Magpie

Friday, March 23, 2007

With this kind of a victory, who needs defeat?

I just heard that the House of Representatives has narrowly approved a spending measure that includes a timetable for withdrawing US troops from Iraq. I'm sorry, but it doesn't seem to me that allowing Dubya to keep going with his doomed 'surge' until October 2008 is any sort of victory for opponents of the Iraq war.

I've tried to write a post describing why I'm so pissed off by the Democrats' cowardice in even bothering to vote on such a weak measure — which they already know will get vetoed by the prez — but I'm so angry that I can't focus. I'm sure that all the people who will die in Iraq between now and the autumn of 2008 will be greatly comforted by the House's vote today.

| | Posted by Magpie at 10:02 AM | Get permalink

Thursday, March 22, 2007

False alarm.

Despite what had been widely reported before a press conference earlier today, John Edwards has not decided to end his campaign for the US presidency.

I was so relieved to hear this that I sent the Edwards campaign some more money. Edwards isn't my #1 choice among the announced presidential candidates — that honor goes to Dennis Kucinich — but he's almost the only one who both has a chance of winning and who doesn't make me ill when I visualize her or him in the White House.

This mapgie's best wishes go to Elizabeth Edwards in hopes that her cancer can be kept at bay.

Via NY Times.

Labels: 2008 Election, John Edwards, Politics, Presidency

| | Posted by Magpie at 8:31 AM | Get permalink

Wednesday, March 21, 2007

I dunno if this is a good thing.

Some US government intelligence documents are now referencing Wikipedia as a source of information.

Via Secrecy News.

Labels: Intelligence, Wikipedia

| | Posted by Magpie at 10:15 AM | Get permalink

How to get a bad job rating from Dubya's administration.

A good start is to investigate the involvement of the White House in the outing of a CIA agent, it seems.

U.S. Attorney Patrick J. Fitzgerald was ranked among prosecutors who had "not distinguished themselves" on a Justice Department chart sent to the White House in March 2005, when he was in the midst of leading the CIA leak investigation that resulted in the perjury conviction of a vice presidential aide, administration officials said yesterday.

The ranking placed Fitzgerald below "strong U.S. Attorneys . . . who exhibited loyalty" to the administration but above "weak U.S. Attorneys who . . . chafed against Administration initiatives, etc.," according to Justice documents.

The chart was the first step in an effort to identify U.S. attorneys who should be removed. Two prosecutors who received the same ranking as Fitzgerald were later fired, documents show.

I'm sure Fitzpatrick's low rating had nothing to do with the fact that his investigation was leading him to VP Cheney's door. After all, using a political litmus test to evaluate the performance of federal law enforcement officials would be wrong. Right?

Via Washington Post.

Labels: Al Gonzales, Dubya, Plamegate, US attorneys

| | Posted by Magpie at 9:33 AM | Get permalink

Dinosaurs in burrows?

Yep.

Via news@nature.com.

Labels: Dinosaurs, Science

| | Posted by Magpie at 9:28 AM | Get permalink

Tuesday, March 20, 2007

It figures.

I finally start blogging again yesterday, and what happens? I wind up flat on my back, sick, for most of yesterday and part of today. I'm sure Dubya is to blame for this, somehow.

At any rate, regular service will resume tomorrow.

Labels: Housekeeping

| | Posted by Magpie at 5:13 PM | Get permalink

Monday, March 19, 2007

That's what I call a real vote of confidence.

From this morning's gaggle with Dubya's press flak Tony Snow:

Q: Does the White House feel, at this point, that it knows everything it needs to know about Gonzales to decide whether he should remain in office? Or are you still fact-gathering?

SNOW: The president's said he's got confidence in Al Gonzales. This is not fact-gathering on whether to allow him to maintain his employment. We hope he stays.

Q: He will remain in office for the rest of the administration?

SNOW: Well, we hope so.

The only thing left to seal Gonzales' fate is for Dubya to say that the attorney general has been doing 'a heckuva job.'

My prediction is that Gonazales' 'resignation' will be announced at the end of the business day on Friday, and that the attorney general will be leaving to 'spend more time with his family.'

Via TPM Muckraker.

Labels: Al Gonzales, Dubya

| | Posted by Magpie at 9:32 AM | Get permalink

Unhappy anniversary.

Today marks the anniversary of Dubya's announcement that the invasion of Iraq had begun. As you might recall, this was going to be a 'cakewalk' that would only last for a few months. And US troops were going to welcome invading US troops with flowers. And the war wouldn't coast US taxpayers a cent since Iraqi oil revenues would pay for everything.

All lies, of course. And followed by four years of more lies, as well as thousands of US dead and hundreds of thousand of lost Iraqi lives.

Despite that, most Democrats in Congress continue to be timid in the face of the administration's bluster about the need to 'save' Iraq, and about the possibility of a successful outcome to the most disastrous foreign policy adventure in memory. What's so hard about setting a date to pull out sometime this year — not sometime in 2008 after who knows how many more people pay for Dubya's fiasco with their lives?

Inquiring magpies want to know.

Labels: Iraq

| | Posted by Magpie at 8:50 AM | Get permalink

The dog ate my posts.

OK, I don't even have a dog.

And I really haven't posted anything in more than a month.

But I think I'm really back this time. Thanks to everyone who's patiently checked to see whether there's anything new here at Magpie, and a special thanks to those of you who emailed to make sure that I was okay.

Labels: Housekeeping

| | Posted by Magpie at 8:45 AM | Get permalink