Oh No! ... Missing White House Emails ... Lawyers That Fly ...

The sand in the hourglass almost ran out ...

Before they could relinquish the title of "lame duck" and slither off with just being "lame" ...

And cutting it close, before the weight-challenged lady sang, we finally discover something - one thing - The Bush Grindhouse is actually good at (well, perhaps not good, but proficient);

White House: Computer hard drives tossed

"When workstations are at the end of their lifecycle and retired ... the hard drives are generally sent off-site to another government entity for physical destruction," the White House said in a sworn declaration filed with U.S. Magistrate Judge John Facciola."

Rest assured though, the Bush Grindhouse isn't sitting idle, they're not ignoring the subpoenas, and they do want to come clean and resolve any lingering issues as to how they usurped the Constitution, corrupted the government and operated, basically, day-to-day, violating the law.

"The White House says it does not know if any e-mails are missing, but is looking into the matter."

I see a movie coming out of all this

Deep, in the bowels of the White House, a Terry Gilliam-inspired, Brazil-like office, with futuristic-type computers, all types of drone-looking, officious government workers, sorting through and sending White House emails, through color-coded tubes, to be shredded.

Than the memo/order comes.

Someone - Congress, a plaintiff, whoever - is looking for all emails related to "Fired U.S. Attorneys", only, because there's so much email shredding traffic going on - plus all the illegal NSA wiretapping that's hitting the line - there's a glitch, and a search is conducted for "Flying U.S. Attorneys".

Before the sun sets, hundreds of attorneys across the land, that happen to be licenced pilots, are rounded up (and how ironic would it be that, at least, one of them, is named "Buttle"?)

(Or, someone can make a commercial ... Rather than use a stereotyped American Indian, standing in litter, a small tear on his cheek, they can go with a stereotyped computer technician from India, standing next to a pile of destroyed White House hard drives, with a small tear on his cheek)

They destroy the hard drives ...

From just about any other entity, any other administration (except, of course, Nixon's), that would sound reasonable, professional, sober ...

From this regime, though, it's about as valid as saying "the dog ate them".

Time to for another cue up of Que Sera Sera...


Bonus, Not Lost, Links

Praire Weather: Bush's medication has kicked in, the servants have scrubbed the scene of the crime and removed all evidence

Jaspon Leopold/Truthout: Missing White House Emails Match Plame Time Frames

Paul Kiel/TPM: A Short History of The White House Email Retention Policies

The Carpetbagger Report: Years of White House emails reportedly gone forever

Think Progress: Fratto: ‘We Have Absolutely No Reason To Believe Any E-mails Are Missing’

Chopped Garlic: "Emails? We ain't got no emails! We don't need no emails! We don't have to show you any stinking emails!"...


Bonus Bonus

Clip from BRAZIL (Buttle's Arrest w/ Eng subs)

This Date ... On The Garlic

Garlic History - On This Day

22 March 2007... On The Garlic

Top Ten Cloves: Expected Republican and Freakshow Blowback Against John and Elizabeth Edwards


22 March 2006... On The Garlic

Reports Show Iraqis Confused; Can’t Find “Road To Democracy”; Google Maps Comes Up Empty; Scores of Thousands Say Adds “Hours” On To Their Travels

Top Ten Cloves: Issues Behind France Making Apple Open Up iTunes


22 March 2005... On The Garlic

Geraldo Rivera To Go Under For Investigative Report, Schiavo Scoop

Rumsfeld Waivers On Japanese Sub Found; Intimates Country Invaded by North Korea

Top Ten Cloves: Ways Chief Justice William Rehnquist Will Be Welcomed Back To Supreme Court

Retro Garlic: "We Got An Eight-Page Layout With Viceroy ... The New Pope Is A Thinking Man ..."

We, of course, take our title from Lenny Bruce, and his hysterical riff, Religions, Inc.

For Catholics, today (actually last evening) begins their, more-or-less, Super Bowl weekend, and the big trio of festivities with Good Friday, Holy Saturday, and the big day, Easter Sunday.

The Garlic, has, on occasion, waded into the minefield of religion, so we offer you today a look back, at a handful of the more popular posts.

Peace Be With You!

Top Ten Cloves: Things The Vatican Has Done To Make Good Friday Even Better

Breaking News! Pontiff In Major Spread, Popemobile Giveaway; Oprah Lands Pope Benedict XVI For Huge Tell-All Over Muslam Flap; Either Apology or Conversion To Islam Promised In Teasers; Pontiff Turned Down By CBS News Free Speech

Top Ten Cloves: Possible Problems With Suing God

New, Hi-Tech Confessional Booths Possible; Catholic Church To Follow IRS Lead; Will Begin To Sell Confessions; Move Forecasted To Be Boon For On-Line Porn, Gambling, and Divorce Industries

Top Ten Cloves: Surprising Things Found In Newly Discovered Jesus Burial Cave

Vatican Discounts "Bonfire Pope"; Says Flames "Not Hunched Over Enough"; Late Pontiff's Bend Was Measured "Religiously"; Never Used Contingency "Roller Skate Gloves"


Bonus, Bonus

Listen here to Lenny Bruce's "Religion, Inc."

This Date ... On The Garlic

Garlic History - On This Day

21 March 2007... On The Garlic

Top Ten Cloves: Other Conditions President Bush Has To Allow Rove and Meirs To Testify Before Congress


21 March 2006... On The Garlic

New Salvo In War With Media - President Ups Media-War Ante; Bush, White House To Meet With Tom Cruise

Top Ten Cloves: Reasons Bush, Cheney, RNC Keep Tying Saddam Hussein To al-Qaeda and 9-11


21 March 2005... On The Garlic

Lucas To Increase Production of Stars Wars; 3D Remakes Tip of Iceburg; New Galaxies, Wars Offer Endless Plots

Liz Taylor Miffed At Snub for Fat Actress Role

Obituary: DeLorean Founder Dies at 80

Top Ten Cloves: Signs Your Boss Is Incompetent

Hillary Camp Livid: - "They Look At His Passport, But Not Ours!"

Breaking News: Bias Charged; Hillary Wants Florida and Michigan To See Her Passport

Brushing aside the breaking news, that State Department employees breached the passport file of Senator Barack Obama, opening it., at least, on three, separate occasion, Howard Wolfson, Hillary Clinton's campaign manager, lambasted the media traveling with the candidate, claiming more bias.

"With the big wins in Texas and Ohio, the widening lead in Pennsylvania," Wolfson barked, clearly agitated, "Now, everyone is running off looking at his passport".

"Why wasn't Hillary's passport breached? ... Why wasn't Hillary's passport looked at?"

"They look at his passport, but not hers? ... It's just like the debates... I'd say something fishy is going on here."

Clinton, apparently still out campaigning as the news broke, quickly integrated the news into her stump speech, offering the voters of Florida and Michigan the opportunity to look at her passport.

"I don't want to see these voters, of two of our most largest, and significant states, being left out of seeing my passport ... That's just not fair."

Reports are still breaking, that three contract employees at the State Department opened and looked at the passport file of Barack Obama.

The dates of the breaches are January 9th, February 21st and recently, on March 14th.

Josh Marshall, from TPM, notes that the dates coincide with "the day after the New Hampshire primary, the day of the Democratic debate in Texas and the day the Wright story really hit."

The Senate office of Obama was notified this afternoon of the breaches.

Two of the contract employees were fired, the third suspended.

It's not clear when Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice became aware of the security infractions.

Sources tell The Garlic that Secretary Rice was exercising on her elliptical trainer when she first learned of the problem.

Another source contacted The Garlic, indicating they worked in the State Department and stated they were surprised this news didn't come out sooner.

"Half the department had his [Obama] passport up as a screensaver," said the State Department source.

"If we worked late, we played drinking games with it ... You had to name the date and country he visited, and if you got it wrong, you chugged."

More as this story develops


Bonus Links

Attytood - UPDATED: Breaking Obama passport scandal

Pale Rider - Blue Girl/Red State: Obama's Passport File ALREADY Searched by GOP

Hilzoy - Obsidian Wings: This, On The Other Hand, Is Serious

Jeff Fecke/Shakesville: I am So Surprised...Not

Brilliant at Breakfast: You aren't paranoid if they really are out to get you

Hillary's Smelling Burning Rubber! Or: The Garlic Was Right - Hillary Has Built Her "Field of Voices"

Top Ten Cloves: Signs That It Is First Day of Spring In the White House

News Item: Spring is coming earlier than you think: Why Americans start new season on March 20, not 21

10. The President starts humming and singing little ditties

9. It means Award Season begins!

8. President puts away his Winter Flightsuit and brings out the Summer one

7. Not much work gets done - Employees bunker down in cubicles, watching on their computers March Madness

6. Secretary of State Condoleeza Rice has to shake off the winter blues with a meaningless international photo-op tour

5. Vice President Dick Cheney has emerged from his Secret Bunker, his winter hibernation

4. Update the Christmas Pardons file that Scooter Libby was disbarred today

3. New Spring air gets White House Press Secretary Dana Perino a little confused

2. President Bush is out planting new lies

1. Crazy things happen ... Like, looking in the Passport file of Presidential Candidate, Senator Barack Obama

"So Long Scooter, We're Through With You ..."

To steal from ''Yankee Doodle Dandy' for a moment ...

"So long Scooter, we're through with you ...We'll have nothing to do with you ..."

No, I. Lewis "Scooter:" Libby isn't a jockey who was accused of throwing the English Derby, he was a member of the Bush Grindhouse, Vice President Death Vader's Chief of Staff who assisted outing a covert CIA Agent Valarie Plame, for the purpose of political retribution, lied about it, covered it up and was convicted of Perjury and Obstruction of Justice

(However, one of his accomplices, The Commander Guy, commuted his sentence, before Little Scooter had to really worry about if he would get see the aspens turning again)

Karma came a'vistin' to Scooter Libby today;

Former Cheney Aide Libby Disbarred

"When a member of the Bar is convicted of an offense involving moral turpitude, disbarment is mandatory," the three judges wrote in their order. "This court has held that obstruction of justice and perjury are crimes of moral turpitude. Since respondent was convicted of each of these offenses, as the Board concluded, disbarment is mandatory under D.C. Code.

Jane Hamsher, from Firedoglake, has a pretty good idea;

Kind of seems like some old time military "cashiering ceremony" is in order with a formal parade, where they call the miscreant out and break his sword and force him to leave.

I guess we'll have to settle for future disbarring in New York. Sets a nice precedent.

Hmmm... Can we expect a blizzard of new letters from the pen of Mary Matalin? Will she be seeking "Disbarment Funds" for the Scooter? Maybe Fred Thompson can chip in, write a few notes when Matalin cramps up, or make a few calls.

I wanted to link to the website - ScooterLibby.Com- but, apparently, they've taken it down and, rather ironically, the first Ad listing on the former link is for "Mini Power Scooters" (you can go here to see a partial listing of what was on it)

Oh, how the petty and twisted fall ...

Then again, it's a little more than eight-months to wait for the Christmas Pardon List


It's Another Scooterpalooza

Sidney Blumenthal: Libby and the White House book club - While Cheney's former aide prays for a presidential pardon, Bush and Rove hold forth in their neocon salon, and the cover-up continues

Breaking News! Domestic Spying Injected Into Libby Trial - Trial In Chaos; Justice Dept. Gave Libby Lawyers Prospective Jurors Personal Info; Fitzgerald Livid As Emails, NSA Wiretaps, Financial Records Found In Defense Lawyers' Briefcase

Top Ten Cloves: Reasons Tim Russert Didn't Ask Scooter Libby About Joe Wilson and His Wife

Breaking News - White House Bombshell: "VP Could Be In His Last Throes" - Libby Verdict Has Bush, White House Urging Cheney Into Rehab; Sources Claim 'Can't Be Trusted He Won't Break"; Iraq Comments "Last Straw" and "Were Not An Enormous Success"

Libby Trial Update - The Scooter and Cheney Show Theme Song

Breaking News! - Miller To Leave 'Times' With Movie Deal In Hand; Signs On To Star In Memento Sequel; Not Sure If She Will Continue Freelancing For Bush Admn.

UPDATE

Thanks to eagle eyes (and/or trusty links) of ZappoDave, the Libby Defense Fund website it still running!

Larisa Alexandrovna: Scooter disbarred...

Blue Girl: More good news!

This Date ... On The Garlic

Garlic History - On This Day

20 March 2007... On The Garlic

The Laura Bush Bummer Bombing-of-the Day; Warning - Bypass this post if you don't want to be discouraged

Top Ten Cloves: Things Not Anticipated About Grand Canyon Skywalk


20 March 2006... On The Garlic

Iraqis To Launch Massive Protest Against Bush and Cheney, Over Civil War; Want Credit For Battles; Some See As Early Positioning For Future Funding When Government Collapses

Top Ten Cloves: Things Overheard At HP Shareholders Meeting Last Week

The Garlic Is Offering A New Feature - The Garlic Poll!

No Intel Inside

Some of that dip on Wall Street has to be the result of Carly Fiorina and Meg Whitman (freshly shipped from eBay) joining the John McCain Campaign.

I thought these two were among the brightest and sharpest woman executives?

Two of Silicon Valley's shiniest?

Actually, having Carly Fiorina on your campaign, getting intelligence on whomever shouldn't be a problem.

Not sure the other members of the campaign team aren't a litte nervous.

If you see them sweeping their telephones, or running outside to use the pay phone in the gas station or donut shop across the street, you'll know that Carly has them spooked.

But if she learned her lesson well from HP, then she'll be bugging the gas station and donut shop telephones as well.

Perhaps, getting the equipment on the cheap, from a certain on-line auction, that a certain new addition to the team has a bit of knowledge about will help.

But if they are seeking help, the call for such may be enormous.

Another piece of evidence on that there's No Intel Inside is the Maverick Man himself.

Here's Johnny Boy McCain should start booking himself to speak at footwear conventions, mostly due to he's had his foot in his mouth for the better of three days now

The hands down favorite phrase to come out of this so far is this;

"...Of course, right now I’m less worried about Bush the First and Bush the Second than I am our would-be Bush the Third, John W. McCain, a man who can’t seem to tell Shi’a from Shinola ..."

The Commander Guys' surrogate son flew off this week to Iraq, to, ostensibly, burnish his foreign policy credentials and, if what we have seen so far, send this guy to Summer School!

A correspondence course ... Flash Cards ... Something ...

Oops! He Did It Again: McCain Confuses Iran/al Qaeda Link In Speech Marking 5th Anniversary of Iraqi Invasion

McCain has, both verbally, and his campaign, in writing, has spoken of Iran training Al Qaeda operatives, then sending them back into Iraq to wreck the country, attack our soldiers and just commit overall terrorism.

Only, there a wee, little problem with that.

Iran, and the majority of Iraq, is Shiite.

Al Qaeda is Sunni.

Since Flyboy was in the Vietnam war, someone on McCain's Campaign should explain to him that, with what he keeps saying, it would be equivalent of the North Vietnamese wanting to send their soldiers to the USA, for training, to go back and fight in South Vietnam.

No way, Jose.

And then, just it case it does sink in, have a staffer stand by the Senator, in case he smacks himself upside the head too hard, that he falls over.

And this is the guy that Hillary Clinton placed ahead of Barack Obama as having passed the Commander-in-Chief threshold and will up-and-ready on Day One!

Holy Cow! ... I'd like to hear that telephone call at 3AM.

It will be a sin, if SNL doesn't run with that skit again, Hillary in mudpack and curlers, getting a telephone call at 3AM, only this time it's McCain, asking her, pleading with her, to explain to him the Shiite-Sunni thing.

In the news report, about McCain's trip to Iraq this week, it was stated;

In January he reaffirmed his support for the deployment of thousands of additional US troops in Iraq.

"When I raise my hand and vote to send young men and women, American men and women into harm's way and fight a war, I am committing to accomplishing the mission," McCain said, putting himself in stark contrast to Obama and Clinton who are seeking troop drawdowns from Iraq.

Yeah, Jesus, but can he tell them who the enemy is? Who they will be, or should be, fighting?

If he's this confused, eight-months before the election, and if he were to win, can we trust that he would even know what country to deploy the troops to?

The Garlic had previously stated that the Democrats could nominate and run the dead guy from "Weekend at Bernie's", and win hands-down in November.

It would appear that the Republicans have beat them to the punch.


Bonus Look-What-McCain-Said Links

Josh Marshall/TPM: Unfit for Duty

Cernig/Newshoggers: McCain As Ignorant As Dubya

Scarecrow/Firedoglake: Bush and McCain Have a Bad Hair Day

Media Matters: Media Firestorm Over (Repeated) McCain Al Qaeda Gaffe? Hardly

hilzoy/Obsidian Wings: Clueless

Good Thing Time Travel Isn't Here Yet

Announcer: [opening narration for most episodes] Two American scientists are lost in the swirling maze of past and future ages, during the first experiments on America's greatest and most secret project, the Time Tunnel. Tony Newman and Doug Phillips now tumble helplessly toward a new fantastic adventure, somewhere along the infinite corridors of time.

The Time Tunnel (ABC 1966)

Maybe she could take the Dr. Ann MacGregor role (there's a vibe for this; on the show, the part was played by Lee Meriwether, who also, around the same time, played Catwoman).

But, me thinks, after getting an earful of her toxic BS, Drs. Newman and Phillips would program the dials, and send her through the tunnel, sans a return trip, and, possibly, with an eye towards saving mankind, destroy the machine, once she's been deposited, oh, say in the cave around 500 BC.

We talk, of course, of Ann Coulter, the doyenne of the Right Wing Freakshow.

Mark Kleiman has a most amusing and funny post today;

If Ann Coulter had liveblogged the Gettysburg Address

Ahhh...now he slips it to us! "Fourscore and seven," indeed! He's bringing us back to the Marxist rant of 1776, completely ignoring the Constitution of 1787 in rhetoric as he has in practice. I'll believe we're all equal when I'm as tall as Lincoln, or as ugly. And the slaves he's so fond of may be his equals, but I'm damned if they're mine.

Highly recommend you check it out.

And, no need, necessarily, for a Retro Garlic, but we had placed Coultergeist in a different historical era;

Garlic Exclusive! 1st Draft Of Coulter’s Plagiarism Response

The O.K. Corral Is About To Become A Whole Lot Bigger

The O.K Corral may soon lose it place in history, being reduced to a pillow fight.

If the Supreme Court goes the direction that they all but signed, sealed and delivered yesterday, Charlton Heston won't have to worry about anyone prying anything out of his cold, dead hands.

Here's the straight news accounts;

Los Angeles Times: Supreme Court appears to favor individual gun rights; A majority signals that it thinks the 2nd Amendment is not limited to arms for 'a well-regulated militia.'

"Five of the justices, a bare majority, signaled that they thought the amendment gave individuals a right to have a gun for self-defense. It was not limited to arms for "a well-regulated militia," they said."

Washington Post: Justices Appear Skeptical Of D.C.'s Handgun Ban

"The clauses of the Second Amendment -- "A well regulated Militia, being necessary to the security of a free State, the right of the people to keep and bear Arms, shall not be infringed" -- have long vexed constitutional scholars. The Supreme Court's last major ruling on the subject, in 1939, stressed the militia-related aspects of the provision.

If you want a most entertaining account of yesterday's session, you gotta check out Dahlia Lithwicks' post "Bearing Arms … Against Bears - Justice Kennedy thinks D.C. residents need protection—from grizzlies."

"Dellinger opens by whooshing us back in time to the framers, who, he says, used the words "bear arms" to mean "rendering a military service." Chief Justice John Roberts immediately asks why the framers wrote "the right of the people" if they merely meant "the right of the militia." Justice Kennedy spoils any suspense by telling Dellinger, in the form of a question, that he has no problem "de-linking" the two clauses to read the first as "reaffirming" the right to a militia and the second as enshrining a right to bear arms. Justice Antonin Scalia does Kennedy one better and contends that the two phrases "go together beautifully." That's five votes to create a fundamental right to bear arms, only eight minutes into the argument."

Read the whole thing ... It's a hoot!


Bonus Cold Dead Hands Links

Chopped Garlic ... Of Virginia Tech ... The Right To Bear Arms ... And Barry Crimmins

Josh Sugarmann: The NRA's Post Massacre Script

Ana Marie Cox: Blaming the Victims ... Because They're Total Wusses

This Date ... On The Garlic

Garlic History - On This Day

19 March 2007... On The Garlic

Garlictorial: The 4th Anniversary, Or "How I Invaded and Occupied Iraq and All I Got Were These Lousy Iranian Bombs"


19 March 2006... On The Garlic

Weekend Special - Sautéed Cloves

Down Goes Rose! ... Down Goes Rose! ... Down Goes Rose!

Or: Charlie Rose Wins "Save of the Day"!

Talk about leading with you chin ...

From TechCrunch;

"Earlier today, they said, Rose tripped in a pothole while walking on 59th Street in Manhattan. He was carrying a newly purchased MacBook Air and made a quick (but ultimately flawed) decision while falling: sacrifice the face, protect the computer. “In doing so, he pretty much hit the pavement face first, unfortunately,” they said.

Too bad it wasn't a Charlie Rose impersonator.

That way, the Fake Steve Jobs could have done the reporting on it.

How soon before we see the first advertisement from Dell, or some other laptop competitor, cautioning that "MacBook Air's are know to cause facial injuries"?


Bonus Black Eye Links

Charlie Rose Face Plants To Save His MacBook Air

Charlie Rose

Romney Aide Instrumental In Exposing Fake Steve Jobs; Stalked Internet Cafes, Wearing Black Turtlenecks, Even Passing Himself Off As The FSJ

Down goes Frazier (wav file)

Down Goes Frazier (Kelsey Grammer)

Obama-Wright, Part II ... Some Perspective

Well, Well, Well ...

We could go on a diatribe, on the extra distance one candidate has to go, that the other candidates do not, even though that candidate addressed the issue - repeatedly, publically, and in his own words.

The big breaking news last evening was that Barack Obama is going to give a major address to this morning on race.

From Marc Ambinder, over on The Atlantic;

"He is expected to recount, in detail, how he came to know Rev. Wright, how he came to admire Rev. Wright, the history and meaning of the Trinity church, and address the controversial remarks attributed to Wright.

He is also worried that Wright and church will get caricatured unfairly.

Since everyone is paying attention to Obama and race, the basic thought, according to advisers, is why not give a big speech about... Obama and race."

Thankfully, Ambinder refrained, but others didn't, of alluding to Mitt Romney's big moment, his big speech on "Mormonism" (See The Garlic's Romney Speech: Where's Leonard Pinth Garnell When You Really Need Him?)

Make-up Mitt delivered a snoozer, and only mentioned the word "Mormon" once.

Little worry about Obama on that front.

He's been in the big show for a while now, and, be it his 2004 Convention speech, or out on the stump, he's shown he can hit the fastball.

While the MSM, and Cable News, seems to take glee, in showing the montage of video clips of Reverend Wright (and the Freakshow is having a field day with them), they are often, in most cases, presented out-of-context.

It isn't discussed why Rev. Wright is angry, or hostile, only that he is, and he is Barack Obama's guy, therefore, Obama must endorse what Rev. Wright is saying.

And stating, for three-or-four days that he doesn't, isn't enough, hence today's big Obama speech.

We looked around the World Wide Web, the blogosphere and found some good posts, to counterbalance, better yet, to, hopefully, enlighten, the single-prisim people.


Some Perspective

From Melissa McEwan's "I Recommend Not Holding Your Breath, Either", over on Shakesville;

"We know Obama's minister's name because he told us. And until we all grow up and decide we're really going to have a country with a genuine separation between church and state, and no religious litmus tests, we are going to have candidates introducing us to their religious mentors, and various other ways of trying to out-god each other. This would certainly be as good a time as any to revisit the wisdom of that habit and engage in a little self-reflection on whether it's actually helping our country in any discernible way."

The Anonymous Liberal;

"I always figured that if Barack Obama's presidential campaign took off, media attention would eventually focus on the Reverend Jeremiah Wright and some of his more colorful sermons. I was expecting it to be more of a general election, swiftboat type issue than an issue in the primaries, though. I guess I never really figured a Democratic rival would pursue an electoral strategy based on stirring up white resentment. A failure of the imagination I guess.

Conservative double standards are rarely as soul-crushingly obvious as this one. Hinderaker has no problem with Republican politicians associating themselves with (and indeed aggressively seeking the endorsement of) people like Pat Robertson, Jerry Falwell, John Hagee, and James Dobson, men who have track records of saying crazy, hate-filled things that Rev. Wright can't possibly compete with. Moreover, if we're looking for segments of society into which "irrationality has penetrated deeply," we need look no further than the conservative evangelical community which forms the base of the Republican party and to which Republican politicians endlessly pander."

And Dennis Perrin knocks one out of the park, hitting it dead-on, in his "Land of Chains";

"Amid all the righteous noise made about Rev. Jeremiah Wright, it was David Gergen on Anderson Cooper's show who made the most pertinent observation. The veteran GOP operative with bipartisan ties informed the audience that black America is having a different conversation than white America, so one cannot apply the CNN, Fox, or MSNBC framework to African-American concerns.

That it took a power broker like Gergen to make this obvious, important point further reveals how fixed our "national dialogue" remains. This of course allows all manner of patriotspeak to flow unimpeded, for there's nothing that the Liberal Media loves more than to prove its nationalist bonafides. After all, who do you think keeps the American flag lapel pin industry in the, er, black?"

With kitchen sinks coming at him from all directions now, I hope the Superdelegates and DNC are paying attention.


Bonus Links

Transcript of Obama’s Interview on “NewsHour”

Andrew Sullivan: The Testing Of Obama

Dr. Clarissa Pinkola Estes/TMV: Barack is Not White, Barack is Not Black” The Possible Gift in Being Bi-Racial

Kos: The Clinton civil war

Sticks and Stones Will Break My Bones ...

This Date ... On The Garlic

Garlic History - On This Day

18 March 2007... On The Garlic

"Karl, We're Going to Have Harriet Coach You For The Grand Jury This Time, Okay? ... The Results - The Garlic Weekly Poll

Weekend Special - Sautéed Cloves


18 March 2005... On The Garlic

HP To Auction CEO-For-The-Day On eBay

Scandal Hits OPEC; Pricing Tied To Racing Wagers

Top Ten Cloves: Other Things Mark McGwire Won't Talk About

It's A Pig, with Lipstick, and She Likes To Be Called Bear Stearns ...

Well, so much for our advice last Friday.

Kelly Evans, from the WSJ, speaking on MSNBC this morning, glossed over the failure and collapse of Bear Stearns as a "unique situation".

Really?

Just about everyone else writing or commenting on this believes this is the start of a conga line (hmmm, Prez Prado's Mambo No. 5 might be a good soundtrack) and we'll be reading about future financial institution failures like a baseball box score.

It took the Bush Grindhouse nearly a week to respond to devastation in New Orleans, brought by Hurricane Katrina, yet they snap into action - ON A SUNDAY - to bailout a corporate bandit like Bear Stearns.

Did they bury the footage?

Were investment bankers, mortgage officers, bond traders, standing on the roof of Bear Stearns, waving white sheets with "Help" scrawled on them?

Were masses of these greedheads huddled in the lobby of the Bear Stearns building, perhaps having gone for hours, without a cappuccino, or bottle of mineral water?

Maybe, to pass the time, they simply played cards.

Heaven forbid, one of the Bush Grindhouse's corporate cronies be inconvenienced.

If they had a television in the lobby yesterday morning, and were tuned into the Sunday news programs, their spirits would have been lifted by Treasury Secretary Henry Paulson.

Paulson trotted from show-to-show, putting lipstick on the all the pigs, still singing a happy song.

From Gretchen Morgenson/NYT, yesterday morning;

"WHAT are the consequences of a world in which regulators rescue even the financial institutions whose recklessness and greed helped create the titanic credit mess we are in? Will the consequences be an even weaker currency, rampant inflation, a continuation of the slow bleed that we have witnessed at banks and brokerage firms for the past year?

Or all of the above?

Stick around, because we’ll soon find out. And it’s not going to be pretty."

This is a good read, as Morgenson goes on a blistering listing of Bear Stearns' failure, greed, arrogance, mismanagement, like a DA reading a long rap sheet.

As to Paulson, here's Krugman this morning;

"It’s true that Henry Paulson, the current Treasury secretary, still says that any proposal to use taxpayers’ money to help resolve the crisis is a “non-starter.” But that’s about as credible as all of his previous pronouncements on the financial situation."

And this;

"As I said, the important thing is to bail out the system, not the people who got us into this mess. That means cleaning out the shareholders in failed institutions, making bondholders take a haircut, and canceling the stock options of executives who got rich playing heads I win, tails you lose.

According to late reports on Sunday, JPMorgan Chase will buy Bear for a pittance. That’s an O.K. resolution for this case — but not a model for the much bigger bailout to come. Looking ahead, we probably need something similar to the Resolution Trust Corporation, which took over bankrupt savings and loan institutions and sold off their assets to reimburse taxpayers. And we need it quickly: things are falling apart as you read this.

$2 per share.

Yeah, J.P. Morgan got a steal, and likely that price was inflated, but we hope that Bear Stearns is held accountable, beyond the embarrassment of just ending up Penny Stock aisle.

And, no doubt, start counting the times The Bailout Commander, and his surrogate son, John McCain, call for making the Bush Tax cuts permanent.


Bonus Bailout Baloney

Scarecrow/Firedoglake: Bush Is Becoming Hoover; Where is FDR?

Cernig/The Newshoggers: Bush Says White House In Control Of Financial Rout

Jeff Fecke/Shakesville: Moral Hazards are for Poor People

Prairie Weather: Financial markets: "Like waking up in summer with snow on the ground"

Brilliant at Breakfast: But if you lose your job, do you think for one minute the government will help YOU

emptywheel/Firedoglake: Credit Crises

This Date ... On The Garlic

Garlic History - On This Day

17 March 2006... On The Garlic

Top Ten Cloves: How To Tell That It’s St. Patrick’s Day Around The White House


17 March 2005... On The Garlic

Top Biz Schools Extend Hacking Penalty; Even Thinking About Doing It Earns Rejection

Iraq Parliament Holds First Session Amid Chaos

Top Ten Cloves: How President Bush Will Celebrate St. Patrick's Day

Tinkerbell Meets Norma Rae - The Daily Kos Strike

How many Hillary Clintons does it take to screw in a light bulb"
"Why am I always the first one asked to screw in the light bulb?!"

Why aren't there any ice cubes in Hillary Clinton's house?
Hillary lost the recipe

How do you get Hillary Clinton out of the bathtub?
Throw her a bar of soap

What do you do if Hillary Clinton throws a grenade at you?
You pull the pin out and throw it back at her

How do you know if Hillary Clinton has been using the computer?
There's whiteout on the screen

OMG!

Some Daily Kos diarists have stopped writing!

We've bashed Hillary and Daily Kos diarists are stopping writing!

OMG!

Quick, everyone, start believing in Hillary! ... C'mon, you can do it ... If you start believing in Hillary, the Daily Kos diarists will start writing again ... Believe in Hillary ... That will get them writing again ... C'mon, start believing ... We need everybody to say they believe in Hillary ...We can't let these Daily Kos diaries die! ...

Shout it out and clap your hands - "I believe in Hillary!" ... "I believe in Hillary!" ...C'mon, shout it out ... "I believe in Hillary", "I believe in Hillary", "I believe in Hillary" ... Keep clapping your hands ... "I believe in Hillary" ... "I believe in Hillary" ...


















Feathers are flying out in the big, bad, blogosphere.

A band of 60+ Hillary Clinton supporters, who are Dkos diarists, are in a dither, that all the other kids in the sandbox don't like Hillary, they like the new kid, Obama, and they're kicking sand at the Hillary people.

Well, they're kicking sand at Hillary too, and the Hillary people don't like that very much.

From Alegre, who is apparently leading this "strike";

"I’ve decided to go on "strike" and will refrain from posting here as long as the administrators allow the more disruptive members of our community to trash Hillary Clinton and distort her record without any fear of consequence or retribution. I will not be posting at DailyKos effective immediately. I will not help drive up traffic or page-hits as long as my candidate – a good and fine DEMOCRAT - is attacked in such a horrid and sexist manner not only by other diarists, but by several of those posting to the front page."

(Remember, clap your hands and say "I believe in Hillary")

ABC News spoke with Markos Moulitsas;

UPDATE: I asked Kos himself, Markos Moulitsas, what he makes of all this.

His response: "First, these people should read up on the definition of 'strike.' What they're doing is a 'boycott.' But whatever they call it, I think it's great. It's a big Internet, so I hope they find what they're looking for."

But wait, it gets better.

More from Alegre;

"Until then, I’ll take up the WGA strike motto: "We write. You wrong." when it comes to DailyKos, and say the following to anyone reading this diary right now...

If you're sick of the way Hillary – a good and decent Democrat - has been vilified and attacked... if you've EVER recommended one of my dairies on this or any other site then please join me in this effort. Let's take a stand here and now and tell the world we will no longer remain silent in the face of the sexism, anger, irrational hate, lies and attacks against Hillary. Nor will we add to the bottom line of a site that continues to lead the charge in fueling it."

Hmmm ... I wonder, if Alegre stood on table (well, since this is an on-line thing, she'd have to use a video cam), a la Sally Field, in 'Norma Rae', holding up a handwritten "Hillary" sign, and slowly, Dkos diarists all across the land stopped tapping on their keyboards, until the entire blogosphere (or, their little slice of Daily Kos) fell silent?

(Remember, clap your hands and say "I believe in Hillary)

Oh, boy, this could get really nasty.

Mixing Norma Rae with Tinkerbell ... That could screw things up.

What if Norma Rae goes around and organizes all the little Tinkerbells and they gain concessions, power ...

And part of that is WE HAVE TO BELIEVE IN HILLARY!

That it will be a violation, a crime, if we don't believe in Hillary! ... Oh, Jesus ...

Quick, everybody, stop clapping your hands, stop saying "I believe in Hillary" ... Don't do it .. Stop, immediately ... Stop, please ...Before it's too late!

"I don't believe in Hillary" ... "I don't believe in Hillary" ... "I don't believe in Hillary" ...


Bonus Tinkerbell Links

The MahaBlog: Oh, Please

Joe Gandelman/TMV: Daily Kos “Bloggers’ Strike” Shows Increasingly Bitter Obama Clinton Democratic Rift

Marc Ambinder: Pro-Hillary Writers "On Strike" At DailyKos

BradBlog: Writers Strike at Daily Kos? Try a Readers Strike...

Skippy the bush Kangaroo: writers who support the band rush on strike at skippy

Tom Watson: The Few, the Proud...the Clinton Bloggers


Bonus Bonus

While you're out on "strike", you Pro-Hillary Daily Kos diarists, see if you can come up with a better answer for this, than what your girl came up with ...

Hillary Clinton says Michigan Results are Fair! WTF?


Edward Copeland: A trip down Hillary lane -- 2007 edition, Part I

Edward Copeland: A trip down Hillary lane -- 2006 edition

Top Ten Cloves: If Hillary Clinton Is A Monster, The Movies That Would Be Made About Her

Hillary's Smelling Burning Rubber! Or: The Garlic Was Right - Hillary Has Built Her "Field of Voices"