The Atheist Communist Caliphate Made Flesh, Spread the Clusterfuck Around Thread

[Oleg]

The rumor on Kirk is that he's got a Jim Thomson-type problem.

He's a corrupt pol who'll never get busted?

He's a closet queen?

His best buddy in politics is going to the pokey?

He's in charge of the audit committee of a company who's owner is stealing everything that isn't nailed down?

He's pledged the time of his law firm's biggest earner to defend his obviously guilty buddy pro bono?


I need clarification here.

Well, he just got divorced from a Jeri Ryan type in the looks department.

Jim Thompson tried to take Jeri Ryan to Parisian sex clubs?

I don't get this at all.

He wishes Albert Pujols was dead?

[MikeC]

I wanted to see what was up with Obama releasing 5 of Irans Qud's commanders from our custody before commenting. It seems Obama is violating a long standing tradition of never negotiating with terrorists. He is out there trading murderers of American soldiers for hostages held by Iran.
First the tale of Laith Qazali...

http://article.nationalreview.com/?q=ODFkYTU2MjBmMTE5MDUzZTEzZWMyMTE5ZWZjNWI4Mjg=

Then the release of Qud's commanders:

http://article.nationalreview.com/?q=ZjY0MjkwOWVkYTNlYzE2ZjM1N2E5M2M0MTdiYTI3MzM=

Ummm yeah this is just all kinds of levels of bad.

[MAD]

I wanted to see what was up with Obama releasing 5 of Irans Qud's commanders from our custody before commenting. It seems Obama is violating a long standing tradition of never negotiating with terrorists. He is out there trading murderers of American soldiers for hostages held by Iran.
First the tale of Laith Qazali...

http://article.nationalreview.com/?q=ODFkYTU2MjBmMTE5MDUzZTEzZWMyMTE5ZWZjNWI4Mjg=

Then the release of Qud's commanders:

http://article.nationalreview.com/?q=ZjY0MjkwOWVkYTNlYzE2ZjM1N2E5M2M0MTdiYTI3MzM=

Ummm yeah this is just all kinds of levels of bad.

Andrew McCarthy?  What would that fey pansy from "St. Elmo's Fire" know about international politics anyway?  Pshaw.

[Tank]

I wanted to see what was up with the National Review had to say about Obama releasing 5 of Irans Qud's commanders from our custody before commenting parroting their position.

Awesome:

Finally, when it comes to Iran, it has become increasingly apparent that President Obama wants the mullahs to win. What you need to know is that Barack Obama is a wolf in "pragmatist" clothing: Beneath the easy smile and above-it-all manner — the "neutral" doing his best to weigh competing claims — is a radical leftist wedded to a Manichean vision that depicts American imperialism as the primary evil in the world.

...this neo-Communist well from which Obama drew holds that the world order is a maze of injustice, racism, and repression. Its unified theory for navigating the maze is: "United States = culprit." Its default position is that tyrants are preferable as long as they are anti-American, and that while terrorist methods may be regrettable, their root cause is always American provocation — that is, the terrorists have a point.

Truly a reasoned argument from a totally sane POV.

FWIW...

http://www.abcnews.go.com/Blotter/story?id=8044453

"We've turned them over at the request of the Iraqi government," said State Department spokesman Ian Kelly, citing U.S. obligations to do so under a troop agreement reached late in the Bush administration. Kelly expressed concern that the individuals, which he said were "associated with" Iran's elite Quds Force, could endanger U.S. troops in Iraq.

Despite what U.S. officials say were "high level" protests through the U.S. embassy and military in Baghdad, Iraq turned them over to Iran, which then released them.

"We have of course made our concerns known to the Iraqi government," Kelly said.

U.S. officials said the Iranians' release was not part of any deal or prisoner exchange. Kelly denied speculation that the move was part of the Obama administration's outreach to the Iranian government or a quid pro quo for Iran's recent release of American journalist Roxana Saberi.

The five were arrested in a raid in the northern Iraqi city of Irbil in 2007 and had been held at the Camp Cropper detention facility near the Baghdad Airport. The U.S. says it has evidence the Iranians were tied to Iran's elite Quds Force and were working to train militants and smuggle arms, including particularly deadly armor piercing bombs known as explosively formed penetrators (EFPs), to anti-U.S. elements in the country.

http://www.latimes.com/news/nationworld/world/la-fg-iranians-freed10-2009jul10,0,6013374.story

The U.S. military Thursday freed five Iranians who had been held since 2007 on suspicion of aiding Shiite Muslim militants, handing them over to the Iraqi government before their planned departure for Iran.

In a move likely to ease friction between Tehran and Washington at least on the issue of Iraq, the five were received by Iraqi Prime Minister Nouri Maliki at his office in Baghdad's fortified Green Zone before being handed over to the Iranian Embassy in the evening. Iraqi Foreign Minister Hoshyar Zebari said he had met with the Iranians and described them as "happy and safe."

He said no deal had been struck for their release, which he said came about as a result of the security agreement between the United States and Iraq signed in December. Under the deal, which saw American forces withdraw from Iraqi cities last week, the U.S. is to hand over all detainees to the Iraqi government by the end of the year.

"There wasn't any deal," Zebari said. "This has been there for some time that this would happen. It was part of the agreement for the Americans, part of withdrawing and handing over security responsibilities."

In a brief statement, the U.S. military also said the five had been freed under the terms of the accord.

Still, it was unclear why the Iranians were being freed now. The U.S. has been releasing detainees steadily since the accord took effect in January, and it has until year's end to free the remaining 10,000 or so.

[Tank]

Dare to hope?

http://www.newsweek.com/id/206300

...

These are not just the philosophical musings of a new attorney general. Holder, 58, may be on the verge of asserting his independence in a profound way. Four knowledgeable sources tell NEWSWEEK that he is now leaning toward appointing a prosecutor to investigate the Bush administration's brutal interrogation practices, something the president has been reluctant to do. While no final decision has been made, an announcement could come in a matter of weeks, say these sources, who decline to be identified discussing a sensitive law-enforcement matter. Such a decision would roil the country, would likely plunge Washington into a new round of partisan warfare, and could even imperil Obama's domestic priorities, including health care and energy reform. Holder knows all this, and he has been wrestling with the question for months. "I hope that whatever decision I make would not have a negative impact on the president's agenda," he says. "But that can't be a part of my decision."

...

Holder began to review those policies in April. As he pored over reports and listened to briefings, he became increasingly troubled. There were startling indications that some interrogators had gone far beyond what had been authorized in the legal opinions issued by the Justice Department, which were themselves controversial. He told one intimate that what he saw "turned my stomach."

It was soon clear to Holder that he might have to launch an investigation to determine whether crimes were committed under the Bush administration and prosecutions warranted. The obstacles were obvious. For a new administration to reach back and investigate its predecessor is rare, if not unprecedented. After having been deeply involved in the decision to authorize Ken Starr to investigate Bill Clinton's affair with Monica Lewinsky, Holder well knew how politicized things could get. He worried about the impact on the CIA, whose operatives would be at the center of any probe. And he could clearly read the signals coming out of the White House. President Obama had already deflected the left wing of his party and human-rights organizations by saying, "We should be looking forward and not backwards" when it came to Bush-era abuses.

Still, Holder couldn't shake what he had learned in reports about the treatment of prisoners at the CIA's "black sites." If the public knew the details, he and his aides figured, there would be a groundswell of support for an independent probe. He raised with his staff the possibility of appointing a prosecutor. According to three sources familiar with the process, they discussed several potential choices and the criteria for such a sensitive investigation. Holder was looking for someone with "gravitas and grit," according to one of these sources, all of whom declined to be named. At one point, an aide joked that Holder might need to clone Patrick Fitzgerald, the hard-charging, independent-minded U.S. attorney who had prosecuted Scooter Libby in the Plamegate affair. In the end, Holder asked for a list of 10 candidates, five from within the Justice Department and five from outside.

...

...After the prospect of torture investigations seemed to lose momentum in April, the attorney general and his aides turned to other pressing issues. They were preoccupied with Gitmo, developing a hugely complex new set of detention and prosecution policies, and putting out the daily fires that go along with running a 110,000-person department. The regular meetings Holder's team had been having on the torture question died down. Some aides began to wonder whether the idea of appointing a prosecutor was off the table.

But in late June Holder asked an aide for a copy of the CIA inspector general's thick classified report on interrogation abuses. He cleared his schedule and, over two days, holed up alone in his Justice Depart ment office, immersed himself in what Dick Cheney once referred to as "the dark side." He read the report twice, the first time as a lawyer, looking for evidence and instances of transgressions that might call for prosecution. The second time, he started to absorb what he was reading at a more emotional level. He was "shocked and saddened," he told a friend, by what government servants were alleged to have done in America's name. When he was done he stood at his window for a long time, staring at Constitution Avenue.

[Wheezer]

Awesome:

Finally, when it comes to Iran, it has become increasingly apparent that President Obama wants the mullahs to win. What you need to know is that Barack Obama is a wolf in "pragmatist" clothing: Beneath the easy smile and above-it-all manner — the "neutral" doing his best to weigh competing claims — is a radical leftist wedded to a Manichean vision that depicts American imperialism as the primary evil in the world.

Now, from a Manichean viewpoint, if American imperialism were the primary evil, wouldn't it be necessary to maintain it as the primary evil to offset some countervailing "primary good"?

[RV]

Dare to hope?

http://www.newsweek.com/id/206300

...Stuff about the possibility of some goddamn accountability for that torture bullshit.

Fuck. Yes. It's about time. How can there be a deterrent for subsequent administrations to pull this shit(including this one) without a special prosecutor? Nothing has been confirmed yet though, and there's conflicting reports on what's gonna hai:

I like what Scott Horton thinks is gonna hai (carte blanche for the special prosecutor).

For now, however, it appears that Holder's current decision focuses only on the development of new interrogation techniques and their use at the direction of the Bush administration. Under these terms, the prosecutor would be tasked to look at the role played by Justice Department figures and other government lawyers at various stages of the process; but criminal investigations usually target specific crimes, not individuals, and this would be no exception.

I don't like what the WaPost thinks is gonna hai. Abu Ghraib all over again (punishment for those who carried out the policies, but not who formulated them).

The actions of higher-level Bush policymakers are not under consideration for possible investigation.

[Quality Start Machine]

It seems Obama is violating a long standing tradition of never negotiating with terrorists.

I need a little help with the definition of "long standing", since the Reagan administration negotiated with the Iranians who held Americans hostage, then sold them weapons. Not to mention their position that Al Queida and the Taliban were the Afghan equivalent of the American Founding Fathers when they gave them money and weapons...not to mention the sale of chemical weapons to future "next Hitler", Saddam Hussein.

How long does something have to stand before it becomes "long standing"?

[Tank]

This won't go over well with TEC

http://www.theonion.com/content/video/obama_axes_pentagon_plan_to_build

Well, the stereo system was a necessity.

Was the atomic bomb or karate developed in 5 years?

President Obama is putting lives at risk. The only explanation I can think of is that he's terrified of dragons.

[Chuck to Chuck]

But I always thought that when it was your time, that you would be the one to hold the strings. Senator Giannoulias, Governor Giannoulias, something.

http://www.chicagobusiness.com/cgi-bin/article.pl?article_id=32169

[Gil Gunderson]

Texas and Historical Revisionism...partners in crime (as reported by those left-wing radicals at the WSJ).

The Texas Board of Education, which recently approved new science standards that made room for creationist critiques of evolution, is revising the state's social studies curriculum. In early recommendations from outside experts appointed by the board, a divide has opened over how central religious theology should be to the teaching of history.

Three reviewers, appointed by social conservatives, have recommended revamping the K-12 curriculum to emphasize the roles of the Bible, the Christian faith and the civic virtue of religion in the study of American history. Two of them want to remove or de-emphasize references to several historical figures who have become liberal icons, such as César Chávez and Thurgood Marshall.

The three reviewers appointed by the moderate and liberal board members are all professors of history or education at Texas universities, including Mr. de la Teja, a former state historian. The reviewers appointed by conservatives include two who run conservative Christian organizations: David Barton, founder of WallBuilders, a group that promotes America's Christian heritage; and Rev. Marshall, who preaches that Watergate, the Vietnam War and Hurricane Katrina were God's judgments on the nation's sexual immorality. The third is Daniel Dreisbach, a professor of public affairs at American University.

Curriculum changes recommended by reviewers appointed by social conservatives on the Texas State Board of Education:

Replace Thurgood Marshall with Harriet Tubman or Sam Houston. In first grade, students are expected to study the contributions of Americans who have influenced the course of history. Rev. Peter Marshall, a reviewer, calls Thurgood Marshall -- who as a lawyer argued Brown v. Board of Education and later became the first black justice on the U.S. Supreme Court -- a weak example.

Delete Anne Hutchinson from a list of colonial leaders. Students learn about colonial history in the fifth grade, and three reviewers suggested that the standards not include Anne Hutchinson, a 17th century figure, among a list of significant leaders. Ms. Hutchinson was exiled from the Massachusetts Bay Colony for teaching religious views at odds with the officially sanctioned faith.

Delete César Chávez from a list of figures who modeled active participation in the democratic process. Two reviewers objected to citing Mr. Chávez, who led a strike and boycott to improve working conditions for immigrant farmhands, as an example of citizenship for fifth-graders. "He's hardly the kind of role model that ought to be held up to our children as someone worthy of emulation," Rev. Marshall wrote.

Emphasize study of original documents. The three reviewers appointed by social conservatives on the board all say students should study more original documents, rather than relying on a textbook author to interpret them. The current standards rely too much on supplementary material such as poetry, folktales and art, they say, and too little on original documents and historical narratives.

Include more study of religious revival movements. Evangelist Billy Graham should be included on a list of transformational leaders of the 20th century and students in fifth and eight grades should study the colonial-era religious revival known as the Great Awakening as a force "in shaping a national identity," suggests reviewer Daniel Dreisbach, a professor of public affairs at American University.

Replace references to America's "democratic" values with "republican" values. Reviewer David Barton suggests swapping out "republican" for "democratic" in teaching materials. As he explains: "We don't pledge allegiance to the flag and the democracy for which it stands."

Wow.  http://online.wsj.com/article/SB124753078523935615.html

[Chuck to Chuck]

Texas and Historical Revisionism...partners in crime (as reported by those left-wing radicals at the WSJ).

The Texas Board of Education, which recently approved new science standards that made room for creationist critiques of evolution, is revising the state's social studies curriculum. In early recommendations from outside experts appointed by the board, a divide has opened over how central religious theology should be to the teaching of history.

Three reviewers, appointed by social conservatives, have recommended revamping the K-12 curriculum to emphasize the roles of the Bible, the Christian faith and the civic virtue of religion in the study of American history. Two of them want to remove or de-emphasize references to several historical figures who have become liberal icons, such as César Chávez and Thurgood Marshall.

The three reviewers appointed by the moderate and liberal board members are all professors of history or education at Texas universities, including Mr. de la Teja, a former state historian. The reviewers appointed by conservatives include two who run conservative Christian organizations: David Barton, founder of WallBuilders, a group that promotes America's Christian heritage; and Rev. Marshall, who preaches that Watergate, the Vietnam War and Hurricane Katrina were God's judgments on the nation's sexual immorality. The third is Daniel Dreisbach, a professor of public affairs at American University.

Curriculum changes recommended by reviewers appointed by social conservatives on the Texas State Board of Education:

Replace Thurgood Marshall with Harriet Tubman or Sam Houston. In first grade, students are expected to study the contributions of Americans who have influenced the course of history. Rev. Peter Marshall, a reviewer, calls Thurgood Marshall -- who as a lawyer argued Brown v. Board of Education and later became the first black justice on the U.S. Supreme Court -- a weak example.

Delete Anne Hutchinson from a list of colonial leaders. Students learn about colonial history in the fifth grade, and three reviewers suggested that the standards not include Anne Hutchinson, a 17th century figure, among a list of significant leaders. Ms. Hutchinson was exiled from the Massachusetts Bay Colony for teaching religious views at odds with the officially sanctioned faith.

Delete César Chávez from a list of figures who modeled active participation in the democratic process. Two reviewers objected to citing Mr. Chávez, who led a strike and boycott to improve working conditions for immigrant farmhands, as an example of citizenship for fifth-graders. "He's hardly the kind of role model that ought to be held up to our children as someone worthy of emulation," Rev. Marshall wrote.

Emphasize study of original documents. The three reviewers appointed by social conservatives on the board all say students should study more original documents, rather than relying on a textbook author to interpret them. The current standards rely too much on supplementary material such as poetry, folktales and art, they say, and too little on original documents and historical narratives.

Include more study of religious revival movements. Evangelist Billy Graham should be included on a list of transformational leaders of the 20th century and students in fifth and eight grades should study the colonial-era religious revival known as the Great Awakening as a force "in shaping a national identity," suggests reviewer Daniel Dreisbach, a professor of public affairs at American University.

Replace references to America's "democratic" values with "republican" values. Reviewer David Barton suggests swapping out "republican" for "democratic" in teaching materials. As he explains: "We don't pledge allegiance to the flag and the democracy for which it stands."

Wow.  http://online.wsj.com/article/SB124753078523935615.html

Maybe they'll secede.

[CT III]

Texas and Historical Revisionism...partners in crime (as reported by those left-wing radicals at the WSJ).

The Texas Board of Education, which recently approved new science standards that made room for creationist critiques of evolution, is revising the state's social studies curriculum. In early recommendations from outside experts appointed by the board, a divide has opened over how central religious theology should be to the teaching of history.

Three reviewers, appointed by social conservatives, have recommended revamping the K-12 curriculum to emphasize the roles of the Bible, the Christian faith and the civic virtue of religion in the study of American history. Two of them want to remove or de-emphasize references to several historical figures who have become liberal icons, such as César Chávez and Thurgood Marshall.

The three reviewers appointed by the moderate and liberal board members are all professors of history or education at Texas universities, including Mr. de la Teja, a former state historian. The reviewers appointed by conservatives include two who run conservative Christian organizations: David Barton, founder of WallBuilders, a group that promotes America's Christian heritage; and Rev. Marshall, who preaches that Watergate, the Vietnam War and Hurricane Katrina were God's judgments on the nation's sexual immorality. The third is Daniel Dreisbach, a professor of public affairs at American University.

Curriculum changes recommended by reviewers appointed by social conservatives on the Texas State Board of Education:

Replace Thurgood Marshall with Harriet Tubman or Sam Houston. In first grade, students are expected to study the contributions of Americans who have influenced the course of history. Rev. Peter Marshall, a reviewer, calls Thurgood Marshall -- who as a lawyer argued Brown v. Board of Education and later became the first black justice on the U.S. Supreme Court -- a weak example.

Delete Anne Hutchinson from a list of colonial leaders. Students learn about colonial history in the fifth grade, and three reviewers suggested that the standards not include Anne Hutchinson, a 17th century figure, among a list of significant leaders. Ms. Hutchinson was exiled from the Massachusetts Bay Colony for teaching religious views at odds with the officially sanctioned faith.

Delete César Chávez from a list of figures who modeled active participation in the democratic process. Two reviewers objected to citing Mr. Chávez, who led a strike and boycott to improve working conditions for immigrant farmhands, as an example of citizenship for fifth-graders. "He's hardly the kind of role model that ought to be held up to our children as someone worthy of emulation," Rev. Marshall wrote.

Emphasize study of original documents. The three reviewers appointed by social conservatives on the board all say students should study more original documents, rather than relying on a textbook author to interpret them. The current standards rely too much on supplementary material such as poetry, folktales and art, they say, and too little on original documents and historical narratives.

Include more study of religious revival movements. Evangelist Billy Graham should be included on a list of transformational leaders of the 20th century and students in fifth and eight grades should study the colonial-era religious revival known as the Great Awakening as a force "in shaping a national identity," suggests reviewer Daniel Dreisbach, a professor of public affairs at American University.

Replace references to America's "democratic" values with "republican" values. Reviewer David Barton suggests swapping out "republican" for "democratic" in teaching materials. As he explains: "We don't pledge allegiance to the flag and the democracy for which it stands."

Wow.  http://online.wsj.com/article/SB124753078523935615.html

Maybe they'll secede.

That'd be great, but they can't afford.  This asshole state will be crashing in America's basement indefinitely.

[Gil Gunderson]

Changes are afoot for the NLRB...more work for moi.

http://www.nytimes.com/2009/07/17/business/17union.html?_r=3&hpw=&pagewanted=print

[Quality Start Machine]

Changes are afoot for the NLRB...more work for moi.

http://www.nytimes.com/2009/07/17/business/17union.html?_r=3&hpw=&pagewanted=print

There's still something about seeing the phrase "Senator Al Franken" that, election issues aside, is farcical.