zero?

yes!

OS – nice job!

wowie

Labor Day, folks.

I wub Jane !

Blumenthal is my favorite read, can not wait to have him here . . .yowzah !

And a great essay link, too. Ain’t Book Salon grand!!!

Blumenthal and his son Max are both superb writers. His book is on my must-read list.

OT: The discussion earlier today regarding “The Path to 9/11″ was most illuminating. For those who want to read more, I recommend this from Media Matters, another site on top of this issue.

Fitz, and the workers of America.

Thanks for the heads up. Ordering the book now by clicking on FDL’s amazon link.

OT, Connecticut Bob’s video of the parade today…

http://ctbob.blogspot.com/2006…..nline.html

O.K. I just ordered Blum’s book. Thanks.
To be honest with you, these books are getting scarier and scarier.

ot

http://www.yubanet.com/artman/…..1616.shtml

raw story has it, the president has now declared “sovereign imunity” from whistle blower laws

someone tell me this is not a fascist head of state, someone try

as a side bar, the name of these laws need to be changed from “whistle blower” laws to “watch dog” laws, whistle blower has a “rat fink” undertown and “wathcdog” has a protector undertone

me to me @ 14

ot

http://www.yubanet.com/artman/…..1616.shtml

raw story has it, the president has now declared “sovereign imunity” from whistle blower laws

someone tell me this is not a fascist head of state, someone try

as a side bar, the name of these laws need to be changed from “whistle blower” laws to “watch dog” laws, whistle blower has a “rat fink” undertown and “wathcdog” has a protector undertone

CHILLING, What can you say after that? *1984*

m2m — I was just about to quote this article here myself. Seems like there are a lot of government employees in unions who could use a champion in Washington. And it’s Labor Day. Looks like as good a place as any to connect up with organized labor.

Mr. Blumenthal says it the way he sees it. I read his stuff in the Guardian and Salon. He has a good perspective on the Middle East and other issues. Blumenthal tells the truth.

Just found this over at the DCCC blog.

The United States Postal Service has created a stamp with a picture of President George W. Bush to honor his first term achievements.
Unfortunately, the stamp has not been sticking to the envelopes.
This has enraged the President, who has demanded a full investigation into the matter. After a month of testing, a special Presidential Commission has made the following findings:

1. The stamp is in perfect order.
2. There is nothing wrong with the applied adhesive.
3. People are just spitting on the wrong side.

Yuck Yuck!

Oilfieldguy. # 18.
Thanks for making me laugh.

test

Impeachment starts in the house. Of course, that will probably change too.

Bluementhal has a book out now too?!? Keith O, James Moore, Gore Vidal & Frank Rich this fall..who did I forget? There’s got to be at least 20 more books I want to read. Dear God, I will never catch up at this rate…whimpering.

Jane!!! what a pick! wow! I adore Blumenthal – read him in my little Der Spiegel emails and he’s always so so so right!

Jane never ceases to dazzle us!

Aren’t there any WOMEN writing good political books right now?

Helen Thomas.
I hope Molly Ivins has one in the works.

OS
Katrina did The Dictionary of Republicanisms last year. Funny!
http://www.amazon.com/Dictiona…..mp;s=books

Youe know, Jane, pretty soon the NYT will list the FDL picks alongside the Oprak book club selections. If they were smart.

Yea Old Sow and ironranger, I do hope some books come out by women. One from Molly Ivins would rock!

I’m still thrilled FDL has ‘booked’ Blumenthal.

another test

We do have Arianna next and she is definitely a woman!

I started her book but my daughter snatched it to read first …

I just had to order Dylans new cd with the Sidney book.

OFG – Laughing out loud on that one. *s*

two of my Blumenthal faves -

The Long March of Dick Cheney

http://www.salon.com/opinion/blumenthal/2005/11/24/cheney
/print.html

The Fall of the Rovean Empire

http://www.salon.com/opinion/blumenth…..index.html

Sidney Blumenthal – the Anti-Lani

Jane: I hate to be picky, but you spelled Sidney’s name wrong in the first line above Jane :)

Not complaining at all about the folks featured at the Book Salon, just wondering. And I’m not forgetting that Arianna will be the guest next week.

Valley Girl @ 34

trial test

looks more like a pop quiz.

Old Sow @
23

Aren’t there any WOMEN writing good political books right now?

Christy’s kid is sick and Jane’s picking up the slack – so lay off! They’ll get to it when they get to it!!

/snark

At Bill library, Bush sounds sub-versive
by Llotd Grove

President Bush once daydreamed about blasting Bill Clinton’s presidential library to smithereens, according to a new book.

In “How Bush Rules: Chronicles of a Radical Regime,” former Clinton aide Sidney Blumenthal recounts a November 2004 visit by Bush and his political guru Karl Rove to the William J. Clinton Library in Little Rock, Ark., on the banks of the Arkansas River.

“Bush appeared distracted and glanced repeatedly at his watch,” Blumenthal writes about a presidential tour during the library’s dedication. “When he stopped to gaze at the river, where Secret Service agents were stationed in boats, the guide said: ‘Usually, you might see some bass fishermen out there.’ Bush replied: ‘A submarine could take this place out.’”

The author muses: “Was the President warning of an Al Qaeda submarine, sneaking undetected up the Mississippi, through the locks and dams of the Arkansas River, surfacing under the bridge to the 21st century to dispatch the Clinton Library? Is that where Osama Bin Laden is hiding? Or was this a wishful paranoid fantasy of ubiquitous terrorism destroying Clinton’s legacy with one blow?”
snip
http://www.nydailynews.com/fro…..8181c.html

Peterr, lol. Now just don’t ask why MY book isn’t written yet!

Peterrrr- Boy, I’m glad I saw that “snark” added on the bottom of your post…

me too!

I was ready, Old Sow.

Mary and Anne should team up to write a book.

From me2me link on bush out blows whistleblowers

At the same time, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) is taking a more extreme position that absolutely no environmental laws protect its employees from reprisal. EPA’s stance would place the provisions of all major federal environmental laws, such as the Clean Air Act and the Safe Drinking Water Act, beyond the reach of federal employees seeking legal protection for good faith efforts to enforce or implement the anti-pollution provisions contained within those laws.

These actions arose in the case of Sharyn Erickson, an EPA employee who had reported problems with agency contracts for toxic clean-ups. After conducting a hearing, an administrative law judge called EPA’s conduct “reprehensible” and awarded Erickson $225,000 in punitive damages but the Labor Secretary overturned that ruling.

Is it really possible (legal) that a Labor Secretary has the power to overturn a judges ruling?

Shez @ 42

Mary and Anne should team up to write a book.

brilliant suggestion!

OT: After Labor Day we can expect an all-out assault on the Republican-sponsored War Crimes Act of 1996. In its recent Hamdan decision a majority of the Supreme Court found the Bush administration in violation of Common Article 3 of the Geneva Conventions. Per Justice Kennedy’s concurrence: “By Act of Congress … violations of Common Article 3 are considered ‘war crimes,’ punishable as federal offenses, when committed by or against United States nationals and military personnel.” Those federal offenses carry a possible death penalty whenever “death results to the victim,” as it has to three-dozen detainees in the “Global War on Terror.”

Members of the Bush administration, notably Alberto Gonzales, are now scrambling to save their asses. Per 87-year-old Ben Ferenccz, chief U.S. prosecutor at Nuremberg, George W. Bush should be in the docket for war crimes alongside Saddam Hussein.

This week, we can expect an all-out attempt to amend the War Crimes Act to decriminalize Republican war criminals. We must fight back and hold them accountable. Don’t be a proverbial “good German.”

ES at 44..and wigwam at 46…this administration just seems to do whatever it wants. It is endlessly incredible how audacious its behaviour. I guess we’ll find out just how legal this whistleblower one is. You’d have to wonder just how many attorneys Cheney has working on his team, wouldn’t you, to come out with one thing after another. Oh look, another shiny thing on the ground.

Thought it was quiet in here…

new thread

All I want for birthday & Christmas gifts is book store gift certificates. My birthday is coming up soon & a family member just doesn’t seem to believe me..she told me she got me a subscription to “Reminisce” magazine. Sigh. Not that there’s anything wrong with that but not quite what I had in mind.
I’m still working on John Dean’s CWC. The book discussions were awesome.

Somebody coulda said!

CHIMPEACH !!!

This is just too, too good. Dean, Blumenthal and Arianna. Don’t know if I can take this much truth.

I am the first blogger. My blog was titled RUDE GIRL, and I blogged on the topics of sex, religion and politics for the now defunct Silverlake 2000 Citysite. This project started in 1998.

Re women/books:

If it makes you happy, I am writing a book. War and peace, saving the lives of newborns in Russia, surviving(?) mental illness, handling 3 teenagers, rescuing our nation, the search for love and community, fighting alcohol dependence [overlapping w above topics].

You know, the usual.

What can the title be? All advice welcome.

I’ve heard Sidney Bluemthal called “the first blogger” before–

Remember when people suspected Blumenthal of being the shadowy figure blogging under the name ‘Atrios’?

I’ve been listening to Thomas Laqueuer’s History 5 lectures from Berkeley (oh the wonders of podcasts) — he jokes about how, back in the 70s, he had to provide a long explanation of why religion was wrapped up in politcs…

But he also talks about the issues at stake preceding the English Civil War and French Revolution: the claims to special authority from monarchs by dint of special circumstances, and the pushback from legislatures and popular movements.

We’re dealing with an arbitrary monarch now. One who’d be comfortable in the 17th century.

Oklahoma kiddo @ 50

This is just too, too good. Dean, Blumenthal and Arianna. Don’t know if I can take this much truth.

True. But who would want to follow John Dean’s act? Cripes, that’d be like following Stevie Ray Vaughn.

ironranger @
21

Bluementhal has a book out now too?!? Keith O, James Moore, Gore Vidal & Frank Rich this fall..who did I forget? There’s got to be at least 20 more books I want to read. Dear God, I will never catch up at this rate…whimpering.

Gore Vidal? Stop my pounding heart!

Wow, the Sidster! Great work, Jane. The man never misses the mark. I scanned the T/C online. It brought back how much I’ve learned from him. The essays will be a joy to reread. I can’t wait for this one!

Eureka Springs, AR @ 42

From me2me link on bush out blows whistleblowers

At the same time, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) is taking a more extreme position that absolutely no environmental laws protect its employees from reprisal. EPA’s stance would place the provisions of all major federal environmental laws, such as the Clean Air Act and the Safe Drinking Water Act, beyond the reach of federal employees seeking legal protection for good faith efforts to enforce or implement the anti-pollution provisions contained within those laws.

These actions arose in the case of Sharyn Erickson, an EPA employee who had reported problems with agency contracts for toxic clean-ups. After conducting a hearing, an administrative law judge called EPA’s conduct “reprehensible” and awarded Erickson $225,000 in punitive damages but the Labor Secretary overturned that ruling.

Is it really possible (legal) that a Labor Secretary has the power to overturn a judges ruling?

I read about this case on truthout.org and downloaded the memo and feds’ brief. It was outrageous! I was so livid I sent word to Patrick Leahy.

Here’s the letter:

Dear Senator Leahy,

I have no stake in this outrage other than that of an ordinary citizen … all right, so I’m an attorney. But I urge your staff to “blow the whistle” on another secretive evasive action by the Environmental Protection Agency (”EPA”) under color of yet another eerie memo prepared by the Attorney General’s Office of Legal Counsel (”OLC”).

All the materials are linked to at http://www.truthout.org/docs_2006/090406B.shtml, which sets out the story. I reviewed the September 23, 2005 OLC memo and the amicus brief filed on behalf of plaintiff Erickson.

The issue is whether whistleblower protections under the Clean Water Act (”Act”) permit a right of action against the EPA pursuant to the right of action established under the Act or whether, instead, these protections succumb to sovereign immunity. While OLC finds words to pick on, the memo never address the catchall “and any other requirement, whatsoever” in section 1323(a), which broadly waives soverign immunity. The words are simply ignored.

Worse yet, as the amicus brief notes, sovereign immunity was addressed in the No FEAR Act of 2002, of which the OLC memo makes no mention.

Were this a lawfirm opinion and I on the firm’s opinion committee I would never let something like this out of the shop. Of course the memo would not have seen the light of day but for FOIA. It is at best a bad brief. But then this administration furthers secrecy secretly, working the dark side if you will.

Although it sounds in Eleventh Amendment terms — Hello! States’ rights for the federal executive?? — the tactic smacks of the unitary executive theory.

I hope this note does some good.

Best,

I’m no expert in this area, but it looks like another special from Alberto “Stretch” Gonzales.

Though I didn’t note this (nor does the truthout article), the assault on whistleblower rights got momentum from a SCOTUS decision in May, Garcetti v. Ceballos, which denied employees first amendment rights for what they say as part of their jobs.

Garcetti was 5-4. Alito cast the deciding vote. The year before, O’Connor had authored a 5-4 decision encouraging whistleblowers to report sex discrimination in schools. Surprise, surprise!

When you consider how lawless this administration is and how demoralized our professional civil servants are these days — not only at the EPA, but at CIA — these developments send a cold shiver down my spine.

Eureka Springs, AR @ 42

From me2me link on bush out blows whistleblowers

Is it really possible (legal) that a Labor Secretary has the power to overturn a judges ruling?

Whoops! Forgot to answer your question. Sorry. The answer is, Yes, but any such ruling is subject to further limited review in an Article III court. But that’s standard practice.

Creeping Truth – if you are still here … I hope you will repeat this comment on one of the active threads tomorrow since it is very valuable information and likely to get overlooked since readers have moved on.

I’m here. I’ll repeat. I have to say, though, that all I bring to the table is ordinary constitutional common sense.

C. Truth – Thanks for your response and sharing your letter. I will pen a note for a couple of Arkansas politicos who might pay attention to this.

Thanks Siun for letting me know about C. T.’s reply.

Eureka Springs, AR @ 61

C. Truth – Thanks for your response and sharing your letter. I will pen a note for a couple of Arkansas politicos who might pay attention to this.

Thanks Siun for letting me know about C. T.’s reply.

Good. FYI, Eureka Springs and Siun:

I did a morning read and looked for signing statements on the No FEAR Act. As Siun asked, I reposted with light of day changes. It’s #187 in the thread above under “Fact or Fiction.”

Let me know that you’ve come back here for further word. There’s much new in what I wrote today — on the unitary executive theory and other stuff — and I want to make sure you get that as well.

If I don’t get word in a follow-up over here I’ll hunt you both down on an active thread. Siun is right, there’s something up that we shouldn’t let slide.