Josh Marshall talks about the Kyl/Lieberman Amendment and what it means.

Olbermann on Bush’s tips to Democrats.

A whacko group who wants religious rule. It’s been said of them: “The real crux of this is that these are the genuine leaders of the Republican Party, but they certainly aren’t going to be visible on television next week.”
From The Salt Lake Tribune:

Vice President Dick Cheney will speak to a super’secret, conservative policy group in Utah on Friday during his second trip to the state this year.
Cheney will address the fall meeting of the Council for National Policy, a group whose self-described mission is to promote “a free-enterprise system, a strong national defense and support for traditional Western values.”
The organization - made up of few hundred powerful conservative activists - holds confidential meetings and members are advised not to use the name of the group in communications, according to a New York Times profile of the group.
“The media should not know when or where we meet or who takes part in our programs, before [or] after a meeting,” a list of rules obtained by The Times showed. The group did not respond to an e-mail seeking comment.

What a shock! Someone in this administration hindering a congressional investigation? Say it ain’t so…….. And what has become of the previous cases of administration hindering investigations. Oh that’s right……NOTHING!!

Days after Waxman announced they’d be investigating the Blackwater incident, Condi made several calls to Blackwater and wrote a letter telling them they cannot provide any information to the committee without written approval from the state department.

An ongoing battle between Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice and a House committee investigating Iraqi government corruption and the activities of the Blackwater security firm erupted into another skirmish yesterday as Rep. Henry A. Waxman (D-Calif.) accused Rice of interfering with the committee’s work and preventing administration and Blackwater officials from providing pertinent information.

In the latest of a series of exchanges, Waxman, chairman of the House Oversight and Government Reform Committee, wrote Rice to urge that she “reconsider the unusual positions you are taking.” Congress has a “constitutional prerogative” to look into the issues, he wrote, and she is “wrong to interfere with the Committee’s inquiry.”

More at the Washington Post

It’s essential to contact your senators about opposing the Kyl-Lieberman amendment to the FY 2008 Defense Authorization bill. The vote could be any day now, and it can’t get too much attention. Contact information is at the end of this post.

As Josh Marshall explains:

Did you hear about the War on Iran Authorization bill the Senate is going to vote on perhaps as early as today? No, that’s not how it’s getting billed. But that’s what the ‘Kyl-Lieberman’ amendment is. In fact, the supporters of going to war against Iran are using exactly the same strategy with this amendment that they did to lay the groundwork for the Iraq War.

You can watch Josh Marshall break it down on TPMtv here.

As Jonathan Schwarz wrote last week:
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