Now just who the fuck is standing up?

BAGHDAD (AP) - The U.S. military death toll in March, the first full month of the security crackdown, was nearly twice that of the Iraqi army, which American and Iraqi officials say is taking the leading role in the latest attempt to curb violence in the capital, surrounding cities and Anbar province, according to figures compiled on Saturday.

The Associated Press count of U.S. military deaths for the month was 81, including a soldier who died from non-combat causes Friday. Figures compiled from officials in the Iraqi ministries of Defense, Health and Interior showed the Iraqi military toll was 44.

Just who the fuck country is it anyway?

If you don't back the withdrawal of our troops out of that hell hole, then you're not supporting anything but your own stupidity!

Bush knew about Tillman

So now we learn that George Bush knew a month before the Army bothered to tell the Tillman family that their son was killed by friendly-fire.

Wouldn't you hope your President would insist the family not be misled?

But, he was trying to sell his war, and it would certainly not be good for sales (or recruiting) if they found out we shot our own 'Poster Boy'.

George Bush loves and respects our military. Well, as long as the cameras are rolling and you can still be of some use, he does.

Just seven days after Pat Tillman's death, a top general warned there were strong indications that it was friendly fire and President Bush might embarrass himself if he said the NFL star-turned-soldier died in an ambush, according to a memo obtained by The Associated Press.

It was not until a month afterward that the Pentagon told the public and grieving family members the truth - that Tillman was mistakenly killed in Afghanistan by his comrades.

The memo reinforces suspicions that the Pentagon was more concerned with sparing officials from embarrassment than with leveling with Tillman's family.

In a memo sent to a four-star general a week after Tillman's April 22, 2004, death, then-Maj. Gen. Stanley McChrystal warned that it was "highly possible" the Army Ranger was killed by friendly fire.

And oh yeah, by the way, there's the mention of that mysterious 'four-star' again.

MyWay

Wasting good oxygen

Mustafa al-Hawsawi

A Saudi captive held as an alleged al-Qaeda bagman reportedly admitted running a money drop in the Persian Gulf but said he didn't fund the Sept. 11 attacks and knew only scantily of them in advance.

Mustafa al-Hawsawi, 39, is quoted in a transcript released Thursday by the Pentagon as telling a panel of military officers that senior al-Qaeda members instructed him to scramble from the United Arab Emirates to Pakistan on Sept. 10, 2001.

Just days before, according to the transcript, he had received about $20,000 in Western Union transfers from some of the men who commandeered the Sept. 11 aircraft. "I help all jihadists," he told the panel, at the same time flatly denying ever sending money to the Sept. 11 hijackers.

Interestingly, another Saudi involved in 9/11.

Al-Hawsawi has been in custody for over four years and the 9/11 Commission confirmed he supplied money to the 9/11 hijackers.

He has admitted that the day before 9/11, Khalid Shaikh Mohammed called and told him to flee to Pakistan...And was captured with Mohammed in Pakistan in 2003.

What's the hold up?

One of the many good things....

...to come out of the November elections, is definitely Robert Gates taking the place of Donald Rumsfeld as Secretary of Defense.
In fact, it may be the best thing.

You see, not only is the country far better off without Rumsfeld - unquestionably, the worst U.S. Defense/War Secretary in 231 years - but, Robert Gates is a good man.

Gates is not your typical Bush-like partisan Republican crony without conviction or the capacity to choose his country over politics. He's a man who is a thinker, and a man who knows the constitutional process and how a democracy really works.

When Gates was asked yesterday before the House Appropriations Committee if the debate on the war had a negative effect on it, he said no, and in fact said basically the opposite;

"The debate here on the Hill and the issues that have been raised have been helpful in bringing pressure to bear on the Maliki government and on the Iraqis in knowing that there is a very real limit to American patience in this entire enterprise,"

As you can see, our Secretary of Defense, the honorable Robert M. Gates, let's it be known that the November elections are paying huge dividends for our country.

Without a Democratic majority in Congress - no debate, no oversight, no Robert Gates, not even a 'surge', just more of the same....Gates knows, too.

UPI

Emboldening Iran

Note to Sean Hannity and Newt Gingrich - It is George W. Bush and his needless war in Iraq that has emboldened the Iranians, not Democrats who voted to withdraw from the mess.

The Iranians sat back and laughed when Bush invaded and overthrew Saddam Hussein's Sunni dominated government and helped install a government of Shiites's who have deep loyalties to them.

If we didn't want to embolden Iran we should not have invaded Iraq. As the saying goes, the war in Iraq is over, and Iran won.

Outfoxed

"Those who finance smears and lies of combat veterans don't deserve to represent America on the world stage."

A key funder for the Swiftboat Veterans group, whose attack ads played a key part in Sen. John Kerry's (D-MA) unsuccessful 2004 campaign for the White House, is no longer seeking a post that President Bush nominated him for, according to a press release.

The brief release is entitled "Withdrawal Sent to the Senate" and includes only the following detail: "Sam Fox, of Missouri, to be Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary of the United States of America to Belgium, which was sent to the Senate on January 9, 2007.
Rawstory
Sweet, poetic justice... and a great opportunity to payback the swiftboat liars and people like Sam Fox, who financed their lies.

Sweet....Congratulations, Mr. Kerry.

Brown & Dorgan introduce 'Halliburton Law'

Two U.S. Senate Democrats, Byron Dorgan (N.D.) and freshman Senator Sherrod Brown (OH), [who is still white] have introduced legislation that would close a loophole in U.S. sanctions law. The measure would deny federal contracts to U.S. companies that do business - through foreign subsidiaries - with countries that the United States has designated state sponsors of terrorism.

"The current administration gives billions of dollars in government contracts to companies that do business with state sponsors of terrorism," Brown said. "The most immediate example, of course, is Halliburton, which received more than $20 billion in government contracts, despite the fact that a subsidiary company engaged in business dealings with Iran.

"If there is one thing painfully obvious about Republicans, it's they would sell their mothers for a buck and that's no clearer than the example of their unquestioned support for Halliburton - A company that does billions in business with Iran through foreign subsidiaries set up to skirt U.S. laws.

Democrats being in control of Congress will put a halt to these acts of profits over country that Republicans not only just stood by and watched happen, but who also encouraged it, so they could get their share through kickbacks from campaign contributions.

The party's over, suckers!

More Motor City Violence

Total chaos in Tal Afar - The city that gave Bush "confidence in our strategy"

Morgue staff stand by the bodies of men discovered in Baqouba, 60 kilometers (35 miles) northeast of Baghdad, Iraq, Wednesday, March 28, 2007. Some 20 bodies were discovered around Baqouba bearing signs of torture, Wednesday.

Shiite militants and police enraged by deadly truck bombings went on a shooting rampage against Sunnis in a northwestern Iraqi city Wednesday, killing as many as 70 men execution-style and prompting fears that sectarian violence was spreading outside the capital.

The killings occurred in the mixed Shiite-Sunni city Tal Afar, which had been an insurgent stronghold until an offensive by U.S. and Iraqi troops in September 2005, when militants fled into the countryside without a fight. Last March, President Bush cited the operation as an example that gave him "confidence in our strategy."

Any word from that freshman Republican representative from Michigan on all this violence? I was wondering if the Detroit Police had executed 70 men today or not.

Bush's good buddy is pissed!

King Abdullah of Saudi Arabia, opening a summit meeting of Arab leaders here Wednesday, called the U.S military presence in Iraq "illegitimate" and warned that sectarianism could lead to all-out civil war.

George's good kissing buddy said that shortly before sending another caravan of trucks filled with weapons for the Iraqi Sunni resistance.

Jim Webb is on a mission

...But, he better hurry

Virginia's freshman Senator, James Webb, doesn't trust George W. Bush. After all, Webb isn't a fool. Webb wrote a bill that 'prohibit[s] the use of funds for military operations in Iran', unless Bush get's prior authorization from Congress.

S-759
Prohibits funds from being obligated or expended for military operations or activities within or above Iran's territory or within Iran's territorial waters except pursuant to a specific congressional authorization enacted after the date of the enactment of this Act. - S.759 full text

Webb is also busy protecting our troops from the abuses they have experienced over the last four years by the Bush administration and the previous, Republican-led Congress.

Hagel-Webb Introduce Amendment to Protect U.S. Troops and Limit Deployments

WASHINGTON, D.C. - U.S. Senators Chuck Hagel (R-NE) and Jim Webb (D-VA) introduced a bipartisan amendment today to the Iraq War supplemental spending bill. The amendment:

• ensures that units and individuals in the Armed Forces be certified as “fully mission capable” 15 days prior to deployment;

• limits the length of overseas deployments of the Army, Marine Corps, and National Guard;

• establishes a minimum time between deployments for the Army, Marine Corps and National Guard;

• provides additional appropriations totaling approximately $3.1 billion to reset Army National Guard and Reserve equipment and to address funding shortfalls for Army National Guard training, operations and maintenance; and to fund the acquisition of additional Mine Resistant Ambush Protection vehicles for the Marine Corps;

• and requires the President to report to Congress on the comprehensive diplomatic, political and economic strategy of the U.S. regarding Iraq. Hagel/Webb amendment

The people of the Commonwealth of Virginia should be congratulated by the entire nation for electing Jim Webb, and for kicking George Allen's stupid ass to the curb.

Thanks Virginia!

(h/t-TP)

Jail him, and let him eat ketchup!

David Stockman's prosecution long overdue

David Stockman, the former budget director in the Reagan White House, was charged Monday with overseeing a sweeping fraud at a troubled auto parts supplier that he led before the company sought bankruptcy protection.

Stockman, 60, was one of four former top Collins & Aikman Corp. executives named in the federal indictment that was unsealed Monday. Four other former company employees, including a one-time treasurer, have already pleaded guilty in the case, prosecutors said.

Anyone who was the Budget Director during the Reagan administration - An administration that oversaw eight consecutive record-shattering budget deficits and ran up almost $1.5 trillion in debt - should have been arrested for fraud a long time ago!

When David Stockman was asked once about the Laffer Curve and the Reagan administration's policy of 'trickle down' economics he replied, “None of us really understand what's going on with all these numbers”. Not the words you want to hear from a 'budget director'.

And, of course, that line from Stockman would prove to be one of the biggest understatements in the history of U.S. fiscal policy.

David Stockman is also the man who suggested to Reagan that to save money he ought to classify ketchup as a vegetable for federally financed school lunch programs.

Nice guy.

America's hidden war dead

More than 770 civilians working for U.S. firms have lost their lives supporting the military in Iraq, and some families are now speaking out.

Another 770 deaths on top of the 3,241 American military deaths comes 4,011 lives lost in a needless war that should never have happened.

All the way to Abizaid

'A new Pentagon report found that nine officers, including a three-star general, mishandled the investigation into the "friendly fire" death in Afghanistan of Pat Tillman, the pro-football player turned Army Ranger, a senior defense official said Friday night.'

'Including a 'three-star''? From the looks of that picture, it would seem to me that the reprimands should include a four-star as well.

(from the Washington Post - May 2005)

Over the next 10 days, however, top-ranking Army officials -- including the theater commander, Army Gen. John P. Abizaid -- were told of the reports that Tillman had been killed by his own men, the investigation said. But the Army waited until a formal investigation was finished before telling the family -- which was weeks after a nationally televised memorial service that honored Tillman on May 3, 2004.

A lot of trouble to kill an innocent man

UAV Fooled to Hide Iraq Murder

U.S. Navy medic Melson J. Bacos, the first of the alleged conspirators to confess

As they carried out the killing of an Iraqi civilian, seven Marines and a Navy medic used their understanding of the military's airborne surveillance technology to spoof their own systems, military hearing testimony charges.

The April 26, 2006, killing of disabled police officer Hashim Ibrahim Awad has been the subject of eight months of military hearings at Camp Pendleton near San Diego.

An riveting piece on how seven Marines and Navy medic Bacos, set out to kill an Iraqi bad guy - couldn't find him - so they executed some other guy instead. All the while ducking the surveillance of unmanned drones circling overhead - And they almost got away with it.

To think you could get eight guys to go along with something like that.

Sunday Scroll #5

“They blew up their poster boy”
A Pentagon investigation will recommend that nine officers, including up to four generals, be held accountable for missteps in the aftermath of the friendly fire death of Army Ranger Pat Tillman in Afghanistan, senior defense officials said Friday.

"They blew up their poster boy"

Your share of the Debt
The national debt on March 23: $8,833,314,770,545.61
Your share of the national debt: $29,303.34

The national debt on March 24: $8,834,221,160,773.59
Your share of the national debt: $29,305.63
(note the debt increased $906 million in 24 hours)

Homeland Insecurity
"For decades, the Army has kept a brigade of the 82nd Airborne Division on round-the-clock alert, poised to respond to a crisis anywhere in 18 to 72 hours. Today, the so-called ready brigade is no longer so ready. Its soldiers are not fully trained, much of its equipment is elsewhere, and for the past two weeks the unit has been far from the cargo aircraft it would need in an emergency.

No waterboarding or organ failure
In Tehran today, Iranian officials claimed to have confessions from 15 captured British Royal Navy personnel — eight sailors and seven Marines, reportedly including one woman — who were taken at gunpoint by armed Iranians.

Six strikes and you're out!
U.S. attorneys show that federal prosecutors in Texas generally have declined to bring criminal charges against illegal immigrants caught crossing the border — until at least their sixth arrest.

Those sons-of-bitches!
University of Florida President Bernie Machen says he was "tremendously disappointed" with the school's Faculty Senate vote to deny former Gov. Jeb Bush an honorary degree.

The Senate voted 38-28 Thursday against giving the honorary degree to Bush, who left office in January.

News Flash!
California, the most progressive state in the country, doesn't have a narrow-minded, bigoted, phony-conservative, as their Governor.

Another bad day in the Motor City
BAGHDAD, March 24 -- More than 45 Iraqis were killed and dozens injured in suicide bombings across Iraq on Saturday, officials said, as insurgents stepped up their offensives against the Iraqi police and military.

Bookends
Republican presidential contender Rudy Giuliani has been married three times and, as it turns out, so has his wife. The campaign confirmed Friday that Judith Nathan Giuliani was married twice - not once - before she wed the former New York City mayor in 2003. It was Giuliani's third marriage, and, until Thursday, had been thought to be his wife's second.

An uncommon criminal
Federal prosecutors took the first steps toward reducing the prison sentence of former Washington lobbyist Jack Abramoff, currently scheduled for release in 2011 for a Florida fraud conviction.

They are dying to be there
For US troops from 9th Cavalry Regiment bumping around the dangerous streets of Baghdad in Humvees after dark on Monday, news that their deployment in Iraq could be extended fell like a hammer blow. Their commanders had cautioned that their second one-year tour due to end in October could be prolonged while US President George W. Bush later warned troops it was too soon to "pack up and go home."

The expletives during the four-hour night patrol turned the air in the Humvee, already thick with cigarette smoke, a dark shade of blue. "We just want to get out of here as soon as possible," said one vehicle commander in one of his few printable comments.

Added yet another, "Bush can come fight here. He can take my 1,000 dollars a month and I'll go home."

Today a long time ago
On Sunday 25 March 1655 there was a battle on and around the banks of the River Severn in what is now the state of Maryland, USA. It was small as battles go: only 400 or so men altogether were involved, of whom 19 were killed during battle, and 4 were executed afterwards. It was the final battle of the Civil War. Not the American Civil War, but the English Civil War in which the King of England, Charles I, was put on trial and beheaded, and his son....

Just like an Egyptian
February 2003 – A month before the U.S. invasion – "IAEA chief Mohamed ElBaradei told the United Nations that nuclear experts had found no weapons of mass destruction in Iraq. He said “We have to date found no evidence of ongoing prohibited nuclear or nuclear-related activities in Iraq.” John Bolton – former US ambassador to the United Nations – responded by saying this is “impossible to believe.”

The Limbaugh Award

This week's winner of the Limbaugh Award U.S. Attorney General, Alberto "Fredo" Gonzales

"I was not involved in seeing any memos, was not involved in any discussions about what was going on … That’s basically what I knew as attorney general" - Alberto Gonzales - 3/12/07

3/23/07-Justice Department Releases Documents

"Among the 280 documents released by the Justice Department to congressional investigators is an e-mail detailing a meeting between Gonzales and senior aides on Nov. 27, 2006 — 10 days before the dismissals were carried out.

Last week, Gonzales said he was not involved in the details of the plan, saying, "I never saw documents. We never had a discussion about where things stood."

"How could the attorney general say he never had a discussion about where things stood when he attended an hour-long meeting on that very subject?" asked Sen. Charles Schumer, D-N.Y."

"Fredo" was a good, solid and easy choice for the Limbaugh/HD award this week. Our nation's Attorney General, Alberto Gonzales is not only a proven liar, but he's also a pathetic little wimp, which makes him a good fit, as well.

Past winners of the prestigious, but infamous,
Limbaugh Award
Fox mouthpieces Sean Hannity and
Victoria Toensing - 3/18/07
Fox News guy-Brit Hume-3/11/07
VA Secretary-Jim Nicholson-3/4/07
Rep. Michele Bachmann-(R-MN)-2/25/07

H.R. 1591 - Iraq Accountability

U.S. Troop Readiness, Veterans' Health, and Iraq Accountability Act, 2007

In a 218-212 vote, Democrats passed H.R. 1591 and gave George Bush all the money he wanted-and some. He got all $103 billion - $96 billion for Iraq and $7 billion* for the 'real' war on terror in Afghanistan.

Bush, as usual, is whining about the Democrats not supporting the troops. It's hard to tell why - Democrats gave the troops $6 billion more on top of the $103 billion he asked for.

Of course, Bush can't give the $6 billion to Blackwater. He has to spend it on training, equipment and the wounded. There's actually Congressional oversight on that type of thing now.

This is the first time in the four years we've been in Iraq that Congress passed an appropriation bill that demands and guarantees our military are properly trained and have the proper equipment. The troops get it, or Bush can't send them. That's the way you'd want it to be for your kid, isn't it?

Democrats added $1.4 billion for armored vehicles, too. That's supporting the troops.

H.R. 1591's total cost is $124 billion.

Democrats also gave wounded Iraq war vets, other veterans, Katrina victims, farmers, children, and the general public, $21 billion.

The cost of Bush's war in Iraq just went up to $14 billion per MONTH with this additional FY07 funding.

If you think spending $25 million to bail out battered spinach growers is too much money, what's your view on us spending $25 million every hour and 15 minutes in Iraq? ...Yeah, that's right....$467 million every DAY.

Take a quick look at this partial list of the $21 billion in 'pork' that Democrats added to the $103 billion - $6-9 billion of the $21 billion goes to the DOD and the VA.

* $20 million for "cleanup and restoration of farmland" damaged by freezing weather. This targets San Joaquin Valley orchards hurt in a stunning January freeze, although the region is not specifically named in the bill.

* $25 million for California spinach growers or handlers who weren't able to ship their produce following an e. coli-scare last year; the aid could cover up to 75 percent of the lost sales.

* About $1.8 billion in crop disaster assistance payments nationwide, covering damages from a variety of natural disasters since 2005.

* $40 million to replace or rehabilitate trees damaged by freezes. This is twice as much as the House is offering for the more generic category of restoring farmland.

* $100 million in assistance for farmworker and small businesses hurt by natural disaster. The House does not include similar funds.

* $95 million for California dairy producers hurt by a heat wave last year.

* $6.4 billion funding for Hurricane Katrina

* $3.5 billion for military health care, $1 billion for avian flu preparedness, and $750 million for SCHIP.

I like birds but I don't like the flu, so that $1 billion, a couple of days worth in Iraq, seems pretty reasonable to me.

'SCHIP' stands for, State Children's Health Insurance Program. That 'pork', will be distributed to the 50 states to help subsidize medical insurance for poor children.

I really don't have a problem with spending that additional $750 million on children's health insurance anymore than I care that Bush wastes that $750 million every 39 HOURS in Iraq.

How about you?

'Iraq at least as under control as Detroit'?

A Republican congressman representing rural southern Michigan is taking heat for saying that most of Iraq is at least as under control as Detroit is.

Freshman Rep. Tim Walberg of Tipton didn't quite say Detroit was a war zone. He said most of Iraq "is reasonably under control, at least as well as Detroit."

"...on Wednesday, searching houses in the expanding security crackdown, while at least 33 apparent victims of sectarian killings were found dumped across Baghdad.

The bodies of two policemen, handcuffed and showing signs of torture, were found in Diwaniyah, the site of recent clashes 80 miles south of Baghdad.

The bodies of 32 people were found shot dead on Tuesday in different districts of Baghdad, police said.

Bombings killed at least 18 other people across Iraq yesterday, authorities said.

Iraqi police found the decapitated bodies of nine policemen with their hands bound and bearing signs of torture in a town near the city of Ramadi-(3/17)

A total of 19 bodies were found shot dead on Saturday in different districts of Baghdad, police said.

The bodies of two people, shot and tortured, were found on Saturday (3/17) in the town of Mahmudiya, about 30 km (20 miles) south of Baghdad, police said.

Police found 30 dead bodies throughout Baghdad. Two dead bodies were found on the eastern side of the city (Risafa) and 28 dead bodies were found on the western side (Karkh). The following is the number of dead bodies per neighborhood.

Those 145 murders above cover a four-day period and are only the murders reported in Iraq.

Estimate of Iraqi Deaths Since June 7, 2006 - 17,971

In 2006, Detroit, Michigan had 411 murders.

The Congressman from Michigan is only 17,560 off, and that's comparing a full 12 months of murders in Detroit to a little over nine months in Iraq.

If you extrapolate those nine months of murders in Iraq it comes to 24,000 in a one year period.

And, I haven't heard or read where any of those murders in Detroit that the victims were tortured by having holes drilled into them.

Walberg's comparison would be laughable if it wasn't so despicable.

Update-Iraq's Sunni deputy prime minister was wounded Friday in a suicide bombing near the heavily fortified Green Zone. Eight other people were killed, including one of his advisers, police said.

There have been no reported IED assassination attempts on Detroit's Deputy Mayor as of this posting.

President Gore thanks Congress

President Al Gore congratulated members of the Senate and House committees yesterday on the fourth anniversary of the Global-Warming Act. President Gore thanked the members for not only the recent promising reports from the EPA, but also, the news from OPEC that they will again be cutting the price of oil due to the lesser demand from the U.S.

President Gore also took the time to thank Congress for their part in the federal government's 10th consecutive budget surplus and to announce that social security recipients will be receiving a 4.5% increase for the third year in a row.

The President also announced that the White House will host Iraq's President, Nouri Al-Maliki, in May to celebrate the third anniversary of Iraq's military coup that deposed former President Saddam Hussein, who was executed last December.

Clinton's penis did do it

There Is No Precedent Barring White House Aides From Testifying To Congress

Senate Judiciary Chairman Pat Leahy (D-VT) has called on Karl Rove and other top White House aides to testify under oath in front of Congress concerning their role in the U.S. attorney purge. A response from White House Counsel Fred Fielding is expected today, but in the meantime, the White House and its allies have put up a fight, arguing that presidential advisers have historically not testified in front of Congress:

But in reality, there is no such precedent. According to the Congressional Research Service, under President Clinton, 31 of his top aides testified on 47 different occasions. The aides who testified included some of Clinton’s closest advisors:

Harold Ickes [pictured above] - 7/28/94

George Stephanopoulos - 8/4/94

John Podesta - 8/5/94

Bruce R. Lindsey - 1/16/96

Samuel Berger - 9/11/97

Beth Nolan (Counsel to the President) - 5/4/00

TP

Louisiana Gov. Blanco Opts Out

Louisiana Gov. Kathleen Babineaux Blanco (D) announced she’s not running for re-election this evening at the state Capitol, setting the stage for former Sen. John Breaux (D) to enter the race.

Breaux is currently asking the state attorney general for an opinion on his residency status. Though Breaux represented Louisiana in the House and Senate from 1973-2005, he remained in the Washington area since leaving Congress.

Getta load of this fatass Nazi

Rep. Chris Cannon (R-UT)

At a hearing before the House Committee on Oversight and Government Reform that is investigating the Bush administration for strong-arming government scientists into changing their reports on the effects of climate change, Republican congressman, Chris Cannon demonstrated what's more important than getting the facts; Keeping quiet and not telling the truth if it's going to reflect badly on the administration.

And to hell with the Constitution - Rep. Cannon thinks freedom of speech has it's limits and is "subject to and directed by policy"!

We all know most wingnuts feel this way but it's very seldom that you can actually get them to admit it. And, for one their very own representatives, at a Congressional hearing no less, to blurt it out - that's just classic.

GOP lawmaker;'Free speech is subject to policy'

"Government scientists, armed with copies of heavily edited reports, charged Monday that the Bush administration and its political appointees had soft-pedaled their findings on climate change.

Democrats probed a lobbyist for the oil industry who was hired by the Bush administration to review climate documents and who, "made hundreds of edits that the lawmakers said minimized the impact of global warming."

For their part, Republicans hammered a NASA director testifying about pressure from the White House, "accusing him of political bias, of politicizing his work and of ignoring uncertainties in climate change science."

Rep. Chris Cannon (R-UT) issued a startling rebuke to the NASA official, disputing his assertion that taxpayer-funded scientists are entitled to speak freely.

"Free speech is not a simple thing and is subject to and directed by policy," Cannon said.

And, I'm not the only one using the 'Nazi' analogy to describe these despicable bastards.

Excerpts from Bush's speech vs. reality

Selected excerpts from the text of George Bush‘s statement (bold) Monday (3/19/07) on Iraq, rebutted with the FACTS in italics.

Four years ago today coalition forces launched Operation Iraqi Freedom to remove Saddam Hussein from power. They did so to eliminate the threat his regime posed to the Middle East and to the world.

Of course, Iraq wasn't a threat to anyone and even though that's been proven over and over, Bush still has no problem flat-out lying about it. Saddam Hussein barely ruled a 1/3 of his country with us and the British dominating the northern and southern 'no fly zones.' A threat? Well, here's what Bush's Secretary of Defense, Colin Powell said about Iraq on February 24, 2001, seven months before 9/11, "He (Saddam Hussein) has not developed any significant capability with respect to weapons of mass destruction. He is unable to project conventional power against his neighbours."

Need more? Here's what Bush's National Security Advisor, Condi Rice said about that terrible 'threat' of Iraq just two months before 9/11; "Saddam does not control the northern part of the country," she said. "We are able to keep his arms from him. His military forces have not been rebuilt."

The Iraqi government has also lifted restrictions that once prevented Iraqi and coalition forces from going into areas like Sadr City.

Lifted restrictions? What Bush is actually saying is that Muqtada al-Sadr gave him and al-Maliki permission to go into Sadr City.

I have to laugh when I hear or read Bush admit he's such a wimp. (All Hat, No Cattle) It always reminds me of his line in the debate, "America will never seek a permission slip to defend the security of our people."

Together, we‘ve carried out aggressive operations against both Shia and Sunni extremists; carried out operations against al-Qaida terrorists.

We entered year five of this war today, George. Speaking of al-Qaeda, any word on Osama bin Laden or Ayman al-Zawahiri? Hell, we'll take a Mullah Omar.

The new strategy will need more time to take effect. And there will be good days and there will be bad days ahead as the security plan unfolds.

Damn, where have we heard that before? Oh, George said that exact same thing on the first year and the third year anniversary, too? Well, it is the same disaster.

March 19, 2006: “There will be good days and there will be bad days.” [Link]

March 19, 2004: “There will be good days and there will be difficult days.” [Link] - (h/t TP)

Last month, Iraq‘s Council of Ministers approved a law that would share oil revenues among Iraqi people. The Iraqi legislature passed a $41 billion budget that includes $10 billion for reconstruction and capital improvements.

I would think the Iraqis could probably use that $12 billion L. Paul Bremer couldn't account for. The insurgents have probably already spent 1/2 of that by now.

Of course, '$10 billion', '$12 billion'...that's only about 1/2 of one percent of what we will have invested in this mess by the time it's all over...$10B is peanuts...

There has been good progress. There‘s a lot more work to be done, and Iraq‘s leaders must continue to work to meet the benchmarks they have set forward.

I swear, listening to Bush is like deja vu all over again.

Think Progress is all over Bush and his obnoxious redundancies.

March 19, 2006: “I’m encouraged by the progress.” [Link]

March 19, 2005: “Iraq’s progress toward political freedom has opened a new phase of our work there.” [Link] - (h/t TP)

It could be tempting to look at the challenges in Iraq and conclude our best option is to pack up and go home. That may be satisfying in the short run, but I believe the consequences for American security would be devastating...

A definite YES on the first sentence and the second sentence is, and has always been, assbackwards. Those fighting us in Iraq, the Iraqi Sunnis and Shiites, won't be coming to the U.S. to attack us. It's the al-Qadea terrorists who Bush has all but ignored in Afghanistan and Pakistan that will 'be devastating to our security'. Another clear example of incompetent leadership.

The terrorists could emerge from the chaos with a safe haven in Iraq to replace the one they had in Afghanistan , which they used to plan the attacks of September 11, 2001.

Had in Afghanistan? Those responsible for 9/11 are still in Afghanistan and they are getting stronger, not weaker. Bush is once again just herding his sheep by invoking 9/11, but the difference now is there's only 30% still gullible enough to swallow it, and not 83%. A lot less sheep these days.

Four years after this war began, the fight is difficult, but it can be won. It will be won if we have the courage and resolve to see it through.

I'll let U.S. Army Gen. David Petraeus, the new commander of U.S. forces of Iraq, answer this one;

''Any student of history recognizes there is no military solution to a problem like that in Iraq, to the insurgency in Iraq.'' - 3/8/07

I‘m grateful to our service men and women for all they‘ve done, and for the honor they‘ve brought to their uniform and their country.

I‘m grateful to our military families for all the sacrifices they have made for our country.

The United States military is the most capable and courageous fighting force in the world. And whatever our differences in Washington, our troops and their families deserve the appreciation and the support of our entire nation.

Thank you.

END
Full Text-Unedited-includes all nonsense

Wednesday, March 19, 2003

Four years of 'catastrophic success'

"Major combat operations in Iraq have ended. In the battle of Iraq, the United States and our allies have prevailed." –George Bush, standing under a "Mission Accomplished" banner on the USS Lincoln aircraft carrier, May 2, 2003

"I think [the war will] go relatively quickly." When pressed to offer a more precise estimate of how long the war would take, Cheney replied: "Weeks rather than months." - March 16, 2003

The Iraq war "could last six days, six weeks. I doubt six months." - Donald Rumsfeld - February 7, 2003

"It's hard to conceive that it would take more forces to provide stability in post-Saddam Iraq than it would take to conduct the war itself and to secure the surrender of Saddam’s security forces and his army. Hard to imagine." –Deputy Defense Secretary Paul Wolfowitz, testifying before the House Budget Committee prior to the Iraq war

"The truth is that for reasons that have a lot to do with the U.S. government bureaucracy, we settled on the one issue that everyone could agree on, which was weapons of mass destruction, as the core reason." --Deputy Defense Secretary Paul Wolfowitz, "Vanity Fair" interview, May 28, 2003

"I think the burden is on those people who think he didn't have weapons of mass destruction to tell the world where they are." –White House Press Secretary Ari Fleischer, July 9, 2003

"Had we to do it over again, we would look at the consequences of catastrophic success, being so successful so fast that an enemy that should have surrendered or been done in escaped and lived to fight another day." —George Bush, telling Time magazine that he underestimated the Iraqi resistance, Aug. 2004

"Oh, no, we're not going to have any casualties." —George Bush, discussing the Iraq war with Christian broadcaster Pat Robertson

"Patriotism means to stand by the country. It does not mean to stand by the President or any other public official save exactly to the degree in which he himself stands by the country. It is patriotic to support him insofar as he efficiently serves the country. It is unpatriotic not to oppose him to the exact extent that by inefficiency or otherwise he fails in his duty to stand by the country." - Theodore Roosevelt

Sunday Scroll #4

But who'd run for President?
Pro-Taliban extremists in a Pakistani tribal area stoned and then shot dead two men and a woman for alleged adultery, officials and witnesses said Thursday.

Some 800 tribesmen watched the executions by the Lashkar-i-Islam (Army of Islam) group on Wednesday in the Khyber tribal district on the border with Afghanistan, they said.

Who's got your back, General?
THE US has indicated for the first time that it might be willing to back plans by elite echelons of the military in Islamabad to oust Pervez Musharraf from power, as the Pakistani President was beset by major new difficulties over his attempts to sack the country's chief justice.

Reports yesterday quoting highly placed US diplomatic and intelligence officials - previously rusted on to the view that General Musharraf was an indispensable Western ally in the battle against terrorism - outlined a succession plan to replace him.

Too many sheep, Donald
George W. Bush will be remembered as the worst US president ever, real estate mogul Donald Trump said Friday, adding that US Senator Hillary Clinton could be Bush's White House successor.

"Bush is probably the worst president in the history of the United States," Trump told CNN, lamenting the 2004 Democratic failure to stop Bush's reelection.

"I just don't understand how they could have lost that election."

Was that Dwight or Joe McCarthy?
The Pledge of Allegiance was written for the popular children's magazine Youth's Companion by socialist author and Baptist minister Francis Bellamy on September 7, 1892.

On Flag Day, June 14, 1954, Congress passed the legislation adding the phrase "under God" to the Pledge.

'Time creep'
When the surge plan was first proposed in January, then-commanding general George W. Casey Jr. suggested that it might be successfully completed, with Baghdadis "feeling safe" in their neighborhoods, by "the summer, late summer." Soon enough, new Secretary of Defense Robert Gates let it be known that the time estimate had crept into the fall, when, he felt sure, the surge might begin to be "reversed." Now, Petraeus is talking about extending the (rising) surge troop levels into the winter; his second-in-command, Lt. Gen. Raymond Odierno, is already floating the idea of surging into February 2008; - Tom Engelhardt-AlterNet

Another Bush Record
Trade Deficit Hits Record for 5th Year
The deficit in the broadest measure of trade hit an all-time high in 2006 and for the first time the United States even ran a deficit on investment income.
The Commerce Department reported that the imbalance in the current account jumped by 8.2 percent to $856.7 billion, representing a record 6.5 percent of the total economy. It marked the fifth straight year the current account deficit set a record.

By the balls
China may sell U.S. bonds
In a move that speaks to China's growing significance in the global economy, its government said Friday it will look for more aggressive ways to invest sizable portions of its massive $1 trillion currency reserves. With much of China's $1 trillion in reserves currently invested in ultrasafe U.S. Treasury debt, a significant shift out of the American bond market could have an impact on American consumers. Interest rates would rise, making it more expensive to borrow money for a home mortgage or car loan or to pay credit card debt.

Today a long time ago
On March 18, 1766 - American Revolution: The British Parliament repeals the Stamp Act, which was very unpopular in the British colonies.

93 U.S. Attorneys
United States Attorneys represent the U.S. federal government in United States district court and United States court of appeals. There are 93 U.S. Attorneys stationed throughout the United States, Puerto Rico, the Virgin Islands, Guam, and the Northern Mariana Islands.

Sharp stick in the eye
For awhile it looked like Helen Thomas, dean of White House correspondents, was going to get booted from her customary front row seat when the renovated press room opens there. But the The White House Correspondents' Association met Friday...and, 'agreed to honor a previous commitment by our association to maintain Helen Thomas' seat in the first row. As the dean of the White House press corps, Helen is an institution. First with United Press International and now as a White House columnist for Hearst newspapers, Helen has covered every president since John Kennedy'.

When Warriors Come Limping Home
Shameful details continue to emerge on the neglectful care extended to soldiers wounded in Iraq and Afghanistan. The Army’s inspector general reports that more than nine out of 10 disabled veterans have been kept waiting for benefit evaluations beyond the 40-day limit set by the Pentagon. Some have waited up to a year and a half for benefits. NYTimes editorial

4 years tomorrow
Monday marks the fourth anniversary of the US invasion of Iraq. Four years is a long time to do something that didn't need to be done. The wasted 3,218 deaths, the 23,417 wounded young Americans, the $1/2 trillion, and the total mess that it's created. Four long years into one the biggest blunders in this nation's history-and we're still clinging onto this failed administration's policies. It's a national tragedy of unprecedented ignorance.

How George will commemorate
The White House, repeatedly asked if President Bush is planning anything to mark the fourth anniversary of the U.S.-led invasion of Iraq on Monday, has suggested that the president is going about business as usual. On Monday, that business includes playing host to the 2006 NCAA football champions, the University of Florida "Gators''.

The Limbaugh/HD Award

This week's winner(s) of the Limbaugh/HD Award are Sean Hannity and Victoria Toensing

Hannity and Toensing, two very well established liars who would make the namesakes of this award proud. In fact, speaking of 'namesakes', there was almost three winners this week, but, more on that, below.

Sean Hannity - Earlier this week Sean Hannity lied about President Bill Clinton firing the Arkansas U.S. Attorney, Charles A. Banks, back in 1993. Hannity repeated an old lie on his TV show that Clinton had fired Banks, 'because he had launched an investigation into Whitewater".

Now that is a bald-faced lie - Not necessarily a 'Limbaugh/HD' magnitude of a lie, yet - But, if you say something and learn later that it was not true, and you then say it again, that definitely qualifies for this prestigious, but infamous, award.

U.S. Attorney Charles A. Banks was fired by Bill Clinton in 1993 - right along with all of the other 92 U.S. Attorneys. Mr. Banks was NOT 'launching an investigation into Whitewater' when Clinton fired him. And in fact, Banks had refused to investigate Whitewater, much to the chagrin of the Bush Daddy Administration - who pressured Banks to come up with a pre-election investigation of Clinton.

Sean Hannity knew what he said on his show Wednesday night was not true. MediaMatters and other news sources refuted what he said the very next day. Hannity knew it was a lie - But, he said it again on his show (without a single peep of opposition) Friday night.

Now that magnitude of a lie will definitely get you the Limbaugh/HD Award.

Victoria 'Poor Little Vicky' Toensing - Poor Little Vicky, I almost feel sorry for her. Well, not really.

Ms. Toensing has been pounding the rightwing misinformation circuit for almost four years, literally playing the role of assassin on Valerie Plame's status, and credibility, at the CIA.

Poor Little Vicky has been the backboard for all wingnuts in their now proven false claim that, 'outing Plame wasn't a crime because she wasn't 'covert''.

Toensing, and therefore, the 'wingnuts', have used as the basis of their argument that Plame didn't qualify 'under the law' as 'covert', because she had not "within the last five years served outside the United States". Poor Little Vicky. Poor wingnuts.

Sorry, Ms. Plame sure did, "travel to foreign countries on secret missions to find vital intelligence”, as she testified to, under oath, on Friday. When 'serving' your country, and traveling is part of your mission, you're 'serving'.

And who else states Valerie Plame 'was covert'? None of other than, the Director of the CIA, General Michael Hayden.

But the lie that wins Toensing the infamous L/HD award, was exposed when Henry Waxman asked Poor Little Vicky, under oath, whether she had ever asked 'anyone in the CIA if Valerie Plame was covert', and she sheepishly had to answer, 'no'. Now think about that for a second.

Here's a woman who has spent four years telling everyone who would listen that Plame didn't qualify as 'covert' , but she never asked any of the people who would have actually known, whether she was or not? Poor Little Vicky never asked the CIA Director, that's for sure.

What was Toensing's source for her unrelenting pursuit of Plame's status in the CIA? How can you argue that a person hasn't 'served in a foreign country', when you don't know that? And of course, we know now that Toensing not only didn't know if Plame was covert, but she never even asked.

You're in bitch-Congratulations to you and Sannity.

'The almost 'tri-winner' of this week's L/HD award'
There was almost some real irony with the award this week when 'Hank Dagny' posted the following comment;

"Only liberals drinking the Kool - Aid can Clinton a pass for firing the lawyer looking into Whitewater."

But as you know, to win the Limbaugh/HD Award it has to be a 'lie', and not just a simple-minded fool regurgitating, without any fact-checking, what Limbaugh or Fox News told him the day before. It has to be a lie, so the judges decided to wait until HD writes it, or say's it again. That's what makes a good liar, pathological, and a worthy recipient of the award.

Let me share with you one of my favorite examples of what I mean by being 'worthy' of the award.

Oh, probably 8-9 years ago, 'Hank' told the tale of why he didn't serve in the military during Vietnam. To summarize - he didn't go in because the war was wrapping up, and besides, he had a 'high draft lottery number'.

Well, there was a problem with Hank's Vietnam-era tale.

You see, I'm two years older than Hank and I knew that the year I was born was the very last year that the United States had ever issued lottery numbers for the military draft. No one, born after the year I was born ever received a draft lottery number.

But, being the sweet, lovable, and easy going type of guy I am, I didn't say anything about it then but when Hank said it again at some point shortly after that, I pointed out to him that his 'memory' must be off a little.... That it was impossible for him to 'have had a high draft number', since he had no number at all. Of course, I had to prove it to him - I did, he whined a little, shanked a couple into the woods, and went on.

Well, guess what? Yeah, a couple of years ago Hank wrote the old Vietnam tale again.

Hence, the Limbaugh/HD award will only go to recipients that reach something near that level of deceit.

Sorry HD. Maybe next time.

Past winners of the prestigious, but infamous, Limbaugh/HD Award
Fox News guy-Brit Hume-3/11/07
VA Secretary-Jim Nicholson-3/4/07
Rep. Michele Bachmann-(R-MN)-2/25/07

Like OJ looking for the 'real' killer

"If there is a leak out of my administration, I want to know who it is.“

Dr. James Knodell, director of the Office of Security at the White House, revealed today that to his knowledge the White House has never ordered a probe, report, or sanctions as a result of the outing of covert CIA operative Valerie Plame. “I have no knowledge of any investigation in my office,” he said.

Why would Bush order an investigation into the outing of covert CIA agent, Valerie Plame, when he was sitting in the room when the planning of it went down?

OJ Simpson looking for the 'real' killer is a more credible scenario.

Poor Vicky falls apart

(4) The term "covert agent" means—

(A) a present or retired officer or employee of an intelligence agency or a present or retired member of the Armed Forces assigned to duty with an intelligence agency—

(i) whose identity as such an officer, employee, or member is classified information, and

(ii) who is serving outside the United States or has within the last five years served outside the United States;

Intelligence Identities Protection Act of 1982

"While I helped to manage and run secret worldwide operations against this WMD target from CIA headquarters in Washington, I also traveled to foreign countries on secret missions to find vital intelligence.” - Valerie Plame-Wilson, Former Covert CIA Agent-3/16/07, in sworn testimony before Congress

Victoria Toensing has spent the last few years playing the White House's pit bull by attacking Valerie Plame's status as a covert CIA agent.

Toensing has been adamant that Plame didn't qualify as covert because she was based at Langley and hadn't served abroad within the last five years.

Well, Poor Vicky - Her entire 3 1/2 year argument just came crashing down in a puff of smoke....Either that, or Valerie Plame perjured herself in front of the entire nation.

When Maryland Rep. Elijah Cummings asked Ms. Plame today if, “During the past five years, from today, did you conduct secret missions overseas?” She answered, “Yes I did, congressman.”

Did Valerie Plame just perjure herself there? She's not stupid.

Poor Vicky. When Henry Waxman asked Toensing, under oath, if she had ever asked anyone in the CIA if Plame was covert, she answered, 'no'. Well, who was her source then? Who told Toensing that Plame hadn't been on an overseas assignment over the last five years - Sean Hannity, Brit Hume, or just who?

Poor little Vicky wrote a piece for the Washington Post last month where she wrote that Patrick Fitzgerald, "should have known (all he had to do was ask the CIA) that Plame was not covert". Well, The CIA has been asked and General Michael Hayden, the CIA director, has stated, "Ms. Wilson was covert."

Maybe Poor little Vicky...the White House's little pit bull, should have asked the CIA. Because she sure looks stupid now because of it.

As I watched Toensing spinning on Hannity & Colmes tonight she kept muttering over and over that Plame wasn't, 'covert under the law'.

Well, sorry Vicky, you're wrong.

You claim to have been involved in writing the Intelligence Identities Protection Act of 1982 - It's too bad you forgot section, 4 A ii.

How despicable can he get?

Congressman against properly training our troops

California Republican Congressman, Jerry Lewis, who would actually be sharing a prison cell with Duke Cunningham right now if Alberto Gonzales had not fired U.S. Attorney, Carol Lam, displayed another common trait of his party; Lewis showed his disdain for our troops by trying to add an amendment to an Appropriations Bill passed by the House. Lewis' amendment would eliminate the Bill's provision that restricts 'the use of troops who are not properly equipped or trained' from being sent to Iraq.

How despicable can Lewis get? I mean, you can disagree on timetables, but what kind of man can stand up before Congress and try to remove a provision that guarantees our troops are properly trained or can't be sent to Iraq without the proper equipment?

And, don't even try to say sending our troops to Iraq without the proper training has no effect. We know better, don't we?

Watch John Murtha rip Jerry Lewis a new one, here. (h/t TP)

You're kidding me?

Officials: Mohammed exaggerated claims

Khalid Sheikh Mohammed - Officials say the 9/11 mastermind was key to some plots but a bit player in others.

The 31 on his list range from the stunningly vicious suicide hijackings of Sept. 11, 2001, to others that current and former government officials say were more talk than concrete plans, such as a plot to kill Jimmy Carter and other former U.S. presidents.

Damn, and here I thought we could get this KSM scumbag to confess to being on the grassy knoll if we could have only dunked his ass a few more times.

I guess there's some doubt now about him doing all 31 acts that he originally admitted to.

But it's really immaterial if he did any of the other 30. All you have to do is read the following sentence from this link:

"But his role in some plots may be more minor than his hands-on involvement in coordinating the attacks of 9/11 — evidence of which was found on his computer when he was captured".

Nope-doesn't matter about the other 30...You can only execute the motherfucker once anyway.

Gonzales' specific lie(s)

In testimony on Jan. 18, Attorney General Alberto R. Gonzales assured the Senate Judiciary Committee that the Justice Department had no intention of avoiding Senate input on the hiring of U.S. attorneys.

Just a month earlier, D. Kyle Sampson, who was then Gonzales's chief of staff, laid out a plan to do just that. In an e-mail, he detailed a strategy for evading Arkansas Democrats in installing Tim Griffin, a former GOP operative and protege of presidential adviser Karl Rove, as the U.S. attorney in Little Rock.

"We should gum this to death," Sampson wrote to a White House aide on Dec. 19. "[A]sk the senators to give Tim a chance . . . then we can tell them we'll look for other candidates, ask them for recommendations, evaluate the recommendations, interview their candidates, and otherwise run out the clock. All of this should be done in 'good faith,' of course."

What's Alberto Gonzales going to claim, he didn't see Sampson's 'plan'? Claim ignorance? Well, Alberto needs to state that under oath.

Congress already has Sampson, William E. Moschella and Paul J. McNulty nailed for lying to Congress under oath, so Alberto needs to come back for some sworn testimony.

Great article by Dan Eggen-lays out all the lies to Congress that are now being exposed by the liars' own documents.

It's always about the cover-up.

Anti-Labor Bush veto will be overidden!

Democrats have 60 Votes and Tim Johnson in the bullpen

The Senate voted 60-38 to approve legislation “to implement many of the remaining reforms suggested by the Sept. 11 commission.” Ten Republicans crossed party lines to approve the measure; Sen. John McCain (R-AZ) skipped the vote to fund raise in California. Bush has threatened to veto the bill “over a provision to expand the labor rights of 45,000 airport screeners.” Roll Call

The thirty-eight Republicans that voted against this legislation, and George Bush who has said he'd veto it, either don't care about securing our country by implementing the 9/11 recommendations or they're just against giving workers' rights.

Regardless, with Tim Johnson, Democrats and the 10 Republicans who joined them have enough votes (61) to override Bush's veto, in another nice anticipated smackdown.

Talk about Union-busting

Chiquita Brands hired death squads

"Thousands" murdered

Chiquita Brands International, famous for its bananas, has agreed to pay $25 million in fines for employing paramilitary groups to protect its farms in Colombia, according to a CNN report.

The corporation is also suspected of using hired military forces to exterminate workers who caused problems or had political beliefs that were not in the best interests of the company, says Karl Penhall on CNN's American Morning.

"This right-wing death squad that Chiquita Brands says it financed through its Colombian subsidiary was responsible not for tens or hundreds of deaths, but in fact for thousands of deaths," Penhall reports.

(Link and video)

How they stack up

The Senate today rejected [50-48] a binding Democratic-sponsored resolution that would have set a target date a little more than a year from now for the withdrawal of most U.S. combat troops from Iraq.

Two Democrats, Ben Nelson (Neb.) and Mark Pryor (Ark.), and independent Joe Lieberman(Conn.) joined Republicans in voting against the Democratic withdrawal plan. One Republican, Gordon Smith (Ore.), sided with most Democrats in supporting it. Two senators -- Tim Johnson (D-S.D.), who is ill, and John McCain (R-Ariz.), who was campaigning today in Iowa -- did not vote. (WP)

What are we waiting for?

You confess to that much killing-You deserve to die.

It's always the lies and the cover-up

Hound them, and pound them!

The smug, flippant, little smart-ass Alberto Gonzales hasn't been quite so smug this past week.

He's going to get that smirk removed permanently from his face by Patrick Leahy.

Alberto has a big problem. His previous testimony before the Senate Judiciary Committee isn't matching up very well with emails and other evidence that's now appeared.

It's always about the lying and the covering up.

Wasn't even a crime up until then.

Bill Clinton fired all 93 of his United States attorneys - Of course, come to think of it, if you fire all of them...it wouldn't be 'political', would it? Especially if it's done at he very start of your term.

No, they schemed to get rid of eight selected U.S. Attorney's who weren't playing the politics the way they were wanted to be played.

Slimy and unethical - But not a crime, they say.

But Alberto, the lying and the covering up will get you nailed every time.

Your return to Texas has been a long time coming. And good riddance!

E-mail records and documents the Justice Department released to Congress Tuesday to clarify why the US attorneys were fired – and what role the White House may have played – have only further stoked lawmaker ire. At first, lawmakers mainly wanted to know if the firings were a political purge involving the White House – and if a little-noted provision added last year to the USA Patriot Act at the request of the Justice Department was put there to facilitate it.

Now, members on both sides of the aisle also want to know if the attorney general and other officials deliberately misled them in briefings and testimony about the fired US attorneys.

"I boiled over when I read information I had not been told," said Sen. Patrick Leahy (D) of Vermont, chairman of the Senate Judiciary Committee, referring to the documents on the firings. "I don't want briefings any more. I didn't get answers. I now want open hearings, under oath."

Gonzales has promised to cooperate with the Senate Judiciary investigation. Still, when the panel meets Thursday, it will decide whether to authorize subpoenas for five Justice Department officials to testify under oath, in the case that cooperation is not forthcoming.

Senator Leahy and the panel's ranking Republican, Sen. Arlen Specter of Pennsylvania, are also requesting appearances by three White House officials: Deputy Chief of Staff Karl Rove, former White House Counsel Harriet Miers, and her deputy White House counsel, William Kelley, who are cited in released documents. csmonitor

Triple amputee has a question

Former Georgia Senator, Max Cleland, has a question for Dick Cheney.

It's 4 minutes and 37 seconds into this 6 1/2 minutes video.

Mr. Vice President....could you raise..

MadDog Henry Waxman goes after the 'core'

A subpoena for Cheney?

Vice President Dick Cheney may have avoided serious law enforcement scrutiny of his office's efforts to discredit and damage the man who exposed the administration's manipulation of prewar intelligence.

But Congress has the power to examine wrongdoing by members of the executive branch, and it is about to start.

Capital Times Opinion

Pardon him late summer 2008

Nearly 70 percent of Americans oppose a presidential pardon for former White House aide Lewis "Scooter" Libby after his conviction on perjury and other charges related to a CIA agent's exposure, according to a CNN poll out Monday.

Just 18 percent said they would support a pardon for Libby, the former chief of staff to Vice President Dick Cheney, while 69 percent said they opposed the idea. Meanwhile, a narrow majority said they believe Cheney was part of a cover-up in the case.

I think Bush should pardon Libby but he should wait for all the appeals to fail.

With a little luck that should take us well into 2008.

Democrats demand Iraq oversight

$3,420 every second

You can't afford three auditors for three months? Okay, you will have three for six months

"How strained are resources in Iraq? So strained that the State Department can't afford for three auditors to make a three month visit.

The State Department recently turned down a request for three congressional auditors to make a three-month stay in Baghdad, saying that having them around for that long would be "a serious challenge to mission resources."

In response, 22 Senate Democrats, led by Sen. Tom Harkin (D-IA), have called on Secretary of State Condoleeza Rice to make room. "American taxpayers are currently being asked to spend approximately $3,420 every second and $280 million per day in Iraq," reads a letter to Rice sent today. "It is imperative that GAO be given the access it needs to serve as the eyes and ears of the United States Congress...."

But the burden of having those three auditors around would seem almost insurmountable... or at least that's the impression a State Department official gave in a letter to Harkin last week:

"each of [the auditors] would require lodging, extensive support services, security, computers, and other administrative support, as well as the attention of our staff in Baghdad in responding to their requests and inquiries."

You can read the entire letter here. The State Department turned down the GAO's request for a three-month stay, agreeing only to a two-week visit -- although the official pointed out that even that "will place considerable burden on Embassy staff and resources."

In the letter sent to Sec. Rice today, the Democrats didn't buy that argument, asking instead that the State Department make room for a six-month stay for the auditors.
- Paul Kiel -TPMmuckraker

Would you for a lousy $150,000?

The people who built our nuclear weapons during the Cold War are sick and dying from long term exposure to radioactive material. But of course, Bush and his Department of Labor (DOL) are trying to screw them out of being rightfully compensated for their illnesses.

The DOL, with assistance from the White House are balking at paying workers $150,000 each, estimated total cost, '$7 billion over the next 10 years'.

They just don't have it in them. Do what's right for $7 billion - a measly $150,000 each.

For the same amount George Bush will spend in the next 3 weeks in Iraq, we could have taken care of all these injured workers over the next 10 years.

Nice choice.

Feds tried to cut aid

Federal officials secretly schemed to limit payouts for sick and dying nuclear weapons workers, including thousands from the Rocky Flats plant outside Denver, newly released documents show.

The officials responsible for helping those workers went behind their boss's back, called on White House officials for help and tried to hide their efforts, according to internal e-mails and memos obtained by a congressional committee and posted on its Web site.

They also wanted to get the White House to override scientific decisions granting compensation and pack the program's advisory board with members less sympathetic to workers.

Labor officials say the plans were never carried out, and they deny trying to hide them.

The U.S. Department of Labor oversees the program to compensate workers whose illnesses can be tied to working with radioactive and other toxic materials at nuclear weapons plants, such as the now-defunct Rocky Flats.

More than 60,000 ill atomic bomb makers, including thousands from Rocky Flats, have sought help. About 16,000 workers nationwide have received a total of $2.6 billion. Far more have been denied or still are waiting for help.

Throughout the documents, Assistant Deputy Secretary for Labor Shelby Hallmark and other officials express grave concern that the bill for providing $150,000 per ill worker could reach $7 billion over 10 years.

Coincidentally, $7 billion is what the U.S. Department of Energy spent over 10 years cleaning up just one of its sites - Rocky Flats. The department has spent $65 billion so far cleaning up 84 of its weapons sites, which were left contaminated by the drive to win the Cold War.

In the memos, Hallmark worries about compensation costs soaring in "an arms race among members (of Congress) jockeying to demonstrate their ability to bring home 'special' benefits to their constituents." His boss, Assistant Secretary of Labor Victoria Lipnic, bemoaned, "There is not a fiscal conservative left anywhere."

Rocky Mountain News

Rocky Flats, 1995 & 2005 after $7 billion cleanup

Click on photos for full screen or go here

Halliburton cuts and runs

Halliburton CEO moves from Houston to Dubai

Oil services giant Halliburton Co. will soon shift its corporate headquarters from Houston to the Mideast financial powerhouse of Dubai, chief executive Dave Lesar announced Sunday.

Federal investigators last month alleged Halliburton was responsible for $2.7 billion of the $10 billion in contractor waste and overcharging in Iraq.

There's the first and the second from the last paragraph from the link, with a lot to read in between.

Halliburton lives off the American taxpayer but now they want to avoid as much tax as they can possibly get away with.

Let them go. If they want to become a Dubai company, fine. The U.S. just needs to find an American company to take their place with all those golden military contracts.