President Ignores Rule of Law

This Boston Globe article is perhaps the most important news article of recent times. It makes clear the unprecedented extent to shich President Bush is clearly challenging the separation of powers, and, indeed, the rule of law itself.He is ignoring laws passed by the Congress of the United States and past rulings of the Supreme Court. The only remedy is impeachment.

President Bush has quietly claimed the authority to disobey more than 750 laws enacted since he took office, asserting that he has the power to set aside any statute passed by Congress when it conflicts with his interpretation of the Constitution.

Far more than any predecessor, Bush has been aggressive about declaring his right to ignore vast swaths of laws -- many of which he says infringe on power he believes the Constitution assigns to him alone as the head of the executive branch or the commander in chief of the military.

Many legal scholars say they believe that Bush's theory about his own powers goes too far and that he is seizing for himself some of the law-making role of Congress and the Constitution-interpreting role of the courts.

In his signing statements, Bush has repeatedly asserted that the Constitution gives him the right to ignore numerous sections of the bills -- sometimes including provisions that were the subject of negotiations with Congress in order to get lawmakers to pass the bill. He has appended such statements to more than one of every 10 bills he has signed.

''He agrees to a compromise with members of Congress, and all of them are there for a public bill-signing ceremony, but then he takes back those compromises -- and more often than not, without the Congress or the press or the public knowing what has happened," said Christopher Kelley, a Miami University of Ohio political science professor who studies executive power.

The Constitution grants Congress the power to create armies, to declare war, to make rules for captured enemies, and ''to make rules for the government and regulation of the land and naval forces." But, citing his role as commander in chief, Bush says he can ignore any act of Congress that seeks to regulate the military.

George W. Bush is putting himself above the constitution.

David Golove, a New York University law professor who specializes in executive-power issues, said Bush has cast a cloud over ''the whole idea that there is a rule of law," because no one can be certain of which laws Bush thinks are valid and which he thinks he can ignore.

''Where you have a president who is willing to declare vast quantities of the legislation that is passed during his term unconstitutional, it implies that he also thinks a very significant amount of the other laws that were already on the books before he became president are also unconstitutional," Golove said.

Golove said that to the extent Bush is interpreting the Constitution in defiance of the Supreme Court's precedents, he threatens to ''overturn the existing structures of constitutional law."

A president who ignores the court, backed by a Congress that is unwilling to challenge him, Golove said, can make the Constitution simply ''disappear."

Bruce Fein, a deputy attorney general in the Reagan administration, said the American system of government relies upon the leaders of each branch ''to exercise some self-restraint." But Bush has declared himself the sole judge of his own powers, he said, and then ruled for himself every time.

''This is an attempt by the president to have the final word on his own constitutional powers, which eliminates the checks and balances that keep the country a democracy," Fein said. ''There is no way for an independent judiciary to check his assertions of power, and Congress isn't doing it, either. So this is moving us toward an unlimited executive power."

Jack Ruby "Inside News"

"SMITH said that the CIA had a photographer in Dealey Plaza"

"A huge chunk of the back of his head had been blown off..."

11-22-63

Bush Announces Conclusion of Oil Price-Gouging Probe: In Advance

Three days ago the president announced a series of steps, including calling on his administration to investigate possible price gouging. But he admitted Friday that he thinks it's probably not happening.

"I have no evidence that there's any rip-off taking place," Bush said. "It's the role of the Federal Trade Commission to assure me that my inclination and instincts is right."

And I'm sure they will.

Amnesty International details torture

I was going to keep it light today, being Friday and all, but torture is one issue that I feel strongly about.

The Amnesty report reviews several cases where U.S. detainees held in Afghanistan and Iraq have died as a result of torture. The group also lambasts U.S. use of electro-shock weapons, inhuman and degrading conditions of isolation in "super-max" security prisons and abuses against women in the prison system -- including sexual abuse by male guards, shackling while pregnant and even in labor.

Cheney and Bush may not have known about the specific incidents mentioned in Amnesty International's report, but they are responsible. The Convention on Torture covers not only POWs but "all persons." Cheney and Bush should be impeached. A special prosecutor should be empowered to investigate torture, which is a violation of United States, as well as international law, and any officials found responsible should serve prison time.

The inimitable Candy Barr --I recently bought a CD on eBay of images of legendary stripper/porn star Candy Barr and from time to time I will be sharing some of them with you.

See Candy in action and FBI interview of Candy Barr

House Poised to Grant Arrest Powers to CIA, NSA

The House version of the 2007 intelligence authorization bill would grant CIA and NSA security personnel the authority to make arrests for "any felony" committed in their presence, no matter how remote from the foreign intelligence mission it might be, the Baltimore Sun reported today.

With a tip of the hat to Professor Hex

Offensive religious cartoons: Christianity's turn

WorldNetDaily has an article on offensive Jesus cartoons by a student underground newspaper The Insurgent. One of them (censored) is featured above. To see the uncensored photos and the complete issue of the publication click here

Student newspaper publishes images in response to Muhammad cartoons

Now, I have no idea what Jesus' actual sexual orientation was. Some believe that he was married to Mary Magdalene. For a book by an actual scholar arguing that he may have been homosexually inclined see The Man Jesus Loved

Photo of the day

"Miss Piggy" (Karl Rove) to be indicted?

Karl Rove's appearance before a grand jury in the CIA leak case Wednesday comes on the heels of a "target letter" sent to his attorney recently by Special Prosecutor Patrick Fitzgerald, signaling that the Deputy White House Chief of Staff may face imminent indictment, sources that are knowledgeable about the probe said Wednesday.

President John F. Kennedy returning to Washington D.C. after Dallas

"I am convinced that, in time, professional historians, political scientists, and others with a serious interest in the history of this poor perishing republic will be forced one day to come to terms with Dallas. This is, to my mind, the beginning of America's slipping into the Dark Ages and if we want to make some sense about what brought about this decline and fall we will have to face up to the forces and motives responsible for the murder of JFK."

Historian Gerald McKnight, posted today on the JFK Assassination forum.

Photo of the day

Zbigniew Brzezinski: "Do not attack Iran"

In the absence of an imminent threat (with the Iranians at least several years away from having a nuclear arsenal), the attack would be a unilateral act of war.

If undertaken without formal Congressional declaration, it would be unconstitutional and merit the impeachment of the President.

Photo of the day

(Sluts, in particular, need ready access to abortion)

CNN: 32%

68% of Americans do not approve of the President's job performance. Unfortunately, the poll did not ask how many thought he should be run out of town on a rail.

U.S. Prepares 'Super Base' in Iraq

It is becoming clear why there is no exit strategy: they don't plan to leave--ever.

From Left-Over

Dear Mr. President (a song by Pink)

Iraq war based on lies: Final Proof

(CBS) A CIA official who had a top role during the run-up to the Iraqi war charges the White House with ignoring intelligence that said there were no weapons of mass destruction or an active nuclear program in Iraq.

"The policy was set. The war in Iraq was coming and they were looking for intelligence to fit into the policy." --Tyler Drumheller

Drumheller, who retired last year, says the White House ignored crucial information from a high and credible source. The source was Iraq's foreign minister, Naji Sabri, with whom U.S. spies had made a deal.

When CIA Director George Tenet delivered this news to the president, the vice president and other high ranking officials, they were excited — but not for long.

"[The source] told us that there were no active weapons of mass destruction programs," says Drumheller. "The [White House] group that was dealing with preparation for the Iraq war came back and said they were no longer interested. And we said 'Well, what about the intel?' And they said 'Well, this isn't about intel anymore. This is about regime change.' "

Emphasis added.

Which means that 67% of the American public do not have their head up their ass.

Anticipating the 2008 presidential campaign.

Russia rules out sanctions against Iran without evidence

Apparently Russia feels that the UN should not impose sanctions without actual "evidence" that Iran is developing nuclear weapons, while our own country is quite possibly prepared to launch an unprovoked attack, perhaps nuclear, on the nation of Iran.

Making rational decisions, on the basis of "evidence", would be unfamiliar territory for our President and his supporters, and I doubt they will adopt that standard for decison making. If we were to base belief, actions, and policy on "evidence" we might end up believing that the war in Iraq was a mistake, that global warming is real, and that the earth is more than six thousand years old.

Not that I'm paranoid...

Update: I am not going to update this every day, I promise. My "CDC" visitor seems to have gone away: numerous multiple daily visits of zero seconds, then (after I comment on it) one visit of over 26 minutes, and now--gone. Come back "CDC". Please, leave a comment, introduce yourself. Also, a big shout-0ut to ISP address 72.139.27, unknown ISP, unknown country, unknown continent. Next time, why don't you stay awhile?

Update:

Yesterday I post about this noting 8 CDC visits, all but one of zero seconds, and one of one second. Today, only one CDC visit, of 26 minutes and 46 seconds. Hmmm......

Also this in the news: CIA steps up monitoring blogs

For several months now I have used Sitemeter to keep track of how many people look at this blog. I don't look at the results every day but often enough to notice some regular visitors. One daily visitor is shown as being from a site in Stone Mountain, Georgia and is listed as the Centers for Disease Control (CDC). Yesterday I had 8 visits from this domain, the first at 5:05 am; the last at 7:19 pm. Seven of these visits were of zero seconds duration. One was of one second duration. Not long enough to read anything.This seems a bit odd to me. The only explanation I can figure out is that this is some sort of software "bot", presumably working for the government, but not necessarily for the CDC. Has anyone else noticed anything like this?

Something just had its cover blown

(From Rigorous Intuition)

Is the Bush administration backing away from war with Iran?

Negroponte: Iran Nuclear Claims Exaggerated

"According to the experts that I consult, achieving — getting 164 centrifuges to work is still a long way from having the capacity to manufacture sufficient fissile material for a nuclear weapon," Negroponte said. "It could still be a matter of years. ... In fact our assessment is that the prospects of an Iranian weapon are still a number of years off, and probably into the next decade."

Rice says US will use varied means to stop Iran

U.S. Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice said on Wednesday the United States would use political, economic and other measures to stop Iran from developing a nuclear weapon.

"The issue here is to mobilize the international community, to unify the international community around the view that Iran cannot have a nuclear weapon. That is agreed," Rice said.

She said the United States had a number of "diplomatic tools at our disposal to persuade the Iranians that they really need to come back to negotiations."

"The people of England have been led in Mesopotamia into a trap from which it will be hard to escape with dignity and honor. They have been tricked into it by a steady withholding of information. The Baghdad communiqués are belated, insincere, incomplete. Things have been far worse than we have been told, our administration more bloody and inefficient than the public knows. … We are today not far from a disaster."

- T.E. Lawrence (a.k.a. Lawrence of Arabia), The Sunday Times, August 1920

Another Lawrence quote:

"Those who dream by night in the dusty recesses of their minds wake in the day to find that all was vanity; but the dreamers of the day are dangerous men, for they may act their dream with open eyes, and make it possible."

Interesting article on WorldNetDaily (I read it so you don't have to.) Anything on that site must be taken with the proverbial grain of salt. Remember their American Hiroshima stories? Al Qaeda was going to nuke us over Ramadan.

Real bad news in Afghanistan: Taliban regains control of much of country, Pakistan

In a report by Paul L. Williams, author of the new book, "Dunces of Doomsday," and David Dastych, one-eyed Mullah Omar and his army of radical Islamic students are currently in control of all of the rural and mountain areas of Afghanistan, including Khost, Paktia, Paktika, Ghazni, Zabul, Helmand, and Oruzgan, as well as a vast expanse of eastern and southern provinces including sections of Kandahar. They also have become the central governing body in South and North Qaziristan and other tribal territories of Pakistan.

Mir claims he has personally visited 12 provinces of Afghanistan in the past few weeks and has received first-hand confirmation that the Taliban has regrouped, recaptured much of the country, and remains intent upon ousting the coalition forces and toppling the puppet regime of President Hamid Karzai.

The article also goes on to implicate Iran in supporting the Taliban and Al Qaeda, so they may be trying to paint a dark picture so as to drum up support for war with Iran.

Photographs from Iraq

A boy at a refugee camp near Najaf, where he and his family fled from the Ahu Ghraib district of Baghdad. Some 33,000 people have been internally displaced in Iraq since the shrine in Samarra was destroyed on February 22, according to the International Organization for Migration.

Another day at a refugee camp, called Diwaniyah, for people displaced by the civil war started by the U.S. invasion and occupation of Iraq.

Conservative Arnaud de Borchgrave in The Washington Times says that Afghanistan is "on life support" . Maybe it wasn't such a good idea to pull most of our resources out of that country and send them to Iraq, which is also going to hell.

FBI Watching Non-Violent Peace Groups

According to this article in the Denver Post, the FBI's Joint Terrorism Task Force has been watching groups such as Food Not Bombs. I am sure that this is only the tip of the iceberg. Undoubtable, thousands of man-hours are being wasted spying on liberal groups--time that could have been better spent looking for terrorists.As an ACLU lawyer said recently, it's difficult enough finding a needle in a haystack without adding more hay.

This is an interesting document from the National Archives. It's a 1959 US Army document. Note the name Jack Rubenstein. #119-100031-0172

Update: Greg Parker has made the following comment on this document:

I personally don't believe the person named here is Ruby.

There are two better prospects with the same name; both NYC residents. First was head of the Textile Workers Union who had been once head of the Young Communist League. Congressman Martin Dies wanted this guy produced as proof he wasn't the guy languishing in a Dallas jail for the murder of Oswald. An FBI informant told of a party held by National States Rights Party member, Oren Potito. Potito told the gathering that Ruby's real name was Rubenstein and he had been a Communist Party member since 1929. Again, this is a description of the NYC unionist - not Ruby. The unionist was only 6 years older, and did bear a passing resemblance, however...

Revilo Oliver likewise tried to convince his readership that Ruby was in fact the NYC unionist.I believe this was part of an orchestrated campaign to "prove" a communist conspiracy.

The other candidate is described in a book called Counterpoint: The Journey of a Music Man. This JR was a Warrant Officer during WWII Europe. (692 2nd Air Force band). Apparently very unpopular, he was sent back to the States because "he created serious problems for a lot of people" and was discharged. He then became a violinist with various chamber orchestras around NYC.FWIW, I think the Muncie JR (see testimony of George Fehrenbach) was also more likley the NYC unionist...

And an anonymous commenter added this:

The list also contains another interesting entry-Samuel Cummings- an arms dealer who did business under the name of Cummings International Armament(CIA). He started business by importing German helmets from WWII and then purchasing large quantities of WWII weapons and selling them through his US outlet in Alexandria,VA. The CIA reportedly used him to furnish arms to countries who were in revolt in the 50's. He & the agency had a falling out and he lived & died in exile in Switzerland. A remanant of his compny still is along the Alexandria,VA waterfront. He may have importted and sold the Carcano rifle attributed to Oswald.

Update: Jim Root made the following comment about this document on John Simkin's forum:

Interesting document that is dated within days of Oswald's entry into the Soviet Union via Helsinki. The New York connection to Ruby is also of interest because that is where Jack Ruby/Rubenstein countinued his relationship with Virginia Belasco whom Ruby's sister would contact just days before the assassination of JFK and whose family can be associated to Edwin Walker's family as well.

If we attack Iran: How bad could it get? from Sic Semper Trannis 2006

Why Iraq Was a Mistake (Lt. General Gregory Newbold, in Time magazine)

"The cost of flawed leadership continues to be paid in blood."

"It is time for senior military leaders to discard caution in expressing their views and ensure that the President hears them clearly."

Todd Heisler The Rocky Mountain News

When 2nd Lt. James Cathey's body arrived at the Reno Airport, Marines climbed into the cargo hold of the plane and draped the flag over his casket as passengers watched the family gather on the tarmac.? During the arrival of another Marine's casket last year at Denver International Airport, Major Steve Beck described the scene as one of the most powerful in the process: "See the people in the windows? They'll sit right there in the plane, watching those Marines. You gotta wonder what's going through their minds, knowing that they're on the plane that brought him home," he said. "They're going to remember being on that plane for the rest of their lives. They're going to remember bringing that Marine home. And they should."

Todd Heisler The Rocky Mountain News

The night before the burial of her husband's body, Katherine Cathey refused to leave the casket, asking to sleep next to his body for the last time. The Marines made a bed for her, tucking in the sheets below the flag. Before she fell asleep, she opened her laptop computer and played songs that reminded her of 'Cat,' and one of the Marines asked if she wanted them to continue standing watch as she slept. "I think it would be kind of nice if you kept doing it," she said. "I think that's what he would have wanted."

http://www.poyi.org/63/11/01.php (With thanks to Gerald Patrick Hemming.)

Iran issues stark military warning to United States

TEHRAN, Iran - Iran said it could defeat any American military action over its controversial nuclear drive, in one of the Islamic regime's boldest challenges yet to the United States. "You can start a war but it won't be you who finishes it," said General Yahya Rahim Safavi, the head of the Revolutionary Guards and among the regime's most powerful figures. "The Americans know better than anyone that their troops in the region and in Iraq are vulnerable. I would advise them not to commit such a strategic error," he told reporters on the sidelines of a pro-Palestinian conference in Tehran.

What we are seeing now from the far right is not conservatism at all. It is fascism: the imposition of a national and worldwide police state to enforce a narrow world view that enriches and empowers the few at the expense of the many, and that gives no respect or honor to other cultures, ways of living, or opinions. To call that conservatism is a crime against the memory of America's great and true conservatives, who might think that government ought to be less involved in life than we old liberals would concur with, but who nevertheless stood for the core American values that today's right-wing leaders undermine at every opportunity.

Eyes Only: CI-Project would mean Counter Intelligence Project--not sure about RE.

VOLUME I/SUPPORT DOCUMENTS FOR THE HELMS HEARING AT HSCA- (180 pages)

The Saddam Documents - Caveat Emptor

Highly recommended.

“We are creating an American military secret police that is clearly acquiring way too much information and way too much power.”

US outsourcing special ops, intelligence to Iraq terror group

The Pentagon is bypassing official US intelligence channels and turning to a dangerous and unruly cast of characters in order to create strife in Iran in preparation for any possible attack, former and current intelligence officials say.

One of the operational assets being used by the Defense Department is a right-wing terrorist organization known as Mujahedeen-e Khalq (MEK), which is being “run” in two southern regional areas of Iran.

“These guys are nuts,” this intelligence source said. “Cambone and those guys made MEK members swear an oath to Democracy and resign from the MEK and then our guys incorporated them into their unit and trained them.”

Emphasis added.

Tales of the Cold War

Throughout the Cold War, as now still, with only a handful of exceptions, there have been only two kinds of CIA secret operations: the ones that are widely known to have failed – usually because of almost unbelievably crude errors – and the ones that are not yet widely known to have failed.

Someone who did know what he was talking about on Iraq-so of course he was ignored by the Bushites:

It was a few weeks before the invasion of Iraq, three years ago. I was interviewing the Saudi Foreign Minister, Prince Saud al-Faisal, in the ballroom of a big hotel in Cairo.

Shrewd, amusing, bulky in his superb white robes, he described to me all the disasters he was certain would follow the invasion.

The US and British troops would be bogged down in Iraq for years. There would be civil war between Sunnis and Shias. The real beneficiary would be the government in Iran.

"And what do the Americans say when you tell them this," I asked? "They don't even listen," he said.

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/middle_east/4894148.stm

The Ghosts of November

An excellent article by Anthony Summers and Robbyn Swan, “Vanity Fair” magazine, December 2001

Administration Pushed Notion of Banned Iraqi Weapons Despite Evidence to Contrary

In other words: Bush lied

On May 29, 2003, 50 days after the fall of Baghdad, President Bush proclaimed a fresh victory for his administration in Iraq: Two small trailers captured by U.S. and Kurdish troops had turned out to be long-sought mobile "biological laboratories." He declared, "We have found the weapons of mass destruction."

The claim, repeated by top administration officials for months afterward, was hailed at the time as a vindication of the decision to go to war. But even as Bush spoke, U.S. intelligence officials possessed powerful evidence that it was not true.

A secret fact-finding mission to Iraq -- not made public until now -- had already concluded that the trailers had nothing to do with biological weapons. Leaders of the Pentagon-sponsored mission transmitted their unanimous findings to Washington in a field report on May 27, 2003, two days before the president's statement.

White House hotly denies report on Iraq WMD

The White House on Wednesday angrily denied a newspaper report that suggested President George W. Bush in 2003 declared the existence of biological weapons laboratories in Iraq while knowing it was not true.

Never believe anything until it's been officially denied.

Fish that walked on land is missing link in evolution

OK, that it then, right? The creationists can all shut up and go home and we can teach children science in the public schools rather than fantasy.

Update:

Ancient fossils fill gap in early human evolution

So, let me see if I understand this. More complex forms of life EVOLVED from simpler ones, resulting eventually in human beings. I learned this "theory of evolution" in high school Biology class and now, years later, new evidence supports the theory. I believe this is how science is supposed to work. I have never seen seen any new evidence for creationism though.

From Smirking Chimp , a good article by Ernest Partridge: 'Newspeak and the corruption of politics'

The right faces an invincible adversary: reality. Their denial of reality, which they label "faith" and "intuition," cannot abolish evolution or the laws of atmospheric physics and chemistry that determine climate change.

A Simple Act of Murder : November 22, 1963

Yes, Mark Fuhrman has a book coming out on the JFK assassination.

It's not often that I agree with Karl Rove.

"We have, as you know, an enormous and growing problem with elections in certain parts of America today, We are, in some parts of the country, I'm afraid to say, beginning to look like we have elections like those run in countries where they guys in charge are, you know, colonels in mirrored sunglasses. I mean, it's a real problem..."

He is not confessing, however. He is apparently referring to alleged Democratic vote fraud.

Vince Palamara posted the following message from Abraham Bolden at alt.conspiracy.jfk

I just wanted you all to know that Random House Publishers has contracted to publish my book, The Echo from Dealey Plaza. For those who are unfamiliar with the book, it is the story of my life from birth, through my time spent as the first African American to be assigned to the Presidential White House Detail under President John F. Kennedy, and through the trials and tribulations that I suffered after the President was assassinated. After final editing is completed, the book is scheduled to be published in the fall of 2007 unless circumstances arise that would call for an acceleration of the publishing date.

In conjunction with my former duties as a secret service agent, I am scheduled to appear on the NBC Discovery Channel on May 5th, 2006. They are doing a program revealing new evidence about the Kennedy assassination and how I was framed by the underworld mafia here in Chicago and sent away to prison because of information that I had regarding the Dallas, Texas incident. Should be an interesting show.

Abraham W. Bolden, Sr.

Candy Barr

#104-10109-10374 - I thought today that I would scan some of the documents that I recently received from the National Archives.

Larry Johnson in his blog No Quarter called George W. Bush a coward yesterday.

Johnson was formerly with the CIA and the State Department's Office of Counter Terrorism.

Devil-board occultist to lead Italy?

With thanks to Professor Hex

Strange Tale of Eugene Dinkin

Martin Luther King Assassination Records Online

Martin Luther King was assassinated 38 years ago today

Sound files of King assassination

Madmen in the White House?

From Sic Semper Tyrannis

ARNAUD DE BORCHGRAVE, UPI Editor at Large:

A prominent "neocon," still in good odor at the White House and OSD (Office of the Secretary of Defense), speaking privately, assured us that by the time president Bush leaves office in January 2009, Iran's nuclear weapons ambitions would be history.

Assuming tough sanctions -- draconian or otherwise -- don't bring Iran's mullahs to heel, we inquired, trying not to sound too wimpish, what would be Mr. Bush's next step?

"B-2s," this prominent armchair strategist replied. "Two of them could do the job in a single strike against multiple targets." With a crew of two per bomber, only four American lives would be at risk, an all-time record in the history of warfare.

Download Btwocommentary.doc

I am afraid that they are going to do it. Of course it will take more than a couple of B-2s, and the consequences will be catastrophic, but what of it as long as Bush is having fun.

"Anyone can go to Baghdad. Real men go to Tehran.""
Senior Bush Official, May 2003