 billion increase in the federal government's debt limit, the fourth time lawmakers have raised the cap since President George W. Bush took office.

The Senate voted 52-48 to increase the legal limit on federal borrowing to $8.97 trillion, up from $8.18 trillion. The House approved the measure last year, meaning the legislation now goes to the president for his signature.

52-48.  Every single Democrat voted against imposing this financial burden on working Americans. Every. Single. One.

While Democrats are united in reigning in the  out-of-control and reckless spending of this President, the Republican Party couldn't care less about our financial security.  The rubber-stamp Republicans have increased the government's debt four times since President Bush took office , adding an additional $2.23 trillion cushion.   The debt limit now stands at a record $8.965 trillion.  TRILLION. The number boggles the mind.  Even Senate Budget Committee Chairman Judd Gregg confessed "It's hard to understand what a trillion is. I don't know what it is."  What isn't hard to understand is that if voters want a change, if they want adults controlling the nation's purse, the only party that can restore fiscal sanity is the Democratic Party.

Update: Only three Republicans voted with the Democrats. Burns (R-MT), Ensign (R-NV), and Coburn (R-OK). Hat tip to dannyinla for the link.

Source: Daily Kos Blog
Categories: Blogs
11:09
Source: Atrios Blog
Categories: Blogs
11:09
How have I managed to, until now, be utterly unaware that we had a senator named Crapo.
Source: Atrios Blog
Categories: Blogs
10:21

CBS News Poll, March 13th, 2006; Poll conducted March 9-12, 2006
LOOKING AHEAD: SUCCESS IN IRAQ?

WILL THE U.S. SUCCEED IN IRAQ?

Very likely

15% Now

21% 1/2006

21% 7/2005

Somewhat likely

36% Now

42% 1/2006

43% 7/2005

Not very/not at all likely

47% Now

35% 1/2006

35% 7/2005

WILL IRAQ BECOME A STABLE DEMOCRACY?

Categories: Blogs
10:14

By American Progress Action Fund

In 1966, President Lyndon B. Johnson signed the Freedom of Information Act (FOIA), a landmark law that opened the government's records to public scrutiny and is being celebrated today -- National FOI Day. Ruth Rosen, former columnist for the San Francisco Chronicle, called FOIA "one of our greatest democratic reforms...allow[ing] ordinary citizens to hold the government accountable by requesting and scrutinizing public documents and records." Yet now, approaching its 40th year, FOIA -- and open government in general -- is under attack. Since 9/11, the Bush administration has stalled or ignored an increased number of FOIA requests, classified a record number of documents, stepped up punishment for whistleblowers, and tightened secrecy in the name of national security. Meredith Fuchs, general counsel at the National Security Archive, explained that 9/11 has become "an excuse for secrecy, rather than a need for secrecy." Fifty-nine percent of the American public believe there is now "too much secrecy" in the federal government. From refusing to release information about detainees at Guantanamo Bay, to keeping lawmakers and the public in the dark about an illegal, warrantless, domestic wiretapping program, "the administration's preference for secrecy is less about winning the war on terrorism than simply avoiding public scrutiny."

Categories: Blogs
10:04

Dr. Rashad Zaydan of Baghdad, Iraq, Rev. Lennox Yearwood, President and CEO of the Hip Hop Caucus and Hurricane Katrina survivor Bilal Moran of Gretna, Louisiana clasp hands in prayer in Lafayette Square across from the White House March 14, 2006 in Washington, DC. Zaydan is a pharmacist that sold her business in Baghdad to found the Knowledge for Iraqi Women Society to assist widows and orphans of the war in her home country. During the rally, Rev. Yearwood drew parallels between the innocent civilians in Iraq and the homeless survivors of Hurricane Katrina. Earlier in the day, Yearwood, members of Congress, civil rights leaders, faith leaders and Hurricane Katrina survivors rallied on Capitol Hill to call on the Bush Administration and Congress to halt the March 15 eviction of some 10,000 hurricane survivors that are living in hotels across the country. They also demanded that the Voting Rights Act be enforced and call off the upcoming election in New Orleans, and to pass HR 4197.

Categories: Blogs
10:02
The White House said Wednesday a revised policy on granting security clearances to gays and lesbians does not reflect a change in how the government will treat sexual orientation.
Categories: News
10:02

By Reuters

BAGHDAD --The U.S. military said on Thursday it had launched its
biggest air offensive in Iraq since the 2003 invasion.

A military statement said the operation involving more than 50
aircraft and 1,500 Iraqi and U.S. troops as well as 200 tactical
vehicles targeted suspected insurgents operating near the town of
Samarra, 100 km (60 miles) north of Baghdad.

The statement said "Operation Swarmer" was launched on Thursday

Categories: Blogs
10:00
NCAA Tournament: 16 seeds think upset, UConn reaches for the switch, alma mater loyalty clouds bracket judgment.
Source: Salon.com
Categories: News
09:50
Rep. Katherine Harris will fight rather than quit her U.S. Senate campaign, saying she’ll spend $10 million she inherited from her father to revive her bid, which has been set back by her ties to a bribery scandal.
Categories: News
09:25

GOVERNMENT: Secrets and Lies

Categories: News
09:17
Scalia:

Scalia decried his own court's recent overturning of a state anti-sodomy law, joking that he personally believes "sexual orgies eliminate tension and ought to be encouraged," but said a panel of judges is not inherently qualified to determine the morality of such behavior.

Source: Atrios Blog
Categories: Blogs
09:01

By Zaki Chehab, http://www.newstatesman.com

Kidnappings, power cuts, sectarian hatred, medical shortages, petrol
queues, intimidation of women and a mass exodus of talent: all part
of life in the new Iraq.

In June last year, in al-Jadriyah, a wealthy suburb of Baghdad, the
wife of a veterinary surgeon received a call that people in the city
have come to dread. It was from an unknown group claiming respon-

Categories: Blogs