Brian McGough, the Iraq war veteran who was compared by Rush Limbaugh to a suicide bomber, appeared on MSNBC’s Countdown tonight. Limbaugh implied McGough could not think for himself, claiming liberal groups “had strapped ‘lies to his belt, sending him out via the media in a TV ad to walk into as many people as he can walk into.’” Sticking by his criticisms of Limbaugh, McGough said tonight that Rush’s comments were “disgusting.” “It makes me mad down to a place that I can’t even think to describe. It’s repugnant,” he said. At the conclusion of the interview, McGough offered this challenge to Limbaugh:

I’d really like to say and to reiterate what I’ve said before: Ask me or any other members of VoteVets.org to come on your program and talk to you and tell you how we feel. Don’t just talk bad about us, and when we say ‘hey, that’s not right,’ try to talk bad about us again. And think before you open your mouth.

Watch it:

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Eduardo Gonzalez is preparing to deploy for his third tour of duty with the U.S. Navy in November. He will serve aboard the U.S.S. Harry Truman in the Persian Gulf. As he faces deployment, Gonzalez is not focused on his own safety, as most would be, but rather on the safety of his wife (who is not a U.S. citizen) and child, who face “deportation to Guatemala.”

Gonzalez described his feelings on the situation:

Defending the country that’s trying to kick my family out, goes through my mind. … This is the type of situation that the government doesn’t really get to see. They’re tearing families apart. And it hurts. It hurts a lot.

Watch CNN’s report on the story:

Despite Gonzalez’s service to the nation, anti-immigration hate groups are rallying to deport Mildred Gonzalez. Mark Krikorian, who heads the the Center for Immigration Studies, a radical group that opposes immigration, offered this heartless assessment of the situation:

What you’re talking about is amnesty for illegal immigrants who have a relative in the armed forces, and that’s just outrageous. What we’re talking about here is letting lawbreakers get away with their actions just because they have a relative in the military. … There’s no justification for that kind of policy.

The Center for Immigration Studies was founded by John Tanton. “Most Americans have never heard of John Tanton because he operates behind the scenes, but he is the founder and/or early funder of almost every national anti-immigrant organization in the country, including at least a dozen groups” that promote a racist ideology.

The right-wing is more than happy to send Gonzales off to fight in Iraq, but can’t see beyond their hate to reciprocate his patriotic service by granting his wife legal residence.

During the course of an hour-long speech today, President Bush used the word “decisions” — or a derivative of it — at least 30 times. At the outset of his speech, “the decider” (aka “the decision-maker” and “commander guy“) declared:

My job is a decision-making job. And as a result, I make a lot of decisions. And it’s important for me to have an opportunity to speak to you and others who would be listening about the basis on which I have made decisions, to explain the philosophy behind some of the decisions I have made.

Watch it:

The AP writes he elaborated more on that point later in his rambling speech:

”I delegate to good people. I always tell Condi Rice, ‘I want to remind you, Madam Secretary, who has the Ph.D. and who was the C student. And I want to remind you who the adviser is and who the president is.’

”I got a lot of Ph.D.-types and smart people around me who come into the Oval Office and say, ‘Mr. President, here’s what’s on my mind.’ And I listen carefully to their advice. But having gathered the device (sic), I decide, you know, I say, ‘This is what we’re going to do.’ And it’s ‘Yes, sir, Mr. President.’ And then we get after it, implement policy.”

With Pete Domenici set to retire, mightn’t this be a good time for Bill Richardson to consider dropping out of the presidential race and running for Senate?

Today, a bipartisan majority voted 404-11 to give government watchdogs “more autonomy and protection from political retribution.” President Bush has promised to veto the legislation, but the bill garnered significantly more support than the two-thirds majority needed to override a presidential veto.