Bullet Bags for Bush

via A Liberal Dose: "Displaying the singular tact and deep humanitarianism for which he is so deservedly reknowned, Chief Chimp hosted an Army recruiting drive for the BOY SCOUTS OF AMERICA.

(Start the indoctrination young, 'cause with them Eye-rakees refusin ta stay beat and just pipe their dang oil straight into Bush Inc.'s personal oil tankers, we sure need the 10 to 18-year-old set learning the joys of triage and how to jerry-rig their own humvee armor -- though it's doubtful they issued new merit badges on such short notice.)

To add to the belief-beggaring, appalling tastelessness of the maneouver, two days after the kids had just witnessed the horrific death of four scout leaders in a freak accident, Bush PULLED A NO-SHOW AT THEIR MEMORIAL, and 300 KIDS COLLAPSED FROM THE HEAT while waiting in vain for his majesty to appear.

>sigh....<

People, you just can't even make shit like this up.

Roe V. Everyone Else .

(Start the indoctrination young, 'cause with them Eye-rakees refusin ta stay beat and just pipe their dang oil straight into Bush Inc.'s personal oil tankers, we sure need the 10 to 18-year-old set learning the joys of triage and how to jerry-rig their own humvee armor -- though it's doubtful they issued new merit badges on such short notice.)

To add to the belief-beggaring, appalling tastelessness of the maneouver, two days after the kids had just witnessed the horrific death of four scout leaders in a freak accident, Bush PULLED A NO-SHOW AT THEIR MEMORIAL, and 300 KIDS COLLAPSED FROM THE HEAT while waiting in vain for his majesty to appear.

>sigh....<

People, you just can't even make shit like this up."-(filed by Mike )

Via The Guardian:

A military cargo plane carrying three senators and a House member was forced to take evasive maneuvers and dispatch flares to avoid ground fire after taking off from Baghdad on Thursday night.

The lawmakers said their plane, a C-130, was under fire from three rocket-propelled grenades over the course of several minutes as they left for Amman, Jordan.

"It was a scary moment," said Sen. Mel Martinez, R-Fla., who said he had just taken off his body armor when he saw a bright flash outside the window. "Our pilots were terrific. ... They banked in one direction and then banked the other direction, and they set off the flares."

Sens. Richard Shelby, R-Ala., and James Inhofe, R-Okla., as well as Rep. Bud Cramer, D-Ala., were also on the plane.

"We were jostled around pretty good," said Cramer, who estimated the plane had ascended to about 6,000 feet. "There were a few minutes there where I wondered: 'Have we been hit? Are we OK?'" Read more...

This literally makes me so angry that my hands are shaking as I type this. For all the rhetoric that gets spun out in the media that the anti-war movement is hurting the troops, here is very real, very tangible proof that the troops ARE being hurt. But not by those of us who want them out of harm's way. No, they're being hurt by those who decided to send them there.

Bob Geiger:

A study completed in late June by the Pentagon's Inspector General concludes that the Department of Defense (DoD) has risked the lives of U.S. troops in Iraq due to malfeasance in awarding and monitoring contracts for badly-needed armored vehicles.

The study, which was requested by Democratic Congresswoman Louise Slaughter of New York, found that since 2000 the DoD has awarded "sole-source" contracts valued at $2.2 billion to just two companies, Force Protection, Inc.(FPI) and Armor Holdings, Inc (AHI).

Inspector General auditors found that the Marine Corps Systems Command (MCSC) made these two companies the sole providers of armored vehicles and armor kits for troops, despite knowing that other suppliers may have produced the equipment so desperately needed in Iraq substantially faster. Both manufacturers fell far behind delivery schedules, while AHI also produced inadequate and faulty equipment.

Rep. Louise Slaughter has really been at the forefront of demanding answers. Please give her some props for her hard work and commitment.

We all got a good laugh recently when a CBS affiliate in California discovered that the Pentagon considered building a “gay bomb,” which could purportedly turn enemy soldiers gay. Apparently, however, that’s not the only wacky idea on which Pentagon officials have been willing to spend money.

Creating armor that renders a soldier invisible. Stimulating the brain to suppress sleep for days. Arming sharks with chemical implants and cameras to work as spies.

This year the Pentagon will spend $78 billion — about half of all government research and development dollars — on a variety of projects, according to the American Association for the Advancement for Science (AAAS). The vast majority - about $68 billion - goes to traditional spending, like weapons development and space systems. But some fringe research mimics the best of science fiction.

Or perhaps the worst. The ABC News report included quite a few gems, including the “gay bomb,” a lengthy study into “psychic teleportation,” and research into brain implants that intended to “steer sharklike dog fish with a phantom odor.”

When Austin Powers jokes start to resemble actual research, it’s not a good sign.

Randi was on Paula Zahn with guest host Hedi Collins and debated CNN's resident wingnut Bay Buchanan over the job Bush is job.

Download | play -WMP Download | play -QT (hat tip Jordy )

Transcript

COLLINS: Randi, the president admitted, for the first time, that American troops will be in Iraq until at least 2009. Is he really leaving it up to the next president to get this job done?

RHODES: He's leaving a mess for everybody.

He's leaving a mess for the middle class. He's leaving a mess for the soldiers. He's billing them for their body armor when they come home. He hasn't changed the strategy. While he was talking in this surprise news conference today, this -- these matinee appearances that the president gives, which, by the way, are for us. It's for news -- us in the news. It's for us in the media to watch him and then comment on him at night, when people are likely to be watching your show.

Nobody sees these matinee things, except for Bay and me and you, Heidi. And...

Channeling Donald Rumsfeld.

"A secret Pentagon study has found that at least 80 percent of the marines who have been killed in Iraq from wounds to their upper body could have survived if they had extra body armor. That armor has been available since 2003 but until recently the Pentagon has largely declined to supply it to troops despite calls from the field for additional protection, according to military officials...read on"

Hinderaker will say that this story is further proof the NY times should be charged with treason.

GNN: "David H. Brooks, CEO of bulletproof vest maker DHB Industries, spared no expense for his 13-year old daughter’s entry into adulthood. The girl and 300 of her closest BFFs were entertained recently in New York’s Rainbow Room by Don Henley, Stevie Nicks, Kenny G, Aerosmith and, believe it or not, 50 Cent (I guess 500 large can make you forget all about street cred). It was hosted by Tom Petty. The reported cost: $10 million.

According to United for a Fair Economy, Brooks and Co. have made a tidy profit outfitting our nation’s fighting men and women in body armor that allegedly couldn’t take a hit from a 9mm round......read on"

(hat tip Paul Rieckhoff)

Alan Shore for Congress

Pamela:Boston Legal took on the Iraq War tonight… with a case about "a paralegal" who is suing the U.S. Government, to vindicate the death of her brother killed in the Iraq war."

Download | play -WMP

Download | play -QT

Shore: "We talk about honoring our soldiers, well how about giving a damn when they're killed…The American public is more concerned about whether or not Brad Pitt and Angelina Jolie are a couple… The media spends more time on a missing Aruba girl… We have no time table on leaving Iraq… Mothers and fathers spend money on body armor for their kids, that they shouldn’t even have to wear… because they are not supposed to be there."

Rumsfeld's Stupidity

You remember Donald trying to explain to our soldiers why they didn't have the proper armor when questioned in early Dec.

" You go to war with the army you have not the army you might want or wish to have?"

During a hearing of the Senate Armed Services Committee where he appeared with several Generals to discuss the state of Iraq and the training of their armed forces. (The Iraq forces are down to one battalion) Ted Kennedy said to Rummy:

"There are ''continuing reports that the Iraqi police and security forces we're training are substantially infiltrated by insurgents"

Here's his latest rationale about insurgents infiltrating the Iraqi forces:

''It's a problem that's faced by police forces in every major city in our country, that criminals infiltrate and sign up to join the police force."

Is he kidding me? What orifice does Rumsfeld pull these analogies out of? Check out the LAPD's website for becoming a police officer. Click here for background standards. For their website click here

Lou Dobbs: Judy's Knight in Shinning Armor

Judy gave an interview to Lou and was he ever angry at Fitzgerald.

Download | play -WMP low res. Bittorrent is down for a while

Download | play -QT is still loading on the servers.

Dobbs: I will not forgive Fitzgerald for what he did to you. I think it is an onerous, disgusting abuse of government power, and that of Judge Hogan, straightforwardly.

Judy on Prison: ...the most soulless place I had ever been....It was demeaning. It was degrading. It was very lonely."

Atrios says: Who knows how lives could've been improved if Judy had spent her time covering prison conditions rather than pushing phantom threats."

Jeralyn wrote a huge review on Judy's spot: Judith Miller Talks to Lou Dobbs