Dick and Dubya's Excellent Sedition Adventure

Dearest Readers, yesterday's hearings in the Senate with Gone-Zo's former Chief of Staff Kyle Sampson on the hot seat were not to be missed. Try to catch the a clip of it if you can here on C-Span 'Firing of U.S. Attorneys'. Rover should have known not to mess with lawyers, that's what he gets for being too busy scheming for neorepublicans instead of graduating college...

Gone-Zo, as you know, is the finger in the dyke. And when the dam bursts the indictments are going create such a flood, they'll have to call the military home to clean up the mess for sure...Dearest Readers, you all know Prissy would go and fetch them herself, if she could round up enough planes and ships.

Senate republicans know its over, when we hear the 'rest of Gonzo's story'. The part they heard yesterday from Sampson frightened them so much, it was enough to make the cowards call a temporary halt to the hearings. What did they expect? Excuse me ladies and gentlemen; this is how your government works. That's why we hired you. Oh, you didn't wish the work involved? As Chuckie said, then go sell shoes. Thank goodness if they did; because then Prissy could avoid them forever...

Kyle, who looks like a younger version of the dull-eyed Karl Rove, thought he could just say it was all a big mistake. Golly, he just mixed bad ideas with good ideas and he shouldn't have handled it that way-oops my bad, sorry.

There is no question a young ideologue who has mere a handful of cases to his credit-lead counsel on none-and only one criminal case- certainly has no business evaluating any career justice attorney performance.

You'll notice how Kyle's voice gets higher with each tale he tells-it was a giveaway. Especially when he was reminded he was under oath. Prissy bets if his mother watched it on C-Span 3, she could tell us when he was lying.

It was Kyle who said he cooked up the idea to get rid of US Attorneys who didn't meet the Bush administrations standard of blind loyalty to the all mighty Dubya.

Of course Rover's blood drenched hands were involved as email show and Sampson's "Uh, I don't remember, I'm not sure if I was aware of that" type non-statements. RAW Story reports he said "I don't remember 122+ times! Maybe he should call Scooter Libby's "memory expert"...

At 37, he's awfully young to have such memory problems, but maybe its in the GOP koolaid. He seemed to make a remarkable memory recovery when his testimony favored him. He didn't like fronting out Gone-Zo, but why not? He's next on firing line. Kyle knows his days in government are over, thankfully for justice. Did criminal violations occur?

Prissy thinks its certainly probable, considering Ms. Goodling, another 'collaborator', is on an indefinite leave of absence from the DOJ and took the 5th amendment protection to avoid being questioned on the attorney firings. Who ever heard of a Department of Justice employee taking the 5th? After all, no one was asking her, "Do you have a crush on Pat Fitzgerald?"

Speaking of Irish catholics-Prissy's Granny equates Ms Goodling's refusal with a Catholic who won't make the sign of the cross in church-the height of blasphemy!

When Alberto's reign of terror is over, Dubya will be left to twist in the wind- legally speaking. And you know he's got no talent or patience in explaining legal terminology...

When the DOJ is no longer held hostage to Bushite politics, they will be busy prosecuting political corruption leftovers from the Bush era for the next twenty years. Its enough to make Prissy want to sign up for law school.

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And here comes the tidal wave...

NYT Ex-Aide,Matthew Dowd Details a Loss of Faith in Bush

In 1999, Matthew Dowd became a symbol of George W. Bush’s early success at positioning himself as a Republican with Democratic appeal.

A top strategist for the Texas Democrats who was disappointed by the Bill Clinton years, Mr. Dowd was impressed by the pledge of Mr. Bush, then governor of Texas, to bring a spirit of cooperation to Washington. He switched parties, joined Mr. Bush’s political brain trust and dedicated the next six years to getting him to the Oval Office and keeping him there. In 2004, he was appointed the president’s chief campaign strategist.

Looking back, Mr. Dowd now says his faith in Mr. Bush was misplaced.

In a wide-ranging interview here, Mr. Dowd called for a withdrawal from Iraq and expressed his disappointment in Mr. Bush’s leadership.

Honesty from the republican party, now that's a breath of fresh air...

Yahoo, why Rudy will never make it to the primary Giuliani faces questions about Sept. 11

While the former mayor of the nation's largest city was widely lionized for his post-9/11 leadership — "Churchillian" was one adjective, "America's mayor" was Oprah Winfrey's assessment — city firefighters and their families are renewing their attacks on him for his performance before and after the terrorist attack.

"If Rudolph Giuliani was running on anything but 9/11, I would not speak out," said Sally Regenhard, whose firefighter son was among the 343 FDNY members killed in the terrorist attack. "If he ran on cleaning up Times Square, getting rid of squeegee men, lowering crime — that's indisputable.

"But when he runs on 9/11, I want the American people to know he was part of the problem."

They know the truth about 9/11. Most people suspect they were fed a line on the official story-word eventually gets around. So let's all stop pretending-got that corporate media?

Judicial Watch files Violations Force Feinstein Military Committee Resignation

She wielded quite a bit of power and succeeded in steering hundreds of billions of dollars in military contracts to companies partially owned by her wealthy husband, Richard Blum. One company alone earned $792 million from military construction and environmental cleanup projects approved by Feinstein’s committee and another $759 million.

The blatant ethics violation and obvious conflict of interest was first exposed earlier this year by a weekly Northern California publication. The story details how Feinstein voted over the years for appropriations that enriched her husband’s firms and that her top legal advisor also happens to be one of her husband’s longtime business partners; in other words, a financial beneficiary of the senator’s decisions.

Flashback from Sunday Times US generals ‘will quit’ if Bush orders Iran attack February 25, 2007

A British defence source confirmed that there were deep misgivings inside the Pentagon about a military strike. “All the generals are perfectly clear that they don’t have the military capacity to take Iran on in any meaningful fashion. Nobody wants to do it and it would be a matter of conscience for them.

“There are enough people who feel this would be an error of judgment too far for there to be resignations.”

A generals’ revolt on such a scale would be unprecedented. “American generals usually stay and fight until they get fired,” said a Pentagon source. Robert Gates, the defence secretary, has repeatedly warned against striking Iran and is believed to represent the view of his senior commanders.

The threat of a wave of resignations coincided with a warning by Vice-President Dick Cheney that all options, including military action, remained on the table. He was responding to a comment by Tony Blair that it would not “be right to take military action against Iran”.

AP Bush to visit with troops at Walter Reed

He will meet with soldiers once housed in Building 18, who endured moldy walls, rodent infestation and other problems that went unchecked until reported by the media. Bush declared the situation unacceptable and ordered a full-scale review of care for veterans.

Walter Reed is considered one of the Army's premier facilities for treating the wounded. The revelations of shoddy treatment for those wounded in war was an embarrassment to Bush, who routinely speaks of the need to support the troops.

Bush will tour both Abrams Hall, where soldiers transferred after Building 18 was recently vacated, and the main hospital.

He will award Purple Hearts to several soldiers who served in Afghanistan and Iraq and are now recovering from serious wounds.

He said he was sorry and that he would take care of things. The same thing he told the residents of New Orleans.

LA Times, blame Bush for preferring the bully pulpit over debateAbuse, threats quiet bloggers' keyboards

"If you're writing to say that my research is weak, that's fine," he said. "But saying I should be shot is a little over the edge. I mean, we're talking about iTunes here, not politics."

The issue is not an easy one, because it gets to the heart of the free-speech culture that allows bloggers to reveal every aspect of their lives and thoughts. The medium's openness leaves writers vulnerable to cruel invective from angry readers or troublemakers.

"They're idea terrorists," said Scoble, a former Microsoft executive whose postings about software once prompted someone to call him to say they wished they could kill him. His wife, Maryam, was also vilified on the sites that attacked Sierra. "If they don't agree with your ideas, they try to terrorize you or make you feel bad."

Keep it to yourself keyboard terrorists and take careful notice of Prissy's book list.

MSN Money Central How CEOs rob workers, customers (is this the strategy of CEO's running our government?)

In 1914, Henry Ford made a "bet the company" decision. Conventional thinkers thought he was insane. Those without Ford's imagination were certain his decision would send Ford Motor (F, news, msgs) into bankruptcy.

He chopped the workday down to eight hours, and he doubled employees' daily wages. But he did not do this out of compassion. He had no desire to share the wealth. He made a hardheaded business decision.

Absenteeism plummeted. Worker turnover virtually disappeared. So did the number of accidents; ditto the number of manufacturing defects. Meanwhile, productivity soared. And the automotive age was born.

Today, the reverse is happening. The entire structure that promotes worker security, health and devoted service is being systematically dismantled. As investors, we benefit from this. But the largest beneficiaries are corporate executives. Every dime they squeeze out of payroll drops to the bottom line. The same money takes them a step closer to realizing gigantic stock-option gains.

Scientific American(?) Prissy thought Dubya didn't allow that. Confirmed: The U.S. Census Bureau Gave Up Names of Japanese Americans in WWII

Officially, Seltzer notes, the Secret Service made the 1943 request based on concerns of presidential safety stemming from an alleged March 1942 incident during which an American man of Japanese ancestry, while on a train from Los Angeles to the Manzanar internment camp in Owens Valley, Calif., told another passenger that they should have the "guts" to kill President Franklin Delano Roosevelt.

The incident occurred 17 months before the Secret Service request, during which time the man was hospitalized for schizophrenia and was therefore not an imminent threat, Seltzer says.

And...Census data is routinely used to enforce the National Voting Rights Act and other policies, but not in a form that could be used to identify a particular person's race, sex, age, address or other information, says former director Prewitt. The legal confidentiality of census information dates to 1910, and in 1954 it became part of Title 13 of the U.S. Code, which specifies the scope and frequency of censuses.

"The law is very different today" than it was in 1943, says Christa Jones, chief of the Census Bureau's Office of Analysis and Executive Support. "Anything that we release to any federal agency or any organization … all of those data are reviewed," she says, to prevent disclosures of individual information.

Are we supposed to believe the "Patriot Act" does not allow the Census Bureau to do it again?

Great blog...George Washington's Blog WHO's Giving Aid and Comfort to the Enemy?

First, let's look at the events leading up to the 9/11 attacks.

As reported by the New York Times, the FBI had penetrated the cell which carried out the 1993 world trade center bombing, but had -- at the last minute -- cancelled the plan to have its FBI infiltrator substitute fake power for real explosives, against the infiltrator's strong wishes (summary version is free; full version is pay-per-view). See also this TV news report.

And the CIA is alleged to have met with Bin Laden two months before 9/11.

Indeed, the government appears to have trained a number of the hijackers at military bases.

Shocking, well cited read...

Zuna fish Zuna Fish Prissy doesn't usually promote stuff-however, this looks like a site readers might enjoy;-)

You know the books, CDs, DVDs, and other stuff you’re finished with? Well, somebody wants them.

Zunafish® lets you trade your old media items for new titles you’d rather have. And, oh yeah— it’s fun, simple and dirt cheap: just a buck a trade! Easy and fun.

Just list the stuff you want to get rid of, pick the stuff you want to get, and watch the trade offers arrive!

WaPoEx-Partner Of Giuliani May Face Charges Kerik Counts Said To Include Deception During Cabinet Bid

Federal prosecutors have told Bernard B. Kerik, whose nomination as homeland security secretary in 2004 ended in scandal, that he is likely to be charged with several felonies, including tax evasion and conspiracy to commit wiretapping.

Kerik's indictment could set the stage for a courtroom battle that would draw attention to Kerik's extensive business and political dealings with former New York mayor Rudolph W. Giuliani, who personally recommended him to President Bush for the Cabinet. Giuliani, the front-runner for the 2008 Republican presidential nomination according to most polls, later called the recommendation a mistake.

That Kerik, such an oaf...

ABC Bush Calls on Iran to Free U.K. Sailors

President Bush on Saturday said Iran's capture of 15 British sailors and marines was "inexcusable" and called for their immediate, unconditional release.

Bush said Iran plucked the sailors out of Iraqi waters. Iran's president said Saturday they were in Iranian waters and called Britain and its allies "arrogant and selfish" for not apologizing for trespassing.

Dubya, haven't you 'helped things' with Britain and Iran enough already? Hush now...Let us pray the president of Iran believes in Geneva. So far he has not broken it.

Reuters Bush backs Gonzales, says no evidence of wrongdoing

Bush also said Gonzales, the nation's top law enforcement officer, was providing documents to Congress and would "tell the truth" when he testifies about the matter before the Senate Judiciary Committee in April.

"Attorney General Al Gonzales is an honorable and honest man and he has my full confidence," Bush said.

"I will remind you there is no credible evidence that there has been any wrongdoing," he added.

Is there no C-Span on at the White House? Apparently no one has told him about Sampson and Goodling...

Speaking of more fantasy of the right TPM Cafe Toensing Doesn't Know Dick About Val by Larry Johnson

It never occurred to even one of us, working on those laws at that time, that the identity of a covert officer would ever be revealed by the highest officials in American government in leading newspapers and syndicated columns of high level Washington insiders. In those days the revealers of identities ended up taking refuge in Castro's Cuba, not Washington dinner parties or high level corridors of insider power.

It is immaterial whether the CIA Identities Act was technically violated. In my view it probably was; reasonable people can disagree; Patrick Fitzgerald said that lies threw sand in the gears of justice, so perhaps we will ultimately find out, perhaps not.

Understand the protestations of those who argue most aggresively for pardon, are those who argue most aggressively that the identity law was not broken, but support the pardon in large measure because they also fear the ultimate revelation of the truth, whole truth and nothing but the truth.

Countless people who I respect and admire have urged me to aggressively attack Victoria Toensing. I don't believe she is very important to this. She has the right to her views, though they are close to universally rejected by those who know the most of this matter, witness how few Republicans came to the Waxman hearing to offer their support.

Victoria Toensing might...talk about a loose cannon.

Seattle Times News Source General sought to warn Bush not to say Tillman died in enemy ambush

Just seven days after Pat Tillman's death, a top general warned there were strong indications that it was friendly fire and President Bush might embarrass himself if he said the NFL star-turned-soldier died in an ambush, according to a memo obtained by The Associated Press.

It was not until a month afterward that the Pentagon told the public and grieving family members the truth -- that Tillman was mistakenly killed in Afghanistan by his comrades.

The memo reinforces suspicions that the Pentagon was more concerned with sparing officials from embarrassment than with leveling with Tillman's family.

In a memo sent to a four-star general a week after Tillman's April 22, 2004, death, then-Maj. Gen. Stanley McChrystal warned that it was "highly possible" the Army Ranger was killed by friendly fire. McChrystal made it clear his warning should be conveyed to the president.

The Bushie White House... Always in *CYA mode, no matter who gets hurt-whether it be career spies’ outed or military families and soldiers who have made the ultimate sacrifice to their country. (For Dearest international readers, CYA stands for 'cover your @ss')

Prissy Patriot endorsed poller John Zogby, news UPI Poll: Iran could set off arms race

Nearly 90 percent of UPI-Zogby International poll participants said Iran's nuclear program could set off a Middle East arms race.

While Iran says its uranium enrichment program is solely for peaceful purposes, some Western countries say Tehran, in fact, is looking to develop nuclear weapons. Zogby interactive poll respondents said this would likely cause other countries in the region to seek a nuclear capability.

Some 49.7 percent of those asked said it was "very likely" countries such as Saudi Arabia and Egypt would want to join the nuclear club if Iran was proved to be a member and another 38.5 percent said it was "somewhat likely."

Dubya and Diplomacy mix like, say, oil and water...

Quotes of the Day

Any appeasement of tyranny is treason to this republic and to the democratic ideal.--William Allen White, American editor, journalist

Though those that are betrayed Do feel the treason sharply, yet the traitor Stands in worse case of woe.-- William Shakespeare

The real menace of our Republic is the invisible government which like a giant octopus sprawls its slimy legs over our cities states and nation. At the head is a small group of banking houses generally referred to as 'international bankers.' This little coterie... run our government for their own selfish ends. It operates under cover of a self-created screen...[and] seizes...our executive officers... legislative bodies... schools... courts... newspapers and every agency created for the public protection.--John F. Hylan, Mayor of New York City from 1918 to 1925.

Why suspend the habeas corpus in insurrections and rebellions? Examine the history of England. See how few of the cases of the suspension of the habeas corpus law have been worthy of that suspension. They have been either real treasons, wherein the parties might as well have been charged at once, or sham plots, where it was shameful they should ever have been suspected. Yet for the few cases wherein the suspension of the habeas corpus has done real good, that operation is now become habitual and the minds of the nation almost prepared to live under its constant suspension.--Thomas Jefferson

The principle that the majority have a right to rule the minority, practically resolves all government into a mere contest between two bodies of men, as to which of them shall be masters, and which of them slaves; a contest, that -- however bloody -- can, in the nature of things, never be finally closed, so long as man refuses to be a slave.--Lysander Spooner, Nineteenth-Century lawyer, abolitionist, entrepreneur, legal theorist and political radical.

To Forgive a Republican

Dearest Readers, there is a lot to be said about forgiveness. Being a Sunday here in the Bible belt what a great time to discuss it.

In Prissy's book, forgiving and forgetting are separate matters. Seriousness of the offense will always determine if both are granted-or only forgiveness.

In reference to the Bush administration, forgiveness will only begin after their trials are over.

Speaking of trials, have you seen the new Velvet Revolution ad? Here's the picture:

Here's to hopes that future historians will never gloss over the mess neocons have made of what was once a country held up as the hope for humanity and beacon of civility. Remember the famous "liberty and justice for all?"

Prissy and Betty have finally made the plans for our first show, thank you to the new Columbus media through the Freepress.org! We will of course make fun of all your favorite politicians and entertain you with their absurdities.

If any Dearest Reader has a original song they think would be a good theme for the show, please email Prissy!

Prissy will post the pod cast here at the end of the week. It took us a year to get it together-but as you know, Prissy has been busy fighting the warmongers ;-)

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And away he goes...with the Brits assisting in the propaganda spin Pentagon blames Iran for 170 US deaths

Senior defence officials in Baghdad said that Iranian-supplied "explosively formed projectiles" were frequently being used against coalition forces.

They said the "highest levels" of Iran’s regime were responsible for giving them to Shia militias in Iraq.

These bombs are specially designed to penetrate heavily armoured military vehicles and are capable of crippling the US army’s main battle tank, the Abrams M1.

They have killed 170 US troops since June 2004, according to the American officials. They added that some weapons have been captured and they bore the hallmarks of having been manufactured in Iran.

It is difficult to know what to believe, as Prissy is no munitions expert. But some others claim the highly damaging IED's have the hallmarks of being manufactored in Israel.

IraqSlogger Blackwater Contractor Kills Vice President's Guard

There have been rumors buzzing around the contractor community about murder. It started when a Blackwater employee drunk and fresh from a Christmas party in the Green Zone got into an argument with an Iraqi security contractor. The Iraqi worked for the Vice President as a security guard. It is not cleared what transpired but the Blackwater employee emptied the entire magazine of his pistol into the Iraqi.

Under normal circumstances the contractor would have been arrested (the Green Zone is in effect a U.S. base) under the Patriot Act, MEJA, the military code or Iraqi law but he wasn't.

He was dealt with just like any other contractor who commits a crime in Iraq. He was bundled into an aircraft, returned to the US and dropped from the payroll. According to Blackwater's lawyer, he was "off duty" returned to the US and is being "investigated" by the FBI.

The yet to be identified contractor is a perfect example of how and why contractors are accountable to no one.

The recent jailbreak of the former Electricity Minister by DynCorp contractors is yet another example (this was the second time Ayman Alshammarae was sprung from jail) and the most egregious example. The recent Triple Canopy lawsuit brought by two former employers (one I met during a training program detailed in my book). The two Triple Canopy employees filed a lawsuit because they say they were fired for reporting that another employee wanted to "kill an Iraqi" on the way to the airport. The Triple Canopy employee tried twice to kill Iraqi civilians with his M4 and then his pistol.

CNN Iran negotiator: Nuclear program 'no threat to Israel'

• Iran's nuclear program no threat to Israel, says country's top negotiator • Ali Larijani says Tehran has no aggressive intentions toward any nation. • Iran prepared to settle outstanding issues with IAEA, he says

Donkeyod Why Dick Cheney Cracked Up Op-Ed Columnist By FRANK RICH -the full version

The answer can be found in the timing of the CNN interview, which was conducted the day after the start of the perjury trial of Mr. Cheney’s former top aide, Scooter Libby. The vice president’s on-camera crackup reflected his understandable fear that a White House cover-up was crumbling. He knew that sworn testimony in a Washington courtroom would reveal still more sordid details about how the administration lied to take the country into war in Iraq. He knew that those revelations could cripple the White House’s current campaign to escalate that war and foment apocalyptic scenarios about Iran. Scariest of all, he knew that he might yet have to testify under oath himself.

Mr. Cheney, in other words, understands the danger this trial poses to the White House even as some of Washington remains oblivious. From the start, the capital has belittled the Joseph and Valerie Wilson affair as “a tempest in a teapot,” as David Broder of The Washington Post reiterated just five months ago. When “all of the facts come out in this case, it’s going to be laughable because the consequences are not that great,” Bob Woodward said in 2005. Or, as Robert Novak suggested in 2003 before he revealed Ms. Wilson’s identity as a C.I.A. officer in his column, “weapons of mass destruction or uranium from Niger” are “little elitist issues that don’t bother most of the people.” Those issues may not trouble Mr. Novak, but they do loom large to other people, especially those who sent their kids off to war over nonexistent weapons of mass destruction and nonexistent uranium.

TPM Cafe Dick Cheney Was Briefed by CIA on Niger

As the Senate Intelligence Committee reported in 2004, Dick Cheney asked his briefer to find out what the CIA knew about this. When a Vice President or President asks a question or makes a substantive comment in response to the briefing material, the Briefer always goes back to CIA Headquarters and sits in on a morning meeting of Senior CIA officials. When the CIA briefer got back to Headquarters, he briefed the Director of Operations (or his Deputy) and the the Director of Intelligence (or his Deputy).

This led to two courses of action. First, the Director of Intelligence sent the rock rolling down the hill until it hit an analyst in WINPAC--the analytical shop in CIA tasked with monitoring Iraq's WMD program. According to the CIA memo released in the Libby trial, we now know that In response to this tasking the analyst produced a Senior Power Executive Intelligence Brief on 14 February 2002 that concluded:

information on the alleged uranium contract between Iraq and Niger comes exclusively from a foreign government service report that lacks crucial details, and we are working to clarify the information and to determine whether it can be corroborated.

Now here is the bullshit. The Republican led Senate Select Intelligence Committee claimed in July 2004 that:

The CIA sent a separate version of the assessment to the Vice President which differed only in that it named the foreign government service.

Atlantic Free Press Catapulting the Propaganda at the New York Times

For who are the "Shiite militias"? They are the armed wings of the political factions that now run the Bush-backed Iraqi government, elected in an electoral process designed by the Bush Administration that guaranteed the rise of these extremist sectarian armed cliques to power. The Shiite militias ARE the Iraqi government — or at least, they are part of that government's many contentious factions. If they have power, if they operate with impunity — with or without weapons supplied by the long-time allies in Iran, with which most of the Iraqi Shiite factions have a relationship going back decades — then it is because these factions have been and are now being empowered, armed, funded, trained and supported by the Bush Administration.

This is what the Bushists are tacitly admitting when they claim that the Shiite militias are fragging their ostensible American allies with Iranian weapons. They are saying that even the factions "liberated" and empowered by the American invasion are now attacking and killing U.S. soldiers, with even more virulence than the Sunni insurgents. They are saying that Bush is now "surging" more soldiers into a situation where every single armed faction in the Iraqi conflict is targeting and killing Americans, including those factions armed and funded by the Americans themselves.

This is a remarkable confession. And it represents yet another of the many overwhelming reasons to bring Bush's bloody Babylonian escapade to a halt without further delay. The most compelling reason, of course, is the fact that the invasion was a war crime from the word go and every second that it continues is a furtherance and compounding of that original sin. But even by the viscera-smeared lights of the war's own proponents, to have reached the place where the very people you have empowered are killing your troops is surely the end of the road.

Der spiegel "We Probably Gave Powell the Wrong Speech" SPIEGEL INTERVIEW WITH CIA'S FORMER EUROPE DIRECTOR

The former chief of the CIA's Europe division, Tyler Drumheller, discusses the United States foreign intelligence service's cooperation with Germany, the covert kidnapping of suspected terrorists and a Bush adminstration that ignored CIA advice and used whatever information it could find to justify an invasion of Iraq.

SPIEGEL: Mr. Drumheller, do you still dare to travel to Europe? Drumheller: Yes, absolutely. I was a great friend of the Europeans. I grew up in Wiesbaden. I love Germany very much.

SPIEGEL: Arrest warrants have been issued in Europe for a number of your former colleagues. They are suspected of involvement in the illegal kidnappings of suspected terrorists as part of the so-called "renditions" program. Doesn't this worry you? Drumheller: No. I'm not worried, but I am not allowed to discuss the issue.

SPIEGEL: One of the cases is the now famous kidnapping of Khalid el-Masri, a German-Lebanese who was taken into custody at the end of 2003 in Macedonia and later flown to Afghanistan. How could the CIA allow an innocent person to be arrested? Drumheller: I'm not allowed by the agency to comment on any of those cases or the so-called "secret prisons." I would love to, but I can't. We have a life-long secrecy agreement and they are very, very strict about what you can say.

Forbes Libby Case Gives White House Revelations

Trial testimony so far - including eight hours of Libby's own audio-recordedd testimony to a grand jury in 2004 - suggest that a White House known as disciplined was anything but that.

What has emerged, instead, is: _a vice president fixated on finding ways to debunk a former diplomat's claims that Bush misled the U.S. people in going to war and his suggestion Cheney might have played a role in suppressing contrary intelligence. _a presidential press secretary kept in the dark on Iraq policy. _top White House officials meeting daily to discuss the diplomat, former ambassador Joseph Wilson, and sometimes even his CIA-officer wife Valerie Plame.

Libby is accused of lying to the FBI and the grand jury about his talks with reporters concerning Plame. Libby got the White House press secretary to deny he was the source of the leak. He says he thought he first heard about Plame's CIA job from NBC's Tim Russert.

But after checking his own notes, he told the FBI and the grand jury Cheney himself told him Plame worked at CIA a month before the talk with Russert, but Libby says he forgot that in the crush of business.

Patrick Fitzgerald rested the prosecution case Wednesday. Team Libby defense will spend the rest of the time attempting to defend his undefendable actions. Prissy predicts the jury will not be fooled.

It is now expected Cheney will not testify. No kidding? With Libby's jail time now a looming reality, he continues looking out for his own neck. If Dick does end up on the stand as International Herald Tribune is reporting, he will seal his own fate as well...

When will Fitzgerald open "Sealed v. Sealed" ?

Prissy is thinking it will happen shortly after Libby's certain conviction. Go team Fitz!

Dallas News 2nd reporter IDs Libby in CIA leak

Mr. Cooper, Time magazine's White House reporter at the time, became the second reporter to testify at the CIA leak trial that Mr. Libby was a source for their learning that Valerie Plame, wife of ex-ambassador Joseph Wilson, was a CIA operative.

Mr. Libby, former chief of staff to Vice President Dick Cheney, is charged with lying to the FBI and a grand jury about his conversations with reporters about Ms. Plame and obstructing the investigation into how her identity leaked to the public in 2003. He is not charged with the actual leak.

Defense attorney William Jeffress asked Mr. Cooper about President Bush's chief political adviser, Karl Rove, whom Mr. Cooper identified as the first official to tell him about Ms. Plame's CIA job.

In his opening statement, defense attorney Theodore Wells claimed the White House was trying in 2003 to blame Mr. Libby for the leak to protect Mr. Rove, although Mr. Wells did not explain how that related to the perjury charges against Mr. Libby.

Hindu Times Mr. Blair's endless troubles

There was a rare moment in the House of Commons when Tony Blair, seldom at a loss for words, found himself nearly speechless. It happened when the Scottish Nationalist Party leader Alex Salmond, not known for mincing words, sought to draw a parallel between the cash-for-peerages row and the Watergate scandal.

Putting the boot in as hard as he could, he asked Mr. Blair: "The Prime Minister is known for his close association with President George W. Bush [and] given all that has befallen all of the Prime Minister's men and women in recent days, is not now the more relevant association with President Richard Milhous Nixon? Is there a cover-up in Downing Street?" As a hush fell, an ashen-faced Mr. Blair slowly rose to his feet, mumbled something to the effect that he could not possibly comment on an ongoing investigation, and sat down with the air of a beaten man.

Minutes earlier, Tory leader David Cameron had taunted him: "Can't you see that it is time for you to go?" And all this even before it emerged that Mr. Blair had been questioned a second time by police over allegations that he nominated four businessmen for peerages in return for `secret' loans to the Labour Party's 2005 election fund.

Downing Street was dragged deeper into the scandal after Ruth Turner, one of Mr. Blair's most trusted aides, was arrested on "suspicion of perverting the course of justice"; and Lord Levy, his personal friend and party's chief fund-raiser, was detained a second time. In plain words, police suspect a cover-up at the heart of Downing Street.

by political artist Stephen Pitt

WTKR Astronaut Faces Very Serious Charges

Nowak faces charges including attempted kidnapping, attempted vehicle burglary with battery, destruction of evidence and battery.

Police said she drove 900 miles, donned a disguise and was armed with a BB gun and pepper spray when she confronted a woman she believed was a competitor for the affections of Navy Cmdr. William Oefelein.

This shows there is not a limit to strange things people can do, regardless of their accomplishments in life when it comes to their version of love (obsession in this case)

Proof people do need courses on what is a healthy relationship. Just like math and science, it must be learned.

New Org Bring Their Buddies Home

It’s time to do something that communicates on a deeper emotional level than demonstrations or protests. America’s brave sons and daughters gave their lives because they were told they were defending us. They were lied to and the continuation of this war and additional deaths will not justify their sacrifice. On President’s Day, Monday, February 19th, 2007, in hundreds of cities across the country, thousands of people will stand up to honor our fallen troops by showing that it’s time to Bring Their Buddies Home. Hundreds of thousands of people throughout the nation will stand in silence, shoulder to shoulder, at the same time, dressed in black, each wearing the name of one of the fallen troops.

Time and a still defiant congress Rep. Hoyer: Iraq Vote Will Be Limited

— A House vote on Iraq this week will be limited to the question of supporting President Bush's troop escalation, House Majority Leader Steny Hoyer said Sunday.

Hoyer's comment drew a vehement objection from House Minority Leader John Boehner, R-Ohio, who said House Democrats had promised to allow a vote this week on a Republican alternative opposing a cutoff of money for the war.

Hoyer, D-Md., said such a vote would occur later.

"Live up to your word," Boehner told Hoyer. Democrats, Boehner said, "won't even let us have a substitute. ... Give us a vote this week."

Live up to your word Mr. Boehner, and support our troops, value their lives!

Newsday -a shrink analyses Dubya Bush is dreaming and won't wake up

Dissociation is a more complicated defense mechanism than denial. It doesn't just pretend that reality isn't there. It replaces reality with a fantasy world. We dissociate when we daydream. But when we repeatedly live in our own world, we do so at our peril. A gambling addict buried in debt is sure that next time he is going to win, but he almost never does. Despite his wife's expressions of unhappiness, a husband believes he is in a good marriage, and is shocked when she announces she wants a divorce. A patient avoiding childhood memories of sexual abuse tells her therapist she had a happy childhood when it couldn't possibly have been.

We see evidence of the president's dissociation in his assessments of Iraq. Despite overwhelming evidence to the contrary, he still maintains that Iraq is not in a civil war, but "in a difficult struggle against the insurgents." Long after his generals concluded that we are not succeeding there, he repeatedly declared "we are winning."

Last week, some Iraqi officials blamed the new U.S. strategy in Baghdad for the worst single suicide bombing in the war, at a Shia market in Baghdad. The Mahdi Army, the Shia militia, which had been deterring sectarian reprisals, was scattering before new U.S. troops arrived. Bush's response: "It's a good sign that there's a sense of concern and anxiety" about Baghdad security.

Such statements are not just political spin. Political spin is crafted to frame specific situations. Dissociation reveals itself in a persistent pattern of behavior. Present-day Iraq is hardly the only situation in which the president has dissociated. Lacking evidence of any link between Iraq and al-Qaida, the president insisted for years that the two were intimately connected.

Cleveland Elections chief in Ohio's largest county resigns (with more sure to follow-pp)

The embattled elections chief in the state's most populous county resigned Tuesday, ending a tense term that thrust Cuyahoga County into the national spotlight as it weathered a rough transition from punch-card to electronic voting.

The elections board announced the decision by executive director Michael Vu after a nearly two-hour closed-door meeting. Under Vu, the county had a botched primary election and saw the convictions of two workers who mishandled the 2004 presidential recount.

Random Quotes of the Day

Even if you're on the right track, you'll get run over if you just sit there. --Will Rogers

Be careful what you pretend to be because you are what you pretend to be.--Kurt Vonnegut

I'd rather be dead than singing "Satisfaction" when I'm forty-five. --Mick Jagger

Throughout the history of mankind there have been murderers and tyrants; and while it may seem momentarily that they have the upper hand, they have always fallen. Always.--Mahatma Ghandi

Far Too Late For Any Debate

Move along Dubya, you should try sitting in on the Scooter Libby trial for a while.

My, my the sights one would see up on the big screen marked as government exhibits.

Handwritten notes between all the big boys, with the bottom line being not only did they know Valerie Plame worked for non-proliferation bureau of the CIA-they even knew she was working on WMD. What else can one say about these vultures except oh dear God?

Prissy knows because she sat in on the trial for a couple of days...and if I was Libby's team defense-he wouldn't be allowed to get anywhere near the witness stand.

He's done more than enough damage to himself with the "evidence" of testimony he's already given.

Why it was so obvious he was lying, Scooter couldn't fool a four-year-old...he should sue for bad legal advice-any half way intelligent person would have said to plea in the beginning. Scooter will do at least 2-5 years; it will be a gift if he isn't convicted on all counts.

With a jury that comes back from courtroom breaks with questions of their own for witnesses, Prissy didn't get the impression they were feeling very generous!

Special Prosecutor Patrick Fitzgerald and his team of talented lawyers have another plus on their side-the truth. The truth is something Scooters three hired law firms cannot change, only confuse. But Prissy did not see anyone in the courtroom (except Scooter, maybe) who will be easily confused.

Some of the "defense" put on, was so incredulous that observers would look at each other with mirth upon hearing it...

Once people of all political persuasions see the handwritten collusion (the defense does not dispute their authenticity) of a campaign designed to out a covert CIA spy working on non-proliferation of WMD's, they will be screaming for Bush/Cheney/Rove/Hadley's clearances,etc...though we have all long suspected treason, to see it their own writing is truly breathtaking.

The message from the top was clear. Disagree with our policy and methods? Bush and company will go after you and yours, until someone gets caught-maybe even killed.

Hot Links

ZMAG Talk at Ehren Watada rally

What about a bloodbath if the U.S. withdraws? It is already happening. The U.S. military occupation makes it worse daily. Let Iraqi groups who are concerned about Iraq negotiate with each other for a peaceful Iraq. The U.S. withdrawal will isolate those involved in sectarian killing. Moreover, a major cause of violence —the attacks on the U.S., and U.S. aggression and returning massive firepower to these attacks will end. There are no easy answers but the U.S. continued presence makes the situation for Iraqis more dangerous and deadly daily. We cannot be part of the solution,

The war is wrong; winning should not be the goal. For the most part, the Democrats, the Iraqi study group disagree with the Bush administration only on tactics, how to maintain some control—e.g., of oil, they ask the wrong questions. Our principled position must be like Ehren Watada—the war is wrong and immoral. Our demand is for total U.S. withdrawal, before May Day, and support for military resisters. So the war is more than just bad policy.

Support the U.S. troops-must mean also calling for U.S. withdrawal and ending the War—otherwise our only concern is U.S. lives and we are not valuing Iraqi lives as equal to U.S. lives, 700,000 plus Iraqis dead by now. Let us mourn each one of these Iraqis and also mourn the more than 3000 U.S. soldiers and the hundreds of their allies killed and many times that number on both sides wounded for life.

Lt. Watada is taking a principled stand, it certainly is not the easy way out! The judge is an area of concern, as he is refusing to allow evidence into trial that will assist in Lt. Watada's defense-thus, that the war in Iraq is illegal and an order to participate would be the same.

War under "Dubya's law of pre-emption" tells us this is OK:

Let's say Prissy's neighbor tells another neighbor, "that Prissy and her political ideas really angers me-I should do something about that someday." The neighbor hearing this relays this to Prissy. Prissy, now hearing from someone else leaving an anonymous note, said the neighbor making the vague threat is known for slashing tires. Then Prissy gets a signed note from the neigbor stating he wants to "work to resolve our differences."

Yet under Dubya's law, Prissy just knows this neighbor will eventually "do something" (since he most likely owns a knife) and runs over there with her letter opener and slashes his tires first.

When the police officer driving by catches her because slashing tires takes longer than she thought-she uses Dubya's pre-emptive force law as her defense.

However, the police officer and the judge are not buying this as a defense - saying "Prissy what did he actually say or do to you?", and now Prissy is the one who is seen as the threat...

Yahoo Waxman raps Ex-Iraq chief over aid funds

The hearing presented two divergent views of what financial controls were possible in an Iraqi capital with no functioning national government.

Waxman and a hearing witness, special inspector general for Iraq Stuart Bowen Jr., criticized Bremer for failing to install accounting systems that would have forced Iraqi ministries to account for up to $12 billion in Iraq's funds. The money came from a United Nations oil-for-food program and seized Iraqi assets, but fell under Bremer's control.

"Without strong standards, we have no way of knowing whether the cash could end up in enemy hands," said Waxman.

Bremer countered, "I arrived in Baghdad at a time when much of the city was burning. Looting was still widespread. My responsibilities were to kickstart the economy."

The Guardian Bush slashes aid to poor to boost Iraq war chest

Mr Bush's $2.9 trillion (£1.5 trillion) budget, sent to Congress yesterday, includes $100bn extra for the Iraq and Afghanistan wars for this year, on top of $70bn already allocated by Congress and $141.7bn next year. He is planning an 11.3% increase for the Pentagon. Spending on the Iraq war is destined to top the total cost of the 13-year war in Vietnam.

The huge rise in military spending is paid for by a squeeze on domestic programmes, including $66bn in cuts over five years to Medicare, the healthcare scheme for the elderly, and $12bn from the Medicaid healthcare scheme for the poor.

Mr Bush said: "Today we submit a budget to the United States Congress that shows we can balance the budget in five years without raising taxes ... Our priority is to protect the American people. And our priority is to make sure our troops have what it takes to do their jobs."

Although Democrats control Congress and have promised careful scrutiny of the budget over the next few months, Mr Bush has left in them in a bind, unwilling to withhold funds for US troops on the frontline. Nancy Pelosi, the House speaker, said the days when Mr Bush could expect a blank cheque for the wars were over but she also insisted the Democrats would not deny troops the money they needed. Democrats could block Mr Bush's proposed cuts to 141 domestic programmes.

Electronic Iraq Bombs over Baghdad: The Pentagon's Secret Air War in Iraq

But the number of cannon rounds and rockets fired by U.S. aircraft is not an insignificant matter, according to Les Roberts, formerly an epidemiologist for the World Health Organization in Rwanda during that country's civil war and an expert on the human costs of the war in Iraq. According to Roberts, who was last in Iraq in 2004 (where, he says, he personally witnessed "the shredding of entire blocks" in Baghdad's Sadr City by aerial cannon fire), "rocket and cannon fire could account for most coalition-attributed civilian deaths." He adds, "I find it disturbing that they will not release this [figure], but even more disturbing that they have not released such information to Congressmen who have requested it."

Non-CENTAF military officials were equally tight-lipped about such munitions -- at least with me. A Public Affairs officer from U.S. Central Command told me that the Command didn't track such information. When I questioned a coalition spokesman in Baghdad about the number of rockets and cannon rounds fired by Army and Marine Corps helicopters in Iraq in 2006, I was told, "We cannot comment on your inquiry due to operational security."

I then pointed out that just last month, in National Defense Magazine, Col. Robert A. Fitzgerald, the Marine Corps' head of aviation plans and policy, was quoted as saying that, in 2006, "Marine rotary-wing aircraft flew more than 60,000 combat flight hours, and fixed-wing platforms completed 31,000. They dropped 80 tons of bombs and fired 80 missiles, 3,532 rockets and more than 2 million rounds of smaller ammunition."

When asked if this admission had endangered operational security, the spokesman responded, "I cannot comment on the policies or release authority of a Marine colonel."

Note to military: Now is not the time in history to lie...

The Hill Legislation to require White House disclosure of military contracting

She said Congress lacks evidence that contractors report to the appropriate military commanders in such regions.

“This legislation will shed light on the war business, so that Congress and the American people can determine when and where the outsourcing of our security to private firms is warranted,” Schakowsky said.

The Iraq and Afghanistan Contractor Sunshine Act would require the departments of Defense, State, and the Interior and the U.S. Agency for International Development to provide Congress with descriptions of both contractual work performed in Iraq and Afghanistan and task orders in excess of $5 million.

The agencies also would have to report the number of contractors and subcontractors employed in Iraq and Afghanistan and the total costs of contracts there. The agencies would have to inform Congress about the number of wounded and killed contractors as well as disciplinary actions taken by the U.S. government against contractors who break the law.

Palestine News Network Israeli government destroys Moroccan Gate and parts of Al Aqsa Mosque area amid outcry

Israeli forces demolished the entrance to the Al Aqsa Mosque after destroying the Moroccan Gate bridge leading to the Muslim holy site. Chief Palestinian Justice Sheikh Taysir Tamimi said that the timing of the destruction in the Old City of East Jerusalem was purposeful as all eyes are on the meeting in Mecca and political leaders are enroute.

The Sheikh told a press conference in Ramallah this afternoon that the Israeli government is continuing with its plan to demolish the historic road at the Moroccan Gate with a major threat to the western side of the Mosque.

Israeli forces expelled all Arab workers and journalists Monday, increased the military presence in the face of nonviolent protests over the past two days, and closed all roads on Tuesday.

The British are attempting to garner a peace settlement between Israel and Palestine. Of course our own administration is too busy trying to defend itself to take care of diplomatic matters abroad...

Hidustan Times France calls for US troops to leave Iraq in 2008

Prime Minister Dominique de Villepin said, "setting a timetable for complete withdrawal, and handing "full sovereignty" to Iraqis, was a prerequisite for any political solution. Only after a timetable was set could the Iraqis move forward with national reconciliation and regional dialogue.".

"The US have failed in Iraq," Villepin told the Financial Times in an interview posted on its website late on Tuesday.

"If you do not say that in one year there will be no more American or British troops in Iraq, nothing will happen in Iraq except more deaths and crises," he added.

And the French know- because they failed first in that region.

Quotes of the Day

No wise man ever thought that a traitor should be trusted. [Lat., Nemo unquam sapiens proditori credendum putavit.]--Cicero (Marcus Tullius Cicero)

Treason and murder ever kept together, As two yoke-devils sworn to either's purpose, Working so grossly in a natural cause That admiration did not whoop at them; But thou, 'gainst all proportion, didst bring in Wonder to wait on treason and on murder; And whatsoever cunning fiend it was That wrought upon thee so preposterously Hath got the voice in hell for excellence.--William Shakespeare

We are a rebellious nation. Our whole history is treason; our blood was attained before we were born; our creeds were infidelity to the mother church; our constitution treason to our fatherland.--Theodore Parker

Fitzgerald's Libby strategy? Rebellion must be managed with many swords; treason to his prince's person may be with one knife.--Thomas Fuller

Prissy's strategy...Write on my gravestone: "Infidel, Traitor." --infidel to every church that compromises with wrong; traitor to every government that oppresses the people.-- Wendell Phillips

Living In Zen

Some enlightenment would be good in American politics

Dearest Readers, the ongoing investigation continues...Yikes now Prissy knows what Fitz really means when he tells us the investigation will be over when its complete! Prissy likes her cup of evidence to runneth over.

Looking forward to sharing the case with readers when it is made public. Blogging will be short today, Prissy will be putting on her gumshoes a little later...

Remember Nancy Drew?

Here's to hoping you and your families have a lovely holiday season. Prissy plans to post again on Christmas Day.

Hot Links

Courant Dodd Seeks Call-Back Exemptions For Unfit Soldiers

U.S. Sen. Christopher Dodd is asking newly appointed Secretary of Defense Robert Gates to ensure that soldiers debilitated by post-traumatic stress disorder and other mental illnesses are not sent back into combat.

"If experienced VA doctors diagnose military personnel with incapacitating disabilities, such as severe PTSD, it would seem counter to our national security interests for the military services to somehow disregard these evaluations for less thorough assessments performed by military officials," Dodd wrote in a letter Tuesday to Gates. "It seems unacceptable and perhaps even reckless to ask our servicemen and women to entrust their lives to soldiers deemed mentally unfit by medical professionals."

Dodd, D-Conn., said he was troubled by recent reports that some Connecticut veterans who had left active duty and had been deemed disabled with PTSD were being recalled for repeat deployments to Iraq. The Courant featured several of those soldiers in a recent story.

Gee maybe Senator Dodd does support the troops. Now do something to bring them home, Senator.

From MSNBC about the CIA Leak case. Judge Walton admonishes Joseph Wilson's attorney Melonie Sloan:

As counsel should well understand, making disparaging 1 comments in a television interview about a criminal defendant in a highly publicized case on the eve of trial could cause potential members of the jury pool to engender negative attitudes about the defendant. See Hardball with Chris Matthews, Dec. 20, 2006, available at 2006 WLNR 22257429. And even more disturbing is counsel’s uninformed opinion that there is sufficient evidence to convict Mr. Libby of the charges on which he will be tried. Id. Such comments by a member of the Bar, and especially someone who was a former prosecutor, is not only shocking but borders on unethical conduct. Counsel should have known that the comments she made were improper, but if she did not, she does now. Counsel is therefore on notice that any similar comments will not be tolerated.

It is with all due respect Judge Walton, that anyone with a reading ability above the 9th grade knows Libby's goose is cooked! Prissy doesn't see what the big deal is for Ms. Sloan stating her opinion.

Uninformed? Why you said yourself she is a former prosecutor.

Rest assured special prosecutor Patrick Fitzgerald didn't tell anyone anything.

AND Network Joseph Wilson Challenges Subpoena In Libby CIA Leak Case

Former ambassador Joseph Wilson asked a federal judge Wednesday not to force him to testify in the CIA leak case and accused former White House aide I. Lewis "Scooter" Libby of trying to harass him on the witness stand. Libby, who faces perjury and obstruction charges, subpoenaed Wilson as a defense witness this month. Libby's attorney, William Jeffress, said in court Tuesday that was a precautionary move and he did not expect to put Wilson on the stand. Libby is accused of lying to investigators about his conversations with reporters regarding Wilson's wife, outed CIA operative Valerie Plame. Plame and Wilson have sued Libby and other Bush administration officials, accusing them of plotting to leak Plame's identity as retribution for Wilson's criticism of prewar intelligence on Iraq.

The Next Hurrah Aspen Trees and Novakula by emptywheel

Anyway, here is the waiver that Libby eventually signed:

I request any member of the media with whom I may have communicated regarding the subject matters under investigation to fully disclose all such communications to federal law enforcement authorities. In particular, I request that no member of the media assert any privilege or refuse to answer any questions from federal law enforcement authorities on my behalf or for my benefit in connection with the subject matters under investigation.

...where "subject matters under investigation" are restricted to: the possible disclosure to unauthorized persons of classified information in connection with Ambassador Joseph Wilson, his trip to Niger in February 2002, and matters relating thereto.

Again, this means that if Novak claims to have spoken to Libby solely about, say, the Frances Fragos Townsend smear, then Libby's waiver would not cover the conversation and--at least according to Novak's own version, Novak would have refused to answer questions because they "touched on matters beyond the CIA leak case." But Libby's own lawyers claim that Novak testified.

Which is it, Novak? Did you testify about a Plame conversation with Libby? Did you lie in your coming-clean-but-not-really column with regards to questions not dealing with Plame and testify that Libby had seeded your smear column attacking Townsend? FWIW, I emailed Novak and asked for some clarification about his conversation with Libby, but received no response.

One of the many contradictions of this case which can only be sorted out in court. If Libby is banking on his witnesses he is really playing fast and loose. They all have serious credibility problems and Prissy looks forward to Fitz taking them to task.

Happy Birthday, Special prosecutor;-)

Wired Bloggers Shrink the Planet

Global Voices was launched in 2004 as a way to get people talking to one another across cultural and lingual divides. A project of The Berkman Center for Internet & Society at Harvard Law School -- and the brainchild of Berkman fellows Ethan Zuckerman and Rebecca MacKinnon -- Global Voices began as a kind of Reader's Digest of noteworthy or interesting blogs from non-Western countries.

Today, the Global Voices website has grown to a million visitors a month, and is rated on blog search and analysis company Technorati as the 207th most popular blog by inbound links, in a field of around 55 million. Geographically distributed editors spend their days rounding up the most important posts from their parts of the world and presenting them through the site, so visitors can easily zoom in on what's happening in places like Iraq, Afghanistan, Cuba or the Congo.

CNN Sandy Berger stashed classified documents under trailer

Berger took the documents in the fall of 2003 while working to prepare himself and Clinton administration witnesses for testimony to the September 11 commission. Berger was authorized as the Clinton administration's representative to make sure the commission got the correct classified materials.

Berger's lawyer, Lanny Breuer, said in a statement that the contents of all the documents exist today and were made available to the commission.

But Rep. Tom Davis, R-Virginia, outgoing chairman of the House Government Reform Committee, said he's not convinced that the Archives can account for all the documents taken by Berger. Davis said working papers of National Security Council staff members are not inventoried by the Archives.

"There is absolutely no way to determine if Berger swiped any of these original documents. Consequently, there is no way to ever know if the 9/11 Commission received all required materials," Davis said.

It's all good, Sandy will have access to classified materials again in 2007. He was only barred for three years. Yet a person who isn't a thief cannot get clearance if they have a stint of bad credit.

International Herald Tribune U.S. to declassify secrets aged 25 and older

Secret documents 25 years old or older will lose their classified status without so much as the stroke of a pen, unless agencies have sought exemptions on the ground that the material remains secret.

Historians say the deadline, created in the Clinton administration but enforced, to the surprise of some scholars, by the secrecy-prone Bush administration, has had huge effects on public access, despite the large numbers of intelligence documents that have been exempted.

And every year from now on, millions of additional documents will be automatically declassified as they reach the 25-year limit, reversing the traditional practice of releasing just what scholars request.

Many historians had expected President George W. Bush to scrap the deadline. His administration has overseen the reclassification of many historical files and restricted access to presidential papers of past administrations, as well as contemporary records.

Telu portal Indian American whistleblower withdraws complaint against n-plant

New York, Dec 21 (IANS) An Indian American nuclear plant worker who lost his job after complaining about serious security loop holes at a nuclear plant in Connecticut has withdrawn his complaint.

In 2005, Sham Mehta complained to three different agencies that the intruder alarm system at the Millstone nuclear power plant in Connecticut was routinely turned off because of false alarms.

Soon after his complaint the management of the nuclear facility terminated Mehta's job, according to the online edition of News Day newspaper.

However, this week Mehta withdrew his complaint after reaching a settlement with the company. The settlement has been kept confidential

Hat tip to justice blogger ChimpCoulter. Cute flash game Decorate the Bush official you want investigated/indicted for Fitzmas

CBS Senior Bushes Lend Hand To Salvation Army

Former President George H.W. Bush and wife, Barbara, rang bells for the Salvation Army outside a local furniture store Monday, hoping to promote volunteerism and give a lift to the fundraising effort in the final week before Christmas.

The Salvation Army is coming off a record-breaking year in 2005 for its 115-year-old Red Kettle Campaign, raising $111 million in pocket change, small and large bills and the occasional diamond ring or gold tooth.

However, as of late last week, two of the Salvation Army's four U.S. regions reported donations off as much as 11 percent from a year ago — in large part because of a lack of volunteer bell ringers.

And the Salvation Army enlisted some of the people who caused the reason people can't give? One readers comment: For whom the bell tolls... It tolls for Thee.

Jerusalem Post This must end before it's like Iraq'

"Nothing justifies this ruthless war," said bookstore owner Khaled Shaker. "Most people here are disappointed with Hamas and Fatah. This war plays into the hands of Israel, whose leaders must be laughing at us now. We demand an end to the fighting before Palestine becomes a second Iraq."

We can all agree that nothing justifies a ruthless war upon innocent people.

Vanity Fair Don't Ask … Don't E-mail

The half-open closet in which Mark Foley spent his life was a recipe for disaster, say those few who tried to intervene. Investigating Foley's pre-teen seduction by a priest, the "ladies' man" mask he wore in Palm Beach society, and his love-hate relationship with the gay community, the authors uncover the ambition, delusion, and hypocrisy that corroded both the politician and his party.

House Speaker Dennis Hastert, former representative Mark Foley, President Bush, House majority leader John Boehner, and Representative John Shimkus. Everyone knew Mark Foley was gay. Everyone. And everyone who had a stake in his success—party, press, parents, staff, supporters, and pages—conspired for their own purposes to keep the closet half closed.

Quotes of the Day

To be conscious that you are ignorant is a great step to knowledge.--Benjamin Disraeli (1804 - 1881), Sybil, 1845

You can pretend to be serious; you can't pretend to be witty.--Sacha Guitry(1885 - 1957)

"Victory goes to the player who makes the next-to-last mistake."--"Discours de la Methode" -- Chessmaster Savielly Grigorievitch Tartakower (1887-1956)

"Each problem that I solved became a rule which served afterwards to solve other problems."-- Rene Descartes (1596-1650)

"I would have made a good Pope."-- Richard M. Nixon (1913-1994)

Prissy couldn't resist

Time for a Round of God Bless America

Not so much, huh Karl?

Dearest Readers, Prissy has been enjoying the party. The dems took it away...Now didn't Prissy tell you Ohio really was a blue state?

Since the dems have been elected, watch as their feet are held to the fire. We won't stop until they rescind some of these ignorant and dangerous "laws" created and processed as "part of our system" of American government.

Fortunately, the collective wisdom prevailed in the vote. The Representatives have been put on notice and their path corrected by We the People. It's true that Bush would not have won Ohio had the votes been properly counted in 2004. This election proves that by the trouncing republican Kenneth Blackwell got in the gubernatorial campaign by Congressman Ted Strickland.

If Prissy hears one more person claim "conspiracy theory" she will order them to count absentee ballots...all 17,766 of them here in Ohio. Prissy would wager that close to 75% are for the dems.

The pre-emptive genius election protection plan put together by Bob Fitrakis, Harvey Wasserman and Cliff Arnebeck was a huge success. They set up the command center for logging complaints, problems, etc. to monitor the election process. Boots on the ground like yours truly went to the polls to observe and take notes.

People voting said they were glad to see Prissy keeping an eye on things. The poll workers were a bit nervous, as they were not quite sure what Prissy was looking for.

Prissy's only "agenda" was to see that no one was needlessly denied their right to vote and that their vote was going to be counted.

Didn't take long to figure out who the republican and democrat poll workers were, although they all seemed like nice ladies. With Prissy incognito, they couldn't tell if she was a democrat or a republican.

Some major technical problems have convinced most of us, including poll workers that paper ballots are the way to go. Three of the five high tech, easy to use when the screen doesn't freeze, brand new ES&S machines ran out of paper.

That was troubling in the same precinct which awarded Bush an extra 3800 votes in 2004. There were only 638 in the precinct then. Don't you worry, Prissy got all the info for a good report. Truly, the poll workers did a great job, but it was good they knew we were carefully watching this time. Betty Buckaneer was precinct observing too.

Which leads Prissy to another thing...voter rolls are growing and that is a wonderful thing.

Prissy will post again Sunday, as she is going back to Washington soon and will have coverage of the Veteran's Day activities by military families and others. Dubya got a mandate from Americans.

A change in congress should help special prosecutor Fitzgerald to unseal Sealed v. Sealed. Prissy has no idea what Fitz intends to do about the leak grand jury expiration, but will let you know of any potential developments. Suffice it to say national security is an issue...

Sorry for the short post, Dearest Readers. Prissy is packing and has a meeting to attend later.

Hot Links

USA Today AP: Startling findings in Tillman probe

All four failed to identify their targets before firing, a direct violation of the fire discipline techniques drilled into every soldier.

There's more:

•Tillman's platoon had nearly run out of vital supplies, according to one of the shooters. They were down to the water in their Camelbak drinking pouches, and were forced to buy a goat from a local vendor. Delayed supply flights contributed to the hunger, fatigue and possibly misjudgments by platoon members.

•A key commander in the events that led to Tillman's death both was reprimanded for his role and meted out punishments to those who fired, raising questions of conflict of interest.

•A field hospital report says someone tried to jump-start Tillman's heart with CPR hours after his head had been partly blown off and his corpse wrapped in a poncho; key evidence including Tillman's body armor and uniform was burned.

Prissy has told you before soldiers are rationing supplies in Iraq-she had not heard they had to do the same in Afghanistan.

Dubya should be charged with criminal negligence of our troops.

CQ Public Bob Gates’ CIA Past Could Haunt Him in Confirmation Hearings

But he’s long been a major player in Republican national security circles, first as a Russian specialist on President Gerald Ford’s White House National Security Council in 1974, then eventually at the CIA, where he held a handful of senior positions before being tapped to be its chief by the first President Bush, in 1991.

And it wasn’t the first time he’d been nominated for the post — or his first dose of trouble in the spotlight.

In early 1987, his role in the so-called Iran-Contra affair, a secret White House operation to sell weapons to radical Islamic Iran in exchange for the release of U.S. hostages — and cash for CIA-backed rebels in Nicaragua — came under scrutiny.

Gates withdrew his nomination in the face of sure rejection.

Don't hesitate to do it again, Bob. If he has no intention of ending the war, no thanks to more of the same...

CNN Dobbs: A big 'hallelujah' for American voters

And voters in six states, including Arizona, approved initiatives raising minimum wages for their lowest-paid citizens. Those six states -- Colorado, Missouri, Montana, Ohio, Nevada and Arizona -- joined 23 other states and Washington, D.C., which have already raised their minimum wage requirements above that of the federal government. The Republican-led Congress refused for nearly a decade to raise the federal minimum wage, despite the fact that the minimum wage's purchasing power is now at the lowest point in more than 50 years and business profits are soaring.

Surveying the long list of initiatives all across the country, it's clear that voters cast their ballots with intelligence and heart far greater than that of their elected officials. California voters, for example, rejected a proposition that would tax oil producers to create a $4 billion alternative energy program to reduce oil consumption by 25 percent. While I support the goal, the proposal was a weak-kneed and poorly considered one that would have simply created a pass-through to California's energy consumers.

Voters in nine states issued a stunning rebuke to all levels of government on the issue of eminent domain. In those states, voters halted the rising national trend of allowing primarily local governments to seize personal property for private commercial development. Democrats as well as Republicans would do well to understand that the record long list of state initiatives represents frustration with elected officials at both the state and federal levels.

For their part, the victorious Democrats have a unique opportunity to put the middle class of this country first and foremost in their policies. If they fail to do so, November 4, 2008, will be an ugly date in their destiny.

America Blog There are serious problems with the vote in Florida's 13th CD

We're been watching this closely in Sarasota," said Lowell Finley, co-director and legal director for Voter Action, a national group formed in 2005 to challenge cases of voter fraud caused by electronic voting machines.

"The results are extremely irregular, and the fact that a large number of votes don't seem to be counted in just one race on these electronic machines is a very suspicious circumstance. We don't think the official results are accurate by any means."

At the heart of Jennings' argument is that 18,382 voters who cast ballots didn't vote for anyone in the 13th Congressional District race. That's about 15,000 more "undervotes" than in the last midterm election.

If Democrats can prove that a technical glitch caused the undervote, they'll argue that Jennings won nearly 53 percent of the Sarasota County vote.

In Katherine Harris' district-so why not be suspicious?

Haaretz U.S. won't quit Iraq just yet

The Iraqi army and police were dispersed, and the American army, with its relatively small amount of troops, had a tough time coping with the various militias and helping impose democracy. They were faced with the task of bringing in order, rebuilding the infrastructure, and putting Iraq back on its feet.

Saddam Hussein was captured, but there were difficulties in fighting the insurgents, and the combat turned into a civil war. Despite the pressure from top military commanders, Rumsfeld refused to increase the number of American soldiers in Iraq, and the objections multiplied. Rumsfeld's deputy and most of the assistants who helped him plan the war and come up with the approach that only relatively small forces were needed, have left the Pentagon.

Gates will need to bring a new generation of top officials into the Pentagon. He will understand soon that not only is the American future in Iraq at stake, but so are the plans being hatched by Iraq's neighbor, Iran. He will also understand soon that he will have to deal not only with the future of Iraq, but also, indirectly, with the future of Jordan, which could end up being surrounded by negative forces.

Israel just cannot mind their own business. Try making peace with the Palesinian people and stop bombing innocents in their sleep.

What a horrifying psychological tactic to use on those not killed.

Chicago Tribune Daley's most fearsome foe still out there

U.S. Atty. Patrick Fitzgerald has been busy on investigations involving the administrations of the mayor and Gov. Rod Blagojevich, and other top Democrats and top Republicans. Tomczak, 70, faces 47 months in federal prison, which won't increase just as long as he testifies in future City Hall corruption cases.

I've got a feeling that Daley's favorite congressman, U.S. Rep. Rahm Emanuel (D-Tomczak), who also likes Manny's, will do his best to negotiate a nice committee assignment for Jackson, since Emanuel is a Democratic power now.

There is little doubt that Daley would likely crush Jackson and Gutierrez at the polls. The mayor is master of all he surveys.

But City Hall is worried about another possible matchup for 2007. Giant patronage armies and fundraising dominance can't help the mayor in this one. It's a contest that all of Illinois--including Jackson--is waiting for: Daley vs. Fitzgerald.

The Globe Analysts outraged over U.S. adjustments of employment data 'Massive revisions' make report 'nonsense'

U.S. non-farm payrolls data -- arguably the most closely watched indicator in the world's largest economy -- are revised so often and by so much that they can't be trusted, some strategists argued yesterday.

Their comments come after Friday's report for October showed huge upward revisions for job creation in August and September. And last month, the Bureau of Labour Statistics said 810,000 more jobs were created between March, 2005, and March, 2006, than originally thought -- the biggest revision ever made to the data.

"How can you trust a non-farm payroll report that shows such massive revisions -- we have never seen this before to such an extent," David Rosenberg, North American economist at Merrill Lynch & Co., railed in a note to clients.

The U.S. report -- which measures the creation of non-agricultural jobs -- is usually released on the first Friday of the month and provides the earliest economic snapshot of the previous month. It tends to be one of the top market-moving indicators, influencing stocks, bonds and currency markets in the U.S. and beyond.

Video from Cindy Sheehan: What you don't see in the msm

Iraq in Fragments Documentary by director James Longley Click to enlarge

Quotes of the Day

"Red is dead."--Ohio National Guard commander, November 8, 2006

There is nothing worse than aggressive stupidity.-- Johann Wolfgang von Goethe

The basis of a democratic state is liberty.--Aristotle (384 BC - 322 BC), Politics

The First Amendment is often inconvenient. But that is besides the point. Inconvenience does not absolve the government of its obligation to tolerate speech. --Justice Anthony Kennedy (1936 - )

The love of liberty is the love of others; the love of power is the love of ourselves.--William Hazlitt (1778 - 1830)