Ted, Just Admit It

It looks like Alaska Senator Ted Stevens is about to head down that road to nowhere, except that nowhere is the federal pen.

As you probably already know the FBI raided his home yesterday. What you might not know is that they also brought along some friends from the IRS, and when they pal along for the ride, let's just say you are about to get fucked in a very uncomfortable place, and I don't mean the back of a Volkswagen.

While it's true that Stevens is innocent until proven guilty, these guys don't make their move until they have you dead to rights.

Wait, You Mean We Have A Chance To Fuck It Up Even More?

Yes, we can. And yes, it looks like we're going to. In order to appease the Turks (I didn't think we did that appeasement thing) the US military is going to start fighting with the only remotely pro-American people in Iraq, the Kurds. From Juan Cole:

Liz Sly of the Trib reports on the tense Iraqi-Turkish border, made perilous by the safe harbor offered the Kurdish Workers Party (PKK) guerrillas by the leaders of Iraqi Kurdistan. At the last checkpoint under Iraqi control, she is told, "There could be bombing, and there are terrorists everywhere."

This delicate problem, which could blow up the northern reaches of the Middle East, requires delicate diplomacy, right? Nope. Bush thinks all problems can be resolved with violence. Dark Prince Bob Novak says that Undersecretary of Defense Eric Edelman has briefed Congress on a covert US operation to help Turkey suppress the PKK. The quid pro quo would be that Turkey would not invade northern Iraq.

The problem? The Kurds are the only firm ally the US had in Iraq, and US special ops troops getting directly involved against the PKK might well alienate the Kurds in general. You can hear W.'s fingernails squeak as they dig into the face of the high cliff down which he is gradually sliding.

What will be the outcome should this come to pass? Well for starters we will succeed in making a relatively peaceful populous restive, which of course will require more troops. Also, that Kurdish division that is part of "the surge" will most likely pack up and go home, which of course will require more troops.

And as for the whole reconciliation prospects of Iraq, this very well could push the Kurds to declare their independence.

Fucking up is par for the course for the Bush administration.

Oh and by the way, Iraqi Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki wants super greatest ever General Petraeus replaced.

Red Rover, Red Rover, Send Karl's Fat Ass Over

Rove subpoenaed

Fred Thompson: The No Dough Show

It's no wonder Fred Thompson hasn't yet made his campaign official, he's not raising much money. From MyDD:

Sources close to the presumptive campaign tell NBC News that Fred Thompson's fundraising is down "markedly." One claimed it has "slowed down big-time." The pace is described as a consequence of the delayed announcement to enter the race.

"The Friends of Fred, Inc." will report to the IRS its revenue by July 31st. Sources reveal to NBC News that number will be in the range of about $3 million. Five million dollars had been the talked-about June goal. Sources describe an early burst of donations in June and say the summer fundraising has fallen off. While additional fundraisers are planned, sources say the scheduling of fundraisers was "frozen" for a time while the team was going through some internal strains.

That's pretty pathetic. In fact, given that some top level staffers have recently left the campaign, I'd guess they are running on fumes alone. Republican savior indeed.

Pop

It sure looks like the slow fizz of the housing bubble bursting is turning into a full blown explosion rather quickly. Countrywide, the nation's largest mortgage underwriter is now reporting that a whopping 4.56% of their prime mortgages are at least thirty days late, and their sub-prime mortgages are a whopping 23.71% behind.

During a conference call with Countywide earlier this week the following statement was issued: "Company is seeing home price depreciation at levels not seen since the Great Depression."

I believe it is only going to get worse throughout 2008 with the unbelievable amount of ARM resets due in that time period.

Update: More bad news from WAPO:

The Commerce Department reported that sales of new single-family homes dropped by 6.6 percent last month to a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 834,000 units. The decline was more than triple what had been expected and was the largest percentage drop since sales fell by 12.7 percent in January. Sales are now 22.3 percent below the level of a year ago.

The median price of a new home sold last month dropped to $237,900, down by 2.2 percent from a year ago. It was the biggest year-over-year price drop since a 6.5 percent fall in April. The median price is the point where half the homes sold for more and half for less.

The big drop in new home sales followed a report Wednesday showing that existing home sales dropped by 3.8 percent in June to a five-year low. The weakness reflects spreading troubles in the mortgage market as more borrowers are defaulting on their loans, dumping those homes back on an already glutted market. In addition, banks and other lenders are tightening their standards, making it harder for prospective buyers to qualify for loans.

Ouch.

Oh Alberto!

It is pretty clear now that Alberto Gonzales has perjured himself before Congress, which of course is a crime. He likely has committed many other violations as well during his term as Attorney General. So, what do we do?

I think it is obvious that the votes for impeachment are there. There are twenty-two republican Senators up for reelection next year and most of them would be a fool to vote against the impeachment of someone as incompetent, and plainly guilty as Gonzales. Do we give them that opportunity to show off their independent side to their constituents? There are other options such as appointing a special prosecutor to look into the very narrow aspect of his lying to Congress, thus a speedy trial could occur even though President Bush would surely pardon him.

Whichever way the Democrats decide to go, it is hard to imagine someone competent tarnishing their name by filling the spot for the final eighteen months of this failed administration, so things might not get any better. In fact, I have to wonder how much prodding it will take to get Bush to send a name up to the Senate for confirmation.

I Wouldn't Go There

Recently Mitt Romney has been attacking Barack Obama for a bill Obama voted for while in the Illinois Senate. Romney says the bill allowed for teaching kindergartners sex education. In reality, it allowed the kids to be taught about inappropriate touching to help protect them from pedophiles.

I'm not sure I would want to go there if I were Romney, who as a legal adult, met his current wife while she was only 15, and comes from a religious background with a reputation for marrying off girls at a very young age. It might help you score points against an opponent, but you talking about it also reminds people that you're, well, creepy.

Found via Americablog

In the interest of full disclosure, I have donated money to the Obama campaign.

Finished

Sorry for the extended hiatus, but I had a project dumped on me that has taken pretty much all of my spare time. I finished that project this morning just after five. I have to admit it felt pretty weird not having anything to due after spending every morning for the past few weeks working. Much to the chagrin of my neighbors, I spent the time shredding documents.

So, did anything happen while I was gone? Ha! I'm not going to go back and look at the things that happened because this medium is a here and now kind of thing. I should be completely back up and running tomorrow.