David Corn Online
 

February 06, 2006

Will Scooter Libby Graymail the CIA?

I posted this in my "Capital Games" column at www.thenation.com. If you've seen it already, please scroll down to other recent items.

Will Scooter Libby, a neocon who helped orchestrate the war in Iraq, end up graymailing the U.S. government?

That seems to be one of the strategies being considered by the lawyers defending Dick Cheney's former chief of staff, who was indicted by special counsel Patrick Fitzgerald in the CIA leak case for lying to FBI investigators and grand jurors to cover up his (and possibly Cheney's) participation in the outing of CIA officer Valerie Wilson (nee Plame).

Graymail is a defense gambit not available to most criminal suspects. But years ago defense attorneys representing clients connected to the national security establishment--say, a former CIA employee gone bad--figured out a way to squeeze the government in order to win the case: claim you need access to loads of classified information in order to mount a defense--more than might truly be necessary. Of course, the government is going to put up a fight. It may release some information--but not everything a thorough defense attorney will say is needed. The goal is to get the government to say no to the informant. Then the defense attorney can attempt to convince the judge that without access to this material he or she cannot put up an adequate defense. If the lawyer succeeds, it's case dismissed. In such situations, the defendant is essentially saying, prosecute me and I'll blow whatever government secrets I can. Isn't that the act of a patriot?

Judges tend to dislike graymailers and shoot them down whenever possible. Still, Libby seems close to making this sort of push. Last week, his attorneys asked for access to ten months' worth of the President's Daily Brief, the highly classified report the president receives each morning from the CIA. (The Bush White House is ferociously possessive about PDBs and has refused to hand them over to congressional investigations.) Libby's lawyers say that Libby "was immersed throughout the relevant period in urgent and sensitive matters, some literally matters of life and death" and that because of his involvement in "the constant rush of more pressing matters, any errors he made in his FBI interviews or grand jury testimony" were unintentional slips. Libby, a lawyer himself, has to realize that (a) Fitzgerald does not have it within his power to provide the requested PDBs and (b) the overly secretive, presidential-prerogative-is-us White House in which Libby served will never cough up nearly a year of PDBs. But in a display of chutzpah, Libby's attorneys said that Fitzgerald should obtain copies of the PDB from the CIA and Cheney's office and then turn them over to Libby's lawyers.

Libby's defense team also requested information proving that Valerie Wilson was a classified CIA employee (asserting that the classified nature of her employment at the CIA has not yet been established), and they demanded any CIA damage assessment of the Plame leak. A damage assessment is not the sort of material the agency would supply without a titanic fight. A damage assessment would presumably cover operations and activities the CIA does not want damaged any further by additional disclosure.

These requests seem part of a try-everything defense. How effective will it be for Libby to argue, I didn't tell the truth because I was really busy with affairs of state? (Perhaps Libby is trying to blaze a legal trail for others.) After all, according to Fitzgerald's indictment of Libby, he did not merely get the facts wrong once or twice. It happened in the course of several different interviews--during which Libby consistently told the same (cover?) story: that he did not know that Valerie Wilson worked at the CIA until reporters told him and then he merely passed along this unconfirmed gossip to other reporters. Fitzgerald's indictment cites several instances in which Libby obtained or sought information on Valerie Wilson in official channels before he spoke to reporters about her. And the damage assessment issue is no slam-dunk for the defense. Can Libby's defense be that if there was not much damage, then it was okay for him to make false statements purposefully to the FBI and the grand jury?

But Libby may not stop at PDBs, the CIA damage assessment and information pertaining to Valerie Wilson. His lawyer said they might seek other classified records from the State Department, the National Security Council and the Office of the President. And last week, Ted Wells, one of Libby's attorneys, said that "thousand and thousands and thousands" of pages of evidence have been withheld by Fitzgerald. The special counsel disagreed. By the way, Fitzgerald recently sent a letter to Libby's defense team noting, "In an abundance of caution, we advise you that we have learned that not all e-mail of the Office of Vice President and the Executive Office of the President for certain time periods in 2003 was preserved through the normal archiving process on the White House computer system." Hmmmm. The White House has lost chunks of email from Cheney's and Bush's offices for 2003, the year Bush invaded Iraq, the year of the CIA leak. Must just be an accident, right?

Meanwhile, on other fronts, Libby and the White House received good news and bad news. Libby and GOPers had reason to be pleased when Judge Reggie Walton set a trial date for next January--which would push the trial of Cheney's former chief of staff beyond the congressional elections. Walton had originally wanted the trial--which could include the spectacle of Dick Cheney taking the stand--in September, but Libby's team asked to push it back, claiming one of his attorneys had a scheduling conflict. (Other good news for Libby and his legal warriors: a Libby defense fund, chaired by Mel Sembler, a former finance chairman of the Republican Party, has raised $2 million for Libby's legal bills. Members of the fund's steering committee include former GOP Senators Fred Thompson and Alan Simpson, former CIA director R. James Woolsey. and former Middle East envoy Dennis Ross.)

The bad news for Libby and Republicans was the release of previously withheld court records that indicate the case against Libby may be stronger than Fitzgerald's indictment suggested. These records, referring to grand jury testimony, reveal more details of Libby's alleged lying to investigators and a grand jury. They also suggest that Cheney may play a significant role in the trial. In his grand jury testimony, Libby said that when news accounts of former ambassador Joseph Wilson's trip to Niger first emerged, it was Cheney who told Libby "in an off sort of curiosity sort of fashion" that Wilson's wife worked at the CIA's Counterproliferation Division, which is part of the agency's clandestine service. Libby's use of this clumsy term--an off sort of curiosity sort of fashion--is intriguing. Is it credible that when Cheney was talking to his chief of staff about a fellow who was telling reporters that he could prove that the Bush administration had misled the nation about the case for war in Iraq that Cheney would do so in an offhand manner?

These newly released records disclose that former Bush press secretary Ari Fleischer told Fitzgerald's grand jury that he had a lunch with Libby during which Libby told him that Wilson's wife did counterproliferation work at the CIA and that this information was "hush-hush." Fleischer described the lunch as "kind of weird." Usually, Libby "operated in a very closed-lip fashion," Fleischer said. But in this instance, it seems, he was trying to spread information that could be used against a White House critic.

The court records also show that Fitzgerald--despite what Libby's attorney have claimed--have already demonstrated to the courts overseeing the case that Valerie Wilson was an undercover CIA officer. In a filing to the court, Fitzgerald reported that Valerie Wilson is "a person whose identity the CIA was making specific efforts to conceal and who had carried out covert work overseas within the last 5 years."

Libby is certainly not doing all he can to help Fitzgerald get to the bottom of the leak case, as Bush once ordered all White House aides to do so. In fact, Libby is fighting back, as is his right, as hard as he can, and his friends are supportive--and perhaps grateful. After all, Libby is not rolling over on Cheney, Rove or anyone else. No wonder he was a welcomed guest at Cheney's Christmas party in December.

Posted by David Corn at February 6, 2006 02:09 PM

Comments

1

DEJA VU...HISTORY IS REPEATING ITSELF AT WARP SPEED.

RUMSFELD TURNING UP THE HEAT MAKING MORE THREATS

BOLTON HAS SET UP THE PARALLEL ORGANIZATION TO TRUMP THE IAEA PROCESS ONCE AGAIN...

THE PRESS IS NOT ASKING ANY HARD QUESTION ABOUT THE ENDLESS CLAIMS BEING MADE ABOUT IRAN'S NUCLEAR CAPABILITY..A SIMPLE ONE WOULD BE
"WHERE IS THE VERIFAIBLE EVIDENCE TO BACK UP THESE CLAIMS.

THE PUBLIC IS NOT PUSHING THE PRESS

THIS FORMULA WORKS WELL FOR THE BUSH ADMINISTRATION.....

The Scotsman Mon 6 Feb 2006
Use of force against Iran is on agenda, warns bullish Rumsfeld
MARGARET NEIGHBOUR

AMERICAN military action against Iran because of its nuclear ambitions is still an option, US Defence Secretary Donald Rumsfeld has warned.

With Iran remaining defiant in the face of international pressure over its atomic programme - it yesterday ended snap United Nations inspections of its atomic sites - Mr Rumsfeld upped the stakes, describing Iran as a "main sponsor" of terrorist groups.

A senior Iran defence official added to the tough talk yesterday with a senior military commander saying its forces would teach any attackers "a lesson that will be remembered throughout history".

And Iranian MPs agreed yesterday to urgently debate a parliamentary bill that would put restrictions on the sale of "unnecessary" American goods sold in the country in response to US stance on its nuclear ambitions.

Iran was reported to the UN Security Council on Saturday after failing to allay suspicions that it is seeking nuclear weapons. However, despite the rhetoric, there were signs that Iran, which insists its nuclear programme is designed only to produce energy, may be starting to look for a way out of the crisis.

A Foreign Ministry spokesman said it would discuss a proposal that Iranian uranium could be enriched in Russia to ensure it was not turned into weapons-grade material.

Mr Rumsfeld, who attended a weekend security conference in Munich, Germany, made no bones about the seriousness of the situation.

"All options - including the military one - are on the table," he told a German newspaper. "Any government that says Israel has no right to exist is making a statement about its possible behaviour in the future."

At the conference, Mr Rumsfeld accused Tehran of being behind international terrorism. "Iran is the main sponsor of terrorist organisations such as Hezbollah and Hamas," he said.

His belligerent tone was echoed by Abdolrahim Moussavi, the Iranian head of the joint chiefs of staff, who told Iranian troops yesterday: "We are not seeking a military confrontation, but if that happens we will give the enemy a lesson that will be remembered throughout history.

"This nation has proved its will many times to its enemies. Why do they want to test this great nation once again?"

Iran is armed with an unknown number of Shahab-3 ballistic missiles that could reach Israel and US bases in the Gulf, and coupled with nuclear warheads would give it the ability to fulfil President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad's desire to "wipe Israel off the map".

Mr Ahmadinejad said nothing could deflect Tehran's pursuit of atomic know-how.

"Our enemies cannot do a damn thing. We do not need you at all. But you are in need of the Iranian nation," he told a crowd in Tehran yesterday. Content yourself with as many resolutions as you like, you cannot prevent the will of the Iranian people."

Iran has warned that any sanctions against it would send oil prices beyond a level industrialised economies could bear.

However, there was a glimpse of a compromise yesterday. On Saturday, Iran had declared dead a proposal by Moscow that Russia could enrich Iranian uranium for use in power stations, but yesterday Foreign Ministry spokesman Hamid Reza Asefi said Iranian officials would meet with Russian counterparts to discuss the idea.

"The situation has changed. Still, we will attend talks with Russia on 16 February," he said.

It was not clear if the change of course represented a major shift in Iran's strategy in the developing crisis over its nuclear activities.

Uranium enriched to a low degree is used as fuel for nuclear reactors. But highly enriched uranium is suitable for making atomic bombs.


THE WORLD SURE SPINS RATHER QUICKLY THESE DAYS. *

Posted by: kathleen at February 6, 2006 02:20 PM

2

Mr. David Corn,

The old "Law of unintended consequences" - I love it!

Great update - I sure hope this whole thing blows up in their faces. If there is to be any balance in the universe it will be this or maybe something bigger. (A guy can hope)

Thanks

Kirk

Posted by: capt at February 6, 2006 02:20 PM

3

Graymailing will free Libby from any criminal charges. Nobody in this Nazi regime will go to jail.

Posted by: Gerald at February 6, 2006 02:35 PM

4

David ..Fitzgeralds response to Libby's lawyers demands for the classified material were posted at the rawstory.com website.

I think Fitzgerald has the goods...that is unless during the year they inflict the ROVIAN rope..e..dope.. one two punch on him.

That sure says a great deal about who is involved when folks like James Woolsey and Dennis Ross have donated to Libby's legal fund.

What do you know about the claims being made by some...that Plame was outed due to the "supposed" intelligence being gathered by Brewster Jennings about Perle and Feith's involvement with illegal arms being supplied to a Turkish organization? The conflict of interest by both of them, in their business dealings?

What would Woolsey and Dennis Ross's involvement be with protecting Libby from Fitzgerald getting to the bottom of this investigation?

I just hope Fitzgerald is able to stand by his words..."Truth is the engine of our judicial system."

Posted by: kathleen at February 6, 2006 02:36 PM

5

Court filings shed more light on CIA leak investigation


Moreover, the documents reveal that no formal damage assessment has been done with regard to how the outing of CIA agent Valerie Plame affected the agencys operations worldwide. They also hint that Vice President Cheneys former Chief of Staff I. Lewis Libby may have outed Plame on the orders of his "superiors."


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"outed Plame on the orders of his "superiors.""

I might be reading too much into this but it sure sounds like his "superiors" would include Cheney?

capt

Posted by: capt at February 6, 2006 02:38 PM

6

Defense team for Cheney aide demands news media materials from prosecutor

"The government should not be allowed to charge Mr. Libby with lying about statements concerning what reporters knew about Ms. Wilson's identity and at the same time deny him information that may establish one of these possible defenses," Libby's lawyers argued in a 23-page brief.

"The government has refused to produce information in its possession about what reporters learned from sources other than Mr. Libby about Ms. Wilson's employment status," Libby's legal team argued.

The prosecutor has asserted that "such documents are not relevant to a perjury and obstruction case."

"It is material to the preparation of the defense to determine the identity of all reporters who know that Ms. Wilson worked for the CIA, and to discover when they learned such information, from whom they learned it and whether they disclosed it further after learning it," Libby's legal team said.

After Libby's Oct. 28 indictment, Washington Post reporter Bob Woodward disclosed that he had learned of Ms. Wilson's identity in mid-June 2003, some three weeks before her name was published by conservative columnist Robert Novak.

Libby's lawyers said they still do not know the identity of Woodward's source, although Fitzgerald does.

The indictment says Libby lied when he told investigators he learned of Ms. Wilson's identity from NBC correspondent Tim Russert; when he told Time magazine reporter Matt Cooper that reporters were telling the Bush administration that Ms. Wilson worked for the CIA; and when Libby told investigators he did not discuss Wilson's wife with New York Times reporter Judith Miller.

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I am not an attorney but it sounds reasonable that because Fitzgerald has indicted on lying about a specific fact - not the "outing" - the defense might be on very thin ice with the request for evidence not related to the lie?

Fitzgerald might be a very sly prosecutor if he saw this specific defense coming. Good for him if he did.


capt

Posted by: capt at February 6, 2006 02:46 PM

7

NAME THAT SOURCE

Why are the courts leaning on journalists?

In October, Patrick Fitzgerald charged I. Lewis (Scooter) Libby, Vice-President Cheneys chief of staff, with lying to the grand jury about his conversations with reporters, including Miller, Tim Russert, of NBC, and Matthew Cooper, of Time. (Libby immediately resigned.) As Libbys lawyers prepare for his trial, which will probably take place this year, they are expected to ask to see the journalists notes, and they may subpoena other reporters who covered the investigation. At the trial, Libbys team will try to undermine the journalists credibility by challenging them on everything from sloppy note-taking to evidence of bias. "This guy is on trial for his freedom, and its not his job to be worried about the rights of the witnesses against him," a person close to Libbys defense team said. "There are going to be fights over access to the reporters notes, their prior history and credibility, and their interviews with other people. By the time this trial is over, the press is going to regret that this case was ever brought."


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"By the time this trial is over, the press is going to regret that this case was ever brought"

A not so thinly veiled threat against the "press" because the prosecutor brought this case? These neocons and their attorneys (even the liberal ones) seem to have lost their minds.

capt

Posted by: capt at February 6, 2006 02:57 PM

8

Can anyone tell me how to make links. This is my real email if you dont want to post it here.

Thanks.

Posted by: Paul at February 6, 2006 03:01 PM

9

Kathleen,

"Truth is the engine of our judicial system."


Engine - yes - working engine or running motor - I sure hope so.

I have said it before: it is almost unfair to put it all on one mans shoulders but Fitzgerald is carrying the weight of America's character. I hope he carries through.


capt

Posted by: capt at February 6, 2006 03:01 PM

10

hERE WE GO....TWO WRONGS DON'T MAKE IT RIGHT..THEY MAKE IT EVEN


I really wish someone would investigate the intentions of FLEMMING ROSE the cultural editor of the Danish newspaper Jyllands Posten who first commisssioned these drawings.

Sure seems like an intenition to incite and inflame.

Times Online February 06, 2006


Iranian paper launches Holocaust cartoon competition
By Simon Freeman and aIranճ biggest-selling newspaper has waded into the Muhammad controversy by launching a competition to find the 12 "best" cartoons about the Holocaust.



Farid Mortazavi, graphics editor for Tehran's Hamshahri newspaper, said that the deliberately inflammatory contest would test out how committed Europeans were to the concept freedom of expression.

"The Western papers printed these sacrilegious cartoons on the pretext of freedom of expression, so letճ see if they mean what they say and also print these Holocaust cartoons," he said.

Karen Pollock, chief executive of the Holocaust Educational Trust, said that victims of the Holocaust and their families were growing used to insults from Iran. "It's just very sad," she told Times Online.

Iranճ regime is supportive of Holocaust revisionist historians, who maintain that the slaughter of Europeճ Jews during the Second World War was invented or exaggerated to justify the creation of Israel on Palestinian territory.

President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad courted international denunciation recently when he argued for Israel to be "wiped off the map". The President's vitriolic attacks on Israel have further soured relations with the West, already at loggerheads over the republic's nuclear research programme.

Mr Mortazavi said that tomorrow's edition of the paper would invite cartoonists to enter the competition, with gold coins as prizes for the 12 winning artists -- the same number of cartoons that appeared in the conservative Danish newspaper Jyllands-Posten lighting the touchpaper for fury which has swept around the Islamic world.

Last week the Iranian Foreign Ministry invited Tony Blair to Tehran to take part in a planned conference on the Holocaust. Mr Blair said that such a conference was "shocking, ridiculous, stupid". The Prime Minister responded by inviting Mr Ahmadinejad to witness the evidence of the Holocaust in the countries of Europe.

Public protests against the publication of the cartoons have been relatively calm in Iran, although a crowd of about 200 smashed the windows of the Austrian Embassy in Tehran today.


The protesters, chanting "God is Greatest" and "Europe, Europe, shame on you", smashed all the diplomatic missionճ windows with stones and then tried to hurl petrol bombs inside.

Iran has withdrawn its ambassador to Denmark and has said it plans to review trade ties with all countries where the cartoons were published.

Mr Ahmadinejad has criticised the argument of freedom of speech employed by European newspapers to justify publication of the cartoons.

"If your newspapers are free why do not they publish anything about the innocence of the Palestinians and protest against the crimes committed by the Zionists?" the Mehr news agency quoted him as saying.

Andrew Kaufman, chairman of the Association of Jewish Refugees (AJR), said: "We deplore this despicable initiative to trivialise the brutality of the Holocaust that will cause enormous insensitivity to all survivors of Nazism."

























Posted by: kathleen at February 6, 2006 03:15 PM

11

I posted this on the last thread. I am posting it again because I want to know how many times the Clinton administration was afforded the opportunity to speak to congress on like matters while not being asked to go under oath.

When I look at what is being discussed in Congress today as well as the story Mr. Corn has written about I have to come to the conclusion that anyone who supports this administration does not belong in Congress.

These people are crooks and anyone who supports them is supporting criminal activity.

Connect the Dots: Alberto Gonzales Should be Under Investigation, Not Overseeing Them

According to the New York Times, even right wing whacko and infamous anti-Clinton cheerleader, former Congressman Bob Barr says, ''Clearly, people know his testimony reflects the same view as the White House counsel, and that it's not so much reflecting anything approaching an independent legal analysis. He's there as a lawyer for the president, as opposed to being an advocate for the Constitution and the laws of the country. It's a fine line, and I'm not so sure in his current capacity he has a great deal of credibility.''

''Nothing in Al Gonzales's public statements, legislative proposals or anything else suggests that this is an individual who operates outside of the political gyroscope of President Bush,'' said Bruce Fein, an associate deputy attorney general in the Reagan administration, according to the Times....

...Sure, Arlen Specter is getting some press for claiming that the wiretapping was probably illegal. But Specter is a snake in the grass. He is a master at playing a public skeptic while setting up the White House for a victory for tyranny. In this case, Buzzflash suspects that Specter is setting the stage to either have Congress pass enabling legislation for Stasi like powers to be given to the White House or for the FISA Court to grant the same powers to Bush.

Then Specter will say, now that the White House is in compliance with the law, all is forgiven. (Specter is also the author of a "Patriot Act" provision that "would allow authorities to haul demonstrators at any 'special event of national significance' away to jail on felony charges if they are caught breaching a security perimeter." So don't trust the dissembler for a moment.)

With the Supreme Court now packed by Busheviks, who is going to stop the continual slouching of America toward a Pinochet style state of dictatorship?

...Gonzales is the architect of the legal justification for torture -- and then claims he didn't authorize "torture," despite the disclosure of a White House Counsel document signed by him proving that he did.

Just last week, news stories re-emerged that Gonzales took no steps to prevent White House Staff from destroying e-mails and documents relating to the Valerie Plame outing until it was too late. Then he finally "warned" them to maintain all relevant documents after they had several days to shred and delete them.
Gonzales also played a likely role, as White House Counsel, in the removal of a career Department of Justice prosecutor who was close to indicting Abramoff on one of his White House connected lobbying efforts -- this one relating to Guam.

And guess what? Just a short time back the White House "promoted" the chief DOJ Abramoff prosecutor to a judgeship. It's clear that the White House wants to insulate the Abramoff prosecution from clear connections to the Bush Administration, right up to Rove, Bush and Gonzales.

36 Democratic senators politely called for a special prosecutor in the Abramoff case, because right now Gonzales is ultimately responsible for an investigation that probably includes himself. But, at the very least, Gonzales, as the Bush consigliere, is out to suppress the Abramoff illegal ties to the White House, not expose them.

We imagine that the same Bush-connection damage control is going on with the federal prosecution of Ken Lay and Tom DeLay. You know how it goes, you cut a deal with Abramoff, Lay and DeLay that if they don't rat out the White House, Gonzales will make sure that they get a lighter sentence, if not probation and a stiff fine.

Posted by: Jeanne at February 6, 2006 03:18 PM

12

Action Alert: Hearings on Illegal NSA Spying are Not Enough

Once again, President Bush has broken the law. In violation of the Federal Intelligence Surveillance Act, President Bush has authorized the illegal surveillance of Americans without a warrant. Today, Attorney General Alberto Gonzales is testifying before Congress. Debate is good, but we need a special prosecutor to hold the Bush Administration accountable for its actions. Click here to join the Center for Constitutional Rights in writing your representative and the members of the Senate Judiciary Committee to call for a special prosecutor and the release of all the Justice Department memos regarding spying on U.S. citizens.

The Bush White House has consistently worked to avoid judicial oversight and destroy the system of checks and balances upon which our country was founded. Alberto Gonzales should tell Congress all the facts regarding the Bush Administrationճ program of spying on Americans. He should also resign. Finally we demand an investigation of the Attorney Generalճ ethical lapses for his part in this and the many other instances where he advised the President to break the law regarding torture, detention and rendition.

Hearings are not enough. Join CCR today in calling for the release of the justice department memos and the appointment of a special prosecutor. The Center for Constitutional Rights filed CCR v. Bush et al. in federal court earlier this month to fight this latest threat to Americansՠcivil liberties, but we need Washington to act now.

*****end of clip*****

More keyboard activism for those inclined.


capt

Posted by: capt at February 6, 2006 03:26 PM

13

Fact File on Reaction to Danish Caricatures

It is being alleged in some quarters that the controversy over the Danish caricatures of the Prophet Muhammad is somehow artificial or whipped up months later by the Saudis. This is not true. The controversy began in Denmark itself among the 180,000 Danish Muslims. It was taken up by the ambassadors of Muslim states in Copenhagen. Then the Egyptian foreign minister began making a big deal of it, as did Islamist parties in Turkey and Pakistan. The crisis has unfolded along precisely the sort of networks one would have expected, and become intertwined with all the post-colonial crises of the region, from the foreign military occupation of Iraq to the new instability in Syria and Lebanon.

Below is a press record on the controversy, drawn from the Foreign Broadcast Information Service, a translation service of the CIA that is later released under various commercial auspices, including BBC World Monitoring and World News Connection.

*****end of clip*****

This piece might answer some of your questions. The motivations are obviously esoteric but . . .

capt

Posted by: capt at February 6, 2006 03:30 PM

14

Diebold Extends China Deal

By TSC and IRIS Staff
2/6/2006 2:20 PM EST

Diebold (DBD:NYSE - commentary - research - Cramer's Take), the maker of ATMs and electronic-voting machines, will provide nearly 300 self-service bulk cash recycle machines to the Bank of China.

The deal is in addition to a recent contract with the bank, which means Diebold will supply a total of around 1,000 units.

Posted by: DBD Update at February 6, 2006 03:43 PM

15

Burning embassies? Violent protests? Over the image of Mohammed or over the representation of Islam? Which one is it?
All they've managed to accomplish in my mind is to further cement a commonly held stereotype of Islam being a violent, hateful religion. Of course this isn't the truth necessarily. American Muslims aren't rioting in the streets. Christians didn't riot or burn buildings when the Last Temptation of Christ was released or recently when Kanye West did his picture for Rolling Stone. Why are we over there again? What makes these people so special that they deserve our time and energy and blood?

Posted by: Citizen X at February 6, 2006 03:45 PM

16

Demand REAL Voting Reform

Today we call on our town and county election officials to demonstrate that their systems allow voters to verify their choices and officials to conduct recounts. Add your name to the call for accountability:

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Hey, another petition. Keyboard activism burns calories, relieves stress and can satisfy the most delicate of touch type fingers. HA!


capt

Posted by: capt at February 6, 2006 03:46 PM

17

Send Me Your Health Care Horror Stories... an appeal from Michael Moore

So, if you'd like me to know what you've been through with your insurance company, or what it's been like to have no insurance at all, or how the hospitals and doctors wouldn't treat you (or if they did, how they sent you into poverty trying to pay their crazy bills) ...if you have been abused in any way by this sick, greedy, grubby system and it has caused you or your loved ones great sorrow and pain, let me know.

Send me a short, factual account of what has happened to you Рand what IS happening to you right now if you have been unable to get the health care you need. Send it to michael@michaelmoore.com. I will read every single one of them (even if I can't respond to or help everyone, I will be able to bring to light a few of your stories).

Thank you in advance for sharing them with me and trusting me to try and do something about a very corrupt system that simply has to go.

Oh, and if you happen to work for an HMO or a pharmaceutical company or a profit-making hospital and you have simply seen too much abuse of your fellow human beings and can't take it any longer Рand you would like the truth to be told Рplease write me at michael@michaelmoore.com. I will protect your privacy and I will tell the world what you are unable to tell. I am looking for a few heroes with a conscience. I know you are out there.

Posted by: Jeanne at February 6, 2006 03:51 PM

18

Is it me or does it seem curiouss that Libby was swamped with Life/Death issues, yet he seemed to have plenty of time to gossip with reporters. Hmm.

Posted by: ChiGirl at February 6, 2006 03:56 PM

19

It is the : "I am too important and was too busy to worry about telling the truth defense."

It works on some white collar crimes but I think the sheer arrogance will insult the jury.

A guy can hope, no matter what!

capt

Posted by: capt at February 6, 2006 04:04 PM

20

I hope Fitz throws him in the slammer in an off sort of curiosity sort of fashion.

Posted by: ChiGirl at February 6, 2006 04:07 PM

21

Espionage & Intelligence

Monday's hearing got off to a rocky start when Republicans and Democrats disagreed over whether Gonzales should be sworn in. Democrats said he should, but Specter said it wasn't necessary.

He wasn't. "My answers would be the same whether I was under oath or not," Gonzales told the panel.

yeah right. He would lie either way.

Posted by: Paul at February 6, 2006 04:32 PM

22

http://news.yahoo.com/fc/World/Espionage_and_Intelligence


sorry about the first post

Thanks capt

Posted by: Paul at February 6, 2006 04:35 PM

23

Hurrah Paul.

Posted by: Jeanne at February 6, 2006 04:51 PM

24

Would Specter have allowed the AG in the Clinton administration to talk to Congress without being sworn in? This is a joke being played on the American people. I don't think very many of them are amused.

Question of the day on MSNBC
Do you care if the phone companies turn over your records to the governemnt without a warrant?
Yes 84% No 16%

What does that tell you? It tells me that MSNBC is too wimpy to come out and denounce the White House. They ask these questions so they can say the American people oppose it.

Posted by: Jeanne at February 6, 2006 05:02 PM

25

THE GROUND WORK FOR BOLTONS MOVE TO TRUMP THE IAEA IS MOVING RIGHT ALONG.

VIENNA (Reuters) - Iran has told the International Atomic Energy Agency to end snap inspection measures at its nuclear sites by mid-February, the IAEA said on Monday.
The move followed Iran's vow to end short-notice IAEA checks of its nuclear plants in response to a vote by the watchdog agency's governing board to report Tehran to the U.N. Security Council over concerns

Posted by: kathleen at February 6, 2006 05:13 PM

26

Who Will Save America

I would like to say that Muslims are upset because cartoonists are not painting Islam as a religion of tolerance. Let us share a perfect example of intolerance. Saudi Arabia is that example. Christians who walk on Muslim soil offend the land of Islam. The Muslims are human beings but they are intolerant and this intolerance will not go away for many generations if at all. I doubt that you can reason with intolerance. Nazi America is another example of intolerance to any religion except bushianity and there is intolerance to the poor and the middle class.

Posted by: Gerald at February 6, 2006 05:35 PM

27

US eavesdropping program listening to 'thousands': report


WASHINGTON (AFP) - The US eavesdropping program approved by President George W. Bush has reportedly monitored the overseas phone calls of thousands of Americans, most of whom were ruled out as potential terrorist suspects.

The controversial eavesdropping program by the National Security Agency has sparked a political firestorm in the United States, particularly since it taps into Americans' communications without the use of court warrants.

President Bush claims he has the power under the US Constitution to authorize the program, but some opposition Democrats have criticized the eavesdropping and Attorney General Alberto Gonzales is due to testify about the program before Congress Monday.

Two "knowledgeable sources" told The Washington Post that the NSA has eavesdropped, or monitored the communications, of thousands of Americans in the past four years. One source told the newspaper the dragnet had included about 5,000 people.

"Intelligence officers who eavesdropped on thousands of Americans in overseas calls under the authority from President Bush have dismissed nearly all of them as potential suspects after hearing nothing pertinent to a terrorist threat," the Post said.

"Computer-controlled systems collect and sift basic information about hundreds of thousands of faxes, e-mails and telephone calls into and out of the United States before selecting the ones for scrunity by human eyes and ears," the paper said.

However, the report said intelligence officers, who listen to fragments of the conversations recorded by the computer networks, "wash out" most of the leads within days or weeks.

The report, based on accounts from current and former government officials, said it's unknown what is done with the "non-threatening US e-mails and conversations that the NSA intercepts."

*****end of clip*****

Is it just me or does it sound like the neocons have no fear of a Democrat taking over the WH? Imagine what the neocons would be saying if Hillary or anybody from the opposition[sic] were in or had a chance of getting into the WH?

Read: Confirmation of future stolen elections.


capt

Posted by: capt at February 6, 2006 05:38 PM

28

Bush says that Nazi America cannot be isolationists but his policies separate Nazi America from the rest of the countries. There is an exception. Countries who emulate us like goons and thugs love us. Birds of a feather flock together!

Posted by: Gerald at February 6, 2006 05:39 PM

29

Lab officials excited by new H-bomb project

For the first time in more than 20 years, U.S. nuclear-weapons scientists are designing a new
H-bomb, the first of probably several new nuclear explosives on the drawing boards.

If they succeed, in perhaps 20 or 25 more years, the United States would have an entirely new nuclear arsenal, and a highly automated fac- tory capable of turning out more warheads as needed, as well as new kinds of warheads.

"We are on the verge of an exciting time," the nation's top nuclear weapons executive, Linton Brooks, said last week at Lawrence Livermore weapons design laboratory.

Teams of roughly 20 scientists and engineers at the nation's two laboratories for nuclear-explosive design ѠLivermore and Los Alamos in New Mexico Ѡare in a head-to-head competition to offer designs for the first of the new thermonuclear explosives, termed "reliable replacement warheads" or RRWs.

Designers are aiming for bombs that will be simpler, easier to maintain over decades and, if they fell into terrorists' hands, able to be remotely destroyed or rendered useless. Once the designs are unveiled in September, the Bush administration and Congress could face a major choice in the future of the U.S. arsenal: Do they keep maintaining the existing, tested weapons or begin diverting money and manpower to developing the newly designed but untested weapons?

Administration officials see the new weapons and the plant to make them as "truly transformative," allowing the dismantlement of thousands of reserve weapons.

But within the community of nuclear weapons experts, the notion of fielding untested weapons is controversial and turns heavily on how much the new bombs would be like the well-tested weapons that the United States already has.

"I can't believe that an admiral or a general or a future president, who are putting the U.S. survival at stake, would accept an untested weapon if it didn't have a test base," said physicist and Hoover Institution fellow Sidney Drell, a longtime adviser to the government and its labs on nuclear-weapons issues.

"The question is how do you really ensure long-term reliability of the stockpile without testing?" said Hugh Gusterson, an MIT anthropologist who studies the weapons labs and their scientists. "RRW is partly an answer to that question and it's an answer to the question (by nuclear weapons scientists) of 'What do I do to keep from being bored?'"
------------------
Bored? As my mother always said. "Find something CONSTRUCTIVE to do."

You know like a car that runs on water.

Posted by: Jeanne at February 6, 2006 05:41 PM

30

Nazi America elections are totally rigged in all 50 states!!!!!!!!!!

Posted by: Gerald at February 6, 2006 05:42 PM

31

With rigged elections Nazi America's manifest destiny is complete. The Nazis will rule forever and ever!!!!!!!!!!

Posted by: Gerald at February 6, 2006 05:45 PM

32

Reporter hits McClellan on taps: 'You know what happened to Nixon when he broke the law'

White House Press Secretary Scott McClellan got in a heated row with a White House correspondent at Monday's press briefing over President Bush's warantless domestic spying program, RAW STORY has learned.

The questioner, believed to be outspoken liberal columnist Helen Thomas, who has been covering the White House since President John F. Kennedy, asks McClellan if Bush should obey the law.

The relevant part of transcript follows. RAW STORY is trying to confirm the questioner, but is currently unable to view C-SPAN's coverage of the exchange.

Q: Does the president think he should obey the law? He put his hand on the Bible twice to uphold the Constitution. Wiretapping is not legal under the circumstances without a warrant.

MR. MCCLELLAN: Well, I guess you didn't pay attention to the attorney general's hearing earlier today, because he walked through very clearly the rationale behind this program.

Q There is no rationale --

MR. MCCLELLAN: And Helen, I think you have to ask --

Q -- (inaudible) -- the law.

MR. MCCLELLAN: I think you have ask are we -- well, he's not -- are we a nation at war.

Q That's not the question.

MR. MCCLELLAN: No, that is the issue here.

Q The question is, the point is, there are means for him to go to -- get a warrant to spy on people.

MR. MCCLELLAN: Enemy surveillance is critical to waging and winning war. It's one of the traditional tools of war.

Q But he says he doesn't have running room --

MR. MCCLELLAN: The attorney general outlined very clearly today how previous administrations have used the same authority --

Q That doesn't make it legal.

MR. MCCLELLAN: -- and cited the same -- and cited the very same authority.

Q (Inaudible) -- they broke the law, that's too bad.

MR. MCCLELLAN: And we're going to continue doing everything we can --

Q You know what happened to Nixon when he broke the law.

MR. MCCLELLAN: -- within our power to protect the American people.

This is a very different circumstance, and you know that.

Q No, I don't.

----------------------
GO HELEN!!!!!

Posted by: Jeanne at February 6, 2006 05:48 PM

Posted by: Gerald at February 6, 2006 05:50 PM

Posted by: Gerald at February 6, 2006 05:59 PM

Posted by: Gerald at February 6, 2006 06:02 PM

36

Feingold Exposes Bush's False Claim That Previous Administrations Did The Same Thing

In his State of the Union address, President Bush claimed, "Previous Presidents have used the same constitutional authority I have, and federal courts have approved the use of that authority."
Sen. Russ Feingold (D-WI) pressed Gonzales to determine whether there is any evidence to justify this claim:

FEINGOLD: Let me first ask, do you know of any other President who has authorized warrantless wiretaps outside of FISA, since 1978, when FISA was passed?

GONZALES: Um, none come to mind, Senator. But maybe - I would be happy to look to see whether or not that's the case.

FEINGOLD: I can take it as a no unless you submit something?

GONZALES: I can't give you an answer.

FEINGOLD: Ok.

This is why we need congressional oversight so much - it forces the administration to face up to reality.
---------------------------
Thank you President Feingold

"I would be happy to look and see if that's the case."
What the hell was that? He doesn't know? Give him an F. The guy sounds like Eddy Haskell on Leave it to Beaver.

Posted by: Jeanne at February 6, 2006 06:03 PM

37

#36
Gonzales = Eddie that is. Feingold sounded like President Feingold.

Posted by: Jeanne at February 6, 2006 06:05 PM

38

I cannot help but believe that there is a better way to resolve problems than war. But, Nazi Americans love to piss away money, especially someone else's money.

Posted by: Gerald at February 6, 2006 06:06 PM

39

Remember in Nazi America endless wars are great for the economy.

Posted by: Gerald at February 6, 2006 06:07 PM

40

Lindsey Graham: 'The Inherent Authority Argument...seems To Have No Boundaries'

Lindsey Graham (R-SC) explains the danger of the administration's legal position:

All I'm saying is the inherent authority argument in its application to me seems to have no boundaries when it comes to executive decisions in a time of war, it deals the Congress and courts out, Mr. Attorney General.

The problem isnմ that the administration is monitoring communications with al Qaeda. That is not only appropriate, it's essential. The problem is that the legal underpinnings of this particular program, if accepted, would allow for unchecked executive authority.

No president should have unchecked authority, especially not this one.
-------------------
So, he's finally catching on. The congress gave away its power.

Posted by: Jeanne at February 6, 2006 06:11 PM

41

http://www.counterpunch.com/

Paul Craig Roberts was Assistant Secretary of the Treasury in the Reagan administration. He was Associate Editor of the Wall Street Journal editorial page and Contributing Editor of National Review.

I just read most today's editorial written by this guy, who gave a nod to that 9/11 scholars website I first learned of on here. He writes in part:

"Many patriotic readers have written to me expressing their frustration that fact and common sense cannot gain a toehold in a debate guided by hysteria and disinformation. Other readers write that 9/11 shields Bush from accountability, They challenge me to explain why three World Trade Center buildings on one day collapsed into their own footprints at free fall speed, an event outside the laws of physics except under conditions of controlled demolition. They insist that there is no stopping war and a police state as long as the government's story on 9/11 remains unchallenged.

They could be right. There are not many editors eager for writers to explore the glaring defects of the 9/11 Commission Report. One would think that if the report could stand analysis, there would not be a taboo against calling attention to the inadequacy of its explanations. We know the government lied about Iraqi WMD, but we believe the government told the truth about 9/11."

Posted by: ChiGal at February 6, 2006 06:24 PM

42

Cornposters, please, please remember that the Nazis in Congress, the WH, and the Supreme Court are masters of bait and switch. This is an election year and the Nazis will go along to be re-elected. Never, ever trust a Nazi!!!!

Posted by: Gerald at February 6, 2006 06:55 PM

43

PAUL CRAIG ROBERTS


He was Distinguished Fellow at the Cato Institute from 1993 to 1996. From 1982 through 1993, he held the William E. Simon Chair in Political Economy at the Center for Strategic and International Studies. During 1981-82 he served as Assistant Secretary of the Treasury for Economic Policy. President Reagan and Treasury Secretary Regan credited him with a major role in the Economic Recovery Tax Act of 1981, and he was awarded the Treasury Departments Meritorious Service Award for "his outstanding contributions to the formulation of United States economic policy." From 1975 to 1978, Dr. Roberts served on the congressional staff where he drafted the Kemp-Roth bill and played a leading role in developing bipartisan support for a supply-side economic policy.

*****end of clip*****

Paul Craig Roberts ROCKS! I hate labels but one could say he has some solid credentials and is no lefty or crazy person.


capt

Posted by: capt at February 6, 2006 07:00 PM

Posted by: Gerald at February 6, 2006 07:03 PM

45

I am firmly convinced that Bush is the most evil low life to prowl the Earth in the history of the universe.

Posted by: Gerald at February 6, 2006 07:06 PM

46

Jeanne, this sentence jumped out of the article posted below. The budget bill permits health care providers to deny service to those who do not have enough money to make the co-payment.

Tough choices for whom?
Congress made choices tough for everyone else

Posted by: Carol at February 6, 2006 07:13 PM

Posted by: Carol at February 6, 2006 07:20 PM

48

Kirk, as lefty as I am, I find I'm always more inclined to believe dissenters from the "other" side.

Posted by: ChiGirl at February 6, 2006 07:27 PM

49

"Formerly no one was allowed to think freely; now it is permitted, but no one is capable of it any more. Now people want to think only what they are supposed to think, and this they consider freedom.": Oswald Spengler - (1880-1936) Source: The Decline of the West, 1926

=
"A people may prefer a free government, but if, from indolence, or carelessness, or cowardice, or want of public spirit, they are unequal to the exertions necessary for preserving it; if they will not fight for it when it is directly attacked; if they can be deluded by the artifices used to cheat them out of it; if by momentary discouragement, or temporary panic, or a fit of enthusiasm for an individual, they can be induced to lay their liberties at the feet even of a great man, or trust him with powers which enable him to subvert their institutions; in all these cases they are more or less unfit for liberty: and though it may be for their good to have had it even for a short time, they are unlikely long to enjoy it." -- John Stuart Mill, Representative Government, 1861

=
"There is danger from all men. The only maxim of a free government ought to be to trust no man living with power to endanger the public liberty." -- John Adams, 1772

===

Thanks ICH Newsletter!

Posted by: capt at February 6, 2006 07:33 PM

50

Analysis: Bush budget cuts Medicare, more


WASHINGTON, Feb. 6 (UPI) -- President Bush proposed $36 billion in Medicare cuts Monday as part of a 2007 budget aimed at curbing spending of federal entitlement programs.

The cuts come amid a $2.8 trillion request for federal spending next year that increases defense spending and seeks to extend tax cuts favored by Republicans.

Administration officials acknowledged that the Medicare cuts, along with cuts to a variety of other popular domestic health programs, would be difficult. But they said they maintained that spending reductions were necessary to control deficits and the long-term growth of federal programs.

"We had to make hard choices, hard choices about very well-intentioned programs," Health and Human Services Secretary Michael Leavitt told reporters.

The budget, which will have to face approval by Congress, calls for Medicare cuts totaling $36 billion over the next five years and $105 billion over 10 years. Most of the cuts come in the form of reduced payments to hospitals, nursing homes and other health providers. The plan also cuts federal spending by shifting some Medicare costs from the government to individual Medicare beneficiaries with higher incomes.

Under the plan, hospitals face cuts totaling $480 million next year and $6.6 billion by 2011. Nursing homes would also see their funding cut by more than $5 billion over the next five years, while outpatient facilities, ambulance services, and home health agencies would receive smaller cuts.

Leavitt said the cuts would serve to slow Medicare's long-term growth from a rate of 8.1 percent per year to 7.7 percent per year. He said the slowing was key to sustain the program as millions of baby boomers reach retirement.

"I want to characterize this budget as a responsible budget," he said.

Medicaid would also face some $13 billion in spending cuts over the next decade under the plan, mostly through what administration officials described as "regulatory changes" that are likely to cut payments to hospitals and cap payments to state-run medical facilities.

The plan came just days after Congress passed approximately $11 billion in cuts to Medicare and Medicaid as part of a budget reconciliation bill.

*****end of clip*****

This is insane. Maybe it is just me but more bombs less healthcare is the problem not the answer.

capt

Posted by: capt at February 6, 2006 07:40 PM

51

David. Interesting post on Greymail. I am not a lawyer, but is it possible that Fitzgerald anticipated that defense. By not indichting Libby for revealing a CIA Agent's name or even leaking classified information, it would seem to make Plame's position irrelevant and certainly any CIA Damage Assessment. It would seem to obviate any need for any classified material. He lied on several ocassions to several people and in several forums. We have transcripts and witnesses to prove it. No National Scurity, no classified information. And if nyone believes that forgetfulness and overwork caused him to remember the same lie on several ocassions, acquit.

Posted by: Jerry Fear at February 6, 2006 07:40 PM

52

The Betrayal of Valerie Wilson

by Larry C. Johnson

Valerie Plame was a covert intelligence officer covered by the Intelligence Officer's Identity Protection Act and Lewis "Scooter" Libby lied to the Grand Jury. These two truths emerge from the opinion written by Judge Tatel, of the US Court of Appeals, and released in February 2005. Thanks to a FOIA request by the Wall Street Journal we now have a more complete record, although key parts of his decision are still blacked out. Perhaps most of the media will now realize that they have been fed a pack of lies by the likes of Ken Mehlman, Victoria Toensing, Cliff May and others.

Tatel's opinion also is relevant to the current furor over "domestic spying" and whether reporters will have any ability to protect their sources. It certainly appears that Tatel would uphold the right of the reporters to protect sources who told them about illegal spying. Tatel's concludes his opinion that Judy Miller and Matt Cooper had to testify before the Grand Jury with the following:


Read More HERE

*****end of clip*****

So, now that we know she was covert, that contacts and agents were compromised, that she was working in the field of WMDճ, during a time of war - no less - the person that "leaked" the information committed treason on the United States of America.

I think a firing squad is in order. Imagine Fitzgerald has the VP by the short hairs. They say Libby was told to out Plame by his superiors.

capt

Posted by: capt at February 6, 2006 08:02 PM

53

A Better Job for George Bush


This is a very funny commercial starring George Bush. It was rejected from the Super Bowl!! - Its hilarious!

capt

Posted by: capt at February 6, 2006 08:08 PM

54

This strategy has already backfired on Libby -- big time. See my article at Dkos today, where its on Most Recommended, then consider this exchange in the response string:

http://www.dailykos.com/story/2006/2/6/12248/27290

Did you read the article a couple of months ago about the new member of the defense team? Here is one version. This happened around Thanksgiving, I'd love your take on it. Libby hires expert in criminal law on national secrets

Anyway the new lawyer, John Cline is a CA lawyer and an expert in security cases, he was Wen Ho Lee's and Oliver North's attorney. The gist of the article is that, based on this attorney's prior court appearances, the strategy is to request everything. Cast a wide net asking for any classified materials they reasonably can. Then they create a roadblock to mounting a reasonable defense when the government denies the defense certain documents. Thus denying Libby his right to a fair trial or whatever you lawyers would say.

This seems to fit in with the "I was so busy" defense. That line of reasoning begs the question "well how busy were you?" Right? Then the lawyers can argue, "we can't really show you, the jury, how busy Mr Libby was becasue the gov't won't let us." What's your take on this?

Great diary, thanks again. I always love the diaries where trained professionals chime in on the legal cottage industry that BushCo and the others are launching. People like me have no expertise and we need you guys to post views and diaries to help clarify this stuff.


by mbair on Mon Feb 06, 2006 at 01:31:58 PM PDT

(My response to mblair:)
The problem with discovery is that the fruits are available to both sides. One can see how this has opened the door to Fitz, who previously was so respectful of presidential privilege that, as he points out in his response, he didn't subpoena the PDBs.

Fitz has a dry sense of humor.

Looks like Mr. Cline has done some heavy lifting for the prosecution. BTW, I don't believe that the courts of appeal often overturn on the issue of overly-restrictive discovery in national security cases. That didn't help Mr. North or Mr. Lee, anyway. Good thing for Ollie that he was granted immunity by Congress. Gawd, let's hope that Libby doesn't get called to testify by Specter before his trial ends.

by leveymg on Mon Feb 06, 2006 at 02:20:04 PM PDT


Posted by: leveymg at February 6, 2006 08:24 PM

55

Britain defies US with funding to boost safe abortion services


Attempt to replace lost dollars after 'global gag'
70,000 died last year in backstreet operations


The British government will today publicly defy the United States by giving money for safe abortion services in developing countries to organisations that have been cut off from American funding.

Nearly 70,000 women and girls died last year because they went to back-street abortionists. Hundreds of thousands of others suffered serious injuries.

Critics of America's aid policy say some might have lived if the US had not withdrawn funding from clinics that provide safe services - or that simply tell women where to find them.

The "global gag" rule, as it has become known, was imposed by President George Bush in 2001. It requires any organisation applying for US funds to sign an undertaking not to counsel women on abortion - other than advising against it - or provide abortion services.


More HERE

*****end of clip*****

This is from a country with the facilities and the money then consider the third world countries. They cannot raise the funds to defy Bunnypants.

The numbers are staggering.


capt

Posted by: capt at February 6, 2006 08:29 PM

56

ChiGal 41 -

the media ignores 911 as if it was the plague, and for good reason:: not one single aspect of the official fairytale stands up to analyses - not one aspect - I defy anyone to prove any of it

Posted by: James Ha at February 6, 2006 08:32 PM

Posted by: James Ha at February 6, 2006 08:36 PM

58

Capt #53 - Nothing downloading after the main page came up. Am I supposed to click on something? I don't see what it might be.

Posted by: Carol at February 6, 2006 08:42 PM

59

Sorry #53 looks like they pulled it - I think I copied it - let me check.

capt

PS- could be down from too much traffic - I got it from Buzzflash

Posted by: capt at February 6, 2006 09:18 PM

60

James,

I got you on this one: It did happen between 9/10 and 9/12!

Other than the date nothing is right, not even take off times. Curious that, eh?


capt

Posted by: capt at February 6, 2006 09:38 PM

61

For the video at #53 try:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KUc2DNqcp_Q

It loads automatically but seems very fast on my computer/line.

capt

Posted by: capt at February 6, 2006 09:41 PM

62

It's loading from that site, Capt. I wrote down the start time. I love statistics. Started at 9:50EST.

Posted by: Carol at February 6, 2006 09:51 PM

63

#7 Capt.. "Why are the courts leaning on journalist?" Because some of them are criminals.

We have been witness to some serious personal agendas being carried out my journalist in the last several years. (or these are the ones who have been caught.)

We know that journalist are not omnipotent, that they can be working for someone other than the publics right and need to know. Judy Miller, Bob Woodward, Novak, Novak, etc etc.

Judy Miller is still pushing for federal"shield law" protection. I hope that journalist do not get any more protection than they all ready have.

I mean why would we want journalist like Miller to have even more protection under the law,especially when it comes to national security issues. She as well as so many other journalist have done harm to the american public and to their profession.

Miller is going to be called out again by Fitzgerald (she is not in the clear). Many believe that Miller is the journalist that transfered intelligence in the AIPAC scandal as well as being part of the team that outed Plame.

Kenneth Pollack, intelligence analyst, and writer of numerous articles before the pre-emptive invasion of Iraq is identified in the filings of the Aipac/Rosen investigation as USGO1. He Allegedly transferred national intelligence along with Rosen and Weisman to a Israel's intelligence operative/ambassador (Naor Gilon). Mr. Gilon has since left the country and is in Israel..( I am sure hoping never to return to the U.S.)

I want journalist access protected but certainly not when they are operating as conduits for passing on false information and handing off intelligence to foreign countries.

I hope any journalist that have abused their priviliges and committed crimes against the public and our national security...get hammered.

Posted by: kathleen at February 6, 2006 09:58 PM

64

Graymaling, eh. Didn't know there was a term for it. I had always suggested that the trial of the century would be for the families of the 911 hijackers to sue for their share of the 911 fund, arguing that the hijackers were just ordinary citizens who happened to be on the planes. In order for the insurance companies and the US to win the case, it would have to release a load of classified information into the public view. That's not going to happen. The hijackers' families would win simply because no proof would emerge to prove they actually did it. A judge would have to rule in their favor.

Posted by: Jay Severin Has A Small Pen1s at February 6, 2006 10:10 PM

65

Capt, that didn't take too long. Only 20 minutes. Phew.

Posted by: Carol at February 6, 2006 10:10 PM

66

I am still wondering if the release of the insulting cartoons in Denmark right wing paper Jllyand Posten had to do with this boycott being embraced by a district in Norway and Denmark leaning in this direction. Condaleeza Rice gave Norway a tongue lashing about this action.

WHAT A WAY TO SHUT DOWN ANY GOOD FEELINGS BETWEEN SCANDANAVIAN COUNTRIES AND MUSLIMS. Release what you know will be offensive drawings ...inciting a riot.

Entire Region of Norway to boycott Apartheid Israel!
Worldwide Activism, Palestinian grassroots Anti-Apartheid Wall Campaign, December 16th, 2005

The regional council of the S?r-Tr?ndelag in Norway has passed a motion calling for a comprehensive boycott on Israeli goods to be followed up with an awareness raising campaign across the region. S?r-Tr?ndelag has a population of 270,000 out of Norwayճ 4.6 million. Trondheim, Norway`s third largest city, forms part of the region and will participate in the boycott initiative. The council committed itself to this motion as a result of intensive work by Norwegian activists that had launched a national Boycott Israel campaign this June. The success of this motion has marked a massive move forwards for boycotts of Apartheid Israel.

Building from the region`s experience of support for the South African Anti-Apartheid struggle, the people and their representatives in S?r-Tr?ndelag have once again sided with the calls for justice and liberation.

The decision comes just weeks after a city in the Basque country, Arbizu, passed a similar motion in their solidarity with the Palestinian people. The news will give further boost to the campaigning efforts of other cities and campaigners across the globe and will help stimulate more initiatives to follow the Palestinian call for comprehensive boycott, sanctions and divestment campaign against Israel.

Full text of the motion (translation by the Anti-Apartheid Wall Campaign):

Boycott Israeli goods

An international boycott campaign against Israel is now being launched. Apartheid in South Africa was condemned by the entire world and this contributed to the fall of the regime. Israel`s occupation of the West Bank, the Gaza Strip and the Syrian Golan Heights has been condemned by the UN. The Israeli settlements violate International Law. The construction of the Wall has been declared illegal by the International Court of Justice (ICJ), and the refugees still wait to return to their homes.

S?r-Tr?ndelag was the first [Norwegian] county to boycott South Africa. Upholding this good tradition, the County council, as the first in the country, has decided to boycott Israeli goods, by not buying Israeli goods and through awareness raising efforts. We call on the population to do the same.



EXPLORE THE ISSUE

Search for more about boycott on this site.


RECENT SITE ADDITIONS

Controversy Erupts at World Economic Forum over Call to Boycott Apartheid Israel (February 1st, 2006)

Family Homes Demolished in Al-Walaja and Numan, Bethlehem (January 31st, 2006)

Activist Court Case Puts Apartheid Israel On Trial (January 28th, 2006)

The Wall in a Week - Occupation Bolsters Expansion on Destroyed Palestinian Lives (January 25th, 2006)

House demolitions in Jerusalem continue unabated (January 16th, 2006)

Gaza Farmers Further Squeezed by the Occupation (January 14th, 2006)

The Wall in a Week - A New Year calls for Resistance against Siege and Expulsion (January 9th, 2006)


Posted by: kathleen at February 6, 2006 10:25 PM

67

CONNECT THE DOTS?

Title: USA Threatens Norway After Boycott Floyd
45 Comments


US Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice threatened Norway with "serious political consequences" after Finance Minister and Socialist Left Party leader Kristin Halvorsen admitted to supporting a boycott of Israeli goods.

The reaction was reportedly given to the Norwegian embassy in Washington DC, and it was made clear that the statements came from the top level of the US State Department, newspaper VG reports.

VG claims that two classified reports promised a "tougher climate" between the USA and Norway if Halvorsen's remarks represented the foreign policy of the new red-green alliance of the Labor, Socialist Left and Center parties.

Norway's Minister of Foreign Affairs, Jonas Gahr Stre, responded immediately with written explanations to both Israel and the USA, clarifying the government's stance, while Halvorsen distanced her party's policy from that of the government's.

Posted by: kathleen at February 6, 2006 10:30 PM

68

#54
I knew I was glad that the trial wouldn't happen before the elections and now I know why. The Democrats won't give Libby immunity.

DUMP THE REPUBLICANS!!!!!

Posted by: Jeanne at February 6, 2006 10:38 PM

69

I died last week, but with the Winter Olympics looming, I have something to say.

10 ways to be a greener skier

* Take the train. Flying to your resort is environmental madness as the plane's CO2 emissions will directly threaten the future of your favourite resort. www.raileurope.co.uk/skitrains/

* Slash your own CO2 emissions. When you're not on the slopes help reduce global warming by making simple lifestyle changes such as switching to a renewable electricity company and improving the energy efficiency of your house. www.good-energy.co.uk; www.est.org.uk

* Choose an environmentally aware resort. By supporting resorts that take their environmental responsibilities seriously, you're sending out a powerful message to the winter sports industry. www.respectthemountain.com; www.skiareacitizens.com

* Use local public transport. Help cut local pollution and congestion in Alpine valleys by not hiring a car. Resorts often offer tourists free rides on local buses and trains.

* Keep litter off the slopes. At high altitude orange peel can take up to two years to break down and cigarette butts up to five. Use recycling facilities. If there aren't any, ask why not.

* Offset your carbon emissions. If you choose to fly then reduce the environmental damage by offsetting the CO2 emissions. www.climatecare.org

* Consider another winter sport. Ski touring, cross country skiing and snow-shoeing are all great winter activities which crucially have minimal environmental impact. www.responsibletravel.com

* Encourage environmental responsibility within the winter sports industry. Ask your tour operator if they have a written environmental policy; if they don't, ask why not.

* Respect the mountain habitat and wildlife. Off-piste skiing and boarding can cause massive disturbance to local wildlife. Find out the best places to go to minimise impact.

* Choose a small resort. Larger resorts such as those in the Trois Valles in France have the financial clout to build higher into ecologically sensitive areas. Smaller resorts such as Bad Ragaz in Switzerland cannot afford to expand up the mountain.

Posted by: otto lang at February 6, 2006 10:49 PM

70

Otto Lang, 1908-2006: Northwest icon founded first ski school at Mount Rainier

Rest in peace, Otto.
Let the road rise up to meet you.
We have 5 boats and not one of them has a motor.

Posted by: Jeanne at February 6, 2006 10:57 PM

71

Great article over at Truthout by Ray McGovern about the escalating rhetoric and actions of the Bush administration towards Iran.

The article is called "Juggernaut gathering momentume, headed for Iran" Feb 6.

CAN YOU BELIEVE THE SAME FORMULA IS WORKING

1. MAKE CLAIMS ABOUT A COUNTRY THAT YOU CAN NOT BACK UP WITH SOLID EVIDENCE

2. CREATE A PARALLEL PATH FOR STEPS THAT YOU NEED TO TAKE. BOLTON HAS SUPPOSEDLY SET UP A "LEGAL" WAY FOR THE U.S. TO TAKE ACTION WITHOUT THE U.N'S APPROVAL. YOU KNOW JUST IN CASE THESE CRIMINALS ARE EVER HUNTED DOWN FOR CRIMES AGAINST HUMANITY.

BOLTON WILL TRUMP THE UN'S PROCESS AND THE IAEA ONCE AGAIN.

3. THE MAINSTREAM AND MOST OF THE ALTERNATIVE PRESS HAVE NOT EVEN ASKED THE QUESTION "WHERE IS THE HARD EVIDENCE?"

4. The press is not asking the logical questions ...the american people stay fast asleep.

deja vu

Posted by: kathleen at February 6, 2006 11:05 PM

72

Kathleen,
I don't understand the march toward war. This administration is driven to distruction. Why? How big or small is this band of devils who take the rest of the world down the path of sorrow? It needs to end.
This is insane.

Posted by: Jeanne at February 6, 2006 11:19 PM

73

The medicare bill that was passed is another bait and switch tactic by the Nazis. How much longer are going to give the Nazis the benefit of doubt? Please don't let the Nazis screw up your mind endlessly.

Posted by: Gerald at February 6, 2006 11:29 PM

74

Connecting the Dots

When I talk about dots, I am talking about articles that we read, life experiences, life events in our daily lives, perceptions, etc. As we connect the dots, we can give some kind of opinions.

Let me start by giving you a recent example. I read the article, "Preaching pacifism is not a crime." After reading this article you can sense that the Nazi American government wants to take away free speech. The government does not want us to be pacifists and to show love and mercy. Our government wants for us to accept and develop aggression, intolerance, and hatred. From this development we will readily accept murder, torture, and wars as a way of life.

Reflecting on the article in more detail I recalled Veronica's glimpse of hell that Our Lady revealed to her. I remember Veronica saying that the souls were falling like raindrops. As the souls were falling, they were screaming help mercy, mercy, too late, too late.

As I recalled these words, I felt that Americans were actually living under Bush and his cabal in a living, natural hell. Our bodies are in hell under Bush. Veronica's glimpse of hell is the supernatural hell that our souls enter if we are not prepared to meet our Creator.

As we connect the dots from these two examples to the numerous experiences in our lives, we will conclude that Nazi America is a living, natural hell with evil and vile people who have a depraved indifference to our lives, freedoms, and rights. We know the names in Bush's cabal but we also have to contend with political ideologues, like Dobson, Falwell, Robertson, and Franklin Graham. They profess to be religious leaders but they are really ideologues with a political agenda that is leading Americans into a supernatural hell.

As more and more dots are connected, we will see that Nazi America is a pit stop before we enter a supernatural hell because the American experiences are that we learn to hate, to murder, to torture, and to gravitate to endless wars. These learned experiences, as Americans, are the appropriate preparation for our everlasting placement in a supernatural hell.

Posted by: Gerald at February 6, 2006 11:38 PM

75

My money is on Fitz. He's got the goods to prove the case - if he didn't he wouldn't have indicted - and he never quits. He plays to win and he's driven by a sense of responsibility rooted in principle. He believes in a nation of laws in a world where there is what's right and what's wrong.

I think Fitz tries the case and gets a conviction (and Rove may even become a defendent in the interim.) Then W will pardon them and Fitz will resign his commision silently in disgust of a corrupt administration.

Posted by: Neil at February 6, 2006 11:40 PM

76

American Soldiers

More American soldiers are killed in the Middle East.

2,515 American soldiers have been killed in Iraq and Afghanistan for Bush and his evil lies.

Military men are just dumb stupid animals to be used as pawns in foreign policy. Henry Kissinger

G.K. Chesterton said, "Jesus speaks sanity to a world of lunatics."

Before you seek revenge, dig two graves. Confucius

When an illegal war is launched, EVERY person killed and injured, EVERY piece of property destroyed, and all environmental damage is a WAR CRIME. A war without borders and limits is a perpetual war. This war of aggression proliferates terrorism in proportion to its reckless widening, making the world ever more dangerous. TCR News

Contamination

Linda Schrock Taylor says, "When God means to punish a nation, He deprives its rulers of wisdom."

Hitler Bush and the Nazi cabal will prowl the world seeking endless wars. With endless wars and depleted uranium the Nazi States of America will contaminate people, land, air, and water. In time our entire world will become contaminated through the use of depleted uranium in fighting our endless wars.

The Nazi States of America is an evil nation.

Posted by: Gerald at February 6, 2006 11:46 PM

77

Jeanne the most amazing thing is the american press continues to roll over and the american people are asleep...as we march once again towards air strikes in Iran.

The plans are lined up for the public to read at the PROJECT FOR A NEW AMERICAN CENTURY AND THE DOCUMENT "A CLEAN BREAK A NEW STRATEGY FOR SECURING THE REALM".

Our representatives have allowed the same individuals who "cakewalked" us into Iraq continue to beat the war drums and focused the american public's attention on Iran.

OUR ARE MEMORIES THAT SHORT...ARE WE THAT STUPID....


--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

US senator calls for UN sanctions on Iran

By Evelyn Leopold

New York - A leading American senator told the Security Council on Monday to impose sanctions on Iran if it does not comply with United Nations resolutions and arms pacts, warning that failure to do so would increase the chances of a military confrontation.

"If Iran does not comply with UN resolutions and arms agreements, the Security Council must apply strict and enforceable sanctions," Senator Richard Lugar, chairperson of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee told the 15-member council.

"Failure to do so will severely damage the credibility of a painstaking diplomatic approach and call into question the world's commitment to controlling the spread of nuclear weapons," said the Indiana Republican.

"The precedent of inaction in this case, would greatly increase the chances of military conflict and could set off regional arms races."

Iran vowed to resume its uranium enrichment program after the International Atomic Energy Agency voted on Saturday to report it to the Security Council, which can impose sanctions.

The enrichment process can be used to make bomb-grade material but Iran says it is seeking only to enhance its electrical power generation.

The Security Council is deeply divided on the issue with China having made clear it opposes sanctions "in principle".

On Monday its UN ambassador, Wang Guangya, stressed that the dialogue with Iran needs to continue.

"I think that even with the adoption of this IAEA resolution, it is the belief of most members that a diplomatic solution is the way out within the framework of the IAEA," Wang told reporters.

Lugar, accompanied by Republican Sens. Norm Coleman of Minnesota and George Voinovich of Ohio, was invited to address the Security Council on UN reform, the world energy crisis and the dangers of arms proliferation by US Ambassador John Bolton, this month's council president.

Lugar said that last year he surveyed 85 top international proliferation and arms control experts about the prospects for averting attacks with weapons of mass destruction. The group estimated that the risk of a nuclear attack somewhere in the world in the next five years was 16 percent.

"When the time frame was extended to 10 years, the average response almost doubled to more than 29 percent," he said.

Lugar urged a decisive international response to nations that violate the Nuclear Nonproliferation Treaty and other arms accords.

"In the field of nonproliferation, decisions delayed over the course of months and years may be as harmful as no decisions at all," Lugar said.

He was asked by reporters later about talk of possible Israeli military strikes against Iran.

"The United States does not favour Israeli strikes (and) is not speaking favourably about such an issue," he responded.

Published on the Web by IOL on 2006-02-06 23:33:01

Posted by: kathleen at February 6, 2006 11:54 PM

78

RICHARD PERLE, one of the architects of the Iraq war, says that we cannot wait to attack Iran. He is right because if we wait the American people will come to realize that Iran is not a threat to us.

Bush wants to attack Iran so bad that he is salivating endlessly in his WH nuclear bunker.

Nazi America has many, many cold blooded murderers.

Posted by: Gerald at February 7, 2006 12:06 AM

79

Late night prediction...

Warrantless "Terrorist Tracking" Finds Yemeni Al CIA-duh escapees...PROGRAM VINDICATED!!!

Something big goes BOOM! Spineless Dems and RINO's take a beating for being "soft on terror" just to preserve a few "precious civil liberties"!

Yemen's been CIA controlled since Bubba was bombing aspirin factories. Do we REALLY believe those PRISNR's 'R US were left to tunnel out undetected? Bang the war drums, bang out the fear, bring out the gieger counters, Desert (Nuclear) Winter is NEAR!!!

One other note regarding the Tijuanna/Chulavista "Chunnel"...

I thought (us) dopers were supposed to be worthless as workers...I was envisioning Cheech and Chong just diggin' away with those little, pink plastic "free sample" spoons from Baskin-Robbins! Raise the FEAR flags and bang on the War Drums! Mamhoud Atta's little brother is cummin' to GETCHA and he's crawlin' his way through a DOPE tunnel to do it!


And its ONE TWO THREE...what're they DYIN' FOR? Don't ask ME I don't give a DAMN! It is YOUR sons and daughters are war-slaves of UNCLE SAM!!!


And then we'll start some Muslim riots to show what inhuman beasts these "diaper heads" who can't take a joke be. Why next them "sand niggers'll" be be burnin' down the embassies in the sacred slimy heart of Washington, DC!

Maybe somewhere, someday soon, something really BIG'll go BOOM! and there'll be a rising cloudy mushroom.

And then they'll say...Einstein begat Oppenheimer begat Truman begat Enola Gay begat more and bigger and better babies are on the way, Boys!

(The Missles are Flyin' Boys! Halleluia!, Boys, Hallelujah!)

A crazy chain-reaction on a crazy train with a crazy conductor's unseen hand switchin' the tracks, clickity clacks like a million rifles locked and loaded and pointed at child holding a dove in the center of circle...."PULL!"

Posted by: Hajji at February 7, 2006 12:08 AM

80

THE REASON WHY BUSH DOES NOT LISTEN TO AMERICANS IS BECAUSE OUR ELECTIONS ARE RIGGED AND HE HAS NO FEAR OF EVER LOSING THE WH, CONGRESS, AND THE SUPREME COURT.

Posted by: Gerald at February 7, 2006 12:11 AM

Posted by: Gerald at February 7, 2006 12:18 AM

82

Whew! I'm glad I got that out of my system...

So how's everybody doin? And ATTENTION WEB WIZARDS!!! Somebody's started up that postin' porno links at the end of old threads, again, only a couple daze after I mentioned it!

I'm sorry if I gave an old pervert Troll a reason to start it up again, but hell, with the words "make a dead man cum" all over it, half of half of half of half the country thinks it was all pornographic to begin with!

WhiteHorse Scotch, ice, fireplace book, fire...

G'nite!

-T

Posted by: Hajji at February 7, 2006 12:19 AM

83

The Nuclear War with Iran Is Imminent

This war is a prelude for Bush to suspend the 2006 elections. He is preparing for the big suspension in 2008. Finally, the world will know Nazi America as a murdering nation, a Godless nation.

Posted by: Gerald at February 7, 2006 01:18 AM

84

Follwing Orders

Colin Powell is still a Nazi.

Posted by: Gerald at February 7, 2006 01:22 AM

85

FEMA CONCENTRATION CAMPS: Locations and Executive Orders

There over 800 prison camps in the United States, all fully operational and ready to receive prisoners. They are all staffed and even surrounded by full-time guards, but they are all empty. These camps are to be operated by FEMA (Federal Emergency Management Agency) should Martial Law need to be implemented in the United States and all it would take is a presidential signature on a proclamation and the attorney general's signature on a warrant to which a list of names is attached. Ask yourself if you really want to be on Ashcroft's list.
The Rex 84 Program was established on the reasoning that if a "mass exodus" of illegal aliens crossed the Mexican/US border, they would be quickly rounded up and detained in detention centers by FEMA. Rex 84 allowed many military bases to be closed down and to be turned into prisons.

Executive Orders associated with FEMA that would suspend the Constitution and the Bill of Rights. These Executive Orders have been on record for nearly 30 years and could be enacted by the stroke of a Presidential pen:...

EXECUTIVE ORDER 10990

allows the government to take over all modes of transportation and control of highways and seaports.

EXECUTIVE ORDER 10995

allows the government to seize and control the communication media.

EXECUTIVE ORDER 10997

allows the government to take over all electrical power, gas, petroleum, fuels and minerals.

EXECUTIVE ORDER 10998

allows the government to seize all means of transportation, including personal cars, trucks or vehicles of any kind and total control over all highways, seaports, and waterways.

EXECUTIVE ORDER 10999

allows the government to take over all food resources and farms.

EXECUTIVE ORDER 11000

allows the government to mobilize civilians into work brigades under government supervision.

EXECUTIVE ORDER 11001

allows the government to take over all health, education and welfare functions.
--------------
Orders issued for the past 30 years. There are 12 more I didn't list. This is not a sudden developement, this has been in the works since Carter was president. While we are busy worrying about Plame and abramoff, they are busy preparing to end all dissent.

Posted by: Saladin at February 7, 2006 01:24 AM

86

U.S. Preparing to Start WW III

It's time for a nuclear holocaust!

Posted by: Gerald at February 7, 2006 01:29 AM

87

When will we realize that we are enslaved to endless murders in Nazi America and throughout the world?

Posted by: Gerald at February 7, 2006 01:33 AM

88

GLORIOUS ARMAGEDDON WILL SOON BE UPON US!!!

Posted by: Gerald at February 7, 2006 01:35 AM

89

THE END TIME AND THE RAPTURE ARE NEAR!!!

Posted by: Gerald at February 7, 2006 01:37 AM

90

BUSH CAVES INTO THE FUNDIES AND THE EVANS TO END THE WORLD THROUGH A NUCLEAR HOLOCAUST!!!

Posted by: Gerald at February 7, 2006 01:39 AM

91

Excitement builds as to the possibility of dismemberment of human body parts all over the world!!!

Posted by: Gerald at February 7, 2006 01:41 AM

92

Pajamaline

Quite the nice group you've thrown in with, David. Your mother would be proud. Is the pay worth it, Mr. Colmes?

Posted by: DrLaniac at February 7, 2006 02:09 AM

93

In order to provide you with your daily recommended allowance of Reactionary baloney, I've decided to take the issues on from their side of the fence today.
===+===

Judas Priest! i have had it up to here with all your liberal caterwauling. You guys have no new ideas, no spine and no understanding of the inner workings of the genius that is George W. Bush. In case you didn't know, the 11th Amendment to the Constitution says that if you cross your fingers when you authorize a wiretap, you really aren't breaking the law. And if the Attorney Gennral sez that it's Okely-dokely to tap the phones of every member of congress, then it ain't against the law. His statement allows the President to Pardon himself!

Just ask Rich Lowry. He's a REAL Republican. He believes that you cheese eaters are trying to have it both ways. You want the Government to spy on the terrorists AND do it Legally. That sounds like a French proposition if ever I heard one.

And speaking of the Euroweenie French, Pat Buchanan allows us a peek at his inner-Frenchman when he says:
"Having plunged us into an unnecessary war, Bush now confronts the real possibility of strategic defeat and a failed presidency. His victory in Iraq, like the wars of Wilson and FDR, has turned to ashes in our mouths. And like Truman's war in Korea and Kennedy's war in Vietnam, Bush's war has left America divided and her people regretting he ever led us in. But unlike the world wars, Korea and Vietnam, Bush cannot claim the enemy attacked us and we had no choice. Iraq is Bush's war. Isolationists had nothing to do with it. To a man and woman, they opposed it.

"Now, with an army bogged down in Afghanistan and another slowly exiting Iraq, and no end in sight to either, Bush seeks to counter critics who warned him not to go in by associating them with the demonized and supposedly discredited patriots of the America First movement of 1940-41. His assault is not only non-credible, it borders on the desperate and pathetic.

Not to worry. Conservative hero WIlliam F. Buckley has the President's back. Talking about Hamas the terrorists now in power and the democratization of the Middle East in general, he says:
It's wrong to assume that the mere creation of democracy will bring reasonable conduct. But it is always correct that the burden of ruling imposes restraints."

Yeah, we all know how that worked out for the Taliban, right? It settled 'em right down into the kind of Jeffersonian Democracists that we all know and love.

We Conservatives need all the backing we can get because the NSA hearings on Terrorist spying is getting me all down and shit. First, I hear that Meskin Alberto Gonzales say that he don't know about any other President who has spied on AMericans without a warrant. I always heard that President Clinton (ptew) and President CArter (aaaach-ptew) broke the law, er, I mean spied on folks without a warrant.

Then Lindsay Graham gets all uppity and shit and tells the Attorney Gennral:
"All I’m saying is the inherent authority argument in its application to me seems to have no boundaries when it comes to executive decisions in a time of war, it deals the Congress and courts out, Mr. Attorney General."

Well, shuh, of course the President has absolute power in times of war. WEll, unless he's a Democrat.

And all these armchair cowboys from previous administrations just need to STFU, seriously. Reagan Justice Department veteran Bruce Fein says:
“[I]f the president is unwilling to delineate anything that is out of bounds no matter what Congress says, you are establishing a principle of ‘trust me’ as a measure of our civil liberties – and at that point you do have to start talking about impeachment.”

As if my Republican congressman is going to impeach Dear Leader.

I just wish we had a real AG like John Ashcroft who would defend the spy program ... because Alberto Gonzales just ain't cutting it:
SPECTER: I don’t think you can use principle of avoiding a tough constitutional conflict by disagreeing with the plain words of the statute. Attorney General Gonzales, when members of Congress heard about your contention that the resolution authorizing the use of force amended the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act there was general shock.
GONZALES: We’ve never asserted that FISA has been amended. We’ve always asserted that our interpretation of FISA, which contemplates another statute and we have that here in the authorization to use force, those complement each other. this is not a situation where FISA has been overwritten or FISA has been amended. That’s never been our position.
SPECTER: That just defies logic and plain English.

We need help, and soon.

Posted by: Pandemoniac at February 7, 2006 06:48 AM

94

Bush's I-Spy Lie

What's at stake in this week's congressional hearings on spying is nothing less than whether Congress has any meaningful role to play in our system of government.


In June 2002 -- months after the president ordered eavesdropping to be conducted without FISA warrants -- senators from both parties introduced legislation to liberalize FISA and expand the administration's eavesdropping powers. Sens. Michael DeWine, R-Ohio, Charles Schumer, D-N.Y. and John Kyl, R-Ariz., introduced FISA amendments and, in hearings before the Senate Intelligence Committee, they repeatedly expressed the belief that amendments to FISA were necessary for fighting terrorism.

The fact that the Senate Intelligence Committee held the 2002 hearings on possible FISA amendments proves that the committee members were unaware that the administrati