Screw George Bush

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Screw the orchids, this is serious

I was about to post Friday's orchid when I just looked at an email someone sent me. It's from a Web site that claims it's keeping a public list of companies that hire illegal aliens - illegal alien employers, they're called - apparently so we can all boycott those companies.

That, along with Bush's ramblings tonight about wanting to send US troops to the Mexican border, gave me a really horrible realization.

We're now taking the hysteria over the war on terror and turning it into a rather disturbing and familiar war against another race. George Bush and the Republican party have so terrorized the American people, made them so full of fear and hate, that the American people are starting to take it out on the "others" in our society, with the very happy collusion of our government.

Our government is thinking of using the military to deal with this "problem" in our midst. Vigilante citizens groups are patrolling the country to find these others among us. Web sites are being set up to expose the companies among us who harbor these un-Americans. The #1 news channel for Republicans is calling on white people to have more babies to stop Hispanic from taking over "our" country.

Does nobody understand who and what our country is turning into?

We are talking about Mexican-Americans, central Americans, and their families and friends here people. We're not taking Al Qaeda, we're not talking Martians. We're talking rather normal people who all of us know. And George Bush and the Republican party have whipped this country into such a frenzy about these people that we've got vigilante justice taking place and talk of involving the military to - what? - shoot them?

What the hell is going on in our country? How can the majority of Americans not see what we're becoming, and what we've already become? Are we so proud of ourselves, and so blindly confident of the permanence of our freedoms, that no one can even fathom the slightest possibility that those freedoms could ever be in jeopardy? Let alone fathom what those freedoms are even supposed to mean?

What in God's name have George Bush and the Republican party done to our country? Read More......

More doublespeak from Verizon, one of the companies accused of massively violating its customers' privacy

Reuters

"Verizon does not, and will not, provide any government agency unfettered access to our customer records or provide information to the government under circumstances that would allow a fishing expedition," the company said on Friday.

Verizon didn't provide the government "unfettered" access to my phone records.

Phew.

I mean, sure, Verizon provided the government spy agencies "fettered" access to my private, confidential, personal phone records that they were supposed to keep to themselves for the past many years that I've been a Verizon customers - and they didn't. But the good news is that there was no "unfettered" access. Only fettered.

Unfettered massive privacy violation by Verizon = bad.

Fettered massive privacy violation by Verizon = good.

Got it now?

I want to sue Verizon, AT&T; and BellSouth for billions. Okay all you lawyers out there, how do we do this? I'm talking lawsuits in every state. Read More......

Bush considering sending the National Guard to patrol the Mexican border - why?

Because the National Guard hasn't been overstretched enough, what with fighting the war in Iraq and dealing with Hurricane Katrina's aftermath? As always, this makes no sense. We don't have extra troops to spare for some publicity stunt. Gee, we're gonna send troops to stop those Mexican evildoers from - uh, uh, uh - taking jobs that we'd never do?

George Bush is in way over his head and has no idea how to run a country. All he knows is how to hold publicity stunts. And actually, all he knows is how to send soldiers places. That's his solution to everything.

Just invade it.

And by the way, what troops exactly are we planning to use to attack Iran since Bush is now considering stretching our overstretched military even further along the Mexican border? And should some other unexpected crisis come up - oh, say, China invades Taiwan, or North Korea goes crazy - what troops are we going to use then?

Then again, I'm being silly. Forget about the consequences. If it feels good, just do it. That is, after all, what George Bush is best at. Impulsive bad decisions that turn into absolute out of control disasters.

Hey, here's an idea. Maybe Bush can just eavesdrop on all the phone calls in Mexico. I'm not sure why, but that never stopped us before. Read More......

Open thread

Yeah yeah there are stories out there that Rove has told the president he's going to be indicted. Perhaps. But I'd rather see this on an established news site before I believe it. Read More......

NSA whistleblower says current scandal is nothing - new scandal to be revealed next week is even bigger

That's nice. Read More......

AMERICAblog welcomes the NSA!

Well, well, well, it seems we had a little visit from the NSA at AMERICAblog today.

An intrepid AMERICAblog reader noticed that earlier today, in the small box in the left hand corner that shows the 15 latest visitors to the site, there was a visitor from Ft. George Meade, United States. Better known as Ft. Meade, the home of the NSA.

I think they were interested in the t-shirts. Which, by the way, are 10% off to any NSA employee leaking classified info. An extra 10% if your leak leads to the imprisonment of Karl Rove and/or the impeachment of George Bush.

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Breaking News: Apparently I now write for right-wing blog venture Pajamas Media. Who knew?

Gosh, I never knew I was writing for the right-wing blog network Pajamas Media. I hope my portion of their monthly profit is arriving in the mail.

Seriously, I never gave anyone permission to post as me on any other site. That's clearly the impression they're giving by the way they've set up their blog posts - it's intended to look like John Aravosis is a blogger at Pajamas Media. (And I understand that they've done this to at least two other liberal bloggers.) This is incredibly sleazy, and illegal. And it had better stop immediately.

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USA Today letters to the editor not at all happy with Mary Cheney

These are good. And not a one in favor of her.

'Too little, too late' for Cheney's daughter to speak up
Posted 5/11/2006 11:19 PM ET
Now It's My Turn reads the cover of Mary Cheney's book ("Mary Cheney has her turn to speak — and write," Life, Monday).

Now? She and her father have nothing to lose publicly, so now she wants our attention. In 2004, Mary Cheney was in an enviable position of power and influence. The microphone was all hers.

Yet, she states she was "happier and more comfortable staying behind the scenes." Well then by all means, stay there. We needed to hear from you then. Now is too little, too late.

Robert Fahr,

Dallas

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Apologist for the GOP

Mary Cheney writes that she was "furious" when John Kerry mentioned her sexuality during a 2004 presidential debate. If Kerry had any advantage to gain, it was in pointing out the chilling example of parents — in this case, Vice President Cheney and his wife — who look the other way while their gay children are used as symbolic whipping posts by the Republican Party. If this was Kerry's intent, it was justified and timely.

Ms. Cheney also writes that she "never imagined that there were people who would try to use me and my sexual orientation for their own political benefit." If anyone has used sexual orientation in a bid to gain votes, it is the Republicans, with their scaremonger electoral tactics. To suggest otherwise is patently absurd.

How sad that Mary Cheney continues to be an apologist for the Republican Party. I understand that she loves her father, but her loyalty to his career comes at a tremendous cost to millions of gay Americans who don't hold a fraction of the rights of other Americans.

The fact that she "almost" quit her job with the 2004 Bush/Cheney ticket should not be congratulated or applauded. Almost doesn't count. In the old days, we had a name for people like her: We called them Uncle Tom.

Greg Durham,

Brooklyn, N.Y.

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Take a stand, Mary

After reading USA TODAY's article on Mary Cheney, I ask: How can anyone respect her opinion?

She says she and her girlfriend consider themselves married, and her last quote is that they are "just waiting for the state and federal laws to catch up with us" — referring to bans of same-sex marriages and even civil unions. Yet, she worked hard to re-elect an administration that wants to make sure that never happens.

Mary, you can't have it both ways. It is time you truly stand up for what you say you believe in.

Dave Cook,

Miami Beach

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Verizon now invoking "secret agent man" excuse for violating their customers' privacy

The email response Verizon is now sending their customers to justify their huge violation of their customers' privacy.

Mr. xxxxx

Verizon appreciates that the media reports about the possibility that the NSA is able to analyze local call data records is causing concern. Please be assured that Verizon places the highest value on protecting the privacy of our customers.

Anything to do with the NSA is highly classified, so I can't comment on whether or not the news article causing concern is even accurate. But I can say that, to the extent that we cooperate with government authorities, we are confident that we are complying with all applicable statutes.

Bob Varettoni
Verizon Media Relations

No problem, Bob. Your customers can move to another carrier that doesn't have a problem saying whether or not they just massively violated their privacy. Read More......

AT&T; lying to customers about Bush phone-records spy scandal

As you know, AT&T; joined Verizon and BellSouth in voluntarily handing over their customers' private phone records to the Bush administration so they can spy on you.

Well, I'm now getting reports that AT&T; customer service is lying to their customers about their complicity in this scandal. To wit, the following email I just got from a reader:

Hi John,

I finally got through to AT&T; to tell them that I will be switching and they will not have my business, as soon as I figure out what company to go with. The representative first gave the line that they must comply with the law, which I shot down with some quotes from your wonderful postings. She then basically said we are screwed here because in DC there are no carriers who didn't turn records over.

I'm confused, but anxious to leave AT&T.;

Uh, gee, lie much AT&T;?

1. AT&T; had a choice. They could have said no. Qwest said no when the spies approached them, and guess what, nothing happened to Qwest. Qwest didn't turn over a single record and simply went on its merry way. There was no legal requirement for any of these companies to comply, and Qwest proves it. It's an outright lie for AT&T; to be telling their customers that they had no choice but to violate their customers' privacy.

2. AT&T; says there are no other companies in DC to handle your landline communications that haven't also colluded with the NSA?

We know Verizon also violated its customers' privacy, but is AT&T; saying that Vonage and RCN cable also violated their customers' privacy? Because we have both of those services in DC for local and long distance phone service. And AT&T; is clearly saying that every service turned our private phone records over to the feds.

So, Vonage and RCN/Starpower, is AT&T; right? Did you turn our private phone records over to the feds too? Read More......

NSA (Now Spying on Americans)

We got NSA t-shirts :-) And mugs, and mousepads, and more in the AMERICAblog shop. I also created another shirt the other evening, while bored:

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Cheney sleeping again at key meetings

Okay, something is up with VP Cheney. This is the second time in 2 weeks that he's been unable to stay awake in meetings. (Is that a copy of Mary's book in his lap?) Read More......

T-Mobile says they did NOT participate in spy program, Comcast less clear

Just to recap, from what we know currently:

BAD GUYS
- Verizon land-line: "We have been in full compliance with the law and we are committed to our customers' privacy."

- AT&T; land-line: "Our customers expect, deserve and receive nothing less than our fullest commitment to their privacy. We also have an obligation to assist law enforcement and other government agencies responsible for protecting the public welfare, whether it be an individual or the security interests of the entire nation."

- BellSouth land-line: "We have not provided any information we would need a subpoena for."

GOOD GUYS(supposedly)
- Qwest
- Verizon Wireless: "Verizon Wireless is not involved in this situation."
- T-Mobile: "T-Mobile is not a participant in any NSA program for warrant-less surveillance and acquisition of call records. T-Mobile has not provided any such access to communications or customer records."

UNCLEAR
- Comcast: "It is not company policy to provide the federal government access to customer records or the ability to monitor customer communications in the absence of valid legal process."

That is a non-answer from Comcast. And what's worse, it's actually the same answer we're getting from AT&T;, Verizon and BellSouth, which we already know from the USA Today article are voluntarily invading their customers' privacy. So where does Comcast really stand? Time to ask them to get a clear answer rather than legal mumbo-jumbo.

OTHER UNCLEAR
Cingular Wireless
Sprint
MCI
RCN cable phone
And I'm sure many more wireless and landline telcos I'm forgetting. Read More......

Editorials from left and right slam Bush's phone records spying

From E&P; Read More......

Actual legal experts say latest Bush spying probably illegal

Legal analysts are weighing in on the latest Bush domestic spying scandal. The political hacks at the Bush Department of Justice think that spying on American citizens is perfectly acceptable. Of course they do. However, people who actually know and care about the rule of law, think it's illegal:

The U.S. government's secret collection of Americans' phone records may not breach the Fourth Amendment's privacy guarantee, legal analysts said Thursday, but it could violate federal surveillance and telecommunication laws.

More broadly, USA TODAY's report about the National Security Agency's deal with three major phone companies fed a debate over whether the Bush administration is going too far — and setting dangerous precedents — in trying to protect the nation from terrorism.

"This may well be another example where the Bush administration, in secret, decided to bypass the courts and contravene federal law," said Georgetown University law professor David Cole.

Just another example of Bush breaking the law.

The USA Today reporters better hire good lawyers. Remember that the Bush administration has vowed to use espionage statutes to prosecute reporters who report on leaked "national security" issues.

Spying on citizens and prosecuting reporters -- that's so Soviet. Read More......

Kentucky's GOP Gov. Indicted

Ernie Fletcher was a protege of Tom DeLay when they were both in the House. Obviously, he learned well:

A grand jury indicted Gov. Ernie Fletcher (R) on misdemeanor charges Thursday, accusing him of illegally rewarding political supporters with state jobs since he took office two years ago.

Fletcher was charged with conspiracy, official misconduct and violating a prohibition against political discrimination.

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Romney at it again

Mitt, Mitt, Mitt. When are you going to understand that no matter how hard you try to appease your fellow wingnuts, they will never support you because you come from the northeast? And your flip-flopping won't do you any favors with anyone, on either side. Congratulations Mitt... you've pissed off everyone, again.

Angered that his name appeared on a press release touting a gay pride parade, Governor Mitt Romney moved yesterday to curtail the activities of a 14-year-old advisory commission on gay and lesbian youth.

The commission chairwoman, Kathleen M. Henry, said she was called yesterday by Beth Myers, the governor's chief of staff, who told her that the governor planned to issue an executive order ''revoking our existence" and creating another youth commission whose purview would be all of the state's youth, not just gays and lesbians. The commission would have all new members, she said.

But a few hours later, Myers called again, Henry said, and said the governor had switched course.

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Friday Morning Open Thread

Almost everyone has called someone they shouldn't have called. And no one wants George Bush knowing that. Across every issue, there is no such thing as privacy under the Bush Administration.

Let's get it going again.... Read More......

Bush claims to fully support Hayden

Lots of talk about the WH support of Hayden and how he's their guy. OK, so why did they cancel some of his visits yesterday? Sounds like another botched nomination by Bush. So how long is Hayden going to be in play before getting tossed aside? Read More......

Scooter-mania hits the US

With the high cost of gas (though don't worry, it just dropped under $73 today!) Americans are turning more and more to scooters. Over here in Europe, they're everywhere and while I've always liked the look of a Vespa, there's a price to pay for them. They always remind me of Rome, watching Quadrophenia or wading through piles of scooters in Saigon. The lawnmower whine is the most awful noise pollution that sort of blends in well enough in cities but in smaller towns is downright annoying as hell. I've always been told that scooters have limited emissions regulations which means they churn out plenty of traditional pollution as well. Besides that, what really scares me about them is the ugly accidents that I see all too often in Paris and let's just say scooters and their drivers don't hold up very well in those battles against cars and trucks. Read More......

Unfriendly editorial from the very conservative Boston Herald

This is quite telling as well. First the Chicago Trib, and now this. Now, this ain't exactly the scathing editorial I'd write, but for an uber-conservative newspaper, this is not a good editorial by any means:

At first blush there’s something truly unnerving about the idea that government spies have their mitts on our private phone records. Really, does the National Security Agency need to know when Aunt Millie dials up her sister on the Cape?

...Since 9/11 the American public has been willing to rely on the assurances of government leaders that they are preserving our privacy while fighting terrorism.

Unfortunately, and perhaps understandably, many Americans no longer believe them.

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Washington Post editorial almost calls Bush a liar

For the Washington Post, that's a big step. Think of it as a first step in twelve.

WHEN THE New York Times revealed the National Security Agency's domestic wiretapping program late last year, President Bush assured the country that the operation was carefully limited to international calls, targeted only al-Qaeda suspects and did not involve snooping on law-abiding Americans. That turns out to be far from the whole truth.

And the Post gets bonus points for a second editorial suggesting that the HUD secretary needs to step down:

Either Mr. Jackson broke the law and then lied about it, or he lied that he had broken the law. Which of those actions makes him fit to be secretary of housing and urban development?

Boy oh boy, two rather logical editorials in a row on the same day. Fred Hiatt's gonna be pissed when he gets back from his vacation. Read More......