ThinkFast: December 19, 2007
ThinkFast: December 19, 2007
At least four top White House lawyers — Harriet Miers, John Bellinger, Alberto Gonzales, and David Addington — “took part in discussions with the” CIA “between 2003 and 2005 about whether to destroy videotapes showing the secret interrogations.” “Some top White House officials” reportedly voiced “vigorous sentiment” in favor of the destruction.
“Iraqis of all sectarian and ethnic groups believe that the U.S. military invasion is the primary root of the violent differences among them, and see the departure of ‘occupying forces’ as the key to national reconciliation, according to focus groups conducted for the U.S. military last month.”
Despite “significant security gains” in much of Iraq, nothing has changed within Iraq’s political leadership to guarantee sustainable peace, according to a new Pentagon report. “The Iraqi government has made little headway in improving the delivery of electricity, health care and other essential services.”
Ousted U.S. attorney Bud Cummins has called on Justice Department communications director Brian Roehrkasse to step down, contending that he “did more than perhaps any other DOJ official to disseminate the avalanche of untruths” in the U.S. attorney scandal.
Russian President Vladimir Putin has been named Time magazine’s “Person of the Year” for 2007 for “taking a country that was in chaos and bringing it stability.” Runners-up include Al Gore, J.K. Rowling, and Gen. David Petraeus.
“Sen. Tom Coburn (R-OK) is threatening to withhold support for legislation making technical corrections to the 2005 highway bill if it does not require a ‘full and open’ investigation into the now-notorious Coconut Road earmark” of Rep. Don Young (R-AK).
Yesterday, Congress “struck back at the Bush administration’s trend toward secrecy since the 2001 terrorist attacks, passing legislation to toughen the Freedom of Information Act and increasing penalties on agencies that don’t comply.”
“A recent decline in U.S. news coverage from Iraq coincides with improved public opinion about the war, according to a new Pew Research study released yesterday.” A three percent drop in coverage between June and Oct. 2007 accompanied a 14 percent increase in optimism about the war.
“U.S. military commanders in Iraq didn’t know Turkey was sending warplanes to bomb in northern Iraq until the planes had already crossed the border.” However, the Air Force Times reports that Air Force-bolstered intelligence likely fueled the Turkish jet strikes.
And finally: Looking for a last-minute Christmas gift? There’s the National Counterterrorism Center’s 2008 weekly planner, which contains fun facts such as Osama bin Laden’s birthday (July 30) and that Dec. 19 is the date “Libyan-trained Abu Sayyaf Group leader Abdurajak Abubakar Janjalani died in a gunfight with Philippine authorities on Basilan island.” Available “only to folks inside the anti-terrorism community.”
What did we miss? Let us know in the comments section.
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Well, we had heard that the CIA cleared the destruction of the tapes with “their lawyers”, and now we know who those lawyers were. It all makes sense now.
December 19th, 2007 at 9:05 am4 faces we should see on the walls of Post Offices across the country.
December 19th, 2007 at 9:07 amThese are the people Bush chose to surround himself with.
These are the people that made many of the decisions we live with today.
These are the people who put Party & Person before Country.
These are the people who must pay a high price for aborting America.
December 19th, 2007 at 9:10 amAG Mukasey has a conflict of interest problem already, and should recuse himself and appoint a Special Prosecutor.
Jose Padilla”s lawyers argued before the Florida Federal Court that Abu Zubaydah was tortured into saying Padilla was an al Qaeda associate. The DOJ dismissed Padilla”s allegations as “meritless,” asserting Padilla”s legal team could not prove that Abu Zubaydah had been tortured. Well, it”s clear now that they certainly COULD have, if the tapes of the interrogations of Abu Zubaydah had been made available!
Now here is where Mukasey”s role comes into question. U.S. District Judge Mukasey, now attorney general, was the one who signed the warrant used by the FBI to arrest Padilla in May 2002. Court records show the warrant relied in part on information obtained from Abu Zubaydah”s interrogation. So we have a problem Houston.
The Attorney General can only issue a warrant based upon legally obtained evidence, and confessions under torture are certainly not “legally obtained”. So either Mukasey was misrepresented the evidence, and would be liable to be potentially a party in those who were presented with “perjured evidence”; or he knew that torture was used in obtaining the confession and ignored it.
In either case he is unsuitable to run an investigation, as it will, inevitably, involve himself. Thus a Special Prosecutor is necessary… Odds that this will happen? Zero percent.
December 19th, 2007 at 9:12 amwell good, security is better in iraq.
a. most of the people must be dead
b. they all have moved out of iraq
mission chimpcomplished.
December 19th, 2007 at 9:12 am“A recent decline in U.S. news coverage from Iraq coincides with improved public opinion about the war…”
———————————
Unpleasant things are always more palatable if we remain as ignorant as possible. For example, more of us would be vegetarians if we were exposed more to animal slaughterhouses.
As long as actual coverage of Iraq declines, and we are given only White House soundbites such as “progress is being made”, “the surge is working”, etc., of course support for the war will go up.
December 19th, 2007 at 9:15 amYes, it all makes perfect sense now that the White House is involved directly in the destruction of evidence! Now on with the impeachment proceedings against Cheney & Bush since it was their own lawyers to lobbied vigorously “in favor of” obstruction of justice simply as a CYA tactic for Bush himself and themselves as well. This is a smoking gun.
December 19th, 2007 at 9:16 am“Sen. Tom Coburn (R-OK) is threatening to withhold support for legislation
Isn’t this the same guy who has been putting ’secret holds’ on other legislation & then lying in the weeds while everyone asks who did this?
Maybe that earmark does have to be revealed, but Mr. Coburn and his esteemed colleague, Mr. Imhofe, have certainly outlived any useful purpose in Congress.
December 19th, 2007 at 9:16 amThis is big… one of the great names on Wall Street, Morgan Stanley, is now 10% owned by the Chinese government.
http://www.bloomberg.com/apps/news?pid=20601087&sid=aw_wuZ3QM5eU&refer=home
December 19th, 2007 at 9:17 ammissmolly: I couldn’t agree with you more. In order to keep the truth from the people about what an abysmal failure this surge actually is, they’re limiting their coverage to inane sound bites from complicit individuals. Just yesterday it was aired, however, that the Iraqi government has been a total and complete failure – accomplishing only one of eight objectives. Now Lindsey Graham has to eat his words.
December 19th, 2007 at 9:18 am#10 Soon this entire country will become a wholly owned subsidiary of a community country: China; that is, if they don’t poison all of us beforehand.
December 19th, 2007 at 9:19 amI picture these people watching the tapes…..”Pass the vomit bucket..PLEASEESEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE”
December 19th, 2007 at 9:20 amI hate to drag up old predictions but does anyone recall Ross Perot and his prognostications?? When he spoke of NAFTA, he asked us to “hear that sucking sound” – how right he was.
December 19th, 2007 at 9:20 amBush Bankrupts America!
Mission Accomplished
December 19th, 2007 at 9:20 amwisedup: Now we also know why Pelosi is playing nice-nice, too. She saw the tapes and knows that her silence makes her a “co-conspirator”.
December 19th, 2007 at 9:20 amPutin deserves it. He’s a bit of a hardass, but it’s got the tact to get away with it, and I’m all in favor of promoting stability in a country that has thousands of nukes pointed at us.
December 19th, 2007 at 9:21 amMission accomplished, indeed. What americans will discover is that, on his way out of town, Bush has raided our treasury.
December 19th, 2007 at 9:21 amSo the Senate has passed $70 billion more for the occupation of Iraq and Afghanistan?
Where was Barack or Hillary to filibuster this piece of crap. Its time that we demand ACTION. Words will no longer do. Dodd and Kucinich have set the standard. We must accept nothing less from our Democratic nomination.
Doesn’t Obama know that if he filibustered this bill he’d be a f*ng national hero and win by a landslide. Why is he always missing votes but telling us what he would’ve done.
December 19th, 2007 at 9:22 amNever before has a President and Vice President deserved to be impeached more than these.Yet our Speaker of the House of Representatives, Nancy Pelosi, is working behind the scenes with House Democrats, not to build a consensus for impeachment, but to do just the opposite. To keep others from succeeding in their effort to hold this president accountable by means of impeachment.With the FISA bill looming in the Senate, we have to show the leaders of the House and Senate that this is still our country. Please read the petition to replace Pelosi with a Democratic Representative who will bring impeachment proceedings to the floor.
http://www.petitiononline.com/everyman/petition.html
Please help me spread the word of this effort. We can either “ask” that they impeach, or we can tell them “impeach or get the hell out of the way.”
December 19th, 2007 at 9:23 amKay: Let’s hope that you are not right! Of course, all of this hoopla about the election might just be another Neofascist “smokescreen” and they have another false flag planned which will dictate martial law, as you’ve said, and our democracy will be bye-bye in the blink of an eye. Look at how we’ve traded our freedoms for the false sense of security already? What more do we have left at this point?
If the people don’t wake up soon from the veil which has purposely been placed over their eyes, it will be too late.
BTW, John Edwards is looking more and more like my candidate of choice and I’m an Independent.
December 19th, 2007 at 9:24 amWilly: Thanks for the link. I’ll send it to everyone I know. We knew something was rancid with Pelosi all along. Now we know why.
Impeachment is no longer a choice; it is a mandate of Congress under their oath of office.
Let’s remind them of this obligation.
December 19th, 2007 at 9:26 amPelosi needs to “get out of the way” because it would leave her next in line and we know they’ve got the goods on her which is why she’s stalling the impeachment process. Now we also know why Harry Reid is also stalling – he’s got too many of his own skeletons.
It’s time for these two spineless faux democrats to step down!
December 19th, 2007 at 9:27 am“Some top White House officials†reportedly voiced “vigorous sentiment†in favor of the destruction.
Of course they did. They knew that torture is illegal and that if the tapes came out their boss would undoubtedly be impeached.
December 19th, 2007 at 9:27 amMr. JJ, I addressed your concerns prior to the Military Commissions Act’s passage in a post on dailykos:
Lest we Forget: Sir Walter Raleigh, the Seminal Case of Torture and Hearsay Evidence
by Briseadh na Faire
Sat Sep 16, 2006 at 07:44:10 PM PST
Now is the time for some historical perspective regarding President Bush’s proposed Military Commission bill.
We have now come to the time where a citizen of the United States may be convicted based on evidence obtained from torture, without the opportunity to challange that evidence. We have set Human Rights and the Rule of Law back some 400 years.
December 19th, 2007 at 9:28 amVeritas :
I am voting for Cynthia McKinney : she announced her candidacy representing the Green Party.
December 19th, 2007 at 9:29 amWhat did we miss? L
From today’s NYTimes:
Green Light for Institute on Creation in Texas
HOUSTON — A Texas higher education panel has recommended allowing a Bible-based group called the Institute for Creation Research to offer online master’s degrees in science education.
The action comes weeks after the Texas Education Agency’s director of science, Christine Castillo Comer, lost her job after superiors accused her of displaying bias against creationism and failing to be “neutral†over the teaching of evolution.
Is it possible to evict Texas from the Union? I want an M.E. in B.S. please.
December 19th, 2007 at 9:29 amsee the departure of ‘occupying forces’ as the key to national reconciliation, according to focus groups conducted for the U.S. military last month.â€
If we were in Iraq for any other reason than to steal their oil, we would be leaving now. The Iraqi people don’t want us there. The Iraqi government doesn’t want us there (except for the corrupt puppets we put into power), so why are we still occupying their country?
December 19th, 2007 at 9:29 amAs long as actual coverage of Iraq declines, and we are given only White House soundbites such as “progress is being madeâ€, “the surge is workingâ€, etc., of course support for the war will go up.
-Comment by missmolly
Good Golly, missmolly!
I’ve noticed the same. Right after the Patreaus report, MSM quit nightly coverage of Iraq. Michael Ware on CNN had the most in depth reports; you never see him anymore.
This isn’t just a coincidence, it’s part of a PR, or lack therein, plan by the Bushies. ‘See no evil’ may describe it best. In fact, as I write this, I have a vision of Bush, Cheney & Rice mimicking the 3 monkeys covering their ear, eyes, & mouths.
Charming, yes?
December 19th, 2007 at 9:29 amWilly,
perhaps you could put some effort into unseating Ms. Pelosi in ‘08 as well.
Here’s a campaign by one person seeking to do just that:
http://www.cindyforcongress.org/
December 19th, 2007 at 9:31 amCynthia McKinney has officially declared her bid for the presidency of the
United States of America as the candidate of the Green Party! Those who
have followed her career in congress know who she is and what she stands
for. Those who met her at the Hartford 911 Truth Conference are confident
that she fully understands the nature and complexities of the betrayal of
America that occurred on 9/11/01 and thereafter.
To read about Cynthia McKinney’s campaign and hear her declare her candidacy
go to this website:
http://www.informationclearinghouse.info/article18915.htm . To view her
official website go to http://www.runcynthiarun.org .
Cynthia McKinney will be YOUR voice in this campaign. She will present the
TRUTH out in the open where it must be heard and responded to. She will
address multiple issues that are literally matters of life and death to all
of us. But to be a voice that is heard she needs to be on the ballot all
across America. To do this she needs your time and your treasure.
Will you help?!…
To commit your time go to:
http://supporters.runcynthiarun.org/supporters.cgi?function=volunteer&proces
s=1
To donate your treasure go to:
http://supporters.runcynthiarun.org/supporters.cgi
Peace Is Possible. You and I will decide whether it is probable by the
depth of our commitment to the values we hold dear. Please shout out with
me as loud as you can
“RUN CYNTHIA RUN!”
Peace, Christopher
(PS Take heart, something WONDERFUL is going to happen!)
December 19th, 2007 at 9:31 amOh man is O’Lielly gonna be one pissed of guy.
December 19th, 2007 at 9:33 amWhere was Barack or Hillary to filibuster this piece of crap.
Comment by 2MillionLightYearsToAndromeda — December 19, 2007 @ 9:22 am
Barack and Hillary are spending all their time in New Hampshire and Iowa running for president. And it’s a sad thing in this country when running for president has become such a full-time job that one’s current job is all but abandoned.
The New Hampshire primary is now less than a month away. This is completely insane. Even more insane is that the citizens of NH and Iowa are regarded as the ONLY people who are important to the candidates at this stage of the game — the rest of America and their needs can all go to h*ll.
We truly need a better system. I suggest that primaries for all states be held in late August or early September of an election year — all on the same Tuesday. Delegates to nominating conventions will be chosen then. Nominating conventions would be held in early October. They could even be held at the same time, since the media are no longer interested in covering them. And then the general election in November.
It wouldn’t solve all the problems, but at least it would compact the process into a shorter time frame. Hopefully that would keep candidates who currently hold elected office doing their real jobs for awhile longer.
December 19th, 2007 at 9:37 amBNF; make than 900 years-BEFORE the Magna Carta.
December 19th, 2007 at 9:38 am“A Texas higher education panel has recommended allowing a Bible-based group called the Institute for Creation Research to offer online master’s degrees in science education.”
Comment by Menehune — December 19, 2007 @ 9:29 am
Wow — do they also teach that the earth is flat?
December 19th, 2007 at 9:39 amAl Gore’s star is aparantly fading as he came in #2 to Vladimir Putin in an award previously won by Joseph Stalin and Adolph Hitler.
-Comment by good_golly
But he won it last year, so what’s your point?
December 19th, 2007 at 9:40 amYesterday, Congress “struck back at the Bush administration’s trend toward secrecy since the 2001 terrorist attacks, passing legislation to toughen the Freedom of Information Act and increasing penalties on agencies that don’t comply.â€
Signing statement: This doesn’t apply to any agency that I say. And I say. GWB
December 19th, 2007 at 9:42 am35…missmolly that has got to be the easiest Master’s program! Every student will have to have the same thesis: God made it the way it is. And they’ll defend it in the same way: Because God made it that way.
December 19th, 2007 at 9:45 amAl Gore’s star is aparantly fading as he came in #2 to Vladimir Putin in an award previously won by Joseph Stalin and Adolph Hitler.
Comment by good_golly — December 19, 2007 @ 9:37 am
Obsessing a bit there, troll?
December 19th, 2007 at 9:46 amComment by good_golly — December 19, 2007 @ 9:41 am
Hmmm…you may be right. Maybe the problem is that we treat our national election as 50 state elections. For president, maybe we should do away with states altogether. No delegates, no nominating conventions, no Electoral College — just a straight national primary and a straight national general election. It would be difficult to do, since a whole lot of laws would have to be changed, but the results would be worth it.
Of course there would be a big stink about getting rid of nominating conventions. The biggest purpose they serve now is to give faithful party workers a chance to travel to a big city somewhere and get laid. Nobody’s gonna want to give that up.
December 19th, 2007 at 9:48 amA three percent drop in coverage between June and Oct. 2007 accompanied a 14 percent increase in optimism about the war.
The dumbing down of America. And it’s about to get even worse now that the FCC has done away with the rule prohibiting ownership of newspapers by media outlets. Pretty soon the “Libural Media” will be a wholly owned subsidiary of the RNC.
December 19th, 2007 at 9:50 amDid TP mention yesterday that the FCC passed legislation allowing ownership of a newspaper and a broadcast channel in the same city?
This will allow a further stranglehold and consolidation of media outlets.
The legislation will allow such ownership in the twenty largest cities. But through waivers such ownership will be allowed in EVERY CITY.
You think the media is insufferable now? It just got much much worse.
December 19th, 2007 at 9:53 amCheney’s office is under fire…literally. Breaking news now! The EEOB next to the White House is on fire!
December 19th, 2007 at 9:55 ammissmolly: I do believe you have a new fan-troll. This good_golly guy could be C_H_L in a new incarnation.
December 19th, 2007 at 9:55 amNo, Zimzone, he didn’t. -Comment by good_golly
Yes, he did.
So did I.
So did you.
And your purpose here this morning is?…
December 19th, 2007 at 9:56 amThis good_golly guy could be C_H_L in a new incarnation.
Comment by Menehune — December 19, 2007 @ 9:55 am
Ding ding ding ding!!!! We have a winner!
Let the flagging begin!
December 19th, 2007 at 9:57 am47…did that big pile of shredded documents catch fire spontaneously? Or did Dick’s pacemaker spark it?
December 19th, 2007 at 9:57 amComment by 2MillionLightYearsToAndromeda — December 19, 2007 @ 9:22 am
Will you please give it a rest. This is about the 500th post you have made about Barak and Hillary. We all know how you feel about them and don’t need you to tell is again and again in every thread.
December 19th, 2007 at 10:00 amthe departure of ‘occupying forces’ as the key to national reconciliation,
Uh, er, um, yeah. Good luck with that folks. Not until your oil is all gone.
December 19th, 2007 at 10:01 am*** BREAKING NEWS: An executive office building next to the White House is on fire.
I wonder if any CIA videotapes of torture are in the building? 2 alarm fire.
December 19th, 2007 at 10:02 amHowever, the Air Force Times reports that Air Force-bolstered intelligence likely fueled the Turkish jet strikes.
I would not be at all surprised to find out that the US was meddling in Turkish/Kurdish affairs. After all, it’s the Kurds who are, for the most part, holding up the oil revenue sharing deal.
December 19th, 2007 at 10:02 am“A recent decline in U.S. news coverage from Iraq coincides with improved public opinion about the war, according to a new Pew Research study released yesterday.†A three percent drop in coverage between June and Oct. 2007 accompanied a 14 percent increase in optimism about the war.
Wow, that’s some elasticity! If there were zero reports, people’s approval would zoom through the ceiling.
Until one of their neighbors comes back in a box.
December 19th, 2007 at 10:03 amComment by 2MillionLightYearsToAndromeda — December 19, 2007 @ 9:22 am
Will you please give it a rest. This is about the 500th post you have made about Barak and Hillary.
No. They could’ve filibustered this crap and saved the lives of countless thousands. And saved the taxpayers billions. I will continue to accurately criticize them when warranted. This is the first time I’ve critcized them on this dereliction of duty. More criticisms will follow. Brace yourself.
December 19th, 2007 at 10:05 amHere’s a campaign by one person seeking to do just that:
http://www.cindyforcongress.org/
Wow, Cindy Sheehan is really going to do it. She’s challenging Pelosi. I sure wish I still lived in California. I would vote for her in a hot minute. But, I am not going to hold my breath. After all, California has voted for Arnie twice as Governator.
December 19th, 2007 at 10:05 amYou wish Al Gore was fading. Keep dreaming. And keep pimping those biostitute “skeptics” taking money from Big Oil. It is absolutely pathetic that your argument against man’s effect on global climate change is so weak that you have to set up fronts to refer to.
Just because there is a handful of supposed doubters doesn’t mean that Gore’s position isn’t the truth. But of course like so many other issues, your politicization of science is only meant to destroy the very concept of the truth. You have been wrong so many times on so many issues that you set out to undermine the very idea that there can be an impartial truth. So you can dismiss any credible rebuttal to the willful, arrogant ignorance that you wallow in.
My point is that you don’t need every single person on the planet to accept something in order for it to be considered the truth. By demanding universal agreement in order for something to be accepted, you are placing your own conceit and vanity before society’s ability to establish anything as the truth.
December 19th, 2007 at 10:05 amAfter all, it’s the Kurds who are, for the most part, holding up the oil revenue sharing deal.
Comment by bilbobaggins — December 19, 2007 @ 10:02 am
I wonder what’s really going on over there. Now that the Kurds actually have some territory they can call their own and seem to be getting together, it doesn’t make sense that they’d be picking a fight w/ Turkey at just this moment. Very curious.
December 19th, 2007 at 10:06 amLatest word from the White House fire is that Cheney carried his man-sized safe out of the building on his back.
After a quick battery replacement, the VP said he felt fine. Then he realized he didn’t have the safe’s combination with him. When asked why he was in such a hurry to open the safe, Mr. Cheney quietly said, ‘because the President is hiding in there’.
December 19th, 2007 at 10:06 amIt wouldn’t solve all the problems, but at least it would compact the process into a shorter time frame. Hopefully that would keep candidates who currently hold elected office doing their real jobs for awhile longer.
Comment by missmolly
I agree with you totally missmolly. I am tired of small states like Iowa and New Hampshire choosing who will be the presidential contenders. We need to bring some fairness into the system. If we all vote on the same day, there is no reason why we can’t all hold primaries on the same day. I would like to be able to have a say in who the candidate for President will be. Right now the only choice the states have is to move up their primaries and we have all seen how well that’s working now that we have our first primary in January!
December 19th, 2007 at 10:08 amAl Gore’s star is aparantly fading as he came in #2 to Vladimir Putin in an award previously won by Joseph Stalin and Adolph Hitler.
Comment by good_golly
Anyone want to bet that good_golly is the reincarnation of one of our banned trolls. Let’s take a survey on who you think it is. I think it’s probably CHL – he may have been banned last night.
December 19th, 2007 at 10:10 amLet the flagging begin!
Comment by The Republic of Stupidity
Wow, great minds do think alike. I posted the same thing (before reading your post). I sure do wish that TP would go to IP address registration. It’s pretty easy and would go much further in getting rid of our serial trolls. It’s too easy to create a new e-mail address with yahoo or hot mail for using an e-mail address to be effective.
December 19th, 2007 at 10:14 amBilbo,
I agree, CHL appears to be the same varmint good_golly is.
I hope I didn’t give him the idea; I addressed missmolly this morning with ‘good golly, missmolly.
Whomever it is owes me a reply…Al Gore WAS man of the year last year.
December 19th, 2007 at 10:14 amAnd so were you!
It is also interesting that you require 100% acceptance of the evidence by the public and industry to believe Gore’s position, but when it comes to WMD’s and taking military action against other nations, the rightwing needs just 1%.
December 19th, 2007 at 10:14 amRussian President Vladimir Putin has been named Time magazine’s “Person of the Year†for 2007 for “taking a country that was in chaos and bringing it stability.â€
Geez, I missed the memo. It’s “Hug your favorite dictator month” and I almost missed it. I wonder if Mussolini won this honor when he was in power? Hitler might have even had a shot. Stalin, too.
Honestly, they could have pushed Hugo Chavez for being a dictator who, for now, accepts the will of the voters. Putin is simply a dictator.
December 19th, 2007 at 10:16 am#54. Let’s focus on hoping (or praying if that is your choice) that everyone gets out safely and that there is not too much damage to this historic building before we start with the conspiracy theories.
Comment by good_golly — December 19, 2007 @ 10:04 am
In addition to praying for the survival of all the people in the building, even the neo-cons (because I want them to be able to attend their court date in the Hague) I’m praying that all the convicting evidence will survive too.
December 19th, 2007 at 10:16 amCorrection to an earlier statement here: The FCC did not pass ‘legislation’, they made a ruling. The Senate will no doubt strike down this ruling.
“The cross-ownership vote came after a bipartisan group of 25 U.S. senators, led by Byron Dorgan, a North Dakota Democrat, demanded Monday that the FCC delay its vote on cross-ownership, saying that the public hadn’t had enough time to consider the proposed changes to the rule.
The senators vowed to move legislation to revoke the FCC rule and nullify the vote if the agency moved ahead with its plans.”
December 19th, 2007 at 10:19 am“What are the Clinton’s trying to hide? If they can protect “confidential advice,†then why should “confidential advice†given by White House lawyers to the President not be confidential? It has to be one way or the other. We have to be consistent.”
Comment by good_golly
The presidential confidential records act was instituted by Bush. What’s your point?
December 19th, 2007 at 10:20 am2006 was everybody.
Good Golly:
By mentioning the few who you choose to mention you show an utter lack of understanding of what the declaration of Time’s person of the year actually means. It is not always about who does the most good or about rewarding great achievements, nope sometimes it is simply about who has had the greatest impact. Though I strongly suspect that as long as the wiinner is not a right wing conservative you would object and demean the person of the year choice.
Why not mention some of the other winners? People like…George W. Bush in 2000 & 2004? The American Soldier 2003? Rudy Giuliani 2001? Kenneth Starr 1998? Newt 1995? Pope John Paul II 1994? George HW Bush 1990? Reagan 1980 & 1983? Richard Nixon 1971 & 1972? Henry Kissinger 1972? Pope John XXIII 1962? Eisenhower 1959 & 1944? John Foster Dulles 1954? Queen Elizabeth II 1952? The American Fighting Man 1950? Harry Truman 1945 & 1948, Winston Churchill 1940 & 1949, George Marshall 1943 & 1947, FDR 1932, 1934 & 1941, and that famous republican Nazi sympathizer…Lindbergh 1927?
Why not mention those and many more like them? Or does that not fit your agenda of distorting and fogging?
December 19th, 2007 at 10:26 amFrom Fox News…Fire was an Electrical fire. The Secret Service has stopped fire investigators from entering. At least that’s what’s reported on Stephanie Miller.
December 19th, 2007 at 10:27 amMenehune,
Let’s not be too quick to judge these Texans’ ideas. Think of the money we as a society could save if we adopted their approach. Billions saved in research and development, just pray for a cure for cancer. Pray for a faster internet connection. Horrible car wreck on the interstate? Don’t waste time and money trying to save lives, just pray that they feel better soon. If God wants them to die, he will let them die, it’s just their time.
And schools? Who needs schools when the answer to every question is because God made it that way.
Really though, what would you expect from a state that gave us the smirking POS as POTUS.
December 19th, 2007 at 10:27 amCorrection to an earlier statement here: The FCC did not pass ‘legislation’, they made a ruling. The Senate will no doubt strike down this ruling.
The senators vowed to move legislation to revoke the FCC rule and nullify the vote if the agency moved ahead with its plans.â€
Comment by leftcoast — December 19, 2007 @ 10:19 am
Thank you for the correction. I wrote that post from memory without double checking my source for the correct verbiage.
Bush will veto the Senate legislation and they don’t have enough votes to override. So its a done deal.
December 19th, 2007 at 10:29 am“No, barfly, it wasn’t. Bush wasn’t President in 1978. But in any case, the point is that it has to be applied consistently.”
Comment by good_golly
Executive Order 13233
This Executive Order, issued by President George W. Bush on November 1, 2001, supersedes the previous Executive Order. The Bush Executive Order also includes the documents of former Vice Presidents.
An executive order, making it harder that it previously was to gain access to documents. If it isn’t being applied consistently, blame the guy currently in office.
December 19th, 2007 at 10:33 amThe point (albeit a minor one) is that Al Gore failed to win and complete the trifecta that many had predicted.
Comment by good_golly
Please post one person predicting this.
December 19th, 2007 at 10:35 amThe point (albeit a minor one) is that Al Gore failed to win and complete the trifecta that many had predicted.
Comment by good_golly — December 19, 2007 @ 10:31 am
Adjectives like desperate, inane, and idiotic come to mind when reading this comment.
December 19th, 2007 at 10:38 amThe point (albeit a minor one) is that Al Gore failed to win and complete the trifecta that many had predicted.
Comment by good_golly — December 19, 2007 @ 10:31 am
Who had predicted? Your bullshit is getting deep, I’ll go get my boots. And Bush has sealed all of his father’s records, as well as Reagan’s so STFU about 2800 pages of Clinton records that are protected by lawyer-client privilege.
You people have no respect for the law.
December 19th, 2007 at 10:38 am#78 no that absolutely was not your point. Had that been your point you might have alluded to it. Nope you choose instead to point out that Both Hitler and Stalin had previously won the award. Your point being to sully and smear the Time selection and anyone associated with it. Though by doing so you have willfully chosen to smear the likes of our current president and Ronald Reagan who have both won the same award that Stalin and Hitler have previously won.
It is the same way you people smeared the Nobel Peace prize by mentioning that Arafat had won it, your point being to make people believe the awards are the product of the dreaded liberal mindset. Of course since no republican in recent history (Kissinger winning in 1973 was an aberration) has ever worked for peace, then that would dovetail nicely into your agenda because republicans don’t win the peace award.
Perhaps you should think your smears through better before you post them? Maybe?
December 19th, 2007 at 10:39 amgood_golly, I’m still awaiting confirmation that, indeed, Gore did win Man of the Year with Time last year.
If you have time to post bullshit, surely you have time to confirm I was right. Right?
December 19th, 2007 at 10:42 amGood Golly:
By mentioning the few who you choose to mention you show an utter lack of understanding of what the declaration of Time’s person of the year actually means.
Comment by Severus — December 19, 2007 @ 10:26 am
Good Golly also ignores the fact that while Stalin and Hitler may have been previous winngers, Petraeus was also a runner-up. I’m sure had Gore won Golly’s post would have simply compared his win to that of Stalin/Hitler. Sour grapes from people on their way out of the Presidential office.
December 19th, 2007 at 10:48 am“I know that the prediction for a trifecta by Gore was made on NPR, for exemple. In fact on NPR this morning, they made mention that Gore came in #2 and failed to compelte the trifecta. Don’t any of you listen to NPR?”
Comment by good_golly
Someone made a prediction today? Transcripts? Is that what you’re basing your assertion on? Today?
December 19th, 2007 at 10:54 amWho gives a stale crap who predicted what?
Does this in ANY way diminish the message that Gore brings?
No.
December 19th, 2007 at 10:59 amNow, for your claim that Clinton was responsible for the inaccessability of records…
Care to admit your mistake?
December 19th, 2007 at 10:59 amIt is no surprise to me that Time would select a virtual communist dictator of a 2nd or 3rd world nation, over General Patreus, who has turned around the situation in Iraq.
Putin has had absolutely NO impact on the world stage, whereas the War in Iraq is the main act of this 3 ring circus. Fortunatley, Hugo Chavez lost his bid for indefinite re-elections, or Time would have names Hugo Chavez man of the year.
December 19th, 2007 at 11:02 am“What did we miss? Let us know in the comments section.”
ANOTHER DEMOCRAT SOUNDING POSITIVE ON IRAQ:
“U.S. Rep. Joe Donnelly returned from a second trip to Iraq in five months encouraged that the mission there is going better and that by 2009 the U.S. military’s role could be primarily as trainers and advisers.
“I feel we’ve made progress, and the other part is I feel we can see an end game in sight,” Donnelly, D-Ind., told reporters on a conference call Tuesday from Washington. “It isn’t we just keep plugging away in the hopes something will turn out right. Gen. (David) Petraeus is working a plan and we seem to be heading toward a place where the Iraqis can be self-sustaining and we’ll have a smaller presence in the background.”
Donnelly’s findings were in stark contrast to his visit to Iraq last July, when he said the only positive thing that happened in that country since the beginning of the war in March 2003 was the ouster of Saddam Hussein.”
http://www.indystar.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20071219/LOCAL/712190491
December 19th, 2007 at 11:02 amPutin has had absolutely NO impact on the world stage???
WTF? He’s the undisputed leader of one of the largest countries in the world, wildly popular with his people and controls vast economic and natural resources. His ties with Iran and the middle east make him a MAJOR player in the geopolitical realm.
Go back to bed Jason.
December 19th, 2007 at 11:05 am#98, RUBiCurious,
Other than withholding energy supplies to the Ukraine, and obstructing sanctions on Iran, I challenge any of you to state what Putin ACHIEVED in or for the world.
Of course, proglodytes think obstructionism is an achievement, so you will merely list what I’ve already stated.
December 19th, 2007 at 11:15 amJason, here’s one blurb from the article that states my case…
…On global issues, it offers alternatives to America’s waning influence, helping broker deals in North Korea, the Middle East, Iran. Russia just made its first shipment of nuclear fuel to Iran—a sign that Russia is taking the lead on that vexsome issue, particularly after the latest U.S. intelligence report suggested that the Bush Administration has been wrong about Iran’s nuclear-weapons development.
December 19th, 2007 at 11:25 amRight wingers not wishing to acknowledge anyone other than their own is not at all surprising. But here is an article from Time regarding the choice of Putin…
Tuesday, Dec. 18, 2007
Choosing Order Before Freedom
By Richard Stengel
In a year when Al Gore won the Nobel Peace Prize and green became the new red, white and blue; when the combat in Iraq showed signs of cooling but Baghdad’s politicians showed no signs of statesmanship; when China, the rising superpower, juggled its pride in hosting next summer’s Olympic Games with its embarrassment at shipping toxic toys around the world; and when J.K. Rowling set millions of minds and hearts on fire with the final volume of her 17-year saga—one nation that had fallen off our mental map, led by one steely and determined man, emerged as a critical linchpin of the 21st century.
Russia lives in history—and history lives in Russia. Throughout much of the 20th century, the Soviet Union cast an ominous shadow over the world. It was the U.S.’s dark twin. But after the fall of the Berlin Wall, Russia receded from the American consciousness as we became mired in our own polarized politics. And it lost its place in the great game of geopolitics, its significance dwarfed not just by the U.S. but also by the rising giants of China and India. That view was always naive. Russia is central to our world—and the new world that is being born. It is the largest country on earth; it shares a 2,600-mile (4,200 km) border with China; it has a significant and restive Islamic population; it has the world’s largest stockpile of weapons of mass destruction and a lethal nuclear arsenal; it is the world’s second largest oil producer after Saudi Arabia; and it is an indispensable player in whatever happens in the Middle East. For all these reasons, if Russia fails, all bets are off for the 21st century. And if Russia succeeds as a nation-state in the family of nations, it will owe much of that success to one man, Vladimir Vladimirovich Putin.
No one would label Putin a child of destiny. The only surviving son of a Leningrad factory worker, he was born after what the Russians call the Great Patriotic War, in which they lost more than 26 million people. The only evidence that fate played a part in Putin’s story comes from his grandfather’s job: he cooked for Joseph Stalin, the dictator who inflicted ungodly terrors on his nation.
When this intense and brooding KGB agent took over as President of Russia in 2000, he found a country on the verge of becoming a failed state. With dauntless persistence, a sharp vision of what Russia should become and a sense that he embodied the spirit of Mother Russia, Putin has put his country back on the map. And he intends to redraw it himself. Though he will step down as Russia’s President in March, he will continue to lead his country as its Prime Minister and attempt to transform it into a new kind of nation, beholden to neither East nor West.
TIME’s Person of the Year is not and never has been an honor. It is not an endorsement. It is not a popularity contest. At its best, it is a clear-eyed recognition of the world as it is and of the most powerful individuals and forces shaping that world—for better or for worse. It is ultimately about leadership—bold, earth-changing leadership. Putin is not a boy scout. He is not a democrat in any way that the West would define it. He is not a paragon of free speech. He stands, above all, for stability—stability before freedom, stability before choice, stability in a country that has hardly seen it for a hundred years. Whether he becomes more like the man for whom his grandfather prepared blinis—who himself was twice TIME’s Person of the Year—or like Peter the Great, the historical figure he most admires; whether he proves to be a reformer or an autocrat who takes Russia back to an era of repression—this we will know only over the next decade. At significant cost to the principles and ideas that free nations prize, he has performed an extraordinary feat of leadership in imposing stability on a nation that has rarely known it and brought Russia back to the table of world power. For that reason, Vladimir Putin is TIME’s 2007 Person of the Year.
December 19th, 2007 at 11:29 amQuoting the Boner? As a source? BWAAHAHA!
December 19th, 2007 at 11:46 amNot even close.
Despite “significant security gains†in much of Iraq, nothing has changed within Iraq’s political leadership to guarantee sustainable peace, according to a new Pentagon report. “The Iraqi government has made little headway in improving the delivery of electricity, health care and other essential services.”
Tell us again, trolls, what the stated purpose of the temporary surge is/was/will be?
December 19th, 2007 at 11:47 amGloating over the fact that healthcare for millions of children will go unfunded, just because you see it as a swipe at the Democrats?
That’s just sick.
December 19th, 2007 at 12:00 pmThat’s just sick.
Comment by RickS — December 19, 2007 @ 12:00 pm
That describes 99.99% of todays “Conservatives”…..
December 19th, 2007 at 12:04 pmTell us again, trolls, what the stated purpose of the temporary surge is/was/will be?
Comment by RUCerious — December 19, 2007 @ 11:47 am
How do you expect them to answer that?
December 19th, 2007 at 12:13 pmThey can’t remember past Bush’s last fumbled, English butchering lie.
That is unless “Clinton did it too!!”
Comment by good_golly
Two questions:
1) Why did you feel the need to change your name from Cold_Hard_Liberal?
2) How the heck do you have so much time to post here? Do you have a job, or is this your job?
Just curious.
December 19th, 2007 at 12:42 pmExley, that’s great. But did you know that what is making the surge a “success” was actually presented back in 2004, but was rejected by Rumsveld, Rice, Cheney, and Libby, all because they believed the “insurgents” were dwindling. 1600+ deaths of American heroes later, it was finally approved. (and don’t even get me started on armored vehicles)
http://www.usatoday.com/news/military/2007-12-18-iraqstrategy_N.htm
How you continually approve and support this administration absolutely astounds me!
December 19th, 2007 at 12:44 pmAgain, Russia meddling in North Korea, Iran and other problem areas isn’t helping the world reign in these states, just facilitating their extortion. Russia is by no means a major player, but instead an enabler of rogue behaviour.
As always, proglodytes measure popularity and subterfuge as achievements and real power. Just because someone can burn down your home doesn’t mean they can build one.
In my estimation, Putin got lazy when he wasn’t able to democratize his country, and resorted to dictatorial / totalitarian methods to acquire power and prestige.
December 19th, 2007 at 12:51 pmSince this is an open thread, I would like to say the following:
Given that Amy Winehouse has multiple award noms and wins for Back in Black, Feist received acclaim for her latest work and Fergie’s Clumsy is getting alot of airplay, I believe it was a big mistake for Kelly Clarkson’s record label to undermine her latest album, My December. There are a couple songs, Irvine and Chevas, that are very similar to those listed above, and very well performed, that are in step with the latest trends, and Kelly’s record label missed the boat. No vision at the top there.
December 19th, 2007 at 12:55 pmA warning to you, good_golly. If you are another incarnation of CHL, be sure to follow the ToU. I will be watching you like a hawk, and the first screwup you make I’ll do everything in my power to get your newest sockpuppet banned.
No flags here as this is an open thread.
December 19th, 2007 at 1:10 pmAl Gore’s star is aparantly fading as he came in #2 to Vladimir Putin in an award previously won by Joseph Stalin and Adolph Hitler.
Comment by good_golly — December 19, 2007 @ 9:37 am
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George W. Bush has been choosen twice, George H. W. Bush once, and Reagan Twice.
Your point is?
And, I’ll choose a Nobel prize over a “Person of the Year” of a magazine any day. Just saying.
December 19th, 2007 at 1:21 pm111 – you nailed that one hendler, and it explains perfectly why the Cheerleader Prince has such an abiding admiration for Putin. (i think he’s just green with envy)
December 19th, 2007 at 1:46 pmGore should care he didn’t get Time’s award??
December 19th, 2007 at 1:47 pmAnyone should care?
pffft.
#116 The point was that he couldn’t manage to win an award that even Stalin and Hitler won. I could change the point if it makes you happier. How’s this:
“Al Gore’s star is aparantly fading as he came in #2 to Vladimir Putin in an award previously won by George Bush and Ronald Reagan.â€
Better?
Comment by good_golly — December 19, 2007 @ 1:25 pm
Yes, your clarification demonstrates better that you’re completely inane.
December 19th, 2007 at 1:51 pmWhy is the right wing so incredibly obsessed with awards Al Gore gets or doesn’t get? Even “awards” that aren’t really awards — such as TIME’s Person of the Year?
Gore himself would be the first to say that the focus should be on the world’s climate — not on him. And the conditions of the world’s climate are the same whether an American magazine bestows a made-up title on him or not.
December 19th, 2007 at 3:04 pmgood_golly_missmolly—-Cute!
December 19th, 2007 at 3:27 pm122- i’d have to say the the only “bunched-panties” re: Gore are coming from somewhere to the right of “the left”
ain’t too big a deal to me – good for him and all, but come on, who’s doing all the hollering about it??????
December 19th, 2007 at 4:14 pm“There is no mistake to admit. I posted the link. Try reading it.”
Comment by good_golly
The link said nothing about Clinton’s withholding documents. Try again.
December 19th, 2007 at 5:10 pm