Republican-on-Republican edition. Sarasota County (FL) Commissioner David Mills started a rumor that School Board member Laura Benson, his rival in the GOP primary for state House in District 69, was a pole dancer who had been married five times. Mills actually informed the editor of the local newspaper of this information, who in turn made like a good journalist and called Benson to verify the story.

Benson claims she's never even worked in a bar, and she's only been married three times.

And the apology:

"The whole thing is in very bad taste on my part," said Mills, who mailed an apology letter to Benson. "We feel very badly about it."

Note to Sarasota County voters: be very careful of someone who apologizes using the royal "we."

Troops long since returned from Iraq are finding themselves called back into service and headed back to the war zone, thanks to the military's "inactive ready reserve" or IRR policy.

When a soldier leaves active duty but still has time remaining on his or her service contract, they are considered IRR. These soldiers do not receive a paycheck or train, but have to keep the military informed of their current mailing address. Years out of active duty, most have gone on with their lives, enrolled in school, started jobs and families. But with Bush's botched war in Iraq, an astonishing number have been pressed back into duty:

According to the U.S. Army Reserve, approximately 14,000 soldiers on IRR status have been called to active duty since March 2003 and about 7,300 have been deployed to Iraq. The Marine Corps has mobilized 4,717 Marines who were classified as inactive ready reserve since Sept. 11, and 1,094 have been deployed to Iraq, according to the Marine Forces Reserve.

Why are so many soldiers being pulled back into uniform? Clearly, after four years in Iraq the military doesn't have enough soldiers to fight this war. But wait a minute! Just last week we were told the Army "made its 14th straight monthly goal in July ," and will hit its 2006 target despite the war in Iraq.

Someone isn't be straight here. Meanwhile, in the same story touting the military's recruiting success we see this:

Some analysts have said if the military cannot attract enough recruits, the United States might have to consider reinstating the draft.

Sounds to me like they already have.

From the Times

Frank Rich pretty much slam-dunks the politics of fear and the Bush administraion's exploitation of it. For those of us who have been waiting for someone of Frank Rich's MSM status to call them on this it, well, it's been a long time coming.

THE results are in for the White House's latest effort to exploit terrorism for political gain: the era of Americans' fearing fear itself is over.

In each poll released since the foiling of the trans-Atlantic terror plot -- Gallup, Newsweek, CBS, Zogby, Pew -- George W. Bush's approval rating remains stuck in the 30's, just as it has been with little letup in the year since Katrina stripped the last remaining fig leaf of credibility from his presidency. While the new Middle East promised by Condi Rice remains a delusion, the death rattle of the domestic political order we've lived with since 9/11 can be found everywhere: in Americans' unhysterical reaction to the terror plot, in politicians' and pundits' hysterical overreaction to Joe Lieberman's defeat in Connecticut, even in the ho-hum box-office reaction to Oliver Stone's "World Trade Center."

More below the fold

In this 45 minute video, Robert Newman uses his comedic skills to make the real history of oil - and its central position in almost all world conflicts in the last century - entertaining. Must see TV.

President Bush made a lot of promises to the people affected by Hurricane Katrina last year. Many of them were outlined last September in a speech to the nation from New Orleans' Jackson Square, where the President announced a commitment to rebuilding people's lives and the Gulf Coast itself, "even better and stronger than before the storm."

Recognizing that so many Americans were shocked at the poverty the storm revealed, Bush also declared, "We have a duty to confront this poverty with bold action. So let us restore all that we have cherished from yesterday, and let us rise above the legacy of inequality."

But nearly one year later,  an Associated Press report reveals that few promises made last September have been fulfilled.

More after the jump.

Via Think Progress

Today, the Congressional Budget Office released its budget projections, estimating the deficit will rise to $286 billion in fiscal 2007, up from this year's $260 billion projected deficit. Moreover, the long-term outlook remains bleak; total deficits over the next decade are estimated at $1.7 trillion.

A phased withdrawal would save $416 billion on the deficit over the next four years and $1.28 trillion over the next decade. On the other hand, a strategy of "stay the course" will increase the deficit by $313 billion over the next four years and $1.3 trillion over the next decade.

1.3 trillion dollars could go a long way towards rebuilding our own country - which is going bankrupt. I think Merle's on to something...

The US is continuously losing good jobs and replacing them with service sector jobs - read low wage, clerk positions at Target stores.

Ohio and Kentucky, along with Michigan were among the six states registering the biggest job losses in July, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics, as the Midwest reported the highest unemployment rate last month.

Ohio lost 5,000 jobs over the month, and Kentucky lost 5,100. But Michigan, dependent on manufacturing of automobiles and related products, lost 28,600 jobs between June and July.

There is a health epidemic and it has nothing to do with biology.

About half of adults in middle-income families reported serious problems in paying for their health care while even those in more affluent circumstances said they had troubles with medical bills, a new survey found.

Forty-eight percent of individuals in families earnings between $35,000 and $49,999 said they had either a somewhat serious or very serious problem paying their medical bills in the last two years, according to a study by The Commonwealth Fund. Meanwhile, 50 percent of adults in that income bracket said they had difficulties affording their health insurance.

Meanwhile, drug companies are reaping record profits:

Companies that manufacture prescription drugs claim this is due to increasing costs of research and development, and say they need to cover their expenses as quickly as possible. But drug companies are making record profits," says Daymon Doss, CEO of the Petaluma Health Care District.

As consumers' costs continue to escalate, the pharmaceutical industry's profits reached $36.5 billion last year, again dwarfing those of every other major industry in the nation.

And health insurance companies are reaping record profits:

Health-insurance companies often ascribe higher costs of plans to rising expenses of covering members, as well as higher costs of drugs and medical technology.

"But these companies, like drug companies, are reporting record profits," Doss said. "They aren't willing to pass along this increase to customers, though. We have a market-driven system in which insurance companies aren't willing to take a hit on their bottom line."

Profiteering off of the sick and the elderly may be good business, but its bankrupting our country and wiping out small businesses. Hell, it's even wiping out big businesses. I won't even mention that it's grossly unethical.

The sad thing is there is a solution: a national insurance pool. Like Medicare for all, except withouth the "improvements" that the Republicans passed in 2003 - with 11 Democrats. Of course, we'd hate to put all those health care lobbyists out of business.

The FCC won't be happy until one company owns all the media outlets. From hearusnow.org

The FCC is writing rules again that could result in even more media consolidation and less diversity in your news and entertainment choices. That's bad news for American democracy!

When big media companies own most of the radio and TV stations and local newspapers in town, less attention gets paid to community needs and interests and fewer voices and opinions are aired.

Tell the FCC to stop media consolidation!  Be part of the official record, and urge the FCC and Congress to ensure that we have reasonable media rules that ensure diversity, localism and competition.

Watch the hilarious video by the Austin Lounge Lizards and add your name to a letter to the FCC. Armchair activism was never easier.

Bush already knew his wiretaps were illegal which is why he said this:

The lie Bush tells in this video is of monumental importance - it is nothing less than a confession to a crime. The ease at which he tells the lie defines his character. Yet I would guess that few Americans have even seen it. This is why we blog.

But at least CNN has Jack Cafferty. And he gets to the point in this video:

The information in this post leaves no room for doubt: As defined by the judicial branch of our goverment, George Bush is a criminal. As defined by his own words, George Bush is a liar.

When Jimmy Carter speaks, people should listen. Very few people on Earth have as much knowledge about the Middle East and the historical forces that drive the conflict there. In an interview with the German paper Der Spiegel, Carter has some harsh words for the Israeli attack on Labanon and Bush's support of it.

SPIEGEL: Mr. Carter, in your new book you write that only the American people can ensure that the US government returns to the country's old moral principles. Are you suggesting that the current US administration of George W. Bush of acting immorally?

Carter: There's no doubt that this administration has made a radical and unpressured departure from the basic policies of all previous administrations including those of both Republican and Democratic presidents.

Read the rest after the jump.

And it gets even funnier. Except for the fact of how sad it is.

The Independent asked a group of Labour MPs what they though of John Prescott's outburst

Ian Davidson Glasgow South West MP

"I think that John Prescott is to be commended for the quality of his political analysis. His comment on American policy is brief and accurate. Britain has got to ensure that it is no longer seen as simply being the glove puppet of the United States."

Glenda Jackson Hampstead and Highgate MP

"I entirely endorse his view. This is why Parliament should be recalled. This government is failing miserably as far as our approach towards the Middle East is concerned. We are simply... bag carriers for Bush and all his policies have been a disaster."

David Crausby Bolton North East MP

"One of the most disappointing aspects of the Iraq resolution is that we stuck our neck out and supported the Americans... on the understanding that the road map would be there but it's not been delivered at all. It's virtually been forgotten."

More below the fold

From Tramm Hudson, Bush Pioneer and Republican candidate for Congress in Florida's 13th district. He's running for Katherine Harris' seat, oh irony of ironies. Remember Katherine Harris? The woman who disenfrachised thousands of black voters in 2000?

You can watch the video here. Hudson, talking about Hurricane Katrina, said:

"I grew up in Alabama, I know this from my own experience that blacks are not the greatest swimmers or may not even know how to swim."

And the apology, drum roll please:

"I said something stupid. I apologize for it and would apologize in person to anyone hurt by my comments. To those who are understandably offended, you have my deepest apologies and I want you to know that it was out of character for me and those who know me know that to be a fact. This was a thoughtless remark that does not reflect my lifetime commitment to treating everyone fairly and without bias. I apologize to everyone who is offended by this comment."

Glad we got that straight.

Yes, you read that right: the National Republican Senatorial Committee has endorsed Joe Lieberman:

This morning, a source at the National Republican Senatorial Committee confirmed in a phone interview that the party will not help Schlesinger or any other potential Republican candidate in Connecticut, and it now favors a Lieberman victory in November.

What, was Alan Schlesinger not conservative enough?

When I first learned about George Bush's penchant for torturing small animals as a boy in Midland Tx., I was concerned. The sociopathy required for such a lack of compassion can be a dangerous thing in the hands of the leader of the free world. I think history has shown my concerns to be justified.

So now, the next GOP odds-on favorite for the White House, George Allen, turns out to have severe sociopathic traits as well. I think I'll send Jim Webb another $100 right now. Via the Huffington Post:

GOP Senator George Allen's Sister Documents Her Brother's Bully Tactics: "He Saw Dentistry As A Perfect Profession - Getting Paid To Make People Suffer"...

Explaining why she is scared of heights, Ms. Allen writes that "Ever since my brother George held me over the railing at Niagara Falls, I've had a fear of heights." [Fifth Quarter: The Scrimmage of a Football Coach's Daughter, page 43]

Referring to George's relationship with one of her boyfriends: "My brother George welcomed him by slamming a pool cue against his head." [Fifth Quarter: The Scrimmage of a Football Coach's Daughter, page 178]

Referring to George's early leadership skills, Jennifer wrote: "We all obeyed George. If we didn't, we knew he would kill us. Once, when Bruce refused to go to bed, George hurled him through a sliding glass door. Another time, when Gregory refused to go to bed, George tackled him and broke his collarbone. Another time, when I refused to go to bed, George dragged me up the stairs by my hair." [Fifth Quarter: The Scrimmage of a Football Coach's Daughter, page 22]

Referring to George's early career aspirations, Jennifer wrote "George hoped someday to become a dentist. George said he saw dentistry as a perfect profession - getting paid to make people suffer." [Fifth Quarter: The Scrimmage of a Football Coach's Daughter, page 22]

Referring to George's habit of terrorizing a Green Bay Packer fan in their neighborhood, Jennifer wrote that the fan's mailbox often "lay smashed in the street, a casualty of my brothers' drive-by to school in the morning. George would swerve his Mach II Mustang while Gregory held a baseball bat out the window to clear the mailbox off its post. . . . Lately, the Packers fan had resorted to stapling a Kleenex box to the mailbox post to receive his mail. George's red Mustang screeched up beside us, the Packers fan's Kleenex mailbox speared on the antenna." [Fifth Quarter: The Scrimmage of a Football Coach's Daughter, page 16]

Children who lack compassion often grow up to be serial killers. Others grow up to be politicians.

John Prescott has given vent to his private feelings about the Bush presidency, summing up George Bush's administration in a single word: crap.

The Deputy Prime Minister's condemnation of President Bush and his approach to the Middle East could cause a diplomatic row but it will please Labour MPs who are furious about Tony Blair's backing of the United States over the bombing of Lebanon.

Amusing

From the Times

Bush administration officials now admit that Iraqi government's original plan to rein in the violence in Baghdad, announced in June, has failed. The Pentagon has decided to rush more American troops into the capital, and the new military operation to restore security there is expected to begin in earnest next month.

Yet some outside experts who have recently visited the White House said Bush administration officials were beginning to plan for the possibility that Iraq's democratically elected government might not survive.

"Senior administration officials have acknowledged to me that they are considering alternatives other than democracy," said one military affairs expert who received an Iraq briefing at the White House last month and agreed to speak only on condition of anonymity.

"Everybody in the administration is being quite circumspect," the expert said, "but you can sense their own concern that this is drifting away from democracy."

Let's see, no WMD, no "democracy in the Missle East". What's left? Oh yeah, the real reason we went there in the first place: oil.

All over the blogosphere, people are triumphantly posting about Times columnist Thomas Friedman's attack on Dick Cheney. Why? Thomas Friedman has precisely as much credibility as Dick Cheney and his attack carries even less weight. Simply put, they deserve each other.

But to top it off, he blankly insults those who have known all along that which he only now appears to be getting a hint of.

But whatever you think of the Democrats, the important point is this: They are not the party in power today. What should really worry the country is not whether the Democrats are being dragged to the left by antiwar activists who haven't thought a whit about the larger struggle we're in.

Haven't thought a wit about the larger struggle we're in? Mr Friedman seems to forget that many of those critical of the decision to invade and occupy Iraq have spent most of their lives studying the "larger struggle we're in."

People like Brent Scowcroft and George Bush Sr. In their book, A World Transformed, (Alfred A. Knopf, 1998) George H. W. Bush and Brent Scowcroft were almost prophetic in their argument against invading and occupying Iraq.

While we hoped that popular revolt or coup would topple Saddam, neither the U.S. nor the countries of the region wished to see the breakup of the Iraqi state.

We were concerned about the long-term balance of power at the head of the Gulf.

We would have been forced to occupy Baghdad and, in effect, rule Iraq. The coalition would instantly have collapsed, the Arabs deserting it in anger and other allies pulling out as well.

Under those circumstances, furthermore, we had been self-consciously trying to set a pattern for handling aggression in the post-cold war world. Going in and occupying Iraq, thus unilaterally exceeding the U.N.'s mandate, would have destroyed the precedent of international response to aggression we hoped to establish.

Had we gone the invasion route, the U.S. could conceivably still be an occupying power in a bitterly hostile land. It would have been a dramatically different--and perhaps barren--outcome.

Thomas Friedman believed, just like Dick Cheney, that we would be greeted as liberators; that we could bomb Iraq, destroy its infrastructure, kill innocent civilians, and still win their "hearts and minds."

Thomas Friedman is an embarrassment. And his attempt to salvage his reputation by suddenly going after Dick Cheney, who he has supported up to now, is pathetic.

A former British diplomat, Craig Murray suggest we be very, very sceptical about the latest terror scare from Britain. And while he is only a spectator now, like the rest of us, he does offer some keen insights and informed opinion about the case.

I have been reading very carefully through all the Sunday newspapers to try and analyse the truth from all the scores of pages claiming to detail the so-called bomb plot. Unlike the great herd of so-called security experts doing the media analysis, I have the advantage of having had the very highest security clearances myself, having done a huge amount of professional intelligence analysis, and having been inside the spin machine.

So this, I believe, is the true story.

None of the alleged terrorists had made a bomb. None had bought a plane ticket. Many did not even have passports, which given the efficiency of the UK Passport Agency would mean they couldn't be a plane bomber for quite some time.

In the absence of bombs and airline tickets, and in many cases passports, it could be pretty difficult to convince a jury beyond reasonable doubt that individuals intended to go through with suicide bombings, whatever rash stuff they may have bragged in internet chat rooms.

Now, assuming he is correct about the stage of their alleged operation, and that they were only in the talk-about-it phase, juxtapose this to the terrifying, Armageddon-like coverage we endured last week on the news networks. If you watched it, you may have come away with the impression that the British, with the indispensable assistance of Michael Chertoff and the Department of Homeland Security, had brought us back from the brink of the end days.

If Mr Murray's assessment is even half-correct, we have truly entered dangerous times that only Orwell could have envisioned.

CNN - still an embarrassment.

I hate this, I really do:

Police say 71-year-old Hal Bynum - who wrote numerous hits including the Kenny Rogers song "Lucille" - and Jan Bynum, 48, turned themselves in Wednesday and were released after posting bail.

Acting on a tip, police said they began searching couple's Nashville, Tenn., home Tuesday night and found 256 pot plants, 7.5 pounds of harvested marijuana, 14 grams of hallucinogenic mushrooms, growing lamps and other drug paraphernalia including scales, rolling papers, and tanks of CO-2.

CBS News Affiliate WTVF-TV reports Jan Bynum is a member of the Blue Scarf Society, a group which is opposed to what it calls the political ideology of Islam, arguing that it is hostile to Western civilization.

WTVF-TV quotes the Bynums as saying that they were selling drugs to raise money for an awareness campaign against terrorist organizations.

"I was hoping to provide help and funding to the anti-Jihad and pro-Western civilization cause," Jan Bynum is quoted as saying. "People are in denial about the threat we are facing."

Okaaay. Someone's clearly been smokin' something, and it ain't Southern Beale.

Kudos to the U.S. Senate for passing the bi-partisan Combating Autism Act of 2006. As I've written here in the past, autism has reached pandemic proportions. Action has been long overdue.

Among the many good things the bill does is allocate $900 million for research, screening, diagnosis and intervention programs on the federal and state level. Considering how massive the problem is, and how much we're spending on boondoggles like Iraq, it's a bit of a drop in the bucket. But it's a start, so I'm not going to be too nitpicky. Cure Autism Now, an advocacy group which has worked hard to see this kind of legislation come to pass, made a point of thanking Senators Chris Dodd (D-CT), Edward Kennedy (D-MA), Rick Santorum (R-PA), Michael Enzi (R-WY) and our own Bill Frist (R-TN) for working together to pass much-needed legislation that will benefit millions of children.

This is great news. I thank these Senators. With one little codicil: I hope someone at Cure Autism Now is watching Sen. Frist very, very carefully in the wee hours of the night in the coming months. You never know what that crazy guy will do.

Only at Fox News: Right-wing radio host Mike Gallagher suggests Muslim-only airport lines:

"It's time to have a Muslims check-point line in America's airports and have Muslims be scrutinized. You better believe it, it's time," Gallagher said, garnering tepid audience applause.

Gross attacked the proposal as "absolutely wrong" because "most Arabs are not Muslims, most Muslims are not Arabs. You don't even have your facts straight. How would you feel if we had a line for the Irish, which the English proposed during the IRA problems?" He pleaded not to turn the United States into a "tyrannical, imperial country." Still, a woman in the audience asked a question about being "politically correct" by not allowing racial profiling.

Gallagher claimed that opposition to racial profiling amounted to not wanting to hurt people's feelings.

This is a popular idea in the right wing world, that "commie-liberal political correctness" is the root of all evil and threatens our security.

Actually, if you talk to any professional who actually deals with terrorism, they will tell you that racial profiling doesn't work. Salon did an excellent piece on this last year, but for those who don't subscribe the key points are as follows:

1- Terrorists come in all races, religions and ethnicities. A "Muslim-only" airport line would not have stopped Timothy McVeigh or Eric Rudolph or Shoko Asahara (who attacked Tokyo subways in 1995), to name a few.

2- Set aside the offensiveness of this proposal for a moment and look at the logic. Do you think that maybe, just maybe, an Islamic extremist intent on harm might try to--gasp!--blend in?

3- Islam is not the enemy. Anyone who thinks that Islam is the enemy has missed the point and is assuring America will never be safe from terrorism.

Update [2006-8-16 13:37:47 by Southern Beale]: According to Raw Story, GOP Rep. Peter King (R-N.Y.) thinks Gallagher-style racial profiling is a good idea.

Valerie Plame's lawyer will use a precedent set in the 1997 Paula Jones case to force Vice President Cheney and Karl Rove to testify:

LOS ANGELES (Reuters) - A lawyer plans to use a legal precedent that allowed President Bill Clinton to be sued while in office to force Vice President Dick Cheney and presidential adviser Karl Rove to testify in a lawsuit brought by former CIA operative Valerie Plame and her husband.

. . .

In 1997, the U.S. Supreme Court said in a unanimous ruling that neither Clinton "or any other official has an immunity that extends beyond the scope of any action taken in an official capacity."

In order to be dismissed from the case or avoid testifying, Cotchett said, lawyers for Cheney and the other men would have to argue that they were acting on government business if they are found to have leaked Plame's name to the media.

Federal law makes it a crime to knowingly reveal the identity of a covert agent.

Oh, I love karma. I really, really do. (h/t, AmericaBlog)

Ned Lamont, Communist? I guess in someone's warped mind a successful cable TV entrepreneur could be considered a "communist," but it's a pretty tough sell to most of us in the reality-based community.

But let's face it, this is just another scare tactic marketing the Republican Party to middle-aged folks and senior citizens -- you know, those of us who actually remember the days when this country was on a constant "red alert" (you kids in your twenties probably have no idea what I'm talking about. And oh yeah, offa my lawn!)

So expect to hear this charge levied against every Democratic candidate on the ballot. Remember, John Kerry was "to the left of Ted!" (except that he wasn't). Apparently "liberal" isn't a dirty enough word anymore, now every Democrat is a "Commie."

OK, fair enough. Here's a question for you Republicans out there: is it true that you're all Moonies? Just wondering.