to accompany the below post a quote from Commissioner Jamie Gorelick:

"We can't afford to have documents that are relevant to our inquiry being withheld on a technicality. This is not litigation. This is finding facts to help the nation, and we should not treat this as if we're adversarial parties here."

- rob 11:24 PM - [PermaLink] -

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The Mystery Deepens

The Bush administration's handling of the bipartisan commission investigating the 9/11 tragedy grows worse — and more oddly self-destructive — with each passing day. Following its earlier attempts to withhold documents from the panel and then to deny its members vital testimony, we now learn that President Bush's staff has been withholding thousands of pages of Clinton administration papers as well.

Bill Clinton authorized the release of nearly 11,000 pages of files on his administration's antiterrorism efforts for use by the commission. But aides to Mr. Clinton said the White House, which now has control of the papers, vetoed the transfer of over three-quarters of them. The White House held the documents for more than six weeks, apparently without notifying the commission, and might have kept them indefinitely if Bruce Lindsey, the general counsel of Mr. Clinton's presidential foundation, had not publicly complained this week. Yesterday the commission said the White House had agreed to allow its lawyers to review the withheld documents, but without guaranteeing any would be released.
...

Explaining the latest act of obstruction, Scott McClellan, the president's spokesman, said on Thursday that some documents were duplicative, unrelated or "highly sensitive." The White House, he said, had given the commission "all the information they need." Mr. Bush's staff should not be making that judgment. The commission's 10 members can be trusted with sensitive material.

Moreover, given the repeated criticism of this administration's obsessive secrecy on other issues, it is astonishing that it would still withhold anything that did not pose an immediate and dire threat to national security. The American people would like to know that they have a government that freely gives information to legitimate investigations on matters of grave national interest, not one that fights each reasonable request until it is exposed and forced to submit. The White House is serving no public purpose by acting less interested than the rest of us in having this commission do its vital work. Its ham-handed behavior is also gravely damaging the entire concept of executive privilege.

The White House is acting as if the 9/11 Commission is a grand jury investigating a crime. I thought it was trying to find out what went wrong so we make sure it doesn't happen again (kind of like how after investigations into the sinking of the Titanic they decided to make sure there were lifeboats for everyone, and that the radio room was on 24 hours a day). But Bush is acting like its hiding a crime. Why? No really: Why.

- rob 11:04 PM - [PermaLink] -

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thanks to Cursor

Criminals protecting criminals

Medicare Secrecy Inquiry Is Silenced
House Republicans stop Democrats from delving deeper into why the prescription drug bill's true cost estimates were kept from Congress.

WASHINGTON — House Republicans on Thursday shut down an inquiry by Democrats into whether the Bush administration acted illegally or inappropriately last year when it withheld from Congress its estimates of the true cost of the Medicare prescription drug bill.

At issue are allegations that then-Medicare Administrator Thomas A. Scully threatened to fire his top actuary if he gave lawmakers his analyses showing the costs would be much higher than administration officials were saying publicly.

Thursday's conclusion of a Ways and Means Committee hearing all but ensured that two individuals central to the controversy — Scully and White House aide Doug Badger — would not testify before Congress.

Separately, the Health and Human Services Department is conducting an internal investigation into the matter, and Democratic lawmakers have requested civil and criminal inquiries.

Democrats on the Ways and Means Committee had asked Scully and Badger to answer questions about when President Bush and top-ranking officials were told that internal estimates of the Medicare bill's cost were more than one-third higher than the $400 billion Bush had set aside, and why those analyses had not been shared with lawmakers.

But White House Counsel Alberto R. Gonzales, in a letter to committee Chairman Bill Thomas (R-Bakersfield), cited "long-standing White House policy" against having White House staff members testify before Congress as the reason Badger would not appear.

And Scully, now a private consultant, said in a letter to Thomas that he was unable to appear before the committee because "unfortunately, for the past ten days I have been traveling."

Committee Democrats rejected both explanations. In the case of Badger, they said at least 45 high-ranking Clinton administration officials had testified before Congress; in the case of Scully, they offered to let him appear at a later time. But Republicans quashed the Democrats' attempts to subpoena the men. Emphasis mine.

- rob 1:24 PM - [PermaLink] -

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Somtimes instant Karma takes a few years... but it looks like (finally) instant karma is coming for Bush

Prosecutors Are Said to Have Expanded Inquiry Into Leak of C.I.A. Officer’s Name

WASHINGTON, April 1 — Prosecutors investigating whether someone in the Bush administration improperly disclosed the identity of a C.I.A. officer have expanded their inquiry to examine whether White House officials lied to investigators or mishandled classified information related to the case, lawyers involved in the case and government officials say.

In looking at violations beyond the original focus of the inquiry, which centered on a rarely used statute that makes it a felony to disclose the identity of an undercover intelligence officer intentionally, prosecutors have widened the range of conduct under scrutiny and for the first time raised the possibility of bringing charges peripheral to the leak itself.

The expansion of the inquiry's scope comes at a time when prosecutors, after a hiatus of about a month, appear to be preparing to seek additional testimony before a federal grand jury, lawyers with clients in the case said. It is not clear whether the renewed grand jury activity represents a concluding session or a prelude to an indictment.

The broadened scope is a potentially significant development that represents exactly what allies of the Bush White House feared when Attorney General John Ashcroft removed himself from the case last December and turned it over to Patrick J. Fitzgerald, the United States attorney in Chicago.

The investigation was going so well under Ashcroft too. He had it all ready to expose Howard Dean as the leaker, but dang nab it, it looks like Fitzgerald wants the truth. What a loser, truth is, like, so 20th century.

- rob 11:43 AM - [PermaLink] -

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Bush Aides Block Clinton’s Papers From 9/11 Panel

WASHINGTON, April 1 — The commission investigating the Sept. 11 attacks said on Thursday that it was pressing the White House to explain why the Bush administration had blocked thousands of pages of classified foreign policy and counterterrorism documents from former President Bill Clinton's White House files from being turned over to the panel's investigators.

The White House confirmed on Thursday that it had withheld a variety of classified documents from Mr. Clinton's files that had been gathered by the National Archives over the last two years in response to requests from the commission, which is investigating intelligence and law enforcement failures before the attacks.

Scott McClellan, the White House spokesman, said some Clinton administration documents had been withheld because they were "duplicative or unrelated," while others were withheld because they were "highly sensitive" and the information in them could be relayed to the commission in other ways. "We are providing the commission with access to all the information they need to do their job," Mr. McClellan said.

That is so reassuring Mr. McClellan. I thought Clinton did nothing to fight terrorism? Isn't that what I've been hearing from the right for the past 940 or so days? Then how come there is so many pages that still need to be classified? And classified from the 9/11 committee at that... or does it show that indeed besides the economy other balls dropped on that dark day in January, 2001 when Bush ended "our long national nightmare of peach and prosperity."

- rob 11:40 AM - [PermaLink] -

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Bush is hiding behind Rice and Cheney

- rob 11:31 AM - [PermaLink] -

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The GOP and your Tax dollars

You pay taxes? Well, then you've already donated to the Bush campaign. The GOP thinks the government is for the Republicans not for the people, and feel free to spend your money on campaign propoganda.

Oh, and by the way, that's illegal.

Kautilyan: Treasury Used to Attack Kerry

The Treasury tapped civil servants to calculate the cost of Sen. John Kerry's tax plan and then posted the analysis on the Treasury Web site. A federal law bars career government officials from working on political campaigns.

The Treasury analysis doesn't mention Mr. Kerry by name. Rather it sketches out the potential cost of a tax plan that rolls back tax reductions for taxpayers with incomes above $200,000 -- the nub of the Democratic presidential candidate's plan. The result, the Treasury said in the analysis posted March 22, would be a tax increase of as much as $477 billion over 10 years on "hardworking individuals and married couples." The same day, the Republican National Committee issued a press release in which it unveiled what it called its "John Kerry $pendometer," and cited the same $477 billion figure as the cost of "raising taxes on the top income bracket."

And let's not forget last month's efforts to have the CIA selectively declassify Clarke's 2002 testimony to congress and to specificly look for inconsistencies with his new testimony. Nothing became of that though... perhaps because Clarke is telling the truth.

Oh that remind's me. In honor of the nasting anti-Clarke campaign that the White House has been promoting, we've introduced a new bumpersticker to our store:

It's a 21st Century tribute to the "I believe Anita" bumperstickers of the eighties.

- rob 11:22 AM - [PermaLink] -

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No, the article isn't all about Letterman. But the Letterman incident is frightening because it announced that even CNN will say anything the White House tells them to say. So we've got Fox News the official GOP spokeschannel, and MSNBC the "we want to be the official" unofficial GOP spokeschannel (a news channel that fires its number one ratings getter [Donahue] because he wasn't pro war), and CNN "we aren't the GOP spokeschannel, but we'll read their press releases as news." Wow, that liberal press is so damn liberal.

KRUGMAN: Smear Without Fear

A funny thing happened to David Letterman this week. Actually, it only started out funny. And the unfunny ending fits into a disturbing pattern.

On Monday, Mr. Letterman ran a video clip of a boy yawning and fidgeting during a speech by George Bush. It was harmless stuff; a White House that thinks it's cute to have Mr. Bush make jokes about missing W.M.D. should be able to handle a little ribbing about boring speeches.

CNN ran the Letterman clip on Tuesday, just before a commercial. Then the CNN anchor Daryn Kagan came back to inform viewers that the clip was a fake: "We're being told by the White House that the kid, as funny as he was, was edited into that video." Later in the day, another anchor amended that: the boy was at the rally, but not where he was shown in the video.

On his Tuesday night show, Mr. Letterman was not amused: "That is an out and out 100 percent absolute lie. The kid absolutely was there, and he absolutely was doing everything we pictured via the videotape."

But here's the really interesting part: CNN backed down, but it told Mr. Letterman that Ms. Kagan "misspoke," that the White House was not the source of the false claim. (So who was? And if the claim didn't come from the White House, why did CNN run with it without checking?)

In short, CNN passed along a smear that it attributed to the White House. When the smear backfired, it declared its previous statements inoperative and said the White House wasn't responsible. Sound familiar?
...

If an administration official is willing to say something on the record, that's a story, because he pays a price if his claims are false. But if unnamed "administration officials" spread rumors about administration critics, reporters have an obligation to check the facts before giving those rumors national exposure. And there's no excuse for disseminating unchecked rumors because they come from "the White House," then denying the White House connection when the rumors prove false. That's simply giving the administration a license to smear with impunity.

- rob 10:55 AM - [PermaLink] -

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US officials knew Al-Qaeda planned plane attacks: whistle-blower

LONDON (AFP) - US officials knew months before September 11, 2001 that Osama bin Laden's Al-Qaeda network was planning to use aircraft to carry out a terrorist attack, a former FBI translator has alleged.

Sibel Edmonds told the Independent newspaper, in an interview published Friday, that a claim by US President George W. Bush's national security advisor Condoleezza Rice that there had been no such warnings was "an outrageous lie".

The former translator with the US Federal Bureau of Investigation said that she had discussed her claims during a three-hour closed-door session with a US commission looking into the September 11 attacks.

"There was general information about the time frame, about methods to be used -- but not specifically about how they would be used -- and about people being in place and who was ordering these sorts of terror attacks," Edmonds said.

"There were other cities that were mentioned. Major cities -- with skyscrapers."

The 33-year-old Turkish-American translator said that, based on documents she had seen during her time with the FBI, after September 11, it was "impossible" that US intelligence officials had no forewarning of the attacks.
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The Independent reported that the White House had sought to silence Edmonds and had obtained a gagging order from a court.

Edmonds emerged as a whistle-blower in July last year when, on the CBS television network, she alleged that FBI officials deliberately slowed down the translation of September 11-related documents to make it appear that the department was sorely understaffed.

- rob 10:47 AM - [PermaLink] -

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I.R.S. Request for More Terrorism Investigators Is Denied

WASHINGTON, March 30 - The Bush administration has scuttled a plan to increase by 50 percent the number of criminal financial investigators working to disrupt the finances of Al Qaeda, Hamas and other terrorist organizations to save $12 million, a Congressional hearing was told on Tuesday.

The Internal Revenue Service had asked for 80 more criminal investigators beginning in October to join the 160 it has already assigned to penetrate the shadowy networks that terrorist groups use to finance plots like the Sept. 11 attacks and the recent train bombings in Madrid. But the Bush administration did not include them in the president's proposed budget for the 2005 fiscal year.

The disclosure, to a House Ways and Means subcommittee, came near the end of a routine hearing into the I.R.S. budget after most of the audience, including reporters, had left the hearing room.

It comes as the White House is fighting to maintain its image as a vigorous and uncompromising foe of global terrorism in the face of questions about its commitment and competence raised by the administration's former terrorism czar, Richard A. Clarke, and its first Treasury secretary, Paul H. O'Neill.

Representative Earl Pomeroy, a North Dakota Democrat whose question to a witness about one line on the last page of a routine report to Congress prompted the disclosure, said he was dumbfounded at the budget decision.

"The zeroing out of resources here made my jaw drop open," Mr. Pomeroy said. "It just leaps out at you."

Stopping the money flow will do so much more to stop terrorism than any particular war or arrest would. It is cost efficient, it is effective, and unfortunately for the security of America, boring. Bush does not want to get into the money flow story because too many of the names involved are part of his business history. That is the sad truth (see a posting below from a few days ago about Bush and BCCI).

- rob 2:11 PM - [PermaLink] -

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Today's GOP: Making Friends the World Over

GOP Survey Question on Terror Draws Ire

WASHINGTON - A Republican voter survey used to raise political money identifies Thailand and the Philippines as countries that "harbor and aid terrorists," a description that has angered officials from the two nations.
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Officials from both countries say they've been wrongly labeled and would contact the NRCC to complain. Both countries have been praised by the Bush administration for their roles in the anti-terror war.

- rob 12:16 PM - [PermaLink] -

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A sad must read.

We have witnessed savagry this week, but we should not forget, its part of our history too. It doesn't make it right, but it doesn't mean we wipe out the town either, as Bill O'Reilly is promoting.

Strange Fruit

- rob 9:46 AM - [PermaLink] -

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Bombshell

Nothing new here if you've been paying attention the whole time, but if you've only been listening to the Bush Administration, especially for the past two weeks, this will be a big one.

Top Focus Before 9/11 Wasn't on Terrorism

On Sept. 11, 2001, national security adviser Condoleezza Rice was scheduled to outline a Bush administration policy that would address "the threats and problems of today and the day after, not the world of yesterday" -- but the focus was largely on missile defense, not terrorism from Islamic radicals.

The speech provides telling insight into the administration's thinking on the very day that the United States suffered the most devastating attack since the 1941 bombing of Pearl Harbor. The address was designed to promote missile defense as the cornerstone of a new national security strategy, and contained no mention of al Qaeda, Osama bin Laden or Islamic extremist groups, according to former U.S. officials who have seen the text.

The speech was postponed in the chaos of the day, part of which Rice spent in a bunker. It mentioned terrorism, but did so in the context used in other Bush administration speeches in early 2001: as one of the dangers from rogue nations, such as Iraq, that might use weapons of terror, rather than from the cells of extremists now considered the main security threat to the United States.

The text also implicitly challenged the Clinton administration's policy, saying it did not do enough about the real threat -- long-range missiles.

"We need to worry about the suitcase bomb, the car bomb and the vial of sarin released in the subway," according to excerpts of the speech provided to The Washington Post. "[But] why put deadbolt locks on your doors and stock up on cans of mace and then decide to leave your windows open?"

But... but... but... They've been saying Clarke was lying... but...but. Please please let this story make it to the big time.

- rob 9:09 AM - [PermaLink] -

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What is scarier:
The White House feels the need to lie to "discredit" a funny Letterman bit?
That CNN feels the need to cover for our President by lying for them about a funny Letterman bit?

Letterman Clips

Watch both (real video required)

Summary for those "bandwidth restricted" (which don't worry about that because Bush has annouced everyone in America will have high bandwidth connections by the year 2007, not sure why or how, just another promise he pulled out of his ass):

The first clip is from Monday night's show. Letterman shows a Bush speech with a kid behind him pretending that he is finding it hard to stay awake. A funny bit. The next clip was of the Tuesday night show where letterman notes the First CNN claims the White House called them to let them know that that kid was inserted into the shot. Letterman then notes that is a lie, that that kid was there. Later CNN claims the White House told them that the kid was there, but not right behind Bush. Letterman then notes yes the kid was right there.

Does the White House have to lie about everything? Sure, lie about the reasons behind a war, but lie about a comedy routine?

- rob 4:32 PM - [PermaLink] -

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Disclosure game works both ways

Eager to discredit former national security aide Richard Clarke, the White House has gone to the unusual length of disclosing -- and allowing news media to disclose -- that Clarke was the "senior administration official" who delivered an August 2002 background press briefing in support of President Bush's anti-terrorism strategy.

It's long been standard Beltway protocol for administration officials to brief reporters on the condition that they don't disclose the source's name and attribute the information to merely "a senior administration official."

In Clarke's case, however, when Fox News asked permission to reveal Clarke as the source of the 2002 briefing, the White House broke precedent and agreed to let them and others do so.

The public was no doubt served by the disclosure. People can make up their own minds about the apparent conflict between Clarke's remarks at the briefing and what he writes in his book.

It's useful, then, that the president and his staff are willing to serve the public interest by releasing journalists of their obligation to protect confidential White House sources. There's one more way for the administration to serve that interest. Release Robert Novak and five other capital reporters of any obligation to withhold the names of the "two senior administration officials" who told them that Valerie Plame was a CIA operative, in what appeared to be an attempt to punish Plame's husband, retired Ambassador Joseph Wilson IV, for debunking the president's Nigerian yellow-cake claim.

Okay, I copied the entire article... sorry about that, but it was good and didn't read as well when shortened.

- rob 3:57 PM - [PermaLink] -

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Questions I wonder if the 9/11 commission is going to ask:

Who shorted UAL and American Airlines in the days proceeding 9/11.

Put Paid

But it was during the final few trading days (the market closes on weekends) that the most unusual variances in activity occurred. Bloomberg data show that on 6 September, the Thursday before that black Tuesday, put-option volume in UAL stock was nearly 100 times higher than normal — 2,000 versus 27 on the previous day.

On 6 and 7 September, the Chicago Board Options Exchange handled 4,744 put options for United Airlines' stock, translating into 474,000 shares, compared with just 396 call options, or 39,600 shares. On a day that the put-to-call ratio should have been roughly 1:1 (no negative news stories about United had broken), it was instead 12:1.

On 10 September, another uneventful news day, American Airlines' option volume was 4,516 puts and 748 calls, a ratio of 6:1 on yet another day when by rights these options should have been trading even.

No other airline stocks were affected — only United and American were shorted in this fashion.

Accelerated investments speculating a downturn in the value of Morgan Stanley and Merrill Lynch (two New York investment firms severely damaged by the World Trade Center attack) were also observed.

The Chicago Board Options Exchange is investigating each of these trades and at this time is declining to offer comment on its progress. The volume traded and the one-sidedness of the trades, however, have raised suspicions that those who had knowledge of the details of the attacks (e.g., which airlines would be involved and that the World Trade Center was a target) could have been behind them and profited mightily.

I don't know about you, but any investment transaction I was involved in required name and address... and yet 2.5 years later we don't know who did this? Did the Chicago Board Options Exchange shut down their investigation? What's going on?

- rob 1:10 PM - [PermaLink] -

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How E-Voting Threatens Democracy

In January 2003, voting activist Bev Harris was holed up in the basement of her three-story house in Renton, Washington, searching the Internet for an electronic voting machine manual, when she made a startling discovery.

Clicking on a link for a file transfer protocol site belonging to voting machine maker Diebold Election Systems, Harris found about 40,000 unprotected computer files. They included source code for Diebold's AccuVote touch-screen voting machine, program files for its Global Election Management System tabulation software, a Texas voter-registration list with voters' names and addresses, and what appeared to be live vote data from 57 precincts in a 2002 California primary election.

"There was a lot of stuff that shouldn't have been there," Harris said.

The California file was time-stamped 3:31 p.m. on Election Day, indicating that Diebold might have obtained the data during voting. But polling precincts aren't supposed to release votes until after polls close at 8 p.m. So Harris began to wonder if it were possible for the company to extract votes during an election and change them without anyone knowing.

A look at the Diebold tabulation program provided a possible answer.

Harris discovered that she could enter the vote database using Microsoft Access -- a standard program often bundled with Microsoft Office -- and change votes without leaving a trace. Diebold hadn't password-protected the file or secured the audit log, so anyone with access to the tabulation program during an election -- Diebold employees, election staff or even hackers if the county server were connected to a phone line -- could change votes and alter the log to erase the evidence.

"It was getting scarier and scarier," Harris said. "I was thinking we have an immense problem here that's much bigger than me."

We've had this stuff posted here many times before, and we will again. The fundamental requirement of a democracy is that citizens not only believe but KNOW that their vote counts. How very sad that in America you can't really be sure of that.

Fake Dieblod at from Bartcop.

Diebold parody (flash required)

- rob 11:46 AM - [PermaLink] -

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Is it me, or does this read like satire:

Emotional Elder Bush Attacks Son's Critics

It is "deeply offensive and contemptible" to hear "elites and intellectuals on the campaign trail" dismiss progress in Iraq since last year's overthrow of Iraqi leader Saddam Hussein, the elder Bush said in a speech to the National Petrochemical and Refiners Association annual convention.

"There is something ignorant in the way they dismiss the overthrow of a brutal dictator and the sowing of the seeds of basic human freedom in that troubled part of the world," he said.

The former president appeared to fight back tears as he complained about media coverage of the younger Bush that he called "something short of fair and balanced."

And George the elder should be grateful it isn't fair and balanced, if it was the people would be in the streets of washinton with burning torches and pitchforks.

- rob 9:30 AM - [PermaLink] -

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Moms joining the MOB

Moms with a goal: unseat Bush

I look around the room. I have one more thing in common with the mothers I recognize. We have sons. Almost all of them have Selective Service numbers. The war may have been the triggering issue for MOB. Woolridge calls our unilateral invasion, "The kind of bad sandbox behavior we tried to teach our kids about."

or go straight to: Mothers Opposing Bush (MOB)

thanks for the link sis!

- rob 5:31 PM - [PermaLink] -

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Where conservatives get their news (when not watching fox)

Moon: the owner of The Washington Times and UPI

Rev. Dr. Sun Myung Moon - Declaring the Era of the Peace Kingdom

Address to the United States Congress
March 23, 2004
The United States Capitol
Washington, DC
Respected members of the United States Senate and House of Representatives, religious leaders from around the world, distinguished guests,

I would like to express my sincere gratitude for your presence here this evening in such a large number, in spite of your busy schedules.

Blah blah... insane weird stuff... blah blah blah

The five great saints and many other leaders in the spirit world, including even Communist leaders such as Marx and Lenin, who committed all manner of barbarity and murders on earth, and dictators such as Hitler and Stalin, have found strength in my teachings, mended their ways and been reborn as new persons. Emperors, kings and presidents who enjoyed opulence and power on earth, and even journalists who had worldwide fame, have now placed themselves at the forefront of the column of the true love revolution. Together they have sent to earth a resolution expressing their determination in the light of my teaching of the true family ideal. They have declared to all Heaven and Earth that Reverend Sun Myung Moon is none other than humanity's Savior, Messiah, Returning Lord and True Parent. This resolution has been announced on every corner of the globe.

Okay.

Yes some of America's finest (cough) congresspersons were in attendance, and yes it was in the Dirksen Senate Office Building so that's how he can get away with saying that it was an address to congress in the capitol even though it was neither, but so what if he lied about that, isn't it good to know that he announced that he is the Messiah?

Do you want to be rich enough to own a newspaper that operates at a loss, give money to politicians so that they'll support you even though your insane? Well it helps if your a religious leader who takes lots of money from his followers and talks to god (like Pat Robertson, I guess).

It so good to know that America is safe from religious fanaticism. Thanks to Atrios for a link that led to the link.

- rob 5:04 PM - [PermaLink] -

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Present day republicans and your tax dollars

Air Force allowed Boeing to rewrite terms of tanker contract, documents show

WASHINGTON - The Air Force gave the Boeing Co. five months to rewrite the official specifications for 100 aerial refueling tankers so that the company's 767 aircraft would win a $23.5 billion deal, according to e-mails and documents obtained by Knight Ridder.

In the process, Boeing eliminated 19 of the 26 capabilities the Air Force originally wanted, and the Air Force acquiesced in order to keep the price down.

The Air Force then gave Boeing competitor Airbus 12 days to bid on the project and awarded the contract to Boeing even though Airbus met more than 20 of the original 26 specifications and offered a price that was $10 billion less than Boeing's.
...

Among the original Air Force requirements Boeing eliminated was that the new tanker be equipped to refuel all the military services' aircraft, refuel multiple aircraft simultaneously, and carry passengers, wounded troops and cargo. Boeing also eliminated an Air Force requirement that the new tankers be at least as effective and efficient as the 40-year-old KC-135 tankers they would replace.

Sen. John McCain, R-Ariz., demanded the Boeing documents in his role as chairman of the Senate Commerce Committee.

I might have issues with McCain's politics, but at least his heart is often in the right place, he knows when something smells.

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Historian: Kerry FBI files stolen

This isn't watergate though:

"It was a very clean burglary. They didn't break any glass. They didn't take anything like cameras sitting by. It was a very professional job," Nicosia said.

The watergate break-in was actually a pretty sloppy job.

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Daschle, with spine now fully functional, proudly walks about the Senate and forcefully promotes the truth. The senate floor wonders what this "truth" is... and is it contagious?

Floor Statement of Sen. Daschle on the Abuse of Government Power

Mr. President, last week I spoke about the White House's reaction to Richard Clarke's testimony before the 9-11 Commission. I am compelled to rise again today, because the people around the President are systematically abusing the powers and prerogatives of government.

We all need to reflect seriously on what's going on. Not in anger and not in partisanship, but in keeping with our responsibilities as Senators and with an abiding respect for the fundamental values of our democracy.

Richard Clarke did something extraordinary when he testified before the 9-11 Commission last week. He didn't try to escape blame, as so many routinely do. Instead, he accepted his share of responsibility and offered his perceptions about what happened in the months and years leading up to September 11.

We can and should debate the facts and interpretations Clarke has offered. But there can be no doubt that he has risked enormous damage to his reputation and professional future to hold both himself and our government accountable.

The retaliation from those around the President has been fierce. Mr. Clarke's personal motives have been questioned and his honesty challenged. He has even been accused, right here on the Senate floor, of perjury. Not one shred of proof was given, but that wasn't the point. The point was to have the perjury accusation on television and in the newspapers. The point was to damage Mr. Clarke in any way possible.

This is wrong–and it's not the first time it's happened.

When Senator McCain ran for President, the Bush campaign smeared him and his family with vicious, false attacks. When Max Cleland ran for reelection to this Senate, his patriotism was attacked. He was accused of not caring about protecting our nation -- a man who lost both legs and an arm in Vietnam, accused of being indifferent to America's national security. That was such an ugly lie, it's still hard to fathom almost two years later.

There are some things that simply ought not be done – even in politics. Too many people around the President seem not to understand that, and that line has been crossed. When Ambassador Joe Wilson told the truth about the Administration's misleading claims about Iraq, Niger, and uranium, the people around the President didn't respond with facts. Instead, they publicly disclosed that Ambassador Wilson's wife was a deep-cover CIA agent. In doing so, they undermined America's national security and put politics first. They also may well have put the lives of Ambassador Wilson's wife, and her sources, in danger.

When former Treasury Secretary Paul O'Neill revealed that the White House was thinking about an Iraq War in its first weeks in office, his former colleagues in the Bush Administration ridiculed him from morning to night, and even subjected him to a fruitless federal investigation.

When Larry Lindsay, one of President Bush's former top economic advisors, and General Eric Shinseki, the former Army Chief of Staff, spoke honestly about the amount of money and the number of troops the war would demand, they learned the hard way that the White House doesn't tolerate candor.

This is not "politics as usual." In nearly all of these cases, it's not Democrats who are being attacked.

Senator McCain and Secretary O'Neill are prominent Republicans, and Richard Clarke, Larry Lindsay, Joe Wilson, and Eric Shinseki all worked for Republican Administrations.

The common denominator is that these government officials said things the White House didn't want said.

Read the whole thing. Excellent work Senator Daschle.

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Krugman: This Isn't America

ast week an opinion piece in the Israeli newspaper Haaretz about the killing of Sheik Ahmed Yassin said, "This isn't America; the government did not invent intelligence material nor exaggerate the description of the threat to justify their attack."

So even in Israel, George Bush's America has become a byword for deception and abuse of power. And the administration's reaction to Richard Clarke's "Against All Enemies" provides more evidence of something rotten in the state of our government.

The truth is that among experts, what Mr. Clarke says about Mr. Bush's terrorism policy isn't controversial. The facts that terrorism was placed on the back burner before 9/11 and that Mr. Bush blamed Iraq despite the lack of evidence are confirmed by many sources — including "Bush at War," by Bob Woodward.

And new evidence keeps emerging for Mr. Clarke's main charge, that the Iraq obsession undermined the pursuit of Al Qaeda. From yesterday's USA Today: "In 2002, troops from the Fifth Special Forces Group who specialize in the Middle East were pulled out of the hunt for Osama bin Laden to prepare for their next assignment: Iraq. Their replacements were troops with expertise in Spanish cultures."

That's why the administration responded to Mr. Clarke the way it responds to anyone who reveals inconvenient facts: with a campaign of character assassination.

Some journalists seem, finally, to have caught on. Last week an Associated Press news analysis noted that such personal attacks were "standard operating procedure" for this administration and cited "a behind-the-scenes campaign to discredit Richard Foster," the Medicare actuary who revealed how the administration had deceived Congress about the cost of its prescription drug bill.

But other journalists apparently remain ready to be used. On CNN, Wolf Blitzer told his viewers that unnamed officials were saying that Mr. Clarke "wants to make a few bucks, and that [in] his own personal life, they're also suggesting that there are some weird aspects in his life as well."

This administration's reliance on smear tactics is unprecedented in modern U.S. politics — even compared with Nixon's. Even more disturbing is its readiness to abuse power — to use its control of the government to intimidate potential critics.

A little piece of you
The little peace in me
Will die
For this is not america
- David Bowie "This is not America"

- rob 12:37 PM - [PermaLink] -

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Senators Say Bush Weakened Fight on Terror Funds

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Two influential senators accused the administration on Monday of weakening the government's ability to clamp down on terrorism financing and urged President Bush to create a central agency to focus on it.

The Republican chairman of the Senate Finance Committee, Charles Grassley of Iowa, and the panel's senior Democrat, Max Baucus of Montana, said the creation of the Homeland Security department after the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks had left a gap in the ability to fight financial crimes related to terrorism.

"This same restructuring has disassembled and scattered the government's apparatus to detect, investigate and prevent financial crimes," they wrote in a joint letter to Bush.

The senators pointed to a lack of resources, direction and coordination and duplication of effort among the multiple agencies in Treasury, Homeland Security and other departments that now collect intelligence on financial crimes.

"While we struggle over how to restructure our agencies, they're squirreling away money to fund their attacks. Shutting down terrorism financing must be an urgent and high priority," Grassley said in a statement.

This however is not high on Bush's list. Look at his past business history, some of the investors is his past failed businesses had been involved in BCCI: "the bank of terrorists." His friends also like doing business with that bank. Bush isn't interested in the money trail... he wants to avoid the money trail, but if we're really going to hurt the ability for terrorists to mount large scale attacks, we need to get to the money. Bush is just worried that some of that money might talk.

Oh... and did you notice the name of the senator on that BCCI report I linked to? Senator John Kerry. Sometimes you'll hear Kerry's peole saying statements like "if the Bush team really attacks... we've got some weapons of our own." hmmmmm.....

- rob 11:58 AM - [PermaLink] -

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With our service interuptions yesterday there were some stories I wanted to post, but was unable to do so.

Here they are:

Shifts from bin Laden hunt evoke questions
where we could've caught bin laden but decided to go after saddam instead. This shouldn't be ignored, it is proof that the war on Iraq weakened the war on terror.

Blow For Bush
how clarke is realling hurting bush

Clarke wants all testimony, records declassified
clarke answering bill frist's bluff by saying "let's release everything!"

Is Condi The Problem?
or maybe the guy who thought a soviet expert was right for the role of national security advisor.

Court Opens Door To Searches Without Warrants
search your house without warrants - its legal, don't worry though, the police won't abuse it. Why? Because they say so.

Demonstrators Swarm Around Rove's Home
Karl Rove's house mobbed

Bush Campaign Blasts Kerry's Bible Quote
kerry quoting scripture - bush folks get annoyed "christianity is ours" they say "find your own religion to pander to."

- rob 11:42 AM - [PermaLink] -

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George Bush: Making America Safer

Mystery over new Russian weapon

MOSCOW, Russia (AP) -- Russia has designed a "revolutionary" weapon that would make the prospective U.S. missile defense useless, Russian news agencies reported, quoting a senior Defense Ministry official.

The official, who was not identified by name, said tests conducted during last month's military maneuvers would dramatically change the philosophy behind development of Russia's nuclear forces, the Interfax and ITAR-Tass news agencies reported on Monday.

If deployed, the new weapon would take the value of any U.S. missile shield to "zero," the news agencies quoted the official as saying.

This, of course, is Russian propaganda and spin, test have pretty much proven that the billions and billions spent on the U.S. missile shield have produced something of zero value.

- rob 3:49 PM - [PermaLink] -

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Al Queda Attacked Us; Therefore, We Should Invade (Choose From The Following:)

Read Michael's excellent post below (not the paranoid one directly below but the one after that), and then read this posting over at The Daily Kos. 9/11 changed everything except the thinking of neo-cons.

- rob 3:43 PM - [PermaLink] -

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Having trouble accessing TCS?

I propose calling this "a Wellstone" after the Democratic senator Paul Wellstone, whose ominously downed aircraft two weeks before the 2002 congressional elections threw the Senate to the Republicans by one vote (Dick Cheney, the tiebreaker). A Wellstone is when your website goes down under mysterious and unexplained circumstances, leaving the blogger increasingly paranoid and permanently conspiracy minded.

Soon we'll be wearing bags over our heads, blogging from an undisclosed location.

- Michael 2:01 PM - [PermaLink] -

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