The Boosh/Chainee Rain of Terra
Any of you mates still left, have questions or concerns for Commander Crook?
Hello Dearest Readers, can you believe all of this?
His own party cannot keep him in line. See below:
Bush Surprises Senate Aides With Unexpected Interruption of White House Meeting
July 17, 2007 by Major Garrett and Trish Turner Fox News
WASHINGTON — President Bush shocked Capitol Hill staffers and Republican leaders Monday when he crashed a meeting at the White House to deliver a blunt message that he wasn't backing down on Iraq and Republicans need to understand that.
"It was stunning," said one GOP aide who attended the meeting. "We couldn't believe he came in."
"We kept looking at each other, amazed he came in," said another Republican aide.
Bush was described as folksy, adamant and mildly profane as he interrupted the meeting between senior White House communications staffers Tony Snow and Ed Gillespie and GOP leaders. His message: the policy on Iraq isn't changing. He is not backing down and no one on Capitol Hill should be confused into thinking he is letting up.
Judge Bates tossed aside the Plame case like a glanced over USA Today blowing about in the metro...About the judge:
CNN Suit against Cheney task force dismissed
Lawmakers sought details on contacts with energy industry (2002)
Judge Bates serves on the United States Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Court (bio)
The judge who just dismissed the Valerie Plame lawsuit serves as a judge on the United States Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Court, aka the FISA court. Hat tip to
dc @ 1 Boring Old man!
Impeach!
Valerie Plame's Lawsuit Dismissed
While Bates did not address the constitutional questions, he seemed to side with administration officials who said they were acting within their job duties. Plame had argued that what they did was illegal and outside the scope of their government jobs.
"The alleged means by which defendants chose to rebut Mr. Wilson's comments and attack his credibility may have been highly unsavory, " Bates wrote. "But there can be no serious dispute that the act of rebutting public criticism, such as that levied by Mr. Wilson against the Bush administration's handling of prewar foreign intelligence, by speaking with members of the press is within the scope of defendants' duties as high-level Executive Branch officials."
Hot Links
Discovery Science New La Nina Could Stir Up Hurricanes
The nine to 12 month La Nina traditionally causes heavy rainfall in Indonesia, Malaysia and Australia, droughts in parts of South America, an increased number of storms in the tropical Atlantic, cold snaps in North America and wetter conditions in southeastern Africa.
The Atlantic hurricane season is at its most active in August and September. US experts have predicted that a total of about nine to 10 Atlantic hurricanes could form in the course of 2007 after a relative lull last year.
Encyclopedia.com 2004 flashback Be careful what you wish for.(ISRAEL: Military operations) "What is certain is that Israel and the United States are seeking to establish a Kurdish state." Firouz Dowletabadi, Iran's Ambassador to Turkey, 7.21.04
In mid-May when the Ankara government froze three large-scale military tenders for the purchase of new fighter helicopters, remote piloted aircraft and tanks, Israeli defense companies were not happy. They had submitted a bid for two of the tenders, the aircraft and the helicopters. Israeli diplomatic sources insisted the freeze was "not related to Israeli and Turkish relations." The announcement came despite claims by diplomatic sources in Jerusalem that they were "unaware of any decision by Turkey to freeze contracts with Israeli firms. Moreover Turkey's Foreign Minister Abdullah Gul had met with his Israeli counterpart, Silvan Shalon, in Dublin only days earlier and assured him that Ankara was interested in "expanding ties with Israel." In the Haaretz report on the topic, Aluf Benn hinted there might be more to the freeze, Israel's Palestinian policy, perhaps. "Turkey has recently criticized the IDF's activities in the territories, particularly the assassination of Hamas leaders, Sheikh Ahmad Yassin and Abed al-Aziz Rantisi, as well as the demolishing of homes in Rafah in the southern Gaza Strip," he wrote. On the other hand, "Following public criticism by Turkey's Prime Minister Tayyip Erdogan, directed at Israel's activities in the territories, the Turkish government sent a communique to Israel stating that the criticism is an 'isolated' matter and will not affect relations between the two countries." (Haaretz 5.17.04)
Reuters Turkey boosts troops at Iraqi border: sources
DIYARBAKIR, Turkey (Reuters) - Turkey's army has boosted troop levels in the restive southeast to more than 200,000, most of them stationed along the border with Iraq, security sources told Reuters on Friday.
Those sources, who declined to be named, said the unusually large buildup, which includes tanks, heavy artillery and aircraft, was part of a security crackdown on Kurdish rebels hiding in southeast Turkey and northern Iraq.
U.S. Defense Secretary Robert Gates dismissed the estimate of 200,000 troops, saying it was too high.
The Pentagon has disputed reports of increased Turkish troop levels for days. The top U.S. general, Joint Chiefs of Staff Chairman Peter Pace, said Turkey has the capability to fight the rebels inside Iraq without boosting troop levels.
A very dangerous situation...almost makes one wonder if people are determined to bring about Armageddon.
Reuters China warns U.S. against "smear attacks" on imports
Good grief, they use prison labor camps to make products shipped to this country. Who needs "smear attacks?"
Need a laugh? Listen to one of the good guys take it as good as he can give it. And didn't Prissy tell you he's not only one of the best prosecutors in the country, but also has a wonderful sense of humor. Many lawyers can be the funniest people to hang out with. There's a fine line between law and art.
Perhaps he missed his true calling! NPR Wait, Wait Don't Tell Me Click to listen to the special prosecutor being quizzed on the segment Not My Job: Patrick Fitzgerald. Quick with a quip, he is also a good sport.
What Prissy found surprising upon seeing in him in person vs. television, is that he's a soft-spoken guy. Certainly more polite than the neocon he caught...or Gonzo having the nerve to tell Mr. Fitzgerald that he was doing a "good job." The WaPo described Fitzgerald's reaction as "taken aback."
Even some of the bad guys like Fitz
RAW Story Intel director doesn't want US 'not torture' tactics used on Americans
MR. RUSSERT: But by use of the term "enhanced interrogation measures," there clearly are things that are used to elicit information. Have we eliminated water-boarding? Can you confirm that? MR. MCCONNELL: I would rather not be specific on eliminating exactly what the techniques are with regard to any specific. When I was in a situation where I had to sign off, as a member of the process, my name to this executive order, I sat down with those who have been trained to do it, doctors who monitor it, understanding that no one is subjected to torture. They are treated in a way that they have adequate diet and not exposed to heat or cold, they are not abused in any way, but I did understand when exposed to the techniques how they work and why they work -- all under medical supervision, and one of the things that's very important, I think, for the American public to know -- in the history of this program it's been fewer than 100 people.
And so this is a program where we capture someone known to be a terrorist, we need information that they possess, and it has saved countless lives because they believe these techniques might involve torture, and they don't understand them, they tend to speak to us, talk to us in a very candid way.
MR. RUSSERT: Does this new executive order allow measures that if were used against a U.S. citizen who was apprehended by the enemy would be troubling to the American people?
MR. MCCONNELL: I can report to you that it's not torture.
MR. RUSSERT: How do you define torture?
MR. MCCONNELL: Well, torture is -- an attempt to define torture in the executive order gives examples of mutilation or murder or rape or physical pain, those kinds of things.
Let me just leave it by saying the techniques work. It's not torture, you're not subjected to heat or cold, but it is effective, and it's a psychological approach to causing someone to have uncertainty and, in a situation where they will feel compelled to talk to you about what you're asking on that.
Guess Mitch won't mind if we use a few on him, just to loosen him up and get him over that social anxiety for parties he attends.
What will it take to make torture acceptable America?
No, Dearest Readers, we mustn't...breath deeply. We must show them how justice is supposed to work.
MSNBC Abu Ghraib figure gets spot on recreation board England spent 18 months in jail for role in Iraq prison abuses
Lindy England moving forward in a positive direction. No one is saying these soldiers should not have been disciplined. Half of those conducting torture were contractors, not military personnel. No contractors were ever charged for the assaults they were responsible for at Abu Ghraib.
The original master minds behind the memos creating the torture, still walk amongst us as free men.
MSNBC DoJ all but 'operating on autopilot'
Resignations and the ongoing furore over allegedly politicized hiring and firing at the US justice department have left so many top positions vacant that the department is all but operating on autopilot, the Financial Times has learnt.
Six top DoJ officials have quit since February, when the sackings of at least nine US attorneys prompted an outcry in Congress. Outside Washington, 23 of the 93 US attorneys' offices, which investigate and try most cases, are devoid of permanent political leadership.
And... Patrick Leahy, the Democrat who chairs the Senate judiciary committee, pointed out that the White House has submitted nominees for only four of the 23 open US attorney positions. "The current status is unacceptable," he said. The crisis of leadership at the justice department has allowed the White House to play politics with law enforcement."
Gonzo's Brand DOJ on Autopilot
WaPo U.S., Iran to Hold Second Round of Talks on Iraq
"We do feel that there are networks of explosively formed projectiles . . . that are coming from Iran," Rear Adm. Mark Fox, a senior U.S. military spokesman, told reporters Sunday.
Meanwhile, an influential legislator in the ruling Shiite-dominated alliance said it was unlikely that a U.S.-backed oil law would move forward significantly before August, when Iraq's parliament is scheduled to break for a vacation. The oil law is one of the so-called benchmark legislations that the Bush administration views as essential to restoring stability in Iraq.
"The problem is the cabinet agreed on this oil law and sent it to the parliament. But every day, a political bloc comes and says, 'I have some kind of reservation about this point, or change this point, or cancel this point,' " said Abbas al-Bayati, a Shiite Turkman legislator who is a member of Iraqi Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki's United Iraqi Alliance.
The assessment, shared by other politicians, casts doubt on whether the oil legislation will be passed by September, when a crucial progress report is to be delivered to Congress and could determine how long U.S. troops remain in Iraq.
"It will never happen before September," Bayati said.
It had better...or Bayati and Boosh will be on their own.
CBS News and Harry Reid slow on the draw as usual... Reid: GOP Protecting Bush Not Troops
(CBS/AP) Senate Republicans who blocked a vote on setting a timetable for a U.S. withdrawal from Iraq are more interested in protecting the president than protecting American troops, Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid, D-Nevada, said Sunday on Face The Nation.
"Even Iraqis, by a 70 percent margin, think that Americans in Iraq are doing more harm than good," he said. "So getting the Americans out of Iraq ... I think, would lessen chaos rather than increase it."
The legislation stalled Wednesday after a 52-47 vote fell eight votes short of the 60 that Democrats needed to advance it. Reid kept the Senate all night Tuesday to try to force some movement on the issue.
KOS, some good stuff-but Prissy feels they are too slanted toward some bad Democrats and not enough to good progressives. Hadrian's Forum: John Yoo and the Roman Tyrant Sulla; Subversion of Rome's Constitution, Part 3
I was recently reading a kos diary, which said that John Yoo wrote that the AUMF is 'an express affirmation' (rather than authorization) of the President's constitutional powers to fight wars. What John Yoo said was that the congress is irrelevant. He said that congress has no power, and that its authority is largely symbolic and ceremonial. Any blogger who has read my Hadrian's Forum series will know that I have written a lot about the forces that subverted the Roman constitution and destroyed the Roman Republic. I fear that we are seeing the same thing happen again today, 2,000 years after the Roman republic fell.
So in the latest edition of my "Hadrian's Forum" series, I want to talk about one Roman who, like Bush, decided that he could ignore the constitution. The civil wars of Lucius Cornelius Sulla constituted an early warning of the declining authority of the Roman senate. This authority was what had tamed the Roman executive branch for hundreds of years before the days of Julius Caesar. Sulla demanded constitutional authority to command a war. When the senate refused this, Sulla took his troops, marched on Rome, and made himself dictator. (Will Dubya show his rear and try this next, Dearest Readers?) EmperorHadrian's diary:
Lucius Cornelius Sulla was born in 132 BC. Julius Caesar was assassinated only 35 years after Sulla's death in 79 BC. When Sulla was working his way up the ranks of Rome's army, the autocrat of a little kingdom was stirring up trouble. That autocrat, Mithridates VI (Mithridates the Great) ruled a kingdom in Anatolia (modern Turkey). The kingdom, called Pontus, was located on the northern end of Anatolia. Mithridates had goals of making his kingdom the greatest empire in northern Anatolia. After deposing the queen of Pontus, his mother Gespaepyris, he set his sights on larger conquests.
Mithridates entertained ambitions of making his state the dominant power in the Black Sea and Anatolia..... the Scythians and the allied Rhoxolanoi suffered heavy losses at the hands of the Pontic general Diophantus and accepted, albeit at the point of the sword, Mithridates as their overlord.
All the flack over why Harriet Miers cannot/will not testify? Fred Fielding, Dubya's lawyer said she doesn't have to, as well as others. Executive privilege...oh yeah? Well it didn't work so well when "Clinton did it!"
WaPo Flashback: President Is Denied Executive Privilege Wednesday, May 6, 1998
A federal judge has ruled that President Clinton cannot use the power of his office to block prosecutors from questioning his senior aides, rejecting Clinton's assertion of executive privilege in the Monica S. Lewinsky investigation, lawyers familiar with the decision said yesterday.
In a ruling issued under court seal Monday, Chief U.S. District Judge Norma Holloway Johnson concluded that independent counsel Kenneth W. Starr's need to collect evidence in his obstruction of justice probe outweighs Clinton's interest in preserving the confidentiality of White House discussions, the lawyers said.
The decision made Clinton the first president to take a claim of executive privilege to court and lose since the dramatic Watergate showdown in 1974, when the Supreme Court unanimously ordered Richard M. Nixon to turn over the secret Oval Office tapes that ultimately led to his resignation. Clinton's case also seems headed for the high court as sources indicated that the White House likely will appeal.
Passports, get your passports-while you still can...Law.comU.S. Firms Beef Up Their Presence in Germany
"The economy there in the last 12 to 18 months has really picked up considerably," Gander said of Germany. "There is a lot more need for legal services -- a lot more need for equity, [initial public offering] transactions, growth in the real estate area ... and pharmaceuticals have been very active."
Last in the news, but certainly not least. Dubya "legalizes" seizure of your assets, should you openly oppose his policies in Iraq. He's finally gone and done it-declared himself Dicktator of the former Free World...Executive Order: Blocking Property of Certain Persons Who Threaten Stabilization Efforts in Iraq 
Russian newspapers are warning Americans what vagueness this executive order was written with and how dissent of this war by American citizens could be construed as a threat to the "stabilization Efforts in Iraq." 
Where there is unAmerican manipulation of laws going on, there is KKKarl somehow involved. Rover has always been Dubya's true partner in slime.
Quotes of the Day
Dictators are rulers who always look good until the last ten minutes--Jan Masaryk
Dictators ride to and fro upon tigers which they dare not dismount. And the tigers are getting hungry.--Winston Churchill
It is a paradox that every dictator has climbed to power on the ladder of free speech. Immediately on attaining power each dictator has suppressed all free speech except his own.-- Herbert Hoover
Every dictator is an enemy of freedom, an opponent of law.--Demosthenes
