FIRING OFFENSES

State Dept denies giving Blackwater killers immunity, then says, well, maybe we did give them a LITTLE bit of immunity

http://talkingpointsmemo.com/archives/057405.php
[CNN] No blanket immunity deal was offered to Blackwater guards for their statements regarding a shootout in Iraq last month that left 17 Iraqi civilians dead, two senior State Department officials told CNN Tuesday.

However, some kind of limited immunity was apparently offered . . .

http://www.tpmmuckraker.com/archives/004602.php
[Paul Kiel] State Department spokesman Sean McCormack tried to look on the bright side in a press briefing: "The kinds of, quote, 'immunity' that I've seen reported in the press would not preclude a successful criminal prosecution," he insisted. "The Department of State cannot immunize an individual from federal criminal prosecution," he added.

There are a couple of problems with that, however.

While State certainly doesn't have the ability to absolutely bar a criminal investigation, they also didn't have the authority to offer the "use" immunity officials offered the guards, as The New York Times, citing "government officials," reported this morning.

And while the Department's choice to offer immunity certainly "cannot immunize an individual from federal prosecution," it makes things a lot harder for FBI agents and Justice Department lawyers who are trying to build an already incredibly difficult case. . .

It remains unclear who was responsible for authorizing the immunity deal. A "senior State Department official" whispered to ABC that "If anyone gave such immunity it was done so without consulting senior leadership at State." The AP gave a hint yesterday when it reported that last week's resignation of Assistant Secretary of State Richard Griffin was "directly related to his oversight of Blackwater contractors." . . .

http://oversight.house.gov/story.asp?ID=1579
Chairman Henry A. Waxman writes Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice to ask who conferred immunity on the Blackwater security guards involved in the September 16 shooting, who authorized the grant of immunity, and when did Secretary Rice and other senior State Department officials learn about the immunity. . .

“Condi is an incompetent jerk” http://thenexthurrah.typepad.com/the_next_hurrah/2007/10/state-loses-its.html

The DOJ muddies the waters

http://talkingpointsmemo.com/archives/057449.php
“[A]ny suggestion that the Blackwater employees in question have been given immunity from federal criminal prosecution is inaccurate. . .” [read on]

Alice has nothing to say about it

http://www.first-draft.com/2007/10/today-on-hol-17.html
Q Dana, why did the Bush administration give immunity to the Blackwater guards . . .

MS. PERINO: This is what I can tell you: Secretary Rice has made it very clear that she takes the situation very seriously. It is under review. . . . I'll have to refer you to the State Department and Justice Department for more.

Q Has the President been briefed on this, or what does he think? What is he saying?

MS. PERINO: I do not know if the President has been briefed on it specifically. I can ask.

Q Were they given immunity or weren't they?

MS. PERINO: Helen, as I said, it's a matter that's under review.

Q (Inaudible) tough questions. Why can't you answer them?

MS. PERINO: Because it is a matter that's under review. . .

Q What do you mean "under review"? Why don't you say yes or no?

MS. PERINO: The State Department is the one that is looking into this and they are the ones answering questions on it.

Q So the administration hasn't decided whether or not the reports of that are true? You're still looking into whether or not they actually were?

MS. PERINO: I am going to refer you to the State Department . . .

Q As a general question, how could you both be offered immunity and promised prosecution?

MS. PERINO: Again, this is being -- this is under review. . .

Q Also, what is being reviewed? Just so we're clear.

MS. PERINO: The entire situation is being reviewed . . .

Watch: http://talkingpointsmemo.com/archives/057435.php

Mukasey responds to questions about whether he thinks that waterboarding is torture – and he only makes it worse

http://www.tpmmuckraker.com/archives/004606.php
[Paul Kiel] In his letter to Senate Democrats today, attorney general nominee Michael Mukasey walks a fine line. He calls waterboarding, as described by the Dems in a detailed letter last week, as "on a personal basis, repugnant to me." But he says that such a description depends on a hypothetical use of such a technique, and "in any legal opinion the actual facts and circumstances are critical." . . .

What follows in the letter is an extended treatment intended to give Democrats a sense of how he would approach the issue. Mukasey explains that he can't definitively say that waterboarding is torture because 1) he doesn't know whether it is in use, or whether a similar technique is in use, 2) he doesn't want any public statement of his on the issue to place any interrogators in legal jeopardy, and 3) "I would not want any statement of mine to provide our enemies with a window into the limits or contours of any interrogation program we may have in place and thereby assist them in training to resist the techniques we actually may use." . . .

[NB: That’s about as clear a confirmation as we’re likely to get that the Bush gang HAS been using waterboarding, and plans to continue to]

Just say no to Mukasey: http://talkingpointsmemo.com/archives/057447.php

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/blog/2007/10/30/BL2007103000880.html

http://matthewyglesias.theatlantic.com/archives/2007/10/tortured_answers.php

http://www.discourse.net/archives/2007/10/mukasey.html

http://www.dailykos.com/storyonly/2007/10/30/19320/934

http://www.samefacts.com/archives/torture_/2007/10/hurrah.php
[Mark Kleiman] Bush's nominee for Attorney General boldly promises to ban "repugnant" activities such as waterboarding if (and only if) he decides that they are illegal, which he can't decide until he knows the details, which he can't know until he's confirmed . . .

Gak!

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/10/30/AR2007103001481_pf.html
Nine Republicans on the House Judiciary Committee yesterday issued a news release urging the Senate to "stop playing politics with the Justice Department."

What does a President say with rock-bottom popularity and absolutely no policy agenda?

http://www.nytimes.com/2007/10/30/washington/30cnd-policy.html
President Bush lashed out at Congress today, the third time he has done so in two weeks, this time saying the House had wasted time on “a constant string of investigations” . . .

[NB: Yes, I can see why he would consider that a waste of time]

. . . and the Senate had similarly wasted its efforts by trying to rein in the Iraq war. . .

[NB: Instead of trying to stop it, they should just cheer him on, right?]

. . . . Its failure to send a single annual appropriations bill to his desk, he said, amounted to “the worst record for a Congress in 20 years.” . . .

[NB: Yes, almost as bad as this one [November 21, 2006] “In a move that has infuriated Republican appropriators, GOP congressional leaders have decided to punt their annual spending bills until next year, when Democrats assume control of both chambers, according to numerous Republican aides. . . . The decision . . . is a further indication that congressional Republicans will not address any of the White House’s legislative priorities before ceding control next year.” http://thehill.com/leading-the-news/irritating-appropriators-gop-punts-spending-bills-to-democrats-2006-11-21.html]

. . . . “Congress is not getting its work done,” the president said . . .

[NB: “And anything they do pass I plan to veto,” he neglected to add]

http://www.thecarpetbaggerreport.com/archives/13417.html
[Steve Benen] It was boilerplate rhetoric from a president who can’t think of much else to say (or rather, his speechwriters can’t think of much else to tell Bush to say) . . .

Bush continued to complain for seven minutes about “the Democrat [sic] side” not doing more to make him happy. I’m curious — if he’s so anxious to make progress with the Democratic majority, why weren’t they invited to this morning’s chat?

More hypocrisy: http://www.salon.com/politics/war_room/2007/10/30/bush/index.html

Now we see what this carefully-laid series of attacks was all about. Here’s what Bush has wanted to do all along – and it puts to the lie any claims about his commitment to bipartisanship

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/10/30/AR2007103000558.html
The White House plans to try implementing as much new policy as it can by administrative order while stepping up its confrontational rhetoric with Congress . . .

The do-nothing President

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/10/30/AR2007103001200.html
The White House threatened on Tuesday to veto a bill to expand federal assistance for retraining workers who have lost their jobs because of trade . . .

Lessons in bipartisanship: politicians choose to be bipartisan when, and only when, they perceive it in their interests to do so. The rest of the time, it’s in their interests to invoke the ideal of bipartisanship (and to blame the other side for failing to be bipartisan enough), while actually resisting it themselves. Here’s a case in point

http://www.thecarpetbaggerreport.com/archives/13416.html
[Politico] In a closed-door meeting before the last vote on the children’s health care bill, House Majority Leader Steny H. Hoyer appealed for the support of about 30 wavering Republican lawmakers. What he got instead was a tongue-lashing, participants said.

The GOP lawmakers, all of whom had expressed interest in a bipartisan deal on the SCHIP legislation, were furious that the Democratic leader from Maryland had not reached out to them in a more serious way early on. . . . [read on]

More: http://www.talkingpointsmemo.com/horsesmouth/2007/10/house_republica.php

Pat Leahy thought the Bush gang was actually giving him the documents he wanted. Should he have been surprised by this instead?

http://www.tpmmuckraker.com/archives/004603.php
[Paul Kiel] Apparently three of the four documents, called "previously undisclosed," in the committee's press release at the time, were already in the public domain. . .

Damage control over the phony FEMA news briefing: “It is not a practice that we would employ here at the White House and we certainly don't condone it.” Oh, really? Do you want a list?

http://mediamatters.org/items/200710300011

Those FEMA boys – always passing the buck

http://thelede.blogs.nytimes.com/2007/10/30/fema-official-on-briefing-scandal-late-invitation-was-to-blame/index.html
John P. “Pat” Philbin, the former director of external affairs at FEMA who lost his federal job last week as a result of the debacle, said in an interview with The New York Times on Monday that what he most regrets is the presumption by some outsiders that the event was staged on purpose.

“It was never designed to be a fake news conference,” he said.

What happened, he said, was that the agency staff was late in sending out a notice to reporters about the briefing, but could not postpone the briefing because of restrictions on when it could use a satellite uplink to distribute live video to the media.

Mr. Philbin said that only when he arrived in the briefing room with Harvey Johnson, the deputy FEMA administrator who would field questions, did he realize that there were no actual reporters in the room, implicitly blaming his aides for not informing him of this critical missing element for a news conference. He said he does not know whose idea it was to have members of the agency’s staff attend instead and make believe they were reporters, and denied that he thought of it. . . .

Fire him

http://www.nytimes.com/aponline/us/AP-Voting-Rights.html
The chief of the Justice Department's voting rights division apologized Tuesday for saying that aging is not a problem with black voters because they die before they become elderly, unlike whites.

Still, some Democrats said they want him fired. . .

More: http://talkingpointsmemo.com/archives/057409.php

Fire her

http://www.timesargus.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20071031/NEWS01/710310319/1002/NEWS01
House Speaker Nancy Pelosi on Tuesday called for the resignation of the head of the Consumer Product Safety Commission following the recall of millions of Chinese-made toys.

Nancy Nord, the agency's acting head, has been under fire in Congress for opposing Democrats' legislation to overhaul her agency. . .

Hey, Tony, you can stop now – they aren’t paying you any more

http://www.thecarpetbaggerreport.com/archives/13418.html
[Tony Snow] “You don’t see it but there’s a process where everything gets discussed, and there are some raging arguments. . . When people look back at this White House, they’re gonna find its one that had a lot of intellectual vigor.” . . . [read on]

The GOP candidates duck out of another minority-sponsored debate (just another coincidence, I’m sure)

http://www.thecarpetbaggerreport.com/archives/13419.html
[Steve Benen] Last month, PBS hosted a Republican presidential candidates’ debate at historically black college in Baltimore — and all of the top four GOP candidates decided to skip it. This followed close on the heels of a Univision-hosted Republican debate in Miami on Latino issues — which was cancelled when all but one candidate declined invitations. The National Council of La Raza asked Republican candidates to address its annual conference in July, but none showed up. The National Association of Latino Elected & Appointed Officials extended similar invitations to the entire GOP field, but only Duncan Hunter agreed to attend.

Minority communities are beginning to think that maybe, just maybe, Republican presidential hopefuls aren’t exactly attentive to their concerns.

Given all the attention this has received, the field would be crazy to skip the Congressional Black Caucus Institute’s debate, right? . . . [read on]

http://www.washingtonmonthly.com/archives/individual/2007_10/012389.php
[Kevin Drum] These guys sure are spooked at the prospect of taking questions from non-straight-non-white folks, aren't they?

Fred Thompson has lymphoma. Did you know that? Aren’t you wondering why it hasn’t been raised as a bigger issue?

http://atrios.blogspot.com/2007_10_28_archive.html#5832317234710525005

http://www.firedoglake.com/2007/10/30/chemo-brain/

“Huckabee is lying”

http://digbysblog.blogspot.com/2007/10/huckabee-is-lying-by-tristero-huckabee.html

"Cross-dressing state lawmaker blackmailed following late night tryst"

http://www.americablog.com/2007/10/headline-of-week-so-far-cross-dressing.html
[Joe Sudbay] Yeah, you just don't see a headline like that every day. . .

Clear Channel tells its stations not to play Springsteen’s new album

http://atrios.blogspot.com/2007_10_28_archive.html#7467114453227102983

Bonus item: Another Cheney hunting “accident” (thanks to Buzzflash for the link)

http://www.newsday.com/news/local/wire/newyork/ny-bc-ny--cheney-hunting1030oct30,0,5748937.story
Vice President Dick Cheney's eight-hour outing at a secluded Hudson Valley gun club went off without incident _ except for the Confederate flag the media spotted hanging inside a garage. . . .

***If you enjoy PBD and support what we are doing, you can help by forwarding a copy of this issue to your friends (using the envelope link below) or by sending them a copy of its URL (http://pbd.blogspot.com).

I don't get anything personally out of this project, except the satisfaction of doing it (I don't run ads, etc). The credit really all goes to the people whose material I copy and redistribute. But if I do have a "mission," it is to get this information into the hands of as many people as I can.***
- posted by Nick Burbules @ 6:47 AM

 
BUSHISM 101

Bushism 101: immunize first, asks questions later. State Dept officials give immunity to the Blackwater guards accused of killing civilians in the Baghdad massacre

http://www.nytimes.com/2007/10/29/washington/30cnd-blackwater.html

http://talkingpointsmemo.com/news/2007/10/charges_uncertain_in_blackwate.php
"Once you give immunity, you can't take it away," said a senior law enforcement official familiar with the investigation. . . .

http://www.slate.com/id/2176955
[Daniel Politi] The immunity deals for Blackwater guards, first reported by the Associated Press, were brokered by State Department officials who lacked the proper authority and without the knowledge of prosecutors at the Justice Department. But it's still not clear exactly who gave the immunity or under what conditions it was granted. Although the deals don't prevent the Justice Department from prosecuting the guards, they have made the investigation more complicated since some guards have refused to be interviewed again by the FBI because they had been promised immunity. . . .

http://www.tpmmuckraker.com/archives/004589.php
[Paul Kiel] So not only did the State Department rush to release what appears from the military's review of the incident to be a whitewash -- but it might have also fatally compromised the FBI's investigation of the incident. . .

http://thenexthurrah.typepad.com/the_next_hurrah/2007/10/blackwater-guar.html
[Emptywheel] Gosh, I couldn't imagine why the State Department would immediately immunize all the guards in this investigation, can you?

Anyway don't you think that's something Condi should have told Waxman's committee the other day ... that these guys had already been given immunity from prosecution and that, therefore, the FBI investigation is likely to end up--like all other investigations of Blackwater--holding no one responsible?

More: http://www.firedoglake.com/2007/10/29/guess-who-has-immunity-now/

http://www.tpmmuckraker.com/archives/004583.php

http://www.dailykos.com/storyonly/2007/10/29/18615/093

Bushism 101: I’m the Decider (except when I’m not)

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/blog/2007/10/29/BL2007102901024.html
[Dan Froomkin] Rice agreed that "there is a hole" in U.S. law that has prevented prosecution of contractors. . . .

As it happens, President Bush has been aware of the hole for some time -- and deserves some of the blame for not fixing it earlier. Confronted about it in public more than a year ago, Bush literally laughed off the question . . .

The setting was a question-and-answer session after Bush spoke at Johns Hopkins University's School of Advanced International Studies in April of 2006. . . One student, a first-year in South Asia studies, told the president: "My question is in regards to private military contractors. Uniform Code of Military Justice does not apply to these contractors in Iraq. I asked your Secretary of Defense a couple months ago what law governs their actions.

Bush: "I was going to ask him. Go ahead. (Laughter.) Help. (Laughter.)"

Student: "I was hoping your answer might be a little more specific. (Laughter.) Mr. Rumsfeld answered that Iraq has its own domestic laws which he assumed applied to those private military contractors. However, Iraq is clearly not currently capable of enforcing its laws, much less against -- over our American military contractors. I would submit to you that in this case, this is one case that privatization is not a solution. And, Mr. President, how do you propose to bring private military contractors under a system of law?"

Bush: "I appreciate that very much. I wasn't kidding -- (laughter.) I was going to -- I pick up the phone and say, Mr. Secretary, I've got an interesting question. (Laughter.) This is what delegation -- I don't mean to be dodging the question, although it's kind of convenient in this case, but never -- (laughter.) I really will -- I'm going to call the Secretary and say you brought up a very valid question, and what are we doing about it? That's how I work. . .”

Watch: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FD7BDP3XMG0&NR=1

Bushism 101: insist you’re against torture, but then don’t say whether waterboarding IS torture

http://www.pensitoreview.com/2007/10/29/mukasey-wont-say-waterboarding-is-torture/
[WP] [In] 1947, the United States charged a Japanese officer, Yukio Asano, with war crimes for carrying out another form of waterboarding . . .

Will Mukasey be rejected over this?

http://www.tpmmuckraker.com/archives/004580.php
[Paul Kiel] So it would seem that virtually every senator on the judiciary committee, with the exception of its most conservative members, is eagerly awaiting Mukasey's answer on the waterboarding question -- an answer which he has already given. And given the contours of that answer, it's improbable that he will give any other. . .

Even worse: http://thenexthurrah.typepad.com/the_next_hurrah/2007/10/weve-seen-this-.html
[Emptywheel] Kagro X has a post focusing, again, on Michael Mukasey's evasions about the Constitution. Kagro focuses not on Mukasey's confusion about whether water-boarding is torture, but whether the President can ignore existing laws. . .

http://thenexthurrah.typepad.com/the_next_hurrah/2007/10/once-again-nobo.html

Bushism 101: the politics of fear

http://www.nytimes.com/2007/10/29/opinion/29krugman.html
[Paul Krugman] For one thing, there isn’t actually any such thing as Islamofascism — it’s not an ideology; it’s a figment of the neocon imagination. The term came into vogue only because it was a way for Iraq hawks to gloss over the awkward transition from pursuing Osama bin Laden, who attacked America, to Saddam Hussein, who didn’t. And Iran had nothing whatsoever to do with 9/11 — in fact, the Iranian regime was quite helpful to the United States when it went after Al Qaeda and its Taliban allies in Afghanistan.

Beyond that, the claim that Iran is on the path to global domination is beyond ludicrous. Yes, the Iranian regime is a nasty piece of work in many ways, and it would be a bad thing if that regime acquired nuclear weapons. But let’s have some perspective, please: we’re talking about a country with roughly the G.D.P. of Connecticut, and a government whose military budget is roughly the same as Sweden’s.

Meanwhile, the idea that bombing will bring the Iranian regime to its knees — and bombing is the only option, since we’ve run out of troops — is pure wishful thinking. Last year Israel tried to cripple Hezbollah with an air campaign, and ended up strengthening it instead. There’s every reason to believe that an attack on Iran would produce the same result, with the added effects of endangering U.S. forces in Iraq and driving oil prices well into triple digits. . . [read on]

Who’s the fascist, really? http://www.firedoglake.com/2007/10/29/late-nite-fdl-feeding-the-hand-that-bites-you/

Bushism 101: head of consumer protection agency asks Congress NOT to strengthen her agency

http://www.nytimes.com/2007/10/30/washington/30cnd-consumer.html

Bushism 101: send out the women when you’re trying to polish your “compassionate conservative” credentials

http://thehill.com/leading-the-news/laura-bush-accuses-democrats-of-demagoguery-on-schip-2007-10-28.html
First Lady Laura Bush said Sunday that she is much more involved in policy than many people think and then went to bat for her husband on children’s health care and foreign policy. . . .

More: http://www.thecarpetbaggerreport.com/archives/13395.html

Bushism 101: when caught, always say you didn’t mean EXACTLY what you said

http://www.tpmmuckraker.com/archives/004586.php
[Paul Kiel] Voting rights section chief John Tanner has apologized for saying earlier this month that "minorities don't become elderly the way white people do: They die first." . . .

In the letter, Tanner does not recant his analysis that voter ID laws actually discriminate against whites, but does apologize that his "explanation of the data came across in a hurtful way." . . .

The utter disaster of Bushism

http://www.firedoglake.com/2007/10/29/go-to-your-room-george/
[Phoenix Woman] After seven years of Emperor C-Plus . . . [read on]

Gen. Petraeus for VP?

http://thinkprogress.org/2007/10/29/safire-romney-should-make-petraeus-his-vp/

http://atrios.blogspot.com/2007_10_28_archive.html#2116176291047709521

The newly promoted public affairs officer who helped arrange the phony FEMA news conference just got un-promoted

http://www.cnn.com/2007/POLITICS/10/29/fema.newser/index.html

http://www.tpmmuckraker.com/archives/004585.php

Watch it: http://talkingpointsmemo.com/archives/057318.php

New questions on the Army’s leak of documents to the Drudge Report

http://www.talkingpointsmemo.com/horsesmouth/2007/10/la_times_asks_s.php

The hatchet men of the GOP. Busy guys

http://tpmelectioncentral.com/2007/10/meet_the_gop_candidates_south_carolina_hatchet_men.php

The long parade of GOP retirements

http://www.nytimes.com/2007/10/30/washington/30cong.html

http://www.mydd.com/story/2007/10/29/131438/99

The GOP candidates get a lot of mileage out of condemning same-sex marriage – but the follow-up question always has to be, where do they stand on civil unions?

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/10/29/AR2007102901455.html

Rudy Giuliani just makes stuff up

http://www.mydd.com/story/2007/10/29/21523/748

America’s mayor? http://tnr.com/politics/story.html?id=77ee1fa2-4331-41dd-9129-90b0fa0213ed
[John Judis] So it is reasonable to take Giuliani at his word and to imagine his presidency as an extension of his mayoralty. To do that is to contemplate an administration that would challenge many Americans' conception of their own liberty. It would perpetuate the worst aspects of Bush's imperial presidency: the contempt for Congress and the press; the encouragement of a polarized politics; the centralization of power in the White House; and the administration of government based upon loyalty rather than competence. . . .

There is one final matter to consider: Giuliani's claim that what he accomplished in New York is "transferable" to the nation as a whole. Put simply, that idea is impossible, disastrous, or entirely misleading. . . .

The centerpiece of Giuliani's claim, however, is the suggestion that his approach to fighting crime provides a model for conducting foreign policy. In a recent essay for Foreign Affairs, he wrote: "I know from personal experience that when security is reliably established in a troubled part of a city, normal life rapidly reestablishes itself: shops open, people move back in, children start playing ball on the sidewalks again, and soon a decent and law-abiding community returns to life. The same is true in world affairs. Disorder in the world's bad neighborhoods tends to spread. Tolerating bad behavior breeds more bad behavior."

This is a foolish analogy. In policing the world, the United States cannot claim to be enforcing its own laws; we lack legitimacy to do so, as we found after invading Iraq. When the nypd went into poor neighborhoods, it was not an occupying force; when the U.S. military took over Baghdad, it was, and it suffered the consequences. Some of the "neighborhoods" Giuliani wants to clean up, such as Iran, possess their own armies and can call on other "neighborhoods," such as Russia and China, to deter an attempt to punish them for bad behavior. In short, the world is not New York writ large, and the trade-offs between authority and liberty look very different from the White House than from Gracie Mansion. But these distinctions seem lost on the man who aspires to be the next mayor of the United States. . . [read on]

More: http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/10/29/AR2007102902006.html
Ten months into his presidential bid, Rudolph W. Giuliani continues to work part time at the security consulting firm he promised to leave this past spring . . .

Mitt Romney can’t even keep his positions straight in the same interview

http://www.dailykos.com/storyonly/2007/10/29/101126/86

Our insane gun laws (thanks to David S. for the link)

http://www.villagevoice.com/news/0743,weinstein,78160,6.html

***If you enjoy PBD and support what we are doing, you can help by forwarding a copy of this issue to your friends (using the envelope link below) or by sending them a copy of its URL (http://pbd.blogspot.com).

I don't get anything personally out of this project, except the satisfaction of doing it (I don't run ads, etc). The credit really all goes to the people whose material I copy and redistribute. But if I do have a "mission," it is to get this information into the hands of as many people as I can.***
- posted by Nick Burbules @ 6:37 AM

 
OR ELSE

Why would the Public Affairs Officer and spokesman for General Petraeus write a letter to a blogger like this?

http://www.salon.com/opinion/greenwald/2007/10/28/boylan/index.html
I do enjoy reading your diatribes as they provide comic relief here in Iraq. The amount of pure fiction is incredible. Since a great deal of this post is just opinion and everyone is entitled to their opinions, I will not address those even though they are shall we say -- based on few if any facts. . . .

You are either too lazy to do the research on the topics to gain the facts, or you are providing purposeful misinformation -- much like a propagandist. . . .

More: http://digbysblog.blogspot.com/2007/10/colonel-jackass-by-digby-this-is-truly.html

Passed on to me from a reader – relating to the State Dept policy that reluctant staffers will be forced to do service in Iraq, or get fired

“I have a friend who told me last spring this would be happening. She bailed out in Sept. and says there will be massive retirements of baby boomers who are financially able to bail now. Until Condi, State dept. employees basically bid on posts and State was agreeable to let the employees work out who went where. It was a cooperative way to assign posts. They did not always get their top choice but they were not forced to go anywhere. No more.”

Well, well, well – guess who’s making (yet another) “comeback” in Iraq?

http://www.mcclatchydc.com/homepage/story/20893.html

Our Potemkin government: remember the phony news reports produced by other Bush admin departments? The phony FEMA news conference is part of a fabric, not an accident – and guess what happened to the guy who thought it was a neat idea?

http://www.pensitoreview.com/2007/10/28/was-phony-fema-news-conference-illegal/

http://thinkprogress.org/2007/10/27/fema-official-involved-in-fake-press-conference-resigns/
Director of External Affairs John “Pat” Philbin, has now resigned. He has instead landed an “amazing opportunity” to head public affairs at the Office of the Director of National Intelligence. . .

Are we finally going to be rid of Hans von Spakovsky?

http://www.firedoglake.com/2007/10/28/hans-down/
[Christy Hardin Smith] I’m hearing that the Hans von Spakovsky nomination may be in bigger trouble than is publicly known, that the Bush Administration is scrambling to avoid some “I told you so” egg on their faces…and that they may be willing to throw another DOJ civil rights division employee under the bus to try and save von Spakovsky. And that if action on the nomination doesn’t come before the break for the Thanksgiving holidays, there may be a pulled nomination under consideration. . .

Notice the pattern? The GOP candidates never want to talk about Bush (who divides their party) – they only want to talk about Hillary (who unites it)

http://digbysblog.blogspot.com/2007/10/change-election-by-digby-i-dont-know-if.html
[Digby] I don't know if anyone's noticed, but George W. Bush is being disappeared from the presidential campaign and everyone's running against incumbent Hillary Clinton. Subtly, but relentlessly, the public psyche is being prepared to deny Junior ever existed. And it could work. For many different reasons, most Americans want nothing more than to forget George W. Bush was ever president. So, we see a very odd subliminal narrative taking shape in which the blame for the nation's failures of the last seven years is being shifted to Clinton (and the "do-nothing" Democratic congress) as if the Codpiece hasn't been running things since 2000. . . [read on]

More: http://www.mydd.com/story/2007/10/28/224513/35

This Giuliani-as-fascist theme is a little over the top, and it runs the risk of ethnic stereotyping – but I must say, when the facts fit . . .

http://talkingpointsmemo.com/archives/057167.php

http://www.washingtonmonthly.com/archives/individual/2007_10/012374.php

http://www.talkleft.com/story/2007/10/29/11130/679

http://talkingpointsmemo.com/archives/057165.php

If Fred Thompson is trying to overcome his lackadaisical reputation, stories like this aren’t the way to do it

http://www.thecarpetbaggerreport.com/archives/13392.html

Four becomes five: Mike Huckabee now counted among the GOP leaders

http://www.mydd.com/story/2007/10/28/20222/261

Bonus item: Clarence Thomas has never been able to get his head around the fact that people weren’t opposing his nomination for the Supreme Court because he was black, but because he was completely unqualified either by talent, accomplishment, or by disposition to serve on the Court. Nothing that has happened since then has raised people’s opinion of him – he basically gives Judge Scalia two votes.

Now he seems to have trouble accepting that people don’t care for his new memoir – not because he’s black, etc., but because his book is BAD

http://clarencethomas.notlong.com
They're calling themselves "Friends of Justice Thomas" and they . . . announced this morning the launch of a website named after Thomas's book, www.mygrandfathersson.com. The site features favorable reviews of the book, which tops the New York Times bestseller list, as well as links to blog entries and video and audio of interviews with Thomas. The site, says Long, is an effort to give readers an alternative to what she characterized as "agenda-driven, ignorant, and in some instances racist attacks on Justice Thomas" by the Times and other media. . .

***If you enjoy PBD and support what we are doing, you can help by forwarding a copy of this issue to your friends (using the envelope link below) or by sending them a copy of its URL (http://pbd.blogspot.com).

I don't get anything personally out of this project, except the satisfaction of doing it (I don't run ads, etc). The credit really all goes to the people whose material I copy and redistribute. But if I do have a "mission," it is to get this information into the hands of as many people as I can.***
- posted by Nick Burbules @ 7:03 AM

 
NOTHING TO HIDE?

So, Michael Mukasey, who wants to be Attorney General, lied during his confirmation hearings. Now what?

http://www.latimes.com/news/printedition/asection/la-oe-turley24oct24,1,1299594.story
[Jonathan Turley] It was perhaps the most awaited moment of the confirmation hearings when Democratic Whip Dick Durbin of Illinois asked Mukasey directly about water-boarding, a now-infamous process in which an individual is strapped to a board, a towel pulled tightly across his face, and water is poured on him to cut off air and simulate drowning. Although the technique is known to have been used by the CIA on suspected terrorists, it is a clear and unambiguous act of torture under international and U.S. law.

When asked about it, though, Mukasey suddenly seemed to morph into his predecessor, Alberto R. Gonzales -- beginning with a series of openly evasive answers that ultimately led to what appeared to be a lie. At first, he repeatedly stated that he does not support torture, which violates the U.S. Constitution. This is precisely the answer given so often by President Bush like a mantra. The problem is that Bush defines torture to exclude things like water-boarding. It is like saying you do not rob banks, but then defining bank robbery in such a way that it does not include walking in with a gun and demanding money from the cashier.

The senators pushed Mukasey to go beyond the Bush administration mantra. He refused and then said something that made many of us who were listening gasp . . .

Why telecom immunity shouldn’t be necessary, UNLESS there is something else the Bush gang is trying to hide

http://thenexthurrah.typepad.com/the_next_hurrah/2007/10/the-dodge-on-re.html

More: http://www.thecarpetbaggerreport.com/archives/13388.html

http://www.talkleft.com/story/2007/10/27/11318/147

http://www.salon.com/opinion/greenwald/2007/10/27/litigation_costs/index.html

Why DNI Mike McConnell’s decision to stop releasing unclassified versions of National Intelligence Estimates matters

http://thenexthurrah.typepad.com/the_next_hurrah/2007/10/update-on-gamin.html

Why doesn’t the rest of the country know Rudy Giuliani the way New Yorkers got to know him so well?

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/10/26/AR2007102601808.html
[David Greenberg] As any New Yorker can tell you, the last word anyone in the 1990s would have attached to the brash, furniture- breaking mayor was "liberal" -- and the second-to-last was "moderate." With his take-many-prisoners approach to crime and his unerring pro-police instincts, the prosecutor-turned-proconsul made his mark on the city not by embracing its social liberalism but by trying to crush it.

Somehow, though, Giuliani is being introduced to the rest of America as a liberal. . .

More: http://talkingpointsmemo.com/archives/057164.php

Guess who’s behind the newly resurfaced electoral vote-theft bill in California

http://www.thecarpetbaggerreport.com/archives/13389.html
[LAT] Democrats battling the electoral college measure already have filed complaints with the Federal Election Commission and U.S. Justice Department alleging the Giuliani campaign is behind the initiative. If true, that would be a violation of federal election law, which prohibits such coordination. . .

Theocracy watch: “The Evangelical Crackup”

http://www.nytimes.com/2007/10/28/magazine/28Evangelicals-t.html
Just three years ago, the leaders of the conservative Christian political movement could almost see the Promised Land. White evangelical Protestants looked like perhaps the most potent voting bloc in America. They turned out for President George W. Bush in record numbers, supporting him for re-election by a ratio of four to one. Republican strategists predicted that religious traditionalists would help bring about an era of dominance for their party. Spokesmen for the Christian conservative movement warned of the wrath of “values voters.” James C. Dobson, the founder of Focus on the Family, was poised to play kingmaker in 2008, at least in the Republican primary. And thanks to President Bush, the Supreme Court appeared just one vote away from answering the prayers of evangelical activists by overturning Roe v. Wade.

Today the movement shows signs of coming apart beneath its leaders. It is not merely that none of the 2008 Republican front-runners come close to measuring up to President Bush in the eyes of the evangelical faithful, although it would be hard to find a cast of characters more ill fit for those shoes: a lapsed-Catholic big-city mayor; a Massachusetts Mormon; a church-skipping Hollywood character actor; and a political renegade known for crossing swords with the Rev. Pat Robertson and the Rev. Jerry Falwell. . . .

The 2008 election is just the latest stress on a system of fault lines that go much deeper. . . .

Sunday talk show line-ups

http://www.dailykos.com/storyonly/2007/10/27/23953/905
Meet the Press (NBC): Sen. Chris Dodd (D-CT); NYDN's Tom DeFrank ("Write It When I'm Gone: Remarkable Off-the-Record Conversations with Gerald R. Ford") and NYT's William Safire (Ex-Nixon speechwriter)

Face the Nation (CBS): Sen. Carl Levin (D-MI); Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-SC); Politico's Roger Simon

This Week (ABC): Sen. John McCain (R-AZ); Sen. Dianne Feinstein (D-CA) & Rep. Duncan Hunter (R-CA) on wildfires; roundtable of Paul Krugman, Chrystia Freeland and George Will; Molly Bingham on her film "Meeting Resistance" (about Iraqi insurgency)

Fox News Sunday: Laura Bush; LA Gov. elect Bobby Jindal (R)

CNN Late Edition: Turkish amb. Nabi Sensoy; IAEA Dir. General Mohamed ElBaradei; Sen. Barbara Boxer (D-CA); Sen. Trent Lott (R-MS); Mike Huckabee (R-AR)

Bonus item: Michael Chertoff on the phony FEMA “press conference”

http://www.slate.com/id/2176834
Homeland Security Secretary Michael Chertoff also laid into his own employees for holding a fake news conference last week. "I think it was one of the dumbest and most inappropriate things I've seen since I've been in government," Chertoff said.

[NB: Wow – and he’s been working in the Bush administration!]

***If you enjoy PBD and support what we are doing, you can help by forwarding a copy of this issue to your friends (using the envelope link below) or by sending them a copy of its URL (http://pbd.blogspot.com).

I don't get anything personally out of this project, except the satisfaction of doing it (I don't run ads, etc). The credit really all goes to the people whose material I copy and redistribute. But if I do have a "mission," it is to get this information into the hands of as many people as I can.***
- posted by Nick Burbules @ 5:40 AM

 
SHHH. . . IT’S A SECRET!

A Blackwater cover-up

http://www.latimes.com/news/nationworld/nation/la-na-emails26oct26,0,798301.story
Even as Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice defended her department's oversight of private security contractors, new evidence surfaced Thursday that the U.S. sought to conceal details of Blackwater shootings of Iraqi civilians more than two years ago. . . .

More: http://blogs.abcnews.com/theblotter/2007/10/exclusive-state.html

Lying as a way of life

http://www.reuters.com/article/americasCrisis/idUSN26619054
The main U.S. disaster-response agency apologized on Friday for having its employees pose as reporters in a news briefing on California's wildfires that no journalists attended.

The Federal Emergency Management Agency, still struggling to restore its image after the bungled handling of Hurricane Katrina in 2005, issued the apology after The Washington Post published details of the Tuesday briefing. . .

More: http://talkingpointsmemo.com/archives/057095.php

http://www.first-draft.com/2007/10/today-on-hol-16.html

The WH gives two Senate committees access to warrantless surveillance documents, but tells the corresponding House committees to go suck eggs

http://www.thecarpetbaggerreport.com/archives/13374.html
“If the committees say they have no interest in legislating on the issue of liability protection, we have no reason to accommodate them,” [WH spokesman Tony Fratto] said.

More: http://thenexthurrah.typepad.com/the_next_hurrah/2007/10/hot-and-cold-ru.html

http://balkin.blogspot.com/2007/10/abuse-of-classification-system.html

[NB: But just don’t call it a “quid pro quo”]

Pat Leahy asks (again) for torture documents

http://www.tpmmuckraker.com/archives/004568.php
Yesterday, the White House finally agreed to turn over those warrantless surveillance documents that Sen. Patrick Leahy (D-VT) has been seeking for so long. Now the Senate Judiciary Committee chairman is pressing for a response to another age-old request: documents relevant to the administration's interrogation policy. . .

Keep asking, brother

http://www.tpmmuckraker.com/archives/004577.php
You know what Director of National Intelligence Michael McConnell thinks of open debate about intelligence matters. After all, he's said repeatedly that public discussions of changes to the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act have a direct result: "some Americans are going to die."

So this shouldn't come as a surprise:

National Intelligence Director Mike McConnell has reversed the recent practice of declassifying and releasing summaries of national intelligence estimates, a top intelligence official said Friday. . .

Contempt

http://www.tpmmuckraker.com/archives/004573.php
Better late than never. Three weeks ago, we reported that the House leadership seemed to be wavering in its pursuit of contempt citations for White House chief of staff Josh Bolten and former counsel Harriet Miers. Both of them, remember, refused to even show up in response to a House Judiciary Committee subpoena relating to the U.S. attorney firings.

But now things seem to be moving along again. The Politico reports that vote counting has begun and quotes a House aide as saying that a vote is likely in the next couple of weeks. . .

WH “edits” (with a meat cleaver) the CDC report on the health risks of global warming – and now we can see the original

http://www.dailykos.com/storyonly/2007/10/26/152344/08
"Edits" does not even come close to describing the grammatical massacre the White House undertook with CDC Director Julie Gerberding's Senate testimony on the public health effects of climate change.

These were not minor edits the White House PR spin machine would like us to believe. The word-count for the CDC Director's Senate testimony went from 3,107 to 1,500 after the White House got through with it.

Whole sections on health related effects to extreme weather, air pollution-related health effect, allergic diseases, water and food-borne infectious diseases, food and water scarcity and the long term impacts of chronic diseases and other health effects were completely wiped out of the testimony. . .

Hell no, we won't go!

http://www.nytimes.com/2007/10/27/washington/27diplo.html
Facing staff shortages in Iraq, the State Department announced Friday that diplomats would have no choice but to accept one-year postings in the hostile environment or face losing their jobs.

Harry Thomas, the State Department’s human resources director, said about 250 “prime candidates” for vacant Iraqi posts would be notified Monday of the decision. He said that they would have 10 working days to respond to the demand that they go to Iraq in summer 2008 . . .

Problems for Mukasey

http://www.prospect.org/cs/articles?article=the_case_against_mukasey
[Scott Lemieux] Progressives should not be under any illusion that George Bush will nominate an acceptable choice for attorney general. However, in light of Mukasey's performance under questioning, the Senate should reject his nomination. In particular, his refusal to reject arbitrary executive power and torture by the American government should mean that Democrats cannot add their support to his nomination. . . [read on]

http://thinkprogress.org/2007/10/26/mccain-mukasey-torture/
[Faiz] During his confirmation hearings, Attorney General nominee Michael Mukasey refused to classify waterboarding as torture. His remarks prompted all 10 Senate Democrats on the Judiciary Committee to demand a “clear-cut statement” from him that the torture technique of simulated drowning is illegal.

This past Wednesday, Mukasey’s good friend Rudy Giuliani gave a similarly murky answer on waterboarding, stating that “it depends on the circumstances” and “on who does it” because “liberal newspapers have exaggerated it.”

Speaking in Iowa on Thursday, Sen. John McCain (R-AZ), who 40 years ago today was shot down, captured, and tortured by the North Vietnamese, took issue with Giuliani and Mukasey. McCain denounced waterboarding as clear-cut torture. . .

Will McCain too demand that Mukasey condemn waterboarding as a precondition for his vote?

http://www.tpmmuckraker.com/archives/004575.php
[Bernie Sanders (I-VT)] Mukasey should not be confirmed because he could not muster a simple, straightforward answer at his confirmation hearing when he was asked the simple, straightforward question: Is the president of the United States required to obey federal statutes? "That would have to depend," he weaseled, "on whether what goes outside the statute nonetheless lies within the authority of the president to defend the country."

http://www.bradblog.com/?p=5212
"These remarks display a shameful lack of understanding and sensitivity that is unacceptable in the person charged with enforcing the nation’s laws against voting discrimination," Sen. Ted Kennedy (D-MA) wrote in a question sent to Attorney General Nominee Michael Mukasey today concerning bizarre and objectionable comments made earlier this month by the DoJ's Civil Rights Division, Voting Section chief, John Tanner. . . .

More on Tanner: http://www.tpmmuckraker.com/archives/004570.php

What the SCHIP fight shows about Bush’s utter refusal to give the Democrats an inch of credit for accomplishing ANYTHING. That’s been the plan all along, of course

http://www.americablog.com/2007/10/bushs-strategic-failure-on-s-chip.html

You don’t think the Bush gang had it in for Democratic Governor Kathleen Blanco in Louisiana (now replaced by a Republican)? Even in the midst of a catastrophe in California, after she’s already out of office, Bush can’t resist taking a cheap shot at her

http://www.thecarpetbaggerreport.com/archives/13373.html

Fred Thompson comes out against Bush/Cheney’s boundless assertions of executive power

http://blogs.abcnews.com/politicalpunch/2007/10/fred-thompson-a.html

We’ve known for a while that Giuliani is Fox News’ chosen candidate – and they hate McCain. But isn’t this a little too obvious?

http://talkingpointsmemo.com/archives/057146.php
Fox News goes after John McCain for using some of its debate footage in one of his campaign ads and demands he remove any Fox News reference from his campaign website.

But lookee, here. . . Rudy Giuliani has Fox News plastered all over his campaign website, and as far as we know, Fox News hasn't said a thing.

Rudy and Fox News chief Roger Ailes go way back . . .

More: http://www.talkingpointsmemo.com/horsesmouth/2007/10/fox_news_tells.php

Some religious conservatives have threatened a third party candidacy against pro-choice Giuliani. But after Sam Brownback’s endorsement, most of the others are falling in line . . .

http://tpmelectioncentral.com/2007/10/brownback_much_more_comfortable_with_rudy.php

http://talkingpointsmemo.com/archives/057113.php

http://talkingpointsmemo.com/archives/057124.php

The silly season: of all Rudy’s jaw-dropping lies and evasions, all his conveniently reshaping previous positions to fit current exigencies, THIS is the thing people are upset about

http://www.dailykos.com/storyonly/2007/10/26/01648/917

Bonus item: The gang that couldn’t shoot straight

http://www.tpmmuckraker.com/archives/004576.php
This summer the House Judiciary Committee launched an effort to collect tips from would-be whistleblowers in the Justice Department. The U.S. attorney firings scandal had shown that much was amiss in the Department, and with the danger of retaliation very real, the committee had set up a form on the committee's website for people to blow the whistle privately about abuses there. Although the panel said it would not accept anonymous tips, it assured those who came forward that their identity would be held in the "strictest confidence."

But in an email sent out today, the committee inadvertently sent the email addresses of all the would-be whistleblowers to everyone who had written in to the tipline. . . .

More: http://thenexthurrah.typepad.com/the_next_hurrah/2007/10/about-that-need.html

***If you enjoy PBD and support what we are doing, you can help by forwarding a copy of this issue to your friends (using the envelope link below) or by sending them a copy of its URL (http://pbd.blogspot.com).

I don't get anything personally out of this project, except the satisfaction of doing it (I don't run ads, etc). The credit really all goes to the people whose material I copy and redistribute. But if I do have a "mission," it is to get this information into the hands of as many people as I can.***
- posted by Nick Burbules @ 8:21 AM

 
FAMILIAR ROADS

New Iran sanctions “meant to prevent war” (gee, where have we heard that before?)

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/10/25/AR2007102502606.html

This wasn’t even hard to find

http://www.whitehouse.gov/news/releases/2002/10/20021007-8.html
[Bush: Oct 7, 2002] Eleven years ago, as a condition for ending the Persian Gulf War, the Iraqi regime was required to destroy its weapons of mass destruction, to cease all development of such weapons, and to stop all support for terrorist groups. The Iraqi regime has violated all of those obligations. It possesses and produces chemical and biological weapons. It is seeking nuclear weapons. . . .

[S]ome ask why Iraq is different from other countries or regimes that also have terrible weapons. While there are many dangers in the world, the threat from Iraq stands alone -- because it gathers the most serious dangers of our age in one place. . .

The world has also tried economic sanctions -- and watched Iraq use billions of dollars in illegal oil revenues to fund more weapons purchases. . .

Clearly, to actually work, any new inspections, sanctions or enforcement mechanisms will have to be very different. America wants the U.N. to be an effective organization that helps keep the peace. And that is why we are urging the Security Council to adopt a new resolution setting out tough, immediate requirements. . .

The time for denying, deceiving, and delaying has come to an end. Saddam Hussein must disarm himself -- or, for the sake of peace, we will lead a coalition to disarm him.

Ahem

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/10/25/AR2007102502840.html
A U.S. military strike against Iran would have dire consequences in petroleum markets, say a variety of oil industry experts, many of whom think the prospect of pandemonium in those markets makes U.S. military action unlikely despite escalating economic sanctions imposed by the Bush administration. . .

Although the Bush administration is not openly threatening a military strike against Iran, the president recently spoke of needing to avoid "World War III," and Vice President Cheney said that the United States would "not stand by" while Iran continued its nuclear program. "We will not allow Iran to have a nuclear weapon," he said.

Waxman takes on Rice. Let’s watch

http://talkingpointsmemo.com/archives/056974.php
[David Kurtz] Rice seems to have picked up on some of Alberto Gonzales' more dubious stonewalling techniques as a way of avoiding answering questions. . .

Watch: http://www.tpmmuckraker.com/archives/004553.php

Liveblogging: http://thenexthurrah.typepad.com/the_next_hurrah/2007/10/waxman-hosts-co.html

http://www.tpmmuckraker.com/archives/004559.php
[Spencer Ackerman] It took two different questioners -- and a reversal of her initial position -- but Condoleezza Rice finally acknowledged that State should have acted earlier to rein in Blackwater. "I certainly regret that there was not the oversight that there should have been," she said. Was that so difficult? . . .

http://www.tpmmuckraker.com/archives/004561.php
[Spencer Ackerman] Man, is it a good thing Condoleezza Rice expressed "regret" that State waited until last month to start reviewing its relationship with Blackwater. And it's particularly nifty that she isn't "personally following" every little multi-million dollar discrepancy, shenanigan or blooper. Because then she might have to explain why State Department officials, back in 2005, chatted in internal e-mails about how Blackwater was killing Iraqi civilians and yet were outside the law . . . [read on]

http://www.tpmmuckraker.com/archives/004557.php
[Spencer Ackerman] Waxman asked the bottom line question: is corruption cash from the Iraqi government funding attacks on the U.S.? No more retreating behind requests for a closed session or pleas to request sources and methods.

Rice: "There are militias being funded by multiple sources, including people who are able to use the Iraqi system to bring funding to their militias, yes, especially in the south." She said . . .

http://thenexthurrah.typepad.com/the_next_hurrah/2007/10/shorter-gop-its.html
[Emptywheel] Condi made a very generous offer to let Waxman's committee review documents pertaining to corruption. Waxman pointed out that that offer did not allow the committee to discuss what it discovered in those documents publicly. . . . [read on]

Not very reassuring: http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20071025/ap_on_go_co/us_iraq%20;_ylt=AqnBL4hBT7nTY7eqP2.8yZ.s0NUE
The usually unflappable Rice became frustrated at several points, including a tense exchange with Welch on whether al-Maliki was corrupt. Since April, the prime minister has required that Cabinet-level corruption investigations first receive his approval. Such a policy, Welch and other Democrats say, is tantamount to blanket immunity for al-Maliki and his ministers. . . .

More: http://www.tpmmuckraker.com/archives/004563.php

http://www.thecarpetbaggerreport.com/archives/13366.html
[AP] “House Democrats on Thursday accused Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice of grossly mismanaging diplomatic efforts in Iraq and concealing information from Congress. The charges put a visibly frustrated Rice on the defensive. At a hearing by a congressional watchdog committee, Democratic lawmakers said the State Department under Rice had been too lax with armed security contractors, ignored corruption at the highest levels of the Iraqi government and was sloppy in overseeing construction of the costly new U.S. Embassy in Baghdad. ‘I think there was a huge gap between what she said and reality,’ said Rep. Henry Waxman, chairman of the House Oversight and Government Reform Committee.”

Here’s how serious the State Dept is about tracking down corruption

http://talkingpointsmemo.com/archives/056978.php

Inside Blackwater

http://www.tpmmuckraker.com/archives/004551.php

More: http://blogs.abcnews.com/theblotter/2007/10/despite-blackwa.html

http://thenexthurrah.typepad.com/the_next_hurrah/2007/10/the-guards-have.html
[Emptywheel] The NYT has an interesting article telling the story of the Blackwater guards involved in the September 16 shooting. It does a great work getting the views of 6 current and former Blackwater guards in spite of the company's policy gagging them.

But there are two details, above all, that deserve more attention (particularly since the article simply presents them, without raising any questions about what they mean). First, several of the guards involved in the shooting have already left Iraq . . . . [read on]

A new Democratic strategy on Iraq war funding?

http://thehill.com/leading-the-news/sen.-levin-hints-at-emerging-democratic-strategy-on-iraq-2007-10-25.html
Senate Armed Services Committee Chairman Carl Levin (D-Mich.) is working with a key appropriator on a strategy to halve the White House’s war-funding request to pressure President Bush into changing course in Iraq.

Levin said Wednesday that giving Bush a six-month installment plan on the nearly $200 billion fiscal 2008 war-funding request would serve a dual purpose: It would intensify pressure on the president to change course after next June, while avoiding “sending a negative message to the troops,” because war funding would continue until next may or June, when the president would have to request a second funding bill. . .

Michael Mukasey’s confirmation as AG may not be such smooth sailing after all

http://www.thecarpetbaggerreport.com/archives/13363.html

http://www.tpmmuckraker.com/archives/004564.php
[AP] Judge Michael Mukasey's nomination for attorney general ran into trouble Thursday when two top Senate Democrats said their votes hinge on whether he will say on the record that an interrogation technique that simulates drowning is torture. . . [read on]

A good question: http://atrios.blogspot.com/2007_10_21_archive.html#5518137284305504076
[Atrios] Is this going to be another game of fretting and caving or is Mukasey's confirmation really going to depend on him being willing to unequivocally state that water boarding is torture. I mean, I certainly like me some Democrats playing hardball, but it should be noted that if the incoming Attorney General says that procedures the Bush administration has embraced are torture, in violation of statute, constitution, and international law, that sorta means he's obligated to start prosecuting people.

Look, the fact is, our government uses waterboarding, and everybody knows it. It’s probably one of the most terrifying things you can experience, but it doesn’t kill you or permanently harm you. The Bush gang doesn’t want to admit it, but they probably think it’s a pretty good compromise between “doing whatever is necessary” while not appearing to be butchers. But it IS torture, if the definition of torture means anything. Now we see Rudy, not surprisingly, hedging and making excuses for it

http://tpmelectioncentral.com/2007/10/rudy_wont_say_whether_waterboarding_is_torture_blames_liberal_media.php
[Eric Kleefeld] In a town hall meeting in Iowa last night, Rudy Giuliani offered an extended explanation of his views on torture — and refused to say whether he thinks waterboarding constitutes an inappropriate technique.

Rudy also made it clear that he favors "aggressive questioning" of terror suspects, and blamed the liberal media for his refusal to clarify his views of waterboarding, saying the media inaccurately describes what waterboarding is by making it seem unacceptable in all cases. . . . [read on!]

http://www.thecarpetbaggerreport.com/archives/13358.html
[Giuliani] “It depends on how it’s done. It depends on the circumstances. It depends on who does it. . . .” [read on]

Watch: http://www.crooksandliars.com/2007/10/25/giuliani-on-waterboarding-it-depends-on-who-does-it/

http://www.washingtonmonthly.com/archives/individual/2007_10/012353.php
[Kevin Drum] So that's that: when bad guys torture, it's bad. When good guys torture, it's good. Apparently that's the modern Republican Party's version of moral clarity.

http://www.samefacts.com/archives/torture_/2007/10/sadistinchief.php
[Mark Kleiman] Rudy Giuliani seems to be running for Sadist-in-Chief. Not only does he think that repeatedly putting someone through the sensation of drowning (that's what "waterboarding" means) might or might not be torture, depending on who does it, he's now making fun of the idea that sleep deprivation — one of the favorite techniques of the KGB, guaranteed to lead to psychosis if carried on long enough — constitutes torture. . . .

John McCain, in one of his occasional imitations of a vertebrate, hit Giuliani where it hurts, saying that if Giuliani really doesn't know that simulated drowning is torture that reflects his inexperience. "All I can say." said McCain about the waterboard, "is that it was used in the Spanish Inquisition."

A crack in the façade: the Bush gang will let the Senate Judiciary Committee see warrantless surveillance docs

http://www.nytimes.com/2007/10/26/washington/26fisa.html

http://www.dailykos.com/storyonly/2007/10/25/202724/41

The FISA debate: boiled down to its essence

http://atrios.blogspot.com/2007_10_21_archive.html#5835053975512098026

More: http://www.thecarpetbaggerreport.com/archives/13357.html

When the government doesn’t want me to see something, that makes me want to see it even more

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/10/24/AR2007102401227.html
Bush administration officials acknowledged yesterday that they heavily edited testimony on global warming, delivered to Congress on Tuesday by the director of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, after the president's top science adviser and other officials questioned its scientific basis.

Senate Democrats say they want to investigate the circumstances involved in the editing of CDC Director Julie L. Gerberding's written testimony to the Senate Environment and Public Works Committee on "climate change and public health." Gerberding testimony shrank from 12 pages to six after it was reviewed by the Office of Management and Budget.

The OMB removed several sections of the testimony that detailed how global warming would affect Americans, according to White House spokeswoman Dana Perino . . .

Treated with contempt

http://www.dailykos.com/storyonly/2007/10/25/105643/96

The fight over SCHIP continues

http://www.nytimes.com/2007/10/25/washington/26cnd-health.html
Once again defying a veto threat from President Bush, the House this afternoon passed a new bill to provide health insurance for 10 million children, but not by a margin large enough to override a promised veto. . . .

More: http://www.thecarpetbaggerreport.com/archives/13360.html

Oops! Army admits leaking docs to that paragon of journalism, Matt Drudge

http://www.talkingpointsmemo.com/horsesmouth/2007/10/army_promises_i.php

Go ask Alice

http://www.first-draft.com/2007/10/today-on-hol-15.html
Q Dana, I wanted to ask you about the CBO estimate for the cost of Iraq and Afghanistan. Why is that $2.4 trillion figure wrong?

MS. PERINO: Well, part of it is that when you start having all -- just a ton of speculation. It's a hypothetical that was created based on questions that Democrats in Congress who don't want us to be in the war asked the Congressional Budget Office to provide. . . We don't know what the costs are going to be over the years, and so because that fluctuates, it's just wildly premature to put out a number like that.

Q Okay, so what might be a more reasonable estimate? I'm sure folks at OMB have their own counter.

MS. PERINO: Look, spending to fight the global war on terror is an investment in our security and it is something that the President is committed to prioritizing in the budget. We hope that Congress would agree. We don't know how much the war is going to cost in the future. . .

Q If you can say it's inaccurate and others can say it's wildly inaccurate, surely there must be some kind of quantifiable sense as to what this --

MS. PERINO: I think what they looked at 10 years ago -- the answer is we just don't operate that way in terms of providing a federal budget. . . .

Q Can you just explain why the administration takes issue with the CBO's projections of the cost of the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan, but it's perfectly reasonable to put out -- OMB puts out a five-, 10-year budget deficit projections?

MS. PERINO: Well, remember the budget deficit projections include our war costs, and so we look at those, that's a -- we do projections for the budget and the deficit every year. That's a pretty good economic -- they have it down to a science over at OMB. We're not always a nation at war and that is different and there are changing circumstances on the ground, and when you don't know what the generals are going to need, then you have to wait and see. That's why we think it's too speculative to put out a number like CBO did.

Q So how can OMB then put out that five-, 10-year budget projection if they don't know, for instance, how long the war will go five or 10 years out?

MS. PERINO: As I said, we try to take as many -- we take into account the projections that we can. In the budget deficit projections that we have we have included those war costs in the past -- I can't remember -- the past, I think five years -- I'm sorry, four years . . .

[NB: I think you get the point. She admits that they DO include war costs in their budget projections – she just won’t say what they are.]

Another Republican declines to run for higher office – and here’s why

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/10/24/AR2007102402489.html
Rep. Thomas M. Davis III will not make a run for the U.S. Senate next year, in part because of what he sees as the Republican Party's increasingly narrow focus on candidates who pass conservative litmus tests . .

One more way in which the Republicans manipulate the rules of Congress more cleverly than the Dems

http://www.guardian.co.uk/usa/story/0,,2198227,00.html

The Hissy Fit Party

http://matthewyglesias.theatlantic.com/archives/2007/10/the_fit.php

More: http://commonsense.ourfuture.org/art_hissy_fit
[Digby] I first noticed the right's successful use of phony sanctimony and faux outrage back in the 90's . . . [read on]

And the Dems fall for it. . .

http://www.thecarpetbaggerreport.com/archives/13365.html

The silly season

http://www.thecarpetbaggerreport.com/archives/13364.html
[Steve Benen] When it comes to Barack Obama, first it was his middle name. Then it was the “madrassa” nonsense. Soon after, it was the absence of a flag pin on his lapel. And now, the Fox News crowd is fascinated by whether the senator puts his hand over his heart when he says the Pledge of Allegiance. . . .

More? http://mediamatters.org/items/200710240006

Bonus item: Islamofascist Awareness Week: it’s all about me – me – me!

http://talkingpointsmemo.com/archives/057002.php
"I'm a prominent conservative but no one is inviting me to speak at their campuses," [David] Horowitz said in an interview with The Hatchet. "I had to create an event."

***If you enjoy PBD and support what we are doing, you can help by forwarding a copy of this issue to your friends (using the envelope link below) or by sending them a copy of its URL (http://pbd.blogspot.com).

I don't get anything personally out of this project, except the satisfaction of doing it (I don't run ads, etc). The credit really all goes to the people whose material I copy and redistribute. But if I do have a "mission," it is to get this information into the hands of as many people as I can.***
- posted by Nick Burbules @ 6:48 AM

 
BELIEVE IT OR NOT

Bush says, one day, that Iran will never be allowed to have a nuclear weapon. Then he says we need missile defense in Europe to protect the U.S. against weapons Iran won’t even hypothetically have until 2015. Does anybody believe this nonsense?

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/10/23/AR2007102300706.html
President Bush said yesterday that a missile defense system is urgently needed in Europe to guard against a possible attack on U.S. allies by Iran . . .

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/blog/2007/10/24/BL2007102401251.html
[Dan Froomkin] It doesn't work, it's expensive and it's intended for a threat that doesn't exist -- but by golly, according to President Bush, missile defense is absolutely essential. . . .

The Iraq government tells Blackwater they can’t count on immunity any more

http://www.tpmmuckraker.com/archives/004543.php
[Spencer Ackerman] Today the Iraqi government formally revoked one of the Coalition Provisional Authority's enduring vestiges -- a decree of immunity from prosecution in Iraqi courts for U.S. security contractors. . . .

http://www.tpmmuckraker.com/archives/004549.php
[Spencer Ackerman] The private security industry is trying to make sense of the announcement today from Baghdad that the Iraqi government is revoking a CPA-era edict, known as Order 17, immunizing contractors from prosecution in Iraqi courts. Some believe that the State Department will succeed in an anticipated attempt to prevent Americans from appearing before an Iraqi judge, while warning that if a full revocation succeeds, American companies or individual contractors might simply up and leave Iraq rather than potentially face charges in an immature justice system. . . .

http://thenexthurrah.typepad.com/the_next_hurrah/2007/10/condi-must-be-p.html
[Emptywheel] There are a number of clues that reveal how panicked the State Department--and Condi and those parts of the Administration not trying to undercut Condi at every turn--is about the threats to Blackwater's continued presence in Iraq. . . .

http://www.dailykos.com/storyonly/2007/10/24/12647/485
[WP] The future of Blackwater, the security company involved in the Sept. 16 shooting incident, remains unresolved. Once the FBI completes an investigation in Iraq, the panel's report said, the embassy should recommend to Rice whether Blackwater should be allowed to continue working in Iraq. . . . They concluded that there is no real alternative to the use of private contractors to protect U.S. diplomats traveling outside the protected Green Zone in Baghdad. The military, the report said, "does not consider it feasible or desirable . . . to take on responsibility" for diplomatic protection . . .

http://thinkprogress.org/2007/10/24/blackwater-talking-points/
[Matt] In the past two weeks, Erik Prince, the CEO of embattled private security firm Blackwater USA, has orchestrated an aggressive public relations campaign in efforts to save his company’s reputation in the face of multiple scandals. . . . Blackwater sent an e-mail blast today, encouraging supporters to contact “elected Congressional representatives” with “letters, e-mails and calls” with the goal of “influencing the manner in which they gather and present information.” . . .

Afghanistan + Iraq = $2.4 trillion

http://www.thecarpetbaggerreport.com/archives/13352.html

http://www.dailykos.com/storyonly/2007/10/24/1694/5360

Plus hidden money for an Iran attack? http://digbysblog.blogspot.com/2007/10/wondering-wondering-whos-wondering-by.html





Alice: “It seems that Congress is run by Code Pink”

http://thehill.com/leading-the-news/perino-it-seems-that-congress-is-run-by-code-pink-2007-10-24.html

Watch it: http://talkingpointsmemo.com/archives/056897.php



It appears that Bush’s Justice Dept has been more effective at prosecuting Democrats in politically partisan cases than they’ve been in prosecuting terrorists

http://talkingpointsmemo.com/archives/056876.php

http://www.americablog.com/2007/10/dept-of-justice-failing-at-terror.html

http://www.dailykos.com/storyonly/2007/10/24/12658/390

Looks like a series of showdowns is coming between Bush and Congress on appropriations bills

http://www.chron.com/disp/story.mpl/front/5239904.html

But the fact is: http://www.thecarpetbaggerreport.com/archives/13343.html
[McClatchy] George W. Bush, despite all his recent bravado about being an apostle of small government and budget-slashing, is the biggest spending president since Lyndon B. Johnson. . . .

Farm policy (yawn) – no, really: FARM POLICY

http://www.needlenose.com/node/view/4395
[Greenboy] Just when I'd written off both Repug & Dem Capitol Hill Hookers alike over the corporate welfare abomination that is the current agribusiness pork bill, Dem Senator Frank Lautenberg & Repug Senator Richard Lugar come forward with an alternate, rational agribusiness policy proposal. . . .

The Democrats cave (again) on a controversial judge – and Dianne Feinstein casts the key vote

http://www.thecarpetbaggerreport.com/archives/13347.html

http://www.firedoglake.com/2007/10/24/barbara-lee-blasts-difi-on-southwick/

Stop telecom amnesty

http://www.dailykos.com/storyonly/2007/10/24/113925/36

http://salon.com/opinion/greenwald/2007/10/24/dodd/index.html

More on FISA: http://digbysblog.blogspot.com/2007/10/not-tough-call-by-digby-sometimes-you.html

http://www.washingtonmonthly.com/archives/individual/2007_10/012347.php

The White House redacts testimony on the health risks of global warming. Why? Because they want testimony instead on its health BENEFITS (really!)

http://talkingpointsmemo.com/news/2007/10/white_house_edited_statement_t.php

http://time-blog.com/swampland/2007/10/underplayed_story_of_the_day_6.html

http://www.thecarpetbaggerreport.com/archives/13351.html

Watch it: http://talkingpointsmemo.com/archives/056878.php

FCC decisions are often arcane and underpublicized – but their ramifications run deep. Overturning the Fairness Doctrine in 1987 gave us Fox News and a whole new kind of partisan “journalism.” Now they’re at it again

http://sideshow.me.uk/soct07.htm#10250308

Dems try again on SCHIP

http://www.nytimes.com/2007/10/25/washington/25health.html

Henry Waxman (D-CA) – our hero

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/10/24/AR2007102402016.html

I doubt that Giuliani will get the GOP nomination in the face of a very serious threat from the religious right to split off and support a third-party candidate. But if he did . . .

http://digbysblog.blogspot.com/2007/10/taking-it-to-next-level-by-digby.html
[Digby] Speaking of fascists. . . This is the guy the unitary executive was designed for. . . [read on]

More: http://talkingpointsmemo.com/archives/056906.php

http://www.talkingpointsmemo.com/horsesmouth/2007/10/washington_post_7.php
Washington Post Aggressively Fact-Checks Pathological Exaggerator Rudy Giuliani . . . [read on]

“Not a bluff” http://www.thecarpetbaggerreport.com/archives/13349.html
[Richard] Land: My intuition [is that] this is not a bluff. If Giuliani is the nominee, there will be a third party. There are things that Giuliani could do to help mitigate the damage. But I have been in too many discussions over the last 15 years where evangelical leaders have said, “The one thing we will never allow to happen is for the Republican Party to take us for granted the way the Democrat [sic] Party too often takes the African-American community for granted.” This is not a bluff.

Bonus item: Fox News blames al Qaeda for the California wildfires (really!)

http://thinkprogress.org/2007/10/24/fox-news-al-qaeda-is-causing-the-ca-wildires/

***If you enjoy PBD and support what we are doing, you can help by forwarding a copy of this issue to your friends (using the envelope link below) or by sending them a copy of its URL (http://pbd.blogspot.com).

I don't get anything personally out of this project, except the satisfaction of doing it (I don't run ads, etc). The credit really all goes to the people whose material I copy and redistribute. But if I do have a "mission," it is to get this information into the hands of as many people as I can.***
- posted by Nick Burbules @ 4:37 AM

 
REDUCED TO THIS

We’ve seen it over and over with these people: it’s the professional military who has to put the brakes on their limitless aggression

http://www.thecarpetbaggerreport.com/archives/13339.html

More: http://digbysblog.blogspot.com/2007/10/war-of-worlds-by-digby-fareed-zakaria.html
[Fareed Zakaria] The American discussion about Iran has lost all connection to reality. . . .

The U.S. increases air strikes in Iraq by 400% – and that always means one thing: more civilian casualties

http://www.usatoday.com/news/world/iraq/2007-10-21-airstrikes_N.htm

http://www.americablog.com/2007/10/why-its-so-hard-to-trust.html

Bush’s rationalization of torture reaches rock bottom

http://www.thecarpetbaggerreport.com/archives/13338.html
“Despite the record of success, and despite the fact that our professionals use lawful techniques, the CIA program has come under renewed criticism in recent weeks. Those who oppose this vital tool in the war on terror need to answer a simple question: Which of the attacks I have just described would they prefer we had not stopped?”. . . [read on]

Michael Mukasey, soon-to-be Attorney General, doesn’t know if waterboarding is torture? Let’s see if we can help him out

http://www.tpmmuckraker.com/archives/004535.php

http://www.samefacts.com/archives/torture_/2007/10/is_waterboarding_torture.php

Because people JUST DON’T REALIZE THE DANGER, DAMMIT!

http://www.terrorismawareness.org/islamo-fascism-awareness-week/
During the week of October 22-26, 2007, the nation will be rocked by the biggest conservative campus protest ever – Islamo-Fascism Awareness Week, a wake-up call for Americans on 200 university and college campuses.

The purpose of this protest is as simple as it is crucial: to confront the two Big Lies of the political left . . .

http://talkingpointsmemo.com/archives/056791.php
[Josh Marshall] [W]atching IAW really is like watching a real live version of Spinal Tap or Waiting for Guffman unfold before you. . .

More: http://talkingpointsmemo.com/archives/056780.php

http://whiskeyfire.typepad.com/whiskey_fire/2007/10/militant-babies.html

They hate science

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/10/23/AR2007102302056.html
Testimony that the director of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention planned to give yesterday to a Senate committee about the impact of climate change on health was significantly edited by the White House. . .

Specific scientific references to potential health risks were removed . . .

Condi Rice (who? the Sect’y of State, in case you didn’t know) finally gets really tough with the lawless thugs of Blackwater. Yes, she is demanding. . . that they . . . take sensitivity training!

http://talkingpointsmemo.com/archives/056789.php

More: http://www.tpmmuckraker.com/archives/004539.php
[Spencer Ackerman] Lesson One: Don't drunkenly murder bodyguards of Iraqi dignitaries.

Lesson Two: Should Lesson One fail, don't hire those who drunkenly murder bodyguards of Iraqi dignitaries.

Lesson Three: Don't shoot people as they flee in terror from your orgy of destruction.

Lesson Four: Don't force terrified civilians off the road with your reckless convoys.

Lesson Five: Don't fire your weapons at members of the U.S. military.

Lesson Six: Don't broadcast your orgy of destruction on YouTube while set to music meant to show what a bad ass you are.

A trial you probably never heard about -- and now it's already over!

http://www.latimes.com/news/local/la-na-holyland23oct23,0,1540715.story
The U.S. Justice Department suffered a major setback in another high-profile terrorist prosecution Monday when its criminal case against five former officials of a now-defunct Islamic charity collapsed into a tangle of legal confusion. . .

The Republicans find a way to fight back against accusations that Rove and his crew hijacked DOJ for politically motivated prosecutions: attack the whistleblowers

Exhibit A: http://www.guardian.co.uk/worldlatest/story/0,,-7018388,00.html
A Republican U.S. attorney general from the first Bush administration told a House panel Tuesday he thinks the Justice Department had political aims in prosecuting a high-profile Democratic coroner from Pennsylvania. . .

More: http://www.tpmmuckraker.com/archives/004534.php
Dick Thornburgh, the Republican former attorney general under George H.W. Bush, didn't mince words in his testimony . . .

Video: http://www.tpmmuckraker.com/archives/004538.php

Exhibit B: http://www.tpmmuckraker.com/archives/004536.php
A former lawyer for Don Siegelman (D-AL) told the House Judiciary Committee today that his client's case took a "180 degree" turn in 2004, after Justice Department officials in Washington told local prosecutors to take another look at the case . . .

More: http://www.tpmmuckraker.com/archives/004533.php

The GOP fights back: http://thenexthurrah.typepad.com/the_next_hurrah/2007/10/theyre-scared.html

Jay Rockefeller (D-WV) is a man easily swayed – not a good thing in a politician

http://www.tpmmuckraker.com/archives/004537.php

http://www.warandpiece.com/blogdirs/006713.html
[NYT] Executives at the two biggest phone companies contributed more than $42,000 in political donations to Senator John D. Rockefeller IV this year while seeking his support for legal immunity . . .

Nancy Pelosi gets rolled (again) and lets a censure motion against Pete Stark (D-CA) almost pass, forcing Stark to apologize for making statements most of us have said or thought regularly. Greg Sargent puts it in the best light

http://www.talkingpointsmemo.com/horsesmouth/2007/10/house_dem_leade.php
[Greg Sargent] There's been a bunch of talk in the blogosphere and elsewhere of late about the weird tendency on the part of the Dem Congressional leadership to run for cover whenever Republicans throw a fit about something -- the latest example being the controversy over Dem Rep. Pete Stark's now-notorious comment on the House floor that Bush is sending soldiers to Iraq "to get their heads blown off for the president’s amusement."

In response to Stark's comment, GOP elected officials from every corner of our fair country cued up the outrage machine -- and Dem House Speaker Nancy Pelosi ended up denouncing the remarks. This prompted some folks to point out that perhaps Dems shouldn't cheerfully place a stamp of legitimacy on every story the GOP cooks up.

Well, it needs to be said that the Dem leadership finally got one right. Just moments ago, GOP House leader John Boehner introduced a resolution calling for censure of Stark for his comments. And the Dems shut it down, voting largely along party lines to not let it come to a vote. Only five Dems crossed over and joined the Repubs. . . .

http://tpmelectioncentral.com/2007/10/stark_apologizes_after_bid_to_censure_him_fails.php
"I want to apologize to my colleagues, many of whom I have offended," Stark said. He also apologized to "the president and his family" and "the troops."

"I hope that with this apology, I return to being as insignificant as I should be," he finished in an emotional, breaking voice.

http://www.firedoglake.com/2007/10/23/dear-speaker-pelosi/
[Reader Cynthia R.] I called Stark’s office in DC to complain about his apology. The person answering the phone told me that Stark had no choice; Stark was told before the vote was taken that should he not apologize, the vote to censure would pass. According to his office, that is the only reason he apologized.

Jane Hamsher writes to Pelosi: http://www.firedoglake.com/2007/10/23/dear-speaker-pelosi/
With all of the outrages perpetuated by this administration, with the abject failure of the House under your leadership to do anything that they were elected to do, I guess we’ll have to say that this is your crowning achievement — forcing Pete Stark to his knees and making him grovel before this completely lawless, warmongering and inhumane administration. . .

http://www.samefacts.com/archives/corruption_in_washington_/2007/10/turnabout_is_fair_play.php
[Mark Kleiman] Doesn't the Republican censure resolution against Pete Stark (promptly tabled) break the "ethics truce"? If so, let's have some all-out warfare. The Republicans have done well so far pretending that everyone is just as corrupt as everyone else. Let's start making them vote to defend their colleagues who are about to be indicted.

The press has their narrative: the Democrats have “failed” in the majority because they haven’t passed X, Y, and Z. Well, here’s what they HAVE passed (and there’s more that they’ve voted majorities on, which the Republicans have blocked – but that’s not the favored narrative)

http://www.dailykos.com/storyonly/2007/10/23/131419/50

More: http://www.dailykos.com/storyonly/2007/10/23/9221/4192

What does the FISA bill authorize?

http://www.dailykos.com/storyonly/2007/10/23/14286/394

Obama and Clinton follow Chris Dodd’s lead, say they will support a filibuster of the FISA bill. Shamed into it?

http://www.dailykos.com/storyonly/2007/10/23/21433/261

http://www.firedoglake.com/2007/10/24/dodd-leads-obama-and-clinton-follow-sort-of/

Obama, starting to look a little shaky

http://www.americablog.com/2007/10/human-rights-campaign-issues-ultimatum.html
[The Hill] The nation’s biggest gay rights group is trying to force Sen. Barrack Obama (D-Ill.) to cancel presidential campaign event with a controversial preacher who claims he was homosexual but has been cured.

The Human Rights Campaign has expressed its strong reservations to Obama over his campaign-sponsored tour that features gospel singer Donnie McClurkin.

The influential organization, representing a powerful Democratic constituency, let Obama’s campaign know that it would issue a public demand if Obama did not immediately cancel the event, said a person who had been briefed on the exchange....

By threatening to weigh in strongly, Human Rights Campaign has elevated what began as a controversy in the blogosphere into a full-fledged dilemma for Obama’s campaign.

The California electoral vote theft bill makes a comeback

http://www.mydd.com/story/2007/10/24/34749/211

More: http://www.latimes.com/news/politics/la-na-electoral23oct23,0,4225552.story

Yeah, right, Romney just “misspoke”

http://thinkprogress.org/2007/10/23/romney-refers-to-obama-as-osama/
During a speech today, former Gov. Mitt Romney (R-MA) said, “Actually, just look at what Osam — Barack Obama — said just yesterday. Barack Obama, calling on radicals, jihadists of all different types, to come together in Iraq.” Kevin Madden, a Romney spokesman, claimed Romney “misspoke” both times.

http://www.washingtonmonthly.com/archives/individual/2007_10/012338.php
[Kevin Drum] Ah, yes, Mitt Romney just "misspoke." Twice in ten seconds. Sure he did.

Misspoke? http://www.thecarpetbaggerreport.com/archives/13337.html
[Steve Benen] I obviously wasn’t there, so I didn’t hear it first hand, but according to the AP account, Romney started to say the right name, .but stopped to say the wrong name. Twice. It wasn’t just an Osama (first name) Obama (last name) mix up either — Romney included “Barack” into the mix. Twice.

What would Rudy be like as President?

http://www.washingtonmonthly.com/archives/individual/2007_10/012341.php
[Kevin Drum] Choosing the best presidential candidate among the 2008 contenders is a tough job. Picking the worst is easy. Rudy Giuliani is the guy you'd get if you put George Bush and Dick Cheney into a wine press and squeezed out their pure combined essence: unbounded arrogance and self-righteousness, a chip on his shoulder the size of a redwood, a studied contempt for anybody's opinion but his own, a vindictive streak a mile wide, and a devotion to secrecy and executive power unmatched in presidential history. He is a disaster waiting to happen.

More: http://www.washingtonmonthly.com/features/2007/0711.morris.html

OK, no more excuses for Huckabee

http://www.thecarpetbaggerreport.com/archives/13336.html

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/john-seery/huckabee-immigrants-are-_b_69576.html

Glenn Beck uses the old standard rightist excuse to deflect criticism of his hate speech: Hey, guys, lighten up --- I’m just JOKING (because, you know, JOKING about people in Southern California who are having their homes and property destroyed is just so much fun)

http://mediamatters.org/items/200710240001

More: http://digbysblog.blogspot.com/2007/10/it-burns-by-digby-i-have-got-massive.html

http://www.dailykos.com/storyonly/2007/10/23/175444/67

Bonus item: Somewhere, a room full of adolescent boys are laughing their asses off

http://atrios.blogspot.com/2007_10_21_archive.html#4824752809217267090
CNN reads your emails.

Hayward from Escondido wrote this:

We drove by a huge wall of flames in our Hummer. Thank God we made it out.

Chyron [the crawl at the bottom of the screen]:

Email From: Hayward Ablohmie
Escondido, California

***If you enjoy PBD and support what we are doing, you can help by forwarding a copy of this issue to your friends (using the envelope link below) or by sending them a copy of its URL (http://pbd.blogspot.com).

I don't get anything personally out of this project, except the satisfaction of doing it (I don't run ads, etc). The credit really all goes to the people whose material I copy and redistribute. But if I do have a "mission," it is to get this information into the hands of as many people as I can.***
- posted by Nick Burbules @ 7:15 AM

 
QUID PRO QUO

Turkey and northern Iraq, on the brink

http://digbysblog.blogspot.com/2007/10/turkey-by-tristero-there-is-very.html

http://www.thecarpetbaggerreport.com/archives/13322.html

Consistency, the hobgoblin of little minds. . . .

http://www.slate.com/id/2176461
[Daniel Politi] The Washington Post leads with administration officials pressuring Iraqi leaders to crack down on the Kurdish group that has been carrying out cross-border raids and killing Turkish soldiers. President Bush talked to leaders of Turkey and Iraq yesterday to try and prevent the conflict from escalating. . . .

While all eyes are on the Iraq-Turkish border, the NYT fronts an interesting look at how a similar situation is taking place at the Iranian border. Kurdish guerillas from the PJAK are frequently crossing the border and say they've killed 150 Iranian soldiers and officials since August before quickly going back "to their hide-outs in Iraq." The NYT carries out quite an impressive piece of reporting as it spent some time with the Iranian Kurdish guerrilla and even interviewed an Iranian soldier they had captured. The United States isn't rushing to condemn these attacks, and Iran claims the group receives aid from the Bush adminsitration. While the United States classifies the PKK as a terrorist group the same isn't true for the PJKK even though they appear to be pretty much the same. And it seems the group's leader traveled to Washington last summer, although a diplomat denied that he met with any administration officials.

Bush wants $46 billion more for his war, says, Don’t leave our troops naked and defenseless

http://www.nytimes.com/2007/10/22/washington/22cnd-prexy.html
“The majority of the supplemental funding is for day-to-day military operations in Afghanistan and Iraq,” the president told reporters at the White House today. “The bill provides for basic needs like bullets and body armor, protection against I.E.D.’s, and mine-resistant ambush-protected vehicles,” he said . . .

[NB: One little question – shouldn’t those “basic needs” have been adequately covered in the FIRST $150 billion you asked for?]

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/10/22/AR2007102200745.html
"I know some in Congress are against the war and are seeking to demonstrate that opposition," Bush said in a midday announcement from the White House. "I recognize their position, and they should make their views heard. But they ought to make sure our troops have what it takes to succeed. Our men and women on the front lines should not be caught in the middle of partisan disagreements in Washington, D.C. . . . .

I often hear that war critics oppose my decisions but still support the troops," he said. "Well, I'll take them at their word -- and this is the chance to show it."

The Dems respond

http://www.speaker.gov/blog/?p=869
[Nancy Pelosi] Demanding nearly $200 billion for Iraq while vetoing health care for 10 million children exemplifies the Bush Administration’s misplaced priorities. On key issues – from the Iraq war to children’s health insurance – the President continues to oppose the will of the American people and obstructs the New Direction Congress’ bipartisan agenda. . .

The choice is between a Democratic plan for responsible redeployment of our troops and the President’s plan to spend another trillion dollars for a 10-year war in Iraq. We must end this war.

http://www.cnn.com/2007/POLITICS/10/22/war.spending/index.html
[Harry Reid] Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid, D-Nevada, warned the president not to expect Congress to "rubber-stamp" the latest request.

"In the coming weeks, we will hold it up to the light of day and fight for the change of strategy and redeployment of troops that is long overdue," Reid said.

He said the new request means the overall cost of the widely unpopular war now approaches $650 billion since the March 2003 invasion that toppled Iraqi leader Saddam Hussein.

"The entire war in Iraq is being paid for with borrowed money," Reid said.

[NB: No more talk of stopping the war. It’s pretty clear now that the Dems have given up that issue, and decided (a) that a fight to stop it would divide their party and still, in the end, fail; and (b) it’s Bush’s war, and they might as well ride the issue through the 2008 election, where it will probably get them an even bigger majority, and perhaps the White House. Cold political calculations.]

More: http://www.thecarpetbaggerreport.com/archives/13323.html

Let’s see, last week it was all about Al Qaeda, and there was no civil war in Iraq. Now we need a new enemy, so . . . .

http://www.dailykos.com/storyonly/2007/10/22/121857/98

Just add them to the pile

http://www.nytimes.com/2007/10/23/washington/23contractor.html
A pair of new reports have delivered sharply critical judgments about the State Department’s performance in overseeing work done by the private companies that the government relies on increasingly in Iraq and Afghanistan to carry out delicate security work and other missions. . . .

More: http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/10/22/AR2007102201793.html

Blackwater: tax fraud?

http://www.tpmmuckraker.com/archives/004518.php

http://thenexthurrah.typepad.com/the_next_hurrah/2007/10/henry-sez-erik-.html

Blackwater responds: http://www.tpmmuckraker.com/archives/004519.php

More: http://www.tpmmuckraker.com/archives/004525.php
Blackwater's Tax-Fraud Explanation Needs Explanation . . .

Dick Cheney’s modest vision

http://www.dailykos.com/storyonly/2007/10/22/151623/85
“We've reorganized the government to protect the homeland . . .”

[NB: “Reorganized.” Just a few bureaucratic boxes moved around, huh? That’s not the way most of us would describe it.]

Not that it will do any good, but. . . .

http://www.slate.com/id/2176401/
[Frank Bowman] The Senate should not confirm Michael Mukasey as the next attorney general. . . . [read on]

The White House won’t give warrantless surveillance docs to the Judiciary Committee (too secret), but will give them to the Intelligence Committee. Why?

http://talkingpointsmemo.com/archives/056651.php

http://www.tpmmuckraker.com/archives/004522.php

More: http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/10/22/AR2007102202268.html
Tony Fratto, a White House spokesman, said yesterday that what the White House did was "not exactly" a quid pro quo . . .

On Friday, White House press secretary Dana Perino said that Intelligence Committee Chairman John D. Rockefeller IV (D-W.Va.) and ranking member Christopher S. Bond (R-Mo.)'s staff "showed a willingness" to include immunity in their legislation. "Because they were willing to do that, we were willing to show them some of the documents that they asked to see."

[NB: And how is that NOT a quid pro quo?]

Why are the Democrats dragging their feet on the LONG overdue report on pre-war intelligence? (thanks to TPM for the link)

http://public.cq.com/docs/cqt/news110-000002609362.html

We don’t spend much time around here dumping on Mike Huckabee (R-AK): he seems like a pretty decent guy and he has zero chance of getting the Republican nomination anyway. But as with all the others, religious topics bring out his absolute worst instincts

http://talkingpointsmemo.com/archives/056664.php

OK, maybe not so decent after all: http://www.talkleft.com/story/2007/10/23/3154/8271

Glenn Beck continues his message of hate. Don’t you feel proud of yourself, CNN, for giving him a nightly platform?

http://www.dailykos.com/storyonly/2007/10/22/165023/99
“I think there is a handful of people who hate America. Unfortunately for them, a lot of them are losing their homes in a forest fire today.”

http://digbysblog.blogspot.com/2007/10/glen-beck-is-going-to-hell-by-digby.html

http://www.thecarpetbaggerreport.com/archives/13326.html

It’s not the first time: http://www.first-draft.com/2007/10/glenn-beck-the-.html

Bonus item: Fox News hosts a GOP debate and runs an online straw poll. The runaway winner? Ron Paul (34%). This does not fit their narrative, though, so. . . .

http://mediamatters.org/items/200710220006
Paul then said, "[T]hey have to listen to these polls, don't they?" to which Hannity replied: "Oh, this poll -- you've got all your supporters calling." Paul responded: "What, you mean your own poll isn't any good?" Hannity then said: "No, it's just a lot of fun."

In contrast to his dismissal of the October 21 poll results as "just a lot of fun," Hannity has previously touted the results of the same type of text-message poll when those results were favorable for President Bush. Indeed, on the January 23 edition of Hannity & Colmes -- the first time the text-message voting feature was used on the show -- Hannity noted several times during the broadcast that "85 percent" of viewers who voted by text message said that Bush did an "excellent" job in his State of the Union Address earlier that evening. . . .

P.S. http://thehill.com/campaign-2008/fireworks-in-florida-at-gop-debate-2007-10-21.html
The crowd in Orlando was apparently hungry for some red meat, and while most of the candidates tried to satisfy those appetites, Rep. Ron Paul (Tex.) was booed at least three times for voicing his anti-Iraq War beliefs. . .

***If you enjoy PBD and support what we are doing, you can help by forwarding a copy of this issue to your friends (using the envelope link below) or by sending them a copy of its URL (http://pbd.blogspot.com).

I don't get anything personally out of this project, except the satisfaction of doing it (I don't run ads, etc). The credit really all goes to the people whose material I copy and redistribute. But if I do have a "mission," it is to get this information into the hands of as many people as I can.***
- posted by Nick Burbules @ 6:51 AM

 
IF AT FIRST YOU DON’T SUCCEED. . . .

Darth Cheney emerges from his secret location to announce that war with Iran is imminent (well, not exactly, but pretty damn close)

http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20071021/ap_on_go_pr_wh/cheney;_ylt=Amdrd7XqauaM2XcxgoJ4LNCs0NUE

http://matthewyglesias.theatlantic.com/archives/2007/10/back_in_the_ussr_1.php

Bush’s war supporters have a simple solution for making things better

http://atrios.blogspot.com/2007_10_21_archive.html#1151497827032932787
[Bill Kristol] It’s so irresponsible that [war critics] can’t be quiet for six or nine months and say the president has made a decision, we’re not going to change that decision, we’re not going to cut off funds and insist on the troops coming back, so let’s give it a chance to work. You really wonder, do they want it to work or not? I really wonder that. I hate to say this about the Democrats. They’re people I know personally and I respect some of them. Do they want it to succeed or not? . . .

Who lost Iraq? The real battle begins

http://talkingpointsmemo.com/archives/056526.php

The Northern Front

http://www.needlenose.com/node/view/4386

http://www.slate.com/id/2176384/
[Daniel Politi] The New York Times, Washington Post, and the Wall Street Journal's world-wide newsbox lead with Kurdish rebels killing at least 17 Turkish soldiers (the NYT says at least 12) close to the Iraq border and further raising fears that Turkey would retaliate by sending troops into Iraq. Turkey responded to what is being called the most serious attack in recent memory by shelling positions along the border and killing at least 32 Kurdish rebels. The Turkish government held an emergency meeting and once again warned it is ready to cross the border if the United States and Iraq don't take action to stop the rebels but made clear that an attack isn't imminent. . . .

The NYT gives a lot of prominence to the call Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice placed to Turkey's prime minister, Recep Tayyip Erdogan, before the government's emergency meeting. After the meeting, Erdogan told reporters Rice expressed sympathy for Turkey's position but asked for "a few days." Although the NYT doesn't come out and say that it was the phone call that made the Turkish government decide against an immediate incursion, it certainly makes it sound that way when it writes in its lead paragraph that "Turkey's prime minister said he delayed a decision, after … Rice personally intervened." But none of the other papers give much play to the phone call and the Associated Press reports Defense Secretary Robert Gates, who met with his Turkish counterpart yesterday, said: "I didn't have the impression that anything was imminent."

Regardless, no one doubts the seriousness of the attack, which many see as a direct attempt by the Kurdish rebels, known as the PKK, to provoke Turkey. An analyst tells the NYT that the attack was carried out by a much larger force than the PKK normally uses and both the Post and LAT report that rebels said they were holding a number of Turkish soldiers hostage. Iraqi President Jalal Talabani, who is a Kurd, ordered that the PKK stop its attacks, but dismissed calls from Turkey to hand over militant leaders. "We will not hand any Kurdish man to Turkey, even a Kurdish cat," he said. . .

Why the State Dept needed to rely on Blackwater for security to begin with – a story you might find hard to believe, until you discover that it involved Donald Rumsfeld

http://www.thecarpetbaggerreport.com/archives/13313.html

More: http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/10/20/AR2007102001325.html

The story about prosecutors having to redo their case against Khalid Sheikh Mohammed and 14 others because they fear all the evidence extracted by torture will be inadmissible in court shows yet another “downside” to the torture regime Bush has created. Here’s more

http://www.washingtonmonthly.com/archives/individual/2007_10/012326.php

A very bad trend. . .

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/10/21/AR2007102101041.html
When previous Republican administrations were accused of illegality in the FBI and CIA spying abuses of the 1970s or the Iran-Contra affair of the 1980s, Democrats in Congress launched investigations or pushed for legislative reforms.

But last week, faced with admissions by several telecommunication companies that they assisted the Bush administration in warrantless spying on Americans, leaders of the Senate intelligence committee took a much different tack -- proposing legislation that would grant those companies retroactive immunity from prosecution or lawsuits.

The proposal marks the second time in recent years that Congress has moved toward providing legal immunity for past actions that may have been illegal. The Military Commissions Act, passed by a GOP-led Congress in September 2006, provided retroactive immunity for CIA interrogators who could have been accused of war crimes for mistreating detainees.

Legal experts say the granting of such retroactive immunity by Congress is unusual, particularly in a case involving private companies. . . . "It's particularly unusual in the case of the telecoms because you don't really know what you're immunizing," said Louis Fisher, a specialist in constitutional law with the Law Library of the Library of Congress. "You don't know what you're cleaning up." . . .

But civil liberties groups and many academics argue that Congress is allowing the government to cover up possible wrongdoing and is inappropriately interfering in disputes that the courts should decide. . . .

Retired Rear Adm. John Hutson, dean and president of the Franklin Pierce Law Center in Concord, N.H., said he is concerned about the precedent that a new immunity provision might set.

"The unfortunate reality is that once you've done it, once you immunize interrogators or phone companies, then it's easy to do it again in another context," Hutson said. "It seems to me that as a general rule, retroactive immunity is not a good thing. . . . It's essentially letting Congress handle something that should be handled by the judiciary."

Potted plants

http://www.discourse.net/archives/2007/10/the_senate_flirts_with_irrelevance_or_worse.html
[Michael Froomkin] Since they are aggressively not talking about the war, the two most important domestic policy issues before Congress at present are the FISA re-authorization and the nomination of Michael B. Mukasey, a man who is an intelligent prevaricator about torture and a straight-forward authoritarian about Presidential power to be our next Attorney General.

The Senate’s capitulation on FISA includes retrospective amnesty, without even a need for truth and reconciliation. . . . There is now some evidence, arising from the Nacchio fraud trial, that the illegal spying program started well before 9/11 — the smoking gun that this amnesty plan may designed to hide.

The whole idea of these companies going along with oral requests that they had to know were illegal is positively Soviet. So too are the all-too-credible allegations that when Qwest failed to play ball with these illegal requests, it got punished by being denied government contract work for which it was best qualified.

That the Senate would agree to an amnesty with no disclosure in these conditions is one of the best arguments for term limits that I have ever heard.

Senator Chris Dodd, emerging as the conscience of the Presidential field, has placed a hold on the FISA bill. I hope his colleagues are grateful to him for saving them from their own folly. . .

Alberto Gonzales really might be in serious trouble

http://www.spokesmanreview.com/breaking/story.asp?ID=12036
The U.S. Inspector General may recommend criminal prosecution of departed Attorney General Alberto Gonzales at the conclusion of an investigation, possibly as early as next month, the fired former U.S. attorney for Western Washington told a Spokane audience Friday. . . .

“My best guess is it will be released sometime next month,’’ and likely will include recommendations for criminal prosecutions of Gonzales and maybe others, McKay said.

Gonzales “lied about” reasons for the firings when questioned under oath in July by the Senate Judiciary Committee and now has hired a lawyer and is refusing to answer questions from the Inspector General, McKay said. . .

More: http://thenexthurrah.typepad.com/the_next_hurrah/2007/10/gonzales-refuse.html

http://www.firedoglake.com/2007/10/21/abu-going-down/

How the GOP fights

http://www.dailykos.com/storyonly/2007/10/21/14408/240

The one thing all the Republican candidates agree on

http://digbysblog.blogspot.com/2007/10/boogeywoman-by-digby-if-i-were-to-just.html
[Digby] [T]here is a horrible enemy that is stalking the American people and its name is ... The Hillary. . . [read on]

More: http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,303827,00.html

Please explain to me: What exactly is wrong with Hillary Clinton running a campaign based largely on going after the women’s vote?

http://digbysblog.blogspot.com/2007/10/trolling-for-votes-in-tampon-aisle-by.html

Rudy Giuliani: what he says in public – and what he promises in private

http://www.thecarpetbaggerreport.com/archives/13312.html
[Steve Benen] Rudy Giuliani has a tough enough time dealing with abortion rights — he offers the convoluted pitch of being a pro-choice candidate who will oppose his own beliefs once in office — but he generally stays away from gay marriage altogether.

Privately, however, his pandering may have reached jaw-dropping levels. . . .

More: http://tpmelectioncentral.com/2007/10/perkins_rudy_told_me_he_would_back_a_marriage_amendment.php

Mitt Romney – he doesn’t mean ANYTHING he says, does he?

http://www.cbsnews.com/stories/2007/10/21/ftn/main3389333.shtml
[“Face the Nation”] SCHIEFFER: Governor, thank you for joining us. You've come to Washington to try and win the votes of these conservative Christian evangelicals. In light of that, is it fair to ask you about your faith? I mean, I'm wondering how much about his faith do you think a candidate is obligated to share with voters?

Former Governor MITT ROMNEY (Republican, Massachusetts; 2008 Presidential Candidate): Oh, you can ask anything you like. I don't--I don't feel bad at all about people asking me about my faith . . . . If they have questions about the doctrines of my church, I typically direct them to the church because they could probably do a better job explaining than I can. . . .

SCHIEFFER: Well, I would just think, for example, of, you know, there are many different people who call themselves Christian. I consider myself a Christian, but I don't necessarily believe or take every line in the Bible literally. Other Christians do. Do you take literally the teachings of your church?

Mr. ROMNEY: I do. I'm not going to try and distance myself in any way, shape or form from my faith. It was the faith of my fathers and my sons, long tradition in my--in my family. I'm, as I say, true blue through and through. And so I accept the teachings of our church . . .

SCHIEFFER: I'm told that the Mormons teach that the Garden of Eden was in Missouri. Is that correct?

Mr. ROMNEY: You know, they're probably the right folks to give you the answers to questions related to a bunch of Mormon teachings. So I'll probably let them respond to questions about specific doctrines. . . .

SCHIEFFER: How would you describe your relationship to the church and how you would see the responsibilities and duties of the president?

Mr. ROMNEY: Well, no president could possibly take orders or even input from a religious leader telling him what to do. I mean, OK, I guess you can always listen to ideas . . .

SCHIEFFER: Governor, in your speech to these evangelicals, you said you were a convert to the pro-life cause. In fact, you did once believe in protecting a woman's right to choose. You've been very candid about saying that's how you felt. But you said that your thinking on that has evolved. . .

Well, let me just ask you about immigration.....since you brought it up. I see a quote from the Lowell Sun in, well, the last year. And it says, talking about illegal immigrants, "Those who are here paying taxes and not taking government benefits should begin a process toward applications for citizenship." Now you're quoted as saying, "One simple rule, no amnesty."

Mr. ROMNEY: Yeah. And my view is exactly that . . .

SCHIEFFER: Well, let me ask you about this. The National Rifle Association, you once said, "We do have tough gun laws in Massachusetts, I support them, I won't chip away at them. I believe they protect us." Now you say you are a gun owner. You have joined the National Rifle Association, after saying at one point, "I don't line up with the National Rifle Association." Why would you join that group?

Mr. ROMNEY: Well, I had their endorsement when I ran for governor. I support the NRA. I support Second Amendment rights . . .

SCHIEFFER: Well, let's talk about gay rights. In your Senate race, you told a gay Republican group that you would be a stronger advocate for gays and their rights than your opponent, who was Ted Kennedy. Now you emphasize your opposition to gay marriage and civil unions.

Mr. ROMNEY: Well, actually, you see, you got to--you got to complete this, Bob, you got to put the whole thing together, all right? I also told gays in 1994 that I opposed gay marriage and civil union because gay rights didn't include--at that time people weren't talking about gay marriage and civil union. . . .

SCHIEFFER: Let me ask you about a statement you made last week that caught the attention of a lot of Republicans, including Senator McCain, when you said, `I'm the real Republican in this race.' I remember back when you were quoted as saying, `I was an independent during the Reagan-Bush days.' That was when you voted for Paul Tsongas, who was a Democratic candidate for president. . . ..You said in those days, `I'm not trying to return to Reagan-Bush.' Now, you're proclaiming yourself the real Republican. . .

Mr. ROMNEY: That's not--that's not true at all. . . . I never voted for Paul Tsongas in a general election. . . . . I voted in the Democratic primary, as a lot of Republicans in Massachusetts do, because when there's no contest of significance on the Republican side, when you register as an independent, you can vote in the Democratic primary . . .

SCHIEFFER: . . . `I am not trying to return to Reagan-Bush'?

Mr. ROMNEY: Well, when I was running in '94 I wasn't trying to return to Reagan-Bush because that was characterized as a very different posture than what I was running for . . And also, you know, the idea that I'm the only real Republican, I'm not the only real Republican. . . . I believe in the principles of my party and believe that the only way that we're going to take the White House is not by acting like Hillary Clinton, but by holding true to the principles of our party . . .

SCHIEFFER: So who is the Republican who's acting like Hillary Rodham Clinton?

Mr. ROMNEY: I'm going to let other people figure that out . . .

McCain, bottom-trolling

http://matthewyglesias.theatlantic.com/archives/2007/10/mccain_versus_the_constitution.php

“Mission Accomplished” in Louisiana

http://www.samefacts.com/archives/katrina_/2007/10/heckuva_job_karl.php

More: http://www.first-draft.com/2007/10/so-why-did-bobb.html

I’m all for the Dems running war vets as candidates – but this particular war vet?

http://tpmelectioncentral.com/2007/10/another_iraq_vet_steps_up_to_challenge_gop_rep_roskam.php
[James Lambert] Colonel Jill Morgenthaler, a deputy chief of staff for public safety to Illinois Gov. Rod Blagojevich . . . was at the center of the Abu Ghraib prison scandal as an army spokeswoman, and a Web journal that she had during her time in Iraq features a good deal of criticism of the media for what she perceived as negative coverage of the war.

One such nugget from her journal: "As people get upset about Abu Ghraib, one thing that should never be forgotten: these are men who have murdered Americans and would continue to murder Americans if given the opportunity."

***If you enjoy PBD and support what we are doing, you can help by forwarding a copy of this issue to your friends (using the envelope link below) or by sending them a copy of its URL (http://pbd.blogspot.com).

I don't get anything personally out of this project, except the satisfaction of doing it (I don't run ads, etc). The credit really all goes to the people whose material I copy and redistribute. But if I do have a "mission," it is to get this information into the hands of as many people as I can.***
- posted by Nick Burbules @ 6:09 AM

 
PREACHING TO THE CONVERTED

Let’s take stock: Iraq, a mess. Afghanistan, not getting any better. Iran, more influential than ever. Turkey, on the brink of war with Kurdistan. And, now Pakistan . . .

http://www.nytimes.com/2007/10/21/world/asia/21musharraf.html
The scenes of carnage in Pakistan this week conjured what one senior administration official on Friday called “the nightmare scenario” for President Bush’s last 15 months in office: Political meltdown in the one country where Al Qaeda, the Taliban, and nuclear weapons are all in play. . . .

[NB: My colleague Jan P. has repeatedly claimed that creating regional instability and conflict across the Middle and Near East has ALWAYS been the Bush gang’s plan. Well, if it were, they could hardly have done a better job at it.]

Their new, brilliant, solution: build a FENCE between Iraq and Iran (they sure do love buildin’ them fences, don’t they?)

http://www.americablog.com/2007/10/us-to-build-border-fence-between-iraq.html

Steve Benen is right: Bush himself said the purpose of the “surge” wasn’t to achieve some marginal improvements on the battlefield – of course, more troops would help do that, at least in the short run – it was to give the political reconciliation process some time and breathing space to succeed. From that standpoint there is only one word for the “surge”: FAILURE

http://www.thecarpetbaggerreport.com/archives/13288.html

More: http://www.baltimoresun.com/news/world/iraq/bal-te.iraq19oct19,0,3632210.story
Despite hopes that the U.S. military "surge" in Iraq would encourage economic and political headway and sap the strength of the insurgency, very little lasting progress has been achieved . . . [read on]

A former REPUBLICAN Attorney General will tell Congress that Bush’s Justice Dept engages in politically motivated prosecutions (thanks to Buzzflash for the link)

http://post-gazette.com/pg/07292/826778-100.stm

This story about timing show trials of Gitmo detainees just before the 2008 elections stinks to high heaven – and, of course, we don’t doubt for a second that it’s true. It fits with everything we’ve learned about these people

http://www.samefacts.com/archives/terrorism_and_its_control_/2007/10/hearings_please.php

More: http://thenexthurrah.typepad.com/the_next_hurrah/2007/10/the-show-trials.html

http://www.washingtonmonthly.com/archives/individual/2007_10/012322.php

And now this

http://www.slate.com/id/2176376
[Conor Clarke] The Los Angeles Times leads with news that the FBI is "quietly reconstructing" the government's case against Khalid Sheikh Mohammed and 14 other suspected al-Qaida leaders, in part because evidence collected by CIA interrogators might not be admissible at trial. . . .

Describing the revelations as "an embarrassment for the Bush administration," the Los Angeles Times reports that "as many as 300 agents and analysts in a 'Guantanamo task force' " have been working on the investigations for as long as two years. The investigations were requested by the Defense Department "after legal rulings indicated that al-Qaeda suspects would probably win some form of trial in which evidence would have to be presented." It's not clear that such trials will be used, but in the event that the planned military commissions are rejected or Guantanamo Bay is shut down, the prisoners could be transferred elsewhere and tried using the evidence the FBI has started gathering.

More on the FISA “compromise,” following up on yesterday’s topic

http://thenexthurrah.typepad.com/the_next_hurrah/2007/10/jello-jay-rocke.html
[Emptywheel] There are two key details from this article on the "deal" "negotiated" between Jay Rockefeller and Dick Cheney. First, a comment from Dana Perino states that the SSCI had to first accede to telecom immunity before they could see the documents justifying the program. . . .

And Cheney tried to withhold the documents until after the immunity had already passed. This is some new kind of oversight, in which you have to first agree that any oversight won't matter before you're allowed to exercise that oversight. I'm curious how the terms were left, when the SSCI Senators and staffers got to review the document. Would the Administration have accused Jello Jay of bad faith if, after reviewing the documents, he decided immunity was improper after all? . . .

What the telecoms were doing

http://www.salon.com/opinion/greenwald/2007/10/17/amnesty/

Is Mukasey just “a smarter Gonzales”?

http://www.talkleft.com/story/2007/10/20/115455/59

Their plan to seize absolute power in the event of another 9/11

http://www.slate.com/id/2176185/

The NYT trashes their own columnist, Paul Krugman’s, new book. Why?

http://digbysblog.blogspot.com/2007/10/its-official-by-tristero-new-york-times.html

http://www.firedoglake.com/2007/10/20/fdl-book-salon-welcomes-paul-krugman

A very bad week for Democratic spine

http://www.dailykos.com/storyonly/2007/10/21/05212/555

http://www.firedoglake.com/2007/10/20/late-night-wingnut-crap-of-the-week-deferred-for-yelling-at-dem-leadership-purposes/

Theocracy watch

http://www.thecarpetbaggerreport.com/archives/13298.html
[Morbo] The religious extremists who run fundamentalist Christian academies in California have a problem: The kids they churn out are having a hard time getting accepted into state-owned colleges because the claptrap they have been taught has left them ill-prepared.

But no worries, a group that represents the fundie academies has a solution: Stop teaching claptrap. Just kidding! They’re going to sue instead. . . .

Well, they may not know much about anything else, but dammit, they’re gonna know their Bible!

http://www.firstamendmentcenter.org/news.aspx?id=19219
Alabama schools could begin using state funds to pay for a Bible-literacy textbook, which sparked debate in the Legislature, as early as fall 2008 after members of the school board approved it last week. . . .

This is the weekend for the GOP presidential candidates to pander to the Religious Right – so, how’d they do?

http://www.thecarpetbaggerreport.com/archives/13297.html
Romney tells the faithful what they want to hear . . .

http://www.prospect.org/csnc/blogs/tapped_archive?month=10&year=2007&base_name=huckabee_speaks_in_tongues
HUCKABEE SPEAKS IN TONGUES . . .

http://www.thecarpetbaggerreport.com/archives/13303.html
Giuliani makes his pitch to the religious right . . .

http://matthewyglesias.theatlantic.com/archives/2007/10/what_does_rudy_need.php
[Matt Yglesias] This, I think, is precisely what makes the threat of a third-party spoiler bid against Rudy so real — it's quite possible that he'll win the nomination even if a huge block of GOP primary voters deem him unacceptable. . .

http://www.americablog.com/2007/10/giuliani-caves-to-religious-right-will.html
[Giuliani in 2004] Rudy Giuliani came out yesterday against President Bush's call for a ban on gay marriage. . .

[Giuliani today] Tony Perkins, head of the Family Research Council, told The Hill Saturday that former New York City Mayor Rudy Giuliani (R) would support a constitutional amendment banning gay marriage. . .

Giuliani’s pals: http://www.thecarpetbaggerreport.com/archives/13305.html

http://talkingpointsmemo.com/archives/056506.php
Thompson's fall from grace . . .

http://www.dailykos.com/storyonly/2007/10/20/121732/02
Grandpa Fred still, er, putting them to sleep . . .

More: http://tpmelectioncentral.com/2007/10/thompson_cites_openly_proimperialism_author_andrew_roberts.php
At the FRC gathering today, Fred Thompson approvingly quoted the words of one Andrew Roberts, a right-wing British historian who has been hosted at the White House by President Bush and has dined with Vice President Cheney and Karl Rove — and whose writings are quite literally an apologia for 19th and early 20th-century imperialism, concentration camps, and massacres of indigenous peoples. . . .

The results?

http://talkingpointsmemo.com/archives/056514.php
1. Mitt Romney ... 27.62 %
2. Mike Huckabee ... 27.10 %
3. Ron Paul ... 14.98%
4. Fred Thompson ... 9.77 %
5. Sam Brownback ... 5.14 %
6. Duncan Hunter ... 2.42 %
7. Tom Tancredo ... 2.30 %
8. Rudy Giuliani ... 1.85 %
9. John McCain ... 1.40 %

http://www.openleft.com/showDiary.do?diaryId=1995
[Matt Stoller] Romney won the overall straw poll by a slight plurality, but the straw poll included an online component that could be gamed with a well-organized online constituency willing to make multiple donations. Huckabee by contrast simply crushed the field by winning over 50% of the votes of people actually at the forum, versus the next closest competitor, Romney, at 10.4%.

More: http://www.thecarpetbaggerreport.com/archives/13308.html

Bad news for Hillary

http://www.zogby.com/news/ReadNews.dbm?ID=1376
Zogby Poll: Half Say They Would Never Vote for Hillary Clinton for President . . .

But if the Right keeps this up, they may drive people (especially women) into supporting her just because they’re disgusted to be associated with people like this

http://www.prospect.org/csnc/blogs/tapped_archive?month=10&year=2007&base_name=did_i_really_just_hear_that
I'm pretty sure Mark Levin just referred to Hillary Clinton as "Her Thighness." . . .

http://www.talkingpointsmemo.com/horsesmouth/2007/10/cnn_republicans.php
[Greg Sargent] I'm not sure I've ever seen this before. In a CNN report about the Republicans' latest criticism of Hillary, the reporter came right out and said that Republicans had privately told her that their attack on her is purely political. But the reporter nonetheless cheerfully aired those very same attacks, anyway.

The segment, by CNN's Dana Bash, concerns one of the silliest GOP hits on Hillary yet. The GOP is faulting Hillary over an earmark she inserted into a health spending bill that would grant $1,000,000 to a museum in upstate New York devoted to preserving memories of Woodstock.

Republicans -- I'm really not making this up -- are using this to link Hillary to the dope-smoking hippies of the counter-cultural 1960s, accusing her of a "taxpayer funded Woodstock flashback." . . [read on]

Let’s see, first Rush gets caught on video making fun of Michael J. Fox’s Parkinson’s – and now gets caught on tape making fun of 12-year old Graeme Frost’s speech impairment. What. A. Bastard.

http://www.pensitoreview.com/2007/10/20/limbaugh-caught-mocking-graeme/

Sunday talk show line-ups

http://www.dailykos.com/storyonly/2007/10/20/155027/24
* Meet the Press: Stephen Colbert; PBS's Judy Woodruff, Doris Kearns Goodwin, National Review's Kate O'Beirne and Sally Bedell Smith (author, "For Love of Politics - Bill and Hillary Clinton: The White House Years") on gender and the presidential race

* Face the Nation: Mitt Romney (R-MA)

* This Week: Sen. Joe Biden (D-DE); roundtable of Laura Ingraham, Mark Halperin, Donna Brazile and George Will; Tommy Lasorda

* Fox News Sunday: Sen. John McCain (R-AZ); Mike Huckabee (R-AR)

* Late Edition: Rep. Jane Harman (D-CA); Rep. Peter Hoekstra (R-MI); Lebanese parliamentarian Walid Jumblatt; World Bank Pres. Robert Zoellick; Iraqi gov't spokesperson Ali al-Dabbagh; Russian pres. candidate Garry Kasparov; roundtable of Elaine Quijano, Bill Schneider, and Gloria Borger

Bonus item: The Goofus Files (video edition)

http://www.alternet.org/blogs/video/65537

***If you enjoy PBD and support what we are doing, you can help by forwarding a copy of this issue to your friends (using the envelope link below) or by sending them a copy of its URL (http://pbd.blogspot.com).

I don't get anything personally out of this project, except the satisfaction of doing it (I don't run ads, etc). The credit really all goes to the people whose material I copy and redistribute. But if I do have a "mission," it is to get this information into the hands of as many people as I can.***
- posted by Nick Burbules @ 7:59 AM

 
THE LOYAL OPPOSITION

Chris Dodd (D-CT) steps up the pressure: he’s put a hold on the FISA bill with telecom immunity, and if Harry Reid brings the bill forward he says he will filibuster it. Yes, you read that right – a Democrat filibustering against a Democratic bill

http://tpmelectioncentral.com/2007/10/dodd_will_filibuster_telecom_immunity_bill_if_reid_brings_it_to_vote.php

http://www.dailykos.com/storyonly/2007/10/19/124346/52

http://digbysblog.blogspot.com/2007/10/five-card-dud-by-digby-it-is-nearly.html

http://atrios.blogspot.com/2007_10_14_archive.html#8885393061992794608
[Atrios] Awesome leadership, Harry Reid.

Let’s be clear about this: while taking a stand on principle, Dodd knows this is also a shrewd political move that will make him the darling of the left blogosphere – and it certainly has

http://www.dailykos.com/storyonly/2007/10/20/15851/321

Who will stand with Dodd?

Biden, yes: http://www.dailykos.com/storyonly/2007/10/19/18852/804

Clinton? Obama? http://www.dailykos.com/storyonly/2007/10/19/134036/18

Feingold? http://www.firedoglake.com/2007/10/19/feingold-to-back-dodd-up/

It hasn’t been covered much, but the Senate’s “compromise” FISA bill, while it does grant retroactive immunity for telecoms, also includes some protections lacking in the current “Protect America Act,” passed in August and due to expire (that’s the “compromise,” I suppose) – but the Bush gang has been cagey about whether even the compromise version goes far enough in granting them the latitude they want. Their goal will be to keep the immunity clause and strip out everything else they don’t like. Of course – that’s always their idea of “compromise”

http://www.tpmmuckraker.com/archives/004513.php
[Spencer Ackerman] You can say this for the Senate intelligence committee's surveillance bill: it goes to some length to guard against "reverse targeting" -- that is, tapping foreigners' communications into the U.S. when the real intention is to target a U.S. person, thus circumventing warrant requirements. The bill repeatedly bans the "intentional" targeting of U.S. citizens' communications without warrants. . . .

http://www.tpmmuckraker.com/archives/004503.php
[Spencer Ackerman] It seems from this early report that the bill's major difference with the Protect America Act is that the FISA Court will have a larger role in reviewing the government's so-called minimization procedures -- that is, how NSA analysts redact identifying information of U.S. persons caught up in the surveillance web. For this, remarked Sen. Jay Rockefeller (D-WV), chairman of the intelligence committee, "FISA has a much larger role now." . .

http://www.tpmmuckraker.com/archives/004510.php
Adm. Mike McConnell, the director of national intelligence, isn't saying straight out whether or not he supports the Senate intelligence committee's surveillance bill. . . .

What they want is for the final version to be rewritten to basically include only what they would have drafted themselves

http://www.whitehouse.gov/news/releases/2007/10/20071019-10.html
MS. PERINO: The Senate Intelligence Committee and Senator Rockefeller and Senator's Bond's staff had showed a willingness to want to include in their legislation retroactive liability protection for companies that were alleged to have helped the United States in the days after 9/11. Because they were willing to do that, we were willing to show them some of the documents that they asked to see.

The Senate FISA bill has many good components. We appreciate the serious work that has been done by Senator Rockefeller and Senator Bond. . . .

We are disappointed that the bill includes a sunset provision. We don't think that that's necessary. And we have strong concerns about one of the amendments that came out of the markup yesterday -- the Wyden amendment. That is one that we would like to see taken out of the bill. We don't think that it was intended to be in there, and I think the staff is working on that. And so we'll let that process play out.

But to the extent of anyone else being able to see the documents, I think that we'll wait and see to see who else is willing to include that provision in the bill.

Q Dana, could you talk about the Wyden amendment a little bit? What specifically --

MS. PERINO: Well, we haven't seen the final language, but as we understand it, we would have concerns because we would not be able to accept it. The Chair and the Vice Chair, Senators Rockefeller and Bond, I understand recognize the problem with the language and are in agreement that it needs to be changed.

It basically was, as I understand it, hastily drafted and agreed to, and it would, as an end result, take a step backwards beyond even before where we were when the original FISA bill was passed in 1978 in regards to targeting foreign intelligence overseas. . .

Did you catch that? They are allowing Senators to see the documents about what the telecoms did ONLY AFTER they promise to include the immunity clause. And that’s assuming that the documents they released even give a complete and accurate picture of what went on (we can’t tell, because they are secret). And Jay Rockfeller (D-WV), the best friend the Republicans ever had, is enabling it all

http://talkingpointsmemo.com/archives/056362.php
[David Kurtz] When the history books pillory the Republicans for their assault on civil liberties in the post-9/11 era, they should put a little asterisk next to "Republicans"--in memory of Democrat Jay Rockefeller.

In his role first as ranking member and now as chairman of the Senate intelligence committee, Rockefeller has been run over, bypassed, steamrolled and otherwise hoodwinked by the White House on so many occasions that he's become something of a laughingstock . . .

By some accounts, the White House relinquished "millions of pages of documents," which intel committee staffers began reviewing Tuesday at a secure undisclosed location. . . . Early reports from Democrats on the committee were not encouraging. Sen. Dianne Feinstein, who sits on both the intelligence and judiciary committees (which had actually subpoenaed the documents from the White House but was not given them) told the Post that one of her staffers who reviewed the new documents "wasn't impressed" by what was produced. . . .

Did Rockefeller's crack staff get through the "millions of pages" in three days? Did the White House really produce what was requested or bury its non-compliance in a blizzard of useless documents and duplicates, as it did repeatedly with document dumps on the U.S. attorneys scandal?

In a press conference with Sen. Kit Bond (R-MO) following the mark-up, Rockefeller said that nothing he has seen so far in the portion of the secret White House documents he has reviewed makes him believe the program was illegal. . . [read on]

http://www.tpmmuckraker.com/archives/004508.php
Ryan Singer takes a look at how generous the telecommunication companies have been to Senate intelligence committee Chair Jay Rockefeller (D-WV). As Singer notes, Rockefeller had received very little in contributions from the telecoms through last year. But that "changed around the same time that the companies began lobbying Congress to grant them retroactive immunity from lawsuits seeking billions for their alleged participation in secret, warrantless surveillance programs that targeted Americans." . . . [read on]

A well-deserved slam

http://www.nytimes.com/2007/10/20/opinion/20sat1.html
[NYT] Every now and then, we are tempted to double-check that the Democrats actually won control of Congress last year. It was particularly hard to tell this week. Democratic leaders were cowed, once again, by propaganda from the White House and failed, once again, to modernize the law on electronic spying in a way that permits robust intelligence gathering on terrorists without undermining the Constitution. . . .
After The Times disclosed the program in late 2005, Mr. Bush looked for a way to legalize it retroactively. He found it this summer. FISA also requires a warrant to intercept strictly foreign communications that happen to move through data networks in the United States.

That Internet age flaw has a relatively simple fix. But the White House seized the opportunity to ram through the far broader bill, which could authorize warrantless surveillance of Americans’ homes, offices and phone records; permit surveillance of Americans abroad without probable cause; and sharply limit the power of the court that controls electronic spying.

Democrats justified their votes for this bad bill by noting that the law expires in February and by promising to fix it this fall. The House bill did, in fact, restore most judicial safeguards. But the deal cooked up by Mr. Rockefeller and the White House doesn’t. . . .

The Dems won’t do it, but here’s why it’s worth picking a fight over Mukasey

http://www.dailykos.com/storyonly/2007/10/19/95648/787

http://www.thecarpetbaggerreport.com/archives/13291.html

http://www.nytimes.com/2007/10/20/washington/20mukasey.html
The senators questioning Michael B. Mukasey, President Bush’s nominee for attorney general, seemed so pleased at first to be receiving direct and unadorned answers that they appeared to be barely taking in what he was saying.

But in his two days of testimony this week, it became clear that Mr. Mukasey believes presidential power to be robust, expansive and sometimes beyond the power of Congress to control.

That is perfectly aligned with the Bush administration’s views, and if Mr. Mukasey was initially a refreshing presence to the Senate Judiciary Committee, it was only because he justified in plain terms what other administration lawyers have said in secret memorandums often cloaked in obfuscation . . .

The real problem: http://www.tpmmuckraker.com/archives/004506.php
[Spencer Ackerman] The panel asked Mukasey tough questions about torture, detentions, surveillance and the president's inherent wartime powers. But those questions might have been misdirected. That's because an obscure Justice Department lawyer, Steven G. Bradbury, the acting head of the Office of Legal Counsel (OLC), might actually be more important to the war on terrorism than the attorney general.

It's also a position that's arguably more important to the administration too, since the OLC chief has the power to issue what former chief Jack Goldsmith called "an advance pardon" for dubious activities.

Yet while Bradbury has been serving as the acting head of the office since early 2005, he's never been confirmed for the spot. Senate Democrats continue to express opposition to Bradbury's nomination and say he remains in the position illegally. . . .

The Office of Legal Counsel's job is to give guidance about whether certain government policies or presidential prerogatives are legal. But it's not meant to be an advocate for the president himself -- that's the White House counsel's responsibility. Goldsmith, in an agonizing reappraisal during 2003 and 2004, ended up rescinding earlier OLC directives about interrogation, expressed discomfort over administration plans to try terrorism suspects in military tribunals, and was part of a near-revolt in DOJ over warrantless surveillance, all of which is documented in Goldsmith's meditation on presidential authority, The Terror Presidency.

Following the president's reelection, the White House put loyalist Alberto Gonzales atop the Justice Department. Gonzales, the former White House counsel, was a consistent critic of Goldsmith's, and a staunch ally of presidential-power hardliners like David Addington and Dick Cheney. But Gonzales couldn't directly undo Goldsmith's revisions. That power falls to the OLC chief, and so the White House tapped Steven Bradbury, who had been deputy OLC chief, for the job. . . [read on]

The Bush gang once again presents a threat that THEY have made worse as a reason for trusting them with even more powers

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/10/19/AR2007101902703.html

Why did the chief prosecutor at Guantanamo step down?

http://www.talkleft.com/story/2007/10/20/3265/5416
[Jeralyn Merritt] It didn't make much news last week when Air Force Col. Morris Davis, the lead prosecutor at Guantanamo Bay, resigned. The articles I read said something about his not being happy that another official, Air Force Brig. Gen. Thomas Hartmann, was usurping his power . . .

Now, the real reason for his quitting comes out.

[WP] Politically motivated officials at the Pentagon have pushed for convictions of high-profile detainees ahead of the 2008 elections, the former lead prosecutor for terrorism trials at Guantanamo Bay said last night, adding that the pressure played a part in his decision to resign earlier this month. . . [read on]

The decline of the Republican machine

http://www.nytimes.com/2007/10/19/opinion/19krugman.html
[Paul Krugman] According to data collected by the Center for Responsive Politics, in the current election cycle every one of the top 10 industries making political donations is giving more money to Democrats. Even industries that have in the past been overwhelmingly Republican, like insurance and pharmaceuticals, are now splitting their donations more or less evenly. Oil and gas is the only major industry that the G.O.P. can still call its own.

The sudden burst of corporate affection for Democrats is good news for the party’s campaign committees, but not necessarily good news for progressives. Before I get to the down side, however, let’s talk about why business seems to be giving up on the G.O.P. . . . [read on]

More: http://www.firedoglake.com/2007/10/19/not-another-teen-movie/

A look back: http://www.washingtonmonthly.com/features/2003/0307.confessore.html

The Republicans throw a trumped-up hissy fit over Pete Stark’s (D-CA) comments – a “spontaneous” response that is, of course, coordinated and completely calculated. But the media dutifully reports it with no sense of irony

http://www.thecarpetbaggerreport.com/archives/13285.html

http://digbysblog.blogspot.com/2007/10/battered-spouses-by-digby-yesterday-i.html

The kind of people they are

http://www.firedoglake.com/2007/10/19/glenn-beck-and-the-pathology-of-wingnuts/
[Michael Graham, during Glenn Beck’s sleaze-fest] “There’s no crime you can prevent completely, but it is impossible, Glenn — and believe me, I’ve tried — to touch an 11-year-old kid sexually and not commit a crime . . .”

[NB: He said WHAT???!??]

Another Bush admin Inspector General (you know, the people who are supposed to investigate corruption in their units?) is under investigation for corruption

http://www.tpmmuckraker.com/archives/004509.php

Duke Cunningham, disgraced GOP congressman – not just a crook, but like most crooks a really, really stupid one

http://www.tpmmuckraker.com/archives/004511.php
[Paul Kiel] Mitchell Wade told jurors that Wilkes and Wade considered him to be “of below-average intelligence.” So while the unending stream of bribes kept Cunningham willing to do whatever the defense contractors wanted, you couldn't just tell him to go harass Pentagon officials because they weren't paying the bills. Wade said that the lawmaker was so thick that they had to "spell out for Duke exactly what he had to say."

He wasn't kidding. Earlier this week, prosecutors entered into evidence a set of talking points that Wade had prepared for Cunningham in 2004 for a call to a Pentagon official. We've posted a copy here . . .

I’m sorry to see Mel Martinez (R-FL) go – he was a terrible head of the RNC. Now they can put someone better in charge

http://politicalwire.com/archives/2007/10/19/martinez_steps_down_from_rnc.html

http://www.thecarpetbaggerreport.com/archives/13293.html

The religious war over Rudy begins

http://www.mydd.com/story/2007/10/19/21520/650
[Todd Beeton] While Giuliani may still be in first place for the Republican nomination, there is increasing evidence that his support is very soft and his lead tenuous. . . [read on]

More: http://commonsense.ourfuture.org/praying_third_party

Romney sees his opportunity, and tries to present himself to the Religious Right as the “Christian” candidate – well, yes and no

http://thecaucus.blogs.nytimes.com/2007/10/19/romney-talks-christian-faith-to-values-voters/index.html
Mitt Romney did not quite dodge the suspicions of his Mormon faith in his address before a gathering of several thousand Christian conservatives here in Washington tonight, but he also did not spend much time directly confronting that wariness, other than in a brief stab at humor . . .

He then attempted a little levity: “By the way, I imagine one or two of you may have heard that I’m a Mormon. I understand that some people think they couldn’t support someone of my faith. But I think that’s just because they’ve listened to Harry Reid.”

Mr. Reid, a Nevada Democrat, is the Senate majority leader and a Mormon.

The comment drew only scattered laughter, appearing to confuse much of the audience. . .

The myth of equivalency – a case study of how the media’s “on the one hand/on the other hand” attempt at “balance” always tilts in the favor of conservative positions

http://digbysblog.blogspot.com/2007/10/they-all-do-it-by-digby-howie-kurtz.html

It’s true: the media establishment takes their lead on “newsworthy” stories from reading that paragon of journalistic integrity, the Drudge Report

http://www.talkingpointsmemo.com/horsesmouth/2007/10/behold_the_majo.php

Bonus item: Why do they hate bloggers SO much?

http://www.openleft.com/showDiary.do?diaryId=1974
[Alex Jones] Bloggers, with few exceptions, don't add reporting to the personal views they post online, and they see journalism as bound by norms and standards that they reject. That encourages these common attributes of the blogosphere: vulgarity, scorching insults, bitter denunciations, one-sided arguments, erroneous assertions and the array of qualities that might be expected from a blustering know-it-all in a bar. . . .

[NB: Gee, I thought he was talking about Fox News]

[David Broder] When the Internet opened the door to scores of "journalists" who had no allegiance at all to the skeptical and self-disciplined ethic of professional news gathering, the bars were already down in many old-line media organizations. That is how it happened that old pros such as Dan Rather and former New York Times editor Howell Raines got caught up in this fevered atmosphere and let their standards slip. . .

[NB: Yes, you read that right – the journalistic failings of mainstream news outlets is also the bloggers’ fault]

[Joe Klein] Let me give credit where it's due: I probably would not be writing this were it not for all the left wing screeching. . . I knew that I hadn't explained myself adequately, but that happens a lot on television. So thanks, frothing bloggers, for calling me on my mistake. You can, at times, be a valuable corrective.

At other times, though, your vitriol just seems uninformed, malicious and disproportionate.

[NB: Now, isn’t THAT a gracious admission of a mistake? Read on for more of the same.]

***If you enjoy PBD and support what we are doing, you can help by forwarding a copy of this issue to your friends (using the envelope link below) or by sending them a copy of its URL (http://pbd.blogspot.com).

I don't get anything personally out of this project, except the satisfaction of doing it (I don't run ads, etc). The credit really all goes to the people whose material I copy and redistribute. But if I do have a "mission," it is to get this information into the hands of as many people as I can.***
- posted by Nick Burbules @ 5:54 AM

 
HOLD EVERYTHING

http://www.afterdowningstreet.org/?q=node/27832
[David Swanson] Senator Chris Dodd (D-CT) on Thursday single-handedly blocked a bill to legalize unconstitutional spying and immunize criminals who have engaged in it. . . .

http://action.chrisdodd.com/signUp.jsp?key=1570
[Chris Dodd] The Military Commissions Act. Warrantless wiretapping. Shredding of Habeas Corpus. Torture. Extraordinary Rendition. Secret Prisons.

No more.

I have decided to place a "hold" on the latest FISA bill that would have included amnesty for telecommunications companies that enabled the President's assault on the Constitution by illegally providing personal information on their customers without judicial authorization.

I said that I would do everything I could to stop this bill from passing, and I have. . .

More: http://tpmelectioncentral.com/2007/10/exclusive_senator_chris_dodd_will_put_a_hold_on_telecom_immunity_bill.php

Too bad, Barack, it coulda been you

http://tpmelectioncentral.com/2007/10/obama_comes_out_against_telecom_immunity_deal.php

How do holds work?

http://www.dailykos.com/storyonly/2007/10/18/151928/04
[Kagro X] Now that Sen. Chris Dodd (D-CT) has put a "hold" on the Senate FISA bill, the newest FAQ is, "What does it really mean?" . . . [read on]

What the HELL is Harry Reid thinking?

http://www.tpmmuckraker.com/archives/004502.php
Tim Starks of Congressional Quarterly reports that Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-NV) plans to bring the Senate’s surveillance bill up for floor debate in mid-November. That’s despite the hold that Sen. Chris Dodd (D-CT) plans to place on the measure . . . [read on]

IT'S NOT ABOUT PATRIOTISM! Can we just remember for a moment why we’re here? The Bush gang pressured the telecoms to engage in various forms of surveillance that either (a) they knew was illegal or (b) they were assured was legal because Bush’s people told them they had secret legal opinions and executive orders making it so. Now the Bush gang itself says they don’t think the courts will support that finding. THEY are the ones casting doubt on their own assertions of legality. Can someone just say that, please?

http://www.salon.com/opinion/greenwald/2007/10/19/weekly_standard/index.html
[Weekly Standard] [I]f federal agents show up at a corporate headquarters for a major American company and urgently seek that company's officers for assistance in the war on terror, the companies damn well ought to give it as a matter of simple patriotism . . .

But Ron Wyden (D-OR) inserts a provision into the bill that may force Bush to veto the whole thing (clever, if it works – more likely Bush will sign it and then add a signing statement saying he doesn’t need to follow that particular provision. He’s done it before)

http://www.talkleft.com/story/2007/10/18/235030/22

SCHIP veto override fails – what next?

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/10/18/AR2007101800095.html

http://www.thecarpetbaggerreport.com/archives/13281.html

http://tpmelectioncentral.com/2007/10/house_vote_on_schip_falls_short_of_veto_override_not_one_goper_changed_vote.php
Not One GOPer Changed Vote . . . [read on]

What next? http://www.nytimes.com/2007/10/18/washington/18health.html
Speaker Nancy Pelosi of California said Democrats in Congress would not compromise on their goal of providing health insurance for 10 million children — 6.6 million already on the rolls and nearly 4 million who are uninsured. . .

“We will type it in bigger, bolder letters, but we will not compromise on the goal of insuring 10 million children,” said Representative Rahm Emanuel of Illinois. . .

Some Republican supporters of the bill want to draw the White House into talks on Capitol Hill, in the hope of winning Mr. Bush’s support for a revised version. By contrast, some Democrats want to pursue a strategy under which Democrats would make modest concessions to pick up enough votes among House Republicans to achieve the two-thirds majority needed to overcome a veto. . . .

http://www.dailykos.com/storyonly/2007/10/19/7127/3475
[Baltimore Sun] Democratic leaders said today that they will send another bill to President Bush within two weeks to expand a health-care plan to 10 million children. . . She expressed confidence that the party could gain another 10 to 12 Republican votes that she said would give the measure a veto-proof majority. . . .

More ideas: http://www.samefacts.com/archives/taxation_/2007/10/financing_schip.php

The low point of the SCHIP debate (and that’s saying something)

http://www.sadlyno.com/archives/7590.html
[Rep. Steve] King [R-IA] has created a chart claiming the S-CHIP really stands for “Socialized Clinton-style Hillarycare for Illegals and their Parents.” . . . [read on]

More: http://www.dailykos.com/storyonly/2007/10/18/18452/726

Aw, gee, just when it was going so well . . .

http://www.tpmmuckraker.com/archives/004501.php
[Paul Kiel] So, now that Mukasey's hearings are done, what do the fired U.S. attorneys think about Alberto Gonzales' replacement?

Former U.S.A. for New Mexico David Iglesias, for one, is pleased. "It appears to me that he gets it," he told me. . . .

http://www.slate.com/id/2176292
[Daniel Politi] [T]he lovefest for Michael Mukasey turned sour. The Post and NYT front, and everyone mentions, the second day of hearings for President Bush's nominee for attorney general, where senators grew increasingly angry and frustrated with his answers . . .

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/10/18/AR2007101801120.html
Attorney general nominee Michael B. Mukasey suggested today that the president could ignore federal surveillance law if it infringes on his constitutional authority as commander in chief.

Under sharp questioning about the Bush administration's warrantless eavesdropping program, Mukasey said there may be occasions when the president's wartime powers would supersede legal requirements to obtain a warrant to conduct wiretaps. . . .

More: http://www.tpmmuckraker.com/archives/004497.php
Mukasey: President Can Break Some Laws . . . [read on]

http://www.nytimes.com/2007/10/18/washington/19mukaseycnd.html
President Bush’s nominee for attorney general, Michael B. Mukasey, declined today to say if he considered such harsh interrogation techniques as waterboarding, which creates the sensation of drowning, to constitute torture or to be illegal when used against terrorist suspects. . . .

More: http://www.tpmmuckraker.com/archives/004499.php
Is Waterboarding Torture? Mukasey: Yes, if It's Torture . . . [read on]

http://www.samefacts.com/archives/torture_/2007/10/drawing_the_line.php
[Mark Kleiman] I understand Mukasey is supposed to be a reasonably good guy, by comparison with the run of Bush appointees. But if Mukasey won't say that waterboarding is torture and claims that the President has some undefined power to violate statute law — even criminal laws, such as the ban on torture and other war crimes — under his "Article II powers," then why should the Senate Judiciary Committee even bring his nomination to a vote? If he says he hasn't read the latest torture memos or decided whether waterboarding is torture, Sen. Leahy ought to tell him to read the memos and observe a waterboarding session and come back when he's done his homework.

Gonzales – good thing he’s got a lawyer now

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2007/10/17/gonzales-investigated-sub_n_68911.html
[Murray Waas] Alberto Gonzales was briefed extensively about a criminal leak investigation despite the fact that he had reason to believe that several individuals under investigation in the matter were potential witnesses against him in separate Justice Department inquiries.

While Attorney General, Gonzales oversaw the probe into the disclosure of the Bush administration's warrantless surveillance program to the New York Times. However, many of those under scrutiny in that investigation were likely to be crucial witnesses about whether Gonzales himself had violated the law while promoting the program as White House counsel and testifying about it to Congress.

Justice Department Inspector General Glenn Fine is currently investigating whether Gonzales gave false or misleading testimony about the eavesdropping program while under oath.

Earlier, the Justice Department's Office of Professional Responsibility (OPR) attempted to investigate whether Gonzales and other government attorneys acted within the law in authorizing and overseeing the program. President Bush personally intervened in the spring of 2006 to shut down that investigation by preventing OPR investigators from gaining the necessary security clearances.

Senior federal law enforcement privately question the propriety of Gonzales receiving such sensitive information about subordinates being scrutinized in one inquiry when those same individuals were likely to be witnesses about alleged misconduct by Gonzales for the other investigations. . . .

The prospects of war with Iran (thanks to Buzzflash for the link)

http://www.esquire.com/print-this/iranbriefing1107

More: http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/10/18/AR2007101802394.html
Bush's comments at his Wednesday news conference only fueled the discussion and may have also signaled a shift in his personal redline in Tehran's progress toward a nuclear weapon. With most attention focused on the doomsday scenario he invoked, another part of his answer may be telling. Although in the past he has said it is "unacceptable" for Iran to possess a nuclear bomb, Bush said Wednesday that it is unacceptable for it to even know how to build a bomb.

The talk of military options has led to sometimes feverish speculation that a strike may be imminent, a notion dismissed by administration officials who say that Bush is committed to diplomacy at this point. But with 15 months left in office, Bush may eventually confront the choice of dealing with Iran's program or passing the problem onto a successor.

For now, the White House spent yesterday trying to douse the flames of Bush's news conference remark. "If you're interested in avoiding World War III," he said, "it seems like you ought to be interested in preventing them from having the knowledge necessary to make a nuclear weapon."

White House press secretary Dana Perino said that was "a rhetorical point," not a threat. . . .

Bush’s “Osama card”

http://www.americablog.com/2007/10/democrats-really-do-deserve-what-they.html
[John Aravosis] Gee, could it be that:

1. Bush still hasn't caught Osama six years after the 9/11 attacks?

2. Bush let Osama go at Tora Bora? . . .

3. In 2002, months after the September 11 attacks, Bush removed our troops who were searching for Osama in Afghanistan in order to send them to Iraq, where Bush "chose" to fight a war unrelated to the war on terror or September 11? . . .

4. In 2005, Bush dismantled the CIA office in charge of hunting for Osama? . . .

5. Bush himself said that he doesn't think much about Osama?

6. Bush said it doesn't really matter if we catch Osama?

Yes, the correct answer is "all of the above."

So how is it that the Republicans are still effectively using Osama - the guy who they let go - as a cudgel against the Democrats?

Just how creepy are these people? VERY creepy (thanks to Jessica Wilson for the link)

http://www.thepoorman.net/archives/003248.html

More creepiness: http://commonsense.ourfuture.org/follow_leaders

The $600 million boondoggle that is our new “embassy” in Iraq

http://www.mcclatchydc.com/227/story/20676.html

Mitch McConnell (R-KY). Senate Minority Leader. Liar.

http://www.thecarpetbaggerreport.com/archives/13276.html

About Jerry Lewis (R-CA) – no, not the “funny” one

http://talkingpointsmemo.com/archives/056403.php

You know, WH press briefings used to be serious, important news events. Now the reporters must feel they’re just wasting their time . . .

But at least I finally have my nickname for Dana Perino (she gave it to herself!)

http://www.first-draft.com/2007/10/today-on-hol-11.html
Q Turkey's justice minister says the President is basically being hypocritical by opposing Turkish military action in northern Iraq. He says the same justification the U.S. used to go after al Qaeda in Afghanistan is the justification that Turkey would use to go after the PKK in northern Iraq.

MS. PERINO: I haven't seen the justice minister's comments . . .

Q And also, did you get a chance to see the comments from President Putin regarding U.S. efforts in Iraq? He said it was pointless to describe U.S. efforts --

MS. PERINO: I didn't. I didn't see them. I think that -- and I'll just decline to comment those directly . . .

Q All right. Given the politically charged nature of this debate [regarding SCHIP], and the President's obvious concern that his stand hasn't been understood -- as we saw yesterday in the news conference when he kept going back to it -- what kind of a price do you think Republican House candidates are going to pay for their votes on this?

MS. PERINO: I actually think that -- maybe I'm just -- it's like Alice that's fallen down a rabbit hole, I see the world in a different way. . .

http://www.thecarpetbaggerreport.com/archives/13280.html
[The Swamp] President Bush was simply “making a point” when he stated at his press conference this week that anyone who wants to avert World War III wants to keep nuclear weapons out of Iran’s hands, the White House said today.

“The president was not making any war plans,” White House Press Secretary Dana Perino said today. “He was not making any declaration. He was making a point.”

[Steve Benen] Oh, the president was making a point. In that case, Bush’s remarks made perfect sense.

The problem, of course, is that it’s not at all clear what this “point” might have been. It certainly sounded as if the president said World War III would happen if Iran acquired “the knowledge necessary to make a nuclear weapon.”

What, pray tell, was the “point” Bush hoped to get across?

The right seems to have taken, and embraced, the president’s words at face value. . . [read on]

Watch her: http://talkingpointsmemo.com/archives/056374.php

[NB: Yep, from now on, press briefings will be tagged from “Alice in Wonderland.” Perfect!]

The GOP “issues agenda” – yeah, riiiiiight . . .

http://www.mydd.com/story/2007/10/18/11183/767

Tell me again – WHO is the party of “pandering”?

http://matthewyglesias.theatlantic.com/archives/2007/10/blissful_ignorance.php

http://www.washingtonmonthly.com/archives/individual/2007_10/012308.php

The Religious Right knows that they have a virtual veto over any GOP presidential nominee who has even a chance of winning – and they intend to use it

http://www.thecarpetbaggerreport.com/archives/13282.html

http://www.openleft.com/showDiary.do?diaryId=1957

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/10/18/AR2007101802579.html

Romney – he’s got a lot of money to spend, but in the end, he ain’t goin’ anywhere

http://www.slate.com/id/2176197
Can Mitt convince voters he believes anything? . . .

Very cool: “The Daily Show” – all of them – now archived and available for free

http://tvdecoder.blogs.nytimes.com/2007/10/18/daily-show-archives-online/index.html

Bonus item: So, early in the day my friend A.G. sends me this piece on KILLER ROBOTS (yes, that’s right)

http://www.blackwell-synergy.com/doi/abs/10.1111/j.1468-5930.2007.00346.x
Killer Robots
Robert Sparrow, Faculty of Arts, Monash University, Australia

ABSTRACT: The United States Army's Future Combat Systems Project, which aims to manufacture a ‘robot army’ to be ready for deployment by 2012, is only the latest and most dramatic example of military interest in the use of artificially intelligent systems in modern warfare. This paper considers the ethics of the decision to send artificially intelligent robots into war, by asking who we should hold responsible when an autonomous weapon system is involved in an atrocity of the sort that would normally be described as a war crime. A number of possible loci of responsibility for robot war crimes are canvassed: the persons who designed or programmed the system, the commanding officer who ordered its use, the machine itself. I argue that in fact none of these are ultimately satisfactory. Yet it is a necessary condition for fighting a just war, under the principle of jus in bellum, that someone can be justly held responsible for deaths that occur in the course of the war. As this condition cannot be met in relation to deaths caused by an autonomous weapon system it would therefore be unethical to deploy such systems in warfare.

Then, later in the day, this story comes across my desk from the Internets

http://talkingpointsmemo.com/archives/056368.php
Robotic antiaircraft cannon goes berserk and kills 9 soldiers in South Africa. . . .

***If you enjoy PBD and support what we are doing, you can help by forwarding a copy of this issue to your friends (using the envelope link below) or by sending them a copy of its URL (http://pbd.blogspot.com).

I don't get anything personally out of this project, except the satisfaction of doing it (I don't run ads, etc). The credit really all goes to the people whose material I copy and redistribute. But if I do have a "mission," it is to get this information into the hands of as many people as I can.***
- posted by Nick Burbules @ 7:21 AM

 
LOSING CONTROL

Troop reductions? Dream on

http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20071017/ap_on_go_ca_st_pe/national_guard_iraq;_ylt=ArqgS8qciTrSAwstfMgGlFOs0NUE
The Pentagon is preparing to alert eight National Guard units that they should be ready to go to Iraq or Afghanistan beginning late next summer. . . .

Sovereignty? Ha! Blackwater answers to no government

http://washingtontimes.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20071017/FOREIGN/110170057/1003
A defiant Blackwater Chairman Erik Prince said yesterday he will not allow Iraqi authorities to arrest his contractors and try them in Iraq's faulty justice system.

"We will not let our people be taken . . .”

http://www.americablog.com/2007/10/if-it-walks-like-duck-quacks-like-duck.html
[MSNBC] The U.S. government on Wednesday rejected a U.N. report that said the use of private security guards like those involved in the shooting deaths of Iraqi civilians amounted to a new form of mercenary activity.

The report by a five-member panel of independent U.N. human rights experts said the contractors were performing military duties even though they were hired to be security guards. . .

SecDef Gates tries to rein them in (maybe): http://www.tpmmuckraker.com/archives/004474.php

What? I thought Halliburton was supposed to get them all

http://www.nytimes.com/2007/10/18/world/middleeast/18grid.html
Iraq has agreed to award $1.1 billion in contracts to Iranian and Chinese companies to build a pair of enormous power plants . . .

The Northern Front

http://news.yahoo.com/s/time/20071017/wl_time/bracingforaturkishstrikeiniraq;_ylt=A9G_RoN6cRZHTcQAdRGs0NUE
Turkey has voted itself the right to launch cross-border military attacks on Kurdish separatist fighters holed up in Northern Iraq, but it has not yet decided to exercise that right. The Turkish Parliament on Wednesday authorized military operations into neighboring Iraq to hunt down guerrillas of the outlawed Kurdistan Worker's Party, or PKK, which continues to launch attacks inside Turkey that have killed more than 30 Turks in recent weeks. . . .

[NB: Here’s another factor – the U.S. has been heavily relying on Kurdish troops to provide security in the rest of Iraq. If they are pulled to help defend the Kurdish north, then what happens in the rest of the country?]

More: http://www.juancole.com/2007/10/turkish-parliament-authorizes-iraq.html

Doesn’t ANYBODY here know how to play this game?

http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20071017/ap_on_go_co/terrorist_surveillance_7
Republicans successfully maneuvered to derail a Democratic government eavesdropping bill Wednesday, delaying a House vote until next week at the earliest. . .

More: http://thinkprogress.org/2007/10/17/restore-act-vote-postponed/

http://tpmelectioncentral.com/2007/10/fisa_bill_already_allowed_unfettered_evesdropping_to_prevent_terror_attack_dems_say.php

http://www.dailykos.com/storyonly/2007/10/17/202848/40

http://www.tpmmuckraker.com/archives/004490.php

http://www.washingtonmonthly.com/archives/individual/2007_10/012300.php
"It was total meltdown” . . .

Damn it!

http://www.nytimes.com/2007/10/18/washington/18nsa.html
Leaders of the Senate Intelligence Committee reached a tentative agreement on Wednesday with the Bush administration that would give telephone carriers legal immunity for any role they played in the National Security Agency’s domestic eavesdropping program . . .

The agreement between the Senate Intelligence Committee and the Bush administration would also include a greater role for the secret intelligence court in overseeing and approving methods of wiretapping used by the security agency, the official said.

But it is not clear whether this and other toughened civil liberties safeguards included in the agreement will go far enough to mollify senators on the Senator Judiciary Committee, who will also review the plan once the intelligence panel finishes its work. . .

ANYBODY???

http://atrios.blogspot.com/2007_10_14_archive.html#7307692797167130746
[Atrios] "Dems Cave On Genocide"

Well, that was the lovely chyron on CNN for about 20 minutes. . . . It was a stupid resolution, a stupid fake showdown with Bush, and then to top it all off they lost the showdown.

Obviously one question is whether or not it should have been out there to begin with, but why they feel the need to lose on such things is beyond me . . .

The SCHIP veto override vote will also fail later today

http://www.dailykos.com/storyonly/2007/10/18/64316/488

Michael Mukasey, AG nominee, again and again repudiates Gonzales policies

http://www.tpmmuckraker.com/archives/004489.php
Mukasey Renounces Torture-Gotten Evidence . . .

http://www.tpmmuckraker.com/archives/004488.php
Mukasey on White House's Privilege Claim: "Huh?" . . .

http://www.tpmmuckraker.com/archives/004487.php
Mukasey Aligns with Goldsmith on Executive Power . . .

http://www.tpmmuckraker.com/archives/004481.php
Mukasey: No Politics at DoJ . . .

http://www.tpmmuckraker.com/archives/004479.php
Mukasey Says He'll Look at Issue of Contempt . . .

http://www.tpmmuckraker.com/archives/004478.php
Mukasey Calls Torture 'Antithetical' to American Way . . .

http://www.thecarpetbaggerreport.com/archives/13266.html
Mukasey rejects Bybee memo . . .

http://www.tpmmuckraker.com/archives/004480.php
Mukasey's 'Goal' is Closing Guantanamo . . .

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/10/17/AR2007101700190.html
Mukasey Vows Not to Bow to Political Power . . .

http://www.latimes.com/news/printedition/front/la-na-mukasey18oct18,1,4147508.story
Mukasey pledges Justice Dept. reform . . .

Oh-oh: http://www.tpmmuckraker.com/archives/004482.php
Mukasey Punts on Indefinite Detentions of U.S. Citizens . . .

Live-blogging: http://www.salon.com/opinion/greenwald/2007/10/17/mukasey/index.html

Bush’s presser: angry, insulting, defiant – and dropping hints about Iran

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/blog/2007/10/17/BL2007101701274.html

Watch: http://talkingpointsmemo.com/archives/056234.php

Bush on World War III

http://www.thecarpetbaggerreport.com/archives/13272.html

http://matthewyglesias.theatlantic.com/archives/2007/10/defining_world_wars_down.php

Bush hits an all-time low – an astonishing 24% – but the headline?

http://www.reuters.com/article/topNews/idUSN1624620720071017
Voters unhappy with Bush and Congress . . .

Matt Lauer: where did he go to journalism school?

http://www.thecarpetbaggerreport.com/archives/13263.html
[Larry] Craig sat down with NBC’s Matt Lauer for an hour-long interview, aired last night . . . It was an unusually awkward interview, with Lauer simply unwilling to pursue Craig with any aggression at all. . . [read on]

http://www.first-draft.com/2007/10/not-my-job.html
[Doug Elfman] In between "Today" segments, I half-joked, "Did you ask him why he's a big liar?"

"That's not my job," Lauer said. "My job is to ask middle-of-the-road questions and let the audience judge for themselves." . . .

More: http://www.dailykos.com/storyonly/2007/10/18/12112/696
[Another interview] Several times, Craig asked himself his own questions and then answered them, which is an old trick which guarantees you’ll be asked the questions you prefer. He repeated key phrases and themes: "Resigning would be the easy way out" "My dad taught me you never give up" which elicited groans . . .

This one’s no surprise, but another senior Republican retires

http://politicalwire.com/archives/2007/10/17/hastert_to_resign.html
[Denny Hastert, R-IL]

More: http://www.dailykos.com/storyonly/2007/10/18/71638/462

Bonus item: Nazis?

http://digbysblog.blogspot.com/2007/10/hello-by-digby-lets-take-little-trip.html
[June 22, 2005] Sen. Richard J. Durbin (D-Ill.) yesterday offered a tearful apology on the Senate floor for comparing the alleged abuse of prisoners by American troops to techniques used by the Nazis, the Soviets and the Khmer Rouge, as he sought to quell a frenzy of Republican-led criticism. . . .

[October 17, 2007] Mukasey also sharply criticized a Justice Department legal opinion issued early in the Bush administration, and since rescinded, that narrowly defined the acts that constitute torture and laid the legal groundwork for the use of harsh interrogation techniques on U.S. detainees.

Calling the memo "a mistake" and "unnecessary," Mukasey said torture violates U.S. laws and pointed to the role of American troops in liberating Nazi concentration camps during World War II. "We didn't do that so we could then duplicate it ourselves," he said.

***If you enjoy PBD and support what we are doing, you can help by forwarding a copy of this issue to your friends (using the envelope link below) or by sending them a copy of its URL (http://pbd.blogspot.com).

I don't get anything personally out of this project, except the satisfaction of doing it (I don't run ads, etc). The credit really all goes to the people whose material I copy and redistribute. But if I do have a "mission," it is to get this information into the hands of as many people as I can.***
- posted by Nick Burbules @ 7:01 AM

 
THE MAGINOT LINE

How big a catastrophe would an attack on Iran be?

http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20071016/ap_on_re_mi_ea/iran_russia;_ylt=AkNmxpMg.TkQhwKGr.P3X0us0NUE
Vladimir Putin issued a veiled warning Tuesday against any attack on Iran as he began the first visit by a Kremlin leader to Tehran in six decades — a mission reflecting Russian-Iranian efforts to curb U.S. influence. . .

http://matthewyglesias.theatlantic.com/archives/2007/10/putin_and_iran.php
[Matt Yglesias] Vladimir Putin's warnings against military action against Iran deserve to be taken very seriously. Since we're not contemplating actually conquering Iran and trying to occupy its territory, people need to understand that the post-strike diplomatic environment is going to be much more important to the future of the Iranian nuclear program than is any damage that bombing Iran with our on-the-table options might or might not do. . . . [read on]

http://talkingpointsmemo.com/archives/056099.php
[Josh Marshall] Nothing's more important over the next fifteen months than making sure President Bush and his handler Vice President Cheney don't embroil us in a catastrophic war with Iran. . . .

Iraq concludes its investigation of Blackwater. Its conclusion? Get the hell out of Iraq

http://www.tpmmuckraker.com/archives/004469.php

I guess this administration DOES know how to promote bipartisanship

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/10/16/AR2007101601084.html
The House passed a resolution on Tuesday condemning the State Department for its refusal to divulge public details on Iraqi corruption in a new showdown with the Bush administration over the war . . .

Waxman sponsored the nonbinding resolution, which states that the administration abused its power by classifying U.S. assessments on corruption inside Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki's government. The House agreed to the measure, 395-21.

More: http://www.tpmmuckraker.com/archives/004471.php

http://www.tpmmuckraker.com/archives/004466.php

I hope she means it

http://www.talkleft.com/story/2007/10/16/183117/06
Arianna at Huffington Post interviewed House Speaker Nancy Pelosi yesterday. Speaker Pelosi made three promises in the interview:

* that the House will not take up a war appropriations bill this year

* that there will be no war appropriations bill next year that doesn't include a fixed date for bringing the troops home

* that House Democrats will put up a major fight over the Bush administration's desire to make permanent the FISA law passed in August, particularly over the issue of retroactive immunity that the Senate has already given in on.

Fear-mongering versus facts

http://talkingpointsmemo.com/archives/056022.php
[CNN] Six years of investigations and prosecutions have turned up little evidence of Islamic jihadists at work in the United States, according to a study released Monday. . . .

In a statement issued Monday afternoon, the Justice Department said the report "reflects a serious misunderstanding" of anti-terrorism efforts and includes "wildly inaccurate" statistics.

If you missed it, Frontline’s terrific documentary “Cheney’s Law” can be viewed online

http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/pages/frontline/cheney/view/

More: http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/blog/2007/10/16/BL2007101600991.html
[Dan Froomkin] Just what is the relationship like between President Bush and Vice President Cheney? Behind closed doors, who defers to whom? . . . [read on]

The FISA fight gets dirty

http://www.firedoglake.com/2007/10/16/searching-for-fisa-excuses/

Have you emailed Kevin Bacon lately?

http://www.tpmmuckraker.com/archives/004460.php
[Spencer Ackerman] Just in time for this week's Senate intelligence committee's fight over telecom immunity: Verizon disclosed to three Democratic lawmakers that it turned over subscriber information, such as IP addresses or phone records, to the FBI in emergency situations more than 720 times. In making such warrant-free demands of Verizon -- and surely other telecommunications companies -- the FBI wanted not just information on whom the target of its investigation contacted, but also the people whom the contacts contacted. . . That's called "community of interest" information. . .

Quick, has anyone you know emailed anyone who's called Pakistan lately?

http://www.americablog.com/2007/10/if-youve-ever-emailed-me-government-has.html
[John Aravosis] Because a good friend of mine is Pakistani-American, and she regularly chats with folks in Pakistan. And under our government's new standard, if you chat with me, and I chat with someone who chats with someone in Pakistan, then the government has the right to look at the details of your communication with me.

Let's see, whose specific phone and email records that would cover in just the past couple of days? My emails and phone calls with folks at...

- CNN, ABC, NBC (including the folks at Hardball), TIME, Newsweek, National Journal, Salon, Newsmax
- Chris Cillizza at the Washington Post
- Harry Reid's office
- Nancy Pelosi's office
- The House Committee on Homeland Security
- John Edwards', Hillary's, and Obama's campaigns
- The DCCC and DSCC
- Folks at both HRC and NGLTF, Planned Parenthood, the ACLU, Media Matters
- A number of big PR firms in town, including Fleishman-Hillard and Edelman
- The good folks at MTV, MySpace, Amazon.com, YouTube, Google, Macworld
- My friends and family around the country and abroad
- Our friends at DailyKos, ThinkProgress, TPM and lots of other blogs
- Every single one of you who has ever emailed me

More: http://www.firedoglake.com/2007/10/16/six-degrees-of-your-privacy/

http://www.americablog.com/2007/10/verizon-like-at-illegally-gave.html

http://www.dailykos.com/storyonly/2007/10/16/12034/288
[AP] Three telecommunications companies have declined to tell Congress whether they gave U.S. intelligence agencies access to Americans' phone and computer records without court orders, citing White House objections and national security. . . [read on]

Arlen Specter (R-PA) comes out against retroactive telecom immunity

http://www.tpmmuckraker.com/archives/004472.php
“I certainly would not give them immunity retroactively on programs that we don’t know what they are…. I think it’s unreasonable to ask us to give them immunity for things we don’t know what they did. If there was a need for it at the time, and if the telephone companies were good citizens and if they supplied information which was important, then I’d be prepared to look at it. But I’m not going to buy a pig in a poke, and commit to retroactive immunity when I don’t know what went on. They’ve kept that from us. That’s a big problem”

Bush’s U.S. Attorneys: only the best

http://www.tpmmuckraker.com/archives/004468.php
One accusation investigators are looking into is whether [USA Rachel] Paulose used racial slurs in describing one of her employees. . . . The alleged slur or slurs involve the words “fat,” “black,” “lazy” and “ass.”

Another major GOP retirement (being in the Senate minority just sucks, doesn’t it?)

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/10/16/AR2007101600512.html

How ugly will it get if Hillary is the nominee?

http://digbysblog.blogspot.com/2007/10/nutcracker-fever-by-digby-here-are.html
CARLSON: Gene, this is an amazing statistic: 94 percent of women say they'd be more likely to vote if a woman were on the ballot. I think of all the times I voted for people just because they're male. You know? The ballot comes up, and I'm like, "Wow. He's a dude. I think I'll vote for him. We've got similar genitalia. I'm -- he's getting my vote." . . .

MAY: At least call her a Vaginal-American, as opposed to --

CARLSON: Is that the new phrase?

MAY: I think that is, yeah.

CARLSON: Boy, that's nasty. I don't think I can say that. . . . [read on]

Never trust a presidential candidate whose national security advisor is nicknamed “Spider”

http://tpmelectioncentral.com/2007/10/romneys_new_foreign_policy_adviser_said_hed_torture_in_a_heartbeat.php
“I'd stick a knife in somebody's thigh in a heartbeat.”

And Giuliani’s, if you can believe it, is even worse

http://www.openleft.com/showDiary.do?diaryId=1924

Please, oh please, nominate him

http://tpmelectioncentral.com/2007/10/rudy_in_1996_im_really_not_a_republican_mayor.php
[Greg Sargent] As part of his efforts to win over GOP primary voters, Rudy Giuliani has repeatedly said that he governed New York city as Mayor by adhering to Republican and conservative principles.

Today, for instance, Rudy said that he "gave my blood" for the Republican Party in New York, adding: “I often say I was the first Republican mayor in New York in 25 years. And I was the first to remain one in 50 years.” . . .

But Rudy hasn't always viewed his Mayoralty in such terms. A rival campaign has unearthed video of Rudy during an interview with Charlie Rose in 1996 in which he claimed bluntly that "I'm really not" a Republican Mayor. . . . [watch]

http://www.thecarpetbaggerreport.com/archives/13259.html
[Steve Benen] Giuliani is the least honest candidate in the race, and his claims on the stump generally range from merely mendacious to completely ridiculous. . . . [read on]

I can’t remember a more feckless, half-spirited run for the Presidency in my lifetime. Is Thompson really even trying?

http://politicalwire.com/archives/2007/10/16/thompson_falters_clinton_pulls_away.html

Evolution of a lie

http://atrios.blogspot.com/2007_10_14_archive.html#8665796407285322262
[WHAS] It appears Senator Mitch McConnell may have misled WHAS11 News when he told us nobody on his staff had anything to do with an effort to dig into the background of a 12-year-old boy. . .

http://www.talkingpointsmemo.com/horsesmouth/2007/10/mcconnell_aide.php
[Greg Sargent] An aide to GOP leader Mitch McConnell has acknowledged in an interview with Kentucky's Courier-Journal that he actively sought to alert reporters to the wingnut smearing of 12-year-old SCHIP posterkid Graeme Frost . . .

http://www.talkingpointsmemo.com/horsesmouth/2007/10/mcconnell_aide_1.php
[Greg Sargent] Here's a bit more on the hapless Don Stewart, the aide to GOP Senate leader Mitch McConnell who has now admitted that he tried to get mainstream reporters to pick up on the bogus smear of 12-year-old Graeme Frost and his family. . . .

More: http://www.talkingpointsmemo.com/horsesmouth/2007/10/video_mcconnell.php

http://www.thecarpetbaggerreport.com/archives/13255.html

http://www.dailykos.com/storyonly/2007/10/16/111648/43

http://www.firedoglake.com/2007/10/16/ethics-schmethics/

And now, ANOTHER smear job (it’s what they do)

http://www.thecarpetbaggerreport.com/archives/13249.html
[Steve Benen] A couple of weeks ago, Graeme Frost and his family joined congressional supporters of the State Children’s Health Insurance Program (S-CHIP) to endorse the bipartisan expansion of the policy. As has been well documented, some far-right activists went after the Frost family, using bogus information to argue that Graeme doesn’t deserve coverage from the state of Maryland. He does.

But now we have another real-life example . . . Meet Bethany Wilkerson. . . [read on]

More: http://www.thecarpetbaggerreport.com/archives/13254.html

http://digbysblog.blogspot.com/2007/10/valuez-by-digby-with-latest-attack-on.html

http://www.mydd.com/story/2007/10/16/183423/64

The kind of people they are

http://mediamatters.org/items/200710160001
During the October 15 broadcast of his nationally syndicated radio show, Rush Limbaugh claimed to have "once" participated in the kind of "destructive reporting and behavior" that, according to him, reporters "dish out." Limbaugh said his target was a reporter, whose name he said he would not "mention," who was writing "a cover story on me coming out of one of the big news magazines, and it was going to totally mischaracterize me and what I do and how I do it." Limbaugh continued: "[W]e found out who was writing it and made a couple phone calls to the person writing it. And we said, 'You know what? We're going to find out where your kids go to school. . . .”

http://www.firedoglake.com/2007/10/16/late-nite-fdl-like-an-incensed-blancmange/
[Joan Walsh] I’m worried about Rush Limbaugh, I really am. He seems to be losing it. . . [read on]

More: http://www.talkleft.com/story/2007/10/16/19825/536

Bonus item: Al Gore wins a Nobel Prize? Let’s investigate!

http://digbysblog.blogspot.com/2007/10/toddler-destruction-by-digby-there-is.html
[Mark Levin] "I would hate for a scandal to break out...but something stinks already. I'm not sure what it is..."

LIMBAUGH: My lawyers at the Landmark Legal Foundation are looking into the possibility of filing an objection with the Nobel committee over the unethical tampering for this award that Al Gore is engaging in. This is clearly above and beyond the pale. I mean, this might happen in high school class president elections and so forth, but this is shameless.

***If you enjoy PBD and support what we are doing, you can help by forwarding a copy of this issue to your friends (using the envelope link below) or by sending them a copy of its URL (http://pbd.blogspot.com).

I don't get anything personally out of this project, except the satisfaction of doing it (I don't run ads, etc). The credit really all goes to the people whose material I copy and redistribute. But if I do have a "mission," it is to get this information into the hands of as many people as I can.***
- posted by Nick Burbules @ 7:31 AM

 
TAKING CHARGE

The Dark Lord

http://www.tpmmuckraker.com/archives/004449.php
[Spencer Ackerman] A long, twilight struggle between Dick Cheney and the forces of evil is the subject of an impressive new Frontline documentary, "Cheney's Law," airing tomorrow on PBS. . . .

It deftly ties the Ashcroft-hospital bed incident to the appointment of Attorney General Alberto Gonzales and the subsequent U.S. attorney firings. Much of the film's final 20 minutes presents the argument that the cronyization of DOJ occurred, with Cheney's blessing, to ensure that the department didn't balk, as Goldsmith and his allies did, over torture or surveillance or indefinite detentions. "It was an effort by the White House to gain control of Justice," New York Times reporter Scott Shane tells Frontline, "to make sure there's no repeat of that rebellion of 2004."

One more thing these people have screwed up royally

http://www.nytimes.com/2007/10/16/world/middleeast/16iraq.html
Tensions mounted along the Iraqi-Turkish border on Monday as the Turkish government sought parliamentary approval for military raids into northern Iraq. . . .

Blackwater under fire (for real, this time)

http://www.tpmmuckraker.com/archives/004457.php
Blackwater's Erik Prince is all over television these days, making the rounds on Late Edition, 60 Minutes and, tonight, Charlie Rose. His line is that Blackwater is a responsible security firm operating under duly constituted legal authority in Iraq. The trouble, as always, is Nisour Square, where Blackwater guards, apparently believing they were under attack, killed 17 Iraqi civilians. In particular: were Blackwater guards even fired on by Iraqis? . . . [read on]

More: http://www.tpmmuckraker.com/archives/004453.php

http://www.ericumansky.com/2007/10/the-buried-blac.html
[NYT] Contrary to the terms of its contract, Blackwater sometimes engaged in offensive operations with the American military, instead of confining itself to its protective mission, the [report] found.

http://www.latimes.com/news/nationworld/nation/la-na-blackwater15oct15,0,3330051.story
As the Bush administration deals with the fallout from the recent killings of civilians by private security firms in Iraq, some officials are asking whether the contractors could be considered unlawful combatants under international agreements. . . .

If U.S. officials conclude that the use of guards is a potential violation, they may have to limit guards' tasks in war zones . . .

Hmmm. . . . yesterday’s story about the possibility of the U.S. “declaring victory” over Al Qaeda in Iraq is very questionably sourced, it turns out

http://www.talkingpointsmemo.com/horsesmouth/2007/10/general_advocat.php
[Greg Sargent] The leading general urging such a declaration of victory over AQI is Lt. Gen. Stanley McChrystal . . . . But some interesting facts are dribbling out about General McChrystal. . . . [read on]

Uh, I thought we weren’t supposed to do this? But IOKIYAR

http://www.americablog.com/2007/10/republicans-smear-american-general.html
[John Aravosis] Now the GOP smear machine is going after General Sanchez, our former top commander in Iraq . . .

More: http://www.salon.com/politics/war_room/2007/10/15/graham/index.html

Looking for the smoking gun on prewar lies (as if the Downing Street Memo and Bush’s interview with the Spanish P.M. weren’t proof enough)

http://www.usnews.com/blogs/washington-whispers/2007/10/12/waxman-hunting-for-bush-lies.html
[Paul Bedard] Rep. Henry Waxman, considered the meanest dog in town by the GOP, is still sniffing around the White House for proof the president lied when making the case for going to war in Iraq. We hear that he's been quietly summoning former Bush aides, especially speechwriters, to testify behind closed doors about what they knew and how they phrased his words on the issue. . .

Winning the vote, but losing the politics

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/10/15/AR2007101500929.html
Shrugging off a barrage of political attacks, House Republicans are on track to hand President Bush a victory this week by upholding his veto of legislation expanding children's health coverage. . . .

While at least a half-dozen Democratic lawmakers who declined to support the measure in September are expected to vote to override the veto, not a single Republican has announced plans to switch.

http://www.dailykos.com/storyonly/2007/10/15/71648/850
Have the Republicans Picked Another Losing Fight on SCHIP? . . . [read on]

Numbers to call: http://www.firedoglake.com/2007/10/15/the-heart-of-the-matter-2/

This is the fight the Republicans DO want – over FISA

http://www.thecarpetbaggerreport.com/archives/13242.html
[Steve Benen] Roll Call reports today that congressional Republicans, anxious to move away from the S-CHIP debate that hurts the party, are eager for a debate this week over FISA, wiretapping, and surveillance programs. As they see it, healthcare for poor kids plays to their weaknesses; domestic spying programs play to their strengths. . . .

Numbers to call: http://www.firedoglake.com/2007/10/15/fisa-update/

The dumbest argument yet for gutting the FISA law

http://www.dailykos.com/storyonly/2007/10/15/112152/71

Telecom immunity: DO – NOT – DO – IT

http://talkingpointsmemo.com/news/2007/10/telecoms_barred_from_disclosin.php
[AP] Three telecommunications companies have declined to tell Congress whether they gave U.S. intelligence agencies access to Americans' phone and computer records without court orders, citing White House objections and national security.

Director of National Intelligence Mike McConnell "formally invoked the state secrets privilege to prevent AT&T from either confirming or denying" any details about intelligence programs . . .

http://www.salon.com/opinion/greenwald/2007/10/15/amnesty/index.html
[Glenn Greenwald] That is what is so extraordinary -- and so absolutely appalling -- about the casual advocacy on the part of our nation's "journalists" for Congressional amnesty for telecoms. The amnesty they advocate would result in the complete and permanent dismissal of all of the pending lawsuits arising out of this joint telecom-government lawbreaking, which would, in turn, ensure that this lawbreaking remains concealed.

Congress has no intention of investigating any of this, and even if they wanted to -- which they don't -- their subpoenas would simply be ignored and they would do nothing about it. Congress has spent the last six years shutting its eyes towards all of this, except when the White House demanded that it be legalized.

These private lawsuits -- brought by heroic privacy and civil liberties groups -- are the only real mechanism left for discovering what the telecoms and our Government have been jointly doing when it comes to spying on our communications, maintaining surveillance data bases of our actions, and violating a whole litany of long-standing federal laws designed to protect the confidentiality of citizens' communications. A law that gives amnesty to telecoms would mean that those lawsuits are stopped in their tracks . . . [read on]

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/10/15/AR2007101501857.html
Verizon Communications, the nation's second-largest telecom company, told congressional investigators that it has provided customers' telephone records to federal authorities in emergency cases without court orders hundreds of times since 2005.

The company said it does not determine the requests' legality or necessity . . .

More: http://www.talkleft.com/story/2007/10/16/065/17468

Give John Conyers (D-MI) credit for trying

http://www.tpmmuckraker.com/archives/004459.php
[Paul Kiel] Joseph Nacchio, the former CEO of Qwest Communications, delivered a pair of twin bombshells last week, when he asserted in a court filing that the National Security Agency had approached Qwest six months before 9/11 about participating in a legally dubious program, and that after the company declined, the administration yanked hundreds of millions in government contracts.

House Judiciary Committee Chairman John Conyers' (D-MI) eyebrows are firmly in the raised position. So today he wrote Director of National Intelligence Mike McConnell and senior Justice Department official Kenneth Wainstein, who both testified before his committee last month, to inquire: "I ask that you provide the Committee with an immediate briefing on the facts behind these recent revelations, and that you then provide us with any documents concerning the nature and scope of these pre-9/11 activities and the legal basis for conducting them."

Questions about possible retaliation against Nacchio after he refused to participate -- including not only the loss of contracts, but also federal prosecution (he was convicted earlier this year of insider trading charges) -- are, one assumes, to follow.

More: http://thenexthurrah.typepad.com/the_next_hurrah/2007/10/and-then-there-.html

Hillary for President?

The good news: http://www.mydd.com/story/2007/10/15/221338/50

The bad news: http://www.salon.com/news/feature/2007/10/16/hillary_10/

The GOP in disarray

http://www.dailykos.com/storyonly/2007/10/15/141847/74
[Kos] It really is amazing how the GOP, so long able to keep message discipline and its supposed core set of principles to a list of three (strong national defense, family values, and lower taxes) has in so short order become just as disjointed and unfocused as Democrats. . .

Cold days in Alaska

http://talkingpointsmemo.com/archives/056010.php
Congressional Research Service report finds multiple violations of the constitution in Rep. Young's (R-AK) post-bill-passage earmark scam. . . . [read on]

http://www.tpmmuckraker.com/archives/004455.php
CBS news highlighted some of Sen. Ted Stevens' (R-AK) greatest pork hits this weekend-- including $1 million to promote salmon baby food and $500,000 to paint a jet like a flying fish. . .

Unsurprisingly, Stevens wasn't happy with the story . . .

I’M the only real Republican

http://www.americablog.com/2007/10/flip-flopping-romney-says-hes-only-one.html
[Romney]

No, I’M the only real Republican

http://www.americablog.com/2007/10/fred-thompson-divorced-not-church-goer.html
[Thompson]

No, guys, I’ve got that Republican thing all locked up

http://talkingpointsmemo.com/archives/056018.php
[Josh Marshall] Rudy's national security 'brain trust' basically amounts to all the neocons and Arab-haters who were too extreme to cut it on the Bush team. . . .

http://talkingpointsmemo.com/archives/056020.php
[Josh Marshall] I know I've said before that Romney's profound and almost incalculable phoniness is a terrifying prospect to behold in a possible president. But the danger of phoniness, aesthetic or otherwise, cannot hold a candle to the truly catastrophic foreign policy Giuliani would likely pursue if he got anywhere near the Oval Office. Watching him campaign it's pretty clear that the guy has no real sense that posturing and pandering to ethnic paranoia in New York City simply isn't the same as running a national foreign policy. The people he's coalescing around himself as his foreign policy advisors are the ones who are going to help him learn as he goes. And they are simply the most dangerous, deranged and deluded folks you can find in American political and foreign policy circles today. It's really not an exaggeration. Scrape the bottom of the 'Global War on Terror' Islamofascism nutbasket and you find they've pretty much all signed on as Rudy advisors.

http://www.talkleft.com/story/2007/10/16/13642/684
[Jeralyn Merritt] Rudy Giuliani is taking his (or Judy's) expensive tastes to the campaign trail. . .

They’re ALL spending like drunken sailors

http://talkingpointsmemo.com/archives/056020.php

Me? I’m hanging around waiting for all the others to crash and burn

http://matthewyglesias.theatlantic.com/archives/2007/10/the_mccain_plan_hope.php
[McCain]

Bonus item: Why Michelle Malkin is (even) worse than Ann Coulter. Here’s how bad – too extreme for O’Reilly!

http://thinkprogress.org/2007/10/15/malkin-quits-oreilly-factor/
Some highlights of her time on the show . . . [watch!]

http://www.dailykos.com/storyonly/2007/10/15/13923/229
[Kos] The crazier the things Coulter says, the less outraged I am about them. I see her as little different than a Howard Stern-style shock jock -- a media personality merely looking to stir up the hornest's nest. Whether she means what she says or not is essentially irrelevant. She'll shock for the sake of shocking . .

Malkin, on the other hand, is a completely different animal. On some level, she fancies herself a serious, populist, investigative journalist. Her ambition is much greater than Coulter’s. . . [read on]

Malkin is an idiot: http://www.michellemalkinisanidiot.com/

More on Malkin: http://www.firedoglake.com/2007/10/15/stalkin-malkin-on-how-to-have-a-great-fall/

http://www.firedoglake.com/2007/10/15/late-nite-fdl-just-trying-to-be-helpful-a-top-ten-list/

***If you enjoy PBD and support what we are doing, you can help by forwarding a copy of this issue to your friends (using the envelope link below) or by sending them a copy of its URL (http://pbd.blogspot.com).

I don't get anything personally out of this project, except the satisfaction of doing it (I don't run ads, etc). The credit really all goes to the people whose material I copy and redistribute. But if I do have a "mission," it is to get this information into the hands of as many people as I can.***
- posted by Nick Burbules @ 5:44 AM

 
DECLARE VICTORY AND GO HOME

http://www.slate.com/id/2175901
[Daniel Politi] [A] debate has broken out among U.S. officials on whether victory should be declared over al-Qaida in Iraq. Some in the U.S. military are advocating the move, saying al-Qaida in Iraq has been so badly decimated in recent months that there's little chance it could stage a comeback, but others warn the move might be premature and caution against making assumptions about a group that has "shown great resilience in the past." . . .

Those arguing against a declaration, say AQI forces might simply be waiting for the United States to begin pulling out troops to make a comeback and warn that it only takes a few people to carry out a successful attack. Interestingly, the Post also notes that a declaration of victory might cause problems for the U.S. strategy because it could be seen as acknowledgement that the Iraq conflict has become a civil war and foreign troops should not be involved. The WP spends little space explaining what the benefits of a declaration would be, but does note that some think it could discourage new recruits from joining al-Qaida in Iraq because it would be seen as a "lost cause."

More: http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/10/14/AR2007101401245.html

Lindsey Graham (R-SC) needs a calendar

http://atrios.blogspot.com/2007_10_14_archive.html#355151199723859355
[Atrios] Lindsey Graham, Face the Nation 6 weeks ago.

In a matter of weeks, we're going to have a major breakthrough in Baghdad on items of political reconciliation -- the benchmarks -- because the Iraqi people are putting pressure on their politicians.

I didn't see, but an emailer said that on MTP Lindsey now says that if there isn't progress in Iraq within 90 days that Iraq will be a failed state requiring regime change.

That 90 day period ends January 12.

Unsurprisingly, he said the same thing to David Broder about one month ago. That 90 day period would end about December 15.

I'm sure he'll be back pushing another 90 days in a few weeks. . .

Blackwater to be booted out of Iraq after all?

http://www.thecarpetbaggerreport.com/archives/13234.html

http://www.dailykos.com/storyonly/2007/10/14/1782/3965

http://www.firedoglake.com/2007/10/14/hameeha-harameeha/

Yes, we DO torture

http://www.dailykos.com/storyonly/2007/10/14/2622/4441
[Phil Nugent] By now, it's clear that "We don't torture" is going to be George Bush's equivalent to "I am not a crook" or "I did not have sexual relations with that woman"--an embarrassingly transparent, obviously untrue statement that the speaker never would have even made in the first place if he hadn't been obligated to deny something that everybody had already figured out was the case. . . . [read on]

More: http://www.nytimes.com/2007/10/14/opinion/14rich2.html

The SCHIP veto fight goes down to the wire

http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20071014/ap_on_go_co/children_s_health;_ylt=AiDe0dbgXFeQDc5sCDWmrcms0NUE
House Democratic leaders said Sunday they were working to gather votes to override a veto on a popular children's health program, but pledged to find a way to cover millions without insurance should their effort fail.

At the same time, the White House sought to chide the Democratic-controlled Congress as the obstructionists . . .

http://www.thecarpetbaggerreport.com/archives/13233.html
[Steve Benen] The NYT’s Carl Hulse reports today that Republicans on the Hill have a serious morale problem. The White House communications team invited some congressional counterparts to the other end of Pennsylvania Avenue the other day, and was apparently disappointed to see their widespread depression. Said one of the senior Republican congressional aides who attended the White House gathering, “We are not happy, no doubt about it.”

The leading cause of the discontent, at least right now, is the Republican sense that they’re loosing the S-CHIP battle in a big way. Hulse noted that Ed Gillespie and others at the White House are encouraging congressional Republicans to just wait for the storm to blow over . . . [read on]

More: http://thenexthurrah.typepad.com/the_next_hurrah/2007/10/lobbyist-logic.html

Attacking the Frost family

http://talkingpointsmemo.com/archives/055899.php
How can you tell for sure when the far-right attack machine has gone a little too far over the edge? When the Wall Street Journal editorial page starts criticizing conservatives.

More: http://www.talkingpointsmemo.com/horsesmouth/2007/10/even_wall_stree.php

Telecom amnesty: a bad, bad idea – but they still might do it

http://www.salon.com/opinion/greenwald/?last_story=/opinion/greenwald/2007/10/14/rule_of_law/
[Glenn Greenwald] Let's leave to the side [WP’s Fred] Hiatt's inane claim that these telecoms, in actively enabling the Bush administration to spy on their customers in violation of the law, were motivated by the pure and upstanding desire to be "patriotic corporate citizens" -- rather than, say, the desire to obtain extremely lucrative government contracts which would likely have been unavailable had they refused to break the law. Leave to the side the fact that actual "patriotism" would have led these telecoms to adhere to the surveillance and privacy laws enacted by the American people through their Congress in accordance with the U.S. Constitution -- as a handful of actual patriotic telecoms apparently did -- rather than submit to the illegal demands of the President.

Further leave to the side that these telecoms did not merely allow warrantless surveillance on their customers in the hectic and "confused" days or weeks after 9/11, but for years. Further leave to the side the fact that, as Hiatt's own newspaper just reported yesterday, the desire for warrantless eavesdropping capabilities seemed to be on the Bush agenda well before 9/11.

And finally ignore the fact that Hiatt is defending the telecom's good faith even though, as he implicitly acknowledges, he has no idea what they actually did, because it is all still Top Secret and we are barred from knowing what happened here. For all those reasons, Hiatt's claim on behalf of the telecoms that they broke the law for "patriotic" reasons is so frivolous as to insult the intelligence of his readers, but -- more importantly -- it is also completely irrelevant.

There is no such thing as a "patriotism exception" to the laws that we pass. It is not a defense to illegal behavior to say that one violated the law for "patriotic" reasons. That was Oliver North's defense to Congress when he proudly admitted breaking multiple federal laws. And it is the same "defense" that people like North have been making to justify Bush's violations of our surveillance laws -- what we call "felonies" -- in spying on Americans without warrants. . . [read on]

More: http://www.thecarpetbaggerreport.com/archives/13231.html

I want to know this too: Were members of Congress briefed that efforts toward warrantless surveillance started SIX MONTHS BEFORE 9-11? (thanks to Buzzflash for the link)

http://www.consortiumnews.com/2007/101407a.html

[NB: Maybe this explains why the Dems aren't howling about it, as they should]

The Armenian genocide: an inconvenient truth

http://www.samefacts.com/archives/lying_in_politics_/2007/10/truth_diplomacy_and_genocide.php
[Mark Kleiman] [I]t is still the official policy of the Turkish government to deny the Armenian genocide, and to persecute Turks . . . not just for using the word "genocide" but simply for stating the fact that hundreds of thousands of Armenians were murdered . . .

More: http://www.samefacts.com/archives/moral_philosophy_/2007/10/the_armenian_morassacre.php

The silly season

http://www.firedoglake.com/2007/10/14/enough-fluff/
[Eric Boehlert] The media’s comical obsession earlier this month with the tone and frequency of Sen. Hillary Clinton’s laugh didn’t just represent another head-smacking moment in the annals of awful campaign journalism. It also served as a preview of what’s likely to come in 2008. . . [read on]

Fairly or not, Romney’s Mormonism is going to be a big problem for him – and he knows it

http://www.thecarpetbaggerreport.com/archives/13232.html
[Steve Benen] I don’t doubt that Romney’s faith tradition is controversial in some conservative circles, but I haven’t the foggiest idea what he could say about it to overcome some voters’ prejudice. . . [read on]

More: http://matthewyglesias.theatlantic.com/archives/2007/10/romneys_religion.php

John McCain better be careful who he accuses of flip-flopping

http://www.thecarpetbaggerreport.com/archives/13229.html

Rudy is going to try, but he can’t shake his track record

http://matthewyglesias.theatlantic.com/archives/2007/10/the_rudy_record.php

http://www.weeklystandard.com/Content/Public/Articles/000/000/014/224qoncj.asp

http://digbysblog.blogspot.com/2007/10/standing-their-ground-by-digby-brave.html

More: http://mediamatters.org/items/200710140004

And Fred Thompson’s folksy, laid-back, who-gives-a-damn attitude is wearing thin already

http://ap.google.com/article/ALeqM5j3n4Vg54ljFDTL265WdjBCfKiZHQD8S97OV01

Dropping like flies

http://www.daytondailynews.com/n/content/oh/story/news/local/2007/10/14/sns101407hobson.html
Rep. David Hobson, the Springfield [OH] lawmaker who used his seniority and spot on the House Appropriations Committee to secure millions and push economic development for the region, said Sunday he will retire at the end of this term. . .

The crickets start chirping

http://www.nytimes.com/2007/10/15/washington/15interim.html
With only 15 months left in office, President Bush has left whole agencies of the executive branch to be run largely by acting or interim appointees — jobs that would normally be filled by people whose nominations would have been reviewed and confirmed by the Senate. In many cases, there is no obvious sign of movement at the White House to find permanent nominees, suggesting that many important jobs will not be filled by Senate-confirmed officials for the remainder of the Bush administration. That would effectively circumvent the Senate’s right to review and approve the appointments. It also means that the jobs are filled by people who do not have the clout to make decisions that comes with a permanent appointment endorsed by the Senate, scholars say.

While exact comparisons are difficult to come by, researchers say the vacancy rate for senior jobs in the executive branch is far higher at the end of the Bush administration than it was at the same point in the terms of Mr. Bush’s recent predecessors in the White House. . . .

Theocracy watch: Ann Coulter’s solution to the Middle East? "Invade their countries, kill their leaders and convert them to Christianity." Now she wants to “perfect the Jews” by converting them to Christianity too. Perhaps before she starts trying to convert everyone else, she ought to try a little Christianity herself

http://digbysblog.blogspot.com/2007/10/we-are-all-godless-now-by-digby-i.html

Electronic voting: it’s dangerous, it doesn’t work, and it was a mistake to begin with. Now states are starting to realize that

http://www.iht.com/articles/2007/10/13/america/13voting.php

Bonus item: VP Cheney – a universe unto himself

http://www.washingtonmonthly.com/archives/individual/2007_10/012260.php

***If you enjoy PBD and support what we are doing, you can help by forwarding a copy of this issue to your friends (using the envelope link below) or by sending them a copy of its URL (http://pbd.blogspot.com).

I don't get anything personally out of this project, except the satisfaction of doing it (I don't run ads, etc). The credit really all goes to the people whose material I copy and redistribute. But if I do have a "mission," it is to get this information into the hands of as many people as I can.***
- posted by Nick Burbules @ 6:37 AM

 
TRUST US

The story that the Bush gang started approaching telecoms about warrantless surveillance within weeks after taking office, and MONTHS BEFORE 9-11, just hasn’t gotten the attention it deserves. Think of the implications – they sought to grossly expand government powers NOT in response to the terrorist threat, but because this was their plan from the very beginning (9-11 just became the leverage that helped them implement it).

It also gives a new explanation for the proposal to give telecoms blanket amnesty, BEFORE we even know what they were doing. Amnesty isn’t really necessary if a telecom were brought to trial because they helped the government track down 9-11 conspirators, even if they did it illegally. I doubt any jury would penalize them for THAT. But if they were doing it before 9-11, juries might not be so understanding. . .

http://digbysblog.blogspot.com/2007/10/one-more-white-house-horror-by-tristero.html
[Tristero] If this country still had a working system of laws and a government with at least some checks and balances left in place, it would be a huge scandal simply that Bush "sought" to do this. . .

http://www.washingtonmonthly.com/archives/individual/2007_10/012253.php
[Kevin Drum] Unlike, say, MoveOn ads or Rush Limbaugh shows, this really does seem like a worthy object of congressional investigation, doesn't it? At a guess, I'd say that the program Nacchio objected to was one that involved data mining of telephone network metadata. . . . Interestingly, it's this program, rather than the NSA's actual domestic eavesdropping, that might have been the provocation for the great Justice Department showdown in John Ashcroft's hospital room in 2004.

http://www.dailykos.com/storyonly/2007/10/13/154228/96
[Kagro X] So here's the key. The domestic spying has always been justified by saying it was a necessary response to 9/11. But clearly there's damned good reason to believe these programs were conceived and initiated well before the September 11th attacks. . .

But it's not just that. If Qwest's competitors were already abetting this bloodless(?) coup before 9/11, then the "administration's" domestic spying not only has little if anything to do with response to terrorism, but it also objectively failed to prevent 9/11. . .

Emptywheel, of course: http://thenexthurrah.typepad.com/the_next_hurrah/2007/10/did-the-nsa-ask.html

No sense of irony

http://www.thecarpetbaggerreport.com/archives/13227.html
[Condoleezza Rice] “In any country, if you don’t have countervailing institutions, the power of any one president is problematic for democratic development,” Rice told reporters after meeting with human-rights activists. . . [read on]

“Trust us”?

http://www.nytimes.com/2007/10/14/washington/14letter.html
An internal Pentagon review this year found systemic problems and poor coordination in the military’s efforts to obtain records from American banks and consumer credit agencies in terrorism and espionage investigations, according to Pentagon documents and interviews.

In response to the review, Defense Department officials have ordered changes intended to strengthen legal safeguards and impose new training standards . . .

http://www.nytimes.com/2007/10/14/opinion/14sun1.html
[NYT] As Democratic lawmakers try to repair a deeply flawed bill on electronic eavesdropping, the White House is pumping out the same fog of fear and disinformation it used to push the bill through Congress this summer. President Bush has been telling Americans that any change would deny the government critical information, make it easier for terrorists to infiltrate, expose state secrets, and make it harder “to save American lives.”

There is no truth to any of those claims. . . . [read on]

Just a coincidence, I’m sure

http://thenexthurrah.typepad.com/the_next_hurrah/2007/10/atttorney-clien.html
[Burlington Free Press] A law firm that represents clients at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, and in Afghanistan is warning its Vermont clients that it believes the federal government has been monitoring its phones and computer system. . .

An historical perspective on torture

http://matthewyglesias.theatlantic.com/archives/2007/10/the_problems_bigger_than_we_th.php
[Matt Yglesias] I've said it a thousand times, but systematic torture is not a policy you find associated with polities experiencing crime-fighting success (the FBI's crackdown on the mafia, say) or war-fighting success (the US military during the second world war). Rather, when the ideological needs of the powers that be run in the direction of creating demand for false confessions (Stalin's Russia, witch hunts, the Spanish inquisition) out comes the torturing. . . .

More on the CIA’s crackdown against its own Inspector General: how it might open the door to disclosing the active resistance within the Agency against its torture practices

http://thenexthurrah.typepad.com/the_next_hurrah/2007/10/some-context-on.html

More: http://noquarterusa.net/blog/2007/10/13/what-the-hell-is-going-on-with-the-cia-ig/

Ha! Why the recent “Petraeus/Betray Us” debate has muzzled what the Bush gang WANTS to say in response to former General Sanchez’s harsh rebuke of their war policies. They’ve established the precedent that you can’t criticize officers, so what else can they do?

http://www.abcnews.go.com/Politics/story?id=3726618&page=1
Faced with sharp criticism from a former U.S. commander in Iraq, the White House has chosen not to return fire.

Responding to accusations from retired Lt. Gen. Ricardo Sanchez, Kate Starr, spokeswoman for the National Security Council said, "We appreciate his service to the country." . . .

More information dribbles out about Israel’s bombing attack on a Syrian nuclear site

http://talkingpointsmemo.com/archives/055881.php

More: http://www.nytimes.com/2007/10/14/washington/14weapons.html

The SCHIP debate sends Republicans scrambling

http://www.thecarpetbaggerreport.com/archives/13226.html

A new target? http://www.thecarpetbaggerreport.com/archives/13221.html
[Steve Benen] The mother in the radio ad will say, “I’m the mother of three children, and I’m pro-life. I believe that protecting the lives our children must be our nation’s number one moral priority. That’s why I’m concerned that Congressman X says he’s pro-life but votes against health care for poor children. That’s not pro-life. That’s not pro-family. Tell Congressman X to vote for health care for children. Call him today at XXXX, that’s XXXXX.”

That’s a pretty good message, but I’m curious what conservatives might try to discredit this woman before people take her concerns seriously. . . . [read on]

What Bush might do IF the SCHIP veto override fails

http://www.openleft.com/showDiary.do?diaryId=1882
[Matt Stoller] Assuming the veto override fails, Bush might offer a deal to substantially increase the amount of money spent on SCHIP, but only if the program is privatized. . .

More proof that conservatives aren’t really interested in reducing the number of abortions, but in controlling sexual behavior

http://www.dailykos.com/storyonly/2007/10/13/21730/773
[MissLaura] The Guttmacher Institute and the World Health Organization have done a major new study of abortion patterns throughout the world. The broad lesson is that abortion rates are not much affected by the legality or illegality of the procedure. Instead, the availability of contraception has a greater effect . .

Promoting an irrational fear of Islam – expect more of this as the campaign proceeds

http://talkingpointsmemo.com/archives/055874.php

The Republican effort to exorcise moderates from their party continues . . .

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/10/13/AR2007101300698.html

When criticized, this is the last bastion of conservatives like Rush and Ann Coulter – “you’re restricting my right of free speech.” That’s ridiculous, of course. People have a right to say pretty much whatever they want (AND to be criticized for it). What they DON’T have a right to is subsidized airtime on tv and radio to spout their vile hatred and lies

http://digbysblog.blogspot.com/2007/10/gibberish-by-digby-its-been-long-week.html
LAUER: Conservative commentator Ann Coulter is no stranger to controversy, and she's made big money by being outspoken, but some critics claim her comments this week on CNBC's The Big Idea with Donny Deutsch crossed a line. Are they right? You decide. . .

DEUTSCH: It's very interesting. It's ironic she was on my show because our show, as you know, is about motivation and success stories. I pride that it's the only kind of positive night-time talk show.

VIEIRA: But you put her on.

DEUTSCH: It's an American Dream -- I put her on --actually my producer didn't want to -- to celebrate her business model. Like her or hate her, she has a very successfully business model. She goes to the extreme. She makes millions. Let's analyze the business model. So I didn't want to fight at all. I was like, "You know what? Enough of this nonsense."

VIEIRA: But this is part of her business model, isn't it? To be provocative. . .

Last year on your show, about Bill Clinton she said, "I think that sort of rampant promiscuity does show some level of latent homosexuality."

DEUTSCH: Right.

VIEIRA: Muslims: "We should invade their countries, kill their leaders, convert them to Christianity." On the 9-11 widows, she said among other things, "I've never seen people enjoying their husbands' deaths so much."

DEUTSCH: Right.

VIEIRA: This is her stock-in-trade. Talk about marketing.

DEUTSCH: There's -- exactly. Which -- and this -- she's a lounge act. The scary thing for me here was she wasn't doing it on purpose. She wasn't. . . .

VIEIRA: So you're saying she should not be allowed on the air?

DEUTSCH: Oh, of course she should be allowed on the air. It's free speech . . .

Theocracy watch: Why is America not in the Bible?

http://atrios.blogspot.com/2007_10_07_archive.html#9117018841175859058
BECK: It doesn’t play a significant role. E-mail went crazy on this. Why is America not in the Bible? Then it can’t be the End Times. How could we possibly not play a role in the End Days?

HAGEE: America’s not in the Bible, because of these things. One, we are a brand new country. When the Bible was written, God knew that we would be and only refers to us as the young lions of Sheba and Dedan. Now, we came out of England. England has the symbol of the lion. We also -- we came from England. So, therefore, we, by stretch, could say that’s referring to us. . .

The silly season: we are still hearing about Hillary’s laugh (even when she doesn’t laugh)

http://www.thecarpetbaggerreport.com/archives/13223.html
[Steve Benen] In related news, Rudy Giuliani delivered a speech yesterday in which he didn’t answer his cell phone; Mitt Romney answered questions without abandoning a position he held five minutes prior; John McCain hosted a town-hall forum in which he did not refer to anyone as a “little jerk”; and Fred Thompson went the whole day without responding to a reporter’s question with, “I don’t know anything about that.”

Sunday talk show line-ups

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/10/13/AR2007101301178.html
FOX NEWS SUNDAY: House Majority Leader Steny H. Hoyer (D-Md.) and House Minority Leader John A. Boehner (R-Ohio).

THIS WEEK (ABC): House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) and Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.).

NEWSMAKERS (C-SPAN): Rep. Paul D. Ryan (R-Wis.).

FACE THE NATION (CBS): Sen. John McCain (R-Ariz.).

MEET THE PRESS (NBC): Entertainer Bill Cosby and Harvard Medical School professor Alvin F. Poussaint.

LATE EDITION (CNN): Sen. Lindsey O. Graham (R-S.C.), Pakistani Prime Minister Shaukat Aziz, Blackwater USA founder Erik Prince and former national security adviser Zbigniew Brzezinski.

Al Gore: The Anti-Bush

http://www.thecarpetbaggerreport.com/archives/13225.html
[Jonathan Chait] You might wonder why they care so much — Gore, after all, is obviously not going to run for president, and even some conservatives now concede that global warming is real. The answer is that Gore’s triumph is a measure of George W. Bush’s disrepute. . .

The defensiveness of Gore’s critics comes because he is the ultimate rebuke to Bush. Gore, obviously, is the great historic counter-factual, the man who would have been president if Florida had a functioning ballot system. More than that, he is the anti-Bush. He is intellectual and introverted, while Bush is simplistic and backslapping. . .

[Bob Herbert] Mr. Bush came to mind because, for all of the obvious vulnerabilities he exhibited in 2000, it was not him but Mr. Gore who was mocked unmercifully by the national media. And the mockery had nothing to do with the former vice president’s positions on important policy issues. He was mocked because of his personality.

In the race for the highest office in the land, we showed the collective maturity of 3-year-olds. . . [read on]

They’re still doing it: http://scienceblogs.com/deltoid/2007/10/the_washington_posts_war_on_go.php

Bonus item: Damn Swedish socialists

http://www.dailykos.com/storyonly/2007/10/13/1024/6273
[DarkSyde] Pat Buchanan, a conservative pundit who, unlike many of his peers, is right slightly more often than a stopped clocked, just ranted on MSNBC that the Nobel Peace Prize has become nothing more than political power grab by, and I quote, "Swedish Socialists." He went on to add that the Swede Commies are spearheading a global domination conspiracy. . . .

[NB: Only one problem with that theory, Pat. . . .]

***If you enjoy PBD and support what we are doing, you can help by forwarding a copy of this issue to your friends (using the envelope link below) or by sending them a copy of its URL (http://pbd.blogspot.com).

I don't get anything personally out of this project, except the satisfaction of doing it (I don't run ads, etc). The credit really all goes to the people whose material I copy and redistribute. But if I do have a "mission," it is to get this information into the hands of as many people as I can.***
- posted by Nick Burbules @ 6:05 AM

 
INCONVENIENT TRUTHS

Let’s just enjoy the moment of Al Gore’s Nobel Peace Prize, and all the ironies. . .

http://talkingpointsmemo.com/archives/055785.php
[Josh Marshall] There are several layers of irony and poetic justice wrapped into this honor. The first is that the greatest step for world peace would simply have been for Gore not to have had the presidency stolen from him in November 2000. By every just measure, Gore won the presidency in 2000 only to have George W. Bush steal it from him with the critical assistance of the US Supreme Court. It's worth taking a few moments today to consider where the country and world would be without that original sin of this corrupt presidency.

And yet this is a fitting bookend, with Gore receiving this accolade while the sitting president grows daily an object of greater disapproval, disapprobation and collective shame. And let's not discount another benefit: watching the rump of the American right detail the liberal bias of the Nobel Committee and at this point I guess the entire world. Fox News vs. the world. . . .

http://www.thecarpetbaggerreport.com/archives/13217.html
[Steve Benen] The right has responded to Al Gore’s Nobel Peace Prize with the kind of class and dignity we’ve come to expect from conservatives. Here’s the National Review: “Who Else Should Al Gore Share the Prize With? How about that well known peace campaigner Osama Bin Laden, who implicitly endorsed Gore’s stance — and that of the Nobel committee — in his September rant from the cave.”

More: http://www.dailykos.com/storyonly/2007/10/12/174143/99
Republican presidential candidate John McCain said the 2007 Nobel Peace Prize, announced Friday, should have gone to someone else . . .

http://www.first-draft.com/2007/10/today-on-athe-1.html

http://talkingpointsmemo.com/archives/055842.php

Will Bush call to congratulate him? http://www.salon.com/politics/war_room/2007/10/12/call/index.html

http://www.slate.com/id/2175895
[M.J. Smith] Sticking with the administration, the WP anonymously quotes a senior official who offered these heartfelt congratulations: "We're happy for him, but suspect he'd trade places before we would." Unclear if the official was a five-year-old.

George Bush thinks America’s a wimp

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/blog/2007/10/12/BL2007101201246.html
"We have lost sight of what it means to be a nation willing to be aggressive in the world and spread freedom or deal with disease. And we have lost our confidence in the ability to compete internationally," Bush said in an interview with Wall Street Journal reporters yesterday. . . [read on]

Another “phony soldier”?

http://www.nytimes.com/2007/10/13/washington/13general.html
In a sweeping indictment of the four-year effort in Iraq, the former top commander of American forces there called the Bush administration’s handling of the war “incompetent” and said the result was “a nightmare with no end in sight.” . . .

“The administration, Congress and the entire inter-agency, especially the State Department, must shoulder responsibility for the catastrophic failure, and the American people must hold them accountable,” he said. . .

http://afp.google.com/article/ALeqM5iuRM6U88LO85owLRq4h7OsJ2XIjA
[AFP] In the bluntest assessment of Iraq by a former senior Pentagon official yet, retired Lieutenant General Ricardo Sanchez also lambasted US political leaders as "incompetent," "inept," "derelict in the performance of their duty" and suggested they would have been court-martialed had they been members of the US military.

More: http://www.dailykos.com/storyonly/2007/10/12/2122/3526

The Bush gang approached Qwest about illegal wiretapping SIX MONTHS BEFORE 9-11. Read that again

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/10/12/AR2007101202485.html

http://thenexthurrah.typepad.com/the_next_hurrah/2007/10/what-nacchio-te.html

The State Dept’s cover-up of corruption in Iraq

http://www.tpmmuckraker.com/archives/004445.php

Condi Rice is becoming an embarrassment

http://www.americablog.com/2007/10/putin-blasts-us-missile-defense-leaving.html

Morea: http://www.mcclatchydc.com/227/story/20508.html

More on the CIA pressuring its own Inspector General to lay off critical investigations

http://www.tpmmuckraker.com/archives/004440.php

http://www.tpmmuckraker.com/archives/004448.php
[Spencer Ackerman] If CIA Director Michael Hayden wants to get rid of meddlesome Inspector General John Helgerson, he can't do it directly, since Helgerson is a presidential appointee. . . .The New York Times explains:

Under federal procedures, agency heads who are unhappy with the conduct of their inspectors general have at least two places to file complaints. One is the Integrity Committee of the President’s Council on Integrity and Efficiency, which oversees all the inspectors general. The aggrieved agency head can also go directly to the White House.

If serious accusations against an inspector general are sustained by evidence, the president can dismiss him.

Now, let's say that going directly to the White House isn't subtle enough for someone as savvy as Hayden. Not to worry! Going to the Council on Integrity and Efficiency is likely to provide the same outcome. The Integrity Committee is chaired by an FBI official named Kenneth Kaiser, who appears to be a perfectly competent individual. But his boss, the chairman of the President’s Council on Integrity and Efficiency, is George W. Bush's prep school buddy Clay Johnson III, a man whose name is practically synonymous with Bush administration cronyism. . . [read on]

http://www.tpmmuckraker.com/archives/004451.php
[Spencer Ackerman] One person with a unique vantage into the Hayden-Helgerson dispute is L. Britt Snider. Snider served as CIA inspector general from 1998 to 2001, when Helgerson was his chief deputy, and he retains a lot of admiration for his successor. "He's just first rate," Snider tells me. "He is extremely fair, balanced, competent, knowledgeable. He's not someone you'd regard as wild, extreme, or a loose cannon." . . .

http://harpers.org/archive/2007/10/hbc-90001403
[Ken Silverstein] Here’s something else that I’ve just learned from several sources: it turns out that a former senior CIA legal official quit in protest over the administration’s use of “enhanced interrogations.” This official, whose name I have promised not to publish, previously worked as a deputy IG for investigations under Frederick Hitz. . . What’s interesting is that this official was generally known as something of a hardliner. I haven’t been able to pin down the date of his departure, which may have occurred a year ago or more. However, the sources tell me he couldn’t stomach what he deemed to be abuses by the Bush Administration and stepped down from his post.

More: http://www.nytimes.com/2007/10/12/washington/12cnd-cia.html

http://www.tpmmuckraker.com/archives/004447.php

Blackwater’s lies are about to be confirmed

http://www.nytimes.com/2007/10/13/world/middleeast/13blackwater.html
Fresh accounts of the Blackwater shooting last month, given by three rooftop witnesses and by American soldiers who arrived shortly after the gunfire ended, cast new doubt Friday on statements by Blackwater guards that they were responding to armed insurgents . . .

http://www.washingtonmonthly.com/archives/individual/2007_10/012248.php
[Kevin Drum] I haven't yet read a single account that provides any backup for Blackwater's side of the story. Every single witness and every piece of forensic evidence suggests that the Blackwater guards panicked at a car that got a little too close, and then opened fire on everything they could see. "If our people had done this," said an American military official, "they would be court-martialed." The Blackwater guards, conversely, will apparently pay no price at all.

http://talkingpointsmemo.com/archives/055841.php
[Josh Marshall] Last week I told you about International Peace Operations Association, the DC lobbying outfit and professional organization for military contractors. And then just yesterday we brought you word that Blackwater, a member of the group since 2004, had cancelled its membership in the IPOA.

So what happened to spoil the relationship?

Seems the folks at the IPOA had commenced a review to make sure Blackwater was in compliance with the IPOA Code of Conduct. Apparently it was scrutiny Blackwater didn't think it could bear.

More: http://www.tpmmuckraker.com/archives/004446.php

The Kerik Effect. You can make a good case that Bush’s nomination of Bernie Kerik as head of Homeland Security (on Rudy Giuliani’s recommendation) was the turning point in his administration’s decline – coming at about the same time as his ridiculous nomination of Harriet Miers for the Supreme Court, his bungling of Katrina, and his tone-deaf persistence in trying to dismantle Social Security. Now it looks as if Giuliani’s loyalty to Kerik could be his downfall as well . . .

http://tpmelectioncentral.com/2007/10/rudy_kerik_was_a_good_commish_whatever_his_problems.php
"The reality is, if we take a look at Bernard Kerik's service as police commissioner, he was an excellent police commissioner. Crime went down unexpectedly under Bernard Kerik.

"Then on the other side of it, there were these problems. . .”

http://www.nydailynews.com/news/crime_file/2007/10/12/2007-10-12_prosecutors_expected_to_file_charges_aga-1.html
Bernard Kerik's legal nightmare is about to get worse, with federal prosecutors expected to file charges against the former police commissioner that will likely include allegations of bribery, tax fraud and obstruction of justice . . .

More: http://digbysblog.blogspot.com/2007/10/rudy-can-fail-by-digby-he-sounds-little.html

http://www.thecarpetbaggerreport.com/archives/13211.html

The competence issue: could Rudy and his foreign policy team actually make us LONG for the days of Bush/Cheney?

http://digbysblog.blogspot.com/2007/10/real-problem-by-digby-competence-just.html

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/21162326/site/newsweek/

http://matthewyglesias.theatlantic.com/archives/2007/10/scarier_than_npod.php

More: http://www.thecarpetbaggerreport.com/archives/13208.html

The unseriousness of contemporary Republicanism

http://www.washingtonmonthly.com/archives/individual/2007_10/012241.php
[Kevin Drum] Read the whole thing. It really captures what's most bizarre about the GOP field this year: its complete lack of seriousness. If you watch the debates (an exercise recommended only for seasoned professionals) you'll strain for hours trying to hear anything of actual substance. It's like watching a bunch of nervous teenagers reciting talking points they don't really understand, but which they're afraid to stray from . . . It's a real spectacle.

The right-wing smear of 12-year old Graeme Frost and his family – just when you think it couldn’t be any uglier. . . .

http://www.thecarpetbaggerreport.com/archives/13206.html
[Paul Krugman] All in all, the Graeme Frost case is a perfect illustration of the modern right-wing political machine at work, and in particular its routine reliance on character assassination in place of honest debate. If service members oppose a Republican war, they’re “phony soldiers”; if Michael J. Fox opposes Bush policy on stem cells, he’s faking his Parkinson’s symptoms; if an injured 12-year-old child makes the case for a government health insurance program, he’s a fraud.

Meanwhile, leading conservative politicians, far from trying to distance themselves from these smears, rush to embrace them. And some people in the news media are still willing to be used as patsies. . . [read on]

More details on the Bush gang’s activities of voter suppression

http://www.tpmmuckraker.com/archives/004438.php

More: http://www.tpmmuckraker.com/archives/004452.php

Trends in party-switching: it’s a landslide

http://www.dailykos.com/storyonly/2007/10/12/125535/65

“Larry who?”

http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20071012/ap_on_go_co/craig_ethics_2
Now that scandal-tinged Idaho Sen. Larry Craig has reneged on a pledge to resign this fall, his fellow Republican senators act as though they hardly know him. They want voters to forget him, too.

But they privately acknowledge that an earlier strategy to drive Craig from office has backfired, sticking them with an open-ended ethics investigation likely to keep the issue before the public for months. . .

Theocracy watch (Illinois edition): for once, I agree with our Governor

http://www.prospect.org/csnc/blogs/tapped_archive?month=10&year=2007&base_name=a_moment_of_silence_for_the_fi
The state legislature in Illinois approved a measure yesterday that requires all public schools in the state to begin the day with a moment of silence, overriding Governor Rod Blagojevich's veto of the measure. . .

Another blond Republican dingbat (and a Jew) defends Ann Coulter’s call for the conversion of all Jews to Christianity

http://www.dailykos.com/storyonly/2007/10/12/222312/62
[Debbie Schlussel] True religious Jews are not offended by Ann [Coulter]'s comments, though they really appreciate her alliance with our causes. It's only the Jewish libs, like Deutch [sic], who are feigning this shock and outrage. . . .

[NB: There's that trope again -- if you're not conservative, then you're not a real Jew]

More: http://mediamatters.org/items/200710130001

***If you enjoy PBD and support what we are doing, you can help by forwarding a copy of this issue to your friends (using the envelope link below) or by sending them a copy of its URL (http://pbd.blogspot.com).

I don't get anything personally out of this project, except the satisfaction of doing it (I don't run ads, etc). The credit really all goes to the people whose material I copy and redistribute. But if I do have a "mission," it is to get this information into the hands of as many people as I can.***
- posted by Nick Burbules @ 9:28 AM

 
A WAR ON MANY FRONTS

One of the big advantages the Bush gang has had – and I mean this quite seriously – is that they have committed, or fostered, illegal, corrupt, and lawless actions on such a wide scale that it is impossible for the press or political system to keep them all before the public mind at the same time. The cumulative impact is devastating.

I won’t belabor the obvious point that there are impeachable offenses here that make lying about a blow job in the Oval Office seem puny by comparison.

But a “fair and balanced” media, while trying to cover them all, can’t give them due weight because to do so would bring down the government – and post-9/11 they don’t want to be blamed for that . . .

What are we doing in Iraq?

http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20071012/ap_on_re_mi_ea/iraq;_ylt=AruXBTUxzADobIkcy7qcGJZvaA8F
A U.S. attack killed 19 insurgents and 15 civilians, including nine children, northwest of the capital Thursday — one of the heaviest civilian death tolls in an American operation in recent months. . .

The US response: http://www.needlenose.com/node/view/4368
"After securing the area, the ground force assessed 15 terrorists, six women and nine children were killed," the statement said. . . . The statement also issued regret "that civilians are hurt or killed while Coalition forces search to rid Iraq of terrorism."

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/10/11/AR2007101101030.html
Blackwater USA guards shot at Iraqi civilians as they tried to drive away from a Baghdad square on Sept. 16, according to a report compiled by the first U.S. soldiers to arrive at the scene, where they found no evidence that Iraqis had fired weapons. . .

The State Dept’s “investigation”: http://www.tpmmuckraker.com/archives/004430.php
[Spencer Ackerman] Blackwater and the State Department say one thing -- namely, that Blackwater guards were under attack by Iraqi insurgents at Nisour Square on September 16. The Iraqi government and the U.S. military say another: Blackwater didn't come under fire on that fateful day, and instead used deadly force against a misperceived threat. So as a joint U.S.-Iraqi investigation gets underway, maybe it shouldn't come as a surprise that the Iraqis and the U.S. military feel shunted aside by a hard-charging State Department and its FBI allies.

The New York Times reports that the joint inquiry, with the predominant U.S. component coming from the military, hasn't had access to initial State Department reports (at least one of which was written by Blackwater), nor has it had access to a separate investigation into the incident that State asked the FBI to lead. Furthermore, the military has neither been allowed to interview the four Blackwater guards at Nisour Square, nor been allowed to inspect the vehicle that they drove. That last point is crucial: examining the vehicle would easily determine whether any ballistic damage to it resulted from the kinds of weapons Iraqis typically fire or the sort that Blackwater is issued, which probably aren't the same. (There was another Blackwater convoy on the opposite end of the square.) . . .

More: http://www.tpmmuckraker.com/archives/004435.php
Families of Nisour Square victims, along with one survivor, filed a wrongful-death lawsuit this morning against Blackwater in federal district court. The suit represents one of the first times any Iraqi has taken legal action against a private military company working under contract from a U.S. government agency. . .

http://thenexthurrah.typepad.com/the_next_hurrah/2007/10/why-state.html

What CAN we do? http://www.slate.com/id/2175649/fr/rss/

How out of control is Blackwater?

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/21163806/site/newsweek
The colonel was furious. "Can you believe it? They actually drew their weapons on U.S. soldiers." He was describing a 2006 car accident, in which an SUV full of Blackwater operatives had crashed into a U.S. Army Humvee on a street in Baghdad's Green Zone. The colonel, who was involved in a follow-up investigation and spoke on the condition he not be named, said the Blackwater guards disarmed the U.S. Army soldiers and made them lie on the ground at gunpoint until they could disentangle the SUV. . . .

What part of “watchdog” don’t they understand?

http://www.nytimes.com/2007/10/11/washington/12intel.html
The director of the Central Intelligence Agency, Gen. Michael V. Hayden, has ordered an unusual internal inquiry into the work of the agency’s inspector general, whose aggressive investigations of the C.I.A.’s detention and interrogation programs and other matters have created resentment among agency operatives.

A small team working for General Hayden is looking into the conduct of the agency’s watchdog office, which is led by Inspector General John L. Helgerson. Current and former government officials said the review had caused anxiety and anger in Mr. Helgerson’s office and aroused concern on Capitol Hill . . .

The review is particularly focused on complaints that Mr. Helgerson’s office has not acted as a fair and impartial judge of agency operations but instead has begun a crusade against those who have participated in controversial detention programs.

Any move by the agency’s director to examine the work of the inspector general would be unusual, if not unprecedented, and would threaten to undermine the independence of the office, some current and former officials say. . . .

http://www.slate.com/id/2175780/
[Daniel Politi] The LAT notes there's concern that the investigators will eventually decide they need to crack open the inspector general's files, which "could have a dramatic chilling effect" and make employees think twice before cooperating in future investigations. . . .

Bush’s dark legacy

http://www.firedoglake.com/2007/10/11/cheneys-law/
[Marty Lederman] I am increasingly confident that when the history of the Bush Administration is written, this systematic violation of statutory and treaty-based law concerning fundamental war crimes and other horrific offenses will be seen as the blackest mark in our nation’s recent history . . . [read on]

Are the Dems in Congress really going to cave into Bush’s demands AGAIN and give the telecoms retroactive immunity? They’d better not

http://www.tpmmuckraker.com/archives/004439.php

You can call: http://www.firedoglake.com/2007/10/11/not-ready-to-make-nice/

Let’s see, if we pass retroactive immunity for the telecoms that broke the law, what do we do for the companies who were punished by the govt for NOT breaking the law?

http://www.rockymountainnews.com/drmn/tech/article/0,2777,DRMN_23910_5719566,00.html

More: http://www.talkleft.com/story/2007/10/11/145427/77

http://www.dailykos.com/storyonly/2007/10/11/163716/90

http://thenexthurrah.typepad.com/the_next_hurrah/2007/10/groundbreaker-a.html

http://www.thecarpetbaggerreport.com/archives/13201.html

No Turkey for you

http://www.juancole.com/2007/10/who-lost-turkey.html
[Juan Cole] Turkey has been the strongest ally that the United States has had in the Middle East since the end of WW II. The Marshall Plan started with Northern tier states like Turkey and Greece. Turkey joined NATO and was a key player in the American victory in the Cold War. As a secular government, Turkey stood against the rising tide of Muslim radicalism. To the extent that Turkey is moderating its long-term secular militancy, and moving toward fair elections, it may be providing a model for a moderate, democratic Middle East. Its economy is growing rapidly, foreign investment is in the billions. Turkey is in short, almost everything the US could have asked for in the Middle East.

But the Bush administration has, during the past five years, increasingly thrown away this asset, and now is in danger of losing a close and valued ally altogether. . . .

More: http://www.dailykos.com/storyonly/2007/10/11/171132/26

Pressure builds over the SCHIP veto override: “Blue Dog” Democrats are switching to support the plan; Republicans who support Bush’s veto are getting slammed

http://www.firedoglake.com/2007/10/11/breaking-bush-dog-switching-vote-on-schip/

http://www.dailykos.com/storyonly/2007/10/12/04345/761

Put these two news items together, and what do you get?

http://www.washingtonmonthly.com/archives/individual/2007_10/012239.php
The wealthiest 1% of Americans earned 21.2% of all income in 2005, according to new data from the Internal Revenue Service. That is up sharply from 19% in 2004 . . .

http://www.washingtonmonthly.com/archives/individual/2007_10/012237.php
Ramesh Ponnuru analyzes a new tax cut proposal from three House conservatives: “The big winners under this plan are childless affluent couples living in high-tax states. . .”

Part of a pattern: more suspiciously partisan Justice Dept prosecutions, this time in Mississippi

http://www.thecarpetbaggerreport.com/archives/13193.html

http://www.discourse.net/archives/2007/10/its_always_worse_than_you_think.html
[Michael Froomkin] One of the amazing things about this administration is that what starts out seeming like isolated pockets of corruption gradually takes shape as a pattern, only to be revealed to be a way of life. . .

Be glad we still have courts

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/10/09/AR2007100901537.html
A federal district judge has ordered the government not to transfer a Tunisian detainee held at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, to his home country, over fears that he would be tortured or killed. The move marks the first time a court has prevented U.S. officials from making such a transfer . . .

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/10/11/AR2007101100468.html
A federal judge barred the Bush administration yesterday from launching a planned crackdown on U.S. companies that employ illegal immigrants, warning of its potentially "staggering" impact on law-abiding workers and companies.

In a firm rebuke of the White House . . .

Dana Perino, seriously in over her head

http://www.salon.com/opinion/walsh/misc/2007/10/10/perino/index.html
[Joan Walsh] I know the lame duck Bush administration is holding a lot more goodbye parties than hiring interviews lately, but I still have to ask: How long will Dana Perino keep her job? She's not doing it terribly well. . . [read on!]

Read: http://www.first-draft.com/2007/10/today-on-hold-7.html
Q Just talking about the deficit numbers, Senator Kent Conrad says that the Bush administration will go down in history as the most fiscally irresponsible President ever -- the President will. And he's talking about the national debt that went from $3 trillion to $9 trillion. How do you respond to that?

MS. PERINO: Well, I think that the proof is in the pudding . . .

Q Speaking of former Presidents, Mr. Carter has been talking about Vice President Cheney again, he did the interview with the BBC. Does President Bush think Jimmy Carter's comments are in any way harmful to the way others around the world see the U.S.? Because, again, that was with the British Broadcasting Company.

MS. PERINO: I haven't talked to the President about the recent comments by Vice President [sic] Carter. . .

Q And why is he not more concerned about the rising record trade deficit?

MS. PERINO: Well, the President -- the President is very interested in trade. And one of the things he's concerned about is that as a nation we don't turn isolationist or protectionist in any of our policies, because he thinks that that leads to bad times for the country, including leading up to the depression as one of the factors that led our country into that economic depression. The President has had policies in place from the beginning that Congress worked to fund, that provide job training for individuals who have lost a job because they have seen their manufacturing job goes overseas. . .

Q Given that, does the President believe these trade deficits are sustainable or does he believe the situation will turn around at some point?

MS. PERINO: I think that the President believes that we'll be able to continuing to put -- push more products out of America and we'll start to close those deficits.

Q You want to predict when?

MS. PERINO: I'm not going to do that, not from here.

Watch: http://talkingpointsmemo.com/archives/055729.php

Another racist gasbag with a nightly tv show

http://mediamatters.org/items/200710110004
On the October 10 broadcast of his nationally syndicated Fox News Radio show, while discussing 14-year-old Asa H. Coon, who earlier that day shot four people at his Cleveland high school before killing himself, Fox News host John Gibson asserted that "because the school is very heavily African-American, I did leap to a conclusion" that "the shooter might have been African-American." Gibson went on to say that he "knew this was not a classic hip-hop shooting" once he learned Coon killed himself. Gibson continued: "Hip-hoppers do not kill themselves. They walk away. Now, I didn't need to hear the kid was white with blond hair. Once he'd shot himself in the head, no hip-hopper." Gibson later stated, "I know the shooter was white. I knew it as soon as he shot himself. Hip-hoppers don't do that. They shoot and move on to shoot again." Gibson added: "I know there's a few of you who want to call me racist. But when you do, remind -- let me remind you, African-Americans are dying in major cities because people won't face this problem."

After a commercial break, Gibson repeated his assertion: "All right, it turns out, though, the kid in Cleveland who did the shooting today -- three teachers, three students -- white." Gibson added: "And I could tell right away 'cause he killed himself. Black shooters don't do that; they shoot and move on." . . .

Following up on Ann Coulter’s bizarre proposal yesterday to convert all Jews to Christianity – are we now supposed to believe that she has become a devout Christian spokesperson herself?

http://talkingpointsmemo.com/archives/055704.php

CNN directly echoes a GOP talking point, saying it’s the DEMOCRATS’ fault that the GOP and its allies have attacked 12-year old Graeme Frost and his family

http://www.thecarpetbaggerreport.com/archives/13196.html

http://www.talkleft.com/story/2007/10/11/14813/698
[GOP memo to the media] “Could the Dems really have done that bad of a job vetting this family?”

[CNN] “I think in this instance what happened was the Democrats didn’t do as much of a vetting as they could have done on this young man . . ."

More: http://digbysblog.blogspot.com/2007/10/msm-on-frosts-by-digby-time-magazine.html

A voice of sanity

http://www.nytimes.com/2007/10/12/opinion/12krugman.html
[Paul Krugman] The Frosts and their four children are exactly the kind of people S-chip was intended to help: working Americans who can’t afford private health insurance. . . . [read on]

Another GOP retirement

http://politicalwire.com/archives/2007/10/11/regula_to_retire_in_oh16.html

Rudy seems determined to follow the very worst of the Bush gang foreign policies

http://talkingpointsmemo.com/archives/055716.php

But don’t worry – he’ll never become President

http://www.washingtonmonthly.com/archives/individual/2007_10/012236.php
[Kevin Drum] The Christian Right seems to be gearing up for a full-scale war against Rudy Giuliani, and it's hard to believe he can win the nomination in the face of this onslaught. Mitt Romney, on the other hand, still has his whole Mormon problem, and it doesn't seem to be going away. Meanwhile, John McCain is languishing in nowheresville, Fred Thompson is impressing no one (and he's already been blackballed by James Dobson anyway), and no one else is a serious contender. It's really hard to see how anyone wins this thing.

Compare and contrast: Al Gore and Rudy Giuliani

http://www.talkingpointsmemo.com/horsesmouth/2007/10/washington_post_6.php
My question, though, is this. If Al Gore can be painted as a serial liar and exaggerator by the media for things he didn't actually say, why has Giuliani so far gotten a pass on the lies he's actually spouting publicly? . . . [read on]




Bonus item: Al Gore, Nobel Prize winner

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/10/12/AR2007101200364.html

***This newsletter also appears in “blog” form at http://pbd.blogspot.com.

I don't get anything personally out of this project, except the satisfaction of doing it (I don't run ads, etc). The credit really all goes to the people whose material I copy and redistribute. But if I do have a "mission," it is to get this information into the hands of as many people as I can.***
- posted by Nick Burbules @ 6:24 AM

 
THE BLAME GAME

The more they hate it, the more I want to support it

http://www.nytimes.com/2007/10/10/washington/10cnd-nsa.html
President Bush appeared on the South Lawn of the White House to attack the House legislation, saying that it “would take us backward.” He asked instead for an extension of a law adopted last August, the Protect America Act, which expires in February. That measure significantly reduced the role of the foreign intelligence court and broadened the security agency’s ability to listen to foreign-based communications without court warrants. . . .

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/10/10/AR2007101001047.html
President Bush and other Republicans stepped up their attacks on Democratic legislation that would require more oversight of surveillance within U.S. borders that is directed at foreign targets, escalating a partisan battle over the boundaries of U.S. spying. . .

http://www.tpmmuckraker.com/archives/004421.php
[Spencer Ackerman] The ACLU has its differences, you might say, with Admiral Mike McConnell. Its website, for instance, features a page with the sub-headline, "McConnell Tries to Scare America in to [sic] Giving Up Fourth Amendment." But they do share one thing in common: neither much likes the Democratic RESTORE Act.

To be clear, the ACLU's opposition is intense, and centered around the so-called "umbrella warrants," whereby the director of national intelligence and the attorney general submit an annual explanation to the FISA Court outlining why their surveillance methods target non-U.S. persons "reasonably believed to be outside the United States... for the purpose of collecting foreign intelligence information." McConnell's concerns, it's safe to say, don't center around whether umbrella authorizations violate the Fourth Amendment. Rather, he's concerned about the bill not providing retroactive immunity to telecommunications companies who cooperated with warrantless surveillance requests from 2001 to 2007. . . .

Video: http://www.tpmmuckraker.com/archives/004422.php

Jerry Nadler (D-NJ): http://www.firedoglake.com/2007/10/10/thank-you-jerry-nadler/
“Thank you Mr. Chairman. I rise in opposition to the so-called substitute amendment from Mr. Forbes. I start with the affirmative point, the Democratic bill…the bill before us…gives the Administration everything it says it needs in terms of the actual tools to collect intelligence. It is striking that nearly every comment from the Minority today is directed at process and procedure, and not at the substance of the tools that we seek to make available to the Executive Branch to protect this country’s security. . . .

The [Forbes] amendment fails to address the excesses that were in the so-called “Protect America Act.” Most fundamentally, it fails to protect the rights of Americans to be free of electronic surveillance by the Executive Branch when there is no supervision or awareness by either of the other branches of government. . . . The substitute amendment is little more than the Administration’s request for unchecked powers, free of any meaningful scrutiny and oversight, and it must be denied. The gentleman from Texas says that the American people trust the intelligence professionals. Yes, they do. And so do I: I trust the intelligence professionals to do everything possible to gather the necessary intelligence.

We must trust the courts to protect our liberties. We do not trust the intelligence professionals to protect our liberties — that’s not their prime focus. We need both intelligence and liberty. We need both intelligence professionals gathering the intelligence, and courts safeguarding our liberties. That is why the Constitution establishes a system of checks and balances.

The Protect America Act forgot about the second half of that equation. . . ."

More: http://www.tpmmuckraker.com/archives/004423.php

To the Dems: on telecom immunity, Just Say No . . . we still don’t know what they did and besides Bush says it was all legal anyway

http://www.americablog.com/2007/10/bullshit.html

http://digbysblog.blogspot.com/2007/10/goodness-of-american-system-by-digby-so.html

http://www.firedoglake.com/2007/10/10/fisa-news-and-obfuscations/

You KNOW there’s a story behind this story

http://www.nytimes.com/2007/10/11/washington/11military.html
The Marine Corps is pressing to remove its forces from Iraq and to send marines instead to Afghanistan, to take over the leading role in combat there, according to senior military and Pentagon officials.

The idea by the Marine Corps commandant would effectively leave the Iraq war in the hands of the Army . . .

It is not clear whether the Army would support the idea. . .

Who leaked the Bin Laden video? The WH blames it on the intelligence branch, who throw the hot potato right back

http://talkingpointsmemo.com/archives/055610.php

http://www.dailykos.com/storyonly/2007/10/10/101129/96

http://www.thecarpetbaggerreport.com/archives/13186.html
[Steve Benen] Here’s the thing: like the Plame leak, when the White House outed a covert CIA official during a war, news outlets know who did the leaking. Someone in the administration called up a bunch of newsrooms on Sept. 7, and started sharing the video and the transcript.

White House officials are now saying that the leak didn’t come from them, the DNI’s office, or the NCC. Here’s a crazy idea: can reporters tell us if that’s true?

Upside-down world

http://www.guardian.co.uk/usa/story/0,12271,1391579,00.html
When last year she referred to Bush as 'my husband' it was a Freudian slip that reflected how close [Sect’y of State Condi] Rice and the Bush clan have become. . .

http://edition.cnn.com/2007/POLITICS/10/10/myanmar.mrs.bush/index.html
U.S. first lady Laura Bush -- in a rare foray into foreign policy -- called on Myanmar's military junta to "step aside," give up the "terror campaigns" against its people and allow for a democratic Myanmar . .

A former President accuses the current President of promoting torture as U.S. policy. Can we pause for a second to realize how incredible this is?

http://blogs.usatoday.com/ondeadline/2007/10/carter-us-has-t.html

More: http://www.reuters.com/article/politicsNews/idUSN1026419120071010
Former U.S. President Jimmy Carter on Wednesday denounced Vice President Dick Cheney as a "disaster" for the country and a "militant" who has had an excessive influence in setting foreign policy. . .

Bye-bye Blackwater?

http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20071010/ap_on_go_ca_st_pe/us_iraq_blackwater;_ylt=AhsuWYDWyFREossCefBMkvGs0NUE
The State Department may phase out or limit the use of private security guards in Iraq, which could mean canceling Blackwater USA's contract or awarding it to another company . . .

But no prosecutions? http://www.nytimes.com/2007/10/11/world/middleeast/11legal.html

Alberto lawyers up

http://www.tpmmuckraker.com/archives/004427.php
[Paul Kiel] You never can be too careful, particularly when you're being investigated for lying to Congress. . . [read on]

More: http://thenexthurrah.typepad.com/the_next_hurrah/2007/10/gonzales-seems-.html

http://www.salon.com/politics/war_room/2007/10/10/gonzales/index.html

Testimony that Karl Rove helped direct the politically motivated prosecution of the Democratic governor of Alabama

http://www.tpmmuckraker.com/archives/004426.php
[Laura McGann] In an interview she gave under oath to House investigators, Republican lawyer Dana Jill Simpson expanded on her previous statement about Karl Rove's role in the prosecution of Gov. Don Siegelman (D-AL), implicating Rove in using the Justice Deparment to stymie Siegelman's campaigns in 2002 and again in 2005. . .

Simpson explains the context in which she knew what Alabama Republican operative William Canary meant on a campaign conference call in 2002 when he said "Karl" had gotten the Justice Department on Siegelman. . . .

http://www.tpmmuckraker.com/archives/004424.php
[Laura McGann] Dana Jill Simpson wasn't just worried about Rove's involvement in Gov. Don Siegelman's (D-AL) case. She also testified that she heard about a behind-the-scenes arrangement to ensure which judge would get the case -- a judge sure to "hang" Siegelman. . .

http://thenexthurrah.typepad.com/the_next_hurrah/2007/10/simpson-claims-.html
[Emptywheel] If Simpson's testimony is truthful, it means Karl Rove had significant sway over the Public Integrity Section at DOJ in early 2005. The Abramoff investigation was in full swing. As was the CIA Leak investigation. Both of which Rove was personally implicated in.

At the time, Noel Hillman was head of PIN. Hillman stepped down in January 2006--just weeks after Abramoff's guilty plea on January 3 and a time when the White House was increasingly the focus of the Abramoff investigation--to become a Federal judge. At the time, the move was viewed with a great deal of suspicion. . .

More: http://digbysblog.blogspot.com/2007/10/chasing-great-white-worm-by-digby.html

http://www.thecarpetbaggerreport.com/archives/13190.html

Transcript: http://www.speaker.gov/blog/?p=833

Has the Bush gang decided that Rudy’s their guy?

http://www.samefacts.com/archives/rudy_giuliani_/2007/10/setting_a_low_standard.php

The Christian Right does not agree

http://tpmelectioncentral.com/2007/10/frcs_perkins_rudy_could_lose_half_the_evangelical_vote.php

http://www.thecarpetbaggerreport.com/archives/13187.html

The new media line on the vicious right-wingers who are hounding 12-year old Graeme Frost and his family – it’s because they’re BLOGGERS (even though they're not)

http://thenexthurrah.typepad.com/the_next_hurrah/2007/10/blogger-is-in-t.html

http://www.dailykos.com/storyonly/2007/10/10/184540/12

More: http://www.dailykos.com/storyonly/2007/10/10/123529/74

http://www.thecarpetbaggerreport.com/archives/13181.html

http://www.tnr.com/blog/the_plank?pid=150639

The role of Mitch McConnell’s (R-KY) office

http://www.firedoglake.com/2007/10/10/convenient-laundering/

More on the politics of hate

http://www.dailykos.com/storyonly/2007/10/10/23558/499

http://weblogs.swarthmore.edu/burke/?p=439

When will we have enough of Ann Coulter? Hot on the heels of wanting to take the vote away from women, now she says we need to get rid of all the Jews (really!)

http://mediamatters.org/items/200710100008

Bonus item: Very funny. World-class nitwit Jonah Goldberg is writing a book . . . maybe (thanks to Jessica Wilson for the link)

http://jonswift.blogspot.com/2007/06/jonah-goldbergs-shining.html
[Jon Swift] Apparently, Goldberg unearths for the first time shocking similarities between Nazis and liberals. For example, Nazis wanted to clean up the environment. So do liberals! Nazis wanted to cure cancer. So do liberals! Nazis liked organic food and many were vegetarians. So are many liberals! A lot of Nazis were gay and a lot of liberals are, too! Nazis made Volkswagons and liberals love to drive them! Hitler loved dogs and so do many liberals! (which is why many conservatives like Kathryn Jean Lopez were very relieved to discover that Mitt Romney hates dogs). Goldberg's book will explore the remarkably nuanced similarities between liberals and Nazis and not be the simplistic exercise in liberal bashing his critics claim it will be without even reading the book, which isn't even written yet. . .

***If you enjoy PBD and support what we are doing, you can help by forwarding a copy of this issue to your friends (using the envelope link below) or by sending them a copy of its URL (http://pbd.blogspot.com).

I don't get anything personally out of this project, except the satisfaction of doing it (I don't run ads, etc). The credit really all goes to the people whose material I copy and redistribute. But if I do have a "mission," it is to get this information into the hands of as many people as I can.***
- posted by Nick Burbules @ 6:23 AM

 
IOKIYAR (IT’S OKAY IF YOU’RE A REPUBLICAN)

The Bush gang’s leak of an Al Qaeda video – someone was in such a hurry to get it running on Fox News that they burned an invaluable intelligence resource in the process.

Will anyone be held to account? (What do you think?)

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/10/08/AR2007100801817.html

http://www.dailykos.com/storyonly/2007/10/9/19311/4373

http://www.prospect.org/csnc/blogs/tapped_archive?month=10&year=2007&base_name=did_the_administration_leak_th

http://afp.google.com/article/ALeqM5j-aNLRNIjovBwVpSLo83G6dNaFnw
[AFP] The White House on Tuesday denied being the source of a leak involving an Osama bin Laden video that a private intelligence firm said had sabotaged its secret ability to intercept Al-Qaeda messages.

Asked if the White House was the source of the leak, spokeswoman Dana Perino said: "No, we were not ... We were very concerned to learn about it. . . . And I'll have to refer you to the Director on National Intelligence for any process problem they had in that regard."

http://talkingpointsmemo.com/archives/055480.php
[More from Dana] “President Bush and this administration has felt strongly about leaks about classified information and intelligence. We don't think that it serves the American people well. And so that is the concern -- concern from that standpoint, as well, just on the overall issue of leaking of classified or intelligence information.”

Ahem

http://www.thecarpetbaggerreport.com/archives/13169.html
[Steve Benen] It doesn’t get a lot of attention, but for all the talk about the Bush gang’s penchant for secrecy, these guys have remarkably loose lips. We are, after all, taking about a White House which authorized top staffers to disclose classified information to reporters about Iraq’s weapons capability in June and July 2003. For that matter, the same officials aren’t terribly good at keeping the identity of undercover CIA agents under wraps, and the Vice President doesn’t seem entirely clear on what he can and cannot declassify.

Moreover, it appears that the White House “authorized” leaks of classified information to reporter Bob Woodward, possibly undermining national security.

The details of the SITE leak are still a little vague, but one can’t help but wonder if perhaps the White House released the bin Laden video and transcript to serve a political purpose. After all, it was right around the time of a heated debate over FISA. Would the Bush gang undermine national security surveillance efforts against al Qaeda to score some political points? Given what we’ve seen, it’s hardly outside the realm of possibility.

For that matter, Igor Volsky reminds us what happened when the NYT ran with some al Qaeda-related leaks, prompting conservatives to accuse the newspaper of “treason.” Given the circumstances, the White House’s handling of the bin Laden video seems even more serious, and far more irresponsible.

http://www.firedoglake.com/2007/10/09/rank-incompetence/
[Christy Hardin Smith] Remember the Pakistani source that got burned in the run-up to the 2004 election, when Bush needed a PR boost and that personal need was put ahead of national security considerations? Yes, me too. (Does the name Valerie ring a bell?) Rank incompetence and utter lack of care for long-term consequences to all of us, let alone slack-assed inattention to detail and long-held security and need to know protocols. Add in an utter failure to learn from past mistakes. Welcome to Bushworld.

Who is SITE? http://thenexthurrah.typepad.com/the_next_hurrah/2007/10/the-latest-terr.html

http://d-day.blogspot.com/2007/10/why-are-we-outsourcing-intelligence.html

http://mypetjawa.mu.nu/archives/189700.php

http://digbysblog.blogspot.com/2007/10/tangled-web-by-digby-white-house-denies.html

One more perfectly predictable consequence of messing around with the delicate balance in Iraq

http://www.dailykos.com/storyonly/2007/10/9/19250/3383
[IHT] Turkey took a step Tuesday toward cross-border military action in Iraq, as a council of the country's top political and military leaders issued a statement allowing troops to cross the border to eliminate separatist Kurdish rebel camps in the mountainous border area of northern Iraq.

The Turkish move toward military action comes in the face of strong opposition by the United States, which is anxious to maintain peace in that area, one of the rare regions of stability in Iraq. . . .

What real reporters do

http://transcripts.cnn.com/TRANSCRIPTS/0710/09/cnr.05.html
CNN senior Pentagon correspondent Jamie McIntyre is "Keeping Them Honest" -- Jamie.

JAMIE MCINTYRE, CNN SENIOR PENTAGON CORRESPONDENT: Well, Don, ever since President Bush made that statement that an Army brigade would be coming home before Christmas, we have been trying to figure out who those troops are. We finally cracked the code. And you might be surprised to learn what we found . . .

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

GEORGE W. BUSH, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: Because of this success, General Petraeus believes we have now reached the point where we can maintain our security gains with fewer American forces. It will soon be possible to bring home an Army combat brigade, for a total force reduction of 5,700 troops by Christmas.

MCINTYRE: Listen to that again.

BUSH: Because of this success, it will soon be possible to bring home an Army combat brigade by Christmas.

MCINTYRE: So, "Keeping Them Honest," we have been asking the Pentagon a straightforward question.

(on camera): Which brigade is that precisely that would be coming home by the holidays because of the success of the surge?

MAJ. GEN. RICHARD SHERLOCK, JOINT STAFF OPERATIONAL PLANNING DIRECTOR: That decision has to get made by General Odierno and General Petraeus.

MCINTYRE (voice-over): But Pentagon and U.S. military sources tell CNN the decision has already been made to accomplish the president's troop reduction with a little slight of hand, requiring no adjustment to the original troop rotation plan from August.

(on camera): CNN has obtained that deployment plan, which predates General Petraeus' recommendations. Take a look. Is shows that, in December, four brigades are already coming home from Iraq, and only three are replacing them, because this one, from the 1st Armored Division in Germany, is not going in November as originally scheduled.

Is that because of the success of the surge? No. . . . Bottom line, despite the impression the president gave, it appears that no U.S. troops are leaving Iraq early, and the ones that aren't being sent in to replace them, it turns out, weren't going anyway. . .

And here's the kicker. Thousands of support troops sent in with the surge brigades are still needed. So, when the surge ends in July, there will actually be more U.S. troops on the ground than there were when the surge started. . . .

Lawless thugs

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/10/09/AR2007100900481.html
Private security guards from an Australian-run firm opened fire on a white sedan in downtown Baghdad on Tuesday afternoon, killing two Iraqi Christian women who were driving home from work. . .

http://www.slate.com/id/2175631
[Daniel Politi] Coming just weeks after the Sept. 16 incident involving Blackwater, yesterday's shooting in Baghdad "seemed certain to heighten tensions between the Iraqi government and the thousands of private security guards operating in Iraq," says the WP. The company said the shooting only began after the car "failed to stop despite escalation of warnings," but some witnesses say the security guards got out of their convoy and began shooting after the car had already stopped moving.

Only the NYT looks into what is possibly the most interesting aspect of yesterday's shooting in Baghdad, which served as a reminder that many of the private security guards work for other contractors and not the government. The Unity Resources Group guards had been hired by RTI, a nonprofit organization that has a contract with the U.S. Agency for International Development. A U.S. official said the government has no control over what security firm a contractor hires, thereby illustrating how the new emphasis on oversight "comes with many loopholes," the NYT says.

The next Ollie North?

http://thinkprogress.org/2007/10/09/rohrabacher-prince-hero/

Must be time for a FISA vote

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/10/09/AR2007100901026.html
The White House warned today that al-Qaeda is likely to intensify efforts to infiltrate terrorist operatives into the United States and expressed heightened concern about the potential use of improvised explosive devices, or makeshift bombs, in a domestic attack. . .

Is the Dems’ “compromise” on FISA just a step toward giving away the store?

http://www.tpmmuckraker.com/archives/004410.php
[Paul Kiel] Call it a deal with the devil, but the House Democrats are set to offer compromise legislation that would allow the administration to conduct warrantless surveillance. The trade-off seems clear.

The bill would allow so-called "umbrella" warrants from the FISA Court for what The New York Times calls "bundles of overseas communications." That umbrella would last for up to one year and is meant to extend to communications into and out of the United States. If the "target" was in the U.S., however, the administration would have to seek an individualized warrant from the court. The bill would also make clear that foreign to foreign communications do not require a warrant. The Times helpfully explains that the Dems "remain nervous that they will be called soft on terrorism if they insist on strict curbs on gathering intelligence."

In return, the Democrats would get some transparency goodies. Four times a year, the Justice Department's inspector general would perform an audit of the program. And the Department would be required to maintain "a database of all Americans subjected to government eavesdropping without a court order, including whether their names have been revealed to other government agencies." . . .

http://www.thecarpetbaggerreport.com/archives/13171.html
[Steve Benen] I’d argue the Times piece was unhelpful. As Glenn Greenwald explained in a very helpful post, “[A]t least thus far, from everything I can tell, the picture is more complicated and less depressing than this NYT article suggests, and the defeat is not yet a fait accompli. To begin with, the bill to be proposed today by the House Democratic leadership actually contains some surprisingly good and important provisions.” . . . [read on]

http://www.salon.com/opinion/greenwald/2007/10/09/fisa/index.html

http://www.talkleft.com/story/2007/10/9/94433/4423
[Big Tent Democrat] But that bill will never see the President's desk. . . . We know the cast of characters already. This is a repeat of the Iraq Supplemental fight in March. The House bill will be eviscerated . . .

More: http://talkingpointsmemo.com/archives/055504.php

http://tpmelectioncentral.com/2007/10/behind_scenes_liberals_ponder_supporting_fisa_legislation.php

Amnesty for the telecoms? http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/10/09/AR2007100901191.html
Democrats in the House of Representatives said they would not even consider immunity until they receive information detailing precisely what the firms did.

"To give immunity at this point in time would be a blind immunity -- not knowing what, in fact, was done," said House Majority Leader Steny Hoyer, a Maryland Democrat. . .

[NB: “At this point in time. . .”]

The Republicans set out their bargaining stance

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/10/09/AR2007100901956.html
A House Democratic effort to revise the nation's new foreign intelligence surveillance law met swift resistance yesterday from the White House, Republican lawmakers and even some party members.

The GOP leaders of both chambers said the bill introduced yesterday by the chairmen of the House intelligence and Judiciary committees seeks to impose restrictions that would impede intelligence and law enforcement efforts to prevent a terrorist attack. . .

Hugh’s Big List of Bush Scandals – 256 and counting (thanks to Buzzflash for the link)

http://www.netrootsmass.net/Hugh/Bush_list.html

The Republicans find a twelve-year old they can beat up on

http://www.dailykos.com/storyonly/2007/10/9/224358/287
[Hunter] Ya know, I've been following what Malkin, Free Republic, Riehl and the like have been doing to Graeme Frost's family. I can't post much of anything on it, because any honest, no-holds-barred post I write about it right now would probably get me arrested. It's one of those little things about living in a civilized society -- sometimes you have to know where the boundaries are. And yet, there are continual examples of other people that don't have any boundaries at all.

Right now, the Frost's home address is posted on Free Republic. And it's been there for gawd knows how long -- nobody's taking it down. Why would they? The kid is the latest enemy of the entire conservative movement: they want to make him pay.

No, we've been through all this before, and we'll no doubt go through it again; if someone at any point so much as sends Malkin a nasty email, she writes an entire outraged self-ego-humping book about it. Someone calls out O'Reilly for a statement of appalling and unapologetic bigotry, he goes into seizures of anti-entire-planet rage. And God forbid someone dares make a schoolyard play off of an Army general's name -- the entire conservative movement freaks out and wet their goddamn pants in unison about the fucking horror of it all. But going after a kid and his family, because he read a statement on the radio? Fair. F-cking. Game. Hey, the twelve year old is an enemy. Get him. . . [read on]

http://www.firedoglake.com/2007/10/09/what-is-wrong-with-you/
[Christy Hardin Smith] The difference between the far right wing and the far left wing: the far right will do anything — anything — so long as the ends justifies the means. The far left folks have ethical boundaries that they try very hard not to cross: things like attacking other people’s minor children is bad form, let alone harassing a family that includes a child with severe brain damage from an auto accident. . . .

Rush piles on (of course): http://www.dailykos.com/storyonly/2007/10/9/114856/671
[TP] “I had some rudimentary information on this two weeks ago, and it wasn’t enough for me to trust going with. But since then, it has been verified, and most of it’s been verified by a ‘Freeper’ at Free Republic.” Apparently, a posting by a “freeper” is all Rush needs for confirmation. . . [read on]

http://www.thecarpetbaggerreport.com/archives/13177.html

http://digbysblog.blogspot.com/2007/10/judgment-daze-by-digby-naturally.html

More: http://digbysblog.blogspot.com/2007/10/outsourcing-dirt-gathering-by-digby-i.html

http://www.thecarpetbaggerreport.com/archives/13165.html

The GOP’s record of “using” kids as spokespeople: http://atrios.blogspot.com/2007_10_07_archive.html#3496025240129802595

http://digbysblog.blogspot.com/2007/10/word-to-wise-by-digby-golly-i-sure-hope.html

Yes, the kind of people they ARE

http://www.firedoglake.com/2007/10/09/late-nite-fdl-when-malkin-goes-stalkin/

http://www.first-draft.com/2007/10/oreillyyou-were.html

Swopa, the Prince of Framing, explains how to win the SCHIP debate

http://www.needlenose.com/node/view/4362
Dubya and his Republican allies think that if the solution to children being uninsured is to have the government step in, they'd rather not solve the problem. . . [read on]

Good news: a Bush Dept of Justice flack says that voter ID laws are discriminatory.

Bad news: he’s worried about WHITES – and wait ‘til you hear the explanation

http://talkingpointsmemo.com/archives/055473.php

http://www.tpmmuckraker.com/archives/004414.php

Rudy: the company he keeps

http://www.thecarpetbaggerreport.com/archives/13173.html
[Steve Benen] Way back in June, Time’s David Von Drehle asked an interesting question: “How many alleged criminals can a law-and-order candidate be associated with before it starts to hurt?” The question, of course, was in reference to Rudy Giuliani . . [read on]

More: http://talkingpointsmemo.com/archives/055464.php

Bonus item: Who is this moron?

http://matthewyglesias.theatlantic.com/archives/2007/10/the_war_on_ramadan.php

***If you enjoy PBD and support what we are doing, you can help by forwarding a copy of this issue to your friends (using the envelope link below) or by sending them a copy of its URL (http://pbd.blogspot.com).

I don't get anything personally out of this project, except the satisfaction of doing it (I don't run ads, etc). The credit really all goes to the people whose material I copy and redistribute. But if I do have a "mission," it is to get this information into the hands of as many people as I can.***
- posted by Nick Burbules @ 6:27 AM

 
NO RECONCILIATION

Simple truths

http://www.thecarpetbaggerreport.com/archives/13151.html
[WP] “I don’t think there is something called reconciliation, and there will be no reconciliation as such,” said Deputy Prime Minister Barham Salih, a Kurd. “To me, it is a very inaccurate term. This is a struggle about power.”

http://talkingpointsmemo.com/archives/055333.php
[Josh Marshall] You've no doubt seen this morning's article in the Post in which key Iraqi government leaders say that political reconciliation is not possible and, in fact, no longer even the goal. Writes the Post, "Iraqi leaders argue that sectarian animosity is entrenched in the structure of their government."

In other words, the strategic goal of the Surge -- creating the breathing room for political reconcilation -- is one the Iraqi government no longer appears to believe is either credible or realistic. So what we've signed on for is being the permanent armed mediator in the Iraqi domestic quarrel, or perhaps protracted divorce.

More: http://www.needlenose.com/node/view/4361

Iraq repeats their demand that Blackwater leave the country (I think they really mean it)

http://www.tpmmuckraker.com/archives/004407.php

Lousy Brits

http://news.yahoo.com/s/nm/20071008/ts_nm/britain_iraq_afghanistan_dc
Six years after the September 11 attacks in the United States, the "war on terror" is failing and instead fueling an increase in support for extremist Islamist movements, a British think-tank said on Monday. . . .

http://www.juancole.com/2007/10/british-troop-drawdown-from-basra.html
British Prime Minister Gordon Brown pledged on Monday to pull 3,000 British troops out of Basra by March of 2008, leaving only 2500, with those to be withdrawn by the end of that year. Brown's office says that the drawdown was approved by US Gen. David Petraeus. . . .

Why does the military hate the military?

http://www.talkingpointsmemo.com/horsesmouth/2007/10/one_of_petraeus.php
[Greg Sargent] New York Times public editor Clark Hoyt has now weighed in with a new column analyzing a key topic -- the constant conflicts between the different ways civilian casualties are counted in Iraq. Hoyt interviewed a number of experts about the topic. . .

Specifically, Hoyt reports that he spoke to one of Petraeus' own advisers, and despite having advised Petraeus he still says that the General's recent testimony to Congress about Iraq may have been misleading

So, Bush and Cheney are going to go ballistic over this classified leak, right?

http://www.first-draft.com/2007/10/leaky-administr.html
[WP] A small private intelligence company that monitors Islamic terrorist groups obtained a new Osama bin Laden video ahead of its official release last month, and around 10 a.m. on Sept. 7, it notified the Bush administration of its secret acquisition. It gave two senior officials access on the condition that the officials not reveal they had it until the al-Qaeda release.

Within 20 minutes, a range of intelligence agencies had begun downloading it from the company's Web site. By midafternoon that day, the video and a transcript of its audio track had been leaked from within the Bush administration to cable television news and broadcast worldwide.

The founder of the company, the SITE Intelligence Group, says this premature disclosure tipped al-Qaeda to a security breach and destroyed a years-long surveillance operation that the company has used to intercept and pass along secret messages, videos and advance warnings of suicide bombings from the terrorist group's communications network. . .

Dems seem prepared to extend some surveillance powers (but with a hell of a string attached)

http://www.nytimes.com/2007/10/09/washington/09nsa.html
Two months after insisting that they would roll back broad eavesdropping powers won by the Bush administration, Democrats in Congress appear ready to make concessions that could extend some crucial powers given to the National Security Agency. . . .

In an acknowledgment of concerns over civil liberties, the bill would require a more active role by the special foreign intelligence court that oversees the interception of foreign-based communications by the security agency.

http://www.talkleft.com/story/2007/10/8/22166/0420
[AP] The Justice Department would have to reveal to Congress the details of all electronic surveillance conducted without court orders since Sept. 11, 2001, including the so-called Terrorist Surveillance Program, if a new Democratic wiretapping bill is approved. . . .

http://www.slate.com/id/2175555
[Daniel Politi] Although civil liberties group acknowledge the bill is an improvement over what was approved in August, they're not happy about the broad authority that is being granted to the NSA. The Senate's bill is still in progress but it might give in to the administration's wishes even further and grant telecommunications companies blanket immunity for participating in the warrantless eavesdropping program. This immunity question will likely become the big fight between the Senate and the House versions, as some Democrats are making it clear that's the line they're unwilling to cross.

Giving in? http://www.mydd.com/story/2007/10/9/23414/2609

http://www.dailykos.com/storyonly/2007/10/9/45117/8847

Interesting question: If Watergate happened today. . .

http://thenexthurrah.typepad.com/the_next_hurrah/2007/10/watergate-the-f.html

Pressure on Republicans in the upcoming SCHIP fight

http://www.cnn.com/2007/POLITICS/10/08/schip.ads/

Pressure on five Dems too: http://digbysblog.blogspot.com/2007/10/price-of-admission-to-big-tent-by-digby.html
Jim Marshall (D-GA)–Washington, D.C. Office (202)225-6531; Macon, GA Office 1-877-464-0255; Tifton, GA Office (229)556-7418.

Baron Hill (D-IN)–Washington, D.C. Office (202)225-5315; Jeffersonville, IN Office (812)288-3999; Bloomington, IN Office (812)336-3000.

Gene Taylor (D-MS)–Washington, D.C. Office (202)225-5772; Bay St. Louis, MS Office (228)469-9235; Gulfport, MS Office (228)864-7670; Ocean Springs, MS Office (228)872-7950; Hattiesburg, MS Office (601)582-3246; Laurel, MS Office (601)425-3905.

Bob Etheridge (D-NC)–Washington, D.C. Office (202)225-4531; Raleigh, NC Office (919)829-9122 or 1-888-262-6202; Lillington, NC Office (910)814-0335 or 1-866-384-3743.

Mike McIntyre (D-NC)–Washington, D.C. Office (202)225-2731; Lumberton, NC Office (910)735-0610; Fayetteville, NC Office (910)323-0260; Wilmington, NC Office (910)815-4959; Bolivia, NC Office (910)253-0158.

The kind of people they are: Hey, when 12-year olds enter politics, they become fair game!

http://thinkprogress.org/2007/10/08/attacking-graeme-frost/
Two weeks ago, the Democratic radio address was delivered by a 12-year old Maryland boy named Graeme Frost. Graeme told his story of being involved in a severe car accident three years ago, and having received access to medical care because of the Children’s Health Insurance Program. . . .

The right-wing immediately condemned Democrats for daring to put a human face on the SCHIP program . . . Conservatives have more recently turned their targets on young Graeme Frost himself. A poster at the Free Republic propagated information alleging that Frost was actually a rich kid being pampered by the government. . .

The smear attack against Graeme has taken firm hold in the right-wing blogosphere. The National Review, Michelle Malkin, Wizbang, Powerline, and the Weekly Standard blog have all launched assaults on the Frost family. The story is slowly working its way into traditional media outlets as well. . . [read on]

http://digbysblog.blogspot.com/2007/10/fetid-compost-where-their-hearts-should.html
[Digby] This is sick . . .

Blocking von Spakovsky: so far, so good

http://www.firedoglake.com/2007/10/08/sometimes-we-do-better-than-we-expect-yet-again/

A couple of days ago we had an item on possible future GOP retirements in the Senate: here are some of the most likely possibilities

http://www.dailykos.com/storyonly/2007/10/8/15371/3877

Could the Dems make it to 60? http://www.americablog.com/2007/10/dems-looking-at-major-pick-ups-in.html

Fred Thompson, GOP savior? Well, maybe not

http://www.dailykos.com/storyonly/2007/10/8/12477/1125

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/10/08/AR2007100801553.html

Bonus item: How did this slip past Christian Right? They’re usually so vigilant about these things

http://www.snopes.com/disney/films/lionking.asp
[From “The Lion King”] About halfway to three-fourths of the way through the film, Simba, Pumbaa, and Timon are lying on their backs, looking up at the stars. Simba arises, walks over to the edge of a cliff, and flops to the ground, throwing up a cloud of dust. Eddies of dust form and dissipate in the roiling cloud, and at one point the various curves and angles in these eddies appear to form the letters S-E-X. . . .

A 4-year-old boy from New York (or Louisiana), viewing the video with his head tilted to the left, supposedly noticed the appearance of the letters S-E-X and told his mother (or aunt) about it. . . . His mother (or aunt) in turn notified a religious organization called the American Life League, who claimed this was yet another occurrence of Disney's deliberately inserting hidden images into their animated films. The American Life League, which had already been boycotting Disney films since the previous April, made this rumor the highlight of their September 1995 publicity campaign against several Disney videos allegedly containing "sexual messages."

http://www.discourse.net/archives/2007/10/subliminal_seduction_gop_style.html
[The new GOP Convention logo] The elephant’s trunk makes the “S”, the lines on the back makes the “E”, and the elephants crossed upper legs makes the “X” for an example of subliminal advertising applied to a political symbol. . . .

***If you enjoy PBD and support what we are doing, you can help by forwarding a copy of this issue to your friends (using the envelope link below) or by sending them a copy of its URL (http://pbd.blogspot.com).

I don't get anything personally out of this project, except the satisfaction of doing it (I don't run ads, etc). The credit really all goes to the people whose material I copy and redistribute. But if I do have a "mission," it is to get this information into the hands of as many people as I can.***
- posted by Nick Burbules @ 7:02 AM

 
A POOR CHOICE OF FRIENDS

The myth of “reconciliation” in Iraq

http://www.slate.com/id/2175449
[Daniel Politi] The WP points out that "the idea of 'reconciliation' in Iraq has always been short on specifics" and it means different things for Sunnis, Shiites, and Kurds. There's clearly a lack of trust all around, as Shiites say they are afraid reconciliation will bring about a return of Sunni power. Meanwhile, Sunnis don't think Shiites are willing to give in on any of their demands and would rather just see them disappear from the government. Instead of focusing so much on what each sectarian or ethnic group gets, there are calls from within the government to appoint more technocrats and move away from the current structure. Part of this could involve insulating some ministries from the political parties. Citing the failure of these types of unity governments in other places in the region, a Shiite member of parliament said Iraqis "need a strong government that conducts its duty and not that looks good." The idea that skilled technocarats would be chosen no matter what their background sounds desirable but is it possible? The Post fails to get into whether this even has a chance of succeeding when these divisions are so marked in the daily lives of Iraqis. . . .

More: http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/10/07/AR2007100701448.html

More terror from Blackwater

http://www.slate.com/id/2175449
[Daniel Politi] Everyone notes the Iraqi government released its investigation into the Sept. 16 shooting involving Blackwater guards. As had been previously reported, the government claims the shooting left 17 people dead and 27 injured. The Iraqi defense minister said that "not even a brick was thrown" at the Blackwater guards. The report found that Blackwater guards seemed to shot "in almost every direction, killing or wounding people in a near 360-degree circle around Nisour Square," says the NYT.

The LAT fronts a look at one incident in an area south of Baghdad, where residents believe Blackwater guards were the ones that sped past a traffic circle, shot indiscriminately into cars, and killed one man. No one has been held accountable, and residents say that U.S. officials told them Blackwater guards were responsible. But the Aug. 13 incident was not reported in the memos prepared for the congressional hearings last week.

More: http://www.nytimes.com/2007/10/08/world/middleeast/08blackwater.html
The Iraqi prime minister’s office said Sunday that the government’s investigation had determined that Blackwater USA private security guards who shot Iraqi civilians three weeks ago in a Baghdad square sprayed gunfire in nearly every direction, committed “deliberate murder” and should be punished accordingly. . . .

http://www.latimes.com/news/printedition/front/la-fg-hillah8oct08,1,5460601,full.story

Yes, it may be hard to believe, but the Bush gang misled Congress (again) about their torture activities

http://talkingpointsmemo.com/archives/055286.php

“New frontiers in torture” – creepy

http://www.washingtonmonthly.com/archives/individual/2007_10/012206.php

Are the Dems going to succeed in rolling back some of the worst surveillance excesses of the Bush gang?

http://thenexthurrah.typepad.com/the_next_hurrah/2007/10/progress.html

Or is it capitulation? http://www.openleft.com/showDiary.do?diaryId=1772

Listing the economic winners and losers of the Bush regime

http://www.firedoglake.com/2007/10/06/who-won-and-who-lost-under-the-bush-administration/

Republicans are starting to worry that their “filibuster everything that moves” approach is being noticed by 2008 voters for the obstructionism it is – so now they’re singing a more “bipartisan” tune (led by Trent Lott? I seriously doubt it)

http://talkingpointsmemo.com/archives/055283.php
[Steve Benen] These guys are making it sound as if there's some kind of mysterious hurdle standing in the way of legislative progress. There isn't. They don't want popular, progressive legislation to pass, and they don't want to generate dozens of presidential vetoes, so they're blocking legislation on everything from Iraq to habeas to voting rights.

If they want to stop, they should stop. If they're tired of the gridlock, they can end the filibusters. If they want to deliberate, they can debate the merit of legislation and then vote, up or down, on whether they support the bills or not.

There's no need for a new "gang" or "working group." There's simply a need for the Senate minority to stop standing in the way of every important bill that comes to the floor. . .

Pelosi says she is peeling away some Republican votes in the House to override Bush’s veto of SCHIP

http://thecaucus.blogs.nytimes.com/2007/10/07/sundaytalkshow/index.html

Here’s an underreported story: How much support of Democratic candidates, and their promises to end the war, comes from troops and their families, scared to death that another Republican administration will keep us at war in the Middle East forever

http://www.firedoglake.com/2007/10/07/money-talks-bullshit-walks/

This nails it – the point of Rush’s “phony soldiers” line (and the proof that it was quite intentional) is that it’s part of a fabric, not an isolated event. But don’t expect the press to say so

http://digbysblog.blogspot.com/2007/10/chickenhawk-scramble-by-digby-paul.html
[Paul Waldman] If this were the first, or second, or even third time this had happened, one might be able to come up with another plausible explanation. But what we heard this week with Rush Limbaugh was a replay of a record we've heard many times before: a war critic with a military record emerges, and the right responds by attacking his patriotism, arguing that his service wasn't real, or both. . . [read on]

The kind of people they are

http://www.firedoglake.com/2007/10/06/how-wingnuts-support-the-troops/
[Democracy Now] One prominent peace activist Carlos Arredondo was beaten by pro-war activists. Arredondo’s son Alex died in Iraq three years ago. To honor Alex’s memory, Carlos has been crisscrossing the country pulling a flag-draped coffin. He marched with the coffin on Saturday and then left the march to return the coffin to his truck. That’s when a pro-war supporter tried to rip a photo of Carlos’ son from the coffin. When Carlos tried to save the photograph, he said a group of pro-war activists attacked him. . . [read on]

The press has lost interest, so I suppose we won’t hear much more about Rush’s slander, or his lies about it – but that doesn’t mean we’re done hearing DEFENSES of poor Rush

http://www.talkingpointsmemo.com/horsesmouth/2007/10/jonah_goldberg.php
[Greg Sargent] I've noticed a funny coincidence when it comes to the right-wingers who are defending Rush Limbaugh over his "phony soldiers" comment. Those wingers who are most vehement in their defense of Rush -- and most aggressive in their denunciations of Rush's critics -- always seem to fail to share with their readers the sum total of what Rush actually said, so that they can make up their own minds. . . [read on]

More: http://www.thecarpetbaggerreport.com/archives/13147.html

Isn’t “the Dean of the Washington Press Corps” supposed to be too savvy and experienced to let himself be used this way? Of course, there’s an alternative explanation . . . .

http://www.thecarpetbaggerreport.com/archives/13150.html
[Steve Benen] The situation is bleak at the National Republican Congressional Committee. The GOP’s House committee has $1.6 million in the bank, but is $4 million in debt. The NRCC has struggled to convince incumbents to avoid retirements, and its recruiting efforts have largely been busts. Two weeks ago, House Minority Leader John A. Boehner (R-Ohio) was do discouraged by the campaign committee’s plight that he threatened to fire its chief strategists, and NRCC Chairman Tom Cole (R-Okla.) considered resigning.

So, when Cole sat down this week with David Broder, putting on a brave face and insisting the Republicans will do just fine, one suspects Cole struggled to keep a straight face. And yet, according to his column today, Broder seems to have bought the spin without question. . . .

More: http://www.dailykos.com/storyonly/2007/10/7/115948/163
[Kos] The NRCC is broke, in debt, and lagging desperately behind their Democratic counterparts at the DCCC. (In millions.) . . .

They don't have the money to play defense, much less pretend they're going on offense.

Funny that Broder wouldn't bother mentioning any of this.

Theocracy watch: disaffection on the Christian Right

http://www.nytimes.com/2007/10/07/weekinreview/07goodstein.html
AFTER the 2004 elections, religious conservatives were riding high. Newly anointed by pundits as “values voters” — a more flattering label than “religious right” — they claimed credit for propelling George W. Bush to two terms in the White House. Even in wartime, they had managed to fixate the nation on their pet issues: opposition to abortion, gay marriage and stem cell research. . .

Now with the 2008 race taking shape, religious conservatives say they sense they have taken a tumble. Their issues are no longer at the forefront, and their leaders have failed so far to coalesce around a candidate, as they did around Mr. Bush and Ronald Reagan.

What unites them right now is their dismay — even panic — at the idea of Rudolph W. Giuliani as the Republican nominee, because of his support for abortion rights and gay rights, as well as what they regard as a troubling history of marital infidelity. But what to do about it is where they again diverge, with some religious conservatives last week threatening to bolt to a third party if Mr. Giuliani gets the nomination, and others arguing that this is the sure road to defeat.

Many religious conservatives were proud to claim the mantle that Karl Rove bestowed on them as “the base of the Republican Party.” Now they fear they may have lapsed unwittingly into the same role that African-Americans play in the Democratic Party: a dependable minority constituency that is courted by candidates but never really gets to call the shots. . . .

I wondered the SAME thing – as my wife will tell you, I was yelling it at my t.v. set

http://digbysblog.blogspot.com/2007/10/mums-word-by-digby-when-i-saw.html
[Digby] When I saw the roundtable line-up this morning on Meet The Press, I was actually interested, for once. Since Monsignor Tim insists on having David Brody, a "journalist" from Pat Robertson's Christian Broadcast "Network" on, I thought at least we could get some inside information on the reported unhappiness among the religious right with the Republican front runner.

Russert didn't even bring it up. Neither did Brody. Neither did anyone else.

They talked about many aspects of the presidential race but not that one, with Brody opining on both Romney and Thompson and their issues with "hypocrisy" . . .

No mention in the entire round table of the Dobson op-ed in the NY Times, no mention of the threatened schism on the right. Even though they had a "journalist" from the religious right media there at the table, they didn't say a word about the unrest among the powerful christian conservatives. Why not?

More things to yell at your t.v. set

http://matthewyglesias.theatlantic.com/archives/2007/10/god_forbid_we_tell_them.php
[Matt Yglesias] I broke with habit and watched Tim Russert's show today. . . . We had Russert, David Broder, Margaret Carlson, Ted Koppel, and David Brody -- not bad as far as these things go. Eventually, someone -- either Russert or Koppel -- noted that the New York City press, which knows Rudy Giuliani much better than the national press corps, has been full in recent months of hard-hitting coverage that substantially undermines the narrative Giuliani is trying to create about his own campaign.

This, it seemed to me, was an interesting topic for a national broadcast television show. Maybe these worthy panelists would inform their audience of these pieces of information known to New Yorkers, and resolve to bring this information to their audiences at Time, The Washington Post, NPR, CBN, and the various General Electric-owned media properties.

Sorry, just kidding. It didn't occur to me for a minute that they would do this. And, indeed, they didn't. Instead, they went meta and had a brief discussion of why it is that these accurate accounts of Giuliani's record and personal behavior "don't penetrate." And, of course, they never considered the possibility that their own failure to report on these accurate portrayal's of Giuliani's record and personal behavior might play any role in it.

Bonus item: I agree, it’s a perfect metaphor

http://www.thecarpetbaggerreport.com/archives/13146.html
[Steve Benen] The U.S. embassy in Baghdad, nowhere near complete, is a 21-building, 104-acre compound, a chunk of prime real estate two-thirds the size of Washington’s National Mall. It is, according the International Crisis Group, the largest embassy any country will have anywhere on earth — a fact that has not gone unnoticed by frustrated Iraqis, who not only resent the ongoing U.S. presence, but who also lament the failures of the American-financed rebuilding program in Iraq.

And just to add insult to injury, the entire project grows more embarrassing all the time. . . [read on]

***If you enjoy PBD and support what we are doing, you can help by forwarding a copy of this issue to your friends (using the envelope link below) or by sending them a copy of its URL (http://pbd.blogspot.com).

I don't get anything personally out of this project, except the satisfaction of doing it (I don't run ads, etc). The credit really all goes to the people whose material I copy and redistribute. But if I do have a "mission," it is to get this information into the hands of as many people as I can.***
- posted by Nick Burbules @ 6:54 AM

 
FOR SHAME

The New York Times on Bush, torture, and national dishonor

http://www.nytimes.com/2007/10/07/opinion/07sun1.html
After the attacks of 9/11, Mr. Bush authorized the creation of extralegal detention camps where Central Intelligence Agency operatives were told to extract information from prisoners who were captured and held in secret. Some of their methods — simulated drownings, extreme ranges of heat and cold, prolonged stress positions and isolation — had been classified as torture for decades by civilized nations. The administration clearly knew this; the C.I.A. modeled its techniques on the dungeons of Egypt, Saudi Arabia and the Soviet Union.

The White House could never acknowledge that. So its lawyers concocted documents that redefined “torture” to neatly exclude the things American jailers were doing and hid the papers from Congress and the American people. Under Attorney General Alberto Gonzales, Mr. Bush’s loyal enabler, the Justice Department even declared that those acts did not violate the lower standard of “cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment.”

That allowed the White House to claim that it did not condone torture, and to stampede Congress into passing laws that shielded the interrogators who abused prisoners, and the men who ordered them to do it, from any kind of legal accountability.

Mr. Bush and his aides were still clinging to their rationalizations at the end of last week. The president declared that Americans do not torture prisoners and that Congress had been fully briefed on his detention policies.

Neither statement was true . . . [read on]

Was it worth it?

http://www.slate.com/id/2175444
[Ben Whitford] The Washington Post leads with a look at the parade of Bush aides who have left the White House in recent months. In a series of revealing interviews with everyone from Karl Rove down, the Post paints a picture of dispirited and exhausted staffers, many tormented by doubts over the administration's legacy. . . .

Concerns about the future of Iraq loom large: former security adviser Meghan O'Sullivan confesses to having nightmares about the state of the country, while ex-strategy chief Peter Wehner says former friends no longer speak to him because of his part in planning the invasion. Others are more sanguine: Dan Bartlett's biggest worry is his suddenly empty in-box, while Karl Rove is perhaps a little too quick to insist that he doesn't feel sorry for himself at all. The Post avoids Schadenfreude, instead giving a more nuanced sense of missed opportunities and thwarted ambitions.

More: http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/10/06/AR2007100601521.html

http://talkingpointsmemo.com/archives/055276.php

Overly simple, but it captures a truth

http://www.openleft.com/showDiary.do?diaryId=1759
[Paul Rosenberg] (A) Democrats are reality-based when it comes to policies, and totally out to lunch when it comes to winning elections, and politicking in general.

(B) But Republicans are totally out to lunch when it comes to policies, and as reality-based as it gets when it comes to winning elections, and politicking in general. . . [NB: really interesting article – read on]

A case in point: http://www.balloon-juice.com/?p=8799
[John Cole] If you want to know why the Republican party is in shambles, read this . . . [read on]

More: http://www.openleft.com/showDiary.do?diaryId=1762

Support the troops, huh?

http://www.thecarpetbaggerreport.com/archives/13137.html
[Steve Benen] The 2,600 members of the Minnesota National Guard recently ended a 22-month tour of duty in Iraq, the longest deployment of any ground-combat unit in the Armed Forces. Many of its members returned home, looking forward to using education benefits under the GI bill. . . .

It’s not working that way. The Guard troops have been told that in order to be eligible for the education benefits they expect, they had to serve 730 days in Iraq. They served 729. . . [read on]

Will Bush compromise on SCHIP?

Maybe: http://www.cnn.com/2007/POLITICS/10/06/radio.addresses.ap/index.html

Maybe not: http://www.thecarpetbaggerreport.com/archives/13141.html

Why he’d better: http://www.dailykos.com/storyonly/2007/10/6/191332/717

The surveillance debate enters a new chapter

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/10/06/AR2007100601265.html
House Democrats plan to introduce a bill this week that would let a secret court issue one-year "umbrella" warrants to allow the government to intercept e-mails and phone calls of foreign targets and would not require that surveillance of each person be approved individually. . . .

The Democrats' legislation, drafted by the Intelligence and Judiciary committee chairmen, is aimed to reconcile civil liberties, privacy and national security concerns. It would overhaul the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act (FISA), a 1978 law amended many times that the Bush administration argues has been outstripped by technology. . .

EPA fails to give asbestos warnings

http://seattlepi.nwsource.com/national/334357_asbestos05.html

“Polarization” vs “bipartisanship” – a glossary into the Village’s cozy political rhetoric

http://www.firedoglake.com/2007/10/06/12095/

Just don’t call Rudy “polarizing”: http://matthewyglesias.theatlantic.com/archives/2007/10/credible_threats.php

MORE Senate Republicans to retire? (maybe the prospect of being on the short side of a million filibuster votes doesn’t appeal to them any more)

http://politicalwire.com/archives/2007/10/06/quote_of_the_day.html

The Republicans find a new way to pressure and embarrass Larry Craig – but it looks as if they are getting used to the idea that he might just stay on

http://www.thecarpetbaggerreport.com/archives/13138.html

The next big problem for them: http://bloggernista.com/2007/10/06/republican-senators-knew-about-larry-craig/
[Bob Novak] I have talked to several of my sources in the Senate, and this came as a surprise to me…They knew about it. They knew that he had this problem, and it was in the closet. And it was not just a homosexual relationship. It was this weird conduct. They didn’t do anything about it.

Rush Limbaugh’s New McCarthyism

http://www.talkleft.com/story/2007/10/6/123147/999

More: http://mediamatters.org/items/200710060004

Bill O’Reilly is really losing it

http://thinkprogress.org/2007/10/06/oreilly-cancer-cnn/
O’REILLY: You know what you can do with all respect? You can combine how I deal with cancer with how I deal with the White House press corps. Because they’re both insidious, invasive. They both have to be wiped out.

http://www.thecarpetbaggerreport.com/archives/13140.html
[Steve Benen] I suspect Bill O’Reilly was kidding, but am I the only one who finds his eliminationist rhetoric kind of creepy?

Sunday talk show line-ups

http://politicaltvalerts.blogspot.com/2007/09/tv-alerts-105-1011.html
* Meet the Press: John Edwards (D-NC); "Live From Cape Canaveral" author Jay Barbree; roundtable of WaPo's David Broder, CBN's David Brody, Bloomberg's Margaret Carlson & Discovery's Ted Koppel

* Face the Nation: Rep. Charlie Rangel (D-NY); Rep. Adam Putnam (R-FL); Family Research Council's Tony Perkins; Politico's Roger Simon

* This Week: HHS Sec. Michael Leavitt; Gov. Jon Corzine (D-NJ); Gov. Bill Richardson (D-NM); roundtable of Nation's Katrina vanden Heuvel, Time's Jay Carney, ABC's Claire Shipman, and George Will

* Fox News Sunday: Rep. Nancy Pelosi (D-CA); Clinton campaign mrg Patti Solis Doyle

* Late Edition: Iraqi Pres. Jalal Talabani, Sudanese FM Lam Akol, Brooking's Susan Rice, Enough Co-chair John Prendergast, ex-Fed Chair Alan Greenspan; roundtable of CNN's Mary Snow, Time's Mark Halperin, and CNN's Suzanne Malveaux.

Bonus item: A failing Oral examination

http://www.thecarpetbaggerreport.com/archives/13136.html

***If you enjoy PBD and support what we are doing, you can help by forwarding a copy of this issue to your friends (using the envelope link below) or by sending them a copy of its URL (http://pbd.blogspot.com).

I don't get anything personally out of this project, except the satisfaction of doing it (I don't run ads, etc). The credit really all goes to the people whose material I copy and redistribute. But if I do have a "mission," it is to get this information into the hands of as many people as I can.***
- posted by Nick Burbules @ 7:09 AM

 
DON’T ASK, DON’T TELL

Bush says, we don’t torture, because we define “torture” to only include things we don’t do.

We won’t tell you what we are doing, because this could be useful knowledge for the terrorists (who are actually far more likely to already know what we are doing than the average American citizen).

We follow the law, because our Justice Department reinterprets the law to fit what we’re doing.

Besides all that, we’re keeping you safe, so shut up and stop asking questions.

http://talkingpointsmemo.com/archives/055155.php

Dana Perino and the banality of evil

http://www.first-draft.com/2007/10/today-on-hold-4.html
Q I wanted to ask about the President's statement this morning on the interrogation method. He said -- he repeated, obviously, what he did yesterday, that the government doesn't torture -- the U.S. government doesn't torture people. But these memos make it sound like the definition of what's permissible is so expansive that you could say we don't torture and almost anything could be true falling into that. What do you say to that?

MS. PERINO: Well, what I say is the United States' policy and our laws is not to torture. . .

Q So where is the line between harsh but legal interrogation, and torture?

MS. PERINO: The experts have debated that. They have come up with an opinion. It is there for everyone to see --

Q But where does the President put it?

MS. PERINO: The President -- I'm not going to get into specifics. I'm not going to get into specific tactics.

Q But wait a minute, this is the whole issue right here. What is the President's policy? What's his thoughts? I mean, I think a lot of --

MS. PERINO: I told you what the policy is. The policy is that the United States does not torture. . .

Q Is it possible, Dana, that there are actions that we're talking about that some people -- whether it's waterboarding, or head-slapping, or anything -- that some people look at and say, harsh but legal, and other people look at and say, torture?

MS. PERINO: As I said yesterday, I am not saying that reasonable people couldn't look at something and disagree when it comes to legal opinion. But the legal opinion of the United States is that we do not torture. . . .

Q Dana, why did the President feel the need today to weigh in on the subject of the CIA interrogation program in what was ostensibly to be a statement on the economy? Did he feel that the disclosures about the harsh treatment of detainees were somehow casting the administration in a bad light?

MS. PERINO: I think he wants to make sure that the American people know that, first and foremost, he's going to do everything he can within the law to make sure that they are protected from terrorists who want to harm us. And secondly, he wanted to make sure people knew that we do not torture anybody. . . .

Q Just as a follow, I think a question would be, why can't the White House come up with some definition other than just saying, we don't torture?

MS. PERINO: Well, I think that the question is part of -- I could speculate, and I shouldn't. . . .

Watch: http://talkingpointsmemo.com/archives/055191.php

Thank you, Josh

http://talkingpointsmemo.com/archives/055182.php
[Josh Marshall] Verbal gymnastics are more offensive when they're about oral sex than they are when they're about state-sanctioned torture.

Ahem

http://www.reuters.com/article/politicsNews/idUSN0428795220071005
A secret CIA overseas detention program revealed by President George W. Bush last year remains active and has held at least one al Qaeda militant since then, a U.S. official said on Thursday.

The official confirmed the detention as the White House skirted the question of whether the agency had resumed holding prisoners at secret sites and insisted that the United States does not torture. . . .

Blackwater: the more we learn, the worse it gets

http://www.tpmmuckraker.com/archives/004391.php

http://www.tpmmuckraker.com/archives/004398.php
The Blackwater guard who drunkenly shot a bodyguard for Iraqi Vice President Adel Abdul Mehdi in December 2006 was back working for a Department of Defense contractor by February . . . And in a letter House oversight committee Chair Henry Waxman (D-CA) sent to Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice today, he asks why. He suggests that the reason it was so easy for the guard, Andrew J. Moonen, to get back to work, was because the State Department didn't inform the Defense Department about what the ex-Blackwater employee did . . .

During this week's Congressional hearing on Blackwater, a State official refused to tell Waxman anything about the incident -- including whether State had helped Moonen flee Iraq after the shooting.

"It is hard to reconcile this development with the State Department’s claim that 'We are scrupulous in terms of oversight and scrutiny not only of Blackwater but all of our contractors,'" Waxman writes.

Meanwhile, the State Dept reacts to Blackwater’s lawlessness with bureaucrateese and stalling

http://www.tpmmuckraker.com/archives/004393.php
[Rice] "wants to make sure there is a management feedback loop," McCormack told reporters.

More: http://www.slate.com/id/2175442
[Justin Peters] The New York Times and the Washington Post lead and the Wall Street Journal (at least online) tops its world-wide news box with the State Department's decision to drastically expand its oversight of controversial Iraq contractor Blackwater USA. Among other measures, State plans to install cameras in Blackwater's vehicles and have diplomatic security agents ride along on Blackwater's convoys. . . . "This puts diplomatic security into the role of a chaperone," one expert said of the State Department's announcement. Although Blackwater has been under fire regarding its operatives' roles in the death of several Iraqi civilians in September, the State Department is spinning these new regulations as precautionary rather than punitive measures. None of the papers seem to be buying this explanation—especially not the NYT, which spends over half of its story recapitulating previous coverage of Blackwater's alleged misdeeds.

The Post reports how these specific regulations partially derive from a recent Pentagon report that noted the stark communications gap between military personnel in Iraq and the "arrogant" contractors who operate in a murky extralegal realm. An anonymous Defense Department source in the Post neatly summarizes the problem, noting that the contractors are mostly combat-hardened Special Forces veterans who aren't likely to take orders from "some 20 year old corporal." None of the papers ask why these contractors should be expected to respond better to State Department babysitters.

[NB: Yep, so State Dept observers are now watching over Blackwater, who is supposedly protecting other State Dept personnel. So who is protecting the observers?]

OK, right-wingers: Blackwater and the military are giving diametrically opposed versions of what went down in the shooting of 11 Iraqi civilians. Who do you believe?

http://www.dailykos.com/storyonly/2007/10/5/184954/624

Reopening the investigation into New Hampshire dirty tricks, and why the DOJ never looked into possible White House and RNC involvement (cough, cough, “Ken Mehlman”)

http://www.tpmmuckraker.com/archives/004376.php

More: http://www.thecarpetbaggerreport.com/archives/13126.html

No more “Trust Me.” The Democrats start to get smart about FISA (maybe)

http://tpmelectioncentral.com/2007/10/dems_postpone_vote_on_fisa.php
[Greg Sargent] Amid signs that progressives in the House are worried about the direction being taken by the House Dem leadership on controversial new FISA legislation, Dems have postponed the release of the bill out of committee until next week.. . .

More: http://www.dailykos.com/storyonly/2007/10/5/135534/205

Meanwhile, in the von Spakovsky confirmation fight, the Dems get outmaneuvered again

http://talkingpointsmemo.com/archives/055201.php
[David Kurtz] The nomination of Hans von Spakovsky to the FEC has put Senate Democrats in a box: either confirm the GOP voter suppression specialist or enter the 2008 elections with a crippled FEC.

More: http://www.tpmmuckraker.com/archives/004396.php

The Bush legacy: putting off trouble until the bill comes due

http://talkingpointsmemo.com/archives/055151.php
[David Kurtz] Seems as if everyone, even outside of the liberal blogosphere, is starting to realize that Bush's plan is just to leave the messes he has created to his successor, which is accompanied by the growing sense of how badly he has failed across a broad spectrum of issues.

"It's hard to find something he has done that really has improved the situation a great deal," Stephen J. Wayne, a Georgetown University presidential scholar, tells the AP.

Or as former Bush campaign strategist Matthew Dowd puts it: "We're in a worse place than we were in 1999."

More: http://www.thecarpetbaggerreport.com/archives/13121.html
By one count, the president has publicly vowed to “solve problems, not pass them on to future presidents and future generations” almost 250 times. The AP’s Jennifer Loven found quite a few examples of Bush actually choosing to do the opposite. Excerpts from her lengthy list . . .

http://matthewyglesias.theatlantic.com/archives/2007/10/understatement_of_the_day.php
[Matt Yglesias] The only thing I would dispute is that the framing suggests that "solving problems" is one of the purposes of the Bush administration, and that the fact that the problems haven't been solved amounts to a failure of administration policy. The evidence, in my view, suggests that Bush and his top aides couldn't care less about national problems and whether or not they're solved. They spend a lot of time focused on things like setting themselves up for sweetheart jobs in the industries they used to regulate, evading legal consequences for war crimes, helping the rich get richer, etc. . . .

The Goofus Files return

http://wilsonhellie.typepad.com/for_the_record/2007/10/george-bush-is-.html
"My job is a decision-making job. And as a result, I make a lot of decisions," the president said. . . .

"I delegate to good people. I always tell Condi Rice, `I want to remind you, Madam Secretary, who has the Ph.D. and who was the C student. And I want to remind you who the adviser is and who the president is.'

[NB: Yes, he used that hoary old line AGAIN. The frequency with which he repeats it tells us everything we need to know about his relentless need to reassure himself of his importance around people that he knows are smarter than he is]

“I got a lot of Ph.D.-types and smart people around me who come into the Oval Office and say, `Mr. President, here's what's on my mind.' And I listen carefully to their advice. But having gathered the device (sic), I decide, you know, I say, `This is what we're going to do.' And it's `Yes, sir, Mr. President.' And then we get after it, implement policy."

More: http://digbysblog.blogspot.com/2007/10/seven-long-years-by-digby.html

On Larry Craig, just sit back and enjoy it all. The GOP is clearly not prepared to say, “Hey, maybe he’s gay, no big deal” – and so they are twisting themselves into knots trying to quietly shunt him aside. . . and he’s not going

http://talkingpointsmemo.com/news/2007/10/craig_poses_dilemma_for_gop_co.php

http://www.thecarpetbaggerreport.com/archives/13119.html

I keep telling them, Guys, stay outta the bathrooms! They won’t listen

http://talkingpointsmemo.com/archives/055255.php

Huh??????

http://www.talkingpointsmemo.com/horsesmouth/2007/10/cnns_kitty_pilg.php
[Kitty Pilgrim, CNN] In another setback for the GOP, Senator Pete Domenici tonight is announcing his retirement. Senator Domenici will step down next year for health reasons. His retirement could make it harder for Republicans to stay in control of the Senate.

A big story, you might think

http://www.thecarpetbaggerreport.com/archives/13124.html
[Steve Benen] Just two weeks ago, CBS Evening News anchor Katie Couric said her former employer, NBC, discouraged her from challenging the Bush administration. “I think there was a lot of undercurrent of pressure not to rock the boat for a variety of reasons, where it was corporate reasons or other considerations,” she said.

Yesterday, Hardball host Chris Matthews took this one step further, telling a DC audience that the Bush administration has tried to lean on his network and influence broadcast journalism. . .

This is a provocative thing to say, isn’t it? White House officials tried to shape MSNBC news broadcasts? Will Bunch raised the questions that Matthews might be so generous as to consider: “What were these attempts by Dick Cheney and other to muzzle him — and more importantly, did they work? Name names, if you’re going to be so brave. You say they won’t silence you? Great! We’re listening.”

Clear speaking on Hillary Clinton being a “polarizing figure”

http://digbysblog.blogspot.com/2007/10/one-sided-polarization-by-digby-kevin.html
[Kevin Drum] Hillary, by contrast, is polarizing not because she wants to be, but because the right-wing attack machine made her that way. She's "polarizing" only because a certain deranged slice of conservative nutjobs detest her.

And guess what? By this standard, Jimmy Carter is polarizing. Bill Clinton is polarizing. Al Gore is polarizing. John Kerry is polarizing. Do you see the trend here? . . [read on]

The silly season

http://blog.washingtonpost.com/the-trail/2007/10/05/lapel_pin_politics.html
Barack Obama caused a small kerfuffle in the media earlier this week with his comment, in response to a question to an Iowa television station, that he had stopped wearing an American flag pin on his lapel (which he taken to wearing after 9/11) because he felt that worn by others the pin "became a substitute for I think true patriotism, which is speaking out on issues that are of importance to our national security." . . . [take a deep breath, then read on]

More: http://atrios.blogspot.com/2007_09_30_archive.html#1042648315870902020

http://matthewyglesias.theatlantic.com/archives/2007/10/lapelpin_patriotism.php

http://mediamatters.org/items/200710050010

http://mediamatters.org/items/200710050012
Discussing an interview in which Sen. Barack Obama said he had stopped wearing a flag pin on his lapel during the lead-up to the Iraq war, Sean Hannity said on his radio show: "[W]hy do we wear pins? Because our country was under attack." . . . Yet while criticizing Obama for not wearing a flag pin, Hannity himself has not worn an American flag lapel pin on a number of recent occasions.

Christ

http://talkingpointsmemo.com/archives/055185.php
Fox News poll. . . Who prays more for the President? Who prays more for the troops?

More: http://www.talkingpointsmemo.com/horsesmouth/2007/10/best_fox_news_m.php
[Fox News] Nearly one out of every five Democrats thinks the world will be better off if America loses the war in Iraq . . . [read on]

The “Stop Rudy” backlash from the Christian Right continues

http://talkingpointsmemo.com/archives/055241.php

Rush’s self defense wanders off into la-la land (don’t miss this one)

http://digbysblog.blogspot.com/2007/10/and-i-used-to-walk-on-moon-by-digby-i.html

More: http://matthewyglesias.theatlantic.com/archives/2007/10/phonies_everywhere.php

Bonus item: Paul Krugman, on why “compassionate conservative” is an oxymoron

http://www.nytimes.com/2007/10/05/opinion/05krugman.html

***If you enjoy PBD and support what we are doing, you can help by forwarding a copy of this issue to your friends (using the envelope link below) or by sending them a copy of its URL (http://pbd.blogspot.com).

I don't get anything personally out of this project, except the satisfaction of doing it (I don't run ads, etc). The credit really all goes to the people whose material I copy and redistribute. But if I do have a "mission," it is to get this information into the hands of as many people as I can.***
- posted by Nick Burbules @ 7:02 AM

 
LADIES NIGHT

Explain to me why, in the aftermath of one of the most devastating news reports published about this gang’s lawless rule, the Bush bully boys roll out the (few) WOMEN of their administration to defend their policies of torture

Monster with a pretty face

http://www.tpmmuckraker.com/archives/004378.php
QUESTION: You maintain that the administration still does not torture?

PERINO: Correct....

QUESTION: But is it not possible that some of these classified opinions may have changed the definition of "torture"?

PERINO: No. I don't believe so. I have not seen them. But as everything was described to me, no, I don't believe that's possible....

QUESTION: How can you say that ... how can you say with assurance that we don't torture if you don't know what was in the ...

PERINO: Because we follow the law. . . .

[NB: Now THAT’S what I call an airtight argument]

QUESTION: It is oft declared that the policy of the United States is not to torture, but, of course, you won't describe to us what you do . . . that you don't call torture.

PERINO: Well, there's a very good reason for that.

QUESTION: So once again I will say, whether or not you torture them, whether or not you consider what you're doing to these people torture ... isn't it inconsistent with a commitment to democracy to hold someone outside the United States when you want to do to them what you cannot do inside the United States?

PERINO: I will tell you what ... the reason that we don't provide the classified information on interrogation techniques is because we know very well . . . that individuals like al Qaeda train to interrogation techniques. And we know that these are people who will make sure that they can resist any type of interrogation technique in order to carry out horrible, murderous deeds, like killing 3,000 Americans in New York City and at the Pentagon. And we are in a global war on terror. The President ... go back to the September 6th speech. The President was very clear as to the situation that we are in and why are we are endeavoring to protect the American people like we are. That's exactly why we do it.

[NB: They always fall back on this one, don’t they? “Don’t ask too many questions about what we’re doing, because these are bad people who want to hurt you (i.e., they deserve whatever we do to them).”]

QUESTION: I will stipulate these are bad people. I am not asking you to tell me what is being done to them; I'm asking you about the principle of holding them someplace where you can do what you can't do in the United States.

PERINO: Look, regardless of where they are, we do not torture anyone. And getting that information from those individuals is critically important to protecting this country.

QUESTION: Can I go back to ... you say we do not provide information ... is it because you're saying you don't want al Qaeda to train its people to resist your techniques; is that the reason?

PERINO: That's right. . . .

QUESTION: Dana, these techniques that have been talked about through intelligence sources and published ... whether it's waterboarding, simulated drowning, subjection to extreme temperatures, loud music, deprived of food or sleep for periods of time ... all of that is well known. And if al Qaeda needs a game book, they can read The New York Times and figure out, well, those are a few techniques we might try to train against. So doesn't that sort of defeat the purpose of saying that it is not something we want to ...

PERINO: Just because it's printed in The