Get longer eyelashes but beware the four-hour erection

i've rarely watched tv in the u.s., preferring to catch my favorite u.s. programs in argentina where they play in english with spanish subtitles... i find that commercials in argentina are ever so much more tolerable than the u.s. where the ads seem to get right in your face... argentine commercials are much more fluffy-bunny, mom-dad-kids, and tend to be kind of sweet overall...

now that i've been back in the u.s. for a while, i'm gravitating to my favorite shows and have been not just a tad bit appalled at the commercials i'm seeing, particularly the ceaseless pitches for prescription pharmaceuticals for everything under the sun from sexual dysfunction to mesothelioma to bone loss to longer eyelashes... it's positively disgusting not only how many there, but then to listen to the obligatory side-effects warnings, they become a real horror show: "reports of suicidal thoughts have occurred in an extremely small percentage of users"... great caesar's ghost...! if suicidal thoughts have been a factor with ANY users, it's too many...

maybe something will come of this - or not...

[P]oliticians are taking aim at the 60-second spots that have made viewers familiar with maladies like male urinary urgency and deficient eyelashes — not to mention side effects like four-hour erections.

Representative James P. Moran, Democrat of Virginia, is sponsoring a House bill that would ban ads for prescription sexual aids like Viagra and Levitra from prime-time television, on decency grounds. Representative Henry A. Waxman, Democrat of California, has said he favors empowering the Food and Drug Administration to bar consumer advertisements for new drugs for an initial period after the F.D.A. approves them — until there has been more real-world experience with the medications.

Meanwhile, Representative Jerrold Nadler, Democrat of New York, has introduced a bill called the Say No to Drug Ads Act. It would amend the federal tax code to prevent pharmaceutical companies from deducting the cost of direct-to-consumer drug advertisements as a business expense.

“You should not be going to a doctor saying, ‘I have restless leg syndrome’ — whatever the hell that is — or going to a doctor saying, ‘I have the mumps,’ ” Mr. Nadler said in an interview. “You should not be diagnosed by some pitchman on TV who doesn’t know you whatsoever.”

i'm sure big pharma will pull out all the stops and deploy every lobbyist they can lay their hands on to stop this in its tracks...

Submit To Propeller
Tweet

[Permalink] 0 comments

No biggie... It's only 15 BILLION dollars...

ya know what...? $15B doesn't just DISAPPEAR... you can be damn sure, it's out there somewhere, spread around among the numbered offshore bank accounts of the elite, super-rich crooks who are fleecing us for every last dollar...

The Pentagon cannot account for nearly 15 billion dollars in payments for goods and services in Iraq, according to an internal audit which members of Congress blasted Friday as a "shocking" accountability failure.

Of 8.2 billion dollars in US taxpayer-funded defense contracts reviewed by the defense department's inspector general, the Pentagon could not properly account for more than 7.7 billion dollars.

The lack of accountability of the funds, intended for purchases of weapons, vehicles, construction equipment and security services, amounted to a 95 percent failure rate in basic accounting standards, according to the report.

"We estimated that the army made 1.4 billion dollars in commercial payments that lacked the minimum documentation for a valid payment, such as properly prepared receiving reports, invoices, and certified vouchers," deputy inspector general Mary Ugone told a Congressional committee Thursday.

"We also estimated that the army made an additional 6.3 billion dollars of commercial payments that met the 27 criteria for payments but did not comply with other statutory and regulatory requirements."

The Pentagon also was found to have given away another 1.8 billion in Iraqi assets "with absolutely no accountability," said Congressman Henry Waxman, chairman of the House Committee on Oversight and Government Reform.

"Investigators examined 53 payment vouchers and couldn't find even one that adequately explained where the money went."

categorizing this as a series of accounting and documentation errors is the height of naivete... i may have been born at night, but i wasn't born LAST night...

p.s. remember, this is only IRAQ we're talking about... how about AFGHANISTAN, where i am currently parked, typing this... how about somalia, homeland security, domestic defense contracts, etc., etc., etc... $15B is only the tip of an extraordinarily large iceberg...

Submit To Propeller
Tweet

[Permalink] 0 comments

Volunteers needed to give traitor Marc Grossman hell when he testifies before Congress tomorrow

things are definitely heating up... this is the third post from luke yet this evening...

This is an action alert for those in the DC area. Please try to recruit friends to attend.

Marc Grossman will be attending a congressional committee hearing on Wednesday January 23 (tomorrow) at 10am, at Room 2154 of the Rayburn House Office Building.

Grossman will be appearing in front of the National Security and Foreign Affairs subcommittee of the Oversight Committee on an unrelated matter.

Marc Grossman is a traitor.

We want volunteers to go to the hearing and give Grossman hell,

We want you to hand out flyers and two recent articles to the various Congressmen, their staff, and attendant media. [Flyer here - PDF]

We want you to take video cameras and capture the whole thing.

Marc Grossman – Traitor

UK Times, January 6, 2008:

For sale: West’s deadly nuclear secrets

A WHISTLEBLOWER has made a series of extraordinary claims about how corrupt government officials allowed Pakistan and other states to steal nuclear weapons secrets.

Among the hours of covert tape recordings, she says she heard evidence that one
well-known senior official [MARC GROSSMAN] in the US State Department was
being paid by Turkish agents in Washington who were selling the information on to
black market buyers, including Pakistan.

[…]

“He was aiding foreign operatives against US interests by passing them highly classified information, not only from the State Department but also from the Pentagon, in exchange for money, position and political objectives.”

American Conservative Magazine, January 2008

Found in Translation. FBI whistleblower Sibel Edmonds spills her secrets

Marc Grossman was recorded by FBI

• tipping off criminal suspects regarding CIA’s WMD cover company Brewster Jennings in 2001
• planting criminals in US Nuclear labs to steal secrets
• picking up $15,000 cash bribe
• setting free four 9/11 suspects without interrogation

DEMAND OPEN PUBLIC HEARINGS NOW

Marc Grossman is a traitor and needs to be held to account.

Contact Henry Waxman: 2157 Rayburn House Office Building, (202) 225-5051

Grossman will be at National Security & Foreign Affairs Hearing Room
Jan 23, 10am, 2154, Rayburn House Office Building.

With the absence of true media...
time for Citizen Journalism

Submit To Propeller
Tweet

[Permalink] 0 comments

A "misunderstanding" on Waxman's part - of COURSE it is

we're right, you're wrong... is that clear...? if not, let me say it again... we're right, you're wrong... is that better...? you think you've got it now...?

An ongoing battle between Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice and a House committee investigating Iraqi government corruption and the activities of the Blackwater security firm erupted into another skirmish yesterday as Rep. Henry A. Waxman (D-Calif.) accused Rice of interfering with the committee's work and preventing administration and Blackwater officials from providing pertinent information.

In the latest of a series of exchanges, Waxman, chairman of the House Oversight and Government Reform Committee, wrote Rice to urge that she "reconsider the unusual positions you are taking." Congress has a "constitutional prerogative" to look into the issues, he wrote, and she is "wrong to interfere with the Committee's inquiry."

State Department spokesman Tom Casey cited a "misunderstanding" on Waxman's part. "All information requested by the committee has been or is in the process of being provided," he said.

< sigh >

Submit To Propeller
Tweet

[Permalink] 0 comments

Begone, Lurita, and never darken my door again

think progress quotes henry waxman from today's house oversight committee hearings...

In today’s House oversight committee hearing with GSA administrator Lurita Doan, chairman Henry Waxman (D-CA) told Doan that she should resign:

I have to say, this is my opinion, but it’s unusual for me to ever call for the resignation of a federal official. But in your case, I don’t see any other course of action that will protect the interests of your agency and the federal taxpayer. No one can be an effective leader who has abused the trust of her employees, and threatened to deny promotions and bonuses to employees for telling the truth. And no one can be an effective leader who has lost the public’s confidence, politicizing the agency and violating the federal Hatch Act, yet that is exactly what you have done.

i predict that waxman's strongly worded suggestion that doan resign, will, just like gonzo's failed no-confidence vote, merely strengthen bush's resolve to keep her... otoh, in big picture terms and, given the other crises that are biting bush around the ankles, lurita is most definitely expendable... however, i just can't see bush allowing it to look like he's acceding to waxman's request... it would be totally out of character...

Submit To Propeller
Tweet

[Permalink] 0 comments

Let the constitutional crisis begin

there's another one of these (PDF) with sara taylor's name on it...



from think progress...

These are the first subpoenas delivered to the White House regarding the attorney firings. The House Judiciary Committee issued the subpoena to Miers, and the Senate Judiciary Committee issued the subpoena to Taylor.

[...]

CNN’s legal analyst Jeffrey Toobin reports, “The White House has made clear it will cite executive privilege for conversations that took place within the White House on the U.S. attorney matter, and if the people with those conversations happen to have subsequently left the White House, that doesn’t matter. They’re still going to cite executive privilege, and these people are not going to be allowed to testify anytime soon, it appears, if the White House remains as it has been. … Even if they want to testify.”

fine... let's get the goddam show on the road... and this better not end up like condi's subpoena that's been floating around out there, unenforced, since april 25...

On a party-line vote of 21-10, the House of Representatives' Oversight and Government Reform Committee approved a subpoena for Rice, which was quickly issued.

and it, too, was accompanied by the same raft of executive privilege horseshit...

[T]he administration said it might fight the subpoena, citing a legal doctrine that can shield a president and his aides from having to answer questions from Congress.

"Those matters are covered by executive privilege," said State Department spokesman Sean McCormack, moving toward a possible legal showdown with the Democratic-led Congress.

no more screwing around, congress, and that means BOTH of you, patrick leahy and henry waxman... the time for niceties is long gone... we're in a constitutional war and the sooner we face that fact, the quicker we can get on with reclaiming our country...

Submit To Propeller
Tweet

[Permalink] 0 comments

Susan Ralston takes the 5th on Abramoff and White House RNC email accounts

so, she's got some goodies on jack and his relationship with the white house and his bestest friend, karl rove...

"The subjects this morning that she will be unable to testify to...are the subjects of the relationship between Jack Abramoff and his associates and White House officials, including Ms. Ralston, and the subject of the use by White House officials of political e-mail accounts at the RNC," Ralston's lawyer, Bradford Berenson said, during the May 10 deposition. "She has material, useful information about both of those subjects."

[...]

"She is more than willing to provide it to the committee. However, she will, as we have previously discussed, require a grant of immunity before she is comfortable going forward," Berenson also said in the deposition.

give her immunity and then waterboard her until she tells us everything she knows...

Submit To Propeller
Tweet

[Permalink] 0 comments

More immunity...? For a Rove aide...?? For Susan Ralston...???

by all means, give it to her, and let her sing like a canary...

via josh at tpm...

From Evans-Novak Political Report ...

Rove's former assistant, Susan Ralston, is currently seeking immunity to testify before Waxman's committee. Ralston is a former assistant to Jack Abramoff, the disgraced Washington super-lobbyist and Republican fund-raiser. As Rove's gatekeeper, she became special assistant to the President and the highest-ranking Filipino-American in the administration. For Waxman, she is a link between Abramoff and Rove. Ralston was deposed behind closed doors prior to her request for immunity. According to her friends, she has nothing to say that would cause problems for Rove. Her request for immunity was forwarded to the Justice Department, whose recommendation may or may not be followed by Congress.

her friends may say she has nothing to say that would cause problems for karl rove, but i sincerely doubt she's seeking immunity because she only wants to recite bedtime stories...

Submit To Propeller
Tweet

[Permalink] 0 comments

Oh, and Mr. Tenet, be sure to wear your Medal of Freedom

it'll add to your credibility...

Today Chairman Henry A. Waxman announced that the Oversight Committee will postpone the hearing with Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice from May 15, 2007, to June 19,2007. The hearing is being postponed to allow former CIA Director George Tenet to testify with Secretary Rice and to accommodate Secretary Rice's travel schedule.

Submit To Propeller
Tweet

[Permalink] 0 comments

Like we should be surprised Condi's trying to stonewall the truth?

and she's still got an outstanding subpoena which i guess waxman's letting ride for now...







smells a lot like sibel edmonds, doesn't it, luke...?

Three months before President Bush uttered his infamous 16 words, claiming there was evidence that Saddam Hussein was building a nuclear weapon, a State Department analyst named Simon Dodge had determined that the evidence for the claim was likely fraudulent.

Dodge emailed his assessment to fellow intelligence analysts in October 2002, and then again in January 2003 (two weeks before Bush’s State of the Union), saying the documents supposedly from Niger were “probably a hoax” and “clearly a forgery.”

According to Oversight and Goverment Reform Chairman Henry Waxman (D-CA), the State Department is now refusing to let Dodge speak to Waxman’s staff, despite the fact that Dodge has indicated he is “willing to cooperate fully” with the investigation.

just keep diggin' and pluggin', henry... just keep diggin' and pluggin'...

Submit To Propeller
Tweet

[Permalink] 0 comments

Condi's lying through her teeth

from think progress...

On CNN’s Late Edition, Condoleezza Rice responded, “We all thought that the intelligence case was strong,” adding that even “the U.N weapons inspectors [thought] Saddam Hussein had weapons of mass destruction.” She concluded, “So there’s no blame here of anyone.”

wow... talk about making waxman's case for him...! ferragamo condi clearly demos WHY henry served her with a subpoena and WHY today's nyt op-ed supports her dragging her well-shod feet in front of his committee to be questioned under oath... oh, condi... you and your big mouth...

Submit To Propeller
Tweet

[Permalink] 0 comments

The NYT: "We don’t have room for all our questions"

"hope" isn't nearly strong enough... i would opt for "insist..."

We hope Representative Henry Waxman, chairman of the Oversight and Government Reform Committee, enforces the subpoena of Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice to discuss prewar claims about Saddam Hussein’s long-gone weapons programs. Ms. Rice, who was national security adviser before the war, says she has answered every possible question. Actually, we don’t have room for all our questions.

Just a few: Did she vet the briefing Mr. Bush got from Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld’s rogue intelligence shop on Iraq’s alleged efforts to acquire uranium? The Central Intelligence Agency and the State Department thought, correctly, that the report was false. So why did Ms. Rice permit the president to repeat it to the world? Or did Mr. Bush also know what he was claiming was wrong?

The same applies to other claims about Iraq, including a false report about the purchase of aluminum tubes for bomb building, talk of mushroom clouds and fairy tales about links between Iraq and Al Qaeda. When it became clear the intelligence was false, why didn’t Ms. Rice make sure the public found out? Before the war, Ms. Rice was not in a post requiring Senate confirmation, but she is now. If she refuses to testify, the House should hold her in contempt.

condoleezza rice has been one of the principal liars of the bush administration... the nyt's questions revolve around iraq, but there are many, many more - torture, black sites, extraordinary rendition, forewarning and/or foreknowledge of 9/11, the mysterious flight whisking bin laden's relatives out of the u.s. immediately post-9/11, and the list goes on... ms. rice is every bit as much a criminal as dick cheney, donald rumsfeld, alberto gonzales, george tenet, colin powell, karl rove, and george bush, and, like all of them, must be held accountable, whether it be sooner or later... my preference is for sooner...

Submit To Propeller
Tweet

[Permalink] 0 comments

Ok then, let's get this constitutional crisis party started

anybody who didn't see this coming, please raise your hand... hey, you... over there in the corner... wake up and pay attention... i asked you a question...

Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice in Norway on Thursday appears to have rejected Rep. Henry Waxman's (D-CA) subpoena compelling her to testify before the House Oversight and Government Reform Committee on the intelligence used to build the case for the Iraq war, according to the Associated Press.

In a press briefing in Oslo, according to the AP's Matthew Lee, Rice took the opportunity to state directly for the first time that she didn't see her testimony as necessary.

"I think I have more than answered these questions, and answered them directly to Congressman Waxman," she told reporters.

The Secretary of State also invoked executive privilege as a reason for not testifying.

after a few errands in town this morning, i'll be sure to stop on the way home to pick up an extra stock of popcorn...

Submit To Propeller
Tweet

[Permalink] 0 comments

Push, push, push on the Bush

woo-hoo...! 3 (count 'em, 3) subpoenas... now that they're approved, will they be issued...?

"We have hit a brick wall with the Secretary of State," said Rep. Henry Waxman (D-CA). "She will not propose a date to testify, she will not agree to testify, and she insists that our Committee be satisfied with partial information that was previously submitted to other committees."

Waxman's remark came in a fractious hearing on issuing three subpoenas. One sought Rice's testimony on May 15 concerning the intelligence used to justify the invasion of Iraq. The other two concerned the deletion of e-mails on accounts supplied the Republican National Committee and used by White House employees, as well as RNC documents concerning the use of the General Services Administration to assist Republican political efforts.

All three subpoenas were agreed to by the Committee.

while, as committee chair, waxman has the power to unilaterally approve and issue the subpoenas, he opened the matter to full committee debate and vote...

"Under the rules of this Committee, the Chairman has the power to issue subpoenas without debate or votes in the Committee. That is what Dan Burton used to do. In fact, that is what he did over 1,000 times," he said. "But I am taking a different approach today. I believe the entire Committee should have a chance to participate in the subpoenas we will consider today."

push, push, push on the bush...

[UPDATE]

according to this ap account, a subpoena will be issued to rice...

By 21-10, the House oversight committee voted to issue a subpoena to Rice...

Submit To Propeller
Tweet

[Permalink] 0 comments

Condi has more important things to do than to be held accountable

this ought to be interesting...

[A]Republican Congressman sent out an "action alert" claiming that "we've gotten word that Waxman will issue a subpoena to Secretary Rice tomorrow morning," adding that such a move could allow the GOP to show how Democrats are "trying to win the political war for themselves no matter its effect on America’s efforts to promote peace and democracy abroad."

"I can only assume that members of Congress would rather have the secretary of State be focused on issues of war and peace," said State Department spokesman Sean McCormack in a press briefing today, and then listed her obligations over the next month.

He added, "So she can be doing those things, or she can be testifying before Chairman Waxman's committee about an issue that has been about as investigated as an issue can possibly be investigated."

"as investigated as an issue can possibly be investigated...?" not really... i don't believe an investigation that fails to come up with the truth can be considered thorough...

"Congressman Waxman has had a series of questions for Secretary Rice, and we started out at the -- some 50-plus questions. I think we've narrowed it down to about three, and we will be providing a response to those last three questions, I expect, later this afternoon to Chairman Waxman and his committee," [McCormack] added.

there's a vast difference between responding to questions in writing and responding to them in person... if there was ever a definitive case study of that fact, one only has to go back to last thursday and review gonzales' truly pathetic performance before the senate judiciary committee...

Submit To Propeller
Tweet

[Permalink] 0 comments

Waxman's efforts get some unexpected, heavy-duty support

very good news...

[T]he Office of Special Counsel is preparing to jump into one of the most sensitive and potentially explosive issues in Washington, launching a broad investigation into key elements of the White House political operations that for more than six years have been headed by chief strategist Karl Rove.

The new investigation, which will examine the firing of at least one U.S. attorney, missing White House e-mails, and White House efforts to keep presidential appointees attuned to Republican political priorities, could create a substantial new problem for the Bush White House.

First, the inquiry comes from inside the administration, not from Democrats in Congress. Second, unlike the splintered inquiries being pressed on Capitol Hill, it is expected to be a unified investigation covering many facets of the political operation in which Rove played a leading part.

"We will take the evidence where it leads us," Scott J. Bloch, head of the Office of Special Counsel and a presidential appointee, said in an interview Monday. "We will not leave any stone unturned."

in the blinding-glimpse-of-the-obvious questions department, why the hell has it taken them 6+ years to smell the shitpile that has been accumulating outside rove's west wing office...?

Submit To Propeller
Tweet

[Permalink] 0 comments

White House refuses to cooperate with mandated information security inspections

i posted earlier on henry waxman's letter to andrew card seeking card's cooperation in testifying voluntarily before the oversight committee regarding a suspected "systemic failure" on the part of the white house to safeguard classified information...



emptywheel at the next hurrah took the extra step of actually READING waxman's letter and came up with this even more staggering bit of information...



this seems to me like it's getting more serious by the minute... waxman's letter cites numerous extremely troubling instances, so troubling, in fact, that i have to wonder not only what in holy hell is going on but also how in hell do they think they can get away with it... it's well worth reading in full...

Submit To Propeller
Tweet

[Permalink] 0 comments

Go, Henry...!!

(this post is as much to tweak section9's nose as it is to report on waxman's latest inquiry...)

The head of the House Committee on Oversight and Governance Reform warned today of a "systematic failure" in basic security procedures as well as the safeguarding of classified information in the White House of President George W. Bush.

"Multiple current and former White House security personnel have informed my staff that White House practices have been dangerously inadequate with respect to investigating security violations, taking corrective action following breaches, and physically securing classified information," Rep. Henry Waxman (D-CA) wrote to former White House Chief of Staff Andrew Card today.

Waxman sought Card's cooperation in his probe of a "systematic breakdown" in White House security procedures.

i'm glad this is being followed up... after knodell's revelations at the scooter libby trial, and the recent disclosure that rnc servers were routinely used by numerous white house staff for official government communications, any it director would (and should) be crapping little green apples... the fact that it involves the white house and therefore the country's most sensitive classified information, is deeply troubling...

Submit To Propeller
Tweet

[Permalink] 0 comments

"A cataclysmic fight to the death" over congressional subpoenas

yes, yes, i know... i've been beating this dead horse for weeks, but... we MUST NOT FORGET that the bush administration laid out its unequivocal strategy for how it would respond to any congressional attempts at exercising oversight or exacting accountability BEFORE the november elections...

In fact, when it comes to deploying its Executive power, which is dear to Bush's understanding of the presidency, the President's team has been planning for what one strategist describes as "a cataclysmic fight to the death" over the balance between Congress and the White House if confronted with congressional subpoenas it deems inappropriate. The strategist says the Bush team is "going to assert that power, and they're going to fight it all the way to the Supreme Court on every issue, every time, no compromise, no discussion, no negotiation."

you can go to the bank on the fact that bushco will be doing exactly what they said they were going to do, henry waxman notwithstanding...

House Oversight and Government Reform Committee Chairman Henry A. Waxman (D-Calif.) sought yesterday to pressure the Bush administration into divulging sensitive policy information, scheduling a committee vote for Wednesday on his plan to issue four subpoenas for the information.

[...]

"I never found it necessary to issue subpoenas to either President Bush's father's Administration or the Reagan Administration," Waxman said in a statement. "We were always able to reach an accommodation that respected our legitimate interests. I hope that will continue to be the case with this White House" and the information will be provided voluntarily.

mr. waxman's hopeful sentiment is touching, but surely he knows there are only two scenarios that are likely to transpire here... one, his committee will issue the subpoenas and they will be ignored by the white house (or justice department or the state department or whatever other executive branch agency they're directed to)... that will force a consideration to declare contempt of congress, a judgment that would require enforcement by the justice department... since the justice department is peppered with bushco infiltrators, that won't happen, and the case would eventually have to be pushed up to the supreme court, another bushco enclave, with a positive outcome equally unlikely... the other scenario is that the subpoenas won't be issued and waxman will continue to huff and puff and nothing will be accomplished...

so, what's a body to do...? hell if i know... what i keep hoping is that, subpoenas or not, several truly damning revelations (there would have to be more than one) backed by hard evidence come into the possession of one or more house or senate investigative committees that will blow the whole bushco criminal enterprise wide open... this business of working piece-meal with condi, gonzo, rove, et al, may be good for chipping away at the power base of these arrogant criminals, but, by the time such efforts bring down any walls, 20 january 2009 will be upon us, and the damage done between now and then may very well be irreversible...

Submit To Propeller
Tweet

[Permalink] 0 comments

"You will not be surprised to learn that I take a different view of this matter."

henry waxman...

"On April 16,2007, you appeared on The Daily Show with Jon Stewart and discussed the leak of [former covert CIA Agent Valerie Plame] Wilson's identity," Waxman (D-CA) wrote to Andrew Card, the former White House Chief of Staff. "[White House Counsel Fred] Fielding's position appears to be that it is appropriate for you to discuss these matters on The Daily Show, but not before a congressional committee. You will not be surprised to learn that I take a different view of this matter."

ouch... inescapable logic, imho...

Card served as Bush's chief of staff from the President's inauguration until April 2006. In March, Waxman sought "an on-the-record interview regarding the disclosure of Ms. Wilson's covert identity and the White House procedures for handling classified information," with Card.

But the White House Counsel rejected the request because "former senior White House officials such as the Chief of Staff to the President have historically not been available to Congress to testify, or to be interviewed, about their activities in serving the President," according to the Congressman's letter.

why, oh why, oh why-o, can't we put these criminals occupying the white house out on the street - or, better yet, in jail where they belong...?

Submit To Propeller
Tweet

[Permalink] 0 comments