On eyes on Cheney in the leak case

The CIA leak case isn't over by a long shot - and Cheney is still at the center of the story.


Armitage may have leaked the information first. But it seems clear that White House officials, including those in the Office of the Vice President, also coordinated an effort to leak the information at almost the same time. In fact, according to the charges against him, Libby leaked Plame's identity to a reporter twice before Armitage ever spoke with Novak.

Fitzgerald explained that Libby's notes contain an instruction from Cheney to "tell information to Ms. Miller on July 8." Libby's position is that "the instruction reflected in his notes to tell ... Judith Miller refers to the NIE [National Intelligence Estimate]. He says he did not discuss Mr. Wilson's wife that day. To our understand[ing] both were discussed."
In other words, Libby claims he was instructed by Cheney only to disclose to Miller portions of the October 2002 National Intelligence Estimate on Iraqi WMD. Fitzgerald suggested that Libby was directed to tell Miller about Plame as well, which is what he went on to do.
Whether Fitzgerald follows up on that suggestion at trial and argues that Cheney explicitly instructed Libby to disclose Plame's CIA status, or only claims that Libby understood that to be the conduct expected of him, remains to be seen. Either way, the role of Cheney and Libby working together will be the most interesting aspect of Libby's trial.
Of course, Fitzgerald has not charged either Libby or Cheney with a crime for that coordinated effort. It is one of the imperfections of relying on criminal investigation for government oversight that it focuses on the question of who gets indicted and convicted, so that objectionable conduct that is not prosecuted ends up looking more acceptable by comparison. As Washington Post reporter Walter Pincus was quoted as saying in a Columbia Journalism Review article earlier this year, "The entire Plame investigation ... has been a distraction from a more fundamental conversation about how the White House handled evidence before the war." But whatever the ultimate legal disposition of the investigation, it is valuable to have learned that at least two of the four or five most powerful men in the United States were willing to disclose information about a CIA officer's identity as part of an effort to insulate the administration.

http://www.truthout.org/docs_2006/101406D.shtml

Denial-in-chief has no plans if the GOP loses

Bush Is Said to Have No Plan if GOP Loses

Some Republican strategists are increasingly upset with what they consider the overconfidence of President Bush and his senior advisers about the midterm elections November 7–a concern aggravated by the president's news conference this week.
"They aren't even planning for if they lose," says a GOP insider who informally counsels the West Wing. If Democrats win control of the House, as many analysts expect, Republicans predict that Bush's final two years in office will be marked by multiple congressional investigations and gridlock.
"The Bush White House has had no relationship with Congress," said a Bush ally. "Beyond the Democrats, wait till they see how the Republicans–the ones that survive–treat them if they lose next month." GOP insiders are upset by Bush's seeming inability to come up with new ideas or fresh approaches. There is even a heightened sensitivity to the way Bush talks about advisers who served his father.
More on the story

Biloxi's Hall of Scum of evildoers in mention

As Ohio Republican Congressman Bob Ney pleads guilty and will time in prison and David Safavian, formerly a top administrator with the Office of Management and Budget will be sentenced 2 1/2 years in prison. I wanted to mention other evildoers that still under investigation, indicted, sentenced, or currently doing time in prison. Here are the unmentioned evildoers inducted in Biloxi's Hall of Scum:

Jack Abramoff - Pled Guilty - Sentenced to Minimum of 5 Years, 10 Months

He is now scheduled to report to prison on November 15th, 2006.

Claude Allen- Arrested for Theft - Pled Guilty

Allen was arrested March 9th, 2006 for a scam in which he 'returned' items he had never originally paid for. He is said to have refunded a total of $5,000 worth of merchandise (such as a home stereo system and a photo printer) over 25 visits in stores such as Target and Hecht's.

Allen pled guilty on August 4th to one count of misdemeanor theft. He was ordered to pay $850 and given one month of probation.

Richard A. Berglund - Pled Guilty - Sentencing Scheduled for January 18

In March of 2005, Berglund received $7,000 from Mitchell Wade, the MZM CEO and briber of former Rep. Randy “Duke” Cunningham (R-CA).

Berglund has agreed to cooperate with the expanding probe that began with investigation into Cunningham. He will be sentenced on January 18, 2007, and may receive up to a year in prison.

Gus Boulis Murder Trio - Indicted - Hearing Scheduled for September 14

Gus Boulis, the man who sold SunCruz to Adam Kidan and Jack Abramoff, was gunned down on February 6th, 2001. Three men were subsequently indicted September 23rd, 2005 for the murder: James 'Pudgy' Fiorillo, Anthony 'Little Tony' Ferrari and Anthony 'Big Tony' Moscatiello. They were charged with Murder in the First Degree, Conspiracy to Murder in the First Degree, and Soliticing Murder in the First Degree (Fiorillo doesn't face the soliticing charge).

All three defendants are seeking to be released on bond before trial. There was a Bond Hearing on March 24th. That same day Broward Circuit Judge Michael Kaplan granted a defense request to subpoena Abramoff and Kidan to give sworn statements in the case. An in camera hearing has been scheduled for September 14th.Prosecutors are seeking the death penalty for all three.

Ed Buckham - Named by Prosecutors as Unindicted Coconspirator

Ed Buckham, one-time chief of staff to Tom DeLay and later Chairman of the lobbying firm Alexander Strategy Group, appeared in Tony Rudy's guilty plea as "Lobbyist B."


John Colyandro - Indicted - Trial Pending Appeals Decision

John Colyandro was Executive Director of Tom DeLay's PAC Texans for a Republican Majority. He, along with Jim Ellis, was indicted for Money Laundering in 2004 alleging an illegal money swap with the Republican National State Elections Committee, an arm of the Republican National Committee.

Colyandro faces a possible sentence of up to 99 years in prison for money laundering (a first-degree felony). The unlawful contribution charge (a third-degree felony) has 13 counts, each carrying between 2 and 10 years in prison and a fine of up to $10,000.

Duke Cunningham - Pled Guilty - Sentenced to 8 years, 4 months incarceration

Tom DeLay - Indicted - Trial Pending Appeals Decision

Brian J. Doyle - Pleads No Contest - Sentencing Set for November 17

Brian Doyle, the deputy press secretary for the Department of Homeland Security, was arrested on April 4th, 2006 and pleaded no contest on September 19, 2006 to seven counts of use of a computer to seduce a child and sixteen counts of transmitting harmful material to a minor. He will be sentenced on November 17 and faces up to five years in prison.

Jim Ellis - Indicted - Trial Pending Appeals Decision

Jim Ellis was Executive Director of DeLay's PAC Americans for a Republican Majority. He, along with John Colyandro, was indicted for Money Laundering in 2004 alleging an illegal money swap with the Republican National State Elections Committee, an arm of the Republican National Committee.

Ellis faces a possible sentence of up to 99 years imprisonment and a fine of up to $10,000 for money laundering (a first degree felony).


Vernon Jackson - Pled Guilty - Sentenced to Seven Years, Three Months in Prison

Vernon Jackson, the chief executive of iGate Inc., pleaded guilty on May 3rd, 2006 to bribing an unnamed congressman, whom documents identify as Rep. William Jefferson of Louisiana.

On September 8th, a Judge sentenced Jackson to seven years and three months in a federal prison, though his continuing cooperation with the federal investigators may lead to a shorter term.

William Jefferson - Under Investigation

Representative William Jefferson (D-LA) is being investigated for bribery, wire fraud, bribery of a foreign official and conspiracy to bribe foreign officials, according to a May 21, 2006 FBI affidavit.

Adam Kidan - Pled Guilty - Sentenced to 5 Years, 10 Months

Adam Kidan was Jack Abramoff's partner in the SunCruz deal. Kidan has been ordered to report to prison on October 2nd, 2006.

Brent M. Pfeffer - Pled Guilty - Sentenced to 8 Years in Prison

Brett Pfeffer, a former aide to Rep. William Jefferson (D-LA), pled guilty January 10th, 2006 to two counts: Conspiracy to Commit Bribery of a Public Official and Aiding and Abetting the Bribery of a Public Official. Rep. Jefferson is the public official.


Warren RoBold - Indicted - Trial Pending Appeals Decision

Warren RoBold was a fundraiser for Tom DeLay's PACs (TRMPAC and ARMPAC) and was indicted in 2004 for taking illegal corporate money for TRMPAC - nine counts of Unlawful Acceptance of a Political Contribution from a Corporation.RoBold is charged with nine separate third-degree felonies, each of which carries a maximum sentence of 10 years in prison.

Tony Rudy - Pled Guilty - Status Conference Scheduled for October 2

Tony Rudy pled guilty March 31st, 2006 to one count of Conspiracy. He was a former aide to Tom DeLay, a colleague of Jack Abramoff's and then a lobbyist at Alexander Strategy Group. He was named ("Staffer A") as a coconspirator in Abramoff's plea

Rudy's status conference was initially set for July 11th, 2006, but has been postponed until October 2nd so he can cooperate further with federal prosecutors.


Michael Scanlon - Pled Guilty - Status Conference Scheduled for December 8

On November 21st, 2005, Michael Scanlon, Jack Abramoff's partner in the Indian fraud and bribery schemes, pled guilty to Conspiracy to Defraud the United States.A status conference is scheduled for December 8th, 2006.Scanlon faces five years in prison, $250,000 in fines, and the restitution of $19.7 million in tribal funds.

Roger Stillwell – Pled Guilty – Sentencing Set for December 18

Roger Stillwell, a desk officer for the Mariana Islands at the Department of the Interior with links to former lobbyist Jack Abramoff, pled guilty on August 11th to filing a financial disclosure form that falsely stated that “he did not receive reportable gifts from a prohibited source” according to the court document.

He is due to be sentenced December 18th before Magistrate Judge Alan Kay and faces up to a year in prison.

Neil Volz - Pled Guilty - Status Conference Scheduled for November 2

Neil Volz, a former aide to Bob Ney and member of Team Abramoff, was named ("Staffer B") as a coconspirator in Abramoff's plea.

http://talkingpointsmemo.com/grandolddocket.php

The Abramoff fallout

Ney to resign; Prosecutors seek 30 to 37 months for ex-Bush aide Safavian


The fallout from the Abramoff lobbying scandal continues, as Ohio Republican Congressman Bob Ney pleads guilty in federal court to conspiracy charges and prepares to resign from Congress, while at the same time a former Bush Administration official faces a possible two-and-a-half year prison sentence. More on the story

Bush says that Guantanamo Bay was a “model prison.”

Well, I don't think so...

VIDEO: Marine Sergeant Reports Detainee Abuse At Guantanamo Bay


President Bush has consistently touted the U.S. detention facility in Guantanamo Bay as a “model prison,” saying the American people should “take great pride” in the facility.
But a sworn statement by Marine Sgt. Heather Cerveny paints an entirely different picture. Cerveny has described how “she met several Navy prison guards at a club on the base where, over drinks, they described harsh physical abuse” of Gitmo detainees. The guards alledgedly told Cerveny of practices including “hitting the detainee’s head into the cell door” and “punching [them] in the face.” The Pentagon Inspector General today announced a new investigation into the claims.

Here is the transcript from ABC News:


BRIAN ROSS (ABC NEWS)
(Voiceover) Twenty-three-year-old Marine Sergeant Heather Cerveny was sent to Guantanamo Bay in late September as a legal aid to a marine lawyer representing a detainee. She has come back, now, with a story of what she says is unchecked abuse by guards there.

SERGEANT HEATHER CERVENY (UNITED STATES MARINE CORPS)
None of them looked like they cared. None of them looked shocked by it.

BRIAN ROSS (ABC NEWS)
(Voiceover) In a sworn affidavit filed with the Pentagon inspector general, Cerveny says, she met several navy prison guards at an on base club, where over drinks, they described, in detail, harsh, physical abuse of the detainees.

SERGEANT HEATHER CERVENY (UNITED STATES MARINE CORPS)
The one sailor specifically said, ‘I took the detainee by the head and smashed his head into the cell door.” Other ones specifically saying, ‘you know, today, that guy was annoying me. You know? I smacked him in the head.”

BRIAN ROSS (ABC NEWS)
(Voiceover) The sergeant says the guards told her they worked at camps five and six. And that such beatings of detainees were common and justified.

SERGEANT HEATHER CERVENY (UNITED STATES MARINE CORPS)
I initially asked him, what consequences - you know, what happened for you doing this to him? And he said nothing.

http://thinkprogress.org/2006/10/13/gitmo-abuse/

The Bush Administration Clown Show

Is Bush that retarded or just plain stupid?

President Bush Discusses the Economy and Budget:

THE PRESIDENT: Thank you all. Please be seated. Good afternoon. Thanks for coming to the White House. In 2004, I made a promise to the American people, we would cut the federal budget deficit in half over five years. Today I'm pleased to report that we have achieved this goal, and we've done it three years ahead of schedule.
This morning my administration released the budget numbers for fiscal 2006. These budget numbers are not just estimates; these are the actual results for the fiscal year that ended February the 30th.* [sic] These numbers show that the budget deficit has been reduced to $248 billion and is down to just 1.9 percent of the economy...

Should we say that the 2004 budget deficit was $412.7 billion, and that half of that would be $206.3 billion--not $248 billion? Should we say that the fiscal year ends in September, not February? Should we say that February never has 30 days? Should we say that February never had--not even before Julius Caesar--30 days?

http://delong.typepad.com/sdj/2006/10/the_bush_admini.html

Foley gets the cold shoulder from Bush

Foley Emails to Jeb: I'm "Getting the Shaft" from Dubya

E-mails from former U.S. Rep. Mark Foley to Gov. Jeb Bush reveal that Foley feared two years ago the White House was shunning him, and he called on the governor, President Bush's brother, to intercede.Foley wrote to Gov. Bush on Sept. 29, 2004: "Have I done something to offend the White House ... I am always getting the shaft ... they came to ft pierce a few weeks ago and said I was not allowed to attend ... yet joe negron is there ..."Tomorrow Potus is in Martin County and I am told I am not allowed to be there either. I can't quite figure what I have done but this is a continuing pattern of slights ... I have constantly put the President in the best possible light on everything from haiti to hurricanes ... sorry to trouble you ... and I wouldn't if this wasn't so frequent ..."POTUS is an acronym for president of the United States. Foley's message referred to President Bush's visits to Florida in the aftermath of Hurricane Jeanne.

"I need your thoughts on something ... are you in south florida or somewhere we can meet up," Foley messaged Bush on Oct. 3, 2005."I am up in Tallahassee. Will a call suffice?" Bush responded. [...]The governor's office did not return calls Wednesday night concerning the e-mails.The e-mails show a friendly relationship between Foley and Bush, in contrast to Bush's recent characterization of Foley's behavior as "despicable" and "disgusting."

More on the story

One team, one dream, and one goal in November elections

Open Letter Sent to States Urging Emergency Paper Ballot Plans and Procedures for November Election

Urgent Plea Mailed to 50 State Governors, Sec's of State and Election Directors Signed by Broad Coalition of Election Integrity Advocacy Orgs, Congressional Members, Elections Officials, Computer Scientists, Civil Rights Attorneys and Journalists

Here is the document.

As the plot thickens in Foleygate

Meet Republican Rep Shelley Moore Capito on the left and Democrat Rep. Dale Kildee on the right. What do they both in common besides being in Congress? They both were not informed of Foley's emails!

Foley Interviewed About Page Last Year; Democrats Not Told

Ethics Inquiry Ordered

At least four Republican House Members, one senior GOP aide and a former top officer of the House were aware of the allegations about Foley that prompted the initial reporting regarding his e-mail contacts with a 16-year-old House page. They include: Majority Leader John Boehner (R-Ohio), National Republican Congressional Committee Chairman Tom Reynolds (N.Y.) and Reps. Rodney Alexander (R-La.) and John Shimkus (R-Ill.), as well as a senior aide to Speaker Dennis Hastert (R-Ill.) and former Clerk of the House Jeff Trandahl.
Boehner strongly denied media reports late Friday night that he had informed Hastert of the allegations, saying "That is not true."
Reynolds refused to comment.
Shimkus, who chairs the page board, and Trandahl, who administered the program, met with Foley in 2005 after learning of Foley’s e-mail exchange with the former page by Alexander. Shimkus released a detailed statement Friday night.
House sources said that Foley denied any improper sexual activity when confronted by Shimkus and Trandahl. Their information only included some August 2005 e-mails that contained no references to sex or other improper behavior, and not the other messages that have been reported by ABC News.
According to a senior House GOP leadership aide, Hastert’s office was informed of the interview shortly after it occurred, but Hastert himself was not told.
Rep. Dale Kildee (D-Mich.), who serves on the page board, was never told of the interview with Foley.
"I became aware of it this afternoon when [Shimkus] came by my office. I think we should have had a page meeting right away," Kildee said, referring to last year's discovery of Foley's e-mails.
When asked if was upset about being excluded, Kildee said yes, adding, "I've been on the page board for 20 years."
"I'm the chairman of the page board," Shimkus said when asked why he didn't include Kildee. "The Clerk and I addressed this issue."

http://www.rollcall.com/issues/1_1/breakingnews/15259-1.html

And why were both of these Kildee and Capito were not told about Foley? Is it because Capito is a woman and is an outspoken critic in regarding to Foley and Kildee is the lone Democrat?

The Slime Talk Express

The many faces of John McCain...

McCain is dead wrong about Bill Clinton and North Korea.

Fred Kaplan nails it in this article..

In the spring of 1994, barely a year into Bill Clinton's presidency, the North Koreans announced that they were about to remove the fuel rods from their nuclear reactor (as a first step to reprocessing them into plutonium), cancel their commitment to the Non-Proliferation Treaty (which they had signed in 1985), and expel the international weapons inspectors (who had been guarding the rods under the treaty's authority).
Did Clinton "reward" them for doing these things, as McCain claims? Far from it. Not only did he push the U.N. Security Council to consider sanctions, he also ordered the Joint Chiefs of Staff to draw up plans to send 50,000 additional troops to South Korea—bolstering the 37,000 already there—along with more than 400 combat jets, 50 ships, and several battalions of Apache helicopters, Bradley fighting vehicles, multiple-launch rockets, and Patriot air-defense missiles. He also sent in an advance team of 250 soldiers to set up logistical headquarters for the influx of troops and gear.
He sent an explicit signal that removing the fuel rods would cross a "red line." Several of his former aides insist that if North Korea had crossed that line, he would have launched an airstrike on the Yongbyon reactor, even knowing that it might lead to war.
At the same time, Clinton set up a diplomatic backchannel, sending former President Jimmy Carter to Pyongyang for direct talks with Kim Il-Sung, then North Korea's dictator and the father of its present "dear leader," Kim Jong-il. (The official Washington line held that Carter made the trip on his own, but a recent memoir by three former U.S. officials, Going Critical: The First North Korean Nuclear Crisis, acknowledges that Clinton asked him to go.)
This combination of sticks and carrots led Kim Il-Sung to call off his threats—the fuel rods weren't removed, the inspectors weren't kicked out—and, a few months later, to the signing of the Agreed Framework. More on the story

Condicchio lies again

Rice: Does anyone really believe I'd ignore terror warning?

The former National Security Adviser, interviewed on Detroit's Paul Smith Show on WJRI Radio, said that the "assertion that [she] would hear about a specific attack and not do anything" is "obviously just not true."

On the radio, Rice asked rhetorically, "Does anybody really believe that somebody would have walked into my office and said, oh, by the way, there's a chance of a major attack against the United States and I would have said, well, I'm really not interested in that information?"
"I mean, it's just ridiculous," said Rice.
"Of course we knew that there were grave threats that were being -- that were in the intelligence during that period of time," Rice continued. "We were actively working with the FAA, working with other domestic agencies."
Rice claimed that "even though it appeared that this attack was likely to take place overseas, we were putting our forces on alert, we moved our ships out of port.""We had a very active program to deal with what were nebulous threats but quite serious threats in this period," Rice said. "So the charge is just ridiculous."
More on the story

Does mice bark, Condi?

Skilling Wants Freedom While Appealing His Conviction

Lawyers for former Enron CEO Jeffrey Skilling have asked Judge Sim Lake to allow him to remain free while he appeals his conviction, reports the Washington Post.
Judge Lake, who is scheduled to sentence Skilling on Oct. 23, could send him into custody immediately. But Daniel Petrocelli, Skilling’s lawyer, asked the judge that his client be allowed to remain free on bail pending his appeal. Alternatively, Petrocelli asked that Skilling — who he says is neither a flight risk nor a “threat to society” — be allowed to remain free until Jan. 2, or, at the very least, Nov. 27.
To remain free pending appeal, Skilling must prove he will raise issues that are likely to result in a reversal of his conviction. Lawyers cited three key points on appeal: juror bias in Houston; improper jury instructions; and the government’s preventing the defense from calling key witnesses.
Skilling may take some solace in the fact that WorldCom’s Bernie Ebbers was allowed to remain free pending his appeal, which many had described as a longshot. In July the Second Circuit upheld Ebbers’s conviction, and last month he began serving his 25-year prison term.

http://blogs.wsj.com/law/2006/10/12/skilling-wants-freedom-while-appealing-his-conviction/

Bush's brain put the squeeze on Foley

HOW ROVE TWISTED FOLEY'S ARM:

It seems increasingly clear that the GOP congressional leadership, eager for every safe incumbent in the House to run for re-election, looked the other way as evidence accumulated that Mark Foley had a thing for pages. Holding onto his seat became more important than confronting him over his extracurricular activities.
But there's more to the story of why Foley stood for re-election this year. Yesterday, a source close to Foley explained to THE NEW REPUBLIC that in early 2006 the congressman had all but decided to retire from the House and set up shop on K Street. "Mark's a friend of mine," says this source. "He told me, 'I'm thinking about getting out of it and becoming a lobbyist.'"
But when Foley's friend saw the Congressman again this spring, something had changed. To the source's surprise, Foley told him he would indeed be standing for re-election. What happened? Karl Rove intervened.

According to the source, Foley said he was being pressured by "the White House and Rove gang," who insisted that Foley run. If he didn't, Foley was told, it might impact his lobbying career.
"He said, 'The White House made it very clear I have to run,'" explains Foley's friend, adding that Foley told him that the White House promised that if Foley served for two more years it would "enhance his success" as a lobbyist. "I said, 'I thought you wanted out of this?' And he said, 'I do, but they're scared of losing the House and the thought of two years of Congressional hearings, so I have two more years of duty.'"
The White House declined a request for comment on the matter, but obviously the plan hasn't worked out quite as Rove hoped it would.
--Ryan Lizza

http://www.tnr.com/blog/theplank?pid=47854

And ironically the Foley scandal has come back to bite Rove.

FBI shuts out Congress in the Anthrax Attacks Probe

Roll Call: Congress Members 'furious' at FBI for 'blackout' of 2001 anthrax attacks probe


Some Congressional members are "furious" at the FBI for its "blackout" of the investigation into the 2001 anthrax attacks which "left five people dead and dozens of others injured or facing lengthy courses of dangerous drug therapy," according to Roll Call.

"The FBI has completely shut Congress out of its now five-year investigation into anthrax attacks on Capitol Hill and around the nation, with accusations flying up and down Pennsylvania Avenue about the probe into the worst biochemical attacks in U.S. history," Paul Kane writes.
Roll Call reports that the "FBI and Justice Department have not briefed two key players in the attacks — former Sen. Tom Daschle (D-S.D.) and Sen. Patrick Leahy (D-Vt.), the Senators who were targeted by anthrax-laden letters — in at least two and a half years." More on the story

And it still remains a mystery after 5 years...

Susan Ralston a scapegoat: For whom?

Special Bush aide seen as scapegoat

When Ed Navarra learned that Susan Bonzon Ralston had resigned from her post as a special assistant to President George W. Bush on October 6, his gut feeling was that she was being made a “scapegoat.”
“Someone has to fall on the sword for the emperor and I guess it’s Susan,” Navarra said.Navarra, the Midwest Region chair of the National Federation of Filipino American Associations (Naffaa), immediately dashed off an email to President Bush to express his personal “regrets and dissatisfaction” with Ralston’s resignation from the Bush administration. ”Her departure,” he wrote, “has left a void in our quest for empowerment especially in the Filipino American community and in the Asian Pacific American communities as well.”

Navarra’s charge that Ralston was being made a “scapegoat” was echoed by California Rep. Henry Waxman, the top Democrat on the House Committee, who told the press that he suspects the White House is making Ralston a scapegoat.“There is a lot that we don’t yet know about the assistance that Ms. Ralston provided Mr. Abramoff from inside the White House, but… the vast majority of lobbying contacts and meals with White House officials documented in the report were with White House officials other than Ms. Ralston,” Waxman said. (Could President Bush be the “emperor”?) More on the story

Fundraiser for Ill.'s governor charged

Looks like Gov. Rod Blagojevich's top adviser is in a heap of trouble..

CHICAGO - A top adviser and fundraiser for Gov. Rod Blagojevich has been indicted on charges of scheming to collect "millions of dollars in undisclosed kickbacks" involving the Illinois Teachers Retirement System, federal prosecutors disclosed Wednesday
Businessman Antoin "Tony" Rezko was charged in the federal indictment with operating a fraud scheme along with millionaire political contributor Stuart Levine and other insiders.

The indictment was unsealed Wednesday morning. U.S. Attorney Patrick J. Fitzgerald was to announce details at an afternoon news conference. CHICAGO - A top adviser and fundraiser for Gov. Rod Blagojevich has been indicted on charges of scheming to collect "millions of dollars in undisclosed kickbacks" involving the Illinois Teachers Retirement System, federal prosecutors disclosed Wednesday
Businessman Antoin "Tony" Rezko was charged in the federal indictment with operating a fraud scheme along with millionaire political contributor Stuart Levine and other insiders.
The indictment was unsealed Wednesday morning. U.S. Attorney Patrick J. Fitzgerald was to announce details at an afternoon news conference. More on the story.

Here is the video of Fitzgerald's conference.


Good job Fitz and team!

No Bush Left Behind

The President's brother Neil is making hay from school reform.

Across the country, some teachers complain that President George W. Bush's makeover of public education promotes "teaching to the test." The President's younger brother Neil takes a different tack: He's selling to the test. The No Child Left Behind Act compels schools to prove students' mastery of certain facts by means of standardized exams. Pressure to perform has energized the $1.9 billion-a-year instructional software industry.
Now, after five years of development and backing by investors like Saudi Prince Alwaleed Bin Talal and onetime junk-bond king Michael R. Milken, Neil Bush aims to roll his high-tech teacher's helpers into classrooms nationwide. He calls them "curriculum on wheels," or COWs. The $3,800 purple plug-and-play computer/projectors display lively videos and cartoons: the XYZ Affair of the late 1790s as operetta, the 1828 Tariff of Abominations as horror flick. The device plays songs that are supposed to aid the memorization of the 22 rivers of Texas or other facts that might crop up in state tests of "essential knowledge."
Bush's Ignite! Inc. has sold 1,700 COWs since 2005, mainly in Texas, where Bush lives and his brother was once governor. In August, Houston's school board authorized expenditures of up to $200,000 for COWs. The company expects 2006 revenue of $5 million. Says Bush about the impact of his name: "I'm not saying it hasn't opened any doors. It may have helped with some sales." (In September, the U.S. Education Dept.'s inspector general accused the agency of improperly favoring at least five publishers, including The McGraw-Hill Companies, which owns BusinessWeek. A company spokesman says: "Our reading programs have been successful in advancing student achievement for decades; that's why educators hold them in such high regard.")

http://www.truthout.org/docs_2006/100706F.shtml

Study estimates 655,000 Iraqis have died as result of US-led invasion in March '03; 90% due to violence

Truly sad...

A new study estimates that as many as 655,000 Iraqis have died as a result of the U.S.-led invasion in March of 2003 and that roughly ninety percent of the deaths were directly related to violence, primarily victims of gunfire.
"A team of American and Iraqi epidemiologists estimates that 655,000 more people have died in Iraq since coalition forces arrived in March 2003 than would have died if the invasion had not occurred," David Brown reports for the Washington Post in Wednesday's edition.
More on the story

William H. Frist, M.D., Federal Courthouse?

Debating the “William H. Frist, M.D., Federal Courthouse”

Tennesseans are raising questions about the timing of an amendment added to a federal spending bill that would name a new federal courthouse in Nashville after Majority Leader Bill Frist . Dick Williams, the chairman of the Tennessee chapter of Common Cause, says, “I have a general problem with naming a federal courthouse after a person who is at least considering running for president.” He adds: “I think it is best to wait until people have really retired.”
Lincoln Davis, a democratic congressman from Tennessee, tells the Knoxville News Sentinel he wants the courthouse named after James Sasser, the longtime senator who Frist unseated in 1994. “He did so much, and I don’t know of a single building named after him,” Davis said. “There will be plenty of time to name buildings after current members of Congress.”
The amendment, which passed the Appropriations Committee, calls for the building to be named the “William H. Frist, M.D., Federal Courthouse.” The federal courthouse in Knoxville, by the way, is named the “Howard H. Baker Jr. Federal Courthouse” after the erstwhile senate majority leader.
http://blogs.wsj.com/law/2006/10/10/debating-the-william-h-frist-md-federal-courthouse/

Wrong choice for a name for a courthouse..

It's the blame the Clintons show!

And where is the fashion police on his tie???

Where Was McCain When Bush Gave North Korea Millions In 2002?


John McCain is taking another dose of stupid pills to please the wingers again. You guessed it: it’s all Clinton’ fault that North Korea went nuclear this decade.
"I would remind Senator (Hillary) Clinton and other Democrats critical of the Bush administration's policies that the framework agreement her husband's administration negotiated was a failure," McCain said at a news conference after a campaign appearance for Republican Senate candidate Mike Bouchard.
"The Koreans received millions and millions in energy assistance. They've diverted millions of dollars of food assistance to their military," he said.
Uh, senator, how many IAEA inspectors did we have monitoring North Korea in the 1990’s and how many do we have on the ground now? By the way Senator, if giving the North Koreans energy assistance as required by the framework agreement is the sign of a failed policy, then what did you say when George W. Bush gave Pyongyang the same assistance back in 2002?
I thought so. Not a damn thing. At least John Kerry threw it back at McCain today:
"He must be trying to burnish his credentials for the nomination process," said Kerry, who labeled McCain's comments "flat politics and incorrect."
"The truth is the Clinton administration knew full well they didn't have a perfect agreement. But at least they were talking. At least we had inspectors going in and we knew where the (nuclear fuel) rods were. This way, we don't know where the rods are, the rods are gone. There are no inspectors. Ask any American which way is better," Kerry said.

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