-Jolly fellow dressed in red should fly the skies later this week
-Watch out for more senatorial debate on the Patriot Act
-Congress getting ready for recess-watch for flurry of congressional activity
Daily Update: Day- Friday Date-12/23/05
...Because there's more to life than politics. Auxiliary Blog Post ====================== We end this last post before Christmas with some Gossip. There's some Blind Item fun, Hilton scoop, and spies who loved the wrong gal. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ We lay off of Congress Critter Castle this week to detail more details in the Bob Ehrlich FreeRepublic scandal in Merryland. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Gotta pic of a genuine redneck Christmas display of a reindeer. Gotta see it. Also, a cartoon of a fat Santa as he visits his attorney. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ |
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Daily Update: Day- Thursday Date- 12/22/05
-The House of Lords strikes again
...filibustered vote on money for military, Katrina relief and drilling in beautiful downtown Artic Refuge
-Interesting take on the NSA leak
...technology surpasses ability of FISA courts to handle
-Gotta see-update on the Boris/Natasha Plame pic
...Because there's more to life than politics. Auxiliary Blog Post ====================== The pets have trouble understanding this tree in the house thing. They do understand that something's a foot come the Christmas time of year. It's an all-Christmas Pampered Pets Post, to include instructions for visiting homes with pets, and the 12 Days of Christmas Puppy style. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Time for some Christmas Fiction. We have "The Re-Construction of Christmas". A story of love and the destruction of preconceived notions. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Take time for a laugh in this Fishgiggles post. The laugh will be on the French. And how we manufacture gum in America for shipment to France. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ |
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The House of Lords Strikes Again
Well mine own Representative in the House finally got on board with drilling in the Artic National Refuge. At least I think Mike Castle finally got beat up by the GOP he betrayed.
Of course the House of Lords is having none of it. For Alaska's Lord, Stevens, added a drilling in ANWR provision onto the funding budget for the military. Forcing the Dems to vote down both money for the military as well as funds for relief from the devastation of Hurricane Katrina.
All to keep the United States from drilling for oil in the Artic National Wildlife Refuge.
Ladies and gems, WHO benefits from the U.S. being totally unable to drill for oil in its own soil?
The answer is NOT the wildlife. We've got oil wells in Texas, we've got oil wells in the Gulf Coast, we've got an oil well on the grounds of Beverly Hills High School for God sake! There's been no massive animals kills or environmental damage from oil wells. Environmental damage would be even less in the frigid Artic.
So why can't we get the congress critters to allow us to drill in OUR OWN COUNTRY? Something almost every American would want. The House of Lords know it. They know that drilling for oil in ANWR is something most Americans save the enviro wackos would want. Anything that keeps our gas cheap and our households humming, sure. Most of us don't like those sons of camels anyway who we must kiss butt to buy their oil.
One would think that ELECTED officials would vote in such a thing handily and with a smile.
Yet they REFUSE to do so. Suddenly, and often for no reason. Somebody makes a big contribution to a Political Action Committee and boom, the congress critters we elected, who are supposed to represent US, take the money and vote against our and our progeny's futures. All the while doing their best to keep this under the national radar. The House of Lords is not stupid. They know what the focus groups and polls show. Americans are NOT against drilling in ANWR, the few who even know what it is. The congress critters have to keep their blockage of this bill under the public glare. Which is why Lord Hillary launched into a big speech blaming the budget reduction for her rejection of the budget package, which did include a whisper of reduced spending in a bow to the Republican base.
It's all a smoke screen, ladies and gems. They pretend they've issues with the few pennies removed from the budget. They pretend that they care about our privacy as they relentlessly march to impeach the President WE elected over some bogus NSA story. They pretend to fool us because most of us would most definitely agree we should drill for oil on our own soil, do they think we are stupid?
So WHO benefits from it? Besides the congress critters and their campaign coffers?
I'll throw it out there. Seems to me that oil-producing countries governed by thugs and inbred sons of camels who quite enjoy the free flow of American money that they may vacation on the Riviera while stifling and abusing its populace through a brutal religion might be one possibility.
Oil producing countries, congress critters voting so obviously AGAINST what the populace wants, oil producing countries with a whole bunch of MONEY, congress critters suddenly forming new political action committees from an influx of fresh crash, oil producing countries, money to the congress critters, vote against the wishes of those who vote to keep them in power, oil producing countries...hmmmmm.
Vote on Military-Katrina-ANWR (Cloture defeated 56-44) Republicans Voting "Nay": Chafee (R-RI) DeWine (R-OH) Frist (R-TN) Democrats Voting "Aye" Akaka (D-HI) Inouye (D-HI) Landrieu (D-LA) Nelson (D-NE) |
Heh. Designed the below pic myself. Just to make my point.
Those NSA Intercepts: More Than We Think
From the Washington Times we hear from Lord Pat Roberts. Chairman of the House of Lords Intelligence Committee alongside his minority co-chair, Lord Jay Rockefeller.
Now Lord Roberts could be lying. Politicians lie sometimes. But he says, for the record, that Lord Rockefeller expressed no misgivings about the NSA program before the appearance of that hand-written letter by Lord Jay.
Heh.
Senator Pat Roberts, Chairman of the Senate Intelligence Committee, responded: "I have no recollection of Senator Rockefeller objecting to the program at the many briefings he and I attended together," Mr. Roberts said. "In fact, it is my recollection that on many occasions Senator Rockefeller expressed to the vice president his vocal support for the program," most recently, "two weeks ago." |
I chanced upon this article and considered it so interesting that I cannot pick up just one intriguing quote. On ARSTECHNICA there is a good explanation of just what this NSA intercept program might be about. There's no change in terms of the argument of whether the President can implement the program. IE this is still constitutionally afforded to the President and not illegal.
Take a few minutes and read it. For it seems it's COMPUTERS doing the eavesdropping. NOT human beings.
Heh.
Update on Boris/Natasha Plame Pic
Featured in yesterday's Daily Update. Below, boom, a bit of alteration, and we have ALL the cartoon spies.
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Daily Update: Day- Wednesday Date-12/21/05
-Time to throw the bastard outta there.
.....Democrats set up their dream of impeaching President Bush with the NSA flap.
-That Rockefeller memo
....how convenient.
-Getta load of this latest "film noir" picture of Spy Natasha Plame and Joe Wilson
...how stupid do they think we are?
...Because there's more to life than politics. Auxiliary Blog Post ====================== It's an All-Christmas Miscellany post. We have the actual meaning of those strange gifts given during "The 12 Days of Christmas". Also, the meaning of the reindeer names. And gotta see this. A last minute Christmas gift you can make out of women's sanitary products. With a picture and complete instructions. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ It -was- called a sweet potato vine. We thought it was just an idle term. In this Garden post we have a pic of this fine vegetable harvest from mine "ornamental" plants. And a return visit to Critter Cove yields amazement at the plantings left behind. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ It's a tradition around here in Serendipity Shore to compose a Christmas story involving the pets. Seems Santa wanted to visit the troops in Iraq but desperately needed an animal in camouflage to lead the sleigh. Enter one calico cat named Lucy. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ |
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IMPEACH THE BASTARD!
It seems the Sunnis have some issues with how the voting turned out in Iraq. They had, on the QT, agreed to a cease fire (or cease bombing in this case) to allow the election to go forward. Now that they don't like the results, they are threatening to bomb again.
The Democrats have not yet resorted to this tactic when they don't win at the ballot box. I hear it's part of the plan.
For now they'll settle for frog-marching their political enemies to jail on trumped up charges. In the case of President Bush, they're determined to impeach the bastard. John Kerry let it slip at a recent Christmas party for his campaign staff that the Dems hope to take over the House in the 2006 midterms and then they will be able to properly impeach President Bush.
I heard Barbara Boxer with mine own lying ears say that she's talking with John Dean, of all people, about impeachment proceedings.
The latest NSA flap is a step to that end.
I've read the various and sundry across the Blogosphere and the pundits in the Lamestream. I've heard the very handsome Jonathan Turley, Fox News Legal Analyst, (what a head of hair this guy has) suggest that the President broke the law and could be impeached. I've read other legal experts who state unequivocally that the President broke no laws.
Absolutely no one has a clue as I see it.
Basically the President's assertion is that via the constitution and through the war powers act, he has the right to act immediately with a warrant-less search if he thinks the United States and/or its citizens are in danger. So if a solder seizes a cell phone of an overseas terrorist, the President can authorize eavesdropping on the phone numbers stored in the cell phone to ascertain just what that terrorist might be up to. If said stored cell phone numbers include one that's located in the United States, well they listen to those phone numbers too.
There is such a thing as a FISA law and again, I'm no Jonathan Turley but I've watched and read it all and go to hell, I know about as much as most Bloggers. I can read, damn it! I got eyeballs! The FISA laws allows for warrant-less searches in the case of foreign surveillance but that requires a warrant be obtained within a certain period of time.
Which doesn't much matter as, let's see, President Carter, President Clinton, President Reagan and now President Bush, have all used what they consider their constitutional powers to protect this country to do "whatever necessary" to protect the country.
Note now please that Bush was the only one of the above Presidents who readily admitted he monitored, via the NSA, calls from "Americans" to Al-Queda operatives.
Only difference is that the Dems plan to use this information to impeach President Bush.
Because American voters are really, really stupid and don't know what the hell they are doing. They went ahead an elected an idiot for President after the guy done stole the first election. Then the idiot got it into his head, after a bunch of sons of camels hijacked our legally built airplanes flying peacefully in our lawful air space and rammed them into our lawfully built buildings on our own soil, killing many of our citizens pursuing their own constitutionally protected happiness, to go after these terrorists which had been conducting such attacks for at least a decade prior. The idiot goes around the United Nations, which already issues 3,245 resolutions, some of them quite stern, that Saddam Hussein needs to behave and stop tyrannizing the world. Like Lord Biden, mine own Delaware Senator in the House of Lords says, we could have worked with France as they are such brave people.
Time for this idiot Bush person to go!
Watch them ladies and gems. Pay attention. This NSA flap is like, let's see, Abu-Gharab, Scooter Libby and Natasha Plame, Tom Delay and the money laundering joke, hey even Rush Limbaugh and the medical records. It's part of throwing crap at something and hope it sticks. If the voters don't have good sense, then they'll deal with the matter.
Let them do it ladies and gems. The lovely Lord Arlen Spector, RINO and useless, says he will hold hearings on the issue. Go ahead I say to the House of Lords. Because if ever America citizens get off their busy duffs carrying this country on their backs, believe it will happen when these politicians try to impeach the President we elected. For the crime of trying to protect us.
Enjoy their jawing, ladies and gems. This will go nowhere.
Except to continue to illustrate how low they will go.
Soon, they'll stoop to the level of the Sunni Arabs.
Below is the best analysis I could find on the matter. It's by a Former intelligence officer, Emily Francona
Whether the President acted under proper executive authority will undoubtedly be determined during hearings of the Senate Judiciary Committee. But he did follow requirements for legal review of his orders by consulting with the NSA Legal Counsel and the U.S. Attorney General. He also followed congressional oversight requirements by notifying the appropriate congressional committees in a timely manner. And it is customary for more sensitive activities to be briefed only to a limited number of senior oversight committee members to avoid leaks of classified national security information. ...  The most serious legal problems are posed by those who leaked this highly classified national security information to the media, an unauthorized recipient of any classified information. Any NSA or intelligence community official concerned over an intelligence activity has an internal oversight system available to address these concerns in a legal and classified environment: NSA's internal Inspector General and/or the Intelligence Community's Inspector General. |
That Rockefeller Letter
Heh.
Gotta love Lord Jay Rockefeller. This is the man the Dems can go to when they need something incriminating against Bush. Rockefeller sits on the House of Lords' Intelligence Committee, the minority senior member. All of a sudden, lo and behold, the fellow comes out with a handwritten letter that very vaguely suggests the good Lord Rockefeller had issues with the briefings given to the House of Representatives' and the House of Lords' senior Intelligence Committee members.
Because this President, who they want to impeach, DID consult with congress. Now the Lords and Representatives consulted say they know nothing.
Now I'm not saying Lord Rockefeller's cute little handwritten letter is bogus. Who the hell knows?
I will note it's awfully convenient.
I'm sure they'll bring it to Bush's impeachment hearings.
From the Washington Post:
Rockefeller, turning back to the NSA program in his letter, told Cheney: "Without more information and the ability to draw on any independent legal or technical expertise, I simply cannot satisfy lingering concerns raised by the briefing we received." The letter, whose existence was unknown to Rockefeller's staff, indicated that the three briefers were Cheney, then-CIA Director George J. Tenet and then NSA-Director Michael V. Hayden. The letter said the Senate intelligence committee's chairman, Pat Roberts (R-Kan.), was there, and it indicated, without naming them, the presence of then-Rep. Porter J. Goss (R-Fla.) and Rep. Jane Harman (D-Calif.), the ranking members of the House intelligence committee. Page 2. |
Val and Joe-Getta Load of This
Heh.
Now are us idiots out here in la-la land supposed to make something of the photo below? Featured in a Vanity Fair article on America's favorite spy couple.
It looks like a Sam Spade picture, a film noir type of presentation. There's Natasha Plame in the background, in her pajamas, and the circumspect Joe Wilson in the foreground. Poor man, victim of a power-mad President who would reveal his wife's identity as a file clerk at the CIA.
I'm sure we'll see Joe Wilson at the impeachment hearings. Maybe he'll bring along this picture.
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W/E 12/18/05
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Daily Update: Day- Tuesday Date-12/20/05
-Bush news presser
...reporters doing the questioning must have missed the Iraqi election news. Democrats losing collective minds.
-More on this NSA NY Times brouhaha to sell books and take away any steam from Iraq's successful election 12/15/05. Shhhhh. "Success" is a bad word.
-Harry Reid goes nuts; congress almost passed ANWR drilling.
...Because there's more to life than politics. Auxiliary Blog Post ====================== Here's a True Crime post. With interesting detail on Americans and crimes committed on cruise ships and foreign shores. And the infamous Jeffrey MacDonald case flares up again as a new witness comes forth. Gotta read this. And Tookie's funeral arrangements. In case you want to attend. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ It's the latest Katrina for Kaitlyn post as we note for posterity Landreau's "Louisiana March on Washington", those wacky emails about the Governor's shoes at the height of the hurricane, an update on those poor New Orleans prisoners. And a Katrina political cartoon. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ An entire thread of good commentary on Tookie Williams is in this Comment feature this week. Plus a commenter tries to defend Howard Dean. Sad. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ |
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Bush Press Conference 12/19/05
For those in a hurry, the Q & A's summed in a picture, below.
For those looking for a little more commentary, well I've got some.
I watched the press conference yesterday and was very surprised on two levels. One that Bush held a press conference so soon after his speech of Sunday 12/18/05, from the oval office. Two, Bush was obviously a man with an attitude during this presser and who can blame him?
Most of the questions were not about the THIRD, count 'em THREE, successful elections in Iraq. Most of the questions were about that bogus NY Times story about NSA email intercepts and wire taps of so-called "American" citizens.
They don't work, these Lamestream Journalists. They do attend all the nosh fests put on by the various and sundry, including those staged by John McCain. Who is the proud author of the "Al-Queda Bill of Rights". The rest of the time they read the NY Times headlines then spend many hours regurgitating it, even if the headline is a complete lie and they know it.
In some parts of the world, when a country is in the midst of a war and restoring order, the big news today would be about the very successful election in Iraq this past 12/15/05. But not with the lazy Moonbat journalists.
"Success" is the enemy word to the liberals. Especially success engineered by one George W. Bush. That makes the veins in their lying eyeballs bleed. Better that the United States of America should lose this war lawfully agreed to by our elected representatives than Bush should succeed. Let all the American military deaths be for naught as well. Because they HATE Bush and that's that.
Here's an example of a question asked and Bush's response.
QUESTION: It was: Why did you skip the basic safeguards of asking courts for permission for the intercepts? BUSH: First of all, right after September the 11th, I knew we were fighting a different kind of war. And so I asked people in my administration to analyze how best for me and our government to do the job people expect us to do, which is to detect and prevent a possible attack. That's what the American people want. We looked at the possible scenarios. And the people responsible for helping us protect and defend came forth with the current program, because it enables us to move faster and quicker, and that's important. We've got to be fast on our feet, quick to detect and prevent. We use FISA still. You're referring to the FISA accord in your question. Of course we use FISAs. But FISAs is for long-term monitoring. What is needed in order to protect the American people is the ability to move quickly to detect. And having suggested this idea, I then, obviously, went to the question, is it legal to do so? I swore to uphold the laws. Do I have the legal authority to do this? And the answer is, absolutely. As I mentioned in my remarks, the legal authority is derived from the Constitution, as well as the authorization of force by the United States Congress. |
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The Blogosphere is rippling with many examples of the same methodology as used by Bush under the FISA act that was also handily used by Clinton for oh, almost the eight years of his term. More will be streaming out from under the covers about this.
Does anybody remember "Carnivore"?
The Hilarious Dem Response to the Bush News Conference
I saw Carl Levin my own self and with my own lying eyeballs. This man represents a lot of Arabs in his constituency by the way. Which is fine and may Mr. Levin continue to represent those who elected him with panache.
But is he the voice of the entire Democratic party? We must assume so as he was the one first up on the podium after the Bush news conference, mostly spouting nonsense.
Levin went on and on about the Sunni Arabs and how they have not been represented. The entire statement by Levin made no sense. No wait. The NY Times didn't cover the Iraqi election so likely Mr. Levin is unaware that the Sunnis voted in droves in this most recent Iraqi election.
Carl Levin said the Iraqi constitution is a "divisive document".
==========
I had no idea that one could write an email to the White House.
So I did.
Below, the automated response.
OF course I didn't expect to email me back personally although I don't know why not.
On behalf of President Bush, thank you for your correspondence. We appreciate hearing your views and welcome your suggestions. Due to the large volume of e-mail received, the White House is unable to respond to every message, and therefore this response is an autoreply. Thank you again for taking the time to write. |
To Send a White House Email
More on the Patriotic Act
From none other than Patrick Fitzgerald, remember him? The special prosecutor involved with the Libby/Plame nonsense.Thanks to Powerline.
Patrick Fitzgerald, a longtime United States Attorney and current special prosecutor, testified to his experience of how the "wall" worked in practice: I was on a prosecution team in New York that began a criminal investigation of Usama Bin Laden in early 1996. The team ... had access to a number of sources. We could talk to citizens. We could talk to local police officers. We could talk to other U.S. Government agencies. We could talk to foreign police officers. Even foreign intelligence personnel. And foreign citizens.... We could even talk to al Qaeda members-and we did. .... But there was one group of people we were not permitted to talk to. Who? The FBI agents across the street from us in lower Manhattan assigned to a parallel intelligence investigation of Usama Bin Laden and al Qaeda. We could not learn what information they had gathered. That was "the wall." The "wall" had deadly consequences. The 9/11 Commission Report contained an example that none of us should ever forget. According to the unanimous bipartisan report of that Commission, the "wall" thwarted the investigation of Khalid al-Midhdar and Nawaf alHazmi, two of the hijackers who flew an airplane into the Pentagon on September 11, 2001. |
Congress Critters Busy Today
Harry Reid pops a vein, threatens everything from taking his ball and going home to kidnapping the President until all troops in Iraq are brought home.
I'm keenly interested in the congressional doings as I understand that a provision to allow oil drilling in ANWR somehow got through the house/senate conference despite my own congress critter, Mike Castle's, vote against.
Below, Harry Reid at his finest.
Thanks again to Powerline.
House and Senate negotiators yesterday reached year-end deals on a $42 billion budget-cuts package and a $453 billion defense-spending bill that includes a provision allowing oil drilling in the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge. Now Republican leaders just have to find the votes to pass the bills. Senate Democrats will try to filibuster the spending bill, arguing that adding the drilling provision at the last minute was a perversion of Senate rules. "These rules mean nothing. It's like a game of monopoly with grade-school kids. But this is the United States Senate," said Minority Leader Harry Reid, Nevada Democrat, before using a parliamentary technique to shut down floor action all night.  He also said he would not consent to passing any of President Bush's pending nominations this year, which in effect blocks seven district court judges and the president's picks to lead Immigration and Customs Enforcement and the U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services. Majority Leader Bill Frist, in a sharp attack on his counterpart, said Mr. Reid can't back up his threats on the spending bill. "The flailing of arms and false bravado reflects the frustration of Harry Reid," Mr. Frist said, adding that he wouldn't have gone ahead with the drilling provision if he didn't think he could win the votes Mr. Reid will force. |
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The Quote This Week That Says It All
Harry Reid is steamed. Imagine that the one with the most votes wins. What stupid country does this?
We've become like the House of Commons. Whoever has the most votes wins. It hasn't worked that way in 216 years. |
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Daily Update: Day-Monday Date-12/19/05
-That bogus NY Times story
...all to promote a book! Saturday, the President responded with some kick-ass
-The Patriotic Act filibustered by Senate
..right on the heels of the lying NY Times story. Some Senators even held up the newspaper as reason for their vote against!
-The President's prime time speech Sunday 12/18/05
...Because there's more to life than politics. Auxiliary Blog Post ====================== It's the Week Just Passed and though close to the holidays, it still rocked and rolled. Tookie Williams won't be celebrating Christmas this year with us. And there's that major victory of the Iraqi vote. Add bombings and English fires, an Al-Queda Bill of Rights and all-in-all, it was a doozy of a week. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ It's a Notable/Quotable. Interesting quotes on or about Limbaugh, smokers, Wal-Mart. Oh, and economic expert Diane Sawyer speaks out for MORE taxes ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ It's a Christmas time of year. In this Web Site of the Week we visit a beautiful snow scene. Much better than the yuk-yuk snow scene provided to click to the good stuff. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ |
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Patriotic Act Filibustered by Senate
Two vaunted Senators held up a bogus newspaper story as basis for their vote AGAINST the Patriot Act. How very intelligent. I am so impressed.
Below is a list of those provisions of the Patriot Act which will expire on 12/31/05. These provisions essentially tore down "the wall" which prevented the FBI from sharing obtained data on terrorist activities with the CIA. It's that "connecting the dots" thing that the famous 9-11 omission-commission mentioned in their report. That same commission gave the administration a bad grade for its progress in overcoming the intelligence errors. Now the Senate takes away the ability of this country to fight the war on terror.
The Patriot Act has caused much circumspection across the fruited plains. Americans are notorious for wanting freedom above all else and don't take kindly to the federal government monitoring their calls. Mine own wise self casts a jaundiced eye on the Patriot Act but I am satisfied that there are sunset provisions on the extraordinary measures called for to obtain information on, duh, terrorists trying to attack this country and kill Americans.
NOW is not the time to retire these provisions and any Senator who cares about this country would extend the sunset for at least another year. We may not be military strategists out here in la-la land but we did witness three successful Iraqi elections over the past year. We also see news of continued explosions and terrorist activity in Iraq. This War on Terror is progressing nicely and while Americans are not known for their patience, the recent spate of speeches by the President has reassured us.
Somebody's paying these people to make us lose this war. The Democratic Senators who hate America and love their own power are getting contributions from someone very interested in having the U.S. leave the Mideast to the thieves and thugs who control the oil wealth.
Witness the only two Democrats who voted to extend the Patriot Act are the only ones up for re-election next year. They know that while we sit helpless out here in la-la land that, given the first chance, we'll vote these clowns out of office who would risk harm and damage to us and our loved ones.
It's the "cut-and-run" crowd who want to, well cut and run.
The actual vote was 52 Yes, 47 No. Senator Frist voted No to be a part of the losing side, so Sixteen provisions of the USA Patriot Act expire December 31 if not renewed by Congress: Section 201: Gives federal officials the authority to intercept wire, spoken and electronic communications relating to terrorism. Section 202: Gives federal officials the authority to intercept wire, spoken and electronic communications relating to computer fraud and abuse offenses. Subsection 203(b): Permits the sharing of grand jury information that involves foreign intelligence or counterintelligence with federal law enforcement, intelligence, protective, immigration, national defense or national security officials Subsection 203(d): Gives foreign intelligence or counterintelligence officers the ability to share foreign intelligence information obtained as part of a criminal investigation with law enforcement. Section 204: Makes clear that nothing in the law regarding pen registers -- an electronic device which records all numbers dialed from a particular phone line -- stops the government's ability to obtain foreign intelligence information. Section 206: Allows federal officials to issue roving "John Doe" wiretaps for spy and anti-terrorism investigations. Section 207: Increases the amount of time that federal officials may watch people they suspect are spies or terrorists. Section 209: Permits the seizure of voicemail messages under a warrant. Section 212: Permits Internet service providers and other electronic communication and remote computing service providers to hand over records and e-mails to federal officials in emergency situations. Section 214: Allows use of a pen register or trap and trace devices -- a device that records the originating phone numbers of all incoming calls on a particular phone line -- in international terrorism or spy investigations. Section 215: Authorizes federal officials to obtain "tangible items" like business records, including those from libraries and bookstores, for foreign intelligence and international terrorism investigations. Section 217: Makes it lawful to intercept the wire or electronic communication of a computer hacker or intruder in certain circumstances. Section 218: Allows federal officials to wiretap or watch suspects if foreign intelligence gathering is a "significant purpose" for seeking a Federal Intelligence Surveillance Act order. The pre-Patriot Act standard said officials could ask for the surveillance only if it was "the" sole or main purpose. Section 220: Provides for nationwide service of search warrants for electronic evidence. Section 223: Amends the federal criminal code to provide for administrative discipline of federal officers or employees who violate prohibitions against unauthorized disclosures of information gathered under this act. Section 225: Amends FISA to prohibit lawsuits against people or companies that provide information to federal officials for a terrorism investigation. |
From Powerline:
But the administration is the victim of its own success. In the absence of attacks, the nation is becoming less serious about protecting itself, although I doubt that the public as a whole is as unserious as Congress. It was no coincidence, for example, that none of the Republican Senators who supported the filibuster of the Patriot Act is up for re-election next year, while the two Democrats who opposed the filibuster both will be running at that time. |
Can the NY Times Go Any Lower?
This past Friday (12/16/05) the newspaper of record comes out with a "blockbuster revelation" that the National Security Administration is allowed to spy on phone conversations between Americans and terrorists overseas.
Suppose we'd had this ability and had captured the lovely Mohammed Atta discussing his airplane plans with his terrorist buddies in the Mideast? We didn't, of course, and the dots were NOT connected.
Further, it's since been revealed that the reporter who wrote the article has a book coming out soon. What better way to promote book sales then a big hoopla in the NY Times right before the book is released? It's their methodology.
Get the Times to come out with a big whoop bogus article. Release the book and watch sales soar. Then, of course, an appearance on "60 Minutes". Follow the money. Simon & Schuster is owned by Viacom which also owns CBS which is the network of "60 Minutes".
Oh, and how about that bit about holding onto this news due to requests by the Administration? What a damn crock. They held onto for enough time for Risen to write his book!
In time, more information about this lying piece of NY Times crap comes out. Like the fact that the congress has been regularly briefed about the program, all legal analysts have review it.
In other words, it should not be a shock to the congress critters out and about and lying through their teeth that this is all a surprise to them.
It's nothing more than an attempt to make us lose this war. Somebody wants us out of the Mideast that they may keep their precious oil wealth. Somebody's influencing media and policy makers in America to that end. It doesn't matter that the American people elected this President fair and square. They no longer have to bother with us pesky voters for another three years. Enough time to arrange for us to lose the war on terror and make a bunch of money in the process.
Risen claims the TIMES delayed publication of the article for a year to conduct additional reporting. But now comes word James Risen's article is only one of many "explosive newsbreaking" stories that can be found -- in his upcoming book -- which he turned in 3 months ago!  The paper failed to reveal the urgent story was tied to a book release and sale. "STATE OF WAR: The Secret History of the CIA and the Bush Administration" is to be published by FREE PRESS in the coming weeks, sources tell the DRUDGE REPORT. Carisa Hays, VP, Director of Publicity FREE PRESS, confirms the book is being published. The book editor of Bush critic Richard Clarke [AGAINST ALL ENEMIES] signed Risen to FREE PRESS. |
In an unusual move, President Bush responded to the Senate treatment of the Patriot Act and the NY Times lies by having his weekly address televised and excoriating lying media and spineless, opportunistic Senators.
Hear the President's weekly radio address here.
The President also admitted, readily and with a smile, that he DID authorize wiretaps per the legal provisions available to him. He also detailed the lies in the NY Times story and the congressional oversight done for all instances of this activity.
Here's a story about an attack on the Brooklyn Bridge which was thwarted by this very action. That friendly fellow pictured below was working with terrorists overseas in arranging this attack on our country. He was caught via this same NSA procedure that has the NY Times selling books and Senators betraying this country.
Dec 16, 2005, 02:35 PM Reported by Kurt Ludlow A former Columbus truck driver linked to Al-Qaeda was nabbed as part of a secret operation that's now out of the bag. The government spied on him and hundreds of other Americans without warrants.  It was a front page New York Times article that divulged for the first time that the National Security Agency spied on Americans, monitoring international phone calls and emails of hundreds of people including a Columbus man. Columbus truck driver Iyman Farris pled guilty in 2003 to helping Al-Qaeda plan terrorist attacks in the US, and is was an admission that stunned his ex wife. Geneva Bowling says, "It's still hard for me to believe that he did." |
President's Prime Time Speech-12/18/05
The truth. It was just the simple truth. Directed to the American people from the oval office. It doesn't get any simpler or clearer than that.
The President mentioned the missing weapons of mass destruction. The best is how the President, FINALLY, spoke to US.
We get it out here in la-la land Mr. President. We're busy people and we carry this country on our backs. Give us the courtesy of this tete-a-tete.
No amount of howling from the opposition can overcome the simple truth.
more insight here on a live thread at Free Republic.
Ariel Sharon Suffers Small Stroke
At least according to the Israel National News.
 At 10:00 P.M., according to Israel radio, hospital doctors reported Sharon's condition as good and requiring no special treatment for his disorder. He will, however, spend the night in the hospital.Vice Prime Minister Ehud Olmert has been updated regarding the prime minister's medical condition. Should Sharon be unable to carry out his duties as prime minister, Olmert would serve as Israel's Acting Prime Minister. |
Whatever the case, Sharon has not been released from the hospital. Those classy Palestinians had a grand holiday when they heard about Sharon's hospitalization, shooting guns into the air and throwing candy all about.
Sharon has done more to improve the lot of the Palestinians than any Israeli Prime Minister before.
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W/E 11/27/05
W/E 12/04/05
W/E 12/11/05
W/E 12/18/05
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