Giuliani also addressed a cell phone call he took from his wife, Judith, last week during his speech to the National Rifle Association...

"And quite honestly, since Sept. 11, most of the time when we get on a plane, we talk to each other and just reaffirm the fact that we love each other," he said.

A Challenge For Lawmakers Who Voted To Attack MoveOn Ad: Will They Now Condemn Limbaugh?

On September 20, 72 Senators voted for the highly politicized, "bait and switch" resolution that condemned a newspaper ad by MoveOn.org. The amendment, offered by Sen. John Cornyn (R-TX), expressly stated that the Senate would condemn "any effort to attack the honor and integrity" of "all members of the United States Armed Forces"

On his radio show yesterday, right-wing radio host Rush Limbaugh attacked the "honor and integrity" of some members of the Armed Forces. Limbaugh attacked troops who hold a different viewpoint than his own as "phony soldiers." Iraq war vet Jon Soltz writes that Limbaugh's comments are directed at "the majority of troops on the ground in Iraq" because they "do not back the President's failed policy."

For all the Senators who rushed to make political hay over an empty resolution, the spotlight is on them. Will they now enforce their "sense of the Senate" and condemn Rush Limbaugh?

House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (Did not vote)
Phone: (202) 225-0100
Email: http://www.speaker.gov/contact/

House Democratic Majority Leader Steny Hoyer (Voted to condemn MoveOn ad)
Phone: (202) 225-3130
Email: http://democraticleader.house.gov/

House Whip James Clyburn (Voted to condemn MoveOn ad)
Phone: (202) 226-3210
Email: http://hoyer.house.gov/contact/email.asp

House Democratic Caucus Chair Rahm Emanuel (Voted to condemn MoveOn ad)
Phone: (202) 225-1400
Email: http://www.house.gov/emanuel/IMA/issue.htm

GOP debate is marked by jabs at absences

Republican presidential candidates discussed the importance of reaching out to people of color during a minority issues debate Thursday night and criticized the four leading GOP contenders for skipping it.

"I think this is a disgrace that they are not here," said Sen. Sam Brownback. "I think it's a disgrace to our country. I think it's bad for our party, and I don't think it's good for our future."

Former Arkansas Gov. Mike Huckabee said he was "embarrassed for our party."

The no-shows -- Rudy Giuliani, Fred Thompson, John McCain and Mitt Romney -- cited scheduling conflicts in not attending the debate at Morgan State University in Baltimore.

Moderator Tavis Smiley jabbed at the no-shows, saying, "Some of the campaigns who declined ... have suggested publicly that this audience would be hostile and unreceptive. Since we're live on PBS right now, I can't tell you what I really think of these kinds of comments." Rep. Duncan Hunter, Rep. Ron Paul, Rep. Tom Tancredo and Alan Keyes also attended.

GOPKKK

F*ck Bush.

This is the view of the Collegian editorial board.

(click the picture to download Jay's entire program, or right-click

"We had Pat Insentenio (spelling?) who's a conservative on the line who said 'Well you can criticize George Dubya Bush but you have to be respectful'. No Pat, read the First Amendment to the Constitution. And who decides what's respectful and what's not..... But let me get back to my point. How do you claim moral high ground when you yourself don't have any? I'm sorry, the GOP and these ultra rightwing conservative talking heads don't have any high ground in this area. And if the College Young Republicans...are gonna come out against this why aren't they gonna come out against anything else? Let me give you some examples".

"And I challenge Dick Waddams or anybody else to come on this program and justify the stuff we've just played and tell me how THAT is okay but printing this in the Rocky Mountain Collegian is wrong. You come on here ya bunch of cowards. You're cowards and you're hypocrites and I'm sick of your crap."

Report Says Hussein Was Open To Exile Before 2003 Invasion

Less than a month before the U.S. invasion of Iraq, Saddam Hussein signaled that he was willing to go into exile as long as he could take with him $1 billion and information on weapons of mass destruction, according to a report of a Feb. 22, 2003, meeting between President Bush and his Spanish counterpart published by a Spanish newspaper yesterday.

The meeting at Bush's Texas ranch was a planning session for a final diplomatic push at the United Nations. The White House was preparing to introduce a tough new Security Council resolution to pressure Hussein, but most council members saw it as a ploy to gain their authorization for war.

Spain's prime minister at the time, Jose Maria Aznar, expressed hope that war might be avoided -- or at least supported by a U.N. majority -- and Bush said that outcome would be "the best solution for us" and "would also save us $50 billion," referring to the initial U.S. estimate of what the Iraq war would cost. But Bush made it clear in the meeting that he expected to "be in Baghdad at the end of March."

....

The account offered a rare glimpse of how Bush interacted with a trusted foreign leader, offering blunt assessments and showing a determination that led even Aznar, a close ally on Iraq, to ask that Bush show "a little more patience" in the march toward war. Bush expressed anger and irritation at those governments that disagreed with him, warning that they would pay a price. He directed particular scorn toward then-French President Jacques Chirac, one of the most public opponents of invasion, saying Chirac "sees himself as Mr. Arab."

Got War?

At a dramatic congressional hearing that saw the eviction of several dozen mostly female protesters, Robert Gates, the US defence secretary, on Wednesday urged lawmakers to approve $190bn to pay for the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan in 2008.

Mr Gates said the Pentagon needed another $42bn for the conflicts on top of the $147bn outlined earlier this year. The request would bring total US military spending for fiscal 2008, which begins in October, to $671bn. If approved, the budget would equate to spending almost $21,300 a second and would rank the Pentagon ahead of the Dutch economy, the 16th largest in the world, in terms of size.

In theatrical opening remarks that elicited cheers of approval from tens of "pink lady" protesters who have become a staple of congressional hearings on Iraq, Robert Byrd, Democratic committee chairman, lambasted the administration's "fatally flawed" surge strategy and said the committee would not "rubber stamp" every request by President George W. Bush.

US Military Says Violence in Iraq Has Increased

Iraqi officials say bombings have killed more than 20 people in northern Iraq and Baghdad, a sharp increase in violence after an apparent lull. A spokesman for the U.S. military in Iraq says the spike in attacks is not a surprise.

"There has indeed been an increase in violence in the last few days, largely in areas in which al-Qaida in Iraq operates and with al-Qaida in Iraq signatures, as they have sought to ramp up attacks," said General Bergner.

There is speculation that the timing of the attacks could indicate an organized attempt to undermine claims by U.S. forces that they are making progress toward reducing violence and achieving control over wider areas of Iraq.

He also says the increase is similar to the pattern in previous years when extremists mounted more attacks in conjunction with the Muslim holy month of Ramadan.

A federal judge issued a stern rebuke of a key White House antiterror law, striking down as unconstitutional two pillars of the USA Patriot Act.

U.S. District Judge Ann Aiken ruled Wednesday that using the act to authorize secret searches and wiretapping to gather criminal evidence - instead of intelligence gathering - violates the constitutional protection against unreasonable searches and seizures.

"For over 200 years, this nation has adhered to the rule of law - with unparalleled success. A shift to a nation based on extra-constitutional authority is prohibited, as well as ill-advised," Aiken wrote.

"Childrens do learn," Bush tells school kids

Offering a grammar lesson guaranteed to make any English teacher cringe, President George W. Bush told a group of New York school kids on Wednesday: "Childrens do learn."

Bush made his latest grammatical slip-up at a made-for-TV event where he urged Congress to reauthorize the No Child Left Behind Act, the centerpiece of his education policy, as he touted a new national report card on improved test scores.

The event drew New York Mayor Michael Bloomberg, Education Secretary Margaret Spellings plus teachers and about 20 fourth and fifth graders from P.S. 76.

During his first presidential campaign, Bush -- who promised to be the "education president" -- once asked: "Is our children learning?"

...

"As yesterday's positive report card shows, childrens do learn when standards are high and results are measured," he said.

Not smarter than a 5th grader

BREAKING: Lieberman-Kyl's Iran amendment passes

By a vote 76-22, the Senate passed the Lieberman-Kyl amendment, which threatens to "combat, contain and [stop]" Iran via "military instruments." Sen. Jim Webb (D-VA) called the amendment "Cheney's fondest pipe dream" and said it could "read as a backdoor method of gaining Congressional validation for military action."

War Inches Closer to Iran
U.S. Soldiers Create Military Base on Iraq-Iran Border

It will be called Combat Outpost Shocker, and it will hardly come as a pleasant surprise to Iran that the United States will have a new base just 5 miles from their border. Col. Mark Mueller, of the 3rd Infantry Division, said it is the first time the U.S. military will be that close to Iran.

"Obviously, they probably won't be very happy about it," Mueller told ABC's Terry McCarthy.

The Iraq war, Al-Qaeda, Hurricane Katrina, high gas prices, the housing industry, CIA spy leaks, September the 11th, voter caging, attorney firings, Cheney's energy deal, wiretaps, Halliburton, Terry Schiavo, North Korea, global warming, Karl Rove, Minnesota bridges, K-street, Osama, Enron, Rummy, Mark Foley, airport bathrooms, hot tub Tom, Dubai port security, health care, Made in China, tax cuts for corporations, hot missing white chicks, Habeas Corpus, torture, Iran, Fred Phelps, stem cell research, Fox News, a MoveOn ad, foreign policy, WMD's, Lieberman, NSAT&T, Alberto Gonzales, bridges to nowhere, pollution, diaper sex, free speech zones, massive deficits, illegal immigration, Don Imus, the dollar's value, the Patriot Act, Blackwater, Ralph Nadar, the Coalition of the Willing, Macaca, rubber stamping, No Child Left Behind, Medicare Part D, and the last episode of the Sopranos.

"Americans are outraged by the situation in Burma,"

President George W. Bush announced new U.S. sanctions against Myanmar's military rulers on Tuesday and urged other countries to follow suit amid Myanmar's biggest anti-government protests in 20 years.

"The United States will tighten economic sanctions on the leaders of the regime and their financial backers," Bush said in his annual address to the U.N. General Assembly.

"We will impose an expanded visa ban on those responsible for the most egregious violations of human rights," he added, declaring that Americans were "outraged" by rights abuses in Myanmar.
Myanmar?

Today's performance in New York set a new low even for the Bush Administration. Except for tepid applause when Bush was introduced and when he left the podium, no one clapped. Not even our allies. The world has caught on to the George Bush propaganda game and declines to show him a modicum of respect.

(snip)

The world sat largely silently listening to a crazed little man rant about the abuses in the rest of the world. But his condemnation of the war in Sudan and the creation of refugees in Darfur could not blot out the reality of his war in Iraq and the millions who have fled that hell hole.

This was chutzpah. Just before Bush began speaking a series of car bombs swept Iraq killing and wounding hundreds. A country the United States has occupied for more than four years continues to be ravaged by violence. The Iraqi people themselves are denied the rights Bush extolled. Hell, the United States even protects mercenary armies–like Blackwater–who operate outside of any law and kill innocent civilians without any consequence.

The rest of the world sees and understands our hypocrisy. Unfortunately, many Americans share the ignorance and vacuity of George Bush and do not realize how foolish and stupid we look on the world stage. Today's performance by George Bush does nothing to win friends or influence enemies.

White House upset over copy of Bush speech posted to U.N. website

Apparently, a marked-up draft of the president's speech popped up on the U.N.'s website as President Bush delivered his remarks this morning before the General Assembly, USA TODAY's David Jackson reports. The draft included phonetic spellings of some names and countries, and the cellphone numbers for Bush speechwriters.

Press secretary Dana Perino downplayed the incident, and said phonetic spellings are used to help interpreters. Asked if the president has trouble pronouncing some country's names, Perino deemed it "an offensive question."

"There was an error made," Perino said, noting it was not a final draft.

Update at 12:46 p.m. ET: Blake Hounshell at Foreign Policy says he has a copy of the speech that got the White House so worked up this morning. Here are some of the phonetic guides it included, according to the magazine's blog:

• Kyrgyzstan (KEYR-geez-stan)
• Mauritania (moor-EH-tain-ee-a)
• Harare (hah-RAR-ray)
• Mugabe (moo-GAH-bee)
• Sarkozy (sar-KO-zee)
• Caracas (kah-RAH-kus)

(dum-FUK)

Giuliani Party Seeks $9.11 Per Person

A spokeswoman for Rudy Giuliani says it is unfortunate that a supporter throwing a party that aims to raise $9.11 per person for the Republican's presidential campaign is asking for that amount.

Abraham Sofaer is having a fundraiser at his Palo Alto, Calif., home on Wednesday, when Giuliani backers across the country are participating in the campaign's national house party night.

.....

"I'm just providing support for him. He's an old friend of mine," Sofaer said of Giuliani.

Sofaer was a State Department adviser under President Reagan and is a fellow at Stanford University's Hoover Institution

9/11!!!!

Bush, the Bomb and Iran

To bomb or not to bomb Iran, that's the question the Bush Administration appears to be debating these days, once again revealing the extraordinary disconnect between the White House and the American people. With a catastrophic occupation of Iraq and polls showing the American public so skeptical about the use of military force that only eight percent support military action against Iran, there is nevertheless a clear and present danger that Cheney and the neocons will again prevail and lead this Administration into another disastrous military misadventure.

The parallels between now and the run-up to the Iraq War are troubling. Nobel Peace Prize-winner Dr. Mohamed ElBaradei, the Director General of the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA), who warned the Bush administration in 2003 about the lack of a nuclear program in Iraq and was subsequently attacked for his position by the Bush machine, the neocons and by many in the mainstream media, has now struck a deal with Iran to answer questions about its nuclear program within a defined timeline and improve access for inspectors. ElBaradei has called for a "double time-out" of all enrichment activities and new sanctions.

The result of ElBaradei's attempt to shed light on Iran's nuclear program? More attacks by the Bush administration. More outright hit jobs like this one from the Washington Post, or even the more subtle shading by the New York Times that ultimately portrays ElBaradei as a dictatorial loon. The result is, once again, an amplifying of the Administration's drumbeat calling for war.

(snip)

"Administration officials, including Secretary Rice, attacked the credibility of the director-general [in 2003] too," Cirincione says. "The Washington Post also blasted ElBaradei on his Iraq assessment. They were dead wrong. But this hasn't stopped them from attacking with guns blazing again. ElBaradei's record is far better on these issues than either the secretary of state's or the Washington Post's. You would think they would have some humility given the magnitude of their past mistakes. But some people have no shame."

Analysis: Bush Unwelcome on the Trail

Republican presidential candidates can't be any more clear: President Bush isn't welcome on the campaign trail.

Competing to succeed him, top GOP candidates Rudy Giuliani, Mitt Romney, Fred Thompson and John McCain barely utter Bush's name. They essentially ignore the lame-duck president, or give him only passing credit, as they rail against the status quo and promise to fix problems he hasn't solved.

"We all know Americans want change," said McCain, an Arizona senator, explaining the aversion to aligning with Bush. "I give him credit for a number of things but I think the fact is Americans are turning the page, including our Republican primary voters."

.....

How candidates handle the 800-pound elephant in the room now could have implications beyond the primary. Privately, Republican strategists agree their nominee will lose next fall if the general election is a referendum on Bush. They say GOP candidates are wise to distance themselves from the president now, given his unpopularity among the public at large.

Bush

"I will work to see to it that a Republican wins and therefore don't accept the premise that a Democrat will win. I truly think the Republicans will hold the White House."
~Bush