Hannity Embarrasses Self

Republican thug Sean Hannity tries to sandbag cartoonist Ted Rall and gets it thrown back at him. Crooks and Liars has the vid.

Another SOTU Lie?

From Night-Ridder: $Q: One day after President Bush vowed to reduce America's dependence on Middle East oil by cutting imports from there 75 percent by 2025, his energy secretary and national economic adviser said Wednesday that the president didn't mean it literally. It's a specific goal—either he means it literally or he doesn't mean it at all. Interesting to see if this year's yellowcake, so to speak,will cause much of a stir.

Limbaugh Embarrasses Self

Though it's hardly news: Crooks&Liars has an mp3 of Rush dealing with a guest asking a fair question. Her point—how can the administration claim to be an effective force against terrorism when the murderer behind 9/11 inexplicably remains at large? Republican stooge Rush uses all his patented techniques: he hems and haws over her while thinking of an angle that can rescue Bush's credibility when he fails to come up with a defense for his hero, he condescends to the woman when she gives a dignified response, he surreptitiously cuts her off and goes at her, leaving the impression that she's been rendered speechless by his aggressive avoidance of the question The best he can come up with is that Bin Laden, the murderer of thousands of innocent citizens, is irrelevant. He neglects to mention that this is only true to the extent that the President has needlessly created new enemies that are even more dangerous. It's a classic.

Veep's Handlers Rolling in $$$

While consumers are watching prices soar Exxon is raking it in at record levels. In a related story, oil execs refuse to testify before the Senate about their obscene exploitation of the market. It's what you get when the Vice President allows his sponsors to craft the nation's energy policy.

Republicans Call for Release of Records

...of White House dealings with Jack Abramoff. On Fox, video courteousy of C&L. Senator John Thune and Congressman Mike Pence make it clear the administration should come clean about the disgraced lobbyist's repeated visits to Pennsylvania Avenue. Scott McClellan is going to have to find a new angle to counter the ongoing Abramoff questions. The "partisan attack" stonewall is crumbling, and will continue to do so as republicans facing re-election are forced to choose between their jobs and running cover for the President. From a White House press gaggle on the 23rd: Q I understand that. But why not just say, and just get it over with -- say, here are the issues that he [Abramoff] talked about -- he came to the White House to talk about, here's who he met with, and then move on. Why not -- MR. McCLELLAN: I'm not aware of anything that has anything to do with the investigation. I know that there's some Democrats that want to try to make this--try to engage in partisan attacks. But what we do know from media reports is that Mr. Abramoff gave directly or indirectly to Democrats and Republicans. Trying to say there's more to it than the President taking a picture in a photo line is just absurd.

U.S. and Insurgents Talking

From Newsweek. $Q: Two weeks ago, assassins killed Sheik Nassir Qarim al-Fahdawi, a prominent Anbar sheik described by other Sunnis as a chief negotiator for the insurgency. "He was killed for talking to the Americans," says Zedan al-Awad, another leading Anbar sheik. Al Qaeda, meanwhile, continues to gain territory in the Sunni heartland, according to al-Awad: "Let me tell you: Zarqawi is in total control of Anbar. The Americans control nothing." Meanwhile the administration has let a top Al Qaeda man go free with no explanation. The "you're with us or against us" John Wayne rhetoric works well to scare up votes, but the strategy is a miserable failure when mapped onto the real world. If nothing else, it's encouraging to see the President learning from his mistakes. But it's impossible to tell how effective the administration's change of tack will be given the usual shroud of secrecy covering their actions and motives.