Idiot In Chief

details about this are sketchy at this time, but it appears that the U.S. military has raided the Iranian consulate in Iraq, seized documents and computers, and arrested six Iranian diplomats.

With all the really, really stupid crap this president has pulled off over the years, I didn't think anything he did could surprise me any more... but, leave it to Dubya to pull a Gomer Pile and do something even dumber than before.

At this point, we have no idea how many international laws the Bush Administration has just violated. At the very least, we are in violation of Article 22 of the Vienna Convention on Diplomatic Relations. If we have violated more, I don't know right now. But, Article 22 expressly states that the embassy or consulates may not be entered under any circumstance without the express permission of the diplomatic mission. Additionally, no papers, materials or communications can be seized at any time.

We all know about diplomatic immunity. The amount of immunity that is granted to a person is dependant on his/her rank. An ambassador is untouchable. A custodian head is arrestable. A consulate staff employee is only arrestable for a felony and pursuant to a warrant. I am assuming that if we stormed the consulate, we are probably not paying to much attention to the diplomatic immunity of the people either.

So, basically, we have just done what Iran did to us 25 years ago. Not only have we given up the high hand in that relationship, we just opened up every U.S. embassy and consulate in the world to being stormed and having our diplomats arrested. But, we all know that Bush can't think past lunch time, so the fact that he is endangering our own citizens probably never even crossed his mind.

Like I said, details are sketchy. I will be looking to see if there was a good explanation to this.

U.S. Forces Raid Iranian Consulate in Iraq, Detain 5 (Update2)
By Marc Wolfensberger and Robin Stringer

Jan. 11 (Bloomberg) -- U.S. forces in Iraq raided Iran's consulate in the northern city of Arbil and detained five staff members, a state-run Iranian news service said.

The U.S. soldiers disarmed guards and broke open the consulate's gate before seizing documents and computers during the operation, which took place today at about 5 a.m. local time, the Islamic Republic News Agency said. There was no immediate information on whether any of those detained are diplomats.

The raid follows a warning yesterday to Iran and Syria from President George W. Bush in his address to the American people on a new strategy for Iraq. Bush accused Iran and Syria of aiding the movement of ``terrorists and insurgents'' in and out of Iraq and said the U.S. will ``seek out and destroy the networks providing advanced weaponry and training to our enemies.''

Coalition forces arrested six people during ``routine security operations'' in the Arbil area, the U.S. military said in an e-mailed statement. The military didn't confirm that the consulate was raided and didn't say whether any of those detained were Iranians.

The operation was ``part of an ongoing effort by coalition forces targeting individuals involved in activities aimed at the killing of Iraqi citizens and coalition forces,'' the military said.

(Full Story)

Jackass Awards Part Deux - Virgil Goode

I haven't been blogging much recently. I have been overwhelmed with work and I will be leaving soon for a long vacation.

But this caught my eye. It is a letter from one of our U.S. Congressmen writing to a constituent regarding the use of a Koran to swear in the freshman Representative, Keith Ellison, who is a Muslim.

Virgil Goode, Jr. responds to his constituent to express how much disdain he has for anyone not Christian.

Thank you for your recent communication. When I raise my hand to take the oath of Searing In Day, I will have the Bible in my other hand. I do not subscribe to using the Koran in any way. The Muslim Representative from Minnesota was elected by the voters of that district and if American citizens don't wake up and adopt the Virgil Goode position on immigration there will likely be many more Muslims elected to office and demanding the use of the Koran. We need to stop illegal immigration totally and reduce legal immigration and end the diversity visas policy pushed hard by President Clinton and allowing many persons from the Middle Ease to come to this county. I fear that in the next century we will have many more Muslims in the United States if we do not adopt the strict immigration policies that I believe are necessary to preserve the values and beliefs traditional to the United States of America and to prevent our resources from being swamped...

So, apparently, Rep. Goode is not a big supporter of the First Amendment... It is ok for Goode to hold the bible while being sworn in, but god forbid that someone of another religion gets elected by democratic vote and wants to use the holy book of his own religion.

Additionally, I am completely confused about how Rep. Goode equates illegal immigration with the election of a Muslim form Minnesota. Keith Ellison, the recently elected Muslim, was born in Detroit to a Roman Catholic family. Rep. Ellison converted to Islam in college, like many other Americans have over the years. But, I guess you can't apply logic to Rep. Goode's letter since it is devoid of logic completely.

It is so sad that we have a single elected official in the U.S. government that is so narrow minded and so bigoted that he cannot accept his fellow congressman as a legitimate American. The troubling thing here is not a Muslim using the Koran to be sworn into office, but that Rep. Goode is being sworn in at all.

Dee the actual letter here

H/T Talking Points Memo

Update: Virgil Goode has decided to stand behind his bigorty and will not appologise for his letter.

Linwood Duncan, Goode's press secretary, said that Goode sent the letter to hundreds of constituents who contacted their office after Ellison disclosed his plans. At about the same time, a member of a local Sierra Club contacted Goode about a different issue, and the letter was accidentally sent to him in response. The Sierra Club member made the letter public.

"The congressman is not apologizing," Duncan said. "He stands by the letter." - Star Tribune

I guess it makes it ok that he accidently sent the letter to the wrong people. You can be a bigot, but only if you are a bigot to other bigots.

Jackass Awards

Sometimes there are people who deserve a special mention for being outright jackasses. So, today, today, I am listing some from the past week who have gone above and beyond the call of Jackassdom to reach new levels of jackassedness.

#3 - Tom DeLay

Tom Delay this week blamed the whole fiasco in Iraq on liberals and democrats. He claimed that if it were not for them whining and complaining about how bad things are in Iraq, things wouldn't be bad in Iraq. I guess Republicans who had complete control of the government had nothing to do with the failures we have suffered in Iraq. Sectarian violence? Democrats... No military plan to win the war? Liberals... The erosion of moral superiority in the world's eyes? Liberal media... Donald Rumsfeld's job performance? Ted Kennedy all by himself.

#2 - Freepers

The brain trust that is also known as the Free Republic had much to say about the recent tragedy of Tim Johnson's stroke. They spent the first two responses in the thread commenting on how repugnant it is for democrats to talk about the balance of power in the U.S. Senate if Johnson was not to fully recover or die... and then spent the next 78 responses talking about the balance of power in the Senate if Johnson was not to fully recover or die.

Notably, the Freepers also commented on how Johnson's stroke was the will of God to put control of the Senate back in Republican hands.

The real news of the day is that God may have placed the Senate back in our hands!

If the Senator recovers we can have joy for him and his family, we are abased. If he does not, we can have joy for our nation, we abound [emphasis is their own]

Then the freepers went on to make fun of the Senator if he were to be severely disabled.

One blink means 'tax'. Two blinks means 'spend'. Three blinks means 'surrender'

It warms the heart to know that the good people at the Free Republic are looking out for our best interests.

# 1 - Soledad O'Brien

Today, the waste of space that is Soledad O'Brien, interviewed the three wives of the men trapped on Mt. Hood. As the three women held each others hands, on the verge of tears, Soledad reiterated the horrible conditions on the mountain and asked the dumbest question ever:

"Are you still hopeful? The weather conditions as you've seen are so dreadful; the rescuers can't make it up the mountain; It is almost white out conditions; it's weather wise terrible, terrible conditions. Are you still hopeful you are going to get any good news out of this"

Thank you Soledad for telling these women that they have basically no cause for hope that they may ever see their loved ones again. What are they supposed to say? 'No, we have no hope. Our husbands are as good as dead'? Why don't you go eat one of their kids also, Soledad... lets see if you can do anything to make them feel even worse.

Iraq Is On Double Secret Probation

According to the nutty GOP Senator our of Montana, Conrad Burns, president Bush has a double secret plan to win the war in Iraq... he is just not telling anyone about it. Because... you know... when support for the war is at an all time low and you are risking losing the House of Representatives and the Senate... that is the time to keep the winning plan a secret.

Burns, at a debate Tuesday night with Democratic challenger Jon Tester, said he believes Bush has a plan to win — but added: "we're not going to tell you what our plan is."

I am so sure that Bush called Burns up a couple of weeks ago and they sat down for a late night warm milk where the two brain children came up with the winning strategy in Iraq. They just are way to humble to announce that they have found the solution to not only the war in Iraq, but the national debt, social security, global warming, and crab grass in addition.

Burns: President keeping war plan quiet

Bush on Taxes... Or Crack... Take Your Pick

Recently, Bush praised his tax cuts as the main source for the yearly federal deficit being cut from $500 billion to $260 billion.

Hello! Earth to numb skull. It is the tax cuts that created the deficit in the first place. He is praising the cutting in half of something that he was the cause of. Big freaking deal.

In addition, why is he praising that we are still $260 billion in the hole for this fiscal year? We are still in the hole $260 billion. This only adds to the $8.5 trillion dollar deficit. To be precise - $8,532,458,400,732... no, wait... make that $8,532,458,428,654... $8,532,458,442,346. Oh, forget it...

We are still spending more than we take in. So much for GOP "fiscal conservatism." It is like already having $10,000 credit card debt and then seeing a fancy new pair of shoes on sale, marked down from $300 to $175. Republicans like to think that by buying the shoes on sale, they have saved $125. But, you don't save $125, you are just now $10,175 in debt.

Just to prove how stupid the man is, he said yesterday regarding bilateral vs. multilateral talks with North Korea:

"One has a stronger hand when there's more people playing your same cards."—Washington, D.C., Oct. 11, 2006

Now, I am anything but a card shark, but even I know that is a stupid analogy.

H/T Linnet

State of Denial is an Understatement for Bush

In a press conference today, Bush was asked about the report that there have been over 350,000 deaths in Iraq since our invasion. He said that he did not agree with the report and went on to say:

And I applaud the Iraqis for their courage in the face of violence. I am, you know, amazed that this is a society which so wants to be free that they’re willing to — you know, that there’s a level of violence that they tolerate.

A level of violence that they are willing to tolerate!!! Are you kidding me? What choice to they have? Or is Bush saying that they are willing to tolerate the violence because they hope America will finally leave?

Get real Bush. They aren't "tolerating" violence in order to be free. They are subjugated to violence because they have no choice. Either they endure the death squads and suicide bombers because they can't leave, or, like the over 800,000 who can, have already left the country.

Can he get anymore out of touch than he already is?

H/T Thinkprogress

The Newest Monument on the White House Grounds

Today, in a grand ceremony, King George unveiled the newest monument on the White House grounds. It was designed by George himself to represent his administration's view on freedom in the U.S.

Reading Is Good

Having problems finding enough time to sit down and finaly finishing My Pet Goat?






H/T - Book Lust

It Hurts... It Hurts So Much

I am in court today and don't have time to blog, but I just wanted to leave you with this...

Pregnant with a cigarette in her hand and she is worried about jackhammers?

The average person is an idiot...

Which means half the population is dumber than that.

Note to Bush - 3 is bigger than 2

Even though Bush's spending proposals total an increase of $3 trillion dollars, he still is harping on Kerry's platform that actually is a trillion dollars less expensive than Bush's. It will never stop amazing me how easy it is for Bush to stand in front of the American people and blatantly mislead them.

Sept. 27 th West Chester, OH - "To create jobs, to make sure people can find work here, we've got to be wise about how we spend your money and keep your taxes low. Taxes are an issue in this campaign. I'm running against a fellow who has proposed $2.2 trillion in new federal spending, so far. "

All I can say is I prefer Kerry's $2 trillion dollar proposals to Bush's $3 trillion. If the government is going to spend my tax dollars, I would rather the benefits go to me instead of pharmaceutical companies, insurance companies and corporations that ship American jobs overseas. I am not sure why fiscally responsible republicans allow Bush to still call himself "republican."

Rise of the Idiotocrocy

Now Donald Rumsfeld is saying that the Iraqi elections might not be held in the entire country due to the insurgent movement, only selected parts of it:

As Reported by CNN Sept 24th - Rumsfeld said, "Let's say you tried to have an election and you could have it in three-quarters or four-fifths of the country. But in some places you couldn't because the violence was too great. Well, so be it. Nothing's perfect in life, so you have an election that's not quite perfect. Is it better than not having an election? You bet," he said.

Not perfect? This is the most inept and incompetent administration I have ever seen! No, it is not better than not having an election at all. How can you have elections in a country that has multiple religious and ethnic factions and not include everyone in that election? The Sunni and Shiite populations already distrust one another. The Kurds distrust everyone. The risk of a civil war is immense. You cannot have a legitimate election in Iraq that excludes ANYONE without it causing more problems than it solves. No Iraqi that is excluded from voting will accept the results of the elections as legitimate, and it will only give more ammunition to the insurgents to rally disenfranchised Iraqis to their cause. Look at all the division caused by the 2000 election in the U.S. and the belief that thousands of Floridians were denied their right to vote. Now extend that to Iraq where the people see that the difference in who controls Iraq could be a difference between life and death. There is no way that an election that does not include all Iraqis could bring anything but more violence and blood shed. Rummy needs to go...