Department Of Defense Directive 1344.10, Section E3.3.9 (August 2, 2004) states that an armed services member on active duty shall not: …Participate in any radio, television, or other program or group discussion as an advocate for or against of a partisan political party, candidate, or cause. Today, Robert Novak writes: At the same time, the Bush administration is going directly … Read More
On The L.A. Terrorist Plot
The headlines this morning were all about how Bush was going to defend the NSA wiretap program by giving examples of how it thwarted terrorist plots. Sadly, Bush isn’t doing that. Instead, he’s giving some details about a 2002 al Qaeda plot to fly an airplane into a Los Angeles skyscraper, but he’s giving credit to international cooperation. The president … Read More
Kindergarteners Banned From NASA
Well, not American ones. Just foreign exchange students. The kindergarten class at Lakewood’s Taft Elementary was planning a field trip to NASA Glenn Research Center. It’s a popular trip because it’s free, because the NASA staff already has age-appropriate tours that fit well with school curriculum, and, well, it’s outer space, for pete’s sake. They’ve got rocket ships. And NASA … Read More
Blogger Do-Gooders
The story hit liberal AMERICABlog this morning. First Lt. William "Eddie" Rebrook IV, 25, suffered severe injuries when he was struck by a roadside bomb one year ago in Iraq. Because of his injuries, Rebrook left the Army recently, returning home last Friday. Upon his discharge, he learned that the Army billed him $700 for the "lost" body armor that … Read More
Free Speech For Me But Not For Thee
Dateline Missouri: Saying the nation’s symbol "deserves more respect than the protest message of some liberal hippie," a Missouri state lawmaker has introduced a bill legalizing the use of force to stop someone from desecrating the American flag. Republican Rep. Sam Gaskill, a former fighter pilot in Vietnam, defended his bill yesterday, insisting the measure would prevent the defilement of … Read More
We’re Up To The 4’s
The #1 man in al Qaeda is bin Laden. On that, we can all agree. But having caught half a dozen "#2 men in al Qaeda", and a few "#3 men", the Bush Administration has pretty much exhausted credibility. And now, we just caught the first of what I’m sure will be many #4 men. By the way, who assigns … Read More
Dizazter For Kidz
Shakespeare’s Sister is right. There’s something a little, well, gay about Rex, the mascot on the recently-unveiled Homeland Security for Kids website called "Fear Can Be FUN!!!"* Especially when you read his bio: HE LOVES: Making friends! He talks to everyone he meets and loves to learn all about them. Rex knows that everyone has a special story and something … Read More
The Cartoon Wars
Conservative bloggers have had their knickers in a twist the past few days about Danish and European newspapers that have published cartoons which, depending on your point of view, depict the Prophet Mohammad in an offensive and demeaning manner. Generally speaking, the cartoons have caused angry (but so far peaceful) demonstrations from Europe’s Muslim community. Conservative bloggers, on the other … Read More
Trick Question
MyDD commissioned a poll. One of the questions was this: Q14. Given events since the invasion, do you support the decision to maintain a U.S. combat force of over 100,000 troops in Iraq for the next few years? All Dem Rep … Read More
They LOVE Us!
A new poll found that nearly half of Iraqis approve of attacks on U.S.-led forces, and most favor setting a timetable for American troops to leave.
Terrorism: A Risk-Benefit Analysis
Glenn Greenwald writes a post which will no doubt drive the right wingers batty: All of this seems obvious at this point. The total number of Americans killed by Islamic terrorists in the last 5 years — or 10 years — or 20 years — or ever — is roughly 3,500, the same number of deaths by suicide which occur … Read More
Delayed Learnin’
Bush Taking Bin Laden Threat Seriously reads the headline. Really. I’m not kidding. The fact that Bush is taking a bin Laden threat seriously . . . is news. So 9/11 did change something. Albeit belatedly. Recall in March 2002, Bush said this in response to a bin Laden-related question from the press: [T]he idea of focusing on one person … Read More
Mmmm. Who Should I Believe?
Gosh, I’m in a quandary. First, there’s this Pentagon study: Stretched by frequent troop rotations to Iraq and Afghanistan, the Army has become a "thin green line" that could snap unless relief comes soon, according to a study for the Pentagon. Then there’s Donald "There Are Known Knowns And Known Unknowns, But We Know Where The WMDs Are (They’re Just … Read More
Spread Of Democracy
The Hamas in Palestine is a "terrorist group" according to the European Union, Canada, the United States, and Israel, and its attacks targeting Israeli civilians and other human rights abuses have been condemned by the United Nations Commission on Human Rights, Amnesty International and Human Rights Watch. Now, there is an huge gap in my knowledge about Middle East politics, … Read More
The Incompetent President
Focusing primarily on Bush’s disasterous Medicare program, WaPo’s editorialist Harold Meyerson has a few words to say: Incompetence is not one of the seven deadly sins, and it’s hardly the worst attribute that can be ascribed to George W. Bush. But it is this president’s defining attribute. Historians, looking back at the hash that his administration has made of his … Read More