Hey, she ain't part of our base...and what's wrong with 'cleavage'?

Fox News can't hide its contempt... Rosa Parks's memorial received scant coverage on Fox News "As 4,000 people gathered in Detroit to pay their final respects to civil rights pioneer Rosa Parks during four hours of her funeral ceremony on November 2, Fox News devoted just 23 minutes of air time to live coverage, compared with 108 minutes of coverage on CNN and 100 on MSNBC.* Dozens of politicians and business and religious leaders participated in the funeral ceremony for Parks at Greater Grace Temple. ...In lieu of coverage of Parks's funeral, Fox News ran several reports on terror warnings, avian flu, the Democrats forcing a closed-door session of the Senate on November 1, and a manhunt for two escaped convicts in South Carolina. During the 1 p.m. hour, on DaySide, Fox News hosts Mike Jerrick and Kiran Chetry interviewed talk show host, cookbook author, and former Wilson Phillips band member Carnie Wilson. The segment included the following: An extended discussion, with accompanying visuals, of the top-five ranked celebrities from In Touch Weekly magazine's Best Cleavage in Hollywood poll, including speculation whether each was real".

How could the Niger documents be fraudulent?

But...but, I've heard so many Republican talking heads say Joe Wilson was wrong..and there were documents to prove it...and,and....who,.....'Rocco'?? FBI: Niger Documents 'Fraudulent'

(AP) The FBI has determined that financial gain, not an effort to influence U.S. policy, was behind the forged documents that the Bush administration used to bolster its prewar claim that Iraq sought uranium ore in Africa. The FBI's investigation began after questions were raised about a 16-word portion of President George W. Bush's January 2003 State of the Union speech when he said that Iraq was pursuing the uranium ore, part of his argument to justify the coming invasion of Iraq. The investigation "confirmed the documents to be fraudulent and concluded they were more likely part of a criminal scheme for financial gain," FBI spokesman John Miller said Friday, describing contents of the letter. Italian officials earlier this week identified Rocco Martino, described as a one-time informant for the Italian secret service, as the source of the forged documents, according to Italian Sen. Massimo Brutti. ...Wilson traveled to Niger in 2002 for the CIA to check out the Iraq uranium story. Plame's CIA status was exposed after Wilson accused the administration of twisting intelligence in the run-up to the war to exaggerate the Iraqi threat.

The moral, the lesson...the prinicple to learn here is... never trust $300 billion and so much else, on a guy named 'Rocco'.....

Cartoon Editorial

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Then and Now

THEN - 1998 Summit of the Americas in Chile: "At one point, Clinton walked in hazy sunshine down Gran Avenida, a busy commercial street lined with thousands of people, including schoolchildren in blue and white uniforms, many of them chanting "Clinton, Clinton." NOW - 2005 Summit of the Americas in Argentina: "Thousands of demonstrators flooded the streets of this seaside resort Friday chanting "Get out Bush" Think Progress

Bush's 'Propagandist' under investigation

If Bush hired them, more than likely they're under indictment or being investigated. Jeff Gannon, Armstrong Williams and now Bush's hand-picked propagandist at the Corp of Public Broadcasting. A lot of similarities to an earlier era.

Kenneth Y. Tomlinson, the head of the federal agency that oversees most government broadcasts to foreign countries, including the Voice of America and Radio Free Europe, is the subject of an inquiry into accusations of misuse of federal money and the use of phantom or unqualified employees, officials involved in that examination said on Friday. Through an aide at the broadcasting board, Mr. Tomlinson declined to comment Friday about the State Department inquiry. In recent weeks, State Department investigators have seized records and e-mail from the Broadcasting Board of Governors, officials said. They have shared some material with the inspector general at the corporation, including e-mail traffic between Mr. Tomlinson and White House officials including Karl Rove, a senior adviser to President Bush and a close friend of Mr. Tomlinson. Mr. Rove and Mr. Tomlinson became friends in the 1990's when they served on the Board for International Broadcasting, the predecessor agency to the board of governors. Mr. Rove played an important role in Mr. Tomlinson's appointment as chairman of the broadcasting board.

Not much from the "Scandal Pimps"

The Quiet Oil-for-Food Scandal "We aren't going to hear much about the corporations that paid bribes in the Oil-for-Food scandal because Bush's family, friends and closest advisors are in it knee-deep, along with some Democrats".

Last week, the Independent Committee investigating the Oil-for-Food program (OFF) released its final report detailing how Saddam Hussein's regime skimmed just under two percent from the otherwise successful relief effort by charging kickbacks and "inland transportation" fees to companies doing business with Iraq. The small group of conservative writers who I've dubbed the "Scandal Pimps" have been less enthusiastic about the release of this report than they've been about those that preceded it. The day after the release, the Wall Street Journal editorialized that the report didn't really add anything new, it just filled in some details. What they characterized as "details" were actually the names of over 2,000 companies that paid bribes to the Hussein regime...

earlier...

Do you get the extended warranty or not?

Man, I always risk it and never buy the extended warranty. Does That F-16 Come With a Warranty?

An argument about a 20-year-old military contract with Venezuela erupted this week after President Hugo Chavez said on Tuesday he might turn some U.S.-made F-16 fighter planes over to Cuba or China. Chavez says the Pentagon won't sell spare parts or provide maintenance for 22 jets Venezuela purchased in the early 1980s. When you buy weapons from the United States, do you get a service contract?

Slate

Taxpayers to pay for Halliburton's Deceit?

U.S. Should Repay Millions to Iraq, a U.N. Audit Finds An auditing board sponsored by the United Nations recommended yesterday that the United States repay as much as $208 million to the Iraqi government for contracting work in 2003 and 2004 assigned to Kellogg, Brown & Root, the Halliburton subsidiary. The work was paid for with Iraqi oil proceeds, but the board said it was either carried out at inflated prices or done poorly. The board did not, however, give examples of poor work. Some of the work involved postwar fuel imports carried out by K.B.R. that previous audits had criticized as grossly overpriced. But this is the first time that an international auditing group has suggested that the United States repay some of that money to Iraq. "The Bush administration repeatedly gave Halliburton special treatment and allowed the company to gouge both U.S. taxpayers and the Iraqi people," Henry Waxman

Pat Roberts' obstruction of justice well documented by Media Matters

"In reporting Sen. Pat Roberts's (R-KS) response to criticism from Democrats that he has stonewalled the portion of a Senate Intelligence Committee report dedicated to investigating the use -- or misuse -- of intelligence by Bush administration officials in the buildup to the Iraq war, the media overlooked Roberts's history of conflicting statements on the subject. Democrats say that stonewalling by Roberts and Senate Republicans on long-standing demands for an investigation into the use of pre-war intelligence prompted them to take the unusual step of invoking Senate Rule 21 and calling for a closed Senate session on November 1". April 10 edition of NBC's Meet the Press;

TIM RUSSERT (host): But as you well know, when your report came out there were many people who said that you were not going forward with phase two about exaggerations and shaping because you didn't want to involve yourself, influence the election. You made a firm commitment to do just that. ROBERTS: Yeah, we're going to do that, Tim.

Robert's conflicting statements on "phase two"

Italy: "We Warned U.S. On WMD Docs"

"Italian secret services warned the United States in January 2003 that a dossier about a purported Iraq-Niger uranium deal were fake, an Italian lawmaker said Thursday after a briefing by an Italian intelligence chief. "At about the same time as the State of the Union address, they (Italy's SISMI secret services) said that the dossier didn't correspond to the truth," Sen. Massimo Brutti told journalists after the parliamentary commission was briefed. He was referring to U.S. President George W. Bush's speech in the weeks before the start of the Iraq war. The United States and Britain used the claim that Saddam Hussein was seeking uranium in Africa to bolster their case for the war. The intelligence supporting the claim was later deemed unreliable".

"Greed is Good"

Abramoff's Last Stand "Even in Washington, the rise and fall of Jack Abramoff is breathtaking. At his peak he commanded $750-an-hour lobbying fees and maintained impeccable ties to the leaders of the conservative movement, where he was known as the "godfather" of Tom DeLay's lobbying network. DeLay himself once called Abramoff "one of my closest and dearest friends." Now Abramoff is perhaps the most radioactive figure in the nation's capital, thanks to the revelations last year that he and partner Michael Scanlon, a former DeLay aide, defrauded a half-dozen Indian tribes of $82 million in lobbying fees between 2001 and 2004. He is the subject of a wide-ranging interagency criminal probe in Washington and has been indicted in Florida on wire fraud and conspiracy charges in the purchase of SunCruz Casinos, whose previous owner was shot dead months after Abramoff acquired the company. The Indian probe, focused on the exorbitant fees tribes were charged by Abramoff and Scanlon to lobby on Indian gaming issues, has implicated DeLay, House Administration Committee chairman Bob Ney, antitax activist Grover Norquist and former Christian Coalition head Ralph Reed, among others. The government's top procurement official, David Safavian, was arrested in September for obstructing the Justice Department's investigation into Abramoff. Bush's nominee for Deputy Attorney General, Tyco executive Timothy Flanigan, withdrew his nomination after disclosing that Abramoff had lobbied on Tyco's behalf. The Senate's Committee on Indian Affairs, chaired by John McCain, has prompted a flurry of headlines about Abramoff since its investigation began in September 2004. It has opened a window into Abramoff and Scanlon's lurid world of bogus Christian front groups, self-enriching charitable organizations, expletive-filled e-mails and lavish Congressional junkets, all seemingly driven by Gordon Gekko's famous mantra from the movie Wall Street: "Greed is good."

An Expensive Flight

Fox News Pays For DeLay Air Time

Rep. Tom DeLay filed a report with the Clerk of the House of Representatives indicating he received free travel valued at $13,998.55 from Fox News Sunday for "officially connected travel" on October 1-2, 2005, from Sugarland, TX to Washington, D.C. and back to Sugarland, TX. Rep. DeLay appeared on Fox News Sunday on October 2, 2005, the weekend after his indictment on September 28, 2005.

I didn't know Fox News paid all those whores.

Some shit never changes...

José L. Garcia, right, and fellow workers originally from the Mexican state of Michoacán get $10 for every refrigerator they throw out. I thought the $62 billion authorized by Congress for Hurricane Katrina relief stipulated that local people would get first priority on jobs? Now, out of state speculators are hiring cheap, and illegal labor to increase their profits and leaving locals seething! In Louisiana, Worker Influx Causes Ill Will

"Near this speck on the map southwest of New Orleans, where an oil refinery spouts flames into the sky and alligators are said to lurk in the green canals, sits something that is causing consternation across Louisiana: a camp for out-of-state workers cleaning up after the flood. The camp, operated by a New York company called LVI Services, is not much to look at: a row of tractor-trailers crammed with bunks, a long line of portable toilets, a couple of R.V.'s and three tents with striped roofs. Gun-packing guards wear black T-shirts reading, "Police." It is a temporary home for hundreds of LVI's workers, some of whom said they were in the United States illegally. They are commuting into New Orleans, swabbing the mold off walls, ripping the guts out of buildings, removing mountains of soggy debris. And they are stirring up resentment".

IQ Test . .

I got this from the Al Franken Show. One of the biggest hero's to 'social' conservatives is Bill O'Reilly. He fits in well with them since they share many of the same traditional 'family values'. On his show one day recently O'Reilly thought he was once again defending Republicans and 'conservatives' (sic), but it didn't quite work out that way. A man named Jay Bart wrote O'Reilly claiming that the "Klan was birthed by the conservative south," but O'Reilly would have none of that left-wing revisionist bullshit spin in 'the no spin zone' so he nailed Mr. Bart with some of that wonderful knowledge that he feeds his sheep every night. Here's the exchange;

O'REILLY: Jay Bart, Charlotte, North Carolina: "In the world according to O'Reilly, everything is wrong with the left. Remember, the Klan was birthed by the conservative south." Well, actually that's false, not that you would care, Mr. Bart. The KKK was birthed by the victorious north, which won the Civil War. Remnants of the rebel army led by people like General Nathan Bedford Forrest started up the Klan.

Al Franken

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Brownie; "I Am a Fashion God"...

E-mails give insight into Brown's leadership, attitude (Not much leadership from 'Brownie' but he did raise $300,000 for Bush. That ought to mean something...) "Two days after Katrina hit, Marty Bahamonde, one of the only FEMA employees in New Orleans, wrote to Brown that "the situation is past critical" and listed problems including many people near death and food and water running out at the Superdome". Brown's entire response was: "Thanks for the update. Anything specific I need to do or tweak?" (Copies of e-mails posted by critic -- PDF) The e-mails Melancon [Rep. Charlie Melancon] posted, a sampling of more than 1,000 provided to the House committee now assessing responses to Katrina by all levels of government, also show Brown making flippant remarks about his responsibilities. "Can I quit now? Can I come home?" Brown wrote to Cindy Taylor, FEMA's deputy director of public affairs, the morning of the hurricane. ...A few days later, Worthy advised Brown: "Please roll up the sleeves of your shirt, all shirts. Even the president rolled his sleeves to just below the elbow. In this [crisis] and on TV you just need to look more hard-working." On August 29, the day of the storm, Brown exchanged e-mails about his attire with Taylor, Melancon said. She told him, "You look fabulous," and Brown replied, "I got it at Nordstroms. ... Are you proud of me?" An hour later, Brown added: "If you'll look at my lovely FEMA attire, you'll really vomit. I am a fashion god," according to the congressman".

House Republicans 'Vote to Cover-up' for Bush Administration

George..don't worry, they ain't investigating nothing... ...that's my boy, Denny... The Republicans in the House once again chose party politics over an investigation seeking the facts into why we needlessly invaded Iraq. Republicans voted UNANIMOUSLY to cover-up for this administration in a shameless display of partisanship over their required role of governmental oversight. This is not going to go away regardless of how long Republicans stall. Fifty-eight percent of the country now realize this administration is dishonest and misled the country on their foolish invasion of Iraq. .....It's not going to go away. WASHINGTON, Nov. 3 "House Democratic Leader Nancy Pelosi introduced a privileged resolution to demand that Republican Congressional leadership conduct a thorough investigation of abuses relating to the Iraq War. The resolution failed by a party line vote, 220 to 191, when Republicans unanimously moved to table, or effectively kill, the resolution. "A vote to table is a vote to cover-up," Pelosi said. "Congress has the responsibility to find out why so many things in Iraq have gone so terribly wrong. That is why I asked the House to investigate abuses relating to Iraq. Yet, Republicans again thwarted efforts to answer the questions of the American people. This Republican cover-up Congress refuses to live up to its oversight responsibility." "Congress has an obligation to identify and correct the problems that led to the production of flawed intelligence," Pelosi said. "Our troops are at risk until that is done, and yet, there is no sense of urgency to undertake a thorough review of what went wrong. Neither the issue of the quality of the intelligence nor the equally important issue of whether intelligence was politicized, have been investigated by this Congress." text of Pelosi's privileged resolution-usnewswire

Dick Cheney Wants to Torture the Bastards

The Senate voted 90-9 against cruel and degrading treatment of prisoners but Dick Cheney won't have any of it... House Delays Vote on U.S. Treatment of Terror Suspects "The House Republican leadership has delayed a vote on a proposed ban against cruel and degrading treatment of prisoners in American custody, and Democrats say the move is an effort to spare Vice President Dick Cheney an embarrassing defeat. House Democrats had planned to offer a motion this week to endorse language in a military spending bill, written by Senator John McCain, Republican of Arizona, that would prohibit abusive treatment of terror suspects. The motion would instruct House negotiators to adopt Mr. McCain's precise language, which the Senate approved last month, 90 to 9. The White House has threatened to veto any bill containing the provision, saying it would restrict the president's ability to fight terrorism and protect the country".

Great Year, huh? ....Bush 'reached out' all right...

'Think Progress' came up with a long list of events that occurred during Bush's first year after his reelection. After reading the list you sort of wonder what the 35% who still have a 'favorable' rating for this guy are thinking. Or maybe that's it, they're not... And of course, Dick Cheney is at 19%, which is probably about 3 points higher than the BTK killer. The 'list' is definitely one for the 'archives'. "So today I want to speak to every person who voted for my opponent: To make this nation stronger and better I will need your support, and I will work to earn it. I will do all I can do to deserve your trust. A new term is a new opportunity to reach out to the whole nation". - George W. Bush on 11/3/04

Schwarzenegger Shops at Walmart

I guess Arnold really is a Republican... But, of course there's no quid pro quo involved in Cristy Walton's $250,000 'gift' on the same day as Arnold's veto... Nah. Wal-Mart (WMT) and its founding Walton family have emerged as big backers of Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger, giving about $1 million in the past year to his favored causes as he vetoed legislation aimed at the company. One union-backed bill, which Schwarzenegger vetoed early in October, would have forced the state to disclose names of companies whose workers get government health services meant for poor residents. A second bill, vetoed last year, would have stopped employers from locking workers inside workplaces - a policy Wal-Mart has when employees stock shelves and clean floors after closing hours. The bills reflect issues creating a public relations nightmare for the USA's biggest private employer, with 1.3 million workers, as it expands in California, the USA's biggest market. Critics including Wake-Up Wal-Mart accuse it of endangering workers by locking them in stores, and of reducing its health care costs at taxpayer expense. "Tens of thousands of Wal-Mart employees are on taxpayer-funded health care," says Chris Kofinis of union-led Wake-Up Wal-Mart. The Wal-Mart and Walton political gifts appear in new public campaign finance documents. They show that the same day Schwarzenegger vetoed the health care disclosure bill - Oct. 7 - his California Recovery Team logged a $250,000 gift from Christy Walton. She is the widow of John Walton, a Wal-Mart director who died four months ago. In the next three weeks, the Schwarzenegger-backed Proposition 77 campaign got $250,000 from Wal-Mart Chairman Rob Walton and $100,000 from Wal-Mart. Those gifts and others followed $200,000 to the Recovery Team last year from John Walton about two weeks after Schwarzenegger vetoed the lock-in bill. California Clean Money Campaign

Good Luck Finding a Republican Judge in Texas Not on the Take

Judge B.B. Schraub "made more than $5,000 in contributions to Republican candidates" "Two days after U.S. Rep. Tom DeLay won a fight to get a new judge in his case, prosecutors on Thursday succeeded in ousting the Republican jurist responsible for selecting the new judge. Administrative Judge B.B. Schraub recused himself after District Attorney Ronnie Earle filed a motion asking for his removal from the case. ...State district Judge Bob Perkins, a Democrat, was removed from DeLay's case Tuesday after DeLay's legal team cast doubt on Perkins' ability to judge the case fairly because of more than $5,000 in contributions he's made to Democrats. Earle said in his motion filed Thursday that Schraub has made more than $5,000 in contributions to Republican candidates, including to Gov. Rick Perry, a DeLay ally, which calls into question Schraub's impartiality in the case".

Gallup Poll-Alito is no 'Slam Dunk' with the American People!

Gallup: New Poll Holds Warnings on Alito Nomination A new Gallup Poll released Tuesday, 11/2/05, finds a mixed response to new Supreme Court nominee Samuel Alito--but strong opposition if it becomes clear that he would vote to overturn Roe v. Wade. And by a 50% to 40% margin, those surveyed say they would back a Democratic filibuster to stop his nomination, if it comes to pass. Gallup said that about the same number of Americans rate Alito's selection either excellent or good (43%) as rate it fair or poor (39%). Harriet Miers initially received a very similar rating, but John Roberts' rating was more positive: 51% excellent or good, 34% fair or poor. Other findings: --"It doesn't bother most Americans (75%) that Alito is a man nominated to replace the first woman ever appointed to the Supreme Court." --"If it becomes clear Alito would vote to reverse the abortion ruling Roe v. Wade, Americans would not want the Senate to confirm him, by 53% to 37%." (that would be '63%-37%' since those who are 'undecided' are certainly not 'pro-life'-(sic). --"If most Senate Democrats oppose the nomination and decide to filibuster against Alito, 50% of Americans believe they would be justified, while 40% say they would not." Gallup said results are based on telephone interviews with 603 national adults, aged 18 and older, conducted Nov. 1, 2005, with sampling error at ±4 percentage points. by Editor & Publisher

Frist, You Need to Sit Down and Shut Up...!

"They have no convictions, they have no principles, they have no ideas," Majority Leader Bill Frist on Democrat's Demand for Oversight Bill Frist has absolutely no business accusing anyone of having 'no convictions' or 'no principles' when he's served his entire Senate career voting on legislation that's earned him and his family's business, HCA Inc., 10's of millions of dollars. These Republicans, from top to bottom, are despicable. Six Year Time Line of Bill Frist Bilking the U.S. Taxpayers

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Scooter Libby Pat Roberts Donald Rumsfeld Stephen Hadley Doug Feith

ARRAIGNMENT DAY

Arraignment is a common law term for the formal reading of a criminal complaint, in the presence of the defendant, to inform him of the charges against him. In response to arraignment, the accused is expected to enter a plea. Acceptable pleas vary from jurisdiction to jurisdiction, but they generally include "guilty", "not guilty", and the peremptory pleas (or pleas in bar), which set out reasons why a trial cannot proceed. In addition, US jurisdictions allow pleas of "nolo contendere" (no contest) and the "Alford plea" in some circumstances. From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia.

Pat Roberts R-Kansas, Caught on Tape With His Lips Moving

"It isn't like it's been delayed, it's been ongoing," - Pat Roberts R-Kansas, while trying not to bust out laughing... Pat Roberts is a pathological liar. He and other Republicans on the Senate Intelligence Committee have stalled this investigation for 20 months and Democrats are making them now go public with their antics. Roberts has allowed the Bush administration to withhold documents from the committee and Harry Reid, and in my opinion, way too politely, called it to the publics' attention. Now, Roberts and other Republicans on the committee can no longer dodge the truth. Jay Rockefeller, Diane Feinstein and Carl 'The Most Honest Man in Congress' Levin, are going to eat your lunch, Pat.

Rumsfeld & The Good Life

Field Marshall Donald Rumsfeld is all set to 'make a killing' on the 'Bird Flu' "The prospect of a bird flu outbreak may be panicking people around the globe, but it's proving to be very good news for Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld and other politically connected investors in Gilead Sciences, the California biotech company that owns the rights to Tamiflu, the influenza remedy that's now the most-sought after drug in the world. Rumsfeld served as Gilead (Research)'s chairman from 1997 until he joined the Bush administration in 2001, and he still holds a Gilead stake valued at between $5 million and $25 million, according to federal financial disclosures filed by Rumsfeld. The forms don't reveal the exact number of shares Rumsfeld owns, but in the past six months fears of a pandemic and the ensuing scramble for Tamiflu have sent Gilead's stock from $35 to $47. That's made the Pentagon chief, already one of the wealthiest members of the Bush cabinet, at least $1 million richer".

Stephen Hadley-From Bad To Bad

I heard on the news last night that Bush was starting to 'distance' himself from Dick Cheney and relying more on people like 'Condoleeza Rice and Stephen Hadley'. Stephen Hadley? Come on, is the talent pool of cronies that deeply drained? Hadley is up to his neck in this scandal and 'Think Progress' is hammering his ass! Hadley’s Non-Denial Denial on Forged Documents "The forged documents that the administration used to bolster the claim that Iraq was seeking uranium from Niger originated from Italian intelligence sources. Specifically, it was being peddled by Nicolo Pollari, chief of Italy’s military intelligence service. It was recently revealed by an Italian newspaper that on September 9 2002, National Security Advisor Stephen Hadley had a secret meeting with Pollari. People are now asking what they talked about. Hadley says he has “no recollection” of Iraq’s nuclear ambitions being discussed or of any documents being passed. It sure sounds like a denial, but it doesn’t mean much. Hadley was asked about it during a press conference today and he claims he has almost no recollection of anything that happened during the meeting with Polari: QUESTION: Can you say what you did discuss with Mr. Pollari? HADLEY: I told you, I have very little recollection of the meeting. And it was in the order of a courtesy call, getting to know a person who was going to be a colleague going forward. And you can tell that from the relative briefness of the meeting. Just an innocent, “getting-to-know-you,” meeting with the guy who had been relentlessly pushing forged documents about Iraq’s nuclear ambitions for months. We’ve posted the all relevant excerpts from today’s press briefing with Hadley here". Think Progress

"Forging the Case for War"

Doug Feith - Official "Z" As Buzzflash headlined this article, "Even Pat Buchanan's rag [The American Conservative] is getting in on Plamegate". Who was behind the Niger uranium documents? by Philip Giraldi "From the beginning, there has been little doubt in the intelligence community that the outing of CIA officer Valerie Plame was part of a bigger story. That she was exposed in an attempt to discredit her husband, former ambassador Joseph Wilson, is clear, but the drive to demonize Wilson cannot reasonably be attributed only to revenge. Rather, her identification likely grew out of an attempt to cover up the forging of documents alleging that Iraq attempted to buy yellowcake uranium from Niger. What took place and why will not be known with any certainty until the details of the Fitzgerald investigation are revealed. (As we go to press, Fitzgerald has made no public statement.) But recent revelations in the Italian press, most notably in the pages of La Repubblica, along with information already on the public record, suggest a plausible scenario for the evolution of Plamegate. Information developed by Italian investigators indicates that the documents were produced in Italy with the connivance of the Italian intelligence service. It also reveals that the introduction of the documents into the American intelligence stream was facilitated by Undersecretary of Defense Doug Feith’s Office of Special Plans (OSP), a parallel intelligence center set up in the Pentagon to develop alternative sources of information in support of war against Iraq". Philip Giraldi, a former CIA Officer, is a partner in Cannistraro Associates, an international security consultancy.

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Copter Crash, Bombing Leave Four GIs Dead

Four U.S. troops were killed two in a helicopter crash Wednesday and two from a roadside bomb as American ground forces fought insurgents around the city of Ramadi, and a suicide car bomb south of Baghdad killed 22 Iraqis and wounded at least 60. The four U.S. deaths raised to 2,032 the number of members of the military who have died since the beginning of the war in 2003, according to an Associated Press count.

SENATE DEMOCRATS FINALLY GROW SOME TESTICLES

Bush's attempt to distract attention away from his treasonous act of outing Valerie Plame was shattered yesterday when Senate Democrats, in a brillant display of politics, shut the Senate down and demanded Republicans investigate the administration's falsification of the intelligence in the lead up to the invasion of Iraq. After Republicans on the Senate Intelligence Committee, led by Pat Roberts, lied, stalled, ran interference and reneged on following through on their investigation into the lies told by this administration, Harry Reid and Senate Democrats kicked their spineless asses by invoking 'Rule 21' and the American people will finally get a chance to learn the truth! Brillant move, and about fucking time! "The Libby indictment provides a window into what this is really all about, how this administration manufactured and manipulated intelligence in order to sell the war in Iraq and attempted to destroy those who dared to challenge its actions," Reid said before making the motion which sent the Senate into a closed-door session. Democratic Whip Sen. Dick Durbin, D-Ill., told reporters, “tomorrow is the one-year anniversary of the last election, Sen. Roberts said he could not initiate Phase II because of the last election, another year has passed, there is no deadline…. The American people are entitled to this information."

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BIGGER THAN WATERGATE (and fellatio, too)

Bush-Cheney Traitors Deserve Prison, Impeachment by Ted Rall "But people willing to lie their country into war and stab the people who protect it in the back--if we're to believe them, by not bothering to check Plame's status--are evil". "To weigh the outing of CIA agent Valerie Plame against historical standards, consider that no leader of the Soviet Union--including that master of ruthlessness, Josef Stalin--ever arranged for the name of a KGB operative to appear in a newspaper. Adolf Hitler had countless millions murdered, yet getting at a political enemy by endangering agents of the Sicherheitsdienst, the Nazi intelligence service, didn't cross his mind. In this respect, not even the worst tyrants have stooped to the level of George W. Bush. Don't let the Republicans distract you. Treasongate isn't just about deposed vice presidential chief of staff Scooter Libby, who has been charged with five felony counts and faces 30 years in prison, or even deputy presidential chief of staff Karl Rove, who may soon be charged as well. The Libby charges clearly point to the real culprit: Dick Cheney, who told Libby about Plame's covert status in the first place. Cheney abused his security clearance to find out. "Libby understood that the vice president had learned this information from the C.I.A.," reads page five of the indictment. "Cheney doesn't have a legal problem, but he has a political problem," a White House official told the New York Times. For now". No, Cheney has BIG legal problems. The American people are going to get justice and Dick Cheney will pay the price of that justice.

Right Wing Ignorance Costs Lives

I have written twice before about this problem with 'social conservatives' (there's no such thing as a 'fiscal' conservative) standing in the way of science and medicine in protecting women from cervical cancer. These religious zealots are a disgrace and should have absolutely no say in what goes on in science. It's precisely these types of zealots that our 'founding fathers', especially James Madison and Thomas Jefferson, had such disdain for and why they wrote the 1st Amendment. Keep these assholes out of our business! Debate rages on use of cervical cancer vaccine While almost 100% effective, some contend use condones teen sex "A new vaccine that protects against cervical cancer has set up a clash between health advocates who want to use the shots aggressively to prevent thousands of malignancies and social conservatives who say immunizing teen-agers could encourage sexual activity. Although the vaccine will not become available until next year at the earliest, activists on both sides have begun maneuvering to influence how widely the immunizations will be employed. Groups working to reduce the toll of the cancer are eagerly awaiting the vaccine and want it to become part of the standard roster of shots that children, especially girls, receive just before puberty. Because the vaccine protects against a sexually transmitted virus, many conservatives oppose making it mandatory, citing fears that it could send a subtle message condoning sexual activity before marriage".

When Republicans Rule

U.S. Ranks 44th in Worldwide Press Freedom Index The annual worldwide press freedom index from Reporters Without Borders shows the United States, which is supposedly spreading freedom and liberty throughout the world, is in a fast decline regarding the freedom of its own press. The report ranked the United States in 44th place, an atomic drop from a favorable position of 22nd held last year, and from a handsome 17th place in 2002. First Amendment to the U.S. Constitution Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof; or abridging the freedom of speech, or of the press; or the right of the people peaceably to assemble, and to petition the Government for a redress of grievances.

Replacing One Traitor With Another?

Only in the Bush administration would you replace one traitor, Scooter Libby, with another,David Addington. Of course, when all you have to select from is traitors, I guess that's the only option you have. "But Addington was deeply immersed in the White House damage-control campaign to deflect criticism that the Bush administration misrepresented intelligence information to make the case to go to war with Iraq, according to administration and congressional sources. Moreover, as a pivotal member of the vice president's office, Addington also attended strategy sessions in 2003 on how to discredit Wilson when the former ambassador publicly charged that the Bush administration misled the country in pushing its case for war, according to attorneys in the CIA leak probe. Further, Addington played a leading role in 2004 on behalf of the Bush administration when it refused to give the Senate Intelligence Committee documents from Libby's office on the alleged misuse of intelligence information regarding Iraq. Because Addington may be in line to succeed Libby, the Intelligence Committee-White House battle over the documents has sparked new interest on Capitol Hill".

AND THESE REPUBLICANS AREN'T CRIMINALS?

Give the Bush campaign $4.1 million and they will give you $1.2 billion of taxpayers' money as a kickback. Excellent article from the Toledo Blade! For those who are not familiar with the Toledo Blade, they're one of the top investigative newspapers in the country. Here you will read where Bush and Republicans are nothing but a bunch of pimps when it comes to distributing OUR tax money to the whores that are their political backers. To Bush administration, the U.S. treasury is theirs to do whatever they want to with! "The Ohio business leaders and lobbyists who steered at least $4.1 million to President Bush's re-election campaign last year collected more than $1.2 billion in taxpayer dollars for their companies and clients, a Blade investigation shows. The fund-raisers who helped deliver the battleground state - and ultimately the 2004 presidential election - also received choice appointments from state and federal officials. The posts included an ambassadorship to Germany and a seat on the Ohio State University board of trustees. Others made millions from unbid contracts varying from supplying ball bearings to the military or office furniture for federal agencies. As they raised millions to help re-elect George W. Bush in 2004, the 30 Bush "Pioneers" and "Rangers" from Ohio - who raised at least $100,000 and $200,000 respectively - also had access to policymakers from the Ohio Statehouse to the White House".

The 'Vulcans' Will Go Down in Flames!

Fall of a Vulcan "Scooter Libby always had a knack for fiction. He once penned a thriller set in Japan that a critic praised for its "storytelling skill" and "conspiratorial murmurs." Then, in the run-up to the 2003 invasion of Iraq, he earned the scorn of officials at the CIA and State Department for inserting unchecked, raw intelligence into speeches to vilify Saddam Hussein and boost the case for war. One hard-to-kill Libby favorite: the irresistible tale about how 9/11 mastermind Mohammed Atta had met with an Iraqi intelligence agent in Prague five months before the hijackings. That red herring kept creeping back into Vice President Dick Cheney's speeches long after it had been debunked". ....Of course, any plea bargain also has the potential to endanger higher-level officials like Cheney, who is mentioned more than once in the indictment. Fitzgerald's document notes, for example, that Libby flew with Cheney on July 12 to Norfolk, Va., and discussed with some officials on the return trip how to handle the Cooper inquiry--an indication that Fitzgerald has reason to at least investigate a conspiracy that might involve the Vice President. Rove too could be ensnared if Libby cuts a deal. So far, Fitzgerald has declined to detail in his indictment the conversation Libby and Rove had about the Novak story before it broke--and whether they discussed the legality of leaking Plame's identity. A trial might provoke a deeper autopsy into how that may have worked--something the White House is surely not keen on. "Some observers wondered last week why a bright lawyer like Libby bothered with a cover story at all. The indictment offers scant evidence that Libby knew Plame was a covert officer, a key test in the 1982 law barring such disclosures. By that logic, Libby could have told the truth about everything he did and still avoided criminal exposure. But other lawyers pointed out that it's easy to forget that Fitzgerald hasn't made public everything he knows. The two senior officials who discussed Plame's employment with Libby may have testified that they warned Libby about the secret nature of her work. "Some things," said a lawyer for one witness, "come out only at trial." * The group gave itself the nickname the Vulcans, for the Roman god of fire. For more details, see Rise of the Vulcans, by James Mann. Will Scooter Libby go down by himself or will he tell the truth about Dick Cheney being the person who put him up to outing a covert CIA agent in an ignorant display of retribution, and treason, against someone who dared to question their lies? Either way, someone's going to jail and with a little luck, Scooter will rat on his boss and we'll get to see the country's biggest and most arrogant bastard, Dick Cheney squirm a little.

Money For Nothing

Larry Johnson directs you to another former CIA agent, Philip Giraldi, who tells the tale of how Bush and those conspiring with him sat back a let their political cronies and contributors rip American taxpayers, and Iraqis, off for billions! Money for Nothing Billions of dollars have disappeared, gone to bribe Iraqis and line contractors’ pockets. by Philip Giraldi The United States invaded Iraq with a high-minded mission: destroy dangerous weapons, bring democracy, and trigger a wave of reform across the Middle East. None of these have happened. When the final page is written on America’s catastrophic imperial venture, one word will dominate the explanation of U.S. failure—corruption. ...Twelve billion dollars moved that way between May 2003 and June 2004, drawn from accounts administered by the New York Federal Reserve Bank. The $100 bills weighed an estimated 363 tons.