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July 18, 2006Jim Baker's Cop-outJames Baker III is the politically-wired lawyer who gave us the current president. He was a former secretary of state (under George Herbert Walker Bush) and a former White House chief of staff (under Ronald Reagan), and has been a high-flying corporate lawyer in recent years. During the Florida fiasco of 2000, he oversaw George W. Bush's campaign to win the disputed recount-that-wasn't. Less than two years later he was warning his charge not to be too hasty in Iraq. In an August 2002, op-ed, Baker suggested that pushing "intrusive inspections" on Iraq was a better alternative than rushing to war. But he noted that should war come that there would be a need for "sufficient ground troops" to occupy the county, that the war could not be waged "on the cheap," and that winning the peace could be costly--"Politically, economically and in terms of casualties." He added that Bush would have bring together "an international coalition" and that if Bush didn't do Iraq "the right way," the United States would pay a high cost and the war on terrorism would suffer. Now it's clear that Bush didn't follow Baker's counsel. So how does Baker confront the harsh reality that the guy he made president screwed up bigtime? Well, he doesn't--not in his forthcoming book, Work Hard, Study...and Keep Out of Politics!. (I've received an advance copy.) In the few pages that Baker devotes to the current Iraq war, he acknowledges that things have gone amiss. "Unfortunately," he writes, "the formulation and implementation of policy in the lead-up to, and aftermath of, the war were negatively affected by substantial and continuing turf battles between the State Department and the CIA on one side, and the Defense Department and the vice president's office, on the other." He also notes that "the Defense Department made a number of costly mistakes, including disbanding the Iraqi army, outlawing the Baath Party, failing to secure the weapons depots, and perhaps never committing enough troops to successfully pacify the country." What's missing in this picture of blame? Let's see. He mentions the CIA, State, the veep's office, and, most of all, the Pentagon. But I have the feeling he left someone out. Oh yeah! The son of his best friend. In Baker's short telling, the man in charge apparently had nothing to do with the botched job in Iraq. Baker writes, "One thing is for sure: the difficulty of winning the peace was severely underestimated." That's a deft use of the passive voice, for he neglects to say who did all that underestimating. Certainly, Donald Rumsfeld doesn't deserve high fives for his job performance, but according to both the Constitution and common sense, the buck doesn't stop with the Secretary of Defense. If Baker is truly this critical of the war's management, he should lodge his complaints at 1600 Pennsylvania. And when he considers how the United States came to be stuck in a mess in Iraq, he can also look in the mirror. Posted by David Corn at July 18, 2006 07:46 PM |
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"HUBRIS is a bold and provocative book that will quickly become an explosive part of the national debate on how we got involved in Iraq." --Tom Brokaw |
Comments
Mr. David Corn,
Great post, and the "enough troops to successfully pacify the country" is very glib.
I think a more accurate word might be "control" as pacify is not be possible by force and pacify was never a goal. Control on the other hand. . .
You also did not include in the Baker bio recap his representing the Saudi Royal family AGAINST the surviving families of 911. So there iit is.
Thanks for all of your work.
Kirk
Posted by: capt at July 18, 2006 07:59 PM
The world is at war and David is still stuck on the 2000 elections. Bush won all three recounts and had a better lawyer than Gore - so what!
Posted by: LBH at July 18, 2006 08:00 PM
David:
If you have not visited the Baker Institute at Rice U., it's highly recommended! I've met him there!
Brilliant man with deep insight into the Mid East! Perhaps Bush Jr. wasn't able to retain his counsel!
Posted by: Happy Baker Supporter at July 18, 2006 08:01 PM
David Corn, nicely put. But he won't look into that mirror...
Posted by: David B. Benson at July 18, 2006 08:01 PM
Baker is a boob. Look at the one he got promoted to President over our beloved Gore!
Posted by: BYOB at July 18, 2006 08:09 PM
I wouldn't either with all this global warming going on. Might get skin cancer.
Posted by: BYOB at July 18, 2006 08:14 PM
Bob's been saying since day 1 that the war in Iraq was going to end badly.
But "badly" is hardly strong enough, now that Israel has invaded Lebanon, and the neocons have a hardon (again) for a wider war with Syria and Iran. They can't wait to bomb/nuke these two countries.
We are ruled by mad men, and there is nobody in government standing up to them.
Bob in North Dakota
(who is laying in basic necessities, no joke)
Posted by: Bob in North Dakota at July 18, 2006 08:36 PM
James Baker resides in the "state of denial" where all of the folks who helped steal the election and the Bush administration reside.
David Corn is still not addressing what is taking place in Lebanon. Can anyone explain this?
Amy Goodman is doing an incredible job at Democracy NOw about what is taking place. Are you folks aware of Link T.V. Mosaic. Many of her reports are from coverage that they have done. She has a great interview with President of Syria Bashar Al Assad.
Amy is incredible!
Report: Israel Using Banned Phosphorus Weapons
LebanonÕ³ Information Minister Ghazi Aridi has accused Israel of using banned weapons in violation of international law. Reports in the Lebanese media have claimed that Israel has used phosphorus incendiary bombs and vacuum bombs that suck up air and facilitate building collapses. The use of incendiary weapons against civilians has been banned since 1980. The U.S. military used similar phosphorous weapons during the siege of Fallujuah in Iraq.
Israel Accused Of Breaking U.S. Law By Using U.S. Weapons on Civilians
Several legal experts in the United States have accused Israel of violating the U.S. Arms Export Control Act by using U.S.-made fighter planes and missiles to kill civilians and to destroy LebanonÕ³ infrastructure. Defense experts say Israel has over five-hundred F-16 and F-15 fighters planes Ð all of them supplied by the United States.
Posted by: kathleen at July 18, 2006 08:46 PM
David,
You should think differently than you do. If you weren't so stupid, I'd thank you for the blog space. Why stuck on the 2000 elections? Bush won all three recounts. FC, Happy 1, LBH and I are so much smarter than you losers. LOSERS. Happy 2 OUT!!!!
Posted by: Happy ;) <- that's me! at July 18, 2006 08:47 PM
Cornhole,
I told you I wanted to see the Lebanon situation run through the retarded prism that is your mind. Come on now, let's have it. Get to tapping that keyboard son.
Give us some more of that undigested Corn.
Posted by: SAM NY at July 18, 2006 08:52 PM
The interview with the Syrian President Bashar al Assad at Democracy now is amazing. I had no idea that Syria had co-operated such a great deal with the Bush administration after 9/11.
Posted by: kathleen at July 18, 2006 08:54 PM
Jim Baker is getting rich on the war his best friend's son started. It must be really hard for Jim Baker to have to confront the fact that people have to die for the kind of profit this bunch wants to make.
Hey Jim, you can't take it with you.
Got to goooooooo.
Posted by: Jeanne at July 18, 2006 08:59 PM
End the Suffering in the Middle East
By Rabbi Michael LernerTikkun
Sunday 16 July 2006
The people of the Middle East are suffering again as militarists on all sides, and cheerleading journalists, send forth missiles, bombs and endless words of self-justification for yet another pointless round of violence between Israel and her neighbors. For those of us who care deeply about human suffering, this most recent episode in irrationality evokes tears of sadness, incredulity at the lack of empathy on all sides, anger at how little anyone seems to have learned from the past, and moments of despair as we once again see the religious and democratic ideals subordinated to the cynical realism of militarism.
Meanwhile, the partisans on each side, content to ignore the humanity of "the Other," rush to assure their constituencies that the enemy is always to blame. Each such effort is pointless. We have a struggle that has been going on for over a hundred years. Who tosses the latest match into the tinder box matters little. What matters is how to repair the situation. The blame game only succeeds in diverting attention from that central issue.
Within the context of blame, there's enough to go around. It all depends on where you start the story. Counting on lack of historical memory, the partisans on all sides choose the place that best fits them into a narrative in which they are the "righteous victims" and the others are the evil aggressors. Palestinians like to start the story in 1948 with the expulsion of hundreds of thousands of Palestinians from their homes during the war on Israel proclaimed by neighboring Arab states, and the refusal of the Israeli government to allow these people to r! eturn to once the hostilities ceased. Israelis prefer to start the story when Jews were desperately seeking to escape from the genocide they faced in Europe, and a cynical Arab leadership convinced the British military to side with local Palestinians who sought to prevent those Jewish refugees from joining their fellow Jews living in Palestine at the time. I tell the story, and how to understand both sides, in my book Healing Israel/Palestine.
at truthout
Posted by: kathleen at July 18, 2006 09:14 PM
The Middle East burns and David Corn babbles, I wonder why? This blog strikes me as being somewhat fluffy.
From The Lebanese People To The So Called "Civilized" West "Thank You" Young Israeli girls write love notes on Israeli missiles, Lebanese children receive message.
Posted by: RedAlert at July 18, 2006 09:15 PM
Cornposters,
You people think you know something about relationships when, in fact, you know absolutely nothing. You think you have the faintest inkling of the relationship between the Bushes and the Bakers when, in fact, you don't have a clue.
Now, Jimmy has written a scathing critique of a sitting Republican President and his entire administration, but you folks won't be satisfied unless he calls for impeachment.
Mr. David Corn, you need to get a life. Your vitriolic hatred for President Bush is really clouding your considerable journalistic skills.
Posted by: factchecker at July 18, 2006 09:28 PM
you need to get a life.
Posted by: factchecker at July 18, 2006 09:28 PM
WHO needs to get a life? YOU. Nobody cares to blog with you here yet you come back day after day. Enjoy and have a nice day!
Posted by: . at July 18, 2006 09:35 PM
This whole blog is fluff. No substance at all.
Posted by: BYOB at July 18, 2006 09:37 PM
David, I would have no objection if you decided post #10 is so vulgar it deserves to be relegated to the bit bucket. Why do angry conservatives get off on anal imagery?
Posted by: Happy ;) <- that's me! at July 18, 2006 09:40 PM
Baker is a boob. Look at the one he got promoted to President over our beloved Gore!
Posted by: BYOB at July 18, 2006 08:09 PM
PROMOTED? Who's the boob?
Posted by: . at July 18, 2006 09:43 PM
You!
Posted by: BYOB at July 18, 2006 09:47 PM
Condoleezza Rice's appearance on TV Sunday morning illustrates the buck-passing common to this administration. She said that previous efforts (i. e. Jimmy Carter's ) failed at long term peace, and her goal would be long term peace, not short term peace. And what is more peaceful than a cemetery?
Posted by: jerry dice at July 18, 2006 09:51 PM
Are you asking someone who is currently in a cemetary? I don't think you will receive an answer. But, then again, maybe you will. Inside your own mind.
Posted by: BYOB at July 18, 2006 09:54 PM
Hey Happy Winker,
Leave my post along, ya friggin scavutz. It's not vulgar at all; its stingingly witty, quite clearly. And it's funny on so many levels I couldnt even begin to explain it to you. Im sowwy if i offended your delicate sensibilities. I pwomise no more caca talk, ok honey bunny? Don't cry...wanna tissue? lol...
Posted by: SAM NY at July 18, 2006 09:56 PM
At raw storyIraq
Civilian Toll Spikes to Almost 6,000
UNITED NATIONS (AP) - Nearly 6,000 civilians were slain across Iraq in May and June, a spike in deaths that coincided with rising sectarian attacks across the country, the United Nations said Tuesday.
The report from the U.N. Assistance Mission in Iraq describes a wave of lawlessness and crime, including assassinations, bombings, kidnappings, torture and intimidation.
Posted by: kathleen at July 18, 2006 10:24 PM
Why would Baker alienate the Bush family by pointing the finger at the incompetent byob in the oval office?
It isn't necessary for Baker to point the finger at backrub chew-with-his-mouth-open frat-boy. Everyone knows the buck stops in the oval office.
Baker played his part in the fiasco. His client was the Bush campaign. He got paid well and he delivered. We can blame Baker and the idiots who voted for him in 2000 but Baker had nothing to do 2004. That falls on someone else.
Maybe Bush will redeem himself and use the USA's considerable influence with Israel to stop WWIII or at least place a call to Syria and tell them to 'cut that shit out' or maybe he'll act like he cares to stop it when there's nothing more he'd like than to have Israel pound militant Shia into the sand.
Come to think of it, that's more his style: Take the 'peace' position publicly, while doing everything he can to foment war behind curtains in the oval office.
Posted by: . at July 18, 2006 10:26 PM
US wholesale prices rose by a more than expected 0.5% in June, underpinned by higher food and energy costs, according to data from the Department of Labor.
The increase in farm and factory prices beat the forecast of a 0.3% gain, and could push interest rates higher.
The Federal Reserve has raised rates by a quarter-point every month since June 2004, to their current level of 5.25%.
The Labor Department said core prices - stripping out food and fuel costs, rose 0.2% - in line with forecasts.
LiNk
Posted by: . at July 18, 2006 10:36 PM
Is that anything like fomenting a soggy cigar from the "censored" part of Monica or being on the receiving end of "oral sex" from one and the same while having discussions over the phone with other "heads" of state? History will view Bush a lot more favorably than your two heros Clinton/Carter. Buffoons, both of them.
Posted by: BYOB at July 18, 2006 10:40 PM
Israel launched its assault and blockade last Wednesday after the two soldiers were captured.
About 230 Lebanese people have been killed since then - the majority of them were civilians, but the toll includes about 30 soldiers. The number of Hezbollah militants killed is not known.
Twenty-five Israelis have died - 13 civilians and 12 members of the military.
lInK
Posted by: . at July 18, 2006 10:40 PM
he noted that should war come that there would be a need for "sufficient ground troops" to occupy the county,
but sufficient troops would quell the chaos that ensues from the insurgency, and without the chaos the war machine would not be raking it in hand-over-fist as much as they are.
that the war could not be waged "on the cheap," and that winning the peace could be costly
ya this is really quite cheap so far isn't it? a bargain.
winning the peace? does that mean the iraqis should just relax and be grateful for the peaceful freedom that that u.s. forces are winning for them? right.
another post that alludes to bushco incompetence.
they're incompetent all right - all the way to the bank.
Posted by: spy on this! at July 18, 2006 10:41 PM
When are you going to sign up to back the Lebanese? I don't see you signing up for their defense. Where are your gonads? Okay, sorry Eunuch.
Posted by: BYOB at July 18, 2006 10:43 PM
Cornposters, denial and silence are sins of omission. The denial and silence that is taking place are grave sins. In this case the murders and war crimes that are taking place are mortal sins. Mortal sins isolate from God. Please do not die in this isolation state. We must pray for Jim Baker.
Posted by: Gerald at July 18, 2006 10:46 PM
Boob, I don't think anyone cares about your so very clever convoluted posts but knock yourself out.
Posted by: dc at July 18, 2006 10:47 PM
I dare you to research those rates quoted above during the Carter Administration and have the gumption to post them. You are such an idiot. I do not know why I even address your idiocy. You know you are bad when a troll doesn't want to post to your idiocy. I will refrain until I see that you have accomplished what I have suggested. Idiot!
Posted by: BYOB at July 18, 2006 10:47 PM
Mortal sins isolate US from God.
Posted by: Gerald at July 18, 2006 10:49 PM
Knock yourself out "lower case" dc. You responded. Why?
Posted by: BYOB at July 18, 2006 10:50 PM
In other developments:
Lebanese PM Fouad Siniora said Israel was "opening the gates of hell and madness" on his country, and said Israel's response to the soldiers' capture had been disproportionate
Pro-Syrian Lebanese President Emile Lahoud vowed to stand by Hezbollah leader Sayyed Hassan Nasrallah
UN Secretary General Kofi Annan said he expected European nations to contribute troops to a proposed stabilisation force to end the fighting
The UN warned of a humanitarian disaster as Lebanese flee their homes, with air strikes on roads and bridges hampering efforts to help them
Shlomo Goldwasser, the father of one of the missing Israeli soldiers, said he hoped all means - legal or illegal - would be used to get his son Ehud back
As Israel launched fresh air strikes and cross-border attacks on Tuesday, six bodies were pulled from the rubble of a home in the Lebanese border village of Aitaroun, and another family was killed in the coastal city of Tyre.
Posted by: . at July 18, 2006 10:53 PM
Take a nap, Gerald. You need to redirect yourself to Sesame Street. Oscar may be willing to discuss your worldview with you. If not, try Elmo.
Posted by: BYOB at July 18, 2006 10:54 PM
Take a bromide Boob. You're frothing at the mouth. Dan out!!!!
Posted by: dc at July 18, 2006 10:56 PM
I believe that people like Jim Baker and Hitler Bush reach a position in life where they cannot smell their shit. All shit smells. It may surprise Baker and Bush but their shit really smells!!!
Posted by: Gerald at July 18, 2006 10:57 PM
"The irony is, what they really need to do is to get Syria to get Hezbollah to stop doing this shit, and it's over," Mr Bush was heard to say.
Soon after Mr Blair noticed that the microphone was open and switched it off, reports say.
After that, Blair wipe the drool off President Bush's chin and changed his diaper.
LiNk
Posted by: . at July 18, 2006 10:59 PM
Bromide I can handle. Idiocy, i will not tolerate. There is a lot of it on this site.
Gerald, their shit only smells if you have your nose up the ass. Other than that, how would you know? Maybe because yours does too!
Posted by: BYOB at July 18, 2006 11:00 PM
This site is LOL. If you were the least bit interesting, you would have more than 10 or more regular posters. Enjoy your fan club David.
Posted by: BYOB at July 18, 2006 11:03 PM
YouTube hits 100m videos per day
Internet video site YouTube has said its users are now watching more than 100 million videos per day.
YouTube is the leading net video download site in the US, with 29% of the country's multimedia market, according to traffic monitor Hitwise.
The site specialises in short, home-made, comic videos but a growing number of pirated clips from mainstream broadcasters can be found also.
Last month 2.5 billion videos were watched on YouTube, the company said.
YouTube said that its videos account for 60% of all videos watched online in the US. It has almost 20 million visitors to the site each month, according to Nielsen/NetRatings.
Videos are watched free on the site and the company is still working on developing advertising and other means of generating revenue to support the business.
link
Posted by: . at July 18, 2006 11:05 PM
Got a new "scratch and sniff" monitor. Gerald, your shit smells worse than anybody else on this site. Congratulations!
Posted by: BYOB at July 18, 2006 11:07 PM
Canadians killed in Lebanon strikes
Israeli air raids kill at least 23 people in Lebanon - including five holding dual Lebanese-Canadian citizenship.
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25,000 Americans in Lebabon. If one of them dies in the crossfire, will our government keep it a secret for political purposes?
Posted by: . at July 18, 2006 11:08 PM
Prayer
by Elie Wiesel
The prayer read by Wiesel during the program originally appeared in a diary and was included in the collection One Generation After.
I no longer ask you for either happiness or paradise; all I ask of You is to listen and let me be aware of Your listening.
I no longer ask You to resolve my questions, only to receive them and make them part of You.
I no longer ask You for either rest or wisdom, I only ask You not to close me to gratitude, be it of the most trivial kind, or to surprise and friendship. Love? Love is not Yours to give.
As for my enemies, I do not ask You to punish them or even to enlighten them; I only ask You not to lend them Your mask and Your powers. If You must relinquish one or the other, give them Your powers. But not Your countenance.
They are modest, my requests, and humble. I ask You what I might ask a stranger met by chance at twilight in a barren land.
I ask you, God of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob, to enable me to pronounce these words without betraying the child that transmitted them to me: God of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob, enable me to forgive You and enable the child I once was to forgive me too.
I no longer ask You for the life of that child, nor even for his faith. I only beg You to listen to him and act in such a way that You and I can listen to him together.
More on Elie Wiesel can be read and heard on the website, Speaking of Faith.
Posted by: Gerald at July 18, 2006 11:09 PM
Holy Cow! Can't sleep now worrying about those Frenchie Canadians. What are we to do?
Posted by: BYOB at July 18, 2006 11:10 PM
46 Thanks Gerald.
Posted by: . at July 18, 2006 11:11 PM
Your faith sickens me. Your priests are gay and prey on teenagers. Of course, your press describe them a pedophiles, which they are not. Defend both assertions, if you are able.
Posted by: BYOB at July 18, 2006 11:12 PM
Pair Arrested Shooting BB’s at Trapped Cat
Officers responded to 19 Highland Avenue at 11:14am yesterday on a report of two men with guns. Officers located two men sitting on the steps of the residence matching the description of the suspects. While speaking with the pair, officers located two BB guns hidden in a nearby bush and also observed a cat stuck between a window and an exterior iron bar covering the window. Beneath the window were about 50 blue and white discharged pellets. Further investigation revealed that the two were shooting the pellets at the trapped cat in an effort to, “get rid of it.” Both men, Nathaniel Medina, 36, of Roxbury, and Joao Fernandes, 27, of Dorchester were arrested and charged with Cruelty to Animals. The trapped cat was freed and taken into custody by Boston Animal Control Officers.
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Another heart-warming story about compassionate humans.
Posted by: . at July 18, 2006 11:16 PM
49 Everything sickens you. Go to hell Factchecker.
Posted by: . at July 18, 2006 11:20 PM
Didn't think either of you could do it. I put gerald/at in the catagory of cowards. I shall move on. What a waste of time to be here with the brainless.
Posted by: BYOB at July 18, 2006 11:20 PM
52 Its not the first time tonight you said you're leaving.
Posted by: . at July 18, 2006 11:23 PM
Ralph Reed is Outta Here!
"We're very proud of the race that we ran. It was a very positive campaign about the issues," Reed told his supporters. "Tonight, my candidacy for lieutenant governor comes to an end."
link
Posted by: . at July 19, 2006 12:09 AM
HOLY SHIT DAVID! But I have the feeling he left someone out. Oh yeah! The son of his best friend. In Baker's short telling, the man in charge apparently had nothing to do with the botched job in Iraq.
The lack of blame for a bush dynasty member, makes me think that Consigliere Baker and Group are going to trot out Jeb in '08.
Take it to the bank.
Posted by: micki at July 19, 2006 12:35 AM
#45 25,000 Americans in Lebabon. If one of them dies in the crossfire, will our government keep it a secret for political purposes?
Hell, no. They'll trumpet the tragedy so that can enter/broaden the war and find "justice."
Posted by: micki at July 19, 2006 12:38 AM
We have a HEARTBEAT in Congress. Oversight is alive!
Bush subverts DOJ investigation into wiretapping; hamstrings DOJ unit setup after Watergate by denying security clearance to conduct investigation, Gonzales testifies.
Waas delivers again
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The investigation was launched in January by the Justice Department's Office of Professional Responsibility -- a small ethics watchdog set up in 1975 after department officials were implicated in the Watergate scandal. OPR investigates "allegations of misconduct involving department attorneys that relate to the exercise of their authority to investigate, litigate, or provide legal advice," according to the office's policies and procedures.
Rep. Maurice Hinchey, D-N.Y., and three other Democrats -- John Lewis of Georgia, Henry Waxman of California, and Lynn Woolsey of California -- requested the OPR investigation after the surveillance program was revealed in late 2005 and asked the agency to determine whether it complied with existing law.
The investigation, by the Justice Department's Office of Professional Responsibility, was halted when lawyers who were going to conduct the investigation were denied the security clearances that would have allowed them to view classified documents related to the surveillance program. President Bush made the decision to deny the security clearances for the investigators, Gonzales said in his testimony today.
"The president of the United States makes the decision," Gonzales said in response to a question by Sen. Arlen Specter, R-Pa., the chairman of the Judiciary Committee, who wanted to know who denied the clearances to the investigators.
A senior Justice official said that the refusal to grant the clearances was "unprecedented" and questioned whether the clearances were denied because investigators might find "misconduct by those who were attempting to defeat" the probe from being conducted. The official made the comments without knowing that Bush had made the decision to refuse the clearances.
LINK
Posted by: . at July 19, 2006 12:38 AM
I agree. If Jeb wants it, its his nomination. If the fix is in, it's his presidency. If the fix is not in, he'll lose. Amerucans have had enough of the Bush dynasty.
Posted by: . at July 19, 2006 12:40 AM
jeb '08? do you mean good 'ol psychic jeb who declared a state of emergency in florida a week in advance in anticipation of 9/11?
this could be his campaign slogan:
PSYCHIC JEB! '08
Posted by: spy on this! at July 19, 2006 12:41 AM
56 micki
israel will kill them, iran will be blamed.
Posted by: spy on this! at July 19, 2006 12:43 AM
Stem cell research passed 63-37, which won't be enough to override Bush's first veto of his presidency.
Allard (CO)
Allen (VA)
Bond (MO)
Brownback (KS)
Bunning (KY)
Burns (MT)
Chambliss (GA)
Coburn (OK)
Coleman (MN)
Cornyn (TX)
Craig (ID)
Crapo (ID)
DeMint (SC)
DeWine (OH)
Dole (NC)
Domenici (NM)
Ensign (NV)
Enzi (WY)
Graham (SC)
Grassley (IA)
Hagel (NE)
Inhoffe (OK)
Isakson (GA)
Kyl (AZ)
Martinez (FL)
McConnel (KY)
Nelson (NE) (The only Dem to vote against it)
Roberts (KS)
Santorum (PA)
Sessions (AL)
Shelby (AL)
Sununu (NH)
Talent (MO)
Thomas (WY)
Thune (SD)
Vitter (LA)
Voinovich (OH)
Posted by: . at July 19, 2006 12:57 AM
SPECTER: Now when you had the first line of review, Mr. Attorney General, by OPR, why wasn't OPR given clearance as so many other lawyers in the Department of Justice were given clearance?
GONZALES: Mr. Chairman, you and I had lunch several weeks ago, and we had a discussion about this. And during this lunch, I did inform you that the terrorist surveillance program is a highly-classified program. It's a very important program for the national security of this country -
SPECTER: Highly-classified, very important, many other lawyers in the Justice Department had clearance. Why not OPR?
GONZALES: And the President of the United States ultimately makes decisions about who ultimately is given access -
SPECTER: Did the President make the decision not to clear OPR?
GONZALES: As with all decisions that are non-operational in terms of who has access to the program, the President of the United States makes the decision because this is such an important program -
Posted by: . at July 19, 2006 12:59 AM
Corn says: "What's missing in this picture of blame? Let's see."
Is Baker's book filled with blaming and finger-pointing a la typical liberal witch-hunt expose'? Nahhhh! Baker walks on water!
David vs. Goliath?
Posted by: Just Curious at July 19, 2006 01:16 AM
the next false flag incident in the U.S. -- or an American attack on Iran -- will wipe out the bill of rights, usher in a police state and leave a lot of dissenters and Arabs in America in detainment camps.
Daniel Ellsberg - the guy who leaked the "Pentagon Papers" which exposed the government's lies about the Vietnam war.
Posted by: spy on this! at July 19, 2006 01:29 AM
63 The record speaks for itself. Bush is incompetent. It's notable that Baker has a lot of blame to lay but none of it falls at the feet of the guy in charge.
Posted by: . at July 19, 2006 01:39 AM
I visit here regularly because I enjoy David's writing, and because there is a core of "thinking" regulars who have things to say that I find interesting.
I have observed over time that threads are absolutely bloated with trolls and anti troll messages. I like to view a topic, and read an intelligent message board responding.
More and more it is reduced to the most amazingly juvenile bickering, I have witnessed since my kids were in their teens.
The only way to deal with trolls is to pretend they do not exist.
If, as I suspect their only aim here is to disrupt, then talking to them at all is like validating them.
STOP VALIDATING TROLLS
Posted by: Titchaba at July 19, 2006 01:47 AM
"Crooks..." has a good short clip of Joe Wilson on Countdown. Also, there's a clip of bush's massage. Those 'still' pictures looks like he's standing there awhile rubbin', but in fact it lasts no time because she's shooing his azz away. Makes you wonder what she was thinking...
something like... "what is this no-class idiot think he's doing?!!"
Posted by: Alan at July 19, 2006 02:41 AM
The other day I mentioned this screaming fast
6-Mbs DSL they were offering. Today I got an offer from my RoadRunner to get an 8-Mbs connection. It's only 5 bucks more than I'm paying now, but just for the first 6 months. Think I'll call 'em 'n see what it'd cost after that. DAMN, 8 fkn Mbs !!
Posted by: Alan at July 19, 2006 02:45 AM
New York Times Finally Retracts Clinton Story
The New York Times has finally retracted its flagrantly false story about Sen. Hillary Clinton (D-NY):
An article published on the Web site of The New York Times on Sunday reported on a speech by Senator Hillary Rodham Clinton in Rogers, Ark. The headline and article said that Mrs. Clinton had criticized Democrats on Saturday for "wasting time" by dealing with issues that helped Republicans turn out voters rather than finding consensus on mainstream subjects. The opening sentence of the article and the headline were based on a misinterpretation of a passage in her speech in which she first referred to the DemocratsÕ agenda in the Senate and then went on to criticize the actions of the Republican majority in Congress.
She was referring to the Republican-led Congress - not Democrats
This is a victory for the progressive blogosphere, particularly Atrios, who first discovered the error, and Media Matters, which kept the story going. Some questions to consider:
Why did it take the New York Times more than 48 hours to correct the record?
Will right-wing news sites that picked up the story, including Drudge Report and Newsmax, inform their readers?
More HERE
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How many people will have read the false story or the false headline and never see any "correction". I smell a rotting old gray lady with Rovian string pulling. It stinks to high heaven.
The Reich-wingnut bloggosphere will never correct the lies. They would have to make up new ones and they cannot think of their own so they cling to the lies they already have.
capt
Posted by: capt at July 19, 2006 02:56 AM
Where have all the archtects for murders and war crimes gone?
Posted by: Gerald at July 19, 2006 03:27 AM
A revealing and depressing coversation
Posted by: Gerald at July 19, 2006 03:33 AM
Brilliant man with deep insight into the Mid East!
Especially for a lawyer from Texas who has never lived in a Middle Eastern country, speaks no Middle Eastern languages, and knows almost zilch about the cultures and societies of the region.
Nah, Jimmy the Fixer's just another standard-issue American political hack who thinks a few trips to the Middle East on Uncle Sam's tab qualifies him as a region expert. He nicely fits the mold of the posers -- e.g., Wolfowitz, Kristol, Perle, Pletka, etc. -- who got us into this inferno.
Posted by: Drewp at July 19, 2006 04:04 AM
More Bullshit Thrown Our Way
Posted by: Gerald at July 19, 2006 04:09 AM
There is little doubt: Bush is Hitler's clone
Posted by: Gerald at July 19, 2006 04:14 AM
The ugly truth
Posted by: Gerald at July 19, 2006 04:23 AM
Passports
Dear Cornposters:
A week or so back I read an article that foreign countries are buying up our roads and bridges to man the tolls that we will have to pay. These countries will raise the fees anytime they wish. This purchase of roads and bridges is a way of containing the American citizens in their counties.
American citizens will require three passports. Each citizen will need a passport for the county they live in, their state, and the U.S. passport. Each citizen will have to show their passport as they leave their county. If you are to leave the state, you will have to show your U.S. passport. Any one of these passports can be revoke by our fascist government.
The reason for so many passports has to do with the fact that with our open borders under the new immigration law that will be passed our nation's population will double in the next twenty years. Our population will be 600 million legal citizens and 75 illegal citizens. With such a large population the citizens will need to be contained by our despotic banana republic.
Our republic will be similar to China. If a citizen does not toe the line, the passports could be revoke to keep the citizen at home and unable to travel anywhere. If the fascist republic deems the citizen unruly, the government could kill the citizen. Control of the population will be imperative and mandatory.
Our freedoms and rights will be taken away and we will become a nation of robots and/or rats.
Sincerely,
Gerald
Posted by: Gerald at July 19, 2006 04:56 AM
That should be 75 million illegal citizens.
Posted by: Gerald at July 19, 2006 04:58 AM
I had a difficult time sleeping so I decided to post. But, I really must go to sleep this time.
I have posted some good articles and I hope that you will decide to read a few.
Posted by: Gerald at July 19, 2006 05:06 AM
Gerald #76,
Your 1984 scenario is already happening at airports and other forms of public transportation. I never thought this could happen in the USA but happening it is.
Posted by: Joe at July 19, 2006 09:10 AM
0 for 3 with Our Future
The neocon fantasy was summed up by Dick Cheney, a charter member of the Project for a New American Century brigade, in August 2002: "Regime change in Iraq would bring about a number of benefits to the region: extremists in the region would have to rethink their strategy of jihad, moderates throughout the region would take heart, and our ability to advance the Israel/Palestinian peace process would be enhanced."
Posted by: . at July 19, 2006 09:26 AM
Where Have All the Architects of War Gone?
Where have you gone Richard Perle, Paul Wolfowitz, Doug Feith, et al? A nation turns it anxious eyes to you.
In the run up to Shock and Awe, these guys were all over the place, singing from the same song book, letting us know that the fall of Saddam would bring good things throughout the Middle East. With their every pronouncement, you could hear the sound of Arab dominoes falling.
The neocon fantasy was summed up by Dick Cheney, a charter member of the Project for a New American Century brigade, in August 2002: "Regime change in Iraq would bring about a number of benefits to the region: extremists in the region would have to rethink their strategy of jihad, moderates throughout the region would take heart, and our ability to advance the Israel/Palestinian peace process would be enhanced."
(link)
Posted by: . at July 19, 2006 09:37 AM
72
Brilliant man with deep insight into the Mid East!
Especially for a lawyer from Texas who has never lived in a Middle Eastern country, speaks no Middle Eastern languages, and knows almost zilch about the cultures and societies of the region.
Nah, Jimmy the Fixer's just another standard-issue American political hack who thinks a few trips to the Middle East on Uncle Sam's tab qualifies him as a region expert....
Posted by: Drewp at July 19, 2006 04:04 AM
A dumbass Cornnut! Can't read nor comprehend the prescient (and Pre-war) comments Mr. Corn attributed to Mr. Baker!
Mr. Corn thinks the pre-war Baker is on-the-nose, even if a post-war cop-out wrt the current Bush.
Posted by: Silent Majority at July 19, 2006 09:42 AM
So you can comprehend the "decider" yeah, I'll bet you can. Any other bits of wisdom from the anal area? You trolls are out in force today must be bad in the beltway and they sent reinforcements, can't overcome truth with bushit these days the sheeple are just plain tired of it, and they might actually take your toys away. Get a life, and oh yeah, enjoy your new lifestyle that will be upon you within a year. Get in line for your chip dumbass.
Posted by: What the F**k at July 19, 2006 10:33 AM
Tony Snow and Helen Thomas: "Thank You for the Hezbollah View"
Snow told the gaggle that the reason Americans trying to get out of Lebanon were being forced to pay was because of a law on the books. Then Helen Thomas asked Snow why the US vetoed a ceasefire resolution and Snow said we did nothing of the kind. HelenÕ³ point is to ask when the violence will stop. Snow took a cheap shot at her which isnÕ´ surprising coming from his FOX News background. .
Video - WMP
Video - QT
Snow: Well, thank you for the Hezbollah view.
Snow: We didnÕ´ even veto, please get your facts right.
The United States on Thursday vetoed a U.N. Security Council resolution demanding Israel halt its attacks in Gaza.
John Bolton, U.S. ambassador to the United Nations, said that "in light of the fluid events on the ground," the United States believed the Qatar-sponsored resolution was untimely and out of date, and would have helped inflame passions in the Middle East. As one of the five permanent members on the Security Council, the United States has veto power over resolutions.
Think Progress has the full transcript and a video as well:
QUESTION: The United States is not that helpless. It could have stopped the bombardments of Lebanon. We have that much control with the Israelis.
SNOW: I donÕ´ think so.
QUESTION: We have gone for collective punishment against all of Lebanon and Palestine. And whatÕ³ happening Ñ and thatÕ³ the perception of the United States.
SNOW: Well, thank you for the Hezbollah view, but I would encourage you
QUESTION: NobodyÕ³ accepting your explanation. What is it say, to call for
SNOW: IÕ¬l tell you, whatÕ³ interesting is people have. The G-8 was completely united on this. And as you know when it comes to issues of
QUESTION: Stop the cease-fire? Why?
SNOW: We didnÕ´ stop a cease-fire. Let me continue Ñ IÕ¬l tell you what. We didnÕ´ even veto Ñ please get your facts right. What happened was that the G-8 countries made a pretty clear determination that the guilty party here was Hezbollah. You cannot have a cease- fire when youÕ¶e got the leader of Hezbollah going on his television saying that he perceives total war, heÕ³ declaring total war, when they are firing rockets indiscriminatelyɨCROSSTALK)
SNOW: Please let me finish. I know this is great entertainment, but I want to finish the answer. The point here is, theyÕ²e firing rockets indiscriminately into civilian areas. The Israelis are responding, as they see fit. You will note, the countries that disagree with the government of Israel in terms of its general approach on Palestine Ñ many of our European allies agree that Israel has the right to defend itself, that the government of Lebanon has the right to control all its territory, that Hezbollah is responsible, and that those who support it also bear responsibility.
There is no daylight between the United States and all the allies on this. They all agree on it. This was not difficult
QUESTION: ThatÕ³ not the point. Why did we veto a cease-fire?
SNOW: We didnÕ´ veto a cease-fire.
QUESTION: Yes, we did.
SNOW: No, we didnÕ´. There was no cease-fire.
QUESTION: But wasnÕ´ there a resolution?
SNOW: No.
QUESTION: At the U.N.?
SNOW: No. You know what youÕ¶e done Ñ I see Ñ what happened was that there was conversation about, quote, a cease-fire that was picked up on some of the microphone when some colorful language made its way into the airwaves yesterday.(LAUGHTER)
And the president was continuing a conversation he had had earlier with Prime Minister Tony Blair about staging. Would we like a cease-fire? You bet. Absolutely. We would love to see a cease-fire. But the way you stage it is that you make sure that the people who started this fight, Hezbollah, take their responsibility.
QUESTION: There was no veto at the U.N.?
SNOW: No. There hasnÕ´ been a resolution at the V.N. Ñ the U.N., whatever it is. There havenÕ´ been anyɨLAUGHTER)
There hasnÕ´ been.(LAUGHTER) IÕ¶e been at (inaudible) in Germany too long. There has been no resolution at the U.N.
More HERE
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So Helen has Lebanese heritage and is critical of Bunnypants that makes her the Hezbollah view?
capt
Posted by: capt at July 19, 2006 10:36 AM
From Women's Wear Daily...
No joke. Ann Coulter takes "credit" for being the sender of the mysterious powder to NYT
I know we shouldn't give the lunatic any more attention, but dammit, there should be zero tolerance for this type of behavior. It wouldn't be "funny" if she joked around at an airport security check-point, would it?
Arrest her. Then ask questions. We shouldn't put up with this crapola. If a swarthy male played these "funny" games, he'd be arrested in a NY minute.
Posted by: micki at July 19, 2006 10:39 AM
U.S. vetoes U.N. resolution on Mideast
U.N. diplomatic team heads to 'major crisis'
The United States on Thursday vetoed a U.N. Security Council resolution demanding Israel halt its attacks in Gaza.
The proposal also demanded that Palestinian militants release the Israeli soldier abducted June 25 in a raid in Israel and stop launching rockets at Israel from Gaza. In addition, it called on Israel to release Palestinian government officials and lawmakers it took into custody after the soldier's abduction.
Ten nations on the council voted in favor of the resolution, and four abstained.
John Bolton, U.S. ambassador to the United Nations, said that "in light of the fluid events on the ground," the United States believed the Qatar-sponsored resolution was untimely and out of date, and would have helped inflame passions in the Middle East.
As one of the five permanent members on the Security Council, the United States has veto power over resolutions.
More HERE
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Why would the WH spokesman lie outright? Because he is the WH spokesman, of course.
capt
Posted by: capt at July 19, 2006 10:40 AM
Micki,
Arrest her.
Period, end of story.
capt
Posted by: capt at July 19, 2006 10:43 AM
Trolls-O-Plenty spankin the Liberals! Those stupid Liberals this, those ingnorant Liberals that, WE are the smart ones and WE know we are REICH! Our Reichfuhrer is our leader, we shall defeat the Liberal plague and remove it from the face of the Earth, SEIG HEIL!!!(TIC)
Posted by: DEN at July 19, 2006 10:47 AM
Novak Caught Lying about Murray Waas
Robert Novak lied about Murray Waas and says that Newsday misquoted him when he appeared as a guest on Hannity & Colmes last night. He claimed that no other news agency picked up the story that Novak told Rove he wouldn't identify him to Patrick Fitzgerald.
Yesterday Novak said:
COLMES: So you're saying "Newsday" was wrong in this report, and Murray Waas, "National Journal," was wrong...
NOVAK: Absolutely.
COLMES: ... and these people have purposefully misrepresented you?
NOVAK: I never give motives, but I know that the Murray Waas piece in the "National Journal," which interestingly was not picked up by anybody, was totally wrong and a total lie,...
Murray Waas wrote this back on May 25, 2005
Rove testified to the grand jury that during his telephone call with Novak, the columnist said words to the effect: "You are not going to get burned" and "I don't give up my sources," according to people familiar with his testimony.
This should refute Novak's claim that other news organizations didn't pick up amd confirm Murray's story: This story appeared later the same day in Bloomberg:
Syndicated columnist Robert Novak assured presidential adviser Karl Rove that he wouldn't identify him to prosecutors investigating the disclosure of a CIA agent's name, a person familiar with the matter said.
Rove told a grand jury that Novak called him shortly after the Central Intelligence Agency asked the Justice Department to investigate who leaked the name of operative Valerie Plame to Novak and other reporters, the person, who spoke on the condition of anonymity, said. Novak revealed Plame's name in a July 14, 2003, column, citing unnamed administration officials. The National Journal, which reported earlier today on the Sept. 29, 2003, conversation between Rove and Novak, said Justice Department prosecutors were concerned that Rove and Novak may have been working on a cover story to protect Rove. The report, citing people familiar with the grand jury testimony of both men, said then-Attorney General John Ashcroft was briefed on the matter.
Moreover, MSNBC also carried the story on May 25th :
Sources close to Karl Rove are now confirming a story first reported in the National Journal that Rove, who was a source for columnist Bob Novak, later had a separate conversation with Novak after the investigation began.
Former federal prosecutors are convinced Fitzgerald has explored whether Rove and Novak coordinated their testimony.
It's no secret that Novak and Rove are old pals which led to Rove being fired by Bush #41. The NY Times:
Rove and Novak, a 20-Year Friendship Born in Texas
In 1992 in an incident well known in Texas, Mr. Rove was fired from the state campaign to re-elect the first President Bush on suspicions that Mr. Rove had leaked damaging information to Mr. Novak about Robert Mosbacher Jr., the campaign manager and the son of a former commerce secretary."
Need I say more? Novak also said he would reveal all his sources on CNN:
NOVAK: Well, that's what I can't reveal until this case is finished. I hope it is finished soon. And when it does, I agree with Mr. Safire, I will reveal all in a column and on the air.
Now he is refusing to do so which makes the case stronger that Novak cannot be trusted, Will the media hold him accountable?
Posted by: . at July 19, 2006 10:52 AM
Okay, capt, put her in prison with Ralph Reed.
He bites the dust in GOP lite guv primary. hahahaha
Posted by: micki at July 19, 2006 10:52 AM
Sorry, bad joke {:-(>
Posted by: DEN at July 19, 2006 10:53 AM
87 She didn't send the letter but she took credit for it. I'm sure we have anti-terrorist laws in the Freedom Act that could be applied.
Did you see her on the Donny Deutch show? It was a good show and by the end of it, everyone watching saw her exposed for what she is, an over the top hyperbolic screed. He did it with honey. It was very impressive.
Ignore her, she's just a distraction
C&L: Donny really did a number on Coulter last night. They said a few things that I will differ with of course, but there was no wiggle room for Coulter to break free from. There wasn?t a talking head that would give in to her vaudevillian brand of extremism. He?s telling her that there are no liberal bogeymen. Then he gets started on her shots at the 9/11 widows.
[VIDEO]
Posted by: . at July 19, 2006 10:59 AM
Teach your children death is OK as long as it is someone else doing the dying.
Posted by: DEN at July 19, 2006 10:59 AM
Whit love
Posted by: DEN at July 19, 2006 11:00 AM
Coulter gets roughed-up by Donny Deutsch (link)
Posted by: . at July 19, 2006 11:01 AM
Hey there, Children of the Corn....just checkin in....
Dave still fighting 2000 and "Valerie-gate", I see....
doesn't he read the newspapers?....it's 2006 and there's some "trouble" over in the Middle East.
Could capt update poor Cornie?.....it should be easy, all he has to do is pull his lips away from Dave's ass for a minute or two and let him know!
Posted by: Gare at July 19, 2006 11:03 AM
Brownback Holds Up Drawing Of Embryo, Asks are You Going To Kill Me
Sen. Sam Brownback (R-KS) is leading the opposition to the H.R. 810, the Stem Cell Research Enhancement Act. Yesterday, during debate on the bill, he held up a picture of an embryo drawn by a 7-year-old girl. Relaying a conversation with the girl's mother, Brownback said the embryo was asking the Senate, "Are you going to kill me?" Watch it:
Brownback is misleading. The embryos funded by H.R. 810 were "created for the purposes of in vitro fertilization which are spare or in excess of clinical need and in every single case are slated for medical waste." Only about 10 percent of embryos are adopted the rest are disposed of. If H.R. 810 passes, they will instead be used to develop potentially live-saving cures for millions of people.
Full transcript:
We're talking about destroying the youngest of human lives for research purposes. I want to show a quick picture of that so people get the idea, and I know people do, but it's just, it's important to remember we all started out looking like this. Even the presiding officer, as handsome as he is, he looked like this at one point in time, just a little clump of cells, that was him.
This is a particular person, young girl named Hannah that I just met with a few hours ago. This was when she was adopted as a frozen embryo. This shows her kind of development taking place. You destroy her here, you donÕ´ get her here. That's key. She was called a snowflake, adopted frozen embryos. I hope some people that are maybe watching or hear about this, if they have frozen embryos, human embryos, that they consider putting them up for adoption, because a number of people want to adopt them. The couple that adopted Hannah had infertility problems themselves, could not conceive, IVF, otherwise, and so adopted her as a snowflake, as a frozen embryo, implanted, and now weÕ¶e got Hannah. Hannah is quite, I guess you would say out of the mouths of babes, children comes great wisdom.
This is a chart she did last year when she was in Washington, talking, when the House was considering legislation, the same legislation, she did this chart, this letter that kids write my kids write I love them. She said, this is Hannah, snowflake, "We're kids. I love you." And then she draws three pictures down here below. This is her smiling because she got adopted and she's here. Here is another frozen embryo these are embryos that's sad because he's still sitting in a frozen state and then here's one that as she explains is saying "What, are you going to kill me?" This was her explanation to her mother that just gave this chart to me. I hope people really would think about that. This is not just a clump of tissue. This is not just a group of a few cells. This is not a hair follicle. This is not fingernail. You know, this is Hannah. And if nurtured, grows to be just this beautiful child, and we got a lot of them, of frozen embryos. And I hope people will consider put putting them up for adoption, because there's a lot of people that want to adopt them.
More HERE
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I now understand why some of these guys are so absurd. They either never took a science class or they never learned anything in biology. OMG the talking stem cells actually say "Please do not let me die for no reason, use my to save others!" (I am sure mine is as accurate as his)
They did not show the drawing of embryo's screaming as they were put in the trash. Those were the better more accurate drawings.
capt
Posted by: capt at July 19, 2006 11:06 AM
We trolls like anal imagery.
Posted by: Happy and oh so right at July 19, 2006 11:07 AM
Turkey Signals It's Prepared to Enter Iraq
Turkish officials signaled Tuesday they are prepared to send the army into northern Iraq if U.S. and Iraqi forces do not take steps to combat Turkish Kurdish guerrillas there - a move that could put Turkey on a collision course with the United States.
Turkey is facing increasing domestic pressure to act after 15 soldiers, police and guards were killed fighting the guerrillas in southeastern Turkey in the past week.
"The government is really in a bind," said Seyfi Tashan, director of the Foreign Policy Institute at Bilkent University in Ankara. "On the one hand, they don't want things to break down with the United States. On the other hand, the public is crying for action."
More HERE
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Goose let me introduce Gander.
capt
Posted by: capt at July 19, 2006 11:09 AM
99 Bring it on!!!!!
Posted by: Happy and oh so right at July 19, 2006 11:13 AM
Real Life Thoughts from Newt
"If combat means living in a ditch, females have biological problems staying in a ditch for thirty days because they get infections and they don't have upper body strength. I mean, some do, but they're relatively rare. On the other hand, men are basically little piglets, you drop them in the ditch, they roll around in it, doesn't matter, you know. These things are very real. On the other hand, if combat means being on an Aegis-class cruiser managing the computer controls for twelve ships and their rockets, a female may be again dramatically better than a male who gets very, very frustrated sitting in a chair all the time because males are biologically driven to go out and hunt giraffes."
-- Adjunct Professor Newt Gingrich, Reinhardt College, January 7, 1995, "Renewing American Civilization."
More HERE
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Guys get athletes foot just like women. I am sure that is what he is talking about.
Is his understand scientific?
capt
Posted by: capt at July 19, 2006 11:16 AM
Capt, gotta grow 'em up and train 'em to fight PNAC wars.
Posted by: DEN at July 19, 2006 11:17 AM
ACLU Says New Specter-Cheney NSA Bill Provides Sham Oversight, Says Congress Must Be Independent of the Executive
WASHINGTON - The American Civil Liberties Union today strongly rebuked new legislation offered by Senate Judiciary Committee Chairman Arlen Specter (R-PA) that would give the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Court "optional" review over the National Security AgencyÕ³ controversial program to spy on Americans. The legislation was announced this morning and was drafted in close consultation with the White House.
The ACLU and other organizations have filed challenges to the legality of the NSA program.
"This Specter-Cheney bill is nothing short of a capitulation by Chairman Specter to the White House," said Anthony Romero, Executive Director, American Civil Liberties Union. "The Ô²eviewÕ contained in the bill is nothing more than a sham. The president could still choose to ignore the optional court oversight on the program. This new bill would codify the notion that the president is not bound by the laws passed by Congress or the Constitution. It would reward his abuse of power."
"The Senate - and the entire Congress - must provide proper oversight over the executive," said Caroline Fredrickson, Director of the ACLU Washington Legislative Office. "The law has been broken by the president, and instead of demanding answers, the Specter-Cheney bill would sanction his illegal activity. We urge the Senate Judiciary Committee to stand for the rule of law and reject this proposal."
More HERE
*****end of clip*****
Heck, if the oversight is not independent the executive would just block anything that might not serve the executives interest. That would make the oversight as worthless as no oversight. You know that kind of uber-power is always subject to abuse.
capt
Posted by: capt at July 19, 2006 11:21 AM
VIDEO: Bush Personally Blocked DOJ Investigation Of Wiretapping Program
Earlier this year, the Justice Department's Office of Professional Responsibility (OPR), which is charged with investigating attorney misconduct, announced that it could not pursue an investigation into the role of Justice lawyers in crafting the NSA warrantless wiretapping program because it was denied security clearance.
Previously, Attorney General Alberto Gonzales would not explain why the security clearances had been denied, saying he did not want to "get into internal discussions." But in testimony before the Senate Judiciary Committee this morning, Gonzales said President Bush personally blocked Justice Department lawyers from pursuing an investigation of the warrantless eavesdropping program. Watch it.
Transcipt:
SPECTER: Now when you had the first line of review, Mr. Attorney General, by OPR, why wasn't OPR given clearance as so many other lawyers in the Department of Justice were given clearance?
GONZALES: Mr. Chairman, you and I had lunch several weeks ago, and we had a discussion about this. And during this lunch, I did inform you that the terrorist surveillance program is a highly-classified program. It's a very important program for the national security of this country
SPECTER: Highly-classified, very important, many other lawyers in the Justice Department had clearance. Why not OPR?
GONZALES: And the President of the United States ultimately makes decisions about who ultimately is given access
SPECTER: Did the President make the decision not to clear OPR?
GONZALES: As with all decisions that are non-operational in terms of who has access to the program, the President of the United States makes the decision because this is such an important program
SPECTER: I want to move on to another subject. The President makes the decision and that's that.
More HERE
*****end of clip*****
So the abuse of executive power to block oversight is going to be enhanced by this legislation?
I think it does not matter one lick because Bush is:
"asserting that he has the power to set aside any statute passed by Congress when it conflicts with his interpretation of the Constitution."
No true American patriot supports a dictator or tyrannt.
capt
Posted by: capt at July 19, 2006 11:29 AM
If only it was not so true
Posted by: DEN at July 19, 2006 11:38 AM
#79 Joe, you are right! Slowly, our freedoms and rights are being dismantled.
Cornposters, BUSH IS AN UNITER!!! Yes, he is! HE HAS UNITED THE MUSLIM WORLD!!!
#93 DEN, great post!!! It reveals that our sickness as a nation has reached our children. They will grow up to be loyal murderers and war criminals.
Posted by: Gerald at July 19, 2006 11:38 AM
This just in:
Bush signs a signing statement that he is GOD. God could not be reached for comment. In a written statement read by Jim "Beelzebub" Baker Satan said "He is an idiot!" and "I am going to write a memo to his personnel file"
HA!
capt
Posted by: capt at July 19, 2006 11:40 AM
Compassionate conservativism
Posted by: DEN at July 19, 2006 11:41 AM
American Soldiers
2,867 American soldiers have been killed in Iraq and Afghanistan for Bush and his lies.
18,500+ American soldiers have been maimed in Iraq and Afghanistan for Bush and his evil lies.
55,000+ of the 140,000 American soldiers are suffering from PTSD. Stress disorder has increased and the percentage is now around 40%.
Over 350,000+ Iraqis have been killed in Iraq since Bush declared shock and awe bombings on March 19, 2003.
Contamination from depleted uranium may have affected 125,000+ American soldiers and several million Iraqis.
Are you feeling more safe and secure with Bush in the WH and Cheney as his chief hatchet man overseeing Nazi America and her citizens?
Our military men and women are used as cannon fodder for a terrorist Nazi American government.
Our enemies are innovative and resourceful and so are we. They never stop thinking about new ways to harm our country and our people, AND NEITHER DO WE. George W. Bush, August 5, 2005
Rigged elections doom American democracy. American soldiers are being killed and maimed TO PROMOTE A NAZI AMERICAN STATE.
Henry Kissinger says that military men are just dumb stupid animals to be used as pawns in foreign policy.
Nazi America is a mirror image of Hitler Bush.
Nazi Americans continually justify sin.
Nazi Americans are accomplices with Bush for his murders and war crimes.
Posted by: Gerald at July 19, 2006 11:45 AM
The glory of Hitler Bush is man fully and totally dead!!!
Posted by: Gerald at July 19, 2006 11:49 AM
BLOG WARS
By: Glenn Greenwald on Wednesday, July 19th, 2006 at 5:52 AM - PDT This week,
I wrote a post documenting the increasingly pervasive use and endorsement of treason accusations and violence-inciting rhetoric in the right-wing blogosphere, including among its most well-read bloggers, such as Michelle Malkin, Little Green Footballs, Glenn "Instapundit" Reynolds, and Powerline's John Hinderaker. Media Matters also posted a long list of examples of the extremist rhetoric which has become commonplace among right-wing bloggers. And even prominent conservative bloggers, such as Time Magazine's Andrew Sullivan, noted this week "how the far-right blogosphere has jumped the rhetorical shark this past year, aided and abetted by more mainstream conservative bloggers." The righties are restless.
Posted by: DEN at July 19, 2006 11:51 AM
Hitler Bush is giving Israel more airstrike times before he asks Israel to stop the airstrikes.
Hitler Bush and Nazi Americans through their silence are breaking the Fifth Commandment of Thou shall not kill!!! We are committing mortal sins and isolating ourselves from our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ. We have taken Christ out of Christianity in Nazi America.
Posted by: Gerald at July 19, 2006 11:55 AM
DEN, a couple of your links from posts did not link. Maybe it is my computer?
Posted by: Gerald at July 19, 2006 12:03 PM
Proverbs 7:2
Keep my commandments and live; and my law as the apple of thine eye.
Posted by: Gerald at July 19, 2006 12:07 PM
Gerald, which ones?
Posted by: DEN at July 19, 2006 12:08 PM
#115 DEN, #105 and #108!
Posted by: Gerald at July 19, 2006 12:20 PM
Gerald, they both link up from my computer, try Here and Here.
Posted by: DEN at July 19, 2006 12:30 PM
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