Paul Krugman's "On The Edge"

I appreciate that Krugman wrote this column. The debate over the stimulus package by the Republicans feels disingenuous and very partisan to me. Instead of working with the president and the Democrats, many of the Republican senators are opposing the bill because of the old buzz words of "wasteful liberal spending" and "pork" and keep demanding more tax cuts to save the economy.

What they don't understand or don't seem to care is that the general theory of Keynesian economics advocates deficit spending during economic downturns to help create jobs and maintain employment. Sure, there is some waste in this stimulus bill. But most of the programs and money allocated in the bill are going to organizations with the express interest of creating more jobs.

Also, this Republican stance against hypocritical to me. We just went through 8 years of the largest increase in government size in the history of our nation and almost every Republican was behind the president on that, despite the many flaws in the Bush's White House thinking. Yet when a plan, created by many of the best economists today, to help a failing economy comes out, all they can do is rip it. Plus, I think after 8 years of Bush tax cuts and the state of our economy now, it's pretty obvious that tax cuts are not the only solution to fixing the economy. It stinks, I tells you.

Anyway, I've said my two cents. Here's Krugman:

A not-so-funny thing happened on the way to economic recovery. Over the last two weeks, what should have been a deadly serious debate about how to save an economy in desperate straits turned, instead, into hackneyed political theater, with Republicans spouting all the old clichés about wasteful government spending and the wonders of tax cuts.

It’s as if the dismal economic failure of the last eight years never happened — yet Democrats have, incredibly, been on the defensive. Even if a major stimulus bill does pass the Senate, there’s a real risk that important parts of the original plan, especially aid to state and local governments, will have been emasculated.

Somehow, Washington has lost any sense of what’s at stake — of the reality that we may well be falling into an economic abyss, and that if we do, it will be very hard to get out again.

It’s hard to exaggerate how much economic trouble we’re in. The crisis began with housing, but the implosion of the Bush-era housing bubble has set economic dominoes falling not just in the United States, but around the world.

Consumers, their wealth decimated and their optimism shattered by collapsing home prices and a sliding stock market, have cut back their spending and sharply increased their saving — a good thing in the long run, but a huge blow to the economy right now. Developers of commercial real estate, watching rents fall and financing costs soar, are slashing their investment plans. Businesses are canceling plans to expand capacity, since they aren’t selling enough to use the capacity they have. And exports, which were one of the U.S. economy’s few areas of strength over the past couple of years, are now plunging as the financial crisis hits our trading partners.

Meanwhile, our main line of defense against recessions — the Federal Reserve’s usual ability to support the economy by cutting interest rates — has already been overrun. The Fed has cut the rates it controls basically to zero, yet the economy is still in free fall.

It’s no wonder, then, that most economic forecasts warn that in the absence of government action we’re headed for a deep, prolonged slump. Some private analysts predict double-digit unemployment. The Congressional Budget Office is slightly more sanguine, but its director, nonetheless, recently warned that “absent a change in fiscal policy ... the shortfall in the nation’s output relative to potential levels will be the largest — in duration and depth — since the Depression of the 1930s.”

Worst of all is the possibility that the economy will, as it did in the ’30s, end up stuck in a prolonged deflationary trap.

We’re already closer to outright deflation than at any point since the Great Depression. In particular, the private sector is experiencing widespread wage cuts for the first time since the 1930s, and there will be much more of that if the economy continues to weaken.

As the great American economist Irving Fisher pointed out almost 80 years ago, deflation, once started, tends to feed on itself. As dollar incomes fall in the face of a depressed economy, the burden of debt becomes harder to bear, while the expectation of further price declines discourages investment spending. These effects of deflation depress the economy further, which leads to more deflation, and so on.

And deflationary traps can go on for a long time. Japan experienced a “lost decade” of deflation and stagnation in the 1990s — and the only thing that let Japan escape from its trap was a global boom that boosted the nation’s exports. Who will rescue America from a similar trap now that the whole world is slumping at the same time?

Would the Obama economic plan, if enacted, ensure that America won’t have its own lost decade? Not necessarily: a number of economists, myself included, think the plan falls short and should be substantially bigger. But the Obama plan would certainly improve our odds. And that’s why the efforts of Republicans to make the plan smaller and less effective — to turn it into little more than another round of Bush-style tax cuts — are so destructive.

So what should Mr. Obama do? Count me among those who think that the president made a big mistake in his initial approach, that his attempts to transcend partisanship ended up empowering politicians who take their marching orders from Rush Limbaugh. What matters now, however, is what he does next.

It’s time for Mr. Obama to go on the offensive. Above all, he must not shy away from pointing out that those who stand in the way of his plan, in the name of a discredited economic philosophy, are putting the nation’s future at risk. The American economy is on the edge of catastrophe, and much of the Republican Party is trying to push it over that edge.

Obama says what George Bush could not say once in 8 years

Yes, we finally have a president who is an adult and admits when he is wrong:

WASHINGTON - “I screwed up,” President Barack Obama told NBC’s Brian Williams Tuesday in the wake of his nominee to be secretary of health and human services, Tom Daschle, withdrawing his name from consideration.

Daschle dropped out after acknowledging that he had belatedly paid more than $128,000 in taxes owed to the federal government.

“Today was an embarrassment for us,” Obama said. He said he was “angry,” “disappointed” and “frustrated with myself” over the Daschle episode.

Obama interview on Al-Arabiya

In a marked and substantial difference from the Bush administration, Barack Obama gave an interview with Al-Arabiya, an Arab news network, where he emphasized the importance of dealing with the Palestinian and Israeli conflict. Obama also reached out an olive branch to Muslims throughout the world, acknowledging that people in his family were Muslims and that their lives matter, too. Lastly, he claimed that Al-Qaeda was nervous to have him around.

It was a brilliant PR move. I have often said that the "War on Terror" may party be a war on the ground, but that it was mostly a war of ideas. Al-Qaeda, while disgusting morally, is essentially a political organization that, through some saavy propganda, has one over the hearts of many Muslims. George Bush never understood that. But Obama does. He is attacking Muslim Fundmentalism where it counts. He is telling the Muslim world that United States is not the bad guy. It's a new game in the world. And we have a wise, impressive leader to play it.

The Onion is claryvoiant

This is from January 17, 2001. I urge you to read the whole thing. It predicts the Iraq War, the recession, the budget deficit and more. The Onion can tell the future:

WASHINGTON, DC–Mere days from assuming the presidency and closing the door on eight years of Bill Clinton, president-elect George W. Bush assured the nation in a televised address Tuesday that "our long national nightmare of peace and prosperity is finally over."

My fellow Americans," Bush said, "at long last, we have reached the end of the dark period in American history that will come to be known as the Clinton Era, eight long years characterized by unprecedented economic expansion, a sharp decrease in crime, and sustained peace overseas. The time has come to put all of that behind us."

Bush swore to do "everything in [his] power" to undo the damage wrought by Clinton's two terms in office, including selling off the national parks to developers, going into massive debt to develop expensive and impractical weapons technologies, and passing sweeping budget cuts that drive the mentally ill out of hospitals and onto the street.

During the 40-minute speech, Bush also promised to bring an end to the severe war drought that plagued the nation under Clinton, assuring citizens that the U.S. will engage in at least one Gulf War-level armed conflict in the next four years.

"You better believe we're going to mix it up with somebody at some point during my administration," said Bush, who plans a 250 percent boost in military spending. "Unlike my predecessor, I am fully committed to putting soldiers in battle situations. Otherwise, what is the point of even having a military?"

On the economic side, Bush vowed to bring back economic stagnation by implementing substantial tax cuts, which would lead to a recession, which would necessitate a tax hike, which would lead to a drop in consumer spending, which would lead to layoffs, which would deepen the recession even further.

Wall Street responded strongly to the Bush speech, with the Dow Jones industrial fluctuating wildly before closing at an 18-month low. The NASDAQ composite index, rattled by a gloomy outlook for tech stocks in 2001, also fell sharply, losing 4.4 percent of its total value between 3 p.m. and the closing bell.

Asked for comment about the cooling technology sector, Bush said: "That's hardly my area of expertise."

Turning to the subject of the environment, Bush said he will do whatever it takes to undo the tremendous damage not done by the Clinton Administration to the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge. He assured citizens that he will follow through on his campaign promise to open the 1.5 million acre refuge's coastal plain to oil drilling. As a sign of his commitment to bringing about a change in the environment, he pointed to his choice of Gale Norton for Secretary of the Interior. Norton, Bush noted, has "extensive experience" fighting environmental causes, working as a lobbyist for lead-paint manufacturers and as an attorney for loggers and miners, in addition to suing the EPA to overturn clean-air standards.

Bush had equally high praise for Attorney General nominee John Ashcroft, whom he praised as "a tireless champion in the battle to protect a woman's right to give birth."

"Soon, with John Ashcroft's help, we will move out of the Dark Ages and into a more enlightened time when a woman will be free to think long and hard before trying to fight her way past throngs of protesters blocking her entrance to an abortion clinic," Bush said. "We as a nation can look forward to lots and lots of babies."

Continued Bush: "John Ashcroft will be invaluable in healing the terrible wedge President Clinton drove between church and state."

The speech was met with overwhelming approval from Republican leaders.

"Finally, the horrific misrule of the Democrats has been brought to a close," House Majority Leader Dennis Hastert (R-IL) told reporters. "Under Bush, we can all look forward to military aggression, deregulation of dangerous, greedy industries, and the defunding of vital domestic social-service programs upon which millions depend. Mercifully, we can now say goodbye to the awful nightmare that was Clinton's America."

"For years, I tirelessly preached the message that Clinton must be stopped," conservative talk-radio host Rush Limbaugh said. "And yet, in 1996, the American public failed to heed my urgent warnings, re-electing Clinton despite the fact that the nation was prosperous and at peace under his regime. But now, thank God, that's all done with. Once again, we will enjoy mounting debt, jingoism, nuclear paranoia, mass deficit, and a massive military build-up."

An overwhelming 49.9 percent of Americans responded enthusiastically to the Bush speech.

"After eight years of relatively sane fiscal policy under the Democrats, we have reached a point where, just a few weeks ago, President Clinton said that the national debt could be paid off by as early as 2012," Rahway, NJ, machinist and father of three Bud Crandall said. "That's not the kind of world I want my children to grow up in."

"You have no idea what it's like to be black and enfranchised," said Marlon Hastings, one of thousands of Miami-Dade County residents whose votes were not counted in the 2000 presidential election. "George W. Bush understands the pain of enfranchisement, and ever since Election Day, he has fought tirelessly to make sure it never happens to my people again."

Bush concluded his speech on a note of healing and redemption.

"We as a people must stand united, banding together to tear this nation in two," Bush said. "Much work lies ahead of us: The gap between the rich and the poor may be wide, be there's much more widening left to do. We must squander our nation's hard-won budget surplus on tax breaks for the wealthiest 15 percent. And, on the foreign front, we must find an enemy and defeat it."

"The insanity is over," Bush said. "After a long, dark night of peace and stability, the sun is finally rising again over America. We look forward to a bright new dawn not seen since the glory days of my dad."

A street sign from San Francisco

You gotta love this:

Bob Herbert's "More Than Charisma"

Bob Herbert discusses the charisma of Barack Obama in his column this morning. He first recounts a story in 2006:

On a rainy October night in 2006, I took a cab to the John F. Kennedy library here to conduct a very public interview. As we pulled up, the driver asked, “Who’s on the program?”

“Barack Obama,” I said.

“Oh,” he replied, “our next president.”

Almost anyone who heard his 2004 DNC speech felt the same way. Even conservatives like George Will, who said the first time he met Barack Obama, it was like watching Alex Rodriguez play for the first time, saw his magnetism, his charisma.

But Herbert explains why Obama isn't just a charismatic figure with a beautiful family:

We’ve been watching that something this week, and it’s called leadership. Mr. Obama has been feeding the almost desperate hunger in this country for mature leadership, for someone who is not reckless and clownish, shortsighted and self-absorbed.

However you feel about his policies, and there are people grumbling on the right and on the left, Mr. Obama has signaled loudly and clearly that the era of irresponsible behavior in public office is over.

No more crazy wars. No more torture, and no more throwing people in prison without even the semblance of due process. No more napping while critical problems like the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, global warming, and economic inequality in the United States grow steadily worse.

Yes, you get the sense with Obama that there will be no more rash decisions. No more petty ideological decisions. Just calm, thoughtful leadership. And after 8 years of George Bush, it is exactly what this country needs.

The First Day

Not a bad first day for Mr. Obama. He probably accomplished more in one day than George Bush did in his whole last month. Some of the highlights:

WASHINGTON — President Obama moved quickly on Wednesday to lay some touchstones for the “more responsible, more accountable government” he has promised, ordering a salary freeze for senior White House staff, tightening rules on lobbyists and establishing what he said was a new standard of greater government openness...

One of the pressing issues confronting Mr. Obama is the conflict in Gaza, and his press spokesman said the president called four Middle East leaders — President Hosni Mubarak of Egypt, Prime Minister Ehud Olmert of Israel, King Abdullah of Jordan, and President Mahmoud Abbas of the Palestinian Authority — in a renewed pursuit of peace.

On Tuesday night, he took an initial step to realize a promise to close the detention center in Guantánamo Bay, Cuba, by ordering an immediate halt to all pending military war crimes trials for 120 days as he reviews the handling of terror suspects.

The president also planned to meet with top military advisers to chart a rapid troop drawdown from Iraq and a way forward in Afghanistan, and with his economic team regarding the grave financial crisis preoccupying Americans.

Iraq, Afghanistan, Gaza, Israel and ethics reform in one day? My boy is pimpin'.

Why the election of Barack Obama matters

Check this:

On his first full day in office, Mr. Obama will order American military leaders to plan the speedy withdrawal of combat troops from Iraq and will direct his economic advisers to do everything possible to avert a prolonged downturn and double-digit unemployment, his top aides said Sunday.

Within the first week, he might also issue executive orders calling for the closure of the detention center at Guantánamo Bay, Cuba even though the process might take time, Robert Gibbs, the incoming press secretary, told "Fox News Sunday."

"We’ve talked about banning torture and closing Guantanamo, the process by which that will happen," Mr. Gibbs said. In addition, Mr. Obama would issue executive orders tightening ethics and transparency rules affecting current and outgoing government workers.

"I think those are probably the big things that could happen as early as the first week," Mr. Gibbs said.

On one single day, Barack Obama will begin to erase two of the biggest mistakes of the Bush administration. To those who think politics is politics and one guy will be as good as the next, well, you're wrong. After just one day, America will have begun to restore its moral standing in the world.

Bill Kristol's "The Next War President"

I hate on Bill Kristol a lot on this blog. But occasionally he has good insights from a conservative perspective. Take today's column in the New York Times:

This past weekend Barack Obama added to his itinerary a visit to Arlington National Cemetery. Obama knows that he, too, will be a war president. He knows the decisions he makes as commander in chief will be his most consequential. And so on Sunday morning, before going to church, he placed a wreath at the Tomb of the Unknowns and stood silently as taps was sounded. The somber tableau provided quite a contrast to all the hubbub and talk of the last few days. Obama’s silent tribute captured a deeper truth, and — I dare say — a more fundamental hope, than could any speech.

This, I think, is a good insight. Whether Obama will be successful as a president will be in large part how he handles the two wars America currently faces.

But, of course, like anything with a Bill Kristol column. There is some stupidity as well:

But I don’t think keeping us safe has been Bush’s most impressive achievement. That was winning the war in Iraq, and in particular, his refusal to accept defeat when so many counseled him to do so in late 2006. His ordering the surge of troops to Iraq in January 2007 was an act of personal courage and of presidential leadership. The results have benefited both Iraq and the United States. And the outcome in Iraq is a remarkable gift to the incoming president, who now only has to sustain success, rather than trying to deal with the consequences in the region and around the world of a humiliating withdrawal and a devastating defeat.

What? Was there a ticker tape parade celebrating the Iraq War victory? Did we withdraw our troops and is Iraq a stable democracy free from violence? The war is going much better than it was 3 years ago. But it's an overstatement to call it a victory.

Great Quote

I found this on Andrew Sullivan's blog. Evil campaign? Really? And the last 8 years of George Bush were good and moral?

"When the rule of men conflicts with the commands of God, the Bible leaves no doubt about where we should stand. That's why I do not hesitate today in calling on godly Americans to pray that Barack Hussein Obama fail in his efforts to change our country from one anchored on self-governance and constitutional republicanism to one based on the raw and unlimited power of the central state. It would be folly to pray for his success in such an evil campaign. I want Obama to fail because his agenda is 100 percent at odds with God's," - Joseph Farah, WorldNetDaily.

The top 25 Bushisms of all time

To honor the end of the worst presidency in modern history, Slate's Jacob Weisberg has collected the top 25 Bushisms of all time.

Anyway, there is a lot of good stuff to read here. My personal favorite:

"Too many good docs are getting out of the business. Too many OB/GYNs aren't able to practice their love with women all across the country."—Poplar Bluff, Mo., Sept. 6, 2004

Hahahahahaha.

The Bush Administration's Most Despicable Act

Despite the crimes of The Bush Administration, no one in the mainstream media seems to be paying attention. Except for people like Joe Klein that is. Check this out:

"This is not the America I know," President George W. Bush said after the first, horrifying pictures of U.S. troops torturing prisoners at the Abu Ghraib prison in Iraq surfaced in April 2004. The President was not telling the truth. "This" was the America he had authorized on Feb. 7, 2002, when he signed a memorandum stating that the Third Geneva Convention — the one regarding the treatment of enemy prisoners taken in wartime — did not apply to members of al-Qaeda or the Taliban. That signature led directly to the abuses at Abu Ghraib and Guantánamo Bay. It was his single most callous and despicable act. It stands at the heart of the national embarrassment that was his presidency.

Word homie. Word.

Ann Coulter=asshole

An excerpt from Ann Coulter's new book:

Coulter wrote, "Her obvious imitation of Jackie O's style - the flipped-under hair, the sleeveless A-line dresses, the short strands of fake pearls - would have been laughable if done by anyone other than a media-designated saint."

Coulter said Cindy McCain, the wife of vanquished GOP nominee John McCain, "dressed well without freakishly imitating famous First Ladies in history."

Coulter facetiously and snidely refers to Michelle Obama as a "saint" and "Mother Teresa" and suggests that her public service career "advanced in lockstep with the political advancement of her husband."

I hate to even talk about this because it gives attention to someone who doesn't really deserve the attention. But come on, how is everything on the right "great" and everything on the left "awful" to Coulter? All she is doing is being mean and bitter just to be mean and bitter. It's an attempt to stay relevant after the crash and burn of the Bush years. But if Obama turns out to be the president I think he'll be, Coulter, Michelle Malkin, Sean Hannity and the rest will become more and more irrevelant.

George Bush's Official Portrait Unveiled

What do you think?

Iranians join Bush shoe protest

Further proof of how unpopular George W. is around the world:

Dozens of Iranians in the country's capital Tehran have held their own shoe-throwing rally in protest at US President George W Bush.

They were showing support for the Iraqi journalist who threw his footwear at the American leader in Baghdad.

The protesters waved their shoes in the air before throwing them at posters featuring caricatures of Mr Bush.

The journalist, Muntadar al-Zaidi, is due to go on trial in Iraq, accused of assaulting a foreign head of state.

The demonstration took place near Tehran university as people headed to Friday prayers.

One demonstrator, who called himself Mr Ghanati, said he was a member of the Islamic guards and that the Iraqi journalist had seen off the "traitor" Mr Bush with his action.

"Bush has committed a lot of cruelty against the people of Iraq and other countries," he said.

As much as I love this country, it's hard for me to argue with rest of the world's complaints again our current president. I never thought of him as an evil man. But he's certainly an incompetent one.

The Wisdom of George W. Bush

As much as I thought he was an awful president, you have to like a guy who says this:

Question: "When you're not talking about politics, what do you and your father talk about?"
Bush: "Pussy."

To David Fink of the Hartford Courant, at the 1988 Republican Convention, Salon, 9th April 2000

Kudos to George W. Bush: A $17.4 Billion, 3-Month Lifeline for Automakers

I thought this was good news. George Bush deserves some credit:

WASHINGTON — President Bush agreed to an emergency bailout of General Motors and Chrysler, giving them a few months to get their businesses in order, but left to President-elect Barack Obama the difficult political decision of ruling on their progress.

The plan pumps $13.4 billion by mid-January into the companies from the fund that Congress authorized to rescue the financial industry. But the two companies have until March 31 to produce a plan for long-term profitability, including concessions from unions, creditors, suppliers and dealers.

As I've said before, I think the Big 3 needs to be bailed out for the sake of the economy. It will save thousands of jobs, which cannot be lost in the middle of this recession. And you have to like the restrictions placed on the money like a plan for long-term profitability. Let's just hope the American car companies are up to it.

America's First Gay President Concludes Historic Second Term

(OK, I am on vacation, which I will be posting more because this is my idea of relaxing)

I'm not sure what to make if this latest entry from The Onion. No doubt I laughed, but that's probably because it was so out there:

WASHINGTON—President George W. Bush was unusually reflective in the final weeks of his administration, taking time during speeches and press conferences to look back on key decisions, expound on his legacy, and tout his role in paving the way for the nation's first African-American president by serving eight years as its first openly gay president.

"I'm inspired by our great country's willingness to look past the color of a man's skin—or, in my case, his overt homosexuality—and elect him based on his ability to lead," Bush told reporters following his meeting with president-elect Barack Obama on Nov. 10. "I've always been proud of my homosexuality, and I am so proud of the United States."

Bush added, "Thank you, America, for taking a chance on an openly gay man from Texas: tight jeans, cowboy hats, and all."

Recalling how he worried during his first campaign that voters were not ready to put a gay man in the White House, Bush said he was "shocked and overjoyed" to win in 2000, and could not have done it without homo-sexual adviser Karl Rove, his strong base of closeted gay ultra-conservative supporters on the Christian right, and his "best friend" Laura.

"While I tried to be commander in chief first and a homosexual man second, I knew that everything I did would be judged through the lens of 'America's first gay president,'" Bush said during an interview with ABC's Charles Gibson broadcast Dec. 1. "Looking back, my personal need to prove my man-hood definitely influenced my actions. The arrogant swagger, invading Iraq, my ruthless support of the death penalty—heck, even setting back gay rights 25 years—all of it seems so silly now."

Former press secretary Ari Fleischer agreed, saying that Bush carefully cultivated his image as a masculine, simple-minded, heterosexual male in order to combat his insecurities about appearing weak before the international community.

"Believe me, sister, he overcompensated with a capital 'compensated,'" Fleischer said. "But when the cameras stopped rolling and the podium was put away, he was just fabulous. We had a fabulous, fabulous time."

While many will argue for generations about Bush's political impact, all seem to agree that his presidency at last proved to a once-disenfranchised group that anything is possible.

"I never thought I'd see this in my lifetime," said David Nevin, a 58-year-old homosexual living in New York. "And I probably won't again because he was a terrible fucking president who ruined it for all of us."

Added Nevin, "What a bitch."

George W. Bush, The Architect Of Abu Ghraib

OK, so why isn't this bigger news in the mainstream media?

Last week, we reached some closure on a burning and controversial question that has occupied many for many years now. That is the simple question of who was responsible for the abuse, torture, rape and murder of prisoners in American custody in the war on terror, most indelibly captured by the photographic images of Abu Ghraib. The Senate's bipartisan report, issued with no dissents, reiterates and adds factual context to what we already know. And there is no equivocation in the report.

The person who authorized all the abuse and torture at Abu Ghraib, the man who gave the green light to the abuses in that prison, is the president of the United States, George W. Bush.

Again: there is no longer any reasonable factual debate about this (hence to near total silence of the Republican right), and the Senate report finally holds the president responsible in bipartisan fashion:

The abuse of detainees in U.S. custody cannot simply be attributed to the actions of “a few bad apples” acting on their own. The fact is that senior officials in the United States government solicited information on how to use aggressive techniques, redefined the law to create the appearance of their legality, and authorized their use against detainees. Those efforts damaged our ability to collect accurate intelligence that could save lives, strengthened the hand of our enemies, and compromised our moral authority.

Those ghastly pictures of naked, hooded prisoners? Bush approved nudity and hooding of prisoners. Hypothermia? Sleep deprivation? Bush signed a memo removing the most baseline protections for all human beings under the Geneva
Conventions. Waterboarding? Bush knew full well. As did Rice and Tenet and Powell and that poseur in defense of human rights, Paul Wolfowitz. But even before the memo, before any prisoners were captured, the Bush administration was working on how to torture them:

In December 2001, more than a month before the President signed his memorandum, the Department of Defense (DoD) General Counsel’s Office had already solicited information on detainee “exploitation” from the Joint Personnel
Recovery Agency (JPRA), an agency whose expertise was in training American personnel to withstand interrogation techniques considered illegal under the
Geneva Conventions.

Let's be absolutely clear what this means: When we saw an image of Lynndie England pulling a naked prisoner around on a leash, we assumed at the time that she improvised this, or was some kind of "bad apple." This is and was a conscious lie to the Congress, and to the American people, and to the world. The person who authorized the use of nudity and leashes on prisoners was not Lynndie England or any of the other grunts thrown to the wolves. The man who authorized the technique shown below is the president of the United States:

The report itself is not that long and I highly recommend reading it all closely. It is the most sobering indictment of high government officials in the U.S. since Watergate. And, in the gravity of crimes, it is a far more profound violation of the law and the constitution and the security of the United States than Watergate ever was. Bush's crimes are far greater than Nixon's - because war crimes are far graver than burglaries. And there is no statute of limitations for war crimes.

Unfucking believable, really. One of the most humilating episodes of the past 40 years for the United States was a direct result of orders by George W. Bush...

Iraqi Journalist Throws Shoe at George Bush

I've been a little slow on the uptake lately because of massive amounts of school work, but I couldn't pass up posting this. It starts about 45 seconds in. Hilarious.