I think the point is that the Dems alone cannot take down Bush.. but with help from the justice dept, it might happen.
marky |
12.20.05 - 10:32 pm | #
This is not a political war, it's institutional.
The FISA judge that just resigned is another indication of that.
Here's a question for you all: If Bush defies an impeachment investigation, who judicates? Who enforces?
Dick Durata |
12.20.05 - 10:36 pm | #
...Cunningham, Noe and Coingate, the Larry Franklin/AIPAC scandal...
leftAhead |
12.20.05 - 10:37 pm | #
If there are more Judge Robertsons around,willing to take a stand, maybe it will make a difference.
So reposting:
Spy Court Judge Quits In Protest
Jurist Concerned Bush Order Tainted Work of Secret Panel
http://www.washingtonpost.com/ wp...5122000685.html
By Carol D. Leonnig and Dafna Linzer
Washington Post Staff Writers
Wednesday, December 21, 2005; A01
A federal judge has resigned from the court that oversees government surveillance in intelligence cases in protest of President Bush's secret authorization of a domestic spying program, according to two sources.
U.S. District Judge James Robertson, one of 11 members of the secret Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Court, sent a letter to Chief Justice John G. Roberts Jr. late Monday notifying him of his resignation without providing an explanation.
Two associates familiar with his decision said yesterday that Robertson privately expressed deep concern that the warrantless surveillance program authorized by the president in 2001 was legally questionable and may have tainted the FISA court's work.
Ceci |
12.20.05 - 10:38 pm | #
December 20, 2005
In light of the recent revelation of warrant less wire tapes –
by the Bush Administration - in order to protect the country
and keep it "safe” - does Jon Stewart, Arianna Huffington,
Jay Leno, Bill Maher, Richard Clarke or John Kerry, even
John McCain wants to know if they were considered to be
dangerous and were wire tapped?
I bet Cindy Sheehan was ...and Russ Feingold and my money is on The Wilson's – aka - Valerie Plame -- you know -- in order to keep us protected by Bush and cronies -- from the terrorists.
Don't you think that is why he couldn't go to the court- wake up?
Marilyn Garis
904-374-9803 - so they can find me -- make it easy for them
Maeme |
Homepage |
12.20.05 - 10:39 pm | #
Semblance, how familiar are you with the work of the Jesus seminar?
John Casper |
12.20.05 - 10:43 pm | #
add Diebold, and tangentially, Conrad Black's scandal...
any I missed?
that's a cornucopia of scandals--or a pattern of systmatic corruption.
leftAhead |
12.20.05 - 10:43 pm | #
The Corruptosphere continues to spin & spin & spin with no end in sight...
"A little patience, and we shall see the reign of witches pass over, their spells dissolve, and the people, recovering their true sight, restore their government to its true principles. It is true that in the meantime we are suffering deeply in spirit, and incurring the horrors of a war and long oppressions of enormous public debt..." - Thomas Jefferson
daCascadian |
12.20.05 - 10:48 pm | #
There is a rather long list of shoes to drop. (Wish I could have done something clever with that phrase).
None of them certain, most of them - in my opinion - probable:
- Rove indictment(s)
- Hadley indictment
- Al Jezeera memo
- referral to Congress from the Supreme Court on the NSA matter
- Frist indictment
- Abramoff fallout (after plea deal)
- CIA secret prison action from the EU
- Al Jezeera memo reference to China (I'm still sure I read this somewhere)
- more Abu Graib pictures/video
- full out civil war in Iraq
- a revisiting of the whole MEK for Al Qaeda trade deal which was sabotaged
- more fallout from the Franklin/AIPAC investigation
- more Delay stuff (though I'm not sure how much more there can be)
- more revelations about those "accidentally" placed planted stories in Iraq
I'm sure I'm forgetting stuff.
Unfornately it would be nice if the above could happen at equally spaced one week intervals. But my luck is never that good.
I don't know about anyone else, but I AM feeling a little scandal fatigue simply from trying to keep the ever expanding list in mind. What do you all do? Sticky notes on the fridge?
tryggth |
12.20.05 - 10:52 pm | #
Ralph Reed, W's insider trading wasn't as successful as the Senate's majority leader, aluminum tubes and yellowcake, cronies at FEMA and callous uncaring while people drowned and starved, the Downing St. memos, AWOL-gate -- that's what I came up with in the first 60 seconds. There are more and just when you think that they've done the worst they possibly can, out comes some new outrage.
J Bean |
12.20.05 - 10:53 pm | #
Armstrong Williams and Karen Ryan and Jeff Gannon and a partridge in a pear tree.
J Bean |
12.20.05 - 10:54 pm | #
There's no question that Bush would refuse to cooperate with an impeachment investigation---no question at all. Apparently McLellan already hinted at that in regards to the spying, saying that the WH could not cooperate for "security reasons"
Bush will have to be impeached BEFORE any real investigation can occur.
marky |
12.20.05 - 10:55 pm | #
Wonder where he borrowed the "National Security" stonewalling concept from? :-)
tryggth |
12.20.05 - 11:00 pm | #
It's high time for "reasonable people" to tie a tin can to his tail and call him out for the varmint he is, and stop marginalizing those who have had the good sense to do so all along.
=================
Why, that would almost be like admitting to a mistake.
I am Terrified of how many more Tens of thousands must die before their egos relent.
owlbear1 |
12.20.05 - 11:00 pm | #
Regarding the Jesus Seminar, I have read a number of books by Robert Price, Robert Funk, John Crossan and Burton Mack. I'm familiar with the methodology they use. My training is in physics (though that isn't my career), so I recognize critical thinking when I see it.
Semblance |
Homepage |
12.20.05 - 11:00 pm | #
Maeme--add Michael Moore to that list.
karen allen |
12.20.05 - 11:04 pm | #
Wow. Giving up even before it all happens. Sounds a little depressive to me.
Can we at least go through a manic phase?
Check out the poll numbers from pollkatz. He always sinks lower: his fellow rats will distance themselves from him.
doug r |
Homepage |
12.20.05 - 11:04 pm | #
My new slogan: If George Washington was the father of our country, George W. Bush is our deadbeat dad.
A few missed scandals tied to Bush/Cheney.
-Kidnapped Linberghs baby
-Killed Old Yeller and Charlotte the Spider
-OJ's accomplices
-Second and third gunmen in the grassy knoll
-Assassinated Buckwheat
-Pissed in Americas punchbowl
-Theft of the US Constitution
-Murder of the American Dream
-Rape of the Environement
-Sodomizing the middle and lower classes
Granite State Destroyer |
12.20.05 - 11:04 pm | #
A "let'em die" memo from Katrina? A "let's overlook this terrorist threat and, if they attack, our poll numbers will up" memo? Anything's possible with this bunch.
Blub |
12.20.05 - 11:07 pm | #
tryggth | 12.20.05 - 10:52 pm | #
I would add "full out war" in the Middle East. Turkey attacking the Kurds in northern Iraq. Iran attacking the Sunni's in Iraq and Saudi Arabia. It would probably involve Russia, Egypt, Sryia, Lebanon, Yemen, others, and perhaps Israel. I think civil war in Iraq is more likely, but once it starts, it will be difficult to contain within the Iraqi borders.
I would also add the failure to bring Osama to justice, either dead or alive.
John Casper |
12.20.05 - 11:07 pm | #
Semblance, are you familiar with what they mean when the discuss the "Q" community?
John Casper |
12.20.05 - 11:10 pm | #
It's somewhat like Mary Chestnut, "It's like a Greek tragedy, where you know what the outcome is bound to be. We're living a Greek tragedy."
Now I'm depressed.
LW Phil |
12.20.05 - 11:14 pm | #
here's a good link showing what the US gov wants people to believe:
it's scanned images from a comic book dropped as propaganda during the 'invasion' of Granada--hilarious. There are pages of priceless imagery, all ready to be turned into anti-agitprop, by anybody who would care to do so--after all, *we* paid for 'em!
leftAhead |
12.20.05 - 11:18 pm | #
Well.. in a Greek tragedy, hubris destroys the tragic protagonist in the end (i.e., Clusterfuck claws out his own eyes or something like that). Let's hope this is the case here.
Blub |
12.20.05 - 11:18 pm | #
I sure don't understand everything here but Drudge is saying Clinton and Carter signed laws for warrant less searches as well.
It's true that they've been brilliant at damage control, and that the democrats have generally been pathetic for years, but take a look at tryggth's list. Almost all of that is relatively certain to transpire, and the list doesn't include what's already transpired: Katrina, Libby, no WMD, 2200 dead, crippling debt, social security debacle, Harriet Miers & Mike Brown, etc.
There has to be a tipping point, as there was with Nixon, when even conservative Republicans throw up their hands and say "enough is enough". We're not there yet, but the list is long, and amazingly, it keeps growing. While we've been waiting for Fitz's next move, we've had the Al-Jazeera bombing, the torture fiasco, and this latest FISA thing is getting more negative MSM coverage than anything since Katrina. If FISA stays front and center until the next Fitz indictment and the Abramoff thing gets hot & heavy right around the SOTU, the wheels might just come off the bus.
If only the democrats could find a legitimate leader. A forceful, brilliant, charismatic truth-teller.
There must be such a person.
obsessed |
Homepage |
12.20.05 - 11:23 pm | #
If you haven't seen it, the Kos diary Slouching Toward Kristallnacht is most relevant to this discussion. Vivid account of how outrage-fatigue helped empower the Third Reich.
ralphbon |
12.20.05 - 11:26 pm | #
About the second item from the top.
tryggth |
12.20.05 - 11:26 pm | #
bre--Keep in mind that Drudge is a conservative cheerleader. Take what he says with a grain of salt. He's part of the BushCo meme.
karen allen |
12.20.05 - 11:32 pm | #
obsessed--Sounds like Jimmy Carter. Too bad he's now a Senior Citizen.
karen allen |
12.20.05 - 11:33 pm | #
Thanks for the link.
Bre |
12.20.05 - 11:35 pm | #
alecmurrshem--By Buckley, but obviously not William F. Buckley.
karen allen |
12.20.05 - 11:36 pm | #
just a thought on obsessed's post -- I agree, conservative Republicans will say enough is enough. I think many of them have, and that's why approval ratings are in the 30s and 40s. I don't want this next part to be true, but I fear it is -- to a huge portion of the Republican party, government is an afterthought. The endgame is being the party in power, just for the sake of having power. No policy, no real consistent set of ideals. They just enjoy being on top. As long as the government isn't fucking THEM over, they just don't care. Can't be bothered. And for a sizeable portion of non-committed apolitical types, the same is true, sans the desire to be in power. If it doesn't put the screws to me and mine, it don't matter. They just can't be bothered to see the train wreck we're headed for.
fdlurker1 |
12.20.05 - 11:40 pm | #
Jane and folks,
I apologize if it is a breach of manners, but I wanted to respond the post a little while ago about "image two."
I agree with most of what Jane said, but I feel compelled to remind one and all that there is no such thing as the Democratic Party. There is no organization worth the name.
This is not a small point, in my view.
We want decisions. But we continue to accept the conventional view that no decision-making organization is needed.
Not a sensible approach. But very ingrained part of our culture. Most people recoil at the idea of a political party with any real authority.
Anyway, I have railed on and on about this elsewhere, and do not want to drag this discussion too far afield, but I wanted to mention it.
Every senator and congressman views themselves as a free agent. Eaxh has its own (young, naive, arrogant, vapid) staff "handling" issues (with virtually no research or thought or time for either). Each has its own press operation.
The "leadership" in Congress has the same facilities available to it as an average congressman.
In short, the situation is pathetic beyond words -- but considered perfectly normal on Capitol Hill.
The "party" is merely a collection of corporate bagmen and pollsters intermittently engaged.
There should be a party staffed by professionals engaged in developing policy positions for the long-term IN A PROCESS with the public as well as congressmen. In other words, put out proposals, solicit comment on-line, and leading to collective party positions (as finally established by elected Democrats in Congress).
Such an organization could add a "war room" propaganda operation.
To seek the "war room" arm of the party -- without an actual political party -- will not be very effective or credible, in my view.
Besides, the usual hack insiders would run it. How inspired does that make you feel?
jwp |
12.20.05 - 11:44 pm | #
Let's hope this is the case here.
Unless America is the tragic hero, a possibility that awakens me at 4 A.M. without the chance of falling back asleep.
LW Phil |
12.20.05 - 11:44 pm | #
My toilet has been backing up since this NSA story hit the ground...
hippocampus |
12.20.05 - 11:49 pm | #
alecmurrshem,
Tucker Carlson's brother is named Buckley.. nah, it couldn't be.
Blub |
12.20.05 - 11:51 pm | #
I saw this list on a blog somewhere:
Tillman cover-up, Schiavo, How many people affected in Hurricane Katrina, lack of the use of swift boats in the Katrina Rescue effort, No air drops to Superdome, orders to shoot people over a loaf of bread that was taken from a store,No military funerals attended by the GOP, explosion heard 2 days after the storm passed and THEN the levees gave way, GOP holding votes open, Last throes comment, stuff happens comment, mission accomplished (100 dead at the time), Medicare reform Bill, Class-Action Reform Bill, Medicare not allowed to broker prices for prescription drugs, Drownie, Condi shoe shopping, we don't torture, we send detainees to other countries to not be tortured, Democrats are muzzled on all legislation, Lobbying is well out of control, Abramoff, DeLay, Diebold, Ohio elections, Katherine Harris, Journalists targeted in Iraq, Oil not paying for the war, not being greeted as liberators as we know being treated as liberators, Patrick McHenry claiming we hate America(Schiavo case), Ethics Committee gutted, FDA will approve anything, Attack on Social Security, forced abortions in sweatshops under Tom DeLay's control (Al Franken's book..."The Truth"), President flipping off the camera, No Child Left Behind is not paid for, refusing aid after Katrina, Red Cross not allowed to assist after Katrina, Fema is way too bloated and does nothing that the DHS can't do, cutting aid to NYPD and FDNY that are affected from the cleanup effort when they were told that the air was safe to breathe, tax cuts to those that don't trickle it down, 3 Trillion dollars more in debt, No help in NOLA until Bush arrived(then it stopped again), Abu Ghraib, Gitmo, Italian reporter shot up, Bolton recess appointment, no legislation passed that big money hasn't backed, documented reports of Bush's Grandfather (Prescott Bush) bankrolling Adolf Hitler, Buying Iraqi press, wanted to bomb Al-Jazeera, no water or electricity in Iraq, Cindy Sheehan shunted, Harriet Miers, Jessica Lynch, Soldiers serving well after their agreed enlistment time, President won't hold press conference, President only speaks to cherry-picked audiences, Plame outing, Soldiers have no means to call home, Scooter Libby, spy in Cheney's office, Jean Schmidt, wage stagnation, Halliburton in New Orleans and Iraq, Outsourcing of jobs, money printed in Iraq, NO WMD, yellow Cake, Rove, no victory gauge, no armor for soldiers either Iraqi or American, outsourcing the building of Marine 1 Helicopters, fighter jets sold to Pakistan by W...on a Saturday, no accuracy in unemployment rate, SEC has become a joke, hedge funds aren't regulated, no war strategy, Downing Street Memos, borrowing from the communists, $330,000 a month to Chalabi, Bush housing Saudis, Where's UBL, flew UBL's family out of the country after he bombed us, no border security, gas prices, home heating prices higher than ever in history, IRS auditing churches, price of war way underestimated, Bayoil, closed session of Senate accomplished nothing the GOP said it would, pre-war intel was/is fixed, Alabama voted for Jeff Sessions (how can that be?), environmental laws absolutely gutted, middle class forgotten all-together, redistricting to rig elections, Patriot Act, civil rights eroded/gutted, treatment of Michael Schiavo, GOP votes against EVERY inquiry of wrong-doing, 9/11 commission ignored completely, programs for the neediest gutted, education budged harshly slashed, terror alerts subsided after Keith Olbermann finally exposes the coincidences, every document is classified, most secretive president ever, Curveball, Interstates inadequate for mass evacuations, what was the Noble cause(?), everyone in NOLA have life insurance(?), Blaming Tenet for the "slam dunk" comment and then awarding the Medal of Freedom, elderly deaths went way up during the Social Security Savagery, Dems can't add amendments to legislation, over 60% of elections won by less than 4%, Sensenbrenner walked off with the gavel during Patriot Act hearing, tax cuts to ship jobs away,NSA spying on Americans, soldiers getting Purple Heart collections, Fox News isn't biased, Veterans benefits cut, no exception for soldiers in the Bankruptcy Reform Bill, Internet threatened with regulation, every shopping bag at Wal-Mart is made in Singapoire, Bianca, still ignoring NOLA, creating immigration laws that take affect in 5 years,Drug companies relieved of all liability in a Defense Spending Bill, Pat Robertson and James Dobson tell their congregation how they should vote, Jerry Falwell too, corruption is the norm, no timetable for when the debt will be paid, DOW was at 11,770 when Bush took office 5 years ago, Dollar is losing value, haven't defined what is/isn't torture for all to hear, trade agreements are not even close to fair, ports left unchecked, definition of a terrorist is ever so vague, GOP claims to have different degrees of Neo-Cons (but they all vote exactly the same), Swift-Boating John Kerry, what is the Skull and Bones Society(?), Drownie was kept on the payroll, Drownie was never fired, Newt touring with Hillary, How many soldiers in an Iraqi Batallion(?), Max Cleland was treated like a piece of shit, helicopters were too loud to hear the people of NOLA pounding on their roofs from inside their attics, 5 deferments, nuclear option, ethics committee couldn't get Cunningham 2 years after it was known that his house was sold to a defense contractor for $700,000 over it's value as he lived on that contractors yacht, 20% tax on land lines, 12% on cell towers, diesel fuel is 50 cents higher than gasoline, home by Christmas, establishing a democracy and not a Republic, Jeb doesn't have FEMA woes, war profiteering, Health care, Armstrong Williams, sure quote Lieberman a lot, Caspian Sea pipeline, if it's a Reform Bill or Deregulation Bill the result is never better quality or more affordability, Cheney said he was glued to the TV all week like everyone else, Christian values never reflected in legislation, Jeff Gannon, nobody accountable for anything, smoking in the rotunda, loaded SCOTUS, MZM, Chuck Hagel was CEO of ES&S, offshore accounts of members, no mistakes come to mind, Niger, Haley Barbour told us FEMA was there on Tuesday, no scandals given credence, math is spun(math don't lie), Government is largest in over 200 years, looking under a desk for WMD's, non-combative protestors arrested, soviet Goulags, Superdome, opium export in Afghanistan up 2000%, Hannity is a Pussy, ready for Category 6, global warming ignored, Hans Blix, Pakistan earthquake money, private prison stockholders, George H W Bush runs Pharma, Ambassador to the Vatican, Rush never busted on posession charges, Bill Bennett, Mexicans giving birth here, Joe Wilson, Indian Casino lobbying for how much, we aren't safer, SCOTUS chose our President, Carnival cruise line contract after Katrina, Able Danger, Ken Lay, Harken Energy, Rupert Murdoch, blatant over-charges in Iraq and NOLA, Bird Flu vaccine for only 20 million, name 4 pieces of legislation passed by the Republicans that Adolf Hitler would NOT have applauded as a good start.....Then, if he has time, I'd like to know more about Richard Pombo giving away Federal land to his GOP contributors. They can do that tomorrow though.
Me3 |
Homepage |
12.20.05 - 11:55 pm | #
I don't normally pass along corporate attempts at faux guerrilla marketing like this, but the National Peach Council is pushing an excellent holiday dessert recipe:
The New Year's Impeachment:
-Take 2 peaches, halve them and then cut each half into 4 slices.
-Fill 4 stemmed glasses with 4 peach slices.
-Cover with Ruby Port.
-Garnish with fresh mint.
The NPC slogan: Wouldn't an Impeachment make your family happy this year?
falcone1204 |
Homepage |
12.20.05 - 11:56 pm | #
If only the democrats could find a legitimate leader. A forceful, brilliant, charismatic truth-teller.
There must be such a person.
obsessed
I believe his name may be Paul Hackett.
Thesaurus Rex |
Homepage |
12.20.05 - 11:56 pm | #
Could be scandal fatigue. Could be critical mass.
Given the economic realities involved, I think critical mass is the likeliest.
This country is not tired, it is seething.
aquart |
12.20.05 - 11:56 pm | #
Don't allow yourselves to get discouraged. Remember how wonderful it was just a month ago when John Murtha spoke out to express his heart and mind? Not many people knew about this fine man. (And in direct contrast, the Repubs had the horrible Jean Schmidt speak up.) There are enough good people in this country who don't like what Bush is doing and who aren't willing to put up with him. Look at Bush's Sunday night speech--nobody paid much attention to it.
The Dems have some good strategists; they just aren't using them. Clinton used James Carville, to a great effect and nobody knew Carville much before that. There are others.
We have an advantage with the blogs. The main stream media, who are so pro-Bush, can no longer get away with their slanted reporting and false pontificating.
The blogs expose them. That's why the guy at WaPo keeps talking about how angry he is. He's angry because he's been exposed for thegoofus he is.
Barack Obama is a thoughtful good person; he will come to his senses and stop all the overly pc stuff and realize he too must speak out. Remember he is new to the Senate. (As for Hillary, Hill is for herself.) Rockefellar is getting more expressive. And look at what Feingold is doing.
During the Watergate era, there were forceful, enthusiastic legal minds and prosecutors. We need similar people to step up and stop this fool.
It's hard to be patient, waiting for so many factors to gel, but they are now coalescing. Rove will soon get indicted and that will speed the ball rolling down the hill, the ball which will roll over Bushboy.
karen allen |
12.21.05 - 12:00 am | #
Thesaurus Rex--Paul Hackett is a beginner politician who hasn't been elected to any office yet. I'm sure he would be willing to do whatever he could. But he isn't yet presidential material.
Obama is, or could be.
karen allen |
12.21.05 - 12:02 am | #
Yeah Drudge left out a section of the order that Clinton signed.
Me3 |
Homepage |
12.21.05 - 12:08 am | #
ye of little faith! let us not forget bushie's astrological forcast for 2006 - it looks very poor...was at a meeting of master astrologers in chicago last spring(May 05) and they were ooing and ahing over Bush's chart saying that he would not finish his term, that he would either die in office (Tecumseh's Curse - every twenty years for the last hundred years the president has died in office except Reagan who for all intents and purposes was dead even though he walked around) or be impeached. Bush's astrological chart shows heavy badness right through 2006. Patience, patience...
Spiderpaws |
12.21.05 - 12:09 am | #
Jonathan Turley was on Nightline tonight looking very shell-shocked. He acknowledged that any argument that the domestic spying at issue is not a crime is a legal absurdity.
Turley also recognized that many legal scholars consider even the FISA court to be unconstitutional.
To go beyond and around the FISA court is to stray very far from any gray area in the law.
justwondering |
12.21.05 - 12:09 am | #
Me3--Drudge conveniently omits things which are not to his political liking.
For instance, in the past few day, did you see the photo he ran, saying it was Valerie Wilson in her pj's and asking people to caption it? And the unflattering photo of Cindy Sheehan, insinuating she is doing shady stuff in Spain? And wording that indicates she is performing in a play about herself when in reality it's nothing of the sort?
Drudge slants conservative, consistently!
karen allen |
12.21.05 - 12:13 am | #
The press can try to dodge the issues, but if we stay one them... They will become more responsive. The one thing that the cover story ignores, is that a lot of editors have moved left, and a lot of the country is not happy with the direction.
Did you ever think that article may have been written just to demoralize us, because we are winning?
Everybody knows that you can't launch a good political marketing campaign at Christmas.
Good time to let this mother of all fourth ammendment pie faces hit the public.
To bad the Dems went home so soon.
canucklehead |
12.21.05 - 12:15 am | #
Since the coup of 2000 and of 2004, in my mind it has seemed that the only clear way to a brighter future is that an alternative / third party phoenix will have to rise from the ashes of the Democratic Party, which seems to have collapsed from it's own baggage and politcal bull. Once Dean was run off of the stage of contenders, there was no voice connected with the heart, willing to stand or fall because of passionate commitment to issues.
Alternative |
12.21.05 - 12:18 am | #
Jane,
I recognize that it's tough to know that your country is being stolen by BushCo, but you of all people should know that there is hope. Look at your visit statistics -- that is absolute non-spinnable proof that the message is getting out there in exponentially larger amounts over time.
You go girl. You are making a big difference. If there's anything a local person can do to help out, let me know.
I think the NSA story has long-term traction. First, because some Republicans and conservative talking heads have come out strongly against what Bush did. Second, because the Deomcratic leadership, such as it is, has come out fairly strongly as well, and put themselves further out on a limb than they have gone in the past. And to be honest, I think they're better off saving some of their ammunition for January -- this needs to be a long-term story.
It's far from a foregone conclusion at this point, but it certainly has the potential to remain top news, as more information and even human-interest pieces continue to emerge. And if so, it will look ever worse for team Bush. The mainstream press is being circumspect with their stories right now, but in all likelihood the actual legal ramifications will slowly come out, and there is precious little gray area on this one.
The Administration's only defense is that they are simply asserting executive power that was theirs all along, and I suspect that few people are buying that line.
Oh, and tryggth | 10:52 pm -- "more shoes waiting to drop than Imelda had in her closet?" Or is that one just tired?
Adam |
12.21.05 - 12:22 am | #
We had a third party in the 2000 election. Ralph Nader and his party helped Bushboy get elected by splitting the vote.
We need to clear up the voting machine mess. It isn't just Diebold, it's more. It's so outrageous that the people who control the voting machines are also active politicos.
The Dems need to get organized and employ good organizers. Howard Dean is an excellent person, but he needs to be surrounded with good people, which isn't happening right now.
They need to stop taking the ethereal high road and get down in the trenches and start fighting.
We can't be thinking about forming a Bull Moose party; it's great in theory, but not in practice. We need to force the Dems to be what they should be.
karen allen |
12.21.05 - 12:24 am | #
HUH????????????
Bush's overall approval rating rose to 47 percent, from 39 percent in early November, with 52 percent saying they disapprove of how he is handling his job. (wapo)
Blub |
12.21.05 - 12:25 am | #
I am beginning to distrust some of the MSM polling reports too. Probably a wise thing to do under the circumstances. But it seems pretty clear the WH worked it's butt off propagandizing the country... Bush, Cheney, Condi were all out in force making statements. Iraqi elections came off with little reported violence (There may be a "gag" on reporting deaths)- Still Bush did not move up in the polls.
I think he was completely countered by the one NYT story on the spying... Fitz is still meeting with the GJ, he will indict again... DoJ pressure on Abramoff after Scanlon flipped will likely secure testimony against key goopers in Congress.
If honest elections were held today, Dems would walk off with cake even as disorganized and back-biting as they have been. If they clean up even a little, speak the truth to power... With the legal aspects coming down... They should have little trouble getting, and holding, the upper hand.
Me3 |
Homepage |
12.21.05 - 12:25 am | #
Ever the optimist, I think the Dems are waiting to see the "legal opinions" Bush allegedly relied on before they launch their attack. Until then, Bush can continue to pretend (wrongly) that there's some legal justification for what he's done.
After the "legal opinions" are made public they'll be open to being savaged by 99% of the lawyers in the country. The only exceptions will be the idiots or the insincere.
justwondering |
12.21.05 - 12:31 am | #
From the WaPo link above:
Former lobbyist Jack Abramoff, facing trial on fraud charges Jan. 9 in Florida, is negotiating a possible deal with the Justice Department, in which he would agree to plead guilty and cooperate in the wide-ranging political corruption investigation focused on his dealings with members of Congress and executive branch officials, people familiar with the talks said last night.
Thank you Karen Allen for encouraging words. Please sign Howard Dean's FOIA request on the spy scandal. I think Rep. Conyers' has a link on his action page with a letter, he requests we all sign for the Impeachment Inquiry to begin - at long last!
http://www.johnconyers.com/
"Join me, below, in the sending: Letter Advising President of Censure and Steps to Begin Special Committee Investigation Every movement has a starting point. I believe this next effort to bring the administration to justice will have an even bigger impact and will lead to change. But I need help from all of you. I need a huge number of people to join me in our message of censure to the President. A big response will force greater news coverage of my legislation to censure the President and Vice President and to create a Special Committee to investigate the White House. The Downing Street petition had a huge number of signatories, but the mainstream media had not yet begun asking the difficult questions of the President.
"We are at a different place as a nation now. Our message has a much wider audience and, with a big response to the censure initiative, we can have a greater impact than before. Already we have four Members of Congress who have joined me in this effort, Zoe Lofgren, Maxine Waters, Lynn Woolsey and Charlie Rangel and I expect plenty more to join me in the coming weeks ahead.
"Join me in this declaration that we will no longer accept an imperial presidency. Add your name and encourage as many of your friends and family to join as well. With your help and commitment we can succeed in finally bringing the Bush White House to justice. "
Lena David |
Homepage |
12.21.05 - 12:38 am | #
In Greek tragedy it's the hero, a sympathetic figure, who meets the tragic end. In this case it's America, I guess. Bush is the bad guy painted in a way it's apparent he's the bad guy. There's a story to teach in G T so some of the contrasts are strong not shaded. The blind followers who believe in the Bush get punished. The tragedy is lots of the good guys too.
The last couple of posts have made clear things to keep to heart regarding our national leaders in the Democratic party. Biden, that retread? Lieberman isn't a Democrat, eh's at the party as otherwise he's just another rethug. I thought with over 5 million people Massachusetts could get another senator better than Kennedy. Someone who isn't such a target due to his tarnished past. Yeah, I admit Kerry is and has been too much a pansy.
christo |
12.21.05 - 12:41 am | #
When I was a kid, I always used to wonder what people meant by having your cake and eating it too.
For the purposes of Guantanamo Bay and the Geneva Convention, we're not in a war. But for the purpose of violating the presidential oath of office and the Constitution, we are in a war.
Whatever the arguments to the contrary might be, the reality is that after you eat the cake, it's gone.
justwondering |
12.21.05 - 12:45 am | #
Ok that WaPo poll cited above is skewed... First, we don't know how they chose the sampling. You can bet they sampled an area that they were confident had strong gooper support.
The poll was a WaPo/ABC poll... Two hardline gooper media sources.
The Polling editor was none other than Richard Morin, a hard core and angry fascist.
Me3 |
Homepage |
12.21.05 - 12:45 am | #
Jane
I have a similar sinking feeling, its kind of deja vu from the 2004 presidential election when the swiftboating began. Kerry and the Dems had a tepid response. Their PR machine looked rusty not like Rove's well run snake oil and obfuscation machine that sounds like a broken record but spewing the talking points all the time and hammering it home.
Until progressives can get the political organizer equivalents of Newt Gingrich, Ralph Reed, Karl Rove and Tom Delay, they cannot organize a potent opposition to the Rethugs.
I remember Gingrich from the early 90s. He always reminded me of the bomb thrower. Incredulous and outrageous on TV with his talking points. But he threw dirt continuously on the Dems and at the same time rallied his base. The Rethugs have no problem being seen with their base. Bob Jones University is a rite of passage for any wingnut politician. The Dems on the other hand are mortally afraid of being labeled liberal and do anything to sound middle of the road and will not be caught alive anywhere near their base.
The progressives do not have to be corrupt and deceitful, but they need the strong organizing, loud voices, the desire to fight, the ability to frame issues with emotional content and the willingness to engage in frontal combat if they are to have any chance of gaining the widespread support in electoral politics.
The middle road does not work as we have seen over the last decade.
Max |
12.21.05 - 12:51 am | #
I have the Conyers petitions up (he has a no pardon petition out also)... Along with about 15 others.
Please use that link above and hit all of them. Then help out and spread that link around!!!
Me3 |
Homepage |
12.21.05 - 12:51 am | #
The Rethugs got the emotional meme right after 9/11.
Unless the Dems get the right emotional meme and the party discipline to not kill their own and stand down the bully, our country will slide further to a xenophobic, jingoist totalitarianism.
The Dem meme I believe has to built around the themes of corruption, deceit, self dealing to creating the visceral reaction of fear that "we the people" are being targeted as enemies to fulfill their lust for power and greed.
The Rethugs have to be turned into the evil guys and the Dems the knights in shining armor fighting the good fight for truth, justice and the common man.
There is plenty of material to weave a coherent meme:
- self-dealing: Halliburton, no-bid contracts, K Street money recycling
- out to get you: warantless spying, paid propaganda as MSM stories, job outsourcing, gutting the environment.
Max |
12.21.05 - 12:57 am | #
Now I see where I read FDL and not the Daou Report. Looks like from the right all the way to the left people are underestimating what is going to happen when the other shoe drops on Bush's illegal program. The scope and breadth of this crime has barely even begun to be exposed, and before it's over Bush will be the most hated President in US history. And that's a "slam dunk" to borrow a famous phrase.
sponson |
12.21.05 - 12:59 am | #
Oh, Jane. It makes me sad that you might feel disheartened.
You're right, of course, that the Dems look like hopeless weenies. But I think the roaster is turning. And soon they're going to look like hopeful weenies. Count on it.
justwondering |
12.21.05 - 1:05 am | #
Written comments can be misunderstood. The first part of the foregoing is sincere.
justwondering |
12.21.05 - 1:17 am | #
We are so fucked.
arbogast |
12.21.05 - 1:48 am | #
Hooo boy. Our cable computer connection went kaputt suddenly, some hours ago, and just came back. Very frustrating. Of course, I blame Bush. ;-)
Let me just mention again the names of the two organizations who are grabbing at the steering wheel of the Democratic Party, wrestling it out of the hands of the DLC trianulators:
Progressive Democrats of America (pdamerica.org) and Democracy for America (Dean's group)
They're in all 50 states, doing local grassroots work to shake things up and recruit good candidates and fire up energy all over. See my post in the thread below for examples of what they've been doing, it's just great. Both organizations are now coordinating.
One or the other org will have a chapter near you; check it out. No mealy-mouthed nonsense from them, no arrogance of how dare you bring new ideas to the table. None of that. Regular meetings, high energy, eagerness for everyone's input.
Do not get discouraged! The creeps who have stolen the soul of the nation are counting on your being discouraged. Let's not give them that satisfaction!
Courage! Remember the founders of our government: if you can begin to imagine how unlikely and wild in the extreme it sounded to think George III could be defeated by a bunch of colonists, you'll know we have a long way to go before we should even THINK of throwing in the towel.
Remember, too, that we don't have hundreds of thousands of Americans lining the streets to hail Bush wherever he goes in his motorcade -- he can't even fill the hall when he speaks to the Council on Foreign Relations! Except for the truly out-there crackpots, there is no desire on the part of the American people to salute a new fascist state. Even when it looks dark, we owe it to the nation and to future generations to fight our hearts out, as though victory were right within grasp. For when we fight that way, it WILL be within our grasp.
[Took so long to get our connection back and I may not be able to stay up much longer, but see y'all ASAP!]
Mrs. K8 |
12.21.05 - 1:50 am | #
oops, should be "DLC triangulators"
Mrs. K8 |
12.21.05 - 1:51 am | #
People need to become aware of the tactic that the Republicans repeatedly use. It is politically effective but bad for discourse and the country's unity. Namely, they polarize the issue in some way.
Think about the war in Iraq. They claim "stay the course" and "victory" and foist on us "cut and run" and "retreat". The real positions are found in the shades of grey: "phased withdrawal in which the President decides the timetable" VS "phased withdrawl with benchmarks". Republicans don't deal in nuance or compromise or true exchange of ideas when they employ this tactic. They just promote mental labels to their advantage politically. Bush is a master politician but an abysmal statesman and governor.
Now the President has tried to frame his administration's warrantless eavesdropping on American citizens as "We're strong on terrorists VS Democrats are not willing to do all that is necessary to protect us". While both sides want the country safe, the real point is whether the administration's spying without warrants is illegal and/or unconstitutional." I guess if we played their polarizing game we could say, "The President is putting himself above the law VS we respect the Constitution."
Regardless of how we reframe it we should be aware of the political game the Republicans play.
Cee |
Homepage |
12.21.05 - 1:57 am | #
Once again, ET gets off work in the westernmost time zone in the USA and the goddamnest best blog in the country is asleep.
Just spent a half hour scanning down what may be the best thread at firedoglake since I've been reading - a year - or posting - a few months at the most.
The thread started out darkly, posters worried about the subject, which is the witnessing between Friday and today, the death of American journalism as we thought we knew it while simultaneously, the lack of true leadership in the Democratic Party in the face of a sitting president admitting quite happily during his (televised so as to help drive the stake into the heart of Dems) radio address that he is readily engaged in subverting the bill of rights. Cross that out - Bill of Rights.
To top it off, the most luminous item to make national headlines today was the brilliant ruling by a conservative Christian Bush-appointed Federal judge, which will probably drive a stake into the heart of creationism in high school science curricula.
But, fear not. There may be hope. I sense a synergy emerging which is going to grow into a progressive force we only sense at this point. I close with pointing out that discipline and a business plan never hurts. Plus long hours.
Edward Teller |
12.21.05 - 2:02 am | #
Plus - if the Democratic Party doesn't undergo a coupe within the next ten weeks, it is even more dead, dead, dead than it already is. Period
Edward Teller |
12.21.05 - 2:23 am | #
Mrs K8: I think you were subconsciously trying to say "strangulators."
ralphbon |
12.21.05 - 2:25 am | #
Edward --
As I haven't turned off the light yet, thought I should at least reply to your bright post.
This is going to sound old-fashioned and corny, but I don't care:
Because we love what this country of ours is meant to represent in its principles and ideals (even though we have often fallen way, way short of them), we have a solemn duty to fight our hearts out. A SOLEMN DUTY. We need the kind of soul-searing commitment that says we will fight even if we don't know if we will succeed or can succeed. We'll fight because it is right, and because we owe it to ourselves, to future generations, and to the memory of our founders and those who fought to preserve the Union and those who gave their lives for the right to vote or the right to strike.
Although we must always see to it that we are working most efficiently toward our goals, we cannot TIE our fight to the measurement of immediate or short-term success. A line keeps going through my head, even though I don't remember if it's a quote from a historical figure, a religious figure, or a political figure: "to fight and not count the cost."
Our freedom, our precious civil liberties, our Constitution must be so sacred to us that we will fight to rescue them no matter how hopeless it might appear at any given moment. In such a struggle as we have here, we are BOUND to have moments of darkness, discouragement, a teetering on the edge of despair, but we must NOT give in to these emotions.
We should study examples here in our own history and all around the globe to get a renewed spiritual sense of how precious justice and civil liberties are, and what sort of nightmarish evils and struggles people have endured to secure their rights. Just think of Jim Crow, of the horribly impoverished but relentless dissenters in South Africa from townships like Soweto -- and what must it have been like for Nelson Mandela to have been in prison for so long? MLK's "Letters from a Birmingham Jail" are good to read, and the biography of Gandhi, and the story of those who have worked tirelessly for reconciliation in Rowanda and other war-torn areas. There are so many examples of people who have had nightmarish experiences in their battle for justice, and who haven't given up.
Expressing disappointment and looking for community support is sometimes essential and can be nourishing and healing to the soul. But we must never let ourselves succumb to discouragement, ultimately.
It's good to hear you express these sentiments, too.
Mrs. K8 |
12.21.05 - 2:29 am | #
ralphbon --
LOL! Yes, I think you're right!
Mrs. K8 |
12.21.05 - 2:30 am | #
Mrs. K8,
I'm more despondant about the lack of ANY alternative to the GOP Juggernaut than I am to the obviously snowballing demise of the Democrats.
What is it that Perot did that got so many people to vote for him out of nowhere, other than the millions he spent? There has to be a way to create a new force in US politics that doesn't utterly destroy whatever paltry progressive forces already out there.
Edward Teller |
12.21.05 - 2:37 am | #
Have you looked into the two organizations I mentioned above, and detailed in a post in the last thread (9:59pm)?
Both Progressive Democrats of America and Democracy for America are two extremely active (and already fairly effective) organizations dedicated to taking over the Democratic party's direction and steering it toward progressive political goals. Where I am in AZ they've had some good accomplishments, in spite of being in the state for little more than a year.
Progressive candidates in local elections have been recruited -- and elected. PDA had an effective influence in causing the state Dem Party to vote for Howard Dean as chair. The organization is doing some good at shaking up the state legislature, although there's surely a long way to go.
The point is that these 2 groups, both of which are eager for new members and input from anyone who's passionate about changing the party's direction, are an excellent channel for wresting control out of the hands of the DLC and those who are stuck in the "old ways" which no longer work.
Look in the thread below, shortly after my post is one from "Menopausal Mommybrain" at 11:21, and she talks about how effective her local DFA chapter is.
Get involved. If party practice sucks, and it does, then change it. We have the power to do that. No need to create a whole new apparatus of a brand new party, which would then diffuse the power of dissent from the regime: instead, do what the DLC did years ago -- take over the party. We are seeing big strides here in the Southwest, and we've only been organizing and meeting since Black Tuesday, Nov 2004.
Mrs. K8 |
12.21.05 - 2:55 am | #
What you are talking about Edward... Is suicide. The Dem party is... despite all it's faults. If you present third party candidates.. Unless they are Hitler or Musolini, they are going to get votes peeled off the left of the Dem party.
Really right now the best thing for the Dems to do would be to run a blatent Fascist or KKK candidate on an independant ticket and steal away Bush's hard core 15% base.
Me3 |
Homepage |
12.21.05 - 2:55 am | #
Edward --
I see we cross-posted. I should hit the hay, too.
Good night and good luck!
Mrs. K8 |
12.21.05 - 2:57 am | #
"But, fear not. There may be hope. I sense a synergy emerging which is going to grow into a progressive force we only sense at this point. I close with pointing out that discipline and a business plan never hurts. Plus long hours."
Absolutely right on Edward. America needs a new formal Business Plan drawn up and tabbed. I have no doubts that a new synergy is emerging, along with a new conscious synastry of people combining energies to find compatible solutions to work in partnership for the higher good.
Mrs. K8, exceptional post! I still have a headache although it is subsiding after my nap, I've been detached, quietly observing all day watching the posts swing more than normal which is understandable as the year comes to a close in these trying times. I'm an optimist like you and Norske, and a few others. I've stayed away from the depths of despair and anger being expressed and released today. It too shall pass. There truly is nothing new under the sun. It isn't just the Dems who need to get their shit together, the whole globe does collectively. Mother Earth is protesting more loudly at the abuses and disharmony.
From light comes color, from color comes sound, from sound comes form. We must change our form, our sounds with more positive colors, to come back into an age of Light and Harmony.
Shez |
12.21.05 - 3:38 am | #
Shrum has a very good post up. He talks about the failed war ideology... And has some good insight on the Iraq vote tallies.
Me3 |
Homepage |
12.21.05 - 3:55 am | #
More synergy. Thinking along the same lines as scandal fatigue. People can only hold one or two large ideas at the same time. Any more and they go into overload and shut down.
EVERY MONTH PEOPLE DUTIFULLY PAY MONEY INTO THE INDUSTRY THAT IS DEDICATED TO CONFOUNDING AND MISLEADING THEM.
They don't care if they piss you off as long as you keep tuning in. Audience is the basis of their power.
PULL THE FUCKING PLUG ON THE MEDIA. LET THEM ALL COMPETE FOR THE 37 PERCENTERS -- THE KOOL AID DEMOGRAPHIC.
RJJ |
12.21.05 - 4:04 am | #
Now, I guess it is "thinking cap" time again.
According to this fella Matt Stoller, I get the impression he is saying Barak Obama is just "mistaken" in his statements and tactics regarding Bush and his agenda.
I say Barak Obama is bought and paid for.
I say Hillary Clinton is bought and paid for.
I say with a vast majority of Americans thouroughly disgusted at this miscreant administration, it sure stands out like a sore thumb in MY mind that Obama, Clinton, Lieberman, Biden, etc, aren't acting like, like, like Politicians, and Pandering to the majority with elections on the horizon.
I say Bought. And. Paid for. Period, end of story.
So no, nothing will change, as long as we continue to act like the Democrats (sorry to the few acting like Representitives, what a novel concept, yeah?) who can't quit the "We can do Iraq in the "right way" bullshit, are ever going to quit sucking at the teat of plenty: D.C. culture.
I say Boxer, Kucinich, Conyers, and other like-minded Progressives call for a New Party Platform, or flat form a new party.
The Thomas Jefferson's Democrats works for me.
C'mon, what was the definition of insanity?
Continuing the same thing, over and over, in the hopes of a different result?
What? Are we republicans??Bwahahahahaha
farang |
12.21.05 - 4:21 am | #
leftahead,
You "missed" the one us tfhatters recall well:
Greenberg of AIG's arrest.
A real treasure trove of unusually low coverage on a story as juicy as any re: 911.
farang |
12.21.05 - 4:25 am | #
According to E&P here is how clusterfukks spy scandal is playing in Peoria!
INTERESTING!
While it's easy to complain about the Democrats and I sometimes feel impatient too, I'm not sure I share your pessimism. The Bush machine has learned to walk on any sane policies, any of the usual political dialog that characterizes American politics. They've successfully turned sarcasm into a verb, and developed enough of a following to bring off a neofascist coup. I think the job of the Democrats is to do exactly what they're doing, play it straight. Why come up with a policy about what to do in Iraq? Iraq is none of our business, never was. I think the post-modern deconstruction model's fine - tear Bush down. That's their job.
The job of changing things is ours, the people's. And part of that is firedoglake. You're doing a great job! Keep it up. The Democrats are doing the best they can, given the years of devisive undermining. They need our help to find themselves.
Mickey |
Homepage |
12.21.05 - 4:52 am | #
Ralston is pissed at the Phillipino News Service for saying she quit the White House.
However, they are still maintaining that Ralston has testified twice in Fitzgerald's investigation. She was asked whether she was going to testify again, which she replied: "I've not been notified."
yeah, the gloves are going to have to come off eventually, aren't they?
Brian |
Homepage |
12.21.05 - 4:57 am | #
It's true, waiting it out saves them every time. The failed Katrina response faded so quickly that they were able to pass another round of enormous tax breaks for the rich within a couple months. I'm amazed that so many Americans are just now starting to realize who these people are.
Everythingseemssoneat |
12.21.05 - 5:21 am | #
Mrs K8 - Thank you for that post.
Medley |
Homepage |
12.21.05 - 5:26 am | #
It is now morning in MN and I come to this thread late (or early). I have felt both very depressed and very elated at how the Dem party has, and is acting.
But there is one thing I have come to believe, and Howard Dean said it first -- politics is all local. We dems must take back our local policitcs, our local dem parties, our local school boards, city councils, state houses, in order to change Washington.
The change will not come from D.C. They live their comfortable lifestyle of power in D.C. and do not intend to rock the boat. They are very good people who are keeping their heads down to avoid battle.
But when one is frustrated, work at a local level in the dem party. Even at that level, entrenched local power brokers are in evidence. That is because they took over and everyone else just sat back and let them do the work. Everyone must now take up an oar, and row, goshdarnit.
Win or lose, take a stand and take back your local precincts. Then work vigorously at state level. What is happening in Ohio happened because the dem party there was flat on its back. There are people working desparately to get that party back up. The same with Minnesota. Win or lose in 2006, or even in 2008. Take back our local governments and we can turn this ship of state back into the constitutional channel and keep it off the rocks.
When deparate about our country, I talk to local dems and work on getting locals elected. It does help. Both my psyche and my hope.
GrandmaJ |
12.21.05 - 5:31 am | #
When I saw that graphic I thought that Jane had found my self-portrait. I send my thanks to everyone, Mrs. K8 in particular, for expressing another round of hopeful thinking. We're searching for traction and we will look at our local chapters of those groups and create new ones if we have to.
We need to state our agenda for the future and get it out there. The Democrats are not going to do it. Kerry, Hillary, Lieberman - they are pathetic. We have to do it for them. There will be a groundswell when we state it simply and emotionally and link it to the economy. Appeal to the heart, the mind, and the wallet.
meta |
12.21.05 - 5:31 am | #
Bush's astrological chart shows heavy badness right through 2006. Patience, patience...
guess we will see if the stars or corporations with their media whores are the most powerful force in the universe
I am not betting...
Anonymous |
12.21.05 - 5:32 am | #
From Bob Woodward to Judith Miller
The country’s most reviled reporter is a direct descendant of its most beloved
By Matt Welch , 12/20/2005 12:32:11 PM
A controversial reporter for one of the nation’s leading newspapers stumbles onto what at first looks like a routine Washington story but eventually, after two years of mounting federal inquiry, becomes a wide-reaching scandal that rocks the very foundations of the White House, kneecapping the second presidential term of a big-government Republican hell-bent on expanding executive power.
The reporter at the center of it all—captivated by power, obsessed with high-level access, addicted to anonymous sources—acts as a pawn in an intragovernmental turf war, becoming in the process a lightning rod for critics of journalistic comportment.
I’m talking about New York Times scribe Judith Miller, of course. But the description also applies to The Washington Post’s Bob Woodward, the most revered reporter of journalism’s most self-adoring generation.
snipette
Fitzgerald, or "Fitzy" as he was called by colleagues, became one of the nation's first experts on al-Qaida, able to spell and define Middle Eastern names for jurors as easily as a baseball fan reciting a player's batting average.....
snipend
Hospital to pay $1 million to settle overbilling claims
by AP
December 19, 2005
Rush University Medical Center will pay $1 million to the federal government and the state of Illinois because it billed Medicare and Medicaid for cancer treatments already covered by research grants, prosecutors said.
According to the U.S. attorney's office, Rush officials in 2003 found the billing problem for the treatments from 1997 and 2003 and voluntarily notified prosecutors. Subsequently, Rush reached the agreement with the U.S. attorney's office before any lawsuit was filed.
The office said it could have sued for double damages under the federal False Claims Act, but chose not to do so.
"As a result of its voluntary disclosure, Rush benefited in terms of the settlement amount," U.S. Attorney Patrick Fitzgerald said in a statement.
Also, write to your Congress Critters to send aid to Digby since he is busy defending their honor....time to get those big campaign contributions going out, instead of in......
ME3-what do you think about a good letter.....??
CCMASK |
12.21.05 - 5:50 am | #
Jane-Loren-ReddHedd
I'm wondering about my vote/kudo to you. Democrat-bashing is everywhere to be had, thank you very much.
You became a e-staple for me because of your superb work on Plamegate but something has kicked your compass. The last few times I've come to your site it's for a mouthful of e-porridge on how witless, wimpy, wussy are the Dems. Please. Focus on your strengths.
Oiseau Rebel |
12.21.05 - 6:13 am | #
Oiseau, Some of us are not Dems.
Some of us agree with that lovely man in Oregon who said "Democrats make me ashamed to be an American; Republicans make me ashamed to be human."
Hamsher doing just fine.
RJJ |
12.21.05 - 6:21 am | #
All of a sudden, Bill Clinton and Jimmy Carter were brilliant defenders of our national security!
This Barney don't hunt. Besides the proper rebuttal offered by Think Progress, take a look at the source documents cited in the Drudge report that Clinton and Carter are somehow on Bushco's side on this one. Drudge actually cites a Byron York column in the National Review, so you know it melts in your mouth. In part:
The administration's quiet lobbying effort is aimed at modifying draft legislation that would require U.S. counterintelligence officials to get a court order before secretly snooping inside the homes or workplaces of suspected foreign agents or foreign powers."
A few words and phrases jump out at me here: "lobbying effort","legislation" and "foreign". Carter's is also buttoned up both legally and politically, specifically mentioning the need for advise and, ahem, CONSENT of Congress.
Whatever Clinton and Carter's opinions were, they didn't just say "fuck y'all" and go ahead with implementation. They did what the WH palpably did not--they sought changes to the current law and when they didn't get their way, they backed off or sought further amendments aceptable to Congress and the Courts.
THIS is what Crony was talking about on Hardball last night? THIS is what you've got, Johnny Boy? Puh-leez!
froggermarch |
12.21.05 - 6:28 am | #
I read this Peter Daou posting here yesterday and immediately considered it the single best description of how the rightwing machine DOES IT, how the process of covering up their lies works. I immediately emailed it to myself for future reference and I also posted it on one of the threads at Thinkprogress. It's a disheartening truth to see the entire 10 steps of the process laid out in full, but it's nothing more than a lesson for all of us and a tool to explain exactly how the process works. I'm not sure I'm discouraged that it can't be combatted, it is what it is.
As for leadership on the Democratic side, Howard Dean is that guy. The problem is that the old school party establishment (you know, the one that controls much of the $) won't allow someone with Howard Dean's courage and commitment to change and the truth to stand up and lead this party away from its complicit role in the current state of affairs. So the Dems are going to kneecap ANYONE that will speak truth to power and shine too much light on the corruption because too many of them have their hands deep in the same corrupt cookie jars.
Seems to me we need the people that care (us) to get in the face of our elected "leaders" to insist that they support the Howard Dean's of the world.
Jay |
12.21.05 - 6:44 am | #
Froggermarch,
Precisely. The Rove propaganda wing is in full swing, feeding crap to Drudge to disseminate to the MSM (the same tactic they used with Swift Boaters).
The Dems need to step up to the plate today - this minute - to stop this distortion because the MSM will latch hold of this in a New York minute and this misinformation will be taken as the truth. (And by the way, addressing and correcting Repug lies immediately was one of the main reasons Clinton was elected twice and remained a popular president despite the impeachment scandal. He never, ever let a lie or distortion sit out there uncorrected to be picked up and spread around.)
Think Progress has a good discussion of the Clinton and Carter warrants - which, of course, were not at all similar to what Bush has done:
Fact Check: Clinton/Carter Executive Orders Did Not Authorize Warrantless Searches of Americans »
The top of the Drudge Report claims “CLINTON EXECUTIVE ORDER: SECRET SEARCH ON AMERICANS WITHOUT COURT ORDER…” It’s not true. Here’s the breakdown –
What Drudge says:
Clinton, February 9, 1995: “The Attorney General is authorized to approve physical searches, without a court order”
What Clinton actually signed:
Section 1. Pursuant to section 302(a)(1) [50 U.S.C. 1822(a)] of the [Foreign Intelligence Surveillance] Act, the Attorney General is authorized to approve physical searches, without a court order, to acquire foreign intelligence information for periods of up to one year, if the Attorney General makes the certifications required by that section.
That section requires the Attorney General to certify is the search will not involve “the premises, information, material, or property of a United States person.” That means U.S. citizens or anyone inside of the United States.
The entire controversy about Bush’s program is that, for the first time ever, allows warrantless surveillance of U.S. citizens and other people inside of the United States. Clinton’s 1995 executive order did not authorize that.
Drudge pulls the same trick with Carter. expand post »
What Drudge says:
Jimmy Carter Signed Executive Order on May 23, 1979: “Attorney General is authorized to approve electronic surveillance to acquire foreign intelligence information without a court order.”
What Carter’s executive order actually says:
1-101. Pursuant to Section 102(a)(1) of the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act of 1978 (50 U.S.C. 1802(a)), the Attorney General is authorized to approve electronic surveillance to acquire foreign intelligence information without a court order, but only if the Attorney General makes the certifications required by that Section.
What the Attorney General has to certify under that section is that the surveillance will not contain “the contents of any communication to which a United States person is a party.” So again, no U.S. persons are involved.
So, once again, Rove's fall back tactic is to lie, spin, distort - and he can rest assured that the MSM will faithfully take stenography and run with the lie - rather than make the effort to get behind the smoke screen they are putting out there to cover their egregious sins. I'm sick to death of the lies and distortions and I would like the Dems to start shouting the truth from the rooftops - every minute of every hour, etc., etc.
dab |
12.21.05 - 7:04 am | #
new thread (and what was in Pandora's Box?)
Wilson46201 |
12.21.05 - 7:05 am | #
Abramoff is flipping as we speak. I guess it depends on who goes down in January. If they keep unloading the scandles before Xmas they might be able to get some of them to fade.
I agree with that 10 points, it lead me to thank one of my Senators Sununu for at least speaking on this issue, and asked him to consider his duty of oversight, and holding people accountable along with a few other issues and that I would consider voting for him. I also asked him to consider my point that an educated electorate is the only way to strengthen a country, and that all this propaganda and lies would destroy democracy.
I also floated a letter to my other Senator asking him to stand up.
gleex |
12.21.05 - 7:26 am | #
you forget a complete investigation into the domestic propaganda and paid stooges scandle.
gleex |
12.21.05 - 7:28 am | #
Hey, you guys are dissing Russ Feingold are you? I like him better every time he opens his mouth. He called it right on the Patriot Act, too.
J Bean |
12.21.05 - 8:04 am | #
What I said to Barak's office:
I know that Senator Obama was, for lack of a better phrase, "raised right."
Having said that, his insistence on calling a President who spies illegally on Americans, lies us into a war and tries to steal our SSA money "a good man" is just a lie.
And I know why he does it, he doesn't want to disrespect the office of President.
However, he CAN respect the office and call the man what he is all at the same time. And America needs to hear the truth.
Joe Bua |
12.21.05 - 9:44 am | #
I hope you're wrong, but some Democratic leadership and (God forbid I should say this:) party discipline would be great just about now. Would someone (like maybe Democratic Party leadership) please step up to the plate, keep taking some swings and hit a home run. We're getting the right pitches. If we can't use the current situation to knock these clowns out of the ballpark, we deserve what we get. It will help the lukewarm dems if they continue to get pressure--PRESSURE--from their constituents.
thorny1 |
12.21.05 - 10:25 am | #
it's an awful lot to take in all at once (think of a colostomy bag that hasn't been changed in 5 years exploding...ewww...), but i think this week may well (pleeease) be remembered as the start of the beginning of the dawn of the end of bush's reign of ca-ca...the writing is in excrement all over the wall, & it is putrid...well, i'm hungry, cheers all, & merry christmas or whatever!
dAVE |
12.21.05 - 1:15 pm | #
Does anyone see this leading back to the NSA wire taps that Bolton requested and refused to discuss at the Senate confirmation hearings before he was vacation appointed by the Preznit. Whose phone converstations was Bolton listening in on??????
katiejacob |
12.21.05 - 5:45 pm | #
