Don't let the screen door hit ya....

.... on your way out!!

Good riddance. Gonzo Gone- this must have really stuck in chimpy's craw. Just makes me wonder what other shoe there is left to drop?

Photo: Larry Downing, Reuters.

Why I Hate Texas

Oy.

I've been so busy that I didn't realize that our goofy governor, good-hair Perry, put this asshat, Don McLeroy on the State Board of Education. You people who live in more civilized parts of the world won't recognize the name, but he's a well know religious nutjob who thinks evolution is a myth, and that the earth doesn't revolve around the sun.

I'm not making that up. Here's what the National Center for Science Education had to say about his appointment:

The state's newspapers also expressed concern about McLeroy. Referring to previous ideological struggles in which the board was involved, the Dallas Morning News (July 19, 2007) worried, "The elevation of veteran board member Don McLeroy to the chairman's post raises concerns that the board is headed back in that direction," and urged McLeroy to steer clear of "the bitterness of past culture wars." Similarly, the Austin American-Statesman (July 22, 2007) commented, "McLeroy's elevation to chairman comes as the board begins a revision of science standards for public schools. That could prove embarrassing for Texas if McLeroy pushes for standards that push theology over science."

A document on McLeroy's personal website entitled "Historical Reality" and dated September 8, 2003, offers a glimpse of McLeroy's understanding of evolutionary science. Relying on discredited sources as Michael Behe's Darwin's Black Box, Jonathan Wells's Icons of Evolution and Percival Davis and Dean Kenyon's Of Pandas and People as well as on tendentious misreadings of legitimate science and on long-ago-debunked creationist claims, McLeroy argued that common descent is "only a hypothesis, and a shaky one at that." He then urged his colleagues on the board to reject the books then under consideration -- a plea that was ignored.

I'm told, on good authority, that he also subscribes to this nonsense: Fixed Earth.

I wish I could say this is a satirical post. It's not. Oh, and remember that Texas is the biggest purchaser of text books in the nation. This fucking nutter will have direct influence on the content of science textbooks purchased for Texas schools. And how Texas goes, often so goes the rest of the nation.

Feh.

Two-bit Wingnut Dictators

Biggus Dickus is on Larry King tonight. And even Larry King thinks he's a big, fat liar.

Damn. How bad do you have to be when you can't even convince Larry King?

Big Dick does make some news, however. He backs up Edelman's letter to Hillary calling her a terra-ist enabler.

Staking out a position at odds with that of his own Defense Secretary, Dick Cheney was just quoted on CNN saying that he agrees with a Pentagon official's recent assertion that Hillary Clinton's request for info about withdrawal contingency plans is helpful to the enemy.

In an excerpt from an interview with Larry King set to air later today that was just shown on the network, Cheney was asked whether he agreed with an earlier assessment by Under Secretary of State Eric Edelman, who recently sent Clinton a letter chiding her request for info about the plans as helpful to "enemy propaganda." Cheney's reply: "I agreed...I thought it was a good letter."

Of course he likes the letter. I'm certain he dictated it.

Details VIA TalkingPointsMemo

Also from TPM, a truly hilarious suggestion for Hillary from commenter hwc:

Speaking of two-bit wingnut dictators. Somebody should ask Hillary Clinton whether she would be willing to meet, in Washington or elsewhere, without precondition, with Dick Cheney.

Bravo. The entire democratic field should adopt that one.

Onward Christian Soldiers

Reuters/Nikola Solic

I'm sorry, but this kind of thing creeps me out. I am extremely uncomfortable with the gains the evangelicals have made in the army and air force.

I don't know about you guys, but I don't want some nutjob with a jeebus complex flying an F16.

On the other hand, if it makes the soldiers in that hell hole feel better to pray before they venture out on missions, they should knock themselves out. I guess I'll shut up about it and not point out that if jeebus *really* loved them he woulda kept them out of the hell hole in the first place. (and yes, that's snark, put ur pearls down.)

The Human Tide

Via the Indepdent, Iraq: One in seven joins human tide spilling into neighbouring countries

Two thousand Iraqis are fleeing their homes every day. It is the greatest mass exodus of people ever in the Middle East and dwarfs anything seen in Europe since the Second World War. Four million people, one in seven Iraqis, have run away, because if they do not they will be killed. Two million have left Iraq, mainly for Syria and Jordan, and the same number have fled within the country.

Yet, while the US and Britain express sympathy for the plight of refugees in Africa, they are ignoring - or playing down- a far greater tragedy which is largely of their own making.

Cue Bush administration hacks saying how the Iraqis just aren't trying hard enough, or aren't grateful enough, or just don't love them some freedom enough.

Hard Werk

"Fuck, when I became Prime Minister, they told me I would have to do some unpalatable things, but riding in a cart with this supreme wanker is above and beyond the call of duty."

NY Times/Doug Mills

Infuriating

AP/Petr David Josek

From today's Froomkin comes this infuriating piece of news:

Bush frequently claims that he changed his Iraq strategy in Iraq and opted for a troop surge after listening to his commanders. He says this notwithstanding the fact that his commanders in Iraq -- as well as the entire Joint Chiefs of Staff-- opposed the surge.

So where did the idea come from?

Now Rowan Scarborough writes in the Examiner: "A group of military experts at the American Enterprise Institute, concerned that the U.S. was on the verge of a calamitous failure in Iraq, almost single handedly convinced the White House to change its strategy.

"They banded together at AEI headquarters in downtown Washington early last December and hammered out the surge plan during a weekend session. . . . Then came trips to the White House by AEI military historian Frederick Kagan, retired Army Gen. John Keane and other surge proponents.

"More and more officials began attending the sessions. Even Vice President Dick Cheney came. 'We took the results of our planning session immediately to people in the administration,' said AEI analyst Thomas Donnelly, a surge planner. 'It became sort of a magnet for movers and shakers in the White House.' Donnelly said the AEI approach won out over plans from the Pentagon and U.S. Central Command." (my emphasis added)

Okay, the idiots who promoted this clusterfuck in the first place are responsible for dreaming up the "surge" strategy? And looks who's right in the thick of it all- yes, a Kagan.

Oh, and there's more:

The emergence of AEI as a power player on Iraq belies the notion that neo-conservatives are on the decline in Washington. AEI brags an impressive roster of neo-con thinkers. Former Deputy Defense Secretary Paul Wolfowitz, an Iraq war architect, arrived at AIE this summer, joining such prominent conservatives as John Bolton, David Frum and Michael Ledeen.

With its plan in place, the AEI Iraq team is not sitting still. Keane is an adviser to Army Gen. David Petraeus, the top U.S. commander in Iraq. He has inspected war conditions on two visits. Kagan left for Iraq this week.

I swear to god this makes me want to take a hostage.

Original article in the Examiner by Rowan Scarborough. Arm Chair Generals Help Shape Surge In Iraq What do you bet they coined the name "surge" too? And why the fuck are we paying people in the Pentagon if they're outsourcing war strategy?