Friday, February 11, 2005
North Korea: So, it’s ‘official’, they have nukes. But, hey, Saddam was the real threat! The Bush Administration continues its very low key response, ostensibly, says one “senior diplomat”, “not to make the North Koreans enjoy our panic.” http://www.latimes.com/news/nationworld/world/la-fg-koreanukes11feb11,0,7914097.story?coll=la-home-headlines
Perhaps this is just an upping the ante so as to increase concessions from the U.S.? More: http://www.washingtonpost.com/ac2/wp-dyn/A15207-2005Feb10?language=printer
9/11
"No one could have imagined...using planes as a missile"
Those were Condi’s words, consistent with all Bushies, testifying (never under oath, you’ll remember) that the 9/11 attack was impossible to anticipate. But now we have an additional contradiction to her claim, that the FAA was most aware of the possibility of terrorists hijacking a plane and using it as a weapon, that there were 52 FAA “security branch intelligence reports” that mentioned bin Laden/al-Qaeda from April-September of 2001. The FAA even distributed a CD ROM as to their concern.
But, Condi, our national security advisor, didn’t have a clue. NY Times:
U.S. aviation officials failed to respond to dozens of warnings of a possible terrorist threat months before Sept. 11, 2001, according to a previously undisclosed report by the panel that probed the attacks.
The report, which was recently declassified and obtained by Reuters on Thursday, said federal aviation officials reviewed 52 intelligence reports between April 1, 2001, and Sept. 10, 2001, that warned about Osama bin Laden or al Qaeda.
Jane F. Garvey, the F.A.A. administrator at the time, told the commission "that she was aware of the heightened threat during the summer of 2001," the report said. But several other senior agency officials "were basically unaware of the threat," as were senior airline operations officials and veteran pilots, the report said.
The classified version of the commission report quotes extensively from circulars prepared by the F.A.A. about the threat of terrorism, but many of those references have been blacked out in the declassified version, officials said.
Several former commissioners and staff members said they were upset and disappointed by the administration's refusal to release the full report publicly.
"Our intention was to make as much information available to the public as soon as possible," said Richard Ben-Veniste, a former Sept. 11 commission member. http://www.nytimes.com/reuters/news/news-security-commission-faa.html?
Some of the language in these reports was hardly subtle: …the intent of the hijacker is not to exchange hostages for prisoners, but to commit suicide in a spectacular explosion, a domestic hijacking would probably be preferable…
Condi has long insisted that she was not alerted as to the threat, in effect trashing the account of Richard Clarke, Mr. Anti-Terrorism. The Australian press look at a newly declassified document that contradicts the chronically lying Ms. Rice.
Eight months before the September 11 attacks the White House's then counterterrorism adviser urged then national security adviser Condoleezza Rice to hold a high-level meeting on the al-Qaeda network, according to a memo made public today."We urgently need such a principals-level review on the al-Qaeda network," then White House counterterrorism adviser Richard Clarke wrote in the January 25, 2001 memo.
Mr Clarke, who left the White House in 2003, made headlines in the heat of the US presidential campaign last year when he accused the Bush White House of having ignored al-Qaeda's threats before September 11.
Mr Clarke testified before inquiry panels and in a book that Rice, his boss at the time, had been warned of the threat. Rice is now US Secretary of State.
However, Ms Rice wrote in a March 22, 2004 column in The Washington Post that "No al-Qaeda threat was turned over to the new administration". http://www.heraldsun.news.com.au/common/story_page/0,5478,12216311^401,00.html
Class Action Lawsuits Curbed. Passed easily. The upshot? It directs many suits from state to federal courts where they’re usually tossed out. It was opposed by labor, consumer groups, state prosecutors, etc. but isn’t clear whether the feds refusal sends such suits back to the state courts. Regardless, it wasn’t exactly a united Democratic front. http://www.nytimes.com/2005/02/11/politics/11class.html?pagewanted=all&position=
One footnote: Bush pushed this at a Commerce Department event, accompanied by an ‘independent expert’ who support this measure. It turns out that he was Walter Dellinger III, a lawyer from a firm that was collecting $780,000 to push this legislation.
More of the same.
Brit Hume: Social Security and FDR. Al Franken (the subject of a flurry of rumors this week that he was declaring for Senate in Minnesota; he isn’t, but might do so in 2008) and Media Matters led the way in exposing Fox News’ Brit Hume’s distortion of FDR remarks to suggest that FDR always wanted Social Security to be eventually privatized. Then, the Republican Noise Machine featured Bill Bennett spinning the lie on Fox News.
Hume turns this completely on its head. He pulls two unrelated bits out of the FDR quote, and adds the words “government funding” between them. Because it’s so carefully done, it’s clear that it’s deliberate. And it’s a nasty form of dishonesty. Hume is manipulating Americans’ trust of FDR in order to build support for dismantling FDR’s legacy. ...Although it won’t be as explosive politically, this is worse than Dan Rather’s memo scandal. First of all, it's deliberate. Secondly, it's untrue. Dan Rather was guilty of being insufficiently skeptical of forged, true documents. But Brit Hume, Fox News Channel's #1 anchor--not commentator, not editorialist, anchor--is deliberately perverting the words of a hero to destroy the hero's legacy. http://www.airamericaradio.com/weblogs/alfrankenshow/index.php?/franken/hume_resign/
“Jeff Gannon”
For those who haven’t followed this, I’ll try a summary.
*Talon News appeared as a new web site in 2002, set up by GOPUSA.com, an organization established by a known Texas right-winger.
*5 days later, their “correspondent”, one “Jeff Gannon”, was credentialed by the White House, although he had been refused such by the House and Senate.
*“Gannon” appeared at White House press conferences and briefings, always asking soft ball questions that included fiercely partisan statements.
*His overdoing it- quoting a Rush Limbaugh joke as fact- raised suspicion. *Media Matters investigated and exposed him. “Gannon” was found to be James "JD" Guckert who had taken a $50 course on “journalism” conducted by longtime Republican activist Morton Blackwell, a co-founder of the Moral Majority.
*Bloggers found a WaPost report that mentioned that Guckert had access to an internal CIA memo that named Valerie Plame as a CIA agent.
*There was a flurry of distracting reports as to Guckert being a male prostitute.
*Guckert resigned from Talon News, saying he was stalked and threatened by Lefties.
*The major media- WaPost on Thursday, NY Times on Friday have written it up, and thoroughly.
*A few Democrats have demanded answers. The White House has thus far pleaded ignorance of all.
Two Democrats in Congress are pressing for investigations into how a Washington reporter who used a pseudonym managed to gain access to the White House and had access to classified documents that named Valerie Plame as a C.I.A. operative.
The Democrats, Representatives John Conyers Jr. of Michigan and Louise M. Slaughter from Rochester, wrote yesterday to Patrick Fitzgerald, the independent prosecutor appointed in the Plame case, seeking an investigation into how the reporter, James D. Guckert, who used the name Jeff Gannon, had access to classified documents that revealed the identity of Ms. Plame. http://www.nytimes.com/2005/02/11/politics/11gannon.html?pagewanted=all
What’s Happening, Iraq:
Plenty of death, with reports of Iraqis avoid more and more areas, with checkpoints manned by insurgents.” http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A12816-2005Feb10.html
Harold Meyerson terms Iraq “the War of the Vanishing Raisons D'Etre," and wonders if the direction is toward “Iran-lite.” http://www.washingtonpost.com/ac2/wp-dyn/A9445-2005Feb8?language=printer
Lynne Stewart Chillingly severe verdict.
Lynne F. Stewart, an outspoken lawyer known for representing a long list of unpopular defendants, was convicted yesterday by a federal jury in Manhattan of aiding Islamic terrorism by smuggling messages out of jail from a terrorist client.
In a startlingly sweeping verdict, Ms. Stewart was convicted on all five counts of providing material aid to terrorism and of lying to the government when she pledged to obey federal rules that barred her client, Sheik Omar Abdel Rahman, from communicating with his followers. Her co-defendants, Ahmed Abdel Sattar and Mohamed Yousry, were also convicted of all the charges against them. http://www.nytimes.com/2005/02/11/nyregion/11stewart.html?hp&ex=1108098000&en=00fac2fc8f0b5cd2&ei=5094&partner=homepage
Bush Rally The audio is even more entertaining. Mary is a known supporter, as are all at such carefully staged events. From the White House web site:
Mary is with us. Mary Mornin. How are you, Mary?
MS. MORNIN: I'm fine.
THE PRESIDENT: Good. Okay, Mary, tell us about yourself.
MS. MORNIN: Okay, I'm a divorced, single mother with three grown, adult children. I have one child, Robbie, who is mentally challenged, and I have two daughters.
THE PRESIDENT: Fantastic. First of all, you've got the hardest job in America, being a single mom.
________
THE PRESIDENT: I remember when I turned 50, I used to think 50 was really old. Now I think it's young, and getting ready to turn 60 here in a couple of years, and I still feel young. I mean, we are living longer, and people are working longer, and the truth of the matter is, elderly baby boomers have got a lot to offer to our society, and we shouldn't think about giving up our responsibilities in society. (Applause.) Isn't that right?
MS. MORNIN: That's right.
THE PRESIDENT: Yes, but nevertheless, there's a certain comfort to know that the promises made will be kept by the government.
MS. MORNIN: Yes.
THE PRESIDENT: And so thank you for asking that. You don't have to worry.
MS. MORNIN: That's good, because I work three jobs and I feel like I contribute.
THE PRESIDENT: You work three jobs?
MS. MORNIN: Three jobs, yes.
THE PRESIDENT: Uniquely American, isn't it? I mean, that is fantastic that you're doing that. (Applause.) Get any sleep? (Laughter.)
MS. MORNIN: Not much. Not much.
THE PRESIDENT: Well, hopefully, this will help you get you sleep to know that when we talk about Social Security, nothing changes.
MS. MORNIN: Okay, thank you.
THE PRESIDENT: That's great. http://www.whitehouse.gov/news/releases/2005/02/20050204-3.html
Perhaps this is just an upping the ante so as to increase concessions from the U.S.? More: http://www.washingtonpost.com/ac2/wp-dyn/A15207-2005Feb10?language=printer
9/11
"No one could have imagined...using planes as a missile"
Those were Condi’s words, consistent with all Bushies, testifying (never under oath, you’ll remember) that the 9/11 attack was impossible to anticipate. But now we have an additional contradiction to her claim, that the FAA was most aware of the possibility of terrorists hijacking a plane and using it as a weapon, that there were 52 FAA “security branch intelligence reports” that mentioned bin Laden/al-Qaeda from April-September of 2001. The FAA even distributed a CD ROM as to their concern.
But, Condi, our national security advisor, didn’t have a clue. NY Times:
U.S. aviation officials failed to respond to dozens of warnings of a possible terrorist threat months before Sept. 11, 2001, according to a previously undisclosed report by the panel that probed the attacks.
The report, which was recently declassified and obtained by Reuters on Thursday, said federal aviation officials reviewed 52 intelligence reports between April 1, 2001, and Sept. 10, 2001, that warned about Osama bin Laden or al Qaeda.
Jane F. Garvey, the F.A.A. administrator at the time, told the commission "that she was aware of the heightened threat during the summer of 2001," the report said. But several other senior agency officials "were basically unaware of the threat," as were senior airline operations officials and veteran pilots, the report said.
The classified version of the commission report quotes extensively from circulars prepared by the F.A.A. about the threat of terrorism, but many of those references have been blacked out in the declassified version, officials said.
Several former commissioners and staff members said they were upset and disappointed by the administration's refusal to release the full report publicly.
"Our intention was to make as much information available to the public as soon as possible," said Richard Ben-Veniste, a former Sept. 11 commission member. http://www.nytimes.com/reuters/news/news-security-commission-faa.html?
Some of the language in these reports was hardly subtle: …the intent of the hijacker is not to exchange hostages for prisoners, but to commit suicide in a spectacular explosion, a domestic hijacking would probably be preferable…
Condi has long insisted that she was not alerted as to the threat, in effect trashing the account of Richard Clarke, Mr. Anti-Terrorism. The Australian press look at a newly declassified document that contradicts the chronically lying Ms. Rice.
Eight months before the September 11 attacks the White House's then counterterrorism adviser urged then national security adviser Condoleezza Rice to hold a high-level meeting on the al-Qaeda network, according to a memo made public today."We urgently need such a principals-level review on the al-Qaeda network," then White House counterterrorism adviser Richard Clarke wrote in the January 25, 2001 memo.
Mr Clarke, who left the White House in 2003, made headlines in the heat of the US presidential campaign last year when he accused the Bush White House of having ignored al-Qaeda's threats before September 11.
Mr Clarke testified before inquiry panels and in a book that Rice, his boss at the time, had been warned of the threat. Rice is now US Secretary of State.
However, Ms Rice wrote in a March 22, 2004 column in The Washington Post that "No al-Qaeda threat was turned over to the new administration". http://www.heraldsun.news.com.au/common/story_page/0,5478,12216311^401,00.html
Class Action Lawsuits Curbed. Passed easily. The upshot? It directs many suits from state to federal courts where they’re usually tossed out. It was opposed by labor, consumer groups, state prosecutors, etc. but isn’t clear whether the feds refusal sends such suits back to the state courts. Regardless, it wasn’t exactly a united Democratic front. http://www.nytimes.com/2005/02/11/politics/11class.html?pagewanted=all&position=
One footnote: Bush pushed this at a Commerce Department event, accompanied by an ‘independent expert’ who support this measure. It turns out that he was Walter Dellinger III, a lawyer from a firm that was collecting $780,000 to push this legislation.
More of the same.
Brit Hume: Social Security and FDR. Al Franken (the subject of a flurry of rumors this week that he was declaring for Senate in Minnesota; he isn’t, but might do so in 2008) and Media Matters led the way in exposing Fox News’ Brit Hume’s distortion of FDR remarks to suggest that FDR always wanted Social Security to be eventually privatized. Then, the Republican Noise Machine featured Bill Bennett spinning the lie on Fox News.
Hume turns this completely on its head. He pulls two unrelated bits out of the FDR quote, and adds the words “government funding” between them. Because it’s so carefully done, it’s clear that it’s deliberate. And it’s a nasty form of dishonesty. Hume is manipulating Americans’ trust of FDR in order to build support for dismantling FDR’s legacy. ...Although it won’t be as explosive politically, this is worse than Dan Rather’s memo scandal. First of all, it's deliberate. Secondly, it's untrue. Dan Rather was guilty of being insufficiently skeptical of forged, true documents. But Brit Hume, Fox News Channel's #1 anchor--not commentator, not editorialist, anchor--is deliberately perverting the words of a hero to destroy the hero's legacy. http://www.airamericaradio.com/weblogs/alfrankenshow/index.php?/franken/hume_resign/
“Jeff Gannon”
For those who haven’t followed this, I’ll try a summary.
*Talon News appeared as a new web site in 2002, set up by GOPUSA.com, an organization established by a known Texas right-winger.
*5 days later, their “correspondent”, one “Jeff Gannon”, was credentialed by the White House, although he had been refused such by the House and Senate.
*“Gannon” appeared at White House press conferences and briefings, always asking soft ball questions that included fiercely partisan statements.
*His overdoing it- quoting a Rush Limbaugh joke as fact- raised suspicion. *Media Matters investigated and exposed him. “Gannon” was found to be James "JD" Guckert who had taken a $50 course on “journalism” conducted by longtime Republican activist Morton Blackwell, a co-founder of the Moral Majority.
*Bloggers found a WaPost report that mentioned that Guckert had access to an internal CIA memo that named Valerie Plame as a CIA agent.
*There was a flurry of distracting reports as to Guckert being a male prostitute.
*Guckert resigned from Talon News, saying he was stalked and threatened by Lefties.
*The major media- WaPost on Thursday, NY Times on Friday have written it up, and thoroughly.
*A few Democrats have demanded answers. The White House has thus far pleaded ignorance of all.
Two Democrats in Congress are pressing for investigations into how a Washington reporter who used a pseudonym managed to gain access to the White House and had access to classified documents that named Valerie Plame as a C.I.A. operative.
The Democrats, Representatives John Conyers Jr. of Michigan and Louise M. Slaughter from Rochester, wrote yesterday to Patrick Fitzgerald, the independent prosecutor appointed in the Plame case, seeking an investigation into how the reporter, James D. Guckert, who used the name Jeff Gannon, had access to classified documents that revealed the identity of Ms. Plame. http://www.nytimes.com/2005/02/11/politics/11gannon.html?pagewanted=all
What’s Happening, Iraq:
Plenty of death, with reports of Iraqis avoid more and more areas, with checkpoints manned by insurgents.” http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A12816-2005Feb10.html
Harold Meyerson terms Iraq “the War of the Vanishing Raisons D'Etre," and wonders if the direction is toward “Iran-lite.” http://www.washingtonpost.com/ac2/wp-dyn/A9445-2005Feb8?language=printer
Lynne Stewart Chillingly severe verdict.
Lynne F. Stewart, an outspoken lawyer known for representing a long list of unpopular defendants, was convicted yesterday by a federal jury in Manhattan of aiding Islamic terrorism by smuggling messages out of jail from a terrorist client.
In a startlingly sweeping verdict, Ms. Stewart was convicted on all five counts of providing material aid to terrorism and of lying to the government when she pledged to obey federal rules that barred her client, Sheik Omar Abdel Rahman, from communicating with his followers. Her co-defendants, Ahmed Abdel Sattar and Mohamed Yousry, were also convicted of all the charges against them. http://www.nytimes.com/2005/02/11/nyregion/11stewart.html?hp&ex=1108098000&en=00fac2fc8f0b5cd2&ei=5094&partner=homepage
Bush Rally The audio is even more entertaining. Mary is a known supporter, as are all at such carefully staged events. From the White House web site:
Mary is with us. Mary Mornin. How are you, Mary?
MS. MORNIN: I'm fine.
THE PRESIDENT: Good. Okay, Mary, tell us about yourself.
MS. MORNIN: Okay, I'm a divorced, single mother with three grown, adult children. I have one child, Robbie, who is mentally challenged, and I have two daughters.
THE PRESIDENT: Fantastic. First of all, you've got the hardest job in America, being a single mom.
________
THE PRESIDENT: I remember when I turned 50, I used to think 50 was really old. Now I think it's young, and getting ready to turn 60 here in a couple of years, and I still feel young. I mean, we are living longer, and people are working longer, and the truth of the matter is, elderly baby boomers have got a lot to offer to our society, and we shouldn't think about giving up our responsibilities in society. (Applause.) Isn't that right?
MS. MORNIN: That's right.
THE PRESIDENT: Yes, but nevertheless, there's a certain comfort to know that the promises made will be kept by the government.
MS. MORNIN: Yes.
THE PRESIDENT: And so thank you for asking that. You don't have to worry.
MS. MORNIN: That's good, because I work three jobs and I feel like I contribute.
THE PRESIDENT: You work three jobs?
MS. MORNIN: Three jobs, yes.
THE PRESIDENT: Uniquely American, isn't it? I mean, that is fantastic that you're doing that. (Applause.) Get any sleep? (Laughter.)
MS. MORNIN: Not much. Not much.
THE PRESIDENT: Well, hopefully, this will help you get you sleep to know that when we talk about Social Security, nothing changes.
MS. MORNIN: Okay, thank you.
THE PRESIDENT: That's great. http://www.whitehouse.gov/news/releases/2005/02/20050204-3.html
