Hippoclites

Buchanan Hits Warmongers and Cowards

2006-05-01T22:01:00.000-04:00

One of the few prominent conservatives who has not sold his principles down the river to jump on the President's ~~handbasket~~ bandwagon is Pat Buchanan. He has always spoken with uncommon clarity. When he's wrong there's no rhetoric to hide behind--when he's right, as he so often has been on George Bush, his erstwhile brethren dare not engage him. Buchanan's latest is another shot from the wilderness that puts the leadership on both sides to shame. $Q:

There is a reason the Founding Fathers separated the power to conduct war from the power to declare it. The reason is just such a ruler as George W. Bush, a man possessed of an ideology and sense of mission that are not necessarily coterminous with what is best for his country. Under our Constitution, it is Congress, not the president, who decides on war.

Many Democrats now concede they failed the nation when they took Bush at his word that Iraq was an intolerable threat that could be dealt with only by an invasion. Now, Bush and the War Party are telling us the same thing about Iran. And the Congress is conducting itself in the same contemptible and cowardly way.

Colbert Bombs at WH Correspondent's Dinner

2006-04-30T09:50:00.001-04:00

There should be a new color in Homeland Security's alert system to warn against comedy that cuts too close to the core in Washington. The brilliant Stephen Colbert, doing his satire of a republican apologist, fell flat. Problem was, it was a little too close to the real thing. Plus he had no qualms about taking on Gannon, WMD, the Iraq Mistake, PlameGate, Scalia, the docile press and more with the President and First Lady sitting right there.

If only the White House Press Corps had the same type of courage. Riffs like this didn't exactly get Colbert on their side:

Addressing the reporters, he [Colbert] said, "Let's review the rules. Here's how it works. The president makes decisions, he’s the decider. The press secretary announces those decisions, and you people of the press type those decisions down. Make, announce, type. Put them through a spell check and go home. Get to know your family again. Make love to your wife. Write that novel you got kicking around in your head. You know, the one about the intrepid Washington reporter with the courage to stand up to the administration. You know--fiction".

Source: Editor and Publisher

John Kenneth Galbraith Dies at 97

2006-04-30T00:47:00.000-04:00

Noted Keynesian, coiner of the term "conventional wisdom", advisor to four presidents--Galbraith was a legend in his field. The economist's seminal work, "The Affluent Society", was an early warning about how an increase in wealth in elements of the private sector doesn't preclude--and may in fact encourage--a lack of conscience in the public sector towards those most in need. The disparities in income he write about in 1958 seem almost quaint compared to the obscene divide between rich and poor today.

Despite his dry profession, Galbraith was a quick wit and his oeuvre is peppered with original and memorable phrases. A sample for those at Fox tripping all over themselves to defend Organized Oil's record profits:

The modern conservative is engaged in one of man's oldest exercises in moral philosophy; that is, the search for a superior moral justification for selfishness.

The O'Reilly Spectrum

2006-04-27T22:56:00.000-04:00

Crooks and Liars has a story about the ever ridiculous Bill O'Reilly smearing beloved community journalist Stephen Rogers who died in November at the age of ninety. Pictured at right is Bill O'Reilly dancing on Stephen Roger's grave--it's necessarily an artist's conception because O'Reilly still doesn't seem to realize the man is dead.

How did the distinguished Mr. Rogers incur the wrath of the marginal mediocrity? He fell on the wrong side of the O'Reilly spectrum. Goes like this: as the center of the universe O'Reilly believes he's the very picture of reasoned calm and moderation:

Generally anyone who disagrees with him: far-left
Exception being if the above person is conservative, in which case they're far-far right.
Fact checkers are invariably far-far left
Anyone who mentions his humiliating sexual harassment scandal: far-far-left-wacko-smear merchant.

To his great credit, the late Mr.Rogers was a #4. As one who spoke truth to irrelevance, he'll be missed.

Crescendo in Musical Criticism Against Bush

2006-04-21T21:35:00.000-04:00

Feels like a tipping point has been reached as more influencial musicians are finally taking a stand against the abuses of the failing administration. Check out this clip from Pink, an amazing song. No artlessly obvious "Bush Lied" diatribe here--rather a blistering indictment of the man's essential obliviousness to the effects of his failures.

Dixie Chicks deserve all the props for having the courage to be first, when anti-Iraq Disaster meant anti-America. Now the equation has flipped and their views are the majority.

Neil Young's new release is eagerly anticipated, and even Flea has said his piece. This ain't the usual suspects in the Hollywood crowd. Good music's always had an intangible integrity that silences all criticism in a way that film cannot. These people make their living by tapping into the sentiments coursing through both themselves and the electorate. And their latest is a wonderful sign that the country has finally woken up.

Late yes, but hopefully not too late.

Cheney Spikes Iran Diplomacy

2006-04-20T21:53:00.000-04:00

...according to intelligence officials. A Raw Story article begins with the tale of an Iran-Contra Iranian ex-pat acting as a go-between to get the US and Iran talking. But...

These discussions, however, are now on hold for unspecified reasons. Sources close to the UN Security Council and a former high ranking intelligence official say that this latest failed attempt to bring Iran to the table is part of an ongoing attempt by Cheney and Rumsfeld to squash diplomatic activities.

The preponderance of the evidence is so heavy there can no longer be any doubt that the administration was determined to invade Iraq, and the diplomatic angle was massaged for public consumption while the preparations were well underway. If the sources are right, now Cheney is showing he doesn't know when to leave bad enough alone. History is repeating itself, as the unaccountable and unremorseful Vice President embarks on a collision course towards more innocent civilian casualties, American war dead and Middle East instability.

Rolling Stone Nails It

2006-04-18T20:39:00.000-04:00

In an issue due to hit stands on Friday, Rolling Stone has an article penned by respected Princeton historian Sean Wilentz . RS asks the question:"The Worst President in History?". Hope Wilentz doesn't get too carried away, but judging from the title his sails are so full of conventional wisdom it's hard to see him being blown off course.

Serious questions about the President's competence date back to 9/12, but they were always lightly brushed away--Katrina was the seminal moment that dragged the issue out into the daylight. It's never been more important than now to examine the fundamental ability of the man to do his job as he stumbles towards yet another potentially disastrous foray in the Middle East.

Malkin's "Pen Became a Death Threat"

2006-04-18T00:21:00.000-04:00

Michelle Malkin--AKA Coulter-Lite in polite company-- has a Longfellow quotation at the top of her website: "The pen became a clarion..". It became exactly that, in the worst possible sense, when her rallying cry unleashed the hounds of hate and ignorance (in other words, her core readership) on students at UC Santa Cruz.

Background
Military recruiters try to set up shop at a UC job fair, but are dissuaded by a peaceful protest. Kids learn a valuable lesson--their voices, without violence, can make a difference --and the recruiters show commendably good judgement in withdrawing without incident.

No problem, right?

Wrong.

Malkin, to borrow a memorable phrase from James Wolcott, had steam coming out of her ass over the whole affair and launched a series of ugly posts. You can gather the tenor from the titles:

UC Santa Cruz hates our troops
Seditious Santa Cruz vs. America
Cut off tax money for UC Santa Cruz!
More thuggery at Santa Cruz

Long story short, she published the personal phone numbers of the student leaders on her site. Now they're getting death threats from all across the nation, courteousy of Ms. Malkin.

So it seems the students learned another lesson: if you don't care to be solicited as IED bait, be prepared to be face the wrath of tin horns like Malkin. Throw in the racist language of her followers and her respectable facade becomes indistinguishable from their ignorance and hate. In that sense, her pen has indeed become a death threat to kids who were only standing up to an unjust, ill-advised and tragically optional war.

Why the Generals Matter

2006-04-16T15:10:00.000-04:00

An interesting article by Stephen Pizzos that explains why the recent "revolt" of the generals against Rumsfeld is so unprecedented, and why they were constrained while on active duty. $Q:

I hit Marine Corps bootcamp on July 7, 1965, a wimpy kid from suburbia. The first thing we were told was that we were the lowest forms of life on earth-- and that meant lower than civilians. I was to learn as time went on that this was not just drill instructor blather. It was a genuine, deeply ingrained belief that permeated the highest ranks of the military for civilian control. We were repeatedly told that the lowest civilian we met on the street outranked the highest grade military officer. And that was not show. They believed it, not just as a principle, but a sacred trust.

To have a group of distinguished generals collectively break this sacred trust is a screaming alarm that something is deeply awry with the civilian leadership. Even those who don't know the military culture on an intimate level can feel it intuitively, which is why the ludicrous Swiftboating attempts against them from the usual propaganda factories has not found its way into the mainstream discourse.

WH Press Nicknames are Safe

2006-04-10T18:47:00.000-04:00

The White House Press Corps protected their coveted nicknames today by refusing to press Scott McClellan on the discrepancy between the official "no comment on an ongoing investigation" position and the "comment" leaked to the NYT.

McClelland anticipated the questions that never came by getting out in front of the issue:

MR. McCLELLAN: Hang on, hang on. I've seen reports, including today, in The New York Times, talking about this very issue that you bring up. I read that story with great interest, just like many of you in this room did. I would say that I cannot speak to whether or not the parts of that National Intelligence Estimate may have been declassified at some point prior to the release of the National Intelligence Estimate that we made on July 18, 2003.

He needn't have bothered--no one from the docile corps had any intention of asking why the administration sees fit to leak their position but refuses to answer honest questions about it. The pet nicknames from Bush they so cherish are secure and will live to see another day.

On the bright side, Helen continues to tune up McClelland every time he tries to 9/11 his way out of an indefensible position. Her peers should be ashamed.

Bush Uncut

2006-04-10T18:37:00.000-04:00

From C$L, a shocking portrait of a man entirely out of his depth. The president attempts to respond to a question of jurisdiction regarding civilian contractors in Iraq. Shocking, not because he doesn't know the answer, but because of his clumsy and defensive handling of such a serious and sensitive issue. It leaves an indelible impression--this from the man who is reportedly considering a tactical nuclear strike in the Middle East.

Fox Airs Psy Ops Propaganda

2006-04-10T01:02:00.000-04:00

From the Washington Post, a story about how the military has attempted to shape the myth of Zarqawi. Because the small part he plays in the war doesn't fit the administration's narrative, they saw fit to target Iraqis with the misinformation techniques they perfected on the American public in the run up to the war. Buried deeper in the story:

Another briefing slide states that after U.S. commanders ordered that the atrocities of Saddam Hussein's government be publicized, U.S. psychological operations soldiers produced a video disc that not only was widely disseminated inside Iraq, but also was "seen on Fox News."

Psy Ops vids shown on a national news network. All the more depressing because it's not surprising in the least.

White House Leak Defends Leaks

2006-04-10T00:21:00.000-04:00

The White House once again saws the branch off behind Scott McClellan after pushing him out on the limb. From the New York Times:

A senior administration official confirmed for the first time on Sunday that President Bush had ordered the declassification of parts of a prewar intelligence report on Iraq in an effort to rebut critics who said the administration had exaggerated the nuclear threat posed by Saddam Hussein.
But the official said that Mr. Bush did not designate Vice President Dick Cheney's chief of staff, I. Lewis Libby Jr., or anyone else, to release the information to reporters.

Then later on...

The official declined to be named, because of an administration policy of not commenting on issues now in court.

Isn't this what got them into trouble in the first place? Commenting is obviously no problem--clearly the policy is not to answer any questions about issues now in court. If the White House press corps had even a modicum of self-respect they'd demand Scott McClellan explain why the administration is commenting in a forum where accountability is nil, as opposed to a White House presser where, in theory if not in fact, they can be held accountable for disseminating gratuitous misinformation.

David Neiwert on Racism and the Right

2006-04-07T21:44:00.000-04:00

A seminal post from David Neiwert subbing at Firedog on the relationship between extreme racism and the putative mainstream right. This beautiful and important piece of writing couldn't be more timely, coming hard on the heels of the immigration issue raising its controversial head. As JW says:

It's more than must-read, it's a must-must-must-read and permanently bookmark.

Plamegate Touches Prez

2006-04-06T11:19:00.000-04:00

From Raw Story: George Bush--the man who promised to punish the Plame leakers while doubting anyone would ever get to the bottom of it-- authorized the selective leaking of portions of the National Intelligence Estimate that were used in an attempt to discredit Ambassador Joe Wilson (husband of outed CIA agent Valerie Plame).

This is all according to Scooter Libby who is claiming he had high level permission to smear Wilson with the secret info. Big news because it puts Wilson on Bush's radar, and shows that Scooter won't hesitate to implicate the president to save himself from jail time.

Hannity Embarrasses Self

2006-04-04T23:20:00.000-04:00

With a little help from the brilliant and gutsy Mike Stark from Calling All Wingnuts. Listen to Mike counter the thin-skinned thug's desperate attempt to change the subject from Tom Delay. Hannity is reduced to cutting him off before launching into his stock Incoherent Monologue #3 in the hopes that people will forget he doesn't have the courage to let his caller respond.

But only a cult member wouldn't notice--like his WMD dreams, it doesn't fly.

What is Wrong With These People?

2006-04-03T16:03:00.000-04:00

Noted White House hand-maiden Hugh Hewitt recently said the following on CNN:

HEWITT: "No, that's not right, because talk radio, when you look at Rush, at Sean, at myself, at Laura Ingraham, Michael Medved, Dennis Prager, we all conduct ourselves appropriately on the air, or the FCC will smack -- smite -- smack us down.---So, I think what we have got is basically a monopoly on responsible new media on the center-right side, and talk radio is responsible new media, even though that fever swamp on the left, the Michael Moore-disease-ridden Democrats on the left, they don't want to admit that, so they won't. But, in fact, talk radio is quite responsible."

Here's right wing talk show host Neil Boortz on Cynthia McKinney, the congresswoman involved in the incident on Capitol Hill:

BOORTZ: For instance, or for goodness sakes, jump in and I'm gonna say -- I'm gonna start out with something controversial. I saw Cynthia McKinney's new hair-do. Have you seen it, Belinda? SKELTON: No.
BOORTZ: She looks like a ghetto slut.

Here's right wing talk show host Rush Limbaugh on the young black woman allegedly raped at Duke:

LIMBAUGH: They're -- they're busy. They're busy. The Reverend Jackson is in New Orleans. He's leading a big march there tomorrow. The march is -- what is it called? The -- the march for the right to return a protected vote and reconstruction. He's trying to -- they got problems down in New Orleans. They don't have voter base, and Sharpton's working on a New Orleans deal, too. He's trying to figure out how he can get involved in the deal down there at Duke where the lacrosse team --
CALLER 1: Yeah.
LIMBAUGH: -- uh, supposedly, you know, raped, some, uh, hos.

A listen to the tape shows even Rush is disoriented and shocked by this unintended sharing of his real point of view.

One can only hope that when and if the tide turns in 2006 and 2008, it will carry out this disease of right wing talk. They are even more dangerous to the future of the country than the administration they shill for. They've long since jettisoned any sense of decency, morality, or principle in favor of blind obedience to the Leader, and the country is sure to look back on them as the Roland Freislers of their time.

Hannity Stalks Baldwin

2006-03-27T17:04:00.000-05:00

Marginal talk radio host Sean Hannity couldn't contain himself when Alec Baldwin refused to come on his show. He called in to Brian Whitman's show when Baldwin was the guest with apparently, the sole purpose of cementing his reputation as the most unhinged Bush shill this side of Rush Limbaugh.

His three hours a day of republican advocacy plus his Fox show are evidently not enough--he's determined to stand out from the rest of the right fringe and prove that he alone is the most devoted sycophant of the administration in the country. He should be commended for his initiative. One listen to his advertising tells you his opinion is for sale--Coulteresque antics like the one below may be demeaning to him personally, but his rates are sure to rise. An irresistable train wreck to be sure:

H: “Alec, I wanted to give you an official WABC welcome considering you were supposed to come on my program last week and you didn't show up. What happened?”

B: “No, I wasn't supposed to come on your program, Sean Hannity.”

H: “No, actually you were supposed to come on the program because a deal was made with your agent that if you were going to come on with Brian, first you'd come on with me.”

B: “I wouldn't dream of coming on your program, Sean Hannity. I'm here with Brian. I'm here with a really talented broadcaster.”

H: “That you are, you don't tell the truth.”

B: “Why would I want to come on the show with a no-talent, former construction worker hack like you?”

H: “Are you the guy that said of our vice president, while we're at war, while we're leading troops in harm's way - are you the reckless, third-rate Hollywood actor who said that Dick Cheney is a terrorist? Are you the guy?”

B: “Yes I am.”

H: “... who said to stone Henry Hyde to death? Are you the guy who said our president is a CIA mass murderer? I wanted you to come on the program and defend that, you gutless coward.”

B: “At first I thought this was a joke. But you can hear all the acid venom spewing hatred. It is Sean Hannity!”

Feingold Defends Constitution

2006-03-13T20:50:00.000-05:00

While the other Democrats cower in fear Senator Feingold has taken a stand against the illegal actions of the President. Meanwhile the White House press corps spent most of its time on the Claude Allen affair, a relatively minor story of personal disgrace in the colossal incompetocracy that is the current administration.

Kudos to Feingold for remembering, almost alone among his chicken-hearted peers, that the Constitution--not George Bush--is the Law of the Land.

Rule of Law Dies in US

2006-03-08T12:57:00.000-05:00

In a move that would be seen as a constitutional crisis in less propagandized times the Senate has refused to investigate the President's illegal NSA program. In doing so the Senate Select Committee on Intelligence sends a clear message that it is up to the President alone to determine what laws he wishes to follow.

Deadly Days for Iraq

2006-02-27T23:35:00.000-05:00

"Why did you kill him?" "He was unarmed!" "Oh, my brother! Oh, my brother!"

The Washington Post reports over 1300 dead in recent days. The war that began under false pretenses and has been speciously retro-justified because of the collapse of said pretenses is on the verge of spinning out of control.

In other news, the 300th #2 Al Qaida man was captured; Congress is dealing with the White House to hand over port ownership to an anti-democratic country with true 9/11 ties; the President refuses a request from house members to appoint a special counsel to look into his illegal behaviour; and the White House Press Corps has a jovial session with Scott McClelland at today's press briefing.

Buckley: The War is Lost

2006-02-24T22:42:00.000-05:00

An astonishing editorial from William F. Buckley in the National Review. The upshot: it's in the country's best interest to concede defeat and make plans based on that reality. $Q:

It would not be surprising to learn from an anonymously cited American soldier that he can understand why Saddam Hussein was needed to keep the Sunnis and the Shiites from each others' throats.

The fault lines between the pretend conservatism of George Bush and the genuine conservatives is growing by the hour as the Dubai controversy divides those on the right into two camps: men of principle or Cult of Bush sycophants. With Iraq lurching towards civil war, the port fiasco could be a prelude to the base running from the war as well. Dark days for both W and all innocent Iraqis bearing the brunt of his incompetent and adolescent foreign policy.

Baghdad Shuts Down

2006-02-22T22:33:00.000-05:00

First hand account from Baghdad Burning of the mood after the desecration of the shrine. No one's going to work or college tomorrow. $Q:

I think what has everyone most disturbed is the fact that the reaction was so swift, like it was just waiting to happen.

A personal portrait of Baghdad at the brink of civil war.

President's Port Problem

2006-02-21T22:29:00.000-05:00

When even Hugh Hewitt puts away the pom-poms with the big Ws on them and says "Yuck" to Bush's veto threat on port legislation you know the President is in for a rough ride. The issue is easily stated and guarantees a visceral reaction : Why is the President ceding control of key US ports to a nation with real (as opposed to Saddam-ish) ties to Al Qaida? Given that kind of ammo, Rove's grand strategy of riding National Security to victory in 2006 will be ripped to shreds.

The move is reminiscent of the Harriet Miers fiasco: the administration is choosing to pick a fight with the base, but this time they desperately need them to run cover for investigations into the illegal NSA activity. Look for them to float a few trial arguments in the next few days to bolster the President's brash stance then cave in a hurry if none take hold. Short of accidentally shooting a friend, it's hard to see an issue with less upside for the administration.

Senate Rolls Ever, Plays Dead for Bush

2006-02-17T00:12:00.000-05:00

Once again the Senate Intelligence Committee abdicates its responsibility, this time by refusing to investigate the illegal NSA program. Not only is it okay for the president to break the law, it's now fine to let him continue to do so. A huge mistake to give imperial powers to the executive without a whimper and a huge win for the president. From this point forward it will be impossible to hold him accountable for breaking the law: he's just made them all accomplices in the matter.

Helen to Hewitt: Hew Who?

2006-02-16T23:50:00.000-05:00

Ramar at Kos has the story and a link to the audio of a conversation between Helen Thomas and Hugh Hewitt. Despite a distinct disadvantage (she has no idea who he is) she quickly sizes him up as a mid-wife for administration misinformation, parries every leading question and slams him to the mat.

Hewitt favors the Hannity method—get the victim to respond to an irrelevant question then speciously tie the answer into a fake argument obsessively crafted before air time. She doesn't fall for it—after a few wry chuckles she realizes she's wasting her time and hangs up on him.

Byrd's Brilliant Blast

2006-02-15T21:28:00.000-05:00

Senator Byrd reminds the nation why the Emperor has no clothes in his latest speech. $Q:

And the phrase, "war on terror," while catchy, certainly is a misnomer. Terror is a tactic used by all manner of violent organizations to achieve their goals. It has been around since time began, and will likely be with us on the last day of planet earth. We were attacked by Bin Laden and by his organization Al Qaeda. If anything, what we are engaged in should, more properly, be called, a war on the Al Qaeda network. But, that is too limiting for an Administration that loves power as much as this one. A war on the Al Qaeda network might conceivably be over some day. A war on the Al Qaeda network might have achievable, measurable objectives, and it would be less able to be used as a rationale for almost any government action. It would be harder to periodically traumatize and terrorize the U.S. public, thereby justifying a reason for stamping secret on far too many government programs and activities.

Sadly, his eloquence is likely to sail over the heads of those lost in the cult of personality cultivated by the Leader and his administration. There is no conservative principle they will refuse to jettison, nor liberal principle embrace and vice versa. Whatever George Bush does becomes the party line: foreign adventurism; government intrusion into private affairs; massive deficits—all these have become conservative dogma for those who worship every mangled phrase spoken and misguided policy taken by the man.

Cheney Talks Now, Heard Later

2006-02-15T14:43:00.000-05:00

The Vice President, no doubt spooked by the atypical tone recently taken by the normally docile beltway press, has chosen to speak to the nation via thinly disguised republican spokesman Brit Hume of Fox News.

To no ones surprise, the infomercial for Vice's defense of his hunting skills will not be broadcast live. Hume, famous for echoing and amplifying the latest admin talking points, would never take the chance that something embarrassing to his mentors at the White House could slip out inadvertently.

Press Takes Shots at McClellan

2006-02-13T16:25:00.000-05:00

Crooks and Liars has the video of the press briefing on the Vice President's weekend accident. The timeline is becoming controversial—why did a private citizen give the news to the local media before the story was officially released? The optics are terrible: sure looks like a cover-up was under way and once the local press was informed the administration had no choice but to pretend that was exactly what they wanted.

It's worth noting that the White House press corps might get a little agitated, but for the most part takes it in stride when they are lied to by the administration (WMD; Rove leak involvement; no wiretaps w/o warrants, etc...) but hit the roof when they aren't the first to hear the distortions. Helen Thomas aside, it's a shame they aren't as passionate about the hunt for truth as they are about their position in the media pecking order.

Cheney's Gift to Comedians

2006-02-12T16:01:00.000-05:00

The Vice President was involved in a hunting accident over the weekend, according to Breitbart. Cheney accidentally shot one Harry Whittington, who is currently"alert and doing fine" (not to mention the quail Vice was aiming for).

In other hunting news, it'll be open season on Cheney with the late night comedians.

OBL Connected Guest was at SOTU

2006-02-08T23:26:00.000-05:00

From Jeremy Scahill at Guerrilla News. As Cindy Sheehan was being tossed out, Turki al-Faisal was just getting comfortable. Who is he?

he personally managed Riyadh’s relations with Osama bin Laden and Mullah Muhammad Omar of the Taliban. Anyone else who had dealings with even a fraction
of the notorious characters the prince has worked with over the years would never make it past a U.S. immigration counter, let alone to the most exclusive offices in Washington.” Al-Faisal was also named in the $1 trillion lawsuit filed by hundreds of 9/11 victims’ families, who accused him of funding bin Laden’s network. Curiously, his tenure as head of Saudi intelligence came to an abrupt and unexpected end 10 days before the 9/11 attacks.

Hope the administration is tapping their friends' phones along with all the others.

President Roasted at King's Funeral

2006-02-08T00:18:00.000-05:00

In an uncharacteristic PR error George Bush allowed himself to appear at an event that wasn't scripted by his handlers.

Rev. Joseph Lowery remarks included a powerful condemnation of the administration's Iraq misadventure and it's concomitant distortions of the truth delivered in Coretta Scott King's name.

More surprising was the sharpness of President Carter's remarks. The man has become the country's conscious; small wonder whenever he speaks up about the current occupant of the White House he throws the right into a rage.

Crooks and Liars has the video highlights from Countdown.

Republican Calls for NSA Inquiry

2006-02-07T23:56:00.000-05:00

Republican Congresswoman Heather A. Wilson of New Mexico, chair of the House Intelligence Subcommittee on Technical and Tactical Intelligence, has risked the wrath of Rove by calling for an inquiry into the patently illegal NSA spy program.

A brave woman. Will any of her obsequious colleagues tear up their orders from the White House and get moving on their oversight responsibilities? Doubtful, but it's a start.

Helen's Hell on McClellan

2006-02-06T18:01:00.000-05:00

Once again Helen Thomas shames the rest of the White House press corps by refusing to follow her peers and roll over for Scott McClellan's non-answers. From today's White House presser (note: the official briefing video is conspicuously absent as of this writing) :

Q Does the President think he should obey the law? He put his hand on the Bible twice to uphold the Constitution. Wiretapping is not legal under the circumstances without a warrant.
MR. McCLELLAN: Well, I guess you didn't pay attention to the Attorney General's hearing earlier today, because he walked through very clearly the rationale behind this program. And, Helen, I think you have to ask are we a nation at war --
Q There is no rationale to disobey the law.
MR. McCLELLAN: Well, he's not -- are we a nation at war?
Q That's not the question.
MR. McCLELLAN: No, that is the issue here.
Q No, the question is, the point is there are means for him to go to war, get a warrant to spy on people.
MR. McCLELLAN: Enemy surveillance is critical to waging and winning war. It's one of the traditional tools of war.
Q Nobody says he doesn't have running room to --
MR. McCLELLAN: And the Attorney General outlined very clearly today how previous administrations have used the same authority and cited the same --
Q That doesn't make it legal.
MR. McCLELLAN: -- and cited the very same authority.
Q If they broke the law, that's too bad. You know what happened to Nixon when he broke the law.
MR. McCLELLAN: And we're going to continue doing everything we can within our power to protect the American people. This is a very different circumstance, and you
know that.
Q No, I don't.

Senators Mull Constitutional Amendment

2006-02-06T00:09:00.000-05:00

From Raw Story, they are considering an amendment to delineate the president's powers in a time of war. For democrats it's a huge mistake—it concedes the administration's argument that its illegal spy activity is sanctioned by the constitution. The Fourth Amendment gives all the protections needed while still leaving ample room for national security considerations. All that's required is that the president respect it.

Hannity Embarrasses Self

2006-02-04T19:04:00.000-05:00

Republican thug Sean Hannity tries to sandbag cartoonist Ted Rall and gets it thrown back at him. Crooks and Liars has the vid.

Another SOTU Lie?

2006-02-01T23:19:00.000-05:00

From Night-Ridder: $Q:

One day after President Bush vowed to reduce America's dependence on Middle East oil by cutting imports from there 75 percent by 2025, his energy secretary and national economic adviser said Wednesday that the president didn't mean it literally.

It's a specific goal—either he means it literally or he doesn't mean it at all. Interesting to see if this year's yellowcake, so to speak,will cause much of a stir.

Limbaugh Embarrasses Self

2006-02-01T22:54:00.000-05:00

Though it's hardly news: Crooks&Liars has an mp3 of Rush dealing with a guest asking a fair question. Her point—how can the administration claim to be an effective force against terrorism when the murderer behind 9/11 inexplicably remains at large? Republican stooge Rush uses all his patented techniques:

he hems and haws over her while thinking of an angle that can rescue Bush's credibility
when he fails to come up with a defense for his hero, he condescends to the woman
when she gives a dignified response, he surreptitiously cuts her off and goes at her, leaving the impression that she's been rendered speechless by his aggressive avoidance of the question

The best he can come up with is that Bin Laden, the murderer of thousands of innocent citizens, is irrelevant. He neglects to mention that this is only true to the extent that the President has needlessly created new enemies that are even more dangerous.

It's a classic.

Veep's Handlers Rolling in $$$

2006-01-30T23:44:00.000-05:00

While consumers are watching prices soar Exxon is raking it in at record levels. In a related story, oil execs refuse to testify before the Senate about their obscene exploitation of the market. It's what you get when the Vice President allows his sponsors to craft the nation's energy policy.

Republicans Call for Release of Records

2006-01-29T23:50:00.000-05:00

...of White House dealings with Jack Abramoff. On Fox, video courteousy of C&L. Senator John Thune and Congressman Mike Pence make it clear the administration should come clean about the disgraced lobbyist's repeated visits to Pennsylvania Avenue.

Scott McClellan is going to have to find a new angle to counter the ongoing Abramoff questions. The "partisan attack" stonewall is crumbling, and will continue to do so as republicans facing re-election are forced to choose between their jobs and running cover for the President. From a White House press gaggle on the 23rd:

Q I understand that. But why not just say, and just get it over with -- say, here are the issues that he [Abramoff] talked about -- he came to the White House to talk about, here's who he met with, and then move on. Why not --
MR. McCLELLAN: I'm not aware of anything that has anything to do with the investigation. I know that there's some Democrats that want to try to make this--try to engage in partisan attacks. But what we do know from media reports is that Mr. Abramoff gave directly or indirectly to Democrats and Republicans. Trying to say there's more to it than the President taking a picture in a photo line is just absurd.

U.S. and Insurgents Talking

2006-01-29T23:30:00.000-05:00

From Newsweek. $Q:

Two weeks ago, assassins killed Sheik Nassir Qarim al-Fahdawi, a prominent Anbar sheik described by other Sunnis as a chief negotiator for the insurgency. "He was killed for talking to the Americans," says Zedan al-Awad, another leading Anbar sheik. Al Qaeda, meanwhile, continues to gain territory in the Sunni heartland, according to al-Awad: "Let me tell you: Zarqawi is in total control of Anbar. The Americans control nothing."

Meanwhile the administration has let a top Al Qaeda man go free with no explanation. The "you're with us or against us" John Wayne rhetoric works well to scare up votes, but the strategy is a miserable failure when mapped onto the real world. If nothing else, it's encouraging to see the President learning from his mistakes. But it's impossible to tell how effective the administration's change of tack will be given the usual shroud of secrecy covering their actions and motives.

Gonzales Turns Heads at Georgetown

2006-01-24T20:12:00.000-05:00

From ABC. Attorney General Alberto Gonzales tried to put an encouraging spin on his administration's trashing of the Fourth Amendment but students at Georgetown Law School were having none of it. More than a dozen students turned their backs on Gonzales as he spoke, a striking gesture of disgust towards high officials who break the law and attempt to justify it on grounds a first year law student could see through.

There was more noise outside but it wasn't as loud as the silence of the few who chose to register their disdain in a such a profound and powerful way.

Pakistani PM: CIA Report Bogus

2006-01-23T08:36:00.000-05:00

From CNN: PM Aziz takes issue with a CIA report claiming another four #2 Al-Qaeda men were killed in the botched air strike in Pakistan. $Q:

"The area does see movement of people from across the border. But we have not found one body or one shred of evidence that these people were there."

White House: Illegal Behaviour an Asset

2006-01-23T00:31:00.000-05:00

From the New York Times. The Bush administration is planning a campaign to "take advantage" of their breaking the Fourth Amendment. Lots of the usual to be expected—9/11 ad nauseum with a few "not gonna happen on my watch"'s thrown in for good measure (fortunately for Bush it's considered impolite by the MSM to mention that 9/11 happened on his watch).

The pitch includes a presidential visit to the NSA. It used to be known as "No Such Agency", but now that it's been enlisted as a political prop by the administration there's no real need for them to be so circumspect.

The democrats need to get on message and stay on message: Bush broke the law willfully and repeatedly. He's trying to spin the Constitution, and if he succeeds it'll be another victory for the attackers of 9/11.

McClellan Calls Out Gore

2006-01-18T00:34:00.000-05:00

From today's White House press conference:

MR. McCLELLAN: Well, maybe he [Gore] has a misunderstanding of the kind of war that we're engaged in. Let me remind people: We were attacked on September 11th in New York and Washington, and some 3,000 innocent people lost their lives. This President's number one responsibility is the safety and security of the American people. He is going to do everything within his lawful power to protect Americans.
If he wants to be the voice for Democrats on this debate over national security, we welcome it

A clear mistake for the White House to keep Al Gore in the news and extend the debate. He's got the facts, the law and the integrity on his side. Gore understands the metaphorical War on Terror has done nothing punish the 9/11 murderers and everything to incite terrorism. He also knows that given a PDB with OBL's name in the title he would have done something.

He bowed to the rule of law when SCOTUS installed Bush, accepting the process that cost him the presidency—one can only imagine his anger at seeing Bush's illegal conduct.

McClellan is underestimating how formidable a critic the former Vice President can be.

WaPo Attacks Swiftboaters

2006-01-18T00:17:00.000-05:00

In the midst of a disgustingly concerted effort to smear Rep. Murtha's reputation, E.J. Dionne of the Washington Post has taken the Swiftboat set to task. $Q:

What's maddening here is the unblushing hypocrisy of the right wing and the way it circulates -- usually through Web sites or talk radio -- personal vilification to abort honest political debate. Murtha's views on withdrawing troops from Iraq are certainly the object of legitimate contention. Many in Murtha's party disagree with him. But Murtha's right-wing critics can't content themselves with going after his ideas. They have to try to discredit his service.

They wouldn't have been able to make Kerry's service an issue in '04 had the MSM not been complicit in giving the 'story' legs. It's remarkable the press didn't understand the bottom line—one candidate went, the other didn't. Kudos to E.J. Dionne for stomping on the character assassins as they once again slither out from under the rocks.

Gore's Tour de Force

2006-01-16T14:48:00.000-05:00

A powerful and dignified speech from Al Gore today, defending the principles of the founders against the abuses of the current White House. $Q:

Is our Congress today in more danger than were their predecessors when the British army was marching on the Capitol? Is the world more dangerous than when we faced an ideological enemy with tens of thousands of missiles poised to be launched against us and annihilate our country at a moment's notice? Is America in more danger now than when we faced worldwide fascism on the march-when our fathers fought and won two World Wars simultaneously?
It is simply an insult to those who came before us and sacrificed so much on our behalf to imply that we have more to be fearful of than they. Yet they faithfully protected our freedoms and now it is up to us to do the same.

First Hand Iraq Remembrance

2006-01-15T03:54:00.000-05:00

From Baghdad Burning. A fascinating and touching portrait of a friend killed in the kidnapping of Jill Carroll. Sample:

After the war, the area he had his shop in deteriorated. There were car bombs and shootings and the Badir people took over some of the houses there. People went to A'arasat less and less because it was too dangerous. His shop was closed up more than it was open. He shut it up permanently after getting death threats and a hand grenade through his shop window. His car was carjacked at some point and he was shot at so he started driving around in his fathers beaten-up old Toyota Cressida with a picture of Sistani on his back window, "To ward off the fanatics..." He winked and grinned.

Gore to Speak Monday

2006-01-13T23:57:00.000-05:00

In an event sure to drive Bush spokesmen like Limbaugh and Hannity into a frenzy, Al Gore will deliver an address Monday night. He has long been an eloquent critic of the current administration's abuses and failures; no one should expect anything less of his coming speech. He will be introduced by Bob Barr, one of the few remaining on the political right who has not cast aside his conservative principles to embrace the Republican administration. Strange bedfellows indeed.

Bush Authorized Pre-9/11 NSA Program

2006-01-13T23:37:00.000-05:00

The ubiquitous 9/11 excuse won't wash in this case—from Jason Leopold via Truthout:

What had long been understood to be protocol in the event that the NSA spied on average Americans was that the agency would black out the identities of those individuals or immediately destroy the information.

But according to people who worked at the NSA as encryption specialists during this time, that's not what happened. On orders from Defense Department officials and President Bush, the agency kept a running list of the names of Americans in its system and made it readily available to a number of senior officials in the Bush administration, these sources said, which in essence meant the NSA was conducting a covert domestic surveillance operation in violation of the law.

In other words, the President was breaking the law well before the resolution he's currently using as a flimsy excuse was even considered.

Conservative Mag: Abramoff a Republican Scandal

2006-01-11T23:28:00.000-05:00

From Rich Lowry at NRO. The attempts to link Democrats to the Abramoff affair are destined to fail—there's nothing there. $Q:

Abramoff is a Republican who worked closely with two of the country's most prominent conservative activists, Grover Norquist and Ralph Reed. Top aides to the most important Republican in Congress, Tom DeLay (R., Tex.) were party to his sleazy schemes. The only people referred to directly in Abramoff's recent plea agreement are a Republican congressmen and two former Republican congressional aides. The GOP members can make a case that the scandal reflects more the way Washington works than the unique perfidy of their party, but even this is self-defeating, since Republicans run Washington.

Kennedy vs Specter

2006-01-11T23:24:00.000-05:00

The two got a little heated at the Alito hearings today. Crooks and Liars has the vid. Sounds like frayed tempers over a misunderstanding—a letter Kennedy sent that Specter never received.

Heavy NSA Surveillance of Anti-War Group

2006-01-11T00:12:00.000-05:00

From Raw Story. $Q:

Allwine also discussed how the Pledge has been infiltrated. She described a March 20, 2003 demonstration in downtown Baltimore where "a provocateur (whom we had identified at our planning meeting the previous night) joined us. We'd never seen him before. . . during the die-in at the federal courthouse, he was taunting the police in a violent manner. We had to quiet him down, he then disappeared and we never saw him again - and, of course, he wasn't arrested with the other 49 of us."

It appears the lines between political surveillance and national security have been blurred by the NSA—the revelations make the President's illegal spy program even more troubling.

Bremer Needed More Troops

2006-01-10T00:20:00.000-05:00

According to his new book, Paul Bremer asked for three times as many troops during his tenure. Apparently Donald Rumsfeld didn't even bother to respond to the request.

al-Zawahri Declares Victory

2006-01-07T00:15:00.000-05:00

From Reuters: Al Qaeda's number two man pours it on. $Q:

"I congratulate the Muslims on Islam's victory in Iraq. I said more than a year ago that the Americans' departure from Iraq is only a matter of time," said the bespectacled Zawahri, who wore a white turban and sat next to an assault rifle.

"But they are justifying their withdrawal by saying that the Iraqi forces have reached a satisfactory level."

Had the President been truly focused on the murderers of 9/11 they would not be in a position to gloat today—they'd be dead or in jail, not enjoying themselves in a new homeland that Bush accidentally created for them at the cost of tens of thousands of lives.

Report: Bush Spy Case Weak

2006-01-07T00:07:00.000-05:00

From WaPo: a report from Congress' bipartisan research arm finds the administration's legal justification for the NSA spy program wanting. $Q:

"It appears unlikely that a court would hold that Congress has expressly or impliedly authorized the NSA electronic surveillance operations here," the authors of the CRS report wrote. The administration's legal justification "does not seem to be . . . well-grounded"

Raw Story has the full document here. Helpful in that it runs through a lot of the cases the right wing are trying to cite in the President's defense.

Insurgency was Unexpected

2006-01-06T23:59:00.000-05:00

According to Paul Bremer via KOS. The primary reason for the war, of course, was it was supposed to be easy—after Shock and Awe install a Chalabi-ish puppet gov and let the Pesident enjoy his photo op. As Iraq lurches towards civil war it's clear the only thing they got right was the photo op.

Whistleblower Comes Forward

2006-01-05T01:03:00.000-05:00

From the Washington Times, via Drudge. Russ Tice has come forward and offered to testify before Congress. $Q:

"I intend to report to Congress probable unlawful and unconstitutional acts conducted while I was an intelligence officer with the National Security Agency and with the Defense Intelligence Agency,"

The article mentions he was dismissed by the NSA last year, which means the republican angle will be somewhere along the lines of 'disgruntled employee pursues vendetta and recklessly endangers national security'. If James Risen is correct there are many more sources—it's imperative more come forward so that Mr.Tice doesn't have to bear the brunt of the Joe Wilson/Cindy Sheehan/Richard Clarke treatment for having the courage to go on record against an abusive and vindictive presidency.

Whistleblower to Step Forward?

2006-01-04T23:47:00.000-05:00

Breaking on Drudge: Gertz says NSA leaker asks to testify. If true, the official must be very confident he witnessed abuse serious enough that it would preclude his prosecution for the leak. Given that Risen says there are more than a dozen involved it begs the question: will the flood gates open? The administration is sure to play the national security card to stifle any embarrassing news, whether justified or not—it'll be interesting to see if any of the leakers will both step forward and talk publicly outside an official hearing.

Dozen Plus Revealed NSA Program

2006-01-04T18:17:00.000-05:00

The administration's attempt to make the leak the issue has been complicated by James Risen's contention that more than a dozen officials blew the whistle on the illegal NSA activity. The weight of the administration on the shoulders of one leaker might be enough but if there are more the task becomes exponentially more difficult for the President and his handlers (especially if the whistle blowers were not acting in collusion with one another).

The usual character assassination, no matter how effectively it's disseminated by Fox News and talk radio, will be difficult if a dozen men and women of conscience make their voices heard en masse.

Amanpour Spied On?

2006-01-04T18:06:00.000-05:00

From Atrios: does Andrea Mitchell know something? She asked James Risen in an interview on NBC if Christiane had been spied on—a curiously specific question that ended up on the cutting room floor when NBC published a transcript.

If there is something to it, the administration's PR battle just got worse. It's a short step from going after a single journalist to listening in on those who are politically adversarial. Bush is in no position to say 'trust me' here or anywhere else—like the phantom WMD, CIA prisons, Abu Ghraib and the NSA scandal, the truth will come out sooner or later.

O'Reilly on Letterman

2006-01-04T00:17:00.000-05:00

After a half hour of filler, some terrific tv broke out on David Letterman's show tonight. Bill O'Reilly was the guest, and Letterman came right at him on the non-war on Christmas, Cindy Sheehan and the war in Iraq. $Q from Letterman:

"I think about 60% of what you say is crap"

O'Reilly Threatens NYT

2006-01-03T04:33:00.000-05:00

Marginal Fox News personality Bill O'Reilly is fed up and he's not going to take it anymore. Crooks and Liars has the hilarious clip. Seems Frank Rich has taken one too many swipes at the President for O'Reilly's liking, and editor Bill Keller is culpable for allowing it to happen. BO is a little vague on what exactly he's going to do about it, but it involves looking into their personal lives (he knows first hand how much an attack like this hurts after his experience with the Smoking Gun).

$Q from O'Reilly on Rich and Keller:

...we'll just have to get into their lives.

Public Growing Skeptical

2006-01-01T16:04:00.000-05:00

In a bad sign for the administration, the misinformation about Saddam and his alleged ties to Al-Qaeda is not sticking as well as it used to. It's still shocking that nearly a quarter of Americans still believe there were Iraqi hijackers and that Saddam was behind 9/11, but the truth is gradually sinking in (the percentages are the respondents who answered 'true' to the statements below):

Saddam Hussein had stronglinks with al-Qaeda
41% Dec. 2005
64% Feb. 2005
62% Oct. 2004

Several of the hijackers who attacked the U.S. on September 11 were Iraqis
24% Dec. 2005
44% Feb. 2005
37% Oct. 2004

Saddam Hussein helped plan and support the hijackers who attacked the U.S. on September 11, 2001
22% Dec. 2005
47% Feb. 2005
41% Oct. 2004

Source: Harris InteractiveMethodology: Telephone interviews with 1,961 American adults, conducted from Dec. 8 to Dec. 14, 2005. Margin of error is 3 per cent.

Chalabi Named Iraq Oil Minister

2005-12-31T16:32:00.000-05:00

Reported by WaPo. A 0.89% share of the vote in the recent elections hasn't stopped the ambitious Dr. Chalabi. Then again, neither did the fraud charges from Jordan or the misinformation he gave the administration on Saddam's weaponry or the US secrets he gave to Iran.

In the plus column, his philosophy on Iraq's only industry of consequence dovetails nicely with the Vice President's interests:

“American companies will have a big shot at Iraqi oil.”
[Dr. Chalabi - Washington Post, 9/15/02]

NSA Leaks to be Investigated

2005-12-30T18:00:00.000-05:00

CNN reports an investigation into the NSA spy leaks has begun at the Justice Department. The administration's time honored tactic of attacking the messenger is all they've got on this one (note: they've denied having anything to do with initiating the investigation). The leakers aren't terrorist sympathizers; they're patriots with a conscience and should be commended for remembering the Fourth Amendment their President forgot and exposing unlawful activity at the highest levels of power.

White House Fights Back

2005-12-30T17:36:00.000-05:00

The White House denies that comments made in Buffalo in 2004 conflict with the secret NSA spy program. During earlier remarks at Kleinshans Music Hall the President had said:

Now, by the way, any time you hear the United States government talking about wiretap, it requires -- a wiretap requires a court order. Nothing has changed, by the way. When we're talking about chasing down terrorists, we're talking about getting a court order before we do so.

Now the White House is trying to claim the remarks aren't on point because they were delivered in context of a discussion about the Patriot Act. This is no longer spin—it's a bold lie.

There is only one credible interpretation of his comments: the Patriot Act does not change the fact that warrants are needed for wiretaps.

It'll be interesting to see if this line of defense gets picked up by his base—a true litmus test for the Orwellian rhetoric of a President divorced from accountability.

Clark: War Unnecessary

2005-12-29T23:51:00.000-05:00

From Crooks and Liars. Wesley Clark, an always eloquent opponent of the tragically misguided Iraq invasion, makes his case despite a perplexingly pro-Mistake line of questioning. $Q:

...we know in fact what the truth was that he [Saddam] did not have the programs that were used to justify the US invasion so there was hype in it and the invasion was, by the administration's logic, unnecessary.

It's bizarre, and more than a little surreal that given the facts on record anyone can claim the war was justified. Kudos to Clarke for stating the obvious on the traditionally oblivious Fox News.

Source: Non-Terror Suspects Prosecuted

2005-12-28T14:38:00.000-05:00

According to Insight, the NSA program was unsuccessful in bringing any major terrorism suspects to justice. But the information obtained was, in some circumstances, used to prosecute individuals with non-terror related charges:

But despite the huge amount of raw material gathered under the legislation, the FBI has not captured one major al Qaeda operative in the United States. Instead, federal authorities have been allowed to use non-terrorist material obtained through the surveillance program for investigation and prosecution.

In more than one case, the sources said, a surveillance target was prosecuted on non-terrorist charges from information obtained through wiretaps conducted without a court order. They said the FBI supported this policy in an attempt to pressure surveillance targets to cooperate.

The article flies in the face of Bush's contention the program was limited and successful against high-priority targets. The scenario where suspects are prosecuted or encouraged to plea based on illegally obtained information has its American antecedents in McCarthyism. Substitute "terrorist" for "communist" and the picture becomes clearer.

Legal Challenges on Tap for Spying

2005-12-27T23:29:00.000-05:00

From the New York Times: Lawyers involved in a disparate selection of terrorism cases have vowed to find out if their clients were illegally monitored and if so, to mount legal challenges.
Already facing the likelihood of a congressional investigation in the new year, it will be hard for the President to maintain his wafer thin legal justification for the NSA program if a court deems the spying was illegal in any of the cases.

Coalition of the Billing Dwindling

2005-12-27T16:29:00.000-05:00

Ukraine and Bulgaria have removed the last of their troops from Iraq, according to the Globe and Mail. $Q:

"Not a single Ukrainian soldier remains on Iraqi soil," the [Ukrainian] ministry statement said.

Also mentioned: Poland will cut troop levels by a more than a third in March.

FISC Judges Denied Bush Wiretaps

2005-12-27T16:05:00.000-05:00

According to UPI, the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Court modified 179 administration warrants and denied or deferred six. This stands in drastic contrast to the picture of FISC as a rubber stamp for applications under previous administrations. The inferences are clear—Bush found the standards hard to meet and decided to do an end run around the law.

Expected spin from White House surrogates: Ivory Tower judges don't understand the War on Terror and their activism is making you unsafe.

Reality: the Fourth Amendment is still in force despite the best efforts of the administration to bypass it. Given their record of deceit and manipulation regarding threats to the nation's security now more than ever it's crucial the other branches of government get involved and stay involved in monitoring the executive.

Condi Okayed UN Spying

2005-12-27T15:24:00.000-05:00

From Raw Story: UN delegates had their home phones and offices tapped in the diplomatic prelude to the Iraq War. The news played big abroad and small domestically when first revealed years ago, but cast in the light of recent NSA revelations it becomes even more disturbing. Was the culture at National Security Agency one where illegal spying was acceptable for political gain as well as national security?

Powell was Out of Spy Loop

2005-12-25T20:41:00.000-05:00

According to CBS, the Secretary of State was not aware of the controversial warrantless spying the administration was conducting. Under FISA rules, only officials confirmed by the senate—like the SOC— could have certified applications for warrants. Rice as National Security Adviser or Cheney as Vice President would not have had that power. It's possible the administration went around the law to hide the activity from its own people.

Congressional Spy Focus to Expand

2005-12-25T15:58:00.000-05:00

From the Washington Post, hard on the heels of the news that the NSA spy program was much more extensive than previously believed. Comment from a Republican aide:

"We want to look at the entire program, an in-depth review, and this new data-mining issue is certainly a part of the whole picture"

One can only hope it'll be more expeditious than Phase II of the senate's intelligence investigation. Party unity is fracturing as the elections in 2006 approach; an honest investigation into the NSA affair could widen the cracks in the republican ranks as the true conservatives sheer away from the administration apologists.

Ritter Debates Hitchens

2005-12-23T15:27:00.000-05:00

Yellow Dog gives us a seat at a debate between former UN weapons inspector Scott Ritter and the inimitable administration apologist Christopher Hitchens. It's clear whose corner YD is in but that doesn't make Ritter's arguments any less impressive. Sample:

"Stop evaluating Iraq from the perspective of a security threat to the U.S. or you'll make yourself crazy – because it didn't exist," said Ritter. "This had nothing whatsoever to do with the security of the United States and it had everything to do with correcting a political embarrassment to the U.S. and that was Saddam Hussein remaining in power."

Congress Rejected Domestic Power Bid

2005-12-23T11:40:00.000-05:00

The administration's primary legal justification for the NSA spying revealed by the NYT always leads back to the resolution passed shortly after 9/11. They contend the following words gave them the appropriate authority:

"all necessary and appropriate force against those nations, organizations or persons the president] determines planned, authorized, committed or aided"

Now the Washington Post reports they sought to explicitly write domestic leeway into the wording of the resolution and were rejected by Congress. According to Tom Daschle, they wanted the phrase to read:

"all necessary and appropriate force in the United States and against those nations, organizations or persons [the president] determines planned, authorized, committed or aided"

Several house members have indicated they did not believe the resolution spoke to domestic surveillance. Now it's known that the attempt to include it was specifically rebuffed.

Santorum Cuts Ties With ID Group

2005-12-22T22:38:00.000-05:00

Senator Santorum in 2002:
If the Education Board of Ohio does not include intelligent design in the new teaching standards, many students will be denied a first-rate science education.
(Source: Washington Times)

Now he has broken ties with the Thomas More Law Center, the people who backed the disastrous challenge to evolution in Pennsylvania.

Robert P. Casey, the Democrat challenger for his senate seat immediately jumped on it. It would have been smarter for Sen. Santorum to keep his head down. If, as he says, he never believed it was the right case for an evolution test he should have done this before the decision. His belated desertion of the shipwreck looks bad to both ID proponents and those who prefer science instead—a lose/lose move.

Christmas War Update

2005-12-22T19:06:00.000-05:00

Jingle-Bell Warrior John Gibson calls plain spoken Rob Boston a 'goon' for having the temerity to come on Gibson's program and fact-check the mythical War on Christmas.

The Carpetbagger Report has a behind the scenes follow-up of the interview complete with a cameo comment by Mr. Boston himself. Second-hand quote from Gibson to Boston: "Don't come in where I drink… Don't come visit a bar when I'm in there."

A seminal moment in the contrived holiday controversy: for the first time the War on Christmas may actually be spilling off the Fox News set.

Deutschland Uber Ailes

2005-12-22T19:01:00.000-05:00

A Fox News affiliate's report has attempted to legitimize the agenda of a white supremacist website. Reporter Tami Birckner goes out of her way to make the Stormfront organization appear mainstream: apparently there's no room for dissenting voices in the piece.

ThinkProgress has the video here and an astonishing follow-up here. Among other things, Birckner actually posts at the site and told TP:

she did the story exactly as she was told to and that officials at the network were very pleased with her coverage

Diebold Fails Test

2005-12-21T21:18:00.000-05:00

From Wired News. A test found the machines ridiculously easy to hack. $Q:

The hack Thompson and Hursti performed involves a memory card that's inserted in the Diebold machines to record votes as officials scan ballots. According to Thompson, data on the cards isn't encrypted or secured with passwords. Anyone with programming skills and access to the cards -- such as a county elections technical administrator, a savvy poll worker or a voting company employee -- can alter the data using a laptop and card reader.

In addition, other electronic voting machines may be suspect according to Thompson, a computer science professor.

In other news, Election 2006 is rapidly approaching...

John Gibson Loses Control

2005-12-21T20:52:00.000-05:00

A shell-shocked John Gibson exploded at Rob Boston for exposing the flimsy foundations of his contrived War on Christmas. The host had invited fellow Jingle-Bell warrior Gary McCaleb to help defend him, but after the reticent guest disobeyed orders Gibson seized the point and led the charge against Boston on his own. It ended of course, with Gibson cutting Boston's camera off. Crooks and Liars has the video, destined to become a classic.

ANWR Blocked by Senate

2005-12-21T15:27:00.000-05:00

Alaska's Senator Stevens should be ashamed of himself: defense funding and Katrina relief should never have been used as leverage for the controversial drilling proposal in the first place. Senator Lieberman was exactly right, saying:

...even though the bill provides vital defense funding, he was joining the filibuster on principle to prevent attachments such as the drilling provision. "If we yield to this tactic on ANWR," he said, "next year it will be someone else's pet project attached to the defense spending bill."

'Shift Supervisors' Approved Surveillance

2005-12-21T14:25:00.000-05:00

From The Washington Post:

According to Hayden [former NSA Director], most warrantless surveillance conducted under Bush's authorization lasts just days or weeks, and requires only the approval of a shift supervisor. Hayden said getting retroactive court approval is inefficient because it "involves marshaling arguments" and "looping paperwork around."

The failure to retroactively certify the surveillance under FISA rules wasn't a matter of national security then, it was a matter of convenience. More...

He acknowledged that the administration discussed introducing legislation explicitly permitting such domestic spying but decided against it because it "would be difficult, if not impossible" to pass.

Hayden establishes the mens rea for the alleged crime here. Congress cannot be trusted to give the executive what it needs ergo there's no point in even asking. The legislative branch is irrelevant on the matter and as such its law can be broken as the executive sees fit.

Reporters had better hurry—it's unlikely General Hayden will be allowed to spontaneously leak candor for very much longer.

FISA Judge Resigns

2005-12-21T00:23:00.000-05:00

MSNBC has the story. It's important to note Judge Robertson did not officially say his resignation was a protest over the NSA program, but the article does maintain close associates of his believe this to be the case. $Q:

Robertson indicated privately to colleagues in recent conversations that he was concerned that information gained from warrantless NSA surveillance could have then been used to obtain FISA warrants. FISA court Presiding Judge Colleen Kollar-Kotelly, who had been briefed on the spying program by the administration, raised the same concern in 2004, and insisted that the Justice Department certify in writing that it was not occurring.

It's an interesting possibility for the question of motive, one that apparently hasn't been floated yet. The administration could have cast a wide net, then gone to the Federal Intelligence Security Court to get warrants for surveillance that turned up certifiable information. Under that scenario, the Court would have been giving legal credibility to an illegal program--any warrants issued would have been tainted as 'fruit from the poisoned tree'. It's no wonder the judges are concerned.

Helen vs McClellan

2005-12-20T22:04:00.000-05:00

Things got a little heated at today's White House press briefing when Helen Thomas asked a series of pointed questions:

Q The President has publicly acknowledged that we went to war under false information, mistaken information. Why does he insist on staying there if we were there falsely, and continue to kill Iraqis?
MR. McCLELLAN: Well, maybe you missed some of his recent speeches and his remarks, but the President said it was the right decision to remove Saddam Hussein and his regime from power --

Q And a right decision to move in and to tell the people, the American people, that it was all a mistake, and stay there?
MR. McCLELLAN: I don't think he said that. He said that Saddam Hussein was a destabilizing force in a dangerous region of the world --

Q That isn't true. We had a choke-hold on him.
MR. McCLELLAN: It is true. He was a threat. And the threat has been removed.

Q We had sanctions, we had satellites, we were bombing.
MR. McCLELLAN: Let's talk about why it's so important, what we're working to accomplish in Iraq --

Q I want to know why we're still there killing people, when we went in by mistake.
MR. McCLELLAN: We are liberating people and freeing people to live in a democracy. And why we're still there --

Q Do you think we're spreading democracy when you spy and put out disinformation and do all the things that -- secret prisons, and torture?
MR. McCLELLAN: I reject your characterizations wholly. I reject your characterizations wholly. The United States is helping to advance freedom in a dangerous region of the world.

Q -- recognize this kind of --
MR. McCLELLAN: For too long we thought we had stability by ignoring freedom in the Middle East. Well, we showed -- we saw on September 11th --

Q -- 30,000 plus?
MR. McCLELLAN: Well, Helen, we can have a debate, or you can let me respond to your questions. I think this is an important subject for the American people to talk about. By advancing freedom and democracy in the Middle East we're helping to protect our own security. It's a dangerous region --

Q By killing people in their own country?
MR. McCLELLAN: Well, I reject that. We're liberating and freeing people and we're targeting the enemy. We're killing the terrorists and we're going after the Saddam loyalists.

Q The President said 30,000, more or less.
MR. McCLELLAN: And you know who is responsible for most of that? It's the terrorists and the Saddam loyalists who want to turn back to the past.

Q We didn't kill anybody there?
MR. McCLELLAN: Our military goes out of the way to minimize civilian casualties. They target the enemy --

Q You admit they kill?
MR. McCLELLAN: Well, we've got a lot of technology that we can use to target the enemy without going after -- without collateral damage of civilians. And that's what our military does.

Q Are you kidding?
MR. McCLELLAN: Oh, I'm going to stand up for our military. Our military goes out of the way to protect civilians. In fact --

Q Fallujah, we didn't kill any civilians?
MR. McCLELLAN: We freed some 25 million people in Iraq that were living under a brutal regime

House Report Available

2005-12-20T20:57:00.000-05:00

Raw Story has it. It's huge, and reads like a history. Of particular interest is Chapter Four, which gives chapter and verse of laws the administration may have broken with their reckless pursuit of war and evasion of congressional oversight.

Censure Motion Introduced

2005-12-20T13:46:00.000-05:00

Raw Story reports Democrat John Conyers has introduced a motion censuring the President and Vice President for providing misleading information to Congress. There are three resolutions:

One to censure George W. Bush
One to censure Richard Cheney
One to create a body to determine if impeachable offenses were committed

Feds Shoot Down Intelligent Design

2005-12-20T13:06:00.000-05:00

A federal court rejected arguments that Intelligent Design belonged in a biology classroom in Pennsylvania. The court found the obvious: ID is creationism in disguise and has no place in science class. $Q from the judge:

"It is ironic that several of these individuals, who so staunchly and proudly touted their religious convictions in public, would time and again lie to cover their tracks and disguise the real purpose behind the ID Policy."

Bush Personally Tried to Kill Story

2005-12-20T08:40:00.000-05:00

According to Newsweek, the President summoned the Times brass to the Oval Office early in December in a futile bid to get them to kill the NSA story. It's unbelievable they knew this was coming for so long and the best the Secretary of State could do was say "I'm not a lawyer".

NSA Story Heating Up

2005-12-19T18:54:00.000-05:00

From Raw Story: Senator Boxer has mentioned the "I" word:

In a release issued this evening, Boxer said she's asked "four presidential scholars" for their opinion on impeachment after former White Housel counsel John Dean --made famous by his role in revealing the Watergate tapes -- asserted that President Bush had 'admitted' to an 'impeachable offense.'

Also breaking from Raw: the New York Times is publishing a story about surveillance of protesters tomorrow.

The Case for Spying

2005-12-19T18:19:00.000-05:00

Crooks and Liars has tape of the Attorney General on the Today show further explaining his legal justification for the NSA surveillance revealed by the New York Times. The administration is apparently going to bank on the joint resolution passed three days after 9/11:

Section 2. Authorization for Use of United States Armed Forces
(a) That the president is authorized to use all necessary and appropriate force against those nations, organizations, or persons he determines planned, authorized, committed, or aided the terrorist attacks that occurred on Sept. 11, 2001, or harbored such organizations or persons, in order to prevent any future acts of international terrorism against the United States by such nations, organizations or persons.

They're likely to lean on 'necessary', and ignore 'appropriate' here. Who determines what appropriate means? Take the word out and Gonzales might have a case; left in their position is weak. Question the administration should have to answer: When did breaking the law become 'appropriate' in the United States?

Gonzales Speaks

2005-12-19T15:38:00.000-05:00

The Attorney General came out with his justification of the NSA domestic spying program today. $Q:

"Our position is that the authorization to use military force which was passed by the Congress shortly after Sept. 11 constitutes that authority," said Gonzales.

It will be interesting to see if he can get more specific. The resolution was not a Declaration of War, and there's nothing in it that gives the Commander in Chief the power to break domestic law as he sees fit.

More ...

Gonzales defended Bush's decision not to seek warrants from the secretive Federal Intelligence Surveillance Court, saying that "we don't have the speed and the agility that we need in all circumstances to deal with this new kind of enemy."

FISC was created specifically to address this urgency—its mandate requires at least one of its judges to be based in D.C. for this very reason.

The administration is going to have to put some more substance into their defense if they expect to stem the growing chorus of criticism over the NSA affair.

The Constitution in Crisis

2005-12-19T13:19:00.000-05:00

Raw Story reports the House Judiciary Committee Democrats are set to level a blistering attack against the administration's conduct. The subtitle: "The Downing Street Minutes and Deception, Manipulation, Torture, Retribution and Coverups in the Iraq War".

"Constitution in Crisis" is scheduled for public release on Tuesday and appears sure to set off a firestorm of partisan wrangling and recrimination.

Hewitt's Defense of Bush

2005-12-18T23:39:00.000-05:00

Hugh Hewitt cites US v. US DISTRICT COURT, 407 U.S. 297 (1972) as a defense for the President's constitutional authority on the NSA affair. He fails to mention the decision went against the Government across the board when that authority was measured against the Fourth Amendment. The court found the surveillance was illegal.

The Government..
" urged that the requirement of prior judicial review would obstruct the President in the discharge of his constitutional duty to protect domestic security. We are told further that these surveillances are directed primarily to the collecting and maintaining of intelligence with [407 U.S. 297, 319] respect to subversive forces, and are not an attempt to gather evidence for specific criminal prosecutions...

The Court said...
"But we do not think a case has been made for the requested departure from Fourth Amendment standards. The circumstances described do not justify complete exemption of domestic security surveillance from prior judicial scrutiny...
"We cannot accept the Government's argument that internal security matters are too subtle and complex for judicial evaluation..

"Nor do we believe prior judicial approval will fracture the secrecy essential to official intelligence gathering...

Cheney in Baghdad

2005-12-18T15:25:00.000-05:00

The Vice President made a surprise visit to Iraq today. The great liberator was obviously eager to meet thankful Iraqis in person:

Cheney flew around the Baghdad area in a pack of eight fast-moving Blackhawk helicopters with guns mounted on the sides.

Condi On Meet The Press

2005-12-18T13:59:00.000-05:00

Tim Russert asks her repeatedly to cite the specific legal justification for the NSA domestic surveillance revealed by the New York Times.

Rice: "I'm not a lawyer"

You can bet there's an army af administration lawyers working in the background trying to gin up a defense of the illegal program. Had there been a clear answer to the question, the President and Secretary of State could have easily reached into the files and come up with the relevant cite by now. The fact that they haven't indicates the legal framework is being rigged after the fact.

She also allowed that there will be questions about her role as National Security Adviser. Under FISA rules, she would not have been permitted to make certifications in warrant applications:

None of the above officials, nor anyone officially acting in that capacity, may exercise the authority to make the above certifications, unless that official has been appointed by the President with the advice and consent of the Senate.

The NSA is not confirmed by the Senate. Any initiatives coming out of her office would have been forced to follow a more circuitous route to be approved. Did the administration break the law to get around this provision?

Sen. Byrd Shames White House

2005-12-18T01:39:00.000-05:00

From truthout, a powerful and important statement delivered by Robert Byrd on the floor of the Senate this Friday. Sample:

Our nation is the most powerful nation in the world because we were founded on a principle of liberty. Benjamin Franklin said that "those who would give up essential Liberty, to purchase a little temporary Safety, deserve neither Liberty nor Safety." Our founding fathers, intent on addressing the abuses they have suffered at the hands of an over zealous government, established a system of checks and balances, ensuring that there is a separation of powers within government, so that no one body may run amok with its agenda. These checks are what safeguard freedom, and the American people are looking to us now to restore and protect that freedom.

Bob Barr Gets It

2005-12-17T22:35:00.000-05:00

Former Republican Congressman Bob Barr, debating administration apologist Dana Rohrabacher on CNN:

BARR: Here again, this is absolutely a bizarre conversation where you have a member of Congress saying that it's okay for the president of the United States to ignore U.S. law, to ignore the Constitution, simply because we are in an undeclared war.

The fact of the matter is the law prohibits -- specifically prohibits -- what apparently was done in this case, and for a member of Congress to say, oh, that doesn't matter, I'm proud that the president violated the law is absolutely astounding, Wolf.

Senator: Bush Broke The Law

2005-12-17T18:21:00.000-05:00

From Senator Russ Feingold, via Raw Story:

“The President's shocking admission that he authorized the National Security Agency to spy on American citizens, without going to a court and in violation of the Constitution and laws passed by Congress, further demonstrates the urgent need for these protections. The President believes that he has the power to override the laws that Congress has passed. This is not how our democratic system of government works. The President does not get to pick and choose which laws he wants to follow. He is a president, not a king.

“On behalf of all Americans who believe in our constitutional system of government, I call on this Administration to stop this program immediately and to fully cooperate with congressional inquiries and investigations. We have had enough of an Administration that puts itself above the law and the Constitution.”