 |
||||
|
|
July 10, 2006CIA vs Congress vs White House: Who To Root For?From my "Capital Games" column at www.thenation.com.... It's hard to know who to root for in the continuing scuffles between the Republican Congress, the White House and the CIA over the intelligence agency. The latest round--actually, it's a postdated tussle--was triggered by a May 18, 2006 letter that Representative Peter Hoekstra, the Republican chairman of the House intelligence committee, sent to George W. Bush raising protests on three fronts: recent appointments at the CIA, the new Director of National Intelligence office, and the White House's failure to brief Congress about certain covert programs, which Hoekstra didn't name in his letter. (The letter was first disclosed by The New York Times on July 9.) It was easy for some to see Hoekstra as a heroic reformer challenging secret government. Truthdig.org named Hoekstra the "Truthdigger of the Week." But the spy wars of Washington are not linear affairs and the battle lines murky. Is the CIA a rotting institution that failed prior to 9/11 and then provided Bush flawed intelligence to justify an invasion of Iraq? Or is it a bastion of risk-averse conventionalists who have undermined Bush's ambitious, forward-looking national security agenda (which includes the Iraq war)? The CIA has been getting it from the left and the right in recent years. And it's unclear whether the top tier of the agency ought to be backed or booted. When Porter Goss, a Republican who preceded Hoekstra as chairman of the House intelligence committee, was CIA director, he placed his political aides in charge of the agency, and the career officers rebelled. Several of the most experienced CIA veterans--including Stephen Kappes, the director of operations, resigned rather than deal with the Goss crew. The CIA people viewed the Goss gang as hacks motivated by political concerns; Goss and his allies saw the CIA career leadership as bureaucrats resistant to change. (Goss resigned as CIA chief in May; he was replaced by General Michael Hayden, who, as the National Security Agency chief, was a longtime intelligence professional.) Enter Hoekstra and his letter. What received the most attention was his charge that his committee had not been briefed about "some alleged Intelligence Community activities." He added, "If these allegations are true, they may represent a breach of responsibility by the Administration, a violation of law, and, just as importantly, a direct affront to me and the Members o this committee." Hoekstra did not say what secrets the White House had been keeping from him. Open-government fans cheered Hoekstra's pointed reminder to Bush: the law says you cannot run covert programs on your own without telling Congress. And on Fox News Sunday, the day his letter was disclosed, Hoekstra said his letter had done the trick and that subsequently he was briefed about this intelligence activity--which he still would not identify. (Hoekstra is not much of a maverick; he has not rushed to hold public hearings on such matters as the controversial and arguably illegal NSA domestic wiretapping program.) Another point Hoekstra made in his letter was important. He expressed his concern that the new DNI office has become a "large, bureaucratic, and hierarchical structure." If there was a need for a DNI--which supposedly is supposed to coordinate the various intelligence agencies of the US government, including the CIA--there was no reason to create another intelligence bureaucracy. The intelligence community would benefit more from streamlining than from an expanding management. So score Hoekstra another point here. But the first topic Hoekstra raised in his letter shows he can be loopy. Hoekstra voiced his displeasure over the selection of Hayden, an Air Force general, to be the CIA director, noting that he wanted a civilian to head a civilian agency. But what really ticked him off was the selection of Kappes to be the new number-two at the agency. Bringing back Kappes, Hoekstra wrote, would lead to "political problems" at the agency. What did Hoekstra mean by this? He explained: "I have been long concerned that a strong and well-positioned group within the Agency intentionally undermined the Administration and its policies. This argument is supported by the Ambassador Wilson/Valerie Plame events, as well as by the string of unauthorized disclosures from an organization that prides itself with being able to keep secrets." Kappes, he added, is part of this group. Hoekstra didn't spell it out in his note. But what he was saying was that he believed a CIA cabal has tried to undercut Bush regarding the war in Iraq--that CIA officials opposed to the war plotted against the president and sought to undercut his case for war by leaking stories indicating that the intelligence cited by Bush and his aides on Iraq's WMDs and purported connections to al Qaeda was not that strong. (Joe Wilson's trip to Niger and subsequent op-ed piece declaring there had been nothing to the charge Iraq was seeking uranium there, the rightwing theory goes, was part of a deliberate CIA conspiracy against the White House.) Hoekstra also is probably thinking of the leaks about CIA secret prisons and the agency's clandestine renditions of detainees to nations where abusive interrogation occurs. So Hoekstra appears to be of the belief that the problem was not that Bush used flawed WMD intelligence to take the nation to war but that CIA leakers disclosed the flaws of the intelligence. This is a tad alarming, for every post-invasion review of the intelligence--including one conducted by Hoekstra's own committee--found that the intelligence community was dead wrong on WMDs. A Senate intelligence committee review also concluded the CIA had been right to conclude there was no strong evidence that al Qaeda and Saddam Hussein were in cahoots. Hoekstra should realize that the important issue is not the leaks (which were true) but the misuse of the intelligence. But Hoekstra still believes in Iraq's WMDs. Last month, he joined with Republican Senator Rick Santorum to hype a 2003 Defense Department report that noted that about 500 weapons containing degrade mustard gas or sarin nerve agent had been found in Iraq. These weapons, though, were manufactured before the first Gulf War and were not evidence that Saddam Hussen had maintained a WMD program in the years before the invasion. A senior Pentagon official, quoted by Fox News, said that these weapons were not useable. "This does not reflect a capacity that was built up after 1991," he said, noting the munitions "are not the WMDs this country and the rest of the world believed Iraq had, and not the WMDs for which this country went to war." Yet Hoekstra and Santorum made it seem this discovery was significant. Hoekstra promised further investigation. "We are going to put additional pressure on the Department of Defense and the folks in Iraq to more fully pursue a complete investigation of what existed in Iraq before the war," he said. Let's recap: Hoekstra was mad at Bush for keeping him out of the loop, and he warned the president about expanding the bloated intelligence capability. But he thinks the CIA is laced with politically-minded plotters who hold unfounded beliefs (such as there were no operational links between Saddam and Osama bin Laden) and who are working to thwart the national security policies of the nation. In Washington's version of Spy Verus Spy, it can be difficult to know which--if any--side to cheer. Posted by David Corn at July 10, 2006 03:48 PM | ||
Comments
Mr. David Corn,
Loopy! HA!
Good one!
Thanks for all of your work and your insight.
Kirk
Posted by: capt at July 10, 2006 04:00 PM
Who to root for? Without any specific order we have the axis of three evils in Washington, D.C. One is a john; one is a pimp; and one is a prostitute. To tell you the truth I do not know who to root for. Anyway you look at it, you are going to end up with the clap.
Posted by: Gerald at July 10, 2006 04:05 PM
The letter which Hoekstra sent to W., was not suppoised to be made public, as I understand it. Therefore, Hoekstra is not a truthdigger - rather, he comes across as a slighted politician.
The degraded weapons that were found were exactly as Scott Ritter described might be found, even as he urged restraint before the military incursion, although the activities in the no-fly zone had never really stopped and were increasing well before the actual start of "Shocking and Awful."
Posted by: Robert Schwartz at July 10, 2006 04:07 PM
Still we debate the war, what led us to it, all the fouled up intelligence reports but here we are, up to our eyeballs in an unjust war with no end insight.
Bush says other people will have to clean up the huge mess he and his cohorts created, still daily our troops die. Meanwhile we debate this and debate that.
Anyone willing to stick his neck in the rove noose will be dealt with sternly, including Hoekstra.
Meanwhile our troops die, Iraqis die, our Constitution dies, our country dies.
Posted by: DEN at July 10, 2006 04:07 PM
In Washington's version of Spy Verus Spy, it can be difficult to know which--if any--side to cheer.
We shouldn't have to pick sides when it comes to national security. The left has made it impossible to find a common ground. The only time we had a common ground was right after 9/11 when the left was forced to keep there mouths shut for once by the American public. Unfortunately, that didn't last long. Phony patriotism is just to much for the left to stomach.
Posted by: LBH at July 10, 2006 04:15 PM
Supreme Court's Ruling in Hamdan Means Warrantless Eavesdropping is Clearly Illegal
Ever since the Supreme Court in the Hamdan case ruled that the Bush administration's Guantanamo Bay military commissions violate both federal law and the Geneva Conventions, the President has been paying lip service to his "willingness" to comply with that ruling. But the Court's ruling goes far beyond the limited question of whether military commissions are legal. To arrive at its decision, the Court emphatically rejected the administration's radical theories of executive power, and in doing so, rendered entirely discredited the administration's only defenses for eavesdropping on Americans without the warrants required by law.
Actual compliance with the Court's ruling, then, compels the administration to immediately cease eavesdropping on Americans in violation of FISA. If the administration continues these programs now, then they are openly defying the Court and the law with a brazeness and contempt for the rule of law that would be unprecedented even for them.
The starting point for any discussion of the illegal eavesdropping program should be the fact that the United States has had a law in place for almost 30 years now which makes it a criminal offense punishable by 5 years in prison and a $10,000 fine to eavesdrop on Americans without judicial approval and oversight. And everyone, including the Bush administration, acknowledges that they are doing exactly what the criminal prohibits that is, eavesdropping on Americans without the warrants required by that law.
More HERE
*****end of clip*****
Time for an impeachment?
capt
Posted by: capt at July 10, 2006 04:16 PM
Time for an impeachment? - Capt.
I'd say that would be an impeach which has become ripe...
Posted by: Robert Schwartz at July 10, 2006 04:19 PM
micki, from the previous blog, I linked an article on the possibility of Hitler Bush being prosecuted for war crimes. The reason why Hitler Bush and his evil cabal are working so hard to have another 911 on Nazi American soil is to declare martial law and cancel the 2008 elections. THERE WILL BE NO 2008 ELECTION. Hitler Bush has worked hard to bring the Nazi Americans to their knees and he will not let them up. Unfolding before our eyes is a banana republic dictatorship. More misery, pain, and suffering are ahead for Nazi Americans.
Posted by: Gerald at July 10, 2006 04:20 PM
#3 Robert Schwartz, egomaniacs make up the Congress, the Presidency, and the Supreme Court.
#4 den, good post and thoughts!
Posted by: Gerald at July 10, 2006 04:25 PM
The Fleeting Lights of Freedom
Posted by: Gerald at July 10, 2006 04:41 PM
"Hoekstra should realize that the important issue is not the leaks (which were true) but the misuse of the intelligence.
"But Hoekstra still believes in Iraq's WMDs. Last month, he joined with Republican Senator Rick Santorum to hype a 2003 Defense Department report that noted that about 500 weapons containing degrade mustard gas or sarin nerve agent had been found in Iraq.
Hoekstra is a charter member of the faith-based intelligence movement. That is, he has faith that with enough pressure applied, the intelligence community will align itself with administration policy.
Posted by: C.Weizle at July 10, 2006 04:42 PM
"In Washington's version of Spy Verus Spy, it can be difficult to know which--if any--side to cheer."
Not for me but you obviously have your doubts. That's good LBH, questioning is good.
Posted by: O'Reilly at July 10, 2006 04:45 PM
"faith-based intelligence movement"
You made me snort!
HA!
capt
Posted by: capt at July 10, 2006 04:46 PM
From Fleeting Lights of Freedom -
So there was rich irony in seeing their malevolent system chastised by Stevens Рa conservative (in the old sense) Republican whose 1975 appointment by President Gerald Ford was certainly handled by Ford's powerful chief of staff: an ambitious apparatchik named Dick Cheney. And the Stevens decision would indeed be a landmark ruling, a return to sanity - if we were still in an era where the institutions of American government and society were actually functional, and office-holders felt bound by law. But if there is no political will in the American establishment to enforce the ruling - to make it mean what it manifestly says - then it will be nothing more than a pretty ornament for the Republic's coffin.
The Hamdan ruling is only a pretty ornament for the Republic's coffin.
Posted by: Gerald at July 10, 2006 04:48 PM
cia v congress v whitehouse in a no-holds-barred cage match battle royale for the championship lapel-pin! morons.
----------
Lovely to watch how people like Cheney, and the minions who support his ilk, conveniently forget that there was no terrorism in Iraq prior to the US invasion/occupation. And one must love his "logic." For according to Cheney, "whether we complete the job or not in Iraq" his beloved "terrorism" will "continue" ... "only it'll get worse."
And of course, let's not forget: war without end can be very profitable for folks like Haliburton.
--------
incompetent bumbling! (all the way to the bank)
Posted by: spy on this! at July 10, 2006 04:51 PM
Fear as a Weapon
How the Bush administration got away with its abuses of power
[The following essay is exerpted from How Would a Patriot Act? by Glenn Greenwald (Working Assets Publishing). The book, a bona fide publishing phenomenon, was developed, written, edited, published, and distributed in three months, and made the New York Times bestseller list earlier this summer.]
In one sense, it is difficult to understand how the Bush administration has been able to embrace such radical theories of executive power, and to engage in such recognizably un-American conduct first in the shadows and now quite openly without prompting a far more intense backlash from the country than we have seen. It is true that the president's approval ratings have sunk to new lows in 2004 and 2005. The broad and bipartisan support he commanded for the two years after the 9/11 attacks has vanished almost completely. And yet, despite all of the public opinion trends and the president's steadily declining popularity, there has been no resounding public rejection of the administration's claim to virtually limitless executive power and its systematic violations of the nation's laws.
That is because the Bush administration has in its arsenal one very potent weapon and one weapon only which it has repeatedly used: fear. Ever since September 11, 2001, Americans have been bombarded with warnings, with color-coded "alerts," with talk of mushroom clouds and nefarious plots to blow up bridges and tall buildings, with villains assigned cartoon names such as "dirty bomber," "Dr.Germ," and so on. And there has been a constant barrage from the White House of impending threats that generate fear fear of terrorism, fear of more 9/11 style attacks, fear of nuclear annihilation, fear of our ports being attacked, fear of our water systems being poisoned and, of course, fear of excessive civil liberties or cumbersome laws jeopardizing our "homeland security."
More HERE
*****end of clip*****
Should be required reading for every citizen.
The clip does not do justice to the piece and the piece does not do justice to the book. Still a do not miss.
capt
Posted by: capt at July 10, 2006 04:54 PM
Our American Future
May Nazi America rest in torment!!!
Posted by: Gerald at July 10, 2006 04:55 PM
Who not to root for:
Anyone associated with the Negroponte team from the USS Honduras, or with the School of the Americas...
Posted by: Robert Schwartz at July 10, 2006 04:57 PM
Phony patriotism is just to much for the left to stomach.
Very well summed up.
For once, I agree with LBH.
Posted by: TurdBlossom at July 10, 2006 04:58 PM
On The NewsHour
Deadly Days
Iraqi Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki pleaded for unity Monday after an escalation of attacks over the weekend. NewsHour Correspondent Spencer Michels reports on the surge of death and violence in Baghdad. Then, Margaret Warner speaks with two guests who visited the Iraqi capital last month: Phebe Marr, a senior fellow at the United States Institute of Peace, who is currently finishing a major study of the new Sunni and Shia leadership in Iraq; and, Trudy Rubin, a foreign affairs columnist for the Philadelphia Inquirer who has been to Iraq six times since the March 2003 invasion.
Eyes On The Cup
U.S. interest in soccer perked up during this year's World Cup tournament. Ray Suarez reports on the World Cup and the reactions of Americans to soccer. Then, Suarez speaks with Frank Deford, senior writer for Sports Illustrated, a commentator for National Public Radio, and a regular correspondent on HBO's Real Sports with Bryant Gumbel; and, Lynn Berling-Manuel, publisher of Soccer America Magazine, a twice monthly publication dedicated to U.S. and international soccer.
Posted by: O'Reilly at July 10, 2006 04:59 PM
Enough is enough. Had Enough? To much is too much. Had enough?
Posted by: O'Reilly at July 10, 2006 05:01 PM
Iraq to ask UN to end U.S. immunity after rape case
BAGHDAD (Reuters) - Iraq will ask the United Nations to end immunity from local law for U.S. troops, the human rights minister said on Monday, as the military named five soldiers charged in a rape-murder case that has outraged Iraqis.
In an interview a week after Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki demanded a review of foreign troops' immunity, Wigdan Michael said work on it was now under way and a request could be ready by next month to go to the U.N. Security Council, under whose mandate U.S.-led forces are in control of Iraq.
"We're very serious about this," she said, blaming a lack of enforcement of U.S. military law in the past for encouraging soldiers to commit crimes against Iraqi civilians, such as the alleged rape and murder of a teenager and killing of her family.
"We formed a committee last week to prepare reports and put it before the cabinet in three weeks. After that, Maliki will present it to the Security Council. We will ask them to lift the immunity," Michael said. "If we don't get that, then we'll ask for an effective role in the investigations that are going on.
"The Iraqi government must have a role."
More HERE
*****end of clip*****
Interesting tact. I am sure there is no risk it will happen but it will serve as ammunition when the tell us to go home.
capt
Posted by: capt at July 10, 2006 05:05 PM
I don't see what's so difficult here. CIA's info on WMD amounted to "we really don't know for sure." Bush turned this into "we know for sure". The Joe Wilson story is just one example of this. The CIA's information was incomplete, as one might expect under the circumstances, but not "flawed." George Tenet shouldn't have made his "slam-dunk" comment but he is a political hack, not a real CIA agent trying to root out evil. The agents doing the hard work must be very frustrated that Bushco cherrypicks and twists their inte, and then blames them (with the support of the GOP-led Congress) when the truth is revealed. The WH contempt for CIA is so strong that they placed covert agents in jeopardy to fulfill political aims, and CIA can not say anything to defend itself in the media. The frustration level of CIA rank-and-file eventually becomes so great that leaking becomes inevitable--and it's the only way we could have ever found out all the horrific things Bushco is up to.
If you equate CIA actions to Bushco actions, you have fallen for the GOP lie hook, line, and sinker.
Posted by: eggman at July 10, 2006 05:17 PM
Phony patriotism is just to much for the left to stomach
Yes, thank you turdblossom! Since we all know that the only lefties that had patriotism after 9/11 were faking it, it's nice to see the real side (flag burners)of lefties for once.
Posted by: LBH at July 10, 2006 05:34 PM
David Corn, pigs root for acorns. Football fans root for... hot dogs? French citizens roots for liberty, fraternity and equality, I've been told. U.S. citizens root for...? Anyway, none of the three you've suggested.
Posted by: David B. Benson at July 10, 2006 05:34 PM
It's even more provokative to wonder: Did Ken
Lay die on his own heart attack ~~or should there
be an autopsy??? Back in 2000, I read many letters
to and from Bush on the internet and they were so
close and it's a well known fact he was the biggest contributer to this regime $$$$$$$$.
If there were to have been a trial (which now there's no chance of one) all that mushy stuff
would have been brought up. Now it can lie with
the deceased. Just wondering, that's all. This
isn't the only death that Bush'es name has been
attached to as wondering.
The Wonderer
Posted by: Mickster at July 10, 2006 05:45 PM
A Republic or an Empire?
Gentle reader, did you know that, in April, President Bush went to Stanford University to speak to the Hoover Institution fellows at the invitation of former Secretary of State George Shultz but was not allowed on campus? The Stanford students got wind of it and blocked Bush's access to the campus. The Hoover fellows had to go to Shultz's home to hear Bush's pitch for war and more war.
A person might think that it would be national news that Stanford University students would not allow the President of the U.S. on campus. It happened to be a day when hundreds of prospective freshmen were on campus with their parents, many of whom joined the demonstration against Bush. I did not hear or read a word about it. Did you? I learned of it from faculty friends in June when I attended Stanford's graduation to witness a relative receive her degree. The June 16 edition of The Stanford Daily reprinted its April 24 report of the episode.
More HERE
*****end of clip*****
Wowser, the MSM must have been too busy with the fake NYT's issue to report something as important as this?
capt
Posted by: capt at July 10, 2006 05:49 PM
Dr. B -- Most Americans ROOT ROOT ROOT FOR THE HOME TEAM no matter how many strikes they have against them!
Now, that's a shame!
Posted by: micki at July 10, 2006 05:51 PM
micki, my home team is not in or near Washington, D.C., but in or near the other Washington. But I don't ROOT for either. That's too close to what pigs do...
Posted by: David B. Benson at July 10, 2006 05:57 PM
We'd better start rootin' for some progress in Iraq.
Things are going from bad to worse...to worst.
Posted by: micki at July 10, 2006 06:03 PM
Ha Ha right wing patriotism. It equates to cowardism. The right is afraid of anyone that isn't in their brain dead camp. Afraid of the IRaqis, ha, afraid of the afghanis, ha. now afraid of the North Koreans, Ha. too bad that patriots are afraid of their own shadow, and can only kick and scream when their fuerher is demeaned by anyone with critical thinking skills. Be afraid, very afraid, too many mericans are afraid of their own shadow, our country has been coverted into a nation of cowards, and zealots. Good job boys, take a great country and ruin it in only six years. Yep, that is progress, keep it up and then enjoy your new lifestyles. Support the troops keep them in Iraq and any other shithole of the world that this idiot thinks threatens his dominion. Yep, afraid of their government and afraid of anything the government says to be afraid of. Good job boys, support your troops, remember war is good business invest your child. Hope all of them come back with their body parts, but if they don't then watch them as the VA doesn't have room for them leave them on the back porch because they will be an embarrasment for the macho cowards spouting those patriotic words. KIll em all and let god sort them out. Good stuff, love war, hate peace. Americans another word for asshole.
Posted by: What the F**k at July 10, 2006 06:17 PM
Poland leader's twin named as PM
Polish President Lech Kaczynski has appointed his twin brother, Jaroslaw, as prime minister, the president's office has said.
It comes shortly after Kazimierz Marcinkiewicz resigned from the post following reports of a rift.
Jaroslaw Kaczynski will have to be approved by parliament before he can take up his duties.
The development will make the Kaczynski brothers the world's only twins to hold the two highest posts in any country.
More HERE
*****end of clip*****
What are the odds?
capt
Posted by: capt at July 10, 2006 06:23 PM
Dairy product tie to having twins
A diet high in dairy products can greatly increase a woman's chances of having twins, research suggests.
A study in the Journal of Reproductive Medicine showed milk drinkers were five times more likely to have twins than women who ate no animal products.
The numbers of twins in the world has increased significantly in the past 30 years, in some countries by over 50%.
Scientists have suggested fertility treatments and women delaying pregnancy can help explain the rise.
But this new research indicates that diet can also play an important part.
More HERE
*****end of clip*****
So it is dairy products? What in dairy products could possibly cause twin births? Seems a very odd connection, eh?
capt
Posted by: capt at July 10, 2006 06:24 PM
Engineered hormone in milk may be linked to twinning
A recent study found that women who consumed dairy products were five times more likely to give birth to twins than vegan women. The study suggested that the use of engineered bovine growth hormone/bovine somatotropin (BGH/BST) to boost milk production in dairy cows may be related to the higher level of twinning. BGH is known to increase twinning in dairy cows. In addition, the rate of human twinning is twice as high in the United States, where BGH is used, as in Britain, where BGH is banned. BGH affects twinning rate by increasing insulin-like growth factor (IGF), a protein produced in the milk of both animals and humans, that promotes ovulation and may help early-stage embryos survive. A separate study found that levels of IGF were 13 percent lower in vegan women than in women who consumed dairy products. Read a press release about the study, which was published in The Journal of Reproductive Medicine.
More HERE
*****end of clip*****
So, this is why the "twinning" phenomenon is only apparent since they dairy industry has been using BGH hormones? I hope everybody has been careful to buy BGH free milk.
capt
Posted by: capt at July 10, 2006 06:25 PM
Man is the only Patriot. He sets himself apart in his own country, under his own flag, and sneers at the other nations, and keeps multitudinous uniformed assassins on hand at heavy expense to grab slices of other people's countries, and keep them from grabbing slices of his. And in the intervals between campaigns he washes the blood of his hands and works for "the universal brotherhood of man"- with his mouth.
- "The Lowest Animal" Mark Twain
*********************************
From a whole page of patriotism quotes by Twain available here, Hear! Hear!
**********************************
More on the Hoekstra letter:
Ya can't unring a bell. Once a law is broken, all the king's horses, and all the king's men can't undo the offense.
Posted by: Robert Schwartz at July 10, 2006 06:41 PM
Hormonal Milk Poses Greater Risks Than Just Twinning -- by Samuel Epstein, M.D.
CHICAGO, June 27 (AScribe Newswire) -- Following is commentary by Samuel S. Epstein, M.D., professor emeritus of environmental and occupational medicine at the University of Illinois at Chicago School of Public Health and Chairman of the Cancer Prevention Coalition. Epstein is author of the new book, "What's in Your Milk?"
As widely covered in the national media, a recent article by Dr. Gary Steinman in The Journal of Reproductive Medicine reported that women drinking milk and eating dairy products from cows injected with Monsanto's genetically engineered growth hormone drug are up to five times more likely to risk giving birth to fraternal twins than non-dairy product vegans.
This news is hardly surprising. Hormonal milk contains up to ten-fold increased levels of the natural Insulin-like Growth Factor, known as IGF, long known to increase ovulation and twinning rates in cows. The hormone also makes cows sick. Monsanto has been forced to admit to 20 toxic veterinary effects on its drug label.
Monsanto has also recently admitted that about one third of dairy cows in the nation are now in herds where the hormone is used.
More HERE
*****end of clip*****
Oh, it's Monsanto and about a third of all dairy cows are effected. No wonder this has not been widely reported. It might hurt dairy farmers AND Monsanto.
capt
Posted by: capt at July 10, 2006 06:46 PM
In the 1980s, the CIA learned to accept Congressional oversight as a key part of the intelligence process. The CIA was not always enthusiastic about having to share info with House and Senate intel committees but came to accept this as the price of doing business. Now, under the disgraceful tenures of Pat Roberts, head of the Senate Intel Committee, and Peter Hoekstra, his House counterpart, the oversight process has been taken hostage by extreme Republican political operatives who are concerned first and foremost with protecting the Bush administration and covering up how the intelligence community was pressured to help cook the books to make the case for going to war in Iraq. - Larry Johnson
Posted by: Robert Schwartz at July 10, 2006 06:47 PM
Love those Twain quotes!
Thanks
capt
Posted by: capt at July 10, 2006 06:47 PM
Milk, more than just a mustache...
Posted by: Robert Schwartz at July 10, 2006 06:50 PM
how propaganda works and how to counter it
Trapped in the Wrong Paradigm: Three Handy Rules
Posted by: spy on this! at July 10, 2006 06:52 PM
Children caught in Iraq's bloody crossfire
THE frail little girl with the thick shock of black hair and tiny arms lay nearly motionless, shivering slightly and breathing gently behind the curtain in the emergency room. Blood stained her orange pyjamas; an intravenous drip fed her wounded body.
No more than 10 years old, she was the victim of a mortar shell that struck the Dora area of Baghdad, a victim of a war in which bullets and bombs and rockets come from nowhere and everywhere. Piecing together who fired at whom is futile.
Visiting the Yarmuk Hospital in central Baghdad has long been a routine part of covering the violent events in Iraq. But on Sunday, following an outbreak of fighting between rival Sunni and Shiite gangs in the Jihad area, there were no wounded witnesses to interview, no details to glean about the fighting.
Instead the hospital resembled a bleak, bloody and confusing portrait of what will probably be called the Iraqi civil war unfolding throughout the city: dead men systematically shot in the head lay in freezers unable to tell their tales; mute wounded children from all over the city carried burnt metal in their flesh; grieving relatives cried to the heavens for answers.
More HERE
*****end of clip*****
I guess the warmongers could tell the children they are sorry but Bush was given bad intelligence? I doubt the children would accept the truth: that Bush traded their lives for his popularity.
I still cannot accept anybody that claims to support Bush, it is way too late and far too blind to pretend.
capt
Posted by: capt at July 10, 2006 07:04 PM
Last week sometime, or was it the week before, I had started to discuss the issue of the convergence of warfare and sexual violence.
That night I went home to find C-Span covering a hearing on rampant sexual abuse at our nation's military academies. The Tailhook Incident was also, at least, mentioned.
Now, we hear that the recent beheadings of two U.S. service personel at a checkpoint near Mahmoudiya Iraq may have been in retaliation for the rape and murders of an Iraqi young woman and her family.
It is a tale as old as the hills and as recent as this mornings papers.
Posted by: Robert Schwartz at July 10, 2006 07:17 PM
Instructors Job Threatened over 9/11 Comments
evin Barrett is an instructor at the University of Wisconsin-Madison on occasion. But after he talked about his 9/11 views on radio recently, a state legislator called for his immediate firing, and the governor of Wisconsin called into question his fitness to teach.
Barrett, who has been a lecturer in Arabic language and in folklore, is scheduled to be a lecturer in Islamic studies in the fall. During that class, he was planning on discussing differing views of what happened on 9/11. Barrett has strong feelings on the subject. As he said on the radio show, he believes it was "an inside job."
So he may not get to teach that course.
The controversy began with an interview on June 28 on WTMJ, a popular rightwing talk radio station in Milwaukee.
More HERE
*****end of clip*****
So if the true believers just fire anybody that does not agree with their "take" THAT will convince everybody! Sure.
How long until it is not allowed to complain about the crimes of government and officials? (too late already?)
Clearly a set-up. A Reich-wingnut radio show invites the prof to talk about his views with the intention to use the same to get him canned?
That is how the true believers are going to convince us? Please.
"The Argument from Intimidation is a confession of intellectual impotence." ~ Ayn Rand (1905 - 1982), The Virtue of Selfishness, 1964
capt
Posted by: capt at July 10, 2006 07:20 PM
RS,
Spot on.
SOT,
Good stuff - thanks!
capt
Posted by: capt at July 10, 2006 07:22 PM
http://www.tpmmuckraker.com/
new stuff on Hoekstra.
Posted by: capt at July 10, 2006 07:30 PM
Judge: FBI raid on lawmaker's office legal By TONI LOCY, Associated Press Writer
43 minutes ago
WASHINGTON - A federal judge on Monday upheld the FBI's unprecedented raid of a congressional office, saying that barring searches of lawmakers' offices would turn Capitol Hill into "a taxpayer-subsidized sanctuary for crime."
************************************
As if it weren't, already...
Posted by: Robert Schwartz at July 10, 2006 07:39 PM
#33
Capt,
Do you know how much hormone they inject into cows? That's what I'd be researching.
Posted by: Jeanne at July 10, 2006 07:59 PM
#36
Somebody agrees with me. I buy the milk without the hormones.
Posted by: Jeanne at July 10, 2006 08:01 PM
A Nuremberg chief prosecutor says there is a case for trying Bush for the 'supreme crime against humanity, an illegal war of aggression against a sovereign nation.'
***********************************
Impeachment should only be the first step.
Posted by: Robert Schwartz at July 10, 2006 08:01 PM
CIA vs Congress vs White House?
Root them all out!
Posted by: Robert Schwartz at July 10, 2006 08:04 PM
#50
We live in interesting times.
Posted by: Jeanne at July 10, 2006 08:11 PM
#50. I agree. They are all useless. Yet many of your Cornposters would say, I agree but..then they would go on to say this person or that is a good person. Thats what many people do not get. Politicians want your vote every two, four, or six years. They don't give a crap about you otherwise. If God were to give the U.S. an enema, he would stick the hose in Washington, D.C. And believe me, one enema wouldn't even begin to clean out the crap there.
Posted by: emmerson at July 10, 2006 08:23 PM
I had an enima once. No shit.
Posted by: Happy Two share at July 10, 2006 08:36 PM
Good for you Happy. No crap!
Posted by: emmerson at July 10, 2006 08:42 PM
I get milk delivered from a heath food store. Been rBGH free for over a decade.
How weird is that whole twin thing?
The stuff makes the cows have twins?
capt
Posted by: capt at July 10, 2006 08:42 PM
How is one to live a moral and compassionate existence when one is fully aware of the blood, the horror inherent in life, when one finds darkness not only in one's culture but within oneself? If there is a stage at which an individual life becomes truly adult, it must be when one grasps the irony in its unfolding and accepts responsibility for a life lived in the midst of such paradox. : Barry Lopez:
=
Many people have a wrong idea of what constitutes true happiness. It is not attained through self-gratification, but through fidelity to a worthy purpose: Helen Keller:
=
Not only is another world possible, she is on her way. On a quiet day, I can hear her breathing: Arundhati Roy:
===
Thanks ICH Newsletter!
Posted by: capt at July 10, 2006 08:44 PM
Whack North Korea, Before It Can Protect Itself?
Finding itself in Republican sights and with no Democratic power center to offer protection, National Public Radio is turning into an upscale version of Fox "News." Nevertheless, information still gets out if the listener is sufficiently attentive.
On July 5, NPR's "All Things Considered" interviewed two warmongers for their views on the North Korean missile test. One was Ashton Carter, a Clinton administration Assistant Secretary of Defense, now at the Kennedy School of Government at Harvard. The other was Ambassador Christopher Hill, an Assistant Secretary of State in the Bush regime.
The Clinton DOD assistant secretary is coauthor of a recent article advocating an unilateral US military attack on North Korea. HIs first pitch on NPR was that the whole region, not just the US, is threatened by North Korea and that everyone should gang up on North Korea to make them behave. The NPR interviewer asked Carter to reconcile his multilateralism with his own recommendation for the US to unilaterally attack North Korea. Carter replied that North Korea's missile was developed to attack us, so we had to protect ourselves.
More HERE
*****end of clip*****
Fear, more fear, better be scared. NK boogeymen are the new terrorists.
Expect things to get very crazy as the midterms approach. BOO!
capt
Posted by: capt at July 10, 2006 08:48 PM
Reclaiming The Issues: "Why Is Bush Spying On Democrats?!?"
When did Bush use the voter databases that Republican politicians like Jeb Bush and Ken Blackwell have compiled to compare the bank accounts, phone records, and doctor's records of people who vote as Democrats?
When did Bush use his illegal NSA wiretaps to listen in on Democratic Party political strategy sessions?
When did Bush begin snooping into the private lives of average people who committed the crime of registering as Democrats?
What information has he gathered by reading our emails? What is he doing with it? Who's on his "enemies list"?
Not only is this the only way to neutralize Rove's "we're doing it to protect you" frame, there's also a reasonable possibility that Bush actually is using his illegal domestic spying programs to target everybody from elected Democrats to average voters.
His administration and party have already been busted by the BBC for targeting Democratic voters in Florida and Ohio to strip them of their right to vote; have already been convicted in Federal Court of jamming Democratic phone banks on election day; have already been outed for targeting groups like the Raging Grannies and The League of Women Voters for "terrorist" surveillance.
Who was spied on first? Probably every Democratic politician in America. (We know they got Kennedy and Durban!)
Who was spied on after that? Probably every journalist and liberal author, columnist, and progressive talk show host in America.
Who will be spied on next? Probably you.
More HERE
*****end of clip*****
Thom has been on AAR lately. I have grown to like his stuff.
capt
Posted by: capt at July 10, 2006 08:57 PM
Are not the mid-terms shortly after Halloween? I'm not scared, and I doubt the majority of Americans "fear" another terrorist attack or North Korea. Political rhetoric is just that. Most people pay no attention to it.
Posted by: emmerson at July 10, 2006 08:57 PM
Now that has the most boring job in the world. Spying on a liberal. Of course, only a government hack would be paid to do it. That job wouldn't last one hour in the real world.
Posted by: emmerson at July 10, 2006 09:29 PM
Robert Schwartz @ 46:
The judge who ruled that the raid was legal was the same judge that signed the original warrant. no surprise on that ruling. The real appeals are yet to come. This will be an interesting case to watch.
Posted by: RicK at July 10, 2006 09:39 PM
I heard a good one today. An officer pulls over a driver for running a stop sign. The driver swears he slowed down to make sure no traffic was coming before proceeding. The officer proceeded to tell the driver that he was writing the driver a ticked for running a stop sign. The driver pleaded with the officer that he had slowed down before proceeding. The officer took out his nightstick and proceeded to beat the driver. The driver asked what the officer was doing. The officer responded, "do you want me to slow down or do you want me to stop?" The law is the law is the law. Only lawbreakers want to pretend there is a gray area.
Posted by: emmerson at July 10, 2006 09:46 PM
Do any of you on this site support the Reverend Phelps and his churchs' protests at military funerals? I hope not. The reverend should rot in hell.
Posted by: emmerson at July 10, 2006 09:59 PM
MR. SNEAKY MAN ALERT!
Gulf war vet shoots four!
David Bradley, 40, used a handgun with a silencer to avoid alerting his next victim.
He crept up behind each in turn at their home, blasting them in the back of the head at close range.
The ex-soldier then spent the night with the bodies before confessing to cops.
----
talk about your grey areas!
Posted by: spy on this! at July 10, 2006 10:05 PM
What is gray about that? He killed. He confessed. He will will be tried and likely convicted. His lawyer may try to "create" a gray area by pleading self defense or gulf was syndrome, but I doubt it will fly if the confession was voluntary.
Posted by: emmerson at July 10, 2006 10:09 PM
For you non-NASCAR folks out there, did you know that the Viagra sponsored car pops a "wheelie" on takeoff? If the pitstop lasts more than four hours, they have to consult a mechanic.
Posted by: emmerson at July 10, 2006 10:14 PM
"gulf war" not was.
Posted by: emmerson at July 10, 2006 10:18 PM
Human Lemmings?
Officer chases suspect who jumps off cliff, also falls off cliff. Officer trying to help officer who fell over cliff, also falls over.
Only in West Virginia..you might be a redneck...
Posted by: emmerson at July 10, 2006 10:24 PM
href="http://www.nofany.org/hottopics/bovinegrowthhormone.html">Bovine Growth Hormone
____________
Insulin-like growth factor I (IGF-I) is a powerful naturally occurring growth hormone found in the blood of humans and some other animals. Dairy cows injected with genetically engineered bovine growth hormone (rBGH) give milk containing elevated levels of IGF-I, and the IGF-I in milk can pass into the bloodstream of milk consumers. Bovine IGF-I is chemically identical to that of humans. Ingested IGF-I would ordinarily be broken down in the stomach, but the presence of casein in milk prevents this.
The rBGH is injected into cows every few weeks to increase milk production. On average, production is increased by 8% to 15%. In addition, the length of the cows lactation is increased by a few months.
Because rBGH injections can cause numerous ill effects in cows, veterinarians in Germany have refused to administer it to cows on grounds that it violates their professional code of ethics, which forbids intentional harm to animals. U.S. veterinarians have not taken a similar stand.
A study by a scientist at the University of Illinois in Chicago in 1996 suggested that IGF-I in the milk of rBGH-treated cows may well promote cancer of the breast and colon in humans who drink such milk. The study pulled no punches: "In short, with the active complicity of the FDA, the entire nation is currently being subjected to an experiment involving large-scale adulteration of an age-old dietary staple by a poorly characterized and unlabeled biotechnology product."
_____________
For a short while, in this saga. rBGH free farmers were not allowed to label their product as being rBGH free!
Go Figgur...
Pande...
Thank you. You are the King of Snark, the duke of Dukie Detection! I'd gush more, but I gotta sleep.
Long day paddling the GA/SC border...Deliverance river...Got kinda scary, what with my pretty mouth and all...
-T
-T
Posted by: Hajji at July 10, 2006 10:59 PM
I once had a female comment to me that I had six pack abs...with a keg sitting on top of them. I considered that a compliment.
Posted by: emmerson at July 10, 2006 11:00 PM
Bovine Growth Hormone
Told 'ya it has been a long day....Handful of flexeril glass of wine...
G'nite.
p.s. anybody missin' Saladin, here, as much as I am?
-T
Posted by: Hajji at July 10, 2006 11:02 PM
Da da da da da da da da. Do do do do do do do.
Guitar then banjo.
Posted by: emmerson at July 10, 2006 11:04 PM
do do. I hiccupped.
Posted by: emmerson at July 10, 2006 11:05 PM
Add a da and I think you get what I mean. No it isn't a Police song.
Posted by: emmerson at July 10, 2006 11:07 PM
I saw Saladin posting on the site that Kid Charlemagne mentioned. Said she left the Corn site for reasons she would not disclose.
Posted by: emmerson at July 10, 2006 11:11 PM
p.s. anybody missin' Saladin, here, as much as I am?
Now that you asked, no, I am not missing her at all. I think this site is more well-rounded without her. She undoubtedly made many good points, but all-in-all I found her a distraction from reality-based discussions.
She decided to opt-out and stated more than once that she would no longer participate in our electoral process, she maligned many of us for our beliefs that that was a defeatist attitude. I, for one, want to believe that it's still worth putting up the good fight.
So, no. I don't miss her negativism once single iota.
Besides, you can get your dose from Saladin from your private emails. So, go for it!
Posted by: caroline at July 10, 2006 11:38 PM
"If one speaks or acts with a cruel mind, misery follows, as the cart follows the horse... If one speaks or acts with a pure mind, happiness follows, as a shadow follows its source."
~ the Dhammapada
"Change has a considerable psychological impact on the human mind. To the fearful it is threatening because it means that things may get worse. To the hopeful it is encouraging because things may get better. To the confident it is inspiring because the challenge exists to make things better."
~ King Whitney Jr.
Posted by: capt at July 10, 2006 11:46 PM
I am so glad that I have not succumbed to the Rovian fear tactics, mister 77.
Posted by: caroline at July 11, 2006 12:01 AM
Reverend Phelps is from the church of the axis of evil.
As clergy, his cowardice and evil intentions should not be allowed to stand.
As man is my judge, god should cast him into hell for protesting the war and the neceessary death's of young american soldiers caused by a just and freedom-loving war policy in opposition of those who attacked us on 9/11.
Posted by: Happy Two share at July 11, 2006 12:05 AM
70 I once had a female comment to me that I had six pack abs...with a keg sitting on top of them. I considered that a compliment.
Posted by: emmerson at July 10, 2006 11:00 PM
Was she referring to your rotund gut or your fat head?
Posted by: Happy Two ask the obvious at July 11, 2006 12:16 AM
All Hat and No Cattle -- TIME mag cover
Okay, I admit I haven't read the article, but I love the graphic illustration.
Sad thing is...the moronic jumpy jaw AWOL lying duplicitous dry-drunk failure GOP-SOB will probably be made to look good in the article.
Sigh.
Posted by: micki at July 11, 2006 12:20 AM
Rep. Congressman: Impeach Bush For Violating Constitution - Not Partisan Payback
Says American Union is bellwether for world government
Republican Congressman Ron Paul says President Bush has presided over a doctrine of violating the Constitution at every turn and that he should be impeached - but that likely Democratic efforts to do so will be in the interests of playing politics and not the health of the nation.
During an interview with Alex Jones on the GCN Radio network, Paul outlined the likely scenario as to how impeachment proceedings would unfold.
"I'd be surprised if they win both - I think they're going to win one body and if they win the House right now they do not say they would have an impeachment but I think the way that place operates I think they probably will make every effort," said Paul.
"If they happened to have a ten or fifteen vote margin that would be a political thing - it would be payback time."
Paul said that Bush should be impeached not under the umbrella of partisan vengeance but for ceaselessly breaking the laws of the land.
"I would have trouble arguing that he's been a Constitutional President and once you violate the Constitution and be proven to do that I think these people should be removed from office."
More HERE
*****end of clip*****
Some people still have a clear take. Why is it just Ron Paul? Where are all of the true patriots and citizens?
capt
Posted by: capt at July 11, 2006 12:22 AM
75
I saw Saladin posting on the site that Kid Charlemagne mentioned. Said she left the Corn site for reasons she would not disclose.
Posted by: emmerson at July 10, 2006 11:11 PM
TRANSLATION: I've been stalkng Saladin and mocking her posts, here and on other websites. When I asked her why she was no longer posting on davidcorn.com she wouldn't answer me, much to my surprise. He he he.
Posted by: Happy Two here saladin flew the coop at July 11, 2006 12:22 AM
i have no faith anymore in the electoral process. even if the process were worthy of faith what are the options? heads or tails, both candidates will be just two sides of the same coin. or rather, the left and right pockets of the same pair of pants; one holds the checkbook and the other the wallet. nevertheless i will vote yet again for the crook whom i deem to be the lesser of two evils. if the other side has to cheat to win then i say make them cheat! i will cast my vote whether it counts or not.
Posted by: spy on this! at July 11, 2006 12:49 AM
Faith-based voting: Vote and pray it'll be counted.
Posted by: Happy about GOP corruption at July 11, 2006 12:53 AM
Suskind Again
The second fascinating and completely convincing narrative is about the remarkable decision of Muammar Ghadafi to give up his entire WMD program. At the time, the president credited it to the psychological impact of the war to depose Saddam. He claimed it scared Ghadafi into compliance. Back in the days when I trusted president Bush's words, I echoed this analysis. It was a lie. I apologize to my readers for echoing it. It turns out Ghadafi had been entrapped by careful intelligence work long before the Iraq war was launched. The timing of the announcement was choreographed coincidence.
In the last few years, I have gone from lionizing this president's courage and fortitude to being dismayed at his incompetence and now to being resigned to mistrusting every word he speaks. I have never hated him. But now I can see, at least, that he is a liar on some of the gravest issues before the country. He doesn't trust us with the truth. Some lies, to be sure, are inevitable - even necessary - in wartime. But when you're lying not to keep the enemy off-balance, but to maximize your own political fortunes at home, you forfeit the respect of people who would otherwise support you - and the important battle you have been tasked to wage.
More HERE
*****end of clip*****
Sullivan on Suskin and why he finally come to the conclusion that he cannot believe a word that come from Bush.
Sullivan says "I never hated him" - well Andrew, I never hated him either, I do not know him. I hate what he has done to the country, the constitution and the rule of law.
capt
Posted by: capt at July 11, 2006 12:59 AM
#3 Robert S.
Eloquent as always.
#4 Den
Truthful poignance.
#11 C
Posted by: Carey at July 11, 2006 01:02 AM
70 I once had a female comment to me that I had six pack abs...with a keg sitting on top of them. I considered that a compliment.
Posted by: emmerson at July 10, 2006 11:00 PM
Was she referring to your rotund gut or your fat head?
Happy Two, I figured she was a made-up friend, like his friend Bill that just got back from Iraq. Can you believe he tried that shyt?!! And has the nerve to come back posting like anybody gives a rats azz what he thinks or says anymore.
Posted by: Alan at July 11, 2006 01:08 AM
Okay, forgive me. I've been moving all day.
#11 C.Weizle
I agree with Capt. Faith-based intelligent movement. Terific!
Capt. I sent your link to Crooks and Liars on the Hamden case to my attorney brother. It makes an excellent point. He'll get a kick out of it. Sides, I just found a whole bunch of pictures of him when he was a kid. So I had to email him anyway. I found one of his ninth grade report cards too. Tee hee.
Oviously, I've got to go to bed. I'll catch up someday. Much to be done though. A generation of memoirs to go through. Actually several. Oh my.
Posted by: Carey at July 11, 2006 01:11 AM
Plame, Pakistan, a Nuclear Turkey, and the Neocons
Case Studies in Nuclear Smuggling
In May 2004, an intricate multinational scheme for smuggling in nuclear parts was documented by the L.A. Times. The case, which began with an anonymous tip from someone in South Africa in July 2003, "offers a rare glimpse into what authorities say is an international bazaar teeming with entrepreneurs, transporters, scientists, manufacturers, government agents, organized-crime syndicates, and, perhaps, terrorists."
The case centered around an Israeli, Asher Karni, who was caught trying to sell 200 triggered spark gaps that can be used for medical purposes Рas well as for nuclear weapons Рto Humayun Khan, a Pakistani with military and radical Islamist links, whose father had been a supplier to Pakistan's Atomic Energy Commission in the 1970s. The Pakistani government was thus suspected to be the final recipient.
Some two months before the L.A. Times piece, the New Yorker's Seymour Hersh had provided detailed information on Pakistan's "nuclear godfather," A.Q. Khan (no relation to Humayun Khan), who had been forced to admit to a long career of black-market nuclear trafficking that helped arm various volatile states. The revelations came when Libyan leader Muammar Qaddafi voluntarily gave up his nuclear program, ushering in UN inspectors and casting light on the complex and far-flung network of dealers, suppliers, and clients from Malaysia to Dubai. This in turn implicated Khan, who was pardoned by Pakistani President Pervez Musharraf, despite being regarded as a hero for his role in developing the bomb. Official Washington said little about the pardon, though the investigations picked up. For successive American administrations that had held up Pakistan as a stellar ally, the disclosure was an embarrassment, to say the least.
More HERE
*****end of clip*****
Interesting trip in the way back machine.
capt
Posted by: capt at July 11, 2006 01:11 AM
Intelligence movement!
Oh dear, too fatigued. Good nite.
Posted by: Carey at July 11, 2006 01:12 AM
The CIA's Plame/Brewster Jennings Damage Assessment Report
You can bet your bottom dollar that the CIA has conducted a painstaking, meticulous damage assessment of the harm caused by Rove and his co-conspirators, which led to the loss not just of Valerie Plame as an agent, but of Brewster-Jennings as a front company and the use of any agent ever who worked for that Brewster Jennings front.
This damage assessment report is presumably still classified. But you can bet Fitzgerald hauled its authors into the grand jury room, and whatever harm was done to our national security because of Rove's malignancy -- Fitzgerald knows about it.
There is dark talk that people have disappeared. And when I say people -- I mean sources who Brewster Jennings CIA agents were running. Imagine that a Brewster Jennings NOC operating in Libya cultivated a source in the Libyan military, and was frequently seen in the company of this Libyan military official. Well I've been hearing dark talk that people such as that Libyan military official are missing.
If this is true, you can bet it's in the CIA damage assessment report on the Plame matter. And you can bet Fitzgerald knows about it.
Which could mean people like Rove and Libby might be in for a criminal sentence along the lines of what is typically reserved for people like Aldrich Ames and Robert Hanssen.
There's a lot more of this story yet to be told. The potential seriousness of this matter could go well beyond even the darkest speculation.
More HERE
*****end of clip*****
A little more on the subject. The only damage the slugs in power care about is damage directly to them. Screw the country, the people, whatever. They will say anything, compromise any agent, start a war, kill people, steal votes, disenfranchise blacks or anybody that does not blindly support their ongoing criminal enterprise. Period.
capt
Posted by: capt at July 11, 2006 01:21 AM
*another can't miss
meet the Bush pilot
no explanation, I don't wanna ruit it
Posted by: Alan at July 11, 2006 01:50 AM
Trading With The Enemy
If you want to get round export controls, just sell the product to a front company in Dubai. The middlemen will take it from there.
That is particularly odd in light of the recent revelations of the region's pivotal role in the spread of weapons of mass destruction. A Dubai-based computer firm arranged for Malaysian- and European-made gas centrifuge components, used to enrich uranium, to be sent on to Libya. The firm was part of a vast network devised by Pakistan's Abdul Qadeer Khan.
Hardly a revelation to the U.S. government. "Dubai, as a major shipping hub with a large free-trade zone, is in close proximity to countries of concern, and that poses some challenges," says Kenneth Juster, an undersecretary at the U.S. Department of Commerce. Among the world's top five sea-air hubs, Dubai can accept cargo and send it off in less than four hours. It's only 100 miles to the southern Iranian port of Bandar Abbas.
No matter how hard the U.S. tries to keep dual-use commodities like gas monitors, software and nuclear triggers out of transshipment hubs like Dubai, stuff gets through. The lure is quick profits. Traders easily pocket 40% markups just by flipping goods, illicit and otherwise. "Business-people [here] are like cats," says Abbas Bolurfrushan, chairman of the Dubai-based Iranian Business Council. "They find their way out of any dilemma."
More HERE
*****end of clip*****
How the heck have these traitors stayed in power?
The idea that they were going to "sell" our ports to Dubai gets scary when the dots are connected.
capt
Posted by: capt at July 11, 2006 01:50 AM
Let Us Take A Closer Look
Dear Cornposters:
I love it when the Nazis blame Clinton and Carter. What they fail to say is that Hitler Bush is a murderer and a war criminal. Reagan and Bush, Sr. are traitors through the Iran-Contra fiasco.
Yes, for years the Nazis have said that Carter is the blame for our economic problems and Clinton is the blame for North Korea.
The Nazis will not talk about Nixon and his dealings with China to help them become an economic giant. Both Reagan and Bush, Sr. let China have top nuclear and technology information. This information has helped China become a nuclear power. A source for this information has exposed to the world in Gordon Thomas' book, Seeds of Fire. Mr. Thomas predicts that we will have a nuclear confrontation with China by 2015. Hitler Bush has given India nuclear information and secrets.
We can say that we are unhappy with Clinton and Carter in office but the most serious damage to world safety rests directly with our previous Nazi presidents Nixon, Reagan, and Bush, Sr. and our present Nazi president Hitler Bush.
If the Nazis want to blame Clinton and Carter, they are free to do so. But, please be fair and balanced and shout it out to all the corners of the world that your Nazi presidents past and present have created perilous situations that will destroy the world.
Sincerely,
Gerald
Posted by: Gerald at July 11, 2006 03:15 AM
A Dreadful Mistake
Posted by: Gerald at July 11, 2006 03:41 AM
What else could we do?
Posted by: Gerald at July 11, 2006 03:51 AM
Good points, Gerald about Nixon, Bush Sr., and GWB. We are not safer because of their administrations. If anything we are worse off. Carter had a real crisis on his hands which could be traced back to the throwing of the Iranian government to the Shah back in the 1950s (Eisenhower was president then). The hostage crisis was not Carter's doing. Yet, our Republican friends point to that and say, see, he was a bad president. We can look through history and see that our troubles tend to stem from the Republican administrations and policies.
Posted by: Joe at July 11, 2006 08:32 AM
Hey David -
If my memory serves me correctly there was an environmental group in the Baltimore area that was much concerned about the mustard gas stored at the Aberdeen Proving Ground since WWI (?) They were working with the Army to resolve the concerns of local residents in Aberdeen about the storage of this material and preventing its contamination of the enviroment. Based on this fact, it seems like the degradation of the Iraq mustard gas is somewhat of a red herring.
You may also recall that all the property around Ft. Detrick in Frederick was tested not too long ago for contamination of bio and chem weapon material tested and stored there.
Other than this point, your article is good. My reservations about the new head of the CIA are strong. Right now my support goes to Congress and its demand to be a full branch of the government as specified in the Constitution.
Posted by: LG at July 11, 2006 08:41 AM
#93
Alan,
It's so much clearer now. Thank you.
Posted by: Jeanne at July 11, 2006 08:45 AM
John Dean on Countdown: Conservatives Without Conscience
John Dean joined Keith Olbermann Monday to explain the theories in his new book, "Conservatives Without Conscience," which explains a lot of the behavior we see today.
Video -WMP
Video -QT
To put it simply, Dean makes the case (with data he uncovered) that many conservatives of today need an authoritarian figure to guide them and they willingly do whatever it takes to please that figure. Dean cites G. Gordon Liddy as the perfect example of a guy willing to be shot in the street to indulge his master. He highlights the fear mongering that this administration has been using for years now as a model that allows the concept to be implemented. The way Tom Delay controlled the House is another perfect illustration of this behavior. Dean is a Barry Goldwater conservative.
Grab a copy. I just ordered mine.
A Kos Diary has more on Dean's new book
Review from Booklist's Vannesa:
Looking back on the development of conservative politics in the U.S., Dean notes that conservatism is regressing to its authoritarian roots. Dean draws on five decades of social science research that details the personality traits of what are called "double high authoritarians": self-righteous, mean-spirited, amoral, manipulative, bullying. He concludes that Chuck Colson, Pat Robertson, Newt Gingrich, and Tom DeLay are all textbook examples. Dean calls Vice-President Cheney "the architect of Bush's authoritarian policies," and deems Bush "a mental lightweight with a strong right-wing authoritarian personality."Read on via Amazon"
More HERE
*****end of clip*****
The Bunnypants supporters are just scared little rabbits looking for some "tough guy" father figure. No wonder they are senseless, talk about betting on the wrong horse.
"self-righteous, mean-spirited, amoral, manipulative, bullying." Sounds like he has our resident troll pegged, eh?
capt
Posted by: capt at July 11, 2006 09:34 AM
#101
I'm kind of busy this week so I peek in to the sites. I saw that on Crooks and Liars and was going to post it.
THIS IS A VERY IMPORTANT VIDEO. Watch it!!!!!!
Posted by: Jeanne at July 11, 2006 09:54 AM
FBI says, No hard evidence connecting Bin Laden to 9/11'
The Muckraker Report contacted the FBI headquarters on June 6 to learn why their bin Laden's Most Wanted poster did not indicate that Osama was also wanted in connection with 9/11. The Muckraker Report spoke with Rex Tomb, chief of investigative publicity for the FBI. When asked why there is no mention of 9/11 on the Bin Laden's Most Wanted Web page, Tomb said, "The reason why 9/11 is not mentioned on Osama Bin Laden's Most Wanted page is because the FBI has no hard evidence connecting bin Laden to 9/11."
Surprised by the ease with which this FBI spokesman made such an astonishing statement, I asked, "How was this possible?" Tomb continued, "bin Laden has not been formally charged in connection to 9/11." I asked, "How does that work?" Tomb continued, "The FBI gathers evidence. Once evidence is gathered, it is turned over to the Department of Justice. The Department of Justice then decides whether it has enough evidence to present to a federal grand jury. In the case of the 1998 United States Embassies being bombed, bin Laden has been formally indicted and charged by a grand jury. He has not been formally indicted and charged in connection with 9/11 because the FBI has no hard evidence connecting bin Laden to 9/11."
It shouldn't take long before the full meaning of these FBI statements start to prick your brain and raise your blood pressure. If you think the way I think, in quick order you will be wrestling with a barrage of very powerful questions that must be answered. First and foremost, if the U.S. government does not have enough hard evidence connecting bin Laden to 9/11, how is it possible that it had enough evidence to invade Afghanistan to "smoke him out of his cave?" The federal government claims to have invaded Afghanistan to "root out" bin Laden and the Taliban. Through the talking heads in the mainstream media, the Bush administration told the American people that Osama bin Laden was Public Enemy Number One and responsible for the deaths of nearly 3,000 people on Sept. 11, 2001. Yet nearly five years later, the FBI says that it has no hard evidence connecting bin Laden to 9/11.
More HERE
*****end of clip*****
Everyone should bookmark the article above as quick reference for any knuckle-head that thinks OBL is connected to 911. With all of the "official" blather the DOJ and the FBI have nothing solid, NO EVIDENCE - none.
If that sounds at odds with the official version, one only needs to ask why?
capt
Posted by: capt at July 11, 2006 09:58 AM
Amazing, NO EVIDENCE:
After all the documents we have seized, all the bank transactions, tapped phones, warrantless wiretaps and sneak and peek searches, with every "operative" we have interrogated, tortured, killed and injured - NOTHING? NO EFFIN EVIDENCE?
It is truly maddening.
capt
capt
Posted by: capt at July 11, 2006 10:02 AM
We had the "special" OBL unit until 12/05 - no small wonder they shut down.
Posted by: capt at July 11, 2006 10:04 AM
#104
And our own privacy now being violated. (although I will admit my privacy is not as important as the rights taken from those not involved who have been tortured and killed, who have been seperated from their families. That's just sick.)
Posted by: Jeanne at July 11, 2006 10:13 AM
The Swiftboating of John Murtha
-----
Murtha doesn't care. He cares about the men and women in uniform. What Bush thinks of him is the least of his worries. I'm sure he finds Bush and Co to be insignificant little sh*ts who have been given too much power and now are wreaking havoc on the planet. Joe McCarthy was the same way. If the Dems take control in November watch how the Bush administration crumbles. That's why the Republicans are doing what they are doing right now. They have a very artificial power. There is no real significance to this party. There power lies behind their own needs. Take away the abiltiy to satisfy those needs and it unravels because it will become apparent quickly how the needs of the nation don't even factor in.
Posted by: Jeanne at July 11, 2006 10:19 AM
"my privacy is not as important"
Yes, it is, because your privacy is also my privacy.
Now we have none but the government has privacy from us - the people?
UGH!
capt
Posted by: capt at July 11, 2006 10:21 AM
#98 Joe, what I have observed is that the Repubs make a mess and the Dems have to clean it up. When the Dems take office and the mess is not cleaned up in two months the Repubs and the conservative media will say that the Dems can't govern. I do not trust the Repubs.
Posted by: Gerald at July 11, 2006 10:23 AM
#107
Another thing. The Republicans better hope this MURTHA story goes away soon because while they make such a big stinking deal over Murtha's patriotism, Murtha's words are front and center. AND HIS WORDS MAKE SENSE AND HE IS FAR MORE CAPAPBLE OF PROTECTED THE PEOPLE OF THIS COUNTRY THAN bush AND MURTHA CARES ABOUT HIS NATION.
Republicans are beginning to paint themselves into corners a lot and every time they do they look like the psycho, incompetent, power hungry con men that they really are.
Ok, I think I'm finished.
Posted by: Jeanne at July 11, 2006 10:35 AM
#76
Caroline,
I miss Saladin. And your tearing her down in that post when she isn't here to defend herself is pretty negative.
Posted by: Jeanne at July 11, 2006 10:43 AM
"I figured she was a made-up friend, like his friend Bill that just got back from Iraq. Can you believe he tried that shyt?!! And has the nerve to come back posting like anybody gives a rats azz what he thinks or says anymore."
Posted by: Alan at July 11, 2006 01:08 AM
Some people lie so much they forget how offensive they are.
NO ONE trusts a known liar. No one likes a known liar. No one respects a known liar. To me the expression
my friend Bill means: this person is going to lie to my face.
Late last week, after I read Pande's Thursday Night Funnies, my friend Bill called me on the phone and offered me tickets to the NASCAR race in Norman, Oklahoma and a pair of first class airfare tickets from my home in Nome, Alaska. Yaaaaa-whoooo. Yeeeeee-haaaaa.
On the plane, my friend Bill told me things are going well in Iraq, Bush tells the truth, our elections are the pinnacle of integrity, Republicans are not corrupt, Bush really did think their were WMDs in Iraq, Iraq DID plot with Al Quada to attack the USA on 9/11, The US treasury is not in deficit, Plame was not a NOC in the CIA, no damage was done by disclosing her name, Jos Wilson is a lying liar who hates this country, Jos Wilson is a lying liar who hates Bush. Richard Clarke is a liar, Paul O'Neill is a liar, DeLay is a trustworthy fellow, Abramoff was framed, Safavian was a pure as the driven snow, Cunningham took no bribes, Cheney is not enriching favorite corporations with no bid contracts, secret government is good for the USA, an Imperial president who break the law are good for America. The race was great and I went home a lot smarter.
Alan, my friend bill is a good friend who tells me what I want to hear. emmerson is a lying liar with no self-respect and no respect for any of us. he can go to hell.
Posted by: Happy Two at July 11, 2006 10:43 AM
I miss the old Saladin but not the new one.
Posted by: Happy Trails at July 11, 2006 10:47 AM
#69
Hajji,
That is why I don't drink milk laced with the hormone and that is why I avoid meat. They pump animals full of hormones. You can't get me to believe that is not having an affect on the population when studies are out showing an increase in twin birth rates and when I see an earlier maturation of girls. I know to do studies concerning breast cancer and the hormones you would have to have a population that has eaten meat and dairy products that have not been laced with the hormone. Hard to do. Anyway, I only want to deal with breast cancer once in my life so I avoid the products. Hey folks, I could be wrong. Maybe I'm wrong. I'm probably wrong.
Posted by: Jeanne at July 11, 2006 10:52 AM
Jeanne, I agree with you about the hormones in milk and meat, but I respectfully disagree with you regarding your comment on Caroline's comment. I think it was perfectly legitimate given that Hajji asked a question, for which she had her opinion. I did not read that comment as "tearing down" anyone; in fact, she gave her a kudo about valid comments (or something). Saladin can come and go as she chooses and she probably reads this site, so she can be the final arbiter on whether or not she was "torn down."
Your comment was not out-of-line, but neither was Caroline's, IMO. Maybe you think I'm out of line...
I wonder if hormones give us thicker skin. ;-))
Posted by: micki at July 11, 2006 11:09 AM
My friend Bill doesn't miss Saladin.
Posted by: Happy Trails at July 11, 2006 11:17 AM
The New York Times published a letter from Republican Representative Pete Hoekstra to President Bush. Hoekstra, who is chairman of of the House Intelligence Committee, criticized Bush for hiding surveillance programs from Congressional oversight.
On Sunday morning?s Fox News Sunday, Hoekstra said that a whistleblower came to him with several more spying operations that were in danger of being abused without oversight.
==========
WTF!!!!!! Hoekstra, The Whistleblower, and the NYT should be tried for TREASON!!!!
Posted by: Happy knows an enemy of the State at July 11, 2006 11:29 AM
Happy OUT!!
Posted by: Happy knows an enemy of the State at July 11, 2006 11:33 AM
Off topic: I saw a picture of Ann Coulter on another blog and I said to myself, "Self, have Ann Coulter and Tom Petty ever been photographed together"?
Posted by: Kid Charlemagne at July 11, 2006 12:33 PM
TOM PETTY
_________________
Pack up the plantation
Unlike less fortunate talented artists (Hey, Paul Westerberg!), Pettyճ songwriting gets the recognition and Grammys it deserves. In 1996, Petty received both the Golden Note Award from ASCAP and UCLAճ George and Ira Gershwin Award for Lifetime Musical Achievement. In 1999, Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers got a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame, and in 2002, the band was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame. Petty even had a guest spot on the ғimpsonsӠplaying himself as the song writing instructor at Homerճ rock star camp.
Achieving rock star status during MTVճ early days, Pettyճ creativity transferred well to video. So much so that he received MTVճ Video Vanguard Award in 1994. Those old enough may cringe when remembering the Heartbreakers ҙou Got LuckyӠvideo in which Petty and his crew travel a post-apocalyptic desert in some sort of Buckminster Fuller mobile ala ҍad Max.ӠIt wasnմ a bad song. It wasnմ a bad video. But man, it seemed like MTV played it every five minutes. Better to remember the spooky ҄onմ Come Around Here No More,Ӡin which Petty, as the Mad Hatter, torments Alice in Wonderland before serving her as cake. Then thereճ ҍary Janeճ Last Dance,Ӡin which Petty gussies up, then parties with a corpse (played by Kim Basinger). Now thatճ good Southern Gothic!
__________________
Tom Petty is one of the premire rock'n writers and performers of our time. A beautiful man.
Ann Coulter spews hate-filled offal eagerly lapped up by brown-shirted neo-creeps. Ugly is as ugly does.
-T
Posted by: Hajji at July 11, 2006 01:09 PM
I want to know what the folks in the Bush Administration are thinking. Don't they realize that granting the thugs at Gitmo the protection of the Geneva Conventions is only giving the killers a leg up on innocent Americans?
I daresay this is a rather sad admission by the White House that the long slow slide down the slippery slope will inevitably result in bringing back other "quaint" historically American values like Honesty, Integrity and the Rule of Law. What next? Is Congress going to start a campaign to give life to that dusty, half-dead document, The United States Constitution? Bastards.
They might as well just disband the CIA's Osama Unit and wave the white flag. Oh, hey....
Posted by: Pandemoniac at July 11, 2006 01:12 PM
The weasels are closing in on Ney. They're slicing and dicing his aides. I'm sure he can hear their panicked squeals from his office.
Now that Iraqis are insisting on prosecuting our troops for their participation in Mr. Bush's ill-advised war, can the Republicans stop insisting that we give amnesty to Mujis who kill our troops? Fair is fair.
Posted by: Pandemoniac at July 11, 2006 01:17 PM
I miss Saladin. I miss the original Chris and his lethal snark. I miss TRH and Gretta and Riff and Bro-TEx and David Benson and Hapless and Bubblenose Bill and Dblpat, um, I mean Dbltap. But that's just me, I like hearing from all sides of the debate. I like hearing the Conservative side of the debate, such as it is. I like hearing criticism of the Dems when it is based on facts.
Lies? I hate.
Posted by: Pandemoniac at July 11, 2006 01:22 PM
"you need a new label which we all already know what the word is but won't say it because we know you'll cry to Mr Corn!"
Posted by: Clueless at July 10, 2006 01:09 PM
More lies? I've asked you to find one instance of this and you continue to lie about it. As you prefer being lied to by your Republican leaders, I suspect it's only inevitable that you would join them in their dishonesty. Oh, well....
"MAKING EXCUSES WHY HE WAS A FAILURE ISN'T AN ARGUMENT. If Republicans hadn't fought him tooth and nail over every resource and decision we wouldn't have balanced the budget for him to take credit."
Obviously you didn't read the links on how Republicans fought to have the Terrorists kill more Americans. Were they successful in their efforts?
Victims of terrorists
* Reagan 270 Americans
* Reagan / Bush I (transition period in December 1988) Pan Am flight 103 killing all 259 passengers
* Clinton = 41 Americans
* G.W. Bush = 5,500 Americans (3,000 in the Twin Towers, 2500 killed by mujahideen in Iraq)
Congratulations, they were successful at more than a 100 to 1 ratio. If Clinton was a failure in your eyes, then the 6,000 Americans killed while Republicans were in power is what? A catastrophic nightmare? Catastrophe. Disaster. Disgusting. And you defend it. Do you hate Americans so much that you would bend over backwards to accomodate the Conservative negligence? Obviously, you do.
And you give Republicans credit for balancing the budget and forget that President Clinton had to veto much of their nonsense and closed down the govt. to make the Conservative numksulls balance the budget. They didn't balance the budget because they wanted to. They had no choice. Big Dawg made sure of that.
"When he had a chance to show some leadership skills in Mogadishu he cut and ran"
You must be thinking of Mr. Reagan when over 200 of our brave soldiers were killed, he skedaddled like DeLay did. It's obviously a Conservative tactic to avoid a tough battle.
"There you go again giving Clinton credit for what Bush 1 did. It was Bush1 that defanged Saddams militray might in the 1st Iraq war."
Mr. Bush and Powell and Schwarzkopf drove Saddam out of Kuwait. The U.N. inspectors with the might and power of the world (lead by Mr. Clinton, when the U.S. could bend the w