the best leaders

Vote for John McCain because he spent 5 1/2 years as a POW 40 years ago.

Good luck with this one!

Scholar: Cheney secrecy laying groundwork for possible 'history heist'

While they might not like to admit it, President Bush and Vice President Dick Cheney are, at the end of the day, employees of the American people, and four generations of precedent -- not to mention US law -- require that the people be allowed to audit their performance once they leave office.

Scholars and open government advocates, though, are sounding the alarm that Cheney, perhaps the most secretive and influential vice president ever, who entered government service during Richard Nixon's administration, could be returning to Tricky Dick's disdain for open government. A lawsuit filed Monday would force Cheney to comply with the 1978 Presidential Records Act, one of an array of post-Watergate reforms meant to redress Nixon's abuse of the office.

The act requires outgoing administrations to hand over executive branch documents to the National Archives, where the records are preserved for future historians. Problem is, Cheney's crafty lawyers have argued he is not a member of the executive branch, and President Bush early in his tenure amended what could amount to a giant loophole to the act that would allow Cheney to simply toss his papers into the fireplace on his way out the door.

"I think we're at a crossroad," said historian Martin Sherwin, one of the plaintiffs in a lawsuit that would force Cheney to preserve and hand over his records. "There's a possibility here for what I call a history heist, or a historical theft from the American people."

Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington, an open-government watchdog that filed the lawsuit, hosted a conference call Monday with Sherwin and other experts.

CREW's top lawyer, Anne Weismann, said concern that Cheney could dodge the requirements of the Presidential Records Act stems in part from a Bush executive order issued in November 2001.

The order amended the act to require disclosure of only the "executive records" of the vice president's office, meaning anything Cheney argued fell under his role as a member of the legislative branch could be kept secret indefinitely. Weismann noted that phrase does not appear anywhere in the Presidential Records Act itself nor are "executive records" mentioned anywhere in the legislative history of the law.

Because the vice president also serves as president of the Senate -- a position that amounts to essentially playing official tiebreaker in the event of a 50-50 vote -- Cheney's office has argued he is not a member of the executive branch. Cheney and his inner circle have sought this distinction to avoid all manner of oversight that would greet normal members of the executive branch; the potential they'll use it to deny historians a look at his office's inner workings is just the latest affront.

Weisman noted that CREW was hardly unfounded in suspecting Cheney might try to avoid handing over his records. Unfortunately, with a White House as prone to secrecy and as careless about keeping records as this one, even if CREW succeeds in forcing Cheney to hand over his records, no one ever will be able to say for sure what has already been destroyed.

The White House already is under fire for losing up to 10 million internal e-mails, including correspondence from Cheney's office during key days in the battle over his secret energy task force and in the Valerie Plame case.

"We already know there is at least that much of a gap," Weissman told RAW STORY on Monday's call. "As far as what the vice president has done in his seven-plus years in office, it's anybody's guess."

KO

this is progress?

photo from NewYorkDailyPhoto.com

Palintology 101

She supports aerial hunting of wolves even though it was outlawed by Congress.

In addition to polar bears, belugas, and wolves, for the first time in Alaskan history she is supporting hunting black bear sows and cubs.


Foreign policy experience? "Alaska is near Russia."


She has an ANTI-ENVIRONMENT RECORD and is on the wrong side of global warming and doesn't think polar bears should be listed as endangered because it interferes with her drilling plans.

She wants to destroy 1.5 MILLION ACRES of ANWR, not the 2000 acres she spoke about on the news.

She's against sex education - abstinence only.

She appears to oppose windfall taxes on oil companies at the national level but supported them to benefit her state.

Believes Creationism should be taught in science classes

She's opposed to state health benefits for same-sex partners and only vetoed a resolution that would have ended state benefits because the Supreme Court had already declared it unconstitutional.
She's opposed to universal health care and stem cell research


She seems seriously connected to the Bridge to Nowhere.

She stated that she would force her own daughter to have a rapist's child.


She's connected to VECO - the company at the heart of Ted Stevens' troubles. She also received an endorsement from Ted that has suddenly disappeared from her webpage

Palin may have been scrubbing her own wikipedia page


She supported Obama's energy plan, but suddenly these references are disappearing.

Palin's husband is on BP's payroll creating a possible conflict of interest.



She favors censoring library books

She didn't support McCain in the primaries.

The top 2 ALASKAN newspapers question her fitness for the job.

She's part of Feminists for Life and is AGAINST BIRTH CONTROL. It would be awesome if someone asked her McCain's now famous "should insurance companies cover viagra/birth control" question.

Like Bush and McCain(and especially Cheney),

she can't admit when she's wrong.

Republicans scaling back?

While your TeeVee may be telling you that the Republicans are scaling back and trying to act all sad that Hurricane Gustav is hammering the Gulf Coast, behind the scenes they’re partying like it’s 1789. Who cares about those peasants? Let them eat MRE’s! We’ve got multimillion dollar lobbyist shindigs to attend!

I especially like the band's name.

Amazing.

Amy Goodman Unlawfully Arrested

September 01, 2008

Amy Goodman and Two Democracy Now! Producers Unlawfully Arrested At the RNC

www.democracynow.org

September 1, 2008

Contact:
Dennis Moynihan
Mike Burke

ST. PAUL, MN—Democracy Now! host Amy Goodman was unlawfully arrested in downtown St. Paul, Minnesota at approximately 5 p.m. local time. Police violently manhandled Goodman, yanking her arm, as they arrested her.

Goodman was arrested while attempting to free two Democracy Now! producers who were being unlawfuly detained. They are Sharif Abdel Kouddous and Nicole Salazar. Kouddous and Salazar were arrested while they carried out their journalistic duties in covering street demonstrations at the Republican National Convention. Goodman’s crime appears to have been defending her colleagues and the freedom of the press.

Ramsey County Sherrif Bob Fletcher told Democracy Now! that Kouddous and Salazar were being arrested on suspicion of rioting. They are currently being held at the Ramsey County jail in St. Paul.

Democracy Now! is calling on all journalists and concerned citizens to call the office of Mayor Chris Coleman and the Ramsey County Jail and demand the immediate release of Goodman, Kouddous and Salazar. These calls can be directed to: Chris Rider from Mayor Coleman’s office at 651-266-8535 and the Ramsey County Jail at 651-266-9350 (press extension 0).

Democracy Now! stands by Goodman, Kouddous and Salazar and condemns this action by Twin Cities law enforcement as a clear violation of the freedom of the press and the First Amenmdent rights of these journalists.

During the demonstration in which they were arrested law enforcement officers used pepper spray, rubber bullets, concussion grenades and excessive force. Several dozen others were also arrested during this action.

Amy Goodman is one of the most well-known and well-respected journalists in the United States. She has received journalism’s top honors for her reporting and has a distinguished reputation of bravery and courage. The arrest of Goodman, Kouddous and Salazar is a transparent attempt to intimidate journalists from the nation’s leading independent news outlet.

Democracy Now! is a nationally-syndicated public TV and radio program that airs on over 700 radio and TV stations across the US and the globe.