Shakesville

Killerz

These two deceptively cute little beasties just committed the vicious murder of another mouse—the second this winter. It’s not even that cold out, so I don’t know why the dumb wee bugger came into a house with cats, a risk which is understandable during normal January weather, but it’s almost 50 degrees today.

Anyway, I’m sitting in the office, and in walk Matilda and Olivia, pulling something behind them. It’s a long piece of toilet paper (which is Olivia’s favorite toy, scraps of which we’re constantly picking up because she manages to find it even though we keep it in a bank vault), and I notice there’s blood on the paper. For a moment, I’m worried, thinking one of them is hurt, until they proudly lift up the paper to show me the present they’ve brought me. Ugh, I nearly barfed.

I scolded them to get away from it and cleaned up the mess, which they watched with sad eyes. Then I felt all guilty. “Good girls!” I said. They wove in and out between my legs and purred and chirped contentedly.

Too much nature indoors. Blech.

Kennedy and Specter Go Ape

Totally cringe-worthy. Video here. Explanation and partial transcript here.

Meanwhile, Alito sits there innocently repeating how he has no memory, even after “wracking his brain,” of being involved with the Concerned Alumni of Princeton. Good grief.

Judge Memento

Okay, I know I said I didn’t have anything more to say about Alito unless and until the Dems start filibustering his lying ass, as well they should, but I just can’t pass up a quick comment on this preposterous nonsense:

Supreme Court nominee Samuel Alito was aggressively questioned Wednesday by Democrats on the Senate Judiciary Committee who accused him of inconsistencies on issues ranging from voting rights to ethics to his membership in a conservative organization…

[Sen. Pat Leahy of Vermont] listed several concerns, among them Alito's comments on the principle of one-man, one-vote and his inability to recall details about his membership — which he listed on a Reagan administration job application — in a conservative organization that opposed the admission of women and minorities at Princeton University, Alito's alma mater…

Leahy first mentioned Alito's membership in the Concerned Alumni of Princeton, a group that opposed admission of increased numbers of women and minorities.

"I really have no specific recollection of that organization," Alito said, although he did not dispute that he belonged to it.

Bullshit. What kind of person holds so strong an opinion about keeping their own alma mater exclusively white and male that they join an organization to support such wanton bigotry…and then forgets they ever belonged? That’s like my not remembering having been a member of GLABA or PB&J during college; why, it just slipped my mind that I was a supporter of gay rights and peace! This guy’s a lying schmuck. Or he has brain damage.

Democrats also voiced concern about Alito's answers concerning whether he told the 3rd U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals that he should not be hearing cases involving investment company Vanguard. He holds six-figure investments with Vanguard.

Alito promised the Judiciary Committee at his 1990 confirmation hearing as an appellate judge that he would remove himself from cases that present a conflict of interest. He said his participation in a 2002 Vanguard case was an oversight, although he also said he didn't do anything wrong. The American Bar Association and his supporters have accepted that explanation…

Sen. Russ Feingold D-Wis., pressed Alito on whether he had told the 3rd U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals that he should not be hearing cases involving investment company Vanguard. He holds six-figure investments with Vanguard.

"So you don't recall whether you notified them or not?" Feingold asked.

"I do not. No," Alito said.

Quite a memory this bloke has got. Promised he would recuse himself from cases in which he had a conflict of interest, then ruled on a case involving Vanguard, with whom he has significant investments. Doesn’t remember whether he notified them or not, but knows for sure that he didn’t do anything wrong. That’s bloody amazing.

Not only can I not believe this wanker can deliver such a pile of stinking horseshit with a straight face, I can’t believe the GOP, even as thoroughly unsurprised as I ought to be by this point, is defending him. Corrupt, unprincipled bastards.

Ha

"The technical legal term for that, I believe, is poppycock."

— Harvard law professor Laurence Tribe, in a letter to Rep. John Conyers (D-MI), on the Bush administration's claim that the U.S. Constitution authorizes the domestic eavesdropping program. (Link.)

Crackpottery

Last Thursday, I mentioned Russ Tice, a former National Security Agency official and whistleblower, who was dismissed from the NSA last year and has sent letters to the House and Senate intelligence committees asking to testify about the NSA spy program. I said then:

Undoubtedly, the administration will cast Tice as a crackpot. But my gut tells me this guy is no crackpot, and I certainly hope that Congress calls him in to hear what he has to say.

Yesterday, ABC reported that Tice admitted being a source for the NY Times article that broke the domestic spying story. And, as predicted…

The NSA revoked Tice's security clearance in May of last year based on what it called psychological concerns and later dismissed him. Tice calls that bunk and says that's the way the NSA deals with troublemakers and whistleblowers. Today the NSA said it had "no information to provide."

So predictable.

Too Much Fun for One Girl to Have

I'm off to the hospital for more tests. Bleh. I'll be back soon, I hope.

More Wev

President Bush issued an unusually stark warning to Democrats today about how to conduct the debate on Iraq as midterm elections approach, declaring that Americans know the difference “between honest critics” and those “who claim that we acted in Iraq because of oil, or because of Israel, or because we misled the American people.” (Link.)

First of all—shove it, you jag.

Secondly—who the eff does he think he is, issuing “warnings” to the opposition party? He might as well just come out and say, “I let you little Democrats hang around to give my totalitarian dictatorship the allusion of a democracy, but don’t push your luck by trying to undermine my authority.”

Thirdly—no seriously, shove it.

Wev

Some Republicans are obviously reading the polls and seeing that their culture of corruption may have gone too far, so now they’re calling for a return to the their “core conservative principles.”

With Republicans embroiled in an influence-peddling scandal that could threaten their control of Congress, the biggest pressure for reform is coming from lawmakers who charge that the party’s woes have come from abandoning its core conservative principles.

Jeff Flake, an Arizona Republican congressman who co-led the petition drive that helped oust Tom DeLay, the House majority leader, said in an interview yesterday: “We don’t just need a new majority leader, we need a course correction.

“A lobbyist can’t be corrupt unless he has somebody to bribe, and we’ve created a culture that just breeds corruption,” he charged.

Their big ideas for reforming the GOP? Put an end to earmarking and emergency spending bills.

The conservatives are also hoping to reform the congressional budgeting process by sharply reducing the use of “emergency” spending bills, such as those that have paid for the war in Iraq and rebuilding following Hurricane Katrina.

Yes, because the biggest problem is D.C. right now is emergency spending in response to a fucking emergency.

Honestly, if these idiots cared about the corruption associated with emergency spending, they’d launch an investigation into how much of taxpayers’ money has gone to Halliburton and other corporations with ties to the administration, under the guise of emergency spending bills, rather than being concerned with the specific number of bills passed—which, when applied correctly, will be totally contingent upon how many emergencies there are. Process is the real issue; not quantity.

The hat tip on this one goes to John Howard, who notes, “Not that I'm a huge fan of core Republican principles, but I'll take them in a second over the ridiculous, out of control spending, bloated government, and corruption we currently enjoy.” Agreed. And yet, I highly doubt that anything remotely resembling core conservative principles will come out of all this, because it’s not motivated by principle. The culture of corruption was of little concern until their chances for reelection were threatened by it; with job security their primary impetus, I would be mighty surprised if anyone who manages to get reelected on this bullshit platform gives two craps about it once they’ve got another few years to wallow in unfettered avarice.

News Photos

A sign under which Bush has no business standing:

President Bush speaks about the U.S. military involvement at a Veterans of Foreign Wars event in Washington, January 10, 2006. (Larry Downing/Reuters)
Interesting commentary:

A US soldier secures the area as Iraqi and US soldiers inspect the scene of a car bomb in Baghdad, 04 January. (AFP/File/Ali Al-Saadi)
Subliminal messaging. Red ties and red dresses. No doubt about Alito’s alliances.

I Love This Idea

Then again, I’m a snobby traitorous liberal who vaguely smells of musty old books:

Stockholm is to introduce library book dispensers on the city's underground rail system to encourage commuters to read.

Automatic book dispensers are to be installed on station platforms, starting with test machines at Liljeholmen, T-Centralen and Gullmarsplan.

Commuters will be able to stick their library card into the 'bookomatic' and choose from up to 700 titles, reports Svenska Dagbladet.

Martin Hafström, a spokesman for the City Library, said the idea was to reach out to people who don't normally read books.

He said: "We want to expand interest both in reading and in literature in general. I think that this is an interesting experiment, since Stockholm has the country's biggest public transport network."

This is as good as France’s idea of putting books in vending machines, to be purchased for under $3. Frankly, I just love any concept that encourages people to read.

Chicago’s One Book, One Chicago program (intro) is pretty good, but I don’t think it gets enough attention—and enough free copies of the books aren’t available. If they could combine the program with something like the Swedish bookomatics, that would be great. No doubt there are plenty of impoverished school systems who would be happy to accept donations of slightly used books like To Kill a Mockingbird when Chicago’s through with them.

Lubing Up Alito

And it's not a gay thing at all. So stop that sniggering in the back, Jenkins.

Alito, of course, is trying to present himself as Mister Moderate. Good 'ol Sammy "I'll approach every case with an open mind" Alito. Mister "I'd never think of overturning Roe" Type-Guy. Nothing to worry about. Sleep... sleep...

The fact that completely batshit-crazy ministers are greasing up his ass shouldn't frighten you. Not at all.

WASHINGTON -- Insisting that God "certainly needs to be involved" in the Supreme Court confirmation process, three Christian ministers today blessed the doors of the hearing room where Senate Judiciary Committee members will begin considering the nomination of Judge Samuel Alito on Monday.

Capitol Hill police barred them from entering the room to continue what they called a consecration service. But in a bit of one-upsmanship, the three announced that they had let themselves in a day earlier, touching holy oil to the seats where Judge Alito, the senators, witnesses, Senate staffers and the press will sit, and praying for each of the 13 committee members by name.

"We did adequately apply oil to all the seats," said the Rev. Rob Schenck, who identified himself as an evangelical Christian and as president of the National Clergy Council in Washington.

Imagine the insanity... imagine the insanity if a group of Muslims did something similar.

The three ministers insisted they weren't taking sides in the Alito debate. "This is not a pro-Alito prayer," insisted the Rev. Patrick Mahoney, director of the Christian Defense Coalition. With abortion, public prayer, gay marriage and right-to-life issues among those topping public debate, however, "God…is interested in what goes on" in the nomination hearing, Rev. Schenck said.

Uhhhh... sure it isn't. The fact that Alito is an anti-choice, pro-overturning Roe staunch conservative has nothing to do with your actions. I'm sure you'd be doing the same thing if the nominee was a staunch progressive.

*Cough*

Anyway, I was just wondering... does this mean that followers of The Flying Spaghetti Monster can enter the courtroom and smear pasta sauce all over everything? And Alito would then have to sit in it?

Because I'd really like to see that.

(Energy Dome tip to Pam over at Pandagon. Here's the cross-post, here's the steeple, Soylent Green is made from people!)

Scalito

At this point, I don't care to hear anything more about it unless and until the Dems start filibustering. I've heard enough to know he doesn't belong on the Court.

Gordon sums it up nicely:

If there's a better reason not to confirm Alito, I haven't heard it...

Falwell, Santorum, and Dobson are for Alito's confirmation. Filibuster? Hell, yes! If they get tired, just dress me like a Senator, crank my ass up, and lead me to the floor. I'll talk 'til they all fucking starve!

Antsy America

A new USA Today/CNN/Gallup Poll finds that Americans are closely watching the lobbying scandal unfold—and aren’t happy with what they see.

Americans … say corruption in government will play a big role in their vote for Congress in November — more important than Social Security, taxes, abortion or immigration…

Among the findings:
— Most Americans say they're following news of the Abramoff scandal closely, and 53% call it a major scandal. Just 9% see it as "not a serious matter." (Related: Abramoff poll results)

— Corruption will be a voting issue in November, they say. Only the war in Iraq, terrorism and health care are cited more often as "extremely important" issues this year; 43% describe "corruption in government" that way. In comparison, 38% call the economy an extremely important issue.

— Attitudes toward the Republican congressional leadership have soured. By 50%-40%, those surveyed say the policies proposed by Republican leaders in Congress would move the country in the wrong direction. That's by far the worst showing since the GOP took control more than a decade ago.

— Attitudes toward Democrats are better, but not by much. Respondents split 44%-43% when asked whether the policies proposed by Democratic leaders would move the country in the right direction. By 44%-32%, those surveyed say congressional Democrats would do a better job of dealing with the issue of corruption.

— For the first time since 1994, a plurality of Americans say most members of Congress don't deserve re-election. The 42% who say most members do deserve re-election is the same as in the first USA TODAY survey of 1994.

Curiously, however, a “plurality predict both parties will be hurt equally by the inquiry into disgraced lobbyist Jack Abramoff..” That’s the problem with not fighting back and trying to play it safe. You stay close to the center, and you get tarred with the same brush. Just another reason to move left, where they should have been all along.

Question of the Day

One of the things that most drives me batty about the media is its persistence in repetitively using the same euphemistic words over and over. The two that make my skin crawl every time I read them are “embattled”—which is found most often these days preceding the words “Tom” and “DeLay”—and “troubling,” which is such a nice way of describing something that’s clearly TFU.

Even though those two are my particular pet peeves, there are hundreds of them that I see all the time. What euphemistic word are you most tired of reading in news articles?

My Bosom Heaves With Anticipation

Morrissey's got a new album coming out in April, called "Ringleader of the Tormentors," which I think ought to become the new tagline for Shakespeare's Sister during the next redesign.

Anyway, in honor of the release of the album's tracklist, some heathens were having fun with faux track titles. Some of them are pretty funny. I particularly liked "Why Should I Give You the Satisfaction of a Reply" and "Please, Please, Please Let the Paxil Work." (Passed on my Comandante Agi, who clearly knows my heart.)

The real titles:

01. I Will See You In Far-Off Places
02. Dear God Please Help Me
03. You Have Killed Me
04. The Youngest Was The Most Loved
05. In The Future When All's Well
06. The Father Who Must Be Killed
07. Life Is A Pigsty
08. I'll Never Be Anybody's Hero Now
09. On The Streets I Ran
10. To Me You Are A Work Of Art
11. I Just Want To See The Boy Happy
12. At Last I Am Born

Mozza with producer Tony Visconti. My lord, he has a large head. Sometime I need to dig out the pictures of me with him; his head is as long as my entire torso.

Larry King Hates Your Stinking Guts

Via Cityrag.

Important Announcement

Joe Klein needs to shut the fuck up.

That is all.

Two Bits of Randomness

The best laid plans of mice and men…

Björk voted world’s most eccentric celebrity

I totally have that same dress.

I've Got Accomplishments, Kids!

President Numbnuts visited a school in Glen Burnie, Maryland today to blather unintelligently about No Child Left Behind, which he’s still touting as a success.

Emphasizing the softer side of his agenda, President Bush went back to school Monday, touting rising test scores as proof that his education law is working…

Bush noted that scores are rising on the National Assessment of Educational Progress, a test considered a report card for the nation. In 2005, fourth-graders and eighth-graders posted their highest-ever math scores, and black and Hispanic children narrowed their achievement gap with whites in both math and reading.

"The system is working. That's what's important for people to understand," Bush said.

But the president did not mention some of the test's less flattering results. The fourth-grade reading performance was essentially flat, and in eighth grade, reading scores dropped.

Someone needs to give him a reading comprehension test, methinks. Or maybe remedial math courses. Maybe he doesn’t understand the concept of “less than.”

Bush stopped in a fifth-grade class, accompanied by Spellings and first lady Laura Bush. He briefly took over the role of teacher, asking: "Anybody read more than they watch TV?" When some of the kids nodded that they did, he said: "That's good. That's really important."

He then gulped and immediately used his Migo to contact Karl Rove, who issued instructions that televisions V-chipped to tune out every channel but Fox News be delivered to every child at North Glen Elementary.

Here’s a bonus picture from today’s news photos of Bush doing god-knows-what as he waits for Laura to board Air Force One with him.

Robot dance? Stepford mating ritual? I have no idea.

2008

Via Political Wire:

Iowa Governor Tom Vilsack (D) met Friday in Washington, D.C., with his national political advisors to “talk about strategy for the year that could position him to formally explore a presidential campaign next year,” according to the Des Moines Register. Among the key challenges Vilsack will in 2006 is ensuring that a Democrat succeeds in the governor’s mansion.

"Vilsack last year formed a political action committee to raise money for his national political work and was named chairman of the Democratic Leadership Council, a centrist policy group that was once led by then-Arkansas Gov. Bill Clinton."

And:

If anyone questioned whether New York Gov. George Pataki (R) "is exploring a White House bid in 2008, those doubts evaporated last week when he delivered a State of the State address littered with the hallmarks of a national platform," Newsday reports.

Of particular note: "Pataki urged the state to embrace production of ethanol, an alternative fuel that is produced from farm crops, because of what he said was the nation's need to reduce its dependence on foreign oils. Expanded ethanol use appeals to voters in corn-rich Iowa, an early presidential primary state."

I think it’s safe to say both of these gentlemen are wasting their time and energy. Neither of them are particularly inspiring candidates.

I also feel rather confident going on record with the prediction that we will never have a president by the name of “Vilsack” or “Pataki.” Vilsack sounds like a disease of the male genitalia, and Pataki sounds something that can only be ordered in restaurants found in The Big City, perhaps a vindaloo or a sashimi.

Don’t get me wrong—if a candidate I liked was named Warty McFlappycock, I’d proudly cast my vote for Mr. or Ms. McFlappycock. But most Americans don’t seem to like names that they couldn’t imagine having been on the Mayflower’s manifest.