Common Sense

Just like a cockroach

Tom DeLay can survive anything. I would venture to say he could actually survive a nuclear war!

Vince is reporting that The Bugman may be on the shortlist to head the OMB (that's Office of Management and Budget for the acronym-challenged). That means he would be in charge of the White House budget and telling us all how big the deficit is and how much everything costs. Hmmmm...

The position is open thanks to some top-level shifts. Andy Card resigned making room for Josh Bolten to replace him was the director of OMB. That's really neat how it all just sort of worked out.

Libby in the sky with diamonds

Still a lot of unanswered questions since last week's revelations regarding Scooter Libby's testimony to the grand jury in the Plamegate investigation.

Libby says that the president and vice president did not order him to leak Valerie Plame's name to reporters. I guess that is him falling on his sword and being loyal since Fitzgerald wouldn't have filed his brief saying that's what happened without that being the case.

It is still intersting to note that what Libby discussed with Judy Miller had absolutely nothing to do with whether or not Iraq sought "significant quantities of uranium from Africa," just that Plame was Wilson's wife.

There is still a debate about whether that information was classified when Libby and Rove talked to reporters about it. The NIE was on track to be declassified and several people, including John Dean, believe that the president cannot unilaterally declassify documents on a whim when that process is in place. And is it really declassified if the only people that know that the president declassified a document are the three people in the room? I mean, shouldn't the director of intelligence be told?

Probably the biggest dent in the president's credibility is that he won't deny or confirm what happened. He gets into semantic arguments about his "inherant powers" to declassify documents and how important it is to tell the public the truth. I would agree, but what he's revealed doesn't tell us anything about when the NIE was officially declassified.

Parsing his words as best I can, I think he may have been involved in this. Someone doing that many rhetorical backflips has something to hide. My guess is that he's claiming inherant executive power so that a later date, when it cannot be proven otherwise, and he gets caught having done something incredibly stupid, like tell the VP COS to tell reporters who Plame was, he can go back and say he had the power to declassify what he saw fit. The rest of us will get caught in an argument about whether he actually can do that and the issue and the criticism gets muddied.

The only way we could every get to the bottom of this is through Fitzgerald's independent investigation or through Congressional hearings. I don't know if we're ready for those hearings, talk would inevitably lead back to censure and/or impeachment.

I want to say something about that for a moment. I've long been ambivalent about impeachment. For political reasons, I thought impeachment sounded nice but I was unable to really get behind something like that. After the Clinton impeachment, America just didn't need to lose faith in its leader like that again. Two in a row could seriously tear this country apart.

But then you have to remember Richard Nixon. He resigned after the House drew up Articles of Impeachment after their hearings into Watergate. If Congress was to investigate, there are so many things that go so far beyond the Nixon White House that I don't think anyone could avoid impeachment talk. From cronyism in important jobs, possible intelligence manipulation to get us into war, domestic spying, Plamegate. The list seems endless and cannot go without some sort of official rebuttal from Congress should they get involved.

I'm more worried now at the loss of faith in all our leaders if we don't have Congress investigate these things. The American people have a right to know and politically expediency should take a back seat to what is best for our democracy. I fear, though, that Congress will not step in because of partisan loyalty. This goes way beyond partisanship and gets right to the heart of our republic. Congress should be investigating this White House.

Save the Date

Of course, it is on a day that I don't think I can be in Austin. Just my luck.

FEINGOLD TO CAMPAIGN FOR TEXAS CONGRESSIONAL CANDIDATE AND HOLD ‘LISTENING SESSION’ 

AT THE UNIVERSITY OF TEXAS

 

Milwaukee, WI – U.S. Senator Russ Feingold announced today that he will travel to Austin, Texas next Tuesday, April 18^th, for a series of events with Texas Congressional Candidate John Courage. Courage is running to represent the 21st Congressional District - a district that includes downtown Austin, the University of Texas, and stretches to the northern part of the city of San   Antonio. Courage was the first winner of Feingold’s Progressive Patriots Fund’s “Pick a Progressive Patriot” event held last year.

 

Feingold and Courage will hold a Listening Session on the campus of the University of Texas at 12:30 PM CT, in the Quadrangle of the University’s Student Union. This event is open to the public. Feingold and Courage will be available to the media following the event.

 

When Feingold was elected to the Senate in 1992, he made a pledge to hold a Listening Session, or town-hall style meeting, open to the public, in each of Wisconsin’s 72 counties every year to listen to people's concerns and answer their questions. Feingold will hold his 1000^th Listening Session in Wisconsin later this year. The University of Texas Listening Session will be Feingold’s fifth outside of Wisconsin.

 

At 7:30 PM CT that evening, Tuesday, April 18^th, Feingold will join Courage at Jovita’s, 1619 First   St. in Austin, for a large event with Courage supporters. The event will feature live music and addresses by Jim Hightower, the former Texas Agriculture Commissioner and radio commentator, Feingold, and Courage. Tickets for this event can be purchased at the door or in advance at www.frontgatetickets.com, Encore Video and CD, Stubbs BBQ and Waterloo Records.

 

Feingold created the Progressive Patriots Fund, following the 2004 elections, to promote a progressive reform agenda and to support candidates for office around the country. The Progressive Patriots Fund can be found on the web at: www.progressivepatriotsfund.com. For further information, please call Trevor Miller or George Aldrich at (414) 727-5682.

That is crazy

You know how crazy the president of Iran is? He delivers an addres tot he world that Iran has nuclear capabilities wearing a khaki jacket!

That's f---ing crazy!

Follies

Common Sense Mom is blasting country music through the house while I'm watching the head of the Iranian atomic energy agency announce on state television that they have successfully enriched uranium. As if the country music wasn't bad enough.

I don't like it when countries decide to play nuclear brinkmanship. It never ends well. I don't think it helps when President Bush won't say he's not willing to use nuclear weapons unless we feel there is a serious threat from Iran using them on us. Pre-emption is fine; using nuclear weapons to prevent Tehran from using nuclear weapons is not.

Indeed, if Hersh's source is correct, they are actively trying to do just that in the White House.

As I'm sitting here, looking at a beautiful noontime sky, it's hard to believe that we've already been set on the path to war yet again. What can only be described as madmen are convinced that they can get the formula just right if they try the same thing. The definition of insanity is doing the same thing over and over expecting a different result. We've failed in Iraq and Afghanistan, but there is already an Iran-Syria Operation Group with hundreds of millions of dollars for a budget whose sole purpose is to advocate regime change in those two countries.

Not only have we failed as a military superpower to supplant these two nations, but we've also failed as a movement. The peace movement was supposed to stop the madness and take us away from the edge in Iraq. But it seems that the men we have chosen as our leaders can put in place plans to wage continuous, unending war and be accountable to no one.

Congress won't investigate the administration and the people won't vote them out of office. That's how democracy dies, in cold, apathetic silence.

Hooray!

FEINGOLD TO TRAVEL TO TEXAS AND IOWA IN COMING WEEKS

 

Milwaukee, WI – U.S. Senator Russ Feingold announced today that he plans to travel to Texas and Iowa during the last two weeks in April in support of congressional candidates in both states.  Details for events in Texas, April 18^th, and stops in Iowa, April 28^th-29^th, will be released in the coming days. 

 

“Over the last year, I’ve spoken with Democrats from Alabama to Pennsylvania, from Florida to Colorado, and what is clear is that if we are going to win in November, and in the years ahead, we must be competitive in every state,” Feingold said.  “I’m looking forward to helping congressional candidates in both Texas and Iowa in the coming weeks as we work toward a progressive majority in Congress.”

 

Feingold created the Progressive Patriots Fund, following the 2004 elections, to promote a progressive reform agenda and to support candidates for office around the country. 

 

The Progressive Patriots Fund can be found on the web at: www.progressivepatriotsfund.com. For further information, please call Trevor Miller or George Aldrich at (414) 727-5682.

That's a lot of people

There certainly are a lot of people marching over the immigration issue today. It's got to be in the millions! That leaves me with one question: Where were all these reporters during the anti-war marches?

Seriously, millions of people marching in opposition to the Iraq War and we were lucky to get on page one of the NY Times. That's a total jip.

Anyway, in cities across the country, Mexicans, Latin Americans, Asians, just about any ethnic group that has an immigrant community are marching in protest of the House bill that would make it a felony to be here without going through the immigration process. It would also be illegal to help illegal immigrants or to hire them. Many marchers are also demanding citizenship, or at least a path to citizenship.

It's not all pro-immigrant rallies today. A group in Arizona was protesting illegal immigration and they burned the Mexican flag, proving that, for one side, this really is about keeping those dirty, dirty Mexicans out of the country.

I guess it is all up to Bill Frist to keep this peaceful protest from turning into a race riot. God help us all.

What to make of this

It really does get confusing sometimes when you wake up in the morning and watch cable news.

WASHINGTON (CNN) -- Vice President Dick Cheney's former top aide testified that President Bush authorized the release of parts of a classified report on Iraq to rebut criticism of the case for the 2003 invasion, federal prosecutors disclosed in documents released Thursday.

But, but I thought the president said he didn't know anything about this leak and that he would fire anyone involved? This quote from Feb. 2004 is especially enlightening:

"I want to know the truth," the president continued. "Leaks of classified information are bad things."

He added that he did not know of "anybody in my administration who leaked classified information."

I guess that is technically true, depending on what your definition of is is.

There are some interesting side angles to this. The president has the ability to automatically declassify things. If says it is no longer classified, then it is no longer classified. He also says he has given this power (uh?) to VP Dick Cheney. I'm pretty sure he can't do that, but I'll argue that another time.

The point here is that he authorized the release of "certain information" to discredit a political critic that was classified. At least that is what Scooter Libby has testified. But, this whole time he has been saying the complete opposite. This puts him in more than an embarassing position.

This shows, very clearly, what some of us more vocal critics have been saying for some time, President Bush is a LIAR.

I can understand why his supporters have quibbled in the past. There was minutiae involved, there was a question of whether the Clear Skies Act actually cleaned the air and whatnot. But this, this is about as black and white as it gets. He told an aide to leak classified information to the NY Times in order to undermine a political foe. Not for national security, but for politics. Then, when the sh-- hit the fan, he disavowed any knowledge and let an investigation go on for two years without saying anything.

Then, when the chief of staff of the vice president was implicated, he let him fall on his own sword rather than speak the truth. That's because the man cares more for himself than the truth and the American people's right to know the truth about what he is doing in their name.

The line of prosecution cannot be followed any further. If the president tells someone to leak classified information to the press, then it is no longer classified. There is no crime there. The president ordering that, especially for political reasons, is obviously morally bankrupt, but it is not criminal.

Libby's problems arise from perjuring himself in front of the grand jury to keep this a secret from the public and for obstructing justice in the furtherance of the investigation. I would wonder if the president or the vice president are liable for also obstructing justice, if in fact this is all true and if they ordered Libby to help them keep this secret. That is a conspiracy to obstruct justice.

I don't think Karl Rove fits into this very much, other than he may also have been told to leak the information. No charges have been brought against him. He was in some hot water, but he appears to have gotten out and lived to tell the tale.

Going for some kind of record

President Bush is speaking today and I think he's going for a record on how many times he can repeat the same things. A quick count:

1. "Oceans could not protect us" 3 times in 5 minutes
2. "September the 11th" 7 times in 5 minutes
3. "weapons of mass destruction" 4 times in 5 minutes
4. "Iraq" 5 times in 5 minutes
5. "terrorists" 7 times in 5 minutes
6. "uhh" 12 times in 5 minutes

He also stopped to point out that the previous administration believed that Saddam Hussein was a threat and that the rest of the world thought he had WMD. Without pointing out that Clinton didn't invade Iraq and that Saddam had no WMD, I might add.

John McCain in the MTP hizzy

Speaking of presidential contenders, Sen. John McCain went on Meet the Press Sunday to take his lumps and prove his faithfulness to the GOP base. I've never seen someone so determined to kill their own hard-won image as a moderate Republican.

Russert kept confronting him with things he has said in the past, especially about Jerry Falwell, and then watching McCain try to backtrack with things like "Can I serve the people of Arizona best by looking back in anger or moving forward?" Senator, sometimes you have to look back in anger when your president has obviously made some very "strategic" blunders. And sometimes you can't move forward without resolving, or at least acknowledging, those mistakes.

It was funny to see him repudiate his quote about Falwell being an "agent of intolerance." That was worth the wait.

C&L has video.