- Army officials said Tuesday they are inspecting every barracks building worldwide to see whether plumbing and other problems revealed at Fort Bragg, N.C., last week are widespread.
Brig. Gen. Dennis Rogers, who is responsible for maintaining barracks throughout the Army, told reporters at the Pentagon that most inspections were done last weekend but he had not seen final results.
. . .
Rogers said it was too soon to know whether the Fort Bragg problem was an isolated incident. He acknowledged the revelations from a video shot by the father of an 82nd Airborne Division soldier showing poor conditions such as mold inside the barracks, peeling interior paint and a bathroom drain plugged with sewage.
The soldier's father, Ed Frawley, said he was disgusted by the conditions that greeted his son and the rest of his 82nd Airborne unit that returned on April 7-8 after a 15-month tour of duty in Afghanistan.
"We let our soldiers down, and that's not like us," Rogers told reporters. "We let our soldiers down. That's not how we want America's sons and daughters to live. There's no good excuse for what happened."
Carol and Harold informed me that "Last September a local cable program (Insight Cable, chanel 2) Veterans-Our
Frontline Heroes contacted me to do a program. They especially liked our
anti war stance and wanted to cover the arrest of a veteran who got arrested
on Memorial Day while holding an "End the War" sign (me).The program runs
several times a day here in Louisville, KY and it has been on for 2 weeks
already. A friend downloaded it to You Tube for us and it is in 4 parts.
Louisville Peace Action Community and Vietnam Veterans Against the War are
mentioned several times."
If you didn't catch it on cable, you can view it on YouTube here:
Part 1
http://www.youtube.com/v/TRrJlFEeckk
Part 2
http://www.youtube.com/v/vruqVbKKnm8
Part 3
http://www.youtube.com/v/frJl_LGfoeY
Part 4
http://www.youtube.com/v/QoIeL_Yrqy0 Congratulations, Peace lovers!
Col. Morris D. Davis. He courageously took the witness stand and testified against top Pentagon officials who pressured him to participate in their kangaroo court trials. He would not.
— The former chief prosecutor here took the witness stand on Monday on behalf of a detainee and testified that top Pentagon officials had pressured him in deciding which cases to prosecute and what evidence to use.
*
The prosecutor, Col. Morris D. Davis of the Air Force, testified that Pentagon officials had interfered with his work for political reasons and told him that charges against well-known detainees “could have real strategic political value” and that there could be no acquittals.
*
His testimony completed one of the more unusual transformations in the contentious history of Guantánamo. Colonel Davis, who is on active duty as a senior Air Force official and was one of the Pentagon’s most vocal advocates of the Guantánamo military commissions, has become one of the most visible critics of the system.
*
Testifying about his assertions for the first time, Colonel Davis said a senior Pentagon official who oversaw the military commissions, Brig. Gen. Thomas W. Hartmann of the Air Force Reserve, reversed a decision he had made and insisted that prosecutors proceed with evidence derived through waterboarding of detainees and other aggressive interrogation methods that critics call torture.
*
Called to the stand by a Navy defense lawyer and testifying before a military judge, Colonel Davis said General Hartmann directed him last year to push war crimes cases here quickly. He said the general was trying to give the system legitimacy before a new president took office. He testified that General Hartmann referred to the long difficulties the Pentagon had had in operating the military commissions and said, “If we don’t get some cases going before the election, this thing’s going to implode.”
The 6 justices who upheld Indiana's vile voter ID law. Without proof of a single case of voter fraud, the Supremes granted a remedy to the GOP thugs' claim that the only way to prevent voter fraud was to require government issued ID cards. This is pure partisan politics, worthy of the Bu$h v Gore decision that brought us the disasteous Bu$h admin.
— The Supreme Court upheld Indiana’s voter identification law on Monday, concluding in a splintered decision that the challengers failed to prove that the law’s photo ID requirement placed an unconstitutional burden on the right to vote.
The 6-to-3 ruling kept the door open to future lawsuits that provided more evidence. But this theoretical possibility was small comfort to the dissenters or to critics of voter ID laws, who predicted that a more likely outcome than successful lawsuits would be the spread of measures that would keep some legitimate would-be voters from the polls.
Voting experts said the ruling was likely to complicate election administration, leading to both more litigation and more legislation, at least in states with Republican legislative majorities, but would probably have a limited impact on this year’s presidential voting.
The issue has been intensely partisan, with Republicans supporting increased identification requirements for voters and Democrats opposing them. In what the court described as the “lead opinion,” which was written by Justice John Paul Stevens and joined by Chief Justice John G. Roberts Jr. and Justice Anthony M. Kennedy, the court acknowledged that the record of the case contained “no evidence” of the type of voter fraud the law was ostensibly devised to detect and deter, the effort by a voter to cast a ballot in another person’s name.
Come on! Voter turnout in the US is already pathetic, so they're telling us people are plotting to commit voter fraud in order to vote? Hahahahahahaha.
Rev. Wright is a horse's ass. He left no doubt whatsoever in his clowning performance for the National Press Club Monday that he is an ego maniac who is willing to destroy Barack Obama in order to self promote. I hope Obama now feels entirely free to disown his "bitter" old ex-paster who "clings" to a backwards looking religious belief system. Joan Walsh, from Salon says it better than I can.
"One thing about my reaction surprised me. I had seen short clips and I was prepared to argue that Wright is a stone-cold narcissist, unprepared to let Obama surpass him, uninterested in whether he's wrong. But Moyers' interview made me see how hurt Wright is. He's genuinely wounded, and I felt sorry for him."
*
I regret that I hedged my observation about Wright's narcissism. He may be wounded, but this is a man of enormous self-regard, and he's clearly trying to hurt Barack Obama. His national rehabilitation tour started fairly sympathetically with the Moyers conversation, but it's devolved into self-pity and self-glorification ever since. His Sunday night talk to the NAACP was mostly silly, from the questionable science behind his insistence that black children are right-brained (creative) while white children are left-brained (logical and analytical) to his mocking the way white people talk, dance, clap, worship and sing. I understand and agree with Wright's notion that "different is not deficient," but mocking white people, including JFK and LBJ, doesn't seem like the best way to get his point across (yes, he was talking to the NAACP, but he knew -- and relished -- that he had a national audience). At his Monday speech he insisted attacks on him were really an attack on the black church, a typically Wright-centric view of the world, while his security was reportedly provided by the Nation of Islam.
I too had given Wright the benefit of the doubt. I won't do that again.
As a reminder of just how extreme the Bu$h admin was willing to go once it grabbed the opportunity to exploit its power after 9/11, they were willing to threaten a NURSE with sedition for voicing an opinion on Bu$hCo's massive mis-handling of the hurricane Katrina didaster. Seriously.
The PEN American Center, the literary organization committed to free expression, is honoring an American most people in this country have never read or even heard of: Laura Berg. She is a psychiatric nurse at a Veterans Affairs hospital who was threatened with a sedition investigation after she wrote a letter to the editor denouncing the Bush administration’s bungling of Hurricane Katrina and the Iraq war. [my bold]
*
That’s right, sedition: inciting rebellion against the government. We suppose nothing should surprise us in these days of government zealotry. But the horror and the shame of that witch hunt should shock everyone.
Ms. Berg identified herself as a V.A. nurse when, soon after Katrina’s horrors, she sent her impassioned letter to The Alibi, a paper in Albuquerque. “I am furious with the tragically misplaced priorities and criminal negligence of this government,” she wrote. “We need to wake up and get real here, and act forcefully to remove a government administration playing games of smoke and mirrors and vicious deceit.”
Her superiors at the hospital soon alerted the Federal Bureau of Investigation and impounded her office computer, where she keeps the case files of war-scarred veterans she treats. Then she received an official warning in which a Veterans Affairs investigator intoned that her letter “potentially represents sedition.”
It took civil rights litigators and Senator Jeff Bingaman of New Mexico to “act forcefully” in reminding the government of the Constitution and her right to free speech. The Department of Veterans Affairs retreated then finally apologized to the shaken Ms. Berg.
Even then, she noted, one superior told her it was preferred that she not identify herself as a V.A. nurse in any future letter writing. “And so I am saying I am a V.A. nurse,” Ms. Berg soon boomed out in a radio broadcast. “And some of my fire in writing this about Katrina and Iraq is from my experience as a V.A. nurse.” Thus declared Ms. Berg, well chosen to receive the new PEN/Katherine Anne Porter First Amendment Award
Indeed. I'm shocked and appalled (but not surprised) all over again.
Like a fool, I thought a judge would be wary of the police's testimony. It's well known that they lie on the witness stand all the time and juries almost always fall for it. I feel the victims families and loved one's rage. I share it.
AP NEW YORK -- Three detectives were acquitted of all charges Friday in the 50-shot killing of an unarmed man on his wedding day after a trial that put the NYPD at the center of another highly charged case involving allegations of excessive firepower.
Justice Arthur Cooperman delivered the verdict in a Queens courtroom packed with spectators, including victim Sean Bell's fiancee and parents, as at least 200 people gathered outside the building.
The verdict provoked an outpouring of emotions: Mr. Bell's fiancee immediately walked out of the room. His mother cried. Gasps were heard throughout the room.
Shouts of "No!" ...
It is truly disturbing that a hardcore NeoCon like Doug Feith is more concerned for Israel than he is with the wellbeing of his own damn country. Ditto for AIPAC. M.J. Rosenbeg is to be commended for this:
People like me who, in addition to hating this war, are involved in helping Israel and the Palestinians achieve peace, have extra problems with Feith. Long before he decided that a US attack on Iraq would help Israel secure the West Bank, Feith had been a leading Likud activist in the United States. He is no more a Republican than Ariel Sharon was. Feith is all about "securing the realm" (his term for defending the Israeli occupation).
I do not believe that most of the architects of this war had Israel on their minds when they pushed the US into the war. Their goal was profits and the money keeps rolling in. But Feith is not a greedy man. He is a right-winger but in the Israeli context. For him, everything is about crushing the Palestinians. (He despised Rabin and did what he could to undermine him).
Of course, this angle rarely comes up in any of the MSM stories about Feith. But this man has done almost as much damage to Israel as to the United States.
I always wondered how he ever got a security clearance to serve at the Pentagon.
Anyway, it's lovely that Georgetown fired his disloyal ass. But that is not enough by any stretch of the imagination. 4000 American dead. Would they be alive if Feith had never been born? He should be sentenced to spend the rest of his life working with brain injured soldiers at Walter Reed. Many of them will never ever be released. He shouldn't be either.
Needless to say, the MSM fears the wrath of hardline "Israel, first, last and always " crowd more than they feel compelled enlighten the public.
I'm sure Hillary will stay in the race to give all her fans a chance to cast a ballot for her. That's her right, but she and Bill are seriously damaging their reputations with the low road they've taken.
Happy Earth Day! Did you plant something? Penn went for Hillary tonight. No surprise there, but it was really sad how much race reared its ugly head there. Since the DL site has been timing out--err--crashing for days now, I'll leave you with this you this link to Think Progress for some good reading.
The Environmental Defense Fund released a report on the eve of Earth Day “that suggests implementing a cap-and-trade program to cut greenhouse gas emissions would not slow the U.S. economy or cost jobs, contradicting a report released recently by a group of manufacturers that oppose a climate change bill.” Overall, the report says that “the economy would continue to grow at an average clip of 3 percent.”
*69 percent: Americans who disapprove of the job Bush is doing. “The approval rating matches the low point of his presidency, and the disapproval sets a new high for any president since Franklin Roosevelt.”
*
Sen. John McCain (R-AZ) has doled out numerous favors to Arizona millionaire Donald Diamond, the New York Times reports, including authorizing the Interior Department to pay Diamond $23 million for Arizona ranch property valued at about $5 million. “Mr. Diamond and his family have given more than $55,000 to Mr. McCain’s campaigns” and Diamond has raised $250,000 for McCain’s presidential race so far.
*
At least two dozen detainees at Guantanamo Bay and elsewhere “say they were given drugs against their will or witnessed other inmates being drugged.” The allegations have resurfaced since the release this month of a 2003 Justice Department memo by John Yoo “that explicitly condoned the use of drugs on detainees.”
*
In a speech last night at the U.S. Military Academy at West Point, Defense Secretary Robert Gates “said he believes Iran is ‘hell bent’ on acquiring nuclear weapons,” but warned that “another war in the Middle East is the last thing we need and, in fact, I believe it would be disastrous on a number of levels.” Despite his warning, Gates said he “favors keeping the military option against Iran on the table.”
Also, Bu$h made history on Tues: He became the first President in our recorded history to reach a disapproval rating of 70% What the hell is wrong with 30% of our country?
I've met Ben Chandler a few times and enjoyed his company. I think he's mostly a good guy, but his habit of blowing with the political winds when running campaigns is a very unattractive quality. I'm not alone. Ben CARTER, from Bluegrass Roots writes Chandler a letter
Dear Congressman Chandler,
*
The rumor on the street is that you are looking for ways to move more to the left in your representation of the 6th District. I commend this sentiment as both the right thing to do and politically savvy, as your electorate is becoming more and more progressive with each passing year. With your effort to appear more progressive in mind, allow me a humble suggestion: Endorse Greg Fischer for Senate. Soon.
As you know, your old foe Bruce Lunsford is currently leading in the polls for the Kentucky Senate primary. As Bruce endorsed your Republican opponent in the 2003 General Election, I'm sure you know Bruce has a long history of supporting Republicans, even the man against whom he hopes to run in the fall. As you also know, Bruce is not the only person running in this primary and Democrats have the happy option of voting for a progressive with the credibility to stand on a Democratic platform this fall: Greg Fischer.
Greg is currently trailing in the polls and needs support from popular Democrats like you. With thirty days left in the race, voters are beginning to pay attention, and an endorsement from Ben Chandler could be the catalyst this race needs. I hope you agree that a Bruce Lunsford nomination would be a disaster for Democrats this fall and will do what you can to help avoid that electoral trainwreck.
Greg is the only Democrat in the race who has a shot at beating Bruce. But, more importantly, I believe he is the only one who stands a chance against McConnell this fall. Please, endorse Greg Fischer. Such an endorsement will win you many supporters within the Democratic wing of the Democratic Party, and you will know you've done what you can to avoid a meltdown this November.
Sincerely,
*
Ben Carter
Loony Toon Rep. Geoff "That Boy" Davis is a huge national embarrassment. That's a given. But Bluegrass Roots
gives some insight into his Dem opponent, of whom I had known nothing.
In case you haven't checked out Michael Kelly's slick and smart website, I suggest you do. It's as appropriate and effective as his reaction to Geoff Davis's Huge Embarrassing Moment in the National Spotlight. [below is a snip from said web site]
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In the fall of 2008, our choice is simple. We can vote for more of the same, or we can vote for change. Are you pleased with the way Iraq is going? Happy with the cost of healthcare in America? Okay with politicians being bought by special interests? Then vote for our opponent. Or... Are you ready for a change?
5 plus years of war cheerleading, pimping phony propaganda and misleading the public, (with a huge assist from an incurious press) the New York Times does the public a huge service by exposing these frauds as "military analysts." Remember their faces. They've being lying to you at every turn. We need to demand they never again appear on public airwaves. Congress needs to investigate and (FOR ONCE!) hold them accountable.
In the summer of 2005, the Bush administration confronted a fresh wave of criticism over Guantánamo Bay. The detention center had just been branded “the gulag of our times” by Amnesty International, there were new allegations of abuse from United Nations human rights experts and calls were mounting for its closure.
The administration’s communications experts responded swiftly. Early one Friday morning, they put a group of retired military officers on one of the jets normally used by Vice President Dick Cheney and flew them to Cuba for a carefully orchestrated tour of Guantánamo. To the public, these men are members of a familiar fraternity, presented tens of thousands of times on television and radio as “military analysts” whose long service has equipped them to give authoritative and unfettered judgments about the most pressing issues of the post-Sept. 11 world.
Hidden behind that appearance of objectivity, though, is a Pentagon information apparatus that has used those analysts in a campaign to generate favorable news coverage of the administration’s wartime performance, an examination by The New York Times has found. [my bold]
The effort, which began with the buildup to the Iraq war and continues to this day, has sought to exploit ideological and military allegiances, and also a powerful financial dynamic: Most of the analysts have ties to military contractors vested in the very war policies they are asked to assess on air.
Those business relationships are hardly ever disclosed to the viewers, and sometimes not even to the networks themselves. But collectively, the men on the plane and several dozen other military analysts represent more than 150 military contractors either as lobbyists, senior executives, board members or consultants. The companies include defense heavyweights, but also scores of smaller companies, all part of a vast assemblage of contractors scrambling for hundreds of billions in military business generated by the administration’s war on terror. It is a furious competition, one in which inside information and easy access to senior officials are highly prized.
The utter corruption of these former servicemen is mind blowing. There is truly not one aspect of government Bu$h/Big Dick have left uncorrupted.
Here are Rep. Meeks' (D-Louisville) thoughts on, IMHO, the most disastrous budget bill our state has ever passed. By contrast, state Senator Dan Seum, (R-Louisville) thought it was terrific! He's pleased as punch with it. Did you hear him on NPR today? OY! Higher Ed is screwed. Pensions are screwed. The environment, transportation, Public Defenders, infrastructure, human services, EMS,... Oh, I could go on but my fingers are suffering from carpel tunnel syndrome over all this screwing of our pop[ulation.
A cool, sharp brush of the 12:30am air snapped me as streetlights glanced across manicured Capitol lawns and led me from the Capitol back to my office. I think it must have been the roses, and the blooming buds in trees that reminded me of how beautiful this place really is.
It was all in stark contrast to what we just experienced so I looked up to see if there was a full moon. It should have been. If you had just experienced the most bizarre finish to a legislative session you could ever have tried not to imagine, you'd know how much I needed that cool, sharp brush of air.
I watched legislators leaving the House Chambers shaking their heads in disbelief; spent hours looking up at lobbyists in the balcony looking down on us - all smiling and back slapping each other as if they were puppet masters. I had waited on this last session day while unknown individuals somewhere negotiated on some bill which, based on the latest rumor, I couldn't figure for the life of me why they would agree
to this or that provision... It was a long day and a wild ride.
It might be a "wild ride" for Rep. Meeks, but it was ride into the ditch for KY
I should be clear: Rep. Meese voted AGAINST the hideous budget.
Find out how your elected officials voted at At KY Votes:
Hahahahahahaha! This is hilarious. This video shows "Morning Joe" getting all pissed about Rachel Maddow passing along a little factual information about a former McShame staffer and he ended up walking off the set in protest before the segment ended. Joe blow spent a great deal of time yesterday defending ABC "Newz" for using the Dem debate (lol) to rehash tired and overly exposed incidents that were embarrassing to Clinton and Obama. The wingnut claim was, "voters need to know about this stuff!" Except when they're about your guy. What a sissy. Whipped by a girl!
Wednesay night's faux "debate" between Clinton and Obama on ABC marked a vivid unmasking of of what passes for broadcast journalism these days. Sean Hannity could not have turned in a more loathsone performance. But that's not just my opinion. Here is what the NYTimes and Washington Post had to say
For the first 52 minutes of the two-hour, commercial-crammed show, Gibson and Stephanopoulos dwelled entirely on specious and gossipy trivia that already has been hashed and rehashed, in the hope of getting the candidates to claw at one another over disputes that are no longer news. Some were barely news to begin with.
The fact is, cable networks CNN and MSNBC both did better jobs with earlier candidate debates. Also, neither of those cable networks, if memory serves, rushed to a commercial break just five minutes into the proceedings, after giving each candidate a tiny, token moment to make an opening statement. Cable news is indeed taking over from network news, and merely by being competent.
Gibson sat there peering down at the candidates over glasses perched on the end of his nose, looking prosecutorial and at times portraying himself as a spokesman for the working class. Blunderingly he addressed an early question, about whether each would be willing to serve as the other's running mate, "to both of you," which is simple ineptitude or bad manners. It was his job to indicate which candidate should answer first. When, understandably, both waited politely for the other to talk, Gibson said snidely, "Don't all speak at once."
If there was a common theme, it was that Mr. Gibson and Mr. Stephanopoulos had front-loaded the debate with questions that many viewers said they considered irrelevant when measured against the faltering economy or the Iraq war, like why Senator Barack Obama did not wear an American flag pin on his lapel. Others rapped the journalists for dwelling on matters that had been picked over for weeks, like the incendiary comments of Mr. Obama’s former pastor, or Senator Hillary Rodham Clinton’s assertion that she had to duck sniper fire in Bosnia more than a decade ago.
And to think that great, howling ass, George Stephanopoulos thought it relevant to ask Barack Obama if he loves his country. Let's hear about that great Liberal media again. Ru$h Limbaugh would be so proud.
The Delaware County prosecutor wants to know why Republican Party officials were given access to police reports on a fight involving a voter registration deputy, a reporter and a candidate before the documents reached his desk.
"The Republican Party chairman is not a member of the law enforcement community and does not have access to police reports," Prosecutor Mark McKinney, a Democrat, said Wednesday.
County GOP Chairwoman Kaye Whitehead cited the reports in a letter to Will D. Statom, who was suspended for three days from his job as a voter registration deputy Monday.
Statom, 56, still could face criminal charges stemming from last week's scuffle with Nick Werner, a reporter for The Star Press, and Democratic 6th District congressional candidate Barry A. Welsh. Statom was arrested April 9 on a preliminary charge of misdemeanor battery and released from the Delaware County Jail on his own recognizance.
McKinney said GOP officials had access to investigatory documents such as witness statements that are not part of the public record and said he would look into how they were released.
My head really hurts. While Congress slept, our deliberately unregulated banking/financial institutions ran wild, wiping out the housing market and leaving us holding the bag. At the same time, Congress has bankrupted our country with a phony war and dumped untold, unaccountable BILLIONS into the military industrial complex. Not content to stop there, they pour unlimited amounts of our tax dollars into the projects of the lobbyists who own them. Don't let them get away with it this time. The housing and credit crisis happened precisely because Congress looked the other way while we were bing screwed. Find your Senator here and JUST SAY NO!
— The Senate proclaimed a fierce bipartisan resolve two weeks ago to help American homeowners in danger of foreclosure. But while a bill that senators approved last week would take modest steps toward that goal, it would also provide billions of dollars in tax breaks — for automakers, airlines, alternative energy producers and other struggling industries, as well as home builders.
The tax provisions of the Foreclosure Prevention Act, which consumer groups and labor leaders say amount to government handouts to big business, show how the credit crisis, while rattling the housing and financial markets, has created beneficiaries in the power corridors of Washington.
It also shows how legislation with a populist imperative offers a chance for lobbyists to press their clients’ interests.
This has proved especially true on the housing legislation, which many lawmakers and lobbyists view as one of the last opportunities before Congress grinds to a halt amid election-year politics.
In the Senate bill, the nation’s biggest home builders, some now on the verge of bankruptcy, won a provision that would let them claim millions in tax refunds by charging their current losses against the huge profits they made three or four years ago. Other struggling industries would benefit from this provision.
“This is our biggest legislative effort since the Tax Reform Act of 1986,” said Jerry M. Howard, chief executive of the National Association of Home Builders. Hundreds of the association’s members flooded the district offices of representatives and senators while they were home for the spring recess last month.
Wow. They don't even bother hiding the fact that they own Washington. We the people just foot the bill.
John McCain seems hell bent on turning his "Straight Talk Express" into the punchline of a bad joke. After listening to him over the last few months, he appears to be so clueless that he's not up to the job of Senator, let alone president. And don't get me started on all the flip-flops.
Earlier this year, Sen. John McCain (R-AZ) proposed a deficit-reduction plan in which he would balance the budget by 2012. “[T]hat’s my goal. … It has to be our goal, because we’re mortgaging these young people’s future,” he said in February.
Now, McCain’s advisers are abandoning this tough talk. The New York Times reports that chief economic adviser Douglas Holtz-Eakin said the next president should not even talk about balancing the budget, adopting a “so be it” approach to the costs of the Iraq war and McCain’s corporate tax cuts:
[Holtz-Eakin] said the benefits of success in Iraq dwarfed the $150 billion annual cost. He also said that if the war and the personal and corporate tax cuts that Mr. McCain advocated added to the federal deficit and debt, so be it.
Hahahahahahaha! You just cannot make this s**t UP.
What is with the GOP and racism? The latest winger to reveal his true colors is is Geoff Davis
Far-right efforts to define Barack Obama as The Other have been relatively subtle over the last couple of months. A little emphasis on Obama's middle name here, a little talk about flag lapel pins there. Everyone knew what was coming, but could also tell the Republican efforts hadn't started in earnest.
It appears conservatives are starting to forgo the subtleties.
U.S. Rep. Geoff Davis, a Hebron Republican, compared Obama and his message for change similar to a "snake oil salesman" [at a Northern Kentucky Lincoln Day dinner].
He said in his remarks at the GOP dinner that he also recently participated in a "highly classified, national security simulation" with Obama.
"I'm going to tell you something: That boy's finger does not need to be on the button," Davis said. "He could not make a decision in that simulation that related to a nuclear threat to this country."
According to news accounts, Davis' comments were "met by laughter and applause" with his Kentucky Republican audience.
OK, the only thing that trumps wingnut racism is sheer stupidity. Do you really want some mindless twit like Davis to have his trigger happy finger on "that button"? My head hurts.
Self-proclaimed “Godfather of Green” Continues to Stand for Polluters while Standing in the Way of Clean Air, Clean Water, and Clean Energy
Louisville, KY – The members of the League of Conservation Voters (LCV), the independent political voice for the environment, today added Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-KY) to its 2008 “Dirty Dozen” list.
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LCV members voted online to decide which 2008 candidate had committed the most egregious offenses against the environment. 25,000 concerned citizens voted for the next member of the “Dirty Dozen,” and chose Sen. McConnell by an overwhelming margin.
“Our members know that Mitch McConnell has voted against our health and safety since he came to Washington. They know that he stands as an impassable roadblock in the way of a clean energy future for this country,” said LCV President Gene Karpinski. “They know that it is time to tear down this roadblock. That’s why McConnell, this ‘Godfather of Green,’ is the new ‘Don’ of the Dirty Dozen.”
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McConnell’s lifetime LCV score of 7% is among the worst in Washington. In 24 years in the Senate, he earned an annual score of 0% twelve times, and in the last fourteen years, McConnell has cast only two pro-conservation votes. Since becoming his party’s Leader in the Senate, McConnell has served as the chief enforcer for Big Oil and other corporate polluters, leading efforts to derail and weaken legislation that would protect our families and keep America’s land, air, and water clean.
How can it be that a revelation this explosive barely gets any mention outside ABC news and the AP? The most galling of all is the active participation of Colin Powell. He willingly took part in the run-up to the war and made a big splash before the UN, waving around his little cocaine bottle of fake WMD (just like the fake WMD in Iraq) to make the case for pre-emptive war on Iraq. Yet somehow he is still spoken of in reverential tones because he made a bit of noise over the trumped up intel being used for war before pushing the invasion forward and feeling kind of bad about it afterward. More from the AP
Bush administration officials from Vice President Dick Cheney on down signed off on using harsh interrogation techniques against suspected terrorists after asking the Justice Department to endorse their legality, The Associated Press has learned
. . .
Between 2002 and 2003, the Justice Department issued several memos from its Office of Legal Counsel that justified using the interrogation tactics, including ones that critics call torture.
"If you looked at the timing of the meetings and the memos you'd see a correlation," the former intelligence official said. Those who attended the dozens of meetings agreed that "there'd need to be a legal opinion on the legality of these tactics" before using them on al-Qaida detainees, the former official said.
The meetings were held in the White House Situation Room in the years immediately following the Sept. 11 attacks. Attending the sessions were Cheney, then-Bush aides Attorney General John Ashcroft, Secretary of State Colin Powell, CIA Director George Tenet and national security adviser Condoleezza Rice.
The CIA gave Big Dick and his cabal graphic descriptions of waterboarding and other "harsh" (torture) interrogation practices. Giving phony legal cover to use torture doesn't excuse these war crimes. People were KILLED by torture in US custody. They cannot get away with this. UPDATE
Initial reports indicated that Bush was "insulated" from the "series of meetings where CIA interrogation methods, including waterboarding, which simulates drowning, were discussed and ultimately approved." Bush eventually dispelled the notion that he was out of the loop, though, and said -- arguably, bragged -- that he endorsed the Principals' work from the outset. The president told ABC News White House correspondent Martha Raddatz. "I'm aware our national security team met on this issue. And I approved."
Bu$h's unblemished record of failure now extends into the economy. His brand of voodoo economics has produced another "first"
How has the United States economy gotten to this point?
It’s not just the apparent recession. Recessions happen. If you tried to build an economy immune to the human emotions that produce boom and bust, you would end up with something that looked like East Germany.
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The bigger problem is that the now-finished boom was, for most Americans, nothing of the sort. In 2000, at the end of the previous economic expansion, the median American family made about $61,000, according to the Census Bureau’s inflation-adjusted numbers. In 2007, in what looks to have been the final year of the most recent expansion, the median family, amazingly, seems to have made less — about $60,500.
* This has never happened before, at least not for as long as the government has been keeping records. [my bold] In every other expansion since World War II, the buying power of most American families grew while the economy did. You can think of this as the most basic test of an economy’s health: does it produce ever-rising living standards for its citizens?
In the second half of the 20th century, the United States passed the test in a way that arguably no other country ever has. It became, as the cliché goes, the richest country on earth. Now, though, most families aren’t getting any richer.
Duh! Instead of leaving our kids an inheiritance, we'll leave them with mountains of debt. Heckuvajob, Bu$h.
God. Please make it stop! Gen. Petraeus is in the tank for Bu$h--pure and simple. Get a load of this TPM entry and try to argue otherwise.
WEXLER: Please tell us, General, what is winning?
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PETRAEUS: Well, first of all -- first of all, Congress, let me tell you that what we are fighting for is national interest. It is interest that, as I stated, have to do with Al Qaida, a sworn enemy of the United States and the free world; it has to do with the possible spread of sectarian conflict in Iraq, conflict that had engulfed that country and had it on the bring of civil war; it has to do with region stability of a region that is of critical importance to the global economy; and it has to do with, certainly, the influence of Iran, another, obviously, very important element in that region.
Sounds like a GOP stump speech to me. The phony al-Qaida connection says it all. Petraeus isn't "Betraying Us," he's betraying the military. He appears willing to destroy the Army to protect his and Bu$h's pride. What a frightening state of affairs
Crikey! The extent to which the Bu$h Admin. and the GOP sold us out to giant corporations is stunning. Sadly, they got an assist from some Dems in this. The fines corporations pay for their crimes is mere pocket change.
In 2005, federal authorities concluded that a Monsanto consultant had visited the home of an Indonesian official and, with the approval of a senior company executive, handed over an envelope stuffed with hundred-dollar bills. The money was meant as a bribe to win looser environmental regulations for Monsanto’s cotton crops, according to a court document. Monsanto was also caught concealing the bribe with fake invoices.
A few years earlier, in the age of Enron, these kinds of charges would probably have resulted in a criminal indictment. Instead, Monsanto was allowed to pay $1 million and avoid criminal prosecution by entering into a monitoring agreement with the Justice Department.
In a major shift of policy, the Justice Department, once known for taking down giant corporations, including the accounting firm Arthur Andersen, has put off prosecuting more than 50 companies suspected of wrongdoing over the last three years.
So, there we have it. Under Bu$h and the 109th GOP Congress, America was fully taken over by Big Bidnez and giant corporations and they have been utterly lawless and ruthless. The Grand Old Patronage system finally achieved its goal.
This is pretty awesome. For years, our former Rep., Anne Northup worked tirelessly to promote the interests of big bidnez and big Corporations and poo-pooed the best interests of her actual constituents. Imagine my surprise and delight to get this email from Congressman Yarmuth.
America’s democracy depends upon the involvement of its citizens. Too often, the voice of the average American gets lost among the politics of the day. I am launching an initiative called Voice of the People, which will bring the personal stories of our community directly to our leaders in Washington.
Whether about the economy, the war in Iraq, healthcare, gas prices, or another issue that matters to you, Voice of the People encourages you to send me your thoughts and experiences through my website. I will then read selected stories on the House Floor, where they will be aired live on C-Span and entered into the Congressional Record to become a permanent part of American history.
As a member of the U.S. House of Representatives, I take very seriously my responsibility to ensure that this chamber is truly the People's House. If you have a story that you wish to tell please send it to me through Voice of the People, and I will work to have it heard.
Imagine! We now have a Congressman who takes the side of his constituents over Corporate Personhood! This is going to take some time to sink in. I'd forgotten what that was like.
The Senate had an opportunity today to question the general and Ambassador Crocker. What a waste of time. Some very good questions were asked but none answered. Here are some of the best
At the Armed Services hearing, Sen. Evan Bayh (D-Ind.) tried to extract a morsel of compromise when he asked Petraeus if “reasonable people can differ about the most effective way forward.”
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Petraeus wouldn’t have it. “I don’t know whether I would go that far, sir,” he said.
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Democrats spent a large amount of time questioning Crocker on negotiations surrounding a long-term military agreement with the government of Iraq. Levin, Clinton, Biden, Edward M. Kennedy (D-Mass.) and Jim Webb (D-Va.), among others, asked Crocker and Petraeus about the controversial status of forces and strategic framework agreements.
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The administration has said it will not take any such agreement to the Senate for ratification, a position Crocker reiterated under questioning even as he acknowledged that the Iraqi parliament might end up voting on the pact. Clinton was quick to pounce. “It seems odd, I think, to Americans [that] the Iraqi parliament may have a chance to consider this agreement, that the United States Congress would not,” she said. [my bold]
It seems unconstitutional to me.
Petraeus wouldn’t have it. “I don’t know whether I would go that far, sir,” he said.
Democrats spent a large amount of time questioning Crocker on negotiations surrounding a long-term military agreement with the government of Iraq. Levin, Clinton, Biden, Edward M. Kennedy (D-Mass.) and Jim Webb (D-Va.), among others, asked Crocker and Petraeus about the controversial status of forces and strategic framework agreements.
The administration has said it will not take any such agreement to the Senate for ratification, a position Crocker reiterated under questioning even as he acknowledged that the Iraqi parliament might end up voting on the pact. Clinton was quick to pounce. “It seems odd, I think, to Americans [that] the Iraqi parliament may have a chance to consider this agreement, that the United States Congress would not,” she said.
Congress Gave Chertoff Unlimited Power To Break Laws
Here is another example of how foolish Congress was when they threw their Constitutional duties out the window in the name of Homeland Security.
Securing the nation’s borders is so important, Congress says, that Michael Chertoff, the homeland security secretary, must have the power to ignore any laws that stand in the way of building a border fence. Any laws at all.
Last week, Mr. Chertoff issued waivers suspending more than 30 laws he said could interfere with “the expeditious construction of barriers” in Arizona, California, New Mexico and Texas. The list included laws protecting the environment, endangered species, migratory birds, the bald eagle, antiquities, farms, deserts, forests, Native American graves and religious freedom.
[. . .]
[Environmental groups sued and lost] A petition asking the Supreme Court to hear the case was filed three months later.
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Did you notice the missing step? In addition to forbidding judges from second-guessing Mr. Chertoff’s decisions, Congress forbade federal appeals courts from becoming involved at all. After losing before Judge Huvelle, the groups’ only recourse is to hope the Supreme Court decides to hear their appeal.
In their petition, the environmental groups said the Supreme Court had never upheld a broad delegation of power like that given to Mr. Chertoff without the possibility of judicial review of executive branch determinations. Nor, they said, has any appeals court.
It is the combination of those two factors — the broad granting of power to the executive branch and cutting the judicial branch out of the process — that makes the 2005 law so pernicious, the groups say.
Incredible! The idea of a border fence is rather ridiculous in the first place, but to give all that power to break laws to a proven incompetent like Chertoff is a ticket to disaster.
The unforgivable budget that our lousy legislators just passed has real and horrible consequenses for employment and public safety. The supporters of this budget need to be thrown to the curb in our next election. This is an utter disgrace:
In a move critics say could threaten public safety, lawmakers scooped up millions of dollars in fees that professionals -- such as doctors, nurses and dentists -- pay to support their licensing agencies.
The money, which is the only support for boards and commissions that police their professions, instead goes to the general fund to stave off shortfalls in the current budget year and for the next two years, according to the budget approved Wednesday by the General Assembly.
The budget maneuver has outraged some members of 35 boards and commissions affected, which get no state money to operate. The licensing fees are supposed to help them run their offices and oversee their professions, they say.
"Our job is to protect the public," said Abby Shapiro, a psychologist and chairman of the Board of Psychology Examiners, which is losing $90,000 this year and $101,400 next year. "All of us who are psychologists, we are paying our income tax and our licensing fees, yet we're now essentially paying tax again."
The main role for such agencies is to investigate complaints of misconduct by professionals and take disciplinary action, including possibly revoking an individual's license for violations.
Agencies said they are left facing cuts that will leave them with bare-bones budgets, barely able to do their jobs.
Reps. Moberly, Meese and too few other Dems were right to reject this wreckless budget. The "Bully From Burksville" is particularilly responsible for this awful mess, as is the odious Stumbo.
If you've been following the latest, horrendous session of our State legislators trying to hammer together a budget after Ernie The Clown left our state in bankruptcy, you've witnessed a sad state of affairs. The C-J's Sunday paper was full of examples today The House tried to raise a little revenue from cig taxes and the Republican controlled Senate, under the "Bully from Burksville," (the odious Republican Senate President, David Williams) went ballistic over "No New Taxes!"-- provided he got big, fat pork for his district. Never mind that the poor will suffer. Screw college students. State services will be cut and jobs in human services will be cut to the bone. With that in mind, here is our Rep. in his own words from the Sunday CJ opinion page:
Further, precedent has been set that could make the House Democrats continue to be the little sister of Senate President Williams. Actually, this was the second time this was done by House Democrats. This has reaffirmed that there are House Democrats who will cut side deals with the Senate President and future budgets will likely feature projects being held out as carrots for cutting deals.
What seems like a good deal now could become regular practice; one that will keep the needs of education, human services, the elderly and disabled, health care and teacher and state employee pay as being handmaidens to concrete, pipes, bridges and construction projects, or whatever President Williams -- or any future Senate President -- decides will be the project de jour. How's that for a way to gain agreement on the state budget?
This may be what Kentuckians want. Seems like a good deal for the Mountain Caucus right now. It certainly is a good deal for President Williams and those counties about to get new water and sewer projects. I just could not see how to look into the eyes of a family at the California Community Center in need of food, or students who can't return to U of L because their tuition is about to be raised beyond what they can afford, or a Seven Counties Services worker with far too many clients, or a former colleague at Legal Aid, or you fill in the blank. Projects trump people in this budget. So I voted against this state budget. Maybe I will be the one needing protecting in the upcoming election.
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Mr. Meeks, D-Louisville, represents the 42nd House District.
IMHO, voting against this Ill-conceived budget is a good thing.
Substituting for Keith Olbermann with nary a hitch in coverage or delivery, Air America’s Rachel Maddow gives us . . . "Bushed!"
First up is the news that George W. Bush’s “War on Terror”™ has had the opposite effect that they one supposedly intended: our sustained presence in Iraq has given terrorists an ample chance to train against our tactics and then take that training worldwide. Case in point, while 600 IEDs have exploded in Iraq, the number of IEDs exploded everywhere else is up for the third year in a row to 300.
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Then there is the Senate Housing Bill being debated right now. Despite stating that they are doing this out of concern for their constituents, only $3.3 billion of the $15.3 billion bill would provide tax relief to homeowners, the balance of $12 billion slated to help the companies involved. Worst yet, it would strip language out that would enable bankruptcy judges to re-write terms to allow homeowners to keep their homes. Are we sure we have a Democratic majority? This sure sounds like a Republican Senate to me.
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And finally, the tale of Rep. Patrick McHenry, who related a little tale during a GOP fundraiser in his native North Carolina about this “two bit security guard” that refused him entry to a gym because he lacked proper credentials for entering.
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Just so you know, the gym McHenry wanted to use? It was in the Green Zone, in Baghdad. The “two bit security guard” McHenry derided was an American soldier in harm’s way protecting visiting Americans, like Congressman McHenry. And because this soldier followed proper procedure and refused special treatment to a big shot like Congressman McHenry, his reward? Did he get to go home, like McHenry did? No, this “two bit security guard” stayed behind in Baghdad to fight McHenry’s war for him. Congressman, you feel a little apology coming on?
My head just exploded. For about the tenth time today. This routine is getting old.
John McCain and the "sainted" Ronald Reagan fought the Rev. ML King's holiday designation all the way to the 1900's. How shameful. How intolerant. It was a very telling and bad call on their part
Forty years after his death, Martin Luther King, one of the great prophets of American democracy, has been reduced to little more than a lifeless statue. Yet his courageous call for peace and criticism of his government at a time of war must not be lost to history.
One of my favorite Dear Leaders in Houston, David, found his way into this AP photo of Hillary at a recent event in his fair town. He is to the left (lol) of Hillary's elbow (or your right as you view it) with both hands in the air. Thanks, David.
Today marks the 50 year anniversary of the Peace Sign. Nothing says "Peace" more than a patriotic American citizen objecting to a massive display of military might to kick off the farkin' Kentucky Derby!
I believe the increased militarization of Thunder [over Louisville, which kicks off Derby week] contributes to an atmosphere that romanticizes and supports the early use of the military as an instrument of national power. The military industrial complex and its close relationship with our government increases the likelihood of the use of military force in achieving our national objectives. Iraq is an example. It is a pre-emptive war of choice, initiated way too early, producing disastrous results and unnecessarily costing many thousands of lives.
When many hundreds of thousands view flashy military war machines at Thunder and link it to national patriotism too closely, it can have an unhealthy effect.
We need a strong national defense and our military plays an important role in this. However, the American people and our government must ensure that the use of the military is a last resort not a quick response to a mistake.
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Harold Trainer, USAF RET10529 Championship CTProspect, KY 40059
I could not agree more. You like all those shiny fighter jets? Great. Sign up to train and fly them over Iraq.
David Rovics is a good friend of my nephew, Jason, who many of you know from his DL Louisville days before he took a job with the Sierra Club in New Mexico. He highly recommends we take a field trip to hear David's powerful music when he preforms at the Brickhouse in Louisville
Friday, April 11th, 8 pm
BrickHouse
Louisville, KY
Contact Nancy
I'll also be doing a kids' show earlier in the evening and an appearance at a record store -- contact Nancy nancyjak@hotmail.com for details!
You might know Nancy J. from Louisville Peace and DL. Here's a bit of background from my nephew on the songwriter in his own words::
Those of you with little ones, he's also playing a
kids show earlier in the day...that might be the one
at Ear-x-tacy. While his adult shows are strongly
political, his kid shows are awesome, even for the
littlest of ones. For more info on that, go to his
website at http://www.davidrovics.com/kids/index.php
or contact Nancy Jakobiac at nancyjak@hotmail.com.
She's organizing the show. If you haven't heard
David's music, it's folk and bluegrass, strongly
political, and far-left. His children's music is
similar but instead of in-your-face politics, it's
about pirates, animals, adventures and your typical
kids stuff. You can download all of his music, which
is hundreds of songs, for free at
http://www.davidrovics.com. Amy Goodman of Democracy
Now says, "David Rovics is the musical version of
Democracy Now!"...Pete Seger says, "Listen to David
Rovics..."...and Andy Kershaw of BBC Radio says, "If
the great Phil Ochs were to come back from the dead
tonight, he'd probably be hailed as the new David
Rovics." If you're an activist, organizer or
trouble-maker, you'll definately want to be at this
show! I also ask you to forward this on to all you
know who may be interested. David does all of his
shows through a grassroots effort.
Finally! DLer Carol forwarded this audio of Rev. Wright's sermon from just after 9/11. You can hear it for yourself here. I'm sure our intrepid media will play endless loops of all the inspiring things the former pastor had to say.
It has been discussed around the nation. So what EXACTLY did Rev. Jeremiah Wright of Trinity United Church of Christ in Chicago say in the aftermath of the devastation on Sept. 11, 2001? This sermon was delivered on Sept. 16, 2001 and is titled, “The Day of Jerusalem’s Fall.” Note that the “chickens coming home to roost” comment was attributed not to Wright but former Ambassador to the Iraq, Edward Peck. It comes around the 20-minute mark.
Explosive Article Reveals Gitmo Torture Began At The WH
This Vanity Fair article makes the EXPLOSIVE case that the use of torture at Gitmo began at the top of the Bu$h White House
As the first anniversary of 9/11 approached, and a prized Guantánamo detainee wouldn’t talk, the Bush administration’s highest-ranking lawyers argued for extreme interrogation techniques, circumventing international law, the Geneva Conventions, and the army’s own Field Manual. The attorneys would even fly to Guantánamo to ratchet up the pressure—then blame abuses on the military. Philippe Sands follows the torture trail, and holds out the possibility of war crimes charges.
by Phillippe Sands
The abuse, rising to the level of torture, of those captured and detained in the war on terror is a defining feature of the presidency of George W. Bush. Its military beginnings, however, lie not in Abu Ghraib, as is commonly thought, or in the “rendition” of prisoners to other countries for questioning, but in the treatment of the very first prisoners at Guantánamo. Starting in late 2002 a detainee bearing the number 063 was tortured over a period of more than seven weeks. In his story lies the answer to a crucial question: How was the decision made to let the U.S. military start using coercive interrogations at Guantánamo?
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The Bush administration has always taken refuge behind a “trickle up” explanation: that is, the decision was generated by military commanders and interrogators on the ground. This explanation is false. The origins lie in actions taken at the very highest levels of the administration—by some of the most senior personal advisers to the president, the vice president, and the secretary of defense. At the heart of the matter stand several political appointees—lawyers—who, it can be argued, broke their ethical codes of conduct and took themselves into a zone of international criminality, where formal investigation is now a very real option. This is the story of how the torture at Guantánamo began, and how it spread.
My head just exploded. Support the troops, my ass! It is intolerable that Congress will not move to Impeach this President and Vice. Officially sanctioned war crimes demands a sharp response and yet Reid and Pelosi have bizarrely taken that option off the table. If time is a concern, then censure them already and make everyone get on the record on where they stand on this issue! Is that so HARD?
Chelsea Clinton At The Pink Door ((((GAY))) Lounge Tonight!
Good for her! I found this little gem at Page One KY
That’s right, kids. Chelsea Clinton is heading to The Pink Door - Noodles and Tea Lounge in Louisville (9 tonight, interrupting swing dancing) after visiting the University of Kentucky and Jefferson Community and Technical College. The Pink Door. Of all places. The big gay hangout in the Highlands. Isn’t that a little odd for a presidential campaign?
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I mean, we’re influenced by a known homosexual here at Page One and all that. But really? A gay club? They have a weekly event called ThursGay, even.
It's about time some one shattered the rainbow ceiling.
I
