Getting It Done

Christy,

Too funny!

Wish I could be fly on their wall as they try to figure out which female laughed at you.

Sexy Voice: "Umm, Merry Christmas."

Christy!!! I'm ashamed of you!

You didn't respond with an equally sultry, "And Happy Holidays to you too!"???

Hare Krishmas... *ching*
Hare Krishmas... *ching*
Krishmas Christmas... *ching*

Today's Five Minutes: FOIA your own CIA file!

http://www.foia.cia.gov/privacy_tips.asp

Did karen just tell us to go FOIA ourselves?

Uncheney my heart.

Oh, my stars and garters. I followed a link that madame defarge posted at the end of the last thread and flat slap like to busted a gut.

To wit:

"Our own Ellen Beth has a peace song to end the war on Christmas over on her blog...Enjoy!

"My offering to end the war on Christmas

"On the first day of Christmas, my leaders gave to me,
A flipping lobbyist who wants to go free.
On the second day of Christmas, my leaders gave to me...

"Sing along at ===> http://ellenofthetenth.blogspot.com/ "

Yes, please do. But be prepared -- singing along while you follow the embedded links will probably gast your flabber, too.

and a hoppy gnu year,
Otter

marc:

If I could do that, I'd never leave the House.

chain chain chain cheney of fools right back atcha,
Otter

"If I could do that, I'd never leave the House". -otter

... or the Senate for that matter.

Five long years I thought you were my man
But I found out I'm just a link in your chain
You got me where you want me
I ain't nothing but your fool
You treated me mean oh you treated me cruel

See what happens when you start following links to links? This is an excerpt from Andrew Denton's interview with tennis great John Newcombe, broadcast last August on Australia's local rendition of ABC-TV (read the whole thing at http://tinyurl.com/8p85f )...

[snip]

ANDREW DENTON: You are also famously friends with George W. Bush, now President Bush, and there was the celebrated incident of you two drinking, which became a US presidential issue when he was first running for office. What happened that night?

JOHN NEWCOMBE: Well, that was when George Senior was CIA director and I went... Labor Day in America, Angie and I went up to stay with them at their holiday house at Kennebunkport. And George W. and Angie and myself and George's younger sister Dorothy... and another mate, we went down to the local pub, but there's only one road to drive down there and George, that was when he drank. He was 30, and I was 32 and he was pretty sure he could keep up with an Australian.

ANDREW DENTON: Was Jack drinking that night as well?

JOHN NEWCOMBE: Oh, I didn't need Jack to come out to beat George. He's a Texan. Nothing. And we came out and George has said he was gonna drive back. We'd had a couple, you know. And anyway Angie said she was going to, but he said, "No, I'm alright to drive." And they just had a trap, they had cop waiting there. Of course, anyone who came from the pub. He wrote the ticket out and then the PR guy, Peter Roussel, who was in the car with us got out and grabbed the cop and whispered something to him, which, you know, "By the way, do you know this is George Bush's son?" And of course, the local cop knew that George was the director of the CIA and the local cop went, "Oh, my God!" Like that, but it was too late, he'd written the ticket out.

ANDREW DENTON: He still got charged.

JOHN NEWCOMBE: Yeah, and they were happy to cop it. And of course, George Senior, the next day, just said, "Well, you're gonna have to cop that on the chin." And we always used to joke that that was gonna come up. And lo and behold, it's two days before the election, when he was first elected president and George W. called this friend Peter Roussel and he said, "Hey, Roo, you better call Newk in Australia and tell him I just mentioned his name." And of course, George W. like a real good friend said, "Yeah, but I was out with John Newcombe," like that's an excuse. So, Peter Roussel rang me and I said, "Thanks for the warning, Roo." And I said to Jenny, my secretary, I said, "I'm outta here, I'm going to the farm. I'll be back in five days time and you don't know where I am." And, gee, they hounded. They had my building circled, all the American networks. They were just trying to get me to say something. Well, you know when you're in the... You don't move, do you?

ANDREW DENTON: That's right.

JOHN NEWCOMBE: Mmm. (Laughs)

ANDREW DENTON: Is, I don't mean to be offensive about a friend of yours, but is 'W' as stupid as he sometimes appears?

JOHN NEWCOMBE: Well, look, he's a, I don't know, you get elected for a second time. I mean, he's been around now for quite a while. And he has his beliefs and things that he does and there's a lot of people, millions in America, think that that's good. And millions on the other side think it's bad.

ANDREW DENTON: Do you think he's smart, though?

JOHN NEWCOMBE: Well, he can't be dumb, I mean, because he's been president for four years and he's president again, so you're going to get caught out if you're really bad, aren't you? Unless millions and millions of Americans are dumb.

ANDREW DENTON: Hard to say and not for us to judge.

JOHN NEWCOMBE: It's not a job that one would want. Especially, you're in there, what, 10 months. And 9/11 happens.

ANDREW DENTON: Yeah.

JOHN NEWCOMBE: I, actually, I'm not gonna tell you whether I think he's right or wrong on his beliefs and everything like that, but he's shown a lot of guts after 9/11, in deciding on an action and sticking with it. You have to be firm with your convictions. You can't mess around in today's world. Otherwise they'll take you apart.

[snip]

these cheneys of love got a hold on me,
Otter

http://impeachbushcoalition.blogspot.com

'nuff said,
Otter

Another urban myth busted...

File the Bin Laden Phone Leak Under 'Urban Myths'
President Bush asserted this week that the news media published a U.S. government leak in 1998 about Osama bin Laden's use of a satellite phone, alerting the al Qaeda leader to government monitoring and prompting him to abandon the device.

The story of the vicious leak that destroyed a valuable intelligence operation was first reported by a best-selling book, validated by the Sept. 11 commission and then repeated by the president.

But it appears to be an urban myth.
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2005/12/21/AR2005122101994.html

Happy Holidaze and Go FOIA Yourself!

Love Always,

Dicksie Chicken

Christy...nice :) I'm sure proud to know you...ALL!

Aw, criminentlies, marc -- does that mean I'm gonna have to be your Tennessee lamb *again*??

*ahem*, he said sheepishly,
Otter

TY everyone...

Ill be on tonight trying to keep my phone line clear.

Party On.

When Will New Orleans Be New Orleans Again?

In this season of reflection and good will towards all, a large step in restoring the heart and soul of New Orleans has been accomplished…the curse of the curfew has been lifted.

Beginning Friday December 23, 2005 the people of New Orleans will no longer be living in a police state.

Many may find this yearning for liberation by residents confusing and downright ridiculous, but until one has had personal freedoms restricted and liberties controlled by military and police forces…one cannot possibly understand.

On Friday, the “City That Never Sleeps” will once again be filled with the sound of Jazz and Blues playing in the streets…the boisterous laughter and drunken revelry so world famous…the scent of gourmet foods and epicurean delights being created and consumed, if only by one’s nose, for days without end…the familiar smell of spilled libations and ales filling the gutters of the French Quarter, along with the overindulgent. The scent of coffee being roasted and consumed along with pounds of powdered sugar that dusts the beignets of Café du Monde, so thick you can actually breathe in the sweetness. The sights and lights and carnival atmosphere will once again grace the avenues and alleys of our fair city awakening a renewed appreciation for the Culture of Life that is New Orleans…and the freedoms and liberties we are all blessed to share as Americans.

One of our basic freedoms returns to us in New Orleans…the pursuit of happiness…so easily forgotten, so quickly discarded and so ignorantly dismissed as foolishness and folly by those more prudish in nature.

This Friday New Orleanians open our hearts and our great city to life as usual (for us anyway) and welcome all who would share in our joy and unbridled debauchery.

Come on down!

Laisse le bon temps roulet…Let the good times roll…AGAIN!!!!

Vive’ la Liberation!!!

Indy in New Orleans =]

Patriot Act Extended for Six Months
http://www.truthout.org/docs_2005/122205Z.shtml
In a major setback for the White House on a top domestic priority, the Senate on Wednesday passed a mere six-month extension of the Patriot Act - due to expire on December 31 - even though President Bush had demanded that most of the law become permanent.

To say I'm disappointed in those fools in *our* Congress is an understatement.

If the senators and representatives are so gullible they believe anything the administration says about all these ghostly and imaginary terrorists as the reason for needing laws that effectively dismantle the 4th Amendment and never questions the administration or ask for specifics, then it logically follows that they are too stupid to represent me and mine... and they need to be voted out of office. The only domestic terrorists we have currently reside in WA DC who pass "laws" that the paranoid pResident wants, which violate our rights. I want someone with an IQ higher than a rock to represent me and mine (and someone who does not believe the scary fairy tales about all these ghostly terrorists who reside in der busch's brain).

The only named terrorist (still alive and on the loose) who claimed anything to do with 9/11 is Osama Bin Laden, and I notice NO effort has been made to find him since that initial thrust of invading Afghanistan. If spy satellites can identify a dime from hundreds of miles out in space, then they should be able to find Osama. Where is Osama Been Forgotten?!?!?

The longer Osama goes free, the more I have to wonder if the 9/11 conspiracy theorists are right and that the family ties between the house of Saud and the house of Bu$h are the reason Osama continues his free existence... which would mean Bu$h had to know in advance that 9/11 was going to happen (no reason to read and ignore the Aug. PDB, he wanted it to happen so he would have an excuse to finish his daddy's war in Iraq ~ he did say he wanted to be known as a 'war president'), and the "freezing" in the classroom was him savoring the fact that it happened at all.... I predict that as long as Bu$h is pResident, Osama will walk free....

But to allow real terrorists to go free with no attempt to catch them gives The Cretin the excuses he needs to urge our sheeples in Congress to cower in fear of unseen and unnamed terrorists to pass his laws which violate our rights ~ while he violates laws left and right because he considers himself above the law.... How long will the sheeples in Congress allow the dictator wannabe free reign?

Ich bin ein Nawliner!

save a few beignets for me,
Otter

otter... depends on the size of yer feat.... and I don't mean to goat my pet, but the walrus was paws.

(p.s. note to readers: this is all meant to confuse our government approved surveillance team... shhh, they think it's some sort of code, we know it's just meaningless drivel)

Laisse le bon temps roulet back atcha, my bruthah!

And in the When Quotes Collide Department:

Both of these were actually spoken to the press by none other than our Chimpanderer In Cheat, aka Bushwinkle. (Where's Rocky when you need him? Probably in an undisclosed location somewhere...)

"I'm a war president. I make decisions here in the Oval Office in foreign policy matters with war on my mind."

"I wish I wasn't the war president. Who in the heck wants to be a war president? I don't."

Earth to King Georgie: We don't want you to be one, either.

let's send him back to the ranch for good,
Otter

let's send him back to the ranch for good,
Posted by: Otter at December 22, 2005 10:51 AM

Heck, I'll even offer to build him a nice new lodge on his ranch... I just need to use my beaver teeth to gnaw down a few lodge poles and my tail to slap a bit of mud on 'em....

Posted by: NonnyO at December 22, 2005 11:02 AM

... there's some nice lodge poles just up there past Shit Creek. No paddles required, the current will take you there.

WARNING: You Must Be THIS Fed Up to Ride This Ride

ROFLMAOPMP

This is the best thread ever.

Full story here: http://tinyurl.com/amy4o

----

Undercover New York City police officers have conducted covert surveillance in the last 16 months of people protesting the Iraq war, bicycle riders taking part in mass rallies and even mourners at a street vigil for a cyclist killed in an accident, a series of videotapes show.

In glimpses and in glaring detail, the videotape images reveal the robust presence of disguised officers or others working with them at seven public gatherings since August 2004.

The officers hoist protest signs. They hold flowers with mourners. They ride in bicycle events. At the vigil for the cyclist, an officer in biking gear wore a button that said, "I am a shameless agitator." She also carried a camera and videotaped the roughly 15 people present.

Beyond collecting information, some of the undercover officers or their associates are seen on the tape having influence on events. At a demonstration last year during the Republican National Convention, the sham arrest of a man secretly working with the police led to a bruising confrontation between officers in riot gear and bystanders.

[snip]

-----

just cause you're not paranoid that doesn't mean they're not out to get you,
Otter

Posted by: madame defarge at December 22, 2005 10:20 AM

Unfricking real... and they call themselves journalists? Just what did the 9/11 commission and all those other intelligence oversight people do?

This article makes it incredibly obvious that these people make up a tale and then repeat it to one another until they all believe it's true and that's how they make their decisions in running the country. OMG. I would never have believed that in my lifetime we could actually have a US administration that was SO INCOMPETENT.

damn...

If you haven't read it, go read this article...
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2005/12/21/AR2005122101994_pf.html

[Sorry to break up the happy thread here... but I just had to say my piece.]

Piece on Earth, babe.

chimpeach,
Otter

Well this should come as no surprise...

Pentagon Contractors Attacked Kerry

December 19, 2005
Copyright 2005. Jason Galde. All rights reserved.
In an in-depth investigation by Andrew Buncombe this weekend, a link was discovered between the Lincoln Group and the intense propaganda smear campaign that sunk John Kerry’s bid for presidential election.
http://www.mindyournoodle.com/

Ah... The Lincoln Group.

Keep digging. There's more.

Swoosh.

Madame, I am shocked -- *shocked*, I tell you -- to discover there is propagandizing going on in this administration!

impeach 'em all and let their god sort 'em out,
Otter

P.S. -- It does look like The Propagandist's quote-unquote "murky memory (partially unverifiable)" in re the Voltaire quote at the top of the page Mme. DeFarge just pointed us at is in fact accurate, to wit:

"Those who can make you believe absurdities can make you commit atrocities."
-- Voltaire (the nom de plume of Francois Marie Arouet, 1694-1778)

what's good for the propaganda is good for the propagoose,
Otter

And from the Quoted Without Comment Department:

"What good fortune for those in power that the people do not think."
-- Adolf Hitler

it's time to wake 'em up and make 'em think,
Otter

Posted by: Indy at December 22, 2005 10:34 AM

Unbridled debauchery huh? Now who's anti-bridle around here??

In the spirit of getting it done, I just want to report back to this wonderful group that Madame D., Ross Nickow of the Tenth Dems and David Borris of NSPI are putting together quite the little awesome Jan 7th Out of Iraq Event. The guest list is looking rather faboo--2 greats are confirmed and one we are still crossing our fingers on. We'll announce later. Just a little tease for now. Thanks to Madame, Ross and David for all the great work!!!

FYI, here's a little more background on the shadowy Lincoln Group: http://tinyurl.com/9fxv6

impeachment is not a four-letter word,
Otter

Posted by: Ellen Beth at December 22, 2005 12:13 PM

Ellen Beth is being modest. She's a critical part of our event too, as she is just about everything going on in our district. There should be an Ellen Beth in EVERY district!

Thanks for the update, Ellen Beth. Can't wait to hear the details.

And on another front, there's a very good catch over at DU about spying and domestic US-to-US phone calls that get routed, unbeknownst to caller or callee, through Canada which suddenly makes that an 'international' call. In fact, AT&T filed a lawsuit over it against Worldcom and it's all outlined in their press release about it which is reproduced in its entirety at the DU link

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=132x2326724

And speaking of "just a little tease for now", as Ellen Of The Tenth just did, I'm only going to post the opening paragraph of a very pertinent article from the upcoming issue of the New York Observer.

If you want to read more of said article -- and I really think that you otter do exactly that -- then point your favorite browsers to: http://tinyurl.com/dgk48

-----

"Recklessly and audaciously, George W. Bush is driving the nation whose laws he swore to uphold into a constitutional crisis. He has claimed the powers of a medieval monarch and defied the other two branches of government to deny him. Eventually, despite his party’s monopoly of power, he may force the nation to choose between his continuing degradation of basic national values and the terrible remedy of impeachment."

------

three strikes and they're out,
Otter

Time to lasso and hogtie all the elected officials who are getting a little too frisky with our freedoms.

Sounds like a bridle party to me...

Veritas, quit horsing around. *ahem*

After all, this here democracy stuff is serious bidniss.

And we have to be sure to maintain our seriosity here at all times, just so's to keep all those pesky banana republicans at bay.

yeah right,
Otter

Posted by: marc trager at December 22, 2005 11:07 AM

My "fed-uped-ness" reached the breaking point when the SCOTUS idiots gave The Cretin his first four years in office. I couldn't believe we had a court full of so many morons, and I still find it incredible.... Ride the ride? Hell, I've been walking on the ocean floor as the crap has built up to proportions I never thought I'd live to see....! I'm drowning in crap so deep I can't even float long enough to breathe!

The MORE incredible part is that so many Dems have just "gone along to get along" with The Cretin and his administration since the SCOTUS appointment of The Cretin. Un-frickin'-real ~ and it only seems to get worse as time passes.

I admit I'm ignoring Lamestream Media, but to get any "news" about what's going on here in the US in televised media I have to watch BBC on PBS. If I do any channel surfing in between stories, I get nothing but stupid commercials, or yet more nonsense about avian flu (which no one can get unless they handle poop from diseased birds). Only today on the early news there was more about how Tamiflu had not worked on two people in Asia who had gotten avian flu. Well? What did you expect?!? It's been known since the beginning that nothing works on avian flu ~ which they already know does NOT pass from person to person anyway. Duh....!!!

IF Lamestream Media has covered the Conyers proposal to censure The Cretin and his evil minions, there have not been any 'news teasers' about it on Lamestream Media. It's all just more propaganda repeating the party line about 'war on terror' and needing all these infringements on our 4th Amendment rights to obtain this illusion of "safety from our enemies." WHAT enemies has not been defined, of course. It's all in herr busch's paranoid brain.... The only domestic enemies this country has are The Cretin and his administration and a Congress so blind they can't see how high the $h*t is in their own back yard.

Apologies if this has already been posted, but it's worthy of a repost...Anna Quindlen on the irrational attack on Christmas...

Frankincense In Aisle Five!
O ye of little faith, who believe that somehow the birth of Christ is dependent upon recognition in a circular from OfficeMax!
http://msnbc.msn.com/id/10511138/site/newsweek

Posted by: dwahzon at December 22, 2005 11:42 AM

Read it; still can't believe people in Congress actually bought the story (sheeples in greater America have suspended their disbelief and believe the lamest of LIES).... Aren't they supposed to have higher IQs than the average bear? Don't they know how to ask intelligent questions that could debunk the myths and the constant stream of LIES that issue from the talking heads?

Sorry.... rhetorical questions. Since 2000 virtually every person in Congress has checked their IQs and their $h*t meters at the door and have forgotten where they put it all, and media has ceased to function ~ and I know it....

For those who frequent DCP from Texas, you might want to contact your Senator and provide her with your thoughts.

http://www.newshounds.us/2005/12/22/dayside_and_kay_bailey_hutchison_spreading_drudge_report_lies.php#more

Here's the real scoop via kos & thinkprogress:
http://www.dailykos.com/story/2005/12/21/8157/6595

Posted by: dwahzon at December 22, 2005 01:06 PM

Wow Dw!

That link was the answer to my questions!

I just got off the phone with the legislative aid and he told me that Clinton, and others including Reagon had authorized spying on Americans. He wouldn't give me specifics, but he is allegedly sending me an article from the NYT's to show me the documentation that spying on American's is a-ok.

Lots to think about in his comments, but that was one de-bunker with your link.

Thanks.

osted by: sparrow at December 22, 2005 01:16 PM

I got an email that debunked that statement last night so it must be.. THE ANSWER that all republicans are giving when its brought up also in the email it listed statements from Congressman about the vote to give the President the right to protect this country. There were statements from both Republicans and Democrats explaining that the vote did not mean unchecked power and authority were being given to the President. Its very clear they are trying to use the old Clinton did it argument, Clinton did alot of things a lot good some bad but he never authorized Spying on Americans living in this country. Ditto Carter so that argument does not hold water and Sparrow dont expect any links to any reputable source to come with that email, if you actually get one.

Posted by: April at December 22, 2005 01:27 PM

I think I should call him back and tell him this information, but I'm now pretty nervous about appearing stupid.

Posted by: sparrow at December 22, 2005 01:16 PM

Oops...not the NYTs the Washington Times.

I think that's the mooney times right?

Posted by: sparrow at December 22, 2005 01:28 PM

Appearing stupid and being stupid are two totally different things.

Hit Redial.

Sparrow I forwared the one where both Democrats and Republicans make it clear that the vote does not give the President unchecked power check your mail.

Max J. Castro | Bush: 'I Am the Law'
http://www.truthout.org/docs_2005/122205N.shtml
Max J. Castro writes: "La Loi, c'est moi; I am the Law." That is what George W. Bush, so anti-French, so unlike the Sun King and yet so monarchical, has in effect told those who question the president's right to do whatever he wants under the guise of the "war against terrorism."
Excerpt:
Fifty years ago, in the wake of the prolonged detainment of Japanese Americans, Eugene Rostow of Yale Law School broke with the war-induced atmosphere of hysteria and complicity that characterized the attitude of too many lawyers, intellectuals and ordinary citizens when he wrote: "The war power is the power to wage war successfully … But it is the power to wage war, not a license to do unnecessary and dictatorial things in the name of the war power."

Now.... Since our very own king.. er.. pRes... er... Georgie has declared himself above the law and is under the delusion he can break any law or infringe on anyone's rights at will, there was this other little gem of a story that (IMHO) may go under the radar, but which leads me to think it's connected ('cuz Georgie wants to be dictator of the world, not just *our* nation ~ which has me wondering if PNAC has the bumbling fool as it's lead mascot because so many sheeples seem to actually believe his LIES):

Bolton Threats May Lead to UN Shutdown
http://www.truthout.org/docs_2005/122205O.shtml
Bolton warned UN member states, specifically the 132 developing nations, that if they don't play ball with the United States, Washington may look elsewhere to settle international problems.

This one is for Madame DeFarge...

-----

all the streets are filled with laughter and light
and the music of the season
and the merchants’ windows are all bright
with the faces of the children
and the families hurrying to their homes
as the sky darkens and freezes
they’ll be gathering around the hearths and tales
giving thanks for all god’s graces
and the birth of the rebel jesus

well they call him by the prince of peace
and they call him by the savior
and they pray to him upon the seas
and in every bold endeavor
as they fill his churches with their pride and gold
and their faith in him increases
but they’ve turned the nature that I worshipped in
from a temple to a robber’s den
in the words of the rebel jesus

we guard our world with locks and guns
and we guard our fine possessions
and once a year when christmas comes
we give to our relations
and perhaps we give a little to the poor
if the generosity should seize us
but if any one of us should interfere
in the business of why they are poor
they get the same as the rebel jesus

but please forgive me if I seem
to take the tone of judgement
for I’ve no wish to come between
this day and your enjoyment
in this life of hardship and of earthly toil
we have need for anything that frees us
so I bid you pleasure
and I bid you cheer
from a heathen and a pagan
on the side of the rebel jesus

(Jackson Browne)

-----

blessed be,
Otter

Posted by: marc trager at December 22, 2005 01:31 PM

Marc...you've now hit upon my biggest flaw!

It is so confrontational to call him back.

I KNOW in my head and heart I should pull a "Casey" and put him on the spot, but it's BEYOND my skills.
http://www.democracycellproject.net/blog/archives/2004/12/its_not_the_sex.html

Rumsfeld, visiting Iraq, hints at troop reduction
Defense secretary says he has canceled deployment of two Army brigades

BAGHDAD, Iraq - Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld, on an unannounced holiday season visit, hinted on Thursday that the U.S. military soon will begin a modest, additional reduction in troop levels by canceling the scheduled deployment of two Army brigades.

The decision would be the first Pentagon move to drop the American troop presence below the 138,000 level that had been considered a baseline prior to the temporary addition of about 20,000 troops to provide extra security during the Oct. 15 referendum and the Dec. 15 election. Rumsfeld had previously said those 20,000 would be leaving soon.

But in an interview with reporters traveling with him on an Air Force cargo plane to Baghdad, Rumsfeld hinted that a preliminary decision had been made to go below the 138,000 baseline by not deploying a brigade of the 1st Infantry Division from Fort Riley, Kan., and a 1st Armored Division brigade now in Kuwait. Other officials have said small parts of each brigade were likely to go anyway.

Asked whether he'd made the decision to hold back those two brigades, Rumsfeld made a distinction between his decisions as defense secretary and final announcements by the U.S. government.

"Until it's announced, the government's decision hasn't been announced. Therefore it's not final," he said.

Rumsfeld also said he hoped that the Iraqis who will be putting together a full-term national government in coming weeks will take into account the risk of losing international support if they stumble.

"It's a big, big, enormous thing for them to try to accomplish in a relatively short period of time," he said, referring to the job of selecting a president, a prime minister and Cabinet ministries.

"We also can't ignore the fact that the world -- the rest of the world -- has a vote," he said, referring figuratively to other countries' choices about the extent of their future support for Iraq. "The degree of support will be, to some extent, a function of the critically important decisions they (the Iraqis) make during this period."

Rumsfeld said he hopes the government leaders who emerge are "people who are going to pull that country together toward the center and not pull it apart -- people who are competent and capable of leading a government, a wartime government."

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/10573155/

April, Marc....

Maybe a letter to the editor where people in the district is a much better way of telling him I know the truth.

Do you know they KNOW my NAME?

All I said was my FIRST name and they said, "Oh, S.K.?!"

I'm a KNOWN entity there, YIKES!!!!

Posted by: Otter at December 22, 2005 01:43 PM
Thanks, otter. I love to be serenaded by men & other furry mammals...

Cap'n Sparrow:

If you're a known entity there, then you must be doing something right.

Congratulations. And thank you, too.

this land was made for you and we,
Otter

A mercenary by any other name is still...

-----

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - An unprecedented lawsuit stemming from the gruesome killing of four American civilians in Iraq is slowly making its way through the U.S. legal system, closely watched by companies estimated to field up to 100,000 contractors alongside the U.S. military.

Lawyers and military experts say the case highlights legal gray zones, a lack of regulation and little oversight of a booming global industry believed to bring in more than $150 billion annually. Civilian military contractors now perform scores of functions once restricted to regular troops, and a trend toward "privatizing war" has been accelerating steadily.

[snip]

------

Full story here: http://tinyurl.com/8pe95

war is hell so we have to add a 500% surcharge,
Otter

Indy, Free at last Free at last..

In addtion to the cia.. FOIA yourself at the FBI..

You aging radicals who've never done this might be in for a surprise......

http://foia.fbi.gov/

And before dwahzon jumps on here, yes my record really does go back to age 6... I was an unruly child.....

Oops..left a word or two out.

I meant to say: if I write a letter to the editor then the people in the district would be able to see the lies, not just me.

Sorry about the typos.

Tpyos? What tpyos?

arbusto delenda est,
Otter

Can I recommend a WINNING slogan to kick off the 2006 election cycle..???

If you do not vote, You WILL bow.

Ooops I read that as blow Christy

The soundtrack for this post comes to us courtesy of Richie Havens:

-----

To those of you seeking perfection
Oh Lord it’s not a long, long way to go
All you need is a bit of reflection
Just might seem like changing direction right now
Don’t go around taking up no collections
On your way down
There’s nobody left to crown

What if politicians were all good guys
Oh Lord don’t we wish they were
We would not be so dependent
On courts of laws that make us all feel like defendants sometimes
If we want freedom we’ve got to amend it
On our way down
There’s nobody left to crown

Be it ever so humble
There’s no place like home
Home…home on the range
Where the fear and the antidotes play
Where seldom is heard
An encouraging word
And our leaders do nothing all day

What if they gave an election
And nobody came to vote
The system it needs a bit of correction
Just might seem like changing direction right now
As it stands we don’t even make the selections
And to get into Heaven we even need a connection
On our way down
There’s nobody left to crown

-----

dethrone king georgie *now*,
Otter

Keeping the Guerilla Marketing Impeach thread going, here's the launch of live-action and lots of pictures of people actually putting up their impeach signs plus instructions on how to post on the website so you can share your pix with others...

http://www.dailykos.com/story/2005/12/22/12156/376

Posted by: Veritas at December 22, 2005 02:29 PM
oops, me too!

And staying with the impeachment theme, here are some suggestions for signs and sticker courtesy of poster Chamonix on kos:

IMPEACH THIS!

GOT IMPEACHMENT

MY SWEET IMPEACHABLE YOU

IMPEACH ME BABY ONE MORE TIME

GEORGE AND THE GIANT IMPEACHMENT

Hey all,

GREAT comments, completely justifying my nominatioon of the DCP as the best group blog for the Koufax Awards...

My laptop is groaning and I have to drive to Baltimore so I am offline for a bit, but everyone here: KEEP UP THE GREAT WORK and don't forget to FOIA yourselves! And I mean that in the most LOVING way!

Si un presidente es deshonesto, entonces él debe ser quitado de oficina. Y este presidente es muy deshonesto. Por lo tanto este presidente debe ser quitado de oficina.

Wenn ein Präsident unehrlich ist, dann muss er vom Büro entfernt werden. Und dieser Präsident ist sehr unehrlich. Folglich muss dieser Präsident vom Büro entfernt werden.

Se un presidente è non sincero, allora deve essere rimosso dall'ufficio. E questo presidente è molto non sincero. Di conseguenza questo presidente deve essere rimosso dall'ufficio.

Si un président est malhonnête, alors il doit être enlevé du bureau. Et ce président est très malhonnête. Par conséquent ce président doit être enlevé du bureau.

Als een voorzitter oneerlijk is, dan moet hij uit bureau worden verwijderd. En deze voorzitter is zeer oneerlijk. Daarom moet deze voorzitter uit bureau worden verwijderd.

The whole world knows it's true:

If a president is dishonest, then he must be removed from office.

And this president is very dishonest.

Therefore this president must be removed from office.

Acuse. Klagen Sie an. Metta sotto accusa. Attaquez. Beschuldig.

IMPEACH.

pull this bush up by its roots,
Otter

and last but not least, (I promise I won't post any more but this one is good) from poster AlyoshaKaramazov

You know, I just now realized the subversiveness of the word "IMPEACH" by itself, instead of my sign "IMPEACH BUSH".

Then, if anyone says, Bush shouldn't be impeached, I'll say, "why, whatever made you think of Bush?"

Ok..I called him back. He did a great job of shouting over me. I guess I've gotten my taste of how they feel on the media when they have the shouting heads.

Here's what the argument is according to my l.a.:

the Foreign Intellegence Act of 1978 authorized the warrentless investigations.

Also, Hoekstra's committee has been briefed by this 12 times total (4)per year in the past 3 years. Furthrmore, my l.a. says this is the required oversight.

Next, he claims that this is a choice where national security overides the constitution of the u.s. (4th ammendment) and that all of the information on what Bush has done has been known by Senators and Representatives in the Intellegence committee for the last 4 years. ANd that it is classified information.

Therefore, any "hearing" on this would be in a classified setting and (my) Representative is not in that committee.

Next, the spy case of Aims (a Russian spy) was successful due to a warrentless investigation. He also mentioned a "Griffen Bell". (Time to investigate these two citations from him.)

He still claims that Clinton, Carter, and Reagon ALL used warrentless wiretaps and that the president has the authority stemming from the 1978 Act to do so.

He also claims within the Supreme Court there is a committee (a court) for foreign matters and that they approved of the warrentless wiretaps.

Now...feel free to help me find out what is true and what has or was debunked before.

Frankly, this person, did not listen to anything I said, though he got very agressive when I read him the information directly from the kos link above.

WAY TO GO SPARROW!

They hate the truth.

American Progress Report:

The Threat of an Unchecked Presidency

James Madison warned Thomas Jefferson, "Perhaps it is a universal truth that the loss of liberty at home is to be charged to provisions against danger, real or pretended, from abroad." The threat to the United States today is real. Yet, in recognition of this threat, Congress painstakingly produced a constitutionally-sound system that allows our government to monitor the activities of those who wish to do us harm, whether they be foreign agents or American citizens. A much different danger has been exposed by President Bush's warrantless spying program: an active hostility by one branch of government to the checks and balances designed to protect our nation's democracy. This hostility "is as pernicious and as damaging as any abuse or panic or misstep of the past," Washington Post defense analyst William Arkin writes. Americans have been asked to "pledge allegiance to a certain post-9/11 Order, abandon the rule of law, compromise our values, turn against our neighbors, enlist in a clash of civilizations, all in the name of defeating the terrorists. We are being asked to destroy our country in order to save it." Our nation has not yet struck a perfect balance between ensuring our security and protecting our rights and liberties. But as the history sketched below demonstrates, the solution lies in more vigorous debate and more careful oversight, not less.

FLASHBACK: SPYING IN AMERICA, PRE-FISA: America has experienced an era of warrantless wiretapping before. "For much of the Cold War, foreign intelligence investigations (that is, both spying and spy-hunting on American soil) were not regulated by statute and operated at the initiative of Executive Branch agents without much congressional oversight." This largely unchecked power produced numerous abuses and crimes, and had a corrupting effect on our nation's intelligence agencies. The FBI's COINTELPRO program "conducted domestic harassment of dissenters" and opponents of the Vietnam war "that included illegal wiretapping." National heroes like Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., were targeted for surveillance by government agents. And heinous crimes were committeed -- perhaps most notoriously, the point-blank extrajudicial killings of black activists Fred Hampton and Mark Clark in a pre-dawn police raid facilitated by the FBI.

CONGRESS RESPONDS: THE CHURCH COMMISSION: In response to these abuses, the U.S. Senate launched the Church Committee Hearings, "the most comprehensive review of American intelligence activities ever conducted." The committee's 14 reports found "that covert action had been excessive, circumvented the democratic process, and had violated the Constitution." Yesterday, former Sen. Gary Hart (D-CO), an original member of the committee, lamented "how soon we forget, how little we learn and how pervasive is the tendency to violate civil and constitutional liberties in the name of war. Virtually all of the reforms recommended by the Church Committee -- many of which were passed into law -- have been evaded, ignored or violated in the name of the 'war on terrorism.'" Just this week, news reports documented secret surveillance operations targeting "groups active in causes as diverse as the environment, animal cruelty and poverty relief," as well as opponents of the Iraq war.

FISA CREATED PRECISELY TO PREVENT WARRANTLESS SPYING ON AMERICANS: The legislative outcome of the Church Committee was the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act of 1978. In five different sections of the Act, Congress makes clear its intention "to prevent any future President from carrying out warrantless eavesdropping on Americans." In one section, Congress repealed the provision "the government had relied upon in claiming inherent presidential authority for warrantless wiretaps." In another, Congress "expressly made it a crime for government officials 'acting under color of law' to engage in electronic eavesdropping 'other than pursuant to statute.'" In yet another, Congress stated explicitly that FISA and criminal wiretap laws "shall be the exclusive means by which electronic surveillance...communications may be conducted." The bottom line: using FISA, Congress "enacted a comprehensive scheme governing all foreign intelligence wiretaps," drawing a clear line in the sand. Under the cloak of secrecy, and away from congressional scrutiny, President Bush has acted to subvert that line.

THE ADMINISTRATION'S DANGEROUS POWER GRAB: Vice President Cheney is "living in a time warp," says Bruce Fein, a constitutional lawyer and Reagan administration official. "The great irony is Bush inherited the strongest presidency of anyone since Franklin Roosevelt, and Cheney acts as if he's still under the constraints of 1973 or 1974." Since taking office, President Bush, "with Cheney's encouragement, has taken what scholars call a more expansive view of his role than any commander in chief in decades," the Washington Post reports. This view is so "expansive" that, when the administration sought to violate FISA statutes, it simply disregarded the other branches of government. It bypassed the Legislative Branch by "briefing" an extremely select number of members of Congress, swearing them to secrecy, preventing them from seeking outside counsel and from objecting substantively to the program. The administration bypassed the Judicial Branch by relying exclusively on advice from administration lawyers, and it ignored Justice Jackson's famous concurrence in the Supreme Court case Youngstown, (cited by Chief Justice John Roberts during his confirmation hearings) which found that "when the president is acting contrary to congressional authority...the president’s authority is at its lowest ebb." How telling that Vice President Cheney -- who on Tuesday criticized the laws enacted "around Watergate and Vietnam [that] served to erode the [president's] authority" -- is a prime mover behind both of their contemporary analogs, the CIA leak scandal and the Iraq war.

CONGRESS MUST ACT TO REASSERT ITS AUTHORITY: Several dangers are posed by such "expansive" executive powers. One, noted by Bruce Fein, is that the power grab is not fleeting, but rather sets a precedent that "would lie around like a loaded gun, able to be used indefinitely for any future occupant." Another is stated pointedly by former Deputy Attorney General Jamie Gorelick: "If you're John McCain and you just got Congress to agree to limits on interrogation techniques, why would you think that limits anything if the executive branch can ignore it by asserting its inherent authority?" As it stands, Congress "is part of the problem, willing participants in their own bondage." The solution is simple. Congress must reassert itself, and take up its vital oversight responsibilities with new vigor. Following the example of the Church Committee would be an excellent start. (Some ideas from American Progress here.)

The Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act of 1978 prescribes procedures for requesting judicial authorization for electronic surveillance and physical search of persons engaged in espionage or international terrorism against the United States on behalf of a foreign power.

sparrow:

According to both my aging Olde Pharte memory and Wikipedia,

"Griffin Boyette Bell (born October 31, 1918) is an American lawyer and former Presidential Cabinet member.

"Born in Americus, Georgia, he attended public schools and Georgia Southwestern College and then the Walter F. George School of Law of Mercer University. He practiced law at King & Spalding in Georgia from 1948 to 1961, and is still affiliated with the firm.

"President John F. Kennedy appointed Bell to the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit in 1961. In December 1976, President Jimmy Carter nominated him to become the 72nd Attorney General of the United States, and he served until 1979. He has served on many corporate and charitable boards since leaving the Attorney General's office.

"Although a Democrat, he supported the re-election of George W. Bush in 2004."

hope this helps,
Otter

Posted by: marc trager at December 22, 2005 03:09 PM

If THEY hate the truth, then WHY am I still feeling like an idiot for not knowing this BELL thing.

AND WHAT COURT within the SUPREME COURT?

TITLE 50 > CHAPTER 36 > SUBCHAPTER I

SUBCHAPTER I—ELECTRONIC SURVEILLANCE

1802. Electronic surveillance authorization without court order; certification by Attorney General; reports to Congressional committees; transmittal under seal; duties and compensation of communication common carrier; applications; jurisdiction of court

Release date: 2005-03-17

(a)
(1) Notwithstanding any other law, the President, through the Attorney General, may authorize electronic surveillance without a court order under this subchapter to acquire foreign intelligence information for periods of up to one year if the Attorney General certifies in writing under oath that—
(A) the electronic surveillance is solely directed at—
(i) the acquisition of the contents of communications transmitted by means of communications used exclusively between or among foreign powers, as defined in section 1801 (a)(1), (2), or (3) of this title; or
(ii) the acquisition of technical intelligence, other than the spoken communications of individuals, from property or premises under the open and exclusive control of a foreign power, as defined in section 1801 (a)(1), (2), or (3) of this title;
(B) there is no substantial likelihood that the surveillance will acquire the contents of any communication to which a United States person is a party; and
(C) the proposed minimization procedures with respect to such surveillance meet the definition of minimization procedures under section 1801 (h) of this title; and
if the Attorney General reports such minimization procedures and any changes thereto to the House Permanent Select Committee on Intelligence and the Senate Select Committee on Intelligence at least thirty days prior to their effective date, unless the Attorney General determines immediate action is required and notifies the committees immediately of such minimization procedures and the reason for their becoming effective immediately.
(2) An electronic surveillance authorized by this subsection may be conducted only in accordance with the Attorney General’s certification and the minimization procedures adopted by him. The Attorney General shall assess compliance with such procedures and shall report such assessments to the House Permanent Select Committee on Intelligence and the Senate Select Committee on Intelligence under the provisions of section 1808 (a) of this title.
(3) The Attorney General shall immediately transmit under seal to the court established under section 1803 (a) of this title a copy of his certification. Such certification shall be maintained under security measures established by the Chief Justice with the concurrence of the Attorney General, in consultation with the Director of Central Intelligence, and shall remain sealed unless—
(A) an application for a court order with respect to the surveillance is made under sections 1801 (h)(4) and 1804 of this title; or
(B) the certification is necessary to determine the legality of the surveillance under section 1806 (f) of this title.
(4) With respect to electronic surveillance authorized by this subsection, the Attorney General may direct a specified communication common carrier to—
(A) furnish all information, facilities, or technical assistance necessary to accomplish the electronic surveillance in such a manner as will protect its secrecy and produce a minimum of interference with the services that such carrier is providing its customers; and
(B) maintain under security procedures approved by the Attorney General and the Director of Central Intelligence any records concerning the surveillance or the aid furnished which such carrier wishes to retain.
The Government shall compensate, at the prevailing rate, such carrier for furnishing such aid.
(b) Applications for a court order under this subchapter are authorized if the President has, by written authorization, empowered the Attorney General to approve applications to the court having jurisdiction under section 1803 of this title, and a judge to whom an application is made may, notwithstanding any other law, grant an order, in conformity with section 1805 of this title, approving electronic surveillance of a foreign power or an agent of a foreign power for the purpose of obtaining foreign intelligence information, except that the court shall not have jurisdiction to grant any order approving electronic surveillance directed solely as described in paragraph (1)(A) of subsection (a) of this section unless such surveillance may involve the acquisition of communications of any United States person.

http://www4.law.cornell.edu/uscode/html/uscode50/usc_sup_01_50_10_36.html

Posted by: marc trager at December 22, 2005 03:15 PM

Marc,

I told him that they had the opportunity to START the tap and then IMMEDIATELY go get a court order; thus it wasn't just the ole' national security v civil liberty argument, but he was strenuously argueing with me that I WAS NOT LISTENING to him.

AND I KNOW I was listening to him because I wrote it all down!

sparrow, as I said, they hate the truth.

Talking points are easier, hence the term "dittoheads".

I have a different term for them that also ends in "-heads".

CHRISTY:

Sorry I couldn't get to the site or to Kos' earlier, but what a fine fine spot of trouble you're cooking up for Senator Blah Blah. Fabulous. The way all revolutions should be conducted is in the living room or kitchen, and preferably over some great food!!

Mmmm. I love the smell of freshly-roasted rethugs in the morning.

hey hey ho ho georgie boy has got to go,
Otter

marc: Is this the "Patriot Act" or the 1978 Intelligence act? It would seem to exclude electronic surveillance of US citizens.

impeachment without conviction is failure

sparrow:

If your local representative's legislative aide was getting so testy and irritable with you, then either (a) he's a jackass who should be reported to his bosses for dissing a constituent; (b) he's burned out from having to answer the same questions all day long from a bunch of other callers besides you; and/or (c) all of the above.

Either way, democracy wins. Stay on his sorry butt and get him fired if you have to. He obviously needs to find a new career path asap.

go go gittem gittem,
Otter

Sorry, thats the 1978 Intelligence act...

http://www.fas.org/irp/agency/doj/fisa/

... and new thread too!

new and improved, with 100% more eavesdropping built right in!

Happy New Ears!

sparrow:

Also take a look at http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Aldrich_Ames in re the spy thing.

arbustito es falso y incompetente,
Otter

Remind All Representatives to Read a Good Document Every Once In a While...

Preferably NOW!!!

When in the Course of human events, it becomes necessary for one people to dissolve the political bands which have connected them with another, and to assume among the powers of the earth, the separate and equal station to which the Laws of Nature and of Nature's God entitle them, a decent respect to the opinions of mankind requires that they should declare the causes which impel them to the separation.

We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness.--That to secure these rights, Governments are instituted among Men, deriving their just powers from the consent of the governed, --That whenever any Form of Government becomes destructive of these ends, it is the Right of the People to alter or to abolish it, and to institute new Government, laying its foundation on such principles and organizing its powers in such form, as to them shall seem most likely to effect their Safety and Happiness. Prudence, indeed, will dictate that Governments long established should not be changed for light and transient causes; and accordingly all experience hath shewn, that mankind are more disposed to suffer, while evils are sufferable, than to right themselves by abolishing the forms to which they are accustomed. But when a long train of abuses and usurpations, pursuing invariably the same Object evinces a design to reduce them under absolute Despotism, it is their right, it is their duty, to throw off such Government, and to provide new Guards for their future security.--Such has been the patient sufferance of these United States; and such is now the necessity which constrains them to alter their former Systems of Government. The history of the present President and Administration is a history of repeated injuries and usurpations, all having in direct object the establishment of an absolute Tyranny over these States. To prove this, let Facts be submitted to a candid world.

He has refused his Assent to Laws, the most wholesome and necessary for the public good.

He has forbidden his Governors to pass Laws of immediate and pressing importance, unless suspended in their operation till his Assent should be obtained; and when so suspended, he has utterly neglected to attend to them.

He has refused to pass other Laws for the accommodation of large districts of people, unless those people would relinquish the right of Representation in the Legislature, a right inestimable to them and formidable to tyrants only.

He has called together legislative bodies at places unusual, uncomfortable, and distant from the depository of their public Records, for the sole purpose of fatiguing them into compliance with his measures.

He has dissolved Representative Houses repeatedly, for opposing with manly firmness his invasions on the rights of the people.

He has refused for a long time, after such dissolutions, to cause others to be elected; whereby the Legislative powers, incapable of Annihilation, have returned to the People at large for their exercise; the State remaining in the mean time exposed to all the dangers of invasion from without, and convulsions within.

He has endeavoured to prevent the population of these States; for that purpose obstructing the Laws for Naturalization of Foreigners; refusing to pass others to encourage their migrations hither, and raising the conditions of new Appropriations of Lands.

He has obstructed the Administration of Justice, by refusing his Assent to Laws for establishing Judiciary powers.

He has made Judges dependent on his Will alone, for the tenure of their offices, and the amount and payment of their salaries.

He has erected a multitude of New Offices, and sent hither swarms of Officers to harrass our people, and eat out their substance.

He has kept among us, in times of peace, Standing Armies without the Consent of our legislatures.

He has affected to render the Military independent of and superior to the Civil power.

He has combined with others to subject us to a jurisdiction foreign to our constitution, and unacknowledged by our laws; giving his Assent to their Acts of pretended Legislation:

For Quartering large bodies of armed troops among us:

For protecting them, by a mock Trial, from punishment for any Murders which they should commit on the Inhabitants of these States:

For cutting off our Trade with all parts of the world:

For imposing Taxes on us without our Consent:

For depriving us in many cases, of the benefits of Trial by Jury:

For transporting us beyond Seas to be tried for pretended offences

For abolishing the free System of English Laws in a neighbouring Province, establishing therein an Arbitrary government, and enlarging its Boundaries so as to render it at once an example and fit instrument for introducing the same absolute rule into these Colonies:

For taking away our Charters, abolishing our most valuable Laws, and altering fundamentally the Forms of our Governments:

For suspending our own Legislatures, and declaring themselves invested with power to legislate for us in all cases whatsoever.

He has abdicated Government here, by declaring us out of his Protection and waging War against us.

He has plundered our seas, ravaged our Coasts, burnt our towns, and destroyed the lives of our people.

He is at this time transporting large Armies of foreign Mercenaries to compleat the works of death, desolation and tyranny, already begun with circumstances of Cruelty & perfidy scarcely paralleled in the most barbarous ages, and totally unworthy the Head of a civilized nation.

He has constrained our fellow Citizens taken Captive on the high Seas to bear Arms against their Country, to become the executioners of their friends and Brethren, or to fall themselves by their Hands.

He has excited domestic insurrections amongst us, and has endeavoured to bring on the inhabitants of our frontiers in an undistinguished destruction of all ages, sexes and conditions.

In every stage of these Oppressions We have Petitioned for Redress in the most humble terms: Our repeated Petitions have been answered only by repeated injury. A Prince whose character is thus marked by every act which may define a Tyrant, is unfit to be the ruler of a free people.

Nor have We been wanting in attentions to our Fundamentalist brethren. We have warned them from time to time of attempts by their congregations to extend an unwarrantable jurisdiction over us. We have reminded them of the circumstances of our emigration and settlement here. We have appealed to their native justice and magnanimity, and we have conjured them by the ties of our common kindred to disavow these usurpations, which, would inevitably interrupt our connections and correspondence. They too have been deaf to the voice of justice and of consanguinity. We must, therefore, acquiesce in the necessity, which denounces our Separation, and hold them, as we hold the rest of mankind, Enemies in War, in Peace Friends.

We, therefore, the Representatives of the United States of America, in General Congress, Assembled, appealing to the Supreme Judge of the world for the rectitude of our intentions, do, in the Name, and by Authority of the good People of these States, solemnly publish and declare, That these United States are, and of Right ought to be Free and Independent States; that they are Absolved from all Allegiance to the Neo-Fascists, and that all political connection between them and the State of Our Nation, is and ought to be totally dissolved; and that as Free and Independent States, they have full Power to levy War, conclude Peace, contract Alliances, establish Commerce, and to do all other Acts and Things which Independent States may of right do. And for the support of this Declaration, with a firm reliance on the protection of divine Providence, we mutually pledge to each other our Lives, our Fortunes and our sacred Honor.

As true then as it is today...

Vive la Revolution!!!

I M P E A C H N O W ! ! !