Shiite-Kurd Talks Collapse

via the All Spin Zone

I'm not quite sure why anyone thought this "coalition" thing was ever going to work anyway. And for my money, as long as convicted con man and Jordanian fugitive Ahmed Chalabi is still in the game, the whole thing remains a Negroponte-controlled farce.

From Reuters:

Talks between Kurdish leaders and a Shiite bloc to form the next Iraqi government have collapsed three days before the country's first fully elected parliament meets, senior politicians said today...

...Ahmad Chalabi, a leading member of the Shiite bloc, the United Iraqi Alliance, returned empty-handed on Saturday from a trip to Iraqi Kurdistan to try and save the proposed Kurdish-Shiite alliance.

...Kurdish politicians went further, saying the Shiite alliance was trying to blame them for the crisis that has paralysed decision-making in a country plagued by guerrilla bombings and starved of investment needed for rebuilding.

Meanwhile, the bloodbath continues.

The New York City Police Department issued a disconcerting report recently called, “Radicalization in the West: The Homegrown Threat.” In a nutshell, investigators and researchers concluded that the most serious threat the nation faces come from small groups of disaffected men who become radicalized.

The Wall Street Journal’s Peggy Noonan noted the report in her latest column, and seems to blame our culture and American values for inviting attacks.

The view we show of life to ourselves, and to whatever lost young men are watching, is not broad and inspiriting. It is limited and dispiriting. It is every man for himself.

We make it too easy for those who want to hate us to hate us. We make ourselves look bad in our media, which helps future jihadists think that they must, by hating us, be good.

It's not only bewildering, it's also part of a blame-Americans-first attitude that conservatives keep embracing.

PSoTD listens to Lugar and says Grow up, America.

Steve Soto is hopeful that the dam has broken with Lugar's statement.

Kiko's House - Christie Whitman: Hypocrite & Prevaricator (and the Rude Pundit has a mouthful to say on this one too).

Prairie Weather is feeling cynical about Tony Blur's new McJob.

The Heretik says some free speech is more free than others. It depends who is buying.

Over at Comments From Left Field, they're losing IQ points reading the WSJ on Gitmo...so that you don't have to.

The All Spin Zone - Bush was handed a petition by 50 High School kids yeaterday, saying they don't want America to be a nation of torturers. There is still hope. Some sane conservatives still exist, thankfully.

Here's James Joyner on the reporter who wants out of Afghanistan and wants to blame the Dems for it, and Steven Taylor pointing out that the White House defense of Cheney amounts to "I don’t know if this is my wife or not."

Texas Liberal, though, is having trouble with not-so sane conservatives and bumper stickers.

The Galloping Beaver discovers Canada has ceded military control over domestic incidents to the U.S.

Guest round up by Cernig @ The Newshoggers (newshog AT gmail DOT com).

A question from the UK press really caught Bush flat footed (cackles ensued) and made Tony Blair smile and say: "You had kind of forgotten what the British media were like, hadn't you?" (Laughter.)

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This isn't the first time Bush has been asked questions by the UK press, but he sure acted like it. Yes, the British press is a little more "direct," you might say...Makes a person wonder how our political system would operate if our press had that same level of frankness...

Q During the course of this visit it has been confirmed that Gordon Brown is going to be the next British Prime Minister, taking over in 40 days' time. I wonder if I could have both your reactions to that. And, in particular, Mr. Blair, what you say to those people who are saying now there is a new Prime Minister in place, you should go sooner? And to Mr. Bush, whether --

PRESIDENT BUSH: That's a lovely question. (Laughter.)

Q -- however inadvertently, you once said that you would like Tony Blair to stay for the duration of your presidency. He's not doing that. Do you think you're partly to blame for that?

Continue reading »

Helps if you hold session more than two days a week, fellas. Of course, then you'd have less of a mess to blame on Democrats, wouldn't you?

Yahoo News:

Republicans vacating the Capitol are dumping a big spring cleaning job on Democrats moving in. GOP leaders have opted to leave behind almost a half-trillion-dollar clutter of unfinished spending bills.

[..]The bulging workload that a Republican-led Congress was supposed to complete this year but is instead punting to 2007 promises to consume time and energy that Democrats had hoped to devote to their own agenda upon taking control of Congress in January for the first time in a dozen years.

Continue reading »

The Galloping Beaver: al-Zarqawi may have been deposed, so who's running the jihad? At least Iraqis are becoming more like Americans...they're packin' heat. Nonetheless, the White Man's Burden seems particularly heavy today.

WWJD?

Simply Left Behind: Remember when?

A year ago, Tom DeLay asked his peers to blame Democrats and the press for his legal troubles. Like fudge-hearted bully he is, he's still unwilling to accept responsibility for his own actions. TIME Q&A: with Tom DeLay..."The people that go to church understand that a country has to be based on some sort of religion and fear of God because they understand that."

It's only fitting that he continue lying as he walks away from a House full of political whores.
Reading the interview, it becomes shockingly clear that Mike Allen, the TIME correspondent who interviewed the departing criminal, obviously didn't know what the DeLay Rule was! Pam held her nose and went to check out the Freeper's reaction. In Texas, "Local Republicans Are Eating Each Other Alive"

Spittle & Ink: So many GOP resignations, they got a standard form...

NBC covered the many complaints from the right wing noise machine (Laura Ingaham) in their efforts to blame the media for the failures of the Bush administration in Iraq. Richard Engel files a report on what it's like to be a reporter in Iraq on The "TODAY SHOW," this morning.
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Gregory: Do we miss the overall story about what's going on in Iraq, or does security remain the overall story?

Engel: I think the security problem is the overall story and most Iraqi's I speak to say-actually most reporters get it wrong-it's the situation on the ground is actually worse than the images we project on television.

We'll see more and more reports coming out by the media explaining how they are covering the war and I think the Bush administration overplayed their hand in trying to blame their problems on the media.

Josh Marshall:

"So, from the information available, Cheney screwed up -- a relatively common hunting accident, based (as most accidents are) by not following basic safety guidelines and being careless. Trying to blame it on the guy who got shot just doesn't wash.

"Mary Matalin told the WaPo: "The vice president was concerned. He felt badly, obviously. On the other hand, he was not careless or incautious or violate any of the [rules]. He didn't do anything he wasn't supposed to do." ...read on"

I don't think he was supposed to shoot a man, but that's just me.

(reader Ces) sent me the "Shooting safety Rules,"

KNOW YOUR SAFE ZONE OF FIRE AND STICK TO IT.
Your safe zone-of-fire is that area or direction in which you can safely fire a shot. It is "down range" at a shooting facility. In the field it is that mental image you draw in your mind with every step you take. BE SURE YOU KNOW WHERE YOUR COMPANIONS ARE AT ALL TIMES. Never swing your gun or bow out of your safe zone-of-fire. Know the safe carries when there are persons to your sides, in front of, or behind you. IF IN DOUBT, NEVER TAKE A SHOT. When hunting, wear daylight fluorescent orange so you can be seen from a distance or in heavy cover.

The cult-like followers of Bush and Cheney can admit no wrong. Even when Cheney is clearly at fault by the Texas rules of hunter safety, they claim infallibility and activiate a mini-"swift boating" of a 78 year-old man with multilple pellet wounds. What is up with the pathological inability of this administration to accept responsibility for their actions? Disgusting.

IF IN DOUBT, NEVER TAKE A SHOT. When hunting, wear daylight fluorescent orange so you can be seen from a distance or in heavy cover.

The many responses of Lady MacCheney

Mary Matalin appeared on "Meet The Press," this morning and defended Cheney's actions over the shooting of Harry Whittington. David Edwards just compiled her responses to Russert in this clip.

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Update: Lady MacCheney gets busted for lying

Nice catch by TPM.

Josh Marshall:

"On Meet the Press today Mary Matalin claimed that Vice President Cheney never sent surrogates out to blame Harry Whittington for last weekend's hunting accident in the first days after the news broke ... How can she be serious when she was one of the lead surrogates sent out to do just that?...read on"

(I'm working on the video, but my file seems corrupted so here's the transcript) Appearing on the H&C show last night, Jack Spadaro, former Director, NATIONAL MINE ACADEMY went after the Bush administration over the mining disaster in Sago and tied Sean Hannity's usually vitriolic tongue in knots.

ALAN COLMES, CO-HOST: Joining us now on the phone is the former director of the National Mine Safety and Health Academy, Jack Spadaro. In terms of safety, Jack, what do we know about this mine and its relative safety in how it should have been operating?

JACK SPADARO, FORMER DIRECTOR, NATIONAL MINE ACADEMY: We know from the record that the mine, in particular in the past year, has been cited over 180 times for violations of federal mine health and safety law and regulations. And about 90 of those violations were called serious and substantial violations of the law. So we know that it was a very unsafe mine and that there were serious problems with mine ventilation and roof control.

COLMES: Are you saying that these men should not have been allowed to go down there?

SPADARO: Yes, sir.

COLMES: You're saying this mine should not have been open?

SPADARO: This mine should have been closed. And there were too many serious violations. And the record is very clear.

COLMES: Why was it open then? If you, as a safety expert, feels it should not have been, why was it open?

SPADARO: I think it's because of the current Bush administration's policies toward mine operators and their reluctance to take the strong enforcement action that's sometimes necessary. rAnd that often involves closing a mine. r
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SEAN HANNITY, CO-HOST: Jack, let's not politicize this! I mean, already, what do you want, to blame GeorgerBush with this? Is that where you'rerheaded with this political question? I don'trthink this is the time to go into that.
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There certainlyrare issues. This mine was cited for overr200 violations, 46 during an 11-week period late in the year. They've been fined thousands of dollars. But I can't see an instance where it wasrrecommended that they close it.
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SPADARO: Well, actually, there were three orders torclose portions of the mine that were issued in the October to the Decemberrperiod. And there has been a significantrchange since the Bush administration took over, the enforcement of mine safetyrand health.
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And I canrspeak to that, because I worked in the agency, and I talk with people every dayrwho tell me that, in recent years, and particularly in recent months, there'srbeen a reluctance on the part of the top management at the Mine Safety andrHealth Administration...
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HANNITY: All right, you've got a political...
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SPADARO: ... to enforce the law.
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HANNITY: We don't have time tonight to get into this, norrdo I think it's appropriate. But yourclearly have a political agenda that, if I had enough time, I'm sure I...
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SPADARO: No. Yourcalled me and asked me to make a comment.
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HANNITY: I know, but I'm sure... And that often involves closing a mine.

SEAN HANNITY, CO-HOST: Jack, let's not politicize this! I mean, already, what do you want, to blame George Bush with this? Is that where you're headed with this political question? I don't think this is the time to go into that.

There certainly are issues. This mine was cited for over 200 violations, 46 during an 11-week period late in the year. They've been fined thousands of dollars. But I can't see an instance where it was recommended that they close it.

SPADARO: Well, actually, there were three orders to close portions of the mine that were issued in the October to the December period. And there has been a significant change since the Bush administration took over, the enforcement of mine safety and health.

And I can speak to that, because I worked in the agency, and I talk with people every day who tell me that, in recent years, and particularly in recent months, there's been a reluctance on the part of the top management at the Mine Safety and Health Administration...

HANNITY: All right, you've got a political...

SPADARO: ... to enforce the law.

HANNITY: We don't have time tonight to get into this, nor do I think it's appropriate. But you clearly have a political agenda that, if I had enough time, I'm sure I...

SPADARO: No. You called me and asked me to make a comment.

HANNITY: I know, but I'm sure...

SPADARO: And I'm telling you what's...

HANNITY: You want to turn this into a political thing...

SPADARO: No, I'm telling you what the truth is.

HANNITY: ... and we have families that are suffering tonight, sir.

SPADARO: And that's the truth is that there were 180 violations...

HANNITY: You want to blame George Bush...

SPADARO: ... that were serious.

HANNITY: ... like a lot of extreme left-wingers. All right. Go ahead. You got your point out.

COLMES: Mr. Spadaro, I'm not sure that you have a political point of view, but I do thank you very much for coming on the show tonight. Thank you for your time.

MyDD has a response to a smear campagin against them: The Sago Mines: Negligence by the Republicans

Think Progress has more on Spadaro.