Iraq Tells Us To Leave...Again

First it was the Iraqi parliament that overwhelmingly told the United States' forces to leave their country. Now Prime Minister al-Maliki is telling us again, please leave. Pretty please with cherries on top. They know the American occupation can do no good in Baghdad or anywhere within Iraq. So do the American people. The only stalwarts left are George Bush and his sycophants.

From Yahoo News:

BAGHDAD - Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki shrugged off U.S. doubts of his government's military and political progress on Saturday, saying Iraqi forces are capable and American troops can leave "any time they want."

One of his top aides, meanwhile, accused the United States of embarrassing the Iraqi government by violating human rights and treating his country like an "experiment in a U.S. lab."

Al-Maliki sought to display confidence at a time when pressure is mounting in Congress for a speedy withdrawal of U.S. forces. On Thursday, the House passed a measure calling for the U.S. to withdraw its troops by spring, hours after the White House reported mixed progress by the Iraqi government toward meeting 18 benchmarks.

Someone once said we would stand down when they stood up. Well Iraqis want to stand up...to the American occupation that is. They may want to kill each other as well, but they want us to leave and leave now. This news puts another huge hole in Bush's rationale to keep our country mired in a war we cannot win. Yet this is George Bush we are talking about and no one is going to make him leave Iraq, even the Iraqis themselves.

The Weekly Top Ten Is Back

It has been a few weeks but the PoliticsTV Top Ten is back. Here is your top ten political videos of the week:

FEMA Denies Reimbursment To Cajundome

FEMA already has a woeful track record when it comes to the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina. The debit cards were a terrible idea, the rebuilding efforts were horrendous and the corporate giveaways were a sham. Now they want to add to that legacy by rescinding their offer to reimburse the Cajundome in Lafayette for housing refugees to the tune of $1 million dollars out of the $5 million originally agreed on in addition to $1.2 million for usage fees. Haven't they pissed on the area enough already?

From The Advocate:

LAFAYETTE — The Federal Emergency Management Agency has asked the Cajundome to repay $1 million that had been reimbursed to the facility for its use as a shelter during the 2005 hurricanes.

Cajundome Director Greg Davis said Friday that the news FEMA wanted the money back came with a denial of an appeal he had made to the agency for more money.

“FEMA just continues changing the rules as the game is being played,” Davis said. “We are so shocked. That’s the last thing we expected.”

Everyone expected so much more from an agency that was once world-class in helping Americans through natural calamities. I grew up just a couple miles from the epicenter of the Northridge/Reseda Earthquake in 1994 and was amazed at the efforts and the assistance. Now FEMA is a shell of its old self and has done next to nothing for the residents of New Orleans and the rest of the devastated region.

Say What Condi?

Bush had his tool Secretary of State go on the Today Show yesterday to talk up the Administration's delusional view of the war in Iraq. As Monday and the deadline for Bush's excuses for the situation in Iraq approaches, the White House is defending the status quo by saying that things are getting better over there. Of course that is hardly the case.

From ThinkProgress:

[I]f you look at the way that they are fighting now, in a less sectarian fashion…I think they’re fighting on behalf of all Iraqis, where they showed up in the numbers that they are supposed to.

Are you kidding me??? Iraqis are constantly fighting each other, escalating the violence day by day, week by week and month by month. Shias, Sunnis and even the Kurds are incessantly killing each other in a never-ending civil war. Many of them join the army to exact revenge on one another. They also frequently surprise the American troops that are there to train them.

For the love of humanity Condi, please come back to earth and talk about what goes on there with at least a shred of truth.

What Should George Do After 2008?

The Politico asks what George should do after he leaves the White House. I think he should be in jail, what do you think?

Peggy Noonan Makes A Good Point About Bush

George Bush lost the confidence of the Reagan official turned political pundit over the immigration debate, being the xenophobe that she is. But she made a good observation about the President and his delusional state of mind yesterday in the Wall Street Journal (of all places). It is getting so bad for Bush that he is now being consistently attacked on both the left and the right. Despite the attacks and the realities of war, Bush doesn't seem to mind, and that is exactly what Noonan makes light of.

From The Wall Street Journal:

....I'm not referring to what used to be called Bush Derangement Syndrome. That phrase suggested that to passionately dislike the president was to be somewhat unhinged. No one thinks that anymore. I received an email before the news conference from as rock-ribbed a Republican as you can find, a Georgia woman (middle-aged, entrepreneurial) who'd previously supported him. She said she'd had it. "I don't believe a word that comes out of his mouth." I was startled by her vehemence only because she is, as I said, rock-ribbed. Her email reminded me of another, one a friend received some months ago: "I took the W off my car today," it said on the subject line. It sounded like a country western song, like a great lament.

As I watched the news conference, it occurred to me that one of the things that might leave people feeling somewhat disoriented is the president's seemingly effortless high spirits. He's in a good mood. There was the usual teasing, the partly aggressive, partly joshing humor, the certitude. He doesn't seem to be suffering, which is jarring. Presidents in great enterprises that are going badly suffer: Lincoln, LBJ with his head in his hands. Why doesn't Mr. Bush? Every major domestic initiative of his second term has been ill thought through and ended in failure. His Iraq leadership has failed. His standing is lower than any previous president's since polling began. He's in a good mood. Discuss.

Is it defiance? Denial? Is it that he's right and you're wrong, which is your problem? Is he faking a certain steely good cheer to show his foes from Washington to Baghdad that the American president is neither beaten nor bowed? Fair enough: Presidents can't sit around and moan. But it doesn't look like an act. People would feel better to know his lack of success sometimes gets to him. It gets to them.

The first thought that comes to mind is that maybe Bush isn't human, but that might be reaching a bit much. Is it his alcoholism perhaps? Nah, that would take a lot of booze to create that much numbness and Bush doesn't appear to be drunk all the time (at least not yet). I think the issue is that he just thinks that he is the greatest thing since sliced bread, that he will be remembered as one of the greatest Presidents despite the overwhelming disapproval that the nation gives him. He perceives that he leads for a higher calling, on a mission from god and that he will be exonerated long after he is gone.

That kind of arrogance can get to anyone, even arrogant conservatives like Noonan.

White House Hides Tillman Records

You would think that hiding, lying and distorting dozens of different stories might be hard for the White House, but they just keep on doing it. Bush is using that good ol' Executive privilege to deny Pat Tillman's family and the American people the truth about what happened with his death and the following cover-up. Congressmen Waxman (D-CA) and Davis (R-VA) from the House Committee on Oversight and Government Reform are on the case yet again.

From The Huffington Post:

The committee made public a letter last month in which Fielding said the White House was holding back certain papers "because they implicate executive branch confidentiality interests." He added the White House had blacked out portions of "purely internal e-mails between White House personnel."

The White House's argument for withholding some papers is the same one it used last month as it rejected congressional subpoenas for documents in the firings of eight U.S. attorneys. Executive "confidentiality" is a lesser claim than "executive privilege" _ more a polite way of declining than a firm refusal _ and thus still leaves room for negotiation, congressional staffers involved in the matter said.

Fielding added the White House had blacked out portions of "purely internal e-mails between White House personnel."

Waxman and Davis fired back that "these are not appropriate reasons for withholding the documents from the committee." And they charged that the White House had simply held other papers back.

Basically in my mind, I believe the President wants to look perfect and innocent on this. If he can cover-up the fact that he knew Tillman died of friendly fire yet use his death for political bonus points, thats the name of the game. Rumsfeld and everyone below him knew, they just hid the information for Bush. Now that things are still ugly, George is using his new Presidential powers that the Congress allows him to have to give the finger to the legislative branch.

Lil' Al Gore Versus Lil' Bush

If only Al convinced Bush of climate change when they were three feet tall.

McCain About To Go In The Red

That two million dollar sum McCain had only a few days ago has now dwindled to just $250,000 dollars. It is a lot of money to the average person, but in campaign terms it is next to nothing. The money is flying away fast, almost as quickly as the life of the campaign and the major players inside of it. The man who was once the front-runner is about to be nothing more than a footnote of the early part of the 2008 Presidential race.

From CNN PoliticalTicker:

The sources tell CNN that next week the McCain campaign will reveal it has about $1.75 million in unpaid debts, wiping out the $2 million in cash-on-hand the campaign currently has in the bank.

It was not immediately clear whether the campaign debt must be repaid immediately or whether the debt can be paid back over time, including after the presidential campaign ends.

Even though McCain has raised just over $11 million overall in the last three months, his campaign has spent large sums of money, one of the primary reasons for the departure earlier this week of his top two strategists, Terry Nelson and John Weaver.

With all of the wind being taken out of his sails, McCain's pledge a few weeks ago to consider dropping out of the race only after June or July might have to be cut short. It is already the 12th of July, but with the limited funds in his account, I don't see this ship lasting another 20 days. I would say 'stick a fork in him' but that has already been done.

Silver Reverses Course, Congestion Pricing Funds In Peril

Sheldon Silver said earlier this week that he would examine approving congestion pricing on Monday, the day of the deadline for federal funding assistance. Now he is saying that he will only hold an informal conference downstate instead of officially looking at the proposal up in Albany. Spitzer was working behind the scenes to get the Assembly to convene a special session, but he won't go as far as using his gubernatorial powers to force a session. This might be the end of the Mayor's heavily touted plan to reduce congestion in the city.

From The Daily News:

The GOP-led state Senate expects to pass congestion-pricing legislation Monday - the same day the federal Department of Transportation says is the deadline for the city to tap some $500 million in federal startup funds for the plan.

"There is no flexibility with that," DOT spokesman Brian Turmail told the Daily News from Washington. If Albany drags its feet past Monday, the city won't qualify for the funding, he warned.

The Senate support for congestion pricing means little without a companion measure adopted by the Assembly. Instead of meeting at the Capitol, though, Silver (D-Manhattan) directed city and suburban Democratic Assembly members to gather Monday afternoon in Manhattan for an unofficial conference on congestion pricing.

"If you believe the mayor that this has to happen by Monday, then it's dead, because we are not going to do it on Monday because we won't even be in Albany," said an outerborough assemblyman who asked not to be named.

Bruno's support means nothing without Silver's cooperation. Since he represents a large swath of Lower Manhattan, I'm guessing his rationale is that business will be restricted due to the increased fees. Though I suspect with a Good Old Boy like Sheldon, there are other factors involved. As for the rational thought, reducing congestion actually improves business because people will get to downtown to do business instead of idling on the LIE on approach to the tunnels and bridges.

Of course he probably knows that, so I'm guessing his actions have to do with 'other factors.'

Fighting Terrorism With Your Gut

I think the color coded terror alert system is still in effect, but we'll have to add Michael Chertoff's gut to wondering whether the terrorists will attack us tomorrow. Olbermann rips him to shreds and exposes what the Homeland Security Department is all about.

Ben Nelson The Coward

A Senate panel recently moved to block the funding of Dick Cheney's office because the Vice President feels he is above the law and remarked that he is not subject to rules governing the executive branch by the Congress. Democrats had a smart reply for him, if he wasn't going to submit to the law, then Congress would strip his funding.

Although the White House and Cheney tried to backtrack when the press asked questions, they are still holding firm to avoid oversight of their criminal activities. Due to that stubborness, Democrats took the initial step of cutting the VP's budget in Committee. Needless to say, it was a party-line vote. But then Senator Nelson (D?-NE) decided to reverse his vote and succumb to his conservative overlords. What a shame.

From The Times-Argus:

Nelson, who cited Fielding's letter when he changed his position, often votes with the White House, and it didn't hurt Cheney's cause that he is from Nebraska and bypassed opportunities to attack Nelson in his re-election campaign last year.

"The president has the power and authority to issue executive orders to do exactly what he wants," said Nelson, a former governor.

Cheney spokeswoman Megan McGinn said, "We are pleased to see the Senate Appropriations Committee reject this political stunt."

Ben Nelson must think we are all stupid. The President has the power to issue executive orders, but he does not have the authority to keep Dick Cheney and himself above the law. It does not work that way Senator. The Vice-President must be accountable to the people, no exceptions.

As for Megan McGinn.....the only political stunt here is Ben Nelson's submitting to his friend Dick Cheney. They may interpret cutting Cheney's funding as a stunt, but when Congress has the power of the purse and one of it's recipients refuses to follow the law, then they should be stripped of that funding.

Can someone please, please, please run against Nelson in Nebraska and replace this Bush apologist?