Life in OUR America, Volume 5, the Livyjr Files Options

[Livyjr]

"New Bush Spokesman Not Blind to Boss' Flaws"

By NANCY BENAC, Associated Press Writer

WASHINGTON - Tony Snow hasn't even started his new job as White House press secretary and already he is learning a lot — about himself.

Although a strong supporter of President Bush, Snow has used his column to label the president "something of an embarrassment," cast his domestic policy as "listless" and compare him to "the boy who can't say no" when it comes to federal spending.

The 50-year-old conservative commentator has done an even tougher Snow job on Democrats.

He's dismissed them as "reduced to a state of unshakable hysteria" and faulted their "righteous ignorance."

He's labeled Democratic leaders like Nancy Pelosi and Harry Reid "wheezy prophets of the Defeatocrat Party."

He also has been a strong defender of Bush on many an occasion, applauding his "brilliant" foreign policy, his stick-to-his-guns persistence in Iraq, his "delicious disdain for the Beltway culture," his "visionary" Social Security plan.

"On the seminal issues of national security and global destiny, he positively dwarfs the political opposition," he has written of Bush.

All of that gives Republicans hope that Snow's fresh voice — and star quality as a polished media figure — will help reinvigorate the beleaguered White House and jolt it out of a defensive crouch.

And speaking of a DEFENSIVE CROUCH .....

As well as a man ...

Who in the words of ....

HIS OWN PRESS SECRETARY .....

Is "SOMETHING OF AN EMBARASSMENT" .....

Which sounds like understatement to me ....

We have .....

"Katrina report lambastes White House"

By LARA JAKES JORDAN, Associated Press
Last updated: 6:27 p.m., Thursday, April 27, 2006

WASHINGTON -- A Senate inquiry into the government's Hurricane Katrina failures ripped the Bush administration anew Thursday and urged the scrapping of the nation's disaster response agency.

But with a new hurricane season just weeks away, senators conceded that few if any of their proposals could become reality in time.

The bipartisan investigation into one of the worst natural disasters in the nation's history singled out President Bush and the White House as appearing indifferent to the devastation until two days after the storm hit.

It said the Homeland Security Department either misunderstood federal disaster plans or refused to follow them.

And it said New Orleans for years had neglected to prepare for large-scale emergencies.

"The suffering that continued in the days and weeks after the storm passed did not happen in a vacuum; instead, it continued longer that it should have because of -- and was in some cases exacerbated by -- the failure of government at all levels to plan, prepare for and respond aggressively to the storm," concluded the report.

It was titled "Hurricane Katrina: A Nation Still Unprepared," sober words for the future.

The Senate inquiry is the third major federal report on the government failures exposed by the Aug. 29 storm, which killed more than 1,300 people and which the Senate Budget Committee says has so far cost the federal government $103 billion.

The report follows similar inquiries by the House and White House and comes in an election year in which Democrats have pointed critically to the administration's Katrina response.

The senators concluded that only by abolishing the Federal Emergency Management Agency -- which Sen. Susan Collins, R-Maine, called a "bumbling bureaucracy" -- and replacing it with a stronger authority could the government best respond to future catastrophes.

But the two lawmakers who led the inquiry, Collins and Joseph Lieberman, D-Conn., said such an overhaul could not be completed by the June 1 start of the hurricane season.

"As a practical matter, that's just five weeks away, and it's not going to happen," Collins told reporters.

"But that doesn't mean that we should continue in the long term to operate with a system that's failed, that is so clearly flawed."

Looking ahead to approaching hurricane season, Collins added: "We're clearly better prepared than last year, but are we prepared enough?"

"No, we're not."

Underscoring the hurdles the proposals face, eliminating FEMA got a cool reception from the White House as Bush headed to the still-ravaged Gulf Coast to view rebuilding efforts in New Orleans and Mississippi.

"As we're headed into the hurricane season, now is not the time to look at moving organizational boxes around," said White House homeland security adviser Frances Fragos Townsend.

Besides dumping FEMA, the report makes 85 other recommendations, from clarifying who's responsible for maintaining New Orleans levees to demanding better plans for protecting or evacuating elderly and poor victims.

The report calls for more funding for disaster planning and response, but does not specify how much or where the money would come from.

The Bush administration says it has been working to prepare for what the National Hurricane Center has predicted will be an active decade for hurricanes.

It is rebuilding New Orleans levees, prodding local governments to update evacuation plans and hire emergency workers, and creating databases to order and track food and other supplies needed during disasters.

Though the new report singles out officials from New Orleans to Washington for blame -- and lambastes Homeland Security Secretary Michael Chertoff in particular -- it gives Bush a mixed review for his performance.

It credits the president for declaring an emergency before the hurricane's landfall, but faults him for waiting until two days after it hit to return to Washington and convene top officials to coordinate the federal response.

Lieberman, in an addendum, took sharper aim at Bush, who he said appeared distracted from the disaster as it unfolded.

"The president is, after all, the commander in chief -- not only in terms of international crises, but in terms of catastrophes here at home," he said.

Not all the senators who participated in the seven-month inquiry agreed with its central recommendation -- to create a National Preparedness and Response Authority but keep it within the oversight of Homeland Security Department to draw on the larger department's resources.

Sen. Frank Lautenberg, D-N.J., said FEMA needs to be stripped out of the larger department and restored as an independent Cabinet-level agency.

"That's how it was done in the past and it worked as we hoped," said Lautenberg, a member of the Senate panel.

But Robert Latham, director of Mississippi's emergency response efforts, said lingering funding and manpower problems should be addressed before such a drastic step is taken.

"Changing the name of something doesn't fix a problem, other than maybe fixes a perception," Latham said.

"Maybe FEMA has taken such a bashing that the name recognition itself will be hard to overcome."

------

On the Net:

Senate Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee: http://hsgac.senate.gov/

[Livyjr]

And THIRTY-SIX YEARS AFTER we amended the New York State Constitution so as to make it the POLICY of the State of New York to conserve and PROTECT its natural resources, therein directing that the New York State Legislature, in implementing this POLICY, SHALL INCLUDE ADEQUATE PROVISION FOR THE ABATEMENT OF AIR AND WATER POLLUTION .....

OUR Air and water in New York State where I live ...

Are worse than before ....

Because of misfesance, malfeasance and nonfeasance on the part of those who had a duty to protect and safeguard OUR lives, health and property as citizens of the State of New York ....

Pursuant to OUR Constitution ....

And so ....

"Hills are shrouded in the fog of ozone - Rensselaer joins Albany, Saratoga counties with flunking air quality"

By COLIN McDONALD, Staff writer, Albany, New York Times Union

First published: Thursday, April 27, 2006

GRAFTON -- The summer mist over the hills of Rensselaer County is a sign of ozone and some of the worst air pollution in the state.

Rensselaer has received an a F from the American Lung Association in its annual national report on air quality.

It is the first time Rensselaer has been mentioned in the report, which used data from a Department of Environmental Conservation monitoring station in Grafton Lakes State Park.

Albany and Saratoga counties also received failing grades.

Schenectady County got a C.

No county in the state scored above a C because of air pollution from coal-fired power plants in the Ohio Valley, industry in western New York and the increasing number of automobiles upwind, said Peter Iwanowicz of the American Lung Association in Albany.

"Our failing grades mean that too many people living in our community are exposed to unhealthful air," Iwanowicz said.

Ozone is a lung irritant that causes premature death among the elderly and increased asthma rates among children.

The gas is formed by sunlight interacting with emissions from automobile exhaust and power plants.

After baking in the afternoon sun, the gas looks like a light fog.

The lung association rated counties by the number of days that ozone levels exceeded federal health standards.

Dr. Kenneth Kroopnick, a Delmar pediatrician, said he is seeing a substantial increase in the number of children he treats for asthma and the severity of their attacks, which he attributes to air pollution.

To help curb the problem, the lung association is supporting three bills in the state Assembly.

Peter M. Rivera, D-Bronx, has sponsored a measure to eliminate bus idling at schools.

Donna Lupardo, D-Endwell, and Senate co-sponsor Carl Marcellino, R-Huntington, want to require outdoor wood boilers to meet the same emission standards as indoor wood stoves.

Assemblyman Pete Grannis, D-Manhattan, plans to introduce a bill to mandate the state to use low-sulfur fuel and minimize tailpipe emissions.

Colin McDonald can be reached at 454-5441 or by e-mail at cmcdonald@timesunion.com.

[Livyjr]

And here is something else that needs to be said ...

As well ....

And so .....

"Parallels of inequity in terror cases"

Fred LeBrun, Albany, New York Times Union

First published: Tuesday, April 25, 2006

For the second time, government prosecutors have had to significantly back down on claims against the accused in local terrorism cases.

First it was the sting involving the still-to-be-tried imam of an Albany mosque.

A critical word in an incriminating document that the federal government took to the grand jury as "commander" turned out to be "brother."

That revelation certainly deflated the U.S. attorney's case against Kurdish refugee Yassin Aref as far as the public was concerned.

Now, what yet another grand jury was told were high crimes by a Chinese immigrant living in Guilderland turn out to be the equivalent of jaywalking thanks to a screw-up by the State Department.

Jun Wang, a microbiologist at Wadsworth Laboratories of the state Health Department, was accused of mailing sensitive guidance systems back to China, ostensibly for the military.

But then we learned the same guidance systems are legally sold in China, as they are all over the world, and Wang's only impropriety was a procedural one of not filling out proper export papers.

Meanwhile, Wang -- who was hired at the Health Department through a contractor -- spent a month in jail.

He was fired from his job because the contractor got skittish from the publicity, according to Wang's attorney, Kevin Luibrand.

And Wang is threatened with deportation.

So sorry we erred and ruined your life, Mr. Wang.

What inevitably happens to cases like these two, which get big media buildups but turn out to be molehills, is that the accused pay a big price whether they are guilty or not.

All to salve the ego and arrogance of our Justice Department, which wouldn't think of walking away in the interests of justice.

It's the "where there's smoke, there's fire" prosecutorial strategy.

OK, so there was no fire, but we think we smell smoke, so let them pay for the fire anyway.

In this instance, Wang is still confined to his home, having posted $250,000 bail, all because the government hasn't been able to track every one of those guidance systems to the university Wang said they were going to.

You know what?

So what.

If these guidance systems are on the open market and anybody can buy them, there's no point to tracking them all down.

It's not as if Wang was trying to hide any of the transactions, which should have been a tip-off to the feds.

The money from China was wired directly to Wang's SEFCU credit union account, and he sent electronics back to his brother by snail mail.

Now the government is combing through Wang's tax returns to see if he declared the transactions.

This is beyond ridiculous.

If there was no crime, then hounding Wang amounts to malicious prosecution, regardless of the 9/11 embargo of our civil rights by the Bush administration.

Granted, in the cases of both Aref and Wang we do not know, and are unlikely to ever know with certitude, what is in their hearts, what their true motivations were.

With Aref, the evidence strongly points to making a buck.

With Wang, we just don't know.

Fair is fair.

The same can be said for not knowing what is in the hearts of the prosecutors.

Sad to say, their motivations are proving to be even murkier than those of the two men they are prosecuting.

[Livyjr]

And speaking of high property taxes in the corrupt State of New York .......

Which buy us corrupt government up here ...

Which results in high property taxes ...

To pay for the corruption .....

We have .....

"Property tax burden hits New Yorkers hard - Homeowners' bills soared in past 5 years amid local funding cuts, Hevesi finds"

By MARK JOHNSON, Associated Press
First published: Thursday, April 27, 2006

ALBANY -- In 2000, Lee Bordeleau paid $2,600 in property taxes on his $100,000 home in the town of Lockport.

Last year, the 48-year-old investment broker's property tax bill rose to $3,400.

Bordeleau's story is a common one across the state.

Local property taxes in New York rose 42 percent from 2000 to 2005, more than three times the rate of inflation, according to a report released Wednesday by state Comptroller Alan G. Hevesi.

"I've lived here for 19 years, and I've never had the same tax in consecutive years," Bordeleau said.

He noted that his daughter and her husband paid $850 in property taxes on their $200,000 home in Raleigh, N.C.

"Something's got to give."

The recession in the early part of this decade and the attacks of Sept. 11, 2001, reduced state aid to local governments at the same time other local tax revenue dropped, in part because some New Yorkers and employers have left the state.

Those factors, combined with growth in local costs for Medicaid and government employee benefits, accelerated property tax growth, the report found.

Over the past five years, property taxes collected in New York rose from $26 billion to $38 billion.

In 2002, the most recent year for which federal data is available, property taxes in the state were $1,406 per person.

That was 49 percent above the national average of $945 and the fourth highest in the country, Hevesi said.

The state's per-capita figure jumps to $1,634 when excluding New York City, which has lower property taxes because it collects revenue from a number of other local taxes.

In one example, a homeowner with a $100,000 house in the village of Newark in Wayne County has seen his property tax burden rise from $419.80 in 2000 to $561.70 in 2005, according to data provided by Arcadia Town Assessor Lawrence Quinn.

In New Windsor, in fast-growing Orange County, property taxes for the average home rose 50 percent, from $4,350 in 2000 to $6,529 last year, excluding exemptions, said Assessor Todd Wiley.

The tax burden rose even without reassessments.

The market value of the average home has more than tripled to $315,000 in the past five years amid a hot housing market, he said.

Some suburban counties near New York City, including Westchester and Nassau, have property tax burdens more than double the statewide average, the report found.

"There is no way you can argue anything New York has done at any level has held property taxes down," said Matthew Maguire, a spokesman for the Business Council of New York State, which has long fought to reduce the state's tax burden.

While lawmakers and the governor in 1997 enacted the School Tax Relief program, which exempted the first $30,000 of property value from taxation for most homeowners, the program has simply shifted costs to the state as a whole and may lead eventually to even higher state taxes, Hevesi said.

"One thing it highlights, again, is the wrongheadedness of the notion that higher state taxes and increased state spending somehow keep property taxes down," Maguire said.

An earlier report from Hevesi's office found property taxes across the state are rising largely because of the state's Medicaid system.

County property taxes increased an average of 3.3 percent this year as a result of a local Medicaid cap enacted last year, Hevesi said in January.

Before the cap, county property taxes had been increasing by 7 percent for the past five years.

Medicaid spending by counties grew by $66 million this year, accounting for roughly half of the $131 million increase in county property taxes statewide.

At $45 billion, New York's Medicaid program is the largest in the nation.

On Wednesday, as the state Senate began overriding some of Pataki's $2.9 billion worth of vetoes to the state budget lawmakers passed last month, Senate Majority Leader Joseph Bruno made the case for property tax cuts, saying New Yorkers are "overburdened."

He said the $1.6 billion property tax cut included in the Legislature's budget was responsive to taxpayer angst.

"We are going to get relief for the taxpayers of this state, and we are going to get a result in this budget," Bruno said on the Senate floor.

"They deserve it; it's their money and no one else's."

[Livyjr]

And speaking of Tony Snow ....

It seems to me ....

From his prior statements about George W. Bush being something of an embarassment ....

As well as his comments about the Democrats being DEFEAT-O-CRATS ....

That Tony Snow is going to turn these WHITE HOUSE PRESS BRIEFINGS ....

Into a kind of high farce ...

A la FAWLTY TOWERS .....

With Tony Snow as Basil Fawlty .....

And George W. Bush ...

As Manuel, the Spanish servant .....

Tony Snow even looks like John Cleese ...

And his name sounds British ....

And so ...

It really should be quite entertaining ....

When he gets in there ...

And gets on a roll ....

About George W. Bush being even more of an embarassment than he was last week ...

And so .....

"A new Bush voice to advise on strategy - Selection of Fox's Tony Snow aims to broaden administration's views"

By JIM VANDEHEI and MICHAEL A. FLETCHER, Washington Post
First published: Thursday, April 27, 2006

WASHINGTON -- President Bush's decision to hire conservative commentator Tony Snow as his chief spokesman reflects a consensus within the White House that it has been too insular, according to advisers.

Snow, who in his roles as a pundit on Fox News and elsewhere has criticized Bush on several occasions, joined the White House only after extracting a promise that he would become an adviser to the President on day-to-day strategy.

If Bush and his team follow through on that commitment, the former columnist would become the first outsider to join Bush's revamped inner circle.

"We want fresh thinking, to charge the batteries, and passionate participation," said Dan Bartlett, a top Bush adviser.

"There is a lot of value added in Tony coming on board and helping us internally with his own views and ideas."

"It fits into the mold."

Bush aides said at least one more well-known Republican will join the White House as early as next week as part of a shake-up.

The emerging team -- which includes Chief of Staff Joshua Bolten, budget chief Rob Portman and now Snow -- is tasked with salvaging Bush's second-term agenda and repairing relations with Congress, the media and the public.

Snow, 50, worked most recently as a commentator for Fox News and as host of his own radio talk show.

He was a director of speechwriting for President George H.W. Bush and has worked as a USA Today columnist, editorial page editor of the Washington Times, deputy editorial page editor of the Detroit News and frequent substitute for radio host Rush Limbaugh.

Snow is an outspoken Republican, but he has not hesitated to pound Bush in writing and on air for his handling of the budget, as well as immigration and other domestic policies.

He even poked fun at Bush's speaking style, saying in 2000 that the President sometimes sounds like "a soul tortured with Tourette's."

Bush said Snow's selection is proof he is open to dissenting opinions.

"For those of you who have read his columns and listened to his radio show, he sometimes has disagreed with me," Bush said.

"I asked him about those comments, and he said, 'You should have heard what I said about the other guy.'"

Snow's first assignment will be to improve relations with the media, which have deteriorated over the past five years during disputes over access to Bush and senior officials and the accuracy of information released from the White House.

Many reporters viewed outgoing White House spokesman Scott McClellan as out of the loop on many debates.

[Livyjr]

"A new Bush voice to advise on strategy - Selection of Fox's Tony Snow aims to broaden administration's views" 
 
By JIM VANDEHEI and MICHAEL A. FLETCHER, Washington Post
First published: Thursday, April 27, 2006

WASHINGTON -- President Bush's decision to hire conservative commentator Tony Snow as his chief spokesman reflects a consensus within the White House that it has been too insular, according to advisers.

Snow, who in his roles as a pundit on Fox News and elsewhere has criticized Bush on several occasions, joined the White House only after extracting a promise that he would become an adviser to the President on day-to-day strategy.

If Bush and his team follow through on that commitment, the former columnist would become the first outsider to join Bush's revamped inner circle.

"We want fresh thinking ....."

Said Dan Bartlett, a top Bush adviser.

Snow's first assignment will be to improve relations with the media, which have deteriorated over the past five years during disputes over access to Bush and senior officials and the accuracy of information released from the White House.

"We want fresh thinking .....," said Dan Bartlett, a top Bush adviser.

And there, America ....

Is where we are at .....

On this day ...

At this hour in time ...

Here in OUR America .....

SO ...

Without looking to either the left ...

Or the right ...

Which would only serve as DISTRACTIONS .....

Now that Dan Bartlett, a top Bush adviser ....

Has laid out for all of us in America ...

Exactly where we as a nation are ...

Right now today ...

Which is stuck with an adminstration ...

That got us into a mess in the world ...

Not only in IRAQINAM ....

But seemingly everywhere ....

AND NOW ...

HAS NO IDEAS WHATSOEVER ....

As to how to get back out of the QUAGMIRE for OUR America .....

That this inept adminstration has BLUNDERED OUR America into ...

Because of a lack of foresight ....

And a lack of WISDOM ...

And RESTRAINT ...

And ....

Let's face it ...

Just plain, old common sense ...

Which seems to be decidedly lacking in this present "WHITE HOUSE" ....

As is made incandescently clear ....

Right above here ...

By Dan Bartlett, a top Bush adviser .....

Who should know ...

As well as anyone ...

Just exactly how inept this Bush adminstration really is ...

And has been ...

To the point of where it needs a real good "CLEANING OUT" ....

And so ....

Here ...

I am going to pause ...

So that Dan Bartlett's comments can sink in ....

Since he, unlike me, is a top Bush adviser ....

Who does understand exactly how detrimental to OUR America this ineptness and incompetence in the present George W. Bush "WHITE HOUSE" really is ...

And so ...

HE IS AN EXPERT ...

He should be heard ...

And so ....

[Livyjr]

"We want fresh thinking .....," said Dan Bartlett, a top Bush adviser.

And there, America ....

Is where we are at .....

On this day ...

At this hour in time ...

Here in OUR America .....

SO ...

See how fine ....

The PALACES .....

And see ....

How poor ....

The farms ....

How bare ....

The peasants' granaries .....

While GENTRY ...

Wear embroideries ....

Hiding sharpened arms ....

And the more they have ...

The more they seize ....

How can there be men such as these?

Who never hunger ....

Never thirst ...

Yet eat and drink ....

Until they ....

BURST!

There are other BRIGANDS .....

But these are the WORST .....

Of all the highway's harms ....

- Lao Tze, Tao Te Ching ....

[Livyjr]

There are other BRIGANDS .....

But these are the WORST .....

And another piece of the puzzle clicks into place ....

Right on schedule ....

"Limbaugh Arrested in Fla. on Drug Charges"

37 minutes ago

WEST PALM BEACH, Fla. - Rush Limbaugh was arrested Friday on prescription drug charges, law enforcement officials said.

Limbaugh turned himself in to authorities on a warrant issued by the state attorney's office, said agency spokeswoman Teri Barbera.

The conservative radio commentator came into the jail at about 4 p.m. with his attorney Roy Black and was released an hour later on $3,000 bail, Barbera said.

The warrant was for fraud to conceal information to obtain prescription, Barbera said.

[Livyjr]

See how fine ....

The PALACES .....

"Limbaugh Arrested in Fla. on Drug Charges"

WEST PALM BEACH, Fla. - Rush Limbaugh was arrested Friday on prescription drug charges, law enforcement officials said.

"Army Charges Former Abu Ghraib Officer"

By ROBERT BURNS, AP Military Writer

1 hour, 32 minutes ago

WASHINGTON - The Army on Friday charged the former head of the interrogation center at Abu Ghraib prison in Iraq with cruelty and maltreatment, dereliction of duty and other criminal offenses for his alleged involvement in the abuse of detainees at the notorious prison in 2003.

Lt. Col. Steven L. Jordan, was charged with 12 counts under the Uniform Code of Military Justice covering seven separate offenses.

He is the highest-ranking officer at Abu Ghraib to face criminal charges.

A preliminary hearing, often referred to as the military equivalent of a grand jury investigation, will be held when Jordan's defense counsel is ready but no date has been set, according to an announcement by the Military District of Washington.

Officers above Jordan's rank have been reprimanded and relieved of command, including Brig. Gen. Janis Karpinski, who was in charge of the U.S.-run prison system that included the Abu Ghraib compound.

But none of those faced criminal charges.

The much-investigated abuses at Abu Ghraib included sexual humiliation and physical abuse of Iraqi detainees.

Disclosure two years ago triggered international protests and calls for Defense Secretary Donald H. Rumsfeld to resign.

He offered his resignation twice but President Bush refused.

[jeffmoskin]

"Limbaugh Arrested in Fla. on Drug Charges"

He's been living in the medicine cabinet for years. This is NOT news.

[Snuffysmith]

Pentagon's Plan For Dirty War

By Chris Floyd

The plan is the culmination and codification of an ad hoc array of progams and powers that Bush has doled out to Rumsfeld over the years, including a series of executive orders signed after the 2004 election that essentially turned the world into a "global free-fire zone" for the Pentagon's secret armies and proxy foreign militias, as a top Pentagon official told The New Yorker. "We're going to be riding with the bad boys.
http://informationclearinghouse.info/article12867.htm

===
Blood Payments for Flawed Leadership

By Mike Whitney

Bad news continues to pile up around Don Rumsfeld like garbage at a land fill. The latest blast came from an unlikely source, The Army Times”, which conducted a poll showing that 64% of enlisted men think Rumsfeld should tender his resignation immediately.
http://informationclearinghouse.info/article12872.htm

[Snuffysmith]

Bush Rejects Calls for Tax on Oil Profits :

President Bush said Friday that taxing enormous oil industry profits is not the way to calm Americans' anxieties about pain at the gas pump, and that his "inclination and instincts" are that major oil companies are not intentionally overcharging drivers.
http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20060428/ap_on_go_pr_wh/bush

[Livyjr]

And another piece of the puzzle clicks into place ....

Right on schedule ....

"Limbaugh Arrested in Fla. on Drug Charges"

WEST PALM BEACH, Fla. - Rush Limbaugh was arrested Friday on prescription drug charges, law enforcement officials said.

The conservative radio commentator came into the jail at about 4 p.m. with his attorney Roy Black and was released an hour later on $3,000 bail, Barbera said.

"A new Bush voice to advise on strategy - Selection of Fox's Tony Snow aims to broaden administration's views" 
 
By JIM VANDEHEI and MICHAEL A. FLETCHER, Washington Post
First published: Thursday, April 27, 2006

WASHINGTON -- President Bush's decision to hire conservative commentator Tony Snow as his chief spokesman reflects a consensus within the White House that it has been too insular, according to advisers.

"We want fresh thinking, to charge the batteries, and passionate participation," said Dan Bartlett, a top Bush adviser.

The emerging team -- which includes Chief of Staff Joshua Bolten, budget chief Rob Portman and now Snow -- is tasked with salvaging Bush's second-term agenda and repairing relations with Congress, the media and the public.

Snow, 50, worked most recently as a commentator for Fox News and as host of his own radio talk show.

He was a director of speechwriting for President George H.W. Bush and has worked as a USA Today columnist, editorial page editor of the Washington Times, deputy editorial page editor of the Detroit News .....

And frequent substitute for radio host Rush Limbaugh .....

He's been living in the medicine cabinet for years.

This is NOT news.

Oh no, jeffmoskin ...

You are absolutely right ...

The RUSHTER has had his scrapes with the law over his pill-taking before ....

And if I recall correctly ....

Among the CONSERVATIVES ...

Here in OUR America ...

THAT MADE HIM ALL THAT MUCH MORE POPULAR ...

Because Rush's CONTEMPT AND DISDAIN for the law here in OUR America ...

Applies to them as well ...

And actually defines them ....

As a "political force" .....

Here in OUR America ....

And so .....

And if it were just a news item about Rush Limbaugh being arrested ...

Well, to be truthful ....

Outside of the CONSERVATIVES ...

Whose CHAMPION he is ....

Who would really give a damn ....

BUT ...

I did not post the story as real news ...

As if nobody knew that Rush was a PILL-HEAD ....

IT WAS THE TIMING OF IT ALL ........

That made it relevant ....

Where this WHITE HOUSE dude, this Dan Bartlett ....

IS CALLING FOR FRESH THINKING IN THE WHITE HOUSE ....

After it has become incandescently clear ...

To just about everyone in OUR America ...

EXCEPT MOST OF THE CONSERVATIVES ...

AND RUSH LIMBAUGH ....

AND TONY SNOW ....

That the one thing above all else that this present INCUMBENT's ADMINISTRATION IS INCAPABLE OF DOING ....

IS THINKING, PERIOD ....

As opposed to simply SHOUTING OUT IDEOLOGICAL SLOGANS ALL THE TIME ...

As if this were Maoist China with the RED GUARDS running rampant through people's lives ...

Shouting out ideological slogans ....

As the BUSHCOS do ....

Or Stalinist Russia ....

Or an Orwellian "landscape" somewhere out there in WEIRDSVILLE ....

At the same time that this Bartlett dude is telling OUR America that they want fresh thinking ...

WHAT DO THEY GO AND DO?

They don't go forward ....

They go back in time ...

To another "political era" here in OUR America ....

One that don't exist anymore ...

That being the unremarkable ONE TERM ADMINISTRATION of George H.W. Bush ....

Affectionately known here in OUR America ....

As BIG BUSH ....

To distinguish him from his boy ...

George ...

The BUSH that is in there now ...

The one whose adminstration .....

According to this Bartlett fellow, anyway ....

NEEDS FRESH THINKING ....

Because it has no ideas about anything of substance, itself ....

AND ....

They simply give us another "BIG BUSH" RE-TREAD .....

Another "same old used-to-be" .....

Like "CON-JOB CONNIE" Rice .....

Who also comes to us from the ONE-TERM presidency of BIG BUSH ....

As does Richard Bruce Cheney .....

Who back in BIG BUSH's day ...

Held the same job that the incompetent Donald Rumsfeld is screwing up so badly in today ......

In this present adminstration of BIG BUSH's boy, George ....

SO ....

As an alleged "FRESH THINKER" ....

What we really are getting dished up instead ....

Is just another BIG BUSH has-been ....

In the form of this Tony Snow character ....

Who is himself closely aligned with AMERICA'S CONSERVATIVE PILLHEAD, the RUSHTER .....

SO?

IF these BUSHCOS really do want FRESH THINKING ....

Then why do they go back in time ....

And down to what is now the WELL-DISCREDITED BOTTOM-OF-THE-BARREL ....

To ronger around ...

Until they snag on to a Tony Snow ....

And dish him up to us ..

As a FRESH THINKER ....

Which, on its face ....

Is simply ludicrous .....

Given Tony Snow's own association with the now-discredited NEW-CON MOVEMENT here in OUR America ....

And his CLOSE ASSOCIATION with the CONSERVATIVE PILL-HEAD, Limbaugh ....

I have said it before in here ...

And since the thought is now back on my mind, I will muse it again ....

DAN BARTLETT .....

JUST HOW STUPID DO YOU REALLY BELIEVE PEOPLE OUTSIDE THE WASHINGTON, D.C. BELTWAY REALLY ARE?

AS STUPID AS THOSE WHO DO "INHABIT" THAT ZONE?

OR MORE STUPID, EVEN, THAN THAT?

Just curious, of course ....

[Livyjr]

For me ....

An older American ....

Who has lived through what I consider to be a whole lot of weirdness ....

Here in OUR America .....

Especially that COLD WAR BID-NESS between America ....

And the USSR ...

Which doesn't exist anymore ...

Since it was based on a real stupid idea ....

A real stupid idea ....

That "CON-JOB CONNIE" Rice then got a Doctor's degree studying ....

Until she became an expert in that real stupid idea herself ....

And went to work for BIG GEORGE BUSH .....

As his expert on this real stupid idea ...

That formed the basis ...

For the existence ...

Of the USSR ....

Until it fell apart .....

And then .....

Connie Rice went back to Stanford University ....

And became its CHIEF FISCAL OFFICER ....

While she was waiting for YOUNG GEORGE BUSH to become president .....

And when that was going to happen ...

Somehow ...

And God alone knows how that all happened ....

Condoleeza Rice went from being the CHIEF FISCAL OFFICER of Stanford University in California .....

To being the NATIONAL SECURITY ADVISOR .....

To YOUNG GEORGE BUSH .....

Even though whatever "threats" she might have known about ...

No longer existed ...

Because by then ...

The USSR was stone cold dead ....

Based on a real stupid idea, such as it was .....

And what threats did exist ...

"CON-JOB CONNIE" was woefully unprepared to perceive ....

Let alone deal with ....

Because all she really was ....

Was an expert in a stone cold dead stupid idea .....

That no longer existed ....

And outside of knowing the finances of Stanford University ....

And all about that stone cold dead stupid idea that had formed the basis for the USSR ....

Connie Rice didn't know anything else ...

And so ....

That somehow qualified her to be America's National Security Advisor ....

And the rest is now history ...

And so ....

Here we are ....

SIX YEARS LATER ....

And Dan Bartlett ....

Who is a BUSHCO SPOKESPERSON ....

Is telling us ...

That the IDEOLOGY of the NEO-CONSERVATIVES .....

Is finally being exposed for what it is ....

An ideology just as stupid as that on which the Soviet Union was based ....

And so ....

Like COMMUNISM ....

NEO-FASCISM, in the guise of NEO-CONSERVATISM ....

Is dying on the vine as well ...

Here in OUR America ....

And so ....

For me ...

It is like watching another Berlin Wall come down ....

In a sense ....

Where the Berlin Wall was a symbol of dying Communism .....

Which ideology ...

Was based on a real stupid idea ...

Like its twin, NEO-CONSERVATISM ....

Or more properly ....

NEO-FASCISM ....

And so ......

[Livyjr]

Yes, indeed ...

These are quite the times that we are in ....

America has been in THRALL to an ideology that has as its RASPUTIN .....

A PILL-HEAD named Rush Limbaugh .....

"IF YOU'RE A CONSERVATIVE ...."

"LIKE ME, KIDS ....."

"IT'S NOT REALLY BREAKING THE LAW ...."

"BECAUSE THERE ISN'T ANY ...."

"SO, KIDS, IF YOU WANT TO DO IT ..."

"BECAUSE IT FEELS GOOD ..."

"BECOME A CONSERVATIVE LIKE ME ..."

"AND IT WILL BE ALRIGHT ..."

"BECAUSE WHEN YOU ARE A CONSERVATIVE LIKE ME ..."

"THEN FOR YOU ..."

"THERE WILL BE NO LAWS, TOO..."

And so ....

It has been ....

And of course ....

Now we have a corrupt, inept government ....

And so .....

I am a believer ...

That when things reach their extremes ....

Like CORRUPTION in OUR government ....

That things then begin to move towards the opposite pole ....

And so ....

In the State of New York ...

Running for GOVERNOR ...

We have as the FRONT-RUNNER ....

ELIOT "Big EL" SPITZER .....

Who as far as government corruption in New York State goes ....

IS THE CHAMPION OF THAT WAY OF LIFE ...

The "same old same old" that we are all quite sick of, at least upstate ....

Because Eliot is quite soft on government corruption ...

And so .....

We are interested in his UNDERDOG OPPONENT ....

Tom Suozzi .....

Primarily because Suozzi is an OUTSIDER ....

Unlike Spitzer ....

Who has been the LAWYER for New York State these last so many years....

And so ....

"Suozzi to forgo party meeting - Underdog calls state Democratic convention 'an insider's game'"

By ELIZABETH BENJAMIN, Capitol bureau, Albany, New York Times Union

First published: Saturday, April 29, 2006

ALBANY -- Underdog gubernatorial hopeful Tom Suozzi said Friday he will forgo the state Democratic convention, at which party leaders are expected to endorse front-runner Eliot Spitzer.

The Nassau County executive will try to petition his way onto the ballot instead.

Suozzi had planned to attend the convention May 30-31 in Buffalo despite the fact that he is trailing Spitzer, the state attorney general, in statewide polls, fundraising and endorsements.

But Suozzi said he changed his mind after learning he wouldn't be allowed to address the convention without 25 percent of the weighted state committee vote -- a highly unlikely scenario because the majority of the party's leaders back Spitzer.

"This is all an insider's game," Suozzi said.

"There's a lot of wonderful people in that hall, many of them are unfortunately too heavily influenced by the party bosses."

"But there are 5.5 million Democrats in New York."

"I'm going directly to the people."

The Spitzer campaign had no comment about Suozzi's decision.

Candidates for statewide office need to receive at least 25 percent of the weighted vote at the party conventions.

The weighted vote is based on how many people voted in each county in the last gubernatorial election.

If more than one candidate receives 25 percent, it forces a September primary.

A candidate who receives more than 50 percent is the party's designee.

Gathering petitions is another option, but time-consuming and expensive.

Candidates must collect 15,000 signatures from enrolled party members statewide.

Suozzi revealed his decision at a symposium on legislative redistricting at Baruch College in Manhattan.

During his speech there, Suozzi railed against the Democratic Party.

"The leadership of my own party tried to convince me not to run," Suozzi said.

"When that didn't work, they began plotting to keep me off the ballot."

"They are treating the governor's mansion like a safe seat, and my house has just been drawn out of the district."

Erie County Democratic Chairman Len Lenihan, a Spitzer supporter, said Suozzi can't legitimately say he was locked out of the convention if he's not even bothering to show up.

"This is not a move that makes him look strong, it only happens when you have no chance at the party's endorsement," Lenihan said.

"Suozzi is involved in a grandstand play."

"It's amusing, but it's not serious."

Suozzi's move recalls the 2002 gubernatorial race when former U.S. Housing Secretary Andrew Cuomo, the upstart candidate for governor, decided at the eleventh hour to forgo the Democratic convention rather than face a landslide loss there to the party favorite, former state Comptroller H. Carl McCall.

Cuomo, now the Democratic front-runner for state attorney general, easily collected 100,000 Democratic signatures to petition his way onto the ballot.

But his campaign fizzled, and he dropped out of the race one week before the primary.

Suozzi said he will be in Buffalo during the convention, "talking to the people."

He refused to discuss his plans further.

Benjamin can be reached at 454-5081 or by e-mail at ebenjamin@timesunion.com.

[Livyjr]

Yes, indeed ...

These are quite the times that we are in ....

America has been in THRALL to an ideology that has as its RASPUTIN .....

A PILL-HEAD named Rush Limbaugh .....

"IF YOU'RE A CONSERVATIVE ...."

"LIKE ME, KIDS ....."

"IT'S NOT REALLY BREAKING THE LAW ...."

"BECAUSE THERE ISN'T ANY ...."

"SO, KIDS, IF YOU WANT TO DO IT ..."

"BECAUSE IT FEELS GOOD ..."

"BECOME A CONSERVATIVE LIKE ME ..."

"AND IT WILL BE ALRIGHT ..."

"BECAUSE WHEN YOU ARE A CONSERVATIVE LIKE ME ..."

"THEN FOR YOU ..."

"THERE WILL BE NO LAWS, TOO..."

And so ....

It has been ....

And of course ....

Now we have a corrupt, inept government ....

And so .....

I am a believer ...

That when things reach their extremes ....

Like CORRUPTION in OUR government ....

That things then begin to move towards the opposite pole ....

And so ....

And here is another story in that vein ....

"Proposed Gas Boycott Divides Texas County"

By LYNN BREZOSKY, Associated Press Writer

Fri Apr 28, 10:23 PM ET

BEEVILLE, Texas - In many ways, Beeville is a typical slice of rural America, a city of about 33,000 that was built on farming and ranching.

It has all the fast food places and a Wal-Mart, but things like malls and specialized medical care are at least an hour away — more than just an inconvenience with gas prices hovering at about $3 a gallon.

"It's hurting everybody; everything is going up except the pay," said Debbie Ponce, a 35-year-old hairdresser who no longer makes the lengthy trip in her sport utility vehicle.

It was such inconveniences that prompted Bee County commissioners this week to call for a boycott of Exxon Mobil Corp., because, according to County Judge Jimmy Martinez, the world's largest oil company is making record billion-dollar profits while consumers suffer.

"I understand free enterprise."

"I understand we live in America."

"But, by golly, just because they have a license doesn't mean that they can rob," Martinez said.

The boycott starts Monday — the same day immigrants plan to stay home from work and school in protest of proposed immigration law reforms — and will continue until gas is down to $1.30 a gallon, Martinez said.

He added that he hopes counties follow the example set by this oil-rich part of South Texas.

Martinez said Irving-based Exxon was targeted because of its size and the message it sent with its $400 million retirement package for Chief Executive Lee Raymond.

But Exxon said it isn't responsible for the high gas prices and pointed out that only about 13,000 of the 170,000 or so gas stations in the U.S. have the Exxon or Mobil brand.

And all but about 1,000 of those are owned by franchisors.

"Exxon Mobil does not and could not control the market price of gasoline," the company said in a statement.

"As you know, there are many factors that impact gas prices and the biggest influence continues to be demand and supply for crude oil and petroleum products and local supply and demand for gasoline, followed by federal and state taxes."

That doesn't matter much to many people who have blamed big oil companies, including the folks in Beeville.

"They're coming into my office, they're having to make a decision whether to drive for dialysis in Corpus Christi or whether they want to put food on the table," Martinez said.

The Beeville Bee-Picayune Web site ran a poll showing 72 percent of those surveyed planned to boycott Exxon.

Kurt Rossow, a 20-year-old student who was fueling up at an Exxon station in town, said he heard a lot of people were going to do it.

"Gasoline is real expensive, but it's kind of not very smart," he said.

"The commissioners are going to end up targeting the family who owns the station."

County Commissioner Susan Stasny, the only dissenter in Tuesday night's 4-1 vote, noted the irony of the boycott coming from the heart of oil country.

During the past five years, she said, the county received $8 million in oil and gas tax revenues, with the county's four school districts receiving a combined $30 million.

"We're all concerned about the price of gasoline," she said.

"However, the oil and gas industry has been very kind to Bee County."

County Tax Assessor Andrea Gibbud said that in 2005, mineral taxes contributed $1.6 million of the county's $3.9 million in tax revenues for 2005.

She called the resolution "misguided."

The Bee County Chamber of Commerce issued a statement against it.

Mayor Kenneth Chesshir said the City Council wouldn't support the boycott and he understood why people were upset.

"I like free enterprise," said Chesshir, who is also a barber in town. "but when a company holds the gun to America's head, sometimes government help is needed.

Leticia Munoz, who owns the city's three Exxon stations, said her 51 employees were fearing for their jobs.

"They realize if it affects us, it'll affect them," said Munoz, who counts on sales of tacos, sodas and other high-profit items purchased by people who stop for gas.

"Fuel is the lowest profit item that we have," she said.

"If you really take into account the cost of insurance, maintenance, we're losing money."

Martinez put out a newsletter Friday urging citizens to boycott only gas, not the convenience stores.

Munoz said she'd gotten a few customers who wanted to show disapproval of the resolution by buying Exxon gas.

"One said he hadn't bought Exxon fuel in 33 years," she said.

[Livyjr]

And it looks like the RUSHTER is going to SKATE .....

And he will be more popular than ever ...

And the NEW CONS will experience a resurgence .....

Which will carry George W. Bush's approval ratings upwards ...

Causing the REPUBLICANS to win continued control of the CONGRESS in November ....

And so ...

Kids of America .....

If you really want to do it ...

Because it feels good ...

Be a CONSERVATIVE like Rush ...

And like Rush ....

For you ....

There will be no law ...

And so ....

"Limbaugh, prosecutors can declare victory"

By BRIAN SKOLOFF, Associated Press
Last updated: 5:25 p.m., Saturday, April 29, 2006

WEST PALM BEACH, Fla. -- After three years under suspicion, Rush Limbaugh can finally put behind him the investigation that exposed the conservative commentator's own drug problems, thrusting him into the spotlight for the very things he derided in others.

None of it affected his ratings for a radio talk show that airs weekdays on nearly 600 stations and draws about 20 million listeners a week, Limbaugh spokesman Tony Knight said.

"This investigation didn't have any impact on his audience or on his advertising," Knight said Saturday, a day after defense attorneys announced a deal with prosecutors.

A single prescription fraud charge will be dismissed after 18 months if Limbaugh stays drug free and doesn't violate any laws.

Prosecutors launched their investigation in 2003 after Limbaugh's housekeeper alleged he abused OxyContin and other painkillers.

He entered a five-week rehabilitation program and blamed his addiction on severe back pain.

Prosecutors seized Limbaugh's medical records after learning that he received about 2,000 painkillers, prescribed by four doctors in six months.

The investigation was held up as prosecutors and defense attorney Roy Black battled in court over whether Limbaugh's constitutional right to privacy was violated when the records were seized, but the state prevailed.

Is the deal a victory for Limbaugh?

"This is a dismissal of the charge ... representing, in affect, a win for the defense," said Kendall Coffey, a former U.S. attorney and prominent Miami defense lawyer.

"Having said that, I wouldn't call this case a major defeat for the prosecution."

"They fought and won an important legal point in establishing that you can use a search warrant in Florida to secure medical records," Coffey added.

"That's an important precedent for prosecutors around the state."

"This could be the rare situation where both sides made a deal and can walk away feeling some satisfaction."

The deal also allows Limbaugh "to save face," said Michael Seigel, a University of Florida law professor and former federal prosecutor.

"Given the high-profile nature of this, it's an indication to me that if Rush Limbaugh thought he could win the case and be vindicated, he would go to trial," Seigel said.

"He's not asking for his day in court."

The 55-year-old commentator surrendered Friday at the Palm Beach County jail on a warrant charging that in 2003, he sought a prescription from a physician without revealing that he had received medications from another practitioner within 30 days.

That charge, commonly referred to as doctor shopping, is a felony that could carry a sentence of up to 5 years in prison.

Limbaugh was booked, photographed and fingerprinted before being released on $3,000 bail.

He has steadily maintained his innocence.

Black called the charge a formality to bring closure to the case, adding that Limbaugh has been drug free for 2 1/2 years.

A spokesman for the Palm Beach County state attorney's office, Mike Edmondson, said the deal is typical in such cases.

"It's really standard for someone who is dealing with their addiction," Edmondson said Saturday.

"It's a diversion specifically for first-time offenders with no prior criminal history or arrest."

Before his own problems became public, Limbaugh had often argued that drug crimes deserve punishment, once saying on his short-lived television show in 1995 that users "ought to be accused and they ought to be convicted and they ought to be sent up."

The resolution of the case was applauded by Ethan Nadelmann, director of the New York-based nonprofit Drug Policy Alliance, which promotes treatment instead of incarceration for nonviolent drug offenders.

"Maybe this will soften up Rush Limbaugh a bit when he talks on the radio about the millions of other Americans who are suffering from drug problems," Nadelmann said.

[Livyjr]

And so .....

I am a believer ...

That when things reach their extremes ....

Like CORRUPTION in OUR government ....

That things then begin to move towards the opposite pole ....

And so ....

In the State of New York ...

Running for GOVERNOR ...

We have as the FRONT-RUNNER ....

ELIOT "Big EL" SPITZER .....

Who as far as government corruption in New York State goes ....

IS THE CHAMPION OF THAT WAY OF LIFE ...

The "same old same old" that we are all quite sick of, at least upstate ....

Because Eliot is quite soft on government corruption ...

And so .....

We are interested in his UNDERDOG OPPONENT ....

Tom Suozzi .....

Primarily because Suozzi is an OUTSIDER ....

Unlike Spitzer ....

Who has been the LAWYER for New York State these last so many years....

And so ....

"Suozzi to forgo party meeting - Underdog calls state Democratic convention 'an insider's game'" 
 
By ELIZABETH BENJAMIN, Capitol bureau, Albany, New York Times Union

First published: Saturday, April 29, 2006

ALBANY -- Underdog gubernatorial hopeful Tom Suozzi said Friday he will forgo the state Democratic convention, at which party leaders are expected to endorse front-runner Eliot Spitzer.

The Nassau County executive will try to petition his way onto the ballot instead.

"This is all an insider's game," Suozzi said.

"There's a lot of wonderful people in that hall, many of them are unfortunately too heavily influenced by the party bosses."

"But there are 5.5 million Democrats in New York."

"I'm going directly to the people."

And speaking of going directly to the people .....

Here is how it starts .....

http://www.tomsuozzi.com

[Livyjr]

washingtonpost.com Highlights

"Bush says election ratified Iraq policy - 'Accountability moment' has passed, president says"

By Jim VandeHei and Michael A. Fletcher

Updated: 11:33 p.m. ET Jan. 15, 2005

President Bush said the public's decision to reelect him was a ratification of his approach toward Iraq and that there was no reason to hold any administration officials accountable for mistakes or misjudgments in prewar planning or managing the violent aftermath.

"We had an accountability moment, and that's called the 2004 elections," Bush said in an interview with The Washington Post.

"The American people listened to different assessments made about what was taking place in Iraq, and they looked at the two candidates, and chose me."

"Silence cloaks nuclear scandal - Scientist who profited by spreading atomic secrets to U.S. foes is shielded by Pakistani president and President Bush"

By ERIC ROSENBERG, Washington bureau
First published: Sunday, January 16, 2005

WASHINGTON -- Public enemy No. 1 for most Americans is Osama bin Laden, the mastermind of the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks, who continues to threaten more deadly strikes against the United States.

In close competition for that dubious title should be Abdul Qadeer Khan, 68, also known as A.Q. Khan, the Pakistani nuclear scientist who oversaw the spread of nuclear weapons to U.S. adversaries, possibly including al-Qaida, bin Laden's terrorist group.

Khan arguably has done more to undermine U.S. security than bin Laden.

He has confessed to transferring nuclear weapons know-how to Iran, Libya and North Korea.

U.S. officials and investigators at the U.N.'s International Atomic Energy Agency are still searching for other possible customers who possess Khan's digitized blueprints for nuclear-specific manufacturing equipment and how-to manuals for running uranium enrichment centrifuges, much of it on handy compact discs.

Since the invention of nuclear weapons 60 years ago, no one has done more to spread those weapons to more countries than Khan.

His network of suppliers, middlemen and front companies flourished in 30 countries.

He was a for-profit nuclear peddler, with a one-stop atomic emporium that allowed shoppers to buy bomb designs, centrifuges for enriching uranium from uranium hexafluoride and consulting services to help get weapons plants up and running.

Despite his notoriety, Khan has escaped the "most-wanted" label applied to bin Laden because of a delicate diplomatic and political minuet linking Khan, Pakistani President Pervez Musharraf and President Bush.

Each man for his own reasons has thrown a cloak of silence over what is emerging as the biggest nuclear scandal in history.

In contrast to the missing bin Laden -- target of a global manhunt -- Khan's whereabouts are well known.

He is living under house arrest in a tony section of Islamabad, the capital of Pakistan, as part of a deal that Musharraf unveiled last year.

That deal gave Khan a full pardon and allowed him to keep the millions of dollars he is believed to have netted from the illicit sales.

In exchange, Khan took responsibility for the crimes and agreed to the house arrest -- a punishment that forced Khan, a high-profile and beloved figure in Pakistan, to vanish from public life and scientific endeavor.

A U.S. alert to Musharraf apparently triggered Khan's confession.

According to Secretary of State Colin Powell, the United States by early 2004 had amassed so much evidence that Khan was peddling nuclear secrets that Powell telephoned Musharraf and told him to "deal with" Khan.

"I said to him, 'We know so much about this that we're going to go public with it, and within a few weeks, OK?'"

"'And you need to deal with this before you have to deal with it publicly.' "

The next step came on Feb. 4 when, in a dramatic televised speech, Khan confessed and -- without naming the countries that had received his services -- accepted "full responsibility" for exporting nuclear technology.

He was quick to absolve the Musharraf government of any involvement.

While some of his colleagues at the A.Q. Khan Research Laboratories -- Pakistan's top nuclear facility -- are also under investigation for trafficking, "there was never any kind of authorization for these activities by the government," he said.

The next day, it was Musharraf's turn to appear before the TV cameras.

Dressed in an army jacket, khaki trousers and combat boots, the Pakistani leader announced at a news conference that he had pardoned Khan for spreading the potential for nuclear terror.

The Pakistani president signed off saying how much he admired the scientist.

"All the proliferation, unfortunately, was under the supervision or orders of Dr. A.Q. Khan," Musharraf told a news conference, quickly adding that Khan is "still my hero" for developing atomic weapons for Pakistan.

Musharraf insisted the Pakistani government had no knowledge of Khan's extensive proliferation network because the scientist had amassed enormous autonomy during the previous two decades as he developed nuclear weapons for Pakistan.

Musharraf's eagerness to whisk the matter out of sight reflects a harsh political fact of life for the 61-year-old general.

Khan is a hero in Pakistan and throughout the Islamic world for perfecting his country's first nuclear weapon -- and, by definition, the much-anticipated first "Muslim bomb."

Pakistan exploded a series of atomic bombs in 1998, bringing that country into nuclear parity with archrival India, with whom it has fought three wars.

Husain Haqqani, a former Pakistani ambassador to Sri Lanka and adviser to prime ministers Nawaz Sharif and Benazir Bhutto, says Khan is so popular in Pakistan that if he announced he wanted his countrymen to give him money, "150 million Pakistanis would give it to him."

"Pakistani kids would empty their pockets for him."

Haqqani teaches international relations at Boston University and is author of the forthcoming "Pakistan Between Mosque and Military."

Musharraf presides over a nation festering with Islamic militants, with large segments of the population sympathetic to al-Qaida and remnants of the fundamentalist Taliban regime in Afghanistan, which the U.S. military toppled three years ago.

The general is in no position to get tough with Khan by, for example, putting him on trial, especially since such a step would appear to be catering to the United States, which is widely unpopular throughout the country.

Pakistan's religious parties already are angry with Musharraf for placing Khan and at least a half-dozen of his associates under house arrest.

Musharraf won't let U.S. investigators or officials from the International Atomic Energy Agency question Khan directly -- "It's a matter of national pride" he says --to find out more about his far-flung proliferation network.

From the Pakistani dictator's point of view, the least said about Khan, the better.

The Pakistani leader, who has narrowly escaped two assassination attempts, keeps one eye nervously focused at all times on how Islamic militants in his nation react to his policies, especially when they involve coordination with the United States.

And there is a huge amount of coordination.

Powell said he speaks with Musharraf more than with any other foreign leader.

"We talk all the time," Powell said of the estimated 90 conversations he said they have had.

The Bush administration is also tiptoeing around the issue.

Because Musharraf is a key ally in the U.S. war against terrorism -- after the Sept. 11 strikes he agreed to withdraw support for the Taliban, a regime that had supported al-Qaida -- the White House doesn't want to add to Musharraf's precarious domestic circumstances by pushing too hard to gain access to Khan.

Another reason the Bush administration is eager to let the Khan case gently disappear is that it represents a failure of American intelligence and diplomacy that one man -- the leading nuclear scientist of a U.S. ally -- could do so much damage for so long and escape detection.

In his infrequent interviews and public statements, Khan has revealed that he is a virulent Muslim nationalist with an Islamist's hatred of the United States, Israel and the West.

"All the western countries, including Israel, are not only Pakistan's enemies but also enemies of Islam," he charged in a 1984 interview.

He called the U.S. effort to prevent the flow of nuclear technology around the globe "part of the crusades which the Christians and Jews had initiated against the Muslims 1,000 years ago."

Like many Muslims, Khan has spoken of a worldwide "Zionist" conspiracy to rob Muslim nations of their power and glory.

And speaking about "accountability moments" .....

Here is one comiong at us, right now .....

And it is a "re-play" of the same old, same old ....

Tell us something ....

One moment ....

That will get our national thumb ....

Back into our national mouth ....

So that we will "go back to sleep" ....

And as soon as we are ....

PRESTO CHANGO, LE VOILA .....

"Pakistan frees scientist held for 2 years"

By SADAQAT JAN, Associated Press
Last updated: 7:05 a.m., Sunday, April 30, 2006

ISLAMABAD, Pakistan -- A senior Pakistani scientist suspected of helping leak nuclear weapons technology to Iran, Libya and North Korea has been released after two years in detention, an army spokesman said Sunday.

Mohammed Farooq, who worked at Pakistan's top nuclear weapons facility, was detained in December 2003, along with 10 other people, when it was revealed that the head of the facility, Abdul Qadeer Khan, gave sensitive technology to Iran, Libya and North Korea.

Farooq, who was director general at Khan Research Laboratories, was suspected of allegedly leaking technology on Khan's orders.

He was freed last week, army spokesman Maj. Gen. Shaukat Sultan told The Associated Press.

Asked whether Farooq would be allowed to keep his job at the laboratories, Sultan said only that "he has been advised to restrict his movement and activities and stay at home for security reasons."

Sultan would not say whether Farooq had been found guilty of any wrongdoing.

Farooq was the last of the 11 people detained in 2003 who remained in custody.

The 11 -- scientists, security and administration personnel who worked at the lab --were detained for questioning over the spread of nuclear technology in the alleged black market network that Khan headed.

There was no immediate comment from Farooq or his family.

The other nuclear officials have avoided speaking with the media or discussing their detention publicly after their release.

In February 2004, Khan confessed that he sold nuclear secrets to Iran, North Korea and Libya.

But President Gen. Pervez Musharraf pardoned him due to his role in giving Pakistan a nuclear prowess to rival that of neighboring India.

The two countries carried out nuclear tests in 1998.

Khan, who is regarded as a national hero by many Pakistanis, has since been confined to his home in the capital, Islamabad, amid tight security.

Officials have said Khan's movement has been curtailed for security concerns.

Pakistan, a close U.S. ally in the war against terrorism, has rejected Washington's requests for access to Khan for questioning on nuclear black marketing.

[Livyjr]

And BINGO, jeffmoskin ....

Right on schedule ....

Another piece of the puzzle ....

Is now in place ....

And so .....

"Powell forces Rice to defend Iraq planning"

By LIBBY QUAID, Associated Press
Last updated: 5:06 p.m., Sunday, April 30, 2006

WASHINGTON -- Just back from Baghdad and eager to discuss promising developments, Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice found herself knocked off message Sunday, forced to defend prewar planning and troop levels against an unlikely critic -- Colin Powell, her predecessor at the State Department.

For the Bush administration, it was a rare instance of in-house dissenter going public.

On Rice's mind was the political breakthrough that had brought her and Defense Secretary Donald H. Rumsfeld to Iraq last week and cleared the way for formation of a national unity government.

Yet Powell sideswiped her by revisiting the question of whether the U.S. had a large enough force to oust Saddam Hussein and then secure the peace.

He said he advised Bush before the U.S.-led invasion in March 2003 to send more troops to Iraq, but that the administration did not follow his recommendation.

Rice, Bush's national security adviser during the run-up to the war, neither confirmed nor denied Powell's assertion.

But she spent a good part of her appearances on three Sunday talk shows reaching into the past to defend the White House, which is trying to highlight the positive to a public increasingly skeptical in this election year of the president's conduct of the war and concerned about the large U.S. military presence.

"I don't remember specifically what Secretary Powell may be referring to, but I'm quite certain that there were lots of discussions about how best to fulfill the mission that we went into Iraq," Rice said.

"And I have no doubt that all of this was taken into consideration."

"But that when it came down to it, the president listens to his military advisers who were to execute the plan," she told CNN's "Late Edition."

Powell, in an interview broadcast Sunday in London, said he gave the advice to now retired Gen. Tommy Franks, who developed and executed the Iraq invasion plan, and Defense Secretary Donald H. Rumsfeld while the president was present.

"I made the case to General Franks and Secretary Rumsfeld before the president that I was not sure we had enough troops," Powell said in an interview on Britain's ITV television.

"The case was made, it was listened to, it was considered."

".... A judgment was made by those responsible that the troop strength was adequate."

Rice said Bush "listened to the advice of his advisers and ultimately, he listened to the advice of his commanders, the people who actually had to execute the war plan."

"And he listened to them several times," she told ABC's "This Week."

"When the war plan was put together, it was put together, also, with consideration of what would happen after Saddam Hussein was actually overthrown," Rice said.

In January, Pentagon officials acknowledged that Paul Bremer, the senior U.S. official in Iraq during the first year of the war, told Rumsfeld in May 2004 that a far larger number of U.S. troops were needed to effectively fight the insurgency, but his advice was rejected.

Bremer said his memo to Rumsfeld suggested half a million troops were needed -- more than three times the number there at the time.

"There will be time to go back and look at those days of the war and, after the war, to examine what went right and what went wrong," Rice said on CBS' "Face the Nation."

"But the goal and the purpose now is to make certain that we take advantage of what is now a very good movement forward on the political front to help this Iraqi government," she said.

Powell was chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff during the 1991 Gulf War and is known for his belief in deploying decisive force with a clear exit strategy in any conflict.

"The president's military advisers felt that the size of the force was adequate; they may still feel that years later."

"Some of us don't."

"I don't," Powell said.

"In my perspective, I would have preferred more troops, but you know, this conflict is not over."

"At the time, the president was listening to those who were supposed to be providing him with military advice," Powell said.

"They were anticipating a different kind of immediate aftermath of the fall of Baghdad; it turned out to be not exactly as they had anticipated."

Rumsfeld has rejected criticism that he sent too few U.S. troops to Iraq, saying that Franks and generals who oversaw the campaign's planning had determined the overall number of troops, and that he and Bush agreed with them.

The recommendation of senior military commanders at the time was about 145,000 troops.

end quotes

What a bunch of horse hockey old "CON-JOB CONNIE" Rice is slinging here, now .....

With this talk of WAR PLANS .....

What a CROCK .....

The BUSHCOS went into Iraq before all of the troops were even in place ....

In what was PURE THEATER .....

NOT BELIEVING THERE WAS GOING TO BE A WAR ....

And so ....

WAR PLANS .....

As if "CON-JOB CONNIE" had something ...

Anything ....

Other than a mountain of lies .....

That would now serve to convince anyone that when the BUSHCOS went into Iraq in what is known up here as THE BOY'S WAR ....

That "CON-JOB CONNIE" had the slightest idea of what was going to happen next ....

And here she is ....

Talking this ABSOLUTE **** to none other than Colin Powell .....

Who I must say ...

I do admire .....

From his days as Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff ....

During BIG BUSH'S WAR ....

Back in 1991 ....

When Richard Bruce Cheney ....

A.K.A. "THE SPHINX" ....

Had the job that Rumsfeld is bungling so badly now ....

With his arcane ideas of what America's military should look like in the 21st Century .....

And as to TROOP STRENGTH ....

Back in BIG BUSH'S WAR ...

THE SPHINX himself was on the record ....

As saying many more troops .....

Were needed ....

Just to invade Kuwait .....

And so ...

What did we have for that?

600,000?

Versus 145,000 to invade the whole of Iraq?

What a CROCK, Connie ...

Laughable ....