We Endorse Paper Ballots

THIS JUST IN:

110TH CONGRESS
1ST SESSION H. R.
To require United States military disengagement from Iraq, to provide United States assistance for reconstruction and reconciliation in Iraq, and for
other purposes.

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES
Ms. WOOLSEY (for herself, Ms. LEE, Ms. WATERS, Ms. WATSON, Mr. MCGOVERN, Mr. GRIJALVA, Mr. KUCINICH, Mr. FRANK of Massachusetts, Mr. HINCHEY, Mr. CONYERS, Mr. NADLER, Mr. FATTAH, Mr. FILNER, Mr. CLAY, Mr. PAYNE, and Mr. COHEN) introduced the following bill; which was referred to the Committee on lllllllllllllll

A BILL
To require United States military disengagement from Iraq, to provide United States assistance for reconstruction and reconciliation in Iraq, and for other purposes.

1 Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the United States of America in Congress assembled,
3 SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE; TABLE OF CONTENTS.
4 (a) SHORT TITLE.—This Act may be cited as the
5 ‘‘Bring the Troops Home and Iraq Sovereignty Restoration Act of 2007’’.

KEY PROVISIONS: THE BRING OUR TROOPS HOME AND IRAQ SOVEREIGNTY RESTORATION ACT (Woolsey, Lee, Waters, et. al.)--1/16/07

• Declares it to be U.S. policy to: (1) end the occupation of Iraq; (2) accelerate the training and equipping of Iraqi military and security forces; (3) pursue security and stability in Iraq through diplomacy; (4) help preserve the territorial integrity of Iraq as a nation state; (5) take all appropriate measures to account for any missing U.S. soldiers or citizens in Iraq; and (6) turn over all security activities and military operations in Iraq to the elected Iraqi government within 6 months of the date of enactment (includes language from Rep. Abercrombie-Jones-Kucinich, Woolsey, Lee, Murtha, and Allen bills from 109th Congress);
• Withdraws all U.S. troops and military contractors in Iraq and return to the U.S. or redeployment outside of the Middle East within 6 months of date of enactment;
• Prohibits any permanent U.S. military bases in Iraq (Rep. Lee’s preferred language);
• Prohibits funding to deploy or continue to deploy U.S. troops in Iraq with very limited exceptions (Rep. McGovern’s preferred language);
• Repeals 2002 law authorizing use of military force against Iraq (Rep.Waters’ and Woolsey’s preferred language);
• If requested by the Iraqi government, authorizes U.S. support for replacement of U.S. troops/contractors with an international stabilization force to begin during the 6-month period for U.S. military disengagement from the date of enactment and to stay in Iraq no longer than 2 years;
• Accelerates U.S. troop/contractor assistance for training of a permanent Iraqi police force and neighborhood, village, and tribal home guards comprised of Iraqi citizens;
• Prohibits U.S. participation in any long-term Iraqi oil production sharing agreements without prior open debate in Iraq and promulgation and enactment by the Iraqi National Assembly of new Iraqi law to govern investment, location, development, production, and marketing of Iraqi petroleum resources;
• Caps U.S. personnel in U.S. Embassy in Baghdad at no more than 500 officials in coordination with dismantling of the Green Zone;
• Requires independent audit of prior U.S. assistance for reconstruction and reconciliation in Iraq plus comprehensive damage assessment and report to Congress;
• Authorizes wide array of non-military U.S. bilateral and multilateral assistance for reconstruction and reconciliation in Iraq;
• Guarantees health care for U.S. veterans of military operations in Iraq and other conflicts (language from Former Rep. Lane Evans bill); and
• Upon completion of U.S. military disengagement from Iraq, creates a bipartisan, joint select committee of Congress to be comprised of 18 House and Senate Members to be appointed by the Speaker and Senate Majority Leader, after consultation with and consideration of minority recommendations for appointments, and to report its final recommendations by December 31, 2008.

NEWS from
CONGRESSWOMAN LYNN WOOLSEY
6th District, California

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE Contact: Chris Shields
January 17, 2007

REMARKS BY
REP. LYNN WOOLSEY
PRESS CONFERENCE ANNOUNCING INTRODUCTION OF
BRING OUR TROOPS HOME AND
SOVEREIGNTY OF IRAQ RESTORATION ACT
JANUARY 16, 2007

-REMARKS AS PREPARED FOR DELIVERY-

“Today Congresswomen Waters and Lee and I are introducing a bill that would bring our troops home from Iraq within a six month timeframe.

“The Bring Our Troops Home and Sovereignty of Iraq Restoration Act is the first comprehensive legislative proposal to end the occupation and provide a framework to help bring stability back to Iraq.

“Last Wednesday night, President Bush demonstrated to the world that he continues to remain blind to the realities on the ground in Iraq. Instead of putting forth a plan that would withdraw our troops, the President is increasing our military presence, by escalating the number of troops by over twenty thousand. What President Bush fails to grasp is that our military presence is only fueling the insurgency, plunging Iraq further into chaos and civil war.

“The November elections showed just how fed up the American public is with the President’s failed Iraq policy. It is time to honor that mandate. It is now up to the Congress to catch up with the will of the American public.

“During his weekly radio address on Saturday, President Bush challenged those of us who disagree with him to offer a plan of our own. Today, we stand before you, and the American public, to take up his challenge.

“The Congress has already appropriated funding that will support our troops and keep this occupation going for at least another six months. That funding instead should be used to finance an aggressive withdrawal plan that brings our troops home to their families. Our bill would do exactly that.

“Our plan will also…

1. Withdraw all U.S. troops and military contractors from Iraq within six months from date of enactment.

2. Prohibit any further funding to deploy, or continue to deploy U.S. troops in Iraq. The bill does, however, allow for funding to be used, as needed, to ensure a safe withdrawal of all US military personnel and contractors, diplomatic consultations. Funding may also be used for the increased training and equipping of Iraqi and international security forces.

3. Accelerate, during the six month transition, training of a permanent Iraqi security force.

4. Authorize, if requested by the Iraqi government, U.S. support for an international stabilization force. Such a force would be funded for no longer than two years, and be combined with economic and humanitarian assistance.

5. Guarantee full health care funding, including mental health, for U.S. veterans of military operations in Iraq and other conflicts.

“In addition the bill would:

6. Rescind the Congressional Authorization for the War in Iraq.

7. Prohibit the construction of permanent US military bases in the country.

8. Finally, we believe that Iraqi oil belongs to the Iraqis. Once the oil is in the international market, the U.S. will certainly have access to our share. That’s why our bill ensures that the U.S. has no long-term control over Iraqi oil.

“Our plan, with the exception of Veterans’ benefits, will cost the American people pennies on the dollar as compared to continuing the occupation for two more years. It will save lives, bodies, and minds, and it will give Iraq back to the Iraqis. It is an important step in regaining our credibility in the region and throughout the world, and provides the President, and this Congress, with a comprehensive way to respond to the majority of Americans who want our troops to come home.”

Posted by: karen at January 17, 2007 06:50 PM

Item (2) in paragraph one is the loophole that will keep our troops in Iraq. Bu$hCo used that excuse to keep our troops there before.

Paragraph two... date of enactment... could be troublesome. Bu$hCo WILL drag this whole thing out, debate after debate and much name-calling will take place and spinmeisters in Lamestream Media will present only the neoCon excuses why we need to stay in Iraq and call Dems "unpatriotic" - again.

THIS has TEETH (AUMF was not meant to give DimWit war powers that belong only to Congress)...:
• Repeals 2002 law authorizing use of military force against Iraq (Rep.Waters’ and Woolsey’s preferred language);

THIS is why this bill is almost surely doomed to fail (depending on how many politicians are getting kickbacks from oil corporations and Halliburton, et al.):
• Prohibits U.S. participation in any long-term Iraqi oil production sharing agreements without prior open debate in Iraq and promulgation and enactment by the Iraqi National Assembly of new Iraqi law to govern investment, location, development, production, and marketing of Iraqi petroleum resources;
• Caps U.S. personnel in U.S. Embassy in Baghdad at no more than 500 officials in coordination with dismantling of the Green Zone;
• Requires independent audit of prior U.S. assistance for reconstruction and reconciliation in Iraq plus comprehensive damage assessment and report to Congress;

HUH?!?!? This means nothing will get done before Dec. 31, '08, AFTER the next prez election (assuming DimWit doesn't declare his official dictatorship by then and cancel elections because he will have sparked WWIII)
• Upon completion of U.S. military disengagement from Iraq, creates a bipartisan, joint select committee of Congress to be comprised of 18 House and Senate Members to be appointed by the Speaker and Senate Majority Leader, after consultation with and consideration of minority recommendations for appointments, and to report its final recommendations by December 31, 2008.
~~~~~~~~~~~

In other words, it's still left to the NEXT president to stop the illegal war and close Gitmo. Assuming we get to the point of having a NEXT president, that is.

Where is the provision to close Gitmo at the same time?

http://www.crooksandliars.com/2007/01/17/white-house-goes-after-prosecutors/
White House Goes After Prosecutors

I encourage you to watch this video from the Senate floor, Dianne Feinstein is speaking. I've watched it twice.
How the reauthorization of the last Patriot Act's new additions enables the AG to avoid Senate confirmation hearings on US attorneys.... Godzilla (to enable Herr Boosh to stay dictator) is stacking the courts (IMHO).

http://www.crooksandliars.com/2007/01/17/daily-show-deconstructing-the-surge/
Daily Show: Deconstructing the “Surge”

http://www.crooksandliars.com/2007/01/17/colbert-nails-dinesh-dsouza/
Colbert Nails Dinesh D’Souza

My Congresswoman (N. Velasquez) is in the Out of Iraq caucus. Are all the co-signers and those who introduced listed above?

She is also Small Business Chair, so I was wondering what kind of focus we could give to the work of Kerry/Nydia combined. Alan is a business writer. Just thinking. Blog threads, submissions, worthwhile? I talked to her at a holiday party.

Now to the header. If voting is mentioned somewhere on the planet, I'm there.

I need to do a memo later tonight and will have gathered some thoughts on data, and what is possible in the 110th Congress, legislation the pipeline, short and long term problems and solutions.

Federal has a tradition of not dictating to the states, however much the vendors interpreted HAVA to rush bad designs of electronic voting we can't seem to get rid of.

Be back later.

Everyone knows I've been strictly in favor of paper ballots since day one. I still am. Even if the votes are counted in scanners, I firmly believe there must be paper ballots for any re-counts or contested elections. I'm also in favor of registration as easy as we have it here in this state.

The "problem" arises from each state controlling the laws for registration and voting. When voters in each of the states who have been screwed over by e-voting machines one too many times catch on to the "irregularities" and get tired of being screwed over, then I expect something will be done in those individual states.

http://www.freepress.net/news/20357
Bill Moyers’ Speech at the National Conference for Media Reform
From National Conference for Media Reform, January 12, 2007
By Bill Moyers
Excerpts:

BENJAMIN FRANKLIN ONCE SAID, “Democracy is two wolves and a lamb voting on what to have for dinner.”

“Liberty,” he said, “is a well-armed lamb, contesting the vote.”
~~~~~
Both parties bowed to their will when the Republican Congress passed and President Clinton signed the Telecommunications Act of 1996. That monstrous assault on democracy, with malignant consequences for journalism, was nothing but a welfare giveaway to the largest, richest, and most powerful media conglomerations in the world. Goliaths, whose handful of owners controlled, commodified, and monetized everyone and everything in sight. Call it “the plantation mentality.”
~~~~~
As ownership gets more and more concentrated, fewer and fewer independent sources of information have survived in the marketplace; and those few significant alternatives that do survive, such as PBS and NPR, are undergoing financial and political pressure to reduce critical news content and to shift their focus in a mainstream direction, which means being more attentive to establishment views than to the bleak realities of powerlessness that shape the lives of ordinary people.

What does today’s media system mean for the notion of an informed public cherished by democratic theory? Quite literally, it means that virtually everything the average person sees or hears, outside of her own personal communications, is determined by the interests of private, unaccountable executives and investors whose primary goal is increasing profits and raising the share prices. More insidiously, this small group of elites determines what ordinary people do not see or hear. In-depth coverage of anything, let alone the problems real people face day-to-day, is as scarce as sex, violence and voyeurism are pervasive.
~~~~~
I think what’s happened is not indifference or laziness or incompetence, but the fact that most journalists on the plantation have so internalized conventional wisdom that they simply accept that the system is working as it should. I’m doing a documentary this spring called “Buying the War,” and I can’t tell you again how many reporters have told me that it just never occurred to them that high officials would manipulate intelligence in order to go to war. Hello?
~~~~~
SO I’M BACK WHERE I STARTED WITH YOU, AND WHERE THIS MOVEMENT IS HEADED. The greatest challenge to the plantation mentality of the media giants is the innovation and expression made possible by the digital revolution. I may still prefer the newspaper for its investigative journalism and in-depth analysis, but we now have it in our means to tell a different story from Big Media, our story.

The other story of America that says, free speech is not just corporate speech. That news is not just what officials tell us. And we are not just chattel in the fields living the boss man’s story. This is the great gift of the digital revolution, and you must never, never let them take it away from you. The Internet, cell phones and digital cameras that can transmit images over the Internet makes possible a nation of story tellers, every citizen a Tom Paine.

Let the man in the big house on Pennsylvania Avenue think that over, and the woman of the House on Capitol Hill. And the media moguls in their chalets at Sun Valley, gathered to review the plantation’s assets and multiply them, nail it to their door. They no longer own the copyright to America’s story. It’s not a top-down story anymore. Other folks are going to write this story from the ground up. And the truth will be out that the media plantation, like the cotton plantation of old, is not divinely sanctioned. It’s not the product of natural forces. The media system we have been living under for a long time now was created behind closed doors where the power-brokers met to divvy up the spoils.
~~~~~
Just this week, Sen. Byron Dorgan, a Democrat, and Sen. Olympia Snow, a Republican, introduced the Internet Freedom Preservation Act of 2007 to require fair and equitable access to all content. And over in the House, that champion of the public interest, Rep. Ed Markey, is once again standing there waiting to press the battle.

A caveat here. Those other folks don’t give up so easy. Remember, this agreement is only for two years, and they will be back with all the lobbyists money can hire. As the Washington Post follows George Bush into the black hole of Baghdad, the press in Washington won’t be covering many stories like this because of priorities.

A further caveat. Consider what AT&T got in the bargain. For giving up on Net Neutrality, it got the green light from government to dominate over 67 million phone lines in 22 states, almost 12 million broadband users, and total control over Cingular Wireless, the country’s largest mobile phone company with 58 million cell phone users. It’s as if China swallowed India.

I bring this up for a reason. Big Media is ravenous. It never gets enough, always wants more. And it will stop at nothing to get it. These conglomerates are an empire, and they are imperial.
~~~~~
Meanwhile, be vigilant about the congressional rewrite of the Telecommunications Act that is beginning as we speak. Track it day by day and post what you learn far and wide, because the decisions made in this session of Congress will affect the future of all media, corporate and noncommercial. If we lose the future now, we’ll never get it back.

{{{Highly recommended reading. I find it interesting that the Telecommunications Act was passed under Clinton... and then the media who profited most from that bill proceeded to crucify him on the altar of neoCon "values"....}}}

http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20070118/ap_on_re_as/us_afghanistan
Gates may seek more Afghanistan troops

Nonny O, Any wonder Murdoch is willing to hype Hillary, or Bill3, just in case it's in the cards for Dems that year. Bill knows how to play corporate ball better than most.

Posted by: karen at January 17, 2007 06:49 PM

So what does this mean, that my Rep Earl Pomeroy didn't sign that?

Probably a meaningless question, since his name didn't appear on it.

I write letters, but they don't seem to register.

Totally off topic. I don't know if American TV shows many BBC documentaries but I've just read a review of one I'll be watching tonight here in OZ. Without seeing it, I say it's one to watch out for.

http://www.yourtv.com.au/reviews/index.cfm?i=112982

Reviews
In the Shadow of the Palms: Iraq

Forget the righteous clips of propaganda and hollow news reports, and see a true insight into a country torn apart by war.

In the Shadow of the Palms: Iraq portrays life before, during, and after the fall of Saddam Hussein. Billed by the ABC as the only documentary to achieve such a feat and "a humane and profoundly authentic portrayal of the struggles of that country's people", this lives up to the promotion.

The hand-held style of filming adds to the authenticity and immediacy of what is on show. The people featured are heart-achingly real, and the level of connection achieved inspires not merely sympathy, but genuine empathy.

There is no voice-over or narration directing thought or sentiment. There is just the camera filming what unfolds before it. The only guide is self-contemplation and the only response is deeply personal.

When a teacher asks a student if she is afraid of war, the question resonates personally, as if directed at you across the screen. Everyday normality is juxtaposed against ruthless violence. Even in moments of peace, there is a pervading sense of menace that threatens to overwhelm.

The directness of filming and honesty of treatment compels you to engage and demands that you respond. This is not complacent viewing; it is an affecting session of human experience.

In the Shadow of the Palms: Iraq airs on ABC TV: Thursday, January 18, 9.30pm.

Minh Nguyen

http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20070118/ap_on_go_co/us_iraq
White House tries to avoid Iraq showdown

http://www.crooksandliars.com/2007/01/17/iraq-bushs-broken-egg/
Iraq: Bush’s Broken Egg

http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20070118/ap_on_go_ca_st_pe/aviation_security
No-fly list checked for accuracy, cut
{{{What's ironic is that last night's episode of Boston Legal dealt with the no-fly list....}}}

oops. The documentary reviewed above is from Australia, not the UK.

DOES television in US air BBC documentaries? I know for BBC Radio, I can only get a rare and short broadcast on my car radio, and I have to be in a certain location on the road.

This was not shown on American tv but everyone who has seen it has really talked it up as indispensible viewing:

http://www.archive.org/details/ThePowerOfNightmares

I did just watch some tv without the sound while on a treadmill at the health club. I watched some sea turtles on Animal Planet and a little Spongebob. I got a glimpse of Hillary Clinton and Harold Reid so I guess there are Democrats on tv sometimes now.

Original BBC blurb on Power of Nightmares, which was shown by BBC in the UK over 3 consecutive nights.

The Power of Nightmares: Baby It's Cold Outside

Should we be worried about the threat from organised terrorism or is it simply a phantom menace being used to stop society from falling apart? In the past our politicians offered us dreams of a better world. Now they promise to protect us from nightmares. The most frightening of these is the threat of an international terror network. But just as the dreams were not true, neither are these nightmares.

In a new series, the Power of Nightmares explores how the idea that we are threatened by a hidden and organised terrorist network is an illusion. It is a myth that has spread unquestioned through politics, the security services and the international media.

I: Baby It's Cold Outside
II: The Phantom Victory
III: The Shadows In The Cave
At the heart of the story are two groups: the American neo-conservatives and the radical Islamists. Both were idealists who were born out of the failure of the liberal dream to build a better world. These two groups have changed the world but not in the way either intended. Those with the darkest fears became the most powerful Together they created today's nightmare vision of an organised terror network. A fantasy that politicians then found restored their power and authority in a disillusioned age. Those with the darkest fears became the most powerful.

The rise of the politics of fear begins in 1949 with two men whose radical ideas would inspire the attack of 9/11 and influence the neo-conservative movement that dominates Washington. Both these men believed that modern liberal freedoms were eroding the bonds that held society together.
The two movements they inspired set out, in their different ways, to rescue their societies from this decay. But in an age of growing disillusion with politics, the neo-conservatives turned to fear in order to pursue their vision. They would create a hidden network of evil run by the Soviet Union that only they could see. The Islamists were faced by the refusal of the masses to follow their dream and began to turn to terror to force the people to "see the truth"'.

-----VERY interesting juxtaposition to the turning ahead of the nuclear annihilation clock.

http://www.theage.com.au/news/travel/us-man-wins-suit-in-airline-raceprofiling-case/2007/01/17/1168709808520.html

US man wins suit in airline race-profiling case
January 17, 2007 - 2:08PM

A Florida man removed from an American Airlines flight because he was considered a security threat has won a $US400,000 ($511,084) jury award in a case that accused the airline of racial profiling.

John Cerqueira, a US citizen of Portuguese descent, claimed that he was removed from a 2003 flight at Boston's Logan International Airport because he appeared Middle Eastern, and was denied service even after police determined he did not pose a threat.

Cerqueira's attorneys said today that the suit, which accused the airline of violating his civil rights, was the first of its kind to go to trial. The federal jury in Massachusetts made its decision on Friday.

Posted by: DiAnne at January 18, 2007 12:25 AM

The Power of Nightmares is also free for viewing in three segments of one hour each on YouTube. I posted a link to it a couple of threads back.

Yes, viewing it should be as "required" as An Inconvenient Truth.... IMHO, of course.

The extent to which Lamestream TV Media has brainwashed the viewing public is truly frightening - more for FACTS left out of their broadcasts than what few facts have ever been reported (missed if you didn't see/hear some five or ten seconds of a little mention of any of the few facts they've ever reported).

I hope at some point that Bill Moyers mentions the BBC series.... With Tomlinson gone, perhaps (only perhaps) something truly newsworthy may be on PBS again.

hey brother christian with your high and mighty errand-
your actions speak so loud i can't hear a word you're sayin-
hey sister bleeding heart with all of your compassion-
your labors soothe the hurt but can't assuage temptation-
hey man of science with your perfect rules of measure-
can you improve this place with the data that you gather?-
hey mother mercy will your loins bear fruit forever?-
is your fecundity a trummel or a treasure?

and i want to conquer the world-
give all the idiots a brand new religion-
put an end to poverty,uncleanliness and toil-
promote equality with all of my decisions-
with a quick wink of the eye and a "god you must joking!"-

hey mister diplomat with your worldly aspirations-
did you see the children cry when you left them at the station?-
hey moral soldier you've got righteous proclamation-
and precious tomes to fuel your pulpy conflagrations-

and i want to conquer the world-
give all the idiots a brand new religion-
put an end to poverty , uncleanliness and toil-
promote equality in all of my decisions-
and i want to conquer the world-
expose the culprits and feed them to the children-
i'll do away with air pollution and then i'll save the whales-

we'll have peace on earth and global communion-

i want to conquer the world!!!!

-----bad religion-"i want to conquer the world" no control, epitaph records 1989

http://news.yahoo.com/s/csm/20070117/wl_csm/ohappiness
New quest in British politics: public happiness
Excerpt:
'Department of happiness'
Tony Blair meanwhile has set up a government team, sometimes dubbed the "Department of Happiness" to study how to make people happier. An initial report, which collated international research, came up with some obvious findings, and one or two surprising ones.
~~~~~
{Seriously. I didn't know there were politicians as dumb as our dumber DimWit who said something to the effect that he 'wanted people to get on with their lives' to Jim Lehrer (sound bytes on the C&L Olberman link for the video) - although since Blair is Bu$h's poodle, perhaps this kind of nonsense can be expected. DimTwit wants us to buy, buy, buy and pay attention to trivial TV programs, shop some more, and ignore what neoCons are doing to us. He wants us pacified and compliant. It seems Blair wants the same for the Brits. I wonder if The Cretin will start some stupid program like what Blair is doing. I have a suggestion to make people happy: give us our rights and privileges back; stop the illegal war in Iraq and bring our troops home from both Iraq and Afghanistan; shut down Gitmo; tax the corporations and the very rich, not the middle-class and poor; get corporations out of our government - they already get tax breaks, they don't need corporate welfare on top of it; do something about affordable medical care, prescription medications, education (sensible legislation, not idiotic things like NCLB that teach to the tests). When those things are started on, the fear-mongering coming from Lamestream Media might ease off a bit and stop scaring the gullible sheeple out of their limited wits and maybe we can get back to some kind of normalcy. That's for starters. We can add to the list as soon as a few good things are accomplished....}

http://news.independent.co.uk/world/africa/article2162860.ece
Endangered gorillas eaten by rebel troops
{More on link, including mention of other endangered animals in Africa because of all the warring factions there. Dian Fossey must be just rolling in her grave.}

http://news.independent.co.uk/world/africa/article2149716.ece
US strikes on al-Qa'ida chiefs kill nomads
Excerpt:
The operation, which opened a new front in Washington's anti-terror campaign, seems to have backfired spectacularly in the five days since it was launched. In addition to the scores of Somali civilians killed, the simmering civil war in the failed state has been rekindled.

http://news.independent.co.uk/world/africa/article2145150.ece
US strikes on Somalia 'missed target'

Maliki stresses need to bolster Iraqi forces
Need for U.S. forces could drop ‘dramatically,’ Iraqi prime minister says

By Joshua Partlow
The Washington Post
Jan 18, 2007

BAGHDAD, Jan. 17 - The Iraqi government's need for American troops would "dramatically go down" in three to six months if the United States accelerated the process of equipping and arming Iraq's security forces, Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki said Wednesday.

The head of Iraq's Shiite Muslim-led government defended his country's independence and sovereignty and called on U.S. leaders to show faith in his ability to lead.

Maliki disputed President Bush's remarks broadcast Tuesday that the execution of former Iraqi president Saddam Hussein "looked like it was kind of a revenge killing" and took exception to Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice's Senate testimony last week that Maliki's administration was on "borrowed time."

The prime minister said statements such as Rice's "give morale boosts for the terrorists and push them toward making an extra effort and making them believe they have defeated the American administration," Maliki said. "But I can tell you that they have not defeated the Iraqi government."

Speaking through an interpreter to a group of reporters for an hour in his offices in Baghdad's fortified Green Zone, Maliki found several ways to say that Iraq is beholden to no country. He defended Iraq's constitutional right to the death penalty, its commitment to dialogue with Iran and Syria despite U.S. opposition to those governments, and its determination to use Iraqi troops to lead the latest effort to pacify Baghdad.

At a time when Bush has committed an additional 21,500 troops to the fight in Iraq, Maliki went further than he has before in establishing a time frame for drawing down the U.S. presence.

"If we succeed in implementing the agreement between us to speed up the equipping and providing weapons to our military forces, I think that within three to six months our need for the American troops will dramatically go down. That's on the condition that there are real strong efforts to support our military forces and equipping them and arming them," Maliki said.

In a statement issued by Maliki's office Tuesday, he said Iraq would continue to build up its armed forces "so it will be possible to withdraw the Multinational forces from cities, or withdraw 50,000 soldiers from Iraq."

more...
http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/16660849/

Posted by: karen at January 17, 2007 06:49 PM

So what does this mean, that my Rep Earl Pomeroy didn't sign that?

Probably a meaningless question, since his name didn't appear on it.

I write letters, but they don't seem to register.

Posted by: Truth Shall Prevail at January 17, 2007 11:49 PM

Truth,

The bill is just being drafted and others will sign on as the details are worked out. It has to go through a lot of steps before it can even be considered by Congress as a whole.

There is likely to be a Senate bill that corresponds but it's not clear whose version will survive.

Once the House bill is worked out a little more it will be important for those of us who support it to send strong messages to representatives.

What excited me about the bill is that it is what we can point to when the r-w says that there is no other plan for ending the conflict.

There were many such bills in the 109th Congress, but they never went anywhere. This proposal connects all of those little bills up and is likely to move further along in the 110th.

As most of you know, UFPJ has called for a march on Jan. 27th along with a lobby day on Jan. 29th. If you can come to DC and actually sit in your Representative's office and speak to staff, that is great and we would love to see you here.

If you can't come, you CAN call on that day.

It would be exciting to see the staff dealing with phones ringing off the hook.

The abandonment of George W. Bush
Will his veto pen be all that keeps him relevant for the next two years?

By Charlie Cook

WASHINGTON - While it is not unprecedented for a president to be ostracized by Congress, abandoned by even most of his own party's members, it's still pretty rare.

It was a delegation of congressional Republicans who convinced Richard Nixon that his days were numbered and that it was time to step down.

-snip-

Much can happen between now and a vote on George W. Bush's proposal to increase troop levels in Iraq. Congressional Republicans might come up with competing resolutions that express some broad support for the president's plan without explicitly endorsing higher troop levels, or perhaps a resolution opposing any move by Congress that might not reflect support for the troops, or something to that effect.

But there is a very distinct possibility that the president might find himself on the wrong end of a resolution opposing any additional troops, with as much as a majority of his own party's lawmakers expressing opposition to his plan.

It is not far-fetched to see upwards of 60 or 65 senators and 250 House members voting for such a resolution. Under such a scenario, Bush would suffer a stunning repudiation on what has become his signature policy and, for better or worse, the legacy for his presidency.

A significant defeat on this issue would codify the president's loss in public standing and the willingness of Republicans to part company with him, even on the issue most closely identified with Bush. And having defied the president on Iraq, it will not be hard to do it again on other issues less closely identified with him. It's not hard to see a cascading effect take hold.

Two consecutive elections -- 2002 and 2004 -- of Republican gains in both the House and Senate had caused some GOP members to think of themselves as almost bulletproof. With a perception that they didn't need to look over their shoulders at their districts on tough votes, last fall's loss of six Senate seats and 30 House seats, and the majorities they supported, changed all of that.

Now, the unrelenting bad news from Iraq has left the president in less-than-stellar standing with many Republicans on Capitol Hill.

Add to that the feeling among many Republicans that had Bush dumped Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld before the election, they would have been able to hold on to the majority -- albeit diminished by scandals -- and the commander-in-chief is left in low regard within the GOP cloakrooms.

-snip-

Many months ago, this column asked if the American people were about to hit the mute button on Bush, or if they had simply stopped listening to him entirely. My hunch is that we have reached that point and that most Republican members of Congress realize it, and their own survival instincts will be the more dominant factor in their voting behavior, rather than fealty to their party leader.

more...
http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/16675806/

Great thread header - need to remind Elizabeth to look here (our regional expert on fairness and clarity in voting).

I wake thinking about all this crap - it's not right! People wonder why the Democrats aren't more different from the Republicans. Globalization has helped in killing unions so that both parties now must depend somewhat (Republcians more than Democrats) on corporate help to fund candidates.

We're not a Welfare State so much as a Walmart State. Our dollar was worth $1.15 to the Euro but has gone down to more like $.65 since Bush came along. One of six of us lack health insurance but in other developed countries, the government usually kicks in what our boss doesn't. The disparity between what the CEO earns and the lowest worker earns runs 4-5x more on average in US than in, for example, France. & in European elections, there is always someone running who wants to introduce a more American model, with more outsourcing, more foreign goods, less taxes for the rich & a lower standard of living for the masses.

We have to have a lot of campaign finance reform and we need to do something about hypercorporatism. In the past, we had legislation limiting the extent of mergers and consolidation. There was a reason for this. It's gotten out of control and we need to do something about it. Protectionism isn't necessarily the answer but we need to stop the deficit spending and pay as we go. 2006 election was a landmark and now we have to do whatever it takes to get the neocons out of the spheres of influence. They are literally killing us and the planet for their own profit.

Most definitions of fascism specify that the corporations are running society. We don't have concentration camps. We have INS camps. What is the difference ..

We won't get much more out of corporate media than our bodies get out of corporate food. Salt kills our kidneys, transfats kill our livers and Walmart now sells groceries so the workers can shop at the company store. They can now require workers to be on-call 24/7 and soon they'll offer banking. If they extend credit, the workers will be completely enslaved. & remember - Walmart is now going upscale in some locations, selling what has turned out to be fake organic food and starting to carry expensive wines, quiche, luxury items in a more upscale facade. Prototype: Plano Texas.

I know the EU isn't perfect but the deficit isn't supposed to run over 3% or a member can be fined or even kicked out. How is deficit computed? I wonder what percentage our 2006 deficit is of our GDP, compared to other developed countries? Even with large state programs, massive immigration and aging populations, I'll bet if they aren't at war they aren't creating as huge of deficits. Some countries have universal preschool with Master's level teachers, and a certain number of respite hours for parents, regardless of income. Parental leave for both parents of several months instead of several weeks for just the mother.

I have three degrees and was back teaching within two weeks of the birth of the son. I nursed him between classes. My brother and his wife are both college educated and they have children 4 and 6. None of them have any health insurance. He has a pain in his side and a prostate so enlarged he can hardly pee. They had a business which failed and are deeply in debt. Made a few mistakes and completely fell off the machine. That's what happens in the Walmart state.

Recently we had a couple of snowstorms. The place where I work closed down. I had to use vacation time in order to get paid and for those who had been sick several times and didn't have time left, they didn't get paid at all. We can only carry over 34 hours at the end of the year, which includes holidays, sick and vacation all in one pot. That's about four days work and we've just started the year.

This may still be the richest country on earth but most of it is going to the top 1-2%. The figures on how much moreso this is over the last 6 years are staggering and frightening. Bush is nothing but the symbol of the 1-2%, bolstered up by the "values voters" who are voting against themselves and consigning themselves indefinitely to the Walmart State.

Posted by: DiAnne at January 18, 2007 09:21 AM

Things that make ya go, "duh".

It was Greed killed the beast.

... and it killed the Beauty, too.

Humorist Art Buchwald dies at 81
Columnist received Pulitzer Prize for political, social satires

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/16687845/

In the master's chambers they gather for the feast; they stab it with their steely knives, but they just can't kill the beast.

RIP Art Buchwald.

I am at yet another anti-torture event, this time in the Rayburn Bldg. of the House of Representatives. This one is a press conference in which Ann Wright will announce a call for the censure of Charles "Cully" Stimson from civil rights groups and the National Lawyer's Guild, the American Association of Jurists, the International Association of Democratic Lawyers, and the Society of American Law Teachers. There is another letter signed by Deans of law schools around the country--three pages of them.

Stimson is the Deputy Asst. Secty. of Defense for Detainee Affairs. He made statements attacking the lawyers who are defending the Guantanamo detainees. Apparently he made remarks aimed at chilling the willingness of lawyers to represent GITMO detainees.

Stimson's remarks are part of a large wool-blinding effort on the part of the Bush Adminstration to have us believe that the government's role in GITMO is one of caring and protection.

I heard the Diane Rehm Show on the way over and someone (will have to check later) was soothing the masses.

Medea started the conference re her recent visit to GITMO. The released prisoners and family members who were with them cannot come to the US and speak out, so others will have to share the stories.

Medea telling us about prisoners who were sold for a bounty of about $5000 (if they were accused of being Taliban) or $25,000 (if they were accused of being Al Quaeda). It was more lucrative to turn someone in as Al Quaeda than Taliban.

They showed "The Road To Guantanamo" in the town near GITMO and Asif Iqbal was with them. Over 1,000 people showed up to see the film.

They came back from GITMO and saw that there were protests on Jan. 11 all over the world. 89 were arrested here in DC.

The outrage of people around the word is evident. They have been walking the halls of Congress and talking with legislators about repealing the Military Commissions, defund Guantanamo (Murtha introduced this and Leahy will introduce in the Senate), restore habeus corpus and shut down Guantanamo.

Colonel Ann Wright:

GITMO has held over 770 prisoners. Only 5% of thm picked up by US forces. 95% were SOLD to US forces.

Only 400 were released. Therefore over 50% of the 770 are free in their own countries, several after hearings in those countries.

Only 50-80 people will ever face charges. The rest are just sitting there. They cannot see the evidence on which they are being held.

Ann is appalled at the changes and ignoring of the Code of Military Justice. She says that military judges have been upset about this from the beginning.

Franks said these people would be called prisoners of war, but those cards were taken away once they got to Guantanamo.

Dec. 2001, the US said to the Cubans that prisoners would be arriving in GITMO. They told the Cubans they would be treated under the Geneva Conventions. Rumsfield changed this soon after the
prisoners arrived. They are now "enemy combatants."

The Supreme Court TOLD the US government they needed to adhere to the Geneva Conventions and the Bush administration convinced Congress to pass the Military Commissions Act.

Ann will be devoting herself to overturning the Act. We can help.

Ann describing the prisoners loss of kidney and eyesight due to being held in darkness and cramped quarters, along with hearing loss due to the playing of loud music all the time.

Ann Wilcox now speaking. She is an attorney and is talking about Stimson. Stimson threatened large law firms. He used to be a US Attorney in DC. He said that attorneys needed to choose between lucrative contracts representing large corporations and defending terrorists. He was speaking to the corporate leaders as much as the lawyers themselves.

Ann just called for the resignation of Charles Stimson.

I have to go to a meeting. If any of you would like to share the above information, please feel free to do so.

Question: What about the secret prisons and the ghost planes?

Answer: We will be pressuring Congress to hold oversight hearings. Ann beleives the secret prisons are not closed. There's a new prison at Bagram Air Base in Afghanistan. According to some prisoners, including Begg, torture is worse there than in GITMO.

Discussion of how dangerous it is getting--those who went to Cuba can be classified as enemy combatants if the standards used in picking these guys up in the first place.

Ann is pointing out the there is a free pass for criminal activity by public officials but not for private citizens speaking out.

Bush is nothing but the symbol of the 1-2%, bolstered up by the "values voters" who are voting against themselves and consigning themselves indefinitely to the Walmart State.

Posted by: DiAnne at January 18, 2007 09:21 AM

The brilliance is in the campaigning of the Republicans, who successfully convinced voters that the image of two men tying the knot is so frightening, that it had to be blocked, even at the expense of the average voter's wellbeing.

Honestly, any population that buys this crap deserves what they voted for.

And our churches must share the blame as well, for their blatant support of the W agenda and calling him a Godsend. I've rejected all of that, and now, as a result, Beliefnet.com's Belief-O-Matic tells me that most Christian denominations are only 10-20% compatible with me.

in European elections, there is always someone running who wants to introduce a more American model, with more outsourcing, more foreign goods, less taxes for the rich & a lower standard of living for the masses.

Posted by: DiAnne at January 18, 2007 09:09 AM

Not just in Europe, but Latin America (Mexico's PAN being a very good example) and Asia (Japan's Liberal Democratic Party, Taiwan's Kuomintang, South Korea's Grand National Party) as well.

And I won't be surprised if all these parties are being funded by our Republican war chest.

Medea telling us about prisoners who were sold for a bounty of about $5000 (if they were accused of being Taliban) or $25,000 (if they were accused of being Al Quaeda). It was more lucrative to turn someone in as Al Quaeda than Taliban.

Posted by: karen at January 18, 2007 11:10 AM

It's never about keeping America safe or defeating the terrorists. It's always been about the money.

Sad to hear this fact.

He said that attorneys needed to choose between lucrative contracts representing large corporations and defending terrorists.

Posted by: karen at January 18, 2007 11:23 AM

Fascism, plain and simple.

I still haven't forgotten how John Roberts made his fame - by helping Toyota overturn Americans with Disabilities Act.

Posted by: monkey at January 18, 2007 08:44 AM

May that article go from Cook's keyboard to the eyes of the Goddess at the speed of an email for all due deliberation....

US man wins suit in airline race-profiling case
January 17, 2007 - 2:08PM

Posted by: woz at January 18, 2007 12:45 AM

I'll keep this in mind before taking my next flight on American (or Northwest, United, JetBlue, or Southwest, all of whom discriminate against certain races and W's opponents).

Thanks.

The outrage of people around the word is evident. They have been walking the halls of Congress and talking with legislators about repealing the Military Commissions, defund Guantanamo (Murtha introduced this and Leahy will introduce in the Senate), restore habeus corpus and shut down Guantanamo.
Posted by: karen at January 18, 2007 11:12 AM

KUDOS (and a HUGE HUG) to you for being there and reporting this wonderful news to us, since I've no doubt it will ever be reported in Lamestream Media and I haven't worked up enough courage to check them out (I know I'd only be outraged and disappointed and I can't deal with that right now).

THANK YOU, KAREN!!! And may the people with those proposals succeed in their endeavors. If/When we hear about those bills in their final formats, I will be the first to (again) write my legislators to urge that they support repealing the entire MCA '06, de-funding Bu$hCo's wars and closing Gitmo bring the guard and reserves home where they belong, and redeploy the regular military elsewhere (among other things of urgent importance)....

May the good you do be returned to you a hundred-fold....

http://www.crooksandliars.com/2007/01/18/gonzos-busy-day/
Gonzo’s Busy Day
Keith Olbermann: Countdown: War on the Nation's Judges
Interesting...! It discusses what Feinstein brought to our attention regarding judicial firing and interim appointments made without Senate confirmation hearings; interview with Turley....

Also, if you go to the MSNBC web site, see if you can pull up the video of Scarbourough Country (I don't know how to find a link on that video page). I think the title of the video is Daily News: Bad News for America, or Sugar Coated News. It discusses an editorial in an eastern newspaper (Baltimore?) that criticized Jon Stewart's take on the news. NeoCons are writing much ado about nothing - again. Big surprise... not.

Posted by: NonnyO at January 18, 2007 12:40 PM

Aye tawt y'mite like dat.

Nonny:

I am not the one to thank. Ann Wright, Medea Benjamin, Cindy Sheehan, Ann Wilcox, Leah Bolger, Gael Murphy: these are the ones putting their lives on the line (not their life itself, but their jobs, families, lifestyles etc.)

I am amazed at how much they know and how formidable they are when they talk to the Members. It's the authority that comes from direct experience and hearing the stories of pain and loss that gives them the gravitas with the Congress.

I am going to a Code Pink fundraiser tonight and I can pass along any thanks or messages you would like to offer!

I am in a meeting and a friend just sent me this--perhaps you have all seen it but it is making me giggle during this meeting:

16 Things it took me over 50 years to learn...
by Dave Barry, Nationally Syndicated Columnist

1. Never, under any circumstances, take a sleeping pill and a laxative on the same night.

2. If you had to identify, in one word, the reason why the human race has not achieved, and never will achieve, its full potential, that word would be "meetings."

3. There is a very fine line between "hobby" and "mental illness."

4. People who want to share their religious views with you almost never want you to share yours with them.

5. You should not confuse your career with your life.

6. Nobody cares if you can't dance well. Just get up and dance. (This one is very important)

7. Never lick a steak knife.

8. The most destructive force in the universe is gossip.

9. You will never find anybody who can give you a clear and compelling reason why we observe daylight savings time.

10. You should never say anything to a woman that even remotely suggests that you think she's pregnant unless you can see an actual baby emerging from her at that moment.

11. There comes a time when you should stop expecting other people to make a big deal about your birthday. That time is age 11.

12. The one thing that unites all human beings, regardless of age, gender, religion, economic status or ethnic background, is that, deep down inside, we ALL believe that we are above average drivers.

13. A person, who is nice to you, but rude to a waiter, is not a nice person. (This is very important. Pay attention. It never fails.)

14. Your friends love you anyway.

15. Never be afraid to try something new. Remember that a lone amateur built the Ark. A large group of professionals built the Titanic.

16. Thought for the day: Men are like fine wine . . . They start out as grapes; and it's up to the women to stomp the crap out of them until they turn into something acceptable to have dinner with.

Posted by: karen at January 18, 2007 01:58 PM

You're being modest... (IMHO). You're reporting to us what's happening when we who are thousands of miles away can't be with you, and you're reporting things we never hear about via Lamestream Media. That alone is deserving of kudos, but I am quite aware that you do so much more by participating in demonstrations and talking to people. We probably don't know the half of it, only what you choose tell us, and I admire you for everything you are doing.....

However, if you want to pass along my (our?) thanks and admiration, give each person you mentioned (and anyone not mentioned but doing the same things as you and the people you mentioned) who is fighting so hard on our behalf a GIANT HUG from me (us?). Well, from me, for sure!

I admire Ann Wright, Medea Benjamin, Cindy Sheehan, Ann Wilcox, Leah Bolger, Gael Murphy - and you and others whose words and actions I read about on links and share here - more than my inadequate words can express. If it makes a difference to you or to them to know that someone appreciates all of your efforts on our behalf, then by all means, please pass on my humble gratitude and appreciation....

I am posting most of an email I got from Barbara Boxer's PAC because I can't find a link to the same message on her web site (altho the email sent to me has links to her web site where one can write letters about stopping the war).

As the new Congress moves quickly to address a set of domestic issues that cry out for change -- including ethics, prescription drug costs, student loans, stem cell research, and many others -- the war in Iraq rages on, and President Bush continues to defy every voice of reason.

The right-wing war room is up and running as strong as ever, and I can tell you first-hand how vicious it is.

You have probably already seen or read about the point I made to Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice last week -- that neither she nor I had family who would pay with their lives for this war. I want the Bush Administration to focus on the military families who are suffering when proposing an escalation in Iraq.

The response of White House Press Secretary Tony Snow and the right-wing media was immediate. Did they make the case that the Bush Administration totally understood the agony our military families are going through but that escalation of the war was still the only course for them? No, of course not. Instead, they tried to distract the American people from the real issues by claiming that I was personally attacking Secretary Rice, calling me every name in the book.

This is the same thing they did a couple years ago when I told Secretary Rice that her loyalty to the Administration trumped her loyalty to the truth. In a page from the same old tired playbook, the right-wing media machine then said I was anti-woman.

There is nothing that the Bush Administration won't do to try and silence their opponents. There is nothing that they won't do with their right-wing allies to try and change the subject away from the Iraq war itself to some made-up side issue.

We can't let this distract us. It is so crucial that we all keep up the pressure to start bringing out troops home so the Iraqis know that Iraq is their country, we are not occupiers, and they must defend themselves. It is also crucial that we keep up the pressure for a political and diplomatic solution to this travesty -- to bring together all of the countries in the region with the coalition President Bush says he has, in order to meet and hammer out the details for bringing about a peaceful Iraq. Instead, the Bush Administration is only offering a military escalation which means more and more killing, leaving our sons and daughters in the middle of a full-blown civil war.
~~~~~
It's time for Congress to go on record. The American people spoke loud and clear at the polls last November, and now their elected representatives must stand up to the Bush Administration's reckless escalation plan.

The Iraq war is hanging like a dark cloud over our nation and the world. I will not be silenced, and I know you won't either. Let's work as hard as we can to change course and start bringing our brave men and women home so the Iraqis can take responsibility for their own country.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
http://www.barbaraboxer.com/

The emails she's encouraging people to write are noted on her web site, but not the content of the email mostly quoted above.

http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20070118/ap_on_re_mi_ea/iraq_un
Iraq slams U.N. report on casualties

I am going to a Code Pink fundraiser tonight and I can pass along any thanks or messages you would like to offer!

Posted by: karen at January 18, 2007 01:58 PM

To ALL who are involved at any level, Karen, please pass on appreciation for the dedication and energy you are giving to your tasks. Without you posting your *on-the-spot* notes we would be in the dark too. It takes ALL people in ALL kinds of roles to get the changes happening. You are. They will.

Many in Australia are grateful for your actions.

Republican Rebels Defy Bush Line
http://www.guardian.co.uk/usa/story/0,,1993810,00.html

I enjoy how the Brits frame & phrase things!

Al-Maliki Says Iraq Needs More Weapons
http://today.reuters.co.uk/news/articlenews.aspx?type=topNews&storyID=2007-01-18T091414Z_01_L18911961_RTRUKOC_0_UK-IRAQ-USA-MALIKI.xml

..not necessarily more troops. Double binds abound. If we stay, it's a quagmire. If we leave, it's chaos. If we arm them, maybe we can leave, but maybe we'll be arming both sides of a civil war.

Iran strike rumor not true
http://www.iol.co.za/index.php?set_id=1&click_id=22&art_id=qw1169133663511B265

Did I miss something?

& wondering why Bush & Gonzalez suddenly decided spontaneously to cooperate with FISA but Gonzalez is acting so spooky with Congress. Makes ya wonder if someone is hiding something.

This seem wierd to anyone?

Schumer, Specter and Sen. Russ Feingold (D-Wisc.) each questioned why the Bush administration hadn't approached the court sooner if it had truly begun exploring that option in spring 2005, as it said in its Wednesday letter.

"This is a very complicated application," Gonzales replied. "In many ways it's innovative in terms of the orders granted by the judge. It's not the kind of thing you just pull off the shelf. We worked on it a long time."

http://news.com.com/Attorney+general+mum+on+spy+program+court+orders/2100-1028_3-6151209.html

--I mean, the government has been spying on citizens and Congress is going to just drop it and just BELIEVE it's suddenly all under control because Gonzalez and Bush say it is?

Posted by: DiAnne at January 18, 2007 03:14 PM

Who on earth is this Tony Snow moron? He's now choking on the hook holding the al Qaida bait. Has he been asleep these past years? He appears to have sucked up the Bush rhetoric, which even the little lunatic himself doesn't spout much of these days. Osmosis over the moat maybe. Either way, Americans aren't getting much value for their money from this one.

Posted by: woz at January 18, 2007 03:59 PM

Tony Snow used to be a "news" person at Fox... the official network for neoCon propaganda. They've swallowed all the lies, hook, line and sinker, and continue to repeat the lies, even disproved lies. Truly amazing.

With all the "snow jobs" (lies, half-lies, patent propagandistic party lines) Tony spouts, he's perfect for the job....

..not necessarily more troops. Double binds abound. If we stay, it's a quagmire. If we leave, it's chaos. If we arm them, maybe we can leave, but maybe we'll be arming both sides of a civil war.

Posted by: DiAnne at January 18, 2007 03:25 PM

If you arm them - how is that different from what the US did with Saddam? How different from Iran? The Bush preference isn't necessarily the best one for Iraq itself. So which side gets armed? And which side gets gassed this time?

They are going to have to sort it themselves at some point. Sad, but true. We have guilt for the mess we've made of their country. But staying will only compound that issue.

Posted by: NonnyO at January 18, 2007 02:33 PM

Thanks for sharing! There is my Senator!

Posted by: Ally McRepuke at January 18, 2007 04:36 PM

I never did figure out the flap about Boxer's comments to Rice. Boxer was only stating facts, no innuendo meant or implied. Duh. But the neoCons sure had a distracting hissy fit about the imagined slight for a couple of days....

Briggs and Briggs | Bush and the Psychology of Incompetent Decisions
http://www.truthout.org/docs_2006/011807J.shtml
According to John P. Briggs, MD, and J.P. Briggs II, PhD, President George W. Bush prides himself on "making tough decisions." But many are sensing something seriously troubling, even psychologically unbalanced, about the president as a decision-maker. They are right. Because of a psychological dynamic swirling around deeply hidden feelings of inadequacy, the president has been driven to make increasingly incompetent and risky decisions. This dynamic makes the psychological stakes for him now unimaginably high. The words "success" and "failure" have seized his rhetoric like metaphors for his psyche's survival.

Democrats Target Royalty Breaks for Oil Firms
http://www.truthout.org/docs_2006/011807N.shtml
As the House prepared to impose new fees on oil and gas taken from federal waters, some Senate Democrats said Wednesday that royalty breaks for energy companies ought to be abandoned. House Democrats are confident they can approve an energy package Thursday that includes a conservation fee on oil and gas from the Gulf of Mexico, seeks to recoup royalties lost because of a government error in drilling leases in the late 1990s, and rolls back several oil-industry tax breaks.

David Swanson | Impeach Disney and General Electric
http://www.truthout.org/docs_2006/011807O.shtml
David Swanson argues that by any serious standard of journalism, impeachment should be in the news right now. This illustrates the worst problem with our media. It's not how they cover stories. It's how they do not cover stories. A Newsweek poll a while back said that 51 percent of Americans want Bush impeached and 44 percent do not. That's about double the support there was for impeaching Clinton when it was in the news every single day.

David Swanson | Impeach Disney and General Electric
http://www.truthout.org/docs_2006/011807O.shtml

Posted by: NonnyO at January 18, 2007 04:42 PM

Thanks for sharing... So on the point.

Still working on the header issue, which is very confusing, thinking about which way to introduce paper ballots and scanners, as voluntary and not mandated, because Federal doesn't like to tell the states what to do. HAVA interpretaion was made by the vendors selling expensive and faulty. Audits and spot check counts at current law at 2-3%, but only effective at 20% for 97% assurance to capture outcome altering errors, needs law, but no one is yet addressing.

Everyone and his mother have ideas how to amend Holt's Bill, to be introduced in the Senate by Dianne Feinstein, the only bill to support.

Hillary's, and Kerry as co-sponsor, was drafted as too high-tech friendly (and can't be certified) at an earlier time in the chain of proof and recent elections.

Someone new at the committe responsible is paperless frinedly. Don't know her background, but local level election official, to machine company lobbyist, to high Federal official has been a revolving door of late. That is a bi-partisan lapse.

Too many problems with paper trails to consider, at all. Just the computer auditing itself, and we never see the legal vote inside.

I'm making a couple of calls to get an answer for myself how to proceed, in addition to the national e-mails I've received.

Posted by: Ally McRepuke at January 18, 2007 04:44 PM

Makes me feel better to know that some of what I've been doing (writing my Congress Critters and media) is on the right track. I can't do it all because I'm working with physical limitations, but hopefully cramming inboxes will nudge someone somewhere....

I noted, too, that Swanson also believes impeachment can take place while Congress Critters carry on with the other normal business of the nation, so the process won't take that much time. Really, the only thing holding up the process is Pelosi. I will never forgive her if she doesn't change her mind about impeachment, and I have to wonder how she's being blackmailed or paid off by someone if she can't do what's right for the American people by putting impeachment back ON the table. If Pelosi continues to fight to keep the impeachment process from happening, I'll be left to wonder "well, just how corrupt IS she...?"

Pelosi and the other politicians now have the opportunity to do right by the American people, and I do not understand why we are faced with 'more politics as usual' and most of the same corrupting influences we had with the last Congress, including a corrupt Lamestream Media.

It's truly mind-boggling.

http://www.crooksandliars.com/2007/01/18/hagel-joins-dems-in-opposing-escalation/
Hagel Joins Dems in Opposing Escalation (Video)

This helps, but it's not enough....

http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20070118/ap_on_re_us/marines_iraq_shooting

Marine pleads guilty to Iraqi killing

CAMP PENDLETON, Calif. - A Marine corporal pleaded guilty Thursday to kidnapping and murdering an unarmed Iraqi civilian last year, and said his sergeant made sure the victim was dead by firing a burst of gunfire into the man's head.

{More on link. If the illegal war had never been started, this wouldn't have happened.}

Posted by: karen at January 18, 2007 08:29 AM

T.Y. I appreciate the explanation. I learn as much if not more from the discussions and explanations here as I do from the articles themselves. Sometimes it just helps tie it all together for me. I really enjoy the conversations.

Pentagon Rules Allow Coerced Detainee Testimony
http://www.truthout.org/docs_2006/011807R.shtml
The Pentagon's rules for upcoming detainee trials would allow terrorism suspects to be convicted and perhaps executed based on hearsay evidence and some coerced testimony.

{{{This kangaroo court justice is just SO wrong on SO many levels!}}}

Jane Fonda | A Powerful Media Can Stop a War
http://www.truthout.org/issues_06/011807WA.shtml
"The op-ed pages are notoriously barren of female voices.... One reason for this is that women usually aren't the ones calling the shots," writes Jane Fonda in an article discussing the recent National Conference for Media Reform and her recent co-creation of the Women's Media Center.

Resignations at Federal Election Commission Raise Concern
http://www.truthout.org/docs_2006/011807S.shtml
The announcement yesterday that the top two lawyers for the Federal Election Commission had resigned helped spread an undercurrent of concern about the diminishing role of a once-prominent public voice on the intersection of money and politics.

Methodist Ministers Launch Petition to Stop Bush Library at SMU
http://www.truthout.org/docs_2006/011807T.shtml
A group of Methodist ministers from across the nation launched an online petition drive Thursday, urging Southern Methodist University to stop trying to land George W. Bush's presidential library. The ministers are concerned that linking themselves with the current presidency was "utterly inappropriate."

{How's that for your tiny little ego, eh, georgie? 'War president' legacy, eh? heh, heh, heh....}

Briggs and Briggs | Bush and the Psychology of Incompetent Decisions
http://www.truthout.org/docs_2006/011807J.shtml

Posted by: NonnyO at January 18, 2007 04:42 PM

Great article. If that ain't the truth!!! (Scareeeeey!)

Woah!

There is ALOT to take in these days and in these times!!! ALOT to cover and read, and I am working on it!

Saw a brief clip of Dubya on the network news this evening and he seemed to be arguing about someone's new idea (well, he ASKED for them) not working, or being the same thing he's been doing, and yada yada yada.

Gag.

..not necessarily more troops. Double binds abound. If we stay, it's a quagmire. If we leave, it's chaos. If we arm them, maybe we can leave, but maybe we'll be arming both sides of a civil war.

Posted by: DiAnne at January 18, 2007 03:25 PM

Like we've never done that before????

Posted by: karen at January 18, 2007 02:22 PM

LOL!!!!

'Specially never lick your steak knife.

(He who does speaks with a forked tongue?)

http://news.yahoo.com/s/afp/20070118/wl_mideast_afp/usiraqmilitarypolitics_070118110714

Maliki calls for more US arms for Iraqi army

{Ah, such big bombs you have! The better to kill you with, my dears....}

Truth Shall Prevail
US arming both sides? You're right! We did it when Iran & Iraq had a war almost a decade long!

Woz
Now I see you have already pointed that out (that we armed both sides). & Tony Snow is the 3rd press secretary for Bush, because the other two quit. All 3 have been pathetic. What kind of job would that possibly be - Explainer for the Decider. Whew!

Very ltd opportunity to follow news til drove home - then I had the opportunity to hear Patrick Leahy grilling Gonzales and he said some good things. Gonzales kind of danced around.

If this is true - the overseers of GITMO are sicker than I thought.

http://www.theage.com.au/news/world/a-monkey-in-a-cage/2007/01/19/1169095944214.html

Hicks like 'a monkey in a cage'
January 19, 2007 - 9:39AM

Australian terrorism suspect David Hicks has been put on display at Guantanamo Bay like "a monkey in a cage", says his US lawyer.

Major Michael Mori, Hicks' defence lawyer, questioned a claim by Foreign Affairs Minister Alexander Downer this week that Hicks was mentally fit to face trial, saying he planned to visit his client as soon as possible to see for himself.

Mr Downer said his comments were based on a meeting someone had with Hicks inside Guantanamo Bay in the past week, but refused to reveal who that person was.

But Major Mori said he understood Hicks had been "put on display for some visiting dignitaries".

"He's being used as a monkey in a cage for people to come to stare at," he said.

The party included officials from the US embassy in Australia, Major Mori said, and there were no health professionals involved.

"What I'm concerned about is, I don't believe David would want to reveal the problems he's having to the people who are controlling his life down there," Major Mori said.

Hicks, 31, has been detained since his capture among Taliban forces in Afghanistan in December 2001.

The Muslim convert appeared before a US military commission in August 2004 and pleaded not guilty to charges of conspiracy, attempted murder and aiding the enemy.

But the charges were dropped when the US Supreme Court ruled last June that the military commissions created to try Guantanamo Bay detainees were unlawful.

AAP

2nd last para - who does that apply to? Or, an easier question, who does it not apply to?
1. Charge of conspiracy - seems to fit a whole range of conspiracies about WOMD, al-Quaeda in Iraq, the terrorists running amok in Iraq right now - there are a few conspirators waiting to fall, though I don't expect they will.

2. Charge of attempted murder - yep, also fits a range of orders - get information in any way you can, even if the consequences mean death. Many people could line up behind this one and the evidence doesn't need to be gathered by torture. The evidence IS.

3. Charge of aiding the enemy - now where should I start? Which day? which enemy? Taliban? Al-Qaida? Hamas? Hizbollah? Saddam? Enemy with money to make by trafficking *terrorists* to the US military? No proof needed; all proof will be created later.

This is an old article, but since the al Qaida targets were *missed* repeatedly, it's fairly current really.

It's beyond Bush to resolve Iraq
Jonathan Freedland
January 12, 2007

SAY what you like about George Bush, but no one can accuse him of following the crowd. When everyone from the American electorate to the US military brass, along with a rare consensus of world opinion, cries out with one voice to say "enough" of the war in Iraq, Bush heads in the opposite direction — and decides to escalate.

When his army chiefs complain of desperate overstretch in the war on terror, he takes that as his cue to open up another front. And that's just this week.

On Sunday night the US military launched an air strike — not on Iraq or Afghanistan, but on southern Somalia. Some reports claim that the bombing has continued ever since.

If you didn't know that Somalia was on the enemies' list — if you're finding it hard, what with Syria and Iran and North Korea, to keep track of Washington's foes, don't blame yourself. These days the axis of evil is expanding faster than the European Union, with a couple of new members added every January.

Continue .......
http://www.theage.com.au/news/opinion/its-beyond-bush-to-resolve-iraq/2007/01/11/1168105112166.html

Law Council slams 'unfair system'
January 19, 2007 - 10:18AM

The US Defence Department today released a manual which revamps regulations for its US military commissions set to try Hicks and other Guantanamo Bay detainees.

The initial commissions were ruled unlawful by the US Supreme Court last June.

But the law council said today the new rules fell short of fair trial standards.
"After the Military Commissions Act was passed last year, we knew that this new regime established to try Guantanamo detainees was fundamentally flawed and unfair," council president Tim Bugg said.

"The manual, which contains the rules of evidence, simply confirms our fears."

Continued .....
http://www.theage.com.au/news/world/law-council-slams-unfair-system/2007/01/19/1169095943944.html

Is this supposed to cheer me up? It's kind of like a stock tip, I guess, that someone sent. Take a look at the name of these funds - people making money off our misery!

There are a number of open-ended mutual funds as well. ProFunds Falling U.S. Dollar (FDPIX) and Rydex Weakening Dollar (RYWBX) are indexed to the NYBOT U.S. Dollar Index (USDX). The dollar index also has a heavy weighting in euros (57%) as well as exposure to the yen, British pound and Canadian dollar, among others. ProFunds Falling U.S. Dollar is meant to deliver the inverse of the dollar index's performance and the Rydex Weakening Dollar Fund is leveraged to deliver double that.

Downer 'stupid' on Hicks
Renee Switzer
January 19, 2007 - 2:35PM

An Australian-based US official who spent five minutes with David Hicks at Guantanamo Bay concluded he was mentally fit, an assessment echoed this week by Foreign Affairs Minister Alexander Downer.

Continued .....
http://www.theage.com.au/news/national/downer-stupid-on-hicks/2007/01/19/1169095959836.html

DiAnne,

I am friends with a pastor's wife in Reno who is also a therapist, and she has worked with alot of Vietnam Vets. One guy came to her and told her that he was ordered to go into a village in Nam and kill everyone in the village, because they were enemies. After they carried out their mission, he walked over to a shed and opened it and found it stocked with weapons from the U.S.

Dang. I always get on the computer around ll:00 p.m. again to "relax" before bed, then get all caught up in reading and stuff and get to bed after midnight. Oh, well......

Train boys to hate, torture and kill, then send them in to hell. I ask, "Who is guilty of this crime?" I look to the top and I need look no further. These are the saddest crimes of this war and the culprits get to live in clover forever while these young people get hell. And then more hell.

US soldiers admit killing Iraqi civilians

January 19, 2007 - 4:55PM

Two soldiers pleaded guilty to murder charges today in separate cases involving the deaths of Iraqi civilians that have tarnished the reputation of US forces in the country.

Sergeant Paul Cortez pleaded guilty to the rape and murder of a 14-year-old Iraqi girl and the execution of her family in Mahmudiyah, Iraq, on March 12 last year, his lawyer William Cassara said.

"He felt it was in his best interest, he wanted to accept responsibility and he wants to move forward in getting this behind him," Cassara told AFP.

Continued .......
http://www.theage.com.au/news/world/us-soldiers-admit-killing-iraqi-civilians/2007/01/19/1169095966153.html

http://www.crooksandliars.com/2007/01/18/sen-leahy-slams-gonzalez-over-torture/
Sen. Leahy Slams Gonzalez Over Torture

:-) Watch and listen to Leahy in action... I would love to give Leahy a hug and a kiss on the cheek for what he said to Godzilla!!! This'll warm the cockles of yer hearts, mates! :-)

http://www.cnn.com/POLITICS/blogs/politicalticker/2007/01/house-democrats-finish-100-hours.html
House Democrats finish '100 hours' agenda by passing oil revenue bill
Excerpt:
The House finished work on all six measures in about 42 hours of floor time, less than half the limit set on their self-imposed clock. However, the legislation must still navigate the Senate, which tends to operate at a more leisurely pace, and could also face President Bush's veto pen.

http://thehill.com/thehill/export/TheHill/News/Frontpage/011007/success.html
Success of 100 hours hinges on few uncertain Senate votes

NonnyO - what's the veto pen I've been hearing about?

Poster Boy for GOP culture: the Motor City Madman

Ted Nugent fires up GOP crowd, and not in a good way

AUSTIN, Texas (AP) -- Hours after Gov. Rick Perry kicked off his second full term in office, Ted Nugent helped him celebrate at a black-tie gala, but not all attendees were pleased by the rocker's performance.

Using machine guns as props, Nugent, 58, appeared onstage as the final act of the inaugural ball wearing a cutoff T-shirt emblazoned with the Confederate flag and shouting offensive remarks about non-English speakers, according to people who were in attendance.
http://www.cnn.com/2007/POLITICS/01/18/texas.nugent.ap/index.html

If only...

110th Congress Passes No President Left Behind Act

In a surprise sequel to the string of legislative successes encapsulated in the 110th Congress's "100 hours" platform, House lawmakers today passed the groundbreaking No President Left Behind Act (NPLB) by a vote of 381-41. The bill, which has broad bipartisan support, is expected to go to the Senate on Wednesday where passage is widely anticipated. President Bush had earlier vowed to veto the measure, but Congress is predicted to have sufficient votes to override.

--snip--
A key provision of No President Left Behind is the requirement that the office of the presidency develop a collection of assessments, policy success rates, and other indicators on which presidential performance can be judged. Presidents will be required to meet Adequate Yearly Progress (AYP) levels across the range of indicators, cross-referenced with goals as announced in campaign appearances, State of the Union speeches, and other public events.

Presidents who fail to meet AYP levels, to be externally assessed though a rigorous NPLB annual testing program, are considered to have "fallen short", which then qualifies the failing president for additional assistance in the form of better advisors, better policies, and, in extreme cases, remedial education.

A president who fails to meet AYP goals two years in a row is classified as "in need of improvement", automatically granting American citizens the option of offering their allegiance to a president more likely to succeed. A president who continues to fail AYP will be required to implement new policies, appoint outside experts to manage the presidency, and remove relevant staff, generally the president himself.

--snip--
Performance goals expected to be included in all AYP provisions of NPLB include core levels of reading, writing and oral proficiency as well as a basic knowledge of geography, history, geopolitics, economics, law, and the Constitution. A working knowledge of science is stressed by NPLB sponsors as a vital provision.

http://www.avantnews.com/modules/news/article.php?storyid=328

One more...from Luckovich RE: State of the Union address

http://www.creators.com/featurepages/11_editorialcartoons_mike-luckovich.html?name=lk

Ministers launch petition to stop Bush library

DALLAS, Texas (AP) -- A group of Methodist ministers from across the nation launched an online petition drive Thursday urging Southern Methodist University to stop trying to land George W. Bush's presidential library.

The petition, on a newly created Web site, http://www.protectsmu.org, says that "as United Methodists, we believe that the linking of his presidency with a university bearing the Methodist name is utterly inappropriate."

"Methodists have a long history of social conscience, so questions about the conduct of this president are very concerning," said one of the petition's organizers, the Rev. Andrew J. Weaver of New York, who graduated from SMU's Perkins School of Theology.

Brad Cheves, SMU's vice president for external affairs and development, said Thursday that the Methodist church is diverse in its membership and opinions and that those involved with the petition reflect only one view.

"We believe the vast majority of the Methodist membership, university and community support the library and that it will benefit the faculty, students and community for generations to come," Cheves said.

SMU emerged as the apparent winner in the library competition last month when the site selection committee said it was entering into further discussions with just SMU, the 11,000-student, private university, which is first lady Laura Bush's alma mater. The Bushes are Methodists.

Some SMU professors have opposed Bush's foreign policy, mainly the war in Iraq. Some faculty members also have complained that the library complex's think tank dedicated to the philosophy of the Bush administration would hurt the school's reputation.

But at a faculty meeting Wednesday, SMU President R. Gerald Turner said those fears were unfounded. He said among the library's benefits were increasing the school's visibility nationwide and spurring economic development in the city.

http://www.cnn.com/2007/POLITICS/01/18/bush.library.ap/index.html

Thou Shalt Not Mock The Flock

Truth Shall Prevail
I read your late night message in the early morning - about the Vietnam Vet. I've heard stories like that. It's hard to imagine the conflict that sets up in someone's mind after experiencing that, especially when alot of people "at home" (civilians) have been equally bamboozled.

MANAMA, Bahrain - Defense Secretary Robert Gates met with senior U.S. and coalition naval commanders Thursday to plan operations in the Persian Gulf, including the arrival next month of another U.S. aircraft carrier and more Patriot missiles meant in part as a warning to Iran.

This tiny state in the northern Gulf is headquarters to the U.S. Navy's 5th Fleet and Central Command's naval staff.

Gates also flew to nearby Qatar for a private meeting and lunch with that nation's leader, Sheikh Hamad bin Khalifa al-Thani. Later he was visiting an air base that hosts a high-tech war room that is the nerve center of all U.S. and coalition air operations throughout the Middle East and Central Asia. Under ground rules imposed by U.S. officials, reporters traveling with Gates were prohibited from identifying the base or the country in which it is located.

http://media.www.houstonianonline.com/media/storage/pap...

While driving in the rain, I heard the disembodied voice of the ghastly John Kyl of Arizona, talking about inflicting punishment on our enemies. Bad way to start the day.

Congratulations to Nancy Pelosi for being able to herd cats and complete an agenda in the required time. Anyone who has had to sit through meetings can appreciate that!

Cheer up, Dianne...

SHREVEPORT, Louisiana (AP) -- A female chimpanzee at a sanctuary has given birth, despite the fact that the facility's entire male chimp population has had vasectomies.

Now managers at Chimp Haven are planning a paternity test for the seven males who lived in a group with Teresa, a wild-born chimpanzee in her late 40s who had the baby girl last week.

Workers have started collecting hair samples from the chimps for testing. Once they identify the father, it's back to the operating room for him.

more...
http://www.cnn.com/2007/TECH/science/01/17/pregnant.chimp.ap/index.html

MONKEYNOTE! Don't look at me, I havn't been to Shreveport in several years, I swear!

http://www.crooksandliars.com/2007/01/18/sen-leahy-slams-gonzalez-over-torture/
Sen. Leahy Slams Gonzalez Over Torture

:-) Watch and listen to Leahy in action... I would love to give Leahy a hug and a kiss on the cheek for what he said to Godzilla!!! This'll warm the cockles of yer hearts, mates! :-)

I heard this on the way home Nonny, and I will definitely give Sen. Leahy a big hug if I run into him!!!

It was especially sweet to hear that he supported the protesters; when we stood up and protested the "We Love Torture" hearings, he had to sit there and listen to Specter ream us for silently giving them the feedback they needed.

WASHINGTON (CNN) -- Republican Sen. Susan Collins of Maine on Thursday told CNN that she is working with colleagues on "both sides of the aisle" to come up with a resolution opposing President Bush's plan to increase troops numbers in Iraq -- after she and other Republicans objected to certain language in a resolution proposed by three other senators.

Collins and other Republicans opposed to the president's plan to send an additional 21,500 troops to Iraq objected Wednesday to language in a resolution sponsored by Democratic Sens. Joe Biden of Delaware and Carl Levin of Michigan, and Republican Sen. Chuck Hagel of Nebraska.

"What I'm trying to do is to work with a group of colleagues to produce a resolution that would put the Senate firmly on record as opposed to the president's plan but would do so without taking on controversial or extraneous issues that are unrelated to Iraq," she said.

"The Biden resolution has a bottom line I agree with, but there is language I disagree with," she said.

On Wednesday the bipartisan trio of senators unveiled a resolution saying, "It is not in the national interest of the United States to deepen its military involvement in Iraq, particularly by escalating U.S. troop presence in Iraq."

Later Wednesday, Republican Sen. Olympia Snowe of Maine agreed to co-sponsor the bipartisan resolution, saying that "its focus rightly hinges on a diplomatic and political solution, as a military solution is no longer feasible in Iraq."

During a Senate Foreign Relations Committee hearing Thursday, Biden said he was open to alternative language.

"This is a process. If you have 10 Republicans saying, 'I don't like the word "escalate," I like the word "increase," ' or whatever, that's not a problem," Biden said. "There's no pride of authorship in the use of specific words."

-snip-

Speaking Wednesday on CNN's "The Situation Room," Hagel said Congress needs to be more assertive in determining U.S. policy regarding what he called a civil war in Iraq.

"We are no longer just going to quietly stand by, as we have done for the last four years, and let our young men and women be thrown into this conflict when they cannot affect the outcome," Hagel said.

"This is the biggest issue facing our country since Vietnam," he added. "It's dividing our nation. It is dangerous for our country. It's dangerous for the world. The Congress needs to be part of this."

more...
http://www.cnn.com/2007/POLITICS/01/18/iraq.congress/index.html

Time to pay attention -- this diary explains in detail, dull and boring detail but nonetheless important detail, why control of the Senate will remain in Democratic hands for the entire 2007-2008 time period regardless of what Lieberman does.

http://www.dailykos.com/story/2007/1/18/211259/764

Some of the dull and boring parliamentarian stuff that could be critical to the Senate's ability to stand up and say no.

Posted by: karen at January 19, 2007 11:07 AM

Thank you, Karen!!!!!! :-)

When Leahy spoke on the Senate floor about habeas corpus, trying to get it back into the MCA '06 (his amendment was defeated to our dismay, as we well know), both of his speeches brought me to tears - he is a passionate and eloquent man and I admire him. I've read about the period of history involving the signing of the Magna Carta, so I'm aware of the historical precedent for habeas corpus, the fact that it is the grounds for our criminal justice system. The neoCon Congress (109th) has done more to damage our country than most, and they gave The Cretin dictatorial powers. I won't soon forget how they betrayed our nation.

At the very least, Leahy deserves a firm and heartfelt grateful handshake, but if he doesn't object, a big hug and a kiss on the cheek for his passionate patriotism, for trying to stand up for the rights and privileges we were granted in the US Constitution and the Bill of Rights, that will do nicely (out of respect, he should probably be asked if he permits at least a hug so his personal space isn't invaded - I can still, in my mind, hug him and give him a kiss on the cheek, not only for the exchange with Gonzales, but for his stance on habeas corpus - Leahy won my heart with the latter, actually).

You can also let Senator Leahy know that if he submits legislation to repeal the entire MCA '06, I will clog the inboxes of my senators and my rep urging them to support repealing that entire bill (really, Bush does NOT need dictatorial powers, nor does any other president!). I have sent emails to Leahy's office in the past to that effect (as well as Kennedy's). The House web site doesn't permit emails to reps outside of the rep's district, but the Senate web site permits anyone to send any senator an email, so I've taken full advantage of that.

If the presidential election were held today/tomorrow, I'd write in Leahy's name, even if he were not running for the office....

And, YES, it is admirable of Leahy to support the protesters!!! What Leahy has tried to do for ALL of the people of this nation means that he supports civil dissent against war crimes; he really 'gets' the meaning of the words in the Constitution, the Bill of Rights, the Geneva Conventions, US law....

Yes, I'm gushing. Any man who can speak eloquently on habeas corpus and who tries to do what's right for all of the citizens of this nation has my deep gratitude and admiration....

http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20070119/ap_on_go_co/us_iraq

Pelosi comments draw White House ire

WASHINGTON - In a critique the White House labeled as "poisonous," House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (news, bio, voting record) charged Friday that President Bush is wading too deeply into Iraq and said it should not be "an obligation of the American people in perpetuity."

Pelosi said Bush "has dug a hole so deep he can't even see the light on this. It's a tragedy. It's a stark blunder."

White House spokeswoman Dana Perino retorted that Pelosi's comments were "poisonous," referring to the portion of Pelosi's statement that asserted Bush is rushing new troops there and betting that Congress won't cut off funds once they're in battle.

"It's certainly not in keeping with the bipartisan spirit and civility that the Democrats pledged and that we looked forward to," Perino said. "Speaker Pelosi was arguing in essence that the president is putting young men and women in harm's way for tactical political reasons. She's questioning his motivations rather than questioning his policies."

Democratic support is building around a resolution that would rebuff Bush's plans for more troops to Iraq, and more Republicans are looking for ways to sign on to the measure.

As the White House scrambled to secure the dwindling backers of Bush's war policies on Capitol Hill, Republican Sen. Gordon Smith (news, bio, voting record) of Oregon signaled that a simple wording change could persuade him to join the Democrats.

Pelosi said House Democrats would back a Senate Democratic resolution declaring that the troop increase is "not in the national interest of the United States." Senate leaders expect to begin action on the nonbinding measure next Wednesday.

Senate Democrats, backed by two Republicans, unveiled legislation Wednesday that criticized Bush's decision. "It is not in the national interest of the United States to deepen its military involvement in Iraq, particularly by escalating the United States military force presence in Iraq," the nonbinding Senate measure states.

{{{More on link. Hmmmm... I notice the word "nonbinding" keeps cropping up in this article, and I'm wondering why they can't make this resolution binding. Pelosi's gonna have the reich wingnuts screaming that she's a bitch. Now, if she would only put impeachment back on the table - the House accomplished their first 100 hours objectives in 40-some-odd hours... they now have time to discuss IMPEACHMENT....}}}

defarge: Nugent racist comments were made at the Perry, barf inauguration,moments after Perry had just made remarks about how his adminsitration was reaching out to minorities. We are quite proud of our hypocrits here in Texas, they are certainly first rate.

Is there a place to get Obama bumper stickers? :)

Obama / Clark anyone?

aimzzz at January 19, 2007 06:47 PM

Found some- Googled :p

Posted by: dwahzon at January 19, 2007 02:21 PM

The devil is always in the details in those dusty old papers haradly anyone but reseaarchers ever read (or even search for).

Any document-obsessed genealogist identifies with that... and they even actually (gasp!) enjoy reading all those lovely old documents, in spite of things like Gothic penmanship written in a different language (but they do hope the handwriting is neat and legible, not something resembling chicken scratches).... ;-)

Thanks for the tip on that diary. Some of the comments are quite interesting, too, because lots of lovely details are discussed.

Ney Sentenced to 2½-Year Prison Term in Abramoff Case
http://www.bloomberg.com/apps/news?pid=20601087&sid=aAcm5viwejlQ&refer=home

Former U.S. Representative Bob Ney was sentenced to 2 1/2 years in prison after becoming the only lawmaker to admit guilt in the influence-peddling investigation of Republican lobbyist Jack Abramoff.

Ney's acceptance of gifts from Abramoff in return for legislative favors was a ``significant and serious'' abuse of his position, U.S. District Judge Ellen Segal Huvelle told Ney. She gave him a $6,000 fine and said he would have to pay it during two years of supervised release after he gets out of prison.

``You have seriously betrayed the public's trust,'' Huvelle told Ney today in her Washington courtroom as she sentenced him to three months more than prosecutors requested. ``You have a long way to go to make amends for what's happened.''...

http://www.crooksandliars.com/2007/01/19/cheney-rejected-iranian-offer-in-2003/
Cheney Rejected Iranian Offer in 2003

http://www.crooksandliars.com/2007/01/19/is-the-daily-show-bad-for-america/
Is The Daily Show Bad For America?
http://www.baltimoresun.com/news/opinion/oped/bal-op.irony07jan07,0,2466465.story
I don't quite get the point of this story referred to in the video. It "feels like" the author is trying to encourage people away from laughing at our own foibles via Stewart and other shows like his who so obviously point out the flaws in the current adminstration's policies and people. This article is what the people in the video are discussing.

http://www.crooksandliars.com/2007/01/19/liebermans-iraq-strategy/
Lieberman’s Iraq Strategy
{Transcript, no video. IMHO, Lieberman's lost it; he sounds just as unintelligible as DimWit.}

http://www.crooksandliars.com/2007/01/19/olbermann-why-does-oreilly-still-have-a-job/
Olbermann: Why does O’Reilly still have a job?

http://news.yahoo.com/comics/uclickcomics/20070119/cx_nq_uc/nq20070119
Non Sequitur: Mother Goose for White Collar Felons
[I'll privately dedicate this to Ney and the other white collar felons...]

Paul Krugman | Surging and Purging
http://www.truthout.org/docs_2006/011907A.shtml
Paul Krugman writes: "There's something happening here, and what it is seems completely clear: the Bush administration is trying to protect itself by purging independent-minded prosecutors. Since the day it took power, this administration has shown nothing but contempt for the normal principles of good government. For six years, ethical problems and conflicts of interest have been the rule, not the exception."
Excerpt:
Mr. Gonzales says that there's nothing political about the firings. And according to The Associated Press, he said that district court judges shouldn't appoint U.S. attorneys because they "tend to appoint friends and others not properly qualified to be prosecutors." Words fail me.

Mr. Gonzales also says that the administration intends to get Senate confirmation for every replacement. Sorry, but that's not at all credible, even if we ignore the administration's track record. Mr. Griffin, the political-operative-turned-prosecutor, would be savaged in a confirmation hearing. By appointing him, the administration showed that it has no intention of following the usual rules.

The broader context is this: defeat in the midterm elections hasn't led the Bush administration to scale back its imperial view of presidential power.

On the contrary, now that President Bush can no longer count on Congress to do his bidding, he's more determined than ever to claim essentially unlimited authority - whether it's the authority to send more troops into Iraq or the authority to stonewall investigations into his own administration's conduct.

The next two years, in other words, are going to be a rolling constitutional crisis.

{{{When, oh WHEN, will Pelosi and other House members wake up and smell the impeachment coffee....?}}}

Soft on Defense Label No Longer Scares Democrats
http://seattlepi.nwsource.com/national/300348_iraqdems19.html

No more nukes - any where!
No militarization of outer space - no Chinese or American Star Wars

A nuclear-free middle east - including everyone - no exceptions

A nuclear-free south Asia - de-escalate Pakistan & India

Time to get serious! Let's set back the nuclear clock. We started in the 1980s at the end of the Cold War. We helped the Berlin Wall come down. We had surplusses for Social Security and Medicare built up. We and the Soviet Union de-escalated.

What happened?

More on weapons space race - bad news with neocons anywhere near the button
http://seattletimes.nwsource.com/html/nationworld/2003531646_chinasat190.html

Someone in an official capacity wrote me to pray for the troops and I sent back that those in charge need guidance to get us out of the mess - they replied that we needed to support our leaders as well as those who defend us and I could not help but reply that I have only ever prayed for world peace and that would continue.

If religions have any essence of truth, than it must be the work of devils to think a God is on the side of a country or army. Likewise, it is a great hypocrisy as the great religious books recommend some variation on loving thine enemy.

I have no respect for hypocrites.

Judge Delays Start of Libby Trial
http://www.truthout.org/docs_2006/011907S.shtml
A federal judge is putting more potential jurors on standby in the CIA leak trial because so many people have been dismissed, mostly because of strong feelings against the Bush administration and the Iraq War.

George McGovern | An Impartial Interrogation of George W. Bush
http://www.truthout.org/docs_2006/011907B.shtml
George McGovern conducts an interrogation of George Bush in a speech made to the National Press Club. McGovern asks: "Mr. President, at a time when your most respected generals have concluded that the chaos and conflict in Iraq cannot be resolved by more American dollars and more Americans' young bodies, do you ever consider the needs here at home of our own anxious and troubled society?"

{{{I understand why DiAnne worked for the McGovern campaign.... Excellent speech by George McGovern.}}}

Robert Parry | Gonzales Questions Habeas Corpus
http://www.truthout.org/docs_2006/011907D.shtml
Robert Parry writes, "In one of the most chilling public statements ever made by a US attorney general, Alberto Gonzales questioned whether the US Constitution grants habeas corpus rights of a fair trial to every American."

{Highly Recommended" reading if you value your rights, habeas corpus, etc... This is why MCA '06 must be repealed in its entirety, not just sections of it.}

Tom Engelhardt | George Bush's Crusading Scorecard (2001-2007)
http://www.truthout.org/docs_2006/011907H.shtml
"Just five days after the September 11th attacks," writes Tom Engelhardt, "a president with a new mission, a new cause, and a new purpose in life told the American people that, though they had to 'go back to work tomorrow,' they should now know that they were facing a 'new kind of evil.' He added, 'And we understand. And the American people are beginning to understand. This crusade, this war on terrorism is going to take a while.' That little 'slip' of the tongue spoke volumes. It signaled that George W. Bush was already in his own heroic dream world and, only those few days after the 9/11 attacks, had both a 'crusade' on the brain and 'victory' in that crusade firmly in mind."

Excerpt:

What is being planned by the Bush administration for Baghdad might end up proving nothing short of barbaric. From the first American "thunder runs" of tanks and Bradley Fighting Vehicles through the capital in early April 2003 and the "stuff happens" wholesale looting that followed to the present moment, the city has suffered no worse fate since the Mongols sacked it in 1268.

It's worth remembering in this context that, when the original Crusaders arrived in the Middle East, they weren't what undoubtedly comes into the Presidential brain on the subject. They weren't knights in shining armor. They weren't so many Errol Flynns. The European knights of the actual crusades came from a world that was still a barbarian outland, a coarse periphery of the Eurasian continent, while the Arab world was the homeland of a genuine high civilization.

William Rivers Pitt | The Next 100 Hours
http://www.truthout.org/docs_2006/011907R.shtml
"The '100 Hours' legislative push commemorating the Democratic takeover of the House concluded yesterday. In what actually amounted to 87 hours of bill-passing, Speaker Nancy Pelosi and her newly empowered crew passed a slew of bills that accomplished two signal goals: They helped actual people, and they simultaneously served up a walloping dose of Listerine to get the taste of the last twelve years out of our mouths," writes William Rivers Pitt.

Excerpt:
Before anyone in the Democratic caucus breaks an arm patting himself on the back, however, one all-important area must be addressed. The Democrats campaigned on all the issues they managed to legislate this week, including ethics reform, but the issue of Iraq and their promises about same stood out above all else. At this moment, their intentions towards addressing this problem remain murky.
~~~~~
The Pelosi promise to leave funding for the Iraq occupation unmolested, however, is troubling. People want the war stopped and the troops brought home, and the purse strings are the most effective way to accomplish this. Setting a firm date for the cessation of funds creates a hard line that cannot be crossed, and would require the administration to actively begin preparations for an end to our involvement in the conflict. Pelosi's promise removes that very large club from the arsenal.
~~~~~
It comes down to this. If Pelosi and her people are unwilling to navigate the dangerous waters surrounding the Iraq budget, they had better be prepared for a loud roar of outrage from the base of the party. Further, if they have chosen to leave aside the most direct way to end the war, their main task now is to come up with an equally effective plan to terminate the occupation. If the Democrats merely shrink from this tough fight, they will have proven to be as cowardly and tone-deaf as the fellow bunkered down at 1600 Pennsylvania.

The 100 Hours thing was a good start, and it will help people. Let's see what the next 100 hours brings.

More from Oz:

MP backlash as US sets Hicks terror trial rules
Annabel Stafford and Mark Coultan
January 20, 2007

The Federal Government could be facing a backbench revolt over David Hicks after the United States revealed the rules under which he will be tried.

These rules — which include the use of hearsay evidence and testimony gained through coercion — sparked outrage in the legal community, among Mr Hicks' supporters and in the Government.

The guidelines also confirm there are no habeas corpus rights — which allow people to challenge the lawfulness of their detention — for those being tried, according to Hicks' Australian lawyer, David McLeod.

Also, the accused won't have an absolute right to see classified evidence used against them.

Continued ........
http://www.theage.com.au/news/national/backlash-over-hicks-trial-rules/2007/01/19/1169095981221.html

Iraq repairs lose out on $7.5bn
Washington
January 20, 2007

Botched budgeting left more than $US6 billion ($A7.5 billion) piled up in Iraq which should have been spent on rebuilding crippled infrastructure, according to a US Government auditor.

In one stunning example, Iraq's oil ministry had spent only $US4 million of $US3.6 billion budgeted to repair the crumbling sector, the Government Accountability Office said.

Fresh revelations of economic mismanagement in Iraq came just over a week after US President George Bush pledged another $US1 billion in US economic aid, as a key part of his new strategy for the war-torn nation.

Continued .........
http://www.theage.com.au/news/world/iraq-repairs-lose-out/2007/01/19/1169095979236.html

Oh, well done, oh president, sir! This part of your policy in Iraq may actually work. Mistrust and fear are always destabilizing.
Raids spark Iran review
Baghdad
January 20, 2007

Iraq is carrying out an extensive review of its diplomatic protocols with Iran after Iranian military officials and diplomats were picked up in three separate US raids, Iraq's Foreign Minister said.

The raids have deeply embarrassed Iraqi officials, who say that the US did not consult them before detaining the Iranians, who were properly accredited visitors to Iraq.

Continued .....
http://www.theage.com.au/news/world/raids-spark-iran-review/2007/01/19/1169095979248.html

{I sure hope this works......}

Website offers whistleblowers chance to go global
Asher Moses
January 20, 2007

THE internet could become even more difficult for governments to regulate with a new website, Wikileaks, promising to provide a safe haven for whistleblowers to upload confidential documents.

Australians are among the volunteers behind the site. "Your country's support for the underdog and for a fair go is showing through," a spokeswoman said.

Continued .....
http://www.theage.com.au/news/web/website-offers-whistleblowers-chance-to-go-global/2007/01/19/1169096013302.html

I had the misfortune of hearing Lieberman on NPR. The interviewer did have the presence of mind to ask him if he still considered himself a Democrat. It was pathetic. Imagine consorting with the likes of McCain and Lindsay Graham!

from Kayakbiker:
http://farm1.static.flickr.com/97/362930423_4e5509cee0_o.jpg

Call me a hippie but we need this energy again more than ever!

Reuters story: MSM

US plans envision broad attack on Iran: analyst
http://tinyurl.com/3ckjqw

U.S. contingency planning for military action against Iran's nuclear program goes beyond limited strikes and would effectively unleash a war against the country, a former U.S. intelligence analyst said on Friday.

"I've seen some of the planning ... You're not talking about a surgical strike," said Wayne White, who was a top Middle East analyst for the State Department's bureau of intelligence and research until March 2005.

"You're talking about a war against Iran" that likely would destabilize the Middle East for years, White told the Middle East Policy Council...

http://www.tompaine.com/articles/2007/01/19/its_still_about_the_oil.php

It's Still About The Oil

For more than four years, the Bush administration and its oil company cohorts have worked toward the passage of a new oil law for Iraq that would turn its nationalized oil system over to private foreign corporate control. On Thursday, January 18, this dream came one step closer to reality when an Iraqi negotiating committee of "national and regional leaders" approved a new hydrocarbon law. The committee chair, Deputy Prime Minister Barham Salih, told Reuters that the draft will go to the Iraqi cabinet next week and, if approved, to the parliament immediately thereafter.

The good news is that the Production Sharing Agreements (PSAs) so hotly desired by the Bush administration and the world's oil companies that appeared in earlier drafts of the law have apparently been removed. The PSAs gave private companies (including foreign ones) control of Iraq's oil production and 70 percent of the profits, specified that up to two thirds of Iraq's known oil reserves would be developed by private companies and locked the government into 30-year contracts.

Unfortunately, the bad news still outweighs the good.

First, the committee has debated the new law in near total secrecy: almost no one—both outside of and within the Iraqi government, including the parliament—has seen it.

It is clear, however, based on press reports that the law allows foreign investment

{{{More on link, plus lots of questions. Hmmm.... From the tone of the rest of the article, between threats and intimidation, the US oil corporations will still get their greedy control of Iraq's oil, one way or another....}}}

House Rolls Back Oil Company Subsidies
http://www.truthout.org/docs_2006/011907M.shtml
The House rolled back billions of dollars in oil industry subsidies Thursday in what supporters hailed as a new direction in energy policy toward more renewable fuels. Critics said the action would reduce domestic oil production and increase reliance on imports. The energy legislation was the last of six high-priority issues that House Speaker Nancy Pelosi had pledged to push through during the first 100 hours of Democratic control. The bill passed by a 264-163 vote.

Time Inc. to Cut Almost 300 Jobs to Focus on Web Sites
http://www.truthout.org/issues_06/011907LA.shtml
In a broad retrenchment, Time Inc. announced yesterday that it would cut nearly 300 employees at its top magazines, including the most profitable publication, People, as it moves to invest more in its web sites.

Senators Demand Details on New Eavesdropping Rules
http://www.truthout.org/docs_2006/011907N.shtml
Lawmakers demanded more information on new rules for governing a domestic surveillance program on Thursday, a day after the Bush administration announced that it had placed National Security Agency eavesdropping under court supervision. Senators from both parties who had long criticized the eavesdropping without court warrants said at a Judiciary Committee hearing that they welcomed the change but wanted details. They said they wanted to be sure that the new rules adequately protected Americans' privacy.

http://www.tompaine.com/articles/2007/01/19/show_me_the_intelligence.php
Show Me The Intelligence
Ray McGovern
Have you noticed? Neither President George W. Bush nor Vice President Dick Cheney have cited any U.S. intelligence assessments to support their fateful decision to send 21,500 more troops to referee the civil war in Iraq. This is a far cry from October 2002, when a formal National Intelligence Estimate (NIE) was rushed through in order to trick Congress into giving its nihil obstat for the attack on Iraq.

Why no intelligence justification this time around? Because there is none.

Having successfully cooked intelligence four years ago to get authorization for war, the Bush administration has zero incentive to try a repeat performance. Nor is there any sign that the new Democratic chairmen of the Senate and House intelligence committees will even think to ask the intelligence community to state its views on the likely effect of the planned “surge” in troop strength. This, even though an NIE on Iraq has been “almost ready” for months.

For the Bush administration, it has been difficult enough whipping its fickle but ultimately malleable generals into line. The civilian intelligence chiefs have proven more resistant. So the White House is playing it safe, avoiding like the plague any estimate that would raise doubts about the wisdom of the decision to surge. And that is precisely what an honest estimate would do. With “sham-dunk” former CIA director George Tenet and his accomplices no longer in place as intelligence enablers, the White House clearly prefers no NIE to one that would inevitably highlight the fecklessness of throwing 21,5000 more troops into harm’s way for the dubious purpose of holding off defeat for two more years.

{{{More on link.}}}

China Tests Anti-Satellite Weapon, Unnerving US
http://www.truthout.org/docs_2006/011907P.shtml
China successfully carried out its first test of an anti-satellite weapon last week, signaling its resolve to play a major role in military space activities and bringing expressions of concern from Washington and other capitals, the Bush administration said Thursday. Only two nations - Russia and the United States - have previously destroyed spacecraft in anti-satellite tests, most recently the United States in the mid 1980s.

I heard Clark isn't interested in being VP. :shrug:

Bush can't be trusted: Democrats
January 20, 2007 - 2:24PM

The Australian Democrats say Prime Minister John Howard cannot pretend assurances by the Bush administration that terror suspect David Hicks will receive a fair trial are anything but worthless.

Democrats leader Lyn Allison was referring to a comment by Foreign Minister Alexander Downer that he had been told by a person who had visited Hicks in Guantanamo Bay that he was mentally sound, contradicting claims by his father, Terry Hicks.

The person has since been revealed as Scott Weinhold, a public affairs officer with the United States embassy in Canberra.

Continued .......
http://www.democracycellproject.net/blog/archives/2007/01/we_endorse_pape.html

http://www.crooksandliars.com/2007/01/19/earth-to-alberto/
Earth to Alberto: Habeas Corpus-update-video added

{Leahy put Godzilla and the Judiciary committee on notice that he's going to try to get habeas corpus reinstated, talks about what a mistake last fall's vote was that took it away....}

Thanks NonnyO - we need more of these public confrontations. And notice - one tiny word of rationality flusters the hell out of those who've been spouting the rhetoric. They don't seem to know other words. Now that's effective brain-washing isn't it?

HIllary's now in:
See http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/20...
Link to her statement and video at
http://www.hillaryclinton.com/feature/in /

I 've deduced we're not supposed to talk party politics on this site, but I do hope I at least can say that she is not my favorite candidate
(i'm putting this as mildly as I can)

Washington 'snubbed Iran offer'
Iran offered the US a package of concessions in 2003, but it was rejected, a senior former US official has told the BBC's Newsnight programme.
Tehran proposed ending support for Lebanese and Palestinian militant groups and helping to stabilise Iraq following the US-led invasion.

Offers, including making its nuclear programme more transparent, were conditional on the US ending hostility.

But Vice-President Dick Cheney's office rejected the plan, the official said.

The offers came in a letter, seen by Newsnight, which was unsigned but which the US state department apparently believed to have been approved by the highest authorities.

In return for its concessions, Tehran asked Washington to end its hostility, to end sanctions, and to disband the Iranian rebel group the Mujahedeen-e-Khalq and repatriate its members.

But as soon as it got to the White House, the old mantra of 'We don't talk to evil'... reasserted itself
Lawrence Wilkerson
Former Iraqi leader Saddam Hussein had allowed the rebel group to base itself in Iraq, putting it under US power after the invasion.
One of the then Secretary of State Colin Powell's top aides told the BBC the state department was keen on the plan - but was over-ruled.

"We thought it was a very propitious moment to do that," Lawrence Wilkerson told Newsnight.

"But as soon as it got to the White House, and as soon as it got to the Vice-President's office, the old mantra of 'We don't talk to evil'... reasserted itself."

Observers say the Iranian offer as outlined nearly four years ago corresponds pretty closely to what Washington is demanding from Tehran now.

Since that time, Lebanese guerrilla group Hezbollah inflicted significant military losses on the major US ally in the region, Israel, in the 2006 conflict and is now claiming increased political power in Lebanon.

Palestinian militant group Hamas won power in parliamentary elections a year ago, opening a new chapter of conflict in Gaza and the West Bank.

The UN Security Council has imposed sanctions on Iran following its refusal to suspend its uranium enrichment programme.

Iran denies US accusations that its nuclear programme is designed to produce weapons.

Story from BBC NEWS:
http://news.bbc.co.uk/go/pr/fr/-/2/hi/middle_east/6274147.stm

Hmmm....

Hillary seems to have co-opted the "America's Promise" phrase from John Kerry.

Here's her statement where she uses those words, which personally I think is a little too close to Kerry's Keeping America's Promise PAC.

http://www.hillaryclinton.com/feature/video/

I'll vote for the nominee. Bill Richardson would be great but he lacks the name recognition. American tends to select entertainers like Reagan, Jesse Ventura or Schwartzenegger.
The first American woman president will probably be someone like Gwen Stefani or Paris Hilton.

Obama / Clark

o_O *Worse than I'd have guessed from title*

Brown: Politics played role in Katrina
http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20070120/ap_on_re_us/katrina_brown

`SNIP~
...[former Federal Emergency Management Agency Director Michael] Brown told a group of graduate students Friday that some in the White House had suggested the federal government should take charge in Louisiana because Blanco was a Democrat, while leaving Mississippi Gov. Haley Barbour, a Republican, in control in his state.

Brown, speaking at the Metropolitan College of New York, said he had recommended to
President Bush that all 90,000 square miles along the Gulf Coast affected by the devastating hurricane be federalized — a term Brown explained as placing the federal government in charge of all agencies responding to the disaster.

"Unbeknownst to me, certain people in the White House were thinking, 'We had to federalize Louisiana because she's a white, female Democratic governor, and we have a chance to rub her nose in it,'" he said, without naming names. "'We can't do it to Haley (Barbour) because Haley's a white male Republican governor. And we can't do a thing to him. So we're just gonna federalize Louisiana.'"...

More for the rich:

Bush to propose health insurance changes
http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20070120/ap_on_go_pr_wh/bush

President Bush will propose in his State of the Union address a tax break for people who buy their own health insurance and a limit on how much coverage individuals can receive tax free at work...

Posted by: aimzzz at January 20, 2007 12:12 PM

I wouldn't trust a word Brownie says. He was incompentent then and since he was "removed for cause" he's just been out to say & do whatever he can to stay in the headlines and smear everyone in sight.

Modest Expectations - Wisdom of Eight of Our Presidents

"It's no exaggeration to say the undecideds culd go one way or another"

IPeople who like this sort of things will find this the sort of thing they like."

"I know how hard it is for you to put food on your family."

"There is a mandate to ipose a voluntary return to traditional values."

"This is sill the greatest country i nthe world if we just will steel our wills and lose our minds."

"If Lincoln were alive today, he'd turn over in his grave."

"When a great many people are unable to find work, unemployment results."

"Solutons are not the answer."

Posted by: mbk at January 20, 2007 09:56 AM

Yep. You could describe me as a card carrying member of the "anyone but Hillary" sect.

If she takes the nomination I'll support her.

Government scrambles to avoid Hicks delay fallout
Carmel Egan
January 21, 2007

THE Federal Government's refusal to bring David Hicks home could backfire with moves in the United States to reinstate the legal rights of Guantanamo Bay detainees likely to further delay his trial.

As Hicks enters his sixth year in prison without trial, Prime Minister John Howard is confronting an election-year revolt by his own back bench over the 31-year-old's treatment.

Despite assurances by Foreign Minister Alexander Downer that Hicks would be tried by a special military commission within weeks rather than months, the introduction of a new bill into the US Congress could delay hearings until next year.

A powerful group of US senators yesterday vowed to overturn President George Bush's abolition of habeas corpus for Guantanamo Bay inmates, which denies them the right to challenge the legality of their detention through the civil courts.

Rebel Queensland National senator Barnaby Joyce said he "didn't care if this is an issue for the federal election campaign". He intended to fight for "one of the fundamental legs on which a democracy stands".

Senator Joyce said it was embarrassing Australia had to rely on the US Congress to defend such a fundamental right.

"You can't have a judicial system without habeas corpus," Senator Joyce said. "The idea of making this an issue solely about David Hicks distracts from what we are really talking about, which is the primacy of a fair judicial system. It is an outrage."

Continued ......
http://www.theage.com.au/news/national/howard-tries-to-avoid-hicks-fallout/2007/01/20/1169096027850.html

Here's an excellent diary that gives an inside look to the story behind some of the phrases being used in the helicopter crash reporting today:

http://www.dailykos.com/story/2007/1/20/134224/664

Rest in peace

Denny Doherty, 66, Mamas and Papas Singer, Dies
NYT: http://tinyurl.com/ytacdf

http://www.oldielyrics.com/t/the_mamas_and_the_papas.html

A father in a great deal of pain .......

Bring on the trial, but only if it's a fair one
January 21, 2007

Terry Hicks desperately wants an end to five years of uncertainty about his son's welfare and legal position.

IT ALL started on Tuesday, December 9, 2001, when we were visited by ASIO and the Australian Federal Police to tell us David had been arrested and was now being held by the US.

We believed David would face a proper court system, not a system set up to find him guilty.

Continued ......
http://www.theage.com.au/news/opinion/bring-on-the-trial-but-only-if-its-fair/2007/01/20/1169096025275.html

Still 5 minutes to go on the Doomsday Clock .....

The other side of China is revealed in anti-satellite test
Joseph Kahn, Beijing
January 21, 2007

CHINA'S apparent success in destroying one of its own satellites with a ballistic missile signals that its rising military intends to contest American supremacy in space, a realm many senior Chinese consider increasingly crucial to national security.

The test of an anti-satellite weapon, which Beijing declined to confirm or deny, was perceived by Asia experts as China's most provocative military action since it test-fired missiles off the coast of Taiwan more than a decade ago.

Unlike the Taiwan exercise, the main target this time was the United States, the sole superpower in space.

Cont ......
http://www.theage.com.au/news/world/the-other-side-of-china-is-revealed-in-antisatellite-test/2007/01/20/1169096027798.html

http://www.haaretz.com/hasen/spages/815619.html

BlackHawk Down?

Speaking of Blackhawk Down

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/main.jhtml?xml=/news/2007/01/21/wsoma21.xml

Anarchy in Mogadishu? (Somalia was supposed to be "the model")

British Watergate?

http://politics.guardian.co.uk/funding/story/0,,1995512,00.html

Blair nervous

I wish someone would catch Howard's hand in the till. Tony Blair can't seem to get much right at all, can he? Even this little story doesn't bode well for a PM complicit in such standards....

Guantanamo 'fails to meet' UK standards
January 21, 2007 - 11:59AM

The US detention centre in Guantanamo Bay in Cuba fails to meet even basic British standards for prisoners, British parliamentarians who visited the base say.

A cross-party parliamentary committee also said a new US military commissions system, expected to start trying terrorism suspects including Australian David Hicks this year, gave cause for concern and London should raise any human rights misgivings with Washington.

Cont .....
http://www.theage.com.au/news/World/Guantanamo-fails-to-meet-UK-standards/2007/01/21/1169330750387.html

Posted by: dwahzon at January 20, 2007 03:27 PM

Interesting Dairy.... And, in the comments section I found a reference and quote from the Principles of the Nuremberg Tribunal, 1950, Googled it, and came up with this:

http://deoxy.org/wc/wc-index.htm

WAR CRIMES
A Report on United States War Crimes Against Iraq to the Commission of Inquiry for the International War Crimes Tribunal

The Appendix is for International Law, among them the Principles of the Nuremberg Tribunal, the Geneva Conventions, etc........

BTW, that was for the FIRST Gulf War....

Protesters Will Urge Congress to Stand Up to Bush
http://www.truthout.org/docs_2006/012007Y.shtml
Americans angered by Bush's plans to escalate the Iraq war will flood the streets of Washington on Saturday, January 27, in a massive national peace march organized by United for Peace and Justice (UFPJ). Marchers will call on Congress to listen to the voters, not Bush, by using its power to end Bush's war and bring the troops home. The last three national marches organized by UFPJ each attracted between 300,000 and 500,000 people.

From the TruthOut piece: "Among those slated to speak at the pre-march rally are Salt Lake City mayor Rocky Anderson, who last year led an anti-war march of thousands, the largest protest in Salt Lake City history; Reverend Jesse Jackson Jr.; Congressman Dennis Kucinich (D-Ohio); Congresswoman Maxine Waters (D-Calif.); Bob Watada, father of Lt. Watada, the first military officer to refuse deployment to Iraq and currently facing court-martial; and active-duty service people."

Active-duty service people? I can't endorse that. As an active duty servicemember, you are allowed to protest, as long as (a) you are in civilian clothes, (b) you do not say that you are in the military, and (c) you do not say anything derogatory, offensive, insulting, etc. against the CINC or anybody else in your chain of command. I hope they realize they're screwing themselves...they'll likely get NJP and a dishonorable discharge. Which doesn't look great when you go for your next civilian job.

Iraqi Draft Law on Oil Revenue Appears Close
http://www.truthout.org/docs_2006/012007C.shtml
After months of tense bargaining, a cabinet-level committee has produced a draft law governing Iraq's vast oil fields that would distribute all revenues through the federal government and grant Baghdad wide powers in exploration, development and awarding major international contracts.

Laura Rozen | Cheney's Dead-Enders
http://www.truthout.org/docs_2006/012007D.shtml
"With the departure of his longtime friend Donald Rumsfeld, John Bolton's resignation as UN ambassador, and Democrats taking over Congress, times seem grim for the Dick Cheney wing of the Bush administration. The vice president's vision of a 'unitary executive' - otherwise known as the imperial presidency - will almost certainly be challenged by congressional oversight committees, and perhaps by the courts."

Leading Senator Assails President Over Iran Stance
http://www.truthout.org/docs_2006/012007Z.shtml
Senator John D. Rockefeller IV, the West Virginia Democrat who took control of the Senate Intelligence committee this month, said that the Bush administration was building a case against Tehran even as American intelligence agencies still know little about either Iran's internal dynamics or its intentions in the Middle East.
{Zin-n-n-n-g!}

Cost of Iraq War Skyrockets to $8 Billion a Month
http://www.truthout.org/docs_2006/012007A.shtml
The steadily rising Iraq war price tag will reach about $8.4 billion a month this year, Pentagon spokesmen said on Thursday, as heavy replacement costs for lost, destroyed and aging equipment mount.

Excerpt from first article (two articles on same link relate to the same story - the second article indicates in '08 the war will not be financed with supplementals):

Most of the funds have been provided on an emergency basis, outside regular budget procedures. Critics say that obscures the true cost of the war and results in less congressional oversight.

Excerpt from second article:

Some Democrat want to use Congress' control of the Pentagon budget to try to thwart Bush's plan to add more troops to Iraq. England, however, said that $70 billion approved by Congress last fall will not run out until mid-April.

After that, Defense Secretary Robert Gates retains the authority to fund the fighting by transferring money from other Pentagon accounts.

{{{In other words, we don't have to ask where our tax money goes. The Pentagon and Bush's war get most of it, and what isn't already paid is funded by loans.... We're in seriously deep doo-doo here; drowning, in fact....}}}

President Bush will propose in his State of the Union address a tax break for people who buy their own health insurance and a limit on how much coverage individuals can receive tax free at work...

Posted by: aimzzz at January 20, 2007 12:18 PM

BASTARD. What about people who have pre-existing conditions, and can't buy insurance no matter how much $$$ they have?

This is plain and simple - if you aren't of perfect health, all you deserve is to be denied healthcare, get sick, and die. This is what the move to individual healthcare is all about.

Smacks of Nazi eugenics, I say.

Speaking of new presidential contenders...

Sam Brownback (R - South Korea, I mean Kansas) is in.

After that, Defense Secretary Robert Gates retains the authority to fund the fighting by transferring money from other Pentagon accounts.

Posted by: NonnyO at January 20, 2007 09:23 PM

That means, small military contractors like me, who truly support our troops, will be shafted. I will never forgive this administration.

Ally McRepuke
Bush's ideas are crazy (not that he doesn't just speak lines for those who pull his puppet strings). Some people also are so poor they don't even pay taxes - so no tax break for them. & they do not automatically get Medicaid, like people think. I'm talking about the "working poor" who freelance, work several minimum wage (or near jobs), or are self-employed or even small business owners, who work seasonally, who are between jobs. Some people have variable incomes (especially the self-employed or contractors) so it's hard to qualify their kids for programs like CHIPS for healthcare. Some people have a place to put every last dime, so there is no money left over to put in a health care account.

He's nuts & has never worked a day in his life.

IRC - anyone?

Posted by: Ally McRepuke at January 20, 2007 09:37 PM

But that's the point... Insurance companies do not give a flying fig if you're sick or not. As long as you're working and healthy, you can pay and pay and pay and pay and they profit.

It's a racket....

That's an extra $1300/year per family of four just for the Iraq war, at $8 billion/week.

V
I think if enough people took the step Ehren Watada did, the government would learn a lesson about putting people in the position of doing things that they might find illegal or immoral. That's why he's being made an example of.

US NAME NOT RELEASED YET Karbala Hostile - hostile fire - small arms fire, grenades
US NAME NOT RELEASED YET Karbala Hostile - hostile fire - small arms fire, grenades
US NAME NOT RELEASED YET Karbala Hostile - hostile fire - small arms fire, grenades
US NAME NOT RELEASED YET Karbala Hostile - hostile fire - small arms fire, grenades
US NAME NOT RELEASED YET Karbala Hostile - hostile fire - small arms fire, grenades
US NAME NOT RELEASED YET Baghdad (north of) Hostile - helicopter crash
US NAME NOT RELEASED YET Baghdad (north of) Hostile - helicopter crash
US NAME NOT RELEASED YET Baghdad (north of) Hostile - helicopter crash
US NAME NOT RELEASED YET Baghdad (north of) Hostile - helicopter crash
US NAME NOT RELEASED YET Baghdad (north of) Hostile - helicopter crash
US NAME NOT RELEASED YET Baghdad (north of) Hostile - helicopter crash
US NAME NOT RELEASED YET Baghdad (north of) Hostile - helicopter crash
US NAME NOT RELEASED YET Baghdad (north of) Hostile - helicopter crash
US NAME NOT RELEASED YET Baghdad (north of) Hostile - helicopter crash
US NAME NOT RELEASED YET Baghdad (north of) Hostile - helicopter crash
US NAME NOT RELEASED YET Baghdad (north of) Hostile - helicopter crash
US NAME NOT RELEASED YET Baghdad (north of) Hostile - helicopter crash
US NAME NOT RELEASED YET Baghdad (north of) Hostile - helicopter crash
US NAME NOT RELEASED YET Baghdad (northern part) Hostile - hostile fire - IED attack

He's nuts & has never worked a day in his life.

Posted by: DiAnne at January 20, 2007 10:15 PM

Ok but he's just one mortal isn't he? I mean has nobody in this administration ever done any actual work? Perhaps the time for a passive revolution is nigh.

Posted by: DiAnne at January 20, 2007 10:41 PM

Is each line representing one person? Oh my!

Bush's plan to secure Bagdad

http://www.cfr.org/publication/12446/

Read this and think about whether it will work.
Good for developing arguments.
Trying to keep an open mind.

Woz
Those were all killed in one day.

I read it - it sounds like a bloody mess.
Changes: They can fight Sunnis and Shiites. They will occupy neighborhoods longer.
Problems: It's not even clear the Iraqi government wants this.
Sounds like they're being given alot of "reconstruction" money with no strings attached.

I read today in another article that the Pentagon is paying $10 for each plastic ice cube tray. I can get them at the Dollar Store for a buck.

Posted by: DiAnne at January 20, 2007 11:30 PM

Government procurement rules are very complicated, giving preference to (among other things):

-minority-owned businesses
-female-owned businesses
-prison industries
-products made by the blind, disabled, etc.
-products made in the USA
-small businesses

Most of the cheap stuff we get at the dollar store doesn't fit that mold. So is it better to get it cheap or to have the government (taxpayers) pay more but support the above listed groups? (and yes rules are always bent...)

Ok, the hundred hours of big changes to be demanded by the Democrats are over. The biggest change that Americans pleaded for in November was to bring the troops home. More than 2 months later the troops are still entrenched, never to be relieved, it seems. And in a single day 19 more young Americans will never see home again. When is enough enough?

http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20070121/ap_on_go_pr_wh/bush_state_of_union

Bush getting 2nd chance to defend plan

WASHINGTON - President Bush's State of the Union address on Tuesday gives him a second chance to defend his new Iraq strategy to a nation soured on the war and a Congress poised to vote against the plan.
{{{More on link. I don't think I will be up to listening to more propaganda in the SOTU speech and watching all that lying body language... and I know I'm not up for listening to more cocky arrogance, more dictator-type hyperbole....}}}

Democrat Agenda Omissions -
By Stephen Lendman
It a system of savage capitalism at its worst, bordering on the tipping edge of fascism. It's based on corporatism, patriotism and nationalism backed by iron-fisted militarism and "homeland security" enforcers. It's waging a permanent war on humanity, intolerant of dissent and opposition in an age where the law is what the chief executive says it is and checks and balances no longer exist.
http://www.informationclearinghouse.info/article16224.htm
{{{It's cold comfort to know I wasn't the only one who noticed the omissions.... I wonder what kind of slogans will get through to the brain receptors in the Congress Critters?!? Troops home, Close Gitmo, De-escalate, Repeal MCA '06, Repeal Patriot Acts, Repeal AUMF, No Supplemental bills to fund Georgie's war, begin IMPEACHMENT proceedings... The 'feelgood' bills passed in less than 100 hours are nice, but they still have to go through the Senate and the final form will likely not be anything like what the House passed. So, that leaves time for the House to do other people's business, starting with ending that %^$#@%$# illegal and unconstitutional war and impeaching the prime dictators...!!!}}}

Pelosi: Won't Cut War Funding
Nancy Pelosi Tells ABC News' Diane Sawyer That Democrats Won't Cut Off Funding to Iraq While Troops in Harm's Way
http://abcnews.go.com/GMA/story?id=2805714&page=1

BEHOLD THE RISE OF ENERGY-BASED FASCISM
By Michael T. Klare, Tomdispatch.com
The Pentagon is helping to create a grim future for all of us: a struggle for energy primacy abroad and Big Brother at home.
http://www.alternet.org/envirohealth/46838/

BARACK OBAMA NEEDS TO FILL IN THE BLANKS
By John Nichols, AlterNet
If Barack Obama is to secure critical grassroots support for his presidential bid, he must be less about celebrity and more about policy.
http://www.alternet.org/stories/46954/
{{{I agree. He's much too inexperienced and much too young yet. H hasn't even completed his first term in office. He should get some experience first, then consider running in about eight to twelve years. He needs a track record first, and so far everything I've ever heard him utter is undefined hyperbole, nothing definitive. That's not enough to make me vote for him.}}}

http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20070121/ap_on_re_mi_ea/iran_missile_tests
Iran to conduct missile war games

Excerpt:
"The elite Revolutionary Guards plans to begin a three-day missile maneuver on Sunday near Garmsar city," said the broadcast. The city is located in northern Iran on the edge of Kavir desert, about 60 miles southeast of Tehran.

"Zalzal and Fajr-5 missiles will be test fired in the war game," the television quoted an unnamed commander of the guards, as saying. Both are considered short-range missiles.

Iran conducted three large-scale military exercises last year as tensions with the West and the United States rose.

{{{More on link. Oh, gee, thanks Iran. I guess we all know what we will hear about in the SOTU speech, don't we....?}}}

20 U.S. Troops Killed Saturday in Iraq
http://www.time.com/time/nation/article/0,8599,1580947,00.html

http://www.nytimes.com/2007/01/21/opinion/21sun3.html
Senate Newcomer Is Designated to Encounter President Bush Yet Again
Senator Jim Webb, a spirited Democratic freshman from Virginia, looked uneasy as he hand wrote his very first letter of condolence to a grieving constituent who had just lost her soldier son in the Iraq war. The senator, a lantern-jawed Marine veteran with his own son at war, brightened noticeably as he discussed the surprising invitation from his party’s leaders to deliver the main response for the Democrats to President Bush’s State of the Union address on Tuesday.

{More on link. Now Webb I could listen to....}

January 21, 2007
Pakistani Role Seen in Taliban Surge at Border
By CARLOTTA GALL

QUETTA, Pakistan — The most explosive question about the Taliban resurgence here along the border between Afghanistan and Pakistan is this: Have Pakistani intelligence agencies been promoting the Islamic insurgency?

The government of Pakistan vehemently rejects the allegation and insists that it is fully committed to help American and NATO forces prevail against the Taliban militants who were driven from power in Afghanistan in 2001.

Western diplomats in both countries and Pakistani opposition figures say that Pakistani intelligence agencies — in particular the powerful Inter-Services Intelligence and Military Intelligence — have been supporting a Taliban restoration, motivated not only by Islamic fervor but also by a longstanding view that the jihadist movement allows them to assert greater influence on Pakistan’s vulnerable western flank.

More than two weeks of reporting along this frontier, including dozens of interviews with residents on each side of the porous border, leaves little doubt that Quetta is an important base for the Taliban, and found many signs that Pakistani authorities are encouraging the insurgents, if not sponsoring them.

The evidence is provided in fearful whispers, and it is anecdotal.

At Jamiya Islamiya, a religious school here in Quetta, Taliban sympathies are on flagrant display, and residents say students have gone with their teachers’ blessings to die in suicide bombings in Afghanistan.

Three families whose sons had died as suicide bombers in Afghanistan said they were afraid to talk about the deaths because of pressure from Pakistani intelligence agents. Local people say dozens of families have lost sons in Afghanistan as suicide bombers and fighters.

One former Taliban commander said in an interview that he had been jailed by Pakistani intelligence officials because he would not go to Afghanistan to fight. He said that, for Western and local consumption, his arrest had been billed as part of Pakistan’s crackdown on the Taliban in Pakistan. Former Taliban members who have refused to fight in Afghanistan have been arrested — or even mysteriously killed — after resisting pressure to re-enlist in the Taliban, Pakistani and Afghan tribal elders said.

“The Pakistanis are actively supporting the Taliban,” declared a Western diplomat in an interview in Kabul. He said he had seen an intelligence report of a recent meeting on the Afghan border between a senior Taliban commander and a retired colonel of the Pakistani Inter-Services Intelligence.

- more -

http://www.nytimes.com/2007/01/21/world/asia/21quetta.html

January 21, 2007
Rough Treatment for 2 Journalists in Pakistan
By CARLOTTA GALL

My photographer, Akhtar Soomro, and I were followed over several days of reporting in Quetta by plainclothes intelligence officials who were posted at our respective hotels. That is not unusual in Pakistan, where accredited journalists are free to travel and report, but their movements, phone calls and interviews are often monitored.

On our fifth and last day in Quetta, Dec. 19, four plainclothesmen detained Mr. Soomro at his hotel downtown and seized his computer and photo equipment.

They raided my hotel room that evening, using a key card to open the door and then breaking through the chain that I had locked from the inside. They seized a computer, notebooks and a cellphone.

One agent punched me twice in the face and head and knocked me to the floor. I was left with bruises on my arms, temple and cheekbone, swelling on my eye and a sprained knee.

- more -

http://www.nytimes.com/2007/01/21/world/asia/21qside.html