Drool Fest 2007! Ten military bloggers got a special briefing from the President after his prime-time speech Iraq last week.

In this meeting, Ward Carroll of Military.com said the president seemed more comfortable with his message than on TV. We’re led to believe Bush’s becomes articulate when surrounded by hand-picked pro-Bush and pro-war supporters probably because he can say “Scrabble-ma-jangles” without judgment.

Carrol described the President’s performance in front of the blogger round-table:

“No deer-in-the-headlights stuff here. Truly unwavering and passionate.”

Apparently, the standard for unwavering presidential passion has been boiled down to looking less like a fawn frozen before its slaughter than one usual does.

Facts on the ground notwithstanding, he believes the United States can win the Iraq War. And to be honest, being around him made me believe it at that moment too.”

I would hate for facts to withstand the thrall of the President’s most recent victory pep rally among the loyal.

Source: President Reaches Out to a Friendly Circle in New Media [WaPo]

Condi tells Congress that it’s the ‘motion of the ocean’ that matters.

Any questions about the judgment of those running the executive branch should be put to rest as attention turns to the salvaging of legacies. A piece in today’s New York Times looks at a relatively unphased, if not completely culpable, member of the Bush administration’s ecforts to sace her place in history. Though Condoleeza Rice will probably prove more adept at this particular task than George Bush, posterity will unlikely remember what most of these people do after January 2009. No matter how reformed an image Condi puts forth in the coming years, the most indluential years are behind her, culminating in her 2003 statement, “We don’t want the smoking gun to be a mushroom cloud.” The fact that no such cloud would ever have been possible will be lost on no one.

In her last months as Secretary of State, Condi is trying to turn her record around by focusing on Arab-Israeli peace and containment of North Korea, doing the kind of work that could easily have been achieved in the first months of 2001, when diplomacy was replaced by arrogance and delusion. These current efforts and xertaibl welcomed and long overdue, but sadly for Condi’s legacy, too little too late on issues too peripheral to the damage she helped wreak. For Rice, as well as for Bush and whoever else associated with this White House seeks redemption, only a realistic look at Iraq, acceptance of responsibility and a concerted effort to extricate American combat forces would give these players a chance not to be completely rebuked by history. Anything less is more of the same.

In a pretty useless move, McRove has announced his departure from the White House as of August 31.

Don’t get us wrong; it’s great news. But the outgoing deputy chief of staff left only after he was essentially acquitted of any wrongdoing in the Valerie Plame case and unscathed after the firing of attorney generals, not to mention he’s leaving the mess that is George Bush behind him. Nonetheless, the evil mastermind believes that all will be well with the Bush league:

“Look, he’s a very competitive guy. None of us is indispensable or unreplaceable except (Bush) and Dick Cheney, and they ain’t going anywhere.”

Apparently, no one taught the man-devil to clean up after himself. Or proper grammar.

Featured Song: “Evil (Is Going On)” by Howlin’ Wolf

The Bush administration is hard at work keeping us all safe by trying to figure out who told the New York Times about the warrantless wiretapping program in December ‘05. Last week, Bush sent the FBI’s super-secret counter-terrorist unit to raid the home of a former Justice Dept. official and in no way is this some kind of political reprisal for a leak that amplified the outcry for oversight of the administration’s illegal activities. To suggest that the Justice Department somehow takes politics into consideration when going after people would be preposterous! Also, the fact that the counter-terrorism unit and terrorist surveillance programs are being used to for these reasons shouldn’t scare the shit out of anybody.

At about the same time, the fearless Congressional Democrats decided that they’ve stood up to bush enough for one year and went ahead and approved a Bush’s proposal for updating wiretapping laws. AIt’s a good thing too, because this kind of raid is exactly the kind of thing we hope to see more of. We can’t expect our government to be accountable, so let’s reign in all these buzzkill whistleblowers, huh?

Featured Song: “Sound of da Police” by KRS-One

Sources
“Looking for a Leaker,” Newsweek
“House Approves Changes in Eavesdropping,” New York Times

“After this is over, Daddy’s going to put these senators into a naked pile.”

Today’s wasn’t Gonzo’s best day on the job. Not only did the AP get ahold of some documents that pretty much refute big chunks of his sworn testimony in front of the Senate Judiciary Committee, the director of the FBI just gave conflicting testimony this afternoon. And then a bunch of pesky libtard senators called for an perjury investigation! Who do they think they are?

The thing about lying under oath is that it generally only tends to work when there’s no way to prove that you’re lying. In this case, it took less than 24 hours and exactly zero investigation.

Featured Song: “I Don’t Believe You” by The Magnetic Fields

Alberto Gonzales indicates to members of the Judiciary Committee the size of his juevones.

Yesterday, Attorney General and soon to be convicted felon Alberto Gonzales went before the Senate Judiciary committee to lie about some very important things. This is, I believe, the third invitation by subpoena extended to the Attorney General and most likely will not be the last. This particular occasion bore little fruit, with exasperated Senators telling Gonzo things like, “I don’t believe you,” and “You have a real credibility problem.”

But a credibility problem may not be all Gonzo has. Reports the AP:

Documents indicate eight congressional leaders were briefed about the Bush administration’s terrorist surveillance program on the eve of its expiration in 2004, contradicting sworn Senate testimony this week by Attorney General Alberto Gonzales.

The documents underscore questions about Gonzales’ credibility as senators consider whether a perjury investigation should be opened into conflicting accounts about the program and a dramatic March 2004 confrontation leading up to its potentially illegal reauthorization.

That took less than 24 hours! Now let’s see how fast all this bullshit unravels!

Featured Song: “Liars Beware” by The Voidoids

Bush took some questions on Iraq today. But only one questions really got our attention:

Mr. President, you started this war; it’s a war of your choosing, and you can end it. Alone. Today, at this point, bring in peacekeepers, U.N. peacekeepers. Two million Iraqis have fled the country as refugees. Two million more are displaced. Thousands and thousands are dead. Don’t you understand? You have brought the Al Qaeda into Iraq.

Helen Thomas, you’re our Culture Warrior.

Source: Bush on Iraq and Congress [CNN (Video)]