BROKEN WINDOWS

Tuesday, September 20, 2005

Now we know!

S was wondering why we weren't really fighting the War on Terror and now we know:

The FBI is joining the Bush administration's War on Porn. And it's looking for a few good agents.

Early last month, the bureau's Washington Field Office began recruiting for a new anti-obscenity squad. Attached to the job posting was a July 29 Electronic Communication from FBI headquarters to all 56 field offices, describing the initiative as "one of the top priorities" of Attorney General Alberto R. Gonzales and, by extension, of "the Director." That would be FBI Director Robert S. Mueller III.

[...]

"I guess this means we've won the war on terror," said one exasperated FBI agent, speaking on the condition of anonymity because poking fun at headquarters is not regarded as career-enhancing. "We must not need any more resources for espionage."

Thank God. Now S won't have to go back to Afghanistan at all. He can stay here at home with me. The war's been won. I'm so relieved.

(Hat tip to The Heretik for this hearty laugh, proving once again that real life is far stranger than fiction.)

5:20:50 PM |

Happy Birthday, Mahatma Gandhi	10/2/05
The slow trickle of the truth	9/27/05
Why, it's our anniversary!	9/25/05
Friday Baja Blogging	9/23/05
So we wear long pants	9/22/05
Now we know!	9/20/05
Odyssey Redux: The Long Trip Home	9/20/05
My husband went to war and all I got was this lousy t-shirt	9/19/05
Bush's banana republicanism and S's homecoming	9/16/05
The possibility of malice and the reality of humanity	9/14/05
Our slippery days at the beginning of the end of the American Empire	9/13/05
Back to Chicago	9/12/05
Houston, TX, on a steamy Friday in September	9/9/05
Morning in Houston	9/8/05
Houston Update (Revised)	9/7/05
The View from Houston	9/6/05
Peace and hope or something close...	9/4/05
Fire Brown, Fire Chertoff. Now.	9/3/05
A not-so-calm response to comments	9/3/05
Thank you Kanye West, for speaking the truth	9/3/05
From Musings and Migraines: The view from Houston	9/3/05
What do you know	9/3/05
Update New Orleans	9/3/05
A sliver of hope for some, not even a glance for others	9/3/05
Men with guns have taken over the city	9/2/05
What a very sad day	9/2/05
The endless, skipping beat of that broken record	9/1/05
Live Journal from New Orleans	9/1/05
An Urgent SOS	9/1/05
They need help now!	9/1/05
Surprise and Tolerance	9/1/05
Too slow? Yes!	8/31/05
Death results...	8/31/05
Evacuation is key	8/31/05
Katrina Aftermath Resources: Matt at Tattered Coat	8/31/05
Update: Water has leveled	8/31/05
Housing Options	8/31/05
Wednesday morning, still more water	8/31/05
Help these people	8/30/05
Another long night for the people of New Orleans	8/30/05
New Orleans Update	8/30/05
Take back that "Phew!"	8/30/05
New Orleans clean-up and rescue efforts	8/29/05
Phew! And why New Orleans is so vulnerable.	8/29/05
A few Sunday night links	8/28/05
New Orleanians Flee Katrina	8/28/05
Time to take the stickers off	8/27/05
Friday Baja Blogging	8/26/05
"We Can Do That!"	8/26/05
And one link from today, so far. I'm moving slow...	8/25/05
A handful of links and a brush of storm clouds	8/25/05
The seasons shift, and still we're here	8/24/05
This Crazy World We Live In	8/24/05
Casey, the Ring, and S	8/24/05
The National Civil Rights Museum, Memphis, Tennessee	8/23/05
Back in the cool air of Chicago	8/23/05
A few yummy stories...	8/21/05
Friday Baja Blogging, on a Saturday	8/20/05
The vigil, a tattered flag, and S	8/19/05
There is so much going on	8/18/05
That poem from Monday night...	8/18/05
Lives blown apart and the lessons of war	8/16/05
Help Find Muaz Haffar	8/16/05
The rain in New Orleans	8/15/05
Cindy Sheehan, Day 7	8/13/05
A few photos and reflections	8/13/05
Cindy Sheehan tells it how it is	8/12/05
Friday Baja Blogging	8/12/05
The Most Powerful Woman in America	8/11/05
A Father and A Son	8/10/05
The Power of One Mother in Crawford, Texas	8/10/05
Meanwhile, in Iraq...	8/10/05
Good news!	8/9/05
Unbelievable: Martial Law No Longer Plan B	8/8/05
Dreams and houses and granite precipices	8/8/05
60 Years Ago Today	8/6/05
Friday Baja Blogging	8/5/05
The possibility of a Spartacus nation	8/5/05
Dark thoughts and a guide	8/4/05
The blues and all that matters	8/4/05
A rather light post...	8/3/05
What I'm Reading, etc.	7/31/05
A few pictures from Columbus Avenue, San Francisco	7/30/05
A failed experiment and a west coast fortnight	7/25/05
La Loteria: Help Me Create a Web-based Exquisite Corpse	7/25/05
Sadako's 1000 Cranes and a Count of Days	7/25/05
Bouphonia on Julie Powell's Editorial on Organics	7/25/05
Hillary in 2008? Why not?	7/24/05
Friday Baja Blogging	7/22/05
Off to Jail Away from Jail	7/21/05
Orwell, Kafka. Kafka, Orwell. Mingle amongst yourselves.	7/21/05
The insult of "I heart Gitmo" and the administration's "support" of women's rights	7/20/05
The definition of "morally bankrupt"	7/19/05
Guess what? It is possible...	7/18/05
Atheist? I'm not an atheist! God forbid!!	7/18/05
George Lakoff, Framing, and the Democrats' Core Values	7/17/05
The Cult of Personality: We've Fallen for it Again	7/17/05
Ignorance Leading to Fear Leading to Descrimination in NYC	7/17/05
How the cycle begins, how it is perpetuated	7/16/05
Speak truth to power? You must be out of your mind...	7/16/05
Preach it, Sister Vowell	7/16/05
A few links to follow up on the Christian Fascism thing....	7/16/05
"Not in the Name of Islam"	7/16/05
Doc's thoughtful question and a couple of other reads	7/16/05
Friday Baja Blogging	7/15/05
The rise of Christian Fascism: the Blue Voice on Pat Robertson's anti-semitism	7/15/05
Operation Truth needs our help	7/14/05
"Am I Next?": The endless tragedy of a futile mission	7/14/05
Hey France: Happy Independence Day, Y'all	7/14/05
The compounded tragedy of a young man's murder	7/14/05
Seven more...	7/14/05
Word of the Day for Wednesday July 13, 2005	7/13/05
Will someone please get Tom Friedman a dictionary?	7/13/05
Jeremy's rant on Op Truth	7/12/05
Karl Rove has got to go	7/12/05
Beauty and the injection of violence	7/11/05
Excellent Sunday Reading	7/10/05
"The Stain of Torture"	7/9/05
Swerve Left on how to stop terrorism	7/9/05
Where they came from, who they killed	7/9/05
A love of violence and a fear of death	7/9/05
A few worth your time today	7/8/05
Friday Baja Blogging	7/8/05
From the vault	7/8/05
I can't believe it	7/8/05
The sudden rupture of nostalgia	7/7/05
"What is truth?"	7/7/05
What a dark day	7/7/05
Yep.	7/7/05
Morgan Spurlock's "30 Days" Is Genius	7/6/05
And then we jail the journalists...	7/6/05
Eric Alterman goes off on Stingy America	7/6/05
Sarah Vowell in the New York Times	7/6/05
Exvotos and Giving Thanks	7/5/05
Thank our Liberal Ancestors Today	7/4/05
It's hard for me to celebrate independence this year	7/4/05
The warped use of rhetoric to defend the indefensible	7/4/05
"Remember Petey"	7/3/05
The Bush Administration: Balancing Facts with Fiction since 2001	7/3/05
To all the keyboard kommandos out there in cyberspace	7/3/05
The casualties of war	7/2/05
"Criminal suspects are treated better..."	7/1/05
Friday Baja Blogging	7/1/05
My short-lived fantasy	6/30/05
Rieckhoff on Bush	6/30/05
Our war against an "abstract noun" and our glorification of warriorship	6/30/05
"I can't forget the dead."	6/30/05
Coincidence?	6/30/05
"The Live Bait Approach to National Security"	6/29/05
Onward, Armchair Soldiers! May God Bless You All!	6/29/05
The Tragedy of Bush's flawed argument	6/29/05
So thankful for email...	6/28/05
Thank you, mom. I needed that reminder.	6/28/05
Too much worry	6/28/05
Paul Rieckoff on Bush's Ft. Bragg Speech	6/28/05
"Amid the Turmoil, Iraqis...Turn to Books"	6/28/05
China's cyber wall	6/28/05
Sam Hamill on Poetry, War, and Protest	6/28/05
Afghanistan, still broken	6/28/05
Thank you, Washington Post, for keeping on the DSMs	6/28/05
The Nightmare	6/27/05
Deconstructing Michael: Ignatieff on the Butcher's Block	6/27/05
It's about trust	6/27/05
Michael Smith on Downing Street, from the LA TImes	6/24/05
Tom Friedman, the Left's David Brooks	6/24/05
Fighting Myself	6/24/05
Our new reality of the absurd	6/23/05
Quagmire? There's no quagmire!!	6/23/05
Photos from S: Asadabad	6/23/05
Karl Rove on the Downing Street documents	6/23/05
"I only feel bitter disappointment"	6/23/05
In the swing of things	6/23/05
Sorry...light posts for another couple of days	6/20/05
Knock, knock. There's still a war on.	6/20/05
"God Save Our President"	6/18/05
Granta's "What we think of America" and Mishra's article on jihadists	6/17/05
The Chicago Tribune is pathetic	6/17/05
Joe Conason on the press's coverage of the Downing Street Memos	6/17/05
Chalk another one up for our good neighbors, KBR	6/16/05
Operation Truth's Jeremy Lewis on the Downing Street Memo	6/16/05
Email from S	6/16/05
Downing Street Live Chat: Read it, Please!	6/16/05
The "Colombiazacion" of Mexico, the "Mexicanization" of the US	6/16/05
Downing Street Memo Live Chat -- Right Now	6/16/05
Check it out! Sgt. Zach in the news!	6/15/05
"...the purpose of regime change 'has no basis under international law'"	6/15/05
HanniBolton Lecter at Zen Comix	6/15/05
Trying to keep it together	6/15/05
Fanning the flame of hatred	6/15/05
And speaking of no WMDs in Iraq...	6/15/05
A few funny searches	6/14/05
Why the Downing Street Memo is important	6/14/05
Praying at the graves of al qaeda "martyrs"	6/14/05
Howard Dean in Chicago	6/13/05
"What is life worth?"	6/13/05
The NY Times: on the road to obsolescence	6/13/05
Back in J-Bad	6/13/05
The most important story of our time	6/12/05
The reality on the ground: training ANA and Iraqi troops	6/11/05
"Yellow is not our color"	6/11/05
The ever-growing disconnect	6/11/05