Newsweek Enters The Lying Liars Competition

The manipulation of the press has been obvious for a long time.

This situation would be shocking, except it is not anymore, not really.

It's not that it's shocking, Christy. It's that the nature of it is becoming, at last, exposed.

It's not that people like CHris Wallace (as Cyrano pointed out in the lasst thread on winger talk radio here in NY) are shills, its that Clinton was able to draw attention to it and people are at least talking about it.

It's not that Fox News is a right wing propaganda machine. We have known that forever. It's that the right has stopped pretending that it's not. I hear more and more media types from the right (Ann Coulter) talking about how they DESERVE a right slanted national news outlet. The veneer of objectivity is slowly being peeled back and the message is being questioned.

For example, Candy Crowley, in a report yesterday I believe, blithely slippled in her comment that "whether you believe that Fox is a far right media outlet, or merely a right wing media outlet..."

At MSGOP yesterday, Rachel Sklar was identified by Chris Matthews as the media critic for Huffington Post, which is a left, or at least left of center site, to which she interrupted that the site was not, "we're fair and balanced, Chris". At which point, Chris laughed. The audience got the joke and the joke was Fox News.

The public deference and I think, fear, that was paid by many in the media to Fox, even two years or a year ago, is going,, going, gone.

That's the point of at least part of this post.

But the need to expose the network of these types of media, is still important.

I have heard Jon Meachem many, many times in much smaller venues espouse his clearly right wing religious bias (taking the Democrats to task for not being "Godly " enough...blah, blah, blah), so it came as no surprise to me that he did this. but I bet that it comes as a surprise to those that we know that aren't political junkies.

And the point is that this is concrete evidence of that bias. So, I have the American cover and I hope to be able to get the international cover, so I can have a show and tell when I discuss this issue.

It's not just that the media is biased. It's that we need pictures and evidence to tell the story with.

This helps the cause of getting the truth out there to people who are on the fence about this.

We don't need to convince everyone. Just enough people to make a difference.

I am about as cynical and sarcastic as they come, Christy. And if both nature and nurture hadn't made me that way, I would still have gotten there by way of the factual experience of the last five years. But cynicism has to propel me to change, to action, though I find myself csorely tempted at times, to just throw up my hands and say, "Aw screw it. If Americans want to be this stupid, they get what they deserve".

But along with the cynicism, is also a healthy dose of stubborness.

So I keep finding ways to fight. And exposing the truth, with pictures, is a pretty powerful way to fight.

I imagine you share my stubborness as well. Oh wait, it's not stubborness. It's resilience. It's commitment to change. It's perseverance.

And sometimes a bit of stubborness. Whatever is needed, we bring it, because in the fight for the soul of our nation, there is no substitute for victory.

To Otter:

I note this story in the last thread that you posted from Raw Story.

Jinx!

To be candid, I had written this post early yesterday morning, and when I hit save, I saw that Karen was actually at the hearings that I was intending to post about later in the day.

Since it was still and important story (for the reason I commented to Christy about), I decided to post my piece anyway.

I think that anytime we can marry the power of pictures with the power of our words, it's a godsend.

Great minds...

Meachem seems like a pretty good guy, and doesn't strike me as a neo-con or a psycho. Which makes this decision especially curious.

Perhaps it comes from higher up the food chain?

Rice disputes Clinton's al Qaeda claims

Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice challenged former President Clinton's claim that he did more than many of his conservative critics to pursue al Qaeda, saying in an interview that the Bush administration aggressively pursued the group even before the 9/11 attacks.

"What we did in the eight months was at least as aggressive as what the Clinton administration did in the preceding years," Rice said during a meeting with editors and reporters at the New York Post.

The newspaper published her comments after Clinton appeared on "Fox News Sunday" in a combative interview in which he defended his handling of the threat posed by Osama bin Laden and said he "worked hard" to have the al Qaeda leader killed.

-snip-

"The notion somehow for eight months the Bush administration sat there and didn't do that is just flatly false -- and I think the 9/11 commission understood that," she said.

Rice also took exception to Clinton's statement that he "left a comprehensive anti-terror strategy" for incoming officials when he left office.

"We were not left a comprehensive strategy to fight al Qaeda," she told the newspaper, which is owned by News Corp., the same company that owns Fox News Channel.

more...
http://www.cnn.com/2006/POLITICS/09/26/rice.clinton.ap/index.html

Nanny nanny boo boo!

With more troops being quietly deployed to Iraq each day, ABC airing a misleading docudrama to 12 million viewers called "The Path to 9/11," and the White House pushing for the use of torture when interrogating terror suspects, what is really going on? Who is watching the spin machine? Clearly more work needs to be done to expose the misleading statements that the Bush administration is using on national security issues.

That's why we urge you to join the Center For Media and Democracy's ongoing campaign against government distortions:

http://www.prwatch.org/signup.html

Since 1993 the Center for Media and Democracy has been exposing corporate spin and government propaganda. CMD staffers John Stauber and Sheldon Rampton are the authors of six books including "Weapons of Mass Deception," a 2003 New York Times bestseller that was the first book in print to expose the deliberate, aggressive, and highly successful public relations campaign that sold the Iraq war to the American public. Now, three years later, they are still at it with a new book titled "The Best War Ever: Lies Damned Lies, and The Mess in Iraq." They have also released a catchy, four-minute video based on the book. You can view the video and learn more about the book at:

http://www.thebestwarever.com

Building upon their previous work, Rampton and Stauber explain how the marketing campaign that helped sell the war to the American people also led to an ill-conceived invasion and botched occupation.

At TheBestWarEver.com you can...
Order your own copy of book
Watch the video
Share it with your friends

We are in a critical moment for the U.S. and the world. Support for the war has fallen dramatically, but Bush administration officials continue to insist on staying the course. There has never been a more important time to take a stand.

Please help the ongoing battle by joining The Center For Media & Democracy/PR Watch

Best,

The StartChange Team

Casey, I do not believe my cynical ways are as much derived from nature or nurture so much as they were by simple and sheer knowledge.

It is no secret my father went mad and was violent, but I never accepted the logic of it.

I had a good mommy, and it might surprise some to know that I prefer to be a pacifist. It is the only way to nullify the soul of a sinner.

Both my nature and nurture taught me peace, non- violence, is the better way.

Peace is about pacifisim, and a willingness not to harm others. Peace demands sheer control, of yourself.

Only the submissive can fully understand it is the pacifist that has the most real power. Twas the lion that gave the antelope his speed.

I was taught to be a person who reflexively chooses mercy, yet I live in a world where my blood is murdered and thrown off of a bridge, or whatever and there is no justice for anyone. I grew up knowing that those who are supposed to protect us turn on us whenever they like, just because they can.

I am a cynic for no other reason than I know that evil exists just as surly as I know God lives within us all. I am a cynic because I lay in the path of terrible truths before I could even grow up, and it changed me.

Nature, and nurture, are ultimately a choice, blind or not. Knowledge alone though, can deregulate both and make them moot. Just KNOWING changes you.

The only true power is knowledge, and I am just lucky it made me a cynic. Others were kicked out of Paradise for it.

That had to suck.

September 26, 2006
Broken Bench
Delivering Small-Town Justice With a Mix of Trial and Error
By WILLIAM GLABERSON

DUANE, N.Y. — Gary Betters thought he understood the law as well as any average American. A school psychologist, he wanted $1,588.60 he said the nearby village of Malone owed him for helping run a summer recreation program. When he brought a small claim in Duane Town Court, he expected that the judge would listen to both sides, then rule.

Like many others who go to court across New York State, he got a crash course in the strange ways of small-town justice.

Although no one showed up to defend the village, Justice William J. Gori started the trial anyway. Although the judge had Mr. Betters testify at length, he neglected to have him swear to tell the truth. And although Justice Gori told Mr. Betters he had another week to submit more evidence, the judge went ahead and decided the case anyway.

Mr. Betters received the news in a letter from the court: his case had been dismissed. No reason was given. “I cannot understand how a defendant can win when they don’t even show up,” he said in an interview.

The State Commission on Judicial Conduct figured out how. Justice Gori, it seems, had gone to the village offices in Malone before the trial, interviewed the village’s chief witness, then informed the village lawyer that he had decided to throw out the case.

Justice Gori told the commission that he had never heard of the elementary legal rule that bars a judge, except in the most extraordinary circumstances, from secret contact with one side of a case. “It’s not even explained in my manual,” he said.

- more -

http://www.nytimes.com/2006/09/26/nyregion/26courts.html

Bush is going to declasify "KEY" parts of the NIE report says one or two places on line however CNN is saying he is going to Declasify the whole thing which given the administrations track record on such things is doubtful, he will declasify the parts that might and I say might support or that they can twist to support their theories.

Lots of valid excuses to be away, but glad to be back, if just for a bit. Still trying to beat back electronic voting before purchases this fall.

The FCC hid its report that media concentration is bad, and the effects are well known to all of us.

Karen, I wonder if you can attend this, or if someone at DCP could watch the webcast, Thursday. I am not sure of its importance, how interesting, but the title is catchy:

The Committee on House Administration has announced a hearing entitled "Electronic Voting Machines: Verification, Security, and Paper Trails". The hearing will be held at 10 a.m., Thursday, September 28, 2006, in room 1310 of the Longworth House Office Building. The hearing is open to the public and citizens concerned about the integrity of America's elections who are able are strongly urged to attend. The hearing will be available via live webcast on the Committee website, http://cha.house.gov

My concern with all the discussion, studies, and remedies, there is not enough understanding how trails may be different and not get counted. A trail as a placebo pill.

CNN QuickVote

Before 9/11, which administration did more to pursue or kill Osama bin Laden and his al Qaeda terrorist group?

Bush 32% 10985 votes

Clinton 68% 23680 votes
Total: 34665 votes

The One Turd... AGAIN!

BREAKING NEWS
MSNBC News Services
Updated: 11 minutes ago

WASHINGTON - President Bush on Tuesday announced that he will declassify parts of the National Intelligence Estimate, which reportedly concluded that the war with Iraq has worsened terrorism.

“Some people have guessed what’s in the report and concluded that going into Iraq was a mistake. I strongly disagree,” Bush said, referring to a New York Times report over the weekend that described what it said were conclusions from the classified analysis made last April.

The key judgments from the analysis will be released “as quickly as possible,” he added.

Bush said he had directed National Intelligence Director John Negroponte to declassify those parts of the report that don’t compromise national security.

“You read it for yourself. Stop all this speculation,” Bush told a reporter who asked about the analysis.

The announcement came at a press conference with Afghan President Hamid Karzai after the two met for private talks at the White House.

Bush asserted that portions of the classified report that had been leaked were done so for political purposes, referring to the Nov. 7 midterm elections.

Portions of the document that have been leaked suggest that the threat of terrorism has grown worse since the Sept. 11 terror attacks and the war in Afghanistan, due in part to the war in Iraq.

Democrats have used the report to bolster their criticism of Bush’s Iraq policy. The administration has claimed only part of the report was leaked and does not tell the full story.

Both the chairman and the top Democrat on the Senate Intelligence Committee have urged the White House to release the material.

Using a portion of the report to attack his Iraq policy and suggest it has fanned more terrorism is “naive,” Bush said.

“I think it’s a mistake for people to believe that going on the offense against people that want to do harm to the American people makes us less safe,” he said.

moreon...
http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/12913317/

p.s. “So my message for the American soldiers in Afghanistan is that they have liberated us from tyranny, from terrorism, from oppression, from occupation, into a country that is now moving toward prosperity, that is once again the home of all Afghans,” - Afghan President Hamid Karzai, TODAY.

September 26, 2006

BIG NEWS: John Bolton Confirmation Battle Really, Really Dead

The last pre-election loophole through which John Bolton's confirmation might have snuck through the Senate Foreign Relations Committee was at 2:15 this afternoon at a previously called "business meeting" of the Committee.

That meeting has been cancelled -- and with it even the dimmest chance of John Bolton being confirmed as US Ambassador to the United Nations.

Some have said that another effort could be mounted during a lame duck session of Congress, but there are several Republicans who will not feel bound by the White House in that circumstance; Dems as well -- who will vote against cloture on the floor of the Senate were it to get out of Committee then.

So, it's over. Wow.

John Bolton might agree to serve as the uncompensated Ambassador to the UN in a second recess appointment, or might agree to serve as a recess appointed political deputy at the UN and made "acting Ambassador and Chief of Mission" at a pay cut.

Either way, Ambassador Bolton will fill his term as the only unconfirmed Ambassador at the United Nations in American history.

more...
http://www.thewashingtonnote.com/archives/001660.php

http://i.a.cnn.net/cnn/2006/POLITICS/09/26/nie.iraq/newt1.bush.afp.gi.jpg

Caption contest, from todays press conference.

"Politics of gas:
Almost half of Americans believe the plunge at the pump has more to do with politics and the November elections, than economics. According to a new Gallup poll, 42 percent of respondents agreed with the statement that the Bush administration "deliberately manipulated the price of gasoline so that it would decrease before this fall's elections.."
ABC The Note

Larry Sabato, the venerable guru of politics in Va stated today that he knows first hand that Allen used racial epitaphs, which Allen denies.

Liebrman calls for sending more troops to Iraq. Did I read that correctly?

House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi (D-CA) has called for a secret session to review the National Intelligence Estimate, which some contend has found that the Iraq war has made America less safe from terrorist attacks, RAW STORY has learned.

The House has defeated the motion, 207-170, with just one Republican and one Independent breaking an otherwise party-line vote. Many Republicans and Democrats chose not to cast a vote.

"I don't know how anyone could vote against it," Pelosi told reporters in a conference call immediately after the vote. "What they're saying by voting against this is, 'Spare me the facts, spare me the truth.'"

Pelosi's full remarks from the floor follow.

#
"Media reports last weekend disclosed a consensus judgment of senior officers from across the intelligence community that the war in Iraq was having a serious negative impact on our efforts against terrorism. Rather than reducing the number of terrorists worldwide and destroying the worldwide terrorist network, the war in Iraq is having precisely the opposite effect.

"These conclusions are reportedly contained in a National Intelligence Estimate published last April. They are precisely the professional judgments that should have informed our debate through the spring and summer on the situation in Iraq and the best way forward. Sadly, they did not, and President Bush has left the public with a false impression about the war in Iraq and the war on terrorism.

"We did not invade Iraq to fight terrorism, as the President would now have us believe. Instead, we are less safe today because the war in Iraq has hindered our ability to make progress in combating terrorism. The reported NIE makes that case clearly.

"As the House prepares to debate critical funding bills for the Department of Defense this week, we need to consider fully the assessments of our intelligence agencies on terrorism. That is why I offered the motion to have the House go into secret session – it is our responsibility, as part of our duty to conduct oversight over the war in Iraq."

http://www.rawstory.com/news/2006/Pelosi_calls_for_secret_session_to_0926.html

Lott threatens the Dems
By Jonathan Allen

Sen. Trent Lott (R-Miss.) is threatening to punish Democrats for using an Appropriations Committee room for an unofficial hearing on Iraq oversight if it happens again.

“They better stop this,” the Mississippi Republican said. “This will be the last one or there will be retribution.”

Lott suggested that Republicans could hold GOP-only hearings or seek other forms of payback.

But if he is looking for a culprit in abetting the Democratic Policy Committee’s (DPC) hearing yesterday, he need look no further than fellow Mississippi Republican Thad Cochran, chairman of the Appropriations Committee, who controls the Dirksen Building room that Democrats used yesterday and have used for past hearings.

“We just call and ask,” said DPC spokesman Barry Piatt, a fact confirmed by Senate Appropriations Committee spokeswoman Jenny Manley.

The DPC has held similar hearings on several issues such as Iraq reconstruction and the government’s response to Hurricane Katrina, during the 109th Congress.

But Lott and other Republicans are upset that Democrats have gone outside the committee process to highlight the Iraq war before the November election.

“They’re abusing the system,” Lott said.

more...
http://tinyurl.com/qtl4v

The Senate Republicans have locked Senate Dems out of Republican only hearings since they have been in power so Lott's threat is nothing new:
"Lott suggested that Republicans could hold GOP-only hearings" Do we not remember when Harry Reid had to close Senate doors and threaten to hold a closed door hearing about Iraq last year b/c Lott and Frist refused to give Senate Dems recognition about Iraq..

Detainee bill a defining vote for Election Day?
Democratic critic charges that 'people are afraid to vote against this bill'

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/15012713/

Submitted by request, for Elizabeth Walters, Voting rights activist

There is a lot happening, or at least a lot of news, on the election/voting machine front.

It is clear that voting/counting machines that do not meet even the minimum standards set forth by the computer industry (slot machines are more highly regulated and more secure than these voting/counting machines) and which use private and secret software is not appropriate for our elections. Many changes need to be made, including the repeal or amendment of the Help America Vote Act. We also must begin to demand meaningful audit protocols. And, we must get Diebold out of our elections.

http://www.rollingstone.com/politics/story/11717105/robert_f_kennedy_jr__will_the_next_election_be_hacked/print
Will The Next Election Be Hacked? Fresh disasters at the polls -- and new evidence from an industry insider -- prove that electronic voting machines can't be trusted

http://www.votetrustusa.org/index.php?option=com_content&task=blogcategory&id=106&Itemid=309
Article about the use of Article 5 sect. 1 of the U.S. Constitution to thwart election contests in CA and NV congressional races. State courts dismiss contests on grounds that they have no jurisdiction.

http://www.nytimes.com/2006/09/24/us/politics/24voting.html?_r=1&ei=5094&en=298fa45bfb12e669&hp=&ex=1159070400&partner=homepage&pagewanted=all&oref=slogin
Election officials wary of electronic machines
http://www.nytimes.com/2006/09/24/business/yourmoney/24digi.html?_r=1&oref=slogin&ref=business&pagewanted=print
The Big Gamble on Electronic Voting

Here are some visual aides that illustrate the lack of security related to these machines.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kDEBMp6uwdc&mode=related&search=
Video released last week from computer specialists at Princeton University. Shows how easy it is to hack into Diebold touch screen machines (the demonstration is on the Diebold TS paperless touch screen; King County uses the Diebold TSX, touch screen that has a printer attachment for a paper “trail.”) Excellent video; demonstrates why the Logic and Accuracy test used by election officials (including those in WA) to test the machines to “verify” that that they count the votes as cast is meaningless. The same test is used on op-scans. If there is malicious code implanted in the secret software, the L&A test will not detect it. Diebold insiders such as programmers, technicians (for example, installing patches), or an election department employee, could easily install this virus software.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FhMUtzOxjJY
Two year old video of Bev Harris and Howard Dean flipping the vote on Diebold Gems tabulator (same tabulator used in King County)

This is a series of PHOTOS showing how the memory card can be accessed in the Diebold Op-scan machines without breaking the “security” seal that “protects” access to the memory card. It is simple!

http://www.blackboxvoting.org/accuvote-memory-door-inside-nut.jpg
The cover can be removed without detection by removing five screws. Inside, all that stands between a poll worker (or an insider at the warehouse or elections office) and the open-for-business memory card is a washer which you can unscrew.

http://www.blackboxvoting.org/accuvote-memory-card-put-in.jpg
See the memory card: It is the item in the slot that says "this side up." Diebold's first line of defense is a metal door that pivots down over the memory card slot.

http://www.blackboxvoting.org/accuvote-memory-door-in-out.jpg
See how the door works: The hole in the right side of the door is over-large, so you can move the right-side bolt in and out at will. Therefore, they seal the right-side bolt.

http://www.blackboxvoting.org/accuvote-memory-card-door-hole-in-bolt.jpg
See the hole in the top of the right-side bolt: The plastic seal is threaded through that.

http://www.blackboxvoting.org/accuvote-sealed.jpg
See the plastic seal: This plastic seal was used by King County. It had been broken and discarded, so we used the high-tech method of putting an orange rubber band on it to hold it together for this demo. The seal is pointless anyway, as you'll soon see.

http://www.blackboxvoting.org/accuvote-screws.jpg
See the screws holding the Diebold AccuVote optical scan machine together: There are five. We tried a Phillips-head screwdriver on the thing.

http://www.blackboxvoting.org/accuvote-unscrew-case.jpg
See the screws come out: What's inside?

http://www.blackboxvoting.org/accuvote-memory-card-unfasten.jpg
See the left-side bolt. Can you remove it? We stuck a small Allen wrench into the bolt.

http://www.blackboxvoting.org/accuvote-memory-door-inside-nut.jpg
See that nut on the screw: (Red arrow) We got out a pair of pliers.

http://www.blackboxvoting.org/accuvote-remove-memorycard-door.jpg
Grasp nut with pliers, twirl Allen wrench and see what happens.

http://www.blackboxvoting.org/accuvote-memory-card-seal-cracked.jpg
See the bolt come off. But can you get the memory card out?

http://www.blackboxvoting.org/accuvote-memory-card-opened.jpg
See the metal door pivot to the right: Remove the memory card.

http://www.blackboxvoting.org/accuvote-memory-card-out.jpg
We then put it all back together without leaving a trace. Cost for materials: $12. Time: 4 minutes to open, remove card, re-insert card and re-seal everything.

San Diego, June 6 2006: Sent these voting machines home with poll workers for sleepovers. They said the seal on the memory card bay made it secure.

WHAT CAN YOU DO ABOUT IT:

Black Box Voting has prepared a Citizen's Tool Kit -- basically a brain dump of the things that worked during our last three years in the field. It is organized into modules, each only a few pages long, bullet points, easy to follow.

Two modules can help you address this issue in your area:
Media Module: http://www.blackboxvoting.org/toolkit-media.pdf

"It's phenomenal how lax so many people are about the security of elections—as if individuals will assassinate presidents and governors but would never resort to nearly undetectable nonviolent vote rigging." (Paul Lehto, attorney and voting integrity activist)

Hi All,

Sitting outside a police station after the arrest of 55 people all over the Capitol today.

We are waitng to bail out whoever wants to be bailed out. The actions are around the Declaration of Peace and the message could not have been more clear. However, this does not mean you will ever hear about it except through this blog.

Kerry Responds to Bush-Karzai Press Conference

“President Bush owed Americans a candid assessment of the situation in Afghanistan, but offered more misleading rhetoric. Less than five years after American troops masterfully toppled the Taliban, the disastrous diversion in Iraq has allowed these radicals the chance to rise again. Time is running out to avert disaster in the war we were right to fight after 9/11.

Funded largely by the flourishing opium trade, the resurgent Taliban continues to threaten the Karzai government, especially in southern Afghanistan. Roadside bomb attacks have more than doubled this year, and suicide attacks have more than tripled.

We have seven times more troops in the crossfire of a civil war in Iraq, which our own intelligence agencies say fuels terrorism, than we have in Afghanistan, where al Qaeda still roams free. And his words about providing money to rebuild Afghanistan ring hollow when his Administration has appropriated nearly four times more in reconstruction funds for Iraq than for Afghanistan and actually cut Afghan aid by 30% this year. The President continues to pretend that the recent plot to blow up US-bound jets justifies the war in Iraq when that plot was masterminded from Afghanistan by the same al Qaeda types who attacked us on 9/11.
We need to get our priorities in order by re-committing to the real front line in the war on terror. Just last week NATO Secretary General Scheffer again called for more troops for Afghanistan, saying “more can be done and should be done.” Where allies have pledged troops and economic assistance to Afghanistan, they must follow through. But we must lead by example by sending more troops and more aid to help combat the opium trade, which funds the Taliban and threatens to turn Afghanistan into a narco-state, and ensure that the elected government in Kabul, helped by the United States and our allies, not the Taliban, helped by al Qaeda, rebuilds the new Afghanistan.”

Posted by: monkey at September 26, 2006 02:29 PM

Poor Lotty... He sounds like his baby cousin Bu$hie... "Waaaaaaaaaaaaaa! I want things to go my way and my way only! Waaaaaaaaaaaaa! Lemme have my wars and my money or I'll hold my breath! Waaaaaaaaaaaaa! Lemme have my own way! Waaaaaaaaaaaa!"

The current batch of Repukes on the hill are nothing but a bunch of babies. They don't act like grown-ups. Babies who insist on manipulating everyone to spoil them rotten and cater to their every whim, Bullies of the toddler variety who coerce and blackmail everyone for their lunch money, Botchers who can't even tell the truth about the paranoid reasons they wanted a war in Iraq (to control the oil there - they couldn't get it by buying them, so they started a war to get them).

How the hell did anyone think they were mature enough to handle the responsibilities involved with government? Why were they voted into office?

just posted this at the Washington Post where they are reporting from downstate Ohio, called the Fix,where Republicans are promoting the idea that the 42% of voters who believe that voters who belive that falling gas prices is being manipulated on behalf of the RNC are basically stupid.

"Just returned from volunteer work in Cleveland and I can tell you that Blackwell and DeWine have zero credibility when it comes to their economy and what Republican corruption has done to those fine people. I love it that Republicans are convinced that they have a superior turn out machine that will save them from disgusted voters. I really truly hope that you guys keep believing that. That is our best hope for Republican complacency. Unemployed folks from closed Ohio factories, truck drivers,and conservative rural voters in downstate Ohio fully understand how they have been jerked around regarding fluctuating oil prices and so your insults only insult the voters you seek to attract and will drive them to vote Democrat this November. No manipulation? : Ask the people in California who suffered from rolling blackouts by Enron and the energy industry if their energy prices were manipulated."

Judge sentences former Enron CFO to 6 years
A judge granted leniency for Andrew Fastow who could have served 10 years behind bars for his role in Enron's demise.

September 26 2006: 2:32 PM EDT

HOUSTON (Reuters) -- Andrew Fastow, whose financial wizardry was exposed as fakery and theft in the Enron Corp. collapse, was sentenced to six years in prison Tuesday - four years less than provided in his 2004 plea agreement.

http://money.cnn.com/2006/09/26/news/newsmakers/bc.enron.fastow.reut/index.htm?cnn=yes

WASHINGTON, D.C. Sept. 26, 2006 — The one-sided slugging match between former President Clinton and Fox TV newsman Chris Wallace has evolved into "he said, she said."

"He" is Clinton.

"She" is Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice.

--snip--
Clinton said that he "left a comprehensive anti-terror strategy" for his successor's team to follow.

Rice told the Post: "We were not left a comprehensive strategy to fight al Qaeda."

--snip--
Now, the argument has ratcheted up another notch with Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton entering the fray.

She told reporters on Capitol Hill: "I'm certain that if my husband and his national security team had been shown a classified report entitled 'Bin Laden Determined to Attack Inside the United States,' he would have taken it more seriously than history suggests it was taken by our current president and his national security team."

http://abcnews.go.com/Politics/story?id=2493200&page=1

Georges retort...

"We'll let history judge all the different finger-pointing and all that business. I don't have enough time to finger-point," he said at a news conference with Afghan President Hamid Karzai.

"I've got to do my job," he added, "and that is to protect the American people from further attacks."
http://www.alertnet.org/thenews/newsdesk/N26365455.htm

Yeah, he's so damn busy. Bike rides & brush clearing... I've got a couple of fingers that I'm pointing right now...

Posted by: madame defarge at September 26, 2006 04:09 PM

I hope your knitting needles are attached to those fingers... Knit one, pearl two, and UP they go.... ;-)

Hmmm... Do you suppose you could lend someone your knitting needles for a torture experiment on Herr Boosh and his evil minions who are advocating torture for others? Normally I'm totally into pacifism which normally means no torture for anyone, anywhere, at any time. But I'd make a "special" exception for Herr Boosh and the people who are pushing the torture bill on anyone else....

2001 memo to Rice contradicts statements about Clinton, Pakistan

Larry Womack
Published: Tuesday September 26, 2006

A memo received by United States Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice shortly after becoming National Security Advisor in 2001 directly contradicts statements she made to reporters yesterday, RAW STORY has learned.

"We were not left a comprehensive strategy to fight al Qaeda," Rice told a reporter for the New York Post on Monday. "Big pieces were missing," Rice added, "like an approach to Pakistan that might work, because without Pakistan you weren't going to get Afghanistan."

Rice made the comments in response to claims made Sunday by former President Bill Clinton, who argued that his administration had done more than the current one to address the al Qaeda problem before the September 11, 2001 terrorist attacks. She stopped short of calling the former president a liar.

However, RAW STORY has found that just five days after President George W. Bush was sworn into office, a memo from counter-terrorism expert Richard A. Clarke to Rice included the 2000 document, "Strategy for Eliminating the Threat from the Jihadist Networks of al-Qida: Status and Prospects." This document devotes over 2 of its 13 pages of material to specifically addressing strategies for securing Pakistan's cooperation in airstrikes against al Qaeda and the Taliban in Afghanistan.

The Pakistan obstacle

The strategy document includes "three levers" that the United States had started applying to Pakistan as far back as 1990. Sanctions, political and economic methods of persuasion are all offered as having been somewhat successful.

Other portions of the passages relating to Pakistan – marked as "operational details" – have been redacted from the declassified memo at the CIA's request.

The document also explores broader strategic approaches, such as a "need to keep in mind that Pakistan has been most willing to cooperate with us on terrorism when its role is invisible or at least plausibly deniable to the powerful Islamist right wing."

But Clarke also made it clear that the Clinton Administration recognized the problem that Pakistan posed in mounting a more sweeping campaign against bin Laden: "Overt action against bin Laden, who is a hero especially in the Pushtun-ethnic border areas near Afghanistan," Clarke speculated in late 2000, "would be so unpopular as to threaten Musharraf's government." The plan notes that, after the attack on the USS Cole, Pakistan had forbidden the United States from again violating its airspace to attack bin Laden in Afghanistan.

The memo sent by Clarke to Rice, to which the Clinton-era document was attached, also urges action on Pakistan relating to al Qaeda. "First [to be addressed,]" wrote Clarke in a list of pending issues relating to al Qaeda, is "what the administration says to the Taliban and Pakistan about ending al Qida sanctuary in Afghanistan. We are separately proposing early, strong messages on both."

A disputed history

The documents have been a source of controversy before. Rice contended in a March 22, 2004 Washington Post piece that "no al Qaeda plan was turned over to the new administration."

Two days later, Clarke insisted to the 9/11 Commission that the plan had in fact been turned over. "There's a lot of debate about whether it's a plan or a strategy or a series of options, but all of the things we recommended back in January," he told the commission, "were done after September 11th."

The memo was declassified on April 7, 2004, one day before Rice herself testified before the 9/11 Commission.

Excerpts from documents relating to the situation follow:

http://www.rawstory.com/news/2006/2001_memo_to_Rice_contradicts_statements_0926.html

Posted by: NonnyO at September 26, 2006 04:32 PM

The way things are going, it may be time to bring back the guillotine.

Breaking: Bush releases portions of Intelligence Report
by Kayakbiker

George W. Bush is unhappy. He announced today that leaks of the National Intelligence Estimate (NIE) are wrong. Those leaks contend that the Iraq war has raised the threat of terror rather than reduced it. Given that the War on Terror is Bush's strong suit, he is fighting back.

To counter this news, which everyone knew already, Bush has agreed to declassify parts of the NIE. Here is the portion he has agreed to release. A friend in the government leaked this to me; it doesn't say anything about Iraq.

http://www.dailykos.com/story/2006/9/26/155356/309

CNN Breaking News: Key conclusions of a report assessing the state of global terrorism are released after President Bush ordered its declassification. One assessment is Iraq is shaping a new generation of terror leaders.

MSNBC Breaking News: Iraq war a 'cause celebre' for jihadists, declassified intel reports says

Or to paraphrase another American President, thanks to dubious Dubya, "the torch has been passed to a new generation of leaders".

Dubya: Doing for human civilization what he did for Harken and Arbusto.

Link to released NIE document (pdf)

http://msnbcmedia.msn.com/i/msnbc/sections/news/060926_Declassified_NIE_Key_Judgments.pdf

Congress unlikely to pass wiretapping

LAURIE KELLMAN
Sept. 26, 2006
Associated Press

WASHINGTON - Congress is unlikely to approve a bill giving President Bush's warrantless wiretapping program legal status and new restrictions before the November midterm elections, dealing a significant blow to one of the White House's top wartime priorities.

House and Senate versions of the legislation differ too much to bridge the gap by week's end, when Congress recesses until after the Nov. 7 elections, according to two GOP leadership aides who demanded anonymity because the decision had not yet been announced.

House Majority Leader John Boehner, R-Ohio, told reporters Tuesday that his chamber would bring up a bill by Rep. Heather Wilson, R-N.M. Asked whether that version could be reconciled with the Senate's White House-approved bill, Boehner replied:

"We'd like to, but I think that might be a stretch."

more...
http://www.macon.com/mld/macon/news/politics/15613307.htm

Next time someone lauds this administrations financial prowess, show them this.

http://news.aol.com/topnews/articles/_a/us-no-longer-tops-competitiveness-survey/n20060926162609990029?cid=403

We are only 6th-ranking as a competitive economy in the global marketplace.

Posted by: DiAnne at September 26, 2006 06:43 PM

Just think if Halliburton wasn't Number 5...

WASHINGTON - The war in Iraq has become a “cause célèbre” for Islamic extremists, breeding deep resentment of the U.S. that probably will get worse before it gets better, federal intelligence analysts conclude in a report at odds with President Bush’s contention of a world growing safer.

In the bleak report, declassified and released Tuesday on Bush’s orders, the nation’s most veteran analysts conclude that despite serious damage to the leadership of al-Qaida, the threat from Islamic extremists has spread both in numbers and in geographic reach.

Bush and his top advisers have said the formerly classified assessment of global terrorism supported their arguments that the world is safer because of the war. But more than three pages of stark judgments warning about the spread of terrorism contrasted with the administration’s glass-half-full declarations.

“If this trend continues, threats to U.S. interests at home and abroad will become more diverse, leading to increasing attacks worldwide,” the document says. “The confluence of shared purpose and dispersed actors will make it harder to find and undermine jihadist groups.”

The intelligence assessment, completed in April, has stirred a heated election-season argument over the course of U.S. national security in the years following the 2003 U.S.-led invasion of Iraq.

Virtually all assessments of the current situation were bad news. The report’s few positive notes were couched in conditional terms, depending on successful completion of difficult tasks ahead for the U.S. and its allies. In one example, analysts concluded that more responsive political systems in Muslim nations could erode support for jihadist extremists.

more...
http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/12913317/

How can this be spun as good news for Bushies? Did El Diablya slip in his press conference and declassify this info, because why else would they?

Seems incredibly damaging... unless of course, you're an idiot.

Dan Froomkin from WaPo's summary:

President Bush's all-important terror-fighting credentials are taking a bruising this week.

Former President Clinton has revived charges that Bush didn't take the threat of terrorism seriously enough before Sept. 11.

And an intelligence report indicates that Bush's signature response to terror since the attacks -- invading Iraq -- has actually backfired.

The result: A potential erosion of Bush's strongest political suit -- at the worst possible moment for a White House already fearful of losing Republican majorities in Congress in November.

Oh now this is interesting... There's another more recent NIE report that hasn't been released, but Rep. Harmon (CA) is pushing for it. George must really be having a bad week...

BREAKING: Harman Calls for Release of Second Secret Iraq Report

There's a second damning Iraq report floating around the intelligence community.

At least, that's according to Rep. Jane Harman (CA), the top Democrat on the House intelligence committee. At an event this morning, Harman disclosed the existence of a classified intelligence community report that gives a grim assessment of the situation in Iraq, and called for it to be shared with the American public -- before the November elections.

The report has not been shared with Congress, although sources say a draft version may have circulated earlier this summer. It is a separate report from the one revealed by major news outlets Sunday, which is said to conclude that the war in Iraq has made the U.S. less secure from terrorist threats.
http://www.tpmmuckraker.com/archives/001603.php

new thread