In the Sun

Michael Stipe & Coldplay

dedicated to my good friend Ben

False Attack

From the President’s press conference today:

Q What is your reaction to the MoveOn.org ad that mocked General Petraeus as General “Betrayus,” and said that he cooked the books on Iraq? And secondly, would you like to see Democrats, including presidential candidates, repudiate that ad?

THE PRESIDENT: I thought the ad was disgusting. I felt like the ad was an attack not only on General Petraeus, but on the U.S. military.

Keith Olbermann’s Special Comment: The President of Hypocrisy

What may be the last honest journalist left in the MSM brings the heat yet again – this time concerning The Chimperor’s particularly vile brand of hypocrisy.

UPDATE: Text of Keith’s Special Comment is available now. [Egreggious]

Teddy Bared

Las Vegas Sun
FBI Taped Sen. Stevens
by Matt Apuzzo

The FBI, working with an Alaska oil contractor, secretly taped telephone calls with Sen. Ted Stevens as part of a public corruption sting, according to people close to the investigation.

(You can read the entire article here.)

Critical Mass

Maybe there should be a law about just who gets to criticize General Petraeus.

You can sign MoveOn.org’s petition here.

What’s Up, Doc…?

Nick Anderson, Houston Chronicle Editorial Cartoonist and Animation Artist.
For more of Nick’s animations, visit Nick Anderson: Animation Archives.
For Nick’s cartoons, visit Nick Anderson.

Breaking News: Dollar Down

FRANKFURT, Sept. 20 — Investors around the world rushed to sell dollars today, pushing it to an all-time low of $1.40 against the euro and to parity with the Canadian dollar for the first time in three decades as currency traders digested the full implications of the Federal Reserve’s new course for interest rates.
Read the rest of the article.

Via:  The New York Times

Let the Carter Bashing Begin

Get ready for Bushco and the zealots that do its bidding to go balistic over Jimmy Carter’s comments. And since they have beat MoveOn.org’s Petraeus ad into the ground they’ll be looking for a new distraction. It looks like Carter will be a leading contender for the bashing. The administration certainly can’t have the public believing Iran is not a threat.

CARTER: IRAN NO THREAT TO ISRAEL NOW: Former President Jimmy Carter said Wednesday that it was almost inconceivable that Iran would “commit suicide” by launching missiles at Israel. Speaking at Emory University, Carter, who brokered the 1979 Camp David peace accord between Israel and Egypt, said Israel’s superior military power and distance from Iran likely are enough to discourage an actual attack.

Via: LBN E-Lert
Link

And the Iraq Fiasco Drags On…

Robert Burns, at the Guardian Unlimited, reports:

In another sign of U.S. struggles in Iraq, the target date for putting Iraqi authorities in charge of security in all 18 provinces has slipped yet again, to at least July.

The delay, noted in a Pentagon report to Congress on progress and problems in Iraq, highlights the difficulties in developing Iraqi police forces and the slow pace of economic and political progress in some areas.

Large Peace Rally in Washington, DC

Today we are hearing about the few thousand marching in Jena, LA, over race relations.

But where was the MSM last weekend when around 100,000 marched in DC to stop the Iraq war? Check out this Link to learn more about the events of last weekend.

Craig Ferguson Explains the OJ Situation

Bush Suggests Saddam Killed Mandela.. Huh?

via ThinkProgress:

Bush inartfully suggests Saddam killed Mandela.

In a press conference this morning, President Bush tried to assert that Saddam’s brutal rule over Iraq wiped the country clean of potential democratic reformers — individuals who may have possessed leadership skills like former South African President Nelson Mandela. In doing so, Bush inartfully suggested Saddam killed Mandela:

I thought an interesting comment was made — somebody said to me, I heard somebody say, “Now, where’s Mandela?” Well, Mandela’s dead because Saddam Hussein killed all the Mandelas.

For the record, Nelson Mandela is still alive while Saddam Hussein is dead.
(Continue reading posting..)

ThinkProgress has video of the speech by Bush.

Bush Calls for Expansion of Spy Law

via: Associated Press

FORT MEADE, Md. (AP) — President Bush said Wednesday he wants Congress to expand and make permanent a law that temporarily gives the government more power to eavesdrop without warrants on suspected foreign terrorists.

Without such action, Bush said, “our national security professionals will lose critical tools they need to protect our country.”
(Continue reading AP report…)

Fist Fight

All cartoons are posted with the artists’ express permission to TPZoo.
Paul Jamiol, Jamiol’s World

The Jena Six

This is a story that takes place in the small town of Jena, in the center of Louisiana. It is a story that shines a light on racial divides and inequality of justice that still pervades the deep South.
There is a more in-depth story with photos on this website.

Violence in the Middle East – Hear the Drums?

A powerful bomb blast killed Lebanese politician Antoine Ghanem and, let’s not forget eight human beings not mentioned by name, yesterday. President Bush was quick to see Syria and, not surprisingly, Iran behind this atrocity.

“The Times” reports on another event in Syria, where a missile purportedly exploded while being armed with some of the most powerful chemical agents by Syrian military, helped by, unsurprisingly, Iranian advisers.

Does this sound like “yellowcake” to you?

The Chatter is getting louder?

After his latest video message, the elusive Al-Quaida leader has issued a new threat, this time against Pakistan. To top this off, his second in command is issueing another video, taunting the US and rallying supporters to the fight. That’s been many videos lately. What do you think?

Good Morning from Europe – It’s All About The Money Edition

Guess what the one topic is, that none of the newspaper websites visited this morning, leave out? Right: José Mourinho is leaving Chelsea FC! Given the fact that both, Mourinho and Abramovich have been a perfect match and surely merited their mutual contact, sad indeed.

So, if this is the European newspapers’ unifying concern this morning, let’s have a look on money issues:

The Euro has risen above $ 1.40 for the first time ever. A development which is no surprise really after the Fed’s lowering of interest rates.

Early Christmas for the stocks markets. As a reaction to the Fed’s move, indeces rose as much as 4% (Hang Seng) in a day. Some are more cautious, however, and predict this early jubilant spirit will not be here to stay.

Deutsche Bank, after claiming that it wasn’t affected by the financial markets crisis, now admits, that it’s assessment may have been a wee bit premature. The third quarter results will most probably not quite justify their earlier boasting.

Surely this day will not end on this note, but today is a slow starter again, more will follow.

GW, this one’s for you.

Jethro Tull ~ “Thick as a Brick“
Live at Madison Sq. Garden 1978

For more on the background to this song. For the lyrics.
(Gotta love the flute…)