Ex-aide turns on Bush.
Ex-aide turns on Bush.
President Bush’s former top aide and pollster Matthew Dowd comes clean:
In a wide-ranging interview here, Mr. Dowd called for a withdrawal from Iraq and expressed his disappointment in Mr. Bush’s leadership.
He criticized the president as failing to call the nation to a shared sense of sacrifice at a time of war, failing to reach across the political divide to build consensus and ignoring the will of the people on Iraq. He said he believed the president had not moved aggressively enough to hold anyone accountable for the abuses at Abu Ghraib prison in Iraq, and that Mr. Bush still approached governing with a “my way or the highway” mentality reinforced by a shrinking circle of trusted aides. …
In speaking out, Mr. Dowd became the first member of Mr. Bush’s inner circle to break so publicly with him.
He said his decision to step forward had not come easily. But, he said, his disappointment in Mr. Bush’s presidency is so great that he feels a sense of duty to go public given his role in helping Mr. Bush gain and keep power.
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Regime change, Syria edition.
Regime change, Syria edition.
McClatchy reports, via David Kurtz:
The State Department in recent weeks has issued a series of rhetorical broadsides against Syria, using language harsher than that usually reserved for U.S. adversaries.
“It’s the new Cuba – no language is too tough,” said one of the officials, who like others insisted on anonymity to discuss internal government planning. …
Some officials who are aware of the campaign say they fear its real aim is to weaken or even overthrow Assad and to ensure that he can’t thwart the creation of an international tribunal to investigate the February 2005 assassination of former Lebanese Prime Minister Rafik Hariri. A U.N. report has implicated Syrian and Lebanese officials in the murder.
The officials say the campaign bears the imprint of Elliott Abrams, a conservative White House aide in charge of pushing Bush’s global democracy agenda.
Cummins: Now The Bush Administration Is Lying About Me
Cummins: Now The Bush Administration Is Lying About Me
Bud Cummins is the former U.S. Attorney for Arkansas who was pushed out to make room for Karl Rove protege Tim Griffin.
Interviewed two weeks ago on Fox News Sunday, Cummins said that while he was seriously concerned about the administration’s treatment of the seven other purged prosecutors, he knew why he was fired and said the White House had been honest about it:
In my case, I served at the pleasure of the president. They asked me to leave. I left. And they told the truth almost consistently throughout this about my situation.
So I really don’t think this is as much about me as it is the positions they’ve taken to try and explain the other seven. And that’s where I personally am still very concerned, because I don’t think they’ve been fair to the other seven colleagues at all.
But during his testimony on Thursday, Kyle Sampson suggested that Cummins was also let go for performance-related reasons. During a speech in Arkansas, Cummins was livid:
Cummins objected to the testimony of Kyle Sampson, former chief of staff to Attorney General Alberto Gonzales, in Sampson’s appearance Thursday before the Senate Judiciary Committee. Sampson told senators he believed each of the federal prosecutors fired late last year by the Justice Department was replaced because of problems related to his or her performance in office.
“If they’re starting to say that I had performance problems, then I have the same gripe the other seven have, because it’s a lie,” said Cummins, a Republican Bush appointee who was removed as U.S. attorney for the Eastern District of Arkansas and replaced by Tim Griffin, former assistant to White House political adviser Karl Rove.
Cummins said if he were to comment further on Sampson’s testimony, “I’d need a censor.”
Cummins also said during his speech that he was “astounded” by Sampson’s suggestion that “political success and success as a prosecutor are one and the same.” In an op-ed today for Salon.com, Cummins writes, “Being credible is like being pregnant — you either are, or you aren’t. … Once you have given the public a reason to believe some of your decisions are improperly motivated, then they are going to question every decision you have made, or will make in the future.”
Right-wing ex-porn star in trouble.
Right-wing ex-porn star in trouble.
The Marine Corps is investigating charges that Col. Matt Sanchez — a right-wing activist who was discovered to be a former gay porn star and male escort — “solicited more than $12,000 from private organizations by asking them to fund a deployment to Iraq he never made.”
Anatomy of a photo-op.
Anatomy of a photo-op.
Bush at Walter Reed: “Journalists were allowed to take pictures and watch for only a few minutes before being ushered out, though not before Bush told photographers to take pictures of Sgt. Mark Ecker’s tattoo of a naked woman. Reporters were not allowed to interview patients in Abrams Hall, hospital officials said, citing logistics. The hospital instead made available two doctors, who spoke glowingly about the president’s visit and had no information to provide about the facility’s problems.” Bush wrapped up his visit an hour before the scheduled time.
UPDATE: “The president was not taken into the shut-down Building 18 yesterday but was shown a well-kept, empty dormitory room equipped with flat-screen television and desktop computer in Abrams Hall, where some Building 18 patients have been moved.”
Bernie Kerik facing multiple felonies.
Bernie Kerik facing multiple felonies.
“Federal prosecutors have told Bernard B. Kerik, whose nomination as homeland security secretary in 2004 ended in scandal, that he is likely to be charged with several felonies, including tax evasion and conspiracy to commit wiretapping,” the Washington Post reports. “Kerik’s indictment could set the stage for a courtroom battle that would draw attention to Kerik’s extensive business and political dealings with former New York mayor Rudolph W. Giuliani, who personally recommended him to President Bush for the Cabinet.”
REPORT: Public Strongly At Odds With Bush’s Position on Stem Cells
REPORT: Public Strongly At Odds With Bush’s Position on Stem Cells
Last year, Congress passed legislation with broad bipartisan support to expand funding for embryonic stem cell research beyond the 2001 limits set by President Bush. In response, Bush issued the first veto of his presidency. When Congress returns from recess, it will again revive debate on funding for new embryonic stem cell research. Bush has already vowed another veto.
Even Bush’s own scientists disagree with his position on stem cell research. Last month, Dr. Elias Zerhouni, Bush’s appointee as director of the National Institutes of Health, said that “American science will be better served — and the nation will be better served — if we let our scientists have access to more cell lines that they can study with the different methods that have emerged since 2001.”
Furthermore, polling done this year shows that the Bush is at odds with the public, as “now a solid and consistent majority says that it wants to move forward with research”:
“It’s interesting to note that even Republicans in the CBS News poll said they approve of embryonic stem cell research by 54-36. On the stem cell research issue, Bush isn’t even representing his own partisans, much less the rest of the public,” states American Progress fellow Ruy Teixeira.
Gravel: ‘I Have My Suspicions’ That No Matter Who Is Elected ‘They’re Not Going To Get Out Of Iraq’
Gravel: ‘I Have My Suspicions’ That No Matter Who Is Elected ‘They’re Not Going To Get Out Of Iraq’
Former Sen. Mike Gravel (D-AK) served two terms in the Senate through the 1970s, a period marked by the U.S.’s struggle to end the Vietnam War. In 1971, when military analyst Daniel Ellsberg famously leaked the Pentagon Papers — which documented the “policymaking process that led to our deepening involvement in Vietnam” — Gravel, a war critic, audaciously read the documents into the Congressional Record to ensure that the public would have access to them.
Also in 1971, Gravel, “against the advice of Democratic leaders in the Senate, launched a one-man filibuster to end the peacetime military draft, forcing the administration to cut a deal that allowed the draft to expire in 1973.”
Now, he’s running for President. He told us last weekend that he thought the Iraq redeployment provision attached to the House and Senate supplemental bills is “ridiculous legislation.” “We need to get out now,” Gravel said, adding that he had his “suspicions” that whoever is elected president in 2008 is “not going to get out of Iraq.”
“We are fighting over the ownership of the Titanic. That’s really what’s going on,” he said. “Keep in mind when Nixon got elected — he said I got a plan to end the war. Yeah, it took him four years. And we doubled the number of casualties under his tenure.” Gravel warned, “I suspect we’re going in the same direction.” Watch it:
Gravel also advocated a carbon tax. He said Americans should “keep in mind” that every time they fill up their gas tank, “you’re spending another $4.00 per gallon indirectly by maintaining American troops in 140 countries to stabilize the price of oil.”
Transcript: More »
David Broder to ‘revisit’ Bush bounce column.
David Broder to ‘revisit’ Bush bounce column.
“For well over a month now, liberal and/or anti-Bush bloggers have hit famed columnist David Broder for a column he wrote on February for The Washington Post (syndicated nationally) in which he suggested that President Bush, perpetually down in the polls, might be ‘poised for a political comeback.’ Today he was asked about this in an online chat at www.washingtonpost.com:
Seattle: Remember your column about President Bush being on the verge of regaining his political footing? Isn’t it about time you revisited that tidbit of political prognostication? (Bush Regains His Footing, Post, Feb. 16)
David S. Broder: I remember that column well. It is time to revisit and revise. Stay tuned.
Affordable Suites hotel
Affordable Suites hotel
says it has a policy of not renting rooms to gay couples. You can contact Affordable Suites HERE.
Goodling to House Dems:
Exclusive: Republican Delegation Currently Visiting Syria, Spared From White House Attacks
Exclusive: Republican Delegation Currently Visiting Syria, Spared From White House Attacks
The White House today lashed out at Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-CA) for daring to visit Syria in the coming days. White House spokesperson Dana Perino:
I do think that, as a general rule — and this would go for Speaker of the House Pelosi and this apparent trip that she is going to be taking — that we don’t think it’s a good idea. …
I’m not sure what the hopes are to — what she’s hoping to accomplish there. I know that Assad probably really wants people to come and have a photo opportunity and have tea with him, and have discussions about where they’re coming from, but we do think that’s a really bad idea.
Not only are the administration’s attacks on Pelosi hypocritical, but the timing suggests they are a partisan hit. ThinkProgress has learned that a delegation of Republicans is currently in Syria. (This has not been previously reported by the press.) Why did the White House wait until Pelosi’s imminent visit to raise this issue publicly, and not make mention of the Republicans already there?
Here’s what the White House isn’t talking about:
Republican Reps. Aderholt and Wolf are currently visiting Syria. According to a congressional official on Rep. Robert Aderholt’s (R-AL) staff, Aderholt and Rep. Frank Wolf (R-VA) are currently visiting Israel and Syria.
Republican Rep. Hobson accompanying Pelosi on Syria visit. Speaker Pelosi will be traveling with a contingent of members of Congress to Syria. The delegation includes Reps. David Hobson (R-OH), Keith Ellison (D-MN), Tom Lantos (D-CA), Henry Waxman (D-CA), Louise Slaughter (D-NY), Nick Rahall (D-WV).
Moreover, as the AP reports, “Earlier this month, U.S. Assistant Secretary of State Ellen Sauerbrey held talks with a senior Syrian diplomat on how Damascus was coping with a flood of Iraqi refugees, the first such talks in the Syrian capital for more than two years.”
UPDATE: Bloomberg confirms our account:
Michael Lowry, a spokesman for Representative Robert Aderholt, said that the Alabama lawmaker will visit Syria as part of a Republican delegation led by Representative Frank Wolf, a Virginia Republican. Wolf is the top Republican on the House appropriations subcommittee that funds the State Department.
Perino wasn’t available to comment about that trip.
Bush sent memo on truth about Tillman’s death.
Bush sent memo on truth about Tillman’s death.
“Just seven days after Pat Tillman’s death, a top general warned there were strong indications that it was friendly fire and President Bush might embarrass himself if he said the NFL star-turned-soldier died in an ambush… The memo reinforces suspicions that the Pentagon was more concerned with sparing officials from embarrassment than with leveling with Tillman’s family.” A White House spokesman said “that a review of records turned up no indication that the president had received McChrystal’s warning.”
Time magazine
White House Privately ‘Frustrated’ And ‘Impatient’ With Gonzales
White House Privately ‘Frustrated’ And ‘Impatient’ With Gonzales
Publicly, the White House continues to claim that President Bush supports Attorney General Alberto Gonzales. Today, Press Secretary Dana Perino said the President “has confidence in” Gonzales and “believes the attorney general can overcome the challenges that are before him.”
Privately though, reports indicate that the White House is frustrated with Gonzales. On March 14, Bush told the nation, “Al was right, mistakes were made, and he’s going to go up to Capitol Hill to correct them.” But 16 days later, Gonzales has still not been to Congress to talk to lawmakers. His next scheduled appearance is on April 17, when he tesitifies to the Senate Judiciary Committee. Yesterday, ABC News reported:
The White House is getting increasingly impatient with Attorney General Alberto Gonzales.
Officials are frustrated that Gonzales is taking so long to get up to Capitol Hill to attempt damage control on last year’s controversial firing of eight U.S. attorneys.
Additionally, at a meeting with House Republicans yesterday, Bush refused to expess confidence in his Attorney General:
Asked about Gonzales during a closed-door meeting with House Republicans on Thursday, Bush did not defend his longtime friend, according to one official who attended the session and demanded anonymity because it was private.
Instead, Bush tepidly repeated his public statement: The attorney general would have to go up to Capitol Hill and fix his problem, according to this official.
After yesteday’s testimony by his former deputy Kyle Sampson — who testified, under oath, that Gonzales’s statements about his involvement in the prosecutor purge were “not accurate” — Gonzales will face a much tougher time “correcting” his mistakes to Congress.
Pelosi to Syria.
Pelosi to Syria.
Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-CA) is set to visit Syria, a country President Bush has shunned, “despite being asked by the administration not to go.” “In our view, it is not the right time to have these sort of high-profile visitors to Syria,” State Department spokesman Sean McCormack told reporters Friday.
UPDATE: Several members of Congress, including Sens. Arlen Specter (R-PA) and John Kerry (D-MA), have visited Syria in recent months over Bush objections. During his visit, Specter “stressed the importance of reactivating the dialogue between the United States and Syria to achieve security and stability in the Middle East.”
UPDATE II: Pelosi’s office releases a statement: “As recommended by the Iraq Study Group, a bipartisan delegation led by Speaker Pelosi intends to discuss a wide range of security issues affecting the United States and the Middle East with representatives of governments in the region, including Syria.”
Waxman To Rice: Your Days Of Blowing Off My Letters Are Over
Waxman To Rice: Your Days Of Blowing Off My Letters Are Over
At the heart of the CIA leak scandal was a false claim, made by President Bush in the infamous 16 words from his State of the Union address, that Iraq had sought uranium from Niger for a nuclear device.
House Oversight and Government Reform Committee Chairman Henry Waxman (D-CA) has been trying for years to investigate how this fraudulent claim became part of the basis for sending our country to war, beginning with a letter to the White House two days before the war began.
The Bush administration has consistently refused his requests for information. Since the war began, Waxman has written 11 letters to Condoleezza Rice alone — she hasn’t responded to a single one.
On March 12, 2007, he wrote his first letter to Rice as committee chairman, asking that she respond by March 23. She didn’t, and Waxman has had enough:
Dear Madam Secretary:
On March 12, 2007, I sent you a letter renewing, as formal requests of the Committee, prior letter requests that I sent to you between 2003 and 2006. These requests sought information on the claim that Iraq sought uranium from Niger, White House treatment of classified information, the appointment of Ambassador Jones as “special coordinator” for Iraq, and other subjects. My March 12 letter is attached.
The March 12 letter requested a response by March 23 to several of the inquiries, but the Committee received no response from you.
I now request your appearance before the Committee at a hearing on Wednesday, April 18, 2007, at 10:00 a.m. in Room 2154, Rayburn House Office Building. At this hearing, you will be asked to provide testimony and respond to questions on the subjects outlined in the March 12 letter and the original request letters. …
Sincerely,
Henry A. Waxman
Chairman
Since Waxman wrote his March 12 letter, Rice has done more than a dozen press events, including interviews with Sean Hannity and Fox & Friends. Now it’s time she spend a few hours with Congress.
Alberto Gonzales today:
Alberto Gonzales today:
”I believe in truth and accountability and every step that I’ve taken is consistent with that principle. I am fighting for the truth as well.”
UPDATE: Gonzales speech canceled?
Firm aided by Gov. Gibbons employed his wife.
Firm aided by Gov. Gibbons employed his wife.
“A defense company that got a federal contract with help from then-Republican Rep. Jim Gibbons, now governor of Nevada, hired Gibbons’ wife to do consulting work… Dawn Gibbons was paid about $35,000 by Sierra Nevada Corp. of Sparks, Nev., in 2004, the same year her husband, who sat on the Armed Services and Intelligence committees, pushed for the company to get a $4 million contract to make a helicopter radar system.”
Bush Caught Hyping False Iraq Spending Deadline
Bush Caught Hyping False Iraq Spending Deadline
The Bush administration has been trying to force Congress to abandon its support for an Iraq withdrawal time line by claiming that a “clean” Iraq spending bill must be signed by mid-April or U.S. troops will suffer. The Hill reported, the Pentagon and the White House have been “sounding alarms and sketching worst-case scenarios if Congress does not pass the 2007 supplemental by April 15.”
Renewing his veto threat on Wednesday, President Bush told Congress “the clock is ticking for our troops in the field“:
BUSH: Congress continues to pursue these [withdrawal] bills, and as they do, the clock is ticking for our troops in the field. Funding for our forces in Iraq will begin to run out in mid-April. Members of Congress need to stop making political statements, and start providing vital funds for our troops.
Meanwhile, Rep. John Murtha (D-PA) and others have been arguing that Bush is wrong, and that funds won’t dry up until June, giving plenty of time for negotiations:
Murtha says he believes the April 15 date for funds running out is incorrect. Based on the inquiries he’s made, he said, the Pentagon will start running out of money at the beginning of June.
“We’ve never had a year where they didn’t give us bad information,” said Murtha, who’s known for his contacts inside the military. “We’ve been asking people and we think it’ll be the end of May.”
Now we know who’s right. A new report from the Congressional Research Service makes clear that Bush’s deadline is completely fabricated:
In a memo to the Senate Budget Committee dated Wednesday, the congressional analysts said the Army has enough money in its existing budget to fund operations and maintenance through the end of May — about $52.6 billion. If additional transfer authority is tapped, subject to Congress approving a reprogramming request, the Army would have enough funds to make it through nearly two additional months, or toward the end of July. Using all of its transfer authority, the Army could have as much as $60.1 billion available.
See the full CRS report HERE.
Commenting on the report, Sen. Harry Reid (D-NV) said, “This study confirms that the President is once again attempting to mislead the public and create an artificial atmosphere of anxiety. He is using scare tactics to defeat bipartisan legislation that would change course in Iraq.”
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