He was busted on January 2, but he resigned only a few weeks ago with no explanation, so now we know why.

http://www.cnn.com/...

Republicans will try to play this off as an "old ex-aide", but  given that the crime occurred before he resigned, this would hardly be the case. I don't know what it is with Republicans and dishonesty, but I have to assume that the lure of power must make them feel invincable.

How would those terrorists transport those weapons half way around the world to the United States?

The chances of getting those weapons on a plane in a post 9/11 are almost nill. Terrorists would not have their own transportation means to go half way around the world.

Most likely through the ports on the east coast of the United States... the ones being given away to the UAE.

Does Bush really care about National Security?

So today, when many of the announcers and experts have been questioning whether we our losing in Iraq, I had to take notice. Even Geraldo made an impassionaed and emotional plea at lunch for the US to pull back to the outskirts.

The president spent this morning being briefed by military experts and somebody at Fox says he appared nervous, and that the best he could do was to urge patience in Iraq.

more....

George Allen: 22%
John McCain: 20%
Rudy Giuliani: 12%
Condoleezza Rice: 10%
Bill Frist: 6%
Tom Tancredo: 5%
Mitt Romney: 5%
Newt Gingrich: 5%
Rick Santorum: 3%
George Pataki: 3%
Undecided: 4%

UPDATE: I meant to say that this can't be good news for the republicans.

First watch the video of the God Warrior. It's in quicktime format, but they also have it in WMP format too.

Then see the God Warrior doll on EBay for $870. Careful, the EBay link has sound (in case you're at work).

Update: I guess this is old news, but it was the first I heard about it (sorry). Here's another link

Fox News is refusing to air an ad critical of Supreme Court nominee Samuel Alito, citing its lawyers' contention that the spot is factually incorrect.

A spokesman for the groups sponsoring the ad said the network's decision reflects the political right's effort to shield President Bush's choice for the high court.
....
Asked about changing the ad in response to Fox's request, Jordan said, "Roger Ailes doesn't get to edit our ads." Ailes is chairman of Fox News.

So why hasn't anybody pointed out that by their own logic, the mere fact that Clinton said that Saddam had WMD should have told them that Saddam, in fact, did NOT have WMD.

While we're on the subject, keep in mind that the republicans point out that the French, the U.N., and the Eurpoeans also said Saddam had them - and we know how much the Republicans trust them.

(More on this including a poll on the best comeback)

Karl Rove's colleagues don't know exactly when it will happen, but they are already laying out the reasons they will give for [his] departure...

...several of the most important lawyers who deal with special counsel Patrick Fitzgerald said they saw more clues last week that Fitzgerald is continuing to look into the possibility of charging Rove with lying to investigators or the grand jury or both.

Otherwise, [if he is not indicted] Rove is likely to wait for a chance to minimize the perception that he is being hounded out or leaving under a cloud.
...
If [Rove] leaves, he will not be alone. Several well-wired Administration officials predict that within a year, the President will have a new chief of staff and press secretary, probably a new Treasury Secretary and maybe a new Defense Secretary.

If you've followed NPR/PGS/CPB since Bush was president, you will know that Bush and the republicans have tried to push NPR to the right using questionable (and possibly unethical) practices. Read here

Tomlinson, a Republican, quit shortly before CPB Inspector General Kenneth Konz was to publish a report after investigating his activities, including paying outside researchers to check public programming for liberal bias.

Critics, including broadcasters and congressional Democrats, accused Tomlinson of trying to advance his own conservative agenda in public broadcasting, which is supposed to be non-partisan.

Details of the investigation have not yet been reported. It also looked into the selection of a former co-chair of the Republican National Committee as CPB president, according to Sen. Byron Dorgan

Fox News just reported that Bush made his mind up on Scalito on Friday afternoon. However, he waited until Monday morning to formally announce him.

If this is true, his decision would have come within hours of Meirs stepping down, meaning Bush probably decided on Scalito even before Miers "withdrew".

The timing of this says a great deal about the political strategy of the white house. More than likely, all of this was orchestrated weeks ago, rather than days (no surprise there!).
 

Pardon: There's little chance that Bush will actually pardon Libby before the November 2008 elections. It will inflict too much damage for the republicans. They'll be seen by the middle as a bunch of crooks and cronies.

Trial: I think there is NO chance that any republican wants this thing to go to trial. On the other hand, as long as there is a trial in process, Bush/Cheney can avoid commenting on anything to do with the case. This avoids the real question of why Cheney & Rove aren't getting fired. The only downside is the constant drip of bad buzz in the press, but I don't think this will be considered too high of a price. Especially since the constant bad buzz of Iraq doesn't phase them.

Karl Rove gets warned that he will probably be indicted. So  to spare disgrace for Rove, but more importantly for the president, they make an arrangement with Fitzgerald so that Rove will talk and give more information in this case. Rove's lawyer (Luskin) has given Fitzgerald a preview of this new information. In exchange, Fitzgerald will get (or has gotten) a sealed indictment against Rove that he can hold in his pocket. This will ensure that Rove gives the testimony that Fitzgerald wants, if not, the indictment will be unsealed.

This new information will be used to either 1) help seal the case against Libby and/or 2) help in further indictments for a new grand jury investigation. I think that all involved will try to keep this as far away from the President as possible, even if it means taking down Libby in order to spare Rove. My guess is that Libby would be onboard with this too - they are all "team" players and must protect the president at all costs.

But comments she made this morning on the NBC Today Show may be indicative of a possible republican trial balloon on the indictments - similar to Hutchinson's failed "technicality" remarks on Meet the Press. Ann Coulter claims that she'll be glad to see Libby gone, and that Rove wasn't important.

At least we'll be rid of a guy named Scooter. I think we'll say: At least we'll have that off of our back.... I didn't even know who Scooter Libby was until 5 minutes ago... They [Rove,Libby] are just two guys that work in the white house... What's Bush gonna do [about Rove]? Help Bush win a 3rd term??

If this was a trial balloon, it signals that the White House  is resigned to the possibility of admiting defeat. It means that they know they are going to lose two of their top men and will downplay treasongate as "No big deal, just two unimportant cabinet officials".

"# FLASHBACK: 'Most of her neighbors and friends knew that she was a CIA employee'...

And this headline links to a Washington Times article from 2004. The only problem is that none of the neighbors they interviewed knew of her employment...

One neighbor of the Wilsons, who live in the affluent Palisades community in Northwest, said that he "absolutely didn't know" that Mrs. Plame was in the CIA.

"We understood her to work as an economist," said David Tillotson, a 62-year old lawyer. He said he didn't know that Mrs. Plame commuted to CIA headquarters, but added that "they wouldn't be conducting an investigation if she hadn't been covert."

So who claims that most of her neighbors knew? One (1) ex-CIA operative named Fred Rustmann (you were probably expecting a large group of neighbors).

Most people who knew Valerie and her husband, I think, would have thought that she was an overt CIA employee.

Karl Rove has a plan, as always. Even before testifying last week for the fourth time before a grand jury probing the leak of CIA operative Valerie Plame's identity, Bush senior adviser Rove and others at the White House had concluded that if indicted he would immediately resign or possibly go on unpaid leave, several legal and Administration sources familiar with the thinking told TIME.

Resignation is the much more likely scenario, they say. The same would apply to I. Lewis (Scooter) Libby, the Vice President's chief of staff, who also faces a possible indictment. A former White House official says Rove's break with Bush would have to be clean--no "giving advice from the sidelines"--for the sake of the Administration.

This was what Thatcher said at her 80th birthday party with Tony Blair and the Queen amongst her guests!!

"I was a scientist before I was a politician. And as a scientist I know you need facts, evidence and proof - and then you check, recheck and check again."

She added: "The fact was that there were no facts, there was no evidence, and there was no proof. As a politician the most serious decision you can take is to commit your armed services to war from which they may not return."

Please note that Thatcher supported the ousting of Saddam Hussein, but wasn't so impressed by the methods.

While I don't expect Fox News to be jumping on this band wagon any time soon, it seems pretty clear that main stream journalists have concluded that the Bush/GOP empire is over. I think the days of giving the benefit of the doubt to the President is gone and probably unrecoverable until there is new leadership.

This can be proven with the latest polls saying that people would elect democrats over republicans 48% to 39% (for congress). As Tim Russert said this morning (on Today), these numbers are usually within a point of each other, and that pollsters haven't seen such a large spread on this question.

This isn't even throwing into the picture any new indictments against Frist, Rove or Libby. Nor is this considering the possible tax hikes being proposed (reducing home mortgage deductions, etc). Further, if the Dems can formulate a new plan, they will truly be in the fast lane to 2006 victory.

Of course, a lot can happen so people shouldn't count the proverbial eggs quite yet.

This isn't verified, but it makes a great read...

A few months ago, I heard of a lunch conversation that Cheney had with a political type in Wyoming. I have no idea if it's true or not, but it makes some sense. Here's the tale:

Cheney has been getting tired of being called upon to fix Bush's mistakes. Cheney said Bush is almost incapable of making any decision. He waffles and waffles. Then, once he makes a decision, he refuses to change it. Because of his born-again faith, he says "It's in the hands of G-d now" and washes his hands of it. Then Cheney is called in to repair the damage.

If this story is even remotely true, this may have been the final straw for Cheney, and he decided to let Bush try to wiggle his way out of his Katrina inaction on his own.