Bush Loses His Edge

Andrew Kohut, of the Pew Research Center, has this interesting take on what last November's elections mean.

Issues the Republicans stressed paid few dividends: Most notably, the many voters concerned about terrorism backed GOP candidates over Democrats by only the modest margin of 5 percentage points. The threat of terrorism is still much on the public's mind, but voters are no longer persuaded that Republicans know best how to deal with it. Discontent with Iraq has taken terrorism off the table for the Republicans. By a margin of 59%-35%, voters said that the war in Iraq did not improve U.S. security.

Britain never thought Saddam was threat - diplomat

· UK warned US that chaos would follow tyrant's fall
· Evidence repudiates claims in run-up to war

Richard Norton-Taylor, The Guardian

The British government never believed Saddam Hussein posed a threat to British interests and warned the US that toppling him would lead to "chaos", according to a Foreign Office diplomat closely involved in negotiations in the run-up to the invasion of Iraq.

Damning repudiation of the government's public claims in the run-up to the war is contained in secret evidence to Lord Butler's committee on the abuse of intelligence over Iraq by Carne Ross, a diplomat at Britain's UN mission in New York.

His evidence, in which he says the government privately assessed that Iraq possessed no significant quantity of weapons of mass destruction, has been published on the Commons foreign affairs committee website. Mr Ross gave evidence to the group last month but some MPs had been reluctant to have it published.

Mr Ross told Lord Butler he read UK and US human and signals intelligence on Iraq every working day during the four years he spent in New York up to 2002, and spoke at length to UN weapons inspectors.

"At no time did [the government] assess that Iraq's WMD (or any other capability) posed a threat to the UK," he told the Butler committee. "On the contrary, it was the commonly-held view among the officials dealing with Iraq that any threat had been effectively contained ... At the same time, we would frequently argue, when the US raised the subject, that 'regime change' was inadvisable, primarily on the grounds that Iraq would collapse into chaos."

Mr Ross continued: "Iraq's ability to launch a WMD or any form of attack was very limited. There were approximately 12 or so unaccounted-for Scud missiles; Iraq's airforce was depleted to the point of total ineffectiveness; its army was but a pale shadow of its earlier might; there was no evidence of any connection with any terrorist organisation that might have planned an attack using Iraqi WMD."

Mr Ross said he repeatedly questioned Foreign Office and Ministry of Defence officials about their threat assessments of Iraq. He said: "None told me that any new evidence had emerged to change our assessment; what had changed was the government's determination to present available evidence in a different light." Referring to the government's weapons adviser who later committed suicide, he added: "I discussed this at some length with David Kelly in late 2002, who agreed that the Number 10 WMD dossier was overstated".

Bush on Path to Defeat

These strong words come from a Republican senator, Gordon Smith of Oregon.

I "do not support policies, nor should the American people support policies, that lead us down a path to defeat," Smith said. "And I believe that that's what we've been pursuing."

Smith first broke with his party over the issue of Iraq on Thursday night, when he delivered an emotional speech about the state of the war just before Congress recessed for the end of the year.

"I, for one, am at the end of my rope when it comes to supporting a policy that has our soldiers patrolling the same streets in the same way, being blown up by the same bombs day after day," said Smith before a mostly empty Senate chamber. "That is absurd. It may even be criminal. I cannot support that anymore."

"When you get to being policeman in a sectarian civil war, that is not what the American people enlisted for. That's not what I voted for," said Smith. "I voted for toppling a chief terrorist and tyrant, ridding him of weapons of mass destruction, but not for being target practice in the middle of a sectarian strife."

House Ethics Whitewash on Foley

The folks who blab incessantly about family values could not bring themselves to admit they'd done anything wrong in protectly child predator and former GOP Congressman Mark Foley.

Willful Ignorance But No Rules Broken

The House Committee on Standards of Official Conduct released its report investigating the scandal surrounding the inappropriate contact former Rep. Mark Foley (R-Fla.) had with congressional pages, finding that "a pattern of conduct was exhibited among many individuals to remain willfully ignorant" of Foley's behavior though no "current House Members of employees violated the House Code of Official Conduct."

The chairmen of the ethics committee, Reps. Doc Hastings (R-Wash.) and Howard Berman (D-Calif.), effusively praised each other and the bipartisan committee's work over the previous nine weeks, but would take no questions, preferring to let the 89-page report speak for itself. They said their investigation was completed after 50 interviews and depositions, 3,000 pages worth of transcribed interviews, and more than 100 hours of testimony and deliberations.

In what some critics see as a way of letting his colleagues' behavior off the hook, Hastings in prepared remarks said that "20/20 hindsight is easy" and that "doing the right thing...can be very hard and difficult."

Attack of the Pregnant Lesbian

Who Got Mary Cheney Pregnant?

Some Washington insiders are betting on the guy Dick Cheney shot in the face last February.


Mary Cheney and Heather Poe are having a baby. The Republican's religious right base is furious. The couple lives in Virginia, where just last month voters made it one of 27 states that ban gay marriage.

Bush's War Zips Toward Another Sad Milestone

The 9/11 terrorist attacks killed 2,973 victims in New York, Washington and Pennsylvania.

As President Bush clings to his "Stay the Course" mantra, the U.S. death toll in the mindless civil war in Iraq has now claimed the lives of 2,964 U.S. soldiers. No weapons of mass destruction have been found -- and Osama bin Laden is resting comfortably in Pakistan.

BAGHDAD, Iraq (AP) -- Four U.S. Marines died when a Sea Knight helicopter plunged into a lake in volatile Anbar province, the military said Monday, raising to 13 the number of American troops killed during a bloody weekend in Iraq.

It was the second military aircraft to go down in a week in Anbar, a stronghold of Sunni insurgents, although the military said mechanical problems rather than gunfire had forced the emergency landing on Sunday.

The deaths came on a weekend in which nine other U.S. troops were killed, including five in Anbar.

Rummy's Lowered Expectations

A revisionist inside the White House has "leaked" to The New York Times a memo by Donald Rumsfeld in which the now-inoperative defense chief allegedly suggests NOT staying the course in Iraq. See -- he had the right idea all along.

Rumsfeld Memo Proposed ‘Major Adjustment’ in Iraq

By Michael R. Gordon and David S. Cloud, New York Times

WASHINGTON, Dec. 2 — Two days before he resigned as defense secretary, Donald Rumsfe ld submitted a classified memo to the White House that acknowledged that the Bush administration’s strategy in Iraq was not working and called for a major course correction.

“In my view it is time for a major adjustment,” wrote Mr. Rumsfeld, who has been a symbol of a dogged stay-the-course policy. “Clearly, what U.S. forces are currently doing in Iraq is not working well enough or fast enough.”

Nor did Mr. Rumsfeld seem confident that the administration would readily develop an effective alternative. To limit the political fallout from shifting course he suggested the administration consider a campaign to lower public expectations.

“Announce that whatever new approach the U.S. decides on, the U.S. is doing so on a trial basis,” he wrote. “This will give us the ability to readjust and move to another course, if necessary, and therefore not ‘lose.’ ”

“Recast the U.S. military mission and the U.S. goals (how we talk about them) — go minimalist,” he added. Mr. Rumsfeld’s memo suggests frustration with the pace of turning over responsibility to the Iraqi authorities; in fact, the memo calls for examination of ideas that roughly parallel troop withdrawal proposals presented by some of the White House’s sharpest Democratic critics.

Bush Hack Promotes Fraud and Waste

GSA Chief Seeks to Cut Budget For Audits

Leave it to Republicans, who constantly shoot off their mouths about waste in government, to appoint a former contractor to oversee the government agency responsible for $56 billion worth of contracts. And wouldn't you know it -- the contractor wants to cut back on audits!

Contract Oversight Would Be Reduced

By Scott Hingham and Rober O'Harrow Jr., Washington Post

The new chief of the U.S. General Services Administration is trying to limit the ability of the agency's inspector general to audit contracts for fraud or waste and has said oversight efforts are intimidating the workforce, according to government documents and interviews.

GSA Administrator Lurita Alexis Doan, a Bush political appointee and former government contractor, has proposed cutting $5 million in spending on audits and shifting some responsibility for contract reviews to small, private audit contractors.

The GSA is responsible for managing about $56 billion worth of contracts each year for the departments of Defense and Homeland Security and other agencies.

Doan compared Inspector General Brian D. Miller and his staff to terrorists, according to a copy of the notes obtained by The Washington Post.

"There are two kinds of terrorism in the US: the external kind; and, internally, the IGs have terrorized the Regional Administrators," Doan said, according to the notes. Before joining the GSA in August 2005, Miller served as a federal prosecutor and worked on the government's case against al-Qaeda terrorist Zacarias Moussaoui.

President Announces AIDS Medication Breakthrough

No, not the pretend president...the real president, who actually does things to help people

Deal to Give Children HIV / AIDS Treatment

NEW DELHI (AP) -- Former President Clinton announced Thursday that two Indian pharmaceutical companies had agreed to cut the prices of HIV and AIDS treatment for children, making the lifesaving drugs far more accessible worldwide.

The companies will supply drugs for HIV-positive children at prices as low as 16 cents a day, or less than $60 a year, alllowing an additional 100,000 HIV-positive children in 62 countries to receive treatment in 2007, the foundation said.

''This is a great day, but we have a long way to go. We have to make a new commitment that every child and adult would needs treatment should have access'' to the drugs, Clinton said. ''Though the world has made progress in expanding HIV/AIDS treatment to adults, children have been left behind. Only one in 10 children who needs treatment is getting it.''

Clinton announced the deal in a speech at a New Delhi children's hospital at the launch of a new Indian government program to treat HIV-positive children. World AIDS Day is Friday.

Under the drug agreement, the two companies -- Cipla Ltd. and Ranbaxy Laboratories Ltd. -- will supply 19 different antiretroviral formulations for prices about 45 percent less than the lowest current rates for these drugs in developing countries.

Countries including France, Brazil, Chile, Norway and Britain will provide $35 million and the Clinton Foundation HIV/AIDS Initiative will contribute $15 million.

The drugs will be supplied to the governments of the countries where the children live, for distribution through public health and HIV/AIDS prevention programs.

Judge Blasts Bush for War on Katrina Victims

FEMA Told to Resume Storm Aid

Judge's Ruling May Affect Thousands On the Gulf Coast

By Spencer S. Hsu, Washington Post

The Bush administration unconstitutionally denied aid to tens of thousands of Gulf Coast residents displaced by hurricanes Katrina and Rita and must resume payments immediately, a federal judge ordered yesterday.

U.S. District Judge Richard J. Leon said the Federal Emergency Management Agency created a "Kafkaesque" process that began cutting off rental aid in February to victims of the 2005 storms, did not provide clear reasons for the denials, and hindered applicants' due-process rights to fix errors or appeal government mistakes.

"It is unfortunate, if not incredible, that FEMA and its counsel could not devise a sufficient notice system to spare these beleaguered evacuees the added burden of federal litigation to vindicate their constitutional rights," Leon, a D.C. federal judge, wrote in a 19-page opinion.

"Free these evacuees from the 'Kafkaesque' application process they have had to endure," he wrote.

How Bush Built a Civil War

President Bush sent U.S. soldiers into Afghanistan in October 2001 to capture or kill Osama bin Laden.

He failed to send U.S. troops after bin Laden at Tora Bora, allowing Afghan sympathizers to spirit the terrorist to safety in Pakistan, where he has been ensconced for the past five years. Bin Laden was responsible for the deaths of the 2,973 people who died in the September 11 attacks. Bush, in a brilliant stroke of legerdemain, persuaded Americans that capturing Osama, with whom his family had done business for decades, was no longer important. Saddam Hussein, who never attacked the United States, became the new bogeyman.

By whipping up a national frenzy for an unprovoked escapade in Iraq, the president bolstered his poll numbers and greatly helped Dick Cheney's Halliburton with $10 billion worth of contracts. He was not able, however, to bring peace and democracy to Iraq at the point of a gun. It did not help that his first action was to tell thousands of Iraqi men with weapons they were no longer wanted and cut off their income. By disbanding the army he set the stage for the civil war to follow.


If Americans thought the war would be over once U.S. soldiers marched into Baghdad and located those dangerous WMDs, they were sadly mistaken.

Bush's own chief arms inspector, David Kay, completely debunked the WMD myth last January. He reported there were no WMDs in Iraq, and probably hadn't been any for a decade.

Rather than declaring victory and withdrawing U.S. forces, Bush merely changed his rationale for the U.S. invastion and occupation. He said the U.S. would not leave until Iraqis had a constitution. Once that was achieved, warring factions went back to killing each other and U.S. soldiers. Bush changed his reason for keeping U.S. soldiers in Iraq one more time.

Despite growing opposition to the war among U.S. voters and our allies, the president continues to stick to an unattainable benchmark for withdrawing soldiers from Iraq's civil war: stability in a country with three armed sects who love killing each other.

One of Bush's main concerns now seems to be, not the safety of U.S. troops, but the increasing use by the media of the term civil war to describe the fighting in Iraq. Bush may be the last person on the planet who believes the fighting will be less nasty if you don't call it a civil war. He prefers to call it "sectarian violence."

"Anyone who still remains in doubt about whether this is civil war is suffering from the luxury of distance," CNN reporter Michael Ware reported Monday from Baghdad. Months ago, after the February 22 bombing of the holy Shiite mosque at Samarra, former Iraqi Prime Minister Ayad Allawai said “If this is not civil war, then God knows what civil war is."

RIGA, Latvia (AP) -- President Bush, under pressure to change direction in Iraq, said Tuesday he will not be persuaded by any calls to withdraw American troops before the country is stabilized.

''There's one thing I'm not going to do, I'm not going to pull our troops off the battlefield before the mission is complete,'' he said in a speech setting the stage for high-stakes meetings with the Iraqi prime minister later this week. ''We can accept nothing less than victory for our children and our grandchildren.''

Iraq War Cost Skyrockets

Those with a good memory may recall that, just prior to launching the unprovoked war in Iraq, Bush officials estimated the conflict would cost approximate $60 billion. Some neocons even suggested that tapping into Iraq's oil revenue would make the war pay for itself. Now comes the hard, cold truth.

Military may ask $127B for wars

Total cost likely to top Vietnam War

By Richard Wolf, USA TODAY

WASHINGTON — The Bush administration is preparing its largest spending request yet for the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan, a proposal that could make the conflict the most expensive since World War II.

The Pentagon is considering $127 billion to $160 billion in requests from the armed services for the 2007 fiscal year, which began last month, several lawmakers and congressional staff members said. That's on top of $70 billion already approved for 2007.

Since 2001, Congress has approved $502 billion for the war on terror, roughly two-thirds for Iraq. The latest request, due to reach the incoming Democratic-controlled Congress next spring, would make the war on terror more expensive than the Vietnam War.

Sen. Kent Conrad, D-N.D., who will chair the Senate Budget Committee next year, said the amount under consideration is “$127 billion and rising.” He said the cost “is going to increasingly become an issue” because it could prevent Congress from addressing domestic priorities, such as expanding Medicare prescription drug coverage.

Rep. Jim Cooper, D-Tenn., who put the expected request at $160 billion, said such a sizable increase still “won't solve the problem” in Iraq.

Bill Hoagland, a senior budget adviser to Senate Republicans, said: “At a minimum, they were looking at $130 (billion). If it goes higher than that, I'm not surprised.”

The new request being considered for the war on terror would be about one-fourth what the government spends annually on Social Security — and 10 times what it spends on its space program.

Before the Iraq war began in 2003, the Bush administration estimated its cost at $50 billion to $60 billion, though White House economic adviser Lawrence Lindsey had suggested in 2002 that it could cost as much as $200 billion.

Growing opposition to the war contributed to Democrats' takeover of the House and Senate in this month's elections. Pennsylvania Rep. John Murtha, an early critic of the war who lost his bid Thursday to be the House Democratic leader, vowed to use his clout as chairman of the House panel that reviews the Pentagon budget “to get these troops out of Iraq and get back on track and quit spending $8 billion a month.”

Bush Approval Plummets Again

President Bush’s job approval rating has fallen to just 31 percent, according to the latest Newsweek Poll.

Bill Clinton’s lowest rating during his presidency was 36 percent; Bush’s father’s was 29 percent, and Ronald Reagan’s was 35 percent. Jimmy Carter’s and Richard Nixon’s lows were 28 and 23 percent, respectively.


Bush can only pray that Democrats forgive him for maligning their patrotism and decide not to impeach him for lying to launch an unprovoked war in Iraq.

Most Americans are writing off the rest of Bush’s presidency; two-thirds (66 percent) believe he will be unable to get much done, up from 56 percent in a mid-October poll; only 32 percent believe he can be effective.

Presented with a list of factors that may have contributed to the Democrats’ success, 85 percent of Americans said the “major reason” was disapproval of the administration’s handling of the war in Iraq, 71 percent said disapproval of Bush’s overall job performance, 67 percent cited dissatisfaction with how Republicans have handled government spending and the deficit, 63 percent said disapproval of the overall performance of Republicans in Congress, 61 percent said Democrats’ ideas and proposals for changing course in Iraq.

Bush Replaces Rummy with Another Retread

After his spanking at the polls, President Bush announced that Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld would take the fall for the unprovoked war in Iraq.



He's being replaced by yet another retread from Bush Senior's administration. Robert Gates was Poppy's CIA Director for 14 months. Instead of choosing someone with military and intelligence experience who would have the support of both parties, Bush went to his father's Rolodex and pulled out a partisan mired in scandal and accused by colleagues of doctoring information to suit his former boss.

Gates was caught up in Iran-Contra. The Reagan scheme used money from arms sales to Iran (yes, Iran!) to illegally finance rebels in Nicaragua, in direct violation of a law passed by Congress. A special investigator looking into the scandal in 1987 found that there was insufficient evidence that Gates knew what was going on under then-CIA Director Bill Casey. Oliver North and John Poindexter were indicted for their roles in Iran-Contra.

Voters Slap Bush Upside the Head

George Bush finally made good on his pledge to be a uniter, not a divider. Tired of years of lies, hypocrisy, cronyism, bullying and corruption, voters went to the polls Tuesday, united in their determination to toss the rascal Republicans out of office.

In the biggest turnabout since the GOP took control of Congress in 1994 with a Contract On America, voters from red and blue states alike punished Republican incumbents for supporting President Bush's "Stay the Course" policy on the Iraq quagmire.

While the unprovoked war was uppermost on many voters' minds, they probably were also disgusted with tax cuts for the wealthy and corporations, which shifted more of the tax burden to middle class and working class wage-earners. Voters may also remember that Bill Clinton left office with a budget surplus, one that Bush quickly turned into the largest federal deficit in history.

The fact that Bush, for five years, slashed funds needed to strengthen levies in New Orleans, as part of his lame effort to pay down his tax cut and war deficit, probably didn't help. Nor did the abysmal federal response to Hurricane Katrina, which in large part was a result of Bush appointing incompetents to important posts, using the government as a patronage machine.

Bush Poison for GOP Candidates

Bush Snubbed in Florida

PENSACOLA, Fla. (AP) -- The closer the election came to the finish line, the more President Bush's aides battled the perception he was doing his party as much harm as good and was unwanted in many races.

On Monday, Bush jetted to a conservative corner of Florida's Panhandle, about as far as he could get from the state's three in-play House districts. To the White House's embarrassment and irritation, Republican Charlie Crist, whom Bush came to help in his bid to succeed the president's brother as governor, decided at the last minute to skip the chance to be by the president's side.

Crist chief of staff George LeMieux said the conservative Pensacola area was so firmly in his camp that it made more sense to campaign elsewhere in the state. Said Crist, "I'm glad he's come to our state, but I've got to get around Florida."

Still, Karl Rove, Bush's top political adviser, suggested that reporters see whether Crist would be able to hastily assemble anything like the Pensacola event, which drew about 7,000.

Bush ignored the dustup. "I strongly suggest you vote for Charlie Crist to be governor of the state of Florida," he said.

With Crist as a no-show, Bush was joined on stage by a host of Florida Republicans--but not by Republican Rep. Katherine Harris. She has run a much-panned Senate race that has had her Republican elders cringing and both the president and his brother keeping their distance.

Iraq Scoreboard and War Costs

U.S. death toll
2,942

WMDs
Zero


Bush Credibility
Zero

How Much Does the Iraq War Cost?
$2,000,000,000,000

By Linda Bilmes and Joseph E. Stiglitz
The Milken Institute Review

Two scholars, one a Nobel Prize winner, revisit their estimate of the true cost of the Iraq war - and find that $2 trillion was too low. They consider not only the current and future budgetary costs, but the economic impact of lives lost, jobs interrupted and oil prices driven higher by political uncertainty in the Middle East.

In January, we estimated that the true cost of the Iraq war could reach $2 trillion, a figure that seemed shockingly high. But since that time, the cost of the war - in both blood and money - has risen even faster than our projections anticipated. More than 2,500 American troops have died and close to 20,000 have been wounded since Operation Iraqi Freedom began. And the $2 trillion number - the sum of the current and future budgetary costs along with the economic impact of lives lost, jobs interrupted and oil prices driven higher by political uncertainty in the Middle East - now seems low.

One source of difficulty in getting an accurate picture of the direct cost of prosecuting the war is the way the government does its accounting. With "cash accounting," income and expenses are recorded when payments are actually made - for example, what you pay off on your credit card today - not the amount outstanding. By contrast, with "accrual accounting," income and expenses are recorded when the commitment is made. But, as Representative Jim Cooper, Democrat of Tennessee, notes, "The budget of the United States uses cash accounting, and only the tiniest businesses in America are even allowed to use cash accounting. Why? Because it gives you a very distorted picture."

The distortion is particularly acute in the case of the Iraq war. The cash costs of feeding, housing, transporting and equipping U.S. troops, paying for reconstruction costs, repairs and replacement parts and training Iraqi forces are just the tip of an enormous iceberg. Costs incurred, but not yet paid, dwarf what is being spent now - even when future anticipated outlays are converted back into 2006 dollars.

Congress has already appropriated approximately $430 billion for military operations, reconstruction and related programs in Iraq and Afghanistan. And these cash outlays have been rising as the war has progressed. In fiscal year 2003, the average monthly cost of operations was $4.4 billion, while today operations are running about $10 billion a month.

Bush Lies, Endorses Rummy, Shoots GOP in Foot

Many GOP candidates running for re-election to Congress tried to show voters they were not toadies of President Bush by bashing Secretary of Defense Donald Rumsfeld on the failed invasion and occupation of Iraq, and in many cases calling for his ouster.

In the latest example of GOP implosion, Bush dealt those candidates an unexpected blow Thursday. He gave Rumsfeld the same glowing "Heck of a job, Brownie!" endorsement he gave to his now-parted FEMA chief Michael Brown by vowing to keep Rumsfeld through the bitter end of his presidency. "I'm pleased with the progress we're making," the president said.

In an odd turn of events, on the day after the elections Bush admitted he lied about keeping Rumsfeld on - that he had decided beforehand to can the defense secretary. The reason for his lie: to get him past a pesky reporter's question on the subject.

Recently, several top U.S. generals with experience in Iraq called for Rumsfeld's removal. Now the editorial writers of the military's newspapers are doing the same.



Army Times: 'Time for Rumsfeld to go'

(CNN) -- An editorial to be published in an independent military publication Monday calls for Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld to be replaced.

The editorial reads: "It is one thing for the majority of Americans to think Rumsfeld has failed. But when the nation's current military leaders start to break publicly with their defense secretary, then it is clear that he is losing control of the institution he ostensibly leads."

"Rumsfeld has lost credibility with the uniformed leadership, with the troops, with Congress and with the public at large," the editorial states. "His strategy has failed, and his ability to lead is compromised. And although the blame for our failures in Iraq rests with the secretary, it will be the troops who bear its brunt."

Not-So-Angelic Evangelical

Key Evangelical Quits Amid Gay Sex Claim

COLORADO SPRINGS, Colo. (AP) -- The leader of the 30 million-member National Association of Evangelicals, a vocal opponent of same-sex marriage, resigned Thursday after being accused of paying for sex with a man in monthly trysts over the past three years.

The Rev. Ted Haggard, a married father of five who has been called one of the most influential evangelical Christians in the nation, denied the allegations. His accuser refused to share voice mails that he said backed up his claim.

Haggard also stepped aside as head of his 14,000-member New Life Church while a church panel investigates, saying he could "not continue to minister under the cloud created by the accusations."

The allegations come as voters in Colorado and seven other states get ready to decide Tuesday on amendments banning gay marriage. Besides the proposed ban on the Colorado ballot, a separate measure would establish the legality of domestic partnerships providing same-sex couples with many of the rights of married couples.

Mike Jones, 49, of Denver said he decided to go public with his allegations because of the political fight. Jones, who said he is gay, said he was upset when he discovered Haggard and the New Life Church had publicly opposed same-sex marriage.

"It made me angry that here's someone preaching about gay marriage and going behind the scenes having gay sex," said Jones, who added that he isn't working for any political group.

Jones, whose allegations were first aired on KHOW-AM radio in Denver, claimed Haggard paid him to have sex nearly every month over three years. Jones also said Haggard snorted methamphetamine before their sexual encounters to heighten his experience.

Bush Stays the Course As 2,826 U.S. Soldiers Die

101 U.S. soldiers died in Iraq during October--the worst U.S. monthly death toll since the unprovoked war began. While there may not be any WMDs in Iraq, there are Halliburton contracts worth more than $10 billion.

A report by the inspector general's office overseeing Iraq spending found that at least 55 percent, or $163 million, of $296 million in total costs rung up by Halliburton unit KBR went to expenses such as back-office support, transportation and security. That percentage was significantly higher than it was on work by other firms in Iraq, and experts said it is far above what is typically found on a government contract. KBR is reimbursed for its costs and then receives a percentage for profit on top, an arrangement that critics contend has given the firm an incentive to run up its bills.

That must be some consolation to President Bush and Vice President Cheney, as the U.S. death toll three and one half years after MISSION ACCOMPLISHED! rises to 2,826.
President Bush won't ever agree to remove U.S. troops from Iraq. When the WMD pretext was shown to be a sham, he switched our reason for being there to creating democracy in Iraq. When Iraqis wrote their constitution and had parliamentary elections, Bush said we couldn't leave until all the "terrorists" who wanted U.S. troops out were "defeated." This is, of course, impossible, since they are Iraqis who (1) live there and (2) want us out of their country as badly as the Minutemen wanted to oust the British a few years back.

The November 7 elections will be a referendum on the GOP bait-and-switch policy that's cost the U.S. taxpayer more than $300 billion, money that could have been spent at home on useful projects, as well as the hideous death toll for U.S., coalition forces and Iraqi soldiers and civilians.

No Bush Left Behind

Bush's family profits from 'No Child Left Behind' act

By Walter F. Roche Jr., Los Angeles Times

A company headed by President Bush's brother and partly owned by his parents is benefiting from Republican connections and federal dollars targeted for economically disadvantaged students under the No Child Left Behind Act.

With investments from his parents, George H.W. and Barbara Bush, and other backers, Neil Bush's company, Ignite! Learning, has placed its products in 40 U.S. school districts and now plans to market internationally.

At least 13 U.S. school districts have used federal funds available through the president's signature education reform, the No Child Left Behind Act of 2001, to buy Ignite's portable learning centers at $3,800 apiece.

Corruption Creeps Into the White House

(AP) A key aide to presidential political strategist Karl Rove resigned Friday in the wake of a U.S. congressional report that listed hundreds of contacts between disgraced lobbyist Jack Abramoff and the White House.

Susan Ralston, special assistant to President George W. Bush, submitted a resignation letter to him less than five weeks before the Nov. 7 elections.

Critics have pointed to Ralston as evidence that Rove — and thus Bush — are possibly closer to Abramoff than the White House has acknowledged. Ralston was Abramoff's administrative assistant at his lobbying firm and, after Bush took office, assumed the same post with Rove.

The Neys Have It

Ohio GOP Congressman Admits Guilt In Congressional Corruption Probe

(AP) Rep. Bob Ney has abandoned months of defiant denials and agreed to plead guilty to criminal charges in the congressional corruption probe spawned by disgraced lobbyist Jack Abramoff.


Ney, R-Ohio, will plead guilty to two counts: conspiracy and making false statements. Each charge carries a five-year mandatory penalty, but if Ney goes along with all requirements of the plea, the government has agreed to recommend to the court a sentence of 27 months.

Ney became the first lawmaker to admit wrongdoing in the election-year investigation.

Real President Helps Children

GOP Snacks on Children;
Democrats Help Kids to Healthier Snacks
While Bush, Rove, Hastert and other Republican leaders work overtime to cover up their congressional page sexual harassment scandal, Bill Clinton has done something that will actually help children.

(AP) - Snacks sold in U.S. schools will have to cut the fat, sugar and salt under the latest crackdown on junk food won by former President Clinton.

Five months after a similar agreement targeting the sale of carbonated soft drinks in schools, Mr. Clinton and the American Heart Association announced a deal Friday with several major food companies to make school snacks healthier — the latest assault on the nation's childhood obesity epidemic.

The agreement with Kraft Foods Inc., Mars Inc., Campbell Soup Co., Groupe Danone SA and PepsiCo Inc. sets guidelines for fat, sugar, sodium and calories for snack foods sold in school vending machines, stores and snack bars.

Bush Again Flouts Law

President asserts power to edit privacy reports

WASHINGTON (AP) - President Bush, again defying Congress, says he has the power to edit the Homeland Security Department’s reports about whether it obeys privacy rules while handling background checks, ID cards and watchlists.

In the law Bush signed Wednesday, Congress stated no one but the privacy officer could alter, delay or prohibit the mandatory annual report on Homeland Security department activities that affect privacy, including complaints.

But Bush, in a signing statement attached to the agency’s 2007 spending bill, said he will interpret that section “in a manner consistent with the President’s constitutional authority to supervise the unitary executive branch.”

Privacy advocate Marc Rotenberg said Bush is trying to subvert lawmakers’ ability to accurately monitor activities of the executive branch of government.

“The Homeland Security Department has been setting up watch lists to determine who gets on planes, who gets government jobs, who gets employed,” said Rotenberg, executive director of the Electronic Privacy Information Center.

GOP Family Values

- or -

We're All on the Same Page

ABC News reports three more former congressional pages have come forward with gruesome details of Republican family values, as practiced by disgraced Congressman Mark Foley and covered up by House Speaker Dennis Hastert.

"I was seventeen years old and just returned to [my home state] when Foley began to e-mail me, asking if I had ever seen my page roommates naked and how big their penises were," said the page in the 2002 class.

The former page also said Foley told him that if he happened to be in Washington, D.C., he could stay at Foley's home if he "would engage in oral sex" with Foley.

The second page says Foley actually visited the old page dorm and offered rides to events in his BMW.

"His e-mails developed into sexually explicit conversations, and he asked me for photographs of my erect penis," the former page said.

The third page, a graduate of the 1998 page class, said Foley's instant messages began while he was a senior in high school.

"Foley would say he was sitting in his boxers and ask what I was wearing," the page said.

"It became more weird, and I stopped responding," the page said.

All three pages described similar instant message and e-mail patterns, with remarkably similar escalations of provocative questions.

"He didn't want to talk about politics," the page said. "He wanted to talk about sex or my penis," the page said.

George Will on Foley Cover-Up

The modern twist to the fall of Foley -- public protector and private predator of children -- is the warp speed with which it moved from exposé to therapy: Foley, who has entered alcohol rehab, says he takes "responsibility" for what he has become as a result of abusive priests and demon rum.

Having so quickly exhausted the Oprah approach, the Foley story moved on to who knew what, and when. That drove Speaker Dennis Hastert to the un-Oprah broadcasting couch on which Republicans recline when getting in touch with their feelings. To Rush Limbaugh's 20 million receptive listeners, Hastert, referring to Republicans as "we," said:

"We have a story to tell, and the Democrats have -- in my view have -- put this thing forward to try to block us from telling the story. They're trying to put us on defense."

It is difficult to read that as other than an accusation: He seems to be not just confessing a coverup but also complaining that the coverup was undone by bad manners. Were it not for Democrats' unsportsmanlike conduct in putting "this thing" forward, it would not be known and would not be disrupting Republicans' storytelling.

GOP Cover-Up a Real Page Turner

Rep. Thomas Reynolds, head of the House Republican election effort, said he told GOP House Leader Dennis Hastert months ago about concerns Foley sent inappropriate messages to a teenage boy. Reynolds, R-N.Y., is under attack from Democrats who say he did too little to protect the boy.

Hastert covered up that information.

Other Foley Facts:
He had Internet sex with a boy during a House vote. The smutty exchanges took place in 2003 while the Florida Republican was waiting to vote on emergency funding for the Iraq war.
According to ABC News, Foley sent instant messages about orgasms to the boy from the floor of the House. Before signing off to vote, Foley asked his teenage friend, "can I have a good kiss goodnight."


Sheer Foley

President Bush said he was "disgusted" by Foley's behavior...but turned away calls for House Speaker Dennis Hastert's resignation for failing to act on reports that Hastert did nothing when confronted with evidence of Foley's inappropriate text messaging.

ABC News had read excerpts of instant messages provided by former pages -- under the age of 18 -- who said the congressman, under the AOL Instant Messenger screen name Maf54, made repeated references to sexual organs and acts.

Interesting note -- on Capitol Hill, Foley, who is 52 and single - and co-chairman of the Congressional Missing and Exploited Children's Caucus - has long been pushing bill against certain images of kids on websites, the Child Modeling Exploitation Prevention Act, or CMEPA. "These websites are nothing more than a fix for pedophiles," Foley said when he introduced the bill in 2002.

--------------------------------------------

from the Associated Press:

Foley, who represents an area around Palm Beach County, e-mailed the page in August 2005. The page had worked for Rep. Rodney Alexander, R-La., and Foley asked him how he was doing after Hurricane Katrina and what he wanted for his birthday. The congressman also asked the boy to send a photo of himself, according to excerpts of the e-mails that were originally released by ABC News.

In 2003, Foley faced questions about his sexual orientation as he prepared to run for Sen. Bob Graham's seat. At a news conference in May of that year, he said he would not comment on rumors he was gay. He later decided not to seek the Senate seat to care for his parents.

According to the Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington, the boy e-mailed a colleague in Alexander's office about Foley's e-mails, saying, ''This freaked me out.'' On the request for a photo, the boy repeated the word ''sick'' 13 times.

U.S. Death Toll in Iraq Nears 2,800

Non-Existent WMDs Lead to Death of 2,791 U.S. soldiers in Iraq


While President Bush speechifies about the importance of spreading "democracy" at the point of a gun in the Middle East, and shows no interest in an exit strategy for his Iraq quagmire, the death toll of U.S. and other coalition soldiers steadily rises. October has proved to be the worst months for U.S. casualties this year...one of the worst months since Bush declared "Mission Accomplished" a bit prematurely three years ago.

Bush Cover-Up Exposed

[For months, President Bush and his henchmen have been downplaying his contact with convicted lobbyist Jack Abramoff. Not unlike Bush's attempts, after the collapse of Enron, to deny his close relationship with Ken Lay, who was W's single largest campaign contributor. But the truth is out: Bush just loves felons.

Now the truth is out - from a GOP-controlled committee in Congress, no less.]

Abramoff and Rove Had 82 Contacts, Report Says

WASHINGTON, Sept. 28 — A bipartisan Congressional report documents hundreds of contacts between White House officials and the corrupt lobbyist Jack Abramoff and his partners, including at least 10 direct contacts between Mr. Abramoff and Karl Rove, the president’s chief political strategist.


The House Government Reform Committee report, based on e-mail messages and other records subpoenaed from Mr. Abramoff’s lobbying firm, found 485 contacts between Mr. Abramoff’s lobbying team and White House officials from 2001 to 2004, including 82 with Mr. Rove’s office. The lobbyists spent almost $25,000 in meals and drinks for the White House officials and provided them with tickets to numerous sporting events and concerts, according to the report.

Mr. Rove has described Mr. Abramoff as a “casual acquaintance,” but the records obtained by the House committee show that Mr. Rove and his aides sought Mr. Abramoff’s help in obtaining seats at sporting events, and that Mr. Rove sat with Mr. Abramoff in the lobbyist’s box seats for an NCAA basketball playoff game in 2002. After that game, Mr. Abramoff described Mr. Rove in an e-mail message to a colleague: “He’s a great guy. Told me anytime we need something just let him know."

Bush Failed to Supoort the Troops

‘There simply aren’t enough troops’
A retired general says higher-ups let soldiers down and the U.S. is playing ‘a shell game.’
By Noam Levey, Los Angeles Times

WASHINGTON | A retired senior general who commanded an infantry division in the conflict said Monday that requests by commanders in Iraq for more soldiers were repeatedly turned down.

“Many of us routinely asked for more troops,” retired Maj. Gen. John R.S. Batiste said, a claim contradicting statements by President Bush and his senior aides that the administration has given the military all the resources it has asked for.

“There simply aren’t enough troops there to accomplish the task,” said Batiste, who has previously called for Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld to resign.

“It’s a shell game we’re playing in Iraq, and we’ve been doing it since Day 1. And we’re still doing it today.”

The general’s remarks, echoed by two other retired soldiers Monday, came at a special hearing called by Democratic senators as part of what they said would be an initiative to increase oversight of the war effort.

Bush Tortures Innocent Man

Bush can't get Osama - but he can torture computer geeks

Canadian Was Falsely Accused, Panel Says

Muslim Held by U.S. Was Sent to Syria For Interrogation

By Doug Struck, Washington Post

TORONTO, Sept. 18 -- Canadian intelligence officials passed false warnings and bad information to American agents about a Muslim Canadian citizen, after which U.S. authorities secretly whisked him to Syria, where he was tortured, a judicial report found Monday.

The report, released in Ottawa, was the result of a 2 1/2-year inquiry that represented one of the first public investigations into mistakes made as part of the United States' "extraordinary rendition" program, which has secretly spirited suspects to foreign countries for interrogation by often brutal methods.

Arar, now 36, was detained by U.S. authorities as he changed planes in New York on Sept. 26, 2002. He was held for questioning for 12 days, then flown by jet to Jordan and driven to Syria. He was beaten, forced to confess to having trained in Afghanistan -- where he never has been -- and then kept in a coffin-size dungeon for 10 months before he was released, the Canadian inquiry commission found.

O'Connor concluded that "categorically there is no evidence" that Arar did anything wrong or was a security threat.

Bloody Legacy of Failure

Today I want to update Americans on our global campaign against terror. The United States is presenting a clear choice to every nation: Stand with the civilized world, or stand with the terrorists. And for those nations that stand with the terrorists, there will be a heavy price.
-- October 6, 2001 presidential radio address


Five years after invading Afghanistan, it's obvious that President Bush, who failed to capture Osama bin Laden dead or alive, has no intention of pursuing him in Pakistan. It appears that Pakistan, which has been openly shielding bin Laden for years, doesn't have enough oil reserves to warrant Bush's attention.

His inaction, of course, does not stop Bush from speechifying about the so-called war or terror. He has to generate scary headlines day in and day out to distract the public from his utter failure to lessen the terrorist threat at home and abroad.

Meanwhile, in neighboring Iraq - a country that played no role in the 9/11 attacks or any terrorism against the U.S. - the U.S. death toll has risen to 2666. The number of WMDs found remains at zero.

Remember: Get Osama -- Dead or Alive

[Remember the good old days when Bush promised to get Osama bin Laden for masterminding the 9/11 attacks? Now, after invading Afghanistan and failing to capture bin Laden five years ago, our short-attention-span leader seems about as interested in our number one terrorist foe as he is in those nonexistent Iraqi WMDs].

Bush again vows to capture Osama 'dead or alive'

December 29, 2001--President George W Bush again vowed to capture Osama bin Laden 'dead or alive' and said the United States will keep the terror suspect on the run.

Bush, speaking at a news conference at his ranch in Crawford, Texas, said if bin Laden has fled to Pakistan, the US can count on the support of President Pervez Musharraf.

"We believe he (Musharraf) will help us, if in fact he (bin Laden) happens to be in Pakistan," said Bush.

"Who knows where he is. But one thing is for certain: He is on the losing side of a rout," he said.

He said, "The US is on the hunt and he knows that we are on the hunt. And I like our position better than his."

Asked whether he believes bin Laden is still in control of the Al Qaeda network, Bush said: "Who knows?"

Bush Loses to Constitution on Wiretaps

DETROIT - A federal judge ruled that the government's warrantless wiretapping program is unconstitutional and ordered an immediate halt to it.

U.S. District Judge Anna Diggs Taylor in Detroit became the first judge to strike down the National Security Agency's program, which she says violates the rights to free speech and privacy as well as the separation of powers enshrined in the Constitution.

"Plaintiffs have prevailed, and the public interest is clear, in this matter. It is the upholding of our Constitution," Taylor wrote in her 43-page opinion.

The American Civil Liberties Union filed the lawsuit on behalf of journalists, scholars and lawyers who say the program has made it difficult for them to do their jobs. They believe many of their overseas contacts are likely targets of the program, which involves secretly listening to conversations between people in the U.S. and people in other countries.

The government argued that the program is well within the president's authority, but said proving that would require revealing state secrets.

The ACLU said the state-secrets argument was irrelevant because the Bush administration already had publicly revealed enough information about the program for Taylor to rule.

[Two reasons Bush did not gloat over the August 10th roundup of terror suspects in London: (1) The police work and the arrests were done completely by the British and (2) they caught the suspects by following money trails to fake charities in Pakistan, not by eavesdropping illegally on their citizens.]

Bush Milestone Iraq Death Toll

On May 1, 2003, President Bush landed on the aircraft carrier USS Abraham Lincoln aboard an S-3B Viking jet, emerged from the aircraft in full flight gear, and proceeded to declare that "[m]ajor combat operations in Iraq have ended," all the while standing under a banner reading: "Mission Accomplished."

The U.S. death toll passed the 2,600 mark...and Bush seems to have as much interest in developing an exit strategy as he has in capturing or killing Osama bin Laden.


U.S. Military Death Toll in Iraq: 2,601

WMDs Found in Iraq: Zero

(c) Time Magazine

DeLay Desperate to Get

Name Off Ballot

WASHINGTON (AP) -- Former Majority Leader Tom DeLay said Tuesday he is taking the necessary steps to remove his name from the November ballot, giving his party a chance to field a write-in candidate in hopes of holding the House seat.

Buffeted by scandal, DeLay said his June 9 resignation from Congress was ''irrevocable'' and maintained that he's no longer a Texan.

''As a Virginia resident, I will take the actions necessary to remove my name from the Texas ballot. To do anything else would be hypocrisy,'' DeLay said in a statement.

DeLay was forced to act after Republicans lost several court fights to remove his name from the ballot in the Houston-area district and replace him with a GOP-chosen nominee. Republicans ended their legal battles Monday when Supreme Court Justice Anton Scalia refused to hear their case, letting the appeals court decision stand.

Lawyers Against Bush

Lawyers' Group Attacks Bush Revisions

HONOLULU (AP) -- The American Bar Association approved a resolution condemning President Bush's practice of writing exceptions to legislation he signs into law.

Delegates, representing 410,000 members, at the ABA's annual meeting approved the resolution objecting to any president using bill signing statements as a way of diluting or changing laws rather than using an outright veto.

Bush has vetoed only one bill, on stem cell research, but written exceptions to some 800 legislative provisions, more than all previous presidents combined.

Bush Favors Embryos Over Grown-Ups

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - President Bush used his first veto on Wednesday to block legislation to expand embryonic stem-cell research, putting him at odds with top scientists and most Americans, including some in his own Republican Party.

"It crosses a moral boundary that our decent society needs to respect, so I vetoed it," Bush said.

The legislation, passed by both the House of Representatives and the Senate, now returns to Capitol Hill, where it does not appear to have the two-thirds majority needed to overturn Bush's first veto since taking office more than five years ago.

Even conservative Republicans who generally oppose abortion are divided. Bush sees the research as destroying a human life, but others, including Senate Majority Leader Bill Frist of Tennessee and Sen. Orrin Hatch of Utah, say the embryos are slated for destruction anyway. Iowa Democratic Sen. Tom Harkein pledged to reintroduce the bill next year and said Bush's veto was a "shameful display of cruelty, hypocrisy and ignorance."

Spy Haunts Cheney and Rove

Former CIA officer sues Cheney, Libby, Rove over leak
Plame alleges Bush administration officials ruined her career

WASHINGTON (AP) -- The CIA officer whose identity was leaked to reporters sued Vice President Dick Cheney, his former top aide and presidential adviser Karl Rove on Thursday, accusing them and other White House officials of conspiring to destroy her career.

In a lawsuit filed in U.S. District Court, Valerie Plame and her husband, Joseph Wilson, a former U.S. ambassador, accused Cheney, Rove and I. Lewis "Scooter" Libby of revealing Plame's CIA identity in seeking revenge against Wilson for criticizing the Bush administration's motives in Iraq.

The lawsuit accuses Cheney, Libby, Rove and 10 unnamed administration officials or political operatives of putting the Wilsons and their children's lives at risk by exposing Plame.

"This lawsuit concerns the intentional and malicious exposure by senior officials of the federal government of ... (Plame), whose job it was to gather intelligence to make the nation safer and who risked her life for her country," the Wilsons' lawyers said in the lawsuit.

Libby is the only administration official charged in connection with the leak investigation. He faces trial in January on perjury and obstruction-of-justice charges, accused of lying to FBI agents and a federal grand jury about when he learned Plame's identity and what he subsequently told reporters.

Cheney Lets His Employer Down

Army to End Expansive, Exclusive Halliburton Deal
Logistics Contract to Be Open for Bidding
By Griff Witte, Washington Post

The Army is discontinuing a controversial multibillion-dollar deal with oil services giant Halliburton Company to provide logistical support to U.S. troops worldwide, a decision that could cut deeply into the firm's dominance of government contracting in Iraq.

The choice comes after several years of attacks from critics who saw the contract as a symbol of politically connected corporations profiteering on the war.

Under the deal, Halliburton had exclusive rights to provide the military with a wide range of work that included keeping soldiers around the world fed, sheltered and in communication with friends and family back home. Government audits turned up more than $1 billion in questionable costs. Whistle-blowers told how the company charged $45 per case of soda, double-billed on meals and allowed troops to bathe in contaminated water.

Halliburton officials have denied the allegations strenuously. Army officials yesterday defended the company's performance but also acknowledged that reliance on a single contractor left the government vulnerable.

The heavy involvement of U.S. contractors in Iraq has been one of the defining features of the American presence there, with private companies called on for duties as varied as guarding supply convoys and analyzing intelligence.

No contractor has received more money as a result of the invasion of Iraq than Halliburton, whose former chief executive is Vice President Cheney.

Shrub Quits on Finding bin Laden Dead or Alive

C.I.A. Closes Unit Focused on Capture of bin Laden

By Mark Mazzetti, New York Times

WASHINGTON, July 3 — The Central Intelligence Agency has closed a unit that for a decade had the mission of hunting Osama bin Laden and his top lieutenants, intelligence officials confirmed.

The unit, known as Alec Station, was disbanded late last year and its analysts reassigned within the C.I.A. Counterterrorist Center, the officials said.

The decision is a milestone for the agency, which formed the unit before Osama bin Laden became a household name and bolstered its ranks after the Sept. 11 attacks, when President Bush pledged to bring Mr. bin Laden to justice "dead or alive."

Supreme Court Slaps Bush Upside the Head

High Court Rejects

Detainee Tribunals

5 to 3 Ruling Curbs President's Claim Of Wartime Power

By Charles Lane, Washington Post

The Supreme Court struck down July 3rd the military commissions President Bush established to try suspected members of al-Qaeda, emphatically rejecting a signature Bush anti-terrorism measure and the broad assertion of executive power upon which the president had based it.

Brushing aside administration pleas not to second-guess the commander in chief during wartime, a five-justice majority ruled that the commissions, which were outlined by Bush in a military order on Nov. 13, 2001, were neither authorized by federal law nor required by military necessity, and ran afoul of the Geneva Conventions.

"Where, as here, no emergency prevents consultation with Congress, judicial insistence upon that consultation does not weaken our Nation's ability to deal with danger. To the contrary, that insistence strengthens the Nation's ability to determine -- through democratic means -- how best to do so," Justice Stephen Breyer wrote.

"The Constitution places its faith in those democratic means," Breyer concluded. "Our Court today simply does the same."

Another Bush Crook Convicted

Official found guilty for covering up Abramoff ties

WASHINGTON (AP) -- A jury found former Bush administration official David Safavian guilty Tuesday of covering up his dealings with Republican influence-peddler Jack Abramoff.

Safavian was convicted on four of five felony counts of lying and obstruction. He had resigned from his White House post last year as the federal government's chief procurement officer.

The verdict gave a boost to the wide-ranging influence peddling probe that focuses on Abramoff's dealings with Congress.

In the Safavian case, prosecutors highlighted the name of Rep. Bob Ney, R-Ohio. They introduced a photograph of the congressman and Abramoff standing in front of a private jet that whisked them and other members of a golfing party for a five-day trip to the storied St Andrews Old Course in Scotland, and a second leg of the journey to London.

The trial consumed eight days of testimony about Safavian's assistance to Abramoff regarding government-owned real estate and the weeklong golfing excursion to Scotland that the lobbyist organized.

The jury found Safavian guilty of obstructing the work of the GSA inspector general and of lying to a GSA ethics official. It also convicted him of lying to the GSA's Office of Inspector General and of making a false statement to the Senate Indian Affairs Committee. He was acquitted of a charge of obstructing the committee's investigation.

This was the first trial to emerge from the scandal surrounding Abramoff, who is a former business partner of Safavian. Abramoff, who has pleaded guilty to federal crimes here and in Miami, would likely be a witness if the Justice Department assembles criminal cases against any members of Congress.

U.S. Death Toll in Iraq: 2,501

WMDS: 0

Bush Cuts Anti-Terror Funding for New York

N.Y.ers a-maized by corn protection
Honcho sez fields more vulnerable than N.Y.C.
By James Meek, New York Daily News

WASHINGTON - The Homeland Security bureaucrat who shortchanged New Yorkers' safety by $80 million implied yesterday that guarding a Nebraska cornfield from an Al Qaeda attack is the same as putting a cop with a gun on the Brooklyn Bridge.

"When you are protecting agriculture in the Midwest, you are protecting the citizens of New York City," Assistant Secretary Tracy Henke told C-Span's "Washington Journal."

Henke - a political appointee in charge of doling out $1.7 billion in security grants to cities under the highest threat of attack - cut funds to New York City and Washington by 40%, even though both are considered Al Qaeda's top terror targets.

A senior U.S. counterterrorism official in Washington scoffed at the insinuation that Al Qaeda is targeting cornfields and grain stores.

"The whole DHS agro-terrorism theory doesn't hold," the official said. Asked if he had ever heard of a credible terrorist threat to the food supply, the official laughingly replied, "Never."

Henke is a Republican political operative and protégé of former Attorney General John Ashcroft with no background in military or intelligence.

Bush Beats Nixon as Worst Prez Since WWII

Dubya stinks? Try worst Prez since WWII, poll sez

The Daily News

Voters aren't just dissatisfied with President Bush - they think he's the worst President since World War II, according to a shocking new Quinnipiac University poll. Bush has sunk so low in the public's estimation that Richard Nixon, who resigned in disgrace after Watergate, looks good by comparison. While 34% of the poll participants rated Bush the worst President, Nixon got the thumbs down from 17% of 1,534 registered voters polled nationwide from May 23 to 30. And Democrats "just plain don't like President Bush," Quinnipiac pollster Maurice Carroll said. The war in Iraq is the primary reason for Bush's unpopularity. But even in the so-called red states, voters disapprove of Bush by a 52%-to-39% margin. Adding insult to injury, former President Bill Clinton emerged in the poll as the second best of the 11 postwar Presidents - right after Ronald Reagan.

Iraq Death Toll

Gis Killed in Iraq: 2,474
WMDs Found in Iraq: 0

For the gory details on Bush's Mideast adventure and Halliburton bonanza, see Iraq Coalition Casualty Count

Does it matter? -- losing your legs? . . .

For people will always be kind,

And you need not show that you mind

When the others come in after hunting

To gobble their muffins and eggs.

Does it matter? -- losing your sight? . . .

There's such splendid work for the blind;

And people will always be kind,

As you sit on the terrace remembering

And turning your face to the light.

Do they matter? -- those dreams from the pit? . . .

You can drink and forget and be glad,

And people won't say that you're mad;

For they'll know that you've fought for your country,

And no one will worry a bit.

--Siegfried Sasson, 1917

Bush Lawbreaking Continues

Unable or unwilling to catch Osama bin Laden, President Bush is distracting the public with an all-out attack on U.S. citizens. The unwarranted NSA wiretap program was one hideous example. The more recently disclosed roundup of the phone records of tens of millions of Americans is another.

Phone Firms Questioned

Legal experts say the divulging of records to the government is prohibited by a 1986 law.

By David G. Savage, Los Angeles Times

WASHINGTON — While Capitol Hill debated the issue Friday, many lawyers voiced surprise that three major telephone companies had agreed to make available to the National Security Agency the phone records of tens of millions of Americans.

That's because Congress made it illegal 20 years ago for telephone companies and computer service providers to turn over to the government records showing who their customers had dialed or e-mailed.

"I would not want to be the general counsel of one of these phone companies," said Orin S. Kerr, a law professor at George Washington University and a former Justice Department lawyer who has worked on electronic surveillance.

Kerr was referring to the disclosure Thursday that the Bush administration has been secretly collecting the domestic phone call records of millions of Americans. The government reportedly obtained the records from AT&T, Verizon and BellSouth but was turned down by Denver-based Qwest Communications.

The law doesn't make it illegal for the government to ask for such records. Rather, it makes it illegal for phone companies to divulge them.

The Electronic Communications Privacy Act of 1986 was passed when cellphones and the Internet were emerging as new forms of communication. Section 2702 of the law says the providers of "electronic communications … shall not knowingly divulge a record or other information pertaining to a subscriber or customer … to any government entity."

Companies that violate the law are subject to being sued and paying damages of at least $1,000 per violation per customer.

The first such lawsuit was filed Friday against Verizon in New Jersey.

Bush Jabbed by Colbert

Colbert Lampoons Bush at White House Correspondents Dinner -- President Not Amused?
from Editor & Publisher


WASHINGTON A blistering comedy “tribute” to President Bush by Comedy Central’s faux talk-show host Stephen Colbert at the White House Correspondent Dinner Saturday, April 29 night left George and Laura Bush unsmiling at its close.

Colbert, who spoke in the guise of his talk-show character, who ostensibly supports the president strongly, urged Bush to ignore his low approval ratings, saying they were based on reality, “and reality has a well-known liberal bias.”

Turning to the war, he declared, "I believe that the government that governs best is a government that governs least, and by these standards we have set up a fabulous government in Iraq."

He also reflected on the alleged good old days for the president, when the media was still swallowing the WMD story.

Addressing the reporters, he said, "Let's review the rules. Here's how it works. The president makes decisions, he’s the decider. The press secretary announces those decisions, and you people of the press type those decisions down. Make, announce, type. Put them through a spell check and go home. Get to know your family again. Make love to your wife. Write that novel you got kicking around in your head. You know, the one about the intrepid Washington reporter with the courage to stand up to the administration. You know -- fiction."