The Bush Watch - Chapter 2

[Miulang]

What his administration is going to do is cut jobs here in the country, while pouring dollars into the economies of places like Uzbekistan, Saudi Arabia, Pakistan, etc. Despotic "friends" of the US government will be lining their coffers with our money.

First it was the outsourcing of manufacturing jobs, then some service industry jobs (ever tried talking to Dell customer service?) and now some defense jobs as well. :mad:

Miulang
Well, here's further evidence (http://www.tomdispatch.com/index.mhtml?pid=3025) that the speed at which the Bush Administration wants to close bases in this country will be exceeded by the DoD's drive to place more bases in countries around the world which are of strategic interest to us, either for geopolitical reasons or for their natural resources.

Write to your Congressional representatives and let them know that saving money for the DoD does not mean shipping jobs and troops overseas. :mad:

Miulang

[Miulang]

Most of us remember what happened in the 1970s with the Watergate (http://www.truthout.org/docs_2005/060205E.shtml) scandal that led to Richard Nixon resigning the Presidency before he could be impeached. During Nixon's reign, the same forces were in play that exist today: duplicity on the part of the Administration (the latest example being the "smoking gun memo" that was released by the Brits), paranoia (thanks to the neocons who surround Dubya), and a mania for power (manifested by Dubya and every other senior level official in his cabinet).

Will history also repeat itself with the current Administration either being forced to resign in shame or being impeached? Only time will tell.

Miulang

[Miulang]

Neener neener! The International Red Cross (http://www.thehawaiichannel.com/news/4510456/detail.html) complained in 2003 about the abuse of the Koran at Gitmo. Why isn't the White House asking that organization for a retraction? Hmmm? :mad:

Miulang
Well, the DoD has finally come out and admitted that the Koran WAS abused by guards at Gitmo. Maybe the guards didn't flush pages of the Koran down the toilet, but the report (http://www.informationclearinghouse.info/article9046.htm) stated that a prison guard splashed a Koran inadvertently with urine, an interrogator stepped on the holy book, and an obscenity was written on the inside cover of a Koran.

Would Bible thumpers be outraged if Muslims did the same to the Holy Bible? You bet your sweet okole they would.

Miulang

[Miulang]

Thanks to the current administration, those of us at the lower end of the economic food chain continue to see our financial progress eroded, while the very richest of the rich are now making even more money.

According to this story (http://www.truthout.org/docs_2005/060505E.shtml), 53 percent of the President's proposed tax cuts will go to people with incomes in the top 10 percent over the first 15 years of the cuts. And more than 15 percent will go just to the top 0.1 percent, 145,000 taxpayers with at least $1.6 million in income! :eek:

People who earn less than $40,000 annually also benefit, but the taxpayers who will bear most of the brunt of the tax burden are those who earn between $75,000 and $1 million and who pay the alternative minimum tax, which will barely touch those who earn more than that.

As the rest of us struggle to make ends meet, the heads of large corporations are getting richer and richer. Even when they get fired (a la Carly Fiorina) they still make out like bandits with their golden parachutes.

Miulang

[Miulang]

Seems that the Bush PR guys have given up on the war on terror (essentially because evidence has shown that the White House fabricated evidence to justify invading Iraq, and the Prez himself in 2002 said Osama Bin Laden was not important). Now the White House is waving the stars and stripes for the spread of "democracy (http://www.informationclearinghouse.info/article9068.htm)" all over the world.

Hmmm...if I was an Iraqi citizen who had been subjected to more than 2 years of harassment, physical and emotional distress and lies by an invading army who disrespected my religion, would I want to stand up and be counted as someone who was for the American brand of democracy? I don't think so.

We have also tried to foist our brand of democracy on governments and countries who do not see the US brand of democracy is being in their best interest. See, they're plugged in to the Information Age now. They can read and hear the same things that we see and hear (and then some). They see the atrocities being committed at places like Abu Ghraib and Gitmo. They know that when the Bush emissaries come courting, it's not because we're extending our hand in altruistic friendship but because America wants something from them.

Ever since I worked for an NGO in Boston, I decided that every country in the world does not need our kind of "democracy" in the very same way that not every "backward" nation needs our kind of high technology. The regimes that do come over to our side are not doing it for their citizens; they're doing it because they are greedy and want to line their own personal pockets.

Miulang

[Miulang]

Our Department of Homeland Security has been busy...creating scenarios for events that could be staged by "Universal Adversaries". Of course, they claim that their work is succeeding, because, after all, no terrorists have been captured on our soil since 9/11.

Here's a sneak peak (http://globalresearch.ca/articles/CHO506A.html) at their plans to defend against these "universal adversaries". Unfortunately, some people who disagree with the Patriot Act and Homeland Securities acts might be swept into that "universal adversary" heap if we ever had martial law declared. So if you're not lily white and 100% behind the White House, you, too, might get interned (shades of Order 9066! :eek: )

The Homeland Security boys have had problems trapping suspected "terrorists" in this country, "...so in order to justify their existence, the FBI has resorted to creating terrorists by soliciting Muslim-Americans and appealing to them with schemes to aid "jihadists (http://www.informationclearinghouse.info/article9074.htm)." Recently, two American citizens were caught in a FBI sting. One, an Ivy-League educated physician, is charged with agreeing to provide medical care to wounded holy warriors in Saudi Arabia. The other, a famous jazz musician, is charged with agreeing to train jihadists in martial arts..."

The article continues by saying that the doctor was merely following his Hippocratic oath to do no harm, regardless of the person's nationality or oath of allegiance. To call this doctor a "terrorist" for doing his job to do no harm is ludicrous. It means that the US government would not want him to do everything possible to save another life. In the other case, how many people have been killed by a terrorist using karate? :rolleyes:

In the bad old days, allegations like this would be thrown out of court as entrapment. Nowadays, it's enough to get one thrown into jail even if the only people the accused were speaking with were FBI undercover agents. They were never caught in the act of doing anything illegal. In these cases again, they will be declared guilty until found innocent.

Miulang

[Miulang]

One of the main reasons why the US did not sign the Kyoto Protocol (http://www.truthout.org/docs_2005/060805Y.shtml) against global warming is because Exxon-Mobil cozied up to the White House and told them not to agree to it. Mind you, the US and Australia were about the only developed countries who refused to sign the accord. Everywhere else in the world, there is acknowledgement that global warming is one of the most pressing issues facing the planet. Not agreeing to be part of the solution to global warming is not making us any friends abroad.

Would any other President have had an ostrich with its head in the sand stance about endangering his country and all others? I doubt it. It's very obvious where this White House's loyalties lie.

Oh, and that wonderful energy bill (http://www.truthout.org/docs_2005/060705Y.shtml) that the Prez says Congress must pass? Guess who gets to profit from that? Former Enron officials, among others!

Miulang

[Miulang]

Is it just me, or does anyone else think it very suspicious that all of a sudden within the last couple of weeks there are these arrests of "suspected terrorists" in FL, CA and elsewhere, just as the White House is going before Congress to ask to have the Patriot Act broadened? Is Karl Rove staging bogus events to upset the citizenry into believing that they really truly want more of their civil rights taken away so "Big Brother" can intrude even more?

Right now, all the Feds can claim in the Lodi, CA case is the 2 "suspects" lied. They can't prove that they were in the process of actually planning to commit acts of terrorism in the US.

Is this not vaguely reminescent of the McCarthy era when most of Hollywood was labeled "Communist"? Most of us are way too young to remember the witch hunts, blacklisting and the Congressional hearings that surrounded that sad era, but from what I have read, what's happening now to Muslim-Americans really does sound like McCarthy redux. :mad:

Miulang

[Miulang]

With the Army and Reserves failing to meet their recruitment quotas for the fourth month in a row, besides having to resort to unprofessional tactics to get young people to enlist, they are now also lowering their standards (http://www.truthout.org/docs_2005/061405C.shtml) for enlistees.

It appears that the only people they will reject now are the ones who are physically disabled. People with psychiatric histories, etc., who are ranked Class IV, are now being signed up.

On the battlefield, will these people be emotionally able to carry out their duties and protect themselves and their buddies?

If we have to send troops to quell an insurgency in some other country, where will those troops come from? We can probably redeploy some troops from Asia, but that won't be anough to keep our interests safe in that part of the world.

Seems to me that a draft is inevitable now, thanks to the White House. :mad:

Miulang

[Miulang]

Might be on C-SPAN; doubt any of the other stations would have the balls to carry it. Convenient that the Republicans don't want the hearings to be actually held in the halls of Congress; the Dems have to hold it at DNC HQs. And then the Republicans can claim partisanship. Talk about dirty politics!

Miulang
************************************************** ******
HEARINGS ON DOWNING STREET MINUTES SET FOR 1 PM THURSDAY

Hearings to be held at DNC because Republicans Denying Democrats Use of Rooms on Hill

On Thursday June 16, 2005, at 1:00 p.m. in the Wasserman Room at 430 S Capitol St. SE, Washington, D.C., Rep. John Conyers, Jr., Ranking Member of the House Judiciary Committee, and other Congress Members will hold a hearing on the Downing Street Minutes and related evidence of efforts to cook the books on pre-war intelligence.

The hearings are being held at the Democratic National Committee because the Republicans controlling the House Judiciary Committee refused to permit the ranking Democratic Member to use a room on the Hill. http://www.thehill.com/thehill/export/TheHill/News/UndertheDome/index.html Nonetheless, Republicans are welcome to attend.

Later on the same day at 5:00 p.m. ET in Lafayette Square Park, in front of the White House, a large rally will support Congressman Conyers who plans to deliver to the White House a letter addressed to President Bush and signed by over 500,000 Americans and at least 94 Congress Members. The letter asks the President to respond to questions raised by the Downing Street Minutes.

Among those speaking at the hearings will be: Joe Wilson, Former Ambassador and WMD Expert; Ray McGovern, 27-year CIA analyst who prepared regular Presidential briefings during the Reagan administration; Cindy Sheehan, mother of fallen American soldier; John Bonifaz, renowned constitutional lawyer and co-founder of AfterDowningStreet.org.

Among those speaking at the rally will be: Congressman Conyers and various other Congress Members, Cindy Sheehan of Gold Star Families for Peace, John Bonifaz of AfterDowningStreet.org, Ray McGovern former CIA analyst, Medea Benjamin of Global Exchange, Rev. Lennox Yearwood of Progressive Democrats of America, Stephen Cleghorn of Military Families Speak Out, Kevin Zeese, Director of Democracy Rising. More information, and flyers promoting the rally, are available at http://www.afterdowningstreet.org/

Flyers to print, copy, and distribute widely:

http://www.afterdowningstreet.org/downloads/rally.pdf

LOCAL RALLIES PLANNED AROUND COUNTRY

Supporters of this campaign are independently organizing rallies on Thursday at locations around the country.

http://www.afterdowningstreet.org/modules.php?op=modload&name=News&file=article&sid=211

AfterDowningStreet.org is a rapidly growing coalition of veterans' groups, peace groups, and political activist groups, which launched on May 26, 2005, a campaign to urge the U.S. Congress to begin a formal investigation into whether President Bush has committed impeachable offenses in connection with the Iraq war.

David Swanson david@davidswanson.org 202-329-7847

Jonathan Schwarz jonathan_schwarz@sbcglobal.net 773-296-0838

[Miulang]

This article (http://www.commondreams.org/headlines04/1028-01.htm) is kind of interesting, especially since it was written by a former ghost writer for George Bush. Even more pertinent, the story was published last year. Of course, no one read it because it was in the "Progressive" media. Looks like ole blabbermouth George couldn't keep his lip zipped about his empirical aspirations! :p

Miulang

[Miulang]

One more law professor of international law weighing in (http://www.informationclearinghouse.info/article9136.htm) on the possibility of trying the leaders of the White House for lying about the war in Iraq.

Miulang

[Miulang]

The speculation that the World Trade Center and an adjacent building were not brought down by the 2 hijacked planes, but by a series of controlled demolitions, has been around for awhile, but I have never read anything previously to actually document it.

"...Former chief economist for the Department of Labor during President George W. Bush's first term Morgan Reynolds comments that the official story about the collapse of the WTC is "bogus" and that it is more likely that a controlled demolition destroyed the Twin Towers and adjacent Building No. 7. ..."

Bush apologists will be keeling over in apoplectic fits when they read this (http://washingtontimes.com/upi-breaking/20050613-102755-6408r.htm). And coming from the mouths of one of the President's people, too. I hope we find out the truth sooner than we've been able to find out who assassinated John F. Kennedy.

Miulang

[Miulang]

Tsk, tsk. Poor Pres. Bush, with his approval ratings at its abysmal lowest ever, he has decided that attacking his opponents is the way he's going to win back that "political capital" that he was crowing about when he was re-elected.

Unfortunately for him, the political door swings both ways, and either way will get you in the okole. As he is decrying the obstructionist tactics (http://www.reuters.com/newsArticle.jhtml?type=domesticNews&storyID=8791955&src=rss/domesticNews) of the Democrats, what do members of his very own party do? John Stensenbrenner last week walked off with the gavel during a subcommittee hearing, and one of his staffers conveniently killed the microphone into which someone (from the Democratic side) was trying to present testimony. Then the ranking Republicans on the House Judiciary Committee refuse to allow John Conyers to hold his forum on the articles of impeachment of the President (http://www.thehill.com/thehill/export/TheHill/News/UndertheDome/061405.html) on Capitol Hill, claiming that the Democrats aren't following the rules. Nevermind that some moderate Republicans are also on the verge of bailing out on George's excellent adventure already.

I think it's time to send these boys into the corner without their supper.

Miulang

[Miulang]

By remembering this cliche: "Those who don't learn from history are doomed to repeat it." More thoughts on the similarities (http://www.rawstory.com/exclusives/american_empire_060705.htm) between our decline and those of the glorious ancient empires.

Miulang

[Miulang]

Might be on C-SPAN; doubt any of the other stations would have the balls to carry it. Convenient that the Republicans don't want the hearings to be actually held in the halls of Congress; the Dems have to hold it at DNC HQs. And then the Republicans can claim partisanship. Talk about dirty politics!

Miulang

The ever-resourceful John Conyers and fellow Democrats, not to be outwitted by their adversaries, have figured out a way to have their forum on Capitol Hill after all... ;)

HEARINGS ON DOWNING STREET MINUTES MOVED TO U.S. CAPITOL AND MOVED TO 2:30

Important Speakers Added to Line-Up at Rally

Citizens urged to lobby Congress Members and Senators, and to meet at DNC, which is serving as overflow room

On Thursday June 16, 2005, from 2:30 p.m. to 4:30 p.m. in Room HC-9 of the U.S. Capitol, Rep. John Conyers, Jr., Ranking Member of the House Judiciary Committee, and other Congress Members will hold a hearing on the Downing Street Minutes and related evidence of efforts to cook the books on pre-war intelligence.

The hearings had been planned for the Democratic National Committee offices because the Republicans controlling the House Judiciary Committee had refused to permit the ranking Democratic Member to use a large room on the Hill. http://www.thehill.com/thehill/export/TheHill/News/UndertheDome/index.html

However, the Democrats did have access to a small room in the Capitol, and Congressman Conyers has decided to move the hearings there. This does not indicate any change in position from the Republicans.

Members of the media will be welcome (press credentials required), but citizens in town for the 5 p.m. rally at the White House will have difficulty getting into the 2:30 hearings.

The DNC will serve as an overflow room, so people can still go there: the Wasserman Room at 430 S Capitol St. SE.

AfterDowningStreet.org encourages people, instead, to spend the afternoon lobbying their Congress Member and two senators, and paying special visits to the offices of Congressmen John Conyers and Maurice Hinchey, Congresswomen Barbara Lee and Lynn Woolsey, and Senators John Kerry and Ted Kennedy to thank them for their leadership. Recommended talking points can be found in a one-page document at the top of www.afterdowningstreet.org.

Later on the same day at 5:00 p.m. ET in Lafayette Square Park, in front of the White House, a large rally will support Congressman Conyers who plans to deliver to the White House a letter addressed to President Bush and signed by over 500,000 Americans and at least 94 Congress Members. The letter asks the President to respond to questions raised by the Downing Street Minutes.

Among those speaking at the hearings will be:
Joe Wilson, Former Ambassador and WMD Expert; Ray McGovern, 27-year CIA analyst who prepared regular Presidential briefings during the Reagan administration; Cindy Sheehan, mother of fallen American soldier; John Bonifaz, renowned constitutional lawyer and co-founder of AfterDowningStreet.org.

Among those speaking at the rally will be:
Congressman John Conyers (schedule permitting); Congresswoman Barbara Lee (schedule permitting); Congresswoman Lynn Woolsey (schedule permitting); Congressman Maurice Hinchey (schedule permitting); Cindy Sheehan, Co-Founder of Gold Star Families for Peace; John Bonifaz, Co-Founder of AfterDowningStreet.org; Medea Benjamin, Co-Founder Code Pink/Global Exchange; Stephen Cleghorn, Member of Military Families Speak Out; Rev. Lennox Yearwood, Board Member of Progressive Democrats of America; Ray McGovern, former CIA analyst; Reg Keys, Member of Military Families Against the War, challenger to Tony Blair in last election (flying in from UK); William Rivers Pitt, Reporter for Progressive Democrats of America; Leslie Cagan, National Coordinator of United for Peace and Justice; Kevin Zeese, Director of Democracy Rising

[Miulang]

Here's an interesting little thoughtpiece (http://www.informationclearinghouse.info/article9147.htm) on similarities between the citizenry of Nazi Germany and Americans today:

"...The situation in America today is quite different from wartime Germany. There is still a free press even though it is a toady corporate press without heart or courage. There is an opposition party even though it is a toady opposition. Bush is not a dictator even though a toady Congress has permitted Bush to accumulate power in the executive branch at the expense of both civil liberties and the separation of powers established by the Constitution. Americans have an abundance of hard facts available to them from a world press via the Internet. Americans have the weapons inspectors' reports, expert testimony, and now top secret British government documents leaked to the Sunday Times (London). The documents reveal that the British government regarded Bush's premeditated invasion of Iraq as illegal and had concerns that Prime Minister Blair and cabinet ministers could be brought up on war crime charges for participating in naked aggression. The documents reveal that Bush's decision to invade Iraq had nothing whatsoever to do with the reasons he gave the US Congress and the American people and that the "intelligence" he cited to justify his invasion was concocted and fabricated...."

The implication is that if we do not ask questions of our government (i.e., become the "loyal opposition") then maybe we deserve what we have.

Miulang

[Miulang]

The author of this article believes that under the current political conditions that exist in this country, impeachment (http://www.informationclearinghouse.info/article9152.htm) of the President is virtually impossible. But she does pose a few suggestions on how un-brainwashed patriotic Americans can take back their country. How about a "state murder" on the grounds of protecting yourself?

Miulang

[Miulang]

Here are the latest results of an ongoing AOL poll on the President's popularity and effectiveness. I doubt anyone would say that the AOL audience is all blue-staters, either, so I think this doesn't bode well for the GOP in 2006. I bet there are going to be a lot of defections in the coming months (as in Republicans not always voting the party line...for instance, we have Freshman Congressman from WA, Dave Reichert, who's in deep caca with the Republicans now because he wants the police to continue to have the funding they need...he's the police capt. who helped capture the Green River Killer):

How do you rate Bush on the economy?
Poor 76%
Fair 12%
Good 7%
Excellent 5%
Total Votes: 22,582

How do you rate Bush on overall foreign policy?
Poor 81%
Fair 8%
Good 6%
Excellent 5%
Total Votes: 22,582

How do you rate Bush on the Iraq war?
Poor 85%
Good 5%
Excellent 5%
Fair 5%
Total Votes: 22,634

[Miulang]

To anyone who thinks little or nothing of the recent revelations about the White House's fabrication of the truth, consider the interesting parallels to the Presidencies of Richard Nixon, Bill Clinton and then George W. Bush.

Miulang

"...As President Clinton said "It all depends on what the definition new is." Well he didn't really say that, but in teen age speak "you know what I mean." To see the details look at URL http://www.downingstreetmemo.com/.

Consider that in the run up to President Nixon's resignation: (1) there was nothing new that President Nixon played dirty tricks that is why his nickname was tricky Dicky; (2) there was nothing new that former federal black bag men were hired by CREEP (the committee to reelect the president) to burglarize the democratic offices of the Watergate that came out during the McGovern campaign for president; and (3) there was nothing new that President Nixon wanted Watergate to go away. What was new was the details of the story.

Consider that in the run up to President Clinton's impeachment: (1) there was nothing new that Clinton chased skirts; (2) there was also nothing new that Clinton asked Paul Jones for oral sex (sounds so sterile); and (3) there was also nothing new that Clinton defined sexual relations as coitus (oh so polite). So what was new was the pornographic details of his relationship with Monica. I could have done just as well without them.

Consider that up until now (1) there is nothing new that President Bush was out to remove Hussein independent of rationale; (2) there is nothing new that Bush fabricated (exagerated lied) about evidence; and (3) there is nothing new that Bush is lying now about Iraq and its rationale. What is new is that Bush conspired with Great Britain in a cover up. The minutes are direct evidence of a conspiracy from a coconspirator.

Practice tolerance, kindness and charity.
by lwelsch (PolitcalThoughts@comcast.net) on Wed Jun 15th, 2005 at 01:17:21 PM EST "

[Miulang]

Karen Kwiatkowski, a former USAF Lt. Col., learned in 2002 of the White House's intentions to orchestrate a regime change in Iraq. For several months, she went "under cover" and wrote some pieces under an assumed name in order, she said, to preserve her sanity. When she finally retired in 2003, she stepped from the shadows and is now writing publicly (http://www.afterdowningstreet.org/modules.php?op=modload&name=News&file=article&sid=265&mode=thread&order=0&thold=0) about what she learned during her time in the Pentagon under the command of the current Administration.

"...The neoconservatives pride themselves on having a global vision, a
long-term strategic perspective. And there were three reasons why they felt
the U.S. needed to topple Saddam, put in a friendly government and occupy
Iraq.

One of those reasons is that sanctions and containment were working and
everybody pretty much knew it. Many companies around the world were
preparing to do business with Iraq in anticipation of a lifting of
sanctions. But the U.S. and the U.K. had been bombing northern and southern
Iraq since 1991. So it was very unlikely that we would be in any kind of
position to gain significant contracts in any post-sanctions Iraq. And those
sanctions were going to be lifted soon, Saddam would still be in place, and
we would get no financial benefit.

The second reason has to do with our military-basing posture in the
region. We had been very dissatisfied with our relations with Saudi Arabia,
particularly the restrictions on our basing. And also there was
dissatisfaction from the people of Saudi Arabia. So we were looking for
alternate strategic locations beyond Kuwait, beyond Qatar, to secure
something we had been searching for since the days of Carter - to secure the
energy lines of communication in the region. Bases in Iraq, then, were very
important - that is, if you hold that is America's role in the world. Saddam
Hussein was not about to invite us in.

The last reason is the conversion, the switch Saddam Hussein made in the
Food for Oil program, from the dollar to the euro. He did this, by the way,
long before 9/11, in November 2000 - selling his oil for euros. The oil
sales permitted in that program aren't very much. But when the sanctions
would be lifted, the sales from the country with the second largest oil
reserves on the planet would have been moving to the euro.

The U.S. dollar is in a sensitive period because we are a debtor nation
now. Our currency is still popular, but it's not backed up like it used to
be. If oil, a very solid commodity, is traded on the euro, that could cause
massive, almost glacial, shifts in confidence in trading on the dollar. So
one of the first executive orders that Bush signed in May [2003] switched
trading on Iraq's oil back to the dollar...."

Miulang

[Miulang]

William Rivers Pitt, an internationally known author and contributor to Truthout.com, shares his thoughts (http://www.afterdowningstreet.org/modules.php?op=modload&name=News&file=article&sid=264&mode=thread&order=0&thold=0) on what might be an historical event tomorrow in Washington, DC, the hearings into the articles of impeachment and the public demonstration to be staged afterward in front of the White House.

More than 100 Congresspeople (both Democrat and Republican) and close to 1 million citizens have signed the petitions that will be delivered to the White House tomorrow.

Miulang

[Miulang]

Depending on how cynical you want to be about the whole thing, the House today approved, by a margin of 238-187, to limit the powers (http://news.yahoo.com/s/nm/20050615/pl_nm/usa_security_congress_dc;_ylt=Ap10LTZTlUq2F8nK9xh0 zHms0NUE;_ylu=X3oDMTA2MTQ3MTFjBHNlYwN0cw--) of the FBI and other government agencies to secretly gather lists of library books or book purchases of citizens without probable cause.

The concession by 38 Republicans who voted for the measure to restrict illegal obtaining of the lists by the government either is a slap in the face of George Bush, who is threatening to veto $57.5 billion bill to fund activities next year for the Justice Department and other federal agencies (of which this measure now becomes part of) if any portion of the soon-to-be sunsetted Patriot Act was diluted, or is a last minute attempt to save their own political asses in 2006.

"...Assistant Attorney General William Moschella, in a letter to Congress dated on Tuesday, said the law has been used to obtain records of driver's licenses, apartment leases and credit cards, and that the administration has used it "judiciously and responsibly."

Bookstores and libraries, Moschella wrote, "should not be carved out as safe havens for terrorists and spies, who have, in fact, used public libraries to do research and communicate with their co-conspirators."

Last year the House defeated a similar proposal offered by Sanders. This year's version deleted references to material read on the Internet and would also maintain federal agents' ability to more easily scrutinize business records that could point to suspicious activities..."


Either way, this vote was highly symbolic anyway, because this particular provision that was debated has never been used on a library or bookstore since it was originally instituted.

Miulang

[pzarquon]

The Downing Street Memo is significant, but overall, I really don't think it's enough to get into a froth about (at the time of its release, even the supposedly complicit mainstream media was predicting military action was a given). I was beginning to think that harping on it was going to backfire, given that folks were all up in arms over just two lines or so.

But, fortunately, its release has more importantly prompted the discovery other British documents (http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/8234762/site/newsweek/) which contain considerably more meat that the single "Downing Street Memo," and that altogether make a stronger case that a plot was afoot much earlier than previously known. (Actually, folks suspected plans were in place the day Bush II was sworn into office... but these documents show that they were so eager, they held official meetings about it.)

For those who think that all of this is no big deal, let's just remember exactly what offense eventually led to Bill Clinton's impeachment.

[Miulang]

If you really want to hear about how those other documents fit into the ugly picture that is emerging, check your C-SPAN 2 programming notes for tonight. They will be rerunning the hearing that was held by the Democrats yesterday. Some of what came out the majority of Americans have not heard yet, but has been poohpoohed by both the White House and the media as "trivial" and "stuff that's already been discounted."

Verrrrrry interesting. This is more like the Nixon days than the Clinton days. But I guess that kind of dates me, huh. :eek: ;) And remember that Nixon resigned from office because he KNEW he would be impeached over Watergate if he didn't. Maybe W will do the same and save the country from the embarassment of dragging him and his administration through impeachment hearings.

Miulang

[Miulang]

"...Inuit hunters threatened by a melting of the Arctic ice plan to file a petition accusing Washington of violating their human rights by fuelling global warming, an Inuit leader said on Wednesday. ..."

I mean, for chrissakes! The ESKIMOS (http://www.truthout.org/issues_05/061705EA.shtml), who are stuck waaaaay up north, away from the choking fumes from cars and other pollutants, claim that the US is polluting their hunting grounds because of greenhouse gases...
Thank you, George Bush, for not caring about the environment and for refusing to be one of the signatories of the Kyoto Protocol.

Miulang

[Miulang]

Just when you thought you had heard enough about Terri Schiavo, Mungo's brother Jebbie has to go stir the pot up again after the coroner's inquest reported that the pathologist couldn't give a definitive reason why she collapsed in the first place (even though she suffered irreparable brain damage and could never recover) by asking a prosecutor to investigate the "suspicious" gap (http://www.cbsnews.com/stories/2005/06/17/national/main702814.shtml) in time between when she allegedly collapsed and when her husband placed the 911 call.

What the hecuba is he trying to prove, anyway? And why is he even bothering to interfere in this case? Isn't it bad enough that he stood by and told the Schiavo family that his hands were tied by the laws of Florida so he couldn't have the feeding tube reinserted? Is this how he intends to make amends to the family for his inability to do anything while she was alive?

Seems to me Jebbie has the same singleminded thinking that his older brother has, to pursue something beyond when everyone else says, "enough already." Either that, or he's been watching too many CSI or Cold Case episodes and wants to be one of those forensic pathologists... :rolleyes:

Miulang

[Miulang]

Here is another indication why the government bureaucracy is messed up. In business, very often top leaders (All the "C" positions) are chosen not because they happen to be content matter experts, but because of what they call in the career development industry, "transferrable skills".

That's fine in most industries. But not in the case of a government entity like the FBI (http://hosted.ap.org/dynamic/stories/F/FBI_TERROR_JOBS?SITE=HIHAD&SECTION=HOME&TEMPLATE=DEFAULT), which is supposed to be providing intelligence to help us combat terrorists in this country. The FBI, in sworn testimony, says that having key positions filled by people with anti-terrorism experience "is not necessary and not a priority".

If the leadership of the FBI doesn't know anything about terrorism, the Middle East or how to work with foreign governments, how can they expect to know if what their underlings are doing is correct? The FBI is only supposed to be dealing with domestic investigations (the CIA is supposed to be our tool on the international front) but if the FBI isn't talking to the CIA, how are the domestic anti-terrorist investigations being conducted now? Small wonder that the number of Muslim in this country who have been detained (somewhere around 400) has only resulted in a handful of cases where a direct link to terrorist cells has been documented. Most of the other people were rounded up for things like immigration violations and "lying to the government".

Miulang

[Miulang]

Heh heh. "Memogate" (the British leak of the Downing St. memo and other incendiary evidence that the White House was planning to attack Iraq and fixed the facts to support the decision) is now becoming "Floodgate". The Brits have released another set of papers that purports to show evidence that the Bush Administration has, for the past 2 months, been trying to undermine Tony Blair's attempts to get agreement among the members of the G8 to tackle the issue of global warming (http://www.hawaiithreads.com/editpost.php?do=editpost&p=28766):

"...The documents show that Washington officials:

Removed all reference to the fact that climate change is a 'serious threat to human health and to ecosystems';
Deleted any suggestion that global warming has already started;
Expunged any suggestion that human activity was to blame for climate change.
Among the sentences removed was the following: 'Unless urgent action is taken, there will be a growing risk of adverse effects on economic development, human health and the natural environment, and of irreversible long-term changes to our climate and oceans.'

Another section erased by the White House adds: 'Our world is warming. Climate change is a serious threat that has the potential to affect every part of the globe. And we know that ... mankind's activities are contributing to this warming. This is an issue we must address urgently.' The government's chief scientific adviser, Sir David King, has dismissed the leaking of draft communiques on the grounds that 'there is everything to play for at Gleneagles.' However, there is no doubt that many UK officials have become exasperated by the Bush administration's refusal to accept the basic principle that climate change is happening now and is due to man's activities...."

So now the Pres is pissing off his closest ally: Tony Blair. Just what America needs: to be regarded as the renegade country that helped hasten the end of the world.

My question is this: even if we wouldn't be threatened immediately by catastrophic changes in climate (even though almost every other country in the world--even the Eskimos!--believe greenhouse gases produced by burning fossil fuel is what's creating the climate change), what harm would it be for the US to agree to play nicey nicey with everybody on this one??? Again, this is just a rhetorical question. The answer is it's because the government is in bed with big oil. Did you happen to notice that one of the Bush Administration's lead experts on the environment is jumping ship to go work for Exxon-Mobil?

Miulang

[Miulang]

Congress is finally waking up to the documented atrocities that have been committed at Gitmo and the need to close that facility down.

Call me paranoid, but as the hew and cry begins to shut the place down, why in the news last week was there a story that a subsidiary of Halliburton won a $30 million contract to build a NEW 220-bed prison (http://seattletimes.nwsource.com/html/nationworld/2002340120_halliburton18.html) at Gitmo?

"...The job is part of a larger contract that could be worth up to $500 million through 2010, the Pentagon said. The Naval Facilities Engineering Command, Atlantic, in Norfolk, Va., is the contracting agency.

Sen. Frank Lautenberg, D-N.J., issued a statement criticizing the deal, calling Halliburton the "scandal-plagued former employer of Vice President Cheney." Lautenberg has sought hearings into the contracts awarded to Halliburton for work in Iraq...."

Even though the funding allocations were made prior to the torture allegations, wouldn't it be more fiscally responsible to delay building that new prison until the Congress concludes its investigation? And since there are now about 520 detainees in the "old" Gitmo but the new prison would only hold 220, what happens with the other 300 "terrorist" suspects? Are we going to turn them over to the CIA to have them "extraordinarily renditioned" to our friends in Europe and Asia who would love more money from us to torture those people?

I think the whole thing's a shell game. If the heat gets to be too much for the White House, and Congress does force the Navy to shut down Gitmo, it will be a hollow victory because there, waiting in the wings is a NEW torture chamber next door. The White House would like for us to believe that by changing the shell, the lobster will taste better. :mad: Will the illegal detentions and torture stop just because there's a new facility? I doubt it.

Miulang

[Miulang]

If this story is corroborated by the reporter's notes that Time Magazine turned over to investigators, Karl Rove (http://www.mediainfo.com/eandp/news/article_display.jsp?vnu_content_id=1000972839), the evil puppeteer who controls George Bush, may be getting his just reward.

According to Lawrence O'Donnell, senior MSNBC political analyst, the person who provided the name of CIA operative Valerie Plame to reporter Matt Cooper was Karl Rove.

"...According to published reports, Patrick Fitzgerald, the special prosecutor in the case, has interviewed President Bush and Vice President Cheney and called Karl Rove, among others, to testify before the grand jury.

"The breadth of Fitzgerald's inquiry has led to speculation that it has evolved into an investigation of a conspiracy to leak Plame's identity," the Chicago Tribune observed on Friday, "or of an attempt to cover up White House involvement in the leak."

Cooper and New York Times reporter Judith Miller, held in contempt for refusing to name sources, tried Friday to stay out of jail by arguing for home detention instead after Time Inc. surrendered its reporter's notes to a prosecutor...."

And since Karl Rove already appeared before Patrick Fitzgerald and denied that he or anyone in the White House had knowledge of who the mole was, if the story is true, then Karl Rove would be guilty of perjury and could be thrown in the slammer. Ah, poetic justice! And if Karl Rove is found to be the mole who outted Ms. Plame, what would his motive be? To set Time Magazine up? To get back at the President?

Although it is alarming that Time Magazine tiptoed around the First Amendment by turning the documents over to the special prosecutor, maybe in this case, it was a good thing they did...or maybe they were pissed off at the Republicans for hogtying the media and this is their way of getting back at them.

Miulang

[waioli kai]

re: Karl Rove, Creep Throat D'evil

Who runs the United States? Meet the architects of Bushism :
Neocons dance a Strauss waltz (http://www.atimes.com/atimes/Middle_East/EE09Ak01.html)
By Jim Lobe, Asia Times

WASHINGTON - Is United States foreign policy being run by followers of an obscure German Jewish political philosopher whose views were elitist, amoral and hostile to democratic government? Suddenly, political Washington is abuzz about Leo Strauss, who arrived in the US in 1938 and taught at several major universities before his death in 1973.

Following recent articles in the US press, and as reported in Asia Times Online This war is brought to you by (http://www.atimes.com/atimes/Middle_East/EC20Ak07.html) ... in March, the cognoscenti are becoming aware that key neoconservative strategists behind the Bush administration's aggressive foreign and military policy consider themselves to be followers of Strauss, although the philosopher - an expert on Plato and Aristotle - rarely addressed current events in his writings.

The most prominent is Deputy Defense Secretary Paul Wolfowitz, now widely known as "Wolfowitz of Arabia" for his obsession with ousting Iraq's Saddam Hussein as the first step in transforming the entire Arab Middle East. Wolfowitz is also seen as the chief architect of Washington's post-September 11 global strategy, including its controversial preemption policy.

[Miulang]

In case you had doubts that the current White House Administration is the most secretive in the history of this country, doubt no more. The White House minions are classifying documents (http://www.truthout.org/docs_2005/070305B.shtml) at the rate of 125 a minute, and the total number of classified pages in 2004 was more than double that of 2001, while the number of declassified pages has gone down from 204 million pages in 1997 to just 28 million in 2004.

It cost taxpayers $7.2 billion last year to store the classified documents, which range from the top secret to the trivial (some of the trivial pieces of information protected now are the 1950s and '60s budgets of the CIA, and the fact that Chilean ex-dictator Augosto Pinochet enjoyed horseback riding, fencing and boxing).

This paranoiac Administration believes classifying all documents will ensure that some of their "mistakes" will remain hidden for generations to come. :mad: The White House is slowly but surely dismantling the Freedom of Information Act and the right of Americans to know what's going on. When a citizen or entity requests documents under the FOIA, more often than not, the request gets delayed somewhere; if a document actually is presented, most of it is redacted, so it's hard to really know what the true content was.

Miulang

[Miulang]

Larry O'Donnell of MSNBC--bless his little pointed head--made Karl Rove's attorney work overtime this weekend, according to this update (http://www.huffingtonpost.com/theblog/archive/lawrence-odonnell/update-on-rove_3584.html) from O'Donnell.

Robert Luskin, Rove's attorney, admits now that Rove DID talk to Time Mag reporter Matt Cooper, but he won't divulge whether or not the conversation included the outing (whether unintentional or not) of CIA undercover agent Valerie Plame. Identifying our spooks is a big no-no and against our national security policies, and even though Rove might still be able to get away with admitting that he "unknowingly" outted Plame, he and his lawyers are stonewalling and don't want to talk about that conversation. If he has nothing to hide, why are he and his attorney not speaking the truth? And he's way more smart than Dubya (after all, Rove and Cheney are controlling Dubya's strings) so the stupidity defense isn't going to cut it, I'm afraid, not like it would with the Prez. Liar, liar, pants on fire!

Miulang

[Miulang]

Since the 229th birthday of this country was just yesterday, here's another thinkpiece (http://www.informationclearinghouse.info/article9374.htm) to consider. Would you be willing to die for America like the Founding Fathers were? Or are you just mouthing the word "patriotic"? Some people would argue that it's not practical to be willing to die for your ideals. If it's not practical, why isn't it practical to stand up and put your life on the line to defend the Constitution? Why isn't it possible to be like Patrick Henry who said, "Give me liberty or give me death"? As makule as I may be ;) , if an enemy ever directly invaded this country, you bet I would fight that enemy to the death because I still believe in the Constitution as it was drafted and the freedoms that were outlined in that document. But I don't count myself as one of the people who thinks that by engaging an enemy on their "home turf" that that's going to prevent an attack on this country. We would do ourselves and the rest of the world a big favor by bringing our guys back to the US and letting them defend THIS country, not some other place in the world. :mad:

Miulang

[Miulang]

It's not bad enough that the White House has every single national media outlet eating out of its hands, but now comes another attempt to stifle those reporters who are bold enough to report the truth.

Today, the American free press and the First Amendment suffered a major blow when a US District judge ordered New York Times reporter Judith Miller (http://www.truthout.org/docs_2005/070605W.shtml) to jail for refusing to disclose her source in the investigation of the leak of an undercover CIA officer's name.

Ms. Miller is upholding a ethical standard that has been practiced by all journalists in this country since its inception: the right not to disclose their sources without retribution. When I was in journalism school, this is one of the first things I learned: confirm your facts, but never disclose your sources.

And until this White House, which has its own skeletons in its closet, forced the issue when the Chief Prosecutor earlier this week stated that no one was immune from disclosing the sources of information, the Courts pretty much left the media alone.

Time Magazine released documents to the special prosecutor last week only because the publisher believed that by presenting the documents to the investigators, that would preclude the need for Matt Cooper, its reporter, from actually testifying. But that wasn't good enough for the prosecutor, and now Matt Cooper will also have to go to jail for refusing to divulge his sources of information.

What I don't get is how Robert Novak, the guy who outed Valerie Plame in the first place, is immune from prosecution? Is it because he's looked upon more favorably by the White House than reporters from Time Magazine and the NYT? Novak says he'll come clean once the investigation is over...um, that will be a little too late.

I have a feeling that the opening salvo on a war between the press and the White House has just been fired. One thing the media will not tolerate is to be stifled by threats of incarceration. Maybe now, after snoozing for 5 years, the media will wake up and start reporting the truth. Because truthfully, how many special prosecutors can put how many reporters in jail for withholding sources because there is an outright rebellion?

Miulang

[Miulang]

Too bad this letter to the White House (http://www.truthout.org/docs_2005/070605A.shtml) that will be sent tomorrow will be misconstrued by the Republicans and conservatives as the Democrats whining again.

There is a fundamental truth that needs to be established that has nothing to do with partisanship. And that is, should high officials of the government be granted immunity from repercussions if they knowingly or unknowingly jeopardize national security?

Miulang

[Miulang]

If this story is corroborated by the reporter's notes that Time Magazine turned over to investigators, Karl Rove (http://www.mediainfo.com/eandp/news/article_display.jsp?vnu_content_id=1000972839), the evil puppeteer who controls George Bush, may be getting his just reward.
Miulang
If the unfolding Rove brouhaha wasn't so pathetic, it might be funny. Two years ago, when Valerie Plame was first outed as a covert CIA operative, the White House said that anyone in the White House who could be tracked as the source of the leak would be fired.

Skip forward now to July, 2005. Now that the cat is out of the bag and Karl Rove and Scooter Libby (one of Cheney's boys) both admit to being "official sources" of information, what does Dubya do? Today he issues a statement saying anyone in his Administration who committed a crime (http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/news/archive/2005/07/18/national/w085029D38.DTL) in leaking the CIA operative's name would be fired, instead of his original statement that he would fire anyone who leaked information. The definition of "leaking" apparently now means that confirming a fact (without actually offering a name) is not "leaking".

I don 't like the Democrats (Kerry, Clinton et al) muddying the waters with their stupid calls for firing Rove because all of that will be discounted anyway as a partisan act. But has anyone noticed a pattern in this White House of stating something and then down the road when the opinion appears to be going against them, that they recraft their original statement to soften the blow?

So now, even if Libby and Rove can be proven to be the leaks, so long as it can be proven that they didn't actually utter the name of the operative to Matthew Cooper it means they can't be indicted or fired? Hmm...

And as for Rove's contention that the operative's name came from "someone in the media", maybe that's why the special prosecutor is taking his sweet time in adjudicating the case. I think Fitzgerald really is trying to get to the bottom of things.

Today's word for the White House is obfuscate: obfuscate
verb obfuscated, obfuscating

1. To darken or obscure something.
2. To obscure something or make it difficult to understand.

Thesaurus: muddle, confuse, obscure, camouflage, whitewash.
3. To bewilder or confuse someone.



Miulang

[Miulang]

Smoke and mirrors (http://www.truthout.org/docs_2005/071905Q.shtml). Yup, that's what it's all about.

Miulang

[Miulang]

Somebody leaked the name of the person the Prez wants to nominate to succeed Sandra Day O'Connor on the Supreme Court. Judge John G. Roberts, Jr. (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/John_G._Roberts_Jr.), now serving on US Court of Appeals for the DC circuit. He also was a member of both George HW's and Ronald Reagan's administrations. He also clerked for Supreme Court Justice Rehnquist.

A quick scanning of his CV indicates that he's against Roe v. Wade and he's against governmental regulation of the environment.

Of course, the Democrats will have lots to say about this nominee and this will probably require envoking the nuclear option which will bring the government to a screeching halt.

My own hypothesis is the Prez picked him in order to distract Congress' attention from the Rove debacle. The Dems will now have to decide which is more important: nailing Rove or protecting moderate interests on the Supreme Court.

I think the media is finally getting back at the White House: AP reported the name of the nominee a full 73 minutes before the Prez was supposed to address the press with the name. (heh heh)

Miulang

P.S. Turns out Judge Roberts has a Hawaii (http://the.honoluluadvertiser.com/article/2005/Jul/19/br/br08p.html) connection. He represented the State in the Rice v. Cayetano case a few years ago.

[Miulang]

If the unfolding Rove brouhaha wasn't so pathetic, it might be funny. Two years ago, when Valerie Plame was first outed as a covert CIA operative, the White House said that anyone in the White House who could be tracked as the source of the leak would be fired.

Skip forward now to July, 2005. Now that the cat is out of the bag and Karl Rove and Scooter Libby (one of Cheney's boys) both admit to being "official sources" of information, what does Dubya do? Today he issues a statement saying anyone in his Administration who committed a crime (http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/news/archive/2005/07/18/national/w085029D38.DTL) in leaking the CIA operative's name would be fired, instead of his original statement that he would fire anyone who leaked information. The definition of "leaking" apparently now means that confirming a fact (without actually offering a name) is not "leaking".

I don 't like the Democrats (Kerry, Clinton et al) muddying the waters with their stupid calls for firing Rove because all of that will be discounted anyway as a partisan act. But has anyone noticed a pattern in this White House of stating something and then down the road when the opinion appears to be going against them, that they recraft their original statement to soften the blow?

So now, even if Libby and Rove can be proven to be the leaks, so long as it can be proven that they didn't actually utter the name of the operative to Matthew Cooper it means they can't be indicted or fired? Hmm...

And as for Rove's contention that the operative's name came from "someone in the media", maybe that's why the special prosecutor is taking his sweet time in adjudicating the case. I think Fitzgerald really is trying to get to the bottom of things.

Today's word for the White House is obfuscate: obfuscate
verb obfuscated, obfuscating

1. To darken or obscure something.
2. To obscure something or make it difficult to understand.

Thesaurus: muddle, confuse, obscure, camouflage, whitewash.
3. To bewilder or confuse someone.



Miulang
I believe the American public now has the "smoking gun (http://www.truthout.org/docs_2005/072105Z.shtml)" that is needed to convict Karl Rove and Scooter Libby of treason. There is a memo that was issued by a State Dept analyst in which Valerie Plame was noted to be working for the CIA and that her status was a secret.

"... A classified State Department memorandum central to a federal leak investigation contained information about CIA officer Valerie Plame in a paragraph marked "(S)" for secret, a clear indication that any Bush administration official who read it should have been aware the information was classified, according to current and former government officials...."

Is Rove's attorney going to try to deflect what is patently obvious (that Rove leaked the information to Matt Cooper) by saying that the name in the document is Valerie Wilson (her married name) and not Valerie Plame? :mad: What kind of idiots do they think we are? If we can track down the owner of a website, what makes them think we can't do a search and figure out what Mrs. Wilson's maiden name was?

Miulang

[Miulang]

My own hypothesis is the Prez picked him in order to distract Congress' attention from the Rove debacle. The Dems will now have to decide which is more important: nailing Rove or protecting moderate interests on the Supreme Court.

Here's another little tidbit, originally reported by the Washington Post and picked up by the Moscow Times (http://www.informationclearinghouse.info/article9527.htm):

"...last Friday, a panel of federal judges -- including John Roberts, nominated for the Supreme Court this week -- upheld Bush's claim to dispose of "enemy combatants" any way he pleases, The Washington Post reports. In a chilling decision, the judges ruled that the Commander's arbitrarily designated "enemies" are nonpersons: Neither the Geneva Conventions nor American military and domestic law apply to such garbage. Bush is now free to subject anyone he likes to his self-concocted "military tribunal" system, a brutal sham that retired top U.S. military officials have denounced as a "kangaroo court" that tyrants around the world will cite in order to hide their oppression under U.S. precedent...."

Can you say, political payback? Of course, that's usually how Ambassadorships are doled out, too. But to have someone who can possibly undermine and obstruct our Constitutional rights for 20 years or more (and screw all of us) is way too obvious. :mad:

Miulang

[Miulang]

and yet the Republican Party is paying for TV commercials, sending out emails and doing other advertising encouraging people to write to their Senators and Congressmen to demand that John Roberts be confirmed as the next U.S. Supreme Court Justice.

I NEVER in my life can remember ever seeing a political party pay for ads to support a person who's not running for public office! My immediate reaction is, "OK, what in his past could come up and bite him in the butt which is why the Republicans are spending all this money?" Why else would the Republicans take so much interest in having him confirmed, when the Democrats haven't officially said they wouldn't confirm him? :confused:

Miulang

[Miulang]

Oops! Spoke too soon. Here comes the dirt (http://www.truthout.org/docs_2005/072105E.shtml) on John Roberts now, and it might be hard for the Republicans to refute most of this because everything is in the public record.

Miulang

[Miulang]

The Guardian UK is a liberal media outlet, no doubt about it. But this story (http://www.guardian.co.uk/usa/story/0,12271,1533772,00.html) about Karl Rove, although slanted, does provide some interesting insights to how this high school graduate managed to control the mind of the most powerful man in the world.

P.S. I think the reason he's so vindictive might be traced back to the fact that he didn't find out until he was 19 that the father he thought was his biological father wasn't.

Miulang

[Miulang]

The following story documents 11 leaks (http://www.truthout.org/docs_2005/072205Q.shtml) of Valerie Plame's identity to the press. I hope the American public keeps remembering this fiasco even though the press and the White House would like for everyone to forget it.

Miulang

[Miulang]

Even though this article (http://www.informationclearinghouse.info/article9553.htm) was written specifically to lament the fact that the nation is demoralized and its own worst enemy in its struggle to be everything to everyone, I find many kernels of truth in it, too, that relate to the struggle of the citizens of Hawai'i.

In the following excerpt, replace "country" with the word "Hawai'i and its people" and "community" with "islands" and I think you'll see what I'm getting at:

"...When a community (the islands of Hawai'i) is attacked (by rampant immigration and high costs of living) it resists ferociously. Human behavior differs little from a colony of insects. The community (the islands of Hawai'i) buzzes with intense activity to defend itself and strike at the enemy (i.e., the tepid reception many "haoles" get upon moving to Hawai'i). It offers the lives of its strongest members (the keiki o ka 'aina) to overcome the aggressors,

When the community is attacked from within however, confusion rather than resistance dominates and the traitors can succeed where no external force could have had a chance. The subtle attacks of the traitors eat away at the fibers of society. Ties break. Confusion, anger, frustration and rage spreads in all directions with no concentrated resistance. The people struggle against each other in order to defend the bits and pieces, the values and privileges, that they have some control over. Traditions tumble under ever greater campaigns of corruption and bombardments of lies. Propaganda covers the devastation with claims of defending the traditions. The country's (Hawai'i's)vital organs, its basic premises and laws, are distorted and destroyed in the name of saving the country. Finally, rulers stand where leaders once stood and the patriots find themselves refugees in their own country (Hawai'i nei).

It's terrifying and very painful for the patriots. Living in a country ruled by people who threaten rather than defend our interests leaves us vulnerable to the slings and arrows of outrageous tyranny. Our strength for survival sickens over and our patriotism pales. Denial infests the communal soul. What's the choice? Appeal for justice to those who have ravaged her?

It's difficult enough accepting the fact that Americans are enemies of America. This difficulty becomes nearly insurmountable when the enemies are the most influential of Americans who control the machinery governing and administrating the country and command the channels of information that shape our perspective and define our values...."

Miulang

[Miulang]

Interesting that the Environmental Protection Agency (http://www.truthout.org/docs_2005/072805Q.shtml) decided at the last minute to delay publicaton of the 2006 fuel efficiency ratings for new cars until after the Energy Bill was passed by Congress.

A copy of the report was leaked to the NYT and described how car manufacturers were more interested in making cars faster and with more powerful engines than they were in making more fuel efficient cars and that some new cars used more gas than those built in the 1980s.

"...a copy of the report, embargoed for publication Wednesday, was sent to The New York Times by a member of the E.P.A. communications staff just minutes before the decision was made to delay it until next week. The contents of the report show that loopholes in American fuel economy regulations have allowed automakers to produce cars and trucks that are significantly less fuel-efficient, on average, than they were in the late 1980's.

Releasing the report this week would have been inopportune for the Bush administration, its critics said, because it would have come on the eve of a final vote in Congress on energy legislation six years in the making. The bill, as it stands, largely ignores auto mileage regulations.

The executive summary of the copy of the report obtained by The Times acknowledges that "fuel economy is directly related to energy security," because consumer cars and trucks account for about 40 percent of the nation's oil consumption. But trends highlighted in the report show that carmakers are not making progress in improving fuel economy, and environmentalists say the energy bill will do little to prod them.

"Something's fishy when the Bush administration delays a report showing no improvement in fuel economy until after passage of their energy bill, which fails to improve fuel economy," said Daniel Becker, the Sierra Club's top global warming strategist. "It's disturbing that despite high gas prices, an oil war and growing concern about global warming pollution, most automakers are failing to improve fuel economy." ..."

A couple of weeks ago, it was also reported that alternative fuels like ethanol cost more to produce (because of the energy required to distill the ethanol from corn (http://www.truthout.org/docs_2005/072005A.shtml)) so that it was almost better to just use the gasoline in cars.

Miulang

[Miulang]

If any of you have friends or ohana in the US Army who are currently stationed in Germany (http://www.military.com/NewsContent/0,13319,FL_germany_073005,00.html) and you were saving up your kala to go visit them so you could have a guided tour of Europe...better hurry...they may be headed home soon (but will probably be redeployed somewhere less safe than Germany).

"...Eleven bases in and around the Bavarian city of Wuerzburg will be handed over to the German government by September 2007, the Army's European headquarters in Heidelberg said. Two more bases near Wuerzburg will close and be handed over in subsequent years.

The Defense Department said the changes will affect about 6,100 soldiers and 11,000 family members as well as about 1,000 Army civilian employees and 1,000 civilians employed locally...."

Next stop...um, Azerbaijian?

Miulang

[Miulang]

The President (http://www.truthout.org/docs_2005/080205A.shtml) has decided that the American public school system isn't messed up enough; now he's advocating that schools teach "intelligent design (http://skepdic.com/intelligentdesign.html)" as well as evolution in their biology classes.

This is going to make for some pretty spirited debating among educators.

Miulang

[Miulang]

OK people, prepare for the drill. No going out of your house after the sun goes down or risk getting jailed or worse. Must carry identity papers on your person at all times. Must be willing to be searched and questioned if caught in places where you shouldn't be. Be prepared to be jailed if you object.

According to this story (http://www.truthout.org/docs_2005/080805S.shtml), the White House and the Pentagon, have created secret plans to mobilize military troops if there are terrorist attacks in this country.

"... The classified plans, developed here at Northern Command headquarters, outline a variety of possible roles for quick-reaction forces estimated at as many as 3,000 ground troops per attack, a number that could easily grow depending on the extent of the damage and the abilities of civilian response teams.

The possible scenarios range from "low end," relatively modest crowd-control missions to "high-end," full-scale disaster management after catastrophic attacks such as the release of a deadly biological agent or the explosion of a radiological device, several officers said.

Some of the worst-case scenarios involve three attacks at the same time, in keeping with a Pentagon directive earlier this year ordering Northcom, as the command is called, to plan for multiple simultaneous attacks.

The war plans represent a historic shift for the Pentagon, which has been reluctant to become involved in domestic operations and is legally constrained from engaging in law enforcement. Indeed, defense officials continue to stress that they intend for the troops to play largely a supporting role in homeland emergencies, bolstering police, firefighters and other civilian response groups.

But the new plans provide for what several senior officers acknowledged is the likelihood that the military will have to take charge in some situations, especially when dealing with mass-casualty attacks that could quickly overwhelm civilian resources.

"In my estimation, [in the event of] a biological, a chemical or nuclear attack in any of the 50 states, the Department of Defense is best positioned - of the various eight federal agencies that would be involved - to take the lead," said Adm. Timothy J. Keating, the head of Northcom, which coordinates military involvement in homeland security operations.

The plans present the Pentagon with a clearer idea of the kinds and numbers of troops and the training that may be required to build a more credible homeland defense force. They come at a time when senior Pentagon officials are engaged in an internal, year-long review of force levels and weapons systems, attempting to balance the heightened requirements of homeland defense against the heavy demands of overseas deployments in Iraq, Afghanistan and elsewhere. ..."

There's just once eeency flaw in this plan: if the first responders are to be the police and the firepeople, where are the troops to back them up supposed to be coming from? Most of the reservists, who really truly should be functioning in that role, are off fighting an illegal war in Iraq. I guess we'll all have to go out and buy guns to protect ourselves from those terrorists.

Miulang

[Fondoo2]

wow I was really hopeing this thread was about something else...since it's about "President" Bush well thinking about him just makes my hippie hair fall out.. :D

[Miulang]

Sounds like the Prez is growing as paranoid (http://www.capitolhillblue.com/artman/publish/article_4636.shtml) as Richard Nixon during his last days of the Presidency:

"...President George W. Bush’s increasingly erratic behavior and wide mood swings has the halls of the West Wing buzzing lately as aides privately express growing concern over their leader’s state of mind.

In meetings with top aides and administration officials, the President goes from quoting the Bible in one breath to obscene tantrums against the media, Democrats and others that he classifies as “enemies of the state.”

Worried White House aides paint a portrait of a man on the edge, increasingly wary of those who disagree with him and paranoid of a public that no longer trusts his policies in Iraq or at home.

“It reminds me of the Nixon days,” says a longtime GOP political consultant with contacts in the White House. “Everybody is an enemy; everybody is out to get him. That’s the mood over there.”

In interviews with a number of White House staffers who were willing to talk off the record, a picture of an administration under siege has emerged, led by a man who declares his decisions to be “God’s will” and then tells aides to “fuck over” anyone they consider to be an opponent of the administration.

"...Aides who raise questions quickly find themselves shut out of access to the President or other top advisors. Among top officials, Bush’s inner circle is shrinking. Secretary of State Colin Powell has fallen out of favor because of his growing doubts about the administration’s war against Iraq.

The President's abrupt dismissal of CIA Directory George Tenet Wednesday night is, aides say, an example of how he works.

"Tenet wanted to quit last year but the President got his back up and wouldn't hear of it," says an aide. "That would have been the opportune time to make a change, not in the middle of an election campaign but when the director challenged the President during the meeting Wednesday, the President cut him off by saying 'that's it George. I cannot abide disloyalty. I want your resignation and I want it now."

Tenet was allowed to resign "voluntarily" and Bush informed his shocked staff of the decision Thursday morning. One aide says the President actually described the decision as "God's will."

"...But the President who says he rules at the behest of God can also tongue-lash those he perceives as disloyal, calling them “fucking assholes” in front of other staff, berating one cabinet official in front of others and labeling anyone who disagrees with him “unpatriotic” or “anti-American.”

“The mood here is that we’re under siege, there’s no doubt about it,” says one troubled aide who admits he is looking for work elsewhere. “In this administration, you don’t have to wear a turban or speak Farsi to be an enemy of the United States. All you have to do is disagree with the President.”

The White House did not respond to requests for comment on the record..."

I think it's time for Laura to slip Dubya some Prozac or Xanax; chill him down a little before he starts hallucinating that everyone in the US of A is out to get him.

Miulang

[Kilinahe]

That would all be side-spittingly hiarious if it weren't so terrifying.

[Glen Miyashiro]

That article's a year old. I wonder what he's like these days.

[Miulang]

That article's a year old. I wonder what he's like these days.
How about one year crazier and more paranoid? When Patrick Fitzgerald finishes his investigation of the Plame leak in a few weeks (unless the Prez and his chronies can figure out a way to silence the guy) and everyone finally figures out that Karl Rove was the leaker and Dubya is obligated to get rid of that scheming, evil SOB, then his moral fortitude (and chief puppeteer) will no longer be at his side to advise him. Watch him fall apart---fast.

Miulang

[Glen Miyashiro]

Sounds about right.

[Miulang]

Could famed journalist H.L. Mencken be turning in his grave today, knowing that his prophecy of a moron inhabiting the White House (http://www.informationclearinghouse.info/article10048.htm) has come true?

"...A reader very recently acquainted me with the above H.L. Mencken quote. And how very prophetic an observation it has proven to be: a reporter predicting a moron in the White House, a moron insinuated therein by the perfect democratic actions of the “plain folks of the land,” and foreseeing it all some eighty odd years before it came to pass.

Mencken wrote the words in 1920 as part of a larger piece. Here’s the passage in context:

The larger the mob, the harder the test. In small areas, before small electorates, a first-rate man occasionally fights his way through, carrying even the mob with him by force of his personality. But when the field is nationwide, and the fight must be waged chiefly at second and third hand, and the force of personality cannot so readily make itself felt, then all the odds are on the man who is, intrinsically, the most devious and mediocre — the man who can most easily adeptly disperse the notion that his mind is a virtual vacuum.

The Presidency tends, year by year, to go to such men. As democracy is perfected, the office represents, more and more closely, the inner soul of the people. We move toward a lofty ideal. On some great and glorious day the plain folks of the land will reach their heart's desire at last, and the White House will be adorned by a downright moron. ..."


Miulang

[Fondoo2]

hey well when your the Prez you can just say "Let them eat Prozac"
http://www.illinoisleader.com/news/newsview.asp?c=21203

[Miulang]

Interesting historical note (http://www.informationclearinghouse.info/article10073.htm) about the Pre-Depression era (The Mississippi River overflowed its banks that year too). Are we in the same boat today?

"In 1927, the Democratic Party had died and was awaiting burial. As depression approached, the coma-Dems, like Franklin Roosevelt, called for balancing the budget.

Then, as the waters rose, one politician finally said, roughly, "Screw this! They're lying! The President's lying! The rich fat cats that are drowning you will do it again and again and again. They lead you into imperialist wars for profit, they take away your schools and your hope and when you complain, they blame Blacks and Jews and immigrants. Then they push your kids under. I say, Kick'm in the ass and take your rightful share!"


Huey Long laid out a plan: a progressive income tax, real money for education, public works to rebuild Louisiana and America, an end to wars for empire, and an end to financial oligarchy. The waters receded, the anger did not, and Huey "Kingfish" Long was elected Governor of Louisiana in 1928.

At the time, Louisiana schools were free, but not the textbooks. Governor Long taxed Big Oil to pay for the books. Rockefeller's oil companies refused pay the textbook tax, so Long ordered the National Guard to seize Standard Oil's fields in the Delta.

Huey Long was called a "demagogue" and a "dictator." Of course. Because it was Huey Long who established the concept that a government of the people must protect the people, school, house, and feed them and give every man or woman a job who needs one.

Government, he said, "We The People," not plutocrats nor Halliburtons, must build bridges and levies to keep the waters from rising over our heads. All we had to do was share the nation's wealth we created as a nation. But that meant facing down what he called the "concentrations of monopoly power" to finance the needs of the public.

In other words, Huey Long founded the modern Democratic Party. Franklin Roosevelt and the party establishment, scared senseless of Long's ineluctable march to the White House, adopted his program, called it the New Deal, and later The New Frontier and the Great Society...."

Miulang

[Miulang]

I'm glad the nation's attention is focused on the disaster in the Gulf States, but we also need to remember that we still have troops in Iraq who are getting killed by IEDs and civilians who are caught in the crossfire between our guys and the freedom fighters.

If you care, here is a lengthy synopsis (http://www.informationclearinghouse.info/article10083.htm) of all the events that led us to invade Iraq. All of it has come out in memoes and speeches, so it all can be confirmed as being factual.

Miulang

[Miulang]

Like Mother, like son. It's no wonder that the Prez turned out the way he did. Check out the comments his sainted Mom, Barbara Bush, uttered as she toured the Astrodome with her husband Bush Sr. and Bill Clinton:

"...Barbara Bush (http://news.yahoo.com/s/thenation/20050906/cm_thenation/120080), who accompanied the former presidents on a tour of the Astrodome complex Monday, said the relocation to Houston is "working very well" for some of the poor people forced out of New Orleans.

"What I'm hearing, which is sort of scary, is they all want to stay in Texas. Everyone is so overwhelmed by the hospitality," she said during a radio interview with the American Public Media program "Marketplace." "And so many of the people in the arena here, you know, were underprivileged anyway, so this is working very well for them."

Her comments came as the two former presidents visited with hundreds of the 23,600 hurricane refugees and announced the creation of the Bush-Clinton Katrina Fund. ..."

The nut certainly didn't fall far from that tree. :eek:

Miulang

[Miulang]

The Baltimore Sun (http://www.truthout.org/docs_2005/090905M.shtml), in an editorial today, calls for the removal of the Bush Administration now because of its handling of the Hurricane Katrina situation. This view runs contrary to the results of popular polls which indicate the majority of people don't believe we should hold the President accountable for the screwups that his underlings caused in the relief efforts.

If George W. Bush was the CEO of a multibillion dollar company, would the shareholders of that company think that he was not ultimately responsible for anything that happened on his watch? And if the people who think that CEO should be removed, why don't they think George Bush is ultimately responsible for the debacle that is the Katrina relief effort?

Miulang

[Miulang]

One down how many to go??? Mike Brown (http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/katrina_brown;_ylt=Ar8WYA0jT5Mug8__RfihS52s0NUE;_y lu=X3oDMTA2Z2szazkxBHNlYwN0bQ--), embattled director of FEMA, has been reassigned back to Washington. Now mind you, he hasn't been fired; he has been reassigned. This is what friends do for friends to get them out of the hot seat.

Miulang

P.S. More info (http://www.cnn.com/2005/POLITICS/09/09/katrina.brown.ap/index.html) on Brown's removal as head of FEMA

[Miulang]

Karen Hughes (http://www.csmonitor.com/2005/0316/p03s01-usfp.html), longtime confidant of the President, was sworn in today as Undersecretary of Public Diplomacy. HUH???? Her primary role will be to project a more positive image to people in Muslim countries.

Does the President think that by sending a woman into the field who is his closest confidante and who is also gregarious and personable that it will negate ill will already created by all the killing of innocent civilians going on because we occupy Iraq?

Miulang

[Miulang]

AP says that Mike Brown (http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20050910/ap_on_go_ca_st_pe/katrina_brown_interview;_ylt=AsPGHVXPZYNrNubBsrMfr sus0NUE;_ylu=X3oDMTA3OXIzMDMzBHNlYwM3MDM-), ex-FEMA chief, has no clue why he was canned. Can you say "DUH???" I wonder what he's been smoking.

"A beleaguered Michael Brown said Friday he doesn't know why he was removed from his onsite command of Hurricane Katrina relief efforts, but he does know the first thing he'll do when he returns to Washington....

""I'm going to go home and walk my dog and hug my wife, and maybe get a good Mexican meal and a stiff margarita and a full night's sleep," Brown told The Associated Press. "And then I'm going to go right back to FEMA and continue to do all I can to help these victims."...

And that debit card program FEMA (http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/katrina_debit_cards;_ylt=ApJ9SPKO7Bh2SKrJIZ_UIyis0 NUE;_ylu=X3oDMTA2Z2szazkxBHNlYwN0bQ--) started to give each evacuated adult in the Astrodome a $2,000 debit card? Well, they've canned that program (too cumbersome and complicated) and are going to be depositing funds into checking accounts...one eency problem...many of the evacuated people, who are poor, don't HAVE checking accounts. What is the federal gubmint smoking?

"...The Federal Emergency Management Agency said it will scrap the program once officials finish distributing cards this weekend at shelters in Dallas, Houston and San Antonio, where many of the evacuees were moved. No cards will be issued to victims in other states.

Hurricane victims at other locations will have to apply for expedited aid through the agency's traditional route — filling out information on FEMA's Web site to receive direct bank deposits, FEMA spokeswoman Natalie Rule said..."


Miulang

[Miulang]

One of the positive outcomes of the tragedy in the Gulf States is it's forcing cities all over the country to re-examine their disaster plans.

The Pacific NW region has its own tempest in a teapot brewing. It appears that the Regional Director, was a 4-term Republican state representative who was nominated to the post by a former Republican congresswoman.

John Pennington (http://seattletimes.nwsource.com/html/localnews/2002484649_pennington10m.html) has a little more "disaster" experience than Michael Brown did:

"...Pennington said he has had an interest in disaster management since the mid-1990s, when floods and landslides wreaked havoc in Cowlitz County, in southwest Washington.

"We had three federally declared disasters in three years," he said — floods in 1995 and '96, and a massive mudslide in Kelso in 1998.

The turning point for Pennington was the Kelso slide, which destroyed 141 structures. Initially, he said, FEMA had declined to designate the slide as a federal disaster. Pennington, then a two-term state representative, said he lobbied then-FEMA Director James Lee Witt and later President Clinton to have that decision overturned.

"I got an in-depth working knowledge of Region 10 in that process," he said..."

The reason for the raised eyebrows over Pennington's tenure in the $138,000/year job is he has a college degree from California Coast University, which for years was a diploma mill. His excuse? His parents were too poor to send him to college in Tennessee. His official bio says he obtained a bachelor's degree, but doesn't specify which institution of higher education awarded that degree. He claims his staff modified his bio without his knowledge. I wonder if he can be nailed for either getting a degree from a diploma mill or for having a somewhat fake public biography?

Miulang

[Miulang]

If the analysts are correct and it costs us the equivalent of 2 Iraq wars (http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20050911/ap_on_go_ca_st_pe/katrina_calculating_costs;_ylt=Akr1ezlC6qUAnT.Rpyn 0zuGs0NUE;_ylu=X3oDMTA3bGI2aDNqBHNlYwM3NDk-) to rebuild the Gulf Coast, where will the money come from? Rather than cut back further on government programs, maybe the Bush Administration and Congress should think about freezing the tax cuts that have been granted to the richest people in our country so that the rest of us don't have to see more taken out of our own paychecks. The only other alternative is to start withdrawing troops from Iraq now and redirect the funds saved to the reconstruction efforts, but the White House is loath to do that, so the only other thing available is to get rid of the tax cuts to the rich. I'd prefer to have whatever money I'm contributing to the federal pot to help people in this country, not finance a terrorist training ground.

Miulang

[Glen Miyashiro]

I try not to rant about GWB too much, because if I did then I'd just be a seething mass of rage and despair all the time. But I ran across a bit of news that was amazingly telling. At a recent press conference (http://www.whitehouse.gov/news/releases/2005/09/20050922.html), Bush was taking questions. He'd call upon reporters by name, and they'd ask their questions. Then:

THE PRESIDENT: Bianca. Nobody named Bianca? Well, sorry Bianca's not here. I'll be glad to answer her question.

Q I'll follow up.

THE PRESIDENT: No, that's fine. (Laughter.) Thank you though, appreciate it. Just trying to spread around the joy of asking a question.

Q How is the strategy outlined today by General Casey different from what the United States was doing in the past? What lessons would you say have been incorporated in it? And based on that, how much closer do you think we are to being able to turn over full control of the security situation?

THE PRESIDENT: It's going to be a while to turn over full control. Full control says that the Iraqis are capable of moving around the country and sharing intelligence and they got a command control system that works like ours, and that's going to be a while. Turning over some control to Iraqis is now taking place. As I told you, there are more Iraqis in the lead -- Iraqis are in the lead in this mission for the first time on a major operation.

What General Casey briefed us on was how our strategy of cleaning out the terrorists out of a city and being able to fill in behind, or leave behind Iraqi forces, is beginning to pay off. And what hadn't happened in the past was the capacity to fill that void with a capable force that would prevent the terrorists from coming back in.

Q Mr. President, could we talk more about --

THE PRESIDENT: Are you Bianca?

Q No, I'm not. Anita -- Fox News.

THE PRESIDENT: Okay.

Q Just a quick question --

THE PRESIDENT: Okay. I was looking for Bianca. I'm sorry. Good god. I hadn't fully appreciated how entirely scripted his press conferences really are. :(

[shaveice]

i hear you, glenn. there have been so many stories that could be highlighted but i've kinda given up. not sure how many people read this thread or care. of course, i still read stories and roll my eyes and my blood pressure goes up but if the administration is having its way and other professional politicians are too cowardly to challenge bush, i just throw my hands up and acknowledge that the world is how it is (and i'm not motivated to spend my energy trying to change it).

still, if anyone's interested, arianna huffington wrote a pretty funny but right on article recently about bush's war on porn:
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/arianna-huffington/bushs-war-on-porn-perve_b_7704.html

also, there's an interesting article about how a 36-year old administration lawyer with no immigration experience has been nominated to head up the U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement agency. http://talkleft.com/new_archives/012456.html

glenn, if you or anyone wants to see the bianca episode you referred to, you can download it here:
http://www.crooksandliars.com/2005/09/22.html#a5065
in windows media player or quicktime format....

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/theblog/ and
http://www.crooksandliars.com/ are full of stories that highlight the madness on a daily basis.....

[kevin_jay]

:eek: Can you believe this quote.... (http://www.trinidadandtobagonews.com/forum/webbbs_config.pl/noframes/read/3121)

While Barbara Bush was visiting refugee's at the Houston AstroDome, she made some insensitive remarks...

"And so many of the people in the arena here, you know, were underprivileged anyway, so this is working very well for them." (Barbara Bush)


Talk about callous....

-kevin_jay

[kimo55]

the nerve of her vocalising standard cocktail party chatter, publicly like that.

[Miulang]

:eek: Can you believe this quote.... (http://www.trinidadandtobagonews.com/forum/webbbs_config.pl/noframes/read/3121)

While Barbara Bush was visiting refugee's at the Houston AstroDome, she made some insensitive remarks...

"And so many of the people in the arena here, you know, were underprivileged anyway, so this is working very well for them." (Barbara Bush)


Talk about callous....

-kevin_jay

"The nut doesn't fall very far from the tree..." :rolleyes:

Miulang

[Miulang]

Tom Delay (http://www.truthout.org/docs_2005/092805Y.shtml), maker of deals and perpetrator of campaign fraud, has been indicted in Texas along with 2 of his cronies. He has also had to step down "temporarily" from his position as House majority leader. Ya know, I'm glad I believe in cosmic justice, because I think this is just the tip 'o the iceberg as far as getting to the truth about the relationship between certain Republicans, Big Business, and the White House. The Democrats had better watch out, too, because they have a few skeletons in their closet as well.

"... The indictment accused DeLay of a conspiracy to "knowingly make a political contribution" in violation of Texas law outlawing corporate contributions. It alleged that DeLay's Texans for a Republican Majority political action committee accepted $155,000 from companies, including Sears Roebuck, and placed the money in an account.

The PAC then wrote a $190,000 check to an arm of the Republican National Committee and provided the committee a document with the names of Texas State House candidates and the amounts they were supposed to received in donations.

The indictment included a copy of the check.

"The defendants entered into an agreement with each other or with TRMPAC (Texans for a Republican Majority Political Action Committee) to make a political contribution in violation of the Texas election code," says the four-page indictment. "The contribution was made directly to the Republican National Committee within 60 days of a general election."

The indictment against the second-ranking, and most assertive Republican leader came on the final day of the grand jury's term. It followed earlier indictments of a state political action committee founded by DeLay and three of his political associates.

In defending his action against complaints that it was politically drived, Earle told a Texas news conference: "Our job is to prosecute abuses of power."

The grand jury action is expected to have immediate consequences in the House, where DeLay is largely responsible for winning passage of the Republican legislative program. ..."


Miulang

[Miulang]

This is getting really scary...everyone has heard about the potential of an international pandemic of avian (bird) flu. Today, the White House is holding a conference with other world governments to discuss ways to prevent this particularly virulent type of flu from spreading and causing many unnecessary deaths.

Besides encouraging the pharmaceutical industry to make more vaccine, our President is now suggesting that he be given the power to quarantine whole communities under martial law (http://www.informationclearinghouse.info/article10543.htm). What this means is, he will use the Army and Marines to seal off any community that has been infected with the virus, rather than using the National Guard for such duty.

There has always been a clear delineation of when and where the National Guard and the regular armed forces could be used (the Posse Comitatus Act of 1878); the National Guard was created to be our at-home defense, while the regular armed forces were to be used overseas and only in this country during times of natural disaster. Now the Prez wants to blur that line so that in any national emergency, the Army, Navy, Marines and Air Force could also be used in martial law situations.

Allowing this to happen would seriously erode our rights as American citizens and basically put us under the possibility of being confined to our homes or shot on sight if we fail to heed the orders of the government.

"...On Tuesday, President Bush warned the nation that outbreaks of Bird Flu may require massive quarantines enforced by the US Military. He said that the military would be better able "to prevent people from coming in to get exposed to the flu", although he failed to explain why that task couldn't be carried out by the National Guard. Bush's comments echoed the same themes we've heard repeatedly since Hurricane Katrina, that the president needs the power to deploy troops within the country at his own discretion and without any legal restrictions. It is a conspicuous attempt to militarize the country and declare martial law, although the media has scrupulously avoided the obvious conclusions.

Bush now claims that he will need to deploy the military following a terrorist attack, a national disaster, or after the outbreak of a flu-epidemic. "Sending in the troops" has seemingly replaced "tax-cuts" as the one-size-fits-all answer for every question asked of any member of the hard-right administration. ...

"...The main obstacle to Bush's militarization-scheme is the Posse Comitatus Act of 1878. The Act bans the military from participating in policing activities on US soil. It does not, however, prevent the military from helping out in national disasters. This is what is so troubling about Bush's request to change the law; it shows a clear intention to assert military authority wherever the troops are deployed. It is clearly not an attempt simply to help out.

A careful look at New Orleans shows the danger of this. The military presence has been used to establish order and to set the precedent for future deployments. Blackwater mercenaries are not really part of the relief effort at all, but are employed to harass and intimidate the locals and to protect private property. One of their many functions was to force the evacuation of local homeowners and to strip them of their legally registered firearms; a clear violation of the 2nd amendment. Their presence is intended to soften the attitudes of citizens to seeing military personnel on their streets and to help them adjust the effects of a transformed America. ..."

Miulang

[Miulang]

This Valerie Plame investigation is getting really really interesting now. Apparently the Special Prosecutor, Patrick Fitzgerald, is looking into whether the Vice President (http://www.truthout.org/docs_2005/101705A.shtml) knowingly participated in the smearing of Joe Wilson and the outting of his wife, Valerie Plame, as a CIA covert agent.

Analysts are also predicting that because of the length of the investigation (it must end by Oct. 28, because that is when the commission expires), several indictments against Karl Rove and the VPs right hand guy, Scooter Libby, are also coming down the pike.

If Fitzgerald also outs Cheney, it would mean that he, Rove and Libby would be forced to step down. The last time a sitting Vice President of the US was forced to resign in humiliation was Spiro Agnew (http://www.senate.gov/artandhistory/history/resources/pdf/spiro_agnew.pdf). Agnew was a strong and outspoken defender of Pres. Nixon and pleaded no contest when indicted for accepting bribes.

Seems to me that history is repeating itself with the Bush 2 White House. What would the Pres. do without Rove and Cheney? Probably go totally catatonic is all. In his speeches lately, he looks extremely distracted. I would give a nickle for his real thoughts whenever the reporters ask him to comment on the Plame case. Fascinating stuff...

And Rove must be distracted too, for having the Pres. nominate Harriet Miers to the Supreme Court. The Conservatives are even more upset about the nomination than the Democrats are, which truly is amazing because the Conservatives up to this point have always stated that they trusted the President's judgement 100%. Now they're accusing him of cronyism and selecting someone with no judicial experience, while the White House is frantically sending up smoke signals to that group saying she is an evangelical Christian (wink wink) who would vote the way most of the Conservatives think. All the Democrats have to do is stand off to the side and organize themselves quietly for a revolution at the ballot box next year...they don't really have to say or do anything regarding this nomination...just watch the Conservatives and the White House implode on themselves. I believe the luck the President has had all these years is on the verge of running out.

Miulang

[Miulang]

Rumors are flying all over Washington, DC, that because of the heat that is being put on Scooter Libby and his involvement in the Valerie Plame case, his boss, the erstwhile Dick Cheney (http://www.truthout.org/docs_2005/101805A.shtml), may be on his way out the door. There is speculation that his replacement will be Sec. of State Condoleeeeeezza Rice (http://www.truthout.org/docs_2005/101805Q.shtml). Now there has been a popular movement recently to have Condi nominated as the Republican candidate for President in 2008 to run against Bilary Clinton, and this would be a sneaky way to get Condi in as the frontrunner.

Condi has repeatedly told supporters she does not aspire to that position, but who knows? Will America really be ready for a woman President in 2008?

I'm telling you: this is history repeating itself. What happened to Agnew and Nixon could very well happen to Cheney and Bush. :cool:

Miulang

[Stephen]

Ah Lo Ha
While I haven't bothered to pour through this mind numbing thread, I would like to make a comment. . . . .. . . .

Democrats are from Mars. Republicans are from Venus.

Here's the situation. Iraq. The people are absolutely subjugated. Normally, the Dems would be up in arms. Free these people, help them out, give them condoms. And the Republicans would be, oh well, it's not my problem. If they get kilt, it's not on American soil.

So here's my point. . . . . Democrats are against the war in Iraq - why? cause they would rather have Iraqi women raped and men tortured? Republicans are for the war because why? They'd rather have their tax breaks spent on freeing people they could care less about?

It's all a matter of BS political affiliations a lack of understanding of global politics. The Democrats should remove their heads from their bums and appreciate a Republican fighting for individual rights. And the Republicans should put their heads back up their bums and hope they don't have to waste anymore tax money on the war.

BTW - I'm a conservative liberal.

Steverino.

[Miulang]

Ah Lo Ha

Here's the situation. Iraq. The people are absolutely subjugated. Normally, the Dems would be up in arms. Free these people, help them out, give them condoms. And the Republicans would be, oh well, it's not my problem. If they get kilt, it's not on American soil.

So here's my point. . . . . Democrats are against the war in Iraq - why? cause they would rather have Iraqi women raped and men tortured? Republicans are for the war because why? They'd rather have their tax breaks spent on freeing people they could care less about?


It's no longer an issue drawn along party lines. BOTH Democrats and Republicans (and the majority of American voters) now believe the war in Iraq should end, and soon.

Miulang

[Miulang]

I'm telling you: this is history repeating itself. What happened to Agnew and Nixon could very well happen to Cheney and Bush. :cool:

Miulang
The trail to the Vice President's office is getting warmer and warmer...Two more Cheney aides (http://www.truthout.org/docs_2005/101905Q.shtml) have been cooperating with the Special Prosecutor investigating the outing of Valerie Plame as a covert CIA agent. Methinks the Bulldog of Pennsylvania Ave. is going to have to find another doghouse within the next couple of weeks in which to go chew his bone. Will the Alfa dog also have to tuck his tail between his legs and skidaddle out of town?

"... Late Monday, several sources familiar with Special Prosecutor Patrick Fitzgerald's probe said John Hannah, a key aide to Vice President Dick Cheney and one of the architects of the Iraq war, was cooperating with Fitzgerald after being told that he was identified by witnesses as a co-conspirator in the leak. Sources said Hannah was not given immunity, but was likely offered a "deal" in exchange for information that could result in indictments of key White House officials.

Now, those close to the investigation say that a second Cheney aide, David Wurmser, has agreed to provide the prosecution with evidence that the leak was a coordinated effort by Cheney's office to discredit the agent's husband. Her husband, former ambassador Joseph Wilson, was one of the most vocal critics of the Iraq war.

Wurmser, Cheney's Middle East advisor and an assistant to then-Under Secretary of State for Arms Control and International Security Affairs John Bolton, likely cooperated because he faced criminal charges for his role in leaking Wilson's name on the orders of higher-ups, the sources said.

According to those familiar with the case, Wurmser was in attendance at several meetings of the White House Iraq Group (WHIG), a little-known cabal of administration hawks that formed in August 2002 to publicize the threat posed by Saddam Hussein. Those who say they have reviewed documents obtained in the probe assert that the Vice President was also present at some of the group's meetings. ..."

Miulang

[Miulang]

Yoikes. Now it appears that there is evidence that Pres. Bush (http://www.truthout.org/docs_2005/101905A.shtml) knew that Karl Rove had engineered the Valerie Plame outing. Sen. Charles Schumer sent a letter today to President Bush asking for information on how much and when the President knew about Karl Rove's involvement two years ago.

"...An angry President Bush rebuked chief political guru Karl Rove two years ago for his role in the Valerie Plame affair, sources told the Daily News.

"He made his displeasure known to Karl," a presidential counselor told The News. "He made his life miserable about this."

Bush has nevertheless remained doggedly loyal to Rove, who friends and even political adversaries acknowledge is the architect of the President's rise from baseball owner to leader of the free world.

As special prosecutor Patrick Fitzgerald nears a decision, perhaps as early as today, on whether to issue indictments in his two-year probe, Bush has already circled the wagons around Rove, whose departure would be a grievous blow to an already shell-shocked White House staff and a President in deep political trouble.

Asked if he believed indictments were forthcoming, a key Bush official said he did not know, then added: "I'm very concerned it could go very, very badly."

"Karl is fighting for his life," the official added, "but anything he did was done to help George W. Bush. The President knows that and appreciates that."

The house of cards is about to tumble...

Miulang

[Glen Miyashiro]

Yoikes. Now it appears that there is evidence that Pres. Bush (http://www.truthout.org/docs_2005/101905A.shtml) knew that Karl Rove had engineered the Valerie Plame outing. I like this quote from a little further on in that article:

"Bush did not feel misled so much by Karl and others as believing that they handled it in a ham-handed and bush-league way," the source said.
"Bush-league". Snicker.

[Miulang]

Tom Delay, deposed former Speaker of the House, is scheduled to be booked, fingerprinted, photographed and set free on $10,000 bail on Friday to answer to his two Texas indictments of political money laundering. Oh, how the mighty have fallen. I wonder if there are any other skeletons rattling around in Congress?

"...A state court issued an arrest warrant on Wednesday for Rep. Tom DeLay, requiring him to appear in Texas for booking on state conspiracy and money laundering charges.

The court set an initial $10,000 bail as a routine step before the Texas Republican’s first court appearance Friday.

DeLay, R-Texas, could be fingerprinted and photographed, although his lawyers had hoped to avoid this step. DeLay probably will surrender in his home county of Fort Bend, near Houston, but he could go to any law enforcement office in Texas. His court appearance will be in Austin...."

Miulang

[Miulang]

The only thing that could stop the steamroller consequences of the investigation by Special Prosecutor Patrick Fitzgerald into the outing of ex-CIA agent Valerie Plame is for the Pres. to fire him before Oct. 28.

Of course, if he does that, he will arouse even more suspicion about what he himself knew of the incident and how long ago he knew about it.

For those who haven't yet made the connection as to why this investigation is important and how it relates to the government's justification for our involvement in Iraq, please read the following chronology of events (http://www.truthout.org/docs_2005/102005Y.shtml). It's fascinating...

"...Indictments are expected to come down shortly as special prosecutor Patrick Fitzgerald completes the investigation originally precipitated by the outing of a CIA officer under deep cover. In 21-plus months of digging and interviewing, Fitzpatrick and his able staff have been able to negotiate the intelligence/policy/politics labyrinth with considerable sophistication. In the process, they seem to have learned considerably more than they had bargained for. The investigation has long since morphed into size "extra-large," which is the only size commensurate with the wrongdoing uncovered - not least, the fabrication and peddling of intelligence to "justify" a war of aggression.

The coming months are likely to see senior Bush administration officials frog marched out of the White House to be booked, unless the president moves swiftly to fire Fitzgerald - a distinct possibility. With so many forces at play, it is easy to lose perspective and context while plowing through the tons of information on this case. What follows is a retrospective and prospective, laced with some new facts and analysis aimed at helping us to focus on the forest once we have given due attention to the trees...."

Miulang

[waioli kai]

.
Miulang: "I believe the luck the President has had all these years is on the verge of running out."

When the only "luck" Democrats have is Bush2's regime "running out of luck", the U.S. is indeed very unlucky.

[Miulang]

One down (http://www.truthout.org/docs_2005/102805X.shtml)...how many more to go?

"...Vice presidential adviser I. Lewis "Scooter' Libby Jr. was indicted Friday on charges of obstruction of justice, making a false statement and perjury in the CIA leak case.

Karl Rove, President Bush's closest adviser, apparently escaped indictment Friday but remained under investigation, his legal status a looming political problem for the White House.

The indictments stem from a two-year investigation by special counsel Patrick Fitzgerald into whether Rove, Libby or any other administration officials knowingly revealed the identity of CIA agent Valerie Plame or lied about their involvement to investigators.

The five-count indictment accuses Libby of lying about how and when he learned about CIA official Val