May 2006

The following is the video of flight 77 crashing into the Pentagon on September 11th, which was released by the Pentagon today. It is hard to really see much because of the angle and the fact that the frame rate is so low.

I just got this cute little email from the RNC and had to chuckle:

Our immigration system is broken. And we need your help to fix it.

In his address to the nation last night, President Bush showed the way to getting real results on this difficult issue. We need your help today to stand up in support of the President's bold plan. Sign the petition and call your Senators and Representatives to demand immediate action on comprehensive immigration reform.

Our nation faces a long-term problem that requires a long-term solution. As the President outlined, America needs real reform that includes:

• Dramatic increases in manpower and technology at the border
• A system of controlled, temporary, and legal entry into the United States that meets our economic needs and relieves the pressure of illegal immigration at the border. No amnesty.
• Holding employers who hire illegal immigrants accountable, with beefed-up ID requirements - no excuses.

 Harry Reid and Senate Democrats have played partisan politics and resisted these basic reform principles and have attempted to block border security legislation at every turn. Every day of Reid's obstruction is one more day with a broken system that isn't working.

So I guess Ken Mehlman is out of touch with the Republicans in Congress and in the states who have complained about Bush's plan. It is not Harry Reid and the Senate Democrats playing "partisan politics", it is Senate working as a whole with a very touchy situation. Of course Mehlman has turned the entire RNC into the proverbial "Bush whores" and that is obvious by their current approval rating.

Tony Snow's first day in front of the camera and already he has stuck his foot in his mouth (via Crooks and Liars):

CBS REPORTER: Why not declassify [the NSA's call records database]? I mean, the President did talk about the surveillance program a day after the New York Times broke that story. This would seem to affect far more people and it did sound like the President was confirming that story today when he was answering questions.

SNOW: If you go back and look through what he said, there was a reference of foreign to domestic calls. I am not going to stand up here and presume to declassify any kind of program. That is a decision the President has to make. I can't confirm or deny it. The President was not confirming or denying. Again, I would take you back to the USA Today story to give you a little context. Look at the poll that appeared the following day [...] something like 65% of the public was not troubled by it. Having said that, I don't want to hug the tar baby of trying to comment on the program... the alleged program, the existence of which I can neither confirm or deny.

Think Progress points this out:

Based on the context of the term, we believe you meant tar baby to mean: “a situation almost impossible to get out of; a problem virtually unsolvable.”

But in “American lore,” the expression tar baby is also a racial slur “used occasionally as a derogatory term for black people.” Use of the term has resulted in people being fired.

As Random House notes, “some people suggest avoiding the use of the term in any context.” Now that you are no longer at Fox News, you may want to take them up on their advice.

Bush was in damage control last night when he spoke to us from the Oval Office and now it looks as though he may have caused even more damage than before (A sure sign Rove must be under enormous stress).

First off Bush's promise to send 6,000 National Guard troops to the border. He is saying we need to do this because it will take two and 1/2 years to train the additional border patrol agents we need. (He also meant that he will be out of office in 2 1/2 years so let the next President handle it.) This is already being met with great opposition from not just Republicans in Congress but also from the states. He has used the National Guard for his own little toy soldiers since he has been in office and removed them from being able to operate in their most valuable capacities - like after a hurricane hits.

Now Bush is saying that these National Guard troops won't be actually patrolling the border or guarding detainees. Instead, he wants them used in behind the scenes, more administrative/support type duties. Of course it will be just a matter of time before they are ordered to guard the borders and cross that line. You know it is a bad idea when even Lou Dobbs says it is.

His guest worker program is also a joke. What he is doing is playing both sides of the fence here. He thinks he is fooling the left by offering this program but there is a fine print in there that is exploiting the workers. Basically these people come in and are under the control of their employers. If the employer doesn't like them then they can easily say "hey your fired - go back to your country". In other words it is more like an elaborate slave trade.