I can't possibly recommend more highly that you read this post over at Orcinus.  It explores some of the roots of our handling of terrorism and draws lines between the events in Waco in 1993 and Iraq today, with the Oklahoma City bombing as the main connector. 

You can read Part One of the series at the top of the page I linked to above.  Part One is good, but Part Two is positively stunning.  It's the kind of blogging that I can't even pretend I'll ever be good enough to do.  The major media could only dream of doing work this outstanding. 

Enough gushing.  Just read it.  And if you don't already, you need to read Orcinus regularly.  Link on the right.

8:24:26 PM    comment []

Looks like Rep. David Obey (D-WI) and Senator Robert Byrd (D-WV) are demanding that Bush say how all of the 9/11 emergency funding was spent.  Key section:

Mr. Byrd and Mr. Obey said that contrary to the requirements of law, there appeared to have been no consultation with Congress on how $20 billion specifically handed over to the president for his allocation had been distributed. They also said the administration had not submitted required quarterly reports on the use of the entire $40 billion for almost a year.

In asking the White House to detail how the $40 billion had been spent, the lawmakers said, "Transparency in this regard is critical."

Oh, that should do it.  Transparency is, after all, the highest value of this Administration.

Republicans in Congress say that they got the info.  This is either A) True, in which case it was just kept from Democrats, or B) False, because the GOP in the Congress must do what the Administration says, preferably on bended knee.

7:32:30 PM    comment []

David Brooks writes stupid articles.  Today, his article can be summed up as follows:

"There is important stuff going on in Iraq.  But everyone is too concerned with politics.  Bush and his cohorts have so much important stuff to do that we need to stop being concerned with things like how we started the war, or the 9/11 commission, because that's distracting."

Evidently, while we shouldn't be focusing on these irrelevant issues, it's perfectly OK for Bush's people to be spending extra time making up stories about Kerry's war record, or for Cheney to be sandbagging university Presidents in order to devote policy speech time to bashing Kerry, or for the Administration to be spending valuable Iraq preparation time running ads bashing Kerry on defense cuts despite Cheney advocating defense cuts during the Cold War, or for Bush to be going to as many fundraisers as possible......etc.

Seriously, is there even an attempt to be honest?

9:05:30 AM    comment []