The Tattlesnake -- New GOP Products for 2006 Edition

Ever Wonder How the 'Big Boys' Get Away with It? Well, Here's How --

Scott McClellan's Random Android Reactor
Evade questions the way Scotty does! Comes with full instructions for using lines like "I've already answered that question," even though you haven't, and "I can't comment on an ongoing investigation," even though you have. Use to your advantage in daily life! Just think, the next time your boss asks you why you were a half-hour late, baffle him by responding "My policy is clear on that subject," or when the spouse wonders why you were out until one in the morning and didn't call, slap down "I'm not playing the blame game, I'm not finger-pointing -- let's move on!" Leave 'em gasping and get off 'Scott'-free! Comes with the iron-clad Bush White House Guarantee: We'll keep your money anyway if you're not completely satisfied, so what else have you got to lose! Order today!

The GOP General Alibi Generator and Gullible Electorate Responder
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RNC Constitutional Reading Aid Processor
Republicans, just slip on these incredible computerized glasses and, as you read, this amazing device automatically filters out or changes any passages in the U.S. Constitution that conflict with your core beliefs, or those of your campaign contributors. Great for interpreting voting laws, U.N. decisions and other legal documents as well, even the Holy Bible! Have it say what you want it to say the RNC C.R.A.P. way! This is a limited time offer, so act now! (Requires 271 Diebold 'Red State' batteries to operate.) If you order within the next ten days, we'll throw in a GOP G.A.G.G.E.R. (see above) absolutely free!

Rose-Colored X-Ray Glasses
You just know the economy is going great and deficits don't matter! And we're bringing democracy and freedom to Iraq and our occupation has nothing to do with the oil! And Jesus would have approved of our killing and maiming all those stupid brown people who don't agree with us -- you just know that! Yet, your lying eyes sometimes show you a world at odds with your beliefs. Do what our president and his staff do: See the world the way you want it to be! Cut right through the spin of reality and fact to the nirvana you know is hiding just beneath with these Rose-Colored X-Ray Glasses! On sale at all Wal-Mart stores through this special offer. Act now while you still have some money left to spend! (Glasses made in China, just like everything else we sell these days.)
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Still not too late to call your Senators and ask them to oppose Alito

The most important and critical thing we must do is generate as many phone calls as possible. Personal phone calls are the highest impact way to make your
opinion known. We have been told that calls and faxes to the senators' LOCAL district offices are given the highest weight. You can look up all their number in an instant at

http://www.nocrony.com

You should try the local numbers first, leave messages there and then ALSO try them in Washington where you can call any senator toll free at 888-355-3588, 888-818-6641 or 800-426-8073.

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The World Can't Wait

While I wholeheartedly endorse the aim of the group Gore Vidal mentions in this excerpt to demand that "Bush Step Down" on the night of his State of the Union speech, I wonder how the MSM will cover it:

"Here's Bill Schneider, CNN's senior political analyst. Bill, I understand there were demonstrations against the president last night during his State of the Union address."

"Well, Wolf, while a few fringe groups came out against the president, it seems most Americans were willing to give President Bush a chance to make his case. 75% in our latest Weekly Standard/Accuracy in Media/Free Republic poll think President Bush did a fine job of making his case that he is, during wartime, the law of the land, although only 62% -- still a good majority -- approved of House Speaker Dennis Hastert placing the crown on the president's head at the end of the speech. Americans seem to want a strong leader in wartime, Wolf."

"Thanks for that report, Bill. Are you still a Senior Fellow at the conservative American Enterprise Institute?"

"We're not supposed to talk about that, Wolf."

"Ha, ha -- my bad! After the break, tips for living under martial law in the coming Bird Flu epidemic with our own Dr. Sanjay Gupta -- you're in The Situation Room on CNN!"

On screen, instead of the millions nationwide taking part in the protest, we'll see file tape of pot-smoking bongo drummers from an old Burning Man festival.

"Now that he [Bush] has been caught illegally wiretapping fellow citizens he has taken to snarling about his powers as 'a wartime president,' and so, in his own mind, he is above each and every law of the land. Oddly, no one in Congress has pointed out that he may well be a lunatic dreaming that he is another Lincoln but whatever he is or is not he is no wartime president. There is no war with any other nation...yet. There is no state called terror, an abstract noun like liar."

[...]

"One way that a majority of citizens can help open the road back to Crawford is by heeding the call of a group called the World Can't Wait. They believe that the agenda for 2006 must not be set by the Bush gang but by the people taking independent mass political action.

"On Jan. 31, the night of Bush's next State of the Union address, they have called for people in large cities and small towns all across the country to join in noisy rallies to make the demand that 'Bush Step Down' the message of the day. At 9 p.m. Eastern Standard Time, just as Bush starts to speak, people can make a joyful noise and figuratively drown out his address. Then on the following Saturday, Feb. 4, converge in front of the White House with the same message: Please step down and take your program with you."
-- Gore Vidal, "President Jonah," AlterNet, Jan. 28, 2006.

Kerry's Petition to Filibuster Alito

Sign the Petition, or Call, to Stop Alito

Sign the Filibuster Petition Here, or call Your Senators Toll-Free at 888-355-3588.

It was reported Thursday on CNN that John Kerry was working the phones, trying to get Democrats to filibuster the Alito vote. Good for him; if ever there were a Supreme Court nominee worthy of a filibuster, the 'Unitary Executive'-loving, Federalist Society-belonging, Constitution-ignoring, no conflict of interest-recognizing, half-baked side-of-Bork Samuel Alito would be the one.

Unfortunately, the last I checked, Kerry wasn't doing well. Once again, the majority of the timid Dems seem to be 'laying back and enjoying it' instead of fighting tooth-and-nail, and the rest of us poor suckers are along for the ride -- over a cliff.

"It is hard to imagine a moment when it would be more appropriate for senators to fight for a principle. Even a losing battle would draw the public's attention to the import of this nomination..."

[...]

"A filibuster is a radical tool. It's easy to see why Democrats are frightened of it. But from our perspective, there are some things far more frightening. One of them is Samuel Alito on the Supreme Court."
-- The New York Times on Alito's likely confirmation in "Senators in Need of a Spine," Jan. 26, 2006.

Here's a transcript of Kerry's Jan. 25th speech on the Alito nomnation.

The vote may be as early as this Monday. Call your senators toll free at 888-355-3588 and tell them to stop Alito from gaining a lifetime seat on the Supreme Court.

Will the petition or phone calls do any good? I don’t know, but it’s worth the few minutes it takes to sign or call to find out. Alito will be a disaster for our country if he gets on the high court bench.

I’ve criticized Kerry plenty in the past for weakness but maybe he’s come to his senses, or else he thinks this is a good move to shore up the Democrat base for another run at the presidency. Either way, if it puts some pressure on the Dems to filibuster Alito, I’m all for it.

The MSM is treating the Alito confirmation like a done deal; if that’s true, how come Sam is running all over Capitol Hill at this late date greeting senators; how come the Republicans are slinging threats about forcing a vote?

If enough people contact the Senate to object to this guy, it might sway some of the Democrats and even a few Republicans.

As I said, it’s worth a try.
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Death Toll of Ground Zero Workers Rising

Remember when it was revealed that Bush's EPA had lied about the air quality at Ground Zero in New York after the Sept. 11, 2001 attacks on the WTC? They had claimed it was safe; later internal documents surfaced that showed they knew it was not.

Once again, as in New Orleans last year, innocent Americans are suffering and dying needlessly from the incompetence and deceptiveness of the Bush Administration. The deaths from cancer of men in their 30s and 40s who helped save lives and get things functioning again could have been prevented had they been warned of the dangers from the toxic air and worn the proper protection. But they weren't wealthy campaign donors, or even necessarily Republican, so they weren't important to the Bushistas.

Can you imagine this? After hailing these workers as heroes and mining their sacrifices for political photo-ops, the Republicans can't even be bothered to step forward and pay for their medical and burial bills.

The attorneys for the survivors of the victims of Bush's EPA should be suing the Bush Administration as well as the city of New York.

The Pit's toll rising

By Robert F. Moore and Thomas Zambito
Daily News Staff Writers
New York Daily News
January 14, 2006

James Zadroga, the 34-year-old Manhattan homicide detective buried this week, is believed to be the first member of the NYPD who worked on the Ground Zero cleanup to die.

But the Daily News has learned that an additional 22 men, mostly in their 30s and 40s, have died from causes their families say were accelerated by the toxic mix of chemicals that lodged in their bodies as they searched for survivors or participated in the cleanup after the Sept. 11 terror attacks.
Among them are private employees, a sanitation worker, a correction officer, a Con Ed worker, transit workers, firefighters and cops. They died from black lung and cancers of the esophagus and pancreas.

David Knecht, a Lucent Technologies employee, worked for two months to reestablish communications at businesses near Ground Zero. He died in March, leaving behind two girls, now ages 3 and 4.

"My husband was only 35 when he was diagnosed with lung cancer," said Cathleen Knecht, 38, of Berkeley Heights, N.J. "He was a nonsmoker and a swimmer."

Thousands more are sick, suffering from respiratory illnesses. Nearly 400 firefighters and paramedics have left the job because of career-ending illnesses that followed their work at Ground Zero.

"This was a toxic waste site," says David Worby, the attorney for some 5,200 Ground Zero workers. "People should have been walking around in moon suits. ... These guys are the tip of the iceberg."

Copyright 2006 Daily News, L.P.

Read the rest here.

Tyrannysaurus Rex Edition

Effectively, We Already Are A Dictatorship

With the Republicans in power unlikely to take any steps to thwart Bush, and the majority of Democrats and the national media either blackmailed, intimidated, bought-off, or otherwise too out-to-lunch to even mention the word 'Impeachment' (and, with the Alito confirmation, ready to hand over the Supreme Court to the Bushies without a filibuster), Bush is, effectively, a dictator, with the power to order troops to 'fight terrorism' anywhere on the planet without Congressional oversight, imprison anyone he deems an 'enemy combatant' without due process of law, and freely ignore any parts of the Constitution that he feels interfere with his ability to 'defend us against terrorism' or 'protect national security.'

If any of this sounds familiar, it's because they are precisely the arguments used by two European dictators to rationalize seizing power seven decades ago; dictators we deposed in World War Two.

Most of those who risked their lives back then to accomplish this purpose are dying off now, probably mercifully; they don't have to live to wonder why they bothered, or why their comrades-in-arms died or lived with disabilities and disfigurement only to see tyranny with a Texas drawl imposed on the land they shed blood to preserve from that fate.

Here's a breakdown of the relevant Executive Orders and Acts of Congress giving Bush the power of a despot; although Sachs focuses on FEMA in this piece, we also know that the Pentagon, FBI and CIA have been purged of non-believers and converted to Bush-friendly organizations.

As has been shown by the history of Europe in the 1920s and 1930s, by the time the 'good people' wake up to the danger, the deed has been accomplished and it's too late to save democracy and freedom. It is most likely too late for America now, save some miracle.

The only questions remaining: Would average Americans let Bush get away with declaring martial law, with the cover story of a Bird Flu outbreak or other threat; and would American troops fire on American citizens to quell a 'disruption' should Bush order it?

THE MOST POWERFUL ORGANIZATION IN THE UNITED STATES

by Arthur Sachs

President George W. Bush has signed executive orders giving him sole authority to impose martial law, suspend habeas corpus and ignore the Posse Comitatus Act that prohibits deployment of U.S. troops on American streets. This would give him absolute dictatorial power over the government with no checks and balances.

These "national security initiatives," hatched in 1982 by controversial Marine Colonel Oliver North, later one of the key players in the Iran-Contra Scandal, charged the Federal Emergency Management Agency with administering executive orders that allowed suspension of the Constitution, implementation of martial law, establishment of internment camps, and the turning the government over to the President.

The Posse Comitatus Act is "misunderstood and misapplied" and that the U.S. has in times of national emergency the "full and absolute authority" to send troops into American streets to "enforce order and maintain the peace."

Bush used parts of the plan to send troops into the streets of New Orleans following Hurricane Katrina. In addition, FEMA hired former special forces personnel from the mercenary firm Blackwater USA to "enforce security."

Executive orders already signed by Bush allow the Northern Command to send troops into American streets, seize control of radio and television stations and networks and impose martial law "in times of national emergency."

The authority to declare what is or is not a national emergency rests entirely with Bush who does not have to either consult or seek the approval of Congress for permission to assume absolute control over the government of the United States.

Some people have referred to it as the "secret government" of the United States. It is not an elected body, it does not involve itself in public disclosures, and it even has a quasi-secret budget in the billions of dollars. This government organization has more power than the President of the United States or the Congress, it has the power to suspend laws, move entire populations, arrest and detain citizens without a warrant and hold them without trial, it can seize property, food supplies, transportation systems, and can suspend the Constitution.

Originally conceived in the Richard Nixon Administration, it was refined by President Jimmy Carter and given teeth in the Ronald Reagan and George Bush Administrations.
Not only is it the most powerful entity in the United States, but it was not even created under Constitutional law by the Congress. It was a product of a Presidential Executive Order. No, it is not the U.S. military nor the Central Intelligence Agency, they are subject to Congress. The organization is called FEMA, which stands for the Federal Emergency Management Agency.

Though it may be the most powerful organization in the United States, few people know it even exists. But it has crept into our private lives.

Here are just a few Executive Orders associated with FEMA that would suspend the Constitution and the Bill of Rights. These Executive Orders have been on record for nearly 30 years and could be enacted by the stroke of a Presidential pen, In the past few month President Bush is picking selected orders to promote his personal agenda and those may not be in the interest of regular Americans.

EXECUTIVE ORDER 10990 allows the government to take over all modes of transportation and control of highways and seaports.

EXECUTIVE ORDER 10995 allows the government to seize and control the communication media.

EXECUTIVE ORDER 10997 allows the government to take over all electrical power, gas, petroleum, fuels and minerals.

EXECUTIVE ORDER 10998 allows the government to take over all food resources and farms.

EXECUTIVE ORDER 11000 allows the government to mobilize civilians into work brigades under government supervision.

EXECUTIVE ORDER 11001 allows the government to take over all health, education and welfare functions.

EXECUTIVE ORDER 11002 designates the Postmaster General to operate a national registration of all persons.

EXECUTIVE ORDER 11003 allows the government to take over all airports and aircraft, including commercial aircraft.

EXECUTIVE ORDER 11004 allows the Housing and Finance Authority to relocate communities, build new housing with public funds, designate areas to be abandoned, and establish new locations for populations.

EXECUTIVE ORDER 11005 allows the government to take over railroads, inland waterways and public storage facilities.

EXECUTIVE ORDER 11051 specifies the responsibility of the Office of Emergency Planning and gives authorization to put all Executive Orders into effect in times of increased international tensions and economic or financial crisis.

EXECUTIVE ORDER 11310 grants authority to the Department of Justice to enforce the plans set out in Executive Orders, to institute industrial support, to establish judicial and legislative liaison, to control all aliens, to operate penal and correctional institutions, and to advise and assist the President.

EXECUTIVE ORDER 11049 assigns emergency preparedness function to federal departments and agencies, consolidating 21 operative Executive Orders issued over a fifteen year period.

EXECUTIVE ORDER 11921 allows the Federal Emergency Preparedness Agency to develop plans to establish control over the mechanisms of production and distribution, of energy sources, wages, salaries, credit and the flow of money in U.S. financial institution in any undefined national emergency. It also provides that when a state of emergency is declared by the President, Congress cannot review the action for six months.

The Federal Emergency Management Agency has broad powers in every aspect of the nation. General Frank Salzedo, chief of FEMA's Civil Security Division stated in a 1983 conference that he saw FEMA's role as a "new frontier in the protection of individual and governmental leaders from assassination, and of civil and military installations from sabotage and/or attack, as well as prevention of dissident groups from gaining access to U.S. opinion, or a global audience in times of crisis."
FEMA's powers were consolidated by President Carter to incorporate: the National Security Act of 1947, which allows for the strategic relocation of industries, services, government and other essential economic activities, and to rationalize the requirements for manpower, resources and production facilities; the 1950 Defense Production Act, which gives the President sweeping powers over all aspects of the economy; the Act of August 29, 1916, which authorizes the Secretary of the Army, in time of war, to take possession of any transportation system for transporting troops, material, or any other purpose related to the emergency; and the International Emergency Economic Powers Act, which enables the President to seize the property of a foreign country or national. These powers were transferred to FEMA in a sweeping consolidation in 1979.

I have submitted this article as a concerned American who wants this beloved country to be here for my children and grandchildren. We have to be careful that a few people don't try to change everything our forefathers fought for and our fathers died for in the wars to maintain our independence and freedoms. It is intuitively obvious some of the interruptions explaining the taking away of our freedoms are a front for power and greed.

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Today's Quotes

"George W. is confused on a basic concept. He's commander-in-chief of the military, not the United States -- and even the top military chief is not allowed to suspend our Bill of Rights."
-- Jim Hightower, "All Hail King George," Progressive Populist, Feb. 1, 2006 issue.

"In the United States, the law says the government is owned by the people for the benefit of the people. George W. Bush has now asserted that, in order to protect the people's rights, he is usurping their ownership and placing himself solely in charge, until such time as he decides that the ownership of the government can be safely given back to the people. When has this recipe for preserving a free democracy ever worked at any time for any country in history?"
-- Max Publico

Random Gleanings Edition

A Hinky Pacemaker in the Heart of Darkness

-- The Unreal Slim Shady insists Real President Dick 'Dick' Cheney will be retiring within the year for 'health reasons.' He, no doubt, doesn't feel too well, not only from his many infirmities, but from feeling the uncomfortable warmth emanating from various investigations targeting the Veep's office. Rove, too, USS claims, will soon be vacating his White House post for similar prosecutorial reasons, probably riding the revolving door to a cushy job at a major defense contractor. Both Bush consiglieri have lost considerable clout recently as the Republican Hard Right's future prospects have dimmed. Ironically, Bush, like Hillary, has been urged to 'run to the middle' to crawl up from his approval-rating deficit as the 'tough guy' themes of Dick and Karl have bottomed out. Oh, and the GOP 'base' the pundits keep blabbering about? It's showing some rather large and nasty cracks these days, so to speak.

-- Speaking of the pundit class, there's nothing funnier than watching George Will incorrectly diagnose what the 2006 elections will be about, as he did on ABC's This Week Sunday, his right-wing street cred a pair of dice hanging off the rear-view mirror of his Republican hot rod. The economy's booming, so saith Wordy-Gurdy George, so that's off the table; it's national security, stupid, and Bush has that in his back pocket, like so many White House lawyers and Supreme Court judges, multifarious scandals and prosecutions need not apply. How a man can be so dizzy and still sit upright in a chair is a mystery for the ages. I keep waiting for panel-mate Cokie Roberts to lean over and bite the Prissy Preacher Boy's neck -- not that she'd find any actual blood there.

-- Bye the bye: Who in hell does Bush think he is -- I mean, besides our emperor from Texas? Last week he's issuing imperial orders to the Great Unwashed, and the media and politicians who refuse to represent us, as to what is 'acceptable' disagreement regarding his Iraq fiasco. Wha? The First Amendment and its guarantee of unabridged free speech is apparently another section of the Constitution Bush failed to have read to him, just like that lease he signed in Houston back in the '80s with a clause that prohibited blacks and other minorities from staying at his home in an upscale subdivision, unless they were domestic workers.

-- Inside Baseball Tip o' the Week: The Washington Post's new ombudsman (or should that be 'ombudswoman') Deborah Howell is in trouble deep. During her short tenure, she's been an unmitigated disaster, demonstrating that she has neither the maturity, composure nor temperament to handle the job by equating any criticism of her work with a vicious personal attack, and refusing to reply to those who have made honest and reasonable analyses of her opinions. In short, she's coming off like a pouty teenager akin to Reese Witherspoon's character in the film "Election." Word is, Deb is soon to be shuffled around to a different department in the Post mediaplex, perhaps to the gardening section where she'll theoretically do less damage to the paper's already-dented reputation.

-- The Big Ace says: "The basic problem with the American military is that we're like a heavyweight boxer fighting a hornet's nest. The boxer can knock hell out of the nest and kill some of the hornets, but some will escape and the boxer's going to get stung, stung enough to make him never want to beat up on another hornet's nest. That's what happened in Vietnam. The U.S. war machine, even with Delta Force and the SEALS and all that, is still designed to fight big strategic battles against other big world superpowers like Russia and China. We aren't going to win any guerilla wars -- the guerillas can hit and run; we can't. They know the land; we don't. The sooner the Pentagon gets that through their skulls, the better off -- and safer-- we'll all be."
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Quote to Quote: Victory in Iraq

"Bush's new emphasis is on 'winning' the war and 'complete victory' is questionable and suggests that he has a military triumph in mind. That's not going to happen in Iraq, where U.S. military leaders repeatedly stress that a political solution is the key to ending the conflict there. Part of the solution should be the withdrawal of U.S. forces."
-- Helen Thomas, "Dubya makes his war pitch," San Francisco Chronicle, Jan. 15, 2006.

[This is Luntz Republicanism 101 -- frame the debate as 'victory' or 'defeat' and -- voila -- anyone who opposes your policies is a 'defeatist' who wants America to lose the war on terror.]

"War is terrible, but one way people can help as we're coming down the pike in the 2006 elections, is remember the effect that rhetoric can have on our troops in harm's way, and the effect that rhetoric can have in emboldening or weakening the enemy."
-- George W. Bush, speaking in Louisville, KY, Jan. 10, 2006.

[And the effect it can have on Republican chances of maintaining a majority in Congress.]
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The Lowest of the Low

Isn't it interesting that any decorated military veteran who opposes the Bush Machine finds their military history besmirched? And, when the charges are investigated, it's discovered that they were baseless; just lies and rumors created out of thin air by hype artists and cranks with a axe to grind. You'd think someone in the mass media would find this an interesting story: why are right-wingers desperately and continually trying to denigrate the military records of their political opposition?

First, there were the various drunks and deceivers of the Swift Boat Vets group who smeared Kerry's Navy record without a shred of evidence, and now Rep. John Murtha's honorable 37-year career in the Marine Corps is getting the tar brush, a career where he was decorated for serving in combat in both Korea and Vietnam.

Meanwhile, not much mention is made in contrast of Bush's missing his Air Guard meetings in Alabama and other questions about his record; war lover Cheney's five draft deferments because he had 'better things to do' then serve in Vietnam, although he doesn't seem to mind sending other young men less precious than himself to die in Iraq these days; Rumsfeld's undistinguished peacetime stint in the Navy; Karl Rove's determined avoidance of military service, and Rush Limbaugh's raging case of anal cysts that kept him from getting the rest of his ass shot off in Southeast Asia. You'd think that would also be a good story: Chickenhawks who have never served a minute in combat drooling to start wars all over the Middle East where some of our kids will die or come home permanently disabled.

Well, those would be good stories to real journalists, but timid Bush Cabana Boys like Howie Kurtz at the Washington Post prefer to repeat phony allegations against brave men like Murtha from right-wing propaganda weasels such as Brett Bozell.

"The Post's Howard Kurtz effectively -- if unintentionally -- illustrated this bizarre tendency by news organizations to pretend that they merely reflect what people are talking about rather than shaping the national conversation. In his January 18 online column, Kurtz responded to criticism by Media Matters for America and others that he gave unwarranted attention to ages-old, baseless right-wing attacks on Rep. John P. Murtha (D-PA) by writing an article recounting the attacks for the January 14 edition of the Post. Kurtz noted that the attacks are, indeed, old, but added they are now 'getting national play.'

"But the attacks aren't 'getting' national play -- Kurtz is giving them national play. Prior to his article, the only "play" the allegations were getting came in a hatchet job by the Brent Bozell-operated Cybercast News Service upon which Kurtz based his article."
-- Jamison Foser, Media Matters, Jan. 20, 2006.

The Tattlesnake -- Still Breaking the News Wind Edition

Around the Horn with the Canned Corn, the Fatuously Forlorn and a Samson Soon-To-Be Shorn

-- Was anybody fooled by Hillary's little 'plantation' charade on MLK Day? Somebody on her staff checked the polls and discovered -- surprise! -- that Sen. Mrs. Clinton wasn't doing so hot with the Dem base after her run to the right on flag-burning and other gas-bag issues, so they 'planted' the inflammatory word 'plantation' in her speech, knowing full well that it would get wall-to-wall coverage by the neocon-friendly mass media, always ready to regurgitate the latest empty outrage of the booby-hatch righties. But it also served as an unpaid campaign commercial to black folks and others on the left that says 'I'm one of you' even though her liberal credentials are in tatters. Hill and Bill have vast experience cranking the tail on the GOP bull elephant to make it roar, so watch for these kind of free attention-getters to increase in the future as H.C. makes her mad but futile dash for the White House, especially as the public's dislike for all things Republican continues to grow.

-- Tattlesnake was highly amused the other day watching President Go-It-Alone in action with German Chancellor Angela Merkel calling for 'diplomacy' and 'unity' in dealing with the Iranian nuke problem. Ha, ha, Dub, you've just admitted that with the U.S. military bogged down in your Iraq debacle and your volunteer army reduced to chasing kids who can't graduate from high school for cannon fodder, you don't have the muscle to invade Iran. Since the Europeans aren't dumb enough to sacrifice their kids in a bloody land war in Iran (even Blair can't slip this loser by the British public), that leaves Bush with three options: (1.) Ignore the problem; (2.) Continue air strikes against Iran which, while they may inflame the populace against us, will do nothing to disturb their nuclear plans and may even accelerate the Iran atomic WMD timetable; or (3.) use our own nuclear weapons against them.

If we're lucky, Bush will do (1.). Even if the Iranians develop a nuclear device, they have limited options in delivery systems since they possess no long-range bombers or ICBMs, so the U.S. and most of Europe is safe. And they are well aware that if they dropped the 'Big One' on Israel, America and the other nations of the world would flatten Iran to a glass pancake, following the principle of Mutual Assured Destruction (MAD). They also are not crazy enough to hand over a nuke to a terrorist group: first, if it were traced to them, the same MAD principle would be invoked and, second, you can never be sure when your friends might turn against you. (Refer to the U.S.-friendly Osama-led Mujahedin in Afghanistan in the 1980s to the Osama-led Al-Qaeda today.)

Option (2.) does nothing but create more Iranians who hate us and makes it harder for moderates in Iran to gain power. It is also a great waste of taxpayer money, so Bush will probably continue on this course, since he has a talent for always doing the wrong thing, but this will not stop the deep underground bunkers developing Iranian WMD; indeed, it might hasten their completion; the Iranians know full well that the only way to protect themselves from an American invasion is to have some nukes in the inventory, just like dangerous rogue-state North Korea. As we now know, Bush only invades countries that don't have WMD.

(3.) If Bush goes first-strike nuclear, not only would this make the U.S. a pariah internationally, and lead to Euro-Asian nations canceling military treaties and the like (such as Germany kicking us out of the country and the dissolution of NATO), the resulting radioactive fallout would be Chernobyl goosed up to the power of ten. The radioactivity could even drop on our people in Iraq and Afghanistan, killing our own troops. Not that this would stop Bush, but the military commanders who advise him might rebel at such a nuclear strike order, and even many Republicans would want to have Bush removed from office for resorting to first-strike nukes. And it might not even disturb the Iranian nuclear program because -- uh -- it's in deep underground bunkers, but it would give the Iranians left license to come after us with their WMD, with the rest of the world's blessings.

-- A semi-reliable source -- like all of Tattlesnake's sources -- with ancestral ties to the Republican Party, the Defense Dept. and the Pentagon says Don Rumsfeld is definitely out at the DoD, but Bush is waiting to make the announcement because he doesn't want it to look like he was forced to ask 'Heckuva Job' Rummy to resign by popular demand. The Scourge of Our Troops, and the most hated Sec. of Defense in living memory, will, natch, retire with full honors and benefits, and probably even a medal of freedom from Dub. (Sidenote: Word is, Don is so beloved by our grunts in Iraq that no armed soldier or Marine is allowed within shooting distance of him when he visits, except his body guards. The likelihood of someone fragging his ass is obviously very much on Sec. Skeletor's mind.)

Rummy's replacement is rumored to be either Gen. Tommy Franks -- who likely won't take the job -- or, and this is a shocker, dunderheaded neocon firebreather Michael Ledeen. If you thought Rumball was loathed by our guys in uniform, wait until they get a load of Ledeen -- he's got all the charm of a cobra dipped in a septic tank, and is, if possible, even more incompetent and deceptive than Donny.
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Today's Quote

"After all this effort, I am left with two simple sentences for policymakers,...You have no military solution for the issues of Iran. And you have to make diplomacy work."
-- Lt. Col. Sam Gardiner (USAF ret.), a simulations expert from the U.S. Army's National War College, who conducted an Iran "war game" with a group of U.S. foreign policy experts for the Atlantic Monthly magazine in 2004. Quoted by The Progress Report, Jan. 17, 2006.

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Phone Company Records

This horse may be miles away from the barn by now for us, but it might stop intrusions on the privacy of future generations.

"Congress and phone companies have dealt a stunning blow to the privacy rights of everyday Americans by allowing cell and home phone records to be sold online to anyone. Congress must immediately pass a law that strictly prohibits these unauthorized sales, and begin enforcing this law now."
-- MoveOn.org petition

Deformed Reform Edition

Some Modest Proposals That Don't Involve Eating Babies

-- Sen. Barack Obama, followed closely by Rep. Louise Slaughter, were the most impressive of the 'introducers' Wednesday of the Democrats' new Congressional reform package, dubbed the Democratic Honest Leadership Act. Obama appeared poised and presidential; Slaughter did just that to the corrupt Republicans.

Show openers Sen. Harry Reid and Rep. Nancy Pelosi were a little weak and stumbling, with Pelosi looking like she just fell out of bed in a no-tell motel gripping an empty gin bottle, and Reid as spirited and riveting as a bowl of cold oatmeal. The only thing worse was the GOP reform plan which had loopholes the size of the Holland Tunnel to accomodate large truckloads of future gamy cash. Its unveiling by that old grafter 'Jabba the Hut' Hastert, whose rise to the House Majority Leader's seat was based solely on the fact that he couldn't find anyone to commit adultery with, and Rep. David Dreier, who can't answer a question without reformulating it to his liking first, added salt to the wounds with a Brillo pad.

The Dem ideas to ban no-bid contracts, require appointees to important government posts to actually have prior credentials in the field, and sending war profiteers to the big house were fine, although they left out any method of enforcing these rules, but the Dem plan didn't go nearly far enough. Here are some hints, guys:

(a.) Make ALL money, gifts, trips, dinners, etc. from or with lobbyists, corporations or business trade groups illegal, and any member caught accepting same would be immediately removed from office.

(b.) Support, as the GOP's ignored 1994 Contract with America did, strict term limits for Senators and Representatives, and use it to beat up the Repubs for not keeping their promise on this score. (I'd make it one 6-year term for the Senate and two 2-year terms for the House. This would keep miscreants such as Tom DeLay from building a power base in Congress, the platform that has led to corruption by both parties. If you're wondering what kind of job such a 'fluid' Congress would do, just look at the miserable job the 'institutional' Congress has done; could newbies do any worse? Besides, our elected representatives could concentrate more on doing their jobs rather than raising money for their next campaign.) Also, no more 'revolving doors' either; those elected to Congress and their staffs would be prohibited from working for a lobbying firm or any company that does a majority of its business with the government for ten years after they have left office or their staff position.

(c.) At all meetings where public business is discussed, a videotape record should be kept, available to any member of the public to review upon request. If a constituent or lobbyist attempts to discuss business in a social setting, the Senator or Representative, like a judge presiding over a case, would tell that person they can't talk about legislative business except when videotaped. No closed-door deals, everything aboveboard and open to public scrutiny. If any member of Congress violates this rule, they would be removed from office immediately.

(d.) Members of Congress should have ample time to review any bill before voting on it; at least ten working days between the presentation of the bill and the vote, except in the case of emergency disaster relief.

(e.) No more 'add-on items' to legislative acts that have nothing to do with the title and intent of the bill. For example, if a bill is titled "Emergency Hurricane Disaster Relief" Sen. Ted Stevens or his ilk can't stick in an item to fund a multi-million dollar Alaskan bridge; if the bill has to do with America torturing suspected terrorists, no more 'William J. Le Petomane Memorial Thruway' boodle tacked onto the end. If MOC's want pork for their districts or states, they are going to have to ask for it openly, and justify the expediture.

(f.) Members of Congress shall have their salaries and pensions cut in half, as well as reimbursements for housing, etc., until the budget is balanced. They will also receive Social Security in retirement, benefit amount commensurate with the amount paid in, the same SS every other American receives. No more golden parachutes or lavish perks.

(g.) Federal-level political candidates should be publicly-funded and less expensive, and, to maintain their FCC licenses, radio and TV broadcast networks should be required to provide free airtime to candidates. To break this down:

(1.) Congress will create a taxpayer-funded Congressional Campaign Fund which will be spilt equally between candidates for Senate and Congress irrespective of political party based on the following criteria: Senate candidates must receive enough signatures statewide to qualify to appear on the ballot; Congressional candidates must receive enough signatures in their district to qualify for a position on the ballot. Presidential candidates must qualify for a position on enough state ballots so that they could mathematically receive the required electoral votes to win. A template for national and state elections should be standardized; i.e.: five percentage of the state's voters signing a petition would be enough to place a senate candidate's name on the ballot; likewise five percent of the voters in a congressional district would be sufficient to put a Congressional candidate's name on the ballot. The same would apply to presidential candidates; in each state, five percent of the voters would be adequate to place a candidate's name on the ballot.

(2.) To offset the loss of campaign contributions, all short TV 'spot' ads would be banned for any national elective office; instead, Senate candidates, two months before the election, would receive one hour of weekly statewide TV and radio time per month, to be apportioned in no less than fifteen-minute segments and at least one two-hour debate between all qualified candidates will be broadcast free of charge. In a similar fashion, candidates for Congress will be given free airtime of one-hour per month within the candidate's district, apportioned in the same way as above, and at least a two-hour slot afforded all candidates to debate one another. Presidential candidates should be given one hour per week, in no less than fifteen-minute segments, at least two of those segments to appear in prime time, for two months immediately preceding the election. A two-hour debate per month between all presidential candidates would be provided free by the broadcast networks. ALL paid political advertising would be banned. Non-profit advocacy group advertising would also be banned three months prior to an election, as well as PAC and political party ads. Candidates would be required by law to appear and speak on their own behalf; no surrogates or endorsers would be allowed to use this free airtime. The rules of the candidate debates would be set by the independent organization -- such as the League of Women Voters -- hosting the event and not by the political parties or their representatives, although candidates will have the option of not participating in the debates, they will not be able to apply that airtime to their individual free airtime. No candidate may collect more than $100 (one hundred) dollars from any one person in any election cycle, and that money may be used only on bumper stickers, buttons, flyers, and print ads. No corporation or business may donate money to any candidate under any circumstances, nor provide free travel, favors or other emolument in any form.

The Tattlesnake realizes none of this would pass with either party unless the anti-corruption feeling is strong enough amid the voters to force Congress to accept proposals such as these or lose their jobs.

We can only hope that the public will put such pressure on our lawmakers because only sweeping change will solve the problem; the halfway measures presented by both parties won't, in the final analysis, do much more than fill a soundbite.
-----------------------------------
'Pension' As In 'Suspension'

Hard to believe that the same 'we care' corporations that have been killing the American worker and our standard of living in every other area would alter their pension accounting methods to stick the knife in a little deeper, but that's what the AP says here.

Stripped of the financial page double-talk, here's the New Math accounting method in plain English: 'Two for me, none for you.'

I wonder how many of these corporate employees, mostly white and middle-class, will continue to slit their own throats by voting for Republicans? ("I may be sick, old and flat broke, but at least we ain't got no gays gettin' married in our town!")

Accounting Changes May Squeeze Pensions

By ADAM GELLER, AP Business Writer
Mon Jan 16, 5:59 PM ET

It may sound arcane, but a planned overhaul of the way companies keep their books on pensions and retiree health care plans could come at a very real cost to workers counting on those benefits.

The changes -- likely to begin by year's end -- come as a growing number of companies freeze pensions and cut retiree health benefits, shifting risks and costs to workers. In recent weeks, IBM Corp. and Verizon Communications Inc. have joined the list of those announcing they will freeze their pension plans.

But some experts say new regulations requiring companies to more accurately calculate and show the cost of their retirement promises could speed up the move by employers away from guaranteed pensions and other benefits.

"Changing accounting rules can cause companies to change their behavior," said David Zion, an accounting analyst with Credit Suisse First Boston.

Rules now in place give companies cover. Many have made expensive retirement promises without putting aside all the money needed to meet them. But they don't have to fully disclose the shortfalls in their earnings statements or on their balance sheets.

Read the rest here.
------------------
Quote to Quote

Courtesy of the Jan 17, 2006 Progress Report:

"It's very, very important that the president has the agility and the speed to gather up electronic surveillance of individuals that may be in contact with the enemy."
-- Attorney General Alberto Gonzales, attempting to justify Bush's warrantless domestic wiretapping program, Jan. 16, 2006.

"FISA law does include emergency provisions that allow warrantless eavesdropping for up to 72 hours if the attorney general certifies there is no other way to get the information."
-- Washington Post, Dec. 22, 2005.

Ney Gradually Fading Away

(Written after reading an AP story on Rep. Bob Ney (R-OH) quitting a House Committee until his legal problems are resolved.)

What does it say
on the AP today?
Old Bob Ney is
gradually fading away.

First it's this post,
then another --
'Freedom Fries'will
soon be a-blubber.

Just like Randy Duke
and his mea culpa wail
Bob will be bawling 'Guilty'
to save his corrupt tail.

Goodbye Top Gun,
Frist, Hastert and Ney;
next up on the screen
the resignation of Tom DeLay.

They'll all go to their families
to "spend more time"
Would that be the Manson,
Trafficante, or Genovese
fiefdoms of crime?
-- L. Abram Jakov Smirnoff
-----------------------------------
The Bush Administration, the Federalist Society, the College Republicans and the 1968 Nixon Campaign

Supreme Court Chief Justice John Roberts and likely Associate Justice Samuel Alito were both Federalist Society members, as are many infesting the Bush Administration. The Federalists are an outgrowth of the College Republicans, the same College Republicans that spawned Karl Rove, Jack Abramoff, Grover Norquist, Ralph Reed and other sparkling lights in the neocon cosmos. The College Republicans' concept, so I've been told, was in turn a brainchild of the 1968 Nixon campaign, designed to blunt the influence of antiwar/anti-Nixon protestors by any means possible, including Donald Segretti-style dirty tricks.

Here's a brief introduction to these two organizations by Frankie Lake, but read the whole article at CounterPunch; it shows how both groups operate to undermine the opposition with sleazy, cheesy and underhanded tactics, methods that continue today in the highest reaches of the Republican Party.

(Incidentally, this article, written before Roberts was confirmed by the Senate, notes that Roberts had "no memory" of belonging to the Federalist Society, even though he was listed in their 1997-1998 leadership directory. Interestingly, Alito had a similar lapse of memory when he was questioned about his membership in the ultra-right Concerned Alumni of Princeton while in college and afterwards.)

"There is a good reason why the White House is trying so hard to dissociate John Roberts from his Federalist Society affiliation. The Federalist Society has its roots in the College Republicans and derives its membership from them. While I can't discuss the earlier history of the College Republicans with any authority, I do know this: the members now are enamored of dirty tricks. These people specialize in distraction, deception, and intimidation in order to advance their extremist agenda on the unwary.

"I have spent the last seven years of my life working cheek-by-jowl next to members of the Federalist Society and the College Republicans. The Federalist Society is a law school student organization that began in the 1970s, and has 'adult' chapters throughout the United States. According to the Washington Post and other news reports, its present secret membership lists contain those at the highest levels of the Bush Administration. (1) The same goes for College Republicans, the college campus organization that feeds into the Federalist Society.

"I encountered the Federalists in my role as a member of other campus organizations and as a member of student government. After viewing their objectionable and offensive mode of operation, and suffering the results of their radically destructive and deceptive behavior, I understand why advancement of their members to high government office should concern ethical and honest Americans."

[...]

"[T]hese are the 'moral, honest, upright' Americans whom we are supposed to believe in and follow blindly...who seethe with hatred for anyone who might disagree with them and will stoop to any tactic in order to advance their extremist agenda of creating divisions among people of good will and common sense.

"The College Republicans and the Federalists claim to merely want to foster discussion of Constitutional issues. This is sham position, designed to discredit reasonable analysis of facts and policies that help to build a just and peaceful society. Only a few people at law school wanted to listen to their shrill high-pitched whining about the problems of the greedy, so they had to hold debates with the other side in order to gain an audience. Some of my Republican friends were outright contemptuous of their tactics. One noted that, 'They would probably have supported the divine rights of Kings a thousand years ago.'"
-- Frankie Lake, "Dirty tricksters: How the Federalist Society operates," CounterPunch.org, August 20, 2005.

TheTattlesnake -- Better Dead Than Read Edition

The 'Magical Thinking' of Bush's Neoconservative Republicans

Where the pie in the sky drops straight in your face...

Maybe you've seen the New Yorker cartoon of a scientist at a blackboard filled with a complicated formula and, at the end of a long string of mathematical equations, it says "and a miracle happens" and then the answer is written. This is a good visual depiction of what the term 'magical thinking' means and the embodiment of modern neoconservative Republicanism; whenever it reaches a point that doesn't comport with fact or reality, it either blthely brushes by the snag or trusts in some miracle happening that will make the pet theory a success. This habit of problem-solving has been in operation for the past five years of the Bush Administration and, no matter how much the glaring light of reality shines into the tent, they simply don rose-colored glasses, prepare a few misleading excuses, and arrogantly plow on undeterred.

It is, by its nature, an anti-intellectual and anti-scientific movement, as knowledgeable people would question its commonly beneficial underpinnings, and scientists would insist on proof that it works, neither of which exist. The alleged intellectuals at the various neoconservative think tanks, such as the corporately-funded Heritage Foundation and the Hudson Institute, are no more than glib public relations flacks with a Thesaurus handy and a fax machine connected to Frank Luntz, who in turn is channeling the late father of public flummery, Edward Bernays; the few scientists involved are either bribed or tainted by ideology.

Yes, the neoconservatives ardently claim, you can cut taxes, run up the deficit and never have to worry about paying it off because the resulting booming economy will increase the tax base to such an extent that it will easily cover the deficit. This 'magical thinking' has been a feature of the Republican Party for more than twenty years. It's been variously dubbed 'supply-side economics,' the 'Laffer Curve' and the 'trickle down' theory, but the basic idea is the same -- and repeatedly proven dead wrong.

This kind of 'voodoo economics,' as George Bush the Elder once called it, was anathema to conservatives until Ronald Reagan became president in 1980 and sold this 'have it all' theme to the public on behalf of his corporate supporters and ultra-right base. The 'Gipper,' pinning on his folksy 20 Mule Team Borax salesman's grin, gulled enough Americans into voting for him, and Republicans, that they ran up a tremendous debt and sent the country into a recession in the late 1980s. Thanks to Bush Senior raising taxes, the Internet bubble, and Clinton's more pragmatic approach to the economy, we managed to pay off Reagan's debt in a decade, leaving a surplus by the year 2000.

Then George W. Bush, implanted in the White House by the Supreme Court, insouciantly squandered that surplus, part of which was meant to pay for the expected onslaught of retiring Baby Boomers, and added to it the largest deficit in American history.

He has also engaged in 'magical thinking' in his conduct of the so-called War on Terror. First, the concept of eliminating terrorism in the world is as ludicrous as believing you can eradicate prostitution by declaring a 'war' on hookers -- potential prostitutes are born every minute, as are terrorists, and it is beyond the power of any state to absolutely stop either activity.

Second, the notion that you can end terrorism by inflaming a majority of the world's billion-plus Muslims against U.S. interests is similar fantasy; since most current terrorists arise from the fetid maelstrom of poverty and ignorance in the Middle East, mixed with religious zealotry -- ignorance and zealotry intentionally encouraged by our 'friends' in such places as Saudi Arabia for their own purposes -- the use of bunker-busting bombs and 'shock and awe' campaigns do nothing to cure the root causes of terrorism, but they do add to the list of our enemies. Shedding friends in other parts of the world through aggressiveness and arrogance also doesn't help protect us from any terrorist threat.

Third, the idea that we can force-feed Iraqis, or any nation, our brand of democracy and expect them remain our friends is equally farfetched; our force of arms can only contain the slowly-evolving revolution now in progress in that country between the Kurds, who want their own independent state; the Shiites, who are the majority in Iraq and have more in common with their brethren in Iran than the U.S.; and the Sunnis, who don't want to live under the thumb of the majority Shiites. If the magical thinking of the neocons had been removed from this situation, we might have managed to separate the country into three parts and have each as a functioning democracy, on the terms of the inhabitants of the three states, and friendly to the United States; as it is, there is bound to be a bloody civil war, with our troops caught in the crossfire, when they aren't the target of the fire, as they have been so far. If the Shiites control the country, they will institute an Iranian-style theocractic republic instead of a liberal Jeffersonian democracy and they will become an enemy of U.S. interests.

This is the stage that Bush's magical thinking has set, and his present 'Victory in Iraq' bleatings are as insubstantial and preposterous as decrying a victory over halitosis. Any 'victories' will be short-lived and the conditions causing the insurgency -- chief among them America's occupation -- will not be altered by repeating the same strategy and tactics that fostered the insurgency in the first place, just as continuing to eat onions is not a cure for bad breath. We are far beyond the point of any 'victory' in Iraq; if they simply remain neutral, we'll be lucky.

In last year's hurricane disasters, magical thinking can be the only excuse for believing inexperienced cronies and loyalists would do a competent job of directing rescue operations and cleaning up after the catastrophe; that many of the White House's favored corporations -- like Halliburton -- stand to make a fortune from the reconstruction is a moot point, but the damage to Bush's credibility, and, by extension, that of the Republican Party, is far more than the return to its corporate backers.

Magical thinking also has faith that you can have a healthy economy by exporting your best jobs and reducing your tax base, especially if you have no desire to tax the wealthy. Global corporatists, unconcerned with national boundaries, laud this approach as they cultivate what they think will be burgeoning markets in China and India, dumb to the fact that they can't sell people with low incomes the kind of high-end goods they've been marketing to the well-paid Western consumer. It's a circular pattern -- good wages, high consumer buying, larger tax base -- that falls apart if you tamper with the first part of the equation. Right now, the G.C. are making record short-term profits as the American economy crumbles, but those profits won't be there in ten years, and neither will the taxes to pay off the deficit.

Eventually, Communist China, and the other foreign lenders currently underwriting Bush's profligate spending, will assert their banker's privilege to call in a bad debt and stop subsidizing a bad risk. At that point, we'll face an economic depression of such vast proportions that the bread-lines misery of the 1930s will be subsumed in its shadow.

As rulers throughout history have discovered, from the thrones of the Caesars to the palace of Versailles, brute force and intimidation are limited in their effectiveness and come with the price tag of dire consequences; what today is called 'blowback' or 'unintended consequences.' Except, in Bush's case, the dire consequences of his actions in the world are easily predictable; they are even printed in freshman college textbooks.

Every leader makes mistakes based on the inherent distance of the ruling power from, and ignorance of, the truth on the ground; magical thinking attempts to rationalize that isolation and naiveté into a reasonable set of principles that insulate its practitioners from the cost of their actions, but it might as well try to influence the phases of the moon by sheer belief; the truth of science and history, gleaned from thousands of years of human society and put to page by the authors of the Enlightenment, will always prevail.

Bush has thus far been protected from utter collapse by America's past reputation for strength and the ability to borrow money; both are rapidly declining and so is he, and magical thinking cannot forestall the inevitable.

The worst part is that we are all caught in the slipstream as he goes under.

"We stand at the end of the Age of Reason. A new era of the magical explanation of the world is rising."
-- Adolf Hitler

It's probably too late to stop our dismal plutocratic destiny, as prescribed and prepared by the corporate cognoscenti and their neoconservative handmaids, but there's nothing more important than that we do our best to try.

We owe it to our forebears and ourselves to keep the lamp of the Age of Reason lit for future generations to follow, though the flame flickers in gusts of magical thinking and the waves of foolish money that it serves.
-----------------------------------------------
Today's Quote: Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.

A sour joke was enacted by George W. Bush today as he honored Dr. King with empty words, all the while the party he belongs to and the values he’s espoused stand in direct opposition to everything the assassinated civil rights leader believed.

It’s safe to say that if Dr. King had lived to turn 77 today, he would be in the forefront of the opposition to Bush and the Republican Party.

If George really wants to honor Dr. King’s death, he could start by making sure the votes of black people are counted fairly, especially in his brother’s domain in Florida.

Jebus, George, why didn’t you just wear a Confederate uniform when you went to pay homage?

"The chain reaction of evil -- wars producing more wars -- must be broken, or we shall be plunged into the dark abyss of annihilation."
-- Martin Luther King, Jr.

The Tattlesnake -- Horizon Up Singin' Part Two Edition

Random Rumorous Growths and Media Gripes

-- What was up with Abramoff's black hat? The word is Jack was trying to garner support from the conservative and orthodox Jewish community by wearing the black fedora. Best laid plans: Instead, it merely made him look like the devious crook he is; Boris Badenov rather than Rabbi Hillel. Hint to Abramoff: Next time, wear the hat with a full fake beard. (Sure, that'll work.) Maybe you would have been better off sporting crutches, ala GOP playmate Scooter Libby. ("Oh, how could they cruelly prosecute that poor man -- he can barely walk!")

The Gripe: Why didn't the MSM suspect this? Why did they keep asking each other what he was thinking by wearing that hat?

-- This is just a Gripe: Why did the MSM, before any vote had taken place -- indeed, on the first day of questioning of Samuel Alito -- already have this guy confirmed? Okay, we know they're corporately owned and operated and Bush friendly, but, just for the sake of form, you'd think they'd wait until the hearings were over to proclaim him the next Supreme Court Associate Justice.

According to the punditry, unless it's discovered he dated chickens or smoked man-gland in the boy's locker room, he's going to be kicked up to the high court, no problem. If he was involved in some sleazy courtroom deals where he should have recused himself, thinks women should be perpetually barefoot and pregnant, blacks should shine his shoes on command, or lied (or didn't lie) to get a job in 1985, no big thing -- he'll fit right in over at the S.C. And if doesn't know much about Constitutional law -- well, who cares about that these days? The guy who nominated him doesn't either.

-- Pat Robertson did an amusing about-face the other day. You might remember that the Certifiably Insane 700 Club blabber took the opportunity of Israeli Prime Minster Ariel Sharon's stroke and coma to show his Christian compassion by claiming it was a judgment from God on Sharon for giving up the Gaza Strip, thereby tampering with all of Pat's precious Endtimes scenarios. (Note: According to the Book of Revelation, Israel must return to the borders of its ancient homeland as delineated in the Old Testament before Pat's imaginary Rapture can occur, although why this old swindler thinks he's heading to heaven is prima facie evidence of his psychotic delusions.)

In response, the Israeli government, in a snit over Pat's rabid droolings, promptly aced him out of the $50 million Christian theme park to be erected on the shores of the Sea of Galilee, allegedly one of Jesus' old stomping grounds.

The Rev, checking his balance sheet, quickly hied to the CBN studios to apologize all over himself, as well as sending Sharon's son a gushy love letter. Hey, nothing comes between Pious Pat and the Almighty Dollar, capeche?

The Gripe: After his history of crazed pronouncements and apologies, why does the Mass Media even pay any attention to this nutcase anymore?

-- Watch for BushCo to unveil a new budget accounting scheme to make the deficit appear to have been reduced. According to a Washington Post story on Dec. 29, 2005, Bush officials are studying "changes to how government puts together its budget." It's all part of the White House retooling its 'plan for recovery.' What that really means in plain English is that they're going to find a sneaky way to make the numbers look better before the 2006 elections, while not reducing the deficit by a dime.

The Gripe: Haven't heard one MSM 'expert' talk about what a steaming chunk of bull excrement this is, being extruded right in the middle of the Oval Office.

-- Finishing on an upbeat note, two women, Susan Ralston and Emily Miller, will become very important witnesses in the Abramoff/DeLay/Scanlon prosecutions.

Ralston worked in senior staff positions for both Abramoff and Karl Rove in the White House, neatly linking up those two scoundrels.Emily Miller once had a job in Tom DeLay's Congressional rat house, when Michael Scanlon was chief of staff.

After Mike and Em were caught in flagrante delicto on a desk in the office, they each went their separarte ways, Scanlon going into the lobbying business with Jack Abramoff.

Howsomever, and this is an important point, Mike had earnestly promised to marry Ms. Miller. Keeping in character, he had also committed to getting hitched to his manicurist and who knows who else.

Eventually, Scanlon ungallantly dumped Em, which may turn out to be the stupidest move of his corrupt life: Miller has the goods on not only the DeLay/Scanlon crookedness, but all the underhanded sleaze of the Abramoff/Scanlon lobbying partnership that came later.

Here's the Tattlesnake's Prediction: With the 'Perfect Storm' link-up of DeLay and Rove to Abramoff and Scanlon (Emily allegedly kept copies of computer records and Ralston was at many of the key meetings), along with Abramoff and Scanlon's testimony, Rove will resign from the White House this year, no matter what happens with Plamegate. DeLay's already in the diaper pail up to his eyeballs, and Jack and Mike are being fitted for orange jumpsuits, so all the Republican high command can do is try to limit the damage before the November elections.

Will the GOP succeed with this strategy? Taint likely, since there are Bush-appointed 'Brownies' littering the Republican Party like mosquitoes after a levee break. These people are dumb and inept, which is not the emergency crew you want on the other end of the rope when you're trying to pull yourself out of a hole of your own making.

A key sign will be how many national and state Republican incumbents decide not to seek re-election in 2006. Tattlesnake would bet it's in the same range as the cost of a bottle of Dom Pérignon Rosé at Abramoff's pricey Signatures bar.
-----------------------------------------------
Bye, Bye, Miss American Pie

The 'Wal-Martinizing' of America Enters its Final Phase

Economically, this is the beginning of the end for the U.S. economy; if China dumps our money, other foreign lenders will follow suit, thereby devaluing the battered dollar even further.

If you think gas and heating prices are high now, just wait until this runaway inflation hits; we'll be like the Weimar Republic in Germany in the 1920s, but with more credit debt. The low-priced Chinese-made goods in Wal-Mart will be a thing of the past.

The saddest part is that I don't think the incompetents and ideologues in the Bush Admistration fully comprehend the intricacies of the global economy; you can be assured their multi-national corporate campaign contributors do, and will skim a bundle from our financial miseries.

Note: The housing boom has already gone bust with a solid month of record-level drops in mortgage applications.

This from The Progress Report:

ECONOMY -- CHINA WARNS IT MAY STOP PROPPING UP U.S. DEFICITS: A high-level Chinese state economist told the Washington Post this week that "China has resolved to shift some of its foreign exchange reserves -- now in excess of $800 billion -- away from the U.S. dollar and into other world currencies in a move likely to push down the value of the greenback." "The new policy reflects China's fears that too much of its savings is tied up in the dollar, a currency widely expected to drop in value as the U.S. trade and fiscal deficits climb." Economists warn that if China and other countries refuse to fund American deficits, "the dollar would fall, interest rates would rise and the housing boom could burst, sending real estate prices lower." The statement from China comes on the heels of the news that China's trade surplus tripled from $31.9 billion in 2004 to $102 billion in 2005. "We still have the edge," former Secretary of State Colin Powell said. "But I am worried we are willing to make the right investment to make sure that we don't fall behind."
-- The Progress Report, Jan. 11, 2006.
-----------------------------------------------

Today's Quote

"If you think Bush is spying on you, just use big words."

-- Randi Rhodes, Air America Radio.

The Tattlesnake -- Good Sam He Not Am Edition

What If Alito Had Been A Liberal?

An easy way to determine if you're being a partisan hack or biased apologist for your side of the fight is to stand the situation on its head and see how you would react if the shoe were on the other foot, a technique unfortunately infrequently practiced by our media and politicians. I understand how difficult and painful this is for neocons, so I'll try to make it easy for them here.

Let's say in the 1990s Clinton had nominated a very liberal but experienced judge to the Supreme Court and among the questions about his past were:

-- In college he joined an ultra-left group called Students for a Socialist America. Fifteen years after graduation, he used this affiliation on his resume in an attempt to get a job with a leftist organization. Today he claims that he doesn't remember any such affiliation or using it on his resume and, besides, he was 'only' a grass-green kid of 35 at the time. What would be your reaction, Mr. and Mrs. Neocon; would you find this explanation credible?

-- Although he has been a steadfast supporter of abortion rights throughout his life and has consistently, in several government jobs and from the bench, issued opinions contrary to anti-abortion groups, today he maintains that he could fairly judge abortion cases that may come before the high court. Would O'Reilly and Rush buy that logic?

-- An examination of his record of decisions in more than a decade as a federal judge reveal that he overwhelmingly decided in favor of the liberal position in his cases and dissenting opinions from the majority position. Would Orrin Hatch and Jeff Sessions merely say that Clinton should be allowed to have whatever appointee he wants and that, because of his experience on the bench, they know he'll be 'fair' to their side as a Supreme Court Justice?

-- In case after case, he has opposed the government wiretapping or conducting surveillance of American citizens, even in extreme situations of national security; he has consistently upheld the right of the individual to bankrupt corporations through lawsuits, even if the corporation was not directly at fault in the matter; he has advocated rights for Americans not specifically enumerated in the Constitution, leading even some of his allies to call him an 'activist judge.' Throughout his career, in every important decision, he has advanced his ideological philosophy at the expense of the law. Would Red Staters sit back and feel comfortable giving this man a lifetime appointment to the highest court in the land?

-- Finally, in glaring conflicts of interest, he has decided cases in favor of a company in which he had a substantial financial investment, and for his sister, who appeared before him as a defense attorney. Today he claims that the reaason the company and his sister were left off his list of recusable cases for many years was either an 'oversight' or 'a computer glitch.' Would Sean Hannity and Joe Scarborough mildly accept that a man who had hundreds of thousands of dollars invested in a company wouldn't be aware of that fact, and wouldn't recognize his own sister in a courtroom?

Yet, this is what the Republicans are trying to sell in reverse. That Samuel Alito is a fair-minded and impartial man who would not bring his ultra-right ideology, and his less-than-sterling ethical sense, to the high court.

The question is: Who do they think they're kidding?
-----------------------------------
Fact and Fiction on Alito

From The Progress Report, Jan. 12, 2006:

SUPREME COURT
The Alito Myths

Senators in yesterday's Supreme Court confirmation hearings for Samuel Alito were spinning myths about the type of nominee they would like to have, failingto recognize the actual man standing before them. But don't let the conservative senators fool you -- their statements that Alito will practice judicial restraint, will not have an agenda, and will decide each case on an individual basis if appointed to the Supreme Court don't hold water. Throughout his career,Alito has pushed a right-wing agenda and "could prove [to be] more conservative than Antonin Scalia" if approved to the Supreme Court.

CLAIM -- ALITO HAS SHOWN JUDICIAL RESTRAINT: Sen. Mike DeWine (R-OH): "Judges are not members of Congress, they're not state legislators, governors, norpresidents. Their job is not to pass laws, implement regulations, nor to make policy. ... And, Judge, from what I've seen so far, you don't need much reminding on this score." Sen. Charles Grassley (R-IA): "I'm hopeful that his commitment to judicial restraint and to confining decisions to the law and theConstitution will shine through in this hearing."

FACT -- ALITO HAS A HISTORY OF LEGISLATING FROM THE BENCH: While on the federal bench, Alito has been more than willing to actively overstep judicial boundaries and overturn existing laws. Lawrence Lustberg, a criminal defense lawyer who has known Alito since 1981, described him as "an activist conservatist judge." In 1996, Alito was the sole dissenter in U.S. v. Rybar, arguing that Congress had no power under the Commerce Clause to ban fully automatic machine guns and demanding that "Congress be required to make findings showing a link between the regulation and its effect on interstate commerce, or that Congress or the president document such a link with empirical evidence." The majority sharply disagreed with Alito: "We know of no authority to support such a demand on Congress," which would require the federal government to "play Show and Tell with the federal courts." Even Sen. Tom Coburn (R-OK) had to admit that Alito"was legislating" in this case. Additionally, in the 2000 case Chittister v. Department of Community and Economic Development, Alito used his judicial position to "prevent the federal government from enforcing civil rights protections" by ruling that Congress overstepped its authority under the Fourteenth Amendment and therefore had no power to require state employers tocomply with the Family Medical Leave Act.

CLAIM -- ALITO HAS PUT HIS PERSONAL VIEWS ASIDE: Sen. Jon Kyl (R-AZ): "Thus,even in your early 20s, it appears you were focused on the law as an independent pursuit, rather than using law to influence political ends."

FACT -- ALITO HAS PUSHED A CONSERVATIVE AGENDA: Alito's conservative politics -- going back to his days in the right-wing Concerned Alumni of Princeton group --have appeared throughout his career. While applying for a job in the Reagan administration in 1985, Alito wrote that "the Constitution does not protect aright to an abortion" and while in the Solicitor General's office, he was able to "help advance legal positions in which [he] personally believe[s] verystrongly." These assertions were Alito's personal views, not the views of his employer. While working in the Reagan administration, Alito strategically advised his employers how to push a right-wing agenda through the courts. In 1985, as an assistant solicitor general, Alito "urged the Justice Department to defend incremental state restrictions on abortion as part of a long-term strategy 'to advance... the eventual overruling of Roe v. Wade, and in the meantime, of mitigating its effects.'" Similarly, in 1984, Alito wrote that theU.S. attorney general "should be shielded from being sued for approving illegal,warrantless wiretaps on the grounds of national security." But, he knew that1984 was not the right time to win his case and argued waiting for a "case involving a less controversial official and a less controversial era."

CLAIM -- ALITO HAS DECIDED EACH CASE ON AN INDIVIDUAL BASIS: Alito: "I had the good fortune to begin my legal career as a law clerk for a judge who really epitomized open-mindedness and fairness. ... He taught all of his law clerks that every case has to be decided on an individual basis."

FACT -- ALITO'S DECISIONS HAVE BEEN 'ALMOST UNIFORMLY CONSERVATIVE': Legal scholar Cass Sunstein noted that Alito's 41 dissents as an appeals court judge "are almost uniformly conservative. In the overwhelming majority of cases, hehas urged a more conservative position than that of his colleagues." Knight Ridder also found a clear pattern in a review of Alito's 311 published opinionson the 3rd Circuit Court of Appeals: He has "seldom sided with a criminal defendant, a foreign national facing deportation, an employee alleging discrimination or consumers suing big businesses." Similarly, the Alito Project at the Yale Law School determined that while on the bench, Alito "has sought tomove the law to achieve the broad philosophical purposes articulated in the memorandum he submitted in November 1985 as part of his application to become Deputy Assistant Attorney General in charge of the Office of Legal Counsel."
--------------------------------------------------
Resume & Job Application Blunders

With misspellings, etc. preserved.

"I am most proud of the fact that I have never been convicted of a crime."

"Family: One husband and three chillin."

"I am not tired down by a family and can work anywhere in the world."

"My two divices were not my fault! I encountered badmen."

"All my references say of me he is comptent and seldom wrogn."

"My name is Joshua, but I was not named after the Joshua of the Bible. I was named after my Grandpa Frank's dog..."

"...put some shizzle in your bizzle, put a real Kewl Dude on your staff -- hire me!"

"In college, I was known as 'The Man' by my fellow students."

"As a Candy Stripper, I handled blood and urine samples and wiped bottoms and held doctors hands, so I saw medical practices from the other side of the rainbow."

"Sales is my life! I eat, sleep and eliminate sales!"

"I'm young but I've been tested on fire."

"The bottom line -- I will return you're work in dollars."

"B4 U Dside, pleas reed my resumay all the way 2 the end. I have a fastenating storie 2 tell."

Da Silence of Dem Lambs Edition

Some Rocks Are Diamonds; Some Are in Your Head

Tattlesnake activates his sharp-as-a-stuffed-sofa memory banks to bring you a slice of political life from nearly two decades ago.

The inept typist you are currently reading was sitting in a bar (gasp!), amusedly watching a candidate for alderman pester innocent civilians with his handshakes and patter. Following this lumpy middle-aged caucasian was a 'rainbow coalition' featuring a young white woman, a slightly-older black guy, and a 40-something Latina lady. The black guy was sentenced to holding a sign instructing voters to remember Lumpy on election day.

He rushed up and down in front of the train station across the street with his entourage, trying to intercept tired commuters coming home from a long day at work, about half of whom rejected his extended paw and quickly brushed past him in the same way you'd avoid a purveyor of Moonie pamphlets or the bubonic plague. (I was anticipating an 'Airplane' moment, but an appearance by an in-a-hurry Robert Stack wasn't in the cards.) Others politely shook his hand, listened to his guff for a few seconds and accepted a flyer, all the while their exhausted eyes pleading, "Leave me alone. I need a drink."

Eventually, Tattlesnake and a friend moseyed out onto the sidewalk to get some air and enjoy the last of the sunshine on a pleasant fall day. We were standing there talking when I felt a tug on my shoulder.

Uh oh -- it was The Candidate!

He grabbed my hand and blurted, "Hello there, I'm Lumpy Leadhead (not his real name, you might guess), and I'm running for alderman!"

Tattlesnake stood there momentarily stunned, gazing at Lumpy's abused beet-red handshaking mitt, and his vacant ear-to ear campaign grin. Finally, something came to mind.

"Can I ask you a question?"

"Certainly," Lumpy preened; he was ready for questions from the voters!

"What do you think of Vanilla Ice and his 'blue-eyed soul' style of rap music?"

(Sidebar: Vanilla Ice and his silly "Ice, Ice, Baby" was big on the charts back then and I had just heard it on the jukebox in the bar.)

The question kicked Lumpy out of his comfort zone; the plastered-on smile sunk to half-staff and he looked confused. Several long seconds ticked by as he held my hand and tried to think of something. 'Damn this idiot,' I could sense him thinking, 'why didn't he just ask me about zoning or parking like everybody else.'

Finally, in one of those improbable and delectable moments that sometimes happen in real life, he turned to the black guy with the sign behind him and said, loud enough for me to hear: "What do I think about rap music?"

The black guy cupped his hand and whispered into Lumpy's ear. Lumpy turned back to me, his smile and confidence recovered, and announced fatuously, "I like all kinds of music and many different artists. I'm sure Mr. Ice is an excellent musician! Don't forget to vote now!" And then he and his hearty little band quickly trundled off to annoy the drinkers in the bar.

(Another sidebar: Cheapskate Lumpy didn't even pop for a round for the habitués, and the sons of habitués, inside the saloon.)

Tattlesnake was amused, but not impressed. If he had dismissed me for asking an irrelevant question -- which is what I expected -- that would have been fine; if he had shown a sense of humor and laughed at my silliness, that would have been better. But to take the ridiculous question seriously enough to turn to someone else to find out what he thinks? What a lame tool. (Full disclosure: I ended up voting for the guy anyway, only because his opponents were even goofier than he was. Lumpy won, and now occupies a seat in the Chicago city council. He actually, at least in contrast to most of the other benighted alder-people, hasn't done a bad job.)

'OK,' I hear you wondering, 'that's a mildly funny story, Tattleface or whatever your name is, but why did you bring it up?'

Here's the point: If you wonder why the Democrats seem so out of touch with the people and so cowardly, it's because they are. Lumpy was just running for alderman, politically a relatively low-level job, and he was so numbed from campaigning, and so afraid of offending fools asking him irrelevant questions and losing their votes, that he didn't even know how to respond without help from his campaign staff.

Magnify that to the Big Show in Washington: Most of our assorted elected officials have no idea what average people think, and some don't even care. They inhale the rarefied fumes of Capitol Hill and baste in the money of lobbyists like Jack Abramoff and come to regard anyone not at their aristocratic level as an 'outsider' to be caressed and cajoled for votes, but otherwise useless. It's not that they do this consciously, but it comes with the territory. They depend on their campaign staffs and pollsters, who are nearly as isolated and insulated as they are, to tell them what the Pee-Pull think and what weasel words will be in effect for that day. (There are, as always, rare exceptions.)

This is the present state of the Democratic Party. With polls showing a majority of Americans are fed up with Bush, Republican mumbo-jumbo in general, and the Iraq War, the Dems aren't capitalizing on the GOP's meltdown because their staffs have told them not to offend, run to the middle, and play it safe, reprising Clinton's playbook from 1996.

The media and the political parties are always about ten years behind where the rest of the country is going and if the Dems don't smarten up and start listening to their constituents and responding to their concerns, they'd better not count on winning a majority in either House of Congress in 2006 or the presidency in 2008.

The Bush Republicans are on an inevitable slide to the bottom, but that doesn't mean the Democrats will necessarily be elected to fill the gap, as they have been in the past.

Many Americans may declare their independence from both parties, tired of having only two choices in the voting booth that are basically the same, and that might not be such a bad thing at all. It's called 'representative government,' and it's about time we had some.

If the Democrats want to be the party of the people opposing the corporately-owned Republicans, the time to start showing that is now by standing up forcefully to the GOP and demanding accountability and, if necessary, impeachment.

If they don't, they may soon be as laughable and forgotten as 'Mr. Ice' himself.
--------------------------------
No Quote, But A Short Anecdote

Picture Perfect

A teacher told me his school had a portrait of George W. Bush up in a vestibule featuring a gallery of presidential portraits last year, but they finally had to remove the thing since it was defaced so often.

Curling Snidely Whiplash mustaches, 'raccoon eyes,' vampire teeth, devil horns, cartoon tongues lolling out, and drool flowing from the side of his mouth were among the students' additions to the picture, plus a few other touches not fit for a family newspaper to print.

After replacing the glass in the frame six times, the school authorities gave up; now, just the plaque remains: "George W. Bush, 43rd President of the United States" with an empty space above it. Appropriate, isn't it?

The other presidential portraits in the gallery, including every president since WWII, were not disturbed.

It's 'Kristol' Clear: We Should Just Trust Bush Even If He Rips Up the Constitution

What happened to the days when conservatives stood up for our Constitutional rights against abuses of governmental power?

In a Jan. 2, 2006 column, none other than Weekly Standard editor and Project for a New American Century progenitor Bill Kristol himself called anyone who objected to Bush's unconstitutional surveillance of American citizens without a warrant guilty of paranoid liberalism.

In his screed, "The Paranoid Style in American Liberalism," Kristol's main themes are that we should simply trust Bush to do the right thing; that any suspicion that he might misuse his office is ridiculous and irresponsible 'paranoia'; and that American liberalism is on the verge of descending into a "fever swamp" filled with such "bizarre" notions if they continue to question Bush's abuse of power to fight terrorism. (Of course, as Condi Rice is 'not a lawyer'; neither is Neocon Bill a medical doctor, so his diagnosis can be treated with skepticism -- or would that be paranoia?)

Why should we be 'paranoid' about a president who uses war as an excuse to secretly dismantle the Constitution and trample on our rights?

Well, gee, Bill, maybe it's because liberals and true conservatives have read the history of the world and know that many democracies, such as Germany, have been lured down the primrose path of Wartime National Security to despotism; it is precisely the well-worn avenue other tyrannies have taken to strip away the rights of its citizens.

Perhaps it's also because the framers of our Constitution were equally 'paranoid' about guarding our liberties from this sort of infringement. As James Madison wrote: "It is a universal truth that the loss of liberty at home is to be charged to the provisions against danger, real or pretended, from abroad."

I'll take the opinions of Madison regarding our liberty over those of the Bush Adminstration any day of the week.

Kristol should remember what his favorite president, Ronald Reagan, once said, quoting a Russian proverb: "Trust, but verify." It applies equally as well to the Bush Administration as it did to the former USSR.

But I'll go a step further and quote what John Adams wrote in his journal in 1772: "There is danger from all men. The only maxim of a free government ought to be to trust no man living with power to endanger the public liberty."

Bill and his neocon friends should ask themselves this question: Is there any violation of the Constitution that Bush could commit under the guise of protecting us from terrorism that they would condemn?

"I can say unequivocally, all right, that we have got information through this program that would not otherwise have been available."
-- Gen. Michael Hayden, former director of the National Security Agency and presently deputy director of national intelligence, at a press conference Dec. 19, 2005. [Of course you got information; the nature and legality of the information is what's in question.]

"Now, General Hayden is by all accounts a serious, experienced, nonpolitical military officer. You would think that a statement like this, by a man in his position, would at least slow down the glib assertions of politicians, op-ed writers, and journalists that there was no conceivable reason for President Bush to bypass the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act (FISA) court."
-- William Kristol, "The Paranoid Style In American Liberalism," The Weekly Standard, Volume 011, Issue 16, Jan. 2, 2006. [There was no reason to illegally bypass FISA, and a thousand generals who work for Commander-in-Chief Bush will not change that fact.]

"The idea that the once highly respected former director of NSA, Gen. Mike Hayden, had allowed himself to be seduced into sinning against NSA's first commandment, 'Thou Shalt Not Spy on Americans,' was initially met with incredulity. Sadly, no other conclusion became possible as we watched Hayden and Attorney General Alberto Gonzales spin and squirm before the press on December 19 in their transparent attempt to square a circle."
[...]
"Air Force Lt. Col. Karen Kwiatkowski (ret.) was assigned to NSA headquarters in the late nineties while working for Gen. Hayden, who was then head of the Air Force Intelligence Agency. At that time she -- like others -- had a favorable impression of Hayden and was therefore stunned upon learning of his acquiescence in, and rationalization of, eavesdropping on Americans. In a recent conversation, Karen used as an analogy what Gen. Brent Scowcroft said recently about Dick Cheney, with whom he had worked for many years -- 'I don't know Dick Cheney.' As for her, said Karen, 'I don't know Gen. Hayden.'"
-- Ray McGovern, "Heck of a Job, Hayden!" Truthout, Jan. 5, 2006. [Before retiring, McGovern was a CIA intelligence analyst for 26 years.]

"A SIGINT [signals intelligence] officer [is] taught from very early on in their careers that you just do not do this. This is probably the number one commandment -- you do not spy on Americans. It is drilled into our head over and over again in security briefings at least twice a year, where you ultimately have to sign a paper that says you have gotten the briefing. Everyone at NSA, who's a SIGINT officer knows that you do not do this -- Apparently the leaders of NSA have decided that they were just going to go against the tenets of something that's gospel to a SIGINT officer -- Hayden knew that this was illegal." -- Russell Tice, a former NSA officer, in an interview with Democracy Now radio. Quoted by Ray McGovern ibid.

"We have had discussions with Congress -- as to whether or not FISA could be amended to allow us to adequately deal with this kind of threat, and we were advised that that would be difficult, if not impossible."
-- Attorney General Alberto Gonzales on Dec. 19, 2005, admitting that Congress would not give Bush carte blanche to spy on American citizens without a warrant. Quoted by Ray McGovern ibid.

"Vice President Dick Cheney and a handful of others had hijacked the government's foreign policy apparatus, deciding in secret to carry out policies that had left the US weaker and more isolated in the world,...[the Cheney/Rumsfeld group are] paying the consequences of making thosedecisions in secret,...but far more telling to me is America is paying the consequences."
-- Col. Lawrence Wilkerson [USA], former top aide to Colin Powell, in the Financial Times, as quoted by the Progress Report, Oct. 20, 2005.

"First, we must remember the high standards that come with high office. This begins with careful adherence to the rules. I expect every member of this administration to stay well within the boundaries that define legal and ethical conduct....We're all accountable to one another. And above all, we're all accountable to the law and to the American people."
-- George W. Bush, Jan. 22, 2001, before 9/11.

"Let me say a few words about important values we must demonstrate while all of us serve in government. First, we must always maintain the highest ethical standards. We must always ask ourselves not only what is legal, but what is right. There is no goal of government worth accomplishing if it cannot be accomplished with integrity."
-- George W. Bush, Oct. 15, 2001, after 9/11.

"Now, by the way, any time you hear the United States government talking about wiretap, it requires -- a wiretap requires a court order. Nothing has changed, by the way. When we're talking about chasing down terrorists, we're talking about getting a court order before we do so."
-- George W. Bush, in a speech at Buffalo, NY, April 20, 2004.

"Whatever I do to protect the American people -- I have an obligation to uphold the law."
-- George W. Bush, quoted by CNN, Dec. 16, 2005.

"President Bush said Saturday he personally has authorized a [warrantless]secret eavesdropping program in the U.S. more than 30 times since the Sept. 11 attacks."
-- Associated Press, Dec. 18, 2005.

"One who deceives will always find those who allow themselves to be deceived."
-- Niccolo Machiavelli

"By means of shrewd lies, unremittingly repeated, it is possible to make people believe that heaven is hell -- and hell heaven. The greater the lie, the more readily it will be believed."
-- Adolf Hitler

"The pseudo-conservative is a man who, in the name of upholding traditional American values and institutions and defending them against more or less fictitious dangers, consciously or unconsciously aims at their abolition."
-- Richard Hofstadter, "The Paranoid Style in American Politics and Other Essays," 1965.

"I think if we're going to be intellectually honest here, this really is the kind of thing that Alexander Hamilton was referring to when impeachment was discussed."
-- Norman Ornstein, a scholar at the conservative American Enterprise Institute, as quoted by Editor & Publisher, Dec. 21, 2005.

"In war, the politician can suppress more, steal more, control more, lie more, spy more, bomb more -- and it's all in the name of patriotism. And anyone who questions the seizure of our liberties, the exaltation of the president and the police state, the constant (and stupid) propaganda, and the bloody massacres, is 'anti-American.'"
-- Burton S. Blumert, "Does LewRockwell.com Have a Future?" LewRockwell,com, Sept. 6, 2005.

"The Founding Fathers never imagined that our nation would need laws to protect us from someone like Bush."
-- Tony Seton

"The illegal we do immediately. The unconstitutional takes a little longer."
-- Henry Kissinger

"We have now sunk to a depth at which restatement of the obvious is the first duty of intelligent men."
-- George Orwell

"Governments are instituted among Men, deriving their just powers from the consent of the governed, that whenever any Form of Government becomes destructive of these ends, It is the Right of the People to alter or to abolish it, and to institute new Government, Laying its foundation onsuch principles and organizing its powers in such form, as to them shall seem most likely to effect their Safety and Happiness."
-- Thomas Jefferson in the Declaration of Independence.