Work Product

John Dean is right; the White House’s penchant for secrecy never ends. Now we have a confidential public speech:

The White House has refused to provide the panel investigating the Sept. 11, 2001 attacks with a speech national security adviser Condoleezza Rice was to deliver on that day touting missile defense as a priority rather than al Qaeda, sources said on Tuesday.
With Rice slated to testify publicly before the commission on Thursday, the commission submitted a last-minute request for access to Rice’s aborted Sept. 11, 2001 address, sources close to the panel said.
But the White House has so far refused on the grounds that draft documents are confidential, the sources said.

Josh Marshall:

Unless the argument is that we can’t let our enemies know the depth of the poor judgment displayed by the president’s national security team, it is searchingly hard to fathom what possible national security issue could be implicated by handing over the speech since it was — do we have to say it? — a speech! A speech for public consumption.
Like almost all the other restrictions the White House has placed on the Commission, this is just so they won’t be embarrassed politically. They don’t like the Commission. Again and again they display open contempt for its work. They didn’t want it created in the first place. And they’ve tried to obstruct its work at almost every turn.
All that’s different here is that the political nature of the obstruction is undeniable.

Yep. And perhaps someday the major media will stand up and call them on it.

Al Qaeda Miracle Treatment Exposed

For years reports have swirled about al Qaeda’s proclivity to experiment with chemicals and the like. What have they been working on? The secret is now out. They’ve developed a method to regenerate lost limbs!

Senior U.S. officials told CNN on Tuesday that they now believe fugitive terrorism suspect Abu Musab al-Zarqawi did not have a leg amputated in Iraq, as the Bush administration had previously said.
Although the administration pointed to Iraq’s medical assistance to al-Zarqawi as evidence of a link between al Qaeda and Saddam Hussein’s regime, it’s now believed that al-Zarqawi still has both legs.

Surprise. Another Bush pre-war claim gone bad. By now it’s easier to count the administration’s true statements than it would be to tally the false ones.

Gas Ad Wars

Another political advertisement:
1910’s-quality black and white film played at fast speed. Goofy silent-film era background music.
SUV driver fills up tank. Checks price on pump display. Wipes eyes with both hands. Checks price again. Strikes forehead with palm. Pulls out handkerchief and wipes sweat from face. Opens up back of truck and pulls wheelbarrow. Loads wheelbarrow with cash and heads toward cashier (1920s German style).
Text slide:

“Some people have wacky ideas like taxing gasoline more so oil companies make more money. That’s Dick Cheney.”

Dick Cheney voice-over (or actual footage, if available):

“Let us rid ourselves of the fiction that low oil prices are somehow good for the United States”

Text slide:

Bush/Cheney:
Wrong for Drivers
Wrong for America

New Slide:

The End.

Once again, include nothing which puts the quote in context.

Bringing Home the Pork

Taxpayers for Common Sense lists the amount of earmarks in the HR 3550 (Highway Bill) by state (through April 1).
As you might expect, the larger, more populous states generally top the list. Tennessee fares relatively well, ranking 13th ($220,900,000 for 83 earmarks).
The state that really sticks out is Alaska, which ranks 4th among states in earmarks ($590,200,000 for 30 earmarks). Compare this to similarly-situated states (large area, small population) like Wyoming ($10,000,000 for 5 earmarks) and South Dakota ($0–representative in jail). Is it a coincidence that the chair of the House Committee on Transportation and Infrastructure is Don Young, (R-AK)?
Oink, oink.

TV Bad for Tots

Study:

The more television children watch between the ages of 1 and 3, the greater their risk of having attention problems at age 7, researchers reported on Monday.
They found that each hour of television that preschoolers watched per day increased the risk of attention problems such as attention deficit-hyperactivity disorder, by almost 10 percent later on.
The study, published in the April issue of Pediatrics, the journal of the American Academy of Pediatrics, adds inattention to the list of harmful effects of excessive television viewing that also includes obesity and violent behavior.

Huh?