Washington, D.C. — Between takes, the usual clowning and good-natured sexual harassment on set of The Bush Administration is tinged with melancholy. Because the cast knows that today, the landmark sitcom wraps production on its 8th and final season.
The series finale, set to air in January 2009, marks the end of an era. [...]
From: The Lie Factory It's a crisp fall day in western Virginia, a hundred miles from Washington, D.C., and a breeze is rustling the red and gold leaves of the Shenandoah hills. On the weather-beaten wood porch of a ramshackle 90-year-old farmhouse, at the end of a winding dirt-and-gravel road, Lt. Colonel Karen Kwiatkowski is perched on a plastic chair, wearing shorts, a purple sweatshirt, and muddy sneakers. Two scrawny dogs and a lone cat are on the prowl, and the air is filled with swarms of ladybugs. So far, she says, no investigators have come knocking. Not from the Central Intelligence Agency, which conducted an internal inquiry into intelligence on Iraq, not from the congressional intelligence committees, not from the president's Foreign Intelligence Advisory Bo
Two Democratic senators demanded the resignation of the chief mental health official of the Veterans Affrairs Department saying he tried to cover up the rising number of veterans suicides. Senators Daniel Akaka and Patty Murray, said Dr. Ira Katz had withheld important information on the true suicide risk factor among veterans. “Dr. Katz’s irresponsible actions [...]
The Bush administration said this week it will more closely examine airline safety and assigned a panel of outside experts to gauge the effectiveness of Federal Aviation Administration oversight.Transportation Secretary Mary Peters told a news conference her agency "must do more" to respond to recent flight disruptions and cancellations affecting more than 300,000 travelers that were related to aircraft inspection lapses at Southwest airlines."While the events of the last few weeks have been challenging, they have raised good questions," Peters said.The FAA has been under fire in Congress and from the Transportation Department's Office of Inspector General for its oversight of Southwest Airlines and other carriers.Lawmakers and the inspector general, prompted by agency whistle-blowers, hav
Among the many critics of Carter's decision to meet with the Hamas leadership-in-exile is the Bush administration.
"I find it hard to understand what is going to be gained by having discussions with Hamas about peace when Hamas is, in fact, the impediment to peace," Rice said at a press event with German Foreign Minister Frank-Walter Steinmeier.
Rice was responding to a question about Carter's plans but did not mention him by name.
"Hamas is a terrorist organization," she said, repeating the Bush administration's explanation for why it will not meet with members of the group.
You have a PhD, Condi: you're capable of more sophisticated answers I'm sure. What could be gained from having discussions with Hamas? I don't know, that's why you have them. What have we gained from not talking to Ha
The Bush Administration today announced additional mortgage assistance for subprime borrowers who are at risk of foreclosure. The plan, which is designed to help address the adverse economic conditions affecting many communities across America, will help break the cycle of house price depreciation that is being caused by an increasing number of foreclosures and the [...]
Well, thats putting it bluntly... who knows what will happen. One thing I can agree with Bush on is that indeed - history will be the judge.
Media coverage of the disclosure of the "torture memo" authored by Bush Justice Department official John C. Yoo has been mostly a deafening silence. But on this morning's Chris Matthews' show, someone finally fired a shot. As we mentioned in this
Fourth Amendment: guards against searches, arrests, and seizures of property without a specific warrant or a “probable cause” to believe a crime has been committed. Some rights to privacy have been inferred from this amendment and others by the Supreme Court.
Source: American Civil Liberties Union
NEW YORK – A newly disclosed secret memo authored by the [...]
WASHINGTON, D.C. – The Bush Administration Monday delivered to Congress the 2008 Trade Policy Agenda and the 2007 Annual Report of the President of the United States on the Trade Agreements Program.The report highlights the Administration’s 2007 accomplishments of opening new markets, developing and implementing new policies, and enforcing U.S. trade agreements to ensure trade is free and fair."President Bush's accomplishments of opening markets at every opportunity have advanced the pro-growth benefits of free and fair trade" said U.S. Trade Representative Susan C. Schwab. "Through negotiations for reciprocal access bilaterally, regionally, and multilaterally - and tough enforcement to ensure that our trading partners must keep their promises of open markets - the past sev
The Bush administration announced its long awaited plans to address global warming. Signifying the importance of the new proposal, Vice President Cheney, the most powerful man in the United States government, announced the bold new plan.“We’re going to bomb the bejeezus out of Iran, Afghanistan, and a few other places which I do not intend to divulge in order to keep the terrorists guessing,” the Vice President announced. “The combined force of the unprecedented explosions will move the Earth a few degrees out of its present orbit, just farther enough from the sun to cool our temperature by two degrees Fahrenheit.” Insisting that the Bush administration had learned a lesson about post-war planning, Mr. Cheney announced that the United States would immediately begin drilling for o
Seeking to bolster its reputation as the planet's foremost proponent of peace, the Bush administration yesterday announced plans to solve a conflict that has been simmering for centuries. While novel and breathtaking in its approach, the solution may prove to be a hard sell to all parties involved.
"We propose to settle the Kurds on one of Alaska's Aleutian Islands," announced Sec. of State
The US housing market has been under a lot of stress lately especially with the growing inventory of foreclosed properties. These foreclosure homes are homes that have been repossessed because the owners failed to pay their mortgage dues. Because of this, lenders have no choice but to recover their losses via foreclosure. As of 2007, the number of homes that entered some foreclosure stage has reached millions – causing much distress on the national housing market.
We’ve seen the same pattern repeated many times with the Bush administration. Both the Clinton administration and the CIA provided Bush with warnings about al Qaeda but he ignored them. Many people warned that going into Iraq would be a disaster, predicting the situation we are now in. The Washington Post reports on another example of warnings that were ignored, this time regarding the problems with contractors:
The U.S. government disregarded numerous warnings over the past two years about the risks of using Blackwater Worldwide and other private security firms in Iraq, expanding their presence even after a series of shooting incidents showed that the firms were operating with little regulation or oversight, according to government officials, private security firms and documents.
The warnings were conveyed in letters and memorandums from defense and legal experts and in high-level discussions between U.S. and Iraqi officials. They reflected growing concern about the lack of cont
Huckabee has no experience in foreign policy, and certainly did not look very good when he was caught unaware of the report on Iran’s nuclear program, but he got one thing right. In an article in the January-February issue of Foreign Affairs he criticizes the White House’s “bunker mentality.”
“American foreign policy needs to change its tone and attitude, open up, and reach out,” Huckabee said. “The Bush administration’s arrogant bunker mentality has been counterproductive at home and abroad. My administration will recognize that the United States’ main fight today does not pit us against the world but pits the world against the terrorists.”
He got that part right, but otherwise does not show any signs that he recognizes where the Bush administration went wrong. He criticizes them for not sending in enough troops but misses the point that the whole idea of the war was fundamentally wrong and that this is not a problem which ca
Yes, I do believe this is better than nothing. How do you repair a car tire with duct tape though?
The Bush Administration announced today their solution for homeowners in trouble due to the Mortgage Meltdown. We are all aware of what the problem is and probably where it came from. Ok, let’s just highlight what the bush administration proposed.
5 year freeze in loan rates for those who QUALIFY??? To qualify homeowners must have or be: (more…)
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Pakistan is in a state of emergency. There are riots in the streets over the discourse of constitutional rights being suspended on November 3rd. Elections were temporarily suspended and Supreme Court judges were detained by the military. It was only a matter of time before someone declared President George W. Bush, his administration and The Iraq war as the direct cause. Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-NV) is the clear winner in what has become the traditional race amongst American liberals to do so.Reid won the race when he took the floor at the Senate on November 5th. His finish line speech is as follows.“Let me also say this: this situation is also a reminder of why we need a change of course in Iraq. By staying so bogged down in an Iraqi civil war, President Bush has made it harder to respond to this and other challenges throughout the world. The Iraq war leaves Secretary of State Rice, Admiral Fallon and other officials responsible for the Middle East and South Asia w
Taken from the RINF website.By Karen GulloThe Bush administration violated U.S. law by failing to produce a study on the impact of global warming and must issue a summary by March, a federal judge ruled.District Judge Saundra Armstrong in Oakland, California, said the U.S. government “unlawfully withheld action” required under the Global Change Research Act of 1990 to update a research plan and scientific assessment of climate change.The law mandates the research plan should be revised every three years and the assessment every four years. The last research plan was in 2003 and the last assessment was published in 2000. Greenpeace International and two other environmental groups who say the U.S. government suppresses science on climate change sued in November seeking a court order to produce the reports.“As the research plan is now more than a year overdue, the court orders that a summary of the revised proposed research plan be published in the Federal Register no later than Mar
Rumblings from Washington are President Bush wants to destroy any chance Iran has of developing nuclear weapons. Using a bunker busting nuclear missiles, it would be possible to completely obliterate Iran's underground nuclear complexes. President Bush is said to be in private calling the Iranian lead "the new Hitler."read more | digg story
Yep, that just about does it. This mystery modded tank was spotted at UrbanRetroLifeStyle, and apparently no one knows anything about it…
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The Washington Post makes this damning revelation about the Bush administration, "...the NSA approached Qwest more than six months before the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks...suggests that the Bush administration was seeking to enlist telecommunications firms in programs without court oversight before the terrorist attacks on New York..." As soon as he got into office, Bush started to wiretap without warrants! That's a minimum 5 year prison sentence, under the FISA act.read more | digg story
Judge Orders Bush Administration to Issue Global Warming ReportExcerpt:"The Bush administration violated U.S. law by failing to produce a study on the impact of global warming and must issue a summary by March, a federal judge ruled.District Judge Saundra Armstrong in Oakland, California, said the U.S. government ``unlawfully withheld action'' required under the Global Change Research Act of 1990 to update a research plan and scientific assessment of climate change."Read Story
See Original StoryFilmmaker Michael Moore revealed on Thursday’s “The Tonight Show” with Jay Leno that the Bush Administration had served him with a subpoena regarding his recent trip to Cuba made as part of his new film, Sicko.Moore told the audience that he was notified of the subpoena backstage.“I haven’t even told my own family yet,” Moore remarked. “I was just informed when I was back there with Jay that the Bush administration has now issued a subpoena for me. "I was there to help them and now I’m going to face this further harassment from the Bush people," Moore said, according to a transcript. “Aren’t they busy with something else?"Yes Mr. Moore, they are busy not answering the subpoena by our Congress, claiming Executive privilege. I see they will expect you to answer them or face who knows what from them.
I hope that the Republican party is paying very close attention to this article. This is most likely just the first of many losses they will suffer if they dont do a lot of damage control. And by damage control I mean getting away from the self destructive path that George Bush has been taking them down. If the Republican Party want to ever be relevant again they need to get back to their conservative roots of small government, fiscal restraint and most of all controlling our borders. On the one hand the Bush administration has been excellent about keeping taxes low which is always good for business and the individual. But unfortunately they also spend the tax dollars like a drunken liberal. Thats a very bad combination. Our children will be paying off the multi trillion dollar debt George Bush has racked up. Others might well consider the war in Iraq the biggest folly of the Bush administration. But I think his dreams of a North American Union far over shadow that in long term dam
It's Organized CrimeMasquerading As The BushAdministrationSubversive MotivesConspiracies Are Behind Everything They DoRemove These F*ckersFrom Power, Do We Have LawsDoes Someone EnforceThey Mock EverythingThat Our Country Is SupposedTo Be And Then SomeWhat The F*ck Does ItTake For Congress To Stand UpAnd Do The Right ThingStart The ImpeachmentHow Many F*cking Times DoI Have To Say ItLarge MajorityWants These Bastards In Jail NowWake Up PelosiTired Of Your HemmingAnd Hawing And Delays AndJust F Ing Do ItImpeach Them NOW NOWNOW NOW NOW NOW NOW NOW NOWNOW RIGHT F ING NOWDeFazio Asks, But He’s Denied Access to Classified Info: The congressman wanted to see government plans for after a terror attackWilliam 'The Bloody' Kristol is a f*cking idiotVIDEO: Senator Feingold To Introduce Bush Censure Resolution In Senate “Soon”Defense Motion To Ban George Bush’s Name At Trial Of Anti-War Protester DefeatedVIDEO: Iraq “success” story’s ugly sideBush Was Against Troop Pay Raises Bef
There's a bunch of issues here and I don't think some people realize what they are.
The first issue is whether to put religion or morals (which is what we're really talking about here since religion is merely a source of morals, unless the accuser, Dr Richard Carmona, is talking about the Bush administration helping gain support of a pastor which would be neither religion or morals, but politics. [See how that little word switch makes all the difference?]) above science. So, is it correct to place morality above science? Well, of course! Don't we place restrictions on whom scientists can conduct experiments? Do we want to be like Nazi or Imperial Japanese doctors and conduct the most inhumane (moral concept) experiments on people to gain some scientific insight?
The second issue is Truth. It's one thing to say that a certain procedure or course of experimentation is morally wrong and it's quite another to just lie about it. In other words, it's wrong to say "the research say
One of the things I have always condemned the Democrats for is allowing their ideology to over rule commonsense. But this is a perfect example of the Bush administration doing exactly that. And for a White House that prides itself on loyalty above all else there have been an amazing amount of defections over the last year or so. Are they rats from a sinking ship or men of conscience and honor? You'll have to decide. ~RJH Washington Post story link Ex-Surgeon General Says White House Hushed HimBy Christopher LeeWashington Post Staff WriterWednesday, July 11, 2007; A01Former surgeon general Richard H. Carmona yesterday accused the Bush administration of muzzling him on sensitive public health issues, becoming the most prominent voice among several current and former federal science officials who have complained of political interference.Carmona, a Bush nominee who served from 2002 to 2006, told the House Committee on Oversight and Government Reform that political appointees in the admi
Senate Judiciary Committee Chairman Patrick Leahy, who is leading the investigation into the White House spying program, has given the Bush administration until the 18th of July to turn over the documents that they White House just recently declared highly classified.
Along with the subpoenas, Leahy also wrote, “Over the past 18 months, this committee has made no fewer than nine formal requests to the Department of Justice and to the White House, seeking information and documents about the authorization of and legal justification for this program.” Later, Leahy said that “there is no legitimate argument for withholding the requested materials,” and that “the administration cannot thwart the Congress’s conduct of its constitutional duties sweeping assertions of secrecy and privilege.”
In response, White House spokeswoman Dana Perino said, “It’s unfortunate that congressional Democrats have decided to choose confrontation,” an
WASHINGTON--The Bush administration on Thursday blasted a congressional proposal that would shield a broad swath of news gatherers, including some bloggers, from revealing their confidential sources. The latest draft of the Free Flow of Information Act would pose a grave threat to national security and federal criminal investigations by protecting far too large a segment of the population, a U.S. Department of Justice official told Congress. A correction was made to this story. Read below for details. "The definition is just so broad that it really includes anyone who wants to post something to the Web," Rachel Brand, assistant attorney general in the Justice Department's Office of Legal Policy, said at a House Judiciary Committee hearing here. She also argued it would protect "a terrorist operative who videotaped a message from a terrorist leader threatening attacks on Americans." Justice Department opposition has bedeviled Congress throughout its numerous attempts in recent
The line between lobbying the federal government and running it just got blurrier.
A new high-ranking adviser to President Bush will enter the White House with recent lobbying ties to dozens of...
Now our own Republican administration is using the lefts tactics of personal attacks when we disagree with them on immigration. Linda Chavez spoke the words below. She is technically a conservative although the words could have come from the mouth of any leftist. Basically she is calling us racists and bigots for wanting to control our borders. We have already heard the same thing in varying degrees from the President, Michael Chertoff and any number of other Bush administration officials. What low depths will they stoop to next? Not to sound melodramatic but I think we are seeing the implosion of the Bush presidency. This seems to have become the defining issue of his presidency, maybe even over taking Iraq, as hard as that may be to believe. Rush Limbaugh is also quoted and I think he is doing a bit of a tap dance. He stated his continued support of the president on the war in Iraq, on terror and national security in general but he didnt specifically mention whether he supports him
The Bush administration has said they are not going to release the five Iranian intelligence agents that were captured in Iraq despite pressure from Iran and Iraq to do so.
The White House, according to US officials, has overruled recommendations by the State Department to release the prisoners and that they would remain captive and undergo a periodic six month review. This is the same review that is used for the other 250 foreign captives that are being held in Iraq.
The decision by the Bush administration came at the same time Iraq’s spokesman asked US for better ties with Iran. Ali Dabbagh said, “We feel that the improvement and the better relations between the United States and Iran could minimize — could make the interference less.”
Even Condoleezza Rice, US Secretary of State, advised the Bush administration to release the Iranians because they are no longer useful. However, Vice President Richard Cheney’s office says that they need to keep the
Sorry for the lack of posts lately. Between school work and my laziness, I just haven't had the desire lately. However, there was an interesting development yesterday.Surprisingly, the Supreme Court Ruled yesterday on Massachusetts v. EPA deciding 5-4 against the EPA. The case decided whether or not the EPA has an obligation to enforce the Clean Air Act and, if they choose not to, states can enforce it instead.The Bush Administration had claimed that the Clean Air Act did not give the EPA the right to regulate carbon dioxide emissions. However, the states and environmental groups filing suit pursauded enough of the court that carbon dioxide emissions pose a serious threat to their security and that the EPA must follow its own regulations.Even better, the majority opinion said that if the EPA doesn't want to regulate specific emissions, it must provide valid, scientific proof that the emissions are not harmful rather than a set of unrelated objections. Since the scientific commun
Today the Supreme Court ruled against the Bush administration saying that a United States government agency did incorrectly determined that they lack the power to regulate the greenhouse gases which cause global warming.
The US Environmental Protection Agency, EPA, was determined by the US’s highest court that they “offered no reasoned explanation” as to why it refused to regulate emissions from new vehicles, such as cars and trucks, that are part of the cause for global warming.
Barack Obama, 2008 Democratic presidential candidate, has accused President Bush and his administration of using a strategy of “social Darwinism”, which leaves everyone struggling.
In a speech in front of the Communications Workers for America Obama said, “It’s a strategy that we’ve seen this administration pursue over the last six years, that basically says government has no role to play in making sure that America is prosperous for all people and not just some.”
He also said that even though attempting to “divvy up the government into individual tax breaks” is tempting, government investment and research is what needs to be used in order to make advancements in the US.
During this conference Edwards, Obama and Clinton spoke and each of them accused the Bush administration of failing to benefit the average workers and that they vow to make a change if elected president in 2008.
Hillary Clinton said that she wants the US to once again be
Bush administration caught screwing Cold War veteransby John Aravosis (DC) ·Anyone surprised? From the Rocky Mountain Daily News:Federal officials secretly schemed to limit payouts for sick and dying nuclear weapons workers, including thousands from the Rocky Flats plant outside Denver, newly released documents show....The U.S. Department of Labor oversees the program to compensate workers whose illnesses can be tied to working with radioactive and other toxic materials at nuclear weapons plants, such as the now-defunct Rocky Flats.More than 60,000 ill atomic bomb makers, including thousands from Rocky Flats, have sought help. About 16,000 workers nationwide have received a total of $2.6 billion. Far more have been denied or still are waiting for help....Rep. Mark Udall, D-Colo., said, "Clearly, the administration put dollars above honoring the nation's promise to the Cold War veterans."He added this is "almost worse" than the bad conditions at Walter Reed Army Medical Center. That w
Proving that politicians are concerned with self interest and not principles, the Bush Administration is opposing a proposed coal mine on the Canadian side of the BC - Montana border, citing potential downstream environmental impacts in the US.Federal officials chose not to address the inherent hypocrisy of shouting down a coal mine affecting Montana's environment, while endorsing mountain top removal mining that is destroying entire valleys in the Appalachian states.For those not familiar with the process, mountain top removal is essentially sawing the top off a mountain and dumping the refuse into neighbouring valleys in order to cheaply access coal seems lying underneath - for the apparent purpose of boosting mercury levels in water and and destroying global climate.The main difference between the case in BC and mountain top removal in the US being that the latter is far more destructive, and more importantly, that the coal companies working in the Appalachians had the had the good
As the momentum continues to swing towards stronger action on global warming, the sordid details of cover-ups and obfuscation by governments will continue to come to light.This week, the Bush Administration was accused of widespread and systematic tampering with the works of government climate scientists.Details are coming to light in ongoing hearings by US House committee on oversight and government reform - now controlled by the Democrats - following years of complaints from the scientific community. The interference went so far as removing mere references to global warming. A survey of 1,600 government scientists completed by the Union of Concerned Scientists revealed that 46% had been warned against using terms like global warming both in speech and official reports. The resulting culture through the community was described as one of "anticipatory self-censorship."Additionally, 43% said that their reports had been revised dramatically enough to change the meaning of their scien
President Bush, who just recently labeled Iran as an “Axis of Evil”, is sending the USS Stennis aircraft carrier to the Persian Gulf, which is the first two aircraft carriers have occupied the Gulf since 2003. Bush administration officials say this is the only way they can show Iran that the War in Iraq has not weakened the United States. The United States has also stationed a Patriot missile battalion in the area.
President of the National Iranian American Council, Trita Parsi, said that by trying to contain Iran we are basically asking for a fight. He said “Iran is a major power in that region. You cannot contain it without having a confrontation.” A fight with Iran is not what the US needs. In fact, the Bush administration is going against the Iraq Study Group’s recommendation of reaching out to Iran for support in Iraq.
The US military has already arrested five Iranians and was authorized by President Bush to raid several Iranian targets i
President Bush, who just recently labeled Iran as an “Axis of Evil”, is sending the USS Stennis aircraft carrier to the Persian Gulf, which is the first two aircraft carriers have occupied the Gulf since 2003. Bush administration officials say this is the only way they can show Iran that the War in Iraq has not weakened the United States. The United States has also stationed a Patriot missile battalion in the area.
President of the National Iranian American Council, Trita Parsi, said that by trying to contain Iran we are basically asking for a fight. He said “Iran is a major power in that region. You cannot contain it without having a confrontation.” A fight with Iran is not what the US needs. In fact, the Bush administration is going against the Iraq Study Group’s recommendation of reaching out to Iran for support in Iraq.
The US military has already arrested five Iranians and was authorized by President Bush to raid several Iranian targets i
In a bizarre change of policy the Bush Administration has decided to end its illegal and unconstitutional policy of listening in on telephone calls without a warrant and without going to the special court established to review such actions.What happened to all the Republican outrage at the New York Times for revealing that this was going on in the first place?It appears that the reversal took place simply because U.S. Attorney General Gonzales is scheduled to appear before the Senate Judiciary Committee.If an appearance before Democrats was all it took to get some of our liberties back then perhaps divided government is in the best interest of all of us.
Now that the Democrats have control of Congress, we're finally starting to see the full extent of the Bush Administration's abuse of science. MSNBC has a good article on the subject. Here's a short excerpt:The Democratic-controlled Congress on Tuesday stepped up its pressure on President Bush's global warming strategy, hearing allegations of new political pressure on government scientists to downplay the threat of global warming.Lawmakers received survey results of federal scientists that showed 46 percent felt pressure to eliminate the words "climate change," "global warming" or similar terms from communications about their work.The scientists also reported 435 instances of political interference in their work over the past five years.We all knew it was happening, but now that the political climate in Washington has changed (no pun intended...okay, maybe it was), we're finally starting to see something done about it. We've already seen the President acknowledge clima
