Source This

Eric Holder embarks on a no-hope, no credibility attempt to investigate Team Obama's 2012 'victory leaks'.

The original AP underwear bomber story is here. The fateful sourcing seems to be here (my emphasis):

WASHINGTON (AP) — The CIA thwarted an ambitious plot by al-Qaida's affiliate in Yemen to destroy a U.S.-bound airliner using a bomb with a sophisticated new design around the one-year anniversary of the killing of Osama bin Laden, The Associated Press has learned.

The plot involved an upgrade of the underwear bomb that failed to detonate aboard a jetliner over Detroit on Christmas 2009. This new bomb was also designed to be used in a passenger's underwear, but this time al-Qaida developed a more refined detonation system, U.S. officials said.

As more details emerged it became clear that this was a misleading and US-centric account of what was really a British success.

The other big leak was on the joint US/Israeli cyber-war against Iran. Times reporter David Sanger's recent piece is here, but... do keep in mind this is part of his book promotion, and he has been on this story for years. For example, just as Bush was leaving in January 2009, Sanger described his last-gasp efforts against Iran, as well as their hand-off to Obama:

WASHINGTON — President Bush deflected a secret request by Israel last year for specialized bunker-busting bombs it wanted for an attack on Iran’s main nuclear complex and told the Israelis that he had authorized new covert action intended to sabotage Iran’s suspected effort to develop nuclear weapons, according to senior American and foreign officials.

...The White House denied that request outright, American officials said, and the Israelis backed off their plans, at least temporarily. But the tense exchanges also prompted the White House to step up intelligence-sharing with Israel and brief Israeli officials on new American efforts to subtly sabotage Iran’s nuclear infrastructure, a major covert program that Mr. Bush is about to hand off to President-elect Barack Obama.

This account of the expanded American covert program and the Bush administration’s efforts to dissuade Israel from an aerial attack on Iran emerged in interviews over the past 15 months with current and former American officials, outside experts, international nuclear inspectors and European and Israeli officials. None would speak on the record because of the great secrecy surrounding the intelligence developed on Iran.

That list of sources might include some figures transitioning into the Obama Administration but it has to include some Bushmen as well. Both sides have had an interest in promoting a tough-guy image and in reassuring the Israelis (and the US) that the situation with Iran is not in an out-of-control death spiral.

Comments

[NK]

Holder Investigation...? ha..ha..hahahahaha...HAH,HAH,HAH,HAH!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

[pagar]

http://wyblog.us/blog/election/5-words-4-ronulans-against-romney.html?utm_source=dlvr.it&utm_medium=twitter

"Five words which should strike terror into any Conservative not lining up behind Mitt Romney"

"Supreme Court Justice Eric Holder."

[Jim Eagle]

Pagar,

Actually, five words which should strike terror into anyone who votes for a Democrat for senate. Even if Obama wins, you can still stonewall a Holder appointment if you control the senate. I think even the wishy-washy set of McRino and Lady Lindsey would not want to see Eric Holder or his ilk on the court.

[whisk]

"Ronald Reagan would have, based on his record of finding accommodation, finding some degree of common ground, as would my dad — they would have a hard time if you define the Republican party — and I don’t — as having an orthodoxy that doesn’t allow for disagreement, doesn’t allow for finding some common ground," Bush said, adding that he views the hyper-partisan moment as "temporary."

... but then he quickly heaps a good chunk of the blame on the Left in general and President Obama in particular:

Bush called the present partisan climate "disturbing."

"It’s just a different environment left and right," he said of "this dysfunction."

And Bush also blamed President Obama for much of the conflict.

"His first year could have been a year of enormous accomplishment had he focused on things where there was more common ground," he said, arguing that Obama had made a "purely political calculation" to run a sharply partisan administration.

Sorry, Jeb. If you believe Barack Obama is to blame for the Republican Party's lurch to the right, then you're not exposing the problem ... you are the problem.

It's a shame he was born after the Chicago fire, or the extinction of the dinosaurs.

[Melinda Romanoff]

Zabaglione spills everywhere!

[matt]

Tom Donilon, pick up the white courtesy phone in front of the bus.....

[Ignatz]

LOL, matt.

[NK]

Matt- heh, heh

[Captain Hate]

I'm not sure what thread is appropriate for this but I'd like to highlight a situation where Mega McCannz is not the biggest dimwit on the set: http://newsbusters.org/blogs/kyle-drennen/2012/06/11/nbcs-curry-argues-obamas-fine-gaffe-taken-out-context

[daddy]

Good Morning.

Megyn Kelly just now reporting that the House Oversight Committee sets a Contempt Vote for AG Holder for Fast and Furious next week.

[Adjoran]

". . . but it has to inclde some Bushmen as well."

Why is that? For this to be true, there would have to be something leaked that the staff of the President-elect was not briefed about, and no evidence is presented of any such thing. The only case I recall of false or incomplete briefing of a President-elect was when Carter's people kept Reagan's in the dark about the actual defense situation.

[daddy]

Megyn Kelly now discussing Dershowitz versus Prosecutor Corey.

Corey is not happy with Dershowitz and other critics.

Dershowitz said that Corey called up Harvard in a 40 minute rant threatening to sue Harvard and to sue Dershowitz for saying she committed a crime when she did not include "the truth, the whole truth, and nothing but the truth" when she signed off on the charges.

Can and will Corey really sue Dershowitz and Harvard for libel and slander is the question.

She asks the panel of 2 Lawyers.

One guy says yes, the other guy says Dershowitz is salivating for her to please, please, please sue him. He would slice her up.

Thanks for keeping the topic alive Megyn.

[Ignatz]

--I'm not sure what thread is appropriate for this but I'd like to highlight a situation where Mega McCannz is not the biggest dimwit on the set:--

It's difficult to imagine an interview in which Anne Curry would not be the biggest blockhead present including her attempting to interview the megalith's of Easter Island, a scenario that is not difficult to imagine at all.

[lyle]

Who is Anne Curry?

[Captain Hate]

lyle, she's some bint on the Today show who's on the clip in the link who always talks in an annoyingly breathless tone. Even Mrs H doesn't like her, which is very extreme for her...

[Jim Eagle]

Moe Lane offeres some sage advice on Troll Hunting 101.

[daddy]

The Democrats War on Cars continues:

Obama can't understand Insurance for Cars.
Secretary Chu doesn't own a Car.
Salazar wants to make it too expensive to gas up your Car.
Pete Stark thinks Solyndra builds electric Cars.
And now Secretary Bryson can't drive a Car.

Smartest Administration ever.

[Carol Herman]

Diplomats are NEVER the ones who are given sensitive information!

And, Israel had difficulties with LBJ. Back in 1967. When he got wind that Israel was preparing a counter-offensive against the russian equipped Egypt. LBJ said "I don't need TWO VIATNAM's."

Israel cleaned up right away. And, on the second day of its offensive it reached the WAILING WALL! Even in Israel, the politicians were NOT prepared. Yes. It took the Jews 2000 years to return. But they did!

As to ALL the stinking politicians, from here. To france and England. They've all proven to be lackluster.

So the Israelis know all about the "tricks" that politicians pull.

Stuxnet? Probably a team no larger than 12 men. And, perhaps, as small as 5.

The MOSSAD, using it's psychological knowledge ... also knew that IF the code was placed inside PORN ... it would safely arrive at its destinations on thumb drives.

Obama involved? No. Really not. Though he's had a few tantrums. Including one where he tried to force Bibi to "sign" some document. And, then he left them in the Roosevelt room. Which was bugged. To wait while he went upstairs to dinner.

Bibi and his corp fled to the Israeli Embassy. Where they probably ordered in great deli. And? They can dance with the best diplomatic pants dancers.

Oh, by the way. Netanyahu is probably figuring that Obama "wins." But gets handicapped by losing Congress.

Behind the scenes? Panic.

What does panic produce? Gossip.

[lyle]

Ah, the Today Show. No wonder I'd never heard of her. (plus my computer wouldn't open the link)

[Jane]

Obama can't understand Insurance for Cars.
Secretary Chu doesn't own a Car.
Salazar wants to make it too expensive to gas up your Car.
Pete Stark thinks Solyndra builds electric Cars.
And now Secretary Bryson can't drive a Car.

Smartest Administration ever.

Brilliant!

[Neo]

House Committee and Oversight and Government Reform Chairman Darrell Issa told BuzzFeed today that he expects 31 Democrats will join Congressional Republicans in finding Attorney General Eric Holder in contempt of Congress for failing to turn over documents relating to a botched gun-running investigation.

[Jim,MtnView,Ca,USA]

On the Spain bank bailout's quick failure, I saw this elegant comment on another blog:

"We may finally have a basis for time travel ... we have just witnessed a bullet going through a foot even before the gun is fired."

[daddy]

Nice riff on the Dennis Miller Show.

With his sidekick, Dennis went thru the big labored rationale of Dylan Ratigan's written reasons for leaving MSNBC, citing "wanting to work with movers and shakers", and "wanting to engage in new ways to present stories", and "wanting to do this and that" etc, and then after that whole apologetic, explanatory bit Dennis simply said, "Dylan Ratigan got fired."

Ha!

[GMAX]

If Issa gets 31 Democrat votes, Holder is an absolute idiot to not turn the documents over. There is no way they can twist and shout enough to make folks think this is just a partisan witchhunt. And if they know that and also know the documents means resignation, disgrace and maybe jail time, well its just sucks for them now doesn't it.

[daddy]

Re: The Commerce Secretary in the Car crash.

The ex Secret Service guy running for Congress was just on neil Cavuto's Show.

In answer to Neil's question as to why the heck wasn't this guy being chauffeured by some protective agent etc, he replied that yes there would have been protection and a driver available, but that if he Secretary Bryson said that he did not want them, then no protection or driver will be provided. He said that protection is offered to all the Senior Cabinet heads etd, but that, with the exception of the Prez, VP, and their families, who are required to have Secret Service Protection at all times, the others are all free to deny it whenever they want, at which point they are completely left alone by the protective agents.

[centralcal]

GMax: during my drive home for lunch, I heard the briefest snippet of Congressman Devin Nunes on local talk radio saying (in a somewhat exasperated way) that the contempt vote will come to nothing, so much as a "stalemate." Now, stalemate was his precise word, however, because I only heard that snippet, I am not sure what additional context may have preceded or followed it.

Frustrating!

[daddy]

Well here's 2 developments that should make the BBC's Richard Black happy:

1) Obama believes the most important issue of second term is 'climate change'

2) The Environmental Protection Agency is trying to use the Clean Water Act (CWA) to control land alongside ditches, gullies and other ephemeral spots by claiming the sources are part of navigable waterways.

The dogs and I are off now to take a couple last poops in a roadside gully before the EPA puts it off limits.

[The EPA]

hey, that puddle over there! It's ours now!

And ya better get away from that mud while you're at it! It could develop into a watershed!

That sand you have in your bucket may contain endangered sandcrabs, little girlie. I'll warn you this time but next time's a $1,250 citation! Now dump it where you found it!

[bgates]

I've been thinking about it, and I've decided Jeb Bush has a point when he says Reagan would have trouble getting nominated now.

The Republican party is more hostile to charismatic governors of large Western states than it was 30 years ago, especially if they have lots of respect for the Constitution and no Ivy League degrees.

[Porchlight]

Preach it, bgates.

[Janet]

Speaking of ditches -
I'm wondering what Cindy Sheehan's opinion is on all the big things going on these days. I had to look at her & listen to her opinion for years & now....nothing. I guess she won't be able to sit in a ditch & protest ever again if the EPA has their way. :(

[jimmyk]

I have no doubt that as Barry's utter defeat becomes more certain, the EPA thugs will seize control of everything they can through administrative fiat, before the door closes, and in the belief that Romney lacks the cajones to undo it all. We'll see.

[cboldt]

Reagan had trouble getting nominated then. The Rockefeller Republicans, or whatever you want to call those who fall in line with the crony capitalism scene, are still calling the shots.

[Rob Crawford]

jimmyk -- the EPA can declare they own the ditches, but let's see if they can keep them.

In the end, I suspect the ditches would own the EPA.

[Porchlight]

Sort of a disingenuous thing of Jeb to say when his own dad was the chief guy trying to keep Reagan from getting nominated, at least in '80.

[AliceH]

Re: EPA regulating Ditches as navigable waterways, I blame these guys:

Redneck Water Skiing

[Rick Ballard]

The EPA needs to be a victim of The Great OPM Famine. It must be Congress, not the executive, which declares feeding the unsustainable obesity of the Federal Leviathan to be contrary to sound environmental policy.

[narciso]

'shirley he can't be serious,' the Brits, TM,
really, that's not the way it went down, in the LUN

[Captain Hate]

If Issa gets 31 Democrat votes, Holder is an absolute idiot to not turn the documents over. There is no way they can twist and shout enough to make folks think this is just a partisan witchhunt. And if they know that and also know the documents means resignation, disgrace and maybe jail time, well its just sucks for them now doesn't it.

Issa's got Stedman bent over on this. If he doesn't release the documents the MFM will be forced to cover why the Repubs are being mean to the chinless coward. I don't see where it's not a win/win.

[henry]

Just when Howard Dean and Trumpka declare last Tuesday a victory for Dems (snicker, snicker , gloat), the Wanggaard seat looks like a recount. It seems that now that all votes are in and the canvas is starting, the Dem lead has shrunk.

The local unelected Drainage Commission is bad enough, the EPA is not welcome anywhere near the town's drainage canal or my personal extension.

[roy bean]

Looks like Israel is TOTALLY behind Stux. It had an auto kill by date, but they turned it off Iran and on US. Charming little rapscallions, no?

Eighty-seven congressional representatives are calling for an investigation of the alleged SWATs pulled on two conservative bloggers, as discussed in earlier posts. A barrage of right-wing bloggers have blamed the attacks on one Brett Kimberlin, against whom there is, as of this writing, no evidence. (But he does have a bad rap sheet.) The right-wingers have acted with such sheer, robotic coordination as to make it obvious that there a Master Plan controlling their efforts.

Obviously, this "SWAT" business is a propaganda effort designed to create the impression that left-wingers are terrorists.

By way of comparison: Nobody in Congress called for an investigation into the links between far-right, fanatically pro-Israel libertarians like Pam Geller and mad killer Anders Breivik, who opened fire on a youth camp in Norway. Geller -- frequently seen on Fox News -- was Breivik's acknowledged inspiration. And the admiration was mutual:
Geller justifies Breivik’s attack on the Norwegian Labour Party summer youth camp because she says the camp is part of an anti-Israel “indoctrination training center.” She says the victims would have grown up to become “future leaders of the party responsible for flooding Norway with Muslims who refuse to assimilate, who commit major violence against Norwegian natives including violent gang rapes, with impunity, and who live on the dole.”
After the shooting, Geller engaged in some very telling self-censorship:
Tellingly, Pamela Geller attempted to wash her hands of any pre knowledge of Breivik’s plans by excising a paragraph from one of his long rants which she posted in 2007. The portion cut out: “We are stockpiling and caching weapons, ammunition and equipment. This is going to happen fast.”
There are no leftwingers "stockpiling and caching weapons, ammunition and equipment." There are no liberals ominously declaring that "This is going to happen fast."

That's a right-wing thing.

Obviously, the Tea Partiers are the ones who have genuine links to terror. Yet Congress will not investigate Geller -- in fact, congressmen are happy to pose for pictures with her.

Instead, the Republicans are going along with this ominous attempt to gin up evidence against an alleged leftist "leader" whom almost nobody on the actual left knew about or cared about until the Breitbarters started caterwauling about him.

[narciso]

So, how did Apuzzo get the story so wrong, here;

http://www.commentarymagazine.com/article/who-will-defend-the-defenders/

[roy bean]

It's called pension envy: the resentment that non-union employees often feel toward workers with good union pensions and benefits. As the results of the Wisconsin recall and ballot initiatives in San Jose and San Diego show, pension envy is not a phenomenon limited to the right. As a small business owner without unemployment benefits or even much in the way of retirement savings to fall back on should things go south, I myself feel it from time to time. Digby wrote an excellent and lengthy piece earlier today about pension envy and the way the Right has managed to marginalize the union movement in the United States while keeping Americans fighting one another for scraps.

But the puzzling phenomenon in all of this is the fact that pension envy is supposedly widespread, justified and politically acceptable, but resentment of the ludicrously wealthy who have stolen the nation's wealth from its workers is not. Someone who is upset over teachers' vacation and retirement pay should be a hundred times as angry at the ludicrous salaries of Wall Street executives skimming off the corporate profits that should be going to better private sector wages. There are a few probable explanations for it beyond simply the hostile conservative rhetoric that plays well with their base.

The first is that they're not mutually exclusive occurrences. The partisan divide may suggest that people would be either upset by pension envy or by radical income inequality, but not both. But polling on income inequality and the results of recent elections involving public union pensions suggests that there is a lot of both simultaneously. The difference is that few politicians dare to put initiatives on the ballot or pass laws that seriously impact the incomes of the top 1%, and that corporate cash is able to overwhelm union money in most cases where the two are comparably tested. It's also important to remember that unions themselves are not monolithic: many union members are Republicans, and there is a significant divide between public sector and private sector labor. Those factors combined to cause 38% of union households to vote against the recall. There is even some pension envy within the labor movement itself.

Another theory is that there is a special resentment of people who get paid with tax dollars, as opposed to those who are seen as taking money out of the private sector. This one is less persuasive to me: teachers, firefighters are police and respected professions; private sector unions don't have markedly better approval ratings; and Wall Street CEOs face extremely heavy anger that goes beyond their having taken taxpayer bailouts. Still, if the labor movement is to survive, it probably must do a better job of expanding aggressively into the private sector and not be siloed into taxpayer-funded jobs, a situation that will inevitably lead to political demise.

But there's a third explanation that I think is salient as well: regular people have much more everyday contact with public employees than with the super rich. As angry as regular voters are about inequality, most have no idea about the true extent of it. In the old days the Rockefellers and Carnegies would make ostentatious displays of their wealth. Nobles and peasants used to live in close proximity, and the palaces were but a short distance away from the slums. Meanwhile, there were multiple layers of social strata separating the nobility from the working class, including radically different dress styles and linguistic registers.

We don't see as much of that today. The democratization of wealth has meant that the very rich tend to look and act much more similar to the working class than they ever have before. Transportation and communications technology also allows them to paradoxically lead lives more separated from the working class than they ever have before.

What that boils down to is that people rarely knowingly see a member of the top 1%. But they do see teachers, firefighters and police every day. Pension envy is in their faces every day in a way that income inequality usually is not.

I see no way to immediately solve that problem beyond continuing to rhetorically highlight the vast income inequalities in this country, and fixing the campaign finance system that makes politicians so terrified of fighting for the middle class against the interests of the top 1%..

[narciso]

Sanger is schizoprenic, although occasionally useful, in his writings, he reproaches Us officials for not being aware of Fekrazedeh, the Iranian nuclear guru, but doesn't consider how that invalidated the whole NIE, there was more self awareness, in his first book the Challenge

http://pjmedia.com/tatler/2012/06/11/nyts-david-sanger-defends-reporting-on-the-obama-admins-national-security-leaks/#respond

[Rob Crawford]

So Dana is such a Kimberlin supporter he posted the same crap to at least two threads. When I read BS like that, I'm tempted to say we should give the left the world they are working so hard to build. Let them sufffer the consequences of their desires, rather than shield them as American conservatives have for all my life.

But then I realize I'm a better man than Dana ever was or ever will be.

Y'all have my email address. Maybe drop me a line when the Pisser Troll has been dealt with.

[Extraneus]

Sort of a disingenuous thing of Jeb to say when his own dad was the chief guy trying to keep Reagan from getting nominated, at least in '80.

Heh.

Smartest Administration ever.

You mean that stuff about putting the car in "D" to get out of a ditch was all just clueless b.s. from people who don't even know how to drive?

[Ignatz]

--So Dana is such a Kimberlin supporter he posted the same crap to at least two threads.--

That's the Alfred E. Goebbels Big Dummy strategy (or Fred G. Goebbels if you prefer);
if you say something stupid long enough people will believe it.

[xbradtc]

Being a parent is a near-thankless job.

All these kids want to eat is crap.

So, I'm bad because I make them eat their veggies?

**calls DCFS to report a horrific case of child abuse**

[Ignatz]

Dude hitchhiking across the USA writing a memoir tentatively titled The Kindness of America get's shot randomly by some drunk in Montana.
Since his wounds are not life threatening I guess it's OK to laugh.

[Ignatz]

More kindness in America news as one of the three cities with the tightest gun control in the US, Fallujah, Illinois, that toddlin town, only had eight gunshot fatalities and a mere 40 wounded over the weekend.

[maryrose]

At this point Holder has the appearance of a dead man walking. The fact that he wants to resign and ValJar won't let him is priceless. Instead of anonymity, he gets a jail term. That seems fair.

[centralcal]

Iggy: "Fallujah, Illinois" - ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha!

[roy bean]

wrong thread--

FALLUJAH: For little Sayef, there will be no Arab spring. He lies, just 14 months old, on a small red blanket cushioned by a cheap mattress on the floor, occasionally crying, his head twice the size it should be, blind and paralysed. Sayeffedin Abdulaziz Mohamed — his full name — has a kind face in his outsized head and they say he smiles when other children visit and when Iraqi families and neighbours come into the room.

But he will never know the history of the world around him, never enjoy the freedoms of a new Middle East. He can move only his hands and take only bottled milk because he cannot swallow. He is already almost too heavy for his father to carry. He lives in a prison whose doors will remain forever closed.

It’s as difficult to write this kind of report as it is to understand the courage of his family. Many of the Fallujah families whose children have been born with what doctors call “congenital birth anomalies” prefer to keep their doors closed to strangers, regarding their children as a mark of personal shame rather than possible proof that something terrible took place here after the two great American battles against insurgents in the city in 2004, and another conflict in 2007.

After at first denying the use of phosphorous shells during the second battle of Fallujah, US forces later admitted that they had fired the munitions against buildings in the city.

Independent reports have spoken of a birth-defect rate in Fallujah far higher than other areas of Iraq, let alone other Arab countries. No one, of course, can produce cast-iron evidence that American munitions have caused the tragedy of Fallujah’s children.

Sayef lives — the word is used advisedly, perhaps — in the Al Shahada district of Fallujah, in one of the more dangerous streets in the city. The cops — like the citizens of Fallujah, they are all Sunni — stand with their automatic weapons at the door of Sayef’s home when we visit, but two of these armed, blue-unformed men come inside with us and are visibly moved by the helpless baby on the floor, shaking their heads in disbelief and with a hopelessness which his father, Mohamed, refuses to betray.

USE OF PHOSPHORUS: “I think all this is because of the use by the Americans of phosphorous in the two big battles,” he says. “I have heard of so many cases of congenital birth defects in children. There has to be a reason. When my child first went to the hospital, I saw families there with exactly the same problems.”

Studies since the 2004 Fallujah battles have recorded profound increases in infant mortality and cancer in Fallujah; the latest report, whose authors include a doctor at Fallujah General Hospital, says that congenital malformations account for 15 per cent of all births in Fallujah.

“My son cannot support himself,” Mohamed says, fondling his son’s enlarged head. “He can move only his hands. We have to bottle-feed him. He can’t swallow.

“Sometimes he can’t take even the milk, so we have to take him to hospital to be given fluids. He was blind when he was born. In addition, my poor little man’s kidney has shut down. He got paralysed. His legs don’t move. His blindness is due to hydrocephalus.”

Mohamed holds Sayef’s useless legs and moves them gently up and down. “After he was born, I got Sayef to Baghdad and I had the most important neurosurgeons check him. They
said they could do nothing. He had a hole in his back that was closed and then a hole in his head. The first operation did not succeed. He had meningitis.”

Both Mohamed and his wife are in their mid-thirties. Unlike many tribal families in the area, neither are related and their two daughters, born before the battles of Fallujah, are in perfect health. Sayef was born on Jan 27 last year. “My two daughters like their brother very much,” Mohamed adds, “and even the doctors like him. They all take part in the care of the child. Dr Abdul-Wahab Saleh has done some amazing work on him — Sayef would not be alive without him.”

Mohamed works for an irrigation mechanics company but admits that, with a salary of only $100 a month, he receives financial help from relatives. He was outside Fallujah during the conflict but returned two months after the second battle only to find his house mined; he received funding to rebuild his home in 2006. He watches Sayef for a long time during our conversation and then lifts him in his arms.

“Every time I watch my son, I’m dying inside,” he says, tears running down his face. “I think about his destiny. He is getting heavier all the time. It’s more difficult to carry him.” So I ask whom he blames for Sayef’s little calvary. I expect a tirade of abuse against the Americans, the Iraqi government, the health ministry.

The people of Fallujah have long been portrayed as “pro-terrorist” and “anti-Western” in the world’s press, ever since the murder and cremation of the four American mercenaries in the city in 2004 — the event which started the battles for Fallujah in which up to 2,000 Iraqis, civilians and insurgents, died, along with almost 100 US troops.But Mohamed is
silent for a few moments.

He is not the only father to show his deformed child to us. “I am only asking for help from God,” he says. “I don’t expect help from any other human being.”

Which proves, I guess, that Fallujah — far from being a city of terror — includes some very brave men.

[Extraneus]

He actually posted that in two threads, hoping that someone would read it.

[narciso]

Mary, they don't they've done anything wrong, we are just too thick to appreciate the wisdom of their actions, this comes through in Klaidman, who dismisses the impact of 'the nation of cowards' line, to Emmanuel's frustration over a botched rollout.

[pagar]

From the you can't make this stuff up column.

http://blog.heritage.org/2012/06/11/state-department-pays-6600-for-e-readers-that-retail-for-189/

Does no sane person have any input into these contracts? These products will be outdated in a matter of months. Your great grandchildren will spend their working years paying these things off.

[maryrose]

Obama is letting his true feelings come out with his "private sector is fine" comment and his goal of tackling climate change. He doesn't care what we the people want He's given up on the economy and will blame Europe, Greece and the republicans.
Prediction: Holder is history before the end of the month or when Congress goes on vacation. He's dead weight now.

[narciso]

It struck how can the program be going on, if
there was such opposition;

http://hotair.com/archives/2012/06/11/iran-disregard-that-whole-fatwa-against-nukes-thing-mm-kay/

[matt]

I understand that Caesar's Palace in Vegas is preparing a ramp where Robbie Knievel is going to jump all 268 former administration officials who have been let go for political reasons with a 1986 Blue Bird bus. Throwing them under the bus took way too much time and was considered cruel and unusual punishment by the California Supreme Court.

This program will be accelerated, if you will excuse the pun, when they gather in Madrid, Paris, and Rome to televise bus jumps over the Spanish, French, and Italian cabinets respectively.

CNN/MSPRAVDA have obtained exclusive broadcast rights for North America.

[Jim,MtnView,Ca,USA]

"The Republican party is more hostile to charismatic governors of large Western states than it was 30 years ago, especially if they have lots of respect for the Constitution and no Ivy League degrees."

Would that fall under 'Bug' or 'Feature'?

[Jim,MtnView,Ca,USA]

"Obama campaign launches first ad targeting black voters"

Goodness, what about the new civility? "targeting" sounds rather dreadful, I hope they don't hit anyone....

"Obama: Too busy to help Wisconsin Democrats in recall election"

The poor dear. Works his fingers to the bone.

[matt]

almost like those horrible ads run by Sarah Palin in Gabby Giffords Tucson district, huh, Jim?

"My name is Barack Obama, and I approved the Predator drone watching you right now".

[GMax]

Juan Williams is really just pathetic. He actually thinks the private sector IS doing fine? They are just making a choice not hire, according to this mental midget.

[GMax]

You know why Harry Reid wont bring stuff up in the Senate, because he is unsure he even has a majority.

Sens. Claire McCaskill (Mo.) and Bill Nelson (Fla.), two Democrats facing tough races this year, on Thursday declined to rule out support for an across-the-board extension of the rates.

“If you want to do something in the spirit of compromise, you don’t start out by saying, ‘I refuse to do this’ or ‘I refuse to do that,’ ” said McCaskill. “It’s not my preference to extend tax cuts to multimillionaires — that’s not my preference — but I want to keep every option open in the spirit of compromise.”

Said Nelson, “I can’t get into a hypothetical.”

Democrats from Republican-leaning states are also undecided.

Sen. Mark Pryor (D-Ark.), who is up for reelection in 2014, said he is undecided about whether to support another temporary extension of the Bush tax rates for all income brackets.

[Ralph L]

This new bomb was also designed to be used in a passenger's underwear, but this time al-Qaida developed a more refined detonation system
Yes, the fart-lighting detonation system was totally juvenile, plus the trainees kept setting their skirts on fire.

[Jim Eagle]

Slow drawl Bill Nelson is going down big time in November. Yellow dogs are dead in the South.

[Jane]

And if they know that and also know the documents means resignation, disgrace and maybe jail time, well its just sucks for them now doesn't it.

GMAX, I love you!

Rob, get back here and fight!!!!

[narciso]

No, 'they need to be nuked from orbit, only way to be sure,' gmax, and even then it's not a sure thing, consider how Brown, not to mention Murkowski, insisted on giving the finger, not only on regulatory policy, (Dodd/Frank,) immigration (Dream Act) defense
(New START)

[Captain Hate]

He actually posted that in two threads, hoping that someone would read it.

I'm sure the turd-vac will clean it up later.

[gus]

Capn, The Pizter Pussy is clearing displaying a cry for help.
I'm not kidding, the guy is mentally ill.

[narciso]

Well I've been on record, of being skeptical of Effendi Al Asiri's previous track record, for that reason, Ralph, that's why the cover story about the bombs doesn't make sense, Maybe I've seen the Departed too many times,
but the whole point of a deep cover asset is
to reveal plans, organizational details et al.

[narciso]

One is struck how after three decades of academia, they can't come up with anything original, it's been two years since his last published work

[daddy]

OT,

Black bear in for his regular medical check-up at a local Hospital.

[daddy]

"state-department-pays-6600-for-e-readers-that-retail-for-189/"

You think that's bad, look what our State elected morons are doing:

Alaskans from Barrow to Yakutat will be able to get roundtrip airfare to Anchorage for free as part of the Great Alaska Shootout Basketball Tournament.

The Tourney has been losing money lately, so the State decided to spend 2 million State dollars for free airfare to fly residents in to try to help ticket sales.

[Sara]

The Republican party is more hostile to charismatic governors of large Western states than it was 30 years ago, especially if they have lots of respect for the Constitution and no Ivy League degrees.

I do not agree with this at all.

True those of us in the West are less interested in social issues, but that is the Conservatives always passing judgment on us anyway. We are also much more libertarian. But as one who spent most of her time around strong military Republicans, believe me, we don't give a damn about Ivy League degrees and we care more about the Constitution than any average bear.

[narciso]

This is why I suggested they appoint a marmot
named 'Bagel' to the vacant Assembly seat, daddy, they couldn't do any
worse

[Stephanie]

Might be better. Don't marmots hybernate? Win!

[Dave (in MA)]

The rhetorically proximate to a douchebag guy on the MS Nancy Boy Channel says we need more leaks.

PS: yay Kings.

[daddy]

Breaking!

Elaine was right!

an Australian coroner ruled Tuesday that a dingo took a baby from a campsite in the Outback, just as her mother said from the beginning.

Guilty as charged!

[daddy]

Damn it all to hell!

Guess I ain't visiting Middleborough, Massachusetts anytime soon.

Sonuvabitch.

[AliceH]

via AOS "I've seen several versions of the iconic Tank Man photo but here's a little-known wider view that shows just how many tanks the guy was holding up."

Amazing photo.

[Jane]

Guess I ain't visiting Middleborough, Massachusetts anytime soon.

How is that not a direct violation of the 1st amendment? DO these people want to spend all their property taxes on lawyers? Does no one in Middleboro have a brain?

[Janet]

Voting today in VA for the Republican Senate candidate. Republicans have 4 great candidates to choose from...all of them are good. Doesn't that seem healthy for a party? 4 great candidates!!

[Jane]

I agree with Martin Sheen, except he mixed up the order:

"When you put him and [presumptive Republican presidential nominee Mitt] Romney together you'll see the difference between a man living an honest life and a hustling politician."

[NK]

Daddy-- thanks for the video link-- the Black Bear looked like he owned that joint;

AliceH--amazing Tank Man photo-- it shows what one courageous man can do.

[Porchlight]

But as one who spent most of her time around strong military Republicans, believe me, we don't give a damn about Ivy League degrees and we care more about the Constitution than any average bear.

Sara,

bgates was (I think) making an allusion to the disdain for Sarah Palin coming from certain elements of the GOP.

[Annoying Old Guy]

Voting today in VA for the Republican Senate candidate. Republicans have 4 great candidates to choose from...all of them are good. Doesn't that seem healthy for a party?

Yes, that's a key leading indicator for the political fortunes of a party. I am in Rep. Tim Johnson's CD. I went to a town hall for a debate among 4 potential candidates for his seat and while I had clear preferences among them, I would have without hesitation voted for any of them in the general. It was quite encouraging.