And we're back! :)

'We gotta stamp out Truth-Tellers or are hole system of guvmint will collapse', sayeth The Dummy.

Let's hope that he stands firm in protecting the right of the people to be informed. And let's hope that all of us stand behind him.

The next ten months are, in my estimation, the most dangerous of this administration. We cannot be complacent. We cannot be distracted by the elections. We cannot breathe any sighs of relief that Bush and his minions will soon be gone, because they won't be gone soon enough. They have only these next months to operate with surety. These men and women have been conspiring to do what they do for 30 years, and this is their last, best opportunity. They will push.

We've stood by and watched in fear and loathing for too long. Next year might be too late. It is not a pleasant task; i'll be the first to admit that...and i say this as a person who has actually had to dispatch a cornered, rabid skunk. But it is a necessary task.

No, i don't know what we should do exactly. Only that it is high time that we all do what's right in whatever we can do it.

jackpine at 5

Agree completely about the next 10 months, for this reason in addition: what shrubco does will set precedents, which I don't trust the next president to undo.

Someone better start digging the hole, someone else better start carving the epitaph, I'll get some lime to throw on the carcass of American democracy because it is ready for a decent burial.

-GSD

Grand Jury? Of course! The grand jury is the path of last resort for neocon inquisitions fishing expeditions. No legal representation, no congressmen at risk of public exposure. The assassin's back door entrance curiously left unlocked.

I wish reality was such that Risen could say:
"I'll honour my subpoena when Cheney and Rove honour theirs."

Another reason why everbody better vote in this upcoming election, and make their vote count.

James Risen should take his subpoena and ask Harriet Miers and Josh Bolten? what they did with their subpoena's they received from The Senate Judiciary Committee. Where ever they squirreled theirs away (Dick Cheney's office that "caught fire"?), I suggest Mr. Risen should just add his to theirs! What's good for the goose is good for the gander, right?

I'd like to hear what Senator Leahy and other members of the Committee have to say about this.

When Miers and Bolton show up to testify (Ha!!) and try to "take the 5th" (if it still exists???), then Risen should follow suit. Maybe when they tell the truth about the attorney firings etc., then he can tell the truth about his sources. "Mutt and Jeff told me. Hey! That's what they SAID their names were! Okay. Minnie and Mickey. Or was it Ollie and Stan? Would you believe Harold Bissenette and Larson E. Whipsnade?!"

I think that's what this country and the whole world needs right about now. The truth, the whole truth and nothing but the truth... about 9/11, the stolen elections of 2000 and 2004, how it is private corporations were allowed to take over our elections and become "secret", the firing of the U.S. attorneys, the destruction of the CIA torture tapes and on and on and on and on. Sodium pentothal all around!!!!!!!! "Lights!! Cameras!!!! Action!!! YouTube!!!!

Jackpine at 5 is totally correct. This whole election hoo-hah is nothing more than a classic, "Don't pay any attention to that man behind the screen!!! I (Clinton, Obama, McCain, Romney) am the great and powerful Oz!!!" Don't kid yourself that the "establishment" doesn't have a horse in every race. Do you honestly think it will matter one f'ing iota which of them wins? More war, more killing, more of the economy getting raped. More of our Constitution being shredded.

Forgive me for saying the "P" word, but I honestly believe our support for Ron Paul as the ONLY candidate who has faithfully supported the Constitution his entire adult life, will prove him to be the one public figure who can lead us out of this darkness. Or perhaps we can lead him (that's actually more his style):

http://www.ronpaulforpresident2008.com/news/#TheRevolutionAManifestobyRo...

He may very well win the Maine caucuses this weekend in spite of Romney sending his 5 sons to attend. If Paul wins and the media AGAIN shuts him out of the news cycle, that should be enough evidence to convince those of you who are faithful C&L readers that there is a REASON he is being shut out of the MSM. He's NOT one of their horses. He's OURS.

And yet we dismiss candidates like Kucinich and Gravel who actually stood up to those bastards.

Great going, America.

Crawl back onto your couches and your barcaloungers and pretend none of this is happening.

diamondmc @ 15:

Another reason why everbody better vote in this upcoming election, and make their vote count.

There must be some mechanism when the Democrats win the WH whereby this grand jury investigation can be halted. New president and new AG refuse to pursue it on the grounds that it violates the First Amendment?

naschkatze @ 21:

diamondmc @ 15:

Another reason why everbody better vote in this upcoming election, and make their vote count.

There must be some mechanism when the Democrats win the WH whereby this grand jury investigation can be halted. New president and new AG refuse to pursue it on the grounds that it violates the First Amendment?

I think we all hope that is what happens.

Bush and his toadies may well be on the way out and none too soon, however they have infested the government at all levels with like minded people who will do all in their power to keep this type of prosecution, and intimidation of the press as standard operating procedure for as long as they remain in their posts.
I am convinced the most daunting task facing the next president will be to weed out these neo-con bastards and replace them with people who believe that the constitution is something more than old parchment with ink spilled all over it.
I regret to say that I am none too optomistic about such an outcome.

billw, stop and think about this for a long long moment.

first of all, the distinction that you draw between miller and risen is not at all compelling. it's not that miller's role in the leak case differs from the government's maintenance of secrecy; the admin's secrecy dominated in both cases, and both reporters played some role in exposing information.

to tighten up the argument, it's important to emphasize the fact that the purpose of the first amendment's protection of the freedom of the press is NOT about protecting sources. instead, it's fundamental purpose is about keeping an objective distance between the government and the press so that the latter does not serve as the former's mouthpiece. why is this important? because democracy needs the fourth estate to expose abuses of the power the people entrust them with.

when applied to the two cases of miller and risen, you can now see how stating this principle so boldly makes a HUGE difference: whereas risen was working to EXPOSE abuses of governmental power, miller was working to HIDE them.

which is why a federal shield law could actually work against the fundamental purpose of the free press. consider what such a shield law would have meant in miller's case!! rove would have been thrilled for miller to have been protected in her keeping her sourceS to herself!! in fact, they were all banking on reporters' relying on that protection, and on the courts' providing it, when they used her and others to leak the offensive information.

we all need to be very very careful about this clamor for a federal shield act, as it does NOT get at the roots of why the free press is important.

I sometimes think that the hiring of William Kristol was an idiotic attempt to placate the right wing in this country. Well, I think this subpoena shows that attempt has failed miserably. Kristol said that the NYTimes committed treason over this FISA story, the NYTimes hired him, and now one of their reporters is, essentially, being accused of that and may go to jail for it.

Boy, that worked out well, didn't it? Compromise and reaching out to the right wing ended up blowing up in your face, again.

she was refusing to name White House officials who were involved in government wrongdoing

he exposed government wrongdoing that had been shrouded in secrecy, which is quite simply the most meritorious and patriotic deed a journalist can do

Exactly!
So many people don't (or won't) understand the difference.

Wire tapping sounds like something Heckyl and Jekyl do in tie and tails with white gloves.

Doesn't not only the First Amendment but the Whistle-blower laws protect this reporter and his sources?

He sounds more in line with such protections than Judith Miller, who only acted as a lackey for the powerful.

And speaking of whistle blowers, considering the Hillary bite marks, when Monica Lewinskied Bill did he whistle?

Anyone organizing a defense fund for Mr. Risen? Or are defense funds only for rethuglican's like Libby?

this is what you get when you elect a fucking delusional bastard to office.
he and cheney have set themselves up as cocksucking fascist dictators
who can commit crimes at will and declare anyone who exposes them
as enemy combattants.

IMPEACH BEFORE IT'S TOO LATE.........which it probably is !

I hope that, unlike the cowards like Miers and Bolten, Risen will march up to the court house, take the seat, stare down that grand jury and refuse to divulge his sources. Maybe he can take a copy of the Bill of Rights with him to refresh their collective memories. Then the grand jury can get on with their REAL job and force the "sources" to take the oath and answer the questions on their own. Until then this is a farce.

Anonymous @ 38:

Allegations US Atty involved with this subpoena has engaged in prosecutorial misconduct: Details.

Thank you. The referred material is super. I hope others will read it, instead of (or, in addition to) coultergeist-hot-for-clinton saga. Edwards is the only guy who could address/understood these abuses. the remaining duo: forget it ..

CappuccettoRosso @ 41:

Anonymous @ 38:

Allegations US Atty involved with this subpoena has engaged in prosecutorial misconduct: Details.

Thank you. The referred material is super. I hope others will read it, instead of (or, in addition to) coultergeist-hot-for-clinton saga. Edwards is the only guy who could address/understood these abuses. the remaining duo: forget it ..

You're welcome. Glad it was of interest.

Time for the public and bloggers to expand the public inquiry, and support the NYT. They're under siege by alleged domestic enemies of the US Constitution. Allegedly this prosecutor, despite an oath to enforce Geneva, is supporting efforts to block evidence of war crimes in re Iran. The goal of the prosecutor appears less to identify a real source, but more to understand the methods the NYT is using to keep ahead of the President's efforts to suppress open source information about alleged war crimes planning.

It is incorrect to assume the NYT only used classified, non-public sources. There are open sources which do point to information the President, NSA, and NSA contracting legal counsel do not want connected. Do not assume that the "only" way to arrive at these conclusions in the NYT or the book are through illegal methods.

There are things that can be done to corroborate information, and piece together open-source information which baffles the NSA. It's likely the NYT has used a novel approach to do something the President and others didn't consider needed hiding or protected. It's the burden of the prosecutor to prove that there is "a source" as opposed to a method. There may not be "a source"; there could be a method of inquiry that is novel, and proprietary.

It's the burden of the government to prove that the "only" way this information could be known was through illegal methods; or a leak. That is a burden the government needs to prove. The fact that they're unable to find "the source" means they don't know how the NYT reporter was able to arrive at the conclusions; hence, they have no case, just accusations. That's not evidence, but insinuation by unsophisticated prosecutors. The prosecutor appears to only be going on a fishing trip to find an answer the domestic NSA-intercepts have not been able to pinpoint: How was the cover-up thwarted; and what will they do "next time" to hide all the evidence from the voters?

It appears the President and contractors are attempting to use the legal system to disclose the methods used to catch them. This has the appearance of corruption by the prosecutor, and contradicts the notion of justice: Oversight through an informed voting public. It appears the prosecutor has bought into the notion that any public discussion of alleged war crimes can only occur if there is illegal disclosures: That's absurd. The illegal activity cannot lawfully be suppressed. The public should remind itself: There is a higher duty than the President: It is the oath of office which includes the COnstitution and all treaties, including Geneva.

The grand jury is not well-advised to support a line on inquiry that seeks to suppress evidence of war crimes, illegal planning, or reckless US government activity. What's most absurd is the GOP was in the "Clinton did it too"-crowd; but would ask that that accusation not be applied, and that it is "only" possible to conclude "there were efforts to penetrate Iran" using only illegal reporting and sourcing.

Why is the "Clinton did it too"-crowd upset that the disclosures occurred about the efforts in Iran? Because it shows that Clinton attempted to do something; and after 2003, the Bush President was unable to find what Clinton was concerned about. No longer did the US government have a pretext for war with Iran that they could take to the UN Security Council. THis means the power balances has shifted away from the US, and includes Russia and China as credible sources of opposition to the US track record of reckless defiance of international law.

Wow.
The white house isn't even TRYING to hide their illegal activities any more. You have to hand it to them, really. It takes a hell of a lot of balls to be this bold about being a criminal.
But then again, why the hell not? Fancy Nancy and her bug eyes have taken impeachment off the table. Combine that with a presidential pardon and they can literally treat the world like it's a video game.
Amazing.
Truly amazing.

And I thought the Japanese govt. was crooked. They're pussies compared the bush crowd.

http://www.markmartinezshow.blogspot.com/

NUREMBERG MUKASEY?

So we can’t get Attorney General Mukasey to accept that certain actitivites may be unlawful. When discussing what constitutes torture AG Mukasey makes the following three arguments.

• He can’t say what constitutes torture because what we’re talking about is what “shocks the conscience” – and besides certain topics are secret.
• Certain acts may be permissible if the “relative benefit that might be gained” from the technique outweigh the act.
• If authority – or “certification” – was given the acts may not be illegal.

Great. Laws are (1) now a matter of judgment, (2) applicable depending on the information that might be gained, and (3) can be made legal, depending on who gave the order.

This seems pretty arbitrary to me. So why have any laws? Slate’s Dalhia Lithwick puts it more concretely: If the law has any purpose “it is to punish past bad acts and to alert people as to what types of conduct will be punished in the future ..." She adds "... the attorney general has just obliterated that purpose.” At least Senator Sheldon Whitehouse (D-R.I.) had the good sense to tell AG Michael Mukasey that the “I had authorization and therefore I’m immune from prosecution” argument is reminiscent of the Nuremberg Defense.

Whew ... I’m relieved. I thought we were collapsing into the era of Rome’s Caligula under President Bush. It's good to know a U.S. Senator thinks it’s just the Nazis we're emulating. I feel better now.

- Mark

_____

Wednesday, January 30, 2008
THE END OF AMERICA'S "EXORBITANT PRIVILEGE"?

OLD EUROPE’S WISDOM?
Maybe it has to do with being part of “Old Europe” – where devalued money, inflation, and bubble economies have a long history. However you slice it, it appears Europe may understand the root of our economic woes better than the Federal Reserve’s Ben Bernanke, or the Bush administration. EU Economic and Monetary Affairs Commissioner Joaquin Almunia said falling equity markets in the U.S. – and fears of a U.S. recession – are a result of America’s trade deficits. We spend too much, yet fail to produce and sell enough goods to pay for our spending.

Left unsaid, but very much implied, is the U.S. can’t keep spending and pushing dollars out, and expect the world to hold on to our dollars without suffering some consequences. Simply put, if you put out too much of anything its price, or value, will go down. This is especially the case with the U.S. dollar as we continue to run massive budget deficits, which puts even more dollars into circulation.

Some may ask, So why does an oversupply of deficit dollars matter? Here’s why.

AMERICA’S “EXORBITANT PRIVILEGE”
In the 1960s Charles de Gaulle became a vocal critic of U.S. policies that spread deficit dollars around the globe. Specifically, de Gaulle complained about America’s “exorbitant privilege” to create and use dollars without suffering the consequences of inflation at home. No other country enjoyed this privilege. We were able to do this because the world wanted and needed U.S. dollars immediately after WWII. This made the dollar the world’s currency. Problems emerged when we created and spent more dollars than we could back with gold. Charles de Gaulle saw this and cried foul.

So what happened after de Gaulle called attention to U.S. spending habits? We continued to spend. And when de Gualle’s criticisms failed, we spent even more.

The question for us then is, Why didn’t the U.S. suffer the inflationary consequences from creating more dollars? Very simple: The U.S. and its cold war allies came to an agreement. As Benjamin J. Cohen explained, the U.S. agreed to pay for the defense of the West and our Western allies agreed to hold dollars. This was both an economic and geo-strategic decision.

Our allies benefited because instead of spending on tanks and guns they could concentrate on producing better cars and stereos. In essence our allies said, “Go ahead and write those checks (i.e. create more dollars), we won’t cash them (i.e. we won’t send them back).” For our part, we maintained our perch as the undisputed leaders of the free world.

HEAR NO EVIL, SPEAK NO EVIL, SEE NO EVIL …
With the collapse of the Soviet Union the U.S. no longer needs to pay for the defense of the West. And market players know this. With other currencies to bank on – and with continued concern over U.S. spending and deficit policies – market players are telling us to get our financial house in order. Unfortunately, by cutting interest rates Fed Chief Ben Bernanke is telling these market voices “I can’t hear you.” Worse, George Bush doesn’t want to discuss how his deficit spending binge (he's added $3.5 trillion in debt) really impacts markets. Squaring this “Hear No Evil … See No Evil” triangle, most of the American public can’t see, let alone understand the issues.

All of this is allowing President Bush to kick this economic can of worms down to the next administration. The Fed’s recent rate cuts may help bail out some of America’s irresponsible financial institutions, and may even encourage market players to continue buying U.S. assets - for the moment. This moment, however, is borrowed time. Markets can’t ignore that we’re running record budget deficits, and have done little as our national debt rocketed from $950 Billion to roughly $9.2 Trillion in just 27 years. In the long run, deficits matter.

My friends, we have to accept one simple fact. We are living on borrowed time, and borrowed money.

- Mark
____

Labels: Exorbitant privilege, Hear No Evil ..., Old Europe

Tuesday, January 29, 2008
TYRANNY OF LOWERED EXPECTATIONS

If I hear one more “serious” expert say “the surge” is working I’m going to make the mythical vomitoriums of Roman life a reality - in said experts home. Let’s keep some perspective here.

First, the key political goals – which were the rationale for the surge – are far from being met. Second, we’ve been battered by such incompetence and ineptitude, which has put us in such a stupor, that we're now ‘settling’ ... Like bar patrons at ‘Last Call’ we have dropped our standards and are driven by the tyranny of lowered expectations. In this environment any hint of good news – both real and imagined – is seen as a success. Allow me to change metaphors.

If you left your teen-age kids to care for your home, and you returned early to find a mess from the party they threw, you are not going to breathe a sigh of relief and say, “Thank God. At least they didn’t burn down the house ... I think I'll give them the car keys as a reward.” Life doesn’t work that way (and if it does in your world, you probably deserve to have your house burn down).

Guess what? We left George Bush in charge of our national security house. Now we’re told, in spite of Team Bush taking us into a war of choice based on a pack of lies, that we should be grateful for recent successes. In fact, we’re told that we should embrace the surge’s Pyrrhic-like "victory" – as if reduced violence justifies years of poor judgment, ineptitude, and the continued drain on America's blood & treasure.

My friends, let's remember one thing: We are the United States of America. In war we don’t hand out medals for participation, or moral victories. And we certainly don’t lower our standards by moving the goal posts so the incompetent can be complimented for kicking easy field goals that should have been made early in the game.

The Surge – like George Bush’s presidency – is a failure. Unless, of course, you happen to be governed by the tyranny of lowered expectations.

- Mark

Posted by Mark Martinez at 9:05 PM 0 comments

Labels: Phrrhic Victory, tyranny of lowered expectations

THE MOTHER OF ALL 'SIGNING STATEMENTS'

We know that President Bush has used over 150 signing statements to circumvent the will of Congress. Again, for clarification, signing statements “explain” how the president will interpret the law he signs. Well, Bush just issued what could be called the Mother of All Signing Statements.

After signing into law the 2008 National Defense Authorization Act Bush issued yet another one of his signing statements, which says: (1) the U.S. can indefinitely commit troops to fight Iraq’s civil war(s), (2) he doesn’t really have to set up a war profiteering commission, (3) he can disregard the ban on building permanent bases in Iraq, and (4) the U.S. can “exercise” control of Iraq’s oil resources. After Downing Street has a pretty good synopsis (with a link to the signing statement).

If Bush's interpretation is allowed to stand, Congress might as well as pack up and go home. All hail Caligula.

- Mark

___

Labels: signing statements

Monday, January 28, 2008
THE STUPIDEST MAN ALIVE?

Well, I’m not sure if David Gray really is the stupidest man alive, especially since Douglas Feith is still around (p. 281 in Woodward's book) and writing this kind of nonsense. Then we have the clowns at the NY Times who hired analytic buffoon, and Chicken Hawk extraordinaire, Bill Kristol to write op-eds. Paul "I've Been Wrong in Three Different Decades" Wolfowitz can throw his hat in the ring too.

While our cup may 'runneth over' with these stellar examples of incompetence and bumbling, if someone like Brad De Long says Mr. Gray is the stupidest man alive we have to look into it.

For those of you to busy to keep up on your Econ 101, what Brad De Long is referring to is the question, What creates the conditions for economic growth and wealth formation? Old style economists often talked about gold, infrastructures, or knowledge (among others) as the key to growth. Then, during the Depression, John Maynard Keynes came along and said "none of the above" - its confidence. Psychology is critical here.

In estimating the prospects of investment, we must have regard, therefore, to the nerves and hysteria and even the digestions and reactions to the weather of those upon whose spontaneous activity it largely depends ...

If people aren’t confident about the future they will withhold money and stop investing. Simply put, fear of what’s around the corner can put the best of plans to waste (this helps explain the Feds recent rate reduction). Apparently, David Gray didn’t read Keynes. And if he did read him, he didn’t understand what he read. Too bad … we may have recreated the conditions necessary for the return of depression economics. Stay tuned.

- Mark

For more, go to the website and educate yourself.

I guess that the NY Times hiring Jonah Goldberg to write a column didn't work then, did it? I mean, with the NY Times trying to be more "bipartisan" by hiring wingnut trash Jonah Goldberg, one would think that the wingnut trash in the White House and Justice Department would have decided to be more lenient. I guess it'll be back to the ol' drawing board for the NY Times owner who should realize by now that if you give the wingnuts an inch they'll tear off your arm and slash your throat...but only in a "bipartisan" manner.