Leahy And Cornyn: White House Trying To ‘Eliminate’ FOIA Office
Leahy And Cornyn: White House Trying To ‘Eliminate’ FOIA Office
In August, the Coalition of Journalists for Open Government reported that “current government handling of FOIA requests is deteriorating” and that the Justice Department was “consistently granted the lowest percentage of [FOIA] appeals of any agency.”
On New Years Eve, facing “congressional pushback against the Bush administration’s movement to greater secrecy,” President Bush signed the OPEN Government Act, toughening the Freedom of Information Act (FOIA). The legislation — unanimously passed by the House and Senate — would push agencies to respond more quickly to records requests.
But now, the White House is doing everything it can to neuter the law. Sen. Pat Leahy (D-VT) said yesterday that Bush’s FY2009 “funds for the Office of Government Information Services authorized under the newly enacted OPEN Government Act will be shifted to the Department of Justice” from the National Archives. Congress Daily reports:
“But by shifting the funding to the Justice Department, OMB would effectively eliminate the office, because it appears no similar operation would be created there,” according to an aide to Sen. Pat Leahy (D-VT). […]
National Archives officials are relatively independent of political pressure, the staffer explained, “but DOJ is different.” Government transparency advocates consider the department hostile to efforts to improve FOIA responsiveness, in part because it represents agencies sued by FOIA requesters.
Sen. John Cornyn (R-TX), a cosponsor of the OPEN Government legislation said he “does agree with Senator Leahy and would oppose that effort” of the adminstration.
The Justice Department’s efforts to protect government secrecy are notorious. In fact, in the 109th Congress, the Department “squelched efforts to pass the OPEN Government Act.” But even initially “putting it [funding] in DOJ would essentially obviate what Leahy and Cornyn did with the legislation,” said Patrice McDermott of OpenTheGovernment.org
Bush’s noncompliance with the legislation makes clear his effort to return to his old ways of egregious government secrecy.
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Of course. The American people have had their rights stripped from them for 7 years now, this latest is no surprise. The republicans are the new USSR.
January 26th, 2008 at 11:48 amBush’s noncompliance with the legislation makes clear his effort to return to his old ways of egregious government secrecy.
well sure… everyone knows that everything bushco does
January 26th, 2008 at 11:51 amis the OPPOSITE of what they say… always… has been and will be…
always.
Feingold says:
http://feingold.senate.gov/ ~feingold/ statements/ 08/ 01/ 20080125.htm
January 25, 2007
“The conduct of Senate Republicans yesterday was shameless. After weeks of insisting that it is absolutely critical to finish the FISA legislation by February 1, even going so far as to object to a one-month extension of the Protect America Act, they obstructed all efforts to actually work on the bill. Now they want to simply ram the deeply flawed Intelligence Committee bill through the Senate. They refused to allow amendments to be offered or voted on, including my straight-forward amendment to require that the government provide copies of FISA Court orders and pleadings for review in a classified setting, so that Members of Congress can understand how FISA has been interpreted and is being applied. If the Republicans succeed in cutting off debate on Monday, the Senate won’t even get to vote on the amendment Senator Dodd and I want to offer to deny retroactive immunity to telecom companies that allegedly cooperated with the administration’s illegal wiretapping program.
“Democrats should not allow the Republicans to ram this bill through the Senate without amendments. Monday’s cloture vote will be a test of whether the majority is willing to stand up to the administration and stand up for our rights.”
January 26th, 2008 at 11:52 amThat is ALL ANY republican is now an obstructionist to this government functioning. PURGE all republicans from all offices, everywhere. Local, state and federal.
January 26th, 2008 at 11:53 amcongress needs to find a better naming system…
something that bushco can’t finaggle with…
i mean “OPEN Government Act” is just asking for spin…
i guess there IS nothing sacred to neoCONs…
oh… ‘cept the money…
January 26th, 2008 at 11:54 amRAPE THE REPUBLICANS!!!
January 26th, 2008 at 11:54 amI am still confused with “If the Republicans succeed in cutting off debate on Monday”
January 26th, 2008 at 11:58 amHow can they do that in a Dem controlled Senate?
“Democrats should not allow the Republicans to ram this bill through the Senate without amendments. Monday’s cloture vote will be a test of whether the majority is willing to stand up to the administration and stand up for our rights.â€
Reid needs to immediately withdraw this bill from consideration and tell the Bush Crime Family that he is not going to allow it to be brought back until such time as the Republiscums agree to stop their obstructionist tactics. Reid has the power, he needs to use it.
January 26th, 2008 at 12:12 pmbilbo reminded me… from my inbox:
Yesterday Harry Reid again brought forward the version of the FISA bill containing a provision for telecom immunity for their criminal complicity in illegal wiretaps of American citizens. Sure we need to win another filibuster, but we also need a stronger message. Reid must go.
What part of exercising power doesn’t Harry Reid get? The Washington
Post reports him “pleading” with the White House. And yet, it is his decision which version of the FISA bill to have the Senate consider, and by choosing to bring forward the bad one, he is knowingly forcing opponents of yet another “get out of jail free card” for Cheney cronies to get 60 votes to strip it out of the bill. Or filibuster yet again.
Step Down Harry Action Page:
http://www.usalone.com/step_down_harry.php (anyone can use this link)
Facebook Version:
http://apps.facebook.com/ fb_voices/ action.php?qnum=pnum784 (for this
link must be a member of Facebook and logged in)
This is the last straw. Time and again he has abdicated his leadership, claiming he is “personally” opposed to things, while collaborating to stack the deck in favor of the other side of the policy issue. Reid has got to go.
And call them on the phone too. Here are the tested toll free numbers,
800 828-0498, 800 614 2803 and 866 340 9281. And there is a local phone number lookup on the regular action page above to get you
all the local district phone numbers.
OK, those are the basics. Now it’s time for us to breathe some fire
of our own.
And please keep in mind, as with all our action pages, no words will
be sent on your behalf to your members of Congress, neither from this
alert nor on the action page itself, but the stated subject line,
“Reid Must Step Down As Majority Leader Over His Telecome Immunity
Surrender”, and your additional personal comments if any.
[…]
i’m not saying i agree that REID SHOULD GO… but maybe this will send the serious message that we want a real LEADER.
January 26th, 2008 at 12:20 pmThis is so “1984″, just like the ‘Ministry of Truth’, or the ‘Ministry of Love’. Name it something completely opposite of its real intended purpose, something that would be acceptable by those who might oppose you.
These people are absolutely shameless.
January 26th, 2008 at 12:23 pm#14 nwmuse I think the term is criminal…Time to put the lot of them in jail and throw Palosi and Reid in with them…Blessings
January 26th, 2008 at 12:34 pmso, who gets THIS money?
700MHz Auction Update: High Bids Total $3.2 Billion
The high bids totaled $3.2 billion in the U.S. Federal Communications Commission’s auction of wireless spectrum licenses in the 700MHz band.
http://news.google.com/?ncl=1126341411&hl=en
January 26th, 2008 at 12:41 pmi’m not saying i agree that REID SHOULD GO… but maybe this will send the serious message that we want a real LEADER.
Comment by katy
Well, I personally think that Reid and Pelosi both need to step aside or the leadership needs to kick them to the curb.
You can also send Reid an e-mail at his website:
http://reid.senate.gov/contact/email_form.cfm
Use Las Vegas as the city and 85201 as the zip to get past his filters. Just make up a street address.
January 26th, 2008 at 12:47 pmThis is so “1984″…
Comment by nwmuse
I heard something very scary on Olbermann the other night. It appears that Mulkasey has a picture Orwell hanging on his wall in his office. When questioned about this odd fact, he said that he has the picture on the wall because he admires Orwell’s writing style. He says it has nothing to do with the content of 1984. And if you believe that, I have several bridges I can sell you.
January 26th, 2008 at 12:49 pmFOIA REQUEST REVEALS “NO ARAB HIJACKERSâ€:
Autopsy: No Arabs on Flight 77
By Thomas R. Olmsted, M.D
http://www.sierratimes.com/03/07/02/article_tro.htm
plunger - it appears that this site has taken down the article. I even did a web search which brought me back to the site and still no article. Wonder why that is?
January 26th, 2008 at 12:53 pmThe Bush giveth, and the Bush taketh away.
January 26th, 2008 at 1:16 pmThe fledgling efforts of Winston Smith. He just lacks the capacity thus far to reach into every computer and delete their contents.
That will come, in time.
January 26th, 2008 at 1:19 pmThat sounds like subscribing to Playboy for the articles.
January 26th, 2008 at 1:20 pmI guess that would be a problem for you, now wouldn’t it?
Comment by O. Bigfoot — January 26, 2008 @ 1:08 pm
and a much bigger problem for you when she doesn’t.
January 26th, 2008 at 1:21 pmLet’s go back to see what these Bush cultists will be saying about government secrecy and abuse when there is a Democrat in the Whitehouse.
Just like that war criminal John Yoo who believed in curbing and checking the power of the President when there was a Democrat in the Whitehouse and believes un unchecked authority when there’s a fascistic, horse thief with delusions of grandeur int he Whitehouse.
Sick and demented.
-GSD
January 26th, 2008 at 1:31 pmBush admits he hates the media.
Neocons cannot withstand media scrutiny.
Their policies are so outrageous they know they have to keep them secret.
They know this.
They know they are doing wrong because they freely admit it.
They are disgusting disgraces to our wonderfull country.
January 26th, 2008 at 1:38 pmThis is but one more example of a very Orwellian tactics on the part of this administration. The president signs the Open Government Act because of strong public outcry and unanimous congressional support. The president then ensures that the act will never really be carried out.
January 26th, 2008 at 1:41 pmThose Dems as leaders in both the House and Senate are going to get right to the bottom of this.
They are going to impeach…
I mean, subpoena…
I mean…
They are going to say some really bad things about the White House when the camera are off, and when reporters agree to attribute their heated quotes to anonymous sources.
That will teach those thugs in the White House. Thank goodness we voted for Dems to protect our Constitution.
January 26th, 2008 at 1:49 pmWhy didn’t he just use a single signing statement ~ Up Yours!
January 26th, 2008 at 1:54 pmDONT IMPEACH! THAT WILL FIX IT!
January 26th, 2008 at 2:01 pmThis is why Bush is reduced to bamboozling stupid Fox reporters, Breast Baer, and telling them made up stories about non-existent moments in US history.
Bush is now so far in the gutter that all he has is those close to him and some billionaire neo-cons who are going to try to revive his moribund approval ratings with propagandistic commercials and ad campaigns.
Bush is so self-centered that he invents narratives to go along with century old pictures simply because someone in the picture bears a passing resemblence to Bush.
The world hates him and he’s loathed by his own countryment.
Even his own political party members are afraid to mention him in debates.
-GSD
January 26th, 2008 at 2:05 pmThe most secretive gov’t this country has ever experienced looks like criminals without being open. If they’ve done nothing wrong they wouldn’t be fighting. Isn’t that their motto for violating the 4th Amendment? If you’ve done nothing wrong you shouldn’t mind us looking. If you do mind, you must be hiding something, so now we have probable cause. If you say the evidence is ‘lost’, it doesn’t exonerate you, it makes you look more suspicious. That’s partly why tampering with or ‘losing’ evidence is a crime. This administation looks like lying criminals, and I have never heard anything from them that shows otherwise. No doubt that opening this gov’t would make Impeachment the least of worries. Is treason still punishable by death?
January 26th, 2008 at 2:06 pmOnce you learn their practices, you can quickly ascertain that a story is true, by the lengths they go to in order to discredit it.
Comment by plunger
I agree, if they have done nothing wrong, there is no need to hide it. Just like the telcoms getting immunity and Bush refusing to appoint a Special Prosecutor. If they have done nothing wrong, why are they trying to hide what they did?
Good question for our resident trolls. Want to take a stab at that one trollies?
January 26th, 2008 at 2:08 pmI guess that would be a problem for you, now wouldn’t it?
Comment by O. Bigfoot — January 26, 2008 @ 1:08 pm
Just once, would you mind having a “real point” to make?
Just ONCE?
Nice Tinker Ballsâ„¢, BTW. I was wondering what you were going to do after the holidays, and I see you found an acceptable alternative.
January 26th, 2008 at 2:09 pmAre you concerned that if a Democrat is elected President, she will maintain Bush’s status quo?
I guess that would be a problem for you, now wouldn’t it?
Comment by O. Bigfoot
OBigFootInMouth seems to think that a Democratic president following in Bush’s footsteps will be a problem for the Democrats. He is wrong, it will be a problem for the Republiscums. They won’t be able to protest since it was with their help that Bush created the Unitary Executive.
January 26th, 2008 at 2:12 pmThe Bush administration believes in FOIA as long as it is classified.
January 26th, 2008 at 2:14 pmThey are disgusting disgraces to our wonderfull country.
Comment by Guido OBGYN Lover
They are disgusting disgraces to our once wonderful country. Hopefully it will be again some day. Our only hope for that to happen is to NOT allow another Republiscum into the White House for a very long time.
January 26th, 2008 at 2:14 pmThat is ALL ANY republican is now an obstructionist to this government functioning. PURGE all republicans from all offices, everywhere. Local, state and federal.
Comment by 99Luf Balloons
I agree. And since our new Democratic President will be a Unitary Executive, s/he will be able to do pretty much whatever s/he wants to do.
Thanks Republiscums for destroying our democracy and our government.
January 26th, 2008 at 2:15 pmWhen these criminals are finally excised from the Office, a curious thing will be realized. Between the missing e-mails, the shredded documents, the missing files…they will be no record of this administration’s existence! Without a paper trail, there will be no way to refute the record that the media will construct for future historical perspective.
January 26th, 2008 at 2:17 pmInnocent bystander, you make a good point. Perhaps we should use our tool of spoken lore, much like the native Americans, where we tell our children, and instruct them to tell theirs of the horrors the BushitCo administration wreaked on the nation and planet…
January 26th, 2008 at 2:56 pmDick cheney is….the man behind all of this. Bush is just a dummy puppet. Cheneys track record shows it all. He is a ultimate dictator.
January 26th, 2008 at 3:00 pmwisedup, what would you think if the Repuglycan nominee chooses Cheney for Veep?
January 26th, 2008 at 3:07 pmO Bigfoot is running his O Big-mouth again.
January 26th, 2008 at 3:22 pmI have a suggestion for all the regulars here. Try talking about the trolls not to them. That’s what I am doing. It works well. I can address their idiotic posts without actually engaging them in dialog. It hurts a lot less than beating my head against a brick wall which is what trying to have a conversation with a troll feels like.
January 26th, 2008 at 3:26 pmplunger, do you suppose that was the same ‘back box’ technology the chymp used during the Kerry debate?
January 26th, 2008 at 3:29 pmHis nod of the head at the end of the whisper is the real giveaway, now back on topic, how would the freedom of information act work if run by the DOJ instead of the national archives? Answer, it wouldn’t.
January 26th, 2008 at 3:31 pmMission Accomplished.
Will Democrats vote to end Washington style politics and the cheap shots and low blows we have seen the Clintons dole out since Hillary Clinton declared a few months ago that the “fun” is starting? http://www.dailykos.com/ storyonly/ 2008/ 1/ 26/ 152022/ 853/ 812/ 443635
January 26th, 2008 at 3:55 pmSo what are you all worried about? Even if any of this were true, Bush will be out of office in a year…
Are you concerned that if a Democrat is elected President, she will maintain Bush’s status quo?
I guess that would be a problem for you, now wouldn’t it?
Comment by O. Bigfoot — January 26, 2008 @ 1:08 pm
Despite what you might believe to be the case, O. Bigfoot, there are a number of us who visit this site who are not as clearly partisan as you. You seem to make the erroneous assumption that all liberals are Democrats or Democratic Party supporters. I myself, a Liberal Libertarian, would lilke to see neither the Democratic Party nor the Republican Party control either House of Congress, because I believe that neither of these parties works in the best interests of the citizens.
Secondly, you are saying that the fact that the Bush Administration has tried to destroy the very law which makes it possible for citizens to verify the claims of the government is not a problem because Bush will no longer be in office in 360 days (assuming he is not impeached and removed, as he should be, before then). I am sorry, but this is a dangerously ignorant attitude to take. You should be demanding that the government comply with FOIA requests instead of dismissing the issue as a non-problem. It may be possible that the fact that ignorant people like you are allowed to vote at all is the most dangerous threat to our Democracy.
Government secrecy by any administration is a threat to Democracy. Satisfied now that not all of us view this as strictly a partisan issue?
January 26th, 2008 at 4:01 pmBilbo @47 is ABSOLUTELY CORRECT!
“Trolls” show up on this and other liberal sites to sew doubt, generate acrimony, and distract from the subject at hand.
Trolls are FICTIONAL CHARACTERS designed specifically for these ends.
The public sphere, where we are supposed to discuss public policy, has been systematically and strategically diminished to keep citizens from engaging in our government. Trolls exist to make political discussion unpleasant and distasteful. They show up in discussions on-line, in a bid to prevent us talking with our neighbors in the real world.
They will spout dis-information - often in a really stupid and annoying fashion, so ignoring what they say is strategically dubious since it allows the dis-information to go unchallenged. But engaging with them NEVER WORKS because they are designed to be unconvinceable. If we were to convince them, we’d be encouraged to engage with real people, and THEY DON’T WANT THAT.
So, talk about them. Point out where they use the standard techniques - distractions, strawmen arguments, false paralells, etc. They feed on endless argument and it serves their purpose. Don’t let them draw you in, though. It never ends well.
January 26th, 2008 at 4:07 pm“I am still confused with “If the Republicans succeed in cutting off debate on Mondayâ€
How can they do that in a Dem controlled Senate?”
Comment by 99Luf Balloons — January 26, 2008 @ 11:58 am
Because the G_DDAMNED SPINELESS P_SSIES KEEP CAVING!
Pardon my “french, but I’m am sick of it and at my wits-end!
I have called every member of the judiciary committee, both of my senators repeatedly and have written numerous letters to both Reid and Pelosi, and it’s starting to feel as if I’m the only one on the planet that gives a damn about this issue. (I know I’m not but it sure feels like it) Considering that the Dems keep giving in to the demands of this administration and there is almost zero coverage of it in the press. Where is this generations Woodward and Bernstein? And when will this nation wake the Phuk up and hold these criminals accountable?
January 26th, 2008 at 4:07 pmIMPEACHMENT NOW is the only salvation for this flagging democracy under an imperial dictator like Bush. It’s also the singular way to show the rest of the world that GWB is as disliked by his own people as he is abroad. We need the impeachment process to right the wrongs which have been perpetrated on the american people through lies, overreaching, illegal spying, etc. etc. This has made this country look like a gang of “thugs and hypocrites” since it’s that way at the top.
We must do what’s necessary for the principles involved and as a “symbolic gesture” showing that what Bush has done to this country is criminal and against the wishes of the american people.
January 26th, 2008 at 4:08 pmImpeachment of Bush and Cheney will help to save our international reputation which, right now, is at an all-time low.
January 26th, 2008 at 4:09 pmThey are disgusting disgraces to our wonderfull country.
Comment by Guido OBGYN Lover
They are disgusting disgraces to our once wonderful country. Hopefully it will be again some day. Our only hope for that to happen is to NOT allow another Republiscum into the White House for a very long time.
Comment by bilbobaggins — January 26, 2008 @ 2:14 pm
I heard a great quote attributed to Waylon Jennings last night on Real Time w/ Bill Mahr.
“I came in at the tail end of what must’ve once been a great country.”
Cue “Taps” lower the flag and turn out the lights.
January 26th, 2008 at 4:23 pmSecrecy is #1 among those who believe their power must be protected. King George and Prince of Darkness Cheney are all about secrecy for power and of course to keep themselves out of prison for the rest of their lives. They believe they know what is best for the country. What a joke these baffoons are, and what a mockery of the Constitution they have disgustingly made. This administration will be written into history as the greatest attempt to over-throw the country. But, hell, Pelosi said impeachment was off the table. This country is on the downward slide into a fascist state. But before that happens you will hear more of your lost rights. Lost rights, one by one by one by one by one…..
January 26th, 2008 at 4:27 pm“We must do what’s necessary for the principles involved and as a “symbolic gesture†showing that what Bush has done to this country is criminal and against the wishes of the american people.”
Comment by Veritas — January 26, 2008 @ 4:08 pm
Impeachment is needed but at this point I’m starting to lose faith that it will ever happen with out our Media doing it’s job and the Dems lack of guts. The odds are against us.
January 26th, 2008 at 4:40 pmVeritas- you’re right. We must show to the world (and to our childrens’ children) that America is still a country with the rule of law as it’s basis. Even though impeachment may be seen as a wild and failed attempt, at least it was brought forth. America can only rise from this morass by holding accountable those who would twist or shred the Constitution for their gain.
January 26th, 2008 at 4:47 pm#45 RU, I never thought of that…..4 more years of cheney….I better learn the words of ‘Oh Canada’……lol.
January 26th, 2008 at 4:49 pmPlunger, I don’t know what’s the big deal.
The whole Presidential Debates are a complete show. They tell people the questions they have to ask, why wouldn’t they give the Candidates the questions before the “debate”?
I’m not trying to undermine your posts, but these people are thinking about the economy sinking while a million Iraqis are dead along 4,000 soldiers.
January 26th, 2008 at 4:56 pmsorry to be off-topic but this is breaking news.
http://www.blackboxvoting.org/
Blackboxvoting has the skinny on all of the ridiculous “goings on” in the New Hampshire primaries and how sacred (NOT) the people’s votes were in that state.
YouTube also has some incredible footage of what went on there and who was involved.
There’s also a YouTube on the criminal, John Silvestro, whose in cahoots with Diebold and holds the “chain of custody” for the guts (all programming) of 81% of the Opti Scanners which were used in New Hampshire. Incidentally, these are the very same machines which lost 18,000 votes in the Sarasota race which was a sham.
This overt destruction of our right to vote must be stopped in it’s tracks and stopped NOW. We’re getting dangerously close to perhaps the most important election in our lifetimes and we have this overtly criminal hacking going on?? The People need to stand up and be heard and fight for HAND COUNTED PAPER BALLOTS OR NO ELECTION! It’s coming down to that.
This is the ONLY WAY to stop this Republican criminal junta intent on destroying our democracy and making fools out of every american who votes.
January 26th, 2008 at 5:06 pmPop some popcorn because some of the YouTube flicks under “BlackBoxVoting” will make your skin crawl. These con men were followed into their supposed vaults which housed the voting cards and, for some very odd reason, they broke protocol and put them into an insecure room instead of a locked vault where the janitor had access to them! Imagine that! And, of course, the supposed “seals” are anything but seals. Silvestro needs to be strung up by his balls and every Opti Scan machine in this country needs to be trashed.
As for the bogus and insecure touch screens that are going on trash heaps, I think that Diebold needs to refund the american people for selling us machines which were created with an intentional vulnerability which they, and high officials now in office, knew all about. They used the handicap lobby to hide behind and made it mandatory to buy touch screen machines. What clever webs they wove! Now they’re all easily hacked and useless to the american people.
Cough up the refunds, Diebold, or get outta town! They sold us defective machines and they all need to be returned for a refund.
By then the word will be out about how easily one can compromise these Opti-Scan machiens and the gig will be totally up for Diebold and the Republicans involved.
Time to get a hefty little refund from Diebold. I’ve heard that their stock is dropping like the Titanic anyway - no wonder - incidious little scumbags that they are! Not to mention - they’ve involved in acts of treason by tampering with the votes of the american people. String ‘em all up!~
January 26th, 2008 at 5:11 pmSome states haven’t even paid for the obsolete Diebold Touch Screen machines (DRE’s) and I say “stick it to Diebold” on those bogus machines! Now we need to move toward ridding ourselves of the Opti Scanners (Diebold again - who else is that corrupt?) 91w which supposedly read our paper ballots.
People need to realize that just because it’s “paper” doesn’t make it secure - all it provides is a paper trail if the ballots are not pitched into the nearest dumpster the next day as blackbox voting found in the past. And, of coure, it’s costly to have a recount of the paper ballots.
The only way to be assured of a fair election is to have hand counted paper ballots with oversight from both parties. It’s time to go “Retro” - we did it before the scumbags stole our votes and we can do it again.
January 26th, 2008 at 5:15 pmDitch the machines in 08! Every last one of them - especially if they bear the logo of the “traitor”: Diebold.
January 26th, 2008 at 5:15 pmThis, in my estimation, is a national crisis! Have your voice heard so your vote will count in 08! The results of this election may mean the life of this democracy; yes, it’s that serious.
January 26th, 2008 at 5:16 pmhttp://www.blackboxvoting.org has sent out letters asking that these videos and interviews be widely circulated to every blog, newspaper and media outlet you know. It’s “broke” and if we don’t “fix it”, then we have no one to blame for being made a sham of when we think that our votes really count.
January 26th, 2008 at 5:17 pmVeritas, I think you should put together a complete post on the blackbox story and submit it to TP. Not because it’s o/t here, but because it deserves more attention than it will get buried in thread comments. I’d suggest trying to contact some directly through email or the “contact us” link. If you can’t get a response in a reasonable time, we’ll see about putting it up at The Zoo.
January 26th, 2008 at 5:29 pmVeritas ….I share your concern. 8 years after the hanging chads and the country STILL can’t trust the election outcome. Outrageous!
Fortunately, a landslide is harder to tamper with, and I hope the Republicans LOSE in a landslide…but we need to fix this.
January 26th, 2008 at 5:39 pm74. that may be true, but we don’t know what this cabal called the GOP would do. They control the media and they control the voting process. What’s to say they won’t come up with a bullshit excuse such as the “Republican voters were much shyer than Democratic voters when it came to exit polling”? It may look like a landslide now, but after GOP dirty tricks and straw men armies, we never know.
January 26th, 2008 at 5:58 pmI heard a great quote attributed to Waylon Jennings last night on Real Time w/ Bill Mahr.
“I came in at the tail end of what must’ve once been a great country.â€
Comment by TheRadicalRightisRadicallyWrong @ 4:23 pm
it was merle haggard…
and boy, what was he messed up on when he finally got connected?
whew! that was more than old age!
my favorite waylon jennings:
January 26th, 2008 at 6:09 pm“i’ve always been crazy, but it keeps me from goin’ insane”
(actually a song title) (GREAT song too)
veritas - the big yellow button, above right, will get you here:
http://blogfellows.thinkprogress.org/?page_id=5
go for it!
January 26th, 2008 at 6:13 pmCornyn, Leahy…….far out!
January 26th, 2008 at 6:18 pmI heard that Merle Haggard is supporting Hillary for president. Hagard has always had a populist streak, and some of his songs accurately depict how working people are being screwed by the system…but it is quite a change from “Okie from Muskogee”.
BTW,,, the one good thing that Ronald Reagan did was to pardon Merle Haggard from prison , when he was Governor of California.
January 26th, 2008 at 6:33 pmi didn’t know that story, badger; very cool…
merle wrote a song about how this country needs a woman for president, and he wrote it for hillary, but when maher asked him about actually supporting her, haggard’s answer was ambiguous, at best…
he was sloshed or something…
is he the one who is looking, seriously looking, at solar technology?
January 26th, 2008 at 6:38 pmhe’s wanting to find the perfect model, fund it and put his name on it…
i’m pretty sure it’s merle haggard…
The Clintons are doing a great job lowering the bar for dirty tricks.
Comment by Liberals Are Filled With Hate — January 26, 2008 @ 7:18 pm
Worked like a charm in South Carolina…didn’t it??? Record Democrat turnout too. How about that???
January 26th, 2008 at 7:22 pmAre you people aware that there is a primary campaign in your party? The Clintons are doing a great job lowering the bar for dirty tricks. That will be returned in the general.
Comment by Liberals Are Filled With Hate — January 26, 2008 @ 7:18 pm
Like our friend O. Bigfoot, you are making the erroneous assumption that everyone posting at this site is a Democrat or Democratic Supporter. Also, you are deliberately introducing something that is Off-Topic and, frankly, obnoxiously incendiary and it ought to be deleted by Admin and replaced by a comment such as “Defecation removal by Admin”
Pooper Scooper Alert - Aisle #81
January 26th, 2008 at 7:26 pmKaty…I got the story wrong. Reagan did grant a full pardon to Haggard in 1972, but he was already released from prison at that time,and writing smash hits. I guess this was just to clean up his record.
January 26th, 2008 at 7:32 pmthanks badger… did you check out his wiki bio?
January 26th, 2008 at 8:28 pmi went there to see about the solar thing…
didn’t read about that there, but the rest was sure intriguing!
i found the solar energy info elsewhere on the google…
And yet impeachment is still off the table.
This really isn’t news. This is just one more brick being lifted out of a wall that crumbled years ago by the Bush and Cheney assaults to our Constitution.
I have no interest whatsoever in anything that Patrick Leahy has to say anymore. or any Democrats in either House of Congress. Leahy is a fat, lazy, comfortable drunk grown accustomed to the privileged life in the Senate. While Bush’s minions were destroying emails and servers, Leahy was making a cameo appearance in the film version of his favorite comic book hero, Batman. As far as I’m concerned, Democrats, by their feckless “What can we do? We don’t have the votes” bewilderment, are co-conspirators with Republicans in the annihilation of the United States.
Where are the hearings they promised? Where are the investigations? Where is their OUTRAGE, expressed daily? Why aren’t they using their oratorical skills to explain to the dumbed down people of the U.S. every single day just what voting for Republicans has done to the country?
Yesterday I listened to both Harry Reid and Nancy Pelosi tell the National Press Club what a dandy job they’ve done, what Democrats have done, by working in a bipartisan manner with Republicans. Pelosi had a tear in her eye as she defended what they got accomplished (nothing of any consequence), and what they didn’t get done was all the fault of big, bad Bush.
Not that it ever did, but that line really doesn’t work for me anymore. It stokes rage, at Democrats. Democrats’ failure to stand up and fight against the steady erosion of liberals’ gains over the decades for the average working American by “working in a bipartisan manner with Republicans” has only impoverished more of us, lost ground for us and our children, and traded away our nation.
By the logic of these Democrats in office, “when your party doesn’t have a majority, you might as well just sleep in every day, not show up for votes, spend your time in office only raising money for your next campaign when, maybe, voters will put your party in the majority”.
After the 2006 election, after Democrats had pledged during the campaign to do everything they could to end the war in Iraq and instead did everything Bush wanted to keep the war going, I wondered what they might know that they weren’t telling us.
After Democrats and Republicans learned that Bush and Cheney had been lying to them from their first days in office, about everything, and excluding Congress at every turn, I expected their anger to overcome their frustration and do everything within their Constitutionally-mandated power to get that unitary executive back in line. When Congress didn’t, I wondered, “What do they know that I don’t know?” The only answers to explain it was that either Bush was blackmailing them with info he had gotten from the illegal wiretapping and surveillance programs, or, Congress was just made up of lazy, dumb, ineffective, or uncaring people. Or, they were in league with Bush and Cheney, rich and privileged, screw the Constitution, the country and the rest of the world.
I realized then that why Democrats weren’t getting the job done didn’t matter. These were the wrong people for the job. Whether they didn’t know how to, or didn’t want to, didn’t matter. Whatever the reason, these are the wrong people for getting the job done, for working on behalf of the people of the United States.
January 26th, 2008 at 8:32 pmI wondered what they might know that they weren’t telling us.
[…]
Comment by Jackie Morgan — January 26, 2008 @ 8:32 pm
i wish they would go ahead and admit that they are being blackmailed, and why, and appologize and beg forgiveness…
and then get on with the business of the people and the CONSTITUTION
and allow us ALL the dignity of working together to fix this mess…
i’d get behind them and fight like hell with ‘em…
or throw them out with the rest of the rubbish, if they deserve that…
whatever, i’m just really sick and tired of the lies and false hope.
January 26th, 2008 at 10:57 pmAre you people aware that there is a primary campaign in your party? The Clintons are doing a great job lowering the bar for dirty tricks. That will be returned in the general.
Comment by Liberals Are Filled With Hate — January 26, 2008 @ 7:18 pm
The Clintons will never be as low as Rove and Bush’s treatment of McCain, not by a long shot. The Clintons look like angels compared to Republicans.
January 27th, 2008 at 4:05 amGeorge W. Bush Presidental Library
January 27th, 2008 at 9:06 amThis fine building will hold copies of over 1,100 Signing Statement, 7 Vetos, hundreds of thousands of “photo-ops” and nothing else, because the remaining papers are maked Secret, Classified or has been distroyed (emails)
Modern Bush Republicanâ„¢ definition of “Freedom of Information”:
This information must be free of the bondage of permanent archival. It must remain free from the oligarchy of government bureaucracy.
Indeed, follow great Americans, it must be verily SET FREE like the wind where it must REMAIN FREE, free from the clutches of those who would USE that information for purposes that might not be good for the GOP and big business.
FREE THE INFORMATION. DESTROY IT FOREVER…
January 27th, 2008 at 10:07 amThis is a lawless regime that will not go lightly into the cold black night.
January 27th, 2008 at 12:27 pmThey have declared war on the American republic. So be it. I’m having my beret brushed.
wish they would go ahead and admit that they are being blackmailed, and why, and appologize and beg forgiveness…
and then get on with the business of the people and the CONSTITUTION
and allow us ALL the dignity of working together to fix this mess…
i’d get behind them and fight like hell with ‘em…
or throw them out with the rest of the rubbish, if they deserve that…
whatever, i’m just really sick and tired of the lies and false hope.
Comment by katy
I don’t doubt your dedication and I believe you actually would get behind them, etc as you say but the American people have themselves to blame for a lot of this because as a whole, they will not get behind them and fight like hell……
Lots of the posts here are from democrat deniers……that is, they say you don’t have to be a democrat to be a progessive….well ok, but in America, today, if you’re a progressive then you will be dealing with democrats. If you don’t want a republican president then you will vote for a democrat….
Wonder why Al Gore is not interested in fighing like hell anymore? Could it be because when the fire was lit and he needed the democrats to fight like hell that he turned around and there was no one there?
How about Hillary. Wonder why she’s not pushing for nationalized health care anymore…..could it be because when she lit the fuse and tried to get it for us that we looked the other way and allowed her to be humiliated for her effort?
Not all democrats are good and they should be voted out. I’m just saying that progressives have caused many of our own problems.
January 27th, 2008 at 1:27 pmIn answer to the question of how the Republiscums can control what goes on in the Senate - here is how.
The Democrats have 50 Senators. Plus Joe LIEberman (I-CT) to give them the majority.
That second sentence should answer your question, since it takes a vote of at least 51 to do even simple majority things (and we all know how LIEberman votes!), and then under the arcane rules of the Senate, most of the amendments and other stuff must pass by a super-majority of 60.
Again - for those of you slow learners - the Democrats have 50. Plus Joe LIEberman.
It is truly a wonder that Democrats in the Senate have managed to get anything passed - especially since
LESSON #2: All of the Democratic Senators do NOT always vote as a solid block (unlike the Republiscums) - in fact several of them are what we call the Yellow Dogs (Republicans in drag).
That is why many times the “Democratic” majority seems to be only 43 or 45 or some number below 50.
Any more questions?
Good!
Remember to vote for Democrats for any vacant seats or where Republiscums are up for election. But not just any Democrats. Progressive ones!!
February 6th, 2008 at 8:34 pmWe have to get out of the habit of thinking that failing policies of the government, like declining FOIA requests, are somehow sought after or desired results of this Administration’s beaurocracy! During the funding of the Katrina, and Rita disaster recovery programs, quick government acquisitions were made by the GSA-but may have needed to meet combined regulatory approval from the EPA and the DOE, under the MAS, or The Multiple Awards Schedule Program. So, shouldn’t the GSA agency, be enabled to spend money, quickly, for all legislated programs? Once legislation has been voted and signed, it should be immediately funded. It is as if the important FOIA, has been re-made into a little expenditure bean, and moved around under three beaurocratic peanut shells!!
February 17th, 2008 at 4:33 am