House files contempt charges

The Washington Post is reporting that the house has voted to call for contempt charges against Harriet Miers and Josh Bolten. And the Republicans are already whining:

“I believe this is an unnecessary provocation of a constitutional crisis,” said Rep. F. James Sensenbrenner Jr. (R-Wis.). “Absent showing that a crime was committed in this process, I think the White House is going to win an argument in court.”

Well thank you Representative. We feel wiretapping, lying, refusal to cooperate and the gratuitous use of privilege by your president is an unnecessary violation of our constitutional rights. So suck it.

We fail to see the strategy behind going this route over inherent contempt, but this is congress we’re talking about and they aren’t known for their greatness of ability. The next steps will be a vote by the full house and the inclusion of a prosecutor. Which will get tricky since the President has stated that no one at DoJ is allowed to touch this, and since he’s running the white house like the mafia, we’re sure no one will. Perhaps Gonzo’s new spin will be that the AG really isn’t so much an attorney, or part of DoJ. Stay tuned.

Further:
Report Suggests Laws Broken in Attorney Firings
House Judiciary holds Bolten, Miers in contempt

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Well he wanted a legacy…

President Bush is a competitive guy. But this is one contest he would rather lose. With 18 months left in office, he is in the running for most unpopular president in the history of modern polling.

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Gonzo staying to repair image at DoJ

The AP is running a story that Gonzo is staying in his position at Justice in order to repair the image of DoJ and that he’s TROUBLED politics MAY have been involved. The man who politicized every aspect of this department is now TROUBLED that politics MAY have been involved. Riiight. If people can’t see through this level of abject BS, we’re doomed as a country.

Just a reminder, Gonzo is supposed to go before Senate Judiciary again tomorrow. Questions have been prepared and sent in ahead of time so that we don’t have a repeat of the amnesia show. Not that, it will help or anything. He seems determined to lie, and Congress seems determined to allow it.

Further:
Oversight Committee Fine with Spying Showdown Explanation
Gonzales Faces Questions About Wiretaps

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Katrina FEMA trailers sickening people with formaldehyde

In an article in today’s LA Times , reports have surfaced that FEMA supressed both testing and information that there was illness causing levels of formaldehyde in the allegedly temporary FEMA trailers given to survivors of hurricane Katrina. We say allegedly temporary because it is very clear to us that almost two years after the fact, the number of people still living in them, while infrastructure goes untouched would seem to point to a more permanent situation. Some gems:

Top officials at the Federal Emergency Management Agency knew about reports of possible health problems from formaldehyde in trailers provided to Hurricane Katrina victims, according to documents released Thursday by a House committee.

Waxman’s frustration with FEMA was shared by the committee’s top Republican, Rep. Thomas M. Davis III of Virginia, who said that the agency “failed to get information they needed and failed to act to prevent this crisis.”

“FEMA’s reaction to the problem was deliberately stunted to bolster the agency’s litigation position,” he said.

Well so long as FEMA was acting consistently with the administration’s SOP- avoid the truth, fail to act, and then when it might come up stall, lie, go to court and win on the lie. Your tax dollars at work folks.

Further:
Committee Probes FEMA’s Response to Reports of Toxic Trailers
FEMA knew about toxic trailers
Katrina helpers no longer welcome
Leftover ice from Katrina relief is headed for a thaw

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Inherent Contempt- the time is now

The Emperor of the United States George W. Bush has further exerted his executive privilege to say that the Department of Justice will never be allowed to pursue contempt charges once he has asserted executive privilege.

Ok, democratic leaders, or hell, anyone in congress who still gives a damn about this country, the time is now for inherent contempt. It’s right there in your congressional manual. The President is just flat out calling privilege for anything he just doesn’t want to deal with. Last time we checked the United States wasn’t a dictatorship. If the Fourth Estate can’t be bothered, it falls to you congress. You have the ability, but do you have the principle?

Further:
Super Privilege
Committee Objects to Withholding of Tillman Documents

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“Who knows what evil lurks in the hearts of men…”

In an article at the Washington Post more details have no come forward on the controversial energy meeting held by Dick Cheney in early 2001, with, surprise surprise: all oil men. Oh well, we take that back, there was one meeting with the environmentalists, but only after the bulk of the policy had been written. But it shows, you know that Cheney is fair and balanced just like Fox News. And as if this wasn’t also completely obvious the article says:

Cheney appears to have played a more behind-the-scenes role in the task force’s deliberations, the document indicates, listing only a handful of meetings with the vice president.

Cheney behind the scenes? No, no we don’t believe it.

Further:

Halliburton will move headquarters from Houston to Dubai

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Senate up all night….sorta

The Washington Post is offering a three page run down of the whiny histrionics that took place on both sides of the isle last night in the senate. The plan, delivered by Majority Leader Harry Reid was the Senate would stay up all night if necessary to force a vote on the Iraq war. Sounds like the stuff of American revolutionaries, no? Well, not really when everyone is 900 years old and said Majority leader is more or less a bowl of cornflakes.

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US Military has jurisdiction in Canada?

According to press accounts circulating in Canada, apparently a group of private citizens has been blocked from meeting during a visit by President Bush, by the US Military.

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The inmates really could be running the asylum…

The Hill is reporting that the some in the Senate, in a quiet addition to a defense bill, relaxed the rules against allowing convicts, drug addicts, and the mentally ill in the military. The provision hasn’t been passed into law yet, but since the Army missed its June recruitment goals, in what is looking like a consistent trend, we aren’t surprised to see this pop up.

Who better to send into a quagmire than criminals, the mentally ill and drug addicts? Wait, doesn’t that sound a little like the administration already involved? Guess this isn’t news after all.

Further:
Military Recruitment Of Blacks Plunges

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Gonzo knew about FBI violations

As we covered last month, the FBI investigated itself recently, and found it broke its own rules, and the law with regard to gathering information surrounding investigation. This morning, the Washington Post is reporting, that Gonzo knew about these violations and then went to congress and said no violations had been committed.

As he sought to renew the USA Patriot Act two years ago, Attorney General Alberto R. Gonzales assured lawmakers that the FBI had not abused its potent new terrorism-fighting powers. “There has not been one verified case of civil liberties abuse,” Gonzales told senators on April 27, 2005.

Six days earlier, the FBI sent Gonzales a copy of a report that said its agents had obtained personal information that they were not entitled to have. It was one of at least half a dozen reports of legal or procedural violations that Gonzales received in the three months before he made his statement to the Senate intelligence committee, according to internal FBI documents released under the Freedom of Information Act.

We’re sure a “clarification” is coming, so he can correct the record with congress and backpeddle his way out of perjury for the umpteenth time. Have we verified for sure that Alberto is actually his first name? Because this yokel lies so much we’re beginning to wonder if anything about him is truthful. Exactly what does it take to get fired in this country? No job we’ve ever had, has allowed us to “correct the record” after the fact, or you know, be a consistent fuck up and then expect the boss to “work with us” on it. Is there anyone in congress with a pair left? Axe this loser, he’s an embarrassment to the country.

Further:
Excerpts of the ROUTINE notifications given to Gonzo

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Turkey amassing troops?

The AP is running a story that Turkey has amassed 140,000 troops at the border with Iraq. The number comes from foreign Minister Hoshyar Zebari, a Kurd from northern Iraq. The Tehran Times is running a story that the Turkish government and military have agreed on Iraqi operations but stopped short of citing a number. The New Anatolian a Turkish outlet, is reporting that the Turkish military hasn’t commented on the number.

Anyone know anything else? We’ll keep our eyes out…

Further: 5,000 nationalist Turks denounce Kurdish rebels, U.S. in rally

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Cheneyland: The prequel

In a must read editorial in today’s New York Times, Sean Wilentz, a history professor at Princeton relays part of how we got to where we are today with Dick Cheney. Some key points of note:

Mr. Cheney the congressman believed that Congress had usurped executive prerogatives. He saw the Iran-contra investigation not as an effort to get to the bottom of possible abuses of power but as a power play by Congressional Democrats to seize duties and responsibilities that constitutionally belonged to the president.

At the conclusion of the hearings, a dissenting minority report codified these views. The report’s chief author was a former resident fellow at the American Enterprise Institute, Michael J. Malbin, who was chosen by Mr. Cheney as a member of the committee’s minority staff. Another member of the minority’s legal staff, David S. Addington, is now the vice president’s chief of staff.

The article, is about the testimony of Oliver North in the aftermath of the contra affair, but it reads like the same play book Cheney uses today, even the names are the same. Addington, we should all know by now for his various roles in caging, torture, and general all around thievery. Michael J. Malbin, is from the American Enterprise Institute, Brookings, and now the The Campaign Finance Institute. The names may change but the faces stay the same. If anyone thinks this unholy quagmire hasn’t been planned for a long time- get a clue.

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Musharraf’s plane shot at..

Pakistan’s President appears to have been the subject of an assassination attempt – his plane was fired on as he left his military base. It would appear, things are in a state of unravel…

Further:
Pakistani Leader Escapes Attempt on Life
Pakistan Army Denies Rockets Fired at Musharraf Plane
Fresh fighting at Pakistan mosque

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Turkey and Iraq- increasing rhetoric

Weapons build up on the border, including some potential for Iranian intervention. The previous chapters to this narrative available under the Turkey tag in the tag cloud.

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Robert Novak misses the point, yet again

Novak’s column repeats the same echo that we’ve heard all over the media Libby committed no underlying crime. Armitage leaked the name. But the fact is, there was and focusing on Armitage is designed to manipulate public opinion on the Libby case by leaving out the facts.

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