McClellan--Bush Ordered Outing of Valerie Plame

On The Today Show yesterday, Scott McClellan outed George W. Bush as the person who authorized the leaking of Valerie Plame's identity to the press.



That's one of the buried leads so far, and one I'm sure Rep. Robert Wexler wants to know about.

What JBalazs at DKos wants to know is what Scott McClellan is willing to tell us about Jeff Gannon. Good question. I am a bit surprised that Gannon himself was among those piling on Scott yesterday. Uh, poor choice of words. Anyway, Gannon, who has no love for left margins, wrote, "Add me to the growing list of those who are having great difficulty understanding McClellan’s motives. I spent two years as a White House reporter, much of it during McClellan’s reign. At no time did Scott ever indicate, either publicly or privately, he had the misgivings he expressed in this book."

Maybe it was because McClellan valued his life. Maybe now he doesn't. A guilty conscience can do that to you.

ALIENS REVEALED TODAY IN DENVER!

Hah! This ought to be good. The Rocky Mountain News is reporting that video of a real live alien will be shown to the media today.

"As impressive as it is, it's still one tiny portion in the context of a vast amount of peripheral evidence," he said Wednesday. "It's really the final visual confirmation of what you already know to be true having seen all the other evidence."

When Peckman went before city officials this month to discuss his proposed ET initiative, he promised to show the video.

Peckman said the general public will have to wait to see it because it's being included in a documentary by Stan Romanek.

"No one will be allowed to film the segment with the extraterrestrial because there is an agreement in place limiting that kind of exposure during negotiations for the documentary," he said.

But people won't have to wait too long to see it for themselves.

"There is an open, public meeting in about a month in Colorado Springs," Peckman said. "We'll hope to do one in Denver at some point, and then in a few months, there will be the documentary that anybody can have, and it'll have the footage."

An instructor at the Colorado Film School in Denver scrutinized the video
"very carefully" and determined it was authentic, Peckman said.

This guy with the video has also started a ballot initiative to create an Extraterrestrial Affairs Commission in Denver to prepare the city for close encounters of the alien kind. What foresight! I should join those people so I could add my off-world experience to their milieu. FOr a topic like this, full grokking is required, dontchaknow?

Hmmm. I wonder if the alien they have footage of is Kweety or some other Klooge. I'll have to report after the showing of the video. Then I wonder if the aliens will get their own swell show like this one:

TAGS: Aliens, UFOs, Denver, Wowie Zowie!, I'm Joining the Alien Club!

BREAKING: Lobbyists Not Getting Bang For Buck

A swelling chorus of complaints prompted the crack, and I do mean crack, ONN Team to rush this production to video:

In The Know: Are Politicians Failing Our Lobbyists?

A visibly angry Darth Cheney responded.

"Look, I've done everything, and I mean EVERYTHING that SithCo has asked me to do. Just because this planet isn't an utter and complete shambles yet, doesn't mean I won't accomplish it. Everybody knows the challenges I've had with the Death Star, and SithCo has been a little slow with the bucks, yaknowwhadimean?"

Calls to the Empire for further comment were not returned, however members of the White House press corps who wished to remain anonymous agreed that it appears they do all the twisting and groveling, and that the White House and Congress do not seem to be doing their fair share. "It's just not fair," one source said. "You think there would be at least some honor among thieves, but the old saying is probably true."

TAGS: Darth Cheney, Lobbyists, Just can't get a bribe to stick, Whaaa

McCain Heckled in Denver Today

From ThinkProgress this morning.

McCain was speaking at the University of Denver today about arms proliferation. Elisabeth Bumiller from the New York times was in the audience; in fact she's been riding around with McCain on the campaign's bus and on the plane and in the blimp and the submarine and whatever other conveyeances Cindy probably owns.

What Bumiller had to say was this:

DENVER — Senator John
McCain, the presumptive Republican presidential nominee, distanced himself from the Bush administration on Tuesday by vowing to work more closely with Russia on nuclear disarmament and by calling for a reduction in tactical nuclear weapons in Europe.

In what his campaign promoted as a major speech on nuclear security policy,
Mr. McCain told a largely friendly crowd at the University of Denver that he
supported a legally binding accord between the two nations to replace
verification requirements in the Strategic Arms Reduction Treaty, or Start,
which expires in 2009. The Bush administration has refused to accept such
binding limits on nuclear weapons, which the administration’s critics say has
created paranoia in Moscow. [emphasis mine.]

Well, watch this largley friendly crowd:

You won't get one whiff of that from the article Bumiller turned in. I call "HACK!"

Pass the cocktail weenies, please.

Gone FIshing!

Waxman Snaps

Had to see this coming. Democratic Representative Henry Waxman, tasked with the thankless duty of investigating government corruption and incompetence, comes up against the utterly non-responsive EPA Administrator, Stephen Johnson. Waxman was further aggravated when Republican Representative Darrell Issa goads him with specious objections. As a result, Waxman gives his gavel a workout and threatens to have Issa removed "physically". Issa shuts up and the proceedings move on.



By the way something, feckless republican leader John Boehner called on Waxman to apologize for his "abuse of power". After the thing about the Decemberists, this is the funniest thing I've heard all day.

SERIES: Worst Album Covers - Plant Edition

Hello, it's Spring. That means GROW PLANTS. Well unfortunately, Dr. George Milstein made an album to allegedly help us do so.

He claimed back in 1970 that a 3,000 cycle per second hum greatly increased the growth of plants. In this album, he mixed that hum with allegedely "easy listening" to "benefit both the listener and the plants.

Sorry dude. Love the cover, hate the album. Just give us the hummer, and let it go at that.

Thanks.

I know how you "plant people" are.

Ungrateful and demanding. I have proof:

Breakin' the Law!

Our host, UC, tagged me in the last post, so now I'm going to respond here on his own blog. Victory is mine! Just kidding, UC. This is fun.

Anywho... A reminder of what the deal is...

* The rules of the game get posted at the beginning.

* Each player answers the questions about himself or herself.

* At the end of the post, the player then tags five people and posts their names, then goes to their blogs and leaves them a comment, letting them know they’ve been tagged and asking them to read your blog.

1. Ten years ago I was... wrapping up a six year run in community college and playing rock and roll with some of the raddest sons-a-bitches on planet Earth in this band.

2. Five Things on Today's To Do List -

* Apply for jobs.

* Finish my screenplay.

* Finish watching the third season of Numb3rs on DVD.
* Read Barack Obama's book Dreams from my Father.
* Start packing.

3. Things I'd do if I were a billionaire -

* Sneak up on people and give them ridiculous amounts of money.

* Finance my screenplay (see above).

* Buy MSNBC, or at least Air American Radio.

4. Three Bad Habits -

* Blogging too little.
* Blogging too much.
* Blogging.
* I hate broccoli.

* Procrastination.

* I yell out, "Hey, it's that guy from Oz!" whenever I see Luis Guzman.

5. Five Places I've lived -

* Los Angeles, Ca.; Barbara, Arkansas; Hollywood, Florida; Gainesville, Fl.; and currently I'm pretending to live in Antarctica as I prepare in real life to move to Baltimore or DC.

6. Five Jobs I've had in life -

* Cashier, bookkeeper, manager at a grocery store.
* Bank Teller
* Teacher's Assistant
* Archivist
* Blogger

I will now tempt the fate of the gods and godesses by not tagging anyone. Not because I'm scared. Just because I have to feed the penguins, okay!?~

It's, Like, Butter Dude.

I have been persecuted tagged by Dr. Zaius with this meme thingy.

Heeeeeeeere we go!

* The rules of the game get posted at the beginning.

* Each player answers the questions about himself or herself.

* At the end of the post, the player
then tags five people and posts their names, then goes to their blogs and leaves
them a comment, letting them know they’ve been tagged and asking them to
read your blog.

1. Ten years ago I was - Just as Unconventional as I am today. It was also the last year that myself and Mr. B were single. Poor fellows.

2. Five Things on Today's To Do List - I'm not much for lists except for when it comes to making menus and shopping for groceries. I do keep a set of "I would like to achieve [insert goal or project here] in the reasonable forseeable future" in my head.

Acouple of those are:

* Finish learning and memorizing this Chopin A-Flat Ballade

* Finish learning and memorizing Gershwin's "Rhapsody in Blue"

* Wrap up and finalize my plans for covering the Democratic Convention

3. Things I'd do if I were a billionaire -

* Buy "The Onion" and secure White House press credentials for the writing staff.

* Buy Bush's Texas Ranch and give it to Cindy Sheehan. She would do an awesome job of the un-Prezidential Library I think.

* Endow 10 college music scholarships per year for talented kids who just coudn't afford it.

* Triple the annual operating budget for the Lincoln Food bank in Lincoln NE. They're one of the smalles ones in the country, yet can't meet the total need even though they're located smack in the middle of the best farmland in the US. I think that's an absolute shame.

* With the remainder and until it ran out, I'd fund coordinated advertising every Sunday in the major papers and the talking head shows with the "Wanker Of The Week." You know, public service announcements

4. Three Bad Habits -

* Butter. I have this compulsion about butter. If there's not a back up pound of it in the freezer, I get very very anxious.

* Procrastination. See the unfinished things in #2.

* Driving. I loathe driving and won't do it around town. I've walked or ridden the bus to work for years and years now. The only exception is for road trips. I'm pretty cheerful about the long distance drive (except for mountain passes) and I'll happily share the driving, but in-town driving? Uh-uh. Mr. B calls it "Driving Miss Daisy."

5. Five Places I've lived - Hood River OR, Warren VT, Santa Fe NM, Phoenix AZ, Denver CO.

That's only the Earth locations. I simply cannot reveal the off-world missions.

6. Five Jobs I've had in life -

* Busboy/Waiter/Bartender. Hospitality is fun!
* Lounge Lizard style piano player for cheezy hotel bars, and cheezy establishments in general.
* Wholesale Computer sales
* Paralegal
* Telecommunications analyst

Whew! That was unpleasant fun!

I solemnnly pass this meme thingy to Randall Graves, Utah Savage, SadButTrue, Station Agent, and Scarlet Blue

On Another Planet....

...it might work out a little differently.

This little cautionary tale is more about the K-Rove than it is anything else. Nonetheless - BEWARE OF PROCESSES! Sometime they carry out all the way instead of short circuiting! And that's what a short primary is BTW in today's rules. A short circuit. Many are bypassed, and they shouldn't be.

I favor a National Primary, with Runoffs. It would spare us so much of the incivility amongst factions that I see these days.

Regardless, I offer, Barbie, Super Delegate On A Different Planet!

Text follows to clear up any hard to hear words, or lack of skill on the videographer's part. (That would be me.)

Characters: UC, Barbie, Kweety, “The Planet Klooge”, "Kobama" & "Kalinton", “The Great Orange Katan: Koz”, “Krove, the Robot” and the “Great Prize.”

SCENE BEGINS: UC begins relating story of weird thing that happened the other day.

UC: So I get this telepathic call from Kweety, the Alien. He’s from Planet Klooge, and that’s just how they make a call. Anyway, I barely know the little silver bastard and I was suspicious from the very start. (harp sound, dissolve)

KWEETY: Greetings Unconventional One. Your presence at the Kloogeementum is required. Report to the teleporter immediately.

UC: Hang on a second here. What teleporter and what the hell is a Kloogeementum, and why am I required?

KWEETY: I forgot you aren’t fluent in Klooge. In your earth language you would say “Konwhenchun.” To save time, I will just transport you by remote control.

(UC beams into interior of KWEETY’s space ship.)

UC: Whoa, that was freaky. I never teleported before. Kinda unpleasant.

KWEETY: But we’ll have to do it again. Planet Klooge Department of Homeworld Security rules forbid teleporting you directly from Earth. Your planet is a security risk.

(UC & KWEETY beam into the Great Hall on Planet Klooge.)

UC: OK, now just what the hell am I doing here Kweety?

KWEETY: The Barbie is required. Her presence is needed to break the tie in our Klooge-emium, how you say “Konwhenchun.” The Barbie, the “Kapow”, the tie-breaker, we have lost track of her.

UC: Kapow? What does that have to do with me?

KWEETY: We thought you knew. You are her alternate. She chose you during the sacred blood and whiskey oath. Now you are Kapow, worth 10,000 Klooge votes.

UC: (shaking head, resigned) OK, what do I have to do?

KWEETY: We thought you knew. Klooge kind compete for the Great Prize. You must choose which Klooge will get the Great Prize. I will introduce you now. This is Klooge “Kobama.”

KOBAMA: Greetings Unconventional One. I am Kobama. My name means “Hope” in your earth language.

KWEETY: I thought you knew that already. And this is Klooge Kalinton.

KALINTON: Greetings Unconventional One. I am Kalinton. My name means “Experience” in your earth language.

KWEETY: Choose now.

UC: Just hold on a minute. I have some questions and this seems like a big deal to you guys, and I want to make the right choice. I like Hope and I like Experience both a lot from what I see, but it’s a tie between you guys evidently. Was anybody named “Wise and Just” in the running? If he was less than 10,000 Klooge votes behind either of you, I might just choose that way.

KWEETY: I thought you knew that already. “Wise and Just” in our language is “Kucinich.” He stopped competing for the Great Prize. He became highly unpopular in the contest after he said he believed in earthlings.

UC: Ha ha, very funny. By the way, what does Kweety mean in my language?

KWEETY: I believe you would say “Cocktail Weenie Party Circuit Pundit.” I thought you knew that already. Nevertheless, hurry up and Choose Now. The Great Prize Awaits!

UC: What exactly is the Great Prize?

KWEETY: Behold! (Picture of the Great Prize – a Golden Egg.)
(Dramatic music, explosion and flame erupts. an imposing Klooge has appeared.)

THE GREAT ORANGE KATAN: Stop! I am the Great Orange Katan! You may call me Koz! Listen to me earthling, Kalinton is DESTROYING THE KLOOGES! Kalinton can never attain the Great Prize! Your duty as Kapow is to choose Kobama! I have Spoken!

(Barbie beams in via transporter.)

BARBIE: Hi everybody. Hi Unconventional one, Sorry I’m late. I was partying in the Mexican Riviera and my Klooge-chip coverage is really bad down there.

UC: Good, now YOU can be Kapow instead of me. I can’t tell the difference between all these people except the big orange dude.

(Next shot Barbie is topless)

BARBIE: KAPOW! I choose…

(Dramatic music swells, and Krove the Robotreleases a bomb trying to kill all the Klooges, then disappears…)

UC: How Horrible! What was that?

THE GREAT ORANGE KATAN: I was afraid that would happen…It was Krove, the evil robot.

BARBIE: Well it just goes to show you. It doesn’t matter with all my Kapow powers, you gotta be careful of that god-damn Krove, goes he always wants to kill the Klooge that made it to the Golden Egg. Hmmmm…..(Barbie shoots power beams out of her tits and Kweety explodes..)

UC: Barbie! Why did you do that?

BARBIE: I think Kweety was in on it the whole time. You know those types. Hey Katan –

THE GREAT ORANGE KATAN: Yes Barbie?

BARBIE: It’s a good thing that these Kobama and Kalinton Klooges were clones. You almost helped Krove destroy the REAL hope and the REAL experience AND lose the Great Prize. So you better behave a little more nicely to ALL your fellow Klooges, or else I’ll aim the Kapow tits on YOU!

BARBIE: Come on Unconventional baby, let me take you home.

UC: I hate that teleporter thing.

BARBIE: Don’t worry, We'll just take Kweety's ship. He doesn't need it. Let’s go.

UC: Awesome
(fade….)

SERIES: Worst Album Covers, Potty Mouth Edition

I have a ridiculous fascination with album covers; the worse the cover, the better I like it.

Say hello to Millie Jackson! This is the cover to her 1990 offering "Back to the Shit!"

Yep - she's known for her explicit lyrics and lewd, rude, shall we say "unconventional" album covers. She has more than 20 albums since 1973, and tons of concert appearances. But because of all the preceding, she's been slow to gain mainstream acceptance.

And since it won't hurt to boost my Blog Cuss-o-meter rating, which is at a paltry, practically virginal 2.5%, I thought I'd include her "Fuck You Symphony" which just makes me laugh out loud.

Millie currently owns a recording studio in Dallas TX.

I have no words to express...

... what a monster Abdel-Qader Ali is, but I'll try.

A soulless, death worshipping, evil doer, slave holder, believer that woman are property, cruel, merciless and sub-human.

For Abdel-Qader Ali there is only one regret: that he did not kill his daughter at birth. 'If I had realised then what she would become, I would have killed her the instant her mother delivered her,' he said with no trace of remorse.

Two weeks after The Observer revealed the shocking story of Rand Abdel-Qader, 17, murdered because of her infatuation with a British soldier in Basra, southern Iraq, her father is defiant. Sitting in the front garden of his well-kept home in the city's Al-Fursi district, he remains a free man, despite having stamped on, suffocated and then stabbed his student daughter to death.

[...]

'Death was the least she deserved,' said Abdel-Qader. 'I don't regret it. I had the support of all my friends who are fathers, like me, and know what she did was unacceptable to any Muslim that honours his religion,' he said.

Sitting on a chair by his front door and surrounded by the gerberas and white daisies he had planted in the family garden, Abel-Qader attempted to justify his actions.

'I don't have a daughter now, and I prefer to say that I never had one. That girl humiliated me in front of my family and friends. Speaking with a foreign solider, she lost what is the most precious thing for any woman. 'People from western countries might be shocked, but our girls are not like their daughters that can sleep with any man they want and sometimes even get pregnant without marrying. Our girls should respect their religion, their family and their bodies.

'I have only two boys from now on. That girl was a mistake in my life. I know God is blessing me for what I did,' he said, his voice swelling with pride.

How about the two women he destroyed? His daughter by physically and brutally murdering her, and then the mother, whose arm he broke and who is now certainly destined for a brutal death too unless she can escape Iraq?

He said his daughter's 'bad genes were passed on from her mother'. Rand's mother, 41, remains in hiding after divorcing her husband in the immediate aftermath of the killing, living in fear of retribution from his family. She also still bears the scars of the severe beating he inflicted on her, breaking her arm in the process, when she told him she was going. 'They cannot accept me leaving him. When I first left I went to a cousin's home, but every day they were delivering notes to my door saying I was a prostitute and deserved the same death as Rand,' she said.

'She was killed by animals. Every night when go to bed I remember the face of Rand calling for help while her father and brothers ended her life,' she said, tears streaming down her face.

[...]

The mother is now trying to raise enough money to escape abroad. 'I miss my two boys,' she said. 'But they have sent a message saying that I am wrong for defending Rand and that I should go back home and live like a blessed Muslim woman,' said Leila, who is now volunteering with a local organisation campaigning for better protection for women in Basra.

One of those running the organisation, who did not want to be identified, said that Rand's case was similar to so many reported in Basra, with the only difference being she was in love with a foreigner, rather than an Iraqi.

'There isn't too much to say. Rand is dead. It is a tragedy and will be a tragedy for many other families in Iraq in the days to come.

It's always the woman's fault and they always deserve to die according to this man's way of thinking, and he's not alone. Millions of them IN IRAQ, where we are spending such toil and tears.

This man has physically crushed a daughter, destroyed a wife, but was let go by the Iraqi police.

Abdel-Qader, 46, a government employee, was initially arrested but released after two hours. Astonishingly, he said, police congratulated him on what he had done. 'They are men and know what honour is,' he said.

[...]

Abdel-Qader, a Shia, says he was released from the police station 'because everyone knows that honour killings sometimes are impossible not to commit'. Chillingly, he said: 'The officers were by my side during all the time I was there, congratulating me on what I had done.' It's a statement that, if true, provides an insight into how vast the gulf remains between cultures in Iraq and between the Basra police the British army that trains them.

Sources have indicated that Abdel-Qader, who works in the health department, has been asked to leave because of the bad publicity, yet he will continue to draw a salary.

And gets to keep his job, or at least a salary.

The thought that in any civilized culture that this is not a heinous crime which deserves life in prison makes me literally sick to my stomach.

May Minneapolis Be As "Interesting" As Denver?

I certainly hope so.

The L.A. Times blog "Top of the Ticket" reports "Ron Paul's forces quietly plot GOP convention revolt against McCain"

Yippee, I say!

In the last three months, Paul's forces, who donated $34.5 million to his White House effort and upward of a million total votes, have, as The Ticket has noted, been fighting a series of guerrilla battles with party establishment officials at county and state conventions from Washington and Missouri to Maine and Mississippi. Their goal: to take control of local committees, boost their delegate totals and influence platform debates.
[...]
They hope to demonstrate their disagreements with McCain vocally at the convention through platform fights and an attempt to get Paul a prominent speaking slot. Paul, who's running unopposed in his home Texas district for an 11th House term, still has some $5 million in war funds and has instructed his followers that their struggle is not about a single election, but a long-term revolution for control of the Republican Party.

Some signs of cracking in the notorious discipline in the right are welcome as far as I am concerned.

UPDATE: I got more of my wish! Bob Barr is officially running! Clip from 4/9/2008 "speculation" on Hannity & Colmes:

I still wonder if Minneapolis is paying $200,000 for a new SWAT vehicle for their convention, like Denver is?

Kurds Threaten Suicide Attacks Against Americans

The great success story emerging from the Iraq disaster, at least according to the Bush administration, is the glorious northern region where the Kurdish Iraqis have allegedly thrived.

Well, you can always count on Bush to leave no stone unturned in bringing you a complete failure.

From AP:

Kurdish rebels could launch suicide attacks against American interests to punish the U.S. for sharing intelligence with Turkey after Turkey bombed rebel bases, a spokeswoman for a wing of a rebel group warned.

Turkey's military said more than 150 Kurdish rebels were killed in Friday's air strikes against bases of the Kurdistan Workers' Party, or PKK, on Mount Qandil on the border of Iran and Iraq. Peritan Derseem, a senior official of the rebel group's Iranian wing, PEJAK, claimed that only six people were killed in latest Turkish strikes.

(more)

Derseem said, "We have changed our stand toward the United States government and we are standing against them now. Maybe some day ... individual combatants might launch suicide attacks inside Iraq and Turkey, and even against American interests."

By the way something, the Kurds are also alienating the central government by proceeding with deals autonomously.

Image lifted from flickr.

Projects!

Regetting the lack of posts this week, but the world outside the blogosphere has taken MUCHO attention.

Some very interesting stuff which I shall post about after this frenzy passes.

Hopefully I'll have these projects and this whirlwind of activity and over-committment done by this weekend, and resume regular unconventionality next week.

Besides, I have permission; Blue Gal said so...

~UC

Cocktails!

Alabama Slammer:

1/2 oz amaretto almond liqueur
1/2 oz Southern Comfort® peach liqueur
1/2 oz sloe gin
1 splash orange juice
1 splash sweet and sour mix

Pour above ingredients into a stainless steel shaker over ice and shake until completely cold. Strain into an old-fashioned glass and serve.

I'm glad to say that we don't have to post the "Arkansas Slammer" since Don Siegleman happens to be free at the moment. Please enjoy the "The Lenigrad Cowboys and the Red Army Choir" courtesy of Divine Dem who turned me on to them.

DFH's for ever Biatches!

TAGS: Open Thread, Dirty Fucking Hippies, Cocktails

A Long Time Ago, In a Campaign Far Far Away

I know that someone is going to turn this democratic primary into a movie, I just didn't think it would be Star Wars.


By the way something, the entire campaign from Obama's perspective is being filmed for a documentary by Edward Norton's production team. It'll be hard to top The War Room, a very raw, utterly gripping documentary about Bill Clinton's 1992 campaign.

In this clip, check out James Carville calling Ross Perot's $60 million dollar campaign, "The most expensive single act of masturbation in the history of the world." I guess Romney and now Senator Clinton have topped that.


Of course, campaign documentaries can come back to haunt you, as in this clip from the same movie, which shows Clinton supporter Micky Kantor telling Carville that the people of Indiana are "shit". Oops.

UPDATE: The makers of The War Room say Kantor didn't actually say what the clip claims he said.

Springtime In The Rockies!

Oy! It's Snowing again, May Day, 2008!

I'm just going to play piano and cook the rest of the day....

Barbie vs Iran and John McCain Too!

Barbie, and the smuggling of herself, was recently banned in Iran.

She gives a shit. The thing is, the whole Iran-won't-trade-oil-in-dollars thing gives many a good reason to pause and take a deep breath.

Besides, there are many fashion and sexual issues to consider.

See the video.

I say "Barbie UP!" If she can call him a War Mongering Asshole, and mean it, why not everybody else? Put these people to bed and wake up the toys and dolls. They're far wiser than the pundits these days.

TAGS: Iran, Barbie, John McCain, War Mongering Assholes