Home / crooksandliars.com rss archive / August-27-2007


Open Thread
 From the same guys who brought you Bush versus the Zombies.

C&Ls Late Nite Music Club with Stevie Wonder & Stevie Ray Vaughan
(Blogged by Steve Audio)Today is a sad anniversary for music lovers. 17 short years ago, we lost Stevie Ray Vaughan: In July, 1986, I was working for Stevie Wonder, designing and wiring a custom audio remote truck at his L.A. studio, Wonderland, when word came from the front desk that Stevie Ray Vaughan wanted to [...]

Ted Haggards Funny Money
Is this another con game from Teddy boy?

Federal Reserve Bends the Rules for Citibank and Bank of America
From CNN/Money:In a clear sign that the credit crunch is still affecting the nation’s largest financial institutions, the Federal Reserve agreed this week to bend key banking regulations to help out Citigroup and Bank of America.The regulations in question effectively limit a bank’s funding exposure to an affiliate to 10% of the bank’s capital. But [...]

1982 Larry Craig denial, 1982
(h/t Scarce)Craig: By choice or by circumstance I’ve always been the subject of innuendos, gossip and false accusations. I think this is despicable.“In an ABC News report, then US House Rep. Larry Craig issues a preemptive denial regarding any involvement in a congressional sex and drug scandal.”Howie and Pam have more…

Russerts Open Mic
It’s Blooper time…..Someone left Tim Russert’s mic live during the Today Show Sunday morning before Meet the Press aired…. Download (1) | Play (1)  Download (0) | Play (2)Something about shining shoes…I always post bloppers when I find them…

Olbermanns NBC Ratings
Without much promotion Keith did very good for the first timeon Sunday. This isn’t a new day for Countdown yet. NBC wasn’t airing the pre-game show “Football Night in America,” so a slot opened up and they took it.The upshot: in total viewers it beat “Are You Smarter Than A 5th Grader?” on Fox. But [...]

Sen. Larry Craig (R-Idaho) arrested: Guilty!
There have been rumors swirling for years about Sen. Larry Craigs (R-Idaho) personal life, subcription-only Roll Call reports this afternoon that the rumors might very well be true.Sen. Larry Craig (R-Idaho) was arrested in June at a Minnesota airport by a plainclothes police officer investigating lewd conduct complaints in a mens public restroom, according [...]

Ted Nugent: Draft Dodging Coward
Many Thanksto Richard Roeper for exposing the wingnut fool known as Ted Nugent (contact info) for being the coward during the Vietnam war that he was: Download (0) | Play (0)  Download (0) | Play (0) (h/t C&ler for the vid)So Ted Nugent roams a concert stage while toting automatic weapons, calls Barack Obama “a piece of —–” and says [...]

Cash Talks: Blue America Rocks!
Blue America ‘08 has been rocking and I want to thankeveryone who has donated so far. Please donate if you can, even if it’s 5.00…Kos: “The goal for today, as George W. Bush takes his sorry ass to Seattle to campaign for Rep. Dave Reichert, is a cool 3,000 contributors for Darcy Burner across all [...]

No way Chertoff should get the AG job: Remembering Katrina
Michael Chertoff’s name is being thrown around as a possible replacement for Alberto Gonzales. I’m re-posting this to highlight why he’s not eligible for such a post. Tim Russert did a good job of grilling Chertoff over the absolute failure of his department in combating the Hurricane Katrina disaster. (Originally posted 9-4-05) Download (2) | Play (0)  Download [...]

Bush on Gonzos resignation: His good name was dragged through the mud for political reasons.
You know you’re in trouble when he starts listing your resume. Download (0) | Play (0)  Download (0) | Play (0)Bush: After months of unfair treatment that has created a harmful distraction at the Justice Dept. It’s sad. (pause) That we live in a time when a talented and honorable person like Alberto Gonzales is impeding from doing [...]

Alberto Speaks
Talk about making a fast getaway: Download (233) | Play (214)  Download (82) | Play (145)Gonzo: I’ve made a point as AG to personally meet as many of them as possible.But can he remember….Oh, never mind…And Cornynisa major league hack..On CNN he was crying for Gonzo. Poor Alberto, he was never proved to have been a bad little Bushie. He [...]

Sen. Warner calls for Withdrawal in Iraq starting on Sept. 15th
It’s pretty tepid, but at least it’s a start. After coming back from Iraq, Sen. Warner calls for Bush to start bringing troops home starting on Sept. 15th—to put some teeth into Bush’s policy and send the Iraqis a message. Download (1384) | Play (554)  Download (1175) | Play (271)I think no clearer form of that than if the president [...]

Alden Pyle
I pointed out Bush’s Graham Greene reference yesterday. This should prove Bush doesn’t read much and neither do his speechwriters. And here too…“The Quiet American“

CBC/Fox Debate Cancelled
Remember the Democratic debate co-sponsored by Fox News and the Congressional Black Caucus Institute? The one the top candidates decided to avoid?It’s been cancelled.Fox News and a black political group say they will not hold a Sept. 23 Democratic presidential debate in Detroit, which the leading candidates already were planning to skip…. The debate, co-sponsored [...]

Monster.com Gets Hacked - Personal Data On Hundreds Of Thousands Stolen
Via BBC:US job website Monster.com has suffered an online attack with the personal data of hundreds of thousands of users stolen, says a security firm. A computer program was used to access the employers’ section of the website using stolen log-in credentials. Symantec said the log-ins were used to harvest user names, e-mail addresses, [...]

Pat Tillmans wife speaks
(photo via AP)She takes the high road, but says:“Many things have changed since Pat decided to join the Army. And unfortunately, leadership on many levels has come into question,” Marie Tillman said. “We are in need of authentic leadership on many levels, social, economic and political.”…read onMore on Pat Tillman from the C&L archives.

Senator Barack Obama on The Daily Show
lllinois Senator and Presidential hopeful Barack Obama sat down with Jon last night for his second “Daily Show” interview (first is here) to discuss the 2008 election narrative and his vision for America. Download (4716) | Play (4781)  Download (2356) | Play (2933) (10 min 14MB file)Here’s John Edwards new speech….

Home Where 3 Died Owned By GOP Strategist
WESH:Authorities in Orange County are investigating the discovery of three dead bodies inside a home in east Orange County on Thursday.—According to records from the Orange County Property Appraiser’s Office, the home is owned by Rafael Gonzalez, who is known to be a prominent Republican party strategist. It is not known if Gonzalez is one [...]

Vladimir Putin: U.S. Wants To Dominate The World
Via Reuters: Russian President Vladimir Putin, in one of his harshest attacks on the United States in seven years in power, accused Washington on Saturday of attempting to force its will on the world.The White House said it was “surprised and disappointed” by Putin’s accusations but added Washington expected to continue to work with [...]

Oral Arguments On Alabama Sex Toy Law May Reach Supreme Court
Via YoursDaily.com:In Alabama, you can sell guns on any street corner but you can’t sell sex toys.That’s right. Alabama is a vibrator-free state! Well, technically you can go across state lines and buy sex toys in Georgia and Tennessee and carry them home. But the Alabama Legislature, in its infinite wisdom and in the [...]

Late Night Music Club with Paolo Nutini
….but he’s just a boy! My favorite song from this year, however. The boy’s got a set of pipes, and this one, well…

Open Thread
Time to get the kids ready for back-to-school with a bulletproof backpack. These are selling out. From Canada.com:Just in time for the new academic year, Massachusetts-based MJ Safety Solutions has unveiled My Child’s Pack, described on the company’s website as the first “full size, lightweight ballistic protection backpack that is affordable and practical.”(h/t Threading [...]

Lieberman breaks with reality again
Joe Lieberman’s office issued a press releaseyesterday morning, which Lieberman’s office billed as a “response to recent Congressional attacks on the Iraqi government”:“Forced by facts on the ground to acknowledge the progress of the American and Iraqi militaries since the new surge strategy started, some of these opponents of the war are now turning their [...]

Father Of G.I. Who Died Mysteriously In Iraq Speaks Out - Wants Investigation Reopened
Via The Pfc. LaVena Johnson Petition:Dr. Johnson spoke last Friday at the Veterans for Peace speakout on sexual assault in the military outside the Robert A. Young Federal Building in downtown St. Louis. This was just one of many events and workshops comprising the 22nd annual national convention of VFP. More material relating [...]

Daily Show: How Closely Does Iraq Resemble Indiana?
Daily Show correspondent (and Marine reservist) Rob Riggle reports from Baghdad and asks American soldiers what they think about Rep. Mike Pence’s bone-headed comparison of Baghdad to “any open-air market in Indiana in the summertime.” Download (3492) | Play (4483)  Download (1368) | Play (2412)

Mikes Blog Round Up
Josh Marshall blogs on Militarism and Anti-Democracy…coming to a country near you! And in related news, George W Bush hitches his wagon to revisionist dreams of Vietnam? Um, Driftglass offers him a refresher course in reality.The White House decides that the Office of Administration is exempt from FOIA, since they might just [...]

Colberts Cast: The Ebay Bidding war is on!
Get your bid in to Ebay…You go Colbert! This is too much…Virgin Mary Toast be damned.A casino paid 28,000 bucks for it.

Texas Carries Out 400th Execution - Bush Wants To End Appeals Process For Death Row Inmates
And the culture of life continues…Via The Telegraph UK:A man convicted of shooting dead a store clerk during a robbery has become the 400th person to be executed by Texas since the US Supreme Court reinstated capital punishment in 1976.The southern state accounts for almost a third of the 1,091 American executions over the [...]

We Need a Saddam to replace Saddam: Operation Strongman
Watch this report from Michael Ware with Wolf.Since Maliki isn’t cutting it as the leader in Iraq and there is virtually no government—what is being said is that we need Saddam, but not really Saddam, just somebody that’s tough, but not too tough, that can keep Iraq together so that it’s still friendly to [...]

Ted Nugent curses out Hillary, Obama, Feinstein and issues threats with Machine Guns
(h/t Jamie)I wonder if FOX will run this clip on every segment and belittle him and attack him and start boycotts of his concerts. Will Drudge lead the charge against these kinds of hate filled threats of violence against Hillary, Feinsteinand Barack? With Machine guns in his hands—he says…(rough transcript)Nugent: I was in Chicago last [...]

Mid-Day Open Thread: Wordpress blocked in Turkey
Don’t Block the Blog rallied against Pakistan’s banning of Blogspot in February 2006. Now Don’t Block is fighting Turkey’s banning of Wordpress. Ali Eteraz has more on the Turkish situation. H/T for the story and the badge to Geography, Telecast.

Colbert Marks 5th Anniversary of Cheneys Operation: Iraq Lies
While flipping through his Iraq War scrapbook, Stephen remembers that this Sunday marks the five year anniversary of Dick Cheney’s infamous speech before the VFW where he unequivocally stated that Saddam had WMD, and all but declared war on Iraq. Stephen then sits down with Fiasco author and WaPo Pentagon reporter Thomas Ricks [...]

Setting the Anbar record straight
There’s National Review’s spin:The fact is that the surge is President Bush’s policy, and one that he implemented over the vociferous opposition of Democrats who thought the best strategy against al Qaeda in Iraq was to begin to leave. Now the surge has helped turn Sunni tribes against al Qaeda, advancing the goal that nearly [...]

Bill Kristol on the TODAY Show: Surge on!
William the Bloody was on The TODAY Show (they have a wingnut producer now) this morning being the Surge Protectorfor a failed policy in Iraq. When will Lauer have on a liberal to talk about the situation? It mightbe nice tohear Maddow, Schultz, Cenk..Jane Hamsher…Markos…Seder…anybody…They always have on wingnuts like Coulter and Kristol, but never [...]

Pace to clash with White House over Troop Cut
LA Times:The chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff is expected to advise President Bush to reduce the U.S. force in Iraq next year by almost half, potentially creating a rift with top White House officials and other military commanders over the course of the war.Administration and military officials say Marine [...]

Its not a socialist plot
I know it’s behind the paywall, but Paul Krugman makes an important point today about making healthcare available to children.Suppose, for a moment, that the Heritage Foundation were to put out a press release attacking the liberal view that even children whose parents could afford to send them to private school should be entitled to [...]

A Quiz
Guesswho presented this as a legitimateticket? Here’s a clue.It’s not from the silly Sam Waterston/Unity 08 people or Red State…“Bloomberg-Hagel“

Governor Calls For Iraq Withdrawal Gets Standing Ovation From National Guard Troops
Via CBS News:A call by Puerto Rico’s governor for a U.S. withdrawal from Iraq earned a standing ovation from a conference of more than 4,000 National Guardsmen. Gov. Anibal Acevedo Vila said Saturday that the U.S. administration has “no new strategy and no signs of success” and that prolonging the war would needlessly put guardsmen [...]

Mikes Blog Round Up
Part two of my tribute to the fine citizen-journalists who filled in so ably here at the Roundup during my extended absence:PERRspectives Blog: Hillary Clinton’s health care inoculation strategyskippy the bush kangaroo: Georgia has decided to move its primary up to tomorrow, and Missouri has elected to go back in time and have [...]

How Dems should proceed on new AG
Glenn Greenwald’s perspective on this is a helpful guide to Senate Dems.This is a real moment of truth for the Democratic Congress. Democrats, who have offered up little other than one failure after the next since taking power in January, can take a big step toward redeeming themselves here. No matter what, they must ensure [...]

BREAKING: Gonzo Is Gonzo
The New York Times has the details:Attorney General Alberto R. Gonzales, whose tenure has been marred by controversy and accusations of perjury before Congress, has resigned. A senior administration official said he would announce the decision later this morning in Washington.Mr. Gonzales, who had rebuffed calls for his resignation, submitted his to President Bush by [...]