I Knew It! Also, Siegelman Appeal Gets New Life

The Government Accountability Office has found seven instances of improper burrowing by the Bush Administration! Finally, we nailed those assholes. I knew they were burrowing all along!

Okay, I have no idea what burrowing is, but I'll take it. At this point, I'm going to find out what this whole burrowing thing is all about, but clearly, whatever it is, I'm sure no one is the least bit worried about going to jail.

TPM's Justin Elliott describes the practice thus:

...political appointees shifting to career civil servant positions in a given agency...

So the administration expires after eight years, but the ideology lives on through the actions of the burrowers. Guess where the majority of this took place. C'mon, guess.

Yeah, it's the former home of Monica Goodling, the Justice Department. I'm sure there's no connection.

Speaking of the Bush Justice Dept., Don Siegelman will get another shot at his appeal thanks to the Supreme Court's ruling in the case of U.S. vs. Skilling. This is good news for the former Alabama governor who's conviction stank badly, but it's still not over.

You Knew it was Bad, But This Guy Documented the Experience

CBSNews.com's Shira Lazar talks to Josh Fox, the director of the devastating documentary Gasland that is currently running on HBO.

Book Review--David Derrico's The Twiller

I'm proud to recommend my friend David Derrico's new novel, The Twiller. My Amazon review for the book is here. I love this book and have very high hopes that it will do well. If you would rather hear a review from someone who is not good friends with the author, check out I Love My Kindle blogger bufocalvin's extensive review.

Ron Blackwell Knows an Asshole When He Sees One

AFL-CIO economist Ron Blackwell went on Fox News to be completely rolled by Cavuto, only, Blackwell didn't get the memo. When Cavuto asks him if he got his degree at a bakery, Blackwell gets back to the basics and reminds Cavuts that he is indeed an asshole.

Tucker Gets a Bit Mopey

Tucker went on Washinton Journal, because there simply must not have been anyone else awake, and he let us know that he thinks that things are more off-track than at any time in his "conscious lifetime".

Hold on a second while I cash in on this set up in all caps just for the hell of it

--THAT'S NOT A VERY LARGE SAMPLE SIZE!

POW!

So, what should we do? Tucker, who is bummed out in this clip, says we're gonna have to cut into social security and medicare.

Cenk Uygur, replies.

Stewart is Ideal Obama Antagonist

Matt Zoller Seitz piece on Jon Stewart's recent run of what Seitz calls "Obama Bashing" is a skewed characterization of a really exciting phenomenon. If Jon Stewart's sustained criticism of the White House (far from "bashing", a lazy term which is really out of place here) manages to become the focal point of our national discourse, rather than, say, Fox News or Rush Limbaugh vs. the White House, than we may have a shot at something resembling a national comeback. Or, at least readily available, coherent political analysis. The White House wants Limbaugh, Glenn Beck and Sarah Palin to be their foils, because they are easily beaten. Stewart's criticism is much more realistic, and actually might serve as a means of focusing the White House, once the shelf life of Stewart's ideas clear the administrative lag time.

Drug Test Congress First

Orrin Hatch wants to drug test the unemployed. To his credit he would not object to drug testing Congress. If this bullshit goes through, we have got to hold him to that at least, then watch as the dominoes fall. I have no doubt that at least as much of Congress that found their way to the DC Madam have found their way to the Beltway Connection.

Here's Marc Maron on the concept of drug testing in general:

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Old Blackwater, Keeps on Rollin'

Somehow, the company formerly known as Blackwater, your favorite merciless post-apocalyptic corporate army employed by the Bush administration, have emerged from their makeover with a new brand name, Xe, and a new contract from the Obama administration. The State Department awarded the contract, which calls for "Xe" to protect diplomats in Iraq. So, they will have the guns again. But, will they still have their signature icy disregard for human life?

We'll just have to hope for the best.

Also, massacre? I don't have got no idea what you're talking about.

UPDATE: WaPo's Jeff Stein has a source that claims the new version of Blackwater has changed and can be trusted. The company is still at least nominally run by Erik Prince, which I would figure would be a deal breaker, but here we are. These guys better not fuck up.

Biden Giulianifies Barton

The vice president dismantles Congressman Joe Barton for his Harry Whittington-esque apology to BP. Shades of this 2007 thrashing Biden gave a certain alleged national security expert.

I Can't Believe it Myself

A few days ago, the president managed to get BP to set aside $20 billion for victims of the oil spill. This is something our media is not equipped to properly contextualize. It's the fact that this is completely outside the power of the Presidency that makes it such an amazing accomplishment. Guys like Joe Barton call it a shakedown. I orignally thought of it as more of a Jedi mind trick, but TPM reader DB described it best as an act of leadership.

He wrote:

It reminds me a little of something that happened during the Hurrican Rita evacuation. It was going to slowly and endangering the evacuees. Houston Mayor Bill White got on the phone to the Texas Department of Highways. He said, "make all the lanes of I.H. 45 one way north for the first hundred miles from the coast--the southbound traffic can find another route." He had no power to order that. But the officials just complied. He acted like a man in charge.

Unless the fund is handled poorly, and it looks like the administration has farmed this out to a competent, experienced individual, this has to go down as one of the great presidential accomplishments of this relatively major presidential accomplishment-free century.

Lightning Round--This Brings All New Meaning to the Term Lightning Round Edition

Rising Hegemon: Big Butter Jesus is toast. The $250,000 yellow statue of Jesus at this riverfront church in Ohio burned to the ground after being struck by lightning. Attaturk handles the irony overdose far better than I could. BBJ and I go way back, to this post. Keep your eyes peeled, people of Ohio, He may yet rise again.

Ragebot!: Kvatch has sent Ragebot! to the dead blog office. Farewell, Ragebot! Hopefully Kvatch returns with a brand new invention sooner than later.

A Tiny Revolution: The Supreme Court rejected the a case brought on behalf of Canadian extraordinary rendition survivor Maher Arar by the Center for Constitutional Rights against the U.S. officials that sent him to Syria to be tortured. Now it's time to do something about it.

Low Budget FM: Co-host Mike Cioffi is a creative, talented guy. He's also working on a project that may change the face of American culture inexorably.

Professor Richard D. Wolf: A New School economist offers a crash course in Marxism in four roughly two-hour lectures. His website offers up plenty of other resources as well.

Go Alvin Greene!

As Jon Stewart points out in this clip, any Democrat nominated for Senate in South Carolina is going down anyway, so this isn't exactly the crime of the century. What it is, is a huge embarrassment for the Democratic Party, who should have been all over this. There is no excuse for nominating this complete jackass.

Having said all that, it is imperative that we elect this jackass to the Senate because he's way better for America than Jim DeMint.

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Congressman Snaps after Bush League Psyche-Out

I think you may have seen Congressman Etherigde snap by now, but if not, here's that:



Sad day for DNC spokesman Brad Woodhouse who had to addressed the video in statement form.

Motives matter, and I think you can see who was behind this. This was a Republican party tracking operation. If it wasn't a party tracker or intern, why is the face blurred and why is the source hidden? You know if it had been a right wing blog, they'd identify themselves and they'd be booking this person on TV all day. Republicans know if they admit their involvement in this game of gotcha it will undermine their credibility. One minute this guy is interviewing a member of Congress on camera and the next a video is released with his face blurred out? If that doesn't tell you this is a Republican Party hatchet job nothing will.

I don't care if it was Karl Rove's grandmamma stalking this dude, that reaction is completely unacceptable. You can't horsecollar a guy in the NFL, you sure can't do it on the street. Rep. Etheridge should probably resign, but if he decides to let the voters fire him instead, then I say this--he's not worse than David Vitter and that guy never resigned.

UPDATE: TPM points out that the people behind the video have a pretty clear record of selective editing. That had not occurred to me, dude.

The Other Barbara Bush Shows Up on TV

Chris Wallace put together this short feature on one half of the Bush twins.


Two things I really liked in that. One, she doesn't plan to run for office. Two, she said she was glad that health care reform passed.

As long as part one holds true, then we're all good.

Before There Was a Massive Oil Volcano in the Middle of the Ocean...

...there was an editorial published June 19, 2008, by the Telegraph's Alex Singleton titled, "George Bush is right on offshore drilling."

Let's see how he did.

There are indeed legitimate environmental concerns about drilling, but there are also economic concerns about high energy prices and the reliance on oil imported from temperamental sources. Harnessing US oil resources, just as Britain has harnessed North Sea oil, is increasingly necessary.

Technological progress will eventually break the link between energy use and carbon emissions, but it is impractical in the near future to rely purely on renewable sources. Wind energy, for example, can be an important part of a country’s energy mix, but it is on its own unable to guarantee a consistent supply of power.

It's not the vitriolic Glen Beck-style comical slapstick of the right that we've come to expect. But there's nothing reasonable about it. Not now and not then. This idea that we should keep chasing oil deeper and deeper into the sea, knowing full well the potential for damage to environment, while we wait for technology to solve the problem for us is like a fat person waiting around for pills that give you better abs than Jesus. It'll be a long wait while things keep getting worse.

Did Colin Powell Prevent Cold War with China?

According to his former aide, he most certainly did.

The entire four part interview is here.

Colbert Demands Obama Release His Rap Records

Where were you in the summer of '93, President Obama?

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Was Bill Clinton Once a Lesbian Orgy Magnet?

Okay, Bubba, it's time to come clean. Did you, or, did you not use your handsome face to attract beautiful and charming young women to parties, where they would then be persuaded to partake in lesbian orgies? You must respond to this poorly sourced, decades old accusation, leveled at you by a notorious drunk who is selling this story as part of his new book.

We will impeach you again, even if it means reversing the 23rd amendment and re-electing you in 2012 to do it.

Also, don't skimp on the details about those parties.

Only a Million, Elton?

Elton John's current tour is quite ambitious. In the coming weeks he will play in Bulgaria for the first time in his storied career. A couple of weeks ago he played a show in Morocco despite the protests of Islamic fundamentalists.

How to follow up on that? Take a check for a million dollars to play Rush Limbaugh's 4th wedding, of course.

Next up, Jabba's Palace for the Hutt's kid's Bar Mitzvah.

So Many Assholes On TV

Are there really so many jobs in TV that this guy makes the cut?



By the way, Erin Burnett's analysis is right. Galarraga's rare grace will be rewarded for generations. He and the umpire have endeared themselves to me and many other sports fans that have become increasingly alienated from sports by the cheaters, criminals and assholes that dominate the landscape. Armando Galarraga's unique place in the lore of the game is assured now because he got monumentally screwed and he was able to joke about it and forgive the person that did him wrong.

Nothing to See Here

Alaska Rep. Don Young actually said that the spill isn't an environmental disaster.

Bush Admits Waterboarding

And still, no one cares. Bush could waterboard KSM right now on TV and no one would care. It's a damn shame because it changes who we are as a people. You either torture or you don't. It takes more than an election to change that. Admitting it may be worse than doing it. That's George W. Bush for you. If it can be made worse, he will find a way to make it worse.

John Oliver Bids Farewell to Senators Craig, Bayh

Vintage Oliver.

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As great as Oliver is on the Daily Show, I dare say he is as good or better on the weekly podcast he does with Andy Zaltsman for the TimesOnline called The Bugle.

Michael Savage Weighs in On Israeli Flotilla Raid

Cenk Uygur playes the choice audio on The Young Turks. Spoiler alert: It was Bill Ayers.



Cenk also makes this very important point, "They didn't kill 9 people with paintball guns."

Stop Talking Immediately

I'm sure the CEO of BP, Mr. Tony Hayward, never thought that he would hold ultimate responsibility over a company that would cause something as horrific as the Gulf Oil Spill. I'm sure that it seems intuitive for this guy to engage such a monumental fuck up with copious amounts of PR tactics in hopes that he can mitigate a disaster that he can not stop. Apparently that's not all he can't stop. He's having a real problem stopping the nonsense spilling from his mouth.

His instincts actually led him to say this (h/t Sam Seder):

There's no one who wants this over more than I do. I would like my life back.

If this is his idea of a helpful statement, then someone on this man's payroll should be responsible for convincing him to never speak to a reporter again for the rest of his life.

Mr. Hayward, this is not about YOU! Get your life back? Are you serious?

You know who also wants their lives back? The people who live off of the fishing and tourism industries, which are going to be damaged irreparably for a generation or more. What's the worst case scenario for Mr. Hayward? Barring the minuscule chance that he may have broken the law--the law that thirty years of deregulation has sanded down to nothing--he's walking away from this job a rich man with only his conscience to contend with.

UPDATE: Going against the advice I so generously provided for him, Tony Hayward has apologized for saying, "I want my life back."

Here's his new statement:

I made a hurtful and thoughtless comment on Sunday when I said that "I wanted my life back." When I read that recently, I was appalled. I apologize, especially to the families of the 11 men who lost their lives in this tragic accident. Those words don't represent how I feel about this tragedy, and certainly don't represent the hearts of the people of BP -- many of whom live and work in the Gulf -- who are doing everything they can to make things right. My first priority is doing all we can to restore the lives of the people of the Gulf region and their families -- to restore their lives, not mine.

It took reading his own words to make him realize what he said was appalling. This guy doesn't comprehend what's coming out of his mouth until he reads it in print. He needs to have a transcription of his words provided to him in real time so he can sign off on his own statements.

For Justice, We Must Go to Bob Graham

With oil looming near the state's shores, President Obama has appointed former Governor and Senator Bob Graham to co-chair a commission to investigate the Gulf oil spill. This is a great move. Graham served the state brilliantly during his long career in public service. He will not be a party to a whitewash, especially now that he's retired. Just look at the way he's waving this piece of incriminating evidence around like he's so ready to incriminate bad people with it.

Speaking of incriminating bad people, elsewhere in the state, Former Florida GOP chair Jim Greer has been charged with six felony counts--a little fraud, a little theft, and little bit of money laundering. That's gotta sting.