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The Constitution In Tatters
The last flimsy fig leaf of respect for the Constitution was ripped away with today's reports that President Bush authorized the National Security Agency in 2002 to eavesdrop on US citizens and foreign nationals in the US.
The story ABOUT this story is equally horrifying. The New York Times knew about this NSA program and at the request of the government sat on the story for more than a year.
The timing suggests that this information could have been made public by the Times before the 2004 election. Such information would have roiled the waters. Through its complicity with the government, the Times may very well have altered the outcome of the election.
Whatever political credibility the Times may have had lies in ruins.
In a just world where people cared about the survival of freedom and liberty, the publisher of the Times should FIRE every single person who had any information about the Times' decision to sit on this story. And if the publisher knew, he should then resign in shame as well.
These reporters and editors are traitors in the deepest sense of the word. They have betrayed the American people and they have betrayed the dignity and integrity of every working journalist on the planet.
Given everything else that the Bush administration has done, it is no surprise to discover yet another area in which the President has led the charge into lawlessness. We have warned over and over again that Bush and his minions were power-mad. And having ceded them such unlimited powers, they have behaved as history tells us that tyrants and dictators always behave when they wield such unchecked powers.
Could you have imagined, ten years ago, that our country was:
*operating an international network of secret prisons.
*running a Justice Dept. headed by an Attorney General whose craven memos purported to allow US Government officials to engage in torture, and who was confirmed by the Senate even though the Senators knew about the torture memos.
*allowing the President on his own whim to arrest and imprison people for the rest of their natural lives without access to an attorney or even a court.
I could go on, but the point is clear. We are now living under the gravest threat that our country has ever faced. The men and women who are running the executive branch are sytematically destroying the constitutional foundations of our country. And the men and women in the Congress who are empowered by the Constitution to provide a check on the executive branch have utterly failed to carry out their own constitutional duties.
Every day that passes under the leadership of these people is another knife blow to the ribs of liberty. If freedom is to survive this unprecedented onslaught, the American people are going to have to go to the streets again and again and again until these evildoers are forced from office.
I had read the Times account, but didn't quite make that connection until now.
We're watching the "Woodward-ization" of the print media. So many appear to be “in cahoots”, vying for access rather than fulfilling their role as objective watchdogs.
Well said, Dick.
Will THIS be the thing that finally tips the balance? Will people finally wake up? What has happened to our country, and how are so many people just sitting by and watching it as if they were in a movie theater?
Unbelieveable. I wonder how many lists WE'RE on.....
Proof that we live in a Fascist state!
And proof that we need to start posting information all over the place.
WE are the media and we are the people who will hold these officials and the media accountable.
We must keep fighting!
Hi all,
Military is trying to recruit my sister into National Guard. She received mail from them other week so I scanned all the mail and put it online for your viewing pleasure at the link below.
http://www.internetking.com.mx/national-guard-requiting-mail-1
take a look at their sales pitch and check out the letters and images.
Protest the recruiters by going to your school office and have your name, address, phone number removed from their list!
============
Fun Bits About American Torture
In many ways, the U.S. is now just as inhumane and brutal as any Third World regime. Oh well?
By Mark Morford
"We do not torture." Remember it, write it in red crayon on the bathroom wall, tattoo it onto your acid tongue because those very words rang throughout the land like a bleak bell, like a low scream in the night, like a cheese grater rubbing against the teeth of common sense when Dubya mumbled them during a speech not long ago, and it was, at once, hilarious and nauseating and it took all the self-control in the world for everyone in the room not to burst out in disgusted laughter and throw their chairs at his duplicitous little head.
Oh my God, yes, yes we do torture, America that is, and we do it a lot, and we do it in ways that would make you sick to hear about, and we're doing it right now, all over the world, the CIA and the U.S. military, perhaps more often and more brutally than at any time in recent history and we use the exact same kind of techniques and excuses for it our numb-minded president cited as reasons we should declare war and oust the dictator of a defenseless pip-squeak nation that happened to be sitting on our oil.
This is something we must know, acknowledge, take to heart and not simply file away as some sort of murky, disquieting unknowable that's best left to scummy lords of the government underworld. We must not don the blinders and think America is always, without fail, the land of the perky and the free and the benevolent. Horrific torture is very much a part of who we are, right now. Deny it at your peril. Accept it at your deep discontent.
Torture is in. Torture is the tittering buzzword of the Bush administration, bandied about like secret candy, like a hot whisper from Dick Cheney's gnarled tongue into Rumsfeld's pointed ear and then dumped deep into Dubya's Big Vat o' Denial. ...
(click here to read the rest)
(Full URL: http://sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/gate/archive/2005/12/16/notes121605.DTL&nl=fix)
Dick Durbin was right and should have never apologized.
Dick --
You're absolutely right, and we can't stop making noise for even a minute.
If the American people don't wake up to this reality in 2006, we can kiss the Constitution goodbye, hang a copy in a museum somewhere, and tell our kids about what used to be.
We've got to keep working.
"Through its complicity with the government, the Times may very well have altered the outcome of the election."
And through its complicity with the government, the Times had already helped this insane group of people take our country to war on lies and destroy every last shred of credibility we had.
Gut-wrenchingly sad.
And as if you still need anything else to thoroughly gast your flabber... here's another speshul little tidbit from BubbleBoy, courtesy of WaPo:
-----
President Bush said yesterday he is confident that former House majority leader Tom DeLay (R-Tex.) is innocent of money-laundering charges, as he offered strong support for several top Republicans who have been battered by investigations or by rumors of fading clout inside the White House.
In an interview with Fox News, Bush said he hopes DeLay will be cleared of charges that he illegally steered corporate money into campaigns for the Texas legislature and will reclaim his powerful leadership position in Congress.
"I hope that he will, 'cause I like him, and plus, when he's over there, we get our votes through the House," Bush told Fox News's Brit Hume. DeLay was forced to step down as majority leader after he was indicted in the fundraising case, and he is seeking a quick trial in hopes of returning to power early next year.
[snip]
-----
full story is here: http://tinyurl.com/cpdk7
better man the lifeboats, neothugs, your ship is going down,
Otter
America: Played for a Fool
... and it takes one to know one.
I challenge each and every one of you to forward this thread to at least 10 people/blogs/media you know.
Bueller?
Thanks, marc. I am going over to the House today at noon and I intend to share some communications with whomever I encounter there.
It is time to wish them all a HAPPY HOLIDAYS and thanks for all the gifts of the past few months:
torture
racism
corporate privilege
electoral shenanigans
environmental destruction continued
and overall:
the killing of the heart and soul of democracy.
Anyone want me to deliver a message from yourself?
Karen...
I'll have to get back to you, I need to count to infinity first and then exhale.
I am so friggin pissed.
On second thought, go with that.
marc--you got it
Dick, thanks for ranting for me. You did it so well.
And a request to all of you to go recommend this diary ASAP at dailykos:
http://www.dailykos.com/story/2005/12/16/101359/68
thanks
And furthermore...
As the WaPo story on Shrub's interview with Faux News' Brit Hume correctly points out, "it is highly unusual for a president to express an opinion on a pending legal case. Richard M. Nixon, for instance, was widely criticized for declaring Charles Manson 'guilty, directly or indirectly' of murder while Manson's trial was ongoing."
And there Shrub is, caught on tape grinning that cockeyed grin of his, while stating unequivocally that he believes DeLay will be acquitted of his pending money-laundering charges because, after all, DeLay is innocent (and besides, he's a close BushBuddy and he comes in mighty handy on the Hill sometimes).
Cheese on rice, people! But wait! There's more! Shrub also said quite plainly that "Duke Cunningham was wrong and should be punished for what he did."
And that's just the tip of the yikesberg. But for some reason Faux New hasn't gotten around to posting a transcript of that interview on its web site. Gee, I wonder why?
Hmmm. I wonder if Boy George II's lawyers have already freaked out on him for making those blatantly personal remarks on national TV. If not, they certainly should.
Why? Because Shrub's whole justification for dodging the Libby/Cheney/Rove bullet without his having to reveal Novak's sources and so forth has been that it's wrong for a government official to comment on an ongoing criminal investigation.
And now even that thin line of canard legal logic has just flown south for the winter, too.
Shrub can hardly keeping ducking all these pesky "what did he know and when did he know it" questions by not commenting on them because they're part of ongoing investigations -- not after his eagerly doing precisely that in the Faux News studios on Wednesday.
Way to go, BubbleBoy. Hoist by your own petard.
gotta love it when that happens,
Otter
Impeach.
He's kept in a bubble for a reason. Did someone forget to wire the dubster before the interview?
Every time he talks off the hoof, he steps in it.
Here Lies George
Rice Denies U.S. Broke Law Amid Report Bush Authorized Spying
Dec. 16 (Bloomberg) -- Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice today defended President George W. Bush against reports he authorized spying on American citizens and foreign nationals in the U.S. following the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks.
The New York Times reported that Bush in 2002 secretly authorized the National Security Agency to eavesdrop without the court-approved warrants that are required for domestic spying. The international phone calls and e-mail messages of hundreds, possibly thousands, of people have been monitored without warrants to find numbers linked to al-Qaeda, the paper said.
Rice, interviewed on NBC's ``Today'' show, said ``the president has been very clear that he would not order people to do things that are illegal.'' She declined to comment directly on the New York Times report.
The presidential order Bush signed represents a change in responsibilities for the NSA, which traditionally monitors actions in foreign countries, the Times said.
The paper said it interviewed nearly a dozen current and former administration officials about the program and granted them anonymity because the information was classified. The officials said the administration is confident that existing safeguards protect the privacy and civil liberties of Americans, the Times said.
The Bush administration briefed Congressional leaders about the program and notified the judge in charge of the Foreign Surveillance Intelligence Court, the secret court in Washington that handles national security issues, the paper said.
`A Heavy Responsibility'
Rice today said Bush has a responsibility to adhere to the rules of the Constitution when making intelligence decisions and has protected Americans' civil liberties.
``The kind of attack that we experienced on Sept. 11, that means that the president has a heavy responsibility'' to ``protect and defend Americans,'' Rice said. ``But he did it always -- anything that he did -- legally and within his constitutional responsibility.''
The Times said it held off publishing its report for a year because the administration said that could jeopardize continuing investigations and alert would-be terrorists that they might be under scrutiny. Some information that administration officials could be useful to terrorists was omitted, the paper said.
Look...as often as Condiliar LIES and Bush Lies and all the people in CONGRESS even in their own party KNOW they're telling whoppers...WHY is it that this WHOLE administration hasn't been impeached?
We darn well BETTER win every election in 06 because it really does mean the end of democracy if we lose! And we're darn close to that point already. (Hopefully we're not too late to save it!)
Please recommend this diary:
http://www.dailykos.com/story/2005/12/16/4312/9103
um... you guys keep saying that... but you don't say *how*...
chimpeach the sonuvabush,
Otter
Of course I feel outraged that this has been allowed to go on. But in my prehensile paranoiac brain, I need to ask:
1) "What was it that got the Times to TALK?"
2) "What else is lurking in the corners of the Administration that's INFINITELY WORSE THAN THIS that would allow them to let this Times piece go?'
In my mind, today marks the end of the United States of America. I have no idea what country we are now.
If you are a member of daily kos, on the right sidebar of any diary you look at there is a section labeled "Recommend Diary" with a button that says "Recommend". Just click on the button. If you are not a member or you are not signed in, you will not see it.
It also has a live link just below it that says "Who's Recommended This Diary?" so you can go peek and see who else recommended.
Posted by: Fe at December 16, 2005 11:53 AM
Fe,
The same thought has entered my brain! What IS around the corner that this was released as 'less harmful' than something else?
Novak is officially gone from CNN.
http://atrios.blogspot.com/
http://poynter.org/forum/view_post.asp?id=10798
Well, Verizon is in the dog-house... Karen's air-card is not working thus no live-blogging today.
Karen is in the Cannon Building attending a press event put on by House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi called "Together, America Can Do Better". It's the the 2005 year-end review. And here are the 3 sections of their review which can be viewed in its entirety here
http://www.democraticleader.house.gov/pdf/2005yearinreview.pdf
1 - House Democrats fight for all Americans
2 - Republicans' Culture of Corruption
3 - Democrats Unite to Make America Better
Conclusion -- Republicans have lost control of deficits, Iraq, gas prices, and health care costs.
Question for all of you: Are there any questions you would like Karen to ask at the hearing?
Please speak up ASAP if there are and I'll relay them...
dwahzon
Yes.
Have Karen ask them point-blank when the House and Senate are going to stand up and call for impeachment hearings against this corrupt President and his robber-baron administration.
After all, we're talking about *much* more serious (and dangerous) activities here than just requiring a blue dress to be dry-cleaned afterwards.
chimpeach the bam dastards,
Otter
Update from Karen:
This is not a happy group. There are a few legislators. Their message today is this is a Congress which has fostered a culture of corruption. Nancy Pelosi made the point over and over the legislation that would correct the course could be voted on today.
Right now, Senator Durbin is speaking. He is lamenting the missed opportunities of the last 12 months. (roughly summarizing)
"This is the Congress of missed opportunities. More and more Americans have lost their jobs, their health insurance and their jobs. Congress under the Republicans undermined the Social Security system."
Sen. Durbin just noted that Sen Mary Landrieu is here and said, “Now instead of clinging to rooftops many Katrina survivors are clinging to hope.”
She'll call back with update soon.
Big update from Karen:
Harry Reid just stepped up to microphone and announced that they just killed the Patriot Act Renewal 20 minutes ago.
Go Russ Go!
Harry Reid just came out.
HE JUST ANNOUNCED that 20 minutes ago, they KILLED THE PATRIOT ACT!!!
/me sends up rockets, flares, fireworks, and three cheers for the efforts of the *real* patriots in this particular act
----> YESSSSSSS!!!!!!
proud to be part of the vast left-wing conspiracy,
Otter
Elections Official: Some Voting Machines Could Be Hacked
POSTED: 12:17 pm EST December 15, 2005
UPDATED: 7:44 pm EST December 15, 2005
Email This Story | Print This Story
Voting machines used in four Central Florida counties might be flawed.
There's new evidence that computer hackers could change election results without anyone knowing about it, WESH 2 News reported.
The supervisor of elections in Tallahassee tested voting machines several times over the last several months, and on Monday, his workers were able to hack into a voting machine and change the outcome. He said that same thing might have happened in Volusia County in 2000.
The big controversy revolves around a little black computer card that is smaller than a floppy disk and bigger than a flash drive. The card is inserted into voting machines that scan paper ballots. The card serves as the machine's electronic brain.
http://www.wesh.com/news/5542983/detail.html
Senate Rejects Extension of Patriot Act
By JESSE J. HOLLAND, Associated Press Writer
37 minutes ago
WASHINGTON - The Senate on Friday rejected attempts to reauthorize several provisions of the USA Patriot Act as infringing too much on Americans' privacy and liberty, dealing a huge defeat to the Bush administration and Republican leaders.
In a crucial vote early Friday, the bill's Senate supporters were not able to get the 60 votes needed to overcome a threatened filibuster by Sens. Russ Feingold, D-Wis., and Larry Craig, R-Idaho, and their allies. The final vote was 52-47.
President Bush, Attorney General Alberto Gonzales and Republicans congressional leaders had lobbied fiercely to make most of the expiring Patriot Act provisions permanent, and add new safeguards and expiration dates to the two most controversial parts: roving wiretaps and secret warrants for books, records and other items from businesses, hospitals and organizations such as libraries.
Feingold, Craig and other critics said that wasn't enough, and have called for the law to be extended in its present form so they can continue to try and add more civil liberties safeguards. But Bush, Senate Majority Leader Bill Frist and House Speaker Dennis Hastert have said they won't accept a short-term extension of the law.
If a compromise is not reached, the 16 Patriot Act provisions expire on Dec. 31.
Frist changed his vote at the last moment after seeing the critics would win. He decided to vote with the prevailing side so he could call for a new vote at any time. He immediately objected to an offer of a short term extension from Democrats, saying the House won't approve it and the president won't sign it.
"We have more to fear from terrorism than we do from this Patriot Act," Frist warned.
If the Patriot Act provisions expire, Republicans say they will place the blame on Democrats in next year's midterm elections. "In the war on terror, we cannot afford to be without these vital tools for a single moment," White House press secretary Scott McClellan said. "The time for Democrats to stop standing in the way has come."
But the Patriot Act's critics got a boost from a New York Times report saying Bush authorized the National Security Agency to monitor the international phone calls and international e-mails of hundreds _ perhaps thousands _ of people inside the United States. Previously, the NSA typically limited its domestic surveillance to foreign embassies and missions and obtained court orders for such investigations.
"I don't want to hear again from the attorney general or anyone on this floor that this government has shown it can be trusted to use the power we give it with restraint and care," said Feingold, the only senator to vote against the Patriot Act in 2001.
"It is time to have some checks and balances in this country," shouted Sen. Patrick Leahy, ranking Democrat on the Judiciary Committee. "We are more American for doing that."
from The Progress Report by American Progress Action Fund
http://www.americanprogressaction.org/site/apps/nl/newsletter2.asp?c=klLWJcP7H&b=917053
CIVIL LIBERTIES
Welcome To The Surveillance State
The Bush administration is trying to jam through a permanent extension of the PATRIOT Act before Congress adjourns for the year. But Sen. Pat Leahy (D-VT) has assembled a bipartisan coalition advocating a more deliberative approach -- a temporary, three month extension until the Senate can resolve remaining concerns that certain provisions give "government too much power to investigate its citizens." An effort by Sen. Russ Feingold (D-WI) to block a permanent extension of the act this year appears to have enough votes to be successful. But it does it matter? The New York Times reported that in 2002, President Bush secretly authorized the National Security Agency (NSA) to eavesdrop on Americans and others in the United States in ways that "go far beyond the expanded counterterrorism powers granted by Congress under the USA Patriot Act." The program has revived a domestic spying operation at the NSA not seen since the 1960s when the agency routinely eavesdropped "on Vietnam War protesters and civil rights activists."
BUSH MAY HAVE AUTHORIZED CRIMINAL ACTIVITY: Kate Martin, director of the Center for National Security Studies, "said the secret order may amount to the president authorizing criminal activity." Some officials at the NSA agree. According to the New York Times, "[S]ome agency officials wanted nothing to do with the program, apparently fearful of participating in an illegal operation." Others were "worried that the program might come under scrutiny by Congressional or criminal investigators if Senator John Kerry, the Democratic nominee, was elected president." In 2004, "concerns about the program expressed by national security officials, government lawyers and a judge prompted the Bush administration to suspend elements of the program and revamp it." But it continues to this day.
DESPERATE TO AVOID EVEN NOMINAL OVERSIGHT: The administration's actions are particularly suspicious because they already have all requisite authority to conduct surveillance under the law. Under the PATRIOT Act, for example, law enforcement and intelligence officials are required to seek a warrant from the Foreign Surveillance Intelligence Court (FISA) "every time they want to eavesdrop within the United States." The court is notoriously compliant with government requests for warrants. In its first 25 years "the secret court...approved over 10,000 warrants -- with the numbers growing every year -- and never turned down a single request." (In 2002, the court rejected its first request ever from Attorney General John Ashcroft.) Why was the administration so desperate to avoid oversight, even from an extremely cooperative court?
THE YOO FACTOR: The domestic spying program was justified by a "classified legal opinion" written by John Yoo, a Justice Department official. Yoo also authored a memo arguing that interrogation techniques only constitute torture if they are "equivalent in intensity to...organ failure, impairment of bodily function, or even death." The Bush administration was forced to repudiate that memo once it became public. (Yoo continues to defend it.) Yoo has also argued that "President Bush didn't need to ask Congress for permission to invade Iraq." (Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice echoed the argument when she told a congressional committee that "the president has the right to attack Syria, without congressional approval, if he deems that a necessary move in the war on terror.")
NYT REJECTS ADMINISTRATION EFFORT TO AVOID EMBARRASSMENT: The administration asked the "New York Times not to publish this article, arguing it could jeopardize continuing investigations and alert would-be terrorists that they might be under scrutiny." It's a specious argument because a would-be terrorist could be under scrutiny by an number of existing legal procedures, including through the FISA court. The Times delayed publication for a year but ultimately didn't buy the White House argument, publishing its report in this morning's edition.
HUMAN RIGHTS
The Torture Two-Step
Yesterday, the Bush administration finally reversed position and accepted Sen. John McCain's (R-AZ) amendment to the Defense Authorization Bill prohibiting "cruel, inhuman, and degrading treatment" of U.S. detainees, establishing "the Army Field Manual as the uniform standard for the interrogation of Department of Defense detainees." This agreement was an important step in restoring American values and reaffirming America's long-standing prohibition on torture and cruel, inhuman, and degrading treatment. It's a positive step but it doesn't resolve the issue. The White House, in its effort to defeat the anti-torture amendment, has done serious harm to the moral standing of the United States and has provided fuel for a destructive anti-Americanism that makes winning the war on terrorism more difficult. Even as Bush yesterday held a photo-op on the amendment with McCain, the White House continued to undermine the McCain amendment through other means. To reverse this damage, the federal government must now "undertake a full reevaluation of the treatment of persons captured and detained by the United States, wherever they are held."
ONE STEP FORWARD: The Bush administration is finally beginning to realize what the Senate and the House already knew: torture does not work. Abusive interrogations often produce unreliable and inaccurate information and put our troops at greater risk abroad. In October, the Senate approved McCain's amendment 90 to 9, and on Wednesday, the House voted 308 to 122 to line up behind Rep. John Murtha (D-PA), who sponsored McCain's language in "an unusual bipartisan rebuke to the Bush administration." "Today's agreement by the White House and congressional leaders means that interrogators will be given clear, unambiguous rules to follow. ... America's black eye is finally healing," said Rep. Jane Harman (D-CA). (For more info on this issue, check out tortureisnotus.org.)
TWO STEPS BACK: At yesterday's White House press conference, Bush declared that this agreement makes "it clear to the world that this government does not torture and that we adhere to the international convention of torture." But the Army is already maneuvering to skirt McCain's amendment, which holds the Army Field Manual as the standard for interrogations, by adding a 10-page classified addendum to the manual that provides "specific guidelines that would help teach them how to walk right up to the line between legal and illegal interrogations." Also, several detainee attorneys say that they believe the White House "is still trying to protect its ability to use techniques they believe amount to torture" by supporting the Graham-Levin amendment, which would undercut the McCain amendment by chipping away at protections for Guanatanamo detainees and by allowing the government to use evidence in court that has been obtained through the use of torture or abuse at Guanatanamo.
THE NEXT STEP: Since reports that the "CIA has been hiding and interrogating some of its most important al Qaeda captives at a [secret] Soviet-era compound in Eastern Europe," the Bush administration has acted with defiance and secrecy, rather than with investigations and explanations. Before Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice departed for Europe earlier this month, she "answered" European concerns over the U.S. covert prison system by giving a "condescending salvo to Europeans" that was meant to "put [them] on notice that they should back off." CIA sources also revealed that since media reports about the existence of the European prisons, those facilities have been shut down and the prisoners discreetly transferred "to a CIA site somewhere in north Africa." Fully accepting the McCain amendment means more than photo ops and public appearances. The Bush administration now needs to take the next step and openly investigate the prisons, instead of going after the person who "leaked" the story to the media.
(source: American Progress Report)
As someone else said, get your freep on here...
from CNN:
Should the government have been given the authority to spy on Americans without warrants after the 9/11 attacks?
Yes .... 31% ... 4237 votes
No ..... 69% ... 9449 votes
Total: 13686 votes
http://www.cnn.com
Always seems to be that 31% or so, doesn't it?
Two thirds rule.
Always seems to be that 31% or so, doesn't it?
Two thirds rule.
Posted by: marc trager at December 16, 2005 01:42 PM
Yes, but those 2/3rds seem to have stolen the voting systems. Hense...they rule by a hidden backdoor in the tabulator systems.
Otter,
Karen will ask that question.
Florida officials refuse to reexamine electronic voting machines despite proof they were hacked.
http://www.miami.com/mld/miamiherald/news/13418976.htm
Murray Waas has a very interesting story on National Journal for those following the Plame/Rove/et al story.
http://nationaljournal.com/about/njweekly/stories/2005/1216nj2.htm
If the Patriot Act provisions expire, Republicans say they will place the blame on Democrats in next year's midterm elections. "In the war on terror, we cannot afford to be without these vital tools for a single moment," White House press secretary Scott McClellan said. "The time for Democrats to stop standing in the way has come."
Since 4 Republican Senators just voted with the Dems and Feingold's filibuster, how can those 4 Republican Senators even contemplate Frist's nuclear option w/o ending what they just supported? Someone should ask Senators, Sanunu Craig, Hagel,and Murkowski
When I first heard about this story breaking, it sounded kind of familiar somehow. And then I figured out why. That's because it's deja vu all over again.
Remember how CBS News got punk'd and Dan Rather got sandbagged way back when? Remember how all the hot air over the substitute-fake-docs-for-real-ones kerfluffle dominated all the news cycles for weeks? Remember how CBS finally had to cave in to all the White House pressure and other-media browbeating, and was forced to blame the messenger rather than standing behind the message?
Of course you do. But do you also remember the baby-with-the-bathwater sidebar story that got buried under all those bales of Bushit? If not, don't feel bad; it was immediately, and imho quite deliberately, pushed off the radar by TPTB in D.C.
CBS News stated at the time that the Bush-Guard story had grown so overbloated in its aftermath that they were forced to dump a significantly larger and much better documented report they had been working on for several months.
CBS News also said at the time that they had intended to air this unspecified politically-explosive report the week after the so-called Rathergate story went ballistic on them, which would have still been several weeks before American voters went to the poll to select their next president.
The last we even heard about this particular aborted report was that the top brass at CBS had decided to bail on it completely, under intense pressure from the White House not to "influence the political process", and also because of the many "national security concerns" directed at the newly-tarnished network by the HSA at that same time.
And then we heard no more about it. CBS caved in, and that particular signal got lost in all of the amazingly-loud noise that RoveCo was pouring out through every media type and every media outlet they could successfully intimidate -- which, of course, was virtually all of them. Badda-bing, badda-boom. Poof. No more story.
Hmmm. Gee. I wonder.
Anybody else care to hazard a guess as to what that mysterious politically-explosive story that CBS was literally forced into dumping right before the election might have been about??
(Hint: it didn't have anything to do with a blue dress.)
your W decal won't get you into heaven anymore,
Otter
Posted by: Ira at December 16, 2005 01:59 PM
Gee...anyone think the comment Darth Vadar (Cheney) made prior to the election, "There will be a terror attack if JK is elected" will now be put into action so they can now blame the democrats?
Sure...it's tin-roofey but I wouldn't put it past this cabal.
Send your birthday wishes to Tutterfly in the family forum here...
http://www.democracycellproject.net/forum/index.php?showtopic=975
In re my post from 2:01 pm today:
As dwahzon just reminded me offline, the explanation given at the time was that the aborted CBS story was all about the bogus yellow-cake uranium claims coming from the administration as justification for invading Iraqnam.
And that's a good point. However...
(1) Hadn't the bogus-yellow-cake story already been widely reported by late summer of last year?
(2) And wasn't the bogus-yellow-cake story also the one that led directly to the outing-Valerie-Plame story, which apparently was at least semi-widely known at the top level of news reporting by late summer of last year?
(3) Conversely, wasn't the spying-on-ourselves story that NBC finally reported also the same one that the New York Times has finally admitted it's been sitting on since late summer of last year?
We, of course, will probably never know the real deal, the true truths, the story behind the stories.
But no matter how you slice it, it's still baloney of one kind or another.
And no matter how much lipstick and perfume you put on a pig, well... if it still looks like a pig and still smells like a pig, the odds are pretty darn good that it's a pig of one kind or another, too.
or else a crashing boar,
Otter
There's some good background, historical perspective stuff on the NSA and its oversight by Congress and the Executive branch in this post at the Booman Tribune...
~snip~
Now, let's get in our time machine:
On October 29th and November 6th, 1975, the Church Commission held hearings on THE NATIONAL SECURITY AGENCY AND FOURTH AMENDMENT RIGHTS. It was the first time most of the general public had ever heard of our largest intelligence agency. Senator Frank Church of Idaho was chairing the hearings which were part of a larger effort, formally known as the United States Senate Select Committee to Study Governmental Operations with Respect to Intelligence Activities. Here is how he opened the hearing:
~snip~
go here to read the rest...
http://www.boomantribune.com/story/2005/12/16/132830/71
If you are not outraged you are not paying attention.
I believe we are still only seeing the tip of the Iceberg. Powell got out ASAP after Elections, other long time career are placing distance between Bubble Boy and themselves, media outlets are playing Gotcha with the Public....
This is a snowball gaining speed.
I think it's hilarious that Novakula is going to FOX news... I mean, it's not like he could work for a real news outlet.
Er, if there were real news outlets....
Sigh.
Posted by: Fe at December 16, 2005 11:53 AM
I have to refer back to what Christy said weeks ago about the Times and Judith Miller. Christy, as well as several others in the blogosphere, said they DEEPLY SUSPECTED the New York Times KNEW that Judith Miller was *ahem* in bed with the Executive Branch of our government, and covered it up before the 2004 election, as well.
Some people dismissed it as being a "conspiracy theory", but it might well be worth a second look.
More light on the subject from the TPM Cafe:
Spying on Americans and John Bolton
By Larry Johnson
From: Politics
The revelation that the National Security Agency was allowed to conduct non-FISA intercepts of American citizens should bring last summer's hearing on John Bolton's nomination to the United Nations back into focus. As Legal times noted in September of this year, "During the confirmation hearings of John Bolton as the U.S. representative to the United Nations, it came to light that the NSA had freely revealed intercepted conversations of U.S. citizens to Bolton while he served at the State Department. . . . More generally, Newsweek reports that from January 2004 to May 2005, the NSA supplied intercepts and names of 10,000 U.S. citizens to policy-makers at many departments, other U.S. intelligence services, and law enforcement agencies."
We still don't know who he was looking at and what information was contained in those intercepts. More importantly, were they legally obtained? In light of the latest revelation, we have another possible explanation why the Bush Administration fought so strenuously to keep those intercepts secret and out of the hearing. Snooping without judicial review is wrong and must be punished.
Dec 16, 2005 -- 02:26:20 PM EST
FYI, the graphically-unchallenged blogmeister BlueGal was nice enough to embed this thread as a link in the first sentence of her latest header (the one with the picture of Mona Lisa smiling because the rethugs' so-called ship of state is sinking fast).
Why not drop by and check out her site, read what's write, and maybe say something nice while you're there?
http://bgalrstate.blogspot.com/
divided we cry, united we laugh,
Otter
Bush Won't Discuss Report of NSA Spying
WASHINGTON (AP) - President Bush refused to say whether the National Security Agency eavesdropped without warrants on people inside the United States but leaders of Congress condemned the practice on Friday and promised to look into what the administration has done.
``There is no doubt that this is inappropriate,'' said Sen. Arlen Specter, R-Pa., chairman of the Senate Judiciary Committee. He said there would be hearings early next year and that they would have ``a very, very high priority.'' He wasn't alone in reacting harshly to the report. Sen. John McCain, R-Ariz., said the story, first reported in Friday's New York Times, was troubling.
Bush said in an interview that ``we do not discuss ongoing intelligence operations to protect the country. And the reason why is that there's an enemy that lurks, that would like to know exactly what we're trying to do to stop them.
``I will make this point,'' Bush said. ``That whatever I do to protect the American people - and I have an obligation to do so - that we will uphold the law, and decisions made are made understanding we have an obligation to protect the civil liberties of the American people.''
The president spoke in an interview to be aired Friday evening on ``The Newshour with Jim Lehrer.''
Bush played down the importance of the eavesdropping story. ``It's not the main story of the day,'' Bush told Lehrer. ``The main story of the day is the Iraqi elections'' for parliament which took place on Thursday.
Neither Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice nor White House press secretary Scott McClellan would confirm or deny the report which said the super-secret NSA had spied on as many as 500 people at any given time since 2002 in this country.
That year, following the Sept. 11 attacks, Bush authorized the NSA to monitor the international phone calls and international e-mails of hundreds - perhaps thousands - of people inside the United States, the Times reported.
McClellan said the White House has received no requests for information from lawmakers because of the report. ``Congress does have an important oversight role,'' he said.
Before the program began, the NSA typically limited its domestic surveillance to foreign embassies and missions and obtained court orders for such investigations. Overseas, 5,000 to 7,000 people suspected of terrorist ties are monitored at one time.
``This is Big Brother run amok,'' declared Sen. Edward Kennedy, D-Mass. Sen. Russell Feingold, D-Wis., called it a ``shocking revelation'' that ``ought to send a chill down the spine of every senator and every American.''
Administration officials reacted to the report by asserting that the president has respected the Constitution while striving to protect the American people.
Rice said Bush has ``acted lawfully in every step that he has taken.'' And McClellan said Bush ``is going to remain fully committed to upholding our Constitution and protect the civil liberties of the American people. And he has done both.''
The report surfaced as the administration and its GOP allies on Capitol Hill were fighting to save provisions of the expiring USA Patriot Act that they believe are key tools in the fight against terrorism. An attempt to rescue the approach favored by the White House and Republicans failed on a procedural vote Friday morning.
The Times said reporters interviewed nearly a dozen current and former administration officials about the program and granted them anonymity because of the classified nature of the program.
Government officials credited the new program with uncovering several terrorist plots, including one by Iyman Faris, an Ohio trucker who pleaded guilty in 2003 to supporting al-Qaida by planning to destroy the Brooklyn Bridge, the report said.
Some NSA officials were so concerned about the legality of the program that they refused to participate, the Times said. Questions about the legality of the program led the administration to temporarily suspend it last year and impose new restrictions.
Attorney General Alberto Gonzales refused to confirm that the NSA eavesdrops on Americans or whether he played any role, in his previous job as White House counsel, in providing legal justification for the program.
Gonzales said Bush is waging an aggressive fight against terrorism, but one that is ``consistent with the Constitution.''
But he said generally that the government has an intense need for information in the struggle. ``Winning the war on terrorism requires winning the war of information We are dealing with a patient, diabolical enemy who wants to harm America,'' Gonzales said at a news conference at the Justice Department on child prostitution arrests.
Caroline Fredrickson, director of the Washington legislative office of the American Civil Liberties Union, said the group was shocked by the disclosure.
Earlier this week, the Pentagon said it was reviewing its use of a classified database of information about suspicious people and activity inside the United States after a report by NBC News said the database listed activities of anti-war groups that were not a security threat to Pentagon property or personnel.
The administration had briefed congressional leaders about the NSA program and notified the judge in charge of the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Court, the secret Washington court that handles national security issues.
The Times said it delayed publication of the report for a year because the White House said it could jeopardize continuing investigations and alert would-be terrorists that they might be under scrutiny. The Times said it omitted information from the story that administration officials argued could be useful to terrorists.
(source: http://www.theguardian.co.uk)
European Parlament and civil rights agency are investigating the Actions of various Governments in respect to abductions and torture of citizens.
It seems our illustrious leaders are not content with merely destroying their own Nation, but must take Trusted allies down with them.
This administration is going to go down in History as one of the most flawed, corrupt, ineffective, short sighted, and Inept in Modern Political History. The damage President Bush caused will take a generation to fix.
Thousands upon thousands killed, tens of thousands maimed and permanently disabled, 500 Billion dollars up in smoke... for what?..what do we have to show...?
Since when is it American Policy to force democracy on another Nation...where in Our Constitution are powers given to the Government we elect to invade another Nation and install a government? And nobody questions the President..?? not a single Journalist Questions the actions of a Government gone mad...
America is Asleep at the wheel while Europe and Asia build their health care, social structure, Science and research programs. China builds modern housing for lower economic classes, is Building the largest high speed Magenetic levitation rail systems in the world, the Largest Hydro electric station, is mandating renewable energy sources for national energy grids.
Europe is building modern transit systems, spain is now the largest manufacturer of renewable energy systems, russia is close to breakthrough inherently safe nuclear power power with minimal radioactive fuel....
How far down the rabbit hole does this Nation need to fall before our senate shouts enough.
FYI...
-----
Senate Roll Call: Patriot Act
The 52-47 roll call by which the Senate voted to reject reauthorization of several provisions of the USA Patriot Act. Sixty votes were needed to overcome a filibuster of the bill.
On this vote, a "yes" vote was a vote to end the filibuster and a "no" vote was a vote to continue a filibuster.
Voting "yes" were 2 Democrats and 50 Republicans.
Voting "no" were 41 Democrats, 5 Republicans and one independent.
Democrats Voting Yes:
Johnson, S.D.; Nelson, Neb.
Democrats Voting No:
Akaka, Hawaii; Baucus, Mont.; Bayh, Ind.; Biden, Del.; Bingaman, N.M.; Boxer, Calif.; Byrd, W.Va.; Cantwell, Wash.; Carper, Del.; Clinton, N.Y.; Conrad, N.D.; Corzine, N.J.; Dayton, Minn.; Dorgan, N.D.; Durbin, Ill.; Feingold, Wis.; Feinstein, Calif.; Harkin, Iowa; Inouye, Hawaii; Kennedy, Mass.; Kerry, Mass.; Kohl, Wis.; Landrieu, La.; Lautenberg, N.J.; Leahy, Vt.; Levin, Mich.; Lieberman, Conn.; Lincoln, Ark.; Mikulski, Md.; Murray, Wash.; Nelson, Fla.; Obama, Ill.; Pryor, Ark.; Reed, R.I.; Reid, Nev.; Rockefeller, W.Va.; Salazar, Colo.; Sarbanes, Md.; Schumer, N.Y.; Stabenow, Mich.; Wyden, Ore.
Democrats Not Voting:
Dodd, Conn.
Republicans Voting Yes:
Alexander, Tenn.; Allard, Colo.; Allen, Va.; Bennett, Utah; Bond, Mo.; Brownback, Kan.; Bunning, Ky.; Burns, Mont.; Burr, N.C.; Chafee, R.I.; Chambliss, Ga.; Coburn, Okla.; Cochran, Miss.; Coleman, Minn.; Collins, Maine; Cornyn, Texas; Crapo, Idaho; DeMint, S.C.; DeWine, Ohio; Dole, N.C.; Domenici, N.M.; Ensign, Nev.; Enzi, Wyo.; Graham, S.C.; Grassley, Iowa; Gregg, N.H.; Hatch, Utah; Hutchison, Texas; Inhofe, Okla.; Isakson, Ga.; Kyl, Ariz.; Lott, Miss.; Lugar, Ind.; Martinez, Fla.; McCain, Ariz.; McConnell, Ky.; Roberts, Kan.; Santorum, Pa.; Sessions, Ala.; Shelby, Ala.; Smith, Ore.; Snowe, Maine; Specter, Pa.; Stevens, Alaska; Talent, Mo.; Thomas, Wyo.; Thune, S.D.; Vitter, La.; Voinovich, Ohio; Warner, Va.
Republicans Voting No:
Craig, Idaho; Frist, Tenn.; Hagel, Neb.; Murkowski, Alaska; Sununu, N.H.
Others Voting No:
Jeffords, Vt.
-----
he's making a list and checking it twice,
Otter
Republican battle plan for '06...
http://hotlineblog.nationaljournal.com/archives/2005/12/the_cole_burrrr.html
This memo actually makes claims like "we're the party of small government" and "our tax cuts reduced the deficit."
I really hope they use this plan:)
Posted by: dwahzon at December 16, 2005 02:22 PM
Tutter, happy b-day! Rejection of the Patriot Act is a nice gift right?
You say it's your birthday
Well it's my birthday too yeah
(no really, it is!)
No shock here. It was around the time that Bush started allowing the illegal interception of e-mails that I started having difficulty in sending my scrabble plays to a friend in Canada. All my other e-mails went through just fine, but the plays, which had always gone through witn no problems before, suddently seemed to disappear from cyberspace and reappear some 8-10 hours later. My server insisted they were being sent out in a timely manner, and my friend's server was sending them to her as soon as they were received. We began joking, in a very serious way though, about some FBI agents sitting around trying to interpret some "secret messages" from the letters in our scrabble plays. I have always assumed that the government probably spies on most members of the ACLU, and being that plus a fairly active Democrat, I figured all along that they've been out there watching me. When we began discussing the delays in our e-mails, and our suspicions about them, the delays suddenly ended. I would assume that every active poster on this blog has been checked out by the NSA in some way or other. It's only the general public that doesn't realize how deeply paranoid and how unscrupulous this administration is. Maybe this will just be one more nail in their coffin that will be buried in 2006. I really believe it's going to happen.
Veritas:
If it's true, happy birthday to you!
Linda,
Every time I sign a petition online, I wonder which gov't group is tracking that - I haven't had any dissapearing emails, but I have no doubt that many of us here are on their list.
They have no scruples - but then, I guess we knew that.
Happy Birthday V!
(nice suit)
Veritas,
Happy, Happy Birthday to you!!!
Posted by: marc trager at December 16, 2005 04:36 PM
that's not a reference to my birthday suit is it?
Wish Veritas a Happy Birthday here>>>http://www.democracycellproject.net/forum/index.php?showtopic=976
Carol- I'm sure you're right. We're all being tracked, and keeping records of online petition signers would be one way of doing that. Also, the news said that Bush had only authorized intercepting foreign e-mails and phone calls, but how do we know that? Like I said, all my other e-mails seemed fine- only the ones to Canada were tampered with, but I can't imagine that if the government is really interested in the online conversations of two "subversive" school system employees, like me and my Canadian friend, that they wouldn't go after our other mail as well. The whole thing is ridiculous, but it's evidently true. I wonder how many hours of work by decoders and how much of our tax money we wasted by sending each other scrabble plays with words like "et" and "om" in them that the FBI didn't recognize as "real english." It would be funny if it weren't so incredibly scary.
As this person on D.U. points out, Bush's violation of the 4th ammendment may be an impeachable offense.
http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=104x5615178
Hey Carol,
I was at the PEACE march and helped set it up too. I'm sure this former homeschool mom, lover of small pomeranians, and general nice person is on their FBI watch list too.
Actually the post that the DU post above refers to, is by guest poster Hilzoy on Kevin Drum's The Political Animal blog on The Washington Monthly
http://www.washingtonmonthly.com/archives/individual/2005_12/007789.php
Atrios linked to it too on Eschaton here...
http://atrios.blogspot.com/2005_12_11_atrios_archive.html#113476778189971442
As did kos here...
http://www.dailykos.com/storyonly/2005/12/16/163619/27
Hilzoy usually blogs on Obsidian Wings
http://obsidianwings.blogs.com/
Posted by: dwahzon at December 16, 2005 05:06 PM
Dwahzon,
I do agree with Hilzoy. The trauma of an impeachment is not something to take lightly. AND sadly, the first impeachment of Clinton was so flimsey at best that it is proof of why it should never be used for political gain.
But in this case, this president and this administration has set a perpetual record of breaking actual laws and committing coverups.
Tsssk, tssssk
Posted by: dwahzon at December 16, 2005 05:06 PM
Thanks for adding those additional links too.
It's time to be the media folks. MORE information about Diebold's dishonesty given to me by a reliable source. (No link available)
In case you missed it, The Plain Dealer ran an article on Dec 9 on
Diebold executives continuing to give contributions to GOP candidates
despite saying they wouldn't do that anymore . It is SO important that
we get the word out about electronic voting machine vendors saying one
thing and doing another. We have known about the potential for cheating
with voting machines since BEFORE the last election, but its reality is
just now trickling into the average American citizen's awareness. I
like to think the article may have played a part in getting the Ohio
House to vote down the atrocious amendments made by the Ohio GOP
Senators to HB3. Also the House and Senate Democrats, unlike the Senate
Republicans, recognized that a random hand-counted audit of a
percentage of the ballots is the ONLY line of defense we have to stop
potential fraudulent counting by Diebold and other electronic voting
machines. The evidence is ample and obvious for all who wish to learn
about it. The GAO report only reflects what we already know: the
machines are insecure, vote totals can be changed without a trace in
the software that is already in the machines, deceptive practices have
been used by vendors to get the County Boards of Election to accept
uncertified patches for the software, and Diebold has been caught
bribing our public officials.
You may have seen the latest investigation (see details below) done by
Harri Hursti, world-renown computer expert from Finland, and Dr.
Herbert Thompson, in Leon County, Florida on a Diebold voting machine,
showing that vote totals can be changed, and leave no trace of
tampering, by altering the memory card. These memory cards seem to
float freely around at election time. Essentially they are ballot
boxes, containing our votes. But unlike a ballot box, ten or more of
them can be stuffed inside somebody's coat pocket, and swapped out for
tampered cards. Yet in the last Ohio election of Nov. 8, 2005, the
cards were collected by partisan officials and were even left in the
voting machines back at the precincts by mistake.
I wish this were the only way to change election totals through faulty
voting machine software, but it is not. Computer experts have noted
that Diebold machines have software that allows for the results printed
on the poll tape to be different from what is being recorded inside the
machine. Electronic machines can be "pre-stuffed" with votes for one
candidate and/or negative votes for another candidate while the test
tape will indicate a zero sum for the candidates. Optical scan ballots
themselves can have barcoding on them to trigger the tabulator machine
to misread them. These are just a few of the insecurities that have
been proven to exist in these machines. It does not take a dishonest
Board of Elections to make miscounting happen; it is impossible to tell
what the internal workings of the machines are doing, because the
results tapes look fine.
A real random audit of enough ballots to catch the cheating is the bare
minimum of what we can do until we can stop partisan voting machine
machine corporations from running our elections on machines with secret
software. The audit must be random, must be a surprise, and must be as
close to the election as possible so that there is no time to
manipulate the paper trail. There must be no swapping out of hard
drives in voting machines the day before a recount begins, no posting
of cheat sheets, and no pasting of white ovals over ballot choices on
optical scan ballots, all of which were done in the 2004 Ohio recount.
Citizen oversight, by such organizations as the League of Women voters,
non-partisan voting rights watchdog citizen groups, or other
multi-partisan organizations, is essential for an honest election.
Please urge your Senator and Congresspersons to put this audit back
into Bill no.3. There will be new committee meetings on it in January.
The United States should not be a third world republic where we can
expect corruption in elections to occur. Why on earth are we tolerating
conditions that allow rigging?
Sincerely,
(name withheld)
House Calls For Info On Overseas Detention
http://www.guardian.co.uk/worldlatest/story/0,1280,-5485223,00.html
Pentagon May Not Hand Over Rumsfeld Papers
http://www.guardian.co.uk/worldlatest/story/0,1280,-5485221,00.html
POLITICAL NOTEBOOK: Murtha Plea for Party
WASHINGTON (AP) - The chairman of the National Republican Congressional Committee on Friday accused Democratic Rep. John Murtha of turning his anti-war stance into a fundraising ploy.
The statement from Rep. Tom Reynolds, R-N.Y., came hours after Murtha sent an e-mail to Democratic supporters asking for donations to the party.
``I am saddened to see my friend from Pennsylvania, John Murtha, turn his widely respected positions on the war in Iraq into a fundraising ploy for House Democrats,'' Reynolds said in a statement.
The NRCC works to get Republicans elected to the House.
Murtha, a decorated Vietnam veteran who has historically been hawkish on war issues, rattled Washington last month by saying it is time to start bringing U.S. troops home from Iraq. In recent weeks, he delivered the House Democrats' response to a series of speeches President Bush gave in support of the war.
The e-mail from Murtha was distributed by the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee - the Democratic counterpart to the NRCC.
``While this issue of war is neither a Democratic nor a Republican one, this need for new leadership in the House is clearly a party issue,'' Murtha said in the e-mail, which contained links to donate money.
A spokesman for Murtha did not immediately respond Friday afternoon to a request for comment.
---
HYPOCRITES, besides it's none of their business & every accusation they accuse others of is the one they are the most guilty of themselves. They are deflecting the issue away from the war.
An Incredible Day in America
Today, for two separate reasons, has been an incredible day in America. First, the United States has legitimized torture and secondly, the President has admitted to an impeachable offense.
First, the media has been totally misled on the alleged Bush-McCain agreement on torture. McCain capitulated. It is not a defeat for Bush. It is a win for Cheney.
Torture is not banned or in any way impeded.
Under the compromise, anyone charged with torture can defend himself if a "reasonable" person could have concluded they were following a lawful order.
That defense "loophole" totally corrodes the ban. It is the CIA, or the torturing agency, who will decide what a "reasonable" person could have concluded. Can you imagine those agencies in the interrogation business torturing on their own in trying to decide what is reasonable or what is not? What is not "reasonable" if the interrogator (wrongfully or rightfully) believes he has a ticking-bomb situation? Will a CIA or military officer issue a narrow order if he knows his interrogator believes, in this case, torture will work?
The Bush-McCain torture compromise legitimizes torture. It is the first time that has happened in this country. Not in the two World Wars, Korea, the Cold War or Vietnam did the government ever seek or get the power this bill gives them.
The worst part of it is that most of the media missed it and got it wrong.
Secondly, the President in authorizing surveillance without seeking a court order has committed a crime. The Federal Communications Act criminalizes surveillance without a warrant. It is an impeachable offense. This was also totally missed by the media.
by Martin Garbus
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/martin-garbus/an-incredible-day-in-amer_b_12392.html
Whiff of Fascism?
Now we have learned the latest horror from the Bush Administration -- the president's secret authorization to the National Security Agency to eavesdrop on Americans making overseas calls without court-approved warrants. This follows such grants of powers to the FBI under the Patriot Act as the infamous "national security letters" which allow the FBI to demand private medical and financial records and library data without judicial OK -- and make it illegal for record-holders to talk publicly about the request.
This is in addition to moving toward a system where a president can put away American citizens forever simply based on his own suspicions of terrorism. And a government that has endorsed torture and deepsixed the Geneva Convention and most global treaties. And an administration that impugns and smears the integrity of any opponent for disagreeing with its policies -- most recently, Ambassador Joe Wilson and his wife Valerie Plame, the Swifts Boats attack on John Kerrey, etc. This is just the short list of abuses. Does one smell a whiff of fascism in Washington these days?
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/stephen-schlesinger/a-whiff-of-fascism_b_12369.html
De-elect them all and let their precious God sort it out.
proud to be another small-d democrat,
Otter
And in other late-breaking news today...
Wowser.
Please stop to shed a tear, friends, for a man who was not a professional politician but whose professional work ultimately illuminated what professional politicians could, or at least should, aspire to...
Requiescat in pace, John Spencer.
-----
"LOS ANGELES (AP) - John Spencer, who played a tough and dedicated politico on 'The West Wing' who survived a serious illness to run for vice president, died of a heart attack Friday. He was 58.
"Spencer died at a Los Angeles hospital, said his publicist, Ron Hofmann. He would have been 59 next week.
"Spencer played Leo McGarry, the savvy and powerful chief of staff to President Jeb Bartlet (Martin Sheen), on the NBC series. In a sad parallel to life, Spencer's character suffered a heart attack that forced him to give up his White House job."
[snip]
"'We're shocked and deeply saddened by the sudden death of our friend and colleague,' Aaron Sorkin, who created the series, and Tommy Schlamme, one of the original executive producers, said in a joint statement.
"'John was an uncommonly good man, an exceptional role model and a brilliant actor. We feel privileged to have known him and worked with him. He'll be missed and remembered every day by his many, many friends,' they said.
"Series executive producer John Wells remembered Spencer not only for his acting but as 'a generous and gracious friend.'
"NBC and producer Warner Bros. Television issued a statement mourning Spencer's death and calling him a 'remarkable man with enormous talent.'"
more here: http://tinyurl.com/cvujh
-----
ask not for whom the bell tolls,
Otter
Pretty nice explanation of today's revelations. Asking at the end, "Should GWB be impeached?"
http://www.dailykos.com/story/2005/12/16/19017/171
LOOKEE HERE ~
"And the reason it seems like they were all in on it, is that they were all in on it. All the Kewl Kidz, and all the media whores."
A couple opinions from the fellows at Correntewire.com/ a short time ago, wherein they infered that the New York Times was involved in coverups before the '04 election because they were "in bed" with the Executive Branch of our Government.
The Grey Lady That Did Not Bark In The Night
10-14-05
Curiously, America's Greatest Newspaper (not!) has never mentioned the White House Iraq Group. Not once.
Why is this curious? Because to make the case for Bush's war of choice in Iraq, the W.H.I.G. was tasked with fixing the facts and the intelligence around the policy through a disinformation campaign that involved more than 50 planted stories in the press. The W.H.I.G. membership? Karen Hughes, Andrew Card, Mary Matalin, James Wilkinson, Karl Rove and Scotter Libby, the source Judy Kneepads Miller was, erm, protecting.
Why would the Times not cover this story? Why wouldn't anyone else? Here are some theories, in increasing order of institutional corruption.
Timesman Paul Krugman, curiously, circles round the problem, characterizing the behavior of the press under the Bush regime not as an institutional collapse, but as the result of personal ethical failures:
Let's be frank: the Bush administration has made brilliant use of journalistic careerism. Those who wrote puff pieces about Mr. Bush and those around him have been rewarded with career-boosting access.
(via the Times print edition and here)
However, Krugman has focussed (was allowed to focus?) only on the side issue of Bush hagiography, rather than on the central issue of how the press covered the runup to the Iraq War. (No talk of 50 planted stories here!)
~snip~
I suggest that Times management Keller, Sulzberger was embedded in the disinformation campaign run by the White House Iraq Group, that Miller was their operative, and Libby was their handler. Of course, their White House handler wouldn't have been crass enough to offer them money; the access to power, and the promise of scoops, would have been enough. The scoops were to come from Chalabi. (It doesn't matter whether the White House still had faith in Chalabi; what matters is that the Times did).
(back)
Long story short:
The Times hasn't mentioned the W.H.I.G. because they were part of the W.H.I.G. disinformation campaign. In Traitorgate, Valerie Plame was outed to protect that operation, because the Niger uranium story was one of the stories that W.H.I.G. planted. (Remember the crude forgery of mysterious provenance that the yellowcake story was based on?)
And the reason it seems like they were all in on it, is that they were all in on it. All the Kewl Kidz, and all the media whores. The Beltway 500 crowd is dirty. Not all of them, but a percentage at the top of the dominance heirarchy (Not you, Dan Froomkin, and not you, Walter Pincus.)
more ~
http://www.correntewire.com/the_grey_lady_that_did_not_bark_in_the_night
We are seeing the inevitable destruction of America by those who claim that their efforts are to save our country from Americans themselves.
Of course there will be apologists for this cabal. Those who apologize for Bushco will blindly ask, "What me worry? I have done nothing wrong and I have nothing to fear if the government wants to spy on me." Getting past *that* will be one of the most difficult challenges facing our collective freedoms.
Hi Oncall,
I've missed you!
Posted by: Truth Shall Prevail at December 16, 2005 08:58 PM
TSP,
Are Christian blogs picking up this terrible stuff? Or are they still happy koolaid drinkers?