Monday, April 3, 2006

Following a "two-day run through a raucous, mishap-ridden gantlet" dubbed the "Magical Mystery Tour," Secretary of State Rice and her British counterpart made an unannounced visit to Iraq, where the latter declared, "The United States and the United Kingdom are the people who liberated this country."

With an inquiry into last July's London bombings having "conceded that the bombers were inspired by UK foreign policy," and an intelligence warning that the Iraq war has made Britain the target of an Al-Qaeda terror campaign, the Washington Post airs speculation that 'Attacking Iran may trigger terrorism.'

As it's reported that British troops may be in line to operate one of six "enduring" bases being built in Iraq, Gary Hart repeats his call for the U.S. press corps to "ask the Bush administration one simple question."

Two hundred million dollars into a reconstruction contract to build 142 Iraqi clinics, "putting quality medical care within reach of all Iraqis," a major U.S. contractor -- referred to in a Brickburner interview with Jeffrey St. Clair as "Halliburton's great rival" -- now says it "Will Try to Finish 20" of the projects.

A visit to Baluchistan "makes it clear that ... the government is waging a full-scale military campaign here," reports the New York Times, quoting a Baluch tribal leader -- branded a 'miscreant' by the Pakistani government -- as saying of the conflict, "I don't see it ending." Plus: 'The world's costliest exchange-student program.'

'The Hyperpower Hype' It's argued that following 9/11, "Bush, Cheney, Rumsfeld, Rice, and other top officials chose to pump up al-Qaeda into a global enemy worthy of a new Cold War," and "badly misread the U.S. position in the world." And, where's the "King of Accountability"?

A columnist who contends that "in their own depraved way, the Islamists are a lot goofier than the commies," is said to feel that the current official rhetoric of the Global War on Terror "is not sufficiently inflammatory and jingoistic."

Describing the ongoing 'legacy of a weapon of mass destruction,' the Independent reports from Vietnam that "unlike the American veterans, no one in the war-ravaged country has received any compensation" for the effects of Agent Orange.

It's said that the 'Prognosis Looks Grim' for Senate Majority Leader Bill Frist, who political analyst Charlie Cook calls "the most classic case of the Peter Principle I've ever seen in American politics. In a business where eloquence and rhetoric is important, he is a man of no talent whatsoever."

With Frist attempting "to stage a high-profile showdown on immigration," Juan Santos tracks 'The Ghost of George Wallace' to the U.S./Mexican border, while "the corporate media ... has continued to paint the anti-migrants as part of a mainstream."

Although "many scientists are not so sure that the oncoming train of global warming can be avoided," a George Will column arguing that scientists were "spectacularly wrong" on climate change in the 1970s is found to be "exceptionally dishonest."

Christian right said to 'lose faith in GOP,' although the case of 'John and Jerry' tells Paul Krugman that "Republicans are saying that it's O.K. ... to declare that 9/11 was America's punishment for its tolerance of abortion and homosexuality, that Islam is a terrorist religion, and that Jews can't go to heaven."

A report that Rep. Katherine Harris' U.S. Senate campaign "lost what was left of its core team," doesn't say if the defectors included, as previously speculated, "even a traveling aide who helps hand out stickers at campaign appearances."

As a 'Post-Katrina Dialogue on Poverty Fizzles' and the top job at FEMA is said to be a 'Tough Sell,' the Waco Tribune-Herald, noting that President Bush "has not welcomed a visiting dignitary to his ranch or held a news conference on the property" since last August, asks: 'Is Crawford still Bush's getaway?'

One day after a Georgia Republican congressman called Cindy Sheehan a "nutcase," a right-wing radio talker said that a Georgia Democratic congresswoman "looks like a ghetto slut."

Firedoglake announces 'Blitzer's Bigot Barbecue Contest,' the excoriation of Jill Carroll is called 'A black eye to blogging,' David Ignatius celebrates 'Courage in Coverage,' and Gen. Anthony Zinni says that "the American media is being made a scapegoat for what's going on" in Iraq.

March 31-April 2

Tuesday, April 4, 2006

'Hammer' Down Rep. Tom DeLay went local and national to say he's not seeking reelection and plans to retire by mid-June, telling Time that his speech to "a conference on the war on Christianity ... convinced me: I can DO this. I could keep fighting for the things I believe in, outside of Congress."

"He has served our nation with integrity and honor," said House Majority Leader John Boehner, while John Nichols predicts that DeLay's "greatest crimes will go unpunished," and the Washington Post's political blogger observes that "both parties sought to cast it as a win."

Citing two eyewitnesses, the Los Angeles Times reports that lobbyist Jack Abramoff offered in 2001 to help Sudan "clean up its image," proposing a "$16- to $18-million contract" while "sitting with the ambassador in Abramoff's skybox" at a Redskins game.

As nine more U.S. troops die in Iraq, an AP count shows 1,038 Iraqi civilian deaths last month in war-related violence, compared to 375 in December and 741 in February. A UPI analysis, citing a figure of "900 sectarian killings in a single month," concludes that "a civil war is well under way."

The Guardian reports that Iraq's interior ministry has for three months refused to deploy any police recruits trained by the U.S. or the U.K., and that "many Sunnis now say they would rather be detained by the Americans" than by the 'Baghdad Blues.'

Robert Parry finds the U.S. news media "turning a blind eye" to Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice's "revamped war rationale," while Patrick Cockburn asks, 'Do Rice and Straw realize that Iraq has broken up?'

In a excerpt from "Failed States," Noam Chomsky ponders "war crimes and casualty counts" in Iraq, and tells "Democracy Now!" that one sign of a failed state is a "democratic deficit ... a substantial gap between public policy and public opinion."

CounterPunch runs an interview with 'Osama's Favorite Writer' and the author of "Rogue State," who argues that "Ralph Nader has it right ... It's the corporation which is the chief devil in this whole scenario." Earlier: "This is almost as good as being an Oprah book."

As the Pentagon releases another batch of Guantanamo detainee hearing transcripts, an AP report on the Supreme Court's rejection of an appeal by Jose Padilla, prompts the observation that "No one asks Bush the obvious question: 'Is the United States at war?"

Former U.N. chief weapons inspector Hans Blix has reportedly said that "Iran can't have a bomb ready in the next five years," and Brendan O'Neill argues to 'Let Iran have the bomb.'

Accusing new Canadian prime minister Stephen Harper of 'aping Bush,' columnist Linda McQuaig asks, "does anyone else find it ominous that Harper says 'God bless Canada' and vows not to 'cut and run'" from Afghanistan?

Ha'aretz reports on televangelist John Hagee's touting of his new Christian pro-Israel lobby that he claims will be more powerful than AIPAC. A petition drive charges that Hagee "is engaged with gross immorality: greed."

CNN visits South Dakota's only abortion clinic and interviews a doctor who flies in from Minneapolis, but doesn't mention a plan proposed by Cecilia Fire Thunder to offer abortions on the Pine Ridge Reservation if the state's ban stands. Plus: 'Anatomy of a Bad Law.'

After airing critics' complaints about Venezuelan President Chavez doling out money to other countries, a New York Times reporter seems to find it surprising that "Even in Philadelphia ... people were won over, despite Mr. Chavez's antagonism toward Mr. Bush." Earlier: 'The failure of Hugo-bashing.'

With the White House said to be "trying to make drinking water safe for arsenic instead of for the rural voters who reelected this administration," Sen. Barack Obama accused President Bush of a "stubborn refusal" to attack the causes of climate change, during an address that he began by citing Elizabeth Kolbert.

Radio host Neal Boortz apologizes to Rep. Cynthia McKinney, and Rep. Jack Kingston apologizes to Cindy Sheehan for his "low-level name calling," expressing his "great appreciation for your perspective and your sacrifice as an American who has lost a loved one in the War on Terrorism."

According to The Hill, "some Democrats are trying to distance themselves" from Rep. McKinney, who "has a history of making controversial statements that delight progressives while irking moderates" -- and who, during an interview, told CNN's Wolf Blitzer, "Don't even begin to twist my words."

April 3

Wednesday, April 5, 2006

The American Prospect's Greg Sargent says the real significance of Murray Wass's 'big scoop' may be that "If Congress and the press had been more aggressive ... it's perfectly possible that John Kerry would now be president."

Johnny Deadline Sen. Kerry calls for telling Iraqi politicians "that they have until May 15 to put together an effective unity government or we will immediately withdraw our military," and if they succeed, "a schedule for withdrawing American combat forces by year's end." Plus: A tale of two plans.

As 24 of 32 Wisconsin communities 'vote for Iraq pullout,' what is happening in Iraq is said to be 'neither "civil war" nor "chaos"' but occupation, which relies on "various psyops that we won't hear about for another thirty years."

Under the headline 'Rice Dismisses Talk of U.S. Bases in Iraq,' it's reported that during testimony before a House committee she "did not directly answer" when asked, "Will the bases be permanent or not?"

The Bush administration's funding cutback for the promotion of democracy in Iraq is called "a travesty" by the director of Freedom House, one of the organizations that's reportedly receiving money from the administration for "clandestine activities inside Iran." Earlier: 'Fool Me Twice.'

Amnesty International couples the release of a new report on CIA flights with a call for "torture-free skies."

A Los Angeles Times article on what it calls "an extraordinary account" of interrogations of Khalid Sheikh Mohammed, that was presented to jurors in the trial of Zacarias Moussaoui, quotes a former FBI official as saying that Mohammed and Bin Laden "couldn't stand each other. They both had huge egos."

"Until very recently," reports Noah Shachtman, "being computer-savvy hasn't been considered much of an asset" in 'The Federal Bureau of Luddites,' and "clues were something you kept to yourself."

USA Today reports that victims of a "racial removal program" in the 1930s have been waiting for an apology from the U.S. ever since, with one source cited as saying that "as many as 2 million people of Mexican ancestry were coerced into leaving, 60% of them U.S. citizens."

As a new poll gives Venezuela's president an '82.7% Approval Rating,' a U.S. Department of Energy analysis reportedly shows that "at today's prices Venezuela's oil reserves are bigger than those of the entire Middle East including Saudi Arabia, the Gulf states, Iran and Iraq." Plus: 'Provocative humanitarianism?'

A record $44.8-billion profit for insurance companies, in a 'Year of Catastrophic Loss,' is seen as a tribute to a longterm effort to "shift risk to clients and the public," while David Cay Johnston explains why the 'Richest Are Leaving Even the Rich Far Behind,' and, "Money doesn't talk, it swears."

Political analyst Charlie Cook tells USA Today, "We know that there's a hurricane coming, and it's going to hit the Republicans in November. We're just trying to figure out how big this thing is."

With 'I, DeLay' characterized as 'Departing on Own Terms,' but not before proclaiming Rep. Cynthia McKinney "a racist," Tom D'Antoni anticipates a come-to-Jesus meeting to plan the terms of DeLay's second coming.

Republicans offered "a resolution commending Capitol police for professionalism," while "the lack of Democratic support" for an early and consistent opponent of the war in Iraq, who "might as well be the black Hillary Clinton" for all the hate mail she receives, was seen as "notable."

After a DHS official was 'Arrested in Online Sex Case,' Firedoglake's Christy Hardin Smith asks, "What in the hell is going on at the Department of Homeland Security ... Background check, anyone?" Plus: A city in the Bible Belt "where you can buy, sell or rent kids."

As Sen. Russ Feingold backs legalizing same-sex marriages, a hearing by a Minnesota legislator on her consitutional amendment to ban them, was attended by her lesbian stepsister, "coming out publicly for the first time with a statement about her sexual orientation and views contradicting her stepsister's."

Complaining of "a bad case of Couric fatigue," CJR Daily's Paul McLeary says the press "has chronicled the story with the sort of gusto generally reserved only for missing white women and potentially pregnant celebrities." And, an exchange of wedding vows bring 'Press and Propaganda ... Together at Last.'

April 4

Thursday, April 6, 2006

Murray Waas reports that 'Libby Says Bush Authorized Leaks,' in a document placing the president, "for the first time, directly in a chain of events that led to a meeting where prosecutors contend the identity of a CIA employee, Valerie Plame, was provided to a reporter."

During a briefing with White House Press Secretary Scott McClellan, reporters didn't ask any questions about Bush authorizing the leak, following what is said to be "a declassification that only President Bush, Vice President Cheney and Scooter Libby were allowed to know about."

As congressional debate over the Iraq war 'grows louder,' Sen. John Kerry "has forcefully and specifically laid down a marker for the administration, the Democratic party, and the nation," writes Gary Hart, calling on the Bush administration to "respond to the Kerry time-table."

Juan Cole says "The problem with Kerry's and Greif's exit plans is that they are only that-- exit plans." Cole notes that the senator "seems to be under the impression that the U.S. is fighting 'al-Qaeda' in Iraq, which is generally not true."

With Iraq now as pricey as the seven-year reconstruction effort in post-war Germany, Joseph Stiglitz tells Der Spiegel that "we can afford it, that's not the issue. The issue is: $1 trillion or $2 trillion is a lot of money... you can do a lot of democracy buying for this sum."

One day after Iraq's prime minister told the Guardian that 'I will not be forced out by US and UK,' the New York Times reports that 'Iraqis say Rice trip stiffened premier's resolve,' and finds agreement "across the political spectrum" that Rice and her British counterpart should have stayed away.

Defense Secretary Rumsfeld takes issue with Rice's admission that "tactical errors" were made in Iraq, telling Scott Hennen's "Hot Talk" on Fargo's WDAY, "If someone says, well, that's a tactical mistake, then I guess it's a lack of understanding, at least my understanding, of what warfare is about."

Roberty Dreyfuss weighs whether 'Cutting and Running in Baghdad' would mean "Defeat or a Widening War -- or Both," while the AP covers "the 60th annual Miss Iraq Pageant."

As 'Israel arrests Hamas cabinet minister,' the country's High Court of Justice upholds a ban on a photo exhibit by a group that monitors the behavior of Israeli soldiers toward Palestinians at checkpoints.

While 'Republicans/FOX can't get enough of Cynthia McKinney,' who has now apologized for her part in a Capitol Hill altercation, "the fact that white Democrats are so unwilling to stand up for McKinney" is seen as "just plain shameful."

'Emergency disconnect' Although every lawmaker on Capitol Hill is supposed to have a special card giving them access to a White House-directed emergency phone service in event of a terrorist attack, a survey by The Hill found that "most House and Senate lawmakers said they did not have" such a card and had "never heard of it."

David Sirota sees "the beginning of a frontal attack by Corporate America on the progressive movement," in an account of the launching of The Hamilton Project at the Brookings Institution, "using the Democratic Party as an all-too-transparent cloak of legitimacy."

The winners of the Peabody Awards are announced, Free Press launches a campaign against fake TV news, and a San Francisco TV station begins charging "product integration fees" to advertisers who want to be included in a news story.

As the AP polls about Katie Couric's move to CBS, a protesting voice is raised over the firing of James Ridgeway.

A British man was reportedly hauled off a plane and questioned for hours as a terror suspect, after a taxi driver alerted authorities that he had been listening to The Clash's "London Calling" and Led Zeppelin's "Immigrant Song."

April 5

Friday, April 7, 2006

Legal observers tell the Washington Post that President Bush's declassification 'Tactic would be legal but unusual,' and the Post also airs the White House's argument that "Bush's very decision to disclose classified information means he declassified it." After which, notes Kevin Drum, "for some reason they continued with the normal declassification process anyway."

As the 'White House faces barrage of leak queries,' spokesman Scott McClellan refused to say when the information was actually declassified, but did say that it was "provided to the American people."

The New York Times editorializes that "revealing selected bits of intelligence, including information that officials may well have known to be false, seems like a serious abuse of power. It's not even clear that Mr. Bush can legally declassify intelligence at whim."

For Anonymous Liberal, 'Something doesn't add up here,' and a Firedoglake post asks, 'What Has The President Declassified And Why Did He Leak It?'

"Despite Bush's deceptive public pronouncements," says Robert Parry, "the more important legal question is what Bush told Fitzgerald when the President submitted to a 70-minute interview -- not under oath -- on June 24, 2004."

With word of a possible "coalition of the willing" relaunch, the term "Leaker-in-Chief" takes hold, and a Fox News' studio audience applauds after the headline, 'Libby tells prosecutors Bush authorized CIA leak,' is taken off the screen.

More than 70 people have died in an attack on a Shiite mosque in Baghdad, where factual reports are "considered signs of disloyalty" by U.S. foreign service officers, pressed to volunteer for what Sidney Blumenthal terms 'The Tethered Goat Strategy.'

With U.S. officials said to be ''in talks with Iraq militants,' Al Jazeera interviews Baghdad Burning's Riverbend, and neocon ire is directed at 'Those ungrateful Iraqis!'

A 'First Amendment Moment' was met with "a chorus of boos," as one Harry Taylor told President Bush: "You never stop talking about freedom, which I appreciate, but while I'm listening to you talk about freedom I see you assert your right to tap my telephone, to arrest me and hold me without charges."

Taylor also accused Bush of trying "to preclude me from breathing clean air and drinking clean water." A Gallup poll majority "say Bush personally is doing a poor job of protecting the environment." And his approval rating "matches an earlier low" in one poll and hits "a series of new lows" in another.

The Center for Public Integrity analyzes how much drug companies spend to lobby state governments, and the Atlantic Monthly reports on pharmaceutical sales reps, who are 'wielding more and more influence ... and the line between them and doctors is beginning to blur.' Earlier: 'A Spoonful of Sugar.'

Man of Attack Bob Woodward says David Corn's column about Woodward's account of a pre-Iraq war Oval Office meeting is "thoroughly dishonest and represents another low for journalism." A recent interview with Corn described him as someone 'who thanks Bob Woodward for getting him interested in journalism.'

'A goodbye kiss' for one of "the great legislative leaders of all time" is said to be "over-the-top, even by Novak standards."

Rep. Cynthia McKinney is praised for striking a 'blow for us all' -- but blamed for taking 'All Eyes [off] the Hammer,' and for being a drag on Gore in 2000. Plus: "Invisibility looks good on you."

The unveiling of a Bush administration plan to build '125 new nuclear weapons every year' is called, "a good start, certainly, but -- will it be enough?"

Pat Buchanan sees Sen. John Kerry as "moving to the base of his party" and "kissing the Joe Lieberman wing goodbye," leaving Sen. Hillary Clinton "in the role of Hubert Humphrey, tied to an unpopular war."

'The End of the Silvio Show?' Just days before elections, the Italian government claims to have thwarted a planned terrorist attack, and the prime minister rails against "state employees whose salaries came from the citizens and who plot, plot and plot against the prime minister."

David Neiwert examines the process of "transmission," by means of which white supremacist ideas have crept back from the fringes, to be "repackaged for mainstream consumption, stripped of overt racism and hatefulness and presented as ordinary politics."

An FBI sting reportedly snares a New York Post Page Six staffer, said to have offered a "high-profile" billionaire the opportunity to buy "a year's worth of protection on the gossip page" for $220,000.

April 6

Monday, April 10, 2006

'Iran & the Bomb' The Bush administration's reading of Iran's position is characterized as "misleading," Belgravia Dispatch cautions against approaching the situation "in a climate of ginned up hysteria about a new Hitler wielding a nuke within the year," and Paul Krugman asks: "Why might Mr. Bush want another war?"

"The word I hear is messianic," said Seymour Hersh, appearing on CNN. And speaking from Tehran, Knight Ridder's Hannah Allam, who wrote about Iran's 'Holy Prophet War Game,' told Editor & Publisher that "the prevailing notion here is that the U.S. is way too mired in Iraq to do anything drastic about the folks next door for now."

As the Washington Post editorialized on 'A Good Leak,' it reported that "the evidence Cheney and Libby selected to share with reporters had been disproved months before," with intelligence agencies "no longer carrying it as a credible item" by early 2003, according to then-Secretary of State Powell.

A Knight Ridder article reminds that "Much of the information that the administration leaked or declassified ... has proved to be incomplete, exaggerated, incorrect or fabricated," and former federal prosecutor Elizabeth de la Vega marshalls the evidence before popping a 'Final Jeopardy Question.'

Sen. Arlen Specter 'Calls for Bush to Speak on Leak,' a senior GOP aide "who declined to be named for fear of angering the president," tells Newsweek that "Leaker in chief is something that could stick," and a return visitor to the White House declares, "I have intelligence information for the president."

"There are a slew of holes in this story," says Josh Marshall about a Times of London article by Michael Smith calling the Niger forgeries the work of two employees at the Nigerian embassy in Rome, adding that "this version of events is the work of an Italian government 'investigation.'"

Citing U.S. military documents that "explicitly list the 'U.S. Home Audience' as one of the targets of a broader propaganda campaign" to "Villainize Zarqawi," a Washington Post article refers to a video disk "that not only was widely disseminated inside Iraq, but also was 'seen on Fox News.'"

A military insider's "full-throated critique" of the war in Iraq, which begins by citing an antiwar anthem, prompts Back to Iraq's Chris Allbritton to ask, 'Why didn't you say so?' rather than "sit by for three years while others ... 'paid in blood.'"

"The era of MAD is ending," contends an article in Foreign Affairs, "and the era of U.S. nuclear primacy has begun," prompting Rigorous Intuition to speculate that while the "principal target demographic" for "the nuking of Iran" is Russia and China, "there's a secondary audience for this, and it's us." Plus: Helen Thomas accused of "wild speculation."

A Reuters report on the Peruvian elections says that "thousands of angry people swarmed" front-runner Ollanta Humala "as he voted ... shouting 'murderer, murderer' and 'Ollanta is Chavez!' Some, including wealthy women holding designer handbags, hurled trash at him before he was escorted away by riot police."

William Pfaff reviews the coverage of a recent Harvard study of 'The Israel Lobby and U.S. Foreign Policy,' said to have provoked a campaign of 'Smear and Fear.'

'U.S. Military Secrets for Sale at Afghan Bazaar' reportedly include "information that identity thieves could use to open credit card accounts in soldiers' names," as well as a chart identifying the Afghan counter-narcotics chief as "being involved in the narcotics trade."

"We're watching a bureaucratic slow-roll take place," says one analyst, commenting on a Bush administration plan to send "fewer than 500 NATO advisers" to Darfur, adding that "The administration has been in this knot of having called the situation genocide but then failing to do anything."

Although exit polls showed Italian prime minister Berlusconi losing to "a potentially unwieldy alliance of Christian Democrats, liberals, greens and communists" led by Romano Prodi, polls now say it's 'too close to call.'

As a "Great Awakening" brings 500,000 into the streets of Dallas, James Wolcott finds "repression and racism sprouting eagle claws" to counter what Alisa Valdes-Rodriguez terms 'The Big Brown Alien Frenzy,' while David Sirota looks at NAFTA's role in driving 19 million Mexicans into poverty.

As Rep. Tom 'DeLay looks to worthy successor,' it's time to meet 'The Hammer's Consiglieri,' although some of 'DeLay's K Street buddies want their money back,' with one GOP lobbyist quoted as saying that "If I wanted to give to a legal fund, I would've done it directly."

'Evacuees Return for New Orleans Vote,' but not from as far back as one mayoral candidate, who has "some big hurdles to overcome."

April 7-9

Tuesday, April 11, 2006

'Murray Waas is Our Woodward Now,' declares Jay Rosen, who also gives kudos to the reporters at Knight Ridder's Washington bureau, including Jonathan Landay. Read an interview with Waas, who's mostly ignored by major papers, and see what a difference a day makes at the New York Times.

Contrasting President Bush's assertion that "I wanted people to see the truth" with what Lewis Libby told the Grand Jury about his meeting with Judith Miller, "Hardball's" David Shuster concludes that "it may have been the same selective use of intelligence to justify the war that was used to sell the war."

E.J. Dionne's naming of "just the right man to take the lead in breaking the spin cycle" is greeted with "some cynicism."

Insisting that Abu Musab al-Zarqawi is behind more than 90 percent of the suicide attacks in Iraq, Maj. Gen. Rick Lynch dismissed as "propaganda" a Washington Post report that a U.S. "propaganda campaign" inflated al-Zarqawi's role, saying that "Nothing could be further from the truth." Earlier: Lynch said to be "talking crazy talk."

The campaign included a "selective leak" of a letter allegedly written by al-Zarqawi boasting of foreigners' role in suicide attacks in Iraq, which led to a February 2004 front-page article in the New York Times, reporting that a man arrested in Iraq intended to deliver the letter to the "inner circle" of Al Qaeda's leadership.

President Bush spoke of the letter as recently as Monday, one day after the Times of London reported that Israeli military officials are riled about the Bush administration going public with a letter allegedly from Ayman al-Zawahiri to al- Zarqawi, that they claim to have passed to Washington last October on condition of strict anonymity.

"The President thinks Secretary Rumsfeld is doing a great job, having overseen two fronts in the global war on terrorism," says Scott McClellan, as the Wall Street Journal reports on the quiet opening of "a third front ... aimed at the rising threat from Europe."

The New York Times visits the Iraq Stock Exchange, to find that it has "lost almost two-thirds of its value in the past year," and ABC News commemorates the four day reign of Miss Iraq.

Arguing that the 'Situation in Iraq could not be worse,' Patrick Cockburn is "becoming convinced that the country will not survive," as an Iraqi general maintains that U.S. forces 'must stay 3-5 more years.' Plus: "Coalition of the willing" to take another hit?

Newt Gingrich calls the occupation of Iraq an "enormous mistake," but with regard to saving Iran, observes that "We're not using much of our Navy or Air Force." Earlier: "The right war ... the right decision."

The credibility of ''The Nuclear Power Beside Iraq' is said to have "almost reached the level of unspoken media premise that the 'Iraq has WMD' canard did a few years ago." Plus: Was Seymour Hersh played? He says no in an interview with NPR.

Before branding Hersh's Iran article "bad reporting," Weekly Standard Editor Bill Kristol "floated a trial balloon," charging that Patrick Fitzgerald "is now out to discredit the Bush administration." More Kristol, and Karen Kwiatkowski, on C-SPAN's "Q&A."

With "Another criminal scandal that reaches the White House," a new poll delivers 'An Election-Year Blow to the GOP,' but Wonkette wonders how "91 percent of voters have managed to divine a difference between Democratic and Republican plans for Iraq." Do the Democrats need a 'Contract'?

Exploring whether 'Hammer to Swing Again on K Street,' Congressional Quarterly reports that, if he can avoid criminal conviction, Rep. Tom DeLay "would cut an attractive figure in Gucci Gulch."

A columnist reviewing coverage of a gang rape story at Duke University calls for less sociology and more chivalry, but Lucinda Marshall calls for full funding for VAWA.

As 'Evacuees Roll Into La.' to vote, many on buses provided by ACORN, it's reported that 'Jim Crow Is in the Fine Print in New Orleans,' where the process of recovering bodies after Katrina "never really ended."

"$100 a head" A Phoenix talk show host volunteers on the air to "kill illegal immigrants as they cross the border," as "well over a million" take to the streets, and the editor of the Agribusiness Examiner chronicles "corporate agribusiness's dirty little secret."

A columnist ridicules the Media Research Center for including among the judges of its DisHonor Awards, those who are "primarily propagandists or entertainers who have no real standing as journalists ... Coulter, Limbaugh, Hannity, and Ingraham are entertainers and not very good at it either."

April 10

Wednesday, April 12, 2006

Knight Ridder quotes a political analyst in Tehran who "said he expects Tuesday's political fanfare will soon be followed by another announcement suspending all enrichment activities, as requested by the IAEA... 'They wanted this big ceremony to show that nuclear technology is not a goal - it's an achievement.'"

Contemplating 'Mutually Assured Dementia,' Billmon writes that "I don't think it's absurd to suppose that even an enormous war crime ... could get lost in the endless babble of the talking heads."

He also cites an AFP report that Saudi Arabia, which just announced plans to build the world's longest security fence, "has asked Russia to block any bid by Washington to secure UN cover for an attack" on Iran, where an old habit dies hard.

The Washington Post reports that two days before President Bush declared in May 2003 that "We have found the weapons of mass destruction," a secret Pentagon mission had informed Washington that the trailers of which Bush spoke were not biological labs.

Dropping the Bomb After Defense Secretary Rumsfeld called Iran "a country that has indicated an interest in having weapons of mass destruction," the AP reported Rumsfeld as having said that it's "'a country that has indicated' a desire to obtain nuclear technology."

Rumsfeld, reportedly "very irascible ... even more so than usual," also said of Iran, "obviously the president has indicated his concern about the country, but it is just simply not useful to get into fantasy land." Plus: 'Pentagon admits to surveillance of gay groups.'

'Wag the Camel' Maureen Dowd implores "the reality-based community of journalists" to "stay out of fantasy land, which is already overcrowded with hallucinatory Bushies," and Matthew Rothschild tallies 'The Human Costs of Bombing Iran.'

Amid speculation on 'Who would replace Rumsfeld?' Chris Floyd recalls 'The Slander That Launched Don Rumsfeld's Career.'

As the Phase II investigation 'grinds towards end,' Democrats say "the Committee has yet to interview any public officials about their statements" on Iraq's pre-war capabilities, Patrick Fitzgerald 'corrects' a "key judgement," and a Plamegate timeline is updated.

'Deaths of U.S. soldiers climb again in Iraq,' and John Nichols speculates that "one of the new prime minister's first moves will be to pull Italy's contingent of 2,600 troops out of Iraq."

A senior government official in "the worst city in the world" is quoted as saying that "as long as U.S. troops remain, the city will continue to deteriorate."

Robert Dreyfuss finds 'Hawk-Tied Democrats' calling for an escalation of the "global war on terror," while "some, such as Hillary Clinton, are ... trying to out-Bush the president in demanding a showdown with Iran."

Hoping to create a "groundswell" on immigration, "the GOP went on a racial offensive," writes Steve Gilliard, but although "their friends at CNN were eager to help," Lou Dobbs was "done for the day" after debating Maria Elena Salinas of Univision.

Although a talk show host later apologized for 'Going Ghetto' on Congresswoman Cynthia McKinney, Los Angeles Times columnist Erin Aubry Kaplan argues that he would not have "said what he said if he didn't feel there was a critical mass of people prepared to agree with him."

"There's enough money for everybody in the homeland security budget," reports the Washington Post, as the homeland undersecretary for preparedness, who "could have a side career as a standup comic," vows to "push the dollars out the door," as a Louisiana parish looks to hire a consultant.

GOP activist Grover Norquist, seeking a trademark on "K Street Project," reportedly vows to "sue anyone who says it wrong."

Alongside primetime cable coverage of "the brewing war on Easter," This Modern World commemorates 'The passion of the Hammer.'

Wild Pitch Video puts lie to reports in hometown paper suggesting that dirtball caused boos.

April 11

Thursday, April 13, 2006

Trailer Trash Talk The Washington Post's Joby Warrick reports on the White House's push-back against his article, including Scott McClellan's demand that media outlets "publicly apologize."

Sidney Blumenthal argues that President Bush is now entangled in a 'Slow-Motion Trap' of his own devising, and David Gergen says of the Bush administration, "they're in deep, deep trouble ... I think you can hear the quacking now."

"I believe we need a fresh start in the Pentagon," says one retired general, while another tells the Post that among his peers, he senses that "everyone pretty much thinks Rumsfeld and the bunch around him should be cleared out."

Glenn Greenwald finds an attack on the motives behind the 'Revolt of the Generals' to be a "symptom of what is likely to come," but Jeffrey St. Clair sees another kind of "civil war inside the Pentagon -- between the corporations."

Cindy Sheehan returns to Crawford for another protest, declaring pre-emptive victory for having "chased him away from his ranch," and an audience participation gambit leads to question: 'Why are Fox viewers choosing to ignore the good news in Iraq?'

News of a 'Cruel April in Iraq' "should have come as no surprise," reports UPI's Martin Sieff, as 'Shiites Ask: Why Convene ... Parliament?'

The big print giveth and the small print taketh away in a "gem" on Iran, where, it's reported, "State television was broadcasting non-stop images of nuclear sites accompanied by rousing patriotic music." Plus: First casualty logged?

The U.S. should be "talking to the Iranians about the full range of our relationship ... everything from energy to terrorism to weapons to Iraq," said former Deputy Secretary of State Richard Armitage.

As cracks are said to appear in both major Italian coalitions, Tariq Ali argues that "apart from Iraq, the real divisions between the mainstream parties of both coalitions are slight."

A New Jersey coroner rules that the death of a policeman who developed a respiratory disease after working at ground zero was "directly related" to 9/11, and a BBC report estimates that at least 15,000 people have medical problems stemming from the attacks. Earlier: 'They lied about 9/11's toxic air.'

'Going for Broke' Following Sierra's investigation into corporations using Chapter 11 to "slough off massive environmental liabilities," Sen. Maria Cantwell promoted legislation aimed at companies like copper giant Asarco that "exploit our bankruptcy laws to pass cleanup costs on to taxpayers."

"Rod and gun in hand," says an article in Field and Stream, Bush and Cheney have "unleashed a national energy plan that has begun to destroy hunting and fishing on millions of federal acres" and turned "vast tracts of the western United States into industrial landscapes."

After a FEMA trailer exploded in Slidell, with two Katrina survivors in it, a spokesperson advised other trailer residents to "contact FEMA immediately if they smell anything suspicious."

A company spokesman says, "we are not in a position to comment on matters of national security," after 'Documents Show Link' between AT&T and the National Security Agency in class-action lawsuit brought by the Electronic Frontier Foundation.

At a Vermont gathering, it was reportedly "hard to ignore the sight of two men on completely opposite ends of the .. political spectrum ... sitting side-by-side advocating a change in leadership based on a perceived erosion of civil liberties."

USA Today reports that "at least seven House Republicans who had vowed to leave Congress next year ... will be on the ballot in November," after having "second thoughts" about term limits, as GOP primary candidates go hardline on immigration.

David Corn finds '2008 Looking Like 1968,' with HRC as HHH, Sen Russ Feingold as the "modern-day McCarthy," and Sen. John Edwards "auditioning for the Bobby Kennedy role."

A Marine Staff Sgt. reportedly returned home from serving eight months in Iraq to find his name on the terror watch list, student protesters routed military recruiters on a California campus, and U.S. military bases welcomed minister's message that 'hip-hop is Satanic.'

Scroll down for Bill Nye discussing his talk at a Waco community college where some audience members walked out to protest his literal interpretation of scripture, including a woman who exclaimed "we believe in a God!" But a Waco Tribune columnist tells 'Science Guy, you're right.'

April 12

Friday, April 14, 2006

As the number of retired generals calling for Defense Secretary Rumsfeld's resignation continues to expand, and columnist David Ignatius joins the ranks, the president is said to believe that Rumsfeld is "doing a very fine job."

Alongside a sharp increase in the number of U.S. patrols in Baghdad, "from 12,000 in February to 20,000 since the beginning of March," the Guardian's Jonathan Steele reports that 'U.S. allies are behind the death squads and ethnic cleansing.'

Computer drives for sale at an Afghan bazaar reportedly contain details of "how Taliban and Al Qaeda leaders have been using southwestern Pakistan as a key planning and training base for attacks in Afghanistan." Also on the disks: photos said to be "too graphic to show."

Coverage of the war in Afghanistan is compared to "a PR service for the 'coalition' forces and the U.S.-backed Afghan government.

Molly Ivins hails an "instant classic" among lie defenses, Washington City Paper's Erik Wemple charts "the Washington Post editorial board's Iraqi quagmire," and a Post reporter says that "we try to avoid loaded words like 'lie.'"

Editor and Publisher reports that an album recorded in three days by Neil Young is said to include an anthem titled, "Impeach the President."

As USA Today highlights 10,000 antiwar tax resisters, in a year in which $2.15 billion in tax aid was reportedly "directed to faith-based groups for social services." Plus: A call to "lower income taxes and raise environmental taxes

The Black Commentator weighs in on 'The McKinney Affair,' decribing House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi's attempt to ensure that the star of "American Blackout" would "appear utterly isolated and alone." Plus: White flight on election day.

Surveying instances of "the ambush of Ms. McKinney," Ishmael Reed explains "How the Media Uses Blacks to Chastize Blacks."

"Vast sums of waste and misspent funds ... likely to top $1 billion and perhaps much more," are said to be cited in a Homeland Security Inspector General's report on the response to Katrina.

Two-thirds of economists surveyed by the Wall Street Journal vote 'Thumbs Down on Snow,' as 'Government spending hits record' and is tied to "clever GOP strategy for defeat."

'Super Sleaze Me' As McDonald's readies truth squads for war on "Fast Food Nation," a Fox News' business segment probes "why we try to tear down successful American companies."

The Rev. William Sloane Coffin, a former CIA employee who became an outspoken opponent of the Vietnam War and inspired a Doonesbury character, has died at 81.

April 13

Monday, April 17, 2006

Former U.N. ambassador Richard Holbrooke looks 'Behind the Military Revolt' and finds the most serious military-civilian confrontation since Truman fired MacArthur, and the Wall Street Journal quotes a retired colonel describing Defense Secretary Rumsfeld as "increasingly a spent force."

Interviewing former Gen. Bernard Trainor, "Countdown's" Keith Olbermann observes that "It's not 'Seven Days in May,' but six generals in April," one-time U.S. Marine Stephen Pizzo terms events "extraordinary," and BTC News asks: "Is the military assault on Rumsfeld about Iran, not Iraq?"

As it's reported that a 'New Worry Rises' about Iran's nuclear technology, Pope Benedict uses his first Easter sermon to call for an "honorable solution" based on "serious and honest negotiations."

Although Iran claims to have 40,000 ready and willing suicide bombers, the AP reports that even supporters of President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad are "starting to question his tactics," and an Independent' correspondent writes from Tehran that "behind the facade, the cracks are very real."

Media Matters finds that some of the media has "learned to stop worrying" and not even mention the bomb in the wake of Seymour Hersh's New Yorker article -- coverage of which is running neck and neck with a bear attack -- and Hullabaloo's Digby wonders if we're already at war.

With British Prime Minister Blair reportedly telling President Bush no on Iran strikes, "Blair fatigue" is said to have become "the dominant narrative in British politics," and it's 'heard' that "Blair has canceled an upcoming trip to America to avoid being photographed with Bush."

A "secular coalition" of Sunnis and Kurds is reportedly attempting to thwart Iraqi Prime Minister al-Jafari's bid for another term, as Iraq's ambassador to the U.S. says a new government "would not be necessarily based on the results of the election." Plus: An isolated construction boom in Baghdad.

As Iraq's parliament again fails to break "months of political paralysis," dozens more Iraqis die in sectarian violence and U.S. casualties rise sharply from March, on pace to make April the deadliest month for U.S. troops since last October.

Islamic Jihad claims responsibility for the first suicide bombing inside Israel since Hamas took power, while a Palestinian analyst argues that without significant Arab aid the pressured Hamas-led government could collapse, and the Economist examines 'The Last Conquest of Jerusalem.'

Editor & Publisher declares that "It's war" between the New York Times and Washington Post, following a Times' editorial headlined 'The Bad Leak.' Plus: 'Post ombudsman defended editorial's falsehoods as a difference in "views."'

David Sirota criticizes Democrats for relying in 2006 on a strategy which is "about nothing," and Nathan Newman explains why "so many folks don't trust liberal leaders."

As the San Francisco Chronicle editorializes, 'Don't undercut Internet access,' the Center for Digital Democracy's Jeff Chester explains in a two-part interview how Congress is trying to do just that.

With the "huge symbolic impact" of recent demonstrations still reverberating, economists tell the New York Times that illegal immigration has had "only a small impact" on the income of U.S. workers -- particularly compared with the long-stagnant minimum wage.

The Ugliest Americans? Business for Diplomatic Action, a corporate consortium including executives from Exxon-Mobil and McDonald's, has created a "World Citizens Guide" which advises Americans traveling overseas to 'Speak softly, don't argue and slow down.'

Although the White House said let's roll to LGBT families, they were reportedly 'moved from front of the line.'

One review of 'Stuff Happens,' David Hare's play about the run-up to the invasion of Iraq, notes that an audience member stood up and shouted, "Please, somebody tell me this is fiction."

April 14-16

Tuesday, April 18, 2006

As it 'Puts Pressure on Hamas' over a Tel Aviv suicide bombing that killed nine, Israel insists that it will not launch a military strike against Hamas, while warning of a new 'Axis of Terror.'

Sen. Joseph Leiberman tells the Jerusalem Post that the 'U.S. could attack Iran's nukes,' Steve Forbes sees an upside to war with Iran, Richard Clarke says Pentagon planning is "more than just ... saber-rattling," and retired Air Force Colonel Sam Gardiner insists that a military operation has already begun.

Iran claims to have thousands of suicide bombers ready to strike at "wily England" in the event of an attack by the West - but Britain has its own suicide problem.

As the idea of an Iraq "strategy" is again called into question and the sixteen words that led to war just won't go away, Juan Cole details the "predations of death squads," while noting a Knight Ridder report that the U.S. ignored warnings about the rise of Shiite militias.

With the Iraq war seen as a "