Wednesday, May 16, 2007

stunning

We are ruled by criminals.

watch this video...

then read Greenwald explaining what this means.

136 comments:

zeek said...

This is the new blog!?

monsieurbenet said...

its nice I like it

GBC said...

Threats end Harry's Iraq mission

LONDON, England (CNN) -- Britain's Prince Harry will not serve in Iraq as a troop commander because of "a number of specific threats" against him, the UK's top general says.

Link

PosterChild42 said...

Riverbend is fleeing Iraq.

toniD said...

GBC, do you think that Harry not going to Iraq may be the decision of the incoming Prime Minister, Brown? Maybe expected PM is a better term.

Brown seems to want to pull out of Iraq altogether. He's not as gung ho on Iraq as Blair was.

toniD said...

Reid reiterates: ‘Nothing is off the table.’ With House and Senate officials set to meet in conference to hammer out new Iraq legislation, Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-NV) made clear again today during a press conference that all options are on the table:

There’s nothing that’s going to be off the table in conference. I had a meeting last night with Speaker Pelosi. And she’s bound and determined that the conference we have — and the president’s going to be involved in that, through his spokesperson, Josh Bolten — is not going to be everything the president wants. He’s not going to have the blank check. There’s a Congress and he has to deal with us.

And I have a very strong person to work with from the House, and that’s an understatement: Speaker Pelosi. Nothing is off the table. The goal remains to fully fund our troops and change course in Iraq. Again, we hope the president and congressional Republicans will negotiate in good faith so that we can provide our troops the funding they need and an effective strategy. And we need to do it by next week.

LINK

air-ono said...

I'm not in love, so don't forget it
It's just a silly phase... I'm going through
♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥
♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥
♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥
♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥
♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥
♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥
♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥
♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥
And just because, I call you up
Don't get me wrong...
♥♥♥♥♥♥
(I'm not in love)

bibimimi said...

ashcroft had what?

a burst appendix?

i can't remember

PosterChild42 said...

Poor Ono....

air-ono said...

music while waithing for new blog
(and click download)

PosterChild42 said...

It was a gall bladder thing, maybe?

toniD said...

I think Tony Snow said it was an appendix problem, but I think it was pancreatitis.

air-ono said...

lol, meg

brb...
i'm in the middle of a call

(and it's getting hot-n-heavy)

bibimimi said...

I think it was pancreatitis.

May 16, 2007 2:04 PM

sounds familiar. his eagle was NOT soaring.

toniD said...

Comey said, in his testimony, that Ashcrofts aide asked Comey not to resign until Ashcroft could resign with him. Ouch!

There's a Politics TV video of him saying that at the Senate Committe Meeting.

It's available at Daily Kos

LINK

bibimimi said...

SUBPOENA CARD!

air-ono said...

Adagio
(and click download)

toniD said...

Snow On Why It Took Four Years To Appoint A War Czar: ‘I Don’t Know’ »
During today’s White House press briefing, spokesman Tony Snow twice confessed “I don’t know” when asked why it has taken four years for President Bush to appoint a czar to oversee the war in Iraq.

Referencing yesterday’s selection of Gen. Douglas Lute, one reporter asked why it took so long “to come up with somebody of his seniority and stature?” Snow said, “I don’t know,” but added that “it seems proper at a time like this” to “task somebody with the job of keeping an eye on all the different players” involved in the war.

The reporter followed up, “Do you think this is a new need and that you did not need someone to do this for the previous four years?” Snow had no response. “Well, again, I — I’m not going to try to — I don’t know. It’s… I don’t have an answer for you.”

Watch it:

LINK

PosterChild42 said...

ONO... Should I be jealous?

monsieurbenet said...

=
I'm not clear how cloture is currently being used by senate republicans.

==

Some senators wanted to change the rule to require only a simple majority (51), but Majority Leader Mike Mansfield (Democrat–Montana) objected. Mansfield believed it was important to retain some way for the minority to check the majority


Senator James Allen (Democrat–Alabama) invented the post-cloture filibuster. Opponents load a bill up with amendments before cloture because under the terms of cloture they will have 100 hours to debate any amendment.

toniD said...

Education Dept. using private email for official business. Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington reports that it “has learned that the Department of Education can’t provide complete information relating to its troubled ‘Reading First’ program, because relevant e-mails were sent from private accounts.”

LINK

air-ono said...

LMAO!

get off my case, meg
i'm here for a good time... not a long time
: )

(going back to bed, shortly)

bibimimi said...

this whole bit with Comey WAS reported on in 2004, but it went down the hole

monsieurbenet said...

==
War Czar... at last somebody to blame.

air-ono said...

sorry, meg

i ain't schmoopied with schmoopy for a while
so if shell turns up

i'm obliged to give her some quality time
: )

toniD said...

The Comey Testimoney is also at Talking Points Memo

LINK

air-ono said...

i thought you broke my heart, meg
when all it was, was a ruptured gall bladder

toniD said...

There are so many parts of this late night hospital blitz story that it's a bit hard to know where to start. One thing that seems very clear -- even clearer than when I discussed it below -- is that the president sent Gonzales and Card over to the hospital to coax an okay out of the presumeably heavily sedated Ashcroft. The first day's reportage really skirted around that issue. Maybe day two will be different. Another point though is to remember just who it is we're dealing with here.

This is John Ashcroft, not by many measures a staunch libertarian and a pretty committed Republican to boot. He was refusing to sign off on this. And according to Comey's testimony he was willing to resign over it, apparently along with most of the senior leadership of the Department of Justice. I think we need to know more about just what was being done with this program that would make Ashcroft put so much on the line.

Another point: if we assume that the president sent Gonzales and Card over to the hospital room (and I think that's the only reasonable interpretation of yesterday's testimony), there must have been a meeting before that call was placed, probably at the White House. Who was in the meeting? And who got the president to authorize this? Gonzales? I doubt it. I think we probably needing to be looking toward the Vice President's office playing a driving role in all this.

See more here from a knowledgable TPM Reader.

-- Josh Marshall

LINK

PosterChild42 said...

Ono, you know you love it. If I didn't get on your case you'd be lost.

air-ono said...

si, meg

i love it more than life itself

i'll love it evn more after more sleep

btw, what case are we talking about...
the case of the smiling stiff

: )

blah blah blah said...

so whats the conventional wisdom on what those bastards wanted that would make a fine tenor like ashcroft want to quit and run away?

air-ono said...

SEDER!!

the deadline for the new blog expires at midnight
(that 9.5 hours away)

blah blah blah said...

this story about ashcroft and comey is fairly chilling. can you imagine what would happen if gonzales was attorney general?

monsieurbenet said...

=
bibimimi troll'p said...

I think it was pancreatitis.
==

My dad had this about two years (thankfully no surgery.) Your intestines started dissolving or digesting themselves. Debilitating pain. If surgery is necessary it is quite invasive and you can see the condition Secretary Ashcroft after the surgery here.

no joke here.

air-ono said...

guys like greenwald & digby, (etal) are freaks...
they never sleep

and they're saving america

GBC said...

tonid said...

GBC, do you think...

~-~-

I don't think. That gets me into trouble. ;-p

Haven't a clue. Waiting to see what Brown does once he's in office.

toniD said...

Reid-Feingold: Wakeup Call To Progressives and the Netroots
By Big Tent Democrat, Section War In Iraq
Posted on Wed May 16, 2007 at 11:59:27 AM EST
Tags: (all tags)
Today's vote on Reid-Feingold should have a salutary effect on the creeping hometeamism that had captured progressive activists and the Netroots and brings into stark relief what still ails the Democratic Party - political cowardice.

For months the cheerleading from progressives and the Netroots for the House Supplemental and all the noisemaking coming from the Democratic Party has been a serious impediment to efforts to truly end the Iraq Debacle.

We kept hearing about the need to "ratchet up the pressure" on Bush and the Republicans. I think it is clear now that the pressure needs to be placed on those segments of the Democratic Party that likes to talk a lot about ending the war but clearly has felt no pressure from its base to do what is necessary to end this catastrophic war.

Jim Webb told President Bush, Democrats would show the way, as did others. It is clear that Jim Webb, Jon Tester, Claire McCaskill, Jack Reed, Carl Levin, et al, have no intention of leading on Iraq.

Yet again, as in 2006, it will require the base of the Democratic Party to lead its leaders. This vote today leaves no doubt what must be done by progressives, the Democratic grassroots and the Netroots. We must all take on those segments of our Party who do not want to end the war, but rather merely say they want to end the war.

And for this important insight, today was a good day.

LINK

air-ono said...

we're gonna win or die trying
yes, sir
you guys are gonna restore america's honour

i salute you
(and i'm gonna sleep now)

GBC said...

Meg said...

Riverbend is fleeing Iraq.

I always hear the Iraqi pro-war crowd interviewed on television from foreign capitals (they can only appear on television from the safety of foreign capitals because I defy anyone to be publicly pro-war in Iraq). They refuse to believe that their religiously inclined, sectarian political parties fueled this whole Sunni/Shia conflict. They refuse to acknowledge that this situation is a direct result of the war and occupation. They go on and on about Iraq's history and how Sunnis and Shia were always in conflict and I hate that. I hate that a handful of expats who haven't been to the country in decades pretend to know more about it than people actually living there.

I remember Baghdad before the war- one could live anywhere. We didn't know what our neighbors were- we didn't care. No one asked about religion or sect. No one bothered with what was considered a trivial topic: are you Sunni or Shia? You only asked something like that if you were uncouth and backward.


Thanks for the reminder meg, I hadn't checked her site in a while.

Sad... so fucking sad it's come to this.

toniD said...

Glenn Beck: ‘Pathetic losers’ = ‘Girl-fighters.’ » Yesterday on his CNN Headline News program, host Glenn Beck attacked lawmakers for advocating redeployment from Iraq. He said that Congress is “sending a clear message to our enemies that we’re just weak and pathetic.” He then added, “Is it possible to convince the Middle East that we’re not a bunch of losers and, you know, girl-fighters?” Watch it:

LINK

toniD said...

But if that's the case -- if it was only in 2004 that a requirement was created that the eavesdropping be tied closely to terrorists encompassed by the AUMF -- then that would mean that prior to that time, there was no nexus between the eavesdropping and those terrorist groups. It would mean that prior to this 2004 DOJ rebellion, the scope of the NSA eavesdropping -- the list of those who were subject to warrantless eavesdropping -- was far broader than the Islamic terrorist groups against whom the President was authorized by the AUMF to use military force.

That would necessarily mean that -- contrary to what the administration has repeatedly insisted was true -- it was not merely Al Qaeda and similar groups who were the targets of the eavesdropping conducted in secret, but targets beyond that category. Obviously, this is speculation, though I would suggest for the reasons indicated that it is approaching the realm of logically necessary speculation. What other changes besides tying the eavesdropping to Al Qaeda-type groups could have been made that would have enabled Ashcroft, Comey & Co. to conclude that there was a plausible legal basis for warrantless eavesdropping?

The key questions still demanding investigation and answers

But the more important issue here, by far, is that we should not have to speculate in this way about how the illegal eavesdropping powers were used. We enacted a law 30 years ago making it a felony for the government to eavesdrop on us without warrants, precisely because that power had been so severely and continuously abused. The President deliberately violated that law by eavesdropping in secret. Why don't we know -- a-year-a-half after this lawbreaking was revealed -- whether these eavesdropping powers were abused for improper purposes? Is anyone in Congress investigating that question? Why don't we know the answers to that?

If it's a felony, then it is an impeachable offense

Anonymous said...

I'd Just Like To Say Hello To My Uncle!

Anonymous said...

re the second rightwinger's debate

James Wolcott says:

"If any of these guys is elected prez, we're doomed .... "

-----
"Hair Club for Men Holds Summit Meeting

I'm watching the Republican debate on Fox News. If any of these guys is elected prez, we're doomed; we're probably doomed anyway, but the deadline for final extinction would be moved up by several spins of the roulette wheel. Apart from Mike Huckabee, who scored a big laugh with his professional-gagster's punchline about John Edwards at the beauty shop, it's like the jury of Twelve Angry Men up there on stage, refusing to take any guff but having no compunction about distributing large volumes of it. Some of these candidates are convinced that the US can stay indefinitely in Iraq (retreat equals defeat) and confront Iran and reduce the price of gas for the average American family on their Sunday drive to the church or synagogue of their choice. All that was missing tonight was Newt Gingrich bobbing and weaving at the lectern with his little bag of bullshit (tm Kathy Griffin). All in good time, my pretties, all in good time."

read here and please follow links

http://www.vanityfair.com/politics/blogs/wolcott

toniD said...

Jon Stewart Grills Tim Russert on Rove and Gonzo
By: SilentPatriot @ 9:00 AM - PDT Timmeh was on "The Daily Show" last night and got grilled by Jon Stewart about how Karl Rove, Alberto Gonzales and the rest of the liars can get away with their blatant lies and the coziness of the Washington press corps.

Download (2724) | Play (3363) Download (2307) | Play (3734)

Too bad Jon didn't ask him about being used by the ultimate liar of all.

LINK

Anonymous said...

bibimimi troll'p said...

huffpo, an easy target for scumbag trolls ....

---
Indeed.

I would have said that if I could ;-)

Anonymous said...

toniD said...

Jon Stewart Grills Tim Russert on Rove and Gonzo
---
thanks for posting that one, tonid

I didn't know Russert was on the DS -

toniD said...

What Are They Going to Do About It?


At some point our fine members of Congress are going to have to deal with the fact that the administration doesn't think they have to obey subpoenas.


-Atrios 12:48

LINK

toniD said...

Kill Them All


Perusing our very sensible mainstream pundits and their response to the Republicans, I don't see that any of them find anything off with the way the audience responds to torture and locking people up without charges or legal recourse of any kind.


Something is very off with our pundits as well.


...it suddenly occurs to me that the post title could be interpreted as a desire to kill pundits and/or debate audience members. My intention was to describe the bloodlust of the latter and the obliviousness of this by the former.


-Atrios 12:03

toniD said...

The Mittster


Commenter Bloix explains things to Massive Media Matt:


I thought he was clear. He does not believe in trial by jury, or the presumption of innocence, or the right to counsel, or an independent judiciary, or the right to liberty. He believes that the government should be disappear people from their homes and send them to prison camps where brutal guards will beat them up at their leisure. He thinks we need more Gitmos and bigger Gitmos. He wants to recreate the gulag. You saw how excited the audience was. They understood it. Why don't you?


-Atrios 10:51

Anonymous said...

Do you know who it is that

is your daddy?

Anonymous said...

the fab digby
has really been on a roll lately - which should come as no surprise cause times are scary ...

check out the digby review of the second rightwinger's debate on Fox:

----
Getting Our Hair Mussed

-clip

"John McCain is the only adult on that stage and that scares the living hell out of me considering that he's half nuts too. Wow.

I think Rudy won it. These people don't care if he's wearing a teddy under his suit and sleeping with the family schnauzer as long as he promises to spill as much blood as possible.


Update: Amato has the "torture" segment. Dear God."

http://digbysblog.blogspot.com/

toniD said...

Pirates of the Constitution

Anonymous said...

What is it with Republicans and very sick people in hospitals?

The putting pressure on Ashcroft in the hospital thingy reminds me of another story: When Newt Gingrich wanted to divorce his wife who was seriously ill w. cancer to marry someone else he visited her in hospital to sign divorce papers.

I guess proud Frank Luntz would call that compassionate conservatives.

Anonymous said...

I haven’t gotten anything done today. My life’s been dull today, but shrug. I can’t be bothered with anything recently, but oh well. I’ve just been sitting around doing nothing. What can I say? So it goes.

Alice said...

New Skyscraper Creates All Its Own Energy

A Skyscraper, Burj al-Taq in Dubai provides all of its own energy requirements
Dubai is constructing many modern buildings, and one of them Burj al-Taq (‘Energy Tower’) will be self sufficient in producing its own power. The tower boasts a huge wind turbine on its roof and arrays of solar cells that will encompass the building and rooftops. Besides this there are an island of solar panels nearby that provides more energy to the building.

Burj al-Taq's cylindrical shape is designed to expose as little surface area to the sun as possible. A protective solar shield reaches from the ground to the roof, covering 60 degrees of the giant circular building. This design helps prevents direct sunlight on to the rooms. There will be a newer designed windows (using vacuum glazing method) which will shield the interior of the tower from outside heat which can reach up to 50 degree Celsius (122 deg Fahrenheit). This new windows will transmit two thirds less heat compared to existing windows.
...

Anonymous said...

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/uk_news/politics/6660565.stm

Brown will enter No 10 unopposed

Gordon Brown has secured the backing of enough MPs to ensure he will not face a contest to become the next Labour leader and prime minister.

Mr Brown has 308 nominations prompting his only rival, left-winger John McDonnell, to concede. He was 16 nominations short of the 45 required.

Mr McDonnell said he was disappointed on behalf of Labour Party members and it was a "blow to democracy".

Anonymous said...

http://www.campaigniran.org/casmii/index.php?q=node/2170

Chemical weapons watchdog says Iran complying with CWC

Wednesday, May 16, 2007

Director General of the Organization for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons (OPCW), Rogelio Pfirter, highlighted Tuesday the positive role of Iran in complying with the Chemical Weapons Convention (CWC).

"Iran, is a full member of CWC. We have carried out several inspections in Iran and so far it has proven to comply with the CWC," said Pfirter in Brussels Tuesday evening.

Speaking at a press conference on the sidelines of "Colloquium on the occasion of the 10th anniversary of the Chemical Weapons Convention" organized by Belgium's Royal Institute for International Relations, he said erring nations were undermining a treaty that has proven to be the most effective disarmament accord ever negotiated.

"Countries which are facing the largest challenges in terms of compliance with the ultimate deadline in 2012 are Russian Federation which has the largest stockpile and the US which has already destroyed over 42 percent of its declared stockpile."

Anonymous said...

re Falwell and the nitwit punditry

Millionaire pundit Jonathan Alter makes a lot of money for what? Being wrong. Again.

Does it make any difference if these people are wrongwrongwrong? No. Cause once the established pundit in paper and on TV, always a pundit.

check this out:

---
Don't Believe the Falwell Hype

- clip

"The rise of the religious right was an important development in late-20th Century American history. Falwell's name is among those associated with the movement. But just because someone is famous doesn't make him significant. Jerry Falwell wasn't."

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/jon-alter/dont-believe-the-falwell_b_48628.html

Anonymous said...

This week we bid a fond farewell to one of the great men of religion in America, Jerry Falwell. He not only reshaped the religious right, he reshaped America, and elected George Bush. We owe a debt of gratitude to Jerry that will live on though the ages.

Great men stand like solitary towers in the city of God.

Anonymous said...

re Falwell and the nitwit punditry

... this reminds me of the Falwell piece Keith Olbermann put on Countdown yesterday - could it have been any more flimsy? Any more insignificant?

I guess not. Cause for some people only the tinky winky bell rings if Falwell's name is mentioned.

Falwell's goal has always been to turn the Supreme Court blood red and the litmus test was always Roe vs. Wade. And he succeeded.

Anonymous said...

GREAT SATIRE!! Very funny!

Good job!


God bless Jerry said...
This week we bid a fond farewell to one of the great men of religion in America, Jerry Falwell. He not only reshaped the religious right, he reshaped America, and elected George Bush. We owe a debt of gratitude to Jerry that will live on though the ages.

Great men stand like solitary towers in the city of God.

May 16, 2007 4:47 PM

Anonymous said...

Falwell was a rotton tomato
and will be quickly forgotten.

toniD said...

House passes flag bill Bush opposed. “Governors could order federal facilities to lower their flags to honor fallen military troops under legislation passed by the House Tuesday.”


Rep. Bart Stupak, a Democrat whose northern Michigan district has lost close to 20 people in fighting in Iraq and Afghanistan, said he sponsored the bill after unsuccessfully trying to persuade President Bush to issue an executive order on the issue.

The bill passed 408-4 and now goes to the Senate, where Armed Services Committee Chairman Carl Levin, D-Mich., and Sen. Debbie Stabenow, D-Mich., have introduced parallel legislation.

The bill passed 408-4 and now goes to the Senate, where Armed Services Committee Chairman Carl Levin, D-Mich., and Sen. Debbie Stabenow, D-Mich., have introduced parallel legislation.

LINK

Anonymous said...

"NEWS CONSUMER" said...

Falwell sleeps with the fishes...

toniD said...

It got to the Senators...

Senators Question Whether Gonzales Lied Under Oath About NSA Wiretapping Program
A group of senators led by Russ Feingold (D-WI) sent Alberto Gonzales a letter today highlighting an apparent lie Gonzales told while testifying under oath last year about the NSA warrantless spying program.

As ThinkProgress noted this morning, Gonzales said in 2006 that there was no “serious disagreement about the program,” a claim that flies in the face of the extraordinary testimony delivered by former Justice official James Comey yesterday. In the letter, the senators ask Gonzales if he stands by his claim:

You testified last year before both the Senate Judiciary Committee and the House Judiciary Committee about this incident. On February 6, 2006, at a Senate Judiciary Committee hearing, you were asked whether Mr. Comey and others at the Justice Department had raised concerns about the NSA wiretapping program. You stated in response that the disagreement that occurred was not related to the wiretapping program confirmed by the President in December 2005, which was the topic of the hearing. …

We ask for your prompt response to the following question: In light of Mr. Comey’s testimony yesterday, do you stand by your 2006 Senate and House testimony, or do you wish to revise it?

As Center for American Progress Senior Fellow Peter Swire wrote this morning, Gonzales’s testimony raises two possibilities:

1) Comey’s objections apply to the NSA warrantless wiretapping program that Gonzales was discussing. If so, then Gonzales quite likely made serious mis-statements under oath. And Gonzales was deeply and personally involved in the meeting at Ashcroft’s hospital bed, so he won’t be able to claim “I forgot.”

2) Perhaps Comey’s objections applied to a different domestic spying program. That has a big advantage for Gonzales — he wasn’t lying under oath. But then we would have senior Justice officials confirming that other “programs” exist for domestic spying, something the Administration has never previously stated.

Read the full letter HERE.

LINK

toniD said...

Just so the White House doesn't feel left out, Senate Judiciary Chairman Pat Leahy (D-VT) today wrote Fred Fielding to warn that if the White House doesn't stop stonewalling, "I will have no choice but to issue subpoenas."

-- Paul Kiel

LINK

Anonymous said...

Sir Rudy: A Profile

Rudy Giulani, best known for his leadership following the horrific 9/11 attacks on New York's World Trade Center, was also famous as a United States Attorney fighting organized crime. He served two terms as New York City's mayor, during which time he was credited by many with initiating improvements in the city's quality of life and with a massive reduction in crime that would by 2005 make it the country's safest major city. He was knighted by Queen Elizabeth II for his leadership role after the 9/11 attacks, and was named Time Magazine's Person of the Year in 2001. He was also regularly called America's Mayor.

http://www.usinpac.com/election2008/republicans.asp?candidate=giuliani

toniD said...

Sampson: Rove Aide Was "Upset"
By Paul Kiel - May 16, 2007, 3:52 PM
In Sen. Pat Leahy's (D-VT) letter to the White House today was a bit of news. A bit of bad news for Alberto Gonzales.

According to Sen. Leahy, Kyle Sampson has told congressional investigators that when Alberto Gonzales finally nixed the plan to permanently install Karl Rove's former aide as a U.S. attorney without Senate confirmation, Rove's senior aide Sara Taylor was "upset." And according to Sampson's testimony, Gonzales didn't say no until late in the game -- when the U.S. attorney firings controversy was already gaining steam. That's not what Gonzales told Congress.

When Gonzales testified before the Senate last month, he claimed that he'd always rejected the idea of using a Patriot Act provision to appoint handpicked U.S. attorneys and keep them in place indefinitely without Senate confirmation as "interim" U.S. attorneys. In a December 19, 2006 email to the White House, Kyle Sampson had specifically advocated using the provision to install Timothy Griffin, Rove's former aide who was installed as the U.S. attorney for Little Rock, over the objections of the state's two Democratic senators. But Gonzales said that he'd never seen that email and he'd never considered Sampson's plan. "I didn't consider it and wouldn't consider it," Gonzales testified.

That was at odds with Sampson's earlier testimony before the Senate, where he'd said that Gonzales had not rejected the idea until late December or early January.

And in today's letter to the White House, Leahy adds more detail to Sampson's story. According to Leahy, Sampson told congressional investigators that Karl Rove's senior aide Sara Taylor "was upset when the Attorney General finally “rejected” this use of the interim authority" (Taylor resigned in late March). Leahy notes that this decision to reject the plan was a month after Gonzales had told Sen. Mark Pryor (R-AR) in a private conversation that he was committed to finding a Senate-confirmed U.S. Attorney.

There' something key to note about this, and that's that Sen. Pryor's phone call with Gonzales was December 15th. The U.S. attorney firings scandal was taking its first steps in mid-January, but Sens. Pat Leahy (D-VT) and Dianne Feinsteni (D-CA) wrote a letter to Gonzales expressing concerns about the firings as early as January 9th. So it looks from Sampson's testimony like Gonzales only rejected the plan when members of Congress started asking questions.

LINK

toniD said...

Off to work. Later!

Anonymous said...

did i call it or what:

Fred Phelps plans to protest Falwell's funeral:


//Falwell was a true Calvinistic

Baptist when he was a young preacher in Springfield, Missouri; and sold his soul to Free-Willism (Arminianism) for lucre.

Falwell bitterly and viciously attacked WBC because of WBC's faithful Bible preaching - thereby committing the unpardonable sin - otherwise known as the sin gainst the Holy Ghost.

Falwell warmly praised Christ-rejecting Jews, pedophile-condoning Catholics, money-grubbing compromisers, practicing fags like Mel White, and backsliders like Billy Graham and

Robert Schuler,
Etc. All for lucre - making him guilty of their sins.//

-conbo

Anonymous said...

did i call it or what:

Fred Phelps plans to protest Falwell's funeral:


//Falwell was a true Calvinistic

Baptist when he was a young preacher in Springfield, Missouri; and sold his soul to Free-Willism (Arminianism) for lucre.

Falwell bitterly and viciously attacked WBC because of WBC's faithful Bible preaching - thereby committing the unpardonable sin - otherwise known as the sin gainst the Holy Ghost.

Falwell warmly praised Christ-rejecting Jews, pedophile-condoning Catholics, money-grubbing compromisers, practicing fags like Mel White, and backsliders like Billy Graham and

Robert Schuler,
Etc. All for lucre - making him guilty of their sins.//

-conbo

Anonymous said...

oops I didn't mean to make it a double post

sorry

-conbo

Anonymous said...

link

-conbo

Anonymous said...

Don't you just love that Ashcroft's most lucid moment as AG--sitting up in his hospital bed, insisting to Comey NOT to sign-off on certifying the legality of the NSC spy program--comes when he is completely doped-up on painkillers?

Alice said...

Who needs to turn on the tv to be inundated with the asshole's name?

*ugh*

*

Then again...who needs one more story to show how fucked up the government is...? anyone? :)

Posada Carriles, Child of Scorn: Yet Another Example of the White House’s Denigration of its War on Terrorism, which Woefully Lacks Integrity, Coherence or Consistency

Anonymous said...

The application of international law has enabled the return of refugees all over the world except in Palestine, despite the fact that U.N. Resolution 194 (11 December 1948) stipulates that “the refugees wishing to return to their homes and live at peace with their neighbors should be permitted to do so at the earliest practicable date.” Regarding compensation, the resolution states that compensation should be paid for the loss of or damage to property “which, under principles of international law or in equity, should be made good by the Governments or authorities responsible.”

Israel defines itself as a Jewish state and Palestinian refugees are Muslims and Christians. Jews from around the world, even converts to Judaism, are allowed to immigrate to Israel under the “Law of Return.” However, defining a country in ethnic/religious terms does not exempt it from international law.

In Bosnia, East Timor and Kosovo and in the case of Rwanda, refugees have had their right of return honored. In Kosovo, the right of return was considered a “non-negotiable” issue. In Bosnia, Akram explains, more than 50 percent of all property claims have resulted in the restitution of the homes and lands to their owners after the conflict ended. "Most remarkable in the Bosnia case is that restitution has been the goal of the reconstruction process and not a penny has been paid in compensation as an alternative to restitution," Akram argued at a 18 July 2005 Palestine Center symposium.
Samar Assad

Anonymous said...

We are stuck in a time warp, Shell

Public and bloggers discover government scandal

MSM mentions breifly or ignores it altogether, and then spends a month covering a famous person's death.

Bush goes on Vacation.

Another city in the U.S. burns down, drowns, ect.

And the next day it starts all over again

Also, don't forget to support the troops

-conbo

Anonymous said...

Let's Do The Time Warp Again!

-conbo

Alice said...

Also, don't forget to support the troops

-conbo

May 16, 2007 6:49 PM

Right..thanks for the reminder, # :)

janet said...

Thanks for those links Sam. I miss you every day.

Anonymous said...

If you can smell your own
ass while walking down a
city street...

it's time for nose plugs!

Alice said...

# you would LOVE this! It's Teddy Bear Picnic day..all these babies & toddlers are here with their bears.. sooooo cute!

Anonymous said...

are you blogging from the park?

-conbo

Alice said...

Well it would have been in the park had the children's librarian known that the sprinklers would turn on this morning & been able to stop thm..they ended up being in the meeting room on pieces of carpet...

Crank Bait said...

Isn't it odd that the small, stuffed bears are named for Teddy, who spared the life of a captured cub during an unsuccessful bear hunt?

It might be the most famous Presidential pardon.

If Fate were not so fickle, Dick Cheney could have spawned a market for stuffed attorneys.

Crank Bait said...

Mommy: "Where's your cuddly counselor? Where's your cuddly counselor?"

Child: "He's in my chambers."

Crank Bait said...

Mommy: "And was it Santa who gave you your cuddly counselor?"

Child: "He was court appointed."

Anonymous said...

Dick Cheney is five times richer than his boss Bush

Front page / World / Americas
16.05.2007 Source:




In financial disclosure reports for 2006, President Bush put his assets at between $7.5-20 million, while Cheney estimated his net worth five times higher at $21-100 million. Cheney was also given more expensive gifts than Bush with an approximate value of $21,764 against Bush's $12,354.



Dick Cheney is five times richer than his boss


BREAKING NEWS

The White House defends Paul Wolfowitz


Skyguide air traffic officers on trial for 2002 midair collision


Japanese boy tucks his mother's head into his school bag and goes to Internet cafe to watch rap videos




Russian police demonstrate their skills on police show
More...


Mr Bush's assets included his 650ha ranch in Texas, valued at $US1m to $US5m, where he usually spends his holidays.

He also reported assets of $US775,689 from a limited liability company organised in 2003 to produce trees for commercial sales, which were expected in 2007.

Among his holdings were certificates of deposit, Treasury notes, a qualified diversified trust, and $US116,000 assets of the GWB Rangers Corporation, which is wholly owned by Mr Bush from when he was co-owner of the Texas Rangers baseball team.

Mr Cheney reported assets valued at $US21m to around $US100m.

Alice said...

Funny, Crank..cuddly counselor.. :)

I love telling children "truths"....I wish I'd remembered the Roosevelt slaughter story today...Lucky for th kids I'm at my dinner break now...so the opportunity is lost.. ;/

Crank Bait said...

Mommy: "Isn't that cute? Are you holding court, honey?"

Child: "Yeah. It's a capital case."

Mommy: "What is cuddly counselor doing?"

Child: "He's the attorney for the defendant. He's sleeping. This is a Texas court."

Anonymous said...

The herpes family of viruses can have a surprising upside — it can protect against the bubonic plague and other bacterial contagions, at least in mice.

Research into whether a similar mechanism applies to humans and other mammalian hosts should be conducted, said viral immunologist Skip Virgin at Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis. "There may be symbiotic advantages to chronic infections with these viruses."

These new results do not mean people should go out and get infected with herpes, Virgin stressed. They probably already are. Nearly all humans become infected with multiple herpes virus family members during childhood. These germs not only include the herpes simplex viruses, which lead to cold sores and possibly genital herpes, but also the diseases responsible for chickenpox and "mono," as well as several less well-known ailments. Herpes infections have bedeviled animals for more than 100 million years.

Crank Bait said...

Dick's the big one said...
Dick Cheney is five times richer than his boss Bush...
----------------------------------
...and five times smarter...well, duuuuh. Bya.

Anonymous said...

TAURUS (April 20-May 20): It's about time you got the chance to be
knocked on your ass by a flood of positive surprises and good feelings. I
hope you're trusting enough to go with the tidal flow, even if it does
temporarily render you a bit woozy. Naturally you'd like to know if this
giddy surrender will land you in trouble. Is there any chance that you'll
have to endure some karmic adjustment at a later date because of the
fun you're having now? Here's my prediction: absolutely not. If anything,
your enthusiastic cooperation with the free-form dazzle will shield you
from any negative repercussions.

Anonymous said...

//Well it would have been in the park had the children's librarian known that the sprinklers would turn on this morning & been able to stop thm..they ended up being in the meeting room on pieces of carpet...//

oh no!

hahahahaha

-conbo

Crank Bait said...

Library plans park outing for children.

Park Department turns on sprinkler system.

(This is where the blog Librarians and the blog Park Department employees come to blows.)

Alice said...

I'll email you a few of the photos I took...you can see my little friend from the bookmobile stop.. of course with out me being in the bookmobile...she acted like she didn't know me.. :)

Her mom & dad are so cool..the man is from argentina..he loves to read my alice blog... They tell me that property is reasonable on the coast of Uruguay...sounds like a good escape plan when Tard & Crew nuke us here....

Alice said...

Crank Bait said...

(This is where the blog Librarians and the blog Park Department employees come to blows.)

May 16, 2007 8:14 PM

It was more like this is where the EX children's librarian who retired gets to laugh at the mistake of the new children's librarian...we are a catty bunch.. :)

Alice said...

EPA Giving $71M to Cities in 38 States To Clean Up Industrial Pollution, Blight

Cities in 38 states and two territories will split $71 million in federal funds for cleaning up blighted and polluted areas, Environmental Protection Agency officials announced Monday.

Five tribal nations also will share the money, which is meant to revitalize neighborhoods damaged by pollution, contaminated by oil, scarred by mining and blighted by the sale of illegal drugs.

"Communities are turning urban blight into urban pride, and also removing the environmental impact of these industrial sites," said Marcus Peacock, deputy administrator for the EPA.
...

Crank Bait said...

Alice,

Speaking unofficially for toniD; when you spend your weekends in a mosh pit filled with adolescents, turning the hose on kids becomes your recurrent fantasy.

Anonymous said...

hahahaha!

Librarians are catty

wrar!

I have seen lives ruined over the stupidiest shit

oh well

I am just the book monkey

:)

-conbo

Alice said...

Crank Bait said...

May 16, 2007 8:29 PM

I can see why she would be turned on with that one... :)

Alice said...

Here's my fantasy of the moment...I'm pretending that I didn't just overstuff on a burrito so bad that I walked to my car with my top pants button undone... *blink*...it never happend.. :)

Crank Bait said...

---Children's librarian prepares for a park outing---

Park availability? Check.
Weather forecast? Check.
Asthma medications? Check.
Nearby Port-O-Pottie? Check.
Not "Dog Park Day"? Check.

Anonymous said...

Jerry Falwell brought religious conservatives into U.S. politics

He certainly did

-conbo

Alice said...

http://www.counterpunch.org/patrick05162007.html

May 16, 2007

An Interview with the Man Whose Lies Provided the Pretext for War
Chalabi Speaks

By PATRICK COCKBURN

Baghdad.

Alice said...

May 16, 2007
Death By Digitalized Celebrity
The Ghosts of Timothy Leary and Hunter S. Thompson

By JOE BAGEANT

In my ragged assed 40 years of writing, I've been lucky enough -- or sometimes unlucky enough -- to meet and write about many of America's "somebodies," mostly vapid asshole movie and TV stars and rock musicians. When I was young, so-called "media journalism" then was just what it is now, what we called "starfucking," and amounted to writing PR for media corporations in "music journals" of the time. But we covered a few worthwhile iconic figures in the mix as well -- the kind that stick around in the background of one's thinking forever. At my age now, I find a lot of them are dying off, the Hunter Thompsons, Susan Sontags, Ken Keseys and Kurt Vonneguts. However, I have a self-imposed policy not to eulogize them because the hundreds of sentimental Internet tributes that flourish upon their deaths somehow seem ghoulish, and because it is a universal truth that we writers will do anything for an audience, and celebrity death is one of the easiest ways to attract one.

http://www.counterpunch.org/bageant05162007.html

Anonymous said...

"His life made it OK for Christians to be involved in public-policy matters," said Pegram, whose organization publishes voters guides and lobbied against San Jose extending benefits to spouses of gay employees.

He said Falwell's role made him an inevitable target for criticism.

"You can always tell the pioneers," Pegram said, "because they are the ones with the arrows in their back."


Wow. And that articled ended with a racist statement to defend bigotry.

hahahaha

God help us.

Anonymous said...

I'm not wearing any

underwear.

Crank Bait said...

Disembodied Voice: "Dance toward the disco ball light, Jerry."
Jerry: "Do what?"
Disembodied Voice: "Boogie toward the light."
Jerry: "Boogie is an abomination."
Disembodied Voice: "Being dead is an abomination. You're in good company."
Jerry: "Who are you?"
Disembodied Voice: "I am the many who shook their booties."
Jerry: "Are you...are you...Gay?"
Disembodied Voice: "Not so much now. We're mostly dead."
Jerry: "What do you want from me?"
Disembodied Voice: "Compassion."

Alice said...

*

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*

Waiting for Cicero said...

"We're there, dude."

/Butthead voice

toniD said...

Anyone here?

toniD said...

Former Rove ‘gatekeeper’ seeking immunity. Karl Rove’s former assistant, Susan Ralston, “is currently seeking immunity to testify before Waxman’s committee,” Robert Novak reports. “Ralston is a former assistant to Jack Abramoff, the disgraced Washington super-lobbyist and Republican fund-raiser. … For Waxman, she is a link between Abramoff and Rove. Ralston was deposed behind closed doors prior to her request for immunity. According to her friends, she has nothing to say that would cause problems for Rove.”

Ralston’s quest for immunity may mean nothing, or it could be very bad news for Rove. On the one hand, immunity requests are becoming par for the course in congressional hearings. Monica Goodling of the Justice Department did the same, despite the fact that it would be difficult to suggest that laws were broken in the case of the fired U.S. attorneys. Ralston may be seeking immunity merely for self-protection rather than to nail her former boss, and she could turn out to be a dud for Waxman. Still, there may actually be violations here pertaining to the legal preservation of presidential records.

LINK

toniD said...

Lawyers Representing Bush In 2000 Election Case Signed Off On Wolfowitz’s Compensation Package
Former head of the World Bank ethics committee, Ad Melkert, has stated that his panel was never consulted on, nor approved of, the hefty compensation package bank president Paul Wolfowitz arranged for his love interest, Shaha Riza.

But new documents released by a special committee of The World Bank Group show that a team at Gibson, Dunn & Crutcher did sign off on the deal. That team included President Bush’s former Solicitor General Ted Olson and Eugene Scalia, son of conservative Supreme Court Justice Antonin Scalia. Law.com reports:

Documents released by the bank show that Wolfowitz asked Gibson to review the deal in the summer of 2005. A Gibson Dunn team, including Theodore Olson and Eugene Scalia, concluded that the contract was “a reasonable resolution of the perceived underlying conflict of interest.”

Earlier this week, the Bank’s special committee investigating the scandal “concluded that the limited and after-the-fact review by Gibson ‘is squarely at odds with the high degree of … concern for the interests of’ the World Bank.”

Both Scalia and Olson are solid Bush loyalists, and it’s no surprise that they signed off on Wolfowitz’s arrangement. Some highlights of their career defending the Bush administration:

Eugene Scalia: Facing rejection from the Senate, in Jan. 2002, Bush gave Scalia a controversial recess appoint to become solicitor at the Department of Labor. Gibson, Scalia’s law firm, also represented Bush in the 2000 Supreme Court case that gave Bush the presidency. Even though Scalia benefited from the case, his father refused to recuse himself, as federal statute requires.

Ted Olson: Olson personally represented Bush in the 2000 Supreme Court case, and was then awarded the position of Solicitor General. Olson also provided “assistance” to the Paula Jones legal team in her case against former President Clinton, and “was a public supporter of his longtime friend, Kenneth Starr” during Whitewater.

But even Scalia and Olson weren’t willing to fully embrace Wolfowitz’s compensation package. They added a caveat to their conclusion that the arrangement was “a reasonable resolution”: “Our review has been limited,” Gibson Dunn partner Douglas Cox wrote in an Aug. 31 memo to Wolfowitz. “The key elements of the contract had been accepted and agreed to by all parties to the contract before we were retained.”

LINK

toniD said...

“Troops don’t need bigger pay raises, White House budget officials said Wednesday in a statement of administration policy laying out objections to the House version of the 2008 defense authorization bill. … Bush budget officials said the administration ’strongly opposes’ both the 3.5 percent raise for 2008 and the follow-on increases, calling extra pay increases ‘unnecessary.’“

LIK

toniD said...

Democratic House won't
block Bush from attacking Iran
The House rejected two measures Wednesday that would have required President Bush to seek congressional approval before attacking Iran. The proposals were offered as amendments to a $646 billion defense policy bill for the 2008 budget year.

LINK

toniD said...

GOP threatens to shut down House over rules change
By Jackie Kucinich
May 16, 2007
House Republicans Wednesday threatened to shut down House business by calling a series of procedural votes until the Democratic leadership assured them that rules governing key parliamentary procedures would go unchanged.
Republicans began their assault in the mid-afternoon after hearing that the Democratic leadership allegedly planned to change the germaneness rule, which would limit the ability of the minority to challenge provisions in a bill on the floor.

LINK

Waiting for Cicero said...

We are at sam's new place.

Anonymous said...

dirtydog said...
Don't you just love that Ashcroft's most lucid moment as AG--sitting up in his hospital bed, insisting to Comey NOT to sign-off on certifying the legality of the NSC spy program--comes when he is completely doped-up on painkillers?
May 16, 2007 6:43 PM

------------------

dirtydog,
It’s dog gone good!

Would you have bet on Ashcroft?

-----------------

For dirtydog -

a lil' bubbly!

http://www.glamourdog.com/fragrances.html

Anonymous said...

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PNK1V6S2cbo

New NEWS - BBC Video - WTC 7 - Prior Knowledge

I have gotten lots of attention on my video lately.. by the disinformation people.. that "Jane has a blue screen behind her..."

well, below is the proof she is live at a window in NY.. she says.... just down behind me where the WTC buildings used to be ...



-----------

Jane says: Just down BEHIND ME...

http://propagandamatrix.com/articles/may2007/140507building7.htm

New Footage Re-Ignites BBC Building 7 Controversy
Reporter's audio feed interrupted again as she discusses WTC 7, earlier window shot proves footage not "blue screen" as ludicrous debunkers maintained despite BBC admission

Paul Joseph Watson
Prison Planet
Monday, May 14, 2007

More 9/11 archive footage has been unearthed of BBC correspondent Jane Standley, this time from the evening of September 11, in which her audio cuts out again - for the second time that day - when she begins to discuss Building 7.

View the clip from You Tube below - as soon as the discussion moves to the collapse of other buildings besides the twin towers, Standley's audio feed is interrupted. A mere technical glitch or a suspicious interruption considering that the feed had cut out completely earlier in the day moments before the Solomon Brothers Building fell?

-------------

interview with JANE, "YES, I WAS IN NY"

Must watch.. listen to the audio..
he called the reporter at the BBC, Jane Stanley, who reported on the WTC 7 collapse 45 minutes BEFORE it collapsed in a controlled demolition.
BBC Boo Boo of the Century
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GwFdoS7-9ZE



Must Watch... proven 911 video fakes
(wow....watch the bridge move)
Chromakey Assassins (youtube edit)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Awdq7ZttV3U




911: Buildings loaded with preplanted explosives
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GzGJrQ4ErG0




do some research yourself....
Welcome to September 11 Television Archive
http://www.archive.org/details/sept_11_tv_archive

--------------

Rosie says... the program on 911 is booked....

http://propagandamatrix.com/articles/may2007/140507rosiesoundsoff.htm

Rosie Sounds Off On WTC Demolition & Destruction Of Crime Scene
The View host lays out collapse facts to millions of ABC viewers, prominent 9/11 truthers set to appear on show

Paul Joseph Watson
Prison Planet
Monday, May 14, 2007

Rosie O'Donnell has returned 9/11 truth to prominence by laying out the facts for the controlled demolition of the twin towers and Building 7 on ABC's The View this morning.

O'Donnell also exposed the destruction of the crime scene and how the WTC metal was immediately shipped off to China.

Anonymous said...

Hey Seder-heads, just checkin in wit ya....


How's that 4:45-4:55pm Sunday time slot working out for the "true voices of progressivism on the radio"?

LOL!

Anonymous said...

Sam, have you seen greg palast's web post? I picture of him and conyers, claiming that he is showing Conyers the e-mails proving caging as the crust of the us attorneys scandal. Griffin, the US attorney rresigned last week as a result. Rove's name is implicated in the e-mails. check it out!
http://www.gregpalast.com/index.php

Anonymous said...

The fact that Cheney refuses to admit the reality of the Iraqi War makes me sick. To date, the war has cost over $340 billion dollars—money which could have been spent much more wisely and with better end results. It is estimated, for example, that the expenditure of a mere $19 billion would eliminate starvation and malnutrition worldwide. In a time when the current defense budget is $522 billion, the goal of eradicating world hunger is clearly well within reach. Thus, it is clear that the occupation of Iraq needs to end, and it needs to end now without regard to what this will do to United States interest in Iraq’s oil. There are simply much more important issues that need to be addressed. It’s time that Cheney and his cronies face the reality of failure.

Anonymous said...

I am banned for life.

Testing!!!!!!!!

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