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Open thread 7/11
- By Phillip Brownlee
- Posted July 11, 2007 at 1:05 a.m.
- Filed under Open thread
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Aww, just when you think it can’t possibly get any worse from Worst President Ever, it gets worse.
Today’s Bush Family Evil Empire: Scandal Du Jour is brought to you by our old friend AG Alberto “Pancho Villa” Gonzalez.
“Papers?” Pancho Gonzalez said when questioned by Congress. “We don’ need no steenkin’ papers!”
Enjoy . . . .
http://rawstory.com/news/2007/Gonzales_told_of_FBI_abuses_claimed_0710.html
Dem calls for Special Prosecutor to investigate Gonzales’ lies to Congress
Nick Juliano and Will ManakerPublished: Tuesday July 10, 2007A Democratic Congressman called for Alberto Gonzalez’s resignation and said he wants an independent prosecutor to investigate reports that the attorney general misled Congress in denying knowledge of civil rights abuses by the FBI.
“Attorney General Gonzales has shown an apparent reckless disregard for the rule of law and a fundamental lack of respect for the oversight responsibilities of Congress,” said Rep. Jerry Nadler, D-N.Y. “The man entrusted with enforcing our nation’s laws must also abide by them – and Mr. Gonzales has apparently failed in that duty.”
Tuesday’s Washington Post reports that Gonzales was given at least a half-dozen reports detailing FBI abuses of power in the three months before testifying to Congress where he sought to renew the Patriot Act. In front of the Senate Intelligence Committee, on April 27, 2005, he claimed he knew of no wrongdoing or abuse of power, and that the Patriot Act was free of problems, despite the reports of numerous violations of the law and FBI protocol.
The report detailed acts of unauthorized surveillance, improper searches, and other procedural and legal breaches of civil rights and privacy laws. Gonzales was also briefed on the abuse of an anti-terror tool known as the national security letter as early as 2005, well before the Justice Department’s inspector general made these violations public.
Gonzales also was apparently dishonest when answering questions from the Senate Judiciary Committee earlier this year about the national security letters, that panel’s chairman said Tuesday.
In written responses to questions from Sen. Patrick Leahy, D-Vt., Gonzales said he did not know of the FBI’s misuse of the letters until he saw a draft copy of the inspector general’s report, which was released publicly in March of this year.
“Unfortunately, this Administration’s penchant for secrecy makes it difficult to work in a cooperative way. …
This inconsistency is a disturbing addition to a growing list of misleading answers by the Attorney General to questions from the Judiciary Committee, and it is unacceptable.” Leahy said in a prepared statement.*****
I am shocked—SHOCKED, I TELL YOU—that anyone in the Bush administration would knowingly LIE about past wrong-doing.
For instance, when Bush Co. insisted that they knew Saddam had weapons of mass destruction and said they even knew where they were, and then there were no weapons of mass destruction, that was not a lie because . . . uhm . . . okay, ignore that.
Or when Bush said that the “vast majority of my tax breaks go to those at the bottom of the economic ladder,” and the top 1 percent got 55 percent of the tax breaks—see, that wasn’t a lie because the poor people at the bottom really need the money, or something.
Or when Bush said that the IAEA said that Saddam could have a nuclear bomb in six months, and it turned out that the IAEA actually said that Saddam wouldn’t have the means to make a nuclear bomb for the foreseeable future, that wasn’t actually a lie because . . .But when Bush said that he would fire anyone who was involved with leaking Valerie Wilson’s name to the press and then Scooter Libby was convicted of lying about it, Bush didn’t fire him . . . he commuted his sentence. And that wasn’t a lie because . . . uhm . . .
Anyway, I am shocked, I tell you.This has been your BFFE: Scandal Du Jour.
how convenient.
Sentate votes to DEFUND cheneyGonzalez is on the hot seat againMeiers has to testify DESPITE pissypants claiming EPIraq War failing
but
but
wait for it…
Chertoff has a “gut feeling” some boogie man might attack us this summer…
way to go chimpy … bring out the terror card again, but this time people are on to your corruption
Let’s examine state population growth. There has been a substantial population shift to the “Sunbelt” from the north. Conservative commentators have given weight to most of the southern states being “Right to Work” states, which putatively has enabled them to capture manufacturing jobs from “Union Lockout” states.
It is absolutely true that Right to Work states such as South Carolina, Mississippi and Alabama have landed foreign car manufacturing plants, non-unionized, and their attendant suppliers. But so have Union Lockout states such as Ohio, Indiana and Kentucky.
How did they do in terms of population-increase percentages from 1990 to 2000?
RTW South Carolina 15.1%RTW Mississippi 10.5%RTW Alabama 10.1%UL Kentucky 9.7%UL Indiana 9.7%UL Ohio 4.7%
These data’s rank order would imply at first glance that Right to Work is better than Union Lockout for generating population growth. However, a closer inspection shows that only South Carolina had above-national-average growth (15.1% vs. the nation’s 13.1%) and the 2 percentage difference was miniscule. The other two RTW states ‘ growth rates were below national average, and they were within 1% of UL Kentucky and Indiana’s growth rates.
Here is how these states’ rank in terms of raw population growth:
UL Indiana .536MillionRTW South Carolina .525MUL Ohio .506MRTW Alabama .406MUL Kentucky .357MRTW Mississippi .271M
The Right to Work theory of economic advantage can’t explain why RTW Louisiana had only 5.9% growth. It can’t explain why Union Lockout states Washington had 21.1% growth, Oregon 20.4% growth, California 13.8% growth and Minnesota 12.4% growth.
Because warm winter climate alone is a strong relocation motive let’s consider proximate equal-latitude states and their growth rates between 1990 and 2000. This is more apples-to-apples.
UL Colorado 30.1%RTW Utah 29.6%UL Missouri 9.3%RTW Kansas 8.5%
UL Montana 12.9%UL Minnesota 12.4%UL Wisconsin 9.6%RTW South Dakota 8.5%RTW North Dakota 0.5%
UL Indiana 9.7%UL Illinois 8.6%RTW Nebraska 8.4%RTW Iowa 5.4%
These date prove that there is no correlation between Right to Work and population growth. Those who say there is are either analytically challenged, or else they’re deliberately trying to mislead people.
America’s fastest growing state in terms of population number was Union Lockout California 4.1M, followed by Right to Work states Florida 3.8M, Texas 3.0M, Georgia 1.7M and North Carolina 1.4M.
But the RTW states’ growth is not due to non-unionized old-industry factory job expansion. It is due to mushrooming service-economy and high-tech-industry expansion. Which in most cases has a strong research-university correlation. Even Florida, not traditionally a research powerhouse, has massively increased University of Florida’s annual science and engineering research budget from $149M in 1994, to $447M in 2004. Federally-funded research, which is important because it requires high-grade national peer review, and is associated with Ph.D. production output, nearly tripled from $80M to $221M at the university in this same 10-year period.
Texas’s highest growth-rate MSA in the 1990’s was liberal Austin 47.7%, anchored by U Texas-Austin. North Carolina’s growth engine was Research Triangle, anchored by Duke, UNC and NCSU. North Carolina isn’t rapidly growing because of its textile, tobacco and furniture-building industries’ expansion, free of Union Lockout restraints, but rather due to strong growth in high technology and service industries.
Florida’s growth is based on service industries tied to retirees and tourists foremost, but also national financial and consulting services. (For example Miami consultant Rick Horrow wrote the Wichita Arena proposal and guided local beneficiaries of the arena on how to sell it to the public.) These have no connection to Florida’s Right to Work statute.
Georgia’s growth is primarily occurring in the Atlanta MSA. It isn’t an accident that this correlates with the presence of two excellent research universities, Georgia Tech and Emory.
.
Kansas’s primary growth center is JoCo, many of whose affluent residents work in Union Lockout Missouri, and those who don’t chiefly work in sales, marketing, small business ownership and financial and other professional services that aren’t unionized in Union Lockout states. JoCo is handily beating the U.S. growth curve, with 29% population expansion in the 1990’s.
Wichita MSA’s putative 1990-2000 growth rate was only 12.4%, but even this is misleading, because the Census Bureau added two new counties to Wichita MSA in the 2000 population tally. Real growth rate: <12%.
Wichita city growth rate, 13.2%, also reflects boundary-expansion in substantial part. The U.S. population growth in 1990-2000 was 13.1%, so it would appear at first glance that Wichita City “kept pace” with national population growth. Did it really? No. The national borders and U.S. landmass area have been fixed for decades. In Wichita’s case large blocs of formerly unincorporated suburbs with homes that were built and inhabited from the 60’s, 70’s and 80’s were arbitrarily annexed by the City in 1999. To be sure there were also post-1990 constructed homes in these blocs, but most predated 1990.Hence, had Wichita’s city limits been expanded in 1989 rather than a decade later, counting heads living in the same land area in 1990 and in 2000, Wichita’s reported population growth rate would have been lower than the national growth rate.
Wichita serves as a magnet for agriarian-heritage peoples who are given urban-occupation training. Nothing new here in this. But the wages paid to such transplants are not keeping up with cost-of-living rises. In 1970, Sedgwick County’s per capita income was 5% above the national average. In 2004, it was 3.2% below national average. JoCo has long had an above-national-average PCI. In 2004 it was 43% higher. Nearly half (47%) of JoCo adults aged 24+ in 2000 had bachelor’s degrees. For Wichita it was one quarter (25%). The JoCo median white female income in 2000 was higher than the median white male income for Wichita.
Colorado, anchored by the University of Colorado and Colorado State University, is the only state among Kansas and her next-door neighbors beating the U.S. growth curve. Congressional representation since 1958 has increased there from 4 to 7. Nebraska has dropped from 4 to 3. Missouri has dropped from 11 to 9. Oklahoma has dropped from 6 to 5. Kansas has dropped from 6 to 4.
What’s going on? In Colorado, CU got $388M in federal funding for science and engineering research in 2004. Colorado’s #2 research university got $145M. Kansas’s top research university, KU got $102M. Kansas’s #2 research university, KSU got $56M.
To gauge what this means, consider: not only did Colorado’s #1 research university receive nearly $4 in federal science and engineering funding for every $1 Kansas’s #1 research university received, Colorado’s #2 research university, Colorado State, received nearly as much federal science and engineering funding as Kansas’s #1 and #2 research universities received COMBINED.
In analogy, for $38,800 (CU) you can buy a 2007 Ford Expedition, with seating for seven, equipped with leather seats, DVD entertainment system, DVD nav system and a 6-CD stereo. You can alternatively buy a fully loaded Chevy Tahoe. Or a Cadillac SRX. Or a Volvo XC90.
For $14,500 (CSU) your new car choices are basic-package American-made Toyota Corolla, Honda Civic, Ford Focus or Chevy Cobalt. Or you can get a Korean-made subcompact with more options.
So Colorado represents, in analogy, a family’s ability to buy a really nice large SUV that is great for soccer moms and cross-country travel, and a small new commuter vehicle.
For $10,200 (KU) you cannot buy any American-made new car. Your only choice is a Korean Daewoo-made Chevy Accent. Without air conditioning. Reasonably comfortable for 4 adults in town, only cross-country comfortable for 2 front-seated adults.
For $5600 (KSU) you have four new Honda choices: a 600cc Shadow motorcycle, a 250cc Reflex scooter, a CR125[cc] dirt bike, or a TRX400[cc]EX ATV.
So in analogy, if you’re in Colorado, your family vehicle #1 is a 7-passenger options-loaded SUV, and your family vehicle #2 is a an American-made commuter subcompact, or a Korean-made subcompact with nice options. If you’re in Kansas, family vehicle #1 is a stripped-down Korean subcompact, and family vehicle #2 is an open-to-the-elements two-wheel vehicle, or else an ATV that isn’t street legal.
Or consider a home-price analogy: $388k (CU), $145k (CSU), $102k (KU), $56k (KSU).
These analogies don’t mean that KSU grads are driving scooters to work and living in mobile homes. What they mean is that Kansas students are denied access to high-quality advanced-economy knowledge, which is continuously generated through research, and companies aren’t coming here to tap into a conveniently-located well-educated human-capital resource.
More…
Consider the Wichita MSA vs. the Atlanta MSA. In 2004 the Wichita MSA had an estimated 704k people. The Atlanta MSA had an estimated 4.67M people. Wichita received $11.8M in federal science and engineering funding in 2004. So, being that we live in an equitable population-apportioned nation, Atlanta had a right to receive $78.5M in federal science and engineering research funding, didn’t it?
Except that this isn’t what happened. Georgia Tech and Emory in Atlanta city limits received in combination, $480.7M, and former municipal university Georgia State University received $25.8M. So Atlanta MSA received $506.6M. Turned around, federal research funds being equally population-apportioned, Wichita MSA should have received $76.4M, not $11.8M. On a population-apportioned basis, Atlanta MSA got almost $7 in federal science and engineering funding for every $1 Wichita MSA received.
But research dollars alone don’t tell the whole story, these dollars generate commercial enterprises and jobs. One of the new buzzwords in research is “translation”, which means the process of taking basic science discoveries and “translating” them into useful applications and enterprise opportunities.
Engineering is a translational discipline. Members of the National Academy of Engineering, representing America’s foremost senior engineers. Georgia Tech has 25. On a population-adjusted basis, WSU should have 4 members. It has 0. The state of Georgia has 36 NAE members, including UPS’s president and Gulfstream Air’s chief of research. On a population-adjusted basis, relative to Georgia, Kansas should have 12 NAE members. Nationally, there are 1950 active NAE members. So, if they were equally distributed, Kansas would have 17-18. Kansas only has 4.
Consider the Denver-Boulder-Greely MSA, 2004 population 2.7M, equal to that of the state Kansas. Does this MSA have 4 NAE members? No, the number is 46.
How about the Seattle-Tacoma-Bremerton CMSA? About 35% more populous than Kansas. Does it have 5-6 NAE members? No, the number is 54.
Did Seattle’s University of Washington receive 1.3 times what Kansas received in 2004 in federally-funded science and engineering research funding, i.e. $203M? No, it got $625M.
KU Chancellor Bob Hemenway wants to massively increase research funding in the health sciences. Why? He testified to the Kansas House in February that the University of Iowa’s National Institute of Health funding ($168.8M in 2004 according to the National Science Foundation) has been estimated to generate $4.1 B in total state business impact, whereas KU’s much smaller NIH funding ($66.8M in 2004, NSF data), generates only $1.3B in total state business impact. For a small state like Kansas, an additional $2.8B in business would be a “significant economic windfall”.
http://www.news.ku.edu/2007/february/7/hemenwaytestimony.shtml
KU’s leaders are working to launch an $800M initiative to make KU Medical Center a first-tier research institution. That’s nearly a billion dollars, which is a lot of money for Kansans to come up with.
But it is not an overhead cost, it is a strategic investment. The goal is to double KU Medical Center’s annual research funding by 2011, and then double it again from its current $88M (which includes non-federal funding) to $340M by 2016.
http://www.kansascity.com/105/story/153549-p2.html
Essentially, Kansas will capture more research money from the federal government every 2.5 years than the original investment expenditure. The larger impact should be more than $5B annually for the state’s business economy. This is smart investing.
We have an ag economy that wants federal dollars. A lot of these welfare benefits go to absentee landowners. We know the subsidies aren’t protecting family farms and small communities, because their populations are shrinking. So do Kansans want to get ineffective federal pumping of a life raft that’s leaking air, or alternatively federal funds for an entirely different purpose: to develop a 21st century knowledge-based economy?
http://abcnews.go.com/US/story?id=3363032&page=1
This made my blood boil. I don’t think the girl was just pretending. Those child protection and cops are failing this child.
Ear piercing abuse my foot. THIS is abuse.
“We have an ag economy that wants federal dollars. A lot of these welfare benefits go to absentee landowners. We know the subsidies aren’t protecting family farms and small communities, because their populations are shrinking. So do Kansans want to get ineffective federal pumping of a life raft that’s leaking air, or alternatively federal funds for an entirely different purpose: to develop a 21st century knowledge-based economy?”
Good points Mark! There is some really interesting research about how federal farm subsidies actually HURT small towns and are killing our rural communities. Too early though to look it up.
Mark, if you havent already, you should read Richard Florida’s “The Rise of the Creative Class”.
We already have moved to a knowledge based economy. That’s why the wingnut KBOE did so much damage to the state’s economic development marketing.
And dont forget, the shortage of skilled workers in this state. Hell, even the shortage of unskilled workers in some parts of the state. All the federal job training programs in the world cant solve that problem for kansas.
Only increased population will solve rural problems. And the chances of that? You’d be better off investing in WWW.
“The nation’s budget deficit will drop to $205 billion in the fiscal year that ends in September, less than half of what it was at its peak in 2004, according to new White House estimates.”
That damned Bush. He’s an idiot. He’s a genius. He’s an idiot. He’s a genius.
PM, Unfortunatly this sort of thing happens too often, I’ve known parents who have allowed their toddler to drink alcohol because they thought it was “funny” to see him intoxicated…the kid grew up to be a raging alcoholic and drug addict. I’ve known parents who taught their kids to smoke pot and used with them on a regular basis. Many parents think nothing of being drunk or using hardcore drugs in front of thier kids. The number of stupid, selfish, ignorant, and abusive people in this world is sometimes mindboggeling. It’s really sad that this sort of thing is so common, these kids don’t have a chance.
“Sara Taylor, the former White House political director, has agreed to answer some questions as a “willing and cooperative private citizen,” during testimony about the United States attorney firings last year when she appears before the Senate Judiciary Committee later today.”
She is testifying now, I would suggest that you Republican posters on this blog go to the C-Span web site
http://www.c-span.org/watch/cs_cspan3_rm.asp?Cat=TV&Code=CS3
for live coverage of the testimony now. That way you will witness the testimony first hand and not have to get the spin version from Russ and the other rightie talking show hosts, Fox News, and all the other conservation show out there.
And you can listen and still posts all your lies at the same time.
Sorry, I tried that copy and paste for c-span and the player wouldn’t start. Try this
http://www.c-span.org/watch/cs_cspan3_rm.asp?Cat=TV&Code=CS3
If this doesn’t work you will have to go to http://www.c-span.org and click on live stream c-span 3.
To be fair MPS, most of all cities expanded their city limit borders.
While what you say might not be considered population increase, Goddard and Andover has been increasing, in fact are the fastest growing cities in the state of Kansas.
You have to remember that JoCo is also nothing more than transplant KCitiers. It’s not that the population growth is new to the KC area, these are people moving out of KC proper to live in the suburbs. Known as White Flight. Sure JoCo has wealth and is affluent with many holding degrees, but it’s also 98% White with no urban center or urban poor. Where are all the minorities in JoCo? They may be busing their tables at a Restaurant or cleaning a room at the Hotel, but they are not living there.
Another thing to remember that Wichita State University didn’t become a State University until the 1960’s. Before that it was a city university funded by the city. So it hasn’t had the time like the other universities to build a legacy and endowment like KU and KSU or the others around the nation. The old timers who put in money into endowments are now just started to come in.
But we can do more. So I agree with you MPS and I would love to chat with you about all of this. You are extremely knowledgeable and you seem to care about the future of Wichita, as do I.
I had a chance to move to Atlanta, but I decided to keep my roots here, because I believe in Wichita and its future potential. It’s a great city and it takes passionate people to move it forward.
“The Brevard County doctor who was arrested for groping a woman while dressed as Captain America with a burrito in his pants will not go to jail.”
Our capn dodges another one.No justice, no peace!
more ankle biting?
WASHINGTON — Sen. Olympia Snowe on Wednesday became the second Republican to embrace a bill ordering troops out of Iraq as President Bush’s national security adviser tried to stop defections from the White House war policy.
Snowe, R-Maine, joined Sen. Gordon Smith, R-Ore., in co-sponsoring a bill that would require troops to start leaving in 120 days. The bill also would end combat by April 30, 2008.
It only takes one Republican at a time and before you know it, congress will have enough votes to override a presidential veto.
I just saw on C-SPAN2 that Brownback failed to cast a vote on the Iraq War today!
Did someone forget to tell him how to vote?
Or is he taking ANOTHER day off to raise more money for his doomed campaign?
He was probably exhausted after being PRESENT for the judge vote yesterday.
You know, it’s HARD WORK trying to stop the confirmation of a judge who ATTENDED a gay wedding.
I’m sure, since his voting muscles have gotten a little weak from disuse, that he is recuperating after casting his “important” vote YESTERDAY!
But I somehow bet his cashing muscles for his full paycheck for partime work never fail him…
A Rudy/lieberman ticket?
Say it ain’t so….
Ksfarmgrrl-
Good one.
Remember that the propagandists are changing from “terrorists” to “al-Qaida” as the slogan to frighten you.
al-Qaida is not an organisation per se’ but rather an all-encompassing way of describing angry Arabs who are trying to ward-off Israeli aggression which the Neocon/Zionists have control of both the US military and American foreign policy on course for world conquest.
The Zionists will be cranking-up their hostilities toward me for exposing their act, so expect everything from h denial to anti-S to come my way { their little bag of Off-Subject or Subject Changing tricks }.
Well Fleetie, I’m guessing bush’ budget forcast doesn’t include paying anything on his little 1/2 trillion war, which I don’t believe he’s ever put in the budget.
Here is how the people of the Middle East view the War in Iraq, and see the reason for Iraqis’ unwillingness to establish peace at this time.
“To the people of this region, Bush’s cause has long been painfully evident: to gain control of Iraq’s oil resources. Indeed, ever since the US-led invasion of Iraq, the Bush administration has been aggressively pressuring the Iraqi government to pass a new oil law, ostensibly to promote “reconciliation” among the country’s divided communities. In fact, Bush has made the passage of a new oil law one of his key “benchmarks” for Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki’s government.
“Members of the Bush administration have argued that the new law will serve to “unify” the country by giving Iraqis a “shared stake in Iraq’s future.” In fact the bill has proven to facilitate Iraqi unity: It has drawn fierce opposition from lawmakers representing the country’s divided Sunni, Shiite and Kurdish communities, as well as from all five of the country’s trade unions, which represent hundreds of thousands of Iraqis.
“The Iraqis are understandably concerned about the draft law because oil is Iraq’s economic lifeblood: It accounts for nearly 70 percent of GDP and more than 95 percent of government revenues. But the draft oil law would take over three-fourths of Iraq’s oil fields out of the hands of the Iraqi government and put them in the pockets of Western companies. These companies would not be obliged under the new law to meet minimum standards in partnering with Iraqi firms, hiring Iraqi workers or investing profits in the Iraqi economy. The law also allows for production-sharing agreements, corporate-friendly deals that have been rejected by every other country in this region, and with good reason: They grant foreign firms control of resources and profits for as long as 20 to 30 years, or an entire generation.
“The Americans invaded Iraq on the basis of lies that Bush concocted about Al-Qaeda and weapons of mass destruction. Now that Bush has completely shattered the Iraqi nation, he wants to deprive the Iraqi people of one of the only means they have to repair it. The question now becomes: Is this a cause that the American people can support in good conscience?”
http://www.dailystar.com.lb/article.asp?edition_id=1&article_id=83631&categ_id=17
Why don’t Iraqis understand the reasonableness of having foreign powers parasitically suck 75% of 70% of GDP = 50% of the value their economy? These Iraqis are fanatics.
It is interesting that the MSM is saying that the three largest sects can’t come to an agreement on oil-revenue sharing, but MSM is failing to to tell the truth. Iraqis are rejecting:
10% to Shi’ites, 10% to Kurds, 5% to Sunnis, 75% to Anglo-American parasites.
Are the Iraqis insane fanatics? Yes. Just like American colonialists who got tired of English lords parasitizing them, and decided that they didn’t need that relationship anymore.
for fleetwood
http://www.uuforum.org/deficit.htm
‘Global Warming Will Hit U.S. Northeast Hard Unless Action Taken Now;Long-term Severity Depends On Near-term Choices, Scientists Say’http://www.ucsusa.org/news/press_release/global-warming-to-hit-0044.html
The report’s findings include: climate, coastlines, agriculture, marine fisheries, winter recreation and tourism.
Just another editorial. However, it probably does reflect a large number of iraquis feelings. After all, it is no more than what many editorialists, bloggers, etc, in the United States for a long time.Since many US citizens are saying it, it must be true. Right?
When we leave Iraq, they will work-out their differences. We carry the stench of death, which is not a part of any solution.
Poor analogy MPS. The U.S. Colonies fought against their invaders and colonizers to achieve independence.
If you wanted to use an analogy, then you should have used the French who were helping the U.S. colonies against the English.
That’s a great analogy MPS. Like the British wanting control of 75% of the colonialists most valuable resource.
Don’t miss “lil bush” tonight at 9:30 on comedy central.
Good to see you again, JR.
Why thank you mrc! Just in for a bit today. But I’ll be back soon and in FULL force.
Gold
“Giuliani drastically scaled back search and recovery efforts at Ground Zero on Nov. 1, 2001 to make way for cleanup crews. The remains of dozens of firefighters killed in the attack had still not been found. The reason for the “scoop and dump” operation, as the firefighters call it? Gold. The same day Giuliani cut back the search teams, he also announced that more than $230 million worth of gold and silver bars had been recovered from vaults under the tower. Firefighters claim the search was always more about gold than it was about bodies.”
http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/19707130/
Oh and if anyone has not seen Michael Moore’s “Sicko”? You should really see it. See how we treat the REAL heroes of 911. Shameful. 911 should be an albatross on Rudy.
No bites on this one?
Hmmmmmmm. Would of thought someone found it interesting…
A Rudy/lieberman ticket?
Say it ain’t so….
Posted by: SolDevVB | July 11, 2007 at 12:30 PM
Sol,
Well, Rudy hasn’t been making great campaign decisions of late, what with his South Carolina campaign chair being busted for crack, and his Southeast chair being none other than Senator David “Clinton should resign because of sexual indiscretions” Vitter, R-LA.
And Lieberman? Who, other than Zionists and neoconservatives, would vote for Lieberman?
If this wasn’t so pathetic is would be funny.
Chairman Thompson Responds to Chertoff’s “Gut Feeling”
July 11th, 2007 by Jesse Lee
Yesterday Homeland Security Secretary Michael Chertoff was reported to have made the following remarks:
Homeland Security chief warns of ‘increased risk’E.A. Torriero, Chicago Tribune – July 11, 2007
Chertoff bases ‘gut feeling’ on history, Al Qaeda statements
Fearing complacency among the American people over possible terror threats, U.S. Homeland Security Secretary Michael Chertoff said in Chicago Tuesday that the nation faces a heightened chance of an attack this summer.
“I believe we are entering a period this summer of increased risk,” Chertoff told the Chicago Tribune’s editorial board in an unusually blunt and frank assessment of America’s terror threat level.
“Summertime seems to be appealing to them,” he said of al-Qaeda. “We do worry that they are rebuilding their activities.”
Still, Chertoff said there are not enough indications of an imminent plot to raise the current threat levels nationwide. And he indicated that his remarks were based on “a gut feeling” formed by past seasonal patterns of terrorist attacks, recent al-Qaeda statements, and intelligence he did not disclose.
Today, Committee on Homeland Security Committee Chairman Bennie G. Thompson sent the following letter to Chertoff demanding an explanation of the Secretary’s remarks:
July 11, 2007Dear Secretary Chertoff:
Over the past five years, tens of billions of taxpayer dollars have been dedicated to standing up and building capacity at the Department of Homeland Security. The Department of Homeland Security is charged with deterring, preventing and responding to the threat of terrorism. To that end, systems have been erected to identify risks and communicate them to the American public. With all the resources you have at your disposal and all the progress that you assure us that you are making, I cannot understand why you are quoted in the Chicago Tribune as saying you have a “gut feeling” that we are entering a period of heightened risk this summer.
Words have power, Mr. Secretary. You must choose them wisely—especially when they relate to the lives and security of the American public. What color code in the Homeland Security Advisory System is associated with a “gut feeling?” What sectors should be on alert as a result of your “gut feeling?” What cities should be asking their law enforcement to work double shifts because of your “gut feeling?” Are the American people supposed to purchase duct tape and plastic sheeting because of your “gut feeling?”
The Committee on Homeland Security has repeatedly emphasized the importance of getting specific, actionable information to our first preventers in law enforcement and other emergency response providers. I urge you to follow up on your “gut feeling” and share whatever information our nation’s first preventers need to be on alert and prepared. Otherwise, we run the risk of communities taking it upon themselves to mobilize for every possible threat. This not only would result in communities depleting their scarce homeland security resources but runs contrary to your efforts to move toward a risk-based approach to homeland security.
This fall, we will be marking the sixth anniversary of the most deadly terrorist attack on U.S. soil. With likely action on legislation to implement the unfinished business of the 9/11 Commission, Congress is poised to give you more and better opportunities to work with law enforcement in a constructive manner.
Mr. Secretary, I urge you to clarify your comments by providing concrete direction to the State, local and tribal stakeholders and if necessary make the required changes to the Nation’s threat level to ensure that the American public can take the necessary steps to protect their families, businesses and communities.
I would be happy to convene a classified briefing of our Members to discuss the threat to our nation if you believe that such a briefing is warranted.
Sincerely,
Bennie G. Thompson
Chairman, Committee on Homeland Security
Gut feeling.
More like a sinking feeling.
Can you say bright and scary object? Look! Over there! Pay no attention to Libby or Gonzalez! Scary terrorists! They’re on their way!
I wonder if scandal is about to break over the homeland security department and hence this little sideshow?
Bravo Bennie G Thompson
Bush must of told him it was ‘gut check time!’
Think they’ll ever realize their politics of fear no longer works with most people?
Good to see you, J R! Looking forward to that day when you’re back!
“The report’s findings include: climate, coastlines, agriculture, marine fisheries, winter recreation and tourism.”
Does it include any reporting on your one note fapping?
Q: When does the most prolific serial killer in the history of LA not garner ANY national media attention?
A: Simple, it’s when said killer is a black “man” !Keep up the good work, main stream media. What would we do without ya?
Killer is sentenced to deathChester Turner’s guilt in slaying 10 women was established ‘beyond all doubt,’ judge says.By John Spano, Times Staff WriterJuly 11, 2007
Photo GalleryChester Turner Sentenced To DeathChester Turner, the most prolific serial killer in the history of Los Angeles, was sentenced to death Tuesday for the murders of 10 women, most of them prostitutes.
Los Angeles County Superior Court Judge William Pounders said Turner’s guilt was established “beyond all doubt.”
“I don’t think any jury would arrive at a different conclusion,” Pounders told Turner, 40, who had repeatedly proclaimed his innocence.
Turner was found guilty April 30 of killing 10 women, including one who was pregnant, in South Los Angeles and downtown’s skid row between 1987 and 1998. He strangled eight with his bare hands. Four of the killings took place within six blocks of Turner’s home.
DNA evidence linked him to all his victims. His identification cleared another man who had been wrongly convicted of two of his crimes.
Turner’s brutal actions show “a level of cruelty rarely seen in murder trials,” Pounders said. The judge denied motions for a new trial and agreed that the jury’s finding that Turner deserved death was “proper according to the law.”
http://www.latimes.com/news/local/la-me-turner11jul11,0,2275342.story?coll=la-home-center
SS,
The racist whining continues, I see.
Ever heard of Wayne Williams? No lack of sensational media coverage there.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wayne_Williams
Yeah. Media bias. Of course.
Hey, Sarge?? Remember all of the national media attention in California a couple of years back when they executed that Black dude, who had “turned his life around” on Death Row?? They had a TON of coverage on that one… Not just then, but I remember when he was convicted too… Maybe this one was a little more subdued… Lots of things been happening this spring in LA, and the rest of the country… Lots of that DC crap every week this year… Looks like the LA Times covered it fairly well…
And I also remember reading the story of how the other guy who was convicted of two of this one’s murders, was set free, because of the DNA evidence… That one made national headlines…
RIP, LadyBird Johnson. Deceased at age 94.
Sgt Slaughter is Ian.
He even continues to leave extra lines above his posts, JUST LIKE IAN.
Dead space for a dead head.
I doubt any Repub here could argue against Libya getting the medics confession by using the bush “alternative interrogation” techniques. I bet they weren’t even water boarded!Libya court upholds death sentence on medics By Salah SarrarWed Jul 11, 11:41 AM ET
TRIPOLI (Reuters) – Libya’s Supreme Court upheld death sentences on Wednesday against six foreign medics for infecting Libyan children with HIV, but officials said they could win a reprieve next week.
ADVERTISEMENTForeign Minister Mohammed Abdel-Rahman Shalgam said the government-controlled High Judicial Council, which has the power to commute the sentence or even pardon the five Bulgarian nurses and Palestinian doctor, will consider the case on Monday.
European Union and Bulgarian leaders expressed regret at the court ruling, the latest twist in a highly politicized trial, but said they remained confident. There have been lengthy efforts to secure a deal with families of the children.
“The court rejects the appeals of the defendants and confirms the death penalty,” judge Fathi Dhan told a five-minute hearing. The six medics were not in court to hear his ruling.
The six medics were sentenced to death in December after being convicted of infecting 426 Libyan children with the deadly virus while they worked at the children’s hospital in the city of Benghazi in the 1990s.
In jail since 1999, they say they are innocent and were tortured to make them confess. Some Western scientists say negligence and poor hospital hygiene were the real culprits and that the six were made into scapegoats.
Bulgarian President Georgi Parvanov said Wednesday’s decision was no surprise. “We expect and insist for a swift solution by Libya’s High Judicial Council to finally complete the case,” he told reporters.
In Washington, State Department spokesman Sean McCormack said the medics should be “returned immediately,” but noted that Wednesday’s court ruling was not the last word in the process.
The case has blocked Libyan leader Muammar Gaddafi’s efforts to deepen links to the West after ending decades of isolation in 2003 when Libya scrapped a prohibited weapons program.
HOPES FOR DEAL
Hopes were raised for a deal to win their release on Tuesday evening when Libya’s Gaddafi Foundation charity said it had reached an accord with the children’s families that “puts an end to the crisis.”
Libyan officials say the High Judicial Council would only agree to the release of the nurses if a settlement were reached in private talks between the families and the EU on funding for the children’s medical care.
Behind the scenes talks have been taking place between the EU and the association of the families of the children on just such a possible deal — to provide a fund of tens of millions of dollars for the families to pay for the children’s future care.
Libya calls the cash “compensation” — a term Bulgaria rejects as it says it implies the medics are guilty.
The Libyan families have asked for 10 million euros ($13.3 million) for each child, far in excess of what observers say the EU has been prepared to pay. The Gaddafi Foundation charity, run by a son of Libyan leader Muammar Gaddafi, Saif al-Islam, has been a central player in facilitating the talks.
Tsvetanka Siropoulu, sister-in-law of one of the nurses, said the case was always likely to be resolved out of court. “It was clear from the very beginning that this fabricated trial will not have a judicial solution but a political one,” she said.
Bulgaria and its allies in Brussels and Washington have all been trying to win their release, and failure to free the nurses would carry a diplomatic cost for Libyan leader Muammar Gaddafi.
Libya expert Saad Djebbar, a London based Algerian lawyer, said the Gaddafi Foundation’s announcement of a deal on the eve of the ruling was a signal from authorities to say: “Don’t worry. The sentences will be commuted.”
Firefighters go after Rudy Giuliani with new video
http://www.crooksandliars.com/2007/07/11/firefighters-go-after-rudy-giuliani-with-new-video/
Ok, so now it appears, the holy roller senator from the great state of loooosiana has a diaper fetish. Well known amongst the working girls for it.
Heheheheh.
This thread at DU is the FUNNIEST thing I have read in a very long time. I was totally ROFLMGAO!
http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=389×1306341
Oops, sorry, that should have been on the vitter thread. Oh well…
And as usual, the Rude Pundit NAILS it on vitter in the second post. The first one is pretty good too. As usual. But the vitter one is hysterical. Warning for rude language.
Well, isnt that interesting. I have posted the link to the rude one a hundred or so times here and never got it bounced before. The post wouldnt go with the link, but it went through after I deleted the link.
Talk about censorship!
Ok, so just go to Rude Pundit dot com. Ya know it must be good if the censors think it’s that bad!
..and it just gets worse for the party of personal responsibility.
Source: FOX 35 ORLANDO
State House Rep. ArrestedLast Edited: Wednesday, 11 Jul 2007, 5:38 PM EDT
Bob Allen, a Republican, represents District 32 of the State House of Representatives. The district spans parts of Brevard and Orange counties. Allen was first elected to the office in 2000.
Titusville police say they have arrested Florida State Rep. Robert “Bob” Allen, of Merritt Island, on second degree misdemeanor charges for solicitation for prostitution.
Allen, 48, was arrested Wednesday afternoon at Veteran’s Memorial Park on East Broad St. in Titutsville. The park was under surveillance by a detail of undercover police officers.
Officers say they noticed Allen acting suspicious as he went in and out of the men’s restroom 3 times. Minutes later, he solicited an undercover male officer inside the restroom, offering to perform oral sex for $20. Officers realized he was a public figure after the arrest.
Read more: http://www.myfoxorlando.com/myfox/pages/Home/Detail?con...
NBS’s Ann Curry shows why, maybe, the Fairness Doctrine may not be such a bad idea, as she gushes to Al Gore during his miserable Live Earth debacle:
“”A lot of people want me to ask you tonight if you’re running for president. And I know what you’re answer is gonna be, believe me. I gotta ask you though. After fueling this grass-roots movement, if you become convinced that without you there will not be the political will in the White House to fight global warming to the level that is required, because the clock is ticking, would you answer the call? Would you answer the call, yes or no?”"
“Bob Allen, a Republican, represents District 32 of the State House of Representatives.”
farmie– This guy is a state house rep.. Who gives a shiat?
Remember that the propagandists are changing from “terrorists” to “al-Qaida” as the slogan to frighten you.
al-Qaida is not an organisation per se’ but rather an all-encompassing way of describing angry Arabs who are trying to ward-off Israeli aggression which the Neocon/Zionists have control of both the US military and American foreign policy on course for world conquest.
The Zionists will be cranking-up their hostilities toward me for exposing their act, so expect everything from h denial to anti-S to come my way { their little bag of Off-Subject or Subject Changing tricks }.
Posted by: Ed Friedemann |
Well gee Eddy, I don’t know if this is anti-semetic or not but if I look at a map of Israel circa 1967 after the war and look at one today, I wonder how much of a change I’d see.
Hmmmm, funny, it doesn’t appear as if Israel has grown larger, IN FACT it has grown smaller. Guess Israel needs to work a little harder on their world domination.
Oh by the way Cappy, so if I suggest that the illegal aliens that are entering our country from the south is an INVASION of our nation and should be dealt with. Say, for instance like we would have dealt with a Japanese invasion of the west coast in 1941, then that would be hate speech to you? Because it states that our country is being invaded to the detriment of our country, and we should be dealing with the problem appropriately, then that is hate speech?
Well I guess it would be. Since to you I wouldn’t be meaning that I was pro-law enforcement, or pro-legal immigration, or pro-border protection. It would mean to you that I’m a racist or a xenophone, or whatever the word du jour is.
That the religion that I practice does not allow the idea of gay marriage, so therefore I vote against gay marriage, because that is what my conscience tells me is correct due to my religious beliefs.But no, that too would be hate speech to you wouldn’t it? That my Christian beliefs are WRONG and I am homophobic, (see word du jour).
Because I accept gay persons and could care less what two consenting adults do behind closed doors (see NOT in the middle of Sims park), but balk at the idea of connecting the word marriage to them, strictly for my religious beliefs, according to you, I’m wrong and continue to spout hate speech.
Do I got this about right there Cappy?
Well Golly Gene, Taking out Iran clears the way for bigger and better things, but of course you already know that, right?
Sorry to hear about Hezbollah kicking your Zionist degenerate asses all the way back to hell….hope that didn’t bruise that monster ego you tote.
Well, my religion says EVERYONE should be gay. Is that ok with you Gene? I mean, since we’re talking about religion and the law.
My religion also says churches should be fully taxable. I’ll vote MY religion too.
Jesus wept.
Yes, you are both homophobic and bigoted. And you have more in common with the taliban than your pea brain will ever comprehend.
Ed,
Do you blame the JOOS for everything?
Pulling U.S. troops out of Iraq does not end the war with the terrorists there. It just means that terrorists continue attacking and killing Americans in new locations – like New York, Chicago, Detroit, Kansas City, Los Angeles, Seattle, Miami, or Washington, DC. Terrorists know no rules and no boundaries, and they do not quit because your leftist congressmen do.Terrorists quit being a threat to our national security when they are killed, captured, or completelydemoralized.And they don’t attack us when on the run or hiding in caves. They attack us when we give them a good enough opportunity.
Jonas
The question is too stupid to answer. It’s actually a statement, which doesn’t deserve an answer, and Parkay, your scenario is so ridiculous as to cause and effect makes it worthless as well.
Why don’t you childish Zionists go to bed.
“Pulling U.S. troops out of Iraq does not end the war with the terrorists there. It just means that terrorists continue attacking and killing Americans in new locations – like New York, Chicago, Detroit, Kansas City, Los Angeles, Seattle, Miami, or Washington, DC. Terrorists know no rules and no boundaries, and they do not quit because your leftist congressmen do.”
All we have done in Iraq is provide a free training ground for terrorists.
BTW parkay they don’t need to travel to the US, there are many many American targets overseas.
Middle East: Iraq Jihadists Said To Be SpreadingBy Ron Synovitz
May 28, 2007 (RFE/RL) — Last week in northern Lebanon, the Lebanese Army clashed outside of Tripoli with militants from a group called Fatah al-Islam.
Lebanese security officials say the ranks of Fatah al-Islam include as many as 50 jihadists who are veterans of the war in Iraq.
The Lebanese Army has called for outside support. Military supplies have begun arriving from the United States. And militant leaders in Lebanon claim that the situation demonstrates that jihadist fighters are spreading out from Iraq.
Nadim Shehadi, an expert on Lebanon and the Middle East at Britain’s Chatham House think tank, says it is hard to prove that Fatah al-Islam is directly linked to Al-Qaeda. But he says group members do appear to have infiltrated Lebanon from Syria, and are a splinter group of another Syrian-controlled militant organization.
“We don’t know officially [about] Al-Qaeda [links], but what they are composed of is people of many nationalities that may have fought in Iraq before,” Shehadi says. “The view is that it’s the same type of groups that are being sent into Iraq that have been sent to Lebanon — having been in Iraq and been transferred to Lebanon from Syria.”
Regional Concerns
In Saudi Arabia, the government said that it arrested 172 militants last month who were planning to attack oil installations, public officials, and military posts. The authorities say many of the detained militants appear to have had training in Iraq.
Officials in Jordan, an ally of the United States in the war against terrorism, say they’ve detained a team of militants from Iraq who were preparing attacks against Americans and tourists in Amman.
Meanwhile, militants in Iraq are distributing instructional videos about terrorist attacks on the Internet that circulate freely around the world. And insurgent tactics in Iraq are starting to appear in other parts of the world — from Somalia and Algeria to Afghanistan.
James Denselow, an expert on Iraq and security issues, also at the Royal Institute of International Affairs at Chatham House in London, questions the claims of government officials about the number of militants crossing to and from Iraq.
Inflated Figures?
“There is an element of truth in this. But I think you have to be careful about proportionality here. The issue of foreign fighters in Iraq has always been one that has been overinflated by the Iraqi government and certainly by the U.S.-led multinational forces,” Denselow says.
“When you actually try to find a statistic about the number of fighters in the country, its certainly extremely different from than the situation in Afghanistan against the Soviets and in other conflicts around the world. The latest reports I’m hearing is that it’s only about 12 people a month who are going in from, say, the Syrian border,” he adds. “The Americans are saying it is not just the numbers, but the fact that these people act as force multipliers. They act as suicide bombers and they are quickly rushed into quite devastating attacks.”
Denselow says the Lebanese Army and the Lebanese government have good reason to exaggerate the number of militants that have moved into Lebanon with experience in Iraq.
“Fifty’s not a huge number. But on the other hand, Lebanon is a place in which you have a number of powers playing a number of different games. For the Lebanese government — which is incredibly divided and fractured — to try and justify its fight against an Al-Qaeda-like group, means that they are more likely to acquire American backing in terms of military supply,” he notes.
“That’s something they desperately need. The Lebanese Army is very small and, of course, lots of them are guarding the borders with Israel and with Syria,” he continues. “As soon as America starts supporting forces in Lebanon directly, as it learned in the past, then places like Iran and Syria will try to counter that. It’s an incredibly high-risk game based around a very vague idea of what Al-Qaeda in Lebanon really is.”
Little Evidence Of Exodus
Denselow also says it is too early to start describing the movement of militant out of Iraq as “an exodus.”
“Saudi Arabia has the largest concern simply because that’s where the origins are coming from. And of course, that’s where you have a huge problem with the state trying to separate the strong religious Wahhabism teaching from the Al-Qaeda vein there,” he says.
“To say it is an exodus is too strong. To say it could have far-reaching consequences is true because these are extremely determined and motivated individuals willing to take their life and attack, often, soft targets if they have Western or tactical connections that they feel are justified,” Denselow adds.
Still, Denselow says it is clear that the tactics used by militants in Iraq are being used by militants in other countries. “I do certainly think there is a link between the Afghanistan and the Iraq conflicts. Much of this is the inspirational idea of learning from tactics from different fighting groups in different parts of the world. The major killer of U.S. forces in Iraq is improvised explosive devices. And when you combine improvised explosive devices with vehicle-borne suicide attacks, you tend to have the most devastating form of weapon.
“Iraq had no history of suicide attacks until the invasion of 2003. Since then, we’ve seen an unbelievably high number of suicide attacks and people being used to conduct suicide attacks. It’s simply unprecedented, even relative to the Japanese kamikaze [in World War II] and to the Tamil suicide Tigers” in Sri Lanka, he says
Denselow concludes that there is a kind of “Darwinian evolution” to any antioccupation resistance or insurgency. He says militants with expertise on weaponry tend to be more likely to survive and pass their knowledge on to the next generation of jihadists. And those who have not learned the most effective guerilla tactics tend to be killed or captured.
So what you’re saying Eddy is that Israel didn’t give back so much of their country (which they fought and died for), in the search for peace, it was because the Arab terrorists kicked their a**. Is that it, is that what you’re saying Eddy?
Gee, then I guess that convinces the terrorists that all they have to do is strap on some of the ol bomb vests and they get anything they want.Now where have I heard this before, hhmmmm. NO, NO, don’t tell me. Oh yeah,
Iranian hostagesMarine bombing in Beirut.The Achille LauroWTC bombing, 94WTC bombing, 01Attack on USS ColeKhobar towers
I’m sure there were others, but you get the idea. Of course they wouldn’t use their suicide bombers in the U.S., of course not. It is to much of a religion of “peace”.
Thank god you explained it so well Eddy. I’ll get off an email to my congressman tomorrow first thing, that it is time to disband the U.S. Military and Homeland Security and TSA. Eddy says we are going to lose anyway so everybody get out your prayer rugs. YEA!!!
Of course KSFARMGRRL, that will mean that all your homosexual friends will have to give up their marriages. Ooops, sorry. I mean their lives.
Oh, didn’t Eddy tell you that? You see the Iranians have a very, very strict don’t ask, don’t tell policy. Yep, they kill their homosexuals. Sorry bout that.
As for your family Eddy and KSFARM, good luck with that. I’ve heard the Iran’s health policy is just great.
OH and don’t forget their building codes. You see in San Francisco area when you have a 6.0 earthquake, you might get some damage and maybe a few injuries. But in Iran, the same 6.0 earthquake will get you 62,000 dead. But like I said, I’m sure their healthcare is top rate.
Hey Eddy, in this new and wonderful U.S. where there are no homosexuals, no Hollywood, no politians, no “wrong” music, will the government be buying my wife her burka, or will I have to pay for it. Will there be outlet stores with “Tehran Twofer Tuesdays”? Silly me, I don’t have to worry about that, my wife is Jewish, she’ll be gone anyway, I mean what with her liberal leanings and all. Wouldn’t fit in with the new Taliban thinking, going on.
Yep, so long Israel. I’m sure as soon as your gone, everything will quiet down real nice. Hey, whats ANOTHER 6 million.
Thanks for setting me straight, EDDY CHAMBERLIN.
Bitter, Party of ONE?
Your pity party table is ready.
Taka a xanex dude. Then go self flagelate for a while. Maybe a nice hot svits with sack cloth and ashes.
To paraphrase Bon Jovi “you give religion a bad name”.
Hehehe, FrmGrrl.
For somebody who raises quarter-horses, the man sure does know how to spew the horseshit, doesn’t he?
Gene.
Did you not read my post? Can you read?
I was only talking about speech that foments (meaning encourages or incites, fyi) violence against someone in a group.
Let’s say for instance that some radical animal rights Peta type posted that everyone who breeds quarter-horses should be SHOT!
That’s not protected speech. That’s threatening speech as in when The Eagle says it has the right to remove threatening speech.
It has nothing to do with stopping illegals from crossing our borders, which I support btw.
It has everything to do with not being able to say that people who live in Topeka whose last name begins with R should be hanged.
Quit telling me what I think and let me tell you what I think.
Geez, you’d think someone who spends as much time around horses as you wouldn’t be such a horse’s ass.
Contempt charges may be forthcoming.Bush orders Miers not to testify By LAURIE KELLMAN, Associated Press WriterWed Jul 11, 6:44 PM ET
WASHINGTON – President Bush ordered former counsel Harriet Miers to defy a congressional summons, even as a second former aide told a Senate panel Wednesday she knew of no involvement by Bush in the dismissals of eight federal prosecutors.
ADVERTISEMENTContempt citations against both women were a possibility.
House Democrats threatened to cite Miers if she refused to appear as subpoenaed for a Judiciary Committee hearing on Thursday. The White House said she was immune from the subpoena and Bush had directed her not to appear, according to Miers’ lawyer. Democrats said her immunity ended when she left her White House job.
Across the Capitol, meanwhile, former White House political director Sara Taylor found out what Miers may already have known: It’s almost impossible to answer some committee questions but not others without breaching either the subpoena or Bush’s claim of executive privilege.
After first refusing to answer questions about Bush’s possible role in the firings, Taylor later told the Senate Judiciary Committee that she knew of no involvement by the president. Further, she said, she knew of no wrongdoing by administration officials in the controversy that has hobbled the Justice Department and imperiled Attorney General Alberto Gonzales.
The developments whipped across Washington as part of a broader dispute over the boundaries of Bush’s executive power and Congress’ oversight duty. Democrats, in control of Congress for the first time in a dozen years, are probing whether the White House ordered the prosecutor firings in ways that might help Republicans in elections.
The Bush administration acknowledges that the firings were clumsily carried out but insists no wrongdoing occurred. Bush has offered to allow his aides, including counselor Karl Rove, Miers and Taylor, to be interviewed by congressional investigators — but only in private and without a transcript.
Democrats on the committees rejected the offer and subpoenaed Miers and Taylor to appear this week, a possible foreshadowing of what’s to come for Rove.
In letters dated Tuesday, White House Counsel Fred Fielding told Miers’ lawyer that Bush had ordered her to stay away from Thursday’s hearing.
“Ms. Miers has absolute immunity from compelled congressional testimony as to matters occurring while she was a senior adviser to the president,” Fielding wrote to Miers’ lawyer, George T. Manning. “The president has directed her not to appear at the House Judiciary Committee hearing on Thursday, July 12, 2007.”
Manning, in turn, notified committee chairman John Conyers, D-Mich., and Rep. Linda Sanchez, D-Calif., chairwoman of the subcommittee on commercial and administrative law.
Conyers had previously said he would consider pursuing criminal contempt citations against anyone who defied his committee’s subpoenas.
“A refusal to appear before the subcommittee tomorrow could subject Ms. Miers to contempt proceedings,” Conyers and Sanchez, wrote back to Manning. “The subcommittee will convene as scheduled and expects Ms. Miers to appear as required by her subpoena.”
At the same time, Senate Judiciary Committee Chairman Patrick Leahy held open the possibility of contempt proceedings against Taylor if she does not answer follow-up questions posed during his hearing Wednesday.
“That’s a decision yet to be made,” Leahy said.
Taylor, eager to exhibit a willingness to answer questions but refusing to do so on many of them, revealed some details behind the firings.
“I did not speak to the president about removing U.S. attorneys,” she said under stern questioning by Leahy, D-Vt. “I did not attend any meetings with the president where that matter was discussed.”
When asked more broadly whether Bush was involved in any way in the firings, Taylor said, “I don’t have any knowledge that he was.”
She said she did not recall ordering the addition or deletion of names to the list of prosecutors to be fired. Taylor said she had no knowledge that Bush was involved in the planning of whom to fire, an assertion that echoed previous statements by Attorney General Gonzales, his former chief of staff, Kyle Sampson, and Deputy Attorney General Paul McNulty.
Taylor disputed Sampson’s account that she wanted to avoid submitting a new prosecutor, Tim Griffin, through Senate confirmation.
“I expected him to go through Senate confirmation,” Taylor said under questioning by Sen. Dianne Feinstein, D-Calif.
Taylor also issued a stiff defense of her colleagues in the Bush administration.
“I don’t believe there was any wrongdoing by anybody,” she said.
On almost every question, Taylor hesitated as she considered whether answering would cross Bush’s order to not reveal internal White House deliberations.
“I’m trying to be consistent and perhaps have not done a great job of that,” Taylor said. “I have tried.”
The committee’s ranking Republican, Sen. Arlen Specter, said that may not be enough to protect her from a contempt citation for failing to answer many of the committee’s questions.
“There’s no way you can come out a winner,” said Specter, R-Pa. “You might have been on safer legal ground if you’d said absolutely nothing.”
That, in effect, was Bush’s order to Miers — say nothing.
Fielding based his advice to Bush on a Justice Department memo this week that quoted former officials — from former Attorney General Janet Reno to the late Supreme Court Justice William Rehnquist, writing as an assistant attorney general — as saying the president and his immediate advisers are absolutely immune from congressional subpoenas.
The Democrats shot back that those documents referred only to White House advisers currently serving. Miers and Taylor left the White House earlier this year.
Republican said,
“Poor analogy MPS. The U.S. Colonies fought against their invaders and colonizers to achieve independence.”
If you wanted to use an analogy, then you should have used the French who were helping the U.S. colonies against the English.”
Analogies are comparisons of similarities, often imperfect, but instructive. For example, the American colonies were the property of the English Crown, i.e. the King. Iraq is not the property of the American President. So England’s George III had a rule of law justification for sending soldiers and sailors to quell rebellion, which America’s George II doesn’t.
In my analogy, Iraqis want to control their own resources and destiny, just like the American colonists did. Both are being prevented from doing this by a man and his cronies living far, far away from the territory they want to control.
Is America today somewhat analogous to France two and a quarter centuries ago? In what way?
The American colonists sought France’s help, in the form of munitions and monetary loans, and the services of the French Navy, in protecting trading lanes at sea, then eventually blockading Yorktown.
Iraqis never asked us to invade, with the exception of a few provacateurs living in exile, like Ahmed Chalabi, who was eschewed by his fellow countrymen when he went home and failed to be elected to any office, as well as Kurds who wanted to be independent from Iraq.
Had the Iraqi Shi’ites been in armed rebellion against Saddam, and asked for America to provide munitions, money and ultimately hands-on military intervention, then theFrench analogy would be apt.
But nothing of this nature occurred. BushCo saw an opportunity to topple a dictator who wasn’t popular, and who had nationalized Iraq’s oil 22 years earlier, and there was a perceived opportunity to restore oil control to Anglo-American corporations.
In essence this is colonialism, with American “advisors” writing a new Iraqi constitution, and dictating an oil-profit-sharing formula, under an expectation that the Iraqis would rubber stamp these articles.
If you will recall, the French went back to France in 1782, and France’s only claim on the U.S. was payment for material and military/naval assistance that Americans had requested. The French did not say, “We have liberated you, and this is how we want you to organize your government, and you must pay us 50% of your GDP for the next 20 to 30 years.”
In short, France recognized the United States to be a sovereign nation, i.e. a political entity capable of managing its own domestic and international affairs.
BushCo’s occupation, and refusal to leave, despite the desire of Iraqi people to see our troops depart, means that our administration is not recognizing Iraqi’s sovereignty. This was King George III’s foible from 1775 to 1782, not Louis XVI’s.
Iraq is being treated as a colonial protectorate.
The Iraqis view the ginormous new embassy complex being constructed, and conclude it is far too vast to be a diplomatic station housing a conventional staff of a few hundred people (in a nation of only 25M population). They recognize that it can only be a long-term American colonial governance post.
The U.S. Embassy in Beijing, China, our top trading partner, and world’s most populous country, is sited on 10 acres and has 5 buildings. It is currently our largest operating embassy.
The Baghdad embassy will dwarf Beijing, as it is sited on 104 acres and will have 21 buildings. It is as large as Vatican City, the worldwide governing center of the Catholic Church, and an independent nation.
For a local scale comparison, walk around the entire Wichita State campus perimeter. Or take a stroll from the Hyatt east on English, turn north at Emporia, west at 1st, then south at Waco, cross Douglas and continue on the walking path until you reach the Hyatt again: an area encompassing most of downtown Wichita. That’s the area of the American “embassy” compound in Baghdad.
“Today, looking back, Jeanette is not the least bit ashamed of the business she built. “There is a need for prostitutes,” she says. “We balance everything out. We let a guy live out his fantasies.” Some of the fantasies at the Canal Street Brothel got a little rough. For those who liked that kind of stuff, there were whips, chains and a lot of leather. Jeanette says that most of the clients who wanted to be dominated were Republicans. She cracks a smile, then adds, “They wanted to be spanked and tortured and wear stockings — Republicans have impeccable taste in silk stockings — and these are the people who run our country.”
They do seem to have a somewhat twisted view of sex, dont they??
The troll has finally had a complete meltdown. It’s not even someone trolling the troll – click on any recent post by “Republican” and it takes you to the same profile page as ***KHAHN***, which says:
***K H A H N***’s Profile Page
If this is severe mental illness being exposed, then the troll might deserve a very small amount of pity and compassion. But honestly, I think the troll is just a jackass.
Good morning all on this beautiful Thursday morning. I see another lovely open thread day is about to dawn. 7/11 can soon be filed away with the rest of the classics.
“Let’s examine state population growth. There has been a substantial population shift to the “Sunbelt” from the north. Conservative commentators have given weight to most of the southern states being “Right to Work” states, which putatively has enabled them to capture manufacturing jobs from “Union Lockout” states.”
The fact is that might have been true at one time but most manufacturers are leaving the country all together if they can now days. They either go to Mexico or farm the work out to China. The foreign car makers that put a plant here generally only look at 3 things- taxes, the availibility of a work force and a low cost of living. Whether a state is union or non union is almost never mentioned. And even some so-called RTW states have differing laws on whether or not you must join a union. Even in some of those states unions have found creative ways to skirt the law. One popular tactic here is the “signing bonus” that union members get for ratification of a new contract. It can be $3000 and that is a very big enticement to be a union member. Another thing the unions here do is they take over handling of certain benefits. At the phone company here, the CWA handles the dental plan. Another big enticement to join. I would rather be union than non union anytime. Union people get paid more, have better benefits and retirement and get better treatment on the job.
Damn, looks like JM was melting down on all the threads last night. I find his crap about leave waaaaay more offensive than Ian’s crap.
How long will the WE editors let macklin spread this kinda crap? I’m not asking for all posts to be monitored.
But this whacko has been doing this for a very long time. Multiple times. And now he is stalking Tom and I and threatening to come to my home?
I’m not afraid of khan. I’m afraid of the people who enable him and encourage him.
What’s it going to take to get him off this blog once and for all?
“37 Democratic senators capitulated and gratuitously gave the President his $100 billion no-strings-attached blank check, enough money to pay tuition and fees for 1.3 million college students for four solid years”
Cut-off all funding now.
…and for christ’s sake, did values boy phone in that column for today or WHAT!
Now he’s not picking directly on gay families, he’s trying to be “fair and balanced” by whining about all “cohabitation”. Of course, according to the values czar, it cant be a real family. It’s just a “cohabitation”.
Yet another attemp to enshrine his particular brand of thinking as the “right” model, and anyone not following HIS religion is not really a family. Just a “cohabitation”.
Jesus wept. Could he possibley SHOW more disrespect to anyone who’s family doesnt look like his?
Here’s a little clue asshat. Gay people “cohabitate” because you, and your buddies terry, joe and fred, those paragon of “virtue and values” made it impossible for us to GET married without amending the kansas constitution.
Talk about tautalogical.
And I see the values viper didnt have the balls to comment on terry fox, churches in the amusement park biz, investors bilked by a so called christian man.
He didnt mention bush’s lawlessness or his thumbing of the nose to the courts regarding his boy scooter.
Nope. He side stepped the REAL issues to go after what matters to him.
Families who cohabitate without his church’s stamp of approval.
I’ve said it before. Obviously the WE editorial staff have no shame or pride. Otherwise? They’d get rid of this bozo.
“What’s it going to take to get him off this blog once and for all?”
How about a boycott? We could go to WichitaVoice and spend time swearing we will never come back to WE Blog. Don’t be like the Libs in Congress. Stop talkin’ and start chalkin’.
Values boy and khan. Wanna join the republican party so you too can be like these guys?
Oh, I forgot the rest of the unholy we blog trinity.
Fleetie, the BDP.
Blog’s Dumbest Poster.
And he has LOTS of competition for the title.
Boycott! Boycott!
fap fap fap fleetie.
I thought I’d deliver your next predictably scintilating post.
Those who can, write. Those who cant, fap.
or bite ankles
How’s it feel fleetie to sit at the childrens’ table here?
KFG is intolerant of anyone who’s views differ from hers. She wants a columnist fired because his view of the world is different.
I thought liberals claim they are so tolerant. They are, as long as you agree with them.
“KFG is intolerant of anyone who’s views differ from hers.”
Nice conservative meme here. And how rich, coming from outlander.
Did I ask for values viper to be fired? No. I have repeatedly asked for someone to counter balance his biased crap, or move him to the church page.
Or lately, the lifestyle “parenting” section.
But on the editorial page? With no balance? No.
Wanna whine about the LIBERAL media that publishes the taliban’s propaganda on the editorial page?
I thought not.
Did I ask for values viper to be fired? No. -kfg
I’ve said it before. Obviously the WE editorial staff have no shame or pride. Otherwise? They’d get rid of this bozo. -kfg
Hmm… So “get rid of this bozo” doesn’t equal “fired”?
“But on the editorial page? With no balance? No.”
Scholfield is a huge Lib. Isn’t that balance?
They can get rid of him from the editorial page by moving him to somewhere appropriate.
Like the church page, the parents’ page, or…
…the church bulletins?
Heheheeh. And you see why values boy holds them hostage. Imagine how your local christian taliban would wail if he were moved to the church page, much less fired.
Checkmate. The WE cant get rid of him and has to wear him around the neck like the stinking dead chicken he is.
“oooh that smell”.
Scholfield is a jokester. And I mean that in the nicest possible way. I see his weekly column as mostly humor.
There is NOTHING funny about the values viper and his merry band of bigots.
Twist it anyway you want kfg, the bottom line is that Castillo is against most of what you stand for and therefore you say you want him shut up.
Or maybe, outlander, we don’t like him because he doesn’t make any sense . . . and he’s more of what we have too much of already: right-wing spin machine.
“you say you want him shut up”
Please post where I said that. Or anything like it. He has free speech. I’ve said a thousand times here it just doesnt belong on a real editorial page.
So… back it up outie. Where did I say he should be fired or shut up?
Repetition means nothing to some breeds…
Just keep whining about that liberal media.
We’ll just keep pointing to values boy on the “editorial” page.
Repetition means nothing to some breeds…
Maybe Ksgrrl doesn’t want to say it, but I would like to see Castillo scooted out.
Why The Eagle which is slanted so right-ward already would hire an even further right-wing-nut makes no sense.
They’re already running Cal Thomas who writes like he’s on the White House payroll twice a week.
While I don’t disagree that the Eagle runs a lot of conservative columnists, I wish they would run some who write from the framework of liberty.
The local columnists, however, are a different matter. Randy, Rhonda, and to a large extent Phillip, are liberal leftists to the core. They’re the ones who write the “important” opinions in the Eagle.
We can get opinion on national issues from all sorts of sources that offer all viewpoints. But the Eagle is pretty much the only widely circulated source of local opinion. (What happened to Wichita CityPaper, for example.) I would welcome the Eagle hosting a local conservative or libertarian opinionist writing about local government issues, not just morality. Regarding Mr. Castillo, I agree with other writers.
The great thing about the Web is it opens access to a wide variety of resources. For example,
http://www.stltoday.com/stltoday/news/columnists.nsf/ericmink/story/5F9C024ED4062647862573140080B9C7?OpenDocument