Reasons to give 109th Congress the golden boot

We need a new Congress — here’s why:

1. Congress set a record for the fewest number of days worked — 218 between the House and Senate combined. [Link]
2. The Senate voted down a measure that urged the administration to start a phased redeployment of U.S. forces out of Iraq by the end of 2006. [Link]
3. Congress failed to raise the minimum wage, leaving it at its lowest inflation-adjusted level since 1955. [Link]
4. Congress gave itself a two percent pay raise. [Link]
5. There were 15,832 earmarks totaling $71 billion in 2006. (In 1994, there were 4,155 earmarks totaling $29 billion.) [Link]
6. Congress turned the tragic Terri Schiavo affair into a national spectacle because, according to one memo, it was “a great political issue” that got “the pro-life base…excited.” [Link]
7. The chairman of the Senate Committee on Environment and Public Works thinks global warming is the “greatest hoax ever perpetrated on the American people.” [Link]
8. The House leadership held open a vote for 50 minutes to twist arms and pass a bill that helped line the pockets of energy company executives. [Link]
9. Congress fired the Special Inspector General for Iraq Reconstruction, the lone effective federal watchdog for Iraq spending, effective Oct. 1, 2007. [Link]
10. The Chairman of the Senate Commerce Committee thinks the Internet is “a series of tubes.” [Link]

http://thinkprogress.org/2006/11/06/109-congress/

Don't Demean This Flag!

Andy Rooney is right on the money with his commentary! Truth hurts!

Andy Rooney On Why He Thinks People Shouldn't Wear The Flag


There's a silent little war going on in this country. It's between people who wear the American flag in their buttonhole and people who do not. Every night on the evening news, you see people - politicians mostly - being interviewed or giving speeches wearing a little metal American flag.

Are they suggesting they love America more than I do? If a politician running for office has an opponent who wears a flag, he usually thinks he has to wear one too. He's afraid people might say he isn't as patriotic as his opponent is.

President Bush always wears an American flag. Would we think he was un-American if he didn't? His father wore one sometimes, didn’t wear one other times. I think politicians wearing the American flag are a fairly new phenomenon. Politicians weren't wearing them as much just a few years ago not as much as they are now. President Bush didn't wear one when he was governor of Texas. I don't remember seeing Harry Truman, John F. Kennedy or Dwight Eisenhower wearing one. We did come across a picture of Nixon in the 70’s wearing a flag. Maybe he started it. I've always wondered if a politician, who wears a flag when the cameras are rolling, wears one on Saturdays when he's home alone in his old clothes. Or is he only patriotic in public.

Women politicians don't seem to use the flag as decoration like men do - maybe that's because they have no good place to hang a flag. Or they don't want to put a hole in their dress with the pin.

I suppose it isn't a very popular opinion I have but I don't like to see a politician - or anyone else for that matter - wearing an American flag. Using the flag as decoration is demeaning to it as a symbol. The American flag may be the best symbol ever designed. It's perfect.

It represents our current 50 States and the 13 original colonies. It's both attractive and meaningful and it stands for who we are. That's a lot to ask of a piece of cloth and the American flag does it magnificently.

It should not be used as a bumper sticker.

http://www.cbsnews.com/stories/2006/11/01/60minutes/rooney/main2143552.shtml

Poll: The panhandler-in-chief's approval rating dips to 35 percent

WASHINGTON (CNN) -- President Bush's popularity has dipped to 35 percent, according to a new CNN poll, with 41 percent of likely voters saying their disapproval of his performance will affect their vote in Tuesday's elections for control of Congress.

Sixty-one percent of the 1,008 adult Americans who responded to the Opinion Research Corp. poll said they disapproved of the way Bush is handling his job as president, according to the survey. The poll was conducted by telephone Friday through Sunday.

http://www.cnn.com/2006/POLITICS/11/06/bush.poll/index.html

Doolittle speaks little

Early last year, two little-known nonprofit groups paid for Rep. John T. Doolittle (R-Calif.) and his 12-year-old daughter to travel to South Korea and Malaysia. Their last stop was the Berjaya Beach & Spa Resort on the Malaysian island of Langkawi, where they bunked at an oceanfront chalet staffed with a personal butler, got massages and rode water scooters on Burau Bay.
Doolittle's junket, which cost $29,400, was among the most expensive privately sponsored trips by members of Congress in recent years. The two groups that split the bills were not ordinary nonprofits. They were fronts for vigorous lobbying campaigns bankrolled by foreign entities and were operated by a Washington lobbying firm, Alexander Strategy Group, according to public records and people who worked with the firm.
For five years beginning in 2001, the Korea-U.S. Exchange Council and the U.S.-Malaysia Exchange Association treated 12 members of Congress and 31 Capitol Hill staffers and their relatives to nearly $500,000 in trips that included stops at U.S. and overseas resorts, records show.
The two nonprofits and the lobbying firm behind them have drawn the attention of the FBI. People associated with Alexander Strategy, who spoke on the condition of anonymity, said federal investigators have asked them whether the groups were conduits for a foreign government and a foreign corporation to finance congressional junkets.
Records show that the Korea-U.S. Exchange Council was funded by the Hanwha Group, a South Korean conglomerate. The stated goal was to enhance the influence of Hanwha's chairman, Seung Youn Kim, a controversial figure once jailed for violating Korean financial law in his purchase of Sylvester Stallone's Hollywood mansion. Lobbyists for the U.S.-Malaysia Exchange Association filed reports stating that their funds came from a Malaysian energy firm and that the work was "on behalf of the government of Malaysia."
Federal law prohibits members of Congress from knowingly accepting overseas travel from foreign governments except as part of a cultural interchange program approved by the State Department. The travel in this case was not part of such a program, government officials said. House rules ban members from taking trips paid for by lobbyists or foreign agents. Nonprofits and their officers are prohibited under federal tax law from using a charitable organization for private commercial gain. More on the story.

Do Bush and Cheney Want To Lose?

Well, it's a nice thought...

Is it possible the White House doesn't want Republicans to win the congressional elections on Tuesday? I know this sounds crazy. But consider the evidence.
1. Last week, George W. Bush vowed to retain Donald Rumsfeld as secretary of defense until the end of his presidency. (He said the same about Dick Cheney.) The debacle in Iraq is responsible for Bush's political decline and the GOP's poor electoral prospects. And Rumsfeld is the poster boy for that debacle. (Days ago, the Army Times called for his resignation.) Bush had no obligation to say whether Rumsfeld would remain at the Pentagon for another two years. He went out of his way in the homestretch of an election to tether himself to the fellow who symbolizes the mess in Iraq. Why do that--unless he has a political death wish?
2. On Friday, Dick Cheney said that the administration would indeed stay with its current course in Iraq and move "full speed ahead." He said, "We've got the basic strategy right." He added, "It may not be popular with the public--it doesn't matter in the sense that we have to continue the mission and do what we think is right. And that's exactly what we're doing. We're not running for office. We're doing what we think is right." Perhaps. But the previous week, his boss held a press conference and tried to convey the impression (though false) that the administration was going to rejigger its Iraq policy by introducing and aiming for "benchmarks." Bush's benchmark comments were not sufficient to win the confidence of the electorate. Days later, a New York Times/CBS News poll noted that only 29 percent of Americans approve of how Bush is handling the war in Iraq. So if 71 percent do not have faith in the White House's Iraq policy, why would Cheney make a point of declaring--defiantly--that he and Bush are committed to racing down that unpopular road? It was as if he were shooting the bird at the American public.
3. Speaking of which, on the weekend before the election, Cheney's office had an announcement: Cheney would spend Election Day on his first hunting trip since he shot a friend while trying to kill quail on a private ranch last February. Was this the right time for the White House to remind voters of Cheney's hapless moment? Couldn't Cheney wait until after the election before picking up a gun again? Why won't he be in a toss-up state stumping for a Republican candidate on Election Day? Or knocking on doors? And why does he get the day off? Election Day is not a federal holiday. More on the story.

Congressman Jeff Flake: A foe to the GOP but a friend to the Democrats?

Meet Congressmen Jeff Flake of Arizona.

Quote

"For everyone who stops me on the street and says, 'Why don't you give money to this library or this museum?' you know, you have a hundred saying, 'Atta boy,'"
Rep. Jeff Flake

(CBS) Buried in the fine print is $70 billion, give or take a billion or two. It is one subject members of Congress don’t like talking about: earmarks. The $70 billion covers just this year's crop of earmarks. Earmarks designate money for a multitude of hometown projects that may also benefit lobbyists and the industries they represent. Most of them are buried in the fine print of legislation and are seldom debated. Many say they’re one of Congress’s dirty little secrets, that a good part of that $70 billion is pork – government waste at its worst. As correspondent Morley Safer reports, past examples include the $223 million "bridge to nowhere" in Alaska, which almost got approved, and half a million for a teapot museum in North Carolina, which did. This story is about one congressman’s mission to end earmarks that has pitted him against the House, in particular against members of his own party.

"Everyone bears some blame here but Republicans are going to be blamed disproportionately. And then I have to say we deserve it, because we’ve been in charge," says Rep. Jeff Flake, a conservative Republican from Arizona.

More on Rep. Flake's interview.

The Republicans admit they are breaking to law to stop people from voting

Still desperately to spread the koolaid love..

The Republicans are up to their dirty tricks, and honestly, someone should throw these people in jail - on either side of the aisle, if you do things like this.Talking Points Memo has been gathering evidence that Republicans are using robo-phone-calls to annoy voters, especially Democratic voters, in Connecticut and New York - i.e., the calls make voters think it's the Democratic candidate harrassing them, so they won't vote for him or her.The messages start like they are going are from the Democratic candidate "I have a message from...." but then turn in to a negative call. However, callers are only hearing the first part of the message, thinking that it is the Democrat. If callers hang up, they're called back again, and again, and again. End result? The Democratic callers are so ticked off at the Democrat harassing them that they don't vote, or vote for the Republican - without realizing they've just been tricked. The National Republican Campaign Committee admitted they're making the calls in an Associated Press article reported on TPM Muckraker last Wednesday:
NRCC spokesman Ed Patru denied any illegal intent."All of our political calls are in compliance with the law," Patru said.Not so, said the Democrats."They are violating the regulations that were set up," said Jen Psaki, a spokeswoman for the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee, who said the DCCC employed one robocall this cycle and paid $500 for it.

http://americablog.blogspot.com/

Update: New Hampshire has been hit with annoying phone calls:


CONCORD, N.H. -- It turns out that some of the political phone messages Granite Staters are receiving as Election Day nears may be illegal. The issue revolves around the national Do Not Call registry.
A homeowner in Hillsboro received the same message several times in one day. It began by stating it had information about Paul Hodes, the Democratic challenger for the 2nd Congressional District.
After a few seconds, the ad turns on the attack. It isn't until the end that you find out it was sponsored by the Republican National Congressional Committee.

http://www.wmur.com/news/10239713/detail.html

Congress Tells Auditor in Iraq to Close Office

Investigations led by a Republican lawyer named Stuart W. Bowen Jr. in Iraq have sent American occupation officials to jail on bribery and conspiracy charges, exposed disastrously poor construction work by well-connected companies like Halliburton and Parsons, and discovered that the military did not properly track hundreds of thousands of weapons it shipped to Iraqi security forces.

And tucked away in a huge military authorization bill that President Bush signed two weeks ago is what some of Mr. Bowen’s supporters believe is his reward for repeatedly embarrassing the administration: a pink slip.

The order comes in the form of an obscure provision that terminates his federal oversight agency, the Office of the Special Inspector General for Iraq Reconstruction, on Oct. 1, 2007. The clause was inserted by the Republican side of the House Armed Services Committee over the objections of Democratic counterparts during a closed-door conference, and it has generated surprise and some outrage among lawmakers who say they had no idea it was in the final legislation. More on the story.

Coming down to last wire:Cook's Last Forecast

Political Wire asked Charlie Cook of the Cook Political Report for his latest forecast on Tuesday's elections.

With just over 72 hours to go before the polls close, it's very hard to imagine how the House majority does not turn over, it's a question of how big this thing will be. As the magnitude of the House wave began growing a month or so ago, and the prospect of a 20 or more seat gain became increasingly probable, I decided that no matter how big it got, I was not going to say or write a number bigger than 35. After a certain point, you aren't really counting or even estimating, you're pulling numbers out of the air. I didn't and don't see any point in that. Let's just say it's 20-35, but that the possibility of this getting bigger, is very real. I'm just not going to throw any higher numbers out.

House Republican incumbents and House Republican members running for Senate and Governor have everything going against them that all Repoublican candidates this year have, but they are also bearing the full brunt of the scandals as well. It doesn't seem to hurt any other type of GOP candidates as much as House members.

The Senate is a very different situation and there are some very strange things going on.

In Pennsylvania, Rick Santorum is gone. While the margin in Ohio is not nearly as wide, it's very hard to see how Mike DeWine makes it back either.

The strange ones are Conrad Burns and Lincoln Chafee in Montana and Rhode Island, respectively. Both races are basically even, pretty remarkable considering how dismal their prospects looked just a couple weeks ago. While even is a bad place for a Republican to be going into Election Day in this kind of environment, both have some momentum at this point.Conversely, George Allen and Jim Talent, are dead even as well, but with no momentum, and that is very, very dangerous under these circumstances. Talent/Republicans have a fabulous field organization in Missouri, if Talent pulls it out, it might be the ground game that does it, but this is very tough for both.

In Tennessee, while Democrats are boasting of a very strong African-American early voting program, this race really does appear to have slipped away from Democrats. Ijd be surprised to see Corker lose to Ford now.In terms of Democratic-held seats, Cantwell and Stabenow in Washington and Michigan are done deals, Menendez has pretty fair lead in New Jersey, and will probably win with points to spare, but it's volatile enough that I am still holding back. More on the story.

White House on Evangelical Scandal: Reverend Who?

Q This Reverend Haggard out in Colorado, is he someone who is close to the White House? There had been reports that he was on the weekly call with evangelicals. Is that true?

MR. FRATTO: I'm actually told that that's not true, that he has -- in terms of a weekly call that he has? He had been on a couple of calls, but was not a weekly participant in those calls. I believe he's been to the White House one or two times. I don't want to confine it to a specific number because it would take a while to figure out how many times. But there have been a lot of people who come to the White House, and --

Q -- when was he at the White House?

MR. FRATTO: I couldn't tell you specifically. I know that there was a picture of him with the President in one of the TV reports, so obviously he met with the President at some point in time.
Look, this is a personal issue for someone. It's something that Reverend Haggard needs to deal with, with his family and his church. And I'm not sure that there's any comment beyond that that's necessary.

Q Would that make evangelicals dispirited and maybe sit out the election Tuesday?

MR. FRATTO: I doubt it. I doubt it.

Q Why?

MR. FRATTO: Well, because I think the community you're referring to understands where the Republican Party is on issues that are important to them, and someone's -- something that an individual did that affects them personally shouldn't affect their interest in advancing issues that they care about.
http://www.tpmmuckraker.com/archives/001936.php

November's surprise

And the turkey got the last laugh! Priceless!

Dubya's strategic plan: Alert the media!

Priceless!

Little Ricky Scrotum’s happy to give nukular secrets away to the “Internets”

Just when you think this guy can't be any MORE of an idiot, he surpasses himself.

From Ricky Scrotum:

We're trying to assure that all the information that we have gathered from the previous regime in Iraq, Saddam Hussein's regime, is being made available to the public as quickly as possible. With a bias toward making this information unclassified and released....And he [President Bush] assured me that they were going to be releasing documents in a steady stream over a period of time. Not picking and choosing documents, but releasing documents, a lot of which will not have been interpreted, out into the Internet for people to see. I think that is a wonderful step forward. There is no question that, as a result of that release, we will be able to get that information analyzed by people all over the world....All of this information is at least three years old and a lot of this information is much older than that. And so there seems to very little concern, at least from my perspective, that this information is sensitive from a classification point of view....The American public has a right to know this information. We have no idea, you know, what - given the volumes of documents we're talking about here, 48,000 boxes of documents - what's in there. But we think it's important that the public get a view.

http://santorumexposed.com/serendipity/archives/205-Santorum-helps-release-nuclear-secrets.html

The Internets gang: the gang that can't shoot straight

An army of idiots in the White House indeed...


Their master plan of finding WMD's backfired on the Army of idiots. (rough transcript)

Mitchell: …Peter Hoekstra in fact said, Quote: "Let's unleash the power of the Internet on these documents to see if there was a smoking gun on WMD's"—the intelligence experts were reluctant to release these documents..Skeptics at the time said that all this was being done by conservative bloggers and others on the Intelligence committees to try and bolster their argument that the war was in fact justified in the first place.

These specific dozen documents–they did have a blue print for making bombs and those technical documents could have been helpful to terrorists…The net affect would likely be that it would hurt the administration because it shows that they—once again—were the gang that couldn't shoot straight!—they forced the Intelligence community to do something that the experts didn't want to do and the President himself overruled John Negroponte on.

http://www.crooksandliars.com/2006/11/03/the-gang-that-couldnt-shoot-straight/

http://atrios.blogspot.com/2006_10_29_atrios_archive.html#116256668609072540

GOP hearts porn

RNC Accepts Money From Army Porn Movie Distributor

Despite running an attack ad accusing a Democratic senatorial candidate of accepting money from "porn movie producers," the Republican National Committee itself has accepted several donations over the past few years from the president of a large pornographic movie distribution company.

Marina Pacific Distributors calls itself "the leader in adult video distribution." Included in the movies for sale on their Web site are videos made by "Active Duty Productions." Active Duty, as their name suggests, has cast active duty soldiers in some of their films but not without serious consequences for the soldiers.
More on the story.

British believe Bush is more dangerous than Kim Jong-il

Truly sad of what the dictator-in-chief has turned this country into:


US allies think Washington threat to world peace · Only Bin Laden feared more in United Kingdom

America is now seen as a threat to world peace by its closest neighbours and allies, according to an international survey of public opinion published today that reveals just how far the country's reputation has fallen among former supporters since the invasion of Iraq.
More on the story.

Judge Rejects Libby's Use of Memory Expert

Little Irve is hosed in his defense case. Might as well bail out while he can!


The studies relied on by Libby mostly pertain to eye-witness identification and don't fit the facts of his case.

The 13 points of memory principles Libby expert Robert Bjork would testify to are unlikely to assist the jury because the jurors could figure most of them out.

Libby has not shown that the traditional method of cross-examining the Government's witnesses would not be sufficiently effective.



Here is the filing

People in droves flocked to buy Fingers Foley movie

This tells you the mentality of people. First, Scooter Libby's trash book, The Apprentice, and now Foley's movie.

Foley Movie Flying off the Shelves Despite Lousy Reviews


While he was still in Congress, Mark Foley appeared in a B-action movie that went straight to DVD. Despite bad reviews, hard-to-find copies of the movie are now in hot demand as word is spreading of Foley's forgotten cameo.
The movie, formerly titled "The Librarians" and retitled "Strike Force," is a thriller about the hunt for a kidnapper in South Florida. Then-Congressman Foley played a bit part as a -- surprise -- congressman who is reunited with his daughter after she is kidnapped.


Foley also reportedly worked as an extra in the steamy 1981 hit "Body Heat" starring Kathleen Turner and William Hurt, but he ended up on the cutting room floor.

http://www.rawstory.com/showoutarticle.php?src=http%3A%2F%2Fblogs.abcnews.com%2Ftheblotter%2F2006%2F11%2Ffoley_movie_fly.html

Here is a clip of Foley's cameo appearance.

Hold your laughter on this one!

Here were the people who signed the Declaration of Independence:

New Hampshire: Josiah Bartlett, William Whipple, Matthew Thornton

Massachusetts: Samuel Adams, John Adams, John Hancock, Robert Treat Paine, Elbridge Gerry

Rhode Island: Stephen Hopkins, William Ellery

Connecticut: Roger Sherman, Samuel Huntington, William Williams, Oliver Wolcott

New York: William Floyd, Philip Livingston, Francis Lewis, Lewis Morris

New Jersey: Richard Stockton, John Witherspoon, Francis Hopkinson, John Hart, Abraham Clark

Pennsylvania: Robert Morris, Benjamin Rush, Benjamin Franklin, John Morton, George Clymer, James Smith, George Taylor, James Wilson, George Ross

Delaware: George Read, Caesar Rodney, Thomas McKean

Maryland: Samuel Chase, William Paca, Thomas Stone, Charles Carroll of Carrollton

Virginia: George Wythe, Richard Henry Lee, Thomas Jefferson, Benjamin Harrison, Thomas Nelson, Jr., Francis Lightfoot Lee, Carter Braxton

North Carolina: William Hooper, Joseph Hewes, John Penn

South Carolina: Edward Rutledge, Thomas Heyward, Jr., Thomas Lynch, Jr., Arthur Middleton

Georgia: Button Gwinnett, Lyman Hall, George Walton

And here was the price to pay for their success:

Five signers were captured by the British as traitors and tortured before they died.

Twelve had their homes ransacked and burned.

Two lost their sons serving in the Revolutionary Army, another had two sons captured.

Nine of the 56 fought and died from wounds or hardships of the Revolutionary War.

Carter Braxton of Virginia, a wealthy planter and trader, saw his ships swept from the seas by the British Navy. He sold his home and properties to pay his debts, and died in rags.

Thomas McKeam ,delegate to the Continental Congress (of which he later served as president), President of Delaware, Chief Justice of Pennsylvania, and Governor of Pennsylvania, was so hounded by the British that he was forced to move his family almost constantly. He served in the Congress without pay, and his family was kept in hiding. His possessions were taken from him, and poverty was his reward.

Vandals or soldiers looted the properties of Dillery, Hall, Clymer, Walton, Gwinnett, Heyward, Ruttledge, and Middleton.

At the battle of Yorktown, Thomas Nelson, Jr., noted that the British General Cornwallis had taken over the Nelson home for his headquarters. He quietly urged General George Washington to open fire. The home was destroyed, and Nelson died bankrupt.

Francis Lewis had his home and properties destroyed. The enemy jailed his wife, and she died within a few months.

John Hart was driven from his wife's bedside as she was dying. Their 13 children fled for their lives. His fields and his gristmill were laid to waste. For more than a year, he lived in forests and caves, returning home to find his wife dead and his children vanished. A few weeks later, he died from exhaustion and a broken heart.

Norris and Livingston suffered similar fates.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/United_States_Declaration_of_Independence

Vote November 7th for a change!

When Bush leaves a soldier behind

This is disgraceful by the President who labels himself, the Commander-in-Chief!

For weeks, Bush administration officials have taken turns explaining their lack of confidence in Iraqi Prime Minister Nuri Kamal al-Maliki and insisting that they're still on the same page as him. Yesterday, however, in a development that seems infinitely more important that John Kerry flubbing one word in a meaningless joke, Maliki started flexing his muscles in a dangerous way.
Prime Minister Nuri Kamal al-Maliki demanded the removal of American checkpoints from the streets of Baghdad on Tuesday, in what appeared to be his latest and boldest gambit in an increasingly tense struggle for more independence from his American protectors. […]
The language of the declaration, which implied that Mr. Maliki had the power to command American forces, seemed to overstep his authority and to be aimed at placating his Shiite constituency.
The withdrawal was greeted with jubilation in the streets of Sadr City, the densely populated Shiite enclave where the Americans have focused their manhunt and where anti-American sentiment runs high.
Maliki doesn't have "command" over U.S. troops, but our soldiers abandoned all the positions in eastern and central Baghdad they had set up just as soon Iraqis told them to.
To be sure, the checkpoints had apparently caused practical and logistical problems for life in Baghdad, but they were created for a reason — we were searching for a missing American soldier.

And what about that search now?

http://www.thecarpetbaggerreport.com/archives/8931.html

Bush gives Darth Cheney and Rumsfailed 100% job security

Heckuva job, Dick and Rummy. Once again Bush proves that competence does not matter. No matter how badly you screw up in this administration, you have a job and are safe. This sounds like another crowd pleaser which will resonate well with the American public.
Bush credited Rumsfeld with overseeing wars in Iraq and Afghanistan while overhauling the military. "I'm pleased with the progress we're making," the president said. He replied in the affirmative if he wanted Rumsfeld and Cheney to stay with him until the end.

Who else could look at the Iraq fiasco and give such strong support to these guys? Who else actually sees the progress that Bush sees? Get this guy a doctor because he is having hallucinations.

http://americablog.blogspot.com/

No sex??

Compliments of a blogger of this pic from a chick movie!


Why oh why does the GOP have such a problem with sex?

The federal government's "no sex without marriage" message isn't just for kids anymore.
Now the government is targeting unmarried adults up to age 29 as part of its abstinence-only programs, which include millions of dollars in federal money that will be available to the states under revised federal grant guidelines for 2007.
The government says the change is a clarification. But critics say it's a clear signal of a more directed policy targeting the sexual behavior of adults.

This is interesting that government can give a "no sex with marriage" message to the public when we currently have scandals of affairs, solicitng underage kids, hookers, gay prostitutes, and so on going on in Capitol Hill!

Look In The Mirror For Apologies Mr. Bush

Cheers to Left Coaster.com!


As long as the White House is demanding apologies, let's all get in the spirit. Mr. Bush, you should apologize for making a joke about not finding WMDs, as thousands die in Iraq for your lies. But why stop there?

Mr. Bush, apologize to the families of those lost on September 11th for your abdication of responsibility in the summer of 2001, and specifically for your "you've covered your ass now" response in ignoring the August 6th, 2001 PDB.

Mr. Bush, apologize for letting Osama Bin Laden escape at Tora Bora in December 2001, and for encouraging the Pakistanis to back away from Al Qaeda and the Taliban in September in Waziristan.

Mr. Bush, apologize to our troops in Afghanistan for abandoning the mission in that country to divert resources to Iraq, and for Donald Rumsfeld specifically refusing to provide resources for a heroin eradication program in that country that has led to a flourishing of financing for the Taliban.

Mr. Bush, apologize to our troops for sending them into harm's way through a campaign of lies and public disinformation, and then joking about it as the soldiers died for your mendacity.

Mr. Bush, apologize to our troops for using them in a war that had nothing to do with those who attacked us on 9/11, and for knowing you were lying about this at the time.

Mr. Bush, apologize to the troops for not sending enough of them to secure the country, for providing them with inadequate and substandard equipment, food, and logistical support that has endangered them every day they are there. You should apologize to the troops for not having a Plan B to deal with occupying the country after Donald Rumsfeld didn't get his way by installing Ahmad Chalabi as our toady. While you are at it, apologize to the troops for not securing the weapons caches inside Iraq and for letting thousands of weapons fall into the hands of those who are killing our troops now.

Mr. Bush, apologize to the troops for not changing strategy from "stay the course" when it could have mattered years ago, thereby ensuring that our troops are fighting and dying needlessly for your pigheadedness.

Mr. Bush, apologize to the troops for their inadequate veterans' benefits, why their families have to go on food stamps, why their families have to send them flak jackets, and why you don't attend the funerals of those killed in action.
And while you are at it, you should apologize to the troops for being so cavalier with their lives with the "bring them on", "Mission Accomplished", and other rhetorical nonsense. It sure seems easy for you to question the commitment and patriotism of others when neither you, your five-deferments vice president, your peacetime flight instructor Defense Secretary, and your combat-avoiding press spokesman have ever served their country in combat.

Mr. Bush, someone like you, who DQ'd from being a stateside pilot after running to Alabama to avoid Vietnam is in no position to ask anyone else to apologize to our troops for anything.

Any apologies begin and end with you.

http://www.theleftcoaster.com/

Fitz's filings for October 30, 2006

In Fitz's filings, he argues that he doesn't need to explain why Libby was charged , why others weren't charged, or why the source of the leak escaped prosecution.


Here is Fitz's filings.

Waxman Plans Tougher Oversight Of Companies

WASHINGTON -- California Rep. Henry Waxman, the vocal corporate critic slated to run a powerful committee if Democrats win the House, said he would aggressively expand oversight of many large industries -- with a focus on drug prices, oil-company profits and Halliburton Co.'s contracting work in Iraq.
In an interview, Rep. Waxman, the senior minority member of the House Government Reform Committee, said he also would boost oversight of the Bush administration, along with "waste, fraud and abuse" across the federal government -- especially rebuilding efforts in Iraq and the Hurricane Katrina-ravaged Gulf Coast. The committee has extensive -- and vaguely defined -- oversight responsibilities covering broad swaths of corporate America and the government, and the chairman has the power to issue subpoenas, compel testimony and call hearings.

Of particular concern, Mr. Waxman said, would be rooting out what he called "profiteering." His aides define the term broadly enough that it encompasses Iraq contracting, the massive growth in homeland security expenditures, pharmaceutical prices and soaring oil-industry profits. Probes into prices and profits could prove controversial, however, because the government itself has never been able to define precisely what constitutes price-gouging or profiteering.
In discussing his goals, Mr. Waxman is touching on many of the hot-button issues being aired both in the campaign and behind the scenes among Democrats. The party has been debating how much to spotlight what could be controversial actions before voters go to the polls, or how much to stick to more general policy slogans. Republicans already have begun trying to cast Mr. Waxman as a partisan who would abuse his investigative powers. More on the story.

Way to go Mr. Waxman!

Cheney Echoes Recent Concerns On Sarbanes-Oxley

From out of the mouth of the same criminal V.P. that sold over $50 million of his personal haliburton stock while in possession of material adverse informaion about the billions of dollars in unreported asbestos liabilities.

WASHINGTON -- Vice President Dick Cheney became the latest member of the Bush administration to weigh in against the Sarbanes-Oxley Act, saying in an interview on CNBC that the 2002 corporate governance law may have gone "too far."
Passed following the Enron and other corporate scandals, Sarbanes-Oxley added new accounting requirements and required executives to sign off on their firms' financial reports. The law, however, has been criticized by business groups, who believe it hampers innovation.
"I think you can make a case that Sarbanes-Oxley went too far," Mr. Cheney said in an interview on CNBC's "Kudlow & Company."
President Bush told CNBC last week that he would like to fine-tune Sarbanes-Oxley to retain good corporate governance but relax some rules that could put U.S. capital markets at a disadvantage to their global competition.
On CNBC, Mr. Cheney said, "We have to be very careful about slapping on new regulations or trying to respond to the political pressures of the moment by making life even more burdensome than we have. And I am generally not a big advocate of regulation. You need a certain amount, obviously, and you need a certain amount of oversight by government authorities, but we have to be very careful here not to choke off the creativity and the entrepreneurial spirit of the American economy."
Treasury Secretary Henry Paulson also has said he believes the regulatory pendulum "may have swung too far" in response to corporate scandals. As head of the President's Working Group on Financial Markets, which coordinates government policy on financial markets, Mr. Paulson has indicated he will look at the effect that Sarbanes-Oxley has had on the competitiveness of the U.S. capital markets. He has also expressed support for a private-sector effort to recommend changes to laws and rules that critics say handicap U.S. financial markets.

-->http://online.wsj.com/article/SB116227003796608718.html?mod=politics_primary_hs

Salon: Money trails lead to Bush judges

Yup, King George's dirty secrets and money trail are being exposed!

An investigation has revealed that two dozen federal judges contributed thousands of dollars to Republicans who "helped place them on the bench," Salon is reporting.
"A four-month investigation of Bush-appointed judges by the Center for Investigative Reporting," writes Will Evans, "reveals that six appellate court judges and 18 district court judges contributed a total of more than $44,000 to politicians who were influential in their appointments."
Some contributed money directly to the President after being officially nominated by him, the article reports. "Other judges contributed to Republican campaign committees while they were under consideration for a judgeship." More on the story.

Michael J. Fox: A man with class

I was a bit shocked and offended by Rush Limbaugh's remarks about Michael J. Fox's condition. I am glad that Mr. Fox spoke out. But, his response is nothing but class. Thanks, Michael!

Fox Responds To Limbaugh Claim That He’s ‘Cruel’ For Creating ‘False Hopes’ About Stem Cells

Last week, Rush Limbaugh called Michael J. Fox “cruel” for giving people “false hope” that stem cell research will lead to medical breakthroughs:
When you start telling them there’s a cure around the corner if only somebody gets elected, you are misleading them. You are creating a false hope scenario and that is cruel.
Today on ABC, Fox responded, “What is crueler? To not have hope or to have hope?” He pointed out that “it’s not false hope, it’s a very informed hope. I mean, it’s hope that’s informed by the opinion of our leading scientists, almost to the point of unanimity” that embryonic stem cell research offers tremendous potential for treating and and even curing a wide range of diseases and injuries.

http://thinkprogress.org/2006/10/29/fox-limbaugh-2/

Libby prosecutors want to limit evidence about original Plame leak

Update on the Libby trial:


WASHINGTON (CNN) -- Prosecutors in the criminal case against former White House aide Lewis "Scooter" Libby want to bar his defense attorneys from telling jurors in his upcoming trial that neither Libby nor anyone else were charged with leaking the name of CIA operative Valerie Plame -- the leak that started the investigation that eventually led to Libby's indictment.
In a motion filed Monday, the special prosecutor in the Libby case, Patrick Fitzgerald, said letting jurors learn that no one has been indicted for leaking the information about Plame would be "unfairly prejudicial" and "potentially confusing."
"The fact that neither Libby nor anyone else has been charged with a crime for the disclosure of classified information is irrelevant to whether Libby committed the crimes charged in the indictment," Fitzgerald said in his motion.
He also argued that the information "might cause the jury to improperly render a verdict on its evaluation of the government's charging decisions, rather than the facts and the law." (Posted 9:58 p.m.)

http://www.cnn.com/2006/WORLD/europe/10/30/monday/index.html?section=cnn_latest

Freedom-September 11th Tribute

This song was played at a event this past weekend. And this song really hits home since the President is chipping away to what made this country great: freedom.

Lyrics by Paul McCartney

This is my right
A right given by God
To live a free life
To live in freedom
Talkin' about freedom
I'm talkin' 'bout freedom
I will fight
For the right
To live in freedom
Anyone tries to take it away
They'll have to answer
'Cause this is my right
I'm talkin' about freedom
Talkin' 'bout freedom
I will fight
For the right
To live in freedom
I'm talkin' 'bout freedom
I'm talkin' 'bout freedom
I will fight
For the right
To live in freedom
Everybody talkin' 'bout freedom
We're talkin' 'bout freedom
We will fight
For the right
To live in freedom

http://www.seeklyrics.com/lyrics/Paul-Mccartney/Freedom.html


Click to the video.

The Ginsu prosecutor bitchslaps the naysayers

Patrick Fitzgerald Proves He's an Equal Opportunity Prosecutor

Some interesting things are happening in the U.S. Prosecutor’s office for the Northern District of Illinois. That happens to be the one that is headed by Patrick Fitzgerald, who is doing double duty in pursuing the legal truth about those who committed treason by outing a CIA operative specializing in Weapons of Mass Destruction in the Middle East.
One of the battle cries of the Bush loyalists is that Fitzgerald is a partisan prosecutor. But in Illinois, he is pursuing two extremely intense and high profile investigations of the offices of the two top Democratic office holders in the state: the Governor and the Mayor of Chicago.
If Fitzgerald were a partisan, he wouldn’t be giving Blagojevich and Daley the Ginzu prosecution knife treatment. It’s a bit complicated to explain both investigations, but -- suffice it to say -- Fitzgerald has gotten one room away from both Democratic office holders – and appears extremely close to walking over the legal threshold and stepping into the Governor’s office.
At this point, Mayor Daley doesn’t appear as personally at risk, but trusted staff who surround him are being subpoenaed and prosecuted by the handful.
So if anyone ever claims Fitzgerald is some sort of secret Democrat, just ask the Democratic Governor of Illinois and the legendary Democratic Mayor of Chicago.
They’ll probably tell you that Fitzgerald is a tool of the Bush Administration trying to bring down the Democratic Party in Illinois.

Toss that in the face of Sean Hannity.


http://libbydefensefund.com/news/06/1029.htm

The words that will come bite to haunt Bush

A Letter from California

10/26/06 0510.51 pst

San Jose, California

One pictured Mr Bush looking under a piece of furniture in the Oval Office, at which the president remarked: "Those weapons of mass destruction have got to be here somewhere."
After another one, showing him scouring the corner of a room, Mr Bush said: "No, no weapons over there," he said.
And as a third picture, this time showing him leaning over, appeared on the screen the president was heard to say: "Maybe under here?"


http://www.theleftcoaster.com/archives/009082.php

Here are the casualities of soldiers that lost their lives on a war on false pretenses.

These words will bite the President in the ass.

What was that about 'porn movie producers'?

The RNC's "bimbo" ad in Tennessee last week obviously captured so much attention for its racist elements, but in its litany of criticisms against Rep. Harold Ford (D-Tenn.), the RNC also accused the Democratic hopeful as having taken political contributions from "porn movie producers."
As it turns out, it's funny the RNC would highlight this as a problem.
It turns out that the Republican National Committee is a regular recipient of political contributions from Nicholas T. Boyias, the owner and CEO of Marina Pacific Distributors, one of the largest producers and distributors of gay porn in the United States. This recent article on Marina Pacific's new marketing campaign form XBiz, a porn industry trade sheet, notes that, in addition to producing its own material, the "company acts as a distribution house to hundreds of lines, mostly gay, 40 of which can be purchased only through MPD."
The company actually seems to be a trendsetter in the industry. As Boyias recently noted, "We have always modeled ourselves after a Fortune-style company. They are the models of exceptional customer service. We have formed strategic alliances with our vendors and customers alike, offering them tools and marketing to assist them in succeeding with their business models. Our one-on-one interpersonal relationships have never been duplicated in the distribution industry."
Some recent releases include "Fire in the Hole", "Flesh and Boners", even a "Velvet Mafia" series.
Boyias, apparently, has been quite generous to the Republican establishment, contributing to both the RNC and the NRCC.

http://www.thecarpetbaggerreport.com/

Very interesting...

Sir William Wallace: an example of heroism and devotion in his country

I attended a conference this pass weekend and a quote from the movie, Braveheart, was given in a speech from a speaker. As we vote in November, we should remember the freedoms in this country and not have those freedoms taken away. Vote in November for a change.

From the movie of Braveheart, Mel Gibson portrays Sir William Wallace:

"I AM William Wallace! And I see a whole army of my country men, here, in defiance of tyranny. You've come to fight as free men, and free men you are. What will you do with that freedom? Will you fight?"


"Aye, fight and you may die, run, and you'll live... at least for a while. And dying in your beds, many years from now, would you be willin' to trade ALL the days, from this day to that, for one chance, just one chance, to come back here and tell our enemies that they may take our lives, but they'll never take... OUR FREEDOM!"

Are you willing to fight for your freedom come November 7th?

VA STATE BAR PRESSED TO RELEASE ALLEN APPLICATION DETAILING HIS ARREST RECORDS

October 30, 2006

Virginia State Bar
Attn: Thomas A. Edmonds, Executive Director
707 East Main Street
Suite 1500
Richmond, Virginia 23219-2800

Dear Mr. Edmonds:

I am writing today to request that you make public the application Senator George Felix Allen submitted to the Virginia State Bar Association.In the late 1970s, Mr. Allen applied to, and was subsequently admitted to, the Virginia State Bar. Mr. Allen’s Bar application was submitted less than five years after two arrest warrants were issued in his name in Albemarle County, Virginia. Since the official arrest records have been purged, your organization may be one of a handful with official documentation regarding these arrests.Mr. Allen’s name appears in an Albemarle County court index from 1974 and a campaign aide claims Allen was arrested for unpaid parking tickets and fishing without a license. To date, though, Mr. Allen has refused to produce any written documentation verifying his explanation for why the warrants were issued and has not personally addressed the matter.As such, we are asking that the Virginia State Bar immediately release Mr. Allen’s Bar application on which he was asked about his arrest record. The application will shed light on whether Mr. Allen was arrested for unpaid parking tickets or for something much more severe like assault or battery.With Mr. Allen suspiciously refusing to disclose the details of his arrests to the public, releasing this information may be the only way for Virginians to learn the truth about Mr. Allen’s arrest record. Thank you for your kind consideration and timely response.Sincerely,J.B. Poersch Executive Director

http://americablog.blogspot.com/

Oh, oh, Allen is in trouble.

Roll Call Provides Scandal Scorecard

Check this out!

http://www.talkingpointsmemo.com/docs/doj-congress/

More allegations from EPA whistleblower

As RAW STORY reported this past August, Cate Jenkins, an EPA biochemist, sent a letter to the New York congressional delegation, alleging that the inconsistent official reports about inhalant alkalinity were part of an intentional cover up by government scientists and officials.
Jenkins' latest sixty-page document, addressed to the acting Inspector General of the EPA, is in large part a compilation of her previous allegations, but also claims to offer new evidence that criminal fraud is to blame.
In the latest report, Jenkins contends that by failing to report that some of the particulates in the air constituted a severe health hazard--and by suppressing the results of tests for the presence of other toxic chemicals--the EPA misled the public about the dire health consequences of remaining near ground zero or participating in the clean-up effort in the days following the attack.
http://www.rawstory.com/news/2006/More_allegations_from_EPA_whistleblower_1026.html

Here is the EPA complaint.

Halliburton Billed Gov't $163 Million for Administrative Costs in Iraq

Administrative overhead accounted for more than half the costs that a Halliburton Co. subsidiary passed on to the government under a key contract to restore Iraq's oil industry, a figure that critics said was unusually high.
A report released yesterday by the inspector general's office overseeing Iraq spending found that at least 55 percent, or $163 million, of $296 million in total costs rung up by Halliburton unit KBR went to expenses such as back-office support, transportation and security. That percentage was significantly higher than it was on work by other firms in Iraq, and experts said it is far above what is typically found on a government contract.
The findings are the latest that call into question KBR's work under the deal, which required the company to rehabilitate oil facilities in southern Iraq. Under the contract's terms, KBR is reimbursed for its costs and then receives a percentage for profit on top, an arrangement that critics contend has given the firm an incentive to run up its bills.

http://www.truthout.org/docs_2006/102606C.shtml

And who will be passed along this cost? The taxpayer!

German ministers 'knew about CIA torture cells'

The German government is alleged to have received first-hand evidence that the CIA began torturing terrorist suspects at secret prisons in Europe shortly after the September 11 attacks, despite claiming it only knew about such sites through the media.
Stern magazine quoted a leaked German intelligence report yesterday which said that only weeks after September 11 2001, two agents and a translator visited a US military prison at the American "Eagle Base" in the Bosnian town of Tuzla, where they saw a torture victim.
More on the story.

Interesting Enron emails!

I wanted to share some actual emails from Enron made public. Ths is one the reason why Skilling's appeal will be denied.

(no subject)

Email details

From:
tdh@y2kenergy.net
To:
Kenneth Lay , vermeil@evl.net , robyn@layfam.com , liz@layfam.com , mrslinda@lplpi.com
Sent:
18/01/2002 at 19:32
Email metadata
Themes:
Employee Meeting
The message
Ken, Here are a few items that should be addressed and/or corrected.
1. A recent caller on a Houston talk radio show stated that you personally own, not just one, but several jet aircraft and travel in them on a regular basis.
2. The Houston Chronicle stated that you spent time in Aspen between Christmas and the New Year.
3. People in the media are asking, "Why is Ken not attending the upcoming employee meeting?" I'll forward anything else I hear or read immediately. Love, David.


Goodbye Mr. Lay

Email details

From:
V Monaghan
To:
Kenneth Lay
Sent:
14/01/2002 at 01:09

Email metadata

Themes:
Enron Global Markets , Volume Management
The message
Dear Mr. Lay:
You may not actually take time to read this email, but it will make me feel better having sent it. I started with Enron 2 1/2 years ago in the ENA Volume Management Group. Even after having 3 managers in the group, my reviews were outstanding, and after 1 1/2 years in the group, I decided to spread my wings. I wanted to make a difference at Enron and I decided to take a position with Enron Global Markets, a growing and prosperous group at the time. Once again, I was passed around through various managers, 3 to be exact, however I still received outstanding reviews. With all of my reviews, always came the promise of being promoted with the next one. However, with the last mid-year review, my boss knew that the time had come - but he encouraged me to wait until year-end, as my raise and bonus would be much better that way. I knew that he was looking out for my best interest, as I am sure the other 5 managers had done along the way as well.
Unfortunately, the company took a turn for the worse and I could soon see that my future with this company that I sincerely loved was coming to an end. I was one of the lucky ones, as I was not severed. I knew that since I was a ???survivor???, all the hard work had been recognized and that is why I was considered a ???critical employee???. But the longer I stayed, the more the uncertainty of the company became abundantly apparent to me and I knew I needed to do something to protect my career and myself. I decided to seek employment outside of Enron. I was fortunate. I found something immediately. I honestly believe it was because of my experience at Enron, along with having some of the best mangers and directors as mentors, that I was able to find such an opportunity.
I knew that the day would come that I would have to give notice, but I was hoping and praying that Enron Management would not do me wrong, as so many of my friends had been. I knew that Enron would be fair and pay me my three weeks of vacation that I was due. I was mistaken. When it all came down to it, Enron in the end looked out for itself. After receiving the run around, I was eventually told that I would not receive any of my vacation, although the rules had never been revised from previous years and nothing was ever clearly communicated from Human Resources.
I worked my ass off for Enron for 2 ?? years, and this company does not even have the decency to pay me my vacation. I do know that my managers and directors received 90 day retention packages, that amounted to more that my annual compensation. I know that some people within my own Enron Company were severed once it was determined that they had a job safely outside of Enron ??" that way they were assured $4,500. I also know that when notice was given for some employees, they were immediately severed, so that their benefits would not roll into the next month. Again, they received their $4,500 and had a job lined up to immediately go to. What are the rules? How should these situations have been handled? Should not each employee be treated fairly?
Time and time again, I stood behind Enron and you, Mr. Lay. I honestly thought I would leave supporting Enron. I thought it was the tragic mistake and greed of a FEW employees who took this company down. However, based on my recent treatment, I have come to realize that there are more than a few greedy people in this company ??" ones that have yet to be recognized. All I wanted was the one extra check that was due me. I earned my vacation. I worked hard and supported this company ??" and I am left with nothing, while management is left with thousands upon thousands of dollars. I HAD to leave Enron to protect my future. I never thought the day would come when my words regarding Enron would become resentful.

Sincerely,
Diana Monaghan
dmonaghan@houston.rr.com


You can look up more Enron emails on:

http://enron.trampolinesystems.com/


And Skilling thinks that justice wasn't served for him?

Single or Partnered? That is the question on Foley

Finance writer Andrew Tobias of Miami, who is gay and treasurer of the Democratic National Committee said:

``As somebody who has met Mark Foley personally and has mutual friends, I am sad for Mark and I hope he doesn't go to jail. The last time I saw Mark, he was 19 years into a relationship. That was sad that it had to be hidden."

Single or partnered? I was at the same social gathering as Tobias three years ago, a South Beach birthday party. A friend introduced me to a couple at the party, Mark Foley and Layne Nisenbaum. Foley told me that he and Layne had been partners for 19 years. A few months later, New Times Broward-Palm Beach reported that The Advocate, a gay newsmagazine, had outed Foley in 1996 after he voted for the Defense of Marriage Act. More on the story.

According to wikipedia, Foley has been in a long-term relationship with a dermatologist, Dr. Layne Nisenbaum.

And who is Dr. Layne Nisenbaum?

An interesting "October" surprise for Rove

Yeah, right Rove. I think Rove will be back in his coffin where he belongs after November election.

Active-Duty Troops Launch Campaign to Press Congress to End U.S. Occupation of Iraq

65 Members to Send "Appeals for Redress" Under the Military Whistle-blower Protection Act

For the first time since the U.S. invasion of Iraq, active- duty members of the military are asking Members of Congress to end the U.S. occupation of Iraq and bring American soldiers home.
Sixty-five active-duty members have sent Appeals for Redress to Members of Congress. Three of these people (including two who served in Iraq) and their attorney will speak about this on Wednesday, Oct. 25 at 11 a.m. EDT.
Under the Military Whistle-Blower Protection Act (DOD directive 7050.6), active-duty military, National Guard and Reservists can file and send a protected communication to a Member of Congress regarding any subject without reprisal.

http://www.michaelmoore.com/words/latestnews/index.php?id=8182

Skilling: The Appeal

Business Week interviewed Skilling lawyer Dan Petrocelli , who discussed how he will likely appeal his client’s guilty verdict. Here’s an excerpt:

Can you give us a sense of what Skilling’s grounds for appeal are likely to be?

A couple of big issues stand out. One is the judge’s refusal to move the case out of Houston, combined with later refusal to allow us to individually examine jurors in order to pick a fair jury. The venue issues in this are worse than the Oklahoma City bombing, and that case was moved out of Oklahoma to Denver. Houston perceived itself to be the victim of Enron’s collapse. Enron helped pull the town out of recession in the mid-1980s. It helped revitalize the Houston economy and bring it into the new age. Ken Lay could have been elected mayor any time he wanted.

When all that came crashing down in such a spectacular way in a matter of weeks, everybody assumed fraud. The government went into motion—private securities cases, congressional hearings, SEC investigations, and, of course, the criminal justice system. Put yourself on that jury. You’re going to go home to your friends and co-workers and say, “I acquitted the two guys who ran Enron.” That’s asking too much of people. For that reason, it wasn’t suitable to try that case in Houston.

That actually colored the jury’s decision?

There’s no piece of evidence that showed Jeff Skilling met or spoke with anyone about breaking the law. There was no evidence by government witnesses that said he directed anyone to change numbers or keep things from accountants. “I want you to change those numbers, don’t tell the accountants”—zero evidence.

What did he do wrong? They were using LJM partnerships for monetizing transactions? Absolutely, they were. That was known, reviewed, and approved all the way up to the board of directors and disclosed in public filings. Was LJM some little secret partnership? Of course not. Its partners were a number of the largest financial institutions in the country, all looking over Fastow’s shoulders.

Happy first anniversary to Rosa Parks!

Those who stand for nothing fall for anything--Alexander Hamilton

Rosa Louise McCauley Parks (February 4, 1913 – October 24, 2005) was an African American seamstress and civil rights activist whom the U.S. Congress dubbed the "Mother of the Modern-Day Civil Rights Movement".
Parks is famous for her refusal on December 1, 1955 to obey bus driver James Blake's demand that she give up her seat to a white passenger. Her subsequent arrest and trial for this act of civil disobedience triggered the Montgomery Bus Boycott, one of the largest and most successful mass movements against racial segregation in history, and launched Martin Luther King, Jr., one of the organizers of the boycott, to the forefront of the civil rights movement. Her role in American history earned her an iconic status in American culture, and her actions have left an enduring legacy for civil rights movements around the world.

So, following standard practice, bus driver Blake noted that the front of the bus was filled with white passengers and there were two or three men standing, and thus moved the "colored" section sign behind Parks and demanded that four black people give up their seats in the middle section so that the white passengers could sit. Years later, in recalling the events of the day, Parks said, "When that white driver stepped back toward us, when he waved his hand and ordered us up and out of our seats, I felt a determination cover my body like a quilt on a winter night."

By Parks' account, Blake said, "Y'all better make it light on yourselves and let me have those seats." Three of them complied. Parks said, "The driver wanted us to stand up, the four of us. We didn't move at the beginning, but he says, 'Let me have these seats.' And the other three people moved, but I didn't." The black man sitting next to her gave up his seat. Parks moved, but toward the window seat; she did not get up to move to the newly repositioned colored section. Blake then said, "Why don't you stand up?" Parks responded, "I don't think I should have to stand up."

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rosa_Parks

Get out and vote in November!

The Google-in-chief has spoken

CNBC's Maria Bartoromo has just interviewed President Bush at the White House. Beyond his comments on oil and the economy and CEO compensation, I was fascinated by one question she asked him: Do you ever use Google?
The President answers, in part: "Occasionally. One of the things I've used on the Google is to pull up maps... I forgot the name of the program, but you get the satellite, like I kind of like to look at the ranch... reminds me of where I want to be sometimes."
The President went on to talk about e-mail, and why he doesn't send or receive them.

http://dailynightly.msnbc.com/2006/10/the_top_of_the_.html#below-fold

I think my neighbor's 5 year old daughter has more sense than the President!

Rooney: What Are We Doing In Iraq?

Andy Thinks Getting Rid Of Saddam Hussein Was Good But Wonders What We Are Doing There Now

Andy Rooney's commentary on October 22, 2006:


I'd like to talk to you about something you probably don't want to be talked to about. Someone - and I guess it's President Bush - has to tell us what in the world we're doing in Iraq now. I don't think any of us know. We did the right thing getting rid of Saddam Hussein, but what are we doing there now? The Pentagon never tells us anything. Usually reporters and cameramen let us know quite a bit but it's so dangerous for them in Baghdad now that even they can't show us much of what's going on. So far almost 2,800 American soldiers have been killed in Iraq. I say "almost 2,800" because there is no exact number. It changes by six or eight every day. That's how many of our young men get killed? And for what? Just tell us, Mr. President. For what? It hasn't even been good for Iraq; it certainly hasn’t been good for us. The whole world thinks less of us for what we're doing there. This little war is costing us $2 billion a what? I forget, a day, a week, a minute? It's the kind of money I can't even imagine. President Bush should stand up there in front of us on television and do the hardest thing of all for any president to do. Tell us the truth. He should just say "Americans, there's something I have to tell you. You trusted me to be your leader and I thought I was doing the right thing when we went into Iraq. Well, I hate to admit it but I was wrong. I'm sorry but we never should have gone in and now we should get out." Well, I'm not holding my breath until President Bush says that because I've never heard him admit he was wrong about anything. It isn't something presidents do. I don't recall hearing Bill Clinton or Jimmy Carter admitting they were wrong either. I was asked to keep this short tonight. Fortunately it's easier to be short when I’m serious. Funny takes longer.

http://www.cbsnews.com/stories/2006/10/19/60minutes/rooney/main2107456.shtml

Skilling is hosed:24 Years, 4 months

Skilling’s Sentence: 24 Years, 4 months

Former Enron executive Jeff Skilling has been sentenced to 24 years and four months in prison. Judge Sim Lake today set investor loss tied to Skilling’s actions at $80 million, which he relied on to set Skilling’s sentence under new, tougher federal guidelines. With that figure, Skilling faced between 24.3 years to 30.4 years in prison. Here’s the Wall Street Journal Online story.
He was ordered immediately to home confinement. Skilling will serve his time at the Federal Correctional Center in Butner, N.C., which is located near the Research Triangle area of Durham, Raleigh, and Chapel Hill.

Here’s a sampling of some other white-collar sentences recently meted out. The sentences are largely based on the estimated loss that the accounting frauds caused investors — the greater the investor loss, the harsher the penalty. The relatively light sentences of Enron’s former CFO Andrew Fastow and WorldCom’s former CFO Scott Sullivan reflect their levels of cooperation with federal prosecutors:

Bernard Ebbers, CEO, WorldCom: 25 years in prison
Scott Sullivan, CFO, WorldCom: 5 years in prison
Andrew Fastow, CFO, Enron: 6 years in prison, 2 years community service
Dennis Kozlowski CEO, Tyco: 8 1/3 to 25 years in prison
Mark Swartz, CFO, Tyco: 8 1/3 to 25 years in prison
Jamie Olis, midlevel executive, Dynegy: 6 years in prison, reduced from initial sentence of 24 years
John Rigas, Founder, Adelphia: 15 years in prison (reduced due to poor health)
Timothy Rigas, CFO, Adelphia: 20 years in prison

http://blogs.wsj.com/law/2006/10/23/skillings-sentence-24-years-4-months/

And Skilling should have gotten a much longer sentence IMHO!

Move over Hastert. There is a new sheriff in town

Pelosi: Impeachment 'off the table'

To fire up the base in the remaining weeks until Election Day, the Rove script calls for demonizing the "Librul" Democrats on taxes and terrorism, to see if he can get the cultists to dance for him one more time. That’s why it was good to see “60 Minutes” do a balanced piece on Nancy Pelosi last night.
"As a mother and as a grandmother, 14 years on the intelligence committee, don't tell me I have I any underestimation of what the threat is to our country. So if you want to justify your failed policy by saying we don't understand the threat, clearly you didn't understand the situation you got us into."
From this point on until Election Day, Pelosi should respond to every attack by reminding voters and the media that the country needs more moms and grandmothers like her to come in and clean up the moral mess left behind by all the GOP men that have run the country into the ground these last twelve years. Unlike sweaty Denny Hastert, a grandmother won’t shield a pedophile in their midst.
If the Democrats retake the House, something that Karl Rove and the president still say won’t happen (and Howard Fineman says they still will not prepare for), Pelosi will lead a majority caucus that is more disciplined than the one she inherited from Dick Gephardt. Gone is the base-satisfying but politically damaging talk about impeachment hearings. Gone is the assumption that seniority will be the only determinant when awarding committee chairmanships. Pelosi will assemble a team that can stick to a script and keep focused on a message, pushing an agenda for change and an ongoing oversight mission that has been abandoned by the GOP’s rubber-stamp, look the other way approach to Congress. She is smart enough to work with the party’s centrists to reach out to people the party has ignored for years, while also letting someone of John Murtha’s stature with the military to take the lead in criticizing the administration’s fiasco in Iraq. There will be plenty of opportunities for investigations if the Democrats retake Congress, and such oversight is essential in the next two years, not only for the public to have faith once again in Congress as an equal branch of government, but also in the Democrats as a force for reform and accountability.

http://www.theleftcoaster.com/

Fingers Foley was on the prowl

Foley singled out, solicited 'hot' boys

Embattled Florida Republican Rep. Mark Foley befriended numerous teenage male pages, singling out the 'hot' ones for sexual solicitation, the Washington Post reports Sunday.
"Interviews with nearly three dozen former pages suggest that the Florida Republican befriended a wide circle of teenagers during their stints as House pages. Then, shortly before they left or soon afterward, he singled out certain boys to write to -- including four newly confirmed by The Washington Post, in addition to former page Jordan Edmund and one other whose illicit online conversations with Foley ended the congressman's career. Some of the correspondence was brief and casual. But over months or years, if a boy seemed willing to go along, some conversations grew more sexual," the Washington Post article states.

http://www.rawstory.com/news/2006/Foley_singled_out_solicited_hot_boys_1022.html

Obama: A rising star

Sen. Obama Says He's Weighing 2008 Run

WASHINGTON (AP) - Sen. Barack Obama acknowledged Sunday he was considering a run for president in 2008, backing off previous statements that he would not do so.
The Illinois Democrat said he could no longer stand by the statements he made after his 2004 election and earlier this year that he would serve a full six-year term in Congress. He said he would not make a decision until after the Nov. 7 elections.
"That was how I was thinking at that time," said Obama, when asked on NBC's "Meet the Press" about his previous statements.
"Given the response I've been getting the last several months, I have thought about the possibility" although not with any seriousness or depth, he said. "My focus is on '06. ... After November 7, I'll sit down and consider it."

More on the story.

Less than 17 days left until Nov. 7th!

And yet, this analysis from Newsweek suggests that the Rovian strategy of terrifying and turning out the base just may not work this time:
If the elections for Congress were held today, according to the new NEWSWEEK poll, 60 percent of white Evangelicals would support the Republican candidate in their district, compared to just 31 percent who would back the Democrat. To the uninitiated, that may sound like heartening news for Republicans in the autumn of their discontent. But if you’re a pundit, a pol, or a preacher, you know better. White Evangelicals are a cornerstone of the GOP’s base; in 2004, exit polls found Republicans carried white Evangelicals 3 to 1 over Democrats, winning 74 percent of their votes. In turn, Evangelicals carried the GOP to victory. But with a little more than two weeks before the crucial midterms, the Republican base may be cracking.

http://www.thecarpetbaggerreport.com/archives/8832.html#more-8832

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