Month: November 2005

BREAKING: Senate Dems Invokes Closed Session to Discuss Iraq War Lies

Jon Ponder

Frist’s worst hour: Sen. Minority Leader Harry Reid just invoked a “closed session” of the Senate to demand to know why Republicans have refused to complete the investigation into the faulty intelligence in the run-up to the war.

Sen. Majority Bill Frist is losing it, calls the whole thing a stunt and accuses Reid of stabbing him in the back.

Give ’em hell, Harry!

Democrats forced the Republican-controlled Senate into an unusual closed session Tuesday, questioning intelligence that led to the Iraq war and deriding a lack of congressional inquiry.

“I demand on behalf of the America people that we understand why these investigations aren’t being conducted,” Democratic leader Harry Reid said.

Taken by surprise, Republicans derided the move as a political stunt.

“The United States Senate has been hijacked by the Democratic leadership,” said Majority Leader Bill Frist. “They have no convictions, they have no principles, they have no ideas,” the Republican leader said.

Reid demanded the Senate go into closed session. The public was ordered out of the chamber, the lights were dimmed, and the doors were closed. No vote is required in such circumstances.

Reid’s move shone a spotlight on the continuing controversy over intelligence that President Bush cited in the run-up to the war in Iraq. Despite prewar claims, no weapons of mass destruction have been found in Iraq, and some Democrats have accused the administration of manipulating the information that was in their possession.

DeLay’s Latest Legal Campaign Pulls Out in Front

Trish

Tom DeLay’s campaign to get off on charges of conspiracy and money laundering is moving into frontrunner status. Fundraising for DeLay’s endless legal fees is brisk, a sure sign of Our Guy’s popularity with his constituency. AP:

This was the fund’s best quarter since it was started in June 2000

…this was the fund’s best quarter since it was started in June 2000.

Is it me, or does this slag really think he’s running for Innocent (R-Texas)? He’s already attempted to redistrict his trial and screen the judge for political affiliation. Hey Tom, this is a trial, not politics.

The fund spent $278,466 during the three-month period that ended Sept. 30, but most legal costs for the Texas case are yet to come as the former majority leader prepares for a possible trial…In prior years, the trust paid legal expenses for a now-closed civil racketeering lawsuit filed by Democrats and for several ethics investigations that led to criticism of DeLay by the House ethics committee.

The maximum annual donation under House rules is $5,000. Of the $318,000 raised, $141,000 came from corporations, political committees and one union – a $1,000 donation from the United Transportation Union PAC in Cleveland.

Buying a share in Tom Delay must still look like a good investment to these types. We’ll find out if they’re right when the campaign moves into the debates – whoops – trial.

Libby’s Trial Could Expose Bush ‘Smear ‘n Spin’ Operations Against Opponents

Jon Ponder

A look under the rock: As about half the country has learned over the past five years, when confronted by a political opponent, the Bush Team, led by General Rove, launches a campaign against their rival, often on two concurrent fronts:

  • They smear: The trick here is to float untrue allegations about the person’s character targetted at the opponent’s most noble or benign characteristic (a.k.a. “Swiftboating”).
  • And they spin: They add an element to the debate that may appear to be germaine but is actually irrelevant. For example, whether or not Joe Wilson’s wife sent him to Africa is completely irrelevant to what he found, or rather what he didn’t find, there. In fact, his wife did not send him, but if she had, why is important? This factoid is only important to the Bushites because it changes the topic away from the fact Wilson debunked their disinformation campaign in the run-up to the war.
It’s likely there won’t be a trial – that Libby will plead guilty and then receive a pardon from President Bush before he’s served a day.

The true ugliness of Team Bush’s methods of dealing with opponents must remain hidden from other half of the public – their base, the Unsmart-Americans who haven’t caught on to the level of corruption and depravity at the top of the government – or it will cease to be effective.

The trial of Scooter Libby for lying about his participation in the campaign to smear Joe and Valerie Wilson threatens to reveal in stark detail the inner workings of the White House “Smear ‘N Spin” campaigns, and Republicans are nervous:

Republicans worry that Libby’s court fight will force President Bush to deal with the prospect of top officials testifying and embarrassing disclosures of how the White House operates and treats critics. It is also possible, they note, that Libby will strike a plea agreement and avert a public trial.

The stakes are too high for George Bush and Dick Cheney. So it’s likely there won’t be a trial – that Libby will take his lumps, get sentenced to jail and then receive a pardon from President Bush before he’s served a day.

Rumsfeld Has Millions in Stock of Bird Flu Biotech Company

Jon Ponder

How Republicans do it: When the pandemic comes, Sec. of Defense Donald Rumsfeld will become even richer:

The prospect of a bird flu outbreak may be panicking people around the globe, but it’s proving to be very good news for Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld and other politically connected investors in Gilead Sciences, the California biotech company that owns the rights to Tamiflu, the influenza remedy that’s now the most-sought after drug in the world.

Rumsfeld served as Gilead (Research)’s chairman from 1997 until he joined the Bush administration in 2001, and he still holds a Gilead stake valued at between $5 million and $25 million, according to federal financial disclosures filed by Rumsfeld.

The forms don’t reveal the exact number of shares Rumsfeld owns, but in the past six months fears of a pandemic and the ensuing scramble for Tamiflu have sent Gilead’s stock from $35 to $47. That’s made the Pentagon chief, already one of the wealthiest members of the Bush cabinet, at least $1 million richer.

Rumsfeld isn’t the only political heavyweight benefiting from demand for Tamiflu, which is manufactured and marketed by Swiss pharma giant Roche. (Gilead receives a royalty from Roche equaling about 10% of sales.) Former Secretary of State George Shultz, who is on Gilead’s board, has sold more than $7 million worth of Gilead since the beginning of 2005.

Another board member is the wife of former California Gov. Pete Wilson.