Cowards Cut and Run

Ms. Schmidt: Yesterday I stood at Arlington National Cemetery attending the funeral of a young marine in my district. He believed in what we were doing is the right thing and had the courage to lay his life on the line to do it. A few minutes ago I received a call from Colonel Danny Bop, Ohio Representative from the 88th district in the House of Representatives. He asked me to send Congress a message: Stay the course. He also asked me to send Congressman Murtha a message, that cowards cut and run, Marines never do. Danny and the rest of America and the world want the assurance from this body -- that we will see this through.

The Speaker Pro Tempore: The house will be in order. The house will be in order. The house will be in order. The house will be in order. The house will be in order. The gentlelady will suspend. And the clerk will report her words. All members will suspend. The gentleman from Arkansas has demanded that the gentlelady's words be taken down. The clerk will report the gentlelady's words.

The Speaker Pro Tempore: The house will be in order. Members pleas[e] take seats. The gentlelady from Ohio.

Ms. Schmidt: Mr. Speaker, my remarks were not directed at any member of the House and I did not intend to suggest that they applied to any member. Most especially the distinguished gentleman from Pennsylvania. I therefore ask for unanimous consent that my words be withdrawn.

(Link)

Neokarn Evil 9

Someone should tell OSM that circuses have ringmasters; carnivals have inbred hillbillies with outstanding warrants and missing fingers. They're called carnies. Or perfessers.

Everything you need to know about "Judeo-Christian Values," in one paragraph:

Rabbi Daniel Lapin's nonprofit, founded with Abramoff and film critic/radio talker Michael Medved, promotes faith-based conservative politics in tandem with the religious right. Through Abramoff's considerable GOP connections, Lapin has brokered alliances with congressional and Bush administration officials as well. They include tax-reform guru Grover Norquist and consultant Ralph Reed, both of whom have been subpoenaed to appear before Sen. John McCain's Senate Indian Affairs committee, which is looking into the extraordinary lobbying fees Abramoff charged tribes and casinos, work performed mostly after leaving Preston Gates. A radio host on KTTH-AM (770), Lapin is co-chair of the American Alliance of Jews and Christians, whose board includes Jerry Falwell and Pat Robertson. Lapin is involved in other religious/political alliances that worked to get George W. Bush elected and re-elected. Last year, Newsweek reported, "When fundraising began for Bush's re-election effort, Rabbi Daniel Lapin . . . urged friends and colleagues to steer campaign checks to Bush via Abramoff." President Bush recently reappointed Lapin to the U.S. Commission for the Preservation of America's Heritage Abroad, which helps preserve cemeteries, monuments, and historic buildings in Eastern and Central Europe. Donors to his charity, according to IRS tax filings, comprise the cream of the religious right, such as Lenore Broughton, the Carthage Foundation, and the Scaife Family Foundation. They have helped Lapin raise, on average, about $500,000 a year, based on filings from 1997 through 2003 -- money he uses to "educate the public through conventions, seminars, public speaking, and class studies on Judeo Christian values," he told the IRS. His religious beliefs include opposition to homosexuality. He speaks at the Eastside church of fellow KTTH talk-show host, the Rev. Ken Hutcherson, who recently waged an anti-gay-rights battle with Microsoft. But Daniel Lapin supports school vouchers, which could aid the cause of school prayer by boosting private institutions. Having splintered off into a minority movement from historically liberal Jews, Lapin has said he intends to make "my priority rolling back the epidemic of secularism that was unleashed on this country."

Grand Old Police Blotter: F'ing Gold Edition

This bastard can squeal all he wants, but he better do some time too:

Former public relations executive Michael Scanlon was charged yesterday with conspiring with former lobbyist Jack Abramoff to bribe government officials, including a congressman, and bilk millions of dollars from Indian tribes.

The government officials were not named in a court document filed by federal prosecutors in the District. But the document's description of legislative favors allegedly provided by a person identified as "Representative #1" matches the actions of Rep. Robert W. Ney (R-Ohio), chairman of the House Administration Committee.

...

Scanlon, 35, is charged with one count of conspiracy. He has agreed to cooperate with prosecutors, said sources familiar with the investigation who spoke on the condition of anonymity. Such cooperation from a pivotal figure in the Abramoff case is a major advance in the 18-month federal investigation into alleged bribery and corruption involving the lobbyist, members of Congress and executive branch agencies.

In the court documents, prosecutors said Scanlon, once a press aide to former House majority leader Tom DeLay (R-Tex.), worked with Abramoff in a scheme in which the lobbyist would direct tribes to hire Scanlon's public relations firm without telling them Scanlon had agreed to kick back half of the profits to Abramoff.

Abramoff is going to be one sorry motherf'er.

Two sources involved in the case, who spoke on the condition of anonymity, said prosecutors have e-mails in which Abramoff and Scanlon discussed making contributions to the National Republican Congressional Committee that Ney could take credit for as an inducement to getting him to place comments in the Congressional Record.

In March 2002, Ney agreed to back legislative language that would benefit the Tigua tribe of El Paso, an Abramoff and Scanlon client. The lobbyists wanted Ney's help to reopen the Tigua casino, which the state of Texas had shut down.

"Just met with Ney!!! We're f'ing gold!!!! He's going to do Tigua," Abramoff told Scanlon in a March 20, 2002, e-mail made public by Senate investigators.

And you're going to do life, Jack.

(And does your pal Mikey Medved know you use language like that?)

Call me a class warrior, but I always enjoy it when a rich Republican prick goes to prison.

Scanlon worked until 2000 for DeLay, who stepped down from his leadership post in September after being charged with violating campaign finance laws in Texas. When Scanlon left Capitol Hill to join forces with Abramoff, he was still paying off student loans. Soon he was buying millions of dollars in real estate and traveling by helicopter and corporate jet.

The bigger they are, the harder they fall.

And let's hope Scanlon brings the Toxic Texan down with him.

"Abramoff's requests were often paired with discussions of contributions for Federici's group. On April 3, 2003, Abramoff sent her an 'urgent alert' about an Interior policy change. 'Any way to see if this is something coming from the top?' he asked. Federici responded: 'I will definitely see what i can find out. I hate to bug you, but is there any news about a possible contribution....'

"McCain questioned whether the exchange was a quid pro quo."

Different subject: Is it only Republicans who don't have a clue about e-mail, or just older folks in general? Or it is sheer arrogance?

Arrested Degenerate

The writer David Irving was arrested in Austria last week, according to a statement on his Web site. Although he has not yet been charged, he is suspected of the crime of Holocaust denial.

Mr. Irving, who has written several dozen books about Germany and the Nazis, and who has said Hitler was not responsible for the Nazi campaign to massacre Europe's Jews, was arrested in Hartberg, in the southern province of Styria, Reuters reported.

Government officials told the news agency that Mr. Irving had been wanted since 1989, when a warrant was issued for his arrest in connection with speeches he had made in Vienna and in Leoben, in southern Austria. But they said they had not decided whether it was appropriate to charge him so many years after the fact. If he is tried and found guilty, he could be sentenced to up to 20 years in prison, officials told Reuters.

I've got mixed feelings about this. I don't think laws criminalizing speech should exist, but Irving makes it hard to stand on one's principles. Maybe Austria could charge him with illegal entry into the country and dodge the speech issue.

After further thought: Arresting him for illegal immigration isn't a satisfactory solution if he's barred from the country either because of the original speech or for avoiding arrest based on that speech.

Grand Old Police Blotter: Black Letter Law Edition

There must be a lot of weeping and wailing at David Frum's house today. Frumpy's sugar daddy is facing serious prison time.

At Hollinger, the owner of the Chicago Sun-Times and other papers, Black and a cadre of other company officials were legally obliged "to safeguard the shareholders," U.S. Atty. Patrick Fitzgerald said at a press conference.

But instead, he continued, they "made it their job to steal and conceal."

What happened at Hollinger represents the "grossest" type of abuse by corporate officials, Fitzgerald said.

Black's transgressions extended far beyond the media concern's offices, prosecutors say. The indictment claims Black ripped off the company's stockholders by using Hollinger's corporate jet to take a personal vacation to Bora Bora in Polynesia. And it says he "fraudulently" billed Hollinger for his wife's birthday party at a high-priced New York restaurant by calling it a business-related expense.

The alleged frauds "were blatant and pervasive," said Robert Grant, head of the Federal Bureau of Investigation's Chicago office. "They extended from back rooms to the board room, and from Park Avenue to the South Pacific."

Black is charged with eight counts of fraud, each carrying a maximum sentence of five years in prison. From the House of Lords to the big house. Maybe Lord Archer can give him tips on how to make friends in the slammer.

The Death of Legal Reasoning

The Washington Post finds an attorney who thinks Woody Deadpecker's testimony helps Scooter:

"I think it's a considerable boost to the defendant's case," said John Moustakas, a former federal prosecutor who has no role in the case. "It casts doubt about whether Fitzgerald knew everything as he charged someone with very serious offenses."

Other legal experts agreed.

At least they weren't stupid enough to allow the Post to use their names.

Or quote them.

Or mention them ever again.

Moustakas said Woodward also has considerable credibility because he has been granted "unprecedented access" to the inner workings of the Bush White House. "When Woodward says this information was disclosed to me in a nonchalant and casual way -- not as if it was classified -- it helps corroborate Libby's account about himself and about the administration," Moustakas said.

Various other bloggers you've already read, including Jane at firedoglake, have said most everything I've wanted to say about Woody Deadpecker. Woody's journalistic crime was not withholding information, but misleading people by withholding that information while repeatedly speaking on Traitorgate and defending the Administration.

Let the severance negotiations begin.

Let A Hundred Thousand Dollars Bloom

The New York Times reports on a domestic Chalabi. One of many:

In what is expected to be the first of a series of criminal charges against officials and contractors overseeing the rebuilding of Iraq, an American has been charged with paying hundreds of thousands of dollars in bribes and kickbacks to American occupation authorities and their spouses to obtain construction contracts, according to a complaint unsealed late yesterday.

The man, Philip H. Bloom, who controlled three companies that did work in Iraq in the multibillion-dollar reconstruction effort, was charged with conspiracy, wire fraud, conspiracy to launder money and interstate transportation of stolen property, all in connection with obtaining up to $3.5 million in reportedly fraudulent contracts.

The complaint, unsealed in the Federal District Court of the District of Columbia, also cites two unnamed co-conspirators who worked in the Coalition Provisional Authority, the American administration that governed Iraq when the contracts were awarded in early 2004. These were the officials who, with their spouses, allegedly received the payments.

"This is the first case, but it won't be the last," said Jim Mitchell, a spokesman for the Special Inspector General for Iraq Reconstruction, an independent office. Mr. Mitchell said as many as a dozen related cases had been referred to the Justice Department for possible prosecution.

$3.5 million ... you don't suppose?

The complaint says that in order to obtain lucrative reconstruction contracts, Mr. Bloom paid at least $200,000 a month to an unspecified number of coalition authority officials, including the two co-conspirators and their spouses.

If it's good enough for the Dukester, it's good enough for Bloom.

The description sounds a lot like this guy:

Bloom's instinct for business is running as strong as ever, and in 2003 GBG's considerable experience and talent were brought to bear in the Middle East, bringing the company to its current incarnation of GBG Logistics SRL, Bloom and his staff, a compact distillation of talent and energy which surpasses companies many times their size, are at the center of the Iraq Reconstruction effort, providing the utmost performance in brokering, contracting, creating and developing projects for the cream of the crop. Clients include direct contracts with the US Government and several of its Prime Contractors, the Coalitional Provisional Authority and subsequent Iraqi provisional government, and innumerable domestic vendors and service organizations throughout Iraq, Turkey, and other Middle East regions.

Of course, I can't say whether it's the same guy. We shall see.

Variations On A Theme

Here, in no particular order, are some stories that I don't have time to write about at this very moment:

Document Says Oil Chiefs Met With Cheney Task Force

Torture Alleged at Ministry Site Outside Baghdad

Broadcast Chief Violated Laws, Inquiry Says

Woodward Was Told Of Plame More Than Two Years Ago

Tide Turning in GOP Senators' War View

9-11 Changed Their Lives Forever

Here's the full list of contributors to Open Contempt Media.

Impressive? I'll say.

You won't find a larger collection of uninteresting wingnut blowhards outside of any wingnut's blogroll.

Sadly, Hugh Hewitt and the Ambiguously PowerLine Trio, who were supposedly present at the moment of conception, didn't make the cut. So there is some minimal quality control in place.

The key to the site's success will be its timeliness.

And let's give it up for the editing chair, Glenn Reynolds. Glenn assures us that he's often in control of his major motor functions: "There's a lot of stuff I tend more or less by design not to blog." You're a natural, Glenn.

This guy's name should come up every time Rudy Guiliani appears on television until Rudy declares he'll never again run for, or accept a nomination to, public office.

Slate asks a bunch of famous people ... well, mostly journalists and comedy writers who aren't particularly famous ... to choose the most influential book they read in college.

The sad thing is, I can't think of one. I can remember a large number of books I enjoyed read, and some I read but didn't much enjoy, but none that really had a great influence on my life. And, really, I'm not particularly sad about this either.

Prague Crock

Eric Alterman makes the point I was going to make in response today's lead New York Times editorial, but I hate to waste a good pun.

The Times opined:

"The Bush administration was also alone in making the absurd claim that Iraq was in league with Al Qaeda and somehow connected to the 9/11 terrorist attacks. That was based on two false tales. One was the supposed trip to Prague by Mohamed Atta, a report that was disputed before the war and came from an unreliable drunk. The other was that Iraq trained Qaeda members in the use of chemical and biological weapons. Before the war, the Defense Intelligence Agency concluded that this was a deliberate fabrication by an informer."

Alone. Just the Bush Administration and one other source. The New York Times editorial page.

Let's reminisce:

EDITORIAL DESK | November 12, 2001, Monday

Essay; Prague Connection

By WILLIAM SAFIRE (NYT) Op-Ed 785 words
Late Edition - Final , Section A , Page 19 , Column 5

ABSTRACT - William Safire Op-Ed column discusses 'undisputed fact' connecting Iraq's Pres Saddam Hussein to September 11 terrorist attacks (M)

EDITORIAL DESK | March 18, 2002, Monday

Protecting Saddam

By WILLIAM SAFIRE (NYT) Op-Ed 737 words
Late Edition - Final , Section A , Page 25 , Column 5

ABSTRACT - William Safire Op-Ed column says disinformation technique is being used to wipe out fact of meeting between Mohamed Atta, leading Al Qaeda hijacker, and Ahmed al-Ani, Iraqi consul, five months before Sept 11 attacks in US; says Russia, certain European officials and Arab potentates downplay evidence, hoping to erase Saddam Hussein's clandestine support of international terrorism; says they do not want United States to have reason to liberate Iraqi people, and they see great profit in doing oil business with Hussein and collecting tens of bilions in debts; says meanwhile, Iraqi scientists are racing to build nuclear and biological weapons that would blackmail into impotence any power daring to unseat Hussein (M)

and

EDITORIAL DESK | May 9, 2002, Thursday

Mr. Atta Goes to Prague

By WILLIAM SAFIRE (NYT) Op-Ed 751 words
Late Edition - Final , Section A , Page 39 , Column 1

ABSTRACT - William Safire Op-Ed column questions efforts by CIA and Justice Department to cast doubt on report that Mohamed Atta, leader of Sept 11 terrorists, met Ahmed al-Ani, Pres Saddam Hussein's espionage chief, in Iraqi Embassy in Prague in April 2001; says if there was a meeting, it would demand immediate US military response (M)

We all know Safire's full of shit, Gail, but isn't calling him an unreliable drunk a bit harsh?

The real issue is why the Times' editorial page repeatedly published a claim it knew to be absurd.

And you can't begin to rehabilitate yourself unless you acknowledge your errors.

Brilliant!

You've got to hand it to them. It can't be easy to find rich suckers who can be bamboozled into buying this:

In the beginning, however, they will be somewhat dependent on that same mainstream media. The site will have links to the top news headlines of the day, as reported by the AP and other establishment news sources.

Here's the difference: alongside each news headline, Pajamas Media will link related blog posts that their editors consider to be the most interesting or insightful out there. And as the story evolves, so will the blog links. Pajamas Media's coverage and commentary will be worldwide and around-the-clock. They already have blogger editors lined up in Europe and Australia.

Corn, you get the 3 a.m. shift. Hall, 4 a.m. Cooper, get Mr. Johnson another drink.

Pajamas Media will also distinguish itself from the mainstream folks, according to Simon, with "a new method of fact-checking."

An internal instant-messaging system will link their correspondents all over the world. If there are any doubts about a report's veracity, they can call on the expertise of their editors instantly.

These editors thus far include California-based freelance journalist Jill Stewart, Tennessee-based Glenn Reynolds of the ur-blog Instapundit, and Aussie columnist Tim Blair.

aznh8tr: gr8 catch on those MD ecoterrorists, Glenn.

tncrkr: tx. yr OUIslamofascist expose is g2g.

More than that, however, Johnson and Simon consider the entire blogosphere their fact-checkers. This is a sacred tenet among many bloggers. If a blogger makes a mistake, readers will call him on it right away, either via comment or email. And the blogger is honor-bound to corect it immediately and clearly.

Stop it. You're killing me.

Johnson and Simon claim that, like most bloggers, they will not hesitate to own up to errors.

Like that whole "Lawrence Franklin is being railroaded thing."

Johnson and Simon insist that ideology will not play a role in their quest to locate the best blog posts. Both are former liberal Democrats who turned to the right after 9/11. They've made a deliberate effort to include all angles on their board of editors. For example, "you've got David Corn on one side, and Michael Barone on the other," Simon said. "And in the middle Tammy Bruce."

That's hot.

Can (another) neocon Memeorandum which relies upon the accuracy and integrity of Charles Johnson and Michael Leeden be successful? Sorry to break it to you, you deep-pocketed chumps, but Roger el-Simon doesn't give a fuck. He'll "worry later on as to whether we succeed."

Update: S.Z. at World O'Crap tells us all about Tammy in the middle.

Fully Blown

"All you have in the blogosphere is your credibility," she said. "You don't want to blow that."

Oops, too late. Bigot says:

Accordingly, I am retracting my claim that Herzig-Yoshinaga "surreptitiously shared confidential documents with" Irons. I have made a note of this on the errata page of my book. Moreover, I am directing Regnery to excise the words "surreptitiously" and "confidential" from future editions of the book.

In addition, I retract the following statements which appeared on my blog:

August 24, 2004:

Contrary to [University of North Carolina law professor Eric] Muller's assertion that the papers shared were "publicly available documents sitting in publicly available files at archives open to the public," the article makes clear that Irons did not obtain permission to receive the papers he acquired from Herzig-Yoshinaga.

August 25, 2004:

As I noted, these records, however, had not been cleared for public use, and Iron's request to copy them had been explicitly denied. By the way, this was not the only time Irons engaged in these sort of shenanigans.

I apologize to Irons and Herzig-Yoshinaga for the errors.

Those PJ Media investors might want to get fully-executed indemnity agreements and a huge-ass liability policy before they publish Malkin.

November has been a banner month so far in California for assaulting the traditional family. Last Tuesday, California voters rejected Proposition 73, which would have required parental notification before allowing a minor to receive an abortion. The week before, California's wacko 9th Circuit Court of Appeals ruled that parents do not have "exclusive" right in their children's sex education.

So California assaulted the "family" by doing nothing and leaving things the way they were. How deviant of us.

And, as any idiot knows, the Ninth Circuit is not a California court, but a federal court with multi-state jurisdiction. And the Ninth Circuit's ruling had nothing to do with California law.

But Parker's written an entire paragraph without characterizing African-Americans as victims of liberals. Not even a mention of the "Democrat plantation!" She's really slipping.

Wait, here it is:

Aside from the angst that comes from watching the long-term implosion of a society, I have immediate concerns that California's assault on the traditional family is simultaneously an assault on blacks and the poor.

Of course you do, Star.

Government subsidization and protection of irresponsible behavior has gotten blacks into the social black hole in which they now find themselves. Black kids are not suffering because they need more rights. They are suffering because they are not learning, from an early age, about responsibilities and consequences.

If you make abortions cheap enough, everyone will want one.

Parker displays equal ignorance, or dishonesty, regarding the Ninth Circuit's ruling. Parker writes:

Parents sued claiming that the school had intruded on their fundamental right to "control the upbringing of their children" regarding matters of values and sex. [Para.] No, said the court. Parents have no "exclusive" right here. The school is their partner in raising their children. According to the court's Justice [sic] Reinhardt, parents have no right "to prevent a public school from providing its students with whatever information it wishes to provide, sexual or otherwise, when and as the school determines that it is appropriate to do so."

Wrong, wrong, wrong.

The court only addressed whether the parents had a federal constitutional right to dictate school policy according to their individual whims. (Read the opinion, Fields vs. Palmdale, 11/2/05, here. Warning: .pdf file.) The court specifically did not address any state law rights or claims because, in the absence of a valid federal claim, federal jurisdiction was lacking.

It would seem Parker knows that she's misrepresenting the Court's holding, since she omits the word "constitutional" which immediately precedes the language she quotes. (Of course, honesty then would require her to identify the federal constitutional right she would create for the occasion.) On the other hand, Parker could just be unnaturally stupid. It's a close call.

So What?

David Safavian's attorney is making the argument that it's unfair for the Feds to prosecute her client because Safavian's crimes were uncovered in the course of investigation of Tom DeLay's best pal, Jack Abramoff.

To recap Safavian's crimes:

Safavian was given clearance to go on the trip to Scotland after telling GSA's ethics officer that Abramoff "has no business before GSA," according to the indictment in the case. On that trip Abramoff spent over $130,000 for nine people.

Around that time, Abramoff repeatedly contacted Safavian about the possibility of leasing the Old Post Office in downtown Washington for his clients and the possibility of acquiring or leasing part of 600 acres in Silver Spring, Md., managed by GSA.

The judge isn't buying Safavian's argument:

[Safavian lawyer] Van Gelder argued that the FBI devised a plan to secure Safavian's cooperation in the grand jury probe of Abramoff, congressmen and executive branch employees.

Investigators gave Safavian 24 hours to cooperate with the probe or face arrest and also placed him under surveillance, Van Gelder said, drawing little sympathy from U.S. District Judge Paul Friedman.

"Unless you can meet the very high threshold for selective or discriminatory prosecution, then so what?" replied Friedman, who made no immediate decision on the document requests.

I'd bet the judge has made his decision; he just hasn't announced it yet.

If Safavian was smart, he'd rat out Jack Abramoff in exchange for leniency. (And ask for witness protection, just to remain on the alive side.) But, quite obviously, he's not very smart.

Scenes From An Abortion

Like Atrios, we are eagerly awaiting the launch of the Pajamas Media Service on November 16, 2005. An editorial board dominated by National Review hacks and other neocon apologists for treason editing the cream of the crap from 15-hit-a-day subliterate Cheeto-inhaling Keyboarders.

Now that's a recipe for suck-cess.

"The Sexual Revolution, abetted by the Pill and feminism, brought rage to sex; men and women remained opposites while attracting each other. They learned to overcome hostilities to take advantage of new possibilities."

You don't often see such incoherence outside of a psychiatric ward, or the pages of the Moonie Times.

Anonymous Liars

Eric Engberg has a great piece about confidential sources who lie. He cites the example of convicted criminal and current government employee Elliott Abrams, who lied to him about the operations of Lt. Crmnl. Oliver North back in the day. I wouldn't be surprised if Abrams continues to be a valued source for the reliable hacks in the Washington press corps, along with the various other indicted and as-yet-unindicted liars in the Bush Admnistration.

Of course, Mr. Engberg assumes an ethical press corps (or, at least one interested in returning to ethical standards). But when you've got reporters who conspire to deliberately mislead readers -- as in describing an Administration official a "former Hill staffer" -- it's not a case of politicians using the media, it's a case of the media abusing its readers. (How could a reporter accurately identify Abrams today: "An Administration official formerly convicted of lying to Congress"?) And if certain outlets adopted the laudable standards that Mr. Engberg proposes, the liars would still have plenty of outlets to which they could peddle their lies. Still, refusing to quote liars anonymously is a small first step toward actually exposing the Administration's lies.

"Mickey and Andrew were both well-established and highly-respected journalists before they ever got involved with blogging."

(link)

Dance, Monkey, Dance

Who said fundies don't approve of dancing? Ralph Reed calls the tune and John Cornyn pirrouettes:

In the Nov. 30, 2001, e-mail, Reed told Abramoff that 50 pastors led by Ed Young, of Second Baptist Church in Houston, would meet with Cornyn to urge him to shut down the Alabama-Coushatta tribe's casino near Livingston. He said Young would back up the request in writing.

"We have also choreographed Cornyn's response. The AG will state that the law is clear, talk about how much he wants to avoid repetition of El Paso (where the Tigua casino was) and pledge to take swift action to enforce the law," Reed wrote. "He will also personally hand Ed Young a letter that commits him to take action in Livingston."

Cornyn denied being Reed's dancing monkey, while picking fleas from his coat and eating them.

Reed's spokesperson, meanwhile, calls her boss a lying sack:

"No one should take credit for state Attorney General John Cornyn's actions and the faith community's support," Reed's spokeswoman Lisa Baron said. "Ralph Reed never has and never will."

(Link via Talking Points Memo)

On The Media

Kudos to Bob Garfield for asking tough questions of Judith Fucking Miller on today's On The Media. (Listen here, if you like.)

Garfield asked questions no one else has asked, including one calling bullsh-t on this lie I commented upon here. Miller's credibility has been so diminished she'll soon be reduced to ghostwriting blog posts for Michael Ledeen.

Delivered In A Jaguar

Roger's amazon.com Wish List.