Mr. President, You Are Mistaken!

White House wants suit against Yoo dismissed

(12-07) 11:33 PST SAN FRANCISCO -- The Obama administration has asked an appeals court to dismiss a lawsuit accusing former Bush administration attorney John Yoo of authorizing the torture of a terrorism suspect, saying federal law does not allow damage claims against lawyers who advise the president on national security issues.

Such lawsuits ask courts to second-guess presidential decisions and pose "the risk of deterring full and frank advice regarding the military's detention and treatment of those determined to be enemies during an armed conflict," Justice Department lawyers said Thursday in arguments to the Ninth U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals in San Francisco.

Other sanctions are available for government lawyers who commit misconduct, the department said. It noted that its Office of Professional Responsibility has been investigating Yoo's advice to former President George W. Bush since 2004 and has the power to recommend professional discipline or even criminal prosecution.

The office has not made its conclusions public. However, The Chronicle and other media reported in May that the office will recommend that Yoo be referred to the bar association for possible discipline, but that he not be prosecuted.

No.

I believe that Yoo and other Bush administration officials broke the law by authorizing torture, and they must be severely punished. How can it be legal for the DOJ to advise Bush to knowingly break the law? The arrogance displayed by our government is unconscionable.

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The walking, talking political joke of the year!

Tea Party movement threatened by internal rifts - CNN.com

Washington (CNN) -- It emerged in anger and it threatens to split in anger.

One major group in the Tea Party movement -- named after the famous Boston Tea Party -- is set to host its first convention in February, with former Alaska governor and 2008 Republican vice-presidential candidate Sarah Palin as its keynote speaker.

But there are fractures in the movement that threaten its future. And if history's any guide, such movements tend to flame out.

What a shame--now who are we going to laugh at? They are the walking, talking political joke of the year!

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SEN. GREGG AUTHORS OBSTRUCTION MANUAL TO KILL HEALTH REFORM

National Security -- A New START

Earlier this week, Politico obtained a copy of a memo authored by Sen. Judd Gregg (R-NH) outlining exactly how Senate Republicans can kill health reform using various parliamentary tactics. The memo amounts to an "obstruction manual" for Senate Republicans and includes tactics like demanding a new legislative day, forcing "hard" quorum calls, bringing a "point of order" up for debate "with or without cause," and recommending GOP senators offer an "unlimited number of amendments -- germane or non-germane -- on any subject" to the health bill. Gregg's reliance on the "Byzantine process of the Senate" to kill reform represents a continuation of the obstructionist strategy followed by the GOP in committee, where senators offered dozens of frivolous amendments to bog down the debate. But back in 2006, Gregg sang a very different tune about appropriate Senate procedure. At the time, Gregg wanted to form an Entitlement Commission to recommend cuts to Medicare and Social Security. Facing opposition, Gregg blasted Democrats for what he perceived as "obstruction for the purpose of obtaining power." Given Gregg's previous comments deploring Senate obstruction, his current obstruction memo reveals how disingenuous he is willing to be in order to stop health care reform. Rather than argue the merits of the legislation, Gregg and his Republican colleagues continue their campaign of resorting to parliamentary gimmicks to kill the bill.
 

What compassionate conservatives! When are we going to boot these assholes out of office? Again I repeat:

HEALTH CARE IS A BASIC HUMAN RIGHT. IT IS NOT A COMMODITY, NOR IS IT A PRIVILEGE!

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UK IRAQ WAR INQUIRY SHOWS BUSH ADMINISTRATION UNDERMINED EFFORTS TO GAIN INTERNATIONAL SUPPORT

So what else is new? Bush never cared what anybody thought, not the Brits, not the UN, nor the American people

Global Warming -- Copenhagen Summit Preview

Former British ambassador to the United Nations Jeremy Greenstock "told an inquiry Friday that attempts to win international authorization for the invasion [of Iraq] were deliberately undermined by the United States." The inquiry, which began last Tuesday at the behest of British Prime Minister Gordon Brown, is to be the "the most thorough investigation yet into the decisions that led up to the [Iraq] war and governed Britain's involvement." Greenstock -- who later served as envoy to Iraq -- said that while he was trying to gain U.N. approval for the war, the Bush administration was "decidedly unhelpful to what I was trying to do." "The United States was little troubled by Britain's hopes of forming an international consensus to justify military action," Greenstock testified. Echoing earlier testimony from former UK Ambassador to Washington Sir Christopher Meyer, Greenstock "said that serious preparations for the war had begun in early 2002" and Blair and President Bush had agreed "in blood" to the military adventure in April of that year, a year before Parliament approved Britain's involvement. He added that the U.S. was unwilling even to consider delaying the Iraq invasion until October 2003, which would have allowed U.N. weapons inspectors more time to search for evidence of weapons of mass destruction (WMD). Greenstock's testimony is the latest in a series of disturbing issues brought to light by the hearings. The UK's intelligence chief at the time told the inquiry that his country's intelligence services concluded 10 days prior to the beginning of the war that Saddam Hussein did not have access to WMD, contradicting what British and American officials said publicly. Testimony from the former British attorney general Lord Goldsmith also showed that Blair was informed in a July 2002 letter that the Iraq War would be illegal under international law. Blair responded by banning Goldsmith from future cabinet meetings and ignoring his verdict on the legality of the war.

Bush demanded war, got it, and now we seem to be stuck with it. Sadly, President Obama cannot seem to muster the courage to just stop the damned war.

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The Idiot's Lantern

Some people will do anything to get on TV!

Dinner crashers shook hands with President Obama - Yahoo! News

WASHINGTON – This time, the picture is the story.

After the Secret Service insisted that President Barack Obama was never endangered by a security breach that allowed a reality TV hopeful and her husband to crash his first state dinner, the White House released a photo showing that not only did the pair get close to Obama, they actually shook hands and spoke with him.

As the White House was disclosing that the Virginia couple, Michaele and Tareq Salahi, met Obama in the receiving line, a "deeply concerned and embarrassed" Secret Service on Friday acknowledged that its officers never checked whether the two were on the guest list before letting them onto the White House grounds.

The White House photo showed the Salahis in the receiving line in the Blue Room with Obama and Indian Prime Minister Manmohan Singh, in whose honor the dinner was held. Obama and reality TV hopeful Michaele Salahi are smiling as she grasps his right hand with both of hers and her husband looks on. Singh is to Obama's left.

The Secret Service previously had said the president was not in danger because the couple — like others at the dinner — had gone through magnetometers. But in light of their close proximity to the president, no such claim was made Friday.

"This incident compromised the safety and security of the president and undermined our confidence in the protection we expect of the Secret Service," said Rep. Edolphus Towns, chairman of the House Oversight and Government Reform Committee.

Disturbed by the agency's failure "to follow basic security procedures," the New York Democrat said in a statement Saturday he wants a review of Secret Service practices and has asked for a briefing next week.

The Salahis were not on the guest list and should have been barred from entering last Tuesday's dinner on the White House South Lawn for the prime minister of India, said Secret Service Director Mark Sullivan.

Sullivan said the agency that protects the president is "deeply concerned and embarrassed" that procedures were not followed.

"As our investigation continues, appropriate measures have been taken to ensure this is not repeated," Sullivan said in a written statement.

"The preliminary findings of our internal investigation have determined established protocols were not followed at an initial checkpoint, verifying that two individuals were on the guest list," Sullivan said. "Although these individuals went through magnetometers and other levels of screening, they should have been prohibited from entering the event entirely. That failing is ours."

Agency spokesmen declined comment Saturday on reports that agents had visited the Salahis' vineyard in Hume, Va., in search of the couple. Voice mail messages left Saturday at two separate telephone numbers for the Oasis Winery, south of Washington, were not immediately returned.

Secret Service spokesman Jim Mackin said Friday that officers at the checkpoint had a clipboard with names of the invited guests. Even though the Salahis names weren't on it, they were allowed to proceed. The officers should have called someone on the White House staff or Secret Service personnel before allowing them past the checkpoint, Mackin said.

Earlier, Mackin said the Secret Service may pursue a criminal investigation of the Salahis.

Sullivan said it wasn't good enough that his agency screened more than 1.2 million visitors last year to the White House complex and protected more than 10,000 sites for the president, vice president and others.

"Even with these successes, we need to be right 100 percent of the time," he said.

It is unclear what the couple told officers at the checkpoint that allowed them to go through the security screening. Federal law makes it a crime to knowingly and willfully falsify statements on matters within the federal government's jurisdiction.

"As this moves closer to a criminal investigation there's less that we can say," Mackin said. "We're not leaving any option off the table at this point."

The Salahis lawyer, Paul Gardner, posted a comment on their Facebook page saying, "My clients were cleared by the White House, to be there." He said more information would be forthcoming. Several messages left at Gardner's law firm on Friday and Saturday were not returned.

Bravo Media has confirmed that Michaele Salahi is being considered as a participant in the upcoming "The Real Housewives of D.C." program and on the day of the dinner was being filmed by Half Yard Productions, the producer of the program.

Ah ha! Well, if the Salahis are going to be prosecuted, then Bravo Media should be included. 'Reality TV' shows are out of control. Some sad people will do anything for fame and fortune, and these dumbass reality show producers help them. So who are Bravo Media?

Once a boutique network that produced quality television shows, Bravo is now becoming Bravo Media, a company with six separate divisions, one of which is an alliance with a talent agency that its reality stars may be forced to join. Bravo Media is “an all-encompassing group of divisions,” according to a press release. The divisions are the talent agency alliance, Bravo Digital, Bravo Radio, Bravo Experience, Bravo To Go, Bravo Merchandising, and Bravo Publishing. Oh, and Bravo TV.

Time to put the kibosh on reality TV. The best solution, since TV is convered by the First Amendment? Simply don't watch the damned programs. I also e-mail the advertisers and tell them that I will avoid their products as long as they purchase ads on those damned shows!

Of course, in reality--I avoid purchasing anything advertised on what my old man called 'the Idiot's Lantern'!

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Fort Hood: What Your TV Won't Tell You | AfterDowningStreet.org

Just watch the video and follow the link.

Fort Hood: What Your TV Won't Tell You | AfterDowningStreet.org

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Thanksgiving -- 27 Reasons To Give Thanks

From our friends at thinkprogress.org

Thanksgiving -- 27 Reasons To Give Thanks

We're thankful President Obama is thinking long and hard about committing more troops and money to Afghanistan.

We're thankful President Bush feels liberated now.

We're (not) thankful Dick Cheney has elected to move from his undisclosed location to the media spotlight.

We're thankful Al Franken has gone from playing self-help guru Stuart Smalley on Saturday Night Live to helping rape victims receive justice from their employers.

We're thankful for the healing power of beer.

We're thankful there are some on the right who think Glenn Beck is "incoherent," "mindless," "erratic," "bizarre," and "harmful to the conservative movement."

We're thankful for long hikes on the Appalachian Trail.

We're thankful Michael Steele understands that he can't "do policy" and that no one has any reason to trust his "words or actions."

We're (not) thankful for "birthers," "deathers," "tenthers," or "tea baggers."

We're (not) thankful conservatives believe they love America so much that they can root for our President to fail and for our nation to lose out on hosting the Olympics.

We're thankful NFL players refused to "bend over and grab the ankles" for Rush Limbaugh.

We're thankful six companies have resigned from the Chamber of Commerce due to its denial of climate change science.

We're thankful Falcon "Balloon boy" Heene wasn't actually in the balloon.

We're thankful Lt. Dan Choi and Lt. Col Victor Fehrenbach bravely spoke out against Don't Ask, Don't Tell.

We're thankful Shep Smith doesn't always drink the Fox News kool-aid.

We're thankful more than 80 companies refused to lend their sponsorship to Glenn Beck's hateful rants.

We're thankful there are progressive organizations in D.C. lobbying for a two-state solution in the Middle East.

We're (not) thankful for the filibuster.

We're thankful that more than 20,000 of you stood up to Bill O'Reilly's harassment machine and called for impeachment hearings against torture advocate Jay Bybee.

We're thankful that Iran's authoritarian rulers live in fear of their own population.

We're thankful we'll no longer have to listen to nativist rhetoric on CNN and global warming skepticism on ABC News.

We're (not) thankful for bailed out CEOs who think they're doing "God's work" by doling out billions in bonuses.

We're thankful for the legacy of the Liberal Lion.

We're thankful Bill O'Reilly won't be following us home for Thanksgiving.

We're thankful a "wise Latina" sits on the Supreme Court.

We're thankful our boss helped rescue imprisoned American journalists in North Korea.

We're thankful for our readers and the support you give us.

We all should be thankful for these people and their unrelenting efforts to bring us the truth!

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Finishing the Job?

Obama promises to 'finish the job' in Afghanistan - Yahoo! News

WASHINGTON – Signaling an imminent decision on Afghanistan troop levels, President Barack Obama said Tuesday he intends to "finish the job" and destroy terrorist networks in the region.

The president said he would announce his decision on how many additional soldiers to deploy to Afghanistan after Thanksgiving.

"I feel confident that when the American people hear a clear rationale for what we're doing there and how we intend to achieve our goals, that they will be supportive," he said.

Obama held his 10th and final war council meeting Monday night to assess his Afghanistan strategy in advance of his troop decision. He commented Tuesday during a brief news conference with Indian Prime Minister Manmohan Singh, who was at the White House for a state visit.

"It is in our strategic interests, in our national security interest to make sure that al-Qaida and its extremist allies cannot operate effectively in those areas," Obama said. "We are going to dismantle and degrade their capabilities and ultimately dismantle and destroy their networks."

"It is my intention to finish the job," he said of the war in Afghanistan that has been going on for eight years — since the Sept. 11 attacks in 2001.

This does not look good for America.

Nobody has successfully controlled Afghanistan in two millenia. They held off the British Empire and they beat the Soviet Union, contributing the the decline of both nations. The tribesmen of Afghanistan have proven that they may be the toughest fighters on the planet. They believe that they are fighting for their homes and their faith and, like it or not, that makes them very determined never to give in. Tribal chieftains don't care who runs the national government, they live in remote places that no national government has ever controlled.

It would be much better to offer large cash rewards for Taliban and al Qaeda leaders. Money will do what thousands of troops cannot.

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RADICAL RIGHT -- GUN LOBBY MOBILIZES AGAINST HEALTH REFORM BY CLAIMING OBAMA WILL ISSUE A 'NO GUNS' DECREE

POVERTY -- Remembering Those Less Fortunate

On Friday, Gun Owners of America sent out an action alert to its 300,000 members warning that the Senate health care bill "would mandate that doctors provide 'gun-related health data' to 'a government database,'issue a "no guns" decree. The so-called "gun-related health data" is actually anonymous statistical information to help researchers develop health programs and initiatives that serve specific population groups or further the study of various conditions and medical needs. Section 2705 of the Senate health bill permits employers to vary insurance premiums by as much as 30 percent for employee participation in certain health promotion and disease prevention programs, but stipulates that the employer wellness program must be "based on an individual satisfying a standard that is related to a health status factor." Gun ownership does not fall into this category. This fear-mongering should be seen not only as a threat to health insurance reform, but as the continuation of a multimillion dollar effort launched by the gun lobby to portray Obama as "a threat to the Second Amendment rights." Prior to the election, the National Rifle Association (NRA) claimed of Obama, "[N]ever in NRA's history have we faced a presidential candidate...with such a deep-rooted hatred of firearm freedoms." Since the election, the NRA and other gun groups have continued to misinform voters about Obama's gun policy proposals, claiming that unrelated policies -- like the economic stimulus -- are part of a broader campaign to strip gun rights. "I'm not going to take away your guns," Obama has repeatedly said. Nevertheless, sensing an opportunity to gain more members and fuel gun sales, the gun lobby insists on preying on people's fears by making up false claims.including information on mental-health issues detected in patients, which could jeopardize their ability to obtain a firearms license." The alert also claimed that the "wellness and prevention" provisions in the health care bill would allow the Obama administration to

Gee, the Gun Owners of America want to protect the right of lunatics to own guns--that makes sense!

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Bye-bye, Florida!

Sea level rise could cost port cities $28 trillion - CNN.com

London, England (CNN) -- A possible rise in sea levels by 0.5 meters by 2050 could put at risk more than $28 trillion worth of assets in the world's largest coastal cities, according to a report compiled for the insurance industry.

The value of infrastructure exposed in so-called "port mega-cities," urban conurbations with more than 10 million people, is just $3 trillion at present.

The rise in potential losses would be a result of expected greater urbanization and increased exposure of this greater population to catastrophic surge events occurring once every 100 years caused by rising sea levels and higher temperatures.

The report, released on Monday by WWF and financial services Allianz, concludes that the world's diverse regions and ecosystems are close to temperature thresholds -- or "tipping points."

The Mean Elevation of the state of Florida is only 100 feet above sea level. But most of Florida's ports--Miami, Tampa-St. Petersburg, Pensacola, etc.--will disappear under the sea, as will New Orleans and much of coastal California, New York City and most other American seaports.

Any questions why global warming must be stopped???

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