Iraq War Update

U.S. Soldiers Killed in Iraq: 2,400
WMDs: 0

Cost of war in taxpayer dollars: click here

Rush Goes to Jail

Radio host Rush Limbaugh turned himself in to authorities on a warrant for fraud. Limbaugh was photographed, fingerprinted and released on $3,000 bail.

The porcine, hypocritic chatterbox reached a settlement with Florida prosecutors in a fraud case involving prescription painkillers. Declaring his innocence, Limbaugh

"Drug use, some might say, is destroying this country. And we have laws against selling drugs, pushing drugs, using drugs, importing drugs. ... And so if people are violating the law by doing drugs, they ought to be accused and they ought to be convicted and they ought to be sent up," Limbaugh said on his short-lived television show on Oct. 5, 1995.

Prosecutors accused Limbaugh of "doctor shopping," or illegally deceiving multiple doctors to receive overlapping prescriptions, after learning that he received about 2,000 painkillers, prescribed by four doctors, in six months.

As a primary condition of the dismissal, Limbaugh must continue to seek treatment from the doctor he has seen for the past 2½ years.

Bush Continues to Do Dubai's Bidding

Perhaps the Dubai ports deal was just a distraction - so that this move to sell U.S. security to Bush's Arab buddies who bankroll terrorists would slip through quietly.

Bush Backs Dubai Firm's Plant Operations

WASHINGTON (AP) -- President Bush on Friday approved a deal for a Dubai-owned company to take control of some U.S. plants that manufacture parts for American military contractors.

Initial reactions from Congress indicated that there would not be the opposition to the deal that prevented another Dubai-based company from taking over operations of several U.S. ports.

The Committee on Foreign Investment in the United States, which must review foreign transactions of this kind, began its review of the transaction on Jan. 28 and made its recommendation to Bush on April 13. He had 15 days to make a decision, a timeframe that expired Friday.

The decision follows a political uproar earlier this year after Bush backed a deal allowing another Dubai-owned company to operate several major U.S. port terminals. The company, DP World, decided to sell the U.S. operations that it acquired in its purchase of a British firm to an American firm after Republicans and Democrats in Congress balked, saying the transaction could compromise America's security interests.

Are Rumsfeld's Days Numbered?

You know you're in serious trouble when Bush says you're doing a heck of a job.


Former drug company executive, former Secretary of Defense and current Secretary of Defense indicates the size of his ego.

Crusty and unapologetic, Donald H. Rumsfeld is the public face of an unpopular war and a target of unrelenting criticism. A growing number of commanders who served under him say he has botched the Iraq operation, ignored the advice of his generals and should be replaced.

The White House insists Rumsfeld retains President Bush's confidence.

"The president believes Secretary Rumsfeld is doing a very fine job during a challenging period in our nation's history," Bush spokesman Scott McClellan said Thursday as the administration circled its wagons around the embattled Pentagon chief.

Retired Army Major Gen. John Riggs on Thursday became the fifth general to publicly say Rumsfeld should resign.

Joining the criticism earlier this week was retired Army Maj. Gen. John Batiste, who served as an infantry division commander in Iraq until last November. He called for a "fresh start at the Pentagon," accusing Rumsfeld of ignoring sound military decision-making and seeking to intimidate those in uniform.

Earlier calls this year for Rumsfeld's replacement came from retired Marine Gen. Anthony Zinni, retired Marine Lt. Gen. Gregory Newbold and retired Army Maj. Gen. Paul Eaton.

Another Bush WMD Lie Exposed

Trailers Carried Case for War

Administration Pushed Notion of Banned Iraqi Weapons Despite Evidence to Contrary

By Joby Warrick, Washington Post

On May 29, 2003, 50 days after the fall of Baghdad, President Bush proclaimed a fresh victory for his administration in Iraq: Two small trailers captured by U.S. and Kurdish troops had turned out to be long-sought mobile "biological laboratories." He declared, "We have found the weapons of mass destruction."

The claim, repeated by top administration officials for months afterward, was hailed at the time as a vindication of the decision to go to war. But even as Bush spoke, U.S. intelligence officials possessed powerful evidence that it was not true.

A secret fact-finding mission to Iraq -- not made public until now -- had already concluded that the trailers had nothing to do with biological weapons.

Deadeye Dick Shooting Award Goes to...

Apparently you don't have to get drunk as a skunk while hunting with a fat cat contributor in order to have an embarrassing shooting accident.

A Drug Enforcement Agency hot-shot was empasizing the danger of guns to school kids when his own gun went off and shot him in the foot.

The agent is suing the government, claiming it's the DEA's fault that he's been humiliated--and his career compromised--by the release of the amateur video to TV stations and Internet web sites.

Details and a video clip at The Smoking Gun.

Iraq Death Toll Hits 2,350

U.S. Soldiers Killed in Iraq: 2,350

WMDs Found: Zero

Bush Leaks Top-Secret Info Like a Sieve

GOP First, USA Second

Cheney Aide Says Bush Approved Leak
By David Jonston and David E. Sanger, New York Times

WASHINGTON, April 6 — President Bush authorized Vice President Dick Cheney in July 2003 to permit Mr. Cheney's chief of staff, I. Lewis Libby Jr., to leak to a reporter key portions of a classified prewar intelligence estimate on Iraq, according to Mr. Libby's grand jury testimony disclosed in court papers filed late Wednesday.

The court filing provided the first indication that Mr. Bush, who has long assailed leaks of classified information as a national security threat, played a direct role in the disclosure of the intelligence report on Iraq and was also involved in the swirl of events leading up to the disclosure of the identity of an undercover C.I.A. officer.

The grand jury testimony by Mr. Libby, who has been charged with perjury and obstruction in the C.I.A. leak case, is said by prosecutors to indicate that Mr. Cheney obtained explicit approval from Mr. Bush to permit Mr. Libby to divulge portions of a National Intelligence Estimate regarding Iraq's efforts to develop nuclear weapons.

The disclosure prompted Democrats to demand that the White House be forthcoming about Mr. Bush's role. Senator Harry Reid of Nevada, the Democratic leader, released a statement saying: "In light of today's shocking revelation, President Bush must fully disclose his participation in the selective leaking of classified information. The American people must know the truth."

Bell Tolls for Crooked GOP Leader

[He's not just another pretty face on awfulplasticsurgery.com]

Rep. DeLay Won't Seek Reelection

By Jonathan Weisman and Chris Cillizza, Washington Post

Rep. Tom DeLay (R-Tex.), a primary architect of the House Republican majority who became one of the most powerful and feared leaders in Washington, told House allies tonight that he will resign from the House rather than face a reelection fight that appears increasingly unwinnable.

The decision came just three days after his former deputy chief of staff, Tony C. Rudy, pleaded guilty to conspiracy and corruption charges, telling federal prosecutors of a criminal enterprise being run out of DeLay's leadership offices. By placing the influence-buying efforts of disgraced Republican lobbyist Jack Abramoff directly in DeLay's operation, the former aide may have made an already difficult reelection bid all but out of reach.

DeLay's decision capped a long, difficult slide from power that began in September, when a Texas grand jury indicted him on money-laundering and illegal campaign finance charges. Under House Republican rules, DeLay had no choice but to relinquish is post as House majority leader, but he vowed to beat the charges and quickly return to power.