(Graphic by Tengrain. Thanks to Blue Gal for spreading the word again this year.)

Last year, in “8-6-01: A Date That Should Live in Infamy,” I opened by writing:

While the Bush administration rattles sabers once again and insists on more unchecked surveillance power and fewer civil rights for Americans, and Democrats seem set to capitulate for no good reason, it’s worth taking stock of the Bush administration’s actual record on terrorism.

Boy, plus ça change, plus c’est la même chose and all that. But let’s look at what we knew and some new developments.
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His Mama named him right……

Vice President Cheney’s invitation to address wounded combat veterans next month has been yanked because the group felt his security demands were Draconian and unreasonable.

The veep had planned to speak to the Disabled American Veterans at 8:30 a.m. at its August convention in Las Vegas.

His staff insisted the sick vets be sequestered for two hours before Cheney’s arrival and couldn’t leave until he’d finished talking, officials confirmed.

“Word got back to us … that this would be a prerequisite,” said the veterans executive director, David Gorman, who noted the meeting hall doesn’t have any rest rooms. “We told them it just wasn’t acceptable.”

When Cheney spoke to the group in 2004, his handlers imposed the same stringent security lockdown, upsetting members, officials said.

Many of the vets are elderly and left pieces of themselves on foreign battlefields since World War II, and others were crippled by recent service in Iraq and Afghanistan. For health reasons, many can’t be stuck in a room for hours.

“It was a huge imposition on our delegates,” added David Autry, another Disabled American Veterans official.

More here

Bush claims privilege to withhold CIA leak records

WASHINGTON - President Bush invoked executive privilege to keep Congress from seeing the FBI report of an interview with Vice President Dick Cheney and other records related to the administration’s leak of CIA operative Valerie Plame’s identity in 2003.

The president’s decision drew a sharp protest Wednesday from Rep. Henry Waxman, chairman of House Oversight Committee, which had subpoenaed Attorney General Michael Mukasey to turn over the documents.

“This unfounded assertion of executive privilege does not protect a principle; it protects a person,” the California Democrat said. “If the vice president did nothing wrong, what is there to hide?”

Waxman left little doubt he would soon move for a committee vote to hold Mukasey in contempt of Congress.

Bush is doing a heckuva job making Nixon look like an honorable politician.

UPDATE:

Congressional Democrats want to shed light on the precise roles, if any, that Bush, Cheney and their aides may have played in the leak.

State Department official Richard Armitage first revealed Plame’s identity as a CIA operative to columnist Robert Novak, who used former presidential counselor Karl Rove as a confirming source for a 2003 article.

Isn’t outing a CIA operative considered high treason? And isn’t the prescribed sentencing for high treason the death penalty?

It’s gotten to where the mention of ’subpoena’ means nothing any more. But that may change. It will be interesting to see how Attorney General Mukasey reacts to the request.

From Committee on Oversight and Government Reform (via TPM):

Oversight Committee Subpoenas Justice Department for Plame Documents

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.

A blowjob kinda pales in comparison, doesn’t it?

Senate committee: Bush knew Iraq claims weren’t true

WASHINGTON- A long-awaited Senate Select Intelligence Committee report made public Thursday concludes that President Bush and Vice President Dick Cheney made public statements to promote an invasion of Iraq that they knew at the time were not supported by available intelligence. [...]

“Before taking the country to war, this administration owed it to the American people to give them a 100 percent accurate picture of the threat we faced. Unfortunately, our Committee has concluded that the administration made significant claims that were not supported by the intelligence,” said committee Chairman John D. Rockefeller IV, D- W. Va. [...]

Among the reports conclusions:

* Claims by President Bush that Iraq and al Qaida had a partnership “were not substantiated by the intelligence.”
* The president and vice president misrepresented what was known about Iraq’s chemical weapons capabiliies.
* Rumsfeld misrepresented what the intelligence community knew when he said Iraq’s weapons productions facilities were buried deeply underground.
* Cheney’s claim that the intelligence community had confirmed that lead Sept. 11 hijacker Mohammed Atta had met an Iraqi intelligence officer in Prague in 2001 was not true.

(This post is the first of a few in honor of Memorial Day, and part of an ongoing series on war.)

With the arrival of another Memorial Day, it seems only appropriate to re-examine notions of war and military action. We’re supposed to remember the fallen, but part of that entails remembering why they died. Most of all, since life witnesses enough suffering as it is, it’s essential to remember and question whether certain deaths were unnecessary and avoidable, and work to prevent any repetition of those mistakes. To that end, it’s important to examine the mentality that lead to unnecessary deaths in the first place. All the recent accusations of “appeasement” from the Bush administration, the neocons, and other right-wingers gives us a perfect case study of these brave cowboys of the junior high lunch room.

The Worst are Full of Obstinate Belligerency

If you read the liberal blogosphere, it’d be hard to have missed Chris Matthews’ smackdown of Kevin James, but it’s an excellent starting point. It’s sorta funny, but also sorta disgusting. If you can bear to, watch at least part of it again:
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Former press secretary Scott McClellan may have given us more than he bargained for. In his newly released book, “What Happened: Inside the Bush White House and Washington’s Culture of Deception,” McClellan pretty much confirms what we already knew about the Bush administration being rotten to the core.

From an email I received from Congressman Robert Wexler:

Dear Buck,

Last night, significant news broke that directly impacts our push for Impeachment Hearings and a possible Inherent Contempt charge for Bush Administration officials such as Karl Rove:

Former White House Press Secretary Scott McClellan has revealed in his upcoming book that:

• Karl Rove, Scooter Libby, and Vice President Cheney lied about their role in revealing the identity of Valerie Plame Wilson - actions easily amounting to obstruction of Justice.

McClellan also admitted that:

• There was a coordinated effort within the Bush Administration to use propaganda to pump up the case for the Iraq war and hide the projected costs of the war from the public.

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I don’t think so! Look closer…

(Click on Image to enlarge)

It would appear VP, Dick Cheney is an avid reader of ours.

Gee I missed this one. There was evil in the Senate today. I wonder how many times in his terms as VP he’s done this. And the walls didn’t crumble. You’d think they would have…….

From Senatus:

Vice President Cheney is now presiding over the Senate as they continue voting on amendments to the Budget Resolution. He may be available to cast the tie-breaking vote if necessary.

Additionally, Senator Byrd (D-WV) was able to return to the Senate for voting today despite recent health problems. He is currently confined to a wheelchair. All three Senators running for President, Senator McCain (R-AZ), Senator Obama (D-IL) and Senator Clinton (D-NY) have also been voting today.

Update: The Vice President is no longer presiding over the votes.

(Cartoon by Mike Keefe, 2/15/08)

In the past two weeks, the Bush administration has finally admitted to torturing prisoners. We’ve seen artful dodges from Attorney General Mukasey and shameless and vile hackdom from many other Bush allies. Some exceptional news articles and commentary have been produced, but sadly and unsurprisingly, they have yet to be rewarded with congressional action.

Torture, due process, intelligence and related issues will continue to play a prominent role in politics for the rest of the year. This piece is intended as a resource in those essential (and tragically, necessary) battles. This is a long post because of all the links and excerpts; it’s essentially several posts in one. Please feel free to skim over sections as needed.

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