Buck Naked Politics

Sweet Jesus! Obama Proclaims Faith in Faith-Based Initiatives?

by D. Cupples |  Some of our Founding Fathers had a colorful way of speaking.  Thomas Paine, for example, said this about the separation of church and state:

"Soon after I had published the pamphlet `Common Sense' in America I saw the exceeding probability that a revolution in the system of government would be followed by a revolution in the system of religion.   

"The adulterous connection of church and state, wherever it had taken place, whether Jewish, Christian, or Turkish, had so effectually prohibited by pains and penalties every discussion upon established creeds, and upon first principles of religion, that until the system of government should be changed those subjects could not be."

That said, I'm more than a bit surprised that Sen. Barack Obama seems to be proposing less (rather than more) separation between church and state.  Yesterday, the God-O-Meter blog reported:

Bush Administration's Covert Actions re: Iran

by  Deb Cupples |   Seymore Hersh has a scary story about the Bush Administration's secret attempts to de-stabilize Iran. Hersh begins:

"Late last year, Congress agreed to a request from President Bush to fund a major escalation of covert operations against Iran, according to current and former military, intelligence, and congressional sources. These operations, for which the President sought up to four hundred million dollars, were described in a Presidential Finding signed by Bush, and are designed to destabilize the country’s religious leadership.

"The covert activities involve support of the minority Ahwazi Arab and Baluchi groups and other dissident organizations. They also include...

Hostile Witnesses: Ex-White House Staffers Dodged Questions with Attitude

by D. Cupples |   Yesterday, former White House employees David Addington and John Yoo testified before the House Judiciary Committee, which apparently wanted to know details about law breaking within the Bush Adminsitration. 

The witnesses were far from silent, but they managed to not answer most of the questions asked of them.  The Washington Post's Dana Milbank gives a few examples of the surliness and contempt with which Mr. Addington addressed Committee members:

Greenwald Takes Olbermann's Defense of the new FISA Bill into a Back Room; Only Greenwald Comes Out

by Damozel | My colleague Deb Cupples has recently commented trenchantly on Olbermann's reversal of his position on FISA to match Obama's.  Now Glenn Greenwald has administered a swift and deadly kick to Olbermann's credibility on the issue and to any lingering hope that Olbermann might recover sufficient detachment to be considered a reliable commenter on any issue relating to his Hero, Barack Obama.

Now that Obama has made his position on FISA crystal clear, Olbermann has apparently decided how he is going to spin the issue:  by being as disingenuous as Obama man.  When W was fighting for FISA, Olbermann called it '"an ex post facto law, which would clear the phone giants from responsibility for their systematic, aggressive and blatant collaboration with [Bush's] illegal and unjustified spying on Americans under this flimsy guise of looking for any terrorists who are stupid enough to make a collect call or send a mass email."' (Salon; emphasis added)

A Tribute to Senator Chris Dodd & 15 Who Stood Up for the Constitution in the Crucial Vote on Cloture

by Damozel | At Crooks and Liars, SilentPatriot writes:

Senator Chris Dodd (D-CT), who along with Russ Feingold has been the fiercest defender of Constitutional rights, took to the floor last night to deliver a two-hour impassioned speech in defense of the rule of law, and offered a scathing critique of the sham FISA bill about to become law....

Dodd’s sincere respect and concern for this country’s sacred principles and his passionate defense last night of those principles was the most uplifting yet depressing thing I have ever seen; uplifting because it proved to me that there are leaders out there who still give a damn, but depressing because, with rare exceptions, he is alone. When the history of the Bush years is written and future generations look back and wonder how we sank so low, how an abject failure like George W. Bush successfully transformed our national character, at least we can look back to times like these and know that there were some true patriots sounding the alarm.

Bush's Very Special Tribute to 'Philippine-Americans'

by Damozel | The President of the Philippines, Gloria Macapagal Arroyo, is here visiting President Bush out of the grim necessity imposed upon her by a typhoon that destroyed her country's coast and wrecked a ferry carrying 800 people (HuffPost).  But no occasion is too sobering to stop the Frat-Boy-in-Chief from opening with a joke.

He said:  'Madam President, it is a pleasure to welcome you back to the Oval Office...  First, I want to tell you how proud I am to be the President of a nation that -- in which there's a lot of Philippine-Americans. They love America....  I am reminded of the great talent of the -- of our Philippine-Americans when I eat dinner at the White House.'(HuffPost; emphasis added)

But Why DID 94 House Dems Change Their FISA Votes?

by Damozel | In March, the House passed an amendment that rejected retroactive immunity for telecoms that assisted the NSA in illegal wiretapping.  Most of us have wondered what happened to change the minds of 94 Democrats.  What happened between June 20 and March 14 to change 94 Democratic hearts and minds?

The answer might well be simple:  money. 

MAPLight.org has published a breakdown of contributions received from Telco PACS by the 94 Dems who experienced the change of heart.  [Maplight.org is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit, nonpartisan organization based in Berkeley, California. Its search engine at MAPLight.org illuminates the connection between Money And Politics (MAP) via an unprecedented database of campaign contributions and legislative outcomes.']

Law Prof Challenges the Spin and Tells Why FISA Bill is Frightening

by Deb Cupples |  Below is a good interview of George Washington University Professor and constitutional scholar Jonathan Turley re: FISA facts and spin.  The first minute (or so) is devoted to background info, and the next four minutes (or so)  are largely devoted to Prof. Turley.  Here's a snippet:

"It is reverse engineering, the type of thing the Bush Administration's famous for and now the Democrats are doing.  That is to change the law to conform to past conduct.  It's what any criminal would love to do.  You rob a bank, go to the legislature, and change the law to say that robbing banks is lawful...."

"People need to be very, very much aware of this bill.  What you're seeing in this bill is an evisceration of the fourth amendment of the constitution.  It is something that allows the president and the government to go into law-abiding homes on their word alone, their suspicion alone and engage in warrantless surveillance.  That's what the framers who drafted the Fourth Amendment wanted to prevent."

Notice how incisive Keith Olbermann is toward congressional Democrats who were caving into the White House on FISA.  The day after interviewing Prof. Turley, Mr. Olbermann did a piece on Sen. Obama's surprising support for the FISA bill -- and Mr. Olbermann wasn't nearly as incisive. 

I'm not sure if Mr. Olbermann was in shock or if he was trying to figure out a credible way to give Sen. Obama immunity on this issue.

U.S. Mid-East Propaganda Tool Shut Down

by Deb Cupples |  After more than four years and $350 million (U.S. tax dollars, that is), the Egyptian bureau of U.S. Government's Arabic-language TV network has been shut down.  Named "Al-Hurra" (The Free Ones in Arabic), the network is "the centerpiece of a U.S. government campaign to spread democracy in the Middle East," according to the Washington Post.

In short, the network with the name that sounds like a ad-slogan aimed at people suffering mental retardation was a propaganda tool -- which is one reason that the network was failing:

McClellan Says White House Sought to Avoid Public Scrutiny

by Damozel |  Did you know that George W. Bush is still president?  It's true.  And it's probably about time we turn our thoughts to holding Bush & Co. accountable for something, or don't you think so?

Empty Wheel reports that Scott McClellan calls Rove a liar and Cheney an Oil Hungry War-Monger. The best thing about this title is that it still makes sense if you reverse the names 'Rove' and 'Cheney.'  If you've been too distracted by the Obama-drama, it's an excellent recap of the hearing.

McClellan thinks that Cheney should testify before Congress about Plame-gate. (CNN)   In fact, his testimony pretty much consists of statements mirroring the speculations of progressive bloggers at the time the whole mess was going down.  He says that the White House ' has sought to avoid public scrutiny and accountability.' (CNN)  Gee, you think?

Democratic House Gives in to White House on FISA

by Deb Cupples |   I saw it on C-Span's live streaming of the session, and the vote is over, so I can't link to it.  The U.S. House just passed the FISA bill by  293 - 128 votes, meaning a whole lot of Democrats voted for the bill.  As discussed here earlier, the FISA bill was not a compromise.

The bill will give the Bush Administration and law-breaking telecommunications companies exactly what they wanted:  1) broader ability to tap Americans' phone calls and emails and 2) retroactive immunity for telecoms that had broken the law while helping the Administration's domestic-surveillance programs.

The upshot: lawsuits against law-breaking telecoms will likely be dropped and we taxpayers will likely never see evidence of just how egregiously the Bush Administration (and its  allies in the telecom industry) had broken our nation's laws.

Next, the Senate will vote on the bill.

Is Israel Gearing Up for an Attack Against Iran?

by Damozel | More than 100 F-16 and F-15 fighters participated in an exercise over the eastern Mediterranean and Greece, according to this report in The International Herald Tribune.  Israeli officials just said that Israel regularly carries out military exercises.(IHT)   But 'a senior Pentagon official', speaking on condition of anonymity, said that the exercise served more than one purpose, and that preparing for a strike against Iran was one of them.

One Israeli goal, the Pentagon official said, was to practice flight tactics, aerial refueling and all other details of a possible strike against Iran's nuclear installations and its long-range conventional missiles.

FISA "Compromise" Reached [Updated]

by Deb Cupples |  When politicians use lines about imperfect "compromises," fighting terrorism and protecting Americans' civil liberties -- all on the same page -- you can't help sensing that they're trying to sell something that cannot sell on its own merits. 

House Majority leader Steny Hoyer said the following in a press release today regarding the FISA Amendments Act (H.R. 6304):

"'This bipartisan bill balances the needs of our intelligence community with Americans’ civil liberties, and provides critical new oversight and accountability requirements,' said Hoyer.  'It is the result of compromise, and like any compromise is not perfect, but I believe it strikes a sound balance.  Furthermore, we have ensured that Congress can revisit these issues because the legislation will sunset at the end of 2012.'”

McCain & Bush in a Nutshell

by Damozel | For those keeping score --- and for Hillary Dems thinking of voting for McCain or enabling a McCain victory by not voting at all --- The New York Times has a handy tally of points on which McCain and Bush agree and disagree.  Dana Milbank says it best:  'Put Your Right Wing In, Take Your Left Wing Out ---If John McCain keeps dancing like this, he's liable to break a hip'. 

Draw your own conclusions.  Or check out other blogger reactions at Memeorandum.

How KBR Got Paid $1 Billion in 'Noncredible' Costs

by Damozel | Those wacky government contractors.  Will we ever tire of of their sportive tricks?

I'll never understand why Republicans --- who worry obsessively about taxes --- aren't apoplectic over the amounts of tax dollars being flushed down the latrine in Iraq. 

For example: During the first two years of the Iraq war, a certain army official, Charles M. Smith, was  in charge of overseeing a 'multibillion dollar contract' in Iraq.  After army auditors determined that KBR didn't have credible records to justify more than $1 billion in spending he refused to pay them.(NYT)  Specifically, the auditors said that the claims were 'noncredible.'  (After all, you wouldn't want the government to pay out the tax dollars formerly known as 'yours' and 'mine' without verifying that the recipients delivered the goods, would you?)  But $1 billion in insufficiently documented costs?  That's a whole lot of missing invoices.

Oversight Committee Subpoenas Mukasey re: Valerie Plame Outing

Here's the text of a House Oversight Committee press release from yesterday:

"Today, the Oversight Committee issued a subpoena to Attorney General Mukasey compelling the production of FBI interview reports of Vice President Cheney and President Bush and other documents regarding the outing of covert CIA agent Valerie Plame Wilson."

Go here for related stories linked at the committee's Web site.

Bush's 11th Hour Hunt for bin Laden; McCain --- Right for a Change --- Says 'We Need Better Human Intelligence'

by Teh Nutroots | Seven years later, Bush is finally back to chasing Osama bin Laden.   Remember him?  He's the guy who orchestrated the 911 attacks.  Bush got distracted by Saddam Hussein's non-existent 'weapons of mass destruction' and the job of de-stabilizing Iraq, but he's got OBL in his cross-hairs again. 

Defence and intelligence sources in Washington and London confirmed that a renewed hunt was on for the leader of the September 11 attacks. “If he [Bush] can say he has killed Saddam Hussein and captured Bin Laden, he can claim to have left the world a safer place,” said a US intelligence source. (Times Online)

"[The hunt] involves the use of Predator and Reaper unmanned aerial vehicles fitted with Hellfire missiles that can be used to take out specific terrorist targets...." (Times Online)  '“Bush is swinging for the fences in the hope of scoring a home run,” said an intelligence source.'(Times Online)

More Bush Administration Foreign Policy Failures: Key Setbacks In Iraq for both Bush and McCain

by Damozel | Speaking of the Bush administration's various foreign policy failures, it looks as if the Iraqis have decided they can't stomach that 'security pact' (secret treaty) the Bush administration has been secretly trying to negotiate.  During a visit to Jordan, Iraqi premier Nouri al-Maliki has said that negotiations over the terms on which US forces can remain in Iraq had reached 'a dead end.'  (WaPo) 

As previously discussed, the Bush administration has been busy while we were all looking elsewhere negotiating for a status-of-forces agreement and a statement of the Iraq/US relationship that incorporate provisions for a long-term US presence and 60 military bases (BN-Politics).  Among much else, the Iraqis --- who don't have the Bush administration's interests in 'discretion' --- say that 'Washington is insisting that American forces have a free hand in launching military operations when and wherever they want.'  (WaPo)   The terms of the agreement seem more consistent with a secret treaty than the sort of agreement that the executive branch has the power to negotiate and sign off on without ratification (BN-Politics)

Another Reason to Vote for the Democrat: Guantanamo Decision to Become a Hot Button Topic in the Election?

by Damozel | The Guantanamo decision, illustrating that certain principles on which the Bill of Rights is based are hanging by a thread, may well become a 'hot button' issue in the election.  The GOP is apparently planning to make it a 'rallying point' in its campaign.  Democrats, on the other hand, will point out --- as indeed I've already done --- that the bare 5-4 majority indicates that civil liberties are hanging by a thread, and that we must not allow Republicans, including --- or especially --- John McCain, to pick any more judges. 

As always, Scalia was supplied plenty of grist to the GOP political mill:

Prison Break in Afghanistan Frees Hundreds of Militant Taliban Members; 4 Marines Killed in Road Bomb Attack

by Damozel | Levels of violence in Iraq may be decreasing; in Afghanistan, things aren't going so well.  In southeastern Afghanistan, the militants are making a comeback and those who know about these things will tell you that the gravest threat to the US of terrorism is likely to come from Afghanistan and Pakistan rather than Iraq. (VetVoice)

On Friday, Taliban militants blew up a prison in Kandahar, allowing between 870 and 1110 prisoners to escape --- including 'a number of high-ranking Taliban members'(BBC News) --- about 400 of them. (Guardian)  Kandahar is 'one of the key battlegrounds in the Taleban's insurgency against President Hamid Karzai and Nato and US troops.' (BBC News)   The purpose of the attack?  '[D]elegitimatizing the government by highlighting its ineffectiveness while improving internal cohesion and morale as a demonstrated example of the Taliban taking care of its own.'(The Newshoggers)

Afghan officials have begun investigations to determine whether any government officials were involved in the blast. (BBC News)