Parts I and II of Brad Friedman's report from the christening of the second wave of teabagging that has striked stricken struck set out across the country from this departure in Southern California.

Brad allows teabaggers to make their point (which is his point) in a very effective way: repeated invitations to enunciate, for example, the list of freedoms taken away under the Obama Administration, left embarrassing voids or the trailing ellipsis. 

BENEATH THE SPIN • ERIC L. WATTREE

Promoted. Originally posted 2009-05-18 23:02:38 -0500. -- GH

In a provocative April 20th post entitled "Of Black Holes and Radio Silence," Ms. de la Vega wrote:

George W. Bush has been keeping a low profile since leaving office; it's almost like a game of "Where's Waldo" -- his former VP has, in the meantime, emerged from his undisclosed location and has been terrorizing the populace through the airwaves.

Mmmmm...has anybody checked Cheney's man-sized safe...?

This is an Open Thread.

This evening, Bill Moyers interviewed William K. Black, the former senior regulator during the savings and loan crisis of the 1980s, who blew the whistle on the Keating Five (the U.S. Senators implicated in taking “gifts” from S&L bankster Charles Keating was convicted of racketeering and fraud in both state and federal court after his Lincoln Savings & Loan). Black is now an Associate Professor of Economics and Law at the University of Missouri, and the author of the recently released book, The Best Way to Rob a Bank is to Own One.

On Feb. 8th 2008, US Attorney Christopher J. Christie submitted a letter to the court in the matter of the United States vs Wayne Bryant.

In the letter USA Christie attacks the Political Profiling study that is being done by Donald Shields, Ph.D., stating the study is "deeply flawed and inherently unreliable".

This is the response from Dr. Shields.  As he explains the premise of the study and the methodology used, he evicerates USA Christie's arguments. Give it a read, then come back here to discuss.

For the Record: A Response to U.S. Attorney Christopher J. Christie's Brazen Critique of the Political Profiling Study of the Bush/Ashcroft/Gonzales DOJ

For additional reading, check out 2008 begins with new investigations into Fired U.S. Attorneys by Cho. After the flip, a short list of additional coverage by ePluribus Media on the political profiling and politicization of the Department of Justice.

Promoted. -- GH

"The only good union is a dead union!" Osama bin Laden stated in prepared remarks today.

DATELINE MUSCAT, OMAN: Another shocking revelation of anti-Union plotting and scheming today, but this time it was not CEO's of TARP Bailout recipient banks. 
The attendees?  Senior Al Qaeda management, including Osama bin Laden,
Ayman al-Zawahiri and over two dozen more senior managers.  It marked a
historic first time for so many senior managers from Al Qaeda to be in
one place at the same time. Under normal circumstances and for security
reasons, Al Qaeda leaders are not allowed within 50 miles of each other
but desperate times call for desperate measures.

Set in the sleepy seaside town of Old Muscat, a city that has seen
better days.  Over the centuries, Muscat has served as a seat of
government and a door way to trade between Asia, Africa and Eastern
Europe.  The walls of the old city look out over the bay like bleached
bones, preserved in the salt and dry air.  The people that remain here,
do so stubbornly, like the wild trees and bushes that eke out their
existence along the rocky shoreline, sandwiched between ocean and
desert, buffeted by wind and heat.  The old market is still here, but
only locals trade there.  Dubai, with its glimmering towers and huge,
modern port facilities has rendered Muscat into merely a side trip for
the curious.  The Al Qaeda leadership meeting here, would very much
like to avoid becoming another Muscat.

From the Washington Post, this rather discouraging tidbit:

A federal judge yesterday rejected the claim by a coalition of historians and nonprofit groups that Vice President Cheney intended to illegally discard some of his official records, and instead accepted the pledge of a senior White House aide that key Cheney documents and other materials will be transferred as required to the National Archives.

Emphasis mine.

Can you hear them laughing yet? Cheney even threw his back out, he was laughing so hard, and he's attending the inauguration in a wheelchair -- probably something else he'll be chuckling over, thinking that years later historians and citizens will see the poor bastard in a wheelchair and say "Oh, how can the people of the time be so mean to a decrepit old invalid?"

Well, they'll probably leave out the "decrepit" bit.

Friday night, Keith Olbermann recited the voiceover for video depicting the Bush presidency, calling it "eight years in eight minutes." I wasn't certain if it would be grandiose and over the top or not, but -- damn. Every data point hit. Nothing extra, and he caught a great deal of the disastrous data points, big and small.

Watch, and while you may weep for what our nation has been subjected to and reduced to, you can also be thankful that the long national nightmare is effectively over, and a time of reckoning and accountability is upon us if we are to restore ourselves to a whole, healthy democratic republic once more:

Transcript over the fold, snatched from the comment by True Blue Majority from within the dKos diary of thereisnospoon. The snatch was done with plenty of respect and genuine affection; no pixels were harmed in the process.

Repromoted by roxy ... Bye-Bye-Bush - originally published 2009-01-14 17:33:52 -1000

From YouTube:

Interesting take on the possible farewell address...it's a version I like much better than the one I'm expecting to hear.

The Power of One
by Nightprowlkitty, Docudharma, December 26, 2008
Crossposted at Docudharma, Daily Kos, My Left Wing, Open Left, The Sanctuary, OOIBC and ePluribus Media. If you wish to repost this essay you can download a .txt file of the html here (right click and save). Permission granted.

Give Bush and Cheney a fair trial -- something they have not bothered with since they stole office.

It's funny how the powers that be in the media and government are running around with their big fat excuses as to why we can't hold these criminals accountable for their crimes.  It all boils down to "It's too hard!!!"

It's too hard.  It would affect too many people.  It would interfere with the crucial work of restoring our economy.  Blah blah blah.  Not one of these folks say, however, that no crime has been committed, no law has been broken.  No one says that.

I find that stunning.  We all know, at least those of us who have been paying attention, that Bush and his crew of crooks have broken the law over and over again.

And Cheney says "What you gonna do about it?"  And Cheney says "oh, the Dems knew about this and approved it, hell they wanted us to be even tougher than we were!"

And we should believe Cheney ... why?

I don't want speculation any more.  I want the truth, the facts, what really happened.  Only a special prosecutor can get that information, someone who is inured to the politics of Washington D.C. by being given the independent power to investigate.

From July 19, 2008:

Hat-tip DailyKos for the pointer to John Cole for the video reminder.

Remember when George W. Bush was this popular?

Oh, wait -- nevermind.

This is an Open Thread.

Now crossposted to DailyKos and Docudharma.

The Daily News has obtained an exclusive photo of President George W. Bush shaking hands with Isaac Toussie's father;¹ the photo had been taken earlier this year. According to Daily News political correspondent Celeste Katz, it was not immediately clear whether the photo was snapped before or after Toussie's father made his April contribution of $28,500 to the Republican National Convention.

The timing of the picture -- both the appearance of it now, as well as whether it was taken before or after the hefty contribution -- could significantly add to the potential controversies that the Bush Administration and the Republican party have to worry about, particularly with regard to Bush's legacy.

Hypocrisy, thy name is GOP

The Bush-Toussie picture was first published exclusively on the New York Daily News; the Bush-Abramoff photo was found on Tennesseefree.com and was apparently originally posted on MSNBC.msn.com

Crossposted from DailyKos.

I had a thought -- something special for the transfer of power.  

The Send-Off

We could all line the streets on the day Bush departs, holding a shoe in our hands and clapping the heel against one hand...

But here's another thought -- a faceless video, one that drives home the point as well as the deadly, tragic failures of this administration.

Jump over the fold, read the thoughts, and add or amend in comments as the mood takes you. If you like the idea I opened with, too, remember to hold on to your shoes or boots -- you can donate 'em to the needy later, instead of losing 'em (and possibly incurring the wrath of law enforcement as well as a criminal record).

George W. Bush Belongs in Prison by Joel S. Hirschhorn

Electing Barack Obama president was the first step in redeeming American democracy. The second step must be indicting ex-president George W. Bush, giving him a fair trial, finding him guilty of many criminal acts and putting him in prison.

Forget revenge. Think rule of law and justice.