Bolted Shut / Evildoers Everywhere!

“Now in terms of the requests for the documents, I view that as just another stall tactic, another way to delay, another way not to allow Bolton to get an up or down vote.” As per his usual my-way-or-the-highway approach, Dubya announced he’s decided to stonewall the Dems by withholding the requested intelligence documents bearing on Bolton. Given that this UN appointment seems a done deal in terms of votes, you’d think our “uniter, not a divider” prez might’ve relished an opportunity to appear magnanimous and thus replenish some of his squandered political capital. But perhaps he didn’t want to put another feather in McCain’s cap so soon after the nuclear compromise…or perhaps these documents confirm anew that Bolton is unfit for his post. (Video link via Freakgirl.)

Even more troubling, in keeping with the administration’s attempts to make Amnesty International this week’s Newsweek, our president also put the blame for the “absurd” recent Amnesty report about our dismaying recent proclivity for torture squarely on the shoulders of “people who hate America.” As Sidney Blumenthal notes, “It may be of minor ironic interest that before the invasion of Iraq, the Bush administration cited Amnesty International’s reports on Saddam Hussein’s violations of human rights as unimpeachable texts. Secretary of Defense Donald Rumsfeld often claimed Amnesty as his ultimate authority.”

Wasted Capital.

“‘There is a growing sense of frustration with the president and the White House, quite frankly,’ said an influential Republican member of Congress. ‘The term I hear most often is “tin ear,” ‘ especially when it comes to pushing Social Security so aggressively at a time when the public is worried more about jobs and gasoline prices. ‘We could not have a worse message at a worse time.'” The WP wonders aloud if Dubya’s already in lame duck territory. One can only hope. Update: Dubya pushes back.

DeLay meets Derrida.

“Today’s conservative activists have become the new postmodernists. They shift attention away from the truth or falsity of specific facts and allegations — and move the discussion to the motives of the journalists and media organizations putting them forward.” By way of Crooked Timber, E.J. Dionne calls out the po-mo bent of today’s GOP.

Terrible Lie(s).

Exemplifying MTV’s consistent downward spiral since the heady days of Rock the Vote and Randee of the Redwoods (yes, I just dated myself), Nine Inch Nails drops out of a performance at the Movie Awards after the network got nervous about (gasp!) a “partisan political statement.” “‘We were set to perform “The Hand That Feeds” with an unmolested, straightforward image of George W. Bush as the backdrop. Apparently, the image of our president is as offensive to MTV as it is to me,’ Nine Inch Nails’ leader Trent Reznor said in a statement posted on the band’s Web site.” Hmmm. Well, maybe the Breakfast Club will pick up Reznor’s standard… (Last link via Freakgirl.)

GWOT and bothered.

The Bush administration announces they’re going to reevaluate their anti-terrorism strategies. To put it mildly, “[t]he policy review marks what many experts regard as a belated shift.” Well, perhaps a good place to start would be looking harder at who we sell weapons to, so we as advocates of freedom around the world aren’t forced to explain away situations like the recent massacre in Uzbekistan. (2nd link via Looka.)

Oh, you mean that Koran.

While the toilet incident that got Newsweek in trouble was emphatically denied, the Pentagon announces — after the release of FBI interviews obtained by the ACLU — that there have in fact been incidents of Koran mistreatment at Gitmo. (Surprise, surprise.) While “the interviews underscore that U.S. government officials were made aware of allegations of prisoner abuse and Koran mistreatment within months of the opening of Guantanamo Bay in early 2002“, just last week “Pentagon spokesman Lawrence T. Di Rita said the Defense Department had received no credible claims of such abuse.”

Bolton on the verge.

Still waiting in vain for the White House to turn over some crucial intelligence documents regarding Dubya’s pick, the Dems succeed in holding off the Bolton vote until next week. The GOP moderates still don’t seem to be joining Voinovich in apostasy, though, so it looks like Bolton will soon be representing us before the world. For shame.

Return of the Spoils.

“The campaign to prevent the Senate filibuster of the president’s judicial nominations was simply the latest and most public example of similar transformations in Congress and the executive branch stretching back a decade. The common theme is to consolidate influence in a small circle of Republicans and to marginalize dissenting voices that would try to impede a conservative agenda.” The WP offers a big-picture view of recent GOP attempts to centralize power in the executive.

Spotlight on Bolton.

A day after Senator George Voinovich (R-OH) excoriated the pick in print, the Bolton nomination goes before the full Senate. (Alas, despite Voinovich’s letter, the GOP looks likely to fall in line.)

Stems and Thorns.

With the nuclear detente and Priscilla Owen now on her way to a judgeship, congressional attention turns to stem cell research. With the right-wing fundies already on the warpath over the loss of GOP nukes, how will they respond in the unlikely event of Dubya’s threatened veto getting overridden?