« Bush's Government, Not The Peoples' | Open Thread Main | A Riff on Ripples »
A Compendium of Crime...Open Thread Version
(Ed note: DiAnne brought to us this list of corrupt Bush Administration officials who have either resigned or need to. It was posted on the Home page. If you're like me, sometimes you might forget to check the home page. So I'm posting it here where everyone can see it and comment on it. I will also be sending this compilation to my email list. How else can we spread the truth?)
I wanted to share here this list of corrupt Bush Administration officials who either have resigned or need to. The research was done by some of the staff at Talking Points Memo. Since the list could be endless, they narrowed it down with a requirement that there had to have been a criminal probe or had completely corrupted the office they held. So these people are bad, since Karl Rove didn't even make the cut. They also had to be political appointees or such insiders that they may as well have been.
Indicted / Convicted/ Pled Guilty
* Eric G. Andell - deputy undersecretary of newly Office of Safe and Drug-Free Schools - pleaded guilty to one count of conflict of interest for using government travel for personal causes
* Claude Allen - Assistant to the President for Domestic Policy- resigned, pled guilty to shoplifting from Target stores.
* Lester Crawford - Commissioner, FDA - resigned after only two months on the job. He pleaded guilty to two misdemeanor counts, making a false writing and conflict of interest.
* Brian Doyle - Deputy Press Secretary, Department of Homeland Security - Resigned in wake of child sex scandal. He pleaded no contest to seven counts of use of a computer to seduce a child and sixteen counts of transmitting harmful material to a minor. He is to register as a sex offender.
* Steven Griles - Deputy Secretary at the Interior Department - is the highest-ranked administration official yet convicted in the Jack Abramoff scandal.
* John T. Korsmo – Chairman of the Federal Housing Finance Board – pleaded guilty in 2005 to lying to the Senate and an inspector general. He swore he had no idea how a list of presidents for FHFB-regulated banks were invited to a fundraiser for his friend's congressional campaign. On the invites, Korsmo was listed as the "Special Guest."
* Scooter Libby - Vice President Dick Cheney's chief of staff - resigned after being indicted for lying to a grand jury and investigators in connection with the investigation stemming from the leak of Valerie Wilson’s covert CIA operative's identity. President Bush commuted Libby's sentence by removing the thirty months in prison he was to serve.
* David Safavian - Office of Federal Procurement Policy at the Office of Management and Budget - convicted of lying to ethics officials and Senate investigators about his ties to lobbyist Jack Abramoff.
* Robert Stein - former comptroller for Coalition Provisional Authority, Iraq - pleaded guilty to conspiracy, bribery, conspiracy to commit money laundering, possession of a machine gun, and being a felon in possession of a fire arm.
* Roger Stillwell - desk officer, Interior Department - pleaded guilty to failing to report Redskins tickets and free dinners from Jack Abramoff.
Resigned Due to Investigation, Pending Investigation or Allegations of Impropriety
* Philip Cooney - chief of staff, White House Council on Environmental Quality - oil industry lawyer with no scientific expertise, resigned after it was revealed he had watered down reports on global warming.
* George Deutsch - press aide, NASA - resigned amid allegations he prevented the agency's top climate scientist from speaking publicly about global warming.
* Michael Elston - chief of staff to Deputy Attorney General McNulty - announced his resignation. Despite allegations that he’d threatened at least four of the eight fired US Attorneys, McNulty said Elston had served the Justice Department "with distinction for nearly eight years."
* Kyle Dustin “Dusty” Foggo - appointed executive director of the CIA - resigned and was ultimately indicted on bribery charges related to the Duke Cunningham scandal.
* Alberto Gonzales - Attorney General - resigned without explanation amidst investigations of the firings of U.S. Attorneys, the politicization of the Justice Department, warrantless surveillance, and the torture and mistreatment of detainees.
* Monica Goodling - senior counsel to Attorney General Alberto Gonzales - resigned amidst investigation of firings of U.S. Attorneys.
* Michelle Larson Korsmo - deputy chief of staff, Department of Labor - Helped her husband with his donor scam. Left her Labor plum job before news broke that she and her husband were the targets of a criminal probe.
* Howard "Cookie" Krongard - State Department inspector general -- accused of not properly investigating State Department contractor fraud in Iraq and Afghanistan; retaliating against whistleblowers; not telling the truth about his brother's ties with Blackwater.
* Julie Macdonald - former deputy assistant secretary at the Interior Department - resigned after an she improperly leaked information to private organizations, bullied staff scientists and broke federal rules."
* Paul McNulty - Deputy Attorney General for the Department of Justice – resigned, after questions about his involvement in the U.S. attorney firings and his testimony to Congress about the firings.
* Richard Perle - Chairman, Defense Policy Board - resigned from Pentagon advisory panel amid conflict-of-interest charges.
* Susan Ralston - assistant, White House - resigned amidst revelations that she had accepted thousands of dollars in gifts from Abramoff without compensating him, counter to White House ethics rules.
* Janet Rehnquist - Department of Health and Human Services - resigned in the face of an investigation into her alleged efforts to block a politically dangerous probe on behalf of the Bush family.
* James Roche - secretary, U.S. Air Force - resigned in the wake of the Boeing tanker lease scandal, after it was revealed he pushed for Boeing to win a $23 billion contract.
* Kyle Sampson - chief of staff for Attorney General Gonzales - resigned amidst the investigation of firings of U.S. Attorneys.
* Joseph Schmitz - Inspector General, Defense - Resigned amid charges he personally intervened to protect top political appointees.
* Bradley Schlozman - resigned from the Justice Department after actively politicizing the department. He's currently under investigation by the Department's inspector general.
* Thomas Scully - Administrator, Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services - after Scully resigned, Department of Health and Human Services inspector general found Scully pressured the agency's actuary to underestimate the cost of Medicare reform bill by $100 billion until after Congress passed the bill.
* David Smith - deputy assistant secretary for fish, wildlife, and parks, Interior Department - resigned after shooting a buffalo and accepting its skeletal remains and meat as an illegal gratuity.
* John Tanner - Voting Rights Section Chief, Justice Department - resigned and moved to the Office of Special Counsel for Immigration-Related Unfair Employment Practices. Under suspicion for aiding efforts to politicize the voting section,he angered lawmakers with his comments that such voter protection laws discriminate against white voters because "minorities die first".
* Sara Taylor - Deputy Assistant to the President and Director of Political Affairs, Karl Rove´s top aide - resigned amidst the U.S. attorneys investigation and other probes of Rove´s alleged politicization of the government.
* Ken Tomlinson - Board Chairman, Corporation for Public Broadcasting - resigned at release of an inspector general report concluding he broke laws in spending CPB money to hire politically connected consultants to search for "bias". A separate investigation found he was running a "horse racing operation" out of his office.
* Carl Truscott - Director, Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives Bureau - resigned. A report by the Justice Department's inspector general found that Truscott wasted tens of thousands of dollars on luxuries, millions on whimsical management decisions and violated ethics rules by ordering employees to help his nephew with a high school video project.
* Paul Wolfowitz - World Bank President - resigned after a committee report found that he broke ethics rules by giving his girlfriend a substantial raise.
Nomination Failed Due to Scandal
* Linda Chavez - nominated, Secretary of Labor - withdrew her nomination amidst revelations that an illegal immigrant lived in her home and worked for her in the early 1990s.
* Timothy Flanigan - nominated, Deputy Attorney General withdrew his nomination amidst revelations that he'd worked closely with Abramoff when he was General Counsel for Corporate and International Law at Tyco, a client of Abramoff's.
* Bernard Kerik - nominated, Secretary, Department of Homeland Security - withdrew his nomination amidst a host of corruption allegations. Pleaded guilty to a misdemeanor relating to improper gifts totaling tens of thousands of dollars while a New York City official in the 1990's. Kerik was indicted on sixteen counts for bribery, tax fraud, and false statements.
* William Mercer - the former associate deputy attorney general and US Attorney for Montana - withdrew his nomination to be the permanent number three official at the Department of Justice due to his role in the U.S. attorney firings.
* Hans von Spakovsky - Commissioner, FEC - nomination to another term after his recess appointment failed due to allegations that he'd worked at the Justice Department to suppress minority voter turnout.
Under Investigation But Still in Office
* Stuart Bowen - Special Inspector General for Iraq Reconstruction (SIGIR) - was admired for successes investigating allegations of waste and fraud in Iraq, but now allegations prompted four government investigations into Office of the Special Inspector General for Iraq Reconstruction (SIGIR).
* Lurita Doan - Administrator of the U.S. General Services Administration - still in office, despite investigations by both the Office of Special Counsel and the House oversight committee that found that Doan had "crossed the line" by suggesting that the GSA use its resources to help Republicans get elected.
* Alfonso Jackson - Secretary of Housing and Urban Development - following reports that Jackson told a business group he once canceled a contract after the contractor criticized Bush, an investigation by HUD inspector general found that while Jackson told his deputies to favor Bush supporters, there was "no direct proof that a contract was actually awarded or rescinded because of political affiliation."
Rats have left the sinking ship but it's still infested. We need to run the bums out.
Dianne,
Thanks for compiling this list! It sort of reminds me of the site that keeps track of Republican perverts and criminals.
I notice there's no place to put Rove on the list. I can't help but wonder if his hands are clean or if he is just better at hiding his tracks.
Also unlisted are the people who perpetrated the fraud in 2004. Of course, whoever did that is well protected!
Also, untraceable are the people whose names and roles have been deleted from the W.H. email servers.
Even more criminal behavior:
Sex, Halliburton, and the State Department
http://afterdowningstreet.org/node/31332
By David Swanson
On Wednesday, February 27th, from 8 to 9 p.m. ET I'll be interviewing live another female Halliburton employee who was subjected to an environment of constant sexual harassment in Iraq. Tracy Barker was sexually assaulted by Halliburton employees and - in one instance - by a U.S. State Department employee in Basra, Iraq. The State Department employee has confessed to part of what Barker alleges, but remains at the State Department, and has never been charged with any crime. You can listen to the live interview and call in with your questions on Wednesday at http://www.thepeoplespeakradio.net
At the same link, you'll find the audio file of a recent interview I conducted with Jamie Leigh Jones, a victim of gang rape by employees of the Halliburton corporation in Iraq. Jones has become the best known of what appears to be a lengthy list of Halliburton employees subjected to sexual assault. U.S. contractors in Iraq cannot be prosecuted under Iraqi law and simply are not prosecuted under U.S. law.
An ABC News 20/20 report last December focused largely on Jones' story, and Jones also testified before Congress that month. But if you watch the 20/20 report through to the end you'll see a second story as well, that of Tracy Barker: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ez9fFRuJB-4
Barker has brought charges against Halliburton/KBR claiming that she was sexually assaulted, harassed, and falsely imprisoned while working at Camp Hope in Basra, Iraq. Barker is a military wife and mother of 3 who worked for Halliburton's KBR subsidiary as an administrative assistant in Iraq while her husband served in the U.S. military. According to ABC News, Barker claims that State Department employee Ali Mokhtare attempted to rape her: http://abcnews.go.com/Blotter/Story?id=3998439
"Mokhtare denied that he had attempted to rape her, but admitted that he had gone too far with Tracy, and signed a statement to that effect, which ABC News has obtained. In the document, Mokhtare states he 'admitted that he pulled her vest and shirt' and that he asked Barker, 'What do you have behind there?' He also says that he 'made a mistake and it was stupid,' according to the document. Despite his admission, Mokhtare, a U.S. citizen, still works at the State Department today.”
"Mokhtare was a diplomatic official in Basra who first came to Iraq as a Farsi translator interviewing detainees. The U.S. Diplomatic Security Service investigated the allegations against Mokhtare and presented the case to the Justice Department for prosecution, but 'the case was declined for prosecution' states the document. Furthermore, investigators requested that the State Department suspend Mokhtare's security clearance, but according to a handwritten note at the bottom of the document, that request was denied."
Following the incident, Barker says, Halliburton confined her to a living container where she was constantly watched, including when she used the bathroom. Food was brought to her as if she was a prisoner, and she was denied medical attention and any outside communications. Barker says she was forced several days later to wear the same clothing she'd worn the night of the assault (ordinary pants and a long-sleeved shirt) and paraded through a crowded dining area apparently to humiliate her. This was part of the official investigation, aimed at determining whether she was sexually provocative. At this point she was still refused medical attention.
Eventually, Barker says, she was able to use a cellphone belonging to National Guardsman Kevin Rodgers. Barker's husband, 1st Sergeant Galen Barker, says that his wife contacted him through Rodgers. He then tried unsuccessfully to get to Kuwait so that he could rescue his wife from Iraq. Barker continued to be held against her will by Halliburton, and the State Department continued to stall her release. She was eventually rescued by Dr. David Pakkal of the State Department who took her to Kuwait.
When she returned home, Barker spoke out about what she had been through and began pursuing justice through U.S. courts. She says she was the first victim to do so. Several months after returning home, in July of 2005, Barker started receiving phone calls from other Halliburton employees who also alleged sexual harassment and rape while in Iraq. Barker learned that a State Department investigator and a Halliburton employee had given her home phone number out to gang rape victims because they thought Barker could help them.
Barker says the State Department offered her $3,500 in cash to drop certain charges, but she refused.
Halliburton has requested private arbitration instead of facing a civil suit and claims that this is required by Barker's employment contract. A judge ruled this month in favor of arbitration, arguing that sexual harassment, including assault, is a reality in today's workplace. Barker's attorney Stewart Hoffer is in the process of appealing this order.
Barker was invited to testify before Congress on December 19, 2007, by Congressman Bob Etheridge. Barker's newborn twins were fighting for their lives, but Barker made the trip to Washington, only to be denied the opportunity to testify. Barker was permitted only to submit to the House Judiciary Committee a statement from Letty Surman, Barker's human resources manager at Halliburton/KBR and an eyewitness to some of her ordeals. Surman's affidavit detailed Barker's workplace experience and described the men who assaulted Barker.
Barker has created the Tracy K. Barker Foundation to help other women who have also been victimized while working overseas.
http://www.thepeoplespeakradio.net
Karen
This is getting more and more disgusting.
But the nature of the construction industry does STRONGLY encourage such thuggish behavior for all the "real men" working in it.
I want out of this hellhole. NOW. Fortunately, Christy is giving me some advice on this...
Karen,
That is above criminal--if there is something above criminal.
It makes me want to puke. Then it makes me want to go kick some people in the ....
Well, I better stop.
It's sick sick sick.
Also, I saw the Siegelman video from 60 minutes and that's another criminal act. OMG...they PURPOSELY and criminally pursued Siegelman, sounds like they set up a false trial, and the JUDGE PURPOSELY-POLITICALLY made a show of by politicizing how he was manacled and put behind bars...no 45 days, arm and leg manacles as if he were a hardened rapist. Of course the real rapists and murderers are, like say...those people at KBR are getting away with it behind closed doors.
Business as usual... ((snark tag))
We live is a sh*tty world.
Dianne,
I gave you credit for the list--because I didn't see it at TPM.
THE HOUSE OVERSIGHT COMMITTEE IS NOW HEARING TESTIMONY ON THE "MISSING WHITE HOUSE EMAILS".
HERE IS THE LINK FOR VIDEO STREAMING:
http://www.capitolhearings.org/
(go to House Committees, Oversight)
Part of Waxman's openings statement on the White House's faulty archiving system
The silver lining to the Committee’s investigation (of the Clinton Administration's archiving problems), though, was that the problems in the Automatic Records Management System were addressed. When President Clinton left office and President Bush came into office, the White House had in place a system for archiving White House e-mails that complied with the Presidential Records Act.
That’s what makes the actions of the Bush Administration so inexplicable.
President Bush’s White House kept the Automatic Records Management System in 2001. But in September 2002, for reasons that have never been adequately explained, the Bush White House decided to replace the Automatic Records Management System.
In its place, the White House adopted a system that one of its own experts described as “primitive” and carried a high risk that “data would be lost.” The system also had serious security flaws. Until the problem was corrected in 2005, all officials in the White House had access to the archive system and the ability to delete or alter existing information.
The White House’s own analysis of its system identified over 700 days in which e-mail records seem either impossibly low or completely nonexistent. This 2005 analysis was prepared by a team of 15 White House officials and contractors.
And these are not the only missing White House e-mails. We also know that over 80 White House officials — including some of the most senior officials in the White House — routinely used e-mail accounts at the Republican National Committee (RNC). The RNC didn’t preserve e-mails for over 50 of these officials and has few e-mails for any White House officials prior to 2006.
The result is a potentially enormous gap in the historical record. Karl Rove, the President’s closest political advisor, was a prolific user of his RNC e-mail account. Yet the RNC preserved virtually none of his e-mails from before 2004. The result is that we may never know what he wrote about the build-up to the Iraq war.
In recent weeks, the White House has launched an all-out attack on its own analysis of the missing e-mails. One White House spokesman tried to claim there were no missing e-mails after all. Another senior White House official said she had “serious reservations” about the accuracy of the White House’s previous work and that she had “so far been unable to replicate its results or to affirm the correctness of the assumptions underlying it.”
Many of us have grown used to the White House attacking any congressional or independent study that conflicts with President Bush’s policies. This is the first time I can remember the White House using those same tactics on itself. It is remarkable.
But that’s not all. The White House is also refusing to cooperate with the National Archives. For almost a year the nonpartisan National Archives has been urging the Bush White House to assess the problem of missing e-mails and to take “whatever action may be necessary to restore any missing emails.”
The lack of cooperation became so severe that last May, the Archivist himself wrote to the White House Counsel, Fred Fielding, to urge “utmost dispatch” in addressing the missing e-mails.
Yet in September 2007, the Archive’s General Counsel drafted a memo summarizing the White House’s decision to ignore the request of the Archivist. He wrote:
Wow, that is quite a list.
Christy said:
Wow, that is quite a list.
February 26, 2008 1:52 PM
Yep. It's probably number one in the Hall of Shame!
This is going to be one of the ugliest General Election campaigns in history.
I find myself fascinated by the Siegalmen case.
And apparently he can't appeal because they're playing fast and loose with the transcripts.
argggghhhh
It sounds like he was railroaded. Isn't this what they did in communist Russia?
Streaming the debate link:
http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/21134540/vp/22886841#22886841
Me, too. The Siegelman case is really starting to work on me.
Even more so than the Plame Affair I think. It seems even MORE dangerous, if that is possible.
That woman Simpson...Knowing about her house and being run off the road... it is just so freaking...desperate and alarming.
Matthew Carnicelli said:
This is going to be one of the ugliest General Election campaigns in history.
I am actually looking forward to it getting rude. I think all of us are so damn sick of the politically correct 'politeness' that has long distorted the state of our political discourse.
I mean, we live in a country where the most powerful among us can flat out lie, about war, treason, money, EVERYTHING, and not one damn person before them will stand up and say 'You are lying.'
As a matter of a fact, the liars are SOOOO SURE that the rest of us will remain 'politically correct' they stand there and smirk as the apologies come from the people they SHOT IN THE FACE!.
I say we should cut their gloves off, shove them into the same room as often as possible and say, 'Go for it.'
It SHOULD get ugly, my God, look at the ugly things that has been done to our nation.
Let the truth of it be said, no matter how damn ugly it sounds.
(the Onion..http://www.silencedmajority.blogs.com)
Sparrow
I cited TPM but still thanks for the compliment and for posting it so more folks could see the criminals! Actually, I shortened it alot - took out any but essential wording or it would have been quite a bit longer! & they left out alot of the criminals who didn't fit the criteria, such as Rove!!!
The list was done by TPM people but I don't know if/where it was published at the TPM site. I got it from a friend named Glenda here - she wanted it dispersed far and wide!!!
As of tonight, I am no longer part of the family construction business.
Between the thuggish attitude of construction personnel in general, and employing the most barbaric, despicable nationalities available in SoCal, I've just about had it. I need my future, and I won't have it as long as I am aboard the company.
If my short-term solution is a low-wage administrative job for CodePink or someone similar, so be it.
Anybody watch the debates? Didn't sound like anyone messed up too bad. Shouldn't affect the polls much then. Let's just survive til March 4th. I'll be in Mexico so hopefully some news will leak through to me, but not too much.
It has been interesting watching the news from outside the nation, such as the Russian broadcast about the entrance of Nader into the race. They sort of get it all wrong, but then so does our own press, just differently. It's totally surreal.
I watched half the debates, Dianne. I thought Hillary came across as aggressive and a little darker than usual. (Understatement.) I think it was due to the tone being much angrier and the darker clothing.
I thought some of her answers were very good. I thought some of Obama's answers were very good.
On health care, neither one won in my mind because neither is singlepayer. Though I realize that single-payer has problems, I also believe that we could overcome those problems or use private insurance as 'filler.'
On NAFTA, I believe Russert attempted to hold Hillary's feet to the fire due to what she had said about NAFTA in the past. However, I'm also one who can see that NAFTA did seem to be beneficial at first, until the last 6 years showed otherwise. I believe Hillary has a right to change her mind on that. After all, an educated and intelligent person would change their mind when faced with facts.
On the war and IWR vote, I actually thing Hillary did ok with that answer. She was voting and not just campaigning. I think that makes a huge difference. Yes, Obama took a chance by being antiwar in 2002-2004; however, if there had been wmd then his talk would not have had the impact as her vote would have. Besides, as far as I'm conserned Obama's vote on Kerry/Feingold out of Iraq bill negates any 'positive' points I could have given him.
I'd say it's a wash.
What I did like about Hillary was that she did come out against actions her husband took.
I turned off the debate half way through, so I can't comment on the rest.
Mostly, I thought it was a great debate. I was very proud of both the candidates intelligence and willingness to talk about people issues: health care, war, NAFTA, jobs.
It's clear that Obama or Hillary would be better than McCain.
sparrow said
I think you're right sparrow. If it doesn't begin as single payer it becomes clumsy and too many groups will cause utter mayhem before it gets off the ground. Then encourage all who can afford it to pay for private insurance. They don't get freedom from their contributions to the national scheme, but they have the choice to pay for themselves if they wish.
Comcast blocks citizens from speaking out at FCC hearing, and admits to paying people to fill the seats:
There was huge turnout at today’s public hearing in Boston on the future of the Internet. Hundreds of concerned citizens arrived to speak out on the importance of an open Internet. Many took the day off from work — standing outside in the Boston cold — to see the FCC Commissioners. But when they reach the door, they’re told they couldn’t come in.
The size of the crowd is evidence that many Americans don’t want giant corporations like Comcast and Verzion to decide what we can do and where we can go on the Internet.
snip
Comcast — or someone who really, really likes Comcast — evidently bused in its own crowd. These seat-warmers were paid to fill the room, a move that kept others from taking part.
[Update: Comcast admits to paying people to stack the room in their favor. Read the report.]
They arrived en masse some 90 minutes before the hearing began and occupied almost every available seat, upon which many promptly fell asleep (picture above).
Seat warmers
One told us that he was “just getting paid to hold someone’s seat.” He added that he had no idea what the meeting was about.
http://www.savetheinternet.com/blog/2008/02/25/comcast-blocking-first-the-internet-now-the-public/
http://www.portfolio.com/news-markets/top-5/2008/02/26/Comcast-FCC-Hearing-Strategy
Sparrow,
Good report on the debate. The press didn't seem to pick a clear winner. That is probably good, going into a vote. If they had trounced one or the other, the dirty campaigning might increase. I would prefer people just go vote, have their votes counted. The press and what's happening on the ground ever remotely match anyway.
Could this be why Rove wasn't indicted?
http://oversight.house.gov/story.asp?ID=1763
I thought of these words ' I thought Hillary came across as aggressive and a little darker than usual.." as soon as I read this...
"All in all, it was a rather ignominious, belittling way to almost certainly close out the Clinton Era. Hillary would have done much better to spend the 90 minutes of Tuesday night's Ohio debate by repeatedly reading and re-reading her valedictory, closing remarks from last week's Texas match-up during which -- for a few shining moments -- a Good Hillary seemed to radiate with the grandeur of an honored First Lady and potential president of the United States.
But with her national poll numbers now slipping into a double digit lag behind Obama, with her last-ditch firewalls in Ohio and Texas rapidly crumbling, her political future quickly eroding, it was the Bad Hillary who dominated in what could very well be the final presidential debate of the season."
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/marc-cooper/hillarys-ignominious-fin_b_88634.html
I think Hillary is looking at those firewalls in Texas and Ohio crumbling, and is starting to develop a new understanding of the word 'inevitable'.
I really do almost feel bad for her. She seems like a nice lady.
The Republican response to the Siegelman charges.
Christy,
I do feel bad for her. I just think her closest advisors and her people surrounding her taint her. I think that they think that only their way is correct. Yesterday you spoke about arrogant people who don't want other's opinions. Well, Hillary's peer group are exactly like those people--Bill, Mr. Matlin, etc... I believe those same group of people only gave half hearted support for Kerry in 04 because they hoped to leave the door open in 08 for Hillary.
People like Carville--aka Mr. Matlin--HAD the power of the media in their hands, but every time they were on the air they belittled Kerry instead of actually presenting useful information that would have convinced people that Kerry was right for the country.
We always complain about the people on the media not letting our side get heard. But Carville and Brazille could ALWAYS get time on the media. They didn't opt to use it to tell the truth about Iraq, torture, Plame and treason. Instead, they sounded like all they wanted to discuss was the 'infighting' in the Kerry camp. (They also could have made mincemeat of those dang purple bandaids...if they had only chosen.)
So anyways, I think Hillary surrounds herself with ichy people. And after Bill and BCCI/Iran-contra and the stuff that happened in 04, 05, 06...I just couldn't all out support her in the primary--much as I would have liked to.
(She does seem like a nice, caring lady.)
Me too Sparrow, it really does seem to be more about the people AROUND her, than her.
I really think her problem is that not that she is afraid to be wrong, because she just does not seem to be cravenly in that way, instead it is more like she has lived soooo long in the bubble she really forgot how it works outside the bubble.
Of course she triangulates, they all do, but like you said about mr. matlin and co. 'They didn't opt to use it to tell the truth about Iraq, torture, Plame and treason."
It is like when so much bullsh*t was going on, and Hillary thought a flag burning amendment would divert the conversation and PROVE she was a little patriot. It is so freaking ridiculous it is like 'Ok lady, just STOP..'
Yet, she through it all she really has come off as a decent person, even if her bubble is too dense and so are her advisors.
Everyone points out that Obama and Hillary are so similar, yet why is Hillary tanking? I think the difference is Hillary surrounds herself with arrogant partisians while Obama picks up all the moderates and disillussioned and disenfranchised of all stripes.
That to me, and Iraq, are the only two real differences.
Googlebomb the 60 min. link
Also...Catch this!
Christy,
Iraq (IWR) is different. But correct me if I'm wrong...Didn't Hillary and Obama vote the same on the Kerry/Feingold amendment in 2005 and 2006?
Of course this Pakistan 'issue' seems to be a bubbling controversy and I haven't been paying attention over the last week to know what happened (as far as the campaigns are concerned).
That seems to be a difference. Or maybe it's a media generated storyline. (The tiny bit I know.)
They're digging up lots of info on the station that had the mysterious blackout. From the NYT
Yes, the Kerry/Fiengold resolution is a good example.
See, at that point, why not just admit you were wrong then? I don't think she is scared to admit she was wrong, I think her advisors have her so twisted up believing any admission of being 'wrong' will be percieved as 'weak'. A flip flopping weakling.
But she can't on one hand say, 'Ok lets stop this' and then refuse to address the fact she was wrong in the first place, and in the second and third place she cheered georgie along for WAYYYY too long for it just to have been blind optimism.
John Edwards damn sure turned apologizing into a strength, she could have too. She chose not too, and now she is in one hell of a spot. She can't say she was wrong, yet, she can not address the wrong until she admits she was part of it.
Obama on the other hand had no reason not to vote for it, because he never supported the war in the first place. I admit, he has made some really dumb votes that I just do not get, but he was atleast right about Iraq from the beginning and until Hillary addresses that, she will never overcome it.
Can someone please explain to me why Congress is investigating sports? Excuse me for saying this, but aren't sports privately owned companies, who 'should' be allowed to 'run their businesses without government intervention and regulations?'
Why are they investigating this instead of the rampant gas fraud and price gouging? Or why aren't they investigating the onslaught of poisoned food and mad cow disease? And not to mention the fact that unless we start subsisting solely on Ramon Pride Noodles, we will not be able to eat. (Sarcasm)
They claim to be looking after 'American's best interest' but I have to tell you that my interest is more engaged in the upcoming 4 dollar a gallon hit that I will be taking within the next few months.
Let the sports suck up all the steroids they want. If I can't afford the food and gas, then why should I give a crap about sports?
It is a deliberate diversion.
"Why are they investigating this instead of the rampant gas fraud and price gouging? "
Because darling, then they would be investigating themselves and all their cronies.
Alabama Times
Did the local CBS affiliate intentionally pull the plug on the show because it put Siegelman in a favorable light and Republicans in a really, really bad one?
No, said WHNT general manager Stan Pylant. It was just awful timing for a piece of equipment to break down, he said.
"We had a technical failure at our transmitter site on Monte Sano which kept us from receiving the CBS signal," said Pylant. "We certainly don't have any reason to keep people from seeing the broadcast. We promoted the story all week on our newscast.
....
Among those are the leadership of the Alabama Democratic Party, which is asking the Federal Communications Commission to seek a formal inquiry into the situation.
"It has come to the attention of many Democrats in north Alabama and that the principal owners of WHNT are Bush Pioneers (people who have raised $100,000 or more for the President's election campaigns) and major Republican donors," wrote Alabama Democratic Party Executive Director Jim Spearman in a Monday press release.
"Many suspect that the enormous pressure was put on CBS to not air the Siegelman story. If CBS received political pressure to stifle the First Amendment rights of the network or affiliate, the FCC and Congress should take appropriate oversight into the matter."
Oh...Christy....Duh?!!!!
RECORDING OF SEVERAL PHONE CALLS I MADE TODAY TO MY CONGRESSMAN WALBERG'S OFFICE.
THEY STONEWALLED AND THEN CALLED CAPITOL POLICE.
Mandates versus Affordability
(I apologize if this has been posted while I was off-line earlier this week.)
Siegelman's Daughter Speaks Out
Our family grows more and more outraged with each revelation showing that - for 8 years - my father has been targeted for political reasons -. America should never lose sight of the tragic fact that while the world is just now discovering the corrupt tactics used by the Justice Department in their pursuit of Don Siegelman, our Dad is in a Federal Prison where he has been for eight months. He has not been allowed to be free while he appeals his case and he remains unable to appeal his conviction because there is no trial transcript - even though his trial ended over 600 days ago.
The new revelations by "60 minutes" sit on top of the mountain of evidence already in existence that shows the Justice Department illegally targeted my father. Testimony before the House Judiciary Committee showed that the prosecutors in Alabama were not going to prosecute my father but were told by the Justice Department to do whatever it took to bring Dad down. Adam Zagorin at TIME Magazine reported that during the investigation, prosecutors discovered - and ignored - evidence against a Republican US Senator and Alabama's Republican Attorney General. Most egregious in this episode is the fact that the Justice Department officials and investigators involved in that investigation continued to pursue Dad in the face of their blatant conflicts of interest that should have removed them from the case. In the Siegelman case and in other Alabama cases, affidavits and information has come to light showing that investigators threatened, intimidated, and coached witnesses to incriminate Don Siegelman. The revelations in the "60 Minutes" report cries out for an independent investigation of this case and the immediate release of my Dad.
My family's question to the Congress is "how much evidence will be enough?". The US Attorney apparatus in Alabama is corrupted and only an outside, independent investigation will right this grievous wrong.
Had the US Attorneys in this case followed the rule of law and the code of conduct for US Attorneys, there is no reason to believe that my Father would have ever ended up in a federal courtroom - much less in a prison cell. The question that needs to be answered is did the prosecutors and the Department of Justice violate the law in pursuit of my Dad, and if so why is my father still in prison?
Our family implores the Congress to initiate an independent investigation to once and for all expose the crimes of the Justice Department personnel in Alabama and Washington who had a hand in this grave injustice.
Those keeping track of Republican sexual deviance/hypocrisies will love this.
The director of the Defense Intelligence Agency, Lt. Gen. Michael D. Maples, told the Senate today that waterboarding is inhumane and a violation of the Geneva Conventions.
((Watch how quickly they dig up dirt on him, blacklist him, take away his retirement, Jesselyn and Tom Fiscus style...)))
GOP Halts Effort to Retrieve White House E-Mails
Washington Post
After promising last year to search its computers for tens of thousands of e-mails sent by White House officials, the Republican National Committee has informed a House committee that it no longer plans to retrieve the communications by restoring computer backup tapes, the panel's chairman said yesterday.
The move increases the likelihood that an untold number of RNC e-mails dealing with official White House business during the first term of the Bush administration -- including many sent or received by former presidential adviser Karl Rove -- will never be recovered, said House Democrats and public records advocates.
The RNC had previously told the House Oversight and Government Reform Committee that it was attempting to restore e-mails from 2001 to 2003, when the RNC had a policy of purging all e-mails, including those to and from White House officials, after 30 days. But Chairman Henry A. Waxman (D-Calif.) disclosed during a hearing yesterday that the RNC has now said it "has no intention of trying to restore the missing White House e-mails."
"The result is a potentially enormous gap in the historical record," Waxman said, including the buildup to the Iraq war.
Ever hear of David Archuleta? If not, you will.
Holy wow cow Batman!
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XpVuogzmWhg
"..unable to appeal his conviction because there is no trial transcript'
Say huh?
What's Comcast Afraid Of?
We caught Comcast stacking a FCC hearing with paid (and apparently sleepy) seat-fillers so that the public couldn't get in.
http://www.savetheinternet.com/
This could be important. Somebody should ask McCain what he knows/did about Siegelman. (DU thread has good comments.)
Hey Christy,
I posted the Comcast thing above at 7:01 am, but thanks for bringing it back up - no one commented earlier.
We, unfortunately have comcast service, but are seriously considering another option.
Isn't there something illegal about what they did/are doing? Corrupt? Something?
Carol,
I saw it when you posted but I didn't really have a comment to make.
(I seem to be fixated on the Siegelman thing. I just can't imagine the pain he and his family are going through.)
Sorry Carol, I totally spaced on that one.
Yes, it is definately 'corrupt', not sure if they can call it 'illegal' but it is definately one of the more unethical things I have seen recently.
Nazi bastards.
Regarding Don Siegleman:
The accusation from the Young Turks and CBS News is that Karl Rove went to the Alabama U.S. attorneys asking them to indict Siegleman.
If this is true, that is called "OBSTRUCTION OF JUSTICE" AND IT IS A CRIME....
I THINK IT IS TIME FOR "WATERGATE" STYLE HEARINGS:
CALLING THE WHITE HOUSE'S TOP PEOPLE TO CONGRESS AND HAVE THEM TESTIFY OVER IMPEACHABLE OFFENSES
THAT WOULD BE
SCOOTER LIBBY
KARL ROVE
HARRIET MIERS
AL GONZALES
ETC.....
SEND THEM TO JAIL JUST LIKE NIXONS CRONIES...
"Release Siegelman--Pending appeal.." Dan Abrams said, "I am not dropping the subject!"
This is really important. The aiforce is sensoring out blog's. LITERALLY!
Here is part one of the CBS Report on Siegelman:
I think I am going to have to fax the Siegelman story to Pelosi's and Conyers' offices tomorrow morning, followed up by a phone call...
PUT IMPEACHMENT ON THE TABLE, FOLKS, GET A CLUE....
Good catch with that video, ralph
OMG! LOOK!
Did yall know McCain is NOT a 'natural born citizen'!!!
He was born on the Panama Canal! He was not even born on our soil! HAHAHA!
http://www.nytimes.com/2008/02/28/us/politics/28mccain.html?_r=1&ei=5090&en=45d24e7c7a991183&ex=1361941200&adxnnl=1&oref=slogin&partner=rssuserland&emc=rss&adxnnlx=1204200459-8TagkDPtWk8sb11DMvcWkQ
"Others have called on Congress to guarantee that Americans born outside the national boundaries can legitimately see themselves as potential contenders for the Oval Office."
FUNNY!
OH man that is delicious.
I don't know about you guys, but I only see one little problem with that, namely those of us who WERE born inside the borders of the USA whom are ever wary of some forien born anchor baby coming in and lording over the rest of us!
The Panama Canal!!! HAHA!
Knowing republicans though, they themselves will start the whisper campiagn of how McCain is secretly a 'Mexican' who turned out to be some illegitimate white baby.
Oh, man, this is too fun!
Look at this republican...
"“There is some ambiguity because there has never been a court case on what ‘natural-born citizen’ means.”
FUNNY AGAIN! Because all of us perfectly understood for 200 some years EXACTLY what it means!
I don't give a damn if his parents were natural born themselves. If they wanted their kid to be president one day, then they should have had that kid inside the borders of the USA!
That is what 'natural born citizen' means, and we all freaking know it!
Worst hair day ever involved a monkey
http://www.cnn.com/2008/LIVING/personal/02/27/o.worst.hair.day/index.html
There you are Monkey, you had several people worried.
How ya been?
The article on McCain is a whooot! Imagine all the 'alien' whisper campaigns the Republicans will do to their own.
Monkey. we missed ya! So...by posting the Monkey story, does that mean you've been AWOL 'cuz you've had a few bad hair days? Or does it mean you're confessing that you're the Monkey who pulled little Suzie's hair?
I'm confessing to nothing, even if the chairman of the waterboard himself asks.
It really is a hoot! OMG!
I would so like to ask McCrazy, 'Excuse me, but... Why should MY birthright be transferred to ANYONE not born on MY soil?' I'll even help him with the answer..."No way in hell Mr. McCrazy!'
I bet everytime he hears the words Panama Canal... he thinks..'Home!'. I do that too, but with OKLAHOMA!
HAHA!
Oh, what a crazy situation the republicans have put themselves in!
Come on Monkey! Confess. We promise we won't tell anyone.
On that note, I just saw one of the sickest and most disturbing things I have ever seen. Trust me, anything you confess can not be half as shocking as what I just saw, completely by accident.
We need a good distraction Monkey, do tell or waterboarding is just where we will start.
After the Alabama blackout, and the one here, and crap like this coming out every day now, Comcast yesterday, Maxim today, the scope of the information manipulation is really really starting to freak me the hell out.
"In the March issue of Maxim, writer David Peisner reviews the new Black Crowes album, "Warpaint." The verdict: Ehhh. Two and a half stars, out of five. The problem: Maxim didn't listen to the album. Their review, it turns out, was an "educated guess." Um, what? The full story, including the faux-review and the band's outraged response, below.
The Black Crowes' label didn't make advance copies of the album available for review, so they were surprised when they saw Maxim's turn up. The writer couldn't have heard more than one song off the album, the label says. When they contacted the magazine, they say an editor emailed them:
'Of course, we always prefer to (sic) hearing music, but sometimes there are big albums that we don't want to ignore that aren't available to hear, which is what happened with the Crowes. It's either an educated guess preview or no coverage at all, so in this case we chose the former.'"
http://gawker.com/359843/maxim-reviews-black-crowes-album-without-listening-to-it
Everything, even our music, has been turned into lies. Lies, half truths and twisted ommissions.
THE IRAQI WAR-"Was A Central Cause Of The Sub-Prime Banking Crisis Threatening The World"
Iraq war 'caused slowdown in the US'
Peter Wilson, Europe correspondent | February 28, 2008
THE Iraq war has cost the US 50-60 times more than the Bush administration predicted and was a central cause of the sub-prime banking crisis threatening the world economy, according to Nobel Prize-winning economist Joseph Stiglitz.
The former World Bank vice-president yesterday said the war had, so far, cost the US something like $US3trillion ($3.3 trillion) compared with the $US50-$US60-billion predicted in 2003.
.................
Professor Stiglitz told the Chatham House think tank in London that the Bush White House was currently estimating the cost of the war at about $US500 billion, but that figure massively understated things such as the medical and welfare costs of US military servicemen.
.............
The spending on Iraq was a hidden cause of the current credit crunch because the US central bank responded to the massive financial drain of the war by flooding the American economy with cheap credit.
President Carter: "The Bush administration has violated Americans' basic human rights"
Carter chides Bush on secrecy in govt.
Carter Criticizes Bush Admin. Over Secrecy, Says More Information Can Change 'Entire Society'
DORIE TURNER
AP News
Feb 27, 2008 17:01 EST
The Bush administration has violated Americans' basic human rights by blocking access to information and creating more government secrets than at any other time in U.S. history, former President Carter said Wednesday.
Carter made the remarks at the start of a three-day conference aimed at helping other countries develop "access to information" laws, drawing participants from nearly 40 nations.
To applause, Carter said he looks forward to more freedom after a new U.S. administration takes office in January.
The Atlanta-based Carter Center has been working to help other countries with right-to-information laws since 1999, when it piloted a program in Jamaica. At that time only a handful of countries had such laws.
Marine Corps unit deploys to Iraq for a record fifth tour
http://blog.foreignpolicy.com/node/8277
My God.
Oh look, my senator is in the news again.
David Vitter is Thinking About Your Granddaughter's Vagina
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/chris-kelly/david-vitter-is-thinking-_b_88727.html
"Between this, the adultery, the prostitutes and the diapers, I've almost lost all my respect for the guy."
Umm.
This is why we should NEVER again support the military as an institution, even if/when we support the individual soldiers.
The military is NOT defending our freedom, is at the forefront of discrimination, and sucks up an ever-larger amount of our taxes at the expense of stuff we can REALLY use.
I will support CodePink's picketing of the military recruitment stations whenever I can. Too many fine people are bribed into joining this evil institution.
Christy
Muddling the "natural-born citizen" law means taking that provision away altogether, so that the Governator or even Reverend Moon can be the President of the United States someday.
I just can't quit laughing.
Now we know why McCrazy has such a soft spot for latins.
HAHAHA!
It is almost perfectly ironic!
During his press conference today, a reporter asked President Bush what his “advice” would be to the “average American” who is “facing the prospect of $4 a gallon gasoline.” Bush replied, “That’s interesting, I hadn’t heard that.” Yet a few minutes later, Bush wouldn’t answer a question regarding donations for his presidential library because, he claimed, “I, frankly, have been focused elsewhere, like on gasoline prices.” Watch it:
http://thinkprogress.org/
Look at the story right below it. The republicans are mad cause telecoms are not giving them enough money in return for granting them immunity.
Christy
W - what a f'ing bastard.
Gas was $1.79 in NorCal and $1.59 in SoCal when he first took office - but then, only because the oil companies were gouging California for being a tree-hugging "blue state." Before the gouging, gas was 90 cents to the gallon.
Gas is $3.30 now and climbing.
As for McCain being soft on Latins - this is why despite all the hard talk, the Republicans are NEVER to be trusted on immigration. After all, they brought you Little Havana and Koreatown.
From the Chronicle of Higher Education (and posted here for the amusement of those who worked inside the Kerry Campaign...)
February 27, 2008
Professor Says Obama Campaign Treated His Students 'Like Pros'; Clinton's 'Couldn't Be Bothered'
University of Washington journalism professor David Domke has a theory about why college students flock to Sen. Barack Obama. It’s not just his idealism, his relative youth, or his rhetoric of hope and change, he says. It’s because he treats them as full citizens and adults.
Mr. Domke’s assessment is based on his experience overseeing a political blog written by 16 of his journalism students, Seattlepoliticore.org. He says Mr. Obama’s campaign has treated his students “like pros” — returning calls within minutes, setting up interviews and securing press passes for the students. Sen. Hillary Clinton’s campaign, by contrast, has done “virtually nothing to encourage our coverage.”
“In their treatment of my students, Clinton’s campaign was all talk, while Obama’s was all walk,” he writes.
(no link because subscription is needed to view)
Dan Rather claims his old bosses are trying to hide the truth.
Dan Rather slammed CBS Tuesday for trying to keep his court fight with the network out of the public eye.
The newsman - who has filed a $70 million lawsuit against the Tiffany network, where he anchored the "CBS Evening News" for 24 years - said "corporate overlords" are conspiring to withhold several key documents.
The 76-year-old was back in Manhattan Supreme Court for a hearing on his suit, which accuses CBS of sidelining him to make nice with the White House following a September 2004 report that questioned President Bush's Vietnam-era military service.
Rather left the anchor's chair in March 2005 and was limited to being a bit player on "60 Minutes" before departing from CBS.
"It is a fact that corporate overlords working in secret collusion with the powers in Washington are intruding far too often in far too many newsrooms," he said.
The documents that Rather wants to see include a CBS-commissioned private investigator's report that he believes could back up his version of the disputed story about Bush's stint in the Texas Air National Guard.
CBS said it is "absolutely confident" the documents support its position. "When and if there is a trial ... all such documents introduced at trial will be made public," the network said.
Ally and Christy.
Remember Bush saying in 2000, "I'd jawbone...." them to get the prices down.
His jawbone is working all right. Just not where he promised.
Following his news conference, Bush traveled to the Labor Department to meet with his economic advisers.
Afterward, he expressed confidence in the nation's ability to weather the economic downturn.
"We'll make it through this period just like we made it through other periods of uncertainty during my presidency," Bush said.
http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/23389508/
sparrow
W jawboned the American consumers just so that his buddies in oil and construction benefit.
My contempt for the construction industry only grows with each day.
Staying to Help in Iraq
By Angelina Jolie
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2008/02/27/AR2008022702217_pf.html
Hey All:
I hate for our virtual dialog to end on a sour note, so here goes….
(1) I apologize for the use of the word "F'ing." Good luck all the same without the qualifier should you need it.
(2) I don’t apologize for the sentiments. As Obama’s buddy Reagan used to say – Republicans don’t speak ill of fellow Republicans. Get used to it or lose.
But enough of that negativity! During a hard time (2004 and 2006 election cycles, to be specific), the Kerry/DCP blogs helped me deal with what I considered to be insane developments. Thanks for that. Now the crisis has passed, it’s good to go our separate ways.
Again, thanks for the moral support over the years. And should I EVER, and I mean EVER, post anything again, please give me a friendly nudge in the ribs to the effect of: “Chuck: STFU -- You promised three times to never post again.”
All the Best! And Rock on!:
Nobody's Fault but Mine:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rov_GKUoyzM&feature=related
Pass it on to De Farge!
Chuck in Houston Texas, voted already for Hillary Clinton and with a “Hillary” sign stuck firmly in my lawn. No F’ing surrender, as we say. Gone and outta here.
PS: THAT IS SUPPOSED TO BE FUNNY NOT ANGRY!!!! As this is the third time I have signed off for good, please do not let me post here again without negative comment.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-ArWLI908i4&feature=related
Chuck: Stfu
I must say that I have rather lost interest in the presidential race, as THERE IS SO MUCH AWFUL STUFF STILL TO UNCOVER ABOUT THE BUSH ADMINISTRATION, STUFF THAT WE WILL BE DEALING WITH FOR YEARS TO COME.
And You Tube has become a place of dueling Democrat ads and campaign appearances between Clinton and Obama, much of which is not particularly interesting.
On a sour note for Chuck - two more Democrats endorsed Obama (at least) Sens. Dodd and Dorgan..
Perhaps Ole Hill can take a hint...
I am, at this point, more interested in picking up seats in Congress - particularly the Senate, where the Repubs have been bottling everything up with there 41 vote anti-cloture block.
Ralph:
God Bless you and Oscoda Michigan (where I once lived, on an Air Force Base). Senator Glenn endsorsed Hillary for that matter. Not that it matters, of course. Sh*t happened and will continue to happen. I only pray that my soon-to-be-9 daughter will grow up in a decent country and a healthy world.
Chuck, STFU, in Houston
Ralph:
In a related vein, I don't take any hints. I never have and I never will.
Chuck, STFU, in Houston
Ralph:
Dodd and Dorgan -- Washington DC insiders to the max. You are what yo