Round 94
Your comments from 6/6/02 thru 6/24/02
A guest on Wisconsin Public Radio (EIB Lite) was ‘James Miskel (MISS-kull), Professor of National Security Affairs at the US Naval War College and former National Security Council Member in the Reagan and George H.W. Bush administrations.’ The WPR blurb reads that Miskel says “an investigation is needed–but it could easily go off on the wrong path.”
I didn’t hear the first part of the program, but undoubtedly it was a major spin job. I mean, who can believe anything out of the mouth of someone who was a NSC member during Reagan/Bush? Maybe he should have spoken about the Secret Government in the basement of the White House run by Ollie North. Eh?
The format of the program is that the host interviews the guest in the first half-hour and then callers ask questions in the second half. Freeper types often call. In this program, there were only 5 callers. The first 4 stated that the Bush administration knew of, or let the terrorist attacks happen for their own benefit. The last caller ended by saying that the Military Industrial Complex is taking advantage of the situation.
Wellllll, the host, Kathleen Dumb --- er, I mean Dunn, was nonplussed. Freaked. Stumbling over her words, she uttered, “You’d have to be enormously cynical to believe that –- wouldn’t you -– to believe that people knew about this and allowed it to happen? You would have to be depressed about being an American – that people are saying that.”
Poor Kathleen. This pillar of Marxist-Commie-Pinko-Libruul Public Radio announced that you have to be *mentally impaired* to recognize the TRUTH. Maybe John AssKKKrap will set up some clinics real soon. That might make a good program topic. Eh?
The mental illness of Truth must be spreading because it seems that more people are refusing to believe the LIES they are being told and they are speaking up about what they know.
AnnA
John AssKKKrap HAS been a buzy bee. ……….AnnA
Having spurred many states and localities into launching or intensifying programs to monitor dissident groups, Ashcroft's Justice Department is now supporting a series of training programs that explicitly urge police to worry not just about Al Qaeda-style terrorists but also about environmentalists and other troublesome activists. The core program was launched by one of Justice's twenty-eight Regional Community Policing Institutes, based at Wichita State University in Kansas, which helps train police from 650 departments in Kansas and Nebraska. In its curriculum, called A Police Response to Terrorism in the Heartland: Integrating Law Enforcement Intelligence and Community Policing, the Wichita institute urges police to collect information on "enemies in our own backyard," including "the Green Movement" --described in a footnote as "environmental activism that is aimed at political and social reform with the explicit attempt to develop environmental-friendly policy, law and behavior."
http://www.thenation.com/doc.mhtml?i=20020603&c=3&s=dreyfuss
I can't explain it, but a right wing fan of Andrew Sullivan, andy wannabe Coutier, is a gay right wing infoganda writer, this fan started posting a couple of anti-gay posts.
This is one of the items he posted.
Parents Enraged At Nick's Plan To Air Program on Homosexuality
http://www.cnsnews.com/ViewCulture.asp?Page=\Culture\archive\200206\CUL20020605c.html
..... between dubya being pResident, and a fan of a homosexual political writer who is now posting ...ra ra pom poms for anti0 gay restrictions of media programs... just does not make sense to me.
To put it mildly..... these people are freaks. Almost everyday I get this Sulllivans posts as..."great mind thinking"...yet just tonight the same person who would post Sullivan now posts... "Nick is wrong in informing kids about gay people."
Sorry, I just don't get our right wing Amurrricans............. Tom
Here's a different take...
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...we should make sure that the administration doesn't just transfer the drug war and its attendant lavish funding from the FBI to the DEA, which will no doubt show up on the Hill any day now, looking for more money to take up the drug fighting slack.
As the soaring budget deficit reminds us, federal coffers are not a bottomless well.
Everything comes with a price. Sadly, it's looking more and more like the price of the drug war may have included the 3,056 lives lost on Sept. 11.
http://www.commondreams.org/views02/0605-05.htm
BA_BureauChief
A Texas company that created the software for California's energy market later presented energy companies with strategies for "gaming" the system, state senators investigating California's energy crisis said Wednesday.
The strategies outlined in the copy of a computerized presentation by Perot Systems Corp. mirror those by Enron Corp. traders detailed in recently released memos, said Sen. Joe Dunn, chairman of the Senate Select Committee to Investigate Price Manipulation of the Wholesale Energy Market.
The Perot presentation is "significant evidence" about whether Perot Systems is "at the core of what ultimately became the economic rape of California consumers," Dunn said.
The company denied wrongdoing.
--- more ---
http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/news/archive/2002/06/05/financial1859EDT0369.DTL
BA_BureauChief
The magnitude of Ms. Rowley's role in exposing the mishandling of vital intelligence has no direct parallel. However, it can be likened in the private sector to the central role that Sherron Watkins played in exposing the extent of corporate culpability in the Enron scandal. In August 2001, just weeks before the company's collapse, Ms. Watkins warned Kenneth Lay, Enron's chairman, of improper accounting and management practices. And in January she testified before the House Energy and Commerce Committee about the explicit warnings she had written in her memo to him. When the dust settles from all the investigations into the Enron debacle, not only are criminal indictments likely, but so are accounting and corporate governance reforms.
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Anita F. Hill is a professor of law, social policy and women's studies at the Heller Graduate School at Brandeis University.
http://www.nytimes.com/2002/06/06/opinion/06HILL.html
BA_BureauChief
Click here, then go forward...
http://www.doonesbury.com/strip/dailydose/index.cfm?uc_full_date=20020604&uc_comic=db&uc_daction=X
(A Puppy?)
BA_BureauChief
FEEDBACK
THOMAS MOUNTAIN - The India-Pakistan problems are based not on religion, primarily, but caste/Varna/color. 95% of Muslims in South Asia are converted Dalits or, as most know of them, untouchables, as are most of the Christians, Buddhists or other religious minorities. The so called "low castes" or indigenous, black population of India have converted to other religions to escape the most barbaric, inhumane system of racist oppression in the world, Aryanism/Hinduism. In Islam, as in Christianity, Buddhism, Jainism, Sikhism etc, all are equal under god and are opposed to the caste system (the word "caste" is what the Portuguese called what is more accurately titled "Varna", which in Sanskrit literally translates into "color." In other words your "color" determines your status in life in the Aryan/Hindu religious beliefs of reincarnation)
Tens of millions of Muslim converts wanted no part of the Brahmin social order under the Nehrus and Gandhis who inherited power from the British upon Indian independence. The Muslims knew that the Hindus would continue to treat them in a subhuman, racist manner and demanded their own country, Pakistan . . . It is time the world wake up and start to recognize the reality of the caste system in India, what Dalits have long called "Apartheid in India." Until India becomes an international outcaste, and Dalits win their rightful place as representing the majority of India's people, the continued threat of nuclear war by India against Pakistan will continue.
BA_BureauChief
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"They should be proud of themselves," one of the guys said. "They chased all the Gottis. So they don't watch the World Trade Center that got a lot of people killed."
http://www.newsday.com/news/columnists/ny-nybres062734468jun06.column?coll=ny%2Dnews%2Dcolumnists
BA_BureauChief
I know ...... I know ...... but check this out ....AnnA
http://www.glennbeck.com/news/06062002.shtml
All the talk is about the failure of the FBI and new plans to be on the look out for swarthy types as if the terra-ist is going to show up at the airport with a goat. But to find the terrorists of the future, go to those gated Aramco communities and see who is outside the gate looking in.
While we ignite the brush fires (or possible holocosts) of South Asia, the intentional blind spot in press coverage is Saudi Arabia. Despite these facts:
World War II proved that armies moved on more than their stomachs--they need oil. After Yalta, FDR had a less publicized meeting with the Saudis that guaranteed our oil and their security.
With the formation of Aramco, Big Oil calls the shots in Saudi Arabia.
Bin Laden, in interviews, is usually quite clear about his objective--the liberation of his home country from U.S. dominated regimes.
Most of the 9-11 hijackers were Saudi Arabians.
What could be more threatening to hopes for a reformed Saudi Arabia than an almost-elected U.S. Administration consisting of Big Oil people?
Drilling ANWAR is just throwing a bone to friends--it does nothing to make us less reliant on Saudi Arabia.
Saudi VIPs were off limits to pre- 9-11 intelligence scrutiny (and maybe they still are).
Saddam attacked Kuwait, but we were defending Saudi Arabia.
The focus on disputed Jeruselem, Holy city for three religions, covers up the real issue for Muslims--a U.S. backed regime controlling Mecca and Medina.
Attention mass media: Saudi Arabia!
When Americans elect a proponent of alternative energy sources (or did we?), we will be able to stand down our alert status to...teal?
DJM
http://www.ucomics.com/boondocks/
DJM
If your dart board is becoming a bit ragged, here's something to perk it up...
http://www.talkers.com/heavy.html
BA_BureauChief
WASHINGTON, June 6 — President Bush will tell the American people tonight that he wants to create a Cabinet-level domestic security office in what the White House says would be the biggest government reorganization in more than a half-century.
Mr. Bush will talk about his proposal in a television address beginning at 8 p.m. The White House has asked the networks to broadcast the speech.
"The purpose is to protect the homeland from terror," said Ari Fleischer, the White House spokesman. "We can and will do more."
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http://www.nytimes.com/2002/06/06/politics/06CND-BUSH.html
If Bill Clinton tried "the biggest government reorganization in more than a half-century"... Imagine the complete and unshakeable support he'd receive from FMR Talk Radio...
Yeah.
Neither can I.
BA_BureauChief
In a style reminiscent of R. Crumb, check it out:
http://www.derfcity.com/n/newtoon.html
http://www.derfcity.com/n/newtoon1.html
http://www.derfcity.com/n/newtoon2.html
http://www.derfcity.com/n/newtoon3.html
BA_BureauChief
Of course, there is no subsitute for the original...
http://www.crumbmuseum.com/snoid4.html
and...
http://www.crumbmuseum.com/newmonica.html
http://www.crumbmuseum.com/xyz.html
Ahhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh...
BA_BureauChief
I was just checking the worthless CSPAN TV schedule, which lists NO TIMES today or friday for cable TV broadcast of the Senate Judiciary Cmte. FBI ...counter terrorism...FBI Director Mueller.... Agent Coleen Rowley testify....
While at CSPAN I took a look at posts at the message board on this subject. Some of the interesting urls posted were links that were killed by "?domain owners".
An interesting live(for now) url posted [? reader beware on validity of this?] claims "In mid December, Fox News Channel ran a blockbuster series on Israeli spying in the US contending that Israeli intelligence had advanced information about the Sept. 11 attacks before the fact. After significant pressure, Fox pulled the reports from their Website and went about deleting all references to the series of their's and other Websites. Fox has never given any explanation for this action. The original transcripts which appeared on Fox's Website are reprinted here."
http://www.firefox.1accesshost.com/cameron.html
Webstream good today, earlier this week some of the Malloy ieamerica webcasts were awful to unlistenable.
PC
Gotta' click this....
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Suskind's article started out as a profile of Karen Hughes. In the middle of Suskind's reporting of the story, Karen announced her resignation -- which might have been a bad setback for Suskind. But the resourceful Suskind went on to report the real reaction in the White House to Karen's departure -- and, in the process, pierced the shroud of secrecy that protects the Bush White House from being seen for what it really is, a bitterly driven PR operation propping up a mindless Boy King.
A few of the revelations:
--- more ---
http://www.mediawhoresonline.com
BA_BureauChief
That MWO story is just astounding. The questions it brings to mind make my pea brain turn to soup.
Bush is “struck” that he has to make lots and lots of decisions? OMG!!! This guy actually thought being the Resident was just like his figurehead position in Texas, only with more adoration? He actually thought he could play his video games and do his workouts and let everyone do everything for him all the time, just like in Texas?
No wonder Bush feels “comfortable in his own skin.” KKKaren has performing all his bodily functions for him. Poor Bunny. He has so many decisions to make he has to give a lot of them to KKKaren. Well, who the $#&@ elected her? Fitting. The unelected resident has an advisor run the country for his convenience. Remember how the FMR howled about Hillary not being elected? “Who does she think she is?” they continually shrieked about Hillary’s “arrogance.”
Who is going to be making decisions once KKKaren leaves? Surely, KKKarl already has his own quota of decisions. Will he become more and more powerful? Who will he delegate to? Grover Norquist and Paul Weyrich?
Without KKKaren, Bunny will probably loose his equilibrium and do something really, really stupid…… like start WWIII. KKKarl will be all for that. And Rummy. And Wolfowitz.
Maybe this illegal administration will be removed before that. Hopefully.
AnnA
Speaking of pea soup for brains ….. Rummy explains Total War ……AnnA
Rumsfeld was defending Washington's view that the United States and its allies could not wait for "absolute proof" before taking action against groups and states suspected of acquiring weapons of mass destruction.
"The message is that there are no knowns. There are things we know that we know. There are known unknowns, that is to say there are things we now know we don't know. But there are also unknown unknowns -- things we do not know we don't know.
"So when we do the best we can and we pull all this information together, and we then say 'well, that's basically what we see as the situation', that is really only the known knowns and the known unknowns. And each year we discover a few more of those unknown unknowns," he said.
Acknowledging that his argument might sound like a riddle, Rumsfeld concluded with a flourish: "There is another way to phrase that, and that is that the absence of evidence is not evidence of absence."
http://www.reuters.com/news_article.jhtml?type=politicsnews&StoryID=1058803
Hi all,
I'm new here to the message board but long time listener to Mike. About a week or two ago, I heard a caller to the show mention the number of the Executive Order by Bush that stymied the investigations into bin Laden and the gang. If anyone knows that Orders' number or a site on-line in which I can download it, please post on the board. I'll monitor for replies.
Thanks, Ron
Translation of Bunnypant's Thursday night speech:
Remember all that "smoke em' out" rhetoric?
Fuhgetaboutit.
We didn't have a clue what to do in September, or October, or November, but I gave some damned good speeches and we pissed away a shitload of money since September 11th. Now we need another shitload of money. It won't make you any safer, and there are no guarantees, but it damn sure will create jobs. And give me another 169,000 people to blame for my administration's failures.
That's what America needs.
More jobs to go around.
And more blame to spread around.
You believed me before, and I know you'll believe me now.
Karl Rove has the phony polling to prove it.
George W. Bush luuuuuves you !!!
BA_BureauChief
---------------
Here's the rundown from CNN.com:
• Proposed first year budget of $37.45 billion
• More than 100 agencies now cover homeland security
• Department would employ 169,154 people
• Last time government underwent such a major overhaul: 1947
• Last time new Cabinet agency created: 1988 (Department of Veterans Affairs)
...I wonder if Rusty Lamebaugh will endorse the Shrub Plan with the same warm conservative embrace he gave "Hillary Care" in 1993 ???
Yeah. Right.
Dan, you can check these two out. This may not be exactly what you're looking for, but....
The Bush administration changed Bill Clinton's policy towards Afghanistant to appease Al Qaeda, the Taliban, and their Saudi backers to promote the interests of oil companies, putting profits for campaign contributors ahead of fighting terrorism:
They prevented FBI terrorism experts from investigating Saudi Arabian ties to Al Qaeda before 911, leading to the resignation of FBI Deputy Director John O'Neill only two weeks before 911
They ordered the Naval Strike Force - which President Clinton deployed near Afghanistan on 24-hour alert in order to strike Osama Bin Laden - to "stand down" before 911
They gave $43 million to the Taliban in April 2001
http://democrats.com/elandslide/petition.cfm?campaign=911
The Nation
The warning game:
http://www.thenation.com/capitalgames/index.mhtml?bid=3&pid=63
From Bush's speech. Could THIS be the purpose (other than diversion)?
An aide to House Speaker J. Dennis Hastert (R-Ill.) said the plan would force Congress to revamp its lines of authority for funding and oversight of civil defense. "You can't have this sort of profound change in the agencies without profound changes in the Congress as well," the aide said.
Oops, I meant Ron, not Dan.
Why do so many Americans supposedly support George W. Bush? I believe the reason is basically psychological and is therefore very complicated. Explanations create wheels inside wheels. Here is one small piece of the bigger picture.
Remember how the riech-wing expressed ‘surprise’ that this country “came together” after September 11th? While their surprise once again exposed their boundless arrogance, it also illustrated what Lawrence LeShan talks about in “The Psychology of War.”
LeShan categorizes several modes of perceiving reality including sensory reality and mythic reality. Sensory reality is how most of us perceive everyday life. Mythic reality is the psychology of war.
Mythic reality is where conservatives live all the time. They are always at war. Their world is narrowed to cartoonish images of ultimate good vs ultimate evil. It’s the white hats vs. the black hats. Mythic reality demands a constant villain to rail against. Communists, feminists, secular humanists, homosexuals, liberals and of course the Debbil are among the favorite enemies of mythic perceivers.
Mythic reality is the basis of fundamentalism. It is also what Limbaugh is all about. Mythic reality is the basis of “family values” that has recently morphed into “worldview.” This is the major reason that sensory perceivers have such a hard time communicating with mythic perceivers. There really are two separate realities.
LeShan says that during the Vietnam war, the majority of the population never shifted from sensory to mythic reality. That proved a real problem for the War Machine. When the Trade Towers were bombed, this entire nation careened into mythic reality. This entire nation shifted into the reality where conservatives always exist. No wonder they were surprised! Switching to the mythic mode is a natural and expected outcome of being attacked, especially being attacked in such a dramatic and devastating way. Conversely, this is one answer to ‘why they hate us.’
Bush’s war-on-terra speeches have all been geared to the mythic perception of reality. The continual terra warnings and his continual harping about the “evil ones” are not so much geared to “scaring” the population as much as they are a function of keeping us in the mythic mode.
Bush’s “popularity” ratings are not so much about him as they are about how the population is perceiving reality. Whatever labels they give to the situation, those who operate at the highest levels of the Bush Family Empire are well aware of these psy-ops manipulations. Make no mistake, from the very beginning of this reich-wing takeover, those at the top have always employed the most manipulative and the most sophisticated psychological warfare in order to destroy this democracy.
Psychological warfare and the psychology of war are the makings of Bush’s popularity ratings.
AnnA
Does the Attorney General have a policy to fingerprint home-grown terra'ists? I am more fearful of these Montana terra'ists than middle-eastern folk!
http://www.nytimes.com/2002/06/07/opinion/07KRIS.html
So let's just go with it, the common wisdom: It is unpatriotic to criticize the president and we need to rally and be strong now, united we stand, especially in our collective misunderstanding of foreign policy and oil stratagems and the deeper root causes of 9/11.
Or rather, you can criticize if you like, but Bush's image is now being so carefully controlled you feel a little ashamed and slightly guilty doing so, like that feeling you'd get if you teased, say, a quadriplegic. Or a child. And this is exactly how they want you to feel.
It is a bizarre duality, a cleverly wrought irony: Bush is spun so he appears rather plain and simpleminded and not really mentally agile enough to be openly complicit in the coverup-related decisions he's being accused of, a feeling that, aww shucks, he's still just a good ol' daddy's boy from the oilier parts of Texas who don't know no better and how dare you accuse this Very Nice Man of leveraging the horror of 9/11 for political gain. Besides, that's Cheney's job.
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http://www.sfgate.com/columnists/morford/
BA_BureauChief
Ferguson Foont:
It seems that Virginia's Republican House Speaker, S. Vance Wilkins, has got himself involved in what might be called "a situation." In the fine Republican tradition, he's tried to paper it over with a fairly large quantity of greenbacks while strangely denying any "wrongdoing," but it makes some amusing light reading now that the press has got wind of it.
For example, there's this quote: "I don't comment on personal things -- I just think that's not appropriate," Wilkins said last week.
Here's the story in this morning's "Washington Post":
Va. Speaker Settles Sex Complaint
Wilkins Paid Woman at Least $100,000, Denies Accusations
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A9360-2002Jun6.html
The Problem
The problem was not that we didn't have enough "intelligence data." The problem was not that this data wasn't shared appropriately. The problem was not that those ultimately responsible for enforcement failed to recognize the importance of this data. The problem was not that the agencies involved did not have any statutory mandate to act on the data.
The problem was that the agencies were prevented from acting because of orders from the top. Not the top of the FBI or the CIA, but the top of the Department of Justice and the top of the executive branch.
The problem does not lie with the Federal law enforcement community. It lies with the manner by which we were prevented from electing our government's leaders in November of 2000, which ensured that our government does not have the American people as its paramount constituency and does not regard the interests of the American people as their first priority.
Foont
I began to teach myself to read at the age of two. My mother took me with her one day to the Westover Branch of the Arlington County (Virginia) Public Library and set me at this large rectangular table in the center of the room while she browsed the shelves.
On the table in front of me, a previous patron had left a book about astronomy that was illustrated by the incomparable spacescape painter Chesley Bonestell. To this day, more than half a century later, I still remember some of the illustrations in that book: One was of a gaseous jet ejected from the sun as another star passed nearby, in the shape of a cigar, to illustrate the Jeans/Jeffries theory of the creation of the solar system. Another was of an icy landscape under a yellow sky with a ringed planet dominating the sky through a diaphonous cloud cover, depicting the view from the surface of Saturn's moon Titan. Another was of a frozen waste looking out at a single extremely bright beacon amid a starry black sky, representing the view from Pluto's surface.
These pictures enthralled my two-year-old mind and I peppered my mother with questions about what they were supposed to be. She couldn't tell me, nor could anyone else to whom I had access.
So I bothered my infinitely patient and kind grandfather to read to me, over and over again, a poem in Golden Book form, "The House that Jack Built," until I had memorized it. Then I picked out all the words on the page. I then began to pick out these words in the pages of The Washington Post, both in themselves and as parts of other words, and by the age of four I could read the whole newspaper and could finally get that book and read it myself.
First grade was terribly boring for me. I read at a higher level by my third birthday than anything contained in "Dick and Jane," which had just been introduced. Second grade was better, because our teacher, the astonishingly beautiful (even at that early age I could tell! She resembled that ADA on "Law & Order," Angie Harmon) Miss Steindorff, issued us the dog-eared McGuffey Readers that were still around (only the year before in Arlington County were they abandoned at the first grade level in favor of Dick and Jane), and it contained material suitable for all levels through the eighth grade.
I remain firmly convinced to this day that our society began to fall into decadence when we abandoned the McGuffey Reader, with its strongly moralistic allegories and progressive levels of difficulty contained in the same volume, as the primary tool for teaching our youngest pupils to read.
But I digress. Conservatives, through their political organ, the Republican Party, oppose the very concept of public education, but they realize that to reveal their opposition openly would be politically suicidal. They therefore mouth words supporting public education even as they portray it as a failure and work at all levels of jurisdiction to gut its funding and call its precepts and its methods into question.
Opposition to public education is an essential component of the most basic philosophy of the Republican Party. The Republican Party represents the interests of the economic aristocracy in America, and one of the chief interests of this constituency is exclusivity of privilege. If everyone enjoys the perquisites of wealth, then what's the good of being rich?
But public education threatens this exclusivity quite directly, by providing the means by which class mobility is achieved. The goal of eliminating public education, or crippling it to the point at which it becomes valueless, serves not only the interest of exclusivity of privilege, but also the more direct political interests of the party. Education is the bane of gullibility, but the Republican Party absolutely depends on the gullibility of the masses for their appeal.
But they are clever, these Republicans. They realize that some education is necessary in order for them to obtain competent thralls and high-quality manufactured objects. So they politically attack the public school curricula that provides broader training in science, history and character in favor of courses oriented toward vocational training. They strive to dumb down the content of literature so as to hamper comprehension even while maintaining the teaching of the technical ability to read, so that their propaganda can be promulgated to an uncritical audience unable to discern their semantic deceits or withstand their appeals to emotion.
What's the good of the Heritage Foundation if nobody reads and believes their rationalized fallacies? Bush could not have benefited from his war if nobody could read the jingoistic reports from his spokesmen.
I, on the other hand, believe that the ability to read, if not accompanied by the ability to reason and an understanding of logic, places the independence of the mind at risk. It's one thing to say, "Don't believe everything you read," but it's another thing entirely to be able to discern why you should or should not believe any given piece of reading material, or indeed anything to which you may be subjected that is intended to persuade.
If you bear in mind that the Republican goal is feudalism, with an inherited aristocracy and a loyal peasantry in service to their liegelords, then every aspect of Republican political behavior that may have puzzled you in the past, including their opposition to something as obviously beneficial to society as public education, will become suddenly crystal clear and consistent.
Ferguson Foont
Here's a thought about how to solve the Pakistan-India problem (and other territorial disputes) while, at the same time, blunting some of the repugnance our allies show for Bush's Preemptive strike doctrine. First we make them all IMF loans (because they're going to need a lot of money for this). Then we start selling them Star Wars technology. Since it's not yet fully developed, we will only be able to take orders, but the defense companies can put the future revenues on the books and drive up their stock values.
DJM
JGRRL here--in beautiful, sunny, progressive Northern California!!!
I escaped Appalachia successfully--and drove like a bat out of hell to get out of the midwest...and when we got to the CA border, the border check dude remarked how much he liked my bumper sticker, which reads: Remember Florida. Vote Democrat in 2002.
I was going to put another one on the car to read: Had enough? Vote Democrat forever.
If you haven't made a road trip across country recently, I highly recommend it--especially to go west!
Senator Joe Lieberman, newly of the Flying Monkee Left, anounced last night that congress needs to "remember the anger" it experienced in the aftermath of 9-11 when they vote on Bush's wacky Fatherland Security programs.
If congress can't be cooly deliberative, it's no better than mob rule.
djm
Click here:
http://www.dailyhowler.com/h051502_2.shtml
Then browse around.
DJM
Ron
First, welcome to the board.
As for your question. "I heard a caller to the show mention the number of the Executive Order by Bush that stymied the investigations into bin Laden and the gang. If anyone knows that Orders' number or a site on-line in which I can download it, please post on the board."
Some story printed some actions done by dubya as part of Executive Orders. Yet there has been no confirmation to which one. I know cause I have also asked around.
Will be glad to let you know, as soon as I find it posted.
Until then, jump in and share your views...... Tom
While you are just sittin' there, this is a good read....... Tom
.....
The New York Review of Books June 27, 2002
Review True Confessions By Jane Mayer
Blinded by the Right: The Conscience of an Ex-Conservative by David Brock
http://www.nybooks.com/articles/15522
DJM
If you like the Daileyhowler, then you might want to look at this...then look around..... Tom
...
NewsMax By the Numbers
Would you buy stock in this company? Should anyone?
By Terry Krepel
There's NewsMax the web site, NewsMax the magazine and NewsMax the infomercial. Are you ready for NewsMax the IPO?
http://conwebwatch.tripod.com/stories/2002/nmstock.html
Something else to look around at.... Tom
The Julie Hiatt Steele Video Will Include Interviews with...
http://kentbye.com/julie/julie.htm
Every one of us has two parents, four grandparents, eight great-grandparents, etc. By the time you get back to the first century AD, approximately 100 generations ago, you have billions of direct ancestors and so do all the billions of other people who are alive today. Obviously, there weren't enough people back then so we all must share our ancestors.
Recently, geneticists have found that to be the case. Studying mitochondrian DNA, they have drawn a strong case for African origins of humanity and have found that the genetic differences within an ethnic group are larger than the differences between groups.
As race and ethnicity disappear in biological terms, it continues to be the leading cause of war. We create differences in our mind and then we go to war to protect them.
Profiling on the basis of race or ethnicity is, in genetic terms, ludicrous. The Attorney-General would have to be a Creationist to believe it to work.
DJM
The Risks of 'Protection':
Panic Over Youthful Sexuality Endangers Kids
by Laura Flanders
http://commondreams.org/views02/0606-08.htm
...
this is also a link within Flanders article
Pop Stand: Insta-pundit! My brief,
harrowing television career
Kristin Tillotson Star Tribune
http://www.startribune.com/stories/389/2254674.html
Tom,
Thanks for the tip. While I was reading the review of Brock's book I had a thought which was apparently shared by one of ConWeb's writers.
If Brock is a Liar, then we shouldn't believe anything he said about Anita Hill. But it doesn't really matter to the FMR that Brock's past utterances are discredited as well. Once you've done a hatchet job, you can't put the pieces together again.
To paraphrase the paraphrase of the Reagan-era comment I mentioned above, The lie gets heard by millions; the retraction is heard by hundreds.
DJM
SEEKING HOMELAND SECURITY
June 7, 2002 -- President Bush's proposal for a new, Cabinet-level, Department of Homeland Security is responsive to the nation's changing, post-Cold War security needs - and, in that sense, it is welcome.
http://nypost.com/postopinion/editorial/43651.htm
While you are just sittin' there, this is a good read....... Tom
.....
The New York Review of Books June 27, 2002
Review True Confessions By Jane Mayer
Blinded by the Right: The Conscience of an Ex-Conservative by David Brock
http://www.nybooks.com/articles/15522
---------------------
Tom,
You're right, that was a fascinating read.
It also validated just about everything I'd been thinking about the "right" (i.e., "wrong") for the past decade. The only thing left out, although it's obvious given the rest, was the role of the Bush Crime Family in 9/11.
Dr. Scott somosuno@aol.com
Speaking of O'Reilly, he was O'really under the gun last night, being attacked by some Hollywood reporter. He said that (actor)Alec Baldwin needs to substantiate his allegations that Fox News is "facist." Wrong. I think it's up to Fox to demonstrate that they're not.
He also said that Ted Kennedy couldn't tell him what his (the Senator's) great ideas were for homeland security so he had no right to criticize the President.
You can squeeze these guys but you won't get a drop of reason.
DJM
Gotta' click this...
http://democrats.com/display.cfm?id=278
BA_BureauChief
What a world we have, wouldn't you say B_A?
The Post gives a fair and balanced op/ed regarding SEEKING HOMELAND SECURITY, and any review of this administration would point out where our biggest threat is comming from.
from within,
What a world we now have....yikes......... Tom
from bartcop forum posted by party_like_its_1984:
In response to the USATODAY "timeline" what's missing here?
...because it would look something like this:
1997. Texas Oil/Enron people decide that they want to control a pipeline from the huge former USSR oil reserves to the rest of the world. A touching Texas-Uzbekistani friendship blossoms ( http://www.thesmokinggun.com/doc_o_day/bushlay12.shtml ). Lay & co. decide that Bush should become president so that they can romp all over the world and do what they did to Argentina.
1997-1998. Money and agreement with the plan is lined up. Many want in on the action to have more control over government regulation of various industries.
2000. Bush wins the "money primary" thus guaranteeing that he will be the GOP nominee. The actual primaries are a formality. McCain is dispatched by professionals.
2000. The election looks to be close, so a dirty tricks campaign is prepared for Florida which they know will be crucial.
Nov. 2000. Bush doesn't win but get's to be president anyway.
Dec. 2000. Greg Palast figures out what happened in the election and explains it in detail. The US media ignores it and pretends that Bush actually won.
January 2001. The feeding frenzy begins.
Winter 2001. Bush stops investigations of his ex business partners and begins negotiations with the Taliban to give major pipeline contracts to Enron and to turn over Bin Laden. Plans are made to take control of Afganistan.
Spring 2001. The negotiations don't go well. The Talib's won't play ball and want to give contracts to an Argentine company instead of Enron. The Bushes threaten the Taliban "carpet of gold or carpet of bombs." Negotiations break down.
Spring 2001. The CIA begins spending about $1B to pay off Afgani warlords (ever wonder why they were on our side?). Plans for taking over Afganistan are drawn up.
Summer 2001. There are increasing indications that Bin Laden is planning a major terrorist attack on US soil.
Late summer 2001. The Bush people take care of their personal safety but otherwise do nothing. Some of those in the know unwisely buy put options on American and United Airlines.
September 2001. Al Qeda attacks. The airlines, police and firemen have no warning. Thousands of innocent people die.
September 12,2001. The Bush people are taken aback by the size and success of the attack, but they quickly move to take advantage of the situation using the upswelling of public support to accelerate the feeding frenzy and to sieze unprecedented powers. Also, it's Clinton's fault.
November, 2001. Greg Palast figures the whole thing out and explains what happened in detail with first hand accounts and documents on the BBC.
December, 2001. - Nothing from the US Media -
January, 2002. - Nothing from the US Media -
February, 2002. - Nothing from the US Media -
March, 2002. - Nothing from the US Media -
April, 2002. Ex Unocal consultant installed as President of Afganistan. Pipeline deal signed.
April, 2002. - Nothing from the US Media -
May, 2002. Unraveling of the story begins as so many FBI agents, CIA agents, foreign press, foreign governments report that the attacks were known that a cover story must be formulated. The cover story: FBI "bungling" and bureaucratic miscommunication caused an intelligence failure. US media propagate the cover story diligently.
June, 2002. The cover story begins unravelling.
what to tell our republican friends when they ask us:
"Why don't people here like President Bush?"
On a personal level, I knew as soon as that Talk magazine interview came out where he mocked Carla Fay Tucker (on death row to be executed by his order) - his lips quivering in mock desperation: "Pleeeeease don't kill meeeee." He reminds me a bit of the golum from Lord of the Rings, actually. Such a person is not a fully formed human being in the moral sense. It is obviously dangerous to put someone like that in a position of power.
Because he is a swaggering facist thug. Because he attempts to operate by intimidation and grabbing as much power as he can get away with.
OK, on to policy:
o Because he and his friends are absolutely LOOTing the treasury. The national debt is our debt. We will each personally have to pay for that. The benefit of his rich friends far outweighs his duty to us.
o Because he and his friends are prepared to destroy our own country for their own benefit. Nothing is sacred to these people - they would destroy our environment and leave the country if they could get away with it.
o Because he has put murderous war criminals in positions of power. He has at least helped plan the violent overthrow of a neighboring democracy.
o Because paying off his friends in the defense industry has a much higher priority than actually defending the country. He is willing to leave the US poorly defended and willing to make the world a more dangerous place as long as his friends get the defense contracts that they want.
o Because he and his friends are attempting to permanently take control of my country by corrupting the courts and controlling the media (see David Brock's book).
o Because as soon as he got his slimy hands on US foreign policy and the US military, he used them to make sure that his oil buddies got the deals they want instead of using them to our and the world's benefit.
o Because he stole the 2000 election by disenfranchising thousands of voters illegally and by a post-election corruption.
Isn't that enough?
the above entry was from Saul in Boston
FMR Business As Usual with Teflon Ronnie... What will we learn 17 years from now?
------------
Under the guise of protecting national security, the FBI conducted wide-ranging and unlawful intelligence operations concerning the University of California that at different points involved the head of the CIA and then-Gov. Ronald Reagan, The Chronicle has learned.
According to thousands of pages of FBI records obtained by The Chronicle after a 17-year legal fight, the FBI unlawfully schemed with the head of the CIA to harass students, faculty and members of the Board of Regents, and mounted a concerted campaign to destroy the career of UC President Clark Kerr, which included sending the White House derogatory allegations about him that the bureau knew were false.
The FBI, in contrast, developed a "close and cordial" relationship with Reagan, who made campus unrest a major issue and vowed to fire Kerr during his 1966 gubernatorial campaign.
And after he was elected, the FBI failed to report that Reagan falsely stated on a federal security clearance form that he never had been a member of any group officially deemed subversive, an omission that could have been prosecuted as a felony.
The FBI later secretly gave Gov. Reagan's administration information it could use "against" protesters.
The disclosure of the FBI activities concerning the University of California during the 1950s and 1960s comes as the bureau has been granted wider authority and more resources to conduct domestic intelligence activities, and as President Bush seeks to create a new Department of Homeland Security.
--- more ---
http://sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/chronicle/archive/2002/06/09/MNCFLEADIN.DTL
BA_BureauChief
Read this article, then remember who's the Resident:
http://sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/c/a/2002/06/07/MN134315.DTL
...could be a bit for Unca' Mike's Story Time. <tee-hee>
BA_BureauChief
For those of you too young to fully appreciate the Hoover / McCarthy phase of the FMR de-evolution, here's a blast from the past where being a suspected "Liberal" can get you on J. Edgar's list of 'subversives'... And, even worse, don't be an educated Liberal.
http://sfgate.com/news/special/pages/2002/campusfiles/documents/1b1.shtml
Click "next" to see more.
If there's anything semi-positive in this, remember that the repressive 50's gave way to the Liberal 60's once the voters had enough of the GOP... Which has yet to pay the full price for the political assasinations of '68 or The Nixon Years.
Maybe Bunnypants will be the last straw.
BA_BureauChief
Yo, MALLOY:
I know you have a lot on your plate with current events, but the Chronicle series listed above REALLY deserves some of your time...
Both in reading it, and on the air.
Capiche?
BA_BureauChief
For those of you who remember the 60's, here's another reason to hate Reagan...
If you were a political activist in California and not doing anything illegal, it was the goal of both state and federal law enforcement to FIND SOMETHING you could be busted for... Funny how some things never change.
Click here, then go "Next".
http://sfgate.com/news/special/pages/2002/campusfiles/documents/6b1.shtml
Compare this to recent events, especially the LACK of prosecution for the anthrax letters last year, and you really have to wonder why The First Chimp and Asscrack are so adamant about trashing the Bill of Rights to grant the FBI new surveilance powers.
Then again, if you remember the 60's, you already know.
BA_BureauChief
bush baby has a new toy. He said he re-organized the government. Now how about a re-organization of the economy? Hmmmmm? Has anyone noticed the stock market lately? How about the strength of the dollar? How about the unemployment rate? How about the fact that the United Way is cutting its support to small charities by 20 percent because of a huge drop in donations. How about the most current layoff announcements? Bunny pants has all the other morons looking where he is pointing and totally missing whats going on in their own back yards. I heard today that the latest terror threat was made against subways. There may be an attack here or somewhere else either now or in the future on a subway or maybe on something else. Who in the hell do these freaks think they are talking to, FLYING MONKEYS ? They insult the intelligence of 6 year olds.
Vic, Bensenville
http://www.nytimes.com/2002/06/07/opinion/07KRUG.html?ex=1024445976&ei=1&en=048a68cd987be470
Krugman NYT
Investors fear recovery has slipped away
Stocks end down week on frenzied note June 7, 2002
By Andrew Countryman Tribune staff reporter Published June 7, 2002, 5:12 PM CDT
Economists have been fretting about a double-dip recession, with a still-fragile economic recovery slipping into retreat. But the stock market is already there.
http://www.chicagotribune.com/business/chi-020607wall.story?coll=chi%2Dbusiness%2Dhed
DOJ: Fla. Ballot Woes Irremediable - Sen. Kennedy pushes for more
WASHINGTON (AP) — Some Florida voting rights complaints resulting from the bitter 2000 presidential election — including the infamous butterfly ballots and allegations of missing ballot boxes — were either false or can't be prosecuted, the Justice Department said Friday. This came in a letter Assistant Attorney General Ralph Boyd wrote to Senate Democrats in response to questions about why the Justice Department decided against filing lawsuits in some cases it was investigating for possible voting rights violations.
SNIP: Senate Democrats plan to push Boyd and Attorney General John Ashcroft to reveal exactly how many Florida voters were disenfranchised by the old system, especially during the razor-thin 2000 presidential elections. Sen. Edward Kennedy, D-Mass., said he was concerned ``that the Department of Justice hasn't addressed one of the most egregious voting rights violations in that individuals went to the polls on election day, were legally registered to vote, and were denied their constitutional rights.
Huh? What???? I don’t remember this one, but I sure remember the FBI files flap and accusations hurled at the Clinton administration. Why was Arthur Anderson given access to FBI files and databases when they were under investigation? And if AssKKKrap reviewed, reorganized and reformed the Bureau, then I guess it didn’t work too well because Bunny is reorganizing it again.
From a letter sent from Sen Leahy to Deputy Attorney General Lawrence Thompson Jan. 2002. ……… AnnA
<cut>
In June, 2001, the Attorney General directed you to initiate a comprehensive review of the Federal Bureau of Investigation and to submit your recommendations for any reform this month. To assist in this review, in July you commissioned a study, costing more than $700,000, to be conducted by Arthur Andersen LLP, to evaluate the mission, structure, information technology, internal problem-spotting mechanisms and crisis management systems within the FBI. Under the terms of the service contract with the firm, Arthur Andersen personnel have access to confidential and sensitive FBI files and databases.
The Arthur Andersen management assessment is currently underway and, I understand, has produced a draft report which is being used by the Department in making key decisions relating to FBI reorganization and reform. At the same time, it is now clear that Arthur Andersen will come under scrutiny from both the Department of Justice and the Securities and Exchange Commission for its role in alleged financial irregularities at Enron and in the preservation or destruction of documents important to the investigation.
The role that Arthur Andersen or any related entity has or will play in the Department's review of the FBI, while this same firm is simultaneously a subject of high-profile investigations, raises obvious concerns and questions, and I would welcome your thoughts. Please advise me as to both the precise role that Arthur Andersen has played to this point regarding review of the FBI and how Arthur Andersen was selected for this vital role.
<cut>
http://leahy.senate.gov/press/200201/011602.html
It’s hard to keep finding adjectives to describe this administration and the press that reports on them. The ‘Washington Post’s’ Dana Milbank informs us that FOUR of Bush’s AIDES met for 10 DAYS beneath the White House to formulate the drastic restructuring of the federal government.
Congress was not consulted. The affected agencies were not consulted. The Cabinet was not consulted. Nope, just 4 aides with no expertise in the agencies they were reordering. How does a poor Media Whore spin this egregious example of irresponsible and incompetent governance? It’s easier than you think.
Milbank plays up the secrecy angle. The process was “secret even by the standards of a Bush administration known for its discipline and control.” Communications deputy Jim Wilkinson said it was a triumph of the White House's no-leak strategy. Heck, even “veterans of the Clinton administration expressed grudging admiration” for the secrecy that would have been “unlikely” under Clinton.
This spin is simply amazing. Four Bush aides concoct a remarkably horrible plan based on political manipulation. But by comparing the Bush process to a hypothetical Clinton process, Bush comes out the winner. Ridiculous plans made in super secret that affect our national security are good because they are supposedly better than something Clinton might have done.
Milbank brought up the fact that the decision was announced on the anniversary of D-Day and then wrote, “But it's no accident that the decision and announcement resembled a military operation in its precision and stealth as they assembled a proposal for what Bush called the most significant reordering of the federal government since 1947.”
This is a twofer. Milbank positively reinforces the plan and the Chimp as CIC at the same time. My, my, how disciplined, precise, stealthy and military-like Mr. Bush and his plans are.
In his only negative comment, Milbank writes that there is “potential” danger in the plan because of the lack of input. He quotes Democrats (those RATS!) as saying the results were a “haphazard” plan. Not to worry, Bush aides say they did too get plenty of “input.” A single negative comment with the obligatory ‘other side’ hardly ‘balances’ this reportage.
Milbank spends the rest of the article describing the tic-toc of the “rollout” as if it were the latest marketing ploy for the release of an anxiously awaited new toy or new movie.
What is the point of this article? Milbank doesn’t provide any information on what the plan actually is or how it will work. As a behind-the-scenes piece, this article is pure pro-Bush propaganda. This work belongs in the ‘Wall Street Journal’ opinion page, not in the ‘Washington Post’ news pages.
Liberal media? NOT ……..AnnA
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A9149-2002Jun6.html
On This Day In History, 1954:
---------
Washington, June 9--The Army-McCarthy hearings reached a dramatic high point today in an angry, emotion-packed exchange between Senator Joseph R. McCarthy and Joseph N. Welch, special counsel for the Army.
Irritated by Mr. Welch's persistent cross-examination of Roy M. Cohn, Senator McCarthy suddenly injected into the hearings a charge that one of Mr. Welch's Boston law firm associates, Frederick G. Fisher Jr., had been a member of the National Lawyers Guild "long after it had been exposed as the legal arm of the Communist party."
Mr. Welch, almost in tears from this unexpected attack, told the Wisconsin Republican that "until this moment, Senator, I think I never really gauged your cruelty or your recklessness." He asked Senator McCarthy if any "sense of decency" remained in him.
"If there is a God in heaven, it [the attack on Mr. Fisher] will do neither you nor your cause any good," Mr. Welch declared.
The crowded hearing room burst into applause for Mr. Welch as he abruptly broke off his conversation with Senator McCarthy. Mr. Welch refused to address any more questions to Mr. Cohn, counsel to the McCarthy subcommittee, and suggested to Senator Karl E. Mundt, South Dakota Republican who is acting committee chairman, that he call another witness.
Senator McCarthy thereupon was called and took the stand on the thirtieth day of the hearing.
--- more ---
http://www.nytimes.com/learning/general/onthisday/big/0609.html#article
BA_BureauChief
"Any 6-year-old can connect the dots," the prosecutor, Andrew Gensler, said, using the phrase of security bureaucrats who find that their game board has turned into real life.
Gensler was in Brooklyn federal court yesterday, looking at defendant Peter Gotti.
"You're trying to make him a terrorist!" Gotti's lawyer, Bruce Cutler, said. "Connect the dots, we know what that is."
--- more ---
http://www.newsday.com/news/columnists/ny-nybres09a
2738866jun09.column?coll=ny%2Dnews%2Dcolumnists
BA_BureauChief
Strange Solutions from Ashcroft and Dynegy
by Christopher Brauchli
An example from the monkey: the higher it climbs, the more you see of its behind.
Saint Bonaventure, Conferences on the Gospel of John
The world is upside down.
http://commondreams.org/views02/0608-04.htm
Only three months ago the American media was filled with reports about the Bush administration’s decision to establish a “shadow government” in the wake of September 11, with the dispatch of designated executive branch officials to secret bunkers, without the knowledge or approval of Congress. But today there is not one comment from the media or the Congress connecting those preparations of a behind-the-scenes dictatorship to this week’s unveiling of the scaffolding for a police state.
Not a single voice in Congress opposes what amounts to a gross violation of fundamental US constitutional principles: separation of powers, checks and balances, congressional oversight of the executive branch, and the right to privacy and freedom from government prying. Congressional oversight of the new behemoth agency will be far more limited than the current supervision of 22 separate smaller agencies. Bush cited the lessened congressional scrutiny as one of the main advantages of his reorganization plan.
--- more ---
http://www.wsws.org/articles/2002/jun2002/bush-j08.shtml
BA_BureauChief
http://www.boston.com/dailyglobe2/160/oped/Bush_security_flip_flop+.shtml
Interesting re GWB's flipflop on Homeland cabinet!
SamKat
Is GWB's name of DeLay STOMP? http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp
-dyn/articles/A15190-2002Jun7.html
DeLay Forming Grass-Roots Army for Elections
House Minority Whip Tom DeLay (R-Tex.) is recruiting a grass-roots army to increase Republican voter turnout.
"Over the past several elections, the Democrats and the big labor unions have done a better job than the Republicans in putting more volunteers on the ground," DeLay told the Associated Builders and Contractors, a trade group. "Republicans need to rediscover our lost skills of grass-roots campaigns -- we need to shake off the complacency and roll up our sleeves and go to work."
He calls his army STOMP, the Strategic Task Force for the Organization and Mobilization of People.
DeLay said it will move thousands of activists, especially in the final weeks before the midterm elections, from safely Republican districts to more competitive, neighboring ones. They will knock on voters' doors, pass out literature and make telephone calls. An aide to the lawmaker declined to identify the likely districts they will target.
Democrats were not impressed. "Don't believe the hype," said Kim Rubey, spokeswoman for the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee. "Every cycle they talk about improving grass-roots activities, and every cycle they fail."
SamKat
Proving to Egypt's President Mubarak that Israel is the tip of the spear for U.S. Global Imperialism, the Rez denied accepting any timetable for a Palestinian State. Refusing to deal with Arafat, he said that there is leadship talent among the Palestinians and he would wait for it to emerge.
Funny, I feel the same way about American leadership.
<><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><>
On Crossfire, last night, also- ran, Gary Bauer, stated that treaties to end global warming are disguised attempts to regulate business.
How would he cut emissions without regulation? Gary can suck on my exhaust pipe.
<><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><>
Gore is stepping up his rhetoric against the Bushies--talkin' 'bout that "image thing," according to a Trib story that is buried. The front page of the Trib drools over Bush's still-high approval rating.
In another Trib story, Japan contemplates the possibility of owning their own nukes. Somebody ought to tell William Kristol about this, I'm sure he will call for a preemptive strike.
<><><><><><><><><><><><><><><>><
Garrison Keillor, doing his show from Washington, DC, poked fun at Ass-Craft's clamp-down on immigrants who will be required to be registered, fingerprinted and pay a "damage deposit."
<><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><>
Just a few tidbits for those of you who think all the fun has gone out of mass media.
DJM
to the person seeking Executive Orders from Bush - current listing up to June 9th:
http://www.whitehouse.gov/news/orders/
PatB
It wasn't more then a couple of months ago that the Junta had a "bunker government" in place.
Some said it was a prudent move. Maybe...maybe not.
Now they come from another "bunker" with a new government agency.
some say it would be a prudent change. Maybe..maybe not.
But isn't all this secret stuff related to "bunkers" just a bit strange?
maybe..maybe not
It is something to keep your eyes open to. Watch what else they pull out from the "bunker"...or more important...watch out when you see them running INTO a bunker.
Maybe the "compassionate" side can bring it out of a more "gentler" tent?....... Tom
Army Special Forces teams know how to live off the land in nasty places. That knowledge is being sorely tested in Tbilisi, Georgia, where about 70 of them arrived a few weeks ago to begin a controversial mission to train the Georgian military to fight terrorism.
The Army searched high and low for some place to house the troops until they could move in early August into renovated Georgian bases. And they found the perfect spot: the five-star Sheraton Metechi Palace Hotel.
Ah, yes. The Army is spending about $700,000 -- $10,000 a day, according to the Army Times -- for 35 double rooms. This, officials told the weekly paper, was a bargain. Army officials spent a month scouting for a place for the troops, looking at other hotels or possibly fixing up a barracks. But they concluded that would cost $400,000 more than staying at the Sheraton. The barracks, the Army Times was told, "required costly improvement to bring them up to Army standards."
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A9357-2002Jun6.html
Waltons and Simpsons—Allegories of Consciousness
June 8, 2002
By Luciana Bohne
http://democraticunderground.com/articles/02/06/08_simpson.html
Very, very good!............... Tom
har har har...
Tim [Russert] ran the video bite of the Texas Dauphin claiming "thousands of killers are loose in 'Murrica." Tim skeptically asked Ridge to stand and deliver, and all Ridge could do was prattle on at length about what has been learned about "the enemy...a nontraditional enemy...their strategy is different...they are shadow soldiers"
http://www.americanpolitics.com/20020609punditpap.html
Treason doth never prosper.
what’s the reason?
For if it prosper, none dare call it treason.
- Sir John Harington (1561–1612)
------------
WASHINGTON, June 9 — Six months after the collapse of Enron, a wave of enthusiasm for overhauling the nation's corporate and accounting laws has ebbed and the toughest proposals for change are all but dead.
A powerful group of lobbyists, playing on partisan disagreement in Congress, appears to have killed efforts to impose tight new controls on corporate conduct. And while some Democrats hope to turn the inaction to their advantage in the fall elections, other lawmakers say that — barring more business meltdowns that deepen the stock market's two-year slump — voters are unlikely to care enough to influence their ballots.
--- more ---
http://www.nytimes.com/2002/06/10/business/10REFO.html
BA_BureauChief
C-Span’s incredibly stupid, incredibly pro-Bush call-in question on Sunday was, “Will Congressional Politics Hinder Homeland Security Department?"
///////////////////////////////
How many advisors does it take to reorder the federal government?
Only four, but they have to be really, really, really, really secret about it. …………. AnnA
On a Saturday late night talk radio show ["?Erskine?" overnight] Heard this guest for a while before fell asleep: CATHERINE AUSTIN FITTS
Spoke of large quantities of missing taxpayer money. Are huge sums of government/taxpayer's money being stolen by large corporations that run the U.S. government?? If her resume is legit...definite credibility. Not just some wacko making unfounded charges.
She doesn't have a website yet but referred people to: Conspiracy Planet - The Alternative News & History Network [http://www.conspiracyplanet.com/ ]
Where I found: Conspiracy Planet - Catherine Austin Fitts/ Solari - The Missing Money: Citizens Work Harder & Get Less [http://www.conspiracyplanet.com/channel.cfm?ChannelID=113]
and Solari Action News (Feb 2002) [http://www.conspiracyplanet.com/channel.cfm?channelid=113&contentid=531 ]
=================breaking news: While at the website, noticed Conspiracy Planet - 9-11: Unanswered Questions - 9-11 and the Public Safety: Seeking Answers [http://www.conspiracyplanet.com/channel.cfm?ChannelID=112] by UNANSWERED QUESTION.ORG
A national press conference and formal web site launch for UnansweredQuestions.org will be held on Monday, June 10th from 2-5 PM at the National Press Club in Washington, D.C.
The goal of this unprecedented press event and public inquiry is to pose pointed, as yet unanswered, questions regarding the failure of our national security infrastructure, and the response that has sacrificed civil liberties and rewarded failure as opposed to ensuring performance and guaranteeing freedom, now and in the future.
UnansweredQuestions.org is being launched by an independent, non-partisan network of citizens concerned about the growing number of issues surrounding September 11th that have yet to be addressed or resolved; and their related public safety and Constitutional implications.
Invited panelists will offer statements, present well-documented research, and ask incisive questions relative to these issues while addressing how citizens can act now to ensure accountability from those in government directly responsible for public safety. MORE: Conspiracy Planet - 9-11: Unanswered Questions - 9-11 and the Public Safety: Seeking Answers [http://www.conspiracyplanet.com/channel.cfm?channelid=112&contentid=526&page=2] READ who is on the panel on this page.
PC
Another "bunker" idea comes out just in time to beat off another report.......... Tom
...
WASHINGTON -- Three days before the scheduled release of a study linking non-road diesel engines to 8,500 premature deaths a year, the Bush administration said Friday that curbing such pollution should be a top environmental priority and suggested voluntary reductions.
The study concludes emissions from engines used in diesel-powered vehicles and equipment such as bulldozers, portable generators and tractors should be toughly regulated because of their role in the premature deaths and an estimated $67 billion in health care costs annually. The health costs result from problems such as asthma attacks, chronic bronchitis and emergency room visits.
Two national associations representing state and local air pollution control officials had not planned to release the findings until Monday. But late Friday the Environmental Protection Agency and White House's Office of Management and Budget issued a statement on diesel pollution they said had resulted from ``an unusual collaboration'' between the two agencies.
``Non-road engines emit significant amounts of fine particles and nitrogen oxides,'' said John D. Graham, OMB's administrator of information and regulatory affairs. ``OMB and EPA share a concern that inhalation of fine particles is associated with a variety of adverse health effects. We are interested in addressing these critical issues and protecting Americans from the harmful health effects of diesel pollution.''
William Becker, executive director of the State and Territorial Air Pollution Program Administrators and the Association of Local Air Pollution Control Officials -- the two groups that did the study -- said it draws on EPA data and methods. EPA did a similar study for tractor-trailer rigs and other large trucks and buses with diesel engines.
Becker and others said they were disturbed by the administration's statement that it would consider voluntary measures to reduce pollution from the off-road diesel engines.
``It was clear that this was a pre-emptive strike against the release of our document,'' Becker said of the administration statement.
http://www.nytimes.com/aponline/national/AP-Diesel-Pollution.html
The Junta News Network Reports.
(Washington) After spending eight hours in a secret bunker broom closet, two low level Junta soldiers came out with a plan.
"If we can get 2,250 people to volunteer to not die prematurly, we could cut permature deaths in half."
Our Glorious Providers will not be bothered in the slightest. We will send troops to live with these questionable american patriots, so as they don't do anything stupid, like die, prematurley.
All Hail Bush, glory to the Providers.
Frm Roll Call:
The Lobbying Starts Early. A top Texas energy company recently hosted a baby shower for the daughter of House Majority Whip Tom DeLay (R-Texas), an event attended by well-known lobbyists in honor of the first grandchild for "The Hammer."
The shower for DeLay's daughter, Danielle Ferro, who is expecting her baby Aug. 31, was held last month at the Washington office of Reliant Energy Inc., a Houston-based power company that is the parent company of Houston Lighting and Power.
According to the leader's office, Debra Whiddon, a lobbyist for Reliant and two other energy companies, set up the event.
"Dani and I have been friends a long time,"said Whiddon, who estimated that she spent just $250 on the May 20 event.
Some of the lobbyists who attended the shower include Jack Abramoff and Tony Rudy of the lobbying firm Greenberg Traurig, LLP. Greenberg Traurig represents such clients as the Mississippi Band of Choctaw Indians, Humana Inc., and Playboy Enterprises Inc.
DeLay's office reacted angrily to questions about the event. "Dani's girlfriend had a baby shower for her and paid for the Costco finger food out of her own pocket,"said DeLay spokesman Stuart Roy. "She invited Dani's friends to celebrate one of the happiest times in life, the birth of a child."
Roy added:" Tom DeLay understands that his activities are going to be parsed with a great deal of attention, but extending this level of intrusiveness to his daughter's baby shower - thrown by and paid for by one of her girlfriends - is cheap."
Sandy Fruhman, Reliant Energy's director of communications, would not comment on the event other than to say that the company allowed the use of its conference room for the gathering.
Reliant gave $65,000 in soft money to DeLay's leadership PAC, Americans for a Republican Majority, in 2000 and 2001. Through its own PAC, Reliant has donated $37,000 in hard money to DeLay's re-election campaignssince 1996, and another $6,348 to ARMPAC.
DeLays' daughter, meanwhile, is a paid consultant for DeLay's leadership PAC. Ferro, who serves as her dad's campaign manager as well, was paid $60,000 by ARMPAC in the second half of 2000. Ferro received roughly $20,000 from ARMPAC last year, while her consulting firm, Coastal Consulting, is being paid at $54,000 per year this cycle from DeLay's re-election campaign.
HOH assumes that the shower was a little less raucous than the now-infamous champagne and hot tub party attended by DeLay and his daughter two years ago in Las Vegas.
SamKat
The Junta News Network Reports.
(Washington) Ari Flycrap spoke at a press breifing to report a change in volunteer policy.
"We relied on liberal reports and found we will need more then 2,250 volunteers not to die prematurly."
So, along with our pre-emptive strike policy against terrorists, we will also consider just shooting some questionable amuricans to bring down this premature death rate.
"Health problems are no excuse for supporting this president in this time of war."
When asked how will they determine who should be shot, the administrative spokesperson said.."We will of course profile anybody who is breathing, with difficulty, downwind of a Provider facility."
The White House press just nodded with understanding.
Notice how small Oliphant is drawing Asscrack...
http://www2.uclick.com/client/nyt/po/
As it should be.
BA_BureauChief
Story: "DEFYING CORPORATIONS, DEFINING DEMOCRACY": AS INTERNAL MEMOS REVEAL THAT ENRON DROVE UP POWER PRICES IN CALIFORNIA , WE LL TALK TO AUTHOR RICHARD GROSSMAN
Internal Enron documents released yesterday show the Enron Corporation manipulated the California electricity market.
One of the smoking-gun memos was written by Enron lawyers in December 2000 and describes how company traders used fraudulent practices to drive up power prices throughout the state. These practices include creating phantom congestion on electricity transmission lines and conducting phony sales among Enron's affiliates. Enron code-named these practices "Death Star," "Fat Boy," "Ricochet," "Get Shorty," "Load Shift."
Describing "Death Star," the lawyers wrote: "The net effect of these transactions is that Enron gets paid for moving energy to relieve congestion without actually moving any energy or relieving any congestion."
Lawyers for the company now admit that such techniques "may have contributed" to the California energy crisis. They also helped drain Californians of tens of billions of dollars.
Senator Diane Feinstein announced last night that she will ask Attorney General John Ashcroft to pursue a criminal investigation into the matter.
Meanwhile, opening arguments are set to begin in the Arthur Anderson criminal trial.
Well, we turn now to an interview I conducted recently with Richard Grossman, who is one of the contributors to a new book, Defying Corporations, Defining Democracy and co-director of the Program on Corporations, Law and Democracy. He believes that it is not only the corporations, but the politicians themselves who must be held responsible.
Guest:
Richard Grossman, co-director of the Program on Corporations, Law, and Democracy (POCLAD). His writings appear throughout the new book, Defying Corporations, Defining Democracy (Apex press).
http://www.webactive.com/pacifica/demnow/dn20020507.html (go to the middle of the page) It's about a 20-30 minute radio program you can (hopefully) listen to.
Zan
http://us.news2.yimg.com/us.yimg.com/p/ap/20020609/capt.
1023647033.presidential_fund_raising_ny113.jpg
So ...
Bush says he doesn't DRINK anymore?
Uh huh.
CLEAR !!!
-----------
The New York Times reports that two former executives of Dresser Industries, which merged with Halliburton in 1998, say Halliburton used the accounting sham to cover up its losses. Dresser may have thought it got a bad deal in that merger because of that $100 million "anticipation" on the credit line, but it turned out to be much more sour for Halliburton.
Mr. Cheney bought himself a former Dresser subsidiary facing 292,000 claims for asbestos-caused health problems. He said at the time the merger was "one of the most exciting things I've ever been involved in," and predicted it would benefit Halliburton's customers, employees and shareholders. The first thing that happened was Halliburton eliminated 10,000 jobs. (It was amusing to hear Mr. Cheney on the campaign trail in 2000 claiming he had been out in the private sector "creating jobs.")
According to executives at Halliburton, Mr. Cheney knew about the asbestos liability before the merger and considered the risk. Because of the liability, Halliburton's stock has fallen from over $60 to under $20. In January, the company had to deny rumors it was going into bankruptcy. In other words, Mr. Cheney pretty well ruined the business. Of course, what the company wants to do now is have Congress pass a new law limiting asbestos liability.
Even more interesting is Halliburton's governmental record under Mr. Cheney. In an August 2000 report, the Center for Public Integrity noted that Mr. Cheney had said that the United States should lift restrictions on American corporations in countries listed by the government as sponsoring terrorism. Hey, that was then, this is now.
--- more ---
http://www.commondreams.org/views02/0610-03.htm
BA_BureauChief
Check the spin on this...
----------
WASHINGTON, June 10 — Attorney General John Ashcroft said today that American authorities had arrested a home-grown terrorist — an American citizen who became an Al Qaeda member — and thereby thwarted a radioactive-bomb attack on the United States.
"We have captured a known terrorist who was exploring a plan to build and explode a radiological dispersion device, or `dirty bomb,' in the United States," Mr. Ashcroft said in a televised announcement from Moscow.
Mr. Ashcroft said the suspect, Abdullah Al-Mujahir, who is also known as Jose Padilla, was detained on May 8 at O'Hare International Airport in Chicago after flying there from Pakistan. Officials said the suspect is 31, was born in Brooklyn and moved to Chicago when he was 4.
--- more ---
When the authorities determined what Mr. Al-Mujahir was up to, they transferred him from the custody of the Justice Department to that of the Defense Department as an "enemy combatant," Mr. Ashcroft said. His remarks strongly suggested that the suspect would be tried by a military tribunal rather than in a civilian court.
"We have acted with legal authority both under the laws of war and clear Supreme Court precedent, which establishes that the military may detain a United States citizen who has joined the enemy and has entered our country to carry out hostile acts," Mr. Ashcroft said.
--- more ---
http://www.nytimes.com/2002/06/10/national/10CND-TERROR.html
Take a name like Al-Mujahir and be accused of something naughty by Ol' Johnny Asscrack, and your rights may be suspended... Despite being a native-born American... And (allegedly) with the blessings of the same Supreme Court that appointed Monkey Boy.
Anybody wanna talk about a stain on a blue dress?
BA_BureauChief
Response to the series of SF Chronicle articles that lit my match this weekend... It's an amazing series and don't be shy about surfing the link below.
-----------
Clark Kerr, ousted from his job as president of the University of California following student protests in the 1960s, says he is greatly disturbed by documents revealing that the FBI campaigned to get him fired.
"I always had a high opinion of the FBI, so it came to me as quite a shock that they would step outside their boundaries the way they did," Kerr said Sunday in an interview at his El Cerrito home. "I think they did me some damage."
Kerr gave his first public response to a Chronicle report that revealed wide-ranging and unlawful covert operations at the university involving the head of the CIA and Gov. Ronald Reagan.
Kerr, 91, a renowned educator who led UC to academic excellence, also said that the FBI harmed the integrity of the university by intruding into campus affairs and exacerbating internal disputes.
"What bothers me is that the FBI would want to go so far outside its proper jurisdiction and get involved in the internal affairs of the university," Kerr said.
--- more ---
http://sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/c/a/2002/06/10/MN64831.DTL
BA_BureauChief
C is for clampdown
How to stop student liberalism in the US: get to them when they're five
John Sutherland Monday June 10, 2002 The Guardian
http://www.guardian.co.uk/bush/story/0,7369,730491,00
<><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><>
Can't wait to see (if we ever do) the evidence on this dirty bomb suspect. How can we classify him as an illegal combattant, eligible for indefinite detainment (until the end of the war or whenever hell freezes over) when he hasn't actually bombed anything yet?
DJM
Re: Waltons and Simpsons—Allegories of Consciousness
What she forgot to mention is that the Waltons is set during the Great Depression. A couple more years of Republican rule and we'll all be on Walton's Mountain.
DJM
ABC News's The Note for June 10 reports the infuriating and discouraging news that the Bush White House's "effort to smear" (their words) reporter Ron Suskind, over his accurate Esquire piece on the fraudulent administration's inner workings, has worked.
--- more ---
http://www.mediawhoresonline.com
BA_BureauChief
Calgary PD is concerned there may be TERRORISTS posing as peaceful protesters during the G-8 Summit, ergo the intensified security.
See how this works?
Kinda' like the WTO protestors who were held almost a week before a judge offered to let them go on a $5.00 bond, then dropped the bond... Remember?
Talk about bogus...
-----------
It remains to be seen if violence will mar the G-8 summit in Kananaskis later this month, but the head of Calgary's police union said he doesn't want his members taking a legal beating.
That's why the Calgary Police Association has decided to have its lawyers on around-the-clock standby during the two-day summit and top union officials plan to attend any protests that bring together police officers and activists.
CPA president Al Koenig said the measures are to ensure the rights of his members are protected in the event there are complaints about how police handle protesters or there's an inquiry into their tactics.
--- more ---
http://www.canada.com/national/features/g8/news/story.html?id=
{708D816A-9695-4D05-A86C-10622E3F1B1F}
BA_BureauChief
Right after 9-11, that smirk face was gone, and some strange look of "I hope I don't get cought in this" fear was in his eyes, his whole expression.
dubya, my gut tells me you knew and went along with the plan.
I don't give a shit about dubya, I want the evil sonofa bitch behind that moron....... Tom
....
Getting Caught by Bill C. Davis
As a boy I remember two fathers talking in the neighborhood playground about the punishment one of the fathers leveled against his son that day. The night before a group of boys had set off cherry bombs and other illegal recreational explosives - a policeman arrived; several boys ran away but this one boy didn't quite make it. The father of the apprehended boy told the other father that he had severely punished his son but he was proud to clarify that "I didn't punish him for what he did - I punished him because he got caught." That changed the paradigm. "I didn't punish him for what he did, I punished him because he got caught." The challenge shifted. Personal scrutiny moved from what an action might mean to the invisible and palpable fabric of the world to how to cover your tracks. The world order being enunciated at the playground was that one might commit any act as long as he is very clear about the escape hatches.
...more at...
http://commondreams.org/views02/0610-05.htm
Harrah!
Supreme Court Rejects Case Testing Consumer Privacy Rights
http://www.washingtonpost.com/ac2/wp-dyn/A25567-2002Jun10?language=printer
SamKat
CERNOBBIO, Italy -- Kristol's War, as it will henceforth be called, was declared after dinner here at the splendid Villa D'Este hotel on Lake Como. He announced a vast U.S. foreign policy agenda, beginning with a war against Iraq and ending with replacing the monarchy in Saudi Arabia. His audience of mostly Europeans at first gasped and then reacted with irritation. "Very provocative," many of them commented -- a polite way of saying that he, and by extension the Bush administration, was totally mad.
And yet much of what William Kristol, a former Reagan and Bush I administration official and now the editor of the influential Weekly Standard magazine, was saying is nearly commonplace in the United States. In Washington, in particular, it is a given that sometime around January America will eliminate Saddam Hussein and his weapons of mass destruction one way or another.
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A28737-2002Jun10.html
SamKat
Does US Media only report US arrests? Thanks to the London Times re the Moroccan police foiling a "suicide" plan re US and UK ships!
http://www.timesonline.co.uk/article/0,,1-323416,00.html
PatB
Is anyone wondering why the same folks in Miami who went bat-squeeze over the "rights" of Elian Gonzales haven't made the news defending the rights of Jose Pedillo?
I thought they'd be out in droves protesting Asscrack and the Bush Junta for denying a native-born American their rights.
Dontcha' think?
BA_BureauChief
http://ads.x10.com/msn/msn_twinkle.htm
Chris Matthews calling the Defense department the Department of War and bashing Bush on his foreign policies!!! Did hell freeze over???
Hayley/IL
PatB:
And did you notice in the Times article:
-------------
"Moroccan police said they had broken up a terrorist cell with links to Osama bin Laden’s al-Qaeda network with the detention of three Saudi Arabian nationals.
The men, who were arrested last month, were said by Moroccan officials to have been plotting operations against British and US naval vessels patrolling the Strait of Gibraltar."
-------------
The two recurring themes of Saudi nationals and release of the news being timed...
Perhaps for effect?
Ol' Bunnypants needs the regular arrest of alleged terrorists like Captain Renault in Casablanca needed the usual suspects... It's all very convenient.
Arrest the Saudi's, but bomb the Afghans and Iraqi's.
BA_BureauChief
On the other hand, maybe Justice has its head up its ass again...
--------
(CBS) U.S. officials are backing away from assertions that a man arrested last month in Chicago was plotting a 'dirty' bomb attack on the United States, CBS News Correspondent Jim Stewart reports.
U.S. officials now admit they're not sure what American-born Abdullah al Muhajir's plans were when he returned to the U.S. last month. And any plot, including possibly exploding a radiation bomb in Washington D.C., was in the "initial planning stages." But given what he'd trained for in Afghanistan, they expected the worst.
"He researched nuclear weapons and received training in wiring explosives while in Pakistan, and he was instructed to return to the United States to conduct reconnaissance operations for al Qaeda," said Deputy Defense Secretary Paul Wolfowitz.
--- more ---
http://www.cbsnews.com/stories/2002/06/10/attack/main511671.shtml
Yo... Wolfowitz... If I surf a web page dealing with explosives or nuclear... excuse me, nucular... physics, can I be held indefinitely on suspicion of whatever the Threat Du'Jour is?
Just asking.
BA_BureauChief, native-born American (in case that's still worth anything)
And now for this week’s news:
EEK-EEK-EEK!! DIRTYBOMB-DIRTYBOMB-DIRTYBOMB!! RADIATIONPOISIONING-RADIATIONPOSIONING!! Homeland-Security. EEK-EEK-EEK!! DIRTYBOMB-DIRTYBOMB!! Homeland-Security. CANCER-CANCER-CANCER!! PANIC-PANIC-PANIC!! DIRTYBOMB-DIRTYBOMB!! Homeland-Security. THYROIDCANCER-THYROIDCANCER!! Homeland-Security. DIRTYBOMB-DIRTYBOMB-DIRTYBOMB!!!
PRESIDENT BUSH’S POLL RATINGS SOAR!!!!!
REPEAT, REPEAT, REPEAT, REPEAT, REPEAT, REPEAT, REPEAT …………. AnnA
Would the FMR play politics with terra-ism?
You Betcha'...
http://www.americanpolitics.com/20020610Baker.html
BA_BureauChief
[P]ollsters and other political operatives had begun suggesting that there was a certain uneasiness among Americans in recent weeks, that things didn't seem to be in control. There was a certain frustration from the endless warnings of upcoming terrorist acts against our country and that we still had not managed to track down Osama bin Laden. In some private polling, but not in the Ipsos-Reid/Cook Political Report samplings, there was also a drop in 'right direction' numbers, with the 'wrong track' column surging. While it was not directly rubbing off on the President, it was not what a President's advisors would like to see happening
Then, out of the blue, came flamboyant news about this month-old arrest.
A few journalists have begun to catch on to this bogus fear-mongering.
As CBS's Dan Rather noted on his Evening News on June 10: "The arrest was made May 8th. It's not clear why Ashcroft chose to reveal this a month later -- with great fanfare -- while traveling in Russia."
We have a feeling Dan knows why.
--- more ---
http://www.mediawhoresonline.com/
Helloooo... An American citizen is being held indefinitely by Asscrack's INjustice department on suspicion of possibly thinking something naughty without access to legal counsel... Me Thinks the story above is a clear example of how the Bunny Administration has jerked us around since September 11th, but the real story is the indefinite suspension of the Bill of Rights.
For all Americans.
BA_BureauChief
Check out this DU thread. The "dirty bomb" suspect looks JUST like the sketch of John Doe #2 from the OKC bombing. ......AnnA
www.democraticunderground.com/cgi-bin/duforum/
duboard.cgi?az=show_thread&om=27401&forum=DCForumID35&omm=0
excerpt - This makes much better sense than the Homeland plan developed in the WH basement by four WH staffers.....
For example, if the FBI is to make deterrence of terrorists its main mission, as Director Robert Mueller's own reorganization plan implies, then should it not be a central part of the new Homeland Security Department? Gary Hart suggests splitting the FBI's personnel and resources between a new homeland intelligence agency and a smaller FBI within the Justice Department, which would continue to work on bank robberies, drug cases, etc.
Hart would do the same thing with Customs, the Coast Guard and the rest, moving only those functions and people related to homeland security into the new department, while not burdening that department with tasks that do not make the nation any safer. Such a division of labor might satisfy some of the objections forcefully voiced by Rep. David Obey and other Appropriations Committee Democrats, who worry that routine but important government functions will be downgraded in this massive reorganization.
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A34971-2002Jun11.html
PatB
More from the London Times re European "terra'ist" pl
