What Goes Up, Must Come Down Update

Ready for Guard Duty? You may need to be with Chickenhawks in charge...

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Squawk, squawk Chickenhawk. Justice was not served, all Prissy can say is Fitz I certainly hope you got him to turn over on the other two. If not, you should have called for assistance...

Emptywheel at KOS My Take on the Rove Announcement

I'm not trying to give people undue hope, or trying to cheer people up. But it has become clear that Cheney was the architect of this smear, from start to finish. It has been clear that Fitzgerald has Dick in his sights. If Fitzgerald got closer to being able to prove that case, I think it possible that the Texas mafia might sacrifice the person who caused all this difficulty (and who had become the White House's anvil dragging it down) in order to save its beloved Turdblossom.

When I introduced myself to Byron York over the weekend, he said something to the effect of "a lot of people here have high hopes that Rove would be indicted." I responded, "but don't all reasonable people have hopes that Rove will be indicted." York didn't respond. But as soon as I walked away, I wished that I had responded, "No Byron, many of us have even higher hopes that Dick Cheney will pay for his obvious involvement in this case." It's worth noting, by the way, that Byron York appears to have been one of the first, if not the first, to break the news that Rove will not face charges. It's also worth noting that, when we spoke, York tried to make the case that Rove has been cooperating all along. "No Byron," I patiently explained, "I mean Big-C cooperation. The other stuff was just Rove proving his testicular fortitude." York's attempts to downplay the possibility of Rove's cooperation may not mean anything, just 36 hours before he announced that Rove would not face charges. Then again, it might.

This case may be over--at least at the legal level. But until Patrick Fitzgerald reveals that he is done, we won't know what Rove's escape from justice really means.

Editor & Publisher Bush to Baghdad Stay awhile, and skip the Greenzone-head straight to Fallujah.

Mr. Bartlett said the extraordinarily-tight protective measures were necessary because of Iraq's tenuous security situation, which also meant that the option of having Mr. Bush stay overnight in Iraq was "never seriously considered."

"The president views it you're entering into a situation with a very determined enemy who wants to stop the very progress that this president and this new government are working so hard to achieve," Mr. Bartlett said. "Obviously, when you're entering into a situation where the enemy is so active we have to be extra cautious, but I think the American people and the entire international community are reassured by the fact that the president is making such a personal effort to ensure the success of the new government."

Fitz, are you going to give Cheney one of these too?

Today Daniel Ellsberg could leak the Pentagon papers and no one would read them! Good Lord, we need a million people in the street at least, to put a stop to this nonsense.

Today Prissy will cover the Eyes Wide Open to Columbus tour, taking place at the Statehouse grounds this Tuesday and Wednesday.

Yahoo Judge defers decision on US wiretap suit

DETROIT (Reuters) - A federal judge on Monday deferred making an immediate decision on a request that the Bush administration's domestic eavesdropping program be halted as a violation of law.

No government is perfect, but this cannot become more incredulous.

TruthOut Sealed v. Sealed

The legal scholars have said that a federal prosecutor can keep an indictment under seal for weeks or months - something that is commonplace in high-profile criminal cases - especially if an investigation, such as the CIA leak probe, is ongoing.

When told about the Sealed vs. Sealed indictment filed in US District Court, the legal experts became intrigued about the case because they say that most federal criminal indictments are filed under US vs. Sealed and that they rarely come across federal criminal indictments titled Sealed vs. Sealed, which to them suggests the prosecutor felt it necessary to add an extra layer of secrecy to an indictment to keep it out of public view.

"The question here is that nobody who I have spoken to - top criminal attorneys, law professors, etc. - is aware of the left part of the case title having been sealed," said one former federal criminal attorney. "That the right-hand side is sealed is almost pro-forma. But, what is not known is whether the US Attorney can seal the left hand part of the case title on his own."

The fact that the indictment has been under seal for more than a month also suggests that it involves a high-profile investigation, he said.

High profile indeed...and from Constant's Pations. April 26, Prissy recently spotted this one.

Constant wrote -Note: The above comments could not have been accomplished without the support of Prissy Patriot, who provided the most if not all of the links.

Thank you very much Constant, it is good to see Prissy 's work can assist in this effort.

Plame: How we know the President lied to the Grand Jury

We know Bush has lied to the Grand Jury because:

A. Bush would not say something in public that is inconsistent with his testimony; if he was inconsistent, this would be admissible;

B. Bush has repeatedly asserted legal fiction in re the classifications; there's no basis to believe what he is saying;

C. If Bush were to "be honest" to the Grand Jury, the issue would be over: Bush would have been indicted for violating the law;

D. Bush has publicly asserted he is in compliance with things that he's violated; and asserts powers contrary to the clear rules; and

E. The bases for his statements are a twisted reading of the rules; no reasonable person could justify this conduct; Bush is retroactively searching for an excuse; there is no defense.

There's no reason to believe he's told the Grand Jury the truth, or that he's left anyone on the Grand Jury or the Special Prosecutor's office with a fair representation of what has happened.

The GOP in white by political artist Stephen Pitts

Yahoo Judge: Suit against Vatican can proceed

PORTLAND, Ore. - A federal judge ruled Wednesday that a sex abuse lawsuit against the Vatican can move forward with its claim that the Holy See bears responsibility for a priest who was transferred from city to city even though he was known to be a molester.

U.S. District Judge Michael Mosman said in his decision that there are exceptions to the Foreign Sovereign Immunity Act, under which the Vatican is typically immune from the jurisdiction of U.S. courts.

Rejecting the Vatican's bid to dismiss the case, Mosman ruled that there was enough of a connection between the Vatican and the priest, who died in 1992, for him to be considered a Vatican employee under Oregon law.

No one has ever successfully sued the Vatican over molestation by Roman Catholic priests and some legal experts have dismissed such lawsuits as publicity stunts.

Baltimore Sun Loan options increase for students

The Graduate PLUS, as the loan informally is being called, will work much like the Parent Loan for Undergraduate Students now taken out by parents to fill a tuition shortfall, says Mark Kantrowitz, publisher of FinAid, an online provider of financial aid information.

Graduates will be able to borrow up to the cost of going to school, minus any other financial aid received.

As of July, the fixed-interest rate on PLUS loans will be 8.5 percent. That compares with the 6.8 percent fixed-rate for new federal Stafford loans.

Kantrowitz suggests graduate and professional students -- including med- and law-school students -- first exhaust their Stafford loan options.

Crooks and Liars Curt Weldon's delusion

Making it up as he goes along:

"Weldon, who voted for the October 2002 resolution authorizing the use of force in Iraq, accused Sestak of politicizing the war and said he should have opposed it when he was in the Navy. "If you're being paid as a military leader, you ought to have the backbone to stand up for what you believe in," the congressman said. Sestak, a former deputy chief of naval operations and first director of Deep Blue, the Navy's anti-terrorism group, said that statement shows Weldon does not understand how the military functions.

"When you are given command of a combat force you are responsible and accountable for preparing those men and women for what this nation directs," he said. "If it is not morally reprehensible, it is your duty to do that. We cannot have a military that just walks away because they disagree on a policy or a judgment."

On WMD's:

While Sestak said Iraq was "not a clear nor a present danger" because no weapons of mass destruction have been found, Weldon said he knows of four sites in Basra and Nasiriyah that have yet to be searched for biological or chemical weapons.

"I think the jury is still out on WMD," said Weldon, who also believes Saddam Hussein may have smuggled the weapons to Syria with Russian assistance prior to the March 2003 invasion.

Iraq and Afgahnistan Veterans Association demands an apology from Weldon for his WMD claims...

Since there were no WMD's,it is the least Weldon can do. Great- and this guy was supposed to get Able Danger exposed. Did the neorepublicans tell him that was a no-no?

New music, What Really Happened Sarah McLachlan "World's On Fire"

Pakistan Link...this won't go over well for the WOT "cooperation" US cuts aid to Pakistan

WASHINGTON: The United States has reduced aid to Pakistan in the current fiscal year to $350 million on grounds that Islamabad has "failed to do enough" to improve human rights.

And...The bill specifically cited the "increasing lack of respect for human rights, especially women's rights, and the lack of progress for improving democratic governance and rule of law' as chief reasons for reducing Pakistan's funds.

Hmm, human rights violations and failed to do enough...could you be more specific? See below:

Reuters CORRECTED: Three detainees kill themselves at Guantanamo

Amnesty International urged again that the camp be closed, joining a chorus of criticism from human rights groups.

U.S. officials said there was no indication the Guantanamo suicides were a reaction to Wednesday's killing of Abu Musab al-Zarqawi, al Qaeda's leader in Iraq, in a U.S. air raid.

Prison camp commander Navy Rear Adm. Harry Harris said the suicides were acts of "asymmetrical warfare" and linked to a "mystical" belief at the camp that it would take the deaths of three detainees for the rest to go free.

Where do they get these guys? Adm. Harris with all due respect how many prisons have you worked in? Prissy has lost count...

They committed suicide because they thought after four years of no charges, no trials and little, if any contact with their families; it was the only way out of Gitmo. Shame on you, if you call this your justice system-because it isn't ours.

From Yahoo on same subject:

Some 460 prisoners are being held at the military-run prison. Only 10 have been formally charged since the camp opened in early 2002, and none has gone on trial.

New Zealand Scoop Vote 2004 Ernest Partridge: Debunking the Debunker

Complication of the election integrity issue works to the advantage of the status quo; which is to say, the increasing use of paperless, unauditable Direct Recording Electronic (DRE) voting machines. More complications abound as critics of the status quo attempt to prove that past, and presumably future, elections were and will be fraudulent.

In fact, the controversy can be reduced to two simple questions: 1. Can defenders of the status quo prove that the 2004 (and also the 2000 and 2002) elections were fair and accurate? 2. Can defenders of the status quo refute the critics?

The answer to the first question is simple and straightforward: they cannot, because the DREs (and also the central compiling computers) were designed to exclude proof. The software is secret, and thus closed to inspection and validation, and there is no independent record of the votes against which the totals can be verified. (Running the same computations again is not a 'recount'). Moreover, computing experts have found, and demonstrated, numerous 'holes' in the machines through which voting totals can be finagled, and reports of still more flaws continue to come in.

The response of the private election industry and the Republicans to demands of proof are (1) "trust us," (2) ad hominem attacks on the critics. ("Sore losers," "conspiracy theorists," "get over it!"). And finally (with the collaboration of the mainstream media) (3) no response. There are no substantive proofs of validity because, once again, the machines are designed to exclude them.

Zaman Turkey'Disciplining Palestinians with Hunger is Inhumane'June 09, 2006

Emphasizing they want peace in the region, Erdogan said: "We want to do everything we can to encourage this. If we want democracy, if we believe in democracy, then we all have to accept election results."

Referring to Israel and Palestine, the Turkish President noted that "The intervention is anti-democratic and the process invites an anti-democratic development. Democracy is a process for tolerance, the periods before and after the election should not be confused."

Erdogan assessed that the economic embargo towards Palestine is "inhumane" and said: "I would like to stress that the methods of disciplining Palestine with poverty and hunger by withholding support are inhumane and undemocratic." Attaching importance to algebra and mathematics, Erdogan emphasized the product of plus and minus is a minus, whereas the product of minus and minus is a plus.

"There may be different opinions. If we can tolerate and discuss them at the negotiation table, we can then be successful. This approach should be presented in a positive way. The HAMAS party rules in Palestine now. We should make efforts to draw HAMAS to the center and remove its extreme points," Erdogan said.

Toronto Star From the pages of the Economist: The killing this week of Abu Musab al-Zarqawi

Despite all this, what Iraq's prime minister, Nuri al-Maliki, called the "termination" of al-Zarqawi will not terminate the insurgency in Iraq. Such rebellions benefit from having charismatic leaders, and Zarqawi was a godlike emir to his bloodthirsty followers. But they can also flourish without them.

Remember, for example, the false hopes raised at the end of 2003, when Saddam Hussein was at last plucked by American soldiers from his hiding hole in the outback. This humiliation, many believed, would show Iraqis that the old order had passed and that they had now to make way for the new.

It did not happen. Since 2003 the insurgency has grown more violent, more widespread and more complex. The safest bet is that, even without Zarqawi, the violence will go on until the rage that nourishes it has been uprooted.

What are the sources of that rage? They are, alas, multiple. What al-Zarqawi represented was the pure, jihadist end of the spectrum of hate. In his world view, and that of Al Qaeda, a global war is under way between Islam and the unbelievers, the latter led by America but encompassing also the many Muslim regimes that refused to follow the righteous path and were therefore stooges and apostates.

Jerusalem Post, June 5, Prissy meant to post earlier. Not like msm reported it...Vietnam to help recover remains of US MIAs

The official said Rumsfeld raised the issue and said that MIA recovery is a national priority of the US and "he said that we appreciated what they have done but we have some things we'd like them to do more of."

Currently there are 1,805 American troops unaccounted for from the war, including 1,376 in Vietnam, according to Marine Maj. Jay Rutter, deputy commander of the Joint POW/MIA Accounting Command, which heads the recovery efforts here.

During the early moments of Rumsfeld's meeting with the military leaders, the US secretary said Hanoi has changed a lot since he was last here in 1995 as a private citizen.

"I hasten to congratulate you and the people of Vietnam for the amazing economic achievements in the last 11 years," Rumsfeld told Vietnamese defense minister Gen. Pham Van Tra. Rumsfeld said he took a walk around Hanoi and could "feel the energy, the vibrancy of the city ...There's a significant change in just that short period of time."

Rummy it did not improve because of the Vietnam War...When the GOP gives in on public demands for a debate about Iraq, look for these two items to be used repeatedly and with drama; 911 and Al-Zarqawi's "believed" death on Wednesday.

Vietnam memorial

Amnesty InternationalCouncil of Europe calls on European countries to stop renditions

Amnesty International welcomes the strong, clear signal that the Council of Europe has sent to European governments and the USA in today's report. It makes clear that the renditions 'spider web' that the USA has woven outside the rule of law is "contrary to basic legal principles" -- involving as it does 'disappearances', arbitrary detention, illegal transfers and torture or other ill-treatment.

The report confirms Amnesty International's findings that several cases of rendition occurred with the involvement or co-operation of Council of Europe member states. It also provides additional information about the possible location of sites of secret detention in Romania and Poland. This puts the onus on the Romanian and Polish authorities to conduct thorough and independent investigations without any further delay.

The Council of Europe's recommendations echo Amnesty International's own calls. In particular, the USA and European states must put an end to renditions and must conduct independent and thorough investigations into the practice. They must ensure accountability of their own and foreign intelligence services.

Media Matters On Fox, Coulter further criticized victims

On Fox, Coulter further criticized victims -- including Max Cleland and Christopher Reeve -- for using their "personal story": "Just make the argument. Be a man. Step up to the plate."

Summary: On Fox News' Your World with Neil Cavuto, right-wing pundit Ann Coulter defended her inflammatory attacks on the widows of 9-11 victims -- who she said "enjoy[] their husbands' deaths" and "revel[] in their status as celebrities" -- by attacking other people she accused of using their "personal story" to gather support for a political cause.

Annie says these things because "personal stories" in the case of neorepublican "causes" would only shred what little credibility they have with the public.

Annies "coming out party" would certainly shred her own with the Christian Coalition. However, Prissy hears from several sources even they gasped in horrified disbelief at the viciousness of Coulters' attack on the Jersey girls and now hardworking hero Max Cleland...

APA News My WayViolence Persists After Al-Zarqawi's Death

The fighting was part of a string of violent incidents Sunday amid a government stalemate and threats of continued violence from insurgents after the death of al-Qaida in Iraq leader Abu Musab al-Zarqawi. Police Capt. Hussein Karim said insurgents started the blaze in the market in south Amarah, 180 miles southeast of Baghdad, to draw the troops into an ambush.

The British Defense Ministry offered a different account, saying soldiers were sent to search the suspected launch site of a rocket attack and came under small-arms fire.

The ministry said there were reports of "a small number of terrorist casualties," but full details of the incident remained unclear. It could not confirm that civilians were among the dead and wounded.

Testing, 1,2,3? The Local, SwedenFault halts Swedish air traffic

Air traffic over much of Sweden was badly disrupted on Thursday by a fault in the radar system at the country's main international airport, the Swedish Civil Aviation Authority has said.

"Air traffic in the centre and north of Sweden was affected," authority spokesman Erik Söderberg told AFP.

Although the system was repaired, further delays were expected, Söderberg said.

International Herald Tribune Iran's leader and Israel: What did he say, and what did he mean? June 11, 2006

"Ahmadinejad did not say he was going to 'wipe Israel off the map', because no such idiom exists in Persian," remarked Juan Cole, a Middle East specialist at the University of Michigan and a critic of U.S. policy who has argued that the Iranian president was misquoted.

"He did say he hoped its regime, i.e., a Jewish-Zionist state occupying Jerusalem, would collapse." Since Iran has not "attacked another country aggressively for over a century," he said in an e-mail exchange, "I smell the whiff of war propaganda."

And...

Steele added that neither Khomeini nor Ahmadinejad suggested that Israel's "vanishing" was imminent or that Iran would be involved in bringing it about.

"But the propaganda damage was done," he wrote, "and Western hawks bracket the Iranian president with Hitler as though he wants to exterminate Jews."

American media appears to perform a sincere effort to misquote people going against their parent company interests.

Bellaciao Comments on Greg Palast's New Book Armed Madhouse

Greg'’s book is an important contribution for readers to gain insight into the machinations of the Bush administration from stealing elections to waging war on Iraq and the world and much more as well. You won't learn than ever on CNN or National Public Radio which has about as much to do with the public as Pravda did in the former Soviet Union. I highly recommend the book as I did his earlier one The Best Democracy Money Can Buy. I'’ve written on that subject myself and know how true it is. Those of us living in the US are governed by a band of out-of-control rogues wanting total world dominance with no "outliers" allowed abroad or dissent at home. The result is a dangerous world for us all and one in which our only defense is good information. Only from that can we understand the problem and know why we need to work for our own self-preservation. Greg'’s book gives us lots of help. I recommend it strongly and hope those who read it will use it to resist more and fight back for a better, more secure world we all deserve but won'’t ever get unless weÂ’re willing to work for it.

Prissy looks forward to meeting him when he comes to Columbus June 20, 2006. He will be at Jeffery Park, 166 N Parkview, Bexley, Ohio. Event begins at 7 PM.

Prissy loves this one, very funny flash..Open Your Minds Eye Blogspot NSA Flash Cartoon: You Just Called and We Were Listening

Quotes of the Day

It is from numberless diverse acts of courage and belief that human history is shaped. Each time a man stands up for an ideal, or acts to improve the lot of others, or strikes out against injustice, he sends forth a tiny ripple of hope."--Robert Francis Kennedy quotes ( U.S. attorney general and adviser, 1925-1968)

"A kingdom founded on injustice never lasts."--Seneca quotes (Roman philosopher, mid-1st century AD)

The vote is the most powerful instrument ever devised by man for breaking down injustice and destroying the terrible walls which imprison men because they are different from other men.--Lyndon B. Johnson quotes (American 36th US President (1963-69)

"There may be times when we are powerless to prevent injustice, but there must never be a time when we fail to protest."--Elie Wiesel quotes (Romanian born American Writer. Nobel Prize for Peace in 1986. b.1928)

"Since when do we have to agree with people to defend them from injustice?--Lillian Hellman quotes (American Playwright, 1905-1984)

"He injures a fair lady that beholds her not"--Thomas Fuller quotes (British Clergyman and Writer, one of the most prolific authors of the 17th century. 1608-1661)