Click the image for a larger version in all its glory!Indicted / Convicted/ Pled Guilty
* Eric G. Andell - deputy undersecretary in charge of newly created Office of Safe and Drug-Free Schools (previously senior adviser to Secretary of Education Rod Paige) - pleaded guilty to one count of conflict of interest for using government travel for personal causes and was sentenced to one year of probation, 100 hours of community service, and fined $5,000.
* Claude Allen - Assistant to the President for Domestic Policy- resigned, pled guilty to shoplifting from Target stores.
* Lester Crawford - Commissioner, FDA - resigned in late September 2005 after only two months on the job. On October 17th, he pleaded guilty to two misdemeanor counts, making a false writing and conflict of interest. On February 27, 2007, Crawford was sentenced to to three years of probation and was fined $90,000.
* Brian Doyle - Deputy Press Secretary, Department of Homeland Security - Resigned in wake of child sex scandal. Doyle was arrested on April 4th, 2006 and pleaded no contest on September 19, 2006 to seven counts of use of a computer to seduce a child and sixteen counts of transmitting harmful material to a minor. On November 17th, 2006 Brian Doyle was sentenced to five years in state prison and ten years of probation. He will also need to register as a sex offender.
* Steven Griles - Deputy Secretary at the Interior Department - is the highest-ranked administration official yet convicted in the Jack Abramoff scandal. In March 2007, Griles pleaded guilty to lying about his role in the Jack Abramoff scandal. Sentenced to 10 months incarceration.
* John T. Korsmo – Chairman of the Federal Housing Finance Board from 2002 to 2004 – pleaded guilty in 2005 to lying to the Senate and an inspector general. He swore he had no idea how a list of presidents for FHFB-regulated banks were invited to a fundraiser for his friend's congressional campaign. On the invites, Korsmo was listed as the "Special Guest." Got 18 months of probation and a $5,000 fine.
* Scooter Libby - Vice President Dick Cheney's chief of staff - resigned after being indicted for lying to a grand jury and investigators in connection with the investigation stemming from the leak of Valerie Wilson’s covert CIA operative's identity. Convicted on four of five counts, making him the highest-ranking White House official to be convicted of a felony since the Iran-contra scandal. Sentenced to thirty months imprisonment and a fine of $250,000. On July 2nd, after a judge decided that Libby would remain in prison during the appeals process, President Bush commuted Libby's sentence by removing the thirty months in prison.
* David Safavian - former head of the Office of Federal Procurement Policy at the Office of Management and Budget - convicted of lying to ethics officials and Senate investigators about his ties to lobbyist Jack Abramoff. On October 27, 2006, he was sentenced to 18 months in prison. He is currently appealing the ruling.
* Robert Stein - former comptroller and funding officer for the now disbanded Coalition Provisional Authority, Southern Central Region in Al-Hillah, Iraq - pleaded guilty to conspiracy, bribery, conspiracy to commit money laundering, possession of a machine gun, and being a felon in possession of a fire arm. On January 30, 2007 Stein was sentenced to nine years in prison and ordered to forfeit $3.6 million.
Roger Stillwell - desk officer, Interior Department - pleaded guilty to failing to report Redskins tickets and free dinners from Jack Abramoff.
The rest of the infidels list is quite long..so you need to click here to check out the rest of these smarmy bastards.
This is courtesy of FactCheck.org. They do not play favorites as you will see. But it does tell us how full of bullshit and bravado BOTH parties are, which is a crying shame if you ask me. But you didn’t..so without further ado..the long-ass list of bs foisted upon us as the truth and nothing but the truth:
What follows is not an exhaustive list, but a sampler of the worst falsehoods and distortions that we uncovered during the year, in no particular order. For more details and our documentation on any of the items, follow the links to read the original articles.This is a fairly long writeup, so bring your lunch or just skim for the goodies.
Click pic for larger image
Question: Who forced Benazir Bhutto to stay in London and tried to prevent her return to Pakistan? Answer: General Musharraf.
Question: Who ordered the arrest of thousands of Benazir's supporters this month? Answer: General Musharraf.
Question: Who placed Benazir under temporary house arrest this month? Answer: General Musharraf.
Question: Who declared martial law this month? Answer General Musharraf.
Question: who killed Benazir Bhutto?
Er. Yes. Well quite.
Tomorrows Independent has a good read up as well on this subject. Like, why didn't Bhutto's husband want an autopsy? In fact, according to the current Prime Minister of Pakistan..her husband insisted that there not be an autopsy. From Sunday's edition:
Suspicions over the complicity of Pervez Musharraf's government in the killing were fueled by its failure to order a postmortem, regardless of Mr Zardari's wishes, and the fact that the scene of the bombing was washed down with a high-pressure hose within an hour, removing potential forensic evidence. Under the criminal law of Pakistan, an autopsy should have been mandatory, according to a leading lawyer, Athar Minallah.
"It is absurd because without autopsy it is not possible to investigate," he said. "Is the state not interested in reaching the perpetrators of this heinous crime, or was there a cover-up?"
Christ, what a mess, what a coverup..what a freaking bunch of hooey.
I have been waiting for someone in the MSM to play the race card. Many have danced around the subject, but finally the New York Times lays the “R” word right out there. They take him to task for not talking enough about race. I have read blogs that have done the same. I am of the pov that we all want the best life possible, regardless of race. We all want the war to end, regardless of race. None of us, regardless of race wants to choose between gas for our cars and medication for our health, just as an example. We all want a good job and to make the best life possible for ourselves and our families.
From the NYT writeup:
His style is more conciliatory than confrontational, more technocrat than preacher. Compared with many older politicians, he tends to speak about race indirectly or implicitly, when he speaks about it at all.
It sounds to me like the boyz and girlz at the old Grey Lady are trying to egg Obama on. I hope he doesn’t fall for it and take the bait.
Because the media should report what is going on, it shouldn’t lay down the agenda. They already have an overblown view of their power as it is. At least they do quote him accurately. I tend to agree that there are subjugated whites as well, and the common thread is poverty. Yes, people of color will get the short end of the stick based solely on their skin tone..but I appreciate that Obama includes all poor people when he talks about an issue. From the NYT piece:
After Hurricane Katrina, he did not attribute the lumbering federal response to the race of most of the storm’s victims. “The incompetence was color-blind,” he said, adding that the real stumbling block was indifference to the problems of the poor. After six black teenagers were charged with attempted murder in the beating of a white schoolmate in the “Jena Six” case in Louisiana, he said the criminal justice system needed fixing to ensure equal justice “regardless of race, wealth or circumstances.”
Even African American’s want Obama to talk more about race, as witnessed by Jesse Jackson’s inane comment that Obama “needs to stop acting like he’s white” recently. People of all colors seem to want to make it a race-related issue, Obama’s candidacy. Its all bullshit in my book. The bottom line is we are all humans and our color, sexuality and religion or lack thereof doesn’t matter one fucking iota.
So I was getting my jaw all jacked up as I read the Times article. I was mumbling to myself as the cats looked quizzically at me. Then the article allowed Obama to address the ‘issue’ he never seems to address. They went into his reasoning for how he views issues as not just a black issue. As a brown bitch who lives in a white world, I can relate to Obama’s pov on issues of race. I am only half brown so I know both sides of the issue. Obama has this to say in the writeup;
“Beneath all the differences of race and region, faith and station, we are one people.”
Obama was elected to a district that was evenly mixed. His ad’s that use prominent white folks is pointed out in the article. But he defended himself and his actions thusly:
In a telephone interview, Mr. Obama denied that he had spoken less about race issues than other candidates. But he said he focused when possible on “the universal issues that all Americans care about.” His aim, he said, is “to build broader coalitions that can actually deliver health care for all people or jobs that pay a living wage or all the issues that face not only black Americans but Americans generally.”
He suggested that his critics were comparing him not with Mr. Edwards or Senator Hillary Rodham Clinton but with Mr. Jackson and Mr. Sharpton. “That comparison is one that isn’t appropriate,” he said. “Because neither Reverend Jackson nor Reverend Sharpton is running for president of the United States. They are serving an important role as activists and catalysts but they’re not trying to build a coalition to actually govern.”(emphasis mine)
Julian Bond has the last word in the article: “A portion of black voters want Obama to give them some raw meat,” said Julian Bond, chairman of the board of the N.A.A.C.P. “Because they want so badly to have their concerns addressed and highlighted, and they expect it of him because he’s black.”
When will we ever get past race in this country?
I am still not sold on Obama, for various reasons, his lack of time in grade the major reason. The bulk of his experience is at the local and state level. But his color never entered into my mind.
It shouldn’t for anyone.
Tags: Obama, racial equality, Jesse Jackson
If you think about it..that was the main reason given for instituting them right? So people couldn't take 'advantage' of the system? I never bought that bullshit, but it seems to have had a detrimental effect on the ability of people who have been wronged by the medical community to get justice, or..in some cases..their pound of flesh when a loved ones dies because of a doctors incompetence. The LA Times has an interesting read on it which really paints a bleak picture that lawyers won't take a case because there isn't enough money in it anymore.Critics say it is increasingly preventing victims and their families from getting their day in court, especially low-income workers, children and the elderly. Their reasoning: The cap on pain and suffering has never been raised nor tied to inflation.
Meanwhile, the costs of putting on trials are often paid by attorneys and continue to rise each year. That means those who rely mainly on pain and suffering awards -- typically people who didn't make much money at the time of their injury -- are increasingly unattractive to lawyers.
Yet a Times analysis of state court records, physician payment data and insurer financial records suggests that the cap is increasingly preventing families such as the Stewarts from getting their day in court.
Among the findings:
* Court malpractice filings have fallen in eight of the 10 most populous counties in California that track such information. In Los Angeles, they're down 48% since 2001 to their lowest per-capita level in nearly four decades. In Orange County, they fell 29% over the same period
* At Kaiser Permanente, where members must resolve malpractice claims in arbitration rather than court, claims have fallen almost 20% since 2001.
* The number of payments to victims and their families across the state was down 24% since 1991, according to a review of a federal government database of nearly half a million claims. Nationally, the decline over the same period was 10%.
* The malpractice earnings of California insurers has far outpaced national averages in recent years. According to financial reports, insurers in the state have paid out just 39 cents of every premium dollar since 1991. The national average was 63 cents.
A nine-second session gaveled in and out by Sen. Jim Webb, D-Va., prevented Bush from appointing as an assistant attorney general a nominee roundly rejected by majority Democrats. Without the pro forma session, the Senate would be technically adjourned, allowing the president to install officials without Senate confirmation .
The business of blocking Bush’s recess appointments was serious. It represents an institutional standoff between Congress and the president that could repeat itself during Congress’ vacations for the remainder of Bush’s presidency.
Way to go Webb! Warms the cockles of my little black heart don’t you know? The individual in question is Steven Bradbury, acting chief of the Justice Department’s Office of Legislative Counsel. Bush nominated Bradbury for the job and asked the Senate to remove the “acting” in his title. Seems Bradbury signed two secret memo’s in 2005 that allowed the CIA to use “harsh interrogation techniques” on those damn terrorists.
Another interesting part of this cat and mouse game is that a bill sent to a president automatically becomes law 10 days after he receives it, excluding Sundays of course, unless he vetoes it:
That could be the fate of two bills Congress passed last week. One growing out of the Virginia Tech massacre makes it harder for people with mental illness records to buy guns. The other makes it easier for journalists and others to obtain government documents through the Freedom of Information Act. The FOIA bill, for example, would become law on New Year’s Eve if not vetoed before then, according to Senate Judiciary Committee officials.
The gun bill is H.R. 2640. The Freedom of Information Act bill is S. 2488.
Artwork courtesy of The Worried Shrimp
Tags: Recess appointment, Steven Bradbury, Justice Department, FOIA
A party security adviser said Bhutto was shot in the neck and chest as she got into her vehicle, then the gunman blew himself up. No group has claimed responsibility.
An Associated Press reporter at the scene of the bombing could see body parts and flesh scattered at the back gate of the park where Bhutto had spoken. He counted about 20 bodies, including police, and could see many other wounded people.
Hoover wanted President Harry Truman to proclaim the mass arrests necessary to "protect the country against treason, espionage and sabotage." The FBI would "apprehend all individuals potentially dangerous" to national security, Hoover's proposal said. The arrests would be carried out under "a master warrant attached to a list of names" provided by the bureau.
The names were part of an index that Hoover had been compiling for years. "The index now contains approximately twelve thousand individuals, of which approximately ninety-seven percent are citizens of the United States," he wrote. "In order to make effective these apprehensions, the proclamation suspends the Writ of Habeas Corpus."
Ashbel Green, a senior editor at Alfred A Knopf, said that Rove lacks the "personality" to fetch "the multimillion-dollar contracts of former Federal Reserve chair Alan Greenspan or former President Bill Clinton."
US judge seems wary of opening inquiry into destruction of CIA interrogation videos
(AP) - WASHINGTON-A federal judge appeared reluctant Friday to investigate the destruction of CIA interrogation videotapes while the U.S. Justice Department is conducting its own inquiry.
U.S. District Judge Henry H. Kennedy is considering whether to delve into the matter and, if so, how deeply. The Bush administration is urging him not to act while it investigates.
"Why should the court not permit the Department of Justice to do just that?" Kennedy asked at a court hearing Friday.
"Plainly, the government wants only foxes guarding the henhouse," he asserted in his motion. Considering the government's behavior so far, Mr. Remes argued, the Justice Department is not entitled to a presumption that it will do the right thing.
ABC News has learned that the campaign of Sen. Hillary Clinton, D-N.Y., has registered the names of two Web sites with the express goal of attacking her chief rival, Sen. Barack Obama, D-Ill.
It's the first time this election cycle a presidential campaign has launched a Web site with the express purpose of of launching serious criticisms on a rival.
In October, US District Judge Ricardo Urbina ordered the Secret Service to release visitor logs for the personal residence and office of Vice-President Dick Cheney. The order was issued following a lawsuit by the Washington Post, which requested the logs in June while researching White House ties to political lobbyists. The Justice Department filed an appeal against the order last week. In a second ruling issued Monday by Lamberth, the judge said that CREW could not seek an injunction preventing the Secret Service from destroying visitor logs after they are turned over to the White House.
The site started up just a few days ago, and baby..its taken off! From Democrats.com:These 7 voted to kill Kucinich's bill on 11/6, so they need to CHANGE their positions and fulfill their oath of office to defend the Constitution of the United States against all enemies, foreign AND domestic: Howard Berman (CA-28), Artur Davis (AL-07), William Delahunt (MA-10), Zoe Lofgren (CA-16), Jerrold Nadler (NY-08), Linda Sanchez (CA-39), and Debbie Wasserman Schultz (FL-20).
Please email all House Judiciary Democrats through this petition:
http://www.democrats.com/topelosiandjudiciary
http://www.wexlerwantshearings.com
Wexler is thrilled with your response, and he will hold a virtual town hall meeting on Thursday at 9 pm ET (6 pm PT) on Florida Progressive Radio with Kenneth Quinnell, co-hosted by Democrats.com.
http://www.blogtalkradio.com/fpc
Wexler has the support of two Judiciary Committee Democrats, Luis Gutierrez (IL-04) and Tammy Baldwin (WI-02). Five others are co-sponsors of H.Res. 333/H.Res. 799, Rep. Kucinich's Articles of Impeachment for Vice President Cheney: Steve Cohen (TN-09), Keith Ellison (MN-05), Sheila Jackson Lee (TX-18), Hank Johnson (GA-04), and Maxine Waters (CA-35).
But that leaves 13 Judiciary Committee Democrats who have NOT called for impeachment hearings. These 6 voted to send Kucinich's bill to Judiciary on 11/6, so they should publicly support Wexler's efforts: John Conyers (MI-14), Bobby Scott (VA-03), Brad Sherman (CA-27), Betty Sutton (OH-13), Mel Watt (NC-12), and Anthony Weiner (NY-09).
It won't take you more than a second or two folks..sign the petition on Wexlers's site..what do you have to lose?
But the important part of this story is...the White House did NOT demand a correction to the language in the main body of the writeup. From the Editor and Publisher article:One of the top national stories of the day is the front-pager in The New York Times which suggests that White House involvement in the controversy surrounding the destruction of the CIA "torture tapes" was much wider than previously known.
The White House has kicked back against the Times on various other front-page reports in recent years but today it has asked for something specific: a "correction" of the headline's deck.
The Hill, the Washington, D.C. newspapers, reports, "Catherine Mathis, senior vice president of corporate communications for the newspaper, stated that the sub-headline has been changed, adding that a correction would be printed. However, Mathis also pointed out that the White House did not challenge the contents of the article." (emphasis mine)
Patrick Davis, the executive director of Common Sense Issues, confirmed to The Huffington Post that his group is behind the New Hampshire push-polling calls which are targeted at a broad group of voters statewide.
"Our group is completely independent of the Huckabee campaign," Davis, a political consultant based in Colorado Springs, said. "We are running an independent effort." But Davis' group has also set up a website - TrustHuckabee.com - and has conducted similar push-polling efforts touting Huckabee in Iowa.
Ah, the biblethumper is reaping the benefits of this nasty, many times illegal method of reaching voters. Typical Theocrat bullshit tactic..slime your competition with lies and innuendo while you thump that bible. Tweety Matthews interviewed an individual yesterday on his show that got one of the calls. It was of course aimed at making McCain look like a horrible, disgusting, gay-loving humanoid.
Artwork by the magnificent and highly-talented DarkBlack
Tags: Huckabee, Push Polling
Judge Orders Hearing on Destruction of CIA Torture Tapes
And the judicial branch enters the fray.
Much to the administration's chagrin, Judge Henry H. Kennedy Jr. has ordered a hearing on the CIA's destruction of the torture tapes for this Friday at 11 AM.
This IS sweet music to my ears. Judge Kennedy is a Clinton-appointed judge, who also ordered BushCo, back in 2005, to safeguard "all evidence and information regarding the torture, mistreatment, and abuse of detainees now at the United States Naval Base at Guantanamo Bay."
I love you Judge Kennedy..not in that way of course, but as a protector of the constitution and all things anti-torture. Here is hoping you give BushCo major heartburn Friday @ 11am.
Amazingly BushCo opposed this hearing. LOL..like that is friggin news my dear reader. Bush's lawyers argued that the hearing "is both unnecessary and potentially disruptive." Oh please..its all unnecessary according to the Idiot-in-Chief and his minions. Keep us all in the dark and feed us bullshit is their modus operandi. The NYT article goes in depth as to the arguments the Bush administration will use to attempt to get this tossed.
FindLaw has a good writeup on it as well here, plus copies of the court doc's.
Stay tuned..
Tags: Torture Tapes, CIA,
