The White House plans to release a document on the national strategy for victory in Iraq, which officials say will mainly reiterate policies that have already been in place.They've actually been pursuing a plan? Sounds like more rewriting of history to me...
White House spokesman Scott McClellan described the document as "an unclassified version of the plan that we have had in place and the plan that we've been pursuing."
Cunningham, who denied any wrongdoing in July, said he was deeply sorry and ashamed and would cooperate in the government investigation of at least four defense contractors.Surprisingly, Bush entered the real world, however briefly, and took Cunningham to task:
"I broke the law, concealed my conduct and disgraced my office. I know that I will forfeit my freedom, my reputation, my worldly possessions, most importantly, the trust of my friends and family," he said, choking back tears.
[...]
Cunningham is a member of the House intelligence committee and the appropriations sub-committee that controls defense spending.
"Yes, your honor," Cunningham said when Judge Larry Burns asked him if he had accepted bribes in return for influencing the award of tens of millions of dollars in defense contracts.
"Any member of Congress, Republican or Democrat, must take their office seriously and the ethics seriously," Bush said to reporters during a trip to Texas.Thing is, unlike Bush, Cunningham has realized that he has broken the law. That's why he said that he knew he was forfeiting his freedom. Perhaps Bush doesn't know what "forfeit" means. It's only recently that he learned the meaning of "ethics." Perhaps that's why he's using the word whenever possible.
"The idea of a congressman taking money is outrageous. And Congressman Cunningham is going to realize that he has broken the law and is going to pay a serious price, which he should," Bush said.
"Swiftboating is American political jargon for truthful and accurate debunking of John Kerry's exaggerated military experience in Vietnam. The Swift Boat Veterans For Truth organization's ads against Democratic presidential candidate Senator John F. Kerry in the 2004 election campaign revealed the candidate to be untruthful in his representation of his military record. Swiftboating is a new political term for exposing the truth while being under constant attack from those that desperately want to believe the lie. "As of this writing, just a few hours later, the entry has been reverted to its original content (with the page "temporarily protected from editing to deal with vandalism"):
Swiftboating is American political jargon for the sensationalized portrayal of John Kerry's decorated military experience in Vietnam. The Swift Boat Veterans For Truth organization's ads against Democratic presidential candidate Senator John F. Kerry in the 2004 presidential election campaign alleged that Senator Kerry was being untruthful in his representation of his military record. All available military records support Senator Kerry's accounts of his own service.What will it look like when you view it now?
NY Times: BAGHDAD, Iraq, Nov. 28 - As the American military pushes the largely Shiite Iraqi security services into a larger role in combating the insurgency, evidence has begun to mount suggesting that the Iraqi forces are carrying out executions in predominantly Sunni neighborhoods.Hundreds of accounts of killings and abductions have emerged in recent weeks, most of them brought forward by Sunni civilians, who claim that their relatives have been taken away by Iraqi men in uniform without warrant or explanation.
Some Sunni men have been found dead in ditches and fields, with bullet holes in their temples, acid burns on their skin, and holes in their bodies apparently made by electric drills. Many have simply vanished.
From AP: The chairman of the Senate Armed Services Committee on Sunday suggested that President Bush use an FDR-style presentation to update people on progress in the war in Iraq.
Republican-backed budget cuts moving through Congress threaten to hit California with billions of dollars in lost aid, putting some state social services in jeopardy and Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger at risk of yet another political setback.
State and federal budget analysts say California, because of its reliance on some of the specific programs targeted, would suffer more in coming years than most states from the package of reductions approved by the House last week.
The bill includes provisions that, in California, would make it tougher to get child support from tens of thousands of deadbeat parents, would strip food stamps from legal immigrants, and would make less money available to doctors who treat low-income patients.
Amid pressure from Democrats in the Legislature, Schwarzenegger had sent an extensive letter to California's congressional delegation earlier this month, expressing concern about the proposal's impact on the state. Every California Republican in Congress voted for it nonetheless.
Full article...
Sweet. The DCCC (Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee) has delivered on our request for a listing of every congressional seat and currently announced candidates. As a quick perusal will show, there are still way too many Republicans running unopposed. Check your district if you are represented by a Republican. If we have a candidate, help out however you can. If not, do whatever you can to find a candidate.Seconded. Here's how California is shaping up (with the candidate filing deadline coming up March 10, 2006): Eight Republicans are currently running unopposed (far too many given the way the GOP has been wounded), 11 have declared Democratic challengers (including the open seat currently held by Dukester Cunningham.)The DCCC can do a lot, but we in the netroots number millions. We know lots of people who would never register on the DCCC's radar. I'm not talking lawyers or career politicians -- we've got more than enough of those -- but teachers, firefighters, farmers, vets, etc. Real people that could be persuaded to make a run to help build clean house in DC and take power away from those utterly corrupted by it.
Collectively, let's plug every hole on that list and make sure we have a Democrat challenging in every single Republican district in 2006.
"The war in Iraq is not going as advertised. It is a flawed policy wrapped in illusion. The American public is way ahead of us. The United States and coalition troops have done all they can in Iraq, but it is time for a change in direction. Our military is suffering. The future of our country is at risk. We cannot continue on the present course. It is evident that continued military action is not in the best interests of the United States of America, the Iraqi people or the Persian Gulf Region."Full transcript of press conference statement at The Stakeholder.
"While it is perfectly legitimate to criticize my decision or the conduct of the war, it is deeply irresponsible to rewrite the history of how that war began."Mr. President, I agree. It indeed is deeply irresponsible for you to continually rewrite history. Impeachable too.
Five-term incumbent Sen. Orrin Hatch, R-Utah, will face a challenge from a distant member of his own family, Green Party candidate Julian Hatch, in the November 2006 election.The Green Party of Utah announced Friday that the 51-year-old environmental activist and disabled veteran accepted the party's nomination at a convention this week.
Full article...
From AP:
Heads need to roll at the local, state and federal levels. Until corrupt and incompetent people in positions of power and influence are held responsible for catastrophes like these, we should expect no better behavior.A federal prosecutor said Thursday he's pursuing tips about corruption relating to the building and maintenance of levees that broke during Hurricane Katrina.
Meanwhile, new evidence has surfaced suggesting steel reinforcements driven into parts of the failed levee system were not nearly as deep as the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers had thought.
U.S. Attorney Jim Letten said his office is focused on the political and business relationships of those involved in building the levees, not whether the levees were poorly designed or improperly built.
"We're not in the business of trying to second-guess if something could have been designed and built better," Letten said. "Our investigation is looking into whether there was illegal conduct, whether it be diversion of funds ... that would have contributed to poor execution of the work."
Et tu, Iraq?
No need to send Bruce Willis into space with a nuclear bomb - the best way to deal with a killer asteroid hurtling towards Earth could be a "gravity tractor". Two NASA astronauts, gently mocking the solution offered in the Hollywood blockbuster Armageddon, have come up with a deceptively simple plan to pull asteroids off course.BTW, an asteroid is due to pass close to earth on Friday, April 13, 2029. (Friday the 13th?) But Love is not losing any sleep over it..... just yet.
Edward Lu and Stanley Love have proposed that a rocket be launched into space, effectively to act as a giant magnet.
Landing on an asteroid, which is no more than a spinning pile of rubble, is very difficult to achieve. Instead, the gravity tractor would travel alongside the asteroid and gradually pull it off course, using nothing more than the gravitational pull between the two bodies. "This saves you from having to land on the asteroid and then trying to stabilize yourself on a flying pile of rock and debris which is spinning all the time," Love said after their plan was published on Wednesday in the science journal Nature.
Lu and Love calculated that, with sufficient warning, a 20-ton gravity tractor could safely deflect an asteroid 200 meters across in about a year of towing.
Full article...
... Part of Bush’s vanity––and his Oedipal drama––is that he has modelled himself on Reagan and not on his father, but it is hard to imagine him cleaning house the way Reagan did in 1987 and moving toward the center. In fact, it is even harder these days to locate a centrist establishment in the Republican Party. The conservative insurgency that took shape in the think tanks, congressional offices, and activist groups of Washington a quarter century ago now inhabits the core of the Party. In his anger, and after all his many failures, the President, quite suddenly, seems unpopular, alone, and adrift. Thirty-nine months — five months more than John F. Kennedy’s entire Presidency — remain in the second term of George W. Bush. (Emphasis added)While we're on the subject, listen to Tom Lehrer's "Oedipus Rex"
Full column...
President Bush, reacting to the indictment of a high-level White House aide in the CIA leak case, has ordered his staff to get a refresher on ethics rules.In a memo sent to all White House aides on Friday, the counsel's office said it will hold briefings next week on ethics, with a particular focus on the rules governing the handling of classified information. Attendance is mandatory for anyone holding any level of security clearance.
A Vatican cardinal said Thursday the faithful should listen to what secular modern science has to offer, warning that religion risks turning into "fundamentalism" if it ignores scientific reason.Bully for the cardinal, re the Catholic Church. Of course, someone should inform him that many churches (and political parties) long ago crossed over into the "fundamentalism" that he describes, and have never looked back.
Cardinal Paul Poupard, who heads the Pontifical Council for Culture, made the comments at a news conference on a Vatican project to help end the "mutual prejudice" between religion and science that has long bedeviled the Roman Catholic Church...
Full article...
I really believe this 30-year assault by the right on the values of fairness and opportunity that built the wealth and strength of our country is coming to an end.Very nicely said. We'll develop our political strategies and play out our tactics. But let's never forget what we stand for. And let's hold everybody to it.
If we answer every lie they tell instantly and, more importantly, tell the truth about what they've done to the fabric of this country. And we remind people that it was fairness and opportunity and inclusion and investment that built the strongest state, the strongest nation in the history of humankind. If we stand up proudly for democratic values, giving more families chances to own homes, have decent jobs, more kids to get a good education, go to college. If we do that, we're gonna take back this country.
I don't care what lies they tell about us, they will never trump the truth.
Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger ordered next week's special election to take his agenda to "the people," but his campaign strategy relies on relatively few people showing up next Tuesday and large segments of voters staying home.Boycotting the election - which is the intent of some Democratic voters to show displeasure for Schwarzenegger's current attempt at a power grab - will only backfire, ushering in what promises to be an era of corporate-controlled California.
The governor's plan — "micro-targeting" voters, advertising in selected markets to reach them and conducting daily polls to augur the political mood — is guided by a single premise: If every Democrat and every Republican in California votes next week, Schwarzenegger's measures are likely to lose.
VOTE NO on Proposition 73
Termination of Minor's Pregnancy. Waiting Period and Parental Notification.
Proposition 73 just the latest attempt by right-wing conservatives to take away a woman's right to choose. Instead of creating another law that would increase the health risk of teenagers, we should focus our energy on preventing teen pregnancy. Prop. 73 unwisely tries to legislate family communication and unrealistically expects teenagers to navigate through a cumbersome and confusing judicial process. Vote No on Proposition 73 and let our daughters have the freedom, privacy, and choice to make their own decision.
VOTE NO on Proposition 74
Public School Teachers. Waiting Period for Permanent Status.
Proposition 74 does NOTHING to help improve public education. Currently, we have a system in place that allows a school to dismiss a teacher they find to be deficient during their first two years of service without a hearing. In fact, every local school has a system in place to deal with struggling teachers. In a time when we should be encouraging young adults to choose a career in teaching, Prop. 74 will hurt those recruitment efforts by not affording due process to those in the teaching profession who do so much for California's children.
VOTE NO on Proposition 75
Public Employee Union Dues.
Proposition 75 would silence the voice of working men and women. Prop. 75 would let Big Business spend freely, while public sector unions would be silenced and in turn shut out from participating in the political process. Vote No on Proposition 75 and protect the voice of advocates who want decent funding for schools, better quality health care and higher standards for public safety.
VOTE NO on Proposition 76
School Funding. State Spending.
Proposition 76 is an Arnold Schwarzenegger power grab that gives him the power to bypass the legislature and make cuts to the budget without any oversight or public approval. Prop. 76 does not protect education funding and it would reduce long-term Prop. 98 school spending by $4 billion per year. Under Prop. 76, local governments could lose hundreds of millions of dollars for police, firefighters, health care and social service programs. Vote No on Proposition 76 and protect those vital services that make our communities a better place to live.
VOTE NO on Proposition 77
Reapportionment.
Proposition 77 is a flawed redistricting initiative that requires no public input, has no accountability provision, is unfair to those most underrepresented, and quite frankly doesn't make any sense. Prop. 77 will put the process of redistricting into the hands of retired judges who would not be required to take public input and who are not accountable to the voters. Furthermore, Prop. 77 is flawed because it would require these judges to use census data that is six to eight years old, which would hurt those most underrepresented.
VOTE NO on Proposition 78
Prescription Drugs. Discounts.
Proposition 78 is sponsored by all the major pharmaceutical companies - need we say more? Prop. 78 is nothing more than a smokescreen to make it seem as if the pharmaceutical companies suddenly want to give drug discounts. Prop. 78 is a toothless initiative because it doesn't mandate pharmaceutical companies to comply with any state negotiated discounts and there is no accountability provision to ensure meaningful discounts. Prop. 78 limits who is allowed to participate and doesn't provide discounts to those who need it most: the uninsured.
VOTE YES on Proposition 79
Cheaper Prescription Drugs For Californians Act. State-Negotiated Rebates.
Unlike Prop. 78, Proposition 79 will provide real prescription drug discounts to those who need it most. Prop. 79 will establish a pharmacy assistance program to help businesses, small employer purchasing pools and labor organization health and welfare funds, among others, receive the same pharmacy discounts and rebates from drug makers. Pharmaceutical companies would be held accountable by a state advisory board that would review access to, and the pricing of, prescription drugs under the program. Real problems need real solutions, vote Yes on Prop. 79.
VOTE YES on Proposition 80
Affordable Electricity & Preventing Blackouts Act.
Proposition 80 will establish an energy policy for California that guarantees that the lights stay on, protects ratepayers from the market manipulation of private energy companies, "greens" our energy portfolio by increasing environmentally clean and sustainable renewable energy sources, assures that utility industry personnel are well trained, and repeals the failed electricity deregulation scheme that exposed Californians to blackouts and cost ratepayers billions of dollars.
They've taken a narrow mandate to correct the anti-coordination gap as an excuse to propose all sorts of new restrictions on your internet activity, ranging from making group weblogs into regulated "political committees", to potentially imposing a "blogger code of ethics" with disclosure and disclaimer requirements enforceable by law (requirements otherwise unheard of for any other independent actor who deals with political campaigns), to intruding into the workplace to tell readers how much time they can spend participating in online political discussion groups. Plus which, they have no idea how to deal with podcasting, p2p networks or any of the emerging technologies for discussion.This bill merely says, "Let's stick to the letter of McCain-Feingold, which could have mentioned political internet activity and did not. Let's not penalize those who participate in online political communities - most of which is done free of charge - for exercising their freedom of speech."
