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

[70sliberalism]

And as we do our Porter Goss "retrospective" in here this morning .....

"The man who made it clear ...

Back then ...

That he was not qualified to lead the CIA ....."


hahahahahahahhhaaa....I remember that as if it were yesterday. thank you.

[Livyjr]

And then ....

There is always Porter Goss ....

"White House Denies Bush Lost Faith in Goss"

By KATHERINE SHRADER, Associated Press Writer

WASHINGTON - The White House on Saturday denied that    President Bush had lost confidence in just-resigned CIA Director Porter Goss, saying there was a "collective agreement" the agency needed a new leader now.

"Reports that the president had lost confidence in Porter Goss are categorically untrue," Perino said.

She has just about as much credibility ....

As Scottie "BOY" McClellan did ....

Which is to say ...

NONE .....

"Goss Forced Out as CIA Director; Gen. Hayden Is Likely Successor"

By Dafna Linzer and Walter Pincus
Washington Post Staff Writers
Saturday, May 6, 2006; Page A01

Porter J. Goss was forced to step down yesterday as CIA director, ending a turbulent 18-month tenure marked by an exodus of some of the agency's top talent and growing White House dissatisfaction with his leadership during a time of war.

The likely successor to Goss is Gen. Michael V. Hayden, the former director of the National Security Agency and now deputy to Director of National Intelligence John D. Negroponte, senior administration officials said.

He could be named as soon as Monday.

Seated next to President Bush in the Oval Office, Goss, a Republican congressman from Florida before he took over the CIA, said he was "stepping aside" but gave no reason for the departure.

Bush, who did not name a successor, said he had accepted the resignation and thanked Goss for his service.

"Porter's tenure at the CIA was one of transition, where he's helped this agency become integrated into . . . the intelligence community," Bush said.

"That was a tough job, and he's led ably." Bush said he had developed a "very close personal relationship" with Goss, who succeeded George J. Tenet in September 2004.

But senior administration officials said Bush had lost confidence in Goss, 67, almost from the beginning and decided months ago to replace him.

In what was described as a difficult meeting in April with Negroponte, Goss was told to prepare to leave by May, according to several officials with knowledge of the conversation.

"There has been an open conversation for a few weeks, through Negroponte, with the acknowledgment of the president" about replacing Goss, said a senior White House official who discussed the internal deliberations on the condition of anonymity.

Another senior White House official said Goss had always been viewed as a "transitional figure" who would leave by year's end.

His departure was accelerated when Bush shook up his White House staff in hopes of beginning a political turnaround.

Members of Congress privately predicted that Hayden, who once enjoyed tremendous support on the Hill, would face a contentious confirmation process over the Bush administration's domestic spying program.

Other sensitive issues, such as the existence of secret prisons abroad for terrorism suspects, also are likely to arise.

"The calculus is that would be true about anybody at this point."

"Given all the other stuff, like secret prisons, the confirmation is going to be tough for anybody," a senior administration official said.

Another candidate mentioned along with Hayden is Mary Margaret Graham, who was transferred from CIA headquarters after clashing with Goss's staff.

She now coordinates intelligence collection for Negroponte.

Homeland security adviser Frances Fragos Townsend, a rumored potential candidate, is not in the running, officials said.

Negroponte became intelligence czar last year in a job created by Congress when it overhauled the nation's intelligence agencies in response to their failure to prevent the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks.

Negroponte's role as the government's senior coordinator overseeing a web of intelligence agencies diminished Goss's job.

Goss was stripped of the title of director of central intelligence, which had been held by his predecessors in addition to the title of CIA director, and many of the duties were taken over by Negroponte.

But Negroponte, a career ambassador whose last two posts were at the United Nations and in Iraq, has been under pressure from Congress in recent weeks to demonstrate that he is in charge of the intelligence community and able to make tough decisions.

Goss and Negroponte had been friends for years and were fraternity brothers at Yale, where they graduated in 1960.

But turf battles erupted as Negroponte's operation grew and Goss was embattled within his own agency, where some officers viewed him as staunchly partisan and politically weak.

Negroponte replaced Goss in presiding over the president's daily intelligence briefing, and he worked to bring CIA personnel and some of its analytical functions into his growing operations.

Those steps quickly put him at odds with his friend.

Privately, Goss's associates said the two men clashed with increasing frequency in recent months, and they blamed Negroponte for hurting Goss's reputation with the president.

But administration officials said Goss never forged a strong relationship with Bush.

"It just didn't click," one official said, speaking on the condition of anonymity.

Goss's reserved personality and inability to master details of intelligence activities dampened the atmosphere of the president's morning intelligence briefing, which had been a central feature of the close relationship between Bush and Tenet.

In one of his early interviews, Goss complained that he was spending hours preparing for the Oval Office sessions.

"Once Negroponte came in and Porter was no longer doing the president's daily briefings, he lost the opportunity to build the kind of relationship with the president that other directors had," said Mark Lowenthal, who was a senior adviser to Tenet and briefly to Goss before leaving the agency in March 2005.

Internally, Goss struggled to articulate a vision for an agency reeling from the intelligence failures of 9/11 and Iraq before the March 2003 invasion, current and former colleagues said.

And Goss could not overcome a reputation as a partisan politician who worked congressional hours and appeared disinterested in his overseas intelligence counterparts.

Goss also caused waves at the agency in dealing with complaints about his chief of staff, Patrick Murray.

During a tense staff meeting, Goss told agency employees he did not handle personnel matters, according to people who attended.

In Goss's first days in office, his appointment of Michael Kostiw as executive director ended after it became public that Kostiw had been forced to leave the CIA under a cloud 20 years earlier.

The subsequent search at the agency to find who leaked the information about Kostiw's past led the top two officers in the agency's clandestine service to resign in protest.

Kostiw's replacement, Kyle "Dusty" Foggo, is the subject of a review by the CIA's inspector general.

The agency is examining whether Foggo arranged for any contracts to be granted to companies associated with Brent R. Wilkes, a contractor and longtime friend of Foggo's who had connections to Rep. Randy "Duke" Cunningham (R-Calif.).

Cunningham left Congress and was sentenced to more than eight years in prison for corruption.

Foggo has said he has done nothing improper, and the agency has said the review is standard practice in such situations, not an indication of any wrongdoing.

After Goss's announcement yesterday, Foggo told colleagues that he will resign next week.

Last week, the agency confirmed that Foggo attended private poker games with Wilkes at a Washington hotel.

Over Goss's 18 months, more than a dozen senior officials -- several of whom were promoted under Goss -- resigned, retired early or requested reassignment.

Robert Richer, who was head of the Near East division, served less than a year as the No. 2 official in the clandestine service before quitting in frustration over Goss's leadership last November.

Richer then spent several days privately sharing his concerns with senior congressional leaders and Negroponte.

In the clandestine service alone, Goss lost one director, two deputy directors and at least a dozen department heads, station chiefs and division directors, many with the key language skills and experience he has said the agency needs.

The agency is on its third counterterrorism chief since Goss arrived.

Goss was a young CIA case officer in the 1960s before entering Republican politics in the wealthy Florida community of Sanibel.

He was elected to Congress and eventually became the chairman of the House intelligence panel.

He had been preparing to retire from public service and spend more time on a family farm in Virginia when he was asked by Vice President Cheney to stay as chairman after the 2001 attacks.

When Tenet resigned in mid-2004, Goss was nominated to succeed him.

Republicans joined Bush yesterday in thanking Goss but did not praise his tenure.

Democrats said his leadership had been a failure.

"Regrettably, Porter Goss's tenure as director of the CIA was a tumultuous one," said Sen. John D. Rockefeller IV (W.Va.), senior Democrat on the intelligence panel.

"We must have a leader with strong credentials, a demonstrated track record of independence and objectivity, and the ability to bring much needed harmony within the ranks."

Staff writers Dana Priest, Peter Baker and Jim VandeHei and researcher Julie Tate contributed to this report.

[Livyjr]

And if anyone out there ....

Has children ...

Or even grandchildren ....

Who are thinking of "getting into science" ....

Here is some very valuable advice on the subject ....

From none other than the man ...

Who would know ....

And so ...

"Bush warns graduates on technology dangers"

By DEB RIECHMANN, Associated Press
Last updated: 4:56 p.m., Saturday, May 6, 2006

STILLWATER, Okla. -- President Bush advised college graduates on Saturday to use technology but not become enslaved by it.

"Science offers the prospect of eventual cures for terrible diseases -- and temptations to manipulate life and violate human dignity," Bush said during commencement exercises at Oklahoma State University.

"With the Internet, you can communicate instantly with someone halfway across the world -- and isolate yourself from your family and your neighbors."

The nation's young generation will wrestle to resolve these dilemmas, he said.

"My advice: Harness the promise of technology without becoming slaves to technology."

"My advice is that science serves the cause of humanity and not the other way around," the president said.

After the speech, some graduates said they couldn't make out clearly what Bush said because of an echo in the audio system at Boone Pickens Stadium.

"I couldn't really hear it because the sound was so bad," said Michelle Ward, who earned a degree in biomedical sciences.

Bush highlighted recent economic gains and told the graduates that an improving job market is giving them more job opportunities.

"The job market for college graduates is the best it has been in years," he said.

"This economy of ours is strong and so you'll have more jobs to choose from than previous classes and your starting salaries will be higher."

"And the opportunities beyond are only limited by the size of your dreams."

Those in the 2,700-member class that gathered in Boone Pickens Stadium wore plastic slickers to keep their gowns dry from drizzle.

Bush spoke from a covered platform to a crowd of about 20,000 people, many of whom wore orange raincoats made available to those in the stadium.

Protesters staged a peaceful demonstration outside.

Laughter and applause greeted Bush's reference to the university's cowboy mascot: "If you read the papers, you know that when some want to criticize me, they call me a cowboy."

"... This cowboy is proud to be standing amidst of a lot of other cowboys."

Bush urged the graduates not to become isolationists but, instead, to help enhance education and foster technological advances the United States needs to compete with the world's economic powers.

"We are also seeing the rise of new competitors like China and India, and this competition creates uncertainty," he said.

"Some look at the changes taking place all around us, and they worry about our future."

"Their reaction is to wall America off from the world, and to retreat into protectionism."

"This is a sure path to stagnation and decline," he said.

"I ask you to reject this kind of pessimism," he said.

"We should welcome competition because it makes our country stronger and more prosperous."

Noting that 27 lieutenants were receiving their Army and Air Force commissions along with their degrees, Bush recalled Oklahoma State graduate Luke James.

After he earned his commission in 2004, James was deployed to Iraq as a member of the Army's 82nd Airborne Division and died shortly after arriving there.

The husband and father of one was awarded the Bronze Star and buried at Arlington National Cemetery.

"While no soldier wants war, he understood the necessity of war -- that it can ensure the freedoms we enjoy in America," Bush said.

"Luke James is part of a generation who are every bit as selfless and dedicated to liberty as any that has come before, and our future is better because of the character of young Americans like Luke James."

The speech was one of four Bush is delivering this commencement season.

He will speak on Thursday at Mississippi Gulf Coast Community College, which was hit by Hurricane Katrina; on May 27 at the U.S. Military Academy in West Point, N.Y.; and on June 19 at the U.S. Merchant Marine Academy.

About 250 protesters held signs and chanted anti-Bush slogans a block from the OSU stadium.

One protester held a sign that read, "Worst President Ever."

"If he's coming to my town, I'm going to let him know he's not welcome here and that Oklahomans are not as bright as they think," said Laurie Keeley, 25, a protester from Tulsa.

In Washington after the trip to Oklahoma, Bush joined his wife, Laura, for the wedding of Alexander Ellis IV and Sarah Aker at St. John's Episcopal Church, across the street from the White House.

Ellis' father is the president's first cousin.

------

Associated Press writers Murray Evans and Kelly Kurt in Stillwater and Larry Margasak in Washington contributed to this report.

[wundermaus]

This post has been edited by wundermaus: May 6 2006, 04:13 PM

[Livyjr]

And shades of the Viet Nam times ...

All over again ...

Here in OUR America ....

"Kerry accuses White House of intolerance"

By MIKE GLOVER, Associated Press
Last updated: 4:26 p.m., Saturday, May 6, 2006

GRINNELL, Iowa -- Sen. John Kerry accused the Bush administration on Saturday of stirring up a "spirit of intolerance" to suppress dissent over the war in Iraq.

Kerry said the Bush administration is targeting opponents of the Iraq war in much the same way he was attacked for protesting failed policies in Vietnam in the 1970s.

"Dismissing dissent is not only wrong but dangerous when America's leadership is unwilling to admit mistakes, unwilling to engage in honest discussion and unwilling to hold itself accountable for the consequences of decisions made without genuine disclosure or genuine debate," said Kerry, D-Mass.

"Although no one is being jailed today for speaking out against the war in Iraq, the spirit of intolerance for dissent has risen steadily, and the habit of labeling dissenters as unpatriotic has become the common currency of the politicians currently running our country," he said.

Kerry, the Democratic nominee for president in 2004, spoke at Grinnell College.

During his visit to Iowa he repeated his call for a deadline for American troops to be pulled out of Iraq by the end of the year.

"The Iraqis have shown they only respond to deadlines," he said in an interview with The Associated Press.

"I think you've got to be tough here."

Kerry first drew public attention 35 years ago when, as a decorated Navy veteran, he testified to Congress in opposition to the Vietnam war.

Some fellow veterans criticized him then, and his opposition to the war has been a point of controversy throughout his political career.

"Once again, we are imprisoned in a failed policy," he said.

"And once again we are being told that admitting mistakes, not the mistakes themselves, will provide our enemies with an intolerable propaganda victory."

[Livyjr]

And here's Tommy ....

"DeLay office knew Abramoff arranged trip"

By JOHN SOLOMON, Associated Press
Last updated: 4:56 p.m., Saturday, May 6, 2006

WASHINGTON -- Prosecutors have e-mails showing Rep. Tom DeLay's office knew lobbyist Jack Abramoff had arranged the financing for the GOP leader's controversial European golfing trip in 2000 and was concerned "if someone starts asking questions."

House ethics rules bar lawmakers from accepting free trips from lobbyists.

DeLay, R-Texas, reported to Congress that a Republican advocacy group had paid for the spring 2000 trip that DeLay, his wife and top aides took to Scotland and England.

The e-mails obtained by The Associated Press show DeLay's staff asked Abramoff -- not the advocacy group -- to account for the costs that had to be legally disclosed on congressional travel forms.

DeLay's office was worried the group being cited as paying the costs might not even know about them, the e-mails state.

Abramoff's team sought to low-ball the cost estimates and DeLay's office ultimately reported to Congress a total that was a few thousand dollars lower than the one the lobbyist provided, the documents show.

"We should give them the most minimal numbers for cost of the hotel (do not include golf), food and plays," Abramoff wrote two assistants at his Preston Gates lobbying firm in an e-mail from June 29, 2000.

One of those assistants, Susan Ralston, now works for top White House adviser Karl Rove.

In a follow-up e-mail to Abramoff, Ralston reported she talked to DeLay's then-deputy chief of staff, Tony Rudy, who suggested numbers that could be used as cost figures on the congressional travel report.

Rudy had gone on the trip with his boss.

"Tony said: $6,800 for flights per person."

"$300 per night for hotel, $120 per day per person for meals, $500 per day for transportation," Ralston wrote Abramoff.

Abramoff's credit card bill shows some costs were higher.

Federal prosecutors have secured the cooperation of Abramoff and Rudy, and are investigating whether DeLay filed false public reports to disguise the source and size of political donations, travel and other gifts he received from special interests.

Several witnesses have been questioned in recent months about the Scotland trip e-mails.

DeLay's lawyer said Friday he believes the congressman's office asked Abramoff, instead of the GOP group, for the trip costs because the group's top executive was on maternity leave.

He noted Abramoff served as director for the group listed as paying for the trip.

"The way I read this was that staff was trying to get it right," lawyer Richard Cullen said of the e-mails.

"His (DeLay's) goal and his marching orders to his staff was to do it correctly."

"And I think staff tried to do it correctly."

An expert on federal disclosure reports said the e-mails raise serious questions about whether DeLay's office filed a false report.

"It clearly shows some members live in a dream world of high-class living and fictional accounting."

"DeLay's office was part of the public deception."

"It makes you wonder if there are more filings as fictional as this one is turning out to be," said Kent Cooper, the former chief of public disclosure for the Federal Election Commission.

It was first disclosed more than a year ago that Abramoff arranged for two clients to pick up most of the costs for the trip and to route the money to the National Center for Public Policy Research listed in the travel reports as the sponsor.

Abramoff's credit card bills show the lobbyist initially charged tens of thousands of dollars in air fare for DeLay's trip to his American Express card.

Cullen said he believes the lobbyist consulted with an ethics expert before making the payments.

The trip, which included golf at the famous St. Andrew's professional course, and others like it have become symbols of Abramoff's largesse to lawmakers and a focal point of the criminal investigation into influence peddling on Capitol Hill.

DeLay has steadfastly maintained he believed that the center paid for the trip as he reported.

The e-mails show that when DeLay's office began preparing the required disclosure reports for the free trip, his aides asked Abramoff's lobbying firm for the cost figures instead of the GOP group.

"Our financial disclosure forms from the England/Scotland trip are due tomorrow afternoon."

"... I would appreciate if you would send me your information," a DeLay aide wrote Abramoff's firm.

The e-mails show Abramoff's team provided then-DeLay chief of staff Susan Hirschmann a final cost figure of $75,600 for the weeklong European trip taken by DeLay; his wife, Christine; Hirschmann; Hirschmann's husband; and Rudy.

The e-mails stated DeLay's office could attribute the figures to "the final bookkeeping efforts" by the GOP group.

Despite the figure from Abramoff, DeLay's report to Congress put the cost lower, at just over $70,000.

Ralston wrote she had a follow-up conversation with DeLay's office.

Hirschmann wanted "a name" of someone at the GOP group who would attest to paying for the trip and was concerned whether the center's executive director, Amy Ridenour, knew about the costs.

"She (Hirschmann) just wants to make sure that if someone starts asking questions that Amy Ridenour knows about these," Ralston wrote.

Hirschmann did not return a call to her office Friday and an e-mail message seeking comment.

The documents show Abramoff initially put the airfare for the DeLay trip on his American Express credit card and arranged for two clients -- the Mississippi Choctaw tribe and eLottery -- to route money to Ridenour's GOP policy group to cover the cost.

DeLay's lawyer said despite the discrepancy in cost figures and the evidence Abramoff initially paid for the airfare on his credit card, DeLay has no plans to change his travel report to Congress.

"I think the report was made in good faith," the lawyer said.

end quotes

Boy ...

Can these lawyers ever sling some **** ........

Like a machine .....

40 acres in five minutes flat, and a full six inches deep, to boot ....

Would be my bet .....

For Tommy DeLay's fancy MOUTHPIECE here .....

And so .....

[Livyjr]

And then ...

There is George W. Bush's other war ....

Or one of them, anyway ....

"10 U.S. soldiers killed in copter crash"

By JASON STRAZIUSO, Associated Press
Last updated: 4:56 p.m., Saturday, May 6, 2006

KABUL, Afghanistan -- Ten U.S. soldiers died when their helicopter crashed during combat operations aimed at flushing out militants from remote mountains in eastern Afghanistan, officials said Saturday.

News of the crash came the same day a top U.S. official called parts of Pakistan's mountainous border region a "safe haven" for militants and said Osama bin Laden was more likely to be hiding there than in Afghanistan.

The crash of the CH-47 Chinook Friday afternoon was the deadliest for U.S. forces here in a year and comes at a time of increasing militant attacks, though U.S. officials ruled out hostile fire as a cause.

"There is no indication that the helicopter came down due to some enemy action," Lt. Tamara D. Lawrence, a coalition spokeswoman, told The Associated Press.

Some 2,500 Afghan and U.S. soldiers are conducting a joint military campaign, dubbed Operation Mountain Lion, in Kunar province near the border with Pakistan.

It is one of the biggest offensives since the ouster of the hard-line Taliban regime by U.S.-led forces in late 2001 for hosting al-Qaida.

The transport helicopter was conducting "operations on a mountaintop landing zone" when it crashed near Asadabad in Kunar, about 150 miles east of the capital, Kabul, the military said.

The terrain surrounding Asadabad -- where the U.S. military has a large base -- is extremely rugged.

The police chief of Kunar province, Gen. Abdul Ghafar, said the helicopter crashed about 10 miles northwest of the base at a remote spot a day's walk from any passable road.

"The area of the crash is a mountainous area and it is difficult to reach," Ghafar said.

Recovery operations did not begin until daybreak Saturday.

The military did not say what unit the U.S. troops were from, only specifying that they were soldiers.

Attacks have been on the rise in Afghanistan's southern and eastern provinces, where militants have been using suicide and roadside bombs more than ever.

The 10 deaths brought to at least 25 the number of U.S. military personnel killed in Afghanistan this year, according to the Web site icasualties.org, which relies on Defense Department information.

At least 234 U.S. military personnel, including those killed Friday, have died in Afghanistan as well as neighboring Pakistan and Uzbekistan as a result of the conflict, according to the Defense Department.

Also Saturday, a top U.S. counterterrorism official said that bin Laden was more likely to be hiding in Pakistan than in Afghanistan.

Henry Crumpton, the U.S. ambassador in charge of counterterrorism, lauded Pakistan for arresting "hundreds and hundreds" of al-Qaida figures but said it needed to do more.

The chief spokesman for Pakistan's army, Maj. Gen. Shaukat Sultan, dismissed Crumpton's assertions as "absurd."

Pakistan has launched repeated counterterrorism operations in its lawless tribal regions over the past two years and hundreds of militants and soldiers have been killed.

"Our expectation is that they will continue to make progress, and we know that it's difficult," Crumpton said.

Pakistan "can't remain a safe haven for enemy forces, and right now parts of Pakistan are indeed that."

A U.S. military statement said that other aircraft and crews were near the landing zone during Friday's crash.

A purported Taliban spokesman, Mohammed Hanif, called AP to claim that Taliban militants had shot down the helicopter using a "new weapon" that he refused to specify.

The phone call did not come until after news of the crash was made public, and Lawrence dismissed the claim.

"The Taliban have made those claims before and they have turned out to be completely false, and there's absolutely no indication that hostile action caused this crash," Lawrence said.

Last June, all 16 troops on board a Chinook died in Kunar when it was hit by a militant's rocket-propelled grenade -- the deadliest attack against American forces in Afghanistan.

In September, a Chinook helicopter crashed in a mountainous area in southeastern province of Zabul, killing all five American crew members.

------

Associated Press reporters Rahim Faiez in Kabul and Munir Ahmad in Islamabad, Pakistan, contributed to this report.

[Livyjr]

And here is some "truth in advertising", alright ....

"Pataki not 'Mr. Popularity' on the homefront"

By MARC HUMBERT, Associated Press
Last updated: 11:25 a.m., Saturday, May 6, 2006

ALBANY -- Gov. George Pataki, less than eight months from the end of his 12-year tenure as governor and eyeing a possible 2008 presidential run, is far from being "Mr. Popularity" when it comes to New York voters.

In fact, a well-regarded national strategist has advised New York's Republican state senators to keep their distance from the three-term governor this fall as they seek re-election, according to GOP officials.

That can't be a particularly welcome turn of events for a governor who after the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks saw his job approval rating soar to 81 percent in one poll and who coasted to a third-term win in 2002.

But by May of last year, Pataki's approval rating had been more than cut in half and he announced in July he would not seek a fourth term in 2006.

While the governor's approval rating inched back up, he began frequenting Iowa, New Hampshire and other key presidential battleground states.

He also became embroiled this spring in yet another major budget battle with the freer-spending state Legislature and their political allies.

It has not been pretty.

In April, Pataki vetoed almost $3 billion in spending from what he said was a more than $115 billion budget adopted by the Legislature.

The Republican-led Senate and Democratic-controlled Assembly then overrode most of Pataki's vetoes, only to be told by the governor that two-thirds of the overrides didn't mean anything and wouldn't be honored.

Almost $2 billion of the disputed spending had been adopted illegally by lawmakers, Pataki argued.

The governor said he expected to be sued.

Meanwhile, allies of the legislative leaders, looking to restore disputed spending for the health care industry, launched an emotional TV advertising campaign basically accusing Pataki of pushing fiscal policies that could kill babies.

As if that weren't enough, Pataki was felled by a ruptured appendix on Feb. 16 and didn't return to the state Capitol until March 21.

A statewide poll released Thursday by Siena College's Research Institute found Pataki's 53 percent favorable rating from March had fallen back to mid-2005 levels, at 38 percent.

His unfavorable rating had climbed to 55 percent, an all-time high in the Siena poll, and up from a 40 percent unfavorable rating in the March poll.

"Whether it's the result of his position on the budget, the constant drumbeat of negative commercials, or his increased visibility on the presidential campaign circuit, New Yorkers are liking George Pataki less and less," said Joseph Caruso, Siena's polling director.

"Even among Republicans, the governor has only a 49 percent to 45 percent favorability rating."

It could, of course, also reflect that New Yorkers, a notoriously tough lot, are sympathetic for only so long to a governor with a sore abdomen.

Caruso noted, however, that New York voters didn't think much of legislative leaders either.

Assembly Speaker Sheldon Silver's favorable rating was 24 percent while Senate Majority Leader Joseph Bruno's was 21 percent.

The poll surfaced just two days after GOP strategist Frank Luntz came to Albany with his own private polling to discuss how GOP state senators should position themselves for the November elections.

Far away from Pataki, was Luntz's advice, according to two Republicans who were there.

They spoke only on condition of anonymity because they said the briefing was supposed to be confidential.

Luntz, who has served as a political adviser to former New York City Mayor Rudolph Giuliani, didn't return a telephone call for comment.

Giuliani is also eyeing a run for president,

Pataki spokesman David Catalfamo noted the governor's poll standing often takes a nosedive when he gets in budget battles with the Legislature and their well-funded allies, but then recovers once the fiscal dust has settled.

"It's become the annual budget bounce when Albany's special interests spend millions distorting the governor's record with phony scare tactics," the Pataki aide said.

"The governor will continue to do the right thing for hardworking New Yorkers and leave the polls to the pundits and the other so-called consultants."

Pataki is still welcomed by some Republicans.

He was spending Friday and Saturday in Kentucky, attending the Kentucky Derby and raising money for the Republican Governors' Association.

------

Marc Humbert has covered New York state politics for The Associated Press for more than 25 years. He can be reached, vie e-mail, at mhumbert(at)ap.org.

[wundermaus]

Right Wing Talk show hosts admits being wrong about Bush -
C&L
http://images.radcity.net/5147/1424125.wma

[Livyjr]

Right Wing Talk show hosts admits being wrong about Bush - C&L

http://images.radcity.net/5147/1424125.wma

Hhhhmmm .....

Some honesty still exists out there, it seems ...

And there is absolutely nothing wrong ...

At least in my book ...

With waking up one day ...

As this "radio personality" has done in this case .....

Realizing that one was wrong in the past ...

Realizing that one was a huge fool ...

Because one allowed oneself ...

To get sucked in ...

By this absolute transparent crap ....

The BUSHCO MACHINE was out there spewing ....

In order to make George W. Bush ....

Into a second-term president ....

So that he could beat his father's dismal one-term record .....

Which probably paints me as some kind of liberal ...

Not condemning this "radio personality" in this link above here for changing his mind about George W. Bush ....

But so what, actually .....

That is worth listening to, that link above ....

And I agree ...

George W. Bush is the worst president that I have experienced in my lifetime ....

And you really have to dig through history .....

To find many others ...

Anywhere in the world ....

At any time in the history of the world ...

Who are in a class ...

With America's George ....

And that is a fact .....

[Livyjr]

And as we do our Porter Goss "retrospective" in here this morning .....

"The man who made it clear ...

Back then ...

That he was not qualified to lead the CIA ....."

hahahahahahahhhaaa....

I remember that as if it were yesterday.

thank you.

Up here in the country where I am ....

Where you have to remember things ...

In order to survive from year to year ....

Because life is not "automatic" ....

We remain amazed at all these "big city" newspapers ....

How short their memories seem to be .....

Or do they even have any?

Memories, that is?

Porter Goss was , in fact, quoted in the news back then as saying that he was unqualified to lead the CIA .....

It wasn't esoteric ...

Or hard to comprehend ...

Or understand, in any way ....

The man seemed to be sincere ...

SO ...

What's the big surprise now, we wonder?

Other than that these "big city" news editors ....

Don't even know ...

What news ...

Their rags are printing that day ...

Even as they edit it .....

And so ....

[Livyjr]

Michael Moore: "Porter Goss Admits He's Unqualified to Head CIA"

When collecting footage for Fahrenheit 9/11, Moore's team filmed Florida Rep. and Bush's choice to head the CIA admitting he was unqualified for the job.

"I couldn't get a job with CIA today."

"I am not qualified," the Florida Republican told documentary-maker Michael Moore's production company during the filming of the anti-Bush movie "Fahrenheit 9/11."

"I don't have the language skills."

"I, you know, my language skills were romance languages and stuff."

"We're looking for Arabists today."

"I don't have the cultural background probably," Goss is quoted in an interview transcript.

"And I certainly don't have the technical skills, uh, as my children remind me every day: 'Dad you got to get better on your computer.'"

"Uh, so, the things that you need to have, I don't have."

end quotes

Well, Porter, you did tell it like it apparently was ....

And some of us, at least, not only heard you .....

But took your words at face value ....

About your lack of qualifications to run the CIA .....

But it's all political, Porter .....

As you and "BROWNIE" .....

And a host of other political HACKS in this BUSHIAN GUMMINT make clear ...

You were a good REPUBLICAN, Porter .....

And that was all that George W. Bush wanted from you ...

Since he don't have the slightest idea of what your job was, either ...

So outside of your being a REPUBLICAN ...

George would not have had a clue ...

As to whether you were qualified, or not ....

And so ....

[Livyjr]

"UH ...."

"HHHHmmmm ....."

"G-O-A-T ....."

"I wonder what that word is ...."

"And how many syllables it has ...."

"I wonder if these kids realize ..."

"That I don't have the slightest idea ..."

"Of what this book is all about ..."

"I wonder if I am starting to look more than a little stupid, just sitting here ..."

"But maybe they'll think I'm just having an intellectual moment, here ..."

"My God, did I just zone out, again?"

"How long have I been sitting here?"

"How come I got picked for this?"

"Teacher knows ..."

"I don't like to get called on ..."

"To have to read books in public ..."

"Everybody knows that I don't like books ..."

"Why should I have to read books ..."

"I'm the LEADER OF THE FREE WORLD ..."

"And I don't have to like books, if I don't want to ..."

"My father didn't have to like broccoli when he was the LEADER OF THE FREE WORLD ..."

"So why should I have to like books ..."

"Hey, they're all staring at me ..."

"I wonder if my father can get me out of this?"

"I'm so scared ..."

I was play-acting at being president ....

In Washington, D.C. ....

And I took a little risk .....

By going down to Florida .....

To read a school book with some kids ....

Send lawyers, guns and money ....

Dad, get me out of this ....

I'm the innocent bystander ....

Somehow I got stuck ....

I didn't know the book would be about a G-O-A-T ....

Whatever that is ....

Now, daddy ....

As you can see from the picture of me above ...

I am stuck ...

Between the rock and the hard place ....

And I'm down on my luck ....

And I'm down on my luck ....

And I'm down on my luck ....

Now I'm trying to hide in this classroom .......

Trying to look like just some more blackboard ....

I'm a desperate man .....

Send lawyers, guns and money ....

The **** has hit the fan .....

Send lawyers, guns and money ...

Daddy, get me out of this!

WAH! WAH! WAH!

[Livyjr]

"Hhhhmmm ..."

"I wonder what that really icky taste in my mouth is ..."

"It tastes like ..."

"Either my aunt's rhubarb pie ..."

"Or toxic sludge ..."

"Now why would my mouth taste like toxic sludge?"

"I wonder if Dick would know ..."

"BP Refinery in Texas Called Biggest Polluter"

Sun May 7, 1:21 PM ET

HOUSTON - The nation's worst polluting plant is the BP PLC oil refinery where 15 workers died in an explosion last year, raising questions about whether the company has been underreporting toxic emissions.

BP's Texas City refinery released three times as much pollution in 2004 as it did in 2003, according to the most recent data from the Environmental Protection Agency.

The increase at BP was so large that it accounted for the bulk of a 15 percent increase in refinery emissions nationwide in 2004, the highest level since 2000.

The company is investigating whether it has been accurately documenting pollution, the Houston Chronicle reported on Sunday.

There could be more federal fines levied against the energy giant if mistakes are found.

BP already faces a record $21.3 million fine from the U.S. Occupational Safety and Health Administration for 300 safety and health violations found at the Texas City refinery after the deadly explosion in March 2005 that also injured 170 workers.

The company reported that it released 10.25 million pounds of pollution in 2004, up from 3.3 million pounds the year before, according to EPA's Toxics Release Inventory, which tracks nearly 650 toxic chemicals released into the air, water and land.

BP cautioned that its latest pollution estimates might not be correct because of a recent change in how the plant calculates emissions.

"These were on-paper calculations — not based on real measurements through valves or stacks," spokesman Neil Geary told the newspaper.

According to the EPA, the Texas City plant had more than three times the toxic pollutants as the nation's second most-polluted plant, an Exxon Mobil Corp. refinery in Baton Rouge, La.

The Texas Commission on Environmental Quality said it was too early to speculate about the accuracy of BP's reported figures.

A spokesman said the difference might have been in reported emissions, not actual emissions.

But the Environmental Integrity Project, a Washington-D.C. based advocacy group, said the increase shouldn't be dismissed as merely an increase on paper.

"It's real; it just never got reported before," said Eric Shaeffer, a former EPA staffer and the organization's founder.

"You can argue that it's not an increase, but the next sentence has to be, 'We've always been bad.'"

Most of the increase in pollution was from formaldehyde and ammonia, which can form smog and soot and irritate the eyes, nose and throat.

BP says that when all pollution is taken into account, emissions from its Texas City plant have dropped 40 percent since 2000.

Before last year's explosion, the refinery processed up to 460,000 barrels of crude oil a day and 3 percent of the nation's gasoline.

BP still faces criticism for management lapses that may have contributed to last year's explosion.

The company faces a possible Justice Department investigation and is dealing with victims' lawsuits.

[Livyjr]

"I wonder of those dopey senior citizens out there will ever get clued in to how I screwed them with that Medicare drug plan of mine ..."

"Good thing for me ....."

"They're all too senile to ever get it figured out ..."

"And that's what they get for being old ..."

"Whoever gave them the idea that it was the responsibility of the government to look out for their welfare, anyway?"

"Must have been a Democrat ..."

"Drug cutoff brings plight - Seniors who fail to sign up for Medicare benefit by May 15 face big risks, including penalties to join and higher premiums"

By MATT PACENZA, Staff writer, Albany, New York Times Union

First published: Sunday, May 7, 2006

Ever since it became law in 2003, the new Medicare drug benefit has been the stuff of big claims.

Its backers called it an elixir for struggling seniors, while opponents decried it as a massively flawed plan.

Today, with only eight days left for seniors to sign up for coverage, rhetoric is again heating up.

"For people who have nothing, this bus is leaving the station, and it's leaving thousands of seniors behind," said Sen. Charles Schumer, warning at a news conference last week that New Yorkers who aren't signing up for Part D face "serious consequences."

If seniors miss the May 15 deadline and try to join the plan later, they'll face substantial penalties, including premiums that are at least 6 percent higher.

But polling data shows that the situation for seniors may not be so dismal.

About 350,000 New Yorkers -- including roughly 40,000 in the Capital Region have Medicare coverage but have not signed up for Part D.

Surveys suggest that about half of those seniors know plenty about the new Medicare drug benefit, but decided to go without it.

"People do have very rational reasons for deciding they don't want it," said Mark David Richards of KRC Research, which surveyed almost 900 seniors on Medicare.

"Some people have really evaluated their choices and have made a conscious decision to sit on the sidelines for now," added Juliette Cubanski, a policy analyst with the Kaiser Family Foundation, a leading health care research organization.

choices

About 20 million Americans now get their prescription drug coverage from Medicare Part D.

Officials had hoped that up to another 10 million seniors and people with disabilities would sign up.

The looming deadline has prompted consternation, according to the advocates who handle Part D questions.

Calls to hot lines have picked up substantially over recent weeks.

"Our phones won't stop ringing," said Jennifer McCarron, the help line coordinator for StateWide Senior Action, an Albany-based group that advocates for aging New Yorkers.

Both anecdotal evidence and polls show there are plenty of seniors who might miss the deadline not because they've made an educated choice, but because they don't know about it or are overwhelmed by Part D's complexity.

One factor is the sheer number of choices: 47 insurers in New Yorkers alone offer coverage.

"The fact that there are so many plans to choose from has people baffled," said Leo Torrey, an outreach coordinator with StateWide Senior Action.

Seniors have also been influenced by the tales of woe that made news when the drug benefit began on Jan. 1.

Some didn't get drugs, others erroneously paid high co-pays, and countless seniors spent hours battling bureaucracy.

Like Ralph William Shields of Albany, who fought to overcome "oblivion by automaton" earlier this year when he couldn't get state and federal bureaucracies to correctly identify him as someone who gets both Medicare and Medicaid, the health care program for low-income Americans.

Shields, 53, is a Medicare beneficiary because he was disabled by a traumatic brain injury he received in a car crash in 1987.

Finally, after months of phone calls and paperwork, the government figured out who Shields was.

He's now signed up for Part D.

Patricia Cox of Wyoming County also fought to get her Medicare drug benefit.

The 70-year-old testified at a public forum in Albany last week that she called no fewer than 40 different public and private agencies when she was fighting to correct a errant co-pay and to be shipped the right drug.

"There has been one error after another," said Cox.

The surveys done so far show that those tales aren't representative of most seniors on Medicare.

About 80 percent have told pollsters that the program is working well for them.

At least two-thirds of enrollees say they're saving money on their prescriptions.

But that still leaves 2 million Americans who had some problems, according to the most recent survey from the Kaiser Family Foundation.

Those difficulties have undoubtedly scared off some seniors who might otherwise have signed up for Part D.

Some may have modest drug costs and decided it was just as easy to pay for medicine on their own rather than going through Part D hell.

But many of those seniors should sign up anyway, advocates say.

They recommend picking a no-frills Part D plan.

Some cost as little as $8 a month.

That way, if your health worsens and you need additional medications, you won't have to pay penalties for late enrollment.

"You may need just one drug today," said Cubanski.

"But next year, you may need five."

Some in Congress are looking for ways to put off the firm deadline.

The Medicare Informed Choice Act, which has 30 co-sponsors including Schumer and Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton, would eliminate the penalties and delay the enrollment deadline until Dec. 31.

upheaval likely

Some Medicare observers are predicting that the biggest frenzy is yet to come.

Later this year, those insurers that choose to offer Part D will have the option of pulling out of the program.

So far, a few big companies have captured most of the drug benefit market, leaving several dozen insurers with relatively few seniors signed up.

Some if not most of those companies will drop out.

When they do roughly in October seniors in New York and across the country will be told they need to again pick a new Part D plan.

Those letters probably won't go over well, said Mike Burgess, executive director of the New York State Alliance for Retired Americans.

"You'll get all of these people, conceivably tens of thousands, right before election time, who will get a notice saying they're being dropped," he said.

"That's a potential firestorm."

Pacenza can be reached at 454-5533 or by e-mail at mpacenza@timesunion.com.

Missing out

The percentage of residents with Medicare in the congressional districts of Reps. John Sweeney and Michael McNulty who are getting Part D benefits is less than the state and national averages.

With Medicare With Part D Percent

Area residents 215,052 131,715 61

New York state 2,788,968 1,861,126 67

United States 42,370,128 30,040,451 71

Of those people in the area now getting drug benefits from Medicare Part D, only about 16 percent signed up.

The others were automatically enrolled.

County Signed Up Auto enrolled

Albany 4,939 25,048

Rensselaer 2,538 12,206

Saratoga 3,287 14,863

Schenectady 2,395 15,883

Source: Center for Medicare & Medicaid Services

[Livyjr]

And getting away from the usual suspects in here for a moment .....

We have a touch of American history .....

To start out our day .....

And so ....

"Revolutionary War site offers few battle artifacts - Native American items found, but little evidence of British uncovered at Victory Woods"

By LEIGH HORNBECK, Staff writer, Albany, New York Times Union

First published: Friday, May 5, 2006

VICTORY MILLS -- Native American artifacts used thousands of years ago were found by archaeologists who examined the Victory Woods battlefield where British soldiers suffered their most decisive defeat in the American Revolution.

Among the finds was a 6,000-year-old roasting pit used to cook acorns located just a few feet beneath the surface of the forest floor.

The dig also turned up darts and spear points that date from 1500 B.C. and 500 A.D.

The National Park Service commissioned an archaeological study of Victory Woods, which lies about one-third of a mile southeast of the Saratoga Monument, in anticipation of opening the land to the public.

The site, which is where British soldiers retreated after they were defeated in what is called the turning point of the Revolution, will feature a trail and interpretive signs similar to those in the Saratoga National Historical Park nearby.

Archaeologists were surprised and disappointed by what they found.

The 22-acre site has never been developed, so earthen fortifications the soldiers built are still visible and one cannon battery is distinct.

"It is truly exceptional that despite some development efforts during the early industrial period that many of the fortification features are intact," said Chris Stephens, who gave a presentation on the study of Victory Woods Thursday to 30 people.

But other battlefield artifacts, including musket balls, cannon balls, belt buckles and buttons, were not found.

They were likely picked clean years ago by scavengers with metal detectors.

Most of the researchers' 22 dig sites were concentrated near the monument and around a small pond.

The roasting pit is a collection of scattered stones, probably used to cook acorns by Mohican Indians.

Maps drawn at the time of the American Revolution showed the staff from Hartgen Archaeology Associates where to look for fortifications and war artifacts, explained Stephens.

Trying to soften the blow of not finding much evidence of the British army, Stephens called the fortifications the most valuable aspect of Victory Woods.

Once six to seven feet tall, they sheltered a dwindling army of 4,000 to 5,000 defeated men and their general, John Burgoyne, for seven days in October.

He surrendered Oct. 14, 1777.

After opening Victory Woods, park rangers look forward to a 2.75 mile trail connecting the Saratoga Monument, the house where American general Philip Schuyler lived and the battlefield.

[Livyjr]

"Revolutionary War site offers few battle artifacts - Native American items found, but little evidence of British uncovered at Victory Woods" 
 
By LEIGH HORNBECK, Staff writer, Albany, New York Times Union

First published: Friday, May 5, 2006

VICTORY MILLS -- Native American artifacts used thousands of years ago were found by archaeologists who examined the Victory Woods battlefield where British soldiers suffered their most decisive defeat in the American Revolution.

The site, which is where British soldiers retreated after they were defeated in what is called the turning point of the Revolution, will feature a trail and interpretive signs similar to those in the Saratoga National Historical Park nearby.

Once six to seven feet tall, they sheltered a dwindling army of 4,000 to 5,000 defeated men and their general, John Burgoyne, for seven days in October.

He surrendered Oct. 14, 1777.

And talk about "political statements", alright .....

There was one right there .....

Where old "Jack Brag" Burgoyne was going to come marching down from Canada ....

In 1777 ....

Bringing death and destruction with him .....

Or so he thought, anyway ....

To end the REBELLION in OUR America .....

Against his King ....

And so .....

But that was then, of course ....

And once made ...

Like all "political statements" ....

That one could not be "undone" ....

And so .....

OUR American history ...

What we have inheritied in OUR America today ...

Comes to us ...

In some part, anyway ....

As a result of that "political statement" by Burgoyne ...

And the British ....

And so .....

And since we are back to "today" .....

Here is another "political statement" of interest to us up here in the same corrupt EMPIRE of New York where "Jackie Brag" got his *** kicked so many years ago ...

And so .....

"Spitzer cancels speech to union"

Associated Press
First published: Monday, May 8, 2006

ALBANY -- State Attorney General Eliot Spitzer canceled his speech to the state's largest teachers union because he is investigating its leadership, union officials said Sunday.

Spitzer, a Democratic candidate for governor, had been scheduled to address the New York State United Teachers in Rochester on Friday.

Had Spitzer made the appearance, the union would have issued its endorsement of him at the time, said NYSUT spokesman Dennis Tompkins.

The union will now endorse a candidate in the race for governor in August, when it typically makes endorsements in statewide races, Tompkins said.

"In light of the ongoing review, both the attorney general and NYSUT felt it would be inappropriate for him to speak at this time," he said.

Spitzer is investigating the union's practice of accepting cash from an investment company that is then allowed to try to sell retirement plans to union members.

The New York Post on Saturday was the first to report Spitzer's decision not to address the union.

A Spitzer spokesman didn't respond to a request for comment.

NYSUT gets $3 million a year from ING, a Dutch investment company, for recommending its members enroll in retirement plans with high fees that often eat into returns.

[Livyjr]

"Oh, Eliot, You're JUST So Vain" 
     
With apologies to Carly Simon

Oh, Eliot ....

You foxy devil, you .....   

You walked into the party ....

Like you were walking into the Governor's Chambers ....

In the capital ....

In Albany, New York ....

Your hat strategically dipped below one eye ...

Your scarf it was apricot ....

You had one eye in the mirror ....

On yourself, of course .....

And the other ...

On all the LOBBYISTS in the room ....

And the little bags of money in their hands ....

As you watched yourself gavotte ....

From lobbyist to lobbyist ...

Collecting your due, of course ...

And all the girls dreamed .....

As they do when in the company of powerful politicians like you ....

That they'd be your "partner" .....

They'd be your partner, and....

Oh, Eliot ......

You're just so vain ....

You KNOW this song is about you .....

Oh "Big EL" .....

You're just so vain ....

You're out there hiring people ....

To write pretty songs about you .....

Aren't you?

Aren't you?

And of course he is .....

Having "pretty" songs written about him .....

Our Eliot, up here ....

Which is the "nature" of politics, after all .....

Especially in this day and age of the ARCHITECT ......

The POLITICAL GURU OF GURUS ....

Karl Rove .....

Whose pretty songs got George W. Bush elected ....

To a high office in OUR land ...

Which he is not really competent to fill ....

But what the heck .....

The point in American politics today ...

Is not whether someone is qualified to fill the office that they are seeking ...

No one here in OUR America seems to really demand that of any politician anymore .....

If they ever did ......

Just tell us a lot of pretty lies .....

And like a fish .....

Eventually ...

We'll bite ....

To get that hook firmly embedded in our mouths ...

And so ......

Here's Eliot .....

All over again .....

And so ....

"Spitzer blames Bush for gas prices - Candidate for governor says he's investigating oil companies"

Associated Press
First published: Tuesday, April 25, 2006

ALBANY -- Democrat Eliot Spitzer on Monday said he's investigating whether oil producers are price-gouging and blamed Republican President Bush for rising prices at the pump.

"This is, once again, demonstrative of the complete failure of energy policy that we have seen out of Washington over the last five years and, frankly, it goes back farther than that," said Spitzer, a candidate for governor.

Spitzer said he is investigating recent price increases by the complicated "vertically integrated" oil companies that drill, refine, distribute and sell gas retail.

"We have to go through that analysis to see whether increased costs are any rationale for those increased prices," he said.

Spitzer already is suing three gas stations in New York, accusing them of price-gouging after Hurricane Katrina hit the Gulf Coast last year.

In December, he settled with 15 gas stations statewide that paid $63,000 for marking up profits 25 percent or more immediately after Katrina.

One of his GOP opponents for governor, John Faso, said Spitzer is using Bush and the issue to avoid talking about his own platform of "platitudes and vapors."

"It's surprising he wants to take pot shots at George Bush when Spitzer is avoiding the issues that will concern New York's next governor," said Faso, an attorney and former minority leader of the state Assembly.

Faso said the state should make sure price-gouging laws are enforced, but also said Albany could waive the state's gasoline tax on the price per gallon above $2.

He said, however, that the issue is mostly a federal problem influenced by world demand and political unrest.

Also Monday, Republican attorney general candidate Jeanine Pirro said the state should be investigating whether oil companies are colluding to inflate profits.

"When you have competing companies that are engaging in the raising of prices in lock step with each other, you have to question whether or not this is coincidence or price-fixing," said Pirro, former Westchester County district attorney.

"With the merger of Exxon and Mobil and Chevron and Texaco, we have very little competition among the energy companies."

The American Petroleum Institute maintains that refinery capacity is still low from hurricanes Katrina and Rita last summer.

end quotes

It sounds like before Old Oncle Eliot runs his mouth too far out ahead of himself .....

Telling us now ...

What an investigation he hasn't even conducted yet ...

Is going to turn up .....

Maybe ...

He ought to get some facts first .....

And so ....

But, of course ...

Old Oncle Eliot is a consummate politician .....

And he knows ...

That he can ladle out large dollops of pure BULL **** .......

On a daily basis .....

To the news media up here ...

Which will never be questioned .....

By anyone, as a rule ...

And so ...

We have ....

Pretty songs ...

But no substance ...

And so ...

[Snuffysmith]

"IT'S SAIGON ALL OVER AGAIN."

--An awe-struck British journalist, gazing at the scene of soldiers taking off their shirts to play volleyball, State Department contractors having a party on the lawn, and bikini-clad embassy workers splashing in the swimming pool, inside the temporary U.S. Embassy compound in Baghdad's Green Zone; cited in Iason Athanasiadis, ?Party on at Saddam's Palace (Asia Times, May 6) (see below item 56)
http://atimes.com/atimes/Middle_East/HE06Ak03.html

[Snuffysmith]

REMEMBER THE EDSEL! - WILLIAM FISHER (TRUTH OUT, MAY 7): Under Secretary of State for Public Diplomacy and Public Affairs Karen Hughes's enemy is the very US foreign policy she was brought on board to sell.
http://www.truthout.org/docs_2006/050706X.shtml

THE GAO POINTS OUT KAREN HUGHES'S SKILL GAP: IT'S THE VISION THING - KEN HOUGHTON (MARGINAL UTILITY, MAY 5): Karen Hughes's move to the State Department was a dubious idea.
http://atbozzo.blogspot.com/2006/05/gao-po...-skill-gap.html