WASHINGTON Feb 9, 2007 (AP)— Pentagon officials undercut the intelligence community in the run-up to the U.S. invasion of Iraq by insisting in briefings to the White House that there was a clear relationship between Saddam Hussein and al-Qaida, the Defense Department's inspector general said Friday....Acting Inspector General Thomas F. Gimble told the Senate Armed Services Committee that the office headed by former Pentagon policy chief Douglas J. Feith took "inappropriate" actions in advancing conclusions on al-Qaida connections not backed up by the nation's intelligence agencies. (More Yep. All that in just one week. One would think that at least those “fiscally conservative” Republicans in Congress would able to talk about almost nothing but 363-tons of cash the US government “lost track of” in Iraq.

But no, they had bigger fish to fry:

Nancy Pelosi Wants Bedroom on Jet Critics charge that House Speaker Nancy Pelosi is abusing the perks of power by asking for a jumbo military jet with sleeping accommodations for her flights across the country.  (More)

Of course, the story was completely false. It turned out that the House Sergeant-at-Arms, Bill Livingood – who was appointed by former GOP House Speaker, Dennis Hastert, actually was the person that requested the military provide a plane large enough so Pelosi could fly nonstop to the West Coast.

Was Livingood just looking out for his new bosses security, or was he setting her up? I can't say. But it was his request, not Pelosi's that set the new Dem Speaker up for a thorough Swift-boating by GOP brown shirts.

But, unlike John Kerry, Pelosi didn't let the story churn long unchallenged. The role played by GOP-holdover, Livingood was put right out there. Now she needs to go a step further. She needs to find out who at the Pentagon took Livingood's lob over the plate and slammed it into far right field.

As Democrats learned from Kerry's swift-boating, the only way to deal with a lie is to promptly and unceremoniously cram it straight down the throats of the liars. Now that the swift-planers have been exposed, Dems need to teach them a lesson. They need to go to the floor of the House and read back the words of every one of those GOP representative who took the floor this week to repeat the lie. Then Democrats need to demand each of them retract their remarks and apologize.

Then make it clear to the GOP bully boys that Democrats are going to do just that every time they try to pull one of these swift-boat stunts in the future. The message needs to be clear and convincing: You get no more free swings at Democrats. And before you swing next time, you damn well better have your facts in line, because we are going to demand to see them.

Former US Marine, Rep. John Murtha understands the value of firing back. The ink wasn't dry on the Washington Times swift-plane story before Murtha announced he was going to hold hearings on just that subject – how members of Congress and the administration have been using – and misusing – the fleet of Pentagon jetliners. The next sound you heard after Murtha's threat was the sound of 200 GOP assholes slamming shut.

Oh, and then there's this. Since GOP members of the Senate seem determined to block any vote or debate on Bush's so-called “surge” of new troops into Iraq, they might want to use that time instead to hold hearings on this instead:

Bush's uncle benefited from illegal stock sale, records show February 8, 2007: President Bush's uncle William H.T. Bush was among a group of directors of a defense contractor who reaped $6 million from what federal regulators say was an illegal five-year scheme by two company executives to manipulate the timing of stock option grants, documents show.Bush, known as "Bucky," becomes the second member of the president's family to become enmeshed in the stock options scandal this month.

Bucky Bush is the youngest brother of former President George H.W. Bush. He was an outside, non-executive director of Engineered Support Systems Inc., a defense contractor whose profits were bolstered because of the Iraq war.The St. Louis-based company, a supplier of equipment and electronics to the military that was acquired last year by another defense contractor, has been under investigation by federal prosecutors and the Securities and Exchange Commission concerning the alleged options backdating scheme. (More)

Hey, no “cut and runners” among the Bush clan! They're in Iraq for the duration. A surge in troops means a surge in defense spending as well. Let the good times roll. A rising tide of blood raises all yachts.

This time around GOP brown shirts are going to have much tougher muck to hoe. As I noted at the top, the list of GOP/administration failures, lies, deficits, deceits and corruption is so long, so documented and so handy, that Democrats have plenty of ammo.

So, at the bottom it's really just about glass and rocks. On the right we have the GOP, holed up in the biggest glass-house since Teapot Dome, throwing rocks at anyone that crosses them. On the left we have Democrats, well armed but legendary for their glass jaw. Unless Democrats quickly and robustly return fire on these GOP's bully boys, it's their glass jaw that'll end up busted – again.

So, on guard. The attempted swift-plane-ing of Pelosi is just the beginning.