This ain't Hell, but you can see it from here

Category: Barack Obama/Joe Biden

  • CIA: Pelosi knew about EITs

    Last month, I got an email from Code Pink calling on Nancy Pelosi to press forward with the investigations of the Bush Administration’s use of Enhanced Interrogation Techniques (EITs) against terrorists;

    The Washington Times and the Washington Post both announced this morning that Speaker Pelosi knew about Enhanced Interrogation Techniques according to records of the briefings to Pelosi and Porter Goss on September 4, 2002. The Times;

    The report, a copy of which was obtained by The Washington Times, indicates that a classified CIA briefing of Mrs. Pelosi included specific details of the use of “enhanced interrogation techniques,” or EITs, on terrorism suspect Abu Zubaydah.

    “Briefing on EITs included use of EITs on Abu Zubaydah, background on authorities, and a description of the particular EITs that had been employed,” the report said of the Sept. 4, 2002, briefing.

    The U.S. government acknowledged in the “torture memos” that President Obama declassified last month that the interrogation of Mr. Zubaydah included waterboarding, a technique that simulates drowning and is widely denounced as torture, 83 times in August 2002, a month before the Pelosi briefing.

    The Post reports that Pelosi is still clinging to her previous lie despite the evidence against her;

    In a carefully worded statement, Pelosi’s office said today that she had never been briefed about the use of waterboarding, only that it had been approved by Bush administration lawyers as a legal technique to use in interrogations.

    “As this document shows, the Speaker was briefed only once, in September 2002. The briefers described these techniques, said they were legal, but said that waterboarding had not yet been used,” said Brendan Daly, Pelosi’s spokesman.

    Pelosi’s statement did not address whether she was informed that other harsh techniques were already in use during the Zubaydah interrogations.

    So will Code Pink now demand an investigation into Pelosi’s involvement? Not holding my breath.

  • More on the $17B in cuts

    In reference to the post I wrote last night about Obama being so proud of his $17 billion in spending cuts, Don Carl sent me a link to a CBS Hotsheet article yesterday in which they report that Obama was telling the press corps how they should write the story for him;

    In his remarks today, the president sought to change that tenor of that coverage. He mocked the notion that smaller savings are considered “trivial” in Washington and stressed that “these savings, large and small, add up.”

    And he told journalists directly that they should stress the fact that the cuts are “significant” – a surprisingly direct appeal to reporters concerning which angle they should take in their coverage.

    “It is important, though, for all of you, as you’re writing up these stories, to recognize that $17 billion taken out of our discretionary, non-defense budget, as well as portions of our defense budget, are significant,” he said. “They mean something.”

    Of course, quick scan of the reports tells me that the media did do that as far as writing their headlines, forcing us to read the actual articles. Not that it really matters, anyway. The Washington Post writes that Obama’s party-mates are pretty much opposed to any spending cuts, anyway;

    The news releases began flying as Obama unveiled the long-awaited details of his $3.4 trillion spending plan, including a list of programs he wants to trim or eliminate. Though the proposed reductions represent just one-half of 1 percent of next year’s budget, the swift protest was a precursor of the battle Obama will face within his own party to control spending and rein in a budget deficit projected to exceed $1.2 trillion next year.

    So much for campaign promises, huh? The Democrats need spending to buy patronage, just like the massive spending they’re doing on veterans’ benefits – they’re trying to overcome years of abuse towards veterans and the troops by paying us off. That’s fine, they can do that, I’m grateful, but I’m still waiting for the other shoe to drop.

  • That proposed $17 billion savings in the budget

    So that President Obama guy announced that he had hacked $17 billion off of his record-setting spending spree of a budget for next year – less than 1/2 of 1% of the budget. He points out that he’s saving us from ourselves; (Reuters quote)

    “We can no longer afford to spend as if deficits don’t matter and waste is not our problem,” Obama told reporters. “We can no longer afford to leave the hard choices for the next budget, the next administration or the next generation.”

    Yeah, the “hard choices” like half of the budget cuts coming from the Department of Defense according both Reuters and Associated Press;

    About half the budget savings would come from an effort by Defense Secretary Robert Gates to curb defense programs, including ending production of the F-22 fighter and killing a much-maligned replacement helicopter fleet for the president that’s way over budget.

    Oh, so he’s going to sacrifice his own proposal to buy a slew of new helicopters to ferry him back and forth to Andrews Air Force Base and Camp David. That almost compares to cutting tankers and fighters, doesn’t it? I mean stuff that we need to defend ourselves with. Stuff the Constitution says that government is supposed to do.

    But, the budget knife is aimed at critical social stuff, too;

    On the domestic side of the ledger, an early childhood education program known as “Even Start” and a long-range radio navigation system that has been made obsolete by GPS technology were on the chopping block.

    Other cuts included halting payments to states for abandoned mines that already have been cleaned up and cutting a Department of Education attache position in Paris.

    So some DOE weinie is going to leave his cushy posting in Paris – big whoop. That’s almost like cutting fighters and tankers, isn’t it? Most of the cuts in domestic spending were dusted off from the Bush Administration;

    Many of the cuts mirror those proposed previously by Bush but largely rejected by Congresses controlled by both Republicans and Democrats. In fact, Democrats already have pared about $10 billion from Obama’s appropriations requests in passing the $3.4 trillion congressional budget plan last month.

    Oh, and the President’s promise to not raise taxes on people making less than $250,000 fell by the way side, too – he’s raising airport fees to cover the costs of posting those federal irritants known as TSA agents so they can continue to put my toothpaste in a baggie for me.

    Like I’ve ben saying for months, when the Democrats threaten budget cuts, defense has to put their collective hand over their collective balls. Well, and that one Ed Department weinie in Paris.

  • This a foreign policy?

    Associated Press is ready to hand President another victory in foreign policy with this article about Obama “pressing” Pakistan into fighting the Taliban.

    However, the Pakistanis were on the job before Obama decided to “press” them according to the New York Times;

    I mean it’s nice that Obama supports the Pakistanis and hasn’t threatened no bomb them yet, but jeez, AP. This is like the Somali pirate story where Obama stayed out of the way and got all of the credit for resolving the issue.

  • The plot against Joe Biden exposed

    I’m sure by now, you’ve all heard about Joe Biden telling the Today Show that he won’t let his family on planes, trains and automobiles because of the pig flu. Quoted by the New York Post;

    “I would not be, at this point — if they had another way of transportation — suggesting they ride the subway,” Biden told NBC’s “Today” show when asked about his family.

    “I would tell members of my family — and I have — that I wouldn’t go anywhere in confined spaces right now,” Biden went on. “It’s not just going to Mexico. If you’re in a confined aircraft and one person sneezes, it goes all through the aircraft.”

    Time Magazine quotes the travel industry;

    “Elected officials must strike a delicate balance of accurately and adequately informing citizens of health concerns without unduly discouraging travel and other important economic activity.

    “According to President Obama, swine flu is a cause for concern, but not panic. President Obama’s measured and responsible comments are appropriate and should provide useful guidance to other elected officials.”

    Wonkette writes that the travel industry wants Biden dead. At first, I thought that might be a bit of hyperbole, but TSO uncovered a photo that might lend credence to Wonkette’s post.

    Knowing how much Biden can’t resist kissing babies, especially, little blond, blue-eyed babies, I think the travel industry has hit on the perfect weapon to silence our gaffe-prone VeePee, God love ‘im;
    (more…)

  • The mild discomfort of torture

    Last night, our President let us know that the discomfort of waterboarding is now torture. And how does he know this? Because of his vast experience of being President an entire one hundred days. The Washington Times quotes;

    “I will do whatever is required to keep the American people safe, but I am absolutely convinced that the best way I can do that is to make sure we are not taking shortcuts that undermine who we are,” he said. “There have been no circumstances during the course of this first hundred days in which I have seen information that would make me second-guess the decision I have made.”

    In other words, he’s been president for a hundred days and you haven’t – so who is smarter? Certainly not you. And since you think you’re such a smarty-pants, he knows stuff you don’t;

    He said he has read the memos former Vice President Dick Cheney has asked be declassified and that the Republican says would show the tactics worked to get critical information that prevented attacks. But Mr. Obama said the memos don’t prove the information couldn’t have been gotten by other methods, and said even if America’s job is harder, it’s worth the trade-off.

    There. See? He’s read the Cheney memos and you haven’t. When you’ve read the Cheney memos, you can have an opinion – but until then, shut up. You.

    Let me show you how much torture is involved in waterboarding. The regular readers of this blog know that IVAW’s Matthis Chiroux is a big pussy, right? If waterboarding is torture, do you honestly think that Chiroux would allow World Can’t Wait to waterboard him in front of the UN? See for yourself;

    You’ll notice that Chiroux’s hands aren’t bound, yet when he is waterboarded, his hands stay behind his back, entirely voluntarily. If Chiroux truly thought he was in danger, and if waterboarding was really a fear-inducing practice, his arms would be flailing around involuntarily. besides, if it was as dangerous as the Left seems to think it is, do you honestly believe a sissy like Chiroux would allow himself to be involved in it? I mean seriously.

    Thanks for showing us that waterboarding isn’t torture, Chiroux. I owe you a cookie.

  • The crisis falls apart

    I really hate to spend so much time on this flu thing, but I’ve got some stuff in the hopper that I’m waiting for confirmation on some small points, so in the meantime, this is all I have for now.

    Remember yesterday that the World Health Organization was blaming US citizens for spreading the flu? Well, it turns out that the one fatality we’ve had in the US was a Mexican child who was brought to Houston for treatment.

    The first reported death in the United States from the swine flu outbreak was that of a 23-month-old Mexican toddler who fell ill in Brownsville and was transported for treatment in Houston, where the child died Monday, city officials said.

    While Egypt is busy slaughtering all of their pigs to quell their fears, WHO announces that there have only been seven deaths worldwide not 152 like the media is blaring;

    “Unfortunately that [150-plus deaths] is incorrect information and it does happen, but that’s not information that’s come from the World Health Organisation,” Ms Allan told ABC Radio today.

    “That figure is not a figure that’s come from the World Health Organisation and, I repeat, the death toll is seven and they are all from Mexico.”

    All of these self-important pointy-headed bureaucrats and media types are still perpetuating the ignorance that’s fueling this exercise in fear mongering. AP’s headline still reads; Toddler in Texas becomes 1st swine flu death in US. And you have to read in the second paragraph that the “toddler” came from Mexico.

    Then to add to all of this bizarre shit, while President Obama was welcoming Arlen Specter to his fold, I heard him tell me to cover my mouth when I sneeze and to wash my hands. For f***’s sake.

  • The stupid season

    There’s just too much stupid stuff going on out there. You haven’t noticed?

    Arlen Specter left the Republican Party yesterday – well, actually, he left the party long ago. But now, Joe Biden, that softspoken, humble guy (who is also our Vice President in case you forgot) claims he’s the reason Specter switched parties;

    “I have been working on [Specter’s party switch] in earnest for the past four years and double time for the past 100 days [as vice president],” Biden told a Democratic fundraiser in Houston on Tuesday.

    Ya know, that just reinforces this good feeling I have about Specter leaving. I certainly don’t want anyone in my party that takes advice from the plagiarizer, braggart buffoon that is Joe Biden. This revelation from Biden just highlights Specter’s poor judgment.

    Drudge has been running a headline all night that the FAA knew they’d cause a panic in New York City with their photo-op overflight (which cost us nearly $400k, by the way), but went ahead without notifying the public.

    Federal officials knew that sending two fighter jets and Air Force One to buzz ground zero and Lady Liberty might set off nightmarish fears of a 9/11 replay, but they still ordered the photo-op kept secret from the public.

    So, we should be asking who was on board that flight that would have caused all of that secrecy at the expense of the public’s sense of well-being? How many people will die in the next REAL terrorist attack because of this false alarm?

    Here’s another bit of buffoonery from the administration – apparently calling it “swine flu” is unfair to pigs and pork producers.

    At a news briefing, Homeland Security Secretary Janet Napolitano and Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack took pains to repeatedly refer to the flu as the “H1N1 virus.”
    […]
    The Paris-based World Organization for Animal Health also objected to the name, saying the virus contains avian and human components and no pig so far has been found ill with the disease.

    A flu by any other name will make you just as sick. This flu comes from pigs, just like bird flu comes from birds…see how that works. Maybe if people think they can get the flu from eating pork, it’s because the administration isn’t doing a good job of getting the word out. They can get the word out about all of their political aspirations – why can’t they use their poltical machine to benefit the public?

    Maybe it’s because they WANT a panic – like the one in New York City.

    Finally, the media has found a single death in the US from swine flu (I’m still sayin’ it) in Texas. The number of confirmed cases has now “rocketed” (using language I learned from Fox News yesterday) from 64 to 65.

    I’m hiding in my basement until this stupid season blows over.

    Added: Wesley Pruden asks “Are We Dead Yet?”

    The medical researchers say it might mutate. Or it might not. If it does, it might, possibly, maybe, potentially be the worst killer since the Spanish flu pandemic of 1918. Or it might not. Researchers are working on the vaccine, and the media is working on the panic. We may not get a vaccine, but soon there won’t be a dry pair of pants on six continents.