- The idea of democracy in the Middle East always struck me as odd idea for neocons and Repubs, in a way it is hypocritical. On one hand we force democracy on Iraqis and threaten theocracies with open elections in Iran. Meanwhile we empower leaders who would never be elected in a democracy. We are seeing this in Lebanon, Egypt, and Palestine. In the end Iraq will be a theocratic state, not as aggressive as Saddam’s Iraq but definitely not secular or western. Col. Lang goes into this more with an experts touch.

- The Presidents display of authoritarian power (unapproved domestic spying) calls into question whether McCain's anti-Torture Bill (a very weak bill) and the pending end to the most extreme and undermining aspects of the P.A.T.R.I.O.T. A.C.T. matter at all. If the president wants to do it he will. With the way people let him get away with it there is no doubt in my mind he will continue to torture and violate the constitution in the name of protecting the people. Again, what a joke. A horrible, horrible joke.

From Atrios, CNN:

JACK CAFFERTY, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Wolf, good afternoon.

Who cares about whether the Patriot Act gets renewed? Want to abuse our civil liberties? Just do it.

Who cares about the Geneva Conventions. Want to torture prisoners? Just do it.

Who cares about rules concerning the identity of CIA agents. Want to reveal the name of a covert operative? Just do it.

Who cares about whether the intelligence concerning WMDs is accurate. Want to invade Iraq? Just do it.

Who cares about qualifications to serve on the nation's highest court. Want to nominate a personal friend with no qualifications? Just do it.

And the latest outrage, which I read about in "The New York Times" this morning, who cares about needing a court order to eavesdrop on American citizens. Want to wiretap their phone conversations? Just do it. What a joke. A very cruel, very sad joke.

Here's the question. Was it appropriate for the president to order wiretaps on American citizens without obtaining a warrant?...

BLITZER: All right. And they can just do that. Right, Jack?

CAFFERTY: That's correct. Just do it.

- Why did the NYT wait so long to publish its story on Bush's authoritarianism? Tell me why NYT is always called a liberal rag? They new this around the time of the election but they held it, why?

- Robert F. Kennedy, Jr. may be a Republican.

- Delay continues to fight Earle rather than provide information that signals him as innocent. The Repubs were waiting for word from the Judge on whether the case will be heard now or later in hopes that they could bring 'the Hammer' back to leader of the House. That isn't the case. DeLay had told Republicans and their operatives that the hearing scheduled for 27 December would indicate which direction the case was headed, that hearing has been canceled. The next majority leader in the House will be decided after the State of the Union address.

- Hypocrite Bush:

George W. Bush on exit strategy 4/9/99:

"Victory means exit strategy, and it's important for the president to explain to us what the exit strategy is."

And on the specific need for a timetable, here's what Bush said then and what he says now 6/5/99
:

"I think it's also important for the president to lay out a timetable as to how long they will be involved and when they will be withdrawn."
(article originally ran in the Seattle Post-Intelligencer on 6/5/99)

VERSUS

George W. Bush, 6/24/05:

It doesn't make any sense to have a timetable. You know, if you give a timetable, you're; you're conceding too much to the enemy."

- The President is planning to address the nation on Iraq Sunday evening (there's his first mistake). Perhaps he'd like to explain why spying on Americans is; one, not against the law, or two, acceptable. It would also be nice for him to end using the 'protecting the American people' line because it's BS. Assuming that the numbers in the NYT are acurate (they have not been denied), there are hundreds or thousands of potential al Qaeda operatives in America right now. There must because the government wouldn't blindly monitor someone right? I mean, he said he plans to continue the practice for "as long as our nation faces a continuing threat from al-Qaida and related groups," so unless he admits that America is crawling with terrorists Sunday he should shut his mouth and start explaining why he shouldn't be charged with a crime.

posted by Geoff