Agree? Disagree? Who cares, great commercial.

Brilliant at Breakfast

The ad, in which a white woman with blonde hair and bare shoulders looks into the camera and whispers, "Harold, call me," and then winks, was produced by Scott Howell, the former political director for Rove's consulting firm in Texas.

That's right, the ad blasted by everyone, from Bob Corker, the guy it's ostensibly promoting, to head of the RNC, Ken Mehlman, was done by Karl Rove's former right hand man, and paid for by the RNC.

Which had the balls to say it was produced by an independent organization and so they couldn't pull it.

They paid to get it made, paid to put it on the air, but couldn't pull it because they didn't produce it?

Rove Prot�g� Behind Racy Tennessee Ad, Controversial RNC Ad Against Harold Ford Jr. Produced By Rove Consultant - CBS News

I believe when you get attacked and somebody declares war on you, you fight back. And that's what we're doing.

Read that and then read it again. Iraq didn't attack us and they didn't declare war on us. Is anyone surprised (other than the White House which expected flowers and shit) that the Iraqis are trying to toss us back out?

George Bush and his coterie of cronies have done damage to our national security and our reputation in the world that, if we're lucky, might be repaired sometime around the year 2050. How bad is it? Reporters Without Borders has the United States squarely behind such luminary countries as Serbia, Bulgaria and Bolivia in their press freedom index. But hey, at least we're still ahead of Kuwait, Suadi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates... Oh, wait, those are our allies in the Middle East. We're dead last in the western world.

USNews.com: Nation & World: Transcript: The President's Interview with Print Media Columnists

But the 109th Congress is no mild departure from the norm, no slight deviation in an already-underwhelming history. No, this is nothing less than a historic shift in how our democracy is run. The Republicans who control this Congress are revolutionaries, and they have brought their revolutionary vision for the House and Senate quite unpleasantly to fruition. In the past six years they have castrated the political minority, abdicated their oversight responsibilities mandated by the Constitution, enacted a conscious policy of massive borrowing and unrestrained spending, and installed a host of semipermanent mechanisms for transferring legislative power to commercial interests. They aimed far lower than any other Congress has ever aimed, and they nailed their target.

It's sad that the best source for a comprehensive overview of the mess that is GOP run Congress comes from Rolling Stone, but I guess that also makes sense. When you're not digging into the fiasco du jour, you have time to look at the total picture.

Rolling Stone : COVER STORY: Time to Go! Inside the Worst Congress Ever

In a notice dated Wednesday, the Justice Department listed 196 pending habeas cases, some of which cover groups of detainees. The new Military Commissions Act (MCA), it said, provides that "no court, justice, or judge" can consider those petitions or other actions related to treatment or imprisonment filed by anyone designated as an enemy combatant, now or in the future.

The relevant section from Section 9 of Article 1 of the Constitution:

The privilege of the Writ of Habeas Corpus shall not be suspended, unless when in Cases of Rebellion or Invasion the public Safety may require it.

No Bill of Attainder or ex post facto Law shall be passed.

It seems to me that the two positions are in direct opposition, on multiple grounds, and when that is the case, the Constitution wins.

Nice try, but this one don't fly Il Dupe. It's called "Violating the Oath of Office," and it means, "move back to Crawford you piece of crap."

Court Told It Lacks Power in Detainee Cases - washingtonpost.com

President Bush discussed his policies with conservative radio hosts last month at the White House, including, from left, Mike Gallagher, Neal Boortz, Laura Ingraham, Sean Hannity and Michael Medved.

Check out the photo. Scary.

As Talk Radio Wavers, Bush Moves to Firm Up Support - New York Times

According to the source, Foley said he was being pressured by "the White House and Rove gang," who insisted that Foley run. If he didn't, Foley was told, it might impact his lobbying career.

"He said, 'The White House made it very clear I have to run,'" explains Foley's friend, adding that Foley told him that the White House promised that if Foley served for two more years it would "enhance his success" as a lobbyist. "I said, 'I thought you wanted out of this?' And he said, 'I do, but they're scared of losing the House and the thought of two years of Congressional hearings, so I have two more years of duty.'"

Nope, doesn't look like this one went according to plan at all.

Foley and Rove

Mehlman devised a cover-up for the operation. He told Kuo, "It can't come from the campaigns. That would make it look too political. It needs to come from the congressional offices. We'll take care of that by having our guys call the office to request the visit."

Kuo explains, "this approach inoculated us against accusations that we were using religion and religious leaders to promote specific candidates."

The more we find out the more offensive it gets. Misappropriation of government funds? Let's try subverting the democratic process. This is, again, criminal.

Crooks and Liars - Olbermann Exclusive: Dissecting new Book: Tempting Faith

"Charlie has obviously done an exceptional job, a really extraordinary job," said Marine Col. Dwight Sullivan, the Pentagon's chief defense counsel for Military Commissions.

Sullivan added it was "quite a coincidence" that Swift was passed over for a promotion "within two weeks of the Supreme Court opinion."

Quite a coincidence my ass. They're trying to say a guy in the JAG corps who WINS a case in front of the Supreme Court isn't one of the best people in that branch? That's an even bigger pile of bullshit than 1600 Pennsylvania Ave normally slings at us.

AP Wire | 10/08/2006 | Lawyer who defended bin Laden's driver denied promotion

A senior congressional aide said Wednesday that he alerted the House Speaker Dennis Hastert's office in 2004 about worrisome conduct by former Rep. Mark Foley with teenage pages -- the earliest known alert to the GOP leadership.

I smell chum...

cbs2chicago.com - Aide Says He Warned Hastert Of Foley 2 Years Ago