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Leahy: Missing RNC E-mails Are Like Nixon's 18-minute Gap

by Suzie-Q @ 2:24 PM MDT




Raw Story


"They say they have not been preserved. I don't believe that!" he proclaimed. "You can't erase e-mails, not today. They've gone through too many servers."

Leahy threatened further action in response to the news. "Those e-mails are there, they just don't want to produce them. We'll subpoena them if necessary."



The top Senate Democrat leading investigations into the dismissal of 8 U.S. Attorneys by the Justice Department is comparing e-mails lost by the Republican National Committee to President Richard Nixon's famous "18-minute gap" in White House tape recordings.

"Now we are learning that the 'off book' communications they were having about these actions, by using Republican political email addresses, have not been preserved," Sen. Patrick Leahy (D-VT), Chairman of the Judiciary Committee, said on the Senate floor.

He added, "Like the famous 18-minute gap in the Nixon White House tapes, it appears likely that key documentation has been erased or misplaced. This sounds like the Administration's version of 'the dog ate my homework.'"

The senator was referring to the Nixon White House tapes subpoenaed during the Watergate investigation. On one tape, there was an 18 1/2 minute gap. The former president's secretary, Rose Mary Woods, claimed responsibility for "accidentally" erasing 5 minutes of the recording, but not the remainder of the gap. Further investigations raised questions about the veracity of her testimony.

Joe Klein cites Bush failures

By Captain Kit, noon PDT

This article says it all.

Joe Klein says it best - Bush a colossal failure

IMUS HATE-SPEAK YOU MAY HAVE MISSED

by Lydia Cornell @ 10:55 AM PDT

Got this from our other site from my co-host Doug Basham, at BASHAM AND CORNELL PROGRESSIVE TALK

Doug says: And these “values” were only violated last week with the nappy headed ho’s comment? How about when Imus said…
On the New York Knicks: “chest-bumping pimps” the New York Crips.”
On superstar Gloria Estefan: “this little Chihuahua-looking ‘ho.”
On serial gay-killer Andrew Cunannan: “Why are they bothering to catch this guy? He’s just whacking off freaks!”
On Senator Ben Nighthorse Campbell, a Native American: “The guy from F Troop.”
On CNN’s female anchors: “dyke-ie broads.”
On media critic Howard Kurtz: “boner-nosed, beanie-wearing Jew boy.”

TUNE IN SATURDAY MORNING TUNE IN LIVE FROM LAS VEGAS and LOS ANGELES to our show BASHAM AND CORNELL PROGRESSIVE TALK
from 9 - 10 a.m. We broadcast live -- or go to our website and click on the link to hear the entire show in the archives.

DON'T MISS THIS WEEK!!


Congressman Charles Rangel will be our guest April 14. He will discuss his 30-year Congressional career and his new book, "And I Haven't Had a Bad Day Since: From the Streets of Harlem to the Halls of Congress."

Recent guests: Lt. Eric Shine, whistleblower whose life was interrupted by the Dept. of Homeland Security; Mark Green, one of the new owners of Air America, founder of New Democracy Project and author of "Losing Our Democracy." We've had some amazing guests the past 3 weeks: former federal prosecutor Elizabeth de la Vega, author of "U.S. vs BUSH" which is going to be a movie, a courtroom drama on the Bush Impeachment. We also had Media Matters' Paul Waldman, author of "Being Right is Not Enough". Last week we interview Media Matters' Eric Boehlert on his report "If it's Sunday it Must be Conservative." Boehlert is the author of LAPDOGS: "How the Press Rolled Over for Bush." A look inside one of the great journalistic collapses of our time.

Impeach Now!

by Geezer Power 10:22:00 AM

IMPEACH

NOW

An hour after I left it, the Iraqi Parliament was attacked by a suicide bomber!

by anthony @ 18:15 BST

by Jane Stillwater
OpEdNews
April 12, 2007 at 08:26:54

Yesterday I went down to the Iraqi Parliament and interviewed two female Parliament members regarding their views on the current situation in Iraq. The Parliament was meeting in what formerly used to be Baghdad's most prestigious convention center. I sat in the Center's restaurant for over an hour, interviewing the Parliamentarians and observing various delegates come and go.

After I had written and filed my story this morning, I returned to the convention center in order to see if I could give a copy of it to my two female Parliamentarian interviewees. I entered the front of the building and climbed the stairs to the second floor but after a visual search of the many delegates gathered there to caucus between sessions, I was unable to find who I was looking for and so I left.

An hour later an apparent suicide bomber somehow managed to enter the restaurant and set off an incendiary device which, according to Reuters, injured over a dozen delegates, some of them seriously. Two delegates were allegedly killed.

My heart goes out to the injured delegates and their families – and to all of Iraq. Am I relieved that I missed being injured by flying shrapnel or burned? Of course. But more than that, I am deeply grieved by this tragic horror that happened to people who were well and whole just mintues before.

Banana Republic USA: Mexican Truckers to Stampede America; "Bush outta Control!"

by Global Evildoer Fighter @ 11:50 AM EDT

Mexican truck stampede to hit U.S.!
Bush administration moving ahead despite congressional opposition

---

April 12, 2007
1:00 a.m. Eastern By Jerome R. Corsi

(TTNews.com)

Despite congressional opposition, the Bush administration is fully committed to beginning within weeks a pilot test that will allow Mexican trucks to operate freely across the U.S.

Worldnetdaily



AMERICAN TRUCKERS A DYING BREED!

McCains Paradise Met Reality!

by Global Evildoer Fighter @ 11:40 AM EDT


AN EXPLOSION HAS ROCKED THE IRAQI PARLIAMENT, IN BAGHDAD, OFFICIALS SAY AT LEAST TWO IRAQI LAWMAKERS HAVE BEEN KILLED

By QASSIM ABDUL-ZAHRA

BAGHDAD Apr 12, 2007 (AP)— A bomb rocked Iraq's parliament building in the heavily fortified Green Zone Thursday, killing at least two lawmakers in a stunning security breach in the third month of a U.S.-Iraqi crackdown on violence in the capital, officials said.

The Dog Ate It!

by anthony @ 16:37 BST

Tom Hamburger
The Los Angeles Times
April 11, 2007 at 05:55 PM

White House Email Controversy Grows: Thousands Of Messages May Be "Lost"

The White House said today that it may have lost what could amount to thousands of messages sent through a private e-mail system used by political guru Karl Rove and at least 50 other top officials, an admission that stirred anger and dismay among congressional investigators.

The e-mails were considered potentially critical evidence in congressional inquiries launched by Democrats into the role partisan politics may have played in such policy decisions as the firing of eight U.S. attorneys.

Senators Expand Inquiry of Political Prosecutions

by Anthony

Amanda Lang
OpEdNews
Posted 04/11/2007 @ 01:04am

The question of whether any of the 85 U.S. Attorneys who were not fired by the Bush administration may have engaged in political prosecutions blew open Tuesday, when key members of the Senate Judiciary Committee demanded files pertaining to a botched prosecution in Wisconsin.

Ultimately, the big story of the scandal at the Department of Justice will not be that of the eight fired prosecutors. It will be that of the 85 who were not fired, and of what they did or did not do to keep their jobs.

Committee chair Patrick Leahy, D-Vermont, and five other senators have asked Attorney General Alberto Gonzales for documents dealing with the case of a Wisconsin state employee who was tried in a case that played out during the course of the 2006 gubernatorial race in that state. Republicans used the prosecution as part of a television attack campaign aimed at defeating Democratic Governor James Doyle.

U.S. Attorney Stephen Biskupic obtained an election-season conviction of the state employee, Georgia Thompson, on charges that she steered a state contract to a Doyle donor. But a federal appeals court last week overturned that conviction with a stinging decision that complained about a lack of evidence. One of the appeals court judges said Biskupic's case was "beyond thin."

Biskupic, who also investigated Republican-pushed charges of "voter fraud," which proved to be without validity, was not one of the eight U.S. Attorneys fired by Gonzales in what appears to have been an attempt to purge prosecutors who refused to use their positions to advance the agenda of White House political czar Karl Rove and other GOP operative.

Rather, Biskupic was one of the 85 U.S. Attorneys who met the standards applied by Gonzales and the Bush White House.

At issue, of course, is what those standards required of the federal prosecutors who retained their jobs. Were they expected to conduct politicized prosecutions? More importantly, did any of them conduct prosecutions on a schedule designed to benefit Republican electoral prospects?

More...

Does Anyone Want This Job?

by S-Q @ 8:05 AM MDT


BUSH CAN'T FIND ANYONE WHO WILL BE HIS 'WAR CZAR' !!!

KEITH OLBERMANN- COUNTDOWN
APRIL 11, 2007

Video

"There's Always One Joker in the Pack!"

posted by anthony @ 13:12 PM BST

After the camera pans to the audience, Jimmy Kimmel says: "There's always one joker in the pack!"

Guess who?

Ford apologises after joke on Bush blows up

posted by anthony @ 12:56 PM BST

Poornima Gupta
Reuters
Wed Apr 11, 2007 9:18 PM BST

Ford Motor Co. Chief Executive Alan Mulally is no longer laughing about his suggestion that he saved President Bush's life during a recent White House visit.

The No. 2 U.S. automaker has apologised after Mulally said his claim that he had intervened to prevent U.S. President George W. Bush from plugging an electrical cord into the hydrogen tank of an experimental Ford vehicle had been meant as a joke.

On Wednesday, White House spokeswoman Dana Perino said, "The story wasn't accurate, and I'll just decline to comment further."


Ford said Mulally never expected the story he told journalists in New York last week would be taken seriously.

The CEO found himself in an embarrassing situation when the story was featured on blogs and even in mainstream media such as the Financial Times, which said, "he may have saved the incumbent of the Oval Office from blowing himself up."

Mulally said last Wednesday, recounting a meeting at the White House on March 28, that he had noticed the president appeared to be ready to plug a power cord into the wrong outlet of a rechargeable vehicle that also runs on hydrogen.

"I violated all protocols. I grabbed his arm and I moved him up to the front," Mulally told reporters at the New York auto show.

Continued...

FIRE GLEN BECK... and all hatemongers

by Lydia Cornell @ 9:15 PM PDT

Imus lost his MSNBC show, a signal that sexist, racist hate-speak will not be tolerated on the public airwaves. But much worse than Imus are Glen Beck, Rush Limbaugh and Michael Savage — who also have their own shows. They systematically engage in hate-speak. Glen Beck has actually screamed out death wishes to his fellow Americans, and said he "hates the 911 and Katrina victims." I just discovered a website called FIRE GLEN BECK. Out of 1,750 comments, here is one that jumped out at me:

"Glen Beck is factually wrong, intellectually lazy and willfully misleading on the vast majority of subjects that he discusses. But the reason he should be fired is that his hate mongering (hate pornography) is below the dignity and quality that I at one time took for granted with CNN and Time-Warner. He, at best, sows division and hate when our country is in desperate need of healing. Blame-shifting, scapegoating and resulting violent hate crimes become more and more commonplace in the last decade. There seems to be a growing number of stressed, ignorant, volatile, hateful and dangerously imbalanced people in this country. These are people who may well be motivated to commit violent acts by Beck's dishonest vilification of both individuals and large swathes of American society. His hate filled rants could result in more attacks on judges, physicians, clergy, congressmen, professors, environmentalists etc. Please help lead CNN back in the direction of decency, principles, and objectivity. Some of CNN's programming and personnel decisions (as with other networks) are starting to make those in the 70's movie "Network" look highly responsible by comparison."

Karl Rove to appear in Portland Oregon on Friday The 13th.

by Geezer Power @ 5:20:00 PM PDT

The smell of Pork Rind will be heavy in the air on Friday the 13th. here in Tigard Oregon, a suberb of Portland. Karl Rove will be the unlikely visitor here at what is called a grass roots Republican convention, and it looks like his presence won't go unanswered, as the word is out on the internet. He will probably not see as many Republicans as he does genuine Grass Roots folks, who will not be paying $60 per head to see him.

Karl Rove coming to Portland Oregon on Friday the 13th.



The Mouth of Hell Opens in Tigard: Karl Rove is Coming


Posted by Scott Moore at 11:20 AM

By now, you may have heard that Satan has given Karl Rove—the maniacal genius behind the Bush machine, and one helluva MC—permission to leave the fiery, sulfur-choked depths of Hades to pay the Portland area a little visit this week. But here’s the question: Where, exactly, will Hell’s blood-soaked maw open up?

He’s appearing at a “grassroots” reception put on by the Washington County GOP, and it’s going to be somewhere in Tigard. You can register and pay on their website, but it doesn’t have any information about where it’s happening. I suppose they let you know after you pay. Is it just me, or is this not exactly how raves are organized?

Hey McCain... Is It Safe? Can I Come Out Now?

by S-Q @ 12:40 PM MDT


What is your caption for this photo??


From the A/P

President Bush walks from backstage to speak to veterans about the Iraq war supplemental, Tuesday, April 10,2007, at the American Legion Post 177 in Fairfax, Va.

INXS - Devil inside

Tens of thousands of Iraqi's demonstrate~Call for US troop withdrawel

by Geezer Power @ 11:36:00 AM PDT

Our illustrious President would probably call these people terrorists. The protesters in Najaf were responding to a call by powerful anti-American cleric Moqtada al-Sadr, who blames the March 2003 invasion for the country's woes and wants a timetable set for a U.S. troop withdrawal, yet they are participating in peaceful demonstrations against US occupation in Iraq. Protest means nothing to Bush & Co. in Iraq or even in America, but anything that points out the truth about this corporate government, like the current investigations of Alberto Gonzales is replied to in full measure.

Iraqis rally, call for U.S. forces to leave

Mon Apr 9, 2007 5:54PM EDT

By Khaled Farhan

NAJAF, Iraq (Reuters) - Tens of thousands of people waving Iraqi flags staged a peaceful rally in the southern city of Najaf on Monday to demand the withdrawal of U.S. forces, four years to the day after Baghdad fell to invading American troops.

The streets of the Iraqi capital itself were largely empty after authorities clamped a 24-hour ban on vehicles to prevent any insurgent attacks, especially car bombings.

The anniversary comes as Iraq's Shi'ite-led government is trying to avert full-scale civil war between majority Shi'ites and minority Sunnis who were dominant under Saddam Hussein. Sunni and Shi'ite clerics marched side by side in Najaf.

Video
.
.

GOP-ildent Despondent!

by Global Evildoer Fighter @ 1:45 PM EDT

The GOP has become a cowering, withered party thanks to their beloved W.
by Joe Sudbay AmericaBlog (DC) · 4/11/2007 08:22:00 AM ET

Oh, how the mighty have fallen. For the past seven years, we've been subjected to the media buying Karl Rove's theory of GOP dominance. It wasn't so long ago that the Bush swagger awed the GOP and the media. Those days are so over -- according to Republicans themselves -- they are freaking out.

The NY Times reports on the precipitous demise of the GOP. What a bunch of pathetic, whiny losers they've become.

In interviews on Tuesday, the Republicans said they were concerned about signs of despondency among party members and fund-raisers, reflected in polls and the Democratic fund-raising advantage in the first quarter of the year.

America Blog

Paul Wolfowitz has an Arab Girlfriend. Don't Tell his Wife Clare Selgin Ok ?! :)

by Global Evildoer Fighter @ 12:30 PM EDT

Wolfowitz admits helping aide

Washington, April 9 (Reuters): World Bank president Paul Wolfowitz said today he accepted full responsibility for the promotion of a staffer with whom he is romantically involved.

The bank’s staff association last week questioned Shaha Riza’s promotion and pay increases, and the bank’s board said on Friday they would look into whether the actions possibly violated the bank’s staff rules.

Wolfowitz told the bank’s staff in an email that he would ensure the board has access to the facts in the case “in a manner that also respects the bank's rules concerning the right of every staff member to the confidentiality of his or her records”.

He said he accepted “full responsibility for the actions taken in this case” and that he had always acted to uphold bank rules on employee rights and treatment.

Telegraph Story

Your Cheatin' Heart..

I Put A Spell On You Giuliani!!

by S-Q @ 9:10 AM MDT


That ain't no way to treat a Lady! A Drag Queen Lady...that is!!

The New York Sun

For a full transcript of Mayor Giuliani's remarks in Florida on March 4 about the Terri Schiavo case, please visit NYSunPolitics.com

Mayor Giuliani's response to a question about the Terri Schiavo controversy while on the campaign trail in St. Petersburg, Fla., raises serious questions about the competence of his campaign staff and his discipline as a presidential candidate.

The comments last week indicated that Mr. Giuliani supported the congressional intervention in the Schiavo case in 2005. However, they also made it clear that Mr. Giuliani was ill-prepared for the question.

(The Giuliani campaign refused to clarify the former mayor's position on the Schiavo case yesterday, despite repeated requests to do so from The New York Sun.)

"Can I ask you about Terri Schiavo?" a reporter asked at a press availability on April 4. "Did you support the congressional intervention to—"

At this point Mr. Giuliani cut in, according to a transcript provided by his campaign: "I believe I did. I don't, I, it's a while ago and I think I said that I thought every effort should be made to keep her alive. I don't know that I supported the, the whole thing to the very end, but I am not sure now."

Creedence Clearwater Revival- I Put A Spell On You

Diabetes Epidemic Spreading Worldwide: Experts

by S-Q @ 7:20 AM MDT

(This article was sent to me from Clif, who posts on this blog. Thank you Clif for bringing this to our attention!)

Diabetes Epidemic Spreading Worldwide: Experts

Only the corporate death merchants could take a world where the mass of it's people were self-sustaining, and convert it to a world where they rely on large food production corporations and McDonalds for their sustinance. The irony of this story is almost obscene in it's portent of the future, they do not only starve people when the force the mases off the local farms for massive corporate conmtrolled mega farms for corporate profits, but they also give them modern industrial based diseases, which are a result of the forced change in lifestyl;es and social systemds for corporate profits.

More than two-thirds of the world's estimated 246 million diabetics come from less-affluent developing nations, and more must be done to curb a disease that now rivals HIV/AIDS in terms of suffering and death around the globe....

..."This truly is an epidemic," warned Dr. Martin Silink, president of the International Diabetes Federation (IDF), which represents more than 200 diabetes associations across 158 countries. "Seventy percent of the global burden of diabetes is now in developing countries, even though that seems paradoxical. People think that it should be in the developed world where there is access to fast food and lots of obesity."

But rapid lifestyle changes are affecting the health of people in China, India, South America, and elsewhere, he said. "As their economies develop, diabetes is now subverting the gains of economic development," Silink said.

Some statistics from the IDF:

* By 2025, the number of people with diabetes is expected to rise to 380 million worldwide, with 80 percent living in the developing world.
* Each year, another 7 million people develop diabetes, while 3.8 million die of diabetes-linked causes.
* In many countries in Asia, the Middle East and the Caribbean, diabetes already affects 15 percent to 20 percent of the adult population.
* India now has the largest number of diabetics (almost 41 million) in the world, followed by China (nearly 40 million), the United States ( 19.2 million) and Russia (9.6 million).
* Diabetes increasingly affects the young or middle-aged, with more than half of diabetics in developing countries between the ages of 40 and 59.

According to the experts, a "perfect storm" of genetics and social change is driving the spread of obesity-linked type 2 diabetes in poorer countries. Visitors to today's China quickly notice McDonald's, KFC and other fast-food outlets springing up in major cities. At the same time, the foot and bicycle are making way for the car on urban streets.

More Here

The US Attorneys Who WEREN'T Fired - Part 2

by anthony @ 12:56 PM BST

RobertInWisconsin
Daily Kos
Tue Apr 10, 2007 at 11:49:37 AM PDT

left: Georgia Thompson



In this diary yesterday, I provided some background about the shocking federal appeals court reversal of a case prosecuted to the full extent of the law by Bush-appointed US Attorney Biskupic in the months leading up to the 2006 Wisconsin Governor's election.

Biskupic went full-tilt after a Wisconsin civil service employee, who lost everything and was sentenced to federal prison right before the election (in which incumbent Democratic Governor Jim Doyle was being challenged by Bush family friend, Rep Mark Green).

Last Friday - Good Friday - the federal appeals court (with 2 of the 3 judges being Republican appointees) literally took one look at the case and with less than a day of oral argument overturned the sentence and ordered the employee, Georgia Thompson, immediately released from prison - before even issuing a written decision.

After his high-profile prosecution of this case, US Attorney Biskupic has been nearly as silent as a church mouse, dispatching a staff attorney to receive the Good Friday courtroom rebuke from which he was absent, and then issuing a brief statement congratulating Ms Thompson's lawyers after the stunning decision.

Over the weekend I called for a Congressional investigation of this case, as it appears there's a chance it could be linked to the larger US Attorneys scandal, which has up until now focused mainly on who was fired for political reasons by the Bush White House, which was seeking maximum pre-election pressure on Democrats at all levels while easing up on any Republicans with potential (or actual) scandals.

It's time to look at the US Attorneys who weren't fired to see if they were doing White House bidding to try to tilt elections to Republicans.

A few minutes ago, Democratic members of the Senate Judiciary Committee wrote Attorney General Gonzales demanding all documents related to this case. BRAVO!

Here's the full text of the letter.

The letter was signed by the Democratic members of the Senate Judiciary Committee: Chair Patrick Leahy, Dianne Feinstein, Charles Schumer, Russ Feingold, Herb Kohl, and Sheldon Whitehouse. It is delicious irony that both of Wisconsin's Senators signed this letter.

The US Attorneys Who WEREN'T Fired, Part 1

by anthony @12:30 PM BST

by RobertInWisconsin
Daily Kos
Mon Apr 09, 2007 at 10:53:26 AM PDT

As we all know, the Bush Administration fired a number of US Attorneys for political reasons that emanated from the White House, then the AG and others tried to cover it up, and pretend that they didn’t know anything about it.

As Congress investigates this widening scandal, a question that needs to be asked is: Who DIDN’T they fire – and why?

We’ve heard that the Bush White House may have told US Attorneys, in essence, to go full-tilt after Democrats at all levels if there was the slightest hint of scandal, while going easy on Republicans.

In one case in Wisconsin, where there is smoke there may be fire. Just before the election for Wisconsin governor, US Attorney Steven Biskupic – a Bush appointee – prosecuted a Wisconsin state government civil servant to the full extent of the law. And this story has a surprising ending... .

BRING THE TROOPS HOME. NO MATTER WHAT THEY SAY, WHAT MATTERS IS WHAT WE SAY!

by anthony @ 11:30 AM BST

Today in Iraq tens of THOUSANDS of their people marched in just one city demanding that we end the occupation.

The flimsy pretense that any of this was for the glorious benefit of the Iraqi people is in utter shreds. For those still arguing for burying our heads even deeper in the sand it's all about us now. They say we can't leave because WE can't afford to lose, because WE need to have access to all that oil.

Who will admit we have already lost, when 90% of the Iraqi people hate us for being the unwelcome occupiers we have become? There are no smiles for us there anymore, let alone any flowers. Who will tell the truth to the American people that the Iraqis already know so grimly, that from the beginning this was all about stealing their oil and absolutely nothing else?

In the meantime, the coalition of the missing in action, our former allies, saw the handwriting on the wall quite some time ago, and they're all on their way outta there. The occupation has got to end. The occupation is going to end. Who will have the political courage to admit the facts of death as they are on the ground, and put an end to it NOW?

You can call your members of Congress right now on one of these toll-free numbers, 800-828-0498, 800-459-1887 or 800-614-2803. There are operators on duty 24 hours a day. Just ask to be connected to your one of your senators or your house representative and they'll put you through. If you don't know who they all are, or want all their direct phone and fax numbers, just submit the simple form on the right, to get all their numbers right down to their district offices, right here on this page:

The war in Vietnam almost destroyed our country, until enough people finally spoke out to stop it. You can stop the occupation Iraq NOW, and the planned expansion into Iran, if only you will speak out now. Click here to also call for the impeachment of president Bush

If you want to make sure your message gets through, the one click form below will send your personal message to both of your senators, with the subject "End the occupation of Iraq now." At the same time you can send your personal comments only as a letter to the editor of your nearest local daily newspaper if you like. Read our simple, comprehensive plan HOW we're going to stop the occupation.

Caring About Our Troops!

by Global Evildoer Fighter @ 8:45 PM EDT

How to Care about our Troops
By Global Evildoer Fighter

"We need to fund our troops, the Democrats are Imperiling our Troops!" - GW Bush/Dick Cheney

"If Bush & Cheney cared about our Troops we wouldn't be in Iraq any more and Walter Reed would be better equipped than a 5 star hotel."

Bush is doing his famous doublespeak again!

Fact is that Bush & Cheney don't give a rats about our troops!

"Compassion should be the first feeling one gets if one cares about human beings."

Bush and Cheney are sacrificing our troops lives over and over again in multiple tours of duty on a Failed Mission! Where's the Compassion ? In more Body Armor ? What about our Troops and their families ?"

When Bush gives me more body armor that doesn't mean he cares about me, that means he wants me well protected so I can continue to fight his war while doing more psychological damage to my brain cells and soul.

If body armor is so good then why do US Soldiers come back with missing limbs and torn up minds ?!

Care about me ? Exactly HOW does Bush & Cheney care about me ?

By sending me back into the meat grinder over and over and over again ?
Oh I feel the Compassion from those Warm IUDs already!

You want to Care about the Troops ?

End this War. That's Caring. That's Compassion!

The Bush/Cheney doublespeak is full on bullsh#t and the Majority of America knows it!

Gonzales Gets His First Subpoena

by S-Q @ 3:20 PM MDT

© 2007 Stephen Pitt

This isn't the 109th Congress that you're playing with boys!!


AMERICAblog

In what will probably be the first of many, the Attorney General, Alberto Gonzales, was subpoenaed today by the House Judiciary Committee:

The House Judiciary Committee issued a subpoena to Attorney General Alberto R. Gonzales today seeking hundreds of pages of new or uncensored records related to the firings of eight U.S. attorneys last year, officials said.

It is the first subpoena to be issued in connection with the dismissals and escalates the confrontation between Democrats and the Bush administration, which has resisted demands for more documents and for public testimony from White House aides about the dismissals.

"We have been patient in allowing the department to work through its concerns regarding the sensitive nature of some of these materials," Rep. John Conyers (D-Mich.), the judiciary panel's chairman, wrote Gonzales in a letter that accompanied the subpoena. "Unfortunately, the department has not indicated any meaningful willingness to find a way to meet our legitimate needs."

Conyers added that "further delay in receiving these materials will not serve any constructive purpose."

In other words, stop screwing around. The Democrats on the House Judiciary Committee -- and their staff -- play hard ball. Very hard ball. This is getting good.

This, again, is why having the majority matters.

Glenn Frey "The Heat Is On"

Feingold Introduces Bill To 'Effectively End Military Involvement In Iraq'

by S-Q @ 1:04 PM MDT




Raw Story

In a countermove designed to counter President Bush's expected veto of an emergency supplemental spending bill containing a timetable for US troop withdrawal, Senator Russ Feingold (D-WI) is introducing legislation which would "effectively end military involvement in Iraq."

According to a press release sent to RAW STORY, Feingold's bill "requires the President to begin safely redeploying U.S. troops from Iraq 120 days from enactment, as required by the emergency supplemental spending bill passed by the Senate." It would also end "funding for the war, with three narrow exceptions, effective March 31, 2008." The exceptions include operations against Qaeda and other terrorist groups, training Iraqi security forces, and funds related to security for United States infrastructure and personnel.

The bill is cosponsored by Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-NV), along with Senators Barbara Boxer (D-CA), Chris Dodd (D-CT), Ted Kennedy (D-MA), John Kerry (D-MA), Pat Leahy (D-VT), and Sheldon Whitehouse (D-RI). The press release notes, "If the President vetoes the emergency supplemental spending bill, Reid has said he will work to ensure Feingold’s bill gets a vote in the Senate before Memorial Day."

McCain’s Excellent Iraqi Adventure

by S-Q @ 11:22 AM MDT

DAILY SHOW With Jon Stewart.

McCain’s Excellent Iraqi Adventure

Jon rocks and he is hilarious! LOL

Raking it in from the War on Terror!

by anthony @ 18:36 BST

Congress Must Cut Off Bush Family War Profits

Evelyn Pringle
OpEdNews
April 10, 2007 at 05:28:41



On Monday, April 9, 2007, the Boston Herald reported that the US military had announced the Easter weekend deaths of 10 more American soldiers, including six killed on Sunday. The Associated Press reports that, since the war began in March 2003, over 3,000 members of the US military have been killed in Iraq, as of April 8, 2007.

The military reported the deaths of four more US soldiers on Tuesday.

Its nearly impossible to estimate the number of deaths of civilians in Iraq, but the Herald reports that at least 47 people were killed or found dead in violence on Easter Sunday, including 17 execution victims dumped in the capital.

News releases out of Iraq also report that a woman wearing a black veil and strapped with explosives blew herself up outside a police station in Iraq on Tuesday, killing 16 people.

According to the January 14, 2007 LA Times, Steven Kosiak, director of budget studies at the Center for Strategic and Budgetary Assessments in Washington, says that, starting with the anti-terrorism appropriation a week after the 9/11 attacks, he estimates the US has spent $400 billion fighting terrorism through fiscal 2006, which ended on September 30, 2006.

In January 2007, Marine Corps spokeswoman, Lt Col Roseann Lynch, told Reuters that the war in Iraq is costing about $4.5 billion a month for military "operating costs," which did not include new weapons or equipment.

Since this war on terror was declared following 9/11, the pay levels for the CEOs of the top 34 defense contractors have doubled. The average compensation rose from $3.6 million during the period of 1998-2001, to $7.2 million during the period of 2002-2005, according to an August 2006, report entitled, "Executive Excess 2006," by the Washington-based, Institute for Policy Studies, and the Boston-based, United for a Fair Economy.

This study found that since 9/11, the 34 defense CEOs have pocketed a combined total of $984 million, or enough, the report says, to cover the wages for more than a million Iraqis for a year. In 2005, the average total compensation for the CEOs of large US corporations was only 6% above 2001 figures, while defense CEOs pay was 108% higher.

But the last name of one family, which is literally amassing a fortune over the backs of our dead heroes, matches that of the man holding the purse strings in the White House... .

More...

We Want Those Documents... Hand Them Over!!

by S-Q @ 9:44 AM MDT





NY Times

Among the missing documents the senators mentioned was a chart cited in a Feb. 12, 2007, e-mail message from Monica Goodling, a former aide to Mr. Gonzales, to other department officials.

WASHINGTON, April 9 — Four senators said Monday that they suspected that the Justice Department had failed to turn over all relevant documents related to the dismissals of eight United States attorneys.

The department has released more than 3,000 pages of e-mail messages and other files. But, the senators wrote in a letter to Attorney General Alberto R. Gonzales, “We are concerned that additional documents relevant to the committee’s investigations are missing or have been withheld.”

The letter expressed skepticism about whether lawmakers had all the material they needed to evaluate the motives for the removals and raised questions on the scope and methods used to assemble the material. A spokesman for the department, Brian Roehrkasse, said officials would not comment until they had reviewed the letter.

Gonzo's Intense Grilling will be Tasty!!

by Global Evildoer Fighter @ 10:30 AM EDT

Gonzales cramming for big test — will he pass?

By: Steve on Tuesday, April 10th, 2007 at 5:03 AM - PDT

There’s been a surprising amount of attention lately on embattled Attorney General Alberto Gonzales preparing for his upcoming Senate Judiciary Committee hearing, which if the conventional wisdom is to be believed, will determine whether he keeps his job. Newsweek’s Michael Isikoff reports that the Justice Department is “in a state of paralysis” and Gonzales’ closest advisers “are nervous about whether he is up to the task.”

If Gonzales was planning to simply tell the truth, he wouldn't "keep contradicting himself" in practice sessions and he wouldn't need to bring his schedule to a standstill in order to figure out what he's planning to say. He'd just review the appropriate documents to make sure he had his dates straight and then tell Congress what happened.

Obviously, though, that's not quite what he's planning to do, is it?

Complete Story at C & L

THEY'RE GONNA GRILL HIM GOOD!

Dumbya Nearly Blows Himself Up!

posted by anthony @ 14:49 BST

Ford President Alan Mulally, right, had to be quick on his feet to make sure President Bush plugged a power cord into the right socket on a Ford hydrogen-electric plug-in hybrid.


Plug it in, fire it up, Mr. President
The Detroit News
Tuesday April 10, 2007

Credit Ford Motor Co. CEO Alan Mulally with saving the leader of the free world from self-immolation.

Mulally told journalists at the New York auto show that he intervened to prevent President Bush from plugging an electrical cord into the hydrogen tank of Ford's hydrogen-electric plug-in hybrid at the White House last week. Ford wanted to give the Commander-in-Chief an actual demonstration of the innovative vehicle, so the automaker arranged for an electrical outlet to be installed on the South Lawn and ran a charging cord to the hybrid. However, as Mulally followed Bush out to the car, he noticed someone had left the cord lying at the rear of the vehicle, near the fuel tank.

"I just thought, 'Oh my goodness!' So, I started walking faster, and the President walked faster and he got to the cord before I did. I violated all the protocols. I touched the President. I grabbed his arm and I moved him up to the front," Mulally said. "I wanted the president to make sure he plugged into the electricity, not into the hydrogen This is all off the record, right?"

Duck for President!

posted by anthony @ 14:09 BST

"After her welcome, the first lady sat in one of the area's designated reading nooks and read 'Duck for President,' by Doreen Cronin. It's a story of a duck who gets sick of farm chores and decides to run for office _ first for head of the farm, then governor and, finally, president. In the end he decides running the country is too much work and goes back to the farm."


From Kids Go on White House Easter Egg Hunt
Huffington Post
NATASHA T. METZLER
April 9, 2007

Would that the Resident felt the same way!

For information on some of the other candidates:

Who's Running? (From NYP)

The Presidential Field (From WaPo)

Disclaimer: This post has been published for information purposes only and in no way should it be regarded as an endorsement of Duck's bid for the Presidency.

Iran under the threat of war?

by anthony @ 13:45 BST

by Nasir Khan

Global Research, April 9, 2007
AlJazeera.com

Is the United States going to attack Iran? This question is being asked around the world. The big American military build-up in the Persian Gulf has gone on for some time, and there is every reason to believe that Washington is setting stage for a major offensive against Iran.

In fact, the Bush administration has followed a carefully orchestrated strategy with a view to pave the way for a major conflict with Iran. The clearest signal comes from US Vice President Dick Cheney’s latest comments on February 23. At a joint news conference with Australian Prime Minister John Howard, Cheney said that ‘all options’ are on the table if Iran continues to defy UN- led efforts to get Tehran to abandon its nuclear programmes. The news conference was held amidst tight security because thousands of protesters were voicing their anger at his visit. They called the main architect of invasion and occupation of Iraq a ‘war criminal’ and they called for the withdrawal of Australian soldiers from Iraq.

Cheney said that the United States remained ‘deeply concerned’ about Iran’s activities, including the ‘aggressive’ sponsoring of Hezbollah and ‘inflammatory statements’ by President Ahmadinejad: ‘We worked with European community and the United Nations to put together a set of policies to persuade the Iranians to give up their aspirations and to resolve the matter peacefully, and that is still our preference.’

‘But I have also made the point, and the president has also made the point, that all options are on the table,’ said Cheney.

Other articles from global research.ca:

Russian General Says U.S. Continues Preparations for Iran Strike
- 2007-04-09

Iran: the Threat of a Nuclear War
- by General Leonid Ivashov - 2007-04-09

Teetering on the Brink of Disaster: The NeoCons' Decision to Bomb Iran
- by Ali Fathollah-Nejad - 2007-04-09

"Theater Iran Near Term" (TIRANNT)
- by Michel Chossudovsky - 2007-02-21
"Theater Iran Near Term" (TIRANNT) has identified several thousand targets inside Iran as part of a "Shock and Awe" Blitzkrieg, which is now in its final planning stages.

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by Global Evildoer Fighter @ 6:50 PM EDT

"DC Madam Talks with ABC News"
April 9, 2007 4:42 PM
Justin Hood Reports

Alleged "D.C. Madam" Deborah Jeane Palfrey has given an exclusive interview to ABC News.

ABC News investigative correspondent Brian Ross recently interviewed Palfrey, who for over a decade operated what she terms an "erotic fantasy service" in the metropolitan Washington, D.C. area, for an upcoming report on "20/20."

Last October, federal prosecutors charged Palfrey with racketeering offenses in connection with the business, which she contends was a legal operation. From 1993 to August 2006, Palfrey ran a high-end escort service in the nation's capital, charging a flat fee for 90-minute "dates" with women between the ages of 23 and 55 whom she termed independent contractors.

ABCs The Blotter!


This could be the Biggest Reverse Sting Operation Ever! :)

Don't do the Crime if you can't do the Time

Abramoff: The House That Jack Built

by S-Q @ 3:41 PM MDT


Since Jack Abramoff's name came up on a previous thread, I thought I should publish this again.

Abramoff: The House That Jack Built

Jack Abramoff *

SunCruz

Sen. Conrad Burns +
Rep. Tom DeLay +
Rep. Bob Ney *
Adam Kidan *
Neil Volz

Tigua Casino

Sen. John Cornyn
Rep. Bob Ney * +
Rep. Don Young
Ralph Reed
Michael Scanlon *
Neil Volz

Mariana Islands

Sen. Conrad Burns +
Rep. Tom DeLay +
Rep. John Doolittle
Rep. Don Young
President Bush +

Saginaw Funding

Sen. Conrad Burns +
Sen. Byron Dorgan +
Rep. J.D. Hayworth +

Choctaws

Grover Norquist
Ralph Reed

Capital Athletic Foundation

Julie Doolittle *

Coushatta Campaign

Rep. Roy Blunt +
Rep. Eric Cantor +
Sen. Thad Cochran +
Rep. Tom DeLay +
Rep. John Doolittle
Sen. John Ensign
Sen. Charles Grassley
Rep. J. Dennis Hastert +
Rep. Ernie Istook +
Sen. Trent Lott
Sen. Harry Reid
Rep. Pete Sessions
Rep. David Vitter +
Rep. Roger Wicker
Grover Norquist

Cronyism

Sen. Conrad Burns +
Rep. Tom DeLay +
Rep. John Doolittle
Rep. Bob Ney * +
Grover Norquist
Tony Rudy
Neil Volz
J. Steven Griles
Susan Ralston

Favors

Rep. Bob Ney * +
Rep. Richard Pombo +
Rep. David Vitter +
Rep. Don Young
Doug Bandow
Italia Federici
Timothy Flanigan
J. Steven Griles
Gale A. Norton
Susan Ralston

Trips

Rep. Tom DeLay +
Rep. John Doolittle
Rep. Tom Feeney +
Rep. Bob Ney *
Ed Buckham
Susan Hirschmann
Ralph Reed
David Safavian

Mashpee

Rep. Richard Pombo +

Gifts

Rep. Tom DeLay +
Rep. John Doolittle
Sen. Tom Harkin +
Rep. J.D. Hayworth +
Rep. Bob Ney * +
Rep. Don Young

* Denotes individuals who have been subponaed, indicted, or found guilty in the Abramoff investigation.

+ Denotes individuals who have returned donations from Abramoff, his clients, or his partners.

Methodology: Members of Congress were included if they received over $10,000 from Abramoff, his clients or his partners and have allegedly done favors for Abramoff, his clients or his partners. Members who were acting on behalf of a constituent in their state were excluded, even if those constituents were Abramoff clients. Certain members who received less than $10,000 in Abramoff were included because of extensive allegations of favors done for Abramoff.

More...

.

Jane Stillwater, blogger and grandmother in Iraq, interviews John McCain

by Geezer Power 3:28:00 PM PDT


Jane Stillwater's Fourth Report:

Sunday, April 01, 2007



More news from Iraq: Me, the Light Brigade & John McCain

By Jane Stillwater

JANE STILLWATER'S REPORT FROM IRAQ

Iconoclast journalist Jane P. Stillwater is now embedded in Kuwait. She maneuvered past the road blocks of bureaucracy to arrive there and has filed her first report from the Middle East. Stillwater's reports will be updated as they arrive on the Iconoclast site. Here, you can follow the stalwart and indomitable reporting of Stillwater to the Iconoclast and the world at large.

Stillwater is a grandmother from Berkeley, California who is dedicated to the truth and justice for all Americans. The Iconoclast is delighted to be able to enable this kind of coverage so that Americans can know.

So it's OK for Halliburton to do Work for Terrorist Nations!

by global Evildoer Fighter @ 5:15 PM EDT

Halliburton winds up Iran work

US oil services giant Halliburton said Monday it had wrapped up its work commitments in Iran and was no longer conducting any projects in the Islamic republic.

Halliburton announced in January of 2005 that it was shutting-down its Iran operations, but would honor existing "contractual commitments" until they were fulfilled.

"Halliburton announced today that all of its contractual commitments in Iran have been completed and the company is no longer working in Iran," the firm said in a brief statement.

The company, headed by Dick Cheney from 1995 to 2000 before he became vice president, added that its "prior business" in Iran was "clearly permissible under applicable laws and regulations."

Halliburton, which could not be reached for further comment, was involved in at least one contract to drill for gas in Iran in 2005 although the contract was subsequently cancelled by Iran's government.

It had won the contract even though a US law, dating to 1996, threatens sanctions on US and foreign groups that invest over 40 million dollars in Iran's energy sector.

Halliburton might be pulling out of Iran, which has troubled political relations with the United States, but it is boosting its footprint elsewhere in the region.

Halliburton announced last month that it was relocating to the United Arab Emirates to capitalize on the Gulf region's booming energy market.

Raw has it

Were The Multiple White House Email Systems Used To Conceal Activities??

by S-Q @ 1:54 PM MDT

© 2007 Stephen Pitt

LA Times

Democrats say a private e-mail system was used in violation of federal rules. In addition, Democrats point to a handful of e-mails obtained through ongoing inquiries suggesting the system may have been used to conceal such activities as contacts with lobbyist Jack Abramoff, who was convicted on bribery charges and is now in prison for fraud.


WASHINGTON — When Karl Rove and his top deputies arrived at the White House in 2001, the Republican National Committee provided them with laptop computers and other communication devices to be used alongside their government-issued equipment.

The back-channel e-mail and paging system, paid for and maintained by the RNC, was designed to avoid charges that had vexed the Clinton White House — that federal resources were being used inappropriately for political campaign purposes.

Now, that dual computer system is creating new embarrassment and legal headaches for the White House, the Republican Party and Rove's once-vaunted White House operation.

Democrats say evidence suggests the RNC e-mail system was used for political and government policy matters in violation of federal record preservation and disclosure rules.

The Unauthorized Biography of Dick Cheney

by Geezer Power 12:49:00 PM PDT




This is the story of Dick Cheney's vision of America. But he has selective vision. With all of the ongo about the Poquito' Cajone's and Gonzo, Darth is still insulated in his secret chambers, while Porkrind is beginning to break out in a cold sweat. As Special Prosecutor Biloxi once said on Fitz's blog "All roads lead to Cheney".


VIDEO

ARTICLE

Waxman Grows Fond of Rice! :)

by Global Evildoer Fighter @ 3:40 PM EDT

Waxman to Rice: The More You Ignore Me, The Closer I Get
By Paul Kiel - April 9, 2007, 12:37 PM

Here's the latest instance of what is becoming a flourishing genre in the new Congress: the spurned chairman letter. It comes when oversight efforts are met with deafening silence from the administration.

House Oversight and Government Reform Chairman Henry Waxman (D-CA) wrote Secretary of State Condoleeza Rice such a letter (pdf) today.

Last month, Waxman wrote Rice, inviting her to an April 18 hearing on the Niger forgeries and the infamous sixteen words, and asking a list of questions about what she knew about the documents and how they got into the State of the Union address. What he got in return was a mostly irrelevant letter from one of Rice's subordinates forwarding previous correspondence that answered none of his questions. He's not happy and is pressing again for answers.

TPM Story

Gonzales Death Watch...While He Crams For A Senate Grilling!

by S-Q @ 11:04 AM MDT

© 2007 Stephen Pitt


Washington Monthly

Michael Isikoff reports that Alberto Gonzales has wiped his schedule clean and brought the Justice Department to a "state of paralysis" in order to prepare for his April 17 testimony before Congress. Apparently it's not going well:

At a recent "prep" for a prospective Sunday talk-show interview, Gonzales's performance was so poor that top aides scrapped any live appearances. During the March 23 session in the A.G.'s conference room, Gonzales was grilled by a team of top aides and advisers — including former Republican National Committee chair Ed Gillespie and former White House lawyer Tim Flanigan — about what he knew about the plan to fire seven U.S. attorneys last fall. But Gonzales kept contradicting himself and "getting his timeline confused," said one participant who asked not to be identified talking about a private meeting. His advisers finally got "exasperated" with him, the source added. "He's not ready," Tasia Scolinos, Gonzales's public-affairs chief, told the A.G.'s top aides after the session was over, said the source.

Everyone prepares for congressional testimony, but this is ridiculous. If Gonzales was planning to simply tell the truth, he wouldn't "keep contradicting himself" in practice sessions and he wouldn't need to bring his schedule to a standstill in order to figure out what he's planning to say. He'd just review the appropriate documents to make sure he had his dates straight and then tell Congress what happened.

Obviously, though, that's not quite what he's planning to do, is it?

Bush & Cheney Step on Down...We gotta talk!

by Global Evildoer Fighter @ 12:20 PM EDT

It’s Time to Impeach Bush and Cheney … Seriously
by Paul Hogarth‚ Apr. 09‚ 2007

Here in San Francisco, supporting impeachment is like preaching to the choir, but I am now convinced that it has gone from desirable to necessary. Now that Congress has voted to withdraw our troops from Iraq, the U.S. government is at an impasse. George Bush is “the Decider,” and he stubbornly refuses to work with a new Congress that was elected to end this disastrous War.

If anything, growing opposition will only make this President dig deeper into his heels. He’s a lame duck who will never have to face the voters again, so why should he give in to the will of the people? Before the Democrats wimp out and drop their efforts to withdraw, we must ratchet up the pressure – and the logical solution at this point is to call for his impeachment.

Beyond Chron Full Story

Impeachment is on the Table and it's on the Ceiling too! ;)

When It Comes Back Around And Bites You In The Rear End!!

by S-Q @ 7:40 AM MDT


Think Progress


In a recent TV interview, Sen. John McCain (R-AZ) criticized CNN’s Wolf Blitzer, saying he didn’t know what was going on in Iraq. As proof of progress, McCain claimed, “General Petraeus goes out there almost every day in an unarmed humvee.”

Sunday night in a 60 Minutes interview, McCain acknowledged that statement was a lie. He said “there is no unarmored humvees. Obviously, that’s the case.” He excused himself, saying, “I’m trying to make the point over and over and over again that we are making progress.”

McCain also previously claimed that there are neighborhoods that you can walk around freely, claiming his heavily-armed stroll through a Baghdad market was an example. Tonight, McCain said he can “understand why they would provide me with that security.”

“Of course I’m gonna misspeak,” McCain said. “I’ve done it on numerous occasions. And I probably will in the future. I regret that when I divert attention to something that I’ve said from my message. But that’s just life. And I’m happy, frankly, with the way I operate. Otherwise it’d be a lot less fun.”

Watch the entire video here.


But, this is the best 19 seconds of that video!!

Torture and Selective Outrage

by anthony @ 12:52 PM BST

by Dave Lindorff
OpEdNews
April 8, 2007 at 10:05:35

The alleged torture of British Navy personnel by Iraqi Revolutionary Guards was page one news in the New York Times and other US publications on Saturday, and the outrage in America and Britain was almost universal.

According to the just released 15 captives, they were blindfolded, then forced to listen to guns being cocked, which led them to believe they might be executed. They were placed in isolation from one another, yelled at, and forced to confess to having trespassed in Iranian territorial waters.

These abusive treatments are all awful, and no one would want to have to endure them, but let's be honest here: they pale in comparison to what American captives have been put through in Iraq, in Afghanistan, in Guantanamo, and at various secret "black sites" around the world from Poland to Ethiopia.