Tell Us Richard, Was It Politics?

Senate OK's bill to cut deficit with Cheney's help
VP casts tie-breaking vote on legislation that will reduce benefit programs

BREAKING NEWS

Updated: 11:04 a.m. ET Dec. 21, 2005

WASHINGTON - The Republican-controlled Senate passed legislation to cut federal deficits by $39.7 billion on Wednesday by the narrowest of margins, 51-50, with Vice President Dick Cheney casting the deciding vote.

The measure, the product of a year's labors by the White House and congressional Republicans, imposes the first restraints in nearly a decade of federal benefit programs such as Medicaid, Medicare and student loans.

"This is the one vote you'll have this year to reduce the rate of growth of the federal government," said Sen. Judd Gregg, R-N.H., chairman of the Senate Budget Committee, in a final plea for passage.

But Senate Democratic Leader Harry Reid of Nevada countered that the GOP was advancing "an ideologically driven, extreme, radical budget. It caters to lobbyists and an elite group of ultraconservative ideologues here in Washington, all at the expense of middle class Americans," he said.

Cheney flies back in nick of time
Republicans signaled earlier in the week they would need the vice president to be present for the final vote on deficit cuts, and he flew back early from an overseas diplomatic mission.

"The vice president votes in the affirmative," he said, speaking only a few words as dictated by Senate custom. He wasn't the only one who made an unexpected trip back to Washington. Sen. Chris Dodd, D-Conn., flew back on Tuesday night. He has been recuperating at home from knee replacement surgery, and he made his way into the Senate with the aid of a walker.

The roll call delivered less than the final victory Republicans had hoped for.

In maneuvering in advance of the final vote, Democrats succeeded in forcing minor change that will require the House to return to Washington to vote on the bill before it can be sent to President Bush for his signature.

Passage is all but certain, but the timing remains in question, since most House members have returned home for the holidays.

The vote came on the first of two major measures facing tests in the Senate during the day.

On the second, Republicans maneuvered to open the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge to oil drilling. Democrats opposed that measure with a filibuster, and Republicans scrambled for the 60 votes needed to prevail.

Cuts make small dent in deficit
By themselves, the deficit cuts included in the five-year bill would amount to only 2.5 percent of projected shortfalls totaling $1.6 trillion over the same time frame. Republicans said the significance lies in more than mere numbers, adding that programs such as Medicare and Medicaid threaten to consume an unsustainable amount of federal revenue if their growth is not trimmed quickly.

Home health care payments under Medicare would be frozen at current levels for a year under the bill, Medicaid regulations would be changed to make it harder for the elderly to qualify for federal nursing home benefits by turning assets over to their children.

Lender subsidies are reduced as part of an attempt to squeeze $12.6 billion from student loan programs. Another provision raises $3.6 billion for the Pension Benefit Guaranty Corp., the federal agency that protects certain pension plans. The money would come from an increase in the premium employers pay for each covered worker or retiree, and from a fee on companies that end their pension plans.

Billions more would come from programs unrelated to benefit programs. The legislation assumes $10 billion in federal receipts from the sale of part of the analog spectrum, for example.

Five Republicans cross party lines
All 44 Democrats voted against the measure, as did Sen. James Jeffords of Vermont, an independent. Five of 55 Republicans crossed party lines to oppose the bill as well. They were Sens. Olympia Snowe and Susan Collins of Maine, Gordon Smith of Oregon, Mike DeWine of Ohio and Lincoln Chafee of Rhode Island. Of them, Chafee, DeWine and Snowe are seeking re-election next year.

It was the seventh time since Cheney became vice president that he used his powers to break a tie vote, according to records maintained by the Office of the Secretary of the Senate.

With lawmakers eager to adjourn for the holidays, the Senate moved almost immediately into a debate on the ANWR oil drilling provisions.

The outcome of that vote, too, was too close to call. This time, Cheney was not a factor, though, since supporters of the bill needed 60 votes to overcome last-ditch Democratic opposition.

I heard Congressman Maurice Hinchey, of NY, and former Congresswoman Liz Holtzman (who was a significant figure in Nixon Impeachment hearings), bring up impeachment several months ago, at an event in New York (at the Society of Ethical Culture).

Some members of Congress have absolutely talked about the parallels between the Nixon and Bush scenarios. John Dean has talked publicly about little else since early 2004.

Methinks the Post has its head too far up the backside of the Bush Administration to hear what is being said, and by whom.

Peter Daou talks about the factors that could lead to the whole spying scandal just melting away...

http://daoureport.salon.com/synopsis.aspx?synopsisId=a6da2e05-c808-4f7e-9ab2-3d2a01a82a15

Snip --

"7. A few reliable Dems, Conyers, Boxer, et al, take a stand on principle, giving momentary hope to the progressive grassroots/netroots community. The rest of the Dem leadership is temporarily outraged (adding to that hope), but is chronically incapable of maintaining the sense of high indignation and focus required to reach critical mass and create a wholesale shift in public opinion. For example, just as this mother of all scandals hits Washington, Democrats are still putting out press releases on Iraq, ANWR and a range of other topics, diluting the story and signaling that they have little intention of following through. This allows Bush to use his three favorite weapons: time, America's political apathy, and make-believe 'journalists' who yuck it up with him and ask fluff questions at his frat-boy pressers."
==============================================
We absolutely cannot allow the illegal spying story to go away. And he touches on a very important point, which is that Democrats continue to dilute focus by sending out messages on a host of other topics...

Personally, I don't have any other topics right now other than the President breaking the law, shredding the Constitution, and lying every single day to the American people.

If you are not talking to me about impeaching George Bush and Dick Cheney, than you better not be talking to me at all.

Congress, can you hear me? Ferris?

Hear, hear. Great essay, Casey and a good question.

Interesting insight on the military & intelligence communities from David Ignatius of WaPo in this article...

Revolt of the Professionals

By David Ignatius

Wednesday, December 21, 2005; Page A31

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2005/12/20/AR2005122000973.html

Good commentary from the NY Observer, via HuffPo:

Bush Forcing The Nation To Choose Degradation Of Our Values Or Impeachment...

The New York Observer | Joe Conason | Today

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.

Until Mr. Bush openly proclaimed as commander in chief that he can brush aside the law, cries for impeachment were heard only on the political fringe, although most Americans have long since realized that he misled America into war. Much as he is disliked and disdained by liberals, even they have shown little enthusiasm for impeachment. In addition to the obvious obstacle of a Republican-controlled Congress, there appeared to be no firm proof of an offense that justified such action. To mention the word was to be dismissed - even by people who believe that this President may well have committed “high crimes and misdemeanors."

More: "http://www.observer.com/politics_joeconason.asp"

*Definitely* time to impeach this sorry-asterisk Chimpanderer In Chief... and all his flying-monkey minions, too.

throw the lying bam dastards out,
Otter

WASHINGTON (AP) -- The Senate blocked oil drilling in an Alaska wildlife refuge Wednesday, rejecting a measure that had been put into a must-pass defense spending bill in an attempt to garner wider support.

Drilling supporters fell four votes short of getting the required 60 votes to avoid a threatened filibuster of the defense measure over the oil drilling issue. Senate leaders were expected to withdraw the legislation so it could be reworked without the refuge language. The vote was 56-44.

And, lest we forget -- here's wishing a very special and salubrious solstice day to all of you, my precious friends and precocious colleagues. May we all look forward to sharing many more.

-----

So this is Christmas
And what have you done
Another year over
And a new one just begun

And so this is Christmas
I hope you have fun
The near and the dear ones
The old and the young

A very merry Christmas
And a happy New Year
Let's hope it's a good one
Without any fear

And so this is Christmas
For weak and for strong
For rich and the poor ones
The world is so wrong

And so happy Christmas
For black and for white
For yellow and red ones
Let's stop all the fight

A very merry Christmas
And a happy New Year
Let's hope it's a good one
Without any fear

(War is over, over
If you want it
War is over
Now...)

A very merry Christmas
And a happy New Year
Let's hope it's a good one
Without any fear

(John Lennon, 1972)

-------

So mote it be!

blessed be,
Otter

ALBANY, N.Y. - Jeanine Pirro has decided to halt her struggling campaign for the Republican nomination to challenge Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton in 2006, two Republicans close to the situation said Wednesday.

In an extended courtroom outburst, Saddam Hussein charged today that he was "beaten on every part of my body and marks are still on top of my body and that was done by Americans." Hussein said all seven of his co-defendants were beaten and tortured by Americans. One of the co-defendants, he said, was beaten with the butt of a rifle "until he fell down." Christopher Reid, a spokesman for the U.S. Embassy in Baghdad, denied Hussein's charges.

The Senate blocked oil drilling in an Alaska wildlife refuge Wednesday..

Thank you Senator Kerry for this wonderful Christmas present.

And yes, it did seem a tad ironic but still thoroughly appropriate just now, when the webcast stream that I am listening to while I dig through my various RSS feeds for the latest mentions of "impeachment" -- said webcast being streamed by http://www.folkalley.com, which I recommend extremely highly -- started flowing the following forgotten chestnut out through my speakers.

As I have said before, everything old is new again. Hit 'rewind, go back 34 years' worth, and then hit 'play'. And then, friends, it's deja vu all over again.

Was there, did that, will do it all again if that's what it takes.

(Okay, so maybe I really *am* an old-school bleeding-heart leftist liberal peacenik at heart. You got a problem with that? So what. Indict me already.)

[P.S.: be sure to pay special attention to the secret hidden messages in the second, fifth, eighth, and last verses. *ahem*]

-----

Oh, mommy
I ain't no commie
I'm just doing what I can
To live the good all-American way

It says right there in the Constitution
It's really A-OK to have a revolution
When the leaders that you choose
Really don't fit the shoes

Oh, mister
I ain't no sister
I believe in the Bill of Rights
Come on, don't you start a fight, please

I like to wear my hair long
How can there be anything wrong
When you already accused me twice
Of looking like Jesus Christ, Hallelujah

I'm only gettin' tired of playing Punch and Judy
I've really half a mind to go and do my duty
Like Mr. Patrick Henry said
I got to be free or dead

Mr. Nixon
I ain't a-fixin'
To speak Spanish on a plane
Or polish off the Liberty Bell

I just want to sit here on the shelf
And watch you finish off the place by yourself
Please let me do what I wanna
I'll just lay around the house and smoke marijuana

It says right there in the Constitution
It's really A-OK to have a revolution
When the leader that you made
Just don't make the grade

Oh, mommy
I ain't no commie
But I hate to bust your bubble
Cause there's gonna be some trouble soon

(Brewer and Shipley, 1972)

-----

it's time to take back our country dammit,
Otter

From "It Was Legal" To "I Am Lazy": The George Bush Domestic Spy Story

Another day, yet another new and wholly different explanation from the Bush administration about its illegal domestic spying operation.

In just the last 5 days, we've seen 3 separate explanations rolled out from the White House. First they claimed it was legal all along, then when that didn't fly, they said they had to do it because of a need for speed.

Now that that has been debunked, they are actually claiming they were just too lazy to do "the paperwork." On top of this, they also first told us that the surveillance was only targeted at international calls – but now today, we learn that isn't true either, and that Americans are under surveillance on purely domestic calls.

Let's just walk through the shenanigans, shall we?

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/david-sirota/from-it-was-legal-to-i_b_12692.html

I hope everyone is calling their Representatives today, both democratic ones and republicans. We must keep the pressure on.

Also, please make sure you email the link for January 7th events to your friends and ask for their help too.

Posted by: Carol at December 21, 2005 01:49 PM

Has anyone measured Bush's nose? Can it cross the river completely at this point?

By the way - love the poem in the front page.

I watched Cheney getting off the plane yesterday and I, too, thought he was looking a little portly. He needs to keep his grubby little paws out of the cookie jar.

Information about corporate media. Feel free to share the links with people you know who need to know.

From Ted Turner: "My Beef with Big Media"

http://www.washingtonmonthly.com/features/2004/0407.turner.html

Independents' day

This is a fight about freedom--the freedom of independent entrepreneurs to start and run a media business, and the freedom of citizens to get news, information, and entertainment from a wide variety of sources, at least some of which are truly independent and not run by people facing the pressure of quarterly earnings reports. No one should underestimate the danger. Big media companies want to eliminate all ownership limits. With the removal of these limits, immense media power will pass into the hands of a very few corporations and individuals.

What will programming be like when it's produced for no other purpose than profit? What will news be like when there are no independent news organizations to go after stories the big corporations avoid? Who really wants to find out? Safeguarding the welfare of the public cannot be the first concern of a large publicly traded media company. Its job is to seek profits. But if the government writes the rules in a way that encourages the entry into the market of entrepreneurs--men and women with big dreams, new ideas, and a willingness to take long-term risks--the economy will be stronger, and the country will be better off.

I freely admit: When I was in the media business, especially after the federal government changed the rules to favor large companies, I tried to sweep the board, and I came within one move of owning every link up and down the media chain. Yet I felt then, as I do now, that the government was not doing its job.

Another great article:

http://www.pbs.org/now/politics/mediahistory.html

Robert McChesney comments, "And the founding fathers...their legacy here is very rich. They understood that setting up a diverse, well funded media system with a broad range of viewpoints was the essence of building of the oxygen for democracy. And it took conscious policies. It didn't happen naturally — you had to work at it." What events have shaped the media's role in reporting politics since the beginning of American history? And how has the press developed in the years since the Bill of Rights outlined its freedoms? NOW's history of media and politics takes us to the early recorded instances of journalism for some background

http://www.pbs.org/now/politics/mediatimeline.html

http://www.commoncause.org/site/pp.asp?c=dkLNK1MQIwG&b=192086

Who owns what?

http://www.cjr.org/tools/owners/

Waging the Media Battle

by Robert W. McChesney
July 2004

Our press system is failing in the United States, and we must be clear about why it is failing. The problem is not with poorly trained or unethical journalists; in fact, I suspect this may well be as talented and ethical as any generation of journalists in memory. Nor is the problem nefarious or corrupt owners.

Even if Rupert Murdoch and Sumner Redstone were to quit their jobs, change their names, and move off to New Mexico to do yoga and share a bong all day in a mountain cabin, the operations of the News Corporation and Viacom, respectively, would not change appreciably. Whoever replaced them would follow the same cues, with more or less success. But the logic of the system would remain intact.

That system is set up to maximize profit for a relative handful of large companies. The system works well for them, but it is a disaster for the communication needs of a healthy and self-governing society. So if we want to change the content and logic of the media, we have to change the system. And following my logic, we must change media content radically if we are going to have a viable self-governing society and transform this country for the better. As former Federal Communications Commission member Nicholas Johnson likes to put it: When speaking to activists and progressives, whatever your first issue of concern, media had better be your second, because without change in the media, progress in your primary area is far less likely.

Let's begin with the obvious question: where does our media system come from? In mythology, it is the result of competition between entrepreneurs duking it out in the free market. In reality, our media system is the result of a wide range of explicit government policies, regulations, and subsidies. Each of the 20 or so giant media firms that dominate the entirety of our media system is the recipient of massive government largesse -- what could be regarded as corporate welfare. They receive (for free) one or more of: scarce monopoly licenses to radio and television channels, monopoly franchises to cable- and satellite-TV systems, or copyright protection for their content. When the government sets up a firm with one of these monopoly licenses, it is virtually impossible to fail. As media mogul Barry Diller put it, the only way a commercial broadcaster can lose money is if someone steals from it.

http://www.americanprogress.org/site/pp.asp?c=biJRJ8OVF&b=104268

http://www.outfoxed.org/

CHIMPEACH!

CHIMPEACH!!

CHIMPEACH!!!

CHIMPEACH!!!!

not that I feel strongly about this or anything, you understand,
Otter

After all, this ain't just a blue dress we're talking about here.

impeach every one of the bam dastards,
Otter

Senate blocks attempt to allow drilling in Alaska refuge

http://www.cnn.com/2005/POLITICS/12/21/arctic.drilling.ap/index.html

John Kerry on Air America today brought up issue that Diebold machines can be hacked (as proved in Florida last week) and that the people’s votes can’t be in proprietary hands. Said we need to stay on this one.

Those who cast the votes decide nothing; those who count the votes decide everything (Joseph Stalin)

"Freedom is a fragile thing and never more than one generation away from extinction. It is not ours by inheritance; it must be fought for and defended constantly by each generation, for it comes only once to a people. Those who have known freedom and then lost it have never known it again." - Ronald Reagan

Senate Blocks ANWR Drilling
http://www.truthout.org/docs_2005/122105Y.shtml
The Senate blocked oil drilling in ANWR Wednesday, rejecting a must-pass defense spending bill where the quarter-century-old environmental issue had been placed to garner broader support.

Okay, defeating the ANWR section is one good thing.... BUT....

I've got C-SPAN-2 on, there's a long wait going on, and it's been mentioned twice by the "background voice" waiting for something to happen that Bill Frist is trying to arrange a deal on Patriot Act....

It ain't over 'til the fat lady sings, and she's off in the wings, silent, saving her voice.... Guess it was too good to believe when it seemed Santa gave us an early present when it seemed a few days ago that the (non)Patriot Act would be allowed to expire....

Well, I got me a job in this man's town
On this subway train down under the ground;
My pay's so low I went in the hole,
And I can't get out, folks, to save my soul.
Wages on the floor, prices on the ceilin'.

I want to work and help win this war,
And that's what I work on the subway for;
My car's so loaded, jammed and packed,
My wheels keep a-jumpin' on the railroad track.
Wheels need greasin'. Pay needs raisin'.

Well, I joined the union to win my rights,
I went to Mr. Delaney and put up a fight;
I told him my job was part of my soul,
But Delaney don't want my wheels to roll.
Neither does Mr. Hitler. Pestbrook Wiggler -- I mean jibbler --
Pestbrook, Higgler -- aw, skip it.

I told Mr. Delaney if my kids don't eat
All of you workers will walk the street.
Mr. Delaney just stretched and yawned,
He must not know there's a war goin' on.
People fightin'. Winnin' freedom.

I got to thinkin' 'bout this war I'm tryin' to win,
So I went to the mayor once again.
I said, 'I don't want no Hitler scale,
I want to roll to victory on a union rail!'
Pay house rent. Eat groceries. Get a beef stew.
Pound of coffee.

So if you want to win this war I'll tell you what to do,
You got to work and fight for the T.W.U.,
You got to toot your whistle, got to ring your bell,
You got to keep all the Fascists in a union hell.
Keep 'em there. Don't let 'em out.

You got to join the union, got to pay your dues,
Got to shake hands and stick it through,
I'm a union man in a union war,
And it's a union world I'm a-fightin' for
Union or fascist. Take your choice.

Back on the subject of Bush's dastardly spying on the American people- I just finished writing a LTE to my local paper. The question I'd like to ask my Republican friends, the few I have, is "would it be ok for W to have sex with an intern and lie about it to a court," since, after all, Bill Clinton did the same. I am so sick of this "yes I did it, but so did Clinton" excuse from the republicans that I can hardly stand it. These are the same people who told us that we had a "new morality" in Washington now that their candidate lied and stole his way into office. Now that he's admitted to an illegal act, it's ok, because his followers claim that Clinton and Carter did it too. That's not true of course, but it's the standard answer from Rush Limbaugh for every crime that Bush commits. Apparently, Bush is allowed with no moral question at all to do every single thing Bill Clinton did. So, bring on the interns.
Anyway- someone mentioned my scrabble play being an international e-mail above- and that's right. The e-mails to Canada were the only ones that disappeared into cyberspace. And they were the only ones that I normally send out that have any type of attachment. I assumed that was why they were intercepted- that and the fact that I'm fairly well known in my community as a "liberal troublemaker who likes to write to the News-Journal." (It doesn't take much to get that reputation down here in Pensacola though- and if you're not a full-fledged ditto head down here, you're liberal. I never have considered myself to be a liberal , nor a conservative for that matter.) Also of interest, one of our local judges is a sitting member of the intelligence court. That was reported in our paper this morning. At any rate- in my particular case, I have to admit that it was only the international e-mails that used to disappear- none of the local ones did. Also, my friend in Canada is a member of OxFam and a union member like myself, so that probably had something to do with it too.
They really were going after the small fish with no real reason to do so. That's why there were no warrants requested. This is an enemies list, not a terrorist list.

William Rivers Pitt | The Breaking Strain
http://www.truthout.org/docs_2005/122105I.shtml
William Rivers Pitt: If we as a nation do not impeach a sitting president for such a vast array of blatantly illegal activities - activities directed at the American people themselves - then as a nation of laws we have lost our way. We have no meaning. We are finished, and the ideals for which so many have served and fought and died are ashes. Intolerable. Impeachable.

Excellent article, well worth a read!

Well lets see bush says its legal, others say its not. OS how do we dedice/ We go to court. Only in this case, the court is through impeachment-want to prove that its legal Georgie boy? get your day in court-demand impeachement!

The courts are not being very kind to this regime this holiday season...

US court rules against US govt in Padilla case
WASHINGTON, Dec 21 (Reuters) - In a stinging rebuke to the Bush administration, a U.S. appeals court refused on Wednesday to transfer Jose Padilla from U.S. military custody to federal authorities in Florida until the Supreme Court considers his case.

The high court said bringing criminal charges against Padilla in Florida after he had been held by the U.S. military for more than three years as an enemy combatant created the appearance that the government may be attempting to avoid Supreme Court review of the case.
http://www.alertnet.org/thenews/newsdesk/N21273048.htm

Breaking News: Court refuses to transfer terror suspect Padilla to civilian court. Details soon.

Jinx I would say, eh madame?

Posted by: marc trager at December 21, 2005 04:38 PM
;)

Everything that happens under this sham administration is a jinx.

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

Fineman is a good read... Check it out and don't forget to weigh in on the live vote; you'll like what you see there.

Spying, the Constitution — and the ‘I-word’
2006 will offer up Nixon-era nastiness and a chorus of calls to impeach Bush
http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/10561966/

*This* is exactly why we can't afford to let up on the pressure or let down our guard:

-----

If the president's commander-in-chief power and the congressional resolution authorizing use of force against al-Qaida give the Bush administration authority to spy on American citizens without a warrant, doesn't it follow that the administration has authority to do whatever else it wants to do in the war on terror, Patriot Act or not?

Reporters put that question to Attorney General Alberto Gonzales this morning, and he didn't exactly answer it. Asked if the Bush administration will simply grant Patriot Act powers to itself if the Senate doesn't renew the act this week, Gonzales said: "What I will say is we continue to have hope that these provisions will be reauthorized. To the extent that they're not reauthorized, we will look at the Department of Homeland Security and other agencies throughout the government to see what authorities do exist. And we will do what we can do under existing authorities to continue to protect America."

-----

cf: http://www.salon.com/politics/war_room/

off with their (metaphorical) heads,
Otter

one two three four
we don't want their effing war

hey hey ho ho
baby bush has to go

don't tread on we,
Otter

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/10561966/

No, this is not a scientific survey. But 88% of the respondents said that Bush has committed enough crimes to be impeached. That's a pretty significant amount, even in a nonscientific survey. Especially on an MSNBC website.

Linda, You beat me to it!

From the MSNBC online article by Howard Fineman that madame defqarge and Linda Enterkin referenced in the previous few posts:

-----

"As best I can tell —- and this really isn’t my beat -— the only people who knew about the NSA’s new (and now so controversial) warrant-less eavesdropping program early on were Bush, Cheney, NSA chief Michael Hayden, his top deputies, top leaders of the CIA, and lawyers at the Justice Department and the White House counsel’s office hurriedly called in to sprinkle holy water on it.

"Which presents the disturbing image of the White House as a series of nesting dolls, with Cheney-Bush at the tiny secret center, sifting information that most of the rest of the people around them didn’t even know existed. And that image, in turn, will dominate and define the year 2006 — and, I predict, make it the angriest, most divisive season of political theater since the days of Richard Nixon."

-----

Oh, crap. Does this mean I'm going to have to go out and buy myself another gas mask?!

been there done that ready to do it again,
Otter

See? Just cause you're registered as a Republican doesn't mean that you automatically checked your heart, your brain, and your courage at the door:

"If you thought the Samuel Alito hearings were going to be contentious, wait till you see them now. Sen. Arlen Specter, the prickly but brilliant chairman of the Senate Judiciary Committee, has said that the issue of warrant-less spying by the NSA -- and the larger question of the reach of the president’s wartime powers -- is now fair game for the Alito hearings. Alito is going to try to beg off but won’t be allowed to. And members who might have been afraid to vote against Alito on the abortion issue might now have another, politically less risky, reason to do so."

(This also from Fineman's column at http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/10561966/ )

geaux arlen geaux,
Otter

Pop quiz: what is this the Preamble to?

-----

"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 in the Right of the People to alter or abolish it, and to institute a 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."

-----

It is our Right.

And it is also our Duty.

live free or die,
Otter

Keith Obermann is doing an "I" word show tonight, on Countdown. "I" word as in Impeachment.

CNBC just did a promo.

It's beginning to feel a lot like Christmas...

Yeah, Cy, but as far as stocking stuffers go, finding proof that my government is so corrupt that it requires serious legal sanctions to set it right was not exactly way high on the top of my list...

arbusto delenda est,
Otter

Hear, hear. Great essay, Casey and a good question.

Posted by: dwahzon at December 21, 2005 12:13 PM

Whoops... sorry Dick. Guess I can't read... or doing too many things at once again.

In any case, great essay.

How it came about that I THANKED a republican today....

Here is how it went down. Big lunch at my house. Dead mans lunch even since we wound up with 13 participants. Of those 13... 7 are LIFELONG republicans. Never ever been registered or even considered registering as a dem.

But, as was pointed out often, they have VOTED for dems, as with most of us it just depends on the candidate.

I must say I was honestly SHOCKED to hear these life long repells, along with the other mod repells or dems start bashing bush.

It seems even southern women can comprehend what warrantless spying means.. Anyways...

The conversation, to my delight, turned to IMPEACHMENT.

An argument ensues. Not about wether he NEEDS to be impeached but wether or not the republican controlled house and senate would actually take such an act SERIOUSLY.

I admit I started the argument by pointing out he will NEVER be impeached as long as the republicans are willing to just LET bush committ open CRIMES.

I told them ALL it did not matter THEY were lifelong yellow dog ticket republicans because NONE of the repell leaders CARED.

Ohhh it got very interesting. In the verbal meelee.. I had a bright idea.

I said Ok ladies hush and listen. I got my phone book popped it open to the oft overlooked gov. section and picked out one of our states repell leaders in the senate. I will call him senator blah blah.

I dialed the number and put the call on speaker phone..

This is not the EXACT transcript of what followed but it was damn close.( I woulda recorded it but a little birdy told me that is a crime)

The assistant, a lady, answers.. The group around me goes still as mice

Senator Blah Blahs Assistant: Hello this is Senators Blah Blahs office....??

Me: Hello. I am calling you from La. today. A group of my neighbors and friends were all just sitting here talking about GW Bush and I was wondering if you could answer a question for us..??

Senator Blah Blahs Assistant: Sure, would love too.

Me: Ok we would like to know are there any plans from your office to impeach GW Bush.. and if not, why not???

Senator Blah Blahs Assistant:Umm... Impeach..?... I don't understand...?

Me: You do not understand IMPEACHMENT...?

Senator Blah Blahs Assistant:(dead silence)

Me: Well , see, cause we were all wondering...

Senator Blah Blahs Assistant: (snickering) Well WHY on earth would we do THAT?

Me: Ummm, well, Violation of federal law for starters. Violation of International law...? Take your pick....

Senator Blah Blahs Assistant:(STRAIGHT LAUGHTER) I do not know WHY you called us, but I can ASSURE you THAT IS NOT GOING TO HAPPEN.( More laughter, almost shrill even)

Me: Well... I am not sure what else you need to...

Senator Blah Blahs Assistant:(cutting me off, real pissy) Fine. Fine. I will be SURE to give Senator Blah Blah your message.

Me: ...Ok I appreciate it.

Click

So needless to say my lunch ended and by the time my guests left I just had to call them back. This time I got a male assistant with a sexy voice.

Sexy Voice: Hello Senator Blah Blahs office...?

Me. Yes sir, I called earlier, there was a group of my friends here and we called concerning impeaching GW Bush...?

Sexy Voice: Ummm, ok,...

Me: Well anyways I would just like to say when we called the lady that answered laughed at us and told us how it was not going to happen...

Sexy Voice: Yes Mam...?

Me: Yes I would like to know if you can tell her I said THANK YOU...?

Sexy Voice: Ummm,.. she laughed at you?

Me: Yes sir.

Sexy Voice: And you want me too....?

Me: I would like for you to thank her because of the group listening to that call, 6 of the 7 life long republicans all left my house vowing to vote a staight democrat ticket this coming election.

Sexy Voice: Ummm.. ugggg: Ummmmm...

Me: Yes sir. Tell her that recruiting republicans into the democratic party has never been so easy. It is one thing for me to tell them their leaders do not care but for them to HEAR it for themselves was absolutely the best moment I ever had as a democrat.

Sexy Voice: Mam I am so sorry you were treated that way...

Me: (cutting him off).. It is ok sir I am already a democrat, and I expected it. But them, their faces when she started laughing was PRICELESS!!

Sexy Voice: Well, democrat or republican they should not have responded to you that way.

Me: Its is quite alright sir. I enjoyed it, and PLEASE DO tell her I said Thank You Thank You Thank You. Merry Christmas.

Sexy Voice: Umm Merry Christmas.

And that is how I wound up THANKING a republican for being a typical republican.

It was a real blast.

HOLY ****.

SHOULD BUSH BE IMPEACHED MSNBC POLL

88% SAY YES

go vote go go go

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/10562904#survey

WASHINGTON (CNN) -- President Bush urged Congress on Wednesday to renew expiring provisions of the Patriot Act, telling reporters, "The terrorist threat is not going to expire at the end of this year."

Bush called a Senate filibuster "inexcusable."

"The senators obstructing the Patriot Act need to understand that the expiration of this vital law will endanger America and will leave us in a weaker position in the fight against brutal killers," Bush said.

At a separate media event, Attorney General Alberto Gonzales said, "If the impasse continues, when Americans wake up on January 1, we will not be as safe."

Bush has said he would veto a three-month extension, arguing it would be inadequate.

Sen. Patrick Leahy, the ranking Democrat on the Judiciary Committee, said the extension would allow common sense to re-enter the debate over the act. The Vermont Democrat told reporters 52 senators -- including eight Republicans -- had signed a letter to Senate Majority Leader Bill Frist calling for an extension.

On Friday, the Senate rejected a similar proposal.

Sen. John Sununu, who co-sponsored the measure with Leahy, said there are "a number of different ways that we could work through this issue."

Sununu, a member of the Foreign Relations Committee, said the extension would give ample time for senators to work out differences on the sticking points of the debate.

The Senate needs 60 votes to override a filibuster and end debate, which is called "invoking cloture." Cloture would have brought the Patriot Act to a final vote, allowing the Senate to renew it by a simple majority.

But only 52 senators voted Friday to cut off debate; 47 voted against cloture.

Republicans who voted against cloture included Sens. Chuck Hagel, John Sununu, Lisa Murkowski and Larry Craig.

Without an extension or a renewal vote, 16 provisions of the Patriot Act would expire December 31.

The Bush administration has lobbied intensely for making key elements of the provisions permanent, as well as making some changes to the existing law. Top officials, including Gonzales, have called lawmakers in hopes of swaying them to the administration's position.

The act, created after the September 11, 2001 attacks, allows the government broad authority to investigate people suspected of involvement in terrorist activities. Controversial measures include those allowing the FBI -- with a court order -- to obtain secret warrants for business, library, medical, and other records, and to get a wiretap on every phone a suspect uses.

Frist is among the staunchest supporters of reauthorizing the provisions and has argued that voting against immediate reauthorization "amounts to defeat and retreat at home."

But because of the complexity of Senate rules, Frist voted against cloture. The vote allows him to try to bring the act up for another vote.

Last week, the House of Representatives voted 251-174 to renew the 16 provisions, after striking a compromise that altered some of them. The Senate remains stuck over the changes to the act, but Sununu said he thinks Congress will reach an agreement.

"I do think there are changes that can be made, acceptable to both the House and Senate, that will enable us to get strong, bipartisan majorities in both chambers," he said.

IM.

PEACH.

...any questions?

gimme back our country dammit,
Otter

Posted by: Christy at December 21, 2005 06:23 PM

Christy,

YOU ARE AWESOME!!!!

What a great story!!!

you go girl

DW it was sooo much fun

Posted by: Christy at December 21, 2005 06:23 PM

Christy, you are a genius. You've put all kinds of good ideas in my head for some women's meetings we're planning. Thank YOU!!!

Posted by: marc trager at December 21, 2005 07:17 PM
RE: patriot act... So our president would rather see the patriot act expire than accept an extension that can be further discussed & voted on later. Yeah, he cares about us and our safety.

Christy... I had to do it...

everyone go recommend this diary at kos
http://www.dailykos.com/story/2005/12/21/201550/85

I shared Christy's story with them!

Christy,

Gosh, your story was much better than mine. I only got dead silence and "Our press secretary is out of the office."

Well, as the world now knows, the NSA — at the prompting of Vice President Cheney and on official (secret) orders from President Bush — was doing just that. And yet, as I understand it, many of the people in the White House’s own Situation Room — including leaders of the national security adviser’s top staff and officials of the FBI — had no idea that it was happening.

As best I can tell — and this really isn’t my beat — the only people who knew about the NSA’s new (and now so controversial) warrant-less eavesdropping program early on were Bush, Cheney, NSA chief Michael Hayden, his top deputies, top leaders of the CIA, and lawyers at the Justice Department and the White House counsel’s office hurriedly called in to sprinkle holy water on it.
http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/10561966/

I only got dead silence and "Our press secretary is out of the office."

Posted by: sparrow at December 21, 2005 08:26 PM

HAHAHAHAHAHAHA

I think I will call denny hasterets office tomorrow and ask about what he got caught on tape laundering money for and when will they recommend dropping the gag order against Sybil Edmonds
to prove whatever innocence it is they will claim.

I just bought my 11th tank of Citgo.
Viva South America!

Thank you Cantwell, Kerry - for saving ANWR for now.
Thank you Senators for adding more time in which to
add civil liberties protections to the Patriot Act
(though why not let the damn thing expire 12/31)
Thank you NPR for having the informative reporter from
Iraq on = learned more about how womens' situation
has worsened there & how militias will probably continue
to rule. Need info to counter propaganda we get state-
side. Thank you NPR for keeping Ann Garels there &
for having reporter Adam Davidson (business).
Thank you Everett Herald for publishing a quite rad letter
from a guy who cancelled his subscription because of
guest columns by O'Reilly.
Thank you Comcast news header for entertaining me today
with the true tale of how the pastor's wife from the TX
church of 15,000 showed "attitude" on the plane to Vail.

DiAnne--
I so want to hear the story of the pastor's wife...

Dw...

Ok maybe because I am a slight moron... But I can not figure out how to post on Kos...

I have NO comment box or even option.

Can you tell them all I said thank you for the lovely comments and YES 6 of 7 and the 7th was seriously troubled.

It was a fluke I think. The way it all happened. It was one of those perfectly staged...timed.. coincidental happenings, that as you said I could not have scripted better.

HOWEVER, fluke or not I think cold calling senators or congressmen like that could very well work in many many other ways too. They just do not expect you to do away with political correctness and just SAY IT....

HARHARHAR.. Too bad for them...

I have free long distance.

Christy
About a year ago there was some thing where we were supposed to call our Senators & I couldn't get through to mine, plus I knew they were "converted" already & I didn't want to waste my preaching. Senator Bill Frist was being a real stick in the mud so I called him & got right through to a human. It was a blast too.

Here is million phone march - Who Would Jesus Starve - complete with Bible verse. It's a quick way to contact your Senators & Congress persons but you can also call direct & use some of the same rhetoric (or your creative own).

Your voices carried the day to stop the Patriot Act. Your voices carried the day in stopping destruction of the ANWR. And your voices have one last chance to stop the cruelty budget if you speak out now.

TELL THE HOUSE TO REJECT PROGRAM CUTS FOR THE POOR

Today in the Senate, Dick "The Grinch" Cheney flew in just long enough to break a 50-50 tie, further gutting lifeline services for the poor while they plough full steam ahead with abolishing all tax responsibility for the wealthy. This is a battle that should have been won in the House already, but for 6 Democrats
who didn't even bother to show up for the vote. Because there were some minor concessions made in the Senate, we have one final chance to reverse this heartless budget if you call your House member at 888-355-3588 or 888-818-6641
and submit the action page at

ACTION PAGE: http://www.millionphonemarch.com/no_cruelty.htm

Remember that all members of the House must face reelection next year. In this season when some are complaining about a war to take Christ out of Christmas, we ask again, "Who would Jesus starve?" Consider these words:

"I was a stranger, and ye took me not in: naked, and ye clothed me not: sick, and in prison, and ye visited me not. Then shall they also answer him, saying, Lord, when saw we thee an hungered, or athirst, or a stranger, or naked, or sick, or in prison, and did not minister unto thee? Then shall he answer them saying, Verily I say unto you, Inasmuch as ye did it not to one of the least of these, ye did it not to me." (Matthew 25:43

Posted by: DiAnne at December 21, 2005 10:35 PM

Amen

MERCY

MERCY

MERCY

Karen

THE STORY OF THE PASTOR'S WIFE (a true story)

The cleaned-up version:

The wife of the pastor of the nation's largest church was asked to leave a plane after she failed to comply with a flight attendant's instructions, the FBI said Tuesday.

Joel Osteen, pastor of Lakewood Church in Houston; his wife, Victoria; and their two children boarded a flight from Houston to Vail, Colo., on Monday. The plane's door had been closed when Victoria Osteen and a flight attendant had a disagreement.

"She failed to comply with the flight attendant's instructions, and they were asked to leave the flight," FBI spokeswoman Luz Garcia said.

The flight was delayed for more than an hour while the Osteens' luggage was retrieved, Garcia said.

Church spokesman Don Iloff said Victoria Osteen stepped into the jetway to talk with the pilot and others while her husband and children remained seated in first class. Joel Osteen and the children later left the plane to join Victoria Osteen, who suggested that the family take another flight.

The pilot agreed, and Continental booked the family on another flight, Iloff said.

"In semantics, they might have been asked to be removed," he said. "Really, it was more of a mutual thing."

the original story that I archived, which provides additional detail:

A dispute involving the wife of Lakewood Church pastor Joel Osteen delayed holiday travel plans for a planeload of passengers, but few details were released Tuesday.

At least some people aboard the Continental Airlines flight were less than pleased after waiting about two hours at Bush Intercontinental Airport while the Osteens left the plane and their luggage was removed, said a woman who witnessed the incident.

"She was just abusive," said Sheila Steele, who said she was sitting behind Victoria Osteen. "She was just like one of those divas."

A church spokesman said the couple and their children left the plane voluntarily after the incident Monday and took another flight to Vail, Colo.

However, FBI Special Agent Luz Garcia said the Osteens were asked to leave the jetliner after an "altercation." She said Victoria Osteen "failed to comply" with instructions from the flight attendant. She added that no one was detained.

The incident occurred in the first class section on Flight 1602. Continental spokeswoman Julie King declined to give details.

The Osteens could not be reached for comment, and the Chronicle was unable to contact other passengers to corroborate Steele's version of events. However, the Vail Daily newspaper reported similar accounts of the incident from other first-class passengers.

Passenger Barbara Griffith told the Colorado paper that Joel Osteen was "very calm, very professional."

Lakewood Church spokesman Donald Iloff said Victoria Osteen contacted a flight attendant after noticing that a liquid had been spilled on her seat. The spill apparently was not cleaned up to her satisfaction, Iloff said. The family left the plane voluntarily and took another flight, Iloff said.

The airline issued a statement saying corporate policy forbids identifying passengers.

"There have been various accounts regarding events that occurred on one of our flights," the statement added. "We can confirm that there are no remaining issues between (Continental Airlines) and those passengers, and therefore, both parties feel no further comment is necessary."

Steele said Victoria Osteen was upset about liquid on her pull-down tray and asked a flight attendant to have it cleaned. When the attendant, who was carrying paperwork to the cockpit, told her she couldn't do it immediately, Osteen replied, "Fine, get me a stewardess who can," Steele said.

She said Victoria Osteen pushed a flight attendant and tried to get into the cockpit. Passengers quoted in the Colorado paper did not address those details.

Soon after, authorities were called to the plane, she said, although it was not clear Tuesday whether they were airline officials.

Garcia said Continental officials contacted the FBI about the incident. The agency decided not to investigate.

"It was quickly resolved between the airline and the Osteens," Garcia said.

Steele said she and other passengers were upset that they had to wait about two hours while the Osteens' baggage was removed from the plane.

Joel Osteen is a nationally known author of self-help books.

He became pastor of Lakewood Church in October 1999, building it into what some observers say is the largest church in the U.S.

Victoria Osteen also preaches and plays a significant role at the church.

The congregation in July moved into the 16,000-seat Compaq Center.

Christy... check your email.

Ok Ive re-registered at kos but it still says I can not post a comment for 24 hours or on a diary for a week...

WTF... Im not buying a handgun.

Ill be posting on there tommorrow then if I pass the background check.

Some days I just regret all those strippers and bongs I so used to love.

LOL Christy... if you're not careful, someone might take you seriously!

;)

Senate votes to extend Patriot Act
Agreement reauthorizes law for 6 months to negotiate safeguards

Updated: 11:10 p.m. ET Dec. 21, 2005
The Associated Press

WASHINGTON - The Senate passed a six-month extension of the USA Patriot Act late Wednesday night, hoping to avoid the expiration of law enforcement powers deemed vital in the war on terror.

Approval came on a voice vote, and cleared the way for a final vote in the House.

Several provisions in the current law expire Dec. 31, and President Bush has called repeatedly for new legislation.

The House was scheduled to reconvene Thursday, but senior Republicans there have opposed any temporary extension of the current law, insisting that most of the expiring provisions should be renewed permanently.

The Senate vote Wednesday night capped several days of backroom negotiation conducted against the backdrop of presidential attacks on critics of the legislation.

The extension gives critics — who successfully filibustered a House-Senate compromise that would have made most of the law permanent — more time to seek civil liberty safeguards in the law. Democrats and their allies had originally asked for a three-month extension, and the Senate’s Republican majority had offered a one-year extension. The final deal split the difference.

‘Significant differences’
“For a lot of reasons, it made the most sense, given that there are significant differences that remain,” said GOP Sen. John Sununu of New Hampshire, one of a small group of Republicans who joined with Senate Democrats to filibuster a House-Senate compromise.

“I think this is a reasonable conclusion,” said Sen. Patrick Leahy of Vermont, the ranking Democrat on the Senate Judiciary Committee.

Republicans who had pushed for legislation that would make most of the expiring provisions permanent said the agreement only postpones the ongoing arguments over the Patriot Act for six months. “We’ll be right back where we are right now,” said a clearly frustrated Sen. Orrin Hatch, R-Utah.

Sen. John Cornyn, R-Texas, added, “Our intelligence and law enforcement officials should not be left wondering, yet again, whether the Congress will manage to agree to reauthorize the tools that protect our nation.”

The bill’s critics gained momentum Wednesday when they released a letter crafted by Sununu and Sen. Charles Schumer, D-N.Y., showing they had 52 senators agreeing to support a three-month extension.

‘A dereliction of duty’
“This is the right thing to do for the country,” Schumer said after the deal had been announced. “To let the Patriot Act lapse would have been a dereliction of duty.”

President Bush, Attorney General Alberto Gonzales and Republican congressional leaders have lobbied fiercely to get the House-Senate compromise passed, and issued dire warnings of what would happen if the Patriot Act expires.

Most of the Patriot Act — which expanded the government’s surveillance and prosecutorial powers against suspected terrorists, their associates and financiers — was made permanent when Congress overwhelmingly passed it after the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks on New York City and Washington.

Making permanent the rest of the Patriot Act powers, like the roving wiretaps which allow investigators to listen in on any telephone and tap any computer they think a target might use, has been a priority of the Bush administration and Republican lawmakers.

DW...

Who on earth said I was not serious...??

My favorite stripper ever..? Yup her name REALLY HONEST TO GAWD was Asia.

She was the product of one of our soldiers messing around in southeast ASIA...

Had these HUGE big ol fake ass titties...

She was honestly one of the funniest people I ever have known.

There is not many people in my life I truely miss. We had lots of good times.

Gotta love late night at the DCP lounge.

See, yall think I am crazy..

Too bad you never met her. That chick was gonzo bonkers.

One of the funniest moments of my life... I was dead drunk at 10 am.. sitting in Asias house because my husband was a little bitch which is why I was drinking...Anyways...

Asia decides she wants a pizza.. so she orders one.. still in this little tiny thing she called a night gown.

Ahh strippers, funny how you never think about your lifestyle till it collides with the pizza dude...

My gawd just thinking of that pizza boy to this day... omfg...

I was virtually swallowing my damn tounge before he could just snatch the money and run...

You could tell he was a TOTAL Mormon...

Yes.. we were in Utah.. right above SLC

A classified briefing has been called by the presiding judge of the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Court to address concerns about the legality of President Bush's domestic spying programs, according to a story set for Thursday's edition of The Washington Post.

Several members of the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Court said in interviews that they want to know why the administration believed secretly listening in on telephone calls and reading e-mails of U.S. citizens without court authorization was legal. Some of the judges said they are particularly concerned that information gleaned from the president's eavesdropping program may have been improperly used to gain authorized wiretaps from their court.

"The questions are obvious," said U.S. District Judge Dee Benson of Utah. "What have you been doing, and how might it effect the reliability and credibility of the information we're getting in our court?"

http://hannity.com/

Look for the poll on the left side of this page. Vote, and send it to your e-mail list. Let him and others know that there are those of us out here who don't buy his crap.

http://www.nytimes.com/2005/12/22/nyregion/22police.html?hp&ex=1135227600&en=c298d636b33c8c10&ei=5094&partner=homepage

New York City Police Join in at Demonstrations (undercover) - WHY?

Another person who heard Air America sends me:

John Kerry was on Ed Schultz today and he was talking about voter fraud toward the end of the interview and how the Diebold machines were
susceptible to hacking. I was surprised to hear him finally saying something about this.

More from Julie in Portland on where to hear Kerry on Ed Schultz:

Go to this site, and near the top of the page there is a place where you can click to hear the audio clip of John Kerry when he was on Ed
Schultz today. I heard it while driving in to work between noon and 1.

http://www.wegoted.com/dailyAudio/index.asp

Happy Holidays from My Congressman:

HAPPY HOLIDAYS -- AND A PRAYER FOR PEACE
Seasons greetings, everyone! As the year 2005 draws to a close and I reflect back on it, I realize it has been a particularly tough one, not just on Capital Hill but all around the globe. Even though the tragedies are very fresh in my mind, so are the good things. Here are just a few:
-- Two of our own, Bill and Melinda Gates, and the world's biggest-hearted rock star, Bono, were named TIME magazine's Persons of the Year.
-- Cindy Sheehan single-handedly raised the volume of protest against the Iraq War and showed the world that not all Americans believe in it.
-- Bullying by the Bush Administration to justify torture and drilling in the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge has been thwarted multiple times, thanks to heroic bipartisan efforts.
-- In a world teeming with intractable tribal and religious conflicts, Ireland's peace agreement remains intact.
-- And the Seahawks have a winning record that might just take them all the way to the Super Bowl! Go Seahawks!
The list goes on, and I'm sure all of you have good-news stories of your own. So, as we celebrate this holiday season, keep those good thoughts in mind. I plan to support one of my favorite charities, Save the Children, and stop and say a special prayer for peace in 2006.
Sincerely,

Jim McDermott (as seen in Fahrenheit 9/11)

Posted by: Christy at December 21, 2005 06:23 PM

Christy, sounded like you had one heck of a party!! Good for you. You go, girl!!!

-----

WASHINGTON, Dec. 21 - The judge who presides over the secret court that reviews surveillance requests in terrorism cases is setting up a classified briefing for the other 10 members of the court, The Washington Post reported Wednesday night.

The session, arranged by Judge Colleen Kollar-Kotelly, will address questions about the legality of the domestic eavesdropping program established by the Bush administration, The Post said.

The article said that some of the judges on the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Court were concerned that information obtained through the eavesdropping program might later have been used to obtain authorization from the court for wiretaps.

-----

somebody hand me that there bucket of whitewash please,
Otter

-----

George Bush's problem is that Washington is not a courtroom. If it were, he or his lawyer (Dick Cheney?) could rise and object to the mention of his "previous convictions." That way, every offense against custom, law, international agreements and common sense could be treated in isolation. Too bad for Bush, he has a rap sheet.

It is his record of nonstop belligerence toward anything that would limit his powers that works against him as he tries to make a case for what in shorthand is called domestic spying. Any other president would have earned the solicitous attention and understanding of the country, including his critics.

[snip]

After all, the very same people who assure us that they are merely being prudent -- trust us -- are the same guys who held out until the last minute to retain torture as an option in questioning terrorist suspects and others. They are the same people -- Cheney in particular -- who are so tone-deaf to appearances, not to mention the opinions of the military, that they would publicly fight a restriction on torture.

[snip]

So an administration that makes something of a reasonable case when it comes to tapping the international phone calls of American citizens has its standing and veracity considerably weakened by what went before. The White House cannot explain why it did not ask Congress for this authority because, it is now clear, it does not want to ask Congress for anything. It will not explain why it could not seek warrants from a judge because, really, it does not want to seek warrants from a judge. This is the Louis XIV school of government: In matters of national security, Bush must say to himself, he is the state.

Such a president cannot be trusted. In Bush's case, the extra inch that would be given another president in wartime has to be measured out in increments of tenths. He is so suffused with his own sense of righteousness that he cannot imagine his laws being abused -- not by him, certainly, and not by his chummy group of nicknamed nincompoops, either. He listens to Cheney, who still smarts from post-Watergate reforms that made the Gerald Ford presidency less imperial than Richard Nixon's -- and on purpose. Cheney was Ford's chief of staff.

[snip]

-----

Read the rest of Richard Cohen's column in today's WaPo here:
http://tinyurl.com/bfkuh

love your country but don't trust your government,
Otter

-----

Not even conservatives will rush to endorse the expansive powers that Bush claims to find in the Constitution to enable the National Security Agency to evade existing law and systematically conduct wiretaps against terrorism suspects on U.S. soil without warrants.

Even weaker is the administration's claim that Congress approved such wiretaps in its September 2001 resolution authorizing the use of force against terrorist organizations. Bush's interpretation is a dangerous inflation of congressional intent. It smacks of the way Lyndon Johnson used the Gulf of Tonkin resolution to bully Congress into supporting him on Vietnam. That is no path to follow.

Bush's initial response was unpersuasive on why he failed to ask Congress to fix defects in the warrant system mandated in the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act of 1978. For four years, Bush simply set aside the provisions of this law, which grew out of the abuses of the Vietnam-Watergate era.

Most Americans are discovering the details if not the existence of this law for the first time in the controversy sparked by a story in the New York Times and Bush's combative response Monday. Inadvertently, Bush is educating his fellow citizens on civil liberties protections that many were unaware they had.

Count that as a contribution to American democracy. Better that Bush had done it deliberately, as part of a national discussion on the security needs of a struggle against global terrorism, as has been repeatedly urged in this corner. Americans, and Congress, clearly agree with Bush's goal of deterring attacks. He owes them a say on the methods to be used.

-----

Read the rest of Jim Hoagland's Op-Ed piece in today's WaPo here:
http://tinyurl.com/afbl4

if even his conservative base is honked off then he must be doing something wrong,
Otter

And from the Go On, Tell Me Another One Department:

"The time has come that the American people know exactly what their Representatives are doing here in Washington. Are they feeding at the public trough, taking lobbyist-paid vacations, getting wined and dined by special interest groups? Or are they working hard to represent their constituents? The people, the American people, have a right to know."

-- Rep. Tom DeLay (R-TX), on the House floor, November 16, 1995

they're not just rights they're duties,
Otter

And this, from the Let's Beat Up On Bill O'Reilly Department:

-----

"A Challenge To Bill O'Reilly:

"I'm particularly sensitive to religious hypocrites because I've spent a chunk of time abroad watching Muslim versions of Mr. O'Reilly -- demagogic table-thumpers who exploit public religiosity as a cynical ploy to gain attention and money... I have a challenge for Mr. O'Reilly: If you really want to defend traditional values, then come with me on a trip to Darfur. I'll introduce you to mothers who have had their babies clubbed to death in front of them, to teenage girls who have been gang-raped and then mutilated -- and to the government-armed thugs who do these things.

"You'll have to leave your studio, Bill. You'll encounter pure evil. If you're like me, you'll be scared. If you try to bully some of the goons in Darfur, they'll just hack your head off. But you'll also meet some genuine conservative Christians -- aid workers who live the Gospel instead of sputtering about it -- and you'll finally be using your talents for an important cause.

"So, Bill, what'll it be? Will you dare travel to a real war against Christmas values, in which the victims aren't offended shoppers but terrified children thrown on bonfires? I'm waiting to hear."

-----

That was a quoted excerpt from a column that Nicholas Kristof had published in the New York Times on 12-18-05. You can't read it there unless you're willing to pony up some $$, though, since the NYT now charges actual money for viewing its so-called premium pieces online.

You can find it here, though, along with O'Reilly's reply and several interesting followup comments from antichimps everywhere:

http://tinyurl.com/dzbvk

opinion wants to be free,
Otter

P.S. -- I'm mad as hell and I'm not gonna take it any more.

OK, so maybe I might be the most pissed-off old-school bleeding-heart leftist liberal peacenik-at-heart that you bump into today (although I kinda doubt it). So? You got a problem with that?

So what. Indict me already.

IMPEACH.

chimpeachment's just another word for shrubya's got to lose,
Otter

And one last item, from the Off-Topic But So What, We All Need A Break Sometimes Department:

This man's been on the job at my alma mater for well over half a century now, and he's still delivering the goods. Ya gotta love that. We should all be so productive at his age.

(Shucks, he's still ten years younger than Sen. Robert Byrd, and look how productive *he's* been lately...)

http://tinyurl.com/a85mg

(And for background info: http://tinyurl.com/bsvwn and http://tinyurl.com/8jf9a )

now go out there and win one for the geezer,
Otter

BTW, here are two meaningful factoids about where Congressman John Murtha is (literally) coming from:

Pennsylvania, with more than 100 deaths, has had the third highest death toll in Iraq of any state, and 2,400 of its Guard troops are currently in Iraq -- down from 3,500.

Johnstown has sent more Guard troops to fight in Iraq than any other Pennsylvania town. In Vietnam, the region had a high percentage of its residents serve and die.

just thought you might want to know,
Otter

Totally off-topic (maybe)...

Hey, is it just me, or is there something very fishy about the plane crash that happened here in Miami last week?

An amazing amount of information has been released in an incredibly short amount of time. Usually these investigations take weeks/months, and specualtive information is usually not released at press conferences.

Let's review...

Plane "explodes" shortly after take off.
Plane "raised from ocean floor" within 2 days.
Authorities claim within hours of raising the plane "Crack found in doomed craft's wing".

Today comes news that the cockpit recording is 'unreadable'.

"Unfortunately, the recording was unreadable," he told reporters, adding that investigators don't know why.

The crash killed all 20 people aboard.

Had the recorder contained information, "we would hear things in the cockpit, we would hear the crew talking with each other, we might hear the actual separation ... any type of a noise that would give us an idea of what happened."

And then this...

"The plane's two engines were operating at the time of the crash, according to Rosenker, and there was no evidence of fire in either one, including the one in the right wing, which detached from the plane before it plunged into the water. Parts of the wing itself were charred, however."

In my opinion, this is being put to rest awfully quick, and with amazing convenience. Something ain't right here.

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/