Fitz in war, Fitz in peace, Fitz in the hearts of his countrymen

And Feingold, too.

Go Russ!!

COLBERT!

Thank gawd for Feingold

Feingold is pure gold.

Speaking of Fitz, Patrick Fitzgerald is a question on Wednesday’s (May 10) episode of Jeopardy! You’ll see it in the single J round. Fitz’s office in D.C. got the word last week so they can set their Tivos and VCRs. Now he has really arrived! All good wishes to Fitz from his fans at TV’s smartest quiz show. (A Jeopardy! question on Scooter being indicted will be on in a few weeks.)

Can’t King Fisher install Hayden like he did Bolton? The old recess appointment? When Chimpy hears recess, he runs out on to the White House lawn to play.

Judiciary Committee chair Arlen Specter has made a lot of noise about the NSA illegal domestic spying program, but hasn’t followed up with any action other than a day or two of hearings. Will he do anything on Hayden other than perhaps grumble a little, then toe the White House line?

Thanking Feingold here is good,thanking him whith money is better,his Progressive Patriots are a hope for the future,he truly will fight for us,and his”Don’t Spy on Me” t-shirts are waaay cool!

Do nominees testify under oath? Maybe we can get Colbert to give an Orin Hatch type recomindation for Hayden. Sen Feingold will be must see C-Span!!!!

Y’know though… I really get the feeling that, as happens with virtually every one of these nutjobs that Bush nominates, we’re going to hear some early blustering and flustering about how various Senators have “reservations” about whether Hayden is right for the position.

Then we’ll get the usual toothless confirmation process, with all Senators lobbing softball questions other than maybe one or two (Thank you in advance, Se. Feingold!)

And then Hayden will sail through to an easy confirmation.

I hope it’s different this time, because a screwhead like Hayden clearly doesn’t belong anywhere near the CIA (and I say this as somebody who’s never been particularly fond of the CIA in general.) But we’ve seen this same game play out time and time again since Bush first took office.

neurophius – Specter made some statements today or yesterday questioning the Hayden appointment – I didn’t catch them all but will try to find a link.

I think Feingold or one of the other Democrats on the committee should read the language of the Fourth Amendment and the FISA statute to Hayden, and then ask him what is it about those words that he does not understand.

Prior thread was just awesome Jane. I hope every Dem running and their consultants reads it.
Evidently DiFi forgot to check with that bastion of the far left, ABC News:May 7, 2006— “General Michael Hayden has yet to be nominated, but already lawmakers on both sides of the aisle are raising concerns about President Bush’s leading candidate to be the next CIA director….”(emphasis mine)
CIA Frontrunner: Wrong Man, Wrong Time?Clusterfuck Bush officially nominates this miserable excuse for a human being guy to press the corporate media to debate his possible nomination.

DMM @ #10

Do you have a link for those t-shirts?

twolf1 @8…

I’d forgotten all about the recess appointment scam. I bet Hayden manages to circumvent the confirmation process altogether.

I would also like to hear Hayden asked to explain his views on the proper role for Congressional oversight in intelligence matters under the separation of powers doctrine.

Specter just said he hopes to use the confirmation hearings to get more info on the NSA illegal spying.

CNN: “Sen. Arlen Specter, R-Pennsylvania, the Judiciary Committee chairman, also spoke of using the Senate’s role in the nomination process as “leverage” in finding out more than the Bush administration has provided so far about the warrantless monitoring.”

I’m looking forward to Sen. Russ in the confirmation hearings, although I am not yet convinced that Hayden will be the nominee. I don’t quite see how the nominee will be able to claim that he shouldn’t follow US law. I’ll try to make the hearings. If you come by, I’ll be the guy in the cobra-snake tie having a bad hair day.
peace,
jim

We have one reason for optimism, at least–Hayden looks like Humpty Dumpty.

Uh… Clem #17

–it would be the best way to continue tap dancing around the facts about the illegal tapping.

More and more, Feingold reminds me of this quote:

“Be not afraid of greatness; some are born great, some achieve greatness, and others have greatness thrust upon them.”–William Shakespeare

And I’m not sure which one applies to him. Or if they all do.

Joel,
I’ll get right back to you,hang tight.

Hey DiFi,
“Key Republican Airs Concerns on C.I.A.” Pick pay attention.

OT – posted this near the end of the Pearchgate thread:

CBS reports that British Foreign Secretary Jack Straw was fired because of angry phone calls from King Fisher. Apparently Chimpy was pissed because Straw said that using nukes on Iran was “nutsâ€

here’s the link:
http://www.cbsnews.com/stories…..6108.shtml

twolf1 19

Yes, but will Specter actually DO anything about it? So far, Rove has appeared to have him on a fairly short leash–bark but no bite.

The Progressive Patriots Fund store is here:

http://demstore.com/cgi-local/…..?E+scstore

And Russ does podcasts. :)

OT: John Conyers smacks down Russert over at HuffPo!!

Feingold: Clear, Concise. Assertive.

Uh……..Clem (#12). May it be different this time.

FITZ! FEINGOLD! & FDL!!!!!!!!!!!!

Perhaps this is wishful thinking on my part, but I think it is getting a little late in the game, midterm election wise, for Bush to be pulling the not so popular tactic of ‘recess appointment’. That might be just one more nail in the coffin of the Repulican controlled Congress come November.

neurophius 27

doubtful – Specter will back down and/or cop out after Rove threatens to release the pictures he has of Arlen with barnyard critters.

here ya go

http://demstore.com/cgi-local/…..?E+scstore
This is a really cool play on the classic”Don’t Tread On Me” from the Revolutionary War era,with a USB cable insted of a snake.You better belive I’ve got one coming.

We need to dig up some info on Hayden that will turn the right wing against him—get him HarrietMyersed.

Does DCI go through Intelligence or Judiciary? (Feingold is on both)

I still can’t imagine this is going through hearings rather than recess. But they sure do seem to be in a hurry here–trying to get this out of the way before the MSM has to start talking about why Goss left?

BTW Josh at TPM is reporting more on Nine Fingers; which reminds me that I think the central lesson of the entire episode is one we can all take to heart: never, ever play poker with a CIA agent named “Nine Fingers”.

http://www.editorandpublisher……1002463957

Good short E&P article on Hayden “taking the 4th” at the National Press Club. I know all of this has been already covered extensively in articles here, but maybe useful to email this around too.

Somebody said it already, there will be a little pretend backlash from some repubs in the next few days, then it will be gone, they will all fall in line, Specter included. We’ve got to pile it on now. Let’s get Stephen Colbert True Patriot(TM)per comment 11.

What little I’ve read from my dear DiFi today puts her in the Pat Roberts camp: Hayden should resign his commission before taking the job. Wrong, DiFi!

(btw, sometime during the last post, FDL hit 10 million visits.)

That fish Chimpy caught was actually a Red Herring — latin name Haydenius Wiretapidae Concealium

34 neurophius
As I see it,we did’nt do anything to start the Myers debacle-just sit back and watch them eat their own.After it was over they went back to goose-stepping in sync.With Hayden they know he’s one of them.

It might be an illustration of how little the NSA wiretapping story matters to the American sheep. They nominated this screwball, knowing the domestic spying would be front and center again in confirmation hearings (or in a few news stories with a recess appointment).

Bush-Cheney either thinks this is a winning issue for them (GWOT, islamic boogymen, etc.) or an issue of negligent impact. In fact, anything that diverts attention from the bloody streets of Iraq probably works in their favor (or so they think).

The CIA has been gutted. Rummy and Negroponte are now running the intel show. The job of DCI will probably never be the same again.

Here’s the Fourth Amendment: “The right of the people to be secure in their persons, houses, papers, and effects, against unreasonable searches and seizures, shall not be violated, and no Warrants shall issue, but upon probable cause, supported by Oath or affirmation, and particularly describing the place to be searched, and the persons or things to be seized.”

I want to hear Hayden explain to the Senate committee on national TV by what authority he believes that the words “but upon probable cause” as shown above can be lawfully ignored.

Your Senate Judiciary Committee:

Republicans:

Arlen Specter CHAIRMAN, PENNSYLVANIA
Sam Brownback KANSAS
Tom Coburn OKLAHOMA
John Cornyn TEXAS
Mike DeWine OHIO
Lindsey Graham SOUTH CAROLINA
Charles E. Grassley IOWA
Orrin G. Hatch UTAH
Jon Kyl ARIZONA
Jeff Sessions ALABAMA

Democrats:

Patrick J. Leahy RANKING DEMOCRATIC MEMBER, VERMONT
Joseph R. Biden, Jr. DELAWARE
Richard J. Durbin ILLINOIS
Russell D. Feingold WISCONSIN
Dianne Feinstein CALIFORNIA
Edward M. Kennedy MASSACHUSETTS
Herbert Kohl WISCONSIN
Charles E. Schumer NEW YORK

So if the CIA has been pretty much eviscerated, who is doing the actual intelligence work these days? For what purpose? And who are they reporting to?

43 – Dear God, please spare me from another public hearing featuring these bozos. I’m already severely depressed.

twolf1 @22

“it would be the best way to continue tap dancing around the facts about the illegal tapping.”

I’m afraid you may be right. And Memorial Day is coming up, so I assume there will be a recess for Bush to exploit.

(Razzafrazzin fargasnernnin riffenraffen brickenbrakken CHIMPY…)

Professor Foland, “Intelligence Committee”
From the Houston Chronicle about three hours ago: Key Republicans Wary on CIA Front-Runner
“….And Senate Intelligence Committee Chairman Pat Roberts, who will oversee confirmation hearings for the post, acknowledged on CNN that there is some real concern about somebody from the military heading up the CIA. But he said that can be easily resolved by Hayden resigning his post and bringing in deputies with a strong civilian background.”

jlr:

go to http://turcopolier.typepad.com….._tyrannis/

to read Pat Lang’s answer to your question.

Headline on Raw Story — NYT: Rove not worried; Dems ‘not going to win:’ Developing…

very depressing…

Scalito hearings took place while there was still the illusion of hope in Iraq and Clusterfuck’s Bush’s JAR hadn’t cratered. Blogs have a great opportunity here imo to press the corporate media to “investigate” Hayden prior to the actual hearings.
These annoucements are WH “trial balloons” and they are not getting favorable responses.

http://www.progressivepatriotsfund.com/

Feingold’s camp.

He and Conyers are about the only two I don’t have reservations over. I know rwcole wants to yank chains on the Goss vote, but it is part of what I like about Feingold. He isn’t out trying to partisanpup every issue. He is not going to fight a President getting his picks just bc he doesn’t “like” the President or the pick. There has to be something demonstrably on the record wrong for him to vote against it – not just pandering.

OTOH, when there are problems, like with the Patriot Act, he’ll stand even all by himself (and btw – get elected).

Good for you Russ. And remember – he lied to the Joint Commission too. ;)

BTW – is anyone putting together questions to ask him about Classification? *g*

Can his friend Dick classify and declassify? If Dick calls in a close staffer and has him leak cherrypicked info to a partisan reporter – is that “declasffication” and would the CIA head need to be involved in that decision? If a VP was drunk when they shot someone (hypothetical only) would Secret Service reports of the incident be allowed to be classified, or would those be prohibited from being classified under the Exec Order and at common law as covering up illegal or embarassing info? Why would the “experts say they are not bio labs” report still be classified now, years later, when the President declassified the “wowee, we got us some mobile bio labs” info right away?

If we had black sites prisons, how could those be classified? WOuldn’t all the info be related to illegal activity? How about rendition? What would or should the penalties be for those who classify documents that relates to illegal activities or to covering up embarassing activities?

Most importantly- how do you vote Gen. Hayden?
Foggogate, hookergate, Foggo of whores, or Fornigate?

Fitzgerald not worried; Rove “not going to win.”

The rubes don’t know what a recess appointment is and they don’t care. Once Bolton got the UN spot via Chimp’s recess appointment, it was a non event. The VRW Conspiracy controls the media. Sure, there was a little noise precluding the appointment, but nary a word about it after the fact. The next one will go even easier. These thugs do whatever they please.

Any and all bad PR regarding the latest fascist bastard on deck needs to come now – fast and furious while the “republican mavericks” are still capitulating.

Curious.

Houdini Rove has his boy at 33% in the polls and telling America that his best moment as President of this country was catching a fucking fish.

Don’t let that spawn of Satan screw with your head.

-GSD

Do we know which Senate Committee holds the confirmation hearings?

If it is Judiciary, Specter had to make a deal with the Republican leadership to keep his Chairmanship. IIRC part of it was a promise to vote affirmatively on all judicial nominations in committee. I don’t know if this extends to nonjudicial nominees.

If Diane Feinstein is involved, look for her to fumble her notes, look at them as if they were written in Swahili, and then ask a long rambling question that nobody understands or cares about.

As for Biden, don’t get me started, and the Republicans, well it should be interesting to see if any of them have the sense and gumption of a Hoekstra.

jlr: also read the comments at P. Lang’s blog.

GSD — made me smile. Thanks.

Unless of course the election is already in the black-bag.

-GSD

OK, I’m gonna go out on a limb here. Fran Fragos (AKA Frances Townsend) has been trotted out how many times in the past couple weeks to pimp the bird flu epidemic.
What if it’s really to judge her likability? The woman has been delivering really really scary news and talking about resticting movement within the US and the final erosion of the last shreds of our civil liberties and yet audiences have been throwing (figurative) roses at her.
This seems SOOO Rovian to me. She is reported to be a great favorite of GWB. She is telegenic. Why do I think she is about to be promoted?
Maybe we are worrying about the wrong person.

Was Harriet Meyers really a stalking horse for Alito? I never felt I knew the answer to that.

Is Hayeden just to soften everyone up for another nominee? Fragos Townsend has been on the short lists in the press.

Is this Rovian misdirection? Will she look so good compared to Hayden? She has been out there talking some really scary shit. Is she the next Mushroom Cloud vixen in the Condi mold?

twolf1 says:
May 7th, 2006 at 5:10 pm

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Recess_appointment

A recess appointment occurs when the President of the United States fills a vacant Federal position during a recess of the United States Senate. The commission or appointment must be approved by the Senate by the end of the next session, or the position becomes vacant again. Recess appointments are authorized by Article II, Section 2 of the U.S. Constitution: “The President shall have Power to fill up all Vacancies that may happen during the Recess of the Senate, by granting Commissions which shall expire at the End of their next Session.”

Presidents have sometimes used recess appointments to fill vacancies with individuals who might prove difficult to confirm, or who face staunch opposition within the Senate. The recess appointment may be made in hopes that, by the next session, opposition will have diminished. In recent years, however, a recess appointment has tended to harden the attitude of the opposition party, and confirmation then becomes all the more difficult.

Scholars and legal experts disagree as to how long the Senate must be in recess before the President may make such an appointment. President Theodore Roosevelt made several recess appointments during a one-day recess of the Senate.

(snip)

Older commentary on Hayden by Ray McGovern http://www.truthout.org/cgi-bi…..i/48/16748

===Heck of a Job, Hayden!
By Ray McGovern
Thursday 05 January 2006
The eavesdropping-on-Americans scandal came as shock and betrayal to most employees of the National Security Agency – and to other intelligence officers, active and retired.

The idea that the once highly respected former director of NSA, Gen. Mike Hayden, had allowed himself to be seduced into sinning against NSA’s first commandment, “Thou Shalt Not Spy on Americans,” was initially met with incredulity. Sadly, no other conclusion became possible as we watched Hayden and Attorney General Alberto Gonzales spin and squirm before the press on December 19 in their transparent attempt to square a circle.

For many of us veteran intelligence officers, the press conference put a damper on the Christmas spirit. The Gonzales-Hayden pas de deux should trouble other Americans as well, because the malleable Gen. Hayden, now bedecked with a fourth star, is Deputy Director of National Intelligence – the second highest official in the US intelligence community. Only time will tell what other extralegal activities he will condone. ===

“Foggogate, hookergate, Foggo of whores, or Fornigate?”

The answer is obscured by the Foggo of Whore.

But then there are those ridiculous time limits on each Senator who is attempting “oversight.” FIVE MINUTES for both the questions AND the longwinded answers is wholly insufficient to get the job done. Imagine if a prosecutor had only five minutes to get the key information out of a suspect in a deposition…

Anyone in the business of getting the truth out via adversarial questioning knows it’s the FOLLOW-UP that does the trick — and the Senate seems to have willingly thrown away any such opportunity or ability to engage in effective oversight simply because of the restrictive time limits the Senators have adopted [although I believe question sessions for nominees may extend for ten minutes each]. Unfortunately, it all seems to be about the photo ops for the Senators, not about the answers they obtain. So everyone gets their three minutes of exposure, and therefore figures they’re “covered” back home, no matter how vacuous and irrelevant and unanswered their questions were [or in the case of the majority of the Republicans, how nonexistent their questions were in the midst of their shameless, unthinking White House-dictated Party-line advocacy on every topic].

Each Party should get a block of time, and the Parties should be allowed to divvy it up as the committee members deem fit. So people like Herb Kohl, who are just there to momentarily look good for the cameras before wandering off again, could give their share of time to a Senator actually interested and engaged in the difficult questioning, to allow for the critical FOLLOW-UP questions that can’t be dodged to be asked. That approach, with skill, would actually lead to the truth, and make Congressional “oversight” hearings actually mean something again. [Hint, hint, Senator Specter, re Alberto Gonzales.]

59:

No blondes for DCI. She stays at the bird flu post.

curious in central, please have faith. The fact that Rove is even answering that question is a sign of hope. Deep red, deep pocketed, supporters are asking Rove, what’s the point? That’s why he’s gotta answer, red staters, who don’t want to write checks for losers. Also, the mere fact that Rove has to say this himself, is significant, he cannot find anyone else to carry his water for him. Rove wants to talk about gay marriage, immigration, and terrorism. He doesn’t want to answer questions about losing either chamber.

Of course Rove is trotting out the “big fish” story. There are more fishermen in this country than NASCAR fans. Now he gets to be seen as “just a regular guy” once again. Then when the Dems start attacking his competence and his JAR looks bad, the “regular guys” start feeling sorry for “their regular guy pResident” and his ratings start rising again.

I just want them impeached, imprisoned and utlimately impaled….

ultimately

curious in central texas (49) — come come, now, have a Jager-bomb and buck up, little camper.

You just quoted a guy who’s whistling past the graveyard, a deadman walking. He would have you pay no attention to that man behind the curtain…but unfortunately, the man is pants’d and we can see them, down around his ankles. This whistling confirms for me that 1) GOP pollsters whispering this administration is dead are correct, and 2) Rover expects a BIG shoe to drop soon.

Have faith, be of good cheer! To your health!

neurophius 62

Nice one! “Foggo of Whore” lol

trying to close the tag

Nuts, there must be an unclosed tag above in comment 66…

Thanks, Lina. Makes sense.

J

Thanks everyone — I expect Rove to go down — and hoping for much more, including Bush and Cheney — but Rove and all of BushCo remain dangerous… so sometimes headlines make me nervous and panicky… glad you are all so confident and grounded. Thanks, again.

sorry

I’m back from family stuff. It was very healing with people who hadn’t talked to others for many years reaching out. Reconciliation for real.

Bird flu: there is NO human to human transmission. The avian flu is yet another HYPE to get Americans to be afraid and do whatever Big Brother tells them to do. Many simulations in the past month. I have talked with people involved w the simulations; they feel it is a hoax but must do the sim work to get paid.

Avian flu: be afraid if you are a chicken. Be afraid if you have chickens living in your house. Be afraid if your government is trying to manipulate you by FEAR…ONCE AGAIN.

If there is no human to human transmission, then there is NO EPIDEMIC. Or pandemic whichever sounds scarier/better sound bite. Rumsfeld made $5,000,000 on avian flu vaccine.

This year 35,000 Americans died of regular flu. Was there a panic? Did the National Guard take over all government? Were elections cancelled? Uh….no. But you watch, the October surprise this year will be one person dying supposedly of avian flu, followed by massive propaganda, panic, and funny stuff surrounding the elections.

Remember: we didn’t cancel the elections when the Soviets could REALLY KILL ALL OF US. Let’s not cancel the elections for a fictitious flu.

lhp – I think that, while Hayden has an uphill battle, Townsend probably would be confirmed. Not that I am necessarily happy about that (although I think she may be smarter than most of W’s crony appoingmetns) but she doesn’t reek. The “stand your employees three feet apart” does make you wonder if she ever moonlighted as a squaredance caller, but I think she’d be better than Hayden and I don’t know that we get a shot at someone “good.”

If, however, she doesn’t want to go down with the Hindenburg, she’ll turn it down. She is one of the few in the Admin that seems to have any chance of post-Admin survival, so far at least. If I were her, I’d be reluctant to screw that up by becoming Madame Kaos.

Hi everybody! And I mean that unboldly and unemphatically :)

What a great last thread!

Today someone gave me a cute bumper sticker for my new (more fuel efficient) car. It sai

“Better dead than red, vote democrat!”

With nifty blue and red graphcs. I thought it was a cute pun.

Lina, Who would you pick between Hayden or fragos? Who is more dangerous, the hard sell or the soft sell?

Senate Intelligence Committee-

DC Phone #/DC Fax #

Pat Roberts (R-KS) [Chairman] 202-224-4774 202-224-3514
Orrin G. Hatch (R-UT) 202-224-5251 202-224-6331
Mike DeWine (R-OH) 202-224-2315 202-224-6519
Christopher S. Bond (R-MO) 202-224-5721 202-224-8149
Trent Lott (R-MS) 202-224-6253 202-224-2262
Olympia Snowe (R-ME) 202-224-5344 202-224-1946
Chuck Hagel (R-NE) 202-224-4224 202-224-5213
Saxby Chambliss (R-GA) 202-224-3521 202-224-0103

John D. Rockefeller, IV (D-WV) [Vice Chairman] 202-224-6472 202-224-7665
Carl Levin (D-MI) 202-224-6221 202-224-1388
Dianne Feinstein (D-CA) 202-224-3841 202-228-3954
Ron Wyden (D-OR) 202-224-5244 202-228-2717
Evan Bayh (D-IN) 202-224-5623 202-228-1377
Barbara A. Mikulski (D-MD) 202-224-4654 202-224-8858
Russell D. Feingold (D-WI) 202-224-5323 202-224-2725

They two stepped the excuses for giving Porter the boot (He quit, No, he was fired – by Negropointy, yeah that’s the ticket). If they’d said that Porter wanted to spend more time with his family, and then, in the next day or two, it came out that Floss really wanted to spend more time with hookers…
Well, that would have been mud in their faces. I think they feared the hooker scandal tied around Porter’s neck would stink up the place.

The hooker thing is the best thing going. Lets hope it picks up legs. Thus far, no sex scandals… Oh wait, there was that gay hooker with the gay escort website who worked for Talon News who had the daily press pass issued repeatedly. Incredible that Soccer moms and Nascar fisherdads and fundies never heard a peep about it.

DMM 33 – I went for the shirt, but I ended up buying the mugs. Did you see them? Redacted Constituion where the redacts go away when the mug heats up.

I fell in love. I probably don’t really NEED 4. But I wanted 4.

FDL needs to be on the referral list. ;-)

neurophius 42, I would ask him to define that phrase, “but upon probable cause,” use it in a sentence and give an example of why we as free people cherish this right.

Clem: “… we’ll get the usual toothless confirmation process, with all Senators lobbing softball questions other than maybe one or two … And then Hayden will sail through to an easy confirmation.”

I don’t think so. Not this time.

The Hayden nomination will – open secret fashion – provide a referendum for those Republicans opposed to NSA domestic spying. Even those who have remained silent while being personally disturbed by it.

They all get to oppose Hayden on grounds that the military, and Rumsfeld in particular, shouldn’t be put in charge of a civilian intelligence organization.

No, they do not form a majority of the Republican party. But there are enough of them to defeat Hayden’s nomination as long as the Dems present a solid fron on the issue.

Question: I’m a bit confused on one thing. Does the DCI need to be confirmed by the full Senate, or only the Senate Select Committee on Intelligence?

The reason I ask is that Hayden’s chances are somewhat better if only the committee decides, bur even there Snowe and and a couple other Goopers might balk at putting the military commander who oversaw NSA domestic spying in charge at CIA.

You need to be as politically tone deaf as, as, as, well, as George Bush, to not realize that Hayden’s nomination smacks more of fascist and domestic militaristic expansionism than it does of conservatism.

egregious~ I just had a converstaion with friends after the Murtha meeting today and said the same thing about the human to human transmission. They tried to convince me otherwise saying the virus could possibly mutate REALLY quickly in order to be a threat to humans.
These are bright people who are not usually fearful of the bush fear propoganda.

I’m so tired of people being afraid. Sometimes I think I’m the dunce because I doubt nearly everything that comes out of DC and even CDC.

If General Suckup … er Hayden needs to be reminded of how the 4th amendment pertains to wiretaps he can jus’ take a gander at these ppt slides at the NSA’s website

Rove’s winning strategy:

To hang the President around every Republicans neck and demand allegiance.

Go Karl! Go!

(Snip)

Rove reaching out to nearly every district to fire up conservative base against charging Democrats

RAW STORY
Published: Sunday May 7, 2006

Karl Rove has been traveling across the country, reaching out to nearly every district in play for the November elections, in a frantic effort to fire up the conservative base against a charging Democratic Party, according to a front page story set for Monday’s edition of The New York Times, RAW STORY has found.

“The prospect of the administration spending its last two years being grilled by angry Democrats under the heat of partisan klieg lights has added urgency to the efforts by Karl Rove and Bush’s political team to hang on to the Republican majorities in Congress,” reports the Times.

But Rove confidently tells the Times that he isn’t worried about the troubles for the Bush Administration that a Democratic majority might bring.

“We won’t see how that plays out because they’re not going to win,” Rove said.

With so much on the line, Rove has taken to traveling the country to form strategies with individual candidates and local parties while brainstorming with the president’s political and policy teams on broad items the White House can pursue to help Republicans everywhere — focusing on only the major planks of Bush’s agenda and not the nitty-gritty of policy that had consumed hours of his day.

In regular West Wing breakfast sessions catered by the White House mess, Rove and the White House political director, Sara Taylor, have already been reaching out to nervous and vulnerable Republican members of Congress, three at a time, to offer advice or to lay out an emerging, three-prong attack on Democrats over national security, taxes and health care.

In meetings at the White House, aboard Air Force One and in candidates’ home states, Rove is trying to rally Republicans to stand by the president and his agenda.

-GSD

Hey,to each their own,it all helps Russ out.Glad I could help.

Egregious @ 75

“Bird flu: there is NO human to human transmission. The avian flu is yet another HYPE to get Americans to be afraid and do whatever Big Brother tells them to do.”

THANK you!

And y’know, even if it does end up somehow learning how to transmit from human to human… so what?

Remember SARS? SARS was going to be the death of humanity, the real-life Captain Trips virus from that Stephen King book. And in the end it killed what, maybe enough people to fill a friggin’ strip club?

Bird flu? It’s a flu bug. That’s all it’s ever going to be. Yes, it could conceivably be something awful, but chances are that it’s not even going to get to the point where we can pass it back and forth.

You’re absolutely right… it’s just another thing we’re supposed to Be Afraid, Be Very, Very Afraid of. Well screw that noise, I’m already afraid of spiders, I don’t need some new bullshit thing to be afraid of.

Here’s the relevant one … which says in part

Requires a Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act (FISA) Court Order

GSD,
Rove’s winning strategy:

To hang the President around every Republicans neck and demand allegiance.

Go Karl! Go!

If I may quote Jane”FLY LITTLE WINGNUT,FLY”
I can still get a chuckle out of that….

From MSNBC:

House Intelligence Committee Chairman Peter Hoekstra, R-Mich. said on “Fox News Sunday†that having a general in charge of the CIA could create the impression among agents around the world that the agency is under Pentagon control.

Translation:

We wouldn’t want to create that impression, don’t blow the smokescreen with something so obvious. We’ve managed to keep the fact that the CIA is under military control a secret this long, let’s not blow it like a hooker on Goss.

The current #2 at CIA is Rear Admiral ALbert Calland III (Annapolis ‘74)

I cut and pasted this mid-google, but didn’t link it – so I can’t remmber where I read this
($#%&&!!!)

The rules state that a military man cannot hold both the number one and number two spots at CIA, so either the rules get bent or Calland’s days are numbered.

or does Hayden resign his commission and take the job ?

#87

but it’s a hell of a way to funnel $$$ to profiteers:

$1 Billion Awarded For Flu Vaccine
5 Companies Get Federal Contract
By David Brown
Washington Post Staff Writer
Friday, May 5, 2006; Page D01
The federal government yesterday awarded $1 billion in contracts to five pharmaceutical companies to help them develop modern methods of producing influenza vaccine that would replace the current slow, laborious and unpredictable technique.
http://www.washingtonpost.com/…..01879.html

JGabriel, I hope you’re right.

Unfortunately, I think you’ve identified the linchpin of the whole thing here…

“No, they do not form a majority of the Republican party. But there are enough of them to defeat Hayden’s nomination as long as the Dems present a solid fron on the issue.”

As long as the Dems present a solid front on the issue.

“Well, this oughtta be a good Thanksgiving dinner this year as long as ol’ Uncle Otis doesn’t show up shitfaced like he always does.”

See, this is exactly what I’m concerned about. The Dems rarely manage to put up a united front against ANYTHING Bush does, especially when it comes to blocking bad nominees from being confirmed.

I would love to see them prove me wrong on this (boy HOWDY would I love to see them prove me wrong on this!) but somehow I’m just not seeing it to be a particularly healthy option to hold my breath on this one.

JGabriel says: “Question: I’m a bit confused on one thing. Does the DCI need to be confirmed by the full Senate, or only the Senate Select Committee on Intelligence?”

May 7th, 2006 at 6:04 pm

The DCI requires confirmation by the full Senate.

Mary,
have a comment in Awaiting Moderation limbo that touches on this, but

Which is more dangerous? A scary guy like hayden whom the American people would know to be afraid of? Or a soft sell, pastel clad ladylike “don’t let the smoking gun be mushroom cloud” spokes model?

I think someone mentioned this earlier in the thread,Conyers calls out Russert on his B/S
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/…..20549.html

Raw Story is going to have an article on a WaPo story about Rove’s chances of being indicted soon. It’s “developing”.

Things are slowing up here.Are we EPU’d?

#54:– “fucking fish”

http://www.bushfish.org/

Not a joke.. really.

DMM: “Rove’s winning strategy: To hang the President around every Republicans neck and demand allegiance.”

Either that or to personally contact every Republican district leader he can find to arrange for the vote rigging that’ll be required to retain majorities in both Congressional branches.

Let’s not get too comfortable about Rove yet. We may be dealing with incompetents, but they are very sleazy and have a tendency to ‘win’ elections.

By the way, just like Joe McCarthy, now Tom Delay has a “list”.

Delay has a “list” of 22 Democrats with ethics problems.

We’ll be hearing that used on wingnut radio over and over again now. 22 will be the new number to beat the Democrats over the head with. Without a shred of evidence.

I loathe that man more than almost any of the wingers running the show.

-GSD

JGabriel,

Agreed. The orcs and the rats will be coming out of th sewers to throw up all kinds of hate and smog.

Rove and Delay would rather destroy the nation than lose an election.

-GSD

Uh Clem

you are kinda making my point. If Franny is off killing the remainder of out civil liberties ans using the freakin’ flu as her excuse, who is worse?

Hayden? or
Fragos?

Related

2005 Wiretap Report

Yes,Rove is dangerous and had demenstrated time and time again that he has no regard for the welfare of this country,only his agenda.However,I belive laughing at his candy ass takes some power and mystique from him.And perhaps Fitz will remove him from the game.
How could the Repugs be busted vote rigging?Just a idle thought.Any ideas?

Stephen, thank you.

Clem: “As long as the Dems present a solid front on the issue. ‘Well, this oughtta be a good Thanksgiving dinner this year as long as ol’ Uncle Otis doesn’t show up shitfaced like he always does.’”

Ha! Reminds me of an Onion article a few months ago about the Democrats, including this quote (from memory):

“I know it doesn’t seem like it now,” Senator Reid said to the assembled Democrats, “but if we try really hard, we can lose this one.”

Which I suppose sums up our fears as well as anything I’ve read.

Anyway, good point.

Let’s hope that, contrary to all past experience in the past decade, that the Dems do stick together on the Hayden vote.

Honestly, I really think they will this time. I can’t think of *any* benefit to a Democratic senator, even in a conservative district, to support Hayden. The nomination is just too far out there.

It’s almost as insane as the Miers nom, though Hayden unfortunately has at least some (unconstitutional) experience in spying, as compred to Miers complete lack in judging.

Rove story up :

http://www.rawstory.com/news/2….._0507.html

Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Activity Rises Sharply

During calendar year 2005, the Foreign Intelligence Court (FISC) approved 2,072 applications for authority to conduct electronic surveillance and physical search …

The FISC made substantive modifications to the Government’s proposed orders in 61 of those applications. The FISC did not deny, in whole or in part any application filed by the government during calendar year 2005

So the poolboy comes through with a scoop?

Somebody correct me if I’m wrong, but I believe that if he doesn’t get by the Senate and chimpy recess-appoints Hayden it’s only until the next Congress – which, I think is January 2007, right? In which case, we dump him (and John Bolten and whoever else) once we take over Congress. At least that’s my hope.

Anyone know how it works if the new Congress dumps Hayden/Bolten? I mean, can Bush re-recess-appoint them until 2008?

Thanks Harry #109

When I wake up Wednesday, Pacific Time, I want to read in the news or blogs that “Patrick Fitzgerald was seen entering the DC courthouse today.”

Looks like the poolboy tries to put some distance between him and Foreskin, ah, Luskin.

-GSD

cbl 93

“The rules state that a military man cannot hold both the number one and number two spots at CIA, so either the rules get bent or Calland’s days are numbered.”

That’s just another silly law (or rule) that The Decider can Decide to ignore at will. The War on Terra, remember?

I wouldn’t trust pool boy as far as I could throw him. Sounds like Luskin is trying to spin away.

I’m getting that spooky EPU feeling…

Terrific pic of Feingold . . .

go Fitz, Russ + Gore! my heroes. (all hot too)

DMM: “How could the Repugs be busted vote rigging? Just a idle thought. Any ideas?”

That’s the problem. And it’s what makes this year’s election likely to be the ugliest, meanest, most sheerly corrupt, off year election ever.

Let’s say the Pugs fix 30 elections, ten of which they were going to win anyway. That leaves 20 Reps that wouldn’t have won.

Let’s further stipulate that they end up with an 8 seat lead in the house due to this vote rigging.

Now let’s say of the 20 fixed races, there are later strong suspicions of rigging in 15 of them (the other 5 being so close to expected to be GOP wins that suspicions never go further than Dem partisans).

How many of those 15 races will actually get to trial? 10? 5?

Let’s be optimistic and say 7. As you can see, the Pugs are already going to retain the house even if all 7 are proved to be rigged *and* that the Dem candidate would have won otherwise.

How likely is that? And how likely is it that a resolution could be found that would put all 7 or those Democratic candidates in office.

I expect there will be a LOT of court challenges this year, both before and after the elections, over petitions, recounts, dirty tricks, manipulation at the polls, and so on.

For the Senate, imagine pretty much the same scenario, but with different, closer, numbers. At the state level. And primarily in states with Republican governors.

I think we can still win. But it is not going to be pretty.

GSD 103
So, Rove has a list of crooks, eh? Well, of course he does. It’s called his Christmas card list.

Hell, he’s probably got Goldfinger and the Penguin on his Christmas card list.

Poolboy has a new source. Or maybe not. Maybe Libby’s people want to make Rove the orchestrator of the whole thing and Libby just used to get the information out. If Jason Leopold’s new article is correct, there’s plenty of evidence to make this case. It’s going to be hard to explain away the tabbed binder though.

Interesting wording in poolboy’s article – notice the way he puts Fitzgerald’s name first, as if this official is more scared to anger Fitzgerald than to anger the WH – pretty cool!

“The official refused to be named out of fear of angering Fitzgerald and the White House.”

Cleter,

Delay has the corruption list. Rove has the hit-list.

-GSD

JGabriel 119 “I think we can still win. But it is not going to be pretty.”

Imagine Florida 2000 happening in 50 states…or maybe at least 20 or 30…

Regarding the rawstory article on Rove – anyone care to speculate who the former government official is?

I’m guessing Ari.

JGabriel: “I expect there will be a LOT of court challenges this year, both before and after the elections, over petitions, recounts, dirty tricks, manipulation at the polls, and so on.”

P.S. I suspect that this is the real reason Karl is travelling the country. Not to bring out the base, but to *coordinate* all of these tricks, strategies, responses, and strategic responses as well.

btw, what’s with the new fox poll at 38%, the day after two olls came out at 33%. Fox threaten to pull Opinion Dynamic’s contract or something?

harry 109

You should have warned me that if I followed the WaPo link, I would be greeted with Condi grinning evilly in my face…

lhp – I think she is both more confirmable and potentially more worrisome, depending on how much koolaide she drinks. I don’t know enough about her to know the answer on the kool aid front. She strikes me as smarter, but I do agree that putting the “nice face” on the “awful ideas” is a far more disturbing plan, in general. Look how well Condi Rice polls and compare it with what a stellar disaster she has been in both posts.

Of course Rove is out frantically trying to rally his base.

He doesn’t have much time to lose.

Soon he will be devoting even more of his time and energy to his legal problems.

This may be his last gasp.

We know Russ Feingold will stand up for the principle that the President isn’t above the law. The hearings and debate on General Hayden present the Democratic establishment yet another opportunity to show us they are capable of standing up to the republicans who want to fearmonger the illegal spying issue. Have we finally reached a point where the Dems will do it?

I think part of reasoning is to make Democrats in the Senate vote against a guy in a uniform. If Senator X votes against Hayden, the GOP can run an ad against him–showing a distinguished picture of Hayden in uniform, fading into a picture of, say, WTC rubble, and soldiers in Afghanistan. They can run an ad saying Senator X is both soft on terror and anti-military.

neurophius 128

Where’s Condy?

BTW it’s Rove’s MO to sound confident of winning. He uses it every time they try to get something through the House/Senate, or for elections. Rove was confident social security reform would pass. However, all the districts up for election are gerrymandered and Bush isn’t running, local guys are. By October it’s going to be all-Ahmedinejad-all-the-time and they’ll scare enough of their bedwetting base out to keep out of jail, probably. Hopefully Fitzgerald comes up with serious charges before October.

Everhopeful: “Interesting wording in poolboy’s article – notice the way he puts Fitzgerald’s name first, as if this official is more scared to anger Fitzgerald than to anger the WH – pretty cool!”

Yep. I forget who it was, Pach maybe, but someone wrote an interesting comment about why WaPo would be pissed at Woodward.

He/She explained/theorized that WaPo would be furious with Woody, because WaPo was probably doing everything they could to assist Fitzgerald without getting subpoena’d or having to name sources (thus Pincus’s weird testimony confirming details of how he learned of Plame without naming the source).

In order to get Fitz to be so accommodating, they would have promised to be completely open with him and not hold anything back.

Then Woody gets busted holding something back. So WaPo IS scared of Fitz now, because they know they weren’t completely upfront with him, even though it was all Bob’s fault. For all we know, there may even be written agreements, broken by Bob, that Fitz can hold over them if they don’t play nice.

This week’s Pundit Pap is up – always good for some wonderful snark – especially if you’ve missed the Sunday talkies.

http://www.americanpolitics.com/punditpap.html

neurophius: “Imagine Florida 2000 happening in 50 states…or maybe at least 20 or 30…”

Yep. Thanks, Neurophius. That’s exactly what I was getting at.

Probably about 20 states. Some states, like Wyoming, they just don’t need to go near. Others, Vermont comes to mind, it would just be pointless to waste any resources on.

Feingold has the courage to stand up for what he believes! Not all Democrates do, or maybe they are too concerned about being re-elected?Maybe off the subject, Feinstein today reamed the CIA and Dean on “Step”, ABC, the Disney channel”, called her on it.

harry says:

May 7th, 2006 at 7:18 pm
neurophius 128

“Where’s Condy?”

When I first went there, she was in the upper right hand corner. When I went back and looked again, she was gone. A mutating Web site, I guess.

JGabriel: That wasn’t me. It was Paul Lukasiak as I recall, though I may be wrong.

It would be nice if Hayden were asked about some of his statements while he was DIRNSA — for example, that NSA’s “new mission” was “to live in the internet” and to “own” it.

JGabriel #133 – thanks for that info. I hadn’t heard it before but it makes sense – so poolboy was really projecting, huh?

xyz: “Regarding the rawstory article on Rove – anyone care to speculate who the former government official is? I’m guessing Ari.”

Ok. I’ll my money on Powell or Libby.

Could be Libby’s looking for payback.

Powell might be just disgusted with the whole thing. He’s widely suspected to be the source that spoke to Pincus and outed the Wilson conspiracy back in — I think it was — September 2003?

Ari’s an interesting choice too though.

Weren’t Ari and Powell the only witnesses to testify without the benefit of counsel?

Re bird flu

There has been bird to human transmission and this is worrying. In 1918, a highly pathogenic influenza strain jumped species, human to human transmission occurred, people had no immunity, and the result was tens of millions of deaths. I just can’t feel terribly glib about this.

Mutation of an influenza virus for human to human transmission can occur in one of two ways. There can be a mutation within the bird population of a strain which can be transmitted to humans and among humans. Or say, an H5N1 strain could co infect a person with some other form of flu. Gene rearrangement could take place from mixing of the two strains and this could produce a strain that could be transmitted human to human. If it retains its highly pathogenic nature (H5N1 has about a 50% mortality rate so far), we’re screwed.

http://www.nytimes.com/2006/05…..r=homepage

===Rove Is Using Threat of Loss to Stir G.O.P.
[]In meetings at the White House, aboard Air Force One and in candidates’ home states, Mr. Rove is trying to rally Republicans to stand by the president and his agenda.

He has focused in particular on uniting them behind the administration’s proposals to overhaul immigration, which include guest worker provisions that conservatives despise; the Iraq war, which has driven Mr. Bush’s poll numbers sharply downward; and the Medicare prescription drug program, which the administration says will cost $872 billion from 2006 to 2014 and which Mr. Bush backed enthusiastically despite complaints from conservatives that it was a vast expansion of the social welfare state.

[]Mr. Rove said he was not worried. “We won’t see how that plays out because they’re not going to win,” he said.===

??? sounds desperate to me.

How does Rove travel around the country? Does he have access to AF-1 or is that NYT Story referring to trips he makes with Bush?

Valley Girl 144

The 2006 races are Rover’s Last Hurrah. But he won’t even make it to the finish line. FITZ!!!

JGabriel – wouldn’t that be great if it were Libby digging the knife into Rove behind the scenes?

Just the thought of those two trying to incriminate each other, both digging their holes deeper each time they do it, makes me smile!

OT but this just came up on my yahoo news.

Mocking The Main Man

Ever since Stephen Colbert mocked President Bush in front of Bush, online buzz on the fake newsman has reached scalding temperatures.

http://buzz.yahoo.com/buzzlog/…..e-main-man a copy and paste for you… sorry not savvy to the code.

everhopeful 147

What would make me smile even more would be Rove and Cheney blasting at each other with shotguns.

***forgot quotes… on last post…***

http://news.independent.co.uk/…..362745.ece
Title: Russia says UN plan for Iran is ‘first step to war’

Everhopeful: “… wouldn’t that be great if it were Libby digging the knife into Rove behind the scenes?”

Yes, that’s what made me think of it. After all, Libby *is* a former administration official now.

It’s too joyous to contemplate. The whole ironic rough and poetic justice of it all. The administration turning in on itself, Karl and Libby locked in an embrace, each twisting a shiv into the other’s back…

Really. It’s so adorable.

I think Rove is roving the countryside with files full of dirt on individual local repub indians so they stay on the reservation. I don’t see his little visits as a friendly “securing of the base” at all. After all, why take over the CIA and form the NSA then not use the power you have to “see all and know all”. Extortion is to be expected from these fascists.

Neurophius: “What would make me smile even more would be Rove and Cheney blasting at each other with shotguns.”

I don’t think Rove knows how to use a gun.

Not that that’s a problem.

(pause)

Maybe Cheney and Scalia instead? At least that way, there’s a chance both might get shot.

And, bonus, Cheney would keep up his reputation for targeting the legal establishment.

Amid the discussion of Bushie’s presidential highlight being fishin’ in his bathtub, as it were, I’ve seen little notice paid to the flip side of his comments, the worst day of his presidency. 9/11’s obvious, but what was telling to me was his saying, “In such a situation it takes a while before one understands what is happening,” Bush said. “I would say that this was the hardest moment, once I had the real picture before my eyes.”

Huh? The real picture? Was it a DVD his staff had to put together for him, like Katrina?

And Russert this morning, guesting the Bush clone. Subtext: lucky, lucky you, you get to be in the in crowd, ’cause that nasty other guy he’s a MEAN comedian. The Old Media Washington Press Corpse has been co-opted by the ultimate mean nasty guys for so long they don’t even recognize their own abetting.

One wonders if Colbert and his writing team are even now slavering over word of the day: Mean.
As Teddy Roosevelt would say, “Bully!”

Bet Luskin and Rove are on the batphone right now to the WP, trying to get them to spike the story.

OT
===The memoir, due out in fall 2007, has a working title of “Fair Game” — inspired by a comment made to Plame’s husband, Joe Wilson, the former ambassador who says his wife’s identity was leaked to get back at him for criticizing intelligence the Bush administration used to justify invading Iraq. Wilson has written (in his own book) that commentator Chris Matthews told him that Karl Rove had maintained that “Wilson’s wife is fair game.”===

WaPo Reliable source via L/N. Can’t find it online.

Sorta OT. Just noticed this headline at WaPo:

“Bush Appointees Not as Diverse as Clinton’s”

I’m guessing tomorrow’s followup headline is gonna be:

“Bush Appointees All Republicans”

http://www.washingtonpost.com/…..01525.html

===The Washington Post is committed to correcting all errors that appear in the newspaper, just as we are committed to the kind of careful journalism that will minimize the number of errors we print. Preventing and correcting mistakes are two sides of the coin of our realm: accuracy. Accuracy is our goal, and candor is our defense.
– The Post Stylebook

[]The Post’s ombudsman has always been an independent contractor — a system I like — and it is more appropriate for a top editor to be in charge of corrections.

[]The Post depends on alert readers to point out errors, and we need to appreciate and encourage that. An anonymous caller alerted me this week to the fact that the weather page has been running two discontinued telephone numbers. That was fixed. Score one for the readers.===

GUESS WHOoooo?

Confirmation hearings should be interesting.

Perhaps they could start the questioning by asking Gen. Hayden which of the amendments to the Constitution are no longer operative in a post 9/11 world.

I smell a recess appointment, don’t you?

If the Bush/Cheney/Rumsfeld junta can’t get Hayden’s nomination through Congress, then they’ll just wait until the next congressional recess and put Hayden in charge of the CIA at that time.

All power is flowing to Rumsfeld at the Pentagon. Including homeland security.

For instance, FEMA is to be dismantled. But I just read an article the other day stating that Rumsfeld’s Pentagon, through Northcom, will be assuming many of the duties that FEMA once held, both in preparation and response to a national disaster.

I’m certain that Rumsfeld’s Northcom will do a much better job than FEMA, don’t you? Just like Rumsfeld’s “strategery” for Iraq has been such a roaring success?

Is Rumsfeld nuts, or what?

Just a rubber stamp for Iran…

I suppose the fracas over Hayden will have the advantage that it may distract from the revelations about Goss’s real reason for leaving?

Well, we can all stop debating this now! John King of CNN says he will be confirmed! Case closed. John has spoken! Hayden is confirmed by CNN!

11:13a est

Negroponte Live on CSPAN right now !

oops – my post of last night, meant to say that Dean went after Feinstein, regarding her statements about the CIA. It must be hard for her to see the truth, since she still apprently thinks the invasion was justified, and so too the secret wire-taps.