OH-18: Beyond Bob Ney

With the Abramoff plea deals wrapping up today, the heat is really going to be turned up on Bob Ney. Ney appears to be the first one up on the DOJ hit list, so there is little chance he will be able to go the distance in his bid for re-election. The only question remaining is when will Ney drop out or get run out of the race.

It could be in the primary as republicans are supposedly courting state senator Joy Padgett to enter the race. You may remember Padgett as the candidate that painted former hostage Terry Anderson as soft on terrorism. The reality was and is that Anderson actually knows something about terrorism where as Padgett's idea of terrorism is someone stealing her pastry. Anyway, Padgett could be a tough out.

Of course, Ney may be able to make it through May before he gets indicted and he is an incumbent. But if Padgett gets in, Ney's money will go away real quick, and it should be a very ugly primary. Hopefully, Ney will win and then get indicted.

That may not happen though, so both Joe Sulzer and outsider candidate Zack Space had better be planning on running against Padgett should they win the primary.

Horrific Miscommunication

A horrible miscommunication took place over night in the plight of the thirteen miners trapped in the SAGO mine in West Virginia. Around midnight, the families were told that twelve of the thirteen miners had survived. In fact, that information was incorrect. Only one survived and is in critical condition. It took over two and a half hours before the families were given the sad truth.

It looks like most East Coast ink and paper versions of newspapers went to press last night with the false info.

Hell Hath No Fury

Well, via Raw Story we find out how the whole Abramoff scandal really got rolling. Michael Scanlon apparently dumped his girlfriend, whom he confided all his dirty dealings, for a manicurist. The girlfriend, Emily Miller, then promptly went to the FBI to inform them of Scanlon's and Abramoff's illicit activities.

Kind of reminds me of a story an old friend of mine who happened to also be a bookie told a long time ago. I asked him how he decided whether or not to accept bets from someone. He told me rule number one was no married men. He went on to tell me that a married man will do anything to pay you, but when the wives found out about it, they'd cut your throat. It was straight to the cops.

An interesting side note to this story is that Miller is the same Emily Miller that interrupted Collin Powell's interview with Tim Russert from Jordan on Meet The Press. Girl gets around.

Jack Abram"Not Going To Get"Off

Jack Abramoff plead guilty today in the SunCruz case and will serve up to ten years depending on the testimony he provides against up to twenty members of congress and their staff members according to MSNBC. Twenty is a lot higher number than I had previously heard. I'll try to come up with a list.

So this is what our government has become. Double digit members of Congress under investigation and a President who admittedly routinely breaks the law and says he plans to continue to do so. Aren't these guys the ones who have complaining that the UN is a corrupt institution? Looks like that glass house is about ready to be missing a few panes.

A Father Writes A Letter

A fallen Marine's father's anguish spills on to the Washington Post's op-ed pages today. I can't really comment on the emotional aspect of the piece, I've never had a friend or relative die due to failed presidential policy. I do know that he gets one thing exactly right though. From WAPO:

I am outraged at what I see as the cause of his death. For nearly three years, the Bush administration has pursued a policy that makes our troops sitting ducks. While Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice told the Senate Foreign Relations Committee that our policy is to "clear, hold and build" Iraqi towns, there aren't enough troops to do that.

In our last conversation, Augie complained that the cost in lives to clear insurgents was "less and less worth it," because Marines have to keep coming back to clear the same places. Marine commanders in the field say the same thing. Without sufficient troops, they can't hold the towns. Augie was killed on his fifth mission to clear Haditha.

That pretty much sums up our merry go round approach to fighting insurgents in the Al-Anbar province, and given our current troop levels, I don't see how it's going to change anytime soon. As for waiting for Iraqi security services to stand up, those guys get clipped at a pace of at least twice what our soldiers do. The bottom line is we are stuck with this policy as long as this administration is in office.

New Year's Wish

Lately, blow hard republicans have been calling for an investigation into the NSA spying leak. Watch what you wish for bitches, I will now join you. I want a special prosecutor appointed to the case, one with broad prosecutorial powers. Someone who will prosecute all crimes committed. Let's throw all of the dirty laundry on the lawn and let the public see whose dirty undies have racing stripes.

That's why all this will simply go away. Radio and television shills for the administration are a little too small cocked to go all the way when their guy, and for that matter their girl's head is on the chopping block. It would be nice though to fulfill Condi's dream of being someone without a cock's bitch.

Memo

For anyone who didn't hear, MK is having a New Year's eve party. Starts around six. See ya there.

Broke

Buried in today's Washington Post is an article about our government's spending. You see, we've maxed out our credit card again. From WAPO:

Treasury Secretary John W. Snow said yesterday that the United States could be unable to pay its bills in early 2006 unless Congress raises the government's borrowing authority, which is now capped at $8.18 trillion.

Snow, in a letter to lawmakers, estimated that the government is expected to bump into the statutory debt limit around the middle of February.

"At that time, unless the debt limit is raised or the Treasury Department takes authorized extraordinary actions, we will be unable to continue to finance government operations," Snow wrote.

If the department were to carry out various accounting maneuvers -- as it has done in the past to avoid breaching the limit -- that would free up finances and allow the government to keep paying its bills "no longer than mid-March," Snow wrote.

Don't worry China, we're totally good for the money. Buy some more bonds, we'll fuck over some old people or children or both for it.

Standing Up

Well, it looks like the Iraqi army is ready to do some of that standing up we've been hearing about from the Bush administration, standing up to fight each other. From Knight-Ridder:

Five days of interviews with Kurdish leaders and troops in the region suggest that U.S. plans to bring unity to Iraq before withdrawing American troops by training and equipping a national army aren't gaining traction. Instead, some troops that are formally under U.S. and Iraqi national command are preparing to protect territory and ethnic and religious interests in the event of Iraq's fragmentation, which many of them think is inevitable.

The soldiers said that while they wore Iraqi army uniforms they still considered themselves members of the Peshmerga - the Kurdish militia - and were awaiting orders from Kurdish leaders to break ranks. Many said they wouldn't hesitate to kill their Iraqi army comrades, especially Arabs, if a fight for an independent Kurdistan erupted.

"It doesn't matter if we have to fight the Arabs in our own battalion," said Gabriel Mohammed, a Kurdish soldier in the Iraqi army who was escorting a Knight Ridder reporter through Kirkuk. "Kirkuk will be ours."

We're though the looking glass, Alice. Really, we have been for almost two years when Rumsfeld fucked up the initial occupation. But now it should be clear to everyone, Iraq is now a money pit, money pit, money pit.

The Onion

If you're not a regular reader of The Onion, this week's issue is a good place to start.

As If They Didn't Have It Bad Enough

US troops in Iraq and Afghanistan are about to get a late Christmas present. Probably not one they want, but they are getting it anyway. The Second Amendments are preparing to go play six oldies laden shows for them. The Second Amendments are comprised of five members of the US House.

They talked to the USO about performing, but were told there were "logistical snags." I think that is the polite way of saying, "You guys stink." So instead, they will go play as part of their own official congressional trip.

I can't really believe a bunch of kids really wants to hear these guys play oldies, and that's one of the bad things about being in the military. I sure for some service members, attendance will be mandatory. Hmm, getting shot at or listening to the Second Amendments play. Tough call.

I can see it now. The lights go low....Collin Peterson's gravelly voice cracks the din of murmurs...We are The Second Amendments...and we're hear to protect your right...your right to bear...GUITAR! Or something else as equally cheesy.

Change

If you see some strange characters show up here it's because I'm using a new keyboard and the Alt, Ctrl, Del keys are all in new places and I am still getting used to it.

Chemical Plant Security

The Editorial Board of The New York Times writes an op-ed today endorsing a bill put forth by Susan Collin and Joe Lieberman concerning chemical plant safety. I agree with the Times that the bill is good first step, but I also don't believe it goes far enough. In reading the article though I got the impression that the editors really don't have much of an idea about industry. From the Times:

If terrorists attacked a chemical plant, the death toll could be enormous. A single breached chlorine tank could, according to the Department of Homeland Security, lead to 17,500 deaths, 10,000 severe injuries and 100,000 hospitalizations. Many chemical plants have shockingly little security to defend against such attacks.

OK, without looking at the EPA's RMP list, which would be the facilities covered by this act and numbers about 15,000, I don't know what is covered. I have to believe that there are at least three times that many facilities in the US where the above mentioned chlorine tank breach could happen. The Times might consider where they buy the paper on which they print the "paper of record. There are also lots of other facilities that I wouldn't exactly consider chemical plants that this kind of disaster could strike, many with virtually no security.

I'll have to look into this a little further and get back to you.

Posting

Posting should return to near normal levels today.

Happy Sol Invictus

You know, the Pagan holiday that the Christians co-opted to create Christmas. Posting has been light, but you really should have better thing to do anyway.

The Dirty Dozen

Jack Abramoff has nearly completed one of his plea deals, the Miami one, and probably serve five to seven years in prison. The New York Times tells us what prosceutor's are going to get as the two cases converge:

At the same time, prosecutors in Washington have been sifting through evidence of what they believe is a corruption scheme involving at least a dozen lawmakers and their former staff members, many of whom worked closely on legislation with Mr. Abramoff and accepted gifts and favors from him. Although Mr. Abramoff is also in negotiations in that case, it is unclear whether a settlement can be reached in time for both agreements to be announced at once.

A dozen dirty congressmen. If you throw in Duke Cunningham, that's a baker's dozen of members who will at least be indicted from the 109th Congress.

Holy Fucking Fitzmas!

Raw Story is reporting that Patrick Fitzgerald's investigation into the Valerie Plame affair will not end with Karl Rove and may go to that magical place we all hoped it would. From Raw Story:

The investigation is expected to shift back to top officials in the Office of the Vice President, the State Department and the National Security Council, and may even shed some light on the genesis of the Niger forgeries, lawyers close to the case say. The forged documents, cited in President Bush's 2003 State of the Union address, claimed Iraq sought yellowcake uranium from the African country. It may also reveal how key players in the White House decided to expose Plame's undercover status and top secret front company, Brewster Jennings.

Separately, these people said, the FBI's renewed interest in probing the Niger forgeries grew out of Fitzgerald's probe. [emphasis mine]

We're going way past outing a CIA agent if Fitzgerald goes this route.

Unemployed?

I have a feeling that the NCAA official who ruled USC quarterback Matt Leinart ineligible for the Rose Bowl last week in now looking for a job. The ruling was very quietly appealed and subsequently overturned. The suspension had something to do with Leinart appearing in an ESPN promo.

Who knows how much ad revenue ABC would have lost if the suspension would have been upheld.

Time To Compare Notes?

There is an interesting tid bit in today's New York Times article about Jack Abramoff looking to cop a plea. From the Times:

Florida prosecutors are also investigating corruption in that case, focusing on Mr. Ney and his chief of staff at the time, Neil Volz, according to people involved in the case. Mr. Volz reportedly agreed to put negative remarks about Mr. Boulis in The Congressional Record, even though Mr. Ney had no obvious reason to comment on Mr. Boulis.

Now, this is the other Abramoff investigation, not the one where Michael Scanlon has already plead guilty to bribing Ney. So, now there two separate investigations pursuing corruption charges against Ney. Ney is as they say, toast.

Score One For Sanity

A federal judge has ruled against the Dover school board in an intelligent design case. The case was somewhat moot because all eight of the idiots on the school board that were pushing intelligent design were round stomped in November's election. However, this ruling is still a complete victory for science as it sets a good precedent. From The Washington Post:

In his ruling today, Jones said several members of the Dover Area School Board repeatedly lied during the trial to cover their motives for promoting intelligent design even as they professed religious beliefs, the Associated Press reported.

"The citizens of the Dover area were poorly served by the members of the Board who voted for the ID [Intelligent Design] Policy," Jones wrote.

Jones said advocates of intelligent design "have bona fide and deeply held beliefs which drive their scholarly endeavors," adding that he did not believe the concept should not be studied and discussed, AP reported. But he concluded that "it is unconstitutional to teach ID as an alternative to evolution in a public school science classroom."

Specifically, Jones said the school board's policy on intelligent design violated the establishment clause of the First Amendment of the U.S. Constitution.

[snip]

But Jones wrote in his 139-page opinion that "the secular purposes claimed by the Board amount to a pretext for the Board's real purpose, which was to promote religion in the public school classroom."

Jones sharply criticized some of the school board members, writing, "It is ironic that several of these individuals, who so staunchly and proudly touted their religious convictions in public, would time and again lie to cover their tracks and disguise the real purpose behind the ID Policy."

That's a spanking folks, Judge Jones actually went as far as to call the promoters of ID liars. With the turnover on the school board this case is dead, but it will come up again somewhere else and another school system will be forced to use valuable resources to defend itself.