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We The People II -- Go Ye Forth
Just as well-crafted videos can inspire people on the internet, traditional street theater can do so in public spaces. Bill Moyer and Backbone Campaign from Vashon Island, WA do a very nice job of this, such the giant Backbone which went to the DNC convention and through the halls of Congress and which has visited the offices of major media.
On President's Day, the Backbone Campaign brought their public education in the guise of entertainment to the town square. Yesterday, on the anniversary of the US Constitution, they were at the Seattle Center, in the shadow of the Space Needle. This is a location where "the people" gather on weekends, ever since Elvis appeared there at the World's Fair in 1963. This weekend, I saw small conventions for jewelry makers, doll house enthusiasts and Bob the Builder fans around the center.
The Center House is an entertainment area in the middle of a food court where all these people and others tend to converge. On most weekends, there are stages and tables devoted to ethnic cultural events. It was all very well received as a family event, with t-shirt making, constitution signing and enjoyment of politically-themed music. I saw small children, in keeping with changes in technology, photographing the Constitution onto cell phone cameras.
_____________________________________________________________________________________
Activists' expulsion cited as Bush rule
By Bruce Finley
Denver Post Staff Writer
03/03/2007
Alex Young and Leslie Weise, filed a federal suit claiming that for political reasons they were kicked out of a 2005 town meeting with President Bush held in Denver. A former White House official who ordered three activists expelled from a 2005 Denver public forum with President Bush says it was White House policy to exclude potentially disruptive guests from Bush's appearances nationwide.
The former official, Steve Atkiss, revealed the policy Friday in an interview after two volunteer bouncers identified him and a current White House staffer, Jamie O'Keefe, as the officials who ordered the so-called Denver Three activists sent away from the event.
The activists had done nothing to disrupt the forum, and two of them sued over the incident.
In sworn legal depositions, bouncers Michael Casper and Jay Bob Klinkerman for the first time named the White House officials who they say ordered the Denver Three to be excluded.
An American Civil Liberties Union legal team is challenging the expulsion in federal court, arguing that it violated the activists' constitutional free-speech rights. They had obtained tickets to attend the taxpayer-financed public forum about Social Security.
Guests who disagree with Bush can stay at public forums if they are well-behaved, "but certainly, if there's an indication somebody's primary intent is to cause trouble, we are looking to avoid trouble," said Atkiss, who now serves as a U.S. Department of Homeland Security Customs and Border Protection chief of staff.
-snip-
Friday's revelations by the bouncers appeared to contradict a White House spokesman's assertion in 2005 that volunteers were responsible for ejecting the Denver Three - self-described progressives Alex Young, Leslie Weise and Karen Bauer. Only Young and Weise are involved in the federal lawsuit.
That spokesman, Scott McClellan, who resigned last year, could not be reached for comment.
McClellan at the time also said: "The White House wants a diversity of voices at these events."
more...
http://www.denverpost.com/arcade/ci_5341085
V for Vindictive
From the previous thread:
I put nothing past these people, but I really do believe that the 2008 Dem presidential candidate is going to have a much easier time of it , in terms of the mood of the country, than did either Gore or Kerry, who both faced a somnolent (and, in 2004 also fearful) electorate.
Posted by: mbk at March 5, 2007 08:17 AM
I am normally a pessimist, but I am inclined to agree with this sentiment.
The conservative swing of American politics has been allowed to unfold over the past 30 years, as a reaction to the liberal programs of the 1930s and the 1960s (including civil rights). It started with Southern California, with its property tax revolt and Ronald Reagan, and quickly spread nationwide. Sure, Bill Clinton paused the march, but he didn't undo it - he didn't have the popular sentiment to undo it (i.e. the healthcare fiasco that gave the control of Congress to the Republicans in '94).
But W has clearly demonstrated that runaway capitalism and neoconservatism do not work, between the quagmire in Iraq and the diminishing standard of living for Americans. Here in Southern California, where the conservative movement took off, people still don't get it. But people elsewhere seem to start to get it. There are national polls now saying that Americans are willing to pay more in taxes to support a universal healthcare plan, something unthinkable in the 80s and 90s.
I do think the pendulum has started swinging left again, and the '08 Dem nominee should be able to take advantage of it - unless we're talking about someone along the lines of Hillary.
Huge neocon promoted to high position in State Department - more likely to advance into Iran now? (not him, of course!)
http://www.rawstory.com/news/2007/State_Department_promotion_sends_Iran_war_0305.html
Greenwald: State Department promotion sends Iran war signal
Subject: Beyond Walter Reed
Two weeks after breaking the Walter Reed scandal, The Washington Post's Anne Hull and Dana Priest report on the avalanche of correspondence they've received from vets detailing similar conditions at VA outpatient facilities across the country:
Hundreds of soldiers contacted The Washington Post through telephone calls and e-mails, many of them describing their bleak existence in Medhold.
From Fort Campbell in Kentucky: "There were yellow signs on the door stating our barracks had asbestos."
From Fort Bragg in North Carolina: "They are on my [expletive] like a diaper. . . . there are people getting chewed up everyday."
From Fort Dix in New Jersey: "Scare tactics are used against soldiers who will write sworn statement to assist fellow soldiers for their medical needs."
From Fort Irwin in California: "Most of us have had to sign waivers where we understand that the housing we were in failed to meet minimal government standards."
It's clear that this was a scandal waiting to break. And now that it's broken, lawmakers can't get enough of it -- even though the deplorable condition of the VA (a backlog of 400,000 benefit claims) was no great secret. The difference, of course, is that what was acceptable has become unacceptable:
For years, politicians have received letters from veterans complaining of bad care across the country. Last week, Walter Reed was besieged by members of Congress who toured the hospital and Building 18 to gain first-hand knowledge of the conditions. Many of them have been visiting patients in the hospital for years, but now they are issuing news releases decrying the mistreatment of the wounded.
http://www.tpmmuckraker.com/archives/002672.php
Amen.
http://www.boston.com/news/globe/editorial_opinion/oped/articles/2007/03/05/2008_race_could_we_all_just_calm_down/
2008 race? Could we all just calm down
By Sue Casey | March 5, 2007
MCCAIN losing ground! Is America ready for a Mormon? Will Hillary say the M-word? Liar, liar pants on fire!
For Pete's sake, could we all just calm down a bit? The 2008 election is 21 months away. In a world where a day is a lifetime, we are hundreds of lifetimes away from knowing anything about who might become the next president. We have no idea what the deciding issues will be in either party's primary process.
CPAC The Unauthorized Documentary
http://www.thenation.com/blogs/campaignmatters?bid=45&pid=171489
heheheh
This is quite scary.
Top Christian Right Leader Blames Jews For Holocaust
John Hagee, deemed one of the 20 most influential evangelical leaders in America, is an increasingly powerful, fast rising star on the Christian right who has built his career on aggressive support for the Israeli hard political right. In early 2006, Texas pastor John Hagee founded the new, ostensibly "pro-Israel" national lobbying group "Christians United For Israel". But John Hagee's writings, in his latest book, might lead some to doubt Mr. Hagee's love for Jews.
http://www.dailykos.com/story/2007/3/5/1170/24629
I would be very curious to hear from anyone here if this is within their experience too.
From the Libby trial:
"The instruction on reasonable doubt is the most detailed language I can provide you on what constitutes reasonable doubt. I request you re-read the reasonable doubt instruction and consider all of it in your evaluation of what amounts to reasonable doubt and what the government's burden of proof is in proving guilty beyond a reasonable doubt.
As to the second part of your question which reads "Is it necessary for the government to present evidence that it is not humanly possible for someone not to recall an event in order to find guilty beyond a reasonable doubt," I do not fully understand what you mean by "humanly possible." If you can rephrase the question considering the language I gave you in the reasonable doubt instruction, I will assess whether I can provide further guidance to you."
Instruction:
Reasonable doubt … is doubt based on reason. … Reasonable doubt is the kind of doubt that would cause a reasonable person, after careful and thoughtful reflection, to hesitate to act in the graver or more important matters in life. However, it is not an imaginary doubt, nor a doubt based on speculation or guesswork; it is a doubt based on reason. The government is not required to prove guilt beyond all doubt, or to a mathematical or scientific certainty.
It seems to me LSM has already anointed Guilliani. We're NOT going to have an easy ride this time around. Rudy appeals to a lot of (stupid) folks,but not the right. We know what happens when the people vote stuid. With the world situation and mess Bush has led us into we're a walking time bomb. "TERROR" and FEAR will reign again. Hillary's being anointed as the dem candidate even by reps so they can finally shove her in a box and keep the momentum going on the Clinton scandals. Also we're digging a hole on immigration..again ,following the Bush agenda. Sure it's a loooong time off. Even a week in politics is a month as we so well know. Our system is so broken and shattered I doubt in the rest of my time on earth I will see much change. Been working all my life for the right causes,fighting the good fight and the wrong stuff just never goes away. 08' election told the tale and the dems drag their tails. NOBODY works for the people anymore !!
Posted by: sparrow at March 5, 2007 02:05 PM
To the Christian Right, the Jews have been a tool to get support for pushing the so-called "pro-Israel" agenda. But the goal of the Christian Right is a Christian takeover of Israel, not the preservation of the Jewish state.
Jews who support the neocon agenda are badly misled and mistaken. Fortunately they are in the minority among the general Jewish population - though, sadly, a powerful one.
Posted by: Patti F. at March 5, 2007 02:31 PM
Giuliani the murderer? NEVER.
Patti F
Keep up the good fight though!!
Getting positive news about Kerry:
PRESS RELEASE -WASHINGTON – Senator John Kerry (D-Mass.) today offered the following statement on the proposal to list the polar bear as a threatened species under the Endangered Species Act. The proposal will be debated at the US Fish and Wildlife public hearing at the Department of Interior.
“Polar bears are disappearing and we are to blame. It is crucial to take responsibility for the damage already done, and list the polar bear as a threatened species. From melting ice caps to disappearing plants and animal species, the signs of climate change are all around us and we have to acknowledge them. It’s just sad that the Bush Administration won’t enact the one measure that would actually ensure polar bears are around for future generations: mandatory reductions in greenhouse gas emissions. “We know that unless we take immediate and drastic steps to reverse climate change and identify its effects, life as we know it will be very different. The time to act is now.”
..and..
http://ledger.southofboston.com/articles/2007/03/05/news/news04.txt
KERRY DELIVERS - ‘I can die happy’: WWI medals arrive
Bill and Paula Garvey hold his Uncle Willie's World War I medals.
WEYMOUTH - Uncle Willie finally got his medals. Sen. John Kerry visited the Weymouth home of World War II veteran Bill Garvey to present the ailing 80-year-old with some long overdue medals. But they were not for deeds in World War II - Garvey already has a dozen of those on his mantel. Kerry brought three World War I medals earned by Garvey’s late uncle and namesake, William Henry Garvey, who was killed in action in France on Nov. 10, 1918, just hours before the armistice ending the war was signed. (rest at link) hat tip to mbk
Walter Reed Shortcomings are Systemic, says Lawmaker
http://www.bloomberg.com/apps/news?pid=20601103&sid=adfuOpkP9z7c&refer=us
Wonderful photos, DiAnne! As always...
Upcoming: Lori Perdue returns to DC for Women's Day Wedesday. What will we be doing to bring peace and justice?
Watch this space...
And:
HEED THE CALL FROM CINDY SHEEHAN, MEDEA BENJAMIN, TOM HAYDEN
Join the national *Call-In for Peace*. PDA and its allies are coordinating a unified phone campaign to get Congress to reject additional Iraq war funding – the Bush supplemental appropriations request for $93 billion more. With the Democratic leadership signaling weakness and half-hearted amendments aimed at undermining the surge but not the war, our coalition is /phoning/ in a loud and clear message: NO MORE FUNDING FOR WAR. VOTE NO ON THE SUPPLEMENTAL. BRING OUR TROOPS HOME.
. .AND OUT OF IRAQ’S CIVIL WAR.
PDA’s big day is Tuesday, March 6.
Mobilize all PDA members and supporters to phone Congress on Tuesday. Our special number into Congress is 1-888-851-1879.* When you call your Senate and Congressional offices, /politely/ tell them one or two of the following points: Most Iraqis – both Sunni /and/ Shia --want US troops out of their country and most believe attacks on our troops are justified. US military force is no solution in Iraq – especially given the tainted rationales for invading Iraq, cultural gaps, Abu Ghraib, etc. Diplomacy, not war, is the solution.
Each day from March 5 through March 13, different national groups in our alliance will spark phone calls to Congress. Instead of just one day of calls, we’ll keep pressure on Congress for over a week leading up to the Iraq Supplemental vote. Thanks to our toll-free number (connected directly to the Capitol Hill switchboard), we’ll track how
many calls we can generate when we all work together.
Mon., March 5 - Voters for Peace
Tues., March 6 -- PDA, AfterDowningStreet,USLabor Against the War
Wed., March 7 -- CodePink, Global Exchange
Thurs., March 8 - GSFP
Fri., March 9 - Peace Action
Mon., March 12 - UFPJ
Tues., March 13 - All together now!
*Join with PDA members/supporters this Tuesday, March 6 and call Congress: 1-888-851-1879.
Please take a minute to share with us how things
went with your call! {http://blog.pdamerica.org/?p=1011}
With friends like John Hagee, Israelis need no enemies.
http://youtube.com/watch?v=S7g04Mp-78U
About the Backbone Campaign
and
http://youtube.com/watch?v=qVWCvyRkKsQ&mode=related&search=
Jesse Jackson (D-IL) explains March 4th.
Please spread it around!
sparrow:
"Of course we love Israelis, it's just Jews we can't stand."
nmp:
Da Bearz!
http://www.americanprogress.org/cartoons/2007/03/030507_walterreed.html
American Progress Cartoon....
Seems like action calls do no good sometimes. But read this diary (and comments) to see all the people who have removed their ads from Coulter's website.
http://www.dailykos.com/story/2007/3/5/141633/8349
It's a babystep but a good one nonetheless.
Sparrow
CNN just reported this - so says the last comment (about Netbank & Verizon not wanting to be associated with that
witch)
I was over at Firedoglake and reading their coverage of the Libby trial. They say that Libby is in deep trouble: He will be convicted on at least one count. The remaining debate among the jury is on the other counts (4 altogether). They describe Libby's mood as serious, not smiling.
They predict the jury will come to a decision soon as they hammer out verdicts the remaining counts.
Well I doubt Cheney can travel much because of the blood thinner needed for the clot in his leg. So Bush is going to Latin America, to help the poor and convince them that democracy is the best way, and to send some our military to help them, and lastly, to piss off Hugo Chavez (who suspects a CIA plot). Bush is even peppering his speech with Espanol.
http://www.mercurynews.com/mld/mercurynews/news/politics/16839610.htm
Posted by: not my president at March 5, 2007 08:19 PM
Great, El Dublavay saying "comprendo" a bunch of times with that crosaeyed smirk on his face.
FEMA shuts Katrina victims’ mobile home park
Agency closes housing over health concerns; residents curious about timing
HAMMOND, La. (AP) - Dozens of families evacuated from a FEMA trailer park that had been plagued by sewage leaks and power outages were in temporary homes Monday, and the Federal Emergency Management Agency said it had requested work permits to dismantle the site this week.
Many of the residents were moved to other FEMA locations in the Hammond area, agency spokesman Manuel Broussard said.
“Some families were concerned about schooling for their children, and we have found housing for them close to their schools,” Broussard said. Likewise, he said, the agency has kept people who had jobs in Hammond close to town.
For Allsee Tobias, though, it still felt like yet another failure of the federal government to help Hurricane Katrina victims, even if the goal was to safeguard their health.
“They know how to put me out, but they don’t know how to help me out. That’s how I look at it,” said Tobias, who lost his New Orleans home in Katrina’s flooding and then was told to leave his Hammond trailer over the weekend. He and about 20 relatives, including 10 children, lived in four trailers, and were anxious about being split up.
“Pack and pray. That’s what they told us,” he said.
FEMA abruptly closed down the mobile home park because of ongoing problems with raw sewage that pours onto the grass. FEMA said electricity was cut off last week for the third time since Oct. 12; Broussard said the landowners hadn’t paid bills on time, while Frank Bonner, a co-owner of the site, said FEMA hadn’t paid on time.
more...
http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/17470865/
We can't get it done here in our own country, we're gonna do it Iraq?
NOTICE
On March 6th when Spc. Aguayo goes on trial people from around the world will rally in support of Agustin Aguayo. Rallies and fundraisers are planned in Rome, Berlin, Mannheim and Würzburg, Philadelphia, Seattle, London, and San Francisco.
US Army Specialist Agustín Aguayo is a conscientious objector who faces up to seven years in prison for refusing to deploy to Iraq for a second tour. He is currently imprisoned at a U.S. military base in Würzburg, Germany while awaiting a military court martial on March 6, 2007. "It is wrong to destroy life, it is wrong to use war, it is immoral, and I can no longer go down this path" Spc. Aguayo. He faces charges of desertion and missing movement.
Spc. Aguayo first applied for status as a conscientious objector in February of 2004, but while his application was being processed, he was deployed to Iraq. He served in Iraq as a medic for a year refusing to load his weapon even when put on guard duty.
After nearly three years of struggling with the US Army to be recognized as a conscientious objector and being repeatedly denied Spc. Aguayo went AWOL (absent without leave) on Sept. 1, 2006 and missed his unit's deployment to Iraq. The following day he turned himself him and was shortly thereafter flown to Germany.
I am thinking about Helga Aguayo right now. In a few hours, Augustin will have his day.
Please, everyone, send good prayers for this lovely couple.
Sounds a lot like W's America:
Japan now blames private contractors for forcibly rounding up women in occupied territories as sex slaves for its soldiers during WWII. What the #$*@&^ were the private contractors doing in the first place?
In any case, the Japanese government will not apologize, even if the US Congress passes a nonbinding resolution condemning Japan's WWII sex slave practices.
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/asia-pacific/6418337.stm
Journalists say troops deleted photos and video in Afghanistan
http://seattlepi.nwsource.com/national/306095_censorship05.html
more alleged civilian killings
Sure it's a loooong time off. Even a week in politics is a month as we so well know. Our system is so broken and shattered I doubt in the rest of my time on earth I will see much change. Been working all my life for the right causes,fighting the good fight and the wrong stuff just never goes away. 08' election told the tale and the dems drag their tails. NOBODY works for the people anymore !!
Posted by: Patti F. at March 5, 2007 02:31 PM
@@@@@@@@
I have to agree that I find the same awful and unhealthy "political culture" that has affected the country in the last 10 years. Campaigns are not about issues but about personalities and raising money. Hillary Clinton, despite her huge bag of negatives, has raised a ton of money and gets unwarranted mass media attention. I swear that AOL had a picture of Hillary as one of their leading political stories 3 days out of every 7 day week for the past 4 months. Feingold has dropped out. Bayh has dropped out. Vilsack has dropped out.
With the ascendancy of campaign fund-raising and big media coverage as determining factors in campaigns has been a corresponding decline in political party sructure and activity at the local level and citizen participation in political parties, in campaigning, in donating to candidates, even to bothering to vote in primaries and general elections.
It has become fashionable to be:
1) apolitical
2) apathetic
3) uninvolved
4) ignorant of current events
5) not associated with any political party
etc...
We are basically losing our democracy. When around half the registered voters don't bother to vote and those that do vote base their selections on "personality" and not on issues, we seem to get awful candidates and bad government.
When I have been out campaigning for local candidates, more and more often people tell me "Oh, I never vote..." and they say this with confidence and some pride..
It is especially discouraging to see the very poor voter turn-out in black, hispanic and low income groups. The turn-out rate in the black areas of my city is between 30% and 40%. I feel like grabbing the non-voters and saying "PEOPLE DIED TO GIVE YOU THE RIGHT TO VOTE" The constitution was amended twice to extend the vote to black folks.
Similarly it is the case with young people.
During the Vietnam war, the vote was extended to 18, 19 and 20 year olds with thought being that if you could be drafted and killed in a war at that age, you should also have the right to vote at that age too. Their voting participation is is shockingly low.
CEO pay 'shows US moral decline'
March 6, 2007 - 4:34PM
A Deep South Republican politician with financial market clout says excessive corporate executive pay reflects US ethical and moral decline and warns that most Americans won't put up with it for very long.
In language seldom heard from his party on Capitol Hill, Alabama's Spencer Bachus said Americans were disturbed by chief executives "whose pay is not justified by their performance."
"If nothing else, it shows we've had some decline in ethics or our moral behaviour. How we address that I'm not sure. It's a situation most Americans will not tolerate for long," he told reporters after speaking to a group of bankers.
The House Financial Services Committee, on which the Alabama lawmaker is the senior Republican, is set to hold a hearing on Thursday on corporate executive pay.
Cont. .....
http://www.theage.com.au/news/Business/CEO-pay-shows-US-moral-decline/2007/03/06/1173156489858.html
Ralpheh
Thanks for writing about the apathy. You have identified a bunch of stuff that has been bothering alot of people for a long time, much of which seems to be getting worse. Thanks again!
*sigh*
Hardly a surprise, but a real disappointment nonetheless...
--------------
WUERZBURG, Germany (AP) - A U.S. Army medic who refused to return to Iraq because of his opposition to the war was convicted of desertion at his court martial Tuesday, and could face as long as seven years in prison.
Spc. Agustin Aguayo, whose case has been closely watched by American anti-war groups, opened the one-day proceeding on a U.S. base in Germany by admitting he intentionally avoided his deployment back to Iraq.
Aguayo has said in the past that he had refused to return to Iraq because he believes war is immoral, and that he could "no longer go down this path."
Though Aguayo only pleaded guilty to the lesser charge of being absent without leave, Judge Col. R. Peter Masterton sided with prosecutors in finding him guilty of the more severe charge of desertion. He also was found guilty of missing a troop deployment.
[snip]
http://apnews.myway.com//article/20070306/D8NMNDCG1.html
---------------
all in all it's just another brick in the wall,
Otter
Can the president pardon people in military prisons?
Speaking of another prick in the wall...
Fired U.S. attorneys to defend their records
Second GOP lawmaker said to admit contacting one of the prosecutors
Updated: 40 minutes ago
AP
WASHINGTON - Six former U.S. attorneys said they got little or no information about why they were fired, as another Republican lawmaker reportedly acknowledged contacting one of the federal prosecutors about an investigation.
Sen. Pete Domenici, R-N.M., had complained repeatedly to high-level Justice Department officials about New Mexico prosecutor David Iglesias, the department said. Rep. Heather Wilson, R-N.M., late Monday said that she, too, had spoken with Iglesias about one of his pending cases.
But like Domenici, Wilson denied pressuring the New Mexico prosecutor, The Washington Post reported in Tuesday's editions.
Presidential poltiical pressure?
Democratic lawmakers want to know whether the Bush administration dismissed the U.S. attorneys for political reasons. As many as six of eight former prosecutors dismissed in recent months were expected to tell House and Senate committees Tuesday that they were given little or no information about the reason for their firings.
"When we had new ideas or differing opinions, we assumed that such thoughts would always be welcomed by the (Justice) department and could be freely and openly debated within the halls of that great institution," six of the attorneys said in a joint statement released ahead of the hearings.
Iglesias has also said he would relate details of a conversation with two members of Congress who he says pressured him to rush indictments in an investigation into an alleged Democratic kickback scheme that could have helped Republicans in the November 2006 elections.
-snip-
The Bush administration has said eight prosecutors were told to leave, all but one for performance-related reasons.
Democrats say they fear that the White House is using a provision of the antiterror USA Patriot Act to bypass the Senate confirmation process for U.S. attorneys and reward political allies with the plum jobs.
'Extensive congressional concern'
U.S. attorneys are political appointees and can be fired for any reason, or none at all. But the firings have become a stress point of a power struggle between the Republican Bush administration and newly ascendant Democrats in Congress.
more...
http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/17480997/
Fries are up.
NASA can't pay for killer asteroid hunt
Cost to find 90 percent of asteroids, comets would be about $1 billion
WASHINGTON - NASA officials say the space agency is capable of finding nearly all the asteroids that might pose a devastating hit to Earth, but there isn't enough money to pay for the task so it won't get done.
The cost to find at least 90 percent of the 20,000 potentially hazardous asteroids and comets by 2020 would be about $1 billion, according to a report NASA will release later this week. The report was previewed Monday at a Planetary Defense Conference in Washington.
Congress in 2005 asked NASA to come up with a plan to track most killer asteroids and propose how to deflect the potentially catastrophic ones.
"We know what to do, we just don't have the money," said Simon "Pete" Worden, director of NASA's Ames Research Center.
more...
http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/17473059/
I can see it now... "Blackwater Asteroid Services".
White House likely to update Iraq war request
6000 additional personnel and $2 billion extra likely as soon as Tuesday
Updated: 8 minutes ago
AP
WASHINGTON - The White House is ready to ask Congress for more money for President Bush's plan - already hotly debated - to send 21,500 new combat troops into Iraq.
The move would pay for support personnel and otherwise update last month's request for the Iraq war. It probably will draw criticism from Democrats who say the Pentagon had low-balled estimates of the costs of Bush's plan for improving security in Baghdad and Anbar province.
The latest request could come as early as Tuesday, modifying last month's $93.4 billion request for military operations in Iraq and Afghanistan through Sept. 30.
Though the changes may be relatively modest, they nonetheless are embarrassing to the White House and the Pentagon, which earlier dismissed criticism from lawmakers that the original $5.6 billion estimate for the troop buildup was too low.
Deputy Secretary of Defense Gordon England told the Senate Budget Committee last week that about 6,000 additional support personnel - such as headquarters staff, military police, and medical personnel - would be needed to complement the 21,500 additional combat troops.
more...
http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/17479809/from/RS.1/
9 more dead in Iraq
People are protesting at Ft. Lewis as the Stryker Brigade heads out and there have been arrests.
Posted by: monkey at March 6, 2007 09:58 AM
Monkey,
That's what immediately struck me about Jesselyn Radack's story when I read it. She was someone who just wanted to do her job well and who was following basic ethics.
Yet, as I read her story and read how the government was attacking her, I knew that this story was going to be replayed throughout government.
Republican Senator Chuck Hagel posits that unless things change, President Bush could face impeachment hearings...
http://www.esquire.com/features/chuckhagel0407-2
CNN: A verdict has been reached in the CIA leak trial of former White House aide I. Lewis "Scooter" Libby. The verdict is expected to be read in the courtroom at 12 p.m. ET.
Monkey,
You beat me to it!
Posted by: monkey at March 6, 2007 10:07 AM
The made-up war to destroy one country cost so much, we won't be able to defend what we "won" in Iraq or anywhere else on the planet.
But then given W has been so anti-science, I am not surprised. To him, NASA is good only if it has military applications.
THe excitement is killing me. OH PLEASE let it be a guilty verdict!
The Pardon Pen is being Readied.
One guilty
Two guilty
Three not guilty
CNN says almost certain prison. Yes. Now if he wasn'tjust a scape goat for Dick Cheney, I'd be truly happy.
Linda perhaps the prosecution get now get Libby to flip Cheney.
Today's verdict reminds me of Bush's 2000 campaign slogan that he will bring back honor and integrity back to the Whitehouse.
YES!
*Doing the happy dance!*
Bubba- I wish that were so, but I suspect Libby is a "good soldier" in the Ollie North mold. The Bush gang is careful about surrounding themselves with only the most loyal.
He'll take the fall.
Two years from now, when we have a new President, the files on Pappy Bush's administration will finally be opened, and the country will learn the truth about the Iran Contra scandal. The family wanted to put that off as long as poissible by seeing to it that Jeb followed his bro into the White House, but that isn't going to happen now. Iraq took care of that. Now it will be 12 years before Americans learn the truth about this particular scandal (14, if you count the two years until the election.) and by then, Pappy will be in the grave and no longer care.
It's all very Shakespearian.
Just an aside, I already got a call from a Republican friend telling me that Cheney didn't know what whas happening- Libby did it all. Poor Dick. That's the story, and the'll stick to it.
More illegal activites are now being shown in the media. (More whistleblowers too.)
http://blogs.abcnews.com/theblotter/2007/03/whistleblower_h.html
When will the people rise up and protest?
Cheney not only knew what was happening, he orchistrated it Linda.
The only question now is whether Libby will go to prison before his appeal is over and he is pardoned in December 2008. Get back with me then Linda but I doubt Libby will spend one day in prison. The defense team is already trying to string out the appellate process so as to coincide with December 2008 and a certain pardon.
Incidentally Linda my sprinkler company owner saw my Edwards '08 bumper sticker yesterday and commented that Obama comes from a Muslim terrorist family, so our hope that the south will rise again is still along ways off.
Bubba, That is pretty depressing. What did you say to the sprinkler guy?
I heard from some people with whom I am working that the terrorists were from Iraq and Afghanistan. I had to point out that most of them were Saudis.
Sometimes I feel like I am the insane one. That's why I have to come here and read intelligent analysis.
How can so much misinformation keep getting passed around? Does it all get hard-wired in seconds these days?
On Libby: yay for the verdict. Now the real phase begins. Will he sing??
That's a powerful profile of Hagel. Too bad Kerry didn't reach out to him for the VP slot instead of McCain.
If this President persists in defying the United States Congress, over things like Iran, and you have the likes of Hagel coming on board, that's the moment when impeachment becomes possible.
Karen: this elderly uneducated man was just repeating what he heard on Fox and I told him he was too bright to listen to Fox's brainwashing. That he needs to turn off Fox and Hannity and start to listen to both sides of the news by turning on our recent addition of Ed Schultz show. He told me he really likes Edwards, doesn't trust Hillary and thinks that he could actually support Obama but that was what he had heard and was looking to me for confirmation. Told him that I believe that Obama actually has Hawaiian ancestory but that he had gone to school in Indonesia as a child, is a Muslim and was a star at Harvard.
The point is the kind of garbage that gets out there by Fox. The Ann Coulter hate speech and her cheering crowd represents a lot of what we have to deal with down here in the south.
Oncall and I had an ongoing discussion last year about how many business locked Fox News on their waiting room tvs. The tire stores, hospitals, car washes etc where voters like this otherwise nice gentleman are getting their news and information. Linda I think truly understands the southern mindset and what we have to deal with with our voters, its unreal.
actually Obama is a practicing Christian.
One juror, Denis Collins, said "there was a tremendous amount of sympathy for Mr. Libby on the jury.
"It was said, 'Where's Rove, where are these other guys?'
"We're not saying that we didn't think Mr. Libby was guilty of the things we found him guilty of. It seemed like he was the fall guy," Collins said.
Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid said he welcomed the jury's verdict and called on Bush not to pardon Libby if the conviction stands.
"It's about time someone in the Bush administration has been held accountable for the campaign to manipulate intelligence and discredit war critics." Reid said.
"Lewis Libby has been convicted of perjury, but his trial revealed deeper truths about Vice President Cheney's role in this sordid affair. Now President Bush must pledge not to pardon Libby for his criminal conduct."
http://www.cnn.com/2007/POLITICS/03/06/cia.leak/index.html
Jesselyn Radack wrote another diary on the lawyers being purged and the Libby verdict.
http://www.dailykos.com/storyonly/2007/3/6/13124/52551
Libby verdict really about Iraq War and Cheney
Question now arises: What - and whom - was Libby was lying to protect?
By Howard Fineman
MSNBC
WASHINGTON — The stunning, vehement verdict in the Scooter Libby trial – that he lied, repeatedly, big time – isn’t really about Scooter Libby at all. It is about how and why we went to war in Iraq, and about how Vice President Dick Cheney got us there. Loyalty is everything to President George W. Bush, and I don’t expect him to march into Cheney’s office to demand a resignation. But the veep is a liability as never before, and even Bush has to know that.
The Libby verdict now brackets politically – suffocates politically – the Bush Administration’s Iraq policy. One side of the vise was already in place: the vivid, all-too-photogenic story of the human cost of the war to young American men and women. That, story, of course, is about Walter Reed Army Medical Center and the shoddy care given to outpatient casualties there. Now comes the rest of the story: lies that were told to cover up the story of how the war was sold.
more...
http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/17484687/
Posted by: monkey at March 6, 2007 03:40 PM
Correct me if I'm wrong. But I'd swear Libby was touted as being the FIRST ASSISTANT to BOTH the VP and the PRES.
So, if that's the case, is there truly plausable deniablility in Bush's actions too?
Fox disinformation about Libby verdict. CHeck the link.
http://www.dailykos.com/story/2007/3/6/13482/03023
CNN: Vice President Cheney "disappointed" and "saddened" by guilty verdict in perjury trial of his former chief of staff, Lewis "Scooter" Libby.
Posted by: monkey at March 6, 2007 04:50 PM
Yeah, I bet he is...
Does anyone remember Bush's promise in 2000 that if he was selected he would restore Honor and Integrity to the Whitehouse, So Help Me god?
Posted by: Bubba at March 6, 2007 06:30 PM
Boosh has made lots of promises...like to fire anyone associated with leaks at the WH.
I'm not holding my breath waiting for him to make Uncle Dick & Rover pack their bags.
On the other hand, just look at all the things that are making the news, just this week...Libbygate, investigations into Walter Reed & VA hospitals, fired US attorneys testifying before Congress...
No one in their right mind believes in Boosh's honor & integrity.
Where ignorance is our master,
there is no possibility of real peace.
-Dalai Lama
Best argument for impeachment yet.
Guilty!
Frogmarch!
Posted by: Bubba at March 6, 2007 12:42 PM
Bubba,RE OBAMA BEING FROM A RADICAL MUSLIM FAMILY
I posted this a few days ago, but you must have not seen it, so I repost it here for you. It is quite good, and has alot of information about Obama and his faith and ideology:
"I was researching a little bit about Barack Obama since a fundie told me they had heard that Obama was a practicing Muslim. Seems the Smear Machine has already started with the emails and Faux Snooze reports aimed at religious conservatives.
I checked it out first with Snopes:
http://www.snopes.com/politics/obama/muslim.asp
Then I just "used the googles" to search for any information about Obama regarding his ideology.
I found the following....(in his own words...)
~snip
"For some time now, there has been plenty of talk among pundits and pollsters that the political divide in this country has fallen sharply along religious lines. Indeed, the single biggest "gap" in party affiliation among white Americans today is not between men and women, or those who reside in so-called Red States and those who reside in Blue, but between those who attend church regularly and those who don't.
Conservative leaders have been all too happy to exploit this gap, consistently reminding evangelical Christians that Democrats disrespect their values and dislike their Church, while suggesting to the rest of the country that religious Americans care only about issues like abortion and gay marriage; school prayer and intelligent design.
Democrats, for the most part, have taken the bait. At best, we may try to avoid the conversation about religious values altogether, fearful of offending anyone and claiming that - regardless of our personal beliefs - constitutional principles tie our hands. At worst, there are some liberals who dismiss religion in the public square as inherently irrational or intolerant, insisting on a caricature of religious Americans that paints them as fanatical, or thinking that the very word "Christian" describes one's political opponents, not people of faith."
~more...
http://tinyurl.com/gbmyn
Posted by: Truth Shall Prevail at February 25, 2007 06:33 PM
Posted by: madame defarge at March 6, 2007 05:53 PM
Correction: Vice President Cheney "disappointed", "saddened", and "clotting" by guilty verdict ;-)
NOW, my little ole' ode to Scooter Libby.
(Sang to tune of "this coke's for you")
So glad they convicted you ooo
Shoulda got your buddies too ooo
For all you do wooo
This one's for you-oooooo!
(Don't worry the Chimpster, Darth, and Rover will protect you from Prison Bubba who wants to make you his B!tch - just don't forget your song...)
Scooter and a Blood Clot
Could a guy named "Scooter" and a blood clot in Cheney's leg be the undoing of the Bush regime? Oh, what a bitter satire that would be.
Scooter's guilt and Cheney's thrombosis could play greater roles than the war in Iraq; the lies, miscarriages and abortions known as the war's execution; the tens of thousands dead and the many more injured, homeless, destroyed or worse; the rape, plunders and pillages of the US economy by Halliburton et al.; the projected two trillion warbucks wasted; the Abu Ghraib scandals; the mysterious and unsubstantiated Guantanamo detentions; the Katrina debacle; the MIA City of New Orleans; the record budget deficits; in short, the entire geopolitical criminal misadventure known as the Bush administration.
http://www.legitgov.org/comment/rec_report_060307.html
It has been quite a week for the ole Bush administration...
Following on the heels of the Walter Reed Hospital Fiasco came the report from Bob Woodruff on how many people are REALLY coming back missing limbs, eyes, mental health and half their skulls -only to be denied adequate care. Now Libby gets convicted.
I'm gonna go out to my kitchen floor right now and do a tap dance. Might throw in a couple cheers complete with pom poms.
Oh, and I stuck my finger down my throat when I saw Bush's photo op a couple of days ago at a town that was hit by a tornado. Yes, they lost about 17 lives there, and yes, that is a tragedy, but his compassion was totally missed by me.
I think they should have then put him in the truck and trotted him down to do another photo documentary in NOLA.
Sheesh. How stupid ARE people in the U.S.A.?
(Don't answer that.)
Cheney has a blood clot and he'll receive the best medical care. While the people he sent to war will live maimed or die young and are sent to rat infested hell-holes to recover.
They say our CIC only deserve the best. Well, I say our military deserves a hell of a lot better AND the best medical care period!
Clot would get a better look at the Iraq war so he could evaluate the situation if he went right away to ride in a tank for about 36 hours straight. Nothing like walking in a man's moccasins, or riding in his tank, I always say.
Did wonders for David Bloom.
(cramped in an Army vehicle -- just another way war kills.)
www.businessweek.com/bwdaily/dnflash/apr2003/nf2003047_8783_db071.htm
Posted by: sparrow at March 6, 2007 07:56 PM
Good point. Too bad Cheney wasn't taken to Walter Reed for treatment.
Oh wait, he can't go there...he got 5 deferments from Vietnam & therefore is not a vet.
You're right. Our wounded troops deserve so much better, as does our nation & our world.
BTW, Olbermann is going to interview Joe Wilson tonight on his show. It's on now.
MD
Thanks for the heads up on the Joe Wilson story on Olbermann.
Jeebus. Drinking the kool-aid is bad enough, but smoking it is even worse:
http://article.nationalreview.com/?q=ZDk4ZWM0N2RiZWZkZjE4NzFmMWEyYzM4ODYzMTQ3Mzc=
Joe Wilson is one very classy person. If you missed Keith's interview with him, I hope you'll check KO's site for a video/transcript.
KO asked all the questions we would want, including asking Wilson if Bush ever told him that he was sorry for the trouble caused to his family, since Bush said today that he was sorry for Libby's family. Wilson said (and I'm paraphrasing), "No, no one from the administration has ever made any apology to Valerie about ending her 20 year career & commitment to her country. But more importantly, Bush hasn't said he was sorry for what he has put our soldiers & our country through by invading Iraq."
Countdown: "The Fall Guy"
http://thenewshole.msnbc.msn.com/archive/2007/03/06/81876.aspx
Neomunchies: The act of devouring everything in sight after smoking koolaid.
As for Cheney's "clot":can't see it,can't
be treated. He needs a dose of how these vets are treatd.
Iraqi journalist found dead
March 7, 2007 - 6:42AM
An Iraqi journalist kidnapped last month was found dead in Baghdad, bringing to 152 the number of media murdered in Iraq, the group Reporters Without Borders says.
The bullet-riddled body of Jamal al-Zubaidi was found on Saturday in Amil south-east of the capital, the nonprofit group said in a statement.
He was last seen leaving work February 23.
Al-Zubaidi was an economic affairs editor for As-Safir and Al-Dustour newspapers. He is the 16th abducted journalist to be killed in Iraq, the statement said.
"Thirteen journalists and media assistants have been killed in Iraq since the beginning of 2007, twice as many as the previous year at the same point," the group said.
"Iraqi authorities have so far shown themselves incapable of stemming the violence against the press."
Cont. .....
http://news.brisbanetimes.com.au/iraqi-journalist-found-dead/20075907-y6.html
Has there ever been a point to this insane invasion?
'Al-Qaeda' gunmen lead mass jailbreak
March 7, 2007 - 8:12AM
Suspected al-Qaeda gunmen stormed a troubled Iraqi jail on Tuesday and freed at least 140 prisoners, said the chairman of the area's provincial security committee.
Hasham al-Hamadani of Nineveh province's security council said fighters loyal to al-Qaeda kingpin Omar al-Baghdadi had infiltrated the area around the northern city of Mosul and masterminded the jailbreak.
Foreign Arab extremist fighters were among the prisoners freed in the attack on Badush prison, an Iraqi government facility outside the city, he added.
Cont. .....
http://www.theage.com.au/news/world/alqaeda-gunmen-lead-mass-jailbreak/2007/03/07/1173166740166.html