Dick and Dubya...Their Dream, America's Nightmare
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UPDATE: Mercury News Anti-war sentiments blend with pro-military culture
Today's anti-war activists also feel "sympathy" for the troops in the all-volunteer force, said Richard Becker, West Coast coordinator for the ANSWER Coalition, an anti-war group that has organized protests in several major cities.
"I think the vast majority of people in the anti-war movement today realize people volunteer out of a dearth of opportunity," Becker said. "For anybody to hold that against people would be foolish and short-sighted.
Okay, We the people get it. What's wrong with politicians-are they not people, too?
The Chortler "Sir, No Sir!" Sir! No Sir! A Film About The GI Movement Against The War In Vietnam
Sir! No Sir! reveals how, thirty years later, the poem by Bertolt Brecht that became an anthem of the GI Movement still resonates:
General, man is very useful.
He can fly and he can kill.
But he has one defect: He can think.
Not a defect at all...Duyba is an excellent example of someone who does not think on a daily basis. His best moment as president was catching a perch. Sigh...
New Wayne Madsen (You won't see this in the Post-not this year anyway) May 7, 2006
WMR reported extensively on Michael Hayden's management, scandal, and morale problems at the National Security Agency (NSA). The Bush administration, always anxious to reward misconduct and mismanagement, now wants Hayden to bring his baggage to a decimated Central Intelligence Agency (CIA). Based on Hayden's past at the NSA, Langley should stand by for psychiatric abuse, more Gestapo-like tactics from imported security personnel from Fort Meade, contractor fraud, FBI "sting" set ups like that which befell NSA Iraqi shop SIGINT analyst Ken Ford, Jr. -- the author of a SIGINT report that stated reports of Iraqi WMDs were not backed up by intercepts of Iraqi communications -- and a general disregard for the law. There will also be harassment by Hayden of retired and former CIA officers who continue to speak out. This was a hallmark of Hayden's tenure at NSA where he subjected former NSA officers and journalists to whom they spoke to special surveillance from an intelligence database code-named FIRSTFRUITS.
Mr. Madsen has more about Hayden and NSA on his site.
Oh no- now the Washington Post is saying it, so it must be true. This administration may be over
Tarrance said it would be extremely difficult for any president to bounce back this late in his administration and reassert influence on Capitol Hill when his approval rating barely exceeds his party's base support and half of all adults surveyed said they "strongly disapprove" of his performance. An overwhelming 73 percent of independents disapprove of Bush's performance, and two-thirds of those "strongly disapprove."
Not included in this survey were those too angry to answer the poll...
Project on Government Oversight Blog The Small World of Limos and Earmarks
Here are a few more details related to Shirlington Limo and Transportation Services--Brent Wilkes' alleged carrier of choice for hookers and congressmen to his hospitality suites at the Watergate and other fine DC hotels--we think should be brought to your attention.
In a late update to an earlier post that we had missed until now, Laura Rozen has an anonymous source that tells her that "Chris Baker of Shirlington Limo was Wilkes' driver from way back when.... he would pick up documents and stuff around town for Wilkes." (ellipses in the original) This answers one question we had: How did Wilkes come to pick Shirlington as his limo service? However, we still wonder how the two originally met "way back when."
Secondly, and bear with us for a moment, Jerome Foster, one of the three a former Shirlington directors (see here; pdf), is a San Diego-area contractor whose Pentech Energy Services employed the services of former Congressman-turned lobbyist Bill Lowery's lobby shop (hat tip: Josh Marshall). Lowery has also lobbied extensively for Wilkes' company ADCS, Inc. And Lowery is joined to the hip with Rep. Jerry Lewis (R-CA), who chaired until last year the same House defense appropriations committee that the disgraced Rep. "Duke" Cunningham sat on and from which he directed his earmarks. Now Lewis chairs the full appropriations committee. Lewis and Lowery have turned the defense appropriations subcommittee into an earmarking machine for Lowery's clients who have benefitted from their close relationship. Uncovered in a seminal San Diego Union Tribune piece on L'Affaire Cunningham, back in the 80's, Lowery and Wilkes went on trips to Central America to visit the likes of the Contras and CIA officer and Wilkes' childhood friend K. Dusty Foggo. Wilkes has also contributed heavily to Lewis.
Small world ain't it.
Go directly to their site for links in article.
Hat Tip to Special Prosecutor Bolixi, Truthout Last Question Is Obstruction for Fitzgerald, Rove Sunday, May 7,2006-By Jason Leopold
The hard evidence Fitzgerald secured early on told a far different story about how Rove learned Plame Wilson was employed by the CIA than the narrative Rove gave during his two appearances before the grand jury in February 2004, sources close to the case said.
Rove admitted to FBI investigators and testified twice before a grand jury that he distributed damaging information about Plame Wilson and her husband to the Republican National Committee, outside political consultants and the media but did so only after Plame Wilson's name and employment status was published, according to attorneys who are familiar with Rove's testimony.
But the newly discovered emails and memos show that Rove was involved in a campaign to discredit Wilson and his wife more than a month before her name was published in a newspaper column.
And...In addition to defending Rove, Luskin is a witness in the leak case. A week before Libby was indicted last October, Fitzgerald informed Luskin that Rove was a target of the probe - meaning there was enough evidence to link Rove to a crime - and that he would seek an indictment against him on perjury charges based on the fact that Rove did not disclose to the grand jury that he was a source for Time's Cooper and that he had sent an email to Hadley about his short conversation with Cooper.
Prissy noted last week that Rove most likely had receive his target letter quite some time ago...
Stickers from http://www.antibush.com
The RoveGate Timeline, by Special Prosecutor Bolixi on Think Twice blog White House Conspiracy timeline
From this timeline outlined, you best believe that Bush violated National Security.
The thing that matters is that classified information was leaked to certain reporters, Ms. Wilson was an active CIA covert before her cover was exposed, and Bush declassified information after classified information was leaked to reporters. To understand how the White House officials violated the National Security, here is a pertinent text of the 1947 National Security Act that reads as follows:
SEC. 601. (50 U.S.C. 421) (a) Whoever, having or having had authorized access to classified information that identifies a covert agent, intentionally discloses any information identifying such covert agent to any individual not authorized to receive classified information, knowing that the information disclosed so identifies such covert agent and that the United States is taking affirmative measures to conceal such covert agent's intelligence relationship to the United States, shall be fined under title 18, United States Code, or imprisoned not more than ten years, or both.
(b) Whoever, as a result of having authorized access to classified information, learns the identity of a covert agent and intentionally discloses any information identifying such covert agent to any individual not authorized to receive classified information, knowing that the information disclosed so identifies such covert agent and that the United States is taking affirmative measures to conceal such covert agent's intelligence relationship to the United States, shall be fined under title 18, United States Code, or imprisoned not more than five years, or both.
(c) Whoever, in the course of a pattern of activities intended to identify and expose covert agents and with reason to believe that such activities would impair or impede the foreign intelligence activities of the United States, discloses any information that identifies an individual as a covert agent to any individual not authorized to receive classified information, knowing that the information disclosed so identifies such individual and that the United States is taking affirmative measures to conceal such individual's classified intelligence relationship to the United States, shall be fined under title 18, United States Code, or imprisoned not more than three years or both.
Let's hope this is what the small dogs will be charged with. The big dogs should have big charges. They have filled their personal accounts and upped the value of their stock portfolios- from the war they based on lies, at the same time outing a Valerie Plame and other CIA. Cloak and Dagger of Germany, reports deaths were the result of these outings done for political gain.
Bush knows he is in trouble. From Reuters Bush says would like to close Guantanamo
Bush was asked by the German public television station ARD how the United States could restore its human-rights image following reports of prisoner abuse.
"Of course Guantanamo is a delicate issue for people. I would like to close the camp and put the prisoners on trial," Bush said in comments to be broadcast on Sunday night.
"Our top court must still rule on whether they should go before a civil or military court. They will get their day in court. One can't say that of the people that they killed. They didn't give these people the opportunity for a fair trial."
Bush justifies illegal treatment when we do it-three years into it. Notice he did not mention American and Australian JAG's have walked off the hearings, stating they would not participate and questioned the legality of the tribunals. Bush claims he has the authority, to overrule the military justice code, anyway.
Speaking of fair trials:
Here they go...The Independent Brown's challenge to battered Blair: Name the day
Unprecedented attack by Chancellor, calling on PM to 'set down' timetable for exit. Secret letter leaked to 'IoS' reveals plan by rebel Labour MPs to 'ambush' leader
Mr Smith, a close ally of the Chancellor, warns that the party faces " destructive instability".
Writing in today's IoS, Mr Smith says Tony Blair must name the day of departure or risk further damaging the party and the country. "I think it would be better, not just for the country and the party, but also for the Prime Minister himself, if he made clear what the timetable is, and the sooner the better," he writes.
Well, hello our sane British friends...as you can see, we have been quite busy ourselves. We've done all right with the third generation immigrants son, this Special Prosecutor Patrick Fitzgerald. Turns out he's really good at picking his fights...really good.
Best of luck to you on Tony and we're so sorry about "the Dubya".
First Amendment Blogger and lawyer Glenn Greenwald A new branch of the NSA Scandal - appointing Hayden as CIA Director
Any event which forces further public discussion, debate and examination of the administration's lawbreaking is a good thing, in my view. Many administration supporters boastfully predicted that this scandal would be all wrapped up and easily tossed aside by now, and yet the opposite is clearly happening -- with the various judicial proceedings challenging the NSA program, Sen. Specter's ongoing investigation and promised new hearings, Sen. Feingold's still pending Censure Resolution, and increased media attention being paid to these lawbreaking issues. This scandal is far, far away from being resolved, and is still quietly though inexorably growing.
Having said that, it is highly illustrative of this administration's mindset that they believe that the best candidate to direct the CIA is the individual who oversaw and vigorously defended the administration's illegal eavesdropping on American citizens. Isn't he the last person who ought to be put in that position?
The Next Hurrah Meet Jerry Doe by emptywheel
If what Doe alleges is true, the CIA five times tried to force him to stop pursuing intelligence--one time burying actionable intelligence, another time, trying to get him to falsify intelligence--that countered the party line. To punish him for not hewing to the party line, they first withheld a promotion he had qualified for. Then, they accused him (falsely, he says) of sleeping with a female asset, blackmailing James Pavitt, and embezzling money. Doe alleges these accusations served as the pretext to fire him. Then, to make sure he didn't contest the termination, they retroactively negated his move from contract to staff status, 10 years after the fact. By turning Doe, retroactively, back into a contractor, they denied him the ability to appeal or investigate his own personnel files.
The motions so far in the case read like a Kafka novel (though I think this is normal when the CIA takes on one of its former officers): the government refuses to declassify much of Doe's complaint; the government alleges it cannot address some of the administration claims because Doe has not specified which records they have treated illegally; the government does not deny Doe's central claims, but they say he has not shown a causal relationship between his intelligence reporting and his termination. Basically, they claim they can prevent any of the relevant information from becoming public, but then say unless Doe can identify that relevant information, he doesn't have a case. And then they deny him the ability to access the files since--they say--he was a contractor when he was terminated.
Now, I said above that Valerie was not the only one. With Doe, she is at least the second CPD officer who has been prevented from presenting evidence that might undermine the warmongers' nuclear rationale to start a war by effectively ending her career. At least, thanks to this James Risen article, we know Jerry Doe was trying to present information that might have prevented the Iraq war.
The Scotsman'Bankruptcy to rise' under law change
.A NEW law under consideration by the Scottish Parliament could deepen Scotland's personal debt crisis, and increase payment problems for Scottish businesses, the Federation of Small Businesses in Scotland warned yesterday
Ohio to probe problems that delayed vote tally
There were several glitches.
The main form of voting was on Diebold Election Systems touch-screen voting machines. Those votes are stored in several ways, including on memory cards, and some poll workers placed the cards in the wrong storage bags. Vu said most misplaced cards were eventually located. Some memory cards as of Friday had not been found, Vu said, but their totals were recovered from a backup memory on the touch-screen machines.
The touch-screen totals - 200,062 or 20 percent of registered voters in the county - were not completed until late Thursday night.
Reuters US Army unit staying in Germany, no Iraq move now
WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The Pentagon has delayed deployment of an Army combat brigade to Iraq, but that is not necessarily a sign of a pending drawdown of troops from Iraq, a U.S. government official said on Saturday.
The U.S. Army's 2nd Brigade, 1st Infantry Division, which included 3,500 soldiers and is based in Germany, had been due to go to Iraq this month, but it was being "held in place" for now, said the official, who asked not to be named.
However that decision should not be linked to speculation about a troop drawdown, the official cautioned.
Dearest Readers, a German court made a highly unusual determination that the war in Iraq is illegal, about a year ago. This decision was formed in conjunction with a large group of legal experts all over the world. Is this relevant? Stay tuned...
Wayne Madsen THE NEWS
The day became more surreal when reporters covering the court hearing were told that CIA Director Porter Goss had just tendered his resignation at the White House. Although the White House spun Goss' departure as expected following some sort of "transition," it was clear that what WMR has been reporting for some time -- that Goss and his closest advisers, all GOP political operatives and hacks -- had been implicated in the contractor scandals surrounding Goss' Executive Director Kyle "Dusty" Foggo and ADCS head Brent Wilkes. The scandal involved poker parties at the Watergate Hotel and Westin Grand that reportedly featured prostitutes of both sexes, limousines, and situations in which CIA officials could be subject to potential blackmail. Director of National Intelligence John Negroponte became so concerned about the CIA scandal, he told Goss that it was time for him to go. it is now expected that other members of the Goss team -- including Foggo, chief of staff Patrick Murray, Michael Kostiw (who left the CIA under a cloud in the early 1980s after being arrested for shoplifting a package of bacon from a McLean, Virginia supermarket), Jennifer Millerwise Dyck, and others who Goss brought with him from Capitol Hill -- will be shown the door.
Although many current and recently retired CIA officials expressed relief that Goss resigned, his replacement, Negroponte's deputy and former NSA Director General Michael Hayden, is also problematic. Although Hayden and Negroponte get along very well -- a primary reason Hayden was selected -- Hayden's role in permitting warrantless wiretaps by the NSA of the international and domestic communications of U.S. persons, caused him problems with long serving employees of the signals intelligence agency. Hayden's mismanagement of NSA's modernization efforts have cost the American taxpayers perhaps billions of dollars. Hayden presided over an NSA that saw the first whistleblowers coming forward to report illegal activities, intelligence cover-ups, intelligence fabrications, and serious misconduct by senior NSA officials. There will be a lot of sharing of notes between NSA and CIA personnel on Hayden and his stint as CIA Director may prove as stormy as that faced by Goss. Hayden was also a good foot soldier for neo-con policy makers in the Pentagon. Hayden's arrival at Langley gives Donald Rumsfeld a trusted foothold inside the agency he has sought to bring under the control of his parallel Pentagon intelligence operation run by Undersecretary of Defense for Intelligence Stephen Cambone and General William "Jerry" Boykin.
Goss too?
Why Prissy only trusts Dr.Zogby Ohio Voters Prove Accuracy of several Zogby International Surveys
Zogby also polled in two congressional races in Ohio, including the contentious Republican primary in the Second Congressional District between Jean Schmidt and challenger Bob McEwen. This was a race chock full of erratic polls, including two that purportedly showed Schmidt ahead by as many as 25 points. The Zogby International telephone survey two weeks before the election injected a dose of reality into the race, showing her with just a 3.2% edge over McEwen after undecideds were removed from the equation. When the votes were counted, the incumbent won by 5.3%.
This one will be a great read. Prissy hopes she does a few book signings. Colbert and his "the most famous husband since Desi Arnez". This family has shown the strength of steel and what it means to be an American patriot. SFGate Valerie Plame Agrees to Book Deal
DDI News International India UK media and MPs criticise Blair, say he has turned butcher
In the countrywide elections, Labour lost 319 seats, the Tories gained 299 and the Liberal Democrats made a disappointing three net gains. The Conservatives were the undoubted winners, securing 40 per cent votes, with Liberal Democrats on 27 per cent and Labour on 26 per cent.
Intended as a show of strength, the reshuffle ran into controversy with the Tories questioning how Prescott could keep his 134,000 pounds annual salary and two homes even though he is no longer the Deputy Prime Minister.
Which is why a woman should find out how to protect herself with a handgun-it corrects the imbalance of power between she and "the violent incompetent".
Khaleej Times India Two former Pakistani premiers to sign �charter of democracy
ISLAMABAD - Two former Pakistani prime ministers, Nawaz Sharif and Benazir Bhutto, are to sign a charter of democracy in London on May 14 to gear up a campaign for the restoration of a genuine democracy, in the country.
The charter was finalized in Islamabad on Saturday by senior leaders of Bhutto's Pakistan Peoples Party (PPP) and Sharif's Pakistan Muslim League (PML-N), PPP Deputy Secretary General Mian Raza Rabbani told Deutsche Presse-Agentur, dpa.
Both the PPP and PML are members of the Alliance for Restoration of Democracy (ARD), which has been strongly opposing President General Pervez Musharraf.
Al-Jazeera Singapore party returned to power
."It's not about policies, it's about having an opposition, rather than a single-party country," Song Seng Wun, an economist at CIMB-GK Research, told Reuters
WSJ Darwin Revisited:Females Don't Always Go for Hottest Mate
Another problem with sexual selection is that it fails to explain the persistence of, shall we say, homely males. If females choose the male with the best traits, as claimed, then after enough generations every peacock should have a tail to die for. But they do not. Every flock has studs and duds. "Shouldn't all the tails be great?" asks Prof. Roughgarden.
Other scientists are not ready to jettison sexual selection, calling it (as biologist Jerry Coyne did in a review) "powerful and largely correct." But some aren't so sure. Primatologist Sarah Blaffer Hrdy (pronounced "herdy") calls it "ill-advised" to "give precedence to [females'] quests for supposedly the 'best' genes" when they choose a mate.
Intelligence is a trait to be admired in both sexes.
Everthing you ever wanted to know about C-Span Abramoff Investigation
Jack Abramoff started his career in politics as the national chairman of the College Republicans and became one of the leading young supporters of the Reagan Administration. He briefly left Washington for a producing career in Hollywood, but returned as a lobbyist when the Republicans won control of the House and Senate in 1994. He quickly built one of the most lucrative lobbying practices in Washington, DC, representing everything from technology companies to the Northern Mariana Islands. But his biggest clients were a number of Indian tribes that operated casinos.
Today, Jack Abramoff is accused of bilking those tribes out of millions of dollars and funneling the money through real and phony non-profit organizations to pet projects and his own bank accounts. His operations are under investigation by two Senate committees, multiple federal agencies and a number of states. One of those states, Florida, has already indicted him on wire fraud charges for his purchase of a chain of casinos. His partner, Michael Scanlon, a one-time press secretary to former House Majority Leader Tom DeLay (R-TX), has plead guilty to a number of charges in U.S. federal court, and a former White House acquisitions chief has been indicted in connection to Mr. Abramoff's activities. More members of the Bush Administration and up to 60 members of Congress may also be under scrutiny by federal authorities.
Zaman Turkey US, Europe Push for Gas Pipeline Alternative to Russian
The conflict between the West and Moscow bears a growing resemblance to the Cold War period.
US Vice President Dick Cheney became the center of attention on Thursday when he brought up Russia's problematic subject of "democracy in severe terms" at the Baltic-Black Sea conference in Lithuania. Cheney will seek support from Kazakhstan officials for the trans-Caspian pipeline project.
Kazakhstan, the likeliest main supplier for the trans-Caspian pipeline project, may support the pipeline project if it excludes Russia, read a statement released country officials Friday, ahead of Cheney's visit.
The Independent CIA in disarray as Rumsfeld starts turf war with rival
It appears that the President will turn to a close ally of his National Intelligence Director, John Negroponte, to fill the position. White House sources were quoted yesterday as saying that Air Force General Michael Hayden, Mr Negroponte's senior deputy, is likely to get the nod.
Such a move would bring further power to Mr Negroponte, a rising star of the administration. But it could also prompt a potentially explosive stand-off between him and another major White House figure - the Defence Secretary, Donald Rumsfeld.
Both men were key players in the invasion and occupation of Iraq, Mr Negroponte having served as ambassador there until being promoted last year. But now both are poised to wrestle for ultimate control of the US intelligence community.
Forbes Kings, Queens & Dictators
It's a diverse group: a British queen, an African dictator and a few Middle Eastern potentates. Entrepreneurs they're not. Their fortunes, often shared with families, are largely derived from inheritances or their positions of power. The lines often blur between what is owned by the country and what is owned by the individual. For instance, we figure Dubai's Mohammed Bin Rashid Al Maktoum gets substantial wealth from his government's stake in banks, aluminum and real estate companies. Even stickier: proving a dictator controls funds and uses them for personal gain--not for the country's benefit. Rest assured we tried to reach them. For more information, go to forbes.com/royals.
Quotes of the Day
"The men the American people admire most extravagantly are the most daring liars; the men they detest most violently are those who try to tell them the truth." --H. L. Mencken
"When I was a boy I was told anyone could become President, I'm beginning to believe it" --Clarence Darrow "The Open Shop" 1904
The maintenance of a certain grade of and scale of living compensation for labor is vital to the interests of our people...The protection of working men in this rate of wages is the protection of the land. --Clarence Darrow(1857-1938)
"Strange! that a Man who has wit enough to write a Satire should have folly enough to publish it." --Benjamin Franklin
"We must, indeed, all hang together, or most assuredly we shall all hang separately." --Benjamin Franklin, the Continental Congress, Philadelphia, before the signing of the Declaration of Independence, July, (1776)
...on Richard Nixon "He told us he was going to take crime out of the streets. He did. He took it into the damn White House."--Ralph Abernathy(1926-1990)
