Archive for March 22nd, 2007
Democrat Silenced On House Floor For Katrina Remark
by S-Q @ 8:55 PM MDT
After questioning a Republican congressmember’s “decency” for seeking to restrict housing reconstruction funds for Hurricane Katrina and Rita victims, a Democratic Representative was barred Wednesday from the floor of the U.S. House of Representatives. By a vote of the House’s membership, his speaking privileges were quickly restored, and the Member apologized.
But in an interview with RAW STORY, the staff of Democratic Congressman Gene Taylor of Mississippi stood by the sentiment of his remarks, and seemed eager to get in the last word.
“He apologized to [Rep. Tom] Price, and everybody lived happily ever after, except the people of southern Mississippi who are still living in travel trailers,” said Rep. Taylor’s spokeswoman.
Taylor was barred from speaking on the House floor around noon on Wednesday, while criticizing an amendment offered by Rep. Tom Price (R-GA).
Ray Charles and Stevie Wonder "Living For The City"
Deployments: The Real Numbers
by Basheert @7:00 pm MDT
Mr. Bush’s fuzzy math (must be all that cocaine and booze) regarding the actual deployment numbers for Iraq. When will the military families realize they are being used and abused for purely political reasons?
We need our troops home, now!
ARTICLE
Did Tom Delay Write or Even READ his New Book?
by Basheert @6:55 pm MDT
In a rather sticky interview with Chris Matthews on MSNBC, it became obvious that Tom Delay not only did not write his new book, but evidently he also didn’t take the time to read it either!
E-mails On Attorneys’ Firings Could Impact Privilege Case
by S-Q @ 6:00 PM MDT
| March 22, 2007 | |
| As the White House prepares for a constitutional showdown over subpoenas of top administration aides to testify about the firings of U.S. attorneys, the viability of President Bush’s executive privilege argument may come down to the time-worn question: How much did the president know, and when did he know it?
Democratic sources say that investigators in Congress have taken note of a brief e-mail exchange, released by the administration Monday night, which touches on this topic. But the exchange raises more questions than it answers. In an e-mail dated Nov. 15, 2006, Kyle Sampson, former chief of staff to Attorney General Alberto Gonzales, asked then-White House Counsel Harriet Miers and her deputy, William Kelley, whether he had the green light to go forward with the firing plan. Miers responded that she was “not sure whether this will be determined to require the boss’s attention.” Her e-mail ended with the words: “We will see. Thanks.” Sampson, who resigned last week, responded with a critical question: “Who will determine whether whether [sic] this requires the President’s attention?” |
Edwards Will Continue Presidential Run
by S-Q @ 3:15 PM MDT
By MIKE BAKER, Associated Press Writer
Thursday, March 22, 2007
(03-22) 12:26 PDT Chapel Hill, N.C. (AP) –
Democrat John Edwards is forging ahead with his second bid for the presidency despite the sobering news that his wife, Elizabeth, is battling an incurable reappearance of cancer.
The presidential candidate revealed the closely guarded prognosis — even family friends and some senior campaign staff were unaware — at a news conference Thursday, his wife by his side in the hotel garden where they married 30 years ago.
Putting to rest speculation about his political future, Edwards told reporters: “The campaign goes on. The campaign goes on strongly.”
Note: Best wishes and prayers for Elizabeth Edwards.
What Bush Is Hiding
by S-Q @ 2:00 PM MDT
In the U.S. attorney scandal, Alberto Gonzales gave orders, but he also took them — from Karl Rove, who plotted to turn the federal criminal justice system into the Republican Holy Office of the Inquisition.
By Sidney Blumenthal
March 22, 2007 | Leave aside the unintentional irony of President Bush asserting executive privilege to shield his aides from testifying before the Congress in the summary firings of eight U.S. attorneys because the precedent would prevent him from receiving “good advice.” Leave aside also his denunciation of the Congress for the impertinence of requesting such testimony as “partisan” and “demanding show trials,” despite calls from Republicans for the dismissal of Attorney General Alberto Gonzales. Ignore as well Bush’s adamant defense of Gonzales.
The man Bush has nicknamed “Fredo,” the weak and betraying brother of the Corleone family, is, unlike Fredo, a blind loyalist, and will not be dispatched with a shot to the back of the head in a rowboat on the lake while reciting his Ave Maria. (Is Bush aware that Colin Powell refers to him as “Sonny,” after the hothead oldest son?) But saving “Fredo” doesn’t explain why Bush is willing to risk a constitutional crisis. Why is Bush going to the mattresses against the Congress? What doesn’t he want known?
In the U.S. attorneys scandal, Gonzales was an active though second-level perpetrator. While he gave orders, he also took orders. Just as his chief of staff, Kyle Sampson, has resigned as a fall guy, so Gonzales would be yet another fall guy if he were to resign. He was assigned responsibility for the purge of U.S. attorneys but did not conceive it. The plot to transform the U.S. attorneys and ipso facto the federal criminal justice system into the Republican Holy Office of the Inquisition had its origin in Karl Rove’s fertile mind.
Daily Show: "The White House Is Adamant That Their Advisors Retain The Right To Lie"
by S-Q @ 1:23 PM MDT
Daily Show correspondent John Oliver and anchor Jon Stewart discuss the last time Karl Rove testified. Very funny!!
Deep Gloat
by Basheert @12:15 pm MDT
I found this AWESOME op-ed by Paul Slansky on Huffington Post. When I read the first sentence (The truly great, giddiness-inducing thing about the Justice Department scandal (still awaiting its moronically obligatory “gate”-suffixed title) is how it owes its existence to the gratuitous nastiness of these hate-driven punks in the White House) I knew I had to share it here.
Paul has a real “gift” for identifying the stripes on these zebras and a real skill for getting his message across!
READ IT HERE
Bush Spins Conclusive Evidence for Climate Change!
by Global Evildoer Fighter @ 2:03 PM EDT
Bush Administration Made Nearly 300 Changes Downplaying Climate Change
Robert Lusetich, Los Angeles correspondent
Committee chairman Henry Waxman said Mr Cooney’s testimony was proof that there was a “concerted White House effort to inject uncertainty into the climate debate. It would be a serious abuse if senior White House officials deliberately tried to defuse calls for action by ensuring that the public heard a distorted message about the risks of climate change,” Mr Waxman said.
THE Bush administration diluted scientific evidence of global warming, one of its former high-ranking officials has admitted.
Philip Cooney, an oil industry lobbyist now working for Exxon Mobil, conceded during a congressional hearing yesterday that while he was chief of staff of the White House Council on Environmental Quality he watered down reports on the adverse effects of man-made emissions on the planet’s climate.
