Taliban: Bin Laden plans Iraq strikes POSTED: 12:41 p.m. EDT, April 25, 2007
(CNN) -- A Taliban military commander says Osama bin Laden helped plan the deadly suicide car bombing outside Bagram Air Base targeting a "very important American official," apparently referring to Vice President Dick Cheney.
Mullah Dadullah was interviewed by the Arab-language network al-Jazeera, which identified the official as Cheney. The network aired the comments on Wednesday, but did not say when the interview was done.
Dadullah said al Qaeda leader bin Laden also is involved in planning attacks in Iraq. He offered no proof for his statements.
The vice president was more than a half mile away from the site of the February attack in Afghanistan, which Afghan police said killed more than 15 people and wounded 20.
Secret Service agents briefly moved Cheney, who was unharmed, to a bomb shelter away from the base. He returned to his room when it was safe to do so. Cheney said he was told the base's main gate had been attacked.
Referring to bin Laden, Dadullah told the Arab-language network al-Jazeera, "Praise be to God he is still alive, and we have information about him and praise be to God he orchestrates plans in both Iraq and Afghanistan.
"You may remember the martyrdom mission in Bagram which targeted a very important American official. No Afghan can reach the Bagram base.
"This operation was a result of his blessed planning. He's the one who planned the details of this operation and guided us and the operation was successful," Dadullah said.
Bagram is about 40 miles (60 kilometers) north of the capital, Kabul.
On March 1, Dadullah told Britain's Channel Four that his forces were poised for a spring offensive against NATO-led coalition troops in Afghanistan, and that he was maintaining a regular line of communication with bin Laden.
Junior Soprano appeals to Cheney for 'accidental' shooting RAW STORY Published: Tuesday April 24, 2007
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Last year, Tony Soprano gave social commentary on the post-Katrina business landscape: "Let me say this: Dick Cheney for president... of the fuckin' universe."
A year later, HBO's Sopranos again invokes the vice president. This time it is Corrado 'Junior' Soprano, former New Jersey crime boss, who writes to Cheney appealing for help.
"Dear Vice President Cheney," he writes, "As a powerful man all too familiar with accidental gun play, I am writing in the hope that you will intervene in my case. Like yourself, I was involved in an unfortunate incident when a gun I was handling accidentally misfired ..."
Disappointed when he receives a form letter in return, Junior decides he might have better luck contacting Cheney at Halliburton.
Pelosi pressed to put impeachment back on table Michael Roston Published: Wednesday April 25, 2007
When the California Democratic Convention begins this weekend, party progressives both inside and outside the San Diego Convention Center will be pressing hard to bring impeachment back on the table as a means of holding the presidency of George W. Bush accountable for crimes they allege have been committed since 2001.
"I've been blown away by the response. People are wanting to organize and rally behind one single thing at the convention, and that's impeachment," said Joye Swan of the Progressive Caucus of the California Democratic Party, who is helping lead an effort to pass a resolution expressing the California Democratic Party's support for impeaching President George W. Bush and Vice President Dick Cheney.
But the fight will be complicated by House Speaker Nancy Pelosi's unwillingness to hear their message and the encouragement that her stance may give opponents of the impeachment measure within the California Democratic Party leadership.
Pro-impeachment actions planned The 2007 California Democratic Convention kicks off on Friday, and its agenda shows there is a lot of ground to cover. But a significant number of activists are eager to make the impeachment of the President a focal point of activity.
"Be it Resolved, that George W. Bush and Richard B. Cheney, by such conduct, warrant impeachment and trial, and removal from office and disqualification to hold and enjoy any office of honor, trust or profit under the United States," reads a resolution that Swan, a Democratic delegate from California's 42nd Assembly District in Los Angeles, will introduce, with the hopes it will be adopted as the party's position.
[The full resolution is available at the end of this article.]
Changing Pelosi's mind a key, and difficult task The California Progressives are particularly concerned with persuading Rep. Nancy Pelosi (D-CA), the Speaker of the House of Representatives, to reverse her earlier position that impeachment was "off the table."
"With the Speaker saying it's off the table, it puts others Members of Congress at a lower tier," Gerbasi argued. "There are some representatives inching toward impeachment, but they may not commit until Pelosi changes her mind and puts it back on the table."
Pelosi first told her party that she opposed impeaching President Bush in a May 2006 caucus meeting.
To persuade Pelosi to change her position, Swan said, progressives at the convention intend to shadow the Speaker with their concerns throughout the weekend.
"She's either going to have to very publicly ignore it, or address the elephant in the room," Swan explained. "I'll be curious to see what happens at the dinner, which Pelosi is hosting; there are certain plans of action that will bring impeachment public while she's up speaking, and it will be interesting to see if she addresses it."
But Swan and her fellow Progressives' plans could be disrupted. The Saturday funeral of Rep. Juanita Millender-McDonald, the California Democrat who passed away last weekend, could mean that Pelosi will miss much of the state party convention on Saturday, as she told RAW STORY in a conference call on Tuesday.
But even if Pelosi does attend the convention, Progressives won't find the Speaker any more receptive to impeaching the President than she was a year ago.
"I totally oppose the impeachment of the President," she explained to RAW STORY on Tuesday. "We have to use our energies to end this war. I don't think the popular support is there for such a move, I don't think we can get any Republican votes to move forward."
Pelosi added, "In some ways, it's a wonderful advocacy piece for those who want to use it outside, to express rejection of the President's policies, but from the standpoint of the time of the Congress of the United States, the American people are with us in ending the war and that's what they want us to do."
She also cast the decision not to impeach as having national electoral implications for the Democratic Party, suggesting that President Bush "is not worth it."
"We will do more to make for our own reelection, and maintain a Democratic Congress...and have a Democratic President," she said. "And frankly, for impeachment, George W. Bush is just not worth it. We have great work to do for the American people."
Why aren't people commenting on the Malkin bit? Well, I will....I find it sadly pathetic. Desperate even. So desperate that it's almost even funny. What planet does this deluded chick live on? Is she 14? Somehow i can actually picture her as a cheerleader in high school leading "Loser" cheers. Or is this an SNL sketch?
We believe that access to quality medical and dental care is a basic human right. We stand for a democratically-controlled, publicly-funded health care system. We support health practices that emphasize education, prevention and nutrition. We demand:
* Free, high-quality health care for everyone. * Eliminate for-profit health care. * Free immunization programs. * No private patents on drugs developed through publicly-funded research. * Price controls on drugs and medical technology. * Safe pre-natal care, including women's choice of birth alternatives. * More medical facilities to provide services and education in low-income neighborhoods and rural areas. * More substance abuse treatment and needle-exchange programs. * More research into diseases and disorders caused by man-made substances. * More community health care facilities. * Support non-standard proven methods. * Special attention to preventing epidemics of communicable diseases, such as AIDS.
Pryor Meets With ‘Hazy’ Memory Gonzales, Calls On Him To Resign Again In his testimony to the Senate Judiciary Committee last week, Alberto Gonzales promised that he would meet with Sen. Mark Pryor (D-AR) and explain why Karl Rove-protege Tim Griffin is still serving as U.S. attorney in Arkansas.
The last time Gonzales met with Pryor, on Dec. 15, he promised that Griffin would be subjected to Senate approval, or he would work with Pryor to find new candidates. The exact opposite happened — Griffin was appointed and remains U.S. Attorney in Arkansas. Pryor was livid: Gonzales “lied to me, he lied to the Senate and he lied to the people I represent,” he said, calling for the attorney general’s resignation.
Today, Gonzales finally met with Pryor. Based on Pryor’s remarks to reporters afterward, the attorney general performed as poorly as he did before the Senate last week:
[T]he 40-minute Capitol Hill meeting failed to sway Pryor who told reporters afterwards that he still thinks Gonzales should resign.
Pryor said the attorney general’s memory of two phone calls they had in December on the subject was so “hazy” that Pryor today “refreshed his memory on what he said and what he told me.” […]
Gonzales attempted to explain his views but did not apologize, Pryor said.
Massachusetts to cancel abstinence-only classes by Chris in Paris · 4/25/2007 11:58:00 AM ET
The new governor planning to scrap Mitt Romney's program to bring failed religious right theory to the classrooms of Massachusetts.
Governor Deval Patrick wants to end state-sponsored , abstinence-only sex education in Massachusetts, a year after Governor Mitt Romney ordered the Department of Public Health to redirect a long-standing federal abstinence grant to classes that focus exclusively on encouraging teenagers to avoid sexual encounters.
Patrick proposed forgoing the $700,000 grant, which the state has received since 1998, joining at least six other states in rebelling against increasingly restrictive federal mandates about how the money can be used.
I knew Nancy Cunard only slightly; but enough to be impressed by her, to honor and admire her. We who talk and write about nonconformity rarely have the courage to live the lives of nonconformists, but Nancy Cunard had the courage and paid the price society still demands. England and America are bad enough, but Nancy when I knew her was the dissenter, the rebel, the heretic in the Spain of today, which is still in the shadow of the 17th century.
The right blogosphere operates largely as part of the greater Republican message machine. Many of its bloggers are already part of that infrastructure, working as journalists for conservative publications, writing books and lecturing. Independent bloggers on the right hail from all walks of life, but the leading voices are either part of the political machine itself, like Mike Krempasky of RedState, or closely connected to the conservative media and think tank infrastructure, like Hugh Hewitt, Michelle Malkin and the PowerLine bloggers. The right blogosphere is a reflection of successful top-down Republican message control, and as such these bloggers are welcomed warmly into the fold.
As Garance Franke-Ruta writes in the April issue of The American Prospect, the right-wing blogosphere has also recently become useful to long-established political operatives such as Morton Blackwell, mentor to iconic GOP campaign strategists Karl Rove and Lee Atwater. In the recent Eason Jordan affair, the right blogosphere was credited with forcing the former chief news executive of CNN to resign over a controversial off-the-record comment. It turned out that many conservative blogs were part of this larger concerted effort. In the wake of this success, conservatives are now running what Franke-Ruta describes as “Internet Activist Schools, designed to teach conservatives how to engage in guerilla Internet activism,” or what some people used to call “dirty tricks.”
By contrast, the left blogosphere is populated by “citizen bloggers,” who work in non-political occupations for a living and blog for reasons of personal interest. This sphere actually operates as a unique and potentially powerful political constituency rather than a part of the Democratic Party apparatus. Unlike their counterparts on the right, the lefty blogs have had to crash the party, but because they did it with energy, votes and money, they are making themselves a power in their own right.
the only good thing about it is Ring of Fire went from 2 hours to 3 but funny thing the show has an added host Mr David Bender hmmm guess he'll serve as the gate keeper and prevent too radical views of Pappantonio from being aired I wonder if they will do away with the "Pap Attack" the bit where Pappantonio rales with no holds barred against the evil of the right......
Bait: "Impeach the bastards!" Crank: "Impeachment proceedings would hurt the Democrats in the long run." Bait: "Wouldn't it always be true that impeachment proceedings would mobilize the opposition?" Crank: "You bet!" Bait: "So, no matter the crime, an impeachment effort is like shooting oneself in the foot?" Crank: "That's how I read it." Bait: "If this is true, then impeachment is never a real threat nor an avenue to redress?" Crank: "You got it, bub. You haven't seen Clinton hanging from a lamp post, have you?" Bait: "Did his impeachment hurt the Republican party?" Crank: "Yep." Bait: "But Bush was elected; twice." Crank: "You are ignoring all of the other factors." Bait: "Like what?" Crank: "Bush said he loves Jesus." Bait: "Oh, yeah. There's that."
Inhofe calls Reid remarks ‘un-American.’ “Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-NV) should be recalled by voters over his ‘un-American’ remarks about the Iraq war, Sen. James Inhofe (R-OK). Asked if the Nevada Democrat should resign from his leadership position because of his comments, Inhofe said: “I think it’s more serious than that. I think there should be a recall…for saying something as un-American as that.”
AP, Newsday uncritically report Giuliani assertion that 2003 and 1997 abortion ban exceptions were substantively different
http://mediamatters.org/items/200704250010
An April 25 Newsday article uncritically reported that former New York City Mayor Rudy Giuliani (R) "insisted his recent support for the Supreme Court decision upholding a ban on" the abortion procedure that critics call partial-birth abortion "was consistent with his past opposition because the law changed in 2003 to include more scientific language about protecting the life of the mother." Similarly, an April 25 Associated Press article uncritically reported that Giuliani said there was no "inconsistency" between "his long-standing support of abortion rights and his affirmation last week of the Supreme Court's decision to uphold a ban on what critics call partial-birth abortion," adding that Giuliani "said he opposed" such a ban "when it was discussed during the Clinton administration because he didn't feel it made an exception when a mother's life was in danger." The AP noted that "Giuliani supported" President Bill Clinton when Clinton vetoed a ban of the procedure. However, neither article noted that the Partial-Birth Abortion Ban Act of 1997 that Clinton vetoed also included a similar "exception when a mother's life was in danger" or challenged Giuliani's reported assertion that the 2003 ban "include[d] more scientific language about protecting the life of the mother."
The 1997 abortion ban that Giuliani opposed included the following exception:
This paragraph shall not apply to a partial-birth abortion that is necessary to save the life of a mother whose life is endangered by a physical disorder, illness, or injury. This paragraph shall become effective one day after enactment.
check out the eagle postcard that someone sent in this persons secret is that he helped build a US internment camp underground i knew it! the bastards! http://postsecret.blogspot.com/
I just came back from a very good spiritual talk, and it was about many things, but it made me think about how we/I get angry, and how to keep one's peace.... Even when the current administration, etc. makes you justifiably angry. How it happens in the first place, and how it is better to ... well you know ...
Basically, I'm totally going against the wisdom of what I should be doing
Boy, oh boy. Does Ted Kennedy look like a goof, or what?
1.) Wanted more evidence against Hussien. 2.) Warned against a dangerous war. 3.) Imagined that a war in Iraq would increase radical Islam's recruitment.
What a goof!
But don't forget Chappaquiddick!
He was drunk, wasn't he? He let that poor girl drown. He's fat, to boot. And he talks funny.
Catharine said... I just came back from a very good spiritual talk, and it was about many things, but it made me think about how we/I get angry, and how to keep one's peace.... ---------------------------------- Bait, unauthorized, finishes Catharine's thought: "And now I'm REALLY FUCKING PISSED!"
He is like a 5 year old saying "Um, ...No! I didn't take the cookies... No... um... I didn't... I .. uh. [hyperventilating]... it was.. um... well...um... someone gave them to me ... yeah ... I didn't take them... I um just wrote about them.... um ... yeah ... um... i only ate them after some.. um invisible hand gave them to me ...yeah that's it... yeah!"
toniD said... Just to let you know, Lou Dobbs announced that Bill Moyers was back on PBS and he had a show tonight. He reccommended that people watch it. April 25, 2007 10:03 PM ------------------------------- Whilst dialing-in one of my many, scattered, crappy radios, I heard Limbaugh dissing Bill Moyers' upcoming series. (I am ethically unable to monitor Limbaugh anymore...at least not for more than a few minutes.)
I didn't stick around long enough to learn what more he had to say about Moyers' program except to learn that it was not up to Limbaugh's standards.
Bait: "I'm unbanning myself long enough to ask you a question." Crank: "Fire away." Bait: "Why are you talking to yourself?" Crank: "Do you see anyone else talking to myself?" Bait: "No. Not recently." Crank: "Next question?"
Bait: "Stop, already." Crank: "Stop what?" Bait: "Your diatribe." Crank: "I ALWAYS have a diatribe. Sometimes it gets interrupted." Bait: "In that case, I'm interrupting it." Crank: "For what?" Bait: "For the greater good." Crank: "That's what they said about Happy Meals."
Bait: "You should write to your mom." Crank: "Why?" Bait: "Because she loves to read your letters." Crank: "She hates my letters. She likes the postmarks." Bait: "That's not true." Crank: "Then why does she save the envelopes?" Bait: "She uses them for bee coffins." Crank: "What?" Bait: "Bee caskets; containers for dead bees." Crank: "So I should send her envelopes...or, better yet, boxes filled with deceased bees?" Bait: "Now you are beginning to think like a good son..."
Crank: "And you should write to the Rajah." Bait: "I did!" Crank: "Once. Big deal." Bait: "What am I supposed to write? I hardly know the guy." Crank: "Would that matter if you were in the slammer?" Bait: "Probably not." Crank: "So write something." Bait: "I guess that cutting-and-pasting the How To Make A Backyard Tattoo page is out of the question?" Crank: "It IS funny." Bait: "No shit."
Bait: "You know what I like about an inattentive audience?" Crank: "Lay it on me." Bait: "Nothing." Crank: "Look at the bright side; no hecklers." Bait: "But I NEED hecklers. Without hecklers, I have to make stuff up wholesale." Crank: "Your mother wears Army boots." Bait: "That's better. I can feel the creative juices beginning to boil."
After ten years, Summit County has been ordered to pay $1.6 million for the wrongful 1997 lay-off of seven Summit County Department of Job and Family Services employees.
The seven classified employee: William White, Shirley Kosar, John Eldridge, Kathleen Peters, Marsha Pukas, Sylvia Scruggs-DeJournett and Gregory Markovich, were laid off due to "job abolishment" in January and May of 1997. They immediately appealed the decision to the Summit County Human Resource Commission, followed by appeal to the Court of Common Pleas, four decisions by the Court of Appeals and a decision in May 2006 by the Ohio Supreme Court.
While the employee appeals wound their way through the courts, the two men responsible for these job abolishments served time in prison for related felony charges. Former Summit County officers William Hartung and John Keenan were convicted of bribery, conspiracy and tax evasion for re-directing county funds from the Summit County Department of Job and Family Services (then called Department of Human Services) for their personal gain.
"There is no windfall in these payments," said Nancy Grim, the Kent attorney representing the seven former employees. The payments to the former employees are back pay for the period when the employees were wrongly laid off, reduced by income they were able to get from other jobs. The County payments also include the employee and employer contributions to the Public Employee Retirement System for the period of layoff. Summit County will also pay post-judgment interest from September 30, 2005, when the Court of Appeals issued a judgment that the employees are entitled to back pay, until the May 2007 payment.
Three of the employees accepted reinstatement. Marsha Pukas, Sylvia Scruggs-DeJournett and Gregory Markovich returned to work at the Department of Job and Family Services on June 26, 2006. William White, Shirley Kosar and John Eldridge have retired. Their PERS retirement benefits will increase as a result of the order. Kathleen Peters declined reinstatement in order to stay at her present job.
toniD said...[but seriously, folks] Here's the link to the Bill Moyers Journal blog... LINK April 25, 2007 11:46 PM --------------------------------- toniD: "People are dying out there, fer crissakes!" Bait: "...tell me about it."
Re: Moyers Journal... Great show, though it didn't end with any arrests. Typically great reporting from Moyers.
Noticably absent from tonight's Moyers program, though, was any mention of the performance of PBS' flagship news program, The News Hour. My experience has been that The News Hour has also devolved into the he said/he said approach to coverage, rather than the "truth squad" approach, as mentioned my Walter Pincus.
April 25, 2007 -- Senior British civil servant David Keogh. a former communications and cipher officer at Number 10 Downing Street, is on trial at London's Old Bailey, charged with violating the Official Secrets Act for leaking a classified report on an April 2004 meeting between George W. Bush and Tony Blair. The four page report referred to Bush as a "madman." Keough is accused of slipping the report to parliamentary assistant Leo O'Connor, who then allegedly made it available to anti-war MP Anthony Clarke. O'Connor is also on trial for violating the Official Secrets Act. The Blair government accuses Keough of leaking the document to influence the 2004 presidential elections, a clear indication that Blair was interested in seeing Bush defeat his Democratic challenger John Kerry. The trial is shrouded in secrecy, a move seen as an attempt not to embarrass an already-tainted Blair.
Catharine said...I'm back! But I see that Crank carried on without me just fine... ------------------------------- Ya know, when you saw the girl in half, open the box(es), and there's nobody there, ya gots to ad lib.
Re: Moyers' Journal... Tonight's program was a special broadcast. The new weekly program debuts this Friday night, beginning with an interview with Jon Stewart.
April 25, 2007 -- ABC News quickly amended its report concerning the ability of law enforcement to track prescription drug users in the United States. In a report on Virginia Tech killer Cho Seung-hui's possible use of anti-depressant drugs, "senior federal officials" told ABC News they could find no record of him [Cho Seung-hui] in the governments files on controlled substances. ABC News later posted an explanation of its first report that the US government tracks prescription drugs and their users: "Some readers may have inferred from an earlier edition of this story that the federal government keeps a comprehensive record of all prescriptions. The Drug Enforcement Agency says it does track prescriptions of so-called controlled substances — including some mood-altering medications — but not all prescriptions made in the United States."
The issue is to what extent does the DEA track prescription drug users and what prompted the government to check on records pertaining to Cho Seung-hui, who was reported to have been treated for mental problems in the past? The Psychotropic Substances Act of 1978 added mind-altering drugs to the list of official Controlled Substances. Prescriptions for these controlled substances have a "DEA Number" used for tracking controlled substances. The Cho incident and the comments and quick retractions by "senior federal officials" indicate that there is a secret federal government capability to track controlled drug users.
Is she (are they) trying to insulate themselves against ridicule via ironic naming of their website... HotAir.com? What a hoot.
And I just love the "Comments Registration Policy" on the HotAir.com "About" page... typical Right Wing "grassroots" approach, reminiscent of a Bush "town hall" meeting... quoting... "Only registered Hot Air users can leave comments on our site. Registration is now closed. That means if you haven't already registered, you cannot comment. Sorry. We will let you know if and when we re-open registration.
HI-larious!! Gotta love how she's bringing the voice of the people to bear.
April 25, 2007 -- After being lulled into the morning corporate media hype concerning Vice President Dick Cheney's trip to George Washington Hospital for a routine check up on his blood clot in his leg, and, perhaps with a bit of prodding from the weak-kneed House Democratic leadership, Ohio Rep. Dennis Kucinich postponed yesterday's noon press conference where he was to introduce three articles of impeachment against Cheney. Kucinich delayed until 5:00 pm the press conference on his impeachment bills. The delay was due to what the media indicated was a mid-morning Cheney medical emergency and not a routine visit. The corporate media, as they have in the past, manufactured the importance of the Cheney doctor visit to switch attention away from the Kucinich announcement. As always, Fox News led the way, in coordination with Cheney's office (Cheney and Fox News Managing Editor Brit Hume are close friends), and then MS-NBC and CNN followed their lead.
Kucinich's bill, which has no co-sponsors and has been criticized by the ever suspect Rahm Emmanuel, the House's chief Democratic caucus policy maker, contains three articles of impeachment against Cheney.
... The assembly elects delegates called 'responsibles' to co-ordinate work in particular areas. These delegates serve a limited term (one to two years) and are subject to re-call within this time if it's felt they are not 'leading by obeying' (i.e. the Zapatista slogan for following the mandate given to them).
There are also collectives that carry out particular tasks within the community. They are set up by and answerable to the assembly but are otherwise autonomous. Collectives in Diez include ones for coffee, cattle honey, horticulture, bread, sewing and chicken. Some of the production of each collective goes to its members; the surplus goes into a central community fund controlled by the assembly. ...
-- I wasn't. Not at all. And Dan Rather et al shouldn't have been either.
This was one depressing show I tell you. But it was great to see many of the fine journalists like Erik Boehlert ("Lapdogs") finally get the opportunity to comment.
btw. big shots like Friedman, Krauthammer, Kristol, Safire were invited but didn't have the guts to appear on the show, obviously
Little Peter Beinart from the TNR did appear, quite the liberal hawk beating the war drum early on ... and he is now working for Time.
In fact, as we all know All the people who were terribly wrong in promoting the war still have the blowhorn; they are still invited to give their expert opinion re Iraq. AFAIK noone got fired cause they didn't do their jobs. In fact they got promoted to better jobs, got their own columns, etc. etc.
After having watched Moyers last night and his fine work, I turn on c-span this am and who do they have.....William Kristol! The supreme neocon war monger!
Rep. Patrick Murphy, who actually served in Iraq, delivers a powerful speech on Iraq. by Joe Sudbay (DC) · 4/25/2007 08:59:00 PM ET
Watch Patrick Murphy speak during the House debate on the Iraq spending bill. He's terrific. It's personal for him. Bush and the GOP don't intimidate Murphy. He's watched his buddies die. Nineteen of them:
White House excludes bomb deaths in casualty counts. “Car bombs and other explosive devices have killed thousands of Iraqis in the past three years, but the administration doesn’t include them in the casualty counts it has been citing as evidence that the surge of additional U.S. forces is beginning to defuse tensions between Shiite and Sunni Muslims.”
RNC Releases Partial List Of White House Officials With Party Email Accounts » Lawyers for the Republican National Committee sent a letter tonight to Rep. Henry Waxman (D-CA) with a list of 37 individuals “who we believe are or were White House employees using RNC accounts for whom we have been able to identify active e-mail data on operational RNC servers.”
The list — which includes senior officials like Karl Rove and Dan Bartlett as well as interns for the Office of Political Affairs — can be found below.
The White House has said that roughly 50 White House officials have had RNC accounts since 2001, and the letter suggests that more individuals with RNC accounts will be identified. “As the RNC is still in the early stages of its analysis, we expect that this list will require revisions at a later date.” Who are these unidentified individuals? And did they work in jobs that wouldn’t typically require a partisan email account?
The White House use of these accounts appears to be extremely extensive. The letter states that the RNC “has gathered approximately 25,500,000 kilobytes of e-mail data from the 37 individuals listed above.” Moreover, this figure “will almost certainly increase” once forensic experts complete the “collection of active e-mail files off of hard drives and blackberries.”
Digg It!
The partial list of White House officials with RNC accounts is below the fold:
After reading David Broder's column, I emailed him that he was out of touch with the American people and should maybe consider retiring from journalism.
House OKs ban on genetic discrimination By JIM ABRAMS, Associated Press Writer Wed Apr 25, 4:59 PM ET
Genetic information no longer could be used to deny someone health insurance or job opportunities under legislation passed by the House on Wednesday.
"If your grandmother had breast cancer, you shouldn't be denied a job or a promotion," said Rep. Robert Andrews (news, bio, voting record), D-N.J., before the 420-3 vote on the Genetic Information Nondiscrimination Act.
The measure makes it illegal for a health plan or insurer to deny coverage or charge higher premiums to a healthy person based solely on a genetic predisposition to a disease. Similarly, an employer could not use genetic information in making hiring, firing or promotion decisions.
Rep. Louise M. Slaughter, D-N.Y., the chief sponsor, said she first introduced a genetic nondiscrimination bill 12 years ago. She said the need for the legislation has grown because of advances in the science. "There's not a single person on the planet who has perfect genes," she said. We're all vulnerable to genetic discrimination."
Rep. Judy Biggert (news, bio, voting record), R-Ill., another sponsor, said the government spent $3.7 billion on the Human Genome Project completed in 2003 and then "Congress walked away and left the job unfinished. ... We left people without any insurance that their genetic information wouldn't be used against them."
Lawmakers noted that some people forgo genetic testing for fear of losing jobs or health benefits. They said there have been instances of discrimination against people with family histories of sickle cell anemia, Huntington's disease, certain cancers and other diseases.
The White House, in a statement, expressed support for the legislation. "Concern about unwarranted use of genetic information threatens the utilization of existing genetic tests as well as the ability to conduct further research," it said.
Genetic discrimination bills have been approved twice by the Senate in recent years but were not taken up by the House. In January the Senate Health, Education, Pensions and Labor Committee approved legislation by Sen. Olympia Snowe (news, bio, voting record), R-Maine. The bill awaits action by the full Senate.
Rice signals rejection of House subpoena By MATTHEW LEE, Associated Press Writer 40 minutes ago
Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice said Thursday she has already answered the questions she has been subpoenaed to answer before a congressional committee and suggested she is not inclined to comply with the order.
Rice said she would respond by mail to questions from the House Oversight and Government Reform Committee on the Bush administration's prewar claims about Saddam Hussein seeking weapons of mass destruction, but signaled she would not appear in person.
"I am more than happy to answer them again in a letter," she told reporters in Oslo, where she is attending a meeting of NATO foreign ministers.
The comments were her first reaction to a subpoena issued on Wednesday by the committee chaired by Rep. Henry Waxman (news, bio, voting record), D-Calif.
Rice said she respected the oversight function of the legislative branch, but maintained she had already testified in person and under oath about claims that Iraq had sought uranium from Africa during her confirmation hearing for the job of secretary of state.
"I addressed these questions, almost the same questions, during my confirmation hearing," she said. "This is an issue that has been answered and answered and answered."
Rice noted that she had been serving as President Bush's national security adviser during the period covered by the panel's questions and stressed the administration's position that presidential aides not confirmed by the Senate cannot be forced to testify before Congress under the doctrine of executive privilege.
HONOLULU - A tiny mite that has devastated mainland honeybee populations showed up in Honolulu hives for the first time this month and has now been confirmed in bee colonies across Oahu.
The infestation by varroa mites has led the state to ask beekeepers to restrict transport of bees around the islands. There are concerns it could threaten the Big Island's thriving queen bee export industry, which has so far tested free of the mites.
"This is going to be for us a nightmare," said Michael Kliks, head of the Hawaii Beekeepers' Association and owner of Manoa Honey Co. "When I saw that mite I knew exactly what it was. I knew exactly what it meant and I fell to my knees and almost began to weep because it's inexpressible what that sea change is for us in Hawaii."
After Moyers documentary: How can we ever trust the media again? Bill Moyers did something last night that most Americans have not had the time, the resources or the contacts to do, and that is answer the fundamental questions about the failure of print, broadcast and cable news outlets to cut through the spin and give the American people the truth about the Bush administration's unwarranted rush to war.
Live Earth festival will see reunion of Spinal Tap.
Those dreaming of a Spinal Tap reunion will finally get their wish: the bandmates seem to have finally found a good enough reason to reunite. That would come in the form of taking a stand against global warming. The band, led by Nigel Tufnel and David St Hubbins, is to come together once again for an appearance at this summer’s upcoming Live Earth Festival. What’s more, a new film is being screened today that dives into the band’s eco-consciousness. The director for the film, Rob Reiner, goes way back with the band, all the way back to their rockumentary, “This is Spinal Tap.” Reiner commented on the band’s decision to play Live Earth, saying that the band is “not that environmentally conscious, but they’ve heard of global warming.” He joked that band leader Nigel thought the term meant he was wearing too much clothing, a problem solved by removing his jacket. Spinal Tap will be at the Al Gore organized festival at Wembley Stadium on July 7th.
BOLIVIAN President Evo Morales added his signature yesterday to the call demanding that the United States try Luis Posada Carriles in a criminal court, already signed by more than 3,800 public figures from 80 countries. ... In the last few hours, eminent Mexican artists and intellectuals – actress Carmen Madrid, who starred in Nicotina; filmmaker Jorge Fons, winner of the Ariel Prize for Rojo amanecer and El callejón de los Milagros; philosopher Gabriel Vargas Lozano; priest Miguel Concha; and Enrique González Ruiz, a judge in the Benito Juárez International Court – have also recorded their condemnation of the hypocrisy of U.S. authorities in their much-proclaimed crusade against terrorism, made evident by protecting the criminal recruited by the CIA. ...
Commander of US prison camp in Iraq arrested The commander of a US military prison in Iraq has been detained by military police and is under investigation pending a possible court martial, a military spokeswoman said Thursday.
Teachers Union Section 22, with APPO Support, Prepares for its Annual Strike ... Section 22 of the teachers union has decided that on May 1 (Labor Day in the world outside the USA) the teachers will march to the Zócalo. ...
Serenade For The First Sufferers (Political Song Parody)
I’m betting that Laura Bush can finally say goodbye to her relatively high approval numbers. Why? Because on this morning’s Today Show, Laura said something to Anne Curry that’s way beyond obnoxious:
NBC: Do you know the American people are suffering?
Laura Bush: Oh, I know that very much. And believe me, no one suffers more than their president and I do when we watch this. And certainly the Commander in Chief, who has asked our military to go into harm’s way.
NBC: What do you think the American public needs to know about…
Laura Bush: Well, I hope they do know the burden of worry that’s on his shoulders, every single day for our troops.
(You can see Laura Bush in action here.)
This calls for a song parody, don’t you think? And so I bring you my Serenade for the First Sufferers, which you can sing to Carolina In The Morning, by Gus Kahn & Walter Donaldson:
Serenade for the First Sufferers (Song Parody — sing to Carolina In The Morning) By Madeleine Begun Kane
No one suffers more Than George and Laura from the war. They’re really mourning.
Photos of the dead On cable news fill them with dread. They’re really mourning.
They’d prefer ignoring Tales of death and gore. Where are the happy stories They long to hear once more?
Waking up so early To the news of hurly burly In the morning
Makes the Bushes surly. How they hate to think so early In the morning!
Pity George and Laura. No one knows all their pain. Death’s lousy, But it’s George under strain.
No one suffers more Than George and Laura from the war. They’re really mourning!
Army Finds More, "Widespread" Veteran Health Care Problems Associated Press | April 25, 2007 06:26 PM
Gen. Richard Cody, the Army's vice chief of staff, said officials were finalizing a report on problems after a team of Army inspectors visited 11 bases in seven states last month to study outpatient treatment, building conditions and the information provided to patients.
The investigation found staffing shortages, excessive paperwork and poor training that created too much bureaucracy and long waits for injured soldiers, particularly at Fort Stewart in Georgia and Fort Hood and Fort Bliss in Texas.
A mere Canadian like me knew this war was just imperialism in action, enough so as to go to the protest march the weekend before it started, by reading The Nation magazine. Why doesn't anyone mention The Nation?
Willi is a girl kitty?! I didn't know that...! & Sam, boy, right? * That sounds good Toni, it still isn't here, do you mind sending it again please? * I need to go sneak in to work & forward the telephone to voicemail..I was supposed to do it last night @ closing...
Aide Casts Doubt on Bush's Iraq Scenario The president is suggesting that a troop withdrawal would turn Iraq into a battleground between regional powers. Not so, says a senior administration official. WEB-EXCLUSIVE COMMENTARY By Richard Wolffe and Holly Bailey Newsweek Updated: 5:50 p.m. CT April 25, 2007 April 25, 2007 - Republicans are strong; Democrats are weak. Republicans want victory and order; Democrats want defeat and chaos.
Sound familiar? It should; it’s the Bush administration’s winning script from the 2004 campaign. In recent waeeks, President Bush has been going back to the well to describe the Democratic war-funding bill that’s rapidly heading toward a presidential veto. “I strongly believe that the Democrats’ proposal would undermine our troops and threaten the safety of the American people here at home,” he said Tuesday on the South Lawn of the White House.
Bush’s argument is based on a doomsday scenario for Iraq, where troop withdrawals turn the country into a sanctuary for Al Qaeda and a battleground between regional powers. “Precipitous withdrawal from Iraq is not a plan to bring peace to the region or to make our people safer at home,” Bush said. “It could unleash chaos in Iraq that could spread across the entire region. It would be an invitation to the enemy to attack America and our friends around the world.”
But in private, some of Bush’s most senior aides dispute that scenario. One senior administration official with extensive knowledge of the region, who didn’t want to be identified discussing sensitive policy matters, tells NEWSWEEK that the chances of a regional war in Iraq are low in the event of a U.S. withdrawal. When asked if a regional war would break out, the official said: “Possibly, not probably. It’s more likely that other powers would support their favorite militias, as they’re doing already.”
The senior official said the genocidal bloodbath that Sen. John McCain outlined recently was also unlikely, pointing to the militias’ ability to secure their own neighborhoods after the attack on the Golden Mosque in Samarra in early 2006. (The official’s main concern: the Iraqi government’s failure to unify the nation and address the root cause of sectarian conflict. “Both the Sunni and Shia are too afraid of each other,” the official said.)
Bush’s argument that Al Qaeda will use Iraq as a safe haven to plot new 9/11-style attacks if the United States pulls out is problematic, too. Osama bin Laden already has a safe haven to plot new attacks in the tribal areas of Pakistan. Gen. Michael Hayden, the CIA director, told senators last year that the border area of Pakistan was a “physical safe haven” that Al Qaeda used as a base to attack Afghanistan. That area is also the likely home of bin Laden and his deputy Ayman al-Zawahiri, General Hayden added.
That Was Then In January, President Bush sounded almost sympathetic to war critics. In an interview with National Public Radio, he was asked how he felt about the nonresponse from Democrats about his offer to create a bipartisan panel to advise on the war on terror.
“A lot of these folks aren’t happy we’re in Iraq to begin with, and I understand that,” Bush said. “They don’t believe we are going to succeed in Iraq, and I understand that, too. I think what some may be afraid of is, I’m trying to get them into an Iraq-type situation where they are forced to say something they don’t want to say. I don’t know.”
That was then. In the last four months, Bush has moved from understanding the criticism to seeing it as unforgivable.
When Journalism Became Transcription and Reporting Disappeared By David Sirota
Bill Moyers' PBS special last night on the media's complicity in pushing America to war was so powerfully upsetting that I am forced to resort to using mid-1990s NBA metaphors to describe it, if only because describing it without a metaphoric buffer is just too depressing. This production was the documentary equivalent of Tom Chambers famously jumping over a screaming Mark Jackson and hammering down one of the greatest, most in-your-face slam dunks in history.
To call the media's complicity in the Iraq War a conspiracy is an insult to conspiracies, because it wasn't hidden - as Moyers shows, it was all out there for everyone to see. The problem was, Beltway reporters didn't want to see it. As New York Times White House correspondent Elisabeth Bumiller famously admitted, in the lead up to war most self-respecting Washington journalists who wanted to stay on the White House Christmas card list refused to ask tough questions because "no one wanted to get into an argument with the president."
What's really disturbing, however, is not even what this documentary says about the past - but what it says about the state of journalism today.
In interview after interview after interview, we hear top journalists and opinionmakers declare that they believe journalism is no longer about basic, hard-scrabble reporting or getting scoops. As the Washington Post's Walter Pincus says, most reporters today actually try to avoid getting scroops because they "worry about sort of getting out ahead of something" and - gasp! - making their friends inside Official Washington mad at them. So rather than, say, do the real work of reporting news, journalism has become a profession that is almost entirely about PR, transcription and packaging Establishment spin for news copy. This is why, for example, many of the highest-profile political "journalists" like Joe Klein and David Broder never bother to actually report anything anymore - but instead spend most of their time pontificating on horse race polls and campaign gossip, expecting us to believe that's real "news."
This kind of attitude, as Moyers shows, goes straight to the top. Take, for instance, NBC's Tim Russert - the Washington Bureau Chief of NBC NEWS. I stress the word "news" because, remember, "news" is supposed to be reported in the trenches, not transcribed in a television studio. Russert loves to brag about coming from Buffalo (often ending his shows with some irritating quip about the Buffalo Bills) because he believes it gives him some sort of working-class cred and more importantly distracts viewer attention from the fact that he is a longtime Washington insider and multi-million-dollar journalist. And at one point, he brags to Moyers that "I'm a blue-collar guy from Buffalo - I know who my sources are [and] I work 'em very hard." But then when Moyers asks him why he gave Vice President Cheney such a free pass to come on Meet the Press and spew blatant lies about Iraq's WMD - lies that news organizations like Knight Ridder were exposing but people like Russert were ignoring - we get this gem from Russert:
"There were concerns expressed by other government officials. And to this day, I wish my phone had rung, or I had access to them."
Moyers quickly noted that at least some reporters "didn't wait for the phone to ring," and that CBS's Bob Simon said that sources debunking the WMD case "would have been available to any reporter who called." And that makes Russert's entire sob story fall apart like a house of cards. Russert wants us to believe that he's just "a blue-collar guy from Buffalo" who works sources very hard. Yet, apparently, "working sources very hard" means not even picking up the phone to make a call, but instead sitting in a comfortable Washington office waiting for people to call him, and in the meantime giving Cheney as much airtime as he wanted to spew lies.
Murtha Slams McCain Over ‘Outrageous’ IED Joke In a fiery speech last night, Rep. John Murtha (D-PA) blasted Sen. John McCain (R-AZ) for joking about improvised explosive devices (IED) during his appearance on the Daily Show on Tuesday.
McCain was asked by Jon Stewart about his notorious recent shopping trip at a Baghdad market, and responded, “I had something picked out for you, too — a little IED to put on your desk.”
During his floor speech last night, Murtha said that he received a call from a friend’s wife who was distressed about McCain’s crack. “In the last four months, we’ve lost more troops than any other period during this war,” Murtha said. “Imagine a presidential candidate making a joke about IEDs when our kids are getting blown up!” he shouted loudly. “It’s outrageous!”
“White House officials conducted 20 private briefings on Republican electoral prospects in the last midterm election for senior officials in at least 15 government agencies covered by federal restrictions on partisan political activity,” the White House acknowledged yesterday.
“The Justice Department has asked a federal appeals court to impose tighter restrictions on the hundreds of lawyers who represent detainees at Guantánamo Bay,” proposing “new limits on the lawyers’ contact with their clients and access to evidence in their cases.”
“Escalating his campaign to remain president of the World Bank, Paul D. Wolfowitz accused the bank’s board on Wednesday of treating him ‘shabbily and unfairly,’ and appealed for more time to defend himself against allegations of favoritism and other matters.”
And finally: A GOP delegate in Utah “has submitted a resolution equating illegal immigration to ‘Satan’s plan to destroy the U.S. by stealth invasion‘ for debate at Saturday’s Utah County Republican Party Convention.” The resolution refers to a plan by the devil for a “New World Order…as predicted in the Scriptures.” State Senate Majority Leader Curt Bramble (R) said, “I don’t think you’ll find much support for that sentiment.”
Attacks spark fears of Taliban defeating NATO. NPR reports, “In Afghanistan, the Taliban insurgency is spreading, even reaching some provinces in the north that had never been its strongholds. Last week, Taliban fighters attacked a district only 45 miles from the capital, Kabul. Afghans increasingly fear that NATO and Afghan forces will lose the war.”
Hill: Renzi Didn't Report $200K Payment By Paul Kiel - April 26, 2007, 11:10 AM From The Hill:
Rep. Rick Renzi (R-Ariz.) failed to disclose a $200,000 payment he received from a business partner in 2005 in apparent violation of House ethics rules. Prosecutors could use the omission as evidence that Renzi intended to conceal a transaction he knew to be controversial or even improper. The $200,000 was a payment from James Sandlin to settle a debt related to a previous business transaction involving land in northeast Arizona, one of the lawmaker’s attorneys, Grant Woods, told a newspaper last week.
This explanation might have been expected to dispel suspicion that Sandlin gave Renzi an illegal gift in exchange for action Renzi took to help Sandlin sell a $4 million parcel of land.
But Renzi’s claim that Sandlin’s $200,000 payment was a legitimate business transaction is weakened by the fact that he failed to disclose it in his personal financial disclosure report for 2005 filed with the House clerk.
Today's Must Read By Paul Kiel - April 26, 2007, 9:30 AM The entire scheme has been laid out before us. The question now is whether Karl Rove will get away with it.
Here's the scheme, as revealed over the past month: Rove and his deputies traveled to various agencies throughout the government, lecturing management there about Republicans' political prospects. Which House and Senate members were in trouble? Which Democratic seats were vulnerable? What were the major issues in the election?
But there was a line to be drawn: no commands were to be given -- because such a directive would be a blatant violation of the Hatch Act, which forbids the use of government resources for political ends.
On the contrary, the government officials receiving the briefing were supposed to get the hint -- as Tom Hamburger reported, "employees said they got a not-so-subtle message about helping endangered Republicans." The briefing simply gave them the tools to be helpful in the next election. They were supposed to take the ball and run with it.
The Washington Post reports today that Rove and his deputies gave such briefings to at least 15 different agencies (ranging from NASA to the Department of Homeland Security). But one briefing in particular continues to shine a light on all the rest: the one given this January to officials at the General Services Administration, the government's massive procurement agency.
good question jim. i have often wondered what form it would take when this administration comes unraveled.
rather than accept reality as nixon did, i believe this leadership would descend into martial law and suspension of the constitution, starting with the arrest of the democrats in congress for treason or whatever flawed logic they have.
the other and more unknown path would be to start a pre-emptive war with iran which would have the similar effect of forcing people to rally around the flag.
Both scenarios are scary. I've been wondering about the Iran issue. Thinking that Bush would try for a third term because of his invasion of Iran. I believe it involves the 22 amendment.
That scenario might be easier for the people to handle than martial law. But I wouldn't put it past them.
leaving 9/11 conspiracies alone (you didn't ask but i'll share it anyways - i think they knew it was coming at let it happen, i don't think they actually did it), i think the terror attack scenario is too risky for them.
the 1st casualty is any republican running in 2008, because their mantra has always been only neocons can keep you safe.
the 2nd casualty is there is close to a critical mass of people that think theres more to 9-11 than meets the eye. a 2nd attack wouldn't have the rallying effect that they would want. however, its altogether possible they believe their own lies and think it would.
i think they will choose an external event to manipulate.
ah, that pesky 22nd ammendment. i don't know how they can have it both ways. if they repeal it to keep bush around, clinton, this countrys BEST PRESIDENT since kennedy will sweep the election.
This is the third Malkin video I've seen. Pretty disgusting, but at least she isn't on her back in an empty bathtub this time. Maybe she should stick to Quiznos commercials talking about how a real woman needs a lot of meat. (I wonder if she meant "squid meat".)
If you know, it's funny and sick. If you don't know, you don't want to know. Either way, please forgive me.
Oregon Governor Lives On Food Stamps For 1 Week By: Logan Murphy @ 9:02 AM - PDT
Via Yahoo:
If Gov. Ted Kulongoski seems a little sluggish this week, he's got an excuse: he couldn't afford coffee.
In fact, the Democratic governor couldn't afford much of anything during a trip to a Salem-area grocery store on Tuesday, where he had exactly $21 to buy a week's worth of food — the same amount that the state's average food stamp recipient spends weekly on groceries.
Kulongoski is taking the weeklong challenge to raise awareness about the difficulty of feeding a family on a food stamp budget. Read more…
This is so refreshing to see from a politician. I applaud Governor Kulongoski and his wife for doing this and wish more would follow suit. The gap between the wealthy and working class in America keeps getting wider and we know Bush and the Republicans don't give a damn. He's never had to worry about making choices that many of us are forced to make every day such as choosing food and shelter over health insurance and medications. How long do you think King George would last in the real world, forced to live like the average American?
UK paper: Wolfowitz cleared the way for Iraq's destruction Among those relishing the exposure of World Bank president Paul Wolfowitz's manoeuvres on behalf of his girlfriend, Shaha Riza, in recent weeks was almost certainly the former US defence secretary, Donald Rumsfeld.
McCain on offensive after joke about IEDs bombs Sen. John McCain, who officially announced his bid for the 2008 White House Wednesday, stopped by "Good Morning America" to talk about his campaign and ended up defending himself about a joke.
"i think they knew it was coming at let it happen, i don't think they actually did it"
umm...
hate to tell ya, but somebody placed those demo charges...
it was Dumbya's bro in charge of security remember?
We've documented the "mysterious" rewiring they did immediately beforehand for a week or so...
keep this in mind, to accept their version of the event,1/2,000,000 of the weight of that building in kerosene was enough to destroy it utterly. literally turn it into dust... in a catostrophic collapse that took less than 10 seconds,
for the first tme in the history of steel framed skyscrapers...
and three of them within hours?
only a fool would swallow their story once they'd done any research at all.
Breaking: Senate approves Iraq withdrawal bill. “The Senate on Thursday narrowly passed legislation ordering U.S. troops to begin coming home from Iraq by Oct. 1. The vote was 51-46.The House on Wednesday passed the same war spending bill, and President Bush next week is expected to receive, and swiftly reject, the legislation. The veto could fall on the fourth anniversary of the president’s Iraq ‘victory’ speech, which is Tuesday.”
Petraeus: Things could get worse. “Gen. David Petraeus, the top U.S. commander in Iraq, depicted the situation there as ‘exceedingly complex and very tough’ Thursday and said the U.S. effort might become more difficult before before it gets easier.”
What is wrong with conservatives? This is like all that invective directed at Clinton... just pick a target... I get in discussions at work... and conservatives always go back to a couple of things... their focal points are Kennedy, Clinton (both especially Hillary) ... its like throwing goat meat to a bunch of gators or something.... SNAP!!!
The people who have been right all along from the very beginning about this war believe it is lost. Those who have been wrong all along from the very beginning still think it is winnable. My money is with those with the 100% correct track record.
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And of course, Lionel moves to the midday shift starting May 14.
First, a revamp of the schedule, effective May 21. That is over a month away. No rush, but don't forget all together.
Lionel in the AM! I guess he will get 15 hours of air time and Sam will get 3. Until Sam get bored.
Is Sunday afternoon a big radio day?
Sam Vs the NFL from Aug to Feb.
Well there are only 32 NFL teams, so there will be some cities with no football.
Ha Ha! I saw this. I say give Malkin all the air time she wants until November 2008.
Prediction: O'Reilly asks her to do a weekly cheer report for the Factor.
Okay if this happens Sammy, you have to save me a MRR mug!
I think most people plan their weekend around Sunday afternoon radio. Like people in jail and the hospital.
NO free mugs! Cash only!
I would glady pay for one
Taliban: Bin Laden plans Iraq strikes
POSTED: 12:41 p.m. EDT, April 25, 2007
(CNN) -- A Taliban military commander says Osama bin Laden helped plan the deadly suicide car bombing outside Bagram Air Base targeting a "very important American official," apparently referring to Vice President Dick Cheney.
Mullah Dadullah was interviewed by the Arab-language network al-Jazeera, which identified the official as Cheney. The network aired the comments on Wednesday, but did not say when the interview was done.
Dadullah said al Qaeda leader bin Laden also is involved in planning attacks in Iraq. He offered no proof for his statements.
The vice president was more than a half mile away from the site of the February attack in Afghanistan, which Afghan police said killed more than 15 people and wounded 20.
Secret Service agents briefly moved Cheney, who was unharmed, to a bomb shelter away from the base. He returned to his room when it was safe to do so. Cheney said he was told the base's main gate had been attacked.
Referring to bin Laden, Dadullah told the Arab-language network al-Jazeera, "Praise be to God he is still alive, and we have information about him and praise be to God he orchestrates plans in both Iraq and Afghanistan.
"You may remember the martyrdom mission in Bagram which targeted a very important American official. No Afghan can reach the Bagram base.
"This operation was a result of his blessed planning. He's the one who planned the details of this operation and guided us and the operation was successful," Dadullah said.
Bagram is about 40 miles (60 kilometers) north of the capital, Kabul.
On March 1, Dadullah told Britain's Channel Four that his forces were poised for a spring offensive against NATO-led coalition troops in Afghanistan, and that he was maintaining a regular line of communication with bin Laden.
LINK
Junior Soprano appeals to Cheney for 'accidental' shooting RAW STORY
Published: Tuesday April 24, 2007
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Last year, Tony Soprano gave social commentary on the post-Katrina business landscape: "Let me say this: Dick Cheney for president... of the fuckin' universe."
A year later, HBO's Sopranos again invokes the vice president. This time it is Corrado 'Junior' Soprano, former New Jersey crime boss, who writes to Cheney appealing for help.
"Dear Vice President Cheney," he writes, "As a powerful man all too familiar with accidental gun play, I am writing in the hope that you will intervene in my case. Like yourself, I was involved in an unfortunate incident when a gun I was handling accidentally misfired ..."
Disappointed when he receives a form letter in return, Junior decides he might have better luck contacting Cheney at Halliburton.
Video clips follow:
LINK
Pelosi pressed to put impeachment back on table Michael Roston
Published: Wednesday April 25, 2007
When the California Democratic Convention begins this weekend, party progressives both inside and outside the San Diego Convention Center will be pressing hard to bring impeachment back on the table as a means of holding the presidency of George W. Bush accountable for crimes they allege have been committed since 2001.
"I've been blown away by the response. People are wanting to organize and rally behind one single thing at the convention, and that's impeachment," said Joye Swan of the Progressive Caucus of the California Democratic Party, who is helping lead an effort to pass a resolution expressing the California Democratic Party's support for impeaching President George W. Bush and Vice President Dick Cheney.
But the fight will be complicated by House Speaker Nancy Pelosi's unwillingness to hear their message and the encouragement that her stance may give opponents of the impeachment measure within the California Democratic Party leadership.
Pro-impeachment actions planned
The 2007 California Democratic Convention kicks off on Friday, and its agenda shows there is a lot of ground to cover. But a significant number of activists are eager to make the impeachment of the President a focal point of activity.
"Be it Resolved, that George W. Bush and Richard B. Cheney, by such conduct, warrant impeachment and trial, and removal from office and disqualification to hold and enjoy any office of honor, trust or profit under the United States," reads a resolution that Swan, a Democratic delegate from California's 42nd Assembly District in Los Angeles, will introduce, with the hopes it will be adopted as the party's position.
[The full resolution is available at the end of this article.]
LINK
More from Raw Story on Pelosi and impeachment:
Changing Pelosi's mind a key, and difficult task
The California Progressives are particularly concerned with persuading Rep. Nancy Pelosi (D-CA), the Speaker of the House of Representatives, to reverse her earlier position that impeachment was "off the table."
"With the Speaker saying it's off the table, it puts others Members of Congress at a lower tier," Gerbasi argued. "There are some representatives inching toward impeachment, but they may not commit until Pelosi changes her mind and puts it back on the table."
Pelosi first told her party that she opposed impeaching President Bush in a May 2006 caucus meeting.
To persuade Pelosi to change her position, Swan said, progressives at the convention intend to shadow the Speaker with their concerns throughout the weekend.
"She's either going to have to very publicly ignore it, or address the elephant in the room," Swan explained. "I'll be curious to see what happens at the dinner, which Pelosi is hosting; there are certain plans of action that will bring impeachment public while she's up speaking, and it will be interesting to see if she addresses it."
But Swan and her fellow Progressives' plans could be disrupted. The Saturday funeral of Rep. Juanita Millender-McDonald, the California Democrat who passed away last weekend, could mean that Pelosi will miss much of the state party convention on Saturday, as she told RAW STORY in a conference call on Tuesday.
But even if Pelosi does attend the convention, Progressives won't find the Speaker any more receptive to impeaching the President than she was a year ago.
"I totally oppose the impeachment of the President," she explained to RAW STORY on Tuesday. "We have to use our energies to end this war. I don't think the popular support is there for such a move, I don't think we can get any Republican votes to move forward."
Pelosi added, "In some ways, it's a wonderful advocacy piece for those who want to use it outside, to express rejection of the President's policies, but from the standpoint of the time of the Congress of the United States, the American people are with us in ending the war and that's what they want us to do."
She also cast the decision not to impeach as having national electoral implications for the Democratic Party, suggesting that President Bush "is not worth it."
"We will do more to make for our own reelection, and maintain a Democratic Congress...and have a Democratic President," she said. "And frankly, for impeachment, George W. Bush is just not worth it. We have great work to do for the American people."
Why aren't people commenting on the Malkin bit? Well, I will....I find it sadly pathetic. Desperate even. So desperate that it's almost even funny. What planet does this deluded chick live on? Is she 14? Somehow i can actually picture her as a cheerleader in high school leading "Loser" cheers. Or is this an SNL sketch?
Will the old free flow blog ever get repaired?
The subpoena for Rice was part of a flurry of action on Wednesday in the stepped-up congressional oversight of how the Bush administration operates. Since Democrats took control of Congress from Bush's Republicans in January, there have been more than 400 oversight hearings.
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Pryor Meets With ‘Hazy’ Memory Gonzales, Calls On Him To Resign Again
In his testimony to the Senate Judiciary Committee last week, Alberto Gonzales promised that he would meet with Sen. Mark Pryor (D-AR) and explain why Karl Rove-protege Tim Griffin is still serving as U.S. attorney in Arkansas.
The last time Gonzales met with Pryor, on Dec. 15, he promised that Griffin would be subjected to Senate approval, or he would work with Pryor to find new candidates. The exact opposite happened — Griffin was appointed and remains U.S. Attorney in Arkansas. Pryor was livid: Gonzales “lied to me, he lied to the Senate and he lied to the people I represent,” he said, calling for the attorney general’s resignation.
Today, Gonzales finally met with Pryor. Based on Pryor’s remarks to reporters afterward, the attorney general performed as poorly as he did before the Senate last week:
[T]he 40-minute Capitol Hill meeting failed to sway Pryor who told reporters afterwards that he still thinks Gonzales should resign.
Pryor said the attorney general’s memory of two phone calls they had in December on the subject was so “hazy” that Pryor today “refreshed his memory on what he said and what he told me.” […]
Gonzales attempted to explain his views but did not apologize, Pryor said.
Looks like Gonzales just couldn’t recall. Again.
LINK
Massachusetts to cancel abstinence-only classes
by Chris in Paris · 4/25/2007 11:58:00 AM ET
The new governor planning to scrap Mitt Romney's program to bring failed religious right theory to the classrooms of Massachusetts.
Governor Deval Patrick wants to end state-sponsored , abstinence-only sex education in Massachusetts, a year after Governor Mitt Romney ordered the Department of Public Health to redirect a long-standing federal abstinence grant to classes that focus exclusively on encouraging teenagers to avoid sexual encounters.
Patrick proposed forgoing the $700,000 grant, which the state has received since 1998, joining at least six other states in rebelling against increasingly restrictive federal mandates about how the money can be used.
LINK
George Seldes on Nancy Cunard (1965)
I knew Nancy Cunard only slightly; but enough to be impressed by her, to honor and admire her. We who talk and write about nonconformity rarely have the courage to live the lives of nonconformists, but Nancy Cunard had the courage and paid the price society still demands. England and America are bad enough, but Nancy when I knew her was the dissenter, the rebel, the heretic in the Spain of today, which is still in the shadow of the 17th century.
The right blogosphere operates largely as part of the greater Republican message machine. Many of its bloggers are already part of that infrastructure, working as journalists for conservative publications, writing books and lecturing. Independent bloggers on the right hail from all walks of life, but the leading voices are either part of the political machine itself, like Mike Krempasky of RedState, or closely connected to the conservative media and think tank infrastructure, like Hugh Hewitt, Michelle Malkin and the PowerLine bloggers. The right blogosphere is a reflection of successful top-down Republican message control, and as such these bloggers are welcomed warmly into the fold.
As Garance Franke-Ruta writes in the April issue of The American Prospect, the right-wing blogosphere has also recently become useful to long-established political operatives such as Morton Blackwell, mentor to iconic GOP campaign strategists Karl Rove and Lee Atwater. In the recent Eason Jordan affair, the right blogosphere was credited with forcing the former chief news executive of CNN to resign over a controversial off-the-record comment. It turned out that many conservative blogs were part of this larger concerted effort. In the wake of this success, conservatives are now running what Franke-Ruta describes as “Internet Activist Schools, designed to teach conservatives how to engage in guerilla Internet activism,” or what some people used to call “dirty tricks.”
By contrast, the left blogosphere is populated by “citizen bloggers,” who work in non-political occupations for a living and blog for reasons of personal interest. This sphere actually operates as a unique and potentially powerful political constituency rather than a part of the Democratic Party apparatus. Unlike their counterparts on the right, the lefty blogs have had to crash the party, but because they did it with energy, votes and money, they are making themselves a power in their own right.
You get no bread with
one meat ball!!!
just saw the new line-up
http://talkingradio.blogspot.com/2007/04/aar-reveals-new-program-line-up-and-ad.html
the only good thing about it is Ring of Fire went from 2 hours to 3 but funny thing the show has an added host Mr David Bender hmmm guess he'll serve as the gate keeper and prevent too radical views of Pappantonio from being aired I wonder if they will do away with the "Pap Attack" the bit where Pappantonio rales with no holds barred against the evil of the right......
---Bait Self-Argues---
Bait: "Impeach the bastards!"
Crank: "Impeachment proceedings would hurt the Democrats in the long run."
Bait: "Wouldn't it always be true that impeachment proceedings would mobilize the opposition?"
Crank: "You bet!"
Bait: "So, no matter the crime, an impeachment effort is like shooting oneself in the foot?"
Crank: "That's how I read it."
Bait: "If this is true, then impeachment is never a real threat nor an avenue to redress?"
Crank: "You got it, bub. You haven't seen Clinton hanging from a lamp post, have you?"
Bait: "Did his impeachment hurt the Republican party?"
Crank: "Yep."
Bait: "But Bush was elected; twice."
Crank: "You are ignoring all of the other factors."
Bait: "Like what?"
Crank: "Bush said he loves Jesus."
Bait: "Oh, yeah. There's that."
its always good to hear from senator jackoff...
Inhofe calls Reid remarks ‘un-American.’ “Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-NV) should be recalled by voters over his ‘un-American’ remarks about the Iraq war, Sen. James Inhofe (R-OK). Asked if the Nevada Democrat should resign from his leadership position because of his comments, Inhofe said: “I think it’s more serious than that. I think there should be a recall…for saying something as un-American as that.”
toniD said...
Massachusetts to cancel abstinence-only classes
by Chris in Paris · 4/25/2007 11:58:00 AM ET
don't have a reference but strickland is doing the same in ohio. he's catching a lot of crap from the christofascists though.
hey sammy. lets hope they have a rerun for your show because as somebody pointed out there is this little thing called the nfl on sundays.
i never grasped the finer points of the game but there's nothing i like better than falling asleep on the couch to the sound of the game...
I guess that the rumors must be true: Liberals can't watch a Bill Moyers special and read a blog at the same time.
(I'm trimming my toenails, too. I must be a fucking genius...)
"Ow!"
(Note to self: Pay more attention to what you're doing.)
AP, Newsday uncritically report Giuliani assertion that 2003 and 1997 abortion ban exceptions were substantively different
http://mediamatters.org/items/200704250010
An April 25 Newsday article uncritically reported that former New York City Mayor Rudy Giuliani (R) "insisted his recent support for the Supreme Court decision upholding a ban on" the abortion procedure that critics call partial-birth abortion "was consistent with his past opposition because the law changed in 2003 to include more scientific language about protecting the life of the mother." Similarly, an April 25 Associated Press article uncritically reported that Giuliani said there was no "inconsistency" between "his long-standing support of abortion rights and his affirmation last week of the Supreme Court's decision to uphold a ban on what critics call partial-birth abortion," adding that Giuliani "said he opposed" such a ban "when it was discussed during the Clinton administration because he didn't feel it made an exception when a mother's life was in danger." The AP noted that "Giuliani supported" President Bill Clinton when Clinton vetoed a ban of the procedure. However, neither article noted that the Partial-Birth Abortion Ban Act of 1997 that Clinton vetoed also included a similar "exception when a mother's life was in danger" or challenged Giuliani's reported assertion that the 2003 ban "include[d] more scientific language about protecting the life of the mother."
The 1997 abortion ban that Giuliani opposed included the following exception:
This paragraph shall not apply to a partial-birth abortion that is necessary to save the life of a mother whose life is endangered by a physical disorder, illness, or injury. This paragraph shall become effective one day after enactment.
OH! Thanks for reminding me, Cranker!
Turn on Bill Moyers!
check out the eagle postcard that someone sent in
this persons secret is that he helped build a US internment camp underground
i knew it! the bastards!
http://postsecret.blogspot.com/
there's also a boob shot for all the guys
I just came back from a very good spiritual talk, and it was about many things, but it made me think about how we/I get angry, and how to keep one's peace.... Even when the current administration, etc. makes you justifiably angry. How it happens in the first place, and how it is better to ... well you know ...
Basically, I'm totally going against the wisdom of what I should be doing
There's Hillary ... and Kerry ... !
Come on! You both know otherwise!
You know... Bill O'Reilly used to make me mad, but now everytime I see him on tape, I burst out laughing. He is SUCH a CLOWN!
Catharine,
Boy, oh boy. Does Ted Kennedy look like a goof, or what?
1.) Wanted more evidence against Hussien.
2.) Warned against a dangerous war.
3.) Imagined that a war in Iraq would increase radical Islam's recruitment.
What a goof!
But don't forget Chappaquiddick!
He was drunk, wasn't he? He let that poor girl drown. He's fat, to boot. And he talks funny.
Catharine said...
I just came back from a very good spiritual talk, and it was about many things, but it made me think about how we/I get angry, and how to keep one's peace....
----------------------------------
Bait, unauthorized, finishes Catharine's thought: "And now I'm REALLY FUCKING PISSED!"
Thank you Bill Moyers!
Moyers just started here.
Looks like it started earlier for some of you.
You know... Bill O'Reilly used to make me mad, but now everytime I see him on tape, I burst out laughing. He is SUCH a CLOWN!
---
I can tell you have grown to deal with William.
It wasn't really my thought placed into Catharine's words. I offer this as evidence that I used to expound upon:
Fuck you Washington Post!
Fuck you NBC!
April 25, 2007 9:56 PM
---------
(Proof positive that anger management isn't for everyone.)
Just to let you know, Lou Dobbs announced that Bill Moyers was back on PBS and he had a show tonight. He reccommended that people watch it.
How old is Peter Beinart?
He is like a 5 year old saying "Um, ...No! I didn't take the cookies... No... um... I didn't... I .. uh. [hyperventilating]... it was.. um... well...um... someone gave them to me ... yeah ... I didn't take them... I um just wrote about them.... um ... yeah ... um... i only ate them after some.. um invisible hand gave them to me ...yeah that's it... yeah!"
toniD said...
Just to let you know, Lou Dobbs announced that Bill Moyers was back on PBS and he had a show tonight. He reccommended that people watch it.
April 25, 2007 10:03 PM
********************
I guess Lou Dobbs isn't on it looking bad, huh?
********************
Oh. And there's Russert again! I'm just a guy from Buffalo! Heh heh!
Fuck you Tim!
toniD said...
Just to let you know, Lou Dobbs announced that Bill Moyers was back on PBS and he had a show tonight. He reccommended that people watch it.
April 25, 2007 10:03 PM
-------------------------------
Whilst dialing-in one of my many, scattered, crappy radios, I heard Limbaugh dissing Bill Moyers' upcoming series. (I am ethically unable to monitor Limbaugh anymore...at least not for more than a few minutes.)
I didn't stick around long enough to learn what more he had to say about Moyers' program except to learn that it was not up to Limbaugh's standards.
The bar has been raised, by golly!
Catharine: "And I hate your little dog, too."
Bait: "I don't have a little dog."
Catharine: "Get one."
Bait: "I have a flying monkey, though."
Catharine: "Bring him on!"
Bait: "Here, ono. Here boy. Heel."
Catharine: "That's not a flying monkey. That's a marsupial."
Bait: "They were on sale."
Isn't a four post joke some kind of record?
(Five, if you count the set-up.)
(Six, if you count the pre set-up set-up.)
Catharine: "You think that's funny while people are dying?"
Bait: "You limit my opportunities."
Catharine: "Okay. After further consideration and a stiff cocktail, I apologize for my gruffness."
Bait: "Speaking of stiff cocktails..."
Bait: "I'm banning myself."
Crank: "For what?"
Bait: "Spamming the blog."
Crank: "What about the crappy jokes?"
Bait: "I got a million of 'em."
Bait: "I'm unbanning myself long enough to ask you a question."
Crank: "Fire away."
Bait: "Why are you talking to yourself?"
Crank: "Do you see anyone else talking to myself?"
Bait: "No. Not recently."
Crank: "Next question?"
Bait: "Stop, already."
Crank: "Stop what?"
Bait: "Your diatribe."
Crank: "I ALWAYS have a diatribe. Sometimes it gets interrupted."
Bait: "In that case, I'm interrupting it."
Crank: "For what?"
Bait: "For the greater good."
Crank: "That's what they said about Happy Meals."
I am on fire!
Bait: "You should write to your mom."
Crank: "Why?"
Bait: "Because she loves to read your letters."
Crank: "She hates my letters. She likes the postmarks."
Bait: "That's not true."
Crank: "Then why does she save the envelopes?"
Bait: "She uses them for bee coffins."
Crank: "What?"
Bait: "Bee caskets; containers for dead bees."
Crank: "So I should send her envelopes...or, better yet, boxes filled with deceased bees?"
Bait: "Now you are beginning to think like a good son..."
Crank: "And you should write to the Rajah."
Bait: "I did!"
Crank: "Once. Big deal."
Bait: "What am I supposed to write? I hardly know the guy."
Crank: "Would that matter if you were in the slammer?"
Bait: "Probably not."
Crank: "So write something."
Bait: "I guess that cutting-and-pasting the How To Make A Backyard Tattoo page is out of the question?"
Crank: "It IS funny."
Bait: "No shit."
Bait: "You know what I like about an inattentive audience?"
Crank: "Lay it on me."
Bait: "Nothing."
Crank: "Look at the bright side; no hecklers."
Bait: "But I NEED hecklers. Without hecklers, I have to make stuff up wholesale."
Crank: "Your mother wears Army boots."
Bait: "That's better. I can feel the creative juices beginning to boil."
After ten years, Summit County has been ordered to pay $1.6 million for the wrongful 1997 lay-off of seven Summit County Department of Job and Family Services employees.
The seven classified employee: William White, Shirley Kosar, John Eldridge, Kathleen Peters, Marsha Pukas, Sylvia Scruggs-DeJournett and Gregory Markovich, were laid off due to "job abolishment" in January and May of 1997. They immediately appealed the decision to the Summit County Human Resource Commission, followed by appeal to the Court of Common Pleas, four decisions by the Court of Appeals and a decision in May 2006 by the Ohio Supreme Court.
While the employee appeals wound their way through the courts, the two men responsible for these job abolishments served time in prison for related felony charges. Former Summit County officers William Hartung and John Keenan were convicted of bribery, conspiracy and tax evasion for re-directing county funds from the Summit County Department of Job and Family Services (then called Department of Human Services) for their personal gain.
"There is no windfall in these payments," said Nancy Grim, the Kent attorney representing the seven former employees. The payments to the former employees are back pay for the period when the employees were wrongly laid off, reduced by income they were able to get from other jobs. The County payments also include the employee and employer contributions to the Public Employee Retirement System for the period of layoff. Summit County will also pay post-judgment interest from September 30, 2005, when the Court of Appeals issued a judgment that the employees are entitled to back pay, until the May 2007 payment.
Three of the employees accepted reinstatement. Marsha Pukas, Sylvia Scruggs-DeJournett and Gregory Markovich returned to work at the Department of Job and Family Services on June 26, 2006. William White, Shirley Kosar and John Eldridge have retired. Their PERS retirement benefits will increase as a result of the order. Kathleen Peters declined reinstatement in order to stay at her present job.
Bait: "I wonder if someone named Shirley Grim could ever be happy?"
Lance Boyles: "No."
Bait: "I am possessed with that which I am."
Crank: "You're innate."
Bait: "Don't mind if I do."
Here's the link to the Bill Moyers Journal blog...
LINK
Crank Bait:Ha! You need to get a job as a comedy writer!Your that Good! :) :)
toniD said...[but seriously, folks] Here's the link to the Bill Moyers Journal blog...
LINK
April 25, 2007 11:46 PM
---------------------------------
toniD: "People are dying out there, fer crissakes!"
Bait: "...tell me about it."
Squonk!
ferf!
I'm back!
But I see that Crank carried on without me just fine...
... [tap, tap, tap]
hmm.
I can't think of anything clever. [If that wasn't a setup I don't know what is [see? another one...]]
I guess this is a private party.
I want more about the bees and the envelopes!
What's up with that?
toniD said...
Here's the link to the Bill Moyers Journal blog...
Did anyone from here post on Moyers Blog?The shows just starting out here on the West Coast.Thx.
I don't get it until 10...Kevin got it at 9....He's already pissed..
http://www.democracynow.org/article.pl?sid=07/04/25/1414222
the interview with amy was so great...he said that 17% of the pbs money comes from congress...but not for his show...he won't take it...
just came online to remind everyone that
Bill Moyer's Buying the War
is on right now in the West 9.00 PM :)
but it looks like everyone is into it already here
caught the first few minutes of the giggly press corps fawning over Prez -
all one can do is shake one's head
How did this happen?
bbl
Re: Moyers Journal... Great show, though it didn't end with any arrests. Typically great reporting from Moyers.
Noticably absent from tonight's Moyers program, though, was any mention of the performance of PBS' flagship news program, The News Hour. My experience has been that The News Hour has also devolved into the he said/he said approach to coverage, rather than the "truth squad" approach, as mentioned my Walter Pincus.
April 25, 2007 -- Senior British civil servant David Keogh. a former communications and cipher officer at Number 10 Downing Street, is on trial at London's Old Bailey, charged with violating the Official Secrets Act for leaking a classified report on an April 2004 meeting between George W. Bush and Tony Blair. The four page report referred to Bush as a "madman." Keough is accused of slipping the report to parliamentary assistant Leo O'Connor, who then allegedly made it available to anti-war MP Anthony Clarke. O'Connor is also on trial for violating the Official Secrets Act. The Blair government accuses Keough of leaking the document to influence the 2004 presidential elections, a clear indication that Blair was interested in seeing Bush defeat his Democratic challenger John Kerry. The trial is shrouded in secrecy, a move seen as an attempt not to embarrass an already-tainted Blair.
Catharine said...I'm back!
But I see that Crank carried on without me just fine...
-------------------------------
Ya know, when you saw the girl in half, open the box(es), and there's nobody there, ya gots to ad lib.
Re: Moyers' Journal... Tonight's program was a special broadcast. The new weekly program debuts this Friday night, beginning with an interview with Jon Stewart.
Bill said if Mark Twain were around today he'd probably be working on comedy central...
April 25, 2007 -- ABC News quickly amended its report concerning the ability of law enforcement to track prescription drug users in the United States. In a report on Virginia Tech killer Cho Seung-hui's possible use of anti-depressant drugs, "senior federal officials" told ABC News they could find no record of him [Cho Seung-hui] in the governments files on controlled substances. ABC News later posted an explanation of its first report that the US government tracks prescription drugs and their users: "Some readers may have inferred from an earlier edition of this story that the federal government keeps a comprehensive record of all prescriptions. The Drug Enforcement Agency says it does track prescriptions of so-called controlled substances — including some mood-altering medications — but not all prescriptions made in the United States."
The issue is to what extent does the DEA track prescription drug users and what prompted the government to check on records pertaining to Cho Seung-hui, who was reported to have been treated for mental problems in the past? The Psychotropic Substances Act of 1978 added mind-altering drugs to the list of official Controlled Substances. Prescriptions for these controlled substances have a "DEA Number" used for tracking controlled substances. The Cho incident and the comments and quick retractions by "senior federal officials" indicate that there is a secret federal government capability to track controlled drug users.
http://www.waynemadsenreport.com/
Re: Malkin "cheerleader" video ...
Is she (are they) trying to insulate themselves against ridicule via ironic naming of their website... HotAir.com? What a hoot.
And I just love the "Comments Registration Policy" on the HotAir.com "About" page... typical Right Wing "grassroots" approach, reminiscent of a Bush "town hall" meeting... quoting... "Only registered Hot Air users can leave comments on our site. Registration is now closed. That means if you haven't already registered, you cannot comment. Sorry. We will let you know if and when we re-open registration.
HI-larious!! Gotta love how she's bringing the voice of the people to bear.
April 25, 2007 -- After being lulled into the morning corporate media hype concerning Vice President Dick Cheney's trip to George Washington Hospital for a routine check up on his blood clot in his leg, and, perhaps with a bit of prodding from the weak-kneed House Democratic leadership, Ohio Rep. Dennis Kucinich postponed yesterday's noon press conference where he was to introduce three articles of impeachment against Cheney. Kucinich delayed until 5:00 pm the press conference on his impeachment bills. The delay was due to what the media indicated was a mid-morning Cheney medical emergency and not a routine visit. The corporate media, as they have in the past, manufactured the importance of the Cheney doctor visit to switch attention away from the Kucinich announcement. As always, Fox News led the way, in coordination with Cheney's office (Cheney and Fox News Managing Editor Brit Hume are close friends), and then MS-NBC and CNN followed their lead.
Kucinich's bill, which has no co-sponsors and has been criticized by the ever suspect Rahm Emmanuel, the House's chief Democratic caucus policy maker, contains three articles of impeachment against Cheney.
The Zapatistas, anarchism and 'Direct democracy'
...
The assembly elects delegates called 'responsibles' to co-ordinate work in particular areas. These delegates serve a limited term (one to two years) and are subject to re-call within this time if it's felt they are not 'leading by obeying' (i.e. the Zapatista slogan for following the mandate given to them).
There are also collectives that carry out particular tasks within the community. They are set up by and answerable to the assembly but are otherwise autonomous. Collectives in Diez include ones for coffee, cattle honey, horticulture, bread, sewing and chicken. Some of the production of each collective goes to its members; the surplus goes into a central community fund controlled by the assembly.
...
Re: Moyers Journal program... it's available for Internet video streaming off the show's website, at...
http://www.pbs.org/moyers/journal/btw/watch.html
makes ya wonder why Dennis did'nt get the word out on the blogs and why he did'nt line up a little more support...
Yep-PBS confirms it.We are,and have been for awhile,living in a Banana Republic!
I don't care for the way american idol is pablum for the masses...however, they've raised 30 million dollars for africa & the u.s. tonight...
Too bad it will probably counter-act the rage meant to poke us in the ass with Bill's show...
tanks plooger!
great reporting is'nt it?
Imus raised more than $300,000,000 over the years for Charities.But,I'm glad he got fired.Now if we can only fire the Idol too. :)
Alice,
How do you raise thirty mil?
Rub it twenty-nine million times.
(There's a mega-media joke buried in there somewhere.)
no sweat the words out,
getting harder to find peeps buying all this BS...
If they're giving money to people who need it..then all I can point out is that it's more than the government does.....
Good evening folks!
Here you are! We at the parish where wondering where you all got off to!
Umm.
You folks have'nt smelled anything unusual have you?
Or seen Sister Imelda and the novice psychology class?
Your right Alice.My bad..I'm getting cranky watching the B.Moyers program..Robot Media!
what keeps mankind alive by william burroughs
This post has been removed by the author.
Comment deleted
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re Powell's speech at the UN
Dan Rather:
"I was impressed. Who wouldn't be."
--
I wasn't. Not at all. And Dan Rather et al shouldn't have been either.
This was one depressing show I tell you. But it was great to see many of the fine journalists like Erik Boehlert ("Lapdogs") finally get the opportunity to comment.
btw. big shots like Friedman, Krauthammer, Kristol, Safire were invited but didn't have the guts to appear on the show, obviously
Little Peter Beinart from the TNR did appear, quite the liberal hawk beating the war drum early on ... and he is now working for Time.
In fact, as we all know All the people who were terribly wrong in promoting the war still have the blowhorn; they are still invited to give their expert opinion re Iraq. AFAIK noone got fired cause they didn't do their jobs. In fact they got promoted to better jobs, got their own columns, etc. etc.
Safire got the Medal of Freedom.
And thats the way it is :(
night guys
P.S. The Man of the People: Tim Russert.
Wiggled himself thru just as expected.
before I forget -
acc. to Phil who lost his show on MSNBC cause you know why:
two liberals = one rightwinger
its okay to have one rightwinger on the show by himself/herself
its NOT okay to have a liberal on the show by himself/herself
if a liberal is invited - a rightwinger MUST be invited
Phil = 2 liberals, so he had to invite two rightwingers
---
You can't make this stuff up. Ah yes, you can - "sigh"
night :)
hahahaha
omg
Michelle Malkin is really 10 years old!
hahahahaha
-conbo
America spends more than 250 million a day on war. And that's a very conservative estimate.
Hey, they cut out the moneyshot!
You mean on the Malkin cheerleading video?
I wonder if the high ranking military that think the war is a lost cause have seen Michelle's antics.
I'm starting a new blog called "Come On Malkin"
I mean "Come on, Malkin"
so if 208 republicans voted against funding the war where is the outcry that they don't support the troops.
i can't tell you how many times i had the ad shoved in my face about kerry voting to not fund the troops...
Morning blah 3!
After having watched Moyers last night and his fine work, I turn on c-span this am and who do they have.....William Kristol! The supreme neocon war monger!
Someone just called in to c-span and called Kristol a despicable chikenhawk! And Kristol laughed!
There are times, and this is one that I would give anything to wipe that smile off his face....forever!
There are times, and this is one that I would give anything to wipe that smile off his face....forever!
April 26, 2007 8:10 AM
---
Very bad Karma. You don't remember what a smile is do you?
Rep. Patrick Murphy, who actually served in Iraq, delivers a powerful speech on Iraq.
by Joe Sudbay (DC) · 4/25/2007 08:59:00 PM ET
Watch Patrick Murphy speak during the House debate on the Iraq spending bill. He's terrific. It's personal for him. Bush and the GOP don't intimidate Murphy. He's watched his buddies die. Nineteen of them:
Video here
i saw michele merkin in her thai hooker getup yesterday
to quotE atrios:
"oh
my
god".
we ARE dealing with CHILDREN.
Americans agree with Reid. So much for Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid’s (D-NV) remarks about Iraq being “un-American.”
Victory in Iraq still possible?
Yes............36%
No.............55%
Full poll results are HERE. Jonathan Singer has more.
UPDATE: More overwhelming war opposition in Kentucky, home of chief war supporter Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-KY).
LINK
I miss you soooooooooo much!!!!
joanne
White House excludes bomb deaths in casualty counts. “Car bombs and other explosive devices have killed thousands of Iraqis in the past three years, but the administration doesn’t include them in the casualty counts it has been citing as evidence that the surge of additional U.S. forces is beginning to defuse tensions between Shiite and Sunni Muslims.”
LINK
Victory in Iraq still possible?
Yes............36%
and what part of your ass will the plan come from?
what happened to "the popular Lionel" anyway?
RNC Releases Partial List Of White House Officials With Party Email Accounts »
Lawyers for the Republican National Committee sent a letter tonight to Rep. Henry Waxman (D-CA) with a list of 37 individuals “who we believe are or were White House employees using RNC accounts for whom we have been able to identify active e-mail data on operational RNC servers.”
The list — which includes senior officials like Karl Rove and Dan Bartlett as well as interns for the Office of Political Affairs — can be found below.
The White House has said that roughly 50 White House officials have had RNC accounts since 2001, and the letter suggests that more individuals with RNC accounts will be identified. “As the RNC is still in the early stages of its analysis, we expect that this list will require revisions at a later date.” Who are these unidentified individuals? And did they work in jobs that wouldn’t typically require a partisan email account?
The White House use of these accounts appears to be extremely extensive. The letter states that the RNC “has gathered approximately 25,500,000 kilobytes of e-mail data from the 37 individuals listed above.” Moreover, this figure “will almost certainly increase” once forensic experts complete the “collection of active e-mail files off of hard drives and blackberries.”
Digg It!
The partial list of White House officials with RNC accounts is below the fold:
LINK
David Broder’s Continuing Embarrassment
After reading David Broder's column, I emailed him that he was out of touch with the American people and should maybe consider retiring from journalism.
House OKs ban on genetic discrimination By JIM ABRAMS, Associated Press Writer
Wed Apr 25, 4:59 PM ET
Genetic information no longer could be used to deny someone health insurance or job opportunities under legislation passed by the House on Wednesday.
"If your grandmother had breast cancer, you shouldn't be denied a job or a promotion," said Rep. Robert Andrews (news, bio, voting record), D-N.J., before the 420-3 vote on the Genetic Information Nondiscrimination Act.
The measure makes it illegal for a health plan or insurer to deny coverage or charge higher premiums to a healthy person based solely on a genetic predisposition to a disease. Similarly, an employer could not use genetic information in making hiring, firing or promotion decisions.
Rep. Louise M. Slaughter, D-N.Y., the chief sponsor, said she first introduced a genetic nondiscrimination bill 12 years ago. She said the need for the legislation has grown because of advances in the science. "There's not a single person on the planet who has perfect genes," she said. We're all vulnerable to genetic discrimination."
Rep. Judy Biggert (news, bio, voting record), R-Ill., another sponsor, said the government spent $3.7 billion on the Human Genome Project completed in 2003 and then "Congress walked away and left the job unfinished. ... We left people without any insurance that their genetic information wouldn't be used against them."
Lawmakers noted that some people forgo genetic testing for fear of losing jobs or health benefits. They said there have been instances of discrimination against people with family histories of sickle cell anemia, Huntington's disease, certain cancers and other diseases.
The White House, in a statement, expressed support for the legislation. "Concern about unwarranted use of genetic information threatens the utilization of existing genetic tests as well as the ability to conduct further research," it said.
Genetic discrimination bills have been approved twice by the Senate in recent years but were not taken up by the House. In January the Senate Health, Education, Pensions and Labor Committee approved legislation by Sen. Olympia Snowe (news, bio, voting record), R-Maine. The bill awaits action by the full Senate.
LINK
Rice signals rejection of House subpoena By MATTHEW LEE, Associated Press Writer
40 minutes ago
Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice said Thursday she has already answered the questions she has been subpoenaed to answer before a congressional committee and suggested she is not inclined to comply with the order.
Rice said she would respond by mail to questions from the House Oversight and Government Reform Committee on the Bush administration's prewar claims about Saddam Hussein seeking weapons of mass destruction, but signaled she would not appear in person.
"I am more than happy to answer them again in a letter," she told reporters in Oslo, where she is attending a meeting of NATO foreign ministers.
The comments were her first reaction to a subpoena issued on Wednesday by the committee chaired by Rep. Henry Waxman (news, bio, voting record), D-Calif.
Rice said she respected the oversight function of the legislative branch, but maintained she had already testified in person and under oath about claims that Iraq had sought uranium from Africa during her confirmation hearing for the job of secretary of state.
"I addressed these questions, almost the same questions, during my confirmation hearing," she said. "This is an issue that has been answered and answered and answered."
Rice noted that she had been serving as President Bush's national security adviser during the period covered by the panel's questions and stressed the administration's position that presidential aides not confirmed by the Senate cannot be forced to testify before Congress under the doctrine of executive privilege.
LINK
HONOLULU - A tiny mite that has devastated mainland honeybee populations showed up in Honolulu hives for the first time this month and has now been confirmed in bee colonies across Oahu.
The infestation by varroa mites has led the state to ask beekeepers to restrict transport of bees around the islands. There are concerns it could threaten the Big Island's thriving queen bee export industry, which has so far tested free of the mites.
"This is going to be for us a nightmare," said Michael Kliks, head of the Hawaii Beekeepers' Association and owner of Manoa Honey Co. "When I saw that mite I knew exactly what it was. I knew exactly what it meant and I fell to my knees and almost began to weep because it's inexpressible what that sea change is for us in Hawaii."
http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/18326745
After Moyers documentary: How can we ever trust the media again?
Bill Moyers did something last night that most Americans have not had the time, the resources or the contacts to do, and that is answer the fundamental questions about the failure of print, broadcast and cable news outlets to cut through the spin and give the American people the truth about the Bush administration's unwarranted rush to war.
LINK
Good Morning, Toni.. ! :)
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Spinal Tap’s “Eco-Consciousness“
Written by: Jess Boettger
Live Earth festival will see reunion of Spinal Tap.
Those dreaming of a Spinal Tap reunion will finally get their wish: the bandmates seem to have finally found a good enough reason to reunite. That would come in the form of taking a stand against global warming. The band, led by Nigel Tufnel and David St Hubbins, is to come together once again for an appearance at this summer’s upcoming Live Earth Festival. What’s more, a new film is being screened today that dives into the band’s eco-consciousness. The director for the film, Rob Reiner, goes way back with the band, all the way back to their rockumentary, “This is Spinal Tap.” Reiner commented on the band’s decision to play Live Earth, saying that the band is “not that environmentally conscious, but they’ve heard of global warming.” He joked that band leader Nigel thought the term meant he was wearing too much clothing, a problem solved by removing his jacket. Spinal Tap will be at the Al Gore organized festival at Wembley Stadium on July 7th.
Evo Morales backs call to try Posada for his crimes
BOLIVIAN President Evo Morales added his signature yesterday to the call demanding that the United States try Luis Posada Carriles in a criminal court, already signed by more than 3,800 public figures from 80 countries.
...
In the last few hours, eminent Mexican artists and intellectuals – actress Carmen Madrid, who starred in Nicotina; filmmaker Jorge Fons, winner of the Ariel Prize for Rojo amanecer and El callejón de los Milagros; philosopher Gabriel Vargas Lozano; priest Miguel Concha; and Enrique González Ruiz, a judge in the Benito Juárez International Court – have also recorded their condemnation of the hypocrisy of U.S. authorities in their much-proclaimed crusade against terrorism, made evident by protecting the criminal recruited by the CIA.
...
MSNBC at the bottom of the screen has...
GOP losing Iraq Debate?
Commander of US prison
camp in Iraq arrested
The commander of a US military prison in Iraq has been detained by military police and is under investigation pending a possible court martial, a military spokeswoman said Thursday.
LINK
In Oaxaca, the Show Goes On
Teachers Union Section 22, with APPO Support, Prepares for its Annual Strike
...
Section 22 of the teachers union has decided that on May 1 (Labor Day in the world outside the USA) the teachers will march to the Zócalo.
...
NBC/WSJ - 66% say country headed in wrong direction.
Only 22% say country headed in right direction.
Morning Shell
Sent you a couple emails this AM you might be interested in.
Crystobal sent me one of them.
Serenade For The First Sufferers (Political Song Parody)
I’m betting that Laura Bush can finally say goodbye to her relatively high approval numbers. Why? Because on this morning’s Today Show, Laura said something to Anne Curry that’s way beyond obnoxious:
NBC: Do you know the American people are suffering?
Laura Bush: Oh, I know that very much. And believe me, no one suffers more than their president and I do when we watch this. And certainly the Commander in Chief, who has asked our military to go into harm’s way.
NBC: What do you think the American public needs to know about…
Laura Bush: Well, I hope they do know the burden of worry that’s on his shoulders, every single day for our troops.
(You can see Laura Bush in action here.)
This calls for a song parody, don’t you think? And so I bring you my Serenade for the First Sufferers, which you can sing to Carolina In The Morning, by Gus Kahn & Walter Donaldson:
Serenade for the First Sufferers (Song Parody — sing to Carolina In The Morning)
By Madeleine Begun Kane
No one suffers more
Than George and Laura from the war.
They’re really mourning.
Photos of the dead
On cable news fill them with dread.
They’re really mourning.
They’d prefer ignoring
Tales of death and gore.
Where are the happy stories
They long to hear once more?
Waking up so early
To the news of hurly burly
In the morning
Makes the Bushes surly.
How they hate to think so early
In the morning!
Pity George and Laura.
No one knows all their pain.
Death’s lousy,
But it’s George under strain.
No one suffers more
Than George and Laura from the war.
They’re really mourning!
http://www.madkane.com/madness/2007/04/25/serenade-for-the-first-sufferers-political-song-parody/
I got the guestworker one...what's the other one? I don't think I have it yet..could still be traveling through the tubes...
Army Finds More, "Widespread" Veteran Health Care Problems
Associated Press | April 25, 2007 06:26 PM
Gen. Richard Cody, the Army's vice chief of staff, said officials were finalizing a report on problems after a team of Army inspectors visited 11 bases in seven states last month to study outpatient treatment, building conditions and the information provided to patients.
The investigation found staffing shortages, excessive paperwork and poor training that created too much bureaucracy and long waits for injured soldiers, particularly at Fort Stewart in Georgia and Fort Hood and Fort Bliss in Texas.
LINK
Sema Ceremony of the Whirling Dervishes
re the Moyers program:
A mere Canadian like me knew this war was just imperialism in action, enough so as to go to the protest march the weekend before it started, by reading The Nation magazine. Why doesn't anyone mention The Nation?
"Mr. Broder needs to take a trip outside Washington. He should also see his doctor. Early senility is setting in. "
http://www.taylormarsh.com/
shell;
i have willi right here. she's fast asleep and her tail is whipping all over the place.
I think Michelle Malkin needs some cock! It's pretty obvious!
Shell the other was from Crystobal... Mexican Billionaires Cause Immigration
Regarding the Michelle Malkin "anti-cheer"... at this point in the "game"...a "republican't chant" would make allot more sense...
Willi is a girl kitty?! I didn't know that...! & Sam, boy, right?
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That sounds good Toni, it still isn't here, do you mind sending it again please?
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I need to go sneak in to work & forward the telephone to voicemail..I was supposed to do it last night @ closing...
Malkin really looks like she's about 12 in that video; I almost thought it was taken a long time ago.
You've got to wonder if she has any friends.
Aide Casts Doubt on Bush's Iraq Scenario
The president is suggesting that a troop withdrawal would turn Iraq into a battleground between regional powers. Not so, says a senior administration official.
WEB-EXCLUSIVE COMMENTARY
By Richard Wolffe and Holly Bailey
Newsweek
Updated: 5:50 p.m. CT April 25, 2007
April 25, 2007 - Republicans are strong; Democrats are weak. Republicans want victory and order; Democrats want defeat and chaos.
Sound familiar? It should; it’s the Bush administration’s winning script from the 2004 campaign. In recent waeeks, President Bush has been going back to the well to describe the Democratic war-funding bill that’s rapidly heading toward a presidential veto. “I strongly believe that the Democrats’ proposal would undermine our troops and threaten the safety of the American people here at home,” he said Tuesday on the South Lawn of the White House.
Bush’s argument is based on a doomsday scenario for Iraq, where troop withdrawals turn the country into a sanctuary for Al Qaeda and a battleground between regional powers. “Precipitous withdrawal from Iraq is not a plan to bring peace to the region or to make our people safer at home,” Bush said. “It could unleash chaos in Iraq that could spread across the entire region. It would be an invitation to the enemy to attack America and our friends around the world.”
But in private, some of Bush’s most senior aides dispute that scenario. One senior administration official with extensive knowledge of the region, who didn’t want to be identified discussing sensitive policy matters, tells NEWSWEEK that the chances of a regional war in Iraq are low in the event of a U.S. withdrawal. When asked if a regional war would break out, the official said: “Possibly, not probably. It’s more likely that other powers would support their favorite militias, as they’re doing already.”
The senior official said the genocidal bloodbath that Sen. John McCain outlined recently was also unlikely, pointing to the militias’ ability to secure their own neighborhoods after the attack on the Golden Mosque in Samarra in early 2006. (The official’s main concern: the Iraqi government’s failure to unify the nation and address the root cause of sectarian conflict. “Both the Sunni and Shia are too afraid of each other,” the official said.)
Bush’s argument that Al Qaeda will use Iraq as a safe haven to plot new 9/11-style attacks if the United States pulls out is problematic, too. Osama bin Laden already has a safe haven to plot new attacks in the tribal areas of Pakistan. Gen. Michael Hayden, the CIA director, told senators last year that the border area of Pakistan was a “physical safe haven” that Al Qaeda used as a base to attack Afghanistan. That area is also the likely home of bin Laden and his deputy Ayman al-Zawahiri, General Hayden added.
That Was Then
In January, President Bush sounded almost sympathetic to war critics. In an interview with National Public Radio, he was asked how he felt about the nonresponse from Democrats about his offer to create a bipartisan panel to advise on the war on terror.
“A lot of these folks aren’t happy we’re in Iraq to begin with, and I understand that,” Bush said. “They don’t believe we are going to succeed in Iraq, and I understand that, too. I think what some may be afraid of is, I’m trying to get them into an Iraq-type situation where they are forced to say something they don’t want to say. I don’t know.”
That was then. In the last four months, Bush has moved from understanding the criticism to seeing it as unforgivable.
LINK
When Journalism became transcribing
When Journalism Became Transcription and Reporting Disappeared
By David Sirota
Bill Moyers' PBS special last night on the media's complicity in pushing America to war was so powerfully upsetting that I am forced to resort to using mid-1990s NBA metaphors to describe it, if only because describing it without a metaphoric buffer is just too depressing. This production was the documentary equivalent of Tom Chambers famously jumping over a screaming Mark Jackson and hammering down one of the greatest, most in-your-face slam dunks in history.
To call the media's complicity in the Iraq War a conspiracy is an insult to conspiracies, because it wasn't hidden - as Moyers shows, it was all out there for everyone to see. The problem was, Beltway reporters didn't want to see it. As New York Times White House correspondent Elisabeth Bumiller famously admitted, in the lead up to war most self-respecting Washington journalists who wanted to stay on the White House Christmas card list refused to ask tough questions because "no one wanted to get into an argument with the president."
What's really disturbing, however, is not even what this documentary says about the past - but what it says about the state of journalism today.
In interview after interview after interview, we hear top journalists and opinionmakers declare that they believe journalism is no longer about basic, hard-scrabble reporting or getting scoops. As the Washington Post's Walter Pincus says, most reporters today actually try to avoid getting scroops because they "worry about sort of getting out ahead of something" and - gasp! - making their friends inside Official Washington mad at them. So rather than, say, do the real work of reporting news, journalism has become a profession that is almost entirely about PR, transcription and packaging Establishment spin for news copy. This is why, for example, many of the highest-profile political "journalists" like Joe Klein and David Broder never bother to actually report anything anymore - but instead spend most of their time pontificating on horse race polls and campaign gossip, expecting us to believe that's real "news."
This kind of attitude, as Moyers shows, goes straight to the top. Take, for instance, NBC's Tim Russert - the Washington Bureau Chief of NBC NEWS. I stress the word "news" because, remember, "news" is supposed to be reported in the trenches, not transcribed in a television studio. Russert loves to brag about coming from Buffalo (often ending his shows with some irritating quip about the Buffalo Bills) because he believes it gives him some sort of working-class cred and more importantly distracts viewer attention from the fact that he is a longtime Washington insider and multi-million-dollar journalist. And at one point, he brags to Moyers that "I'm a blue-collar guy from Buffalo - I know who my sources are [and] I work 'em very hard." But then when Moyers asks him why he gave Vice President Cheney such a free pass to come on Meet the Press and spew blatant lies about Iraq's WMD - lies that news organizations like Knight Ridder were exposing but people like Russert were ignoring - we get this gem from Russert:
"There were concerns expressed by other government officials. And to this day, I wish my phone had rung, or I had access to them."
Moyers quickly noted that at least some reporters "didn't wait for the phone to ring," and that CBS's Bob Simon said that sources debunking the WMD case "would have been available to any reporter who called." And that makes Russert's entire sob story fall apart like a house of cards. Russert wants us to believe that he's just "a blue-collar guy from Buffalo" who works sources very hard. Yet, apparently, "working sources very hard" means not even picking up the phone to make a call, but instead sitting in a comfortable Washington office waiting for people to call him, and in the meantime giving Cheney as much airtime as he wanted to spew lies.
morning beloveds!
another day in purgatory?
thank gawd for Madeline Kane...
Murtha Slams McCain Over ‘Outrageous’ IED Joke
In a fiery speech last night, Rep. John Murtha (D-PA) blasted Sen. John McCain (R-AZ) for joking about improvised explosive devices (IED) during his appearance on the Daily Show on Tuesday.
McCain was asked by Jon Stewart about his notorious recent shopping trip at a Baghdad market, and responded, “I had something picked out for you, too — a little IED to put on your desk.”
During his floor speech last night, Murtha said that he received a call from a friend’s wife who was distressed about McCain’s crack. “In the last four months, we’ve lost more troops than any other period during this war,” Murtha said. “Imagine a presidential candidate making a joke about IEDs when our kids are getting blown up!” he shouted loudly. “It’s outrageous!”
Watch it:
LINK
28 percent: President Bush’s approval rating in a new Harris survey, the lowest of his presidency.
LINK
“White House officials conducted 20 private briefings on Republican electoral prospects in the last midterm election for senior officials in at least 15 government agencies covered by federal restrictions on partisan political activity,” the White House acknowledged yesterday.
LINK
“The Justice Department has asked a federal appeals court to impose tighter restrictions on the hundreds of lawyers who represent detainees at Guantánamo Bay,” proposing “new limits on the lawyers’ contact with their clients and access to evidence in their cases.”
LINK
“Escalating his campaign to remain president of the World Bank, Paul D. Wolfowitz accused the bank’s board on Wednesday of treating him ‘shabbily and unfairly,’ and appealed for more time to defend himself against allegations of favoritism and other matters.”
He was treated shabbily? Throw him out!!
And finally: A GOP delegate in Utah “has submitted a resolution equating illegal immigration to ‘Satan’s plan to destroy the U.S. by stealth invasion‘ for debate at Saturday’s Utah County Republican Party Convention.” The resolution refers to a plan by the devil for a “New World Order…as predicted in the Scriptures.” State Senate Majority Leader Curt Bramble (R) said, “I don’t think you’ll find much support for that sentiment.”
LINK
Attacks spark fears of Taliban defeating NATO. NPR reports, “In Afghanistan, the Taliban insurgency is spreading, even reaching some provinces in the north that had never been its strongholds. Last week, Taliban fighters attacked a district only 45 miles from the capital, Kabul. Afghans increasingly fear that NATO and Afghan forces will lose the war.”
LINK
Hill: Renzi Didn't Report $200K Payment
By Paul Kiel - April 26, 2007, 11:10 AM
From The Hill:
Rep. Rick Renzi (R-Ariz.) failed to disclose a $200,000 payment he received from a business partner in 2005 in apparent violation of House ethics rules. Prosecutors could use the omission as evidence that Renzi intended to conceal a transaction he knew to be controversial or even improper.
The $200,000 was a payment from James Sandlin to settle a debt related to a previous business transaction involving land in northeast Arizona, one of the lawmaker’s attorneys, Grant Woods, told a newspaper last week.
This explanation might have been expected to dispel suspicion that Sandlin gave Renzi an illegal gift in exchange for action Renzi took to help Sandlin sell a $4 million parcel of land.
But Renzi’s claim that Sandlin’s $200,000 payment was a legitimate business transaction is weakened by the fact that he failed to disclose it in his personal financial disclosure report for 2005 filed with the House clerk.
LINK
Today's Must Read
By Paul Kiel - April 26, 2007, 9:30 AM
The entire scheme has been laid out before us. The question now is whether Karl Rove will get away with it.
Here's the scheme, as revealed over the past month: Rove and his deputies traveled to various agencies throughout the government, lecturing management there about Republicans' political prospects. Which House and Senate members were in trouble? Which Democratic seats were vulnerable? What were the major issues in the election?
But there was a line to be drawn: no commands were to be given -- because such a directive would be a blatant violation of the Hatch Act, which forbids the use of government resources for political ends.
On the contrary, the government officials receiving the briefing were supposed to get the hint -- as Tom Hamburger reported, "employees said they got a not-so-subtle message about helping endangered Republicans." The briefing simply gave them the tools to be helpful in the next election. They were supposed to take the ball and run with it.
The Washington Post reports today that Rove and his deputies gave such briefings to at least 15 different agencies (ranging from NASA to the Department of Homeland Security). But one briefing in particular continues to shine a light on all the rest: the one given this January to officials at the General Services Administration, the government's massive procurement agency.
More here
the question we must ask is:
are these insane madmen willing to kill a huge chunk of us to avoid getting caught and punished?
Watch this video explaining Depleted Uranium from Truthout
good question jim. i have often wondered what form it would take when this administration comes unraveled.
rather than accept reality as nixon did, i believe this leadership would descend into martial law and suspension of the constitution, starting with the arrest of the democrats in congress for treason or whatever flawed logic they have.
the other and more unknown path would be to start a pre-emptive war with iran which would have the similar effect of forcing people to rally around the flag.
i figure they have to get us so shocked we'll ignore the BS.
a faked chem or germ warfare attack would do nicely.
the pressure on them is building.
the question, wheres the vent?
blah 3...
Both scenarios are scary. I've been wondering about the Iran issue. Thinking that Bush would try for a third term because of his invasion of Iran. I believe it involves the 22 amendment.
That scenario might be easier for the people to handle than martial law. But I wouldn't put it past them.
Putin rips foreign 'interference'
Threatens to quit arms limitation treaty;
LINK
Rice refers to Russians as Soviets.
leaving 9/11 conspiracies alone (you didn't ask but i'll share it anyways - i think they knew it was coming at let it happen, i don't think they actually did it), i think the terror attack scenario is too risky for them.
the 1st casualty is any republican running in 2008, because their mantra has always been only neocons can keep you safe.
the 2nd casualty is there is close to a critical mass of people that think theres more to 9-11 than meets the eye. a 2nd attack wouldn't have the rallying effect that they would want. however, its altogether possible they believe their own lies and think it would.
i think they will choose an external event to manipulate.
ah, that pesky 22nd ammendment. i don't know how they can have it both ways. if they repeal it to keep bush around, clinton, this countrys BEST PRESIDENT since kennedy will sweep the election.
sorry, couldn't resist dropping a troll line.
This is the third Malkin video I've seen. Pretty disgusting, but at least she isn't on her back in an empty bathtub this time. Maybe she should stick to Quiznos commercials talking about how a real woman needs a lot of meat. (I wonder if she meant "squid meat".)
If you know, it's funny and sick. If you don't know, you don't want to know. Either way, please forgive me.
ExxonMobil profits gush above 9 bln dlrs
Oregon Governor Lives On Food Stamps For 1 Week
By: Logan Murphy @ 9:02 AM - PDT
Via Yahoo:
If Gov. Ted Kulongoski seems a little sluggish this week, he's got an excuse: he couldn't afford coffee.
In fact, the Democratic governor couldn't afford much of anything during a trip to a Salem-area grocery store on Tuesday, where he had exactly $21 to buy a week's worth of food — the same amount that the state's average food stamp recipient spends weekly on groceries.
Kulongoski is taking the weeklong challenge to raise awareness about the difficulty of feeding a family on a food stamp budget. Read more…
This is so refreshing to see from a politician. I applaud Governor Kulongoski and his wife for doing this and wish more would follow suit. The gap between the wealthy and working class in America keeps getting wider and we know Bush and the Republicans don't give a damn. He's never had to worry about making choices that many of us are forced to make every day such as choosing food and shelter over health insurance and medications. How long do you think King George would last in the real world, forced to live like the average American?
LINK
UK paper: Wolfowitz cleared the way for Iraq's destruction
Among those relishing the exposure of World Bank president Paul Wolfowitz's manoeuvres on behalf of his girlfriend, Shaha Riza, in recent weeks was almost certainly the former US defence secretary, Donald Rumsfeld.
LINK
McCain on offensive after
joke about IEDs bombs
Sen. John McCain, who officially announced his bid for the 2008 White House Wednesday, stopped by "Good Morning America" to talk about his campaign and ended up defending himself about a joke.
LINK
"i think they knew it was coming at let it happen, i don't think they actually did it"
umm...
hate to tell ya, but somebody placed those demo charges...
it was Dumbya's bro in charge of security remember?
We've documented the "mysterious" rewiring they did immediately beforehand for a week or so...
keep this in mind, to accept their version of the event,1/2,000,000 of the weight of that building in kerosene was enough to destroy it utterly. literally turn it into dust... in a catostrophic collapse that took less than 10 seconds,
for the first tme in the history of steel framed skyscrapers...
and three of them within hours?
only a fool would swallow their story once they'd done any research at all.
Breaking: Senate approves Iraq withdrawal bill. “The Senate on Thursday narrowly passed legislation ordering U.S. troops to begin coming home from Iraq by Oct. 1. The vote was 51-46.The House on Wednesday passed the same war spending bill, and President Bush next week is expected to receive, and swiftly reject, the legislation. The veto could fall on the fourth anniversary of the president’s Iraq ‘victory’ speech, which is Tuesday.”
http://thinkprogress.org/2007/04/26/breaking-senate-approves-iraq-funding-bill-with-deadlines/
Petraeus: Things could get worse. “Gen. David Petraeus, the top U.S. commander in Iraq, depicted the situation there as ‘exceedingly complex and very tough’ Thursday and said the U.S. effort might become more difficult before before it gets easier.”
Didn't the pesident say this a few years ago?
Breaking: New Hampshire lawmakers pass civil unions bill
There is a newish thread up.
Great posting today, as usual, t.
Been reading the comments on that thinkprogress Broder article. Interesting stuff.
Thanks dada. I forget to check for new threads
Malkin is just cementing her creds as a right-winger's fantasy - come on a bigot in a cheerleader's outfit?? Now, that's hot.
What is wrong with conservatives? This is like all that invective directed at Clinton... just pick a target... I get in discussions at work... and conservatives always go back to a couple of things... their focal points are Kennedy, Clinton (both especially Hillary) ... its like throwing goat meat to a bunch of gators or something.... SNAP!!!
The people who have been right all along from the very beginning about this war believe it is lost. Those who have been wrong all along from the very beginning still think it is winnable. My money is with those with the 100% correct track record.
The war is lost.
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