The budget battle over funding the Iraq war continues. The president now accepts benchmarks, the Vice president went unannounced to Iraq to tell the Parliament not to take a vacation. He said things are getting better while you could see his flak jacket under his shirt. As one of the TV pundits said, "maybe one of the benchmarks should be when a US official can make an announced visit to Iraq".
The Republicans ( the Presidents Party) in the senate introduced a bill that would cut off funding if benchmarks weren't met. It was defeated as not strong enough. The Democrats introduced a bill to cut off funding on a time table. It was to strong and went down in defeat.
So the battling words are "timetables" and "benchmarks". No body has quite defined them but they are the key words. The guys against timetables say we can't leave right away and the guys against benchmarks say, what happens if benchmarks are not met. Nobody, as yet, wants to define the terms to closely.
I still think there will be a bill for partial funding with some benchmarks and requiring the President to report back to Congress. Both sides have said they will have a bill by the end of May. Lots of meetings going on.
Retired Maj. General Batiste, who served in Iraq appeared in a TV ad to support a deadline for pulling out of Iraq.
Ad starts with a clip of the president saying that "I will always listen to commanders on the ground." Then cuts to the general "Mr president, you did not listen. You continue to follow a failed strategy." There was also a letter signed by 11 generals, most served in Iraq, saying get out. The military is starting to speak out.
At the same time republicans are visiting Iraq and reporting back on how much better things are getting. The argument is, if we get out there will be chaos, and the other side says if we stay there will be chaos. It reminds me of what my father once told me" if you have a choice between rich and happy and poor and happy, take rich and happy. So if you get out and get chaos and if you stay you get chaos, I would choose get out, you get chaos either way.
Wolfowitz still in trouble. Looks like there will be a deal. He will resign but with a clear name. The deal being that the US still gets to name the next president of the World Bank.
Gozales gets deeper in trouble. more information coming out that there was a lots of backdoor political intrigue to hire and fire State Attorney generals. He is losing support among republicans but still has strong support from the President. Congress is still going after Gonzales.
So the battle continues. The Bush presidency is under siege and will not get much accomplished in the next year and a half.
Thursday, May 17, 2007
Monday, May 7, 2007
Finding a way out
The battle goes on. The president vetoed the Iraq funding bill with the time lines. The house did not have enough votes to override the veto, so now the backroom meetings are going on. The Republicans want the check and the democrats won't sign it without some caveats. Both sides have promised that they will have a bill my the end of May. In the meantime the media manipulation is under full steam. Things are improving only 80 killed today. Second highest deaths of American soldiers. To be expected since they are now stationed in with the population.. hard to tell what is really going on since most reporters can't get out of the green Zone so really have no clue on what is going on. I get some of my best information from blogs written by Iraqis in Iraq.
But it looks like some compromise is in the winds. the president has again redefined success. Success now is a level of violence that the Iraqi people can live with. At a press briefing the presidential press officer Tony Snow was asked to define it and he said he couldn't. Several fairly powerful Republicans have some out with proposals. They all fall in the category of give the pres the money for three or four month, put benchmarks on the Iraqi government, require the president to report back to Congress every month. We will have to see what will happen, My guess 3 or 4 months funding with benchmarks. Democrats just will not sign a blank check.
The arguments boil down to :withdrawal is surrender and will lead to greater chaos in the Middle East we must have success: to: how much greater can the chaos be and you can't win militarily only solution is political and the Iraqis have to solve it, so lets get out.
Latest News and World Report has The President on the Cover with the text
Bush's last stand, plagued by a hostile Congress, sinking polls, an unending war Yet, he won't budge
IS HE RESOLUTE OR DELUSIONAL
I am reading a facinating book "The Reckoning, Iraq and the Legacy of Saddam Hussein"
by Sandra Mackey. The author has lived in the middle east and has written several other books. it is a history of the region going back a thousand years. In fact, probably more than i wanted to know but it really points out the folly of what we are doing
This book was written in 2002 prior to the invasion of Iraq
some quotes; "At some point Saddam Hussein will fall from the oppressive weight of his own regime. When that happens, the United States must be prepared for what will follow. Immediately after the boot is lifted from the neck of the Iraqis, a blood bath will likely ensue as each group pours out its anger. " "The Iraqis will not be able to restore order alone. Failing any effort at nation building, Iraq will likely fragment. Regardless of whether the Iraqis slaughter each other, go their seperate ways, or somehow hold themselves together, the United States whether it wants to or not, is going to be en snarled in post Hussein Iraq"
"The ghosts of Vietnam are there because the United States is again in danger of stumbling into the internal conflicts of another people, and become trapped in old feuds it never comprehended. In this new era of the American experience that began on September 11, 2001, the United States can no longer afford to be seduced by its own military power or by the naive faith that foreign worlds can always be simplified and mastered"
So the warnings were there.
In the meantime there is a lot of backpedaling. Condeleezza Rice now says the "Imminent threat" means will you be stronger or weaker in the future, if weaker strike now. So it is not that anything will happen within the next weeks or months. Ugggh.
In the meantime, Tenant says he was misunderstood with the "slam dunk " comment, Gonzalves is still under fire, Wolwowitz teetering and Blair is resigning.
Otherwise truth is always stranger than fiction
But it looks like some compromise is in the winds. the president has again redefined success. Success now is a level of violence that the Iraqi people can live with. At a press briefing the presidential press officer Tony Snow was asked to define it and he said he couldn't. Several fairly powerful Republicans have some out with proposals. They all fall in the category of give the pres the money for three or four month, put benchmarks on the Iraqi government, require the president to report back to Congress every month. We will have to see what will happen, My guess 3 or 4 months funding with benchmarks. Democrats just will not sign a blank check.
The arguments boil down to :withdrawal is surrender and will lead to greater chaos in the Middle East we must have success: to: how much greater can the chaos be and you can't win militarily only solution is political and the Iraqis have to solve it, so lets get out.
Latest News and World Report has The President on the Cover with the text
Bush's last stand, plagued by a hostile Congress, sinking polls, an unending war Yet, he won't budge
IS HE RESOLUTE OR DELUSIONAL
I am reading a facinating book "The Reckoning, Iraq and the Legacy of Saddam Hussein"
by Sandra Mackey. The author has lived in the middle east and has written several other books. it is a history of the region going back a thousand years. In fact, probably more than i wanted to know but it really points out the folly of what we are doing
This book was written in 2002 prior to the invasion of Iraq
some quotes; "At some point Saddam Hussein will fall from the oppressive weight of his own regime. When that happens, the United States must be prepared for what will follow. Immediately after the boot is lifted from the neck of the Iraqis, a blood bath will likely ensue as each group pours out its anger. " "The Iraqis will not be able to restore order alone. Failing any effort at nation building, Iraq will likely fragment. Regardless of whether the Iraqis slaughter each other, go their seperate ways, or somehow hold themselves together, the United States whether it wants to or not, is going to be en snarled in post Hussein Iraq"
"The ghosts of Vietnam are there because the United States is again in danger of stumbling into the internal conflicts of another people, and become trapped in old feuds it never comprehended. In this new era of the American experience that began on September 11, 2001, the United States can no longer afford to be seduced by its own military power or by the naive faith that foreign worlds can always be simplified and mastered"
So the warnings were there.
In the meantime there is a lot of backpedaling. Condeleezza Rice now says the "Imminent threat" means will you be stronger or weaker in the future, if weaker strike now. So it is not that anything will happen within the next weeks or months. Ugggh.
In the meantime, Tenant says he was misunderstood with the "slam dunk " comment, Gonzalves is still under fire, Wolwowitz teetering and Blair is resigning.
Otherwise truth is always stranger than fiction
Monday, April 30, 2007
More jabs right and left
More jabs right and left The political jabs continue on. The big issue this week will be the Iraq supplemental funding bill. Both Houses of Congress have met and reconciled the two versions. A bill will go to the President Tuesday, the four year anniversary of the Mission Accomplished carrier landing by the president. The President has said he will veto the bill because it contain a timetable , it does and he will veto it so he says. The President has called a meeting with the Congressional leadership for Wednesday. So we will have to see who will blink first. I expect that the Democrats may pass a three months bill with no timetable forcing him back to ask for more money. By that time the situation in Iraq should improve according to the Administration. So there may be rest period and then the fight resumes.
Now Tenant, the previous head of CIA who is tagged with the "Slam Dunk" comment prior to initiation of the Iraq war. He now says he was misunderstood and his reputation has been ruined. Sides are lining up for and against him. The barrage of words have started. He says Condleesa Rice was not up to the job, she says otherwise. And so it goes. His book is entitled "In the Center of the Storm". He sure is.
Inspection of reconstruction projects worth around 130 Million, that were working six month ago are now not operational. There are more than 70 plus other investigations on the success or maybe failure of reconstruction projects. Seems like everything is a mess. But Halliburton got paid.
The US is in the process of building walls around neighborhoods in Baghdad to impose control. The Iraqis don't want them. The US has been blamed for bringing unfair Zionist practices from Palestine to Iraq. Israel is building a wall between Israel and Palestine. In fact, there are walls being built all over the world
The Administration is trying to get the Iraqi Parliament to come to a political consensus. Mostly how are they going to divide the oil money. Some sort of political settlement will have to be reached if there is any chance for the violence to cease and surge to work. Well ,the Iraq Parliament is thinking about taking a three months summer vacation. What a mess.
Guantanamo is back in the picture. We apparently have said we have cleared 130 plus enemy combatants, but their country does not want them back. So it looks like we are stuck with them. Hard to believe.
Now we have a new sex scandal involving a high administration official, Tobias. The Government has accused a "Lady" of running a prostitution ring. She says no. I only provided companion ship, all the girl have college degrees and can carry on an intelligent conversation. But the Government "no way you got a call girl ring". She said layoff or I will publish my client telephone list. She did publish part of it and lo and behold here was Mr Tobias, a Senior official in the State Department. He said he only called to get a message, but resigned because he can not do his job anymore. Ha, Ha. So everyone is holding their breath for the rest of the list. She is going on Television and she is releasing them on TV a bit at a time. The "Lady" has today had her ankle locator removed. She only has to call in two or three times a week. You couldn't make this stuff up.
And Wolfowitz is still fighting for his job. The Bank Board keeps thinking about it so it is up in the air. He is not one of my favorite people. He carries a lot of fault for the present mess.
So a new chapter or two is revealed every day. I can only think of two proverbs that are at play
" You can fool some of the people all of the time, you can fool all of the people some of the time but you cannot fool all of the people all of the time" This Administration seems to have run out it's string.
We also have a poker saying "You have to know when to hold 'em and you have to know when to fold 'em" Seems like the President is going to continue to play a losing hand and bet with my grand kids money. It is time to fold 'em.
And you Old Codgers thought Beniyala was a mess.
Now Tenant, the previous head of CIA who is tagged with the "Slam Dunk" comment prior to initiation of the Iraq war. He now says he was misunderstood and his reputation has been ruined. Sides are lining up for and against him. The barrage of words have started. He says Condleesa Rice was not up to the job, she says otherwise. And so it goes. His book is entitled "In the Center of the Storm". He sure is.
Inspection of reconstruction projects worth around 130 Million, that were working six month ago are now not operational. There are more than 70 plus other investigations on the success or maybe failure of reconstruction projects. Seems like everything is a mess. But Halliburton got paid.
The US is in the process of building walls around neighborhoods in Baghdad to impose control. The Iraqis don't want them. The US has been blamed for bringing unfair Zionist practices from Palestine to Iraq. Israel is building a wall between Israel and Palestine. In fact, there are walls being built all over the world
The Administration is trying to get the Iraqi Parliament to come to a political consensus. Mostly how are they going to divide the oil money. Some sort of political settlement will have to be reached if there is any chance for the violence to cease and surge to work. Well ,the Iraq Parliament is thinking about taking a three months summer vacation. What a mess.
Guantanamo is back in the picture. We apparently have said we have cleared 130 plus enemy combatants, but their country does not want them back. So it looks like we are stuck with them. Hard to believe.
Now we have a new sex scandal involving a high administration official, Tobias. The Government has accused a "Lady" of running a prostitution ring. She says no. I only provided companion ship, all the girl have college degrees and can carry on an intelligent conversation. But the Government "no way you got a call girl ring". She said layoff or I will publish my client telephone list. She did publish part of it and lo and behold here was Mr Tobias, a Senior official in the State Department. He said he only called to get a message, but resigned because he can not do his job anymore. Ha, Ha. So everyone is holding their breath for the rest of the list. She is going on Television and she is releasing them on TV a bit at a time. The "Lady" has today had her ankle locator removed. She only has to call in two or three times a week. You couldn't make this stuff up.
And Wolfowitz is still fighting for his job. The Bank Board keeps thinking about it so it is up in the air. He is not one of my favorite people. He carries a lot of fault for the present mess.
So a new chapter or two is revealed every day. I can only think of two proverbs that are at play
" You can fool some of the people all of the time, you can fool all of the people some of the time but you cannot fool all of the people all of the time" This Administration seems to have run out it's string.
We also have a poker saying "You have to know when to hold 'em and you have to know when to fold 'em" Seems like the President is going to continue to play a losing hand and bet with my grand kids money. It is time to fold 'em.
And you Old Codgers thought Beniyala was a mess.
Thursday, April 26, 2007
The fight goes on, now about round six
Sorry for the long gap. But I was busy with some new business. And then I had chest pains that took me to the Hospital. After four days of test and boredom in the hospital, caught in the clutches of the medical dragon,the dragon disgorged me. nothing was found. I now think it was digging up the backyard.
But in the meantime the political theatre continues.
The knives are still out for the Attorney General Gonzales. He did not do well in his hearing. He continually claimed he did nothing wrong but then couldn't remember anything he did. " I don't recall, I can't remember" 71 times does seem like a lot. So there is now even more Republicans deserting him and the overall pressure is on the President. The president continues to support him. Not sure why, But it is beginning to look to me that he is going to stick by everyone and everything and allow the Republican party go down in flame. After all he is only in office less than two years and then what does he care.
In the meantime we had the spectacle of the brother of Pat Tillman testifying before Congress. Pat Tillman was a professional football player that turned down a multi million dollar contract to enlist in the Army and become a Ranger. He was killed in action in Afghanistan. He was portrayed as a hero fighting and holding back Taliban to allow his unit to withdraw. This hero story was blownup and there was a national Funeral where even the president spoke. . What better patriotic story, Rah, Rah for the war. His family never believed what the Army told them and continued to try to get the truth. Finally it came out, the whole writeup for a Silver Star was fiction. he really was shot by his own troops in a friendly fire incident. And apparently the Army new it before the funeral and may even have tried to warn the president before he gave his speech. Four investigations by the Army have not clarified who did what. I thought the ending words of his brothers testimony was right to the point, "the way you can honor my brother is to tell the truth"
After this testimony Patricia Lynch talked about her experience where she was made out as a female Rambo defending her convey. Again an attempt at a big hero story but she was very quiet. She testified that she was captured eventually rescued but she never fired a shot and did not play the Rambo game. It was again an attempt to make up heroic stories.
After listening to all this you really do have to wonder whether anything from this Administration is to be believed. Only lately has the press gone back to asking the tough questions.
And then we had the incident of 32 people shot at Virginia Tech. It consumed the press and the internet for over a week. In contrast 32 of our young men and woman killed in Iraq don't get that kind of press.
Right jab, left jab and the battle on the budget for the Iraq war continues. The Democrats had met with the president and neither side gave in. Democrats claim that they are doing what the people elected them to do, change the strategy and get the US out. The president insist that he will veto the bill is there is any hint of a timetable. Republicans call it a surrender bill, hoisting the white flag. Republican always do have better wordsmiths.
Look like the bill, with a timetable, will get to the president on Tuesday. That is an interesting day. Exactly 4 years since the president landed on the aircraft Carrier to announce " Mission Accomplished". The prediction is the president will veto and the Democrats will have to decide on the counter jab My guess is that they will pass a bill with no timetable but with only enough money fro three months and ask the president to come back with an exit plan. What the President will do, I don't have a clue.
The Congress has issued some new subpoenas, one for Condalesa Rice. That has caused a big cry. Republicans says she has already answered all the question. We will see what happens here.
In the meantime the Supreme Court ruled that the EPA has the power to regulate CO2, but doesn't really want to. California has wanted to restricts CO2 from auto mobiles and has had a waiver request at the EPA to allow them to do it for over a year. Now that issue is settled CA wants the waiver and The Governator has said he will sue the EPA if he doesn't have in 180 days. So the environmental battle also continues.
Time for me to quit and say goodbye
But in the meantime the political theatre continues.
The knives are still out for the Attorney General Gonzales. He did not do well in his hearing. He continually claimed he did nothing wrong but then couldn't remember anything he did. " I don't recall, I can't remember" 71 times does seem like a lot. So there is now even more Republicans deserting him and the overall pressure is on the President. The president continues to support him. Not sure why, But it is beginning to look to me that he is going to stick by everyone and everything and allow the Republican party go down in flame. After all he is only in office less than two years and then what does he care.
In the meantime we had the spectacle of the brother of Pat Tillman testifying before Congress. Pat Tillman was a professional football player that turned down a multi million dollar contract to enlist in the Army and become a Ranger. He was killed in action in Afghanistan. He was portrayed as a hero fighting and holding back Taliban to allow his unit to withdraw. This hero story was blownup and there was a national Funeral where even the president spoke. . What better patriotic story, Rah, Rah for the war. His family never believed what the Army told them and continued to try to get the truth. Finally it came out, the whole writeup for a Silver Star was fiction. he really was shot by his own troops in a friendly fire incident. And apparently the Army new it before the funeral and may even have tried to warn the president before he gave his speech. Four investigations by the Army have not clarified who did what. I thought the ending words of his brothers testimony was right to the point, "the way you can honor my brother is to tell the truth"
After this testimony Patricia Lynch talked about her experience where she was made out as a female Rambo defending her convey. Again an attempt at a big hero story but she was very quiet. She testified that she was captured eventually rescued but she never fired a shot and did not play the Rambo game. It was again an attempt to make up heroic stories.
After listening to all this you really do have to wonder whether anything from this Administration is to be believed. Only lately has the press gone back to asking the tough questions.
And then we had the incident of 32 people shot at Virginia Tech. It consumed the press and the internet for over a week. In contrast 32 of our young men and woman killed in Iraq don't get that kind of press.
Right jab, left jab and the battle on the budget for the Iraq war continues. The Democrats had met with the president and neither side gave in. Democrats claim that they are doing what the people elected them to do, change the strategy and get the US out. The president insist that he will veto the bill is there is any hint of a timetable. Republicans call it a surrender bill, hoisting the white flag. Republican always do have better wordsmiths.
Look like the bill, with a timetable, will get to the president on Tuesday. That is an interesting day. Exactly 4 years since the president landed on the aircraft Carrier to announce " Mission Accomplished". The prediction is the president will veto and the Democrats will have to decide on the counter jab My guess is that they will pass a bill with no timetable but with only enough money fro three months and ask the president to come back with an exit plan. What the President will do, I don't have a clue.
The Congress has issued some new subpoenas, one for Condalesa Rice. That has caused a big cry. Republicans says she has already answered all the question. We will see what happens here.
In the meantime the Supreme Court ruled that the EPA has the power to regulate CO2, but doesn't really want to. California has wanted to restricts CO2 from auto mobiles and has had a waiver request at the EPA to allow them to do it for over a year. Now that issue is settled CA wants the waiver and The Governator has said he will sue the EPA if he doesn't have in 180 days. So the environmental battle also continues.
Time for me to quit and say goodbye
Saturday, April 14, 2007
Right jab left jab the fight goes on
The democratic congress and the republican administration are at each other all the time.
Congress asked for a report on the success of the 100 million spent by the administration to teach only abstinence from sex to teenagers. The study indicated that teenagers that had pledged abstinence had as much sex as those that hadn't. This will initiate a budget battle over the $ in the present budget.
The dogs are also after Wolwowitz. presently head of the World Bank for the last two years. Before that he was the architect of much of the war strategy under Rumsfeld and had a large part to play in the attack of Iraq. He was rammed down the throat of the Europeans. Democrats opposed his nomination but they were not in charge of Congress at the time so couldn't do anything. His main push was corruption, no money to any government that was corrupt even if people were starving. This was a shift from the previous focus on poverty, government got money for people that were starving even if they were corrupt.(need to think about that.) The old guard at the World bank got a little disturbed when this focus got lost for countries that were "fighting terrorism" even if they were corrupt. That is he didn't always follow his own rules. The Democrats have been waiting to find something to hang on him and now they have. Apparently he helped his girlfriend get a pretty good job. (I think US$ 200,000/year). I am not sure that he was that much in the wrong but the knives are out. He may end up having to resign. I thought he had escaped but there may be justice after all.
OOOps as part of the Gonzales muddle, the White House now says that they have lost four years of emails and can't provide the data Congress wants. The estimate is 5 million emails, but there is no way to know how many. Apparently the top level at the White House has two accounts, one for government business, which the law says must be preserved, and one for Republican political business that can be deleted. So which one do you use??? Even so I don't think you can lose them. They are on a server somewhere. Democrats are crying cover up, just like Nixon and the tapes.
The president has cast one veto in six years, against federal money for stem cell research. So Congress has just passed a bill still to be reconciled before going to the President that put federal money back in for stem cell research. With a proviso that stem cells can only come from embryos that are going to be discarded. The president has said he would veto it. Let's see what happens.
The Administration has gone to congress and has asked for increased surveillance power under the Patriots act. Something the democrats are against. It is only since democrats took control that the administration has said it would comply with the law. The president maintained that he had the power to do what he wanted since he was Commander in Chief in wartime. Unprecedented Presidential power.
So now the attack dog Vice President Cheney gave an interview and maintained that Democrats raise taxes, surrender in war and expose the US to new dangers. The Democratic dogs are saying the President is hunkered down in the White House like Nixon, losing emails, and not connected to reality.
Right jab, left Jab. What a mess but needed to get the country back in the middle.
The other interesting thing is that a lot of the drama is played out at the Congressional Committee hearings. Many are broadcast live on C-Span. I will be watching the Committee quiz Gonzales on Tuesday April 17.
Right jab, left jab many more rounds to go. It's hard to wrestle the wheel from the driver.
Congress asked for a report on the success of the 100 million spent by the administration to teach only abstinence from sex to teenagers. The study indicated that teenagers that had pledged abstinence had as much sex as those that hadn't. This will initiate a budget battle over the $ in the present budget.
The dogs are also after Wolwowitz. presently head of the World Bank for the last two years. Before that he was the architect of much of the war strategy under Rumsfeld and had a large part to play in the attack of Iraq. He was rammed down the throat of the Europeans. Democrats opposed his nomination but they were not in charge of Congress at the time so couldn't do anything. His main push was corruption, no money to any government that was corrupt even if people were starving. This was a shift from the previous focus on poverty, government got money for people that were starving even if they were corrupt.(need to think about that.) The old guard at the World bank got a little disturbed when this focus got lost for countries that were "fighting terrorism" even if they were corrupt. That is he didn't always follow his own rules. The Democrats have been waiting to find something to hang on him and now they have. Apparently he helped his girlfriend get a pretty good job. (I think US$ 200,000/year). I am not sure that he was that much in the wrong but the knives are out. He may end up having to resign. I thought he had escaped but there may be justice after all.
OOOps as part of the Gonzales muddle, the White House now says that they have lost four years of emails and can't provide the data Congress wants. The estimate is 5 million emails, but there is no way to know how many. Apparently the top level at the White House has two accounts, one for government business, which the law says must be preserved, and one for Republican political business that can be deleted. So which one do you use??? Even so I don't think you can lose them. They are on a server somewhere. Democrats are crying cover up, just like Nixon and the tapes.
The president has cast one veto in six years, against federal money for stem cell research. So Congress has just passed a bill still to be reconciled before going to the President that put federal money back in for stem cell research. With a proviso that stem cells can only come from embryos that are going to be discarded. The president has said he would veto it. Let's see what happens.
The Administration has gone to congress and has asked for increased surveillance power under the Patriots act. Something the democrats are against. It is only since democrats took control that the administration has said it would comply with the law. The president maintained that he had the power to do what he wanted since he was Commander in Chief in wartime. Unprecedented Presidential power.
So now the attack dog Vice President Cheney gave an interview and maintained that Democrats raise taxes, surrender in war and expose the US to new dangers. The Democratic dogs are saying the President is hunkered down in the White House like Nixon, losing emails, and not connected to reality.
Right jab, left Jab. What a mess but needed to get the country back in the middle.
The other interesting thing is that a lot of the drama is played out at the Congressional Committee hearings. Many are broadcast live on C-Span. I will be watching the Committee quiz Gonzales on Tuesday April 17.
Right jab, left jab many more rounds to go. It's hard to wrestle the wheel from the driver.
Thursday, April 12, 2007
Subpoenas and Gonzales
There is a hidden, at least not a well known, power that comes with being the majority party in Congress. The power of the subpoenas. We still have a reasonably intact judicial system and a subpoena places you under legal obligation to provide information or testify at a hearing. You have to do it under oath. So if you don't tell the truth you an be convicted of perjury and go to jail. Refusal to comply can result in serious consequences. The power of the subpoena is what the majority Democratic House and Senate has been using. It has initiated a large battle arena between the Whitehouse and the Congress.
The plight of the Attorney General Gonzales is an interesting example. He replaced eight federal attorney generals in the States. A little background, The justice department, especially the Attorney general, even though appointed by the president, he is expected to be even handed and apply justice without political involvement. Though he has the right to replace State Attorneys for whatever reason.
So the AG was asked about this in a hearing and he gave a weird answer, politics just where not involved, and he really was not involved and did not know much about it. His deputy testified that this was not entirely true. Another deputy refused to testify, took the 5th (don't have to incriminate yourself) and then actually resigned. So the Congressional Committee asked for some documents. And, lo and behold, up came an email stating that he had attended meetings about the replacements and another document that Karl Rove had wanted them replaced because they were too aggressive in actions against Republicans and not aggressive enough against Democrats. The President will not allow Rove to testify. He will let him be interviewed without oath, without record, and without releasing any information about the interview. Democrats said " no thanks". It appeared that Gonzales had tried to mislead the Committee. He said he didn't. Boy, that set off the battle cry. Democrats said he should resign, and even some Republicans agreed.
Now sitting in the background is the fact that Gonzales was behind the legal interpretations that putting prisoners in Guantanamo would get them away from Constitutional protection. He came up with the "enemy combatant" name and used it as the basis of a legal argument that they did not need to be afforded the protection of the Geneva Convention. And he came up with the legal opinion that torture was OK for terrorists. So he wasn't a real popular person with those that thought we shouldn't do this and that the Constitution did not allow this.
In addition he is an example of the opportunities the US provides. His Grandparents were illegal immigrants from Mexico. His parents and he was born here. They were poor but he worked hard and made it through law school and was eventually picked by Bush and moved up the ranks in Texas and the Whitehouse. So here he is, the top Justice position in the administration. A real success story. But he owes a lot to the p
President.
Congress has now asked for more documents. The Whitehouse has dragged its feet and doesn't really want to provide the documents. That has started another battle. Anyhow, Gonzales will testify in the coming weeks. The scuttlebutt is that he has been practicing like mad and does not come up well in practice sessions. He has cancelled all appointments and is working full time on his testimony.
None of this or any of the other information now being revealed by other Congressional Committees would have been exposed except for the power of the subpoena. So this is American democracy in action. The people voted for the Democrats, they became the majority party and gained the right to subpoena. Only the majority party has that right. If the Republicans had stayed the majority none of this would come out. The minority party can't subpoena.
I went many years without understanding the power of the subpoena.
And now I am sitting her trying to figure out why John Howard is sending more Australian troops to Iraq
The plight of the Attorney General Gonzales is an interesting example. He replaced eight federal attorney generals in the States. A little background, The justice department, especially the Attorney general, even though appointed by the president, he is expected to be even handed and apply justice without political involvement. Though he has the right to replace State Attorneys for whatever reason.
So the AG was asked about this in a hearing and he gave a weird answer, politics just where not involved, and he really was not involved and did not know much about it. His deputy testified that this was not entirely true. Another deputy refused to testify, took the 5th (don't have to incriminate yourself) and then actually resigned. So the Congressional Committee asked for some documents. And, lo and behold, up came an email stating that he had attended meetings about the replacements and another document that Karl Rove had wanted them replaced because they were too aggressive in actions against Republicans and not aggressive enough against Democrats. The President will not allow Rove to testify. He will let him be interviewed without oath, without record, and without releasing any information about the interview. Democrats said " no thanks". It appeared that Gonzales had tried to mislead the Committee. He said he didn't. Boy, that set off the battle cry. Democrats said he should resign, and even some Republicans agreed.
Now sitting in the background is the fact that Gonzales was behind the legal interpretations that putting prisoners in Guantanamo would get them away from Constitutional protection. He came up with the "enemy combatant" name and used it as the basis of a legal argument that they did not need to be afforded the protection of the Geneva Convention. And he came up with the legal opinion that torture was OK for terrorists. So he wasn't a real popular person with those that thought we shouldn't do this and that the Constitution did not allow this.
In addition he is an example of the opportunities the US provides. His Grandparents were illegal immigrants from Mexico. His parents and he was born here. They were poor but he worked hard and made it through law school and was eventually picked by Bush and moved up the ranks in Texas and the Whitehouse. So here he is, the top Justice position in the administration. A real success story. But he owes a lot to the p
President.
Congress has now asked for more documents. The Whitehouse has dragged its feet and doesn't really want to provide the documents. That has started another battle. Anyhow, Gonzales will testify in the coming weeks. The scuttlebutt is that he has been practicing like mad and does not come up well in practice sessions. He has cancelled all appointments and is working full time on his testimony.
None of this or any of the other information now being revealed by other Congressional Committees would have been exposed except for the power of the subpoena. So this is American democracy in action. The people voted for the Democrats, they became the majority party and gained the right to subpoena. Only the majority party has that right. If the Republicans had stayed the majority none of this would come out. The minority party can't subpoena.
I went many years without understanding the power of the subpoena.
And now I am sitting her trying to figure out why John Howard is sending more Australian troops to Iraq
Tuesday, April 10, 2007
Congress and the President take fighting stance
Well the big battle is shaping up, The President against the Congress. Even though the last elections went to to Democrats and then taking control of the House and Senate the President is not in any compromising mood.
So here is the issue
Congress both the House and the Senate passed the budget for the Iraq war but stipulated withdrawal conditions. The president says no way "he wants a clean bill" .Whatever that means.
The Congress has told him that he is no longer totally in charge, they are doing what the Constitution stipulates and are expressing what the people said they wanted done in the last election. The military says they will run out of money for the war between April and July. (depends on whose estimates you believe) He said he would veto the bills (but doesn't really want to) and Congress says "go ahead" But it is not clear the democrats have the votes to overturn the veto.
So it is a standoff. The President's polling numbers are down and the Congress numbers are up.
Stubborn would be a kind word.
In the meantime the president appointed an Ambassador , while Congress was in recess. that Congress had turned down. Legally he can do that but only for the President's term. This was like a slap in the face to the Democrats. And Nancy Pelosi, Speaker of the House of Representatives does a tour of the middle east including Israel, Iran, Iraq and Syria. Talking to countries that the President said he would never talk to. Drove the Republicans crazy. By the way she is third in the line for the presidency, right after the Vice President. She has just told the President she won't meet with him to tell him about her trip.
The president has invited the Congressional leadership to a meeting but said he will only talk about a clean bill. he will not compromise. Wow. The Congress says, well then how are we going to resolve our differences, and president just hauls out his old speeches about democracy and supporting the troops. Not many believe his rhetoric anymore. Even Fox Network, an ardent Presidential supporter, is starting to waver.
So here we have it, a real standoff. Not sure who will blink first. The president says I want a blank check for the war and the Congress says we wont sign it. So the saga continues
So here is the issue
Congress both the House and the Senate passed the budget for the Iraq war but stipulated withdrawal conditions. The president says no way "he wants a clean bill" .Whatever that means.
The Congress has told him that he is no longer totally in charge, they are doing what the Constitution stipulates and are expressing what the people said they wanted done in the last election. The military says they will run out of money for the war between April and July. (depends on whose estimates you believe) He said he would veto the bills (but doesn't really want to) and Congress says "go ahead" But it is not clear the democrats have the votes to overturn the veto.
So it is a standoff. The President's polling numbers are down and the Congress numbers are up.
Stubborn would be a kind word.
In the meantime the president appointed an Ambassador , while Congress was in recess. that Congress had turned down. Legally he can do that but only for the President's term. This was like a slap in the face to the Democrats. And Nancy Pelosi, Speaker of the House of Representatives does a tour of the middle east including Israel, Iran, Iraq and Syria. Talking to countries that the President said he would never talk to. Drove the Republicans crazy. By the way she is third in the line for the presidency, right after the Vice President. She has just told the President she won't meet with him to tell him about her trip.
The president has invited the Congressional leadership to a meeting but said he will only talk about a clean bill. he will not compromise. Wow. The Congress says, well then how are we going to resolve our differences, and president just hauls out his old speeches about democracy and supporting the troops. Not many believe his rhetoric anymore. Even Fox Network, an ardent Presidential supporter, is starting to waver.
So here we have it, a real standoff. Not sure who will blink first. The president says I want a blank check for the war and the Congress says we wont sign it. So the saga continues
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