Bernie Kerik ... This Is Your Life!

Paul Kiel, over on TPM Muckraker, has taken on the role of Ralph Edwards this morning, offering a delicious rendition of "This Is Your Life" for Bernie Kerik (and let's not forget, staying in-theme here, Edwards also hosted "Truth or Consequences").

Check out TPM's Ultimate Kerik Scandal List!

It's a comprehensive list of the work of America's Cop, aide and confident to, America's Mayor.

Have fun and talk amongst yourselves ...

Bonus Bernie Links

ABC News: Bernard Kerik: America's Cop Indicted; Federal Grand Jury Indicts Kerik on Various Corruption Charges

Joe Gandelman: 14 Counts Kerik Indictment Becomes Giuliani’s Political And Pardon Problem

Josh Marshall: Cash-N-Kerik

Surprise, Surprise! ... Rove Blames - Can You Guess - The Democrats!

In the eerie, suspenseful Charles Laughton classic, "The Night of the Hunter", Robert Mitchum (yes, playing the bad guy), has tattooed on his knuckles the words "Love" and "Hate".

Has anyone checked Karl Rove's paws?

If he was to be emulating Mitchum, undoubtedly, he would have "Hate" and "Hate" on his.

The Turd Blossom has stuck his bloated cranium out today, penning the Sunday morning news show talking points, err, excuse me, an Op-Ed in Ruppert Murdoch's Wall Street Journal today, under the banner of "Opposite of Progress";

A Failure to Lead; The Democratic Congress is more interested in acting out than in taking positive action.

Hmmm ... Seems like that title "A Failure to Lead" could be applied, more aptly, to his former boss.

And, let's take another wild guess here, that this leaker of Valerie Plame will be all over Fox News today, dishing out the caveats of his diatribe like happy soup.

It's a rambling laundry list that everything, and I mean everything, that is wrong in our country today, the blame lies at the feet of the Democratic-controlled Congress.

And, boy, is he still pissed that his "New Math" failed so miserably in last years' Mid-Term elections;

"The Democratic victory in 2006 was narrow. They won the House by 85,961 votes out of over 80 million cast and the Senate by a mere 3,562 out of over 62 million cast. A party that wins control by that narrow margin can quickly see its fortunes reversed when it fails to act responsibly, fails to fulfill its promises, and fails to lead."

Hey, Turd Blossom, you lost, get over it.

But that's a pretty good epitaph you have there - for the Republicans;

" ... Quickly see its fortunes reversed when it fails to act responsibly, fails to fulfill its promises, and fails to lead ..."

And, your former boss, partly due to your advice and counsel, partly due to your warped, partisan policies, will be going down in history, in infamy, as the worst U.S. President ever.

Only, Turd Blossom, if you were to write an Op-Ed of The Commander Guy, you'd have to fly it under a banner titled "Opposite of Competent".

Bonus Mr.-Five-Times-Before-The-Grand-Jury Links

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

Are Rove's Missing Emails the Smoking Guns of the Stolen 2004 Election?

Rove Decries ‘Nutty’ ‘Vitriolic’ Bloggers Who Spew ‘Bad Words’

Developing Story! Rove Has Gone From “Bush’s Brain” To “Bush’s Drain”; 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

Oxymoron of the Day: Karl Rove at an Idea Festival

Was The Mukasy Vote Part Of That Rovian New Math?

When throwing someone out of the room can often be called giving them the "bum's rush", what kind of bum or rush is it when they're rammed through the door?

Many a Senate Democrat called for giving New Attorney Crony Michael Mukasey the bum's rush, but, as has been their habit, they caved (thank you again Chuck Schumer and Diane Feinstein), while their Republican colleagues rammed him home - and without their pet 60-vote rule;

Senate Confirms Mukasey By 53-40

Salon's Glenn Greenwald showed up the MSM, with his post today "What happened to the Senate's "60-vote requirement"?"

"The so-called "60-vote requirement" applies only when it is time to do something to limit the Bush administration. It is merely the excuse Senate Democrats use to explain away their chronic failure/unwillingness to limit the President, and it is what the media uses to depict the GOP filibuster as something normal and benign. There obviously is no "60-vote requirement" when it comes to having the Senate comply with the President's demands, as the 53-vote confirmation of Michael Mukasey amply demonstrates. But as Mukasey is sworn in as the highest law enforcement officer in America, the Democrats want you to know that they most certainly did stand firm and "registered their displeasure."

And Greenwald uses a great quote from Steve Benen, of The Carpetbagger Report, in his post "The GOP — Grand Obstructionist Party".

I won't spoil it for you here, but there's another great line from it;

"In April, Sen. Trent Lott (R-Miss.) said, “The strategy of being obstructionist can work or fail … and so far it’s working for us.”

So much for those great Republican leadership qualities.

It's a good read, and it nails the caving Democratic Congress to a cross.












The Cavingcrats

Good Post Alert - Barry Crimmins' "Good stories, told well"

While most of the press is concentrating on which celebrity delivered donuts to the picket line, or, that celebrity who is carrying a picket sign, you might come away from these reports without realizing that a real life struggle is taking place.

We talk, of course, about the Writer's Guild of America's strike, against the Alliance of Motion Picture and Television Producers.

Another attempt to screw the television and movie writers out of hard-earned income, the people who, historically, have continually had their employment roles firmly written to the bottom of the money pile.

Well, fear not, there is an article of substance out there, and it's Barry Crimmins, in true Hollywood fashion, riding in on the white steed to slap down the bad guys.

"As bad as television seems, what's good about it hinges on quality writers. Writing has always been hard work but it's become much more difficult over the last twelve years because the networks now own big chunks of all the shows they air. Nitwit suits are leaving their greasy paw prints on every phase of production. If these useless parasites were eliminated from the workforce, things would only get better and plenty of cost would be cut."

Check out his Good stories, told well

And, whether is is financial, baked goods, a cold drink, or honking your car horn as you pass the picket lines, throw your support to the writers.

You'll feel good about it, especially when you see - hopefully - less moronic reality shows on the boob tube in the coming future.

Visit Barry Crimmin's website

Other Barry Crimmins on The Garlic


Bonus Strike Links

Gabriel Spitzer: Ouch! Remembering the 1988 writers' strike; Nasty set-to from which TV never recovered

Scott Collins: A writers' strike nobody wants

Richard Verrier and Claudia Eller/Los Angeles Times : Countdown to a walkout; A fateful e-mail from the union's East Coast branch abruptly halts a final attempt to broker a deal.

Hot Dog and Hee Haw! ... Guess What We Got Today!

If Frank Capra were making his iconic holiday move "It's A Wonderful Life" today, George Bailey would, in his surreal whirl around Pottersville, end up being kidnapped, extraordinary renditioned and branded as an enemy combatant.

The flourishing democracy of Pakistan is up in flames, and, we sit on the eve of the new FISA Bill, with The Commander Guy's order for immunity for the telecommunication companies still on the front-burner, and there was that little business of Cheney's impeachment that, mistakenly leaked into the mainstream news (but only derisively, as if it was a joke that, at least one member of Congress, wants to hold the Executive Branch accountable to the Constitution).

So, what do you suppose we get today?

If you said "A new terror threat warning" you'd be right on cue for a big Bedford Falls "Hot Dog!" and "Hee-Haw!"

Shopping malls in Los Angeles and Chicago, in this go-around.

And it goes to show how discombobulated the Bush Grindhouse is.

It's a given, their going to play the "fear card", but pointing at shopping malls, and during the holiday season?

I thought, to get past September 11th, to blot out the horrible terrorist attack, we were supposed to go shopping?

How can it be that, now, if we go shopping, we might be blown up? Well, at least those of us who live in LA or Chi-Town.

Yes, it's another one of those warning with the all-important "but", that goes to great pains to convey that the information may not be credible.

The bulletin acknowledges that U.S. intelligence officers are uncertain as to whether the information is real, and intelligence officers say there is a concern that it could be "disinformation."

Which Joe Gandelman, over on The Moderate Voice (after his opening of "There’s yet another warning about a planned Al Qaeda attack in the United States — and the danger is that the political contamination of the terrorism issue, the perceived use of it by the Bush administration in past elections ...") notes;

It’s this constant “oh by the way” that is lessening the impact of these alerts because part of the public has stopped believing them (the part that feels the administration took Fox News consultant Dick Morris’ advice and played the security card in elections) and part of the public that won’t pay much attention until and unless there is an attack because too many alarmist news stories increasingly lose their sense of urgency"

And here's this gem, from ABC, about this imminent, possible, holiday shopping mall terror threat;

Law enforcement officials tell ABCNews.com that the FBI received the information in late September and declassified it yesterday for wide distribution.

Even if we say that they got it on September 30th, at 11:59PM, that makes it nearly six-weeks before that let it out of the bag?

I guess that makes sense.

Too late to use it as a chilling threat on the "Back-To-School" shoppers and, to blare it out, dripping with fear, for Halloween, well, that would only discourage the candy shoppers.

So, perhaps, our movie will end, when Zuzu hears the bell ring, she'll say "Daddy, teacher says that whenever a bell rings, that means President Bush has issued another terrorist threat" and the copy of "The Adventures of Tom Sawyer" will carry the inscription "No President Is A Failure Who Issues Bogus Terror Threats".


Bonus Hot Dogs and Hee Haws

Logan Murphy/Crooks and Liars - Olbermann: Bush Used Bogus Terror Threat to Scare Votes for FISA Bill

Steven Benen/The Carpetbagger Report: On eve of telecom vote, AT&T whistleblower steps up

If The Telecoms Get Amnesty, Will Reporters or Photographers Be Jailed For Reporting It?

Editor's Note: No Drum-Banging Rabbit Around Here

Good Evening Garlic Fans

Lo Siento, as there hasn't been any posts today (and none coming in this final hour).

Tough day on the homefront, including follow-up doctor visit for the Aunt, has left this writer drained, and energy-less (not to mention not being able to kick-start the creativity end of things).

And that means (hopefully) a productive day tomorrow ...

Still have rage over Nancy OffTheTable and Stagnet Hoyer ... The New French President is back on these shores ... And the Bush Grindhouse's fictitious Freedom Train running off the tracks in Pakistan offers so, so much to get into ...

And, if you're wondering why the Bush Regime isn't anything like the Nixon Titantic, it's become breathtakingly simple;

No Bagmen!

Spencer Ackerman/TPMmuckraker: U.S. Aid to Musharraf is Largely Untraceable Cash Transfers

Damn You, Nancy OffTheTable and Stagnant Hoyer!

Now let me get this straight ...

Dennis Kucinich introduced a resolution to impeach Vice President Dick Cheney, and the Democratic Leadership buried it?

Even after, in their smug, arrogant manner, the Republican Minority said "Sure, let's debate it"?

My God, what the hell is this? Another meeting of The Blank Check Club?

Does Nancy OffTheTable and Stagnant Hoyer have any concept of what the hell is at stake?

Especially and doubly odious, being it's the year-anniversary of the Dems taking the elections, and the majority, back in Congress.

This is like Ernie Banks saying "It's a beautiful day ... But I don't feel like playing any baseball", or John Cameron Swayze giving up and not testing to see if the Timex would still be ticking after taking a licking... Veteran and legendary anchorman Walter Cronkite admitting "I have no idea the way it is"

What cowards.

Yes, there are a boatload of important matters the Congress needs to deal with.

The invasion and occupation of Iraq ... Healthcare ... Immigration ... The economy ... Etc, Etc, Etc ...

And while The Garlic is usually hip, and cheering on Jeralyn Merrit, over on TalkLeft, but her "...The time to impeach, if there was one, was after we learned Bush and Cheney lied about getting us into war in Iraq. It's too late now and counterproductive." is off-the-mark.

Bush, Cheney and their henchman are still lying, piling lie-after-lie, on Iraq, while going into "Lie Reruns" with trying to get us into another quagmire, in Iran.

And another big lie - that bastion of democracy, Pakistan - is turning back on them to bite them in the ass ...

While we're at it, let's mention, to put on the menu, sort-of-speak, the treasonous exposure of Valerie Plame , or the firing of the U.S. Attorneys (and the complete corruption of the Department of Justice) ... The Torture Policy ... The Signing Statements...

It is far from counterproductive to hold the elected officials of this country - and yes, these two criminals weren't exactly elected -accountable for their crimes and misdemeanors.

Letting Bush and Cheney off-the-hook now, leaves every future administration off-the-hook, after they've black-jacked the Constitution, replacing it with their own whims.

No, it should be, exactly, the business of this Congress to begin the Articles of Impeachment of this dynamic duo. It's not too late and it's not counterproductive.

In fact, it is, quite likely, exactly what is needed to go towards restoring the image, and the integrity, of the United States.

To show our allies, the world, that our Congress hasn't turned its' back on The Constitution the way the Executive Branch has, and that they will do their constitutional duty to protect this country, from enemies abroad - and enemies within.

Hey, Nancy OffTheTable and Stagnant Hoyer, take a cue from Mr. Cub, Ernie Banks;

"It's a beautiful day ... Let's impeach two!"


Bonus Impeachment Links

Dennis Kucinich: Kucinich Will Introduce Privileged Resolution To Force Up Or Down Vote On Cheney Impeachment

David Swanson/AfterDowningStreet: Kucinich's Resolution Survives Tabling Attempt, Is Referred to Committee

Larisa Alexandrovna/AtLargely - Bruce Fein: Impeach Cheney

Wil S. Hylton: THE PEOPLE V. RICHARD CHENEY - Resolved, that Richard B. Cheney, vice president of the United States, should be impeached for high crimes and misdemeanors and that these articles of impeachment be submitted to the American people

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














How's about hugging your constitutional responsibilities?

Top Ten Cloves: Things Overheard Backstage at Saturday Night Live, With Brian Williams Hosting

News Item: Brian Williams, Showing That An Anchor Can Be Light

10. I thought Katie Couric was hosting

9. Is he the one that always ends his show with "And that's the way it is ..."?

8. Please, someone, keep him away from me ... He's been non-stop with the "pointers" for Weekend Update

7. I heard he does a killer Rita Cosby impersonation

6. Is he hosting to help our ratings, or is his hosting supposed to help his ratings?

5. I heard, if he's really bombing, the network is going to cut us off with a "Breaking News Bulletin" and he bugs outta here ...

4. Is he the guy with the Harlem restaurant thing?

3. I think he's confused ... He keeps asking where "Earl" is ...

2. He got kind of pissed off when I asked him how come he doesn't do that "Where In The World" thing, like Matt Lauer

1. I thought Tom Brokaw was hosting













Williams got to host Saturday Night Live, only after beating General Wesley Clark and Senator Chuck Hagel in a bare-knuckles fistfight, winner-gets-to-host competition

Minced Garlic: New Keith Olbermann Special Comment - Kicking Ass and Taking Names!

Keith Olbermann did a Special Comment this evening, but a ass-whuppin' broke out!










Timing it for the eve of the Senate vote on The Commander Guy's Attorney General nominee, his new Fredo, Michael Mukasey, MSNBC 'Countdown' anchor Keith Olbermann served up a blistering smackdown of The Decider Guy, not stopping short of, but, with steam coming out of his ears, labeled - correctly - our country's leader a criminal.

Using the revelation from last week, of former U.S. Acting Assistant Attorney General Daniel Levin research into torture, and allowing himself to be waterboarded (and,upon offering that opinion to the Bush Grindhouse, that it was, indeed, torture, Levin was promptly fired), Olbermann pounced on the Texas weed-whacker, right out of the gate;

Finally tonight, as promised, a Special Comment on the meaning of the story of former U.S. Acting Assistant Attorney General Daniel Levin.

It is a fact startling in its cynical simplicity and it requires cynical and simple words to be properly expressed:

The Presidency of George W. Bush has now devolved into a criminal conspiracy to cover the ass of George W. Bush.

All the petulancy, all the childish threats, all the blank-stare stupidity;

All the invocations of World War Three, all the sophistic questions about which terrorist attacks we wanted him not to stop, all the phony secrets;

All the claims of executive privilege, all the stumbling tap-dancing of his nominees, all the verbal flatulence of his apologists...

All of it is now -- after one revelation last week -- transparently clear for what it is: the pathetic and desperate manipulation of the government, the re-focusing of our entire nation, towards keeping this mock president, and this unstable vice president, and this departed wildly self-over-rating Attorney General -- and the others -- from potential prosecution for having approved or ordered the illegal torture of prisoners being held in the name of this country.

And he threw a few haymakers at Congress (and singling out the two caving Democrats, Schumer and Feinstein), reminding them that "... they should look into their own committee's history and recall that in 1973, their predecessors were able to wring even from Richard Nixon, a guarantee of a Special Prosecutor (ultimately a Special Prosecutor of Richard Nixon!), in exchange for their approval of his new Attorney General, Elliott Richardson."

In a perfect world (or a Frank Capra movie), every Senator and Congressman that shows up for work tomorrow would say Olbermann was right, and, in swift, successive actions, shoot down Mukasy and draw up the Articles of Impeachment for the Dynamic Duo that sits in the Oval Office.

Or, someone, a member of Congress, a concerned DOJ employee, even a average Joe from Main Street USA, would pick up on The Garlic's call from this past Fourth of July, and make a Citizen's Arrest.

Read Special Comment: The presidency is now a criminal conspiracy

Or, you can watch the video


Special Comment: On waterboarding and torture

If The Telecoms Get Amnesty, Will Reporters or Photographers Be Jailed For Reporting It?

Think, for a moment, if your favorite journalist, be it Frank Rich, Juan Cole, Sidney Blumenthal, Dana Priest, Thomas Ricks, Murray Waas (and, okay, if you're in the Freakshow, or a Dittohead, Bill O'Reilly, Ann Coulter, Sean Hannity, William Kristol, and the drug-taking cheeseburger himself, Rush Limbaugh), or a hard-working, risk-taking American photographer, was taken into custody by a foreign government, under the "suspicion" of being a terrorist, or aiding the terrorists, imprisoned, without formal charges being made, denied due process, access to a lawyer and their day in court.

Think about the explosion of outrage, and the marshaling of thousands, to right this horrible, unjust, wrong.

The country would come to a near stand-still, and there'd be wall-to-wall, Baby-Jessica-in-the-well, media coverage

Well, this is exactly what our government is doing - jailing foreign journalists in the name of the War on Terror - perhaps, mostly for they don't like what they are writing, or the photographs they are taking.

Salon's Glenn Greenwald has an excellent post today, detailing two such instances (and, in the process, the smearing of an elected member of the U.S. Congress), with;

Only America-hating traitors believe in due process for journalists












And, what we could have done as one of The Garlic's "Degrees of Separation", as we have our former, warbling Attorney General penning a New York Times Op-Ed, calling for letting the telecommunications companies off the hook of the lawsuits for their illegal spying and wiretapping, because ...

That Bush Grindhouse classic - People will die!

Seems that John Ashcroft, with his "Uncle Sam on the Line" wants to extend his placing of sheets beyond naked statues, and start draping them over the U.S. Constitution and our Congress.

I suppose, first off, Ashcroft doesn't see the comic irony of calling his essay "Uncle Sam on the Line", because, for millions of Americans, over the past six-years, we have had "Uncle Sam on our phone lines" and, of all the treasonous things, some want to hold the telecommunication companies, and the Bush Grindhouse, accountable for their conducting illegal surveillance.

Ashcroft paints a picture of doom if persons illegally wiretapped are allowed to sue the telecoms.

And he argues it with this gem;

"Longstanding principles of law hold that an American corporation is entitled to rely on assurances of legality from officials responsible for government activities. The public officials in question might be right or wrong about the advisability or legality of what they are doing, but it is their responsibility, not the company’s, to deal with the consequences if they are wrong."

The old "Trust Us" is to be applied here.

Wasn't that knocked down, when Harry Truman, under different circumstances, tried to nationalize the steel industry under the umbrella of "national emergency"?

Or maybe Ashcroft is simply thanking AT&T, Verizon and others "for their lovely Christmas gift - a solid gold telephone."

And it's pretty daunting what the Singing Attorney General glosses over in this "patriotic" call for Congress to do the proper duty.

Empty Wheel, over on The Last Hurrah, nails it;

And of course, Ashcroft makes no mention of the period when the program was not authorized by the AG, but was instead authorized by the White House Counsel. Such authorization is not legal, not under the law as written. While the telecoms may not be in the position to assess the honesty of the Bush Administration representations, they surely knew in March 2004 that Alberto Gonzales was not the AG, and that any authorization given by him was not worth the paper it was written on."

If we had, instead of an eagle, a National Canary, as the symbol of our country, the icon of our democracy, the poor, little thing would be lying, feet-up, at the bottom of it's cage by now, probably fragged, by the likes of patriots like John Ashcroft.

And that leaves us all, deep in the mine of democracy, with these type of patriots telling us to follow their light.

Bonus Freedom and Democracy Links

Let the Eagle Soar - Music and Lyrics by John Ashcroft

Rachel Morris: Prisoner 345 - What happened to Al Jazeera’s Sami al-Haj

Kevin/LeanLeft: Someone Else Bin Laden Has Beaten

Good Post Alert: Shaun Mullen and The Legacy of Paul Tibbets,The Enola Gay & Separating the Warrior From the War

It was an obituary noted in the news last week, no big fanfare or outcry.

It was much more a typical, perfunctory, historical notation of a significant figure of another era who has passed away.

No editorials, or flaming rhetoric ... No tying him into our ongoing invasion and occupation of Iraq.

I learned of Paul Tibbits, and the Enola Gay, oh, back in the 5th or 6th grade and it was one of those things that stuck with me.

Much like Tenzing Norgay, the Sherpa guide who peaked Mount Everest with Sir Edmund Hillary.

Just one of those esoteric, arcane facts absorbed as a youngster that managed to find safe haven in the depths of my memory (and to be pulled out to win bar bets, or gloat when coveting the Trivial Pursuit pie, the only one to know the answer)

But there was always a certain fascination with Tibbits.

He was a mystery man and the Enola Gay loomed larger than the Spruce Goose.

What was he like? How could he do it? The Enola Gay, where did that name come from? What was it like to release the bomb? What was it like to see the destruction it caused?

As I got older, every so often (typically around August 6th), I would dredge up those thoughts about Tibbits, more facts and info acquired about him, but the fascination and mystery, the youthful awe, remaining intact.

Shaun Mullen, over on his blog, Kiko's House (as well as cross-posted on The Moderate Voice, who we are encouraging you to vote for in the Weblog Awards), has a great account of Paul Tibbits today;

The Legacy of Paul Tibbets,The Enola Gay & Separating the Warrior From the War

Check it out, it's a good read.

Retro Garlic - Life Imitating The Garlic ... Again!

Well, our motto is, after all, "All The Cloves Fit To Peel" ...

And, admittedly, you didn't have to be a rocket scientist to draw the analogy ....

In today's Washington Post

Is Feinstein the Democrats' Next Lieberman?

On The Garlic, 29 October 2007

Is Diane Feinstein Drinking From Joe Lieberman's Cup?

Before this session of Congress is completed, it's quite likely Feinstein will have a whole matching set of Lieberman cups...

Bonus Retro Links

Retro Garlic - Life Imitating Satire ... Again ... Iran Study Group

Retro Garlic ... Oh, Ed Henry, David Chappelle ... That's Sooooo 2005

Retro Garlic: Life Imitating The Garlic

Is she a San Francisco treat?

"According To Our Records" ... The Results - The Garlic's Weekly Poll

It still remains to be played out, just what will the telecommunication companies that played along with the Bush Grindhouse gets after all this hubbub.

And, boy, would I like to see Mukasey dance around if illegal wiretapping is illegal... The producers of Dancing with The Stars will be on the red-eye to Washington, to sign him up ...

And there's something inherently unfair in all of this.

I mean, it takes the phone company months and months to take bogus charges off your bill, and yet, when the Bush Regime comes a'knocking, with one of their David Addington-John Yoo-penned "Get Out of Jail Free" cards, they can spy on millions of their customers, like that ... Lickity-split, with the snap-of-a-finger, on the drop of a dime (no pun intended).

So, our Garlic Poll voters, last week, decided they should get a most vicious, infuriating punishment ...

But me thinks this isn't merely enough ...

Time will tell, and, whatever you do, don't complain if they get off scot-free, on the telephone or in an email ... If you do, for heaven's sake, use code, because the Bush Grindhouse will know about your complaint before your intended recipient does ...

The Results - The Garlic's Weekly Poll October 28 - November 3, 2007

Instead of amnesty, for aiding Bush in spying, the Telecom Co's should ...

1. Be forced to explain, in plain English, the entire, small-print of their Service Agreements Tally 42%

2. Be forced to put the Hillary Laugh on their cellphones as their ring tone Tally 31%

3. Stand in publics squares, wearing sandwich-board signs that say ''I Spied On You'' Tally 13%

4. Grounded, with no television, or calling their friends, for a month Tally 13%

This week’s Poll - The Bush Grindhouse's first instincts after hearing about the developments in Pakistan were ...

Scroll up to the top right corner to place your vote


Bonus "Can You Hear Us Now" Links

Shane Harris/National Journal: NSA Sought Data Before 9/11

Washington Post: Former CEO Says U.S. Punished Phone Firm; Qwest Feared NSA Plan Was Illegal, Filing Says

Kevin Poulsen/Wired: NSA Judge: 'I feel like I'm in Alice and Wonderland'

Studs Terkel: The Wiretap This Time

Glenn Greenwald: The The truth about telecom amnesty

Vote For The Moderate Voice

Our friends over on The Moderate Voice had their own "Dewey Beats Truman" moment this week.

When the folks at Wizbang announced their annual award nominations, for the The 2007 Weblog Awards, there was TMV sitting in the "Best Blog category.

But wait, ignore that man behind the curtain!

Within a mere few hours, Joe Gandelman, head honcho and chief bottle washer at TMV was informed that was an error. TMV actually is in the "Best of the 250" category;

NOTE TO READERS: We were informed this morning by a blogger that TMV was nominated for Best Blog in the Weblog Awards. We went to the link and — we were.

But it turns out it was A MISTAKE. We’ve been informed by Wizbang that TMV is in the Best Top 250 and that they published this site’s name in the WRONG category this morning.

Great ... That's akin to "also in the photograph" or "other members of the team include" ...

Joe, and the rest of his hard-working, good-writing crew deserve better than that.

Take a moment, click here, and give them a vote.

And, while you're at it, add The Moderate Voice to your bookmarks, or RSS feed.

Buena Suerta TMV!

Was Something In the Air, or Water, Last Week?

Man, the Rightwing Freakshow was at it last week.

Maybe they went off their meds, or there was something in the air, or water.

Garlic readers know of our fleeting brush with the infamous faux reporter, Jeff Gannon (okay, he spam commented a bunch of sites, seemingly, anyone that called him a fake reporter, but, it was all we had to work with).

Our good friend Barry Crimmins also took note of it, in his post Dang me!, along with Dennis Perrin, author and another great humorist, who has been butting heads, of sort, with some dwarfs, finks, phonies and frauds on that Un Poco Pink Balls, or some such moniker.

Check it out, or go straight over to Dennis Perrin and read his hysterical posts on it.

And, while you're in the mood, check out Steve Benen at The Carpetbagger Report, and his riff on Fox News’ Hannity rails against Halloween, which ‘teaches kids to be liberals’

Lame Duck President and a Lame Duck Freakshow ... Not sure which one is going to be worse ...

Oh, God help us!

A Hearty Thank You To All The Garlic Subscribers!

We thought we'd take time-out here this evening to say "Thank You" to all The Garlic subscribers, and readers.

There's been a bevy (I would say surge, but then things could get confusing) of new subscribers, to join the longstanding loyal ones who have been with us for some time now.

Welcome!

As you know, there's all kinds of content to satisfy your daily dose of satire.

Even if posting is running low (as in this weekend - Lo Siento, we need to recoup some energy), there's a right-hand sidebar with some of the best of The Garlic, along with links to some of our friends, and other great sites you should be checking out.

And don't forget to vote, in The Garlic's Weekly Poll while you're visiting out here.

Once again, to all our subscribers and readers, Thank You, very much, for making The Garlic part of your reading.

Peace
JTD