Day: November 9, 2005

Poll: 57% Believe Bush Lied about Iraq

Jon Ponder

America wakes up: Polls are starting to reflect the fact that George W. Bush is the Worst President Ever. But in the NBC News/Wall Street Journal poll, one number could represent a legacy-killer, to say the least, for the president – nearly 60 percent believe he lied about reasons he took the country to war in Iraq:

Only 33 percent give Bush positive ratings for being honest and straightforward — a drop of 17 points since January

Fifty-seven percent believe [Pres. George W. Bush] deliberately misled people to make the case for war, compared with 35 percent who say he gave the most accurate information he had.

Contrary to Republicans’ hopes, the Bush CIA Leak scandal is not just an inside-the-Beltway tempest:

Seventy-nine percent think that Libby’s indictment is a serious matter … Moreover, only 33 percent give Bush positive ratings for being honest and straightforward — a drop of 17 points since January, when Bush held a 50-to-36 percent score on this question.

At Last, Something Worth Reading from Judy Miller: Her Resignation Letter

Trish

The attack poodles just lost their queen, according to Reuters:

New York Times reporter Judith Miller, a journalist at the center of the CIA leak controversy that led to the indictment of a White House aide, will leave the paper, the New York Times said on Wednesday.

Miller’s lawyers and the paper negotiated a severance package, the terms of which were not disclosed. As part of the agreement, the paper will publish a letter from Miller explaining her position, The Times said on its Web site.

That’s one article by Miller we’ll be looking forward to reading.

CA Special Election Cost $350 Million

Jon Ponder

A big waste: It’s okay. We’ll just borrow the money:

The total cost of Arnold’s California special election may top $300 million, according to this article. Gov. Schwarzenegger and his California Recovery Team have spent nearly $32.5 million, per the latest filings online, while the state teachers union has kicked in $55 million.

According to another article, total spending by “yes” and “no” campaigns is estimated at $220 million. Unions in California spent $100 million to defeat these initiatives.

I’m not sure if these numbers include the costs to each of the California counties for holding the special election.

Imagine something positive that could have been accomplished in California with $300 million . . .

The operational costs of the election are at least $50 million, upping the tally to $350 million.

Scott McLiar Slips Up, Tells Truth – WH Alters His Transcript

Jon Ponder

The unmistakable whiff of fascism: In Washington, a “gaffe” is when someone accidentally tells the truth. In the Bush White House, even the fact that the gaffe is on tape does not stop them from trying to alter the record to cover up the truth:

There is a brewing controversy about what exactly was said at the White House press conference on October 31. Everyone agrees NBC’s Dick Gregory said this:

Q Whether there’s a question of legality, we know for a fact that there was involvement. We know that Karl Rove, based on what he and his lawyer have said, did have a conversation about somebody who Patrick Fitzgerald said was a covert officer of the Central Intelligence Agency. We know that Scooter Libby also had conversations.

Congressional Quarterly and FNS both transcribed Press Secretary Scott McClellan’s answer as “That’s accurate.” The White House transcript lists McClellan’s answer as “I don’t think that’s accurate.”

We’ve isolated the clip so you can judge for yourself:

Watch in QuickTime streaming.

If you listened to the clip, it’s clear McClellan says “that’s accurate.” Nevertheless, the White House is trying to get CQ and FNS to change their transcripts. They’ve refused.

Intelligent Design Backers Ousted from Dover School Board

Buck Banks

Natural selection: The Neanderthals on the Dover County, Penn., school board who supported teaching in biology class that intelligent design is an alternative to evolution received a civics lesson yesterday. Seven of eight board members — all of whom supported the inclusion of ID as an alternative explanation for the existence of the duck-billed platypus — were defeated in their re-election campaigns. The eighth board member was not up for re-election.

The Pittsburgh Post-Gazette reported that voters were confused by the focus on the issue:

“Everybody is making this the No. 1 issue and we think … other things are more important,” said Phillip Herman, a Democrat who ran with Dover CARES [the slate of challengers].

That’s something both slates agreed on.

“The voters were so mixed up with the intelligent-design case that it’s been tough for us to get our message out about anything else,” said ousted member David Napierskie.

The debate over the school curriculum led eight families to sue the school board, charging that the board was violating the separation of church and state. The trial ended Friday and a verdict is expected in early January. The new school board members will be sworn in Dec. 5.

Just Because You’re Paranoid It Doesn’t Mean They’re Not Out to Get You

Trish

Ever worry that Big Brother is making a big file on you, like the one the teachers always threatened you with in school? Well, someone is: the Bush government. USA Today

the FBI can demand, for example, that an Internet provider, bank or phone company turn over records of who you call and e-mail, which web sites you visit, how much you spend, where you work, fly and vacation, and much more

It’s as easy as saying “national security letter.”

Using this little-noticed but potent tool, the FBI can demand, for example, that an Internet provider, bank or phone company turn over records of who you call and e-mail, which web sites you visit, how much you spend, where you work, fly and vacation, and much more. No judge has to approve the demand, a common check required on more typical subpoenas.

You’d never learn about the secret intrusion, either. It’s all classified.

The public got a rare and troubling glimpse behind this curtain when The Washington Post reported Sunday that the FBI now issues thousands of National Security Letters a year. Each can seek many records on many people.

According to The Post and government documents, the Bush administration has quietly rewritten Justice Department rules so it can keep records indefinitely, even when they prove irrelevant to an investigation. The government can also share the records broadly, enabling the FBI to build what amounts to electronic dossiers on untold numbers of Americans.

Some parts of the USAPatriot Act, which has allowed Bush to protect America by destroying it, will expire at the end of the year. He is asking that they not only be extended, but that they be made permanent, saving him (and any future President Bushes, say Jeb or George P.) the trouble of having to periodically make a case for keeping them. […]

Why Arnold Failed – And Why Team Bush Must Be in a Panic

Jon Ponder

Bad news for fakers: The leaders of the Republican Party must be quaking in their boots in light of the elections of Democrats as governors in New Jersey and, especially, Virginia. This can’t bode well for the federal elections next year.

The drubbing Arnold took yesterday must have Rove & Co. wondering how they can stop a similar backlash against the empty suit in the Oval Office from destroying the GOP nationwide.

But President Bush’s minders may have an even more serious case of agita over the collapse of the Schwarzenegger governorship here in California. Their concern isn’t that Bush and Arnold are close allies or share similar philosophies – or that there was ever any hope that Arnold could flip the state back to the GOP.

Rather, what must concern the White House messagemeisters is that Bush and Arnold share similar political and personal weaknesses that their handlers have, until now, hidden from voters in similar ways. California voters have wised up to Schwarzenegger’s act – and there is real danger (and polling to prove it) that voters nationwide are begining to see through Mr. Bush’s tired routine as well.

Both the president and the governor go to great lengths to conceal their “real” personas from public view – probably because in real life they are both self-aggrandizing jerks. Since both pols must rely on manufactured personalites when they are on the public stage, this limits them to tightly stage-managed and scripted appearances in front of handpicked crowds of sycophants.

Neither man is truly comfortable in his own skin – and neither can think on their feet – so their handlers have to go out of their way to avoid putting them into one-on-one interviews with reporters or live debates with other politicians.

The harsh lesson Arnold’s handlers learned in the defeat of his “reform agenda” yesterday – and that must have Karl Rove in a panic – is that politicians in the spotlight cannot hide their true selves from voters forever. The tide of events has a way of unmasking even the most practiced fakers.

The drubbing Arnold took yesterday must have Rove & Co. wondering how they can stop a similar backlash against the empty suit in the Oval Office from destroying the GOP nationwide.

Here’s how the Los Angeles Times analyzed the defeat of the Das Guber’s propositions this morning:

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Fed Inspectors General Issue First Post-Katrina Report

Buck Banks

Send in the Sherlocks: The government’s inspector generals, who are charged with oversight of government contracts and investigating hotline complaints in the wake of Hurricane Katrina — have issued their first biweekly report.

More than 400 auditors, investigators and managers from 16 agencies, including those within the Department of Homeland Security, have been assigned to review about 3,000 contracts worth more than $5.1 billion and more than $26.9 million in purchase card spending, according to the report. The auditors are to review the contracts to ensure they fall within federal guidelines and are in the government’s best interest.

Nearly all of the contracts subject to review — 2,777 contracts worth $3.95 billion — were issued by DHS agencies. The reviews also will cover 99 Defense Department contracts worth more than $1 billion.

So far, the inspectors are responding to 2,020 hotline complaints, have opened 92 cases, made 23 arrests and secured 19 indictments. Those numbers are expected to continue to climb as investigations progress.

All 8 California Propositions Voted Down

Jon Ponder

THE BIG NO! Arnold Schwarzenegger should just resign and get back to his movie career – or he could just go back to doing what he was doing before he decided to play at politics: counting his millions, smoking his cigars and fondling his employees. It doesn’t matter what he does because his political “career” is toast:

In a sharp repudiation of Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger, Californians rejected all four of his ballot proposals Tuesday in an election that shattered his image as an agent of the popular will.

Voters turned down his plans to curb state spending, redraw California’s political map, restrain union politics and lengthen the time it takes teachers to get tenure.

The Republican governor had cast the four initiatives as central to his larger vision for restoring fiscal discipline to California and reforming its notoriously dysfunctional politics.

The failure of Proposition 76, his spending restraints, and Proposition 77, his election district overhaul, represented a particularly sharp snub of the governor by California voters. It also threw into question his strategy of threatening lawmakers with statewide votes to get around them when they block his favored proposals.

Also, Schwarzenegger’s defeat on Proposition 75 was a major victory for his rivals in organized labor. It would have required unions for public workers to get written consent from members before spending their dues money on politics.

On a Beverly Hills stage Tuesday night next to his wife, Maria Shriver, Schwarzenegger pledged “to find common ground” with his Democratic adversaries in Sacramento.

“The people of California are sick and tired of all the fighting, and they are sick and tired of all the negative TV ads,” he told supporters at the Beverly Hilton. He did not concede, saying instead that “in a couple of days the victories or the losses will be behind us.”

Numbers:

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