Bush Had What He Needed - Why Did He Go For More?

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Tuesday December 20, 2005 · 1:29 PM PST

2005/12/20 · 13:29

This is a follow-up to SHOCK's excellent diary, "Federal Court Rebuffed Ashcroft about wiretaps (in 8/2002!)."

As he correctly points out, the secret FISA court had rebuffed the FBI for basically abusing the FISA process. This decision and very public rebuke of overzealous domestic spying was appealed by John Ashcroft's Justice Department in 2002. Ashcrosft won on appeal, and Justice was provided with new powers to wage the GWOT.

And, if you read on below, you will see that Ashcroft was quite happy with his new powers and abilities and they were used quite extensively in the following year.

So, the question we must all ask now is: Why did the President Bush still think this was not enough???

More below the fold... Read More

I Just Keep Getting This Sinking Feeling...

LITBMueller

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Wednesday December 14, 2005 · 8:01 AM PST

2005/12/14 · 08:01

I keep getting this sinking feeling when I consider what is going on around us, under our very noses, right now, in our great country.

This feeling comes when I consider the list of events below the break...
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The New Iraq Strategy: Blame Iran

LITBMueller

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Tuesday December 13, 2005 · 9:09 AM PST

2005/12/13 · 09:09

A stunning set of news articles have appeared today that are designed to leave you, the reader, with one impression: "If what is happening in Iraq seems like a civil war, with Shiites slaughtering Sunnis, it is all Iran's fault."

This sort of information will, of course, be quickly accepted...except by those of us with better long term memories.

Find out what I mean, below... Read More

Shot Passenger Bipolar?

LITBMueller

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Wednesday December 07, 2005 · 1:23 PM PST

2005/12/07 · 13:23

I've been checking in to see the latest details on the passenger shot in Miami today. The print reports are filled with "officials said," and "according to officials" reports.

I kept saying to myself: "Well, what did the man's fellow passengers say happened?"

And, finally, a "money quote" appeared on MSNBC.com:

Mary Gardner, a passenger on the plane, told WTVJ the man started "running crazily through the aisle" after the plane landed in Miami. Gardner said a woman seated with the man ran after him, yelling that her husband was bipolar and had not taken his medication. Gardner described the woman as "hysterical."

Yes, we may find out that the man was mentally ill and posed no real threat. And, if that is the case, then we, like England did, should seriously reconsider our "shot first, ask questions later" policy.

I also noted that MSNBC had been reporting that the man had "hit the deck" when told to do so, and was shot after he reached into a bag. But, now, the story indicates that he did not comply. Hmmmmm....

So...are there cameras on airport jetways?

John Yoo: Worst Person in the World

LITBMueller

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Tuesday December 06, 2005 · 3:09 PM PST

2005/12/06 · 15:09

I won't get a chance to watch Countdown tonight, so I thought I would announce my own candidate for Worst Person in the World.

It was provided by John Yoo, and appears in this AP article.

John Yoo is currently a professor at University of California-Berkeley law. He was co-author, along with Jay Bybee, of the infamous Torture Memo (here's a great article by John Dean).

The AP article I linked concern the recent international polling on torture. Here is the money quote from Yoo:

"The debate is whether you can use interrogation methods that are short of torture," he said. "Some who have been critical of the Bush administration have confused torture with cruel, inhumane treatment."

...WHAT in the WIDE WORLD OF SPORTS?!?!?!?!?!?

Mr. Yoo, there is no confusion here. The problem is: torture IS cruel and inhumane treatment!!!

Whoops. I think my head just exploded. Read More

When Did We Become the British Empire?

LITBMueller

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Wednesday November 23, 2005 · 9:41 AM PST

2005/11/23 · 09:41

There are times when I read quotes from those involved in the current occupation of Iraq, and I say to myself, "Gee, that sounds alot like the old British Empire!"

Case in point:

"I don't think they [the residents of Fallujah] will wake up one day and say, 'I'm all for transparency and the rights of man,'" says [Capt. William] Grube. "We have to show by example that you can be powerful, but not a brutal conqueror."

More below... Read More

Response to Hadley (Part II): INC Defectors and Other Lies

LITBMueller

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Tuesday November 15, 2005 · 8:42 AM PST

2005/11/15 · 08:42

Last week, National Security Advisor Steven Hadley gave a press briefing and had the gall to say this:

I will say on the specific intelligence, this, as you know, is something that was looked at very hard in a number of the studies I've talked about. And their judgment is that intelligence that came from the INC had a minimal impact on any judgments of the intelligence community in preparing the intelligence that went forward to the President and to others.

At this point, a member of the press should have coughed out the word "CURVEBALL" very loudly. Unfortunately, this didn't happen, so I will below, in Part II of my response to the Hadley Challenge (Part I is here):
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Response to Hadley (Part I): The Tubes

LITBMueller

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Monday November 14, 2005 · 9:06 AM PST

2005/11/14 · 09:06

Last week, National Security Advisor Steven Hadley gave a press briefing. In it, he suggested this in response to a question:

MR. HADLEY: I think people have to look at the record, look at how we got the intelligence, and look the judgments of the -- the statements that people made at the time on that intelligence. And that's to -- needs to inform the judgment we make about some of the things we're hearing said now.

That's a great (if garbled) idea, Mr. Hadley! Let's begin to do that just below the fold...
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The Franklin-Chalabi Connection

LITBMueller

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Wednesday November 09, 2005 · 10:03 AM PST

2005/11/09 · 10:03

(or, THE RISE, FALL AND RESURRECTION OF AHMAD CHALABI)

Ahmad Chalabi has been popping up in the news a lot lately, so I thought it might be useful, before the Bush Administration goes and installs him as King of Iraq, to remind us all of his downfall a year and a half ago, and the possible connection between it and Larry Franklin, indicted Pentagon leaker.

In the spring of 2004, the sudden fall of Congress' and the Bush Administration's favorite Iraqi dissident and provider of bogus intel, Ahmad Chalabi, had many scratching their heads. How could a man who was specially airlifted into the Iraqi war zone in April 2003, now be on the outs with the government that sponsored him?

See below the fold for more...
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Fitzmas Present: a Timeline

LITBMueller

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Friday October 28, 2005 · 7:41 AM PDT

2005/10/28 · 07:41

Merry Fitzmas!

As we all wait for Mr. Fitzgerald's announcement, I thought I'd give my fellow Kossacks an early Fitzmas present.

Below is a timeline combining parts of my old original Franklin/AIPAC Timeline, and information from the dKosopedia Plame timeline, the second Franklin indictment, a TPM Cafe Plame timeline, a SF Chronicle Plame timeline, the franklingate.com timeline, articles from antiwar.com, MSM press articles, and many other sources too numerous to list concerning Plame, Franklin and the Niger uranium claims and documents. I didn't have time to make links in my timeline, and for that, I apologize, but I have not had the time (but you can google any entry in the timeline to find sources referring to that information).

I was thinking it might be useful as a sort of checklist, instead of a definitive source. You can print it up, copy and paste it, and see later which allegations concerning Franklin's leaks, the Plame leak, and the Niger claims and documents actually are brought up by Fitz. Enjoy and please let me know if there is anything should be fixed or added! Read More

Wurmser: Raw Story has it wrong, but that's good

LITBMueller

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Monday October 24, 2005 · 12:38 PM PDT

2005/10/24 · 12:38

Raw Story apparently has another "scoop" regarding Leakgate/The Neocon Conspiracy/the Plame Affair, but, unfortunately, they got a key fact wrong in this statement:

Those close to the investigation say that Special Prosecutor Patrick Fitzgerald has been told that David Wurmser, then a Middle East adviser to Vice President Dick Cheney, met with Cheney and his chief of staff I. Lewis "Scooter" Libby in June 2003 and told him that Plame set up the Wilson trip.

The part in bold is inaccurate, if the June 2003 date is correct.

But, that may be a good thing, because in June 2003, Wurmser was still working at the State Department as senior adviser to John Bolton.

Come with me below the break to follow the complicated path of Mr. Wurmser through different offices of the executive branch... Read More

Rant: Pork Addiction

LITBMueller

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Thursday October 20, 2005 · 3:31 PM PDT

2005/10/20 · 15:31

I'm watching CSPAN-2 right now. All I hear is this from the Clerk:

"Mr. [Senator's name]: No"

No. No. No. And more "no's."

One by one, Senators are voting against the common sense Coburn amendment to the budget bill to transfer the money dedicated to the infamous "Bridge to Nowhere" to use it as New Orleans aid. Republicans and Democrats alike (except a few, like Feingold, Kyl, Sununu, Landrieu, Conrad and Coburn so far) are voting "No."