Judy Miller=Armstrong Williams=Jeff Gannon?

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Monday October 24, 2005 · 6:15 PM PDT

2005/10/24 · 18:15

I was thinking during dinner that Miller, Williams, and Gannon have a lot in common. Each was willing to serve as a conduit to the public for the Bush Administration party line, Miller on Weapons of Mass Destruction, Williams on No Child Left Behind, and Gannon on just about anything.

We know what Armstrong Williams got out of it--a cool $241K from the U.S. Department of Education.

Gannon got to pretend to himself for a time that he was a respectable journalist, although he never really reported anything, but instead reproduced Bush Administration press releases.

What did Judy Miller get out of it? Was she a true believer in the neo-con cause, and a willing conduit, or was she so eager to have access to important political figures that she would report anything they told her, without any attempt to verify the information or at least provide context for it? We may have to wait for her book to find out, if then.

The big question--are there more Williams, Gannons, or Millers out there, and we just haven't smoked them out yet?

Senate Dem calls House GOP bluff on government shutdown

sam3am

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Thursday September 29, 2005 · 7:07 PM PDT

2005/09/29 · 19:07

Senator Tom Harkin (D, IA) is offering an amendment to the legislation passed by the House that is needed to keep the federal government running after the current fiscal year ends on Friday.

This piece of legislation, called a Continuing Resolution (CR), differs from past CR's, which typically extend funding for programs at last year's levels if they have not already been renewed by completed appropriations bills. In this CR, the House requires that such funding be the lesser of last year's level or the level in the House appropriation bills.

This approach will have the effect of cutting in half the funding provided by the Community Services Block Grant (CSBG), which helps local communities provide such services as food banks, heating subsidies for the poor, and transportation assistance for the elderly. Read More

Freepers circulating photos of Bush/Sheehan meeting?

sam3am

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Thursday August 18, 2005 · 6:38 AM PDT

2005/08/18 · 06:38

In a story in today's Washington Post, Dana Milbank reported that a Freeper involved in a small counter-protest at the candlelight vigil near the White House last night was showing a picture of what he claimed was the meeting between President Bush and Cindy Sheehan that occurred in June of 2004.

If the photograph shown to Milbank is authentic, it was clearly made available by the White House from a meeting that the WH has insisted are private sessions between the President and grieving family members. Read More

Brownstein: what about those permanent bases?

sam3am

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Monday August 15, 2005 · 8:16 AM PDT

2005/08/15 · 08:16

In today's LA Times, Ron Brownstein writes about Larry Diamond's concerns and the Bush Administration's unwillingness to state publicly whether or not it intends to hold onto permanent bases in Iraq once the formal occupation is over.

I believe that while declaring our intention to fully withdraw from Iraq when "the time comes" does not solve our problems there, it would be one fewer irritant to the insurgents and also reduce the drain on the U.S. Treasury that this ongoing conflict has become. Read More

Iraqi deutschmarks?

sam3am

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Tuesday August 02, 2005 · 7:22 AM PDT

2005/08/02 · 07:22

It would be hilarious, if it weren't so sad. In his blog entry for today, Juan Cole's Informed Comment notes that the U.S. government is apparently using the same plans for Iraqi reconstruction as they did for German reconstruction 60 years ago.

They used the universal search and replace function to change `German' to `Iraqi' in the documents, but didn't proof-read very well, because Cole reports that there is a reference in one of the documents to `Iraqi deutschmarks'.

So much for post-war planning in Iraq by the Bush Administration.

Bush's choices: Boy Scouts versus U.S. troops?

sam3am

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Thursday July 28, 2005 · 8:06 AM PDT

2005/07/28 · 08:06

The morning papers (Washington Post) reported that several hundred Boy Scouts at a jamboree in Virginia suffered heat-related illnesses while waiting for President Bush to appear at a memorial service for four adult Scout leaders who had been electrocuted when they had accidently touched a power line while putting up a tent.

Bush never showed because Marine 1 was held up by a storm, but why can he take the time to honor four Boy Scout troop leaders but never attend a service for a U.S. soldier who died in Iraq or Afghanistan? Read More

Pentagon raises ante on recruiting

sam3am

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Thursday June 23, 2005 · 6:16 AM PDT

2005/06/23 · 06:16

In a story reported in today's Washington Post, the Pentagon has contracted with a private marketing firm to build a database on high school and college students to help them refine their recruiting efforts.

The story indicates the database will include information such as SSN's, the student's GPA, his or her course of study, and e-mail address. Privacy advocates believe this plan violates Federal privacy laws. Read More

Biden's plan for Iraq

sam3am

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Wednesday June 22, 2005 · 8:35 AM PDT

2005/06/22 · 08:35

In a Boston Globe story, Joe Biden spelled out his plans for Iraq, and criticizing the Bush Administration's credibility gap on Iraq.

Far be it from me to suggest another Neil Kinnock episode for Biden, but doesn't this sound a lot like what John Kerry proposed in the 2002 election? Read More

Chicago Tribune reports on Ohio `Coingate'

sam3am

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Friday June 03, 2005 · 6:37 AM PDT

2005/06/03 · 06:37

This morning's edition has a lengthy story on the scandal involving the disappearance of more than $10 million in rare coins from a fund controlled by an Ohio Republican party stalwart.

I believe that this is one of the first times a national level newspaper has covered this story.

The Chicago Tribune story chronicled how the elected Republican officials are running away from this guy Tom Noe.

Newspaper calls for independent Iraq war inquiry

sam3am

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Friday May 20, 2005 · 6:25 AM PDT

2005/05/20 · 06:25

It may only be the Des Moines Register, but it is a start. Citing concerns raised by those in the blogosphere on the Downing Street Memo, the DM Register Editorial calls for a formal independent inquiry into whether or not the Administration exaggerated or made selective use of intelligence to justify an invasion decision that had already been made.

Let's hope that this is only the beginning of a flood of such editorials.

Red Cross confirms Koran disrespect

sam3am

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Thursday May 19, 2005 · 6:08 AM PDT

2005/05/19 · 06:08

Today's Chicago Tribune reports that confidential Red Cross assessments submitted to the U.S. government after visits to the Guantanamo prison contained multiple credible reports of incidents of prison guard abuse or disrespect of prisoners' Korans. It appears that military guidelines on this matter issued in early 2003 came in response to these reports.

The story indicates there were no incidents reported in ICRC documents similar to that described in the May 9 Newsweek story.

Deficits here to stay

sam3am

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Wednesday May 04, 2005 · 12:37 PM PDT

2005/05/04 · 12:37

Today, the Treasury Dept. announced that it was `considering' bringing back 30-Year T bills, which had been phased out back in 2001 when the federal budget was projected to remain in surplus for the foreseeable future.

At the time, it was thought that the government might have to spend too much money buying back the 30-year bonds when it no longer had to fund the deficit.

Obviously, that is no longer a problem in the current policy climate. See the story at Forbes.

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