Of Lawrence Welk and Disappointments ... We Yield To Others This Evening ...

The Lawrence Welk Part

As the friends, and regular readers know, we have some cumbersome tasks that we deal with everyday on this end, and Saturday's always seem to add a bit more to it ...

For one, there's the unpredictability of energy - and the dementia - of my Aunt ... It can be smooth sailing, or, you hear every second of the clock tick off, in slow-motion ... Today was somewhere in-between ...

And, being Saturday means it's a "Lawrence Welk Evening" ... Having added over a year ago, a baby monitor to keep closer track of what is going on downstairs, the Champagne Music Man is the only thing that disrupts the endless blathering of TVLand ...

And tonight was a 2-hour Welk ... Including a retrospective on the entire band, and how they came into it (and every week, it makes me think of Lenny Bruce's bit, "The Sound").





The Disappointment Part

It's been 10-days now, and I haven't seen one report yet of the Citizen's Arrest The Garlic called for.

I mean, is it interrupting your summer vacation?

Allowing Bush and Cheney to roam, unindicted and unincarcerated, is just too much. They are both still dangerous, very dangerous, and the country is in peril.

Chiefly do to the above-mentioned Lawrence Welk part, I couldn't get enough time to finish writing a piece on what still needs to be done to clean up the Bush Grindhouse, and get this country back on track.

Look for it in the next day, or two.

Yielding To Others

Just one from the menu of items to take out Bush & Co. Think Progress has a wonderful post today;

The Ever Changing Definition of ‘Mission’ In Iraq

Over on The Reaction, two posts of note to look at.

First is Michael Stickings' pointing out Iraq's PM Nouri Maliki' charge of "international interference" as his excuse for the lack of that big wave of democracy that is supposed to sweep over the country ... Check out "Maliki's progress" ...

And there's Edward Copeland's "Everything may be held against them", talking about The Commander Guy's "executive privilege frenzy"


Salon's Joan Walsh sums up "Bush's worst day ever?" ...


While a Nobel Laureate adds her voice in calling for the Impeachment of the President.


Lastly, to end on a high note, podcasting will soon be coming from Barry Crimmins, which you can read about in "Two, two... two posts in one" (that includes a fine riff about "Uncle Phil and Dad - Wars Never End").

Minced Garlic - New Keith Olbermann Special Comment ... All hail the prophetic gut!

Last evening, we had another Special Comment, "All hail the prophetic gut!", from our anchor-hero, Keith Olbermann, on MSNBC's 'Countdown with Keith Olbermann'.

The gutless wonder, Secretary of the Department of Homeland Security Michael Chertoff, was the target and it was less rage, by Olbermann, and more, ohh, humor.

At various points, with Olbermann smiling and grinning, it appeared that he had to stifle just laughing outloud.

We riffed on this the other day, with a Top Ten Cloves: Other Things DHS Secretary Michael Chertoff Feels In His Gut, and, in noting The Commander Guy morphing into The Shakespeare Guy, while he launched another fear-laden Bushapalooza, we had to note that, it was a "Good thing Chertoff doesn't have arthritis - if his bones start aching, what does that mean - Armageddon?"

Olbermann came out swinging, not only hitting on Chertoff, but taking a sharp swipe at the Bush Grindhouse;

You have by now heard the remark — instantly added to our through-the-looking-glass lexicon of the 21st century, a time when we suddenly started referring to this country as “the homeland,” as if anybody here has used that term since Charles Lindbergh or the German-American Bund in 1940.

Michael Chertoff’s “gut feeling.”

A little further into the Special Comment, Olbermann recounted elements of his Watch The Video of his excellent "Nexus of Politics and Terror", rattling off;

We used to have John Ashcroft’s major announcements.

We used to have David Paulison’s breathless advisories about how to use duct tape against radiation attacks.

We used to have Tom Ridge’s color-coded threat levels.

Now we have Michael Chertoff’s gut!

And he brought it home with "only five possible explanations for Mr. Chertoff’s remarkable revelations", that being letting his gut replace policy and competence, leading off with;

"Firstly, Mr. Chertoff, you are, as Richard Wolffe said here the other night, actually referencing not your gut but your backside — as in, “covering it.” CYA."

After calling Chertoff a "hunch-driven clown", what else was left, but to give a hearty, Homeland salute.

"All hail the prophetic gut!"

Links

Watch The Video of Special Comment: Michael Chertoff's gut

Read Olbermann: All hail the prophetic gut!; Explaining Michael Chertoff’s counterterrorism stomach

"I'm aware of the fact that perhaps somebody in the administration did disclose the name of that person ..."

This may have to become a new, reoccurring feature

No shit, Dick Tracy!

It was Iraqi Iraqi Mid-Term Progress Report Day (Report Card Day comes in September), and, most likely, both the Bush Grindhouse and the Iraqi Government (well, whatever they are; Perhaps, if you have seen the movie 'Le Roi de Coeur' - King of Hearts - we can understand how the Iraqis modeled their parliament) were burning the phone lines, to get their stories straight.

It sure seems like the policy is "Well keep standing up, while they sit down".

In his press conference this morning, to crow about the possible, and slightly below 50%, positive marks, The Decider/The Commander/The Shakespeare Guy, answering the one and only question about his Quid Pro Quo bailing out of convicted felon, former Advisor to the President and Vice President Chief of Staff, I. Lewis 'Scooter" Libby, engaged in this startling response;

Q If I could just switch subjects for a second to another big decision you made recently, which was in the Scooter Libby case.

THE PRESIDENT: Yes.

Q You spoke very soberly and seriously in your statement about how you weighed different legal questions in coming to your decision on that commutation. But one issue that you did not address was the issue of the morality of your most senior advisors leaking the name of a confidential intelligence operator. Now that the case is over -- it's not something you've ever spoken to -- can you say whether you're at all disappointed in the behavior of those senior advisors? And have you communicated that disappointment to them in any way?

THE PRESIDENT: Michael, I -- first of all, the Scooter Libby decision was, I thought, a fair and balanced decision. Secondly, I haven't spent a lot of time talking about the testimony that people throughout my administration were forced to give as a result of the special prosecutor. I didn't ask them during the time and I haven't asked them since.

I'm aware of the fact that perhaps somebody in the administration did disclose the name of that person, and I've often thought about what would have happened had that person come forth and said, I did it. Would we have had this, you know, endless hours of investigation and a lot of money being spent on this matter? But it's been a tough issue for a lot of people in the White House, and it's run its course and now we're going to move on.

Quick, someone call the Webster Dictionary folks, and have them insert Bush's picture under the words;

Clueless
In Denial
Head Up One's Ass

Secondly, I haven't spent a lot of time talking about the testimony that people throughout my administration were forced to give as a result of the special prosecutor. I didn't ask them during the time and I haven't asked them since.

What the hell is this?

Is he inferring that Special Prosecutor Patrick Fitzgerald, somehow, in some way, coerced the testimony and statements implicating Cheney and Rove, and possible, himself?

Was he confusing Fitzgerald's method of conducting a lawful and legal investigation, following established U.S. laws and procedures, with the methods he has approved for interrogating prisoners at Gitmo and Abu Ghraib?

Does he believe that the "people throughout my administration" were tortured by Fitzgerald, therefore, the testimony they offered is unreliable and not to be believed?

" ... that perhaps somebody in the administration did disclose the name of that person ..."

Again, this in not some inanimate object.

We pointed out before that there was a real victim, a real person, that suffered terrible consequences as a result of "somebody in the administration did disclose the name of that person ..."

"That person" is Valerie Plame, now former, covert CIA Agent, exposed, thanks to Bush, Cheney, Libby and Rove.

The persons that leaked her name, exposed her, blowing her covert cover include;

• Dick Cheney
• Scooter Libby
• Karl Rove
• Ari Fleischer
• Ricard Armitage
• Robert Novak
• Matthew Cooper
• Judy Miller

Wake the fuck up there, The Decider/The Commander/The Shakespeare Guy!

You'll be getting us thinking. Talk like this will have us adding, derisively, "Sherlock Holmes Guy" to you and your self-produced moniker list.

Bonus Links

Glenn Greenwald - Excerpt from Chapter 4 of A Tragic Legacy: How a Good vs. Evil Mentality Destroyed the Bush Presidency

Garlictorial: Happy 4th of July ... Okay, It May Be Down To This .... Citizen's Arrest!

Bonus Links II

Crooks and Liars - Bush blames Saddam for the US attack of Iraq and says: “there is a war fatigue in America”

Bonus Links III

Joe Conason - It's finally time for Bush to answer questions about Libby; Why not start with releasing the transcripts of Bush and Cheney's interviews with special prosecutor Patrick Fitzgerald?

Washington Post: Commuting Libby's Sentence "Fair," Bush Says; For First Time, President Acknowledges Role of an Administration Official in Leak of CIA Operative

"Anyway, look, nobody has accused me of being Shakespeare, you know?"

Rough Day... Hot, humid and still reeling from the Michael Moore - CNN - Dr. Sanjay Gupta steel cage, no-holds-barred, my-sister-my-daughter, tussle ...

And what was with the Baseball All-Star Game last night ... Pimping Willie Mays around in a pink Cadillac? ... Throwing baseballs into the stands? ...I guess it comes down to, the "Say Hey Kid", even with the title of "greatest ever", you have to pay your own freight ...

But all this takes a back seat to the launching of the Summer 2007 Bushapalooza.

And the take-away, Quote-of-the-day?

"Anyway, look, nobody has accused me of being Shakespeare, you know?"

No shit, Dick Tracy!

Yeah, and nobody is accusing - or confusing - you with being a competent President, either.

Speaking in Cleveland yesterday (is there something about a president, plummeting to 29% approval, having to go to a city whose river once caught fire, to give a speech?), and The Decider/Commander/Shakespeare Guy banged the Sept 11th and al Qaeda drum like a certain toy rabbit selling batteries.

Now, was this meant to create his own line of fear, to obfuscate his accountability, or to try to dampen the bad news pouring out of the country he invaded and is occupying?

A verbal volley to to keep the members of his party from running out the back door?

Or, was it meant to compliment the Human Terror Alert, Secretary of Homeland Security Michael Chertoff, and his idiotic, gastronomic pronouncement that "I don't know, something might happen ... I got a feeling in my gut"

Good thing Chertoff doesn't have arthritis - if his bones start aching, what does that mean - Armageddon?

Don't Worry, Be Happy!

I don' know, it seems that the Good Ship Neocon is taking on water.

Maybe they're feeling the pressure. Or, perhaps they've had too much exposure to lead.

I mean, if we pull out of Iraq, and all goes to hell, what future president is going to run to the PNAC or AEI to get their war-mongering advice and Invade Any Country Starter Kit?

Just last Friday, Secretary of War Cheerleading, the Weekly Standard's William Kristol (or "Krazy Kristol" as Michael Stickings over on The Reaction likes to call him), in a Time Magazine Op-Ed, rolled out the emotional duct tape, blaming everything, from the Bush Grindhouse, to Bosnia to Rwanda to Afghanistan, saying our only problem was that "Today we're moody again ..."

And Iraq.

"The key question, of course, is the fate of Iraq. A decent outcome--the defeat of al-Qaeda in what it has made the central front in the war on terrorism and enough security so there can be peaceful rule by a representative regime--seems to me achievable, if we don't lose our nerve here at home. With success in Iraq, progress elsewhere in the Middle East will be easier. The balance sheet is uncertain. But it is by no means necessarily grim.

And that was backed up, by his fellow "Bring It On" cheerleader, Fred Kagan, of the AEI:

"The worst that can be said of [the escalation] at this point is that the results have been mixed. I frankly think the results are less mixed…We can argue about statistics, but at the end of the day, that argument is not going to get us anywhere right now. … Whatever you can say about the current strategy, it has not failed."

The Sunshine Boys

Then, enter this week, stage right, the tap dancing, fear mongering, "al Qaeda's everywhere" team of Chertoff and Bush

With the Republicans baling out on their titular party head, Iraq, and the rest of the area going up in smoke, Vice President distancing himself in some other branch of government, his commutation of Libby looking more like he is attempting to buy, at least, one friend, they'll be rolling out the props again ... It's Bushapalooza time!

If Kristol and Kagan don't push him along, the Congressional investigations and subpoenas will certainly give us more over-the-top rhetoric, more body parts of the DHS Secretary sounding alarms, more check-your-closets-and-under-your-beds for terrorists, more speeches, like the Cleveland one, of Bush threatening "your children and grandchildren".

Geez, too bad he isn't a Shakespeare guy ... There's enough comedy in this tragedy to make it interesting, though we're sitting, getting antsy, waiting for the final curtain to fall on this show.

Links

Eugene Robinson: "Resolute Amid the Wreckage"

William E. Odom: "Supporting the Troops" Means Withdrawing Them"

Keith Olbermann Video: "Impeach Bush, save the troops?"

Glenn Greenwald: "Our broken political discourse"


"One Brain ... One Gut ... Let's get together and feel all right ..."

Top Ten Cloves: Other Things DHS Secretary Michael Chertoff Feels In His Gut

News Item: Homeland Security chief warns of 'increased risk’; Chertoff bases 'gut feeling' on history, Al Qaeda statements

10. Michael Moore is totally wrong and a threat to our national security!

9. If we pull out of Iraq, al Qaeda will surely follow us home

8. Best to wait until the second generation of the iPhone before buying one

7. The President was absolutely correct to commute Scooter Libby's sentence

6. That Crony General Alberto Gonzales really didn't know about the FBI's Illegal Wiretapping civil liberties and privacy violations

5. Agree with NBC's David Gregory, it's only right that we should listen to Ann Coulter's messages

4. In such an emergency as a terrorist chemical or biological attack, Duct Tape will work very, very well

3. Has to side with Cheney ... VP not really part of the Executive Branch

2. Pretty sure the Simpons live in Springfield, Illinois

1. That he'd do really well on the new "Singing Bee" show

Bonus Links

Larisa Alexandrovna: The Devil and the Ouija Board

Videos of U.S. Homeland Security Secretary Michael Chertoff meeting with Tribune editorial board

Crooks and Liars: Chertoff should be fired

Bonus Links II

The Reaction: Fearmongering from the gut

Philadelphia Will Do: Rick Santorum Would Very Much Like It If You Blew Up And Couldn't Vote Democrat

Chairman Thompson Responds to Chertoff’s “Gut Feeling”


Heckuva a job there, Cherti!

MLB All-Star Game ... Get Your Handy Baseball Primer, Right Here!

Don't be left out this evening.

Maybe you're hosting or attending a Major League Baseball All-Star Game party ... You'll be around hardcore fans and you know jack-shit about baseball ... You're nervous, fear-filled sweat pouring off you, like a Senator caught with a hooker...

No way can you work your Blackberry discreetly, searching through baseball sites or Googling the lingo, so you can be hip and flow with the conversation ...

Well, fear no more ...

Just read The Garlic's legendary essay;
Could You Please Tell Me, What Is This Thing Called Baseball?

You won't blurt out anything like "why don't they call it 4th base", or wonder the big deal between a starting pitcher and relief pitcher ... You learn the difference between "dugout" and "bullpen" ... Designated hitter and pinch hitter ... And why a battery in baseball has nothing to do with a perpetually-moving toy bunny, banging a drum ...

Get ready to enter the riveting and arcane world of baseball.

Here's just a small sampling of the testimonials that poured in.

“As you may know, I had to make a pretty big decision this past weekend and your baseball piece really helped chill me out and relax – Thanks!”
Katie Couric , NBC Today Show ... CBS Evening News


“While I enjoyed reading your ‘Could You Please Tell Me, What Is This Thing Called Baseball?’, I fear it could fuel an upswing in illegal immigration, unless this government starts protecting our borders.”
Lou Dobbs, CNN


Since I’ve been in a letter-writing mode lately, thought I’d drop you a note to say how much I enjoyed the baseball essay and how much I learned from it. Perhaps, someday, we’ll have the game over here (and with the stadium lights powered by our new nuclear energy!)

Mahmoud Ahmadinejad
President of Iran

I am going to give you a scoop.

After recently reading your post “Could You Please Tell Me, What Is This Thing Called Baseball?” I just had to quit Rocketboom, so I could begin my new career in baseball right away!

Amanda Congdon
Former Internet News Star

Bonus Links

Breaking News! ... Baseball Bombshell Expands Steroid Scandal; Giants’ Bonds Tests Positive For Landis Testosterone; Cyclist Said To Be Kingpin Of Lucrative Doping Ring, Selling His Own DNA
Politics and Sports Collide; Paperwork Mix-Up Has Feingold Censuring Bonds and MLB Investigating Bush
South Dakota Not Waiting, Bans All Home Runs; MLB Mulling Changing Status Of Home Runs In Wake Of New Bonds Allegations
Second Palmeiro Bombshell: Tests Positive For Cialis
Wheaties Official Breakfast Cereal of MLB; Box To Feature Steroids; Drops Bombshell In Break From Tradition Established in 1934

Introducing The Reaction!

Good Morning Garlic Fans

We have news, of sorts, to relay to you and it's pretty good (well, I certainly think so).

Michael Stickings, founder and chief writer of the blog north of the border, The Reaction, has invited yours truly to join his ranks as a guest blogger.

The Reaction says it is "A liberal blog on politics, philosophy, and culture -- sustained by Socratic pretensions, Straussian undertones, and an Arnoldian dedication to human excellence."

What that boils down to is that The Reaction is one, kick-ass blog.

On any given day, Stickings, along with the co-and-guest bloggers, including Libbby Spencer, Capt. Fogg and Edward Copeland (who has a killer film blog of his own) can be informative, ranting, silly, thoughtful, musing, prescient, or just downright raging.

It could be riffing on current events, highlighting the evil of The Commander Guy, despairing over Darfur, entertaining, with illuminating posts, such as the reoccurring "Signs of the Apocalypse" and "Just another day in the life and death of Iraq".

Even without the conflict-of-interest status as a guest blogger, I strongly recommend that you bookmark The Reaction and add it to your daily or weekly reading.

You won't be disappointed.

Peace
JTD

Go To The Reaction

Oxymoron of the Day: Karl Rove at an Idea Festival

Okay, Okay, I know, I know ... We could leave off the "oxy" part ...

Kind of had to do a double-take ...

A Smear Festival ... A Lying-About-Going-To War Festival... A Character Assassination Festival ...An Election-Rigging Festival ... A Covert CIA Outing Festival ... A U.S Attorney-Firing Festival ... A Math Festival ...

Those would be more plausible ... But an Ideas Festival? ...

Knock yourself out ...

Links

Karl Rove Gets Cheered and Jeered in Aspen

Rove Wins Hearts and Minds in Aspen

Rove takes questions on Iraq, CIA case

Rove speaks

Bonus Links

Rove Doing His Part to Help Shape a Positive Legacy for Bush

New book alleges Rove held secret Abramoff meetings; Stepfather's gay life explored

White House In Crises, As Rove Takes Credit For North Korean Nuke Test; Sources Say ‘Bush’s Brain” Weary From Sinking Polls, Fundraising; Too Tired To Come Up With New October Surprise

Trick Question - Which one is the brain?

For All We Know, Maybe Scooter Did Throw A Hissy Fit ... The Results - The Garlic's Weekly Poll

Move over Tenet, there's another lackey that's going to get his ...

At least, that is, if our Garlic Poll voters were advising The Commander Guy.

But wouldn't have been so sweet, to see the Scooter Man, tears running down his cheeks, slumped down in the back of the limo, crying out for his "Cheney, Cheney" ... And scaring the bejeezes out of television viewers, Mary Matalin with a screeching tirade on how unfair it was that Scooter had to go to jail ...

Ahhh, but that could only be a thought ... The reality came thundering down in the Quid Pro Quo delivered last week.

Who knows ... The Medal of Freedom could still be in the cards for Libby ...Some of the other guys who hatched this thing - now up to 4,000 casualties - already got one ... I mean, why should he be singled out as one of the only screw-ups not to get it?

Underlying Crime? ... Take Your Pick ...

The Results - The Garlic's Weekly Poll July 2 - July 8 2007

Instead of giving Scooter Libby clemency, President Bush Should Have ...

1. Treated him like others and award Libby the Medal of Freedom Tally 38%

2. Told him to throw a hissy fit, like Paris Hilton, so he could get House Detention Tally 26%

3. Handed him a Presidential Toothbrush for his prison stay Tally 23%

4. Pull some strings and let him serve his time in same prison as Jack Abramoff Tally 13%

This week’s Poll - President Bush believes that Executive Privilege is ...

Scroll up to the top right corner to place your vote

Retro Garlic: Sorry Rita, We Tried ... 7 New Wonders of the World Chosen

We don't know how close the voting was ... Maybe you were in it, fighting neck-and-neck ...

But, alas, Rita Cosby, you got pushed out - again.

The new 7 Wonders of the Worlds were announced and our daring and dashing news gal didn't make the cut, as The Garlic reported back in March 2007, that she still had a shot.

The Winning Wonders included;

• Chichén Itzá, Mexico
• Christ Redeemer, Brazil
• The Great Wall, China
• Machu Picchu, Peru
• Petra, Jordan
• The Roman Coliseum, Italy
• The Taj Mahal, India

Perhaps it was the Olbermann comment, but we thought that would win you some sympathy votes.

Your dogged pursuit of former JonBenet Ramsey murder suspect John Mark Karr surely must have brought some people over to your side of the column.

First you had "The Voice", then, inexplicably, you didn't.

And if only Dan Abrams didn't get cold feet, and launched that 24-Hour Anna Nicole Smith channel, you'd be sitting mighty pretty.

No response from Cosby, or her representatives, on not becoming a new World Wonder, or the speculation that Cosby will parlay her efforts into going after a new 7 Wonders of Nature title.

Links

7 New Wonders of the World Chosen











Dogged Pursuit but no title