Friday, June 22, 2007

Bloomberg: MIA in Iraq



Michael Bloomberg appears to be enjoying the attention he has received since registering as an independent with the New York Board of Elections. He spent the day after his decision coyly declining to answer whether he will run for president as an independent. And political pundits have gone crazy speculating about a Bloomberg bid and wondering which party it might hurt.

My hunch is that Bloomberg is pulling a head-fake. Is this smart-money businessman-turned-pol truly willing to throw $100 million or more down the tubes for a presidential bid with little chance of success? But let's say he's serious--or semiserious. Then we--and Bloomberg--should cut to the chase: What would he do about Iraq?

As I noted in a posting below, when his aides talk to reporters (as unnamed sources) about a possible Bloomberg presidential run, they mention immigration and global warming. They say nothing about the number-one issue facing the nation: Iraq. And in recent years, Bloomberg himself has said relatively little about the war.

During a speech at Google headquarters this week, Bloomberg dismissed the presidential debates as "just theater." Absent from this speech was any discussion of Iraq. Yet during the Republican and Democratic debates, the candidates (minor and major) have taken stands (good or bad) on what ought to be done in Iraq. And outside the debates, most have discussed the war at length and presented plans. At this week's Take Back America conference, all the Democratic candidates who spoke--including Hillary Clinton, Barack Obama, and John Edwards--stated what they would do to end the war. Senator John McCain, famously, has said what he would do to win the war: keep backing George W. Bush's troop buildup.

Bloomberg has not joined this grand and crucial debate. In 2005, he dismissed Iraq as "not a local issue"--even though by that time 32 New York City natives had been killed in combat. Bloomberg later apologized. At a March 2006 press conference, he did criticize the notion of creating a deadline for a troop withdrawal. And months later, the day after Donald Rumsfeld resigned as defense secretary, Bloomberg said "it's time to have somebody new."

But with those few remarks, Bloomberg has hardly engaged with the national discourse on the war. And he has not said much since then. What does he think of a timetable now? What about the current escalation? Is the war winnable?

At a speech in Houston last month, Bloomberg stated, "In this day and age, it is the mayors of this country that are really facing the substantive issues." That's true to an extent. But if Bloomberg aspires to be a national leader, he cannot duck the Iraq war. So I propose this deal: when Bloomberg gets serious about the country's most pressing problem, then the media ought to take him seriously as a potential candidate. Until then, he's merely playing war games--or mind games.

Posted by David Corn at June 22, 2007 12:54 PM

24 comments:

capt said...

Mr. David Corn,

I think Bloomberg is a distraction. I agree - head fake.


Keep up the good work.



Kirk

Gerald said...

If Bloomberg is going to run, he will have to say something about our endless military wars that Hitler Bush has unleashed upon the American citizens.

The Silent Civil War

Dear Posters:

With endless wars that are started by the Nazis it will be necessary to reinstate the military draft. You can go to foreign lands to be killed or you can refuse to go and be killed by the Nazis at home for refusing to serve.

I believe that more Americans will refuse to fight in endless wrong and immoral wars. These Americans will be killed for their refusal to serve. As more Americans are killed at home, Nazi America will begin to face her demise. It will take some years to see this demise but please make no mistake it will happen. Before Nazi America’s demise, she will unleash many nuclear weapons and bombs to claim that these nuclear weapons and bombs will keep Nazi America safe and secure from foreign countries.

Will Nazi America really be safe and secure? She will not be safe and secure! A country without a soul will experience decline and dry rot at the foundations of an evil country.

There is no turning back from what is etched in stone. The demise of Nazi America is a certainty and the silent civil war will continue to create our decline and demise.

Americans who will give up their lives for refusal to kill in endless wrong and immoral wars will be killed at home by Nazis and the Nazi American government. These Americans will enter heaven as martyrs.

The issue is clear to die at home as martyrs and enter heaven for all eternity or to kill God’s children in foreign lands and have a soul damned for all eternity. To kill in a wrong and in an immoral war is a mortal sin.

Dietrich Bonhoeffer in his book, “The Cost of Discipleship,” says that to be Jesus’ disciple you must be willing to die for Him.

There will be more Christians slaughter for Jesus in the Twenty-First Century than all the Christians in the previous twenty centuries.

John Paul II says, “Martyrdom is a witness that all Christians should be willing to make.”

With Nazis controlling the world more Christians will be called to die for Jesus Christ.

Sincerely,

Gerald

capt said...

George W. Bush Would Like the Negroes To Clean Up



Congress joined the Bush Administration for a nice little barbecue on the South Lawn last night. The theme was Mardi Gras, so everybody could enjoy memories of New Orleans being destroyed by the Bush Administration and then pretty much left in that same condition years later.

Famous NOLA chef Paul Prudhomme catered the picnic and New Orleans jazz band Kermit Ruffins and the Barbeque Swingers played Dixieland.

And then Bush told the black musicians to clean up after the politicians.

THE PRESIDENT: Kermit Ruffins and the Barbeque Swingers, right out of New Orleans, Louisiana. (Applause.)

MR. RUFFINS: Thank you. Thanks for having us. We’re glad to be here.

THE PRESIDENT: Proud you’re here. Thanks for coming. You all enjoy yourself. Make sure you pick up all the trash after it’s over.

Remarks by President Bush at the Congressional Picnic [White House]

More HERE

*****end of clip*****

Just when I thought Bush couldn't be more of an embarrassment.


capt

capt said...

ADD:

Are the comments made by Bush about negroes a Trent Lott moment?

Why does this guy get away with all that he does?



capt

capt said...

No Confidence in a Congress that Bends to Bush



[…]

No one expected Democrats to fix everything that was wrong with the United States, let alone the world.

But there was an expectation of progress--especially on the central issue of the moment: ending the war in Iraq.

That expectation, a basic and legitimate one in a functioning democracy, has not been met. And it has created a sense of frustration, and in many cases anger, on the part of Americans who really did want the Democrats to succeed--not in gaining partisan advantage but in the far more essential work of checking and balancing the Bush administration. Some leading voices of opposition, including anti-war activist Cindy Sheehan, have simply given up on the Democratic Party. And no one should underestimate that, even if Sheehan says she no longer wants to be the face of the anti-war movement, Sheehan's denunciation of the Democrats for failing to seriously challenge Bush's management of the war is an honest and clear expression of the sense of betrayal that a great many Americans who voted Democratic in 2006 are now feeling.

That's the bad news for Democrats.

The good news is that they still have time to change course.

Doing so is easier than political pundits and cautious politicians would have Americans believe.


More HERE

capt said...

Pakistan 'building new reactor'



Satellite images show that Pakistan is building a nuclear reactor that could be used to produce weapons-grade plutonium, a US watchdog says.

It has warned that its construction could contribute to another nuclear arms race with neighbouring India.

The Institute of Science for International Security (Isis) says photos taken earlier this month show work is "rapidly progressing".

But Pakistani officials say there is nothing untoward about the work.

Isis says the reactor is being built at Khusab, 160km south-west of Islamabad.

It says that its construction and other nuclear-related activities "imply" that Pakistan has opted to "increase significantly its production of plutonium for nuclear weapons".

More HERE

capt said...

The raw racism from the neocons might be more their undoing. Caging black people in the military and the other issues pile up and the stench is foul.

I will never understand why a person of color would ever vote GOP.


capt

Pandemoniac said...

capt said..
DO YOU REMEMBER WHEN...?
45RPM records
from: http://www.thestatenislandboys.com/U_thrill_me/
6/19/07 2:46 PM


One of the most unproductive discussions ever had with my daughter (7 y.o.) was when she found one of those little plastic adapters that went in the over-sized hole that 45s had in the middle of them. I couldn't get her to let go of the fact that 45s could've been made without the extra-large holes to avoid the necessity of the adapter. Seems like most of our conversations these days end with the phrase "that's dumb!"

"The true beauty and strength of science is self correction."

capt
6/17/07 9:33 PM

This is the solution to the problem inherent in any system where professions have to self-monitor their players. Congressmen are reluctant to accuse each other of unethical behavior because they're afraid that the opposing party will turn right around and attack in retaliation. Doctors have the same problem. You don't want to wreck someone else's career by accusing them of making faulty diagnoses. Same with teachers. Same with journalists (which is why I think that MediaMatters is doing a hell of a job poking holes in the media hotair balloon). Same with lawyers. Congress. Watchdogs. Oversight. Constructive criticism are the cure to shoddy workmanship.

Ah, pendejo, I just closed the window with White Duck Yellow Bill post with the link to Greenwald's article which had a link to the Belgravia Dispatch with this quote by J-Pod:
"What if the tactical mistake we made in Iraq was that we didn't kill enough Sunnis in the early going to intimidate them and make them so afraid of us they would go along with anything? Wasn't the survival of Sunni men between the ages of 15 and 35 the reason there was an insurgency and the basic cause of the sectarian violence now?"

Can you believe those crazy MoFos?

Pandemoniac said...

It ain't Thursday but it's still a mite funny....


"Yesterday at the G8 Summit, Russian President Vladimir Putin offered to let President Bush build a missile defense system in Azerbaijan. There was an awkward moment when Bush said, 'I believe the correct pronunciation is Abracadabra.'"
--Conan O'Brien

"Last week when President Bush was in Albania, they named a street after him. During the street naming ceremony, Bush told the Albanians, 'I am honored to be standing here on Lame Duck Boulevard'"
--Conan O'Brien

"President Bush was in Albania. He thought he was going to Albany. Anyway, he ended up in Albania ... and somebody stole his watch. Bush is upset. He is really angry. He said he now has no choice but to bomb Iran." --David Letterman

"George Bush is traveling around Europe. ... A couple of days ago, he's touring through Albania and he's shaking hands with people and someone steals his wrist watch. ... The Secret Service jumped right on it and they turned in a description of the watch. Mickey's gloves are white. His pants are red. His buttons are yellow. It's all part of George Bush's 'No Pickpocket Left Behind' program."
--David Letterman

"President Bush made a stop in Albania on Sunday. Unlike just about every other place he's ever been, they really like him there. They love him. They mobbed the president, and he ate it up. The only problem is that they may have also stolen his watch. ... Today the White House said the president's watch was not stolen. They said he took it off before he started shaking hands, which means there are two possibilities. Either ... Albanians stole the president's watch, or the president took off his watch because he doesn't trust Albanians. Neither scenario paints a particularly rosy picture of Albanian-American relations."
--Jimmy Kimmel

"George Bush ... was in Albania and his watch was stolen. ... They have a description of the guy. They say the suspect is armed and punctual. ... It's not a laughing matter. Don't kid yourselves. It's an important watch. It's the one Cheney uses to hypnotize him"
--David Letterman

"President Bush is back from his European tour. He became the first president ever to visit Albania. He got a hero's welcome. Although there was one awkward moment, when he told the crowd, 'I love the Albino people.'" --Jay Leno

"People were lining the streets, waiting to cheer President Bush. ... In this country he has a 28% approval rating, but in Albania, he's a God. It's like that whole David Hasselhoff's a star in Germany. ... He was so popular over there Albania actually named a street after President Bush. It's a dead end street, but it's the thought that counts."
--Jay Leno

"To get a pleasant reception, the president only needed to fly to a country referred to as 'the poor man's Kazakhstan.'"
--Jon Stewart

"Wait, can I just ask a question? How did those people get so close to the president? They're hugging him, they're playing with his hair. We're not even allowed to ask the guy questions"
--Jon Stewart

"So to the Albanians, the president has just recently launched a highly popular war in Afghanistan. There's no Iraq, no congressional page sex scandal, no Jack Abramoff, no wire-tapping, no secret prisons, no torture, no Valerie Plame, no Abu Ghraib, no no-bid contracts, no Hurricane Katrina, no attorney firings, no contents of Karl Rove's basement freezer....
Oh. I'm sorry, I may have spoken too soon. I don't know if that one's broken yet. It's going to be big."
--Stephen Colbert

"President Bush got a hero's welcome this week in Albania. He was thrilled. He thought he was in Alabama. Go Crimson Tide"
--Jay Leno

"I was going through the files and I believe he is the first president to be robbed since ... well, Al Gore"
--David Letterman

"On Tuesday, Republican frontrunner Rudy Giuliani released a slate of campaign pledges he calls the 'Twelve Commitments,' including sets of gems as 1. I will keep America on offense in the terrorists' war on us; 5. I will impose accountability on Washington; 8. I will survive; and 12. I will issue commitments in easily mockable list form."
--Jon Stewart

"'Rudy's promises to America.' Yes, Rudolph Giuliani always keeps his promises, unless he makes them to you as you're marrying him"
--Jon Stewart

"The mayor of Los Angeles, Antonio Villaraigosa, has announced he is separating from his wife. As former Mayor Rudolph Giuliani calls that, 'The first step to the White House.'" --Jay Leno

"The Pentagon has admitted they once tried to develop a gay bomb -- a bomb that would turn enemy soldiers gay. They said their goal was to turn the Iraq war into a musical. ... When asked what impact this gay bomb would have, the head of the Joint Chiefs said, 'Fabulous.'"
--Jay Leno

"I guess I have to mention it's Gay Pride Month. Congratulations, gay people -- I mentioned you. First you steal our rainbows and now you've managed to steal a whole month. Of course, you picked the month with the most weddings in it. You are determined to destroy the sanctity of marriage."
--Stephen Colbert

"One of the key battlegrounds in our gay culture war is actually key battlegrounds. I'm talking about gays in the military. The 'Don't Ask, Don't Tell' policy has thrown our armed forces into chaos in the middle of a war on terror. ... We cannot waiver on this issues, folks, and thank God none of the Republicans did in their recent presidential debate [on screen: none of the GOP WH '08ers raising their hand when asked if gays and lesbians should be allowed to serve openly in the military]. I say their silence speaks volumes. Plus, they kind of had to keep it down because Mary Cheney's baby was sleeping in the next room"
--Stephen Colbert

"Yesterday, California Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger told a Latino group if immigrants want to learn English, they should not read foreign-language newspapers. The Latino group told Arnold, 'How about you tell us how you learned English, and we'll do the opposite.'"
--Conan O'Brien

"Yesterday, President Bush talked about his immigration bill and said, 'The political process is two steps forward, one step back.' Then Bush said, 'It's just like the Hokey Pokey.' Then he did it for 40 minutes." --Conan O'Brien

"Republican presidential candidates Sam Brownback and Tom Tancredo both promised if they are elected president, they will pardon Scooter Libby. So, sorry Scooter, you are going to jail."
--Conan O'Brien

"Scooter Libby is going to jail unless President Bush acts quickly. And the city of New Orleans says, 'Good luck with Bush acting quickly'"
--Jay Leno

"Vice President Dick Cheney's former top aide, Scooter Libby, was sentenced to 30 months in prison. However, the sentence could be cut short if Vice President Cheney needs a heart transplant."
--Jay Leno

"President Bush met with the pope on Saturday. There was one awkward moment ... when he asked the pope, 'Hey, how's Mrs. Pope?'"
--Jay Leno

"President Bush met with the Pope this weekend and he made a mistake, because instead of calling the Pope 'your holiness,' Bush called him 'sir.' Then, instead of kissing the Pope's ring, Bush went for a high five and said, 'Up top, Popey.'"
--Conan O'Brien

"Paris Hilton is behind bars, but still no word on Osama."
--David Letterman

Gerald said...

It appears that Islam wants confrontation with Christians. We may be on a collision course with Islam.

Two Movements That Need Watching

Gerald said...

A nuclear attack by Hitler Bush upon Iran would wipe out any hope that confrontation with Islam can be avoided.

Hitler Bush appears to want a nuclear attack upon Iran.

capt said...

New study from Pilots for 9/11 Truth: No Boeing 757 hit the Pentagon



Pilots for 9/11 Truth obtained black box data from the government under the Freedom of Information Act for AA Flight 77, which The 9/11 Report claims hit the Pentagon. Analysis of the data contradicts the official account in direction, approach, and altitude. The plane was too high to hit lamp posts and would have flown over the Pentagon, not impacted with its ground floor. This result confirms and strengthens the previous findings of Scholars for 9/11 Truth that no Boeing 757 hit the buillding.

Madison, WI (PRWEB) June 21, 2007 - A study of the black box data provided by the government to Pilots for 9/11 Truth has confirmed the previous findings of Scholars for 9/11 Truth that no Boeing 757 hit the Pentagon on 9/11. "We have had four lines of proof that no Boeing 757 hit the building," said James Fetzer, founder of Scholars for 9/11 Truth. "This new study by Pilots drives another nail into a coffin of lies told the American people by The 9/11 Commission":

The new society, an international organization of pilots and aviation professionals, petitioned the National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) under the Freedom of Information Act and obtained its 2002 report on American Airlines Flight 77, a Boeing 757 that, according to the official account, hit the ground floor of the Pentagon after it skimmed over the lawn at 500 mph plus, taking out a series of lamp posts in the process. The pilots not only obtained the flight data but created a computer animation to demonstrate what it told them.

More HERE

*****end of clip*****

I guess that is why they hid the video.

It must be some sort of a mix up - I am sure nobody would ever lie about the important stuff.


capt

capt said...

Not as good as the posts from Pande (always funny) Saturday has the Bob Geiger Saturday Morning Cartoons


capt

capt said...

Life Undercover as One of DC's Sleaziest Lobbyists



Would you lobby on behalf of a bloodthirsty dictatorship? Some of DC's most prominent lobby firms wouldn't blink. Prepare to be appalled at the utterly amoral practises of DC's lobbying world as the author exposes Washington's underbelly.


"We are recommitting ourselves to stand with those courageous men and women who struggle for their freedom and their rights," she said. "And we are recommitting ourselves to call every government to account that still treats the basic rights of its citizens as options rather than, in President Bush's words, the non-negotiable demands of human dignity."

Flipping through the report, however, one cannot help but notice how many of the countries that flout "the non-negotiable demands of human dignity" seem to have negotiated themselves significant support from the U.S. government, whether military assistance (Egypt, Colombia), development aid (Azerbaijan, Nigeria), expanded trade opportunities (Angola, Cameroon), or official Washington visits for their leaders (Equatorial Guinea, Kazakhstan). The granting of favorable concessions to dictatorial regimes is a practice hardly limited to the current administration: Bill Clinton came into office having said that China's access to American markets should be tied to improved human rights -- specifically its willingness to "recognize the legitimacy of those kids that were carrying the Statue of Liberty" at Tiananmen Square -- but left having helped Beijing attain its long-cherished goal of Permanent Most Favored Nation trade status. Jimmy Carter put the promotion of human rights at the heart of his foreign policy, yet he cut deals for South American generals and Persian Gulf monarchs in much the same fashion as his successor, Ronald Reagan.

How is it that regimes widely acknowledged to be the world's most oppressive nevertheless continually win favors in Washington? In part, it is because they often have something highly desired by the United States that can be leveraged to their advantage, be it natural resources, vast markets for trade and investment, or general geostrategic importance. But even the best-endowed regimes need help navigating the shoals of Washington, and it is their great fortune that, for the right price, countless lobbyists are willing to steer even the foulest of ships.

American lobbyists have worked for dictators since at least the 1930s, when the Nazi government used a proxy firm called the German Dye Trust to retain the public-relations specialist Ivy Lee. Exposure of Lee's deal led Congress to pass the Foreign Agents Registration Act of 1938 (FARA), which required foreign lobbyists to register their contracts with the Justice Department. The idea seemed to be that with disclosure, lobbyists would be too embarrassed to take on immoral or corrupt clients, but this assumption predictably proved to be naive. Edward J. von Kloberg III, now deceased, for years made quite a comfortable living by representing men such as Saddam Hussein of Iraq (whose government's gassing of its Kurdish population he sought to justify) and Mobutu Sese Seko of Zaire (for whose notoriously crooked regime he helped win American foreign aid). Two other von Kloberg contracts -- for Nicolae Ceauscescu of Romania and Samuel Doe of Liberia -- were terminated, quite literally, when each was murdered by his own citizens. In the 1990s, after Burma's military government arrested the future Nobel Peace Prize winner Aung San Suu Kyi and cracked down on the pro-democracy movement she led, the firm of Jefferson Waterman International signed on to freshen up the Burmese image.

More HERE

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No surprise that lobbying - like business (re: profit) - is as amoral as the devil.


capt

capt said...

Olbermann Fact-Checks White House, Finds No Special Exemption For Cheney



Yesterday, White House spokeswoman Dana Perino defended Dick Cheney’s claim of existing outside the Executive Order (EO) that governs the preservation of classified data, a directive which applies to all Executive Branch officials.

Dismissing the topic as "a little bit of a nonissue," Perino said President Bush "gets to decide whether or not [Cheney] should be treated separately, and he’s decided that he should." She then suggested there was textual evidence in the 2003 Executive Order to support the claim that it was not applicable to Cheney:

PERINO: If you look on page 18 of the EO, when you have a chance, there’s a distinction regarding the Vice President versus what is an agency. And the President also, as the author of an EO, and the person responsible for interpreting the EO, did not intend for the Vice President to be treated as an agency, and that’s clear.

Last night, MSNBC’s Keith Olbermann reported that his staff fact-checked Perino’s claim, looked at page 18 of the order, and found Perino’s claim to be false:

OLBERMANN: No exemption at all for the Vice President on page 18. So we emailed the White House, which referred us to section 1.3 — which is about something else altogether — and 5.2 — which makes no mention of the Vice President. In fact, there is no exemption for the President or the Vice President when it comes to reporting on classified material.



More HERE

*****end of clip*****

The WH and the shadow government would have to care about the law for it to apply to them. They have nothing to hide so don't look.



capt

capt said...

White House contempt



House Judiciary Committee Democrats warned yesterday they would pursue a contempt of Congress motion if the White House fails respond to subpoenas for testimony and documents related to the firings of U.S. attorneys last year.

The deadline for a response is Thursday, June 28. If the White House does not comply, it opens the possibility of a constitutional showdown between the two branches. In an ironic twist, the Department of Justice (DoJ) would be called on to enforce the contempt motion.

During yesterday’s testimony by Deputy Attorney General Paul McNulty, panel Chairman John Conyers Jr. (D-Mich.) asked McNulty whether he would enforce such a motion. McNulty responded that he would recuse himself from handling such matters because of an internal DoJ investigation into the U.S. attorneys matter.

One of the contempt motions would likely be directed at Presidential Chief of Staff Josh Bolten, to whom the subpoena for documents was addressed, according to a Democratic aide.

Others who could face contempt motions include ex-White House Counsel Harriet Miers and former White House political director Sara Taylor. Last week, the House Judiciary Committee voted to subpoena testimony from Miers, while the Senate Judiciary panel voted to subpoena testimony from Taylor.

"The House and Senate judiciary committees have issued subpoenas to the White House for documents and testimony," said Conyers. "We’re still hopeful they may cooperate. But it’s still possible that enforcement action may be taken."

Democrats have been unsatisfied with the testimony they’ve heard so far from top officials and former officials at the DoJ, including Attorney General Alberto Gonzales. Under questioning, all have said either that their roles were limited or that they were not directly responsible for suggesting certain U.S. attorneys be placed on the firing list.

Because of these claims, Conyers said, Democrats’ only choice is to seek more information from the White House.

"We want to know where the lines go from the DoJ to the White House," he said. "That’s where these bread crumbs keep leading us and then they get lost in the snow or something."

Conyers said he wanted McNulty to go on the record about the DoJ’s commitment to enforcing such a contempt motion, but his question was an indication of the Democrats’ awkward position. If the House passed the motion, it would be referred to the U.S. attorney in the District of Columbia. The DoJ would then be called on to enforce it.

After the hearing, Conyers said he was not satisfied by McNulty’s testimony.

"It was not a fully candid discussion," he said.

Conyers said McNulty was walking a fine line between defending his previous testimony and wanting to avoid contradicting other DoJ officials’ accounts of his role in the firings. Some have stated that he misled Congress in previous testimony.

The chairman also said McNulty was trying to avoid antagonizing former DoJ White House liaison Monica Goodling, who was granted immunity. In her own testimony before the panel, she accused McNulty of not being forthcoming in his February Senate testimony about the White House’s involvement in the firings. She also rejected any suggestion that she had misled McNulty when she briefed him for that appearance.

McNulty agreed with lawmakers’ depictions of him as largely "cut out of the loop" during the process of determining which U.S. attorneys to fire, being brought in only at the end of the process, essentially to sign off on the list of names. He said he first learned about the firing list in October 2006, and that he attended his first meeting about the firings Nov. 27. But he claimed he didn’t discuss the matter with Gonzales until Dec. 7, the day the prosecutors were asked for their resignations.

"I think you were poorly treated," remarked Rep. Bill Delahunt (D-Mass.). "It’s my belief that you were thrown under the bus."

McNulty pointedly refused to say that anyone, including Goodling, misled him while he was preparing for February testimony.

When news was breaking about the U.S. attorneys’ controversy back in January, he said, the department was "moving quickly" and "trying to respond to questions."

"I’m not in a position to conclude that individuals were trying to keep information from me," he added.

McNulty also acknowledged that an Oct. 4, 2006, a phone call by Sen. Pete Domenici (R-N.M.) complaining about the performance of then-New Mexico U.S. Attorney David Iglesias kept him from objecting to Iglesias’s placement on the list of those to be ousted. He did not disclose the influence of Domenici’s call during his February Senate testimony.

McNulty testified that he was given the opportunity to voice his objections to the names on the list and that at least one U.S. attorney was taken off the list at his suggestion. He refused to disclose that attorney’s name, even though media accounts have identified the prosecutor as the U.S. attorney for Tallahassee, Fla., Greg Miller.


More HERE

*****end of clip*****

It is past the time for the real "law and order" conservatives to come forward and support the law. No more neochronic excuses or tortured pretzel logic twists to justify breaking the law.

There will be no constitutional crisis while this administration just pretends no law applies to them - they would have to return to reality for the constitution to matter so it is not very likely.

If the GOP does not correct itself by turning on itself nothing will change.



capt

capt said...

While Global Refugee Population Increases, Advocates Criticize U.S. Policy



The report predicted that the refugee population will continue to increase as more and more flee not only from war, but also environmental pressures, competition for scarce resources and exclusion at the hands of dysfunctional states.

Overall, the biggest group of refugees remain Afghans (2.1 million), followed by Iraqis (1.5 million), Sudanese (686,000) and Somalis (460,000). The figures do not include the estimated 4.3 million Palestinians living in Jordan, Lebanon, Syria and the occupied Palestinian territory, who fall under the mandate of the UN Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees in the Near East.

Refugee rights advocates say that the U.S. refugee policy, meanwhile, has become less welcoming to incoming refugees. The USA Patriot Act, passed shortly after the 9/11 terrorist attacks, blocks the admission of refugees who provided "material support" to terrorist organizations and allows no exceptions for support given through coercion. Material support is defined as providing a safe house, transportation, communications or money.

For example, the U.S. Committee on Refugees and Immigrants documented a case in which a Colombian woman was barred from admission to the U.S. because she gave farm animals to rebels. The guerrillas reportedly demanded money, which the family did not have. After making numerous threats, they took livestock instead and later raped the woman and shot her husband. They estimate that the "material support" rule has banned over 2,000 Colombian refugees from entering the United States.

In all the number of refugees coming into the U.S. has dropped from 68,426 in 2001 to 41,279 in 2006.


More HERE

*****end of clip*****

Millions of refugees is a humanitarian problem. How can we be so inhumane?


capt

Gerald said...

Dress it as we may...huzza it, and sing swaggering songs about it, what is war, nine times out of ten, but murder in uniform? - Douglas Jerrold

Gerald said...

Goodbye and Good Luck

Gerald said...

What the knuckleheads in Washington have created is an empire of delusions and illusions. It's time for the nation to wake up and adopt a realistic foreign policy, which is trade and friendly relations with anybody who wants it. As for those who don't, we simply ignore them. We don't need to be anybody's enemy.

Gerald said...

For me war has become a flat, black depression without highlights, a revulsion of the mind and an exhaustion of the spirit. - Ernie Pyle

Gerald said...

DC is a lunatic asylum

Gerald said...

Look at John McCain, Rudy Giuliani and now Joe Lieberman all itching to exploit 9/11 fear and paranoia as a justification for nuclear Armageddon in Iran. Do you think there is a sane one among them?

Ivory Bill Woodpecker said...

Gerald, don't worry about their reinstating the draft. They won't do that, because they know that one of the biggest reasons they've gotten away with their crimes so far is that very, very few USAmericans from affluent backgrounds--the people who MATTER, unlike us peasants--are getting killed for the Chimperor and the Imperial Dick. [Cheney, that is]