It's Official: I Live in the Soviet Union.

Those of you who remember the USSR - remember how we'd get on them about the whole "internal passports" thing? How we said that one of the hallmarks of totalitarian Stalinism was having to beg permission from the government to move around within your own country?

Well, take a look at this.

Oh, it gets better. Blue Patriot Woman at the Great Orange has analysis.

In related news, a music scholar had her visa torn up, was groped during a search, threatened with detention in a Santa Clara, CA facility, and kicked out of the country - apparently for being brown. Or Welsh.

And these are just the cases we hear about. How many do we miss? And since when does DHS have a detention facility in Santa Clara?

And why the hell are we hearing O.J. crap when this is going on?

Electronic Darwinism: Week In Review

Yes, to try to establish a blogging schedule and to practice for a weekly series, here is my Electronic Darwinism Week in Review.

Stories that, while they may not be major or earth-shaking or even make much sense, somehow managed to capture my attention enough for me to inflict them upon you, Gentle Reader.

Yes, crossposted on the Daily Kos.

By the way, this is my record for a series and schedule - two in a row. W00t!

Okay, first - go sign up for Second Life, dammit, and go see my friend csk's WTC Memorial. I'll wait.

Oh, you can find it by clicking the Map button and searching for Celestial Requiem NYC. Yes, I'll wait.

So, I heard some guy resigned from the Attorney General's office. Wake me when the war crimes trials start.

So, it's Magical September. Oh, and still no pony. And the Magic Everything-Gets-Better Fairy is dead.

Speaking of dead...

Melanie Sloan weighs in on the resignation of Larry Craig (R-Self-Hating Hypocrite).

On a lighter note, Ubuntu 7.10 finally gets rid of manual graphics card configuration. If you don't understand what that means, then savour your good fortune.

Stop me if you've heard this one before. God, maybe it is the Sixties all over again.

There's a new TV program starting on BBC America next Saturday. Spun off from Doctor Who - kind of a CSI/X-Files sort of thing - it's called Torchwood. Was watching the Doctor Who marathon on BBC America yesterday (I liked the original series, and Little Loner is a biiig fan of the new Doctor) and they had a "sneak preview" Every God-damned Break. How can I anticipate you if you won't go away?

Oh, and speaking of next Saturday...

All right, that's it for me - but feel free to add any strange, peculiar, or interesting links in comments. Yeah, I need a clever sign-off line, so I'll rotate through 'till I find a good one.

Hakka paale!

God, a month and a half!

Second Life is a vampire!

So, let's see what the Obstructionist-in-Chief is doing...

Lying about our troop strength in Iraq, and setting us up for another Friedman Unit in Magic September? Check.

Lying about why we're there in the first place? Check.

Scaremongering with the failed UK terror attacks? Oh, so check.

Promising to keep American soldiers in harm's way until they find the pony or he can get his war-criminal ass to Paraguay? Check.

Demonstrating utter contempt for due process and the rule of law? Check and check.

That's the most depressing part about doing this - it's like I never went on hiatus.

For the Two or Three Bushites that Still Read This Blog:

From the Waxman hearings friday, Rep Waxman (hat tip to Raw Story for the full transcript):

I have been advised by the CIA, and that even now -- after all that has happened -- I cannot disclose the full nature, scope and character of Ms. Wilson's service to our nation without causing serious damage to our national security interests. But General Hayden and the CIA have cleared these following comments for today's hearing.

During her employment at the CIA, Ms. Wilson was undercover. Her employment status with the CIA was classified information, prohibited from disclosure under Executive Order 12958. At the time of the publication of Robert Novak's column on July 14, 2003, Ms. Wilson's CIA employment status was covert. This was classified information. Ms. Wilson served in senior management positions at the CIA in which she oversaw the work for other CIA employees and she attained the level of GS-14 -- Step Six under the federal pay scale. Ms. Wilson worked on some of the most sensitive and highly secretive matters handled by the CIA. Ms. Wilson served at various times overseas for the CIA.

Without discussing the specifics of Ms. Wilson's classified work, it is accurate to say that she worked on the prevention of the development and use of weapons of mass destruction against the United States.

Helpfully, I have bolded the sections that directly refute the Republican't talking points. Your heads may now explode.

Do-Nothing Feinstein Stands Up

Yes, astounding as it is, California's answer to Joe Lieberman piles on to the attorney purge scandal with this little tidbit (courtesy of McClatchy Washington Bureau via Atrios):

WASHINGTON - Fired San Diego U.S. attorney Carol Lam notified the Justice Department that she intended to execute search warrants on a high-ranking CIA official as part of a corruption probe the day before a Justice Department official sent an e-mail that said Lam needed to be fired, U.S. Sen. Dianne Feinstein said Sunday.

Feinstein, D-Calif., said the timing of the e-mail suggested that Lam's dismissal may have been connected to the corruption probe.

Like the philosopher said, it don't take a weatherman to know which way the wind blows.

TorquemadAlberto in Hot Water

Looks like having the Chimp refuse to grant clearances to investigate Torturin' Al has caught up with them both.

Remember this story from the Times last July?

WASHINGTON, July 17 — Attorney General Alberto R. Gonzales told the Senate Judiciary Committee on Tuesday that President Bush had personally decided to block the Justice Department ethics unit from examining the role played by government lawyers in approving the National Security Agency’s domestic eavesdropping program.

What happened? Well, nothing - because, at the time, the Chairman of the Judiciary Committee was Arlen Specter, who talks a good fight when it comes to the rule of law.

After all, it's not like it would ever surface again - like, for instance, if the Democrats won the midterms and took over the chairmanships of the committees.

Oh, wait. Look what's back:

3-16-07, 9:18 am

(APN) ATLANTA – At least four Members of US Congress and four US Senators today raised concerns about a breaking report in the National Journal that US Attorney General Alberto Gonzales appears to have known he was going to be negatively implicated in a review at the US Department of Justice’s (USDOJ) Office of Professional Responsibility (OPR) when he advised President Bush regarding the review. The review was later squashed when Bush denied security clearances OPR needed to investigate Gonzales.

So, would blocking an investigation into yourself be considered impeachable? How about covering the ass of your lackey when some well-deserved accountbility is coming his way by blocking the investigation for him?

Where the Hell Are These Guys Learning Civics?

Steven Bradbury, as reported in - God help us - Newsweek, seems to think that there are circumstances in which it's perfectly OK for the Chimp to order the military to kill American citizens on American soil. Current and former government officials were quick to justify this by bringing up various "24"ish scenarios, but apparently none of the officials were willing to attach their names to this idiocy.

University of Chicago law professor Cass Sunstein is only too willing to sign on, however - saying that:

the post-9/11 congressional resolution authorizing the use of military force against Al Qaeda empowered the president to kill 9/11 perpetrators, or people who assisted their plot, whether they were overseas or inside the United States. On the other hand, Sunstein says, the president would be on less solid legal ground were he to order the killing of a terror suspect in the United States who was not actively preparing an attack.

Emphasis mine. Evidently, blatantly violating the Fourth, Fifth, and Sixth Amendments to the Constitution merely puts the Chimp on "less solid legal ground". Left undiscussed is what happens to the suspect, or to the legal concept of presumption of innocence.

They're still trotting out this crap.

All Kinds of Updates

Yeah, cable bill snuck past me again. Lots of catching up to do.

On the KKKSFO front, Mike Stark reports on his appearance on Reliable Sources. Naturally, Dan Riehl and Howard Kurtz ganged up on him. Naturally, Mike took them to school. I'm glad Mike does this, for I don't have the temper for it. I used to, but it's been frayed by six years of being called a terrorist-coddling traitor when I was Right. All. Along.

While we're on the subject, Spocko reports some successes. My inner Star Trek geek says, "Qapla!"

Hey, I heard the Chimp gave a speech - how'd that go? Here's a blogger's response. This guy looks familiar somehow - have I seen him on TV?

Oh, yeah - and the Chimp hit 28% approval rating on the CBS polls, with 64% disapproving. The Chimp has passed Nixon country and is heading for Truman territory.

And finally, Fitzmas has arrived. Watch Libby, Rove, and Cheney all throw each other under the bus. Destroying evidence, Dick? How Spiro Agnew of you.

That should take care of the highlights. Time and energy permitting, I'll stop by with anything I've forgotten about.

I Finally Figured it Out

Who Attorney General Alberto "Abu Ghraib" Gonzales reminds me of:



I mean, habeas corpus isn't just Constitutional Law 101 - it's Schoolhouse Rock. Federalist 84? Tenth Amendment? Apparently, neither of these exist in Torturin' Al's Bizarro World - or, like all to many, he considers the Constitution clause by clause and not as a whole, just like anyone trying to get out of a contract does. I mean, the concept that the Constitution doesn't enumerate individual rights but rather limits the Federal government's infringement of them is grade-school civics.

Are You Sure AG Gonzales Used to be a Lawyer?

Glenn Greenwald on AG Gonzales:

But ultimately, there are only two options -- (1) the administration is now complying fully and exclusively with FISA when eavesdropping, in which case all of its prior claims that it could not do so and still fight against The Terrorists are false, or (2) the administration has changed its eavesdropping program some, but it is still not fully complying with FISA, in which case nothing of significance has changed (at least on the lawbreaking issues) because the administration is still violating the law.

The FISA court and the administration cannot reach an agreement for proceeding that deviates from the FISA law itself. So it is only one or the other of the two options, neither of which reflect well on the administration.

I know I'm no lawyer, but I thought that releasing legal opinions weakening the case of the guy whose ass you're trying to cover was, you know, bad.

Now That's Telling Them

For all of you wondering why Hunter is a front-pager at Daily Kos and why I'm not, have a read of his latest column:

Ok, the premise we're momentarily working with is that George Bush has exhibited bipartisanship, or is about to, or is even mentally capable of it. The premise we're working with, based on the say-so of Republican strategists and conservative and (Lord help us) "centrist" pundits, is that the rout of the Republican party in the midterms was a demonstration of how very much America wants or needs to heal, and that healing means bipartisanship, and bipartisanship means not doing unto the Republicans what the Republicans did unto the entire country, unto their political enemies, unto their perceived political enemies, and unto their insufficiently-friendly political friends, all of which was fine and dandy and smelled like a summertime breeze during the entire time they were doing it, but suddenly began to be gauche the exact moment some Democrat, somewhere, had the power do do something in response to it. No, America didn't need "healing" when the GOP was running roughshod over civil rights, getting thrown out of their own offices in corruption scandals, were introducing more and more creative ways of sucking cash out of government coffers and into corporate contracts, and were regularly calling half of America traitors. We only need healing when the opportunity presents itself to prevent, investigate, or roll back those corruptions. That's when we all need to watch our step!

Now, let's be honest. How much of a dumb, painfully dumb, masterfully dumb, spectacularly gullible, hyperenfranchised, alcohol-addled, camera-chasing microphone-humping column-strangling jackass from the seventh circle of Grey Poupon Hell do you have to be to buy that premise even for the slightest moment as being anything other than dumbfuckery promoted by carnival barkers trying to weasel away from their own rigged game? Since when did "willing to promote any asinine hypothesis, no matter how stupid and self-serving on its face" become the defining characteristic of supposed political wisdom?

The message of the last election, a sweep of Republicans from power, polls showing a nationwide anger at the handling of Iraq and at the unending stream of cringe-inducing Republican corruption scandals -- it's not over either of those things, now, despite the polls proving the exact contrary? It's instead an earnest message from a dimwitted population that they really, earnestly want a Congress who will let bygones be bygones, and who will work together to continue the Iraq war and comply with Bush's versions of government?

Sweet merciful crap. I mean... sweet, merciful goat-molesting crap. Just how dumb do you people take us for?

See? Some days I wonder why I even bother to get out of bed. How can I compete with the classic, nay - lyrical "sweet, merciful goat-molesting crap" ?

Once again, he writes the column I wish I had written.

And a-One, and a-Two...

Looks like it's the Chimpster's turn to get thrown under the bus.

With Kenneth Adelman and Henry Kissinger coming out against Bush's Iraq War Pony Hunt and Pixie Resuscitation Plan, one wonders if it's become time for the "conservatives" to try to rescue their ideology by claiming that the failure was not them trying to dictate terms to reality, but rather the failure of the Bush administration to be the right kind of "conservative". Or "conservative" enough. Or something.

Look, you've supported the Chimp for six years, at least - if "support" can be considered the proper term for a level of public fellatio that would make Monica Lewinsky blush. You had the House and the Senate enthusiastically rubber-stamping the shit that the Chimp-in-Chief flung about the Oval Office. You don't get to run away from Captain Thirty-One Percent now.

On the bright side, though, if the Gang O' Perverts has come to the realization that they'd better dump the Chimp if any of them want to have jobs in 2008 - well, suddenly impeachment looks a lot more likely.

Oh, and "conservative" is in quotes because I've seen precious little of the hallmarks of true conservative thought - limited federal government, strict adherence to the Constitution, and fiscal responsibility.