"As the result of the attacks of Sept. 11, 2001, there are no Constitutional limits on the power of the U.S. Presidency."
It's a story line that would make Sinclair Lewis proud with logic so twisted logic that it would make even Lewis Carroll blush.
First the he gets caught violating his oath of office and breaking his solemn promise to defend the laws and constitution of the United States. Immediately he denies the whole thing. But two days later admits that he's done it, but not very often, and he then defiantly boasts that he will do it again, reasoning that he has an obligation to protect us all and, besides, the law is stupid.
But in the following weeks the usually flaccid media reports that there has been massive spying on Americans ... millions of phone conversations and e-mails, and not at all limited to a few "terrorist suspects." And it emerges that it would have been remarkably simple to just comply with the law that he's broken and that he'd almost never have been denied the legal authority to do as he wants.
So why pointlessly break a law that's easy to follow and really doesn't get in your way at all? And why do it on such a massive scale, not just an accidental transgression her or there? The vice president knows the true objective: to restore presidential power to pre-Nixon levels.
But then, for a whimsical Alice in Wonderland style twist, yesterday the resources of our government of the people were deployed to launch a criminal inquiry to determine who leaked the truth in the first place.
Ah, but that's just the cliffhanger ending. In the distance you can hear talk of "impeachable offences ..."
Cheney and His Patsy, Bush, Face Impeachment Furor
-- Mathba
Saturday, December 31, 2005
Friday, December 30, 2005
Slash and Burn
"CRAWFORD, Tex., Dec. 30 -- On most of the 365 days he has enjoyed at his secluded ranch here, President Bush's idea of paradise is to hop in his white Ford pickup truck in jeans and work boots, drive to a stand of cedars, and whack the trees to the ground.
If the soil is moist enough, he will light a match and burn the wood. If it is parched, as it is across Texas now, the wood will sit in piles scattered over the 1,600-acre spread until it is safe for a ranch hand to torch -- or until the president can come home and do the honors himself."
"Recreational," "Therapeutic," say his supporters. "Staged," "Distracted," say his detractors.
Still, the image of George W. Bush forcefully and violently having his way--albeit with sagebrush--and especially when there's no real need to do it, well that picture is truly worth a thousand words.
Down on the Ranch, President Wages War on the Underbrush -- Washington Post
If the soil is moist enough, he will light a match and burn the wood. If it is parched, as it is across Texas now, the wood will sit in piles scattered over the 1,600-acre spread until it is safe for a ranch hand to torch -- or until the president can come home and do the honors himself."
"Recreational," "Therapeutic," say his supporters. "Staged," "Distracted," say his detractors.
Still, the image of George W. Bush forcefully and violently having his way--albeit with sagebrush--and especially when there's no real need to do it, well that picture is truly worth a thousand words.
Down on the Ranch, President Wages War on the Underbrush -- Washington Post
Thursday, December 29, 2005
This explains quite a lot: Mutants Rule the Earth
Strom Thurmond must be spinning in his grave. And all of his racist ilk ought to be re-thinking a few things.
Meanwhile, Eldridge Cleaver must be dancing in his grave. And the Black Panthers (the ones who haven't been killed, that is) are finally vindicated.
It turns our that it's normal to be black. In fact, white folks are really just genetic mutants. Scientists have discovered the precise genetic mutation that caused normal brown human skin to turn white.
Scientists Find A DNA Change That Accounts For White Skin - Washington Post
Meanwhile, Eldridge Cleaver must be dancing in his grave. And the Black Panthers (the ones who haven't been killed, that is) are finally vindicated.
It turns our that it's normal to be black. In fact, white folks are really just genetic mutants. Scientists have discovered the precise genetic mutation that caused normal brown human skin to turn white.
Scientists Find A DNA Change That Accounts For White Skin - Washington Post
Wednesday, December 28, 2005
The Unintended Consequences of Breaking the Law
Yow! Talk about unintended consequences!
Did President Bush anticipate this on that Saturday morning when he strutted up to the podium and defiantly announced that he ordered our government to spy on its own citizens and said that he didn't care if it was against law and would keep doing it?
Or maybe he hoped that a couple of weeks of terror talk would convince even defense attorneys that we need to trust Bush in his War on Terror.
No such luck. Lawyers for defendants in terrorism cases all across the nation are preparing legal challenges to illegal wiretaps ordered by George W. Bush.
Defense Lawyers in Terror Cases Plan Challenges Over Spy Efforts - New York Times
Did President Bush anticipate this on that Saturday morning when he strutted up to the podium and defiantly announced that he ordered our government to spy on its own citizens and said that he didn't care if it was against law and would keep doing it?
Or maybe he hoped that a couple of weeks of terror talk would convince even defense attorneys that we need to trust Bush in his War on Terror.
No such luck. Lawyers for defendants in terrorism cases all across the nation are preparing legal challenges to illegal wiretaps ordered by George W. Bush.
Defense Lawyers in Terror Cases Plan Challenges Over Spy Efforts - New York Times
Tuesday, December 27, 2005
It's not an increase therefore it must be a withdrawal
Headline news! Troop Withdrawals in Iraq!.
After playing word games for a couple of days, suddenly the day before Christmas Secretary of Defense Donald Rumsfeld announced good news. "Troop Withdrawals in Iraq!"
In typical Rumsfeldian fashion, though, it's hard to tell what's really going on.
The total number of US troops in Iraq will be reduced by 7,000--from the current 160,000 to 153,000--but half of those will be moved just across the border to Kuwait and the rest won't be sent home but rather will be kept close by in case they are needed on short notice. Still, that's 7,000 moved out of Iraq. Get it? Troop Withdrawals in Iraq!
And, somehow or another, 7,000 troops who had been told they would soon be going to Iraq will now stay in the US. For them and their families this must seem like Troop Withdrawals in Iraq! (Coincidentally, guess which happy families will be featured over and over again on the Fox News shows.)
Still it's all a bit confusing because, no matter how you cut it, even after all the movement to and fro there will still be 15,000 more US troops in Iraq than the 138,000 that were there a year ago. But that's due, we're told, to the build-up of US troops before the Iraq elections (two, three, more of them) which were supposed to bring democracy and freedom to the Iraqi people followed by Troop Withdrawals in Iraq! but instead seem to have fueled even more violence requiring the continued presence of US troops in iraq.
Is there a pattern here? First violence increases in Iraq. Then we send in more US troops to restore order. The increased presence of US troops leads to even more violence which, of course, requires even more US troops.
US General Peter Pace seems to get the picture. Two days after Rumsfeld announced Troop Withdrawals in Iraq!, General Pace said that there really are no firm plans to withdraw troops. In fact, just the opposite, "the number of US troops in Iraq could increase not decrease," because "the enemy has a vote in this, and if they were to cause some kind of problems that required more troops, then we would do exactly what we've done in the past, which is give the commanders on the ground what they need. And in that case, you could see troop level go up."
Of course the "Troop Withdrawals in Iraq!" headline was never retracted.
Iraq Contingent May Grow if Attacks Persist - LA Times
After playing word games for a couple of days, suddenly the day before Christmas Secretary of Defense Donald Rumsfeld announced good news. "Troop Withdrawals in Iraq!"
In typical Rumsfeldian fashion, though, it's hard to tell what's really going on.
The total number of US troops in Iraq will be reduced by 7,000--from the current 160,000 to 153,000--but half of those will be moved just across the border to Kuwait and the rest won't be sent home but rather will be kept close by in case they are needed on short notice. Still, that's 7,000 moved out of Iraq. Get it? Troop Withdrawals in Iraq!
And, somehow or another, 7,000 troops who had been told they would soon be going to Iraq will now stay in the US. For them and their families this must seem like Troop Withdrawals in Iraq! (Coincidentally, guess which happy families will be featured over and over again on the Fox News shows.)
Still it's all a bit confusing because, no matter how you cut it, even after all the movement to and fro there will still be 15,000 more US troops in Iraq than the 138,000 that were there a year ago. But that's due, we're told, to the build-up of US troops before the Iraq elections (two, three, more of them) which were supposed to bring democracy and freedom to the Iraqi people followed by Troop Withdrawals in Iraq! but instead seem to have fueled even more violence requiring the continued presence of US troops in iraq.
Is there a pattern here? First violence increases in Iraq. Then we send in more US troops to restore order. The increased presence of US troops leads to even more violence which, of course, requires even more US troops.
US General Peter Pace seems to get the picture. Two days after Rumsfeld announced Troop Withdrawals in Iraq!, General Pace said that there really are no firm plans to withdraw troops. In fact, just the opposite, "the number of US troops in Iraq could increase not decrease," because "the enemy has a vote in this, and if they were to cause some kind of problems that required more troops, then we would do exactly what we've done in the past, which is give the commanders on the ground what they need. And in that case, you could see troop level go up."
Of course the "Troop Withdrawals in Iraq!" headline was never retracted.
Iraq Contingent May Grow if Attacks Persist - LA Times
Monday, December 26, 2005
He said what?
Ten days ago we first learned that George W. Bush broke the law by ordering spying on American citizens. He hasn't denied it, in fact he's admitted that he knows he's breaking the law and plans to continue doing it.
But instead of the fact that the President of the United States of America is breaking the law, the focus remains on whether or not he has a good reason to break the law.
Colin Powell said that the day that he went before the United Nations with a cartoon fantasy story about mobile biological labs was the low point in his career. His failure that day was a major factor in America marching off to war in search of a mirage. Yesterday he proved that he hasn't learned from the experience--and neither has the media.
Both of the following lead sentences are accurate:
What he really said is:
Powell Backs Bush on Domestic Spying - Voice of America, 12/26/05
Powell Speaks Out on Domestic Spy Program - New York Times
But instead of the fact that the President of the United States of America is breaking the law, the focus remains on whether or not he has a good reason to break the law.
Colin Powell said that the day that he went before the United Nations with a cartoon fantasy story about mobile biological labs was the low point in his career. His failure that day was a major factor in America marching off to war in search of a mirage. Yesterday he proved that he hasn't learned from the experience--and neither has the media.
Both of the following lead sentences are accurate:
"Former Secretary of State Colin L. Powell said on Sunday that it would not have been "that hard" for President Bush to obtain warrants for eavesdropping on domestic telephone and Internet activity, but that he saw "nothing wrong" with the decision not to do so."But the headlines all across the world are less subtle: "Powell Sees Nothing Wrong ... Backs Domestic Spying ... Eavesdropping Is Okay"
"Former U.S. Secretary of State Colin Powell says President Bush was right in authorizing a domestic spying program."
What he really said is:
1) the Bush administration obviously chose to break the law,
2) it was pretty stupid to break the law because it's so easy to get a warrant to what they wanted to do,
3) the Bush Administration didn't consult him as Secretary of State, but if they had he'd have supported domestic spying and told them to follow the law.
Powell Backs Bush on Domestic Spying - Voice of America, 12/26/05
Powell Speaks Out on Domestic Spy Program - New York Times
Sunday, December 25, 2005
Christmas Story
Timmy was particularly pleased with the reaction when they opened the Christmas present he'd brought.
Enter Worthington, Minnesota, a town of 11,000 out on the western prairie where the meat packing plants offer low-paying and high-risk jobs that attract immigrant workers. It's quite the symbiotic relationship. The immigrant workers are willing to do the jobs that no one else will take for the wages the packing houses pay and then they spend most of their earnings right there in town. Of course some of the immigrant workers have to use phony IDs to get the jobs. Most everyone--the packing houses, the authorities, and the local merchants--knows this. But here in America, where we love our freedom (especially when it's so lucrative), don't ask don't tell seems like the best policy.
But then Chief of Police made the mistake of mentioning that the fake IDs become a real bother when his officers pull over an immigrant worker for a routine traffic stop.
Word flashed to the Office of the Governor who immediately saw the opportunity. Stowing away for the moment his Christian beliefs and what Jesus said about the poor and caring for your neighbor, Timmy the Boy Governor brought the full weight of his office to bear, ordering a study, and then releasing a scathing report saying that there could be more than 80,000 illegals in Minnesota and that they cost Minnesotans upwards of $175 million a year (not quite half of what Timmy the Boy Governor's snafu with the cigarette tax will cost, but who's counting).
Never mind that the report has since been discredited by most everyone, even the experts mis-quoted in it. Never mind that Timmy the Boy Governor himself has since disclaimed most of his own report and now says that he realizes that immigrant workers contribute far more to the State's economy than they cost.
That was never the point.
The point was to feed the ugliest instincts among us and to remind citizens that things could always get worse and so you'd better keep your nose to the wheel and vote for conservative ideologues because they'll watch out for that guy over there who just might be out to steal your stuff.
Minnesotans can do better than this.
One Town's Concern - Star Tribune
"Your logic tells you, all right, these people, they only come here for the money. They speak Spanish. They're used to the desert and hot weather. What are they doing in Minnesota? And the answer is the fact that we give everything away."So much for Minnesota Nice. And to hell with the spirit of Christmas. Just the way Timmy the Boy Governor calculated they'd respond when he stirred up fears and hatred for his own political ends. Lagging in the polls and on the verge of a spectacular court loss in his bid to convince ordinary citizens that a "health impact fee" is not a tax, Timmy needed something big to shore up his anti-urban "I've got mine, up yours" conservative base.
Enter Worthington, Minnesota, a town of 11,000 out on the western prairie where the meat packing plants offer low-paying and high-risk jobs that attract immigrant workers. It's quite the symbiotic relationship. The immigrant workers are willing to do the jobs that no one else will take for the wages the packing houses pay and then they spend most of their earnings right there in town. Of course some of the immigrant workers have to use phony IDs to get the jobs. Most everyone--the packing houses, the authorities, and the local merchants--knows this. But here in America, where we love our freedom (especially when it's so lucrative), don't ask don't tell seems like the best policy.
But then Chief of Police made the mistake of mentioning that the fake IDs become a real bother when his officers pull over an immigrant worker for a routine traffic stop.
Word flashed to the Office of the Governor who immediately saw the opportunity. Stowing away for the moment his Christian beliefs and what Jesus said about the poor and caring for your neighbor, Timmy the Boy Governor brought the full weight of his office to bear, ordering a study, and then releasing a scathing report saying that there could be more than 80,000 illegals in Minnesota and that they cost Minnesotans upwards of $175 million a year (not quite half of what Timmy the Boy Governor's snafu with the cigarette tax will cost, but who's counting).
Never mind that the report has since been discredited by most everyone, even the experts mis-quoted in it. Never mind that Timmy the Boy Governor himself has since disclaimed most of his own report and now says that he realizes that immigrant workers contribute far more to the State's economy than they cost.
That was never the point.
The point was to feed the ugliest instincts among us and to remind citizens that things could always get worse and so you'd better keep your nose to the wheel and vote for conservative ideologues because they'll watch out for that guy over there who just might be out to steal your stuff.
Minnesotans can do better than this.
One Town's Concern - Star Tribune
Saturday, December 24, 2005
Success: American Style Democracy Flowers in Iraq
The election is too close to call, the government says, it's going to take a while to count all of the votes. Everyone should just settle down and be patient. Trust the process, they say.
But the process doesn't seem to be working. There are rumors of ballot fraud and all sorts of shenanigans at the polls. Next thing you know people are demonstrating in the streets demanding a fair count.
Finally the courts step in and rule that the members of one party will not be seated, no matter what the final outcome of the ballot count.
It was the Democrats in Florida in 2000 and in Ohio in 2004. Now it's another Anti-Bush group, the Sunni Arabs. Truly we've succeeded in bringing American style democracy to the region.
Elsewhere in Iraq, nine civilians including children were killed when a suicide bomber detonated her explosives inside a market and an American soldier died when a roadside bomb exploded under the truck in which he was riding.
Ex-Baathists Banned From Parliament - Kansas City Star
But the process doesn't seem to be working. There are rumors of ballot fraud and all sorts of shenanigans at the polls. Next thing you know people are demonstrating in the streets demanding a fair count.
Finally the courts step in and rule that the members of one party will not be seated, no matter what the final outcome of the ballot count.
It was the Democrats in Florida in 2000 and in Ohio in 2004. Now it's another Anti-Bush group, the Sunni Arabs. Truly we've succeeded in bringing American style democracy to the region.
Elsewhere in Iraq, nine civilians including children were killed when a suicide bomber detonated her explosives inside a market and an American soldier died when a roadside bomb exploded under the truck in which he was riding.
Ex-Baathists Banned From Parliament - Kansas City Star
Friday, December 23, 2005
You don't know what you've got till it's gone
As George W. Bush continues to attack American citizens in his war on terror, he's said that Congress authorized him to use "all necessary power" to get the terrorists.
Except that's a lie.
Proof?
So which is it, Mr. President?
Do you really believe that Congress meant to give you the power to attack Americans in your war on terror?
If so, why did you bother to specifically demand that power?
And did you then forget that Congress then specifically told you no?
Or is your war on terror so important that you are above the law?
Oh, wait, you already made that argument, didn't you?
Help us understand, won't you, why we should believe that you're defending democracy by placing yourself above the laws that were created by the people.
Power We Didn't Grant - Washington Post
Except that's a lie.
Proof?
In the days after 9/11 Congress rushed to give the President the authority to pursue those who had attacked America, the initial step in what Bush calls his "war on terror."
An hour before Congress authorized the use of force against al Qaeda demanded that the wording be changed to allow him to use force "...in the United States and against those nations..." that had attacked America.
Congress wisely refused and instead authorized the President to use, "all necessary and appropriate force against those nations, organizations or persons [the president] determines planned, authorized, committed or aided [in the attacks of Sept. 11].
So which is it, Mr. President?
Do you really believe that Congress meant to give you the power to attack Americans in your war on terror?
If so, why did you bother to specifically demand that power?
And did you then forget that Congress then specifically told you no?
Or is your war on terror so important that you are above the law?
Oh, wait, you already made that argument, didn't you?
Help us understand, won't you, why we should believe that you're defending democracy by placing yourself above the laws that were created by the people.
Power We Didn't Grant - Washington Post
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