Tuesday, July 31, 2007

Late night Foreigner Hot Blooded

Mullen Cites Limited Progress in Iraq



WASHINGTON -- President Bush's choice to head the military Joint Chiefs of Staff said Tuesday an increase of troops in Iraq is giving commanders the forces needed to improve security there.

"Security is better, not great, but better," said Navy Adm. Michael Mullen, speaking before the Senate Armed Services committee at his nomination hearing.

Complete article

Duncan Hunter: Too busy to comment on Gonzales, but about those Democrats...

Republican presidential hopeful and longtime California Congressman Duncan Hunter seemed to say he was too busy on MSNBC's Hardball Monday afternoon to pass an informed judgment on Attorney General Alberto Gonzales. But that didn't stop the former Armed Services Committee chairman from criticizing Democrats who are investigating the Attorney General.

"I haven't been reading the transcripts, watching the hearings, I don't want to disserve him by just repeating the headlines and statements by senators," Hunter said when guest host Mike Barnicle asked if Gonzales should step down. "So unless I was in those hearings and had a chance to really examine the record, I don't want to trash Attorney General Gonzales."

"I noticed when you played Newt Gingrich's statements, New Gingrich didn't say that he had done a terrible job, he said the appearance was that he had done a terrible job and that's bad for the country," Hunter remarked. "This summer session of 'Bash Gonzales' hearings that the Democrats have been holding has been having an effect."

Complete article

Snow: Letter on Gonzales Testimony Coming Later

Here's a little more information on that mysterious letter from the administration expected by Sen. Arlen Specter (R-PA).

After a classified briefing on the NSA's wiretapping program yesterday, Specter said that he expected a letter on the subject by noon today -- the letter, supposedly, would help explain the attorney general's questionable testimony on the program. Specter, however, indicated nothing as to what he expected the letter to say.

In today's White House press briefing, Tony Snow provided precious little information. He only said that the letter, which will come from the Justice Department, is still forthcoming, probably in the next several hours. He would say nothing about the letter's contents except that it will answer a number of questions that Specter had about Gonzales' testimony.

So we continue to wait.

Complete article

Giuliani: Dems want nanny government

MEREDITH, N.H. - Republican presidential hopeful Rudy Giuliani on Monday accused Democrats of favoring a controlling "nanny government" as he continued his bashing of the rival party.

The former New York mayor, opening a two-day campaign trip in the first primary state, also claimed that Democrats would raise taxes between 20 percent to 30 percent. He offered no specifics to back up those figures.

"Democrats are kind of falling over each other seeing who can raise taxes faster," Giuliani said. "It looks like they're going to raise taxes anywhere between 20 to 30 percent. John Edwards just said he's going to raise the capital gains tax double that. Last time we did that, we lost 40 percent in revenue. The last time we did what John Edwards is discussing, the United States lost revenue by basically discouraging people from making investments."

Complete article

Falling all over each other? Hmm...

I will give the republicans one thing...fear mongering is one thing they are good at. Lieing is another another. Rudy does both very well.

Exclusive: Dodd To Go On O'Reilly Show To Defend YearlyKos

Dem Presidential candidate Chris Dodd has agreed to go on Bill O'Reilly's show to defend YearlyKos against O'Reilly's ongoing assault against the gathering and against DailyKos, Dodd's spokesperson confirmed to Election Central.

The move is significant because it will make Dodd the first Presidential candidate to personally appear on a leading right-wing show for the explicit purpose of defending the liberal blogosphere. It's got to be seen as a sign of the times -- and of current shifts in Democratic politics -- that a Presidential candidate would view such an appearance in defense of Kos' liberal blogging community and the netroots in general as an asset to a Presidential campaign.

Dodd's spokesperson, Hari Sevugan, tells Election Central that the Senator will hit O'Reilly hard for his smear tactic of selecting a few isolated comments out of literally hundreds of thousands or even millions of comments to smear the whole site and the netroots in general.

"Democrats aren't going to be lectured to by Bill O'Reilly about the crudeness of language," Sevugan says. "Senator Dodd will point out O'Reilly's hypocrisy in singling out a handful of these comments and talking about how extreme they are when many of the comments O'Reilly himself has made have been equally extreme and disturbing."


Complete article

Monday, July 30, 2007

Late night Frankie Vali Let's Hang On

Laws unpassed, Iraqi parliament calls summer break

BAGHDAD, July 30 (Reuters) - Iraq's parliament adjourned for its summer recess on Monday, taking a break until September despite having failed to enact a series of laws demanded by Washington.

Parliamentary speaker Mahmoud Mashhadani said in a statement issued after Monday's session that he had dismissed lawmakers until Sept. 4.

"Parliament has decided to break until early September," Hussein Falluji of the mainly Sunni Accordance Front bloc in parliament told Reuters.

"We have already cut the holiday by one month. It is our constitutional right to take it."

Complete article

Specter: Administration has 18 hours to clarify Gonzales testimony on wiretapping

The Senate Judiciary Committee’s ranking Republican, Arlen Specter (Pa.), emerged from a crucial Monday briefing and gave the Bush administration 18 hours to resolve the controversy over apparent contradictions in Attorney General Alberto Gonzales’s congressional testimony.

Gonzales took issue last week with former Deputy Attorney General James Comey’s description of internal dissent in 2004 over the legal authority for the National Security Agency’s (NSA) warrantless eavesdropping program. Frustrated Democrats called for a special prosecutor to investigate Gonzales for perjury, noting that several officials have publicly echoed Comey’s account. Those calls prompted Specter to request a classified briefing to clear up the dispute.

Specter aides released a statement late Monday that suggested a bombshell to come on Tuesday afternoon.

Complete article

FBI, IRS searching Stevens' Girdwood house




Federal law enforcement agents are currently searching the Girdwood home of Alaska U.S. Sen. Ted Stevens.

"All I can say is that agents from the FBI and IRS are currently conducting a search at that residence," said Dave Heller, the assistant special agent in charge of the FBI's Anchorage office. The search began earlier this afternoon, he said. It's the only such search warrant currently being served, he said.

Complete article

More in GOP Want Iraq Military Limits

WASHINGTON — Republicans increasingly are backing a new approach in the Iraq war that could become the party's mantra come September. It would mean narrowly limited missions for U.S. troops in Iraq but let President Bush decide when troops should leave.

So far, the idea has not attracted the attention of Democratic leaders. They are under substantial pressure by anti-war groups to consider only legislation that orders troops from Iraq.

But the GOP approach quickly is becoming the attractive alternative for Republican lawmakers who want to challenge Bush on the unpopular war without backtracking from their past assertions that it would be disastrous to set deadlines for troop withdrawals.

"This is a necessary adjustment in the national debate to reintroduce bipartisanship, to stop the `gotcha' politics that are going on that seem to be driven by fringes on both sides and change the terms of the discussion," said Rep. Phil English, R-Pa.

Complete article

Gonzales urged to correct misstatements

The top Republican on the Senate Judiciary Committee is advising _ for now _ against a perjury investigation of Attorney General Alberto Gonzales over his apparent misstatements about warrantless spying.

Sen. Arlen Specter, R-Pa., said he wanted to wait at least until a briefing Monday by the Bush administration on classified spy programs that could help him decide whether Gonzales lied to Congress.

"Let's give him a chance," Specter said Sunday. "What we want to do is find out what the facts are."

Complete article

Biden Responds to Rudy's Attacks



"Rudy Giuliani just doesn't get it. Tough talk and cheap shots won't make America any safer or get mine resistant vehicles to our troops any faster. It is absurd for Rudy Giuliani to call Democrats ‘losers' after five years of failed Republican policies in Iraq.

"It is outrageous that three years after the 9/11 Commission made its recommendations virtually nothing has been funded by this White House and yet Giuliani continues to make the pathetic case that his party has provided leadership fighting terrorism. As everyone knows, until we end the war in Iraq, we are distracted from the main agenda of combating terrorism in Afghanistan and strengthening our homeland security. Giuliani and the rest of the Republican candidates continue to cling to this Administration's failed policy that a strong central government can be propped up in Iraq. If these are the positions he wants to defend, I invite him to debate me on these important topics."

Bush's Turkish Gamble

The morass in Iraq and deepening difficulties in Afghanistan have not deterred the Bush administration from taking on a dangerous and questionable new secret operation. High-level U.S. officials are working with their Turkish counterparts on a joint military operation to suppress Kurdish guerrillas and capture their leaders. Through covert activity, their goal is to forestall Turkey from invading Iraq.

While detailed operational plans are necessarily concealed, the broad outlines have been presented to select members of Congress as required by law. U.S. Special Forces are to work with the Turkish army to suppress the Kurds' guerrilla campaign. The Bush administration is trying to prevent another front from opening in Iraq, which would have disastrous consequences. But this gamble risks major exposure and failure.

Complete article

Sunday, July 29, 2007

Late night David Bowie Let's Dance

Conservatives Refuse To Appear On Fox News To Publicly Defend Gonzales

Bush calls for easier wiretap rules

President George W. Bush on Saturday called for Congress to revise a US security law in order to ease restrictions on the government's secret communications surveillance of terror suspects.

Amid furor over Attorney General Alberto Gonzales's handling of the government's secret warrantless wiretap program, Bush urged legislators to pass the update of the 1978 Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act (FISA) proposed in April.

The changes would ease intelligence collection aimed at people plotting attacks on the United States, Bush said in his weekly radio address.

"Today we face sophisticated terrorists who use disposable cell phones and the Internet to communicate with each other, recruit operatives, and plan attacks on our country," he said.

"Technologies like these were not available when FISA was passed nearly 30 years ago, and FISA has not kept up with new technological developments.

"As a result, our nation is hampered in its ability to gain the vital intelligence we need to keep the American people safe."

Bushed urged lawmakers to work in a bipartisan manner to pass the legislation before leaving for August recess, saying: "Our national security depends on it."

Complete article

Shays: Gonzales “would do us a favor if he stepped down”

From the Associated Press:

Another Republican Congressman has spoken out against Attorney General Alberto Gonzales. Rep. Chris Shays (R - Connecticut) said today on Late Edition with Wolf Blitzer, “He doesn’t have much credibility. And he would do us all a favor if he stepped down and allowed the president to select someone else. You need to be truthful to Congress. You can’t be inaccurate so often. Finally, there just builds up this incredible credibility gap.”

Shays is the latest in a series of Republicans to suggest Gonzales should step down from his post. The Attorney General has come under fire for the firing of U.S. attorneys, which critics say happened for political reasons.

The Decider part 1

Fox News Sunday: “Where’s the smoking gun?”



Sen. Russ Feingold appeared on Fox News Sunday and as a member of the Senate Judiciary Committee, was asked by Chris Wallace whether this whole drawn out mess of 8 months and 8500 pages isn’t just some political theater…

WALLACE: But you know, I think the question is, is this really going anywhere? Is this substantive oversight or is this political theater?

I mean, the point is on the U.S. attorneys which we’re talking about, six-month, seven-month investigation, 8,500 pages of documents, 14 witnesses, and you say yourself as a member of Senate Judiciary you haven’t found any hard evidence that the White House has broken the law.

FEINGOLD: Well, I happen to think they probably did break the law here, but I don’t think the investigation is over, and…

WALLACE: But do you have any evidence of that?

FEINGOLD: … until we — well, that’s why we’re asking for people like Karl Rove and others to come down and testify so we can actually examine the evidence.

We haven’t had access to the evidence. How are you supposed to examine it when you can’t look at it?


Look at John Amato Comments!

Brit Hume attacks Democrats on terrorism issue: “They do not treat it particularly seriously”



Hume: Make no mistake about. This is what a lot of Democrats and those who support them think. They think the war on terror is some kind of a political scam which the administration is using to undermine civil liberties and expand the power of the executive branch of the government. They do not treat it particularly seriously.

Juan Williams called him a propagandist..

Williams: This is unbelievable to me. Wait a minute, when you say it’s likely to be passed, why doesn’t the administration therefore let’s just fix exactly this issue? (crosstalk). Let’s not put the addition…let me just say one other thing…

Hume: Excuse me, Juan, that is what McConnell is proposing.

Williams: No, McConnell and the administration have a great deal more to say, Brit, and they’re interested in advancing the idea that you don’t have to go before the FISA court in order to get the warrant. That you can do things and get retroactive approval. But here is the larger point about being scared: who is it, you know, Republicans or Democrats that didn’t properly arm this force to go out and fight this war? Who didn’t put enough boots on the ground in order to get the job done early? Who is it that confused the mission? And then you say, “oh no, it’s somehow Democrats who are running scared.” On the contrary, Democrats this week put in place money to protect the homeland and make it tougher for terrorists to crack our defenses here at home. I don’t see how you can say it’s anything but scare-mongering and puppeting propaganda to say, “oh no, it’s the Democrats, those bad guys.”


Another way to look at this is Democrats aren't as frightened of the terroists bogeymen as are the republicans.

Iraqi leader tells Bush: Get Gen Petraeus out

Relations between the top United States general in Iraq and Nouri al-Maliki, the country's prime minister, are so bad that the Iraqi leader made a direct appeal for his removal to President George W Bush.

Although the call was rejected, aides to both men admit that Mr Maliki and Gen David Petraeus engage in frequent stand-up shouting matches, differing particularly over the US general's moves to arm Sunni tribesmen to fight al-Qa'eda.

One Iraqi source said Mr Maliki used a video conference with Mr Bush to call for the general's signature strategy to be scrapped. "He told Bush that if Petraeus continues, he would arm Shia militias," said the official. "Bush told Maliki to calm down."

Complete article

Friday, July 27, 2007

At least 17 killed as U.S., Iraqi forces battle Shiite militia

At least 17 people were killed Friday when U.S. and Iraqi forces battled "rogue" Shiite militia members in Karbala after a raid, the U.S. military said.

A hospital official said earlier that the dead included two women and that 25 people were wounded in the fighting, including women and children.

But the U.S. military said there were no civilians in the area of the fighting.

The military said troops conducted a raid "without incident" and detained a person it called "a high-level rogue" militia leader -- a commander of the Mehdi Army in western Karbala. The Mehdi Army is the militia of anti-American Shiite cleric Muqtada al-Sadr.

Complete article

New documents shed light on Pat Tillman's death

SAN FRANCISCO -- Army medical examiners were suspicious about the close proximity of the three bullet holes in Pat Tillman's forehead and tried without success to get authorities to investigate whether the former NFL player's death amounted to a crime, according to documents obtained by The Associated Press.

The doctors -- whose names were blacked out -- said that the bullet holes were so close together that it appeared the Army Ranger was cut down by an M-16 fired from a mere 10 yards or so away.

"The medical evidence did not match up with the, with the scenario as described," a doctor who examined Tillman's body after he was killed on the battlefield in Afghanistan in 2004 told investigators.

Ultimately, the Pentagon did conduct a criminal investigation, and asked Tillman's comrades whether he was disliked by his men and whether they had any reason to believe he was deliberately killed. The Pentagon eventually ruled that Tillman's death at the hands of his comrades was a friendly-fire accident.

The medical examiners' suspicions were outlined in 2,300 pages of testimony released to the AP this week by the Defense Department in response to a Freedom of Information Act request.

Complete article

Romney and Giuliani have yet to agree to YouTube debate

Not so much.

Four days after the Democrat's 'landmark' YouTube debate in South Carolina, only Sen. John McCain (R-AZ) and Rep. Ron Paul (R-TX) have agreed to participate in CNN's next web-oriented debate.

"Aside from those two candidates, we haven't heard from anyone else," Sam Feist of CNN told the Washington Post.

"Rudolph Giuliani and Mitt Romney, both with dozens of videos on their YouTube channels, have not signed up," the Post reported Thursday on their popular campaign blog. "Neither have the rest of the Republican candidates, including Rep. Tom Tancredo (Colo.), whose 'Tancredo Takes' on his YouTube channel draw hundreds of views.

"Sources familiar with the Guiliani campaign said he's unlikely to participate," the Post's blogger added. "Kevin Madden, Romney's spokesman, said the former Massachusetts governor has seven debate invitations covering a span of 11 days in September."

In other words, screw you, YouTube denizens.

Complete article

Michael Moore says he's been served with subpoena



Filmmaker Michael Moore revealed on Thursday's "The Tonight Show" with Jay Leno that the Bush Administration had served him with a subpoena regarding his recent trip to Cuba made as part of his new film, Sicko.

Moore told the audience that he was notified of the subpoena backstage.

"I haven't even told my own family yet," Moore remarked. "I was just informed when I was back there with Jay that the Bush administration has now issued a subpoena for me."

Complete article

Wednesday, July 25, 2007

Late night Van Halen Hot for Teacher

Two GOP US lawmakers face corruption probe

Two senior Republican lawmakers are reportedly under criminal investigation for alleged corruption linked to an Alaska oil services company.

Federal authorities are looking into whether Representative Don Young or Senator Ted Stevens accepted bribes, illegal gratuities or unreported gifts from VECO Corp., an oil field engineering firm in Alaska, the Wall Street Journal wrote, citing unnamed "people close to the case."

It remained unclear what the company may have received in return for the alleged favors, the newspaper said. The firm has won a series of federal government contracts since 2000, including projects to deliver logistics support for arctic research, it said.

Complete article

Gonzales to Schumer

Bush says Iraq war about al-Qaeda

US President George W. Bush, trying to reverse ebbing support for the Iraq war, sought Tuesday to tie deadly violence there directly to Al-Qaeda terrorist chief Osama bin Laden.

Facing mounting calls for a US withdrawal, and intelligence findings that the unpopular war is a recruiting tool for Al-Qaeda, Bush warned that a hasty US pull-out would increase the risk of an attack in the United States.

"However difficult the fight is in Iraq, we must win it, and we can win it," Bush said in a speech to uniformed military personnel here. "Surrendering the future of Iraq to Al-Qaeda would be a disaster to our country."

Bush said that bin Laden, the mastermind of the September 11, 2001 attacks on the United States, pulled the strings of Al-Qaeda in Iraq, a group that did not exist before the March 2003 US-led invasion.

Complete article

Ok...how many reasons has Mr. Bush given for us being in Iraq? Now it's al-Qaeda!

Be afraid!

Paula Zahn Will Leave CNN

A day after CNN announced that it was hiring Campbell Brown to replace one of its prime-time hosts, presumably Paula Zahn, Ms. Zahn confirmed today that she was leaving the cable channel, effective Aug. 2.

The unraveling of “Paula Zahn Now,” which made its debut at 8 p.m. in 2003, was ultimately a function of ratings. Though CNN took pains recently to note that the number of viewers for the show had ticked upward earlier this year, Ms. Zahn’s task remained a Herculean one.

The estimated 558,000 viewers her program has been drawing, on average, each weeknight this year, according to Nielsen Media Research, represents less than a quarter of the nearly 2.3 million who watch “The O’Reilly Factor” with Bill O’Reilly on Fox News. Ms. Zahn’s program also draws about 100,000 fewer viewers a night than “Countdown with Keith Olbermann” on MSNBC.

Complete article

Gonzales Contradicts Prior Statements, Confirms Existence Of Other Spying Programs

Attorney General Alberto Gonzales directly contradicted his 2006 sworn testimony about the NSA domestic surveillance program during a press conference today.

Complete blog

Vendor Arrested For 'Impeach Him' Buttons

A 74-year-old retired mathematician who sells anti-Bush buttons at a Maryland farmers' market has become a symbol of free speech to some people. Others say Alan McConnell is a nuisance.

McConnell was at the market in Kensington as usual yesterday, selling buttons that say "Impeach Him" He has sold the $1 buttons for months; he told The Washington Post he uses the money earned to pay for "Impeach Them Both" yard signs.

Town officials had previously warned McConnell about peddling his political wares at the market (he is accused of being "aggressive" in his pitch), and had cited him for selling merchandise without a proper permit.

McConnell was also warned that he would be arrested if he returned to the market, even though it is public property.

Complete article

Gonzales Digs Deeper Hole

Attorney General Alberto Gonzales may have put himself in legal jeopardy with his testimony Tuesday before the Senate Judiciary Committee, Senators of both parties warned, as Members cast doubt on the truthfulness of his answers and suggested he may have improperly released classified information in his own defense.

No Exit Strategy

The American people have only one question left about Iraq: What is President Bush’s plan for a timely and responsible exit? That is the essential precondition for salvaging broader American interests in the Middle East and for waging a more effective fight against Al Qaeda in its base areas in Pakistan and Afghanistan. And it is exactly the question that Mr. Bush, his top generals and his diplomats so stubbornly and damagingly refuse to answer.

Yesterday provided two more frustrating and shameful examples of this denial. One was a new war plan drawn up by America’s top military commander and top diplomat in Baghdad that will keep American troops fighting in Iraq at least until 2009. The other was yet one more speech by President Bush that claimed that Iraq was the do-or-die front in the war on terrorism — rather than a rallying point for extremists and a never-ending drain on the resources America needs to fight that fight.

The war plan drawn up by Gen. David Petraeus and Ambassador Ryan Crocker simply assumes that a large-scale United States military presence in Iraq will continue for at least two more years.

Complete article

Tuesday, July 24, 2007

Late night: Alice Cooper Poison

Rove blamed for Attorney firings in Gonzales hearing; Specter raises prospect of impeachment

Senator Patrick Leahy kicked off an oversight hearing of the Senate Judiciary Committee with Attorney General Alberto Gonzales by accusing top White House adviser Karl Rove of playing a key role in the firing of 8 US Attorneys.

"The accumulated and essentially uncontroverted evidence is that political considerations factored into the unprecedented firing of at least nine United States Attorneys last year," the committee's chairman said. "The evidence we have been able to collect points to Karl Rove and the political operatives at the White House. ."

Leahy also described a Justice Department in a state of 'crisis.' He worried that most of the senior leadership in the department had resigned.

"I would joke that the last one out the door should turn off the lights, but the Department of Justice is more important than that," he stated. "We need to shine more light on the Justice Department, not less"

The Vermont Democrat went on to criticize Gonzales for failing to be forthcoming with information about the Federal Bureau of Investigation's use of National Security Letters and said it pointed to an inability to trust Gonzales and the Bush administration.

"With a history of civil liberty abuses and cover ups, this administration has squandered our trust," he warned.

Complete article>

Daschle: Gonzales Trying to "Rewrite History" by Blaming Congress for Ashcroft Spying Crisis



Tom Daschle, the former Senate Democratic leader who received briefings on the Bush administration's warrantless surveillance programs, says Alberto Gonzales isn't telling the truth about what Senate and House leaders were told in March 2004 about the program's utility and legality.

In testimony today to the Senate Judiciary Committee, Gonzales attempted to give "context" for his infamous hospital trip to a convalescent John Ashcroft on March 10, 2004, after acting attorney general James Comey refused to authorize the surveillance program. It was only after a briefing for the so-called "Gang of Eight" bipartisan congressional leaders demanded that the program continue, Gonzales said, that he and then-White House chief of staff went to "inform" Ashcroft of the Gang's wishes.

"I have no recollection of such a meeting and believe that it didn't occur. I am quite certain that at no time did we encourage the AG or anyone else to take such actions. This appears to be another attempt to rewrite history just as they have attempted to do with the war resolution."


Complete article

Cindy Sheehan arrested while calling for Bush/Cheney Impeachment



WASHINGTON (AP) -- Anti-war activist Cindy Sheehan was arrested Monday at the Capitol for disorderly conduct, shortly after saying she would run against House Speaker Nancy Pelosi over the California Democrat's refusal to try to impeach President Bush.

Sheehan was taken into custody inside Rep. John Conyers' office, where she had spent an hour imploring him to launch impeachment proceedings against Bush and Vice President Dick Cheney. Conyers, D-Michigan, chairs the House Judiciary Committee, where any impeachment effort would have to begin.

"The Democrats will not hold this administration accountable, so we have to hold the Democrats accountable," Sheehan said outside Conyers' office after the meeting. "And I for one am going to step up to the plate and run against Nancy Pelosi."

Complete article

Gonzalez on Ashcroft hospital visit

Michael Moore on Harball

Monday, July 23, 2007

Harriet Miers and Bush Chief of Staff to face contempt charges



Former White House Counsel Harriet Miers and Joshua Bolten, the current Chief of Staff to President George W. Bush, will likely be charged with contempt by the House Judiciary Committee on Wednesday this week.

"This investigation, including the reluctant but necessary decision to move forward with contempt, has been a very deliberative process, taking care at each step to respect the Executive Branch’s legitimate prerogatives,” said Rep. John Conyers (D-MI), chairman of the House Judiciary Committee, in a statement. "I've allowed the White House and Ms. Miers every opportunity to cooperate with this investigation, either voluntarily or under subpoena. It is still my hope that they will reconsider this hard-line position, and cooperate with our investigation so that we can get to the bottom of this matter."

Through an attorney, Miers had had earlier stated that she does not fear contempt charges. She refused to comply with a subpoena and appear before the House Committee on July 12 as part of the investigation into the firing of 9 US Attorneys. Bolten also has failed to turn over documents sought by House Democrats. The Bush chief of staff was ordered to comply with the subpoena by 10 AM this morning.
White House on contempt proceedings: 'Spectacle'

In Monday afternoon's press conference, White House Press Secretary Tony Snow dismissed the contempt charges as "a fishing expedition that's woefully short on fish."

Complete article

Bush Approval Rating Tumbles To 25 Percent

According to a new American Research Group poll, just 25% of Americans approve of the way President Bush is handling his job as president and 71% disapprove. These are record lows for the survey.

When it comes to Bush's handling of the economy, 23% approve and 73% disapprove.

US force not ruled out in Pakistan

The U.S. would consider military force if necessary to stem al-Qaida's growing ability to use its hideout in Pakistan to launch terrorist attacks, a White House aide said Sunday.

The president's homeland security adviser, Fran Townsend, said the U.S. was committed first and foremost to working with Pakistan's president, Pervez Musharraf, in his efforts to control militants in the Pakistan-Afghanistan border region. But she indicated the U.S. was ready to take additional measures.

"Just because we don't speak about things publicly doesn't mean we're not doing things you talk about," Townsend said, when asked in a broadcast interview why the U.S. does not conduct special operations and other measures to cripple al-Qaida.

"Job No. 1 is to protect the American people. There are no options off the table," she said.

Complete article

With Iraq on fire, rest of world on hold

WASHINGTON — Two months ago, President Bush enthusiastically accepted an invitation to visit Singapore in September. But he abruptly changed plans, and his summit with Southeast Asian leaders is off. Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice is skipping an Asian meeting, too, and tossed out plans to visit Africa this week. Defense Secretary Robert Gates' mission to Latin America? Postponed.

The reason is Iraq.

As the White House struggles to show progress in the 52-month-old war, other important global issues increasingly are getting pushed to the side, according to U.S. officials, diplomats and analysts.

"The United States is very focused on Iraq and the Middle East. We know we are not a white-heat zone . . . which is good for us. But it means we are not on top of the list," said Heng Chee Chan, Singapore's ambassador to the United States.

Complete article

Congressman Denied Access To Post-Attack Continuity Plans



WASHINGTON — Constituents called Rep. Peter DeFazio's office, worried there was a conspiracy buried in the classified portion of a White House plan for operating the government after a terrorist attack.


As a member of the House Committee on Homeland Security, DeFazio, D-Ore., is permitted to enter a secure "bubbleroom'' in the Capitol and examine classified material. So he asked the White House to see the secret documents.

On Wednesday, DeFazio got his answer: DENIED.

"I just can't believe they're going to deny a member of Congress the right of reviewing how they plan to conduct the government of the United States after a significant terrorist attack,'' DeFazio said.

Homeland Security Committee staffers told his office that the White House initially approved his request, but it was later quashed. DeFazio doesn't know who did it or why.

"We're talking about the continuity of the government of the United States of America,'' DeFazio said. "I would think that would be relevant to any member of Congress, let alone a member of the Homeland Security Committee.''

Complete article

Kit Bond and the credibility of war supporters

It is clear that if we abandon Iraq as some want us to do right now, Al Qaeda will establish a safe haven there. This would give terrorists the resources of the petroleum-rich country to finance their operations, significantly increasing the threat of future attacks on the United States.

While I agree that we had the wrong plan for three years, we now have the right one, and the right man to lead it. The proper conclusion to be drawn from the N.I.E. findings is that Congress and the American people must remain vigilant and committed to the war on terror and its central front in Iraq.

"The strategy we had before was not the right strategy," he told reporters at midweek. "We should have had a counterinsurgency strategy."

By his remarks, Bond made it clear he meant the strategy was wrong from the time Saddam Hussein was deposed until this past January, when Gen. David Petraeus was installed as top military commander. That's a span of nearly four years.


Complete article

Ah, wonderful! Sen. Christopher "Kit" Bond of Missouri, one of George Bush's most blindly loyal Senatorial servants, and now he is telling us we had the wrong plan for three years! Where was he the last three years? Defending the plan! Yes. He knew it was wrong yet he supported the plan that resulted in hundreds of thousands of deaths and injured! Some public servant eh? More like a servant to the party.

Now he is telling us we have the right plan in place. Don't believe him! He supported a wrong plan before. He is doing it again.

Reid Unafraid of Lashing Out



WASHINGTON (AP) -- Alan Greenspan has retired as chairman of the Federal Reserve, so Senate Democratic leader Harry Reid has to find someone else to brand as Washington's biggest "political hack."

"I could give that designation to someone else," Reid said in a broadcast interview Sunday. "I don't think I'll do it here today."

But don't think for a minute the Nevada Democrat has changed his opinion about the venerable ex-Fed leader.

It was in 2005 when Greenspan was the target of Reid's barbs. Greenspan had given a qualified endorsement to President Bush's proposed Social Security and tax overhauls.

At the time, Reid used a television interview to brand the Fed chairman "one of the biggest political hacks we have in Washington."

"I call them the way I see them," Reid made clear Sunday. "Alan Greenspan, when they asked me about him, I said I thought he was the biggest political hack in Washington. That's how I felt. Why shouldn't I say that?"

Complete article

I am surprised anyone can be outraged at Senator Reid. To me, Bush has lied so many times, I don't know where to start!

First lie was in 2000. "I am a uniter not a divider." Also about the rebate given to everyone...Democrats kept telling us it will only benefit the top 1%. Bush said not true. Guess what? It was true.

Too many lies to mention!

Democrats will press ahead on pulling US troops from Iraq: Reid

Senate Democrats vowed Sunday to press ahead with legislation on pulling US troops from Iraq, despite a major defeat last week in their efforts to pass a bill.

"After May 1 of next year, all American troops should be out of there except those dealing with counterterrorism, training Iraqis and protecting our assets," top Senate Democrat Harry Reid told CBS television on Sunday.

"Academics and military people say Iraq is in chaos right now," he continued.

"Getting Americans out of Iraq, except for those troops that I just talked about I think would lessen chaos rather than increase it. That's our plan."

The Democratic leader added: "We must change course. We're going to continue doing everything we can in a bipartisan matter to focus attention on that and get our troops home."

Meanwhile another Democratic senator, Russ Feingold, said he planned to introduce a resolution to censure the president for his handling of Iraq.

Reid said he doubted the Senate would take up the measure, although he expressed some sympathy with the sentiments in it.

"The president already has the mark of the American people that he's the worst president we've ever had. I don't think we need a censure resolution in the Senate to prove that," he told CBS.

Complete article

Embattled Gonzales: I'm sticking around to 'fix the problems'

Embattled Attorney General Alberto Gonzales made a surprise appearance Friday on Justice Vision -- an internal videoconferencing feed of the Department of Justice -- to assure employees that he would not step down from his post after his department was found taking political considerations into account during its hiring procedures.

"From my perspective, there are two options available in light of these allegations. I could walk away, as some have demanded, or I could devote my time, effort, and energy to fix the problems," he said. "Since I've never been one to quit, I've decided that the best course of action was to remain here and fix the problems. That is exactly what I'm doing."

Complete article

Or...could he be staying to fix problems that are going to be faced by President Bush?

Sunday, July 22, 2007

Late night: Doobie Brothers Listen to the Music

National Intel Director: Bush Admin. Manipulated Iraq Intel ‘Because They Didn’t Like The Answers’

Country Singer McCready Arrested in Fla.

Complete article

FORT MYERS, Fla. — Country singer Mindy McCready has been charged with battery and resisting arrest in Florida, authorities said.

McCready, 31, was arrested early Saturday morning and charged with the two misdemeanors, according to booking information. On Sunday, the Lee County Sheriff's Office declined to provide details of the incident that led to her arrest.

McCready was released on $1,000 bail Saturday and is scheduled to appear in court Aug. 14.

McCready, who had a No. 1 hit in 1996 with "Guys Do It All the Time," has struggled in recent years, beginning with a 2004 conviction for fraudulently obtaining prescription painkillers. She was on probation for that offense when she was charged with driving under the influence in 2005.

Complete article

Democrats Press House to Expand Health Care Bill

WASHINGTON, July 22 — After a rare bipartisan agreement in the Senate to expand insurance coverage for low-income children, House Democrats have drafted an even broader plan that also calls for major changes in Medicare and promises to intensify the battle with the White House over health care.

President Bush has threatened to veto what he sees as a huge expansion of the children’s health care program, which he describes as a step “down the path to government-run health care for every American.” The House measure calls for changes that the administration will probably find even more distasteful, including cuts in Medicare payments to private health plans.

Like the bill approved last week 17 to 4 in the Senate Finance Committee, the House bill would increase tobacco taxes to help finance expansion of the Children’s Health Insurance Program.

Complete article

Man steals nuclear equipment, offers it to spy

Roy Lynn Oakley, 67, worked for Bechtel Jacobs, a contractor at the Oak Ridge National Laboratory, a US nuclear research facility created in the 1940s to develop a nuclear bomb.

Mr Oakley was charged with taking US government data and hardware and agreeing to pass it to another person.

ABC television said he was arrested trying to sell it to an undercover agent.

It was unclear how the low-level contract worker, who did maintenance work and escorted visitors at the Oak Ridge National lab in Knoxville, Tennessee, managed to access the classified documents.

Bechtel Jacobs is the Department of Energy's prime environmental management contractor at East Tennessee Technology Park.

Complete article

Sen. Feingold proposes censuring Bush



WASHINGTON - Liberal Democratic Sen. Russ Feingold said Sunday he wants Congress to censure President Bush for his management of the Iraq war and his "assault" against the Constitution.

But Feingold's own party leader in the Senate showed little interest in the idea. An attempt in 2006 by Feingold to censure Bush over the warrantless spying program attracted only three co-sponsors.

Feingold, a prominent war critic, said he soon plans to offer two censure resolutions — measures that would amount to a formal condemnation of the Republican president.

Complete article

Friday, July 20, 2007

Olbermann slams Bush after Hillary blamed for losing Iraq

Expanding claim of executive authority, White House official tells paper staff can't be charged

A senior Bush Administration official unveiled a new strategy in Friday's Washington Post -- anonymously -- to combat Democrats in Congress who are clamoring to file contempt charges against officials who refuse to talk about the firings of nine US prosecutors.

In sum, this strategy amounts to, "once we say no, we can't be charged."

Ironically, President Bush's new legal argument hinges on whether one of his own US prosecutors can file charges against his staff.

According to the Post, "Administration officials argued yesterday that Congress has no power to force a U.S. attorney to pursue contempt charges in cases, such as the prosecutor firings, in which the president has declared that testimony or documents are protected from release by executive privilege. Officials pointed to a Justice Department legal opinion during the Reagan administration, which made the same argument in a case that was never resolved by the courts."

Complete article

Old-line Republican warns 'something's in the works' to trigger a police state

Thom Hartmann began his program on Thursday by reading from a new Executive Order which allows the government to seize the assets of anyone who interferes with its Iraq policies.

He then introduced old-line conservative Paul Craig Roberts -- a former Assistant Secretary of the Treasury under Reagan who has recently become known for his strong opposition to the Bush administration and the Iraq War -- by quoting the "strong words" which open Roberts' latest column: "Unless Congress immediately impeaches Bush and Cheney, a year from now the US could be a dictatorial police state at war with Iran."

"I don't actually think they're very strong," said Roberts of his words. "I get a lot of flak that they're understated and the situation is worse than I say. ... When Bush exercises this authority [under the new Executive Order] ... there's no check to it. It doesn't have to be ratified by Congress. The people who bear the brunt of these dictatorial police state actions have no recourse to the judiciary. So it really is a form of total, absolute, one-man rule. ... The American people don't really understand the danger that they face."

Complete article

Bill Clinton criticizes Bush on Iraq

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Former President Bill Clinton on Thursday criticized President George W. Bush's administration for failing in Iraq, saying their was no evidence of much-needed political or diplomatic progress.

"The point is, that there is no military victory here," he said in an interview on ABC's Good Morning America.


Clinton's wife Hillary is running for the Democratic nomination for president and she has been calling on Bush to pull troops out of Iraq.

"There is no evidence that, whether we have a good day in a particular community or region in Iraq, that we have either the political reconciliation process within the country working or any diplomatic process that's got a chance to help with the neighbors," the former Democratic president said.


Complete article

Clinton Hits Back at Pentagon Official

WASHINGTON — Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton hit back Friday at a Pentagon aide who charged that her questions about Iraq withdrawal planning have the effect of helping the enemy _ calling the accusation a spurious dodge of a serious issue.

"Premature and public discussion of the withdrawal of U.S. forces from Iraq reinforces enemy propaganda that the United States will abandon its allies in Iraq, much as we are perceived to have done in Vietnam, Lebanon and Somalia," Edelman wrote.


...Clinton responded Friday in a letter to Edelman's boss, Defense Secretary Robert Gates, asking if he agreed with Edelman's charge.

She said Edelman had ducked her questions and "instead made spurious arguments to avoid addressing contingency planning."

"Undersecretary Edelman has his priorities backward," Clinton wrote, calling his claim "outrageous and dangerous."


Complete article

House Dems Get Tough on Iraq Funding

Dear Mr. President:

We are writing to inform you that we will only support appropriating additional funds for U.S. military operations in Iraq during Fiscal Year 2008 and beyond for the protection and safe redeployment of all our troops out of Iraq before you leave office.

More than 3,600 of our brave soldiers have died in Iraq. More than 26,000 have been seriously wounded. Hundreds of thousands of Iraqis have been killed or injured in the hostilities and more than 4 million have been displaced from their homes. Furthermore, this conflict has degenerated into a sectarian civil war and U.S. taxpayers have paid more than $500 billion, despite assurances that you and your key advisors gave our nation at the time you ordered the invasion in March, 2003 that this military intervention would cost far less and be paid from Iraqi oil revenues.

We agree with a clear and growing majority of the American people who are opposed to continued, open-ended U.S. military operations in Iraq, and believe it is unwise and unacceptable for you to continue to unilaterally impose these staggering costs and the soaring debt on Americans currently and for generations to come.

Sincerely,

Rep. Lynn Woolsey (CA); Rep. Barbara Lee (CA); Rep. Maxine Waters (CA); Rep. Ellen Tauscher (CA); Rep. Rush Holt (NJ); Rep. Maurice Hinchey (NY); Rep. Diane Watson (CA); Rep. Ed Pastor (AZ); Rep. Barney Frank (MA); Rep. Danny Davis (IL); Rep. John Conyers (MI); Rep. John Hall (NY); Rep. Bob Filner (CA); Rep. Nydia Velazquez (NY); Rep. Bobby Rush (IL); Rep. Charles Rangel (NY); Rep. Ed Towns (NY); Rep. Paul Hodes (NH); Rep. William Lacy Clay (MO); Rep. Earl Blumenauer (OR); Rep. Albert Wynn (MD); Rep. Bill Delahunt (MA); Rep. Eleanor Holmes Norton (DC); Rep. G. K. Butterfield (NC); Rep. Hilda Solis (CA); Rep. Carolyn Maloney (NY); Rep. Jerrold Nadler (NY); Rep. Michael Honda (CA); Rep. Steve Cohen (TN); Rep. Phil Hare (IL); Rep. Grace Flores Napolitano (CA); Rep. Alcee Hastings (FL); Rep. James McGovern (MA); Rep. Marcy Kaptur (OH); Rep. Jan Schakowsky (IL); Rep. Julia Carson (IN); Rep. Linda Sanchez (CA); Rep. Raul Grijalva (AZ); Rep. John Olver (MA); Rep. Sheila Jackson Lee (TX); Rep. Jim McDermott (WA); Rep. Ed Markey (MA); Rep. Chaka Fattah (PA); Rep. Frank Pallone Jr. (NJ); Rep. Rubin Hinojosa (TX); Rep. Pete Stark (CA); Rep. Bobby Scott (VA); Rep. Jim Moran (VA); Rep. Betty McCollum (MN); Rep. Jim Oberstar (MN); Rep. Diana DeGette (CO); Rep. Stephen Lynch (MA); Rep. Artur Davis (AL); Rep. Hank Johnson (GA); Rep. Donald Payne (NJ); Rep. Emanuel Cleaver (MO); Rep. John Lewis (GA); Rep. Yvette Clarke (NY); Rep. Neil Abercrombie (HI); Rep. Gwen Moore (WI); Rep. Keith Ellison (MN); Rep. Tammy Baldwin (WI); Rep. Donna Christensen (USVI); Rep. David Scott (GA); Rep. Luis Gutierrez (IL); Lois Capps (CA); Steve Rothman (NJ); Elijah Cummings (MD); and Rep. Ron Paul (R-TX).

General in Iraq awaits Nov. assessment

WASHINGTON - For months September has been cast as a pivotal time for determining the course of the war in Iraq, yet a top general now says a solid judgment on the U.S. troop buildup there may not come until November.

Lt. Gen. Raymond Odierno told he would need beyond September to tell if improvements in Iraq represent long-term trends.

"In order to do a good assessment I need at least until November," said Odierno, a deputy to Gen. David Petraeus, the U.S. military commander in Iraq.

Odierno briefed Pentagon reporters by video link from Baghdad. Also on Wednesday, Petraeus and Ryan Crocker, the top U.S. diplomat in Iraq, participated in a classified question-and-answer session with lawmakers, also via satellite. Crocker later testified before the Senate Foreign Relations Committee.

Complete article

November?

Haven't the white house and republican apologists been saying September for months now? Well it looks like the goal posts have been moved! When November comes, the date will be changed again!

They don't know what they are doing. Pure and simple.

Pentagon says anyone who asks about withdrawal from Iraq is emboldening the enemy



WASHINGTON - The Pentagon told Democratic presidential front-runner Hillary Rodham Clinton that her questions about how the U.S. plans to eventually withdraw from Iraq boosts enemy propaganda.

In a stinging rebuke to a member of the Senate Armed Services Committee, Undersecretary of Defense Eric Edelman responded to questions Clinton raised in May in which she urged the Pentagon to start planning now for the withdrawal of American forces.

A copy of Edelman's response, dated July 16, was obtained Thursday by The Associated Press.

"Premature and public discussion of the withdrawal of U.S. forces from Iraq reinforces enemy propaganda that the United States will abandon its allies in Iraq, much as we are perceived to have done in Vietnam, Lebanon and Somalia," Edelman wrote.

He added that "such talk understandably unnerves the very same Iraqi allies we are asking to assume enormous personal risks."

Complete article

Republicans block vote on troop pullout

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - U.S. President George W. Bush's fellow Republicans in the Senate on Wednesday blocked a Democratic proposal to force him to withdraw American combat troops from Iraq after a rare round-the-clock debate.

The action prompted weary and frustrated Senate Democrats to postpone consideration of other measures to bring the war to an end. But they voiced confidence more Republicans would soon join their efforts.

On a vote of 52-47, backers fell short of the needed 60 to clear a Republican procedural hurdle and move toward passage of an April 30, 2008, deadline for removing U.S. combat troops from Iraq.

Senate Democratic leader Harry Reid of Nevada responded by suspending consideration on a defense policy bill until Republicans drop procedural tactics that prevented passage of the withdrawal plan.

"There are two things that I want to accomplish. One is to pass a defense authorization bill, but with a deadline dealing with Iraq," Reid said. "If that's tomorrow, we'll do it tomorrow. If it's later, we'll do it later."

Complete article

Wednesday, July 18, 2007

Late night: Tina Turner 1982 Proud Mary

Bush Middle East plan starts to unravel

George Bush yesterday encountered the weakest of welcomes for his call for an international peace conference on the Middle East.

A day after he unveiled his plan for a conference of Israelis, Palestinians and Arab governments in the autumn, there were few signs of optimism that such a gathering could produce a final resolution to the conflict.

The White House moved to douse expectations. "I think a lot of people are inclined to try to treat this as a big peace conference. It's not," Tony Snow, the White House's press secretary, told reporters.

He added the conference would not address final status issues, such as borders, further lowering expectations.

Israel had put Washington on notice earlier yesterday that it was not prepared to discuss such issues as borders at the conference.

Complete article

Sydney urges residents to make 'Go Bags'

SYDNEY, Australia - Residents of Australia's largest city are being urged to create survival bags to prepare for terrorist attacks and other emergencies under a campaign launched by city council Tuesday.

The "Go Bags," featured in the new terrorism awareness campaign, would include maps, a radio, a first aid kit, an extra set of keys, some spare change and important documents.

The campaign, similar to one in New York after the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks, urges Sydney residents to consider how they would make contact with friends and relatives during a terrorist attack or other emergency, when mobile phone services are often disrupted.

The council's acting chief executive, Garry Harding, said Sydney residents need to prepare for a serious incident like a terror attack.

Complete article

Tuesday, July 17, 2007

Late night: ACDC Highway to Hell

Watch the obstructionism in action:

Harriet Miers rejects subpoena compliance deadline, shakes off 'contempt' threats

Former White House Counsel Harriet Miers has again rejected calls from the House Judiciary Committee to comply with a subpoena for her testimony on the firing of 9 US Attorneys in 2006 and 2007. The Committee had set a deadline of 5 PM for Miers to explain how she would comply with the subpoena.

"In light of the continuing directives to Ms. Miers and as previously indicated to your Committee, I must respectfully inform you that, directed as she has been to honor the Executive privileges and immunities asserted in this matter, Ms. Miers will not appear before the Committee or otherwise produce documents or provide testimony as set forth in the Committee's subpoena," wrote Miers' attorney, George Manning, in a letter delivered Tuesday to Rep. John Conyers (D-MI), Chairman of the Judiciary Committee.

Complete article

Al Qaeda Reality Check

Official: Al Qaeda trying to sneak agents to U.S., report will say

WASHINGTON (CNN) -- A top government intelligence report will warn that al Qaeda is trying to use its resources in Iraq to attack the United States and is beefing up efforts to sneak operatives into the U.S., a senior government official said.

fficials have expressed concern in the past that the Iraq war is providing a theater for al Qaeda to train insurgents and test the terror network's capabilities.

The draft of the intelligence report also expresses concern about the possibility of a growing number of extremists who may already be in the United States, two officials said last week. The report also said al Qaeda is still in pursuit of chemical, biological and nuclear weapons.

Declassified portions of the completed National Intelligence Estimate -- which represents the combined analyses of all 16 U.S. intelligence agencies -- will be released Tuesday after the classified version is presented to Congress.

Mike McConnell, director of national intelligence, was expected to give President Bush a special briefing on the report Tuesday morning, a senior administration official said.

Complete article

Gonzales refuses to send witness to Hill for voting rights hearing

Two House Democrats criticized Attorney General Alberto Gonzales for refusing to send a witness to the House Judiciary Committee for a hearing on voting rights. In response, the committee postponed a hearing that had been scheduled for this morning.

Reps. John Conyers and Jerrold Nadler, respectively the Chairs of the House Judiciary Committee and Subcommittee on the Constitution, Civil Rights, and Civil Liberties, criticized the decision by Gonzales.

"We are disappointed by this decision," they wrote to the Attorney General. "Mr. Tanner’s testimony is important to the Committee’s efforts to understand the manner in which the Department has implemented its legislative mandate. As Chief of the Voting Section, Mr. Tanner is personally familiar with the facts surrounding the Department’s decisions in significant and controversial voting rights cases. "

Complete article

Harrison Ford, 65, still fit for Indiana Jones



HILO, Hawaii (AP) -- He may be 65, but Harrison Ford still fits into Indiana Jones' tight trousers.

Many fans are curious to see if, 18 years after "Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade," Ford can live up to the physical rigors of the globe-trotting archaeologist in the long-awaited fourth installment of the epic series. The actor's 65th birthday was Friday.

Producers of the adventure, currently being filmed on Hawaii's Big Island, say there's no need to worry. Ford is as fit as ever.

"I have to say, he looks amazing," said Kathleen Kennedy, the film's co-executive producer, along with George Lucas. "He looks fantastic in the outfit."

Actually, Ford knew the hat would still fit but wondered if he could still squeeze into the pants. He did.

Complete article

Man declaring 'I am the emperor' killed at Colorado governor's office

DENVER (AP) -- Gov. Bill Ritter heard the shots echo in the hallway -- pop, pop, pop.

Just outside his Capitol office, a man who declared "I am the emperor" had been shot and killed by a state trooper when he refused to drop his gun, authorities said. Inside, Ritter -- a former Denver district attorney -- immediately tried to draw on lessons from his old job.

"I handled a lot of different investigations as the DA, and I went into the mode I would have as the DA, which is to separate those people who listened or heard something and those who actually witnessed something," Ritter said Monday a few hours after the incident.

Ritter was not injured.

Authorities said the unidentified man -- described as wearing dark pants and a white shirt -- had at least two verbal confrontations with state troopers in Ritter's security. The man had walked into the reception area of Ritter's office and was being escorted out before he produced a gun and refused orders to put it down, police spokesman Sonny Jackson said.

Complete article

Monday, July 16, 2007

Late night: Queen we will rock you/we are the champions

CNN's response to Michael Moore

In response to a letter Michael Moore wrote about CNN's reporting on his documentary "Sicko," a CNN spokesperson released the following statement:

"It's ironic that someone who has made a career out of holding powerful interests accountable is so sensitive to having his own work held up to the light by impartial journalists, as we did in our examination of 'Sicko,' " the spokesperson said.

"In our original report, we made one mistake, which we apologized for and corrected on air and online six days ago, despite Mr. Moore's claim yesterday in his letter to us. Further, the e-mail Mr. Moore released in an effort to cast doubt on our reporting does no such thing.

"We appreciate Mr. Moore's attention to the important subject of health care and have featured him on CNN four times to discuss his movie and our reporting on it. While Mr. Moore may want to continue the discussion in order to drive publicity to his movie, we have presented the facts and are comfortable letting the viewers judge for themselves.

"We have zero vested interest in shading the numbers to tell a certain story. Suggesting otherwise, of Dr. Gupta or of CNN, just doesn't hold water," the spokesperson concluded

Complete response by CNN

Bill Kristol: On the Train to Delusionville

I know it's a pretty high bar, but Bill Kristol, the founder of the Project for a New American Century that spawned the Iraq war, the man whose editorials often seem to be inserted directly into the president's speeches, and who once boasted that "Dick Cheney does send over someone to pick up 30 copies of [The Weekly Standard] every Monday," has now just written the single most deceptive piece of the entire war.

The charitable view is that he's lost his mind. The less charitable view is that he's now officially surpassed Dick Cheney as the most intellectually dishonest member of the neocon establishment (the highest of all high bars). The truth-shattering piece appeared yesterday on the front page of the Washington Post Outlook section. It is entitled "Why Bush Will Be A Winner."

I had a preview of this deluded triumphalist drivel a couple of days earlier -- on Thursday afternoon specifically. Even more specifically, I was on the 4:00 pm Amtrak Acela from New York to Washington.

Complete article by Arianna Huffington

GOP senator to Rove: Bush legacy on the line in Iraq

WASHINGTON (CNN) — A Republican senator says he warned top White House aide Karl Rove that President Bush quickly needs to craft a workable plan to withdraw U.S. troops fom Iraq in order to salvage his legacy.

White House spokesman Tony Snow insisted last week that Bush’s GOP allies in Congress are not breaking with Bush over the war. But Sen. George Voinovich, R-Ohio, told CNN that he warned Rove last week that “The president is a young man and should think about his legacy.”

He should know history will not be kind unless he can come up with a plan that protects the troops and stabilizes the region,” Voinovich said he told Karl Rove, whom Bush dubbed “the architect” of his 2004 re-election.

Voinovich added that other Republicans are close to speaking out against the President’s current strategy.

Complete article

Late Night: Deep Purple Smoke on the Water Live

Saturday, July 14, 2007

Late night: ZZ Top La Grange Live 2005

John Dean On Harriet Miers’s Contempt of Congress



President George Bush has issued an instruction to his former White House counsel Harriet Miers to defy the House Judiciary Committee's subpoena. The Committee had sought to ask her about her role - and that of others in the White House - in firing a covey of United States Attorneys who were apparently not toeing the political line. Bush's instruction sent a very clear signal: As I wrote earlier, and as has been clear from the outset, he is looking for a fight.

By not responding to the subpoena, the President and Ms. Miers all but invited the House Judiciary Committee and, in turn, the House of Representatives to vote to deem her in contempt of Congress. It was a defiant, in-your-face insult to Congress. No president would do this unless he was quite confident of the outcome. Clearly, Bush's White House and Justice Department lawyers believe that the solidly conservative federal judiciary will grant them a favorable ruling, and that, in the process, they will greatly weaken congressional oversight powers, to the advantage of the White House.

Complete article

Newly released bin Laden video calls for martyrdom

Osama bin Laden stresses the importance of martyrdom for Muslim causes in a videotape that purportedly contains a 50-second message from the al Qaeda leader.

The 40-minute videotape, whose audio was being translated from Arabic by CNN, was intercepted before it was to appear on several Islamist Web sites known for carrying statements from al Qaeda and other radical groups.

The videotape was made in the last four weeks, but the clips appear to be old, said Octavia Nasr, CNN's senior editor for Arab affairs. There is no indication of where it was shot, and CNN cannot verify its authenticity.

Bin Laden, with a body guard standing directly behind him, is looking down slightly in the video, appearing to address an audience below, which is unseen.

He says that the Prophet Mohammed wanted to be a martyr, and that is a worthy goal for every Muslim.

Complete article from CNN.com


I don't mean to alarm you, but in the past, many times when he spoke in a similar manner, an attack of some kind followed shortly thereafter.

Bush On Saddam: ‘That Motherf*cker Tried To Take Out My Dad’

Of all the reasons used to justify this awful war, the one that stunned me the most…and will shock you…was the one I heard from a close friend of mine former Senate Majority Leader Tom Daschle. Senator Daschle was Majority Leader at the time.

The Senate and The House Leadership were meeting with President Bush for a weekly breakfast back then, and as our country was leading up to the Iraq war. … Bush got to talking about why we needed this war, and here’s what he said to Senator Daschle “We need to get Saddam Hussein…that Mother _______ tried to take out my Dad.”

Words taken from ThinkProgress.org

So, I always knew the way was about oil and not WMD. Now we know the true reason. They tried to kill has dad.

Troubling to say the least that a president would use the military for his own agenda then lie about how he is protecting the Amercian people in the process.

Iraq PM: Country can manage without U.S.

BAGHDAD - Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki said Saturday that the Iraqi army and police are capable of keeping security in the country when American troops leave "any time they want," though he acknowledged the forces need further weapons and training.

The embattled prime minister sought to show confidence at a time when congressional pressure is growing for a withdrawal and the Bush administration reported little progress had been made on the most vital of a series of political benchmarks it wants al-Maliki to carry out.

Al-Maliki said difficulty in enacting the measures was "natural" given Iraq's turmoil.

But one of his top aides, Hassan al-Suneid, rankled at the assessment, saying the U.S. was treating Iraq like "an experiment in an American laboratory." He sharply criticised the U.S. military, saying it was committing human rights violations, embarassing the Iraqi government with its tactics and cooperating with "gangs of killers" in its campaign against al-Qaida in Iraq.

Complete article from AP


Well Bush said he would leave if they ask him to. Well, here it is.

Nothing will happen. Just another lie.

Bill Moyers’ Roundtable On Impeachment Of Bush & Cheney

Quicktime video

A Huge Amazon Monster Is Only a Myth. Or Is It?



RIO BRANCO, Brazil — Perhaps it is nothing more than a legend, as skeptics say. Or maybe it is real, as those who claim to have seen it avow. But the mere mention of the mapinguary, the giant slothlike monster of the Amazon, is enough to send shivers down the spines of almost all who dwell in the world’s largest rain forest.

The folklore here is full of tales of encounters with the creature, and nearly every Indian tribe in the Amazon, including those that have had no contact with one another, have a word for the mapinguary (pronounced ma-ping-wahr-EE). The name is usually translated as “the roaring animal” or “the fetid beast.”

So widespread and so consistent are such accounts that in recent years a few scientists have organized expeditions to try to find the creature. They have not succeeded, but at least one says he can explain the beast and its origins.

Complete article from the NY Times

Ladybird Johnson remembered



AUSTIN, Texas (AP) -- Family prayer services and a huge public outpouring Friday ushered in three days of memorial ceremonies honoring the late Lady Bird Johnson, an environmentalist first lady who clung to her Texas roots.

Johnson made a final trip to her beloved wildflower center, where friends and family gathered for a private religious service Friday morning accented by some of her favorite flowers.

Afterward, the family greeted her casket once it was moved across town to the LBJ Library and Museum at the University of Texas at Austin.

Surrounded by historical documents and mementos of Lyndon B. Johnson's administration, the former first lady's oak casket, draped in an Episcopalian pall, was placed in the exact spot where her husband's casket rested after his death in 1973.

Lady Bird Johnson died Wednesday of natural causes.

"My mother had 94 delicious years. She lived them to the fullest," daughter Luci Baines Johnson said Friday. She said despite her mother's medical problems, she recently toured a university art museum and delighted over a pasture of wildflowers in the nearby Hill Country.

Complete article from CNN.com

Huge squid washes up on beach



HOBART, Australia (AP) -- A squid as long as a bus and weighing 550 pounds washed up on an Australian beach, officials said Wednesday.

"It is a whopper," said Genefor Walker-Smith, a zoologist who studies invertebrates at the Tasmanian Museum.

Giant squid live in waters off southern Australia and New Zealand -- where a half-ton colossus, believed to be the world's largest, was caught in February. They attract the sperm whales that feed on them.

The dead squid, measuring 3 feet across at its widest point and 26 feet from the tip of its body to the end of its tentacles, was found early Wednesday by a beachcomber at Ocean Beach on the island state of Tasmania's west coast, the museum said.

The squid was expected to be taken to the museum, where DNA and other scientific tests would be carried out before it is preserved and possibly put on public display.

Complete article from CNN.com

Friday, July 13, 2007

Late night: Feel Good




Sad but true. You won't feel good after you see this.

A Picture of the GOP on Civil Rights



The one photo the GOP does not want anyone to see was snapped at yesterday’s NAACP GOP Presidential Candidate Forum. The NAACP invited all 9 Republican candidates to the forum, but only one showed up: Tom Tancredo. All the Democratic Presidential hopefuls showed up for their forum.

US Eyes Iraqi Parliamentary Schedule

WASHINGTON — The White House on Friday appeared resigned to the fact that the Iraqi parliament is going to take August off, even though it has just eight weeks to show progress on military, political and economic benchmarks prescribed by the United States.

"My understanding is at this juncture they're going to take August off, but, you know, they may change their minds," White House press secretary Tony Snow said.

"You know, it's 130 degrees in Baghdad in August," he said, sympathetically.

Snow was reminded that U.S. troops will be continuing to fight throughout August in the heat.

"You know, that's a good point," Snow said. "And it's 130 degrees for the Iraqi military."

Last month, the Iraqi parliament decided to cancel at least the first month of a two-month summer vacation supposed to start on July 1, in order to take up legislation, including a new law governing the oil industry, on which the United States has been pressing for approval.

The White House and other top officials previously had worked to persuade the parliament to remain at work, saying it would send a bad signal if the Iraqi lawmakers went on vacation while U.S. troops were fighting and dying.

Complete article

Chris Vucovich vs Cindy Sheenan and veterans



Who the hell is Chris Vucovich? I found out he is a financial planner.

Watch the video and you tell me who supports the troops.

Joe Lieberman

In an interview with Hugh Hewitt, Joseph Lieberman said two rather remarkable -- though not surprising -- things:

1.

Look, the American military, working together with coalition forces including Iraqis, will never lose the war in Iraq. I just can’t stress that enough. ... If America suffers a defeat in Iraq, it will be because the American people didn’t stick with it, didn’t have the will. And some people here in leadership positions politically were so much against it that they built up that public opposition, that a lot of it is framed by the media. I won’t say a lot of them lie, but the constant focus is on the suicide bombers. And I know that’s news, but you know, the suicide bombers are our enemy. They’re carrying out more dramatic acts because we’re on the move, and we’ve got them on the run. And incidentally, Hugh, they’re not only trying to kill Iraqis and Americans with the suicide bombs over there, they’re trying to kill American support for the war in Iraq.



2.

HH: Right. In a statement earlier this month, Senator Lieberman, you said that, and I’m quoting here, “The fact is that the Iranian government, by its actions, has declared war on us.” Given that, if President Bush announced he felt compelled to take military action against Iran, would you support him?

JL: Yeah, of course I would. My instinct would always be to support the commander-in-chief.



So, Joe let me get this straight. If we lose, it had nothing to do with the way the war has been ran. Had nothing to do with mistakes. Had nothing to do with agenda. Had nothing to do with the fact that Iraq's government is incompetent!

It's going to be the fault of the American people for saying enough is enough after 4 years.

Joe, last time I looked, the American people should be what matters. Not what Joe Lieberman thinks.

House committee hits RNC with e-mail subpoena, threatens Miers with contempt

After former White House Counsel Harriet Miers failed to attend a Thursday hearing of the House Judiciary Committee on the firing of 8 US Attorneys, House Democrats issued a subpoena for e-mail accounts supplied by the Republican National Committee and used by senior White House staff.

The committee's chairman, Rep. John Conyers (D-MI) also explicitly warned Miers that she may face criminal contempt charges for failing to comply with earlier subpoenas

"The White House has been stonewalling this investigation at every turn," said Rep. Conyers in a statement. "[W]e hope that the RNC - unlike Ms. Miers yesterday - will choose to comply with the legal obligation set out in this subpoena, as opposed to the opinion of the White House."

Complete article

Michael Ware in Baghdad

...Here in Baghdad, they're finding less bodies on the streets each morning tortured and executed. But we're still talking about five or six hundred each month. ... It almost dishonors the suffering of the Iraqi people to say that."

Complete article

Raw Story has the CNN video as well.

Hardball: Ed Schultz Talks About The Surge & Impeachment

Crooksandliars video

Ed Schults was right on.

Thursday, July 12, 2007

Late night: Dire Straits

Bush: "We're making progress."

Neocon Bill Kristol expects Bush to attack Pakistan



Fox News on Thursday asked Neoconservative Bill Kristol to comment on the interim progress report on Iraq, which is about to be released and is expected to show an even split between benchmarks which show progress and those which do not.

"They're silly benchmarks, a lot of them," said Kristol. "The military situation is better than anyone expected. ... If Bush can just hang on there and beat back the people in Congress who want to snatch defeat out of the jaws of possible success ... I think we're going to win this war."

A Fox host then cited a new report that "al Qaeda ... is running from Iraq, apparently to Pakistan" and asked "did this report come out on purpose so that we will have the right ... to go after Pakistan now?"

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Why Bush's Balanced Assessment of Iraq is Utterly Unbalanced

So to hear the president and the White House spin it (and the media dutiful report it), the interim progress report on Iraq the administration will submit to Congress today is "a mixed bag."

According to Bush's scorecard, progress on eight of the 18 benchmarks set by Congress in May has been "satisfactory," on another eight it has been "unsatisfactory," and two are too close to call.

And this, according to the president, "is a cause for optimism."

That's like a doctor telling you that while your child has shiny hair he also has a brain tumor -- and you coming away thinking the doctor's report is "a mixed bag." That's insane. Trust me, if your kid has a brain tumor, the fact that he has nice hair or is a good speller or has made progress towards playing well with others is not going to even things out and leave you feeling upbeat and optimistic.

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House OKs Plan to Withdraw US Troops

WASHINGTON — The Iraqi government is achieving only spotty military and political progress, the Bush administration conceded Thursday in an assessment that war critics quickly seized on as confirmation of their dire warnings. Within hours, the House voted to withdraw U.S. troops by spring.

The House measure passed 223-201 in the Democratic-controlled chamber despite a veto threat from President Bush, who has ruled out any change in war policy before September.

"The security situation in Iraq remains complex and extremely challenging," the administration report concluded. The economic picture is uneven, it added, and the government has not yet enacted vital political reconciliation legislation.

As many as 80 suicide bombers per month cross into the country from Syria, said the interim assessment, which is to be followed by a fuller accounting in September from Gen. David Petraeus, the top U.S. military commander in the region.

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Sen. McCain Hits 'NYT' Iraq Withdrawal Editorial

NEW YORK Sen. John McCain, on the floor of the U.S. Senate today, offered a lengthy point-by-point critique of The New York Times' editorial on Sunday that called for the beginning of a U.S. pullout in Iraq.

McCain often took a mocking or exasperated tone, quoting from passages in the editorial.

He said that the soldiers in Iraq he has visited "understand the purpose" of the war. "I wish I could say the same of our journalist friends in New York," he added.

McCain belittled the paper's claims that the U.S. presence was only making matters worse and denounced its call for talking to Iran, which wants to fill any "power vacuum." He said things could get "far, far worse" in Iraq, and pointed to what happened in Cambodia in the 1970s.

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Rudy Giuliani: Urban Legend



"Rudy has used the horrible events of September 11 to create a persona that is an elaborate fabrication," says IAFF General President Harold Schaitberger. "He is nothing more than a shameless self-promoter."

Barbara Boxer: Impeachment "Should Be On The Table. This Is As Close As We've Ever Come To A Dictatorship"

Audio MP3

I agree with her and Ed Shultz. Enough is enough.

Al Qaeda's Strength 'Undiminished' in Iraq



A military intelligence report that concludes al Qaeda has largely restored itself to pre- 9/11 strength will be the focus of a meeting at the White House today. The meeting was called to discuss a pending National Intelligence Estimate.

While the military has maintained that al Qaeda is on the run in Iraq, by any number of measures the terror group and its affiliates are as strong as ever, and June was the most violent month since the start of the war, a senior U.S. military official told ABC News.

Complete article

U.S. Warns Of Stronger Al-Qaeda

Six years after the Bush administration declared war on al-Qaeda, the terrorist network is gaining strength and has established a safe haven in remote tribal areas of western Pakistan for training and planning attacks, according to a new Bush administration intelligence report to be discussed today at a White House meeting.

The report, a five-page threat assessment compiled by the National Counterterrorism Center, is titled "Al-Qaida Better Positioned to Strike the West," intelligence officials said. It concludes that the group has significantly rebuilt itself despite concerted U.S. attempts to smash the network.

Complete article

Way to go George!

I remember in 2004 when they swifboated Kerry and asked the American people, who do you feel safer with?

Do you feel safe now?

Executive privilege battle intensifies over Bush's refusal to let Miers talk

CAPITOL HILL (AP) - A House panel has cleared the way for contempt proceedings against former White House counsel Harriet Miers.

Miers today obeyed an order from President Bush and did not appear at a House Judiciary subcommittee hearing. Miers had been subpoenaed to testify about the firing of 8 federal prosecutors.

Addressing the empty chair, the panel's chair, Congresswoman Linda Sanchez, ruled that White House claims of executive privilege were out of order. Current White House counsel Fred Fielding has asserted that executive privilege gives Miers "absolute" immunity.

Complete article

So, what is the president trying to hide?

The next 9/11 is Bush's fault

Bush officials are now warning that they think we're going to get hit again this summer. In the meantime, all of our intelligence assets - the folks meant to prevent the attack - are focused on Iraq. Most of our National Guard units - the folks meant to help us after an attack - are in Iraq. If we get hit again, it is going to be the fault of George Bush and everyone who continued to support this wasteful war while ignoring the Al Qaeda threat at home and abroad. Al Qaeda had nothing to do with Iraq before we invaded. George Bush chose to ignore Al Qaeda and go after Saddam. If Al Qaeda hits again, it's the fault of our idiot commander in chief and everyone who supported him.

America cannot afford to have a blithering idiot running our country in a time of war.

The words was taken from Americablog's John Aravosis

Christian Right Activists Disrupt Hindu Chaplain In The Senate

Tuesday, July 10, 2007

Late night: Shakira-Hips Don't Lie

Michael Moore Part II

Report: Cheney Exempted His Office From Executive Order Protecting Classified Information



A Senate appropriations panel chaired by Sen. Richard Durbin, D-Ill., refused to fund $4.8 million in the vice president’s budget until Cheney’s office complies with parts of an executive order governing its handling of classified information.

At issue is a requirement that executive branch offices provide data on how much material they classify and declassify. That information is to be provided to the Information Security Oversight Office at The National Archives.

Cheney’s office, with backing from the White House, argues that the offices of the president and vice president are exempt from the order because they are not executive branch ”agencies.”

The funding cut came as the appropriations panel approved 5-4 along party lines a measure funding White House operations, the Treasury Department and many smaller agencies.


Complete article