Non-Partisan Budget Experts Confirm Bush is Misleading Public on War Funding Needs

Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid made the following statement upon receipt of a Congressional Research Service (CRS) analysis of the Army's ability to finance its
operational needs with existing funds well beyond the April 15th date asserted by President Bush.

In a thorough review of Army data and the Defense Department's existing legal authorities, non-partisan budget experts at CRS informed the Congress that the Army could maintain its wartime operations well into July 2007 with funds the Army has already been provided.

"This study confirms that the President is once again attempting to mislead the public and create an artificial atmosphere of anxiety. He is using scare tactics to defeat bipartisan legislation that would change course in Iraq. After waiting months for this Administration to send us its funding requests, both houses of Congress worked quickly to pass the emergency supplemental bill for our troops. Congress has acted in good faith and will send the President a conference report for his signature well ahead of the July 2007 date CRS identified. If the President vetoes this bill, he is making the choice to continue down the same failed path in Iraq.

"Instead of holding press events to score political points, I call upon the President to tone down his rhetoric, stop the veto threats of a bill he has not yet seen, and sit down with the congressional leadership to discuss how our two co-equal branches of government can get an emergency spending bill passed that funds our troops and makes America more secure."

Veto-boy

President Bush isn't rushing to the rescue of his old Texas friend, Alberto Gonzales, after the attorney general's one-time lieutenant undercut his old boss' account of the firings of eight federal prosecutors.

(snip)

Asked about Gonzales during a closed-door meeting with House Republicans on Thursday, Bush did not defend his longtime friend, according to one official who attended the session and demanded anonymity because it was private.

Instead, Bush tepidly repeated his public statement: The attorney general would have to go up to Capitol Hill and fix his problem, according to this official.

Publicly, the White House backed away from defending Gonzales even before Sampson had finished testifying.

"I'm going to have to let the attorney general speak for himself," White House spokeswoman Dana Perino said.

"Maybe [Pakistani cricket fans] should focus less on cricket and a little more on hygiene," opined Rachel Marsden on a recent episode of Fox News' middle-of-the-night talk oddity "Red Eye." Marsden was adding her two cents to a discussion of murdered Pakistani cricket coach Bob Woolmer, and seemed unaware that she had said anything offensive. But her co-hosts, Greg Gutfeld and Bill Schulz, looked appropriately aghast; Gutfeld was quick to assure viewers that "Red Eye," the Fox-for-frat-boys show he's been hosting with gross-out gusto since Feb. 6, did not endorse Marsden's views on Pakistani hygiene.

Her colleagues may have been momentarily tortured by Marsden's loose tongue, but whether they knew it or not, they had been sticking it to her just the night before, when they brought up the Duke rape case. Gutfeld had asked what should happen to the accuser if all charges are finally dropped, and Marsden had jumped in with unusual speed, pooh-poohing possible repercussions for the woman who claimed she was raped by members of the Duke University lacrosse team a year ago. "Charges are laid, charges are dropped," said Marsden. "It happens all the time. Unless she can get charged with mischief and they can prove she lied, then no, [she shouldn't be punished]. That's the process and the process works." But, argued Gutfeld, "Don't you think that being accused of rape is as bad as being raped? Those guys' lives were ruined!" Marsden bit back, "Let's give it 10 years and see if their lives were ruined."

(snip)

Marsden grew up in a suburb of Vancouver. Her father, Claude, was a high school teacher who in 2000 had his teaching license suspended after admitting to an inappropriate relationship with a 16-year-old student. Marsden, in the bio on her Web site, describes growing up listening to Canadian talk-radio bulldog Jack Webster. "Listening to these radio shows during visits to grandma's house ignited a lifelong passion," writes Marsden, adding, "Rachel finds it cute when liberals think they have an original argument. Chances are she heard it for the first time at the age of 7." Marsden also writes that as a "former national level competitive swimmer who still holds records in BC, [she] lives for challenges and thrives on competition."

It was swimming that led Marsden to meet Liam Donnelly at the Westminster Club where they both swam in 1990, when she was 15 and he 22. Three years later she enrolled to study biology at the famously progressive, Utopian Simon Fraser University, where Donnelly was swim coach. In 1995, she accused Donnelly, who was not her coach, of sexual harassment and date rape, claiming that he repeatedly molested her over the course of a 16-month friendship/relationship. Donnelly claimed he was innocent, and on the advice of a lawyer, boycotted the university's investigation into Marsden's claims.

Salon

"Both the House and Senate versions of this legislation address critical priorities that were either ignored or substantially under-funded by your Administration in the regular budget process. For example, despite the fact that our troops have been fighting in Afghanistan since 2001 and in Iraq since 2003, your regular budget submission to the Congress did not include funding for either war. Your regular budget also failed to adequately address the urgent veteran's health care crisis, vulnerabilities in our homeland security, and the needs of thousands of victims of several severe natural disasters. This Congress is taking the responsible course and responding to needs that have been ignored by your Administration and the prior Congress."

Saudi king slams 'illegitimate occupation' of Iraq

RIYADH -- Saudi King Abdullah, whose country is a close US ally, slammed Wednesday the "illegitimate foreign occupation" of Iraq in an opening speech to the annual Arab summit in Riyadh.

Arab leaders have kicked off the two-day summit in the Saudi capital aiming to revive a dormant plan for peace with Israel and launch a diplomatic offensive to resolve the Middle East conflict.

"In beloved Iraq, blood is being shed among brothers in the shadow of an illegitimate foreign occupation, and ugly sectarianism threatens civil war," Abdullah said.

He also said that Arab nations, which are planning to revive a five-year-old Middle East peace plan at the summit, would not allow any foreign force to decide the future of the region.

K-I-S-S-I-N-G

Russian Intelligence Reports U.S. Military Buildup Near Iranian Borders
Russian military intelligence services are reporting a flurry of activity by U.S. Armed Forces near Iran's borders, the RIA-Novosti news agency reported on Tuesday quoting a high-ranking security source.

'The latest military intelligence data point to heightened U.S. military preparations for both an air and ground operation against Iran,' the official said, adding that the Pentagon has probably not yet made a final decision as to when an attack will be launched.

War games in Gulf aim to send message to Iran
American warplanes screamed off two aircraft carriers Tuesday as the Navy staged its largest show of force in the Persian Gulf since the 2003 invasion of Iraq.

The mammoth exercises, intended as a message to Iran, were sure to heighten tensions as that country, which frequently has condemned the U.S. military presence off its coast, faces off with the West over its nuclear program and its capture of a British naval team.

Despite strains, U.S. could fight a third war: Gates
Defense Secretary Robert Gates cautioned on Thursday the Army would face problems without emergency funds but insisted U.S. forces could fight a third war despite being stretched in Iraq and Afghanistan.

"Our ability to defend the United States despite the heavy commitments in Iraq and Afghanistan remains very strong and every adversary should be aware of that," he said.

More Republicans switching affiliation

Retired Penn State staff assistant Carol A. Spangler, of State College, a registered Republican for more than four decades, switched to the Democratic Party two months ago because "I just don't want to be known as a Republican right now."

Boalsburg resident Gregory Mussi, regional director of building code enforcement, changed his registration two weeks ago from Republican to Democratic "out of disgust" and because he's "disenchanted" with some aspects of federal government.

And Penn State professor Rayne Sperling, a registered Republican all her life until January, made the move to the Democratic Party because "I just felt the time had come."

Spangler, Mussi and Sperling aren't alone. They joined a growing number of people in Centre County and across the state who have left the Republicans for the Democrats as the war in Iraq grinds on and the nation's political leaders argue fiercely over what to do about it.

Centre County Republicans hold a 44 percent to 38 percent registration advantage over Democrats, and some Democrats have become Republicans in the year's first 13 weeks. But more than twice as many Republicans have become Democrats.

Republicants

Percent of Americans who want us out of Iraq by August, 2008: 59%
Percent who don't: 33%

Bush Rating Trickles Down to 32% in U.S

Stopping short of demanding Gonzales' resignation, Sen. Arlen Specter cited a Nov. 27 calendar entry placing the attorney general at a Justice Department meeting to discuss the dismissals. Those documents "appear to contradict" Gonzales' earlier statements that he never participated in such conversations, said Specter, top Republican on the Senate Judiciary Committee that oversees the Justice Department.

"We have to have an attorney general who is candid, truthful. And if we find out he has not been candid and truthful, that's a very compelling reason for him not to stay on," said Specter, R-Pa.

Sen. Lindsey Graham, R-S.C., said Gonzales has been "wounded" by the firings. "He has said some things that just don't add up," said Graham, who also is on the Senate Judiciary panel. And Sen. Chuck Hagel, R-Neb., said the Justice Department has continually changed its story about the dismissals.

"You cannot have the nation's chief law enforcement officer with a cloud hanging over his credibility," Hagel said.

"Kyle plans to testify fully, truthfully and publicly," said Bradford Berenson of Sidley Austin. "Hearings in a highly politicized environment like this can sometimes be a game of 'gotcha,' but Kyle has decided to trust the Congress and the process."
The Hill

Sampson will set off some fireworks by contradicting a key assurance that Gonzales made to Congress and the American public last Tuesday that he was not in the loop during the long deliberations leading up to the firings.

Gonzales probably spoke to Sampson 20 times a day, and had a morning management meeting daily on a range of issues with Sampson and other key officials also involved in the U.S. Attorney deliberations. Gonzales had delegated the replacement plan for U.S. Attorneys largely to Sampson and was monitoring it at "the 30,000 feet level," Sampson's associate says. But Sampson will testify that the Attorney General not only discussed the idea while he was still White House counsel and signed off at the end, but also was "aware of the arc of the whole process" in between, says this source.
US News

Gonzales aide to invoke Fifth Amendment, refuse Senate questions

March 26 (Bloomberg) -- Monica Goodling, a counsel to U.S. Attorney General Alberto Gonzales who helped coordinate the dismissals of eight U.S. attorneys, will invoke her constitutional right not to answer Senate questions about the firings, her lawyer said.

Goodling, one of four Justice Department officials the agency said could be interviewed by the Senate Judiciary Committee, will invoke her Fifth Amendment privilege not to answer the panel's questions, John M. Dowd, her lawyer, said in a statement. Dowd said the committee had requested her testimony under oath.

"The hostile and questionable environment in the present congressional proceedings is at best ambiguous; more accurately the environment can be described as legally perilous for Ms. Goodling," Dowd said in a letter to Senator Patrick Leahy, the Vermont Democrat who chairs the panel. Dowd cited statements by senators accusing the Justice Department of misleading Congress.

The Judiciary Committee is investigating whether the firings were carried out for improper political purposes, such as interfering with criminal investigations.

Pants on Fire

A roast for the unhappy couples

March 26, 2007
BY ZAY N. SMITH Sun-Times Columnist

News Item: "Rudy Giuliani said yesterday he wasn't surprised by his wife's admission of a secret third marriage. . . ."

Time to get out the calculator again.

Taking into account all the wives, along with all the husbands of all the wives, the top three Republican presidential candidates and their wives are now responsible for . . . 21 marriages.

Family Values can be very hectic.

Sanctity of Marriage?

Political theater? Political frikking Theater?

You tell me, does this man have any right to accuse anyone of "Political Theater"?

Iraqi colonel flees military training in Alabama

An Iraqi air force colonel disappeared recently from an Alabama Air Force base and is being sought in a regional manhunt by federal and military agents, defense officials say.

The colonel, who was not identified, was studying at the Air Command and Staff College at Maxwell Air Force Base, near Montgomery, since last winter in a leadership training course that is part of U.S. efforts to rebuild the Iraqi air force.

The officer disappeared along with his family, who were living either on the base or in the Montgomery area. He left a note stating that he was leaving the yearlong military course because he did not want to return to war-torn Iraq, said officials familiar with the case.

Air Force security, FBI and U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) agents have started a search throughout the Southeast for the colonel and his family.

AWOL

The leader of the Justice Department team that prosecuted a landmark lawsuit against tobacco companies said yesterday that Bush administration political appointees repeatedly ordered her to take steps that weakened the government's racketeering case.

Sharon Y. Eubanks said Bush loyalists in Attorney General Alberto R. Gonzales's office began micromanaging the team's strategy in the final weeks of the 2005 trial, to the detriment of the government's claim that the industry had conspired to lie to U.S. smokers.

"The political people were pushing the buttons and ordering us to say what we said," Eubanks said. "And because of that, we failed to zealously represent the interests of the American public."

"Political interference is happening at Justice across the department," she said. "When decisions are made now in the Bush attorney general's office, politics is the primary consideration. . . . The rule of law goes out the window."

"The executive branch is under no compulsion to testify to Congress, because Congress in fact doesn't have oversight ability. So what we've said is we're going to reach out to you - we'll give you every communication between the White House, the Justice Department, the Congress, anybody on the outside, any kind of communication that would indicate any kind of activity outside, and at the same time, we'll make available to you any of the officiels you want to talk to ...knowing full well that anything they said is still subject to legal scrutiny, and the members of Congress know that."

Subpoenas for Rove and other top White House aides were expected to be authorized Thursday by the Senate Judiciary Committee. A House panel took similar action Wednesday, but held off issuing the subpoenas.

(snip)

Countered Sen. Patrick Leahy, D-Vt.: They came up and said, 'This is our offer. Take it or leave it. Accept these papers where we've erased 100 pages or more so you don't even know what's on there. Do a closed door hearing where the public has no idea what is said and they're not under oath, and if you don't like that, take it or leave it.' Well nobody's going to take that."

(snip)

With authorizations in hand, the Democratic chairmen of the Judiciary panels, Rep. John Conyers, D-Mich., and Leahy can issue subpoenas at any time, but they haven't done so yet.

They also could continue to negotiate with the White House, with the threat of subpoenas as a bargaining chip.
Chicago Sun Times

Q So, Tony, back when President Clinton was citing executive privilege to keep internal deliberations in that White House from being talked about in Congress, you wrote -- now famously -- .....

Q No, no. But you wrote quite eloquently about this. You said, "Taken to its logical extreme, that position would make it impossible for citizens to hold the chief executive accountable. We would have a constitutional right to a coverup."

MR. SNOW: Right. Now let me --

Q So why were you wrong then and right now?

MR. SNOW: Because this is a not entirely analogous situation. I've just told you what we have, in fact, offered to make available to members of Congress. And what we are doing is we are holding apart confidential communications between advisors and the President. And that is pretty standard practice in White Houses. But, again --

Q It's exactly what the Clinton administration talked about.

Snow Won't Comment On 18-Day Gap: "I've Been Led To Believe There's A Good Response For It"

Researchers have discovered an 18-day gap in the 3,000 documents on the U.S. Attorney purge released this week by the Justice Department. The gap extends from mid-November to early December, "which was a critical period as the White House and Justice Department reviewed, then approved, which U.S. attorneys would be fired while also developing a political and communications strategy for countering any fallout from the firings."

During today's press briefing, CNN's Ed Henry noted that one of the last emails before the gap is from Attorney General Alberto Gonzales' ex-chief of staff Kyle Sampson to then-White House Counsel Harriet Miers, asking, "Who will determine whether this requires the president's attention?"

White House spokesman Tony Snow refused to explain the gap, telling reporters, "I've been led to believe that there's a good response for it." He said President Bush "has no recollection of this ever being raised with him."

18

Watergate Tapes

Stare at me

MSNBC - 153 mentions
CNN - 112 mentions
Fox News Channel - 42

MSNBC - 84 mentions
CNN - 53 mentions
Fox News Channel - 10 mentions

Fox News Channel - 121 mentions
MSNBC - 96 mentions
CNN - 40 mentions

Wynnewood's Karen Hepp, the NBC10 alumna now reporting and anchoring for Fox in New York, was relaxing pregnantly in her Big Apple pied-a-terre Monday after work when her water broke. She did what any right-thinking person would do: She hightailed it to Penn Station to get a train to Philadelphia.

"I looked a little haggard . . . no makeup, crazy shoes," she says.

Of course that would be when she would run into someone she knew: Sen. Chris Dodd (D., Conn.), whom she covered while working in Hartford. Dodd and his wife, Jackie, were on their way to D.C. "They carried my bags and brought me into business class and helped me through contractions," says Hepp, 36, whose husband, Brian Sullivan, picked her up at 30th Street and sped off to a birthing center in Bryn Mawr. Their first child, Quinn Joseph, was born Tuesday morning.

Senate votes to end Gonzales' power to name prosecutors

WASHINGTON - The Senate voted overwhelmingly Tuesday to end the Bush administration's ability to unilaterally fill U.S. attorney vacancies as a backlash to Attorney General Alberto Gonzales' firing of eight federal prosecutors.

Amid calls from lawmakers in both parties to resign, Gonzales got a morale boost with an early-morning call from President Bush, their first conversation since a week ago, when the president said he was unhappy with how the Justice Department handled the firings.

With a 94-2 vote, the Senate passed a bill that canceled a Justice Department-authored provision in the Patriot Act that had allowed the attorney general to appoint U.S. attorneys without Senate confirmation. Democrats say the Bush administration abused that authority when it fired the eight prosecutors and proposed replacing some with White House loyalists.

"If you politicize the prosecutors, you politicize everybody in the whole chain of law enforcement," said Judiciary Committee Chairman Patrick Leahy, D-Vt.

Particularly worrisome, according to some references in the 3,000 pages of e-mails and other material released late Monday, was the prospect of former U.S. Attorney Bud Cummins testifying before Congress.

Cummins was relieved as U.S. attorney in Little Rock, Ark., and replaced by Tim Griffin, a former assistant to top White House aide Karl Rove.
Houston Chronicle

"Politics may not be a pleasant reason but the truth is compelling."

The media reports this morning that among Lam's politically powerful targets were former CIA official Kyle "Dusty" Foggo and then-House Appropriations Committee Chairman Jerry Lewis (R-CA). But there is evidence to believe that the White House may also have been on Lam's target list. ThinkProgress.org has the connections.

House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) added her voice to the growing chorus of discontent over the Justice Department's firing of eight federal prosecutors, saying today, "I believe we need a new attorney general.''

In a meeting with The Chicago Tribune editorial board and in an interview with WGN-TV, Pelosi said there was a reason Republicans feared a Democratic victory last November.

"They knew that the era of no oversight was over and that they would have to be held accountable,'' she said, citing the scandal at Walter Reed over the treatment of wounded soldiers, as well as questions about whether politics played a role in the dismissal of the U.S. attorneys.

"I think what is unfolding looks pretty bad for the administration as well as Alberto Gonzales,'' Pelosi said, noting that Republicans have begun calling for his dismissal in addition to Democrats.

President Bush marked the fourth anniversary of the war in Iraq on Monday as the White House tried to counter Democratic attempts to force a withdrawal of U.S. troops.

Bush was expected to issue a plea for more patience in the war, which has stretched longer with higher costs than the White House ever anticipated. The president was to make a statement in the Roosevelt Room.

"It can be tempting to look at the challenges in Iraq and conclude that our best option is to pack up and go home," Bush was to say, according to an administration official who saw an advance text of his remarks. "While that may be satisfying in the short run, the consequences for American security would be devastating."

"That is not a fund-the-troops bill but a withdraw-the-troops bill," White House press secretary Tony Snow said. ABC News

I would say that the sectarian killing is over," Maliki said.
(snip)

He went on to say that most Iraqis were "happy and delighted" because "this mysterious sectarian killing and kidnapping is over in their neighbourhoods".
Happy and delighted, huh?

For a second consecutive day, thousands of protesters flowed through the streets of several cities Sunday to call for an end to the funding of the Iraq war or the immediate return of U.S. troops.

Demonstrators converged in San Francisco, New York, Portland, Ore., and elsewhere to mark the fourth anniversary of the U.S. invasion of Iraq and call on President Bush to heed what they said was the will of the people.

(snip)

President Bush was at Camp David in Maryland for the weekend. Spokesman Blair Jones said of the protests: "Our Constitution guarantees the right to peacefully express one's views. The men and women in our military are fighting to bring the people of Iraq the same rights and freedoms."

This week, the House plans to vote on a war spending bill that includes a troop withdrawal deadline of Sept. 1, 2008. That timeline would speed up if the Iraqi government cannot meet its own benchmarks for providing security, allocating oil revenues and taking other essential steps. Bush has threatened a veto.
Celebrate

ABC News: Ex-CIA Agent: 'Administration Officials ... Destroyed My Cover'

CBS News: Valerie Plame Says Leak Ruined Her Career

CNN News: Outed operative blames White House, State officials

MSNBC News: Ex-CIA officer Plame testifies before congressional panel.

Washington Post: In House Hearing, Plame Rebukes Administration

NY Times: Subject of C.I.A. Leak Testifies

FOX "News": Anna Nicole's Medicine Chest

Karl Rove, the senior presidential adviser, inquired about firing United States attorneys in January 2005, e-mail messages released Thursday show. The request prompted a Justice Department aide to respond that Alberto R. Gonzales, soon to be confirmed as attorney general, favored replacing a group of "underperforming" prosecutors.

The e-mail messages, part of a larger collection that the Justice Department is preparing to turn over to Congressional investigators, indicate that Mr. Rove and Mr. Gonzales, then the White House counsel, had considered replacing prosecutors earlier than either has previously acknowledged.

In a message on Jan. 6, 2005, one White House lawyer wrote to a colleague: "Karl Rove stopped by to ask you (roughly quoting) 'how we planned to proceed regarding U.S. Attorneys, whether we were going to allow all to stay, request resignations from all and accept only some of them or selectively replace them, etc.'"

"I was responsible for the 9/11 operation from A to Z," Mohammed said in a statement read during the session, which was held last Saturday.

Using his own words, the extraordinary transcript connects Mohammed to dozens of the worst terror plots attempted or carried out in the last 15 years - and to others that have not occurred. All told, thousands have died in operations he directed.

In all, Mohammed said he was responsible for planning 28 attacks and assisting in three others. The comments were included in a 26-page transcript released by the Pentagon, which blacked out some of his remarks.

Mohammed also claimed he was tortured by the CIA after his capture in 2003, according to an exchange he had with the unidentified military colonel who heads the three-member panel that heard his case.

Sen. John Sununu of New Hampshire on Wednesday became the first Republican in Congress to call for Attorney General Alberto Gonzales' dismissal, hours after President Bush expressed confidence in his embattled Cabinet officer.

"I think the president should replace him," Sununu said. "I think the attorney general should be fired."

Senate agrees to begin debate on Iraq pullout
89-9 vote paves way for consideration of a withdrawal date for U.S. troops

WASHINGTON - Breaking a parliamentary roadblock, the Senate voted Wednesday to begin its first formal debate on the Iraq war since Democrats took control of Congress in January.

The 89-9 vote paved the way for consideration of a Democratic measure that calls for - but does not require - President Bush to pull U.S. combat troops out of Iraq by the end of March 2008. The vote came after many Republicans abandoned the tactic they had used twice earlier this year to prevent the Senate from considering legislation aimed at forcing an end to the war.

Despite the vote, most Republicans opposed the Democratic bill and it was expected to eventually fall short of the 60 votes it will need to pass. Even so, the debate would give Democrats a chance to put Republicans on record as opposing a timetable on the war at a time when most American voters oppose.

3,192

General Alberto Gonzales refused to step down yesterday in a widening scandal over the politically motivated firing of eight federal prosecutors, which has already led to the resignation of his chief of staff.

"I believe in accountability," Mr. Gonzales said during a hastily called news conference here. "Like every CEO of a major organization, I am responsible for what happens at the Department of Justice. I acknowledge that mistakes were made here. I accept that responsibility."

Yet Mr. Gonzales immediately placed the blame for the controversial firings on his top aide, Kyle Sampson, who resigned on Monday.

"Mr. Sampson was charged with directing the process to ascertain where were our weak performers, where we could do better in districts around the country," he said, insisting that it was Mr. Sampson's responsibility to "drive the process."
Globe and Mail

"There will be very specific hearings," Sen Pat Leahy (D-VT) chair of the Senate Judiciary Committee said. "I am tired of the 'we'll brief all of you, but...' I don't want that any more. I've had the briefings. I didn't get the answers. We'll now have them under oath, in open hearing."

"The old days of the previous congresses are over, Mr. President," Rep John Conyers (D-MI) chairman of the House Judiciary said. "And so we'll get to the bottom of this crisis with or without cooperation."
Read or listen to the story at NPR.org

Documents prove White House involvement in U.S. attorney firings

Documents that were turned over to Congress today prove that top Bush Administration staffers were intimately involved in the firings of eight former U.S. attorneys including David Iglesias of New Mexico, disproving the Justice Department's prior assertion that the White House played almost no role.

The White House has also revealed that President George W. Bush personally relayed concerns that had been shared with him about a number of U.S. attorneys to Attorney General Alberto Gonzales weeks before the firings. Among those who complained to Bush was U.S. Sen. Pete Domenici, R-N.M.

Statements made Monday evening by the White House in conjunction with the release of records are the latest in a series of admissions the Bush Administration has made only after the media or others alleged that prior statements weren't accurate. That failure to be up-front about information has increased suspicion that the firings were political and has caused the scandal to explode.

More

Gay advocates demand apology from Pace

WASHINGTON - A gay advocacy group Tuesday demanded an apology from the Pentagon's top general for calling homosexuality immoral.

In a newspaper interview Monday, Marine Gen. Peter Pace had likened homosexuality to adultery and said the military should not condone it by allowing gays to serve openly in the military.

"General Pace's comments are outrageous, insensitive and disrespectful to the 65,000 lesbian and gay troops now serving in our armed forces," the advocacy group Servicemembers Legal Defense Network said in a statement on its Web site.

(snip)

"I believe homosexual acts between two individuals are immoral and that we should not condone immoral acts," Pace said in the interview. "I do not believe the United States is well served by a policy that says it is OK to be immoral in any way."

Young Man

The documents, which include numerous e-mails between Sampson, Miers and others in the White House counsel's office, show the dismissal plan dated from February 2005, when Miers' office brought up the question of whether U.S. attorneys should be replaced with new GOP appointees for Bush's second term.

That proposal was immediately rejected by Gonzales as impractical and disruptive, Justice officials said, but it led Sampson to send an e-mail to Miers in March 2005 ranking all 93 U.S. attorneys. Strong performers "exhibited loyalty" to the administration; low performers were "weak U.S. attorneys who have been ineffectual managers and prosecutors, chafed against Administration initiatives, etc."; a third group merited no opinion.
SF Chronicle

"This is not right," said Master Sgt. Ronald Jenkins, who has been ordered to Iraq even though he has a spine problem that doctors say would be damaged further by heavy Army protective gear. "This whole thing is about taking care of soldiers," he said angrily. "If you are fit to fight you are fit to fight. If you are not fit to fight, then you are not fit to fight."

As the military scrambles to pour more soldiers into Iraq, a unit of the Army's 3rd Infantry Division at Fort Benning, Ga., is deploying troops with serious injuries and other medical problems, including GIs who doctors have said are medically unfit for battle. Some are too injured to wear their body armor, according to medical records.

U.S. oil services firm Halliburton Co. is moving its headquarters and chief executive to Dubai in a move that immediately sparked criticism from some U.S. politicians.

Texas-based Halliburton, which was led by Vice President Dick Cheney from 1995-2000, did not specify what, if any, tax implications the move might entail. It plans to list on a Middle East bourse once it moves to Dubai -- a booming commercial center in the Gulf. The company said it was making the moves to position itself better to gain contracts in the oil-rich Middle East.

"This is an insult to the U.S. soldiers and taxpayers who paid the tab for their no-bid contracts and endured their overcharges for all these years," said judiciary committee chairman Sen. Patrick Leahy, a Vermont Democrat.

KBR, the engineering and military-services contractor unit that Halliburton is in the process of splitting off, is the Pentagon's largest contractor in Iraq. KBR has so far booked more than $20 billion in revenues from its work in Iraq and has been the target of several investigations into the company's billing practices. It has also faced complaints from some U.S. lawmakers about the company's close ties to the Bush administration.

House panel reverses Bush on archive secrecy

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - A House panel on Thursday voted to overturn a 2001 order by President George W. Bush that enables former presidents, including Bush's father, to keep some of their papers secret indefinitely.

The bipartisan bill, hailed by historians, was passed without objection on a voice vote by the House Committee on Oversight and Government Reform. The full House of Representatives is expected to vote on it next week.

"It will ensure that future historians have access to presidential records as the Presidential Records Act intended," said committee Chairman Henry Waxman, a California Democrat who is one of the bill's sponsors.

In November 2001, Bush issued the order, widely criticized by historians, that allowed either the White House or a former president to block the release of a former president's papers and put the onus on researchers to show a "specific need" for many types of records.

Truth

"That a person like (Bush), with the persecution of our migrant brothers in the United States, with the wars he has provoked, is going to walk in our sacred lands, is an offense for the Mayan people and their culture," Juan Tiney, the director of a Mayan nongovernmental organization with close ties to Mayan religious and political leaders, said Thursday.

Tiney said the "spirit guides of the Mayan community" decided it would be necessary to cleanse the sacred site of "bad spirits" after Bush's visit so that their ancestors could rest in peace. He also said the rites - which entail chanting and burning incense, herbs and candles - would prepare the site for the third summit of Latin American Indians March 26-30.

"The power of Christ compells you!"

Former House Speaker Newt Gingrich acknowledged he was having an extramarital affair even as he led the charge against President Clinton over the Monica Lewinsky affair, he acknowledged in an interview with a conservative Christian group.

Gingrich argued in the interview, however, that he should not be viewed as a hypocrite for pursuing Clinton's infidelity.

"The president of the United States got in trouble for committing a felony in front of a sitting federal judge," the former Georgia congressman said of Clinton's 1998 House impeachment on perjury and obstruction of justice charges. "I drew a line in my mind that said, 'Even though I run the risk of being deeply embarrassed, and even though at a purely personal level I am not rendering judgment on another human being, as a leader of the government trying to uphold the rule of law, I have no choice except to move forward and say that you cannot accept ... perjury in your highest officials."

Valerie Plame to Testify
March 08, 2007

ABC News' Tom Shine Reports: Rep. Henry Waxman, D-Calif., has announced that Valerie Plame Wilson will testify before the House Committee on Oversight and Government Reform on Friday, March 16th.

Other witnesses are also expected to appear but their names have not yet been released.

Sweet!

Committee Will Hold Hearing on Disclosure of CIA Agent Valerie Plame Wilson's Identity

Chairman Henry A. Waxman announced a hearing on whether White House officials followed appropriate procedures for safeguarding the identity of CIA agent Valerie Plame Wilson. At the hearing, the Committee will receive testimony from Ms. Wilson and other experts regarding the disclosure and internal White House security procedures for protecting her identity from disclosure and responding to the leak after it occurred. The hearing is scheduled for Friday, March 16.

In addition, the Committee today sent a letter to Special Prosecutor Patrick Fitzgerald commending him for his investigation and requesting a meeting to discuss testimony by Mr. Fitzgerald before the Committee.

Oversight

"We did not go public with these concerns, because we did not want to undermine the confidence of the patients and their families and give the Army a black eye while fighting a war," Young said.

For his supposed courage in the face of liberal cruelty, Cpl. Sanchez was presented with the Jeanne Kirpatrick Academic Freedom Award at this year's CPAC. Sanchez was the perfect vehicle for the conservative movement's ongoing attempt to wrap itself in the uniform, and to heap resentment on liberals for their supposed anti-military bias.

Soon, Sanchez was rubbing shoulders with the likes of Ann Coulter and Michelle Malkin. Malkin posted a shot of herself beside the corporal on her blog. Sanchez was clad in full military regalia and Malkin wore a big smile. But Malkin is not smiling anymore. Like so many of Sanchez's boosters, she was mugged by reality.

As several gay blogs revealed late yesterday, Corporal Sanchez was known during his halcyon days as Rod Majors, a majorly well-endowed gay porn star. (Photos of Corp. Sanchez aka Rod Majors in action can be viewed here. I warn you, this link is NOT to be clicked on if you have minors around or if you're in a crowded workplace). According to Tom Bacchus, Sanchez was also a $200-an-hour male prostitute who advertised himself (here) as an "excellent top."

Libby's fate remains unclear. He faces up to 25 years in prison when he is sentenced June 5, but his federal sentencing guidelines are much lower. His lawyers promised to ask for a new trial and said they'll ask that Libby remain free while any appeals are fought.

"Today's guilty verdicts are not solely about the acts of one individual.

"This trial provided a troubling picture of the inner workings of the Bush Administration. The testimony unmistakably revealed -- at the highest levels of the Bush Administration -- a callous disregard in handling sensitive national security information and a disposition to smear criticsof the war in Iraq."

WASHINGTON - Jurors reached a verdict Tuesday in the trial of I. Lewis "Scooter"Libby, a former White House aide accused of lying and obstructing an investigation into the leak of a CIA operative's identity.

The verdict will be read at 12 noon ET in the courtroom where jurors heard 19 witnesses during the five-week trial in the perjury and obstruction trial of Libby, former chief of staff to Vice President Dick Cheney.

The verdict came on the 10th day of deliberations by a panel of seven women and four men. The announcement was made by Randall Samborn, a spokesman for special prosecutor Patrick Fitzgerald.

MSNBC

U.S. gasoline rise 31 cents in month

U.S. gasoline pump prices have jumped about 31 cents a gallon in the past month and the reasons are unclear, AAA said.

It might be because refineries switched to making more-expensive warm-weather fuels from winter-weather fuels, spokesman Geoff Sundstrom in Orlando, Fla., said. But the surge arrived earlier than usual this year, he told The Miami Herald.

Other industry observers point out crude oil prices have risen a couple of dollars a barrel in the past month.

"I'll have to start taking the bus if this continues," Samuel Maldonado told the Herald as he filled his red minivan with $2.61-a-gallon regular gas.

Pricks

Boehner's comments came while Democrats were still trying to hammer out details of the huge spending package. Rep. John Murtha, D-Pa., the anti-war chairman of the military appropriations subcommittee who is a close Pelosi ally, wants to attach requirements that no units could be sent back to Iraq until they are fully trained, equipped and rested.

Boehner said the conditions Murtha wants are unacceptable. "We will not support a bill that inhibits the president's ability to wage this war," he told reporters. Boehner added that if the committee bill includes such conditions, he will direct top House Republicans to press their members to vote against it.
SF Gate

"Once again, Democrats are demonstrating their inherent reluctance - if not their outright opposition - to delivering unconditional support for American troops fighting in harm's way to ensure victory in the war on terror. Whether this is the result of a preoccupation with partisan politics in Washington or a callous disregard for the unspeakable consequences of failure, it has led to numerous backdoor attempts to hamstring our military commanders' ability to win the war and undermine our troops' mission. This is dangerous, this is irresponsible, and this is reckless."

"Our enemies in the war on terror have announced their strategy publicly: they will avoid toe-to-toe confrontations with our superior military and engage in cowardly terrorist strikes; they will wait us out to increase our costs; and they will do everything they can to destroy America's support for the troops. Establishing - and telegraphing to our enemy - arbitrary timelines for withdrawal will not help us. It will help the enemy. Micro-managing American troop movements against an enemy who hides, waits, and strives more for death rather than life, will not help us. It will help them. And cutting or hamstringing funding for our troops to force a slow-bleed withdrawal is tantamount to handing the enemy victory itself."

"Republicans will continue to stand united behind our troops for victory in the global war on terror. We will not jeopardize the safety and security of American families, or that of those to come in future generations, by giving our troops anything less than our full and unfettered support."
From Boner's own website

New Bush, Iraq Poll Numbers

In the months since the Congressional elections, President Bush has lost substantial support among members of his own party, according to the latest New York Times/CBS News Poll.

Mr. Bush's approval rating dropped 13 percentage points since last fall among Republicans, 65 percent of whom now say they approve of the way he is handling his job as president, compared with 78 percent last October.

Over all, Mr. Bush's job approval remains at one of its lowest points, with 29 percent of all Americans saying they approve of the way he is doing his job, compared with 34 percent at the end of October. Sixty-one percent disapproved, compared with 58 percent in October, within the margin of sampling error.

Twenty-three percent of those polled approved of the way Mr. Bush is dealing with the situation in Iraq. Twenty-five percent approved of his handling of foreign policy.

LameDuck

McCain Says He Regrets Iraq Comment

Republican presidential contender John McCain, facing criticism from Democrats, on Thursday said he regretted using the word "wasted" to describe the more than 3,100 U.S. lives lost in the Iraq war.

"I should have used the word, sacrificed, as I have in the past," the Arizona senator said after Democrats demanded he apologize as Sen. Barack Obama did when the White House hopeful recently made the same observation.

"No one appreciates and honors more than I do the selfless patriotism of American servicemen and women in the Iraq War," McCain, a former Vietnam prisoner of war, said in a statement.

On Wednesday night, McCain said on CBS'"Late Show With David Letterman": "Americans are very frustrated, and they have every right to be. We've wasted a lot of our most precious treasure, which is American lives."

P.O.S.