Despite claiming otherwise, Pentagon did know all about planted Iraq stories

The LA Times breaks new ground on the planted Iraq scandal. Now we learn that the Pentagon lied about their involvement with the fake stories. They were in on the deceit all along, despite claiming otherwise:

Military officials initially distanced themselves from Lincoln Group's activities, suggesting the company might have violated its contract when it masked the origin of stories placed in the Iraqi media.

On Dec. 2, Pentagon officials told Senate Armed Services Committee Chairman John Warner, R-Va., that all of the published materials were supposed to be identified as originating with the U.S. military, but that identification occasionally was omitted by accident.

But Lincoln Group documents obtained by the Times, along with interviews with both military officials and current and former Lincoln Group employees, show that people who worked on the campaign believed the media products would be far more credible if their origins were disguised.

Pentagon officials say that Warner was given the most accurate information the Pentagon had at the time.

Another example of the Bush team lying to Congress. You'd think at some point, that the constant lying would get to even the most ardent GOPers. You'd be wrong, of course. Read the rest of this post...

Saturday Night Open Thread

What a weekend. Between Brokeback Mountain and the Bush scandal, it's been really busy and intense. Read the rest of this post...

Conservative former Congressman Bob Barr (R-GA) says Bush broke the law

I truly believe it's the far right, not the religious right but the far right, that is going to be our biggest ally here. There's a reason the NRA wants Americans to have the right to bear arms, and it's protect them from the very government that Bush is creating.

BOB BARR, CNN CONTRIBUTOR: What's wrong with it is several-fold. One, it's bad policy for our government to be spying on American citizens through the National Security Agency. Secondly, it's bad to be spying on Americans without court oversight. And thirdly, it's bad to be spying on Americans apparently in violation of federal laws against doing it without court order.

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Spying on Americans

What Atrios says. Read the rest of this post...

Wow, incredible story from the Advocate

My friend Chris just sent me the following email:

Here's a bit of good news for the holidays --

You remember the reality show "Welcome to the Neighborhood" where a bunch of not-run-of-the-mill families competed for the residents of a neighborhood to vote for them to receive a new house? ABC didn't broadcast it because of legal concerns, but one really terrific story came out of it, and is reported in the January 17 issue of the Advocate (the one with Heath Ledger on the cover).

One family that was already in the neighborhood was headed by a total redneck by the name of Jim, and he was particularly horrified when he saw that one of the families was a white gay male couple with an African American baby. (They ended up being the family that got the house.)

Well, there was another angle. It turns out that the redneck guy has a gay son from a previous marriage that he had basically cut out of his life -- and this never came up during the show.

I'm typing in a few excerpts because I think this is so cool, but you should check out the whole article when it's up on the Advocate's website:

"During the six episodes, Jim (the redneck) had gotten to know the Wrights (the gay couple). 'I began visiting with the gay family and realized they are just like everybody else.' Over dinner one night, Jim asked John Wright what a day in the life of a gay man is like. 'John said he'd been chased, spit on, beat up, and humiliated,' Jim says. 'And I started thinking that discriminating against my own son was the worst discrimination there is. As the show went on, it dawned on me that being gay is not a choice. I didn't understand it's in the DNA. I realized prejudice is through fear and ignorance, and in my case, I had both.'

"Two weeks after the show finished taping and Jim had done a lot of soul-searching, he called Jason (his son). Jason was unprepared for what his dad had to say. 'The call came out of nowhere,' he says. 'My dad told me he loved me unconditionally and was a changed person and was ashamed of how he treated me in the past and that he would accept me and anyone in my life -- that was a huge decision. I was crying in my car."

"Jim showed his son he believed that gays should have the right to be families by standing on the state capitol steps at a rally opposing a state constitutional amendment against same-sex marriage (this was in Texas). The proposition passed on November 8, but Jason was proud of his dad."

There's more, and you should read it. Just a little ray of hope for a Christmas season that could use one.

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Yesterday, Bush Said Confirming Domestic Spying Story “Would Compromise Our Ability To Protect The People,” Today He Confirms It

ThinkProgress points out that yesterday Bush adamantly refused to confirm the existence of his secret domestic spying program because such an admission would jeopardize national security. Today Bush is adamantly admitting he authorized the program.

So, Bush lied to us yesterday when speaking about this program, why should we believe him today when he says no innocent Americans were spied upon by our own government in violation of the law? Read the rest of this post...

Bush is a criminal

Via Atrios

* FISA makes it a crime, punishable by up to five years in prison, to conduct electronic surveillance except as provided for by statute. The only defense is for law government agents engaged in official duties conducting “surveillance authorized by and conducted pursuant to a search warrant or court order.” [50 U.S.C. § 1809]

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Bush appoints Viveca Novak's husband to the FEC

And Pelosi endorsed this. What? I'm sorry, but this has the appearance of being an attempt to curry favor with the witness in a federal criminal investigation of Bush's own administration. That's obstruction of justice. Whether or not that was Bush's intent, it's incredibly inappropriate to appoint Novak's husband to a senior position a week or two after she testifies for/against Bush's top aide.

From Political Money line:

Also nominated was Robert D. Lenhard, a Democrat and Associate General Counsel at the American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees (AFSCME). Lenhard is a native of Baltimore, Maryland, graduated from Johns Hopkins University and the University of California, Los Angeles School of Law. His spouse, Viveca Novak works for Time Magazine and testifed before Fitzgerald's grand jury regarding her conversations with an attorney for Karl Rove in the Valerie Phame leak investigation. In the 1970’s and early 80’s she was the key investigative reporter for Common Cause Magazine. Lenhard nomination was supported by former Senator Tom Daschle and House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi. Lenhard will replace Democratic Commissioner Scott Thomas.

(Hat tip to Jane) Read the rest of this post...

Open thread

Off for a much needed haircut. Read the rest of this post...

Ethics questions raised about Bill Frist's AIDS "charity"

T-o-a-s-t. Read the rest of this post...

You can still get AMERICAblog products in time for Christmas

With two-day shipping, it'll be there by the 23d.

Here are a few new t-shirts.

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First fire Karl, then get back to us about your "outrage" over people leaking

Your top aide is a leaker, so shut up.

"As a result, our enemies have learned information they should not have," [Bush] said. "The unauthorized disclosure of this effort damages our national security and puts our citizens at risk."

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Bush: Yeah, I did it. So what?

You know it's big trouble for the Bush team when W. devotes his weekly radio address to the domestic spying scandal. This clearly wasn't the scheduled radio address for today. The issue only came to light yesterday (but why it took so long for the NY Times to release it is a whole other story). Bush and his team have been caught red-handed violating the law and they know it:

President Bush said Saturday he personally has authorized a secret eavesdropping program in the U.S. more than 30 times since the Sept. 11 attacks and he lashed out at those involved in publicly revealing the program.

"This is a highly classified program that is crucial to our national security," he said in a radio address delivered live from the White House's Roosevelt Room.

So Bush personally authorized the program. Fine. Then let him take the punishment for breaking the law.

Apparently, during the radio address -- which he did live -- Bush showed some real anger. Yeah, cause he got busted.

This President thinks he is above the law of the US. That's what happens when you have a leader who thinks he has a mandate from a higher power. That pesky constitution and the U.S. code just get in his way.

His fear-mongering rhetoric should not and cannot save him this time. He thinks there will be no repercussions. He has to be proven wrong. Read the rest of this post...

Bush never even tried to get Congress to give him the authority to spy on Americans

In three years he NEVER EVEN TRIED to get Congress to change the law that he now claims was so onerous he needed to break it. From the NYT:

President Bush did not ask Congress to include provisions for the N.S.A. domestic surveillance program as part of the Patriot Act and has not sought any other laws to authorize the operation....

Seeking Congressional approval was also viewed as politically risky because the proposal would be certain to face intense opposition on civil liberties grounds. The administration also feared that by publicly disclosing the existence of the operation, its usefulness in tracking terrorists would end, officials said.

Ah, so they thought Congress, our elected representatives, wouldn't make it legal for Bush to do what he did, so he didn't go to Congress, he just broke the law anyway. That shows that the White House had concerns that what they were doing was illegal. As for the second canard of an argument, that's utter bullshit - Al Qaeda is going to be tipped off by Bush asking for greater wire tapping authority? Huh? When you asked for the authority you currently have in the Patriot Act, to tape our phones with the special court warrant, did they make phone tapping no longer useful because Al Qaeda knew? Utter bullshit. Read the rest of this post...

Saturday Morning Open Thread

Your government is watching you....that's comforting....and just what role did Karl Rove play in this spying scandal? Read the rest of this post...

When everything else fails, blame it on the immigrants

Pathetic. I guess they couldn't muster up enough support for a anti-flag burning amendment because this is the biggest waste of time. I see the same kind of ridiculous policies being promoted by the right in Europe as well and it's always about the politicians who can't get anything serious done so they just pick on immigrants. Not that I agree with it but I at least understand it more in Europe who have not built their countries on immigration but in the US which is a country built on immigration this infuriates me. I'd love to know more about the people who voted for this rubbish and how their families arrived in America. They were probably all wealthy millionaires who brought riches to the new world, no doubt and were completely different from the others who arrived only with a shirt on their back.

Building a wall? Are they serious that they want to build a wall to stop immigration? I hear that France has some great plans sitting around for building defensive walls, an idea which regularly seem popular with isolationist politicians throughout time. So where exactly is $2.2 billion coming from to build this monument to man's stupidity? How 'bout we just cut off a few more dollars from the poor who seem to be making out too well under this administration. What planet is the GOP on these days when they waste taxpayers time on bullshit legislation like this and spend more money that the country does not have?

This effort has the traditional GOP racist edge to it and is all about dividing the nation, again. It is completely unnecessary and is only about setting up an election year debate for 2006 since the GOP has botched everything else such as the deficit, the failed war, culture war and personal liberties. Read the rest of this post...

Bush continues to set the standard for democracy

For somebody that talks so much about democracy, what the hell kind of a model are we exporting?

• Losing the vote yet "winning" an election
• Election tampering
  
• Rampant corruption throughout his party and party leadership
• Trashing of American core values
• Government policy manipulation by large multi-national corporates
• Launching war based on lies
• Neutered press that is compliant with administration goals
• Countless smear & fear campaigns against dissidents
• Overall atmosphere of fear
• Global tarnishing of America
• Focus on top 1% of the population, leaving the rest to fend for themselves
• Alienation and fragmentation of the country instead of being a uniter
  
• Close monitoring/illegal surveillance of citizens in violation of rule of law
  
• Political appointees well outside of mainstream of America
  

So what else am I missing about this charming lot? It's not unusual to see this happening in the developing world but for an administration that is supposed to be providing a model of democracy for the world this simply does not cut it. Read the rest of this post...

CNN's Jack Cafferty rips Bush over domestic spying scandal

Wow. C&L; has the video:

Who cares about whether the Patriot Act gets renewed? Want to abuse our civil liberties? Just do it.

Who cares about the Geneva Conventions. Want to torture prisoners? Just do it.

Who cares about rules concerning the identity of CIA agents. Want to reveal the name of a covert operative? Just do it.

Who cares about whether the intelligence concerning WMDS is accurate. Want to invade Iraq? Just do it.

Who cares about qualifications to serve on the nation's highest court. Want to nominate a personal friend with no qualifications? Just do it.

And the latest outrage, which I read about in "The New York Times" this morning, who cares about needing a court order to eavesdrop on American citizens. Want to wiretap their phone conversations? Just do it. What a joke. A very cruel, very sad joke.

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