Author: Martin Longman

Supporting the Site

First of all, I want to thank all of you that have already been supporting the site through visiting the advertisers, buying t-shirts and coffee mugs, using Powell Books to purchase books and DVD’s, linking to the site, telling your friends about BT, and just by writing diaries and comments and making this community great.

Many of you have asked how you could be supportive without having to buy stuff you don’t need.  Wolverine and I put our heads together and came up with an idea.  What could people buy that doesn’t take up much space?  Eureka!  A bumper sticker!

If you visit the store you’ll see that we have two new bumper stickers available.  The black and white one is offered for a reasonable $5.  You can tell your neighbors what you think about Tom DeLay, Bill Frist, Duke Cunningham, Karl Rove, Scooter Libby and the rest of the crooks running our country.

But for those of you that would like to make a more substantial contribution to the BT community, we offer the full-color version for $25.  It’s a way for me to offer something tangible in return for your generosity.  

The financial side of the site is starting to improve after a dismal August.  We upgraded the server, doubling the costs, but also really improving the speed of the site.  Blogads have come back, I just got my first check from Google, and the Powell sales have been surprisingly strong.  I just may be able to pull this off. Thanks again for all your good-will and support. And, as always, thanks to Susan, who is the straw that stirs the pond.

Boo

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Bush Crimes Carry ‘No Penalty’

In the category of no-duh:

Federal auditors said on Friday that the Bush administration violated the law by buying favorable news coverage of President Bush’s education policies, by making payments to the conservative commentator Armstrong Williams and by hiring a public relations company to analyze media perceptions of the Republican Party.

In a blistering report, the investigators, from the Government Accountability Office, said the administration had disseminated “covert propaganda” in the United States, in violation of a statutory ban.

So who pays the price?

The G.A.O. said the Education Department had no money or authority to “procure favorable commentary in violation of the publicity or propaganda prohibition” in federal law.

The ruling comes with no penalty, but under federal law the department is supposed to report the violations to the White House and Congress.

As far as I am concerned, nothing is against the law if there is ‘no penalty’ for doing it.

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