Bush: "I have no desire to see myself on television"

By GottaLaff

Finally, Boy Georgie and I can agree on something! I don't want to see him on the Tee Vee Machine either.

Presenting a "Former" (I prefer Ex):

"I have no desire to see myself on television. I don't want to be a panel of formers instructing the currents on what to do... I'm trying to regain a sense of anonymity. I didn't like it when a certain former president -- and it wasn't 41 or 42 -- made my life miserable."

-- Former President George W. Bush, quoted by CBS News, referring to Jimmy Carter's criticisms of his administration's handling of the Iraq war as a "flat out disaster."

For someone who's trying to find anonymity, he has no problem making news by insulting a former president.

Oh, and Georgie? Your life already was miserable.

SOTU memories: "They are in dire need of the services of a good proctologist and psychiatrists"

By GottaLaff

I got this via a friend, who passed it on to me in an e-mail. I don't need to add a thing.

What do I remember most about last night’s State Of The Union Address? Let’s see: Mitch McConnell’s uninterrupted Horses’ Ass/Smirking Chimp arrogant sneer of contempt, John Boehner’s liquid-supper red-faced constant snide chattering to anyone around him who would listen, Senator Grassley falling asleep…only one step from his usual demeanor and John McCain giggling like a demented old man. Now there are a bunch of folks who really have our welfare at heart…arrogant corrupt son-a-bitches.

They need to be supporting healthcare because they are in dire need of the services of a good proctologist and psychiatrists; damn I forgot; they have full coverage by the best plan in America. They should avail themselves of those essential services.

What do you suppose would be the outcome of a complete psychiatric examine of every member of congress? How many sociopaths would we find? How many alcoholics would be exposed? How many perverts would we find? And if we investigated all of them; how many common criminals would we find?

Just now on Countdown, Jonathan Alter: Their party is in decline... They're "sour".... They have nothing, they offer nothing...

How did he know I was writing this post?

Report: CIA planned to 'rendition' suspects in Germany

By GottaLaff

Report: I'm reporting a report, it's been reported. My sources are confidential because of the sensitive nature of the sensitivity of the as of yet unreported report that I'm reporting.

Reportedly--now I'm not saying this for certain, but it's out there-- this happened, according to unnamed sources, or so it's been reported:

The CIA had 25 agents in Germany after the September 11 attacks and planned to "rendition" illegally al-Qaeda suspects without informing the German government, Spiegel magazine reported Sunday.

"It was about grabbing people without the Germans knowing about it," the German weekly magazine cited an unnamed former CIA agent as saying. "We were planning stuff that was totally illegal."

The plan went so far that other parts of the Central Intelligence Agency were in the loop, but in the end it was scrapped because of objections by the agency's German section, Spiegel cited its source as saying.

As soon as they report more in another report, I'll report it to you, sources say.

WaPo's indiscriminate use of anonymity

By GottaLaff

Anonymous sources provided me with this excerpt:

Glenn Greenwald dissects a Washington Post article by Anne Kornblut and lists the sources for the article -- every one of them -- in the order she cites them:

"Obama aides pointed... administration officials said... a senior administration official said... officials said... a senior administration official said... senior Obama officials stressed... a senior administration official said... aides said... officials said... one senior administration official said... one senior official said... The official said... a senior administration official said... a senior administration official said... administration officials said... a senior official said."

Please follow the Greenwald link. His piece delves into a whole lot more than the sliver I've provided. Go. Now.

Here's a hint:

Gov't source: Iraqi PM told Obama 'Baghdad will burn' if photos released

By GottaLaff

From an unnamed source corroborated by another unnamed source:

From McClatchy Newspapers:

In the days leading up to a May 28 deadline to release the photos in response to an American Civil Liberties Union lawsuit, U.S. officials, led by Christopher Hill, the U.S. ambassador to Iraq, told Maliki that the administration was preparing to release photos of suspected detainee abuse taken from 2003 to 2006.

When U.S. officials told Maliki, "he went pale in the face," said a U.S. military official, who along with others requested anonymity because of the matter's sensitivity.

The official said Maliki warned that releasing the photos would lead to more violence that could delay the scheduled U.S. withdrawal from cities by June 30 and that Iraqis wouldn't make a distinction between old and new photos. The public outrage and increase in violence could lead Iraqis to demand a referendum on the security agreement and refuse to permit U.S. forces to stay until the end of 2011.

Maliki said, "Baghdad will burn" if the photos are released, said a second U.S. military official.

My anonymous sources refused to confirm or deny the unnamed source's unnamed source on this matter. Feel free to quote me.

To anyone who wrote to Alaskan Rep. Mike Doogan:

By GottaLaff

If you missed it, you should read this post I put up yesterday about Alaska's Mike Doogan v. The Mudflats, an Alaskan blog that I frequent on a regular basis. Doogan revealed the Mudflats' blogger's identity, and she wrote an excellent post on her feelings about that. It's a must-read.

Now we have a follow-up, via a comment by the inimitable Silly Git:

PUBLIC SERVICE ANNOUNCEMENT:

If anyone sent an Email to Mike Doogan protesting his outing of AK Muckraker and received a reply from Mr. Doogan AKM wants to know about it.

Please go to http://www.themudflats.net/forum/index.php/topic,6710.0.html

Thank you, Silly, and thank you Mudflatters!

Blogger identity exposed by Alaskan Rep. Mike Doogan

By GottaLaff

As you know if you read TPC regularly, I link to the Alaskan blog "The Mudflats" a lot. In fact, I rely on them for much of what I post about Sarah Palin.

Mudflats is a friendly, reliable, well-written blog that provides accurate and steady information and insight that is hard to find elsewhere.

Now, for whatever reason, Democratic Alaskan Rep. Mike Doogan has chosen to reveal the identity of this blogger. Everything I am feeling and thinking is expressed by her in this post.

Please go read it. I'd love to hear your comments. I value my anonymity for many of the same reasons that she writes about. And I share her outrage and shock.

What was this guy thinking?