So, When's the Shelby Investigation Start?

Now that former Clinton National Security Adviser Sandy Berger "has been cleared of all wrongdoing," the question is when do the congressional hearings and investigations begin into GOP Sen. Richard Shelby's alleged leak of classified information? What about the congressional investigation into the administration leak of an undercover CIA operative's name?

I mean, since the GOP is all of a sudden into aggressively investigating wrongdoing, and Berger "has been cleared of all wrongdoing," it must only be a matter of time until we see the Shelby/Plame investigations start, right?

A Question of Timing

No one will argue that an arrest of any top al Qaeda suspect is a good thing, but the timing of the announcement just smells, especially considering they held it for 4-5 days...

"Pakistan has captured Ahmed Khalfan Ghailani, a top al Qaeda suspect...Ghailani was seized early Sunday" but "the news came just hours before US presidential candidate John Kerry delivered his acceptance speech at the Democratic National Convention in Boston" on Thursday. Pakistani officials "have rejected allegations that they delayed the announcement for four days to obtain maximum publicity... But in the arrests of other high-profile al-Qaida targets in Pakistan, including Khalid Shaikh Mohammed and Ramzi, the news media received word almost immediately."
- Washington Post, 7/30/04; Christian Science Monitor, 7/30/04
 
VERSUS

"An official who works under [the Pakistani intelligence] director informed The New Republic that the Pakistanis 'have been told at every level that apprehension or killing of [high value terrorist targets] before the election is [an] absolute must.' What's more, this source claims that Bush administration officials have told their Pakistani counterparts they have a date in mind for announcing this achievement: 'The last ten days of July deadline has been given repeatedly by visitors to Islamabad and during [Pakistani Intelligence Director Ehsan ul-Haq's] meetings in Washington.'" According to the ISI official, a White House aide told Pakistani intelligence last spring that it would be best if the arrest or killing of any high value terrorist target were announced during the Democratic convention.
- The New Republic, 7/19/04

CLAIM vs. FACT: Bush and Snacking

CLAIM
"The First Family...does not snack...They are very good at respecting meal time hours and do not eat between meals...there is no snacking..."
 - White House Pastry Chef Roland Mesnier, Whitehouse.gov, 7/27/04
Source: 

FACT
"President Bush fainted for a brief time Sunday in the residence of the White House while eating a pretzel and watching a professional football game on television."
- CNN, 1/14/02

(For all of you Sirota-haters out there, try to calm down and not take this one so seriously...)

Cause & Effect: Toxic Cleanups

CAUSE:

"The Bush administration has told Congress it will not ask for taxes on businesses to pay for federal toxic waste cleanups...In its fiscal year 2003 budget request recently sent to Capitol Hill, the Bush administration said it has no intention of asking Congress to reauthorize corporate taxes used to finance toxic waste cleanups since the passage of the Superfund Act in 1980." The move means the program "will be virtually bankrupt" and will slow down cleanups considerably. 
- CNN, 2/24/02; Seattle Post-Intelligence, 4/22/02; NY PIRG, 8/03

EFFECT:

"Almost one in 10 of the nation's 1,230 Superfund toxic waste sites have not yet been cleaned up enough to guarantee that people and drinking water supplies won't become contaminated, according to Environmental Protection Agency data."
- AP, 7/27/04

The Hypocritical Oath

From Roll Call today:

"Government Reform Chairman Tom Davis (R-Va.) is moving forward with an investigation of former National Security Adviser Sandy Berger’s removal of classified documents from the National Archives. Davis spokesman David Marin said that the panel’s staff has already begun scheduling meetings and briefings in connection with the Berger investigation..."

Are we really expected to believe that all of a sudden, Tom Davis and the Republicans are interested in law enforcement and preventing classified leaks? Where have they been for the last year when far more important - and far-reaching - controversies have boiled over?

For instance, why is Davis not moving forward to find out which administration official leaked the name of a covert CIA operative last year? Isn't that important enough to be investigated?

Or, why is Davis moving forward against Berger, but not against Sen. Richard Shelby (R-AL) who is being investigated for leaking intelligence information? Sure, his case has been "referred" to the Senate Ethics committee, but there is no word of any pending probe from Republicans who head up the panel.

See a full list of all the other investigations Davis and Republicans have stonewalled in favor of the Berger investigation.

Even Brahimi Admits It

U.N. envoy Lakhdar Brahimi now admits "the war in Iraq was useless, it caused more problems than it solved, and it brought in terrorism." Brahimi, of course, was highly touted and praised by the Bush administration.

Let's see if they unleash the attack dogs on him, like they have on everyone else.

GOP Lawmaker Calls for Voter Suppression

You can't make this stuff up: a GOP lawmaker in Michigan publicly called for efforts to “suppress the Detroit vote” in Michigan elections.

This disgusting call highlights other ominous signs from Republicans regarding the November elections: with new voting machines having no paper record, the efforts to remove voters from rolls and prevent eligible voters from registering in Florida, the thinly-veiled effort to gain the power to postpone the election, and the owner of the company that makes Ohio's voting machines pledging his commitment to helping re-elect Bush, something fishy seems to be going on.

Rep. Fox (R-Henhouse)

Rep. Jim Greenwood (R-PA), who holds a top committee position overseeing Medicare, the FDA and other agencies of interest to the pharmaceutical industry, yesterday announced he was retiring to become the top lobbyist for one of the most powerful pharmaceutical industry trade groups, the Biotechnology Industry Organization (BIO). In an “emotional” interview, Greenwood claimed the decision “is consistent with the high ethical standards that have characterized my 24-year career in elective office” and claimed the decision “is keeping with a commitment…to devote my life to public service.” Greenwood has been a staunch ally of the drug industry in Congress, pushing the Medicare bill that prohibits the federal government from negotiating lower drug prices while providing billions to the same companies he will be lobbying for. Since just 2000, the drug industry has showered Greenwood with more than $123,000 in campaign contributions, consistently ranking as one of his top contributors.

Rep. Tom Davis, Hypocrite

NOW:
House Government Reform Committee Chairman Thomas M. Davis III, Virginia Republican, yesterday called the actions of Samuel R. Berger "a disturbing breach of trust and protocol" and said his committee will soon begin an investigation into the matter, despite CBS News reporting "law enforcement sources say they don't expect any criminal charges will be filed."
- Washington Times, 7/22/04; CBS News, 7/20/04

THEN:
In 2003, when he was asked to hold hearings into the administration's leak of an undercover CIA operative's name, Rep. Tom Davis (R-VA) declined, saying, "I know Ashcroft very well, and I'm sure he'll go by the book." He had his spokesman claim an investigation into the administration leak (unlike an investigation into the Berger matter, apparently) "should be conducted by career FBI agents." Davis has also refused to undertake a probe into Vice President Cheney's office's now-admitted "coordination" of federal contracts for his former employer Halliburton (a company he still owns stock options in, and still receives deferred compensation from). 
- St. Louis Post Dispatch, 10/03/03; Roll Call, 9/30/03

Bush Creates Website for Homeless

Instead of reversing massive cuts to housing and job training he has proposed, the President apparently thinks the way to help the homeless is to set up a website for them...Here's an excerpt from the Dept. of Labor press release today:
 
WASHINGTON—The Department of Labor (DOL) today launched a Web site to help America’s homeless find jobs through mainstream as well as targeted training, education and placement services and to provide a vital link to government-wide resources.  “This Web page furthers the Administration’s commitment to helping the homeless, including homeless veterans,” said U.S. Secretary of Labor Elaine L. Chao.
 
See the full official Bush administration press release here.

Franken Beats O'Reilly

Though not necessarily the most reliable source, this is from Drudge...and its GOOD NEWS:

"AIR AMERICA's Al Franken shot past INFINITY's Bill O'Reilly in the just released ARBITRON radio rates for April thru June, the DRUDGE REPORT has learned. The Franken victory over his latest nemesis came in the ad-friendly 25-54 demo, during the 2 to 3 pm hour, the only hour when the two directly squared off in the nation's top market New York City."

Cheney Attacked America Abroad

With Cheney now on the hot seat for Halliburton's business dealings with Iran while he was CEO, check out this story. According to the Malaysian National News Agency, Cheney actually traveled abroad to meet with foreign government officials and publicly attack American foreign/anti-terrorism policy. Specifically, he attacked U.S. sanctions on Iran - a country the U.S. government lists as a state-sponsor of terrorism. Here are the excerpts from the 4/20/98 story:

"KUALA LAMPUR - Former United States Defence Secretary Dick Cheney today hit out at his government for imposing unilateral economic sanctions like the Iran-Libya Sanctions Act, saying they have been "ineffective, did not provide the desired results and a bad policy"..."I have made it clear that our (the US unilateral) sanctions policy is wrong," he said when asked to comment on the Iran-Libya Act which contains provisions for sanctions to be imposed by the US against foreign companies making investment beyond US$ 20 million a year in the oil and gas sector of the targeted countries...Speaking to reporters after calling on Datuk Seri Dr Mahathir Mohamad at the Prime Minister's office here, Cheney, who is now the chairman and CEO of Halliburton, said: "The US needs to be much more restraint then we have been in terms of pursuing unilateral economic sanctions."...He said he also disagreed with the unilateral economic sanctions imposed on Myanmar and Arzerbaijan."

Cheney, Iran/Iraq & Halliburton

On the same day President Bush announced plans to investigate Iran for ties to terrorism, Halliburton acknowledged that "a U.S. grand jury issued a subpoena to the company seeking information about its Cayman Islands unit's work in Iran, where it is illegal for U.S. companies to operate."
 
Earlier this year, CBS News reported "Halliburton is the company that Vice President Dick Cheney used to run. He was CEO in 1995 to 2000, during which time Halliburton Products and Services set up shop in Iran."
 
During the 2000 election, Cheney openly acknowledged that "Halliburton did business with Libya and Iran through foreign subsidiaries."
 
According to the Forward, Halliburton and Cheney have argued that, despite Iran's suspected ties to terrorism, U.S. sanctions against Iran do not cover "independent foreign subsidiaries," a description that they say applies to the Cayman Islands-based subsidiary. 
 
As CEO of Halliburton, Cheney actively lobbied for the U.S. to lift sanctions on Iran, despite its suspected ties to terrorism.

Earlier this year, the New Yorker reported "The United States had concluded that Iraq, Libya, and Iran supported terrorism and had imposed strict sanctions on them. Yet during Cheney’s tenure at Halliburton the company did business in all three countries" - even though Cheney specifically claimed during the 2000 campaign "I had a firm policy that we wouldn’t do anything in Iraq, even arrangements that were supposedly legal."

Fox News Violates British Regulations

The British Government’s Office of Communications (Ofcom) recently chastised Fox News and found it in violation of various regulations in that country aimed at preventing the media from deliberately spreading misinformation. Ofcom found that Fox News anchor John Gibson made “false statements by undermining facts.” In its report it stated:

“Fox News was unable to provide any substantial evidence to support the overall allegation that the BBC management had lied and the BBC had an anti-American obsession…Even taking into account that this was a ‘personal view’ item, the strength and number of allegations that John Gibson made against the BBC meant that Fox News should have offered the BBC an opportunity to respond…Fox News was therefore in breach of Sections 2.1 (respect for truth), 2.7 (opportunity to take part), and 3.5(b) (personal view programmes - opinions expressed must not rest upon false evidence) of the Programme Code.”
 
Ofcom is described as the official "regulator for the UK communications industries, with responsibilities across television, radio, telecommunications and wireless communications services." The write-up on Fox was included in Ofcom's 6/14/04 report.

Bush: "God Speaks Through Me"

From the local Lancaster County, PA paper:
 
At the end of the session, Bush reportedly told the group, “I trust God speaks through me. Without that, I couldn’t do my job.’’

As always, I try to provide a link to the source material, so here is where you can read the full story:
http://lancasteronline.com/pages/news/local/6/7564

A Question of Priorities

“A White House spokeswoman said Bush had a scheduling conflict, but would not specify the conflict with the six-day convention,” which opened last Saturday and continues into Sunday.
- Washington Post, 7/9/04 
 
VERSUS
 
"What's Happening on Sunday, July 11, 2004? The President and Mrs. Bush attend White House Tee Ball Game." 
- Bush-Cheney Campaign website

Payback Time

House members who last week voted against efforts to curb the most extreme parts of the Patriot Act are getting slammed in their home districts. As you may recall, the bipartisan amendment in question would have forced John Ashcroft to get a warrant before obtaining library and bookstore records of people who were not even a target of an investigation (the Patriot Act gave him the power to basically have unlimited access to those records through a secret court). The vote on the amendment lost on a tie vote, after the Republican leadership forced a handful of its members to change their votes. 
 
Rep. Adam Smith (D-WA) got hammered by his hometown paper for being one of only four Democrats to vote against the bill. Smith has since admitted he made a mistake in voting the way he did.
 
Rep. Zoe Lofgren (D-CA) got slammed by her hometown paper for refusing to take a stand on the bill and voting "Present," even though she was a co-sponsor of the underlying legislation.
 
Rep. Marilyn Musgrave (R-CO) was exposed for switching her vote, and hit hard by her Democratic opponent in a highly-contested swing district.
 
Rep. Tom Tancredo (R-CO) also got lambasted in his hometown press by his opponent.
 
And there are others out there...

Outfoxed Hits Fox Hard

From today's Progress Report...
 
Just days after its release, "Outfoxed: Rupert Murdoch's War on Journalism," a film co-sponsored by the Center for American Progress, is selling like hotcakes, bouncing between the #1 and #2 most popular DVDs on Amazon.com. (Watch a preview of the film, and read major news coverage of it.)

Left-Right Coalitions

Yes, even in this era of hyper-partisanship and polarization, conservatives and progressives can work together...and increasingly, that is becoming a problem for the White House...check out my latest column called "When Left Is Right."

Proof That Fox is a GOP Machine

Care of the American Progress Action Fund, here is the definitive proof that Fox News is a de facto wing of the Republican Party. These are examples of Fox News correspondents and anchors parroting the Bush campaign's line - without mentioning the similar wealth and aristocratic heritage of the Bush-Cheney ticket. This is far worse than their openly-conservative pundits spewing this kind of thing - this is personal attacks ("aristocrat," "elitist," etc.) packaged as objective news:

FOX: KERRY AN 'ELITIST MILLIONAIRE' – NO CRITICS CITED: “[Kerry is] both under fire from minority leaders, who say he's not reached out enough, and eager to shed the image of an elitist millionaire.” [Source: Carl Cameron, 6/29/04]

FOX: NEWS ANCHOR SAYS KERRY IS AN ‘ARISTOCRAT’: “Finally, he may be a Boston aristocrat with an Ivy League education and cousins in France, but that did not make it fair to laugh when John Kerry said last week that he pays close attention to rap music because it says something important.” [Fox Anchorman Brit Hume, 4/6/04]

FOX: CRITICS SAY KERRY’S WEALTH MAKES HIM ‘OUT OF TOUCH’ – NO SOURCE CITED: “Criticized as aloof and out of touch with the common man, the millionaire, Massachusetts senator met with low-income African-American kids.” [Fox Correspondent Carl Cameron, 6/16/04]

FOX: KERRY’S WEALTH, IVY LEAGUE SCHOOLING AN ISSUE, BUSH’S IS NOT: A June report from a Fox News correspondent said "Kerry has always been one of the haves, educated at the finest schools [and] a billionaire wife." In a July report, a Fox correspondent said, “The problem for Kerry may be who he is. An Ivy League millionaire, who has rubbed elbows with the world's wealthiest sophisticates, while most of rural America is considered Bush country.” There was no mention in either report of Bush’s wealthy upbringing as grandson of a Senator, son of a President, schooling at Phillips Andover, Yale and Harvard, or tens of millions in personal assets. [Source: Fox Correspondent Carl Cameron, 6/29/04 and 7/3/04]

FOX: EVEN THOUGH BUSH IS A MILLIONAIRE, IT IS RICH PEOPLE LIKE KERRY WHO RUIN POLITICS: “Now, some people said John Kerry did, first of all, because he is an attractive candidate, but he's also got a lot of money. He married into a lot of money…these guys, Donald Trump, John Kerry, millionaires, many hundreds of times over, gives you the idea that this whole political thing is kind of elitist.” [Source: Fox News anchor David Asman, 12/2/02]

FOX: KERRY & EDWARDS DON’T EAT REGULAR FOOD BECAUSE THEY ARE WEALTHY: “This is not to suggest…that there is anything wrong with making or marrying into millions. But it is fair to point out that it's probably been a long time since either of these guys had to dine on Hamburger Helper.” [Source: Fox Correspondent Brian Wilson, 2/18/04]

FOX: PRICE OF KERRY & EDWARDS HOMES ARE CAMPAIGN ISSUE – BUSH’S IS NOT: Fox aired a full report on where Kerry and Edwards live, without mentioning President Bush’s Crawford, Texas estate and family compound in wealthy Kennebunkport, Maine: “Just a few cobblestones away, about a block actually, is where John Kerry lives in Washington. A four-story house about 104 years old, 23 rooms, 10 bedrooms, six baths, seven fireplaces, count them, seven fireplaces. Conservative estimate on value $4.3 million. You may notice I said this is where Senator Kerry lives, but technically it belongs to his fabulously wealthy wife and ketchup heiress, Teresa Heinz….Senator Edwards' home, $3.8 million.” [Source: Fox News Correspondent Brian Wilson’s special report on Kerry and Edwards homes, 2/18/04]

FOX: EDWARDS JUST A ‘MILLIONAIRE LAWYER’ – NO MENTION CHENEY IS WEALTHIER: Without mentioning Edwards more than 5 years in the Senate or the fact that his counterpart Dick Cheney’s Halliburton treasure makes him wealthier than Edwards, Fox reported “topping [Kerry’s] short list is a millionaire trial lawyer from the south.” An earlier report had a Fox correspondent saying "don't worry about Senator Edwards getting by. He made millions as a trial lawyer." [Source: Fox Correspondent Carl Cameron, 7/3/04; Fox Correspondent Brian Wilson, 2/18/04]

An Eerie Coincidence?

Saudi Arabia is known for its support for madrassas - the radical Islamic schools where many Taliban and al Qaeda suspects were schooled. And that begs a question: is it just a coincidence that, according to the Associated Press, the Saudi school year apparently starts on September 11th?

Bush on Appearances of Criminal Impropriety

CLAIM:
"What is even more important is the duty of public officials to obey the existing laws, and I'm afraid your own record does not inspire confidence."
- George W. Bush, 3/15/00

FACT:
The President and Vice President have both retained lawyers and have been questioned in a criminal investigation into whether administration officials were involved in “what could be a violation of federal law” when they deliberately leaked the name of a covert CIA operative.
- CBS News, 6/24/04 & 6/05/04; NY Times, 9/29/03

New Report on Cronyism In Iraq

Check out this piece in the American Prospect I co-authored with my good buddy Judd Legum, whom I work with at the Center for American Progress - it details how Bush specifically picked partisan loyalists and corporate cronies (instead of independent investigators) to oversee taxpayer money in Iraq.

Document Destruction

An outrage:

"Military records that could help establish President Bush's whereabouts during his disputed service in the Texas Air National Guard more than 30 years ago have been inadvertently destroyed, according to the Pentagon...It said the payroll records of "numerous service members," including former First Lt. Bush, had been ruined in 1996 and 1997 by the Defense Finance and Accounting Service during a project to salvage deteriorating microfilm. No back-up paper copies could be found, it added in notices dated June 25. The destroyed records cover three months of a period in 1972 and 1973 when Mr. Bush's claims of service in Alabama are in question. The disclosure appeared to catch some experts, both pro-Bush and con, by surprise. Even the retired lieutenant colonel who studied Mr. Bush's records for the White House, Albert C. Lloyd of Austin, said it came as news to him...There was no mention of the loss, for example, when White House officials released hundreds of pages of the President's military records last February...Dan Bartlett, the White House communications director who has said that the released records confirmed the president's fulfillment of his National Guard commitment, did not return two calls for a response."
- NY Times, 7/9/04

And if you believe this was just an accident, I've got some real estate to sell you...

Things That Make You Go Hmmm...

Osama bin Laden and his chief lieutenants, operating from hideouts suspected to be along the Afghanistan-Pakistan border, are directing a Qaeda effort to launch an attack in the United States sometime this year. - NY Times, 7/9/04

QUESTION: If this is the case, and we face an imminent threat of a terrorist attack in America, why do we have 140,000 troops in Iraq, and just 13,500 troops in Afghanistan?

A Picture Worth $1.1 Billion?

Check out this picture:

The caption: "US President George W. Bush walks away from a briefing with the media, refusing to answer questions after he was asked about Enron and the reported indictment of former CEO Kenneth Lay, who was a close adviser and fund-raiser for Bush and his father, earning him the presidential nickname of 'Kenny Boy.'"

At least to West Coast consumers, this is picture might be worth at least some of the $1.1 billion Enron bilked from them.

GOP Sinks to a New Low

U.S. Rep. Chris Shays (R-CT) just went to the House floor and essentially accused those who want to reform the Patriot Act of not caring about the 3,000 Americans who were killed on 9/11. His comment, coincidentally, followed a passionate statement in support of an amendment reforming the Patriot Act by Rep. Jerry Nadler (D-NY), who represents Manhattan.

The Shays quote is not available yet on the web, but when it is, I will post it - let's hope he doesn't retroactively "revise and extend" his remarks for the record.

If you have C-SPAN, you should watch the debate going on. The Republican leadership is impugning the patriotism and national security credentials of those who are supporting efforts to prevent the government from being able to secretly search library/bookstore records of ordinary Americans who aren't even a target of an investigation. The White House has threatened to veto the measure if it passes. Read more about the issue in today's Progress Report.

Cause and Effect on Vets Policy

While this Bush policy of trying to prevent veterans outreach may not have caused the full problem, it certainly contributes to it:

THEN:
On top of shortchanging veterans health care funding, the Bush administration in 2002 ordered VA officials "to cease efforts to enroll new patients into its health care system." The directive said it was "inappropriate" for local VA workers to attend health fairs, open house and community meetings in order to educate veterans about what they are eligible for and enroll them in health care programs.
- Source, VFW Magazine, 9/02

NOW:
"Hundreds of thousands of vets nationwide potentially are missing out on disability payments from the VA [that they are owed] - and the agency's efforts to find them have fallen far short. Knight Ridder analysis of the VA's own survey data puts the number of those veterans [not receiving benefits they are eligible for but don't know about] at about 572,000...officials with state and nonprofit veterans agencies say the federal government does little to find vets who left the military years or decades ago."
- Knight-Ridder, 7/1/04

Gwen Ifill: Conservative Parrot

Check this Gwen Ifill statement out from Meet the Press on 6/27/04:

MS. IFILL: Well, as David Brooks pointed out in The New York Times yesterday, in Europe, Michael Moore goes about very widely bashing America and bashing Americans as being stupid and not knowing how to put one foot in front of the other and he's received like a conquering hero. They love this. They want to hear this. Now, that's fine. They think he's a documentarian. They think he is bringing them facts. Now, they don't vote in American elections, but there is a wider question to be raised about the impact of Americans who take that abroad in a time of war.

Remember, Gwen Ifill is supposed to be an objective PBS journalist. She has completely parroted the right-wing mischaracterizations of Moore's movie, given them credence, and then implicitly criticized Moore for voicing opposition at a time of war. This is exactly the same kind of McCarthyism peddled by John Ashcroft ("Your tactics only aid terrorists for they erode our national unity and diminish our resolve") and the White House fear-mongers (Americans "need to watch what they say, watch what they do - This is not a time for remarks like that").

The Journalism of Rupert Murdoch

Check out the front cover of today's Rupert Murdoch-owned NY Post. They reported before anyone that Kerry chose Gephardt, going as far as putting the story on their front cover, even though they had no attributed source. As we now know, they were wrong.

Adding insult to injury, if you look at the front of their website at this moment, they have their own front cover story, adjacent to the AP newswire confirming that Kerry chose Edwards.

There is no clearer example of why never to trust the Rupert Murdoch "journalism" of the NY Post or Fox News.