Bush NOT Honest & Trustworthy/Republican Lies

[Astronuc]

On the other hand, Bush is rated higher than Rumsfeld, Cheney, Rove, Hastert, Boehner, and Frist. Only Condi outshines Bush. Polling Report

(And Frist thinks he has a chance to win the Republican nomination in '08? He's lowest on the list!)

Well, afterall, this is America! Land of opportunity where anyone can aspire to be president!

 

[pattylou]

Hmmm... I'm not sure where this thread is at the moment BUT...

1) someone on Wait Wait Don't Tell Me astutely pointed out that Cheney's current approval rating (19%) is only 9 points higher than the percentage of people who would eat a rat on television.

2) back to republican lies... I suspect the strong words on Iran today http://news.google.com/?ncl=http://...16144809_RTRUKOC_0_UK-SECURITY-BUSH.xml&hl=en are intended to move us towards war soon ---- for no particular reason other than that will help republican incumbents in November elections.

 

[edward]

Hmmm... I'm not sure where this thread is at the moment BUT...

1) someone on Wait Wait Don't Tell Me astutely pointed out that Cheney's current approval rating (19%) is only 9 points higher than the percentage of people who would eat a rat on television.

2) back to republican lies... I suspect the strong words on Iran today http://news.google.com/?ncl=http://...16144809_RTRUKOC_0_UK-SECURITY-BUSH.xml&hl=en are intended to move us towards war soon ---- for no particular reason other than that will help republican incumbents in November elections.

The Administration will have to use their imaginations to come up with a rap sheet on Iran like the one below on Iraq.
http://www.gwu.edu/~nsarchiv/NSAEBB/NSAEBB80/wmd18.pdf

 

[Loren Booda]

Bush admitting to be a liar - the cretin paradox.

 

[Burnsys]

The Administration will have to use their imaginations to come up with a rap sheet on Iran like the one below on Iraq.
http://www.gwu.edu/~nsarchiv/NSAEBB/NSAEBB80/wmd18.pdf

HAHA. that presentation is just ilarious.. i can get better sat pictures than those with google earth!

 

[SOS2008]

Christ, the archives in P&WA isn't even two complete pages. So instead of being able to add to an existing thread, one has to keep starting new ones -- ones that meet the thesis requirements of course.

So... I will post this here:

Bush's Uncle Earned Millions in War Firm Sale
An SEC filing shows William H.T. Bush collected about $1.9 million in cash, plus stock valued at $800,000, from the deal.
By Walter F. Roche Jr., Times Staff Writer
March 23, 2006

WASHINGTON — As President Bush embarks on a new effort to shore up public support for the war in Iraq, an uncle of the commander in chief is collecting $2.7 million in cash and stock from the recent sale of a company that profited from the war.

http://www.latimes.com/news/nationworld/nation/la-na-bucky23mar23,1,1874375.story?coll=la-headlines-nation

Hey Republican Bush supporters--You're getting screwed too! You know that don't you?

 

[SOS2008]

American Theocracy - Clear and Present Dangers

This review is of a book by a former Republican party supporter, so those who may say it is biased are just a bunch of evil-doers. These are the main points of the book:

1) The American press in the first days of the Iraq war reported extensively on the Pentagon's failure to post American troops in front of the National Museum in Baghdad, which, as a result, was looted of many of its great archaeological treasures. Less widely reported, but to Phillips far more meaningful, was the immediate posting of troops around the Iraqi Oil Ministry, which held the maps and charts that were the key to effective oil production. Phillips fully supports an explanation of the Iraq war that the Bush administration dismisses as conspiracy theory — that its principal purpose was to secure vast oil reserves that would enable the United States to control production and to lower prices

...And while this argument may be somewhat too simplistic to explain the complicated mix of motives behind the war, it is hard to dismiss Phillips's larger argument: that the pursuit of oil has for at least 30 years been one of the defining elements of American policy in the world; and that the Bush administration — unusually dominated by oilmen — has taken what the president deplored recently as the nation's addiction to oil to new and terrifying levels.

2) Phillips is especially passionate in his discussion of the second great force that he sees shaping contemporary American life — radical Christianity and its growing intrusion into government and politics. ...On the far right is a still obscure but, Phillips says, rapidly growing group of "Christian Reconstructionists" who believe in a "Taliban-like" reversal of women's rights, who describe the separation of church and state as a "myth" and who call openly for a theocratic government shaped by Christian doctrine. A much larger group of Protestants, perhaps as many as a third of the population, claims to believe in the supposed biblical prophecies of an imminent "rapture" — the return of Jesus to the world and the elevation of believers to heaven.

Prophetic Christians, Phillips writes, often shape their view of politics and the world around signs that charlatan biblical scholars have identified as predictors of the apocalypse — among them a war in Iraq, the Jewish settlement of the whole of biblical Israel, even the rise of terrorism. He convincingly demonstrates that the Bush administration has calculatedly reached out to such believers and encouraged them to see the president's policies as a response to premillennialist thought.

3) THE third great impending crisis that Phillips identifies is also, perhaps, the best known — the astonishing rise of debt as the precarious underpinning of the American economy. He is not, of course, the only observer who has noted the dangers of indebtedness. ...The most familiar debt is that of the United States government, fueled by soaring federal budget deficits that have continued (with a brief pause in the late 1990's) for more than two decades. But the national debt — currently over $8 trillion — is only the tip of the iceberg. There has also been an explosion of corporate debt, state and local bonded debt, international debt through huge trade imbalances, and consumer debt (mostly in the form of credit-card balances and aggressively marketed home-mortgage packages). Taken together, this present and future debt may exceed $70 trillion.

The creation of a national-debt culture, Phillips argues, although exacerbated by the policies of the Bush administration, has been the work of many people over many decades — among them Alan Greenspan, who, he acidly notes, blithely and irresponsibly ignored the rising debt to avoid pricking the stock-market bubble it helped produce. It is most of all a product of the "financialization" of the American economy — the turn away from manufacturing and toward an economy based on moving and managing money, a trend encouraged, Phillips argues persuasively, by the preoccupation with oil and (somewhat less persuasively) with evangelical belief in the imminent rapture, which makes planning for the future unnecessary.

http://www.nytimes.com/2006/03/19/books/review/19brink.html?pagewanted=2&_r=1

The author points to the three things I've been harping on since the chimp became president. That BushCo sought/seeks political power however they may--purely for profit, and has leveraged the religious-right to that end--including damaging beliefs such as the apocalypse, and that they have been and are willing to do so with only their own futures in mind.

To top it all off, the poor management of their forays has made it all the more despicable. But what else could we expect from the likes of Bush/Cheney--Just look at their private sector performance and explain to me why these men have been allowed to hold the highest office in our country?

Hey Bush Supporters--try voting with your feet--maybe you can do better that way.

 

[Astronuc]

Republicans try to change subject from Bush
Now why would they do that?

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Republicans, beset by an array of political troubles, are cranking up the attacks on Democrats and trying to change the subject from President George W. Bush ahead of November's congressional elections.

With Bush slumping in the polls and Republicans on the defensive over the Iraq war and a series of ethics scandals, the party wants to shift the spotlight away from the White House by convincing voters that Democratic rule would be a dangerous choice.

Republicans hope the strategy will limit the national momentum that Democrats might ride into November and fire up the party's conservative base to ensure they turn up at the polls.

http://news.yahoo.com/s/nm/20060325/us_nm/usa_politics_republicans_dc_3

 

[Astronuc]

Iraqis in Tal Afar question Bush's optimism (2006-03-24)

TAL AFAR, Iraq (Reuters) - U.S. President George W. Bush held up the northern town of Tal Afar this week as an example of progress being made in Iraq but many residents find it hard to share his optimism.

. . . . .

Sunni Turkmen Rafat Ahmed, 35, a shop owner said: "As I'm talking now the Americans and the Iraqi army are surrounding my neighborhood. If we leave our houses we could be arrested."

The town's population of some 250,000 is dominated by Turkish-speaking ethnic Turkmen, about half Sunni Muslims and half Shiites. Most of the remaining 20 percent are Sunni Arabs.

The deployment last year of Iraqi troops, who were widely perceived locally as Shi'ite Arab outsiders, prompted the Sunni mayor of Tal Afar to tender his resignation in protest at what he described as a sectarian operation. The involvement of ethnic Kurdish forces was also a source of tension, local people said.

"Anyone who says Tal Afar is good and safe actually knows nothing because the reality is we are unsafe, even inside our houses, because we don't know when we'll be arrested," said pensioner Abdul Karim al-Anizi, 60, a Shi'ite Turkmen

Some of the anger is being directed back at the U.S. forces that pushed out the militants.

"The situation in Tal Afar is deteriorating and the smell of death is everywhere. People never know why they are killed. They only know that the Americans are the cause of their agonies," said Hussein Mahmoud, a Shi'ite Turkmen university professor.

http://www.publicbroadcasting.net/pri/news.newsmain?action=article&ARTICLE_ID=893880

 

[Gokul43201]

One more entry in the list of corrupt Republicans : former Illinois Governor George Ryan (convicted today on 22 counts of fraud and racketeering).

http://www.cnn.com/2006/LAW/04/17/ryan.verdict.ap/index.html

Ryan faces up to 20 years in prison for the racketeering conspiracy conviction alone, the most serious charge against him in the 22-count indictment. The jury found him guilty of all counts, including fraud, obstructing the Internal Revenue Service and lying to the FBI. Sentencing was set for August 4.

 

[russ_watters]

Christ, the archives in P&WA isn't even two complete pages.

Go to "user cp", click "options" and change the "default thread age cut off".

 

[russ_watters]

Hey Republican Bush supporters--You're getting screwed too! You know that don't you?

Could you be specific - what about that story is screwing me?

 

[SOS2008]

Today's Topic: Good Leak, Bad Leak

Go to "user cp", click "options" and change the "default thread age cut off".

Thanks for the info. -- but it seems a reflection of how this section of PF is viewed.

Could you be specific - what about that story is screwing me?

Aside from referring to a month-old quote, you won't be convinced of anything you don't see on your own. Moving on...

Following Bush's investigation of himself regarding WMD and concluding it was due to faulty intelligence, currently there are three major leak investigations: The leak of Plame's name, the leak of the NSA spying program, and the leak of "black sites" (torture prisons) abroad. So that simple minds can grasp the difference, let's play the "Odd One Out Game."

1) The leak of Plame's name by BushCo to cover up "fixing the intelligence" to invade Iraq against the best interests of the American people. An independent investigation is being conducted by Special Counsel Patrick J. Fitzgerald.
2) The leak of the NSA spying program by our watchdog media to protect American citizen's right to privacy. The investigation instigated by the Bush administration is being conducted by the Justice Department.
3) The leak of secret torture prisons by a CIA official to protect human rights and America's reputation in the world. The investigation instigated by the Bush administration is being conducted by the Justice Department.

Which leak is different, and which are the same?

This isn't about liberal versus conservative, but the lack of Rule of Reason in our country. Enough of the abuses of this secretive Executive Branch that classifies everything, only to declassify cherry-picked information as benefits their personal agendas.

Medals should be given to Joe Wilson, James Risen and Eric Lichtblau, Mary McCarthy, and all true patriots who place love of country first. And the TRUE TRAITORS Bush/Cheney who have committed treason, should be impeached.

 

[Astronuc]

WASHINGTON (Reuters) -President George W. Bush's public approval rating has fallen to 32 percent, a new low for his presidency, a CNN poll showed on Monday.

The survey also showed that 60 percent of Americans disapprove of the way Bush is handling his job.

Bush's poll numbers have languished below 40 percent in the last couple of months, hit by growing public opposition to the Iraq war, his support for a now-abandoned plan for a Dubai firm to take over major U.S. port operations and American anger over gas prices now topping $3 a gallon at the pump.

Continuing fallout from the Bush administration's mishandling of the initial response to Hurricane Katrina has also hurt his popularity.

http://news.yahoo.com/s/nm/bush_poll_dc

 

[SOS2008]

How much does it take? Throw the "evil doers" out, throw them all out!

We have some catching up to do...

Phone-jamming case invokes images of Watergate

Democrats and Republicans here are locked in a legal battle over GOP operatives who tried to suppress voter turnout in a key 2002 U.S. Senate race by jamming Democratic get-out-the-vote phone banks on Election Day.
The case has national implications. New Hampshire Democrats, through a civil lawsuit, are trying to question Ken Mehlman, the chairman of the Republican National Committee, and White House officials about why one GOP official who was involved in the scheme called the White House repeatedly.

----------

Democrats say smoking guns abound in the case:

-A Republican operative who later was convicted in the case called Mehlman's former office in the White House nearly two dozen times.

-The RNC paid millions of dollars in legal expenses for the operative, though it was under no legal obligation to do so.

-Contributions were made to the state GOP by Indian tribes whom disgraced lobbyist Jack Abramoff represented and by former House Speaker Tom DeLay's political action committee in amounts that together almost equaled the cost of the phone-jamming scheme.

"There are some parallels to Watergate," Howard Dean, the Democratic National Committee chairman, said last week. "This is a third-rate, silly effort that definitely turns out to be rooted in the White House."

http://www.kansascity.com/mld/kansascity/news/nation/14444680.htm

We can add that to the long list of election fraud tactics. Hmm..what other evil doings might there be?

Friday, April 28, 2006 · Last updated 4:15 p.m. PT
U.S.: FBI sought info without court OK
By MARK SHERMAN
ASSOCIATED PRESS WRITER

WASHINGTON -- The FBI secretly sought information last year on 3,501 U.S. citizens and legal residents from their banks and credit card, telephone and Internet companies without a court's approval, the Justice Department said Friday.

It was the first time the Bush administration has publicly disclosed how often it uses the administrative subpoena known as a National Security Letter, which allows the executive branch of government to obtain records about people in terrorism and espionage investigations without a judge's approval or a grand jury subpoena.

http://seattlepi.nwsource.com/national/1152AP_Patriot_Act_Records.html?source=mypi

3500 terrorists, wow, one on every corner. How many legal wiretaps were carried out? We are over run, save us, Help, Help! Come on people, it's not just foreign to domestic. That's the big lie. This month's big Republican lie.

And moving on...Things haven't been going too well for Scooter Libby, and how about Rove?

WASHINGTON Apr 26, 2006 (AP)— White House aide Karl Rove spent almost four hours at the federal courthouse Wednesday, during which he made his fifth grand jury appearance in the Valerie Plame affair.

----------

Wednesday's session is believed to be only the second time Fitzgerald has met with the grand jury examining questions left unanswered in the Plame affair. The only other day Fitzgerald was seen going before the new panel was Dec. 7.

----------

Rove's legal problems stem from the fact that it was not until more than a year into Fitzgerald's criminal investigation that the White House adviser told the prosecutor about his contact with Cooper regarding Plame.

Rove says he had forgotten the Cooper conversation, which occurred several days before Plame's identity was revealed by conservative columnist Robert Novak.

Rove and Novak, who is not related to Viveca Novak, also had discussed the CIA status of Wilson's wife.

Other unfinished business in the probe focuses on the source who provided Washington Post reporter Bob Woodward information about Plame, whose CIA identity was leaked to Novak in July 2003.

----------

Woodward says his source, whom he has not publicly identified, provided the information about Wilson's wife, several weeks before Novak learned of Plame's identity. The Post reporter, who never wrote a story, was interviewed by Fitzgerald late last year.

http://abcnews.go.com/Politics/wireStory?id=1893802&page=2

I think the leak not only involves Rove, but also Cheney (and who knows who else ). This is why the investigation is taking so long. As Novak said, the president knows who leaked her name. I hope they can get the evidence for this treasonous act.

In the meantime, my dislike for Pat Roberts grows with each passing day as he continues to block investigations into WMD intelligence and more recently warrantless wiretaps:

Friday, March 17, 2006
Kansas' Roberts puts politics first
By HELEN THOMAS

WASHINGTON -- President Bush has a true friend and protector in Sen. Pat Roberts, R-Kan., chairman of the Senate Intelligence Committee.

----------

What it comes down to is that committee Republicans have succeeded in blocking an investigation that might reflect poorly on the president and his key advisers, who launched the Iraq war almost three years ago.

When Roberts adjourned a committee meeting rather than allow a vote on a wiretap inquiry, Sen. Jay Rockefeller, D-W.Va. -- top Democrat on the committee -- said the panel was "basically under the control of the White House, through its chairman."

Republicans obviously have wanted to avoid a full-blown investigation of the root causes of the war, especially at a time when the president is embarked on another major round of speeches to explain the U.S. strategy for victory in Iraq -- and to muster more public support.

Roberts and cohorts have tried to save the administration from an expose of its spying activities, but the senator from Kansas comes up lacking compared with the late Sen. Frank Church, D-Idaho, who led a stunning investigation in 1975 into abuses and skullduggery by the intelligence community.

In an effort to block an investigation, Roberts has led the move to appoint a seven-member congressional panel to increase oversight on the wiretapping program.

----------

The prospect of the Republican-controlled Congress carrying out its oversight role over the White House is far-fetched, especially with Roberts as ringmaster.

Roberts, has made it clear when it comes to loyalty, the interests of party politics prevail over the country.

http://seattlepi.nwsource.com/opinion/263307_thomas17.html

Citizens of Kansas -- Would you please remove this man from office ASAP? Thanks! And then we can make some real progress in removing the top "evil doers."

 

[Gokul43201]

This was in the news yesterday :

http://www.rawstory.com/news/2006/ABC_Homeland_Inspector_General_says_we_0501.html

The former inspector general for the Department of Homeland Security says he was pressured to tone down criticism of security failures in the months before the 2004 Presidential election, ABC NEWS is reporting.

The following came as a release.

FROM ABC NEWS:


Clark Kent Ervin says he was confronted personally by then Secretary Tom Ridge “to intimidate me, to stare me down, to force me to back off, to not look into these areas that would be controversial, not to issue critical reports.”

 

[Astronuc]

That is consistent with the Bush administration to downplay the environmental hazards around the site of the World Trade Center (WTC) after the attacks.

Doctors have mentioned recently that they have seen more asthma and respiratory illnesses, and in people who have not had histories of such illnesses, in the population from that area of NY City.

So much for the common defense and general Welfare.

 

[SOS2008]

Ethics Shmethics - Congressional ethics bill is a joke

Kill This Bill
The House pretends to reform itself.
Wednesday, May 3, 2006; Page A22

"BOLD, RESPONSIBLE, common-sense reform of our current lobbying and ethics laws is clearly needed," House Rules Committee Chairman David Dreier (R-Calif.) told his colleagues on the House floor last week. "We owe it to our constituents. We owe it to ourselves. We owe it to this institution."

Very true -- which is why House members should reject the diluted snake oil that Mr. Dreier and the GOP leadership are peddling as bold reform. Their bill, which is expected to come before the House for a vote today, is an insult to voters who the GOP apparently believes are dumb enough to be snookered by this feint. The procedures under which it is to be debated, allowing only meaningless amendments to be considered, are an insult also -- to the democratic process.

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2006/05/02/AR2006050201554.html

"Republicans in the U.S. House have decided that there's a bright side to high oil prices and continuing problems in Iraq: They distract constituents from getting too worked up about lobbying and ethics scandals.

Figuring the voters won't care, the GOP last week gutted the ethics reform bill that the House is scheduled to consider on Tuesday. Gone is any mention of an independent Office of Public Integrity. Gone is a permanent ban on accepting free plane rides and other gifts from lobbyists. Gone is extending the time that former members have to sit out before returning through the revolving door to lobby their former colleagues.

What's left of the House lobby reform bill is barely worthy of the name." - St. Louis Post-Dispatch (Missouri), April 30, 2006, A race to the bottom

 

[SOS2008]

The most despicable presidency in history

George W. Bush and total disregard for the constitution -

Bush is the first president in modern history who has never vetoed a bill, giving Congress no chance to override his judgments. Instead, he has signed every bill that reached his desk, often inviting the legislation's sponsors to signing ceremonies at which he lavishes praise upon their work.

Then, after the media and the lawmakers have left the White House, Bush quietly files ''signing statements" -- official documents in which a president lays out his legal interpretation of a bill for the federal bureaucracy to follow when implementing the new law. The statements are recorded in the federal register.

In his signing statements, Bush has repeatedly asserted that the Constitution gives him the right to ignore numerous sections of the bills -- sometimes including provisions that were the subject of negotiations with Congress in order to get lawmakers to pass the bill. He has appended such statements to more than one of every 10 bills he has signed.

''He agrees to a compromise with members of Congress, and all of them are there for a public bill-signing ceremony, but then he takes back those compromises -- and more often than not, without the Congress or the press or the public knowing what has happened," said Christopher Kelley, a Miami University of Ohio political science professor who studies executive power.

http://www.boston.com/news/nation/w...4/30/bush_challenges_hundreds_of_laws/?page=3

The article provides specific examples -- keeping operations such as ''black sites" secret, legislation in regard to NSA spying, Abu Ghraib torture, etc. It also provides examples of Bush's signing statements.

In addition, Bush's presidency has been characterized by a vigorous defense of executive privilege, evidenced in such acts as signing Executive Order 13233, which suspends the release of presidential papers and tight control of Congressional inquiries.

George W. Bush and total disregard for the rule of law-

Bush places a high value on personal loyalty and, as a result, his administration has high message discipline. He maintains a "hands-off" style of management that he believes prevents him from being tangled by intricacies that hinder sound decision-making. "I'm confident in my management style. I'm a delegator because I trust the people I've asked to join the team. I'm willing to delegate. That makes it easier to be President," he said in an interview with Diane Sawyer on ABC in December of 2003. However, critics allege that Bush is willing to overlook mistakes [1][2] made by loyal subordinates, and that Bush has surrounded himself with "yes men".

- http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/George_W._Bush_administration

More like he places value on loyalty and a track record of willingness to push the envelope of the law. Many officials in Bush's administration were convicted of offenses in previous administrations. In addition to cronyism, these officials are recruited, promoted, and given medals.

In the meantime he refers to himself as the commander-in-chief, "war president" and "the decider" and what ever title he feels places him above it all, including the law.

 

[Astronuc]

Someone's rant in the local paper -

Everything Bush touches is disaster

Bush beats the odds. Whenever you do something about something, there are three things that can happen: It can get better, it can stay the same, it can get worse.

Each has a 33 1/3 chance of happening. So staying the same or getting better has a 66 2/3 chance of happening. Regardless of where the fault lies, where ever this guy is, things get worse. He owns the Texas Rangers, they finish last. He owns an oil company, it goes bankrupt. He gets allegedly elected president and voting will never be the same.

Osama bin Laden dead or alive, how about free as a bird? Lead the free world, lead it in being hated. Lead it in being alone. While he's president, two American cities are attacked and another drowns.

Surpluses disappear, defi-cits appear.

Intelligence for war, wrong. Energy prices, Iran, North Korea, Enron, Iraq, global warming, I don't care who's fault it is, be my guest, blame Clinton for providing a climate that spawned this catastrophe. I won't buy any stock in any company Bush is involved with — it's the kiss of death. Murphy's law is Bush's legacy.

 

[Astronuc]

http://www.topplebush.com/photos295.shtml

http://www.topplebush.com/

THIS WEBSITE is committed to exposing and actively resisting the Bush Administration. Even though Bush has been irreparably damaged by Iraq and Hurricane Katrina, his administration's disregard for law, separation of powers, and lack of accountability must be stopped. We expose the incompetence, the politicization of almost every government function, the secrecy, the deliberate lack of transparency, the nonaccountability, and the disinformation in this administration - an administration that abuses the powers of crony capitalism to enrich itself, the GOP, and the wealthy, while dividing the rest of the nation on religion and wedge issues. We are an anti-Bush, anti-war, progressive site. We show only contempt for Bush and his enablers. This website features a unique and intelligent combination of anti-Bush humor, including our list of recent additions, a free newsletter, commentary, well-written articles, free anti-Bush music in mp3 format, the Bush Resume, free tools for progressive activists, and our growing list of candidates for 2006 who need your support. Also take a look at our funny and interactive Topplebush Projects.

Enjoy.

And - How Would a Patriot Act? Defending American Values from a President Run Amok (Paperback)
by Glenn Greenwald

 

[Gokul43201]

The issue about the signing statements (mentioned by SOS a couple posts ago) has gotten little mainstream press coverage, and is, in my opinion, arguably the most insidious abuse of the Constitution by this President.

For starters, he has more than twice the number of signing statements in these 5 years than the last 3 presidents made in 20 years. But that's hardly the tip of the iceberg - his signing statements are in a league of their own.

Rather than being explanatory remarks, it seems that they often are more like statements of exemption. For instance, when he signed the recent bill that outlawed torture of detainees, he coolly reserved the right to bypass the law under the powers given to him by congress to fight terrorism. The point of the bill was to close a loophole in the existing anti-torture law. The point of the signing statement was to open it back up and make it bigger.

Legal/Constitutional experts have been crying themselves hoarse about how these signing statements are a calculated attack on the system of check and balances with the sole aim of expanding executive power.

Many (if not all) of the signing statements can be found at the white house website (under http://www.whitehouse.gov/news/releases ). I've read a bunch of them. And in my opinion, there are some paragraphs in them that don't take legal expertise to see that they are intended solely to recuse the executive from being accountable to congress or the judiciary. Whenever the language requires that the executive consult congress before making decisions or appropriations, this has been construed to require at best, a notification of select members of congress. Whenever a law is passed that intends to close a loophole, the President opens it right back up in his signing statement (claiming powers as commander in chief to act in the best shared interests of congress and the executive).

http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=5159126
http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=5135077

(I think franz hit it on its head when he remarked - many months ago - about a pattern among recent Supreme Court nominees being strong advocates for expanded executive power)

 

[Astronuc]

Thanks Gokul! I've been trying to remember the term "Presidential Signing Statement". I heard that Bush had made 295 such statements, primarily to circumvent laws with which his administration disagreed. These actions also seem to by-pass/undermine the "Checks and Balances" imposed by the Constitution. Congress writes the laws and the Supreme Court is supposed to interpret them, not the president, if there is some question.

Interesting article about this -

The Problem with Presidential Signing Statements: Their Use and Misuse by the Bush Administration
By JOHN W. DEAN
http://writ.news.findlaw.com/dean/20060113.html

 

[BobG]

Is this going to be another problem for the White House? Two lawyers, one from the White House and one from the Justice Department, reviewed John Roberts' memo on affirmative action as part of the vetting process. It has never been seen since, in spite of National Archives staff going through the reviewed files (there were quite a few) to see if it wound up in another folder. The Case of Roberts's Missing Papers

A copy of the investigation (the names are blacked out): Report of Investigation (John G Roberts' Missing File)

The memo wasn't classified (remember the Sandy Berger case?), so it's not quite as likely that the case will ever be resolved.

 

[Gokul43201]

Do we have any notes made by the two lawyers involved in the vetting process (anything indicative of the content of the files) ?

 

[Astronuc]

Now imagine what would happen if some of Hillary Clinton's records went missing? Oh, yeah, they did.

 

[SOS2008]

The issue about the signing statements (mentioned by SOS a couple posts ago) has gotten little mainstream press coverage, and is, in my opinion, arguably the most insidious abuse of the Constitution by this President.

The media does not like to cover issues that are too difficult for the general public to understand? As for the importance of the issue, the word "insidious" was precisely the word that came to my mind too--I almost used it in my post.

It is one thing to increase the power of the Executive, but it's entirely another thing to increase it to the point of eliminating power of all other branches. If the founding fathers wanted a monarchy they wouldn't have bothered to go through all the trouble to create multiple checks and balances. Bush/Cheney may as well spit on their graves. They are treasonous on so many counts it has become obvious it is a systematic attack on the fundamental premises the rest of us hold dear. Once again, what are our soldiers dying for? The real enemy of our freedoms is not foreign, but right here at home.

 

[SOS2008]

In the news today:

CONCORD, New Hampshire (Reuters) - A senior official in U.S. President George W. Bush's re-election campaign was sentenced to 10 months in prison on Wednesday for his role in suppressing votes in a key U.S. Senate race, a scandal that Democrats charge may involve the White House.

James Tobin, 45, one of three Republican campaign operatives convicted in a phone-jamming scheme designed to keep New Hampshire Democrats from voting in a 2002 election, was convicted in December of two telephone harassment charges.

http://today.reuters.com/news/newsarticle.aspx?type=politicsNews&storyID=2006-05-18T002959Z_01_N17336879_RTRUKOC_0_US-CRIME-REPUBLICANS-NEWHAMPSHIRE.xml&pageNumber=0&imageid=&cap=&sz=13&WTModLoc=NewsArt-C1-ArticlePage2

I was not familiar with this case -- "the first time one congressman had sued another in civil court, and it marked the beginning of a draining legal fight that has gone up and down the federal court system for the last eight years." It is a mix of issues, including current debate over the NSA spying program:

At issue is a "lobbying reform" bill, created by the Republicans and intended to erase the taint of scandal that has hovered over the Republican-controlled Congress for months. The bill, however, will do little to actually change the behavior of lobbyists like Jack Abramoff... Democrats have called the bill a "sham," while newspapers across the nation are calling it a "ruse," a "joke," and a "con."

The bill passes, 217 to 213. Boehner, who in the course of trying to tear down McDermott has risen to the powerful post of House majority leader, replacing the disgraced DeLay, is elated. "Trust between the American people and this Congress is very important, and this is the first major step in rebuilding that trust," he tells the New York Times.

Going back to 1996:

"Gingrich's secret conference call involved several members of the Republican House leadership, and as it happened, one of those leaders, Boehner, the congressman from Ohio," was on the call. A Florida couple "messing around with their police radio scanner and happened to pick up the call as the Republicans were talking about how to spin Gingrich's ethics charge." The couple "realized whom they were hearing and decided to make a tape for posterity."

Back to the present --

McDermott asks rhetorically: Does Boehner really want this lawsuit, and its connection to past Republican scandals, to resurface right around this fall's midterm elections? Does Gingrich, who McDermott believes is considering a run for president, really want the Supreme Court to be taking up a case tied to his ethics flap just in time for the run-up to the 2008 presidential elections?

The Republicans and Boehner thought they were avenging Gingrich when they started this lawsuit, McDermott says, but a sword cuts both ways.

"You got to be careful when you try to take vengeance. Because what goes around comes around."

http://www.thestranger.com/seattle/Content?oid=34045

And to top it all off:

An aggressively annoying new phrase in America's political lexicon is "values voters." It is used proudly by social conservatives, and carelessly by the media to denote such conservatives.

This phrase diminishes our understanding of politics. It also is arrogant on the part of social conservatives and insulting to everyone else because it implies that only social conservatives vote to advance their values and everyone else votes to . . . well, it is unclear what they supposedly think they are doing with their ballots.

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2006/05/17/AR2006051701874.html

Though Mr. Wills and other such conservatives helped empower the current reign of indecency and propaganda ("Mission Accomplished," "A turning point," "Victory in Iraq," "War on Terror," etc.), golly gee wiz George almost has it right for a change. But as we remind the social conservatives of all the Republican scandals, let's replace Rove's Wal-Mart sounding term of "values voter" with correct terms like "sanctimonious theocrats" who turn a blind eye to the back-door Diebolds, Florida hanging chads, unexplainable Ohio exit polls, and gerry-rigged Texas precincts in their qwest to force their values on the rest of us.

Maybe the GOP will abandon the religious-right (or the other way around)? Naw.

 

[SOS2008]

And in the news today...

Hardball's Shuster: Rove Indictment Decision To Be Made "At Any Time"...
http://www.crooksandliars.com/2006/05/22.html#a8389

Sen. Santorum #1 Recipient Of Lobbyist Funds... http://www.pnionline.com/dnblog/attytood/archives/003419.html

Prosecutor Says Libby Knew Plame's Identity Was Secret, Lied To Grand Jury... http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2006/05/21/AR2006052101024_pf.html

 

[SOS2008]

FRONTLINE: THE DARK SIDE. Tonight at 9, PBS (WNET/Ch. 13).
Michael Kirk, as writer, producer and director, already has crafted two fine PBS "Frontline" documentaries on the war on terror: one on Secretary of Defense Donald Rumsfeld, called "Rumsfeld's War," and one on "The Torture Question."

Tonight at 9, he and "Frontline" provide a third.

It's called "The Dark Side," and takes its title from a quote by Vice President Cheney in the wake of 9/11. Cheney said that the CIA, the Pentagon and other intelligence-gathering U.S. forces would have to "work from the dark side" to glean information and combat and defeat terrorism.

...According to "Frontline," when Cheney and others in the Bush White House pushed for an early connection between 9/11 and Iraqi leader Saddam Hussein, they were told bluntly, by the CIA and others, that the U.S. strike was the work of Afghanistan-based Al Qaeda.

...It's a complicated narrative, but Kirk tells it clearly. He makes it seem irrefutable that the battle to link 9/11 with Iraq eventually pitted Rumsfeld and Cheney, who backed that position, against former CIA Director George Tenet and others, who found no facts to support it.

The book on this subject continues to be written. With "The Dark Side," though, we're treated to the latest, and most impressively thorough, chapter.

http://www.nydailynews.com/entertainment/story/428045p-360963c.html

So that's why Tenet left? Impeach Bush/Cheney for their treasonous lies to the American people!

 

[Skyhunter]

http://www.nydailynews.com/entertainment/story/428045p-360963c.html

So that's why Tenet left? Impeach Bush/Cheney for their treasonous lies to the American people!

Cheney would know the dark side.

 

[Gokul43201]

Ex-Aide To Bush Found Guilty
Safavian Lied in Abramoff Scandal

A federal jury found former White House aide David H. Safavian guilty yesterday of lying and obstructing justice, making him the highest-ranking government official to be convicted in the spreading scandal involving disgraced former lobbyist Jack Abramoff.

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2006/06/20/AR2006062001626.html

 

[Skyhunter]

Rick Santorum found Iraq's WMD!

Oh, nevermind the DOD has denied his claim, damn.

http://www.alternet.org/blogs/themix/37966/

Sen Rick Santorum (R-Pa) and Rep. Peter Hoekstra (R-MI) held a press conference yesterday to announce that weapons of mass destruction had been found in Iraq, only to have their claims flatly disavowed by the U.S. Department of Defense.

I guess ol Ricky is getting desperate back in PA.

Russ you live in Philly right?

What is your take on Santorum?

 

[edward]

Oh, nevermind the DOD has denied his claim, damn.

http://www.alternet.org/blogs/themix/37966/

I guess ol Ricky is getting desperate back in PA.

Russ you live in Philly right?

What is your take on Santorum?

He was back in the news today making the same claim on FOX. He must have convinced the DOD that they were wrong.

This is all spin to make the Iraq WMD issue look legitimate. And most likely it is meant to distract the public from what is going on in the middle east and with the soldiers charged with murder. (not Haditha related)

According to CNN the DOD had the information on the find of the WMD all along. It was kept classified for some reason. Santorum supposedly only recently discovered the report. It turns out the weapons were old artillery shells from the 1980's Iran Iraq war.

Santorum was on Fox news acting as if this was real news. Then ollie North took off on the same topic.

We have found weapons of mass destruction in Iraq, chemical weapons… Since 2003, coalition forces have recovered approximately 500 weapons munitions which contain degraded mustard or sarin nerve agent”.

http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,200601,00.html

Santorum used the term degraded as if it made the weapons more potent.

 

[Skyhunter]

Santorum was on Fox news acting as if this was real news. Then ollie North took off on the same topic.


http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,200601,00.html

Santorum used the term degraded as if it made the weapons more potent.

From the article you linked.

A senior Defense Department official, however, made the following clarifications:

• These findings do not reflect a WMD capacity that was built up after 1991.
• These are not the WMDs this country and the rest of the world believed Iraq had.
• These are not the WMDs for which this country went to war.

He must have a very low opinion of his constituents to try and pull a publicity stunt like this. What an idiot.

Or is he doing some one's dirty work?

Did he take Roves advice to too literally?

Buffoons like Santorum make it easy to see the Republican strategy for the mid-terms... Ride the war all the way to the polls. Not that it wasn't already obvious from Rove's speech, and the House's "non-binding resolution.