From Paul Krugman(yea, I know some of you hate him):
Still, the big story isn’t about Mr. Bush; it’s about what’s happening to America. Other presidents would have liked to bully the C.I.A., stonewall investigations and give huge contracts to their friends without oversight. They knew, however, that they couldn’t. What has gone wrong with our country that allows this president to get away with such things?
Good Night!
Both Tim Dunlop and Atrios point to this article (click through the free pass) where Joe Conason talks about w’s apparent confusion about Iraq inspections:
The president was fantasizing again this afternoon about the circumstances that led to war — and if his remarks at his press conference with the Polish president are to be taken seriously, he also seems badly confused about his Iraqi timeline.
Surely no one who has listened to bush for the last 3 years is surprised when he says stuff like this. He might even really believe he is telling the truth….
In November 2003 w told us:
�Sixty years of Western nations excusing and accommodating the lack of freedom in the Middle East did nothing to make us safe because in the long run stability cannot be purchased at the expense of liberty,�
This is a noble sentiment and one that would go far toward making the world a safer place if followed.
But how, then, does w explain his support for this saddam clone:
ILHAM ALIYEV was inaugurated as president of the oil-rich Muslim country of Azerbaijan three months ago after an election condemned by international observers as blatantly fraudulent. When members of the opposition tried to protest, they were brutally beaten by police. There followed a massive, nationwide crackdown in which more than 1,000 people were arrested, including opposition leaders, activists from nongovernmental organizations, journalists and election officials who objected to the fraud. More than 100 remain in prison, including most of the senior opposition activists.
Check out this report from Human Rights Watch for details.
Perhaps all this is consistent with w’s undertanding of what it means to do things for human rights.
Via Randy Paul.
From Time:
Sources with knowledge of the case tell TIME that behind closed doors at the E. Barrett Prettyman federal courthouse, nearby the Capitol, a grand jury began hearing testimony Wednesday in the investigation of who leaked the identity of CIA operative Valerie Plame to columnist Robert Novak and other journalists.
I’d sure like to see the results packaged up and delivered to the people well before November.
Via Atrios.
James Landrith has cosigned Jonathon Wilde’s fine response to the SOTU reading:
It is a spectacle millions watch on air with tremendous involvement and pointless excitement, but is ultimately an act of fakery.
Message to politicians:
I don’t want your ‘strengthening of the economy’. You have screwed it up enough already.
I don’t want your ‘sanctity of marriage’. It’s not your business.
Quit trying to define everything as right or left. The world is not binary.
….
Do go read the rest. His summation should be constantly visible to every politician.