From the Times article about the news conference given yesterday by Bush and Blair:

But Mr. Bush emphasized that American soldiers had been punished for the abuses. "Unlike Iraq, however, under Saddam, the people who committed those acts were brought to justice," he said. Mr. Bush's critics have noted that the prosecutions have focused on low-level soldiers and have not held senior officers accountable.

How hard is it for David E. Sanger and Jim Fucking Rutenberg to come out and say, “But those prosecutions have focused on low-level soldiers and have not held senior officers accountable”? Who are the “critics” they’re citing? Bald Fact? Stark Reality?

Does the Times copy editor insert things like “Mr. Bush's critics have noted that” to fill out the columns?

In any event, happy Memorial Day.

Choice quote from the New York magazine interview:

Does he, like many Democrats, think the election was stolen?

Gore pauses a long time and stares into the middle distance. “There may come a time when I speak on that,” Gore says, “but it’s not now; I need more time to frame it carefully if I do.” Gore sighs. “In our system, there’s no intermediate step between a definitive Supreme Court decision and violent revolution.”

And near the end:

Though Gore is a religious man, one doesn’t recall him quoting Scripture often in the past in his oratory. But today his talk is built around a biblical refrain: “Where there is no vision, the people perish.” Time and again he repeats the phrase to punctuate a litany of Bush abominations—all of them illustrating the central theme of willful blindness. The ignoring of the warnings before 9/11. Of the warnings before Katrina. Of the warnings about global warming.

This is a stump speech—or rather, half a stump speech. And a damn fine one at that. It’s certainly a more coherent and rousing condemnation of the Bush administration than I’ve heard from any other potential 2008 candidate.

Indeed.

Browsing WFMU's "Beware of the Blog" this morning I read the post on Bob Lassiter, downloaded a few tracks, and was pretty impressed.

Lassiter basically winds up the wingnuts with a monologue and then when they call in, he knocks 'em down one by one. Its a guilty pleasure, bashing the rubes, but its damn good radio. Listening to Lassiter is a fascinating look at what was happening on talk radio before Rush Limbaugh and the right had almost completely taken it over.

Lassiter is still alive, but unfortunately he's been off the air for a while and is near death.

From Lassiter's Wikipedia entry:

Lassiter's unique and provocative style have created a high demand for airchecks of his old shows, many of which are archived online. One of the most notorious of these, known as "Mr. Airstream," is a recording from WPLP on April 1, 1987. It is a phone conversation in which an irate elderly man in a trailer protests Lassiter's treatment of old people, as well as the President and Jim and Tammy Faye Bakker; threatens to report him to the station management, the FCC, the Chamber of Commerce, and even the police; and ends the call by saying, "Have a bad night, hippie!" Many consider it to be the greatest moment in talk-radio history.

Listen to "Mr. Airstream".

One of my favorites clips so far is "Hardcore Conservative".

Anyway, Lassiter's archives.

Enjoy.

The President, in repose.

Why would the newly elected New Orleans mayor resort to gallows humor?

"To President Bush, yeah, I want to thank you, Mr. President," Mr. Nagin said. "You and I have probably been the most vilified politicians in the country. But I want to thank you for moving that promise in Jackson Square forward. You are delivering on your promise, and I want to thank you for delivering for the citizens of New Orleans."

Q: WTF?