TSA PsyOps Operation

* fellow aussie blogger Ghandi at Bushout (via Rimone):

‘To fully appreciate Camus, it is important to distinguish between absurdity and similar concepts such as irony and ridiculousness. For example, it is ridiculous that an intellectual lightweight like George W. Bush ever became President of the USA. It’s ironic that the man who holds probably the most powerful office in the history of our planet is a shallow, easily manipulated fool. But we begin to approach the absurd when we realize that, after half a decade of death, war, stuff-ups, and cover-ups, millions of people across the USA still do not know, or refuse to acknowledge, how criminally incompetent Bush truly is…"

Rimone has an early copy of Blinky's Camus book report.

* rudepundit:

"Beyond Lieberman, there's the near-hysteria by the right over the arrest of the terror suspects in England. Spinning like a spastic third-grader on the playground, President Bush said that the arrests are "a stark reminder that this nation is at war with Islamic fascists who will use any means to destroy those of us who love freedom." Beyond the completely erroneous use of "fascist," which is going to be part of the new right wing rhetoric so that it elevates Bin Laden even more to Hitler supervillain status, did anyone actually forget that America is "at war"? Did we need a "reminder"?

And right there is the problem that Republicans (and Democratic enablers) have going into the midterm elections. It's the reason that Karl Rove is done for - motherfucker ought to be getting his affairs in order and learning how to tie his own noose. Because, finally, at long last, Republicans have lost the frame. See, it doesn't matter if you lose an argument or if the facts go against you as long as you control the terms of the argument. To go all Lieberman, we could use a sports analogy: call it "the home team advantage." And once you lose the frame, everything you say is now interpreted through the new frame, and that which once worked for you will now be turned against you."

* Clemons:

"Shoes Off at the Airport: TSA PsyOps Operation
I've always thought that a committed band of terrorists who wanted to smuggle dangerous materials into the country would do so through cargo ships and planes, but civilian aircraft have been and are terror targets because of the ability to create high-shock impact with the destruction of a few or even a single aircraft.

But all this time, we have not had the scanning detectors in place that would deliver "real" rather than "artificial" security. I noticed recently some very impressive, new airport screening machines at Reagan National Airport that help "sniff" the passenger as well as screen for metal. However, only the US Airways wing has these screeners. All the rest of the airport wings have the old X-ray and metal detection systems.

Thanks to TSA for the long lines and screening charades."

* wow - paula zhan on cnn is doing a show on the "Politics of Terror" tomorrow.