The Bush Awareness Report

…(Thanks to Mike Malloy for the name) the actual candidate gives the worst speech ever…and its not just me saying that…

Jeffrey Toobin: I’m not gonna lie, McCain was “shockingly bad”

“(Video)

I think Jeff and I are on the same page here.

“I thought it was the worst speech by a nominee that I’ve heard since Jimmy Carter in 1980. I thought it was disorganized, I thought it was it was themeless, I thought it was very, very boring […] I personally cannot remember a single policy proposal that he made because they had nothing connecting them. I found it shockingly bad.”

Not only was the speech poorly delivered and mind-numbingly boring, it was without substance. Obama’s speech was a generational call to arms to disaffected Americans who are sick and tired of the paralyzing partisanship and unacceptable status quo. Mccain’s was boilerplate.”

Crooks and Liars

…but hey, her crimes have still not gone away…

Trooper-Gate Trooper Breaks Silence

“CNN caught up earlier today with Alaska State Trooper Mike Wooten, the former brother-in-law of Sarah Palin, who is at the center of Trooper-Gate.

(Video)

Wooten doesn’t appear to have spoken publicly since his name became the focus of the investigation involving the firing of Alaska Public Safety Commissioner Walt Monegan, who claimed he was terminated by Palin after he refused to fire Wooten.

TPM

…and we get a good look at what a Police state looks like…

102 arrested at RNC after Rage concert

(Update at bottom - More than 800 arrests reported over week)

“Watch Rage Against the Machine play an acapella song for protesters after police barred them from performing on Wednesday night.

(Video)

More than 800 arrests reported over week

ST. PAUL, Minn. (AP) — Percussion grenades, tear gas and nearly 400 arrests marked the final anti-war march during the Republican National Convention. More than 800 arrests were reported during a week of sometimes peaceful, sometimes violent dissent.

Anti-war protesters rallied Thursday at the state Capitol and then planned to march to Xcel Energy Center, where Sen. John McCain was due to accept the GOP presidential nomination. But their permit had expired, and police - in riot gear and using horses, snow plows and dump trucks - blocked their way.

For hours, police let the protesters amble from one blocked intersection to another. But then the arrests began in earnest. At least 19 journalists, including two reporters from The Associated Press, were among those held by police.

Anti-war protesters briefly interrupted McCain as he addressed delegates Thursday night. Three protesters, one with a sign that read “You can’t win an occupation” on one side and “McCain votes against vets” on the other, were removed from the hall by security officers. McCain asked that supporters not be “diverted by the crowd noise and the static.”

Raw Story

…and how they call anyone who wants to call them on their bullshit “terrorists”…

Activist claims unmarked police vans abducted protesters

A half-dozen representatives of the so-called Republican National Convention Welcoming Committee met with the media in a St. Paul, MN press conference on Thursday to condemn the widescale police raids and arrests that have targeted protesters in that city this week.

The strongest accusations were made by RNC Welcoming Committee co-founder William Gillis, who has been among those planning the protests for the last two years.

“Police kicked down doors with guns drawn on families with their children at dinnertime,” Gillis charged. “Reporters and the media at large have been repeatedly targeted for repression. Activists have been abducted off the street in unmarked vans and political prisoners held without access to medical attention.”

The allegation about police use of unmarked vans was apparently first made on August 31 by RAW STORY contributor Lindsay Beyerstein, who was reporting on the convention for FireDogLake. She wrote that “ColdSnap is reporting 9 arrests downtown near the Excel center” and then added in an update, “One of the 9 protesters arrested was a nun, seen being loaded into an unmarked blue van. The 9 were apparently trying to climb a fence near a church.” All nine were released later that day.

(Video)

Raw Story

…and they have to detain the reporters…otherwise we might know something!

Why We Were Falsely Arrested-by Amy Goodman

“Nicole was videotaping. Her tape of her own violent arrest is chilling. Police in riot gear charged her, yelling, “Get down on your face.” You hear her voice, clearly and repeatedly announcing “Press! Press! Where are we supposed to go?” She was trapped between parked cars. The camera drops to the pavement amidst Nicole’s screams of pain. Her face was smashed into the pavement, and she was bleeding from the nose, with the heavy officer with a boot or knee on her back. Another officer was pulling on her leg. Sharif was thrown up against the wall and kicked in the chest, and he was bleeding from his arm.

I was at the Xcel Center on the convention floor, interviewing delegates. I had just made it to the Minnesota delegation when I got a call on my cell phone with news that Sharif and Nicole were being bloody arrested, in every sense. Filmmaker Rick Rowley of Big Noise Films and I raced on foot to the scene. Out of breath, we arrived at the parking lot. I went up to the line of riot police and asked to speak to a commanding officer, saying that they had arrested accredited journalists.

Within seconds, they grabbed me, pulled me behind the police line and forcibly twisted my arms behind my back and handcuffed me, the rigid plastic cuffs digging into my wrists. I saw Sharif, his arm bloody, his credentials hanging from his neck. I repeated we were accredited journalists, whereupon a Secret Service agent came over and ripped my convention credential from my neck. I was taken to the St. Paul police garage where cages were set up for protesters. I was charged with obstruction of a peace officer. Nicole and Sharif were taken to jail, facing riot charges.

The attack on and arrest of me and the “Democracy Now!” producers was not an isolated event. A video group called I-Witness Video was raided two days earlier. Another video documentary group, the Glass Bead Collective, was detained, with its computers and video cameras confiscated. On Wednesday, I-Witness Video was again raided, forced out of its office location. When I asked St. Paul Police Chief John Harrington how reporters are to operate in this atmosphere, he suggested, “By embedding reporters in our mobile field force.”

Truthout

Real life does not work for Republicans…reality has a well-known Liberal bias.

Fake Soldiers Used In RNC Video

It was a video that was supposed to elicit soaring patriotism and real emotions about the Pledge of Allegiance. But to do that, it used fake soldiers and a staged military funeral instead of the real thing.

On Tuesday night, 15-year-old Victoria Blackstone, a sophomore at the St. Agnes School in St. Paul, led the crowd at the Xcel Energy Center in the Pledge of Allegiance. The audience heard her 434-word essay, “Pledging myself to the Flag of the United States of America,” an essay she’d entered in the “Wave the Stars & Stripes” essay contest and won. The RNC turned that essay into a three and a half minute video, a visually stirring montage rolling over Victoria’s words about sharing the Pledge with Americans who have stood at important moments in history.

There’s the Continental Congress…A real WWII vet…Photos of workers at Ground Zero. A close-up of a folded flag presented to a grieving widow at a military funeral… profiles of soldiers swelling with pride in slo-motion.

But CBS News found that the footage of the ‘funeral’ and soldiers is what is called ‘stock’ footage. The soldiers were actors and the funeral scene was from a one-day film shoot, produced in June. No real soldiers were used during production.

The footage, sold by stock-film house Getty Images was produced by a commercial filmmaker in Chicago. Both Getty and the production company, Mr. Big Films, confirmed that the footage was shot on spec and sold to the Republican National Committee.

One of the actors, Perry Denton of Chicago, Ill. also confirmed that he was hired on a day-rate as an actor for the shoot and told CBS News he was surprised to learn the footage was shown at the convention.

(Video)

CBS

…see, if they used actual troops, this might come out…

Army Soldier suicide rate may set record again

“WASHINGTON — Soldier suicides this year could surpass the record rate of last year, Army officials said Thursday, urging military leaders at all levels to redouble prevention efforts for a force strained by two wars.

So far this year, there are 62 confirmed suicides among active duty soldiers and Guard and Reserve troops called to active duty, officials said. Another 31 deaths appear to be suicides but are still being investigated.

If all are confirmed, that means that the number for 2008 could eclipse the 115 of last year - and the rate per 100,000 could surpass that of the civilian population, Col. Eddie Stephens, deputy director of human resources policy, said at a Pentagon press conference.

“Army leaders are fully aware that repeated deployments have led to increased distress and anxiety for both soldiers and their families,” Army Secretary Pete Geren said.

Raw Story

…but maybe they just don’t want us to remember certain details about GOP policy…like bribes!

GOP lobbyist Abramoff gets 4 years in prison

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Disgraced lobbyist Jack Abramoff was sentenced on Thursday to serve four more years in prison in a corruption scandal that rocked Washington’s power elite and helped Republicans lose control of Congress.

Abramoff is already serving a nearly six-year term on unrelated charges and the new sentence will be served at the same time, meaning he will not spend any extra time behind bars once his original sentence ends in 2012.

But Abramoff will serve at least four more years in prison, even if his lawyers are successful in getting a reduction in his first sentence on charges of fraud in the purchase of a Florida casino cruise line. When his terms expire, he will have spent nearly six years in prison.

Judge Ellen Huvelle passed sentence after federal prosecutors recommended leniency due to Abramoff’s cooperation in pursuing corruption cases against lawmakers and former Bush administration officials. He faced a maximum of 11 years under a plea deal reached in 2006.

Raw Story

While we are at it, lets put the final nail in the whole “surge” coffin…

US spies, not ’surge’, reduced Iraq violence: book

THE 2007 troop “surge”, in which President George Bush sent nearly 30,000 additional US combat forces to Iraq, was not the primary factor behind the steep drop in violence there, according to a book by Washington Post associate editor Bob Woodward.

Rather, Woodward reports, “groundbreaking” new covert techniques enabled US military and intelligence officials to locate and kill insurgent leaders and key individuals in extremist groups such as al-Qaeda in Iraq.

The War Within: A Secret White House History, 2006-2008 also says the Bush Administration has run an extensive spying operation on Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki, his staff and others in the Iraqi Government.

“We know everything he says,” says one of multiple sources Woodward cites about the practice in the book, which is scheduled for release on Monday.

Woodward does not disclose the code names of the covert programs used against extremists, nor does he provide much detail, saying that Administration officials cited national security in asking him to withhold specifics.

Overall, he writes that four factors combined to reduce the violence: the covert operations; the influx of troops; the decision by militant cleric Muqtada al-Sadr to rein in his powerful Mahdi Army; and the so-called Anbar Awakening, in which tens of thousands of Sunnis turned against al-Qaeda.

The book is Woodward’s fourth to examine the inner debates of the Bush Administration and its handling of the Iraq and Afghanistan wars.

The Age

In other news…

ThinkFast September 4 2008

The U.S. unemployment rate rose to a five-year high of 6.1% in August, “heightening the risk that the economic slowdown will worsen.” “Payrolls fell by 84,000 in August, and revisions added another 58,000 to job losses for the prior two months,” while “the number of U.S. workers filing new claims for jobless benefits jumped by 15,000 last week.”

According to Army officials, “suicides among active-duty soldiers this year are on pace to exceed both last year’s all-time record and, for the first time since the Vietnam War, the rate among the general U.S. population.”

Sen. Joe Lieberman (I-CT) will brief Gov. Sarah Palin (R-AK) on foreign policy in preparation for the vice presidential debate on Oct. 2, along with other conservative experts. Lieberman has already “helped introduce Palin to officials of the American Israel Public Affairs Committee, the leading pro-Israel lobby,” on Tuesday.

Pentagon leaders have “recommended to President Bush that the United States make no further troop reductions in Iraq this year.” The plan “calls for extending a pause in drawdowns until late January or early February” when up to 7,500 troops will be redeployed to Afghanistan.

On the trail: Today, Sen. John McCain (R-AZ) and Gov. Sarah Palin (R-AK) will meet with voters in Cedarburg, WI, before holding a rally in Sterling Heights, MI. Sen. Barack Obama (D-IL) will be meeting with voters in Duryea, PA.

In August, high energy and food prices led consumers to shop at retail stores in high numbers, “leaving department stores and other sectors struggling.” “Demand for necessities helped chains such as retail giant Wal-Mart Stores Inc. perform above expectations.”

Rep. Charles B. Rangel (D-NY) “has earned more than $75,000 in rental income from a villa he has owned in the Dominican Republic since 1988, but never reported it on his federal or state tax returns.” Rangel will “most likely file amendments to his tax returns for the years in question,” pay back taxes in New York City and state but “will probably have no federal tax liability.”

The EPA announced new emissions standards for motors that run “pleasure boats, lawn mowers and weed trimmers,” to go into effect in 2011. The Administration said the standards would “yield annual emission reductions of 600,000 tons of hydrocarbons, 130,000 tons of nitrogen oxide,…and 1.5 million tons of carbon monoxide.”

“Aid to poor nations has slumped even as higher food and energy prices and slowing global economic growth have made such assistance more urgent,” the UN reported. Aide dropped 8.4 percent last year, and though the Group of 8 nations in 2005 pledged $25 billion to Africa by 2010, “just $4 billion has actually been delivered.”

And finally: MSNBC’s Andrea Mitchell was almost buried by balloons on the floor of the RNC last night. Host Keith Olbermann advised her to “flee,” and ended her segment saying she had been “reporting from the political equivalent of a Chuck E. Cheese, apparently.”

Think Progress

…oh wait, that was Palin…lying her ass off…

AP Demolishes GOP Convention Lies

“AP reporter Jim Kuhnhenn tears apart piece by piece all the lies told by the Republicans at last night’s convention. In other words, every word spoken is debunked.

HuffPo:

Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin and her Republican supporters held back little Wednesday as they issued dismissive attacks on Barack Obama and flattering praise on her credentials to be vice president. In some cases, the reproach and the praise stretched the truth.

Some examples:

PALIN: “I have protected the taxpayers by vetoing wasteful spending … and championed reform to end the abuses of earmark spending by Congress. I told the Congress ‘thanks but no thanks’ for that Bridge to Nowhere.”

THE FACTS: As mayor of Wasilla, Palin hired a lobbyist and traveled to Washington annually to support earmarks for the town totaling $27 million. In her two years as governor, Alaska has requested nearly $750 million in special federal spending, by far the largest per-capita request in the nation. While Palin notes she rejected plans to build a $398 million bridge from Ketchikan to an island with 50 residents and an airport, that opposition came only after the plan was ridiculed nationally as a “bridge to nowhere.”

Make sure to read the whole thing.

CNN’s Jeffrey Toobin does a little demolition of his own.

(Video)

And Will Bunch calls it Sarah Palin’s Speech to Nowhere.

I hope America wakes up tomorrow and realizes that Sarah Palin’s words were rousing — and completely empty, that they offered no road map (let alone bridge) for America other than more of the bogus partisan name-calling that has gotten us into the mess that we’re in now.

Crooks and Liars

…even the Republican TV pundits agree…

Caught on Tape: Top GOP Pundits Call Palin “Political Bullsh*t”

(Video)

From HuffPo:

Wall Street Journal columnist and former Reagan speechwriter Peggy Noonan and former John McCain adviser, Time columnist, and MSNBC contributor Mike Murphy were caught on tape disparaging John McCain’s selection of Alaska Governor Sarah Palin as his Vice Presidential running mate.

“It’s over,” Noonan said.

When Chuck Todd asked her if this was the most qualified woman the Republicans could nominate, Noonan responded, “The most qualified? No. I think they went for this, excuse me, political bullshit about narratives. Every time the Republicans do that, because that’s not where they live and that’s not what they’re good at, they blow it.”

Murphy characterized the choices as “cynical” and “gimmicky.”

Alternet

…then there is the sad fact that Palin is just like Bush in abusing of power…

Fired Alaskan Official Says Palin Hasn’t Been Truthful
Monegan Says He Was Fired For His Refusal to Fire Governor’s Former Brother-In-Law

(video)

The fired Alaskan official, whose dismissal has become the subject of a state senate committee’s investigation of Gov. Sarah Palin, has told ABC News that she has not been entirely truthful on the matter.

In a telephone interview Wednesday, Walt Monegan, the former Alaskan Public Safety Commissioner, said he was dismissed because he refused to fire the Governor’s former brother-in-law, a state trooper.

“I believe I was fired because of, primarily the reason of her former brother-in-law,” Monegan said. “I think that my unwillingness to take special action against her former brother-in-law was not well received.”

Monegan says he believes that the Governor has not told the truth about what happened.

“I think there are some questions now that, coming to light about how transparent and how honest she wants to be,” Monegan said.

ABC

…but hey, any loyal Bushie will break the law to make things easier for the GOP. Such as if you want to shoot Obama, send a Bushie to bail you out!

FBI Wanted Obama Plotters Charged, But A Rove Appointee Said No

“We noticed last week that it was awfully peculiar that Colorado’s U.S. Attorney, Troy Eid, had so airily dismissed conspiracy charges against the three white-supremacist tweakers who were caught planning to assassinate Barack Obama at last week’s Democratic National Convention in Denver.

Now it turns out that those suspicions were fully warranted:

KUSA - 9Wants to Know has learned three men in Denver planned to assassinate U.S. Senator Barack Obama during the Democratic National Convention in Denver by sneaking into one of his events and shooting him with a gun hidden inside of a camera, according to federal court records.

Nathan Johnson’s girlfriend, whom 9NEWS is not naming because she’s a juvenile, said it would have to be a suicide mission.

The plot is similar to that in the 1992 movie “The Bodyguard” starring actors Kevin Costner and Whitney Houston. In the movie, Costner stops an assassination attempt against Houston by spotting a weapon hidden inside a gutted-out TV camera.

Johnson, Shawn Adolf and Tharin Gartrell all thought that Obama had a suite in the third floor of the Hyatt hotel, where they were staying. In fact, the Senator was staying in another Denver Hotel.

The men were doing methamphetamine inside the hotel with two women on Aug. 23 discussing the plot to kill Obama, according to federal records.

Adolf said “it would not matter if he killed Senator Obama because police would simply add a murder charge to his pending charges,” according to the records. There were seven outstanding warrants for Adolf’s arrest.

The underage woman told law enforcement that Adolf also talked about using “a high-powered rifle 22-250 from a high vantage point” to shoot Senator Obama during his acceptance speech at INVESCO Field at Mile High during the DNC.

Even more significant, beyond the details of the plot, was the fact that, as the Colorado Independent notes, the FBI asked for more serious charges to be filed and were turned down.

When police searched the hotel rooms and cars the men were using, they confiscated meth, needles, laptops, cell phones, a black mask, books indicating check fraud and forgery, bags of new clothes, tactical pants and bar coupons.

Based on the evidence, FBI special agent Robert Sawyer believed there was probable cause to charge the men with conspiracy to kill Senator Obama. However, US Attorney Troy Eid last week said there is insufficient evidence to indicate a true threat, plot or conspiracy against the senator.”

Dneiwert

…but the best sum-up is from John Stewart…

“Karl Rove bitterly divided on the experience issue”

And it’s not just Rove who is a hypocrite. This is freakin’ brilliant.

(Video)

Daily KOS

…and from Stephen Colbert…

Colbert slams Lieberman’s “bipartisan” duplicity

Stephen Colbert juxtaposes Joe Lieberman from Tuesday night with Joe Lieberman from 2006 and reveals what a true spineless snake he really is. As a bonus, Colbert exposes McCain for the maverick he isn’t.

(Video)

Lieberman: What, after all, is a Democrat like me doing at a Republican convention like this?

Colbert: Oh, oh, oh, I know…spitting in the face of everyone who voted for you?

Crooks and Liars

In other news…

ThinkFast September 4 2008

Eight protesters at the RNC were charged with conspiracy to commit a terrorist act yesterday. The suspects’ lawyer called the charges ridiculous, saying the accusations are “an effort to equate publicly stated plans to blockade traffic and disrupt the RNC as being the same as acts of terrorism.” So far, nearly 300 protesters and journalists have been arrested.

“Sick Americans who travel far or frequently to get medical treatment are skipping or delaying appointments, leaving support groups and applying for grants,” because of the high price of gas.

Disgraced lobbyist Jack Abramoff, “who pleaded guilty to a scheme to corrupt Congress, asked a federal judge for mercy on Wednesday, saying he was ‘not a bad man’ although he acknowledged he ‘did many bad things.’

When Sen. John McCain (R-AZ) introduced Gov. Sarah Palin (R-AK) as his running mate, McCain “emphasized her role as the commander in chief of the Alaska National Guard” and “her military command experience as governor.” Yet Maj. Gen. Craig Campbell, the service commander of the Alaska National Guard, noted that Palin “has no command authority overseas or anywhere in the U.S. other than Alaska.”

On the trail: Sen. John McCain (R-AZ) will be in St. Paul, MN today, to accept his party’s nomination at the Republican National Convention. Sen. Barack Obama (D-IL) will be at a rally in Lancaster, PA.

A 4,500-year-old ice shelf “nearly the size of Manhattan” that has “broken away from Ellesmere Island in Canada’s northern Arctic” is the latest sign that “warmer temperatures are changing the polar frontier.”

Gov. Sarah Palin (R-AK) “wrote e-mails that harshly criticized Alaska state troopers for failing to fire her former brother-in-law.” The e-mails were provided by former public safety commissioner, Walter Monegan, who was dismissed by Palin in July for allegedly refusing to fire state Trooper Mike Wooten, “who at the time was feuding with Palin’s family.”

Condemning “an illegitimate, unilateral attempt to change your country’s borders by force,” Vice President Cheney reaffirmed the Bush Administration’s commitment to seeing Georgia enter into NATO. The remarks came one day after the U.S. proposed $1 billion in aide to Georgia.

“An Iraqi freelance photographer working for Reuters has been detained by U.S. and Iraqi forces south of Baghdad,” after U.S. military officials said he was “assessed to be a threat.” In April, the U.S. military freed AP photographer Bilal Hussein, after holding him for more than two years.

And finally: Jamie Lynn Spears is the latest celebrity to weigh in on the pregnancy of Bristol Palin. Spears reportedly spent “$60 on pink burpcloths” and had them sent over to Palin, according to a “source close to the Beverly Hills baby store Petit Tresor.”

Think Progress

Yep. Niiiiice pick Johnny…

“Bombshell: Serious Palin vetting took place one day before official selection

You gotta be kidding me:

Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin was not subjected to a lengthy in-person background interview with the head of Sen. John McCain’s vice presidential vetting team until last Wednesday in Arizona, the day before McCain asked her to be his running mate, and she did not disclose the fact that her 17-year-old daughter was pregnant until that meeting, two knowledgeable McCain officials acknowledged Tuesday.

In the first and most telling executive decision of his potential presidency, John McCain makes a rash, reckless decision that, God forbid he falls ill while in office, will be disastrous for this country. Is that the kind of judgment we need in the White House for another four years?”

“>Crooks and Liars

…she even has her own pastor scandal! That was quick.

Palin in Her Church’s Pews When Jews for Jesus Founder Spoke - Two Weeks Ago

Via The Politico, we learn that Sarah Palin was in church for this sermon very recently:

“An illustration of that gap came just two weeks ago, when Palin’s church, the Wasilla Bible Church, gave its pulpit over to a figure viewed with deep hostility by many Jewish organizations: David Brickner, the founder of Jews for Jesus.

Palin’s pastor, Larry Kroon, introduced Brickner on Aug. 17, according to a transcript of the sermon on the church’s website.

“He’s a leader of Jews for Jesus, a ministry that is out on the leading edge in a pressing, demanding area of witnessing and evangelism,” Kroon said.

Brickner then explained that Jesus and his disciples were themselves Jewish.

“The Jewish community, in particular, has a difficult time understanding this reality,” he said.

Brickner’s mission has drawn wide criticism from the organized Jewish community, and the Anti-Defamation League accused them in a report of “targeting Jews for conversion with subterfuge and deception.”

Brickner also described terrorist attacks on Israelis as God’s “judgment of unbelief” of Jews who haven’t embraced Christianity.”

Daily KOS

…by the way, If she wants to know WHY her kid got pregnant, look in the mirror…

Palin cut $1.1 million from funding for teen moms in need

The Washington Post revealed Tuesday that Alaska Governor and McCain vice presidential pick Sarah Palin, whose 17-year-old daughter Bristol is pregnant outside wedlock, earlier this year used a line-item veto to cut $1.1 million (22%) in funding which would have at least partially benefited teen moms in need.

“Bristol and the young man she will marry are going to realize very quickly the difficulties of raising a child, which is why they will have the love and support of our entire family,” Palin said in a statement. “We ask the media to respect our daughter and Levi’s privacy, as has always been the tradition of children of candidates.”

Covenant House Alaska, the affected organization which serves to assist homeless and runaway youth, runs Passage House, a transitional living program with 24-hour support staff that provides housing, along with up to eighteen months of assistance in building parenting, money management and job skills, with aims to help teen parents prepare for the “real world.”

“We work with parenting teens to help them become productive, successful, independent adults who create and provide a stable environment for themselves and their families,” reads the Passage House webpage. “Our goal is to assist young mothers in developing skills such as healthy parenting, money management, priority setting, housing acquisition and social skills development.”

“The explicit sex-ed programs will not find my support,” Gov. Palin told Eagle Forum Alaska in a 2006 questionnaire in an expression of support for “abstinence-only” sex education.

Raw Story

Im getting a little sick of her, so lets think about times gone by…like when the Head of the Department of Justice committed perjury…

New Justice Department Inspector General Report Contains Evidence Of Gonzales Perjury

“A new Department of Justice inspector general report released today found that former Attorney General Alberto Gonzales improperly handled secret information regarding the government’s most sensitive national security programs. DOJ officials have reportedly looked at the report “but did not find a case to prosecute.”

But Gonzales may have done more than just “improperly handle” classified national security documents. CQ’s Spy Talk blog reports that there is “strong evidence” in the report “that the former attorney general lied to federal investigators probing his careless handling of highly classified documents.”

According to the IG report, Gonzales told investigators that he did not know that documents he handled relating to the Bush administration’s warrantless wiretapping program were classified:

Gonzales said that he was unaware of the classification level and compartmented nature of the NSA program he referenced in the notes. Gonzales also stated he did not recall thinking that the notes themselves were classified.

Yet the report also says that an envelope containing the documents were marked “top secret” by Alberto Gonzales himself.”

Think Progress

…and maybe worse…

Judge says gov’t must produce waterboarding memos

NEW YORK (AP) — A federal judge has ruled in New York that the government must either produce memos on waterboarding and other harsh interrogation methods used by the CIA or explain why they should be kept secret.

U.S. District Judge Alvin K. Hellerstein says the memos are “clearly responsive” to a lawsuit filed in 2003 by the ACLU and other civil rights groups seeking records on the treatment of prisoners in U.S. custody overseas.

The U.S. attorney’s office in Manhattan declined to comment Wednesday.

The New York Times last year disclosed the existence some of the Justice Department memos. It said they authorized interrogators to use methods like waterboarding, head slapping and exposure to freezing temperatures.

Raw Story

…but lets see how the upcoming GOP police state is working out!

VIDEO: Police Raid and Detainment of I-Witness Journalists in Minnesota

“Repeated attacks on the civil liberties of independent press and activists before and during the election process emerge as a pattern during the days leading up to the Republican National Convention. The FBI and Minneapolis police continue attacks on independent journalists in the days leading up to the Republican National Convention, obstructing coverage of important concurrent events. On Saturday morning an FBI officer and a chief deputy from the Douglas County Sheriff’s dept. along with approximately 30 St. Paul police officers bearing firearms, tasers, pepper spray and at least one AR-15 surrounded a house where members of I-Witness Video Collective and journalist Elizabeth Press from Democracy Now were meeting. National Lawyer’s Guild Legal Observer Sarah Coffey was detained in handcuffs outside the building while acting as a liaison with the police.

(Video)”

Indy Media

In other news…

ThinkFast September 3 2008

Steve Schmidt, Sen. John McCain’s (R-AZ) top campaign strategist, yesterday accused the media of being “on a mission to destroy” Gov. Sarah Palin (R-AK) by displaying “a level of viciousness and scurrilousness” in pursuing questions about her personal life. Schmidt said the McCain campaign feels “under siege” by news inquiries on Palin.

Sen. John McCain has long campaigned against Congress earmarking federal money for pet projects back home, having gone so far as publishing “pork lists” detailing these financial favors. However, “three times in recent years, McCain’s catalogs of ‘objectionable’ spending have included earmarks for this small Alaska town, requested by its mayor at the time — Sarah Palin.”

Yesterday, the state Supreme Court in Bronx County “dismissed challenges brought by a coalition of conservative activists, Republican state lawmakers and the Arizona-based Alliance Defense Fund to a directive by Gov. David Paterson that all state agencies recognize same-sex marriages performed outside New York.”

Although Sen. John McCain (R-AZ) has vowed to distance himself from lobbyists, CQ reports that “McCain and the Republicans gathered in St. Paul are sending a more nuanced message by integrating some of K Street’s brightest stars as managers of floor activities — suggesting that lobbyists could play important roles in advancing a McCain administration agenda.”

On the trail: Sen. John McCain (R-AZ) will be traveling to Minnesota for the Republican National Convention today. Sen. Barack Obama (D-IL) will be discussing women and the economy at Kent State University in Ohio.

California lawmakers passed a bill aimed at cutting CO2 emissions by “rewarding cities and counties that prevent urban sprawl and improve public transportation.” Supporters and transportation experts say it is “the first measure in the nation to link government transportation funding with urban planning and CO2-reduction goals.”

Vice President Dick Cheney “traveled to Azerbaijan Wednesday, part of a tour of three ex-Soviet republics wary of Russia’s intentions following last month’s war between Russia and neighboring Georgia.” Azerbaijan is “home to some of the largest oil and gas reserves in the former Soviet Union.”

“The Commerce Department reported Tuesday that construction spending declined 0.6 percent in July, double the 0.3 percent decrease analysts had been expecting.” Construction activity is down 4.7 percent from last year, ” representing one of the major drags on the current economy.”

And finally: Huffington Post claims to have caught former president George H.W. Bush checking his watch last night during First Lady Laura Bush’s speech at the Republican National Convention. The site has posted the “nostalgia-inducing video” here.

Think Progress

…mostly of the part where Beetlejuice says “…And I’ve seen the Exorcist about 167 times, and it just keeps getting funnier every time I see it!”

McCains Convention Hookers and Blow.

First John McCain can’t control the 527’s, now he can’t control his own party.

(Video)

Mock away…

Daily Kos

…and then there is the new VP pick. Its like a car accident you just can’t look away from…

Palin 451

“Sarah Palin: Separatist, former mayor of a village, and a wannabe book-burner:
[Former Wasilla mayor John Stein] says that as mayor, Palin continued to inject religious beliefs into her policy at times. “She asked the library how she could go about banning books,” he says, because some voters thought they had inappropriate language in them. “The librarian was aghast.” The librarian, Mary Ellen Baker, couldn’t be reached for comment, but news reports from the time show that Palin had threatened to fire her for not giving “full support” to the mayor.

Daily Kos

…Separatist? What’s that? That’s the civil war that starts North to South this time!

Recapping Palin’s Secession Scandal

So, without further ado, what we know so far (all the information, and much, much more can be found here, here, here, and here):

As user Liz Arnett first informed us yesterday morning, the AIP is a political party in Alaska whose motto is “Alaska First.” It’s goal is to have a vote on Alaska’s state status so that Alaskans may decide whether the state should secede, become a territory, become a commonwealth, or remain a state.

The AIP has what most Americans would qualify as radical views on the relationship between the federal government and Alaska, including a belief that the federal government should be dissolved if gun rights are ever abolished or curtailed, a belief that the federal government is in breach of the Constitution, and complete opposition to environmental regulations and public ownership of Alaskan land.

Yesterday night, it was is confirmed that Sarah Palin and her husband were members of the AIP at least in 1994. Indeed, Palin reportedly attended the AIP convention.

In 2007, the Vice Chairman of the AIP, Dexter Clark, not only referenced Palin’s membership, but also said that since she joined the GOP, “she is pretty well sympathetic to her former membership.” Clark also goes on to discuss the need to “infiltrate” the major parties.
In 2008, Palin recorded a message for the AIP’s annual convention, stating that Alaska has “a great promise to be a self-sufficient state” and encouraging them to “keep up the good work.”

Daily Kos

…and if that was not crazy enough…

Palin’s Lobbyist Has Abramoff Ties

It looks like Sarah Palin’s claim to represent a cleaner brand of politics could be about to take a bruising.

The Washington Post reports today that, while Mayor of Wasilla, Palin oversaw the hiring of a lobbyist, Steven Silver — a former chief of staff to now-indicted GOP senator Ted Stevens — to help win federal earmarks for the city.

But Silver appears to have additional ties that could further undercut Palin’s image as a squeaky-clean reformer. According to Senate lobbying disclosure reports examined by TPMmuckraker, from 2002 to 2004 Silver listed as a client Jack Abramoff’s lobbying firm, Greenberg Traurig. On Greenberg’s behalf, Silver lobbied the federal government on “issues relating to Indian/Native American policy,” “exploration for oil and gas” and “legislation relating to gaming issues” — the very issues that Abramoff headed up for Greenberg at the time. In other words, Silver appears to have been a part of “Team Abramoff.”

TPM

Now for you people who are saying “Stop picking on her! So What if McStain apposed all money for Teen pregnancy! (He did:)

…so in order to please these annoying people-and you know who are-Lets focus on the GOP wanna be pres…

New Movie Quotes Fellow McCain POW Saying McCain Not Fit To Be President

“This one is noteworthy, because it’s a first stab at directly taking on McCain’s war service in a sustained way by arguing that his POW experience has rendered him temperamentally unfit to be president.

Take a look at the latest film from Robert Greenwald of Brave New Films — it stars fellow POW Phillip Butler arguing that he knows from bitter experience that a POW past is not what you want in the leader of the free world:

(Video)”

TPM

…and guess what happened in April of this year, having a little something to do with Flooding and GOP repair jobs…

4 Investigates: Floodwalls stuffed with newspaper?

(Video)

“It blows my mind.” Video: Watch the Story

Those are the words St. Bernard parish president Craig Taffaro used to watch videotape Eyewitness News showed him, of floodwalls built to protect his parish.

“That should be criminal,” Taffaro continues.

What he’s talking about was witnessed by a St. Bernard Parish resident who didn’t want to be identified, but did have sharp criticism of the work done by a contractor hired by the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers.

“It’s like putting a Band-Aid on the hole of a gas tank of an airplane,” the resident said.

WWLTV

…Then there is the question on how the GOP like to deal with people asking difficult questions like-”Why are we being arrested and hurt?”

Democracy Nows Amy Goodman arrested

“(Video)

Amy Goodman is bundled off by policemen wielding clubs, plus footage from the press conference.

Glenn Greenwald reports:

Beginning last night, St. Paul was the most militarized I have ever seen an American city be, even more so than Manhattan in the week of 9/11 — with troops of federal, state and local law enforcement agents marching around with riot gear, machine guns, and tear gas canisters, shouting military chants and marching in military formations. Humvees and law enforcement officers with rifles were posted on various buildings and balconies. Numerous protesters and observers were tear gassed and injured.

… Perhaps most extraordinarily, Amy Goodman of Democracy Now — the radio and TV broadcaster who has been a working journalist for close to 20 years — was arrested on the street and charged with “conspiracy to riot.” Audio of her arrest, which truly shocked and angered the crowd of observers, is here. I just attended a Press Conference with St. Paul Mayor Chris Coleman and Police Chief John M. Harrington and — after they boasted of how “restrained” their police actions were — asked about the journalists and lawyers who had been detained and/or arrested both today and over the weekend. They said they wouldn’t give any information about journalists who had been arrested today, though they said they believed that “one journalist” had been, and that she “was a participant in the riots, not simply a non-participant.”

Tear gas has also been used.

(Video)”

Crooks and Liars

Enough of all that! Anything else going on?

Just In Case You Forgot…We’re Still In Iraq

With all the hubbub about baby mamas in the media snowballing, you’d almost think we didn’t have troops risking their lives in Iraq and Afghanistan. In fact, the US has ceded one more region to the Iraqi government on Monday:

The US military handed over Anbar province to Iraqi security forces yesterday, less than two years after it almost lost it to a Sunni Arab insurgency.

“We are in the last ten yards of this terrible fight. The goal is very near,” Major-General John Kelly, commander of American forces in Anbar, told US, Iraqi and tribal officials at a ceremony in the provincial capital, Ramad, to mark the event.

“Your lives and the lives of your children depend on victory.”

Maj-Gen Kelly and Anbar’s governor, Mamun Sami Rasheed, embraced after signing a document making Anbar the 11th of Iraq’s 18 provinces, and the first Sunni Arab one, to be returned to Iraqi control since the US-led invasion.

Crooks and Liars

…and the other one…

500th U.S. service member dies in Afghanistan

(CNN) — A sailor killed in Afghanistan on Saturday was the 500th U.S. service member to die in that country since the war there began in 2001.

Petty Officer 1st Class Joshua Harris of Lexington, North Carolina, was 36.

Twenty-two U.S. service members were killed in Afghanistan in August, part of a recent increase in American deaths there. In June, 28 U.S. service members died in Afghanistan — the United States’ highest one-month total in that country.

Including deaths from the United States’ coalition partners, 46 service members were killed in August, equaling the coalition total for June. Forty-six is the highest one-month total for coalition forces.

CNN

…and then number three…

Al-Qaeda Has Free Movement in Pakistan, Top Official Concedes

Islamabad - Pakistan’s top security official Monday admitted that al Qaida’s leadership moved freely in and out of the country and vowed that “no mercy” would be shown to extremists based in its tribal territory that borders Afghanistan.

In the past, Pakistan has been heavily criticized for rejecting evidence that al Qaida was largely based in the country and for denying that the tribal territory was used as a safe haven for Afghan insurgents.

Rehman Malik, the interior ministry chief, revealed that al Qaida deputy leader Ayman al Zawahiri and his wife had been in Mohmand, part of the tribal area. Most of time, Malik said Zawahiri was mainly in Afghanistan’s Kunar and Paktia provinces.

“We certainly had traced him (Zawahiri) at one place, but we missed the chance. So he’s moving in Mohmand and, of course, sometimes in Kunar, mostly in Kunar and Paktia,” Malik told reporters in Islamabad.

Malik, a politician who was put in charge of the interior ministry after his Pakistan People’s Party emerged as the largest group in a coalition government that formed after elections in February, gave no further details on Zawahiri’s movements. In the past, Islamabad has refuted suggestions that Zawahiri and al Qaida leader Osama bin Laden were hiding in Pakistan.

Truthout

In other News…

ThinkFast September 2 2008

64 percent: People concerned that Sen. John McCain (R-AZ) “would pursue policies that are too similar to what George W. Bush has pursued,” according to a new USA Today/Gallup poll. Forty-seven percent fall into the “very concerned” category and 17 percent rate themselves “somewhat concerned.”

Hurricane Gustav struck the Gulf Coast with less strength than feared, “sparing New Orleans and the world’s densest concentration of oil-and-gas facilities.” While the emergency response effort went largely as planned, “officials said that at least seven people were killed” in the storm.

The death of a sailor in Afghanistan over the weekend marked the “500th U.S. service member to die in that country since the war there began in 2001.”

The Justice Department’s inspector general says Alberto Gonzales improperly handled classified materials about national security programs, including the Bush administration’s warantless wiretapping program, during his tenure as Attorney General. However, “officials in the Justice Department’s national security division looked at the inspector general’s report but did not find a case to prosecute.”

On the trail today: Sen. John McCain (R-AZ) is scheduled to make a public appearance in Philadelphia and will then head to Cleveland, OH. Sen. Barack Obama (D-IL) is in Chicago with no public events scheduled.

Democracy Now! host Amy Goodman and producers Sharif Abdel Kouddous and Nicole Salazar have been released from police custody in St. Paul, following their arrest while covering demonstrations at the Republican convention. According to Democracy Now!, all three were “violently manhandled by law enforcement officers.”

“While it’s possible” the McCain campaign called some people in Alaska to vet Gov. Sarah Palin, “there was no sign of it,” the Wall Street Journal reports. “A Republican with ties to the campaign said the team assigned to vet Ms. Palin in Alaska had not arrived there until Thursday,” just one day before McCain announced Palin as his vice presidential pick.

As mayor of Wasilla, AK, Gov. Sarah Palin hired a lobbying firm to secure nearly $27 million in federal earmarks. The Anchorage-based firm has “close ties” to Rep. Don Young (R) and Sen. Ted Stevens (R), who was indicted in July. “The Wasilla account was handled by the former chief of staff to Stevens, Steven W. Silver, who is a partner in the firm.”

Ten percent of Americans “are unemployed, discouraged from seeking work or underemployed,” up 25 percent from last year, according to a Rutgers University labor scorecard. The report also found that “median weekly earnings for American workers have not grown in real terms over the last eight years” and “the federal minimum wage is worth 40 cents less per hour, in inflation-adjusted dollars, than it was a decade ago.”

And finally: The “micro-blogging” site Twitter — which allows users to post 140-character messages — has become an invaluable resource during Hurricane Gustav. One New Orleans resident, Robert Peyton, said that even when the power went out, he could still receive messages from the New Orleans Twitter community directly to his smartphone. Peyton added that Twitter was one of the only ways to get accurate updates. “The national broadcasts are just kind of silly and alarmist,” he said.

Think Progress

…weather its because of the weather…

Water overtopping levees in Upper Ninth Ward

“According to the New Orleans Times-Picayune, water from the storm surge associated with Hurricane Gustav is now lapping over a floodwall and “a small river of water is rushing down North Robertson Street toward Poland Avenue” in the Upper Ninth Ward.

The Army Corps of Engineers says they do not regard the overtopping as a problem and state, “We’re confident in the stability of that wall.” The floodwalls have been strengthened since Katrina, and the wall on the other side of the Industrial Canal — which borders the Lower Ninth Ward — is higher than the one where water is splashing over.

However, St. Bernard Parish President Craig Taffaro, who was also checking the water levels, said, “It’s better than seeing cement collapsing but it’s not good. … We’re worried about the pressure building up on this wall.”

(Video)

Raw Story

…the Bushie response to the weather that happened, oh, three years ago…

RNC delegate: We already do enough for New Orleans

“Jim Ellison, an delegate from Oregon at the Republican National Convention, told C-SPAN that he doesn’t agree with the decision to curtail events at the Republican convention due to Hurricane Gustav.

“The fact is,” said Ellison, “hurricanes happen. We didn’t stop anything for Florida, and New Orleans has certainly been through it. President Bush in his wisdom has put qualified FEMA people in place. They’re ready for it.”

Ellison continued, “I don’t think we should have interfered with our convention because we already do a lot for the people of New Orleans.”

First-day proceedings at the RNC were scaled back in light of the hurricane. President Bush and Vice President Cheney both cancelled their appearances as well.”

(Video)

Raw Story

…the Bush plan to make the USA a permantant third-world country…

Bush quietly seeks to make war powers permanent by declaring indefinite state of war

As the nation focuses on Sen. John McCain’s choice of running mate, President Bush has quietly moved to expand the reach of presidential power by ensuring that America remains in a state of permanent war.

Buried in a recent proposal by the Administration is a sentence that has received scant attention — and was buried itself in the very newspaper that exposed it Saturday. It is an affirmation that the United States remains at war with al Qaeda, the Taliban and “associated organizations.”

Part of a proposal for Guantanamo Bay legal detainees, the provision before Congress seeks to “acknowledge again and explicitly that this nation remains engaged in an armed conflict with Al Qaeda, the Taliban, and associated organizations, who have already proclaimed themselves at war with us and who are dedicated to the slaughter of Americans.”

The New York Times page 8 placement of the article in its Saturday edition seems to downplay its importance. Such a re-affirmation of war carries broad legal implications that could imperil Americans’ civil liberties and the rights of foreign nationals for decades to come.

It was under the guise of war that President Bush claimed a legal mandate for his warrantless wiretapping program, giving the National Security Agency power to intercept calls Americans made abroad. More of this program has emerged in recent years, and it includes the surveillance of Americans’ information and exchanges online.

“War powers” have also given President Bush cover to hold Americans without habeas corpus — detainment without explanation or charge. Jose Padilla, a Chicago resident arrested in 2002, was held without trial for five years before being convicted of conspiring to kill individuals abroad and provide support for terrorism.

Raw Story

…so rather than deal with protesters, they try to arrest them from the crime of not being republicans…

The Police State comes to Minneapolis St Paul

(Video)

Glenn Greenwald:

Protesters here in Minneapolis have been targeted by a series of highly intimidating, sweeping police raids across the city, involving teams of 25-30 officers in riot gear, with semi-automatic weapons drawn, entering homes of those suspected of planning protests, handcuffing and forcing them to lay on the floor, while law enforcement officers searched the homes, seizing computers, journals, and political pamphlets. Last night, members of the St. Paul police department and the Ramsey County sheriff’s department handcuffed, photographed and detained dozens of people meeting at a public venue to plan a demonstration, charging them with no crime other than “fire code violations…”

If this wasn’t so despicable, unconstitutional, and downright fascist, it would be funny. Cops circling a place called Seeds of Peace? Raiding so-called “hippie houses”? If the cops wanted to know what was going on with RNC protesters, they could have checked the website. When a guy from the National Lawyers Guild reads the charges, people can’t help but laugh:

(Video)

Crooks and Liars

…not that its going to stop them…

Thousands gather for RNC protest

ST. PAUL, Minn. (AP) — About 10,000 protesters waving peace sign flags rallied at the state Capitol on Monday before an anti-war march to the Republican National Convention site. Hundreds of police wearing bulletproof vests and carrying billy clubs stood by.

Preparing for disruptions from a self-described anarchist group, officers in riot gear were stationed along the march route.

The anarchist group, known as the RNC Welcoming Committee, was targeted in police searches over the weekend that resulted in six arrests. The group, which did not organize Monday’s march, said in a written statement that it was “moving forward with a national call to crash the convention.”

At the rally, a 25-foot-long ice sculpture rose 3 feet in the air and spelled “Democracy.” Some protesters flew kites, waved American and peace-sign flags and carried homemade anti-war signs.

Police said they were prepared for anything during the march, which organizers hoped would attract 50,000 people.

Raw Story

…But as screwed up as all this is, its not nearly as funny as McStain’s VP…

Palin Was a Director of Embattled Sen. Stevens’s 527 Group

ST. PAUL — Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin began building clout in her state’s political circles in part by serving as a director of an independent political group organized by the now embattled Alaska Sen. Ted Stevens.

Palin’s name is listed on 2003 incorporation papers of the “Ted Stevens Excellence in Public Service, Inc.,” a 527 group that could raise unlimited funds from corporate donors. The group was designed to serve as a political boot camp for Republican women in the state. She served as one of three directors until June 2005, when her name was replaced on state filings.

Palin’s relationship with Alaska’s senior senator may be one of the more complicated aspects of her new position as Sen. John McCain’s running mate; Stevens was indicted in July 2008 on seven counts of corruption.

Palin, an anti-corruption crusader in Alaska, had called on Stevens to be open about the issues behind the investigation. But she also held a joint news conference with him in July, before he was indicted, to make clear she had not abandoned him politically.

Washington Post

…her family’s “family vaules”…

So much for abstinence-only education

I don’t think the evidence is there to claim Trig is Bristol’s son, as some have speculated, but a second rumor floating around Alaska circles turns out to have been true:

The 17-year-old daughter of Republican vice presidential candidate Sarah Palin is pregnant, Palin said on Monday in an announcement intended to knock down rumors by liberal bloggers that Palin faked her own pregnancy to cover up for her child.

Bristol Palin, one of Alaska Gov. Palin’s five children with her husband, Todd, is about five months pregnant and is going to keep the child and marry the father, the Palins said in a statement released by the campaign of Republican presidential candidate John McCain.

Maybe one more abstinence-only supporting politicians will realize the limits of such an approach. Teens will do what they will do. It’s obvious Bristol would’ve been better served with a discussion about safe sex. Instead, she’s now facing a shotgun wedding to the baby’s father.

Daily KOS

…and then there is the uncomfortable fact that McStain cheated on his frist wife for a younger beauty queen, and now may be ready for an “Upgrade”…

You know, there was a time when he didn’t stare at an ass for five and a half years…

(Video)

“Hotter’n the bottled water we need to deliver to those dehydrated babies!”

Daily Kos

We are getting reaaaaaaal close to “official propaganda news” here people…

The New York Times exposes manipulative DoD propaganda racket

“Through newly obtained internal documents, The New York Times has uncovered an elaborate PR campaign run by the Pentagon that coached former military officials — or as they’re known on television, Serious Independent Military Experts — on how best to shill for Donald Rumsfeld during the fallout from the “General’s Revolt,” when numerous high-ranking retired Generals broke long standing tradition and began speaking out harshly against the former Secretary and his prosecution of the War in Iraq.

(Video)

The full article is lengthy at 11 pages, but it’s a stellar exposé of how politicized, coordinated and deceitful the media campaign is under Bush. With the assistance of Peter Pace, Rumsfeld would literally convene meetings with former military brass — who, according to the article, consisted of “more than 150 military contractors either as lobbyists, senior executives, board members or consultants” — and conspire on how best to manage the press. Worse still, these compromised soldiers would then manipulatively go on television as Serious Independent Experts to parrot administration talking points and secure lucrative defense contracts. The Military-Industrial Complex is not alive and well, but thriving under the auspices of the Bush administration.

Kenneth Allard, a former NBC military analyst who has taught information warfare at the National Defense University, said the campaign amounted to a sophisticated information operation. “This was a coherent, active policy,” he said. […] It was, he said, “psyops on steroids”

And it wasn’t limited to the mainstream media alone. Bloggers were also hired and paid to shape opinions at home. But don’t be surprised Sunday when this story is neglected in favor of endless discussions about bowling scores and various other “distractions.”

Crooks and Liars

…and even the official paper of business is now nothing more than a puppet of the GOP…

Wall St. Journal Editor Expected to Resign

By Richard Pérez-Peña
The New York Times
Tuesday 22 April 2008

“Marcus W. Brauchli will step down as the top-ranking editor of The Wall Street Journal after less than a year in the job, four people briefed on the matter said on Monday, just four months after Rupert Murdoch took control of the paper.

Mr. Brauchli, 46, will announce his resignation soon, according to friends and current and former colleagues, all of whom requested anonymity because they were not authorized to discuss the matter. They differed as to whether he was being forced out as managing editor of The Journal, one of the most coveted posts in journalism, or leaving out of frustration.

The news of his pending resignation was first reported on Time magazine’s Web site.

Since December, when Mr. Murdoch’s News Corporation bought Dow Jones & Company, publisher of The Journal, he has immersed himself in the newspaper’s daily operations and quickly made changes in its shape and style. Friends and colleagues say that Mr. Brauchli has been frustrated with some changes, and with the sense that he did not have the control over the newspaper that he was promised.

On Monday night, both Mr. Murdoch and Mr. Brauchli attended a dinner of the Atlantic Council, a group promoting international cooperation, at which Mr. Murdoch was being honored. Approached there, Mr. Murdoch declined to comment about any change in editors; Mr. Brauchli said, “I can’t talk.”

Truthout

While people are beginning to catch wind of this, such as last week’s ABC debate…

VIDEO EXCLUSIVE: ABC News Democratic Debate Protest In Los Angeles

“Protesters Hand Out Flag Lapel Pins To ABC/Disney Employees
Coverage You Won’t See In The Mainstream Media

(video)”

Brad Blog

…there is some real news left, but not enough…

McClatchys Leila Fadel Cuts Through the BS on Iraq and Iran

“Last week Bill Moyers sat down with Leila Fadel while she was stateside to receive a George Polk Award for Foreign Reporting. In this interview she bluntly lays bare all the spin on Iraq and Iran in a way that is all too rare these days.

(video)

I can’t say enough good things about this brave woman, but I would echo all of what Spencer and Matthew have written about her and then some. McClatchy, one of the few sane voices on Iraq since before the invasion (when they were still known as Knight-Ridder) continues to impress.

Watch the full interview on Moyers’ PBS website, and you can check out Leila Fadel’s McClatchy blog, Baghdad Observer and her team’s Inside Iraq.”

Crooks and Liars

…and the results? Well you have the military using more and more unfit people-because no one else wants to go…

Double number of ex-cons join the US army

“The US army doubled its use of “moral waivers” for enlisted soldiers last year to cope with the demands of the Iraq war, allowing sex offenders, people convicted of making terrorist threats, and child abusers into the military, new records released yesterday showed.

The army gave out 511 moral waivers to soldiers with felony convictions last year. Criminals got 249 army waivers in 2006, a sign that the demand for US forces in Iraq has forced a sharp increase in the number of criminals allowed on the battlefield.

The felons accepted into the army and marines included 87 soldiers convicted of assault or maiming, 130 convicted of non-cannabis-related drug offences, seven convicted of making terrorist threats, and two convicted of indecent behaviour with a child. Waivers were also granted to 500 burglars and thieves, 19 arsonists and nine sex offenders.”

Guardian

…and when they have bad results? They just lie about it. You know, its the Republican way!

VA Hid Suicide Risk, Internal Emails Show

CBS News
Monday 21 April 2008

“There is no epidemic in suicide in VA,” Katz told Keteyian in November.

But in this e-mail to his top media advisor, written two months ago, Katz appears to be saying something very different, stating: “Our suicide prevention coordinators are identifying about 1,000 suicide attempts per month among veterans we see in our metical facilities.”

Katz’s email was written shortly after the VA provided CBS News data showing there were only 790 attempted suicides in all 2007 - a fraction of Katz’s estimate.

“This 12,000 attempted suicides per year shows clearly, without a doubt, that there is an epidemic of suicide among veterans,” said Paul Sullivan of Veterans for Common Sense.

And it appears that Katz went out of his way to conceal these numbers.

First, he titled his e-mail: “Not for the CBS News Interview Request.”

He opened it with “Shh!” - as in keep it quiet - before ending with:
“Is this something we should (carefully) address … before someone stumbles on it?”

Truthout

For a tiny Iraq update, guess who may have declared civil war?

Cleric Sadr threatens open war on Iraq government

“Shi’ite cleric Moqtada al-Sadr on Saturday threatened an “open war” against the Iraqi government unless it halted a crackdown by Iraqi and U.S. security forces on his followers.

The specter of a full-scale uprising by Sadr sharply raises the stakes in his confrontation with Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki, who has threatened to ban the anti-American cleric’s movement from political life unless he disbands his militia.

A rebellion by Sadr’s Mehdi Army militia — which has tens of thousands of fighters — could abruptly end a period of lower violence at a time when U.S. forces are starting to leave Iraq.

“I’m giving the last warning and the last word to the Iraqi government — either it comes to its senses and takes the path of peace … or it will be (seen as) the same as the previous government,” Sadr said, referring to Saddam Hussein’s fallen regime, without elaborating.

“If they don’t come to their senses and curb the infiltrated militias, then we will declare an open war until liberation.”

Raw Story

In other news…

ThinkFast: April 22, 2008

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.”

“For the first time since the Spanish influenza of 1918, life expectancy is falling for a significant number of American women.” “This is a story about smoking, blood pressure and obesity,” said Majid Ezzati, of the Harvard Initiative for Global Health, a co-author of the study.

Today marks Equal Pay Day. The average woman “would have had to work from Jan. 1, 2007, until today to earn as much as the average man did by the end of last year.” Led by Sen. Barbara Mikulski (D-MD), senators now are pushing for passing of the Fair Pay Restoration Act (S. 1843), which would establish “a reasonable time period for workers to challenge pay inequity.”

According to Pentagon records, “the Army has accelerated its policy of involuntary extensions of duty” — known as “stop-loss” — “to bolster its troop levels, despite Defense Secretary Robert Gates’ order last year to limit it.” Since May 2007, “the number of soldiers forced to remain in the Army rose 43% to 12,235 in March.” The Army has said it needs the “stop-loss” policy to continue well into 2009.

U.S. households “spent more than $100 billion on gasoline during the first quarter of this year, more than double the $40 billion spent in the same period just six years ago,” according to a new Consumer Federation of America survey. Sixty percent of Americans say that rising gasoline prices have caused them hardship.

And finally: Being president “really takes its toll.” Pop Photo has designed a feature mimicking the “ravages of time” and allowing people to “see how the current candidates would fare after a term in the Oval Office.” Full results here.

Think Progress

Former Rumsfeld/Wolfwowitz Deputy: Iraq War Is A ‘Major Debacle,’ ‘Classic Case Of Failure’

“The National Defense University is an elite military institute funded by the Department of Defense. Both President Dwight Eisenhower and Gen. Colin Powell studied there, and diplomat and historian George Kennan — best known as “the father of containment” — taught at the university.

Given the institution’s ties to the Defense Department, it’s therefore significant that it has chosen to publish a withering critique of the Iraq written by Joseph J. Collins, a former senior Pentagon official who served under Donald Rumsfeld and Paul Wolfowitz during the U.S. invasion of Iraq.

Collins’s conclusions were based, in part, “on interviews with other former senior defense and intelligence officials who played roles in prewar preparations,” and were completed in fall 2007. From his study:

Measured in blood and treasure, the war in Iraq has achieved the status of a major war and a major debacle. […]

The war’s political impact also has been great. Globally, U.S. standing among friends and allies has fallen. Our status as a moral leader has been damaged by the war, the subsequent occupation of a Muslim nation, and various issues concerning the treatment of detainees. […]

To date, the war in Iraq is a classic case of failure to adopt and adapt prudent courses of action that balance ends, ways, and means. After the major combat operation, U.S. policy has been insolvent, with inadequate means for pursuing ambitious ends. It is also a case where the perceived illegitimacy of our policy has led the United States to bear a disproportionate share of the war’s burden.”

Think Progress

…for some examples, just yesterday…

At least 50 killed in Iraq suicide bombing of funeral

“Thursday’s attack took place in the town of Albu Mohammed about 90 miles north of Baghdad, during the funeral of two brothers who belonged to the local Awakening Council and had been killed in an attack a day earlier, police said.

The suicide bomber walked into a tent crowded with mourners in the village and detonated explosives strapped to his body, police in the nearby city of Kirkuk said.

The head of the local Awakening Council, Sheik Omar al-Azawi, was just pulling up at the tent in his car when the blast went off.”

Huffington Post

…of course, this is all about the new record the GOP has set in Iraq…

Suicide bombings at highest numbers in history since Iraq invasion

Surge: 2007 saw double number of bombings of any year ever recorded

“Suicide bombings have risen to their highest levels in recorded history since the invasion of Iraq, according to a new report buried on page A18 of Friday’s Washington Post.

Of the 1840 suicide bombings since 1983, the year a suicide bomber attacked the US Embassy in Lebanon, 920 — or 50 percent — of suicide bombings have occurred since the United States invaded Iraq in 2003.

More than 82% of the suicide bombings last year were in Iraq. The number of bombings last year, 658, was more than twice the number of attacks at any point in the last 25 years.”

Raw Story

…and don’t expect things to get any better due to our torture tactics…

Pentagon docs reveal ‘murder,’ ‘torture’ charges: ACLU

“Documents released by the Pentagon detail charges that detainees in Afghan prisons were beaten and doused with cold water before being forced into the snow, the ACLU charges.

The American Civil Liberties Union, which obtained the documents, says they provide the first “on-the-ground reports of torture” at a detention facility in Gardez, Afghanistan.

“These documents make it clear that the military was using unlawful interrogation techniques in Afghanistan,” said Amrit Singh, an attorney with the ACLU. “Rather than putting a stop to these systemic abuses, senior officials appear to have turned a blind eye to them.”

Military interrogators assaulted Afghan detainees in 2003, using investigation methods they learned during self-defense training, according to Pentagon documents released Wednesday.

Detainees at the Gardez Detention Facility in southeastern Afghanistan reported being made to kneel outside in wet clothing and being kicked and punched in the kidneys, nose and knees if they moved, according to the documents.”

Raw Story

…so the results? Guess…

300,000 vets have mental problem, 320,000 had brain injuries

Study: 300,000 US troops from Iraq, Afghanistan have mental problems, 320,000 brain injuries

“Only about half have sought treatment, said the study released Thursday by the RAND Corporation.

“There is a major health crisis facing those men and women who have served our nation in Iraq and Afghanistan,” said Terri Tanielian, the project’s co-leader and a researcher at the nonprofit RAND.

“Unless they receive appropriate and effective care for these mental health conditions, there will be long-term consequences for them and for the nation,” she said in an interview with The Associated Press.

The 500-page study is the first large-scale, private assessment of its kind — including a survey of 1,965 service members across the country, from all branches of the armed forces and including those still in the military as well veterans who have left the services.

Its results appear consistent with a number of mental health reports from within the government, though the Defense Department has not released the number of people it has diagnosed or who are being treated for mental problems. The Department of Veterans Affairs said this month that its records show about 120,000 who served in the two wars and are no longer in the military have been diagnosed with mental health problems. Of the 120,000, approximately 60,000 are suffering from PTSD, the VA said.”

Raw Story

So any good news? Yes! The Daily show comes to rescue once again…

Jon Stewart Eviscerates ABC’s Hacktacular Debate

“Jon Stewart does what he does best and demolishes ABC debate moderators Charlie Gibson and George Stephanopoulos for the pathetic questions they asked on Wednesday.

(video)

The first hour of last night’s debate was a 60 minute master class in questions that elevate out-of-context remarks and trivial, insipid miscues into subject of natural discourse…which is my job! Stop doing my job! That’s what I’m here for! I’m the silly man!”

Crooks and Liars

…and Fox news is called what it is…on its own channel!

Killer Video of the Moment: O’Reilly’s Fox ‘News’ Reporter Gets Pwned by Pro-Wright Priest

“This guy — and I’m sorry I don’t know his name — is my new hero. Can’t really set up the following must-watch killer video any better than “Rat” of RatTube, from whence it was found, did:

Rat Says: Wow… this priest is sharp! The little Fox reporter wasn’t expecting someone this studied. “Was Bill O’Reilly a Marine?” ……………….I’m speechless, this guy is good!

Yes. Very good. Can we please get the good father his own TV show? Perhaps at 8pm ET on Fox “News” where they currently show nothing but Anti-American trash?…

(video)”

Brad Blog

In other news…

ThinkFast: April 18, 2008

“According to a new Washington Post-ABC poll, nine in 10 Americans “now give the economy a negative rating, with a majority saying it is in ‘poor’ shape, the most to say so in more than 15 years.” Moreover, more than 60 percent reject “the notion that the United States needs to win” in Iraq “to effectively battle terrorism,” and “56 percent of Americans say the United States should withdraw.”
“The Justice Department is investigating whether agency lawyers improperly advised the military it could use harsh interrogation methods and concluded that President Bush’s wartime authority could not be limited by domestic law or international bans on torture.” A recently released March 2003 memo is being “included in an ongoing internal review about the CIA’s use of waterboarding.”

“Trying to stem the infiltration of militia fighters, American forces have begun to build a massive concrete wall that will partition Sadr City, the densely populated Shiite neighborhood in the Iraqi capital. The construction, which began Tuesday night, is intended to turn the southern quarter of Sadr City” into “a protected enclave, secured by Iraqi and American forces,” where the Iraqis can focus on reconstruction.

A company of Iraqi troops in Sadr City abandoned their posts today, after “they came under attack from Shiite militiamen who used the cover of a sandstorm.” This latest setback comes after “more than 1,300 Iraqi soldiers and police deserted or refused to fight” against Shiite militias during recent fighting in Basra.

An Air Force inspector general’s report says Maj. Gen. Stephen Goldfein and others “worked inside the Air Force contracting system to favor” Strategic Message Solutions and its owners, “despite an offer by the company that was more than twice as expensive as a competing bid.” As part of Goldfein’s efforts to help the company, he “arranged for President Bush to record a video testimonial” on the company’s behalf.

“Suicide bombers conducted 658 attacks around the world last year, including 542 in U.S.-occupied Afghanistan and Iraq.” The bombings, in dozens of countries on five continents, “killed more than 21,350 people and injured about 50,000 since 1983, when a landmark attack blew up the U.S. Embassy in Beirut,” 25 years ago today.

The Senate approved “a resolution asking the Justice Department to look into the circumstances surrounding the $10 million expenditure for a highway interchange in Florida backed by Rep. Don Young [R-AK].” Young has “denied that he pushed the provision as a result of receiving $40,000 in campaign donations from developers who owned 4,000 acres of land next to the proposed interchange.”

With Americans focusing on the increasing job losses, “the less-noticeable shrinking of hours and pay for millions of workers around the country appears to be a bigger contributor to the decline” of the economy. Total hours worked dropped last month compared to six months earlier, the first such drop since “February 2001, when the economy was on the doorstep of recession.”

An internal survey of employees at the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) “found that only 58 percent were satisfied with their jobs, the same as results from a 2006 survey that measured job satisfaction across the government.” DHS employee satisfaction ranked at the bottom of the 2006 poll.

And finally: New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg is looking forward to the next president. Yesterday he talked to reporters about the three remaining presidential candidates: “Some of the things they will be in favor of I will agree with, some of the things they will be in favor of I won’t. But at least we’ll have an adult in office who can lead and can accomplish something.” Bloomberg refused to say whether he was criticizing President Bush.”

Think Progress

…for a nasty, lying, thieving, mass-murderer!

The Big Dick Yukks It Up At The TV & Radio Correspondents’ Dinner

“You’d be amazed at how many guys want to go fishing with me these days…

(video)

Hardy har har…it was a busy night in the nexus of Washington politics and journalism. While we were busy last night with the Pennsylvania Democratic debate, President Bush was hosting a dinner in honor of Pope Benedict’s visit to the U.S. (ironically, the Pope was off washing his hair, or his mitre or something). And Veep Dick Cheney was hosting the annual TV & Radio Correspondents’ Dinner. The Big Dick took the opportunity to show what is left of his humanity by tossing out a few jokes (some mildly at his own expense) to the great guffaws of the press corps, unbothered by the presence of one of the Principals of Torture and driving force of the biggest quagmires in American history. Gosh, and you wonder why journalism is so risk-averse to holding this administration accountable. Ah well, at least we were spared Karl Rove rapping this year. “

Crooks and Liars

Now while this “hilarious” bit was going on, you may have heard about the debate. Not such much a debate as a smear job…

Attention ABC: You’re HURTING America! UPDATED with VIDEO!

“Well, it worked for Jon Stewart and Crossfire…

An hour into the latest Democratic Debate and overwhelmingly, the consensus is that ABC is doing a fine job… of completely ignoring the issues that concern Americans and focusing on minutia that is hurting the race, the Democratic party and the American electoral process.

We’ve put together a mash up of some of the more egregious bits of the debate,

(video)”

Crooks and Liars

…but what can you expect these days…

So much for the liberal media, indeed

“From Monday’s Washington Post we get Dana Milbank seeming to mock that so-called “liberal media bias”:

So much for the liberal media.

John McCain and Barack Obama both appeared before the nation’s newspaper editors yesterday. The putative Republican presidential nominee was given a box of doughnuts and a standing ovation. The likely Democratic nominee was likened to a terrorist.

What’s this? A member of the traditional media finally recognizing the disparate treatment between Obama and McCain in the press? Don’t get too excited…Milbank goes on to say:

That let Hillary Clinton and McCain portray Obama as a member of the effete elite, alongside John Kerry (Turnbull & Asser shirts) and John Edwards ($400 haircuts). Regular gal Clinton (Wellesley ‘69, Yale Law ‘73, family income $109 million since her husband left the White House)…

So, what’s missing? Any mention of:

As heiress to her father’s stake in Hensley & Co. of Phoenix, Cindy McCain is an executive whose worth may exceed $100 million. Her beer earnings have afforded the GOP presidential nominee a wealthy lifestyle with a private jet and vacation homes at his disposal…

So much for the liberal media, indeed.”

Daily KOS

Now in the meantime, we have a another bit of amazing news-Bush being honest!

President Bush: “Probably true” that next attack will come from neglected Afghanistan

“In a stunning admission last Friday, President Bush told ABC’s Martha Raddatz that it’s “probably true” the next terrorist attack on America is being planned and plotted right now in Afghanistan/Pakistan.

(video)

Remember the good old days when Bush “listened to the advice of commanders on the ground”? It’s a shame he’s not listening to Admiral Mullen, who is pretty damn worried about the deteriorating conditions in Afghanistan.

Bush says: “We’ve got plenty of firepower to take out al Qaeda cells in Afghanistan.”

Adm. Mullen says: “The Taliban is growing bolder. Suicide attacks are on the rise, and so is the trade in illegal narcotics. Requirements exist there that we simply can not fill, and won’t likely be able to fill, until conditions improve in Iraq.”

Crooks and Liars

…wait, did I say he was telling the truth? How silly of me…

GAO: U.S. has no plan to fight al Qaeda in Pakistan.

“The Government Accountability Office released a report today concluding that the United States has no plan to combat al Qaeda and other terrorist threats in Pakistan. The GAO found that “[t]errorists are still operating freely in Pakistan along the country’s Afghanistan border, despite the U.S. giving Pakistan more than $10.5 billion in military and economic aid.” In a glaring rebuke of President Bush’s terrorism policy, the report says that there is “no comprehensive plan” to “destroy the terrorist threat and close the safe haven in Pakistan,” and “al Qaeda had regenerated its ability to attack” the United States.”

Think Progress

So any good news? Yes! Congress is not done with Rove yet, and you can’t pardon someone unless he’s been convicted…

House Panel Calls Rove’s Bluff

“Sure, Karl Rove would looooove to testify to Congress about his role in the Don Siegelman prosecution, his lawyer told MSNBC. So the House Judiciary Committee is following up.

From the AP:
The House Judiciary Committee is taking Karl Rove up on an offer to testify about claims that he influenced a federal corruption case against former Democratic Gov. Don Siegelman of Alabama.

The committee on Thursday asked former White House adviser Rove to appear under oath soon. The panel also wants the Justice Department’s inspector general to investigate allegations that political motivations drove the Siegelman case and several other federal prosecutions during the Bush administration.

Rove has denied any involvement in the Siegelman prosecution. His attorney told MSNBC earlier this month that Rove would testify on the matter.”

TPM

In other news…

ThinkFast: April 17, 2008

“Delegates at a major economies climate conference in Paris criticized President Bush’s catastrophic environmental goals announced yesterday, with South Africa calling Bush’s proposals “‘disappointing’ and unambitious when many other industrialized economies are already cutting emissions.” “But Bush will be leaving office soon. What he says doesn’t matter so much any more,” one senior European official said.
“The credit market crisis is spreading to student loans,” making loans “harder to come by and more expensive.” Over 50 firms have “abandoned or cut back their federal or private student loan programs this year, unable to raise money in the financial markets.”

A federal judge denied a request to subpoena Vice President Cheney in a lawsuit filed by a Colorado man “who claims he was wrongfully arrested for comments he made” to Cheney about the Iraq war. Lawyers claimed Secret Service agents “told different versions of the episode” that only Cheney could clarify.

John McCain’s opposition to the GI Bill appears to be rooted in a concern “that a generous education benefit would persuade soldiers and Marines ending their tours to pursue an education rather than reenlist in the overstretched military.” “He’s the odd man out,” VoteVets chairman Jon Soltz said of McCain. “You have 55 co-sponsors on this bill, and he’s not one of them. He has to lead or follow.”

A bipartisan group of Senate lawmakers is pressing the Justice Department to investigate Rep. Don Young’s (R-AK) 2005 earmark for a highway project that benefited his campaign contributors. The provisions of the $10 million earmark “were mysteriously altered” by Young “after Congress gave final approval to a huge 2005 highway funding bill.”

Federal budget cuts have reduced the ability of nuclear weapons laboratories “to carry out scientific research needed to ensure the reliability of the nation’s nuclear arsenal in future years.” George Miller — director of Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory — told the Washington Post yesterday that science is being squeezed out.”

Government documents reveal that the Bush administration may “remove Sudan from an American list of state supporters of terrorism and normalize relations if the Sudanese government agreed, among other steps, to allow Thai and Nepalese peacekeepers in its Darfur region.”

In a clash with the Senate yesterday, the White House “threatened to block a war-funding measure if it contains billions in domestic spending.” The Bush administration is demanding that Congress provide a $108 billion emergency war funding bill by Memorial Day without domestic funds. Lawmakers say the domestic priorities are needed for “road projects and water-system improvements.”

“U.S. forces in Baghdad hope to turn over responsibility for security in most of the Iraqi capital to Iraqi forces in about a year,” according to Colonel Allen Batschelet, chief of staff for the American military in Baghdad. He said the military expected to set up an “overwatch” arrangement — “under which they withdraw from day-to-day patrolling, but keep rapid response forces nearby in case they are needed” — by spring 2009.

And finally: Yesterday, Sen. Robert Byrd (D-WV) chaired a two-hour Senate Appropriations Committee hearing on the Iraq war, in an attempt to silence people who are saying he is too old for the job. Byrd showed up “on time in a crisp suit and displaying a broad smile while an aide wheeled him into the room.”

Think Progress

When republicans are torturing people for fun, even CNN is catching on…

What Happened at Abu Ghraib: ‘Standard Operating Procedure’

“(video)

More videos from the film via The New Yorker, in which Sy Hersh first broke the story of the US’s gulag in Iraq.

I look forward to seeing how complete and honest an account of what went on this film is. It looks promising. I’m sure Janis Karpinski will do her part to make sure they set the record straight. Also, I’m pretty sure I know where the film’s title comes from:

Army documents show. After the overthrow of Saddam Hussein in April 2003, U.S. soldiers and intelligence personnel began to use these techniques in Iraq, where they were informally “accepted as SOP [standard operating procedure] by newly arrived interrogators,” according to an August 2004 report on Abu Ghraib abuses by Maj. Gen. George R. Fay. By September 2003, Gen. Geoffrey Miller had arrived at Abu Ghraib, allegedly with a mandate to “Gitmo-ize” interrogation procedures at the prison.

In light of the recent revelations that torture techniques were discussed and approved in meetings by the National Security Council’s Principals Committee, a group that included Vice President Cheney, Condoleezza Rice, Colin Powell, Donald Rumsfeld, George Tenet, John Ashcroft, and that President Bush admits he was fully aware of them, I think the Pentagon spokesman’s statement at the end of the CNN report that there was never “any government policy that directed, encouraged, or condoned abuse” is not only demonstrably false, it shows what a sham the military’s investigation into the matter was. Janis Karpinski was right all along.”

Crooks and Liars

…they still miss a few…

Died hanging from wrists and gagged, with over 25 rib fractures

“This is my first of a series of diaries about prisoners murdered by US forces. It will tell the story of an Iraqi man who died hanging by his cuffed wrists from a door frame, gagged, and beaten to death by his US interrogators. As the Final Autopsy Report noted:

The remains are received clad in a white shirt, white pajama type pants, and white
undershorts. Feces covers the clothing from the waist down….There is gauze dressing on the left wrist. No other evidence of medical intervention is noted…. The right chest wall has fractures of ribs three through seven anteriorly and ribs six through twelve posteriorly. The left chest wall has fractures of ribs two through nine anteriorly and ribs seven through twelve posteriorly. There are fractures of the lateral aspect of ribs nine and ten on the left side. There is a horizontal fracture through the mid-portion of the body of the sternum.”

Yes, our tax dollars are paying for this. Hung up by the wrists and beaten so badly that he not only had over 25 separate rib fractures, many slicing into his lungs, he also had a fractured sternum. The thick, solid bone protecting your heart.”

Daily KOS

…and speaking of tax payer money, if you don’t think we fund fundamentalist religions, you don’t know the Bush administration…

Polygamist sect gets millions from U.S. government

“American taxpayers have unwittingly helped finance a polygamist sect that is now the focus of a massive child abuse investigation in West Texas, with a business tied to the group receiving a nearly $1 million loan from the federal government and $1.2 million in military contracts.

The ability of the Fundamentalist Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints, or FLDS, to operate and grow is largely dependent on huge contributions from its members and revenue from the businesses they control, according to a former accountant for the church, and government officials in Utah and Arizona, where the sect is primarily based.

One of those businesses, NewEra Manufacturing in Las Vegas, has been awarded more than $1.2 million in federal government contracts, with most of the money coming in recent years from the Defense Department for wheel and brake components for military aircraft.

A large portion of the awards were preferential no-bid or “sole source” contracts because of the company’s classification as a small business, according to online databases that track federal government appropriations.”

McClatchy

…don’t expect them to accomplish anything though. They can’t even frame innocent people correctly…

Again, Govt’s Kooky Cult Terrorism Case Goes Bust

“Back in December, jurors deadlocked on the Seas of David terrorism case.

As I wrote back then:

The Miami “Seas of David” terror bust was such an important blow in the War on Terror that Attorney General Alberto Gonzales himself gave a press conference in July of 2006.

Federal agents had stopped a plot to blow up the Sears Tower, he said. The group had planned to “accomplish attacks against America,” the FBI’s deputy director said at Gonzales side. “We pre-empted their plot.”

Well, a second trial has reaped the same result.”

TPM

…and if you can’t run your own government correctly, how can you run someone else’s?

60 Minutes: Corruption in Iraq Killing US Troops With US Dollars

(video)

“60 Minutes on Sunday explored the rampant corruption going on throughout the Iraqi government, and how much of the up to $18 billion missing or unaccounted for has been finding its way into the hands of militias that have been responsible for attacks on coalition forces.

What’s more, they detail how Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki was able to immunize all current and former Iraqi officials, including himself and his family, from any further investigation or prosecution, the State Dept’s refusal to cooperate with any investigation, the ostracism and apparent abandonment of the one Iraqi official who braved death threats, and the murder of dozens of his staff, to successfully prosecute corrupt officials before PM Malaki effectively shut him down, and how one such former official, Aiham Alsammarae, who had already been convicted and was set to face even more charges for billions of missing funds while he was the Minister of Electricity, brazenly escaped a Green Zone jail with the help of U.S. contractors (twice) and is currently living large in a Chicago suburb.

Full 13 minute report and transcript here. A look at some of the events, documents and key players after the jump.”

Crooks and Liars

Of course, the Iraqis do not share our confusion…

Iraqi Unit Flees Post, Despite American’s Plea

“A company of Iraqi soldiers abandoned their positions on Tuesday night in Sadr City, defying American soldiers who implored them to hold the line against Shiite militias.

The retreat left a crucial stretch of road on the front lines undefended for hours and led to a tense series of exchanges between American soldiers and about 50 Iraqi troops who were fleeing.

Capt. Logan Veath, a company commander in the 25th Infantry Division, pleaded with the Iraqi major who was leading his troops away from the Sadr City fight, urging him to return to the front.”

NY Times

In other news…

ThinkFast: April 16, 2008

“A day of mourning on Virginia Tech’s campus began at midnight Wednesday, “exactly one year after the worst mass shooting in modern U.S. history left 32 people and the gunman dead.” Among the commemorative ceremonies taking place today, Virginia Gov. Tim Kaine has “ordered state flags flown at half-staff” and “a moment of silence at noon.” A candle lit on campus “at midnight will burn there for 24 hours.”

At 2:45 ET today, President Bush will give a speech outlining “goals for limiting” greenhouse gas emissions, a first for a White House that has dragged its feet “in addressing the problem of climate change.” Though Bush will “talk about a strategy for a way forward and principles for dealing with the problems,” Press Secretary Dana Perino said, “[t]his speech is not going to lay out a specific proposal.”

Freedom’s Watch has allegedly “coordinated its advertising” with the National Republican Congressional Committee (NRCC), which is illegal under federal election laws. The Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee plans to file a complaint with the Federal Election Commission today charging that a Freedom’s Watch script for a television ad in Louisiana originated with the NRCC.

Yesterday, Justice Department Inspector General Glenn Fine told lawmakers that the FBI “might have committed as many as 6,400 intelligence violations in the course of its use of national security letters,” which allow investigators to obtain people’s personal information without first obtaining a warrant. A recent report by Fine found that “the FBI issued 49,425 national security letters in 2006 alone.”

Sen. Joe Lieberman (I-CT) may give a keynote address at the Republican National Convention in September “on behalf of Sen. John McCain (R-AZ)” “If Sen. McCain, who I support so strongly, asked me to do it, if he thinks it will help him, I will,” Lieberman told The Hill. Though McCain has yet to ask, “a Lieberman aide” says “it is a ‘likely possibility’ he will address the Republican audience in some form.”

Sen. John McCain (R-AZ) “was less than forthcoming” about his “rogue-state rollback” policy yesterday saying that it involves only “efforts to modify the behavior of other nations” which does not include “declar[ing] war.” But in 2000, McCain said he would “arm, train, equip, both from without and from within, forces that would eventually overthrow the governments and install free and democratically- elected governments.”

“In my administration, there will be no more subsidies for special pleaders, no more corporate welfare,” McCain said in a speech on the economy yesterday. Yet “much of what he detailed was a corporate special pleader’s dream: a cut in the corporate income tax rate, from 35 percent to 25 percent, a proposal to allow businesses to write off the cost of new equipment and technology from their taxes…and a permanent tax credit for research and development.”

“Dangling the popular highway funding bill as his hostage,” Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-KY) “struck a deal Tuesday night with Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-NV) to dislodge a handful of President Bush’s stalled appellate court nominees.” The plan will advance at least three outstanding appointments before Memorial Day.

“A company of Iraqi soldiers abandoned their positions on Tuesday night in Sadr City, defying American soldiers who implored them to hold the line against Shiite militias. The retreat left a crucial stretch of road on the front lines undefended for hours.”

And finally: The Academy Awards planned to announce its 2009 Oscar nominees on Jan. 20. But it has moved the ceremony to Jan. 22, since the presidential inauguration will also be on Jan. 20. Andrew Malcolm of the Los Angeles Times writes, “It isn’t enough that the country must endure about 24 months of political blather and rhetorical positioning to choose the next leader of the free world. … But now the world must wait an extra 48 hours — 48! — to learn who’s been nominated to receive an Oscar. The outrage.”

Think Progress

…or maybe they just don’t give a crap!

Facing ‘Months Of Criticism,’ Bush Administration Strips Loophole Concealing Abuse Of Overseas Contracts

“In May 2007, the Bush administration responded to intense public criticism and “introduced plans to force companies to notify the government about evidence of contract abuse worth $5 million or more.” Previously, such reports were voluntary and not surprisingly, the number of company-reported fraud cases had “declined steadily over the past 15 years.”

Yet someone at the Justice Department quietly slipped in a provision exempting U.S. contractors who do work overseas from the reporting requirements. Bipartisan groups of public officials criticized the loophole, including the Office of the Special Inspector General for Iraq Reconstruction and Sen. Charles Grassley (R-IA). Rep. Pete Welch (D-VT) has also led calls for a House inquiry into the matter.

The loophole has now been removed, after months of resistance by the White House. ThinkProgress has ob