The Political Chase

Zogby: Majority supports impeaching Bush

That dreaded “I” word now ranks among the majority of Americans. Looks like it’s time to add Impeachment to the categories list.

CIA Secret Prisons and Torture Officially Documented

The government prefers to delay the release of any negative reports or discoveries until Friday. That allows for a few news cycles to pass over the weekend and possibly lessen the impact on Monday, the next business day. Earlier today, I realized no smut had been released or revealed, and was surprised given the Bush administration’s record. Wrong, I just did not catch the Washington Post’s  report confirming - officially - the existence of secret CIA prisons in Poland and Romania, and the torturing of detainees in a “massive violation of fundamental human rights and contempt for the rule of law.” The Council of Europe has expressed outrage, determined the prison related activities are illegal, and are discussing what steps should be taken next.

Big surprise. The Bush administration has already denied the existence of the prisons, but they are simply lying. The Council of Europe provided undeniable proof in documents released today to Europe’s official human rights’ organizations. Also released today was a draft resolution to be proposed to the Council of Europe, that is a smack down of the responsible governments.

Friso Roscam Abbing, a European Commission official called on the governments accused of the atrocities to initiate their own investigations. Obviously, Mr. Abbing knows nothing about George W. Bush and Dick Cheney.

Dick Marty, a Swiss official responsible for the development of the report, has made it clear the CIA’s secret prisons for “terrorism” detainees are at best heinous and exacerbates terrorism.

“Some individuals were kept in secret detention centers for periods of several years where they were subjected to degrading treatment and so-called ‘enhanced interrogation techniques’ (essentially a euphemism for a kind of torture),” Marty wrote.

He said many of the actions are “unacceptable under the laws of European countries” and would be legally challenged if they were undertaken in the United States.

“The fact that the measures only apply to non-American citizens reflects a kind of ‘legal apartheid,’ ” he wrote.

In his explanatory note, Marty concluded, “There is no real international strategy against terrorism. . . . The refusal to establish and recognize a functioning international judicial and prosecution system is also a major weakness in our efforts to combat international terrorism.”

I seriously doubt Mr. Marty will be receiving any White House dinner invitations in the near future.

So, now we can sit back and listen to President Bush deny his crimes against humanity with a few “it’s simply not true,” and he will have it all pushed behind him. Just more evidence of Mr. Bush’s compassionate conservatism.

Big scoop for the Washington Post. Read the article.

Sunday Talk Show Roundup

Meet the Press

Moderator: Tim Russert

Gen. Colin Powell (Ret.), former Secretary of State; Jeff Gerth, Co-Author, Her Way: The Hopes and Ambitions of Hillary Rodham Clinton; Don Van Natta, Jr., Co-Author, Her Way: The Hopes and Ambitions of Hillary Rodham Clinton

Secretary of State Colin Powell joins us to share his thoughts on the Iraq war, the faulty intelligence and his role in the Bush administration. Then, presidential politics and the two new biographies on Hillary Clinton. With new details on her life and her political career, what effect will the books have on her campaign for the White House?

Face the Nation

Moderator: Bob Scheiffer

Rep. Peter King, R-N.Y., and Sen. Ken Salazar, D-Colo., face off over the immigration reform bill. More…

This Week

Moderator: George Stephanopoulos

Sen. John McCain, (R-AZ), 2008 presidential candidate - Stephanopoulos continues his “On the Trail” series in Iowa with Sen. McCain.

Roundtable: Time magazine’s Jay Carney, ABC News consultant Torie Clarke, ABC News’ Claire Shipman and George Will.

Amanda Fernandez, Poetry Out Loud national champion.

Fox News Sunday

Moderator: Chris Wallace

Not available yet. Will update when Fox makes guest list available

Late Edition

Moderator: Wolf Blitzer

Carlos Gutierrez, Commerce Secretary; Sen. Evan Bayh, (D-IN); Sen. Jon Kyl, (R-AZ) - The immigration bill comes to a halt in Congress – will both sides be able to reach a compromise? Commerce Secretary Carlos Gutierrez, Senator Evan Bayh, and Senator Jon Kyl weigh in.

Mike Huckabee, (R) Presidential Candidate, Fmr. Arkansas Governor; Gov. Bill Richardson, (D) Presidential Candidate, New Mexico Governor

Dmitri Peskov, Press Secretary to Russian President Putin

Carl Bernstein, author, “A Woman in Charge”

The Chris Matthews Show

Moderator: Chris Matthews

Katy Kay, BBC Washington Correspondent; John Heileman, New York Magazine Columnist; Michelle Norris, NPR Host - ”All Things Considered”; Howard Fineman, Newsweek Chief Political Correspondent

Topics: Can Democrats win votes in 2008 by emphasizing faith? Will the battle over immigration hurt the Republicans in ‘08?

Time to Grow Up

Paris Hilton was taken screaming from the courtroom after a judge ordered her returned to jail.

Senate to Consider Abu Gonzales ‘No Confidence’ Motion

The Senate on Monday plans to take a no-confidence vote on Attorney General Alberto Gonzales, Roll Call reports (sub. req.). “The nonbinding resolution would express the ’sense of the Senate’ that Gonzales ‘no longer holds the confidence of the American people.’” I would have to check check back on this, but I believe the initial language was, “…no longer holds the confidence of the Congress…”

Sen. Chuck Schumer (D-NY) is sponsoring the resolution, but “sounded uncertain the measure would receive the 60 votes needed for passage.” I know that’s different than what Schumer has said previously; he was quite confident the resolution would pass. Maybe I’m right about the changed language and therefore “American people” is a bit tougher than “the Congress of the United States.”

BREAKING: Joint Chiefs Chairman Peter Pace to Retire

From the Washington Post:

Switching course, Defense Secretary Robert Gates announced Friday he has recommended Adm. Mike Mullen, currently chief of naval operations, to replace Gen. Peter Pace as the chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff.

Gates said he had originally intended to seek another two-year term for Pace, but concluded that would have resulted in a divisive Senate confirmation focusing on the Iraq War.

Bush Initiates White House Lawyers Surge

President Bush has initiated a surge in White House lawyers as part of the continuing War on Congress. The President announced earlier today the addition of nine new lawyers to his staff. The lawyering-up action is obviously a response to heightened threats yesterday from Senior House Democrats to issue subpoenas for Justice Department and NSA secret documents.

Tom DeLay’s Gaydar

A former House Clerk has accused former House Majority Leader Tom “The Hammer” DeLay (R-TX), who is facing a criminal conspiracy indictment, of trying to get him fired for years because of the clerk’s sexual orientation and was “out of the closet.”

From Roll Call (sub. req.):

Former House Clerk Jeff Trandahl says former House Majority Leader Tom DeLay (R-Texas) “had long sought to oust him from the job because he is openly gay,” according to a report in the Washington Blade.

Trandahl made the comments while speaking to a group of gays and lesbians aboard the ship Queen Mary II during a cross-Atlantic trip, according the Blade.

A spokeswoman for DeLay dismissed the charge that her boss wanted to sack (that is, fire) Trandahl. “We have no idea where this comes from, but it’s a very serious accusation and an outright lie,” she said.

Trandahl, who was Clerk from 1998 to 2005 and who had warned Foley about his contact with Congressional pages — the root of the scandal that led to Foley’s humiliating resignation last year — praised former Speakers Dennis Hastert (R-Ill.) and Newt Gingrich (R-Ga.) as well as current Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) for “supporting him during his tenure,” according to the Blade article.

Trandahl is now the executive director of the National Fish and Wildlife Foundation.

A former GOP leadership staffer who served during DeLay and Trandahl’s tenure seemed surprised by Trandahl’s claim that DeLay wanted him fired, doubting that he was even aware the former Clerk was gay. “No member of Congress has a worse gaydar than Tom DeLay,” the former aide said.

DeLay homophobic? Of course not.

Jefferson Pleads Not Guilty, Ethics Committee to Investigate

Rep. William Jefferson (D-LA) pleaded not guilty this morning in the U.S. District Court in Alexandria, VA, to the 94-page, 16-count indictment that was handed down Monday.

The House ethics committee voted yesterday (sub. req.) to launch an investigative subcommittee into Jefferson’s alleged nefarious activities. Members serving on the subcommittee are: Rep. Bill Delahunt (D-MA) will serve as chairman with Rep. John Kline (R-Minn.) as ranking member. Reps. Keith Ellison (D-MN) and Tom Latham (R-IA). The full  committee is led by Chairwoman Stephanie Tubbs Jones (D-OH), and ranking member Doc Hastings (R-WA).

DeMint: I was against it before I was for it and now I’m against it

Trying to keep track of senators’ positions, especially Republicans like Jim DeMint (SC), is troublesome at best. Senator DeMint voted against the immigration bill, then voted for the same bill, but now says he is against it. DeMint’s not alone in flip-flopping, but clearly leads his flip-flopping GOP colleagues. What’s so contentious? The proposed guest-worker program, or what some refer to as amnesty. Most Democrats want a guest-worker program and Republicans view the program as a cardinal sin, at best. But, to try and get something passed, compromises have been made by members of both parties; however, Mr. DeMint followed by a few others have derailed the bill, and may have brought about its demise.

Why and how did DeMint, the junior senator from South Carolina, who is not a person of remarkably high intellect, pull this off? I can’t answer how with sufficient objectivity and DeMint’s stated reason(s) are dismissive and just don’t get it when put in the context of passing legislation. Mr. DeMint said, “”I think Republicans are trying to solve a real problem. I think the president is, too,” DeMint said. “But the American people don’t trust us.”

Indeed. The American people don’t trust the Republicans as evidenced by the last election, but can DeMint be a little more vague? What the heck is his point? While Senator DeMint and his followers have most of us shaking our heads and saying, “huh,” they are not winning any points with leadership of both parties either.

Two weeks ago, when the immigration bill landed on the Senate floor, Sen. Jim DeMint (R-S.C.) voted against an amendment that targeted one of its key provisions: a guest-worker program that President Bush and many U.S. companies have sought for years.

Shortly after midnight yesterday, DeMint returned to the floor and, along with three conservative Republican colleagues, voted in favor of the same measure he had opposed, to sunset the program after five years. Not that DeMint has anything against guest workers. He supports the idea. But weakening the guest-worker program would leave the bill in tatters — and in the twisted logic of the Senate, that served DeMint’s greater goal of derailing the legislation.

“I’m embarrassed to say they were trying to kill the bill, and I’m ashamed of it,” Republican Whip Trent Lott (Miss.) said of DeMint and his associates. He fumed that the senators had voted against their principles and on an amendment offered by Democrats, no less.

Dan Balz of the Washington Post seems to have a pretty good grasp on what’s really going on:

The partisan blame game was already at fever pitch as the bill was going down yesterday. But to those far removed from the backrooms of Capitol Hill, what happened will fuel cynicism toward a political system that appears incapable of finding ways to resolve the nation’s big challenges.”

The collapse of comprehensive immigration revision in the Senate last night represents a political defeat for President Bush, Sen. John McCain (R-Ariz.) and Sen. Edward M. Kennedy (D-Mass.), the bill’s most prominent sponsors. More significantly, it represents a scathing indictment of the political culture of Washington.

The defeat of the legislation can be laid at the doorstep of opponents on the right and left, on congressional leaders who couldn’t move their troops and on an increasingly weakened president and his White House team. But together it added up to another example of a polarized political system in which the center could not hold.

The government is gridlocked and it’s doubtful there will be any change before 2009.

BREAKING: Reid Pulls Immigration Bill

Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid fulfilled his promise to yank the highly debated immigration bill (S.AMDT.1150) off the floor if Republicans did not get their act together and agree on a bill that would at least pass a cloture vote. With 60 votes required for cloture, the Senate voted 45 - 50 against cutting off the debate.

From Roll Call (sub. req.):

“There’s been a lot of bending over backwards to accommodate people who wanted to offer amendments,” Reid said on the floor after the vote. “Republicans even objected to calling up their own amendments.”

Still, Reid promised to bring the bill back to the floor if the bipartisan negotiators could negotiate a limited number of amendments and a time certain for a vote on final passage.

The vote capped off a day that was fraught with tension as bill backers scrambled to reach a compromise on the number of amendments on which they would allow conservative Republicans to have votes, even though many of the proposals were considered contentious or regarded as poison-pills.

But that effort was stymied, several GOP sources said, because conservatives such as Sens. Jim DeMint (R-S.C.) and Jeff Sessions (R-Ala.) could not whittle down their list of amendments to no more than 10.

“The dealmakers are trying to ram through a massive reform written in secret, trying to cut off debate and deny votes on dozens of Republican amendments,” said DeMint spokesman Wesley Denton. “Sen. DeMint’s had it with this bill and this broken process, and he’s going to demand his colleagues get their right to full debate and votes.”

Republican members of Congress fighting amongst themselves and opposing President Bush’s position as well on this immigration bill will cause the party to crumble going into the 2008 elections. Moreover, if the GOP allows Jim DeMint to take them down further, they deserve it. The junior Senator from South Carolina is not what I would describe as ”most likely to succeed” material.

Late Update: To illustrate how controversial this bill is, the bill has officially been amended 47 times since May 21. That does not include the amendments discussed above.