The Agonist - USA: Presidency

John McCain owns ten mansions and two jets

Mon, 18 Aug 2008 11:55:29 -0700

John McCain owns ten mansions, two jets. His shirts and shoes are all designer made, married to a billionaire heiress. Anyone got a problem with that?

Election Protection

Thu, 14 Aug 2008 08:36:21 -0700

Hey – Just wanted to let you know that Election Protection’s hotline 1-866-OUR-VOTE (1-866-687-8683) went live August 12 and will be available now through Election Day with live help from trained volunteers for anyone with questions about their registration status and voting. It looks like volunteers are available 9-5pm EST to start.

The NY Times did a whole editorial about what the Election Protection coalition is doing. (Makes me think folks should program 1-866-OUR-VOTE into their phones.) Anyhow, here’s an excerpt from the Times piece:

“Groups that are committed to the right to vote have begun to fight back. Election Protection did invaluable work in 2004. It was a powerful advocate for voters when it counted the most — while the polls were still open.

DC Circuit rules Bush administration officials immune to CIA leak lawsuit

Tue, 12 Aug 2008 19:22:39 -0700

Mike Rosen-Molina | August 12

Jurist - The US Court of Appeals for the DC Circuit on Tuesday upheld the dismissal of a lawsuit against members of the Bush administration which was brought by Valerie Plame, the former Central Intelligence Agency operative whose disclosed identity precipitated the 2003 CIA leak scandal. The appellate court found that the officials who allegedly leaked information about Plame's identity were acting within the scope of their employment and such government workers are generally protected by qualified immunity.

Mukasey: No prosecutions in Justice hiring scandal

Tue, 12 Aug 2008 13:25:55 -0700

Washington | August 12

Raw Story - Former Justice Department officials will not face prosecution for letting improper political considerations drive hirings of prosecutors, immigration judges and other career government lawyers, Attorney General Michael Mukasey said Tuesday.

Check out the New Racist Ad by McCain

Tue, 12 Aug 2008 09:01:54 -0700

Check out the new racist ad by McCain. It's the classic fear of a racist, white women who like a black man.

Can you count the white women professing their preference for Obama in this ad.

www.youtube.com/watch?v=XonsU2B16_0

The campaign by sleazebag McCain enters a new low. Rove has obviously come out of retirement.

Bush wants some endangered species rules extinct

Tue, 12 Aug 2008 02:21:41 -0700

Dina Cappiello | Washington | Aug 12

AP - Just months before President Bush leaves office, his administration is antagonizing environmentalists by proposing changes that would allow federal agencies to decide for themselves whether subdivisions, dams, highways and other projects have the potential to harm endangered animals and plants.

The proposal, first reported by The Associated Press, would cut out the advice of government scientists who have been weighing in on such decisions for 35 years. Agencies also could not consider a project's contribution to global warming in their analysis.

Reaction was swift from Democrats and environmental groups.

John McCain

Tue, 12 Aug 2008 02:05:15 -0700

If you dig into this guy, wow what a sleazebag.

He's claiming to be a Baptist after apparently being a lifelong Episcopalian. Out of the blue from September 2007 on, he says it whenever he's in front of an audience of conservatives. What a fake.

He's one of the original Keating Five. How did he survive that?? Charles Keating was a convicted criminal on both state and federal charges. He basically stole $3.4 billion. After being conviceted in jury trials he somehow got off from serving any time. It was McCain who somehow got him off after being paid over $100,000 in political contributions. McCain also got to use Keating's jet, and his vacation homes. His wife got a below market loan on a Phoenix shopping center. Every Senators career was wiped out but McCain.

Bolten, Miers Ask Judge to Delay Order

Thu, 07 Aug 2008 18:59:08 -0700

Dan Eggen | August 8

WaPo - White House Chief of Staff Joshua B. Bolten and former White House counsel Harriet E. Miers yesterday asked a federal judge to delay an order to cooperate with Congress while they appeal the ruling.

The court filings indicate that Bolten and Miers will continue to resist subpoenas from the House Judiciary Committee as the Bush administration heads into its final months.

The plans for an appeal come in response to a ruling last week by U.S. District Judge John D. Bates. He rejected the administration's broad claims of executive privilege and ordered Bolten and Miers to comply with congressional subpoenas.

Obtaining a delay could head off such hearings until after the elections. The subpoenas also expire at the end of the year.

Michael Collins: An Interview with Vincent Bugliosi - Part 1

Thu, 07 Aug 2008 10:21:13 -0700

Michael Collins: An Interview with Vincent Bugliosi - Part 1

Prosecuting George W. Bush for Murder

Plotting the crime, Bush plans the misleading 2003 State of the Union speech then delivers the lies to citizens and the Congress: "A brutal dictator, -- with ties to terrorism -- will not be permitted to dominate a vital region and threaten the United States." George W. Bush

Michael Collins
"Scoop" Independent News
Washington, DC

In his new book, The Prosecution of George W. Bush for Murder, Vincent Bugliosi makes a devastating, well documented case that President George W. Bush is guilty of murder as a result of the lies he told to justify the invasion of Iraq.

As a Los Angeles prosecutor, Bugliosi represented the state in 105 major cases and won 104, including each of his 21 murder cases. Since his first book, Helter Skelter, he's been one of the top true crime writers with three number one best sellers and numerous awards.

In his best known case, Bugliosi convicted Charles Manson of murder even though Manson was never at two of the crime scenes when the victims were murdered. While he has not been on hand for any combat, should Bush appears before a judge and jury charged with the murder of U.S. soldiers, Bugliosi is confident that he's provided the arguments and evidence required for a first degree murder conviction.

Bugliosi's argument is simple. Bush wanted a war with Iraq. He had to show that a preemptive invasion of Iraq was justified. To do this Iraq had to be an imminent threat to the United States. There were two major problems. Bush couldn't prove any connection between Saddam Hussein and 9/11. More importantly, his own intelligence estimate found that the only scenario in which Saddam posed an imminent threat to the United States was through a preemptive attack on Iraq that threatened Saddam's survival, i.e., the Bush proposal.

That was a minor obstacle. Bush cheated. He simply reversed the findings of the National Intelligence Estimate (NEI) of 2002, classified the original document, and provided Congress with a doctored version to support his claims. By doing this, Bush pushed through an illegal invasion which he had to have known would cost U.S. lives. That, Bugliosi argues, is an act of murder committed against each and every U.S. soldier killed in the war.

I interviewed Vincent Bugliosi on Sunday, August 3, 2008 for 90 minutes. He was gracious and generous with his time. Totally focused on this project, he is working seven days a week to spread the word and find at least one prosecutor to take the case for the prosecution of George W. Bush.

Daily Show: Globetrotting, vacation records show Bush 'cannot stand' White House

Wed, 06 Aug 2008 10:54:55 -0700

David Edwards & Stephen C. Webster | August 6

Raw Story - As President Bush runs his tour of Asia, culminating with a stop at the Olympics in Beijing, Jon Stewart on Tuesday celebrated America's "most traveled president in history," while raising some possible ulterior motives for his White House absenteeism. Simultaneously, the Daily Show host lampooned the administration's strange, sometimes overreaching modifications of the English language.

"It seemed like an ordinary trip for the president, except ..." said Stewart, "it's his 134th visit to a foreign country! It's a record!"

Blowing a party horn, the host added that Bush, "either has a thirst for International knowledge, or is a drug mule... I know there's one way to check, but I'm not going there."

more with video :D

US holds first war-crimes trial since WWII

Wed, 06 Aug 2008 07:29:29 -0700

Washington | First posted July 21

AFP - A special military trial is to get underway Monday at the US naval base at Guantanamo Bay, with a former driver for terror mastermind Osama bin Laden facing the first US war-crimes tribunal since the end of World War II. Salim Hamdan, from Yemen, is the first "enemy combatant" from the US "war on terror" to face a full-scale trial since the prison camp at the US naval base in Guantanamo Bay, Cuba was opened in late 2001.

Breaking Aug 6:

A spokesman said the verdict would be announced shortly in the case of Yemeni driver Salim Hamdan, who faces life in prison if convicted. Reuters

Shocker:

Military jurors on Wednesday found Osama bin Laden's former driver guilty of providing material support to terrorism in the first US war crimes trial since World War II. AFP

U.S. Should Rethink "War On Terrorism" Strategy to Deal with Resurgent Al Qaida

Fri, 01 Aug 2008 10:21:15 -0700

July 29

Rand Corp - In looking at how other terrorist groups have ended, the RAND study found that most terrorist groups end either because they join the political process, or because local police and intelligence efforts arrest or kill key members. Police and intelligence agencies, rather than the military, should be the tip of the spear against al Qaida in most of the world, and the United States should abandon the use of the phrase "war on terrorism," researchers concluded.

The Rand Corporation is hanging the gov out to dry? Wow. Anybody know if Hell is freezing over?

Bush signs housing bill in private, after calling it 'socialistic'

Wed, 30 Jul 2008 07:37:12 -0700

John Byrne | Washington | July 30

Raw Story - In a seeming effort to blunt attention to the fact he was signing a bill he once rebuked as socialistic, President George W. Bush quietly approved a massive mortgage rescue bill shortly after 7 a.m. in the Oval Office and announced his signature by email.

"Only a few aides and administration officials were present, including Secretary of Housing and Urban Development Steve Preston and James B. Lockhart III, the Director of the Office of Federal Housing Enterprise Oversight (OFHEO)," Politico's Mike Allen remarked. "The White House announced the signing by e-mail moments later."

A senior Bush official told Allen the Administration had no desire to herald the Democrats who shepherded the bill through their congressional committees, Sen. Christopher Dodd (D-CT) and Rep. Barney Frank (D-MA).

Michael Collins: The People, the Press, and the Case for Impeachment

Tue, 29 Jul 2008 01:09:58 -0700

The People, the Press, and the Case for Impeachment

Support for impeachment in the past and on the hearing date. MSNBC, Zogby

House Justice Committee Hears Kucinich Resolution - Part 2

Report: Former Justice Department officials broke federal civil-service laws

Mon, 28 Jul 2008 08:48:29 -0700

July 28

USA Today - Monica Goodling, a former Justice Department official who served as attorney general Alberto Gonzales' liaison to the White House, broke federal law by discriminating against against job applicants because of their political views, a new report says.

Our investigation found that Goodling improperly subjected candidates for certain career positions to the same politically based evaluation she used on candidates for political positions, in violation of federal law and Department policy. With regard to requests from interim U.S. Attorneys to hire [assisant U.S. attorneys], we determined that in two instances Goodling considered the candidate’s political or ideological affiliations when she assessed the request. For example, in one instance when the interim U.S. Attorney in the District of Columbia sought approval from Goodling to hire an AUSA for a vacant position, Goodling responded that the candidate gave her pause because judging from his résumé he appeared to be a “liberal Democrat.”

The report also singles out Kyle Sampson, another former senior official, for criticism.

You can read the report here(PDF).