"We must have a foreign policy that is both strong and smart. Yes, the Republicans have been strong, but they haven't been smart. And the policy is one big mess, everyone knows it."
- Senator Chuck Schumer
View Article  Farewell from Tampa Bay, Florida
Operation Yellow Elephant
The Tampa Tribune's year-end farewell to prominent local residents included servicemembers killed in Iraq and Afghanistan.

Thank you.
URL: Operation Yellow Elephant
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View Article  At Year's End, the New York Times Remembers Steve Gilliard
Operation Yellow Elephant
We thank Our Founder, Jesus' General, for his comments on the New York Times piece on Steve Gilliard in its Magazine's final issue of the year. It means a lot to everyone who knew (or knew of) Steve. Don't sweat the small stuff.

The best explanation of Operation Yellow Elephant is Steve Gilliard's June 22, 2005, piece, "An Honest Conversation":

This will be brief.

We need to be honest here: Iraq is not worth one more dead American.

People on the right and left want some
deus ex machina to save Iraq, but we have, collectively, come to a simple conclusion:

Iraq is not worth dying for. Not for the warmongers on the right or the liberal hawks on the left.

It's bad the soldiers are trapped there, but we have made it their problem. No one is willingly going to join them, and 5,000 have deserted so far.

When you ask liberal hawks to enlist, they are offended by the question.

When you ask conservatives to enlist, they are offended by the question.

And America's parents are NOT sending their kids to die in Iraq if they can, at all, help it. No ...   more »
View Article  Bipartisan Elitism: Deterring Democracy
Bad Attitudes

Today’s meme in Left Blogostan is based on the news about Mike Bloomberg’s increasing enthusiasm for a Presidential bid.

Everyone seems to agree that the idea of bipartisanship is less than attractive, and to ask where these bipartisans were in the face of the x-treme partisanship of the Bush/Cheney administration. The point is well made that any group David Broder loves can’t be all good.

In one way bipartisanship makes sense: blaming both parties for the effects of their concerted actions, many of them in direct opposition to what polls say people want. As Steve Clemons puts it:

…Republicans and Democrats were complicit in the Iraq War. Both parties have been complicit in the appropriations corruption that came with obscene Homeland Security spending around the nation. Both parties have been complicit in refusing to solidly challenge the most aggressive expansion of Executive Branch authority in more than a century. Both parties have been complicit in failing to shore up investment in the American economy and its workforce. Both parties have been complicit in allowing Americans to be spied on. Both parties have been complicit in allowing low level soldiers to take the hit for Abu Ghraib ...   more »
View Article  "Rep. John Doolittle, R-Roseville, has crawled into the freezer with Jefferson"
Blog | Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington

Rep. John Doolittle (R-CA) is facing a federal criminal investigation.  His home was raided by the FBi.  He was named one of the most corrupt members of Congress by CREW in Beyond DeLayBut, he has a plan.  He's using the "Jefferson defense":

Rep. William Jefferson was the Democratic congressman from Louisiana caught with $90,000 in the freezer of his Washington home. He goes to trial in February on bribery charges. Jefferson has tried to claim that an FBI search of his congressional office in 2006, done with a valid search warrant from a court, was an unconstitutional violation of the separation of powers.

View Article  What to expect in 2008: Top ethics scandals of 2007 that will continue next year
Blog | Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington

As we say good-bye to 2007, there are a number of ethics scandals that started this year -- but will continue into next. We identified the top ten a couple weeks ago. Here are five to watch:

No new enforcement mechanisms for congressional ethics
 
Despite the Abramoff scandal and the Democrats’ vow to end the “culture of corruption,” no new ethics enforcement mechanisms have been put into place. A House bipartisan task force that was charged with returning recommendations by May 1st still finally issued its report, and, as expected, very little has changed. The rule permitting only members to file complaints will remain intact and if there is an independent ethics oversight panel, it won’t have subpoena power. Meanwhile, the House Ethics Committee does not appear to have undertaken investigations into the myriad number of members with serious ethics issues.
Sen. Ted Stevens still sitting on Senate Appropriations
 
CREW called for Sen. Ted Stevens (R-AK) to step down from the Appropriations Committee after the FBI and the IRS raided Sen. Stevens’ Alaska home. Sen. Stevens is under federal investigation for his dealings with Bill Allen, founder ...   more »
View Article  "Vermont Activitists Want Bush, Cheney Arrested"
Political Cortex
That was the headline for an Associated Press article by Dave Gram that ran in...
URL: Political Cortex
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