Keith Olbermann has slowly taken John McCain’s speech at the VFW (veterans of foreign wars) and deconstructed it. He has pulled McCain’s Iraq victory speech in 2003. This is the speech in which John McCain declared victory. We were done according to John McCain. McCain has called Barack Obama on shifting positions on Iraq but no one has been on both sides of the fence at the same time as well as Senator McCain.
This is a very good special comment by Keith Olbermann.
It should be mentioned that I cringe when I hear that someone is speaking to the VFW. It was at the VFW that Dick Cheney laid down the saber. Remember -
“Simply stated, there is no doubt that Saddam Hussein now has weapons of mass destruction. There is no doubt he is amassing them to use against our friends, against our allies, and against us. And there is no doubt that his aggressive regional ambitions will lead him into future confrontations with his neighbors — confrontations that will involve both the weapons he has today, and the ones he will continue to develop with his oil wealth.” Vice President Dick Cheney at the Veterans of Foreign Wars, August 26, 2002.
Join Errington for the latest in national politics and sports! Topics include Russia-Georgia conflict and the response of the US…what is going on? Isaac Hayes, and more! This week, I decide that I would like to review the famous August 6th Presidential Daily Brief and the Downing Street Memo. I invite 2 great guests to discuss these important papers Greg Mitchell from Editor and Publisher and Faiz Shakir at thinkprogress.org. Also, note how I freeze when Faiz gives me a compliment. I’m not use to that. Great show. Enjoy!
It appears that Monica Goodling and the rest of the neocons that ruled the Department of Justice over the last five to six years are going to get off scot-free. Michael Mukasey said yesterday that he wasn’t going to prosecute these crimes in hiring practices.
Mukasey said he will not prosecute the DoJ employees who repeatedly and flagrantly violated the law.
Attorney General Michael Mukasey said Tuesday that the Department of Justice would not pursue criminal charges against former employees implicated in an internal investigation on politicized hiring practices.
“Where there is evidence of criminal wrongdoing, we vigorously investigate it,” Mukasey said in a speech at the American Bar Association. “And where there is enough evidence to charge someone with a crime, we vigorously prosecute. But not every wrong, or even every violation of the law, is a crime.”
Wait, not every violation of the law is a crime? Isn’t that the definition of a “crime”?
I realize that prosecutors may consider extenuating circumstances and prefer leniency, but this laissez faire attitude on the corruption of the Department of Justice is more than a little discouraging, especially from an attorney general. An entire team of people broke the law, violated the public trust, and got caught. The evidence is unambiguous. (more… )
Man, I’m tired. You know when you leave your home before 7 am and get home after 7 pm, you’ve had a long day. I was just about to finish one thing, but two others were demanding my attention.
John Edwards did what? Can someone put a dunce cap on that man? He wanted to be president more than almost anything but apparently not more than getting a little something on the side. I thought that an Obama administration would have to make room for John Edwards as attorney general or HUD secretary, but not any more. It is both disappointing and bewildering.
I’m sorry, I’m just not jazzed about the Olympics. I’m just not. First of all, it is in China. Second, President Bush was at the opening ceremony. Even more, some guy (Michael Phelps) is going for eight gold medals. Eight! I’m just not whipped up. Take a look at the video below. The guy is not doing it for me. He is smug, isn’t he?
The Bush Administration decided to put on these show trials to gain Senator John McCain some momentum and they are turning into a yawn.
The stock market is not filling me with warm fuzzies. It’s up 300 points today but was down over 200 points yesterday. Why is this happening while the price of oil continues to drop? Aren’t the market forces the same as they were a month ago or two months ago? We’re being milked. Anyway, back to the stock market, this kind of volatility can’t be good.
Tomorrow, I have author Rick Perlstein on my radio show. Be sure to give me a listen.
Did Senator John McCain call Senator Barack Obama the antichrist in his last ad?
I don’t know, what is your definition of overwhelming evidence? How about a 341-page book that is packed with evidence by Vincent Bugliosi that the Bush administration specifically misled America?
One of the hedges that my thoughtful friends threw at me was “Suppose President Bush did not know the intelligence that he was getting was faulty?” As we all know, President Bush did not thoughtfully question the intelligence he was given. President Bush did not go to the source and ask about the intelligence but instead he got the intelligence filtered through Condoleezza Rice, Dick Cheney, Donald Rumsfeld, and other Neo-cons. Therefore, my friends would reason, President Bush shouldn’t be held responsible for making bad decisions based on bad intelligence.
Ron Suskind’s new book, “The Way of the World — A Story of Truth and Hope In the Age of Extremism”, paints a similar picture. Like Vincent Bugliosi, Suskind uses different examples to assert that President Bush willfully discarded information that contradicted the notion that Iraq had weapons of mass destruction.
Over the last four years we have really developed an overwhelming picture of the Bush administration. If we go back and read the Downing Street Memo, which was brushed aside by the mainstream media, we see that British officials clearly thought that the Bush administration was quick to manipulate the intelligence. Now we have specific examples of intelligence being discarded, not because the intelligence was wrong, but because the intelligence did not fit with Bush’s agenda to invade Iraq at all costs.
Robert Novak, the Chicago Sun-Times columnist who published Valarie Plame’s name, is retiring suddenly. It appears that he has been diagnosed with a brain tumor. I although I disagree with Novak’s politics, no one deserves a brain tumor. I hope that he is able to get well soon.
The House Republicans were trying to make a big deal of the House adjourning without passing some energy legislation. They were hoping that the White House would go along with their game. The White House balked.
A new national poll shows that low-wage workers support Senator Barack Obama two to one over Senator John McCain. Now, all Obama has to do is get these folks out to the polls.
A 5.4 magnitude earthquake hit just outside Los Angeles. There was no major damage or injuries reported.
Senator Barack Obama talked about immigration in front of an Asian American and Pacific Islander group.
Now, even the Washington Post is questioning Senator John McCain’s ad. Once they get into the act, you know that the ad stinks.
One of the saddest stories that I have seen in a while is this Extreme Makeover house in Atlanta. If you don’t know the story, I summarize. While this family was sent on vacation to Disneyland, this TV show, Extreme Makeover: Home Edition, destroys their home and builds a bigger, newer one on the same spot. The family was given enough money to pay the taxes on the home for decades. Since then, the family borrowed against the house and now can’t afford payments. The home will be auctioned on Tuesday as another foreclosure.
Senator John McCain’s health needs to become a serious topic of this campaign. We really didn’t see his records. Some selected reporters were able to peak at selected records. Now, McCain had another “spot” or lesion removed from his right cheek. We, the American people, should get a detailed history of his melanomas. How deep were they? How large were they? What are his chances for recurrence? None of these questions have really been answered.
David Brooks writes an interesting article on education in today’s New York Times. He discusses how America became an economic powerhouse as a result of investment in education. He then points out that we have been stagnant in this area since 1970. What he doesn’t mention is that his Republican party has done everything that they could think of to retard and destroy our public education system. The two best examples are No Child Left Behind, which has been great at dumbing down our students and teachers, and charter schools, which suck needed funds out of our public school system. I doubt if David Brooks will call out President Bush in his next article for Bush’s disasterous educational policies.
Finally, bombings in Iraq yesterday killed 61 people and wounded 238 people. In Pakistan, the U.S. bombed a suspected Al Qaeda training camp. Now, we are going on the offense. Where was this over the past four to five years?
The Onion has been around for years and the paper has a very loyal following. I read it and their web site infrequently although I always find it enjoyable.
This is a very funny bit on President Bush touring the devastation of his presidency– America.
Vincent Bugliosi is a best selling author. His latest book is “The Prosecution of George W. Bush for Murder.” His book is sitting here on my floor in my study, but I haven’t cracked it yet. Below, Bugliosi does not pull any punches. He is clear and straightforward.
I have also talked about impeachment of George W. Bush in this blog on a number of occasions. I have had Constitutional Scholar Bruce Fein on my radio show and we discussed the reasons for impeachment.
I’m still reading “The Conscience of a Liberal” currently. Now that you know what book I’m reading, call into my radio show at 828-252-4348 when I mention it tomorrow, Saturday July 26 at 9 am. If you are the first caller, you will win $75 and a copy of the book, “The Prosecution of George W. Bush for Murder.” Listen to his opening statement.
I was not, and still am not, a Tony Snow fan, BUT no one should die of cancer. Tony Snow, former Bush press secretary, died at age 53. Here is Snow when he was truly enjoyable. He was on the Colbert Report earlier this year.
Karl Rove has been asked to testify in front of the House. He didn’t say no. He just didn’t show. It is now time for the House and Congress to step up and not only find that Karl Rove is in contempt but also find a mechanism to arrest him!
Former White House adviser Karl Rove defied a congressional subpoena and refused to testify Thursday about allegations of political pressure at the Justice Department, including whether he influenced the prosecution of a former Democratic governor of Alabama.
Rep. Linda Sanchez, chairman of a House subcommittee, ruled with backing from fellow Democrats on the panel that Rove was breaking the law by refusing to cooperate _ perhaps the first step toward holding him in contempt of Congress.
The White House has cited executive privilege as a reason he and others who serve or served in the administration should not testify, arguing that internal administration communications are confidential and that Congress cannot compel officials to testify. Rove says he is bound to follow the White House’s guidance, although he has offered to answer questions specifically on the Siegelman case _ but only with no transcript taken and not under oath. (more… )
I was recently sent an email arguing for for drilling in ANWR. This email dovetails very nicely into a recent Republican strategy which can be summed up in a phrase: drilling our way out of the oil crisis.
For everyone over the age of 25, we’ve been here before. In late 1970s, as oil prices began to skyrocket, we had a debate in this country over oil and energy independence. Our president at the time was Jimmy Carter argued for conservation. Carter and a Democratic Congress who pushed for higher fuel standards in cars. He asked Americans to turn down thermostats. He even had a fireside chat from the White House wearing a sweater. He argued for development of alternative energy. President Carter went so far as to put solar panels on the White House.
Since 1980, we lived under a Republican dominated government. President Reagan could not wait to take down solar panels. There was no push from the Reagan administration or either of the two Bush administrations for conservation, for higher fuel standards or for developing alternative energies. Instead, slowly but surely, we’ve injected more and more of our money into oil technology. The pinnacle of the strategy was for the current Bush administration to actually give our tax dollars to the “failing” oil industry. The results of these policies is nothing short of déjà vu all over again. We are currently in another oil crisis. We have the opportunity to either learn from the past or to push America back into oil dependence.
I’m not an energy expert but I do know that we have to decrease our dependence on oil. I guess there are two ways to look at this. We can either wean ourselves off of our dependence or we can stop cold turkey. It is hard for me to understand how drilling anywhere, whether in northern Alaska or off our shores, will help us reach our goal of energy independence from the Middle East (remember they are the guys that hate us). Instead, more drilling seems to be the equivalent giving just “a little bit” of heroin to a heroin addict.
Either through regulation or through tax incentives, we have to encourage business to pump tens of billions of dollars into developing alternative energies. There won’t be one simple solution. Instead, there should be multiple solutions to our energy problem. In some areas of the country solar panels make sense. In other areas of the country, wind power and tidal power may be the answer. As far as nuclear energy, I think France has shown that nuclear energy can be done safely. My problem with nuclear energy is that we end up with radioactive waste that will decay over thousands of years. We, as a country, have not decided what to do with this nuclear waste. Nobody seems to want it in their backyard. Therefore, until the problem of how to dispose of nuclear waste is decided, it seems reckless to build more nuclear reactors.
Finally, we have to address the politics of this situation. Republicans have clearly had a mutual and symbiotic relationship with big business over the last 30 to 40 years (probably much longer). If Republicans are pushing an idea, you can be guaranteed that the idea is not helping the average American worker. Instead, the idea helps big business. Drilling everywhere will clearly help big business. How does it help the average American today and tomorrow? With the oil industry owning over 4000 undeveloped and unexplored oil leases off the American coasts, it seems to me that we need to develop what we have before we look for more. We can help the average American worker by developing energy alternatives which will open tens of thousands of jobs in these fields. Now, that’s a plan that will put money into the pocket of the average American worker.
It is very hard as a freshman Senator to get anything of substance done in Congress but Senator Jim Webb of Virginia has done exactly that. He pushed the GI Bill through both houses of Congress. He attached the bill to other legislation and dared the President to veto it. Senator Jim Webb may be that rarest of politicians. One who has principles and sticks by them. He is someone who said that he supports the troops and then proved to EVERYONE that he, in fact, supports the troops.
POLITICAL PROMISES are easy to make, harder to keep. So it is a testament to the tenacity of Sen. James Webb (D-Va.) and the justice of his cause that Congress has enacted a new GI Bill for war veterans. The freshman senator’s ability to work across party lines means that the men and women who risk their lives for America’s well-being will, in return, get expanded education benefits, along with opportunities for better futures.
The expansion of education benefits for Iraq and Afghanistan war veterans is part of the $257.5 billion emergency spending bill that passed the Senate on Thursday. The House gave its approval earlier, and President Bush is expected to sign it this week. The timing is fitting, considering that 64 years ago last Sunday, President Franklin Delano Roosevelt signed into law the original GI Bill, which made a college education affordable for millions of World War II veterans. Today’s warriors are equally deserving, but the system, designed for a peacetime military, has not kept pace with the costs of college. Mr. Webb’s bill — The Post-9/11 Veterans Educational Assistance Act — is true to the original in providing full tuition, housing and living costs. (more…)
There are very few politicians that I admire. As I read more and more about these guys and gals, they really don’t resemble anything that I’m familiar with. Senator Jim Webb maybe that rare guy who promises that he will be over on Tuesday to help you built that back deck and on Tuesday he shows up to help.
I congratulate Senator Webb and Senator Hagel for getting this bill through. I also congratulate our troops for a job well done. Here’s their reward.
That just doesn’t look right. Al Qaeda is or is it Al Qaeda are? Anyway, more to the point, the Bush administration continue to tell us that Al Qaeda remains dangerous but it appears that we aren’t doing anything to decrease that danger. It appeared that we tried to bomb an Al Qaeda outpost in Pakistan and instead bombed some Pakistani soldiers. Look for me it is very simple, if Al Qaeda cause 9/11 we need to hunt down these guys no matter where they are. If they surrender, then they will be put on trial. If they don’t they should be shot. It is very simple.
Late last year, top Bush administration officials decided to take a step they had long resisted. They drafted a secret plan to make it easer for the Pentagon’s Special Operations forces to launch missions into the snow-capped mountains of Pakistan to capture or kill top leaders of Al Qaeda.
Intelligence reports for more than a year had been streaming in about Osama bin Laden’s terrorism network rebuilding in the Pakistani tribal areas, a problem that had been exacerbated by years of missteps in Washington and the Pakistani capital, Islamabad, sharp policy disagreements, and turf battles between American counterterrorism agencies. (more…)
The right of the people to be secure in their persons, houses, papers, and effects, against unreasonable searches and seizures, shall not be violated, and no Warrants shall issue, but upon probable cause, supported by Oath or affirmation, and particularly describing the place to be searched, and the persons or things to be seized.
You know, I’m tired. I’m tired of liberals acting like conservatives. Now, as I flipped through the liberal handbook I can’t find anywhere where supporting spying on Americans is a liberal ideal. So, can somebody explain to me, why this new FISA legislation is good for us, liberals, or good for the country. There is so much about its domestic spying program that we know nothing about.
Remember back in 2006/2007 the Bush administration blocked all of our efforts to investigate this program. The Office of Professional Responsibility in the Department of Justice began an internal investigation which was thwarted by the Bush administration. This office was denied security clearance which meant that their investigation ground to a halt. How does this legislation help us investigate what happened?
Over the last three years a number of liberal senators have stood up and denounced the domestic spying program including Senator Jay Rockefeller, Senator Chuck Schumer and Senator Patrick Leahy. These three senators have been in the Senate and public service for a long time. Where are they now? Senator Rockefeller has gone out of his way to support this FISA legislation. Why? What is he seeing in this legislation that we aren’t or is he playing politics? All of our so-called liberal Democratic senators need to stand up and tell us where they stand on this issue and why.
I have avoided criticizing Barack Obama. But now both he and Hillary Clinton need to be taken to the woodshed. Barack Obama has spoken out strongly against domestic spying in the past but yet he is going to support this legislation which does nothing to protect our civil liberties. Hillary Clinton, who has nothing to lose, and everything to gain from opposing this legislation, has been completely and totally silent on this issue.
I’m sorry, I do not buy the argument that you are soft on terrorism just because you don’t want the president to listen in on every one of your conversations. I understand that this is an issue that does not raise the ire of the American public but there are principles. Long-standing principles against unnecessary government intervention (I thought that Republicans wanted a hands-off government — I guess it depends) should be upheld. We cannot depend on winning the White House in November or advancing our majorities in the House and the Senate. None of that may happen.
There’s no better time than the present to stand up against telecom immunity and a bill that is deeply flawed. It is time for progressives to stand up and support the Constitution and support the American people. We need to find out what happened (where’s Alberto Gonzales and why isn’t he in jail for something). We need to find out what laws were violated. We need to clip the wings of the unitary executive. None of this can wait until November.
North Korea dynamited the dirty gray cooling tower at its deactivated Yongbyon nuclear facility on Friday, a made-for-TV event intended to show the United States and the world that it is serious about abandoning its nuclear weapons program.
After a loud explosive charge, the 60-foot tower imploded within seconds, melting into a thick white cloud of smoke and dust. The late afternoon demolition was filmed by television news crews invited from the five countries that for years have been pressing Kim Jong Il’s totalitarian state to back away from nuclear confrontation. (more…)
Update: This Netroots community is quickly organizing to fight this FISA legislation. The House slipped the bill passed us too quickly for us to mount an adequate response. Below is more information from some of the guys who are writing some great stuff on this issue.
Senator Chris Dodd took to the Senate floor last night. (I’ll get the video as soon as it is available) Thankfully, he will oppose the FISA legislation. here’s a portion of what he said:
But, as the Intelligence Committee has already made clear, we already KNOW that this happened.
We already KNOW that the companies received some form of documentation, with some sort of legal determination.
But that’s not the question. The question is not whether these companies received a “document” from the White House. The question is, “were their actions legal?” It’s rather straightforward—surprisingly uncomplicated.
Either the companies were presented with a warrant, or they weren’t. Either the companies and the President acted outside of the rule of law, or they followed it. Either the underlying program was legal or it wasn’t.
Because of this legislation, none of the questions will be answered, Mr. President. Because of this so-called “compromise,” the judge’s hands will be tied, and the outcome of these cases will be predetermined. Because of this compromise, retroactive immunity will be granted and that, as they say, will be that. Case closed.
No court will rule on the legality of the telecommunications companies activities in participating in the president’s warrantless wiretapping program.
None of our fellow Americans will have their day in court.
What they will have is a government that has sanctioned lawlessness.
Well, I refuse to accept that, Mr. President. I refuse to accept the argument that because this situation is just too delicate, too complicated, that this body is simply going to go ahead and sanction lawlessness.
We are better than that.
————— Glenn Greenwald continues to stay on this issue. Today he posted this -
Chris Dodd went to the Senate floor last night to speak against the FISA bill and delivered one of the most compelling and inspired speeches by a prominent politician that I’ve heard in quite some time. He tied the core corruption of the FISA bill’s telecom amnesty and warrantless eavesdropping provisions into the whole litany of the Bush administration’s lawless and destructive behavior over the last seven years — from torture and rendition to the abuse of secrecy instruments and Guantanamo mock trials — with a focus on the way in which telecom amnesty further demolishes the rule of law among our political class. That speech signals that the small minority in the Senate devoted to stopping this bill have made this a priority. Small, vocal, passionate minorities in the Senate — backed up by vocal, passionate and engaged citizens — can do much to prevent a bill’s quick and painless passage. Dodd’s speech can be seen and/or read here. I highly recommend it, and if I had one wish this week, it would be that any journalist who will ever write or utter the words “FISA,” “telecom immunity” or “Terrorism” would be forced to watch this speech from start to finish without distraction.
Kargo X added: It was an odd choice to schedule FISA for consideration before the supplemental. Nobody wants to go home for July 4th parades without passing the GI Bill, and a fair number of Senators feel the same way about the housing bill, the war funding and/or the unemployment benefits extension. Putting FISA — a contentious bill that was sure to produce extended debate — before the supplemental virtually guaranteed either a delayed adjournment or serious discomfort among the membership.
What an… interesting decision that was. Let’s see how that plays out tomorrow, when debate resumes on the housing bill, and the cloture vote on the motion to proceed to the FISA bill coming due in the afternoon.
Senators Chris Dodd (D-CT) and Russ Feingold (D-WI) released the following statement today in response to the announcement that the Senate this week will consider the compromise legislation that would reform the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act (FISA) this week.
“This is a deeply flawed bill, which does nothing more than offer retroactive immunity by another name. We strongly urge our colleagues to reject this so-called ‘compromise’ legislation and oppose any efforts to consider this bill in its current form. We will oppose efforts to end debate on this bill as long as it provides retroactive immunity for the telecommunications companies that may have participated in the President’s warrantless wiretapping program, and as long as it fails to protect the privacy of law-abiding Americans.
“If the Senate does proceed to this legislation, our immediate response will be to offer an amendment that strips the retroactive immunity provision out of the bill. We hope our colleagues will join us in supporting Americans’ civil liberties by opposing retroactive immunity and rejecting this so-called ‘compromise’ legislation.”
Errington C. Thompson, MD, is a surgeon, scholar, fulltime sports fan and part-time political activist. He is active in a number of community projects and initiatives. Through medicine, he strives to improve the physical health of all he treats...
