What?! A Positive Review For Dem Candidates?

WP: Democratic hopefuls show political heft - washingtonpost.com Highlights - MSNBC.com:
"...(T)he overall impression from the first formal debate from this early-starting campaign is that the Democrats have a field of contenders that, by any historical measure, matches in quality any the party has offered in decades."

The Colonels Don't Agree With The Generals

My Way News - Army Officer Criticizes Generals on Iraq:

BAGHDAD (AP) - An active duty U.S. Army officer warns the United States faces the prospect of defeat in Iraq, blaming American generals for failing to prepare their forces for an insurgency and misleading Congress about the situation here.

'For reasons that are not yet clear, America's general officer corps underestimated the strength of the enemy, overestimated the capabilities of Iraq's government and security forces, and failed to provide Congress with an accurate assessment of security conditions in Iraq,' Lt. Col. Paul Yingling said in the article published Friday in the Armed Forces Journal.

Several retired generals have made similar comments, but such public criticism from an active duty officer is rare. It suggests that misgivings about the conduct of the Iraq war are widespread in the officer corps at a critical time in the troubled U.S. military mission here.

The Repugs keep saying the generals want us to stay the course, etc. Of course, those would be the generals who were not fired or forced to retire or just left on their own because they couldn't go along with the administration's BS. Now the colonels are beginning to "express their feelings" about the situation in Iraq.

Okay, let's review shall we? The American people want the troops out of Iraq. The Iraqi people want the American's out of Iraq. The American troops want to get out of Iraq. Why are we still in Iraq?!

Tenet Spills And Chills

Ex-C.I.A. Chief, in Book, Assails Cheney on Iraq - New York Times
"He also expresses skepticism about whether the increase in troops in Iraq will prove successful. “It may have worked more than three years ago,” he wrote. “My fear is that sectarian violence in Iraq has taken on a life of its own and that U.S. forces are becoming more and more irrelevant to the management of that violence.”"

It must be a lot easier to think and reason once you're far enough away from the exhaust of Darth Cheney's breather.

BushCo Breaks The 30% Barrier

Bush Approval Rating Hits All Time Low In Wall Street Journal Poll | The Moderate Voice:
"Of the 1,001 American adults polled online April 20-23, only 28% had a positive view of Mr. Bush’s job performance, down from 32% in February and from a high of 88% in the aftermath of the terror attacks of Sept. 11, 2001. The current rating is his weakest showing since his inauguration."

Can he get below 20%? Sure he can. Let's see how long it takes.

Senate Passes Iraq War Bill Requiring Pullout - New York Times

Senate Passes Iraq War Bill Requiring Pullout - New York Times

Chimpie will of course veto; one of the reasons for his amazing approval rating.

Start Remembering, Gonzo!

War Room - Salon.com:
"In a letter to Alberto Gonzales, Senate Judiciary Committee chairman Patrick Leahy and ranking Republican member Arlen Specter tell the attorney general he should get busy 'searching and refreshing' his memory in order to answer questions he didn't answer when he appeared before their committee last week."

Looks like the Reagan Defense isn't going to cut it this time.

Put It On The Table!

The Raw Story | Pelosi pressed to put impeachment back on table:
"'I've been blown away by the response. People are wanting to organize and rally behind one single thing at the convention, and that's impeachment,' said Joye Swan of the Progressive Caucus of the California Democratic Party, who is helping lead an effort to pass a resolution expressing the California Democratic Party's support for impeaching President George W. Bush and Vice President Dick Cheney."

The more we press for it, the sooner it will happen. Visualize peace! And no more Cheney, Bush, Gonzales, Rove, Rice, etc.

Donald Rumsfeld Profits From Bird Flu Scare and Bush's Response To It

There's a pattern in this Administration where members (or former members) of the Administration benefit financially from decisions the Administration makes. In fact it's routine.



read more | digg story

Kucinich's Articles of Impeachment of Cheney now available

Read the actual Articles of Impeachment that Dennis Kucinich proposed earlier today.http://kucinich.house.gov/SpotlightIssues/documents.htmKucinich has introduced articles of impeachment against Cheney. Whether they go anywhere or not, the documents on this page emphatically support such a procedure. If anybody in the capital had any spine, they'd back it. That they won't speaks for itself.



read more | digg story

Condi Rice subpoenaed tomorrow?

In a congressional investigation into the intelligence (or lack thereof) leading to the Iraq invasion, subpoenas may be issued tomorrow to force Condi to testify. Time to fire up the amnesia machine once again!



read more | digg story

Why BushCo Sucks, Reason 5,993

OSHA Leaves Worker Safety in Hands of Industry - New York Times:

Since George W. Bush became president, OSHA has issued the fewest significant standards in its history, public health experts say. It has imposed only one major safety rule. The only significant health standard it issued was ordered by a federal court.

The agency has killed dozens of existing and proposed regulations and delayed adopting others. For example, OSHA has repeatedly identified silica dust, which can cause lung cancer, and construction site noise as health hazards that warrant new safeguards for nearly three million workers, but it has yet to require them.

If you've found yourself wondering why your life keeps getting worse in so many ways, perhaps one of the (primary) reasons is the administration's disregard for the people and the government that is supposed to represent and defend them. Just a thought.

Do It!

My Way News - Panel Grants Immunity to Gonzales Aide

Subpoena the lady and get this over with. She knows crimes were committed, despite the White House's spin that she only claimed the Fifth because she thought Congress was trying to trap her (the truth will set you free, girl!) in a purgery case. You can't be charged with purgery if you don't lie, and anyone in DOJ should not only know this but not have a problem with testifying. Since she does, and since Gonzales refuses to tell what happened ("I don't remember," is not an explanation and is just not acceptable from somebody in his position), giving her immunity is one way to get her to talk. However, it would be better if we knew what she needs immunity from ahead of time. It sounds like she wants immunity so she CAN purger herself with impunity. That would not be helpful. Her immunity should be contingent upon her testimony being verifiable fact and not just whatever story her bosses want her to tell.

Oh, Yes!

Low-key office launches high-profile inquiry - Los Angeles Times:
"The decision by Bloch's office is the latest evidence that Rove's once-vaunted operations inside the government, which helped the GOP hold the White House and Congress for six years, now threaten to mire the administration in investigations.
"

Turn up the heat, guys, turn up the heat! Rove is as "dirty" as they come when it comes to dirty politics. I just hope this OSC has the juice to get something done here, or at least to stir up enough dust to get the attention of someone who does (though I don't know who that would be at this point).

FDA Was Aware of Dangers To Food - washingtonpost.com

FDA Was Aware of Dangers To Food - washingtonpost.com:

'This administration does not like regulation, this administration does not like spending money, and it has a hostility toward government. The poisonous result is that a program like the FDA is going to suffer at every turn of the road,' said Rep. John D. Dingell (D-Mich.), chairman of the full House committee. Dingell is considering introducing legislation to boost the agency's accountability, regulatory authority and budget.

In the peanut butter case, an agency report shows that FDA inspectors checked into complaints about salmonella contamination in a ConAgra Foods factory in Georgia in 2005. But when company managers refused to provide documents the inspectors requested, the inspectors left and did not follow up.

"What? You won't comply? Oh, okay, nevermind." WTF?!

Yeah, Right

Key Initiative Of 'No Child' Under Federal Investigation - washingtonpost.com:

Members of the panel said they recused themselves from voting on their own products but did assess their competitors. Of 24 tests approved by the committee, seven were tied to members of the panel.

'I regret the perception of conflicts of interest,' said Kame'enui, former chairman of the committee, who now works at the department as commissioner of the National Center for Special Education Research. 'But there was no real conflict of interest being engaged in.'

Uh-huh. And my dog can sing the Star Spangled Banner.

Corruption of this program, with cronies taking advantage of the rules to force schools into using their contractors has been mentioned before in the blogosphere. This is the first I've seen mention of it in the traditional media. Now that BushCo's approval rating is permanently in the crapper and even the Repugs are jumping on the wagon of criticism, it looks like the justice department is finally starting to look into it. I'm sure this has nothing to do with all the publicity surrounding DOJ partisanship. No way. Perish the thought.