Category Politics

No Duh: Bush Lied About Iraq

The AP reports:

A study by two nonprofit journalism organizations found that President Bush and top administration officials issued hundreds of false statements about the national security threat from Iraq in the two years following the 2001 terrorist attacks.

The study concluded that the statements “were part of an orchestrated campaign that effectively galvanized public opinion and, in the process, led the nation to war under decidedly false pretenses.”

The article doesn’t say, but presumably the study was funded by the Center for Confirming the Obvious.

Bush led with 259 false statements, 231 about weapons of mass destruction in Iraq and 28 about Iraq’s links to al-Qaida, the study found. That was second only to Powell’s 244 false statements about weapons of mass destruction in Iraq and 10 about Iraq and al-Qaida.

This bit’s a bit surprising: I didn’t think Bush would be in first place, seeing as how he let others do most of the lying.

“The cumulative effect of these false statements _ amplified by thousands of news stories and broadcasts _ was massive, with the media coverage creating an almost impenetrable din for several critical months in the run-up to war,” the study concluded.

Okay, now can we impeach the bastards?

Déjà entendu

From today’s news:

In an interview broadcast Friday, Bush said there could well be a long-term U.S. presence in Iraq, but it would be on the invitation of the Iraqi government.

Now, where have I heard that before? Oh, right. I think it was August 20, 1968:

Although on the night of the invasion, the Czechoslovak Presidium declared that Warsaw Pact troops had crossed the border without knowledge of the ÄŒSSR Government, the Soviet Press printed an unsigned request, allegedly by Czechoslovak party and state leaders, for “immediate assistance, including assistance with armed forces.”

Looks like the USSR won the Cold War after all.

Mitt Romney Says Something Stupid. Again.

In other news, dog bites man.

From CNN:

“Freedom requires religion, just as religion requires freedom. Freedom opens the windows of the soul so that man can discover his most profound beliefs and commune with God. Freedom and religion endure together, or perish alone,” he said.

What universe is he living in? I guess this means that Saudi Arabia and Afghanistan are among the freest countries on earth, freer than western Europe or North America. Oh, but those are Muslim countries, so they probably don’t count.

How about the Middle Ages, then, when pretty much all of Europe was fiercely Christian, of one stripe or another? Would it be worth pointing out that stuff like the great American experiment came up after that, after the Enlightenment had taught that hey, maybe we can do better on our own, without relying on a god? Would it be worth reminding Romney that Thomas Jefferson took a razor to his Bible in an effort to, in effect, improve upon the received Word of God?

Heck, has he forgotten that the very first amendment in the US bill of rights includes the right freedom from religion?

By the way, Mitt, this has nothing to do with you being a Mormon, and everything to do with you being a pious git.

I See A Pattern

Remember Conservapædia, the neocon alternative to Wikipedia’s liberal bias?

Here’s a snapshot of today’s list of today’s top ten most viewed pages. See if you can notice a pattern.

Conservapædia top ten.

(HT Wonkette.)

The GOP Is Getting Predictable

EDGE Boston gives us the setup:

[Richard] Curtis, elected to the [Washington] state House three years ago, voted in the spring against a measure to provide domestic partnerships to gays and lesbians.

In 2006, Curtis came out against an anti-discrimination bill to protect GLBT people from being discriminated against on the basis of their sexuality.

I’m sure you can guess the punchline. Check your answer below the fold. Read More

Oh, Noes! Teh Gays Is Oppressing Us!

Over at Clown Hall, Kristen Fyfe—who is apparently training to become the next Ann Coulter—has a column that can be summarized as

Oh, no! Those filthy, hellbound faggots with their contagious gay cooties are displaying intolerance and denying good Christians basic human rights by parodying a religious picture! Will our oppression never end?! <clutches pearls>

Read More

I ♥ Mike Argento

…because he wrote:

Petraeus is apparently Greek for Westmoreland

Figuring Out the Habeas Corpus Restoration Act

I’m not a lawyer, nor do I play one on teh innertubes. But recently, H.R. 2826 was introduced (you can search for it at thomas.loc.gov). Dubbed the Habeas Corpus Restoration Act, it’s been all over the leftosphere, so I figured I should try to figure out what it’s all about.

Summary: the preamble pretty much says it all:

A BILL

To amend titles 28 and 10, United States Code, to restore habeas corpus for individuals detained by the United States at Naval Station, Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, and for other purposes.

Note that habeas corpus is pretty much all that the bill restores (AFAICT).

(Update, Sep. 19: I guess this is mostly moot, since the bill has been defeated.)

Read More

Six Years Since 9/11

…so can someone please give me a good reason why the pigfucker behind it still hasn’t been caught?

Crippling Brains for Jesus

Does anyone need more proof that Ron McLeroy, the newly-appointed Texas State Board of Education Chairman, is a superstitious asshat who’s out to cripple the state’s education system? Here’s what he told his church in 2005:

“Whether you’re a progressive creationist, recent creationist, young-Earth, old-Earth, it’s all in the tent of intelligent design,” McLeroy said. “And intelligent design here at Grace Bible Church is actually a smaller tent than you would have in the intelligent design movement as a whole, because we are all Biblical literalists…. So because it’s a bigger tent, just don’t waste our time arguing with each other about…all of the side issues.”

“Modern science today,” McLeroy complained, “is totally based on naturalism,” thus “it is the naturalistic base that is [our] target.”

What’s frightening is that this assclown is in charge of education in Texas. And as bad as that is, the effect of his militant ignorance won’t be confined to one state: Texas is the second-largest market for school textbooks (after California). This means that publishers will tone down the science in their books if they think it’ll make them more likely to sell in Texas.

Maybe we need a new rule: that someone in charge of X must not be ideologically committed to destroying X.

(HT Texas Observer → Texas Freedom Network → Americans United)