Instahoglets 17th Feb. 06

It's been a few days since one of these, which maybe illustrates how well QuailGate innundated the news this week. As usual, here's some fodder for the brain in the form of punchposts with a dose of snark.

Captain Ed is waxing wroth on BushCo's latest idiocy - allowing a company from the United Arab Emirates to have charge of six major U.S. ports. Well no, not exactly. State-owned DP World bought the UK's P&O shipping firm which has terminals in New York, Miami and elsewhere across the world. It's certainly a questionable decision - one which the UK has obviously allowed too. But to read the Captain's comments it is the end of the world. One wants to federalize the ports (hang on, I thought conservatives didn't beilieve in nationalisation!), one wants to blame Clinton, the rest just exhibit Islamophobia.

There's more Islamophobia in comments at the Jawa Report as Dr. Rusty Shackleford decides that extremist killers are no longer either terrorists or insurgents but soldiers! If a lefty did that the wingnuts would have conniptions but he's bending the usual rhetoric all out of shape so he can try to counterspin the recent Abu Graib photos, so that's OK, right?

Hey Rusty, does that mean the detainees have Geneva Convention rights or is it OK if America descends to the lowest pit of it's enemies' vileness too?

His commenters are the usual run of sociopaths - one wants to nuke every Islamic nation, one wants to blame the Dems for beheadings in Iraq, and everyone wants to blame CNN and the Islamic "Monkees" (sic).

Which leads us nicely into the "pot calling the kettle black" department. There are some who are handing out executions willy-nilly in Iraq - but they are American allies. A group of Iraqi highway patrolmen, presumably part of the Shiite SCIRI party's militia aka the Badr Brigade and also presumably American trained, have been running a death squad out of the Iraqi Interior Ministry. It matters not to the sociopaths of the Right that their hero Bush is backing a regime that actively wants this kind of stuff - they are all just Moslems after all, and the only good Moslem...

Want some good news from Iraq? The Third Armored Cavalry and their commander Col. McMaster have earned plaudits for their innovative "hearts and minds" tactics in Tal Afar. McMaster's efforts and the resistance he has met from higher commanders will be familiar to regular Newshogs. (just search under "McMaster" on the sidebar to see where I've been following this story for a long time now.)

Here's what I say: promote the Colonel and give him the kind of command where he can spread his tactics, thinking and training far and wide among the forces now in Iraq. Fat chance of it happening given the deadbrains at the top but it would be a damn good step.

The Senate GOP and the House are at odds today after Senator Pat Roberts, chairman of the Senate Intelligence Committee, unilaterally squelched the Senate's call for an enquiry but Leaders of the House Intelligence Committee said that they had agreed to open a Congressional inquiry prompted by the Bush administration's domestic surveillance program. Meanwhile, the Bush League are scared to let John Ascroft talk, are about to be sued by a guy from Kentuky and have a judge demanding documents. It's all coming unglued and their dodging will more and more convince the general public that Bush is up to mischief. The administration comes across as 12 year olds trying desperately to avoid a righteous spanking.

It's a bad day for Captain Ed - here's the always excellent Glenn Greenwald handing him a serious woodshedding over the all important words of the FISA legislation. It applies in peace or in war, no matter what the Presididn't thinks.

Following closely on the heels of the Dem bigwigs forcing out Paul Hackett in favor of Sherrod Brown comes a possibly even more damaging case of the powers-that-be deciding who progressives should vote for. There is no doubt that people like Chuck Schumer would prefer there to be no Pennsylvania primary either, leaving the field clear for their annointed one, a man described as Santorum-Lite even by his backers. The Booman Tribune gets behind the poll reports to look at the actual facts and asks if Bob Casey Jnr really leads Santorum.

(My own opinion: Chuck Pennacchio should do some outreach to wealthy independents like Bernie Sanders and combine that with his grassroots support to tell the Dem leadership to go fuck themselves and run as an independent against both of the rightwingers, GOP and DEM alike. This time I disagree with Matt Stoller, but Matt seemingly cannot see beyond the Party.)

Lastly...fancy owning your own aircraft carrier? The ex-soviet carrier Minsk is up for auction in China today at the paltry price of 128 million yuan ($16 million). Only one snag for any aspiring evil geniuses out there looking for a great base - it's been converted into a theme park complete with a movie theater and restaurants.

I wonder if Jack Abramoff could "create" the funding for King George to buy it? It would make a great Imperial yaught for all those "mission accomplished" photo-ops!