Posts by Blue Texan

Blue Texan is a regular contributing blogger for FireDogLake.

Cheney Calls Iraq 'Significant Success, Masterfully Done'
Posted by Blue Texan, Firedoglake on January 4, 2009 at 2:11 PM.

Not only does Dick want everyone to know how proud he is of BushCo's signature policy, he's pissed that the Iraqis took some of the luster off of Rummy's military masterpiece.

SCHIEFFER: Wouldn't it have been better, on reflection, to have a better and larger force [going into Iraq]?

DICK: Well, um, we could debate that forever and we may well. I think that the original campaign was masterfully done in terms of the small, fast moving force as you say, that achieved our inital objectives in taking down the regime and capturing Baghdad, that was a masterful performance.

I think the thing that we underestimated, at least I underestimated, was the damage that had been done to the Iraqi population by all those years of Saddam's rule, so that there weren't any Iraqis early on who were willing to stand up and take responsibilty for their own affairs. Anybody who had that kind of get up and go in earlier years had had their head chopped off.

Yeah, what a drag.

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Dick Cheney Embraces "Go F*ck Yourself," Historically Low Approval Numbers
Posted by Blue Texan, Firedoglake on December 21, 2008 at 11:15 AM.

Dick appears physically incapable of regret, which, in case you didn't know, is actually rather common among the Undead.

WALLACE: Did you tell Senator Leahy, "bleep yourself"?

CHENEY: I did.

WALLACE: Any qualms, second thoughts, or embarrassment?

CHENEY: No, I thought he merited it at the time and we've since patched over that wound.

As revealing as that exchange was, this one's even more illuminating:

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Newly Released Presidential Tapes Expose Nixon's Treason
Posted by Blue Texan, Firedoglake on December 6, 2008 at 7:00 AM.

The Lyndon Baines Johnson Library and Museum released a new set of President Johnson's audiotapes yesterday and from the lot emerged this jaw-dropper:

In a segment aired at the news conference, Johnson tells Sen. Everett Dirksen, the Republican minority leader, that it will be Nixon's responsibility if the South Vietnamese don't participate in the peace talks.

"This is treason," LBJ says to Dirksen.

"I know," Dirksen replies, very softly.

Confronting Nixon by telephone on Nov. 3, Johnson outlines what had been alleged and how important it was to the conduct of the war for Nixon's people not to meddle.

"My God," Nixon says to Johnson, "I would never do anything to encourage the South Vietnamese not to come to that conference table." Instead, Nixon pledged to help in any way Johnson or Rusk suggested, "To hell with the political credit, believe me."

For Johnson and his top advisers, it wasn't a matter of whether Nixon was telling the truth but whether accusing Nixon of meddling would give the appearance that Johnson — rather than Nixon — was using the war to influence the election.

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Desperate Republicans See Georgia Senate Runoff as a 'Firewall' Against Progress
Posted by Blue Texan, Firedoglake on November 13, 2008 at 4:36 PM.

With races in Alaska and Minnesota not going well for them, the GOP is increasingly determined to hold on to Saxby Chambliss' seat.

U.S. Sen. John Ensign (R-Nev.), chairman of the National Republican Senatorial Committee, appeared with Chambliss at his Cobb County headquarters, a day before U.S. Sen. John McCain (R-Ariz.) comes to town to stump for the Moultrie lawmaker.

"Saxby and this race may well end up being the firewall against the 60-vote majority the Democrats are trying to achieve," Ensign told reporters on a conference call before a news conference by the two senators.

Ensign took a shot at Chambliss' opponent, Atlanta Democrat Jim Martin, when the Nevada lawmaker accused the incoming class of U.S. senators of being among the most liberal ever elected.

"Jim Martin would be another liberal voice to join that group in Washington, D.C.," Ensign said.

Just for the record, Jim Martin is a Vietnam veteran. Saxby Chambliss got 5 deferments during the Vietnam War because his knee had an owie. And just like during Vietnam, Saxby's having other people do the fighting for him in the runoff.

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Palin Tells Dobson That 'Prayer Warriors' Should Ask God to Intervene in U.S. Election for GOP
Posted by Blue Texan, Firedoglake on October 22, 2008 at 12:41 PM.

Awesome!

In an interview posted online Wednesday, Sarah Palin told Dr. James Dobson of "Focus on the Family" that she is confident God will do "the right thing for America" on Nov. 4.

...

She also thanked her supporters -- including Dobson, who said he and his wife were asking "for God’s intervention" on election day -- for their prayers of support.

"It is that intercession that is so needed," she said. "And so greatly appreciated. And I can feel it too, Dr. Dobson. I can feel the power of prayer, and that strength that is provided through our prayer warriors across this nation. And I so appreciate it."

From this we can deduce that:

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Conservatives Conflate Official McCain Events With Random Sh*t They Find on Google
Posted by Blue Texan, Firedoglake on October 13, 2008 at 11:35 AM.

The Anchor Baby summarizes the wingnut pushback on the unmasking of the diseased Republican base:

The Obamedia is attempting to set yet another false narrative: The narrative of the McCain "mob." McCain-Palin rallies are out of control, they wheedle. Conservatives are mad! They're yelling mean things about Obama and calling him names! It' scaaaaary!

...

Let's talk about "insane rage" and "violent escalation." This is insane rage -- Madonna bashing Sarah Palin and shrieking "I will kick her ass..."

Did you see what AB just did? She went from "McCain-Palin rallies" to a Madonna concert. (Glenn Reynolds used the same tactic -- an NHL game and an Obama campaign rally are the same thing!)

Um, since when do we hold Madonna concerts to the same standards of decorum as presidential campaign events?

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Palin Warns Against Withdrawal in Iraq (Apparently Ignorant of U.S. Withdrawal Agreement With Iraq)
Posted by Blue Texan, Firedoglake on September 25, 2008 at 10:45 AM.

Sarah Palin told Katie Couric this in an interview that will air on CBS News tonight.

So, again, I believe that… a surge in Afghanistan also will lead us to victory there as it has proven to have done in Iraq. And as I say, Katie, that we cannot afford to retreat, to withdraw in Iraq. That's not gonna get us any better off in Afghanistan either.

In the interim, someone might wanna tell her that Bush has already agreed to retreat:

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Karl Rove Warns Obama Against Negative Political Attacks
Posted by Blue Texan, Firedoglake on September 19, 2008 at 3:02 AM.

Turd Blossom, who no doubt wants to see Obama do well in November, writes:

It is a mistake for Mr. Obama to spend a lot of time attacking Mr. McCain.

Yes, we all know it's always a mistake for Democrats to attack Republicans. But TB must’ve missed yesterday's polls (CBS/NYT +5, Zogby +2, Gallup +2). And those polls were taken after Team Obama unleashed a barrage of -- wait for it -- wait for it -- negative attacks.

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Three Years After Katrina, Bush's FEMA Still Sucks
Posted by Blue Texan, Firedoglake on September 16, 2008 at 3:33 AM.

Good to see that George W. Bush has learned the lessons of Katrina.

The Federal Emergency Management Agency came under fire Sunday as emergency workers were left undernourished and dozens of trucks of water and food had yet to be set up at distribution centers around Houston and surrounding communities.

But somehow that "personal responsibility" thing never seems to apply to Republicans.

Earlier in the day, a FEMA spokesman said delays in setting up staging points to hand out needed provisions had been caused by blocked roads.

By the evening, Homeland Security Secretary Michael Chertoff said it was the fault of state officials who handed his department the "unexpected challenge" of having to prepare distribution points in addition to delivering supplies.

The important thing to remember with BushCo is -- it's always someone else's fault.

Palin Pumps Up Numbers in Florida ... For Obama
Posted by Blue Texan, Firedoglake on September 9, 2008 at 3:17 PM.

Team McSame can't be happy about this.

Republican John McCain and Democrat Barack Obama are tied at 48 percent in a new Rasmussen poll conducted Sunday and released late Monday.

Before both parties held their conventions, an August Rasmussen poll showed McCain with a 46-43 lead in Florida.

48% is Obama's best showing yet in the Rasmussen, and McSame has had the lead in 8 of the past 9. And while it's true Palin's favorables are still strong there, and McSame is also up a couple points since last month, you've got to wonder how Pentecostal Palin is going to play in Boca:

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Republican National Convention: Whitest in Forty Years
Posted by Blue Texan, Firedoglake on September 4, 2008 at 5:01 PM.

Last month, the wingnuts freaked when Howard Dean called the GOP "the white party." But chances are if you saw the convention last night, you didn't see much color.

Organizers conceived of this convention as a means to inspire, but some African American Republicans have found the Xcel Energy Center depressing this week. Everywhere they look, they see evidence of what they consider one of their party's biggest shortcomings.

As the country rapidly diversifies, Republicans are presenting a convention that is almost entirely white.

Only 36 of the 2,380 delegates seated on the convention floor are black, the lowest number since the Joint Center for Political and Economic Studies began tracking diversity at political conventions 40 years ago. Each night, the overwhelmingly white audience watches a series of white politicians step to the lectern -- a visual reminder that no black Republican has served as a governor, U.S. senator or U.S. House member in the past six years.

"It's hard to look around and not get frustrated," said Michael S. Steele, a black Republican and former lieutenant governor of Maryland. "You almost have to think, 'Wait. How did it come to this?' "

How'd it come to this, Mike?

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Thuggish Cops Get Physical with ABC Reporter in Denver
Posted by Blue Texan, Firedoglake on August 29, 2008 at 8:27 AM.

As Jane noted yesterday,

Police in Denver arrested an ABC News producer today as he and a camera crew were attempting to take pictures on a public sidewalk of Democratic Senators and VIP donors leaving a private meeting at the Brown's Palace Hotel.

... Eslocker and his ABC News colleagues are spending the week investigating the role of corporate lobbyists and wealthy donors at the convention for a series of Money Trail reports on ABC World News with Charles Gibson.

See for yourself. Ugly stuff.

Kennedy, Michelle, and Two Little Obamas Make Dems' First Night a Win
Posted by Blue Texan, Firedoglake on August 26, 2008 at 10:11 AM.

I'm a little puzzled by some of the hand-wringing about the tone of the convention last night. I've argued that the Democrats need to attack this week, but last night wasn't the time to do it.

Ted Kennedy's seriously ill, and you don't trot him out on that podium to hit McSame with gotchas and zingers. You don't ask Michelle Obama, who right-wing assholes are still caricaturing as an angry America hater, to use her speech to deliver political attacks.

My favorite moment of the night was the interplay between Obama and his adorable little girls. You can't build up to that moment with a night of "John McSame suxxxxx!!1!!11!!"

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Border Fence To Keep Out Illegals Being Built By Illegals
Posted by Blue Texan, Firedoglake on August 12, 2008 at 5:02 AM.

I'm going to file this one under "shit about the Bush administration you couldn't possibly make up."

Is it possible to build a border wall without the help of the very people it is intended to keep out?

That's an open question all along the border, and especially in the Rio Grande Valley, where the wall is widely unpopular but is now becoming a reality ...Valley longtimers have cracked wise about the barriers, saying they not only won't thwart illegal immigrants intent on entering the country but that illegal labor will probably help build them.

People in South Texas know what the deal is. It's happened before, after all:

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Bush Administration Putting Immunity For Blackwater Over The Lives Of Our Troops
Posted by Blue Texan, Firedoglake on August 9, 2008 at 11:17 AM.

While McSame runs around accusing Obama of wanting to "forfeit" Iraq, the Bushies are finalizing the negotiations for forfeiting Iraq by 2011. But the negotiations have hit a snag.

The sticking point?

The U.S. officials said U.S. Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice spoke with al-Maliki on Wednesday to try to resolve the issue of legal immunity for U.S. contractors working in Iraq.

The officials described the phone call as tense.

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