Patterson Hood Website Update

Patterson Hood

FEB. 27, 2006
Y'ALL:

First I want to thank everyone who came out this past week and supported DBT as we went out and road tested some of the new stuff. 3 sold out shows in 4 nights, fantastic audiences all four.

I'm happy with how the new songs are integrating in and especially happy with the higher energy level this year's model seems to be turning out. "

Distillery to Revive 184-Proof Whisky

IE users: The blog doesn't display properly in IE. I'm working on a fix. DBT links, posts and other links are at the bottom of the page, on the right, for IE users. Switch to Firefox.

You can watch it age on a webcam and when it's done 2 sponefuls can kill you dead. A rock band once tried to write a song about this whisky but the song was so bad the whisky pulled a gun and shot them all between the eyes... except for the drummer... who lived to tell the tale.... JD ain't got shit on this:

Distillery to Revive 184-Proof Whisky:

A Scottish distillery said Monday it was reviving a centuries-old recipe for whisky so strong that one 17th-century writer feared more than two spoonfuls could be lethal.

Although whisky lovers can place their orders now, the actual spirit will not be delivered for about 10 years.

In the meantime, customers will be able to watch the whisky's progress on the distillery's webcams

Picture of Bush hand jobbin.... um.... holding hands with the protectors of our ports. Mandate:


Mandate:
Poll: Bush Ratings At All-Time Low | February 27, 2006

The latest CBS News poll finds President Bush's approval rating has fallen to an all-time low of 34 percent, while pessimism about the Iraq war has risen to a new high.

They'll come atcha with everything at their disposal:
Texas Nonprofit Is Cleared After GOP-Prompted Audit:

"The Internal Revenue Service recently audited the books of a Texas nonprofit group that was critical of campaign spending by former House majority leader Tom DeLay (R-Tex.) after receiving a request for the audit from one of DeLay's political allies in the House."

Clinton thought: BushCo. Inc. rapes the system, rapes our wallets, rapes our infrastructure, rapes the environment, seriously abuses our military, yet Clinton, who gamed the system, put money in our wallets, built our infrastructure, saved our environment, improved our military was impeached for a consensual blowjob?

It's like rock, paper, scissors. Rock crushes scissors. Apparently Gun crushes Ninja.... The reason that guns should be legal:
Homeowner shoots 'ninja' who attacked wife:

"An armed man wearing a black, ninja-style mask was shot to death by a Healdsburg man this morning after he attacked the man's wife outside their home and chased her inside, police said."

Read something important! Try to focus your 1 minute microwave oven minds:
The media, politicians, and academics do NOT understand who bloggers, and what blogs, are
by John in DC

Markos goes off, rightly on, on an article that talks about bloggers being 'extreme' and 'activists.' The idea that liberal bloggers are mostly far-left blood-throwing loons has been a common misconception that's been repeated by the media, politicians, and pundits.

First problem, you're mixing up the conservative blogs with the liberal blogs, and lumping them all together, when in fact both sides are quite different.

The top conservative blogs are very conservative, and do represent the far-right of the Republican party.

But on the liberal side of the blogosphere, things are completely different. On average, I'd say, the top liberal blogs are not far-left, nor are they conservative Democrats. The top bloggers tend to be middle of the road Democrats (or liberals) who occasionally veer left and right of Democratic center depending on the issue (I for example am very pro gay rights, but I also tend to be more hawkish on foreign and defense policy - though I don't appreciate being lied to and tricked into unnecessary wars costing $300 billion and thousands of American lives)."

Nine Bullets - Dirty South outtake 'Great Car Dealer War' now available

IE users: The blog doesn't display properly in IE. I'm working on a fix. DBT links, posts and other links are at the bottom of the page, on the right, for IE users. Switch to Firefox.

Mirrored from the fine folks at:

Nine Bullets - Dirty South outtake 'Great Car Dealer War' now available:

"Looking for more from the Dirty South? Issue #20 of UK magazine Comes With A Smile includes a CD with a previously unreleased DBT track! Another great Patterson tune, 'The Great Car Dealer War' was recorded during the Dirty South sessions, and tells the story of a hired arsonist in north Alabama.

A taste of the lyrics...

Didn't kill nobody, didn't mean no harm. Just making money and having fun.
Didn't kill nobody, but I know the score. I just start the fires in the great car dealer war.

-------------------------------

In other news...Want to hear A Blessing And A Curse in its entirity? From now until its official release date, if you pre-order the album at Amazon you will get access to a streaming version of the entire album via Amazon's 'digital locker'. Pretty cool!"

To all my new visitors...

IE users: The blog doesn't display properly in IE. I'm working on a fix. DBT links, posts and other links are at the bottom of the page, on the right, for IE users. Switch to Firefox.

Welcome, visitors from Largeheartedboy! Hope you're enjoying your stay.

Same goes for the visitors from DBT's 'A Blessing and a Curse" blog. Y'all are good people if you're a fan of the DBT.

Before we dip our big toe back into the apocalypse that is the Bush administration, let's get a dose of some feel good to stave off the Neoconservative Flu:

Jason McElwain: Autistic basketball player shines

Nice, huh. Monday mornings need The Rudy Effect.

Money matters and Bush ain't showin' it to us:
Surprise! Bankruptcy filers really are broke
Students suffocate under tens of thousands in loans

I can relate to the following article. I know what this man felt. I feel a light sentence is required in this case because sometimes.... SOMETIMES... a person deserves what they get:

Man Angry About Slamming Door Killed Neighbor

"Investigators believe Betty Shepperd was murdered over something that sounds extremely trivial. They said 45-year-old Vito Loiacono was irritated that Shepperd was slamming the door at night and waking him up."

Here come the judges:

The Bush administration was ordered by a U.S. federal judge on Friday to explain why it did not give New Jersey officials documents and information Washington had about a deal allowing an Arab company to take over management of a container terminal in Newark."

TIME.com: Would Justice Clean the House?

The Justice Department has a message for Congress: clean up your house or else we may have to do it for you. A senior federal law enforcement official told TIME that the paralyzed and often lax House ethics committee has created a vacuum that prosecutors won't hesitate to fill. The House’s internal mechanism for keeping corruption in check is “broken,” says the official.

Take some time to read something important...... Focus, goddammit!
Bill Moyers | Restoring the Public Trust

William F. Buckley Jr. on Iraq

"One can't doubt that the American objective in Iraq has failed."

Letter to the Editor - Southern Style

From the Times Daily in Florence, Al.

King George

To the editor:

As a loyal patriot and veteran of the armed forces, it saddens and depresses me to see Americans confuse allegiance to a man with allegiance to our country.

George Bush is not America. George Bush is not the Constitution. He isn't our freedom, and he isn't our master. He's just a politician, folks. His only talent is gaining high public office.

As long as this poltroon is in charge, we're on our own with the duct tape and plastic sheets.

Take this controversy over the National Security Administration's warrantless spying. The NSA does not need a warrant to listen in on people outside the United States, but this program has targeted thousands of private U.S. citizens calling, or receiving calls from, someone abroad -- an act which, until now, required a warrant.

These are facts. The White House does not deny them.

Instead, they claim a new authority greater than the Constitution, Congress, or the courts. They claim the powers of a monarch: without appeal, or the checks and balances every eighth-grader learns are at the heart of America's republican democracy.

It would have been easy to get a warrant. The Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act provides for a secret court in Washington, and that court has refused only five requests for warrants in three decades of operation.

Basically, it's a rubber stamp and a constitutional fig leaf.

But a king does not need to bother with rubber stamps or fig leafs. He can send thousands of FBI agents to pursue dead-end leads from illegal wiretaps without worrying about constitutions or rights.

Of course, I'm just a 'liberal.' I 'hate America.' I am 'with the terrorists.' I 'want them to win.' I 'do not support our troops.'

These are yet more lies, repeated constantly in hopes that repetition will make them true, by people who cannot see the plain truth before their eyes: you go to war with the president you have, and King George is dangerously incompetent.

Matt O*****

Florence

Internet Explorer Users

For some reason this blog doesn't format properly in Internet Explorer. I'm working on a fix but I highly suggest the switch to Firefox. The blog does display properly in Firefox and, IMHO, Firefox is a much better browser.

If you are still using IE please scroll down to the bottom of the page to see links to DBT post.

Thanks!

JPW

Adventures in the South Pacific

I just received an email from my buddy Dave. Dave works in the South Pacific on an Island called Palau. I visited Dave last summer and you can see the pics and read the stories here. Dave works as an attorney for the President of Palau and often goes on trips representing the island. He recently went to an island called Pohnpei and filed the following report: (The pictures were taken by me last summer on my way back home from Palau).

I just got back from a great week in Pohnpei. I boarded the “island hopper” flight last Saturday with two Palauans (Fred and Herman) from the Bureau of Agriculture to attend a workshop on biosecurity in the Pacific. After a brief stop in Yap, a long stop in Guam (great chance for fast food, book buying, and a movie) and another short one in Chuuk, we finally made it to Pohnpei the next day.

The workshop included representatives from Palau, the Federated States of Micronesia, and the Marshall Islands. Essentially, we are working on drafting a model quarantine law that the islands can use. Biosecurity refers to the security of nations from invasive species and other pests, e.g., fruit flies, betelnut blight, and the dreaded Brown Tree Snake, which came to Guam in a military ship and has now taken over the island. People find them in their beds and coming out of their bathtub drains. In order to protect the islands from these invaders, we need a new, modernized law that will give our inspectors the powers to enforce strict quarantine rules. And it is best if the islands harmonize their laws to facilitate trade within the islands and with the rest of the world.

Each night after the workshop we would go out together for dinner and beers. The Pohnpeians are some of the nicest people I’ve ever met – their initial reaction
to everything is a smile, and they go out of their way to welcome visitors. The most famous bar is the “Rusty Anchor,” but I liked “The Jungle” the best. There, I tried Sakau – a local version of Kava. Made from a root, it is a brownish liquid with a slimy
consistency and the taste of dirty dishwater. After two glasses, you feel numb and slightly paralyzed. After two glasses, six beers, and three crabs, you feel slightly dead.

The last day we took a pickup truck on a tour of the island. Fred had gone to agriculture school in Pohnpei back in the 80’s, so he knew the way. It was a slow and lazy drive punctuated by frequent stops at roadside stands to find the best betelnut. We stopped at Fred’s old school, which was now being overtaken by jungle.

We finally made it to “Nan Madol” – a spectacular archeological site – called the Macchu Picchu of the Pacific. Here’s a link for more info:

I spent some time taking pictures and wandering around the complex. The Palauans sat under a tree and chewed betelnut.

We climbed aboard the island hopper for the flight home yesterday, and I made it back by midnight. It was a great trip. Stay tuned for pictures.

Dave

DBT in Literature

Archive

Hark - Ed McBain

Bright Forever - Marvin Lee

Patterson in Playboy

DBT and Stephen King

Mark Kemp's Dixie Lullaby

Nick Horby's A Long Way Down

Chuck Klosterman's Killing Yourself to Live: 85% of a True Story

Rednecks and Bluenecks: The Politics of Country Music

Sweet Soul Music: Rythym & Blue & the Southern Dream of Freedom
(Contains history of the Muscle Shoals Soul)

Original Post

From the DBT Yahoo Group:

Nick Hornby (About a Boy, High Fidelity) has a pretty great novel out called A Long Way Down about 4 very different people who find themselves on the same rooftop on New Year's Eve with the intentions of killing themselves. The one guy is an American whose band just broke up, and at one point he dons a Truckers shirt to go out and pick up a chick (who knew that worked?)...

Marshal Boswell also mentions his main character wearing a Truckers t-shirt in his novel Alternative Atlanta, about a 30-something music writer whose shallow lifestyle is getting old.
....
Bill in Iowa

Also:

I just finished "Killing Yourself to Live: 85% of a True Story" (and loaned my copy to Patterson).

In this one the main character is actually listening to SRO.
...
DBTJenn

And from me: Patterson is excerpted in Rednecks and Bluenecks: The Politics of Country Music

Not only are DBT fans smart and sexy but they're literate, too!

Sex with a partner is 400% better

Sept. 11 Report Ties Bin Laden to UAE
No need to worry about safety, folks. Nothing to see here. Move along.

"The United States raised concerns with the United Arab Emirates seven years ago about possible ties between officials in that country and Osama bin Laden, according to a section of the Sept. 11 commission's report that details a possible missed opportunity to kill the al-Qaida leader."

United Arab Emirates Donated At Least $1M To Bush Library
Seriously.... speechless.

What DIDN'T the president know and when DIDN't he know it
Know-nothing, know-it-all:

Faced with a rebellion in his own Republican party over an Arab company's planned takeover of operations at six U.S. ports, the White House says President George W. Bush was in the dark about it until last week.

While Bush adamantly defended the deal again on Thursday, the I-did-not-know strategy has puzzled some political analysts and communications experts.

'It's a disaster for him, I think,' said Michael Hogan, professor of communication, arts and sciences at Pennsylvania State University. 'It's never a good thing for a president to say he doesn't know something.'"

Watchdog Group Questions 2004 Fla. Vote
History will tell use that the Republicans stole the 2000 and 2004 elections.

"An examination of Palm Beach County's electronic voting machine records from the 2004 election found possible tampering and tens of thousands of malfunctions and errors, a watchdog group said Thursday."

News of the Gettin' it on:
New Scientist Sex with a partner is 400% better
File this under, D"UH!
Mysterious Ball Lightning Created in the Lab
Ouch!

Patterson in Playboy

Patterson's Interviewed in Playboy! The March '06 edition contains the 2005 Playboy Music Awards and Playboy asks:

Bonning, balling, bonking. The first time is a memorable experience for everyone. To prove it we tracked down a range of music personalities to ask them about their first time and what they were listening to. Whether it was with a coed, in a club bathroom or with a chick in a van parked around the corner from school, even elements of this oversexed segment of the population remember their first roll in the cabbage like it was five minutes ago.

Drive-by Truckers

Patterson Hood: The Rolling Stones' Tatto You album came out that day, and I bought it. My girlfriend at the time had been out of town on a family vacation, so I picked her up at the bus station. We went to see An American Werewolf in London and then went somewhere and humped our brains out. So it was Tatto You, and it played over and over on the cassette deck. Not that it took that long, but if I remember correctly, we did it more than once. We were as in love as teenagers can be, which is quite a bit. I wouldn't want to change anything about it, and I hope she would say the same.

There you have it. Though the picture next to Patterson' article is a bit disturbing: I had to get rid of the pic, not because of pressure from any one or any objections, it's just that I couldn't handle looking at it any more. Very confusing.

Side Note: Go vote for the Boys and Girl on Paste's 100 Best Living Songwriters Poll

bUSH wORLD

Where up is down, black is white, "good economy" means soup kitchens, voting for one person is actually a vote for the other person, where "pro-lifers" support war, torture and executions...

Bush: 'People don't need to worry about security'
Wha? I thought we were suppose to be terrified of terrorist 24/7. So confused.....

Arab Co., White House Had Secret Agreement

The administration did not require Dubai Ports to keep copies of business records on U.S. soil, where they would be subject to court orders. It also did not require the company to designate an American citizen to accommodate U.S. government requests. Outside legal experts said such obligations are routinely attached to U.S. approvals of foreign sales in other industries.

Republicans Split With Bush on Ports
Wha? But Republicans are incapable of spliting with Bush. Barb will be so pissed.

Why do Diebold's Touch-Screen Voting Machines Have Built-In Wireless Infrared Data Transfer Ports
Wha? You mean when I voted for Kerry I really voted 12 times for Bush? My head hurts...

South Dakota passes abortion ban
Wha? State-owned uterus? Glad I don't have one but would I or the state own my girlfriend's uterus?

Food Bank Network Served Over 25M in '05
Cool. Just like when my granddad was a youngster. I hear the soup is pretty good.

"The surveys were done before Hurricanes Katrina and Rita hit the Gulf Coast in 2005. After the hurricanes, demand for emergency food assistance tripled in Gulf Coast states, according to a separate report by the group."

Gladiators fought by the rules: forensic research
Gladiators were Democrats.

Harbouring Terrorist

Bush Didn't Know About Ports Deal

"President Bush was unaware of the pending sale of shipping operations at six major U.S. seaports to a state-owned business in the United Arab Emirates until the deal already had been approved by his administration, the White House said Wednesday."

Bush nominated executive from Dubai port company eyed for U.S. ports to Maritime post
Bush Threatens Veto Against Bid To Stop Port Deal
Administration Failed To Conduct Legally Required Investigation Before Approving UAE Port Deal
U.S. Didn’t Target Bin Laden in 1999 Because He Was Meeting With UAE Royal Family


Neocon architect says: 'Pull it down'

"NEOCONSERVATISM has failed the United States and needs to be replaced by a more realistic foreign policy agenda, according to one of its prime architects.

Francis Fukuyama, who wrote the best-selling book The End of History and was a member of the neoconservative project, now says that, both as a political symbol and a body of thought, it has 'evolved into something I can no longer support'. He says it should be discarded on to history's pile of discredited ideologies.

In an extract from his forthcoming book, America at the Crossroads, Mr Fukuyama declares that the doctrine 'is now in shambles' and that its failure has demonstrated 'the danger of good intentions carried to extremes'."

The Seekers

"It's easy to dismiss the odd characters. It's harder to ignore the regular guys in the room, or the polls showing that 49 percent of New York City residents believe the government knew about 9-11 before it happened, or the rock-solid certainty of these supposed doubters. 'I'd love to be proven wrong. I would love for someone to come to me and say I'm full of shit. It hasn't happened,' says Avery. 'I have scientists on my side. There's so much evidence supporting my side, and the government's side has nothing.'"

The Grand Ole Docket

The Grand Ole Docket

The Grand Ole Docket tracks trial dates, court appearances and sentencing hearings for players in the current array of national political scandals. But not just any crook can make it on the Docket - it only tracks perps who've been named by prosecutors in indictments or plea agreements.

Bozopalooza

White House Working to Avoid Wiretap Probe
"It's hard work shitting on the Constitution and the American people. Hard work"!

Dems Need A Newt Of Their Own

Folk Songs of the Far Right Wing

Jobs cut at energy lab restored before Bush visit

"The Energy Department said it has come up with $5 million to immediately restore jobs cut at a renewable energy laboratory President George W. Bush will visit on Tuesday, avoiding a potentially embarrassing moment as the president promotes his energy plan."

US right has hijacked religious vote, says evangelist:

One of the most influential religious figures in the US has called on progressive Christians to seize the religious agenda from the right.

Jim Wallis - who has been consulted by US presidents as well as Tony Blair and Gordon Brown - yesterday urged liberal Christians to move the agenda from the right's focus of sexual morality to a less partisan approach.
...
'Religion does not have a monopoly of morality - the issue is not whether a person has a personal faith but whether they have a moral compass.'

U.S. church alliance denounces Iraq war

In N.C., GOP Requests Church Directories

Friday Fun

Need a little break from the seriousness of Hitler and Co.

Canned Hunting at its Cannedest
Play the Cheney Quail Hunt Game!

Steve Martin: Cheney Shoots Three Presidents in Oval Office Mishap
And he said he'd do it again... Wouldn't change a thing.

Glacier Melt Could Signal Faster Rise in Ocean Levels
There is gonna be some sweet ocean front real estate coming available in Neveda, soon.

Best of Craigslist Highlites:
you looked sexy even though - m4w

Clown Gang Bang

A Challenge to the Wingnuts

A Challenge to Rightwing Bloggers Who Blame the Media for the Cheney Mess: Prove it.

One of the great absurdities of our time is the persistent notion that the traditional media skews left. Reporters buy into it, Democratic strategists and leaders buy into it, and rank and file rightwingers live by it. As I've written previously, the right controls all branches of government, talk radio is dominated by rightwing voices, there's a cable channel devoted to the rightwing perspective (and two others racingdo the same), there's a herd of rightwing pundits spewing anti-left venom across editorial pages, radio, television, the internet, etc., Bush's press conferences are cloying jokefests, and "neutral" journalists echo deep-seated pro-GOP myths. Despite the glaringly obvious fact that major media narratives favor the right, we get bloggers like this, this, and this attacking the "MSM" for hyping the Cheney hunting scandal. Rather than waste cyber-ink explaining why it's a big deal that to the Vice President of the United States shot a man in the face and heart and went to bed without letting the American people know about it, let me share a question I asked of a blogger at Real Clear Politics who questioned my premise about the pro-Bush press:

I know the assertion that [supposedly neutral or liberal] reporters favor rightwing narratives blows your mind; after all, the liberal media fiction is hard-wired into the right's political nervous system. But why should I believe your foregone conclusion that these people are left-leaning? Just because you say it with such conviction? Give me concrete examples of bias, not of negative coverage. (How can there not be negative coverage of the mess in Iraq? Or Katrina? Or the Plame outing? Or the NSA fiasco? Or do you want our media to simply fawn over the government? Is anything less than total pro-Bush propaganda considered media bias?)

No Checks, Many Imbalances
Written by a winger:

Besides, terrorism is not the only new danger of this era. Another is the administration's argument that because the president is commander in chief, he is the "sole organ for the nation in foreign affairs." That non sequitur is refuted by the Constitution's plain language, which empowers Congress to ratify treaties, declare war, fund and regulate military forces, and make laws "necessary and proper" for the execution of all presidential powers . Those powers do not include deciding that a law -- FISA, for example -- is somehow exempted from the presidential duty to "take care that the laws be faithfully executed."

Gonzales Withholding Plame Emails

"Sources close to the investigation into the leak of covert CIA agent Valerie Plame Wilson have revealed this week that Attorney General Alberto Gonzales has not turned over emails to the special prosecutor's office that may incriminate Vice President Dick Cheney, his aides, and other White House officials who allegedly played an active role in unmasking Plame Wilson's identity to reporters."

Chertoff and Rumsfeld don't use E-Mail
Umm, Its 2006 guys. This might of helped during Katrina.

Republicans Criticize Bush Mideast Policy
What's that policy again? Oh yeah, blow the shit out of any brown person that moves.

House GOP Won't Revisit Flawed Budget Bill
Flawed? Try illegal? What's sweet is that an Alabama attorney who is a Republican (of course) is bringing a suit against the gov because the bill was illegally passed.

Comment on WaPo NSA Story

The following is a comment I received for posting the WaPo NSA article regarding the rollover by the Rethugs in Congress on not allowing an investigation into Resident Bush's illegal domestic spy program. I'm not formaly endorsing the post because I haven't thoroughly studied the material but upon first blush I thought it worthy enough to be on the main page. Appartently if Congress refuses to move on the investigation, the states have recorse to force it. Here is the comment

Hi JPW,

Thank you for your attention on the NSA and WaPo article. I agree -- it's outrageous. I'm here to let you know there is a solution, here's how it works: [ Click ]

The States can compel Congress to face this issue, and not cower to the White House non-sense. Here is what you can do: Click.

Let others know: They need to call their State legislators and have them discuss this issue, and issue a proclamation calling for Bush's impeachment. There's nothing the President, RNC, or Congress can do to stop this process.

Stay determined, there's a way to force Congress and the White House to face this issue.

You are dead on -- It is outlandish that it has come to this, but we and the States can remind Congress and the White House there is a way we can do something and, as you say, "Not let this stand."

Tell your friends, spread the word -- there is a way!

With respect,

- Constant -

We are on the verge of living under a dictator

Congressional Probe of NSA Spying Is in Doubt:
This is outlandish! We, The People, CAN NOT let this stand.

"Congress appeared ready to launch an investigation into the Bush administration's warrantless domestic surveillance program last week, but an all-out White House lobbying campaign has dramatically slowed the effort and may kill it, key Republican and Democratic sources said yesterday."

Whistleblower says NSA violations bigger:

"A former NSA employee said Tuesday there is another ongoing top-secret surveillance program that might have violated millions of Americans' Constitutional rights.

325,000 Names on Bush's Terrorism List
And 320,000 of them are Democrats. I'm reminded of a song lyric by the Kinks. "Paranoia Will Destroy Ya".

Harvard study blasts Bush education policy
Stupid is as Stupid Does.

Democrats blast Cheney secrecy after shooting
You just know the author of this article was giggling when he wrote the title.

News of the Fun:
Pillow fight erupts amid shrieks, giggles
Another reason why living in the Bay Area is a ton of shits and giggles.

DBT Acoustic on Sirius

I found the following links in some xml code. I'm not sure if they are public yet but the links work and they're pretty sweet! Check them out!

Drive-By Truckers record an acoustic set for Sirius radio.

28 minutes of bootleg live tracks from Slobberbone.

DBT - VDay Podcast

The folks over at New West have put out a DBT Valentine's Day Podcast. They preview some of the songs off the new album and Patterson opens up the pcast with a few words. I haven't heard Gravity's Gone all the way through yet but it sounds like a Cooley classic. What are you still doing here? Go download the podcast!

Tuesday Newsday

Cheney makes Stewart so Happy!

Corddry : "Jon, tonight the Vice President is standing by his decision to shoot Harry Whittington. Now according to the best intelligence available, there were quail hidden in the brush. Everyone believed at the time-there-were-quail in the brush. And while the quail turned out to be the 78 year old man. Even knowing that today, Mr. Cheney insists-he still would have shot Mr. Whittington in the face.

McClellan Takes Aim at Cheney
Whatever. We all know who's in charge.

Bush Spent $1.6 Bil. on 'Spin'
They can campaign but they can't govern.

Abramoff Said to Claim Close Ties to Rove
D'uh.

'Don't Ask' Costs More Than Expected
Clinton's 'bow down' to the christian crazies is costing us.

"Cheney's Got a Gun"

Here is my thought on why they waited to inform the public: They wanted to see if Whittington would die or not from his wounds. If he dies then someone else besides the VP would have stepped up and taken the blame.

TV joke writers take shots at Cheney

Stewart:

"Vice President Dick Cheney accidentally shot a man during a quail hunt ... making 78-year-old Harry Whittington the first person shot by a sitting veep since Alexander Hamilton. Hamilton, of course, (was) shot in a duel with Aaron Burr over issues of honor, integrity and political maneuvering. Whittington? Mistaken for a bird."

Ferguson:

"The big scandal apparently is that they didn't release the news for 18 hours. I don't think that's a scandal at all. I'm quite pleased about that. Finally there's a secret the vice president's office can keep."

"Apparently the reason they didn't release the information right away is they said we had to get the facts right. That's never stopped them in the past."

Letterman:

"We can't get Bin Laden, but we nailed a 78-year-old attorney."

"The guy who got gunned down, he is a Republican lawyer and a big Republican donor and fortunately the buck shot was deflected by wads of laundered cash. So he's fine. He took a little in the wallet."

Dirty Dick

More Questions Raised About Delay in Reporting Cheney Misfire
Look, I grew up hunting in the South. My granddaddy, his granddaddy and his granddaddy before were all hunters. Firstly, Dickhead and Co. were shooting cage raised animals. I can't even begin to tell you how pussy this is. A true hunter hunts his prey in its natural setting. Period. A true hunter DOES NOT go to some bullshit hunting club that essentially raises domesticated animals that are then released and "hunted" by its members. Might as well turn your dog loose and hunt it. Seriously, pussy motherfuckers. (UPDATE: OK, mea culpa. Cheney hunted domesticated game in 2003 and he WAS NOT doing the same on Saturday. Still...) Secondly, you DO NOT just shoot someone in the face who is 30 yards away. There is an extreme amount of safety measures a hunter follows in these situations. You'd have to be a drunk, careless fool to do this. And we know that ain't Cheney... that's Bush and he wasn't there. Either this is, once again, a massive demonstration of the incompetence of this adminstration or its a cover up. Why did they wait 18 hours before reporting this? Somethin' ain't right. I guess the King and his court can do as they please. Wait til they come knocking on your door to be the first to fuck your virgin bride. Remember Braveheart?

Senators: Cheney Should Be Probed in Leak
Yeah, a big fucking anal probe from his ass to his mouth.

Americans say president shouldn't suspend rights:

"'As our poll shows, and legal scholars agree, the awesome power of government to penetrate citizens' most private communications must not be held in one set of hands,' Michael Greco, the group's president, told a news conference.

'To prevent the very human temptation to abuse this power there must be checks and balances in the form of oversight by the courts and Congress,' he said.

'I personally reject the false choice that is being offered Americans that they must give up their liberties to have security. We must protect both, and we can protect both,' he added."

Another Bush Boy Indicted
53 felonies. That's how the Republicans do it! 53, bitches!

Spying Necessary, Democrats Say
But it doesn't have to be illegal.

DBTease

Amazon has just uploaded the 30 second samples of ABAAC. Go get your DBT gummy.

Only the Losers

Ex-CIA Official Faults Use of Data on Iraq:
These fuckers cheat at golf, too.

"The former CIA official who coordinated U.S. intelligence on the Middle East until last year has accused the Bush administration of 'cherry-picking' intelligence on Iraq to justify a decision it had already reached to go to war, and of ignoring warnings that the country could easily fall into violence and chaos after an invasion to overthrow Saddam Hussein."

Some Doubt Seriousness Of Terror Scheme Described By Bush
Um, LIAR!

White House Knew About Levees
They just didn't give a shit about a blue city. Negligence or on purpose?

Cheney 'Authorized' Libby to Leak Classified Information
Satan, himself.

DBT - Marry Me... Seriously

The kick-ass folks over at Ninebullets have posted some archival video of the band performing Cooley's Marry Me. This is pre-Shonna footage. If you aren't familiar with DBT live and have heard all these folks talking about what a great show they put on then get you a dose of this video because it is one raucous good time. It was shot the day the EZB got married and there is a salute to Brad and Kimberly at the end. Good, good stuff from the badasses at Ninebullets. Thanks, guys!

American Ideology

Secret Court's Judges Were Warned About NSA Spy Data
'I always feel like somebody's watchin' me. I can't get no privacy'

The revelations infuriated U.S. District Judge Colleen Kollar-Kotelly -- who, like her predecessor, Royce C. Lamberth, had expressed serious doubts about whether the warrantless monitoring of phone calls and e-mails ordered by Bush was legal. Both judges had insisted that no information obtained this way be used to gain warrants from their court, according to government sources, and both had been assured by administration officials it would never happen.

Expert on Congress's Power Claims He Was Muzzled for Faulting Bush
No soup for him, I guess.

"WASHINGTON -- A dispute involving a researcher at the nonpartisan Congressional Research Service is fueling a debate over whether analysts throughout the government are being muzzled to prevent criticism of Bush administration policies.

Louis Fisher, a 36-year veteran of the agency and an expert on the separation of powers, said his superiors wrongly punished him for giving interviews and publishing scholarly articles under his own name that contained criticism of the White House. Top officials deny those allegations, saying they were simply trying to protect the agency's reputation for nonpartisanship and objectivity."

DeLay Lands Coveted Appropriations Spot:
Just give the keys to the hen house to the fox after you've caught him with blood and feathers on his face.

"'Allowing Tom DeLay to sit on a committee in charge of giving out money is like putting Michael Brown back in charge of FEMA — Republicans in Congress just can't seem to resist standing by their man,' said Bill Burton, spokesman for the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee."

Gonzales Misled Congress Again
Isn't just awesome that the Republicans didn't allow him to be sworn in.

Hastert, Frist said to rig bill for drug firms
Yep, that's about right.

DBT Podcast

DBT Valentine's Day Podcast

Update:
Here's another Podcast for your listening/watching pleasure.

Check it out.

Hat tip to Jenn over on the Yahoo List.

The Way Coretta Would Have Wanted It.

Bush Gets Reemed at King Funeral
This is AWESOME!

Sit up straight, George. Show some respect you dolt. Laura's so pissed that some uppity negro is giving her drunk husband some akright. I love it!

Republican Wacko Who Oversees N.S.A. Calls for Wiretap Inquiry
I hope these are signals that the rats are jumping the ship.

"A House Republican whose subcommittee oversees the National Security Agency broke ranks with the White House on Tuesday and called for a full Congressional inquiry into the Bush administration's domestic eavesdropping program."

Heat continues: Wall Street Journal says Bush, Abramoff woes persist

Crooked is as crooked does.

"'Their refusal to release information is inexcusable,' says Tom Fitton, president of conservative legal organization Judicial Watch. As a result, the scandal 'is now in the White House.'"

Boehner Rents Apartment Owned by Lobbyist in D.C.
Boehner sure is a breath of ethical air for the Rethugs.

State Department sees exodus of weapons experts
Why? The experts are being pushed out by Bush's appointed political operatives who don't know jack shit about weapons. They can tell you the sex of a 2 year old equine, though. Pitiful.

The Roof IS NOT on Fire. We don't need no fear....

Operation Backfill and the NSA Hearings
This entire diary is a necessary read.

"And when your house is on fire, you grant privileges to the rescue personnel you would never allow under any other circumstances: permission for total strangers to enter your house, whisk your baby out of sight to safety, toss your belongings out the window, hose down your Reniors, hustle you off to the nearest Red Cross center. We granted intrusions into our lives in those shaky days right after 9/11 (appropriately so, in light of possible other follow-up attacks) that we would never allow under any other circumstances.

But we are now in a preventive phase and have been for several years. The questions we're grappling with as a country now are not about putting out a current fire; rather, they focus on any and all ways to avert another one. To carry out the fire metaphor: We know there is an arsonist in the neighborhood who wishes us ill. The powers we granted to the rescue workers during the fire are no longer appropriate, and at any rate would not yield the results we need. After all, four years after a home fire, we don't allow firefighters to roust us from our beds at 3 AM, to kick down our doors, to destroy our property in the name of 'rescuing' us when there are only rumors of planned flames some vague time in the future.
...
Someone's got to tell Mr. Bush the fire's out and that what this country needs more than boogeyman visuals from its attorney general are firm, well-reasoned, coordinated, legal policies to ensure we don't catch fire again. Don't like the surveillance restrictions in FISA, Mr. Attorney General? Well, now's as good a time as any to offer calm rationalizations in front of the cameras of this country, using old, verifiable, truthful instances (the Brooklyn Bridge plot doesn't fly, Mr. Gonzales) or clear-cut, specfic hypotheticals in which these "backfilled" rights violations should be legalized to spare us an attack. Then we can have a national conversation about what rights we're willing to give up in the trade-off for personal security. Simply relying on crisis-granted powers - and even those considered by most legal scholars as illegal - is not selling me.

Ex-President Carter: Eavesdropping Illegal

"Under the Bush administration, there's been a disgraceful and illegal decision — we're not going to the let the judges or the Congress or anyone else know that we're spying on the American people," Carter told reporters. "And no one knows how many innocent Americans have had their privacy violated under this secret act."

Cable news is worthless

News of the Net:
Blogs Catching On With Web Users

News of the Cool:
'Lost world' found in jungle

Spying and Lying and We'll all soon be Cryin'

Senate Republicans Refuse To Put Gonzales Under Oath
This is so sick. The bastard lied the last time he testified in Congress. What is the Republican party's problem with the truth?

Bush Caught on Tape: “A Wiretap Requires A Court Order. Nothing Has Changed.”
April 2004

For Some, Spying Controversy Recalls Nixon

Surveillance Net Yields Few Suspects

Specter says Bush broke the law

DBT at the South Pole - Patterson Update

Check out Patterson's Website for an update. Here's a taste:

DBT's new single FEB 14 is available for free download on our website.
Don't let the feds fool ya, play that shit loud and blow those eardrums up.
Rock has been making folks deaf since the 50's, shoulda happened sooner.
By the way, contrary to popular op. it ain't a love song or even a valentines day song.
It's a big loud fuck you and the shelf life for that goes way beyond the 15th.
...
Don't forget to keep checking in, both here and at the DBT site, as the new album is coming soon, lots of tour dates are about to be announced, and we promise to keep the propaganda flowing like sweet cheap wine.

Sweet, sweet fuckin' DBT propaganda.

Hat tip to the fine folks at Nine Bullets. They linked to my blog from their front page today and it has just tinkled me pink. That's the first ever front page linkage to Alabama Ass Whuppin. They do one hell of a job over there. If you love DBT you should be checking them out daily.
___________

If you don't think DBT is going world wide with the release of ABAAC, then check this out:

Apparently a friend of the DBT named Andrew works at the South Pole. Now we know how Patterson came up with Mrs. Klaus' Kimono.

These pics came from DBTJenn over on DBT's Yahoo Group

Jenn is the moderator of the Yahoo group and the webmistress for DBT and a host of other kick ass bands. I've never had the privilege to meet her but I've swapped a few emails with her and there ain't a cooler person under the sun You won't find anybody who will say any different, either. And if they do they better watch their ass 'cause they'll have a crew of motherfuckers looking for it. The band and the fans are lucky to have her around.

DBT Lyrics Tour - River Lore

The Tennessee River and Wilson Dam are referenced in several DBT/Solo DBT songs. The River has a strong hold on those who have grown up and lived in the Shoals and are of the "Tennessee Valley". Quite a few folks in the Shoals and surrounding area are natural born water babies who have been baptized a thousand times over a hundred summers by that "dirty ol' water". Learning how to water ski wasn't just for the children of "doctors, lawyers and musicians". The children of factory workers, school teachers and TVA employees also learned how to be properly dragged behind a motor boat.

The River has been a life force of the area for millenniums. The natives called the river the "Singing River", oddly enough. I like the think that this initial name set the stage for the area becoming "The Hit Making Capitol of the World".

"The Yuchi people believed that in the Tennessee River there was a young woman who sang beautiful songs. They called it the Singing River".

The Trail of Tears began in the Shoals. One of the sadder historical points concerning the river.

Some of the pictures below were taken by me and others I lifted from the web. I've provided some links that will describe the history of the River and the dam much better than I can.

There is one sneaky picture in the series that's more DBT related than the rest. I'm wondering if anyone will catch it. Leave a comment it you do.

Hope you enjoy a tour of DBT's River Lore!

Never Gonna Change - You can throw me off the Wilson Dam...

Uncle Frank - They flooded out the hollow....

Boys From Alabama - They might find your body in the Tennessee River...

Uncle Frank - The banks around the hollow sold for lake-front property where...

...Doctors,....

...Lawyers,...

....and Musicians teach their kids to waterski.

TVA - Thank god for the TVA
Puttin' People on the Moon - Double Digit unemployment, TVA be shutting soon

In elementary school we'd take field trips to the dam. The most frightful place they took us to was the corridor that ran underneath the damn from bank to bank.

Way before 9/11 we would go down by the locks and sneak off to one of the neo-classical arches and drink beer, make-out..... Good times, good times.

"Towering in size, incomparable in scale and ambitious in design, the Wilson Dam project, constructed from 1918-1927, established a standard for the nation for future waterways improvement. The largest mass concrete United States lock & dam yet built, it was the first federal hydroelectric project as well as the first Corps of Engineers multipurpose effort. Congress, noting the combined benefits of flood control, aid to commercial navigation and the production of hydroelectric power in a single project, soon mandated these elements be evaluated in all new investigations. In 1933, the completed project amazed and inspired newly elected President Franklin Roosevelt to create the Tennessee Valley Authority. This act revitalized a region and provided a blueprint for development of water resources nationwide.

Wilson Dam marked the first successful attempt to tap the potential of the Tennessee River. Efforts to develop the river for economic purposes dated back to the 1830's. Inadequate, they failed to achieve significant results. The barrier of the Muscle Shoals continued to divide the residents of the Tennessee Valley geographically and socially. Poverty stricken, the region led the nation in grim categories like illiteracy, lowest per capita income, infant mortality and the availability of electricity and running water. Initially authorized for national defense, the completion of Wilson Dam paved the way for a period of development that harnessed the river. Rapid industrialization and economic diversification swept the valley".

President Franklin Delano Roosevelt sits in the rear of a touring sedan Jan. 21, 1933, at the Wilson Dam hydroelectric plant on the Tennessee River at Muscle Shoals, Ala

Uncle Frank - They powered up the city with hydro-electric juice.

...Now we got more electricity than we can ever use.

I think the sign below would make a good album title

TVA - Me and my daddy use to fish....

....next to Wilson Damn.

Commercial and recreational fishermen proudly display their “catch of the day” below the Wilson Dam outside of Florence, Alabama (circa 1940).

TVA - In that dirty ol water sometimes we couldn't tell...

TVA - Where me and my daddy use to bow to the river and pray...

TVA - ...he put up the damn that powered most of the south...

Uncle Frank - T.V.A. had a way to clear it off real fast...

Lots of men and machinary, build a dam and drown the rest

Failure Friday

Bush Is Running Out of Alibis
by Pat Buchanan.
I love it when they eat their own.

"American leaders from Roosevelt to Truman to Kennedy to Reagan rejected isolation and retreat."

Why would a president use his State of the Union to lash out at a school of foreign policy thought that has had zero influence in his administration? The answer is a simple one, but it is not an easy one for Bush to face: His foreign policy is visibly failing, and his critics have been proven right.

NASA's Inspector General Probed
More fucking incompetent cronyism from the Shrub.

They allege that Cobb, appointed by President Bush in 2002, suppressed investigations of wrongdoing within NASA, and abused and penalized his own investigators when they persisted in raising concerns.

Judge Slams Ex-EPA Chief Over Sept. 11
Yet another Bushie crony endangering American lives.

A federal judge blasted former Environmental Protection Agency chief Christine Todd Whitman on Thursday for reassuring New Yorkers soon after the Sept. 11 attacks that it was safe to return to their homes and offices while toxic dust was polluting the neighborhood.

Pre-1776 Mentality

Pre-1776 Mentality

"I've seen some strange things in my life, but I cannot describe the feeling I had, sitting on the House floor during Tuesday's State of the Union speech, listening to the President assert that his executive power is, basically, absolute, and watching several members of Congress stand up and cheer him on. It was surreal and disrespectful to our system of government and to the oath that as elected officials we have all sworn to uphold. Cheering? Clapping? Applause? All for violating the law?"

-Sentor Russ Feingold

Senate Panel Rebuffed on Documents on U.S. Spying - New York Times

Five American Servicemen Killed in Iraq - For no good goddamn reason

Still have doubts about who owns Bush?

"President Bush defended the huge profits of Exxon Mobil Corp. on Wednesday, saying they are simply the result of the marketplace and that consumers socked with soaring energy costs should not expect price breaks."

Really? You can't make the connection between the Bush administration and the oil industry? Really? Really-Really?!:

Other Things Bush Said That You Shouldn’t Take Literally

"One day after President Bush vowed to reduce America’s dependence on Middle East oil by cutting imports from there 75 percent by 2025, his energy secretary and national economic adviser said Wednesday that the president didn’t mean it literally."

Bush withholding on Documents on U.S. Spying

Head Fake. Don't Believe It

The Capitol's Tempest in a T-Shirt

They can't decide how corrupt they want to be. It's hard work!

Update:
Take a look at the liars on the butt-crazy right side of the blogosphere and their responses to Cindy Sheehan being removed from the SOTU. I expect their retractions to be pouring in today about the same time I expect the penis enlargement cream I bought on line to start working.

Murtha - THE man with THE plan.

John Murtha's Letter To Bush

Dear Mr. President,

This March will mark the beginning of the 4th year of the war in Iraq. In contrast, U.S. involvement in WWI came to an end after 19 months. Victory in Europe was declared in WWII after 3 years 5 months. In the Korean War, a cease-fire was signed after 3 years and 1 month. But after more than three and a half years into the war in Iraq, your administration finally produced what is called a "Plan for Victory" in Iraq.

State of the Lies in our Union

Check out Think Progress for a complete debunking of the lies set forth by Dear Leader last night.

Bush Skips Complex Realities in Address

Bush Stretches to Defend Surveillance

Assertions on Spying, Jobs And Spending Invite Debate

Update:
Watch this MOV for the best part of the SOTLU last night. Classic!
"Congress did not act on my proposal to save Social Security".

GAO Faults Federal Government for Katrina Response

Five Ways To Keep Your Google Searches Private