Here is how far the Justice Department sank during the tenure of Alberto Gonzales: Soon after Gonzales became attorney general, the department issued a secret opinion endorsing the harshest interrogation techniques used by the CIA, including simulated drowning and frigid temperatures, the New York Times reported. And then after Congress responded to the abuses and outlawed "cruel, inhuman and degrading" treatment, the Justice Department issued another secret opinion declaring that none of the CIA’s interrogation methods violated that standard, the Times reported.
Gonzales reportedly approved the first legal memorandum over the objections of former Deputy Attorney General James Comey, who warned that the department would be "ashamed" when the world eventually learned about the secret opinion.
Posted by Phillip Brownlee
Reactions have been swift and sharp to President Bush’s veto of the State Children’s Health Insurance Program expansion. Among the critics was Sen. Pat Roberts, R-Kan.: "I am extremely disappointed in the president’s veto of this bill. This is too bad, given what is at stake for our Kansas families. This legislation was a strong bipartisan compromise that nationally is expected to provide health care coverage to close to 4 million more low-income children who are currently uninsured. I urge my House colleagues to vote to override the president’s veto, and I stand ready with my colleagues in the Senate to do the same."
Among the critics of congressional Democrats was Rep. Todd Tiahrt, R-Goddard: "I am disappointed America’s low-income children must wait two more weeks before a resolution to this impasse can be reached. We could pass a bill tomorrow if the Democrat leadership truly wanted to provide health insurance to low-income children. Unfortunately, they have chosen to expand the program to include middle-income adults and illegal aliens."
Posted by Rhonda Holman
So much for any hope that federal employees could be shamed into being tighter-fisted with tax dollars when doing the public’s business. According to a Government Accountability Office draft report, such workers burned through at least $146 million in a year buying unauthorized business- and first-class airline tickets. Some of the worst abusers were in the State Department. The report already has Congress vowing tighter rules, which obviously are needed. “The federal employees who like to stretch their legs while they fly need to realize they’ve already stretched the taxpayer’s purse by $146 million,” said Sen. Charles Grassley, R-Iowa.
Posted by Rhonda Holman
Once upon a time, former Chrysler boss Lee Iacocca supported George W. Bush for president. And now? “I campaigned for George because I knew his mother and dad for 30 years, and I figured he was from pretty good stock,” Iacocca told Details magazine. “But Jeb was being groomed, too — they got the wrong kid. There’s something wrong philosophically with how Bush’s brain works — I feel sorry for him. I used to think Gore was nuts in his worrying about global warming, but he was ahead of his time.”
But Iacocca draws the line at impeachment: “The next morning, the new president would be Cheney. Oh, wow.”
Posted by Rhonda Holman
If Sam Brownback comes in fourth in the Iowa caucuses, he will view that as reason to continue. But as the Kansas City Star’s Steve Kraske notes, the caucuses’ history argues otherwise: “No one finishing out of the top three has ever gone on to win the presidency.”
Besides, voices as disparate as Newt Gingrich and Bill Clinton agreed over the weekend that if the GOP has a dark horse, it’s not Brownback but Mike Huckabee.
Posted by Rhonda Holman
Good for former President Jimmy Carter for getting in the face of Sudanese security personnel who said that he couldn’t visit a tribal leader in northern Darfur because it wasn’t “on the program,” according to Associated Press. The 83-year-old Carter angrily responded: “We’re going to anyway.”
While Carter argued, his group — which included British tycoon Richard Branson and the wife of former South African President Nelson Mandela — was swarmed by people who passed them notes detailing threats of arrest and torture by the Sudanese government if they told visiting delegations about their suffering.
Tension was already high in Darfur after rebels and militias overran an African Union peacekeeping base in northern Darfur last weekend, killing 10 AU soldiers.
Posted by Phillip Brownlee
