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Morning headlines brought to you by Carolyn Kay MakeThemAccountable.com Top Story'A Different Understanding With the President'
Waxing or waning, (Vice President Dick) Cheney holds his purchase on an unrivaled portfolio across the executive branch. Bush works most naturally, close observers said, at the level of broad objectives, broadly declared. Cheney, they said, inhabits an operational world in which means are matched with ends and some of the most important choices are made. When particulars rise to presidential notice, Cheney often steers the preparation of options and sits with Bush, in side-by-side wing chairs, as he is briefed. Before the president casts the only vote that counts, the final words of counsel nearly always come from Cheney.
This article is the first in a four-part series about Cheney’s role as vice president. It could form the basis for history’s understanding of how our country got so far away from the Constitution, though I take exception to parts of it. The article claims that both Cheney and his former chief counsel David Addington shut out all discussion and undercut possible dissenters as a way of adhering to “principle”. It makes their ridiculous stubbornness sound like a good thing. The problem is that people can be wrong about their “principles”, or the application thereof, and the only way they’ll ever know that is to allow discussion, to find out what other people think. Study after study after study shows that group decisions are better than individual ones, and what better example of that is the Bush administration and Cheney’s role in it.? Cheney’s ideology-driven, no-discussion-allowed policies have been disastrous for the country. Every single one of them.—Caro A blast from the past (2004):
Associated Press
The WorldBombing rips through Baghdad hotel
BAGHDAD - A suicide bomber blew himself up in a central Baghdad hotel on Monday, killing seven people, police said. At least 12 other people were reported wounded.
U.S. generals doubt Iraqi force strength
BAQOUBA, Iraq - The U.S. commander of a new offensive north of Baghdad, reclaiming insurgent territory day by day, said Sunday his Iraqi partners may be too weak to hold onto the gains.
Iraqi tribes paid to protect power grids
WASHINGTON - Contracts with tribal chiefs to protect Iraq's valuable electricity grids have not paid off, according to U.S. auditors.
Is Iraq A Terrorist "University?"
(CBS) With U.S. forces putting the pressure on al Qaeda strongholds and the military admitting top leaders have escaped, intelligence agencies have come to an ominous conclusion: Al Qaeda fighters who slip away are ready to expand their fight to Europe and the Gulf… A letter from al Qaeda's No. 2, intercepted last month, urged foreign fighters to take their campaign of terror beyond Iraq's borders.
Lebanon bomb kills 5 U.N. peacekeepers
BEIRUT, Lebanon - A bomb apparently targeting a U.N. personnel carrier exploded by the side of a road in southern Lebanon on Sunday, killing five peacekeepers and injuring three, officials said.
Partial freeze considered for Iran
VIENNA, Austria // Key U.S. allies are debating the idea of a nuclear compromise with Iran that would call for only a partial freeze of Tehran's uranium enrichment program - a stance that could put them at odds with Washington, officials said yesterday.
Eight dead as Indian Kashmir rebels vow more violence
SRINAGAR, India (AFP) - Eight suspected Muslim rebels were shot dead Sunday in Indian Kashmir as the region's main guerrilla group vowed to continue attacks and shun peace talks, police and media reports said.
Britain's Brown vows to learn from Iraq
MANCHESTER, England - Gordon Brown, Britain's next prime minister, on Sunday promised a foreign policy that recognizes that defeating terrorism is as much a struggle of ideas as a military battle — a lesson he said was drawn from Iraq. The NationPushing the Envelope on Presidential Power
Shortly after the first accused terrorists reached the U.S. naval prison at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, on Jan. 11, 2002, … well before previous accounts have suggested, Cheney turned his attention to the practical business of crushing a captive's will to resist. The vice president's office played a central role in shattering limits on coercion in U.S. custody, commissioning and defending legal opinions that the Bush administration has since portrayed as the initiatives, months later, of lower-ranking officials.
And isn’t that what Cheney has tried to do to us all? Crush our will to resist his destruction of our civil liberties? This is the second in the WaPo’s Cheney-in-Charge series.—Caro
Bush aides consider Iraq truce at Capitol
WASHINGTON — The Bush administration has begun exploring ways of offering Congress a compromise deal on Iraq policy to avert bruising battles in coming months, U.S. officials said.
With public support of the war dropping, President Bush has authorized an internal policy review to find a plan that could satisfy opponents without sacrificing his top goals, the officials said.
The president and senior officials "realize they can't keep fighting this over and over…"
It’s the battle of the leaks. But if they don’t have Cheney on board, what chance is there of making progress?—Caro
The Secret Campaign of President Bush's Administration To Deny Global Warming
It is no secret that industry-connected appointees within the White House have worked actively to distort the findings of federal climate scientists… (T)hose distortions were sanctioned at the highest levels of our government, in a policy formulated by the vice president, implemented by the White House Council on Environmental Quality and enforced by none other than Karl Rove… (T)he White House has implemented an industry-formulated disinformation campaign designed to actively mislead the American public on global warming and to forestall limits on climate polluters.
Judge criticizes warrantless wiretaps
WASHINGTON - A federal judge who used to authorize wiretaps in terrorist and espionage cases criticized President Bush's decision to order warrantless surveillance after the Sept. 11 attacks.
Protective service under fire for oversight of contract guards
Members of a House subcommittee expressed serious concern during a hearing Thursday that financial instability at contract guard companies could put federal facilities at risk. The hearing … addressed a recent situation in which hundreds of contract security guards at federal buildings in the Washington region had not been paid in six weeks or received benefits for up to a year. The majority of these guards … continued to work despite not being paid, but members of the subcommittee worried that this would not always be the case.
This illustrates one of the problems with privatization that right wingers don’t like to acknowledge.—Caro
US House votes to deny all aid to Saudi Arabia
WASHINGTON (AFP) - The US House of Representatives has voted to deny all aid to Saudi Arabia, despite repeated assurances by the Bush administration that the desert kingdom is cooperating in its "war on terror."
Somebody please tell me why on earth we EVER gave “aid” to Saudi Arabia. Bribes are more likely, and they don’t even need that.—Caro MediaPermanent link to MTA daily media news
A veteran newspaper…
editor friend has some sharp observations about the Post Cheney piece ('A Different Understanding With the President'): “My guess is that this series ready to go during the debate over the supplemental funding of the Iraq war and that Downie or someone at the top held it back until Gellman and others started carrying snub-nose .38s to work under their seersuckers… This series is a landscape of an internal war. Parts of it are still smoking and some reputations are visibly dying--anonymously, for the moment. The journalistic graves registration people will go in later and tag the corpses.
An Operational World
(T)hat stuff about Cheney not really being the defacto president and how he's lost some battles with the big guy seemed pasted on to the story. I ignored them. Certainly this first part of the series gave no examples of such a thing --- quite the opposite. The portrait that was painted was of a secretive, megalomaniacal VP who has been running the country through underhanded and unaccountable means by manipulating his ridiculously stupid boss and exerting his power by any means necessary. You really can't read the article any other way.
You shouldn’t read MakeThemAccountable because I report on what the bad guys do, says
Mingle2
Bob Kincaid had an excellent long-form conversation with one of the authors of the recent report on talk radio bias, Mark Lloyd, on the Friday edition of "Head-On With Bob Kincaid." The archive is here, and the interview occurs at the very beginning of the program. Listen to Bob weeknights from 6:00 PM to 9:00 PM ET, except for Tuesday, June 26, when the Head-On Radio Network will go dark in solidarity with other internet radio operations.
Will the Progressive Majority Emerge?
Is it the responsibility of government to care for those who can't take care of themselves? In 1994, the year conservative Republicans captured Congress, 57 percent of those polled thought so. Now, says Pew, it's 69 percent. (Even 58 percent of Republicans agree. Would that some of them were in Congress.) The proportion of Americans who believe government should guarantee every citizen enough to eat and a place to sleep is 69 percent, too--the highest since 1991. Even 69 percent of self-identified Republicans--and 75 percent of small-business owners!--favor raising the minimum wage by more than $2.
And these results are despite a 35-plus-year multi-billion-dollar campaign, paid for by a few right-wing families, to convince us that gummint is bad and we should be happy working 24 hours a day for peanuts so that those families can get richer. The talk radio imbalance discussed above is part of that right-wing campaign. Just imagine how much progress we could make in electing progressives to office if we internet activists banded together.—Caro
The Marriage Gap: Crucial Dynamic in American Politics
Key Findings: … Unmarried voters and unmarried women represents the largest progressive block of voters and potential voters in the country… These voters have the power to reshape American politics, but many do not participate in elections and levels of participation and registration rank well below participation among married households.
To interest more women in politics, Democrats will have to get smarter about recruiting more women to run for office and about making sure more women are hired as political commentators. There’s a huge imbalance, even in so-called progressive media. Instead, we have knuckle draggers like Chris Matthews questioning the legitimacy of the PRESENCE of women in national politics.—Caro Technology & ScienceSolar Jacket Charges Gadgets on the Run
Heavy users of mobile phones, iPods and other portable devices may want to try on a new coat lined with solar modules and a battery to charge their gadgets on the fly.
U.S. company says grows embryo-safe stem cells
WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Researchers at a U.S. company trying to push the margins of stem cell research said on Friday they had grown human embryonic stem cells using a non-controversial method that did not harm the embryos.
Gene-screening will be norm in 10 years, says DNA pioneer
Personal DNA sequences will become a routine tool in the diagnosis of diseases within 10 years, according to the father of genetics, James Watson. He said that, as the costs of the sequencing technology tumble, doctors will be able to use the information to plan more effective treatments for conditions including mental illness, cancer, obesity and diabetes.
And, unless we implement universal health care, health insurance companies will use this information to limit or refuse coverage.—Caro
Atlantis crew reunites with families
HOUSTON - Atlantis' seven astronauts reunited with their families in Texas on Saturday, a day after the space shuttle capped a two-week mission with a perfect landing in the Mohave Desert. Environment10 Ways to Green Your Spending
Everything we consume, buy, or use impacts the environment; more pointedly, as bestselling food author and Small Planet Institute co-founder Anna Lappe once mused, every time you fork over your cash, you're casting a vote for the kind of world you want.
Rising Seas to Destroy U.S. Beaches
A new study of the potential sand losses to North Carolina beaches reports that a 1-foot rise in sea level in the next 25 to 75 years (which is at the lower end of the range predicted by the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change) would cause the coast to move inland by 2,000 to 10,000 feet and could cost an estimated $223 million in lost recreational value by 2080 to beach-goers in that state alone.
Didn’t I say this would happen? DIDN’T I SAY THIS???!!!—Caro For more headlines, visit MakeThemAccountable.com. |
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