Hannity: putting the Faux in Fox News

Sean Hannity might be the first person in history to do a political television show without even following the news. Wait, that can't be possible, can it? Or, maybe he's just knowingly lying, like so many members of the Bush Administration.

Anyway, you only need to go about 15 seconds into the video clip above to know what something has gone horribly, horribly wrong with Hannity's research department. In fact, the last person in charge of finding facts before a broadcast, Hannity himself, was relieved of those duties, oh, something like six years ago.

The president has NOT OFFERED his aides to testify under oath under any circumstances, you moron.

And for those of you who think it was an honest mistake by Hannity? Let's look at a few other "mistakes" by Fersatz News...

Mark Foley, a Democrat? Ha.

This one's over the top, even for these people. I don't know if this has been Photoshopped, and that kind of points to what Fersatz News has always been - a total right-wing network. The fact that this is even remotely believable should outrage all Americans.

If it were up to the Republican Party, Debate about any military matters would be a battlefield casualty. Along those lines, if Debate served in Iraq, would he have to serve three tours of duty? Would Debate, if he was wounded on the battlefield, have to come home and stay in a moldy, Roach Motel at Walter Reed? Hey, maybe Debate wouldn't have to serve in this war, like every other prominent Republican war-monger in this administration shirked duty in Vietnam. Ahh, if that happened, Dick would be awfully proud of you, Debate!

Photos from Crooks and Liars

Listen to a GOP Walter Reed denier

I got this one from Crooks & Liars this morning, and it's worth noting.

Rep. Jean Schmidt wrote in her weekly column sent out to reporters on Monday that stories about horrible conditions at Walter Reed Army Medical Center were "overblown." Schmidt, a Clermont County Republican, decided to take "several hours" to travel to the hospital in Washington, D.C., to see the situation "first hand." Her conclusion? "I found the situation at Walter Reed to be overblown by both politicians and the media."

Oh most definitely - this looks waaaaay overblown to me.

Here's hoping the troops over in Iraq have a few seconds between dodging bullets and roadside bombs to keep up with the news and are staying politically active.

By the way, this is the same woman who spewed Schmidt from her mouth by calling Rep. Jack Murtha a coward on the House floor during a debate about Iraq.

One more, & this one's the best of all

I just had to share one more cartoon with you today. I guess you could say, in the words of crackhead Whitney Houston, "I went and saved the best for last." How's that for a non-sequitur?

Anyway, the cartoon above is about as sage as it gets. When our real president Vice President Dick Cheney wouldn't hesitate to go to Walter Reed for any sort of medical care, as our vice president, then that hospital, along with all other veteran's hospitals in the United States, will have achieved the level of care that should be afforded to all of our returning soldiers and our veterans.

Wait, I take that back. Cheney dodged the draft in the 1960s. Returning soldiers deserve better than anything he's getting.

I read on the Internets today that Dick Cheney may even step down in the wake of the blood clot discovered in his leg. Gee, wouldn't that be a horrible thing. Speculation is beginning to swirl that President Bush wants someone in the #2 spot who can run for president. If it happens, it would be the first time in 34 years that the Senate would have to confirm a new vice president in the middle of a president's term.

Can anyone imagine Bush trying to get someone confirmed in the Senate with the poisoned atmosphere in Washington? (A climate that has the fingerprints of the president and Karl Rove all over it.)

If it happens, Bush would have to pick someone who could be very easily confirmed. Say hello to Vice President Condi Rice, or Colin Powell. The latter would be extremely unlikely; he's walked down the road with this administration before, and he's not about to do it again.

A few cartoons from Slate

It's never a bad thing to start out the day with some political cartoons. I got these from Slate.com - an awesome site that I urge you to visit if you have a liberal, progressive or moderate view of things. Considering all of the craziness that has enveloped Washington these past few weeks, between the War in Iraq, the Libby Trial and the Walter Reed Hospital scandal, I figured a humorous take with a few cartoons would be welcome relief. Read 'em and laugh, or at least ponder, considering the seriousness of the issues involved.

This one pretty accurately sums up the parallel world that Vice President Cheney lives in.

I have a favorite saying (that I'm borrowing from the Red Rocker, Sammy Hagar) - What is understood, needn't be discussed. Fifteen years from now, it will still amaze me how this administration wantonly plays with our soldiers' lives with its myopic, stubborn, underfunded, idiotic foreign policy.

It's breathtaking how Republicans and this administration have continued to beat the drum of "Support the Troops" for nearly the last four years, yet this is what veterans who are physically and mentally wounded have to come home to - shabby treatment and a hopeless bureaucracy. The only thing amazing about the whole Walter Reed/Veterans Administration mess is that it somehow hasn't been blamed on the Clinton administration yet. But, there's still time for that. I'll have much more on this later today as well. I'm very, very behind on my writing, but I plan on doing quite a bit later today, tonight and tomorrow.

Time for more cartoons

I found some great political cartoons on the Internet today, most of them from Slate Magazine. As many of you know by now, I have a profound love of the political cartoon, especially the biting ones that get straight to the point. The less words the better - I like the story to be told in pictures.

This one hits close to home, but it's true.

I'm really going to miss Dick Cheney after 1.20.09, because there is no one I love disliking more than him, and that's saying something, considering the level of incompetence of many in the Bush Administration. Above are just a few examples of the absolute bunk that comes out of Cheney's pie hole.

This one is money. I'm SO tired of the idiotic, oversimplification of Cut and Run. I love it that when Great Britain announces its withdraw of forces from Iraq, it's "a sign of the success" in Iraq, but when Democrats want to bring our troops home, it's Cut and Run. Damn liberal media!

Speaks for itself. I'll have more on the Cheney close call a bit later.

Another one that's tragically right on the money. I was listening to Sean Insanity this past week, and I heard him blabbering on about how we should be going to war with Iran and how we should be treating that country in the strictest possible terms. Mark him down as another Republican who knows nothing of war, since he never served, but who is all gung ho to send more troops to another country. If it comes to war with Iran, it comes to war, but, unlike Iraq, let's exhaust all diplomatic options first. Since up until this past week we haven't even been talking to Iran, we've got a long way to go before we can declare that we gave diplomacy every chance to work.

I'll have more on this one soon, too, but the cartoon is a good summary of what is going on with cervical cancer vaccines.

Right on the money. Thank God for small favors - President Bush returned to the Gulf Coast this past week for the first time in six months. Without even checking, I wonder how many times Bush has been back to his Crawford "Ranch" since he last visited Hurricane Katrina victims? And I wonder if a stop off in New Orleans, Mississippi and other hard hit areas from the worst natural disaster in history would really have been that inconvenient?

Katrina and the federal government's response (and seeming indifference) to it reminds me at least a little to Hurricane Andrew, a devastating Category 5 hurricane that struck south Florida in 1992. President George H.W. Bush was slow to respond to that disaster, but not on the scale of the ineptitude of his son's handling of Katrina.

Good for Al Gore. He's battled Republican lies, slander, distortions and outright lies for decades, but, with the exception of the 2000 presidential election, he's rarely melted like so many polar ice caps. This week saw more of the Karl Rove playbook, when an allegedly non-biased think talk went after him for his electricity bills, less than 24 hours after his movie, An Inconvenient Truth, won an Oscar for best documentary. The Swiftboating sure was swift, and thankfully, so was the revelation that the whole attack on Gore was bunk.

Love it.

This one hits close to home, too, because of bitter memories I have about the '04 presidential campaign. Yes, Kerry flip flopped (I'm soooooo effin' tired of that term) on several issues, but Bush's list was twice as long. And, what did we get from the Kerry camp? Silence.

This time around, so far it's McCain, Giuliani and Romney who are doing their best to be all things to all people. All three of the GOP front runners have, thus far, switched positions more than a porn star.

When I say I love political cartoons that say a lot by saying a little, this is the kind I'm talking about, and this one almost certainly is the truth. But, we'll probably never know Libby's whole story, or how Bush & his cohorts lied to get us into the war, considering this administration's Nixon-like penchant for secrecy.

I'd be remiss if I left out the Walter Reed controversy. This story is far from over & bears watching over the coming months, if not years.

It's hard to comprehend how our troops are being treated and "cared for" at Walter Reed and elsewhere.

It looks like help finally is on the way, thanks to some investigative journalism on the part of two Washington Post reporters, Dana Priest and Anne Hull. In a day where responsible and relevant journalism is becoming more scarce by the day, it was good to see that journalism can still function as The Fourth Estate, thereby effectively bringing about much needed change in our government. There isn't nearly enough of this today.

I don't think it's overreaching to say that if something happened today with the scope and size of Watergate, it would probably go at least partially unreported or perhaps even covered up. Lazy journalism is now the norm; slipshod reporting can no longer be referred to as isolated or seldom seen. Lazy journalists have been around for hundreds of years, but the level and quality of journalism seems to be regressing.

So, it appears that Bush never knew about conditions at Reed. I don't accept that, but even if I did, how could this have happened at the Pentagon? Where was defense department oversight? Two words: Donald Rumsfeld.

Another one right on the money.

Phew! Okay, that's enough cartoons for a while. But, I found all of these today and I couldn't decide which ones to post, so I decided to put 'em all up.

Tony tries to Snow the press on Walter Reed

I've already blogged about the appalling conditions at Walter Reed hospital in Washington, D.C., where wounded and disabled troops convalesce. But, you've got to listen to this press conference by White House Press Secretary Tony Snowjob.

A few thoughts...

Support the Troops is not a mantra? Yea right, Tony. The Republicans have been beating that drum like Alex Van Halen for over four years now. It IS a mantra, and the Republicans pimp this phrase shamelessly as an attempt to silence critics of the war.

Clearly, the Bush Administration is passing the buck on Walter Reed. I freely admit that NO administration can possibly know about all problems in all departments at all times. But, once something like this comes to light, a president WOULD issue orders, some people WOULD get fired, and these conditions wouldn't exist for long once they were revealed.

Snowjob winds up this brilliant press conference by saying, "The president is somebody whose passion for these forces should never EVER be a topic of doubt for the forces, or the American people."

Oh, excuse us, Tony. So, I guess inadequately armored Humvees, cutting medical benefits for troops, starting this stupid war with too few troops in the first place, the appalling conditions at Walter Reed, extending tours of duty for some troops by years (and by that, I mean National Guard troops) and lying to our faces about Donald Rumsfeld five days before the election all constitute lots and lots of "passion," eh? Again, it's worth noting what Snow hates being labeled a "mantra." Supporting the Troops? Humph! Where is that now?

That last point always kills me, too. After Rummy was sacked, President Bush, with a straight face, said that he announced it after the election because he didn't want to have "any influence over the election." I guess that's why the announcement of Saddam Hussein's verdict was moved up to the Sunday before the election, even though the verdict wasn't completely ready yet, eh, Mr. President? Lies, lies, lies.

This administration grows more and more incompetent by the day. 695 days to go - we have almost two more years to put up with this disaster.

Treating our wounded like yesterday's paper

Our soldiers are fighting for us in the name of our government and all of us, but what is our government and military doing for the mentally and physically wounded soldiers once they come home?

A few reporters from The Washington Post wanted to find out some answers. Last Sunday's paper WaPo ran a story called Soldiers Face Neglect, Frustration At Army's Top Medical Facility, written by Dana Priest and Anne Hull, with additional reporting by Julie Tate. This story rips the scab off of the belief put forth by the Bush Administration that it's doing everything it can for our wounded returning home from battle. In short, the piece describes in intimate detail how appalling the conditions are for recovering soldiers at Walter Reed Military hospital in Washington, D.C.

The story details the sad, decrepit, pathetic way our military is treating (or in many cases, barely treating) our returning heroes from battle in Iraq and Afghanistan. The two reporters spent unauthorized, covert time at Walter Reed, interviewing many soldiers. Some soldiers would not give their names out of fear of retribution because they are still on active duty. But, a number did talk with Priest and Hull.

I'll be the first to confess that I didn't know a whole lot about Walter Reed before reading the piece. I knew of it, and from what little I did know, I thought it was an enormous, spit-shined hospital that housed thousands of mentally and physically wounded soldiers, getting the best care that taxpayer money can buy. We wouldn't give our soldiers any less, right? After all, that's what I've heard President Bush say on TV on more than a few occasions.

Goes to show you what I know about Walter Reed and our returning soldiers. However, I don't think I was alone in my ignorance.

It bears repeating that I'm thankful that we have a press that can really have an impact on injustices such as these, when it elects to do it.

The photos that accompany the article are powerful and a jolt - I've included a few of them here. When I read and see things like this, I really do take time and reflect how lucky I am, and also how grateful I am for the sacrifices that the men and women are making for all of us, regardless of how I feel about the War in Iraq.

On soldier who did go on record in the piece is Staff Sgt. John Daniel Shannon (above), who spent several weeks at Walter Reed, beginning in November 2004, after his eye and skull were decimated by an AK-47. For several years, Shannon had to deal with the enormous, frustrating bureaucracy that defines Walter Reed. 43, came in on one of those buses in November 2004 and spent several weeks on the fifth floor of Walter Reed's hospital. His eye and skull were shattered by an AK-47 round. The WaPo piece describes in detail how his experience began at Walter Reed shortly after arriving:

His odyssey in the Other Walter Reed has lasted more than two years, but it began when someone handed him a map of the grounds and told him to find his room across post.

A reconnaissance and land-navigation expert, Shannon was so disoriented that he couldn't even find north. Holding the map, he stumbled around outside the hospital, sliding against walls and trying to keep himself upright, he said. He asked anyone he found for directions.

Shannon had led the 2nd Infantry Division's Ghost Recon Platoon until he was felled in a gun battle in Ramadi. He liked the solitary work of a sniper; "Lone Wolf" was his call name. But he did not expect to be left alone by the Army after such serious surgery and a diagnosis of post-traumatic stress disorder. He had appointments during his first two weeks as an outpatient, then nothing.

"I thought, 'Shouldn't they contact me?' " he said. "I didn't understand the paperwork. I'd start calling phone numbers, asking if I had appointments. I finally ran across someone who said: 'I'm your case manager. Where have you been?'

"Well, I've been here! Jeez Louise, people, I'm your hospital patient!"

It's inexcusable that our returning soldiers are treated like this. INEXCUSABLE. Put another way, can you imagine a patient in a private hospital being treated this way? There would be lawsuits, charges filed and almost certainly lots of press. But, many men and women who are returning to Iraq are simply swept under the rug, ignored and forgotten; sometimes lost in a mountain of paperwork and governmental b.s.

When I hear about the ineptitude of our military and government on this scale, I wonder how we ever won the World War II or hell, even the Cold War. What makes this whole story even more of an outrage is the massive fraud and misallocation of funds in the reconstruction of Iraq, all paid for by American taxpayers.

The story offered more details of Shannon's frustration:

Shannon, who wears an eye patch and a visible skull implant, said he had to prove he had served in Iraq when he tried to get a free uniform to replace the bloody one left behind on a medic's stretcher. When he finally tracked down the supply clerk, he discovered the problem: His name was mistakenly left off the "GWOT list" -- the list of "Global War on Terrorism" patients with priority funding from the Defense Department.

He brought his Purple Heart to the clerk to prove he was in Iraq.

He had to bring his Purple Heart!

Of course, our president, his administration and the Pentagon haven't forgotten about our returning heroes, have they? Of course not. Sunday's story gave readers a presidential flashback from late last year, when President Bush last visited Walter Reed:

"We owe them all we can give them," Bush said during his last visit, a few days before Christmas. "Not only for when they're in harm's way, but when they come home to help them adjust if they have wounds, or help them adjust after their time in service."

Keep up the good work, Mr. President.

Army Spec. Jeremy Duncan (above) came to Walter Reed last February after suffering a broken neck and the loss of his left ear. He nearly died in the field from blood loss. Duncan is housed in Building 18, located just outside the gates of the hospital's grounds and a mere five miles from the White House. This is how the WaPo article described his living conditions:

Behind the door of Army Spec. Jeremy Duncan's room, part of the wall is torn and hangs in the air, weighted down with black mold. When the wounded combat engineer stands in his shower and looks up, he can see the bathtub on the floor above through a rotted hole. The entire building, constructed between the world wars, often smells like greasy carry-out. Signs of neglect are everywhere: mouse droppings, belly-up cockroaches, stained carpets, cheap mattresses.

Words fail me when I read stuff like that. The maimed soldiers returning from Iraq and Afghanistan deserve worlds better than this, yet it takes undercover reporting by Washington Post reporters to raise awareness of these conditions.

The article goes on to describe a litany of other frustrations that recuperating soldiers must endure. To wit:

• The typical soldier is required to file 22 documents with eight different commands - most of them off-post - to enter and exit the medical processing world, according to government investigators.

• 75% of the troops polled by Walter Reed last March said their experience was "stressful."

• Suicide attempts and unintentional overdoses from prescription drugs and alcohol, which is sold on post, are part of life at Walter Reed.

• Family members who speak only Spanish have had to rely on Salvadoran housekeepers, a Cuban bus driver, the Panamanian bartender and a Mexican floor cleaner for help. Walter Reed maintains a list of bilingual staffers, but they are rarely called on, according to soldiers and families and Walter Reed staff members. "If they can have Spanish-speaking recruits to convince my son to go into the Army, why can't they have Spanish-speaking translators when he's injured?" a Spanish-speaking relative of a wounded soldier asks. "It's so confusing, so disorienting."

• Soldiers, wives, mothers, social workers and the heads of volunteer organizations have all complained to officials about what one called "The Handbook No One Gets" that would explain life as an outpatient. Most soldiers polled in the March survey said they got their information from friends. Only 12 percent said any Army literature had been helpful.

• And most outrageously of all: lost paperwork for new uniforms has forced some soldiers to attend their own Purple Heart ceremonies and the official birthday party for the Army in gym clothes, only to be chewed out by superiors.

If you aren't outraged by reading about soldiers who can't even get a new uniform to wear to a ceremony where they are awarded a Purple Heart, then you should check your own heart. These men and women can only be described as our nation's heroes, and they deserve worlds more respect than this.

Soldiers' frustrations are perhaps best summed up by Spec. George Romero, 25, who returned from Iraq with what the article describes as "a psychological disorder."

"I've been close to mortars. I've held my own pretty good," he said. "But here...I think it has affected my ability to get over it...dealing with potential threats every day.

"I hate it," continued Romero, who stays in his room all day. "There are cockroaches. The elevator doesn't work. The garage door doesn't work. Sometimes there's no heat, no water...I told my platoon sergeant I want to leave. I told the town hall meeting. I talked to the doctors and medical staff. They just said you kind of got to get used to the outside world...My platoon sergeant said, 'Suck it up!'"

You know who truly needs to Suck it up? Our government, the president and Congress. Find your Senators' addresses Here and your U.S. Representative Here. Write them and express to them your outrage over the conditions at Walter Reed.

They are all going to hear from me this weekend.

I'm sure the story will have its critics, who will come out and say that the reporters are only reporting on isolated incidents at Walter Reed, blah blah blah. There shouldn't be ANY incidents like the ones described above, period.

A quick footnote to the story - this is how journalism and a free press are supposed to function - oversight of the government, and holding our government and its various agencies responsible for its actions. I don't always agree with the things WaPo reports on or the positions the paper takes on in its editorial pages, but I also give credit where credit is due, and the paper has performed a valuable public service by running this piece. I hope to see many more stories exposing what the government is or isn't doing for our returning heroes. Any that I find, I'll bring to you.

Top photo: AP/Lauren Frayer
Other photos: Michel de Cille, The Washington Post