I don't know how the people at the "videoblog" Crooks and Liars are able to provide long, downloadable excerpts from political news shows, the Daily Show, etc., like in terms of legality, or even bandwidth, but I do know that I totally love being able to watch interesting news clips and interviews without actually being forced to turn on my TV.

Yeah, not much here lately, huh? My readership has dwindled to all but the most hardcore (and the most bored). Politics is so incredibly uninspiring. It's the same insipid lies from the right and the same whining about it from the left. Fuck me if it's not boring.

On this day readers of Salto will contact a friend they've lost touch with.

It's not all that easy to "lose touch" with people -- those email addresses are probably still good. I know that I have email addresses that date back a decade or more.

Remember that person that you should have written ages ago but you just, like, didn't? Do it. Today.

'Cuz god knows you ain't gettin' any younger.

(Yes, I did. Maybe she'll write back.)

I think Salto's gotten himself a job. A full-time serious adult-type job. Probably the first he's ever had, honestly, unless you count that stint teaching high school, which was pretty much a catclysmic mismatch, occupationally speaking. But don't count your chickens before they hatch, Salto's grandpappy used to say, and he sure as hell ain't gonna do that.

The Big Comeback held up by breaking news in Saltoland. Hold your breath.

The howling emails of deprived Salto fanatics have finally overwhelmed me with their elegant, sometimes tear-soaked pleading. I won't say there hasn't been just a little wild-eyed, venomous rage too. A teence.

But Salto is back. He had a couple of hard deadlines that are now fulfilled. And he's got lots to say.

For a change.

So check back.

And yes, that thingy on the right's gotta get done too.

I'm late to the party on this one, but if you haven't seen the Daily Show on "Gannongate" you are, as they say, missing out.

Full video is here. Scroll down.

Wish I could make it out to DC next week.

*sigh*

Maybe someone'll bootleg Unrest for me.

...it's kinda weird to see Mark Robinson on the Post's frontpage.

It's unbelievable how big of a dick Rumsfeld is. Seriously.

Weirdly simple clothes, genius marketing, "ethical," what's not to like? Kinda pricey, maybe, but, um, what isn't?

Apparently their founder is some sort of giant perv, for what it's worth. Hm.

[May not be work-safe.]

[Via Lowandwide]

Could one connect Bay Area indiepopsters the Aislers Set to the Sex Pistols through shared bandmembers?

Impossible, right?

Steve Jones from the Sex Pistols was apparently in
Neurotic Outsiders with Duff McKagan, who was apparently in
Loaded with G. Stuart Dahlquist, who was apparently in
Burning Witch with Stephen O'Malley, who was apparently in
Sunn O))) with Greg Anderson, who was apparently in
Amenity with Barry Kellman, who was apparently in
Kill Holiday with Rob Moran, who was apparently in
Some Girls with Justin Pearson, who was apparently in
Swing Kids with Jose Palafox, who was apparently in
Bread and Circuits with Mike Kirsch, who was apparently in
Pinhead Gunpowder with Aaron Elliot, who was apparently in
Crimpshine with Paul Curran, who was definitely in
Go Sailor with Amy Linton, who is definitely in
The Aislers Set.

Whew.

Lots of bands to play with. Check it.

[Via Ms. T]

...and apparently Ringo's son is a key link between the Pixies and New Order. Weird.

The first decent red-vs-blue corporate consumer guide that I've found online is at buyblue.org.

Let's say, for example, yer thinking about subscribing to a DVD-by-mail service. You have Netflix and Blockbuster, right? I've heard that Blockbuster is a bit cheaper. According to buyblue, however, Netflix employees give approximately 72% of their political donations to Dem or left-of-center causes. Blockbuster, on the other hand: 40%. Go with Netflix.

Not a bad little shorthand method.

Genius:

Everyone is still missing the point of the story. The story is not, as nitwits like Howie Kurtz maintain, that people are being mean to someone just because he's conservative. The story is not that Gannon is a hypocrite for promoting an anti-gay agenda. The story is not even that the White House gave such access to a reporter for a dummy news service operating under an assumed name, and may have used him to expose Valerie Plame. This is not the story.

The story is that God exists.

Think about it: what are the chances that a media whore like Gannon would turn out to be an actual whore? It's impossible. It boggles the mind how infinitely unlikely this is. It's like if you found someone pirating CDs, and it turns out he actually had a peg leg and a parrot on his shoulder and sailed around the Caribbean saying "arrrrrr!" and plundering booty. You wouldn't believe it. But there it is: impossible, but true. Impossible truths are miracles, and only God can work miracles. Ergo, God exists. Q.E.D.

Backstory here for the confused.

Krugman.

Yeah, looks like it's not Rehnquist. Oh well.

In a frenzied fit of uncontrollable blog-ardor, Salto published this -- a suggestion about the identity of Watergate's "Deep Throat" -- on admittedly thin evidence. That was late on Monday night.

Digby was nice enough to pick up on it (Out of pity? -ed.). The next two days saw Salto's traffic go straight-line vertical on Sitemeter's graph. The blogging giants might scoff at 4000 hits in two days, but it was staggeringly exciting for me while at lasted.

Salto is now experiencing near-normal traffic, which is probably for the best. If I've picked up any new readers in this last week, I'd just like to say:

Yo.

I promise that I'll finally get around to finishing the "Who Salto?" etc. on the right within a week. Yes, it's true: light just might be shed on the the lingering mystery that is Salto within seven days. Check back.

A "reporter" that asked rightish loaded questions at White House press briefings turns out to (1) not be using his real name, (2) be affiliated with a "news organization" that is funded by a GOP moneyman, (3) conveniently have access to a classified CIA memo regarding the Plame/Wilson affair when it happened, and (4) seemingly be affiliated with a bunch of homoerotic websites.

Naturally, the media picks up on (4), crying foul, and ignores (1)-(3).

The Times does a good job of summarizing the important stuff today.

The hidden propaganda efforts of this administration are still just coming to light. I guarantee there will be much, much more.

I really can't let Rep. James Sensenbrenner's Real ID Act pass without comment. (Sensenbrenner's motto: "Making Wisconsin look good since November 1978.")

The law allows the Secretary of Homeland Security to, um, waive any laws he wants to in the course of a specific duty. Seriously:

Section 102(c) of the Illegal Immigration Reform and Immigrant Responsibility Act of 1996 … is amended to read as follows:

“(c) Waiver. —

“(1) In general. — Notwithstanding any other provision of law, the Secretary of Homeland Security shall have the authority to waive, and shall waive, all laws such Secretary, in such Secretary’s sole discretion, determines necessary to ensure expeditious construction of the barriers and roads under this section.

“(2) No judicial review. — Notwithstanding any other provision of law (statutory or nonstatutory), no court shall have jurisdiction —

“(A) to hear any cause or claim arising from any action undertaken, or any decision made, by the Secretary of Homeland Security pursuant to paragraph (1); or

“(B) to order compensatory, declaratory, injunctive, equitable, or any other relief for damage alleged to arise from any such action or decision.”

Atrios gets the clever prize for this one:

The bad news is that the Bush budget cuts out almost 10,000 border guards.

The *good* news is that pending legislation empowers future DHS Chief Michael Chertoff to murder at will.

Nice.

Maybe you want to write a few newspapers in Sensenbrenner's home district?

The Milwaukee Journal Sentinel

Milwaukee Daily Reporter

West Bend Daily News / Waukesha County Freeman

Oconomowoc Focus

Brookfield News / Germantown Banner Press

And don't forget about Wisconsin's other major papers:

The Capital Times

The Wisconsin State Journal

Appleton Post-Crescent

[Via TAPPED]

...or maybe our Sonny Bono.

Native Minnesotan Al Franken, come on down!

...no, I agree that it might be better for Franken to challenge America's Worst Senator, Mark DaytonNorm Coleman (R-MN) in 2008. Maybe Keillor will run for Dayton's seat...heh.

[Duh. -ed.]

John Dean wrote an article reporting that Deep Throat is "ill." This according to Bob Woodward. Ben Bradlee of the Post says that Deep Throat's obituary has been written.

Sounds like Deep Throat might be this guy:



He was

a Deputy Attorney General in the "Office of Legal Counsel" from 1969-1972 under Nixon's Deputy AG, Richard Kleindienst. [He] and Kleindienst were very good friends when both were lawyers in Phoenix, and Kleindienst recruited [him] into the Justice Department when Nixon got elected. [He] stayed three years [before moving on]. Just six months later AG John Mitchell resigned to head Nixon's re-election committee (CREEP), and Kleindienst replaced Mitchell as AG just five days before the June '72 Watergate break-in. Kleindienst resigned in 1973 along with Haldeman, Ehrlichman and Dean, but he and [our mystery man] remained close.

His name?

William Rehnquist, Chief Justice of the Supreme Court of the United States.

(But I could be wrong.)

I like the NewsHour with Jim Lehrer enough to occasionally listen to it online if I've missed the broadcast.

Yesterday two Senators come on to discuss Bush's budget. Bush's budget is a bit comic to me (yeah, I know) so I excitedly click to listen to the interview, which is here.

Kent Conrad (D-ND) comes on and complains that Bush's budget just doesn't include (1) any costs of the war in Iraq past September 30, 2005, (2) "the trillions of dollars" that Bush's social security privatization plan will cost (not like it's gonna get passed, but still), (3) $700 billion to fix the Alternative Minimum Tax, and (4) $1.7 trillion to make Bush's tax cuts permanent over the next ten years.

At about 2:40 of the interview, superstar Sen. Judd Gregg (R-NH) responds, and it really is a classic.:

"As to the, uh, specific issue of for example war costs, five years from now hopefully we won't be at war. In fact, I'm sure we won't be at war in Iran or Iraq, and, uh, or, in, (hhrmm), in Iraq or Afghanistan, and as a result, uh, we shouldn't be building that number into the base."

I mean, it's probably not true, obviously, but that bit about Iran?

Yikes.

Oh dear me.

The Times reviewed the new Murakami book.

Need a lift?

This will do it.

Which Republican politicans sat on their hands at the State of the Union while their colleagues were standing and clapping? Why?

Dana Milbank's article on the politics of SOTU applause would tell you. If you were interested.

Ryan Lizza's TNR article on how Howard Dean took over the Democratic Party is absolutely fascinating.

I didn't get a chance to vote for Dean in the primaries (I voted for someone other than John Kerry; let's leave it at that) because he had already dropped out. Before that, though, I donated very modestly to his campaign and actually went to a couple of Dean Meetups, which were underwhelming.

It's not like the Dems can get much worse. Let's be honest. Though I place most of the blame for Kerry's defeat on the media, he and his coterie of loser consultants simply couldn't nail a very vulnerable President. The state of today's media made it an uphill battle, but it certainly wasn't impossible.

And I don't believe Dean is all that liberal, cuz, um, he's not. If he had been even slightly more "moderate," I don't think I could have supported him. But his not-a-politican frankness seemed awfully refreshing. Dean has talked about making the Dems the party of reform. I think he'll do well.

...that people with cats stretch more than people without.

Bush leaves for his "Destroy Social Security 2005" tour today. Apparently forty-some North Dakotans have been placed on a blacklist; those in charge of access have been instructed not to let them in.

They won't be allowed into the North Dakota event because they have the temerity to disagree with the Treacherous Little Freak.

The list was supplied to workers at the two Fargo distribution sites, along with tickets and other forms citizens were asked to fill out upon receiving them. People who handed out tickets had copies of the list at their tables to determine if anyone should be denied access, both sources said.

The list contains a wide range of people. Several wrote opinion page letters to The Forum criticizing Bush or the war in Iraq. Others wrote letters in support of gay rights or of Democratic policies.

Everything, all of it -- it will all catch up with them. Have faith.

Nothing I could say about the State of the Union could match the Rude Pundit, who is on fire.

Someone get Cokie Roberts off of NPR. Please.

Because it feels so good.

What we witnessed on November 2, 2004 was a 59-million strong army of pinheads on parade ready to gamble away their social security so long as George Bush makes sure that boys kill each other, not kiss each other; who feel right proud that our uniformed services can kick some scrawny brown people in the ass in some far off place when we're mad and can't find Osama; who can't bring themselves to vote for a guy with a snooty Boston accent who's never been to a NASCAR tractor pull and who certainly thinks anyone who does is a low-Q beer-burping blockhead. And they are.

Today we witnessed more than the coronation of some privileged little munchkin of mendacity. It is the triumphal re-occupation of our nation by nitwits who think Ollie North's a hero not a conman, who can't name their congressman, who believe that Saddam Hussein and Osama bin Laden were going steady, who can't tell Afghanistan from Souvlaki-stan. Bloated with lies and super-size fries, they clomped to the polls 59 million strong to vent their small-minded little hatreds on us all.

[Via Sense of Urgency]

Looks like no filibuster in the works for Our Chief Torture Official 'cuz Dems don't have "the stomach" for it. And another disappointing performance from another freshman Dem Senator (and there are, um, not many). Take a look.

Senate Democrats angrily denounced White House counsel Alberto R. Gonzales yesterday as an advocate of prisoner torture but said they would not block his confirmation as attorney general.

The minority Democrats briefly considered but quickly abandoned procedural delays to prevent a vote on Gonzales. Instead, they railed against President Bush's top lawyer for his role in administration legal policies that they said allowed the torture of detainees in Iraq. But they consented to a vote, likely tomorrow, at which Gonzales is expected to be confirmed.

. . .

Ultimately, Democrats concluded they had neither the votes nor the political stomach to block confirmation of Gonzales, who would be the first Hispanic to hold the nation's highest law enforcement office. After a bruising debate last week followed by the confirmation of Condoleezza Rice as the first black woman to be secretary of state, some Democrats were concerned that they would be perceived as opposing qualified minority candidates. At a private luncheon yesterday, freshman Sen. Ken Salazar (D-Colo.), who is Hispanic, defended Gonzales to Democratic colleagues.

Sen. Harry M. Reid (D-Nev.), the minority leader, said a "low" forecast was that 25 or 30 Democrats would vote against Gonzales, but it appeared yesterday Gonzales was in danger of receiving even more than the 42 "no" votes John D. Ashcroft got in 2001, the most opposition ever to a nominee to head the Justice Department.

In contrast to the Rice confirmation, in which a majority of Democrats voted in favor, the opposition party appeared almost entirely unified against Gonzales.

"Mr. Gonzales is at the center of a torture policy that has run roughshod over the values that Americans hold so dear," Sen. Edward M. Kennedy (D-Mass.) said on the floor.

Kennedy repeatedly mocked Gonzales, saying "he can't remember" his role in the prisoner abuse matter. "It's hard to imagine a more arrogant insult to the constitutional role of the Senate in considering nominations," Kennedy said.

Gonzales testified to the Judiciary Committee that "torture and abuse will not be tolerated" but said he could not recall key details of his involvement in the production of an August 2002 memo that narrowly defined the tactics that constitute torture. He also declined to repudiate an administration assertion that the president has the authority to ignore anti-torture statutes on national security grounds.

Our lovely country. The Dems talk about torture and the GOP calls them racists.

There's still time for you to call your Senator. Numbers are provided here. Even a couple of GOP defectors in the Senate would be a bit of a moral victory.

I've neglected to mention in this space that about a week ago I took my first ride in a hybrid gas/electric automobile.

It was actually a cab, a small SUV, and the cabbie, a nice fellow, was eager to explain the benefits. Quiet, ample acceleration, cheap to fill up ($10 vs. $30-40 for a normal SUV) and Ford actually provided the cab company with a whole fleet of the trucks for free--the company keeps them for a year or so and then Ford takes them back to do diagnostic testing. The ludicrous hills of San Francisco must be stress-test heaven for car companies' new designs.

Unless gas prices go down dramatically, I think it's only a matter of time (a decade?) before most new cars are hybrids or some derivation thereof.