Ashcroft, Rumsfeld and Tenet urged the 9/11 Commission to limit its investigation

i'm so tired of all these little bits and pieces when at this point in time we can be reasonably sure we still don't know the whole story...

anyway, here's another little piece...

Senior Bush administration officials sternly cautioned the 9/11 Commission against probing too deeply into the terrorist attacks of September 11, 2001, according to a document recently obtained by the ACLU.

The notification came in a letter dated January 6, 2004, addressed by Attorney General John Ashcroft, Defense Secretary Donald H. Rumsfeld and CIA Director George J. Tenet [ACLU PDF document, page 26]. The ACLU described it as a fax sent by David Addington, then-counsel to former vice president Dick Cheney.

In the message, the officials denied the bipartisan commission's request to question terrorist detainees, informing its two senior-most members that doing so would "cross" a "line" and obstruct the administration's ability to protect the nation.

here's the letter... see for yourself how those three bozos tied the hands of those seeking the truth...


(click on image for larger version)

fer god's sake... can't we just get to the truth and get past all of this dribble-drabble crap...

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Speaking of bloody pulpits (see previous post), here's more on Afghanistan

it's not like i don't get on mine on a regular basis...

robert greenwald of brave new films is putting together a documentary on afghanistan where he attempts to put together some of the issues facing the u.s. and the world in that country... as i sit here in kabul typing this, i wish him luck...



i made an offer to john aravosis at americablog a few weeks ago to arrange for him to visit kabul but i think he's wussed out... i just made the same offer to brave new films... let's see if someone there can muster the cojones...

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The Sarah Palin debate flow chart

now that i've had a bit of net-surfing time, i seem to have gotten a grip on how last night's debate went, due, in no small part, to the following diagram... honest to god, i wouldn't doubt for a moment that, even tho' it seems like a spoof, it's probably exactly the way it worked and may have even been the VERY TOOL used to prep our friend, frankenbarbie, for her big night...



(many thanks to john at americablog...)

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Brave knights of the Army of Obama

(a search for my previous post on this hilarity didn't turn up anything in the time i cared to spend on it, but i want to be sure to give credit for the terrific monty python connection to john at americablog...)

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John at AMERICAblog hits one out of the park

john's post title...?

And your little dog too

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The best thing about the Hillary campaign is that it's showing us the true Bill

the more hillary attempts to claw her way to the democratic nomination through lying, character assassination and dirty tricks, the more we are forced to face the sad reality represented by the presidential administration of bill clinton, and, believe me, i ain't talking about monica or jennifer... two great examples of how the eye-scales are dropping off by the dozen are john and joe at americablog...

john...

You really can't get more shameless than Hillary Clinton.

She, like her husband, will screw over the rest of the Democratic party for her own political gain.

joe...

I think the question remaining is not whether Obama will get the nomination. That's a done deal. The question is how much damage Clinton and her minions, especially Bill, can wreak upon Obama and the Democratic party.

like john and joe, a lot of head-in-the-sand worshippers of the "big dog" are waking up to find that the halcyon days of the clinton administration were anything but... bill clinton spent a great deal of time and energy laying the groundwork for everything we're dealing with today, he just did it in a much lower-key, less in-your-face, much more schmoozable style than the current jack-booted chimpanzee that calls himself our president...

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More on Rev. Wright and the swiftboating of Obama

i knew as soon as i started reading about rev. wright's interview with bill moyers that wright was being set up to bring obama down, part of the overall, national, coordinated strategy to deny obama both the democratic nomination and the white house... after yesterday's national press club speech, i was positive...

is it working...? oh, yeah... just look at these headlines from the wapo's editorial/opinion email summary from yesterday...

Eugene Robinson
Where Wright Goes Wrong
The Rev. Jeremiah Wright has become Barack Obama's cross to bear.

E.J. Dionne Jr.
The Shrinking Election
The 'change' election was supposed to be about ideas. It is losing focus.

George F. Will
A Pastor at Center Stage
It seems clear that Rev. Wright wants to be a central figure in this presidential campaign. He should be.

Richard Cohen
Words Heard Differently
White and black Americans are separated by a common language.

(Washington Post editorial)
The Audacity of Rev. Wright
A tale of a candidate, a pastor and some repugnant remarks

it's forcing obama on the defensive...

Obama strongly denounces former pastor

Democratic presidential candidate Barack Obama denounced his former pastor in his strongest language to date on Tuesday, saying he was outraged by Rev. Jeremiah Wright's assertions about the U.S. government and race.

"His comments were not only divisive ... but I believe that they end up giving comfort to those who prey on hate," Obama told reporters.

"Whatever relationship I had with Reverend Wright has changed as a consequence of this," Obama said.

Obama was forced to address the issue again after another appearance on Monday by Wright to combat criticism of his controversial sermons that have, among other things, suggested the United States deserved some blame for the September 11 attacks and had had a hand in spreading AIDS to blacks.

even the so-called "liberal, progressive" bloggers are piling on...

Wright truly crossed over into cuckoo-land yesterday, saying that our government created AIDS, among other things. That's insane conspiracy talk, and it's race-baiting (white people created AIDS to oppress minorities? - give me a break). Obama really blasted him this time. Good. I appreciate the position Obama is in. It's difficult to see someone you once respected turn into a crazy man. A craven politician, Hillary comes to mind, would turn on that person (or constituency) in a flash. A normal person, a good Christian, would struggle with the fact that the now-crazy man has done good in his life as well. How do you reconcile the two? Politicians don't. Real men - and real Christians - do.

thank god there are at least a few sane souls left out there who know that rev. wright is dead-on in what he's saying...

Jeremiah Wright is 5' 10 '' of tightly-packed explosives. He may be the best public speaker since Martin Luther King. He is bright, passionate, insightful and erudite. When he speaks; the sparks fly and the ground shakes. Yesterday, when Wright took the podium at the National Press Club, he knew he'd be taken to task no matter what he said. He knew that every word he uttered would be twisted by the media to make him look like a hate-monger, or worse, a racist. But Wright faced his critics with dignity and delivered another barnburner. By the end of the speech, everyone in attendance was on their feet applauding wildly for the man the corporate media has chosen to destroy.

so, make up your own minds...

the national press club speech...

Rev. Wright at the National Press Club (1 of 3)



Rev. Wright at the National Press Club (2 of 3)



Rev. Wright at the National Press Club (3 of 3)



followed by the q & a...

National Press Club - Rev Wright Q & A (Part 1 of 3)



National Press Club - Rev Wright Q & A (Part 2 of 3)



National Press Club - Rev Wright Q & A (Part 3 of 3)

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People with Down Syndrome are the most insightful and honest people you will ever meet

i have observed down syndrome folks for many years and, although i have never had the pleasure of becoming acquainted with a person with down's, i have always been impressed with their incredible ability to size people up on a feeling level, to be unfailingly and directly honest, and to be cheerful and loving even in the most adverse of circumstances...

the young man in this youtube clip, dan drinker, is, in his own terms, a "downsy," and, if his endorsement of obama carries any weight at all, as it absolutely should, we will all be casting our vote for senator obama in november...



dan's younger brother made this video and has this to say about it...

My older brother has always been an excellent judge of character.

There is no one hiding behind Dan's chair, that is just the top of my head in his mirror as I film him. This interview is something Dan has asking me to shoot for a few days now. These are solely his opinions, I edited it for time purposes but I did not tell him what to say. He has a lot to say, just difficulty expressing it. He insisted I subtitle his words saying, "I want to be understood" and who among us doesn't want to be understood?

(many thanks to john at americablog...)

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The Adventures of HercuBush

too funny...



thanks to john at americablog...

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The end of the world as we know it (and I feel fine)

ya know, i may well be overly-medicated, but i think that 2008 is going to be a wonderful, amazing year that takes this kind of despair and turns it right around...



(thanks to john at americablog...)

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Defending Democratic complicity

i was deeply angry yesterday to learn of the dems' five-year conspiracy of silence in covering up the bush administration's endemic violations of our constitution and the rule of law...

today, i read this from glenn...

If someone wants to defend these Democrats' complicit behavior (on the craven ground that what they did was understandable because it was politically wise), then they should make that argument. But nobody should pretend that these Senators and Representatives were "helpless" and had no options for putting a stop to Bush's torture programs and other lawbreaking if they were actually interested in doing so.

that was shortly after i read this by john aravosis...

It's also clear that had Pelosi raised any private objections during the meeting - remember, it took place in the first year after September 11 - Bush and the Republicans would have leaked that fact to the public (like they just did) and destroyed her career and marked her publicly as a traitor. No member of Congress, no American, could have spoken up about anything in the months after September 11 and survived. It's patently unfair to suggest that somehow because Pelosi didn't object then that she doesn't have the right to object now.

sigh... i am terribly disappointed to read john's perspective... hell yes, pelosi has the right to object now, but she didn't when she should have and that fact cannot be excused... would it have destroyed her career...? very possibly... would it have marked her publicly as a traitor...? quite likely... but sorry, john, i don't give a rat's ass... she took an oath to protect and defend the constitution, she chose not to do that, and THAT is the REAL treason she is guilty of...

on another note... while i completely understand that, in the bigger picture of things, what i think about anything matters little, i must say that i am liking what i am seeing of john aravosis' perspectives less and less every day... in many, many ways, i admire and respect john, but his determined blindness in the face of our nation's constitutional crisis is disappointing, disturbing, and puzzling in equal measure... while it's certainly his prerogative to form and express his own opinions, this defense of nancy pelosi is another nail in his coffin, as far as i'm concerned... ah, well...

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ENDA passes

and aravosis is thrilled... and, yeah, me too... discrimination in employment based on sexual orientation is absurd and has always been absurd, every bit as much as discrimination based on LOVING somebody is absurd... love is what it's all about, so let's be damn grateful that there are people out there who love each other, and who gives a goddam what flavor of genitals are rubbing up against each other...

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The WaPo notes Obama's "spiritual reawakening" in another virtuoso display of context-free journalism [w/UPDATE]

the entire story builds on this opening paragraph... (pay no attention to that throw-away little 12th paragraph...)

[T]he Democratic presidential candidate from Illinois -- hoping his campaign can recapture some of that old-time religious fervor -- launched a three-city gospel concert series over the weekend across the state, in North Charleston, Greenwood and Columbia.

i kept reading, becoming more and more astonished at how a major news outlet could completely ignore the homophobic element that aravosis at americablog (here, among many other posts) has been all over like flies on shit - until, that is, the sole mention appeared, 12 paragraphs down, inserted between parentheses, almost as an afterthought...

(The gospel series also draws attention because of the inclusion of the Grammy-winning gospel singer Donnie McClurkin, who has publicly said he overcame his homosexual thoughts and desires through prayer.)

no mention of WHY mcclurkin and his "getting over being gay through prayer" stance was drawing attention, WHERE it had been exposed, and the veritable firestorm that has ensued since... what a pathetic excuse for journalism... what a pathetic excuse for a newspaper...

[UPDATE]

my sincere apologies to the wapo... i have since read a lead story on obama in the la times which doesn't mention the homophobia flap AT ALL... i simply failed to appreciate the fact that the wapo isn't alone in its race to the bottom of context-free reporting...

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Selling the "Surge"

oh, yeah... this captures it, all right...



thanks to john at americablog...

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John Aravosis calls out the WaPo for burying Lugar's speech yesterday on Iraq

what else would we expect from the wapo...? i'm just surprised they're actually publishing their inflammatory series on cheney and, of course, still wondering why it's taken them so long to put it out there...

here's the pic john posted of wapo's page 3...

The Washington Post, God bless its Iraq-war-loving red soul, buried one of the most important war stories of the day in a little blurb hidden at the bottom of page 3. Namely, that Republican foreign policy expert, Senator Dick Lugar (R-IN), blasted George Bush, the surge, and the overall chances for success in Iraq last night in a long, detailed speech on the floor of the US Senate.

spot on...

and, to further reinforce john's point, here's the wapo email headlines that were waiting in my inbox this morning...

TODAY'S HIGHLIGHTS A Strong Push From Backstage 5-4 Supreme Court Weakens Curbs on Pre-Election TV Ads Iraqi Youth Face Lasting Scars of War Court Rules for Cleaners In $54 Million Pants Suit A Guest-Worker Program That Does Well by Migrants More Today's Highlights POLITICS A Strong Push From Backstage 5-4 Supreme Court Weakens Curbs on Pre-Election TV Ads Ex-Aides Break With Bush on 'No Child' GOP Backers Offer Immigration Bill Change NFL Disability Plan Draws Congressional Attention More Politics
NATION World Bank Approves Zoellick NFL Disability Plan Draws Congressional Attention 5-4 Supreme Court Weakens Curbs on Pre-Election TV Ads Court Rules for Cleaners In $54 Million Pants Suit Foreign Nationals Hired For 2 Calif. GOP Posts

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"[T]his is not law, it’s politics"

thanks to john at americablog for calling this to my attention... i had seen the nyt headline - Oral Dissents Give Ginsburg a New Voice on Court - and had passed it over because it didn't grab my eye...

To read a dissent aloud is an act of theater that justices use to convey their view that the majority is not only mistaken, but profoundly wrong. It happens just a handful of times a year. Justice Antonin Scalia has used the technique to powerful effect, as has Justice Stevens, in a decidedly more low-key manner.

The oral dissent has not been, until now, Justice Ginsburg’s style. She has gone years without delivering one, and never before in her 15 years on the court has she delivered two in one term. In her past dissents, both oral and written, she has been reluctant to breach the court’s collegial norms. “What she is saying is that this is not law, it’s politics,” Pamela S. Karlan, a Stanford law professor, said of Justice Ginsburg’s comment linking the outcome in the abortion case to the fact of the court’s changed membership. “She is accusing the other side of making political claims, not legal claims.”

there are probably no two institutions that are more respectful of tradition, precedents, and norms than courts and legislatures... for justice ginsburg to resort to oral dissents twice already in one term is a strong indicator of very powerful undercurrents among the justices... i am happy and quite disturbed at the same time... happy to hear a justice speaking out in a forceful way and disturbed that she feels the need to do it...

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The Big Book of Lies on Iraq - by George W. Bush

damn...! i no sooner dismember david ignatius for peddling dis- and misinformation about iraq, than john aravosis points me to this...

The Bush administration is quietly on track to nearly double the number of combat troops in Iraq this year, an analysis of Pentagon deployment orders showed Monday.

This "second surge" of troops in Iraq, which is being executed by extending tours for brigades already there and by deploying more units, could boost the number of combat troops to as many as 98,000 by the end of this year. When support troops are included, the total number of U.S. troops in Iraq could increase from 162,000 now to more than 200,000 -- the most ever -- by the end of the year.

my hat is off to george... he displays the most amazing chutzpah i've ever seen, so amazing, in fact, that it literally takes my breath away... can we please, please, PLEASE, get him and his fellow crooks and liars OUT OF OFFICE...?

chutz·pah
Variant(s): also chutz·pa or hutz·pah or hutz·pa /'hut-sp&, '[k]ut-, -(")spä/
Function: noun
Etymology: Yiddish khutspe, from Late Hebrew huspAh
: supreme self-confidence : NERVE, GALL

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John Aravosis: "It's a done deal, Libby is getting pardoned."

i hope he's wrong...

It's a done deal, Libby is getting pardoned. Hell, I'd be surprised if he doesn't get a medal. No one, no one, no one is ever held responsible for anything in this administration, and if George Bush has to put the final nail in the coffin of his political legacy by pardoning Libby, trust me, he will. It's a tale of lawlessness. Of an adminstration that thinks it's holier than thou. Holier than the laws of this great country, holier than the courts, the Congress, the Constitution. Nothing gets in the way of a zealot, and Scooter Libby is just the latest zealot in a long line of Republicans in the Bush White House and Congress who simply don't believe in the rules that govern our country, our society, and our world.

And they're finally getting caught. Scooter will most certainly be pardoned, but nothing will wipe away the taint the next two years will leave on the Republican party for a long, long while.

but he's certainly right about this - "...no one is ever held responsible for anything in this administration..."

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Endless war is a terminal disease

matt taibbi in rolling stone via alternet...

After four years of Iraq, we still can't talk about peace in public! This evil bullshit has been buried in the commercial media's descriptive campaign language seemingly forever by now, but it may be time -- in the wake of this Iraq disaster -- to start thinking about where it comes from and what effect it may have on the national psyche.

[...]

A country that feeds itself through the manufacture of war technology is bound to view peace, nonviolence and mercy as seditious concepts. It will create policies first and then people to fit its machines, finding wars to fight and creating killers to fight them. If that's true of us, and I think it is, our troubles won't be over even if someone brings the Iraq war to an end. We'll be treating the symptom and not the disease. And the reason our elections are a sham is that the disease is never on the table.

no argument here... i keep reading the blogs of my esteemed colleagues - markos moulitsas and john aravosis to name two - who repeatedly make this kind of statement: "i'm not against war, i'm against THIS war..." markos, in a lengthy front-page post, excoriated dennis kucinich for his pacifist views and for spouting new age jargon...

"Higher evolution of human awareness"? "Transform consciousness"? "Paradign [sic] shift"? What the hell is this crap? I expect this kind of crap out of Deepak Chopra (or Tom Cruise), not a serious presidential candidate.

[...]

Clearly, Kucinich resides in a higher plane of existence than I do. But my plane is on the planet earth. I want my president to reside here as well.

And by the way, the "Department of Peace" already exists. It's called the "U.S. Department of State".

i hold no brief for kucinich, but i, like matt, believe that the stranglehold the defense industry has on the u.s. and the resulting glorification of all things military, is most definitely a debilitating disease... pursuing an endless war, the undeniable objective of the bush administration, may well be a terminal one...

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Let Hillary dig her own grave, it's fine with me

hillary clinton...

As a senator from New York, I lived through 9/11 and am still dealing with the aftereffects.

arianna huffington...

Clinton voted for the war, even though other senators who had been given the same faulty intel she had, voted against it.

james carville...

"But they weren't from New York," he said. "Their state wasn't hit. They didn't have to deal with the grief of these 3,000 people."

john aravosis...

Invoking September 11 when asked about Iraq is unconscionable. It is pure Dick Cheney, and an outright lie. It is not what a Democrat says, and hell, it isn't even what a sane moderate Republican says.

profmarcus...

both hillary and carville can go directly to hell...

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