Poor Richard's Anorak

FlaBlog

FlaBlog

This is a good look at Jebby's desperate attempt to make Kerry look like an oil company lobbyist. Can you spell dishonesty?

Panel slams Diebold

USATODAY.com - Panel: Don't use Diebold touch-screen voting machines

In addition to the ban, panel members recommended that a secretary of state's office report released Wednesday, detailing alleged failings of Diebold in California, be forwarded to the state attorney general's office to consider civil and criminal charges against the company.

It's about time people wised up to the lying execs at Diebold. This corporation is a danger to American democracy. There is nothing more important than the integrity of the ballot, and they are breathtakingly arrogant in their disregard of this.

Diebold Election Systems is an affiliate of Ohio-based Diebold, Inc., a leading ATM machine maker supplying banks in North and South America.

[Thanks to Cursor for pointing out this article.]

Talking Points Memo: by Joshua Micah Marshall

Talking Points Memo: by Joshua Micah Marshall

And here you have the kernel of the problem with these folks: the combustible mix of poor judgment, a rich ideological fantasy life and pervasive disrespect for the rule of a law. It's a very dangerous combination.

Marshall is one of the finest journalists toiling away in the cauldron of Washington's rich soup of propaganda and obfuscation. He is outstanding at sorting it out and clarifying issues.

How Original . . . (washingtonpost.com)

How Original . . . (washingtonpost.com)

I hereby propose that the nation's editorial page editors ask at least these two questions of outside contributors: 1) Did you write this piece? 2) Are you a consultant, paid or not, to an organization or interest group with a vested interest in your column? I'm not advocating that editors bar from publication those who answer affirmatively, only that their connection and/or interests be disclosed in the author's bio.

William M. Adler is a journalist with a special interest in the nuclear industry. The way a PR arm of the nuclear industry was playing the newspapers reminds me of the way Cheney allowed energy industry moguls to write his energy bill.

[vial Frivolous and Calpundit]

Paul Krugman: What Went Wrong?

The New York Times > Opinion > Op-Ed Columnist: What Went Wrong?

Sure enough, the administration was unprepared for predictable security problems in Iraq, but moved quickly — in violation of international law — to impose its economic vision. Last month Jay Garner, the first U.S. administrator of Iraq, told the BBC that he was sacked in part because he wanted to hold quick elections. His superiors wanted to privatize Iraqi industries first — as part of a plan that, according to Mr. Garner, was drawn up in late 2001.

Why does this not surprise me?

South of the Suwannee

South of the Suwannee

Here is a list of the reverse Robin Hood tax manipulations by Jebby compiled by this excellent Florida blogger, South of the Suwannee. Scroll down to April 15th to see the breathtakingly corrupt Bush idea of tax relief.

Alterman's Comparison of Lies of Clinton and Bush

MSNBC - Altercation

Thanks to Eric Alterman for this scorecard, which would be funny if it weren't so tragic.

Let?s do a tally, shall we?

People dead from Clinton?s lie: 0
People dead from Bush?s: tens of thousands.

Cost to nation of Clinton?s lie, in dollars: 0
Cost to nation of Bush?s lie, in dollars: many hundreds of billions.

(Note: the seventy or so billion wasted by the Republican scandal machine chasing this one lie can hardly be blamed on Clinton.)

Reaction of world to Clinton?s lie: ?ho-hum?
Reaction of world to Bush?s lie: universal hatred, increased terrorism

Endless quagmires caused by Clinton?s lie: 0
Endless quagmires caused by Bush?s lie: 1

The New York Times > Opinion > Op-Ed Columnist: House of Broken Toys

The New York Times > Opinion > Op-Ed Columnist: House of Broken Toys

Maureen Dowd has written one of her best columns here.

Just as the Democratic president ducked behind the parsed line, "I did not have sexual relations with that woman," so the Republican president ducked behind the parsed line, "I have no war plans on my desk."

Eric Alterman

MSNBC - Altercation

Eric Alterman weighs in on the Presidential politics of Bush/Sharon:

Bush further endangered Americans all over the globe last week by embracing Israel?s occupation of the West Bank and overturning nearly four decades of policy on that score.? The Arab world, including the Iraqi people will hold Americans responsible for the occupation?s more brutal tactics, including the second murder of a Hamas leader on Saturday.? As war-supporter Fareed Zakaria observed over the weekend, ?As a result of this you're going to have rising anti-Americanism in Iraq.? And American troops are going to pay the price.?? (Ten more were killed over the weekend.)? While the administration may protest that it didn?t give Sharon a ?green light? to go for the kill, this is nonsense.? It has given Sharon a green light to do just about whatever he wants.? He knows that, and so he acts with perfect impunity and immunity. And more Americans and Israelis will die as a result.

AlterNet: IVINS: Making Progress in Iraq

AlterNet: IVINS: Making Progress in Iraq

As always, Molly Ivins has a perceptive reaction to the Bush rhetoric:

Meanwhile, back in the real world, the administration has announced its intention to make John Negroponte our first ambassador to postwar Iraq, to take up residence in what will be the world's largest embassy after June 30. Negroponte was one of the key figures in the Iran-Contra scandal, the cockeyed plot that sold American arms to Iran and used the money to finance an illegal war in Nicaragua. So, our first ambassador will be a man who armed Iraq's enemy during that war.

Negroponte speaks no Arabic, he is a specialist in covert operations in Latin America, and he has no Middle East experience aside from the Iran-Contra insanity. He is, however, a bona fide, certified, chicken-fried neo-con. Is anyone else appalled?

[via Alternet]