Big Fat Liar Award To the CHENEY/Rove/bush administration for WMD, torture, rendition, secret prisons, and spying on Americans. If you do nothing else this week, listen to the Condi/Tim interview (Internet Explorer only - another Microsoft attempt at monopolization) http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/3032608/ and decide for yourself if the CRb administration is telling the truth about spying on its fellow citizens. If you want to do two things, read Senator Robert C. Byrd’s December 19th speech on the floor of the Senate (click on article under Previous Posts to the left)
Questions of the Week
1. Isn’t it a shame third world countries awash in money aren’t able to root out corruption, separate government from religion, and protect government from the undue interference by the wealthy thus ensuring a government of, by, and for the people?
Swift Kick in the Ass Award To South Korean Hwang Woo-suk NOT for fabricating stem cell research, which he did, BUT for falsely raising the hopes and dreams of the World’s afflicted. The scientific community should stop worrying being damaged (Damaged? It is not you who are damaged. Get off your collective PhD asses and get on with your research. Please.).
If You’re So Smart: Please explain the new drug plan to the rest of America, or, is it, as all of us suspect, so darned complicated that no one can explain it, despite Carol Burnett being suckered in by some little b ‘bushie’ to make us think it’s a good deal. Here’s a simple solution: everyone in America gets exactly the same healthcare and prescription plan that federal government employees get. Too expensive? Legalize and tax the other drug lords’ (Columbia, Afghanistan, etc.) products.
WalMart, Say “Guilty” 8 Million Times Real Fast Somewhere back in medieval England the courts decreed that kids under four could no longer work and employees were allowed to eat. Jump in the time machine to the year 2005 and it seems Good King WalMart violated the eating part eight million times and got whacked with a $172 million fine. That’s about $21.50 a head, or three times the hourly minimum wage that most WalMart employees earn…forget about working; demand longer lunch hours.
Our Friends in Washington Update
1. In what may be the most honest thing he’s ever done, super lobbyist Jack Abramoff, the cause of many congressmen to veer from the paths of righteousness from money’s sake, is talking deal. (Crooks always talk deals.) Tom DeLay and his many tarnished brethren can’t be happy. So we’ll light candles.
2. I don’t like Rick Santorum’s (Republican Senator from Pennsylvania) religion, but I dislike even more his lack of loyalty to a championed albeit unconstitutional cause, intelligent design, that got flushed down the toilet, hip-hip-hooray, by a court ruling stating it nothing more than a pretext to promote religion in schools. So how’d you like him covering your back?
DeLay’s Delay The Texas courts aren’t shooting their legs in the air and exposing their bellies so big bad Tom can kick them with his pointy boots. No sirree Billy-Bob. An appeals court told him and his legal battalion to go back to the lower court from whence they came. Next stop: the state’s highest court, The Texas Court of Criminal Appeals, which, I guess they figure, is more familiar with the misdeeds of Republican no-goodniks.
Big Buck Housing Discrimination So you think you might want to live on Country Oak Lane in Alamo, CA. Guess again. After 29 of his old money (we’re filthy rich, but we don’t want anyone to know it so we live in crappy, small houses) neighbors came a knocking, David Duffield, billionaire founder of PeopleSoft, had to scale back his plans for a 72,000 square foot home to a meager 10,000 square feet and if that wasn’t enough, had to scrap his plans for a twenty-car underground garage. New money Aaron Spelling (Tori Spelling’s can you give my daughter the type of life to which she’s grown accustomed father) has a 62,000 square foot shack somewhere in the Hollywood environs. Maybe the Dufster can buy a neighboring property.
On a Personal Note Carnegie Hall, though only half full because of the transit strike, played host last evening to a lilting Handel’s Messiah eloquently performed by the Masterwork Chorus of one hundred voices and Orchestra.
A Tip of The ExtraWry Hat To GCM in Fort Macleod, Alberta, Canada, (for you movie buffs, Brokeback Mountain was filmed in Fort Macleod) for steering me to the Robert C. Byrd speech and to PJH in St. Lucie, Fl, for kicking my starter pedal.
Friday, December 23, 2005
Senator Rober C. Byrd's Speech on the Senate Floor
Dear Friend:
I am deeply concerned with the latest disclosure that the Administration has been secretly spying on American citizens without a warrant.
This afternoon I spoke out on the Senate floor to raise my voice about this Administration's pattern of undermining constitutional protections and the arrogance with which it rebukes the powers held by the Legislative and Judicial branches of government.
I hope you will take a moment to read these words.
Sincerely,
Robert C. Byrd
United States Senator
NO PRESIDENT IS ABOVE THE LAW
Americans have been stunned at the recent news of the abuses of power by an overzealous President. It has become apparent that this Administration has engaged in a consistent and unrelenting pattern of abuse against our Country’s law-abiding citizens, and against our Constitution.
We have been stunned to hear reports about the Pentagon gathering information and creating databases to spy on ordinary Americans whose only sin is choose to exercise their First Amendment right to peaceably assemble. Those Americans who choose to question the Administration’s flawed policy in Iraq are labeled by this Administration as “domestic terrorists.”
We now know that the F.B.I.’s use of National Security Letters on American citizens has increased one hundred fold, requiring tens of thousands of individuals to turn over personal information and records. These letters are issued without prior judicial review, and provide no real means for an individual to challenge a perNmanent gag order.
Through news reports, we have been shocked to learn of the CIA’s practice of rendition, and the so-called “black sites,” secret locations in foreign countries, where abuse and interrogation have been exported, to escape the reach of U.S. laws protecting against human rights abuses.
We know that Vice President Dick Cheney has asked for exemptions for the CIA from the language contained in the McCain torture amendment banning cruel, inhumane, and degrading treatment. Thank God his pleas have been rejected by this Congress.
Now comes the stomach-churning revelation through an executive order, that President Bush has circumvented both the Congress and the courts. He has usurped the Third Branch of government – the branch charged with protecting the civil liberties of our people – by directing the National Security Agency to intercept and eavesdrop on the phone conversations and e-mails of American citizens without a warrant, which is a clear violation of the Fourth Amendment. He has stiff-armed the People’s Branch of government. He has rationalized the use of domestic, civilian surveillance with a flimsy claim that he has such authority because we are at war. The executive order, which has been acknowledged by the President, is an end-run around the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act, which makes it unlawful for any official to monitor the communications of an individual on American soil without the approval of the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Court.
What is the President thinking? Congress has provided for the very situations which the President is blatantly exploiting. The Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Court, housed in the Department of Justice, reviews requests for warrants for domestic surveillance. The Court can review these requests expeditiously and in times of great emergency. In extreme cases, where time is of the essence and national security is at stake, surveillance can be conducted before the warrant is even applied for.
This secret court was established so that sensitive surveillance could be conducted, and information could be gathered without compromising the security of the investigation. The purpose of the FISA Court is to balance the government’s role in fighting the war on terror with the Fourth Amendment rights afforded to each and every American.
The American public is given vague and empty assurances by the President that amount to little more than “trust me.” But, we are a nation of laws and not of men. Where is the source of that authority he claims? I defy the Administration to show me where in the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act, or the U.S. Constitution, they are allowed to steal into the lives of innocent America citizens and spy.
When asked yesterday what the source of this authority was, Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice had no answer. Secretary Rice seemed to insinuate that eavesdropping on Americans was acceptable because FISA was an outdated law, and could not address the needs of the government in combating the new war on terror.
This is a patent falsehood. The USA Patriot Act expanded FISA significantly, equipping the government with the tools it needed to fight terrorism. Further amendments to FISA were granted under the Intelligence Authorization Act of 2002 and the Homeland Security Act of 2002. In fact, in its final report, the 9/11 Commission noted that the removal of the pre-9/11 “wall” between intelligence officials and law enforcement was significant in that it “opened up new opportunities for cooperative action.”
The President claims that these powers are within his role as Commander in Chief. Make no mistake, the powers granted to the Commander in Chief are specifically those as head of the Armed Forces. These warrantless searches are conducted not against a foreign power, but against unsuspecting and unknowing American citizens. They are conducted against individuals living on American soil, not in Iraq or Afghanistan. There is nothing within the powers granted in the Commander in Chief clause that grants the President the ability to conduct clandestine surveillance of American civilians. We must not allow such groundless, foolish claims to stand.
The President claims a boundless authority through the resolution that authorized the war on those who perpetrated the September 11th attacks. But that resolution does not give the President unchecked power to spy on our own people. That resolution does not give the Administration the power to create covert prisons for secret prisoners. That resolution does not authorize the torture of prisoners to extract information from them. That resolution does not authorize running black-hole secret prisons in foreign countries to get around U.S. law. That resolution does not give the President the powers reserved only for kings and potentates.
I continue to be shocked and astounded by the breadth with which the Administration undermines the constitutional protections afforded to the people, and the arrogance with which it rebukes the powers held by the Legislative and Judicial Branches. The President has cast off federal law, enacted by Congress, often bearing his own signature, as mere formality. He has rebuffed the rule of law, and he has trivialized and trampled upon the prohibitions against unreasonable search and seizures guaranteed to Americans by the United States Constitution.
We are supposed to accept these dirty little secrets. We are told that it is irresponsible to draw attention to President Bush’s gross abuse of power and Constitutional violations. But what is truly irresponsible is to neglect to uphold the rule of law. We listened to the President speak last night on the potential for democracy in Iraq. He claims to want to instill in the Iraqi people a tangible freedom and a working democracy, at the same time he violates our own U.S. laws and checks and balances? President Bush called the recent Iraqi election “a landmark day in the history of liberty.” I dare say in this country we may have reached our own sort of landmark. Never have the promises and protections of Liberty seemed so illusory. Never have the freedoms we cherish seemed so imperiled.
These renegade assaults on the Constitution and our system of laws strike at the very core of our values, and foster a sense of mistrust and apprehension about the reach of government.
I am reminded of Thomas Payne’s famous words, “These are the times that try men’s souls.”
These astounding revelations about the bending and contorting of the Constitution to justify a grasping, irresponsible Administration under the banner of “national security” are an outrage. Congress can no longer sit on the sidelines. It is time to ask hard questions of the Attorney General, the Secretary of State, the Secretary of Defense, and the Director of the CIA. The White House should not be allowed to exempt itself from answering the same questions simply because it might assert some kind of “executive privilege” in order to avoid further embarrassment.
I am deeply concerned with the latest disclosure that the Administration has been secretly spying on American citizens without a warrant.
This afternoon I spoke out on the Senate floor to raise my voice about this Administration's pattern of undermining constitutional protections and the arrogance with which it rebukes the powers held by the Legislative and Judicial branches of government.
I hope you will take a moment to read these words.
Sincerely,
Robert C. Byrd
United States Senator
NO PRESIDENT IS ABOVE THE LAW
Americans have been stunned at the recent news of the abuses of power by an overzealous President. It has become apparent that this Administration has engaged in a consistent and unrelenting pattern of abuse against our Country’s law-abiding citizens, and against our Constitution.
We have been stunned to hear reports about the Pentagon gathering information and creating databases to spy on ordinary Americans whose only sin is choose to exercise their First Amendment right to peaceably assemble. Those Americans who choose to question the Administration’s flawed policy in Iraq are labeled by this Administration as “domestic terrorists.”
We now know that the F.B.I.’s use of National Security Letters on American citizens has increased one hundred fold, requiring tens of thousands of individuals to turn over personal information and records. These letters are issued without prior judicial review, and provide no real means for an individual to challenge a perNmanent gag order.
Through news reports, we have been shocked to learn of the CIA’s practice of rendition, and the so-called “black sites,” secret locations in foreign countries, where abuse and interrogation have been exported, to escape the reach of U.S. laws protecting against human rights abuses.
We know that Vice President Dick Cheney has asked for exemptions for the CIA from the language contained in the McCain torture amendment banning cruel, inhumane, and degrading treatment. Thank God his pleas have been rejected by this Congress.
Now comes the stomach-churning revelation through an executive order, that President Bush has circumvented both the Congress and the courts. He has usurped the Third Branch of government – the branch charged with protecting the civil liberties of our people – by directing the National Security Agency to intercept and eavesdrop on the phone conversations and e-mails of American citizens without a warrant, which is a clear violation of the Fourth Amendment. He has stiff-armed the People’s Branch of government. He has rationalized the use of domestic, civilian surveillance with a flimsy claim that he has such authority because we are at war. The executive order, which has been acknowledged by the President, is an end-run around the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act, which makes it unlawful for any official to monitor the communications of an individual on American soil without the approval of the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Court.
What is the President thinking? Congress has provided for the very situations which the President is blatantly exploiting. The Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Court, housed in the Department of Justice, reviews requests for warrants for domestic surveillance. The Court can review these requests expeditiously and in times of great emergency. In extreme cases, where time is of the essence and national security is at stake, surveillance can be conducted before the warrant is even applied for.
This secret court was established so that sensitive surveillance could be conducted, and information could be gathered without compromising the security of the investigation. The purpose of the FISA Court is to balance the government’s role in fighting the war on terror with the Fourth Amendment rights afforded to each and every American.
The American public is given vague and empty assurances by the President that amount to little more than “trust me.” But, we are a nation of laws and not of men. Where is the source of that authority he claims? I defy the Administration to show me where in the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act, or the U.S. Constitution, they are allowed to steal into the lives of innocent America citizens and spy.
When asked yesterday what the source of this authority was, Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice had no answer. Secretary Rice seemed to insinuate that eavesdropping on Americans was acceptable because FISA was an outdated law, and could not address the needs of the government in combating the new war on terror.
This is a patent falsehood. The USA Patriot Act expanded FISA significantly, equipping the government with the tools it needed to fight terrorism. Further amendments to FISA were granted under the Intelligence Authorization Act of 2002 and the Homeland Security Act of 2002. In fact, in its final report, the 9/11 Commission noted that the removal of the pre-9/11 “wall” between intelligence officials and law enforcement was significant in that it “opened up new opportunities for cooperative action.”
The President claims that these powers are within his role as Commander in Chief. Make no mistake, the powers granted to the Commander in Chief are specifically those as head of the Armed Forces. These warrantless searches are conducted not against a foreign power, but against unsuspecting and unknowing American citizens. They are conducted against individuals living on American soil, not in Iraq or Afghanistan. There is nothing within the powers granted in the Commander in Chief clause that grants the President the ability to conduct clandestine surveillance of American civilians. We must not allow such groundless, foolish claims to stand.
The President claims a boundless authority through the resolution that authorized the war on those who perpetrated the September 11th attacks. But that resolution does not give the President unchecked power to spy on our own people. That resolution does not give the Administration the power to create covert prisons for secret prisoners. That resolution does not authorize the torture of prisoners to extract information from them. That resolution does not authorize running black-hole secret prisons in foreign countries to get around U.S. law. That resolution does not give the President the powers reserved only for kings and potentates.
I continue to be shocked and astounded by the breadth with which the Administration undermines the constitutional protections afforded to the people, and the arrogance with which it rebukes the powers held by the Legislative and Judicial Branches. The President has cast off federal law, enacted by Congress, often bearing his own signature, as mere formality. He has rebuffed the rule of law, and he has trivialized and trampled upon the prohibitions against unreasonable search and seizures guaranteed to Americans by the United States Constitution.
We are supposed to accept these dirty little secrets. We are told that it is irresponsible to draw attention to President Bush’s gross abuse of power and Constitutional violations. But what is truly irresponsible is to neglect to uphold the rule of law. We listened to the President speak last night on the potential for democracy in Iraq. He claims to want to instill in the Iraqi people a tangible freedom and a working democracy, at the same time he violates our own U.S. laws and checks and balances? President Bush called the recent Iraqi election “a landmark day in the history of liberty.” I dare say in this country we may have reached our own sort of landmark. Never have the promises and protections of Liberty seemed so illusory. Never have the freedoms we cherish seemed so imperiled.
These renegade assaults on the Constitution and our system of laws strike at the very core of our values, and foster a sense of mistrust and apprehension about the reach of government.
I am reminded of Thomas Payne’s famous words, “These are the times that try men’s souls.”
These astounding revelations about the bending and contorting of the Constitution to justify a grasping, irresponsible Administration under the banner of “national security” are an outrage. Congress can no longer sit on the sidelines. It is time to ask hard questions of the Attorney General, the Secretary of State, the Secretary of Defense, and the Director of the CIA. The White House should not be allowed to exempt itself from answering the same questions simply because it might assert some kind of “executive privilege” in order to avoid further embarrassment.
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