Staffer Cites Earlier Role by Hastert's Office - washingtonpost.com

How many lies has Hastert been caught in, now?

Hastert is toast, or he sure as hell ought to be.

Staffer Cites Earlier Role by Hastert's Office - washingtonpost.com:

House Speaker J. Dennis Hastert's chief of staff confronted then-Rep. Mark Foley about his inappropriate social contact with male pages well before the speaker said aides in his office took any action, a current congressional staff member with personal knowledge of Foley and his behavior with pages said yesterday.

The staff member said Hastert's chief of staff, Scott Palmer, met with the Florida Republican at the Capitol to discuss complaints about Foley's behavior toward pages. The alleged meeting occurred long before Hastert says aides in his office dispatched Rep. John M. Shimkus (R-Ill.) and the clerk of the House in November 2005 to confront Foley about troubling e-mails he had sent to a Louisiana boy.

Staffer Cites Earlier Role by Hastert's Office - washingtonpost.com

How many lies has Hastert been caught in, now?

Hastert is toast, or he sure as hell ought to be.

Staffer Cites Earlier Role by Hastert's Office - washingtonpost.com:

House Speaker J. Dennis Hastert's chief of staff confronted then-Rep. Mark Foley about his inappropriate social contact with male pages well before the speaker said aides in his office took any action, a current congressional staff member with personal knowledge of Foley and his behavior with pages said yesterday.

The staff member said Hastert's chief of staff, Scott Palmer, met with the Florida Republican at the Capitol to discuss complaints about Foley's behavior toward pages. The alleged meeting occurred long before Hastert says aides in his office dispatched Rep. John M. Shimkus (R-Ill.) and the clerk of the House in November 2005 to confront Foley about troubling e-mails he had sent to a Louisiana boy.

Staffer Cites Earlier Role by Hastert's Office - washingtonpost.com

How many lies has Hastert been caught in, now?

Hastert is toast, or he sure as hell ought to be.

Staffer Cites Earlier Role by Hastert's Office - washingtonpost.com:

House Speaker J. Dennis Hastert's chief of staff confronted then-Rep. Mark Foley about his inappropriate social contact with male pages well before the speaker said aides in his office took any action, a current congressional staff member with personal knowledge of Foley and his behavior with pages said yesterday.

The staff member said Hastert's chief of staff, Scott Palmer, met with the Florida Republican at the Capitol to discuss complaints about Foley's behavior toward pages. The alleged meeting occurred long before Hastert says aides in his office dispatched Rep. John M. Shimkus (R-Ill.) and the clerk of the House in November 2005 to confront Foley about troubling e-mails he had sent to a Louisiana boy.

Staffer Cites Earlier Role by Hastert's Office - washingtonpost.com

How many lies has Hastert been caught in, now?

Hastert is toast, or he sure as hell ought to be.

Staffer Cites Earlier Role by Hastert's Office - washingtonpost.com:

House Speaker J. Dennis Hastert's chief of staff confronted then-Rep. Mark Foley about his inappropriate social contact with male pages well before the speaker said aides in his office took any action, a current congressional staff member with personal knowledge of Foley and his behavior with pages said yesterday.

The staff member said Hastert's chief of staff, Scott Palmer, met with the Florida Republican at the Capitol to discuss complaints about Foley's behavior toward pages. The alleged meeting occurred long before Hastert says aides in his office dispatched Rep. John M. Shimkus (R-Ill.) and the clerk of the House in November 2005 to confront Foley about troubling e-mails he had sent to a Louisiana boy.

9/11 widows blast Bush Administration over Rice, Tenet meeting

These women, and many, many more New Yorkers know damn well that we aren't anywhere near the truth about 9/11.

The Raw Story 9/11 widows blast Bush Administration over Rice, Tenet meeting:

In an October 5th response to recent news of yet another pre-September 11th warning that was ignored by senior Bush administration officials, four widows who lost their husbands during the terrorist attcks have issued a statement about what they see as the failure of White House officials to act upon warnings that Al Qaeda was planning a strike on the United States.

Lorie Van Auken, Mindy Kleinberg, and Patty Cazaza – who are among the four widows from New Jersey known as the Jersey Girls (the fourth, Monica Gabrielle, is not a member of the group) – have issued a compilation of pre-9/11 terrorism warnings that they believe paints a disturbing picture of a negligent Presidency.

'Family Values' for All of Us

We need to have a talk about all of the empty rhetoric and out and out lies put out by the GOP in the last 25 years or so.

People who set themselves up as the epitome of "family values," whatever-the-hell that means, deserve to get the crap kicked out of them, when they turn out to be power lusters, instead.

'Family Values' for All of Us - washingtonpost.com:

We need to have a long talk about the meaning of 'family values.'

The 'we' here is our country, and the discussion should be encouraged by the shameful behavior of Mark Foley and the reaction, or non-reaction, of the House Republican leadership.

White House aide to Rove resigns

Abramoff bruhaha getting up close and personal with Rove.

White House aide to Rove resigns - Yahoo! News:

WASHINGTON - The latest casualty in the Jack Abramoff lobbying scandal was a key aide to presidential political strategist Karl Rove who once worked for the disgraced influence-peddler.

Susan Ralston stepped down Friday from her post as a special assistant to President Bush. A congressional report showed she had extensive contacts with Abramoff and had accepted tickets to sporting events and concerts from him.

Corruption and scandal are major issues going into the Nov. 7 elections. Ralston's resignation followed accusations that her contacts with Abramoff showed he was closer to Rove and Bush than the White House has been willing to acknowledge.

'She recognized that a protracted discussion of these matters would be a distraction to the White House and she's chosen to step down,' deputy White House press secretary Dana Perino said.

Evangelicals Fear the Loss of Their Teenagers - New York Times

Good Lord, let's hope so. To be reaised in an evagelical church in tantamount to chil abuse.

Evangelicals Fear the Loss of Their Teenagers - New York Times:

Despite their packed megachurches, their political clout and their increasing visibility on the national stage, evangelical Christian leaders are warning one another that their teenagers are abandoning the faith in droves.

Spychips: How Major Corporations and Government Plan to Track Your Every Purchase and Watch Your Every Move (Paperback)

These people will stop at nothing, have no decency, nor do they care for democracy and freedom.

Spychips: How Major Corporations and Government Plan to Track Your Every Purchase and Watch Your Every Move (Paperback):

The Bush adiministration is clearly committed to invading the privacy of any American it wants to target -- and it is using the NSA, data mining, and high technology to achieve its goals.

When questioned by a senate committee, Bush Consiglieri Alberto Gonzales would not deny that the NSA spying might be used for political purposes.

That is only one reason why the emergence of Radio Frequency Identification (RFID) technology should concern you.

And 'Spychips' is the most exhaustive book, written for the nonscientist, that we have seen. The fact is, the threats that RFID pose to privacy are shocking -- and the authors of 'Spychips' are more than researchers about the issue; they are outspoken advocates to awaken Americans to the potential threats of unregulated use of the RFID chips, which will soon be embeddeed in almost every consumer product. In fact, they may be embedded in us! We are not making this up.

How John Ashcroft saved his own sorry rear end, and not the lives of 2,973 people who died on 9/11

John Asshat, all around coward and retarded person.

Attytood: How John Ashcroft saved his own sorry rear end, and not the lives of 2,973 people who died on 9/11:

Just over three years ago, when such things were not in vogue, we wrote an article about the 20 unanwered questions of 9/11. It's sad, but three years later, many of them are still unanswered -- but at least we are finally getting some info. Here's one of those questions we asked on Sept. 11, 2003:
2. Why did Attorney General John Ashcroft and some Pentagon officials cancel commercial-airline trips before Sept. 11?

On July 26, 2001 - 47 days before the Sept. 11 attacks - CBS News reported that Ashcroft was flying expensive charters rather than commercial flights because of a 'threat assessment' by the FBI. CBS said, 'Ashcroft has been advised to travel only by private jet for the remainder of his term.' Newsweek later reported that on Sept. 10, 2001, 'a group of top Pentagon officials suddenly canceled travel plans for the next morning, apparently because of security concerns.'
Did either Ashcroft or the Pentagon have advance information about a 9/11-style attack and, if so, why wasn't this shared with the American public?
Tonight, it looks like we can answer the first half of this one.

Yes.

U.S. must follow Nuremberg code

Yep, if we can just figure out how do pull it off.

U.S. must follow Nuremberg code:

Perhaps it was by some quirk of Intelligent Design that Congress passed the law legitimizing the Bush administration's right to do whatever it chooses to detainees (short of rape and mutilation) almost 60 years to the day of the verdicts at Nuremberg.

Two of the Nuremberg trial defendants, Field Marshall Wilhelm Keitel and Gen. Alfred Jodl, were sentenced to death on Oct. 1, 1946, in part, for delegating Hitler's infamous 'commando order.' Hitler ranted that allied commandos who attacked German troops by stealth were not soldiers but common criminals. Gangsters, he added, were not covered by the Geneva Convention.

Substitute the word 'enemy combatants' for 'gangsters,' and the Bush administration's approach is certainly rooted in precedent. Moreover, the law doesn't abandon the Geneva Convention. It merely allows leeway in interpreting old-fashioned notions about what constitutes torture.Perhaps it was by some quirk of Intelligent Design that Congress passed the law legitimizing the Bush administration's right to do whatever it chooses to detainees (short of rape and mutilation) almost 60 years to the day of the verdicts at Nuremberg.

Will Bush Pardon a Traitor Who Would Expose Bush as a Traitor?

Is the Pope Catholic?

Libby Defense Fund: Will Bush Pardon a Traitor Who Would Expose Bush as a Traitor?:

Whatever the outcome of the November elections, Bush still will have his pardon power.

And if Bush Family history is any precedent, be prepared for a Scooter Libby pardon prior to his trial. After all, Daddy Bush did just that to prevent discloures from coming out were Caspar Weinberger to go to trial about Iran-Contra: so he pardoned him.

Can we expect the same from George W.? Whatever the outcome of the November elections, Bush still will have his pardon power.

Americans ain't believin' it this time.

Thre is only so much of this hog swallow people can take.

National Poll: Mark Foley:

Sixty-one percent (61%) of American adults believe that Republican leaders have been “protecting [Mark] Foley for several years.” A Rasmussen Reports national opinion survey conducted Tuesday and Wednesday nights shows that only 21% believe that the leadership “just learn[ed] about Foley’s problems last week.”

The data supports speculation that this issue could have a devastating impact on Republican prospects at the polls this fall. Even among Republicans, 31% believe the GOP leadership has been protecting Foley. Just under half (46%) of the GOP faithful believe that Congressional leaders just learned about the problem.

Not surprisingly, Democrats overwhelmingly believe that the Republican leaders have been protecting Foley for years (84% of Democrats hold that view).

It's turned very ugly inside the moralistic Republicans' glass house

Very ugly indeed.

But let's hope it's going to get a lot ugler, for the sake of the nation.

It's turned very ugly inside the moralistic Republicans' glass house:

You'd think Republicans would have rushed to kick the bum out, seeing as how the GOP has claimed the mantle of being the party of God and family values.

Also repugnant about this scandal is the not-so-sly attempt by certain Republicans to have it both ways. They imply that Foley's interest in young boys is because Foley is gay, as if just as night follows day, gay men prey on children.

Thus, Republicans couldn't have moved on Foley earlier because they would have been accused of gay-bashing, former House Speaker Newt Gingrich said with a straight face.
Not to be missed in this drama is former page Mark Beck-Heyman's explanation as to why the pages didn't complain.

Hastert Unhinged

You can say that again...and again and again.

Daily Kos: Hastert Unhinged:

FACT: GOP staff, working for Republican Speaker Denny Hastert, warned the page class of 2001-2002 to stay away from Foley - five years ago.

FACT: Former chief of staff to GOP Rep. Tom Reynolds (R-NY), Kirk Fordham, says he warned Hastert's chief of staff of Foley's behavior three years ago. Whether or not you believe Fordham, his testimony is consistent with the other facts showing that the Republicans knew about Foley's behavior long before last week.

FACT: Both Reps. John Boehner, the Republican House Majority Leader, and Tom Reynolds both say they told Dennis Hastert personally about the Foley issue months ago. Hastert says Boehner is lying. So one of the two most powerful Republicans in the House is lying about an investigation into a child sex predator. That deserves a separate investigation right there.

FACT: Hastert's staff was informed of the Foley emails a year ago, but Hastert would like us to believe his staff simply never told him that a member of Congress, a member of his leadership team, was under investigation for preying sexually on young children - children who Hastert was responsible for.FACT: GOP staff, working for Republican Speaker Denny Hastert, warned the page class of 2001-2002 to stay away from Foley - five years ago.

FACT: Former chief of staff to GOP Rep. Tom Reynolds (R-NY), Kirk Fordham, says he warned Hastert's chief of staff of Foley's behavior three years ago. Whether or not you believe Fordham, his testimony is consistent with the other facts showing that the Republicans knew about Foley's behavior long before last week.

MORE^

The GOP Base is Cracking?

Glory be!

AMERICAblog: A blog for a great nation that deserves the truth:

Just the kind of news you like to see 4 weeks from the election. The evangelical base that Karl and Ken have worked so hard to feed and care for is deserting the Republican party:

FBI caught lying to reporters about Foly mess

How far and wide will this cover-up be?

AMERICAblog: A blog for a great nation that deserves the truth:

Okay this is very bad.

CREW DEMANDS DOJ I.G. INVESTIGATE FBI COVER-UP ON INACTION ON FOLEY EMAILS SENT BY CREW

FBI Lied to Reporters

Washington, DC – Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington (CREW) wrote to the Department of Justice (DOJ) Inspector General’s (I.G.) office today to ask for an investigation into why the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) has fabricated and disseminated a cover-up story as to why it never investigated the Foley emails sent to it by CREW.

Rice More Sordid Than Foley

She's more dangerous, that's for sure!

Rice More Sordid Than Foley:

They are such liars. And no, I am not speaking only of the dissembling GOP House leaders led by Speaker Dennis Hastert who, out of naked political calculation, covered up for one of their own in the sordid teen stalking case of Rep. Mark Foley.

Call me old school, but I am still more concerned with the Republicans molesting Lady Liberty while pretending to be guarding the nation’s security, an assignment which they have totally botched. The news about the Foley coverup, while important as yet another example of extreme hypocrisy on the part of the Republican virtues police, should not be allowed to obscure the latest evidence of administration deceit as to its egregious ineptness in protecting the nation.

On Monday, a State Department spokesman conceded that then-National Security Advisor Condoleezza Rice had indeed been briefed in July 2001 by George Tenet, then-director of the CIA, about the alarming potential for an Al Qaeda attack, as Bob Woodward has reported in his aptly named new book, “State of Denial.”

Now That You Could be Labeled an Enemy Combatant...

They are gonna have to lock me up to shut me up, and that's a promise.

Now That You Could be Labeled an Enemy Combatant...:

Since Congress recently handed Bush the power to identify American citizens as 'unlawful enemy combatants' and detain them indefinitely without charge, it's worth examining the administration's record of prisoner abuse as well as the building of stateside detention centers.

Major Fascism Alert!

This is unconsionable in a Democracy!

Rocky Mountain News: Local:

A Denver-area man filed a lawsuit today against a member of the Secret Service for causing him to be arrested after he approached Vice President Dick Cheney in Beaver Creek this summer and criticized him for his policies concerning Iraq.

Attorney David Lane said that on June 16, Steve Howards was walking his 7-year-old son to a piano practice, when he saw Cheney surrounded by a group of people in an outdoor mall area, shaking hands and posing for pictures with several people.

According to the lawsuit filed at U.S. District Court in Denver, Howards and his son walked to about two-to-three feet from where Cheney was standing, and said to the vice president, 'I think your policies in Iraq are reprehensible,' or words to that effect, then walked on.

Conservative Big Gun Calls For Major Resignations.

Here we go!

AMERICAblog: A blog for a great nation that deserves the truth:

Richard Viguerie is one of the founders of the conservative movement. It doesn't get any bigger than this, short of Ronald Reagan speaking out from the afterlife. I just received an email from Viguerie to his email list, to which I subscribe. The email is entitled:

'Viguerie Calls for Immediate Resignation of House GOP Leaders'

These are the high points. (link above)

Hastert Was Warned About Foley Two Years Ago, GOP Aide Says

Hastert is toast!....and he's probably not the only one.

ABC News: Hastert Was Warned About Foley Two Years Ago, GOP Aide Says:

Oct. 4, 2006 — Despite claims by senior congressional aide Kirk Fordham that he notified House Speaker Dennis Hastert's office more than two years ago about possible inappropriate contact between former Rep. Mark Foley, R-Fla., and underage congressional pages, the Speaker's office insists it did nothing wrong in the way it handled the investigation.
'
That never happened,' Hastert spokesman Ron Bonjean told ABC News.

But Fordham, who resigned as Foley's chief of staff to work for another member of the GOP leadership, Rep. Tom Reynolds, R-N.Y., said that as far back as 2003, Hastert's chief of staff, Scott Palmer, had been told that Foley was too friendly with pages. According to Fordham, Palmer spoke to Foley about the matter.

They're Melting.....

I don't think I have ever seen a meltdown quite like this in all my years of political observing and activism.

GOP lawmaker calls for Rumsfeld to quit - Yahoo! News:

STAMFORD, Conn. - Rep. Chris Shays, who is facing a tough challenge from an anti-war Democrat, on Wednesday called for Defense Secretary Donald H. Rumsfeld to resign — a rare demand from a longtime Republican.

The Connecticut lawmaker also accused officials at the Defense Department of withholding information about the Iraq war from Congress.

'I am losing faith in how we are fighting this war,' Shays, a longtime supporter of the conflict, said in an interview. 'I believe we have to motivate the Iraqis to do more.'

Shays, who was elected in 1987, said defense officials stopped cooperating with his congressional subcommittee after he proposed setting a timeline for troop withdrawals. Shays, who had previously opposed such a timeline, offered the plan in August following his 14th trip to Iraq since the war began.

Latest GOP Foly Strategy

Well, Gay Bashing, of course!

Talking Points Memo: by Joshua Micah Marshall October 4, 2006 06:57 PM

Rumsfeld, Ashcroft said to have received warning of attack

This just gets curiouser and curiouser...

One might even come to the conclusion that the administration possibly tried to make the attacks easier for Al Qaeda.

They did need that New Pearl Harbor, after all.

McClatchy Washington Bureau 10/02/2006 Rumsfeld, Ashcroft said to have received warning of attack:

WASHINGTON - Defense Secretary Donald H. Rumsfeld and former Attorney General John Ashcroft received the same CIA briefing about an imminent al-Qaida strike on an American target that was given to the White House two months before the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks.

The State Department's disclosure Monday that the pair was briefed within a week after then-National Security Adviser Condoleezza Rice was told about the threat on July 10, 2001, raised new questions about what the Bush administration did in response, and about why so many officials have claimed they never received or don't remember the warning.

One official who helped to prepare the briefing, which included a PowerPoint presentation, described it as a '10 on a scale of 1 to 10' that 'connected the dots' in earlier intelligence reports to present a stark warning that al-Qaida, which had already killed Americans in Yemen, Saudi Arabia and East Africa, was poised to strike again.

Former CIA Director George Tenet gave the independent Sept. 11, 2001, commission the same briefing on Jan. 28, 2004, but the commission made no mention of the warning in its 428-page final report. According to three former senior intelligence officials, Tenet testified to commissioner Richard Ben-Veniste and to Philip Zelikow, the panel's executive director and the principal author of its report, who's now Rice's top adviser.

Seems not only Democrats, but women were left out of the loop on Foley

Even Republican women, were excluded. Women, no matter their political leanings, are far more likely to go ballistic over the exploitation of a child.

That is a sure sign that they knew this was huge, possibly criminal and would damage the Fall elections.

Well it will, now! It had damn well better!

If it doesn't there is something very wrong in this country, beyond the obvious.

The GOP Leadersip should resign, now!


TPMmuckraker October 2, 2006 11:15 AM:

Uh-oh. A second member of the panel which oversees the House page program says she was never told of Foley's emails, despite claims that her board had investigated the matter.

Rep. Shelley Moore Capito (R-WV) says she was 'astounded' to learn of the emails on Thursday. And she says that had she known, she would have done more than Shimkus or other House leaders. Rep. Dale Kildee (D-MI) said on Saturday that he was never informed of the matter.

Now, there are only three lawmakers on the panel. So it appears that Rep. John Shimkus (R-IL), the chair of the board, was not only one of the first in Congress to learn of 'over-friendly' emails from Rep. Mark Foley (R-FL) to a page, but the only member of the page board to know. He went to the House leadership with the problem, but apparently kept his fellow page board members in the dark.

Editorial Urges Hastert to Quit - Los Angeles Times

We concur, 100%, but Hastert is not the only one.

Editorial Urges Hastert to Quit - Los Angeles Times:

'House Speaker Dennis Hastert must do the only right thing and resign his speakership at once,' said the lead editorial posted Monday night on the Times' website.

FBI was notifieed in July, about Foley

Seems not even Bush's Justice Department and the FBI were interested in crimes against children in the care of the Rethug led congress.

Foley Saga No Shock to Some - Los Angeles Times:

The advocacy group Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington said it sent the FBI the less explicit Foley e-mails in July. The group's officials now have asked the Department of Justice to investigate why the bureau didn't begin its investigation sooner.

FBI officials declined to comment on the complaint.

But a law enforcement official said investigators are trying to determine the scale and scope of potential crimes, and have been reviewing the messages that have become public.

The official, who requested anonymity because of the investigation's sensitivity, said that the bureau hoped to speak with some pages and their families soon to determine whether they would be willing to cooperate with the investigation.

Federal law makes it a crime to use the Internet to solicit sex from anyone under 18 years of age. Offenders can be fined and imprisoned for up to 30 years with a minimum sentence of five years in prison.

As of late Monday, the FBI had not requested access to the computers in Foley's former congressional office.

The office has continued to operate, handling constituent requests and other routine chores, but under the auspices of the clerk of the House.

DNC: Where's the Outrage? Why is the White House Protecting Republicans Instead of Children?

DNC: Where's the Outrage? Why is the White House Protecting Republicans Instead of Children? BuzzFlash:

Exactly! Where is the outrage?

Tony Snow might be a pedophile too, given how unimportant he thinks this is.

Washington, DC – In the wake of a scandal involving Republican Congressman Tom Foley’s inappropriate and criminal communications with underage Congressional pages, it is clear that the leaders of both the GOP House re-election committee and the Speaker of the House knew that Foley had engaged in behavior that was, at best, highly questionable. According to ABC News, a Republican staffer warned pages about Foley five years ago. Statements from House Republican leaders indicate that they knew of Foley’s behavior but did not act to stop Congressman Foley at the time that they first learned about the inappropriate emails. DNC: Where’s The Outrage?

Analysis: What did GOP know about Foley? - Yahoo! News

This kind of thing should not be tolerated anywhere, let alone in the Halls of Congress.

Anyone who knows about child expolitation and does nohthing is as guilty as the one who actually did the exploiting.

We don't care what anyone says, no 16 year old has the judgement to consent, or not to, especially, to a powerful congressman.

I am, personally, sick to death of child predators!

Analysis: What did GOP know about Foley? - Yahoo! News:

WASHINGTON - In a twist on the old Watergate question, the Republican Party is struggling to answer: What did GOP leaders know of a congressman's suggestive exchanges with former pages, all teenage males, and when did they know it?

The truth could determine not only their own political futures but also whether the party can recover from the scandal surrounding former Republican Rep. Mark Foley (news, bio, voting record) — and manage to remain in power after Nov. 7.

'I don't think this is so much about Foley as it is about the handling of this,' Rick Davis, a Republican strategist, said Monday as the drama rocked the House GOP five weeks before midterm elections, much to Democrats' delight.

'The question becomes who's getting thrown overboard besides Foley to get this to go away,' said Tony Fabrizio, another GOP consultant.

Book and e-mails hit Republican nerves - Financial Times - MSNBC.com

Foley checking himself to an alcohol rehab is bullshit; an attempt to hide for a month, until all of this dies down.

Well, dream on Mr. Foley. This is not going away.

Book and e-mails hit Republican nerves - Financial Times - MSNBC.com:

US Republicans are facing challenges to their credibility this week on two of their strongest themes – family values and national security – with questions on whether the leadership had covered up a scandal involving a congressman sending ex-plicit e-mails to teenage boys, and whether the White House has covered up rising problems in Iraq.

he FBI said it would look into e-mails sent to under-age congressional pages by Mark Foley, a 52-year-old Republican congressman from Florida who resigned on Friday and on Monday said he would enter rehab to deal with his alcoholism.

The Foley Matter

Everyone who knew about this nightmare and did nothing, should be forced, by their constituents, to resign

The Foley Matter - New York Times:

History suggests that once a political party achieves sweeping power, it will only be a matter of time before the power becomes the entire point. Policy, ideology, ethics all gradually fall away, replaced by a political machine that exists to win elections and dispense the goodies that come as a result. The only surprise in Washington now is that the Congressional Republicans managed to reach that point of decayed purpose so thoroughly, so fast.

That House leaders knew Representative Mark Foley had been sending inappropriate e-mail to Capitol pages and did little about it is terrible. It is also the latest in a long, depressing pattern: When there is a choice between the right thing to do and the easiest route to perpetuation of power, top Republicans always pick wrong.

The news about Mr. Foley should have set off alarm bells instantly, even if the messages the leaders saw were of the “inappropriate” variety rather than the flat-out salacious versions that surfaced last week. But there was certainly no sense of urgency in their response, which seemed directed at sweeping the matter under the rug rather than finding out precisely what was going on.History suggests that once a political party achieves sweeping power, it will only be a matter of time before the power becomes the entire point. Policy, ideology, ethics all gradually fall away, replaced by a political machine that exists to win elections and dispense the goodies that come as a result. The only surprise in Washington now is that the Congressional Republicans managed to reach that point of decayed purpose so thoroughly, so fast.

Robert Parry | Bush Throws Down the Gauntlet

...and we accept your challenge, Dirtbag!

Robert Parry Bush Throws Down the Gauntlet:

George W. Bush - breaking with an earlier Republican campaign strategy for localizing congressional races - is nationalizing Election 2006 around his vision of fighting 'World War III' against Islamic militants and in defense of his claim to broad presidential powers, such as the right to lock up people he deems 'enemy combatants.'

In effect, Bush is gambling that the Right's powerful media apparatus, Republican organizational advantages and the residual fear from the Sept. 11, 2001, terror attacks will trump the Democrats' abilities to convince the American people that Bush's vision represents a dire threat to the future of their democratic Republic.

Bush unveiled his new strategy for holding onto Republican congressional majorities this past week by making his demand for expansive powers, including the authority to deny habeas corpus rights to detainees, the preeminent issue in the final days before the congressional recess.
Bush also blasted Democrats for criticizing his handling of the Iraq War.

'Five years after 9/11, the worst attack on the American homeland in our history, the Democrats offer nothing but criticism and obstruction and endless second-guessing,' Bush told a GOP fundraising event in Birmingham, Alabama, on Sept. 28. 'The party of F.D.R. and the party of Harry Truman has become the party of cut and run.'

So, instead of what Republican strategists had described as their plan for localizing the congressional races and 'disqualifying' Democratic candidates through attack ads that highlighted ethical lapses and 'bad votes' on hot-button issues, the final five weeks of Campaign 2006 now appear focused on Bush's stewardship of the 'war on terror.'

Gonzales Cautions Judges on Interfering

Something tells me that Judges, no matter their polical leaning, will not take kindly to little Alberto telling them to, basically, buzz off.

Gonzales Cautions Judges on Interfering:

Washington - Attorney General Alberto Gonzales, who is defending President Bush's anti-terrorism tactics in multiple court battles, said Friday that federal judges should not substitute their personal views for the president's judgments in wartime.

He said the Constitution makes the president commander in chief and the Supreme Court has long recognized the president's pre-eminent role in foreign affairs. 'The Constitution, by contrast, provides the courts with relatively few tools to superintend military and foreign policy decisions, especially during wartime,' the attorney general told a conference on the judiciary at Georgetown University Law Center.

'Judges must resist the temptation to supplement those tools based on their own personal views about the wisdom of the policies under review,' Gonzales said.

And he said the independence of federal judges, who are appointed for life, 'has never meant, and should never mean, that judges or their decisions should be immune' from public criticism.

'Respectfully, when courts issue decisions that overturn long-standing traditions or policies without proper support in text or precedent, they cannot - and should not - be shielded from criticism,' Gonzales said. 'A proper sense of judicial humility requires judges to keep in mind the institutional limitations of the judiciary and the duties expressly assigned by the Constitution to the more politically accountable branches.'

His audience included legal scholars and judges, including Justice Clarence Thomas, one of the Bush administration's most reliable supporters on the Supreme Court.

Ashcroft Is Denied Immunity in Case

As this god-awful administration comes closer to being held accountable for their many, many crimes, let us not forget Ashcroft, one of the biggest in the bunch.

Ashcroft Is Denied Immunity in Case:

A federal judge in Idaho has ruled that former attorney general John D. Ashcroft can be held personally responsible for the wrongful detention of a US citizen arrested as a 'material witness' in a terrorism case.
US District Judge Edward J. Lodge, in a ruling issued late Wednesday, dismissed claims by the Justice Department that Ashcroft and other officials should be granted immunity from claims by a former star college football player arrested at Dulles International Airport in 2003.

Attorneys for the plaintiff in the civil suit, Abdullah al-Kidd, said the decision raises the possibility that Ashcroft could be forced to testify or turn over records about the government's use of the material witness law, a cornerstone of its controversial legal strategy after the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks.
Justice Department officials did not respond to telephone messages yesterday seeking comment. A spokeswoman for Ashcroft also did not respond to requests for comment.

Robin Goldfaden, one of Kidd's attorneys at the American Civil Liberties Union, said the case 'could be the launching point for more fully documenting how the government is misusing the material witness statute.'

The law was intended to give authorities the power to detain witnesses they feared might flee before testifying. But after the Sept. 11 attacks, the government used it to hold 70 men, nearly half of whom were never called to testify in court, according to a study by the ACLU and Human Rights Watch.

Condi Rice, 9/11 and Another Nest of Lies

Isn't that 20 years in the slammer? Let's get on with thsose perjury charges!

Condi Rice, 9/11 and Another Nest of Lies:

Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice may have committed perjury in her testimony before the 9/11 Commission in May of 2004. At a minimum, her testimony was a convenient mishmash of half-truths and omissions which served to paint the White House as innocent bystanders as the attacks of 9/11 unfolded. Certainly, her testimony omitted the fact that the two most senior intelligence officials in the nation delivered a stern warning regarding an impending terror attack two full months before 9/11.
Sunday's edition of the Washington Post carried a story titled 'Two Months Before 9/11, an Urgent Warning to Rice.' The story described a desperate attempt by CIA chief George Tenet and CIA counterterrorism chief J. Cofer Black to draw Rice's attention to the looming threat of an al-Qaeda strike against the United States. Tenet and Black insisted on a meeting with Rice on July 10, 2001. This meeting was first reported by Bob Woodward in his new book, 'State of Denial.'

'Tenet had the NSA review all the intercepts,' read the Post story, 'and the agency concluded they were of genuine al-Qaeda communications. On June 30, a top-secret senior executive intelligence brief contained an article headlined 'Bin Laden Threats Are Real.' Tenet hoped his abrupt request for an immediate meeting would shake Rice. He and Black, a veteran covert operator, had two main points when they met with her. First, al-Qaeda was going to attack American interests, possibly in the United States itself ... Second, this was a major foreign policy problem that needed to be addressed immediately. They needed to take action that moment - covert, military, whatever - to thwart bin Laden.'

Bush 'kept Blair in the dark over Iraq' | the Daily Mail

Seems like the new Woodward book has much more information than what has been discussed, so far.

MUCH MORE!

Bush 'kept Blair in the dark over Iraq' the Daily Mail:

The author, Watergate journalist Bob Woodward, paints a devastating portrait of Bush as an incompetent pawn of his chief advisers and the Pentagon's war planners.

He says that, with Bush locked in a desperate battle to win re-election in 2004, they were more interested in hiding the truth about the failures to thwart the September 11 attacks and find weapons of mass destruction than running a competent military operation.

The book, State Of Denial, which is released tomorrow, reveals that the Prime Minister repeatedly complained to Bush after discovering Britain was being denied access to key information on the grounds that it was a 'foreign' nation.

The attempt to bluff the Prime Minister involved a highly class-ified database called the Secret Internet Protocol Router Network (SIPRNET) which the Pentagon used to store and communicate years of potentially embarrassing intelligence, as well as technical information about combat operations in Iraq.

Reynolds' aide tried to get ABC to supress Foley info.

The Rethugs appear to be toast!

AMERICAblog: A blog for a great nation that deserves the truth:

It's confirmed. Congressman Tom Reynolds' (R-NY) chief of staff, Kirk Fordham, tried to broker a secret deal last Friday to get ABC News to cover up the worst part of the Foley child predator scandal, the lurid five-plus-page instant message chat in which Foley asked a child to measure his penis and then led the child into a detailed discussion of masturbatory techniques.

Resign, Mr. Speaker

Even the Moonie Times cannot abide some of the latest Rethug misbehavior.

Resign, Mr. Speaker - Editorials/Op-Ed - The Washington Times, America's Newspaper:

The facts of the disgrace of Mark Foley, who was a Republican member of the House from a Florida district until he resigned last week, constitute a disgrace for every Republican member of Congress. Red flags emerged in late 2005, perhaps even earlier, in suggestive and wholly inappropriate e-mail messages to underage congressional pages. His aberrant, predatory -- and possibly criminal -- behavior was an open secret among the pages who were his prey. The evidence was strong enough, long enough ago that the speaker should have relieved Mr. Foley of his committee responsibilities contingent on a full investigation to learn what had taken place, whether any laws had been violated and what action, up to and including prosecution, were warranted by the facts. This never happened.

What is it with these amoral Rethugs?

Now Bush and Cheney are stumping for a guy who tried to strangle his mistress.

The Times-Tribune - Bush, Santorum poll ratings ebb, flow in sync 9/28/06:

President Bush and two other top Republicans will appear at Lackawanna County fundraisers for U.S. Rep. Don Sherwood in the next month.

Mr. Bush is set to be in the county Oct. 19 at an undisclosed location, two Republican sources who spoke on condition of anonymity said.

Vice President Dick Cheney raised money for Mr. Sherwood last week at a Wyoming County home.

What is it with these amoral Rethugs?

Now Bush and Cheney are stumping for a guy who tried to strangle his mistress.

The Times-Tribune - Bush, Santorum poll ratings ebb, flow in sync 9/28/06:

President Bush and two other top Republicans will appear at Lackawanna County fundraisers for U.S. Rep. Don Sherwood in the next month.

Mr. Bush is set to be in the county Oct. 19 at an undisclosed location, two Republican sources who spoke on condition of anonymity said.

Vice President Dick Cheney raised money for Mr. Sherwood last week at a Wyoming County home.

Foley Built Career as Protector of Children - washingtonpost.com

This, unfortunately, isn't all that unusual.

Alcoholic Judges often give the harshest penalties for alcohol related crimes.

More Rethug hypocrisy!

Foley Built Career as Protector of Children - washingtonpost.com:

The Republican congressman who resigned Friday following the discovery of sexually explicit Internet messages he sent to teenage boys was a gregarious and charismatic lawmaker who built his political career in large measure on legislative proposals meant to halt the sexual predation of children and others.

Beginning with his 1993 sponsorship of a measure in the Florida state legislature to seize the cars of men who solicited prostitutes, former restaurant owner and real estate agent Mark Foley repeatedly attracted a flattering political spotlight by inveighing against those involved in sexual crimes and presenting himself as a protector of exploited children.

Review of Messages Sent by Congressman Begins - New York Times

I'll be happy to let the FBI figure out possible criminality in this matter.

What seems more important at this juncture is this:

How in the Hell can we trust Republicans with National Security when they won't protect children serving as Pages in the House?

Review of Messages Sent by Congressman Begins - New York Times:

WASHINGTON, Oct. 1 — Law enforcement officials said Sunday that the F.B.I. had begun a preliminary inquiry into whether former Representative Mark Foley broke any federal laws when he reportedly exchanged sexually explicit e-mail messages with under-age Congressional pages as leaders of both parties demanded new inquiries.

So You Call This Breaking News?

It is to some people:

The same knotheads who believe that Ossama and Saddam were Doubles Tennis Partners

Wealthy Frenchman: So You Call This Breaking News?:

IF your head hurts from listening to the Washington furor over the latest National Intelligence Estimate, by all means tune it out. The entire debate is meaningless except as a damning election-year indicator of just how madly our leaders are fiddling while Iraq burns.

The supposedly shocking key finding in the N.I.E. — that the Iraq war is a boon to terrorism — isn’t remotely news. It first turned up in a classified C.I.A. report leaked to the press in June 2005. It’s also long been visible to the naked eye. The latest New York Times/CBS News poll, conducted before any revelations from the N.I.E., found that nearly half the country believes that the Iraq war is increasing the terrorist threat against America and only 12 percent thinks the war is decreasing that threat. Americans don’t have to pore over leaked intelligence documents to learn this. They just have to turn on the television.IF your head hurts from listening to the Washington furor over the latest National Intelligence Estimate, by all means tune it out. The entire debate is meaningless except as a damning election-year indicator of just how madly our leaders are fiddling while Iraq burns.

The supposedly shocking key finding in the N.I.E. — that the Iraq war is a boon to terrorism — isn’t remotely news. It first turned up in a classified C.I.A. report leaked to the press in June 2005. It’s also long been visible to the naked eye.

9/11 Panel Members Weren’t Told of Meeting - New York Times

The 9/11 Commission has been shocked by how many lies and omissions now?

It is time for a new INDEPENDENT Commission, even if we have to go outside the U.S. for its members!

9/11 Panel Members Weren’t Told of Meeting - New York Times:

In interviews Saturday and today, commission members said they were never told about the meeting despite hours of public and private questioning with Ms. Rice, Mr. Tenet and Mr. Black, much of it focused specifically on how the White House had dealt with terrorist threats in the summer of 2001.

“None of this was shared with us in hours of private interviews, including interviews under oath, nor do we have any paper on this,” said Timothy J. Roemer, a Democratic member of the commission and a former House member from Indiana. “I’m deeply disturbed by this. I’m furious.”
Another Democratic commissioner, former Watergate prosecutor Richard Ben-Veniste, said that the staff of the Sept. 11 commission was polled in recent days on the disclosures in Mr. Woodward’s book and agreed that the meeting “was never mentioned to us.”

“This is certainly something we would have wanted to know about,” he said, referring to the July 10, 2001, meeting.

White House Lists Book's 'Five Key Myths' - washingtonpost.com

Myths my ass!

White House Lists Book's 'Five Key Myths' - washingtonpost.com:

The White House went on the offensive yesterday against a new book that reports President Bush resisted demands to boost U.S. troop numbers in Iraq and misled Americans about the level of violence there.

The book, 'State of Denial,' by Washington Post Assistant Managing Editor Bob Woodward, went on sale yesterday, two days ahead of schedule, after a storm of publicity.

Daily Kos: Abramoff Knew US Would Invade Iraq in March, 2002

Oh, hell; he probably knew it in 2000 when the rest of them did. All they had to do was steal and election and look for a way to wage war on Iraq. They found one. 9/11.

Of course 9/11 had nothing to do with Iraq, but at one point 60% of Americans thought Iraq did it.

Some of us are too dumb to live, me thinks.

Daily Kos: Abramoff Knew US Would Invade Iraq in March, 2002:

Sun Oct 01, 2006 at 04:18:04 AM GMT

Newly-disclosed e-mails from the Minority Chair of the House Government Reform Committee Henry Waxman provide new areas of insight into Jack Abramoff's closeness to the Bush administration. Most shocking of all (at least of those I've been able to read so far) is that Abramoff off-handedly mentions 'the upcoming war in Iraq.' The date--March, 2002.Sun Oct 01, 2006 at 04:18:04 AM GMT
Newly-disclosed e-mails from the Minority Chair of the House Government Reform Committee Henry Waxman provide new areas of insight into Jack Abramoff's closeness to the Bush administration. Most shocking of all (at least of those I've been able to read so far) is that Abramoff off-handedly mentions 'the upcoming war in Iraq.' The date--March, 2002.

G.O.P. Aides Knew in Late ’05 of E-Mail - New York Times

Hastert and Boehner, at the very least, should step down!

In most states they could be held for crimes against a minor.

G.O.P. Aides Knew in Late ’05 of E-Mail - New York Times:

Anyone who was involved in the chain of information should come forward and tell when they were told, what they were told and what they did with the information when they got it,” said Representative Peter T. King, Republican of New York. Mr. King called it a “dark day” for Congress and said, “We need a full investigation.”

Representative Christopher Shays, Republican of Connecticut, said any leader who had been aware of Mr. Foley’s behavior and failed to take action should step down. “If they knew or should have known the extent of this problem, they should not serve in leadership,” Mr. Shays said.

On Saturday night, the House Republican leadership issued a statement that characterized the communications between Mr. Foley and the former House pages as “unacceptable and abhorrent.”

Detainee Memo Created Divide in White House - New York Times

Half the administration is bonkers!

Detainee Memo Created Divide in White House - New York Times:

In June 2005, two senior national security officials in the Bush administration came together to propose a sweeping new approach to the growing problems the United States was facing with the detention, interrogation and prosecution of terrorism suspects.

Stung by criticism, Bush calls for offensive 'across the world' on Yahoo! News

Bush has gone bonkers!

Print Story: Stung by criticism, Bush calls for offensive 'across the world' on Yahoo! News:

US President George W. Bush called for fighting America's enemies 'across the world' as he stepped up his counteroffensive following charges that his policies were breeding a new generation of Islamic terrorists.

The call, delivered in his weekly radio address, was aimed to counter a rash of accusations that the Bush administration had seriously mishandled the war in Iraq and created fertile political ground for Islamic extremism.

The criticism was fueled by a new National Intelligence Estimate, portions of which were declassified this past week. The document argues that the war in Iraq had spawned a new generation of Islamic radicals determined to strike against the United States.

Casting another cloud over the administration's policy was a new book by veteran Washington Post journalist Bob Woodward, 'State of Denial', that alleges a number of policy blunders committed in Iraq, amid bitter feuding by the president and his closest aides and refusal to acknowledge reality.US

President George W. Bush called for fighting America's enemies 'across the world' as he stepped up his counteroffensive following charges that his policies were breeding a new generation of Islamic terrorists.