Polar Bears on Parade

Thanks, Dick.

The article tells me about the Republican grip on the sportsmen, which is unfortunate, because sportsmen make up a huge section of the voting population in my area.

My father, who is a fisherman himself, gets all these sportsmen weeklies in his mailbox - and they are all full of pro-Republican drivel.

The Dems have been absolutely spineless, in regards to their inability to link sensible environmental protection to the rights of sportsmen to continue enjoying their hobbies for a LONG time. Not to mention that they have been just as spineless in their response to the Republican attack line, personified by Inhofe, that environmental protection is anti-development and anti-economy.

I hope the likes of our dear Dick can stand up and make the connection that the Dems have spinelessly refused to make.

Hate to change the subject, but what we need to do re: sportsmen also needs to be done re: motorists.

Various auto clubs, from AAA to specific make/model enthusiast groups, have swallowed the "Democrats are anti-automobile" line for too long. And no Democrat or progressive has stood up to refute the charge.

This doesn't bode well in an area like Southern California, where EVERYONE is a motorist. No wonder I still see so many W '04 ovals in my area.

Posted by dickbell at February 8, 2007 11:24 AM

Thanks, Dick! :-) Good thread-header, article - and I'm a total sucker for the polar bear photos!

It's not only the polar bears, but the beluga whale population has been declining, and the caribou populations have been affected. I posted a link to the story about the belugas a couple of weeks ago.

In any case, the Arctic wildlife (on land and sea) have been deeply affected by global warming.

Also, somewhat related: I get the MoveOn newsletter and part of DimWit's budget cuts will affect NPR and PBS funding (according to today's newsletter). Since PBS does a lot of nature shows which actually inform people about wildlife (not to mention child-friendly programming, although I've noticed NCLB also finances some of the children's programming during the day), I'd suggest going to the MoveOn web site to check out what they have to say, and if you're inclined, sign their petition if you agree with it.

http://www.tompaine.com/articles/2007/02/08/james_inhofe_has_finally_lost_it.php
James Inhofe Has Finally Lost It
The senator from Oklahoma doesn't let the facts get in the way of his climate change denial.

{The article is directly related to this thread. Verbatim quotes from the hearings. What is Inhofe drinking or smoking? Or is he just as delusional as The Cretin?}

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/02/07/AR2007020701390.html

Bush Seeks Public-Private Funding Boost for Parks

Excerpts (more on link):

"It's a bold program that calls upon the government to do its part, as well as our citizens to become invested in a campaign to really enhance the parks," Bush said. "The funding starts with a billion-dollar request over the next 10 years that I'll send up to Congress. It's really to enhance the operating missions of our parks. I'm looking forward to working with both Republicans and Democrats to get this initiative passed."
~~~~~
But some critics were leery of Bush's idea of relying in part on private donations to fund major improvements in the nation's parks.

"While many Americans value the role of private philanthropy in supporting our National Park system, the administration's increasing reliance on the private sector in this capacity is troubling," said Rep. Nick J. Rahall II (D-W.Va.), chairman of the House Natural Resources Committee. "Our National Parks are national treasures -- and their funding is a national responsibility."

{{{Yeah. And we all know what happens when The Cretin advocates "privatizing" anything, don't we? We all lose in every way possible. Pipelines get built across wildlife preserves... et cetera, et cetera, et cetera and so on and so forth.}}}

There is some potential good news on breaking the bond between hunters and fishers and the Republicans. The National Wildlife Federation did a poll of just hunters and fishers last year, and found high awareness of the dangers of global warming to wildlife, and support for getting the government in gear to make something happen. And there are plenty of stories about how hunters and ranchers have been fighting to slow or stop oil and gas drilling on public and private lands in the Rockies. The fact that Democratic candidates have been winning in places like Colorado is an indication that at least some of those sportspeople are peeling away from the Republicans.

Posted by: Dick Bell at February 8, 2007 03:03 PM

That helps! :-)

Responsible hunters and fishermen/women who genuinely use the game they get for food for their families do not want that avenue of obtaining food to disappear, which necessitates supporting ways to ensure that wildlife will be there in the future.

Of course, the accent is on "responsible." The rest who kill wildlife for the sake of killing wildlife and don't use the game for food couldn't care less if global warming kills the wildlife or the environment that feeds and supports the wildlife....

Posted by: Dick Bell at February 8, 2007 03:03 PM

Thank you!

"...took a bead on polar bears..."
Just one example of why I enjoy your writing. @;-)
Good luck and renewable pencils to you, Richard Bell!

As we can tell, Richard is enjoying his new job as the Wildlife Director of the Congress--keeping an eye on all the critters in there! He is hunting and fishing every day, although he's not targeting the forest-based wildlife...the earth can have some hope now!

Meanwhile, back at the war...

This Just In:

Dear VoteVets.org Supporter,

You are making a difference!

Today, VoteVets.org is profiled in the Washington Post, regarding our trips to Capitol Hill and ads we've been running. Today, at 4pm, I will be on MSNBC to discuss our efforts. None of this would have been possible without you. Your calls, donations, and word of mouth campaign have given us the strength and credibility to make insiders in Washington take notice of us, and take the troops and veterans seriously.

Because of our campaign against the escalation of the war in Iraq, we're seeing some serious movement. This article details that many Senators who had blocked a debate on the bipartisan resolution against escalation are now doing a quick about-face. Because of you, the proponents of escalation of the war are starting to crumble.

We're not done yet!

This week, we had meetings with a dozen Senate offices from both sides of the aisle, and a very productive meeting with House Speaker Nancy Pelosi and Majority Leader Steny Hoyer. We have their firm commitment that nothing will get in the way of the House speaking out forcefully against an escalation in Iraq. We will do everything we can to ensure quick passage of a resolution against escalation. Once a resolution passes in the House, and more Republicans in the Senate come to the conclusion that their political lives depend on them doing the right thing, we will see the Senate follow suit.

Please help us keep the heat on. Call your Representatives and Senators, and tell them that you stand with VoteVets.org's troops and veterans of the war in Iraq by opposing the escalation. The Capitol Hill switchboard number is 202-224-3121.

Thank you for supporting the Voice of the 21st Century American Patriot.

Best,

Jon Soltz
Iraq War veteran
Co-Founder and Chairman,
VoteVets.org

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/02/07/AR2007020702317.html
Veterans Group Speaks Out on War
Congressional Democrats Let VoteVets.org Talk for Them, Bluntly

Excerpts (Click on link for more):

When Iraq war veteran Jon Soltz accused Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) of "aiding the enemy," the Democratic senators gathered around him yesterday did not wince. Nor did Democrats object when Soltz, the chairman of a group called VoteVets.org, called President Bush and Vice President Cheney "draft dodgers."

In the United States Congress, where decorum usually holds sway, Soltz and his small band of veterans are saying things many Democrats would like to express but can't. And as the politics heat up over the Iraq war, Democratic leaders increasingly are being drawn to Soltz and his angry soldiers.

VoteVets.org appears to be the most active group trying to influence the debate about the president's plan to send 21,500 more troops to Iraq. Last month, it dispatched veterans to the home states of Republican senators waffling over resolutions on the war. Next, it ran a stark television ad on Super Bowl Sunday that drew national attention. And this week, group members crisscrossed Capitol Hill, trying to persuade lawmakers and their staffs to oppose the troop increase.

Their efforts are supported by a coalition of liberal groups that blocked the president's 2005 plan to privatize Social Security. But this new campaign could prove more difficult.

The veterans are selling a blunt message: The Bush strategy in Iraq is a failure, and adding troops sends more young men and women to their deaths. If you care about the military, they told lawmakers, vote against the troop increase. Legislators who are stalling debate on the matter are "cowards," they said.
~~~~~
Soltz, the group's intense 29-year-old co-founder who served in Iraq in 2003, displayed a fiery impatience with the procedural morass that has paralyzed the Senate. "I don't need some fancy Senate talk about why they can't vote," he said in an interview. "We just want a vote. We need a vote that tells the president that his strategy is not working."

In several news conferences, Soltz accused McConnell of "aiding the enemy" by allowing the Bush administration to build up troops in Iraq at the expense of the hunt for Osama bin Laden. "We are not fighting the war on terrorism, we are in the middle of a civil war," he said, referring to Iraq. "Meanwhile, the guy who attacked this country on 9/11 is living in a cave in Afghanistan."

Soltz called Cheney a "draft dodger," repeating charges he made last month when he disparaged a "president who frankly knows nothing of war and a vice president who knows even less." He said: "Senators on the fence have a choice. They can stand with veterans like us, or they can stand with the draft dodgers down the road."

Democrats said they will not muzzle the veterans. In many ways, the former soldiers and Marines are expressing sentiments the lawmakers want broadcast, and they help inoculate Democrats against Republican claims that opposing the president's plan undermines the troops.
~~~~~
Soltz said the group is pro-military and not a front for the Democrats. "I'm a conservative," said Soltz, who volunteered on Kerry's 2004 presidential campaign. "I don't think 20,000 more troops is Democratic, I don't think 20,000 troops is Republican. I think it's stupid."

{{{Smack Down!!! :-) Soltz's quotes are things we've been saying and writing about for quite some time, practically verbatim. Er... not that I admire them much or anything - but if I ever met them in person I'd give each of them a big hug and a kiss on the cheek in gratitude....! Their hearts - and especially their ethical and moral values - are most definitely in the right place and they care for their military friends so much they want them home and out of harm's way... and since my nephew is still in Afghanistan, I can't express how much I appreciate Soltz's words to the Congress Critters...! Gads. Did any of this get a mention in Lamestream TV Media? I did send the story and link to two in-state TV stations with this message: "Have you seen this story? It's most definitely worth a mention on the evening news!!!" Urg. Now I'll be forced to watch the in-state evening snooze to see if they spend five seconds on the story.}}}

"The fact that Democratic candidates have been winning in places like Colorado is an indication that at least some of those sportspeople are peeling away from the Republicans."

Yes Colorado now has a Democratic Governor and Salazar did win against a weak candidate Coor, but unfortunately Colorado still has some whack jobs like Marilyn Musgrave and Senator Allard with legislation appealing directly to Colorado famers and ranchers. We lost Colorado by 3 points in 04 and hopefully Mark Udall will be victorous next year but you are exactly right about reaching out to Colorado farmers, ranchers and fisherman, as we can not win Colorado with Denver voters alone. I believe that was the Colorado campaigns only failure in '04. I have been in contact with the Udall campaign so any suggestions you have to reach these Colorado voters I will be happy to pass on to them.

Bush Budget Would Cut Money for Scenic Wild Lands
http://www.truthout.org/issues_06/020807EA.shtml
A program that protects more than a million acres of trails, wilderness and historic sites in the West would see another cut under President Bush's proposed 2008 budget.

Deforestation Main Challenge for UNEP
http://www.truthout.org/issues_06/020807EB.shtml
The severe degradation of the environment and its impact on climate change are dominating discussions currently underway at the 24th meeting of the governing council of the United Nations Environment Program (UNEP) in the Kenyan capital.

Gore Defends Chinese Position on Fighting Global Warming
http://www.truthout.org/issues_06/020807EC.shtml
Emerging economies such as China are justified in holding back on fighting greenhouse gas emissions until richer polluters such as the United States do more to solve the problem, former US vice president Al Gore said Wednesday.

{Full story on link (I bet the neoCon version of this story makes a mention in Lamestream Media!).... Oh, Puh-Leeze!!! Who do they think they're kidding? We all know the intel was made to fit the unjustifiable lies that "justified" Shrub's war!!! Aaaargh!!! Memo to Levin: Sic 'em! I hope your bite worse than your bark!}

http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20070208/ap_on_go_ca_st_pe/iraq_pentagon_intelligence

Pentagon: Pre-war intelligence was legit

WASHINGTON - Some of the Pentagon's prewar intelligence work, including a contention that the CIA underplayed the likelihood of al-Qaida connections to Saddam Hussein, was inappropriate but not illegal, a Defense Department investigation has concluded.

In a report to be presented to Congress on Friday, the department's inspector general said former Pentagon policy chief Douglas J. Feith had not engaged in illegal activities through the creation of special offices to review intelligence. Some Democrats also have contended that Feith misled Congress about the basis of the administration's assertions on the threat posed by Iraq, but the Pentagon investigation did not support that.
~~~~~
Levin has asserted that President Bush took the country to war in Iraq based in part on intelligence assessments — some shaped by Feith's office — that were off base and did not fully reflect the views of the intelligence community.

In a telephone interview Thursday, Levin said the IG report is "very damning" and shows a Pentagon policy shop trying to shape intelligence to prove a link between al-Qaida and Saddam.

"That was the argument that was used to make the sale to the American people about the need to go to war," Levin said. "And the idea that this separate intelligence assessment, which was wrong, which was distorted, which was inappropriate for the reasons given here (by the IG) is something which is highly disturbing."
~~~~~
In a response last month to a draft of the IG's report, Feith's successor as undersecretary of defense for policy, Eric Edelman, wrote that the activity deemed by the IG to be "inappropriate" was actually "an exercise in alternative thinking" conducted at Wolfowitz's direction.

Thanks Richard - great article. I hope that you have all the success the planet, and creatures of the planet, deserve. This is one of the saddest times every year for Aussies (and all who love these amazing mammals) when the Japanese whalers come down to the Antarctic to massacre as many whales as possible, "for scientific purposes".

And every year an incredibly dedicated group of people from all over the world, gather on board a few vessels to try and limit the ocean dweller deaths by placing themselves between the whalers and the whales - sometimes in nothing more than a rubber dinghy. It's a dangerous task, and I've no doubt that one day human lives will also be lost.

'Pirates' found, battle resumes

Sea Shepherd activists attacked the Nisshin Maru from inflatables after they found it early today.
Andrew Darby
February 9, 2007 - 2:24PM

Two missing Sea Shepherd activists have been found safe in the Antarctic, and hostilities have resumed against the Japanese whaling fleet.

The whalers called a truce to help the hardline anti-whaling group in their search caused when the two aboard a Zodiac inflatable dinghy disappeared suddenly in fog in icy waters south-west of Australia.

Sea Shepherd president Paul Watson told theage.com.au the inflatable's engine broke down, stranding Karl Nielsen, of Perth, Western Australia, and John Gravois of Los Angeles, USA.

Cont. ....
http://www.theage.com.au/news/national/pirates-found-battle-resumes/2007/02/09/1170524263403.html

Wonderful article and those polar bears do bring that tear and a hug.

I admit to feeling some hope this past week with tough talk from many places, and the Dems getting leadership to at least air these issues.

Harry still needs to learn better gamesmanship. Despite the slim Senate lead, they've all been playing defense to minimize fallout for too long.

As a Kerry supporter, I've been especially thrilled with his kick a** attiude in small business, showing real expertise and passion in that commerce hearing (with audio) on climate change linked above, and of course the http://www.setadeadline.com. Putting a campaign behind leaving Iraq, smartly, that anyone concerned with transition can get behind. Hiring staff, mobilizing, I like it.

He spoke bluntly on NPR, also, today, for just a two minute summary on Iraq that is perfect to forward.
http://www.wbur.org/news/2007/64411_20070208.asp

Thanks Richard,

Several weeks ago, my nine year old daughter asked me, "Why is the earth sick?" I can only guess what Sen. Inhofe would have said to her if she asked him. I imagine something like this, "The earth is not sick, it is those damn liberals who are sick and making things worse for all of us."

Overnight Reading Ruminations....:

http://autos.yahoo.com/articles/autos_content_landing_pages/41/smart-fortwo-set-to-come-across-the-pond
Smart Fortwo Set to Come Across the Pond
{This looks like an environmentally friendly car. At least it is in the right size for me....}

http://www.crooksandliars.com/2007/02/08/lieberman-independent-democrat-i-dont-think-so/
Lieberman: Independent DEMOCRAT? I don’t think so
http://www.nytimes.com/2007/02/08/us/politics/08lieberman.html
Allied With Democrats, Lieberman Easily Aligns With Republicans
{NYT story that got the mention on C&L.}

http://www.crooksandliars.com/2007/02/08/colbert-slams-holyjoegop-for-silencing-iraq-debate/
Colbert Slams HolyJoe/GOP for Silencing Iraq Debate
{Video}

http://www.crooksandliars.com/2007/02/08/olbermann-calls-out-jonah-goldberg/
Olbermann Calls Out Jonah Goldberg
{Video}
Jeff Cohen | Jonah Goldberg's Gambling Debt: Will Tribune Company Pay It?
http://www.truthout.org/docs_2006/020807O.shtml
Jeff Cohen writes: "There are many shades of right-wing punditry in our country. Among the shadiest is Jonah Goldberg. With arrogance seemingly matched only by his ignorance, Goldberg was just being Goldberg when he offered this wager two years ago: 'Let's make a bet. I predict that Iraq won't have a civil war, that it will have a viable constitution, and that a majority of Iraqis and Americans will, in two years' time, agree that the war was worth it. I'll bet $1,000 (which I can hardly spare right now).' The two-year period comes due Thursday, February 8. Even Goldberg now realizes his prediction was totally wrong ... So shouldn't Goldberg - or somebody - pay off the $1,000?"

http://www.crooksandliars.com/2007/02/08/nancy-pelosi-clarifies-on-fox/
Nancy Pelosi Clarifies On Fox
Nancy Pelosi was on On The Record on FoxNews last night and clarified the "plane scandal" that the traditional media is only too happy to keep repeating.

Big props to Speaker Pelosi for not holding back and being clear that this was a non-story being made into a scandal.
{Video}

http://www.ichblog.eu/text/content/view/441/1/
The World Can't Wait, Won't Wait, Isn't Waiting
Cynthia McKinney Speech
Kuala Lumpur Peace Conference
http://www.petitiononline.com/Abstain/petition.html
(Link in McKinney's speech.)

http://news.independent.co.uk/world/fisk/article2251354.ece
Robert Fisk: Iraqi insurgents offer peace in return for US concessions

Senate Panel Reacts to Attorney Firings
http://www.truthout.org/docs_2006/020807S.shtml
A Senate panel advanced a bill Thursday to curb the Justice Department's power to replace federal prosecutors indefinitely, after seven forced resignations sparked accusations of political favoritism.

Lawyers for Three Gitmo Detainees Slam Rules
http://www.truthout.org/docs_2006/020807T.shtml
Tight deadlines, rules allowing hearsay evidence and limited access to Guantanamo Bay will hamper efforts to defend three detainees facing military trials at the Navy base in southeast Cuba, their attorneys say.
Bill Simpich | The Watada Mistrial: Here's What Really Happened
http://www.truthout.org/docs_2006/020807A.shtml
Bill Simpich writes: "First Lt. Ehren Watada knew exactly what his case was about - and that scared the judge. There was absolutely no reason to stop the Watada trial."

Matt Renner | Progressive Democrats Aim to Cut Iraq War Funding
http://www.truthout.org/docs_2006/020807K.shtml
Matt Renner reports, "The Congressional Progressive Caucus is leading the Democratic effort in the House to stop the president's escalation plan in its tracks and bring US troops home within the year."

Brzezinski: Iraq War a Calamity
http://www.truthout.org/docs_2006/020807L.shtml
Zbigniew Brzezinski, former US national security adviser, told Congress the war in Iraq is a calamity and likely to lead to "a head-on conflict with Iran and with much of the world of Islam at large."

US Doesn't Sign Ban on Disappearances
http://www.truthout.org/docs_2006/020807P.shtml
Nearly 60 countries signed a treaty on Tuesday that bans governments from holding people in secret detention, but the United States and some of its key European allies were not among them. The signing capped a quarter-century of efforts by families of people who have vanished at the hands of governments.

Blogger in Jail Longer Than Any Journalist in History
http://www.truthout.org/docs_2006/020807M.shtml
Freelance videographer and independent journalist Josh Wolf defied a federal grand jury's order in July to hand over raw footage of anarchists clashing with police in San Francisco. He said he was protected by the First Amendment. A federal judge said he was in contempt of court. On August 1, the 24-year-old blogger reported to the federal detention facility in Dublin, California. As of Tuesday, he had been incarcerated longer than any journalist in modern US history.

Doctors' Moral Beliefs May Affect Care
http://www.truthout.org/issues_06/020807HA.shtml
A significant number of doctors say they do not feel obligated to tell patients about medical options they oppose morally, such as abortion and teen birth control, and believe they have no duty to refer people elsewhere for such treatments.

http://www.americanprogress.org/cartoons/2007/02/020807_iran.html
Plan B

http://news.yahoo.com/s/nm/20070208/pl_nm/iraq_usa_general_dc
Senate confirms Gen. Casey despite critics

http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20070208/ap_on_el_pr/draft_gore2008
Supporters push Gore to run in 2008

http://www.latimes.com/news/nationworld/world/la-fg-feith9feb09,0,6125070.story
Pentagon aide's prewar work faulted
A Defense report says the ex-official alleged links between Al Qaeda and Iraq that didn't reflect intelligence.
Excerpt (more on link):

'Alternative intelligence'

The report says that Feith's office "developed, produced and then disseminated alternative intelligence assessments on the Iraq and Al Qaeda relationship, which included some conclusions that were inconsistent with the consensus of the intelligence community."

{Now "alternative intelligence assessment" is an alternative term for LYING! [Banging head on keyboard... The kool-aid drinking religious reich will never get it....]}

http://www.latimes.com/news/opinion/la-oe-brooks9feb09,0,2620354.story
Kiss a baby then, support our troops now
Members of our armed forces have become pawns in a game of empty political rhetoric.
POLITICIANS USED TO kiss babies, but in these days of terrorism and war, babies have gone out of style. Today's most coveted political accessory? An active-duty member of the American military. "Our troops" are the new babies.

True, it wouldn't do for politicians to actually kiss the troops. But on both sides of the political aisle, candidates, officeholders and pundits are eager to do the next best thing: constantly insist on their complete, utter and total dedication to "our troops."

With the Senate tied up in knots over various Iraq resolutions this week, we've seen far too much of this sort of posturing lately. On Monday, for instance, Joe Lieberman (I-Conn.) called on his colleagues to vote for his resolution in support of the administration's planned troop increase because "ours is a statement of support to our troops." John Warner (R-Va.) responded by calling on senators to vote for his resolution opposing the administration plan: "I forcefully argue that ours is in support of the troops." Take it outside, boys! What a waste of everyone's time.

In this divisive environment, I'm not sure it's possible to get past the empty rhetoric and have a serious, non-politicized discussion about just what it means to "support" the troops. But why not try?

{More on link.}

http://www.calendarlive.com/printedition/calendar/cl-et-martinez9feb09,0,4054417.story
Standing Outside the Castles
I had Exxon Mobil's $39.5-billion profit on my mind the other day when I stopped to buy cherries at a stand overlooking the San Fernando Valley.

The obscenity of so much profit in a single year, the most ever for any American company, was filling me with an anger that wouldn't abate. Even by the shaky ethical standards of today's general merchandising, the amount was excessive.
{More on link.}

http://www.nytimes.com/2007/02/09/washington/09cong.html
Democrats Set House Debate to Rebuke Bush Over Iraq Policy
{Sounds as toothless as the Senate NON-binding resolution. All talk, no action....}

http://www.nytimes.com/2007/02/09/opinion/09fri1.html
Making Democracy Credible
Excerpt (more on link):
With a proper sense of urgency, Dianne Feinstein, Democrat of California, who leads the Senate committee in charge of elections, is asking all of the right questions about voting technology. This week, she ordered an investigation of the case of as many as 18,000 electronic votes that turned up missing in a tight Congressional race in Florida last November.

MISTRIAL DECLARED FOR WAR RESISTER LT. WATADA
By Marjorie Cohn, AlterNet
An Army judge has declared mistrial in the court martial of Lt. Ehren Watada, who can't be retried for the same charges.
http://www.alternet.org/stories/47808/

Excerpt (more on link):

Supreme Court Justice Robert Jackson was the chief prosecutor at the Nuremberg Tribunal. He wrote:

No political or economic situation can justify the crime of aggression. If certain acts in violation of treaties are crimes they are crimes whether the United States does them or whether Germany does them, and we are not prepared to lay down a rule of criminal conduct against others which we would not be willing to have invoked against us.

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/sci/tech/6345557.stm
Branson launches $25m climate bid
Millions of pounds are on offer for the person who comes up with the best way of removing significant amounts of carbon dioxide from the atmosphere.

Virgin boss Sir Richard Branson launched the competition today in London alongside former US vice-president Al Gore.
{More on link.}

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/sci/tech/6344215.stm
UK wind power reaches milestone
The UK has become only the seventh nation in the world to have more than two gigawatts (GW) of operational wind power capacity.

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/in_pictures/6332393.stm
In pictures: Orangutan sanctuary
{What's not to love about the adorable baby orangutans?!? :-) See also links to info about orangutans, their habitat disappearing, in upper right hand corner of the web page if you're interested in their future.}

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/asia-pacific/6345131.stm
Whaling truce in high seas rescue
A Japanese whaling ship joined in the search for two anti-whaling activists who went missing during a confrontation in icy seas off Antarctica.

"It is difficult to comprehend that a president or a prime minister would not understand this vital psycho-ecological principle. It is hard, also, to accept that as one part of humanity seeks to heal the planet another part seeks to burn it up and ruin it with war - just as in the street one man calls for justice and mercy and the other man calls hatefully for death." Michael Leunig

I was wondering how I should introduce this entire article to ensure that it is right on track. The assault on a region of earth with various explosives must surely fracture, poison and deform the finest components which together enmeshed, are required to ensure the physical stability of the whole planet. Our leaders don't seem to care.

Michael Leunig is an Australian social-political cartoonist. This is the first time I've read a long article of his and since it's a subject I am constantly bringing to your attention here, I shall link to it here. Especially since Michael has so beautifully scripted it to fit the current DCP header.

From. ....
http://www.theage.com.au/news/opinion/they-know-not-what-they-do/2007/02/08/1170524231395.html

They know not what they do
February 10, 2007
In Terry Hicks' plea for his son's life we see a microcosm of humanity's struggle against militarism, writes Michael Leunig.

THERE was an outside chance that he just may have, possibly, harmed American soldiers if he had the opportunity and happened to feel like it at the time, perhaps. Or so they say.

They put him in a concentration camp for the crime of that possibility, and kept him there, a million miles from home for five terrible years without trial.

When they had finished with him - when they had crushed and tormented him enough and weakened him sufficiently and driven him half-mad, and displayed him to the world as an example - they tied his hands behind his back and ordered him to defend himself against all their might and final fury.

Lori Perdue just called me from a hearing room in the Senate. She will call back with more info, but she said "SOMEONE JUST TESTIFIED THAT THE INFORMATION ON THE LEADUP TO THE WAR WAS COOKED."

This was Carl Levin's Committee hearing. Lori said she just burst into tears.

She said to me, "Look what we did." With all our work we made them tell the truth.

She is going to call me back with the name of the person who gave the testimony.

Today's hearing was with the Inspector-General Thomas Gimble and he mumbled his testimony, saying that the poor intelligence was not "illegal, but inappropriate."

He was, of course, jumped upon by the largely Repub. Senators (few Dems were present), including Jeff Sessions who asked the air, "Do you think we would have gone into this with dubious intelligence?"

Medea Benjamin, who was also there, felt the need to answer that question, and she was removed, but not arrested.

Then they went into closed session. So something's being discussed folks.

More as we know it...

AP story linked here:

http://www.afterdowningstreet.org/node/18384

Hearing Is Underway with Inspector General of Pentagon: Initial Reports Positive
Submitted by davidswanson on Fri, 2007-02-09 13:05. Congress

By David Swanson

1:00 p.m. Here's an AP Story: Probe: Some prewar intelligence false
Senator Carl Levin at the hearing on Friday. "I cannot think of a more devastating commentary." [Now would be a goood time for some devastating congressional action. Subpoena Cheney now!]

Pentagon officials undercut the intelligence community in the run-up to the U.S. invasion of Iraq by insisting in briefings to the White House that there was a clear relationship between Saddam Hussein and al-Qaeda, the Defense Department's inspector general said Friday.

Acting Inspector General Thomas Gimble told the Senate Armed Services Committee that the office headed by former Pentagon policy chief Douglas Feith took "inappropriate" actions in advancing conclusions on al-Qaeda connections not backed up by the nation's intelligence agencies.

Gimble said that while the actions of the Office of the Under Secretary of Defense for Policy "were not illegal or unauthorized," they "did not provide the most accurate analysis of intelligence to senior decision makers" at a time when the White House was moving toward war with Iraq.

"I can't think of a more devastating commentary," said Armed Services Committee Chairman Sen. Carl Levin, D-Mich.

more...

Jason Leopold | DoD Report Appears to Confirm Downing Street Memo
http://www.truthout.org/docs_2006/020907J.shtml
Jason Leopold reports: "A long-awaited report on the veracity of pre-war Iraq intelligence has found that a secretive policy shop exaggerated the Iraqi threat, providing the White House with cherry-picked information about links between Iraq and al Qaeda. The shop, operating out of the Pentagon, was set up by then-Secretary of Defense Donald Rumsfeld. Its goal was to lay the groundwork for a pre-emptive military strike against Iraq."

~~~~~~~~~
Story to go along with what Karen just posted, but this story is from yesterday's testimony.

I still can't get over the euphemism "alternative intelligence assessment" to describe LYING!!! (It just makes me so....&%^$@*& ....)

Just please do not forget, Karen, that it is you and Lori and Medea and all of the other people who are on the ground in DC who have done more work than most because you are there and visible. We're only vague beings who clog inboxes or get phones to ring, so we're 'out of sight, out of mind.' It's you who are so visible - and represent the rest of us who can't physically be there - and all of you who are to be thanked for getting in their faces. Congress Critters can see you where us 'out of sighters' can be easily ignored and our emails deleted without being read....

Thanks for being there, for working so hard on our behalf!

Hugs to you and the rest of the visible people who represent so many of us who are invisible....

William Fisher | Home-Grown Gitmo
http://www.truthout.org/docs_2006/020907K.shtml
William Fisher writes: "The Bush administration's penchant for privatizing virtually all government operations has combined with the current furor over border security to create another perfect storm - this time for suspected illegal immigrants. These thousands of people held in detention under the aegis of the US Department of Homeland Security - increasingly in privately-owned jails - are failing to receive timely medical treatment and adequate food, being subjected to frequent sexual harassment, and having their access to lawyers, relatives and immigration authorities improperly limited."

Waxman Sees Potential Coverup in Ship Contract
http://www.truthout.org/docs_2006/020907P.shtml
Managers of the US Coast Guard's $24-billion fleet-overhaul program appeared to cover up a Navy engineering report that highlighted design flaws in a new flagship cutter under scrutiny by government investigators, a senior House Democrat said yesterday.

NonnyO: Do NOT underestimate the power of phone calls to Members. Believe me, we are but dirt on their shoes compared to citizen/voters.

THEY WORK FOR US.

Do not for one minute believe that phone calls do not matter. KEEP THEM COMING. Find out why so many Dem. Senators were missing today, for example.

And according to Medea and Lori, Sen. Carl Levin earned himself a spine award today. He asked the IG if the information that was withheld would have affected public opinion about the efficacy of going to war? And the answer was, "Yes."

That's when Lori and Medea both started sobbing.

I am listening to Medea and Lori tell David Swanson the story. This is a major thread header, folks. I cannot believe what I am hearing. It will be up soon.

That's when Lori and Medea both started sobbing.

Posted by: karen at February 9, 2007 01:26 PM

I am listening to Medea and Lori tell David Swanson the story. This is a major thread header, folks. I cannot believe what I am hearing. It will be up soon.

Posted by: karen at February 9, 2007 01:29 PM

Even with phone calls and emails, physical presence counts (or, at least it would if I were in their shoes). I'll concede that all avenues of communication with Congress Critters are important: in person, by phone, by email.... (Yes, I realize everything helps and everything matters at this point.)

I'd have started sobbing with Lori and Medea if I had been there, too.... I knew those bam dastards were lying at the beginning (long before I ever found any political blogs), and I just couldn't believe what I was hearing in Lamestream Media in those days.

IF the TRUTH had only been told from the get-go, so many people would be alive today....

So, when will someone draw up impeachment papers and/or file charges against the LIARS...?

http://www.crooksandliars.com/2007/02/09/rep-cantor-needs-a-refresher-course/
Rep. Cantor needs a refresher course
{Video}
Seriously. Rep. Eric Cantor NEEDS to go back to at least high school and he NEEDS to read the Constitution to find out just precisely who has war powers under what circumstances (hint: it's not the 'soldiers or the commanders on the ground' or in lieu of that, the pretzelnit)...! Jeez. Why was this ignoramus elected if he doesn't even know the duties of the three branches of government...?!? I hope he's defeated in the next election in his home state. We need all of the willfully ignorant [i.e. stupid] Critters who don't even know the job descriptions for the three branches of government out of office!

Karen--waiting to hear more.

http://www.afterdowningstreet.org/node/18388

Truth Exposed by Senate Armed Services Hearing
Submitted by davidswanson on Fri, 2007-02-09 19:20. Congress
By David Swanson

The Senate Armed Services Committee held a hearing today at which the Inspector General of the Pentagon, Thomas Gimble, testified that – and I'm loosely paraphrasing – the Iraq War was launched on a pack of lies.

Gimble has produced a report [ http://www.afterdowningstreet.org/node/18368 ] documenting the actions of the Office of Special Plans, which included the gathering of "intelligence" and the presenting of that "intelligence" to top administration officials. The Pentagon is not an agency authorized to gather intelligence, and no agency is authorized to do that sort of work without informing the Congress.

Chairman Carl Levin called the hearing, and for much of it was the only Democrat present. Most of the Democrats on the Committee never showed. Claire McCaskill (D., Mo.) and James Webb (D., Va.) participated briefly. Hillary Clinton (D., N.Y.) never showed, and her office said she was in New York, according to Medea Benjamin, a CoFounder of Code Pink and my main source for what happened today.

James Inhofe (R., Okl.) participated briefly, but for a long time, there were only four committee members present, according to Medea: Levin and John Warner (R., Va.), Jeff Sessions (R., Ala.), and Saxby Chambliss (R., Ga.). This lopsided attendance was reflected in the print media coverage [ http://www.afterdowningstreet.org/node/18384 ], and will probably show up on the television reports.

"Levin was fabulous," Medea said. She and Lori Perdue, who both broke down crying during the hearing (see below), gave me an account after the committee had gone into closed session. "Levin was really tough, charged, determined. But most of the Democrats were missing in action. Three Republicans, Sessions, Warner, and Chambliss grilled Gimble." This grilling, Medea explained, was all in defense of the work of Doug Feith and the Office of Special Plans, a defense that apparently used some strangely contorted arguments. The grilling was only countered by Levin with a little help by Webb and a short assist by McCaskill.

more at the link

Thank you David!

Yes we must continue to counter the "neocon defense" - I suggest everyone return frequently to http://www.newamericancentury.org and read their original Mission Statement, then click on any part of the map and read papers they think are germane r/t neocon positions for global domination. They have their own "intelligence," as discussed here, and their own connections with mainstream media. & I assume they have powerful friends including in other countries (who also exploit their constituents & resources). It's kind of like the feudal world but with higher technology.

From the hearing transcript:

SESSIONS: That's what they say. OK.

And so I don't know -- surely, the national security adviser, Mr. Hadley, the deputy, was aware that this -- by its very nature of the briefing, it was more of a critique and objection to some of the things in the CIA analysis.

PROTESTER: (OFF-MIKE)

LEVIN: Excuse me, excuse me. We will not allow any additional outbreaks. I would ask that you now leave. And I'm going to have to ask whoever did that to please leave the room now.

SESSIONS: And I would just say, Mr. Chairman, thank you. I guess that's the appropriate thing to do.

But I think there are a group of people that think that somehow these staffers were part of some cabal to start a war for oil or some such thing as that and that they weren't committed to the decency and the -- of America and try to make country better.

PROTESTER: (OFF-MIKE)

SESSIONS: And that they cooked up all of this stuff.

PROTESTER: (OFF-MIKE)

SESSIONS: I think your report shows that is absolutely untrue and that there were basis for what these issues were raised. These issues are often in dispute and difficult to know what the real facts are.

And we had an open discussion. And the secretary of defense and the assistant secretary of defense ordered that they get with CIA and work out the differences and discuss them. And I'm sure the results of that eventually found its way to policymakers.

Thank you, Mr. Chairman.

LEVIN: Thank you, Senator Sessions.

{{It looks like the PROTESTERS were hearing a comment that they couldn't NOT respond to!}}

And, at the end of the hearing:

LEVIN: We will put in the record the request, if it's not already in the record, of Chairman Roberts, of September 9, asking you, or your predecessor, to know whether -- to ascertain whether the personnel assigned to the Office of Special Plans, which was part of the Feith operation, at any time conducted inappropriate intelligence activities.

LEVIN: Your finding is clear that they did.

As to why they did not do what the process required them to do in making an intelligence assessment is something that we will find out, either with the Intelligence Committee or on our own. If they're looking into that aspect of it, we're not going to duplicate that aspect of it.

But the why these inappropriate activities were undertaken is an important question.

It was not the question you looked at because that gets into motive. You focused on whether or not the activities were inappropriate. You reached your conclusion. I think the evidence is overwhelming that your conclusion is correct.

We will now do the following: Any of us who have questions of you will put those questions in writing that can be answered in open. We're now going to go to a closed session, but we will have a period of, let's say, 48 hours to put together questions for you for the open record.

In addition, we will be talking to witnesses who presented that slide presentation to the Vice President's Office and to the National Security Council. So if you would supply us with the names of the people from the Feith office that did make this presentation, we will be interviewing those folks.

We will also seek interviews with Mr. Hadley, Mr. Libby, and see whether or not they will be willing to meet with us.

You said that Mr. Hadley declined to meet with you?

GIMBLE: The counsel over there declined to make him available.

LEVIN: All right.

Did you seek to talk to Mr. Libby as well?

GIMBLE: No, sir, we did not.

LEVIN: OK, since the presentation was to his staff, we will try to either talk to him or to his staff.

LEVIN: I believe he was, though, at the presentation, if I'm not -- is that correct, Mr. Libby was there?

GIMBLE: He was at the presentation.

LEVIN: So we will seek to talk to then, both Mr. Hadley, Mr. Libby. And we would appreciate your letting us know who it was, on behalf of the Feith office, that made this presentation.

We're now going to remove to the classified portion. It will not take long.

Posted by: DiAnne at February 9, 2007 03:02 PM

DiAnne - regarding PANC's friends in other countries, they certainly exist.

I would definitely count Mexico's PAN, both major political parties in the UK, Australia's Liberal Party, Japan's Liberal Democratic Party, and South Korea's Grand National Party.

What's PAN/PANC?

Posted by: woz at February 9, 2007 06:53 PM

Actually, it's PNAC - Project for a New American Century - a very scary neoconservative organization supporting greater American militarization, challenging hostile governments, advancing democratic and economic freedom...

Go to the website, if you can stomach it.
http://www.newamericancentury.org/

mme defarge - thanks. When what should only ever be fiction - becomes the be-all and end-all of individual and collective desire.

Is Cheney on a leash?
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
The White House is attempting an awkward straddle as Congress debates resolutions critical of the Iraq war, determined to avoid a repudiation of President Bush, yet reluctant to lobby too aggressively for fear of triggering a Republican backlash...
~snip~
Vice President Dick Cheney, who has often played the role of party disciplinarian on key votes, has generally refrained from speaking up at weekly closed-door Senate GOP lunches, according to senators in attendance.

Instead, the newly confirmed commander of U.S. troops in Iraq, Lt. Gen. David Petraeus, and National Security Adviser Stephen J. Hadley have taken the lead. Sen. George V. Voinovich, R-Ohio, a critic of the troop increase, said he spent 40 minutes talking with Petraeus about his concerns. Hadley was made available to House Republicans last month to hear their misgivings about the president's plan.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
White House treads carefully on Iraq
Bush lobbies lawmakers in private, rather than public arm-twisting
http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/17064531/

Al doesn't look so good-- maybe just a pad pic...
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Supporters push Gore to run in 2008
Spokesman says Gore has 'no intention of running for president'
http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/17064370/

maybe just a pad pic... = bad pic

(I think Gore is having too much fun unplugged--he can say whatever he wants...)

woz:

PNAC = Project for a New American Century, madame explained already. I misspelled it.

PAN = National Action Party, the ruling right-wing Mexican political party. If Mexico were the 51st state, PAN would make a great state-level Republican Party.

Hey All:

Off topic but lest we fall victim to "old news" syndrome let's think about how the Libbytrial is an actual thread that can be pulled on. The gears of justice grind more slowly than the sexy news cycle. A lot of facts are coming out on the record now that substantiate or de-bunk an awful lot of stuff that has been in the air about our current administration and the Iraq war, which seems to be one of the favored topics of this blog and certainly is a major issue of concern for all Americans. So let's not let all of that "mushroom cloud" gambit fall into a memory black-hole. All important things take time and effort. Sometimes obvious tryths have to be re-stated over and over again to become part of the national psyche. Hope that made sense.

Chuck in Houston

PS: That's one reason I get so put off by circular firing squads.... Hpe THAT made sense!

What's that"Talking Heads" song about "stop Making Sense" or something? Where's Monkey and Otter when I need a lyric???

Chuck in Houston

And you may find yourself living in a shotgun shack
And you may find yourself in another part of the world
And you may find yourself behind the wheel of a large automobile
And you may find yourself in a beautiful house, with a beautiful
wife
And you may ask yourself-Well...How did I get here?

Letting the days go by/let the water hold me down
Letting the days go by/water flowing underground
Into the blue again/after the money's gone
Once in a lifetime/water flowing underground.

And you may ask yourself
How do I work this?
And you may ask yourself
Where is that large automobile?
And you may tell yourself
This is not my beautiful house!
And you may tell yourself
This is not my beautiful wife!
Letting the days go by/let the water hold me down
Letting the days go by/water flowing underground
Into the blue again/after the money's gone
Once in a lifetime/water flowing underground.

Same as it ever was...Same as it ever was...Same as it ever was...
Same as it ever was...Same as it ever was...Same as it ever was...
Same as it ever was...Same as it ever was...

Water dissolving...and water removing
There is water at the bottom of the ocean
Carry the water at the bottom of the ocean
Remove the water at the bottom of the ocean!

Letting the days go by/let the water hold me down
Letting the days go by/water flowing underground
Into the blue again/in the silent water
Under the rocks and stones/there is water underground.

Letting the days go by/let the water hold me down
Letting the days go by/water flowing underground
Into the blue again/after the money's gone
Once in a lifetime/water flowing underground.

And you may ask yourself
What is that beautiful house?
And you may ask yourself
Where does that highway go?
And you may ask yourself
Am I right?...Am I wrong?
And you may tell yourself
MY GOD!...WHAT HAVE I DONE?

Letting the days go by/let the water hold me down
Letting the days go by/water flowing underground
Into the blue again/in the silent water
Under the rocks and stones/there is water underground.

Letting the days go by/let the water hold me down
Letting the days go by/water flowing underground
Into the blue again/after the money's gone
Once in a lifetime/water flowing underground.

Same as it ever was...Same as it ever was...Same as it ever was...
Same as it ever was...Same as it ever was...Same as it ever was...
Same as it ever was...Same as it ever was...

Ground control to Major Tom...
Ground control to Major Tom...
Take your protein pills and put your helmet on...

Ground control to Major Tom:
Your circuit's dead; is there something wrong?
Can you hear me Major Tom?
Can you hear me Major Tom?

For here
Am I sitting in a tin can
Far above the world
Planet Earth is blue
And there’s nothing I can do

By the way, Al Gore was on "Fresh Air," NPR tonight - in a reality-based world he'd be on his second term.

Thank you DiAnne!

Ziggy played guitar,
Jammming good, with Weird and Gilley,
And the Spiders from Mars.
He played it left-hand,
But he took it too far;
Became the special man
Then we were Ziggy's fans...

DiAnne:

Yep, planet earth is blue and there's nothing I can do....

Chuck in Houston

Except get up in the morning and try to see it all with fresh eyes again

By the way, Al Gore was on "Fresh Air," NPR tonight - in a reality-based world he'd be on his second term.

Posted by: DiAnne at February 9, 2007 11:47 PM

Thanks Diane-- Checking out the replay-- here is the page to get Fresh Air audio:
http://www.npr.org/templates/rundowns/rundown.php?prgId=13

"in a reality-based world"-- LOL Yeah, we got sucked into the BushWorld black hole...

Men of good fortune, often cause empires to fall
While men of poor beginnings, often can't do anything at all
The rich son waits for his father to die
The poor just drink and cry
And me I just don't care at all

At heart they try to act like a man
Handle things the best way they can
They have no rich daddy to fall back on

Men of good fortune, often cause empires to fall
While men of poor beginnings, often can't do anything at all
It takes money to make money they say
Look at the Fords, but didn't they start that way
Anyway, it makes no difference to me

Men of good fortune, often wish that they could die
While men of poor beginnings want what they have
And to get it they'll die
All those great things that live has to give
They wanna have money and live
But me, I just don't care at all

Men of good fortune
Men of poor beginnings

Lou Reed, Berlin

Heard of a van that is loaded with weapons,
packed up and ready to go
Heard of some gravesites, out by the highway,
a place where nobody knows
The sound of gunfire, off in the distance,
I'm getting used to it now
Lived in a brownstore, lived in the ghetto,
I've lived all over this town

This ain't no party, this ain't no disco,
this ain't no fooling around
No time for dancing, or lovey dovey,
I ain't got time for that now

Transmit the message, to the receiver,
hope for an answer some day
I got three passports, a couple of visas,
you don't even know my real name
High on a hillside, the trucks are loading,
everything's ready to roll
I sleep in the daytime, I work in the nightime,
I might not ever get home

This ain't no party, this ain't no disco,
this ain't no fooling around
This ain't no mudd club, or CBGB,
I ain't got time for that now

Talking Heads, Life During Wartime

DiAnne:

I gotta get some Lou Reed and Talking Heads....

Keep on keeping on!

Chuck

PS: My boy Jim in VA isn't doing too bad on thet Red-Blue thing IMHO! Rednecks are folks too! We even half-invented Rock-and-Roll!

Or maybe a quarter.... But why quibble? Which I guess is the point.

And this goes out especially to Fe:

I-
I wish you could swim
Like the dolphins-
Like dolphins can swim.
Though nothing-
Nothing will keep us together,
We can beat them-for ever and ever
Oh we can be heroes-
Just for one day
I-I will be king
And you-
You will be queen
Though nothing will drive them away
We can be heroes-
just for one day
We can beat them-
just for one day.

Chuck in Houston

Let's Dance.
Put on your red shoes and dance the blues
To the song they're playing on the radio....

Under the moonlight...
The serious moonlight.

Boy, now I'm listening to the Doors but it seems that all the lyrics, when you think about them, are inappropriate for blogging! Need to think on that....

Chuck in Houston

The Old State Capitol in Springfield, Ill. _ where Abraham Lincoln held office before running for president _ is the setting for the latest milestone in Sen. Barack Obama's remarkable rise to prominence. The first-term U.S. senator planned to formally announce his candidacy for president Saturday in the city where he began his political career just 10 years ago.
~~~~~~~~~~~~
Obama to Announce 2008 Plans in Illinois
http://www.npr.org/rss/podcast.php?id=510110

House security chief: Pelosi didn't ask for plane; I did
http://www.cnn.com/2007/POLITICS/02/09/pelosi.plane/

House Speaker Nancy Pelosi did not request a larger plane for personal use to travel cross-country without stopping, Bill Livingood, the House sergeant at arms, said Thursday.

Livingood said the request was his, and he made it for security reasons.

"The fact that Speaker Pelosi lives in California compelled me to request an aircraft that is capable of making non-stop flights for security purposes, unless such an aircraft is unavailable," Livingood, who has been at his post for 11 years, said in a written statement...

C-SPAN posted audio of Libby's Federal Grand Jury Testimony:

Lewis 'Scooter' Libby's Federal Grand Jury Testimony - March 5, 2004 (Audio Only)

Lewis 'Scooter' Libby's Federal Grand Jury Testimony - March 24, 2004 (Audio Only)
~~~~~~~~~~~
See Recent Programs section of main page:
http://www.c-span.org/homepage.asp

YAY!!!!
~~~~~~~~
Sen. Tim Johnson working from hospital
http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20070210/ap_on_go_co/ailing_senator

Sen. Tim Johnson is reading news clippings and starting to do some office work from the hospital, almost two months after suffering a life-threatening brain hemorrhage. "At this point, he has requested more contact with office and is looking for updates from staff," his office said in a statement Friday.

Spokeswoman Julianne Fisher said the South Dakota Democrat is starting slowly.

"We do not anticipate him back (in the Senate) for several weeks," Fisher said. "We are bringing work to him rather than him coming to us. His first priority still is rehabilitation."...

Trial exposes White House crisis machine
http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20070210/ap_on_go_pr_wh/cia_leak_white_house

David Addington, chief legal adviser to Vice President Dick Cheney, says he was taken aback when the White House started making public pronouncements about the CIA leak investigation.

In the fall of 2003, President Bush's press secretary was categorically denying that either Karl Rove or I. Lewis "Scooter" Libby was involved in exposing the identity of Valerie Plame, a CIA employee married to a critic of the war in Iraq.

"Why are you making these statements?" Addington asked White House communications director Dan Bartlett.

"Your boss is the one who wanted" them, Bartlett replied, referring to Cheney.

With that, "I shut up," Addington recalled recently for jurors in Libby's CIA leak trial, which begins its fourth week on Monday with Libby's lawyers calling their first witnesses...

Link @ February 10, 2007 03:45 AM

~snip~
So far, the testimony of Addington and other administration aides, along with documents and Libby's audiotaped grand jury testimony, have provided a rare glimpse of how the Bush White House scrambled to respond to a political crisis as it intersected a criminal investigation.

At the intersection was Cheney, along with Rove and Libby, who were working in the summer of 2003 to rebut claims by Plame's husband, former Ambassador Joseph Wilson, that Bush had misled the nation about prewar intelligence on Iraq.

The White House denials on behalf of Rove and Libby came just before Rove secretly began acknowledging to the FBI that he had confirmed Plame's identity for conservative columnist Bob Novak, who first published her name and relationship to Wilson.
~snip~

Perhaps you are still up aimzzz and will be able to answer my question. I watch the News Hour on tv here every afternoon - it's after you've already had it aired in the US. I find that I'm very often surprised and put off by David Brooks in his political commentary. Fortunately, in these instances Mark Shields usually states the point of view I'm holding to. What is the feeling about these two political commentators.

For example, Brooks said that it's utter rubbish wasting time on all this stuff about the al quaeda-iraq connection - that would be much better left to historians.

At this point Shields was quite insistent that it is imperative that these issues become known at this time since that and the weapons of mass destruction fabrications plunged us into war.

A week or so ago, David Brooks said that to leave Iraq would be disastrous for America. Was he initially in favour of going to war?

Link @ February 10, 2007 03:45 AM

LOL... this article doesn't have Libby's answer to Fitzgerald's question.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
~snip~
In questioning Libby before the grand jury, Special Counsel Patrick Fitzgerald juxtaposed Bush's public statements condemning leakers and Libby's contacts with reporters, some of whom have testified against him.

"Were you at all concerned that while the president was stating that there's no White House involvement in any leaks whatsoever, that you were one of the people who may have been referred to" in press reports about possible White House leakers? asked Fitzgerald.
~snip~

Posted by: woz at February 10, 2007 03:52 AM

Hi wuz,
I don't see much TV & I don't know the answer to your question. I'm sure somebody will jump in with the answer... after people start waking up...

Thanks aimzzz. I'm usually all alone here at this hour so I'm reading all the Libby trial stuff with great interest. This issue isn't considered all that major here.

http://www.americanprogress.org/cartoons/2007/02/020907_warming.html
Ignoring the Warnings

Posted by: woz at February 10, 2007 03:52 AM

David Brooks is a reich-wingnuttia columnist (think he works for NY Times).

Brooks is in love with the idea of Shrub's Iraq war, imposing democracy on Iraq - the usual propaganda put out by the White House, and he follows the White House pattern of dismissing all the lies and crimes, wants the scandals swept under the rug and never talked about.

Shields is not always adamant enough in his assessments, so I'd call him a moderate liberal.

http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20070210/ap_on_go_ca_st_pe/gates
Gates: Bombs tie Iran to Iraq extremists
Excerpt (more on link):
Speaking with reporters in Seville, Spain, on Friday before traveling to Munich, Gates told reporters that markings on explosives provide "pretty good" evidence that Iranians are supplying either weapons or technology for Iraqi extremists.

"I think there's some serial numbers, there may be some markings on some of the projectile fragments that we found" that point to Iran, he said.

Gates' remarks left unclear how the U.S. knows the serial numbers are traceable to Iran and whether such weapons would have been sent to Iraq by the Iranian government or by private arms dealers.

{{{Gates is in Munich. Obviously, he's part of the PR campaign to promote Shrub's proposed war in Iran, just as Shrub tried to do before his Iraq war. Where Condisleazy isn't listened to because she's a woman, it now seems Gates is pushing Shrub's policies. Anyone besides me wonder if other world leaders will also willingly become Shrub's lap dogs, besides Blair and become part of Shrub's 'coalition of the willing'? Anyone besides me wonder if the PR campaign to solicit support to invade Iran is going to work with any but the most addicted kool-aid drinking reich-wingers? Anyone besides me wonder if Congress Critters will fall for the same LIES as "justification" for war... AGAIN?}}}

Pentagon to Extend Troops in Afghanistan
http://www.truthout.org/docs_2006/020907T.shtml
The Pentagon plans to extend its buildup of combat troops in Afghanistan - initially announced as lasting until late spring - well into next year. American troop levels, which increased this month, will remain roughly the same into 2008 rather than returning to the level that had prevailed through much of last year.
{{{Ohhhh, this isn't good...!}}}

Gitmo Cover-Up?
http://www.truthout.org/docs_2006/020907R.shtml
Heather Cerveny, a Marine Corps sergeant, who spent a week at the Cuban base last September working as a legal aide to Lieutenant Colonel Colby Vokey, said she was "shocked" to hear several guards from different parts of the base openly speak of mistreating prisoners. The US Southern Command investigated the claims and concluded "insufficient evidence exists to substantiate the paralegal's allegations." But Lieutenant Colonel Vokey, Sgt. Cerveny's superior officer, called the investigation incomplete and "outrageous."

Excerpt (I recommend reading the entire article):
Amongst the recommendations issued by the investigating officer but ultimately rejected by the SouthCom commander following the investigation was "that disciplinary or other action be taken against Sergeant Cerveny," which Lt. Col Vokey says is the most "outrageous part of the investigation."

"The interview of her [Sgt. Cerveny] was ridiculous and oppressive," he said. "The investigating officers, a colonel and a captain, walked straight into her office with the intent to accuse her of a crime before she even opened her mouth. The colonel already had the form in his hand to read her her rights and accuse her, before the interview started."

Lt. Col. Vokey says this investigation sets a dangerous precedent for all officers who find themselves in a position to report suspected criminal activity. "This was outrageous and sends a dangerous message to all our service members: you'd better not report anything that goes on at Guantanamo Bay, or you'll be threatened or charged with a crime."

Thanks NonnyO - re Brooks and Shields - that's what I thought

Thanks NonnyO - re Brooks and Shields - that's what I thought

Posted by: woz at February 10, 2007 06:14 AM

You're welcome. The interesting thing about Brooks is that when he knows he's lying, when he knows he's covering for Shrub (as in saying a speech was good, or trying to defend the LIES of the administration), Brooks' face turns very, very red...! Even TV studio lighting and makeup can't cover up his embarrassment.

I don't watch The News Hour faithfully, but it does come on after the BBC early evening news on PBS here so sometimes I watch it if the intro looks good, and I've seen Brooks' face turn that remarkable shade of almost beet red when he knows perfectly well he's lying or covering for or explaining away the snafus and lying statements of his little neoCon hero Shrub. Remarkable, but I'm glad at least one "journalist" can't lie without people knowing it...! :-)

It's interesting that two of these environmentally-related stories are from the British press, not US news....

Inuit Say Global Warming Destroying Their Way of Life
http://www.truthout.org/issues_06/020907EB.shtml
A delegation of Inuit is to travel to Washington, DC, to provide first-hand testimony of how global warming is destroying their way of life, and to accuse the Bush administration of undermining their human rights.

BP's Texas Refinery "Largest Emitter of Carcinogenic Toxins in US"
http://www.truthout.org/issues_06/020907EC.shtml
A new report has named a Texas refinery owned and operated by BP as the largest emitter of carcinogenic toxins in the US.

NY to Sue Exxon Mobil Over Underground Oil Slick in Brooklyn
http://www.truthout.org/issues_06/020907ED.shtml
New York's attorney general told Exxon Mobil and two other oil companies Thursday that he intends to sue them for taking decades to clean up a giant underground pond of petroleum left by the refineries that once lined Brooklyn's waterfront.

Anne Applebaum | Global Warming's Simple Remedy
http://www.truthout.org/issues_06/020907EA.shtml
Anne Applebaum on the recent headlines reporting the scary news of global warming. She wonders whether people will take this fear and turn it into action and prescribes carbon taxation as the simple solution.

Tom Bevan | The Politics of Gardasil
http://www.truthout.org/issues_06/020907WB.shtml
"Every now and then an issue pops up on the radar screen that scrambles what we've come to expect as the natural political order. Mandating human papillomavirus (HPV) vaccines for eleven- and twelve-year-old girls is that type of issue," writes Tom Bevan.

http://www.oldamericancentury.org/
And now for some humor: check out the photoshopped pix of Condisleazy!

http://news.yahoo.com/comics/uclickcomics/20070210/cx_nq_uc/nq20070210
Non Sequitur

Criminals Control the Executive Branch
Paul Craig Roberts
Gentle reader, you are probably unaware of former National Security Adviser Zbigniew Brzezinski’s damning indictment of the Bush Regime in his testimony before the Senate Foreign Relations Committee on February 1, 2007, as the United States no longer has a media--only a government propaganda ministry.
http://www.informationclearinghouse.info/article17021.htm

US Think Tank Urges Retreat From Iraq
By Dave Clark
An independent think tank warned that the situation in Iraq was beyond repair and urged that US forces should be pulled out whatever the result of the current "surge" of troops into Baghdad.
http://www.informationclearinghouse.info/article17018.htm

Filibuster to End the War Now!
By John V. Walsh
It Only Takes 41 Senate Votes to End the War. Republicans Show the Way.
http://www.informationclearinghouse.info/article17011.htm
{I recommend emailing this to our Dem senators to remind them of their duty to their constituents....}

Leading Experts Say Congress Must Stop An Attack on Iran
By John W. Dean
Is That Constitutionally Possible? Absolutely - According to Experts on Both Sides of the Aisle.
http://www.informationclearinghouse.info/article17019.htm

Excerpt (there's an interesting Q & A session between Ted Kennedy and others):

In sum, as I read both the general statements of these experts, and their specific answers to Senator Kennedy's question about Iran, everyone agrees that Congress has the power to prevent a president from going to war.

The only question that is doubtful, then, is whether the members of Congress actually have the will to do so. This, I suspect, is what James Fallows concluded, when he said that, at best, they might draw a line.

Of course, George W. Bush and Richard B. Cheney know this too, so they will do whatever they wish to do - and Congress may or may not catch up. But there is no real question as to whether Congress could legally stop Bush and Cheney from going to war in Iran without coming to Congress to fully explain what they are doing and why. Congress has that power; the only question is whether it will dare to use it.

Is Bombing Iran Bush's call?
Patrick J. Buchanan
Bush is putting in place forces to enable him to order an all-out attack on Iran's navy, air force, and anti-aircraft, anti-ship and land-based missiles – and all its known nuclear facilities.
http://www.informationclearinghouse.info/article17009.htm
Excerpt:

So, will the neocons get their way and their new war – on Iran?

Or will Congress follow the guidance of Jefferson: "In questions of powers, then, let no more be heard of confidence in man, but bind him down from mischief by the chains of the Constitution."

Those member of Congress today apologizing for having voted Bush a blank check for war on Iraq might better tell Bush, by joint resolution that he has no blank check for a war on Iran.

Or is this Congress, too, terrified of crossing the War Party?

For "Democracy" And "The Republic"
By Paul Street
The Founders included some brilliant individuals, but their brilliance was harnessed largely to the cause of antidemocracy. Drawn from the elite propertied segments of a deeply stratified society, the delegates to the Constitutional Convention shared their compatriots John Jay’s and John Adam’s view that “the people who own the country ought to govern it.”
http://www.informationclearinghouse.info/article17016.htm

Excerpts ("Highly Recommended" reading all the way through for context... This is long, but grab a cuppa... it's a VERY interesting read - the reality of history is much more interesting than the PR version thrown at us by politicians....):

These are dangerous and confusing times. Let’s take a look at an interesting formulation from an unusually long and dramatic lead editorial in a recent issue of liberal-left weekly "The Nation":
“World opinion is against the US escalation in Iraq. The American people are against it. Congress is against it. The Iraqi government is against it. Can a single man force a nation to fight a war it does not want to fight, expand a war it does not want to expand? If he can, is that nation any longer a democracy in any meaningful sense? If not, how can democratic rule and the republican form of government rule be restored?”
~~~~~
It is good to see "The Nation’s" editors’ say forthrightly something that many of us on the left believe: that the United States is not in fact a functioning “democracy.” Democracy, classically defined, means majority rule and the reign of the popular will. It entails broadly-based and widely empowered civic participation, de-centered power, and one-person, one-vote, with equal policy input for all people.

Bush’s “surge” (escalation) obviously violates all that. It also violates the concept of a republic. A republic, according to Websters, is “a government in which supreme power resides in a body of citizens entitled to vote and is exercised by elected officers and representatives responsible to them and governing according to law” (Webster’s Ninth New Collegiate Dictionary, p. 1001).

Bush’s decision to escalate his messianic, monumentally illegal and massively unpopular (at home and abroad) war on the Middle East, combined with and linked to his brazen violation of numerous national and international statutes, is obviously out of touch with core principles of democratic and republican governance.
~~~~~
Robinson’s characterization of classic popular democracy is a good description of the historical project of the radical-democratic left. It is well to the left of the republican thinking that guided the construction of “the Republic” in the late 18th century.

The Founders included some brilliant individuals, but their brilliance was harnessed largely to the cause of antidemocracy. Drawn from the elite propertied segments of a deeply stratified society, the delegates to the Constitutional Convention shared their compatriots John Jay’s and John Adam’s view that “the people who own the country ought to govern it.” They may have diverged on numerous questions, but they agreed on a basic principle: the common people, with little or no property, must not have too much power. “In their minds,” historian Richard Hofstader noted in his classic study The American Political Tradition (1948), “liberty was linked not to democracy but to property” and democracy was a dangerous concept “sure to bring arbitrary redistribution of property, destroying the very essence of liberty.” New England minister Jeremy Belknap stated nicely the basic idea behind the Founders’ authoritarian notion of “popular government.” “Let it stand as a principle,” he told an associate, “that government originates from the people, but let the people be taught…that they are not able to govern themselves.” For all but one of “the Republic’s” constitutional framers (James Wilson), Jennifer Nedelsky notes, “property was the main object of government” and the people were “a problem to be contained” (Nedelsky, Private Property and the Limits of American Constitutionalism [Chicago: University of Chicago, 1990])

Consistent with these sentiments, widely evident in Hamilton and Madison’s Federalist Papers (see Paul Street, “By All Means, Study the Founders: Notes From the Democratic Left,” The Review of Education, Pedagogy & Cultural Studies [volume 24, no.4, October-December 2003]: 281-302), the nation’s rich white fathers crafted a government marvelously designed to keep the nonwealthy masses distant from the levers of power and to preserve and expand existing inequalities of wealth and power. The Constitution divided the government into three parts, with just one-half one of those three sections (the House of Representatives) elected directly by “the people” – a category that naturally excluded blacks, women, Native Americans and propertyless white males at the time. It set up elaborate checks and balances to prevent the possibility of the common people making policy in a direct fashion. It omitted any mechanism of direct popular accountability between elections and introduced a system of intermittent and purposefully staggered elections to discourage focused electoral rebellions by the majority. It create an aristocratic Supreme Court appointed for life with ultimate de facto veto power over legislation that might too clearly bear the plebian in