August 05, 2004

• Only by tagging one of the other righties first. Then there's the whole swinging-a-dead-cat-by-the-light-of-the-full-moon thing too. I'll be back with the sackcloth. to the article: does "misappropriating funds in violation of [your] own rules" equate to running over yourself?
• Welcome to the party, pal. =)
• Now, what size jacket do you wear, f8x?
• Sorry to derail, but I'd like to ask f8x's opinion on the requirement that Cheney put on people coming to his Rio Rancho speech. I did a search & didn't find it in threads or comments...
• Forget the sacks and jackets, the man's back is broken! Get him in a cast, quick!
• minda25, I hadn't seen that item. On the one hand, I like the idea of anyone being able to see the VP, or at least be given an opportunity to do so without having to compromise their political affiliations, personal beliefs, etc. After all, he is VP of the UNITED states of America, not the Republican States of America. On the other hand, it depends on what kind of event this was. Surely, if this was an event hosted and paid for by the Republican National Committee, then I imagine it falls in their court to decide who can and can't attend--whether Kerry's campaign allowed Bush supporters or not doesn't mean the RNC has to do the same (of course, I may be wrong about this - are there any laws that dictate this sort of screening process for political rallies?)
• pete, I probably could have worded that better.
• Funny thing about that little bit of wankery, it came a couple of weaks after a dozen Bush supporters went to a Kerry speech and beat pairs of flipflops together. The Cheney heads were just protecting themselves from a dose of their own medicine.
• heh just pokin' at ya f8x. I think the Cheney / Bush "campaign" stops should be a FPP. The whole system's a joke in terms of them stumping for votes. Why not hire actors? Sure they cost money and won't be any more enthusiastic but at least they'd be honest about what they're doing. The photo-op presidency. What you bet Karl Rove was behind that Oath?
• With all the misspellings and grammar errors in the pledge, I figure Dubya did it hisself.
• Oh great! Now f8x hates America too. Are you happy now, pete_best? You goddamn commie.
• Can I use this space to publicly disavow all my previous support of Halliburton's protestations of innocence? Yes, you can. Now f8x, do you believe that Glenn Reynolds still defends Halliburton because he doesn't read the same articles as you or is not smart enough to process the information (this is a guy that graduated with a Yale law degree)? Or maybe he's a partisan hack that post the usual crap because that's all he's willing to do? I have been blogging about Halliburton for a while now and I just can't see how anyone that has the intelligence to make toast can defend the company.
• Sully, is this the Prof's most recent post about Halliburton? It's dated back to March - lotta juice has flowed since then.
• Reynolds has defended halliburton to death. The Professor never admits he wrong. Even when he accuses Democrats he being racists or when he condones genocide. Civilized societies have found it harder, though, to beat the barbarians without killing all, or nearly all, of them. Were it really to become all-out war of the sort that Osama and his ilk want, the likely result would be genocide -- unavoidable, and provoked, perhaps, but genocide nonetheless, akin to what Rome did to Carthage, or to what Americans did to American Indians. That's what happens when two societies can't live together, and the weaker one won't stop fighting -- especially when the weaker one targets the civilians and children of the stronger. This is why I think it's important to pursue a vigorous military strategy now. Because if we don't, the military strategy we'll have to follow in five or ten years will be light-years beyond "vigorous." This guy believes the tactics that the Romans used should be used by Americans in the war against terror.
• Audit shows $8.8 billion in Iraq funds missing.
• In a country, like Iraq, where corruption has been built into a government for many years, it has to be hard to root the corruption out. And, I think it could take generations. My only experience with that sort of thing was living in Mexico for a few years in the late '70s/early '80s, where the whole system seemed much like a national pyramid scheme. Customs agents would try to levy a fee for checking you out, and police would stop you for no apparent reason and try to negotiate a bribe. The money flowed uphill. My brother-in-law was a politician with a prestigious spot in a local university. While he tried to maintain a low profile, he managed to invest in a bunch of properties and businesses way beyond the salary he was paid. But, he had a big gang of well educated, smart, personable thugs who reaped money from the lower levels. They kept a bit, and sent the rest to him, and he passed a percentage of what he collected upstream, as did others in his position. One of the contributors to this was that the revolutionary government had made rules about government salaries that meant that educated government employees would get about the same pay as a peon. Idealistic, but not practical. It's my impression that the situation in Iraq under Saddam was similar. (I won't bore you with the same links I've given several times in the past, but several of the Iraqi bloggers I read talk about how salaries for professional positions have increased a bunch since Saddam didn't have to build more palaces) I don't have any hard evidence for the similiarities with Mexico, but it sounds way too familiar. And, if you were in a position where your official pay was poor, but the system allowed and encouraged you to find other means of support, what would you do? And, if your salary went up, but you were used to a higher standard of living than it would provide, what you you do, besides using the same tactics as before? Not to mention that an enrichment system had been in place for years, and was seen as just reality. Public service as a form of altruism may take some time to make sense for many Iraqis.
• Halliburton: A handy guide, from Gorilla News Network.
• Halliburton Shoots U.S. Army in the Face
• How Halliburton Technology is Wrecking the Rockies
• Cheney's Halliburton Loses Its Iraq Cash Cow
• $10 Million Verdict Against Custer Battles Overturned
• Who's Making a Killing?
• damn I was a snarky mofo back in 2004.
• The 10 Most Brazen War Profiteers
• Thanks H-dogg. I keep hoping this situation gets made into a movie so it'll be easier to follow than, say, reading a textbook.
• A movie, you say?
• Well kiss my grits and call me Sammy - released Sept. 26! Thanks!
• iraq for sale, appetising iraq for sale. iraq that's fresh and still unspoiled, iraq that's only slightly soiled, iraq for sale. who will buy?
• Super Bowl! Woot!
• Fcuking Blastards.
• Iraq For Sale: Interview With Robert Greenwald
• Congress Tells Auditor in Iraq to Close Office
• The Little Bit Of Oversight In Iraq Is Now Gone
• FUCK
• Glenn Greenwald puts this in context of Matt Taibbi's excellent article on Congress.
• Iraq for Sale: Director Robert Greenwald on Real Time
• How to Wield Power: The Critical Importance of Oversight
• Targeting War Profiteers in 2007
• With Rep. Henry Waxman (D-California) chairing the House Government Reform Committee, war profiteers such as Halliburton/KBR, Parsons and Blackwater USA are on notice that their days of scamming the American people and undermining U.S. forces in Iraq are numbered. I wanna believe that . . .
• Battle Brewing in Congress as Bush Admin Seeks Closure of Iraq Reconstruction Corruption Monitor
• CACI: Torture in Iraq, Intimidation at Home
• New Bills Target Profiteering, Public Corruption
• Tales from the green zone of waste and cover up by contractors
• Waxman Invites Bremer to Appear Before Congress
• Waxman looks to find out about the nearly $9 billion that went "missing." whoopsie!
• Millions wasted in Iraq reconstruction aid
• Waxman: Top Iraq Reconstruction Official Flown To Baghdad To Avoid Oversight Hearing
• Reconstruction Official on Iraqi Billions: "What Difference Does It Make?"
• The secret Iraq documents my 8-year-old found: With a couple of keystrokes, you too can read the hidden history of the Coalition Provisional Authority, America's late, unlamented occupation government in Iraq
• Posting sloppily edited documents on an official Web site pales in comparison to some of the CPA's other mistakes. Its worst miscalculation was probably dissolving the Iraqi military on May 16, 2003, which jump-started the insurgency by sending 400,000 trained soldiers into the streets without jobs. What, is that bad? I mean, who could have possibly foreseen that invading Iraq would be such an expensive political nightmare? It's like they hate freedom or something.
• *so weary... If we can't impeach him and throw 'em all in jail, can't we at least line 'em all up against a wall and shoot 'em?
• Ah, I *thought* I'd seen it somewhere. Sorry for reposting!
• Whistleblowers on Fraud Facing Penalties: One after another, the men and women who have stepped forward to report corruption in the massive effort to rebuild Iraq have been vilified, fired and demoted.
• Sick Workers Hope to Hang KBR with Its Own Tax Loophole
• Next Version Of Telecom Immunity Will Be For Halliburton