Monday's Political News

Bond. Google Bond.

The CIA was "just too busy" to help the State Department determine who in Iran should be sanctioned for their involvement in that country's nuke program.

So State assigned the job to a junior Foreign Service officer. He went to Google.

Iranians with the most hits when he searched "iran + nuclear" wound up on a sanctions list the State Department circulated around the UN Friday.

The CIA says none of the 12 names on the list are involved in Iran's most suspicious nuclear activities. But the spooks won't name the serious names -- because, well, they're secret so there's nothing that can be done about them -- except to protect their names from the world.

Another slam dunk! (WaPo)

Criminal Report

Sen Gordon Smith (R-OR) has called the "stay the course" approach to the Iraq War as potentially criminal.

“I, for one, am at the end of my rope when it comes to supporting a policy that has our soldiers patrolling the same streets in the same way being blown up by the same bombs day after day. That is absurd. It may even be criminal.”

Here's the CNN report:

The Bug Man Blogs

Nothing gets by them wiley Republicans. You can't slow down "the tubes" enough to prevent them from using "the Google" on "the Internets."

That's why I've suddenly gotten competition from Tom Delay who's jumped on the blogging bandwagon. From the first post at TomDelay.com:

"I have created this blog in order to provide Americans with a new meeting place where such opinions and viewpoints might be better shared, discussed and debated; a place where conservative and traditionalist Americans might speak truth to power and to one another.

In all honesty, I did not fully realize the impact or potential of the blogosphere until very recently…"

There you go, confirming them rumors on the Internet. (TomDelay.com)

Cold Hard Cash

Maybe the folks in New Orleans understand that $90,000 in marked bills provided in an FBI sting found in a freezer are nothing but a necessary ingredient in some Creole dish. Maybe they're just nuts.

Whichever. Rep William Jefferson (D-LA) won his run-off election to return to Congress -- despite the fact the FBI paid him 100-grand in a bribery sting and recovered 90-grand of that cold, hard cash in his freezer during a raid a few later.

The Democrat's re-election is a rare treat for Republicans who didn't stand a chance at taking the seat -- but can use his re-election as a handy item to beat the Democrats who've promised to clean up corruption on Capitol Hill. (WaPo)

Guess his North Poll Numbers are Bad, Too

When Santa Claus came charging onto stage at Thursday's lighting of the National Christmas tree -- he was kept away from President Bush by a glass wall.

Was it bulletproof glass?

We're still waiting for a leak of the "naughty and nice list" which might shed more clues on the need to keep the President safe from Jolly Old St Nick.

The Secret Service apparently cleared Santa later on, and the President shared the stage with Santa. Though Mr Bush does look like Santa's a little too close for comfort this close to Christmas in the picture (above).

But Eartha Kitt, that's another story. (White House)

What a Sense of Humor

Maybe it's the new grandchild on the way. Vice President Dick Cheney actually caught laughing.

David Letterman unveils "Dick Cheney, That's Funny!"

Remembering a December Morning

It's been 65 years since Pearl Harbor.

America changed more on December 7, 1941, than on any one day in our history.

Stephen Ambrose points out in The Wild Blue:

"The US Army at the beginning of World War II had fewer than 200,000 men (26,000 of them in the Army Air Corps), which meant it ranked 16th in the world, right behind Romania. The Army was pitifully smaller than the millions of men in the Japanese, German, and Italian armies. By June, 1941, the US Army Air Corps had been built up to 1,257 combat planes, nearly all of them inferior to the Japanese Zero, which outnumbered them anyway, and to the German Luftwaffe's fighter fleet, which was four times larger than the American fleet and growing rapidly."

Before December 7, 1941, the US had never had much of a standing Army in peacetime. The Pentagon, just finished to consolidate command and control for the expected war, was intended to be temporary -- a concrete tent to be struck when the war was over and turned into a warehouse as America drew down its military.

We never did.

We've replaced the threat of 1941 with the threat of 1945 with the threat of 2001.

Sixty-five years after Pearl Harbor, America is the world's only superpower. We spend more on defense than the next ten nations combined. And that spending is the largest share of the federal budget.

It's largely because we remember Pearl Harbor.

FEMA Dealing with a Financial Disaster

The Government Accountability Office found FEMA has recouped less than 1% of the $1 billion GAO claims it blew on fraudulent payments after Hurricane Katrina.

The latest audit shows FEMA giving housing payments to people living rent-free in FEMA shelters.

Other squandered money:

• $20 million in double payments for people who claimed the same damage from Hurrican Katrina and Hurricane Rita
• $3 million dollars in aid to foreign students not eligible for FEMA assistance
• Of 20 flat bottom boats FEMA bought -- the agency can't find 18 of them, and can't find the legal titles for the other two

An earlier audit spotlighted $1 billion in FEMA fraud and waste. FEMA itself has only identified $290 million in improper payments -- and collected only $7 million of that. (AP)

A Busy Final Hour in Office

Former Gov Frank Murkowski (R-AK) left office this month after being a lame duck since coming in third in the GOP Primary.

But not before appointing 35 friends to key state positions in the final hour he was in office. Yep -- 35 appointments in an hour.

That includes former Chief of Staff Jim Clark named to the Alaska Natural Gas Development Authority. Mr Clark has been a loggerheads with the panel since it was created.

Gov Sara Palin (R-AK) plans to review those 11th hour appointments. She didn't find out about them until walking on stage to take the oath of office this week. (Anchorage Daily News, HT: PoliticalWire.com)

"Slide Toward Chaos"

The Iraq Study Group has released it's report -- calling the situation in Iraq "grave and deteriorating."

It warns that a "slide toward chaos" could trigger a regional war unless the US changes course. The Group makes 79 reccommendations, but admits it may be impossible to stabilize Iraq for years.

Lessee here...uh......just looking through...the report.

Hmmm, "grave and deteriorating"..."regional war"..."slide toward chaos"...

Hey, anything in here about being welcomed as liberators? How about WMDs? Final throes?

Nope. Just stuff like...lessee..."Ethnic cleansing could escalate"..."Freedoms could be lost"...

Oh, here we go! Something familiar!

"Heckuva job!" (WaPo)

Latest Video News Reports on the Iraq Study Group Report

Tracking the E-Mail Trail

Be careful what you e-mail or IM from the office. New federal rules require your boss to hang on to all electronic communications if he and the company wind up in litigation.

Looks like fmr Rep Mark Foley (R-FL) quit his job just in time! (MyFoxNY)

Pensions for Prisoners

Around 20 civic groups are calling on the new Democratic majority in Congress to ban pensions for members convicted of a crime.

Fmr Rep Duke Cunningham (R-CA) is drawing $64,000 a year while sitting in prison. When fmr Rep Bob Ney (R-OH) turns 60, he'll collect $29,000 a year from us taxpayers. And if current investigations lead to a conviction for fmr Rep Mark Foley (R-FL), he'll still have a $32,000 pension. At a dime apiece, that'd pay for a lot of text messages. (ABC- The Blotter)

Now that "Hunger's" Eliminated -- Time to Eat Up!

The First Lady is handing out her annual Christmas at the White House menu for upcoming holiday receptions. Those of you dealing with "very low food security" may have trouble reading the list:

• Colossal Shrimp Cocktail and Jonah Crab Claws (Served with Ramsey’s Cocktail Sauce and Spiced Remoulade).
• Stuffed Turkey Breasts with Winter Mushrooms, Cheese and Brandied Cranberries
• Sugar Cured Virginia Ham with Hot Pepper Mustard (Served with Warm Blue Corn Muffins)
• Chicken Fried Beef Tenderloin with White Onion Gravy (Served with Tiny Icebox Rolls)
• Herb Roasted Lollipop Lamb Chops served with Warm Yeast Rolls
• Chocolate Roulade (Christmas Log): Soft Ganache Frosting with a Chocolate Sponge, Meringue Mushrooms, Magnolia Leaves in White Chocolate, Raspberries
• Mini Tartlettes
• Pecan Pie, Lemon Meringue Pie, Orange Chiffon and Chocolate Boston Cream Pie.
  Chocolate Truffles
• Homemade, Bittersweet Chocolate Ganache
• Long Stem Strawberries with Dark Chocolate Dipping Sauce

Salon.com's War Room has the complete list. (Salon.com)

Friday's Video Roundup

Aisle Seat, Huh? We'll be Detaining You

Turns out the feds have branded millions of us with a "terrorist rating."

They've been keeping tabs on our travels -- and our travel preferences. They've kept tabs on the number of one-way tickets we've bought, how we paid for them, our seat preferences, and the kind of meal preferences on our flights.

They've even been tapping into our driving records: "You in a heap o' trouble boy. You were doing five miles over the speed limit. Why do you speeders hate freedom?"

Apparently not wanting to sit in the middle seat, not wanting the worst food offered on the flight, and getting caught taking a "California rolling stop" at the stop sign makes us more of a terrorist risk.

Gotta figure the NSA's been busy tapping phones of stand up comics everywhere for bad mouthing airline food. Seinfeld alone could bump bin Laden off the FBI's ten most wanted list!

On top of that, we're not allowed to find out about our terrorist rating, nor challenge it -- and it's kept on file for 40 years. Now, sit back and enjoy the trip. (AP)

2008 Target Date

Indications are the Iraq Study Group's report -- set for release Wednesday -- will call for having nearly all US troops out of Iraq by early 2008.

The plan would allow for US troops to be stationed in such a way they could return quickly if needed.

But it would shift the responsibility of defending Iraq to the Iraqis and end the occupation nature of the US military in the country. (WaPo)