CBS’s Bob Schieffer asks Sen. Jay Rockefeller, “Why were the tapes destroyed?” Rockefeller takes a long pause, leans forward, begins to speak but stumbles. He then takes a deep sigh, and is obviously uncomfortable about what to say — there is no good answer — finally, he musters up, “You can speculate…”
Schieffer did not ask what he (Schieffer) could personally do. He asked why the CIA’s video tapes of detainee interrogations that included waterboarding were destroyed.
That’s how the rest of the five-to-six minute interview goes. Misleading. Dodging the simple questions. The plagued and disgraced Senator that had probably confirmed his appearance on Face the Nation well before he had any knowledge of what the Washington Post would throw in his face just hours before taping the show.
When Schieffer asked Rockefeller what “he planned to do now,” Rockefeller attempts to make himself look good by starting with what he has done in the past to allegedly deter the administration’s torture programs, but his answers are for public consumption only. They have nothing to do with his real objectives. Rockefeller begins in 2005 — three years after the committee was initially briefed on the CIA’s torture programs, which included waterboarding — and offers up a few activities, which to the public make him appear righteous and ethical. He tried to stop the Evil Doers three times in 2005, and more beyond that, but the asphyxiating, burdensome weight of Minority Party Defeats loomed everywhere. Although committee meetings were intolerable, nothing could have been more troublesome than the floor of the Senate. It was impossible to speak in the Dyspnoeic Senate Chamber.
Watch the highlights:
Indeed. Rockefeller is a true patriot and has demonsrtated profound courage. He fully supported the Bush administration’s illegal counterterrorism tactics and programs for two to three years before the media began the slow process of exposing him as a war criminal - guility of committing crimes against humanity. But Rockefeller knows he can dodge criminal prosecution by lying. Why shouldn’t he lie? Who is going to refute him? Nancy Pelosi and his other co-conspirators?
So, Rockefeller plays the secrecy card and begins his carefully planned evasive tactics. He tells the public he opposes, and has opposed all along, the administration’s programs. He alleges submitting a few proposals as ranking member of the intelligence committee, which he knew were doomed to fail along party lines. He’s safe. The public believes Rockefeller has tried because he submitted a few proposals, but the real substance of his integrity and ethics reside in his handwritten note to Dick Cheney. A true act of rebellion — the Boston Tea Party the Rockefeller Handwritten Note Rebellion.
Note: If you missed the seminal point of Rockefeller’s appearance — his lies that secrecy requirements kept him from rebuking illegal torturing — you can watch it here.
On numerous occasions, Sen. Jay Rockefeller has claimed he was unable to do anything about any of the Bush administration’s illegal counter-terrorism programs (torture, warrantless eavesdropping, etc.) because “secrecy requirements” prevented him from speaking out publicly against the administration’s policies. Rockefeller’s, like Jane Harman’s, claims are simply flat out lies (see here).
Here is Rockefeller repeating his lies yesterday on CBS’s Face the Nation, when Bob Schieffer asks him about the Washington Post’s article yesterday exposing Rockefeller’s, and other Democrats, role supporting the Bush administration’s illegal torture policies.
Watch it:
Prior to Schieffer asking Rockefeller about the Post’s article, Schieffer asked him about the CIA destroying videotapes of the detainees’ interrogations. Rockefeller squirmed, had to search for answers, and when he had answers…well, they were at best answers-lite, to put it nicely. Video to follow soon.
In my last post on the WaPo’s article eviscerating Democratic leaders (Pelosi, Rockefeller Harman, et al.) for supporting/enabling the Bush administration’s torture-policies and program, with minor exceptions, I did not want to judge too quickly until more information is released. There’s always a story to follow The Story and thereby the potential for the unknowns to change the overall dynamics — negatively or positively. But there are a few areas that don’t require patience — full knee-jerk reaction is totally acceptable.
If taken at face value, the article is a damning indictment of Democratic leaders in Congress that may prove them to be as guilty of war crimes and crimes against humanity as the Bush administration (Oval Office to the specific interrogator(s)). But, I’m confident more information will be forthcoming and not so confident that it will be vindicating for the Elite Democratic Beltway Establishment.
Regardless of what the news looks like in the future, there are two inescapable elements to this albatross: the crap that Harman and Rockefeller have been trying to pull by declaring themselves “helpless” because of secrecy requirements. No matter what revelations come forth (or not) in the future, they’ve already played their hand, and there is no returning to the game. If they firmly believed that pathetic storyline, they have no business being on an intelligence committee, much less holding office as a Senator or Representative. Voters in West Virginia and California need to throw the bums out when their respective terms expire. That of course presumes they manage to avoid criminal prosecution before reelection time.
Moreover, Jay Rockefeller needs to be removed immediately as Chairman of the Senate Intelligence Committee. This complicit clown is going to lead an investigation into his own malfeasance? It’s ludicrous to even consider the notion of Rockefeller being privileged to intelligence committee information given his record (torture, FISA, etc.), much less allowing him to quietly sweep his own trash out the door just like he has for the Bush administration.
In general terms, a special prosecutor needs to be assigned. It has been well established the administration and their GOP water-carriers in Congress cannot be trusted, and without some immediate credible contradiction from Democratic leaders that have supported this torture fiasco all along, they can no longer be trusted either. As presented, they are nothing but a bunch of hypocrites, whose last resort may be someone exposing the WaPo’s article as actual Republican propaganda, which would not surprise me given the Post’s history and the way the article was written. It almost looks like a fill-in-the-blanks form from Karl Rove’s playbook.
On a bit of a side note, it’s rather interesting to see how Democratic presidential candidates have responded to the issues over the past week. John Edwards and Joe Biden seem to be the only candidates taking note of what’s happening inside the Beltway and responding accordingly.
I’m really surprised with the absence or inaccessibility of statements by Obama on important issues of the day. Either Obama does not have any statements on his campaign’s web site about emerging issues, or they are hidden quite well. Good luck trying to find anything that is not Oprah related.
As for Hillary, there are tons of releases but its just BS in the form of all-Hillary-all-the-time. Endorsements here, endorsements there, Hillary issues a plan to get Ken and Barbie back together, blah, blah, blah. A quick sample from Hillary’s site:
Hillary Clinton Newsroom - Partial Listing
12/9
Clinton Declares Need for “New Beginning” in New Iowa TV Ad
12/8
Congressman Dennis Cardoza (CA-18) Endorses Hillary
12/8
Clinton Proposes Agenda To Help Seniors And Their Families Afford Quality Long-Term Care
12/7
Iowan Among Former Ambassadors and Diplomats Highlighting Clinton’s Foreign Policy Experience
12/7
Diplomats Back Clinton’s Foreign Policy
12/7
Morning HUBdate: Memory Lane
12/7
State Senator Roger Stewart’s Statement Following Today’s NPR Debate in Iowa
12/7
Hillary Clinton Statement on Alliant Energy’s Plan to Build New Wind Turbine Farm in North-Central Iowa
12/7
Clinton Campaign Ramps Up Outreach To Women Of Iowa
12/7
Hillary Clinton’s Statement on the United Nations Climate Change Conference in Bali
12/7
Clinton to Bush: Get Congressional Approval Before Moving Forward on US-Iraq Security Agreement
12/7
Clinton Campaign Launches Nevada LGBT Leadership Council
12/6
NEA-NH Endorses Senator Hillary Clinton
Edwards and Biden stay on top of the issues and issue statements, with Edwards holding a slight edge. Their statements may be a bit boiler-plate, but at least they’ve taken a position and recognize something is happening in the world other than themselves.
“Israel’s decision to attack Syria on Sept. 6, bombing a suspected nuclear site set up in apparent collaboration with North Korea, came after Israel shared intelligence with President Bush this summer indicating that North Korean nuclear personnel were in Syria, U.S. government sources said,” the Washington Post reports. “The Bush administration has not commented on the Israeli raid or the underlying intelligence.”
President Bush threatened yesterday, “to veto a bill expanding a popular children’s health insurance program, calling it “a step toward federalization of health care,” the New York Times reports. “The program expires Sept. 30, and Congress is on the verge of renewing it by providing coverage to an additional 4 million children over the 6.6 million already enrolled — at an additional cost of $35 billion over five years.”
“President Bush pointedly declined on Thursday to discuss an Israeli airstrike in northern Syria,” the New York Times reports. “Mr. Bush did, however, warn North Korea that the United States expected it to dismantle its nuclear weapons programs and to stop selling weapons or expertise abroad, as it promised to do this year.”
“Sidestepping the turmoil in the housing market and the credit problems associated with it, President Bush said Thursday that the nation’s economy was strong and would remain so if Congress steered clear of tax increases,” the Los Angeles Times reports. “But he would not rate the risk of recession, saying, ‘You need to talk to economists. I think I got a B in Econ 101. I got an A, however, in keeping taxes low.’”
“President Bush acknowledged “some unsettling times” in the country’s troubled housing and credit markets, while Federal Reserve chairman Ben Bernanke offered more assurances steps would be taken to curb the fallout,” the Boston Globe reports. “The housing slump, the worst in 16 years, is likely to drag on well into 2008, when the nation will be voting for a new president. Home foreclosures - now at record highs - and delinquencies are likely to get worse, Bernanke told the House Financial Services Committee yesterday.”
Bush “plans to meet Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas in New York on Monday during the U.N. General Assembly meetings, the White House said,” Reuters reports. “The meeting will be to ‘continue discussions on helping the Palestinian Authority and on issues related to an eventual two-state solution of Israel and Palestine living side by side in peace and security,’ White House National Security Council spokesman Gordon Johndroe said on Thursday.”
CONGRESS
“Underscoring his resolve,” Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid “revived a proposal to cut off funding for most U.S. military operations in Iraq by next summer — the most drastic antiwar measure in the legislative mix, and the biggest long shot for passage,” the Washington Post reports. “With only a few votes changing since May 16, when similar language died on a 67 to 29 vote.”
“Congress gave final approval Thursday to legislation designed to transform the Food and Drug Administration from a passive monitor to an active detective seeking out medications that have been approved for sale but turn out to be hazardous — a problem linked to an estimated 15,000 deaths a year,” the Los Angeles Times reports. “The drug-safety provisions were the centerpiece of a massive bill that also would renew industry user fees that fund the FDA’s review of medications and medical devices submitted for approval.”
“Democrats are disappointed they have been unable to force President Bush to change course in Iraq, but they will keep pushing — with or without Republican help,” Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid of Nevada said Thursday, CNN reports. “GOP senators have filibustered every Democratic-led push to bring troops home from Iraq.”
The Senate on Thursday “overwhelmingly condemned the liberal anti-war group MoveOn.org for its newspaper ad that last week accused the top U.S. general in Iraq of lying and misrepresenting the situation on the ground, a measure on which Democratic leaders had refused to allow a vote last week,” the Washington Times reports. “The nonbinding measure, offered by Sen. John Cornyn, Texas Republican, passed by a vote of 72-25, with 24 Democrats and one independent, Bernard Sanders of Vermont, voting against it.”
“The FBI has taped conversations between Republican Sen. Ted Stevens of Alaska and an oil company executive who has pleaded guilty to bribery, according to a source with knowledge of the investigation,” CNN reports. “The calls were between Stevens, who is up for re-election in 2008, and Bill Allen, then CEO of oilfield services firm VECO Corp., the source said Thursday.”
“A Washington watchdog group on Thursday asked the Justice Department to investigate Rep. David Scott (D-Ga.) for possible tax violations and improper use of his House office and staff,” the Atlanta Journal-Constitution reports. “Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics (CREW) filed the complaint here just two days after declaring Scott among the 25 ‘most corrupt’ congressmen here for mingling personal and campaign interests, failing repeatedly to pay personal and business taxes and, as one of his former aides claimed, using his House staff to work on his campaign.”
IRAQ
“Iraq’s Ministry of Interior has concluded that employees of a private American security firm fired an unprovoked barrage in the shooting last Sunday in which at least eight Iraqis were killed and is proposing a radical reshaping of the way American diplomats and contractors here are protected,” the New York Times reports. “In the first comprehensive account of the day’s events, the ministry said that security guards for Blackwater USA, a company that guards all senior American diplomats here, fired on Iraqis in their cars in midday traffic.”
“Iraq wants to tighten control over security contractors after a deadly shooting incident involving the U.S. firm Blackwater, ending their long immunity from Iraqi prosecution, the Interior Ministry said” today, Reuters reports. “Spokesman Major-General Abdul-Kareem Khalaf said the ministry had drafted legislation giving it wider powers over the contractors and calling for ’severe punishment for those who fail to adhere to the…guidelines on how they should operate.’”
“Military officials said Thursday that contracts worth $6 billion to provide essential supplies to American troops in Kuwait, Iraq and Afghanistan–including food, water and shelter–were under review by criminal investigators, double the amount the Pentagon had previously disclosed,” the New York Times reports. “In addition, $88 billion in contracts and programs, including those for body armor for American soldiers and materiel for Iraqi and Afghan security forces, are being audited for financial irregularities, the officials said.”
“The first cases of cholera appeared in Baghdad on Thursday, in a sign the epidemic that has already sickened thousands in northern Iraq is now spreading more widely in a population made vulnerable by war to a normally preventable disease,” the New York Times reports. “The World Health Organization and Iraqi Red Crescent Society reported two cases here and Iraqi television reported another case, in a 7-month-old baby, in Basra, far to the south.”
NATION
“Tens of thousands of chanting marchers descended on the small Louisiana town of Jena on Thursday to protest the treatment of six black teenagers who allegedly beat a white classmate after a series of racially tinged incidents at the local high school,” the New Orleans Times-Picayune reports. “Hailing from as far as England, protesters arrived at sunrise by the busload to rally behind the ‘Jena Six,’ as the accused teens have come to be known, in a legal case that has drawn worldwide attention.”
“Prominent Democratic fundraiser Norman Hsu violated federal election laws by reimbursing several donors for the political checks they wrote, and extracted campaign donations from others by threatening to cut their ties with a highly lucrative Ponzi scheme he oversaw, according to a criminal complaint filed by the Justice Department” on Thursday, the Washington Post reports. “A federal fraud case that the U.S. attorney for New York’s Southern District unsealed against Hsu suggests for the first time why he in a short period of time became one of the nation’s most prolific bundlers of campaign funds.”
“A big overhang of property will bring U.S. house prices down further, but it is too early to say if the economy will plunge into recession, former Federal Reserve chief Alan Greenspan was quoted as saying” today, Reuters reports. “Greenspan said in an interview with Austrian magazine Format that low interest rates in the past 15 years were to blame for the house price bubble, but that central banks were powerless when they tried to bring it under control.”
“A federal grand jury has subpoenaed House records connected to a one-time aide to” former House Majority Leader Tom DeLay, R-Texas, “who has been caught up in the Jack Abramoff influence-peddling scandal,” AP reports. “The subpoena involving Ed Buckham was issued to the chief administrative officer of the House by a grand jury in Washington.”
WORLD
“Hundreds of Islamists chanting slogans against Pakistan’s military leader rallied outside the Supreme Court” today “as judges heard petitions challenging President Gen. Pervez Musharraf right to run for re-election,” AP reports. “Opposition parties have promised to stage anti-Musharraf street protests across Pakistan” today, “claiming it would be illegal for the general, who seized power in a 1999 coup, to run.”
“A bomb attack” today “against a convoy of French troops killed one soldier and caused many casualties among Afghans near the blast, while heavy fighting in southern Afghanistan killed about 75 Taliban fighters, officials said,” AP reports. “The attack in western Kabul blew the windows out of a civilian bus and set at least one vehicle on fire.”
“Senate Republicans” on Wednesday “rejected a bipartisan proposal to lengthen the home leaves of U.S. troops fighting in Iraq and Afghanistan, derailing a measure that war opponents viewed as one of the best chances to force President Bush to accelerate a redeployment of forces,” the Washington Post reports. “The proposal, sponsored by Sens. James Webb (D-Va.) and Chuck Hagel (R-Neb.), failed on a 56 to 44 vote, with 60 votes needed for passage — a tally that was virtually identical to a previous vote in July.” See TPC related post.
“A Republican filibuster in the Senate” on Wednesday “shot down a bipartisan effort to restore the right of terrorism suspects to contest in federal courts their detention and treatment, underscoring the Democratic-led Congress’s difficulty with terrorism issues,” the Washington Post reports. “The 56 to 43 vote fell short of the 60 needed to cut off debate and move to a final vote on the amendment to the Senate’s annual defense policy bill.” See TPC related post.
“The Food and Drug Administration would gain new authority to ensure the safety of prescription drugs, including the power to mandate label changes that warn of newly emerging risks, under a bill passed Wednesday by the House,” AP reports. “The bill, heralded as the most significant drug safety legislation in more than 40 years, passed on a 405-7 vote.”
“A bill to offer legal status to illegal immigrant students who have graduated from high school was revived this week in the Senate, the first effort to advance a piece of broad immigration legislation that failed in June,” the New York Times reports. Sen. Richard Durbin, D-Ill., “who is an author of the student measure, said Wednesday that he would try this week to offer it as an amendment to the military authorization bill under debate in the Senate.”
“The House on Wednesday passed a 15-year extension of a program to aid the insurance industry in the event of a terrorist attack,” AP reports. “The measure, passed 312-110, is aimed at ensuring that developers can get insurance against losses from potential attacks.”
“House Republican leaders will launch a new offensive in the fight over earmark reform” this morning, “seeking to expand earmark disclosure requirements to tax and authorization bills,” The Hill reports. “Currently, only earmarks in appropriations bills are subject to new transparency requirements.”
WASHINGTON
“President Bush said Wednesday he wants Congress to expand and make permanent a law that temporarily gives the government more power to eavesdrop without warrants on suspected foreign terrorists,” the Washington Post reports. “Without such action, Bush said, ‘our national security professionals will lose critical tools they need to protect our country.’” See TPC related post.
“U.S. Agriculture Secretary Mike Johanns is expected to resign” today “to clear the way for a Senate campaign in 2008, giving Republicans a welcome dose of good political news,” the Washington Post reports. “President Bush plans a White House announcement” this morning “with Johanns, a senior administration official said Wednesday. The official, who spoke on the condition of anonymity because the announcement has not been made, would not confirm that Johanns is resigning.”
“The Bush administration, acknowledging a moral obligation, intends to sharply increase the number of Iraqi refugees it will admit to the United States next year, a senior State Department official said Wednesday,” AP reports. “So far this year, 900 have been given refuge in this country, Ellen Sauerbrey, an assistant secretary of State, told the U.S. Commission on International Religious Freedom at a hearing on Capitol Hill.”
“The Bush administration on Wednesday appointed two senior officials to clear bureaucratic roadblocks blamed by Washington for the painfully slow pace of admitting Iraqi refugees to the United States,” Reuters reports.
IRAQ
“In another sign of U.S. struggles in Iraq, the target date for putting Iraqi authorities in charge of security in all 18 provinces has slipped yet again, to at least July,” AP reports. “The delay, noted in a Pentagon report to Congress on progress and problems in Iraq, highlights the difficulties in developing Iraqi police forces and the slow pace of economic and political progress in some areas. ”
“Violence in Iraq has fallen to its lowest level since before a 2006 mosque attack which unleashed reprisal sectarian killings, the number two commander of U.S. forces in Iraq said” today, Reuters reports. “Lieutenant-General Raymond Odierno said attacks in Baghdad had also fallen about 50 percent since January, just before Washington began pouring 30,000 extra troops into Iraq to try to drag the nation back from the brink of civil war.”
“A suicide car bomber blew himself up Wednesday and wounded four civilians while trying to hit an Iraqi army base in the northern city of Mosul, an Iraqi army officer said,” AP reports.
“Iraq’s Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki proposed on Wednesday forming a cabinet of technocrats to replace his splintering national unity government and called for greater powers to push through his nominations,” Reuters reports. “Maliki’s 16-month-old government, which included Sunni and Shi’ite Arabs, Kurds, Islamists and secularists, has unravelled since a dozen Sunni and Shi’ite ministers quit.”
“The United States and Iraq will form a joint commission to look into allegations that private guards protecting American diplomats killed Iraqi civilians and to review the U.S. Embassy’s security practices,” AP reports. “The size and composition of the commission have yet to be determined but its members are charged with assessing the results of both U.S. and Iraqi investigations of Sunday’s incident.”
“The shooting incident involving private security guards in Baghdad on Sunday that left at least eight Iraqis dead has revealed large gaps in the laws applying to such armed contractors,” the New York Times reports. “Early in the period when Iraq was still under American administration, the United States government unilaterally exempted its employees and contractors from Iraqi law… thus the thousands of heavily armed private soldiers in Iraq operate with virtual immunity from Iraqi and American law.”
“U.S. soldiers detained an Iranian” today “who was part of a commercial delegation visiting the northern Iraqi city of Sulaimaniya, an Iraqi government official in Baghdad said,” Reuters reports. “The official said U.S. forces detained the man at his hotel in Sulaimaniya, a city in Iraq’s largely autonomous region of Kurdistan.”
NATION
“Leaders of the agency responsible for protecting consumers from faulty products said Wednesday that Congress should increase their budget and power in the wake of huge recalls of lead-contaminated toys,” AP reports. “The testimony from Consumer Product Safety Commission officials came as Mattel Inc., producer of 1.5 million of the 13.2 million toys recalled in the past month, said its tests found lead levels in paint in recalled toys as high as 200 times the accepted safety ceiling.”
“Federal authorities are expected to file civil charges against current or former employees at several brokerage firms in connection to a years-long investigation into abusive stock lending, people familiar with the matter said,” the Wall Street Journal reports. “The civil complaint by the Securities and Exchange Commission, which also may involve the filing of criminal fraud charges, could come as soon as today, these people said.”
“Spurred by the Internet and a popular disc jockey’s nationwide urban radio program, tens of thousands of people are expected to descend on a sleepy rural Louisiana town to protest what they say are excessive criminal charges against six black teenagers involved in a schoolyard brawl,” the Washington Post reports. “About 500 tour buses bearing thousands of riders were scheduled to depart from cities across the United States in the wee hours today for Jena, La., about 230 miles northwest of New Orleans.”
“At the close of a two-day hearing on charges that Special Forces soldiers murdered an Afghan man near his home last October, it is increasingly evident that the Army is also examining itself and how it is fighting the war in Afghanistan,” the New York Times reports. “A Special Forces colonel presiding over the hearing must determine whether sufficient evidence exists to recommend courts-martial for the two soldiers accused of killing the man, Nawab Buntangyar, who had been identified as an ‘enemy combatant,’ while he walked unarmed outside his home near the Pakistan border. ”
WORLD
“Palestinian leaders sought details” today “from Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice about the goals of what they hope will be a breakthrough Mideast peace conference, but the talks were overshadowed by Israel’s declaration of Hamas-run Gaza as ‘hostile territory,’” AP reports. “The Palestinians want the conference, tentatively set for November, to yield an outline for a peace deal, complete with timetable, while Israel wants a vaguer declaration of intent.”
“A powerful car bomb in a Christian neighborhood just east of Beirut killed a Christian lawmaker from the governing coalition and six others Wednesday evening,” the New York Times reports. “It was the latest in a deadly string of bombings that have rocked Lebanon’s teetering political order as the country prepares to select a new president.”
“President Gen. Pervez Musharraf will seek a new five-year term in a presidential election set for Oct. 6, officials said” today, “even as opponents urged the courts to stop him from running and vowed to quit Parliament in protest,” AP reports. “After the U.S.-allied leader signaled his plan to resign as army chief if re-elected, the Election Commission announced that the ballot by federal and provincial lawmakers would be held Oct. 6.”
“Al Qaeda’s second-in-command Ayman al-Zawahri urged Sudanese Muslims in a video posted” today “to fight a force of African Union and U.N. peacekeepers set to deploy to Sudan’s volatile western region of Darfur,” Reuters reports. “In an 80-minute compilation video that touched on a several conflicts, Zawahri criticised Sudanese President Omar Hassan al-Bashir’s decision to accept a U.N. resolution that lays the ground for a 26,000-strong joint AU-U.N. operation.”
SCANDALS
“Besieged Rep. Jerry Weller (R-Ill.) is expected to announce as early as today that he is retiring from Congress, weeks after a Chicago newspaper exposed potentially questionable land deals in Central America,” Roll Call (sub. req.) reports. “Republican sources confirmed late Wednesday that Weller will not seek an eighth term but were uncertain as to when he would announce his decision…Earlier this month, the Chicago Tribune published an investigation into Weller’s Nicaraguan land deals, suggesting that Weller has bought and sold several beachfront properties that he did not disclose on his financial disclosure forms. Weller was a strong advocate of the Central America Free Trade Agreement, which critics note provides protections to land investors in Central America — including Weller.”
“The House Ethics Committee announced an investigation Wednesday of” California Rep. Bob Filner’s (D) “run-in with a baggage worker at Dulles International Airport last month,” AP reports. “The incident resulted in misdemeanor assault and battery charges against the congressman.”
Today’s Lunch features a hearty meal of polling data, deja hsu - aka Hillary Clinton, and a mud (slinging) pie tossed at (from?) Fred Thompson. Plus, Will gives the Huffington Post a (nerd) vocabulary lesson.
“Former Federal Reserve Chairman Alan Greenspan said the current market turmoil is in many ways ‘identical’ to that which occurred in 1987 and 1998, when the giant hedge fund Long-Term Capital Management nearly collapsed,” the Wall Street Journalreports (sub. req.).
U.S. employment lost 4,000 jobs last month primarily related to substantial drops in construction and manufacturing payrolls, indicating the crisis in the housing market is effecting the economy as a whole. It is the first decline in jobs since August 2003. See the report here.
Indeed, we need more Bush tax cuts for those with income in the top one-percent of the country. But fear not, the U.S. military has plenty of job openings with $20,000 signing bonuses to boot.
A Nation at War
“Gen. David H. Petraeus, the top American commander in Iraq, has told President Bush that he wants to maintain heightened troop levels in Iraq well into next year to reduce the risk of military setbacks,” the New York Timesreports. However in a token gesture, Petraeus indicated he could “accept the pullback of roughly 4,000 troops beginning in January, in part to assuage critics in Congress.”
In stark contrast to to Gen. Petraeus’s assessment, but more in line with the recent GAO report, the Independent Commission on the Security Forces of Iraq recommended “disbanding the 25,000-strong Iraqi national police force [and] to redirect U.S. troops toward protecting Iraq’s borders and key infrastructure,” the Washington Postreports. “The report released yesterday…described the national police force as riddled with sectarianism and corruption.”
However, we can always depend on President Bush’s realistic assessment of the war, “‘We’re kicking ass.” Clearly, the president’s assessment bears the most credibility as evidenced by the killing of seven U.S. troops in Iraq yesterday.
In his customary recognition of the of the 9/11 anniversary, Osama bin Laden will reportedly release a new video.
Finally, on the topic of war, more than 50 years ago, the U.S. engaged in the Korean War, in summary, to protect South Korea from North Korea and the spread of communism. The war ended in a stalemate in 1953, however thousands of U.S. troops have remained in South Korea to deter any further aggression from North Korea. In another display of arrogance and stupidity in foreign policy, George Bush revised history, again, refusing to leave another sovereign country when asked to by its leader. Now the Korean War is about North Korea’s possession of nuclear weapons, which they did not have until the 21st century. According to USA Today:
President Bushhad an awkward exchange over peace on the Korean peninsula with one of his prickliest allies: South Korean President Roh Moo Hyun.” Appearing before reporters after an hour-long meeting” in Sydney, “Roh suddenly pressed Bush to clarify what it would take for the United States to agree to an official end to the Korean War…. Bush said North Korean dictator Kim Jong Il would have to end his nuclear weapons program before a treaty could be reached.
Restoring the Constitution
In a devastating blow to the Bush administration’s longstanding abuse of power, U.S. District Judge Victor Marrero (New York)struck down the use of “national security letters†(NSL) — a provision of the Patriot Act — as unconstitutional. The judge declared the NSL’s violate the First Amendment and the Constitution’s separation of powers because the Act does not allow the recipient of an NSL (e.g. AT&T, financial organizations, Internet providers, etc.) to reveal its existence and does not provide appropriate judicial oversight.
“The House Judiciary Constitution Subcommittee took a step forward Thursday toward granting habeas corpus rights to detainees at the U.S. detention facility at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba,” CongressDailyAM (sub. req.) reports. “The bill repeals part of a law enacted late last year, known as the Military Commissions Act, that barred such actions by detainees. The right would not apply to detainees in areas of active combat.”
Scandals
Resigning, not resigning, resigning. Who knows. Sen. Larry Craig and the GOP continue to flip-flop over his “wide-stance” in a men’s bathroom at the Minneapolis airport. “Idaho’s senior Republican congressman called on Sen. Larry Craig on Thursday to make it clear he will leave his seat by Sept. 30, as GOP leaders sought to remove any doubt that the embattled senator will resign within weeks,” the USA Today reports.
“Disgraced Democratic fundraiser Norman Hsu was arrested in Colorado late Thursday after he failed to show up for a court appearance related to a felony theft conviction,” the AP reports. “FBI agents took Hsu into custody at St. Mary’s Hospital in Grand Junction, Colo.” Presidential hopeful Sen. Hillary Clinton (D-NY) said she plans to give to charity the $23,000 her campaign received from Hsu.
After allegedly entering a restricted airport area, pushing an airline worker, and failing to follow the airline worker’s instructions, Rep. Bob Filner (D-CA) was charged Sunday with misdemeanor assault and battery.
According to the statement, at about 6 p.m. Sunday, while at the baggage-claim area for United Airlines, Filner “allegedly attempted to enter an area authorized for airline employees only, pushed aside the employee’s outstretched arm and refused to leave the area when asked by an airline employee.†Airport police arrived on the scene and interviewed Filner and other witnesses but let the Congressman leave. Later that evening, the airline employee whom Filner allegedly pushed appeared before a Loudoun County magistrate, who issued the summons charging Filner with assault and battery, according to the statement.
A spokeswoman for the airline authority said the incident apparently stemmed from trouble with Filner’s luggage, and that the airline worker involved worked at the baggage-claim office. They would not release the worker’s name.
Former Rep. Billy Tauzin (R-LA) is the “mystery lawmaker referenced” in last week’s indictment of Rep. William Jefferson (D-LA),” Roll Call reports (sub. req.).
As then-chairman of the House Energy and Commerce Committee, Tauzin penned an Oct. 22, 2002, letter praising the technology of iGate to the company’s president, Vernon Jackson, a spokesman for the ex-lawmaker confirmed Monday morning.
Tauzin is now president of the Pharmaceutical Research and Manufacturers of America. Jefferson is alleged to have taken nearly a half-million dollars in bribes from Jackson to push the company’s business in West Africa.
According to the 16-count indictment, Jefferson introduced Jackson to a “prominent member” of the Energy and Commerce telecommunications subcommittee around June 2002. The meeting prompted a subsequent letter praising iGate’s technology.
PhRMA spokesman Ken Johnson, who was the Energy and Commerce Committee spokesman at the time, confirmed Monday that Tauzin had spoken with the FBI “on one occasion” about the meeting and letter.
Well, we’ve finally found an area where bipartisanship may work well. Corruption.
Previously, I noted the significant number and complexity of current Congressional investigations by the Department of Justice. In the October 26 edition, Roll Call has produced a chart detailing which members of Congress are under investigation and the allegations. Click here to view the list.
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After allegedly entering a restricted airport area, pushing an airline worker, and failing to follow the airline worker’s instructions, 