In other words: A discussion of The Bush Administration
Monday Morning Ketchup (in honor of our soon to be first lady):
- How does Bush expect to lead with these wishy washy statements? He's going to demoralize the troops.
He said the nation is safer from terrorism, but "whether or not we can be ever fully safe is up — you know, up in the air."From: Kerry Ridicules Bush on Terrorism Remark. Kerry was right before when he stated that it is impossible to stop terrorism completely, but he sounded thoughtful and intelligent. Bush states basically the same thing (after ridiculing Kerry's earlier comments) but sounds horribly detached "you know, up in the air." Its like saying "yeah, they may have a dirty bomb, maybe, I mean, these things happen."
- Bad News for folks whose dad bailed them out of coke busts 3a years ago... it might still bite you in the ass: Some dispute Bush account of '73 charity work
HOUSTON - Former employees of a now-defunct inner-city program here have disputed the role President Bush says he played working with troubled teens in 1973.
"I was working full-time for an inner-city poverty program known as Project PULL," he said in his 1999 autobiography, A Charge to Keep. "My friend John White... asked me to come help him run the program... . I was intrigued by John's offer... . Now I had a chance to help people."
Bush often has cited this work for the Professional United Leadership League as the source for his belief in compassionate conservatism.
Some former associates of White, who died in 1988, speaking on the record for the first time, say that Bush wasn't helping to run the program but was instead a volunteer, and that White hadn't asked Bush to come aboard. Instead, the associates said, White told them he agreed to take Bush on as a favor to Bush's father, who was honorary cochairman of the program at the time. They say White, a tight end for the Houston Oilers in the '60s, told them Bush had gotten into some kind of trouble, but White never gave them specifics.
While they question how he came to the group, they also praise his work and agree that he connected well with the youths.
"We didn't know what kind of trouble he'd been in, only that he'd done something that required him to put in the time," said Althia Turner, White's administrative assistant.
"He didn't help run the program. I was in charge of him and I wouldn't say I helped run the program, either," said David Anderson, a recreational director at PULL.
- Surprise! the Washington Post endorses Kerry (actually it is a bit of a surprise, it seems the Post has become rabid in its love of the inner circle).
- This administration can't handle the truth. Speak it and you'll get fired.
Beyond the Call of Duty
A whistle-blower objected to the government's Halliburton deals—and says now she's paying for itIn February 2003, less than a month before the U.S. invaded Iraq, Bunnatine (Bunny) Greenhouse walked into a Pentagon meeting and with a quiet comment started what could be the end of her career. On the agenda was the awarding of an up to $7 billion deal to a subsidiary of Houston-based conglomerate Halliburton to restore Iraq's oil facilities. On hand were senior officials from the office of Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld and aides to retired Lieut. General Jay Garner, who would soon become the first U.S. administrator in Iraq.
Then several representatives from Halliburton entered. Greenhouse, a top contracting specialist for the Army Corps of Engineers, grew increasingly concerned that they were privy to internal discussions of the contract's terms, so she whispered to the presiding general, insisting that he ask the Halliburton employees to leave the room.
Once they had gone, Greenhouse raised other concerns. She argued that the five-year term for the contract, which had not been put out for competitive bid, was not justified, that it should be for one year only and then be opened to competition. But when the contract-approval document arrived the next day for Greenhouse's signature, the term was five years. With war imminent, she had little choice but to sign. But she added a handwritten reservation that extending a no-bid contract beyond one year could send a message that "there is not strong intent for a limited competition."
...
Greenhouse seems to have got nothing but trouble for questioning the deal. Warned to stop interfering and threatened with a demotion, the career Corps employee decided to act on her conscience, according to her lawyer, Michael Kohn. Kohn, who has represented other federal whistle-blowers, last week sent a letter—obtained by TIME from congressional sources—on her behalf to the acting Secretary of the Army. In it Kohn recounts Greenhouse's Pentagon meeting and demands an investigation of alleged violations of Army regulations in the contract's awarding. (The Pentagon justified the contract procedures as necessary in a time of war, saying KBR was the only choice because of security clearances that it had received earlier.) Kohn charges that Greenhouse's superiors have tried to silence her; he says she has agreed to be interviewed, pending approval from her employer, but the Army failed to make her available despite repeated requests from TIME.
"These charges undercut months of assertions by Administration officials that the Halliburton contract was on the level," says Democratic Representative Henry Waxman. As the Corps's top contract specialist, the letter says, Greenhouse had noted reservations on dozens of procurement documents over seven years. But it was only after she took exception to the Halliburton deal that she was warned not to do so anymore. The letter states that the major general who admonished her, Robert Griffin, later admitted in a sworn statement that her comments on contracts had "caused trouble" for the Army and that, given the controversy surrounding the contract, it was "intolerable" and "had to stop." The letter says he threatened to downgrade her.- Things are worse in Iraq: Dozens of new Iraqi soldiers found dead
U.S. security official killed near Baghdad airport
- Republicans are all for freedom and democracy... if your vote for them.
It's really does seem to me that something is wrong that a major party is so frightened by voters: Big G.O.P. Bid to Challenge Voters at Polls in Key StateRepublican Party officials in Ohio took formal steps yesterday to place thousands of recruits inside polling places on Election Day to challenge the qualifications of voters they suspect are not eligible to cast ballots. [you know... like african-americans - TCS]
...
Election officials in other swing states, from Arizona to Wisconsin and Florida, say they are bracing for similar efforts by Republicans to challenge new voters at polling places, reflecting months of disputes over voting procedures and the anticipation of an election as close as the one in 2000.
Ohio election officials said they had never seen so large a drive to prepare for Election Day challenges. They said they were scrambling yesterday to be ready for disruptions in the voting process as well as alarm and complaints among voters. Some officials said they worried that the challenges could discourage or even frighten others waiting to vote.
- rob 4:59 PM - [PermaLink] -
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