Clinton bitch-slaps FOX News and George Bush over September 11 lies

Ok, wow. Just read this. ThinkProgress got the advance transcript.

Bill Clinton rocks:

WALLACE: …but the question is why didn’t you do more, connect the dots and put them out of business?

CLINTON:OK, let’s talk about it. I will answer all of those things on the merits but I want to talk about the context of which this arises. I’m being asked this on the FOX network…ABC just had a right wing conservative on the Path to 9/11 falsely claim that it was based on the 9/11 Commission report with three things asserted against me that are directly contradicted by the 9/11 Commission report. I think it’s very interesting that all the conservative Republicans who now say that I didn’t do enough, claimed that I was obsessed with Bin Laden. All of President Bush’s neocons claimed that I was too obsessed with finding Bin Laden when they didn’t have a single meeting about Bin Laden for the nine months after I left office. All the right wingers who now say that I didn’t do enough said that I did too much. Same people.

And, this is golden. Clinton tried to get Bin Laden -- Bush didn't:

WALLACE: Do you think you did enough sir?

CLINTON: No, because I didn’t get him.

WALLACE: Right…

CLINTON: But at least I tried. That’s the difference in me and some, including all the right wingers who are attacking me now. They ridiculed me for trying. They had eight months to try and they didn’t…I tried. So I tried and failed. When I failed I left a comprehensive anti-terror strategy and the best guy in the country, Dick Clarke… So you did FOX’s bidding on this show. You did you nice little conservative hit job on me. But what I want to know..

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American Airlines almost diverts airliner over gay kiss

That's a public accommodations lawsuit, assuming public accommodations law covers sexual orientation where you're from. This is pretty sick. You really need to read the entire - after discrimination against the gay couple because some other passengers don't like gay people, the American crew threatened to divert the plane. Time for a big lawsuit against American.

And let me add, yet another reason to avoid US carriers when you fly abroad. Their service stinks, the seats and rows have become insanely small, increasingly US flight attendants are some of the most arrogant people I've ever dealt with (Delta vs. Air France, ha!), the food has become horrendous, you now pay for the liquor in coach (but not on foreign carriers), and honestly, which airlines do you think the bad guys are targeting first? Patriotism is one thing, but when I fly I want to feel safe, and why fly in a sardine with rude people AND feel less safe? I'll put French security above US any day. Read More......

Cliff's Corner

The Week That Was 9/22/06

Another week. More preposterousness to report.

What a shocker, Republicans in Congress abdicated their responsibility to, you know, act like a branch of the government. And after much squawking, gave into George Bush’s wish to endanger our soldiers by exposing them to torture at the hands of hostile regimes and terrorists. No way, not these guys!

When is the media going to stop believing that John McCain actually cares about anything other than hearing Hail to the Chief playing in the background while he fondles Jerry Falwell’s glutes and preens for the cameras?

And as for Democrats, will you please stop claiming McCain has integrity? Jeez, there was more chance that George Allen would belt out L’Shana Tova at Temple Emmanuel this year than McCain would actually stick to his guns (after all those guns must be ready for the troops he wants to send off to Iran in the next few months).

So now the standard for following the Geneva Conventions is “grave breaches.” We won’t maim, mutilate or rape. How very post-Enlightenment of us. Next thing you now we’ll be against using Ginsu knives to lop prisoners into chewable bites for Dick Cheney’s next power lunch.

Thankfully, we can still use waterboarding and extreme temperatures on terrorists. But if I read the bill correctly, sticking a burning hot poker up somebody’s ass is now verboten. So I’m thinking no Marsellus Wallace as our next Deputy Director of National Security.

What really gets me is how it is so hard sometimes to learn from experience. The message is simple. George Bush wants to sound tough because he can’t actually find Osama or and took us into a failed war in Iraq, based on lies, that has made us more vulnerable to attack.

When are you going to use extreme temperatures on Osama, George?

Oh right, never, because you passed on catching him in Tora Bora, later closed down the unit charged with locating him and now your friend Pervez is providing medical and dental to him and his buddies.

But hey, Big Tough Preppie has an Iron Maiden waiting for Osama if he ever happens to come forward and claim he was the one who killed JonBenet Ramsey.

Please my Democratic friends, it is not the economy, stupid. Yes, in certain very important districts in parts of Upstate New York and Ohio, to name a few examples, this is certainly a strong PART of the message. But the GOP failure on Iraq must be at the core of the critique, along with their failure to protect all aspects of our security, be it from terrorists, job-exporting GOP cronies or healthcare non-providers.

Punch a Republican hard enough in the gut, and he’ll puke up a golden calf. And this corruption doesn’t take place in a vacuum, but is making this country weaker militarily, economically and spiritually.

The GOP is like The Simpson Girls’ dad. They proclaim Christian values and want to control every aspect of your lives, but in the end they’ve turned this country into Ashlee’s jig on Saturday Night Live. Oh yeah, and they love talking about their daughters’ boobs.

So please my friendly Democratic legislators, no more putting faith in a man who gives speeches at a college founded by a guy who’s still out looking for the Jewish anti-Christ.

Could it be more obvious it’s George Allen?

To go to my embryonic blog and watch the YouTube of my MSNBC scolding of a Republican neanderthal last week, go here Read More......

House Republicans release "new" report on Iraq, that they wrote three months ago and sat on for just the right day. Oh, and the report is wrong too.

Republicans on the House Intelligence Committee are once again abusing their position to advance crass political objectives.

Two days ago the committee released a report (pdf) on al Qaeda titled "Al-Qaeda: The Many Faces of an Islamist Extremist Threat," a document written by a partisan staffer and pushed through the committee on a party-line vote. The document was written in June. That’s right, this report is so timely, so vital, that Republicans sat on it for over three months, releasing it just as President Bush is in the midst of his "Scare the bejeezus out of Americans" campaign. After their absurd report on Iran last month, they're putting on their thinking caps for al Qaeda.

Aside from the appalling timeline of this document, its contents are concurrently ridiculous and deplorable. There are a few quick hits worth noting, any one of which should instantly discredit the report: Although the authors spend four pages analyzing groups based in Indonesia, Libya, Algeria, and Pakistan, there is no substantive mention of Afghanistan -- none. Reports by the ultra-conservative Heritage Foundation are cited a whopping six times; by my quick count, only words from Osama himself are cited more often.

And, perhaps most disturbing of all, in a map of "Sunni Extremist Groups in the Unites States," the report lists 76 individual terrorist clusters in 45 U.S. cities. Seventy-six! Where are the arrests? Where are the trials? If the information is solid enough to put in an official government report, shouldn’t somebody be acting on it?

The report is pure propaganda. It is compiled exclusively from "open source" (public) information, with no newly-declassified information and no novel insight on the threat, organization, or capabilities of terrorist groups. These factors are really enough to thoroughly discredit the work, but just for fun, let’s look at some of the specific passages.

"[al Qaeda’s goals in Iraq are to] First, expel the Americans from Iraq. Second, establish an Islamic authority, then develop it and support it until it achieves the level of a Caliphate . . ."

The idea that Sunni religious fundamentalists could take over Iraq is absolutely absurd. The 60% Shia and 20% Kurd populations hate those guys, and even the 20% Sunni remain relatively secular and would never allow outside Sunni extremists to gain power. The idea that Iraq will become Afghanistan (that is, controlled by Sunni fundamentalists) is the perhaps the most ridiculous notion in the ongoing debate over the war. It is either unbelievably stupid or shockingly intellectually dishonest to present this as a legitimate possibility. And from the conclusion:

". . . without question we are a safer nation than we were before 9/11."

Bollocks. This administration’s policies and practices continue to damage and erode our national security, and Iraq continues to be a boon for terrorists, far more so than it ever would have been had we not invaded.

In his "additional views" at the end of the report, Intel Committee Chairman Pete Hoekstra reveals the true purpose of the paper. It’s not oversight, which is the actual job of the committee, but rather this:

"Journalists and former political officials have begun in increasing numbers to suggest that our nation is not truly at war with terrorism, and that terrorism should more poperly be considered a law enforcement matter . . . I find this view to be disturbing, dangerous, and fundamentally incorrect . . . How, then, can the Committee beset convey this concern? Preparing an unclassified document that highlights the continuing terrorist threat..."

In other words, Rep. Hoekstra doesn’t like how people are thinking about al Qaeda, and since Republicans view the increasingly-dubious War on Terror as critical to their electoral opportunities, the House Intel Committee released a 30 page report, written over three months ago, on terrorism.

Rep. Jane Harman, the ranking Democrat on intel, has really come around on many of these issues, and she deserves a lot of credit for it. She perfectly encapsulates the report in the "minority views" section:

"This paper is not a report of the Committee’s work. It is merely an assemblage of press clippings. It is a product of staff, not a bipartisan work product of the full Committee. It does not represent effective congressional oversight."

Shame on Republicans for abusing their power, shame on them for continuing to manipulate the intelligence process for political purposes, and shame on them for lacking the basic competence to do their job.

It’s not that I don’t think terrorism is a serious threat; it is. I just wonder why it only seems to be a Republican priority between August and November in even-numbered years. We have one chance, seven weeks from now, to show them what we think. One opportunity for accountability, and for change. One day. I can’t wait. Read More......

Open thread

Please, sir, may I have some more torture? Read More......

John McCain, John Warner and Lindsey Graham say it's okay for foreign governments to nearly drown US troops

(Click photo to see larger, readable copy.)

The above treatment of prisoners of war, including American troops imprisoned abroad, is what McCain, Warner, Graham and George Bush apparently agreed to yesterday. That foreigners have the right to nearly drown American troops (see "water boarding" photo and description below), and the US government thinks this is totally acceptable. No physical harm, no foul - so say our brave Republicans in the congress and the White House.

This is water boarding

Here's a lovely description of the "it's not torture" technique of water boarding, first used in the Middle Ages (yes, it's that humane) - we're talking the year 1556 folks - that the Republican Congress and White House apparently think is an okay way to treat American troops - courtesy of Newsweek. (Click the image to see a readable version.)



(And it's funny, cuz last November 21, 2005, John McCain penned a column for Newsweek in which the oh-so-principled Senator said, explicitly, that water boarding WAS torture. Imagine that, John McCain blustering for the media and then privately caving on a matter of "principle." Apparently McCain was against water boarding before he was for it.)

McCain, Warner, Graham and Bush didn't just agree to what Bush could do to terrorists. They agreed to what ANY COUNTRY can do under the Geneva Conventions to any prisoner of war. And that includes what any country can do to US troops.

Why won't the White House, or McCain, tell us if water boarding is now illegal?

At best, the White House is refusing to say what techniques are and aren't outlawed under this agreement. And why is that? If something is outlawed, why can't they just say it? I mean, do we pass rape criminal statues that don't not mention the word rape? What are they hiding?

From George Bush's National Security Adviser's own lips just yesterday, via the National Review Web site:

[Stephen] Hadley said the deal does three things on the question of detainee treatment. One, it will "enumerate those actions that will constitute violations of Common Article Three, that are grave breaches of Common Article Three." Two, it affirms the Detainee Treatment Act, or the McCain Amendment, and "provides that the president will take action to ensure compliance." And three, "There is a provision that makes clear that the president has the authority, as provided by the Constitution and this legislation...for the U.S. to interpret the meaning of the Geneva Conventions, including Common Article Three."

When asked what would constitute "grave breaches" of Common Article Three, Hadley listed "torture, cruel or inhuman treatment, performing biological experiments, murder, mutilation or maiming, rape, causing serious bodily injury, and sexual assault or abuse." He was asked whether water boarding would be on that list, and he answered, "We are not going to get into a discussion of particular techniques." As for the president's interpreting the meaning of Common Article Three, it appears the deal recognizes the president's authority to issue executive orders clarifying the nature of violations that do not rise to the standard of "grave breaches."

Get that? They won't discuss water boarding. But it sure doesn't sound like it's covered. They're only covering acts that physically harm the person in custody. So, nearly drowning them would apparently be fine, so long as there's no physical harm. Mock executions? That's okay too, I guess. All of this is perfectly fine behavior vis-à-vis our troops, per George Bush and his brave Republicans in Congress.

Funny, last year McCain said water boarding WAS torture

It is ironic, to say the least, that John McCain wrote an article for Newsweek in which he made it quite clear that water boarding IS torture. And I quote John McCain:

For instance, there has been considerable press attention to a tactic called "water boarding," where a prisoner is restrained and blindfolded while an interrogator pours water on his face and into his mouth—causing the prisoner to believe he is being drowned. He isn't, of course; there is no intention to injure him physically. But if you gave people who have suffered abuse as prisoners a choice between a beating and a mock execution, many, including me, would choose a beating. The effects of most beatings heal. The memory of an execution will haunt someone for a very long time and damage his or her psyche in ways that may never heal. In my view, to make someone believe that you are killing him by drowning is no different than holding a pistol to his head and firing a blank. I believe that it is torture, very exquisite torture.

So water boarding and mock executions ARE torture. Okay, then have our friends in the media pushed McCain on whether water boarding and mock executions are or are not outlawed by this wonderful agreement? And if not, why not? That is, after all, their job. (Then again, McCain's backroom cave on torture shouldn't surprise anyone. This is the man who for weeks blustered about needing to ban torture of detainees at Gitmo, then after his no-torturte-at-Gitmo legislation was passed Bush simply issued a signing statement saying he could ignore the law if he wanted. What did McCain do after that? Not much.)

McCain's "deal" gives Bush the right to do whatever he wants. Wow, some deal.

So keep all of this in mind when you hear all the august Republican gentlemen, and their rubber-stamp buddies in the media, talking about what a great deal the "republican rebels" worked out. What they worked out was a deal that says that everything Bush has done to prisoners of war to date is a-okay. And that anything in the future that Bush "interprets" as being permitted under the Geneva Conventions is also a-okay. (Today's Washington Post editorial explains it in detail.)

Let me reiterate that. The standard is whether George Bush, man of nuance that he is, THINKS what he is doing is permitted or not. Let's all guess what Bush is going to think about his own policies?

John McCain, John Warner and Lindsey Graham just reached agreement on what foreign governments and foreign actors can do to US troops in their custody. And what that agreement says is that a foreign government or actor can do whatever it thinks is appropriate to US troops.

Let the water-boarding of US troops begin. Then let's ask McCain, Warner, Graham and Bush to explain why think it's okay for foreign governments to nearly drown American troops.

Republican rebels? Try rebels without a cause. Read More......

Internal review shows HUD secretary illegally blocked govt. contracts to Democrats, then lied about it an attempt to cover it up

Time for the Republican culture of corruption to stop. This man needs to resign. (And of course, get a medal.)

ThinkProgress has the leaked Inspector General report from HUD, it's bad:

In April, Housing Secretary Alphonso Jackson told a group of real estate officials that he once canceled a government contract because the contractor was critical of President Bush. Awarding contracts based on political leanings “violates federal law.” Jackson is a “longtime Bush friend” and former neighbor in Dallas, Texas.

The Inspector General for the Department of Housing and Urban Development has conducted a detailed investigation and produced a 340-page report detailing his findings. The agency has given a copy to Jackson, but refused to release the report to the public.

ThinkProgress has obtained the executive summary. Here are some key excerpts:

– “During the investigation, Secretary JACKSON’s Chief of Staff, as well as the HUD Deputy Secretary testified that, in a senior staff meeting, JACKSON had advised senior staff, to the effect, that when considering discretionary contracts, they should be considering supporters of the President, language consistent with the remarks made by JACKSON in Dallas, Texas, on April 28, 2006.”

– “Investigation did disclose some problematic instances involving HUD contacts and cooperative agreement grants, in particular, the cooperative agreement award issued to Abt Associates…was blocked for a significant period of time due to Secretary JACKSON’s involvement and opposition to Abt. Secretary JACKSON’s Chief of Staff testified that one factor in JACKSON’s opposition to Abt was Abt’s political affiliation.”

– “Secretary JACKSON’s Chief of Staff also identified other instances of Secretary JACKSON intervening with contractors whom he did not like. Reviews of political contributions indicated these contractors had Democratic political affiliations.“

Rep. Henry Waxman (D-CA) and Sen. Frank Lautenberg (D-NJ) have already called on Jackson to resign immediately. The White House yesterday gave him “a tepid vote of confidence.”

We’ve posted the full text of the report’s executive summary HERE.

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Growing chaos over US House Dem primary results in Maryland. Six years after 2000 presidential election, balloting still not fixed by GOP congress

They're still counting votes in the Democratic Primary in Maryland's Fourth Congressional District 10 days later. There seems to be a lack of concern about the obvious problems that arose during that election. Keep in mind that this was a Democratic Party primary -- a general election controversy would be bad enough -- but this is an intra-party voting scandal. Since November of 2000, we've known that there are problems with counting votes in American elections. Maryland's 4th C.D. Democratic Primary is the quintessential example.

Last week, I wrote a post in which I referred to Al Wynn as "Landslide Al" linking to a site which documented the electoral shenanigans of "Landslide Lyndon" Johnson back in 1948. Johnson basically cheated to win. Apparently, Al Wynn likes that comparison:

From a House Committee on Energy and Commerce hearing, September 19, 2006:

Rep. Joe Barton (R-TX): Down in Texas, we had a Democratic primary about 50 years ago that Lyndon Johnson won by 54 votes. And he got the nickname "Landslide Lyndon." We have Mr. Wynn next. He had a little bit of a tussle last week, but he did win. And so, I want to recognize "Landslide Wynn" for any opening statement that he wishes...

Rep. Albert Wynn (D-MD): Well, thank you very much, Mr. Chairman. In fact, they're still counting, but we're quite optimistic. And I did take a couple pages out of Lyndon's book, so if I win, it can be attributed to Texas know-how.

(LAUGHTER)

Barton: I hope not. I hope you win fair and square.

(LAUGHTER)

Wynn: A win is a win.

Really funny, huh? Maybe "a win is a win" in football, Al, but not in the electoral process. This isn't a game. It's the heart of our democracy. No surprise that Al Wynn is just about the only elected official in Maryland who is not concerned about the major problems with the election system. He shows contempt for the voters in his district.

Also, considering the magnitude of this issue, there really is a dearth of coverage of this race in the media. This is happening in the back yard of the Washington Post. The media has obsessed over Iraqi elections, but can't focus on the failings of the electoral system in their own back yard. Maybe if voters in the 4th District had purple fingers, their ability to participate in the democratic process would be honored.

In the meantime, Al Wynn has no credibility. Read More......

$70 billion more for Iraq/Afghanistan

Congress approved another $70 billion for Iraq and Afghanistan -- which should last til spring:

House-Senate negotiators Thursday approved a new $70 billion infusion for military operations in Iraq and Afghanistan as they wrapped up talks on a $447 billion Pentagon funding bill.

The additional war funds would bring the total approved by Congress for the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan since Sept. 11, 2001, to more than $500 billion, with another installment likely to come next spring.

But those funds probably don't take in to account the deteriorating situation in both countries. There will not be a reduction in U.S. forces in Iraq and NATO is beggging for more resources in Afghanistan.

Congress allocates this money because there are U.S. soldiers in harms way and they want to show support for the troops. Unfortunately, that means giving Bush a blank check when he has no plan in either country. He's too busy politicking about terror to deal with the real terror threats. Bush shows the ultimate disrepect for American soldiers by keeping them in war zones without an end game in sight.

Reuters does a daily update on the realities of what's happening on the ground in Iraq. Might help if someone at the White House took a peek at these updates every now and then:

Military and Civilian deaths

Security Developments in Iraq Read More......

Commerce Dept. loses 1100 laptops

Because they care so much about your personal privacy, the Bush Commerce Department has lost 1,100 laptops -- including some with personal census data:

More than 1,100 laptop computers have vanished from the Department of Commerce since 2001, including nearly 250 from the Census Bureau containing such personal information as names, incomes and Social Security numbers, federal officials said yesterday.

This disclosure by the department came in response to a request by the House Committee on Government Reform, which this summer asked 17 federal departments to detail any loss of computers holding sensitive personal information.

The Bush administration is incompetent at every level. How will they blame Clinton for this one? Read More......

Friday Morning Open Thread

Last night, I watched the repeat of Olbermann at midnight. He had a clip of Tim Ryan speaking on the House floor. It was great....the commentary around it is instructive as well. Tim Ryan wants to win:
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GOP just not hateful enough for some evangelicals

Here are the pitchforks, torches and crazy mobs. For some, hate knows no limits and they are not happy unless there is both talk and execution of hate. Who would Jesus hate today?

"Conservative Christians are somewhat disenchanted with Republicans," said Kenyn Cureton, vice president for convention relations with the executive committee of the Southern Baptist Convention, the nation's largest Protestant denomination with nearly 16 million members.

Religious conservatives are unhappy the Republican-led Congress hasn't paid enough attention to "values issues," he said, noting that even a push this summer against same-sex marriage came too late.

"It has not escaped our notice that they waited until just a few months from the November elections to address our agenda," Cureton said.

I'm glad that they have noticed they've been used by the GOP, but they're still absolutely bonkers. What kind of a Christian is so hateful?

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So now that Congress and the WH have a deal on torture

How long until we hear about yet another signing statement by the president? Not that he has ever gone back and added something like that after agreeing with McCain and Congress, but I am curious if that issue was being addressed or if everyone is ready to move on and just pretend like all of the other signing statements never happened. How was that addressed this time?

What limits on torture would Jesus approve? Would Jesus prefer waterboarding, hypothermia or electrical shocks? Read More......