Bill of Rights, Going Once, Going Twice? Alito Only Knows

A Prissy Patriot Evening Edition...

Too Little, too late could become the new theme for the old Democrat party. Prissy says old, because intelligent ones, like Dr. Dean and Al Gore should split the Democrats and take the party in a new direction. They see what is happening and they have the good sense to be alarmed! Prissy likes them because they are not huge liars, either...

When the party splits; just be sure and take Hackett and Strickland with the new Dems...leave behind Biden, Hillary and Lieberman- and leave O'Bama with them. What a huge disappointment he has turned out to be. Joe- Please change parties and make it official. What a creep.

Hot Links

New Zealand Herald www.nzherald.co.nz/section/story.cfm?c_id=2&objectid=10366003 Bush to paint rosy picture on Iraq and economy in State of the Union(There he goes again)013106

"In his speech, the president needs to tell the American people what he is going to do to end the culture of corruption and lay out solutions that will make America strong," said Senate minority leader Harry Reid, a Nevada Democrat.

From The Washington Post...Bigots for Bush? www.washingtonpost.com/wpdyn/content/article/2006/01/29/AR2006012900642.html?nav=most_emailed Study Ties Political Leanings to Hidden Biases January 30, 2006

"If anyone in Washington is skeptical about these findings, they are in denial," he said. "We have 50 years of evidence that racial prejudice predicts voting. Republicans are supported by whites with prejudice against blacks. If people say, 'This takes me aback,' they are ignoring a huge volume of research."

www.truthout.org/docs_2006/011706Y.shtml Truthout 17 January 2006 NSA Spying Evolved Pre-9/11 By Jason Leopold

What sets this type of operation apart from the unprecedented covert domestic spying activities the NSA had been conducting after 9/11 is a top secret executive order signed by President Bush in 2002 authorizing the NSA to target specific American citizens. Prior to 9/11, American citizens were the subject of non-specific surveillance by the NSA that was condoned and approved by President Bush, Vice President Dick Cheney, and Secretary of Defense Donald Rumsfeld, according to former NSA and counterterrorism officials.

The sources, who requested anonymity because they were instructed not to talk about NSA activities but who hope they can testify before Congress about the domestic spying, said that in December 2000, the NSA completed a report for the incoming administration titled "Transition 2001," which explained, among other things, how the NSA would improve its intelligence gathering capabilities by hiring additional personnel.

Via PJF's Blog - From (CREW) Citizens for Resposibility and Ethics in Washingtonwww.citizensforethics.org/press/newsrelease.php?view=104 CREW SUES DHS OVER CONTINUING KATRINA COVER-UP -Bush Administration Fails to Provide Docs on Inadequate Preparedness and Response to Disaster

Washington, DC -Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington (CREW) today sued the US Department of Homeland Security (DHS) over its continued refusal to respond to a Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) request on Katrina-related issues.

On September 7, 2005, CREW sent a FOIA request to DHS and its component, the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA), asking for records and communications regarding the federal government's preparedness for and response to hurricane Katrina. CREW requested an expedited response from DHS on the FOIA, which was denied by DHS on September 20, 2005. CREW appealed on October 24, 2005, urging the agency to quickly release documents that would inform the public about the circumstances surrounding FEMA's response to Katrina. On December 21, 2005 DHS again denied CREW's request for expedited treatment, forcing CREW to sue DHS for the information. FEMA, how can we ever forgive you?

Times Union www.timesunion.com/AspStories/story.asp?storyID=445040&category=OPINION&newsdate=1/30/2006&TextPage=1 Bush: 'L'etat, c'est moi'January 30, 2006

WASHINGTON -- We are now learning what President Bush considers to be the limits of his power -- nothing. In public appearances this week, Bush defended his program of domestic spying without court approval, citing the inherent war powers of the presidency under the U.S. Constitution.

The President points to his status as commander-in-chief and the resolution -- approved by Congress three days after the 9/11 attacks -- authorizing him to use "all necessary and appropriate force" against the terrorists. It is an obvious overreach of presidential prerogative; thin justification for what amounts to a snooping foray against Americans and others in the U.S.

It all smacks of France's Louis XIV's famous dictum: "L'etat, c'est moi"-- "I am the state."

The administration is on shaky legal ground. Last week, the Justice Department issued a 42-page analysis declaring the President "will exercise all authority available to him, consistent with the Constitution, to protect the people of the United States."

Belfast Telegraph www.belfasttelegraph.co.uk/news/story.jsp?story=677239 De Lorean aide Bushell dies 28 January 2006

The trial judge at the time said: "Bushell, along with the late Colin Chapman of Lotus Cars and John De Lorean himself, had been engaged in a bare-faced outrageous and massive fraud.

"It was a disaster for the British taxpayer and so many people in Northern Ireland, including many of small means, who were ill-prepared and ill-equipped to cope with the gross misfortune that befell them when the DeLorean dream turned into a nightmare."

The judge also told the court that Bushell, with his knowledge of finanace as a chartered accountant, had been the brains behind the fraud even though he received the smallest of the three shares in the money.

The trio had funnelled more than £5m cash through a Panamanian registered Geneva-based company called GPD Services set up by Bushell and the Lotus chief.

Times Union of NY timesunion.com/AspStories/story.asp?storyID=445034&category=REGION&BCCode=HOME&newsdate=1/30/2006 Chaplain shares reality of Iraq-Lutheran minister serving with Army says cause, costs of war need debate

SCHENECTADY -- Army chaplain Eric Olsen is a strong proponent of supporting the troops, but he doesn't much care for yellow magnetic ribbons.

What he'd rather see and believes would be a better show of support for the troops is public debate about the war and an answer for why 135,000 troops are still there.

www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/n/a/2006/01/29/national/w120152S55.DTL White House Official Warned Abramoff January 29, 2006

David Safavian provided "sensitive and confidential information" about four subsidiaries of Tyco International to Abramoff regarding internal deliberations at the General Services Administration, say the court papers filed Friday in a criminal case against Safavian.

Abramoff has pleaded guilty to conspiracy, tax evasion and mail fraud in a burgeoning bribery probe centered on Capitol Hill but also involving the Interior Department.

www.foxreno.com/news/6562719/detail.html?rss=reno&psp=news Cindy Sheehan May Run Against Feinstein

Sheehan said she would head to Washington on Sunday for protests against Bush's State of the Union address on Tuesday, and then return to California to discuss her idea of running against Feinstein with her son and two daughters.

"We're going to have a little family meeting about it," she said. "If any of them are diametrically opposed to it, I can't do it."

But, she added, her children have been fully supportive of her activism up until now, "so I can't see -- if they think it's going to help peace -- that they would be opposed to me doing it."

Sheehan and other peace activists met for two hours Saturday with Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez, who is himself a fierce critic of Bush and the Iraq war. Sheehan said she was impressed by Chavez's sincerity.

"Our president won't even take five minutes to meet with me," she said, adding that Chavez was "really excited" when he heard she was considering running for the Senate.

An honest mother for Senator...what a great idea. Prissy supports Cindy and women like her, willing to take a stand-speaking truth to power.

Zogby International Polling (one of the few Prissy trusts) Talking about how the Washington Post and NYT seem to build Bush up www.zogby.com/Soundbites/ReadClips.dbm?ID=12585 Later in the article, Stevenson again asserted that Bush has put his difficulties behind him:

The president goes into the speech having dealt to a large degree with the most acute political problems from the latter half of last year. One was the demoralization of his conservative base, whose enthusiasm could determine the control of Congress. The other was his loss of control last fall of the terms of the partisan debate over national security, the issue that more than any other has determined his political fortunes.

Given Bush's continued and overwhelming unpopularity, it is difficult to make sense of Stevenson's assertion that Bush has "dealt to a large degree" with his political problems.

Nor does Stevenson do much to help the reader understand how such an unpopular president can be said to have dealt with his "most acute political problems." The Bush administration's handling of Hurricane Katrina, for example, is frequently cited as a major part of Bush's political struggles -- but Katrina isn't mentioned anywhere in Stevenson's article. The most recent public polling on the topic, a CNN/USA Today/Gallup poll from December, found that just 41 percent approved of Bush's handling of Katrina, while 57 percent disapproved.

65% of all Americans said the troops should come home NOW...

Quote of the Day

Some circumstantial evidence is very strong, as when you find a trout in the milk. ~Henry David Thoreau

The big thieves hang the little ones. ~Czech Proverb

I had an epiphany a few years ago where I was out at a celebrity party and it suddenly dawned on me that I had yet to meet a celebrity who is as smart and interesting as any of my friends.~Moby, quoted on CNN.com, March 2005

When they took the fourth amendment, I was silent because I don'’t deal drugs. When they took the sixth amendment, I kept quiet because I know I'm innocent. When they took the second amendment, I said nothing because I don'’t own a gun. Now they've come for the first amendment, and I can't say anything at all.~Tim Freeman, Author

We will disect Dubya's State of the Union speech Wednesday on The Prissy Patriot...

We Ask Them Again...What Noble Cause?

Not one neoRepublican can answer a straight question with a truthful answer...not even to save their own country.

This morning on Thom Hartman (Air America) some fool named Chuck Morse, announced he is a Republican running in Massachusetts against Barney Franks-a Democrat. Prissy will not give Morse too much time- except to say he is exactly like the rest of them.

Did you see that several states already have legislation in action to overturn Roe.V.Wade, in their own state? Ohio is one of them-Mike DeWine would be the Senator leading the charge here.

Prissy looks forward to seeing Hackett take Dewine to the mat. DeWine shows he knows nothing about life with his view. Take care of the ones already here-get out of your ivory tower for a while, Senator. Walk through the prisons, like Prissy has.

See what becomes of the unwanted-begated by the unwanted. What an elitist like DeWine does not comprehend, is that to some people, pregnancy and childbirth are simply biological functions. Something that happens.

These are people who live day to day. These folks do not plan for their retirement, much to the puzzlement of ones like DeWine who live in neoRepublican fantasy land...DeWine really needs to take a good look at Republicans numbers. From the real polls.

DeWine clearly despises women and children or he would not want to enact laws to force more suffering upon them. He will want to outlaw birth control next...he is subtly forcing us all to be practicing Catholics. What a wacko... someone needs to tell him the majority of us believe in a separation of church and state.

Remember-this is the guy who wants to forbid women in Africa from having access to birth control that could literally save their lives with the prevalence of AIDS and keep them alive to raise the children already born. Adding to the suffering of others- that is not love for your fellow human-beings.

Apparently they enjoy adding to others suffering. They repackage it and call it "compassionate conservatism". Prissy thinks it is more like "passive-aggressive."

Hackett, on the other hand-lives in the real world. Not fantasy land. Prissy prefers politicians grounded in reality. She is sure she isn't the only one.

Hot Links

Counterpunch- Fitzgerald Probes Niger Forgeries January 26, 2006 By JASON LEOPOLD www.counterpunch.org/leopold01262006.html" target="_blank">

The State Department officials, who spoke on condition of anonymity because some of the information they discussed is still classified, indicated that the White House had substantial motive for revealing undercover CIA operative Valerie Plame's identity to reporters.

They said the questions Fitzgerald asked them about the Niger documents suggested to them that the special prosecutor was putting together a timeline. They said they believe Fitzgerald wants to show the grand jury how some people in the Bush administration may have conspired to retaliate against former Ambassador Joseph Wilson, an outspoken critic of the administration's pre-war Iraq intelligence.

The officials said Fitzgerald's interest is not in the the war's validity. Instead, Fitzgerald is trying to find out if Wilson's public questions about the administration's intelligence and its use of the Niger documents led members of a little known committee called the White House Iraq Group to leak Plame's name and CIA status to reporters.

MSNBC - It is about time. What finally forced "American officials" to face reality and stop thinking it was up to the military to negotiate foreign policy with insurgents? www.msnbc.msn.com/id/11079548/site/newsweek/ Exclusive: Direct Talks -—U.S. Officials and Iraqi Insurgents Newsweek Feb. 6, 2006 issue

American officials in Iraq are in face-to-face talks with high-level Iraqi Sunni insurgents, NEWSWEEK has learned. Americans are sitting down with "senior members of the leadership" of the Iraqi insurgency, according to Americans and Iraqis with knowledge of the talks (who did not want to be identified when discussing a sensitive and ongoing matter).

From the New Zealand Scoop-www.scoop.co.nz/stories/WO0601/S00395.htm Inquiry Into Bush War Crimes to Release Findings 27 January 2006 Commission of Inquiry Into Bush War Crimes And Crimes Against Humanity to Release Preliminary Findings WHERE: National Press Club, Washington, DC WHEN: Feb. 2, 12 Noon INFORMATION: www.bushcommission.org

* Scott Ritter, former UN weapons inspector, testified: "What passes for intelligence is nothing more than politically motivated propaganda...There was no intelligence failure because the policy wasn't disarmament; it was regime change."

* Craig Murray, ex-UK Ambassador to Uzbekistan: "There was no form of torture so extreme that the CIA would refuse the results of that torture....You can't build security on evil. I don't believe torture works, but even it if did work, I'd rather die than have anyone tortured to save my life."

* Brig. Gen. Janis Karpinski (Ret.): "When [General Geoffrey] Miller arrived at Abu Ghraib, he said, 'It's my opinion that you're treating the prisoners too well....You have to treat the prisoners like dogs... Rumsfeld...authorized sleep deprivation, stress positions, meal disruptions, serving meals late, not serving a meal, leaving the lights on, playing loud music, issuing criticism of their religions."

* Dr. Alan Berkman, Prof. of Public Health, Columbia University: "[Bush's] ideologically driven prevention agenda has in fact accounted for millions of deaths in the five years since he took power."

* Daphne Wysham, of the Institute for Policy Studies: "The Bush White House is deliberately targeting information policy-makers have on climate change in an effort to protect some of the most powerful industries on the planet, namely the oil, gas, and coal industries."

* Hurricane Katrina Victim Larry McBride testified that he and other prisoners in a New Orleans jail were left to die during Hurricane Katrina, and were then beaten and denied food and water by the National Guard when they fled to higher ground.

From The Hill www.hillnews.com/thehill/export/TheHill/News/Frontpage/012506/indictment.html Historically, indictments tough to overcome January 25, 2006

While the Congressional Research Service does not keep a tally of all members of Congress ever indicted, anecdotal evidence suggests that the vast majority of indicted members either step down or lose at the polls, a CRS official said.

"It's usually a killer for your political career to be indicted," said the official, who declined to speak openly because of the ongoing, Abramoff-related investigations. "If a member's under indictment and stands for reelection " it really casts such a pall over them.

Speaking of criminals, Flashback from The Hill-July 13, 2005: www.hillnews.com/thehill/export/TheHill/News/Frontpage/071305/abramoff.html Abramoff duo quits U.S. By Josephine Hearn

Two former associates of Jack Abramoff, the embattled lobbyist, left the country Monday night en route to a new life in Israel. The relocation comes as a Justice Department taskforce presses forward with an investigation into potential criminal wrongdoing stemming from Abramoff'’s business dealings.

Sam Hook and his wife Shana Tesler both worked with Abramoff at the law firm, Greenberg Traurig. Hook served as the registered agent for Grassroots Interactive, a lobbying venture tied to Abramoff that has reportedly been subpoenaed by the Justice Department taskforce.

Tesler, a lawyer, worked with Abramoff at Greenberg Traurig and then followed him to the lobbying firm, Cassidy & Associates, after he was ousted from Greenberg following news reports of his questionable dealings with Indian gaming tribes.

All the reasons you need to call your Senator and Veto Alito... www.americanprogress.org/site/pp.asp?c=biJRJ8OVF&b=1309257 The Yale Report on Alito: Alito's Opinions Monday, December 19, 2005 (Full report on site in pdf)

This report puts special focus on the opinions that most clearly suggest how Judge Alito might discharge the duties of his office if he is confirmed as a Justice of the United States Supreme Court. Judge Alito himself graduated from Yale Law in 1975. The report summarizes its conclusions as follows:

Reproductive Rights: In one dissent, Judge Alito would have upheld a Pennsylvania law requiring a wife to notify her husband before having an abortion. The Supreme Court rejected his reasoning, finding that the law imposed an undue burden on the wife.

Procedural Fairness: When given latitude in cases involving individuals'’ procedural rights, Judge Alito consistently has decided to limit access to courts, at times leaving litigants with fewer procedural options. He has construed narrowly the constitutional requirements that individuals receive notice and an opportunity to be heard before being deprived of their rights. He has strictly interpreted standing requirements and has limited causes of action. He also has been reluctant to review the actions of executive branch officials, making it more difficult for individuals to hold the government accountable for its actions. There is also evidence that Judge Alito gives some groups of litigants more leeway than others to pursue their claims.

Free Speech: Although Judge Alito has supported the free speech claims of business interests, government agents, and student groups, and has protected the press against libel claims, he has refused to extend this support to the claims of prisoners seeking access to newspapers and photographs of their families.

Find and Contact them here: www.senate.gov/general/contact_information/senators_cfm.cfm Click to enlargeFrom Cafepress www.cafepress.com

The Dubya Report www.thedubyareport.com Interview with the hand picked for the job, General Hayden. He apparently thinks little of Democracy too...

QUESTION: ...[M]y understanding is that the Fourth Amendment of the Constitution specifies that you must have probable cause to be able to do a search that does not violate an American's right against unlawful searches and seizures. Do you use --

GEN. HAYDEN: No, actually -- the Fourth Amendment actually protects all of us against unreasonable search and seizure.

QUESTION: But the --

GEN. HAYDEN: That's what it says.

QUESTION: But the measure is probable cause, I believe.

GEN. HAYDEN: The amendment says unreasonable search and seizure.

QUESTION: But does it not say probable --

GEN. HAYDEN: No...

-- Knight-Ridder reporter Jonathan Landay questioning former NSA director General Michael Hayden at the National Press Club, January 23, 2006

Text of the Fourth Amendment: The right of the people to be secure in their persons, houses, papers, and effects, against unreasonable searches and seizures, shall not be violated, and no Warrants shall issue, but upon probable cause, supported by Oath or affirmation, and particularly describing the place to be searched, and the persons or things to be seized.

Newsweek via RAW Story www.msnbc.msn.com/id/11079547/site/newsweek/ Newsweek: Bush appointees revolted over executive branch 'overreach' January 29, 2006

They were loyal conservatives, and Bush appointees. They fought a quiet battle to rein in the president's power in the war on terror. And they paid a price for it. A NEWSWEEK investigation.

Part Two of NSA Whisteblower Series- www.cnsnews.com/ViewSpecialReports.asp?Page=/SpecialReports/archive/200601/SPE20060126a.html NSA Whistleblowers Were Allegedly Isolated, Intimidated By Sherrie Gossett January 26, 2006

Whistleblowers who have stepped forward to accuse the National Security Agency of retaliating against them by falsely labeling them "paranoid," "delusional," or "psychotic," cover a range of political views. Russell D. Tice, a self-described conservative, believes President Bush should be impeached over the current controversy involving the NSA's domestic surveillance program. Another whistleblower, Diane Ring, is a staunch Bush supporter who supports the surveillance program.

From The Texas Observer www.texasobserver.org/showArticle.asp?ArticleID=2117 Impeach or Indict Bush and Cheney by Ronnie Dugger

As we in Texas bear guilt for this we have also begun to join the resistance and revolt against it, starting with Cindy Sheehan'’s brigades in Crawford. By happy accident the Texas trip-root that now threatens to help bring the Bush presidency crashing down, crushing itself under its own arrogance, hubris, and criminality, is a law against corporate money in Texas elections that was passed a century ago in the state'’s populist afterglow. To uphold that law, Travis County District Attorney Ronnie Earle has braved ruthless contumely, as he had done often before in order to prosecute public officials he believed had violated the laws. While it is merely seemly to await the outcome of the trial of DeLay and his co-defendants on the charges that they laundered corporate money through Washington to elect Republicans to the House from Texas, in a speech in September Earle declared what he believes his prosecution is all about. "Corporate money in politics"” has become "“the fight of our generation of Americans....It is our job" —our fight" —to rescue democracy from the money that has captured it," he said. "The issue that we'’re faced with is the role of large concentrations of money in democracy, whether it's individuals or corporations, the issue is the same."”

Pittsburg Post-Gazette www.post-gazette.com/pg/06026/644541.stm Santorum denies ties to 'K Street Project' January 26, 2006

Since he became the Senate's third-ranking Republican in 2001, Mr. Santorum has held weekly meetings with top Republican lobbyists at which he discusses, among other matters, job openings at Washington lobbying firms.

But, in interviews with the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette, he has said those discussions -- which he previously referred to as "the K Street meetings" -- are merely to ensure Republicans are putting forward good candidates for the jobs.

Mr. Santorum flatly denied yesterday that the meetings were an integral part of the "K Street Project."

Though publications such as The Washington Post, Roll Call and Washington Monthly have all reported that Mr. Santorum's meetings were a central part of Mr. Norquist's "K Street Project" strategy, Mr. Santorum said yesterday that his meetings were a separate initiative.

Smooth, Ricky, real smooth...

Watch out Feinstein, Cindy is a well spoken, intelligent woman. And much like she taught her children, she tells the truth and encourages others to do the same. The mainstream media and right wing nuts have always gone out of their way to make her look bad. She doesn't own the media...

Prissy has met Cindy and knows better, now you do to... Go Cindy! www.cnsnews.com/ViewPolitics.asp?Page=\Politics\archive\200601\POL20060127d.html Sheehan to Feinstein: Filibuster Alito, Or I'll Run Against You

"I'm appalled that Diane Feinstein wouldn't recognize how dangerous Alito's nomination is to upholding the values of our constitution and restricting the usurpation of presidential powers, for which I've already paid the ultimate price," Sheehan said in a statement.

Quotes of the Day

Rather than love, than money, than fame, give me truth. ~Henry David Thoreau

Laws are partly formed for the sake of good men, in order to instruct them how they may live on friendly terms with one another, and partly for the sake of those who refuse to be instructed, whose spirit cannot be subdued, or softened, or hindered from plunging into evil. ~Plato

Why neoRepublicans cannot be considered honest...An honest man can feel no pleasure in the exercise of power over his fellow citizens. ~Thomas Jefferson

Say nothing of my religion. It is known to God and myself alone. Its evidence before the world is to be sought in my life: if it has been honest and dutiful to society the religion which has regulated it cannot be a bad one.~Thomas Jefferson

A child of five would understand this. Send someone to fetch a child of five. ~Groucho Marx

Did the Devil Make Them Do It?

Prissy says, "Turn up the furnace in hell, when the Good Lord calls these "followers" home, the devil will be extra busy...

Clearly, they have intended to disband the Constitution and thus the American way of life. Not too bright, these boys...

People in this country are always entitled to their own opinion, but not their own set of facts.

The nonsense spin the White House is putting on this does not change the facts.

Sure laws were broken, but what disturbs Prissy the most is that it was the spirit of the law they attempted to trash. How could they?

They broke the honor code of what freedom in America was meant to be for you and me...

Hot Links

Is that the best argument you can deliver, Counselor Clinton? Speaking of far-fetched, why do you continue to support Dubya's misuse of our troops? www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2006/01/25/AR2006012500534.html?nav=hcmodule Rift Between Parties Over NSA Wiretapping Grows January 26, 2006 By Jim VandeHei

"Their argument that it's rooted in the authority to go after al Qaeda is far-fetched," Clinton said. "Their argument that it's rooted in the Constitution inherently is kind of strange because we have FISA, and FISA operated very effectively and it wasn't that hard to get their permission."

So much for protecting those who expose wrongdoing by government officials...NY North County Gazette- By Paul K. McMasters January 13, 2006 www.northcountrygazette.org/articles/011306BlowingTheWhistle.html Inside the First Amendment -Blowing The Whistle Can Also Blow A Career

Consider, for instance, the travails of Sibel Edmonds, the former FBI translator who was fired after she went public with claims of security violations, mismanagement and possible spying within the FBI department translating documents vital to the war on terror.

Another whistleblower, Bunny Greenhouse, was demoted from the top procurement post at the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers after she challenged the process by which a subsidiary of Halliburton won multibillion dollar contracts just before the war in Iraq.

Similar troubles were in store for the Army general who disputed his superiors' troop-strength projections for the Iraq war, the Medicare expert who tried to tell Congress about the real costs of new drug subsidies, and the government climate specialist who was disciplined for pointing out that political appointees were manipulating global-warming data.

Little wonder that whistleblowers more often go the press, which has a better record of protecting them than boards, special counsels, the courts, members of Congress - or their bosses.

But even going to the press is not all that safe. The Justice Department has just launched a criminal investigation to track down anyone who leaked information to The New York Times about the National Security Agency's super-secret monitoring of telephone calls and e-mails from within the United States.

More about Whistleblowers, whom we all owe a debt of gratitude...Think Daniel Ellsberg and the Pentagon papers. Prissy may see him at Camp Casey this Easter. Daniel Ellsberg at Camp Casey, Crawford, Texas. (11/05)

From CBS News www.cnsnews.com/ViewSpecialReports.asp?Page=/SpecialReports/archive/200601/SPE20060125a.html NSA Accused of Psychologically Abusing Whistleblowers By Sherrie Gossett January 25, 2006 (The following is the first of a two-part series on the National Security Agency's alleged abuse of employee whistleblowers. Part 2 will be published Thursday, Jan. 26, 2006)

Five current and former National Security Agency (NSA) employees have told Cybercast News Service that the agency frequently retaliates against whistleblowers by falsely labeling them "delusional," "paranoid" or "psychotic."

The intimidation tactics are allegedly used to protect powerful superiors who might be incriminated by damaging information, the whistleblowers say. They also point to a climate of fear that now pervades the agency. Critics warn that because some employees blew the whistle on alleged foreign espionage and criminal activity, the "psychiatric abuse" and subsequent firings are undermining national security.

A spokesman for the NSA declined to comment about the allegations contained in this report.

Wow, that is scary...especially when you consider we may have leaders that could be described in such terms themselves. This is an excellent article, Prissy encourages you to read the whole thing, this being the first of a two part series.

From Al-Jazeera. Maybe this new Israeli Prime Minister will be of the mind to recognize that Palestinians are human beings who should be treated as such, and will facilitate lasting peace...Intelligent people everywhere know that terrorists are no more than common criminals, regardless of their ethnicity...1/24/2006 www.aljazeera.com/me.asp?service_ID=10570 "Israel must withdraw further" - Olmert

In his first policy speech, interim Prime Minister Ehud Olmert stated on Tuesday that Israel will have to withdraw from further parts of the West Bank.

"In order to ensure the existence of a Jewish national home, we will not be able to continue ruling over the territories in which the majority of the Palestinian population lives," he said on Tuesday during a conference at Herzliya.

Quotes of the Day

It is statements such as these, that coined the phrase, "right-wing nut-job"...

"And yet we have brave men and women who are willing to step forward because they know what's at stake. They're willing to sacrifice their lives for this great country. What I'm asking all of you tonight is not to put on a uniform. Put on a bumper sticker. Is it that much to ask? Is it that much to ask to step up and serve your country?" --Sen. Rick Santorum (R-PA)

Tom DeLay is who all of us want to be when we grow up." --Indicted lobbyist Jack Abramoff, on indicted Congressman Tom DeLay, at the 2002 College Republicans Conference

It is evident Dubya's parents did not ask... "Rarely is the question asked: Is our children learning?" --George W Bush, Jr.

"Republican lobbyist Jack Abramoff has agreed to cooperate with federal prosecutors. He could name up to 20 congressmen. When President Bush heard this, he said 'That's amazing. I can only name three congressmen.'" --Conan O'Brien

Has it always been a Republican thing? "It isn't pollution that's harming the environment. It's the impurities in our air and water that are doing it." --Dan Quayle

The Prissy Patriot will return this weekend-unless more indictments come down tomorrow...Betty and I are working on the February podcast. It will be a mix. We will conduct interviews with politicians and entertain you with humor, including "Prissy the Prophetess". (Think Johnny Carson's "Carnac" Character) Stay tuned for more details!

A History We Can Be Proud Of?

SATIRE LINK FIXED-BOTTOM OF BLOG

Does America learn from her mistakes? Really makes one question the motives of folks like Condi Rice, Sam Alito and writer Michelle Malkin-just to name a few.

They got theirs, so they want to pull up the ladder behind them they used to get there. These folks have no problem doing their part to relieve us of our Constitutional rights as Americans on behalf of people who want to keep others repressed. Other minorities just like them.

That is certainly one way to eliminate the competition. This is a common tactic of those who cannot rely on ability or competence to perform their duties. Even if they do have some ability, they are not fair-minded people. They do not work or play well with others. (See Prissy's Socialism for the Rich, American Style)

Prissy has seen this a lot in government, but they usually don't get to this level of management.

See below. Appalling t-shirt from Michelle Malkins site. Someone should notify her she should be concerned about civil rights issues instead of colluding on their demise. It's not too late to make amends. Wouldn't be the first "conservative" to turn.

SEE Dubya's "drunken speech" below-Prissy has had many requests for this.

Hot Links

Via RAW Story- Insight Magazine- conservative publication www.insightmag.com/Media/MediaManager/impeachment.htm Impeachment hearings: The White House prepares for the worst January 23-29, 2006

Administration sources said the charges are expected to include false reports to Congress as well as Mr. Bush's authorization of the National Security Agency to engage in electronic surveillance inside the United States without a court warrant. This included the monitoring of overseas telephone calls and e-mail traffic to and from people living in the United States without requisite permission from a secret court.

Sources said the probe to determine whether the president violated the law will include Republicans, but that they may not be aware they could be helping to lay the groundwork for a Democratic impeachment campaign against Mr. Bush.

"Our arithmetic shows that a majority of the committee could vote against the president," the source said. "If we work hard, there could be a tie."

The law limits the government surveillance to no more than 72 hours without a court warrant. The president, citing his constitutional war powers, has pledged to continue wiretaps without a warrant.

Of course it will happen, dear readers. This is America. Sooner or later we will attempt to right our wrongs.

Those mentioned above and others calling themselves conservatives should be thankful for that.

Where would they be if the courts (accused of legislating from the bench) had decided such mistreatment was legal?

International Relations Center -Exposing the architecture of power that's changing our world rightweb.irc-online.org/profile/?sort=title_tagline#gov Right Web Individual Profiles of all the players and their bios. Corporations and their connections also listed.

SunHerald of South Mississippi www.sunherald.com/mld/sunherald/news/special_packages/veterans/10915802.htm Discharged and dishonored: Shortchanging America's veterans Mar. 06, 2005 When help is needed, ex-soldiers battle delays, inconsistent rulings, inadequate representation

Working with an attorney, he assembled evidence to show that he had post-traumatic stress disorder and to document that it had started in Vietnam. The case wound up and down the system, receiving six different rulings, until Bowman fell ill with pancreatic cancer.

On June 16, 2004, the Board of Veterans' Appeals finally agreed with Bowman's claim. It declared that "credible supporting evidence" showed that Bowman suffered from post-traumatic stress disorder caused by his time in Vietnam, just as Bowman had contended for nine years.

Bowman's attorney immediately pestered the VA for Bowman's back benefits, dating to 1995. By then, Bowman's cancer treatment had been stopped.

On June 21, attorney Dan Krasnegor or his assistant talked with the VA every two hours. On June 22, they were told that the official disability rating was complete and that only final signatures were needed before Bowman's check for $53,784 could be cut. "Oh, it's in the computer system," they were told.

Berlie Bowman died that night, and his claim died with him. No check was sent.

From Yahoo news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20060124/ap_on_go_pr_wh/bush;_ylt=Alt9hRnxtXzywWFsmwE1UDGs0NUE;_ylu=X3oDMTA3OXIzMDMzBHNlYwM3MDM- Bush Defends 'Terrorist Surveillance' Mon Jan 23

"I'm not a lawyer, but I can tell you what it means: It means Congress gave me the authority to use necessary force to protect the American people, but it didn't prescribe the tactics," Bush said.

He sure isn't a lawyer. Dubya's tactics were prescribed and limited more than 200 years ago. FISA was set up with the Constitutional limits in mind-it was for emergency situations- like looking for terrorists!

from Islamic Republic News Agency www.irna.ir/en/news/view/line-16/0601231222200243.htm Pakistan regional assembly wants US envoy's expulsion Jan 23 2006

The resolution was tabled by Anwar Kamal Khan Marwat of the opposition Muslim League party and was supported by both the ruling and opposition parties.

The resolution says: the US and coalition forces violated the international borders as well as international laws and killed innocent people including children and women in Bajaur and Waziristan agencies while the government was silent on the incident.

The resolution adds that there is no truth in the statement that Al Qaeda's second-in-command Ayman al-Zawahiri was hiding there adding that the US is making fool of the world by naming these as attacks on Al-Qaeda. Earlier, the mover of the resolution Anwar Kamal Khan Marwat said that America killed innocent people including children and women which created chaos and confusion in the people.

He said that America has violated the international border of Pakistan. He added that they are given such type of response for being front line state against the war on terror.

Maulana Amanat Shah of the Islamic alliance Mutahida Majlis-e-Amal said that America has trampled all international laws and has acted against the innocent people. From a conservative site-Prissy told you Dubya is in a free-fall. They are angry too. Let us hope they will use restraint and patience. The wheels of justice turn slowly...and this is a big case.

UK Times www.timesonline.co.uk/article/0,,13509-2005025,00.html All-female garage tackles the parts men can't understand January 23, 2006

A beautiful and two former air hostesses are among 15 women selected to work in FranceÂ’s first garage run by women, which is being hailed as the solution for a car industry that is having trouble finding male mechanics clever enough to understand its high-tech vehicles.

Prissy the mechanic?

From Glenn Greenwald - The "Bad Law" Defense glenngreenwald.blogspot.com/2006/01/bad-law-defense.html

According to Hayden, the reason the President wanted to bypass FISA was because FISA requires a showing of "probable cause" in order to obtain a FISA warrant for eavesdropping on telephone conversations, and the President believed that standard was too burdensome. They therefore lowered the standard from "probable cause" to "reasonable basis to believe," and also eliminated the legal requirement that a federal judge approve of the eavesdropping (and replaced it with the requirement that a NSA "shift supervisor" approve) – which is all a way of saying that they "changed" (i.e., violated) the law knowingly, unilaterally, and in secret. Gen. Hayden:

The president's authorization allows us to track this kind of call more comprehensively and more efficiently. The trigger is quicker and a bit softer than it is for a FISA warrant, but the intrusion into privacy is also limited: only international calls and only those we have a reasonable basis to believe involve al Qaeda or one of its affiliates. . . .

www.irna.ir/en/news/view/line-16/0601244298180919.htm Pakistan cautions action against Iran to destabilize region Islamabad, Jan 24, 2006

"Pakistan does not let its neighbor be subject to any military action that will have extremely serious repercussions for the whole region," he maintained, largely-circulated Urdu newspaper 'Nawai Waqt' reported in its Tuesday issue.

General tells a whopper for Dubya-and the Post tells on them! NSA Effort Called Legal and Necessary www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2006/01/23/AR2006012300754.html Campaign To Justify Spying Intensifies Tuesday, January 24, 2006 By Dan Eggen and Walter Pincus

In addition, Bush and Hayden provided varying and sometimes contradictory descriptions of who has been targeted by the NSA spying. Bush said the program involved a "known al Qaeda suspect, making a phone call into the United States." Hayden said one of the ends of an international call must be overseas but did not indicate that the suspected al Qaeda link must be foreign.

At various points in his remarks, Hayden said the program targeted communications "that we have reason to believe are al Qaeda communications," that involve "someone we believe is associated with al Qaeda" or that "we have a reasonable basis to believe involve al Qaeda or one of its affiliates."

Google NSA on this blog for more about this. The General is seemingly unaware that the Fourth Amendment of the Constitution clearly states no warrants shall be issued but upon probable cause! It just does not get any more clear than that.

These folks are telling you the Constitution does not apply, unless they say it does.

Yahoo news.yahoo.com/s/ap/army_breaking_point;_ylt=AoQS_huOIqlpQF1f2XYTah6s0NUE;_ylu=X3oDMTA2Z2szazkxBHNlYwN0bQ-- Study: Army Stretched to Breaking Point (Not news to regular readers)

Andrew Krepinevich, a retired Army officer who wrote the report under a Pentagon contract, concluded that the Army cannot sustain the pace of troop deployments to Iraq long enough to break the back of the insurgency. He also suggested that the Pentagon's decision, announced in December, to begin reducing the force in Iraq this year was driven in part by a realization that the Army was overextended.

Quotes of the Day

One reason The Prissy Patriot makes fun of neocons...What would Twain say today?

"Power, money, persuasion, supplication, persecution -- these can lift at a colossal humbug -- push it a little -- weaken it a little over the course of a century; but only laughter can blow it to rags and atoms at a blast. Against the assault of laughter nothing can stand." ~ Mark Twain

"It is by the goodness of God that in our country we have those three unspeakably precious things: freedom of speech, freedom of conscience, and the prudence never to practice either of them." ~ Mark Twain

Why real patriots should call in and demand their Senators "Veto Alito". Nor give in to Osama or any other tyrant by giving up our Constitutional rights. "Courage is resistance to fear, mastery of fear -- not absence of fear." ~Mark Twain

The Prissy Patriot will return Thursday.

Help STOP THE WAR- Military Families Speak Out of Ohio is selling items to raise funds for the Easter trip to Camp Casey in Crawford, Texas. These 3 inch buttons are Made in America $2.00 each includes shipping -The buttons are like this

Send $2.00 paypal at mfsoohio.blogspot.com or

MFSO Ohio-C/O The Prissy Patriot PO Box 30322, Columbus, Ohio 43230

Prissy has a new email address ThePrissyPatriot@gmail.com

Link FIXED! See satire of Dubya drunk below (someone keeps disabling it on The Prissy Patriot) www.hourlydump.com/media/6_G_Dubya_Drunk

Dubya Tells America -You Kids Better Shut-Up or I'm A Gonna Wallop You Again

UPDATE: You see? Bushies are clearly battered children. As per Dan Bartlett, "The president has done nothing wrong..." Do not question Daddy Duyba's actions.

Even if he ignores civil liberties and spies on the American people. If DD does it, that makes it legitimate. DD says to get over it, because it is for your own good.

Clearly the WH denial factor is at an all time high. The nations is not. The Prissy Patriot will return Tuesday.

Prissy hears one more well-meaning person speak of Bush's supporters being unable to walk away from him, much like a battered spouse, you may hear Prissy scream all the way to Great Britain.

As someone with a great deal of experience in this field, it is a poor comparison. The relationship Dubya maintains with his few followers is a much fairer comparison to child abuse. Not just love of country has been abused. Dubya abused his followers religious beliefs and values, then led them to believe he was big Daddy Dubya- coming to take care of America. They depended on him.

Like most abusers, he took advantage of their willingness and vulnerability after 911 and encouraged them to "trust him."

However, when something bad happened to them, according to Dubya's miscalculations, it must have happened because they were "bad." Not because Daddy Dubya failed them... Now Osama's "Back and coming to a town near YOU."

Example: Katrina victims were poor minorities. The mainstream media (now proved false) told stories of murder and rape in the Astrodome. Typical "blame the victim" mentality of most neoRepublicans.

Wait and watch- the neos will cry that they were merely victims when they are caught. It is interesting how they claim to love and revere the country they are destroying with their policies and deliberate incompetence.

Prissy has bad news for them. Nearly the entire country is onto them. Moreover, Prissy means everybody-even the ones who were die hard Bushies are angry and feeling rather foolish. They did not know Dubya meant they would actually be asked to give up their rights. Which means the rest of us can calm down because as Granny says, it will all come out in the wash.

We must however, keep the heat on Congress. They allowed this to happen.

The good news for American justice is that Abramoff has no desire or intentions to do much jail time. Oh no, that is not his cup of tea. He is far too good for that, just ask his Daddy. Do you hear Jack singing? Prissy does... We keep hearing between 20 and 60 representatives will be regretting they knew Jack.

About Osama: There is one theory about him I think Prissy has mentioned before. Most unlikely, but interesting all the same. Bin Laden's brother owns a submarine-bought for a movie he made or helped make. Medical equipment could be maintained on a sub-such as a kidney dialysis machine which he needed to stay alive.

Prissy is putting her chips down on the old boy expiring, years ago.

Hot Links

From Pravda- english.pravda.ru/mailbox/22/101/399/16764_Gore.html Why did it take so long? 01/19/2006 It was not surprising to discover that George W. Bush chose to illegally spy on American citizens

Because of this cyclical pattern of American history, it was not surprising to discover that George W. Bush, not satiated by the destruction of civil liberties he accomplished through the innocuously sounding "Patriot Act," chose to illegally spy on American citizens. One lesson of COINTELPRO affirms that whenever courts rule that those in government cannot engage in an activity legally, they will simply engage in such activity illegally. This doctrine is so well entrenched that even the man described as America's "top law enforcement official," Alberto Gonzales, has avidly endorsed torture, detentions without charge or trial, and illegal spying, while hypocritically feigning "offense" when dealing with sexually oriented materials.

Therefore I was pleasantly surprised when, on the holiday celebrating the birth of Dr. King, former Presidential Candidate Al Gore forcefully and courageously denounced the evils of the Bush dictatorship. Gore stressed that while overreactions to real or perceived national emergencies in the past were eventually countered by the realization that the "cure" was actually more dangerous to democracy than the "disease," he also warned that there may come a time when the pendulum stops swinging. If this happens, governmental abuses and contempt for fundamental rights and freedoms will become a permanent part of the American landscape.

From CNN Quick Poll- Friday, January 20, 2006 www.cnn.com/POLLSERVER/results/22715.exclude.html Has the Bush administration done a good job of putting terrorists 'out of business'?

Yes-29%-58432 votes

No-71%-142842 votes

Total: 201274 votes

It is now safe to say that Americans have lost faith in Dubya forever...

More about the latest Osama tape... abclocal.go.com/wtvd/story?section=local&id=3828678 Duke Professor Skeptical of bin Laden Tape 01/19/06

He thinks bin Laden is dead and has doubts about the tape. Lawrence recently analyzed more than 20 complete speeches and interviews of the al Qaida leader for his book. He says the new message is missing several key elements.

There's nothing in this from the Koran. He's, by his own standards, a faithful Muslim, Lawrence said. He quotes scripture in defense of his actions. There's no quotation from the Koran in the excerpts we got, no reference to specific events, no reference to past atrocities.

While the CIA confirms the voice on the tape is bin Laden's, Lawrence questions when it was recorded. He says the timing of its release could be to divert attention from last week's U.S. air strike in Pakistan. The strike targeted bin Laden's deputy, Ayman al-Zawahri, and killed four leading al Qaeda figures along with civilians.

Lawrence believes faulty Pakistani intelligence led to the strike and the civilian deaths, and the tape was leaked by Pakistani authorities to divert attention from their mistake.

Thank you to Prissy's fellow blogger Pusillanimous Wankers pusillanimous.blogspot.com/2006/01/krugman-day.html Friday, January 20, 2006 Krugman Day-Stolen from Atrios, who stole it from the ridiculous pay-as-you-go TimesSelect: (Prissy stole it from all of them)

The new prescription drug benefit is off to a catastrophic start. Tens of thousands of older Americans have arrived at pharmacies to discover that their old drug benefits have been canceled, but that they aren't on the list for the new program. More than two dozen states have taken emergency action.

At first, federal officials were oblivious. 'This is going very well,' a Medicare spokesman declared a few days into the disaster. Then officials started making excuses. Some conservatives even insist that the debacle vindicates their ideology: see, government can't do anything right.

But government works when it's run by people who take public policy seriously. As Jonathan Cohn points out in The New Republic, when Medicare began 40 years ago, things went remarkably smoothly from the start. But this time the people putting together a new federal program had one foot out the revolving door: this was a drug bill written by and for lobbyists.

This explains some things... www.newscientist.com/article.ns?id=dn8605 Brain scans reveal men's pleasure in revenge 18 January 2006 by Will Knight

A lust for vengeance may be hardwired into the male brain. Scans of brain activity suggest that men experience greater satisfaction than women in seeing cheaters get their comeuppance,– at least when the punishment is physical.

www.bradenton.com/mld/bradenton/news/politics/13675006.htm Jan. 20, 2006-U.S. accused of spying on those who disagree with Bush policies by WILLIAM E. GIBSON

Neither you nor anybody in that (Quaker) church had anything to do with terrorism," said Rep. Robert Wexler, D-Fla. "The fact is, the Truth Project may have a philosophy that is adverse to the political philosophy and goals of the president of the United States. And as a result of that different philosophy, the president and the secretary of defense ordered that your group be spied upon.

"There should not be a single American who today remains confident that it couldn't happen to them."

crookedtimber.org/2005/10/25/la-repubblica-scoop/ La Repubblica scoop Posted by Henry

As various bloggers have noted, the Italian paper La Repubblica seems to have a scoop on the sources of the famous forged Niger documents, and the role played by the Italian intelligence services.

It’s a fact that on the eve of the Iraq war, and under the supervision of the diplomatic advisor to the Foreign Ministry, Gianni Castellaneta (today ambassador to the USA), the director of SISMI organized his agenda in Washington with the staff of Condoleeza Rice, who was National Security Adviser to the White House at that time. La Repubblica is able to document this two track process between the government and Italian intelligence. At least one of these ‘barely official’ [molto poco istituzionali] meetings of Pollari’s was, according to secret service agents, the ‘creation of a system’ that would bring together government, intelligence and public affairs [informazione].

www.iht.com/articles/2006/01/18/news/niger.php?rss International Herald Tribune- 1/18/06 Tale of Niger uranium sparked doubts early

The White House later acknowledged that the charge, which played a part in the decision to invade Iraq in the belief that Baghdad was reconstituting its nuclear program, should not have been included in the speech and relied on faulty intelligence. Two months ago, Italian intelligence officials concluded that a set of documents at the center of the purported Iraq-Niger link had been forged by an Italian spy.

An Italian spy forged the Niger documents? Prissy needs more proof before she buys into that...

Dearest Readers, State of Belief with C. Welton Gaddy on Air America Radio is great! Walter Cronkite was on last week. He spoke the truth about this administration and the war in Iraq. Walter Cronkite was known as the most trusted man in American journalism. Without Cronkite, we might still be in Vietnam-on the down low, of course. Air America, along with how to listen in your area are here: www.airamericaradio.com/

Here in the central Ohio area, we can only get Air America on AM radio. Trying to listen to Walter Cronkite talk about the state of the union through the static, reminded Prissy of what it must have been like to be a Russian listening to the Voice of America.

Quote of the Day

"We're All Against Us" by Ward Sutton (Click to enlarge cartoon)

This is How We Do It

Small UPDATE: Larry Franklin has recieved 12 years in prison for passing classified information to Israel. From Washington Report- July 2005-The FBI arrested Pentagon Iranian analyst Larry Franklin on May 4 2005, for illegally disclosing highly classified information about possible attacks on American forces in Iraq to Steven Rosen and Keith Weissman of the American Israeli Public Affairs Committee (AIPAC), Israel's principal lobby in the United States. Rosen was AIPA'Cs director of foreign policy issues and Weissman was its senior Middle East analyst until they were recently fired when the FBI investigation got too close for AIPAC's comfort. Franklin, 58, a reserve colonel in the Air Force, was released on $100,000 bond (and later pled guilty)..For more details, google him on this blog. Prissy has lot's of articles...

No scream, pure Dean. Now Prissy remembers why Dean is the first politician she has EVER given a dime, let alone $10.

I liked his logical reasoning against the war and still do. Dean is an intelligent centurist and humanitarian-thoughts which come before politics. That is good.

Remember his out of nowhere "I want to be President"- and his common sense talking bid which grabbed the internet by storm? He raised a ton of cash- $10 at a time.

As a scholar of publicly available prewar Iraq intel, Prissy found Governor Dean's Ten Reasons Against the War to be dead on. Not bad for a Doctor with no prior intel investigation experience! What Dean said would happened has, much to his and mine regret- did happen. Prissy and Dr. Dean concurred it was not a happy event to be so correct about.

A war so unnecessary...Smart people like the Doctor would not have committed such a deadly folly. Blame it on bad press, Dean is no left wing nut. He is a reasonable, deliberate thoughtful man.

America is really silly and trivial to have done Dean in for president or any other position in politics over "the scream." The press once again appeared to help Dubya's cause, instead of democracy. The folks there have told Prissy shortly after it occurred that the crowd was so loud, you could barely hear him. But not to hear the media tell it.

The good doctor has the energy and stamina required to help the DNC attain its proper goals and espouse its rightful platform- not be a neoRepublican-lite Party. We the people are tired of this crap. Prissy says this as a genuine Independent...Gee, you don't see her blogging their events, now do you?

That's because Prissy refuses to be put through the shake-down, just to see We the People's employee or our employee wanna be.

Besides, I think the list Prissy is on with the neoRepublicans doesn't actually get invitations... No matter-Prissy got this one instead.

From the one and only Paul Hackett, Marine Major, attorney and Iraq War Veteran who ran against Jean Schmidt, the woman who rather favors a young Granny on Beverly Hillbillies. Mean Jean insinuated War Veteran , 37 year Marine and Congressman John Murtha (D-PA) was a coward for calling for a withdrawal/redeployment plan for Iraq.

Hackett is well loved the nation over.

While in Crawford, Texas at Camp Casey this past August, folks (military men, especially) from every state kept saying "How about that Hackett?" Lot's of out of staters sent him money-they understand how important Ohio is. Hackett stands for something and unlike the neoRepublican party, is unlikely to fall for their questionable ethics or cozy up with lobbyists. Everyone and no one owns you when your average campaign contribution is $52.50. He raised a million dollars! Only 3 or 4 contributions reached the maximum allowed.

Hackett will deliver a new concept alien to most long term politicians...Public service. Hackett is the kind of guy who gets things done. He isn't exaggerating when he says "Is Washington ready for a new kind of politician?" They had best get ready, generation X is coming their way...the Boomers have proved conservatism has failed this democracy.

Sherrod Brown did a really crass thing, thinking he too, wants to run against Hackett in the primary. Hackett decided to run because Brown said he wasn't going to. So step aside Sherrod, or run for something else.

Besides, most of us are tired of the dynasty families who continue to run Ohio, and in fact the country. Out with them all-Taft, DeWine, Clinton and Bush and the useless long term leach politicians. That doesn't mean we cannot or should not keep the experienced ones who have always looked out for the people. Hackett should be considered the new model for progressive Democrats.

Watch out D.C. Unlike the Kerry lame campaign (was Dubya spying on their strategy?) Hackett will have none of that.

Prissy predicts (with accountable voting machines) he will soundly defeat Senator Mike DeWine. The only time we hear from him is when he is blowing kisses to the fanatical right wingers in Dubya's cabinet...

Hot Links

From Yahoo news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20060119/ap_on_re_mi_ea/al_qaida_bin_laden;_ylt=AqN8.8LEGDDkod22vhqcxGys0NUE;_ylu=X3oDMTA2Z2szazkxBHNlYwN0bQ-- Bin Laden Warns of Attacks, Offers Truce (Dead Guy Warns of Attack from the Grave-And Offers Truce-PP)

There was no immediate confirmation of the tape's authenticity, although the voice resembled that of bin Laden's in previous messages.

Alright then...

From Lexis/Nexis www.lexisone.com/news/ap/ap011306e.html Enron Jury Won't Hear Tapes Of Company Traders by Kristen Hays Jan. 13, 2006

However, Lake ruled prosecutors can present some California-related evidence.

That includes prosecution testimony from former in-house Enron lawyer Richard Sanders regarding his June 2001 meeting with Skilling during which he informed the CEO about the California gaming strategies. Those strategies included making uncongested transmission lines seem congested with fraudulent schedules for energy so Enron could be paid to solve a problem that didn't exist.

Skilling faces 35 counts of conspiracy, fraud, insider trading and lying to auditors. Lay faces seven counts of fraud and conspiracy. Both have pleaded not guilty.

Not guilty? Only the rich can play that game, considering the mounds of evidence against these guys.

So sorry my Dearest Readers, Prissy is getting caught up on a few other projects and will return Sunday (unless we see some indictments!)

Putting Constitution Back into the Constitution

Wednesday UPDATE: Check back later this evening about the Howard Dean visit to Columbus...Prissy is also going to try to make Paul Hackett's invitation today too! Check back for pictures and more!

But do not forget this! Not "new news" to Prissy Patriot readers... www.nytimes.com/2006/01/18/politics/18niger.html?oref=login New York Times-2002 Memo Doubted Uranium Sale Claim-January 17, 2006

A four-star general, Carlton W. Fulford Jr., was also sent to Niger to investigate the claims of a uranium purchase. He, too, came away with doubts about the reliability of the report and believed Niger's yellowcake supply to be secure. But the State Department's review, which looked at the political, economic and logistical factors in such a purchase, seems to have produced wider-ranging doubts than other reviews about the likelihood that Niger would try to sell uranium to Baghdad.

The review concluded that Niger was "probably not planning to sell uranium to Iraq," in part because France controlled the uranium industry in the country and could block such a sale. It also cast doubt on an intelligence report indicating that Niger's president, Mamadou Tandja, might have negotiated a sales agreement with Iraq in 2000. Mr. Tandja and his government were reluctant to do anything to endanger their foreign aid from the United States and other allies, the review concluded. The State Department review also cast doubt on the logistics of Niger being able to deliver 500 tons of uranium even if the sale were attempted. "Moving such a quantity secretly over such a distance would be very difficult, particularly because the French would be indisposed to approve or cloak this arrangement," the review said.

Chris Farrell, the director of investigations at Judicial Watch and a former military intelligence officer, said he found the State Department's analysis to be "a very strong, well-thought-out argument that looks at the whole playing field in Niger, and it makes a compelling case for why the uranium sale was so unlikely."

The memo, dated March 4, 2002, was distributed at senior levels by the office of Secretary of State Colin L. Powell and by the Defense Intelligence Agency.

Al Gore is the political Superman America was looking for. (GORE/EDWARDS 2008) Americans can be proud of Al and Bob Barr, along with their Herculean like effort to save the Constitution before it is declared null and void by Dubya.

Perhaps when mind numb representatives of the people wipe the blood from their collective chins, they will come to the realization they are Americans.

Neorepublicans will be glad for the "left-wing bleeding heart liberals"- they may forgive them easier than the ones whom become enraged upon their discoveries of what their once beloved government has done to them...

The damage is enormous. Politically speaking, the Republican Party as it currently stands, is done.

They are no better than a cheating lover...The Republican Party and their corporate owned media have repeatedly proved they cannot be trusted again. This will not be the first demise of a political party in American history. So never say never.

Hot Links

UPDATE: rawstory.com/news/2005/Gore_responds_to_White_House_hypocrisy_0117.html Gore responds to White House 'hypocrisy' comments...Via RAW Story

Published: January 17, 2006 Former Vice President Al Gore: "The Administration's response to my speech illustrates perfectly the need for a special counsel to review the legality of the NSA wiretapping program. The Attorney General is making a political defense of the President without even addressing the substantive legal questions that have so troubled millions of Americans in both political parties. There are two problems with the Attorney General's effort to focus attention on the past instead of the present Administration's behavior. First, as others have thoroughly documented, his charges are factually wrong. Both before and after the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act was amended in 1995, the Clinton/Gore Administration complied fully and completely with the terms of the law.

Second, the Attorney General's attempt to cite a previous administration's activity as precedent for theirs - even though factually wrong - ironically demonstrates another reason why we must be so vigilant about their brazen disregard for the law. If unchecked, their behavior would serve as a precedent to encourage future presidents to claim these same powers, which many legal experts in both parties believe are clearly illegal.

Go Al, hit them again with your powerful words! Their defense was weak in accordance to the strength of your argument. Chase him all the way down the street!

About the WP, from Downing Street Org www.afterdowningstreet.org/?q=node/6786 Washington Post Writer Advocates Military Propaganda (sorry, is that redundant?) Oh, and he is paid by MIT's Security Studies Program, which is almost certainly funded by the Pentagon.

This pillar of wisdom from the great British military strategist T. E. Lawrence -- better known as Lawrence of Arabia -- remains as compelling today as it was when he penned it in 1920, after helping engineer a victorious Arab revolt against the Ottomans. Yet revelations that U.S. forces in Iraq have surreptitiously purchased and placed stories in the local media to promote the quality-of-life improvements they have made possible and to highlight the country's democratic progress have provoked journalistic outrage here at home. Newspaper editorials have condemned the classified "information operations" program. A White House spokesman has said that President Bush is "deeply concerned." Most journalists I know have reacted with cynical disgust. "This time, someone really does have to be fired," wrote Christopher Hitchens, who otherwise supports the war effort, in Slate.

www.consortiumnews.com/2006/011106.html Consortium News-1/12/06-Alito & the Ken Lay Factor By Robert Parry

The Supreme Court's embrace of the "unitary executive" would sound the death knell for independent regulatory agencies as they have existed since the Great Depression, when they were structured with shared control between the Congress and the President. Putting the agencies under the President'’s thumb would tip the balance of Washington power to the White House and invite abuses by letting the Executive turn on and off enforcement investigations.

For instance, if the "unitary executive" had existed in 2001, Bush might have been tempted to halt the SEC accounting investigation that spelled doom for Enron Corp. and his major financial backer, Enron Chairman Kenneth Lay. As it was, the relative independence of the SEC ensured that the accounting probe went forward and the fraudulent schemes propping up the Houston-based company were exposed.

How pathetic can they get? They want this for America? Watch out for a new "terror warning" or worse to punish the American people for daring to demand their rights back. Bullies get angry when their bluff is called...

In Columbus, the progressive radio station is on AM. Sunday Prissy was trying to listen to Walter Cronkite on the AM station. The sound quality was poor, so course. Prissy felt like a Russian trying to listen to "Voice of America"! Is Mr. Cronkite the last trusted man in journalism? www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/n/a/2006/01/15/entertainment/e154744S99.DTL&feed=rss.news SF Gate-Cronkite: Time for U.S. to Leave Iraq

(01-15) 22:14 PST Pasadena, Calif. (AP) -- Former CBS anchor Walter Cronkite, whose 1968 conclusion that the Vietnam War was unwinnable keenly influenced public opinion then, said Sunday he'd say the same thing today about Iraq. "It's my belief that we should get out now," Cronkite said in a meeting with reporters.

www.realcities.com/mld/krwashington/13639835.htm Mon, Jan. 16, 2006-By Iris Kuo -Knight Ridder Newspapers -Bush broke the law with domestic spying program, Gore says

WASHINGTON - Former Vice President Al Gore charged Monday that President Bush had broken the law repeatedly by authorizing domestic eavesdropping without court approval and warned that Bush's aggressive assertion of power puts "America's Constitution in grave danger."

Gore called for lawmakers to demand the appointment of a special counsel to investigate the National Security Agency's wiretapping of American citizens and criticized Republicans and Democrats in Congress for failing to stand up to the White House.

Indeed, maybe Dubya should have gone to law school like Al did. Oh that's right...Dubya was turned down by a public law college in Texas. Too too-pid.

Prissy laughs with mirth to think, that even with his kind of connections there was something he could not buy. That and competency...

ACLU Lawsuit from the source: www.aclu.org/safefree/nsaspying/23486prs20060117.html ACLU Sues to Stop Illegal Spying on Americans, Saying President Is Not Above the Law (1/17/2006)

In addition to the ACLU, the plaintiffs in today’s case are: Authors and journalists James Bamford, Christopher Hitchens and Tara McKelvey

Afghanistan scholar Barnett Rubin of New York University’s Center on International Cooperation and democracy scholar Larry Diamond, a fellow at the Hoover Institution

Nonprofit advocacy groups NACDL, Greenpeace, and Council on American Islamic Relations, who joined the lawsuit on behalf of their staff and membership

"The prohibition against government eavesdropping on American citizens is well-established and crystal clear,” said ACLU Associate Legal Director Ann Beeson, who is lead counsel in ACLU v. NSA. “President Bush's claim that he is not bound by the law is simply astounding. Our democratic system depends on the rule of law, and not even the president can issue illegal orders that violate Constitutional principles.”

Well, well Christopher Hitchens and the ACLU? He really should be sweeter to liberals.

Those corporate spin doctors at the Post never stop... This was buried when it should have been front page news. It is not every day a popular professional attorney and politician with Gore's credentials will publicly state in Constitution Hall that the president is breaking the law of the land. www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2006/01/16/AR2006011600526.html Gore Says Bush Broke the Law With Spying Warrantless Surveillance an Example of 'Indifference' to Constitution, He Charges

In the latest Washington Post-ABC News poll, 51 percent said that "wiretapping of telephone calls and e-mails without court approval" was an acceptable tool for the federal government to use when investigating terrorism. Forty-seven percent said it was an unacceptable for the government to use those methods in order to catch suspected terrorists.

Post, your pants are on fire! Notice they did not ask "Is it OK if the president illegally taps the communications of innocent Americans who have no connections to terrorism?"

www.waynemadsenreport.com/ Wayne Madsen. Prissy gives him an 80% for accuracy, 100% for interesting topic. Read at your own risk.

January 16, 2006 -- Why is John McCain so supportive of Bush and Cheney after being so viciously attacked by them in the 2000 campaign? The answer to this question may partially rest in Navy records detailing the events that took place on the USS Forrestal in "Yankee Station" in the Gulf of Tonkin at the end of July 1967. The neo-cons, who have had five years to examine every file within the Department of Defense, have likely accessed documents that could prove embarrassing to McCain, who was on board the USS Forrestal on July 29, 1967, and whose A-4 Skyhawk was struck by an air-to-ground Zuni missile that had misfired from an F-4 Phantom.

news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20060117/ap_on_go_pr_wh/gore_domestic_spying Yahoo-White House Accuses Gore of Hypocrisy By NEDRA PICKLER, Associated Press Writer 48 minutes ago

WASHINGTON - The White House accused former Vice President Al Gore of hypocrisy Tuesday for his assertion that President Bush broke the law by eavesdropping on Americans without court approval. "If Al Gore is going to be the voice of the Democrats on national security matters, we welcome it," White House press secretary Scott McClellan said in a swipe at the Democrat, who lost the 2000 election to Bush only after the Supreme Court intervened.

Oh Yeah, Scotty? Read this... from Glenn Greenwald -For the past 10 years, Glenn was a litigator in NYC specializing in First Amendment challenges (including some of the highest-profile free speech cases over the past few years), civil rights cases, and corporate and security fraud matters. glenngreenwald.blogspot.com/2006/01/administrations-nsa-playbook-is-empty.html

It appeared from the beginning of this scandal -- and it has now become unavoidably true -- that there is something deeply dishonest going on here. It’s axiomatic that if someone provides a completely incoherent reason for why they did something, they’re not disclosing their real motive. The need for "speed" in eavesdropping is plainly not why the President ordered FISA to be violated, because FISA expressly allows for immediate eavesdropping, and it doesn’t get any speedier than "immediate."

Iraq and Afghanistan Veterans Association's Paul Rieckhoff and Ohio Military Families Speak Out members welcome the IAVA group

Quotes of the Day

Today the ladies get the last word..."When women are depressed they either eat or go shopping. Men invade another country." Elaine Boosler, Comedian

The Vatican is against surrogate mothers. Good thing they didn't have that rule when Jesus was born.~Elayne Boosler

One more reason women should make up at least 50% of the House, Senate and more...Remember, Ginger Rogers did everything that Fred Astaire did, but she did it backwards and in high heels.~Faith Whittlesey

Prissy is posting this again, there have been many requests for this satire ofToasted Duyba Gives Speech

The Prissy Patriot Honors Martin Luther King...One Great American

UPDATE: You will not see this poll quoted in the Washington Post... www.impeachpac.org/?q=node/290 Americans Support Impeaching Bush for Wiretapping- January 16, 2006-

New Zogby Poll Shows Majority of Americans Support Impeaching Bush for Wiretapping

The question: The poll found that 52% agreed with the statement:

"If President Bush wiretapped American citizens without the approval of a judge, do you agree or disagree that Congress should consider holding him accountable through impeachment."

43% disagreed, and 6% said they didn't know or declined to answer. The poll has a +/- 2.9% margin of error.

By a margin of 52% to 43%, Americans want Congress to consider impeaching President Bush if he wiretapped American citizens without a judge's approval, according to a new poll commissioned by AfterDowningStreet.org, a grassroots coalition that supports a Congressional investigation of President Bush's decision to invade Iraq in 2003.

The poll was conducted by Zogby International, the highly-regarded non-partisan polling company. The poll interviewed 1,216 U.S. adults from January 9-12.

Via RAW Story-rawstory.com/news/2005/Text_of_Gore_speech_0116.html Text of Gore speech, January 16, 2006- Al was introduced by former Sen Bob Barr (R-GA) (Prissy's favorite part below)Truly a bipartisan issue, if one is any kind of patriotic American at all!

A president who breaks the law is a threat to the very structure of our government. Our Founding Fathers were adamant that they had established a government of laws and not men. Indeed, they recognized that the structure of government they had enshrined in our Constitution - our system of checks and balances - was designed with a central purpose of ensuring that it would govern through the rule of law. As John Adams said: "The executive shall never exercise the legislative and judicial powers, or either of them, to the end that it may be a government of laws and not of men." GO Al and Bob Barr! www.c-span.org/watch/index.asp?Cat=TV&Code=CS&ShowVidDays=30&ShowVidDesc=&ArchiveDays=30

Prissy declares in the Gore/Barr effort democracy lives as does the spirit of Martin Luther King.

Thank you Al Gore and Bob Barr-thank you for stepping up to the plate and demanding our government back which has been highjacked by this impractical and inhumane ideology called neoconservatism. It is the worst thing that has ever happened to America. Not to mention anti-democratic.

We shall prevail, Americans can do that-as Al Gore so eloquently noted in his speech. I highly recommend it. Think how much more progressive America would have been with Al in charge. But maybe you shouldn't...it made Prissy cry when she did.

How many more will we allow martyrdom in the name of peace and lasting democracy?

The message and spirit of Americans striving for a genuine democracy will continue to endure for all who demand their birthright or status-that as a free American...

Excerpts of MLK Letters from a Birmingham Jail April 16, 1963 (Excerpts- entire letter www.nobelprizes.com/nobel/peace/MLK-jail.html

You express a great deal of anxiety over our willingness to break laws. This is certainly a legitimate concern. Since we so diligently urge people to obey the Supreme Court's decision of 1954 outlawing segregation in the public schools, at first glance it may seem rather paradoxical for us consciously to break laws. One may won ask: "How can you advocate breaking some laws and obeying others?" The answer lies in the fact that there fire two types of laws: just and unjust. I would be the Brat to advocate obeying just laws. One has not only a legal but a moral responsibility to obey just laws. Conversely, one has a moral responsibility to disobey unjust laws. I would agree with St. Augustine that "an unjust law is no law at all"

Thus it is that I can urge men to obey the 1954 decision of the Supreme Court, for it is morally right; and I can urge them to disobey segregation ordinances, for they are morally wrong.

Let us consider a more concrete example of just and unjust laws. An unjust law is a code that a numerical or power majority group compels a minority group to obey but does not make binding on itself. This is difference made legal. By the same token, a just law is a code that a majority compels a minority to follow and that it is willing to follow itself. This is sameness made legal.

Sometimes a law is just on its face and unjust in its application. For instance, I have been arrested on a charge of parading without a permit. Now, there is nothing wrong in having an ordinance which requires a permit for a parade. But such an ordinance becomes unjust when it is used to maintain segregation and to deny citizens the First Amendment privilege of peaceful assembly and protest. civil disobedience.

We should never forget that everything Adolf Hitler did in Germany was "legal" and everything the Hungarian freedom fighters did in Hungary was "illegal." It was "illegal" to aid and comfort a Jew in Hitler's Germany. Even so, I am sure that, had I lived in Germany at the time, I would have aided and comforted my Jewish brothers. If today I lived in a Communist country where certain principles dear to the Christian faith are suppressed, I would openly advocate disobeying that country's anti-religious laws.

Things are different now. So often the contemporary church is a weak, ineffectual voice with an uncertain sound. So often it is an archdefender of the status quo. Par from being disturbed by the presence of the church, the power structure of the average community is consoled by the church's silent and often even vocal sanction of things as they are.

But the judgment of God is upon the church as never before. If today's church does not recapture the sacrificial spirit of the early church, it vi lose its authenticity, forfeit the loyalty of millions, and be dismissed as an irrelevant social club with no meaning for the twentieth century. Every day I meet young people whose disappointment with the church has turned into outright disgust.

It is true that the police have exercised a degree of discipline in handing the demonstrators. In this sense they have conducted themselves rather "nonviolently" in pubic. But for what purpose? To preserve the evil system of segregation. Over the past few years I have consistently preached that nonviolence demands that the means we use must be as pure as the ends we seek. I have tried to make clear that it is wrong to use immoral means to attain moral ends. But now I must affirm that it is just as wrong, or perhaps even more so, to use moral means to preserve immoral ends. Perhaps Mr. Connor and his policemen have been rather nonviolent in public, as was Chief Pritchett in Albany, Georgia but they have used the moral means of nonviolence to maintain the immoral end of racial injustice. As T. S. Eliot has said: "The last temptation is the greatest treason: To do the right deed for the wrong reason."

If I have said anything in this letter that overstates the truth and indicates an unreasonable impatience, I beg you to forgive me. If I have said anything that understates the truth and indicates my having a patience that allows me to settle for anything less than brotherhood, I beg God to forgive me.

Yours for the cause of Peace and Brotherhood,

MARTIN LUTHER KING, JR.

Hot Links

Now, didn't Prissy already tell you this months ago? Herald Sun- Expert says Bin Laden could be dead 1/16/06www.heraldsun.news.com.au/common/story_page/0,5478,17835463%255E1702,00.html

A terrorism expert says he has seen evidence showing al-Qaeda leader Osama bin Laden is either seriously ill or dead.

Dr Clive Williams, director of terrorism studies at the Australian National University, says documents provided by an Indian colleague suggested bin Laden died of massive organ failure in April last year.

Well, they almost told the truth. Prissy thinks he has been dead longer than that...

Bush Spied Well Before 911-But Who Was He Spying On? www.billstclair.com/911timeline/main/timelinebefore911.html

Complete Timeline Jan 2001-Sept 11,2001 by Paul Thompson (This is a well researched article-all citations listed. Great service to your country, Mr. Thompson-PP)

June 28, 2001: CIA Director Tenet writes an intelligence summary for National Security Adviser Rice: "It is highly likely that a significant al-Qaeda attack is in the near future, within several weeks." Rice will later claim that everyone was taken by complete surprise by the 9/11 attack (see May 16, 2002 (B)). [Washington Post, 5/17/02] This comes several days after a reporter visits bin Laden, and is given the impression that an attack will occur in the next two weeks. He isn't actually told that by anyone, but he is told by at least one bin Laden follower that "a severe blow is expected against USA and Israeli interests worldwide." [Pravda, 6/26/01]

Late June 2001: White House National Coordinator for Counterterrorism, Richard Clarke, gives a direct warning to the FAA to increase security measures in light of an impending terrorist attack. The FAA refuses to take such measures. [New Yorker, 1/14/02]

Summer 2001: Around this time, the NSA intercepts telephone conversations between 9/11 mastermind Khalid Shaikh Mohammed and Mohamed Atta, but apparently does not share the information with any other agencies. The FBI has a $2 million reward for Mohammed at the time (see Mid-1996-September 11, 2001), while Atta is in charge of operations inside the US. [Knight Ridder, 6/6/02, Independent, 6/6/02] US intelligence learned in June 2001 that Mohammed was interested in sending terrorists to the US and supporting them there (see June 2001 (I)).

Yet supposedly, the NSA either fails to translate these messages in a timely fashion or fails to understand the significance of what was translated. [Knight Ridder Newspapers, 6/6/02] FTW While the contents of these discussions have never been released, doesn't it seem highly likely they were discussing 9/11 plans? Would the NSA fail to translate or properly analyze messages from one of the most wanted terrorists?

Click on photo to enlarge

American Prospect www.prospect.org/web/page.ww?section=root&name=ViewWeb&articleId=10816 "“Duke"” of Deception-From our February 2006 issue: The overlooked security implications of the Cunningham scandal.

Among the pols of potential interest to investigators is Representative Tom DeLay, whose Texans for a Republican Majority fund-raising committee received a $15,000 donation in September 2002 from Perfect Wave Technologies, a subsidiary of Wilkes' corporate umbrella, the Wilkes Corporation. Through another Wilkes' subsidiary, Perfect Wave also hired a lobbying firm, Alexander Strategy Group, set up by DeLay'’s former Chief of Staff Ed Buckham, and which employed DeLay's wife Christine, to lobby successfully for Perfect Wave to receive a Navy contract.

In December, the Austin, Texas, District Attorney Ronnie Earle -- already pursuing a campaign-finance case against DeLay -- subpoenaed documents from Wilkes, Perfect Wave Technologies, ADCS, and associated companies. Popping up again on the radar as well is Congressman Bob Ney, the Ohio Republican who, like DeLay, is simultaneously under investigation in the rapidly expanding Indian gaming case that has led to guilty pleas by lobbyist Jack Abramoff and PR Executive Michael Scanlon.

On October 1, 2002, Ney inexplicably entered praise of a San Diego-based charity headed by Wilkes, the Tribute to Heroes Foundation, into the Congressional Record -- the same kind of service Ney performed for his benefactor Abramoff on more than one occasion.

From The Nation (Jan 2, 2006 subscription article)

The Scanlon plea likely marked the beginning of the end for Ney, but only the start of the Abramoff aftershocks in Washington. When instances of corruption swirled around the House leadership in the past few years, Congressional watchdogs warned that the scandals reached "beyond DeLay." Now, as three dozen Justice Department officials pursue Abramoff's cash flow, that phrase applies equally to Ney. "I think this could be the biggest corruption scandal in one hundred years," Brand says. "By 2006 you're going to see anywhere from one to six individual sitting members and half a dozen or more staff people indicted. It's beyond Ney. He's the first of many."

Today from The Nation www.thenation.com/doc/20060130/holtzman The Impeachment of George W. Bush by Elizabeth Holtzman

Finally, it has started. People have begun to speak of impeaching President George W. Bush--not in hushed whispers but openly, in newspapers, on the Internet, in ordinary conversations and even in Congress. As a former member of Congress who sat on the House Judiciary Committee during the impeachment proceedings against President Richard Nixon, I believe they are right to do so.

Noam Chomsky- Alternet www.alternet.org/story/30487 Chomsky: 'There Is No War On Terror' By Geov Parrish, AlterNet. Posted January 14, 2006.

You've been tracking U.S. wars of foreign aggression since Vietnam, and now we're in Iraq. Do you think there's any chance in the aftermath, given the fiasco that it's been, that there will be any fundamental changes in U.S. foreign policy? And if so, how would it come about?

Well, there are significant changes. Compare, for example, the war in Iraq with 40 years ago, the war in Vietnam. There's quite significant change. Opposition to the war in Iraq is far greater than the much worse war in Vietnam. Iraq is the first war I think in the history of European imperialism, including the U.S., where there was massive protest before the war was officially launched. In Vietnam it took four or five years before there was any visible protest. Protest was so slight that nobody even remembers or knows that Kennedy attacked South Vietnam in 1962. It was a serious attack. It was years later before protest finally developed.

Dearest Readers, do you think the media is beginning to realize they have a credibility problem? Lately, the Post has been printing real news. Will the trend continue? Or will corporations win over democracy? More about Abramoff Scandal and the not so Christian Coalition's Ralph Reed... www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2006/01/15/AR2006011500915.html In Ga., Abramoff Scandal Threatens a Political Ascendancy-By Thomas B. Edsall Monday, January 16, 2006

Similarly damaging has been a torrent of e-mails revealed during the investigation that shows a side of (Ralph)Reed that some former supporters say cannot be reconciled with his professed Christian values.

"After reading the e-mail, it became pretty obvious he was putting money before God," said Phil Dacosta, a Georgia Christian Coalition member who had initially backed Reed. "We are righteously casting him out."

Among those e-mails was one from Reed to Abramoff in late 1998: "I need to start humping in corporate accounts! . . . I'm counting on you to help me with some contacts." Within months, Abramoff hired him to lobby on behalf of the Mississippi Band of Choctaws, who were seeking to prevent competitors from setting up facilities in nearby Alabama.

NeoRepublicans never know when to quit...Smearing yet another hero. To see more heroes smeared by the cabal: Dodge Ball With George, You're Always It... prissypatriot.blogspot.com/2005/07/dodge-ball-with-george-youre-always-it.html

The latest from Zogby. This is the only major poll taker Prissy considers to be credible. zogby.com/news/ReadNews.dbm?ID=1056 January 15, 2006-Bush job approval dips again to 39%-New Zogby Survey shows Iraq a Partisan War

In the face of rising gas prices, partisan sniping over Supreme Court nominee Samuel Alito, and a resumption of insurgent violence in Iraq, President BushÂ’s job approval rating has slipped into a post-holiday funk, again dipping below 40%, a new telephone poll by Zogby International shows.

His approval rating almost mirrors the percentage of respondents (40%) who said the nation overall is headed in the right direction.

The deterioration in the President’s numbers appears to be the result of eroding support among the investor class and others who supported him in his 2004 re-election bid, said Pollster John Zogby, President and CEO of Zogby International. And the problem is the Iraq war – just 34% of respondents said Mr. Bush was doing a good or excellent job managing the war, down from 38% approval in a Zogby poll taken in mid-October.

Whether one likes the tone of the message or not, Cytations has a high degree of accuracy. (Some reader comments may be offensive) cytations.blogspot.com/ Are Ethnic-Iranian Shiites also Involved in the Hostage-Taking?

Four Christian human rights workers, Tom Fox, Norman Kember, James Loney and Harmeet Singh Sooden, have been kidnapped in Baghdad weeks ago. They had just met with Sunni Muslim scholars. The kidnappers claim to be Muslims, but the scholars doubt that very much. The kidnappers threaten to execute the hostages unless all "prisoners held by the enemy" are released.

The hostages belong to Christian Peacemaker Teams. They are lodged in Iraqi homes. They collect reports of human rights violations from Iraqis, to tell to the whole world. They do what Rachel Corrie did.

Let's not forget this gem...Rod Parsley can say he is a man of God all he wants. Prissy will only agree he is one of God's (wayward) children... In Columbus Dispatch. Is the paper realizing readers are tired of yellow journalism? Allows two of the four truth tellers on their team to tell some honest news... (We shall see how long that will last) www.dispatch.com/news-story.php?story=dispatch/2006/01/16/20060116-A1-00.html Churches could face IRS probe-Pastors Parsley, Johnson exploited pulpits to play politics, ministersÂ’ complaint alleges Monday, January 16, 2006 By Mike Harden and Joe Hallett

More than 30 local pastors last night officially accused two evangelical megachurches of illegal political activities.

In a rare and potentially explosive action, the moderate ministers signed a complaint asking the Internal Revenue Service to investigate World Harvest Church of Columbus and Fairfield Christian Church of Lancaster and determine if their tax-exempt status should be revoked.

The grievance claims that the Rev. Rod Parsley of World Harvest Church and the Rev. Russell Johnson of Fairfield Christian Church improperly used their churches and affiliated entities — the Center for Moral Clarity, Ohio Restoration Project and Reformation Ohio — for partisan politics, including supporting the Republican gubernatorial candidacy of Secretary of State J. Kenneth Blackwell.

Will Dubya attack Iran? More this week...

Quotes of the Day

Many of the ugly pages of American history have been obscured and forgotten....America owes a debt of justice which it has only begun to pay. If it loses the will to finish or slackens in its determination, history will recall its crimes and the country that would be great will lack the most indispensable element of greatness--justice. ~Martin Luther King, Jr., Where Do We Go from Here: Chaos or Community? (1967)

Something for the neoRepublicans to consider...Old age is the most unexpected of all things that happen to a man. ~ Leon Trotsky, Russian revolutionary

Profits, like sausages... are esteemed most by those who know least about what goes into them. ~Alvin Toffler, American business futurist

I am free of all prejudices. I hate everyone equally. ~ WC Fields.

The Prissy Patriot will be blogging Howard Dean's Columbus, Ohio visit in the Wednesday Evening Edition! If he screams again, Prissy will play in podcast for your listening pleasure.