Senate Friends
I only caught the tail end of Pat Leahy's uneventful press conference. But apparently, I didn't miss much. The deadline for the White House still stands--but they're going to miss it. And Leahy--he says he can't do anything until everyone returns in September.
But there is something he can do now. Why don't those on the Senate Judiciary Committee--and anyone else in the Senate who'd like to join in--submit a friend of
House GOP Mutiny
We've been hearing inklings of a BushCo plan for a veerrrrryyy slooowwww draw-down of troops. Scott Horton explains the reasoning more clearly than "serious" journalists would.
A major point driving the move has been the Congressional G.O.P. Bushwas told that if he pushed a straight continuation of the Surgestrategy after this fall, he would lose most of the CongressionalG.O.P.
The ACLU Motion
Now that I've finally gotten around to the ACLU motion to unseal the FISC opinions on the warrantless wiretap programs, I'd like to recommend the original motion submitted by the ACLU. The motion catalogs a good deal of the Orwellian games the Administration is playing and collects, in one place, many of the Administrations evasive tactics regarding the warrantless wiretap program.
Fred's Delays and FISA
[See the update below]
I never did comment on the FISC order for more briefing on the question of whether it--the Court--should turn over to the ACLU the Court's decisions ruling parts of the warrantless wiretap program illegal.
While the order is signed by the Presiding Judge Colleen Kollar-Kotelly, I had a deja vu of the request Judge Walton (who joined the FISC about mid-way into the events that the ACLU
Rally Squads and Disappearing Demonstrators
In a post on the $80,000 settlement BushCo had to pay for ejecting two people wearing an anti-Bush (that is, pro-America) t-shirt from a presidential rally, Pam Spaulding links to the Advance Manual used to prepare for such presidential rallies; the government turned over a very heavily redacted copy of the Manual during the suit.
Why You Don't Have the Guys that Are Part of the Story...
...Covering the story...
Not surprisingly, when David Gregory had Karl Rove on Meet the Press this morning, he never called Rove on any of Rove's misrepresentations. That's par for the course, on NBC. When Russert had Bob Novak on, he didn't call him on any of the misrepresentations, either. (Though to NBC's credit, they had Matt Cooper on to smack Karl around after Karl was gone.) Of course, both Russert (as Libby's
The Democratic Cave
Pow wow linked to this Jonathan Alter article that provides invaluable background to selise's diary describing how the FISA amendment vote went down in the House. Here's how selise chronicles the events of August 3:
Friday, Aug 3, 2007 (floor summary)
At 1:19 PM the House took up H.Res. 600 and it was passed (228-196) at 5:14 PMafter heated debate.
Tom Davis, On the Record Source
By far the most interesting thing (to me at least) in today's WaPo story on how Karl Rove mobilized Administration resources to commit massive Hatch Act violations is this:
"He didn't do these things half-baked. It was total commitment," said Rep. Thomas M. Davis III(Va.), who in 2002 ran the House Republicans' successful reelectioncampaign in close coordination with Rove.
Why Rove Resigned? To Grant the Administration Immunity
There have been a flurry of stories depicting the degree to which the Bush Administration has politicized ... everything. McClatchy described how Treasury and Commerce were making decisions based on the political value for the Republican party. And today, the WaPo describes how Interior and Labor were doing the same. And based on interviews and documents, the WaPo describes the whole process as more systematic than anything before.
But Rove, who announced
Electronic Surveillance
James Risen and Eric Lichtblau have a report today supporting what many around these parts have suggested--that one effect of the amendments to FISA is to expand the kinds of surveillance the Administration can do.
Broad new surveillance powers approved by Congress this month couldallow the Bush administration to conduct spy operations that go wellbeyond wiretapping to include — without court approval — certain typesof physical searches of American citizens and the
It's a Small World--Impugning a Witness Edition
Wow. Brent Wilkes co-conspirator John Michael is going after Tommy Kontogiannis hard. And they've got a very interesting way to do it (hat tip to CC for the alert).
As you'll recall, John Michael is the least famous of the thugs indicted in the larger Duke Cunningham scandal--Michael was involved in the mortgage company money laundering side of things.
Or Maybe It's the Hatch Act that Will Do Karl In
Pachacutec sent this in an email:
During the briefings at Treasury and Commerce, then-Bushadministration political director Ken Mehlman and other White Houseaides detailed competitive congressional districts, battlegroundelection states and key media markets and outlined GOP strategy forgetting out the vote.
Commerce and Treasury political appointeeslater made numerous public appearances and grant announcements thatoften correlated with GOP interests, according to a review of theevents by McClatchy Newspapers.
Stephen Hayes on Keller on Dick
Warning: I've just started to read Stephen Hayes' book on Cheney (thanks to the short line for the book at Ann Arbor's Public Library, I didn't have to pay Hayes a cent), so this blog will be a little propaganda-busting focused in the next few days. I haven't even gotten beyond the intro without a post!
When I sat down to start this book, I was grumbling to myself that the traditional
Skubick's Off the Record
I talked about Norm Pearlstine's Off the Record the other day. Well, here's a more fun Off the Record--my appearance (with three other bloggers) on Michigan's own "Timmeh," Tim Skubick's show, Off the Record, over the weekend on MI's PBS stations. I don't often link to my teevee appearances, but I had a lot of fun taping this.
Domenici and Rove
The Great Orange Satan links to an article tracking Heather Wilson's Senate campaign activities, suggesting that she's angling to replace Domenici. Markos notes what the local bloggers don't--that Domenici may actually be thinking of retiring to spend time with Karl Rove's family.
An intriguing bit of intel from folks down in New Mexico:
She's recently been in Clovis, Los Alamos and Las Cruces.
Activities and Yoo
Anonymous Liberal is trying to sort through something I've been looking at for a while: to what degree was Ashcroft fully read into the warrantless wiretap program? I think there's a two-part answer to this question. As I'll show below, I think BushCo had Ashcroft approve the multiple aspects of "the program" in isolation from each other, giving him an incomplete picture of how the parts worked together.
What AGAG Learned from the Newspapers
This is a persnickety point, perhaps, but it's so much more fun to bust Alberto Gonzales in one of his subtle evasions than one of his real blatant lies.
In his most recent appearance before the Senate Judiciary Commitee, Chuck Schumer asked Gonzales whether he knew that Comey had assumed the powers of Acting Attorney General--Schumer was trying to point out how totally inappropriate it was for Gonzales to go to
Leahy's Keeping Busy
Shouldn't Pat Leahy be back in Vermont tipping cows or something like that? Instead, he's churning out letter after letter, closing in on the Bush lying thugs. Tuesday's letter seemed to target Karl Rove. In today's letter, Alberto Gonzales is clearly the target.
I am writing to ask that you investigate and evaluate potential misleading, evasive, or dishonest testimony by Attorney General Alberto Gonzales before the Senate Judiciary Committee on July 24,
Mueller's Chronology
Did you ever notice that if you take a log recording the events regarding an illegal surveillance program, and redact the heck out of it, it looks like a chronology that a dirty fucking hippy blogger might write? Below you can read what's left of Mueller's log, with my notes. The big takeaways are:Mueller refers to a "program," singular.
Security Clearances Two
I'm stuck between three gallons of canned tomatoes, a soon-to-be gallon of canned peaches, and a big pot of borscht. Which means I'm too hot to deal with the Padilla verdict yet. So instead I'm going to point out that my reading of Gonzales' correction from a few weeks ago was correct.