West Virginia Blue
The Best Blogging Community in West Virginia Democratic politics, progressive policies, the good life and free living in Wild, Wonderful West Virginia.
There is a new book out by former DHS secretary Tom Ridge who claims the Bush administration actually pressured him to raise the terror threat before the 2004 election. Isn't this enough to send these guys to jail? We all figured they were doing it anyway so what's the big deal?
At a "Great Conversations" event at the University of Minnesota last night, legendary investigative reporter Seymour Hersh may have made a little more news than he intended by talking about new alleged instances of domestic spying by the CIA, and about an ongoing covert military operation that he called an "executive assassination ring."
What does "executive assassination ring" mean? Here's what Hersh said at the event:
"Right now, today, there was a story in the New York Times that if you read it carefully mentioned something known as the Joint Special Operations Command -- JSOC it's called. It is a special wing of our special operations community that is set up independently. They do not report to anybody, except in the Bush-Cheney days, they reported directly to the Cheney office. They did not report to the chairman of the joint chiefs of staff or to Mr. [Robert] Gates, the secretary of defense. They reported directly to him. ...
"Congress has no oversight of it. It's an executive assassination ring essentially, and it's been going on and on and on. Just today in the Times there was a story that its leaders, a three star admiral named [William H.] McRaven, ordered a stop to it because there were so many collateral deaths.
"Under President Bush's authority, they've been going into countries, not talking to the ambassador or the CIA station chief, and finding people on a list and executing them and leaving. That's been going on, in the name of all of us.
"It's complicated because the guys doing it are not murderers, and yet they are committing what we would normally call murder. It's a very complicated issue. Because they are young men that went into the Special Forces. The Delta Forces you've heard about. Navy Seal teams. Highly specialized.
"In many cases, they were the best and the brightest. Really, no exaggerations. Really fine guys that went in to do the kind of necessary jobs that they think you need to do to protect America. And then they find themselves torturing people.
"I've had people say to me -- five years ago, I had one say: 'What do you call it when you interrogate somebody and you leave them bleeding and they don't get any medical committee and two days later he dies. Is that murder?
Yet another rock to turn over in the investigation of potential war crimes and crimes against humanity during the Bush administration.
Has anyone asked Arch A. Moore if he requested a pardon from former President George Bush? I'd like to know if Republican Rep. Shelley Moore Capito ever had a discussion with George Bush on that topic.
How long do you think it'll take the Moore family to realize if they play by the rules, President Barack Obama is far more likely to grant a pardon than George Bush ever was?
(Too bad for Arch, playing by the rules--in this case, following the Dept. of Justice guidelines-- means admitting guilt and expressing contrition. In his last public rehabilitation tour, Gov. Moore wasn't doing so well on that slate.)
I see some really encouraging signs of change this week.
First of all, the resounding acclaim for Obama's (not-really-a-)SOTU speech and overwhelming ridicule of Jindal's response were not only due to contrasting style, but equally due to contrasting substance. Even Reagan didn't have the skills to save such mistimed lines.
Republicans want to work with President Obama. We appreciate his message of hope -- but sometimes it seems we look for hope in different places. Democratic leaders in Washington place their hope in the federal government. We place our hope in you -- the American people.
The highlight of De Groot's diary is House Majority Whip Clyburn's strong rebuttal:
Clyburn: Well I don't think the Republicans really get it. The fact of the matter is: Who is the Government? We, the American People. This is government of, for, and by the people. And I think this whole notion of separating out the American people from each other is a failing proposition, and if they continue to do that they will continue to have the kind of success they've been having recently at the polls.
This government that we have will be as good as the American people, and I really believe that's why the American people responded the way they did last time, because the people they put their faith in, disappointed them. They were elected to run the country for 12 years, they failed. So they've now put a new set of people there. So I think that those of us that try to make the government something separate and apart from the people fail to recognize that the People are in fact the government.
In a nutshell, this is the great failure of the Bush Administration. The problem with Republicans is, when you put a party in charge who does not believe in good government, what kind of government do you get?
Republicans believe that government is apart from the People. Republicans believe Government exists to serve special interests. Republicans hate the idea of government as an institution that exists to serve all the rest of us.
So, what does government look like when it serves we, the People? Here's one small example.
Stimulus Spending Oversight
Obama has promised strong oversight of stimulus spending. He's promised to "name names" if money is wasted. Also, in a departure from the traditional role of the Inspector General office, the IGs will be encouraged to look more pro-actively at how spending is planned before the fact rather than waiting for months (or years) later to investigate. Heck, the last 8 years, we've barely investigated any spending abuses.
What does oversight look like in reality? The states are taking notice. Here in West Virginia, state agencies are scrambling to detail plans for stimulus spending. At a recently unveiled website, you can now find details on West Virginia's share of stimulus funds.
The battleship of government bureaucracy is vast. Change will not arrive in a single day. I am encouraged by these signs of change.
George W. had just concluded his final photo-op at his Crawford, Texas compound. This was the last of 8 years of boring assignments from there, and once again, the entire White House press corps hadn't been able to report any real news for a whole month.
Suddenly, out of the corner of his eye, a veteran reporter noticed one of Bush's neighbors getting into an old pickup truck. He headed over to catch the old-timer before he pulled away, just to see if he might have something interesting to offer about Bush's departure.
"Sir... Hey! Can I talk to you for just a second?" the newsman asked.
"Well I was just leavin'... Got chores to tend-to". the rancher said as he began rolling up his window.
"The flies seem be a bit worse this time of year" the veteran reporter commented. He had been unsuccessful at interviewing practically all of Dubya's neighbors during past Crawford vacation assignments, and was hoping that a more relaxed approach might coax this one into opening up a bit.
Not wanting to seem rude, the old rancher stopped rolling up his window. "Them's circle-flies" he said, shooting the reporter a sidelong glance.
"Circle-flies? Uuuh, never heard of 'em". The newsman was surprised that even he'd gotten an answer.
The old boy tilted his hat forward, squinted towards where Dubya was standing, and volunteered, "Circle-flies is what we call 'em down here. They mostly circle 'round the tail-end of horses, and the like." He started slowly rolling his up his window again.
Just before the window shut the reporter blurted. "HEY.. There's no livestock on the President's ranch! Did you just call George W. Bush a horse's ass?"
"Didn't say any such thing" came the reply as his pickup started. "But it sure is hard to fool them circle-flies."
Never in 230 years of the Republic has a president more richly deserved impeachment than George W. Bush. Yet, nothing in the official record indicates that.
[snip]
Congress must ensure that this Administration's attempts to establish an "imperial presidency" do not become precedent for future administrations.
A Motion of Censure would make that minimal necessary statement. A censure motion would require a debate on the Bush Administration's justifications and its management of the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan, on its treatment of detainees, including the use of `rendition' and ignoring standards of human rights long practiced in the civilized world, and on its authorization for illegal wiretapping.
[snip]
It is important that the record reflects what a majority of Americans have long known -- George W. Bush ran a shameful, criminal administration that made a mockery of our Constitution and the fundamental principles of American government.
Accountability of the Executive branch is not a partisan issue. This is the perfect time--post-election and pre-inaguration--to make a clear statement that Congress is a co-equal branch of government.
Remember all that crazy talk about the Cheney Bush administration stealing the election or not being willing to give up power.
Right now, it looks like Bush is in an even bigger hurry to start a permanent vacation than Pres-elect Obama is to take over.
And, what about Cheney? The only time he came out of hiding in the last few months was to endorse John McCain. That looked like an act of final desperation to make sure Barack Obama absolutely, definitely, for sure won the election.
And like schoolgirls saving seats for one another at the lunch table, the congresswomen make sure they're side-by-side at the State of the Union Address every year.
"It's a tradition with us," Capito said. "We're always sitting together on the same side in the aisle ready to shake hands with the president. It's almost as if he expects us to be there."
The aisle seat, the equivalent of a front-row seat at a concert or a 50-yard-line seat at a football game, is sacred to members on State of the Union night.
Lawmakers like Eliot L. Engel (D-N.Y.), Sheila Jackson Lee (D-Texas), Shelley Moore Capito (R-W.Va.), Todd R. Platts (R-Pa.), Jean Schmidt (R-Ohio), Mary Bono (R-Calif.), Michele Bachmann (R-Minn.) and Ileana Ros-Lehtinen (R-Fla.) are so-called State of the Union Day squatters.
[snip]
If Capito has to walk away, she always leaves the stack of paperwork on her seat, a signal to her colleagues that someone has already reserved that spot - or if she has to go far or use the facilities, she has Ros-Lehtinen hold her place for her.
"She watches my back and I watch hers," Ros-Lehtinen confirmed.
An important message from our friends at Stop Mountaintop Removal. While the country is distracted with an election, the Bush administration is trying to lock in their misguided policies.
If you've been following the news for the last few days, you know that the Department of the Interior's Office of Surface Mining (OSM) is poised to finalize a rule that would allow hundreds of miles of streams and valleys in Appalachia to be permanently buried by waste from mountaintop removal coal mining. OSM's plan directly conflicts with the decades-old Stream Buffer Zone Rule, a Reagan-era rule that prohibits surface coal mining activities from disturbing areas within 100 feet of permanent and seasonal streams.
Just last week, the New York Times published an editorial opposing the move, calling it "one more sad chapter in the long, tortured history of Appalachia's coal-rich hills."
The Bush administration must know from us that this is simply unacceptable.
Please take action now. When it passed the surface mining laws years ago, Congress gave EPA the responsibility to ensure that coal mining regulations do not harm water quality – and this one definitely does! Call EPA Administrator Stephen Johnson and tell him to protect these valuable resources by keeping the Stream Buffer Zone Rule in place.
EPA Main Headquarters: (202) 564-4700
You can also download our new Advocate's Toolkit. This kit will help you organize house parties and other events in your community. With step-by-step instructions and useful printable handouts, this kit includes everything you need to educate your friends and family about the danger of mountaintop removal mining – and what you and they can do to help stop it.
Please plan an event at your apartment or house. If you are a student, consider an event on campus. Download the toolkit today and get started in your community today.
Help us get out the message that we will not stand for coal companies polluting our water any longer!
- Among other troubling signs, you know it's not a normal day when the NYSE has to reassure investors their market will indeed be open today.
- Via Kevin Drum there was some amazing testimony by Alan Greenspan yesterday at Waxman's congressional hearing:
"I made a mistake in presuming that the self-interests of organizations, specifically banks and others, were such as that they were best capable of protecting their own shareholders and their equity in the firms," Mr. Greenspan said.
....Mr. Waxman pressed the former Fed chair to clarify his words. "In other words, you found that your view of the world, your ideology, was not right, it was not working," Mr. Waxman said.
"Absolutely, precisely," Mr. Greenspan replied. "You know, that's precisely the reason I was shocked, because I have been going for 40 years or more with very considerable evidence that it was working exceptionally well."
The damaging effects of conservative economic policies are crashing down upon. Spending $1,000,000,000,000 for a discretionary war, giving more and more money to the filthy rich, looking the other way when greed infects our economic stability--these are all horribly failed policies.
How about we give progressive economic policy a try? We certainly couldn't do any worse than the Bush-Capito economic era.
Copyright 2009 West Virginia Blue
Site content may be used for any purpose without explicit permission unless otherwise specified.
This site exists thanks to financial support from BlogPAC, the tireless efforts of volunteer contributors and continued participation from this community. The views expressed at West Virginia Blue belong soley to their respective authors.
