Earmark, “Congressionally Directed Spending.”

Earmark smearmark, where is the will to forbid them? Not in Washington DC that’s for sure. Washington’s fix regarding earmarks works as good as their answer to campaign financing. It still goes on but it now has a different name, “congressionally directed spending.” Take Rahm Emanuel for example. He is chairman of the House Democratic Caucus and has been a major proponent of making earmarks in spending bills more transparent. Rahm speaks with forked tongue.

Rep. Rahm Emanuel was extremely proud when the House passed a major spending billRahm Emanuel, who is chairman of the House Democratic Caucus, has been a major proponent of making earmarks in spending bills more transparent. early this year that contained not a single special-interest project. “This is an earmark-free bill,” the Illinois Democrat jubilantly declared on Feb. 1.

A week later, however, he and 18 other Illinois lawmakers signed a letter to the Energy Department to “express our strong support” for a bio-energy project at the University of Illinois. Emanuel also sent his own letter to the department seeking “support and assistance in securing” $500,000 for Children’s Memorial Hospital in Chicago and $750,000 for the Illinois Institute of Technology.

Such requests for specific institutions are commonly known as earmarks. But Emanuel, a member of the Democratic House leadership, declines to call them that. “Letter-writing is not an earmark,” he said in an interview.

What perfect Clinton-speak. Letter-writing for earmarks is not an earmark. That and, it depends on what the definition of is is. Pelosi and Reid are doing a bang-up job on their ethics reform campaign, beginning with William (Dollar Bill) Jefferson (D-LA). And it goes downhill from there.

Washington Post link: Pet Projects’ Veil Is Only Partly Lifted

CNN, Bin Laden Is Right

The CNN take on “Osama bin Laden’s Message to Americans” is pretty much what bin Laden said. And by its content could have passed for something out of the DNC. No, I’m not saying it was from the DNC, I’m saying the message is the same as that of the DNC.

Aside from the part where he wants to kill us all unless we submit to cavemen, he says if we would just quit fighting the war in Iraq, then he would stop fighting us. That is the same thing that every democrat candidate running for president is saying. Only difference is, the democrats really believe it. Both he and these democrats forgot the part about we were not in Iraq on 9/11/2001. But I digress.

Michael Scheuer, the former chief of a CIA bin Laden unit, said that the war with bin Laden is a result of our policies in the US. And, that the administration has misled us about the motivations of this enemy. IE. They don’t want to kill us because we are not Islamofascists, they want to kill us because of the way we live and the laws we make. So just change the law (and our way of life) and then we won’t be attacked any more. Now I know why he is a former chief. Well, aside from the fact that he didn’t find bin Laden. Scheuer says . . .

We continue to hear that it’s about freedom and liberty, and they hate women in the workplace, or the fact that I might have a beer after work, and that has nothing to do with it. What we’re at war about is the impact of our policy in the Islamic world. That — that’s what motivates al Qaeda and its allies. And that is what gives al Qaeda and its allies unity.

Help me, I’m having trouble understanding how the way we live in the United States, policies and all, have any effect whatsoever on cavemen on the other side of the world that Scheuer calls ‘the Islamic world?’ The only thing he has right is the scope of the Islamofascists, they are all over the “world.”

Curiously enough, bin Laden is apparently a fan of Michael Scheuer, and why wouldn’t he be? Scheuer believes bin Laden’s propaganda. In his speech, bin Laden said . . .

“If you would like to get to know some of the reasons for your losing of your war against us, then read the book of Michael Scheuer in this regard.”

This is an ideological war for us. For the enemy it is a religious war. And according to Michael Scheuer, its just that lying Bush.

CNN transcript