CBS Sues Howard Stern Over Sirius

From Yahoo News:

CBS Corp.'s radio division sued Howard Stern Tuesday, claiming its former star shock jock breached his contract with them when he moved to Sirius Satellite Radio Inc.

The lawsuit, which also names Sirius and Stern's agent as defendants, claims Stern improperly used CBS radio's air time to promote his new show with Sirius, which began last month. CBS also claims Stern discussed his plans with Sirius without disclosing them to CBS as required under his contract.

Even before the lawsuit was filed in New York State Supreme Court, Stern tried to upstage the action with a hastily arranged news conference in Manhattan Tuesday to strike first at his former employer.

Stern said the lawsuit was meritless, and said CBS was trying to "bully" him. He called the lawsuit a "personal vendetta" against him by CBS Chief Executive Officer Leslie Moonves, whom Stern said held a grudge against him.

Stern said CBS officials knew of his plans to leave for Sirius and also condoned his references to satellite radio on the air and did nothing to stop him when he spoke about it on his show.

CBS Radio had formerly been known as Infinity Broadcasting, part of the Viacom Inc. conglomerate before CBS split up with Viacom at the beginning of this year.

Stern called the news conference after The New York Post's widely read gossip column Page Six published an item Tuesday saying CBS was on the verge of filing a lawsuit against him.

Stern moved his popular and bawdy morning show to satellite radio last month after years of railing against decency restrictions imposed on terrestrial radio by the Federal Communications Commission.

This looks an awful lot like a case of sour grapes. It's been known for over a year that Stern was going to satellite radio.

Congressman 'Duke' Cunningham's bribe menu

From ABC News:

Prosecutors call it a corruption case with no parallel in the long history of the U.S. Congress. And it keeps getting worse. Convicted Rep. Randall "Duke" Cunningham actually priced the illegal services he provided.

Prices came in the form of a "bribe menu" that detailed how much it would cost contractors to essentially order multimillion-dollar government contracts, according to documents submitted by federal prosecutors for Cunningham's sentencing hearing this Friday.

"The length, breadth and depth of Cunningham's crimes," the sentencing memorandum states, "are unprecedented for a sitting member of Congress."

Prosecutors will ask federal Judge Larry Burns to impose the statutory maximum sentence of 10 years in prison.

The sentencing memorandum includes the California Republican's "bribery menu" on one of his congressional note cards, "starkly framed" under the seal of the United States Congress.

The card shows an escalating scale for bribes, starting at $140,000 and a luxury yacht for a $16 million Defense Department contract. Each additional $1 million in contract value required a $50,000 bribe.

The rate dropped to $25,000 per additional million once the contract went above $20 million.

At one point Cunningham was living on a yacht named after him, "The Dukester," docked near Capitol Hill, courtesy of a defense company president.

Either Cunningham was extremely stupid or extremely arrogant to think that he wouldn't get caught. I wonder how many more Republicans in Congress were taking bribes. Looks like some hard times may be ahead for any Republican seeking re election this year.

'Boondocks' taking a hiatus

Courtesy of the Chicago Tribune:

Apparently, Aaron McGruder needs a break.

The creator of the controversial "The Boondocks" comic strip—which has skewered everything from the George Bush administration to R Kelly's legal troubles to, recently, Vice President Dick Cheney's hunting accident—is taking six months off.

Universal Press Syndicate confirmed today that McGruder will go on hiatus beginning March 27, resuming the strip, which appears in 350 newspapers including the Chicago Tribune, in October.

It was unclear whether McGruder would concentrate on his Cartoon Network version of the comic strip during the break. McGruder couldn't be reached for comment and was preparing to issue a statement through Universal Press Syndicate, which is offering reprints of past cartoons.

"The Chicago Tribune will decide at a later date whether to run the replacement 'Boondocks' strips or try out a new strip until October," said Geoff Brown, the Tribune's associate managing editor for Features. Brown declined to comment on which alternate strips are under consideration.

McGruder's syndicated "Boondocks" strips began appearing in newspapers in April of 1999. In October, the "Boondocks" series premiered on the Cartoon Network.

Bush beset by political miscues

From Yahoo News:

President Bush has been buffeted by one calamity after another. Try what he may, he just can't seem to find traction for his second-term agenda.

With midterm congressional elections approaching, it won't get any easier.

The bad news has been coming in waves, from furors over Hurricane Katrina and warrantless wiretapping to the error-plagued rollout of the new Medicare prescription drug program, Vice President Dick Cheney's hunting accident, growing civil strife in Iraq, and now the Republican revolt over the administration's Dubai port decision.

The controversies have rocked the White House and caused alarm among Republican strategists. Their party's electoral hopes in November may depend on whether Bush is able to right his troubled presidency.

My concern is that there is a lot of time left before the Congressional midterm elections so the Democrats can't sit back and be content to let the Republicans shoot themselves in the foot as tempting as that may be.

Petition to Replace O'Reilly with Phil Donahue

Please sign this petition to replace Bill O'reilly will popular talk show host Phil Donahue.

Federal funding cut off to silver ring thing

From the Chicago Sun-Times:

The federal government agreed to stop funding a nationwide program that promotes teen abstinence to settle a lawsuit alleging the money was used for Christian proselytizing.

The agreement was reached this week between the Department of Health and Human Services and the American Civil Liberties Union.

Under the deal, the Silver Ring Thing program won't be eligible for more funding unless it ensures the money won't be used for religious purposes.

''Public funds were being used to fund a road show, really, to convert teens to Christianity,'' said Julie Sternberg, an ACLU attorney.

She said the ACLU supports the program's right to offer religious content, but not with taxpayer money.

Joel Oster of the Alliance Defense Fund, which represented the program in court, said it was ''pleased that abstinence-based sex education programs like Silver Ring Thing will continue to have the right to seek federal funding.''

The Silver Ring Thing program, related to a Christian ministry based in the Pittsburgh suburbs, has received more than $1 million in federal funding during the past three years.

The program puts on shows at churches that include comedy skits, music videos and a message of abstinence. Young people are given a silver ring and decide whether they want to pledge to abstain from sex.

In its federal lawsuit in May, the ACLU complained that the ring was inscribed with a Biblical verse exhorting Christians to remain holy and refrain from sexual sin. It also alleged that group members testified how accepting Jesus improved their lives.

I have no problem if a private group wants to promote something like Silver Ring Thing. It's when they receive federal money to promote a religious based program that it becomes a problem. Aside from the evidence that abstinence programs don't really work, if religious scholars and the like want to privately promote those programs then they have the right. Government and religion need to remain seperate.

America starting to wake up

With all the criticism directed at the Bush administration from both Democrats and Republicans over handing control of our ports over to the UAE I'm starting to see a little light at the end of the tunnel. It finally seems that most americans have finally come to the conclusion that GW Bush as President is a bad thing. I especially liked this really hard hitting quote from Jack Cafferty:

"Wolf, this may be the straw that finally breaks the camel's back, this deal to sell control of six US ports to a company controlled by the United Arab Emirates. There are now actually Senators and Congressmen and Governors and Mayors telling the White House "you're not gonna do this." And it's about time. No one has said "no" to this administration on anything that matters in a very long time. Well this matters. It matters a lot. If this deal is allowed to go through, we deserve whatever we get.

A country with ties to terrorists will have a presence at six critical doorways to our country. And if anyone thinks that the terrorists, in time, won't figure out how to exploit that, then we're all done. Nothing's happened yet, mind you, but if our elected representatives don't do everything in their power to stop this thing, each of us should vow to work tirelessly to see that they are removed from public office. We're at a crossroads - which way will we choose?

You would think that after the failure to find WMDs in Iraq as well as the failure to maintain the peace there do to poor planning that a majority of americans would have realized Bush was a bad President much sooner. Add in the mishandling of hurricane Katrina and you have to wonder what the hell is wrong with those roughly 40% who think Bush is doing a good job as President. I didn't even include Bush's Illegal domestic spying or his approval of torture. Speaking of torture. Does anyone find it hypocritical that Bush is defending the UAE port deal by saying he's just trying to improve american relations with arabs? Bill Maher had an interesting comment on this. He says if Bush is so concerned with arab relations then he shouldn't be torturing them. Could this latest scandal actually be a turning point where america finally wakes up to the fact that President Bush is wrecking this country? One can only hope.

Cheney really running this country

I came across this article from Newsweek via firedoglake. Apparently Dick Cheney did not get permission from the President before ordering Flight 93 that was over Pennsylvania shot down on 911. Here's an excerpt from the Newsweek article:

Cheney testified to the 9/11 Commission that he spoke with President Bush before giving an order to shoot down a hijacked civilian airliner that appeared headed toward Washington. (The plane was United Flight 93, which crashed in a Pennsylvania field after a brave revolt by the passengers.) But a source close to the commission, who declined to be identified revealing sensitive information, says that none of the staffers who worked on this aspect of the investigation believed Cheney's version of events.


A draft of the report conveyed their skepticism. But when top White House officials, including chief of staff Andy Card and the then White House counsel Alberto Gonzales, reviewed the draft, they became extremely agitated. After a prolonged battle, the report was toned down. The factual narrative, closely read, offers no evidence that Cheney sought initial authorization from the president. The point is not a small one. Legally, Cheney was required to get permission from his commander in chief, who was traveling (but reachable) at the time. If the public ever found out that Cheney gave the order on his own, it would have strongly fed the view that he was the real power behind the throne.

I could only imagine the outrage coming from the right wing of this country had this been a Vice President in a Democratic administration. I always held the view that GW Bush was nothing more than a figure head for the neocon movement and for those on the extreme religious right. After the recent shooting in which Vice President Cheney didn't even notify the President to tell him that he had shot a man in the face it's become pretty apparent who is running this country.

Many on the right might not have a problem with that but we elect a person as President who we expect will fulfill the obligations of that office. What we appear to have is a President who is disengaged. This was tragically apparent during hurricane Katrina. If something were to happen to Cheney and rememer this is a man who has had several heart attacks, who would take over the day to day operations of running our government if President Bush apparently isn't qualified to do so? If President Bush needed Cheney to hold his had while he learned the ins and outs of being President then that is fine.

The problem is that Cheney seems to have taken all the powers of the office of President and is running the country from behind the scenes while Bush is simply window dressing. The office of Vice President was never intended to have as much of the power as Dick Cheney has taken. You now have Dick Cheney claiming that he has unilateral authority to declassify any documents he sees fit. He's said as much when questioned recently about the Valerie Plame CIA leak investigation. Most troubling of all is that it was Dick Cheney who really pushed for going to war with Iraq. It was Cheney who was putting the pressure on the CIA to come up with evidence that Saddam had WMDS. According to reports President Bush and Dick Cheney's relationship is now strained. Perhaps President Bush has come to the realization that his legacy is going to be judged by how well things go in Iraq and at this point in time the outlook isn't very good.

Pat Roberts "fix" not the end of the world

I admit i got all bent out of shape when i read about Pat Roberts efforts to prevent an investigation by the Senate Intelligence Committee of Bush's illegal domestic spying program. I felt much better about things after reading Glenn Greenwald's blog post about this whole issue. He does make some very good points in comparing the current spying scandal to Watergate. I only hope that Glenn Greenwald is right and this scandal continues to gain the publics interest.

The fix is in

Sen.: White House Agrees to Spy Law Change:

Senate Intelligence Chairman Pat Roberts said he has worked out an agreement with the White House to change U.S. law regarding the National Security Agency's warrantless surveillance program and provide more information about it to Congress.
"We are trying to get some movement, and we have a clear indication of that movement," Roberts, R-Kan., said.

Without offering specifics, Roberts said the agreement with the White House provides "a fix" to the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act and offers more briefings to the Senate Intelligence Committee.

The deal comes as the committee was set to have a meeting Thursday about whether to open an investigation into the hotly disputed program. Roberts indicated the deal may eliminate the need for such an inquiry. Democrats have been demanding an investigation but some Republicans don't want to tangle the panel in a testy election-year probe.

"Whether or not an investigation is the right thing to do at this particular time, I am not sure," Roberts told reporters while heading into the meeting.

This is an outrage. Whenever the Republicans get caught breaking a law they go back and change that law. This is why the Republicans shouldn't have control of the House or Senate. Their outright covering up for this administration is criminal. If there are any decent Republicans left they should speak out about this atrocity and do all in their power to overturn this deal to "fix" FISA. The Democrats need to stage a walkout, Congress should be shut down over this. If they don't do something then they are part of the problem.

More on Cheney

Watching some of the news shows today i happened to catch "The Situation Room". Jack Cafferty had an interesting suggestion for Wolf Blitzer. He stated that they should get a gun expert to see if the type of weapon and ammo that Cheney used would be able to penetrate clothing and skin at 30 yards. I'd be very interested in hearing what an expert would have to say. Maybe they could even get the "Myth Busters" to set up some type of reenactment. Jesus's General has his satirical take on the Cheney shooting incident. One thing for sure, it seems the media isn't willing to let this story go down the memory hole like they have so many other stories regarding the Bush administration.

Yet another failure of the Bush administration

Well it appears that Bush's "No Child Left Behind" program isn't the success that he thought it would be. According to a Harvard study there are serious flaws in the program.

BOSTON (Reuters) - President George W. Bush's No Child Left Behind education policy has in some cases benefited white middle-class children over blacks and other minorities in poorer regions, a Harvard University study showed on Tuesday.

Political compromises forged between some states and the federal government have allowed schools in some predominantly white districts to dodge penalties faced by regions with larger ethnic minority populations, the study said.

Bush's 2001 No Child Left Behind Act was meant to introduce national standards to an education system where only two-thirds of teenagers graduate from high school, a proportion that slides to 50 percent for black Americans and Hispanics.

But instead of uniform standards, the policy has allowed various states to negotiate treaties and bargains to reduce the number of schools and districts identified as failing, said the study by Harvard University's Civil Rights Project.

"There's a very uneven effect. There are no clear uniform standards that are governing No Child Left Behind. If one state gets one thing, another state can do something else," the study's lead author, Gail Sunderman, said in an interview.

In Washington, a bipartisan commission announced on Tuesday that it was being created to take a "hard, independent look" at the law's problems and promises, and then make recommendations to Congress before the law's expected renewal in 2007.

Is it any wonder why President Bush receives so little support from the African American community? Yet the wingnuts get all bent out of shape when an African American such as Kanye West says that Bush doesn't care about black people.

Some Dick Cheney jokes from the talk shows

From Yahoo News:

Television talk shows took aim Monday at Vice President Dick Cheney's accidental weekend shooting in Texas of a hunting companion. Here's a few of the jokes.

___

"Late Show with David Letterman," CBS:

• "Good news, ladies and gentlemen, we have finally located weapons of mass destruction: It's Dick Cheney."

• "But here is the sad part — before the trip Donald Rumsfeld had denied the guy's request for body armor."

• "We can't get Bin Laden, but we nailed a 78-year-old attorney."

• "The guy who got gunned down, he is a Republican lawyer and a big Republican donor and fortunately the buck shot was deflected by wads of laundered cash. So he's fine. He took a little in the wallet."

__

"The Tonight Show with Jay Leno," NBC:

• "Although it is beautiful here in California, the weather back East has been atrocious. There was so much snow in Washington, D.C., Dick Cheney accidentally shot a fat guy thinking it was a polar bear.

• "That's the big story over the weekend. ... Dick Cheney accidentally shot a fellow hunter, a 78-year-old lawyer. In fact, when people found out he shot a lawyer, his popularity is now at 92 percent."

• "I think Cheney is starting to lose it. After he shot the guy he screamed, 'Anyone else want to call domestic wire tapping illegal?'"

• "Dick Cheney is capitalizing on this for Valentine's Day. It's the new Dick Cheney cologne. It's called Duck!"

___

"The Daily Show with Jon Stewart," Comedy Central:

• "Vice President Dick Cheney accidentally shot a man during a quail hunt ... making 78-year-old Harry Whittington the first person shot by a sitting veep since Alexander Hamilton. Hamilton, of course, (was) shot in a duel with Aaron Burr over issues of honor, integrity and political maneuvering. Whittington? Mistaken for a bird."

• "Now, this story certainly has its humorous aspects. ... But it also raises a serious issue, one which I feel very strongly about. ... moms, dads, if you're watching right now, I can't emphasize this enough: Do not let your kids go on hunting trips with the vice president. I don't care what kind of lucrative contracts they're trying to land, or energy regulations they're trying to get lifted — it's just not worth it."

Many questions remain about the Cheney shooting incident

Looks like this whole incident with Cheney accidentally shooting one of his hunting partners has really ignited the White House press. USAtoday.com has a partial transcript of the White House press briefing. Cheney is going to have to answer a lot of tough questions such as why it took 18 hours to disclose to the press what had happened. There are also reports that the secret service barred Texas authorities from speaking with Cheney about the incident.

Beware of upcoming terror alerts

With all of the recent negative news stories coming out about the Bush admininstration, americans should be prepared for an increase in the terror alert level. It always seems when there is a negative story out there about President Bush or his administration that may have legs that President Bush plays the terror card. We've seen evidence of this just last week when the President announced that a planned Al Qaeda attack in LA had been thwarted. Of course his announcement occurred on the heels of increased criticism from both sides of the aisle over the NSA warrantless spying program. We later learned that the warrantless spying program had nothing to do with thwarting that attack and even worse for President Bush was the fact that he didn't even bother to notify the mayor of LA about the planned attack.

This past weekend we find out that Cheney accidentally shot a guy that he was hunting with. To make things worse for Cheney, the story wasn't reported for 18 hours later and only then because a reporter questioned the owner of the land they were hunting on. There is even another much more politically devastating news story coming out this week in the form of the upcoming House report on the Katrina failures. That report is supposed to be highly critical of the Bush administration's handling of hurricane Katrina. An increase in the terror alert or perhaps another announcement saying that an Al Qaeda attack was thwarted would be just the thing to take the focus off of all of Bush's failures and put in on something he views as a winner for him, protecting americans. It's worked for him many times in the past and until it stops being advantageous for him to use 911 as a political tool he'll continue to do so.

What happened to freedom of speech in America?

Be warned that if you write an anti-Bush letter to an editor of a newspaper you may be accused of sedition. Read what happened to a Veteran Affairs nurse here.

A spot on analysis of Bush supporters

Glenn Greenwald has made an excellent entry as usual on his blog about how Bush supporters really have no political ideology. He writes that their ideology seems to be based on one thing and that's complete support of President Bush. Here's a short excerpt but the whole article should be read because it's really good. From Glenn Greenwald:

Is there anything more antithetical to that ethos than the rabid, power-hungry appetites of Bush followers? There is not an iota of distrust of the Federal Government among them. Quite the contrary. Whereas distrust of the government was quite recently a hallmark of conservatism, expressing distrust of George Bush and the expansive governmental powers he is pursuing subjects one to accusations of being a leftist, subversive loon.

Indeed, as many Bush followers themselves admit, the central belief of the Bush follower's "conservatism" is no longer one that ascribes to a limited federal government -- but is precisely that there ought to be no limits on the powers claimed by Bush precisely because we trust him, and we trust in him absolutely. He wants to protect us and do good. He is not our enemy but our protector. And there is no reason to entertain suspicions or distrust of him or his motives because he is Good.

Photo With Bush Helps Congressman's Rival

From Yahoo News:

A photo of President Bush cupping the cheeks of Rep. Henry Cuellar at last week's State of the Union address has been the gift that keeps on giving for Cuellar's chief rival for the Democratic nomination.

The Washington Post picture of Cuellar beaming as the president holds his face is a boffo hit on the Internet, inspiring humorous-caption contests and accusations that Cuellar is a stealth Republican.

Cuellar's Democratic rival, Ciro Rodriguez, has produced a leaflet centered around the photo. It reads: "George Bush thinks Henry Cuellar is `chulo'" — Spanish slang for "pretty boy."

Before the picture came out, Rodriguez, a former congressman trying to regain the House seat he lost in 2004 to Cuellar, had been low on money, momentum and a memorable message.

But the Rodriguez campaign said the picture has generated more than $80,000 in contributions in little more than a week and given a major boost to his supporters a month before the Democratic primary.

"The saying goes, `A picture tells you a thousand words,'" Rodriguez said. "Well, in this case, it's gone beyond a thousand, especially on the dollars."

The photo flap became even richer when it was revealed that Cuellar listened to the State of the Union address while standing on the Republican side of the aisle. Cuellar also served briefly as Texas secretary of state under GOP Gov. Rick Perry

Colin Strother, a Cuellar spokesman, said that Cuellar is a true Democrat regardless of where he chose to listen to the speech, and that the photo is being blown out of proportion.

"Henry was far from the only Democrat to share a moment with the president that evening — he was just the one immortalized on camera," Strother said. "We're moving forward, and whatever Ciro chooses to do with the photo is up to his campaign."

I'm tired of all these Republicans pretending to be Democrats. So-called Democrats like Leiberman and Zell Miller are nothing but tools of the Republican party used to try to convince the people that Bush isn't so bad if Democrats like him. The fact that Cuellar sat on the Republican side of the aisle to me shows who he really supports and that's the Republicans. Doing something like that is a slap in the face to the Democrats. Now that it's negatively affecting his campaign he's trying to change his tune. All of these Democrats in name only have to go. If they want to be cheerleaders for the President they should become Republicans. It's the honorable thing to do. Saying you're a Democrat and then turning around and undermining the Democratic party isn't very honorable.

Jack Abromoff describes relationship with Bush

Think Progress has obtained some of Jack Abramoff's emails which were addressed to Kim Eisler, the national editor of Washingtonian Magazine. In some of those emails Abramoff describes his relationship with Bush. I knew when the Bush administration was trying to keep those photographs of Bush with Abramoff from the public that there had to be a much closer relationship than Bush was letting on to. Supposedly there are even more emails. It's like a scandal a day with this administration.

If wishes came true

Non terrorists still being held at Guantanimo

National Journal has an in depth article about those still being held at Guantanimo. Here's an excerpt:

Like many of the men who came handcuffed to Cuba, Detainee 032 has never been accused of fighting against America. He fell into U.S custody far away from any battlefield. But today, after four years of interrogations and investigations, he is still an "enemy combatant," even though he was never an enemy or a combatant. He is something else: something that might be dangerous or might not. But he's securely in our custody, and raise your hand if you want to be responsible for releasing the man who next flies an airplane into a skyscraper.

In some other world, one where the earth still turned west to east instead of inside out as it did on September 11, 2001, Detainee 032 would be finishing college this year, like his brother, father, and uncle before him. In this world, he's beginning his fifth year in prison, with neither charges nor freedom in sight.

America has let fear change who we are as a country. Just look at the whole illegal spying issue. Americans say they're willing to give up liberties to be safe. They're willing to allow the use of torture and the dentention of arabs without due process. They're willing to give the President unlimited power without Congressional oversight. These are very troubling times for our country. I keep waiting for america to wake up and realize that you can't let fear run your life. That's no way to live. No matter what liberties americans give up in the name of security they're never going to be completely safe. The sooner they realize that the quicker we can get back to being the country that was once admired and respected throughout the world.

This pretty much sums up the republicans playbook

The Traveling GOP Medicine Show

Gonzales bobs and weaves during questioning

From Yahoo News:

Attorney General Alberto Gonzales failed on Monday to convince the Republican chairman of the Senate Judiciary Committee and other lawmakers that
President Bush had the legal authority to conduct warrantless eavesdropping against U.S. citizens.

"I do not think that any fair, realistic reading of the September 14 resolution gives you the power to conduct electronic surveillance," the committee chairman, Sen. Arlen Specter (news, bio, voting record) of Pennsylvania, told Gonzales at the end of a grueling day.

Specter also called for investigations by the full Senate and House of Representatives intelligence committees, saying only a thorough closed-door examination of the program could determine whether Bush had the inherent authority to conduct warrantless surveillance.

"It's the equilibrium of our constitutional system which is involved," Specter said. "And the al Qaeda threat is very weighty ... but so are civil rights."

During often testy proceedings, Gonzales fielded scores of questions but repeatedly rebuffed lawmakers' attempts to elicit facts of the program, saying the disclosure of operational details could ruin the government's ability to monitor contacts between militants and their affiliates.

Gonzales refused to discuss the scope of the program that Bush authorized in 2002, any successes, possible abuses or any safeguards in place.

Visibly frustrated, the top Democrat on the Senate Judiciary Committee, Sen. Patrick Leahy (news, bio, voting record) of Vermont, abruptly broke in at one point: "Of course, I'm sorry, Mr. Attorney General, I forgot you can't answer any questions that might be relevant to this."

Leahy accused the administration of acting "illegally without safeguards."

New York Democrat Charles Schumer told Gonzales: "I know it's been a long day for you. Especially with all that bobbing and weaving, it's not so easy."

Ohio Republican Mike DeWine said the administration would stand on firmer ground if it had sought specific congressional backing and Republican Sen. Lindsey Graham (news, bio, voting record) of South Carolina said he never envisioned such eavesdropping to be part of the post-September 11 legislation he helped pass.

Gonzales' defense is that the President can do whatever he wants which in reality is no defense. Arlen Spector should have placed Gonzales under oath if he was truly concerned about the legality of this. Obviously the Republicans feel Gonzales and the Bush administration have something to hide or they would have made him testify under oath. It's ashame that the Republicans are being partisan on this issue to protect the President. In the end these hearings mean nothing. Gonzales can lie all he wants and the Bush administration will continue to ignore the courts and laws.

Valerie Plame was covert

Looks like those on the right who've been defending the Bush administration against claims that they outted a covert CIA agent no longer have a leg to stand on. There's a current article in newsweek that claims Valerie Plame was classified as covert:

Newly released court papers could put holes in the defense of Dick Cheney's former chief of staff, I. Lewis (Scooter) Libby, in the Valerie Plame leak case. Lawyers for Libby, and White House allies, have repeatedly questioned whether Plame, the wife of White House critic Joe Wilson, really had covert status when she was outed to the media in July 2003. But special prosecutor Patrick Fitzgerald found that Plame had indeed done "covert work overseas" on counterproliferation matters in the past five years, and the CIA "was making specific efforts to conceal" her identity, according to newly released portions of a judge's opinion.

The hypocrisy of this administration knows no bounds. Remember that they're going after the whistleblower in the NSA who leaked the fact that they were eavesdropping on american citizens without warrants by saying he jeapordized national security. It seems to me that a lot more damage was done by leaking the identity of a covert agent which put the lives of other agents who worked with Plame in danger. Al Qaeda knows their calls are monitored, they'd be stupid not to and we all know they're not stupid. The NSA whistleblower did the right thing by notifying the press that our government was breaking the law. Oh how the wingnuts on Free Republic loved to use the arguement that Valerie Plame wasn't covert at the time of her outting. Things are starting to get interesting.

Deputy who shot unarmed civilian should be arrested

I'm sure everyone has seen the video of the San Bernardino County sheriff's deputy shooting of unarmed Air Force police officer Elio Carrion. If ever there was a clear case of police misconduct this is it. The deputy tells the guy to get up and when he does he shoots him three times. Before he gets up you can hear Carrion calmly telling the deputy he's going to get up now and he then proceeds to get up slowly before being shot.

Now there will be those who will read this and think that i'm anti cop but i'm not. I know being a cop is a very dangerous job and that the deputy in question was just in a high speed chase. That however does not excuse what he did. I see the father of the deputy has gone public and stated that his son told him he felt threatened and that the tape may have been altered. If the tape wasn't altered then i have to disagree with the deputy's fathers defense. If his son felt threatened he shouldn't have told the suspect to get up. He was violating police procedure when he did so. The bottom line is that police officers should not defend these kinds of actions. Now i know it's natural for a parent to do so but the deputy's actions should be condemned by those in law enforcement.

What should have happened was once the video tape surfaced the deputy should have been placed under arrest. Instead he was placed on paid leave. In cases like this these kinds of actions really stir up anger against those in law enforcement, especially in the minority communities. That is why in this case it would be to the benefit of all in law enforcement if the sheriffs deputy was placed under arrest. The San Bernardino County Sheriff's department needs to show that their officers aren't above the law.

Another thing that disturbs me in a lot of these cases is that the person responsible for doing the video taping often becomes a target for police. The man who videotaped Elio Carrion's shooting has himself been arrested. Whether or not the person who videotaped the shooting is himself a criminal is really irrelevant to what's on the tape. It doesn't change the fact that an unarmed man was needlessly shot by a police officer. Just think if there had been no video tape. It would have been Elio Carrion's word agains that of a police officer. Who do you think everyone is going to believe? There would be no justice. You wouldn't have even seen it on the news. If Jose Luis Valdez, who shot the video knew he was wanted by police yet still went to them with this video, he ought to be commended for doing the right thing.

Lance Armstrong and Sheryl Crow announce breakup

From MSNBC:

AUSTIN, Texas - Lance Armstrong and Sheryl Crow have split, the couple announced in a joint statement Friday night.

The seven-time Tour de France champion and the rock star announced their engagement in September. It would have been her first marriage and his second. He has three children from a previous marriage.

"After much thought and consideration we have made a very tough decision to split up. We both have a deep love and respect for each other and we ask that everyone respect our privacy during this very difficult time,'' the statement said.

I never thought they made a good couple. Sheryl Crow is pretty liberal and i've always viewed Lance Armstrong as the Republican type though i don't think he's ever stated his political affiliation. I know he's a national hero for surviving cancer and winning all of those Tour De Frances but the fact that he left his wife with whom he had three children for Sheryl Crow just didn't sit very well with me.

Bush wanted to provoke war with Saddam

This was posted at Americablog. From Channel4.com:

Channel 4 News tonight reveals extraordinary details of George Bush and Tony Blair's pre-war meeting in January 2003 at which they discussed plans to begin military action on March 10th 2003, irrespective of whether the United Nations had passed a new resolution authorising the use of force.

President Bush said: "The US was thinking of flying U2 reconnaissance aircraft with fighter cover over Iraq, painted in UN colours. If Saddam fired on them, he would be in breach."

He went on: "It was also possible that a defector could be brought out who would give a public presentation about Saddams WMD, and there was also a small possibility that Saddam would be assassinated."

Speaking to Channel 4 News, Mr Sands said:

"I think no one would be surprised at the idea that the use of spy-planes to review what is going on would be considered. What is surprising is the idea that they would be used painted in the colours of the United Nations in order to provoke an attack which could then be used to justify material breach. Now that plainly looks as if it is deception, and it raises some fundamental questions of legality, both in terms of domestic law and international law."

Bush makes Nixon look like a lightweight in terms of having no ethics. Nothing surprises me anymore when it comes to this president. It's clear that Bush had a hardon to go to war with Saddam and nothing was going to stand in his way including international and domestic laws. Is it any wonder why most of the world hates america? What pisses me off is that Bush isn't held accountable for anything he does. Bush could go on national tv and kill a baby and there would still be people who defend him. If a Democrat president did one percent of the stuff Bush has done he'd be run out of the White House.

Some advice for Congressman Don Sherwood

Jesus's General has some advice for Pennsylvania congressman Don Sherwood. Apparently his donations from individual donors dropped after it was revealed to the public that he had been having an affair and his mistress sued him for assaulting her. Of course being in a heavily Republican district pretty much guarantees he'll get re-elected. You gotta love the hypocrisy of the Republicans. They'll overlook a guy who not only cheats on his wife but tries to strangle his mistress yet they went all out to impeach a President who cheated on his wife with an intern. I guess when they talk about values it doesn't apply to them.

Murtha continues to pressure Bush administration on Iraq

From Crosswalk.com:

In a letter to President Bush Wednesday, Pennsylvania Democratic Congressman John Murtha renewed his call for a withdrawal of U.S. forces from Iraq and warned that the United States was "in danger of breaking our military."

Murtha wrote that Iraq "is not the center for the global war on terrorism" and that Iraqi forces do not need American troops to deal with al-Qaeda in Iraq. "I believe the Iraqis will force them out or kill them after U.S. troops are gone," he wrote.

"Our military presence is the single most important reason why the Iraqis have tolerated the foreign terrorists," Murtha wrote. Those foreign terrorists, the congressman asserted in his letter to the president, "account for less than 7 percent of the insurgency." He added that "the Iraqis are against a foreign presence in Iraq of any kind."

The Democrats really shot themselves in the foot by having Virginia governor Tim Kaine give that weak Democratic rebuttal to the president's state of the union address. It should have been a no brainer for them to use Jack Murtha. A lot of americans don't even know who Tim Kaine is. Most know Jack Murtha from his recent criticism of President Bush's Iraqi war policy. The choice of Murtha alone would have guaranteed a huge audience that would tune in to the Democrats rebuttal. The media would have gone into a frenzy over it.

The Democrats yet again managed to snatch defeat out of the hands of victory. The big media story is how weak the Democrats appeared which plays right into the hands of the White House. They've been painting the Democrats as weak all along and here the Democrats help them. The Democrats just don't seem to know how to win. Maybe if they would listen to many of the liberal bloggers they'd see some positive results. Their current strategy sure isn't working very well.

And the US edges even closer to fascism

The Joint Chiefs of Staff sent a letter to the Washington Post editor over a political cartoon that they found offensive. There's nothing wrong with americans complaining about a political cartoon they find offensive but it's entirely inappropriate when the federal government does it. Here is the cartoon:


Here is part of what they said in the letter to the Washington Post:

We were extremely disappointed to see the editorial cartoon by Tom Toles on page B6 in the January 29th edition. Using the likeness of a service member who has lost his arms and legs in war as the central theme of a cartoon is beyond tasteless. Editorial cartoons are often designed to exaggerate issues--and your paper is obviously free to address any topic, including the state of readiness of today's Armed Forces. However, we believe you and Mr. Toles have done a disservice to your readers and your paper's reputation by using such a callous depiction of those who have volunteered to defened this nation, and as a result, have suffered traumatic and life-altering wounds...

...While you or some of your readers may not agree with the war or its conduct, we believe you owe the men and women and their families who so selflessly serve our country the decency to not make light of their tremendous physical sacrifices.

As the Joint Chiefs, it is rare that we all put our hand to one letter, but we cannot let this reprehensible cartoon go unanswered.

Here is the response from Bush admnistration appologist Michelle Malkin:

In civilized societies, if you are offended by a cartoon, you do not burn flags, take up guns and raid buildings, chant death to your opponents, or threaten suicide bombings.

You write a letter to the editor.

That's complete bullshit. If this had been the Clinton adminstration her response would be the complete opposite. This really shouldn't surprise me coming from someone who wrote a book defending the interment of Japanese americans during WWII. This fits right in with the MO of the Bush admnistration trying to control the press. From planting Jeff Gannon/James Guckert in the White House pressroom so he could ask softball questions to paying Armstrong Williams and others to promote the Bush administration programs, this is the same type of fascist behavior.

The Case Against Joe Biden

Ron Goldstein of Newsweek has an article posted titled "The Case for Joe Biden". In it he argues that the Delaware Senator's centrist leanings and his appealing media persona would make him a good candidate for the Presidency in 08. While i agree Joe Biden is a very good communicator, i don't think he'd stand a chance in the general election. He would not in my opinion, play well with americans living in the red states. Senator Biden comes across as a guy who likes the sound of his own voice. Take those Alito hearings for example. Biden seemed like he was filibustering in his questioning of Alito. I also take umbridge with his distancing himself from Howard Dean and other members of his own party whenever they throw some harsh criticism towards the President. He is also a long time political insider, holding some form of political office since the age of 29. Americans view that as a negative. The last two Presidents we had were governors before being elected President. The records of Senators are too easily distorted and attacked by their political opponents, ask John Kerry about that. Lastly, from the Newsweek article we have this little gem:

Of course, there’s the black mark. Twenty years ago, during another presidential campaign, Biden apparently lifted substantial portions of a speech by a popular British politician for an address of his own. Subsequently, Biden resigned from the race instead of battling the charge.

Do the Democrats really need someone with that baggage running for President when so much is at stake? The fact that Biden resigned from the race is virtually the same as him admitting guilt. The Democrats are going to need someone to run with a clean record and who appeals to middle america. I don't think Senator Joe Biden is that person.

President moving away from oil? I don't think so

From the Seattle Times:

PRESIDENT George W. Bush swerved toward green in his State of the Union address Tuesday, setting a goal of reducing America's dependence on Mideast oil and embracing renewable fuels.

After five years of pushing for Arctic drilling and more oil production, the President's message must be received with some amazement.

These elements long have been part of the president's energy policy, but Bush's emphasis Tuesday represents a reshuffling of priorities. Missing was a mention of drilling in the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge, a proposal stalled in December by filibuster, and of more domestic exploration in the Rocky Mountains or off the coast. Bush never mentioned the Kyoto Accords, a global treaty to reduce pollutants.

The state of the union speech was a pure political speech. Bush knows that all the recent reports of record oil company profits will hurt him even more in the polls so he's just paying lip service to the oil problem. He and Cheney aren't going to do anything that would hurt the oil companies. The oil company execs know they've got a close ally in the Bush administration. Remember this is a President who rarely if ever changes his mind or admits to mistakes. If anyone believes that after 5 years in office Bush has all of a sudden decided to embrace alternative energy solutions because he actually believes in them then i have some swamp land i want to sell you.