Cheney Observer
Bush Team Rethinks Its Plan for Recovery
New Approach Could Save Second Term
By Peter Baker and Jim VandeHei
Washington Post Staff Writers
Thursday, December 29, 2005; Page A01
President Bush shifted his rhetoric on Iraq in recent weeks after an intense debate among advisers about how to pull out of his political free fall, with senior adviser Karl Rove urging a campaign-style attack on critics while younger aides pushed for more candor about setbacks in the war, according to Republican strategists.
The result was a hybrid of the two approaches as Bush lashed out at war opponents in Congress, then turned to a humbler assessment of events on the ground in Iraq that included admissions about how some of his expectations had been frustrated. The formula helped Bush regain his political footing as record-low poll numbers began to rebound. Now his team is rethinking its approach to his second term in hopes of salvaging it.
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2005/12/28/AR2005122801517.html
The Bushes seem to have gravitational pull on exiled tycoons.
Berezovsky, Neil Bush, Latvian businessmen meet
By TBT staff
RIGA – Exiled Russian tycoon Boris Berezovsky was in Riga along with Neil Bush, the brother of the U.S. president, to discuss an educational project with Latvian businessmen.
Berezovsky and Bush are promoting new educational software developed by Ignite Learning. The software is designated for primary school students teaches curriculum by developing children's thinking and imagination, according to reports.
Much controversy surrounded the meeting, since Berezovsky is wanted for arrest in Russia, and the scandalous Russian businessman, who now lives in London, met with a relative of the U.S. president.
Russian authorities sent an official request to Latvia to extradite the former oligarch, but the request was ignored by Latvian law enforcement officials.
During the visit, Berezovsky met with Parliamentary Chairman Ingrida Udre, former PM Andris Skele, businessman Peteris Smidre and others.
http://www.baltictimes.com/hot1.php?art_id=14216
Hawaii Congressmen divided over Patriot Act
By Associated Press
HONOLULU (AP) _ Hawaii's two Democratic U-S representatives were divided in their votes today to renew a modified U-S-A Patriot Act to combat terrorism.
Congressmen Neil Abercrombie voted against the bill, calling the act ``a blank check to trample civil liberties.'' Congressman Ed Case, meanwhile, favored the measure, which was approved and sent to the Senate.
The vote in the House was 251-174, with 44 Democrats joining 207 Republicans.
President Bush urged against any delay in Senate action.
Bush called the Patriot Act essential to fighting the war on terror and preventing our enemies from striking America again.
http://www.kpua.net/news.php?id=7048
Congressman's Opposition To War Attracts GOP Challenger
POSTED: 12:53 pm EST December 13, 2005
ELIZABETH CITY, N.C. -- U.S. Rep. Walter Jones' call for a timetable on troop withdrawals from Iraq has attracted his first Republican primary opponent in four elections as an incumbent.
Greg Dority, a two-time Republican candidate in the 1st Congressional District, says he'll run for Jones' 3rd District in the May GOP primary.
Jones has never faced serious Democratic opposition in the military-heavy, GOP-leaning 3rd District and has never faced a Republican opponent in a primary.
Dority, 47, a managing partner in the international firm Sterling Security, lost decisively to Democrats Frank Ballance and G.K. Butterfield in the 2002 and 2004 1st District elections, respectively.
Dority said he's not running specifically against Jones but for the 3rd District seat. He said a key motivator behind his decision is their differences regarding Iraq.
Dority said he stands with Bush on the Iraq war.
"I believe history will completely vindicate President Bush and his team for his decision to go to Iraq," Dority said. "We will win this war there's absolutely no doubt in my mind."
Jones initially was a staunch supporter of President Bush's war strategy in Iraq. He joined several fellow congressmen in coining the phrases "freedom fries" and "freedom toast" in March 2003 as a protest against the French government, which had objected to the U.S. intervention in Iraq.
But the U.S. military's mounting casualties in the war led Jones this summer to support a timetable for withdrawing troops from Iraq.
In June, Jones joined U.S. Reps. Neil Abercrombie, D-Hawaii, Dennis Kucinich, D-Ohio, and Ron Paul, R-Texas, in co-sponsoring a resolution to begin withdrawing American soldiers from Iraq in October 2006.
The 17-county 3rd Congressional District is home to three major military bases: Camp Lejeune, Cherry Point Marine Corps Air Station and Seymour Johnson Air Force Base.
Dority, of Beaufort County, said he believes Jones was sincere in his call and not motivated by opinion polls.
A spokesman for Jones said he had no comment on Dority's decision.
"Walter Jones will stand on his record of service to eastern North Carolina," said Marc Rotterman.
http://www.nbc17.com/politics/5526136/detail.html
Exit plan seen as key to Bush's agenda pursuit
Experts: Domestic goals rest on resolving Iraq
By Mark Silva
Washington Bureau
Published December 13, 2005
WASHINGTON -- President Bush will have to do more than simply promote his policy to Americans on the prospects for victory in Iraq, experts say, if he is to reclaim public confidence and regain his own standing to pursue what remains of an ambitious second-term agenda.
Even Republican strategists suggest Bush will have to start charting a course for withdrawal of U.S. forces in the coming year, if he is to overcome public opposition to the war and salvage his agenda for his remaining three years as president.
http://www.chicagotribune.com/news/nationworld/chi-0512130123dec13,1,2908797.story?coll=chi-newsnationworld-hed
Bush: Science comes before intelligent design
By Daniel A. Ricker
Questioned about the national debate over ''intelligent design,'' Gov. Jeb Bush last week said he's more interested in seeing some evolution of the science standards that Florida public school students must meet.
He wants those standards to become more rigorous -- and raising the standards should take priority over discussing whether intelligent design has a place in the public schools' curriculum, he said.
Nationally, the discussion over whether to teach intelligent design -- a concept that says life is too complex to have occurred without the involvement of a higher force -- in public school classes heated up after U.S. District Judge John E. Jones ruled that it smacked of creationism and was a violation of church and state separation. (President Bush appointed Jones to the federal bench in 2004.)
Jones, in his decision, wrote that the concept of intelligent design ''cannot uncouple itself from its creationist, and thus religious, antecedents,'' according to a Knight Ridder News Service report published Wednesday in The Miami Herald.
In Florida, education officials and science teachers will be reviewing the state's science curriculum in 2007 or 2008, after the governor has left office, and ''it is possible that people would make an effort to include [intelligent design] in the debate,'' Gov. Bush told The Watchdog Report on Wednesday. ''My personal belief is we ought to look at whether our standards are high first,'' he said.
http://www.miami.com/mld/miamiherald/13487395.htm
Unraveling Abramoff
Key Players in the Investigation of Lobbyist Jack Abramoff
Compiled by washingtonpost.com
December 23, 2005
The Players Timeline Follow the Money The "A" Team Post Coverage
Washington lobbyist Jack Abramoff has been indicted for illegal actions he allegedly took to purchase a fleet of Florida gambling boats from a businessman who was later killed in a gangland-style hit. Other efforts he took to funnel money to support causes of interest to his clients are also being probed. Post reporters Susan Schmidt and James V. Grimaldi have written several stories about the Abramoff Affair and key players are listed below.
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/custom/2005/12/23/CU2005122300939.html
The Fast Rise and Steep Fall of Jack Abramoff
How a Well-Connected Lobbyist Became the Center of a Far-Reaching Corruption Scandal
By Susan Schmidt and James V. Grimaldi
Washington Post Staff Writers
Thursday, December 29, 2005; Page A01
Jack Abramoff liked to slip into dialogue from "The Godfather" as he led his lobbying colleagues in planning their next conquest on Capitol Hill. In a favorite bit, he would mimic an ice-cold Michael Corleone facing down a crooked politician's demand for a cut of Mafia gambling profits: "Senator, you can have my answer now if you like. My offer is this: nothing."
The playacting provided a clue to how Abramoff saw himself -- the power behind the scenes who directed millions of dollars in Indian gambling proceeds to favored lawmakers, the puppet master who pulled the strings of officials in key places, the businessman who was building an international casino empire.
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2005/12/28/AR2005122801588.html
These men think nothing of wasting an entire life of quality living when power seems like it can protect them from lies. They always believe they are above the law and better than any of the people they are supposed to SERVE.
Abramoff's Career
1958
Jack Abramoff is born in Atlantic City. Family moves to California and he grows up in Beverly Hills.
1981
Abramoff graduates from Brandeis University, comes to Washington and runs for national chairman of the College Republicans, where he forges lifelong bonds with Ralph Reed, Grover Norquist and Adam Kidan.
1985
Abramoff and Norquist take charge of Citizens for America, conservative advocacy group created by drugstore magnate Lewis E. Lehrman. They are asked to leave after a dispute about finances.
1986
Abramoff graduates from Georgetown law school, joins brother in film company and goes to Africa to work on "Red Scorpion," a Cold War thriller released in 1989.
1994
GOP wins control of House for the first time in 40 years. Abramoff joins lobbying firm of Preston Gates & Ellis. He begins lobbying for the Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands and quickly strikes up a political relationship with Rep. Tom DeLay (R-Texas).
1995
Abramoff signs up the Mississippi Band of Choctaw Indians as a client, the first casino-rich tribe he solicits.
1997
Abramoff arranges for lawmakers and aides to take trips to the Marianas. On one such trip, DeLay calls the lobbyist "one of my closest and dearest friends."
1999
Abramoff uses tribal money to hire Ralph Reed to run anti-gambling campaigns in the South to discourage competition for the tribes' casinos.
2000
Abramoff arranges more lawmaker trips. They include week-long visit to England and Scotland in May with DeLay, his wife and two aides, and a June trip for DeLay aides to golf's U.S. Open aboard corporate jet belonging to SunCruz Casinos. Abramoff and partners buy SunCruz in the fall.
2001
Abramoff switches lobbying firms to Greenberg Traurig in January. He leases corporate jet to ferry congressional staffers to the Super Bowl in Tampa. He and Michael Scanlon form partnership they call "Gimme Five" to share extraordinary fees charged to tribal clients. In February, the seller of SunCruz, Konstantinos "Gus" Boulis, is shot to death gangland style in Fort Lauderdale, Fla.
2002
Abramoff and Scanlon are collecting tens of millions of dollars in fees from Indian tribes. In one case, they quietly work with Ralph Reed to help Texas shut down a tribe's casino, then persuade the tribe to pay $4.2 million to try to get Congress to reopen it.
2003
Internal audit by the Louisiana Coushatta tribe finds that tribe spent $18 million in one year on lobbyists and lawyers, mostly to Abramoff and Scanlon.
2004
The Washington Post reports in February that Abramoff and Scanlon have received at least $45 million from tribes with casinos. Abramoff quits Greenberg a week later. Shortly thereafter, Sen. John McCain (R-Ariz.) begins investigating Abramoff's Indian activities.
2005
August: Abramoff and Kidan are indicted on fraud and conspiracy charges in Florida in connection with their purchase of SunCruz.
September: Three men, including two associates of Kidan's, are indicted on murder and conspiracy charges in the killing of former SunCruz owner Boulis.
October: Former Abramoff associate David H. Safavian, head of the Office of Federal Procurement Policy and the White House Office of Management and Budget, is indicted on charges of lying to federal investigators in the corruption investigation.
November: Scanlon pleads guilty to conspiring to bribe a congressman and other public officials and agrees to pay back more than $19 million he fraudulently charged Indian tribal clients.
December: Kidan pleads guilty in the SunCruz case. Both Scanlon and Kidan are expected to testify against Abramoff and will cooperate in the investigation of at least half a dozen lawmakers including Rep. Robert W. Ney (R-Ohio).
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/custom/2005/12/28/CU2005122801176.html
The Abramoff Galaxy
Jack Abramoff is negotiating a possible deal with federal prosecutors to plead guilty and cooperate with their investigation into corruption in Washington. For more than five years, Abramoff was one of the capital's most prominent Republican lobbyists. E-mails, documents and interviews with his former associates show that he set up many interlocking political and business entities to raise money, pay for lawmakers' trips and other favors, fund his pet projects, and gain influence for himself and his clients. The Justice Department has been looking into his relationships with half a dozen members of Congress, as well as with Hill aides, government officials and business associates.
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/custom/2005/12/28/CU2005122801183.html
Homeland Security Is Faulted in Audit
Inspector General Points to FEMA, Cites Mismanagement Among Problems
By Dan Eggen
Washington Post Staff Writer
Thursday, December 29, 2005; Page A01
Nearly three years after it was formed, the immense Department of Homeland Security remains hampered by severe management and financial problems that contributed to the flawed response to Hurricane Katrina, according to an independent audit released yesterday.
The report by Homeland Security Inspector General Richard L. Skinner aimed some of its most pointed criticism at one of DHS's major entities, the Federal Emergency Management Agency. Katrina and a subsequent storm, Rita, increased the load on FEMA's "already overburdened resources and infrastructure," the report said.
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2005/12/28/AR2005122801515.html
Plea by Ex-Enron Accountant May Put Heat on Lay, Skilling
By Carrie Johnson
Washington Post Staff Writer
Thursday, December 29, 2005; Page D01
Enron Corp.'s former top accountant pleaded guilty yesterday to a single securities fraud charge in exchange for a prison sentence of five to seven years, setting the stage for potentially damaging testimony against onetime chief executives Kenneth L. Lay and Jeffrey K. Skilling.
The guilty plea by Richard A. Causey, 45, gives the Justice Department's Enron Task Force another insider to help guide jurors through a maze of complex deals that helped pitch the Houston energy company into bankruptcy.
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2005/12/28/AR2005122800965.html
U.S. Says It Didn't Target Muslims
Mosques Among Sites Monitored For Radiation
By Mary Beth Sheridan
Washington Post Staff Writer
Thursday, December 29, 2005; Page B01
Faced with angry complaints, U.S. officials defended an anti-terrorism program yesterday that secretly tested radiation levels around the country -- including at more than 100 Muslim sites in the Washington area -- and insisted that no one was targeted because of his or her faith.
One official knowledgeable about the program explained that Muslim sites were included because al Qaeda terrorists were considered likely to gravitate to Muslim neighborhoods or mosques while in the United States.
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2005/12/28/AR2005122801520.html
U.S. Defends Conduct in Padilla Case
Supreme Court Asked To Overrule 4th Circuit
By Jerry Markon
Washington Post Staff Writer
Thursday, December 29, 2005; Page A04
A federal appeals court infringed on President Bush's authority to run the war on terror when it refused to let prosecutors take custody of "enemy combatant" Jose Padilla, the Justice Department said yesterday, as it urged the U.S. Supreme Court to intervene.
The sharply worded Justice Department filing was the latest salvo in an increasingly contentious battle over Padilla, a U.S. citizen arrested in Chicago in 2002 and initially accused of plotting to detonate a radiological "dirty bomb." Padilla was held for more than three years by the military before he was indicted last month in Miami on separate criminal terrorism charges.
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2005/12/28/AR2005122801463.html
Alito Urged Government Not to Appeal Black Panther Case
By Charles Lane
Washington Post Staff Writer
Thursday, December 29, 2005; Page A04
As a young Justice Department lawyer, Supreme Court nominee Samuel A. Alito Jr. urged the Reagan administration not to contest a lower court's ruling in favor of a Black Panther Party lawsuit against top government officials, according to documents released by the National Archives yesterday.
Alito, then an assistant to Solicitor General Rex E. Lee, wrote in November 1981 that the Supreme Court would probably not grant an appeal of a procedural ruling by the U.S. Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit. The ruling said that the Panthers should be allowed to continue their suit despite having refused to give the government certain documents and other information.
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2005/12/28/AR2005122800419.html
Judge puts hold on home razing
Activists' concerns to get a hearing
Thursday, December 29, 2005
By Frank Donze
Staff writer
The planned demolition of hundreds of hurricane-ravaged homes in New Orleans has been put on hold until Jan. 6, when a judge has scheduled a hearing on a legal challenge to the controversial proposal announced last week by Mayor Ray Nagin's administration.
City Hall officials agreed to the delay Wednesday following a brief appearance before Civil Court Judge Herbert Cade, who had been asked by a coalition of activists to ban the bulldozing of up to 2,500 homes over the next several weeks.
New Orleans lawyer Bill Quigley, a longtime advocate for the poor and working-class, is seeking an injunction to stop the demolitions on behalf of the People's Hurricane Relief Fund, an umbrella group consisting of about 60 local organizations dedicated to Hurricane Katrina recovery.
http://www.nola.com/news/t-p/metro/index.ssf?/base/news-12/1135840787161300.xml
CHIPPING AWAY AT CRIME
Until New Orleans FBI agents can return to their lakeside offices, their hub of operations has shifted to Covington Country Club
Thursday, December 29, 2005
By Meghan Gordon
St. Tammany bureau
Past the golf pro shop and tennis courts, tucked behind a fairway at the Covington Country Club sits the Federal Bureau of Investigation's New Orleans field office in exile.
With their lakefront headquarters gutted, agents and staff members work in the club's converted ballroom, where chandeliers perch above drab desks clustered in groups of four. The large room, once a common site for wedding receptions, now is southeast Louisiana's nerve center for investigating terrorism, public corruption and hurricane-related fraud.
http://www.nola.com/news/t-p/metro/index.ssf?/base/news-12/1135841950161300.xml
Kenner mayor's father nearly monopolizes tax sale
Capitano moves to void dad's property purchases
Thursday, December 29, 2005
By Mary Swerczek
Kenner bureau
The father of Kenner Mayor Phil Capitano bought every available property save one this week at a tax sale run by the mayor's administration.
The transactions, possibly a violation of the state Ethics Code, astounded other potential buyers at the sale and spurred the mayor Wednesday to move to void the deal.
http://www.nola.com/news/t-p/frontpage/index.ssf?/base/news-4/1135842216161300.xml
Lawmakers seek Red Cross records for probe
12/29/2005, 3:51 p.m. CT
By KEVIN FREKING
The Associated Press
WASHINGTON (AP) — Lawmakers intensified their scrutiny of the Red Cross on Thursday as the chairman of the Senate Finance Committee asked the organization for correspondence, minutes of board meetings and other records.
http://www.nola.com/newsflash/washington/index.ssf?/base/politics-8/1135893557200840.xml&storylist=washington
GOP lawmaker petitions for January special session
12/29/2005, 11:10 a.m. CT
The Associated Press
BATON ROUGE, La. (AP) — A Republican state lawmaker has launched a petition to call the Legislature into a special session next month to consider proposals including a restructuring of southeast Louisiana's levee system.
http://www.nola.com/newsflash/louisiana/index.ssf?/base/news-22/11358767583890.xml&storylist=louisiana
2005: Louisiana’s Year of Living Dangerously
State
Also By this Reporter:
I can’t wait for 2006 to get here, how about you? It has to be an improvement over the worst year Louisiana has ever experienced. During 2005, Louisiana was devastated by two monster hurricanes that killed 1,100 people, displaced 400,000 New Orleans citizens, destroyed 81,000 businesses and wrecked countless lives. It was a storm season that exposed our weaknesses, such as the intense poverty in New Orleans, the lack of political leadership and the state’s utter defenselessness in the face of strong hurricanes.
http://www.bayoubuzz.com/articles.aspx?aid=5846
The Underreported Ten
1. Bush Family war profiteering on the WAR IN IRAQ. The extent of Iraq contracts going to corporations which involve members of President George W. Bush's family has not been investigated by the corporate media. Among the Bush family members profiting from the war are his brothers Neil and Marvin as well as Bucky and William. This involves contracts worth hundreds of millions of dollars. Often Bush-related firms receive contracts where the corporations have no expertise and certainly the BUSH family members have no expertise or experience in these areas.
2. Investigate war crimes in the assault on Fallujah. The city of Fallujah had once been quiet about the occupation, but U.S. soldiers KILLING OF CIVILIANS protesting the military taking of a school led to an uprising. The result: two devastating assaults, accusations of indiscriminate bombings, killing of civilians and the use of chemical weapons. Today, as one unidentified U.S. solder says “Anyone in Fallujah can be an insurgent.” Understanding Fallujah will explain why the U.S. cannot win the IRAQ WAR.
3. The environmental and human impact of depleted uranium needs investigation. The U.S. is using armaments with depleted uranium claiming that there is no risk involved. Yet, there is evidence of danger to U.S. soldiers as well as Iraqis and the environment.
4. Is the United States losing the war in Iraq? In his recent series of speeches, Bush consistently claimed that the U.S. will leave Iraq when "we win the war". Further, he and the Vice President have been claiming that we are winning the war. They know that many Americans are willing to take U.S. casualties and spend billions of dollars if there is a chance of winning. Yet, there is strong evidence that the war cannot be won and that the U.S. is doing more harm than good by remaining in Iraq.
5. The under counting of U.S. casualties in IRAQ demeans the sacrifice of U.S. soldiers and is an unpatriotic lie of the Bush Administration. While 15,000 soldiers are reportedly casualties of the war, in fact more than 100,000 have sought medical treatment. The administration undercounts casualties as part of its efforts to hide the true costs of the war. The media should pierce this veil of dishonesty and tell the public the truth about the casualty count.
6. The need for a corporate withdrawal from Iraq as a first step toward giving Iraq back to Iraqis. The U.S. has been unable to rebuild the infrastructure of Iraq – electricity, oil production, sewage treatment, government buildings and other basic infrastructure needs – are not being rebuilt at a satisfactory pace. Evidence of widespread corruption by U.S. corporations is institutionalizing corruption in Iraq. Halliburton is a prime example of a government boondoggle – ineffective in its rebuilding efforts, unauditable in its billing practices and unfair in its treatment of workers – it is a prime example of the need for a U.S. corporate withdrawal from Iraq.
7. Impeachment of the President and Vice President needs to become a part of mainstream political dialog. The evidence of false statements by the administration, and especially Bush and Cheney, has grown in 2005. The public believes that if the President lied he should be impeached. More and more people are openly talking about impeachment, now it is time for the media to examine whether the President and Vice President are above the law. Rep. John Conyers issued a detailed report on these issues and submitted various impeachment-related bills at the end of the session.
8. Examine the real costs of the Iraq War – not just the hundreds of billions appropriated for the war, but what these appropriations are costing Americans in their daily lives. With the U.S. budget in high-level deficit spending continued occupation of Iraq – at a cost of $6 billion per month – means the U.S. cannot fund other projects. Sen. Edward Kennedy has put out a list of what the U.S. could do with the money – in health care, education, housing and other necessities of the people. It is time for the American public to know what this war is really costing.
9. Is the U.S. becoming the enemy we abhor? Reports of torture, civilian casualties, use of weapons of mass destruction make the United States more and more similar to Saddam Hussein's Iraq every day.
10. The politics of the Iraq War in 2006. Are Democrats at risk of turning off their anti-war base by being unable to enunciate a position on Iraq? Are Republicans risking loss of control of either or both Houses of the Congress? How many voters feel like Cindy Sheehan who says she will not support any pro-war candidate – Republican or Democrat? Is the anti-war movement organizing to support anti-war candidates and oppose pro-war candidates?
Courthouse rehab may cost $187 million
BOSTON, Dec. 28 (UPI) -- The renovation of a Boston courthouse is coming under fire as contractors and the state battle in court and judges claim it is too lavish.
The John Adams Courthouse remodeling originally was projected to cost $50 million, the Boston Herald reports. The cost has risen to $147 million and could climb another $40 million.
The courthouse is home to the state Supreme Judicial Court and Appeals Court.
The Suffolk Construction Co. Inc. claims the state failed to disclose problems in design before it went to bid, and wants more money for the job. The Division of Capital Asset Management says the company balked on agreements and improper change orders.
Junior judges say the state's highest courts already have great digs while lower courts across Massachusetts have more serious problems, like asbestos, and need renovation first.
http://www.sciencedaily.com/upi/?feed=TopNews&article=UPI-1-20051228-18444400-bc-us-courthouse.xml
Credentials won't save him from lies and putting the nation at risk.
I. Lewis "Scooter" Libby
Chief of Staff to the Vice President
Project for the New American Century: Founding member
Northrop Grumman: Former adviser
Institutional Affiliations
Project for the New American Century: Signed PNAC's founding statement of principles and its August 1999 letter on the defense of Taiwan (8)
American Bar Association: Member, American Bar Association Standing Committee on Law and National Security (1)
Rand Corporation: Member, Advisory Board of the Center for Russian and Eurasian Studies (1) Government Service
Chief of Staff to Vice President Dick Cheney
Department of Defense: Deputy Under Secretary for Policy during George Sr. administration (1)
Department of Defense: Principal Deputy Under Secretary for Strategy and Resources during George Sr. administration (1)
U.S. House of Representatives: Legal Advisor, Select Committee on U.S. National Security and Military/Commercial Concerns with the People's Republic of China (Cox Committee) (2)
Department of State: Director, Special Projects, Bureau of East Asian and Pacific Affairs (1982-1985) (2)
Department of State: Policy Planning Staff, Office of the Secretary (1981) (2) Corporate Connections/Business Interests
Dechert, Price & Rhoads: Former managing partner, Washington Office (2)
Northrop Grumman: Former adviser (7) Education
Columbia University: J.D. (1975) (1)
Yale University: BA, magna cum laude (1972) (1)
http://rightweb.irc-online.org/profile/1271
No Cause for Cheer
We were practically giddy—indictments related to wrongdoings at the highest level of the administration, falling approval ratings, overdue admissions that things had not gone well in Iraq.
Vice President Dick Cheney’s attempts to give Rep. John Murtha the swift-boat treatment after the decorated marine called for an end to the war in Iraq backfired. The president calling the Constitution “just a goddamn piece of paper” and pronouncing it OK to spy on Americans wasn’t sitting well with those in his own party. The Senate refusing to reauthorize the Patriot Act signaled dissent. The sheen was off. The impenetrable bubble was cracking.
Those who had foreseen trouble coming from the beginning may feel vindicated, but there’s hardly cause for rejoicing. We as a nation are weakened, our good name besmirched at home and abroad. Unsavory acts have been committed in our name, including a war based on faulty intelligence and documented cases of torture that defy the Geneva Convention. Where is the delight in that?
http://www.slweekly.com/editorial/2005/voices_2005-12-29.cfm
Storm over Katrina batters Bush
By Edward Alden
Published: December 29 2005 02:00 Last updated: December 29 2005 02:00
On the morning of August 30, President George W. Bush stood at a US naval base in San Diego delivering a speech he had given so many times before: the war in Iraq, he said, was part of a global struggle with fanatics, and the US had no choice but to win that war or find itself at their mercy.
That same morning, half a continent away in New Orleans, Americans were just waking up to the consequences of Hurricane Katrina, which would prove the costliest natural disaster in American history. The winds and flooding that followed claimed nearly 1,400 lives, and caused an estimated $75bn (€63bn, £43bn) in damage.
It was also a turning point for Mr Bush's presidency, one from which he spent the rest of the year struggling to recover. It would take five more days for the US government to bring help to the thousands of people stranded by the floods in New Orleans, and in those days the image of Mr Bush as a decisive leader in a crisis was badly damaged.
Mr Bush won re-election last year because voters trusted him to lead the war on terrorism. But the mishandling of Katrina shattered that public confidence, with his approval rating falling to the lowest level of his presidency.
For the second half of the year, there was hardly a single piece of good news for the president. Even the robust US economy was overshadowed by the jump in petrol prices that followed the summer hurricanes.
His ambitious plan for reforming US Social Security was quietly dropped in the face of united opposition from Democrats and tepid endorsement by congressional Republicans. One of his top White House aides - Lewis Libby, chief of staff to Vice-President Dick Cheney - was indicted on perjury charges. The investigation into who leaked the name of a covert CIA agent has also focused on his top political aide, Karl Rove, and with Mr Rove distracted the White House seemed politically adrift.
That was most apparent in Mr Bush's selection of Harriet Miers, his chief counsel and long-time Texas confidante, for the US Supreme Court. Ms Miers withdrew after a revolt by Republican conservatives, who charged that she lacked both the ideological rigour and intellectual mettle for the nation's highest court.
Most significant was the loss of public confidence over his handling of the Iraq war, and growing demands that the president set a timetable for withdrawing US troops next year. The Iraqi election this month and a series of strong speeches by Mr Bush have helped restore some optimism about Iraqi prospects, and has bought him more time. But both supporters and critics of the war agree that 2006 will be a decisive year
http://news.ft.com/cms/s/666bab92-780f-11da-9670-0000779e2340.html
Appeals court considers DeLay case
Dec 29, 2005, 1:25 GMT
AUSTIN, TX, United States (UPI) -- A Texas court said it would consider whether to hear an appeal from U.S. Rep. Tom DeLay, R-Texas, regarding money-laundering charges.
DeLay has sought to have the charges dismissed or have an expedited trial as he works to regain his position as majority leader in the U.S. House of Representatives. Congress reconvenes late next month and DeLay is trying to have the case completed by then.
DeLay, who says the allegations are politically driven, was forced to resign the leadership position when he was indicted Sept. 28. Last Friday, DeLay`s attorneys asked the court to either dismiss all charges or order an immediate trial.
http://news.monstersandcritics.com/northamerica/article_1072060.php/Appeals_court_considers_DeLay_case
AIR FORCE CARGO PLANE DELIVERS CHENEY LIMOS TO IDAHO FALLS
Dec 28, 2005
IDAHO FALLS, Idaho (AP) -- The big Air Force C-17 Globemaster Tactical Transport plane that's sitting on the tarmac of the Idaho Falls airport this week has drawn more than a few curious stares and questions.
It landed Monday night and airport employees say Secret Service agents unloaded several limousines for Vice President Dick Cheney. The vehicles were driven to Jackson, Wyoming, where the plane was originally scheduled to land and where Cheney has a home. The plane was diverted to Idaho Falls because of foggy conditions at the Jackson airport Monday evening.
Airport employees said the transport aircraft is expected to leave Idaho Falls later this week.
http://www.kpvi.com/index.cfm?page=nbcheadlines.cfm&ID=30281
Alan Colmes Speaks Truth To FOX/GOP Spin About Spying On Americans
Alan Colmes was in rare form last night during a Hannity & Colmes discussion of Bush’s unauthorized spying on Americans. FOX News tried to frame the discussion as a national security debate but Colmes and civil rights attorney Michael Gross refused to budge from the position that the issue is about following the law.
The Hannity & Colmes website makes it pretty clear that FOX News is trying to spin the controversy away from Bush's illegal actions. "Will there be a Congressional investigation into who leaked the NSA secret spying story? Should there be? Isn't this story just as important as the Valerie Plame/CIA leak? "
Substitute co-host Mike Gallagher’s introduction to the discussion also conveniently skirted the criminal element. “President Bush continues to defend his decision to approve a program for domestic surveillance without warrants, saying it’s vital for American security. He’s also blasting the recent leaks of this and related programs as ‘shameless.’ Some conservatives are calling for investigations into the leaks.”
Attorney Gross started off by contrasting the NSA leaker, whom he described as a whistle blower, with the Valerie Plame leak, which he said was for retribution. “Don’t throw a smokescreen over what really went wrong here.”
http://www.newshounds.us/2005/12/28/alan_colmes_speaks_truth_to_foxgop_spin_about_spying_on_americans.php
Qinetiq IPO clears last hurdle
By Peter Spiegel and James Boxell in London
Published: December 27 2005 22:17 Last updated: December 27 2005 22:17
The controversial £1.1bn ($1.9bn) initial public offering of Qinetiq, the UK defence ministry’s advanced research laboratory, could go ahead as soon as next month after Treasury officials granted approval for the flotation.
Formal ministerial approval is still pending but people involved in the negotiations said the Treasury officials’ sign-off had removed the last major hurdle preventing the deal.
Now that the Treasury has signed off, a flotation is expected by February at the latest.
The offering is expected to produce a huge gain for both the MoD, which owns 56 per cent of Qinetiq, and the Carlyle Group, the US private equity group, which gained a 31 per cent stake for an initial equity investment of £42.4m when the defence group was privatised in 2002.
http://news.ft.com/cms/s/6e4a6c60-7704-11da-a7d1-0000779e2340.html
Comedy of terror
Tony Blair, Dick Cheney and Donald Rumsfeld - you're my prize guys
Terry Jones
Tuesday December 27, 2005
The Guardian
Well the end of the year is as good a time as any to distribute prizes. And first is the Gary Glitter Cup for Self-Restraint, to Tony Blair. It can't have been an easy couple of years for him, and yet he has somehow managed to keep that smile on his lips and that cheerful sparkle in his eye with a degree of self-restraint that impressed the judges.
Over the past two years, Tony has seen all his Iraq policies turn into unmitigated disasters. Instead of his stated aim of bringing peace and happiness to the people of Iraq, he has brought them chaos, bloodshed, violence and misery. Instead of making Britain safer, his policies have made this country a target for terrorism for the foreseeable future.
http://politics.guardian.co.uk/comment/story/0,9115,1673936,00.html
Police Destroy Seized Explosives
12.26.2005
Rivers State Police Command at the weekend announced the destruction of explosives it recovered from premises of Halliburton Energy Services in Port Harcourt.
There had been speculations that the three-hectare premises, used by the company as a warehouse, harbour such items since last year.
A statement by the command’s Public Relations Officer, Mrs Ireju Barasua, confirmed that the explosives had been recovered.
Barasua said the explosives, which were recovered during a joint inspection exercise, were destroyed by the anti-bomb squad at its joint range with the army at Eneka, near Port Harcourt between Decemmber 21 and December 23.
“The anti-bomb squad of Rivers Command of the Nigerian Police Force, took this measure to ensure that the circulation of explosives is closely monitored and kept out of the reach of unauthorised persons,” he said.
http://www.thisdayonline.com/nview.php?id=36613
Los Alamos blogger to shut down site
December 26, 2005 4:01 PM PST
A blogger whose Internet site became a forum for Los Alamos National Laboratory employees to vent about management problems said he's shutting the site down a half year from now.
Doug Roberts, who retired from LANL in 2005 after working at the New Mexico laboratory for 20 years, said Monday he'll shut down his LANL: The Real Story site on July 1. Roberts launched the site Dec. 28, 2004, as a place to publish letters critical of lab management that the lab's internal newsletter refused.
The blog drew national media attention as an aggregation of often anonymous complaints about lab director George "Pete" Nanos, who resigned in May. Since then, attention has shifted to other management concerns.
http://news.com.com/2061-11204_3-6009262.html
LANL: The Real Story
http://lanl-the-real-story.blogspot.com/
Neil Bush Meets the Messiah
By John Gorenfeld, AlterNet. Posted December 5, 2005.
Why is the President's younger brother, Neil, touring with the leader of the Moonies?
Standing center left, Neil Bush. Standing second from the right, the Korean Rev. Sun Myung Moon.
"Those who stray from the heavenly way," the owner of the flagship Republican newspaper the Washington Times admonished an audience in Taipei on Friday, "will be punished."
This "heavenly way," the Rev. Sun Myung Moon explained, demands a 51-mile underwater highway spanning Alaska and Russia. Sitting in the front row: Neil Bush, the brother of the president of the United States.
http://alternet.org/story/29054/
Halliburton's latest travesty
By Jim Hightower
MinutemanMedia.org
This giant government contractor with tentacles running straight into the White House has previously been caught overcharging U.S. taxpayers and shortchanging U.S. troops for its work in Iraq. But now we learn that Halliburton has been profiting in Iraq by mistreating foreign workers.
By "foreign," I don't mean Iraqis, even though thousands of folks there are desperate for jobs. Instead, I mean impoverished Asian laborers brought by the thousands into Iraq from southern India, Thailand, and the Philippines to work for Halliburton on U.S. bases as cooks, electricians, launderers, custodians, etc. They are mostly 20-somethings, powerless... and exploited.
http://cjonline.com/stories/122405/opi_mm6.shtml
Novak Says Goodbye To CNN
Robert Novak had his last day at CNN today, ending his 25 year career with the network with a long interview with Wolf Blitzer.
CNN put together a nice video montage of Novak's career and, as it played, it was hard not to notice how integral Novak was to the network's history and success. Accordingly, it was hard not to feel some regret and sadness at the bittersweet manner in which Novak's accomplished career at CNN has come to a close.
The interview produced little in the way of news. Novak said he couldn't talk about why he couldn't talk about his involvement in Plame-gate. He regetted--but wouldn't deny--his recent comment at the John Locke Foundation that "I'm confident the president knows who the source is." He regrets--somewhat--his column that outted Valerie Plame not because he did anything wrong but "because it's caused me so much trouble."
He concluded the interview with a final thought: "Can I say one other thing? I want to thank CNN for making this network available to me for 25 years. Never censored me once, ever. And I said some outrageous things. And it was a wonderful opportunity for me. I think I worked hard for CNN, but it was a wonderful opportunity, and I want to thank them."
http://www.mediabistro.com/fishbowlDC/networks/novak_says_goodbye_to_cnn_29935.asp
The Case against Karl Rove
by Jason Leopold
http://www.opednews.com
Special Prosecutor Patrick Fitzgerald met with the second grand jury investigating the leak of covert CIA agent Valerie Plame Wilson for several hours Friday. Unless Rove's attorney intervenes at the 11th hour yet again, Fitzgerald is expected to ask the grand jury to indict Rove - at the very least - for making false statements to the FBI and Justice Department investigators in October 2003, lawyers close to the case say.
People close to Fitzgerald say the special prosecutor has long believed that Rove's story concerning his role in the Plame case, as well as what he knew and when he knew it, is filled with holes. One thing Fitzgerald has been struggling with for months now, these people say, is whether to believe Rove hid or destroyed evidence that would have incriminated him and proven that he was a source for at least two reporters who unmasked Plame Wilson's identity and covert status, lawyers close to the case said.
http://www.opednews.com/articles/opedne_jason_le_051217_the_case_against_kar.htm
The Onion: Karl Rove Behind Recent Leak Revealing Santa Claus As "Your Mommy And Daddy"...
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2005/12/21/the-onion-karl-ro_n_12703.html
The Liberal on Karl Rove's Case
Politics Aside, Robert Luskin May Be Just What the Bush Aide Needs
By Richard Leiby
Washington Post Staff Writer
Wednesday, December 7, 2005; Page C1
Karl Rove's greatest defender in Washington these days is a Democratic lawyer and onetime newspaper reporter named Robert Luskin. He is Rove's attorney in the high-stakes CIA leak case, and is widely credited with sparing his client from indictment so far.
But perhaps more intriguing is Luskin's other role. He plays the Anti-Rove.
Robert Luskin, left, with his high-profile client: "Karl didn't do anything wrong." (By Ron Edmonds -- Associated Press)
Transcript
On Woodward
Washington Post Executive Editor Leonard Downie Jr. discussed Bob Woodward's revelation that he may have been the first reporter told of Valerie Plame's identity as a CIA operative.
Just look at the guy: Luskin, 55, wears a gold hoop earring and Euro-hip eyeglasses. He's buff and bald. (But bald in a good way.) He rides a black Ducati Monster motorcycle, which its maker touts as the bike of choice of "top designers" and "Hollywood stars." In his office he spins the CDs of antiwar balladeer Steve Earle and ex-punk Paul Westerberg.
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2005/12/06/AR2005120601689.html
The Pall of "Normalcy" Has Once Again Fallen Over the Radical, Rogue Regime
A BUZZFLASH NEWS ANALYSIS
The pall of "normalcy" has once again fallen over the rogue, radical, lawbreaking, bumbling, national security threatening, lying, character assassinating administration.
By that we return to one of our favorite BuzzFlash themes, how Karl Rove has turned incompetence, lying and lawbreaking into what Hannah Arendt, a philospher, called the banality of evil.
So now we are treated to an Associated Press story that announces Bush's grand plans for 2006. We see photos of "Baby Doc" and Laura carrying their photo-op dogs for that warm fuzzy feeling. There are articles in every paper about what books Bush is allegedly -- and we emphasize allegedly -- reading while the world burns. (Of course, these are actually books that Bush carries in his hand on photo-ops to give the impression that he is reading them because they create a certain image about him; in this case a book about rough rider Teddy Roosevelt, and one about the heroism of U.S. soldiers. Just more props. We dare a White House "reporter" to ask Bush a substantive question about either book. They will just get a blank stare. The last book he read in full was "My Pet Goat" on 9/11.)
And the Washington Post runs a long story about the Bush Administration plan for political "recovery." Shouldn't that just be about a rehabilitation program for people after they get out of jail?
It's as though we weren't being ruled by a bunch of Constitution shredding, incompetent, fanatical thugs. These guys should be in the hoosegow, not guffawing about how Scott McClellan is so good at never answering a question, as Christmas goose gravy drips from their chins.
This sort of "pall of normalcy" settles over the media after every Bush debacle and horrid revelation that any other president would be impeached for. In part, it's because the Democratic leadership (although acting a bit tougher on occasion than in the past) doesn't push back hard enough -- and doesn't sustain the outrage and demand for accountabilty appropriate for the situation.
And then there's the press, which just rides the crest of each news cycle without providing any historical context to the latest propaganda from the White House. And today, historical context for an evening story would mean just remembering what the White House said in the morning, which is often just the opposite of what it is declaring by the evening. But the media obliviously trudges on like good stenographers, making crime breaking seem like a routine function of government.
There's little doubt now that you could have a pumpkin as president and the mainstream corporate press would still print the same "business as usual" stories as they do about Bush.
After all, having a cabbage head as president isn't that different from having a pumpkin.
Except that this cabbage head is something that you would serve up for a prison meal, not treat with deference and complacency.
http://www.buzzflash.com/analysis/05/12/ana05061.html
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