Where’s the Outrage?

I will have a lot more to say about Senator Jessie Helms later on this afternoon. Right now, I can say that Helms should be admired by all. Whether you believe in his politics or not, he did stand by his convictions. He also showed everyone what a determined Senator can do.

Think Progress points out that former Charlotte mayor Harvey Gantt, who ran against Helms in 1990, was defeated in part by a racially based ad which re-enforced North Carolinians worst racial fears.

From NYT:

Jesse Helms, the former North Carolina senator whose courtly manner and mossy drawl barely masked a hard-edged conservatism that opposed civil rights, gay rights, foreign aid and modern art, died early Friday. He was 86.

Mr. Helms’s former chief of staff, Jimmy Broughton, told The Associated Press that the former senator died of natural causes in Raleigh.

In a 52-year political career that ended with his retirement from the Senate in 2002, Mr. Helms became a beacon for the right wing of American politics, a lightning rod for the left, and, often, a mighty pain for Presidents whatever their political leaning. (more… )

Update: From TCR -

The WaPo’s David Broder wrote a column in August 2001, shortly after Helms announced he would not seek re-election. Broder, who would hardly qualify as a reflexive liberal ideologue, did a fine job explaining exactly what made Helms politically significant, and precisely why he’ll be remembered.

What really sets Jesse Helms apart is that he is the last prominent unabashed white racist politician in this country — a title that one hopes will now be permanently retired. A few editorials and columns came close to saying that. But the squeamishness of much of the press in characterizing Helms for what he is suggests an unwillingness to confront the reality of race in our national life. […]

What is unique about Helms — and from my viewpoint, unforgivable — is his willingness to pick at the scab of the great wound of American history, the legacy of slavery and segregation, and to inflame racial resentment against African Americans.

Many of the accounts of Helms’s retirement linked him with another prospective retiree, Sen. Strom Thurmond of South Carolina. Both these Senate veterans switched from the Democratic to the Republican Party when the Democrats began pressing for civil rights legislation in the 1960s. But there is a great difference between them. Thurmond, who holds the record for the longest anti-civil rights filibuster, accepted change. For three decades he has treated African Americans and black institutions as respectfully as he treats all his other constituents.

To the best of my knowledge, Helms has never done what the late George Wallace did well before his death — recant and apologize for his use of racial issues. And that use was blatant.

In 1984, when Helms faced his toughest opponent in Democratic Gov. Jim Hunt, the late Bill Peterson, one of the most evenhanded reporters I have ever known, summed up what “some said was the meanest Senate campaign in history.”

“Racial epithets and standing in school doors are no longer fashionable,” Peterson wrote, “but 1984 proved that the ugly politics of race are alive and well. Helms is their master.”

A year before the election, when public polls showed Helms trailing by 20 points, he launched a Senate filibuster against the bill making the birthday of Martin Luther King Jr. a national holiday. Thurmond and the Senate majority were on the other side, but the next poll showed Helms had halved his deficit.

All year, Peterson reported, “Helms campaign literature sounded a drumbeat of warnings about black voter-registration drives…. On election eve, he accused Hunt of being supported by ‘homosexuals, the labor union bosses and the crooks’ and said he feared a large ‘bloc vote.’ What did he mean? ‘The black vote,’ Helms said.” He won, 52 percent to 48 percent.

In 1990, locked in a tight race with an African American Democrat, former Charlotte mayor Harvey Gantt, Helms aired a final-week TV ad that showed a pair of white hands crumpling a rejection letter, while an announcer said, “You needed that job and you were the best qualified. But they had to give it to a minority because of a racial quota.” Once again, he pulled through.

That is not a history to be sanitized.

Helms wasn’t a nice guy or even a good guy. He was one of the cornerstones of the Republican party for decades. I think that this says something about the Republican party, North Carolina (the state in which I live) and the US. Unfortunately, what it says isn’t good.

At the risk of sounding heartless, the same is true on the day of Helms’ death.

Tags: Domestic Issues, Senate by ecthompson
2 Comments »

Keith Olbermann tells us how John McCain and his chief economic policy adviser former Senator Phil Gramm of Texas help develop then maintain the Enron Loophole. This Loophole has allowed energy speculators to pump up the price of gas. This is an excellent report.

Obama has given a major speech stating that he wants to close the Enron Loophole.

Tags: Big Oil, Election 2008, Senate by ecthompson
3 Comments »

One of the great things about You Tube is priceless moments on the floor of the House or Senate can be brought to our attention. C-Span records the proceedings but someone else edits those 3 and 4 hour marathons down to 2 minutes of pure stupidity. Representative Darell Issa serves up tonight’s course.

————

From TP:

ISSA: We are going to miss Tim Russert when it comes to the people on both sides of the issue of why we have $5 oil — $5 gasoline and $135 oil. I think Tim Russert would have been just the right guy to hold people accountable, who would talk about the 68 million acres that are, quote, inactive, while in fact 41 million are under current lease and use and are producing millions of barrels of oil and natural gas a day. […] (more…)

 

 Rep. Issa connects Tim Russert and off-shore drilling [1:53m]: Play Now | Play in Popup | Download

Tags: Big Oil, House of Representatives by ecthompson
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A hand-selected group of reporters (only 20 people) were allowed to access 1,173 pages of Senator John McCain’s medical records for three hours. No one was allowed to photocopy or photograph the records, but a reporter could take notes. Oh, also there were no cellphones allowed.

So, what do we know? Not much. The types of tests done to look for cancer recurrence were not revealed in the AP article I reviewed. We do know that the cancer removed from his jaw was of an intermediate depth. We also know that his lymph nodes were negative. This is about all the reporters could find out in the limited time allowed. If they read 1,173 pages in three hours, they would have to read a page every six minutes. You can’t get any detail from that. I’m not sure that we know more now than we did before the records were flashed in front of our eyes.

To be honest, this was a great political maneuver by the McCain camp: Release the information on a Friday before a holiday weekend, a slow news day, when nobody is paying any attention and then control what is said. The McCain camp got the exact headlines that they wanted. Reuters stated: “McCain deemed in good health by doctors.” The McCain camp couldn’t have written it any better.

Update: The McCain campaign has released a short summary of the Senator’s medical records. I guess they did this to quiet critics like me. There is still no thoughtful summary of the follow-up tests that have been done or their results.  It is clear that some tests would have been done to look for spread of his cancer. . To me, the only nugget of new information was that John McCain had another melanoma on his nose that I didn’t know about. That makes the fourth site that I know of.

Tags: Election 2008, Senate by ecthompson
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What terribly sad news. Senator Ted Kennedy has a brain tumor at 76 years of age. I’m sure that the doctors knew this hours after he arrived on Saturday. Kennedy underwent a brain biopsy, which was probably performed on Sunday. There really aren’t any good brain tumors in terms of long term survival. Malignant Gliomas are bad.

Official Hospital statement:

Statement from Dr. Lee Schwamm, Vice Chairman, Department of Neurology, Massachusetts General Hospital, and Dr. Larry Ronan, Primary Care Physician, Massachusetts General Hospital:

“Over the course of the last several days, we’ve done a series of tests on Senator Kennedy to determine the cause of his seizure. He has had no further seizures, remains in good overall condition, and is up and walking around the hospital. Some of the tests we had performed were inconclusive, particularly in light of the fact that the Senator had severe narrowing of the left carotid artery and underwent surgery just 6 months ago. However, preliminary results from a biopsy of the brain identified the cause of the seizure as a malignant glioma in the left parietal lobe. The usual course of treatment includes combinations of various forms of radiation and chemotherapy. Decisions regarding the best course of treatment for Senator Kennedy will be determined after further testing and analysis. Senator Kennedy will remain at Massachusetts General Hospital for the next couple of days according to routine protocol. He remains in good spirits and full of energy.”

Tags: Domestic Issues, Senate by ecthompson
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We have been waiting for Senator Ted Kennedy’s doctors to tell us something. The Boston Globe has a very nice story that sums up the fact that we still know nothing.

The most common cause of seizures in the elderly would be tumor, alcohol withdrawal, stroke, and arteriovenous malformations (AVM). This is not a complete list, but it is what I can remember from my days in medical school.

I would like to go on TV and get paid for saying nothing, like the M.D. in this clip.

Tags: Healthcare, Senate by ecthompson
4 Comments »

We really don’t know any more than we did six or seven hours ago. Neither the Washington Post, New York Times, or the Boston Globe really have anything new. Senator Edward Kennedy had a seizure this morning. He was transported to Massachusetts General Hospital in Boston where tests are being run. The Senator is reportedly awake and interactive. That’s about it.

Tags: Senate by ecthompson
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Senator Kennedy, 76 years-old and very overweight, was airlifted to Massachusetts General Hospital. As far as I can tell, no one really has a handle on what is going on. The news media is reporting that he has symptoms of a stroke.

I pray for his speedy recovery.

Update from the Boston Globe:

Doctors believe that Senator Edward M. Kennedy of Massachusetts suffered a seizure at his home in Hyannis Port this morning, then a second seizure as he was being transported by helicopter from Cape Cod Hospital to Massachusetts General Hospital in Boston, according to an official briefed on the situation.

His condition was unclear early this afternoon, as a special police security detail gathered at Mass. General. Kennedy family members were called this morning and told to rush to Boston, according to sources.

Update II Statement from Senator Kennedy’s office:

“It appears that Senator Kennedy experienced a seizure this morning,” a statement released by his office in Washington said. “He is undergoing a battery of tests at Massachusetts General Hospital to determine the cause of the seizure. Senator Kennedy is resting comfortably, and it is unlikely we will know anything more for the next 48 hours.”

All I can say this that this statement isn’t exactly accurate. They should know something by now. Kennedy has been at the hospital for over two hours. I guarantee that he has had blood work and a CT scan of his head, at the very least. Also, since Kennedy was recently diagnosed with a narrowing of his carotid artery but no surgery was recommended, I would guess that a test has been performed on that artery to see if the disease has progressed.

Tags: Healthcare, Senate by ecthompson
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I have dreamed of having enough money so that I can fly my own plane. John Travolta has that kind of money. He has a couple of planes, if I’m not mistaken– not bad for a sweathog. Well, it seems that Senator John McCain’s campaign has its own plane also. It isn’t unusual for a campaign to lease a plane but this plane actually belongs to McCain’s wife, Cindy. Their campaign has been flying around at a discount it seems because there is a law– which McCain backed– stating that the campaign must pay or rent this plane for fair market valve.

So, is having your own plane elitist? Is not following a law that you supported elitist? I’m just askin’.

————-

From the New York Times:

Given Senator John McCain’s signature stance on campaign finance reform, it was not surprising that he backed legislation last year requiring presidential candidates to pay the actual cost of flying on corporate jets. The law, which requires campaigns to pay charter rates when using such jets rather than cheaper first-class fares, was intended to reduce the influence of lobbyists and create a level financial playing field.

But over a seven-month period beginning last summer, Mr. McCain’s cash-short campaign gave itself an advantage by using a corporate jet owned by a company headed by his wife, Cindy McCain, according to public records. For five of those months, the plane was used almost exclusively for campaign-related purposes, those records show. (more…)

Tags: Congress, Election 2008 by ecthompson
4 Comments »

I watched a U.S. Trade mission to Colombia a few days ago on C-Span.

You can watch it by clicking the link that says Vignette on U.S.-Colombia Free Trade Agreement. The video will remain up on C-Span for another week or two.

The roughly half-hour I watched of the show involved U.S. Trade Representative Susan Schwab and nine members of the U.S. House of Representatives touring Medellin, Colombia and meeting with various officials.

The photo above is of Medellin where 2.4 million people live within the city and 3.2 million people live in outlying areas. Here is a brief history of the city.

My friends at the AFL-CIO oppose this agreement. They say union workers are routinely killed in Colombia and the deal will result in lost American jobs.

This blog, Plan Colombia and Beyond, is also opposed to this agreement on the grounds of human rights.

I have little doubt that the right-wing government of Colombian President Alvaro Uribe is on the wrong side of many basic human rights questions.

Here are arguments for the pact from a government web-page dedicated to trade agreements.

Currently, the deal is stuck in a disagreement between the Democratic House and President Bush.

Of the nine House members on the trip, there were seven Republicans and two Democrats.

I was interested in the presence of the two Democratic House members in the trade delegation. The two members were Bob Etheridge of North Carolina and Hank Johnson of Georgia. [Read more →]

Tags: Economy, House of Representatives by Texas Liberal
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I’m back in town and my blog is back up and running. We’ve experienced power outages and server malfunctions.

In my recent travels (not on American Airlines), I’ve had ‘airport craziness.’  I just want to know if it’s possible for two successive flights to actually leave on time and arrive on time in the United States. I’m just asking…

Congress sees what’s going on and yet they do nothing. Travel is clearly getting worse, not better, yet we see no significant legislation to help travelers.

Tags: Congress, Domestic Issues by ecthompson
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Keith Olbermann, host of the newscast Countdown, summarizes yesterday’s events. He interviews General William Odom, who delivered an excellent assessment of Iraq. I posted it here.

I have talked about this before. I don’t that that there will be any useful information handed out at these hearings. General David Petraeus and Ambassador Ryan Crocker are intelligent people and they work for the Bush administration. As such, they are going to put forth the administration’s views on Iraq and Iran.

Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice did us all a favor almost a year ago. She was on the Charlie Rose show and there was a moment of candor and clarity. It was brief, and if you weren’t paying attention you would have missed it. As a matter of fact, I think that Charlie Rose missed it. Rice said, “We are not looking to leave Iraq. That is not why this president went into Iraq…. We are not going to leave Iraq that is not capable of defending itself.” Boom. We are done.

There is no need for any more Petraeus’ testimonies because now we know what the end point is. Iraq must be able to defend itself. That isn’t going to happen in a year. Therefore, we will be in Iraq with a significant number of troops until the next president gets in office. Period. End of story.

Tags: Bush Administration, Congress, Iraq by ecthompson
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We will assume that we will get progressive friendly testimony when Biden is in charge of the Foreign Relations Committee.  I love it.  (emphasis added is mine)

�

TESTIMONY BEFORE THE SENATE FOREIGN RELATIONS  COMMITTEE ON IRAQ
By William E. Odom, LT General, USA, Ret.
2 April 2008

Good morning Mr. Chairman and members of the committee. It is an honor to appear before you again. The last occasion was in  January 2007, when the topic was the troop surge. Today you are  asking if it has worked.

Last year I rejected the claim that it was a new strategy.

Rather, I said, it is a new tactic used to achieve the same old strategic aim, political stability. And I foresaw no serious prospects for success.

I see no reason to change my judgment now. The surge is prolonging instability, not creating the conditions for unity as the president claims.

Last year, General Petraeus wisely declined to promise a military solution to this political problem, saying that he could lower  the level of violence, allowing a limited time for the Iraqi leaders to strike a political deal. Violence has been temporarily reduced but today there is credible evidence that the political situation is far more  fragmented. And currently we see violence surge in Baghdad and Basra. In fact, it has also remained sporadic and significant in several other parts of Iraq over the past year, notwithstanding the  notable drop in Baghdad and Anbar Province.

More disturbing, Prime Minister Maliki has initiated military action and then dragged in US forces to help his own troops destroy his Shiite competitors. This is a political setback, not a political solution. Such is the result of the surge tactic.  No less disturbing has been the steady violence in the Mosul area, and the tensions in Kirkuk between Kurds, Arabs, and Turkomen. A showdown over control of the oil fields there surely awaits us. And the idea that some kind of a federal solution can cut this Gordian knot strikes me as a wild fantasy, wholly out of touch  with Kurdish realities.

Also disturbing is Turkey’s military incursion to destroy Kurdish PKK groups in the border region. That confronted the US government with a choice: either to support its NATO ally, or to make good on its commitment to Kurdish leaders to insure their security. It chose the former, and that makes it clear to the Kurds that the United States will  sacrifice their security to its larger interests in Turkey.

Turning to the apparent success in Anbar province and a few other Sunni areas, this is not the positive situation it is purported to be. Certainly violence has declined as local Sunni shieks have begun  to cooperate with US forces. But the surge tactic cannot be given full credit. The decline started earlier on Sunni initiative. What are their motives? First, anger at al Qaeda operatives and second, their financial plight.

Their break with al Qaeda should give us little comfort. The Sunnis welcomed anyone who would help them kill Americans,  including al Qaeda.  The concern we hear the president and his aides express about a residual base left for al Qaeda if we withdraw is utter nonsense. The Sunnis will soon destroy al Qaeda if we leave Iraq.

The Kurds do not allow them in their region, and the Shiites, like the Iranians, detest al Qaeda. To understand why, one need only take note of the al Qaeda public diplomacy campaign over the past year or so on internet blogs. They implore the United States to bomb  and invade Iran and destroy this apostate Shiite regime.

As an aside, it gives me pause to learn that our vice president  and some members of the Senate are aligned with al Qaeda on spreading the war to Iran.

Let me emphasize that our new Sunni friends insist on being  paid for their loyalty. I have heard, for example, a rough estimate that the cost in one area of about 100 square kilometers is $250,000 per day. And periodically they threaten to defect unless their fees are increased. You might want to find out the total costs for these deals forecasted for the next several years, because they are not small and  they do not promise to end. Remember, we do not own these people. We merely rent them. And they can break the lease at any moment. At the same time, this deal protects them to some degree from the  government’s troops and police, hardly a sign of political reconciliation.

Now let us consider the implications of the proliferating deals with the Sunni strongmen. They are far from unified among  themselves. Some remain with al Qaeda. Many who break and join  our forces are beholden to no one. Thus the decline in violence reflects a dispersion of power to dozens of local strong men who  distrust the government and occasionally fight among themselves. Thus the basic military situation is far worse because of the  proliferation of armed groups under local military chiefs who follow a  proliferating number of political bosses.

This can hardly be called greater military stability, much less progress toward political consolidation, and to call it fragility that needs more time to become success is to ignore its implications. At the same time, Prime Minister Maliki’s military actions in Basra and Baghdad, indicate even wider political and military fragmentation. We  are witnessing is more accurately described as the road to the Balkanization of Iraq, that is, political fragmentation. We are being asked by the president to believe that this shift of so much power and  finance to so many local chieftains is the road to political centralization. He describes the process as building the state from the bottom up.

I challenge you to press the administration’s witnesses this week to explain this absurdity. Ask them to name a single historical  case where power has been aggregated successfully from local strong men to a central government except through bloody violence  leading to a single winner, most often a dictator. That is the history of feudal Europe’s transformation to the age of absolute monarchy. It is the story of the American colonization of the west and our Civil War. It took England 800 years to subdue clan rule on what is now the  English-Scottish border. And it is the source of violence in Bosnia and Kosovo.

How can our leaders celebrate this diffusion of power as effective state building? More accurately described, it has placed the  United States astride several civil wars. And it allows all sides to consolidate, rearm, and refill their financial coffers at the US expense.

To sum up, we face a deteriorating political situation with an  over extended army. When the administration’s witnesses appear before you, you should make them clarify how long the army and  marines can sustain this band-aid strategy.  The only sensible strategy is to withdraw rapidly but in good order. Only that step can break the paralysis now gripping US  strategy in the region. The next step is to choose a new aim, regional  stability, not a meaningless victory in Iraq. And progress toward that goal requires revising our policy toward Iran. If the president merely renounced his threat of regime change by force, that could prompt Iran to lessen its support to Taliban groups in Afghanistan. Iran  detests the Taliban and supports them only because they will kill  more Americans in Afghanistan as retaliation in event of a US attack on Iran. Iran’s policy toward Iraq would also have to change radically as we withdraw. It cannot want instability there. Iraqi Shiites are  Arabs, and they know that Persians look down on them. Cooperation between them has its limits.

No quick reconciliation between the US and Iran is likely, but US steps to make Iran feel more secure make it far more conceivable  than a policy calculated to increase its insecurity. The president’s policy has reinforced Iran’s determination to acquire nuclear  weapons, the very thing he purports to be trying to prevent.

Withdrawal from Iraq does not mean withdrawal from the  region. It must include a realignment and reassertion of US forces and diplomacy that give us a better chance to achieve our aim.

A number of reasons are given for not withdrawing soon and completely. I have refuted them repeatedly before but they have more lives than a cat. Let try again me explain why they don’t make sense.

First, it is insisted that we must leave behind military training  element with no combat forces to secure them. This makes no sense  at all. The idea that US military trainers left alone in Iraq can be safe and effective is flatly rejected by several NCOs and junior officers I have heard describe their personal experiences. Moreover, training  foreign forces before they have a consolidated political authority to  command their loyalty is a windmill tilt. Finally, Iraq is not short on military skills.

Second, it is insisted that chaos will follow our withdrawal. We heard that argument as the “domino theory” in Vietnam. Even so, the path to political stability will be bloody regardless of whether we  withdraw or not. The idea that the United States has a moral  responsibility to prevent this ignores that reality. We are certainly to blame for it, but we do not have the physical means to prevent it. American leaders who insist that it is in our power to do so are misleading both the public and themselves if they believe it.

The real moral question is whether to risk the lives of more  Americans. Unlike preventing chaos, we have the physical means to  stop sending more troops where many will be killed or wounded. That is the moral responsibility to our country which no American leaders seems willing to assume.

Third, nay sayers insist that our withdrawal will create regional instability. This confuses cause with effect. Our forces in Iraq and our threat to change Iran’s regime are making the region unstable. Those who link instability with a US withdrawal have it exactly backwards. Our ostrich strategy of keeping our heads buried in the sands of Iraq has done nothing but advance our enemies’ interest.

I implore you to reject these fallacious excuses for prolonging  the commitment of US forces to war in Iraq.

Thanks for this opportunity to testify today.

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Tags: Bush Administration, Iraq, Senate by ecthompson
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I feel chills when I read what Woodie Keedle did. I have seen Fire and Ice on the History Channel. The Korean War was no picnic. Woodie truly went above and beyond the call of duty. It is a great tragedy of our Country that we did not recognize this brave man before he died. It took another 20 years before he would be honored.

Woodrow Wilson Keeble is the first Sioux to recieve the medal of honor.

Update: BTW, I scanned a few of those Right Wing Blogs like Michele Malkin and Drudge - nothing.  Air Hot - nothing.  Say Anything does have something but then the blog is based in North Dakota where Woodie Keedle was from.  I guess my point is I thought that the Right loved our troops?

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The Citation reads:

For conspicuous gallantry and intrepidity at the risk of his life above and beyond the call of duty:

Master Sergeant Woodrow W. Keeble distinguished himself by acts of gallantry and intrepidity above and beyond the call of duty in action with an armed enemy near Sangsan-ni, Korea, on October 20, 1951. On that day, Master Sergeant Keeble was an acting platoon leader for the support platoon in Company G, 19th Infantry, in the attack on Hill 765, a steep and rugged position that was well defended by the enemy. Leading the support platoon, Master Sergeant Keeble saw that the attacking elements had become pinned down on the slope by heavy enemy fire from three well-fortified and strategically placed enemy positions. With complete disregard for his personal safety, Master Sergeant Keeble dashed forward and joined the pinned-down platoon. Then, hugging the ground, Master Sergeant Keeble crawled forward alone until he was in close proximity to one of the hostile machine-gun emplacements. Ignoring the heavy fire that the crew trained on him, Master Sergeant Keeble activated a grenade and threw it with great accuracy, successfully destroying the position. Continuing his one-man assault, he moved to the second enemy position and destroyed it with another grenade. Despite the fact that the enemy troops were now directing their firepower against him and unleashing a shower of grenades in a frantic attempt to stop his advance, he moved forward against the third hostile emplacement, and skillfully neutralized the remaining enemy position. As his comrades moved forward to join him, Master Sergeant Keeble continued to direct accurate fire against nearby trenches, inflicting heavy casualties on the enemy. Inspired by his courage, Company G successfully moved forward and seized its important objective. The extraordinary courage, selfless service, and devotion to duty displayed that day by Master Sergeant Keeble was an inspiration to all around him and reflected great credit upon himself, his unit, and the United States Army.

 

 Woodie Keedle - Medal of Honor [1:11m]: Play Now | Play in Popup | Download

Tags: Congress, Military by ecthompson
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Finally, the Democrats could get something done without getting interrupted by the nonsense of the Right Wing.  Rep. John Boehner and the gang walked out of the House today.  They just were not going to stand for the grand standing of the Democrats any more.  This allowed the Democrats to slap Josh Bolten and Harriett Miers with Contempt of Congress charges.  Surprisingly, I do not agree with John Boehner when he said that this was a political stunt.  Instead, I believe that everyone who beleives in 3 equal branches of government needs to stand up and take notice.  The executive branch has been running over and bypassing the other 2 branches.  Now, finally, the Legislative Branch of government says you can’t ignore us.

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From WaPo:

The House yesterday escalated a constitutional showdown with President Bush, approving the first-ever contempt of Congress citations against West Wing aides and reigniting last year’s battle over the scope of executive privilege.

On a 223 to 32 vote, the House approved contempt citations against White House Chief of Staff Joshua B. Bolten and former White House counsel Harriet E. Miers over their refusal to cooperate with an investigation into the mass firings of U.S. attorneys and allegations that administration officials sought to politicize the Justice Department.  (more…)

 

 Republcians walked out [1:53m]: Play Now | Play in Popup | Download

Tags: Congress by ecthompson
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The White House can have their cake and eat it, too.  The latest final version of the FISA bill seems to have a valentine’s day smooch for the White House and the Telecoms.  Immunity.  Why?  I have no idea.  I know why the White House wants these companies who clearly broke the law to have immunity, so that the extend of their vast spying will really never be fully understand.  I have no idea why the Senate Democrats like Rockefeller and Reid would go along with this.

There continues to be not consequences for breaking the law if you are a buddy of the Bush administration.

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From WaPo:

The Senate voted today to preserve retroactive immunity from lawsuits for telecommunications companies that cooperated with a government eavesdropping program, decisively rejecting an amendment that would have stripped the provision from a bill to modernize an electronic surveillance law.

Senators voted 67 to 31 to shelve the amendment offered by Sens. Christopher J. Dodd (D-Conn.) and Russell Feingold (D-Wis.). A filibuster-proof 60 votes had been needed for the amendment to move forward.

Tags: Bush Administration, Congress by ecthompson
2 Comments »

Who knows what type of garbage that we will end up with when the Bush Dems and the Republicans get through with FISA.  Glenn Greenwald has the latest.  My previous posts are here and here.

The following is clip of Senator Russ Feingold explaining how FISA currently works.

 

 Feingold Explains the FISA law [0:33m]: Play Now | Play in Popup | Download

Tags: Congress, Domestic Spying by ecthompson
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I have been blogging about the FISA law for a while. I have been leaning on Glenn Greenwald and research and knowledge. I have as forcefully, as I can, stated that immunity for Telecoms just doesn’t make sense on any level unless you don’t want the truth to come out. If you want to bury the truth of how the Telecoms gave the Bush Administration everything and how the Bush Administration misused their power than having this information come out in court isn’t a good thing.

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Keith Olbermann has an excellent Special Comment.

Partial Transcript:

He has demanded an extension of the FICA law, the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act, but only an extension that includes retroactive immunity for the Telecoms who helped him spy on you.

Congress has given him, and he has signed, a 15-day extension, which simply kicks the time bomb down the field, and has changed nothing of his insipid rhetoric, in which he portrays the Democrats as ’soft on terror’ and getting in the way of his Superhuman efforts to protect the nation when, in fact and with bitter irony, if anybody is ’soft on terror’ here it is Mr. Bush.

In the State of the Union Address, Sir, you told Congress, “if you do not act by Friday, our ability to track terrorist threats would be weakened and our citizens will be in greater danger.”

Yet you are willing to weaken that ability!

You will subject us, your citizens, to that greater danger.

This, Mr. Bush, is simple enough even for you to understand: If Congress approves a new FICA act without telecom immunity and sends it to your desk and you veto it, you, by your own terms and your own definitions, you will have just sided with the terrorists.

You got to have this law, or we’re all going to die. But you might veto this law!

It’s bad enough, Sir, that you are demanding an ex post facto law which would clear the phone giants from responsibility for their systematic, aggressive, and blatant collaboration with your illegal and unjustified spying on Americans, under the flimsy guise of looking for any terrorists stupid enough to make a collect call or send a mass e-mail. (more…)

Tags: Bush Administration, Congress, Countdown, Domestic Spying by ecthompson
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President Bush has gone out of his way to rally the American people behind inflated or imagined problems. Al Qaeda, Osama Bin Laden, death tax, without tax cuts the economic will sputter, do you remember those oldies but goodies? Well, earmarks are the latest boogie man. Are earmarks bad? Yep. Are they worse than spending billions in Iraq? Doubt it. Are they worse than leaving New Orleans in the lurch? Nope.

I don’t believe that the President has any real intention of stomping out all earmarks. Instead, he is trying to get the public whipped up about something that he can pin on the Democrats (see Hoyer’s quote below).

OH, BTW, Bush signed an executive order to ignore earmarks that aren’t explicitly enacted into law. There is nothing like a democracy by executive order.

Update:  Senator Bob Casey takes issue with Bush and his signing statements.

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From WaPo:

Bush warned he would veto any spending bill that does not cut in half the number and cost of earmarks from the year before. He also said he will sign an executive order requiring agencies to ignore any earmark not included in the language of legislation. “The people’s trust in their government is undermined by congressional earmarks,” Bush said.

Bush’s pledge was met with skepticism from many Democrats and even some in the GOP, who noted that the practice increased dramatically while Republicans controlled Congress. “The number of earmarks exploded under Republican leadership in the House, and for six years President Bush did nothing to slow their growth,” said House Majority Leader Steny H. Hoyer (D-Md.). (more…)

Tags: Bush Administration, Congress by ecthompson
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I sat at my computer with Tums in one hand and Pepto Bismol in the other and watched the State of the Union. Every now and then when the pain got too great, I had to turn away but the folks at Think Progress did not. They blogged and referenced throughout the State of the Union. They either have stronger stomachs than I or they had more antacids.

Tags: Bush Administration, Congress by ecthompson
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