John McCain And The " Tar Baby " Remark

   Not that the Republicans had much of a chance of getting the black vote in 2008, but John McCain made damned sure on Friday that he was not going to get to many black voters in his corner when he used the term " tar baby " at a town hall meeting in Cedar Falls, Iowa.

   I will let you be the judge of whether it sounds as if he was using the phrase in a racial way. McCain was speaking on federal involvement in custody cases when he said,

"For me to stand here and ... say I'm going to declare divorces invalid because of someone who feels they weren't treated fairly in court, we are getting into a tar baby of enormous proportions and I don't know how you get out of that."      Source

   McCain did tell reporters that he shouldn't have used the word and that it was wrong to do so, but the press will still have more to write about the incident, such as it was.

   I do not see any sort of racial meaning from the way that he spoke but I am sure that some group somewhere will make more out of this than is necessary. This is America after all.

The term dates to the 19th century Uncle Remus stories, referring to a doll made of tar that traps Br'er Rabbit. It has become known as a way of describing a sticky mess and has been used as a derogatory term for a black person.

 

Technorati tags: John McCain, federal government

 

 

 

 

 

 

Comedian's Look At The Week In Washington

   Here is a taste of what the late night comedians are saying about the happenings in Washington this past week.

From Late Night Political jokes

"The chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff recently upset gay activists because he said, 'a homosexual act between two individuals is immoral.' Then the chairman added, 'Unless it's two chicks.'"
---Conan O'Brien

"Senator Obama is not the first African American to run for president, but he’s the first African American to have a prayer. Which is ironic, since two of the others were reverends."
---Stephen Colbert

"Saturday is St. Patrick’s Day. Scooter Libby is already wearing a button that reads, "Pardon me, I’m Irish."
---David Letterman
-

"Halliburton is moving its headquarters to Dubai to avoid paying taxes in the United States. Isn't that crazy? When did Halliburton start paying taxes?"
---Jay Leno

 

"Good news for the Bush administration. Just one week after the outrageous Walter Reed medical scandal, that story is gone. Because there's a new kid in town. His name is Outrageous Fired Federal Prosecutors Attorney General Scandal. Yes, in one week it's been revealed the administration screwed over wounded vets (the most revered people in America), and lawyers (the most reviled people in America), proving they've got range."
---Jon Stewart

"Alberto Gonzales has gotten into trouble for firing eight U.S. attorneys for what appears to be political reasons. President Bush said today he still has confidence in Gonzales -- the same confidence he had in Rumsfeld, Scooter Libby, and Michael Brown of FEMA." --Jay Leno

"According to a recent poll, anti-American sentiment is running high in Mexico. Half of Mexico's population say they have a negative view of the United States and the other half are already here." --Jay Leno

"Al Qaeda's number three man mastermind Khalid Shaikh Mohammed has confessed to being the mastermind behind September 11th and said he planned 29 other attacks, including plotting to kill Bill Clinton. To which Hillary Clinton said, 'You too?'" --Jay Leno

 

Technorati tags: comedians, Leno, Jon Stewart, David Letterman, Washington

" Fair and Balanced " Not Fox News

   Here's a story from Daily Kos on Fox News being "fair and balanced."

Fox, "fair and balanced" in their own special way

by kos   Fri Mar 16, 2007

Funny.

On more than one occasion, I worked with Fox News producers and reporters. Once, in Herat, I saw one of the Foxholes approached by a couple of soldiers. One of the soldiers said he was glad they could finally talk to a "conservative" reporter. The reporter laughed and said, "Someone's got to balance out the liberals." But, later, I ran into that same reporter in Bagram. He wanted an interview with some soldiers and, when I grabbed one at random to ask if he wanted to talk to Fox News, the soldier--an Army captain--said he didn't, because, as a Democrat, he wasn't a fan of the network's politics. The reporter, shaken up, said that was ridiculous. The network had no politics, but only told the truth. "Whatever," said the captain and walked off. The reporter, after a few beats narrowed his eyes at the soldier's back and quietly hissed, motherfucker.

Just before Thanksgiving, 2004, a Fox News producer with whom I'd worked a number of times in Kabul and Bagram showed up on Bagram Air Field to shoot what military PA people call "Hi Moms"--the little snippets of video of service members saying "I'm Corporal Bill Jones from Paducah, Kentucky and I want to say 'Happy Thanksgiving' to my wife, Sheila and my parents Don and Lorraine in Louisville." I was confused about why he would be doing this. My unit--and every PA unit--shot hundreds of these every year for holidays, the Super Bowl, the Army/Navy game, etc., and provided them free of charge to all who asked for them. When I asked the producer why he had come, he said he'd had the same question when he was told that he should know better. It was "part of (his) contract," he said, to get on his knees "and give Bush a blowjob" every month or so.

But of course, it's ridiculous to suggest Fox has a bias! Why, they've even got Democrats saying they're a legitimate news outlet!

 

Technorati tags: Fox News, Democrat, Republican, Army

Is Prosecutors Purge Bush's Watergate?

   I love these emails from the DNC, www.democrats.org.

   * * * *

This could be George Bush's Watergate.

Eight U.S. Attorneys, fired because they wouldn't follow orders by the Bush Administration.

Fired because they refused to go on witch-hunts against Democrats, or ignored the Republicans' blatant disregard for the law. Fired so that they could be replaced by talking heads and loyalists of the Bush Administration.

When Scooter Libby was convicted, I said that this administration reminded me of Richard Nixon's administration -- more obsessed with their critics than with the jobs the American people entrust them with. But this latest White House scandal takes that comparison to another level.

Just what did George Bush, Karl Rove, Alberto Gonzales and the rest of the Bush White House and Republican senior staff know about the Justice Department firings -- and when did they know it?

Join us in our effort to use the Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) to try to cut through the White House's nonsense -- the finger-pointing, the lies, the cover-up. Americans have a right to access any and all records between the Republican National Committee, other Republican party committees, and the Department of Justice in order to get to the bottom of this investigation.

Sign our FOIA request:

http://www.democrats.org/RNCFOIA

"I can accept that mistakes were made."

When Attorney General Alberto Gonzales uttered those words yesterday, he admitted what many had suspected: that eight U.S. prosecutors were improperly fired -- and, because of a Patriot Act provision slipped in by Congressional Republicans, replaced with Bush Administration cronies. The fired attorneys included:

• Carol Lam, who prosecuted former Republican Congressman Randy "Duke" Cunningham for bribery, and who was actively investigating Republican House Appropriations Chairman Jerry Lewis at the time of her dismissal;
• Paul Charlton, who was investigating Republican Congressman Rick Renzi for bribery and illegal land dealings, and who had publicly clashed with the Bush Administration over the merits of the death penalty; and
• David Iglesias, a commander in the U.S. Navy Reserve and the basis for Tom Cruise's character in A Few Good Men, who was pressured by Republicans to indict Democratic politicians prior to the 2006 elections.

In January, Gonzales claimed that he would "never, ever make a change in a United States attorney for political reasons or if it would in any way jeopardize an ongoing serious investigation." Justice Department officials claimed the firings were part of standard personnel turnover.

But when questioned by Congress, Gonzales's deputy, Paul McNulty, claimed they were fired for poor performance -- even though most of the fired attorneys had received excellent performance reviews.

Karl Rove, Harriet Miers and President Bush himself were in contact with Gonzales's office about the attorneys. Just weeks after Bush spoke to Gonzales, they were fired.

Former Washington state GOP Chairman Chris Vance admitted to pressuring fired U.S. Attorney John McKay to investigate Democrats at the urging of the "White House's political office." And emails released yesterday show that White House deputy political director and former RNC opposition researcher J. Scott Jennings used an RNC email account to talk with Justice Department about the appointment of U.S. Attorney and former Karl Rove aide Tim Griffin.

These revelations raise even more questions -- and it's time for answers. Add your name to the FOIA Request, and demand accountability from the White House:

http://www.democrats.org/RNCFOIA

In an all-too-familiar scene, Gonzales's chief of staff, Kyle Sampson, resigned over the scandal. But we won't let Sampson be the fall guy for another Bush Administration cover-up.

Dick Cheney's chief of staff, Scooter Libby, already took the fall for the Bush Administration's orchestrated leak of a CIA agent's identity. And incompetent FEMA Director and Bush buddy Michael Brown took the fall for our president's disgraceful reaction to Hurricane Katrina -- while the Gulf Coast remains in shambles.

Just like the Nixon Administration, cronyism and corruption has hollowed this White House from the inside-out.

It's time for Republicans to stop spinning such a tangled web of deceit to get what they want. Some Democratic Senators have already called for Alberto Gonzales's resignation. But this is part of a much bigger problem.

The purge of U.S. Attorneys wasn't a "mistake," as Alberto Gonzales claims. It was part of a long, calculated effort by the Bush Administration and the Republican Party to silence its critics and remain above the law.

Help us use this FOIA request to go beyond the lies and reveal the truth behind the White House, Justice Department, and Republican Party's corruption. The American people deserve nothing less:

http://www.democrats.org/RNCFOIA

Sincerely,

Governor Howard Dean, M.D.

 

Technorati tags: Bush Administration, Watergate, Dick Cheney, Alberto Gonzales, FOIA

Mounting Pressure For Gonzales To Resign From Republicans

        It looks as if a few more Republicans are calling for the resignation/firing of Alberto Gonzales, one being Senator Gordon Smith (R-OR) who "suggested that it would be helpful to have an attorney general that Congress could have more confidence in," his spokesman said.       Huffington Post

Reuters and CBS   |  Posted March 15, 2007

Congressman Dana Rohrabacher (R-CA) said, "Even for Republicans this is a warning sign ... saying there needs to be a change. Maybe the president should have an attorney general who is less a personal friend and more professional in his approach."

Entire Reuters article here.     Entire CBS article here.

 

Technorati tags: Republicans, Alberrto Gonzales

 

Christian Right Warmonger Visits Israel Lobby

   I am posting the following article from  the American Prospect  concerning Pastor ( ? ) John Hagee for no other reason than the fact that I despise this man and the lies that he teaches to the gullible.

* * * *

The Goy Who Cried Wolf

By Sarah Posner, The American Prospect. Posted March 16, 2007.

    Article reprinted from the American Prospect.

Delegates at the American Israel Public Affairs Committee (AIPAC) Policy Conference were treated to an air-brushed John Hagee last night, primed with his most innocuous talking points and stripped of his most outlandish Armageddon rhetoric. Hagee, the founder of the America's leading Christian Zionist lobby, Christians United for Israel, left his clumsy exegeses of Biblical prophecy back home in San Antonio. He is well-versed in bringing an audience of several thousand people to its feet, and he knew he didn't need his slide show of mushroom clouds and world-ending wars to work this crowd.

Hagee's set-up man was the historian Michael Oren, who recited the history of restorationism, a Protestant movement dating back to the first settlers at Plymouth Rock that sought to return the Jews to Palestine and create a Jewish state. In Oren's telling, you would have thought that before Mearsheimer, Walt, and Carter came along, Jews and American Christians had spent the last several centuries in an idyllic, carefree frolic together, and that George W. Bush's forebearers were Jew-loving Zionists rather than arms-dealing tycoons so intent on consolidating power that they were willing to transact business with the Nazis. The placement of Oren's speech laid the groundwork for Hagee by insinuating that the war-mongering fundamentalist is nothing more than an innocuous heir to a quintessentially American love-fest between apocalyptic Christians and displaced Jews.

In anticipation of Hagee's appearance at AIPAC's conference, there has been much discussion about whether Hagee is actually an anti-Semite who blames Jews for the Holocaust yet anticipates their conversion at the Second Coming -- and another debate over whether it's actually good for Israel or the world's Jews when groups like AIPAC ally themselves with him. But judging from the crowd's reaction, and that of delegates I spoke with afterwards, none of that mattered. Like other Jewish leaders I've talked to about Hagee, the attitude is simply that Israel has very few friends, and it needs all the friends it can get. If Hagee is willing to mobilize hundreds of thousands, perhaps even millions of conservative Christians to the cause, then they're willing to overlook his eagerness for the Second Coming (when we'll all become Christians), because it's just a silly fantasy that won't come to pass, anyway.

Had Hagee come to Washington with his usual spiel, perhaps these delegates would have been mortified to learn that Hagee calls the Jewish holiday of Rosh Hashanah "the Prophecy of the Trumpets," and says it represents the regathering of the church in anticipation of the Second Coming. He says the feast of Sukkot is significant because it will be the time of the Second Coming, and that the tallis, the Jewish prayer shawl, is a clear indication that there will be a Second Coming. You see, says Hagee, Jesus would not have left his tallis neatly folded up when he went off to his crucifixion if he didn't have plans to come back.

Perhaps the AIPAC crowd would have dismissed all these strange distortions of their faith as an amusing but largely irrelevant sideshow to their single-minded mission of making more friends. But they never had to confront the issue because Hagee's speech was stripped of the most damning details.

Whether Hagee is good for Israel is beside the point. The real problem is that he represents a catastrophe for the United States and its standing in the world -- not because he might love the Jews too much, or might in fact secretly hate them, but because he is leading a growing political movement completely lacking in a substantive understanding of world affairs. At a time when the Middle East faces seemingly intractable conflicts with dire geopolitical consequences, the notion that Hagee -- whose status is only elevated by invitations like AIPAC's -- is leading a political movement based on nothing more than a supposedly literal reading of his Bible only reinforces the view that the United States is being led by messianic forces at odds with world peace and stability. Young Americans should have a deeper understanding of Middle East politics in order to fully participate in civic discourse as American troops are fighting a seemingly unending war. But Hagee worries not about troop deployments, instead focusing on teaching the Bible in public schools. While religious fundamentalism is causing untold bloodshed around the world, Hagee frets about secularists who are "destroying America."

When he does speak to actual Middle East politics, it's only to encourage the further destabilization of the region. Hagee has been agitating for a war with Iran for well over a year now, certainly not a single-handed effort on his part, nor one for which he would deserve sole blame should it happen. But if it does happen (and some think it already has begun), Hagee most certainly should be blamed for something else: convincing his minions that war is not only palatable, but required by God.

Hagee's speech, laced with charged comparisons of Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad to men like Pharaoh, Haman, and Hilter, as well as countless Churchillian references, brought the crowd to its feet. "He's A-OK," said one AIPAC delegate who had never heard of Hagee before, adding that he wanted to get one of Hagee's DVDs for his grandchildren to watch. "I love him," enthused another delegate, a woman who had already learned of CUFI through conservative talk radio and had donated money to the cause. "Who else cares about Israel?"

 Article available on The American Prospect website. © 2007 by The American Prospect, Inc.

 

Technorati tags: christian right, john hagee, israel lobby, warmonger

 

Who Will The Iraqi Oil Belong To?

Crossposted fromTruthOut

Go to Original

Whose Oil Is It, Anyway?
    By Antonia Juhasz
    The New York Times

    Tuesday 13 March 2007

    Today more than three-quarters of the world's oil is owned and controlled by governments. It wasn't always this way.

    Until about 35 years ago, the world's oil was largely in the hands of seven corporations based in the United States and Europe. Those seven have since merged into four: ExxonMobil, Chevron, Shell and BP. They are among the world's largest and most powerful financial empires. But ever since they lost their exclusive control of the oil to the governments, the companies have been trying to get it back.

    Iraq's oil reserves - thought to be the second largest in the world - have always been high on the corporate wish list. In 1998, Kenneth Derr, then chief executive of Chevron, told a San Francisco audience, "Iraq possesses huge reserves of oil and gas - reserves I'd love Chevron to have access to."

    A new oil law set to go before the Iraqi Parliament this month would, if passed, go a long way toward helping the oil companies achieve their goal. The Iraq hydrocarbon law would take the majority of Iraq's oil out of the exclusive hands of the Iraqi government and open it to international oil companies for a generation or more.

    In March 2001, the National Energy Policy Development Group (better known as Vice President Dick Cheney's energy task force), which included executives of America's largest energy companies, recommended that the United States government support initiatives by Middle Eastern countries "to open up areas of their energy sectors to foreign investment." One invasion and a great deal of political engineering by the Bush administration later, this is exactly what the proposed Iraq oil law would achieve. It does so to the benefit of the companies, but to the great detriment of Iraq's economy, democracy and sovereignty.

    Since the invasion of Iraq, the Bush administration has been aggressive in shepherding the oil law toward passage. It is one of the president's benchmarks for the government of Prime Minister Nuri Kamal al-Maliki, a fact that Mr. Bush, Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice, Gen. William Casey, Ambassador Zalmay Khalilzad and other administration officials are publicly emphasizing with increasing urgency.

    The administration has highlighted the law's revenue sharing plan, under which the central government would distribute oil revenues throughout the nation on a per capita basis. But the benefits of this excellent proposal are radically undercut by the law's many other provisions - these allow much (if not most) of Iraq's oil revenues to flow out of the country and into the pockets of international oil companies.

    The law would transform Iraq's oil industry from a nationalized model closed to American oil companies except for limited (although highly lucrative) marketing contracts, into a commercial industry, all-but-privatized, that is fully open to all international oil companies.

    The Iraq National Oil Company would have exclusive control of just 17 of Iraq's 80 known oil fields, leaving two-thirds of known - and all of its as yet undiscovered - fields open to foreign control.

    The foreign companies would not have to invest their earnings in the Iraqi economy, partner with Iraqi companies, hire Iraqi workers or share new technologies. They could even ride out Iraq's current "instability" by signing contracts now, while the Iraqi government is at its weakest, and then wait at least two years before even setting foot in the country. The vast majority of Iraq's oil would then be left underground for at least two years rather than being used for the country's economic development.

    The international oil companies could also be offered some of the most corporate-friendly contracts in the world, including what are called production sharing agreements. These agreements are the oil industry's preferred model, but are roundly rejected by all the top oil producing countries in the Middle East because they grant long-term contracts (20 to 35 years in the case of Iraq's draft law) and greater control, ownership and profits to the companies than other models. In fact, they are used for only approximately 12 percent of the world's oil.

    Iraq's neighbors Iran, Kuwait and Saudi Arabia maintain nationalized oil systems and have outlawed foreign control over oil development. They all hire international oil companies as contractors to provide specific services as needed, for a limited duration, and without giving the foreign company any direct interest in the oil produced.

    Iraqis may very well choose to use the expertise and experience of international oil companies. They are most likely to do so in a manner that best serves their own needs if they are freed from the tremendous external pressure being exercised by the Bush administration, the oil corporations - and the presence of 140,000 members of the American military.

    Iraq's five trade union federations, representing hundreds of thousands of workers, released a statement opposing the law and rejecting "the handing of control over oil to foreign companies, which would undermine the sovereignty of the state and the dignity of the Iraqi people." They ask for more time, less pressure and a chance at the democracy they have been promised.

    --------

Antonia Juhasz, an analyst with Oil Change International, a watchdog group, is the author of The Bush Agenda: Invading the World, One Economy at a Time.

 

Technorati tags: Iraq, oil, ExxonMobile, BP, Bush, Middle East

Guatemalan's Protest Illegal Aliens Raid? The Problem Is?

    While president Bush was visiting Guatemala  this week he was met with protesters who did not like the immigration raid at a leather goods factory in Massachusetts on March 6th. 361 people were arrested in the raid and most were here in the United States illegally, coming from Guatemala and El Salvador.

    You will remember that the press here in the states made a deal about families being broken up and children left in daycare and what have you. It also was a big deal down in Guatemala  because 10% of the Guatemalan population lives in the United States and most of them are illegal immigrants. I'm not using the politically correct " undocumented workers " bullshit because they are " illegal immigrants ".

    Even John Kerry had something to say about the raid and he even called for an investigation of it. What are they supposed to investigate? The fact that the immigration people did their jobs?

    Senator Kennedy put in his own two cents worth also, saying "...These men and women had not harmed anyone. They were victims of exploitation, forced to work under barbaric conditions by an employer who knew that they could not afford to complain. Their children, many of whom are United States citizens, had done nothing wrong at all. None of them had any reason to expect that the Department of Homeland Security would decide to make an example out of them."    Source

   Number one, illegal aliens. What part of that does anyone not understand? For those of you who are to stupid to figure that part out, it means that you are in the United States without the correct papers and cards giving you the right to be in the states. One is breaking the law by being here! The only reason that the children are United States citizens is because mommy and daddy thought that if they have a child then they would have a leg-up on being allowed to stay in this country.

   Number two. Homeland Security did as they are required to do under the laws that were put into place before and since this agency was created.

    There is alot more to this story which you can read here.

 

Technorati tags: Guatemala, illegal immigrants, Bush Administration, homeland security, John Kerry, DSS

Army's 547,000 Personnel Increase Not Enough Says Army Chief of Staff

    Gen. Peter Schoomacher ( Army Chief of Staff ) has told the Senate Armed Services Committee that the Army's increase of personnel to 547,000 troops over the next five years will not be enough to face future conflicts.

    He also thinks that the 55 percent reserves and 45 percent active duty personnel is out of whack and that he would like to see it at 60 percent active and 40 percent Reserve and Guard.  Source

    UPI

"I think the future is going to justify an even larger Army than what we are building," he said. "We have people in the department still talking about there is going to be a day when we don't need boots on the ground and I think that's ludicrous."

When the Cold War ended and the Army was drawn down, the active duty was cut more deeply than the Guard and Reserve, which had strong political constituencies protecting them on Capitol Hill.

"There is no military reason for where we are; it has to do with the politics," he said.

   So we are going to need all of these extra troops in the near future and we are going to get them from?  The Draft, maybe?

    I seriously doubt that you will find many people wanting to join the Army during a time of war, especially after the publicity surrounding the military hospitals and the treatment of the U.S. troops. Many young people will look at that as a good reason for not joining, and let's face it, we are going to be in some kind of a war for a very long time. At least until we elect some Democrats who can get along and come up with a way out of Iraq that they can agree on.

   So the only true option for the Army and the other services is to re-instate the draft which will not go over to well with the citizens of the United States.

 

Technorati tags: Gen. Peter Schoomacher, Chief of Staff, military, draft

 

Reid Resolution Fails In 48-50 Vote, Senate Will Subpoena DoJ Officials

Senate Resolution

By BarbinMD

on Iraq

No surprises here.  The Reid Resolution to require a troop withdrawal beginning in 120 days and with a completion goal of March 31, 2008, failed 48-50.  For those keeping score at home, those opposing were the 49 Republicans and Joe Lieberman.     Source

* * * *

    The Senate Judiciary Committee  voted to subpoena five officials from the Justice Department just in case Gonzales changes his mind about letting the officials testify on their own. They did postpone a vote on whether to subpoena Karl Rove,  William Kelley and Harriet Miers. Source

         * * * *

Bush, Gonzales Pushed To Shut Down Inquiry That Probably Would Have Targeted Gonzales

By Murray Waas

Shortly before Attorney General Alberto Gonzales advised President Bush last year on whether to shut down a Justice Department inquiry regarding the administration's warrantless domestic eavesdropping program, Gonzales learned that his own conduct would likely be a focus of the investigation, according to government records and interviews.

Bush personally intervened to sideline the Justice Department probe in April 2006 by taking the unusual step of denying investigators the security clearances necessary for their work.  Source

 

Technorati tags: Reid Resolution, Senate, Lieberman, Gonzales, Bush Administration

 

Edwards Campaign Gets Powdered Letter

   In case you haven't heard yet, a worker at presidential candidate John Edwards opened an envelope on Wednesday and found some white powder in it. This prompted the evacuation of the campaign headquarters but it was reopened today after it was determined that the substance was harmless.

    Edwards has said that the letter contained negative comments" but he was not specific about the comments or on who sent the letter.   Source

   Could this be the Coulterguist striking from the shadows once again? I'm just kidding here but this is a serious matter and the F.B.I. should be visiting the sender soon if they know where it came from.

Raleigh News & Observer

The discovery prompted an investigation by local police, firefighters, the FBI, the Hazardous Materials Regional Response team from Raleigh, and the Orange County Health Department.

The Edwards campaign worker did not know to whom the envelope was addressed or where it was from, investigators said. Chapel Hill police said they didn't know whether there was any written message in the envelope.

 

Technorati tags: John Edwards, campaign worker, anthrax

 

Uncovered Emails Say That Gonzales Is Basically A Liar

   The Thursday afternoon news is looking like this.

 

LAURIE KELLMAN   |  Posted March 15, 2007

The Senate Judiciary Committee Thursday cleared the way for subpoenas compelling five Justice Department officials and six of the federal prosecutors they fired to tell the story of a purge of U.S. attorneys that has prompted demands for the ouster of Attorney General Alberto Gonzales.
The voice vote to authorize the panel to issue subpoenas amounts to insurance against the possibility that Gonzales could retract his permission to let the aides testify voluntarily, or impose strict conditions.      Source

* * * *

   Another Email Says that Gonzales Not Straight With Investigators

Statements On Firings of Prosecutors Are Key Issue

By Dan Eggen
Washington Post Staff Writer
Thursday, March 15,2007

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

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

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

* * * *

 

Technorati tags: Alberto Gonzales, Bush Administration, U.S. Attorneys, Senate Judiciary Committee, D. Kyle Sampson

 

House, Senate Showdown Looming With the White House?

   The U.S. Congress could be heading for a showdown with the White House in the near future over the prosecutor purge that has taken place.

   Congress is set to meet with Attorney General Gonzales in the coming week to talk about his reasoning behind the purge but exactly where and when has not been determined.

  The investigations are continuing by both the House and the Senate.

   Some of the Senate and House lawmakers have met with Fred Fielding ( White House counsel ) over their desire to get their hands on some documents and interviews with some of the White House officials. They wish to speak with Rove, for one. It seems that Fielding put them off by saying that he would get back to them after speaking with Bush about the matter. It's possible that the Bush Crime Family could invoke executive privilege, which would mean war with the legitimate branches of government.

Senate Judiciary Chairman Pat Leahy (D-VT) put it: “Frankly, I don’t care whether Fielding says he’s going to allow people or not. We’ll subpoena the people we want.... If they want to defy the subpoena, then you get into a stonewall situation I suspect they don’t want to have.”

And so this morning, the Senate committee will vote on whether to issue subpoenas to Karl Rove, former White House counsel Harriet Miers, and William Kelley, a former top aide to Miers.

We'll know tomorrow, it seems, whether they'll have to use them.       Source

   I wonder if Cheney has ordered the Shredder Truck to come by one again?

 

Technorati tags: The House, Senate, White House, Bush Administration, Karl Rove, Harriet Miers, subpoenas

 

 

Gonzales Resigning Will not Be Enough So Who Gets It Next?

   On the George Bush, Dick Cheney, Karl Rove, Alberto Gonzales prosecutor purge, we get this look at what should be happening to these clowns next, and what may not be happening for some time.

 

by Kagro X at Daily kos

For the balance of this "administration," then, and for the foreseeable future, the serious prosecution of public corruption may be all but impossible. And that is the true measure of the gravity of this crime.

But the crime is more than just a grave one, it is also evidence of a depravity not seen since Nixon. Veteran watchers of Karl Rove's operations will instantly recognize his infamous m.o. in all of this: make your own weakness a strength, and accuse the opposition of doing precisely what you're actually doing behind the scenes. While Republican corruption was running rampant, Rove's machinations made it appear that it was actually Democratic corruption that was the problem. While Republicans at the federal level were literally looting the Treasury, handing out bricks of cash in Iraq, laundering Abramoff's "lobbying" fees, forcing through illegal redistricting plans, jamming phone lines on election day, suppressing the minority vote, etc., Republican prosecutors were digging for any scraps they could find to use against their political opposition at the local level, where they hoped no one would connect the dots, but which would still have a corrosive effect on the public perception of Democrats. And when Republicans were caught in the act, as DeLay was, what was the first thing he accused the Democratic District Attorney of? Conducting a "partisan witch hunt."

The long term effects of this scandal are incalculable. At a time when Republicans are accused of engaging in rampant and systematic public corruption, Rove, Bush and Gonzales have succeeded in making corruption investigations into the same sort of partisan joke that Republicans made impeachment. And as their crimes come to light in the closing days of their "administration" and into the next, they may well have made it impossible for a Democratic successor to actually pursue justice on behalf of the American people, since any such effort will undoubtedly -- and with a lack of shame that shocks the conscience -- be labeled as "partisan revenge."

Heads must roll, and they must roll in numbers.

 

Technorati tags: Alberto Gonzales, Karl Rove, George W. Bush, Democrats, corrupution, US Attorneys

Iraqi Timeline Not Being Met

   Thus far today.

   Iraq is behind in their " benchmarks " which were set by the Bush administration which is another one of those shocking surprises.

New York Times

Iraqis’ Progress Lags Behind Pace Set by Bush Plan

By HELENE COOPER and DAVID E. SANGER

Published: March 15, 2007

WASHINGTON, March 14 — The Bush administration, which six months ago issued a series of political goals for the Iraqi government to meet by this month, is now tacitly acknowledging that the goals will take significantly longer to achieve.

Prime Minister Nuri Kamal al-Maliki of Iraq has promised reforms that have yet to appear.

In interviews this week, administration officials said that the military buildup intended to stabilize Baghdad and create the conditions for achieving the objectives would not be fully in place until June and that all of the objectives would not be fulfilled until the year’s end.

A “notional political timeline” that the administration provided to Congress in January in an attachment to a letter from Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice to Senator Carl Levin, chairman of the Armed Services Committee, had called for most of the objectives to be met by this month.

   From this month to the end of the year is quite a change. By the end of the year this timeline will have changed once again to the middle of 2008 and so on and so on.

   That is unless the Democrats grow some balls and put a stop to this bullshit and get our troops home. Let the freakin' Iraqis deal with the problems because they have had more than enough time to get their act together.

 

Technorati tags: Iraq, Bush, Condolezza Rice, al-Maliki

 

The Bush Crime Family and NOLA Army Corps of Engineers

    You know that the  rebuilding in New Orleans has been slow going but did you know that the Bush Crime Family has a hand in on the levee pumps that mal-functioned? I didn't either until I ran across this.

Army Corps of Engineers installs defective pumps in NOLA despite warnings that they would fail

by blksista   Wed Mar 14, 2007 at 09:38:28 AM PDT

Original at Booman Tribune.

Assbackery 101, second semester, 2007.

This story came in last night, but The Guardian picked it up this a.m.:

The 2006 hurricane season turned out to be mild, and the new pumps were never pressed into action. But the Corps and the politically connected manufacturer of the equipment are still struggling to get the 34 heavy-duty pumps working properly.

The pumps are now being pulled out and overhauled because of excessive vibration, Corps officials said. Other problems have included overheated engines, broken hoses and blown gaskets, according to the documents obtained by the Associated Press.

How can you fix something that is going to continue to be defective?

I'm really beginning to wonder whether they want New Orleans to return at all.

  And not only New Orleans, says Harry Shearer.  Our national infrastructure, including levees in 27 other states, needs assistance.

But could you trust the company installing the pumps in your commmunity that they would work properly in a cataclysm?  

You couldn't trust Moving Water Industries Corp. (MWI) of Deerfield Beach, FL., who built the drainage system for the Corps.

MWI is owned by J. David Eller and his sons. Eller was once a business partner of former Florida Gov. Jeb Bush in a venture called Bush-El that marketed MWI pumps. And Eller has donated about $128,000 to politicians, the vast majority of it to the Republican Party, since 1996, according to the Center for Responsive Politics.

Seems like every motherfreaking Bush/Cheney ally bills the American people faulty or defective or nonexistent equipment or services, even if they gave a competitive bid.  

Lest people forget: Katrina's Category 1 or 2 storm surge caused the waters of Lake Pontchartrain to back up into drainage canals. Its already-compromised canal walls collapsed, which resulted in 80 percent of New Orleans flooded. Over 1600 Crescent City residents died, with many missing and unaccounted for. Many hundreds of thousands will never return its still devastated districts.

And although no hurricanes made landfall in the Gulf Coast last year, there is no guarantee that they won't roll into the Gulf of Mexico and threaten New Orleans and other coastal environs this year.

 

Technorati tags: New Orleans, Army Corps of Engineers, levees, Harry Shearer, George W. Bush, Dick Cheney, cronyism, corruption

Attack In India Leaves 49 Police Officers Dead

     We all know what is happening in Iraq so for now I am changing over to some news from out of India. Of course, it is violence filled.

    From the state of Chattisgarh which is a little over 900 miles southeast of New Delhi, some of those nasty communist rebels launched an attack against a police post today and killed 49 officers, at the least. It looks as if the rebels were armed quite good for the attack as they were carrying rifles, petrol bombs and hand grenades.

    It appears that the rebels caught the officers ( 79 ) by surprise. In addition to the 49 who were killed, 12 officers were wounded. Source

Before fleeing with weapons stolen from the police post, the attackers scattered land mines around the area, Swarnkar said. By midday, police reinforcements had reached the post and were fanning out into the jungle to search for the attackers.

The rebels, who claim to be inspired by Chinese revolutionary Mao Zedong, demand land and jobs for agricultural laborers and the poor. They are mainly active in six of India's 28 states — Andhra Pradesh, Jharkhand, Bihar, Karnataka, Orissa and Chattisgarh.

   

Technorati tags: India, rebels, police

 

Will Bush's Iraq Plan Work? A View From Foreigners

    People all over the world have an opinion on President Bush and his troop escalation in Iraq so now I am going to post the question which Al Jazeera put forth to it's readers.

Will Bush's Iraq plan work?

The top medical officer in the US army stepped down, making him the third senior figure to lose his job over substandard care for troops wounded in Iraq and Afghanistan. The problems at Walter Reed Army Medical Centre in Washington caused deep alarm in the Bush administration, which frequently praises the sacrifice of US troops. Will Bush’s strategies make any difference in Iraq?

Added: Wednesday, 14 March 2007

Hey, Look at the amount of money spent in Iraq, soon someone in US will be richer than microsoft boss, taking kick backs and political donations from the ammunitions supplier. History has proven that war mongers make the most money in their short political career. And all the right-wings males who have the urge to kill another human being, will be sent to iraq to end their genes there before they can reproduce themselves. fair enough huh ?

Alan, Shanghai, China

* * * *

Added: Tuesday, 13 March 2007

I think if you have natural wealth such as the Congo, Sudan, Iraq, Iran,...you can't enjoy that in peace unless you licence the US to share a huge piece of it, like the Saudis. It will immediatelly becomes a strategic importance and in the 'national interest of the US'. Since recently, Chinese are working on a win-win principle & the US criticises it dramatically as if it didn't have its hands on all the misfortune in these countries in the past & present. The next US leaders should take a revolutionary step in US foreign policy to live together with the rest of the world. The global approval to US policy is getting worse everyday. Nobody hates the US. It is still a country where many wish to migrate to. It is still a symbol of freedom in many ways. However, things are not more local anymore, like 100 yrs ago, in the same way as a car driven in Seattle would affect the rainfall in Swaziland

Justice, Shenzhen, China

* * * *

Added: Tuesday, 13 March 2007

My comments regarding Canada were a little harsh, and I do apologize for them. Canada is a great country, I've been on vacation there. But calling US citzens stupid goes over the line for me. I support the war, our troops, and the Republican party. I certainly don't agree with the manner in which Bush treats other nations around the world, but I support his cause. The war in Iraq is one we must win, for the sake of the entire world.

Tom Dougherty, Atlanta, USA

* * * *

Added: Tuesday, 13 March 2007

The U.S is the source of terrorism, to provoke someone is also terrorism, because the US terrorists are dying everyday in Iraq, they are making now an issue of sectarian violence, what is the guarantee that the US terrorist not behind this sect violence, may be they can lure Shiites against Sunni and Sunni against Shias.

Mkafil, Cyberjaya, Malaysia

* * * *

Added: Monday, 12 March 2007

Dave, he'll soon be down to hiring foreign mercenaries for sure. Lines for a free trip to beautiful downtown Baghdad are shrinking! Educated Iraqis who wanted/could afford it almost left Iraq. It seems they liked Saddaam more than Bushy.

Teresa, , USA     More opinion's

 

Technorati tags: Bush, Iraq plan, Halliburton, U.S. Troops, terrorism

White House Threatens Veto Over Congress's FOIA Bill

    And the Democrats go marching on this time towards more open government bills which did pass through the House today, but the Bush Crime Family, struck back with the dreaded veto threat. I am so shocked!

   The Democrats did have hefty support from the Republican side of the aisle so they managed to pass some legislation that would force many of the government's agencies to become more responsive to the Freedom of Information Act requests that they get every year. The FOIA request generally run into the millions.       Source

Associated Press

The House also easily passed bills to require donors to presidential libraries to identify themselves — an issue as Bush prepares for his own library — and to reverse a 2001 Bush decision making it easier for presidents to keep their records from public scrutiny.

Finally, lawmakers approved a bill to strengthen protection for government whistle-blowers. They cited the failure to expose faulty intelligence about prewar Iraq in expanding protections for national security officials. Employees of federal contractors, airport screeners and government scientists facing retaliation for objecting to political influences are also covered.

The White House, citing the Bush's constitutional prerogatives, warned that the presidential records bill would be vetoed if it reached his desk. The White House issued a second veto warning on the whistle-blower bill, saying it was unconstitutional and compromised national security.

The votes were 390-34 on the presidential library bill; 333-93 on the presidential records bill; 308-117 on the FOIA legislation and 331-94 on the whistle-blower bill.  

   It is funny how Bush can remember his constitutional prerogatives when it comes to keeping his illegal and more than likely immoral details of record a secret, but he forgets about the constitution when dealing with the war in Iraq and the treatment of his own citizens. Not to mention the many laws that he fails to remember when it serves his own interest to have a memory lapse.

    IMPEACH! INDICT! IMPRISON! the S.O.B.

 

Technorati tags: White house, FOIA, Congress, Bush, whistle- blowers

Attorney General Gonzales On His Last Days?

   It has been another one of those days for me which is why there has not been to much of anything posted here.

mcjoan over at the Daily Kos has an interesting look at the Alberto Gonzales press conference that he had on Tuesday and what some of the faithful are saying about it.

    It is indeed time for Gonzales to pack his bags and to leave his office for what would hopefully be a real Attorney General instead of a stooge for the White House.

    One White House mole going down, who's next?

mcjoan:

Given the efforts of the White House to stress a "growing rift" between Bush and his long time loyal lackey, and these mass desertions by the GOP, Gonzales's days in office can probably be numbered on two hands.

Alberto Gonzales should have never been confirmed as Attorney General two years ago. The issue driving this blog and all those who joined with us in opposition to his appointment was a critical one: torture.

The morally satisfying end of his tenure would have been impeachment over that issue. But his forced resignation over the Prosecutor Purge would ultimately prove as satifsying. For he would be ousted because of his repeated elevation over the political interests of the White House over the rule of law.

Sen. John Cornyn (R-Tex.), the administration's most faithful legislator, said "the appearances are troubling" for Gonzales. "I'm concerned," Cornyn said with Patrick Leahy (D-Vt.) at his side. "This has not been handled well." The best Cornyn could offer Gonzales: "In Texas, we believe in having a fair trial and then we have the hanging."

Sen. John Sununu of New Hampshire on Wednesday became the first Republican in Congress to call for Attorney General Alberto Gonzales' dismissal, hours after President Bush expressed confidence in his embattled Cabinet officer.

And how about the punditry? He's lost that most non-shrill of the DC punditry, Ruth Marcus at WaPo:

In his now famous "overblown personnel matter" column in USA Today last week, Gonzales wrote, "While I am grateful for the public service of these seven U.S. attorneys, they simply lost my confidence." (Or did he mean Kyle Sampson's confidence?)

It's time -- past time -- for the president to say the same, perhaps more quietly and more politely, about his friend, his counselor and his failed attorney general.

 

Technorati tags: Alberto Gonzales, Prosecutor Purge, impeachment

 

Dying woman loses marijuana appeal,and that is pathetic!

Yahoo News

Dying woman loses marijuana appeal

By DAVID KRAVETS, Associated Press Writer

March 14, 2007

SAN FRANCISCO - A California woman whose doctor says marijuana is the only medicine keeping her alive is not immune from federal prosecution on drug charges, a federal appeals court ruled Wednesday.

The case was brought by Angel Raich, an Oakland mother of two who suffers from scoliosis, a brain tumor, chronic nausea and other ailments. On her doctor's advice, she eats or smokes marijuana every couple of hours to ease her pain and bolster a nonexistent appetite as conventional drugs did not work.

The Supreme Court ruled against Raich two years ago, saying that medical marijuana users and their suppliers could be prosecuted for breaching federal drug laws even if they lived in a state such as California where medical pot is legal.

Because of that ruling, the issue before the 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals was narrowed to the so-called right to life theory: that marijuana should be allowed if it is the only viable option to keep a patient alive.

Raich, 41, began sobbing when she was told of the decision and said she would continue using the drug.

"I'm sure not going to let them kill me," she said. "Oh my God."

   This is another one of those cases where the federal government has forgotten " We the people " once again. If memory serves me right, the federal government is always saying that the states should deal with their own issues yet when something comes up that the feds do not like, they have the veto power over the states Over " We, the people ".

   Some of these old fuck's in our government need to retire and go back to their homes and let the people that don't have bad memory lapses and who actually may know a thing or two about pot, make the decisions.

   I myself, if I had the womans address, would see that she got a few pounds for her use, but that's just me.

 

Technorati tags: California, medical marijuana, Supreme Court, Circuit Court of Appeals, U.S. government

 

Bush Stands Behind Alberto Gonzales, So What's New?

    The Liar in Chief said today that he is very upset with misleading explanations given to the Congress by the Justice Department which has been trying to explain why it fired the eight US attorneys and then expected the A.G. to fix it.

   Bush did say that he was standing behind Alberto Gonzales amid calls for his resignation.

AP

"Any time anybody goes up to Capitol Hill, they've got to make sure they fully understand the facts and how they characterize the issue to members of Congress," Bush said. "And the fact that both Republicans and Democrats feel like that there was not straightforward communication troubles me and it troubles the attorney general. So he took action, and he needs to continue to take action."

The president called the actual firings "entirely appropriate" and noted that U.S attorneys serve at his pleasure. "Past administrations have removed U.S. attorneys. It's their right to do so," Bush said.

   Have you ever noticed how President Bush stands behind those who get caught doing things which appear or are not quite right? I would say that is because some of those fine, upstanding government officials such as Gonzales may have a little bit of dirt on El Presidente that Bush would rather stay hid.

   I wonder how many other White House officials are buying land down in South America right about now? Maybe that's the real reason Bush is visiting so many countries south of the United States which do not like him. Shopping for the brethren?

 

Technorati tags: Bush, Alberto Gonzales, Congress, DoJ, Democrats, Republicans

  

Will Congress Look Back Into The Abramoff Case?

   It would seem that lawmakers now want to look into Bushco's prosecutor purge in the Jack Abramoff  case according to Think Progress.

  This case with the prosecutors just keeps going  higher and higher up.

   Crossposted from Truth Out

Go to Original

Lawmakers Urge Investigation Into Administration's Prosecutor Purge In Abramoff Case
    ThinkProgress.org

    Tuesday 13 March 2007

    In recent weeks, Congress has investigated the Bush administration's recent purge of qualified, well-respected U.S. attorneys. But one former prosecutor - Frederick A. Black - has received little attention. The administration fired Black shortly after he began investigating Jack Abramoff's dealings in Guam.

    Today in a letter to the House and Senate Judiciary Committees, Reps. George Miller (D-CA) and Nick Rahall (D-WV) urge Congress to investigate "the potential political manipulation by Jack Abramoff and his allies in Congress and the Administration" in the Black case:

At the time, we viewed the replacement of the Acting U.S. Attorney as an example of the overly zealous and improper, if not illegal, conduct by the now disgraced and convicted lobbyist, Jack Abramoff.

In light of more recent revelations about political interference with the work of other U.S. Attorneys, however, it is necessary now to re-examine the case as it may represent the beginning of a pattern of behavior by some members of Congress and officials in the Bush Administration to politicize the work of U.S. Attorneys and to quash their independence.

    In 2002, Black launched an investigation into Jack Abramoff's "secret arrangement with Superior Court officials to lobby against a court reform bill then pending in Congress." On Nov. 18, 2002, Black issued a grand jury subpoena to the Guam Superior Court to turn over all records involving the lobbying contract with Abramoff. The administration swiftly punished Black:

A day later, the chief prosecutor, US Attorney Frederick A. Black, who had launched the investigation, was demoted. A White House news release announced that Bush was replacing Black.

The timing caught some by surprise. Despite his officially temporary status as the acting US attorney, Black had held the assignment for more than a decade.

    An internal Justice Department investigation concluded that the White House did not improperly retaliate against Black for raising allegations against Abramoff. But the probe into Abramoff's activities in Guam died shortly after Black stepped down.

 

Technorati tags: Jack Abramoff, Congress, Bush Administration

US Government Spending For Fiscal 2008

   A group called the  War Resisters League has a nifty pie chart that    they say shows you where the US Government's budget funding               for fiscal 2008 goes as compared to where the government claims         that it goes. The numbers below just covers the military portion.              Visit their site for the remainder.

 

Current Military
$727 billion:
• Military Personnel $136 billion
• Operation & Maint. $249 billion
• Procurement $111 billion
• Research & Dev. $70 billion
• Construction $10 billion
• Family Housing $4 billion
• DoD misc. $6 billion
• Retired Pay $52 billion
• DoE nuclear weapons $17 billion
• NASA (50%) $9 billion
• International Security $10 billion
• Homeland Secur. (military) $31 billion
• Exec. Office of President $1 billion
• other military (non-DoD) $1 billion
• plus ... anticipated supplemental war spending requests of $20 billion in addition to $141 billion for Iraq and Afghanistan wars already incorporated into figures above

Past Military,
$461 billion:
• Veterans’ Benefits $85 billion
• Interest on national debt $376 billion (80% est. to be created by military spending)

Technorati tags: US Government, Federal Spending, 2008, military

 

Morning News: Asian Stocks Drop, Huge Explosion In Afghan Capital, US Soldier Ordered To Kill Detainees

AP

TOKYO - Asian stocks plunged Wednesday and European shares opened sharply lower after Wall Street chalked its second-biggest point drop in four years and rattled already nervous markets worldwide.

  The tumble came just as international markets were recovering in recent days from sharp declines in early March amid concerns about overvalued stock prices and slower U.S. economic growth.

* * * *

BBC

   At least four people have been killed and several wounded in a huge explosion at a shop selling ammunition in the Afghan capital, Kabul, police say.                                         

The blast took place in a bazaar where rifles, gunpowder and bullets are sold.                                                                      

Many surrounding shops and houses were destroyed by the force of the blast, which also left a 3m (10ft) crater.

Officials gave conflicting initial information about the cause but have since dismissed reports of a bomb, saying it "was not a terrorist act".

* * * *

Al Jazeera

A US soldier has testified that his commander ordered him to kill three Iraqi detainees, then cut him with a knife to make it look as if there had been a struggle.

Specialist William Hunsaker told a court martial for Ray Girouard on Tuesday that the staff sergeant ordered him and another soldier to free the men, then shoot them as they ran.

 

Technorati tags: news, asian markets, afghanistan, us soldier, ray girouard, iraq

 

News At Night With Gen. Pace, Gonzales, And Afghanistan

   What a day this has been! I myself had a bad one but not at as bad a few other people did.

Marine Gen. Peter Pace said today that he should not have stated his personal view on homosexuality being immoral and that is as far as the general went. He didn't apologize for his stance and he should not have to. No body should have to apologize for their beliefs no matter who likes it or not, period!

* * * *

    Attorney General Alberto Gonzales says that he will not resign from his post but did state that mistakes were made in dealing with the U.S. attorney " purge ".

   The only mistake that he and the others made were getting caught and I'm sure that Gonzales will be asked to leave by his boss up in the White House in the near future.

* * * *

    The Afghan defense ministry said  that Pakistan has started putting up a fence along parts of its border that the Afghan government is saying is still in dispute since some territory has remained un-marked.

 

Technorati tags: News, Peter Pace, Alberrto Gonzales, Afghanistan, Pakistan, DoJ

U.S. House Judiciary Committee Letters To Miers, Fielding, Gonzales

   For those of you who are keeping up with the U.S. Attorney purge and all of that mess, below are the links to letters that the U.S. House of Representatives has sent out over the past week or so to those who may be involved with the plans to fire certain U.S. Attorneys. Some interesting reading in some cases.  All are in PDF form.

U.S. House Judiciary Committee

1) US Attorney hearing follow up letter to former White House Counsel Harriet Miers

2) US Attorney hearing follow up letter to White House Counsel Fred Fielding

3) US Attorney Hearing Follow-up Letter to DOJ

4) 3/13/2007 - DOJ-Released Documents Regarding Atty. General Firings, Part I

5) 3/13/2007 - DOJ-Released Documents Regarding Atty. General Firings, Part II

6) 3/13/2007 - DOJ-Released Documents Regarding Atty. General Firings, Part III

7) 3/13/2007 - DOJ-Released Documents Regarding Atty. General Firings, Part IV

 

Technorati tags: House Judiciary Committee, DoJ, Harriet Miers, Roberto Gonzales

 

CNN Poll: Six In Ten Want U.S. Troops Out Of Iraq Now Or Within A Year.

    Another poll, this one done by CNN, finds that 46% of Americans believe that the United States can't win in Iraq. 37% think that the U.S. can win and 29% says that things are going well in Iraq, an all time low.

   This is the first time in four years that the majority of Americans have said that we cannot win this war.

Nearly six in 10 of those polled want to see U.S. troops leave Iraq either immediately or within a year, and more would rather have Congress running U.S. policy in the conflict than President Bush.

The CNN poll was conducted Friday through Sunday by Opinion Research Corp. Pollsters interviewed 1,027 adults for the survey, which had a sampling error of plus or minus 3 percentage points.

Though support for Bush's decision to dispatch additional troops to Iraq grew to 37 percent -- up 5 percent from a mid-January poll -- 52 percent say Congress should block funding for the new deployment.

     See the Poll results

   I sure hope that many of our people in Congress see this poll since they seem to always come up with the " Americans do not want the funding cut or stopped " excuse for the reason that they do not try this tact.

 

Technorati tags: U.S. Troops, Iraq, United States, Congress, CNN Poll