But First, A Poll

Are Republicans that deluded? DailyKos (02.02.10):

"Ultimately, these results explain why it is impossible for elected Republicans to work with Democrats to improve our country.

Their base (consists of) conspiracy mongers who don't believe Obama was born in the United States, that he is the second coming of Lenin, and that he is racist against white people."

Daily Kos: The 2010 Comprehensive Daily Kos/Research 2000 Poll of Self-Identified Republicans

And the answer is: yes, they are.

No Doubt About It

These people are fucking crazy. Plain and simple.

Try 'Em All

Each and every last one of these bastards. ABCNews (04.11.08):

"President Bush says he knew his top national security advisers discussed and approved specific details about how high-value al Qaeda suspects would be interrogated by the Central Intelligence Agency, according to an exclusive interview with ABC News Friday.

'Well, we started to connect the dots in order to protect the American people.' Bush told ABC News White House correspondent Martha Raddatz. 'And yes, I'm aware our national security team met on this issue. And I approved.'"

Bush Aware of Advisers' Interrogation Talks

Bastards

War crimes. Try 'em all. ABCNews (04.09.08), via Eschaton:

"In dozens of top-secret talks and meetings in the White House, the most senior Bush administration officials discussed and approved specific details of how high-value al Qaeda suspects would be interrogated by the Central Intelligence Agency, sources tell ABC News.

The so-called Principals who participated in the meetings also approved the use of 'combined' interrogation techniques -- using different techniques during interrogations, instead of using one method at a time -- on terrorist suspects who proved difficult to break, sources said.

Sources: Top Bush Advisors Approved 'Enhanced Interrogation'

"Highly placed sources said a handful of top advisers signed off on how the CIA would interrogate top al Qaeda suspects -- whether they would be slapped, pushed, deprived of sleep or subjected to simulated drowning, called waterboarding."

"The high-level discussions about these 'enhanced interrogation techniques' were so detailed, these sources said, some of the interrogation sessions were almost choreographed -- down to the number of times CIA agents could use a specific tactic."

"The advisers were members of the National Security Council's Principals Committee, a select group of senior officials who met frequently to advise President Bush on issues of national security policy."

"At the time, the Principals Committee included Vice President Cheney, former National Security Advisor Condoleezza Rice, Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld and Secretary of State Colin Powell, as well as CIA Director George Tenet and Attorney General John Ashcroft."

"As the national security adviser, Rice chaired the meetings, which took place in the White House Situation Room and were typically attended by most of the principals or their deputies."

Long and short? These fucks were getting off on this. And our gal Condi chaired the meetings.

Bet she's a very stern disciplinarian.

You Want A Mandate?

This here's a mandate. AP (12.24.07):

"Uzbekistan's authoritarian President Islam Karimov won a new term in office with 88.1 percent of the votes in an election dismissed by critics as a sham, according to figures released by the Central Elections Commission on Monday.

Karimov faced three other candidates in the Sunday vote, but all of them publicly supported Karimov."

Uzbek Leader Wins New Term With 88%

Must be losing his touch. In 2000, he got almost 92% of the votes. Think that's something? Ha! In 1995, he got 99.6%.

If old J. Edgar had been around, maybe George could have pulled numbers like these. AP (12.24.07):

"A newly declassified document shows that J. Edgar Hoover, the longtime director of the Federal Bureau of Investigation, had a plan to suspend habeas corpus and imprison some 12,000 Americans he suspected of disloyalty.

Hoover sent his plan to the White House on July 7, 1950, 12 days after the Korean War began. It envisioned putting suspect Americans in military prisons."

Hoover Planned Mass Jailing in 1950

"Hoover wanted President Harry S. Truman to proclaim the mass arrests necessary to 'protect the country against treason, espionage and sabotage.' The F.B.I would 'apprehend all individuals potentially dangerous' to national security, Hoover’s proposal said."

"The arrests would be carried out under 'a master warrant attached to a list of names' provided by the bureau."

J. Edgar

Big Don, Little Dick

Don't kid yourself. Rumsfeld and Cheney were involved in this up to their eyeballs. No Comment (06.25.07):

"In the early days in Afghanistan, two Westerners were picked up with what were believed to be Al Qaeda or Taliban units. They were a kid from California named John Walker Lindh and a young Australian kangaroo skinner named David Hicks.

As an act of political largesse directed by Dick Cheney, the man who runs our secret government, Hicks was released from Gitmo and returned to Australia. Lindh, however, didn’t have it so good."

Torturing an American Citizen

"A decision was made to make an example of him. So he was sentenced to 20 years without parole by Judge T.S. Ellis III in a case prosecuted by Paul J. McNulty, a man who later made his reputation in the U.S. attorney scandal, and now faces suggestions of perjury and lying to Congress."

At the time, I was told repeatedly that prosecutors were frantic to secure a plea bargain because they knew that Lindh had been tortured and that Secretary of Defense Donald Rumsfeld was deeply implicated in the decision to torture him."

TPMMuckraker has more.

A Field Trip

Ars Technica (06.07.07), via Lawyers, Guns and Money:

"There was also an explanation as to why, with only one progenitor family, it wasn't considered incest for Adam and Eve's children to marry each other. Apparently there was less sin back then, and therefore fewer mutations in their DNA.

Evidently sin, not two copies of the same recessive trait, gives rise to congenital birth defects."

Ars takes a field trip: the Creation Museum

These fucks are absolute morons.

Know Your Legislator

Lest he come to know you. KELO (05.18.07), via Hullabaloo:

"A former South Dakota lawmaker is accused of molesting his own foster children and legislative pages.

Ted Klaudt, 49, a Republican rancher from Walker, faces a long list of charges: eight counts of rape, two counts of sexual exploitation of a minor, two counts of witness tampering, sexual contact with a person under 16, and stalking."

Former SD Legislator Arrested On Sex Charges

"Court documents mention five possible victims. Three were foster children between the ages of 15 and 19 who lived with Klaudt's family. One is a cousin of one of those girls, and the fifth is a friend of Klaudt's daughter."

"In the most disturbing accusation, the girls say Klaudt had them convinced they could earn up to $20,000 by donating their eggs to a fertility clinic. And even though he has no medical training, the girls say Klaudt did all the supposed 'exams' and 'procedures' himself."

Some of his legislative accomplishments.

In Memoriam

Jerry Laymon Falwell, Sr. (August 11, 1933 - May 15, 2007). Carpetbagger (05.15.07):

"I have to admit, writing about Falwell’s death poses an awkward challenge for me.

When I worked at Americans United for Separation of Church and State for several years, I read Falwell’s materials, I listened to his speeches, I watched his interviews, and got a real sense for who this man was and what he devoted his life to."

Jerry Falwell dies at age 73

"In literally every instance, I was repelled and appalled. But is it not callous to bash a man just hours after his death?"

"I have another idea — I’ll document Jerry Falwell’s professional life and let his record speak for itself."

More of Jerry's greatest hits, via Hullabaloo and Perlstein.

Politically Correct

Would it have been creepy working for Monica or what? NYTimes (05.12.07):

"Two years ago, Robin C. Ashton, a seasoned criminal prosecutor at the Department of Justice, learned from her boss that a promised promotion was no longer hers.

'You have a Monica problem,' Ms. Ashton was told, according to several Justice Department officials."

Colleagues Cite Partisan Focus by Justice Official

"Referring to Monica M. Goodling, a 31-year-old, relatively inexperienced lawyer who had only recently arrived in the office, the boss added, 'She believes you’re a Democrat and doesn’t feel you can be trusted.'"

Monica was also apparently in the habit of "quizzing applicants for civil service jobs at Justice Department headquarters with questions that several United States attorneys said were inappropriate, like who was their favorite president and Supreme Court justice. One department official said an applicant was even asked, 'Have you ever cheated on your wife?'"

"Ms. Goodling also moved to block the hiring of prosecutors with résumés that suggested they might be Democrats, even though they were seeking posts that were supposed to be nonpartisan, two department officials said."

"And she helped maintain lists of all the United States attorneys that graded their loyalty to the Bush administration, including work on past political campaigns, and noted if they were members of the Federalist Society, a conservative legal group."

Ahhh Monica. A loyal little Bushie indeed.

Hey remember this from back in 2002? BBC (01.29.02):

"No longer will US Attorney General John Ashcroft appear in public with a semi-nude statue towering above him.

The US Justice Department has spent $8,000 on curtains to hide the statue from the cameras."

Curtains for semi-nude justice statue

Word is that was Monica's idea.

Spooky woman, that one.

Oh My

A clip from Jesus Camp. LiveLeak, via CunningRealist:

"Camp counselors have children rally around [a cardboard] cutout of George Bush and chant to it."

Jesus Camp and George Bush

Posted without comment.