Cave in!

Harry Reid, the Senate Majority Leader has excavated new ground while caving in to Democrats. Democrats were shocked. "Harry really took off in a new direction. Standing tall against your party on behalf of the Republicans is SOP, standing tall and then caving in to Democrats has really made us very uncertain about our leadership.", said one Democratic Senator who wished to remain anonymous.

Joe Lieberman, who divides his party loyalty between Republicans, Democrats and the Likud, took time off from showering John McCrazy's (R-AZ) posterior with kisses and expressed shock that things had reached this point. "If Harry Reid gives in to Democrats, I might as well endorse a Republican for President. Oh, wait..."

Hiatus

Posting here at Blog Simple will be light to non-existent in the upcoming weeks. A trip to the old country is scheduled, if fortune smiles there will be pics!
Cheers and Happy New Year!

BREAKING!!!

MUST CREDIT BLOG SIMPLE!

Top-secret Blog Simple contacts in Congress are reporting that House and Senate leaders Nancy Pelosi and Harry Reid are planning a joint new conference where they plan to express 'disgruntlement' over the latest moves from the White House. The contacts have also spelled out what has irked the lawmakers.

"They're running out of things to cave on. After the war funding and the FISA law is passed just as the President wants them, there's nothing more on the table for them to take a principled stand on and then cave in on at the first hint of pressure or allegation that they are endangering American soldiers or citizens. Harry and Nancy are at their wits end, sure they can watch Congressional subpoenas being ignored and laughed at until the cows come home, but that's just not enough."

The Democrat duo are planning on suggesting issues that they are willing to cave on in 2008. "There's always Social Security. They were very disappointed by the lack of resolve shown by the President in pushing his agenda. There's well over a trillion dollars waiting to be looted by Bush and his cronies, but they didn't have the gumption to ignore the will of the people. Why can't he follow our example?", the lawmakers have revealed in confidence.

The lawmakers were taken aback by accusations that they are letting Chris Dodd block their latest cave in over FISA. "Not true, Senator Reid said testily off the record. I wouldn't let him place a hold on the bill, and I do it all the time for Republicans. If that isn't taking a stand, I don't know what is. Anyway, don't worry, the telecom immunity is guaranteed by the Constitution, isn't it?

Top Democratic strategists are worried that the lack of opportunity to kowtow to the White House might hurt the parties chances in the upcoming elections. One told us, "Nancy and Harry have to take a stand now, and not let people forget how craven and accommodating they can be. How can we expect an election to be close enough for Karl Rove to fix if the people are inspired by our courage?" When it was pointed out that people wanted new leadership and President Bush's approval ratings were at historic lows, the strategist responded, "You just don't get it, do you."

Voices

So that's where those voices come from. What a relief!
(h/t cryptogon)

Principles?

We don't need no stinkin' principles.

So sayeth our Democratic congresscritters, as they prepare to fund our excellent Iraq adventure for another year, six months..., well, up until Feckless Leader tells them he wants more money.

Being feisty critters, they didn't just cave in, no sir, they held out for $11B in domestic spending, sure to please their constituents and keep campaign financing rolling along.

And don't forget to count the days until they cave on the FISA bill.

12/7

Scott Horton has an excellent article (as usual) at Harper's:
Remembering December 7
and what that should mean to us now.

Meltdown for Dummies

Like a lot of Americans, we here at Blog Simple are not well versed in the financial world. Why, you may ask. Is it disinterest, fear of appearing stupid, fear of being stupid, or perhaps we've never found an adequate teacher to explain the complexities?

Here once again we find confirmation that Americans aren't too good at explaining things, while the British are superlative. So if you, like us, want edification on the complexities of financial markets, hedge funds and sub-prime mortgages, look no further, just watch and listen.



(h/t The Agonist)

NIE doubts

There's an interesting and counter current analysis over at the Asia Times about the new NIE. It points out that by saying in the report that Iran canceled their nuclear weapons program in 2003, it affirms that Iran did have such a program up to 2003, something that Iran has always denied and the IAEA has never confirmed. In fact, the only evidence that there was such a program was an allegedly stolen laptop, delivered to the US by MEK, America's preferred terrorist group. And what could that mean?

If complemented by a follow-up report that Iran is now poised to change course and resurrect its halted activities, then theoretically speaking, that gives ample justification for Washington's planned "pre-emptive strikes" on Iran, not to mention added sanctions. Yet, even short of such a follow-up, the present state of mind on Iran fueled by the new intelligence report is sufficiently paranoid to warrant tough new actions against Tehran.

Down, but out?

The release of the NIE and its front page coverage certainly looks to be a shot across the bows of the USS Cheney. Unaccustomed to be forced into a defensive posture, the neo-cons dragged (kicking and screaming, no doubt) Feckless Leader out into the public to give a press conference. The net result was that FL managed to make an even bigger ass of himself than usual, a difficult feat, and the war on Iran seems to have lost some of its luster. Even the Iraq card has been minimized in the last weeks.

But one thing we know about Cheney and the neo-cons, they are persistent. Expect a counter-attack in the upcoming days.

They're back?

Neo-con sightings are increasing, Blog Simple is tracking three instances that might prove that reports of their demise in the corridors of power is sadly overstated:

1. North Korea - the US is now imposing three new conditions before removing N. Korea from its list of terrorist states. Head US negotiator Hill is off in S. Korea now before paying a visit to the north. Big question, of course, is whether this will be a deal breaker for Kim.

2. Olmert bitch-slaps Khalilzad and Condi looks off to the side. I've heard Khalilzad described as a neo-con too, but I've never been convinced, he's always seemed more a part of the realists.

3. Wolfie is back! And in State Department, too.

All of these involve the State Department, which has been the most estranged from their disastrous 'policies'. Could it be that Cheney's irregular heartbeat has galvanized him to impose himself once more on Feckless Leader? Stay tuned!

Diplomacy

Israel was reluctantly forced to bitch-slap the US delegate to the UN, Zalmay Khalilzad, yesterday, forcing the US to withdraw a Security Counsel resolution endorsing the Annapolis meeting agreement between the Israeli and Palestinians.

The incident raised the hackles of some State Department officials, who said Khalilzad has a history of diplomatic freelancing and that he had stumbled into his current predicament by failing to adequately consult the Israelis or his boss, Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice. Khalilzad flew to Washington, where he met with Rice.

"It doesn't look good. I agree with that," Khalilzad said in a telephone interview from Washington late Friday.

Khalilzad said he had consulted "very closely" with Rice before presenting the draft resolution and that his staff had kept the Israeli mission fully informed of U.S. plans. Khalilzad said that Israeli leaders, including Prime Minister Ehud Olmert, became "very upset" when they saw a copy of the text Thursday night. He said they had no problem with the language of the resolution but that they expressed concern "that it would give the U.N. a role" in the peace talks.

I wonder whose hackles were raised at the State Department? Khalilzad says that he consulted with Rice, so it's big of him to suffer the reddened cheek that comes with a bitch slapping, leaving Condi in an unreddened state.

Oh, well, he'll get over it.