Un-freakin'-believable

God only knows why anything shocks me anymore.

White House plans to block testimony from former top Rove aide; Miers has not decided

Michael Roston Published: Saturday July 7, 2007

The White House appeared set for an expanded showdown with congressional investigators in the probe of the firing of eight US Attorneys over the weekend.

An attorney for Sara Taylor, a former top aide to White House adviser Karl Rove, notified the Senate that she was unlikely to appear before the Senate Judiciary Committee July 11.

At the same time, former Counsel to President George W. Bush Harriet Miers told RAW STORY she did not know if she would appear before the House Judiciary Committee July 12.

An attorney for Taylor informed the Chairman of the Senate Judiciary Committee that the White House sought to block her testimony.

"Ms. Taylor expects to receive a letter from Mr. Fielding on behalf of the President directing her not to comply with the Senate's subpoena," wrote W. Neil Eggleston, counsel to Taylor, in a Saturday letter to Senators Patrick Leahy (D-VT) and Arlen Specter (R-PA).

Eggleston noted that Taylor, "recognizes the burden of any citizen to respect the Senate's processes and to be responsive to its subpoenas." But he seemed to signal she would follow the advice of Fred Fielding, White House Counsel, and respect the President's assertion of executive privilege.

"This clash may ultimately be resolved by the judicial branch," he added.

RAW STORY contacted Harriet Miers at the Dallas office of her law firm Friday afternoon. When asked if she would appear next week before the House Judiciary Committee, which subpoenaed her at the same time Leahy subpoenaed Taylor, she was uncertain.

"No decisions have been made about that at this point," the former White House Counsel said in a brief phone interview.

On Friday, a House Judiciary Committee spokesman told RAW STORY that Rep. John Conyers (D-MI), the committee's chairman, still expected to receive testimony from Miers next week.

Senator Leahy criticized Fielding and the White House for trying to hold up Taylor's testimony.

"It is unfortunate that the White House is trying to interfere with Ms. Taylor’s testimony before the Senate and with Congress’s responsibility to get to the truth behind the unprecedented firings of several U.S. Attorneys," he wrote in a statement sent to RAW STORY. "The White House continues to try to have it both ways – to block Congress from talking with witnesses and accessing documents and other evidence while saying nothing improper occurred. I hope the White House stops this stonewalling and accepts my offer to negotiate a workable solution to the Committee’s oversight requests, as so many previous White Houses have done throughout history."

Earlier testimony in the congressional investigation made it clear that Taylor and Miers were both intimately involved in various aspects of the firing of the US Attorneys which got underway at the end of 2006.

D. Kyle Sampson, the former chief of staff to Attorney General Alberto Gonzales, noted in his May 29 appearance that "I remember speaking with Harriet Miers and Bill Kelley about that. Sometimes this subject would come up after a Judicial Selection Committee meeting, which was a once-a-week meeting that happened in the Roosevelt Room."

He added, "The issue of replacing U.S. attorneys most frequently came up as sort of a pull-aside after a Judicial Selection meeting."

Former Justice Department White House Liaison Monica Goodling also suggested Taylor had been a key decision-maker in the Attorneys firings in June.

"There was an e-mail that Mr. Sampson forwarded to me, I think, on December 4, if I'm remembering correctly, that said that it had been circulated to different offices within the White House and that they had all signed off," Goodling told Rep. Sheila Jackson-Lee when she appeared before the House Judiciary Committee. "I think it said that White House political had signed off. Political is actually headed by Sara Taylor but does report to Mr. Rove, so I don't know for sure."

The White House had earlier refused to comply with a subpoena for documents as a prelude to the testimony of Miers and Taylor this coming week. It also made clear that if the House and Senate committees pressed their plan to hear from Miers and Taylor, it would assert executive privilege there as well.

In response, Senator Leahy answered last Sunday when asked if he was willing to schedule a vote to hold the White House in criminal contempt, "If they don't cooperate, yes, I'd go that far."

While Taylor's attorney suggested that she wanted to comply with the Senate's desire to hear from Rove's number two, he also appeared to argue that the possiiblity of targeting her for contempt was unfair.

"In our view, it is unfair to Ms. Taylor that this constitutional struggle might be played out with her as the object of an unseemly tug of war," he wrote in the Saturday letter. "If the executive and legislative branches of government are unable to reach an agreement, we urge the Senate not to use Ms. Taylor as the focus of the constitutional struggle...the White House, not Ms. Taylor, controls the assertion of executive privilege. If there has to be a clash, we urge the Senate to direct its sanction against the White House, not against a former staffer."

Taylor resigned from the White House in June, although reports of her resignation first surfaced in April.

Read Eggleston's letter here in PDF.

(In accordance with Title 17 U.S.C. Section 107, this material is distributed without profit to those who have expressed a prior interest in receiving the included information for research and educational purposes. The Lantern has no affiliation whatsoever with the originator of this article nor is The Lantern endorsed or sponsored by the originator.)

....And The Truth Shall Set Us Free

Finally, a Contractor Worse Than Halliburton

Hard to believe, eh?

Read On.....

Finally, a Contractor Worse Than Halliburton:

Just when it seemed no contractor in Iraq could possibly eclipse (or even equal) the venality and hutzpah of Halliburton, Glenn Kessler over at the Washington Post unearthed First Kuwaiti General Trade and Contracting Co.

If these dudes are first, one can but wonder what second might look like. The cause célèbre is the American Embassy in Iraq and the architect for this half-billion dollar luxury resort for American diplomats is Berger Devine Yaeger. I looked up their web site to see what are supposed to be the posted designs.

Now That's Hardball, Mr. Shuster!!!

If Hardball was like this every night, Matthew's numbers might be closer to those of Olbermann.

I'd sure watch it more than once a month. It just lifts a person's spirits to watch the Neocon dumb-asses and their outrageous remarks smacked down hard by someone who knows what he's talking about!

Talking Points Memo: by Joshua Micah Marshall July 7, 2007 11:21 AM:

Now that's Hardball.

A month ago, Fouad Ajami, a prominent neocon at Johns Hopkins, wrote a bizarre op-ed for the Wall Street Journal in Scooter Libby's defense. 'In 'The Soldier's Creed,'' Ajami wrote, 'there is a particularly compelling principle: 'I will never leave a fallen comrade.' ... [Libby] can't be left behind as a casualty of a war our country had once proudly claimed as its own.'

Yesterday, David Shuster, guest hosting MSNBC's Hardball, took Ajami to task for comparing Libby to American troops.

Ideally, this should be routine. A marginal neocon appeared on MSNBC to talk about a column he wrote a month ago. A professional broadcaster, who knew what he was talking about, pointed out the guest's errors of fact and judgment for the benefit of the television audience. At the risk of sounding ridiculous, this is what TV shows are supposed to do.

9 / 11 Panel Member: U.S Could Be Safer

Now there's an understatement!

Nothing will get done that costs business any money, even if it means millions of deaths.

Junior and Vice do nothing that big business doesn't like.

9 / 11 Panel Member: U.S Could Be Safer - New York Times:

WASHINGTON (AP) -- Al-Qaida is gaining strength and the United States is still not as safe as it should be, former Indiana congressman Tim Roemer said Saturday.

Speaking about a week after failed bombing attacks in Britain, the 9/11 commission member chided Congress and the White House for not taking enough action to secure the country from another attack. Roemer urged lawmakers to move forward on adopting safety measures the commission suggested and asked President Bush not to threaten to veto the proposed legislation.

''Only half of these bipartisan recommendations have been passed,'' Roemer said during the weekly Democratic radio address. ''The White House's execution and funding of them has received failing grades.''

'L.A. Times' Finds Two More GOP Senators Breaking With Bush on War

Now we're getting into dangerous territory for Bush and Cheney, or for the rest of us. us

'L.A. Times' Finds Two More GOP Senators Breaking With Bush on War:

NEW YORK While much of the media on Friday focused on two new Republican defections from the White House on the war in Iraq -- namely, Sen. Pete Domenici and Rep. Jerry Doolittle -- the Los Angeles Times found a couple more.

Staff writer Noam N. Levey secured quotes to this effect from two previously hawkish GOP senators.

'It should be clear to the president that there needs to be a new strategy,' said Sen. Lamar Alexander of Tennessee. 'Our policy in Iraq is drifting.'

Sen. Judd Gregg of New Hampshire, who had helped lead the effort against Democratic restrictions on the 'surge,' said: 'We don't seem to be making a lot of progress.' It is vital to have 'a clear blueprint for how we were going to draw down,' he added.

Don't Mess With The BFEE

This goes back to George I:

Whistle-Blower's Fight For Pension Drags On - washingtonpost.com:

From a cramped motor home in a Montana campground where Internet access is as spotty as the trout, Richard Barlow wakes each morning to battle Washington.

Once a top intelligence officer at the Pentagon who helped uncover Pakistan's efforts to acquire nuclear weapons, Barlow insisted on telling the truth, and it led to his undoing."

Pardon Me?

Just Pass the Haldol .....nothing will matter after a nap....we promise.

Cannonfire:

Eleanor Clift (accessed by way of Josh Marshall) has offered the wisest 'take' on Libby. Remember when we all expected Scooter to sing a song implicating Cheney and/or Rove? Instead, his lawyers barely put up a defense. Libby must have known all along that he would never do one day behind bars.

The President's commutation of Scooter Libby's sentence has caused W's defenders to dredge up Bill Clinton's pardon of fugitive financier Marc Rich. We have already taken one retrospective look at the Rich affair (scroll down or go here), and we have noted a delicious irony: Clinton's thinking was swayed, in part, by Rich's lawyer -- Scooter Libby.

Sofla, one of our readers, offered a comment that deserves wider attention, hence this post. She places the Rich affair in context -- and that context has a name: Rudolph Giuliani.

Why are we so afraid? (Damn Good Question?)

Oddy, many of us are afraid of that and whom we have no real reason to fear.

We are not as afraid of, or pissed off at, those whom we should be able to trust, but cannot.

Some of us are not afraid of either. We are totally insane, but so were our founders, truth be told. Revolutionaries going up against the King of England in the late 1700's. How freakin' crazy was that?

Why are we so afraid? « Scholars and Rogues:

We were afraid long before 9/11.

As so many have observed, fear causes us to trade freedom for security, real or perceived. Fear makes us sheep, a lesson that’s not lost on those who seek to acquire, retain and extend power. Fear causes us to follow not those who’d deliver us from fear or its causes, but rather those who profit from it.

But why are we so afraid?

This is a question I’ve been thinking and studying on for some time - longer even than I realized. As it turns out I did a good bit of research in the ’90s that bears directly on the issue, and while I don’t claim to have a definite answer nailed down, I do believe I have a theory, and maybe it’s one we can leverage as we try to infuse the Republic with a bit more reason. It’s longish, but bear with me - hopefully the payoff will reward your patience.

More Than The Money Primary

How and why does money translate into votes?

It doesn't have to.

It's really very simple. The people with the most money can afford more airtime and are given much more, free of charge on Cabal news. The media thus decides whom we can vote for in the general election. Everyone wants to vote for a winner, no matter that he or she may not have their best interests at heart. The media is more than happy to tell you who those people are, on both sides of the insane duality-lie of a political system with which we are cursed. They are the ones with all the money, usually an indication that they are corporate-approved

We have taken to paying attention to: (It goes without saying that we must believe in his/her message and more, we have to have some faith that he or she can and will carry out the plan)

1) Of whom does the media, especially the obvious right-wing media, constantly make fun? This candidate is probably the biggest threat to corporate interests, not ours.

2) What is the ratio of donors to total money raised. If the candidate is not getting most or a huge percentage of his/her money from grassroots, individual donors, they are corporate approved.

3) According to polls, can the candidate beat any Republican in the general election, providing Republican machines are not doing the vote counting and the candidate is not a gutless wonder who will refuse to fight for our votes even if it takes months and an all-out revolution?

Right now, the one candidate who meets all of our standards is John Edwards

More Than The Money Primary - CommonDreams.org:

But grassroots activists should ask themselves a question about the money primary?

Why are the frontrunners raising so much money? Is it because they have the best ideas? The best bases of support?

Hardly. Clinton, who has been the strongest figure in the recent Democratic debates, is raising her money in big chunks from many of the same business interests that backed George W. Bush and other Republicans. Obama has a broader pool of givers, but the attraction seems to be his personal dynamism rather than his soft stands on the issues and his tepid debate performances — and he, too, is attracting a good deal of so-called “establishment” money.

In fact, as Republican presidential contenders struggle to keep up with the Democrats in the fund-raising race, there is much evidence to suggest that big-money interests are moving their chips to the Democratic table and placing their bets on Clinton and to a somewhat lesser extent on Obama.

Clinton and Obama are acceptable to those interests.

Edwards, in contrast, has taken strong stands and attracted a substantial number of small contributors. Unfortunately for Edwards, many of his strong stands challenge corporate power — in ways that neither Clinton or Obama has so far done.

Virginia May Spurn GOP in '08 - washingtonpost.com

Disaffected Republicans everywhere we look.

Virginia May Spurn GOP in '08 - washingtonpost.com:

Virginia, usually a reliably Republican state in presidential elections, may become a key battleground in the 2008 election as broadly negative views among independents of President Bush and the war in Iraq have altered the presidential race.

Mirroring the national mood, Virginians' approval of Bush and support for U.S. policies in Iraq have eroded as the war has dragged on. Bush is the worst of the past nine presidents, say Virginia's independent voters, who helped him win in 2004 but now say they are more likely to prefer that a Democrat rather than a Republican be the next president.

54% Want Cheney Impeached

Ain't gonna happen, not even if it gets to the super-majority of 67% of Americans.

For reasons we still do not know, let alone understand, no one is going to be impeached.

We don't buy the reasons we've heard so far.

Something else is going on, here.

54% Want Cheney Impeached:

A new poll conducted by http://www.americanresearchgroup.com finds that 54% of American adults want the US House of Representatives to begin impeachment proceedings against Vice President Dick Cheney, including 76% of Democrats, 17% of Republicans, and 51% of Independents. The same poll found 46% of voters in favor of the same thing for President George W. Bush, including 69% of Democrats, 13% of Republicans, and 50% of independents.

The poll also asked about Bush's commuting of I Lewis Scooter Libby's sentence, and found that 31% of Americans approve, and 11% would approve of a full pardon.

The details are available at http://www.americanresearchgroup.com

D.C. madam vows to release records

No commutations or pardons for Vice, if his name is, in fact, on this list.

Are any of these guys current Rethug candidates?

Vallejo Times Herald - D.C. madam vows to release records:

The 46 pounds of Sprint phone records, stored meticulously over the D.C. Madam's 13-year escort service, is a scandal in waiting that looms large over the nation's capital.

And if the current court-ordered injunction is lifted, allowing Deborah Jeane Palfrey access to her files, she vows to send every last name and phone number to any journalist, blogger or private detective wanting them.

'I kind of think it will be like deciphering the Da Vinci Code,' said Palfrey, in an exclusive Times-Herald interview Friday at a local coffee shop.

Of the more than 10,000 client names within the phone records, 'a couple dozen to 100 or so' are Washington D.C. bigwigs.

'Statistically, this is absolutely a certainty,' she said.

Altitude Drop For Lieberman the Hawk

Couldn't happen to a nicer schmuck!

Altitude Drop For Lieberman the Hawk | The New York Observer:

When Connecticut’s voters returned him to the Senate as an Independent, a new power-broker, coveted equally by both parties, had been born. Yesterday it became clear just how much his influence has waned.

In sparing Libby, Pres. Bush built an IED that blew up the judicial system

Who could possibly blame any American who no longer has any respect for the rule of law; a rule of law that no longer exists, thanks to George W Bush and Dick Cheney, both of whom will live to regret the day they blew it up.

In sparing Libby, Pres. Bush built an IED that blew up the judicial system:

Getting back to Scooter Libby’s conviction by a jury of his peers, jury notices go out to many Americans on a daily basis. While some do anything to get out of serving on any jury, there are many that rise to the occasion to serve their country in which they partake in the judicial process. Through this commutation which a full pardon has not been ruled out by President Bush, what he did was spit in the face of that jury and juries across this nation hearing other cases. He (Bush) once again, subverted the rule of law. He might as well have built an IED and blew up the judicial system.

As Americans celebrated Independence Day in which our founding fathers gave us the gift of democracy, this president along with his vice president spat upon their graves. By subverting the rule of law and over-riding a jury’s decision, if President Bush were alive at the time of our country’s birth would have sided with the British. He thinks he is king and most certainly acts like one who is impervious to the rule of law and thinks that it does not apply to him and any associated with him.

Waiting for Fitz

Wish we had a shred of hope that this will happen but, alas, hope is slipping further and further away that anything will ever be legally done about the criminals in the White House.

Waiting for Fitz:

But there's still one person who can remedy this outrage –- prosecutor Patrick Fitzgerald. During closing arguments in the Libby perjury case Fitzgerald noted that Libby's lies and evasions had 'left a cloud over the office of the Vice President.' Okay. Well, now is the perfect time to either dispel that cloud or let lightning strike where it will.

How? As simple as this:

1. Impanel a new federal grand jury.
2. Grant Libby full immunity, meaning he could not take the Fifth, and if he tried he can be jailed for contempt –- just as reporter Judy Miller was for trying to protect her source –- Scooter Libby.
3. This time call Dick Cheney and put him under oath.

Simple as that. What crime is being investigated? No piddling perjury this time. No sir. This time Fitzgerald should be investigating is conspiracy to obstruct justice. It's just a suspicion. But that's what grand juries do for a living –- investigate suspicion that a crime or crimes have been committed.

Joseph Wilson responds to Tony Snow:

Tony Snow is a liar and a putz.

But consider where he came from: Faux Noise.

Joseph Wilson responds to Tony Snow: Bush officials show "deep disdain" for those who risk lives for their country | Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington:

Here is the response from Ambassador Wilson:

To claim that leaking the identity of a covert operative is simply part of the 'Washington culture' suggests a deep disdain for those patriots who risk their lives to protect our national security. Mr. Snow's comment was insulting not just to Valerie Wilson, but to all covert operatives who believe that in return for their sacrifices, our government will do everything it can to protect them. A genuine and sincere apology from the White House -- not just to Mrs. Wilson, but the entire intelligence community -- is long overdue.

The president is now implicated in an ongoing cover-up and obstruction of justice, there remains, according to special counsel Fitzgerald, a cloud over the Vice President and Libby is a four time convicted liar, perjurer, and obstructor of justice. The administration once again, regrettably, attacks others rather than accepts responsibility for their actions and crimes. The American people know better. We know the difference between right and wrong even if the president, the vice president and their spokesmen do not.

Not all would put a heroic sheen on Thompson's Watergate role

Not All?

No one but the most idiotic would.


Not all would put a heroic sheen on Thompson's Watergate role - The Boston Globe:

WASHINGTON -- The day before Senate Watergate Committee minority counsel Fred Thompson made the inquiry that launched him into the national spotlight -- asking an aide to President Nixon whether there was a White House taping system -- he telephoned Nixon's lawyer.

Thompson tipped off the White House that the committee knew about the taping system and would be making the information public. In his all-but-forgotten Watergate memoir, 'At That Point in Time,' Thompson said he acted with 'no authority' in divulging the committee's knowledge of the tapes, which provided the evidence that led to Nixon's resignation. It was one of many Thompson leaks to the Nixon team, according to a former investigator for Democrats on the committee, Scott Armstrong , who remains upset at Thompson's actions.

Construction Woes Add to Fears at Embassy in Iraq

It's pretty clear that Bush and Cheney had big plans for Iraq, until everything went to hell, just like everything they touch.

Construction Woes Add to Fears at Embassy in Iraq - washingtonpost.com:

U.S. diplomats in Iraq, increasingly fearful over their personal safety after recent mortar attacks inside the Green Zone, are pointing to new delays and mistakes in the U.S. Embassy construction project in Baghdad as signs that their vulnerability could grow in the months ahead.

A toughly worded cable sent from the embassy to State Department headquarters on May 29 highlights a cascade of building and safety blunders in a new facility to house the security guards protecting the embassy. The guards' base, which remains unopened today, is just a small part of a $592 million project to build the largest U.S. embassy in the world.

Fed Up With War, Some Won't Pay Taxes

The only thing that surprises me is that it took this long. That should have been the first thing ant-war activists did.

My Way News - Fed Up With War, Some Won't Pay Taxes: "Peace activists are considering a mass tax resistance campaign next April to step up pressure to end the war in Iraq, Benn said.

Many tax protesters say they redirect the money they withhold to charities. Some, like Joanne Sheehan of Norwich, keep their income below taxable levels.

'I don't see the point of working for peace and paying for war,' Sheehan said.

Gross said he now manages to live on about $15,000 per year by carefully tracking his spending.

He acknowledged the tax resistance movement is too small to stop the war.

'But I think what we're doing is showing the way for people in the anti-war movement,' Gross said. 'I can look myself in the mirror and say at least I'm not supporting it, at least I'm not part of the machine.'

When the 'Bleed-Out' Begins

There was a time I would have had no doubt that the country would pull together against any outside enemy.

After 6 years of Bush and Cheney, constant hate speech from the right-wing pundit class, I'm no longer sure.

Would I risk my life for that of Ann Coulter, Sean Hannity, Glenn Beck, Bill O'Reilly?

I doubt it.

David Ignatius - When the 'Bleed-Out' Begins - washingtonpost.com:

How would America react to a future terrorist attack? Would the country come together to combat its adversaries or would it pull farther apart?

Perhaps we will never have to confront the question, you say. Perhaps our good luck will hold, or our intelligence will detect all the plots and plotters, or the terrorists will conclude that America is so divided anyway, why do anything that might unite the country? Maybe things will turn out that way, but a prudent person wouldn't bet on it.

A Declaration The President Ignores

He ignores many, many things.

John Fabian Witt - A Declaration The President Ignores - washingtonpost.com:

As we gather around picnic tables and backyard barbecues today, we should pause to consider a forgotten dimension of the occasion -- one that is as important now as it was on July 4, 1776.

We all know that the Declaration of Independence announced the United States' freedom from the British Empire. We all remember that it declared certain truths to be self-evident. But what you probably haven't heard is that the declaration also advanced an idea about war. The idea was that war ought to be governed by law.

Liberties lost

Thoughts of liberties lost and government run amok, this Independence Day weekend

Liberties lost - baltimoresun.com:

Besides all his other gifts, Thomas Jefferson appears to have been prophetic.

In his first presidential inaugural address in 1801, he ticked off a long list of essential principles of government, featuring highlights of the Bill of Rights, and called preservation of the government 'in its whole constitutional vigor' the 'anchor of our peace at home and safety abroad.' These principles 'should be the creed of our political faith,' he said. 'Should we wander from them in moments of error or of alarm, let us hasten to retrace our steps and to regain the road which alone leads to peace, liberty and safety.'

Clinton slams Bush over Libby maneuver

Clinton slams Bush over Libby maneuver - Yahoo! News:

KEOKUK, Iowa - Democratic presidential contender Hillary Rodham Clinton drew a distinction between President Bush's decision to commute the sentence of White House aide I. Lewis 'Scooter' Libby — which she has harshly criticized — and her husband's 140 pardons in his closing hours in office.

'I believe that presidential pardon authority is available to any president, and almost all presidents have exercised it,' Clinton said in a telephone interview with The Associated Press. 'This (the Libby decision) was clearly an effort to protect the White House. ... There isn't any doubt now, what we know is that Libby was carrying out the implicit or explicit wishes of the vice president, or maybe the president as well, in the further effort to stifle dissent.'

Libby, a former chief of staff for Vice President Dick Cheney, had been sentenced to 30 months in prison as well as two years' probation and a $250,000 fine for perjury in connection with the leaking of CIA agent Valerie Plane's name to reporters.

Libby Sebntence in Line with Other Sentences For Same Crimes

We all know what the only difference is....Libby knows too much.

Attorneys see irony in Libby case - Yahoo! News:

WASHINGTON - President Bush knew what he was getting in 2001 when he made Reggie B. Walton one of his first picks for a seat on the federal bench: a tough-on-crime judge with a reputation for handing down stiff sentences.

A former deputy drug adviser, federal prosecutor and Superior Court judge, Walton seemed a perfect fit for the new president. And Walton didn't disappoint, proving to be exactly the kind of no-nonsense judge Bush was looking for.

Until now.

A place to push impeachment

After Libby's commutation, do we really have any choice?

A place to push impeachment - Los Angeles Times:

If President Bush or Vice President Dick Cheney were ever to be impeached, their foes could cite this Independence Day as a milestone — the day that the nation's first 'impeachment headquarters' opened its doors in a storefront near the Beverly Center.

'This is an impeachment 4th of July,' Byron De Lear, a Green Party activist, said Wednesday. He called removing Bush and Cheney 'a patriotic duty to restore the integrity of the United States.'

Those assembled cited various Bush actions or policies, including 'lies that led the U.S. into war.'

They also said that Bush--Cheney policies precipitated torture, illegal spying on American citizens, and the curtailment of privacy and civil rights in the name of fighting terrorism.

Anthrax Coverup: A Government Insider Speaks Out | AfterDowningStreet.org

FINALLY!

It's about time.

Our question is how is it possible that the anthrax attacks were not an inside job, and when are we going to get to the bottom of it?

Anthrax Coverup: A Government Insider Speaks Out | AfterDowningStreet.org: "

Is it possible that the anthrax attacks were launched from within our own government? A former Bush 1 adviser thinks it is.

Francis A. Boyle, an international law expert who worked under the first Bush Administration as a bioweapons adviser in the 1980s, has said that he is convinced the October 2001 anthrax attacks that killed five people were perpetrated and covered up by criminal elements of the U.S. government. The motive: to foment a police state by killing off and intimidating opposition to post-9/11 legislation such as the USA PATRIOT Act and the later Military Commissions Act.

FBI: Suicide Bombers a Concern

While we aren't exactly shaking in our boots about it, we must remember that there are certain people who are, apparently, getting pretty desperate.

When people with the motive, means and opportunity start getting more and more desperate, it's time to pay attention to statements like this one.

By PAT MILTON

NEW YORK - Suicide bombers have not hit the United States since the 9/11 terrorist hijacking attacks, but they remain a constant concern because of their prevalence around the globe and determination to die for their causes, according to the FBI's chief of counterterrorism.

He does not believe America is overflowing with homegrown terrorists, but Joseph Billy said "a significant number" of attacks have been thwarted since airliners were crashed into the World Trade Center, the Pentagon and a Pennsylvania farm field on Sept. 11, 2001.

While declining to divulge the nature of the averted plots, Billy credited intelligence that led to either fortified security around potential targets or identification of suspected terrorists. Authorities recently stopped homegrown plots targeting the Fort Dix military base in New Jersey and a jet fuel pipeline at New York's Kennedy International Airport.

Billy, the FBI assistant director in charge of counterterrorism, made his comments during a rare wide-ranging interview with The Associated Press, days before the failed car bombing in London and the airport bombing in Glasgow.

He has declined to comment on those British bombings because he did not want to interfere with the British investigations.

Billy stressed the need for diligence, saying people plotting against the U.S. from within are more familiar with potential targets than foreign terrorists and can move around more easily.
The FBI, other law enforcement and intelligence agencies continue to raise the nation's already "vigorous vigilance," hunting individuals who may want to use explosives to make a statement or further a cause, Billy said.

"Martyrdom and suicide bombers are a great challenge because of their commitment, their willingness to die for sheer belief," Billy said. "Any explosive device, particularly suicide bombs, creates a real challenge to learn about it and then interdict or disrupt it."

The FBI continuously scrutinizes intelligence on new devices and tactics tested by insurgents in Iraq and Afghanistan, wary that they could surface in the U.S., according to Billy.
So far no IEDs _ improvised explosive devices _ used with deadly effect as roadside bombs in Iraq have appeared in this country, but officials are following the trends. Police in New York recently put emphasis on screening shipments of chlorine after learning it had become a favored component of homemade bombs in Iraq.

The National Joint Terrorism Task Force provides law enforcement across the country with a high level of awareness on locations or ingredients to monitor _ awareness that is passed along to the public.

"I think it is hard to go into a Home Depot or Lowes to purchase a truckload of fertilizer without someone calling police to report, `This person just bought 2,000 pounds of fertilizer and I don't think he is a farmer,'" Billy said.

Ammonium nitrate fertilizer has been used as an ingredient in bombs, including the one that destroyed the federal building in Oklahoma City in 1995.

The public has responded in a big way in the war against terrorism, including a video store employee who told authorities about his suspicions that led to the uncovering of the Fort Dix plot.

"The enemy is very real," Billy said. "We operate every day as if we are the target. ... You can go from neutral to extreme to becoming someone who is committed to terrorism and blowing someone up in a short period of time. You can't leave any of it unchecked."

Al-Qaida remains a very real threat, and is still the backbone of the international terrorist movement, although mergers with other groups have made it less centralized, Billy said. Al-Qaida's leader, Osama bin Laden, remains No. 1 on the FBI terrorism list.

"It is very important to capture him and bring him to justice," Billy said. "It may take awhile but we remain optimistic."

Billy said his biggest concern is preventing terrorists from acquiring weapons of mass destruction.

"There is no escalated chatter on it but they have made statements that if they had it they would not hesitate to use it," he said.

"They are committed to destroying our country, our way of life," he said. "But we are just as committed to keeping it safe and secure."

Copyright 2007 The Associated Press. All rights reserved.

(In accordance with Title 17 U.S.C. Section 107, this material is distributed without profit to those who have expressed a prior interest in receiving the included information for research and educational purposes. The Lantern has no affiliation whatsoever with the originator of this article nor is The Lantern endorsed or sponsored by the originator.)

....And The Truth Shall Set Us Free

DOJ Documents Show Sampson Deleted Email

More Obstruction

DOJ Documents Show Sampson Deleted Email:

An internal Department of Justice email dealing with a series of the most controversial aspects of the US attorney firing scandal was deleted by a DOJ official the day after Congress began to address the firings. Three months later, the official told Congressional investigators he had not destroyed any documents or deleted any records relating to the US attorney firings.

Dan Froomkin - Peering Inside Bush's Head - washingtonpost.com

People sense that he's nuttier than a fruitcake

Dan Froomkin - Peering Inside Bush's Head - washingtonpost.com:

It's open season on psychoanalyzing President Bush.

The Washington Post this morning unfurls a 3,000-word attempt to figure out what's going on inside Bush's head as his presidency collapses around him. A particular mystery: How he is able to remain so calm and resolute amid so many signs of his own failures.

Dan Froomkin - Obstruction of Justice, Continued

Dan Froomkin - Obstruction of Justice, Continued - washingtonpost.com:

During the course of I. Lewis 'Scooter' Libby's trial for obstruction of justice and perjury, we learned a lot about his bosses.

Incremental discoveries that didn't garner major headlines nevertheless added to what we know -- and can reasonably surmise -- about Vice President Cheney and President Bush's role in the leak of CIA agent Valerie Plame's identity, which was revealed during the course of the administration's defense of its decision to go to war in Iraq.

Consider the Source: 'NYT' Reporter Targets Iran

Hey, Gordon, why don't you just shut the hell up, before someone does it for you?

Consider the Source: 'NYT' Reporter Targets Iran:

Consider the Source:

'NYT' Reporter Targets Iran
As if he hadn't already done enough damage, helping to promote the American invasion of Iraq with deeply flawed articles in The New York Times, Michael R. Gordon is now writing scare stories that offer ammunition for the growing chorus of neo-cons calling for a U.S. strike against Iran.

Keith Olbermann calls on Bush to resign

Good theater, won't happen.

Margie Burns :: Keith Olbermann calls on Bush to resign:

In a pretty spectacular peroration tonight, MSNBC’s Keith Olbermann delivered a ten-minute indictment of the president and vice president and asked Bush to perform one last act of patriotism: resign. Saying “Even Richard Nixon knew it was time to resign” and adding that Nixon’s resignation, belated though it was, ranked as one final action of nonpartisanship, Olbermann urged George W. Bush to emulate Nixon, “not for self, not for party” but for the country. Olbermann also expressed a wish that Bush could get Cheney to resign.

Olbermann also prefaced his speech, in one of several promotional moments, with the comment that “No one is holding their breath on this, but frankly, were Mr. Cheney and Mr. Bush true patriots, they would resign."

Jackson: Impeachment Is the Right Response

Yes, impeachment is the right response, but it ain't gonna have it.

Jackson: Impeachment Is the Right Response:

Illinois Congressman Jesse Jackson Jr., a member of the House of Representatives so Constitutionally-minded that he wrote a book on the subject, responded as a founding father would have to the news that President Bush had commuted the 30-month prison sentence of former White House insider I. 'Scooter' Libby.

How so? By calling for consideration of the impeachment of the president for abusing the pardoning – and the related commutation of sentences -- privileges of his office.

Bush and Cheney walk, too

Which, of course is the whole point of everything they do:
Hang on to power and stay out of jail.

Bush and Cheney walk, too | Salon:

Even as the president confesses that Scooter Libby engaged in a cover-up -- after all, that was the verdict -- he completes the ultimate obstruction of justice in the Plame affair."

Gut Feelings and Political Choice — Rockridge Nation

Thinking Points Discussion: Gut Feelings and Political Choice — Rockridge Nation:

Conservatives have been very successful at tainting progressive concepts. Progressives need to learn how this works so we can protect ourselves and advance our ideas at the same time. In this article, the second in a series on political preference, I would like to share how feelings of 'goodness' or 'badness' perform this important role in making decisions.

Last week I introduced the phenomenon called 'loss aversion' that steers people toward maintaining the status quo (even if it is harmful to them). The implications of this status quo bias for progressive efforts to change politics are paramount. The critical component of loss aversion that I would like to elaborate on now is the way unconscious 'gut feelings' bias our preferences. The right-wing spin wizard Frank Luntz understands this well when he talks about which words conservatives should use to keep people from caring about the climate crisis:

No Joy This Fourth Of July

I plan to sleep through most of it.

BobGeiger.com: No Joy This Fourth Of July:

'A Prince whose character is thus marked by every act which may define a Tyrant, is unfit to be the ruler of a free people.' ~ Declaration of Independence

I've always enjoyed the Fourth of July.

It's summer, it's a festive holiday about celebration -- not mourning or remembrance -- and, as a military Veteran, it has been a time to feel good about whatever miniscule role I've played in maintaining our country's strength and freedom.

But I'm going to skip the barbeques and just go to work today. I do this because the state of my country under the reign of George W. Bush, Dick Cheney and their entire cabal of crooks and non-patriots, leaves me with a feeling so hollow and barren that I simply cannot use drinking a beer, eating a hot dog or watching fireworks as a soothing balm.

Cover-up Complete?

Its doesn't have to. There are other things that can be done, but they probably won't

Consortiumnews.com:

President George W. Bush’s decision to spare former White House aide I. Lewis “Scooter” Libby from jail marks the final act of a crime and cover-up that began four years ago when Bush, Vice President Dick Cheney and other top officials launched a campaign to discredit a critic of the Iraq War."

Bush Turns Americans Against Flying the Flag

He sure turned me against even looking at it, as it has come to stand for nothing but corruption and murder.

Pensito Review » Bush Turns Americans Against Flying the Flag:

After decades in the flag business, Randolph Smith, president of Chicago-based Advertising Flag Co. Inc., said he has seen interest in the flag ebb and flow, according to the general sentiment people have about the country’s direction.

Immediately following the 9-11 attacks, for example, U.S. flag sales accounted for 25 percent of his business. Today, it’s about 16 to 18 percent and has been declining since 2003, he said.

“When people are feeling better about the country they buy more flags,” Smith said. “It was like this during the Nixon years. It wasn’t our bread and butter then either.”

Let’s Have a Look at Scooter Libby’s ‘Exceptional Public Service’

Let's do....

Pensito Review » Let’s Have a Look at Scooter Libby’s ‘Exceptional Public Service’:

When Pres. George Bush commuted Scooter Libby’s prison sentence on Monday, he cited Libby’s “years of exceptional public service.” A casual observer might be surprised to learn Libby has been an “exceptional” public servant, since what is generally known about him is that he is a bureaucrat and neocon political hack whose most notable activity prior to his indictment was his role in assisting Pres. Bush and Vice Pres. Dick Cheney in taking the country to war under false pretexts.

Judges behaving badly

This is really nothing new. It goes on in District courts all over the land; Judges acing like they are are auditioning to be the next Judge Judy, often say horrible things to and about the people before them, insulting lawyers and treating defendants like subhumans.

Then they somehow expect that those very same people will pay a fine a continue to respect the law. Yeah right.

Judiciary | Judges behaving badly | Economist.com:

A $54m lawsuit over a pair of pinstriped trousers that went missing from a Washington, DC, cleaners was thrown out by a judge this week. It had attracted worldwide ridicule. The fact that the case was brought, not by a random loony, but by a former judge has added to the sense that something is wrong not just with America's litigation laws, but with the kind of men and women Americans choose to sit in judgment over them.

A whole series of judicial misdemeanours, ranging from the titillating to the outrageous, has emerged over the past year. Take the Florida state judge, John Sloop, who was ousted after complaints about his “rude and abusive” behaviour. This included an order to strip-search and jail 11 defendants for arriving late in traffic court after being misdirected. Or the Californian judge, José Velasquez, sacked in April for a plethora of misconduct, including extending the sentences of defendants who dared question his rulings.

Bush Abuses

opinion:

If you want to know what's going on behind the scenes in George W. Bush's reign as U.S. president, you ought to be subscribing to Texas gadfly Jim Hightower's 'Hightower Lowdown.'

The monthly four-page report regularly takes a look at the latest federal government outrage that typically flies below the radar screen of the mainstream media. This month, for example, Hightower focuses on the Bush administration's practice of outsourcing key government functions to corporate America, especially corporate America that has been friendly to the Bush regime.

In fact, Hightower asserts, there may be as many rent-a-troops in Iraq today as there are members of the U.S. military. The largest private contractor, which isn't news, is Halliburton, of course, which has seen its government contracts rise by a stunning 600 percent since Bush became president.

Bush Commutes Libby's Jail Sentence

Bush Commutes Libby's Jail Sentence:

"It's appropriate.

The president who led the nation into a disastrous war in Iraq by peddling false statements and misrepresentations has come to the rescue of a White House aide convicted of lying by commuting his sentence. Before the ink was dry on today's court order denying Scooter Libby's latest appeal--a motion to allow him to stay out of jail while he was challenging his conviction--George W. Bush commuted Libby's sentence. Libby will no longer have to serve the 30-month prison sentence ordered by federal district court Judge Reggie Walton. He will, though, have to pay the $250,000 fine that was part of the sentence.

"There Is A Revolution Coming"

It's the only thing that will save us, if anything will.

The Progressive Daily Beacon: "There Is A Revolution Coming":

The woman wore her hair short, professionally styled and highlighted; the nails on her hands were expertly manicured; and the frames of her designer glasses perfectly complimented both the tint of her hair and the tone of her skin. Still, the color coordinated medical scrubs she wore and her new Toyota SUV aside, the woman was obviously some kind of left-wing radical.

Actually, she was the furthest thing from any wing at all. The woman was the smack-dab center of Middle America, but that isn't how she would have been presented by big business interests, America's corporate-owned media, the Republican Party and its associated radio propagandists. I know how she would have been labeled because when she overheard me mention Michael Moore's new movie, 'SiCKO,' she said, 'Oh, is it playing here? Where? I want to go see it.' And, there was more.

Impeachment: We’ve Got a Job to Do - CommonDreams.org

Impeachment: We’ve Got a Job to Do - CommonDreams.org:

The following remarks were offered by John Kaminski, Chair of the Maine Lawyers for Democracy, at the Citizens Summit for Impeachment Rally that took place in Kennebunkport, Maine on Sunday, July 1st, 2007:

Thank you to the Maine Campaign to Impeach and thank you to the Kennebunk Peace Department for organizing this rally and march — they have done a great job. Their countless hours of effort are the reason we are able to be here today.And thank you all for standing with me on this beautiful Sunday afternoon, instead of being at the beach, a picnic or a softball game or fishing with President Putin in the ocean off Walker’s Point. Thank you for recognizing that we’ve got a job to do together.

I am the Chair of Maine Lawyers for Democracy, an organization of around 80 Maine lawyers who have called for impeachment. We firmly believe that impeachment is ultimately about accountability. And there is much to hold the Bush - Cheney Administration to account for.

Editorials Hit Libby’s Get-Out-of-Jail-Free Card - CommonDreams.org

The reaction is really over-whelming, especially for a holiday weekend.

Now, let's see if we can keep it in the headlines until after the holiday.

Editorials Hit Libby’s Get-Out-of-Jail-Free Card - CommonDreams.org:

NEW YORK - The bloggers, politicians, and TV pundits weighed in quickly Monday after President Bush took the surprisingly sudden step of commuting Lewis “Scooter” Libby’s 30-month prison sentence for perjury and obstruction of justice in the CIA leak case. Now newspaper editorials are appearing, and nearly all of them have condemned the Bush act.

0703 05First up, The New York Times and The Washington Post, which had viewed the case quite differently, each ripped the Bush move.

From the Times’ Tuesday editorial: “Mr. Bush’s assertion that he respected the verdict but considered the sentence excessive only underscored the way this president is tough on crime when it’s committed by common folk …

Libby: One More Twist in the Yellowcake Road

This could be Bush's biggest mistake; this reminds me all too much of the Saturday Night Massacre.

That was the night my Dear Old Dad, a Republican (and one of the good ones), said he knew Nixon was toast.

Loyalty when, taken to its extremes, is nothing more than a twisted character trait and this is where it always leads, wrack and ruin.

Libby: One More Twist in the Yellowcake Road - CommonDreams.org:

So much for, “No man is above the law.”

The chief prosecutor, jury, trial judge — a Republican he himself appointed to the bench. The federal appeals panel. The majority of public opinion. All ignored.

I know, I know. The president was within his constitutional rights commuting Scooter Libby’s sentence for perjury, false statements and obstruction of justice. Article Two, Section 2 and all that. He claimed Libby’s two-and-a-half-year prison sentence was “excessive.”

Call Out The Instigator - CommonDreams.org

Let's not put Cindy back in the role of leader.

If this is to be the revolution we need in this country it must be as leaderless as possible.

One light is too easily extinguished, even three flames is no real problem, as we should all be well aware.

But several million flames threaten a bonfire of light, not so easily extinguished and seen for miles.

Call Out The Instigator - CommonDreams.org:

Call out the Instigator
Because there’s something in the air
We got to get together sooner or later
Because the revolution’s here
You know it’s right!

-Thunderclap Newman

Bush presidency enters terminal phase

Those poor people over there, where this piece was written, just don't get it.

They don't have any idea what we are still up against over here.

We don't make the assumption that Bush has any plan to leave office. Surely they don't see Bush and Cheney as powerless, at this point.

As time draws night for the next election and/or the end of Bush's term, the more dangerous it gets for all of us.

It is far from time to celebrate.


Asia Times Online :: Middle East News - Bush presidency enters terminal phase:

WASHINGTON - There may be moments during their summit at his family's compound in Kennebunkport, Maine, when President George W Bush may look with envy on his Russian counterpart, Vladimir Putin, whose popularity at home guarantees him vast influence even as he prepares to leave office just nine months from now.

Not so for Bush, whose public approval ratings, according to polls released in just the past week, have reached all-time lows and
whose influence - even over his own party - appears to be declining at warp speed.

The latter phenomenon was demonstrated to devastating effect last week when 37 of the Senate's 49 Republicans deserted the president on a critical procedural vote that appears to have doomed Bush's hopes for comprehensive immigration reform through the remaining 18 months of his term in office.

Was Commuting Libby an Impeachable Offense?

Not unless it can be proven to be part of an on-going conspiracy to obstruct justice.

I'm convinced that it is, beyond any doubt, let alone reasonable doubt. But, it must be proven in a court of law, or it isn't worth warm spit..

The court of public opinion is already speaking out loud and clear, but no one listens to it anymore, apparently.

William Rivers Pitt | Was Commuting Libby an Impeachable Offense?:

Hovering above all this is one all-encompassing question: did George W. Bush commit a dead-bang impeachable offense by commuting Libby's sentence?

A wise man once said that the life of the law is procedure. There are processes to be undertaken, papers to be filed and forms to be obeyed. In this commutation, no procedures whatsoever appear to have been followed. The haste in which this action was undertaken smacks of fear, desperation, and of a cover-up in process.

Consider the factors.

Meetiigs Have Been Called, Again

Light blogging

....And The Truth Shall Set Us Free

Eugene Robinson - Why Not Here?

We salute your gumption, Mr. Robinson, for writing this.

We've been thinking the same thing, "why not here?"

We came to a slightly different conlusion, but that's another whole post

Eugene Robinson - Why Not Here? - washingtonpost.com:

I should knock wood before writing this, but why is it that the United States hasn't seen attempted terrorist bombings similar to the ones that fizzled Friday and Saturday in Britain?

The investigation of the botched attacks in London and Glasgow is far from complete, and authorities can't even be certain that this spasm of intended mayhem has ended. With suspects still being rounded up, it's hard to tell where these plotters fit on the scale that runs from 'trained al-Qaeda operative' all the way down to 'deluded, suicidal wannabe.'

Libby Pardon

Welcome to WorkingForChange:

Tuesday, July 3, 2007
3 Myths About Libby's Pardon

After I read a particular conservative columnist this morning, describing why the Libby pardon (and yes, I insist on calling it a 'pardon') was the only sane act in what he saw as the farce of Plamegate, I wanted to write a post screaming, 'SO AND SO IS A F***ING IDIOT.'

But I realized that wouldn't be useful. We all would agree he is an idiot. His brand would just be raised by mentioning him (which is why I won't right now...won't even link to him). And while venting is important, it's not everything.

Instead, something more constructive: 3 myths you'll hear Libby/Bush defenders repeat...and a quick way to respond...hopefully in today's water cooler conversations, these responses allow you a more useful talking point than calling your co-worker a f***ing idiot:

Myth #1: The crime wasn't important. The crimes at the heart of all of this -- the manipulations to drive us into an unnecessary war and the acts of personal vengeance to punish anyone who spoke out about the deceptions -- were important enough for Libby to lie about under oath. If you don't start punishing people somewhere -- even for the lesser crime of perjury -- you allow our rule of law to dissolve.

Read On ^

Freedom's Just Another Word....

This is scary, Folks

Nevertheless, it's just a forerunner to what we have expected to happen for over two years.

There's gonna be another terrorist event. A big one.

Big enough to change the topic and attack Iran, all in one fell swoop.

Welcome to WorkingForChange:

Monday, July 2, 2007
Freedom's Just Another Word...

As I read of Bush's pardon (why are they saying that he is 'commuting the sentence' rather than 'pardoning'...let's let the lawyers argue that out) of Libby, I can only think of Janis Joplin's 'Me and Bobby McGee':

Freedom's just another word for nothing left to lose.

Anyone who thought Bush would be humbled by a mid-term defeat, tanking approval ratings and the desertion of his own party, think again -- the man now has nothing left to lose...he's liable to do anything.

Can someone please make sure his finger is nowhere near the launch button?

Maybe we will get a glimpse of ...

of what Barak is really made of here.

Let him stand up and ask, "why is George Soros the devil to you people? "

Just give me a provable reason not to accept his support and I won't, but it had better be provable, not just right-wing talking points, because if accusations are made against Mr. Soros and they are frivolous and slanderous, I myself will call for a private fund to pay for a lawsuit against each and every person who makes the false claims.

It is time to put this whole George Soros is the Devil thing behind us once and for all.

How else do we beat the disinformation campaign that is never off the air waves?

The new personalities never confront any of them on their misinformation/disininformation BS.

It's time someone did.

So far, John Edwards is the only candidate who has.

I hope he keeps it up.

Crooks and Liars:

Jane Says

None of the 08 candidates, save John Edwards, has had the stones to speak out against Lieberman and his insane calls to attack Iran. Joe has now placed Obama in an extremely precarious position where, in order to defend a loyal supporter, he has to also feed into all the right wing narratives that attend Soros. He ought to have the guts to do it anyway.

Holy Joe Has Got To Go!

or something like that.

Sometimes one has to wonder if the NeoCons are on drugs, and that number clearly includes Lieberman.

How can else can one account for a person who has always seemed relatively sane to us all, suddenly becoming a frothing-at-the-mouth, Cheney-mean, growling hound of hell?


Crooks and Liars:

Holy Joe (when will he be given a job at the AEI?) gives Bill O’Reilly a wet kiss with this interview in NewsMax.

But Lieberman’s most pointed critique was aimed squarely at George Soros.Lieberman says of Soros, “His view of America is so negative. The places he’s put his money are, in my opinion, so destructive that it unsettles me.”

Soros, who gave $18 million to Democratic advocacy groups seeking to defeat President Bush in 2004, has said he supports Barack Obama for 2008. That troubles Lieberman, who says he doesn’t respect Soros’ values.

“This is the danger — somebody who has real potential like Obama gets co-opted by people whose hostile view of America and how to protect it and advance it is so different from mine and the views of most Americans,” Lieberman says.

More on the Libby Debacle, including Rover

Oddly, me thinks, the only thing even close to a call to action came from Senator Biden of all people.

I was expecting to find an inbox full of calls for action. Not one.

Hummm....

Wonder what's going on?

Crooks and Liars:

Just how close did Karl Rove come to being indicted by Patrick Fitzgerald? Surprisingly close.

The AP reported that several interesting documents related to the Plame leak investigation were unsealed late on Friday, and among the revelations are insights on Fitzgerald targeting Rove. As one judge wrote, “Regarding [Time reporter Matthew] Cooper, the special counsel has demonstrated that his testimony is essential to charging decisions regarding White House adviser Karl Rove.” (Jeralyn Merritt notes that the unredacted materials highlight just how close Rove was to a criminal charge.)

And yet, while we were learning about Rove just barely skating by on an indictment, we were also learning that Rove’s security clearance at the White House has been renewed.

Remember when Bush vowed to fire anyone in his White House involved with leaking classified information? In Rove’s case, the president not only broke his word and kept Rove in his powerful role, but the White House didn’t even revoke Rove’s security clearance.

Raise your hand if you’re surprised.

What Crap?

This, now, definitely has the stench of Watergate all over it.

This isn't Ford pardoning Nixon, this is the Saturday Night Massacre

Crooks and Liars:

What crap. Marcy Wheeler:

Well, George did it. Made sure that Scooter wouldn’t flip rather than do jail time. He commuted Libby’s sentence, guaranteeing not only that Libby wouldn’t talk, but retaining Libby’s right to invoke the Fifth.This amounts to nothing less than obstruction of justice.

Thank You Dubya

Thank You Dubya:

Thank You Dubya
We've known for a long time what a crooked creep ya' are
We've you've no respect for the law
We know you don't give a damn 'bout the constitution
Your election was totally flawed

But now you've tipped your hat
Enough
To push the switch to GO
It's impeachment time
You're number two
Cheney's First, you know.

Political Corruption On Steroids

Born in corruption, the Bush administration and an unrepentant GOP, who have cover-up for them and made it easy for their crimes to continue year after year, will be buried in the cesspool of corruption they have become.

Political Corruption On Steroids:

Corruption and dirty politics is nothing new in America. However, the level and scope of dirty politics within the Republican Party at this point in American history seems to be unprecedented! It increasingly looks like the Republican leadership has become a kind of mafia-style criminal gang pretending to be a political party.


Both elections that put the Bush-Cheney ticket in the White House in 2000 and 2004 were questionable at best. Millions of votes were not counted. Millions of Americans were denied their voting rights. The Bush vs. Gore ruling by partisan Republican judges on the Supreme Court was blatantly unjust and stopped a legal statewide recount in Florida ordered by the Florida Supreme Court.

Henery Waxman: Bush and Cheney Deserve Contempt they Are Receiving

...and that contempt is just starting to boil over, Mr. Waxman.

Pity the poor soul that gets caught in the way of the fury to come.

Chairman Waxman on President Bush’s Decision to Commute

July 2nd, 2007 by Karina

Oversight and Government Reform Committee Chairman Henry Waxman released the following statement on President Bush’s commutation of Lewis “Scooter” Libby’s prison sentence today:

Former President Bush once said: “I have nothing but contempt and anger for those who betray the trust by exposing the name of our sources. They are, in my view, the most insidious of traitors.”

That’s exactly what happened to Valerie Wilson. Her identity was revealed, putting her, her family, and our country at risk.

President Bush and Vice President Cheney deserve the widespread contempt they are receiving for this indefensible decision. The Libby commutation makes a mockery of our judicial system and our most fundamental values.

(In accordance with Title 17 U.S.C. Section 107, this material is distributed without profit to those who have expressed a prior interest in receiving the included information for research and educational purposes. The Lantern has no affiliation whatsoever with the originator of this article nor is The Lantern endorsed or sponsored by the originator.)

....And The Truth Shall Set Us Free

Madam Speaker: Bush Betrays Trust

Madam Speaker, he betrayed our trust when he and Vice, among others, lied us into an illegal, unjust war.

Now he is involved in a continuing cconspiracy to obstruct justice.

Is impeachment still off the table?

A Betrayal of Trust of the American People

July 2nd, 2007 by Speaker Pelosi

The President’s commutation of Scooter Libby’s prison sentence does not serve justice, condones criminal conduct, and is a betrayal of trust of the American people.
The President said he would hold accountable anyone involved in the Valerie Plame leak case. By his action today, the President shows his word is not to be believed. He has abandoned all sense of fairness when it comes to justice, he has failed to uphold the rule of law, and he has failed to hold his Administration accountable.

(In accordance with Title 17 U.S.C. Section 107, this material is distributed without profit to those who have expressed a prior interest in receiving the included information for research and educational purposes. The Lantern has no affiliation whatsoever with the originator of this article nor is The Lantern endorsed or sponsored by the originator.)

....And The Truth Shall Set Us Free

Joe Wilson Says Congress Should Investigate Bush

Wilson: Congress Should Investigate Bush's Participation in Obstruction of Justice
By Spencer Ackerman - July 2, 2007, 7:00 PM


Just got off the phone with Joe Wilson, whose exposure of the hollowness of the Niger-Iraq uranium claim set in motion the chain of events that led to Scooter Libby's perjury and, today, his sentence's commutation by President Bush. Wilson -- who is pursuing a civil suit against Libby, Karl Rove and Vice President Dick Cheney -- called on Bush and Cheney to release the transcripts of their interviews with Special Prosecutor Patrick Fitzgerald "to let the American people know what they knew and when they knew it." If not, Wilson says, "Congress should hold hearings on the president's role in the obstruction of justice."
Wilson:

"From my viewpoint, the president has stepped in to short circuit the rule of law and the system of justice in our country. In so doing, he has acknowledged Mr. Libby's guilt for, among other things, obstruction of justice, which by definition is covering up for somebody in a crime. By commuting his sentence, he has brought himself and his office into reasonable suspicion of participation in an obstruction of justice. The commutation of (Libby's) sentence in and of itself is participation in obstruction of justice."

Asked if he expected Bush to pardon or commute Libby's sentence, Wilson replied, "I have never known what to expect. The administration is now trying call this compromise. At end of day, it's allowing a neoconservative cult to engage in special pleading. … This from the president who refused to listen to the Pope's clemency appeals over the execution of first female prisoner in Texas since the Civil War," referring to the 1998 execution of Karla Faye Tucker while Bush was governor.

Wilson noted the commutation will have no impact on his lawsuit against Libby, Rove and Cheney. Today's presidential decision, he said, "should demonstrate to the American people beyond a reasonable doubt how unbelievably corrupt this administration is from top to bottom."


(In accordance with Title 17 U.S.C. Section 107, this material is distributed without profit to those who have expressed a prior interest in receiving the included information for research and educational purposes. The Lantern has no affiliation whatsoever with the originator of this article nor is The Lantern endorsed or sponsored by the originator.)

....And The Truth Shall Set Us Free

Scooter Does Know Where The Bodies Are Buried

Scooter, apparently, still capable of singing like a bird.

He doesn't want prison.

Anthing else but prison.

So, Scooter isn't goigng to prison afterall, because of the "compassion" of George W. Bush. The same Goerge W Bush who has never commutted a sentence before nor ever pardoned anyone on Texas' death row.

He even mocked Karla Faye Tucker, a woman who did show remorse and seemed, to everyone around her, to be a changed woman. Even the prison guards went to bat for Karla. But the man who commuted Scoooter's sentence of 30 months mocked Tucker. in a cruel childish way, while putting her to death.

Big mistake Junior. Anyone with half a brain knows this is nothing but obstruction of justice continuing....



Bush commutes Libby prison sentence
By BEN FELLER, Associated Press Writer 51 minutes ago




President Bush spared former White House aide I. Lewis "Scooter" Libby from a 2 1/2-year prison term in the CIA leak case Monday, stepping into a criminal case with heavy political overtones on grounds that the sentence was just too harsh.

Bush's move came hours after a federal appeals panel ruled Libby could not delay his prison term in the CIA leak case. That meant Libby was likely to have to report to prison soon and put new pressure on the president, who had been sidestepping calls by Libby's allies to pardon the former chief of staff to Vice President Dick Cheney.

"I respect the jury's verdict," Bush said in a statement. "But I have concluded that the prison sentence given to Mr. Libby is excessive. Therefore, I am commuting the portion of Mr. Libby's sentence that required him to spend thirty months in prison."
Bush left intact a $250,000 fine and two years probation for Libby, and Bush said his action still "leaves in place a harsh punishment for Mr. Libby."


Libby was convicted in March of lying to authorities and obstructing the investigation into the 2003 leak of CIA operative's identity. He was the highest-ranking White House official ordered to prison since the Iran-Contra affair.
Reaction was harsh from Democrats.


"As Independence Day nears, we are reminded that one of the principles our forefathers fought for was equal justice under the law. This commutation completely tramples on that principle," Sen. Charles Schumer, D-N.Y., said through a spokesman.
Libby's supporters celebrated.


"That's fantastic. It's a great relief," said former Ambassador Richard Carlson, who helped raise millions for Libby's defense fund. "Scooter Libby did not deserve to go to prison and I'm glad the president had the courage to do this."


A message seeking comment from Special Prosecutor Patrick Fitzgerald's office was not immediately returned.


Bush said Cheney's former aide was not getting off free.


"The reputation he gained through his years of public service and professional work in the legal community is forever damaged," Bush said. "His wife and young children have also suffered immensely. He will remain on probation. The significant fines imposed by the judge will remain in effect. The consequences of his felony conviction on his former life as a lawyer, public servant and private citizen will be long-lasting."


A spokeswoman for Cheney said simply, "The vice president supports the president's decision."


The president's announcement came just as prison seemed likely for Libby. He recently lost an appeals court fight that was his best chance to put the sentence on hold, and the U.S. Bureau of Prisons had already designated him inmate No. 28301-016.


Bush's statement made no mention of the term "pardon," and he made clear that he was not willing to wipe away all penalties for Libby.


The president noted Libby supporters' argument that the punishment did not fit the crime for a "first-time offender with years of exceptional public service."


Yet, he added, "Others point out that a jury of citizens weighed all the evidence and listened to all the testimony and found Mr. Libby guilty of perjury and obstructing justice. They argue, correctly, that our entire system of justice relies on people telling the truth. And if a person does not tell the truth, particularly if he serves in government and holds the public trust, he must be held accountable."


Bush then stripped away the prison time.


The leak case has hung over the White House for years. After CIA operative Valerie Plame's name appeared in a 2003 syndicated newspaper column, Special Prosecutor Fitzgerald questioned top administration officials, including Bush and Cheney, about their possible roles.
Nobody was ever charged with the leak, including Deputy Secretary of State Richard Armitage or White House political adviser Karl Rove, who provided the information for the original article.



Prosecutors said Libby obstructed the investigation by lying about how he learned about Plame and whom he told.


Plame believes Libby and other White House officials conspired to leak her identity to reporters in 2003 as retribution against her husband, Joseph Wilson, who criticized what he said was the administration's misleading use of prewar intelligence on Iraq.
Attorney William Jeffress said he had spoken to Libby briefly by phone and "I'm happy at least that Scooter will be spared any prison time. ... The prison sentence was imminent but obviously the conviction itself is a heavy blow to Scooter."
___
Associated Press Writer Matt Appuzo contributed to this report.




(In accordance with Title 17 U.S.C. Section 107, this material is distributed without profit to those who have expressed a prior interest in receiving the included information for research and educational purposes. The Lantern has no affiliation whatsoever with the originator of this article nor is The Lantern endorsed or sponsored by the originator.)

....And The Truth Shall Set Us Free

Court won't delay Libby prison sentence

Looks like Libby may well serve time, at least until Christmas 2008, when he will be pardoned, unless he threatens to sing like a songbird in the meantime.

Print Story: Court won't delay Libby prison sentence on Yahoo! News:

Former White House aide I. Lewis 'Scooter' Libby cannot delay his 2 1/2-year prison term in the CIA leak case, a federal appeals panel unanimously ruled Monday.

The decision is a major setback for Libby, who is running out of legal options and who probably will have to surrender to prison in weeks. The ruling puts pressure on President Bush, who has been sidestepping calls by Libby's allies to pardon the former chief of staff to Vice President Dick Cheney.

Libby was convicted in March of lying and obstructing the investigation into the 2003 leak of CIA operative Valerie Plame's identity. He is the highest-ranking White House official ordered to prison since the Iran-Contra affair.

Libby believed he had a good chance of overturning the conviction on appeal and asked the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit to put the sentence on hold. In a two-sentence ruling, the court refused.

The White House had no immediate reaction to the decision.

A President Besieged and Isolated, Yet at Ease

Junior is ill.

He must be, or he has allowed himself to stay in the bubble for so log, he has to call in big time experts to tell him what my granddaughter could easily explain to him, were he willing to admit to even a small mistake.

I hope he finds his answers. I honestly do. I hope we all find our answers in life.

I just don't want this nation to continue to be wrecked, possibly beyond repair, and any more nations to be subjected to the Bush- Cheney slaughter machine, while this 60 year old man asks questions he should have asked years ago; like before he ran for president in the first place.

A President Besieged and Isolated, Yet at Ease - washingtonpost.com:

At the nadir of his presidency, George W. Bush is looking for answers. One at a time or in small groups, he summons leading authors, historians, philosophers and theologians to the White House to join him in the search.

Over sodas and sparkling water, he asks his questions: What is the nature of good and evil in the post-Sept. 11 world? What lessons does history have for a president facing the turmoil I'm facing? How will history judge what we've done? Why does the rest of the world seem to hate America? Or is it just me they hate?

These are the questions of a president who has endured the most drastic political collapse in a generation. Not generally known for intellectual curiosity, Bush is seeking out those who are, engaging in a philosophical exploration of the currents of history that have swept up his administration. For all the setbacks, he remains unflinching, rarely expressing doubt in his direction, yet trying to understand how he got off course.

Cheney Has Lost It? Gone Into Hiding?

Sounds like Cheney is more unstable than Nixon.

Hope he didn't take the nuclear codes with him.

And this could be total BS.

Reports-Cheney in Hiding, Concerned for Own Safety AfterDowningStreet.org:

Reports-Cheney in Hiding, Concerned for Own Safety

Submitted by joemartin on Mon, 2007-07-02 04:09. Discussion

The following link is a report which states Dick Cheney was in hiding to avoid service of process, especially from Ambassador Leo Wanta's writ of mandamus over the trillions of alleged misappropriated U.S. funds of which up to two trillion dollars may be operated offshore by Cheney. Also states Cheney is concerned for his own safety.

YOU'D BETTER READ THIS ONE.!!!!! http://www.worldreports.org/news/66_cheney_hides_out_as

Seems some of this a bit tin-foil hat for us.

But, Jeebus, who can tell anymore?

New NSA Whistleblower Speaks

If this doesn't get Bush's and Cheney's asses impeached, jailed or whatever, nothing will.

This program was nothing short of a criminal act to begin with.

We are about to get an earful of how it was criminally misused, if this is any example of what this woman has to say.

OMG!

New NSA Whistleblower Speaks | AfterDowningStreet.org:

By David Swanson

A former member of U.S. military intelligence has decided to reveal what she knows about warrantless spying on Americans and about the fixing of intelligence in the leadup to the invasion of Iraq.

Adrienne Kinne describes an incident just prior to the invasion of Iraq in which a fax came into her office at Fort Gordon in Georgia that purported to provide information on the location of Iraqi weapons of mass destruction. The fax came from the Iraqi National Congress, a group opposed to Saddam Hussein and favoring an invasion. The fax contained types of information that required that it be translated and transmitted to President Bush within 15 minutes. But Kinne had been eavesdropping on two nongovernmental aid workers driving in Iraq who were panicked and trying to find safety before the bombs dropped. She focused on trying to protect them, and was reprimanded for the delay in translating the fax. She then challenged her officer in charge, Warrant Officer John Berry, on the credibility of the fax, and he told her that it was not her place or his to challenge such things. None of the other 20 or so people in the unit questioned anything, Kinne said.

George W. Bush: Heaven's Crackpot

That's the whole point of their shtick, P.M.

The vast majority of them are scared witless. That's why they want to scare the hell out of all of us and will do just about anything to increase the numbers of their own "tribe," as they see it. They are modern-day tribalists of a very dangerous variety

Can you imagine how hard it is in the 21st century, to continue to believe in the "absolute truth" of myth and morality plays, when read and understood literally?

The whole secular world threatens these people.

Not only that, but people who find truth in myth, but who do not read myth as literal truth, scare them even worse, because they can't deal with them as easily, by accusing them of hedonism and a whole lot of other crap they can hurl at secularists, not because it's true, but they have examples they can point to for everyone to see.

P.M. they mean to scare the hell out of you, because they are frightened witless by the hell in them.

p m carpenter's commentary: George W. Bush: Heaven's Crackpot:

The supremely pious, the religiously devout, the theologically assured -- the whole lot scares the bejesus out of me. They have cosmic sponsorship, or so they believe, meaning they comprehend universal Truth and therefore possess universal Answers; meaning, in short, they can do no wrong -- meaning even their most naked buffooneries have celestial sanction.

He of supreme piety is reported to be searching for early hints into the judgment of history on his Earthly reign, and the above -- that of supremely self-confident buffoonery -- will, I believe, be the nut of it.

What Tenet Knew: Unanswered Questions - CommonDreams.org

Horse feathers!


What Tenet Knew: Unanswered Questions - CommonDreams.org:

"This essay, which considers At the Center of the Storm: My Years at the CIA by George Tenet with Bill Harlow (HarperCollins, 549 pp., $30.00) appears in the July 19th, 2007 issue of the New York Review of Books and is posted here with the kind permission of the editors of that magazine.

How we got into Iraq is the great open question of the decade but George Tenet in his memoir of his seven years running the Central Intelligence Agency takes his sweet time working his way around to it. He hesitates because he has much to explain: the claims made by Tenet’s CIA with “high confidence” that Iraq was dangerously armed all proved false. But mistakes are one thing, excusable even when serious; inexcusable would be charges of collusion in deceiving Congress and the public to make war possible. Tenet’s overriding goal in his carefully written book is to deny “that we somehow cooked the books” about Iraq’s weapons of mass destruction. If he says it once he says it a dozen times. “We told the president what we did on Iraq WMD because we believed it.”

When Is Enough Enough?

That's the truth.

Enough is enough.

By this time it is more than enough. We are all gagging on it.

When Is Enough Enough? - CommonDreams.org: "Chances are you didn’t hear it, but on Thursday night Senator Hillary Clinton said, “If H.I.V./AIDS were the leading cause of death of white women between the ages of 25 and 34, there would be an outraged outcry in this country.”

Her comment came on the same day that a malevolent majority on the U.S. Supreme Court threw a brick through the window of voluntary school integration efforts.

There comes a time when people are supposed to get angry. The rights and interests of black people in the U.S. have been under assault for the longest time, and in the absence of an effective counterforce, that assault has only grown more brutal.

Undercover, Under Fire

If cops can lie to people they suspect of having committed a crime, why can't journalists?

Undercover, Under Fire - CommonDreams.org:

Earlier this year, I put on a brand-new tailored suit, picked up a sleek leather briefcase and headed to downtown Washington for meetings with some of the city’s most prominent lobbyists. I had contacted their firms several weeks earlier, pretending to be the representative of a London-based energy company with business interests in Turkmenistan. I told them I wanted to hire the services of a firm to burnish that country’s image.

I didn’t mention that Turkmenistan is run by an ugly, neo-Stalinist regime. They surely knew that, and besides, they didn’t care. As I explained in this month’s issue of Harper’s Magazine, the lobbyists I met at Cassidy & Associates and APCO were more than eager to help out. In exchange for fees of up to $1.5 million a year, they offered to send congressional delegations to Turkmenistan and write and plant opinion pieces in newspapers under the names of academics and think-tank experts they would recruit. They even offered to set up supposedly “independent” media events in Washington that would promote Turkmenistan (the agenda and speakers would actually be determined by the lobbyists).

All this, Cassidy and APCO promised, could be done quietly and unobtrusively, because the law that regulates foreign lobbyists is so flimsy that the firms would be required to reveal little....