The Bush administration Department of War (DoD) has a budget that dwarfs that of every other single government department.

The Bush administration spends more on WAR than on any other single item in its budget.

If the Bush administration, gets its newest request for warmaking funds from Congress, it will mean that the Bush/Cheney War of Choice on Iraq will (so far) cost about $611,000,000,000 -- that's about $5,500 per household in the U.S.

Bush can lecture all he wants about "fiscal restraint" but when will the Congress tell him, in essence, to STFU about fiscal restraint and not give him another red cent for his friggin' war?

Bombard Congress! Tell them NO more war funds!

Nony sez: Oh and the 3 - 5 years for investigation into the charges? That is not unheard of...as a matter of fact, I would be more suspicious if we had been told it would be accomplished in a year or two.

No one claimed that the "investigation" would take 3-5 years. The State Department said that it'd take 3-5 years to reconcile fully the payments made to the company (Dyncorp) during the first two years of the training contract.

In other words, Condi "Heckuva Job" Rice, and her accounting magicians are ready to stonewall for 3-5 years -- whatever it takes to keep the lid on as tightly as possible on this latest fraud courtesy of the totally imcompetent Bush administration.

Bob Newhart's: Theory of Accounting: "If you got within a couple bucks, it was okay."

A couple million bucks here...a couple million bucks there...a couple million bucks lost. What they heck?

Condi's people know nothing of the principles of accounting. How could they? They are unprincipled.

I guess because fraud is hard to prove, it just can't be!

Well, let's be magnanimous and call it criminal negligence, gross imcompetence, zero accountability, and just plain old-fashioned garden variety stoooooopidity that is rampant in Bush World.

I fear that Hillary's responses to Tomasky's questions illustrate all too clearly that she is a very able person who is capable of sound argumentation and making reasonable distinctions on important matters.

Why do I fear that? Because a large segment of our population is manipulated by persuasive argumentation, even if the basis of the persuasion is unsound. I realize she's not running against Bush, but she is running against the Rovian message manipulation machine. Bush, under Rove's tutelage for example, has been damned effective with wide chunks of the electorate -- he cunningly persuades them to turn a blind eye to facts and true premises. Bush's "opinions" are spoken with complete assurance and people fall for that. They like that he "knows" what he's saying and they don't mind that he pokes his rhetorical finger in our chests for emphasis. That's showing how tough he is, see?

Hillary, on the other hand, bases her comments and argumentation on "sound" footing. She looks for answers and asks questions. It has been proven during the Bush years that many people don't want answers -- they already have their minds made up. Just like Bush.

How'd this country get so balkanized? I guess the balkanization went into high gear when Governor George W. Bush talked about the "vulcanization" of society...and still got elected.

Man, he makes me tired.

Oh, the tangled tongues they weave! Romney's and Armey's slip-ups on politicians' names are just too convenient -- they are meant to conjure up a certain image (a damaging image).

Remember when Dick Armey called Barney Franks "Barney Fag" and claimed he just got confused?

BS!

You are too kind.

Though I didn't care for Perino's predecessors, at least they exhibited an IQ higher than room temperature.

If a person can be downright stupid and disingenuous at the same time, then maybe you're right.

Otherwise, she's just plain downright stupid.

...watch out that the Veep doesn't make a detour to NYC while he's on his LaGrangeville, NY, shooting trip.

Darth Cheney would probably love smashing a certain pumpkin.

(See the cover of the October 29, 2007, New Yorker to see what I'm referring to.)

...Cheney's going shooting.

It's all about shooting. Cheney and his shooting party don't tramp through fields, marshes and hedgerows searching for a brace of birds for the Thanksgiving dinner table. Nosiree!

They blast away at farm-raised, penned birds that are released for their shooting pleasure. In 2003 in Pennsylvania, the gamekeepers and the fenced, private, elite shooting and gun club released 500 pheasants for Dick and his shooting party -- they reportedly shot 417 of 'em.

It's obvious Dick get his *shots* off in this rich man's "sport." He undoubtedly enjoys the thrill of shooting defenseless animals who have no opportunity for escape that have been raised for his personal pleasure. He doesn't torture though, just ask him.

On a recent trip to Montana, my husband and I did our routine informal survey of presidential bumperstickers. In the Whitefish, Kalispel, Glacier environs we spotted only FOUR bumperstickers on Montana-licensed vehicles. All four were for Hillary Clinton.

Okay, four bumperstickers is not much.

But, it's something.

I had no idea that people who self-describe themselves as caring, progressive, and tired of events of the past 7 years, could be so short-sighted. Knock yourselves out with your Hillary bashing! Hate marches on! General Rove has won! Conquer and divide!

After reading the screeds here, I've definitely decided to vote for Hillary in the primaries.

Thank you for your input.