L'Affaire Dreyfus and Guantanamo Bay

I chose to title one of the new t-shirts "J'Accuse...!" - a loose allusion to the famous Dreyfus Affair out of French history.

In a nutshell, the phrase "I Accuse...!" comes from the title of an open letter, published in 1898, by the famous French writer Emile Zola to the president of France regarding a French soldier wrongly convicted of treason.

It's a long story, and my intent was simply to harken back to accusing governments of knowingly hiding the truth. Then I decided to Google the phrase "j'accuse" to make sure I got it exactly right, and happened on a Web page describing the history of the Dreyfus Affair and Zola's article.

Well. In reading the description of the Dreyfus Affair, it gave me the chills. Oddly, considering Dreyfus was Jewish (and anti-Semitism played heavily in his story), the description made me immediately think of the US government's Muslim prisoners in Guantanamo Bay, Cuba.

Let me share a bit:

The Affair, "one of the great commotions of history," in the words of historian Barbara W. Tuchman, arose out of the 1894 arrest and conviction for treason of Capt. Alfred Dreyfus, a Jewish artillery officer in the French army. Dreyfus, who was completely innocent, received an unfair trial at his court martial; the prosecution's case had no substance, and the conviction was based on false, supposedly incriminating documents, not introduced into evidence or disclosed to Dreyfus, which were secretly delivered to the trial judges after they had retired to consider their verdict. Dreyfus was sentenced to life imprisonment and expelled from the army. He was incarcerated off the coast of South America on Devil's Island from 1895 until 1899.

At the time of the arrest and trial the army officers responsible for the prosecution truly believed Dreyfus was guilty of the crime charged. By 1896, however, they knew they had made a catastrophic mistake. Nevertheless, high-ranking officers on the army's General Staff and officers in military intelligence, fearful that public exposure of the injustice done Dreyfus would embarrass the army, engaged in a gigantic coverup which featured perjury, forgery, and obstruction of justice. The conspirators, including at least eight generals, even protected and assisted Commandant Ferdinand Esterhazy, the army infantry officer who, as they knew by 1896, had actually committed the crime for which Dreyfus had been wrongfully convicted.

One of Zola's main concerns about the affair was the following:

[Zola] accused the tribunal that convicted Dreyfus of "condemning an accused person on the strength of a secret document"

Sound familiar?

I know, it'll piss some people off comparing the two affairs, and good. I'll bet Zola would love the irony. But I have no problem comparing the two, as civil and human rights have a funny way of exacting poetic justice. Eventually, everyone realizes respect for such rights benefits us all. Well, at least we can hope they realize.

You can read the original French version of Zola's letter and the English translation here.

PS This story is also a lesson in the power of good journalism and what journalism should be about, in my view. Read More......

Anyway, like I was saying, I got the new t-shirts up

And for anyone who asks what's so hard about running a blog, the damn things took hours. But I'm not bitter :-) Here's the selection, all are about the GOP whitewashing the Katrina investigation.

SHIRT 1 FRONT




SHIRT 1 BACK




SHIRTS 2, 3, 4 FRONT








SHIRT 2, 3, 4 BACK

Read More......

Bush "bathroom break" photo getting more and more coverage, around the world and at home

The story that isn't dying.

A source at the Washington Post tells E&P; that the paper is considering it for prominent play tomorrow morning, in the context that, at least in some minds, it raises questions about overall perception of the U.S. at the United Nations, right or wrong. Reuters reports extremely strong interest in the photo today.

The fact is, according to Reuters -- and this has not been widely reported -- President Bush did indeed take a bathroom break after passing the note to Rice.

This apparently raised some eyebrows around the room, because American representatives (among others) have a reputation for suddenly bolting, though normally for a far different reason than this latest one. Fair or not, the European press has already had a field day with the photo, often centering on the notion that Bush had to ask Rice for permission.

It gets even better. Read it. Read More......

Ok, so what did you think, now that Bush's speech is over

Ugh. 23 minutes. What are the tv stations saying about this? Read More......

Your opinions of Bush's address, real time

Weigh in here once the chimp starts speaking.

Ok, a number of folks in the comments have asked if Bush buttoned his shirt wrong, i.e., the shirt on the right hand side looks like there's an extra button hole. I think they're right. From AP:



Ok, I got bored at 4 minutes after the hour, seriously. Now he's 13 minutes in and I'm totally lost. This should have been a short and sweet speech. And by the way, did he take responsibility anywhere in this speech? Oh here we go, 20 minutes into the speech, he's responsible.

"It was a not a normal hurricane and the normal disaster relief system was not equal to it." Ok, now we're hearing excuses again. So, when Osama sets off a chemical, biological or nuclear weapon in an American city will that be a "normal" devastating attack or an abnormal one?

Ooh, he just avoided endorsing the GOP plan for their own partisan study of the Katrina disaster. He said he'd work with Congress to look at the problem, he never said he was endorsing the GOP plan, that's interesting, but might have been an oversight.

PS You've got t-shirts...

Read More......

Holy crap

From AP:

A Pentagon employee was ordered to destroy documents that identified Mohamed Atta as a terrorist two years before the 2001 attacks, a congressman said Thursday.

The employee is prepared to testify next week before the Senate Judiciary Committee and was expected to name the person who ordered him to destroy the large volume of documents, said Rep. Curt Weldon, R-Pa.

Weldon declined to name the employee, citing confidentiality matters. Weldon described the documents as "2.5 terabytes" — as much as one-fourth of all the printed materials in the Library of Congress, he added....

Pentagon officials said this month they had found three more people who recall an intelligence chart identifying Atta as a terrorist prior to the Sept. 11 attacks.

Two military officers, Army Lt. Col. Anthony Shaffer and Navy Capt. Scott Phillpott, have come forward to support Weldon's claims.

Read More......

Bush addresses the nation at 9 Eastern

You have to love Paula Zahn. She's talking about Bush's speech a few minutes ago, then says in a very skeptical voice, something to the effect of "Come on, Suzanne, does the White House really think one speech is going to change everybody's mind about the president?" Zing!

Having said that, speeches can help. The problem for Bush is that he's tried the speech route - oh, I think four times now in the past few months. And it doesn't help. People don't watch. People don't care. They've got his number and no speech - which, let's face it, isn't exactly Bush's strong suit - is going to help.

My only question is this: Will Bush tear up during his speech? And even if he does, will it help or hurt? Not sure bubba wants to see a crying president. Read More......

The Bush Campaign begins....

Since we now know Karl Rove is in charge of the post-Katrina operation, we know that Team Bush is basically planning a political campaign, and not much more. Think Progress has a copy of the right wing talking points -- the first marching orders from Captain Karl. My favorite is the one where they compare Katrina to Whitewater:

Senator Frist and Speaker Hastert have indicated that Congress will conduct a thorough investigation modeled after some of the most serious investigations that Congress has ever undertaken: the 1973 Watergate Committee, the 1987 Iran Contra Committee, the 1994 and 1995 Whitewater Committees and the 1997 Campaign Finance investigation.

I think if combine the death toll from all these scandals, it's close to none. Unlike, perhaps, 9/11. Read More......

Open thread

"Dirty Bomb 54" t-shirts coming in a moment... Read More......

Bubonic plague mice missing from lab in New Jersey

From the NY Daily News

Authorities are searching for three mice infected with bubonic plague that disappeared from a research laboratory about two weeks ago.

While health experts say the risk to the public is slim to none, the incident highlights ongoing security failures at the University of Medicine and Dentistry of New Jersey.

Yeah, risk to the public is slim because, you know, it's not like mice can transmit the plague to an entire population, killing a third of a continent or anything. Read More......

Hotline covers AMERICAblog's "Dirty Bomb 54" campaign

The National Journal's Hotline, a subscription political newsletter, covered the campaign John launched last night to hold the 54 GOP Senators responsible for trying to whitewash the investigation of Hurricane Katrina:

AMERICAblog calls these GOPers the "Dirty Bomb 54" and writes, they "don't want the truth, they want a whitewash. They don't want to protect America against Al Qaeda, they want to play politics with our lives." (AMERICAblog heads that post "Ask GOP Senators why they hate America?"; the question is a variation on a post-9/11 joke among lefty bloggers who saw conservative bloggers as claiming that liberals "hate America.")

Right now, John is working on t-shirts. This thing is picking up steam. Keep up the pressure. Read More......

Senator Reid's statement in advance of Bush's address to the nation tonight

AMERICA CAN DO BETTER FOR VICTIMS OF KATRINA

In advance of President Bush’s address tonight, U.S. Senate Democratic Leader Harry Reid released the following statement today:

“The families in the Gulf don’t need to hear a speech from me. And they certainly don’t need to hear another speech from President Bush. What they need is leadership. That’s why we’re here to give our plan to help families get back on their feet, back into homes and back on the job.

“Let’s be clear about what Katrina was: a failure of leadership. The day before the Hurricane made landfall, President Bush received a briefing on the enormity of the storm. But when flood waters poured into America’s Gulf Coast, America’s government sat on its hands.

“We can’t change that. It’s in the past. But we can change our future and make sure no American is left behind again.

“Our first job is to help our neighbors as quickly as possible. Our plan insists on housing, health care and classrooms for everyone who has lost everything. For two weeks we’ve been trying to get this relief out of the Congress and to victims, but Republicans have held it up, and the desperate are still waiting.

“We can do better. We believe that one lesson of Katrina is that in America - we don’t leave anyone behind. Our rule on aid is - be fair and be quick. Never again will the federal government rescue some Americans, and leave other less fortunate ones waiting behind.

“Next, we need answers. In order to fix what went wrong, we need to know what went wrong. We don’t believe the President can fairly investigate his friends. And even though we’re in Congress, we don’t believe Congress should investigate its own role either. We support an independent commission like the one created after 9/11.

“Let’s put good people on the independent commission and take politics out. Let’s give it real power and let it go to work.

“And while we’re looking for answers, we need answers about poverty. When tough times threaten, Americans who’ve worked hard shouldn’t see their escape options limited to a roof top or the Superdome. We can do better, and Democrats stand ready with real solutions to help.

“Third, we need to remember every American has a stake in this. We’re a country that rolls-up our sleeves and works alongside a neighbor when they need help. We didn’t leave Europe in ruin after World War II. We didn’t leave San Francisco in rubble in 1989, and we shouldn’t tell the people of the Gulf Coast that Katrina is their mess and they need to clean it up.

“We can do better. We support an American Marshall Plan to rebuild the Gulf – one that partners the resources and know-how of the government with the vision and leadership of the people who live there.

“And one more thing: We should let those who’ve lost so much help rebuild their cities, so they can build better lives for themselves.

“We will rebuild the Gulf Coast…And billions of dollars – billions of taxpayer dollars – will be spent in the process. We Democrats want to be certain that money goes to help the victims, not to enrich the contractors. And we want to make sure that the well-connected get treated no better than the carpenters, plumbers and electricians who do the work. The President has stripped away protections for these workers, but we know America can do better.

“Democrats want an independent ethics watchdog – someone with integrity and investigative power to police this spending and make sure everyone plays by the rules.

“Americans are coming together. Churches have opened their doors. Families have opened their pocketbooks and their homes. Entire cities have opened their arms.

“Katrina did more than pull apart buildings and trees, it pulled together the ties that bind.

“We Democrats want to rebuild our sense of unity and community, even as we repair levees and rebuild cities.

“We are Americans. We want to move forward united and strong. We believe that together, we can do better.” Read More......

Got Levees?

The right wants to argue that those levees in New Orleans were weak because the city is mired in corruption and they were just too dumb to insist on getting them fixed and even if we poured in money, it would have been wasted anyway. Because obviously no other city would be stupid enought to ignore such an obvious danger.

Oops. Seems levees are weak and crumbling all over the country.

A prime potential trouble spot is here in Northern California, where hundreds of thousands of people live on low-lying land protected by levees. Levee networks are also prominent across the Gulf Coast, in Florida and in heavily populated areas of the Midwest along the Mississippi and Missouri rivers....

An earthquake or prolonged, heavy storms could cause levees to rupture near urban areas, particularly around Sacramento. Houses in a booming residential area north of the city could be inundated with up to 20 feet of water.

Widespread levee breaks also could imperil the water supply for 22 million Californians....

A levee break in dry, sunny weather in June 2004 flooded 12,000 acres of farmland and caused $150 million in damage. The cause, like the cause of most levee breaches, is unknown because rushing water washed away the evidence.

In 1997, more than 50 California levees broke on rain-choked rivers and killed eight people, forced the evacuation of 100,000 and damaged or destroyed 24,000 homes.

Levees have failed more than 140 times in the past century....

Few levees anywhere in the nation are built to more than a 100-year standard — capable of withstanding a flood so bad that its probability of occurring is once in a 100 years. The report urged a far more expensive 500-year standard for urban areas. In the Netherlands, levees along the Rhine River are built to a 1,250-year standard.

Now who's dumb? Nothing to investigate here. Keep moving. Read More......

Open Thread

What's the latest spin from the Dirty Bomb 54? Read More......

Rove -- Yes, Karl Rove -- is in charge of Post-Katrina Rebuilding Effort

I wish this was a joke. Clearly, this is nothing but a political campaign to save Bush's butt. Froomkin's column today has the details (and yes, I have become a Froomkin junkie):

All you really need to know about the White House's post-Katrina strategy -- and Bush's carefully choreographed address on national television tonight -- is this little tidbit from the ninth paragraph of Elisabeth Bumiller and Richard W. Stevenson 's story in the New York Times this morning:

"Republicans said Karl Rove, the White House deputy chief of staff and Mr. Bush's chief political adviser, was in charge of the reconstruction effort."

Rove's leadership role suggests quite strikingly that any and all White House decisions and pronouncements regarding the recovery from the storm are being made with their political consequences as the primary consideration. More specifically: With an eye toward increasing the likelihood of Republican political victories in the future, pursuing long-cherished conservative goals, and bolstering Bush's image.

That is Rove's hallmark.

What the hell are Karl Rove's qualifications to rebuild a significant part of America? For Christ sakes, didn't they learn anything about putting political hacks in charge of life and death matters.

Political considerations are the ONLY concern of the Bush White House. These people are so callous and ruthless, it is almost mind boggling. Nothing matters to them. Froomkin asks the key question:

Will it work?

The answer isn't so clear:

Rove has an astonishing track record of success. But at the same time, Bush finds himself today a deeply unpopular president according to the opinion polls, particularly damaged by his lackluster response to the protracted, televised suffering in New Orleans.

And Rove himself has not been at his best of late. Unlike many of Bush's advisers, who have plausible deniability for his initial under-reaction because they weren't with him on vacation, Rove was tagging along with the president, blithely touring the West Coast even as the Gulf Coast drowned. Rove is haunted by the possibility of indictment by a federal grand jury investigating the leak of a CIA agent. And according to Time magazine, he was briefly hospitalized last week with painful kidney stones.

Rove does have a track record of success -- but it's from running nasty, negative, political smear campaigns. Karl Rove also has a track record of lying to the media. Knowing Bush and Rove were together during the initial stages of the hurricane and its aftermath sure helps explain why the GOP doesn't want an independent commission.

So, will it work? Giving a few well choreographed speeches won't change the fact that Bush stayed on vacation while parts of our country were being wiped out. Spinning the media won't change the fact that this country is not safe under the leadership of George Bush. Running a smear campaign won't change the fact that George Bush is a failed President. Read More......

Brownie's Excuse? The Hurricane Made It Really Hard To Deal With The Hurricane

Hilarious. After laying blame literally everywhere, Brownie's interview with the NYT ends like this:

Mr. Brown acknowledged that he had been criticized for not ordering a complete evacuation or calling in federal troops sooner. But he said the storm made it hard to communicate and assess the situation.

"Until you have been there," he said, "you don't realize it is the middle of a hurricane."

That's his DEFENSE! It's really hard to figure out what's going on during a hurricane. And Brownie has no idea how utterly stupid that argument is. Well, with an explanation like that, there's clearly no need to set up an independent commission and figure out what mistakes were made. Feel safer? Read More......

Ooh, latest spin from the Dirty Bomb 54

Well, the latest spin the GOP Senators are giving for voting against the Hurricane Katrina independent commission is that - get this - there were "procedural problems" with the amendment they were voting on. I know this because this is what they've told a number of you calling them, and you've reported it back to me - this is coming from several offices, so it's clearly a coordinated response to the calls they're getting (and a sign that they'r worried).

What this spin really means is that they opposed the amendment because it had a technical problem, but not because they actually had a problem with the substance of the amendment itself, setting up the independent commission - they're only problem is that the amendment setting up the commission was put on a bill in a wrong way.

Ok, great.

Then call those Senators back and say, "wow, so you mean you SUPPORT the amendment setting up the independent commission so long as it's attached to the RIGHT bill or so long as it's offered as its own free-standing legislation?! That's great, I'll be sure to tell the media!" Read More......

House GOP follows Senate's lead - votes to set up fake Katrina commission to rubber-stamp Bush's actions

The House Republicans are heading down the same track as the Senate Republicans. Set up a fake commission, run by Republicans, so they can exonerate Bush of all wrongdoing and make sure America is unprepared for a future Al Qaeda attack.

Read more here.

Then look at the action alert a few posts down, and call your Senators and now House members too and bitch like hell. The House has not yet had its final vote on this. But regardless, they can still fix it later, it doesn't matter when they vote.

We cannot let the Republicans put our nation at risk for partisan gain. Demand an independent commission to investigate the Katrina disaster. Demand the Republicans stop playing politics with Katrina. Read More......

Arlen Specter is a liar

Reportedly, Specter's office is telling callers the following regarding Specter's opposition to the independent commission to investigate the Katrina mess:

I called Arlen Specter... phone person said-- quickly-- he supports bipartisan but not independent. Asked why not independent she said she didn't know.

Unfortunately, that's an outright lie. And I quote the Washington Post's coverage of the panel the Republicans ACTUALLY set up:

House and Senate GOP leaders announced the "Hurricane Katrina Joint Review Committee," which will include only members of Congress, with Republicans outnumbering Democrats by a yet-to-be-determined ratio.

I'm sorry, but it's not "bipartisan" if Republicans outnumber Democrats on the panel. That makes it a Republican panel with Democrats just bearing witness. A bipartisan panel would be one with equal numbers of Dems and Republicans. Not to mention, is Congress expected to investigate its own role in Katrina? Are the Republicans really expected to give Bush a fair shake, are the Dems? Neither party is going to be fully honest about Bush's deeds or misdeeds. This is a crock. Specter doesn't care about American lives, he only cares about partisan gain.

Call Senator Specters office and ask them why they're liars.

Specter, Arlen- (R - PA)
711 HART SENATE OFFICE BUILDING WASHINGTON DC 20510
(202) 224-4254
Web Form: www.specter.senate.gov/index.cfm?FuseAction=ContactInfo.Home Read More......

Use this thread to post details of your calls to the Dirty Bomb 54 Senators' offices

In the post below, well two below, I've got an action alert to call the US Senate. If you do call, and I hope you do, please post feedback in this post - I'd love to hear what the offices are saying. Thanks, JOHN Read More......

Reuters confirms "bathroom break" photo is for real

What a dweeb.

Our earlier coverage on this, including the now-infamous photo, is here. Read More......

ACTION ALERT: Call the US Senate - Ask GOP Senators why they hate America?

BUMP: I'm bumping this alert to remind folks, please call your Senators today. Let's make this an issue.
----------------

54 US Senators today KILLED legislation establishing an independent, bipartisan commission to investigate what went so horribly wrong with Hurricane Katrina.

76% of Americans want an independent bipartisan commission, like the one that investigated the 9/11 attacks, to investigate what went wrong. In fact, according to the same poll, Americans of all stripes, Republicans and Democrats, are united behind their support for such a commission (64% of all Republicans and 83% of all Democrats want a commission) even though they were aware that the Republicans in Congress are doing their own biased and partisan investigation (see below).

So why did every Republican US Senator (save the Senator from Louisiana, who simply didn't vote) vote AGAINST forming this independent, bipartisan commission to investigate what went so horribly wrong, and to find out how we avoid an even larger catastrophe the next time Osama attacks a major American city with a chemical, biological or nuclear bomb?

It's time to find out.

Call all the Republican Senators, fill their office voice mails with messages. Ask them why they voted against forming an impartial, independent commission to find out the truth about what went wrong with Hurricane Katrina? (Or in the case of the Louisiana Republican Senator, ask him why he didn't vote.) Ask them why they would rather have America unprepared for a future chemical, biological or nuclear attack from Al Qaeda? If we don't know why we were unprepared today, we will surely be unprepared tomorrow.

And don't be fooled. The Dirty Bomb 54, as I'm calling the 54 Republican Senators who don't want learn from our mistakes, are going to give you a bunch of BS about how they ARE in favor of an investigation - an investigation run by the Congress itself, an investigation where the investigating committee will be made up of a majority of REPUBLICAN congressmen. Yes, they want a PARTISAN investigation of one of the largest disasters in American history. The Dirty Bomb 54 don't want the truth, they want a whitewash. They don't want to protect America against Al Qaeda, they want to play politics with our lives.

Call every single one of the GOP Senators below and ask them why they hate America. (We're only contacting the GOP Senators because all the Democrats voted FOR the independent bipartisan commission.)

Alexander, Lamar- (R - TN) Class II
302 HART SENATE OFFICE BUILDING WASHINGTON DC 20510
(202) 224-4944
Web Form: www.alexander.senate.gov/index.cfm?FuseAction=Contact.Home

Allard, Wayne- (R - CO) Class II
521 DIRKSEN SENATE OFFICE BUILDING WASHINGTON DC 20510
(202) 224-5941
Web Form: www.allard.senate.gov/contactme

Allen, George- (R - VA) Class I
204 RUSSELL SENATE OFFICE BUILDING WASHINGTON DC 20510
(202) 224-4024
Web Form: www.allen.senate.gov/index.cfm?c=email

Bennett, Robert- (R - UT) Class III
431 DIRKSEN SENATE OFFICE BUILDING WASHINGTON DC 20510
(202) 224-5444
Web Form: www.bennett.senate.gov/contact/emailmain.html

Bond, Christopher- (R - MO) Class III
274 RUSSELL SENATE OFFICE BUILDING WASHINGTON DC 20510
(202) 224-5721
Web Form: www.bond.senate.gov/contact/contactme.cfm

Brownback, Sam- (R - KS) Class III
303 HART SENATE OFFICE BUILDING WASHINGTON DC 20510
(202) 224-6521
Web Form: www.brownback.senate.gov/CMEmailMe.cfm

Bunning, Jim- (R - KY) Class III
316 HART SENATE OFFICE BUILDING WASHINGTON DC 20510
(202) 224-4343
Web Form: www.bunning.senate.gov/index.cfm?FuseAction=Contact.Email

Burns, Conrad- (R - MT) Class I
187 DIRKSEN SENATE OFFICE BUILDING WASHINGTON DC 20510
(202) 224-2644
Web Form: www.burns.senate.gov/index.cfm?FuseAction=Home.Contact

Burr, Richard- (R - NC) Class III
217 RUSSELL SENATE OFFICE BUILDING WASHINGTON DC 20510
(202) 224-3154
Web Form: www.burr.senate.gov/index.cfm?FuseAction=Contact.Home

Chafee, Lincoln- (R - RI) Class I
141A RUSSELL SENATE OFFICE BUILDING WASHINGTON DC 20510
(202) 224-2921
Web Form: www.chafee.senate.gov/webform.htm

Chambliss, Saxby- (R - GA) Class II
416 RUSSELL SENATE OFFICE BUILDING WASHINGTON DC 20510
(202) 224-3521
Web Form: cwww.hambliss.senate.gov/Contact/default.cfm?pagemode=1

Coburn, Tom- (R - OK) Class III
172 RUSSELL SENATE OFFICE BUILDING WASHINGTON DC 20510
(202) 224-5754
Web Form: www.coburn.senate.gov/index.cfm?FuseAction=Contact.Home

Cochran, Thad- (R - MS) Class II
113 DIRKSEN SENATE OFFICE BUILDING WASHINGTON DC 20510
(202) 224-5054
Web Form: www.cochran.senate.gov/contact.htm

Coleman, Norm- (R - MN) Class II
320 HART SENATE OFFICE BUILDING WASHINGTON DC 20510
(202) 224-5641
Web Form: www.coleman.senate.gov/index.cfm?FuseAction=Contact.ContactForm

Collins, Susan- (R - ME) Class II
461 DIRKSEN SENATE OFFICE BUILDING WASHINGTON DC 20510
(202) 224-2523
Web Form: www.collins.senate.gov/low/contactemail.htm

Cornyn, John- (R - TX) Class II
517 HART SENATE OFFICE BUILDING WASHINGTON DC 20510
(202) 224-2934
Web Form: www.cornyn.senate.gov/contact/index.html

Craig, Larry- (R - ID) Class II
520 HART SENATE OFFICE BUILDING WASHINGTON DC 20510
(202) 224-2752
Web Form: www.craig.senate.gov/email/

Crapo, Michael- (R - ID) Class III
239 DIRKSEN SENATE OFFICE BUILDING WASHINGTON DC 20510
(202) 224-6142
Web Form: www.crapo.senate.gov/contact/email.cfm

DeMint, Jim- (R - SC) Class III
340 RUSSELL SENATE OFFICE BUILDING WASHINGTON DC 20510
(202) 224-6121
Web Form: www.demint.senate.gov/index.cfm?FuseAction=Contact.Home

DeWine, Mike- (R - OH) Class I
140 RUSSELL SENATE OFFICE BUILDING WASHINGTON DC 20510
(202) 224-2315
Web Form: www.dewine.senate.gov

Dole, Elizabeth- (R - NC) Class II
555 DIRKSEN SENATE OFFICE BUILDING WASHINGTON DC 20510
(202) 224-6342
Web Form: www.dole.senate.gov/index.cfm?FuseAction=ContactInformation.ContactForm

Domenici, Pete- (R - NM) Class II
328 HART SENATE OFFICE BUILDING WASHINGTON DC 20510
(202) 224-6621
Web Form: www.domenici.senate.gov/contact/contactform.cfm

Ensign, John- (R - NV) Class I
356 RUSSELL SENATE OFFICE BUILDING WASHINGTON DC 20510
(202) 224-6244
Web Form: www.ensign.senate.gov/forms/email_form.cfm

Enzi, Michael- (R - WY) Class II
379A RUSSELL SENATE OFFICE BUILDING WASHINGTON DC 20510
(202) 224-3424
Web Form: www.enzi.senate.gov/email.htm

Frist, Bill- (R - TN) Class I
509 HART SENATE OFFICE BUILDING WASHINGTON DC 20510
(202) 224-3344
Web Form: www.frist.senate.gov/index.cfm?FuseAction=AboutSenatorFrist.ContactForm

Graham, Lindsey- (R - SC) Class II
290 RUSSELL SENATE OFFICE BUILDING WASHINGTON DC 20510
(202) 224-5972
Web Form: www.lgraham.senate.gov/index.cfm?mode=contact

Grassley, Chuck- (R - IA) Class III
135 HART SENATE OFFICE BUILDING WASHINGTON DC 20510
(202) 224-3744
Web Form: www.grassley.senate.gov/webform.htm

Gregg, Judd- (R - NH) Class III
393 RUSSELL SENATE OFFICE BUILDING WASHINGTON DC 20510
(202) 224-3324
Web Form: www.gregg.senate.gov/sitepages/contact.cfm

Hagel, Chuck- (R - NE) Class II
248 RUSSELL SENATE OFFICE BUILDING WASHINGTON DC 20510
(202) 224-4224
Web Form: www.hagel.senate.gov/index.cfm?FuseAction=Offices.Contact

Hatch, Orrin- (R - UT) Class I
104 HART SENATE OFFICE BUILDING WASHINGTON DC 20510
(202) 224-5251
Web Form: www.hatch.senate.gov/index.cfm?Fuseaction=Offices.Contact

Hutchison, Kay- (R - TX) Class I
284 RUSSELL SENATE OFFICE BUILDING WASHINGTON DC 20510
(202) 224-5922
Web Form: www.hutchison.senate.gov/e-mail.htm

Inhofe, James- (R - OK) Class II
453 RUSSELL SENATE OFFICE BUILDING WASHINGTON DC 20510
(202) 224-4721
Web Form: www.inhofe.senate.gov/contactus.htm

Isakson, Johnny- (R - GA) Class III
120 RUSSELL SENATE OFFICE BUILDING WASHINGTON DC 20510
(202) 224-3643
Web Form: www.isakson.senate.gov/contact.cfm

Kyl, Jon- (R - AZ) Class I
730 HART SENATE OFFICE BUILDING WASHINGTON DC 20510
(202) 224-4521
Web Form: www.kyl.senate.gov/contact.cfm

Lott, Trent- (R - MS) Class I
487 RUSSELL SENATE OFFICE BUILDING WASHINGTON DC 20510
(202) 224-6253
E-mail: www.senatorlott@lott.senate.gov

Lugar, Richard- (R - IN) Class I
306 HART SENATE OFFICE BUILDING WASHINGTON DC 20510
(202) 224-4814
E-mail: www.senator_lugar@lugar.senate.gov

Martinez, Mel- (R - FL) Class III
317 HART SENATE OFFICE BUILDING WASHINGTON DC 20510
(202) 224-3041
Web Form: www.martinez.senate.gov/public/index.cfm?FuseAction=ContactInformation.ContactForm

McCain, John- (R - AZ) Class III
241 RUSSELL SENATE OFFICE BUILDING WASHINGTON DC 20510
(202) 224-2235
Web Form: www.mccain.senate.gov/index.cfm?fuseaction=Contact.Home

McConnell, Mitch- (R - KY) Class II
361-A RUSSELL SENATE OFFICE BUILDING WASHINGTON DC 20510
(202) 224-2541
Web Form: www.mcconnell.senate.gov/contact_form.cfm

Murkowski, Lisa- (R - AK) Class III
709 HART SENATE OFFICE BUILDING WASHINGTON DC 20510
(202) 224-6665
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Roberts, Pat- (R - KS) Class II
109 HART SENATE OFFICE BUILDING WASHINGTON DC 20510
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Santorum, Rick- (R - PA) Class I
511 DIRKSEN SENATE OFFICE BUILDING WASHINGTON DC 20510
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Sessions, Jeff- (R - AL) Class II
335 RUSSELL SENATE OFFICE BUILDING WASHINGTON DC 20510
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Shelby, Richard- (R - AL) Class III
110 HART SENATE OFFICE BUILDING WASHINGTON DC 20510
(202) 224-5744
E-mail: www.senator@shelby.senate.gov

Smith, Gordon- (R - OR) Class II
404 RUSSELL SENATE OFFICE BUILDING WASHINGTON DC 20510
(202) 224-3753
Web Form: www.gsmith.senate.gov/webform.htm

Snowe, Olympia- (R - ME) Class I
154 RUSSELL SENATE OFFICE BUILDING WASHINGTON DC 20510
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Specter, Arlen- (R - PA) Class III
711 HART SENATE OFFICE BUILDING WASHINGTON DC 20510
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Stevens, Ted- (R - AK) Class II
522 HART SENATE OFFICE BUILDING WASHINGTON DC 20510
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Sununu, John- (R - NH) Class II
111 RUSSELL SENATE OFFICE BUILDING WASHINGTON DC 20510
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Talent, James- (R - MO) Class I
493 RUSSELL SENATE OFFICE BUILDING WASHINGTON DC 20510
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Web Form: www.talent.senate.gov/Contact/default.cfm?pagemode=1

Thomas, Craig- (R - WY) Class I
307 DIRKSEN SENATE OFFICE BUILDING WASHINGTON DC 20510
(202) 224-6441
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Thune, John- (R - SD) Class III
383 RUSSELL SENATE OFFICE BUILDING WASHINGTON DC 20510
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Vitter, David- (R - LA) Class III
516 HART SENATE OFFICE BUILDING WASHINGTON DC 20510
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Voinovich, George- (R - OH) Class III
524 HART SENATE OFFICE BUILDING WASHINGTON DC 20510
(202) 224-3353
Web Form: www.voinovich.senate.gov/contact/index.htm

Warner, John- (R - VA) Class II
225 RUSSELL SENATE OFFICE BUILDING WASHINGTON DC 20510
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Web Form: www.warner.senate.gov/contact/contactme.cfm

Read More......

White House has a plan -- a political campaign plan -- for Katrina

Froomkin outlined the WH strategy yesterday:

But now there's a new plan.

The first stage of the White House's strategy: Stop defending the indefensible.

So Bush yesterday, in an almost unprecedented move, took responsibility for the problematic response to Katrina -- at least "to the extent the federal government didn't fully do its job right."

That strained, vague, partial acknowledgement -- wedged into a brief appearance with the visiting Iraqi president -- was nevertheless enough to garner the White House "Bush Takes Blame" headlines everywhere this morning.

And that, the White House hopes, will be enough to start putting the controversy behind him.

Then it's on to the next stage: Trying to shift the nation's attention away from the past and toward a future in which Bush looks more like he did after the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks. That means reclaiming his mantle as a leader, championing the heroism of rescue workers, celebrating the compassion of the American people, and taking advantage of new opportunities to pursue conservative ideological goals.

That WH strategy requires the American people to forget everything that happened over the past few weeks. It would also require the MSM to become Karl Rove's lap dogs again. Both are quite possible.

The Bush team does know how to run political campaigns. Unfortunately for all of us, they don't know how to run a government. That's deadly. Read More......

Romney reaches out to wingnuts - wants wiretaps for mosques

Besides calling for wiretapping of mosques, Mitch Romney also suggested surveillance of foreign students. Why not just build a few detention centers and throw 'em all in the pen for a few years until the so-called war is over? Despite throwing red meat to the wingnuts at the Heritage Foundation, the conservative GOP is never going to trust a guy from Massachusetts, no matter how bonkers he sounds. How did this guy get elected up there? Read More......

Even another poll has Bush at new lows

This recent batch of polls sure explains why the White House is in public relations overdrive. Nation-wide speech tonight, memorial service tomorrow. They are in full campaign mode. It's what they do....painfully not good at governing, just playing politics.

CBS News/New York Times:

A summer of bad news from Iraq, high gasoline prices, economic unease and now the devastation of Hurricane Katrina has left President Bush with overall approval ratings for his job performance and handling of Iraq, foreign policy and the economy at or near the lowest levels of his presidency, according to the latest New York Times/CBS News Poll.

For the first time, just half of Americans approve of Mr. Bush's handling of terrorism, which has been his most consistent strength since he scored 90 percent approval ratings in the aftermath of the Sept. 11 attacks. More than 6 in 10 now say that he does not share their priorities for the country, 10 percentage points worse than on the eve of his re-election last fall, while barely half say he has strong qualities of leadership, about the same as said so at the early low-ebb of his presidency in the summer of 2001.

They have his overall approval at 41% which is the lowest this poll has ever shown. But, it does beg the question, who are those 41%? Read More......

Open Thread

What were we talking about? Read More......

Pinochet loses immunity

Finally. He's managed to play the poor health card for years so it's hard to say if he will ever make it to trial for crimes committed during his brutal reign in Chile. Read More......

Bush gives comedy routine at the UN - talks about ending subsidies & tariffs

Considering the pork-laden energy bill that slathered on corporate welfare to the oil industry, I don't know how me made it through the speech without choking. Telling others to end government subsidies and tariffs? From the guy who bailed out a failing steel industry which launched his love-affair with the world? Bush's corporate welfare is hardly limited to the oil business though, as he's an equal opportunity corporate welfare-giver whether you are rich, super-rich or any global business looking to build a new trust without fear of government intervention.

Just ask his friends in the tobacco industry, pharmaceutical industry, big agriculture, Boeing, etc. I would love to hear what developing nations thought of this pitch, considering their struggle to sell goods to the US without tariffs. Looking at the Bush record of corporate handouts to friends, the chances of his team doing a damned thing about changing subsidies are somewhere between slim and nil. This administration and other free traders are always so selective with when and where they want free trade. Read More......

Wanda Sykes On Bush

Wanda Sykes on Jay Leno (hey, I'll watch anything) was very funny about Katrina.

Jay: "But President Bush took responsibility."

Wanda: "I don't think the President should have taken responsibility.... I don't blame the President. I blame the American people. Y'all knew the man was slow when you voted him in. You can't blame the blind man for wrecking your car when you're the one who gave him the keys." Read More......

Big Day for GOP cover ups

In the Senate it was Katrina. In the House, it's Rove:

Two U.S. congressional committees on Wednesday rejected Democrat-backed resolutions that would have compelled the Bush administration to turn over records relating to the outing of CIA operative Valerie Plame.

Republicans on the House Judiciary Committee and International Relations Committee, who opposed the resolution, said Congress should await the outcome of a federal investigation by special counsel Patrick Fitzgerald.

Democrats countered that Republicans were trying to protect President George W. Bush and his top political adviser, Karl Rove. "We know that this is a political decision because there is potential embarrassment to the administration," said Massachusetts Democratic Rep. William Delahunt.

The resolutions, rejected in committee votes along party lines, sought to force the departments of Justice and State to turn over all documents related to Plame.

Rove should be in jail...and hopefully, soon enough, he will be. Read More......