All week we have read and watched on the news about the Blackwater security firm, and how it is under fire for its involvement in a that killed at least . Today, a report by Iraq's Interior Ministry found that :
A preliminary Iraqi report on a shooting involving an Americandiplomatic motorcade said Tuesday that Blackwater security guards werenot ambushed, as the company reported, but instead fired at a car whenit did not heed a policeman’s call to stop, killing a couple and theirinfant.
Eric Prince, the CEO of Blackwater, once served as an to George H.W. Bush. The following video shows just how much Blackwater has profited off Bush's war:
When confronted about the actions of military contractors in Iraq, and how they are not forced to comply with the uniformed code of justice, President Bush dodged the question. He even admitted it:
BUSH: I don't mean to be dodging the question, although it's kind of convenient in this case."
There are more than double the number of US contractors in Iraq than there are US troops in Afghanistan.
Senator Larry Craig (R-ID), who in August to engaging in lewd conduct in a Minnesota airport bathroom, is fighting to keep his job in the upper chamber of Congress. This week, Craig picked up the support of an unlikely :
"Sen. Craig has not always been a great friend of civil liberties,but you shouldn't have to endorse the civil liberties of others to keepyour own," said ACLU Executive Director Anthony Romero, alluding toCraig's history of voting against gay rights.
"The real motive behind secret sting operations like the one thatresulted in Sen. Craig's arrest is not to stop people frominappropriate activity. It is to make as many arrests as possible --arrests that sometimes unconstitutionally trap innocent people," Romerosaid in a written statement.
Few people would dispute that the purpose of these stings is to catch people in the act and make a lot of arrests. The real question, generally speaking, is whether there is a legitimate reason for this kind of sting. Last month on CNN, a report about a practice called "cruising," that takes place in public restrooms all over the country, is of concern to the FBI:
While the ACLU may think of the Craig incident as an unconstitutional violation of civil liberties, many parents throughout the country consider it something they don't want their children to witness happening in a public restroom.
In the , this scandal has helped raise awareness about this safety issue:
"Where's the bathroom?"
That's the question camera-toting tourists inMinneapolis are asking as they visit the men's room where U.S. Sen.Larry Craig, R-Idaho, was arrested in a sex-solicitation sting.
"It's become a tourist attraction," said KarenEvans, information specialist at Minneapolis-St. Paul InternationalAirport. "People are taking pictures."
Whatever raises awareness and helps keep our public places safe and family-friendly, I'll take it.
A few federal agencies are as they should be in order to wipe out fraud, waste and mismanagement:
Ten years after Congress ordered federal agencies to have outsideauditors review their books, neither the Defense Department nor thenewer Department of Homeland Securityhas met even basic accounting requirements, leaving them vulnerable towaste, fraud and abuse. An Associated Press review shows that the twodepartments' financial records are so disorganized and inconsistentthat they have repeatedly earned "disclaimer" opinions, meaning thatthey simply cannot be fully audited.
"It means we really can't put any faith in the numbers they use," said RossRubenstein, who teaches public administration at Syracuse University'sMaxwell School.
What a mess. This is in direct violation of federal law:
The Federal Financial Management Improvement Act of 1996 requires,among other things, that the financial systems of major federalagencies "comply substantially" with generally accepted accountingstandards. Each year, those agencies are required to release results ofoutside audits.
It should not come as a surprise when an ideology that is based on the downsizing government fails at governing.
Unable to show his face in D.C. following the news about his bathroom sex scandal, Larry Craig released a written response to Petraeus' testimony. Like in his own scandal, he lashed out at Democrats for what he considered to be :
"Unfortunately, many were quick to prejudge the surge, as well asthe testimony of General Petraeus and Ambassador Crocker," Craig saidin the two-paragraph statement, released late Tuesday night by hisBoise office.
"However, I believe their testimony told a positive story. Oursoldiers are making progress on the ground to provide breathing roomfor the Iraqi government, and we have seen a significant decrease inviolence across the country, and most importantly, in Baghdad. Thatbeing said, the Iraqi government must stand up and prove to theirpeople that they can govern and secure their country from violence."
Actually, it's not prejudging someone when what they say is a lie, and all you are doing is standing up for the truth. Bush, Petraeus, Crocker and even John McCain have spent the last month furthering the notion that the troop surge caused the political success in Anbar. News flash: we are not even surging in Anbar, so how can that be?
Secondly, I feel sorry for the Republican Party when Larry Craig is the person that they have helping drive their Iraq PR offensive. If he returns to the Senate, Democrats could win Idaho in 2008. So have fun with that.
In a leaked voice mail message that Senator Larry Craig (R-ID) left for his lawyer, the embattled lawmaker discussed his upcoming public relations offensive and his intention not to resign after all. It's all about political strategy:
CRAIG: Reshape my statement a little bit to say, 'It is my intent to resign on September 30.' Uh, I think it is very important for you to make as bold a statement as you are comfortable with this afternoon, and I would hope you could make it in front of the cameras. I think it would help drive the story that I am willing to fight, that I've got quality people out there fighting in my defense, and that this thing could take a new turn.
to Senator Arlen Specter, Craig might be back in the Senate.
However, this is good for the Democrats because it would look pathetic if a Senator from the so-called 'moral majority', who already plead guilty, was awarded a free pass .
Senator Larry Craig (R-ID), who plead guilty and recently resigned after soliciting a an undercover police officer in an airport bathroom, is of NFL quarterback Michael Vick. Vick is facing federal dogfighting charges:
Craig has hired a high-powered crisis management team including BillyMartin, the lawyer for Atlanta Falcons quarterback Michael Vick in hisdogfighting case, and Washington attorney Stan Brand, a former generalcounsel to the U.S. House. Martin is looking into the Minnesota guiltyplea; Brand, who represented Major League Baseball in the congressionalinvestigation into steroid use, will handle any Senate Ethics Committeeprobe.
Not surprising. Not one bit.
The Senate should have fun with Stan Brand, who did not do the finest job of arguing the steroid case in front of Congress. And already, Brand is up to his usual tricks, accusing Congress of wanting to launch an investigation about a "."
Actually, Brand, the official duty of elected officials, at the very least, is to first obey the law.
And if you don't think foot-tapping in a public bathroom warrants such criminal charges to be handed down, maybe try asking the police themselves how often this happens. According to a report last week on CNN, this kind of solicitation, called "cruising," is quite common:
Like a growing number of politicians these days, Congressman (R-CO) is unable to tolerate his opposition. After a couple wrote a letter to the editor of a local newspaper criticizing Lamborn for receiving contributions from the gambling industry, the lawmaker left two messages on their home answering machine. In one of the messages, Lamborn said there would be "":
In his messages, Lamborn said he wantedto appeal to the couple as "brothers and sisters in Christ" andimplored them to call him back to discuss their "blatantly false"letter.
"We felt very threatened and intimidated, and quitefrankly, scared," Anna Bartha said. "It was just not anything we wouldever anticipate an elected official would pursue or a way that anelected official would conduct himself."
When asked whether his messages were threatening,Lamborn said: "No, that is ridiculous. My hope, I failed, but I hadhoped to meet with them privately and confidentially because lying is aserious matter. "
When asked what he meant when he said there would be"consequences," Lamborn said: "When someone tells a lie, it just hasbad consequences."
Three days after leaving the messages onthe Barthas' voice mail, Lam born wrote an open letter to Greg Garcia,chair of the El Paso County Republicans, asking him to investigate.
It's really a stretch to call the threatening phone calls appropriate. Lamborn knows a lot about stretches -- like earlier this month when he , "If we want to win this war, we can."
Interestingly enough, the two people Lamborn threatened were registered Republicans. The husband is employed by James Dobson's .
Senator Larry Craig officially today following a long week of negative publicity for the Republican Party on news shows. The scandal itself -- although it played out right before Labor Day, one of the lowest-rated news cycles of the year -- caused significant damage to any hope the GOP has of picking up House and Senate seats in 2008.
After having their lunch handed to them by the Democrats last member, one described what the Craig scandal did:
"It's always darkest right before you get clobbered over the head witha pipe wrench. But then it actually does get darker," said a GOPpollster who insisted on anonymity in order to speak candidly.
Another GOP operative put it in layman's terms:
"About the only safe Republican Senate seats in '08 are the ones thataren't on the ballot," a GOP operative with extensive experience inSenate races said. "I don't see even the rosiest scenario where wedon't end up losing more seats."
However, some political strategists say the Republican party still has a glimmer of hope: Hillary Clinton:
As of June 30, the Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee had$20.4 million on hand, while the National Republican SenatorialCommittee had $5.8 million in its bank account.
"If Republicansare investing significant money in Idaho, that means they are losing atleast five seats in 2008," Gonzales said. "If Idaho ends up the firewall, they are in deep trouble."
Fisher conceded that fundraisinghas been difficult in the current political climate, but she said therace for cash is picking up. And she predicted that if Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton (N.Y.) secures the Democratic presidential nomination, Republicans will come to the polls in droves.
Will Democratic primary voters figure that out? I surely hope so.
UPDATE (7:04): Here is the video of the Larry Craig resignation.
Why the Administration may have purposely encouraged looting after the fall of Baghdad.
Over the last four years, I have been personally conflicted over which was more outrageously horrible: the decision to go to war in the first place, or the manner in which postwar planning was executed? Both were bad, no doubt there. But there was something said about the latter last night on that jolted my emotions. Let me say that as someone that follows politics on a daily basis, I am rarely shocked. But what I heard last night personally disturbed me, and will get all of you grinding your teeth.
Remember all the looting throughout Iraq after the US invaded? Many Pentagon-types concede that the US should have done a better job protecting the Iraqi infrastructure. Well, according to former , one of the three panel guests on the show, the Administration actually wanted there to be mass looting in Baghdad because it would help downsize government. In other words, Rumsfeld wanted to implement Ronald Reagan's limited government model in Iraq.
So I did some digging on the issue. I found a 2003 story in magazine that confirmed this strategy. It's quite disturbing that Bush, Cheney and Rumsfeld would want there to be looting. But it all makes perfect sense:
As the Bush Administration becomes increasingly open about its plans toprivatize Iraq's state industries and parts of the government, Bremer'sde-Baathification takes on new meaning. Is he working only to get rid ofBaath Party members, or is he also working to shrink the public sectoras a whole so that hospitals, schools and even the army are primed forprivatization by US firms? Just as reconstruction is the guise forprivatization, de-Baathification looks a lot like disguised downsizing.
We need to ask ourselves what the purpose was behind Reagan's ideology? Why do conservative Washington insiders want limited government? Is it because their brand of government would be more efficient, or because the phrase "limited government" is code for selling democracy to the highest bidder?
Republican leaders want you to think that less government means less spending and more rights for you. But actually, there will be spending no matter what. It's just a question of who will be in charge. Do you want government, which is bound by disclosure laws, to do the work? Or do you want corporations, whose motives are less about spreading democracy than making a profit on Wall Street? Oh boy have we been used!
But the main idea is that Rumsfeld wanted this "limited government" model to be implemented. He tried. He failed. Now there is .
So much has happened over the month of August. If you were gone on vacation, you missed the beginning of the end of what has been a dreadful era in Washington. Today was. A few days ago, Attorney General . Earlier on Friday, White House Press Secretary Tony Snow said that he would . His deputy Dana Perino will take over. John Warner, the elder statesman who recent has distanced himself from Bush's Iraq policy, will in 2008. All of these changes come in the midst of yet another sex scandal involving a closet Republican. Larry Craig, the Senator involved, .
This Labor Day weekend pretty much marks the beginning of the countdown to the end of this brand of leadership in Washington. Populism is back. In both presidential fields, the populist candidates are the rock stars -- Barack Obama and John Edwards on the Democratic side, and Mike Huckabee and Ron Paul on the Republican end. The establishment is crumbling in the wake of its own clumsiness, and quite frankly because they have failed to get anything done except for dragging up the national debt, supporting a failed foreign policy, and making us to respond to disasters.
We are approaching the end of the line. It will be important to evaluate the 2008 presidential, Senate, and House candidates closely, and pick populist leaders to run our government for years to come. Let's hope we learned our lesson.
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