My bullshit meter is pinging

[New_Iskander]

@World Eater

What the hell does any of this have to do with Clinton? Let it fucking go already.

wolf_meister said his BS meter exploded before Bush got into WH. I’m a stickler for details, must admit.

[kaylasdad99]

@New Iskander

wolf_meister said his BS meter exploded before Bush got into WH. I’m a stickler for details, must admit.

What an odd thing to seize upon.

As though the pronouncements of wolf_meister were some sort of benchmark for Truth in this discussion. Or as though wolf_meister even wrote the OP.

My BS meter disintegrated when RWR was asked to give us second helpings in 1984. Hasn’t been the same since. And yes, that does predate Bush the Lesses, for all the endorsement of him you can squeeze out of that. Need I point out that I claim to be speaking only for myself?

[tagos]

Zawahiri Letter to Zarqawi: A Shiite Forgery?

I do not believe that an Egyptian like al-Zawahiri would use this phraseology at all. [The very first element of the letter is the blessing on the Prophet. It says: al-salah wa al-salam `ala rasuli’llahi wa a-lihi wa suhubihi . . . (peace and blessings be upon the Messenger of God and his family and his companions . . .) my insert for clarity]

But he certainly would not use it to open a letter to a Salafi. Sunni hardliners deeply object to what they see as Shiite idolatry of the imams or descendants of the Prophet Muhammad, for whom they made shrines such as Ali’s at Najaf and Husayn’s at Karbala. In fact, hard line Wahhabis from Saudi Arabia attacked and sacked Karbala in 1803.

Adding to the salutation “the peace and blessings of God be upon him [Muhammad]” the phrase “and his family” would be an insult to Zarqawi and to the hardline Sunnis in Iraq.

The letter then says how much Zawahiri misses meeting with Zarqawi. Zarqawi was not part of al-Qaeda when he was in Afghanistan. He had a rivalry with it. And when he went back to Jordan he did not allow the Jordanian and German chapters of his Tawhid wa Jihad group to send money to Bin Laden. If Zawahiri was going to bring up old times, he would have had to find a way to get past this troubled history, not just pretend that the two used to pal around.

My gut tells me that the letter is a forgery. Most likely it is a black psy-ops operation of the US. But it could also come from Iran, since the mistakes are those a Shiite might make when pretending to be a Sunni. Or it could come from an Iraqi Shiite group attempting to manipulate the United States. Hmmm.

[Gala_Matrix_Fire]

SteveG1, I’ve been trying to find this story. Can you post a link for it?

(Washington, DC – The National Park Service has started using a political loyalty test for picking all its top civil service positions, according to an agency directive released today by Public Employees for Environmental Responsibility (PEER). Under the new order, all mid-level managers and above must also be approved by a Bush administration political appointee.
The October 11, 2005 order issued by NPS Director Fran Mainella requires that the selection criteria for all civil service management slots (Government Service grades or GS-13, 14 and 15) include the “ability to lead employees in achieving the …Secretary’s 4Cs and the President’s Management Agenda.”).

[RedFury]

Political Screening For All Park Service Managers Mid-Level Managers Picked for Fealty to “the President’s Management Agenda”

[rjung]

@wring

I believe that ** Mr. Hyde** is laboring under the delusion that Ann Coulter represents the “Moderate” view.

Actually, the frightening truth is that he thinks he represents the “moderate” view.

[SteveG1]

@RedFury

Political Screening For All Park Service Managers Mid-Level Managers Picked for Fealty to “the President’s Management Agenda”

Thanks for finding the link - I lost it. Anyway, I’m a GS12 in a different agency, so for now I am “under the radar”.

[Chefguy]

This article in the NYT today caught my eye. Back in February, in this thread (post #50) I placed my bets on Syria as the next target. Are we there yet, daddy?

[Squink]

In explaining why we invaded the figurative Belgium, rather than bother to capture bin Laden, Condoleezza came up with this excuse today:

There is no one who could have imagined a different kind of Middle East with Saddam Hussein still in power

It’s one of her favorites, and one of mine as well; really sets the old bullshit meter a-pinging.

[wring]

maybe we should have looked for folks w/better imaginations.