It’s becoming painfully evident that the main stream news media has a really bad habit of sitting on or covering up and ignoring news stories — sometimes twisting words around to distort the truth — raising questions as to why certain stories are ignored as well as questions about ethics, integrity and morals. Failing to mention pertinent news to the public, purposely reporting false information and keeping people in the dark has gone on entirely too long.
It’s disgraceful knowing that much of the corporate media is owned by the Republican Party and that ordinary unsuspecting citizens are purposely ill-informed to further the illicit agenda and incompetence of the “elected” leadership.
Instead of covering the more obvious crimes of the Bush Administration, they devote columns to the political race, citing phony poll numbers and predicting who will win, purposely failing to mention or downplaying contenders such as Ron Paul, Dennis Kucinich and John Edwards to mention a few. When Paris Hilton or Jamie Spears is front page news there’s a BIG problem.
As noted by Dave Lindorff in The Baltimore Chronicle, everyone knows that this country is being run by a criminal syndicate that has rigged elections, hidden its knowledge of the 9-11 attacks, lied the country into war, plotted to out an important CIA undercover operative, obstructed a criminal investigation (repeatedly) into the treasonous act, subverted most of the articles of the Bill of Rights with convoluted signing statements / executive orders, emasculated the Congress and the Courts, betrayed veterans, surrendered a major American metropolis to devastation received from a hurricane, plotted to enable the declaration of martial law, tortured, kidnapped and killed millions of people in blatant violation of international law, obstructed efforts to deal with the crisis of global warming and more for the past unconscionable seven years. The list goes on and on.
Calls For Cheney Impeachment ignored
Rep. Robert Wexler (D-FL), Rep Luis Gutierrez (D-IL) and Rep. Tammy Baldwin (D-WI), all members of the House Judiciary Committee, called for immediate hearings on the impeachment of Vice President Dick Cheney following an impeachment bill submitted by Rep. Dennis Kucinich.
A joint OpEd statement issued by them declared “The issues at hand are too serious to ignore, including credible allegations of abuse of power that if proven may well constitute high crimes and misdemeanors under our constitution. The charges against Vice President Cheney relate to his deceptive actions leading up to the Iraq war, the revelation of the identity of a covert agent for political retaliation, and the illegal wiretapping of American citizens.”
Not one of the nation’s leading newspapers, including The New York Times, would publish the OpEd written by them. Originally Rep. Wexler asked for 50,000 signatures on a petition to begin impeachment proceedings, which he received in about 24 hours. Over 100,000 people have signed it so far. There has been little if any mention of it anywhere in the nation’s corporate media.
Filibuster On FISA Bill Ignored
On December 17, 2007 Senate Majority leader Harry Reid, despite a hold requested by Senator Dodd, introduced a FISA amendment written by Vice President Dick Cheney and Senator Jay Rockefeller that would give retroactive immunity to telecoms who participated in illegally giving Bush Co. data while violating their privacy.
Senator Chris Dodd, also a presidential candidate, took time off from his campaigning to fight passage of the bill, successfully filibustering it so it was pulled from the floor until next month for consideration.
Once again, very little if anything was mentioned in the main stream media regarding this. An article by CNN regarding the Senate delaying the spying bill until January makes no mention of Dodd’s filibuster, or the public response he received.
Other Examples Of Media Bias
Other examples of media purposely smearing reputations by writing lies include Time magazine. Joe Klein from Time magazine knowingly and falsely wrote an article full of false statements regarding FISA. Even more sadly, Time magazine, once a well respected resource is becoming nothing more than a propaganda machine.
Saddest of all is the fact that the media will not publish anything that has to do with holding this presidential administration accountable for their actions. When every day people like you and me talk about it or ask questions about what we’re not being told about, we’re labeled as un-patriotic or un-American, sometimes worse by these imbeciles.
Suddenly the war in Iraq falls off the media screen while America is allegedly winning the war. No where in main stream have I seen daily reports on the number of our soldiers still being killed or the number of Iraqis killed, or any mention of all the Iraqi children orphaned. No where in the main stream media have I seen any information on the illicit signing statements and executive orders created by the president. Having self-given authority to declare martial law with an election coming up should be enough to make everyone sit up and take notice, but many people aren’t aware of that either.
Pre-staged photo ops of the president declaring mission accomplished in his monkey suit on a flight deck or blowing smoke up the publics butts while being pictured with several soldiers don’t cut it. Latest estimates show that approximately half the American public still thinks Iraq had something to do with 9/11, another lie fabricated by the president that he still repeats to this day. Why is that? Why has no one from the media challenged him on that?
We’ll save Glenn Beck of CNN, the FOX News crews and all the political lies and propaganda from the White House for a later date.
Alternative Media And Blogs
If alternative media and blogs weren’t following the corruption in Washington nobody would have known about the call for impeachment hearings or about the shady dealings of a cowardly House majority leader, the White House and the rest of our senators who roll over, often times helping him (such as the way Pelosi and Harman covered up their involvement in and knowledge of the CIA tapes that were destroyed and kept it from the public) further his egotistical, illegal and unethical agenda.
It is the media’s duty to inform the public, ask questions, and tell people the truth so they have a say in what’s going on. Citizens need to pressure their representatives and demand that their voices are heard.
As many times as this president has intentionally used fear and deception — which, if you think about it is another form of terrorism — to get his way, letting his actions continue is intolerable. It’s time for Americans to take their country back. More and more people are beginning to sit up and take notice. It took the voice of the people to cause the impeachment of Nixon and it’ll take the voice of the people to impeach Bush and Cheney. It would be nice to have the news media do the job they’re supposed to do and start keeping the public informed.
Links to More Information
Links to the information above as well as numerous snippets and links to other misadventures of our leadership can be found below:
Wexler Calls for Impeachment; Ignored by Mainstream Media article from The Smirking Chimp
Media Criticism: Corporate News Means No Real News Where Impeachment is Concerned article from The Baltimore Chronicle:
“We as citizens should not just be haranguing our representatives to demand that they support impeachment hearings. We should be picketing our local news organizations and deluging them with calls and letters demanding that they stop the censorship and report the news honestly without fear or favor, as they are supposed to do.
Here follows a letter I just sent to the ombudsman at the New York Times:
Dear Public Editor:
How can it not be news that last Friday, three senior, respected members of the House Judiciary Committee, six-termer Robert Wexler (D-FL), leading hispanic member Luis Gutierrez (D-IL) and floor leader Tammy Baldwin (D-WI), publicly called on the House Judiciary Committee to begin immediate hearings on Dennis Kucinich’s bill to impeach VP Dick Cheney?
On Friday, Wexler announced that he was setting up a webside, asking for 50,000 people to sign on in support of his call for impeachment hearings. By the end of the first day, he had 53,000 signatures and as of today, just three days after the site was established, there were 77,300 signatures, rising by the second….”
Join Wexler’s Call for Cheney Hearings
Reps. Wexler, Gutierrex, and Baldwin Call for Cheney Impeachment Hearings article from Democrats.com
Anatomy and significance of Monday’s FISA victory article from Salon News
“Opponents of telecom amnesty and warrantless surveillance ought to and likely will use that time, too, to strengthen the opposition and improve the strategy. There will be ample time for all of that. But yesterday’s victory, while limited, is still very significant in several key respects, particularly in understanding how and why it happened — i.e. the source of the successful opposition — and it is worth taking a step back to chronicle what took place.
On October 18, it was announced that Dick Cheney and Jay Rockefeller had reached an agreement on a new FISA bill that would dramatically expand the President’s warrantless surveillance powers beyond what the original FISA law provided. It also would provide full-scale retroactive immunity for all telecoms which participated in the President’s illegal spying efforts, a gift that would effectively end all efforts to investigate the administration’s illegal spying programs and hold the lawbreakers accountable.”
Senate delays government spying bill until January article from CNN
Time magazine refused to publish responses to Klein’s false smears article from Salon News
Occupation’s Toll: 5 Million Iraqi Children Orphaned article from AlterNet
CNN Has Joined With Fox News In Disseminating Propaganda And Betraying America article from JustAnotherCoverUp.com
Bill Clinton Is Right About Campaign Coverage article from AlterNet:
“The media have hit a new low in superficial reporting.”
Journalistic balance v. truth article from Salon News:
“But this extraordinary obstructionist behavior has hardly been highlighted at all by most journalists covering Congress. Part of the reason for that is the fault of Senate Democrats, who have, in essence, allowed Republicans to filibuster without forcing them actually to filibuster, thus removing the theatrical display of the obstructionism. But the obstructionism is the same, and it ought to be reported as such. But it isn’t.”
Bush Lawyers Discussed Fate of C.I.A. Tapes article from The New York Times:
Here’s a shocker…the White House lied again:
“At least four top White House lawyers took part in discussions with the Central Intelligence Agency between 2003 and 2005 about whether to destroy videotapes showing the secret interrogations of two operatives from Al Qaeda, according to current and former administration and intelligence officials.
The accounts indicate that the involvement of White House officials in the discussions before the destruction of the tapes in November 2005 was more extensive than Bush administration officials have acknowledged.
Those who took part, the officials said, included Alberto R. Gonzales, who served as White House counsel until early 2005; David S. Addington, who was the counsel to Vice President Dick Cheney and is now his chief of staff; John B. Bellinger III, who until January 2005 was the senior lawyer at the National Security Council; and Harriet E. Miers, who succeeded Mr. Gonzales as White House counsel.”
Fire erupts at one of Cheney’s offices article from The Los Angeles Times:
Here’s one way to get rid of more evidence — not that I’m saying it was done intentionally, but it wouldn’t surprise me if it was:
“WASHINGTON — A fire erupted this morning in the vicinity of Vice President Dick Cheney’s ceremonial office in the Eisenhower Executive Office Building next door to the White House. The vice president was not in the office at the time, a White House spokesman said.
Thick, black smoke billowed out of the windows and balcony doorway of an adjacent office. The century-old stone building on Pennsylvania Avenue was evacuated. Deputy White House Press Secretary Scott Stanzel said many of the 1,700 employees of the Executive Office of the President work in the building.
There were no injuries reported. The cause of the fire was not immediately disclosed.”
“Another Milestone on the Road to Serfdom” article from Harper’s Magazine
New York Times: Telecoms Play Bigger Role In NSA Surveillance Than Previously Known article from Crooks and Liars:
“This article has exposed even more Bush administration lies and confirmed what many of us have suspected for some time. It’s not all about international terrorism. It appears the programs are being used for domestic crime fighting and there are more companies involved with the programs than previously revealed — and the programs include capturing data that is strictly domestic. In other words, the very core of our judicial system appears to have been thrown out the window and we still have no idea how bad things really are.
Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid is poised to roll over for President Bush and give telecommunications companies amnesty in the latest FISA legislation, but luckily, Senator Chris Dodd is ready to filibuster. In light of this newly revealed program, and the likelihood that they may run even deeper, amnesty should be completely out of the question. Write to Harry Reid or your Senator and tell them that telecom amnesty is not an option and that further oversight and investigation into these programs is needed before any FISA laws are passed.”
A curious media black hole article from Daily Kos:
“There have been several recommended diaries about the call by House Judiciary committee members Robert Wexler, Tammy Baldwin and Luis Gutierrez for the committee to actually begin hearings on the impeachment of Vice President Dick Cheney.
But don’t you find it curious that there’s been literally no traditional media coverage of it? Three Members of Congress, all on the Judiciary Committee, call outright for impeachment hearings, and no one reports it?
The three even wrote an op-ed together explaining their reasoning and offered it to the New York Times, the Washington Post, etc. No one has yet agreed to run it.”
Don’t Reform the CIA, Abolish It article from CounterPunch:
“The latest CIA scandal will once again teach Americans a valuable lesson: It is the CIA, not the Congress, that is the ultimate governing authority in this nation. No one messes with the CIA, and the CIA knows it. That’s why it knew that it could destroy CIA’s torture tapes without asking anyone’s permission. And, after all, as Richard Nixon’s advisers told him, better to take a bit of heat for destroying the tapes than to take the heat for what the tapes contained.
While there undoubtedly will be a big hub-hub over the destruction of the tapes and possibly some minor slapping of wrists, the CIA knows that no one is going to be sent to jail or severely punished for torture, obstruction of justice, murder, kidnapping, or any other crime. The uncomfortable fact is – the fact that all too many Americans just don’t want to face, just as many Germans didn’t want to face the truth about the Gestapo – is not that the CIA is above the law but rather that the CIA is the law. It can do whatever it wants with impunity.
The CIA is at the rot at the center of the U.S. Empire. It does the dirty work – the torture, the murders, the assassinations, the regime changes, the coups, the secret prison camps. The secrecy of its operations is guaranteed. No one dares to jack with the CIA. Other federal departments and agencies, as well as Congress, essentially operate in a support role.
Don’t forget that this isn’t the first time that the CIA has destroyed tapes. Recall that the CIA destroyed its tapes regarding Lee Harvey Oswald’s trip to Mexico City prior to the Kennedy assassination.”
No ‘superhighway’ is planned for NAFTA trade article in the Des Moines Register written by the executive director of North America’s SuperCorridor Coalition Inc. (NASCO)
Another fine example of twisting words around to lie so you can cover up illicit activities that will adversely affect the lives of every American…meanwhile, the regular press doesn’t cover it either, sometimes going so far as to deny NAFTA even exists.
Toll Road Giant Buys Newspapers to Silence Critics article from theNewspaper.com:
“Australian toll road giant Macquarie agreed Wednesday to purchase forty local newspapers, primarily in Texas and Oklahoma, for $80 million. Macquarie Bank is Australia’s largest capital raising firm and has invested billions in purchasing roads in the US, Canada and UK. Most recently the company joined with Cintra Concesiones of Spain in a controversial 75-year lease of the 157-mile Indiana Toll Road.
Sal Costello, the leading opponent of toll road projects as head of the Texas Toll Party, says the move is directly related to a 4000-mile toll road project known as the Trans-Texas Corridor. It will cost between $145 and $183 billion to construct the road, expected to be up to 1200 feet wide, requiring the acquisition of 9000 square miles of land in the areas through which it will pass.
“The newspapers are the main communication tool for many of the rural Texan communities, with many citizens at risk of losing their homes and farms through eminent domain,” Costello wrote.” (See link directly below)
The Muckraker: Toll Road Conglomerate Silences Nagging Texas Newspapers by Purchasing Newspaper Group article from Sal Costello blogspot:
“Don’t like the bad press from dozens of newspapers? Just buy them.
The Sydney Morning Herald reports Macquarie Media Group Ltd., a subsidiary of Macquarie Bank and Cintra-Macquarie partner, has swallowed American Consolidated Media (ACM) for nearly $100 million.
The purchase allows one of the largest toll road operators in the world to control some of it’s industries most outspoken critics in Texas, dozens of rural independent Texas newspapers.
The deal could help to clear a political path for potential Texas contracts worth Billions.
The purchase comes after the ACM’s rural independent newspapers have clearly been the most vocal opposition to the Trans Texas Corridor (TTC).”
Paul: Renew devotion to freedom, limited government article from The Des Moines Register
NASCO Wrong On Paul’s NAFTA Highway Claims article from Rogue Government
NASCO: Ron Paul is “Confused” About NAFTA Superhighway article from InfoWars
‘Denied in Full’: Federal Judges Grill CIA Lawyers on JFK Secrets article from The Huffington Post:
“Lawyers for the Central Intelligence Agency faced pointed questions in a federal court hearing Monday morning about the agency’s efforts to block disclosure of long-secret records about the assassination of President John F. Kennedy.
Three appellate judges probed for explanations of the agency’s rationale for withholding records concerning a deceased undercover CIA officer named George Joannides whose role in the events of 1963 remains unexplained.
For the past three and a half years, CIA has blocked the release of the Joannides files, denying my Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) request and spurning scholarly appeals for full disclosure. At stake is the viability of the 1992 JFK Assassination Records Act, which mandates the immediate review, and release of all government records related to Kennedy’s murder in Dallas on November 22, 1963. One of the strongest open government measures ever enacted, the future of the JFK Act is now in question as the CIA seeks judicial permission to defy its provisions.”
Biden: I don’t trust the Justice Department to investigate itself over destroyed CIA interrogation tapes article and video from The Raw Story:
“I don’t have confidence in the President, I don’t have confidence in the Vice President, and I don’t have confidence in the Justice Department. That’s as simple as I can put it.”
Senator, Foreign Relations Committee chairman and 2008 presidential hopeful Joseph Biden (D-DE) says to CNN’s Wolf Blitzer that special counsel is needed to oversee the investigation into the destruction of 2002 CIA interrogation tapes to avoid a conflict of interest.
The Bush Administration has said that, while they were ordered to safeguard evidence of torture and abuse of detainees at Guantanamo Bay, the recordings in question didn’t fall under the rule, as the interrogations in question were performed at secret CIA prisons before the two suspects were transported to Guantanamo.”
At last the great divide is coming into focus article from The Observer UK:
“It’s not left versus right that matters anymore. The real division is between authority and personal liberty.”
Harry Reid — compare and contrast article from Salon News
Control sought on military lawyers article from The Boston Globe:
“WASHINGTON – The Bush administration is pushing to take control of the promotions of military lawyers, escalating a conflict over the independence of uniformed attorneys who have repeatedly raised objections to the White House’s policies toward prisoners in the war on terrorism.
The administration has proposed a regulation requiring “coordination” with politically appointed Pentagon lawyers before any member of the Judge Advocate General corps – the military’s 4,000-member uniformed legal force – can be promoted.
A Pentagon spokeswoman did not respond to questions about the reasoning behind the proposed regulations. But the requirement of coordination – which many former JAGs say would give the administration veto power over any JAG promotion or appointment – is consistent with past administration efforts to impose greater control over the military lawyers.”
New KBR employee tells of rampant sexual harassment article and video from Think Progress
The Biggest Global Warming Crime in History article from AlterNet:
“The Canadian wilderness is set to be invaded by BP in an oil exploration project dubbed ‘the biggest global warming crime’ in history.
BP, the British oil giant that pledged to move “Beyond Petroleum” by finding cleaner ways to produce fossil fuels, is being accused of abandoning its “green sheen” by investing nearly £1.5bn to extract oil from the Canadian wilderness using methods which environmentalists say are part of the “biggest global warming crime” in history.”
What “winning” in Iraq looks like article from Salon News:
“A new article in The Guardian reports on the horrendous conditions in Basra, the strategically important, oil-rich city in Southern Iraq now abandoned by British troops. The headline: “UK has left behind murder and chaos, says Basra police chief.”
The article details that Shiite militias — which British troops “unintentionally” armed for years by failing to realize that the “security forces” had no allegiance to the central government — completely dominate the city. The militias are “strong enough to overpower security forces and brutal enough to behead women considered not sufficiently Islamic.” According to the police chief, “Basra has become so lawless that in the last three months 45 women have been killed for being ‘immoral’ because they were not fully covered or because they may have given birth outside wedlock” — Freedom is on the March — and “Shia militia are better armed than his men and control Iraq’s main port.”
Harry Reid Betrays Dodd and Dem Party Base on FISA Bill article from AlterNet
UK has left behind murder and chaos, says Basra police chief article from The Guardian Unlimited UK News
I want to go home article from WakeUpFromYourSlumber:
“CNN and Fox News say Iraqis are happily returning to Baghdad. The cover of the November 20 New York Times had a large photo of a happy wedding party in Baghdad. Inside the newspaper was a photo of smiling adolescents playing foosball, plus a banner headline “Baghdad Exhales As Security Improves.”
Author John Ross says this is all a LIE. He says the streets of Baghdad and Mosul remain deadly killing grounds.
Ross says the lies began on November 7th when the Washington Post claimed that Baghdad was now so safe that that over 46,000 refugees had returned in October. The next day, New York Times correspondent Damien Cave wrote, “Iraq families are returning to Baghdad!” Days later, Cave had to admit that it was all lies. Iraqi refugees are living in hovels, or in tents in the desert. Those who “return” to Baghdad only do so to retrieve money, or to seek food or medical care, or to bury a relative.
Bush’s little puppet, Iraqi Prime Minister Nuri Kamal al-Maliki, claimed that in October,1600 families returned to Baghdad every day. In reality, it was 50 or less. Maliki had sent buses to get them, and the refugees took advantage of the free ride to go back to Baghdad for a few hours. Then they left again with all the other refugees that keep streaming out of the city.”
Cheney’s Halliburton stock options rose 3,281% last year, senator finds article from The Raw Story
Surprise! Mukasey Covers Up Torture article from The Smirking Chimp:
“Last month, Democratic Sens. Charles Schumer of New York and Dianne Feinstein of California joined Republicans to ensure Michael Mukasey’s confirmation as Attorney General, even though he refused to acknowledge that the simulated drowning of waterboarding was torture.
Senate Democratic Majority Leader Harry Reid of Nevada helped the Bush administration, too, by rushing a floor vote on Mukasey before rank-and-file Democrats could get organized and push for a filibuster.
To show thanks, Mukasey now is slapping the Democratic-controlled Congress in the face by demanding it back off any oversight investigations into how and why the CIA in late 2005 destroyed videotapes of the waterboarding of al-Qaeda suspects.
Mukasey is pressing the House Intelligence Committee to shelve its investigation into the videotape destruction and is refusing to turn over information to other congressional committees. He claims that to do so would interfere with his own investigation of what appears to be criminality that his Justice Department may have sanctioned.”
‘Army Times’ Article Describes U.S. Troop ‘Mutiny’ in Iraq article from Editor and Publisher
The New CIA Acts a Bit Like the Old CIA article from U.S. News & World Report:
“Destroyed videotapes raise questions of accountability.”
Pelosi and Reid continue to defy America article from The Opinion Journal:
“In the elections of 2006, the American electorate spoke loud and clear in rejecting the Bush Iraq War policies and the lapdog GOP-controlled Congress, and then installed the Democrats as the majority with the very specific mandate to bring our troops home. This election was a message from the American people to this Congress that they were completely fed up with the disastrous direction that this administration was pursuing and that they wanted change — and they wanted it now! That did not happen and the American people have been betrayed by the leaders of that new majority, Nancy Pelosi and Harry Reid.
In a very short time, Pelosi, the Speaker of the House, and Reid, the Senate Majority Leader, have proven that they are not up to the job and are completely out of step with the desires of the American people. They came into power boastfully promising swift and sure change but, in a very short time, it became quite apparent that they had a completely different agenda than the specific mandate given them by the electorate. And by their inaction and lack of courage they have completely failed America.
America badly needs congressional leadership that can and will step forward to lead America in the critical need to stop this Bush administration in its imperialistic actions that are threatening to divide America as it has not been divided since the Civil War. But Pelosi and Reid have now shown without a shadow of a doubt that they no longer represent the American people in this great need. Pelosi took impeachment of Bush and/or Cheney off the table right after she was crowned as speaker. Reid, the majority leader of the Senate, dances to the tune that Bush and the GOP Senate minority play in every confrontation.”
Israel Officials in US to Discuss Iran article from The Associated Press:
“JERUSALEM (AP) – Israeli intelligence officials are in the U.S. trying to convince the Bush administration that Iran is still trying to develop nuclear weapons – contrary to the findings of a recent U.S. intelligence report, security officials said.
Prime Minister Ehud Olmert, however, scolded a Cabinet minister on Sunday for his harsh, public criticism of the U.S. report.
The U.S. assessment, released earlier this month, concludes Iran halted its weapons development program in 2003 and that the program remained frozen at least through the middle of this year. The findings reversed a key conclusion from a 2005 intelligence report that Iran was developing a bomb.”
Police State America – A Look Back and Ahead article from The Smirking Chimp
Remember the Anthrax Attack? article from OpEdNews:
With links to some very interesting information:
“On 9/18/01, the anthrax attacks started. The lethal anthrax spores — which were sent along with notes purportedly written by Islamic terrorists — used a weaponized anthrax strain from the top U.S. bioweapons facility, the Fort Detrick military base. Indeed, top bioweapons experts have stated that the anthrax attack may have been a CIA test “gone wrong”; and see this article by a former NSA and naval intelligence officer.
“Coincidentally”, White House staff began taking the anti-anthrax medicine before the Anthrax attacks occurred.
Think this is all far-fetched to be true? Well, the bioweapons expert who actually drafted the current bioweapons law (the Biological Weapons Anti-Terrorism Act of 1989) has said that he is convinced the October 2001 anthrax attacks that killed five people were perpetrated and covered up by criminal elements of the U.S. government. The motive: to foment a police state by killing off and intimidating opposition to post-9/11 legislation such as the USA PATRIOT Act and the later Military Commissions Act.
Indeed, “The FBI has completely shut Congress out of its now five-year investigation into anthrax attacks on Capitol Hill and around the nation”. In other words, Congress — which legally has every right to know what really happened, and which was the main victim of the attack — is being kept in the dark. (While many in Congress may be complicit in alot of dastardly deeds, you don’t want the victims of a false flag attack to know who really attacked them).”
Chris Dodd for Majority Leader article from Daily Kos:
“Harry reid has no business being the Majority Leader. None. He is a failure in that role. He is a terrible advocate for the Democratic party, he comes from a swing state so he has to always be concerned about getting himself reelected, and he is not a very good leader. Most of all, he is so weak, he cannot even stand up to the members of his own caucus when they want to do something tremendously stupid.”
Olbermann: Truth and consequences article from MSNBC (Book Excerpt):
“Special comments on the Bush administration’s war on American values.”
Bush Claims ‘We Have Fabulous Health Care’ Compared To ‘Other Systems Around The World’ article from Think Progress:
He and every other federal employee does. We pay for it:
“During a Q & A following his speech on the economy in Fredericksburg, VA today, President Bush declared that “we have fabulous health care in America”:
I’m going to tell you something — we have fabulous health care in America, just so you know. I think it’s very important — before people start griping about the health care system here — and of course there’s always grounds for complaint — just to compare it with other systems around the world.
Bush may not be aware, but U.S. health care has already been systematically compared to other systems around the world. In many cases, the results are not good for Americans.”
C&L EXCLUSIVE: Rep. Wexler Thanks You For Your Support article from Crooks and Liars:
“It is the constitutional duty of Congress to investigate the serious charges that have been leveled against Vice President Cheney, and I am using my position as a member of the House Judiciary Committee to see that hearings are held. Unfortunately, Congress and the national media ignore this serious issue. The outpouring of support documented at WexlerWantsHearings.com has been driven and supported entirely through the power of blogs, the Internet, and word of mouth. Websites like Crooks and Liars have taken on this important cause and have stepped up to fill the void left by the main stream media who still somehow believe that impeachment is a fringe idea and not worth coverage. In this case, the American people are way ahead of Congress and the media.
I was shocked when no newspaper would publish the op-ed I wrote with Rep. Luis Gutierrez (D-IL) and Rep. Tammy Baldwin (D-WI). It is not every day that three members of the House Judiciary Committee set out a substantive case for impeachment hearings against the sitting Vice President. Yet, the national media yawned. No matter. The people have responded. Americans from all fifty states have signed up to support my call for hearings.
Originally, my goal was to gain 50,000 online signatures on behalf of impeachment hearings. Today, our goal is 250,000 supporters.”
Is Bush Sr. Admitting That His Son Screwed-Up America? article from JustAnotherCoverUp:
“Bill Clinton: George H.W. Bush will help President Hillary
ORANGEBURG, South Carolina (CNN) – Former President Bill Clinton said Monday that the first thing his wife Hillary will do when she reaches the White House is dispatch him and his predecessor, President George H.W. Bush, on an around-the-world mission to repair the damage done to America’s reputation by the current president – Bush’s son, George W. Bush.
If Bush Sr. is willing to go “on an around-the-world mission to repair the damage done to America’s reputation by the current president – Bush’s son, George W. Bush” the immediate conclusion drawn from that statement is that President Bush’s own father has admitted that his son’s administration, George W, Bush, has screwed-up America’s image so badly that it will take two ex-Presidents to act as diplomats in an attempt to rebuild our image.”
Talking Points Memo – Reid Wants Full Senate to See Warrantless Surveillance Docs article from TPMmuckraker:
“Now Sen. Harry Reid (D-NV), the Democratic leader, wants the full Senate to be able to review the closely-held documents. He wrote to intelligence czar Michael McConnell yesterday:
We appreciate that you have provided access to the documents necessary for evaluation of this issue to the Senate Intelligence and Judiciary Committees, as each has in turn considered it. As the debate now moves to the full Senate, I believe it is of critical importance that all Senators who will be called upon to vote on this important question have an opportunity to review these key documents themselves so that they may draw their own conclusions. In my view, each sitting Senator has a constitutional right of access to these documents before voting on this matter.
I strongly urge you to make the documents previously provided to the Intelligence and Judiciary Committee regarding retroactive immunity available in a secure location to any Senator who wishes to review them during the floor debate.”
Impeachment Advocates Crash Server, But Corporate Media Still Won’t Report the Story article from AfterDowningStreet.org:
“The push for hearings on Dennis Kucinich’s Cheney impeachment bill (H Res. 799) continues, with the number of signers of Wexler’s petition now topping 90,000.
The rush to sign on has been so heavy that on Monday it crashed the server. Rep. Robert Wexler’s people have since changed to a better server, but in the process, there were some resets of the tally, which has led to a lot of concern and even to anxious conspiracy theories among impeachment backers. Wexler’s office says there has been no problem with sabatoge, and that the current number, just over 90,000 as of 10:45 am Tuesday, is accurate. The list has been checked for duplicates and other signs of trouble, and looks clean, they say.
So impeachment advocates should continue to push for support for this call for action. Get people to the petition site and signed on.
But don’t stop there. This important breach in the impeachment stonewall at the House of Representatives has still not been reported at all in the corporate media. We need an avalanche of phone calls and letters to corporate media editors demanding that they stop censoring out this story.”
World Trade Center Demolition – Explosives, not jet-fuel imploded these towers article from 911Lies.org
The Destruction of the World Trade Center: Why the Official Account Cannot Be True article from Global Research Canada
The GOP’s religious tangle article from McClatchy News:
“If you believe, as Mitt Romney and Mike Huckabee do, in carrying the big guns of religion and faith into the public square, you have to expect people will ask exactly what you’re packing. As the two former governors run ahead of the Republican pack to grab Campaign 2008’s first prize in Iowa next month, their religious beliefs and their fallout on the GOP are providing target practice in the blogosphere.
Now that Romney has put religion in play, Jane Hamsher at Firedoglake and George Packer at Interesting Times want to ask him about Mormonism and race. “Why did you never publicly question your church’s exclusion of blacks from full membership?” Packer wonders. “The policy ended only in 1978, when Romney was thirty-one. Past candidates, including Bill Clinton, have had to explain their membership in discriminatory country clubs. What’s Romney’s reason for his long silence on the racist practices of his church?”
The Phony War article from Rolling Stone:
“President Bush not only created a fake “War on Terror” to scare voters into supporting his policies — he is failing to address the real threat facing America.”
Waxman to Atty Gen: Stop ignoring my requests for Plame info article from The Raw Story:
“Recently appointed Attorney General Michael Mukasey seems not to be living up to his pledge to remain independent from White House meddling, and he apparently is ignoring a long-standing request for Justice Department documents regarding former CIA operative Valerie Plame’s outing by former Bush administration figures, according to a top congressional Democrat.
House Oversight Committee Chairman Henry Waxman on Tuesday reiterated his previous appeal to Mukasey for documents from Special Counsel Patrick Fitzgerald’s investigation of the Plame leak. Waxman said that the attorney general has no reason to obstruct his committee’s investigation, as Mukasey did last week with a congressional inquiry into the destruction of CIA interrogation tapes.”
What Democracy Is About article from The Rude Pundit (caution: extreme adult language):
“But that’s democracy. Sometimes you don’t get what you want. Sometimes you lose. Sometimes your entire ideology is chased out of the village like a syphilitic whore. Sometimes you can win. The Bush administration refuses to believe that sometimes when you agree to play the game, you agree that you might not win. It just changes the definitions and the rules.
Despite what the President says, democracy’s not just being able to be free to say to your master, “I don’t like the way you’re whipping me.”
Radio host Glenn Beck “thinking about killing Michael Moore” article from Media Matters
GOP lawmakers who decry pork take their slices article from Politico
If any lawmakers are reading this: Since taxpayers such as myself are paying for all the ‘earmarks’, could you please earmark a few million for me?
Kerry Condemns Hasty FCC Vote, Will Pursue FCC Funding Freeze article and video from Daily Kos:
“Statement by Senator Kerry:
WASHINGTON D.C. – Sen. John Kerry (D-Mass.) condemned Federal Communications Commission Chairman Kevin Martin’s decision today to rush through a vote on media consolidation. The vote to relax the rules regarding cross media ownership of newspapers and radio stations passed by a 3-2 party line vote today. The FCC vote will allow media companies to further consolidate. Martin’s decision to the hold the vote ignores the expressed will of the Senate Commerce Committee. Sens. Kerry and Obama made clear last week that if Martin forced through the vote today, they would ask the Appropriations Committee to deny funding for implementation of the rule produced by the forced vote.
Senator Kerry cont’d:
“By rushing through this vote today, Chairman Martin did the bidding of big corporate interests and threatened to further marginalize independent media, directly limit diversity, and damage America’s public discourse,” said Kerry. “Chairman Martin was warned that ignoring the will of the Commerce Committee would have consequences, and I will work hard with my colleagues on the appropriations committee to ensure that the FCC’s funding reflects Chairman Martin’s decision to go against the commission’s own charter and limit media diversity rather than foster it.”
F.C.C. Eases Media Ownership Rule article from The New York Times
Not good.
War on Drugs has unlikely for article from The Los Angeles Daily News
The Tell-Tale Stall article from The Washington Post:
Undoubtedly just the tip of the iceberg:
“The best indicator of how seriously this White House is involved in a political scandal may be how emphatically it refuses to comment.
By that standard, the CIA’s destruction of its torture tapes is shaping up to be a doozy of a White House story.”
Most. Obstructionist. Ever. article from Crooks and Liars:
“For quite a while, many of us have wondered whether Republican officials in Washington have any apparent talents at all. Governing is clearly not their strong suit, but are they completely without skills?
Absolutely not. The 49-member Senate Republican minority has done something no Senate minority in American history has ever done: they’ve filibustered more bills than any Congress ever has — and they broke the record with a full year to spare.
The latest came this morning, when the Senate GOP filibustered an omnibus budget bill, the 62nd Republican filibuster since the 110th Congress began in January.”
Official: Justice Dept. slowed probe into phone jamm article from McClatchy Washington Bureau News
Chertoff Concealed Role in Tape Destruction article from TruthOut.org
Bush, Maliki Break Iraqi Law to Renew U.N. Mandate for Occupation article from AlterNet:
“A majority of Iraqi lawmakers say renewal requests not ratified by the parliament are illegal.
On Tuesday, the Bush administration and Iraqi Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki pushed a resolution through the U.N. Security Council extending the mandate that provides legal cover for foreign troops to operate in Iraq for another year.
The move violated both the Iraqi constitution and a law passed earlier this year by the Iraqi parliament — the only body directly elected by all those purple-finger-waving Iraqis in 2005 — and it defied the will of around 80 percent of the Iraqi population.”
Leaked letters show Huckabee sniping at critical reporter article from The Raw Story
Talking Points Memo – Judge Halts Florida Vote Suppression Measure article from TPMmuckraker
Is Hillary or Barack More Vulnerable? article from Consortium News:
“Since they left the White House in 2001, Bill and Hillary Clinton have been under the protection of the Secret Service, formerly a branch of the Treasury Department and now part of the Homeland Security Department. Records are maintained showing where they go and whom they meet.
Homeland Security is under the control of Michael Chertoff, a longtime Clinton nemesis dating back to his work as a Republican lawyer on the Senate’s Whitewater investigation in the 1990s. In 2003, Sen. Clinton cast the sole dissenting vote against Chertoff’s nomination as a federal judge in protest against his abrasive conduct during the Whitewater inquiry.
Though Secret Service records are supposed to be closely held secrets, a source close to the Clintons told me that it is believed that senior Republicans have received regular briefings about movements of the Clintons that might prove embarrassing if released during the general election campaign.”
DHS finalizing plans for domestic spy satellite program article from The Raw Story:
“Congress has not been updated since civil liberties concerns delayed satellite spying.
A plan to dramatically widen US law enforcement agencies’ access to data from powerful spy satellites is moving toward implementation, as Department of Homeland Security Secretary Michael Chertoff expects to finalize a charter for the program this week, according to a new report.
Chertoff insists the scheme to turn spy satellites — that were originally designed for foreign surveillance — on Americans is legal, although a House committee that would approve the program has not been updated on the program for three months.”
House Judiciary witness: Destroyed CIA tapes are ‘ultimate cover-up’ article from The Raw Story
Just Another Day for the Department of Justice article from Harper’s Magazine
‘More Candor’ From Joe Klein article from Think Progress:
“So according to Klein, when the administration reveals any information that makes them look bad, it’s “candor.” It doesn’t matter if the administration is forced to do so or has been trying to cover it up. What Klein is doing is rewarding government deception. It’s fine to deceive the public, as long as you eventually fess up to it when the media forces your hand.
UPDATE: Atrios’s take on Klein: “My God. Joe Klein now thinks destroying evidence and covering up war crimes is an example of ‘candor’ and ‘coming clean.'”
Ahh, “liberal” Joe Klein’s puppetmaster is Republican Rep. article from Daily Kos:
“For those of us wondering who the Republican whispering sweet nothings into Joe Klein’s ear, it was right-wing Republican and top-tier Bush apologist Rep. Pete Hoekstra.
Today, Hoektstra went to National Review to defend his good friend, “liberal pundit” Joe Klein, in what Hoekstra called the “venomous debate [that] has raged between Time columnist Joe Klein and his far-Left critics.” As always on the pro-Bush Right, those who believe in the radical instrument called “search warrants” are deemed to be “far leftists.” Hoekstra pronounces Klein correct in everything he said, and then confesses that he was “one of Klein’s sources for the complex technical and legal points that seem to be in contention.”
So, in other words, it was Hoekstra — one of Washington’s most partisan GOP operatives — who lied to Klein by claiming that the House Democrats’ bill requires warrants for every foreign terrorist’s call and that the bill thus gives the same rights to foreign Terrorists as American citizens. That’s a real surprise. And Klein The Journalist then mindlessly wrote down Hoekstra’s smears without bothering to check if they were true, and Time printed them as fact.”
Bush confesses to war crimes article from The Online Journal (from 2006):
“George W. Bush’s speech on September 6 amounted to a public confession to criminal violations of the 1996 War Crimes Act. He implicitly admitted authorizing disappearances, extrajudicial imprisonment, torture, transporting prisoners between countries and denying the International Committee of the Red Cross access to prisoners.
These are all serious violations of the Geneva Conventions. The War Crimes Act makes grave breaches of the Geneva Conventions and all violations of Common Article 3 punishable by fines, imprisonment or, if death results to the victim, the death penalty.”
The 9/11 War Games article from OpEdNews:
“Remember that for the attacks to have succeeded, it was necessary that actions be taken in the middle of the war games and the actual attacks which would thwart the normal military response. For example, Cheney watched flight 77 approach the Pentagon from many miles out, but instructed the military to do nothing (as shown in the testimony of the Secretary of Transportation, linked above). Could Bin Laden have done that?”
FBI Agents Skip Court Orders to Spy on Cellphone Users article from Wired.com
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