Because the best things in life are free.

 

You see, Priscilla, even a James Bond film can only be great with a truly memorable villain.
posted by Thomas at 3:10 PM 0 comments

 
Priscilla, Queen of the Fundraising Desert


For all the ink the “nuclear option” received, one might think that the real purpose of the opposition was to stop the most extreme nominees for the federal bench. But, as the deal struck on Tuesday hints, that is a false assumption. Extreme nominees are good for the opposition; it’s the less visceral candidates that pose problems. It has been easy to vilify Charles Pickering, William Pryor, Janice Rogers-Brown, and of course Priscilla Owen. Doing the same to the other choices that President Bush sought to ram through a second time is much harder. But notice who the Democrats guaranteed to vote on: Brown, Myers, and Owen.

And regarding the Texas Supreme Court justice, she promises to be a minimal danger to the Fifth Circuit, where she would be put if approved. The New Orleans-based circuit encompasses Texas, Louisiana, and Mississippi. Several of its judges have been criticized by the US Supreme Court over death penalty cases, as well as being regarded overall as among the most conservative of the federal circuit courts. And then there’s the case which then fellow Texas Supreme Court justice Alberto Gonzales criticized Owen: a case about parental notification. The US Supreme Court decided to review parental notification this year, potentially to prevent Owen from ruling that is not constitutionally protected while on the 5th circuit.

She also could not receive campaign contributions. As members of the Texas Supreme Court are elected, justices are allowed to receive donations to their campaigns. Two such in state corporations who lavished their money on Owen: Halliburton and Enron. Both of whom received usually favorable results from her in return. Given the upcoming trial of former Enron CEO Ken Lay in 2006, having Priscilla Owen in New Orleans brings her back to the spotlight. Any attempt to intervene in the case would meet with immediate suspicion, whereas not so much if she stays in Austin. Her ties to Halliburton are less relevant, but still raise the hackles of those concerned about its role in the Iraq war.

The most unusual political figure connected to Owen, however, is Karl Rove. He apparently “discovered” her at a Houston law firm in the early 1990s. It was under his guidance that she ran a successful campaign for the Texas Supreme Court and won. Both she and Rove are single and childless. Owen had been married previously. The image of her as a “spinster” while perhaps unjustly negative is immediately apparent. But given the amount of rumor about Rove being gay, her lifestyle receives even more scrutiny. Not because any liberals would look down upon her or Rove being homosexuals or spinsters, but that their ideologies appear downright condescending to people just like them. This specter of hypocrisy reinforces the view that conservatives are elitist and out of touch toward the impact of their policies.

So do not be fooled by the words of Howard Dean, Ralph Neas, and Kim Gandy. Liberals love Priscilla Owen, who promises to help tap a previously dry bed of fundraising. Nothing gets people to donate money like someone they hate. And Owen, as you can see, has the makings of a perfect villain.
posted by Thomas at 6:12 PM 0 comments

 
Mission Accomplished?

How do you know things are not going well in Iraq? The US military boasts that casualties are down because insurgents now concentrate on attacking civilians.

But it appears the US Army and Marine Corps is downplaying the severity of fighting in the Al-Anbar province. A report on Al-Jazeera.net indicted that as many as two helicopters have been shout down as forces storm cities along the Euphrates River near the Syrian border. But the resistance now reportedly might have uniforms, body armor, and best of all…armor piercing rounds that have killed several US troops who wander into building only to be shot at through walls.

A Canadian website that posts “official” Al Qaeda briefings, jihadspun.com, intimates one such report where one hundred American troops have been killed. The Washington Post on Thursday reported that an entire company of Marines has been decimated by ambushes other guerrilla tactics. Problematic news considering the Defense Department sent 1,000 troops for the Operation, code named “Matador”.

Yet evidence continues to mount these insurgents are not all Iraqi, a Marine told the Washington Post’s journalist. He pointed to enemy dead with “olive skin, thick curly hair, and delicate features”. The implication is curious. The physical description in light of what sort of equipment these foreign fighters are wielding is probably seen as involvement by Iran. But could the conventional wisdom be wrong here?

Perhaps, but the combination of characteristics cited are unusual outside of Europe. The
Chechens could fit the profile, but they already have their hands full fighting against the Russians. Somalis are known for fine features, but thick curly hair is not common there. Given how well known Tunisians are within Al Qaeda, it’s possible they are who the Marines refer to. But Tunisia’s government is not oil-rich and would have sparse military supplies to equip them.

Still, it could be that Al Qaeda is so flush with cash that they have bought old Soviet surplus from arms dealers only to issue it to new recruits to the insurgency upon arrival.

Each implies however, that the insurgency is better-financed and armed than previously thought because of the presence of outside influence.
posted by Thomas at 5:42 PM 0 comments

 

Wild About Larry

It’s always a strange feeling when hot-to-trot prosecutors leak news of a big case only to find insufficient evidence for the most damaging charges. So that the Justice Department was unable to uncover enough dirt to demonstrate former Pentagon analyst Larry Franklin provided Israel with classified documents on Iran is perhaps really fitting.

All the U.S. Attorney can offer us now is that Franklin had lunch in June of 2003 with two former employees of AIPAC. And that he might have talked about Iran because of Defense Department fears the Iranians planned to launch attacks on US troops in Iraq. No proof exists any of this fell into the hands of the Israeli government or natch, Ahmed Chalabi. But the fact that the initial disclosure of the investigation started with more serious allegations…and that the FBI made two visits to AIPAC’s offices to collect evidence suggests this might be a head fake.

Consider the neocons. Richard Perle is now on the rubber chicken circuit. Paul Wolfowitz has been exiled to the World Bank. Scooter Libby is one step away from being indicted for leaking Valerie Plame’s name to Bob Novak. John Bolton is being ushered toward the meaningless role of US Ambassador to the UN, and Doug Feith has said he will be leaving his role at the Pentagon shortly. In other words, the Franklin non-indictment ties up all the loose ends.

Or does it?

When Richard Perle wrote “A Clean Break” in 1987, he summarized that the US should effect regime change in Iraq, Syria, and Iran in that order. Given the highly suspect cause of the Hariri car bombing in Lebanon and the disingenuous retreat by Syrian forces there, it seems like Israel really wants to know how much progress the US is making to proof Iran has nuclear weapons justifying a preemptive strike. Part of the allegation is that Franklin advocated a hard line against Iran and felt he needed AIPAC’s help to ratchet up pressure on the Administration to see it his way.

So is the “Flight of the NeoCons” preparing the way for a strike on Iran (as promised by former UN weapons inspector Scott Ritter)? Is this really about Act Two of the “Bush Doctrine”? It’s clear that Bush is cleaning house and that he’s probably not wild about Larry Franklin.

posted by Thomas at 12:50 AM 0 comments