cleanup reprint: throw the man a kitten

note: this post furst appeared on 11/2/2005. i am deletin the ole one to git rid of the filthy lanks in the comments. i plan to do this fer a while till i git it all cleaned up. thankee fer yer indulgents.

is this our cuntry? i had to wunder when i red the top story in the washington post name of CIA Holds Terror Suspects in Secret Prisons; Debate Is Growing Within Agency About Legality and Morality of Overseas System Set Up After 9/11:

The CIA has been hiding and interrogating some of its most important al Qaeda captives at a Soviet-era compound in Eastern Europe, according to U.S. and foreign officials familiar with the arrangement.

The secret facility is part of a covert prison system set up by the CIA nearly four years ago that at various times has included sites in eight countries, including Thailand, Afghanistan and several democracies in Eastern Europe, as well as a small center at the Guantanamo Bay prison in Cuba, according to current and former intelligence officials and diplomats from three continents.

The hidden global internment network is a central element in the CIA's unconventional war on terrorism. It depends on the cooperation of foreign intelligence services, and on keeping even basic information about the system secret from the public, foreign officials and nearly all members of Congress charged with overseeing the CIA's covert actions.

The existence and locations of the facilities -- referred to as "black sites" in classified White House, CIA, Justice Department and congressional documents -- are known to only a handful of officials in the United States and, usually, only to the president and a few top intelligence officers in each host country.

i kindly thunk i wuz livin in a cuntry ruled by law, whar ifn thay wuz a charge agin ye, ye had the rite to here it n to state yer side. ye couldnt be locked up jes on a counta folks bleevin ye wuz a terrst or whutever. but them daze has gone the way of the dodo bird.

aint thay nuthin we kin do bout it?

then thars this articull name of DeLay Loath to Doff His Leadership Hat; Active Role Divides House Republicans bout how delay has steppd down but tiz still bizness a usual:

Former House majority leader Tom DeLay's efforts to retain power despite his indictment have angered some rank-and-file Republicans, many of whom say his ethical problems and uncertain status are staining them and destabilizing GOP unity.

Although he was forced to relinquish his leadership post Sept. 28, after the first of two indictments for alleged involvement in money laundering related to the 2002 Texas election, DeLay continues to use an office in the leadership suite, occasionally presides over private meetings with committee chairmen and lobbies members during key floor votes.

Also, the Texas Republican's staff continues to maintain the House schedule and dash off memos to lawmakers, ostensibly as employees of a majority leader's office without a full-fledged majority leader. And on his trips to the sheriff's office for an Oct. 20 booking in Houston and a court appearance in Austin on Oct. 21, DeLay was accompanied by three bodyguards from the Capitol Hill police force, just as he was when he was majority leader.

"My issue is having an indicted former leader hanging around the leadership offices," said one House Republican, who spoke on the condition of anonymity because of DeLay's remaining authority. "This guy did so much good work getting us into the majority. Why does he want to stick around? He's not helping us."

"Tom DeLay should not be in a position of authority," said Rep. Christopher Shays (R-Conn.), who called for DeLay's resignation from the House leadership even before he was indicted. "He should not be calling the shots or driving the agenda, and if he is, that would be unfortunate."

agin, whut do i know? i kindly thunk that ifn ye steppd down, ye steppd down. so thays sum places whar the laws dont apply, lack in that furst story, n a nuther place whar folks dont half to do whut they promissd they wood do.

n that aint nuthin we kin do bout it. hes even gittin the judge fired n his trile moved to whar he kin rig the jury, witch he dun masterd gerry riggin, so why not branch out into jury riggin?

corse ye mite need ye a hammer ifn ye gut to figger a way to repay them huge loans to rich folks – mayhap ye herd bout em, witch they been calld 'tax cuts,' but when ye half to borry $300+ billyuns a year to finants em, thays loans thats gut to be repaid by our children n granchildrn – ye gut to figger a way to pay fer em. how bout ye cut $50 billyuns frum progams that hep pore folk n cut taxes by $70 billyun. woodnt that git us closer? i really do wish them publicans could git em a wurkin calculater! frum that same articull bout how delay has steppd down n steppd up at the same time:

With difficult votes coming, especially on a massive budget bill cutting $50 billion in spending over five years and a $70 billion tax cut to follow, some Republicans say DeLay needs more authority, not less.

but jes in case that dont git it, thays other ways to make shore them rich folks kin git richer, lack havin a do-over on all taxes, witch ye kin read bout that in a articull name of Commission Recommends Overhaul of Federal Income Tax. read it n weep, speshly fer yer mortgidge deeduckshun n yer health insurants.

aint thar no hope? shorely them publicans has at lease dun a good job of pertecktin us by makin shore we caint be attackd, rite? mayhap they hadnt had no chants to git round toot. ye kin read bout all the thangs they claimd they wood do but aint had time to do yet in a articull name of Security Plans Often Overdue:

The Bush administration has missed dozens of deadlines set by Congress after the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks for developing ways to protect airplanes, ships and railways from terrorists.

A plan to defend ships and ports from attack is six months overdue. Rules to protect air cargo from infiltration by terrorists are two months late. A study on the cost of giving anti-terrorism training to federal law enforcement officers who fly commercially was supposed to be done more than three years ago.

"The incompetence that we recently saw with FEMA's leadership appears to exist throughout the Homeland Security Department," said Rep. Bennie G. Thompson (Miss.), the top Democrat on the House Homeland Security Committee. "Our nation is still vulnerable."

mayhap our luck kin hold till they git time to pay tenchun to stuff lack that. must be hard to find time when ye gut that soshul securty crisis that went away when the presdints fix dint pole well, witch that makes sense on a counta how his fix wooda broke it fer good!

aint thay no hope? did we git that mushroom cloud? no? missd it too? or wudnt thay ever no chants of one? why wuz bush n cheney n rice n such folks skeerin us bout it then? aint thay sum new smokin guns we orta investigate?

aint thar no hope?

turns out thay is! thays a story bout them dimcrats sproutin a backbone, mayhap sum ackshull balls! kin it be? read all bout it in this here story name of GOP Angered by Closed Senate Session; Meeting Reopened After Two Hours:

Democrats forced the Senate into a rare closed-door session yesterday, infuriating Republicans but extracting from them a promise to speed up an inquiry into the Bush administration's handling of intelligence about Iraq's weapons in the run-up to the war.

With no warning in the mid-afternoon, the Senate's top Democrat invoked the little-used Rule 21, which forced aides to turn off the chamber's cameras and close its massive doors after evicting all visitors, reporters and most staffers. Plans to bring in electronic-bug-sniffing dogs were dropped when it became clear that senators would trade barbs but discuss no classified information.

Republicans condemned the Democrats' maneuver, which marked the first time in more than 25 years that one party had insisted on a closed session without consulting the other party. But within two hours, Republicans appointed a bipartisan panel to report on the progress of a Senate intelligence committee report on prewar intelligence, which Democrats say has been delayed for nearly a year.

wow! who wooda thunk it? n it wurked too!

i wood say i wuz sorry that mr frist wuz affrunted. imagine, usin one of the senate rules without no warnin nor nuthin! but is that wurse than lyin us into a war? is it wurse than covern up the truth bout that? delayin the investigayshun?

i could live with a lot more affruntayshun of folks lack mr frist! kin sumbidy throw the man a kitten to cut up!