Yet another power play

This is yet just another tyrannical power play by the Bush/Cheney cabal.
In Surprise Step, Bush Is Vetoing a Military Bill

CRAWFORD, Tex. — For months President Bush harangued Democrats in Congress for not moving quickly enough to support the troops and for bogging down military bills with unrelated issues.

And then on Friday, with no warning, a vacationing Mr. Bush announced that he was vetoing a sweeping military policy bill because of an obscure provision that could expose Iraq’s new government to billions of dollars in legal claims dating to Saddam Hussein’s rule.

[....]

In a “statement of disapproval,” or pocket veto that lets the bill expire on Dec. 31, Mr. Bush said that the provision could result in preliminary injunctions freezing Iraqi assets in American banks — $20 billion to $30 billion, according to a senior administration official — and even affect commercial ventures with American businesses.

Of course The New York Times fails to mention that since the Senate is officially in session the "pocket veto" is not legal but of course this means nothing to the mobsters in the Bush administration who continue to shred the constitution. But I'm sure that Benito Giuliani approves.

So what should the Democrats do? The situation in Iraq, Afghanistan and the entire region is going to rapidly deteriorate in the next few months. If the Democrats do anything to obstruct the financing of the wars they will be blamed for that deterioration. On the other hand if they let Bush win this one it will be yet another step down the road to a tyrannical unitary executive. The Democratic "leadership" in both the House and the Senate was incompetent from the very beginning and it's too late to do anything about it now. They find themselves between a rock and a hard place with no place to go. As a result Bush will once again get what he wants.

A bad day for al-Qaeda

If bin-Laden and al-Qaeda really hate us because of our freedoms they had a bad day today.
Democrats Delay a Vote on Immunity for Wiretaps

WASHINGTON — In a setback for the White House, Senate Democrats on Monday put off until at least next month any decision on whether to give legal protection to the phone carriers that helped with the National Security Agency’s eavesdropping program.

The Bush administration had pushed for immediate passage of legislation to grant immunity to the phone companies as part of a broader expansion of the N.S.A.’s wiretapping authorities. But that will not happen now.

After daylong debate in the Senate on the wiretapping issue, Senator Harry Reid of Nevada, the majority leader, announced at the end of the day that there would not be time to consider the legislation this week as he had hoped. With a dozen competing amendments on the issue and an omnibus spending bill separately awaiting consideration, Mr. Reid said he believed it would be difficult to give the wiretapping issue the close consideration that it deserved this week before the Senate leaves for its Christmas recess.

Of course the real reason it was delayed is this:
Dodd's Filibuster Threat Stalls Wiretap Bill

Senator Chris Dodd won a temporary victory today after his threats of a filibuster forced Democratic leadership to push back consideration of a measure that would grant immunity to telecom companies that were complicit in warrantless surveillance.

Yes, Chris Dodd really does love America. Now the battle is far from over. The spineless Democrats like Harry Reid and Dianne Feinstein are still looking for ways to buckle under to White House pressure. This is an excellent example of why it is necessary to get more freedom loving progressive Democrats in the Senate.

We have a chance to do that here in Oregon. Jeff Merkley had this to say today.

PORTLAND—Oregon House Speaker Jeff Merkley, Democrat for U.S. Senate, this evening praised Senator Chris Dodd (D-Conn.), Senator Ron Wyden (D-Ore.) and Democrats in the Senate who successfully prevented the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act overhaul from being brought up for consideration today. The FISA overhaul includes provisions to grant immunity to telecommunications companies who participated in President Bush’s allegedly illegal domestic spying program:
“Senator Dodd, Senator Wyden and the Democrats did the right thing today by delaying action on the FISA overhaul. Only a handful of Senators have been given access to the classified information necessary to make an informed decision on the bill.

“Senator Wyden needs a partner in the U.S. Senate – someone who will stand up with him on issues that are so vital to the American people. Once again, while Senator Wyden is in the trenches fighting to protect our rights, Gordon Smith supported amnesty for telecom giants who turned over the private records of law abiding Americans.

“It is the sworn duty of the President and Members of Congress to uphold the constitution of the United States, including the right to privacy guaranteed by the fourth amendment. If the telecom companies violated the privacy of Americans, we must have a full public airing of the facts.

“It isn’t clear to most members of Congress, much less the American public, why exactly these telecom companies deserve immunity. Did they break the law? Did they help the President spy on Americans? And why should Congress give them a free pass if they violated the constitutional guarantee of privacy for ordinary Americans?

“Those questions absolutely must be answered by this administration before Congress acts on the FISA overhaul.”

Now the Oregonian is trying to convince you that Gordon Smith is a moderate but his voting record shows he's a wingnut who has supported George W. Bush 98% of the time. Gordon Smith may represent the Oregonian but he doesn't represent Oregon. Jeff Merkley will!

2008 - The year of the independent?

In ever so blue Massachusetts a poor Democratic candidate barely beat a good Republican candidate in a special election for the House. This should be a warning shot for the Democratic establishment. Nikki Tsongas, wife of the late Massachusetts senator and presidential candidate Paul Tsongas was the choice of the Democratic political machine but not popular with the progressive base.

The latest Zogby poll indicates that
Voters unhappy with Bush and Congress
Bush has reached an all time low:

Bush's job approval rating fell to 24 percent from last month's record low for a Zogby poll of 29 percent.

But congress fared even worse:

A paltry 11 percent gave Congress a positive grade, tying last month's record low.

The vast majority of Americans don't like George W. Bush or anything he is doing but they are disgusted with the Democratic Congress because they continue to let him do everything he wants.

"There is a real question among Americans now about how relevant this government is to them," pollster John Zogby said. "They tell us they want action on health care, education, the war and immigration, but they don't believe they are going to get it."

The dismal assessment of the Republican president and the Democratic-controlled Congress follows another month of inconclusive political battles over a future path in Iraq and the recent Bush veto of an expansion of the program providing insurance for poor children.

The bleak mood could present problems for both parties heading into the November 2008 election campaign, Zogby said.

"Voter turnout could still be high next year, but the mood has turned against incumbents and into a 'throw the bums out' mindset," Zogby said.

Nancy Pelosi and Harry Reid have both shown that they are not leadership material. Harry Reid has made a strategic mistake when he hasn't forced the Republicans to actually filibuster and show the country who is preventing the congress from reigning in an out of control President and Vice President. And then there is Nancy Pelosi - her dangerous resolution condemning the massacre of Armenians in the Ottoman Empire nearly a century ago is just the latest example of her inability to prioritize.

In 2008 voters will be looking for alternatives. Neither the Democratic Party or the Republican party represent the people.

The Incompetence of Harry Reid

It's been another bad week for the Democrats in the Senate. Steve Soto explains that it's largely the result of the incompetence of Majority Leader harry Reid. Steve also has some advice for Reid on what he should do now.

If Reid now knows that the Senate GOP will keep playing this game, he needs to cobble together one omnibus alternative that includes Webb-Hagel and whatever mission change proposal from Reed or Salazar or whomever has the whip hand at the time. He needs to try one more time with this as the one and only alternative to the "blank check" rubber stamp. And when McConnell filibusters this, then walk away and let the Senate GOP filibuster until hell freezes over.

When Bush begins to bellow about how it is the Senate's job to send him something he can sign, Reid should immediately correct him and say that it is not the Senate's job to be a rubber stamp, but rather to protect American troops and our national security, a responsibility that Bush has abandoned.

Harry, is it time to take of the gloves yet?

OK Harry, your Republican colleagues are such gentlemen they put you in a no win situation once again. Isn't it time to make them pay the price for their obstructionism and actually stand up there and talk for hours, days or weeks when they "filibuster" so the entire country can see them for what they are. Yes Harry, it's time to take off the gloves. The American people are on your side.

PS
And Harry, General Petraeus really is nothing more than a political hack with ribbons who betrayed the brave troops in Iraq, betrayed the US military and betrayed the country when he spun the truth to push George W. Bush's non-policy in Iraq.

Update
Rick Perlstein on Petraeus:

On September 11, General David Petraeus betrayed his office and abdicated his duty when he let himself be ventriloquist's dummy for a disingenuous propaganda campaign designed to hold American troops hostage in Iraq and keep up the useless carnage indefinitely, exploiting cherry-picked or even invented statistics, under cover of the stars on his shoulder.

I don't know how you can disagree with that at this point. But don't take my work for it. Take theirs:

• Chuck Hagel called his performance "a dirty trick on the American people... It's not only a dirty trick, but it's dishonest, it's hypocritical, it's dangerous and irresponsible."
• The chief of CentCom, Admiral William Fallon thinks Petraus is "an ass-kissing little chickenshit" for the way he sucks up to politicians.
• This army wife points out: "General Petraeus is using normal circumstances and turning them into some big idea.... I don't understand how this can be called a troop reduction since Andy was already scheduled to to come home in November and was not scheduled to return to Iraq."
• This retired colonel says: "To pretend that this plan is a product of some real-decision making by General Petraeus is appalling, and I'm sure the Marines in this is appalling, and I'm sure the Marines in this unit and their families are not happy about being used... It's deceitful and ultimately destructive to the credibility of the military and the Bush administration."

Rick has more.

Update II
One member of the DC punditry gets it right. Michael Kinsley on the "outrage" over the MoveOn ad:

It's all phony, of course. The war's backers are obviously delighted to have this ad from which they can make an issue. They wouldn't trade it for a week in Anbar province (a formerly troubled area of Iraq that is now, thanks to us, an Eden of peace and tranquillity where barely a car bomb disturbs the perfumed silence — or so they say). These days, mock outrage is used by every side of every dispute. It's fair enough to criticize something your opponent said while secretly thanking your lucky stars that he said it. The fuss over this MoveOn.org ad is something else: it is the result of a desperate scavenging for umbrage material. When so many people are clamoring for a chance to swoon that they each have to take a number and when the landscape is so littered with folks lying prostrate and pretending to be dead that it starts to look like the end of a Civil War battle re-enactment, this isn't spontaneous mass outrage. This is choreography.

The real problem with the MoveOn ad was not that infamous last sentence. The real problem was that the material before it was true and everyone knew it. That includes those who are the most "outraged".

Make Them Walk The Walk

It's becoming apparent that it will be necessary to increase the Democratic majorities in the House and Senate in 2008 but also get some new leadership - or should I just say leadership, it seems to be lacking. It used to be that when you filibustered you had to well, filibuster. Stand up there and talk for hours or days bringing the Senate to a screeching halt. Now apparently all you have to do is shout "filibuster", kind of like yelling "olly olly oxen free" during a game of hide and seek. Kevin Drum reports on the result:

As you can see, Republicans aren't just obstructing legislation at normal rates. They're obstructing legislation at three times the usual rate. They're absolutely desperate to keep this stuff off the president's desk, where the only choice is to either sign it or else take the blame for a high-profile veto.

As things stand, though, Republicans will largely avoid blame for their tactics. After all, the first story linked above says only that the DC bill "came up short in the Senate" and the second one that the habeas bill "fell short in the Senate." You have to read with a gimlet eye to figure out how the vote actually broke down, and casual readers will come away thinking that the bills failed because of some kind of generic Washington gridlock, not GOP obstructionism.

So why not make them actually filibuster - stand up there and say a lot of things the majority of the American people disagree with. In other words make them take the hit and get some bad press. I'm sorry Mr Reid but I just don't understand. But I do understand that you are not showing me in leadership.

Lawless

I discussed Harry Reid's attempt to halt the Bush Administration's political "recess appointments below. It seemed like a good idea but Dr. Steven Taylor and others point out that the Constitution is not clear on this and that Bush may just decide he can do ti anyway.

Reid may be basing his ten-day cycle on a 1921 Attorney General opinion that a ten day gap was likely too short a recess, but a 1993 DoJ briefing argued for a gap of as small as 3 days. I noted these opinions here. James notes a number of recess appointments made during brief recesses (as short as 11 days).

My guess is that President Bush would be willing, based on his track record, to make a recess appointment for a recess of 24 hours, and then seek to fight it out with the Senate. As such, James is right: this won’t work.

The New York Times has an editorial this morning, Why This Scandal Matters, talking about the US Attorney Purge and the Justice Department.

Justice Department headquarters has become deeply partisan. Young operatives like Ms. Goodling were apparently allowed to hire and promote based on party membership. Political appointees cleared the way for laws designed to disenfranchise minority voters, and brought litigation to remove Democratic-leaning voters from the rolls.

The department’s integrity lies in tatters. As a result of the purge, Tim Griffin, a Republican operative and Karl Rove protégé, was installed as the top federal prosecutor in eastern Arkansas. Rachel Paulose, a 33-year-old Republican activist with thin prosecutorial experience, was assigned to Minnesota. If either indicted a prominent Democrat tomorrow, everyone would believe it was a political hit.

Congress has to save the Justice Department, something President Bush shows no interest in doing. It should pass a resolution of “no confidence” in Mr. Gonzales, and push for his removal. But it also needs to insist on new leadership that will restore the department’s traditions of professionalism and impartiality, and re-establish that in the United States, the legal system does not work to advance the interests of a political party.

That sounds really good but the reality is Bush will simply ignore the congress if they attempt to make DOJ the justice department for all Americans not just the Republican Party.

I have not been a supporter of the impeachment of George W. Bush and Dick Cheney but it is becoming obvious that the only way to end the lawlessness in the White House is to remove them from office in the only way the constitution allows. And I'm not just talking about Alberto Gonzales.

A quick message to the Democrats who control both the House and the Senate: the only thing you can do that George W. Bush will pay any attention to is impeachment. Anything else you try to do is a waste of time so don't bother.

Time Out For Bush?

Is Harry Reid going to give the petulant teenager in the White House a time out?
Bush's Summer Hires Targeted

Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid has a little trick up his sleeve that could spell an end to President Bush's devilish recess appointments of controversial figures like former United Nations Ambassador John Bolton. We hear that over the long August vacation, when those types of summer hires are made, Reid will call the Senate into session just long enough to force the prez to send his nominees who need confirmation to the chamber. The talk is he will hold a quickie "pro forma" session every 10 days, tapping a local senator to run the hall. Senate workers and Republicans are miffed, but Reid is proving that he's the new sheriff in town.

Great idea, you don't have to worry about recess appointments if you never go on recess. I can just see Dubya stomping his feet and holding his breath until he turns purple. If Bush is going to act like an adolescent he should be treated like one.

David Broder should resign

Harry Reid said he wouldn't argue with a Vice president who had a 19% approval rating and I refuse to argue with a brain dead DC pundit who is out of touch with reality and the American people. David Broder proved beyond all doubt that he is a brain dead - out of touch pundit in The Democrats' Gonzales.

A good point by point take down can be found at Think Progress, David Broder’s Continuing Embarrassment. Josh Marshall explains Broder here:

People think of Broder as the 'Dean' of the Washington press corps because of things he did in the 60s and 70s. But the man he is today is much more a product of the long conservative ascendancy of the last three decades -- an ascendancy still very much alive in the town's journalistic and editorial elite. You can hear the animus more and more sharply in this columns as his inability to grasp the political moment becomes more and more clear.

Update
Paul Begala give it to Broder with both barrels over at The Huffington Post. Go read the entire thing but here is a teaser that's right on the money.

Why Reid? Because Reid has been one of the few politicians with the courage to speak the plain, unvarnished truth to power, and the hallmark of Mr. Broder's career has been to suck up to power. Reid calls Bush a liar. Broder can't handle the truth.

George The Unpopular

It was only about two years ago that the talking heads on TV were describing Bush as "this popular President". Of course it wasn't true then but you don't hear them saying it anymore.
Bush 35% Approval Average in Most Recent Quarter Lowest to Date

PRINCETON, NJ -- George W. Bush's presidency reaches a milestone of sorts on Thursday as he completes his 25th quarter in office. But his 25th quarter is not one on which he will look back fondly, given that he averaged only a 35% job approval rating, the lowest quarterly average of his presidency to date. His previous low was the 36% he averaged in the quarter spanning April - July 2006. Those are both far cries from the quarterly averages in excess of 70% he received from late 2001 through early 2002.

To add insult to injury Bill Clinton's Q25 approval rating was 64.6%. Well maybe this is part the reason:
Rate of U.S. losses in Iraq is highest yet
In the past six months, the rate of Americans killed in Iraq has reached its highest level ever, despite four years of fighting.

BAGHDAD -- Over the past six months, American troops have died in Iraq at the highest rate since the war began, an indication that the conflict is becoming increasingly dangerous for U.S. forces even after more than four years of fighting.

From October 2006 through last month, 532 American soldiers were killed, the most during any six-month period of the war. March also marked the first time that the U.S. military suffered four straight months of 80 or more fatalities. April, with 58 service members killed through Monday, is on pace to be one of the deadliest months of the conflict for American forces.

Senior American military officials attribute much of the increase to the Baghdad security crackdown, now in its third month. But the rate of fatalities was increasing even before a more aggressive strategy began moving U.S. troops from heavily fortified bases into smaller neighborhood outposts throughout the capital, placing them at greater risk of roadside bombings and small-arms attacks.

It certainly explains why 70% disapprove of Bush's handing of the war in Iraq. It probably also explains why Nancy Pelosi has an approval rate of 53% in spit of her "traitorous" trip to Syria and Harry Reid comes in at 46%. What this all means is that as the Democrats go to meet with George W. Bush on Iraq they do so with a strong hand.

Digby has another idea. Go read the entire thing but here is a teaser.

Every time they see him [Bush] now people are reminded that they were sold a bill of goods and they resent him and reject what he's saying.