Kaus has a great style. His M.O. is to latch onto some trivial bit of nothing and blow it up into something of HUGE IMPORTANCE. He does it with skill, and gets others to argue about it and think it is important too. Soon, forest gone, only one tree standing.
That Frank Bruni sure is something. In his recent campaign memoir, Je m'accuse!, he made it seem as if Bush had charmed him. Brent Bozell has discovered the truth...
CARVILLE: Now it's time for a look at those unusual, interesting, and downright shocking stories that you might not find anywhere but in our CROSSFIRE news alert. In case you think we Democrats are too tough on George Bush, I assure you, we usually have good reasons. Listen to this. The German magazine, "Der Spiegel" reports that during last week's European summit, Mr. Bush asked Brazil's president, "Do you have blacks, too?" "Der Spiegel" says National Security Adviser Condoleezza Rice had to quickly explain that Brazil probably has a larger black population than the U.S., and perhaps the largest black population outside of Africa.
If the question is open, I want to put up a picture of Pele. He's the man on the right, and perhaps the most famous Brazilian of all time, at one time the most famous human on the planet. He sure looks black to me. Well, maybe he's been in the sun too long. Mr. President, I don't know.
Posted by Atrios
Uh-oh, the Media Horse is going on vacation. Coincidentally, so am I as of Thursday, fueling the suspicions of some that I am part of the MediaWhoresOnlineParty, which I am not.
Posted by Atrios
Hey, demonstrating the power of the nascent liberal echo chamber, Carville just mentioned Bush's "Do you have Blacks too?" quote on Crossfire.
After the disastrous 1961 Bay of Pigs invasion--a disaster which President Kennedy had guaranteed by foolishly giving the go-ahead based on boneheaded advice from the CIA and Joint Chiefs of Staff--our commander in chief took the blame. He told reporters "the quite obvious," as he put it: "I am the responsible officer of the government," and as such only he was accountable for the blunder. Privately, Kennedy asked presidential aide Theodore Sorensen rhetorically, "How could I have been so stupid?" Note the "I." Not how the CIA or Joint Chiefs could have been so stupid, but the ultimate first citizen.
Posted by Atrios
Let me just sum things up a bit more seriously.
First, this idea that fears of being attacked for racial profiling prevented the FBI from acting appropriately is just ridiculous.
Second, anyone peddling this idea needs to confront the fact that if this was true, it was stated policy of the Bush administration (see below). It wasn't thrust upon them by evil librul do-gooders, but instead simply designed to get votes from Arab-Americans. And, boy is Zogby pissed now. Grover Norquist has been laying low lately, as he was the man behind this particular effort, and it's backfired a bit.
What he doesn't seem to know is exactly what he's advocating. Josh et al, listen when I tell you: if Iraq is not connected to 9/11, then the "war on terrorism" cannot be extended there without grave, grave consequences that I don't think Josh has figured out yet. The United States has repeatedly said that their war is with terrorists generally and Al-Qaeda specifically, yet they have found only the slimmest of ties between either and Iraq, ties much more tenuous than those between, say, Saudi Arabia and terrorism/Al Qaeda. Everybody knows this, internationally, so absolutely no one outside the United States would buy the argument that "he's going to help terrorists realsoonnow". What would they believe? They would believe the truth:
The United States is now willing and able to remove any and all regimes it doesn't like by whatever means necessary.
Posted by Atrios
Apparently the Bush advance team told the Pope's people that Georgie wouldn't bring up the molestation issue. He did, and the press were shooed out of the room.
Posted by Atrios
As my readers point out, Mickey Kaus is running with the why doesn't the White House blame "misguided leftist ideology" crap worthy of William Safire, uber-propogandist and Karl Rove crap peddler.
Second, Mickey, you're a prick. Crawl back in your hole.
UPDATE: why call Mickey a prick? Well, with his latest post he's confirmed what I've believed for years. He's a stooge. Royce Lamberth turned down the FISA requests on Moussaoui. ROYCE LAMBERTH. Not Dukakis-like civil libertarian concerns. Jebus H. Keerist.
Posted by Atrios
I have to admit I found this article in Salon really silly. It's about an American settler in the West Bank who thinks it's great that they have a cheap suburban life, and dismisses those who would consider them an impediment to the peace process by saying this:
But right now, I believe that if we do leave the settlements, the violence will only follow us.
Though I think that statement is probably true, it is an argument against any possible peace, not a justification for the settlements.
Posted by Atrios "And secondly, there is other forms of racial profiling that goes on in America. Arab-Americans are racially profiled in what’s called secret evidence. People are stopped, and we got to do something about that. My friend [...] is pushing a law to make sure that, you know, Arab-Americans are treated with respect. "
On the issue of secret evidence -- another creation of the Clinton/Gore Justice Department -- I am also troubled by the disturbing stories of how this policy is being implemented. More and more, new immigrants, often Arab or Muslim immigrants, face deportation or even imprisonment based on evidence they've never seen and never been able to dispute. That's not the American way. Here, too, the security of our country and of our people is of course the foremost consideration. Yet that doesn't justify a disregard for fairness, dignity, or civil rights. As President, I will work with leaders like Senator Spence Abraham and Congressman Henry Hyde to ensure respect for the law -- and for all law-abiding citizens.
McGaa has also stirred up some controversy for accusing Wellstone of being "more loyal to Israel than he is to the United States"-a statement Wellstone supporters and some Greens view as anti-Semitic.
McGaa takes umbrage at the accusation, insisting that he is "pro-Jewish, if you want to put it that way," and merely thinks the United States should ease up on foreign aid. His comments on Wellstone's disability (the Senator announced this year that he has a mild form of M.S.)-suggesting Wellstone might not survive the election season-didn't go over particularly well, either.
This guy is a real winner. All you Minnesota Greens should spontaneously combust in overwhelming shame if any of you actually vote for him.
Posted by Atrios
If anyone out there can find a single instance of one of those evil liberal organizations (ACLU, PFAW, whatever..) objecting to any kind of "profiling" of foreign non-citizens by their country of origin, please provide it.
I personally think this is the biggest load of crap to come down the pike in awhile. Has any FBI agent or supervisor gone on the record as this being a reason? Or is this just more bullshit floated by propagandists like William Safire.
Note to Safire: The Rowley Memo doesn't mention it.
Another note to Safire: Wen Ho Lee was a citizen.
Note to everyone: profiling by country of origin has nothing to do with 'race'.
Another Note to everyone: Ken Starr's favorite Judge Royce Lamberth is the one who turned down the FISA requests on Moussaui.
Final Note to everyone: Ashcroft must be a real coward for not standing up to these mythical liberal interest groups.
Posted by Atrios
Apparently Bush is going to sacrifice our poor forefathers:
PRESIDENT BUSH: President Chirac, Mrs. Chirac, Mr. Mayor, Laura and I are so honored to be here. Thank you for your hospitality. We are here to pay tribute to those who sacrificed for freedom, both Americans and the French. It is fitting that we remember those defend our freedoms against people who can't stand freedom.
This defense will require the sacrifice of our forefathers, but it's a sacrifice I can promise you we'll make. It's a sacrifice we'll make for the good of America, and for the good of France, and for the good of freedom all over
the world.
It's an honor to be here. May God bless France, and may God bless America. Thank you very much.
(Applause.)
Posted by Atrios
Just read an interesting take on the Buffy season finale. The world was saved by a carpenter bringing a message of love and forgiveness.
Posted by Atrios
Speaking of TAPPED, they correctly point out the absolute idiocy of the Greens running a candidate against Senator Paul Wellstone, particularly since the guy they're running is quite clearly to the Right of Wellstone, and a bit of a moron.
Are your brains just completely broken? That's almost as stupid as running a candidate against the guy who wrote Earth in the Balance . Remember him - the Ozone Man?
Posted by Atrios Tres Producers has an interesting post up about the links between PoMo and science. However, he neglects to link the very relevant Alan Sokal parody article.
The night before in Moscow, he said, as he was serving caviar to Bush and guests' at a dinner at the presidential residence, he explained to Bush how Russia produces caviar.
They catch the sturgeon, open up the fish, carefully remove the eggs, close the fish and throw it back into the water. Everyone at the table is laughing, they don't believe Putin. Laura Bush is laughing, Ludmilla Putin is laughing, Secretary of State Colin Powell is laughing, Condoleezza Rice is laughing, and the Russian foreign minister is laughing.
"Everybody was laughing -thinking I was really inventing things on the spot, something really improbable" Putin relates. "And there was only one person who wouldn't laugh and said 'I do believe you, Mr. President,'
and that was the president of the United States."
(Incidentally, as far as United Press International can determine everyone was laughing because they knew it was a gag.)
It is not at all clear just why Putin told the caviar story. It is a quintessential Slavic joke; the city slicker from Petersburg fools the "chelovek," the Russian word for "fellow," from Texas. Maybe Putin told it to show how completely Bush trusts him.
Posted by Atrios
I'd stayed away from the Harvard "American Jihad" issue 'cause I hadn't really gotten the facts. But, I think this is as messed up as Matthew Yglesias says it is.
Is anyone out there in Blogistan on the other side of this issue? I'm happy to hear it. Let me know.
If the last 5000 outrageously offensively stupid things that have tumbled out of Bush's mouth haven't pissed you off, shouldn't this one?
That's in German (if anyone has a link to an article in English on this, let me know), but the gist is this. Bush was with Condi Rice and the Brazilian president Fernando Henrique Cardoso. Bush asks the president, "do you have Blacks too?".
Forget the coffee, I'm off to hunt down a bloody mary..
Helpful reader A.A. provides a translation of the last paragraph:
"Rice, 47, who noticed how the Brazilian was stunned by the question,
saved the situation by explaining to Bush, 'Mr. President, Brazil probably
has more blacks than the US; they say it's the country with the most
blacks outside Africa.' Afterwards Brazil's President Cardoso judged that,
as far as Latin America is concerned, Bush is 'still an apprentice.'"
Posted by Atrios
I forgot to do my MoDo prediction yesterday (so sue me), but in any case today she uses her powers for good:
But now we need the old Evil Empire to help us with the new Axis of Evil and the Evildoers. (Even though the ex-Evil Empire is helping the country that dubbed us the Great Satan gain nuclear capability.) So now Russia is the Good Empire.
At the Kremlin signing ceremony on Friday for the arms treaty, before a blindingly gold czarist throne draped in ermine, Mr. Bush hailed the new spirit of trust this way: "That's good. It's good for the people of Russia; it's good for the people of the United States. . . . For decades, Russia and NATO were adversaries. Those days are gone, and that's good. And that's good for the Russian people, it's good for the people of my country, it's good for the people of Europe, and it's good for the people of the world."
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